LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 412: Lifebound Familiar
Evelyn and Nathan went to another room. Since one's power was like a secret, even Bella and Neyeid understood they shouldn't be there.
However, they couldn't help but wonder Nathan's intention in knowing Evelyn's ability.
Evelyn looked at Nathan with a serious expression. "I need to know what level your knowledge is first.
"Do you know what Lifebound Familiar is?"
"Lifebound Familiar?" Nathan tilted his head in confusion. This was the first time he heard about this.
"I see. So, you are not aware of this yet." Evelyn thought for a moment. "Alright. Let's start with 'Lifebound Familiar.'
"This is the only method for us, humans, to acquire elements similar to our familiars. Most of the time, people don't want to attempt this for one reason or another.
"However, when you attempt it, you need to make sure it's something you wouldn't regret. Why? Because a person could only have one Lifebound Familiar in normal condition."
"Normal condition? Does that mean they can have multiple of these 'Lifebound Familiars' under a certain condition?" Nathan frowned.
"They do. The example is right in front of your eyes."
"Ah. Now that I think about it, you have two powers, gravity and space."
Evelyn nodded. "Well, I don't think it's my place to tell you about the process to turn your normal familiar into a lifebound familiar. The school must be teaching you sooner or later, fully aware of your growth.
"All I can say is that the conditions you need to fulfill are troublesome. In addition, you can't change your lifebound familiar. For example, what if you have your first familiar be your lifebound familiar?"
Nathan pondered. "You won't be able to get another one under normal circumstances. This means you will be stuck with that element… and most first familiars are not prioritized for resources because of their lack of potential. In other words, if you want to get a lifebound familiar, you better make sure that this familiar will be able to accompany you to the very end."
"Indeed." Evelyn confirmed it with a nod. "That's why people are teaching you this concept once you have gotten 5 familiars or more. Not only do you have a lot of options, but you can pretty much see your own potential.
"Hence, you will most likely not regret your choice." Evelyn sighed.
Nathan noticed something off. As a human, he was obviously not devoid of greed. If others could have multiple lifebound familiars, could he do that too? His familiars were all divine beasts, so he wondered if it was possible to make all of them his lifebound familiars.
In the end, there was one more solution, which was the Soul Contract. Even if he didn't turn them into his lifebound familiars, he could still access their abilities through Soul Contract.
"Will the familiars be alright after turning into a lifebound familiar?"
Evelyn nodded. "Yes and no. Now that I think about it, in the presentation, you said that a person has their own absorption rate, correct?"
"Yes."
"This is the second advantage of the lifebound familiar. Once they have become a lifebound familiar, everything is basically shared. Your familiar's absorption rate is different from yours, right? If they have a higher absorption rate, it will fuse with yours and create a new absorption rate that both of you share.
"In other words, if your familiar has a high absorption rate while you don't, that means your familiar's talent will go down while yours will go up.
"There are people who take advantage of this concept to boost their talents. As for their familiars, some suffer, some become their partners, and some are never seen again."
Nathan's expression turned solemn, thinking, 'Now that I think about it, when people were talking about discrimination, they actually stopped when Master wanted to continue. Did they know about this concept and realize that their talent could be changed later, so their worries were not as big as I originally expected?'
"Well, your and your master's research have just proved this concept by giving them the exact value, so the words about it will probably spread sooner or later. In fact, there are a lot of cases where someone's strength soars after getting their lifebound familiar." Evelyn continued.
'If I think about this, I am a familiar myself. Am I a lifebound familiar? But just like Fenrir and the others, my quality goes up when I have more ena. But unlike them, I don't find myself strong from the start. On the other hand, my familiars are all divine beasts who are just regaining their strength.'
Nathan closed his eyes for a moment. 'Should I go for the lifebound familiars? No. I don't think I need it. If I need something from them, I can just ask them for one specific ability. This way, we will be able to maintain the stability of everything.
'Still, if I get their ability, they can't use that ability as long as it's still in my possession. This is the weakness of the Soul Contract. So, I should still consider this lifebound option.
'Then again, I'm planning to summon a lot of divine beasts, so getting one of their powers shouldn't be that much of a problem for them. Besides, I can use Soul Contract to get a certain element.'
Nathan carefully considered his options. After a minute, he asked, "You said earlier that under normal circumstances, people can only have one lifebound familiar. What are these abnormal conditions?"
Evelyn closed her eyes for a moment. "Well, it was extremely dangerous. Then again, it was thanks to these abnormal conditions that I could still be alive. My first element was gravity. The space element was the second.
"When I got my second element, I used it to escape and received the drawbacks. I was out for at least 3 months.
"However, I could say that people with two lifebound familiars were not necessarily rare either. There were a few cases where people got three lifebound familiars. There was also a case like your teacher where your first lifebound familiar died and you formed the second lifebound familiar."
"!!!"