Bond Souls, also known as Familiars, come in different shapes and sizes.
They have various levels of power based on their capabilities, but there is one thing they all have in common--other than the desire to seek a home--the power to achieve 'Bond Magic'.
Mages could utilize their Familiars and use 'Bond Magic', which simply involved allowing the Familiar to use their attributes and form spells.
For this reason, Familiars are considered extremely useful for Mages, since they would be able to utilize Magic that is not in their area of specialty.
However, there is another use of Familiars. That is Fusion!
Fusion simply means the mixing of a Mage's Mana and a Familiar's forming something new and more powerful.
Only a few Mages could achieve complete Fusion with their Familiars, which would allow them to completely use a heightened version of Bond Magic and even strengthen their personal Magic. The best part of Fusion is the new Magic that would be birthed from mixing two different Mana...
... Fusion Magic!
*******
"Haa... haa..."
"This is seriously hard..."
I fell on my back and gave more heavy breaths, feeling completely spent. Fortunately, the soft grass beneath me was ready to receive my weight, so I didn't feel much of an impact when I fell.
"How... haa... do you manage so many?"
My breath was strained and my eyes were heavy. I hadn't felt this exhausted in so long--and considering how hectic my usual training always was, this was just too extreme.
"Looks like you're tired out already... that's a bit disappointing." Neron's voice appeared and I heard his footsteps approach me.
I felt a bit of irritation wash over me once I heard his comments.
The man brought his head above me and looked at my low estate with a smile on his face. It appeared he was satisfied with how much I was suffering.
"With this, I'm convinced you're not a monster. If you mastered this easily, I would honestly be very freaked out."
Yep, I was right!
"Well, I completely suck at controlling my Familiars. You don't have to tell me..." I gave a tired groan as I struggled to rise from my back and sit on the dirt.
"No. Your level is pretty normal for your age. No, I could say you're progressing faster than normal..." Neron smiled.
"Normal isn't good enough!"
While it may have seemed like I was being impatient, it was actually true that I couldn't measure my growth by normal standards. I was up against geniuses, so I had to grow at a much faster pace.
"Relax. Normally you should be growing at a faster rate, but it's difficult to do that with so many Familiars. In fact, it'll be impossible for others." Neron spoke in an attempt to dissuade me from my feelings of dissatisfaction.
I fell silent. It was dangerous to feel content with my pace, but I couldn't ignore the words of my teacher, now, could I?
"Once you get used to it, your progress will be much faster. Trust me."
My training was supposed to last for five days.
In this span of time, I needed to be able to bond with each and every one of my Wisps... and after that; I was also going to fuse with every one at once.
So far, my training was to infuse my Mana and also that of my Familiars. Doing it with one or two at once wasn't very hard, but the difficulty drastically rose once I started trying to use three at once. Four was completely impossible.
I had been up to this for so many hours that I completely spent my Mana and Stamina. It was tempting to use a Recovery Potion. Unfortunately, I didn't bring any with me.
"Haa... I'm exhausted!"
The moment I said this, four glimmers of light appeared.
They looked like energy clusters, and I knew exactly what these entities were--my Familiars.
"Looks like our master is having some problems harnessing us properly."
"How pathetic."
"You can do it if you try."
"Hahaha! This is so much fun to watch."
I nearly cringed with their words assailing me.
"Tch."
"Hahaha. Your Familiars are actually really cute." Neron laughed along with them.
Now, that only made me feel worse.
"Yeah, yeah, you guys are having fun at my expense, right? How petty." I murmured.
The laughing didn't stop, so I simply ignored everyone who was happy with my pain. Rising to my feet, I stared at Neron and got a bit curious.
"Hey, Neron... why don't you show me how it's done?" I smiled with a bit of mischief hidden within.
"Oh? It's about time you asked." He grinned.
'Oh? He's really going to show me? Nicee!!!'
I peeled my eyes open, and even the Wisps stopped playing Around. Everyone focused on Neron, who seemed to just casually smile.
"Hmm. Which ones should I choose?" He murmured to himself.
"How many can you fuse with at once?" I asked with a curious expression.
"Well, about a thousand at a time. That's my limit."
'E-EHHHHH?!'
That was an awful lot. He was basically combining various energies that were different from each other... all to form something new and powerful.
"That's amazing!"
Neron shrugged at my words.
"Well... I'm just going to show you a Fusion Form with five of them. You can use it as a point of reference for your training."
I nodded, ready to fully learn.
"Welp. Here goes..."
My master sighed, and suddenly multiple forms of energy began swelling from within him. They swirled around his body... and within a moment, Neron's body completely transformed.
His dark hair took on a green form and began glowing and sparkling like flames. His arms had an orange color, his legs had a purple hue. He had a flaming tail that shone like gold... and his outfit completely burst like white flames.
Stuff like horns appeared from his forehead, and sparks of lightning appeared around him. The oppressive Mana he leaked out was simply overwhelming! So, this was--!!!
"--Grand Fusion Form." Neron smiled, coated with so much power.
It was amazing!
"So, this... is what I need to achieve...?!"
It seemed like a realm far beyond me. However, this lit up a flame of challenge within me.
