Tristan Academy - Day of the Void
The early afternoon sun shone over the towers of the Tristan Magic Academy as the students below about their days as normal. A few stragglers, late to their classes could be spotted moving as quickly as they could without running. But this story does not revolve around them. No, our story follows a petite pink-haired noble girl, be mindful that she doesn't catch you calling her petite, or she will unleash a temper many times her small size. Presently she was a second-year student, and like her peers, she was an aspiring mage eager to prove herself, it was not as if she had any choice. As the third-born daughter of the duchess and captain of the Manticore knights, she had quite a fierce reputation to live up to. Should she fail at her task and prove to be an incompetent mage, she would only have her arranged marriage to fall back on. If the family still decided to go through with it after all, if she turned out to be a deficient noble she could kiss any hope of a bright future goodbye.
Today was a very important day for her, for it was on this day that she was determined to succeed in casting the founder's spell, or she would die trying, at least then maybe her death would hold some meaning.
Louise watched as every other student took their turns summoning their familiars, there were some regular familiars in the forms of a toad or a mole, then came some of the more exotic ones like the Bugbear which did not at all resemble a bear, it's large eye could probably pass for an insect but even that was pushing it. Then of course her rival Kirche summoned a salamander of all things, and a fire-breathing one at that! Just the cherry on top for her really.
She truly believed that no one would top that, until, of course, someone in the form of a short quiet blue-haired student did just that when she summoned a dragon. A founder damned Dragon! Louise could feel the grip on her wand increase tenfold, so much so that she was surprised it wasn't cracking under the pressure, 'Rule of steel, damnit, rule of steel.' Taking a deep breath she tried her best to remain calm.
"Has everyone completed the ritual then?" Her professor asked from where he was standing. A balding man going by the name of Professor Colbert, and from what she had learned of him, he was a fire mage with an exemplary military service record.
"Not yet! The Zero still hasn't gone yet!" Some belligerent nuisance called from the crowd of gathered students. Louise grit her teeth at the use of the derogatory nickname that the student body had assigned her. Despite the shining student that she strived to be, no matter how hard she tried, no matter what ancient methods she conjured up, every attempt at any spell only resulted in an explosion.
Banishing her dark thoughts while attempting to maintain her 'perfect' rigid posture befitting a noble was rapidly becoming a monumental task. Thankfully, she'd been given plenty of practical practice in the past few years.
"Very well then, Miss Valliere if would please." Her professor turned to her and gave her a nod.
Taking a deep breath she raised her wand and began her chant,
"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, I wish from the very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!"
She felt the drain, the spell was cast and the price was paid, it was working, it was- BOOM
'No no no no!' Louise felt her stomach drop, a pit forming in her center as she witnessed the enormous smoke cloud in front of her. 'I can't have failed! Its... I won't accept this!'
"Damn it Zero, are you trying to kill us all!?" One shouted, "She's just a failure after all!" Another shouted, "Hurry up and expel her already, she is a danger to all of us the longer she stays!" A third called out "*cough* *cough* Let's all *cough* Please remain calm." Through his coughing fit Professor Colbert did his best to appease the students who were now hurling insults at Louise. Had anyone actually been injured they may have been calling for her head instead.
Louise did her best to ignore all of the gathered students and their insults to her name. The ringing in her ears at least helped this. 'M-maybe it's just hidden behind the smoke!'
She hadn't heard it make any noise, but that didn't mean it wasn't there! It just must be hiding, the explosion must have just scared it! Yes, yes that was it, because of the sudden explosion it was just hiding... or unconscious or dead... 'Oh please don't be dead... I don't think I can receive a passing grade if my familiar is killed during its summoning...'
The smell of ash and dirt kicked up by her spell permeated the air as she waded through the smoke. Every step she took was taken with the utmost care, she did not know what her familiar looked like let alone its size, and it would be mortifying if she accidentally crushed her familiar. Even if it happened to be the disappointing result of it being a mundane mouse or toad. She could hear the grass crunching under her feet as it crumbled to ash, burned away by the explosive result of her summons. She was nearing the epicentre of the explosion now, just a few mor-clang
Her head made sudden and firm contact with some form of metal knocking her straight onto her behind. What in the founder's name was a metal pillar doing in her way!? Wincing as she raised a hand to her forehead, the sudden contact was not very gentle and would likely leave a bruise in its place. A sudden thought struck her, "What in the founder's name indeed was a metal pillar of any sort doing in my way?' There certainly was not one before, could it be? Did she actually succeed? Louise dared not hope for something so large, just estimating its height from where her head had made an unpleasant contact with… whatever it was that was in front of her.
Thankfully, the noise of her forehead slamming into a metal pillar hadn't gone unnoticed by her present company. From behind her one of the mages with a wind affinity had finally decided to cast a simple wind spell to dispel the smoke surrounding her. 'Would it have killed them to do that three seconds ago!?' Louise thought to herself grimly.
As the smoke dissipated Louise looked up to see what she had collided with, she prayed it was not just some inanimate metal statue. Rubbing her eyes to clear her blurry vision she could hear some students gasp behind her. Once her vision cleared she couldn't help but feel her mouth fall agape at the sight before her. There was no large metal pillar nor was there an inanimate statue, no before her was possibly the largest bipedal metal golem she had ever seen!
Did, did she do that? I-it had to be her right? She was certain anyone would have noticed this, this "golem" maybe? Louise had to take more than a few paces back to get a full view of it, she was no longer entirely certain of what it truly was. The "golem" was far too intricately made for it to be a lump of animated earth. No, even at a passing glance, one could easily tell the various metals that made up its limbs and torso were not cobbled together but placed and crafted to fit into place. Truly it was as if looking at an impossibly detailed portrait from an artist. There was just one problem, it wasn't moving. Ever since the smoke had cleared it had given no indication of moving, not so much as a twitch.
"*Cough**cough* Well Miss Valliere, Congratulations on summoning your familiar" Professor Colbert called out in between coughs from the smoke "Now, if you would please complete the second half of the ritual and bind your familiar we can conclude the ceremony."
'Right, maybe that's it, it has to be a Golem so I need to bind it to supply it with the willpower to make it move, but… will I have enough to maintain it?' Louise thought to herself, she could feel her anxiety building within her 'Yes of course I can! What am I thinking I would not have summoned it otherwise'
Taking a deep breath she stepped forward and planted her lips on what she assumed was its knee joint, as she could not reach its face, and she was not about to stain her pride asking for help. When she did, the "golem" reacted, a low humming noise could be heard from what she assumed was its chest region. Looking up she nearly jumped back in surprise, in the center of its chest there was a glowing dot almost resembling an eye, and it was glaring right at her!
[ WARNING ] - MULTIPLE ANOMALIES DETECTED
[ ALERT ] ATTEMPTING FORCED REBOOT
REBOOTING. . .
SYSTEMS 3% FUNCTIONAL
RUNNING DIAGNOSTIC CHECK. . .
FUSION REACTOR . . . [ OFFLINE ] CURRENTLY OPERATING ON BACKUP AUXILIARY
[ WARN ] POWER ATTEMPT RESTART OF REACTOR . . . FAIL
ATTEMPPPPP-P-P-
WARNING EXTERIOR CONTACT DETECTED WARN #$_$ $
SYSTEM COMPROMI$# $
WA$# #NNNNN#_(&II G. . .
F RC!NG REB OT. . .
. . .
REBOOT SUCCESSFUL
NEW PILOT REGISTERED LOUISE FRANCOISE LE BLANC DE LA VALLIERE
[ WARN ] RE-ATTEMPTING REACTOR START. . .SUCCESS
STARTING REACTOR
OCULAR SYSTEMS. . .RESTORED
VOCAL SYSTEMS. . .FAIL. . .REBOOTING
REVIEWING PROTOCOLS
PROTOCOL 1: LINK TO PILOT
SCANNING. . .PILOT IDENTIFIED
PROTOCOL 2: UPHOLD THE MISSION
CHECKING MISSION REQUIREMENTS. . .
[ WARN ] NO MISSION REQUIREMENTS LOADED
[ ALERT ] PROTOTYPE MOBILE 3D PRINTER UNIT NOT PRESENT
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED…. UPDATING CURRENT OBJECTIVES
PROTOCOL 2: LOCATE AND RE-ACQUIRE PROTOTYPE 3D PRINTING AND HARVESTER KIT MODULES
PROTOCOL 3: PROTECT THE PILOT
WARNING PROTOCOL 2 CANNOT BE UPHELD IN ACCORDANCE WITH PROTOCOL 3 . . .
ORDERS FROM THE PILOT ARE REQUIRED BEFORE ANY FURTHER ACTION IS TO BE TAKEN
Lousie took a cautionary step back, the "eye" she decided to call it, followed her. It, it was alive! Or, well, at least as alive as a golem could be, but that wasn't important she had successfully completed the summon familiar ritual! Not only that but she had summoned a giant golem!
It seemed her classmates had finally taken notice of the eye as well and they were cautiously stepping back in the event that Lousie lost control of her Familiar. They could not be certain whether or not she had successfully bound the large golem and they did not want to be present if it went berserk. Thankfully the golem seemed to be rooted in place with only its small eye locked onto Louise.
"Well then, congratulations everyone on successfully completing the familiar summoning ritual. As I had mentioned this morning your classes for the rest of the day have been cancelled as per custom, so that you may bond with your new familiars. You will also have tomorrow off for the same purpose, please make full use of this time." Professor Colbert broke the silence and eased the tension in the air. The students, all too happy to be away from Louise's imposing familiar all went their separate ways.
In a matter of minutes, Louise found herself alone in the court with her familiar, it had not moved more than its eye and did not seem intent on doing anything else. Not that it should, she hadn't given any commands yet, and golems should not act on their own… although this was clearly no ordinary Golem, she had not given it any order to watch her, or was it that she inscribed that order upon it when she bound it as her familiar?
Furrowing her brow as she realized she was in a rather complicated position, there was no question that her familiar will not be staying in her room so she will need to inquire about its accommodation in the hall. Still, she was quite pleased with the massive golem. Speaking of, the massive thing was currently in some form of crouched position and had yet to move anything other than its eye.
Deciding it would be best to see if it could actually move more than that she decided to give it an order and see how it responded.
"Stand up" Louise attempted, the Golem narrowed its eye.
It seemed to have three triangular eyelids that it could use to emote with it's eye. It seemed to be conveying... confusion? Was that possible? Could it experience confusion? Golems didn't have intelligence, they just followed whatever order their master or creator told them to do. So why had it not stood up? She decided to try again.
"Stand. Up'' This time gesturing with her arms as she spoke in an attempt to make it clear what she was asking. Now the golem complied and stood up to its full height and it took every ounce of courage Louise possessed to not flinch back in fear. If it was massive before it was absolutely gigantic now! It had to be as tall as a two-story mansion!
Once it had reached its full height it reached behind its waist and retrieved a large staff, no not a staff, a short musket maybe? It had a barrel and trigger guard that resembled that of a musket but its shape was too blocky. Additionally, it had an odd red cylinder just in front of where its hand was clasped around what she presumed was the trigger. She was not sure if it was a weapon or not, regardless she would not have her familiar go around threatening everyone. Admittedly the thought of her putting them all in their places was certainly amusing, she knew better, and she would not stain her family name for the sake of some petty revenge.
She decided to see if it understood simple commands, pointing at the odd musket she ordered the golem "Put it away," in the most commanding voice she could muster.
It was a bit risky but if her familiar was not going to follow verbal commands it would certainly complicate matters in the future. Surprisingly this time Louise did not need her to clarify as the golem complied immediately. Reaching over its head a black antanae? No... it was too rigid, it was more of an additional limb, reached out and attached itself to the weapon stowing it neatly on its back. Louise could not see exactly what happened because it was still towering over her but she assumed there was some form of a sheath on its back that now held the weapon.
"Hmm, how about Follow me" Louise asked, and gestured to herself as she turned away. As she walked she heard the tremendously loud stomps of the golem behind her. She had to force herself to repress a shudder, both equal parts of fear and pride at the same time. She was absolutely terrified of the two-story golem, but simultaneously she was swelling with pride that it was her familiar that she had summoned. She brought the massive golem to the room provided by the academy for the mages that summoned familiars that were too large to accompany them within the halls.
Gesturing to an empty corner she said "Sit over there," She paused before adding "I'm going to get dinner then I'm going to bed, you will wait here until I return tomorrow." She added the last part for clarification, she still held doubts about the golem's intelligence but she did not wish to risk it attempting to chase her into the building. Louise watched as the large golem obeyed without any protest. Louise wished to check the library to see if there were any historical accounts of mages summoning Golems as familiars. As it stood she had no idea how she was even supposed to "bond" with a large amount of metal, intricate as it may be it was still just an enormous amount of metal and little more. Sighing in defeat she made her way to the Library. Hopefully, it could provide her with some answers to her rapidly growing number of questions.
Systems reboot successful. . . . . . Warning Voice subroutines not functional reset required
Attempting reset of vocal systems: estimated time to completion. . . 4 hours 32 minutes 7 seconds
[ WARNING ] Atmospheric and ventilation systems error. Embarking is impossible at this time.
Attempting reboot of Atmospheric and ventilation systems: estimated time to completion. . . . [ UNKNOWN ]
Reviewing protocols
Protocol 1: Link to Pilot . . . Success Pilot Louise Françoise Leblanc de la Vallière rank . . . [ ERROR 404 : NOT FOUND ]
Protocol 2: Uphold the Mission . . . Current objective: maintain current position until Pilot's return. Secondary objective: Retrieve Prototype 3D printer and harvester kit modules to establish a proper base of operations
Protocol 3: Protect the Pilot
Scanning surrounding area . . . multiple lifeforms detected . . . no militia or IMC IFF tags identified. Attempting to identify allegiance of surrounding lifeforms . . .
Lifeforms attire matches Pilot's attire . . . Possible connection calculating possibilities . . . Theory - Current attire is a uniform associated with present location.
[ ERROR ] - No matching records of uniform or symbols found in the database further investigation is required. New Priority objective acquired [ Determine which militia branch this unit has been assigned to ]
. . .
No present threats detected . . . resuming reboot of non-essential systems
Quite a few students had walked by Louise's new familiar and many had been stopped by its incredibly unique was historically large for a golem that was made mostly of metal, and its design was mind-bogglingly complex. Its 'armour' did not follow any design or pattern human or Elven. Its single eye easily unnerved passersby as it followed any who got close enough. Not that many dared venture anywhere closer than what would offer a decent view. Most feared it would reach out and grab them if they got within reaching distance. Even the other familiars were wary of its presence all of them having huddled opposite the silent giant.
Yet as the day came to a close the students all returned to their dorms and fell into a peaceful slumber ready for the next day. All save for a certain pink-haired student now master of the most unique familiar to grace the academy's halls. Presently she was being tormented by the thoughts of her day being little more than a dream. A wonderful fantasy her mind had conjured up to escape the dreaded thought of the last nail in her coffin. She tossed and turned for hours to come until her mind and body had simply had enough and she drifted into sleep's embrace.
The next day Louise awoke a little more sluggish than she usually did, primarily due to her inability to fall asleep the day prior. Dressing herself that morning had been somewhat of an ordeal for her. When she finally finished she was terrified to open her door and realize that yesterday was all a dream, and her actual attempt at the summoning ritual was today.
Bringing herself to the present she took a deep breath and composed herself. Now was not the time to panic, she was a noble and she would act like one. Opening her door she noticed the halls were empty, she then realized with a start that she had most likely overslept and was at risk of missing breakfast if she did not hurry. Of course, it would not be a huge deal if she missed breakfast as there were no classes today so she could just as easily request the servants bring her a meal. Unless of course, her worst fears came to pass in which case she would not have time to eat and visit the library before the ritual began. The thought of this made her accelerate her pace, if she did not eat she would not be at her fullest for the ritual, and she needed to be at her best if she was going to summon the best familiar the academy had ever seen.
On her way to the dining hall, she took notice of her rival Kirche with her new familiar in tow, it was a fire salamander if Louise recalled correctly, how perfect for her, it even matched her element. The sight of the salamander and her rival ironically had been a cause of relief for Louise as now she realized it hadn't actually been a dream. She had in fact gone through the ritual yesterday, and seeing as she clearly had not been expelled she could take comfort that she had in fact summoned a familiar. She just still couldn't quite convince herself it was the enormous metal golem in her head. Shaking her head she continued on her way to the dining hall doing her best to avoid her rival in the process, she was too hungry and far too tired to deal with her right now.
"Oh, if it isn't the Zero, you look awfully tired this morning, don't you know sleep is important for such a small and growing girl such as yourself?" Unfortunately, the spiteful universe that always seemed to have it out for her, had other plans for her, what a surprise.
"What do you want Zerbst" Louise ground out through her gritted teeth, she really did not want to deal with her insults this morning.
"Aww, I'm just concerned for my dear classmate," Kiriche replied innocently. "You won't find any boys looking your way if you present yourself like that."
"I don't need any more attention than I already have thank you very much! Of course only one so barbaric as you would be interested solely in men." Louise snapped back pushing past the red-haired student, she just wanted her to stop talking so she could make her way to breakfast and hopefully find somewhere quiet to eat. Although, it may be prudent to check up on her familiar first, just to be sure it was still there. Of course, it shouldn't move without its master's orders, but she just needed to be sure.
Of course, Kirche had decided to tag along, namely because the direction they were both headed was towards the dining hall. Louise just intended to make a stop along the way, a stop that would hopefully rid her of her red-headed companion.
As the two neared the dining hall Louise took a sharp left to enter the room that housed the familiars. Kiriche didn't miss a beat in following her. After all, Louise had recently summoned the most unusual familiar by far and here she was with a front-row seat to see what it could do. She had no reservations about putting off her breakfast to witness the event. Louise on the other hand was biting her lip in fury, she was relying on the fact that Kirche would leave her to get her breakfast, but lo and behold she had chosen to continue making a mockery of her life instead.
Doing her best to maintain her composure Louise strode over to her familiar, it was in the exact same location and position where she had left it, the only difference was that it appeared to be looking directly forward now. However, as soon as she crossed the threshold of the room its single eye once again snapped to her. She stiffened for a moment a little intimidated by its gaze locking onto her.'Rule of steel damnit' Louise mentally admonished herself, balling her fists she made her way to her familiar. She intended to check it for any damage or deterioration since she last saw it. If was indeed a golem then it would need a constant supply of her willpower to maintain itself.
"Welcome back Pilot" A loud deep voice rang out.
Louise froze in her tracks, only a few paces behind her Kiriche did the same. The voice was completely unfamiliar and yet it had just welcomed their "return". Return to what and to where? More importantly who just said that? Unless one of the other boys decided to play a prank on them, possibly some wind spell to amplify their voice, there was no one in her but the familiars of the other students… the familiars.
Slowly Louise turned her head to face her familiar, her palms were beginning to sweat as she spoke up "U-um, you didn't just happen to… talk by any chance?" She stammered out, she was beginning to think she was hallucinating, that she had just been so tired that she just imagined a deep loud intimidating voice.
"Affirmative" Her familiar answered, it answered… her familiar, the massive Golem, could talk. As far as she was concerned and as far as all the texts in the Library were concerned this had never happened before. Certainly, there had been a few cases of a wind mage projecting their voice through the clever use of a spell, but never had there been a golem that could speak of its own will.
This was… baffling, to say the least, Louise could hardly find the words to explain to such a phenomenon. Possibly the first intelligent golem in history had just been summoned by none other than her!
Truly a familiar befitting of her stature.