Familiars are beings who take the form of Bond Souls, ethereal creatures made up of Mana. With the exception of Wisps, all other Familiars used to be alive in physical forms, and simply passed on—leaving their Ego behind.
As a result of this, they lose most of their memories from when they were alive, only having mere vestiges left. The major driving force of a Familiar, their core motivation, lies in their remnant attachments to the world of the living. To some, it could be a dream, to others—regret.
To each Familiar, the cause of their existence differs. However, one thing is common and absolute about all of them... they choose a Host that best qualifies for their motivation.
Familiars choose Hosts that are the closest candidates to their ideals.
As a course of instinct, the Souls most likely long for the fulfillment of the attachments they had before death.
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"I see... I understand then." I responded to Edward's Familiar, who nodded at my words.
Yes, with his detached head!
'It's still weird...'
Edward, being a pure warrior, must have sparked the Dullahan's interest. I had no qualms with that.
My eyes darted toward the Naiad Fairy, Anabelle's Familiar, and saw her shrink away in fright.
Despite her majestic appearance and the powerful aura she emitted, the being was terribly shy and nervous.
"What about you? Why did you choose Anabelle?"
"Eeeeekkkk!!!" The mermaid-fairy squeaked in shock and assumed fear.
'For real?!' I nearly rolled my eyes.
"I... erm... I..."
I sighed and turned to face Anabelle, her host. If her Familiar couldn't speak, the Host should take on the role instead. With my brow raised, I questioned the young girl and demanded answers.
"W-well... Rhea said... I reminded her of someone she knew in the past... so she wants to be with me."
Once Anabelle said this, my expectations plummeted even further.
'Just for that reason? Hmm, a Familiar whose core motivation is sentiment for another... '
No matter how I thought about it, it wasn't a strong driving force! That meant the Ego of this being was little, and the room for growth wouldn't be as high as another familiar with a higher driving force.
Still, there was nothing I could do about it. Mentioning it to Ana wouldn't change anything since she seemed to be getting along well with her Bond—same with Edward.
"Well, I suppose it's time to introduce you guys to mine.
"Manifest."
Just like earlier, four bursts of light came from within me and the Wisps appeared.
"Again?"
"This is the third time now."
"Why would you call us for nothing important!"
"That man is gone... what a relief."
They resumed their chatter, making me sigh in embarrassment. Compared to the personality of my companions' Bonds, my Familiars weren't exactly model ones either.
"These four are my contracted Bonds. They're Wisps. I am yet to name them, though."
As I addressed Edward and Ana, I noticed the utter shock written on their faces. Terror, mixed with absolute astonishment!
'Ah, I forgot... they didn't know I contracted with four Familiars...'
"T-this is unbelievable, no, impossible!"
"Jared, how did you achieve this? Is this even... four Familiars at once? How did you—?!"
I raised my hand slightly, signaling the two to calm down and contr the gushing emotions within them.
Their responses were only natural. If I had seen such a sight in my first life, I would have certainly reacted with greater vigor.
'The answer to their inquisition is quite simple, but I do not want to reveal my multiple Cores to them, for now...'
I had to come up with a lie on the spot, hoping the two Familiars they summoned wouldn't rat me out.
"You all seem surprised."
"Our Master is a superior human."
"He's very special."
"We wouldn't have contracted with him otherwise!"
'Shit! I totally forgot about my Familiars! They could say something they aren't meant to!'
I had to shut them up one way or the other!
"My Mana Core is different from yours. That's why I decided to remain a White Mana Core Grade, it's a privilege only given to those with pure Cores." I managed to speak in time, shooting the floating Wisps a dirty look.
Edward and Anabelle looked stunned by my rushed response, having doubtful expressions on their faces.
'Please buy it, please buy it!!!' I prayed internally.
It wasn't technically a lie since I actually needed a White Core to perform the feat of possessing multiple Familiars. I simply omitted the parts about having four other Mana Cores.
"W-wow, I didn't know the White Mana Core Grade was so powerful!"
"If I had known, I would have remained a White Core Grade like you."
Their voices displayed surprise and more astonishment.
I nearly heaved a sigh of relief that they bought my lie.
"It's fine. That ship has sailed. Besides, you two will be sure to get stronger than any other classmate of ours. Don't worry about a thing."
Just like human Cores had Grades, Familiars also had categories of their own.
The Common Grade
The Noble Grade
The Imperial Grade
The Fable Grade
The Legendary Grade
The Transcendent Grade
Of these categories, Edward had had a Familiar belonging to the Fable Grade, same as my Wisps.
The Naiad Fairy was of the Imperial Grade, but would still be considered fairy powerful considering the uniqueness and versatility of her abilities.
In my opinion, these were extremely good sets for rising to the top. Still, I wondered what kind of Familiars Stefan and Maria ended up with. They were mostly going to be extremely powerful so I couldn't slack off here.
"Oh, yeah, I nearly forgot. Jared, those two you were speaking to earlier... they told us to deliver a message to you." Edward suddenly spoke.
My eyes sparkled with interest, but I noticed Anabelle's face darken the moment Maria and Stefan were mentioned. It appeared she had some bad blood going on with them.
"What did they say?" I asked.
"Well, it was mostly the guy, Stefan, who spoke. He said I should tell you to prepare yourself. He's going to crush you in two months."
