Chapter 5

"I'm glad you've returned safely, father." Katy said, giving a slight bow. The man nodded and looked at Val inspecting her. 

"You choose a Nightstalker?" He asked while inspecting Val.

"Yes she is a chosen and we all figured it would be a good choice for me." Katy said and opened Vals stats for the man to look at, he looked over them for a moment before nodding 

"Well considering the difference in your strength you will need to train her very carefully." The man said dismissing Vals status screen.

"Of course father, I'm starting her physical training tonight." Katy said with a nod. 

"Good, you can use my personal training room." He said and turned to walk away and mingle with the others in the party. 

"Thank you." Katy said before the man could leave. Rose Shifted closer and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"That went well I think." She said in a whisper to Katy. 

'That was a good interaction. It was so matter of fact and down to business not what I would expect from a father daughter interaction.' Val thought to herself still resting on Katy's shoulder, her wings tight around her form. A few minutes passed with Katy and Rose staying on the outskirts of the party sitting out on a patio. 

"How long did mother say i must be here?" Katy asked Rose in a whisper.

"We just have to be here for an hour longer dear." Rose said, putting a reassuring hand on Katys back. Katy let out a large sigh.

"I guess I can survive an hour." Katy said and grabbed Val off her shoulder and set her on the edge of the railing. Val Stretched her wings and let out a chirp. Katy started to rub Vals head softly. 

'Having my wings closed like that is more uncomfortable than I would have thought.' Val thought while Katy still rubbed her head with a thumb. The group of three sat outside for while alone looking up at the night sky. Val being able to see it fully for the first time. 'The sky is so clear.' Val stared at the stars, her eyes filled with wonder and amazement. 

Val glanced back at Katy and flapped her wings then looked out to the stars again. "Do you want to fly around?" Rose asked, leaning close to them both. Val chirped and flapped her wings again. Rose looked at Katy expectantly. 

"Go ahead, just don't go past the fence and don't be gone for too long." Katy said, rubbing Val's head slightly again. Val took off soaring through the skies she flew all around the estate. She saw a small greenhouse area behind the house. She flew closer, seeing the door open she peeked inside. 

"What are you doing out here little one?" Val heard a voice say behind her. She turned and saw a large lion looking creature, its fur a soft cream color, its eyes shining similar to the sun, its mane matching its eyes looking like the outer ring of the sun. 

'Damn this thing looks so cool like a sun tiger or something.' Val though and let out a small chirp hanging from a nearby branch. 

"Can you not speak yet, child?" Val nodded her agreement. "No matter as long as you can understand me." Val nodded again. "A few questions then. Are you a familiar of someone here? Are you a chosen?" Val nodded yes to both questions. "Do you know which god/goddess has chosen you? Will you lead me to your contractor?" Val nodded no to the first and yes to the second. 

Val dropped off the branch and started to fly back to where Katy was the tiger-like creature following her closely. Val landed on the talking and looked down, the tiger not there any more. 

"Lady Kathrine, is this your familiar?" Val turned, seeing the tiger up on the balcony with them. 

"Sól why are you here? And yes she's my new familiar." Katy said standing next to Val a hand out in front of her defensively. 

"You have chosen a smart one, train her well. And your father has requested I stay out of the party to eye catching for him." The lion said, glancing towards the party. He sighed and leapt off the balcony. "If you need help training her feel free to ask for help." 

"Of course thank you Sól. Actually in fact we are starting her training tonight if you would like to join." Katy said, her face shocked. 

"Yes I shall be waiting for you after the party." The lion's body shimmered and he vanished. 

"Did Sól just offer to help train Val?" Rose asked in shock. 

"Val? I like the nickname. But that's what it seemed like but why would he. He hates other familiars." Katy looked at the spot that the lion vanished from then to Val. "Guess you're more special than I thought." Val tilted her head puzzled. 

"Well I guess Val is gonna have quite the training tonight." Rose said, putting her arm around Katy. 

"I guess, but she might hate us in the morning." Katy said her hand resting on Roses. 

'What do they mean I might hate them? What is this training?' Val thought looking at Katy and Rose worried. 

The group took a last few moments outside and joined the rest of the party. Val regained her spot on Katy's shoulder, her wings tight against her body once more. They stayed In the party mingling and talking with the other guests for an hour. 

"Please excuse us, we have to go and start the training of my familiar." Katy said, pushing away from a group of men surrounding her and Rose. 

"But lady Kathrine the party is only starting." A man in his late 40s said. 

"Yes but we have to get to trading as soon as we can." Katy said moving past the crowd of men and walking to the door the group following like hungry animals. "The training is private." She said, the men grumbled and dispersed back into the crowd. 

They walked through the house going into the basement. They walked through hallways passing multiple large metal doors. They stopped at the end of the hallway Katy walked up and pulled out a small medallion. The wall glowed and started shifting. It opened into a large hall filled with weapons and a large crystal in the center. 

"Alright Val go touch the crystal in the center." Katy said, Val chirped and flew to the center crystal touching it. 

"Good to see you're starting so soon." Sól said, appearing in a flash of light. The lion walked over to Val in the center and placed a paw on the crystal with Val. 

Val felt her mana getting drawn into the crystal. The crystal glowed and a low hum appeared. "Ummm Sól, are you sure about doing that?" 

"I said I will help train and that's what I intend to do." Sól said the hum growing louder the crystals glow growing brighter. A pulse of magic flowed out and enveloped Sól and Val, stopping just before Katy and Rose. 

(You are entering a training crystal for participants {Valentine: Nightstalker}, and {Sól: Eclipse lion} the difficulty will be set for {Valentine: Nightstalker}. {Sól: Eclipse lion} will take the role of mentor/administrator for the duration of the training session. Good luck.) 

Val opened her eyes, the training room gone, replaced with a forest in the dead of night. She looked around seeing nothing but trees. "Valentine this will be the first step of training i need to see where you are to train you effectively hunt the creatures here and survive as long as you can time here passes differently then outside here by the time we are done with this whole training regime only 20 minutes will have passed in the real world good luck." Val heard a voice similar to Sól say but more feminine. 

'Well let's get to it then.' Val thought she moved and started to fly between the trees. She moved fast and quietly, her stealth skill active hiding her presence. She landed on a branch looking towards a group of sleeping deer-like creatures, their skin more like bark than actual skin and fur, their horns looking like twisted and warped branches.