NOVEL WEB Goodbye, Norene.
Ben paid Norene a visit on his way back to the castle; he could now feel her emotions clearly, and with the spell structure, he would be able to create a strong telepathic bond with her.
He fed her some Venison and introduced his new familiar to her. Facing the majestic beast, the stoat did not dare refuse his given name which was also approved by Norene.
Henceforth, he shall be known as, Silvaticus. Meaning: of the woods, cause that's where Ben found him. He had actually rescued it from a wolf pack, which he then farmed for soul gems.
At first, Norene thought he had brought live prey for her and pounced at the poor Sil with murderous intentions, but Ben was quick to stop her and communicate that this was not prey.
Then, he had to bring out a fat piece of Vanison to satisfy her grumbling; although it was not as nutritious as the Mammoth snout, it was just as flavorful and there was a lot more of it
Ben attended the day's classes with Sil shuffling around under his robes, which was not a great experience as he was very ticklish; he had to use [Oakflesh] to stop himself from giggling like a little girl.
His new familiar was not used to staying put and he definitely couldn't be allowed to roam free in the castle without any prior training.
'I'll whip you in shape, you hear me?' he sent his displeasure through the telepathic link and the Stoat ceased his scurrying and found a nice spot on his lap.
Ben rushed down to Norene as soon as the classes ended, his assignments were being completed by his self-answering quills, inside his [STORAGE]. Yes, his storage was an actual storage room and not some game inventory where time didn't flow.
At first, he had assumed that the System just converts stored items into energy and reverts them back when he retrieves them; But after using it for such a long time, he found out that it was more like a pocket dimension.
When he reached Hagrid's Hut, he found a burn spot on Fang's fur and the boarhound looked quite scared, Ben gave him something to eat and some water.
"It's alright Boy, It's okay," he said, giving him head scratches.
The pungent scent of singed hair was wafting through the windows, accompanied by the deafening thuds of someone pounding on the walls and the crash of objects hitting the floor.
*BANG*BANG*"FBI, Open up," he said banging on the door.
He couldn't help but say it, the sounds coming from the Hut were raising major red flags. Hagrid was lucky that he didn't live in a Muggle neighbourhood.
Everything got really quiet for a moment,
"Ahum-Hagrid, it's me, Ben. Everything okay in there?"
"Oh Yeah, everything is fine, she's just throwing a little tantrum, you see," said Hagrid, opening a crack in the door, probably trying to hide the mess inside.
"I do see; she's throwing a lot of other things as well," said Ben, entering the beaten-up place.
Before he could survey the place, he was already on the ground with a smoking dragon on top of him.
"Whoa there, easy now, me colleen. I'm well pleased to be having a look at ye once again," he said as Norene rubbed her snout on his face.
It was clear that Norene knew that separation was near, she must have felt it through their bond.
Hagrid was shedding tears and blowing his nose on his fur coat.
"Mind if I say my goodbye's in private Hagrid? I won't take too long," he said.
"She won't hurt me, you know that," he said, easing the concern on Hagrid's face.
He was left in the hut with Norene while Hagrid waited outside. Without wasting any more time, he used the [Tame Familiar] on Norene and a telepathic link quickly formed between them.
Ben instantly felt her thoughts, they were a lot more complex and intense than the Stoat. He almost couldn't take it and wanted to stop the spell midway but he somehow braved through it.
Ben's mind was bombarded with every single memory of the little dragon; luckily she was only a few weeks old otherwise his mind would have gotten overwhelmed.
"Ufff," he took a deep breath as he waited for his mind to clear up.
As the noise in his head receded, he was left with two small voices. They were not really voices but more like his own thoughts and neither of them was very articulate; if he focused harder on them then he would even be able to share their senses.
He focused on the more articulate thought stream, it was from Norene and she seemed exuberant but also worried.
Before doing anything, Ben checked whether or not the System registered Norene and he was not disappointed. [Summon Norene] was added to the Conjuration skill.
He then summoned Norene from one corner of the room to another and tried explaining to her that he could always come to her when she called.
Now that he could summon her to him, he needed to be able to do the opposite as well. He gave her a copper egg; It was a portal seed and had been covered by an extra layer of metal to hide the runes. There was a picture of him and Norene inscribed on the outer layer.
Her eyes seemed locked on this new shiny object and Ben felt that he would be able to hypnotise her if he swung it like a pendulum.
He hung it on her neck for now; in the future, he would have her bury it in her nest.
Outside the Hut, Hagrid was preparing a large crate for Norene to travel in. He had gathered a lot of dead rats for her to eat on the way and there were even some Brandy.
Ben souped some up in an empty bottle, he hadn't had proper sleep for two days straight and his mind felt quite heavy right now, this would help him lighten up a bit.
He said his goodbyes and went back to the castle, he would not be carrying Norene to the tower. He had waited for the trio to ask for his help and even offered, but it seemed that they didn't trust him with their secrets.
And they were right to not trust him, he was a thief after all.
At the same time, Ben couldn't go to the tower on his own as he had a feeling that someone else was going to be there as well.
He eat his fill and drank to his heart's content and fell asleep in his room, but not before locking Sil in a cage, he had a feeling that this critter was up to no good.
--
At the end of the day, Ben's new status was something like this.
[[STATUS]] [SHOP] [STORAGE]
[Name: Benedict Nigel Brown.
Species: Human[Wizard].
Job: [Apprentice Mage], [Enchantor(Novice)]
Title: Dragonborn[Level 21].
Vitality: 310.
Magicka: 310.
[Deathly Hallows[1/3]: Invisibility Cloak△]
Familiars: Stoat(Silvaticus), Dragon(Norene)
[[SKILLS]]
[Alteration[Level 35(Apprentice)]: Oakflesh, Candlelight, Magelight, Stoneflesh,*Tame Familiar, Seeded Portal]
[Conjuration[Level 29(Apprentice)]: Bound Dagger, Bound Sword, Conjure Familiar, Raise Zombie, Bound Battleaxe, Conjure Boneman, Conjure Flame Atronach, Flaming Familiar, Reanimate Corpse, Soul Trap, Summon Arvak, *Summon Silvaticus, Summon Norene]
[Destruction[Level 26(Apprentice)]: Flames, Frostbite, Sparks, Firebolt, Ice Spike, Lightning Bolt, Fire Rune, Frost Rune, Lightning Rune, Ignite, Freeze.]
[Illusion[Level 29(Apprentice)]: Clairvoyance, Courage, Fury, Calm, Fear, Muffle.]
[Restoration[Level 25(Apprentice)]: Healing, Lesser Ward, Quick Healing, Healing Hands, Necromantic Healing, Steadfast Ward, Sun Fire, Turn Lesser Undead.]
--
