Humans Don't Make Good Familiars

Book 3- Part 7

Jake's POV

When Suma was told I would have to work day and night by Captain Gigoales, I didn't think he'd mean it so literally. I was just getting used to sleeping normally again, only to be forced to stay away for twenty-four hours straight either training or finishing my project. Less than ten minutes after I had finished my morning training, I was summoning pieces of a bicycle to put them together in Atmosia. I'd written a letter to my mum, asking her to get the pieces of my dad's old bike from storage, and tie them to my bag so I could bring them here. Six summons later, I got what I needed to make my idea work; including a few spare parts.

While I was lifting the bike with vines and solidifying them to keep it aloft, Suma flew into my room. "Are you finished yet?" She asked.

"The runes are done, mostly. I still need to make a few for noise cancelling, but it will fly. Now I just need to put everything together." I explained, picking up my rune-crafting tools.

"Cancelling a sound? What do you mean?" She asked. While I mixed the ingredient and carved channels into the bike's frame for the runes, I tried to explain the concept of soundwaves to Suma. She didn't really get it, but that may be just because of how bad a teacher I am. Suma stayed with me for a while, watching me work and listening to me talk about how it worked.

The clays I used for the bike were different from my normal ones. These had to be sturdy enough that they wouldn't come off if the bike was hit, either by accident or by a spell. A feat I assumed would be difficult, and was. Hours of trial and error, and over twenty daljars worth of mana later, I finally found a method to make a pseudo concrete. Really, it was more like red bricks, but it worked well enough, and held mana enough to let the runes operate.

"Alright, I think that's it. Would you like to do the honors?" I asked Suma, gesturing to the only exposed section of the runes so that she could fill it with mana. She flew up and landed on the seat, then placed one wing on the rune. It glowed a dull green, and a loud noise like a plane's engine filled the room. The bike, with Suma still on top, lifted ten centimeters off the ground.

"It is so loud!" Suma yelled over the roar of the runes.

"Yes, I'm very proud! Thank you!"

"What about a crowd?" She yelled.

"Will one of you turn that infernal thing off!" Someone yelled behind us, near the doorway. Whoever it was, they were louder than the bike. Turning it off, I turned around and saw Lieutenant Datahu.

"Sorry." I said. "I haven't installed the runes to make it quiet yet."

"It is time for your afternoon training." She said, and I suddenly felt the full force of twenty-four hours without sleep hit me all at once.

"I don't suppose I have time for a nap?" I asked, yawning.

"You suppose correctly. Follow me." She said, and I followed her to the pit.

Once we'd arrived, she cleared the other trainees out, and created several practice dummies. "Your attacks were fine this morning, but you still need defense spells. I will teach you one that can protect yourself, and one that can protect others. However, I am fully aware of your... unique insights... regarding magic, so I encourage you to think of your own variations." Datahu flew behind the dummies, and cast a spell. "This spell manipulates the ground to form a defensive wall." She said, as a rock clade in yellow light shot up from the ground, directly in front of each of the dummies. "It is useful when taking a defensive position on the ground, or protecting a stationary object. However, it is impractical for most other things." The rock slid back into the ground, leaving behind a patch of disturbed dirt, and the yellow glow faded away.