75 – Familiar Conversation

It didn’t take me too long to find and call out to my familiars. The bat had still hung around near me after our excursion, while the rat was ground-bound and thus never too far away at any given time. Less than five minutes after our return, Theodore and I were joined by two small critters.

“Theodore, meet my best friends. Friends, this is Theodore, my doctor and someone I care about.”

Both sides inspected the other for a moment. The familiars had both more or less seen the old man before from afar, but he wasn’t familiar – ha – with them.

“Can they understand speech? And do they have names?” Theodore finally asked.

“They don’t know or speak our language, but I can convey a message’s meaning through our bond. As for names…” I coughed into my fist awkwardly. “I haven’t given them any. I’ve been lacking good ideas. That’s not something I want to half-ass, if I can help it. Though it would be useful to have names for them, I won’t deny that. As for how they’re identified by their groups, I doubt either of us humans can properly understand the nuances of scents or high-pitched squeaks.”

“You would be correct,” the old man chuckled. “It’s an important decision, a name. Are they alright with me touching them?”

“Go ahead. But be gentle with the wings, they’re delicate.”

Seeing the two familiars cautiously approach the doctor and him gently scratch them was nice. They quickly warmed up to each other. Not that I was surprised, many of my familiars were easily bribed with scritches, with these two no exception. My endorsement of Theodore’s character helped the matter along as well. Them being cute as hell was of big benefit, of course.

“To be honest, I expected them to be dirtier than this,” Theodore commented. “Rats aren’t known as the most cleanly animals. Little carriers of pestilence. Normally, at least. This fellow is clearly different. He looks downright well-groomed. Don’t you, you rascal?” He scratched under the rodent’s chin. “I hadn’t heard much of bats before this, beyond a passing mention or two. This is an excellent first impression, I must say.”

“The rats in the manor are unusually healthy and clean, I agree. It’s probably something about the readily available, mana-rich food, if I had to guess. Though to be honest, the little bat probably carried a bunch of diseases himself, before.”

“Oh?” Theodore paused in his ministrations to inspect the bat a bit closer. Much to both familiars’ displeasure at having their supply of scratches cut off. He resumed quickly enough, with both animals leaning into his fingers.

Suppressing a laugh at their antics, I explained. “When I fed him my blood to enable the enhancement, I felt an uncomfortable sensation at the bite site.”

“Something aside from being bitten?” Theodore raised his brows teasingly.

I chuckled a bit at that. “Yes, the bite itself wasn’t the most fun, but what I mean was something else. I’m pretty certain it was my strengthened body fighting off whatever infection I’d get from the saliva. Since his change, I haven’t experienced something similar. It’s quite possible my magic had some influence there. Just in case, I would recommend keeping some distance from normal bats. Maybe I’ll get around to strengthening them all some time soon, then they should be safer to be around. Also, if you feel bad any time soon, don’t hesitate to ask Tristan for help. I hope it won’t come to it, but better safe than sorry.”

“I better wash my hands after this as well, then. Though I was already planning on it, just on principle.”

“That’s a good idea, I agree.” I was so glad the benefits of washing your hands were an accepted bit of knowledge in this world. At least by doctors, and apparently in the manor in general. How likely it was that most commoners followed that guideline was dubious, to say the least. But a doctor washing his hands, especially before and after treatment, was a major factor in reducing potential health risks.

Additionally, it came with the benefit of me not having to think about all the dirty hands that must have touched various objects. I wasn’t a germophobe, or lots of things I did and experienced so far would have been much less tolerable, but I did like a certain level of cleanliness.

Funnily enough, it was both more and less relevant to me than most. I didn’t really need to care about potential infections due to my body, but any unpleasant smells or tastes were much more so.

The standard was lowered significantly when it came to blood, to be honest. I hadn’t minded the bit of dirt on the rag Mia used to soak up blood a while ago, though my abilities allowed me to ignore most of it by pulling the blood out. The spy’s blood earlier had a bitter note to it, which I attributed to the herbs he smoked. It hadn’t been too bad, even so. I didn’t feel any notable effects of the drug itself, though the amount in his veins was minuscule, so the result was inconclusive.

As the three of them interacted, I explained a bit more about the bond, including the process and effects of ingesting large amounts of my blood. Much of this was repetition, but I wanted to make sure Theodore was aware of it all.

Moving on from simple touches, I got the two to perform some feats to show off their enhanced bodies. Limited in impressiveness – they were small animals still – but notable either way.

I also called for another rat to join us as a comparison. The bats were out and about hunting and patrolling, so they weren’t in communication range. Seeing the difference between normal and enhanced rat made the change much more obvious.

“I hope I’m not going to suddenly grow if I accept your offer?” His tone indicated Theodore was joking, but I explained anyway.

“That was the result of an unguided transformation. In comparison, the bat is about the same size as he started out at. It appears that growing the body in size is ‘cheaper’ than improving what is already there, so that’s what the process itself leaned towards. It won’t be an issue.”

“Hmm. You said you guided this process? What about the subject themselves?”

A topic I’d considered before, myself. “I don’t really know. These little guys didn’t have any input, as far as I could tell. It might be different for a human. Even if it’s not, I will be very careful.”

Theodore looked thoughtful at my reply, so I continued.

“There doesn’t have to be any fundamental change at all. I already know it is possible to use up all the blood to simply improve existing parts. I just didn’t do that for these two. Though the rat happened before I even knew what was going on. The bat’s modifications are mostly targeted at specific things.”

On cue, the little fellow getting a wing massage opened his mouth wide, showing off his cute fangs. “Aside from the teeth, this little fellow also inherited my saliva glands. I’m not sure if his version is as effective as mine, but it’s very helpful either way.”

To demonstrate, I had him bite the tip of my finger and suck a little blood. When he pulled away, the wound sealed up immediately, resembling one of my bites. I clarified, “That wasn’t my regeneration. I’ve had him flying around, gathering blood from livestock to feed me. The saliva was very helpful to not harm the animals in the process.”

At the mention of the blood deliveries, a small frown appeared on Theodore’s face. Before he could say anything, I quickly justified myself.

“His body is tiny, so he doesn’t take very much blood. For such comparatively large animals, they won’t even notice before it’s replenished. With the saliva, they don’t feel a thing, no wound or possible infection left behind. All of that, in addition to reducing my reliance on human blood to survive. I think it’s a good idea.”

“Hmm?” Theodore looked a bit surprised at my rapid-fire explanation.

“Oh, I wasn’t thinking about that part,” he smiled. “I was a bit worried your friend would come to harm if he wasn’t careful. As you said, he is very small and fragile.”

“Ah. Ahem. I agree, that is also a worry I share.” Apparently, I’d misinterpreted the reaction. “You don’t have any thoughts besides that?”

“If you’re worried I’ll be mad or disappointed in you for ensuring your own survival in such a trivial way, don’t be. In fact, I am proud of you for thinking of non-destructive ways to feed yourself. Just be careful with your friends’ lives, alright?”

“Already planning on it,” I smiled back.

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Some more playful interaction later, Theodore turned to me. “I think I’ve made my decision. How about we return to the infirmary for a talk?”

“Sure.”

After saying goodbye to my familiars, we went inside.

Settling down in Theodore’s room, I looked at him full of expectations and worry. He smiled back at me with amusement.

“No need to be anxious. I’ve decided to accept one of your ‘bonds’.”

“That’s great! I’ll get everything prepared. I’m still not totally sure about all the details, but with special attention, everything will be–”

“Hold your horses, Kalin.” The old man raised his hands. “I said I’ll take a bond, not that I want you to transform me. Let’s take it slow, okay?”

“Huh?” It took a moment for my brain to catch up. “Ah.”

“You said that the change is caused by consuming a large quantity of your blood. I want to not be hasty. You don’t have a lot of blood to go around right now anyway, right? And I doubt I’ll take less blood to transform than a rat. I’d wager it’ll be significantly more, instead.”