Familiar Bonds and Parting Shadows

When Alex opened his eyes, he was met with unfamiliar scenery. He was looking at a really high ceiling. He was lying down; the last thing that he remembered was him and Ed reaching the town gate. Yes, that was it, he had defeated the orc with the help from Ed and had come back to the gate but where was he now? He made an effort to get up but he realised, he was unable to move his body. He was tucked in so tightly in the bed that he couldn't move. He could hear voices coming from behind the door.

"Ed? Are you there? Mr Hound?" Alex called out.

Three people came into the room. Alex recognized two of them, one of them was, of course, Edward Crowe and the other was Alex's tutor Mr Hound. The third man had flaming red hair, shiny blue eyes and a strong physique. Alex did not recognize this man but felt the pressure that this man was exuding. He was without a doubt a very powerful magus.

"Mr Hound, can you please untuck me, I can't move", Alex said while trying to free himself.

Mr Hound untucked Alex and helped him sit upright.

"That was a very stupid thing to do, I promised the countess and William that I would keep you safe", said Mr Hound.

Alex was about to reply when the Black Fenrir cub jumped on the bed followed by the white one. Both cubs were looking significantly less sickly. They had a certain glow as if they had been given a new life. Alex looked at his arm and saw a mark. It was a circle lined with some text that Alex could not understand, inside the circle was a half-moon symbol. Alex thought about how this was the first tattoo in his life; both of them.

Alex looked up at Mr Hound expecting him to be angry but instead of being angry, his gaze was fixated on the symbol on Alex's hand and so was the gaze of the other man standing in the room.

"How did this appear on your arm?" asked Mr Hound.

"This was when we picked up the Fenrir cubs", Alex replied and looked at Ed, "Do you also have this on you, Ed?"

Now everyone's eyes shifted to Ed. He also had the mark on his arm but instead of having the half-moon, he had a circle that looked like the sun.

"Yes, I also have the mark, but it is different from what you have," Ed replied.

"Yeah, it is," Alex acknowledged.

"It is the mark of a familiar bond." The tall man said, "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Sebastian Crowe. This caught Alex off guard.

"You're that Sebastian Crowe?! My dad talks about you a lot.", exclaimed Alex.

Even though it was the first time that Alex was seeing Sebastian Crowe, it felt like he somehow knew him. That might be due to all the stories that his father told him as bedtime stories. This somehow made Alex doubt his father's parenting ability. "Those are not the stories you tell your 3-year-old son", thought Alex.

"Oh is that so? I am glad that he still remembers me." He replied sincerely. "I am an old friend of his, rather I've been always indebted to him."

"Fufu", smirked Alex, "That is exactly what my father says as well!"

"Coming back to the mark on your arm, it is called a familiar bond. This means you are in a contract with a familiar. Which is this Fenrir puppy in your case." He pointed to the adorable pup who had gone to sleep by now on Alex's lap.

"This magical beast will be your servant as well as your partner for the rest of your life. This, however, does not mean that the beast will obey your every command. They have a moral code of their own and intelligent creatures like Fenrir, have their own personality as well. However, this all depends on how you raise and nurture your bond." He delivered these words with the wisdom of someone who has lived a long and arduous life.

"Stay here as long as you want! It is the first time I have seen Edward care about someone other than himself."

"Father! Don't say such embarrassing things with a plain face" said Ed, with a flushed face.

"Thank you", replied Alex with much gratitude.

For the following week, Alex and Edward played together, trained together and even slept in the same room. Anyone looking from the outside would have considered them as brothers. Ed constantly asked Alex how he had become so strong. Alex had decided to teach him everything he knew from the moment they had fought together. In the mornings they trained together in the art of sword fighting, following which they would go into the town to roam around. At night Alex told him about how he perceived mana. This shocked Edward a bit as this was completely different from what he was taught and was a completely different perspective. This gave him some ideas on how he could improve his magic. Their familiars took part in the training always running beside them and sitting on their backs when they did push-ups. They had yet to show anything special but just being with them brought some newfound energy in the boys. But alas the days of their bliss had to come to an end. Alex had recovered fully and it was now time to go back home. As much as Alex wanted to spend more time with Ed, he missed his hometown as well. He missed his mom and dad. Thus, the date of departure was decided.

"Do you really have to go?", asked Ed with sadness in his eyes.

"Unfortunately, I do," replied Alex looking equally crestfallen.

"It's not like you won't see each other again.", Mr. Hound chimed in. This somehow lifted Alex's spirits. This was the first friend he had made in a long long time and also his first in this life. It had taken him a better part of a decade combining both lives to achieve this feat. He was disappointed but also looking forward to how much he and Ed would grow not only as people but also as magicians.

"Promise me one thing," said Alex, "Keep practising and keep in touch with me."

"Sure, you too Alex", replied Ed.

Their journey back home was pretty uneventful. As the days passed on their uneventful journey back home, Alex found solace in the familiar landscapes that marked the path to his hometown. The winding roads and rustling trees whispered tales of both his past and present, a comforting melody that resonated in his soul. He had decided to venture forth into this magical world and have all sorts of experiences and to further his understanding of this world. Now with his familiar whom he hadn't named yet, his life was to get more hectic and interesting.