She woke up with excitement bubbling in her stomach. Today was the day! She finally had reached level 25 of [Witch Apprentice] and received the Skill [Familiar Bond].

Circe jumped out of her bed and rushed to wash up. Her master had a barrel of water behind the house she could use for that. Within moments, the girl was ready to get going and jumped from left to right next to the front door.

“Come here, girl!”, the stern voice of her master called from the kitchen, “Let’s get breakfast!”

“But master!”

“No buts. Come!”

The house was small. Just like the village. They lived a minute or so away from all the others. Their rituals and brewing needed space which the clearing near the edge of the forest provided. They also needed a lot of herbs which could easily be found all around in between the trees. As such, it only took her a few steps to get into the kitchen.

“Eat”, her master said as she sat down.

A bowl of porridge was placed in front of her. It was at least better than what most of the other villagers would eat right now spiced up with herbs. She devoured her meal barely even grumbling about the delay. When she was done, Circe looked at her master.

“Good. Do you have everything?”

“Mhm!”

She patted down her sides. A filled water flask, a pouch of berries, some dried meat, roots, dead insects and her trusty knife were fixed to her belt or stored in the pouches of her robe.

“Looking good. Now, listen closely. You will be the one taking the lead today. Be careful and remember what I taught you. This forest is rather calm but you never know what might hide between the roots. We are looking for your familiar, not your death.”

Croak

The huge toad that was her master’s familiar seemed to confirm the words. Circe nodded at them.

“I know.”

“If I give you an order, you will listen to me. No matter what. Understood?”

“Yes, master.”

The elderly woman nodded gently.

“Then, let us get to business. Have you decided what kind of familiar you are looking for?”

Circe glanced at Grunk. The toad was friendly and easy to take care of but there was something… boring about it. She could try for a bird. Maybe a raven? Those might be hard to pin down, though. That left rodents and lizards. She was not a big fan of rats and mouses but maybe a squirrel would be nice? Lizards were… difficult to find. Maybe some kind of newt? There was a small rivulet not too far.

“I’m not sure”, she eventually answered.

“Then we will simply look around. If something catches your eye, you can try for it. You do not have to settle on a familiar today.”

Grunk gave an affirmative smack of his lips. Master looked at her familiar.

“I took almost a week before I found him. Do not rush it. Once you bond with your familiar, you will upgrade to [Witch] and never be able to change your mind.”

Circe nodded sheepishly. She would be careful. She would watch out for interesting partners and find someone she could bind with for life!

“Alright, girl. Let us get going then.”

They stepped onto the clearing. The early morning sun just barely glinted past the mountainside in the east and reflected off the dewdrops on the grass. There was a small pathway leading north towards the village which they turned away from. With a gesture, her master bid her forwards. And for the first time in her life, Circe led the way into the woods.

The girl rightened her pointed hat and took a deep breath.

“Here goes nothing…”, she murmured before taking the first step. Immediately she realized that she forgot to bring her walking stick. She turned around to take it from the wall before setting out once more. The smiling woman behind her had already left the girl’s mind.

Circe knew the path they would normally take to collect herbs, roots and nuts of all kinds. Sometimes a [Hunter] would tag along to catch some fresh meat but they were mostly left alone. Unless someone was injured. Then, master would heal them with her tinctures and brews.

Without the back of the older woman in front of her, the girl felt a little lost and scared. And yet, she pressed on. There was nothing really dangerous in here. Some animals might lash out if she ticked them off but as long as one stayed away from the mountains, they would be fine.

She made her way along the usual path, looking left and right for animals to potentially bond with. There were… very few. A few birds sat here and there in the trees and eyed the humans cautiously. Sometimes, the undergrowth rustled from a smaller animal making its escape. Most of those, the girl only barely noticed. Focusing on getting some points into Perception really paid off right then. Most of these Attributes would be lost on upgrading her Class but it was just too good to have some Skills to gain more easily as General Skills. Humans needed the edge with only [Adaptability] as their single racial Skill.

Circe refocused on her surroundings and decided to walk off their usual path. That might lead them to animals less used to their presence which could give her a better chance of finding someone curious.

She just barely remembered to look back at her master four steps onto new ground but the woman stood right behind her and gestured to move on. The girl smiled and stepped deeper into the greens with more confidence.

Nearly an hour later, they had still not found anything. Circe looked around. They stood in a small clear area right next to the rivulet running through the forest. This might honestly be the best spot she could get to. Waiting somewhere close would let her observe all the animals coming to get water. That would make it much easier to find one she wanted to bond with.

“Let’s wait here?”, she whispered to her master.

The woman simply nodded and sat down on an exposed rock somewhat hidden by the nearby greenery. Circe was just about to find a spot nearby when she spotted something. A few metres down the shore, a mink was carefully sipping from the river. The beautiful black pelt glistened in the morning light while the animal got its share of water. Tight muscles betrayed the animal’s strength and it could certainly pose a threat to the girl if she was careless.

She thought back to her lessons. Minks were carnivores if she remembered correctly. That meant, she could potentially bait it with some of her meat treats. Circe moved her hand slowly as to not alarm the animal and reached for her dried meat. When she finally had it in hand, the mink was looking at her. Carefully avoiding direct eye contact, the girl moved forwards. Her hand was stretched out and presenting the meat. The animal soon fixated on it. Its cute nose twitched as the smell reached all the way over.

‘This might work!’, she thought.

Just then, a shadow fell into her vision. As quickly as it had come it was gone again. And with it, the mink.

Circe yelped and fell onto her backside as her eyes searched the nearby forest. Her master had jumped up from her resting spot and was holding her staff ready to strike at any threat. It took Circe a moment before she found the perpetrator. A few trees back, up on the branches, an owl sat. Pinned underneath its talons was the unmoving mink. A few strips of meat had already disappeared into the bird’s gullet making the rodent’s fate all too obvious.

Her master noticed the bird only shortly after.

“Back!”, she called out. Her voice was calm and controlled but Circe could see the trembling of the older woman’s fingers.

The owl looked up at them. It scanned the witch, then the apprentice. Then, it huffed and went back to its meal.

Circe had not moved one step. She was fascinated by the black and grey feathers decorating the bird’s back and wings. The eyes oozed intelligence and even the bone-white chest feathers had tiny swathes of darkness swirling around them. It was absolutely gorgeous.

“I said back!”, her master said. Circe blinked and looked over. Then back to the owl.

“I want it”, she whispered.

The owl perked up at that even though her master had not heard the words. It looked directly at her and tilted its head. The look in its eyes convinced the girl to take a step forwards. Then another.

Circe dodged the grip of her master and rushed forwards a little more.

“Stop!”, the older woman called but she did not care.

Before she realized it, the girl stood directly in front of the owl. Only the two metres between the branch and her head separated them. The bird… seemed calm. Too calm. Circe felt a shiver run down her spine. She looked at the dried meat in her hand and the dead mink in the owl’s talons. How could she even offer it anything? And yet, she had to try.

“Will you be my partner?”, she asked. Her Skill activated. [Familiar Bond] was only level one but that was expected without a bonded animal. Normally, there needed to be some kind of understanding between the two parties. The master would offer something and ask for what could be given. With Grunk and her master, that was giving food and protection for assistance in rituals and brewing as well as harvesting the toad’s mucus whenever possible.

What Circe offered to the owl were friendship and knowledge. She had nothing else she could give. And she asked for friendship and assistance in return. She felt it was a good trade.

~ding~ Your Skill [Familiar Bond] was declined by the target.

“Declined?”, she could not help but say.

“What?”, her master asked only a step behind her.

“Yes”, a voice spoke into her mind. It was a girl, maybe a young woman. Someone who Circe had never heard before.

Her master stumbled backwards and tripped over a root.

“No!”, the woman gasped.

“What, no?”, the voice asked.

Circe looked up at the owl that was now fixated on her master.

“Nonononono! It can’t be!”

“What can’t be?”, the girl asked.

The owl looked down at her.

“Good morning, Circe”, the voice said.

Then, she realized it. The voice was the owl. A hand rose to cover her gaping mouth.

“You can speak!”, she squealed.

“Yes. Sort of?”

With the answer, the owl’s head tilted slightly.

“You’re amazing!”

“Thanks?”

“Want to be my familiar?”

“Circe, NO!”, came a scream from behind.

“No. I don’t think so, at least. But we can be friends without that.”

“Aww, too bad. Well, I’m fine with being friends. What’s your name?”

“I’m Fio Catori.”

“Cool! I’m Circe Helio.”

The owl nodded.

“I know. I identified you.”

Circe’s mind stopped. What was that? She had been identified? But where was the usual feeling of someone invading your most intimate feelings? And… why was she talking to an owl?

A chuckle resounded in her mind.

“Do you mind showing me around? I’m interested to learn more about humans.”

“Yes, we do mind!”, her master said, “Beasts are not welcome in the human plains!”

“Is that so?”

The owl, Fio, narrowed her eyes.

“What about other sapients?”

“Uhm… well… That’s not a problem. Normally. But it’s… really rare to meet them?”

“Then we don’t have a problem, do we?”

“That’s not how that works!”, Circe’s master complained.

“Where’s the issue? I’m sapient. You don’t have problems with sapients. That means I can come along, right?”

“Yup!”, Circe said before she could think about it, “You’re my friend, too. Come, I’ll show you where I live!”

“Thank you.”

The pained sigh from her master was ignored by the [Apprentice Witch]. She may not have found a familiar but this might just be straight-up better.