For a while, I didn't do anything besides looking at the familiars.
A spirit familiar hovered nearby, weaving sparks of fire around its hands.
Not far from it, a beast lunged at a training dummy—claws tearing through it in a single swipe.
There were two types of familiars. Spirit and beast.
Spirit connected to magic, while beast focused on physical attack.
And I'm hoping to get a spirit.
While checking out the beast familiars in their enclosures, I stopped in front of a cage. Thick chains wrapped around it. Something moved inside—but the darkness swallowed its shape.
Suddenly, a hand landed on my shoulder.
"That cage is used to seal a ferocious beast."
Startled, I jumped back and turned around. A professor stood behind me, wearing a clean white lab coat.
"Sorry, sorry—I didn't mean to scare you."
"Professor Leaf?"
"Yes, that's me."
Professor Leaf Burner.
In the game, he was the NPC who handled potions, medicine… and summoning.
"What are you doing here? Do you want to buy a potion?"
"Oh no. I want to summon a familiar."
Leaf Burner's eyes gleamed like a kid in a candy store. He grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the summoning chamber.
"Why didn't you tell me from the start? I've been waiting so long for a new summoning ritual!"
◆
"Now you just need to walk to the altar and use this to summon your familiar," Leaf said, handing me a slip of paper.
"But remember this—no matter how bad your familiar is, never hate it. It is a piece of you, after all."
"Yes, sir."
As I stepped into the chamber, the air shifted. Cold. Then hot. Then heavy.
Each step made the atmosphere change again, like the space itself couldn't settle.
I pulled out the paper Leaf had given me. Strange runes covered its surface—none of which I could read.
"…Burn this, then pour in mana… was it?"
Using the altar's flame, I burned the paper and tossed it in. A ring of fire flared to life as the paper slowly turned to ash.
I poured all the mana stored in my ring into the altar.
Immediately, layers of magic circles appeared, spinning slowly around it.
"I wonder what I'll get…"
A grin tugged at my lips.
Come on daddy wants a new pair of shoes.
The altar flared. Light burst outward, swallowing the chamber whole.
When it faded—
Something sat at the center of the altar.
I looked down.
It was…
…just a black mass.
A lump of goo without shape or form. Not fully liquid, yet not solid either. Like some kind of Newtonian fluid.
[New familiar have been added into your inventory]
└[■■■ Lv.1]
The surface rippled slightly.
"What is this?"
Leaf was already standing right next to me.
"…Don't just appear next to me without saying anything!"
"Sorry," he said, slightly crouching.
"I'm just… fascinated by your familiar. What's his species?"
"Wait... Let me show it to you for a sec."
I pulled out the notification from earlier and showed it to Leaf.
[New familiar have been added into your inventory]
└[■■■ Lv.1]
"There's no name and no description." Leaf said quietly.
Even though he seemed easygoing, he was actually very serious about his job. That's what made him popular in the community.
"Have you seen something like this before professor?"
He tried to touch the black goo but it changed its shape, avoiding his finger.
"I've never seen something like this before." Leaf said with his hand touching his jaw.
If even a familiar freak Leaf Burner don't know anything about it, as someone who needed wiki to even play properly I don't know what to expect from this thing.
"Well for now bring your familiar with you. The only person who knows about a familiar better than anyone else is its owner. So it's your job to figure out what it is."
"I'll try my best." I smiled bitterly.
◆◆◆
The teacher lounge wasn't exactly quiet.
A few teachers sat scattered around, some reading reports, others just resting after the entrance ceremony.
Kaelen leaned back slightly in his chair, arms crossed.
"Oh? Already done with your class?" one of the teachers asked. "As expected."
"Same as always," Kaelen replied.
"Anything interesting this year?"
He didn't answer immediately.
"There were some interesting and promising students, that's for sure." He scratched his chin.
Before anyone could press further—
"If you don't have anything to say, then let me tell you something interesting."
Leaf had suddenly appeared among them.
A few of the teachers sighed. With expressions that clearly said, "this guy again."
"Why are you all looking so down?" Leaf grinned. "Let me cheer you up with a new discovery."
No one responded.
Some continued reading. Others ignored him completely.
Leaf didn't care.
"…Yes, and Lily seems very happy today. As expected. Spirits never get boring."
He nodded to himself.
"—Oh, right. An unknown familiar was also summoned today."
"One without any description."
Silence.
The room shifted and chairs creaked. Everyone turned their heads and heard what Leaf had said.
"…What?"
"Say that again."
Leaf blinked.
"Hm? Oh. Just a familiar without a name or description. That's all—"
"THEN EXPLAIN THAT FIRST, YOU IDIOT!!!"
The entire room erupted at once.
◆◆
For the next 30 minutes Leaf explained his encounter with Kylen and his familiar. He turned a short 5 minutes story into a whole fairy tale the way he insert other stories into his explanation.
"... So you're telling us that not only that this black goo doesn't have any characteristics of a spirit and a beast but it also avoided you?"
"...Yes." Leaf answered half-heartedly.
"Thank God." All of the teacher collectively said, as if they had just been released from a prison.
"What are you upset about Leaf? It's your own fault that we nag at you."
Leaf sighed before leaving the room. The other teachers stayed in their seat, thinking about what Leaf had said.
Everyone knew how absurd Leaf's story was.
Familiars are a big part of humanity's life. With the help of Arch-mage Graham, humanity managed to befriend creatures that were once monsters and turn them into allies.
All sorts of familiars have been listed, even an unrecorded one will have a description when you summon them.
So it doesn't make sense when something without a name or description gets summoned.
"What are your thoughts about this Kaelen. Didn't you say that Kylen Noor is your student?"
Kaelen stayed quiet.
The only student with a commander class that entered Atlas academy. The same student without any remarkable background is the main character of the story.
"... For now let's see what would happen forward." Kaelen uttered.
The teachers nodded in agreement and ended the conversation there.
But little did they know, the unknown familiar would cause an incident during the gate exploration.
◆◆◆
"what exactly are you…" Kylen's voice came out dry.
What was once a mountain in front of him was gone leaving a large chasm behind, as if Something had taken a bite out of it.
A red gate stood in front of him—
It was unstable and kept glitching.
The system window flickered, unable to load properly.
[ERROR]
[ERROR]
[ERROR]
The black mass moved slightly in his hand. It remained quiet and unbothered.
Like none of this ever happened.
Kylen stared at it.
"…You did this?"
To be continued.