Chương 20: Prime Familiar

Professor Thornwhistle was tall and thin. Her silver hair was pinned into a severe bun, and she wore dark blue robes. Mark had known attending physicians who could silence a room just by walking into it, and Thornwhistle had the same talent. Personally Mark had never considered himself that type of attending, nor had he ever wanted to be. Professor Thornwhistle's gray eyes moved across the room once. Students straightened and familiars went still.

Well, except for Skarl, who was still tapping his claws against the stone table, though perhaps a little more quietly. Mark pressed his thumb against the copper coin through the fabric of his pouch, rubbing its edge until he made himself stop. When he lowered his hand, his claws started tapping against the bench instead. Of course the only two people in the amphitheater who were fidgeting were the two kobolds.

"Good morning. I am Professor Thornwhistle. This is your Introduction to Familiar Theory and Practice for first time familiar guardians. The course meets weekly for the next month and is required for every wizard-familiar bond formed within the last month." Mark noticed several of the students seemed to be holding their breath in fear, especially Wes.

"Eight new bonds in this class which is a bit of a low turnout, but that should help make this more of a personalized class." she said. Her gaze touched each pair in turn to see everyone in the room.

"Let me be the first to welcome you to formal familiar education." Then she smiled. That smile caused Mark to revise several assumptions because it appeared genuine.

"Let me be clear," she said.

"I know my reputation and it is well deserved. I expect punctuality and I expect all of my students to put in their best effort possible. In most of my classes, I am not forgiving." Her smile seemed to grow.

"This class though is different. I still want you all to be here on time and put in effort but this is the class where you learn about the most important magical relationship you will ever have." At this point Mark noticed that Wes started breathing normally again. She paused, making eye contact with each student and familiar in turn.

"In my other classes, you will find me considerably less accommodating. In Advanced Transfiguration, for instance, students regularly leave in tears, sometimes because they have accidentally turned their noses into small, confused frogs. My policy is that they live with the consequences of their actions in my classes for at least the remainder of the class period." A few students, Wes included, went pale, which made Mark question if Wes himself had personal experience with amphibian nasal anatomy.

"Here, however, I am your advocate. Both of you." Her gaze shifted to the familiars.

"Some of you opened your eyes only days ago, some of you had lives before the bond, some are constructs, some elevated animals, and some were even sapient beings who chose this willingly.

"In this classroom, those distinctions do not decide whether you are owed dignity. Any wizard who forgets that will receive a lecture on personhood and ethics sharp enough to leave marks. Are we clear?" Goldheart made a happy bark. Wes, Tessa, and Torvax all nodded quickly. Mark glanced back just to see how Damien would respond, and noted that Damien's expression remained perfectly neutral.

"Excellent. Now then." She gestured to the raven perched at the front.

"I believe most of you encountered Professor Nocturna Nightwing earlier this morning, though you may not have realized who she was at the time." The raven dipped her head in acknowledgment. Mark's tail went rigid, and every muscle in his scaled body locked with it. The raven… The raven that watched everything was a professor. He'd assumed she was Thornwhistle's familiar, but the possibility that she could be a professor had never even crossed his mind.

Every student seemed to have the same thought come to them at once. What had they said in front of the bird?

"Yes," Nocturna said. Her voice was cultured, with a dry rasp beneath it.

"The raven who arrived before dawn and watched several of you embarrass yourselves was, in fact, me. Professor Nocturna Nightwing, co-instructor of this course." Her black eyes moved over the room and rested on Mark a fraction longer than the others.

"Very few of you seemed to suspect I was more than a bird. I cannot say I am surprised. I have been underestimated my entire life."

"I am the primary professor for Dream Studies, Advanced Divination, and History of Magical Theory, which are all upper-level courses. This is undoubtedly why none of you were aware of me. I always enjoy hiding in plain sight for this class. I have taught at the Academy of Practical Thaumaturgy in Lutraville for five hundred and forty-eight years.

Four hundred and fifty of those years were as a teaching assistant for my guardians, and for the past ninety-eight years I have been a full professor, once I obtained Prime Familiar status."

"That's... that's longer than my warren existed!" Skarl said in Draconic to Mark.

"That's older than most kingdoms," Torvax said again in Draconic. I can top both of them. That was longer than most of my world knew the continent I lived on existed. No, I am absolutely not saying that aloud.

"Professor Nocturna is my co-instructor and bonded familiar," Thornwhistle continued.

"I am her seventh guardian, and next month I will have been bonded to her for seventy-four years. We both consider the term master degrading. She is the author of three hundred and eighty-six published research papers..."

"Three hundred and eighty-seven as of last week, Endora," Nocturna said.

"The Journal of Divination accepted my paper on temporal perception in avian consciousness three days ago."

"My apologies," Thornwhistle said with a slight smile.

"She is the author of three hundred and eighty-seven published research papers and is one of only four Prime Familiars alive in Lutraville." Prime Familiar. Hadn't Wes mentioned that term before? Tessa whispered, "Did she just call her Endora?" Goldheart barked softly.

"Friends." Evidently, calling Professor Thornwhistle by her first name and correcting her in public ranked somewhere near open blasphemy. Could this be a true example of the mythical familiar partnership Wes claimed he wanted with Mark?

"Before formal evaluations begin," Nocturna said, "I should note that I have informed Professor Thornwhistle of everything relevant from this morning. Ravens, when elevated, often develop abilities involving dreams, memory, and mind-to-mind communication. Assume anything you said in my presence reached Professor Thornwhistle. I do, however, wish to address something I observed this morning that concerned me." Benches creaked as several students discovered new ways to sit more properly.

Nocturna looked at Damien, and Mark noticed Wes and several other students looked relieved. Mark shifted on his bench to sit sideways so he could see both Professor Nocturna and Damien in his periphery. Evidently the enhanced peripheral vision from being a kobold had its uses. Ember chittered gleefully.

"I heard several instructive conversations," Nocturna said.

"Ordinarily, I do not repeat student remarks made before class. When those remarks demonstrate a dangerous misunderstanding of familiar ethics, however, they become relevant." Her voice cooled.

"Mr. Blackwood, you arrived with your golem and spoke with Mr. Durum about familiar selection philosophy." A flick of Mark's tongue caught the spike of Damien's anxiety.

"My recollection is that you chose a golem because, in your view, familiars should be tools rather than companions. You wanted something durable enough to take hits meant for you without developing inconvenient opinions about being used as a shield. Do you remember saying something like this?" Mark's hands clenched. Hearing Damien's words repeated in Nocturna's precise voice made them sound even uglier than they had the first time.

Skarl next to Mark had bared his teeth and had actually started growling slightly from these words. Goldheart whined.

"Not friend?" Tessa laid a hand on her head.

"Let me be absolutely clear, Mr. Blackwood," Nocturna said.

"These views are not welcome in this classroom. Most familiars may not be classified as citizens but they are still people, and people are not to be tools."

"Damien's attitude is disgusting," Mark said before he could stop himself.

"He wanted to own someone who could suffer for him and be unable to object. That is evil." Several students looked at Mark in surprise. Nocturna's eyes rested on him briefly. She gave one small nod.

"Thank you, Makriss. The Board, Professor Thornwhistle, and most decent guardians would agree with you. Unfortunately, that view is not universal." Even though Mark recalled being four years out of training, the old reflex still lived in him to be the most knowledgeable student possible, and win the approval of the teacher. He might not remember his human cell phone number anymore, but apparently the teacher's-pet neurocircuitry had survived dimensional soul transfer.

He just hated that the pet part was now so literal.

"Mr. Blackwood, I understand that some instructors reward confidence when it comes wrapped in the right family name, but I am not one of them. I've been alive for five hundred and eighty-three years, and I've seen many wizards like you before. Most who go adventuring have ended up dead because their familiar couldn't think independently in crisis situations." The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Damien looked like he'd been slapped and lowered his eyes.

"Would serve him right." Skarl muttered in Draconic. Mark glanced sideways to see Skarl, who kept turning between Nocturna and Damien, apparently unwilling to miss either side of the exchange but not using his peripheral vision like Mark had.

"Before we move too far from today's purpose," Thornwhistle said, "let us review what this course will require over the next month. Today, each familiar will be scanned. Your familiar's current attributes, abilities, and bond information will be recorded and submitted to the Familiar Board as part of your official documentation. Each familiar's name will be recorded alongside their guardian's."

"Most of you have already completed your Familiar Board evaluation," Thornwhistle continued.

"For those pairs, today's report will simply be added to your file. For those who have not yet attended, our findings today may be mentioned in that evaluation." Nocturna then spoke, "We will be covering a lot of material today especially in regards to type of familiar bonds and will give all of you students and familiars advice on how best to level up. Our goal is for everyone here to succeed in whatever you want to do." Hmm… well I want to go back to Earth and be human but I doubt they'll have much advice there.

Professor Thornwhistle then took over.

"Elevated animals will be our first subject and they often form exceptionally stable bonds. They remember their lives before elevation, and many understand very clearly that the bond has given them sapience. Certain wizards dismiss elevated animals because their growth is the slowest among all familiars as they receive only one attribute point per level even if they develop innate magical capability. However, I enjoy showing students what one point per level can become.

Professor Nocturna, would you mind sharing your current status with the class? I think it would be educational for everyone to see what centuries of one-point-per-level development looks like."

"Oh, very well," Nocturna said.

"If you insist that I show off." Professor Thornwhistle reached into her robe and withdrew a wand tipped with a crystal. Mark could not identify the crystal's color. To him, it looked like a layered mess of blue, red, and green, all occupying the same space in a way that made his eyes itch. It had the same wrongness he saw with his scales and many other things due to being able to sense UV light. He wanted to know what the actual color of it was without that UV light.

Thornwhistle turned the wand between her fingers, her thumb brushing the crystal's base with small, deliberate movements, as if she were searching for something. Mark turned toward Wes and whispered, "What color is the crystal?" Wes looked at him as if Mark had chosen the least useful possible question to ask during this lecture. Which to be honest, it truly was.

"What?"

"The crystal. On her wand."

"Clear, now be quiet." Mark looked back at the wand. Clear. Right. Apparently "clear" looked very different when your eyes could see too much. Then his gaze caught on the inside of Thornwhistle's robe. There was another more traditional wand there, tucked into a narrow loop of fabric which had no crystal attached. Evidently whatever Professor Thornwhistle was doing with the crystal wand was completed and she pointed it at Nocturna, pressed a small button, and a blue beam washed over the raven.

Text appeared in the air above her perch.

FAMILIAR STATUS Name: Professor Nocturna Nightwing Species: Raven (Elevated) Type: Elevated Animal Familiar Level: 222 Master: Professor Endora Thornwhistle Bond Age: 73 years, 11 months ATTRIBUTES STR 8 | DEX 16 | CON 34 | INT 100 | WIS 95 | CHA 18 TOP INNATE ABILITIES Dream Visualization 100 -Transcendental | Silent Flight 94 - Legendary | Universal Language 96 - Legendary | Universal Mimicry 94 - Legendary | Enhanced Vision 82 - Master | Telepathy 81 - Master LEARNED ABILITIES (Top 10) Law - Familiar 96 - Legendary | History - General 94 - Legendary | Academic Research 91 - Grandmaster | Reading - All Scripts 91 - Grandmaster | Animal Handling 91 - Grandmaster | Creature Lore 86 - Grandmaster | Intimidation 88 - Grandmaster | Ritual Theory 86 - Grandmaster | Diplomacy 84 - Grandmaster | Persuasion 83 - Master ★ Prime Familiar — Achieved Level 194 The numbers should have been the first thing Mark noticed, or perhaps the Ability list with all of its impressive sounding names.

His eyes went to one line instead. Master: Professor Endora Thornwhistle. Even here, in a room where both professors had rejected the term, the status deity he couldn't admit to anyone existed still used the term master.

"Level two hundred and twenty-two," Wes whispered to Tessa.

"And intelligence and wisdom are both near one hundred. That's incredible."

"What's more impressive is constitution thirty-four," Tessa whispered back.

"That's higher than many adventurers, and she's a bird. You would think a score that high would make flight harder." Mark's hand went up before he knew whether that was the proper protocol. Thornwhistle called on him.

"What is a Prime Familiar?" A couple of laughs answered him. One came from directly behind him while the other laugh Mark could tell came from the ferret-like familiar on Edwin's shoulder. Apparently the idea of a kobold asking about Prime Familiar status struck both Damien and Whisper as being funny for some reason. Nocturna's eyes landed on him briefly, and she gave a small, unmistakable nod.

"Prime Familiar status," Nocturna said, "is a legal designation granted by the Familiar Registry. It grants a familiar the legal rights of a citizen species despite continued familiar status." Mark held his breath. Citizen species… You can have real rights as a familiar?

"To qualify, you must meet two requirements. First, you must achieve intelligence of one hundred. The average level one human has intelligence of ten and yet familiars are required to reach intelligence one hundred in order to be considered a citizen."

"The stated justification," she said with contempt, "is that a familiar's intelligence rating is not equivalent to a sapient citizen's. According to the Registry, we need higher intelligence scores to achieve similar intellectual functioning." Mark's tail had gone completely still. First of all, reducing intelligence to a single number was absurd.

From Mark's memories even though many people thought IQ scores were the indicator of intelligence there was a reason why they were no longer the sole factor in evaluating intellectual disability. However if the intelligence score really was accurate it was preposterous to claim the same scores weren't equivalent between master and familiar unless there was some data to prove that statement. Nocturna continued, "The requirement is set at one hundred specifically because unbinding cuts all attributes in half.

Intelligence fifty is what the Registry considers equivalent to a sapient citizen's baseline intelligence of ten."

"But that does make a kind of sense," Tessa said.

"Everyone knows a familiar's Intelligence isn't measured the same way as a citizen, surely…" She stopped as she saw Nocturna looking at her. Professor Nocturna's feathers ruffled, but when she spoke it was not unkindly.

"You were taught that, Ms. Fairchild. Unfortunately, you were taught wrong." Her voice cooled.

"A great many of my three hundred and eighty-seven published papers are devoted to proving that this assumption is complete and utter hogwash."

"I have tested familiars and citizens with identical intelligence scores on different tests. The results? Identical. Intelligence ten is intelligence ten, whether you're a familiar, a citizen, or a non-citizen. The Registry's position that familiar intelligence is somehow 'different' or 'lesser' at equivalent numerical values is not supported by any evidence." Professor Thornwhistle wore a slight knowing smile. She had clearly heard this rant many times before.

"As much as I disagree, that is the legal requirement. So I needed ninety-three points from my baseline of seven which took me one hundred and ninety-four levels. It took a lot longer than it would have because I was also investing in wisdom consistently to help me in my academic role. I am of the opinion that Intelligence and Wisdom should be kept close together if one wants the full benefit of either.

"One of the system's great disgraces, is that a guardian must consent to a familiar's allocation of level points. Six of my seven guardians deferred to my judgment. The other one…" She ruffled her feathers again.

"He grew elderly and wanted my talons to be steadier for delicate array work, so he demanded I increase my dexterity. I had no way to refuse. Nine levels went where I did not want them. At that stage of my life, nine misplaced points cost me almost two decades." Mark's mind was spinning. Intelligence score of one hundred. I need eighty-two points. If kobolds gain only one point per level, that was eighty-two levels before anything else. But Nocturna had said elevated animals gain less per level.

Maybe kobolds gained faster? Please let kobolds gain faster.

"My charisma actually increased through the traditional method, talking non-stop for years and learning what people like to hear and don't like to hear. Any being can increase their attributes through consistent effort. Strength is the most common example if anyone spends months or years lifting heavy objects, they will eventually gain a point of Strength without leveling." She looked directly at Skarl and Mark.

"You can see this in the differences between Skarl and Makriss. As a natural born kobold, Skarl likely gained a few points during his life by working in his warren digging and the like. Makriss the construct looks like he is at around the baseline in strength for a younger adolescent kobold, and yet Skarl is significantly bigger and stronger. The age difference doesn't account for that entire difference." Great, I'm useful as the perfect "before image" next to Skarl.

"This is actually the only way non-familiar non-citizens can improve their attributes permanently. If you are a species which has some of their population capable of learning citizen magic, you are a citizen and can level up. If you can't, you are a non-citizen species. One advantage familiars all have is that they can level regardless of their species so that leads non-citizen species to sometimes be willing to become bonded familiars."

"The second requirement of becoming a Prime Familiar," Nocturna continued, "is that you must make a name for yourself through some significant measure. Some qualify through academic publication. Others through other great feats especially involving adventuring renown. The standard is deliberately vague. The Registry wants proof that the familiar has become a recognized contributor to society. Since intelligence 100 is a requirement, academic achievements are by far the most common method." Mark raised his hand.

"Who decides whether the achievement qualifies?"

"It's the National Registry of Familiars, which is composed of all Prime Familiars that exist plus the current familiar registration board members throughout Arvandor. So as a Prime Familiar I am on the National Registry and could tell you if you would likely qualify if you ever get close to that point.

"Once you achieve Prime Familiar status you are a citizen. Prime Familiars can own property independently of their guardian. The Academy pays me a salary that I control. I can enter into contracts without Professor Thornwhistle's permission. I have as many legal rights as any other citizen." Mark was leaning so far forward he was nearly off the bench. His tongue flicked and he barely noticed the brimstone smell from Ember, Damien's cologne, or the damp-earth smell of the warren from Skarl. None of that mattered.

"Also another huge perk for some Prime Familiars is that they can request to be unbound for any reason and they will honor it. The only other group of familiars with this power are previously independent familiars. However..." she looked directly at Mark "... this is where the system becomes particularly cruel for magical constructs."

"Elevated animals rarely pursue Prime Familiar status," she continued.

"Most of us, for better or worse, do not seek unbinding since the slow growth rate makes it extremely difficult. I'm one of the very few elevated animals who ever achieved it, and only made it because I loved learning even when I had Intelligence seven. From the moment I understood what Prime Familiar status was, I knew I wanted it. Not for independence, but for the legal respect to do the work I loved without my guardian's approval, and to become a full professor."

Thornwhistle chimed in, "Formerly independent familiars can petition at any time to be unbound so reaching Prime Familiar status isn't really a major goal for most of them."

"But constructs?" Her voice softened.

"Many constructs desperately want Prime Familiar status because they see it as a path to freedom. The problem is that most constructs lack the magical capability to sustain themselves if unbound. In order to be unbound a magical construct must be able to do citizen magic and become strong in it. The legal right exists, but the practical capability does not." So as Wes said I can never unbind myself. But I could own property and have rights. I would be a real person.

A person who owned property while still being someone's property.

"One hundred and ninety-four levels," Thornwhistle said.

"Most wizards never reach a fourth of that. Professor Nocturna achieved it through centuries of dedicated research, scholarship, and service alongside multiple guardians."

"It is slow," Nocturna agreed.

"It's tedious, and not for every familiar, but anyone who wants help achieving Prime Familiar status should let me know. I will help you in any way possible. To those of you who aren't elevated animals it will be a much easier path than it was for me." Mark's claws loosened against the bench. For the first time since waking in a kobold body, he had a concrete goal he could work toward. If I can't find a way home first, I'm going to reach Intelligence one hundred.

I'm going to do whatever it takes to make a name for myself. I'm going to become a Prime Familiar. I'm going to show them all I am a person.