"Well, that was a fun test," Sarcasm was thick in his speach as Lucian picked himself up from the ground, the attack had left him with a single hit point, and that was only due to it being in a duel. Ren healed him afterwards, which let the pain fade away, but the knowledge of being so easily slapped down was something that was certain to stick with Lucian for a while. He certainly needed to get stronger, not just so he could hit harder, but so that he could get hit and not suffer from insta death.

Afterwards he watched in awe as Ren pushed his powers to what appeared to be a limit, that when passed added great strength, but at a hefty cost. "Well, if needed I can heal you, as it seems you are a bit busy dispersing the energy. When your health hits low, I'll start using my roots to keep you alive. Unless you are trying to kill yourself, in which case, I'm sorry but I will have to stop you." He smirked as he finished, funny how things that could kill a person could be turned into a joke. Lucian stood close by, but out of the firing range, just in case things went sour.

"Nope... not gonna kill myself..." Ren managed to speak this through pained gasps, as this was clearly quite painful. Letting the energy build up at times and using other spells instead, like Mortal Demon's Flame. Since it had a longer casting time, more energy could build up during each cast. This demonic spell seemed to create some dark, powerful flame that was both eldritch and physical in quality. Ren was just using it to shoot powerful fireballs, this seeming to consume even more HP. Lucian would indeed need to use Healing Roots to heal Ren, but the moment he tried to connect his spirit to Ren as he would need to in order to use that power on Ren, Ren's eyes would widen.

The power for healing roots would be consumed, consuming all of Lucian's usages of it, but before that corruption would spread to Lucian, Ren would throw him back with a Repulse Wave, Ren's HP starting to get pretty low. "Don't... do that..." he managed to gasp out, falling to his knees now. Luckily he still had his Runes. He used one, its healing not as effective as it should have been for some reason as the positive, healing qualities of the magic were somewhat pushed away. It still healed Ren somewhat, but not as much as it should have, but it allowed Ren to stand back up and stay alive.

Ren had to use all of his runes in order to keep his HP from hitting 0 before the energy finally dispersed after one long minute. Ren fell back onto the ground, panting very heavily as he did so. "Damn... that hurt..." He looked quite exhausted. He barely had any energy to swipe the windows that appeared. "Ugh... sorry about your... power or whatever that was..."

That had been an intense minute, Ren's HP having gotten dangerously low during that. It was clear that the ailment was powerful, but extremely dangerous.

After some deliberation and calculation, Sasha punched in the points.


She figured that its stats would make it too weak for combat. If she could have a pet that could cast spells from a safe location, then that would be a huge help already. Sasha pressed the enter button excitedly. She knew she could be screwing up her choice, but she didn't care. The thrill of getting something new was overwhelming.

After Sasha entered the Stat values for her familiar, a window would appear before her. It revealed her Familiar's stats, plus the Skills it had if she pressed on the button that said 'Skills' in the Familiar's window. There was also an Equipment window, but it seemed like your Familiar had no Equipment as of yet, but this window did reveal that there was a prospect of it either getting equipment or Sasha being able to equip it.



Right now it seemed quite weak, but it was only level one and would not only grow on its own as it leveled up, but also as Sasha grew as well in both power and expertise in enchantment magic apparently. She could feel new power and potential welling up within her, as if something was about to burst forth from inside of her in a rush of power. She felt like all she needed to do was say one final word to finalize the birth of her familiar, the following window appearing upon feeling this feeling.



The final step in forming her familiar, the name in which would be imprinted upon its very spirit and how that spirit would appear before her.

"You know, for how powerful your dark magics are, it really does seem like they want to kill you in the process..." Lucian looked at Ren on the ground, a bit puzzled as to what he should say to the exhausted youth, "Yes it makes sense to use them I guess in life or death, slave or freedom circumstances, but otherwise, is it really practical?" It was during times like this Lucian was more than happy to have his powers tied with nature and the elements, he could train without them usually trying to off him, and if anything, he felt a greater respect for the world he lived on after doing so...with the added bonus that he could play games with his elementals and therefore never needed to worry about multiplayer games ever again. "Well, you have anything else you are going to try, or are you calling it a day after that one?"

"That's usually what dark magic is. I am pretty sure that ill be able to endure more once I train them up". Ren wanted to say more, but figured that Lucian was pretty much right. His own magic was indeed trying to kill him, which was indeed one way of looking at it. Power did have a price after all, and usually the strongest of powers came with the greatest of prices. When Lucian asked if they were going to call it a day, Ren just gave a nod. "For now... I want to visit Saito and ask him about Soul Familiars, you're... free to tag along". While Ren wanted to try it out on the spot, he didn't want to go into something new without researching it first.

Ren usually wouldn't tell anyone else his plans for where he was going, but for some reason he found himself doing so. Well, if they were in a party, it wouldn't be a good idea to hide information from one another. They all needed to get stronger, seeing what they were up against before had been just the bottom of the barrel apparently. They all needed to get stronger, much stronger. "Plus, there are a few other things I want to ask him about".

Ren thought of the Enforcers, but decided against contacting them for now. While it wasn't that Ren didn't trust them, he figured it would be good to ask information from someone they already knew well rather than some people they had just met. Plus, other than Keiichi at school, Ren had no idea how else to get into contact with them, and Keiichi wouldn't have been the one he wanted to talk to anyone. That Henry was much more interesting in Ren's regard, since he was a mage.

Ren stood up now and healed himself once again with a regular spell this time, since his FoC would take some time to recharge. He would have to make new Runes later, which wasn't exactly a short or easy process, and he wanted to do it now, but figured gathering information was more important. "Anyway... lets get going". Ren began to walk now after breaking the Pseudospace that Lucian had set up with his own usage of ID Escape, Ren walking to Saito's now regardless of whether or not Lucian would follow.

---

(If Lucian decides to follow Ren)

Luckily the store was still opened when they got there, as it was starting to get late. Ren didn't have any intention to grind there, he just wanted to talk. Upon entering the store, Saito looked up from the register and gave a small wave. "Yo, haven't seen you two in a day or so. What brings you here this time? More grinding?"

Ren shook his head. "Information. What can you tell us... about Soul Familiars?"

Saito's eyes widened a bit upon mentioning this, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. "Only that they are incredibly rare, quite strong potentially, difficult to master, and can be considered a double edged sword. Why do you ask? Did some boss monster drop Soul Familiar Gems or something?" Saito was indeed quite curious about that.

"Something like that". Ren wasn't sure if he should tell Saito exactly where they got them, so he decided against it.

"Well I've been trying to get my hands on one for some time, even got myself a book on how to raise them". Saito went into the door behind that bookshelf again, bringing back a book a few minutes later. "You're free to borrow it, just make sure you bring it back in one piece. Pretty sure it doesn't qualify as a Skill Book, but still, I would like it back regardless". Saito handed Lucian the book, no notifications appearing when it was in his hands, signifying that it was indeed not a Skill Book.

"What about you? You have something you wanted to ask me about as well?"

Lucian simply nodded and traveled with Ren to Saito's, he had some buisness of his own to attend to with him, some pay back of Saito's investment, and a few things to inquire about.

Ren got to business straight away, and it seemed that Saito knew about the Soul Familiars as well, even having a book on them. "Thanks." Lucian took the book and gave a friendly nod in return. "And yes, I do have a few things to talk about." He placed the book down on the counter close to himself, "Inventory," He then proceeded to take out the psuedo stones he had, along with the High Quality Orange Magic Dust. "So firstly, I have some items for you, Your investment is starting to pay off it would seem." Pushing them towards Saito, "That really is all for now, I will probably come by another time for training, I wish to spar with you sometime." Even though Saito wasn't a combat oriented mage, the memories of his attacks lay fresh in Lucian's mind, and if Lucian did indeed wish to get stronger, he would need to learn to defend against multiple types of magic.

Saito looked at the items, the Pseudospace stones only catching his eye for a moment. What caught his eye for much longer though was the High Quality Orange Magic Dust. "Heh, you are certainly right on that regard". This was his response after he opened the bag, putting his face a bit over the bag, but not directly, and he seemed to be smelling the contents by fanning a bit of them towards his nose. "This is some high quality Magic Dust. This stuff's rare and can be used to make some good stuff, and its the right kind for my type of magic". He closed the bag up and gave a nod.

"You paid me back and then some. The stones are pretty cheap, but the Dust is the good thing here. Five pounds of it is indeed a great find, worth a hearty chunk of cash, probably several million yen if not more".

Ren's eyes widened as he heard this, and it made him wish he had taken some.

"How would you like to put that dust to use?" Ren spoke up now, opening up his Inventory and removing the Life Water Glyph. "I am sure this is worth something right? A Glyph with a healing spell, and our healing powers are just like healing potions, they work immediately".

Saito picked it up and looked it over, putting his ring near it and it flashed for a moment. "If what you say is true... lets test it..." He grabbed a knife from behind the counter and cut his own hand with it. A pretty deep cut, Saito wincing a bit before he picked up the Glyph. "Lets see if... other people can use that Gamer healing..." He held his ring to the Glyph, it glowing for a few moments before its magic was activated, the cut on his hand healing as the pain went away, his eyes widening in amazement.

"Even if its power isn't too great, the immediate healing affect is how this thing is worth millions. Glyphs aren't exactly easy to make and the materials to make them are expensive. Sometimes you can make one accidentally through Rune Creation, but that happenstance is rare and the Glyphs created are weak, but this thing is worth a hearty chunk of change". He put the Glyph into his pocket.

"Alright, I can make you some items and still have some dust leftover, this Glyph here serving as payment. What do you want?"

Ren thought for a few moments. A magical item made by a pretty skilled mage. "We fought some magic user... who had a strange barrier around them. It was invisible and not like a shield... can you make anything like that?"

"You mean a Magic Barrier. Skilled magic users have things like those. Once you learn a bit of magic you can create one yourself. I don't really know what type you want exactly that goes in accordance with your own types of magic, so that is up to you and I recommend checking out the Auction on that regard. I can make an item that can create a barrier for you so you could have a second one".

Ren thought for a moment and gave a nod. More defense was better than more offense.

"What about you Lucian? Anything you'd like within reason?" Saito looked towards Lucian now.

Lucian thought for a moment, trying to determine whether he wanted to ask for more of a shield or if he wanted more of a thorn mail like spell, like the one that the foes had that cut down Sylph. "I may just go with a barrier as well." He raised his hand to his chin and gave it a light rub, "...yeah a barrier, I could probably get a better understanding of them by simply having one on me anyway." Along with the fact that he could likely get one shot by everyone on his team at the moment...but he wasn't about to admit that.

He picked the book that Saito had handed him back up and began to quickly go through it, "So, aside from what this book is telling me, do you have any further tips or advice concerning a familiar, and have you ever seen one be made before?" He looked back up at saito after rushing through a few pages, just trying to get the gest of it, "Jumping subjects I know." he looked at Saito.

"Well first ill talk about Barriers, since you two both seem to want them". Saito let out a small yawn. He seemed to have a few bags beneath his eyes and a small stubble on his usually cleanly shaven chin, implying that he had been staying up late and had yet to shave. "Mages can't really employ defensive techniques like Auras, Energy Blocking, or other such things. They use two different techniques. The first one" he raised up one finger, "is one that you two are familiar with. Shields. A shield acts as a wall, protecting the mage completely from all damage or perhaps giving additional resistance to damage. The problem is that they sometimes require power to maintain and can be broken after taking a certain amount of damage".

Ren thought of his Aqua Shield spell, which was like the second one. It gave a little damage resistance, but was extremely dangerous if used in the vicinity of lightning users.

"The second technique is using a Magic Barrier". He raised up two fingers now. "Magic Barriers are more like Armor. They don't protect completely, but instead exist to absorb a brunt of the damage and sometimes employ other unique affects depending upon the form of magic you used to create it. They don't cost power to maintain either, which makes them very nice. The problem is though that if they take a certain amount of damage at one time or are broken through means made to exclusively break Barriers then they take a bit of time to replenish themselves, leaving the mage highly vulnerable. So while they are considered the most powerful among Defensive Techniques in the Abyss... they are also the most risky if your opponent can shatter them. A well experienced and prepared mage though always has means of getting around this fatal flaw, which brings us back to a common Abyss phrase, 'A well prepared mage is like a fortress'".

While it was a long explanation, Ren seemed to understand for the most part. It seemed there was more to being a mage, or even fighting other Ability Users, then Ren thought.

"You two, and possibly even your friends, all have plenty of offensive abilities. Its at this time that you should start learning defensive ones as well. Now then... onto your question about Soul Familiars".

Lucian wouldn't really find anything useful in the first few pages. Those were mostly intro pages on the properties of a Soul Familiar. Even without a proper close read of those pages, he could tell that they weren't what he wanted to hear in terms of tips or advice, but mostly just 'lore' stuff if one could describe it as such.

"As for tips on Soul Familiars... I haven't seen one made before. People usually keep Soul Familiars private for certain reasons. They are created from your Psyche, so their appearance and personality can usually speak a bit about their master. While they start out weak, they can become very powerful both on their own and as you grow stronger as well. There is... one thing that you need to take note of though".

Ren raised a brow here in curiosity, but kept quiet and just let Saito talk.

"A Soul Familiar's life force and mana, or HP and MP I guess in Gamer Terms, are linked to their master's. This essentially means that the HP and MP pool of your Soul Familiar and yourselves will be combined. This means that if your Soul Familiar takes damage, so will you. Of course, I think in the book it states that as your Familiar grows stronger the less you'll take from it take damage, but it is still something to consider when making a Soul Familiar. So as for a tip... try not to use your Soul Familiar against tougher opponents unless its absolutely necessary. Most people keep them secret and use them as trump cards, since the HP and MP linking is permanent and happens regardless of them being summoned, as does their growing since they will grow stronger whenever you grow stronger".

That was a pretty heavy tip, one that Ren was definitely going to take into consideration when making his Soul Familiar. He still wanted to use it, but now instead thought differently on how he would make it.

"Any other questions?"

"You mentioned something about Defensive Techniques..." Ren spoke now, his tone curious.

"Are you interested?"

Ren gave a nod to Saito's inquiry.

"Well... I don't know about auras or other defensive techniques... but if anything you guys might be able to perform Energy Blocking, since you know how to handle Energy. I don't really know much about it, but I recommend checking the Auction site on it. Someone may have wrote a book about it in hopes that someone would buy it". Saito's tone sounded a bit 'sarcastic' there, as if he was speaking about some stupid moneymaking scheme that only idiots would fall for.

Ren's expression was different as he just nodded, taking into consideration falling for this moneymaking scheme since books were far more useful for the Gamers than they were for other people.

"Any other questions?"

"For now, that is all from me." Lucian set the book down, what Saito had to say about the soul familiars was a bit more useful than what he had read on the first few pages, and it seemed he would just have to jump into it to see what it would be like to have one. His talk afterwards on defensive skills got Lucian's mind ticking away though, thinking of ways to block and protect himself, along with countering certain types of spells.

Lucian started to turn to leave the shop, "Thanks a bunch, Saito." He waved on his way out, "And I'll catch you later Ren, play safe." He decided that he was going to take some time to train solo...or solo in the sense that he would be the only human there, he would always have the company of his elementals, and likely tomorrow he would have the company of him self, or a familiar made out of himself...hopefully that would actually be a useful thing. He tried to imagine what aspects of him it could have, if it was him at his best or worst, could Lucian even get on with himself? or would he drive himself mad? Thoughts along those lines occupied his mind during his trip all the way home, but after he had flopped himself down and turned on his television, he picked up two controllers and spent the rest of the day playing games with Sylph like he had promised.

"A name… and appearance." Sasha frowned at the instructions. She expected to name the creature. Coming up with an appearance was another matter entirely. As much as she would like to be, Sasha wasn't a particularly creative person. Wouldn't a humanoid work just fine?

That was a head start. A person. A male. Tall, dark, and handsome? Sasha shook her head. While that was a nice image, she wasn't sure it was fitting for a familiar. Something more like a pet would be preferable. She tried thinking of a cute child, but nothing clear formed in her mind.

A cool breeze came in through the bedroom window. She hadn't realized it was open. The curtains flapped gently in its wake, and then something colorful floated in. A blue butterfly, clueless about where it was treading. Sasha was mesmerized by the creature dancing in the sunlight. A little thought popped into her head.

"Name… name… Aoi? Chou? Chouko?" she said to herself, rattling off a list of cliché names. She really couldn't think of anything appropriate. It was like having her own baby.

"Aoi it is, then," she announced as she tapped in the name. As for the visualization, she simply looked at the fluttering blue butterfly.

While Lucian set the book down, Ren picked it back up. The only response Lucian got to his 'play safe' remark was a 'yea, whatever' remark. Whether or not Ren left the store right after Lucian did was unclear since Lucian had already made his way home. As Lucian spent more time with his elementals he would discover that they were starting to feel more like comrades or companions rather than just typical pets or summons, Sylph rather enjoying the time that the two of them spent together playing games, and she was starting to get a little better, although was still having trouble with things above Beginner level games and anything above 'Intermediate' was a bit out of her league for now.

---

As Sasha visualized a name and appearance, she would feel a strange power beginning to well up from inside of her. It was a warm feeling that was growing warmer by the moment as something within her began to crystallize from deep within, some strange power that felt new, yet familiar. As the power gained shape she could feel that it was gaining 'soul' as well, and slowly that power began to gather and move, as if it was now trying to leave her body. It was painful, but also intoxicating. Like getting hit with a hammer that injects you with ecstasy. Something was trying to slowly take this crystallized lump of soul and power and wrench it from her body, a something that was both foreign and familiar.

After what was probably several long, excruciating minutes, her HP and MP even draining in the process leaving her at 50% of each, the power and soul finally appeared in front of her in the form of a strange, floating crystal that was blue in color. As that appearance she visualized came to mind once again the crystal began to shudder and crack slowly, chips and light streaming out from the cracks before, in a brilliant flash, it shattered, the force being enough to throw anyone across the room, but somehow Sasha was capable of remaining in place, albeit barely.

When visibility returned, a shape could be seen floating there. It was about six inches or so in height. It appeared to be a small, quite fragile looking girl. She had a few things that set her apart though other than her almost doll like appearance. These being her rather obviously pointed and inhuman ears and the large butterfly wings on her back, the likes of which gave off a very small blue sheen to them. This winged girl slowly opened her small eyes and looked at Sasha, holding out one of her gloved hands.

"Greetings my creator and reflection. Do you wish to make a contract with me?" Her voice was quite and demure, but it appeared that the process was successful. Now there was only one thing left to do, a window appearing in front of Sasha with just two buttons on it.

Yes, or No.

Sasha was left breathless by the process. She collapsed to her knees, unable to hold her own weight up. The winged girl floated in mid-air, looking at her expectantly. The choice was a no-brainer.

"Not really what I expected. But you're pretty darn cute, Aoi." Sasha said dryly. An arthropod familiar must have been impossible after all. She mustered her strength to stand up, and then tapped the button labeled "yes".

"So, what can you do? Fetch?"