Chapter 549 - 548: A Strange Familiar

Chapter 549: Chapter 548: A Strange Familiar

Colin closed his eyes and focused.

A few grayish-white specks of light flickered before his eyes. Then, his perspective suddenly shifted to a position above the carriage, and the sound of wind rushed into his ears.

The sudden change made Colin a bit dizzy, almost like motion sickness.

But the dizziness came and went quickly, and Colin soon adapted. He began to mentally direct the owl’s flight, slowly gaining altitude until he could see the entire estate.

Their rented carriage was parked in an alley in the Marine District, right next to the Levin Clan’s estate.

The street in front of the estate’s main gate was bustling with people and carriages moving to and fro. It looked quite crowded.

As he observed, Colin suddenly realized the surroundings were familiar.

After taking a closer look, he realized this was the very place he had come to with Sela for a banquet. The Lowell Clan’s grand residence was right next door.

’What a coincidence.’

Colin didn’t dwell on it. He continued to direct the owl through the sky, finally having it land on the roof of another residence.

The Levin Clan’s estate had a courtyard filled with flowers and plants, which contained a stable and the main house. Overall, it wasn’t particularly large.

Inside the courtyard, a few servants were at work, and some Guards were on patrol.

Just from their posture and build, Colin could tell the Guards weren’t exceptionally professional; they were basically just strong, Ordinary people.

After all, hiring professional guards and powerful Adventurers for protection required a lot of money. A minor family could only afford so much for their defense budget.

During the flight, Colin kept his attention focused on his Perception, while simultaneously sketching the estate’s general layout and the Guards’ positions in his Spellbook from memory.

In the process, a few people on the street spotted the little owl flying in the sky, but none of them paid it much mind. Perhaps because the owl was so small, they mistook it for a sparrow or some other small bird.

「Over half an hour passed.」

Colin returned his consciousness to his own body and began to map out the Guards’ patrol routes in his Spellbook.

Just then, the curtain at the back of the carriage rustled.

Colin initially thought it was just a breeze, until Dorn’s figure slowly materialized inside the carriage.

"I’ve done a lap around the courtyard. I’ve got a good idea of the Guards’ patrol routes," Dorn said, dusting off his knees. "We’ve been parked here long enough. Staying any longer might arouse suspicion. Let’s come back tomorrow and have Kase and I take a look inside the rooms. By the way, have you learned the Invisibility Technique?"

"I have. It’ll come in handy tomorrow," Colin nodded.

He had learned a great many support spells over the past two weeks, and now they could finally be put to use.

Colin looked at Orelia, who was sitting beside him, and asked, "Did you sense anything this time?"

"No, Mr. Colin." Orelia frowned slightly. "If it’s an Evil Demon skilled at disguise, I can’t detect their scent."

"Alright then, let’s get going." Colin spoke quietly to Kase at the front, "Let’s stop near the Black Tower first."

The carriage promptly left the Marine District and made its way to the vicinity of the Black Tower.

After getting out of the carriage, Colin hurried into the Black Tower with his familiar and went to Morel’s laboratory.

Several apprentices were still hard at work at their respective stations. Colin strode into the inner chamber, where Morel was sitting on his Meditation Platform with his eyes closed, apparently resting.

"Morel, I used Find Familiar today," Colin said. "But it seems there was a problem with the Magic."

"What kind of problem?" Morel opened his eyes and glanced at the little owl perched on Colin’s shoulder. He then blinked a couple of times and said, "That familiar of yours looks a little strange."

"It *is* the problem," Colin said, pointing to the owl.

Just then, he felt a pang of sadness in his heart—it must have been an emotion transmitted from the familiar. These little creatures might not understand language, but they could still convey basic feelings.

"This looks like a unique familiar."

Morel stroked his chin. "The principle behind Find Familiar is to search the Outer Planes for a pet Essence, you understand that, right? And in some cases, certain Essences will proactively seek out a master they fancy."

They possess unique abilities, but in exchange, these kinds of Familiars can’t change their form like normal ones, nor can they enter the Magic Space used to store them. They’re more like real creatures, such as some of the smaller Beholders, Imps, and Quasits.

There are also some Familiars that are creatures of the Mortal World. You must gain their approval before you can form a Pact Boon with them.

The most famous example of this is the Pseudodragon. Although ’dragon’ is in the name, those little things are about the size of a raven, so they can be used as Familiars."

"So there shouldn’t be any problem, then?" Colin brought his index finger to his shoulder, and the little owl hopped onto it.

Morel shrugged. "Indeed, no problem. However, I’ll have to mention this to Asvir. I have a feeling this might be one of the special abilities of a ’Murmurer’."

"I was thinking the same thing. Well, see you later." As he spoke, Colin tossed his backpack into a corner, climbed back onto the Meditation Platform, and began practicing his Magic.

After he finished practicing his Magic and returned home, Colin tried to use a spell to send the little owl into the Magic Space that came with the spell, but it had no effect even after he recited the incantation several times.

Resigned, he had no choice but to sleep with the little thing.

Fortunately, it didn’t usually hoot or disturb Colin’s sleep. He just had it perch on his nightstand, and it was fine. It had almost no presence—so little, in fact, that the next day he forgot to bring the little guy with him when he left and had to go back for it halfway down the road.

「The next day, the group rented a carriage as usual.」

Only this time, the driver was Colin, who had used the Disguise Technique to appear as an Ordinary Groom. The place they parked was also different from the day before.

Since the main road in front of the estate had a fair amount of traffic, their carriage parked by the roadside didn’t draw too much attention.

To be honest, Colin was a bit nervous driving a carriage for the first time.

However, the horses pulling the carriage were quite obedient, so he didn’t run into any trouble on the way over.

After parking the carriage, Colin turned and entered the passenger compartment.

The others were all sitting inside. The little owl was now perched foolishly on Orelia’s hand.

Perhaps because of the Demon blood in Orelia, Colin could faintly sense that his familiar was now a little scared.

He spread his Spellbook open at his feet, placed one hand on his little owl and the other on Kase, and began to recite a spell. He used the Rising Tier Spellcasting technique, expending the energy of Tier Three Magic to cast the Invisibility Technique.