As Sora sprinted through the wilderness, his mind kept circling back to the mana threads he had been experimenting with whenever he wrote a contract.
He was certain they were meant for binding, but whenever he tried manipulating them, he couldn't tie them to anything.
'Maybe they can only be used between humans?' he thought, his eyes scanning the terrain. 'If the skill is rooted in human resources, it might require two living beings to trigger. What about an animal and a human?'
Curious to test the theory, he slowed his pace. It didn't take long to spot a potential subject: a small bird perched on a branch.
It was a tiny thing, but curiously plump. It was nearly a perfect sphere of multicolored feathers. Its blue eyes were massive, taking up half of its face and radiating a sense of innocence. Sora stopped a few feet away. Usually, even the smallest monsters would attack when a player approached. But this one remained frozen.
'Level suppression,' Sora smiled. 'The gap in our power is so massive that it doesn't even register me as an enemy it can fight. It knows it'll die if it attacks me.'
Squinting, Sora activated [Mana Eyes] to assess the tiny bird.
'It is so fragile there is nothing to assess. It doesn't even have any mana...' A simple tag hovered over the creature: [Piou - Level 1].
"Come over here," he murmured, reaching out a hand holding his mana pen.
Sora focused, pulling mana from his body. He began to isolate the binding properties he had mastered during his days at the Job Hall. Sweat started accumulating on his forehead as he manipulated the threads, weaving them with the best of his abilities.
The [Piou] stared at him, its wide eyes filled with terror. It was so scared it defecated right there on the branch. Despite its level, the bird possessed the basic intelligence common to all monsters since the Earth's upgrade. It was smart enough to recognize that its life was entirely in the hands of the human before it.
As the mana thread touched the feathers, the air trembled.
When the contact was made, a blinding light flared, dazzling both Sora and the bird. It was only after opening his eyes a few seconds later that Sora saw something resembling a contract come to life between him and the [Piou].
As he prepared to write on the blank parchment, Sora was surprised by the sudden appearance of a notification and the pen's sudden levitation.
[Would you like to offer a Job Contract to the opposing party or ask for employment?]
On the [Piou]'s side, the same window appeared. Thanks to the magic of the contract, the bird understood the terms perfectly. It was faced with a choice its tiny brain interpreted as: kill, be killed, or... work? Completely overwhelmed by the giant being's presence, the bird opted for the only thing that felt like survival. It chose to be employed.
Sora, swept up in the thrill of the experiment, didn't notice the bird's panic and selected the employer option. The pen began writing conditions that aligned with the [Piou]'s needs, and they made Sora laugh.
[Salary: Food, Warmth]
[Limit: Will perform any task asked]
'This little bird just wants food and warmth?' As he prepared to accept the conditions, a scale appeared above the contract, displaying an imbalance in the terms. The next notification surprised Sora even more than the success of his experiment.
[Balance: The bird will take all your XP until it reaches your level. It will also take a portion of your prestige power and revive with you. Since it is infinitely weaker than you, this doesn't affect your innate skill. The bird will also become your familiar.]
[Do you accept these terms, or do you want to add conditions and restrictions?]
Sora's eyes widened. 'A familiar? From a job skill?' Familiars were precious. They were bound to players and shared their growth.
Without thinking it through, Sora's curiosity got the better of him. 'I can always fire the bird once I'm done experimenting.' He accepted the contract.
The moment he confirmed his choice, the contract began to glow, shining brighter and brighter. After a few seconds, it split into two identical parts linked by an intense flow of mana, which moved toward Sora and the [Piou].
Sora watched with fascination as the contract passed through his chest, settling near his heart before turning invisible. With nothing left to observe within himself, he watched with wide eyes as the link finished constructing itself between the bird and him.
The connection wasn't just a link, but a bridge transporting staggering amounts of energy, information, and raw intention.
Sora quickly realized that to the tiny [Piou] before him, he hadn't just become a master—he was its absolute protector. Its entire reason for existing. He could feel its hope for a better life, its hunger, and its overwhelming admiration.
On the other side, the [Piou] felt Sora's boundless ambition, his curiosity, and a deep desire for revenge. Their emotions, needs, fears, and dreams intertwined rapidly, forging a bond stronger than Sora had ever imagined. The link connecting the two soon became invisible, but both knew it was there, solidifying with every passing second. A massive amount of mana flowed from Sora's body, fueling the [Piou] with energy.
In contrast, the familiar sent back almost nothing.
'How can mana carry this much emotion and information? What even is this link?' Regretting his experiment, Sora called up the contract interface and tried to revoke it before he became too emotionally attached.
[Follow the contract, or face punishment!]
Sora pulled some food from his inventory and gave it to his new familiar. The bird seemed overjoyed, devouring the meal for several minutes. While it ate, Sora built a small fire to warm the air. Thinking he'd satisfied the conditions, he tried to cancel the contract again.
[The other party is not willing to end the contract!]
Sora slapped his forehead. 'Since when do players need their familiar's consent to end a contract?' Thinking about standard taming contracts he'd never bothered to read, he fumed. 'What did I just do? I should've added restrictions or copied a contract I've read! There's no way I picked this random bird as my permanent familiar!'
After Sora spent a few minutes with his head in his hands, the small beast hopped onto his shoulder and gave him a tiny hug. It seemed to sense his frustration and wanted to show gratitude for the food and warmth. Sora chuckled. The bird had managed to bring a smile to his face.
He stood up and started moving again. Since they were bound, the [Piou] would now siphon every drop of his XP until their levels matched. A piercing screech interrupted his thoughts. As soon as he started jogging, the air pressure from his speed threatened to crush the poor thing. Sora quickly grabbed it and tucked it into the fold of his armor, shielding it from the wind.
"So weak," he muttered, though he made sure the bird was secure before resuming his run. He failed to notice that he was smiling the entire time.
***
When he reached the Level 30–39 zone, he came to a halt. He had to power-level his new companion immediately or he'd be stuck in Spain forever. He activated a [Monster Radar] and targeted a pack of Level 38 panthers. The battle was over in seconds, and the expected notification appeared.
[Unnamed Familiar Level Up!]
Sora checked the bird's status and froze. The [Piou] had rocketed from Level 1 to Level 30 in a single fight.
"There's no way..." he muttered. He knew players with familiars, and there was a universal rule regarding them.
'The more potential a familiar has, the harder it is to level up.'
He realized after the fight that the potential of his [Piou] was so laughably low that it only took a tiny spark of XP to jump several levels. And yet...
'It's still so weak...' Sora thought, analyzing his familiar's energy fluctuations.
'Just my luck,' Sora thought. 'Everyone says you either pick a cute familiar or an overpowered one.'
Still, there was a silver lining. Since it leveled up so fast, it would stop stealing his XP soon. It was cute, round, and looked like a golden pom-pom tucked into his gear.
'I guess I'm keeping it for company,' he smiled at the thought, while secretly fuming at his own impulsive curiosity.
He finished off a few more beasts and once the [Piou] hit Level 34, his own XP bar finally began to move again. He had to get to Barcelona.