Lokgrod Redminer looked down at the dragon as he offered the pact for the last time. Should the beast refuse to accept again he would kill it for what little XP he would get. It would be a waste of such a powerful creature but the corpse would contain powerful reagents so it would not be a total loss.

He bent down to the creature, and carefully enunciated his offer.

“Well, little dragon. Will you accept my offer now?”

Much to his surprise, there was a hum of affirmation, his translation spell feeding the intent behind the sound back to him. It was acceptance.

He pulled at his skill and sent the beast the offer via the system, and after a small pause, the skill connected.

Ding! You Have Offered A [Familiar Pact] to [Rue] – Pending…

Ding! [Familiar Pact] Accepted….

He felt a wave of emotion flow over the bond, the positive feelings of a deep emotional connection brushed against his psyche. He slumped a bit as he processed the senses he was now getting from the familiar bond. He felt the terrible state she was in and using the bond skill flowed some of his energy into her. His mana ticked down slowly as feelings of energy and recovery flowed back to him.

Feeling the magic of the skill work he lay down, she was exhausted, and he quickly summoned a cured Goat leg from his storage ring. He offered the meat to her and watched with no small amount of pleasure as it was ripped to pieces and devoured. It was quite common for dwarves to have a fascination with dragons but very rare to find any so young in the wild.

After the meal, she curled up next to him and he reached out a hand, placing it on her snout. Sensing his desire, she nuzzled his hand. Now he would treat her well, let her rest. It would be important for the leveling of his skill.

He too sat down and rested next to his new familiar, proximity would be required to mature the bond and level the skill.

Familiar Pact [1]

Offer a creature a [Familiar Pact]. The creature must be [Willing] and semi-intelligent or greater to accept. The Target creature must be of a different race and under no mental compulsion. The pact will create an empathetic link between the two parties and foster a sense of companionship. The link allows for the sharing of senses and simple telepathic communication with [Mana Cost] scaling over distance. The link will also allow for mana to be transferred between holders.

The skill looked plain now but from the books in the library of this abandoned stronghold he had found many references to skill levels and evolutions. The familiar skill tree had many useful and immensely powerful abilities. The skill was one of the few ways to artificially influence a creature’s disposition towards you. The effect faded upon the skill being broken or the caster's death, but the former was rare, and the latter did not matter.

He had been trying to find a creature that was powerful and willing to submit to him for years in this cursed place. All the animals and monsters down in the depths either had no intelligence or were weak. The few that met the criteria had never submitted to him, choosing death over life in servitude.

He looked down towards his new familiar and found her in a deep sleep, the mana and meat he had donated were quickly going to repair and invigorate the starved muscle and organs. Her breathing was no longer hitched and was growing warmer.

He like most dwarves had a fascination and in some ways a similarity with dragons. His education and many books he had read back home spoke of the common Dragon and the True Dragon. They were biologically and physically identical. They had the same classes, were born from the same parents but a few dragons had something more. That made them special, and a good deal were born with at least a little of this spark, but some had it in abundance. The common ones found running around the woods and fields were referred to as Drakes by more educated Beastmasters and scholars.

What he Lokgrod Redminer, proud Dwarf had found was not a Drake. She was a Dragon.

Velora stood next to Captain Vox’s hospice bed. The man himself was lying still but awake and alert. The healers had done a good job of repairing his burns and leg wound. He was healthy but advised to rest and let his body recover from the stress of such injuries.

The man they now address looked conflicted. The red face of the Major was stuck between genuine concern for Vox, outrage at her presence, and confusion at the words she had just spoken.

“What…”

“I said there is a black dragon with MIND magic living below the city. It probably survived my spell and in time will recover.”

The man's face took on a more scarlet tint as he tried to process her impolite tone.

“I will be contacting my superiors at the mages guild, someone competent will be sent to deal with the problem.”

“You can't just bring the MAGES into my district, who do you think you are. Just because you failed to kill it! You even got one of my best captains hurt, probably while he was defending you! Incompetent!”

“hhrr, I have every right to bring my colleges over, you can’t deal with a fucking dragon, and how dare you call me incompetent. I’m the only reason any of us came back up!” Her tone became slightly shrill towards the end as the Major deflated before her fury.

He glanced around and seeing that Captain Vox was avoiding his gaze on the bed he choked down a response. They glared at each other for a while before he turned and walked from the exit.

“You mages keep sticking your fingers in other people’s pies, digging for problems that don’t exist. Bring the mages, just you see what will happen” His voice venomous as he lingered by the door before striding off. The guards at the door moving to his sides before they followed him at a respectful distance.

Once the old man had rounded a corner Velora turned to Vox and they exchanged a look.

“Magus Velora, he is a good man, just not with “them”, give him time to consider, let him come out of his mood and have another talk with him.”

She nodded and let out a long sigh. She knew the man was usually more reasonable, they were all stressed, and provoking him had perhaps been unnecessary. But the time for laying about waiting for people to notice this problem was over, they had to act with haste.