Chapter 90: New Addition
Leonard stared at the system’s notification for a few silent seconds.
He wasn’t really surprised, as there was always a chance to gain a familiar under the right circumstances. Still, he let out a sigh of relief, seeing that his gamble had paid off.
The three Minor Health Potions he possessed had now been reduced to two. It would have been a pity if he had used one only for it to have no desired effect.
[You have formed a bond with a new familiar!]
[Griffin has become your familiar!]
He glanced downward, inspecting the creature. When a monster’s soul formed a connection with an awakener, they were instantly freed from all forms of corruption that were said to turn monsters feral in the first place.
Still under the effect of the health potion, the Griffin’s body continued to repair itself. Its bones mended, muscles were restored, and its skin gradually regrew.
Of course, one measly potion didn’t have the power to bring it back to full health. Even if Leonard were to use all the health potions in his possession, they were far too weak to regenerate everything, since the damage had been too severe.
After the healing process slowed, the creature lifted its head, its golden eyes peering into Leonard’s own.
Although it had just been recently born, it still possessed a certain level of intelligence. It knew that Leonard had been the first thing it had seen after it had hatched. Furthermore, after it had been abandoned to die, Leonard had been the one to save its life.
"Kaw!"
The little creature’s shrieking came out rough as it started to lick Leonard’s face.
Slowly, the noises it made began to morph into understandable words.
"Mommy! Mommy!" The Griffin exclaimed.
"?!"
Leonard was in shock. There were very few monsters that should have been capable of speaking in the human tongue, and to his knowledge, newborn Griffins weren’t one of them!
While the Griffin was still licking his face, he threw a glance at Elizabeth, who was watching in disbelief from the side.
"Did you hear it?! It can talk!"
She blinked slowly.
"No? To me, it sounds like it’s just screeching... If you’re the only one who can understand it, then it means you’ve formed a bond with it, making it your familiar. Thought the system must have made you aware of that by now."
"Wait, you mean that every creature you form a bond with can talk with its master? So, you translating Rimy’s words wasn’t just your interpretation, but you were actually capable of speaking with the dragon?" He asked.
Elizabeth simply nodded, unsurprised. Few people had familiars, so the knowledge that they could instantly communicate with their masters wasn’t common knowledge.
"Mommy! Mommy!"
Leonard’s eyes shifted back to the Griffin.
"Um... I am not really your mommy. How about you call me Leonard from now on?" He suggested.
"Leonard!" The Griffin replied.
"Good. Then how about this, since you don’t have a name, would you like to be called Callum from now on?" Leonard asked.
Callum unfurled his wings in delight.
Seeing that Callum liked his name, Leonard inspected the Griffin’s status.
Name: Callum
Familiar: Griffin [Level 1]
Rank: Heavenly
Growing Stage: Hatchling
Condition: Severely Hurt
Although Leonard knew that Griffins were powerful creatures, he was still amazed when he saw that the creature’s rank was Heavenly.
"Did you really tame it?" Elizabeth moved closer and lightly patted the creature on the head.
"Yeah. I guess feeding it the health potion was worth it." He exclaimed.
She was inclined to agree.
"In that case, I advise you to call Callum back into your soul. Unlike summons, familiars don’t require mana to be summoned. However, as they function as living beings beside you, they can get hurt, grow hungry, and have emotions of their own... Keep in mind, when a familiar dies, it cannot be brought back to life, so treasure it."
Leonard took the advice to heart. Elizabeth had much more experience in dealing with familiars, and he wasn’t about to risk Callum carelessly.
He focused on the Griffin and called him into his soul, where he would be safe from external threats.
"If I may ask, why did you save it? The chances of taming a monster to become a familiar aren’t exactly high, and it could have attacked you the moment it was healed enough." Elizabeth studied his reaction.
Leonard remained silent for a moment. His eyes glanced upward, toward the bloody trail Callum had left behind.
"It may sound stupid, but the way the bird clung to life despite it all reminded me of myself to an extent... So, a part of me wanted to save it, even if it wouldn’t have brought any tangible benefit."
Given Elizabeth’s usually cold personality, he didn’t expect her to understand. Yet, when he glanced at her, he was surprised to see that the usual thin line of her lips had subtly curled into a faint smile.
"Is that so... Then that’s good." She said quietly, her cold eyes momentarily losing their piercing edge.
She marched on through the mountain pass.
’So the rumors were exaggerated. The famous Ice Queen of the Starlight Household can actually smile.’
Leonard concluded as he watched the strong currents lift her hair to the side. Its shade of deep blue appeared more vibrant than the sky itself.
’To be honest... It suits her much more.’ He thought.
The silver lining in their situation was that, despite being incredibly high up, there were no traces of snow. The raging winds had been manageable so far, yet if snow were added on top of that, things would have become quite a bit more complicated.
Leonard and Elizabeth came into a wide clearing that offered a better view downwards.
"Wait a second..." Leonard strained his eyes, making out moving silhouettes in the far distance.
"Do you see something?" Elizabeth halted in her tracks and followed his line of sight.
"I think so." Leonard exclaimed, pointing into the distance.
"Aren’t those humans?"