Chapter 99 : A Familiar Power
The next mid morning Agni found herself alone with Vivian again, at the Doyenne’s insistence.

“This is another training room, right?” Agni asked as she gazed around. The area resembled a wide open field for as far as the eye could see.

“Of course. This is the same one you used a few days ago. Are you...okay? Bump your head?” Vivian asked as she flicked her folding hand fan. Agni recognized the item to be one of Vivi’s katana blades. She could only surmise that the bamboo pole in the kitsune’s other hand was the second katana.

*She doesn’t always carry that bole around though. I wonder what she morphs it into at other times?* Agni thought. Shula yawned, for a moment Agni forgot that the imp was even present. She seemed tired and uninterested yet Vivi also insisted the familiar come along as well.

“Now. Since you know my secret, I think it’s time for you to share one of yours with me.” Vivian said with a smile as she pointed towards Shula.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Shula asked between a stretch and yawn.

“I’d like to know how you haven’t reverted since you’ve been summoned.” Vivian said as she tapped her bamboo pole against her shoulder, her four fox tails swayed gently to and fro, suggesting she was in a good mood currently.

Shula froze up when she heard this question, for she’d purposely been avoiding having the conversation for as long as possible.

“I-I have no idea what you’re talking about. Heh..heh..” Shula offered along with a nervous chuckle.

“Cute. But no.” Vivi replied as she too chuckled.

“Familiars aren’t entities that can be summoned constantly. According to some research I did last night, familiars fall into two categories -- Summons and Shadows. If I had to guess, you’re a Shadow type, one that can act as a sort of companion for a limited time. But, even that has its limits.” Vivian explained casually.

*Shit. She figured me out in a heartbeat.* Shula grumbled inwardly.

“Hmm? Shula...is that true?” Agni asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“N-no?” Shula offered weakly, but it was pointless. Due to their bond Agni knew right away that Shula was full of shit. However, rather than getting annoyed with her Agni just laughed, something Shula did not expect.

“Fine. Yes...I’m a Shadow type. And yes...I need to return to the core in order to recharge my strength.” Shula relented and finally exposed the truth. However Agni just walked over to her familiar and placed an arm around her.

“Is that why you were so keen to explore everything yesterday? Were you...afraid to go back into your core?” Agni asked.

“N-no. I’m not afraid of anything. Thank you very much. I just…” Shula began.

“You have no idea what it’s like, to not have a body of your own. It’s maddening, not to be able to eat or sleep, or feel anything.” Shula confided aloud.

“Hmm. I suppose you’re right.” Agni said as she patted Shula on the head before coming to a conclusion.

“Fine. You can come out whenever you want. You don’t need me to call you forth.” Agni declared.

“Are you sure about that? I might do weird things to you in your sleep…” Shula’s ears perked up and the corners of her mouth twitched a bit as she struggled against the urge to release a beaming smile.

“You mean like you did yesterday anyway? I’ll be fine. Just...nothing too crazy..” Agni added as a stipulation.

“That’s problematic.” Vivian said suddenly.

“What do you mean?” Agni asked.

“Well, the main issue is using a familiar generally requires mana. If not for that, most familiars would be in constant use. Are you not feeling drained at all Agni?” Vivian asked.

“No. Not really. I feel fine. Oh-- but I was pretty tired yesterday.” Agni recounted.

“Was that you Shula?” She asked next.

“Urgk.” Shula winced at having been seen through so easily yet again.

*Well, I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide it forever…* Shula thought inwardly as she nodded her head.

“And...Shula, you’ve been outside of your core all evening?” Vivian asked, her mood teetering upon curiosity at this point.

“Yep.” Shula responded.

“So that means, you’re definitely unique. I thought as much. I tried to find information about humanoid familiars and there are hardly any references to that. So..I guess my next question shouldn’t come as a surprise to you then Shula…” Vivian flicked her fan a few times as she spoke.

“No.. let me guess. You want to know what my abilities are..” Shula responded. At this point there was no reason to conceal anything.

“Indeed! You should have an idea, right? Also the main reason you didn’t want to use the ability is that it will probably force you to rest. Am I also correct?”

It was now becoming slightly annoying to be seen through so effortlessly by Vivian.

*Truly formidable. I will need to fluff those tails extra well in the near future.* Shula thought to herself as she resolved to take a small measure of revenge. Since she had no reason to conceal her motives Shula also neglected to conceal the same thought from Agni.

*Sounds like fun. It has been a while…* Agni shared with Shula, causing the two to share a creepy smirk with one another.

“I see. That makes things difficult then. I wanted to help you learn more about your familiar abilities and offer some pointers.” Vivian said.

“Fusion.” Shula stated.

“I can fuse with her to a certain degree.” Shula elaborated as she pointed towards Agni.

“Fusion? I’ve never heard of such a thing. You mean like...combining into one?” Vivian became more interested by the second.

*I was right to tell her to conceal this ability. The Demonic Chapel would be hounding her night and day if they knew.* Vivian thought to herself.

Shula nodded in response to Vivian’s question. After a few moments of thought Vivian ultimately decided to make a somewhat selfish request of Shula.

“I’m sorry. I know you value your newfound freedom, but I think we should explore the limits of this ability as much as possible. To that end, Shula will you activate the Fusion for me?” Vivian’s request was expected as well by the imp. In fact she knew that the second she let certain key info slip that Agni would probably make the same requests. Still she wasn’t upset. She’d learned quite a lot in the past twenty four hours.

One such fact is that as long as she was efficient in mana use, she wouldn’t need to rely on Agni’s mana reserves to sustain her tangible form. The second was that she too had a Systema interface of her own, though Shula wasn’t entirely sure what that meant in the grand scheme of things. She also learned the thrill of new sensations and feelings as well as the joy of sleep --even though she had very little the prior night. She also learned the sweet taste of Katrin’s nectar--finally.

*You ‘what’!?* Agni internally responded as she recoiled from shock, forcing a devious smile from the imp.

*I’ll tell you more about it later. Let’s try this out. Truth be told I have been curious…* Shula thought, intentionally cutting Agni’s interrogation short.

“Great. Whenever you’re ready then.” Vivian said as she awaited the magic.

“So..what do I need to do?” Agni asked, she stowed away Shula’s comment for a definite talk at a later date.

“Simple. Just flow your mana into the core. You should understand more.” Shula responded as she did several body stretches.

“Little Tyrant.” Agni muttered before she placed her hand on the choker around her neck. She focused her mana, sending it into the Crimson Core which was a centerpiece of the choker itself. Soon a gentle flow of mana issued forth from the core and began to filter through Agni’s body. The Succubus couldn’t help but close her eyes as the feeling took over, it was soothing while the sounds of a second heartbeat echoed, reverberated even throughout her body.

Soon the gentle flow of energy turned inwards and Agni could once more hear Shula’s voice, as if the imp was deep inside of her soul. Vivian watched on with rapt interest. To her Agni’s body was covered in a thick aura of energy which flowed upwards like strands of smoke from an incense. Shula on the other hand grew faint and dim before turning into a fiery sort of mana that flowed into Agni’s chest, particularly the choker and the Crimson Core embedded within it.

The air in the training room began to shift as it flowed towards Agni, who was now consumed by flames. The fire ate up the available air voraciously before flaring up. To Vivian it looked as if Agni was made of pure fire, an Ifrit made of pure flames. With a burst of light the flames disappeared and what remained was the pair of Agni and Shula in their new fusion form.

Agni slowly opened her eyes and for a moment she couldn’t hear anything, save for the sound of a loud pulsing in her ears. Gradually this subsided and she focused on Vivian who stared at the Succubus in awe, positioned just a few meters away.

Agni felt a rush of power, indescribable which flowed through all of her limbs, even her tail. What was even more exciting was her new appearance. Agni glanced downward, her mouth agape as she realized her body had undergone a dramatic transformation.

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