I settled into the seat easily. The Banner jet was easily the most comfortable vehicle I had ever been in, and it wasn't close either. There wasn't anything I could compare it to, though perhaps that would change if I started spending some of that money I had been socking away by the pile. I had barely touched any of the money that I had earned clearing dungeons for the Banner. Sure, I had paid off Vicky's student loans months previous, and paid off my father's home. That had barely put a dent in the amount currently sitting in my bank account. When you were getting paid thousands of dollars per dungeon cleared and worked at them like a psychopath trying to deplete the supply, the way I had done several times. Those payout numbers tended to accumulate quickly.

  I let out a small sigh before sweeping the cabin of the jet with [All-Seeing Eye]. A brief look was enough to be reasonably certain there weren't any listening devices built into the cabin. After all, I only needed to sweep the EM and RF spectrums and look for anything small that emitted a signal. There were no mana signatures that would indicate a lingering Spell or Skill in the cabin either. I was as unobserved as I could hope for.

  "I think it's time we had a chat," I said softly, "Vipera." I glanced over at the seat next to me, where my familiar had materialized in the space between one heartbeat and the next. She had grown significantly, but it was harder to notice in the dungeons where she was sometimes still fairly small compared to the monsters we fought. Here, where everything was sized for normal humans, her twenty-foot-plus length stood out even if she was coiled up in the seat beside me. She looked much the same as she always had, but her reformation had brought with it some subtle changes. More of the strange blue energy raced around her coils, and the roots that made up her body had become both more obvious and intricate, though that was difficult to see past her scales at times.

  The most significant change wasn’t any of the physical ones, instead it was the changes to her aura. It was dense now in a way it had never been before, almost like a bucket being filled with water, like a vessel once empty now filled with what it was always meant to hold.

  "Most likely, yes. I wondered how long you would wait," She responded. I could hear the smile in her voice as she coiled into a tighter pile on the seat. Her bright blue eyes watched me from where her head came to rest on her coils. She knew me well, knew that for all I could display patience, there were times I was the most impatient in the room.

  "Let us get this out of the way first. I am not the thing that haunts you, dear," She said. A small sigh of relief escaped me. It had been a worry, albeit a small one, that stemmed from a lack of information. All the same, I was happy to have it cleared; I could sense through the bond that we shared that she was telling the truth. Yet I also knew it wasn't the whole truth. "But nor can I tell about what does. To speak of such things is often the same as calling their name. It can draw attention."

  I nodded, weighing that carefully. Vipera had her own set of rules, old as pale moonlight and dark root, and if this was a line she wouldn't cross, she meant it. I'd lived with enough secrets of my own to respect that. She remained an enigma despite how close we were. I knew her personality well, but nothing of her history or even her species, really, beyond the barest of facts provided by the System.

  "Fine, I trust you'll tell me what you can," I said after a long moment.

  "Honestly, I'm a little hurt you would think I was a big ball of cosmic hunger, dear," I could hear the laughter in her tone, still a mischief maker. Even if she sounded like an older woman, one with a penchant for hanging out in smoky bars and singing lounge tunes. A sigh escaped Vipera, "Unfortunately, that is not nearly as much as I would wish," She said. I could feel frustration from her and a healthy dose of annoyance. It wasn't really possible for us to lie to each other. Sure, we could say the words; nothing would stop that. To lie to each other, we would have to be lying to ourselves just as much, and believe in it. "Suffice to say that there are rules that beings like myself must follow; many of those rules concern secrets and knowledge kept."

  I grimaced. That was a fancy way of letting me know she couldn't say much even if she knew more. Though I was certain she was dropping hints for me. Hopefully, I would eventually be able to pick up enough pieces to get a better picture.

  "That's not ideal, but it changes nothing. I trust you." I said after a moment, before letting out a show cough, "Moving on, tell me why you can talk now, what changed?"

  "That brushes up against some of the things I am not allowed to speak of, but there is some I can tell you," She paused a moment as if to gather breath or her thoughts. "The world you inhabit is, at once, smaller and much, much larger than you know. Familiars like myself are a part of that larger world in a way that wouldn't make sense to you because you literally lack the faculties and senses to understand it." I settled in to listen to Vipera's explanation. I had a feeling it was going to be a bit in depth. "I should note that there are different kinds of familiars; they fall into two broad categories. Those like myself, who come from… Somewhere else." I felt the hitch in her voice, it hadn't just been her voice. For a moment, her aura resonated like a struck bell before settling.

  My senses surged outwards looking for the source, treating the resonance like an attack and looking for the source. For over a minute, we sat in silence while I searched. Even after pushing on [All-Seeing Eye], there was nothing, not a trace of Spell, or Skill, not even a foreign mana signature.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  I looked at my familiar in question, but she shook her head before moving on as if nothing had happened. It seemed I was going to have to let it go. This time at least.

  "The other category is native in one way or another and found, usually with a Skill or Spell, thus a bond forged. Much simpler, and less permanent, but less beneficial, and fundamentally different," her explanation went on in an almost wooden way. "The ones that are like myself, are essentially making a bet on our chosen partners. Betting on their advancement since we lack the ability to advance in a more conventional way like you."

  "So you picked me, good to know by the way," I forced a small smirk, "because you think I have the potential to grow strong enough for it to benefit you. Where does your 'container', I think you called it, fit into this?" I asked, looking back over to Vipera.

  "That is complicated, and I can't speak to some of it. I grow alongside you, but not always, directly, for lack of a better word." She offered, "Normally, this would have happened naturally when you reached your Class evolution, as I would undergo Species evolution at the same time. In the end, I think this worked out well enough." I could feel the self-satisfied grin she ended with. She was quite happy with the way it had all turned out.

  "Uh huh." I glared at my familiar. I didn't appreciate the emotional trauma I had experienced watching her die.

  “In any case there aren’t very many things that could kill me in any sort of way that would matter while I am your familiar,” The tip of her tail emerged from her coils to gently tap my chest next to my heart. “the largest part of me is always with you thanks to our bond, the things that could break that are few and far between. You’re stuck with me for the foreseeable and interminable future, lucky you.”

  “Lucky me.” I agreed sarcastically, despite the warmth that was there for my companion.

  ——-

  The subtle vibration of the jet touching down stirred me from my thoughts. Vipera's revelations, the few she could share, had left me feeling contemplative. Fortunately, at least that had made the flight go by quickly, keeping my mind occupied. There were secrets buried in that conversation that I would have to revisit down the road to understand. Some were obvious, and others were more oblique, but Vipera was doing what she could to give me as much information as she was able to.

  Unfortunately, I was out of time for my ruminations; I could already feel the jet decelerating. Before the jet came to a stop, I had already risen from my seat and collected my bag from the overhead storage bin. The movement of the jet wasn't anything I couldn't easily handle. Enhanced stats made things barely even a consideration. It did make me wonder how well that would hold true with something more extreme. Would it be similarly easy to move about on the roof of a running train like an action movie hero? Or would a rocking fishing vessel in a storm be able to rob me of my footing? The curiosities followed me as I made my way down the aisle with my bag in one hand and the accumulator in the other. I tromped towards the exit as I felt the jet roll to a stop. The flight had been short enough, and I had kept myself entertained, but still, I was ready to be off the jet by now.

  The pilot already had the door open and the ramp lowered by the time I reached it. What awaited when I stepped onto the stairs and into the midday light was not what I had expected. I had been expecting Uncle Wolf and perhaps David to be here to take charge of the mana accumulator. Instead, it was the two individuals I had expected to see here, as well as the rest of my family.

  "Ah," For a moment, I was left speechless in surprise before my mind clicked into gear and caught up with the situation. I made my way down the ramp to where everyone was gathered. "I see you brought in the cavalry to force me to take a break." I shot David a venomous glare that had far less magic in it than I would have liked at this particular moment. The man himself looked an odd mix of smug and very concerned. That was both amusing and annoying in equal measure. I was going to have to find a way to pay him back at some point.

  "Carl has been keeping us up to date." My father stepped forward, and my glare slipped easily from David over to Uncle Wolf. I mouthed the word 'traitor' at him; the man didn't even have the courtesy to look abashed. He just grinned back, like a cat that still had the canary's tail feathers hanging out of its mouth.

  "Hi Dad, Sean, Vicky," I said flatly as my feet touched the tarmac, very intentionally ignoring my uncle for the moment. Traitors didn't get hellos, and the man had sold me out to my own family. What was the world coming to?

  "I assume you're here for this, Uncle?" I held out the mana accumulator to Uncle Wolf the moment he brought his hands up to take it from me. I dropped the metal machinery into his arms. I couldn't help the Cheshire grin that spread over my face when he sagged under the weight of it. His eyes boggled for a moment, and he let out a grunt before he was able to steady it and avoid dropping it.

  Payback is a bitch isn’t Uncle?

  Everyone present seemed surprised to see Uncle Wolf struggle with the accumulator when I glanced around. Then again, they had just watched me carry the thing out with one hand. David was able to hide his surprise quickly, which was unsurprising.

  "Things got a little rough up north, I'll admit. Can't deny the results though." The grin never left my face as I watched Uncle Wolf heft the accumulator up over his shoulder. The look he gave me seemed to say Well played, Kid.

  "I see," I could practically hear the gears grinding away in David's head with just those two words. Calculating and recalculating how much I might have grown during my short time up north. As well as, consequently, how dangerous the dungeon must have been. I was sure a part of those calculations was just how much power I could bring to bear at any point now. I doubted he was enamoured with the answer given that I now surpassed him by a non-insignificant margin, judging by what I could feel from his aura.

  I doubted a regional director much liked the idea of what amounted to a contractor being stronger than he was. I imagined most of the personnel in the Banner wouldn’t like that thought much, though for different reasons. Most likely ego in the case of the management types, while the grunts on the ground would likely get competitive.