The good thing about having a familiar is that they are by nature a very helpful sort. They enjoy helping their summoners and provide service, help with gathering information, and as well cook. Of course the downside is that they have their own will and get their own ideas, and it’s never a good thing to get on your familiar’s badside.

“Indeed I do Paleon. We have a missing child case, or rather one of kidnapping. I already scoped out the house and gathered the cards. These two in particular I believe are the key, and need your expertise.” I said taking out the two imprinted cards and gave them to him. Paleon took the cards looking them over nodding.

“I see, so a kid of raw magical power, no doubt not yet claimed by the GC, has go and gotten himself kidnapped. And this card having the symbol of a Butcher Demon suggesting this energy was found at his place so it implies he was the kidnapper.” he said looking it over before smirking. “But if I know you, you think there’s another force at play.”

I nodded with a slight smile. He always knew how to read my thoughts like that. “I think there’s more to it, they don’t just go on and rampage like that. Perhaps you can find out more of this one?” I asked tapping onto the card that had the Butcher signia. Paleon grinned before going over to a corner that had candles around.

“I can get the info no problem. Just let me set up” Paleon chuckled before snapping his fingers conjuring a green flame on his fingertip. With a flick of his wrist the flame spread from tip to candle wick lighting them up. Clapping his hands he conjured a small tornado in his palms before it spread around him surrounding him in green flame winds. “Ok give me a few and I’ll see what I can find.” his voice came from the swirling vortex.

I suppose while he’s off in his own little realm I should break down what’s happening here… or rather two things. What exactly is Paleon, and what exactly is he doing. After all it’ll be better if everyone was up to speed, correct?

Paleon is a familiar, a kind of creature you can summon. Summoning magic is a bit of a tricky subject, calling forth creatures from other realms and conjuring them from the leyweb that’s something most mages can do after spending enough years to learn the basics. But a familiar is something completely else… it's a bit like summoning and creating life. And it all begins with power.

To form a familiar one needs to channel raw, untapped magical energy straight from the leyweb, the very webwork of magic that prevails through the entire world we live in. Channeling that raw energy one needs to funnel it and form a suitable body, and believe me when I say channeling that kind of level of magic is both exhilarating and terrifying. Imagine being shocked by a bolt of lighting, that tingly sensation and smell of smoke and like every nerve in your body is on fire, while you're actually on fire. Now multiply that theoretical feeling by a hundredfold, and you’ll get a good feeling of how it feels to channel that raw magic.

Forming the body is hard enough, with only the very creative being able to mold a body from scratch. Thankfully for those of us less creatively inclined there are archetypes, basic concepts known by everyone universally. If you use an archetype you can modify the archetype body to your desires. Paleon for example is an Imp archetype.

After forming the body one needs to channel a large deal of their own personal power into the body, their own time, energy, knowledge… and the very final bit: their own soul. Not the whole soul, but a very small fraction of your soul goes into the body, and that sparks life. Then bam, congratulations you made your very own familiar you can summon at will to aid you… and about five months of bed rest and physical therapy to help recover from the ordeal of conjuring a familiar. For that reason only a few mages, about one in eight perhaps, ever have the goal of making one.

Familiars themselves… well how they behave is part of what traits they inherited from their creator, and how they develop. But that's another subject. As for what my familiar is doing now… that ties into his own unique magic. Paleon’s own power allows him to connect to the Nethernet… think of it like a magical internet accessible by mages and other powers that be. It’s tricky for me, but it's a natural talent for Paleon, and through it he can look up files, information, and other things. As it is he’s looking for info on any Butcher Demons in the neighborhood.

I only had a moment to ponder what information he could find when the flames turned bright blue and sputter out the wind dying with the flames. Paleon stood proud as a peacock holding up three cards, his mouth twisted into a smug self satisfied smirk. “Got the info boss… and boy this ought to make your job a lot easier. Feel free to thank me.”