Daphne

"What is… that?"

I looked down as the inscription beneath me slowly faded, its glowing lines sinking into the earth until only the grass remained.

On top of the rocky green circle sat a small, fairy-like creature with a body the colour of fresh spring leaves. Tiny blossoms bloomed across its surface and vines curled around its feet lazily. It pulsed with a faint green light, and when it moved, its flowers jingled softly like bells made of petals.

"Daph... daphne...." Seeing my familiar stirred a memory, and I found myself whispering the name of a particular flower from my old world.

"I think Daphne is a perfect name, you could even call it Daphie or Daph for short." Silvia suggested while smiling.

"So cute..." Cindy's eyes lit up.

"Quaaa..." Quelia cried. Guess she wasn't too happy that someone else was getting attention from her contractor.

"Uhm, wait wait wait. I got carried away. First of all, what is tha—Daphne, really?" I said in confusion. It seemed like both Cindy and Silvia had recognised Daphne's species instantly and I was the only one out of the loop.

"It's an Earth spirit." Cindy said calmly, her voice soft. "Right?"

"That's right." Silvia gave a short nod. "And it looks to be from a fairly pure bloodline too. She might even be royalty."

"Royalty?" Cindy's eyes widened. "I've really seen it all today."

This little fairy is... royalty?

"Spirits are initially quite weak but they can grow to be extremely powerful. Additionally, they also boost their contractor’s affinity with their element." Cindy explained. "So now if we check..."

Cindy raised her hand and placed it over my shoulder. "It's faint, very faint, but you have an affinity for Earth now, Reno."

"Way to go." Silvia smiled.

Huh?

"What? My affinity went up? But I thought it was entirely innate and unchangeable?" Unless I was misremembering.

"That's not the case, it's just extremely difficult to improve it. Treasures are the most common way. It's not often that a familiar is able to boost a casters affinity, after all, not everyone can summon an earth spirit." Cindy sighed.

Ah I see, I wasn't entirely misremembering, it's just that summoning a familiar powerful enough to affect your affinity is a rare case. I should've known my familiar was going to be strong after seeing Silvia's but I still had my doubts.

After all, I have no clue about Glyffe's family line—after all, he's an orphan. Would it affect the familiar’s strength if only one side of the family was strong? Did both families need to be strong?

Still, I wondered where these summons actually came from. Were they pulled randomly from places all over the world or some sort of summoning dimension? Just then, my train of thoughts halted.

"Ah, what are you—" Daphne flew around me, brushing my cheek gently as she darted through the air. She paused mid-twirl, vines and blossoms swaying, before finally deciding my right shoulder was the perfect place to plant herself.

"She really likes you." Silvia smiled.

I met her gaze, and the spirit smiled. Is she really a reflection of my soul? She was pure, innocent and childlike. She was tender and warm, in a way that made my chest feel light. Having her perched on my shoulder felt… right. She felt like less of a companion and more like a gentle guardian watching over me.

"I like her too." I smiled.

"Kyaaaa." She said animatedly.

"The fact she can make sounds which resemble human noises is a very good sign." Silvia said. "She'll be able to talk one day, though you should already be able to communicate telepathically."

Hm? I turned my eyes to Daphne.

Where are you from?

I... don't... know...

How old are you?

I... sorry...

Seems like her speech was still at quite a low level. Even if she could understand what I was saying it didn't necessarily mean she could respond.

"Did it work?" Cindy said.

"Yes, we can communicate but she's still developing and can’t answer a lot of the questions I have."

"That's normal." Silvia smiled. "If you want to grow an earth spirit the easiest way is probably to feed it different plants, which is convenient."

"Plants?" I repeated. Could it be... a valid excuse to buy a bunch of plants?

"Yes. You can feed them plants and seeds and they should be able to cultivate them within themselves. I'm not sure but I think in some cases they can use the effects of the plants they consumed. Like amplifying sound as a Sonus flower would."

What? That sounded... so cool!

"However, normal plants like Sonus flowers and Sunvines won't grow it very much if at all. You'd need to feed it magical plants that increase earth affinity and contain potent mana for it to actually have any effect."

Right, I guess it couldn’t be that easy. It wouldn't make sense if I could feed it a bunch of grass and weeds and suddenly it evolved into an ancient earth spirit queen.

"Where would I ever find treasures like those..?” I thought for a moment.

"Don't worry about that. For now, you can feed it common plants and that will help supplement its growth. Cindy?"

"Got it." Cindy walked over to a plant pot with a Sonus flower in it. She extracted it and then handed it to me.

"Give this to your familiar."

I nodded and gave the flower to Daphne. Just as I did, she pressed it to her chest and enveloped it.

Woah... she just absorbed a flower the same size as her that easily? As if it was nothing?

"Is she supposed to look different now?" I looked at Silvia.

"No, she will only look different when she evolves or undergoes a major evolution. That won't be for a few... years or decades I guess." She gave a soft smile.

Years? Or decades? "So then, what was this for?"

"Well, it should've done something." Silvia said. "But since I'm not the contractor, I can't tell you what."

So in other words, I had to figure it out myself. I looked at Daphne trying to communicate with her.

Did that flower help?

Yes... it... tasty...

Well at least that's good news. Are you growing any quicker?

N-not... at... all...

Damn, well I guess that just means her bloodline must be quite strong for a common plant not to help her grow at all. Did it do anything more useful than just be tasty?

Yes... l-look...

Suddenly I could see her internal space in my mind's eye. What is this place? Why is it so big? Wait, is that the Sonus flower?

Within the space she had a little earth-like garden, wherein she'd planted the two seeds extracted from the Sonus flower she absorbed.

The Sonus seeds... they're growing but... this sort of speed is? What the heck is going on?

"Kyaaa!" Daphne nodded, a smile blossoming on her face. Damn, I forgot she could read my thoughts. This is going to take a while to get used to.

How long is it going to take to grow these?

Five.... hours...

Just five hours!?

"Any luck?" Cindy said, curious. I'd been standing there like a scarecrow for about a minute now.

"Could you remind me how long it takes a Sonus flower to grow again?"

"You've asked that before and I still don't know. My guess would be around a few years. That's how long Lumin flowers take to mature."

And she could get it to grow within five hours? What the... wait a minute—I could make a lot of profit with this. Though, that likely wasn't the most effective way to make use of an Earth spirit.

Can you plant more?

I... yes...

I mean it made sense considering the size of her internal space. Given how large it was while she was still a seedling, soon enough it was going to be massive. Especially when she was fully mature.

Now I could carry all the different plants I found and could experiment with them whenever. Medicines, poisons, ingredients, auxiliaries—so much would be readily available as long as Daphne was with me. Who knows when a Lumin flower or Hydrun leaves could come in handy?

And what about magical plant treasures? Could I duplicate them and get rich?

"Uhm, Reno? You're drooling." Cindy said, her eyes full of disgust.

"Oh, oh sorry." I wiped my mouth as Silvia laughed.

N-no... I... need... treasures... to... grow...

Oh. That made sense. I guess my get rich quick scheme would be limited to common plants—at least while she was still sprouting.

"Silvia!" I looked up at my mum. It was time to min-max. "Can I borrow some of these seeds?"

"Sure, take a few. They're yours anyways remember?"

Oh yeah, I forgot. I walked over to the seed bags. I took a handful of them and handed them over to my newfound earth spirit.

How many plants can you grow at a time?

About... ten...

That was wildly impressive considering how small she was but still... I couldn’t wait until we weren’t limited to this scale.

I'll... do... my... best....

Aww, so cute! Now I felt bad about being slightly disappointed.

For now, I'd give her two seeds of each unique plant I encountered until she got full. Only then I'd worry about which to replace, or think of a way to expand her space.

Two Sonus seeds, two Hydrun seeds, two Flescia seeds and two Lumin seeds. Just like that I'd already filled eight of the ten growing spots. Wait, how are they going to be stored once fully mature? Will they have to stay in the growing spots?

No... look... here...

Hm? But that's... I followed a green creamy light which seemed eerily familiar. It led me to a wall, beyond which was a much bigger garden consisting of slightly different soil.

Is this where they'll be kept?

Yes...

How much can you store here?

About... one... hundred... plants...

Amazing! And how long for?

F-forever...

I gasped audibly. She was able to store one hundred plants here while growing ten of her own? If she could do that already then the future possibilities were limitless. I'd have permanent access to massive variety of different plants, maybe I could even use them in combat.

Daphne you're... amazing.

"Kyaaa!" She smiled, rubbing my cheek gently.

But for whatever reason, I couldn't shake this uncomfortable feeling. I'd seen that light before. That creamy green light, I'd definitely seen it before but where... the dream. Daphne, were you guiding me even back then?

I...don't... know...

Right. Was the green light really her? Maybe it was something she did unknowingly. What did it mean for that light to reappear here? Does that mean familiars are tied to their contractor's lives beyond the surface-level connection?

"Kyuu..." A new sound? Does that mean she's sad?

She nodded. Can you make more sounds other than Kyaaa and kyuu?

A... little...

I see.

What... is... your... name..?

Reno. Could you try saying that?

"R-r. Re. Reo!"

"Oh my." Silvia put a hand over her mouth. "She's a fast learner isn't she."

She's a fast mana consumer too. I'd already lost thirty percent of my mana even though I'd only used about five percent to summon her.

"Reo... Reo... kyuu..." She hung her head in disappointment.

"It's okay Reo is enough for now." I smiled.

"She certainly is an impressive familiar. Ahhh, this is making me want to train Quelia more." Cindy sighed.

"As it should." Silvia said as a matter of factly.

"Oh, and by the way Reno, you do know she's using up your mana by being here? Since you don't have much mana it might be best to send her back."

I nodded—I'd made it a habit to keep a close eye on my mana pool after yesterday. "So, how do I send her back?"

"Simply just imagine the summoning circle over the place where they were currently at and say whatever comes naturally. Usually it's something like return. Eventually though, you won't need a command word."

"And to summon them back?"

"Just the same."

"Return."

"Kyaa!" She shouted gently, shaking her head.

"It... failed." I said slowly, looking up at Silvia and Cindy.

"Well sometimes they can reject the return call."

"Huh? What? How is that..."

"But it's uncommon and only happens in rare cases. Looks like she wants to stay."

"Kyaaaaa." Daphne nodded, obviously agreeing with Silvia's last words. I looked down at her from my shoulder. Puppy eyes. Though maybe it was more accurate to say flower eyes.

Well, if you look at me like that... fine.

"Kyaa." she smiled.

"Well, if you're ready, then let's keep going. Since your affinity for earth magic has just gone up, let's start with that. The beginner spell for earth magic is called Earth Blast, and it looks a little like this."

A ball of dirt and earth formed around her raised hand, twisting and sticking together as it grew. With a sudden motion, it shot forward into the distance before disintegrating into dust.

"Earth Blast."

"Kyaa." Daphne cried approvingly.

"Quaaa!" Quelia cried, as if trying to outdo Daphne by being louder. Daphne narrowed her eyes.

"Say, aren't you supposed to say the name of the spell as you're using it? Not after?"

Cindy rubbed her cheek. "Well, I'm not used to using a chant with beginner spells."

"Is that so?" Silvia said, her face twitching in annoyance. "You do know why we use chants, right, Cindy?"

Uh-oh. Strike Two.

"Yes..." She avoided eye contact. "It's good to always use a chant so that during the visualisation phase you're using the same stimulus. Like this you're able to achieve a more consistent output because you're using the same auditory cues for each spell.

Even once you're able to cast chantlessly it's best to reserve that for special situations like a battle. Chantless should be something that only those very experienced with magic do, as doing it while inexperienced can form bad habits." Cindy said mechanically, as if giving an answer she'd memorised from a textbook.

"That's right." Silvia said. "We got there in the end, but maybe next time you could be a little less robotic, you know?"

Cindy nodded stiffly. Rough day at work, huh? Left the school just to run right into another teacher.

I raised my hand and visualised Cindy's spell from earlier, trying to replicate it with as much precision as possible. Clumps of dirt and rock swirled together in front of my left hand, before fully coalescing.

"Earth Blast." The clump of rock flew into the distance before it burst apart.

I made sure to chant, taking a sneak peek at Silvia as I did.

"Kya. Kyaa. Kyaaa." Daphne smiled take a glance at Quelia as she did. Quelia looked away. What is with this silent competition between familiars... it's strangely amusing.

"You only need a single demonstration?" Cindy said, surprised.

"Well something like that." I scratched my head. At this point I wasn't sure I even needed a demonstration, I'd seen enough magic and variations of it in my previous life even if only through media that I could largely understand the beginner spells instinctively.

"Not bad. We can move onto wind magic then." She said slowly.

"Actually, I've already learnt it."

"You have?" Silvia and Cindy said in unison. "Who taught you?"

"I kind of just... guessed?" I said.

"Show me." Cindy said.

I raised a hand, remembering that time with Jamie and the pre-scouts. Though hopefully I wouldn't use as much mana.

"Wind Blast!"

From my right hand came several currents of wind which spiralled together before they merged and rushed forwards. The gust of wind rushed through the grass, slicing everything in its path.

"Well..." Cindy looked at me awkwardly. "That certainly is the beginner wind spell but..."

"But what?" I said, confused.

"But it's not called that. At least not standardly. The beginner wind spell is called Wind's Call. Where did you get that name?" Silvia followed up.

"I don't know... it just came to me naturally." I shrugged.

"Well chants are mainly just for visualisation at the lower levels of magic, so if you've found one that's unique to you and works, it should be fine." Silvia smiled.

"Now I've really seen it all today." Cindy sighed in resignation. Then, she paused. "Do you have any plans for today? We might be here a while because light magic is kind of... hit or miss."

"Hit or miss? What do you mean?"

"Simply put, people either get it or they don't. After all, it's a bit trickier to understand and visualise than other elements."

"I see... Wait, plans? What time is it?" I turned to Silvia.

"It should be about two hours after noon. Why?"

Damn it. I was late.

"It's nothing, let's get started then." I was already late so I might as well get the most out of the lesson that I could. I didn't know when I'd see Cindy again after all.

"Okay, watch carefully."

She held her palm out and so it was flat facing up. Then she spoke.

"Light Sphere."

Particles of light gathered around her palm until it formed a ball of light which hovered above her palm. It didn't shoot out or burst or do anything fancy. It was just a ball of light.

"That's it?" I said, slightly disappointed. Cindy and Silvia nodded. "Does it do anything more? You know, anything else?" They shook their heads.

"Any offensive properties?"

"None."

"Defensive?"

"None too."

Ah, so it's just a light bulb. "And this was useful in the past?" I said, skeptical.

"It still is. You can use it to see at night or to signal to someone that you're lost or something."

"That's true..." I guess it wasn't useless. Still, I couldn't imagine many scenarios in which it'd be useful.

My mana's at thirty percent. Good. I raised my hand and tried recreating the mini sun Cindy had in her hand.

Slowly, particles of light started gathering around my palm.

"Woah, you got it that quickly? That's usually the part where most people struggle." Cindy said in shock.

I see... it was probably the nature of light itself that made this hard to visualise for most people. Most didn't know that light was both a particle and a wave, and I didn't imagine the people here had much of a grasp of physics so it made sense that they'd struggle to visualise light.

They were more likely to be thinking about the sun and its’ rays rather than what light was fundamentally. It could equally be that as much as it could be something else, after all light was immaterial and generally harder to visualise compared to concepts like fire or water, even without considering the particle nature of it.

"Three new spells and a lesson with Glyffe. Well done Reno, you've worked hard today" Silvia said softly.

"Thanks." I smiled. "I should get going now though."

"Hm? Where to?" Cindy said, curious.

"Butter Town, right?" Silvia said knowingly. I nodded.

"It's fine if I go by myself right?" I looked to Silvia.

"Go." She smiled. "You've earned it."

"Then," I looked at Cindy and bowed. "Thank you teach!"

"I-it wasn't anything special." She said, flicking her short hair. Of course she'd say that.

"Thanks mum!" She smiled. "Then I'll be off, I've got a competition to win!"

I dashed away, running through the hills, Butter Town in sight.

"He's still that energetic after all that? I knew he wasn't actually tired back then."