Chapter 2 - The Man

Hey guys, here is another quick release in celebration of my new story. Some of you might notice that Louise is not as... feisty as when she treats Saito. That is because she knows that Mikhail is actually a mage or "fallen noble" as she claims it. Because of this, she actually treats Mikhail better than Saito at the beginning. As always, criticism and comments are welcomed. Enjoy.

" " - speech

' ' - thoughts

Bold text - spell/chant

Italicized - emphasis on word

Forgot to mention this before but... Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon's Dogma or Familiar of Zero

Louise's Room

Mikhail waited in Louise's room, unable to truly sleep because he is now a Pawn. When he was sure that Louise was asleep, the white Pawn stepped out to go exploring. Although he has lost the majority of his emotions during the transition between being the Arisen and becoming a Pawn, he still had a strong sense of curiosity.

The Halls of the Academy

While wondering through the great halls of the academy, the Pawn just had to compare it to the Duke's castle in Gran Soren. The Duke's castle pales in comparison. Not only was the academy physically bigger, the decorations were also of higher quality. "Madeleine would love to be here, probably to snatch some things," joked the former Arisen. Surprised by the the impulsive remark, the white haired man thought back to what he just remembered. 'Madeleine? Who is Madelei-' A head-splitting migraine erupts in the man's head. "I remember... Huh, so that's what becoming a Pawn does to you to ensure loyalty. Erase my memories will you? Well looks like you failed," smirked Mikhail.

"Umm excuse me, what are you doing out so late? And who are you speaking to sir?" came a feminine voice.

Suppressing the urge to yelp in surprise, Mikhail turned around to see a young woman. The woman had short, black shoulder length hair with a white hairband on top. She wore a standard black and white maid uniform. The woman was short, only reaching the man's upper chest.

'Well, I guess I can't exactly call her short. I'm just abnormally tall or so I've been told,' thought Mikhail. "Greetings ma'am. I am simply exploring these great halls to familiarize myself with this fine academia. The question should be what are you doing out so late little miss? 'Tis a late hour for a fair maiden like you."

"Me, a fair maiden? Oh no, not me. Wait, are you Madam Louise's familiar?" asked the blushing maid.

"Yes I am that which you speak of. Although, I wonder how you knew that." Despite his clam exterior, Mikhail's mind was racing through the new information presented to him. 'Familiar? Is that what they call a Pawn here?'

"News of you irregular summoning spread throughout the school like wildfire. I'd be surprised if someone hasn't heard about you sir."

"I see. Ah, where are my manners, Mikhail Ecto Serolius at your service," introduced the man with a bow. 'sigh... I hate attracting attention. I should be used to it, but the threat of failing to live up to expectations always gets to me,' he thought.

With a bow, the maid responded, "Greetings Sir Serolius. I am Siesta of Tarbes, a maid here. Would you like me to give you a tour of the premises?"

"No need. I see that you have your own troubles to tend to," Mikhail said while referring to the basket of laundry in Siesta's hands. "I shan't hold you up any longer. Have a good night Miss Siesta." With that, the Pawn departed. Siesta bowed once more and then left to finish her work.

'A maid huh? The students here must be rich to be pampered like this,' thought the white robed man.

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While making a mental map of the academy, the man stumbles across a blonde boy chatting with a brunette girl. The girl had a blush stretching from ear to ear while the boy was making a speech about how great the girl in front of him was. Mikhail suppressed a smile that was creeping across his face at the boy's attempts at wooing a person of the fairer gender. Mikhail was amused at the blonde's cheesy words and at how the girl was actually being swayed by it. Trying not to interrupt the lovebirds, the man turned around to walk the other way. Unfortunately, the boy saw him and called out to him.

"Hey, you there. You are Louise's familiar are you not?" inquired the boy.

Giving himself a mental slap in the face for being noticed, the man turned around with his best disarming smile and replied, "Affirmative. I am Master Louise's Pawn."

"Hah! You think that I, Guiche de Gramont would fall for such a blatant lie. Louise must have paid a nameless noble like yourself to act as her familiar."

Choosing not to reply this time in the face of the young boy's ignorance, Mikhail walked away. As he left the scene, he could faintly hear the boy, Guiche, calling him a disgraced noble for stooping so low.

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After the horrible first impressions of the students here given by Guiche, Mikhail arrived at an open courtyard. At the far side of the court, Mikhail could see a flower bed that seemed to be well maintained. 'Selene would be proud of the gardeners here,' thought the man. Suddenly, the Pawn felt like he was being watched. Snapping his head in the direction of the source in the sky, Mikhail could just barely make out the shape of something dodging out of sight. On guard now, the man activated his Rift Crystal and retrieved the Dragon's Wit. Keeping a sharp eye out for his mysterious observer, Mikhail slowly backed into the academy.

Once inside, Mikhail exhaled a breath that he had held in case he needed to speed-cast a spell. Worried for his master, the Pawn hastily returned to her side.

Library

Professor Colbert was searching through literal tons of books to find out more about the runes on Louise's familiar. Another thing that intrigued him was the fact that Louise, the so called Zero for being unable to cast a single spell correctly, actually summoned not just any familiar, but a person. Not only that, the person was also a highly skilled mage as well if Colbert's magical sense was correct.

While looking for any past incidents of a mage summoning another person as a familiar, Colbert came across an ancient book detailing the exploits of the Founder Brimir. The book briefly mentioned Brimir's four humanoid familiars and had drawings of their runes. Shock ran through Colbert's mind as he looked at the runes of the legendary Left Hand of God, the Gandalfr. The runes on Louise's familiar was almost an exact match with the Gandalr; the only difference being the first rune representing a servant instead of a companion.

Professor Colbert quickly scribbled down his findings and ran towards the headmaster's office. Knocking rapidly on the door, the headmaster's secretary Miss Longueville answered. Miss Longueville was a bespectacled green haired woman. Professor Colbert had a crush on her although he never told anyone. Of course, it doesn't take a sage to uncover this fact for Colbert has a poor poker face.

"How can I help you Professor Colbert?" asked the secretary.

"Is Headmaster Osmond in? I must speak with him immediately," replied the professor.

"Headmaster Osmond is currently sleeping in his room. Would you like to leave a message with me?"

"No, wake him up. I cannot wait for tomorrow."

"Please wait inside while I wake him up professor," the lady said while opening the door and beckoning him in. The headmaster's room was conveniently an extension of the office, allowing for easy access between the two rooms for the old headmaster.

Once inside, Colbert noticed that Longueville's desk was piled high with papers that the headmaster had no doubt left for her to do. Colbert stood by the door and waited for the headmaster. After several moments, an old man with long white hair and beard emerged. Osmond eerily resembled the stereotype for an old wise sage. The old man was still in his bed wear and seemed to be annoyed at being woken up so late into the night. However, one can clearly see that the old man actually felt a little upbeat at waking up to the sight of a beautiful woman.

"What did you need me at such a late hour for Colbert?" asked the old man.

"I have information regarding Louise's familiar," replied the professor. At that, the old man narrowed his eyes and dismissed his secretary. He waited until she closed the door and signaled for Colbert to continue.

"Proceed Colbert," commanded the sage.

"Louise's familiar bears almost an exact copy of runes once belonging to one of Founder Brimir's familiar, the Gandalfr. If this proves to be correct, then Louise Francoise just might be a void mage! Can you believe that? A second void mage! We must inform the crown at once," Colbert said excitedly.

"No, we will do no such thing."

"What? Why not? This is probably the biggest discovery in centuries!"

"That is exactly why. Think of all the political uses that a void mage can fulfill. If we inform the crown about this, then Louise will undoubtedly become a tool. And think about what Romalia will do once they find out. Louise will be most likely be branded a heretic for indirectly claiming to be the Founder reborn. We might have an Inquisition on our heads if this leaks out," reprimanded the sage.

"Oh, I see what you mean."

"Good. Now that you understand, please keep this little tidbit between the two of us alright?"

"Alright. Good night Headmaster Osmond."

"Goodnight to you as well professor."

Louise's Room - Dawn

Mikhail rested as soon as he thought it was safe in Louise's room. When the sun's rays began to filter into the room, the Pawn went over to his master's bed to wake her up. Because his master went to bed so early last night, she was still wearing her school uniform. Shaking her lightly, the man spoke, "Master, please wake up. It is dawn."

No response. The man tried once more, shaking a little harder, "Master, it is dawn now so please awaken."

Again, no response. 'Third time's the charm right?' thought the man. At that, the white haired man slammed his fist on to the bed, effectively doing nothing to arouse his master. With a deep sigh, the man was about to go find a bucket of water when his master finally sat up. She yawned while stretching and opened her eyes. When she saw her familiar, she blinked several times, rubbed her eyes and stared at him again.

"Good morning master. I have awoken you at dawn as you requested. Do you have any other requests for me?" asked the Pawn.

"Oh yeah, you. Mikhail was it? Pick my close from those drawers and dress me," ordered the pinkette. She then stood up and proceeded to strip right in front of the Pawn.

"Do you wish for the uniform master? Or do you want something else," the man replied stoically. If he was going to be a Pawn for this little Arisen, then he was going to do a good job at aiding her no matter what. He hesitated a little when the girl gestured to the fresh uniform and then for him to actually put her clothes on her. Nevertheless, the man dutifully fulfilled his master's request and dressed her.

As Louise and her familiar walked out of her room, they were greeted with a dark-skinned girl with huge assets and bright red hair.

With a smug grin on her face, the red hair spoke, "Oh? Good morning Louise. Who is that dashing man?"

"You were there Zerbst! You know that this is my familiar."

"Oh really? Why just this morning a little bird told me that you are just paying an actor to act as your familiar."

"W-w-why you! I would never desecrate the ritual like that! You and everyone else was there when I summoned him! You all saw that I summoned him."

"Not quite. We were all blinded by your explosion that we couldn't see him until the dust settled down. You could have just as easily have him nearby and then run into the circle when everyone was distracted by your explosion. And judging from your past exploits, that sounds more convincing than the Zero actually succeeding."

"WHAT! You have the gall to call me a liar?! You -"

"Master, let us simply ignore this person and make good on our way," interrupted Mikhail. In his opinion, it was just too damn early for all of this, considering that all the other students are probably still asleep. "Have a good morning ma'am," Mikhail said to Kirche. The man then lightly pushed Louise forward. Apparently that triggered something in her mind as the pinkette suddenly exploded in a fit of anger.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO BE ORDERING ME AROUND FAMILIAR?! I am the master here, not you!"

Kirche then chose that moment to speak up, "Can't even control your own familiar Louise? For shame. A familiar should be something grand, like my own. Flame! Come here."

A large red salamander emerged from her room. The salamander's tail was on fire. It crawled to the side of Kirche and let out a small growl.

"This is my magnificent familiar Flame. He is a fire salamander from the Fire Mountains," boasted the Germanian. "He perfectly compliments my affinity of fire doesn't he?"

As Kirche was bragging about her familiar, Mikhail grew tense the moment he laid eyes upon the fire salamander. He put an arm in front of Louise and stepped forward while summoning his archistaff into his hand and pointing it at the salamander. That was when both Louise and Kirche grew silent and stared at Mikhail. His stance showed that he was a veteran and he radiated killing intent towards the salamander. The salamander whined and retreated a couple steps. Both girls were unnerved by the sheer bloodlust released by Mikhail. Louise was the first one to break the silence that creeped in.

"Wha-what are you doing familiar?" she peeped.

After a couple more seconds of silence, Mikhail stepped back towards Louise and dismissed his weapon. He then spoke, "Apologies master, Kirche. I thought that this creature was a Pyre Saurian who escaped from Bitterblack Isle. If it was, the savage beast must be eliminated immediately before it could do harm to either of you. Fortunately it is not one of them."

Kirche, finally regaining enough sense to talk, simply looked at Mikhail with dreamy eyes and muttered, "Oh my..."

Louise, still a little shaken up, decided to ignore Kirche looking at Mikhail and walked towards Alviss Hall.

Alviss Hall

When Louise walked in with Mikhail, all of the students currently in the hall turned towards her. Then they started to whisper among themselves. Louise promptly ignored them and marched to an open spot. She then waited for Mikhail to pull out her chair; however since she never said anything, she and Mikhail just ended up standing there looking at each other.

Louise then cleared her throat and stared at Mikhail while pointing at her chair. Connecting the dots, the man hastily walked over and pulled out her chair. Louise sat down and a maid came to serve her some breakfast. When she began eating, Louise dismissed her familiar.

Mikhail left the the hall and went wondering again. Eventually he ended up in a small courtyard filled with chairs, tables and students. The students were sitting around chatting with each other or talking to their familiars. Then Mikhail spotted Siesta running around. The man went up and greeted her, "Greetings Miss Siesta, 'tis a fine morning don't you agree?"

"Oh, Sir Serolius. Yes it is indeed a good day today," the maid replied.

"Looks like you have quite the load of work to do. I'd be glad to offer my assistance if you don't mind."

"Please don't trouble yourself sir, I can handle it."

"I insist," and with that, Mikhail took over the cart of desserts that Siesta was using.

"Alright then Sir Serolius. Please follow me."

Mikhail and Siesta went around serving a couple of people until Mikhail went to serve the last dessert to a blonde girl with curled hair down the sides of her face. The girl's name was Montmorency Magarita La Fere de Montmorency. She was sitting across from the blonde boy from last night. 'Well look at what we have here. Guiche was his name right?' thought Mikhail. Mikhail went back to the cart and began to push it away. It was at that moment that the brunette from last night called out to Mikhail to ask if he knew where Guiche was. The Pawn suppressed a smile and led the girl to Guiche's table. Upon sight, the brunette cried out, "Guiche, there you are. I made the souffle that you asked for last night." Guiche stared at the girl and then at Mikhail who had guided her over.

Montmorency looked aghast as she quickly glanced at the brunette and then back to Guiche. "Guiche, who is this?" she asked. Guiche gulped and tried to explain to no avail. The lover's spat ended with two broken hearts and two cheeks slapped. Of course both cheeks belonged to Guiche.

Mikhail suppressed a laugh and tried to walk away but stopped when Guiche called out to him.

"You there, halt! How dare you break the heart of two ladies. This is an unforgivable act. I challenge you to a duel!" the blonde declared.

The declaration gained the attention of everybody in the courtyard. Louise, who was looking for Mikhail also heard the declaration and rushed over. 'That better not involve my familiar' she thought.

Mikhail once again tried to simply ignore the man and walk away but that action made Guiche even more mad. This time he tried to provoke a reaction by using petty insults. When that failed as well, Guiche said, "Hmph, I guess the Zero should have hired someone with more backbone. It is only suitable for the Zero to even fail at choosing decent people. Failure begets more failure I guess."

That provoked a reaction, but not from Mikhail. Louise raged. She knew that her familiar was at the very least an experienced mage who could handle himself. With this knowledge, Louise commanded, "Familiar, I order you to accept his challenge and then punish him for insulting your master!"

"Yes master," replied the Pawn. Mikhail then turned around and glared at the blonde boy. Guiche flinched back but then put on a brave face since he still thought that the white haired man was just a commoner that was hired by Louise.

"Meet me at the Vestri Court in an hour," announced Guiche. That announcement sent all the students into a frenzy. Finally, something is going to happen on this boring day, and what better entertainment than watching a commoner be taught their place? Many of the students rushed to the designated area in anticipation for the match.

Vestri Court - 1 Hour Later

"I'm commend you for actually showing up commoner actor. If you apologize to me and the ladies now, I might forgive you," said Guiche.

"What are the terms for victory?" Mikhail replied instead of apologizing. "My master has ordered me to be victorious but I do not wish to end a life that has only begun. I hope we can end the duel before then."

Mikhail's assurance of victory irritated Guiche. "Very well then. Victory goes to the one left standing at the end. We shall fight using magic." Practically tasting victory, Guiche flicked his rose wand, causing a petal to fall. When the petal hit the ground, a bronze female statue wearing a beautiful suit of bronze armor emerged. "I am Guiche de Gramont. My runic name is the Bronze. Therefore, you shall face my Bronze Valkyrie!"

In response, Mikhail simply summoned his archistaff the Dragon's Wit and announced his name in the same fashion as Guiche, "I am Mikhail Ecto Serolius. If I had a runic name then it would be the Seneschal." As soon as Mikhail said that, the ambient magic in the air suddenly increased tenfold. Many of the students felt like they were suddenly carrying a hundred pounds on their back and some of the unluckier ones found it difficult to breathe.

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Elsewhere, Professor Jean Colbert, Headmaster Osmond, and many other teachers at the academy felt the massive increase of magic centralized in one of the courtyards and rushed there to see what had caused the huge spike of magic.

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Mikhail continued his speech, "Are you ready to face the Slayer of Grigori, the World Dragon?"