Daybreak of Adventure Part 1: A Brief Respite

3.1 A Brief Respite

With the chaos now behind us, we were able to land and catch our breaths. Solvaleu sat me down on a nearby boulder before collapsing onto the ground and splaying out her limbs. Her actions were so exaggerated and goofy that I almost felt embarrassed at thinking she was cool earlier.

“What was that spell you used to defeat the wyverns?”

“It wasn’t really a spell… I wanted to try using a qi technique since I finally have a body. But it looks like it was a bit too much for a first timer...” She managed to explain through labored breaths.

“Qi? That power martial artists sometimes use? Don’t tell me you wanted to try that just because of how my Master was fighting those thugs before...”

“Yeah, that’s right. It was a technique every kid attempts at least once. It took a lot more out of me than I expected though...”

“I can’t say I’ve ever heard of a qi technique like that before. Regardless, I’ve recovered enough magic now to heal you at least. Let me help.” I started to cast a healing spell, but she put a hand up to stop me.

“Nah, you need to rest as well. Though if you know a spell to make water, that would be nice.”

I nodded. I reached into my bag and pulled out a cup. I originally planned to leave my bags in one of the lockers at the guild, but I was glad now that I brought it. I filled the cup with water using conjuring and handed it to Solvaleu.

“Thanks...” She drank down the entire cup of water with a single gulp. “How are you able to cast magic like this anyway? I didn’t see a magic circle at all.”

“I used the other school of magic known as conjuring. I’ve been studying it for the past eight years.”

“Seriously? I was summoned by a conjurer? No wonder the summoning was strange.”

“I’ll agree that it was not a normal summoning ceremony. What was strange about it on your end?”

“Well, normally, whenever a spirit would get called for a summoning, the goddess would call them up and give them a briefing on what their summoner would be like beforehand. They’d also get most of their memories wiped as well. But this time, I was just chillin’ in my room eating crisps when BAM! I was surrounded by a rainbow light.”

“Wipe your memories? Is it...bad that they weren’t wiped?”

“Hmm... It’s probably fine. They were mostly wiped when I was supposed to be summoned before, so I doubt I remember anything too critical.”

“You were supposed to be summoned before?”

“Yeah, but something went wrong. The goddess just had me hang out in the divine world after. Said it could be even a few centuries ’til another compatible summoner appeared. It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long though...”

“Was it... Do you think that was eight years ago per chance?”

“Eight years, huh?” Solvaleu sat up and thought for a bit. “It’s kinda hard ta tell because there wasn’t really day and nighttime in the divine realm, but...that’s probably about right.”

I took a deep breath before hopping down and walking up to her. She looked up to me with a raised eyebrow, but I just put my hand out towards her.

“That would have been me. I’m your summoner.”

“Whaaa?” Solvaleu blinked a few times before jumping up to look me straight in the eyes. She was a bit taller than I was, so she had to bend down slightly. “You’re my original summoner? I guess that makes some sense... But wait, I thought you were a conjurer?”

“After my summoning ceremony failed...I got kicked out of my village. I had to learn conjuring if I wanted to achieve my goals.”

“So that’s what happened...” Solvaleu took my hand. “Well then, it’s nice to finally meet you, Master Lunar!”

“D-Don’t call me master.” It was one thing for an actual instructor like Erda to be called ‘Master.’ Someone referring to me that way, especially a girl who looked to be the same age as me, just felt awkward.

“Fine.. Lunar-sama?”

“What is ‘sama’ supposed to be?”

“You don’t do that in this culture? Hmm... Mistress?”

“Just ‘Lunar’ is fine. You don’t need to be so formal with me.”

“That’s fair. This is one of those ‘I am thou’ type scenarios, yeah? So I guess we’re equals.”

“Maybe the memory erasing was to prevent you from saying things that don’t make any sense...” Almost half of the words she had said to me were unintelligible. Rather, I could tell what the words were, but they made no sense.

“Eh, it can’t be helped now I guess.” Solvaleu grasped my hand with hers, pulling it into a handshake. “Nice to meetcha, my summoner!”

“L-Likewise.” Her smile was so radiant that it was like the sun itself. I couldn’t help but turn away from how bright it was. My face even felt a little warm too...

“Hey, are you feeling all right, Lunar? Your face is a bit red. Let’s rest some more.”

She picked me up and started to carry me back over to the boulder, but I resisted.

“N-No, I’m all right... I think I just need to change out of this warm dress.”

Solvaleu sat me back on my feet and I went back over to my bag. Thankfully, I thought to bring a change of clothes for after the ceremony as well. It was a simple red and gray tunic that I could throw on easily. But the problem was where to get changed. I looked around the mountaintop for an area with coverage, but frankly there wasn’t any.

“Solvaleu, do you mind keeping watch while I get changed.”

“Huh? You want me to watch you get changed? Are you into that kind of thing?”

“Wh-What are you implying?! I want you to keep an eye out for monsters or any intruders who might see me naked!”

“Ah, so that’s what it is. Can’t you just make a barrier like your master did?”

“I don’t have enough mana back for one of those yet. Just keep watch, okay?”

“Mhm. Got it.” Solvaleu stood up and spread her wings before floating a short ways into the air.

I quickly got out of my ceremony dress so that I could change into my more comfortable tunic. Thankfully despite being rather elegant, the dress was one that could be disassembled quite quickly. It was truly a marvel of fashion engineering. I grabbed a ribbon to tie up my hair as well. I didn’t have enough time to properly braid it, but I preferred at least having it in a ponytail to having it down. Wearing my hair down honestly reminded me a bit too much of when I was a kid. I didn’t want those painful memories to come back to me.

I quickly put the tunic on and checked back on Solvaleu who was still flying above. I could somehow instinctively sense exactly where she was even when I wasn’t looking directly at her. That was probably one of the perks of our bond as summoner and familiar. Even when we were this far apart, she felt so close to me.

“Solvaleu, I’m done changing.”

“That was quick. I see you changed your hair too. It looks good on ya.” Solvaleu flew back down and hovered in front of me.

“Thank you. This isn’t how I normally style my hair but it will suffice for now.”

“So, what’s the plan? We heading for town?”

“Well, I’d like to. But it’ll probably be best to camp here for today.”

“It’s barely past noon,” Solvaleu said looking up at the sky. “You sure you wanna set up camp already?”

“We probably won’t need to spend the night here. We just need to secure a safe spot to nap and then we can teleport to a town before the sun even sets.” Our original plan had been for Master to set me up with a town that she thought would be a good base of operations before she went to her conference, but that part of the plan was up in the air now.

“Gotcha. A nap does sound good...” Solvaleu let out a big yawn as she attempted to cover her mouth.

“You were just summoned, can you be that tired already?”

“Yeah, seems like using qi takes a lot out of ya... Honestly... I probably...” I watched as Solvaleu’s eyelids began to droop more and more. She started to fall out of the sky towards me.

“Hey! Solvaleu! Pull yourself together! Hey!” I caught her in my arms as she fell, but her weight was enough to push me to the ground. Her sleeping face was pressing up against my chest. Normally I would be able to enhance my strength with magic and lift her, but I was still too weak to pull that off.

Just as I was trying to figure out how to get her off of me, there was a poof and a weight was lifted from my chest. I looked down to see that Solvaleu had disappeared. In her place was...

“A cat?”

Now sleeping on my chest in Solvaleu’s place was a small black cat. However, unlike a normal cat, she had those familiar black wings sprouting from her back.

“Just what kind of familiar are you?” I scooped her into my arms and stood up. She was sleeping soundly without a care in the world.

I dug into my bag and got out a magic tool. It was a device that could set up a small tent that would look like stone on the outside. It wasn’t large enough for us to stand up in, but would be more than enough room for two people to sleep in. In fact, there would be even more room now that she had changed to this smaller form. Master had developed this magic tool for the times we were on the road together. She was no artificer, but she could still make helpful things on occasion.

“Right. This should be a good spot.”

I sat down and activated the magic tool. The field expanded around us, blocking out most of the light from outside. Thankfully, it somehow came with pillows and sheets as well. I dug a cookie out of my bag to have for a quick snack. It wasn’t much, but sugar helped when it came to recovering mana. I lay down and pulled kitty Solvalue close to me. She seemed to purr gently in my arms.

It had already felt like a million things had happened today, and it was barely lunchtime. I felt like I had more than earned a nap. Hopefully Master would stay safe for her conference.

I raised my right hand above me to stare at it. I finally had a crest of my own. It was proof that I had really, truly become a summoner.

With those thoughts and worries running through my mind, I drifted to sleep with my familiar in my arms.

While I slept, I had a dream reminiscing of one of the first adventures I went on with Master. We were on our way back to town from exterminating a monster when we were accosted by a strange man. Looking back, I probably should have suspected that she was someone exceptional...

“Tell me, are you Erda the Heretic?” A man in priestly clothes had asked as he approached.

“And what if I am?” Master had replied.

“I am an acolyte of the Spiritual Cathedral. I have taken it upon myself to smite you for your heresy!”

“The Spiritual Cathedral you say? I believe I was already given a pardon by the Grand Cardinal.”

“Even so, I can’t just sit around peacefully when I know someone like you exists. Someone who ignores the way of the elemental spirits and manipulates children!"

“Master? Are you manipulating me?” I had asked innocently.

“Not for the most part, no,” she had said.

“So you admit it! You fiend! I shall purge you from this world where you stand!” the man yelled.

“Go stand back a ways, Lunar. This will be over soon.”

I had stepped back and hid behind a tree.

“Now you’ll see what the truth looks like! Elemental Spirits! Heed my call! Show this infidel the power of absolute faith! Holy Judgment!”

“And, Cancel.”

“Wh-What?”

The magic that was gathering around the man had disappeared in an instant.

He attempted the spell several more times, each time instantly dismissed by Master.

“H-How can this be? How can you deny me! My faith is immeasurable!”

“And that’s exactly why you’ve failed. You let your faith blind you to the truth. And that’s why you’re unable to accept that which you cannot understand. Magic isn’t something that needs your faith, but something you need to open your heart to understand.”

“Bullshit!” The man had yelled. “Were you taught nothing at the academy?”

“Just because you’re taught something when you’re young doesn’t make it the extent of all knowledge. Facts don’t change, only our understanding of them does. Until you can learn that, you will always be blind.”

With that, Master punched him in the stomach, sending him flying into the treeline.

“Well, that’s that then. Come on, Lunar. Let’s go turn in that hoooooonkshooooooo.”

“That what?”

“You know, the haaaaaaaaahn—”

I immediately woke up. It seemed that someone snoring had interrupted my dream...

I looked down to see that Solvaleu had changed back from her cat form into her human form. Since she was taller than me, I ended up with my face buried in her chest. Somehow, despite just being summoned into this world, it was larger than mine or even my Master’s. I wasn’t self-conscious about my figure or anything like that. But it did make me wonder how a familiar’s body was constructed. Especially since Archangel had a rather large chest as well. Perhaps they were gifts from the divine realm?

Out of curiosity, I reached up to grab Solvaleu’s chest. Unsurprisingly, they felt as real as my own. I touched mine to compare and they were definitely smaller. Not that I was self-conscious about that at all.

“Oh? I didn’t know you were that kind of summoner, Lunar.”

“Bwehahahuh!?” I leapt backwards at Solvaleu’s surprise words. I hadn’t realized that she had woken up and the snoring had stopped.

“Huh? What’s the matter? We’re both girls, right? I don’t mind.” Solvaleu started to crawl towards me. The inside of the tent wasn’t very large, so I didn’t have anywhere to run away to.

“I...I will do no such thing! My hand just happened to end up there as I was waking up is all. You were asleep in my arms so it’s understandable that it would happen.” I wasn’t sure why I was making excuses for myself. Something told me that giving in to Solvaleu would lead me on a fast track to adulthood. I had shared baths and slept next to Master Erda all the time with no issues, but somehow with Solvaleu I felt something pause in the back of my mind.

“Really? That’s a shame. Here I was excited to have a body again.” Solvaleu let out a large yawn as she stretched. “I’m hungry. Do you have any food?”

“We can eat when we get to town. Do you think you can turn into that cat form at will?”

“I can try. Hold on a sec.” Solvaleu seemed to meditate for a moment before a poof of white smoke enveloped her. She once again took on that form of a kitten with wings.

“What kind of familiar are you, anyway?” I asked. “I had thought you were a demi-god type like Archangel. But maybe you’re a divine beast type?”

“I’m not really sure. What all types are there?”

“The weakest are beast types. They have limited spellcasting ability but are physically capable. They usually resemble normal animals, though some can have monstrous traits as well. Next up is the manbeast type. They resemble humans but have a large number of animal characteristics, so it’s easy to tell them apart at a glance. You look almost completely human aside from your wings, so that’s out.”

“Oh! Are they beastmen?! Girls with cat ears?! I wanna see the kemonomimi girls!”

“Once again I have no idea what you’re talking about. They look almost identical to their beast counterparts but are able to stand on two legs and speak the human language. They’re popular for laborer jobs because they can handle almost any task without needing to be paid.”

“They should really pay them. Otherwise that’s slave labor.” Solvaleu seemed very annoyed by the concept.

“Their summoners get paid, so it’s not like they’re getting nothing for their labor. Summoners and familiars are linked after all.”

“Lunar, it seems like you just really don’t wanna give me an allowance.”

“Wh-Where did that come from?”

“Money please!”

“It’s hard to take your requests seriously while you’re still a cat...”

Solvaleu poofed back to her human form and held out her hand. I sighed and dug out a few silver and copper coins to give her before continuing my explanation.

“Anyway, above manbeast types are monster types. They have a wide-range of spellcasting abilities and power, so they are one of the preferred types for summoners who wish to become Magi. Under certain circumstances, they are able to undergo a transformation called an evolution where they become stronger. They’re able to communicate telepathically as well, so they’re handy in a lot of situations.”

“Huh, telepathy does sound handy,” Solvaleu said as she looked over the coins.

“There’s a basic communication spell that functions similarly. I can try and teach it to you later. Moving on, the strongest is demi-god types. They usually take on forms similar to humans and have powers beyond comprehension. Archangel that we met before is a demi-god type, but the most common demi-god type familiars are fairies.”

“Wait, I thought you mentioned divine beasts? Where do they fit into this ranking?”

“Divine beasts are an enigma that fall outside the normal ranking system. Some are mistaken for beast or monster type familiars so they aren’t studied often. Some summoners go their whole lives without realizing that their beast familiar is actually a divine beast. For instance, there was a boy in my hometown that had a white tiger familiar. Master theorized that it could be a divine beast known as—”

“Oh! Byakko right?”

“What? No. It’s known as Great White Tiger.”

“Eh? But you always see Byakko in these kinds of settings...”

“Ignoring your interruption... The Great Dragon that the mayor of my village had was also a divine beast type. It had enough power to keep the surrounding forest free of monsters all the way to the next town in each direction just by existing.”

“Ah, so that’s why you said wyverns weren’t comparable to Dragons. Wait...do divine beasts all just have ‘Great’ tacked on to the beginning of their names?”

“Not at all. There’s also the Great...wait maybe you’re right...” Her nonsense had finally gotten through to me. If she was able to notice something like that instantly, perhaps she wasn’t as idiotic as I thought. Or perhaps I really was as unobservant as Master had claimed...

“So if I’m a divine beast, should I be called Great Solvaleu? I like it! Has a nice ring to it.”

“Yeah yeah, you can be ‘Great’ whatever. The point is, if you’re really a divine beast, we have no way to directly measure your power.”

“That’s not true. I think there’s a pretty easy way to measure my power.” Solvaleu stood up, ripping through the tent and deactivating the magic device.

“You’re going to say something asinine, aren’t you?”

“You said that Great Dragon is pretty powerful, right? I’ll just have to beat it up! That’ll show you how powerful the Great Solvaleu is!”

“Must you always resort to violence? At least Master usually claims that it’s self-defense.”

I had the sinking feeling that I had just put dangerous thoughts into her head...