Free and Unfettered 3 First Familiar

In the dense woods, it was as silent as it could be, and one could occasionally hear the growl or howl of a beast. Nine moons hung high in the pitch-black night sky, shining gentle moonlight down to the earth. The light provided was more than enough to see.

The silence in these woods didn't provoke terror, but instead lured you into a false sense of security. Indeed, these woods were relatively safe, but you never knew what lurked in the darkness. Nine could imagine how a romantic would sit in the trees, silently enjoying the gaze of the moons, peaceful, serene.

Breathing out softly, Nine cast her senses, not focusing on a single point just as she had been trained. This was so that she didn't miss anything. When a person focused on something, they inevitably get somewhat of a tunnel vision and aren't aware on anything else. As a part-time assassin, and the head of an information group, Nine was better than that. She was the best of the best, and her techniques were what made and broke her.

The rustling got louder as the creature grew closer. The woman out of body didn't tense up or freeze. Instead, she relaxed more than before, her gaze indifferent.

The leaves parted, revealing a small, jelly-like body of the creature. Nine stared at it. It was a slime. A blue slime, to be exact. Its round eyes were darting around, its mouth excitedly opening up and munching on a leaf bathed in moonlight.

Nine stared at the monster, moving behind it without a sound. Silently, she sunk a finger into the slime's body without any expression on her face. The blue slime made a squeaky sound, jumping in fright. It whirled around, staring at her.

A girl and a slime stared at each other, both of them not moving an inch. Suddenly, Nine flicked the slime, causing it to be hurt. The slime squeaked and glared at her with an angry expression, making a move to charge at her. She took a step to side casually to avoid the slime and flicked it again.

This process went on countless times, with Nine not suffering the least and the slime getting flicked every time it charged at her. Tired and out of energy, the slime eventually gave up, staring up at her with a wounded expression. Once more, she bent down, causing the slime to cower as it closed its eyes fearfully.

Nine sunk a finger into the slime's body again, not going through but just making a slight indentation on its outer body, like how one would sink a finger into a cheek. When she was sifting through the information the previous Nine had devoured, she hadn't read anything about a blue slime. This made her wonder if there was anything different about the slime, but based on what she'd observed so far, the slime seemed to be the same as all the others.

Losing interest, Nine retracted her finger before turning to leave.

Alarmed, the blue slime drew itself back, then for some unknown reason felt a sense of loss as the human made to leave. The slime bounced forward and latched onto Nine's foot, accidentally losing control of itself and dissolving her shoe.

Speechless, Nine stared at the senseless slime blankly. What was it doing?

Then, she noticed that there were some sort of light particles floating around the slime as it dissolved her shoe. The particles of light pulsed in a certain rhythm. As she stared at them, she unknowingly got lost as the sensation reflected itself in her body. She could vaguely feel something that she'd never felt before.

Nine inferred that this was magic from the information stored in her memories. The previous Nine had never managed to access magic, but Nine was doing it now. Slowly, it felt like something was seeping into her from the world. It was a strange and unknown feeling. It almost felt like magic was restructuring her body, seeping into her cells.

It was a wonderous and miraculous feeling.

Nine furrowed her brows. This was out of her expectations. Was this magic? She wasn't used to this feeling, but she could instinctively feel that the particles that danced in the light echoed some part of the world's essence.

Tentatively, Nine tried to push some of it out, concentrating on her finger. She could see a faint glow at the tip. She frowned. This wasn't good. If she wanted to use it, other people would be able to spot it. How could she hide this? She had to research more on this later.

The blue slime perked up when he noticed the human using magic. Instinctively, he used all his strength to leap up and touch the finger, triggering a bond. Content, he rubbed himself on his master's foot.

[Blue Slime (Rare) Tamed]

Nine stared blankly at the slime rubbing itself on her like a loyal dog. Speechless, she just let it be. So be it. If they were fated, then she would accept the slime.

Indifferent, she tapped the screen, inputting its new name.

[Rainier (Blue Slime)

Status: Slightly Injured (Excited)]

That was the most useless description. But then, what could she expect from a newly born system? Shrugging inwardly, Nine disregarded it. At most, the system was a mere auxiliary anyway. She had to depend on herself, growing stronger and grasping power.

Nine pulled off her other shoe and was about to dig a hole to bury it, before she had an idea. Why do it herself when others could do it for her?

"Rainier, dig a hole."

Rainier stared up speechlessly at his new owner, sullenly digging a hole when her expression didn't change.

Quickly, she buried it before covering it up herself, leaving no trace on the ground, like it had never been touched in the first place.

Nine picked up Rainier and sat down, placing the blue slime on her lap. She placed a hand on top of its head, silently patting it. She closed her eyes as she visualised and remembered the feeling magic gave her earlier. Breathing in and out, she absorbed essence from the moonlight instinctively, converting it into magic.

Traces of moonlight were absorbed as they hit her pale skin, sinking into her pores, entering her cells. Nine could feel her cells changing. They were evolving, allowing her to contain more and more magic. She supposed this was achieved with the system's help. She breathed in. Something within her was trembling, vibrating. She took a deeper breath, feeling as if she was choking on air.

Gradually, she could feel her senses extending out of her body, like she was developing or discovering an organ that she never knew she had. Nine spread her magic out in a circle around her, extending it as far as possible. She could feel every tree, every inch of space. The monsters that were hiding, the flowers blooming delicately in the moonlight.

Exhaling a breath, Nine opened her eyes, discovering that the world had changed. Where before the light particles of magic seemed glaring and out of place, she could now see that they coexisted with nature, blending in and dancing.

Magic was everywhere. It was beautiful.

For the first time in her life, Nine felt like she was living. Not for Arcana, or for Yashiro. She was alive, and she was living. For herself. For the previous Nine. For Rainier, and her silly system Blue. The moment she achieved this enlightenment, the system prompted her.

[Blue A.I. System Updating]

Surprised, Nine stared at the message. She realized that the magic she saw in everything actually wasn't affected by the status screen! It was as if it didn't exist.

On her lap, Rainier closed his eyes as he imitated what Nine was doing but opened his eyes in frustration when the pretty moonlight wasn't being absorbed by him. Rainier stared up at his owner in puzzlement, causing her to smile slightly at him in amusement.

In the midst of the night, a girl who was disguised as a boy, seemingly in her teens, and her blue slime enjoyed the dance of the moonlight.

Chapter end