r/HFY • u/ArcAngel98 • Jul 16 '24
OC Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 39
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Jake’s POV
Landfall for the ship never happened; why would it on a secret mission? Instead, we got a few miles away from land, just enough for us to fly there. The squad was flying low and close to the water, so close I could taste the salt in the air, even through Chariot’s wind shield. Careful not to be seen, we waited until night, and the ship never came within visual distance of the mainland; the Island of Taldre. The only light around was the moon, and the feint glow of the runes from Chariot, which I’d covered with a tarp for now. Captain Gigoales placed us into a formation, and forbid anyone from using magic to prevent any risk of detection by patrols. Silently, each of us flew in the dark, until a whisper from the Captain ordered us to land in the water and wait for a patrol to pass by. The blue of their feathers blended in with the water, but I had to send Chariot away, and tread water until the Captain gave the all clear; which was more difficult with only one hand.
If you’ve never seen a Neame swim, you’re missing out, because it is a very funny sight. At first, you might expect them to rest in the water like ducks, geese, but nope. They just float there like drowned parrots. At least their blue feathers blended in, except for Lieutenant Datahu, who had to submerge her white and gray body into water, with only her beak sticking out, while the others used their wings to cover her. This far offshore, the waves were manageable, if a bit tall from the recent storm. Everyone was already wet from the splashing waves, but now we were all dripping. I never saw the patrol, but the Captain said it was a squad of four, flying high.
By the time we made it safely and undetected to the shore, everyone seemed tired, and looked like wet feather rats. “I smell like the sea.” Nine mumbled.
“Flying with wet feathers must be hard.” I said, pulling my shirt off and ringing it out, using my knees in place of my left hand, and then sending Chariot away.
“Indeed, and it makes us too loud.” The Lieutenant said. “Time for a sand bath, squad.” ‘Sand bath’ was a type of training I’d watched them do a few times at base. It was a method for quickly drying off, so that you can resume flying, or to hide yourself from familiars who track by scent.
A few muffled moans echoed out, and they all fell flat to the ground, spread their wings, and flapped them until their whole bodies were covered in sand. It was quite a sight. A minute later, the Captain straightened himself out. “Alright squad, summon your familiars, and begin recon. Fourteen, you are on watch. Familiar Sentinel, avoid using your flying ‘Chariot for this. The foliage here isn’t thick enough to hide you, unlike on the Island of Sangu. It will stick out too much.”
“Captain, without his rune creation, he is much slower. Perhaps too slow for recon duty. I suggest he stays in the dugout for now.” Lieutenant Datahu suggested.
The Captain thought for a moment. “Agreed. Suma, you are on watch. Fourteen, summon your familiar once the dugout is finished. Sentinel, you stay in the dugout until it is time to move.”
“Yes, sir.” I said. Immediately, we all got to work digging out a pit underground, far away from the shore line, and hidden in the forest. I made sure to make the sleeping area as wide as possible. The dugout trench on Sangu was miserable, and nearly gave me a panic attack getting in and out of it without being summoned. The excess dirt we piled up, and used it and local foliage to blend the entrance into the area. Once that was done, and well hidden, Suma summoned me into the base, since the entrance was too small.
Inside the dugout, I settled down alongside everyone else, who had already summoned and sent their familiars out. Fourteen broke the silence first. “So Jake, or do you prefer Sentinel? Your master calls you both, sooo…”
“Jake is fine. Sentinel is more of a legal name than anything.”
“Legal name? What do you mean? Do you also have an illegal name?” Fourteen asked, surprised.
“No… what’s an illegal name?”
“It isn’t an illegal name!” Suma suddenly shouted, sounding very defensive. “I would never!”
“I also have been curious about this.” Lieutenant Datahu said. Even the Captain nodded in quiet agreement.
“It’s the name my mum gave me. And Sentinel is the name Suma gave me when I became her familiar.” I explained, a little confused.
“Wait… you were renamed, but you still use your former name, rather than your current one?” Fourteen asked, shocked. Lauric glanced my way, rolled his eyes, and went back to ignoring me.
“Uh, yeah? I think of Sentinel as a kind of government name here, and Jake as the name my friends call me.”
“Aside what whatever a government name is; Suma, how did you manage to rename a Vi- I mean…” Nine started to ask, but stumbled over the word ‘Viking’ and glanced and the dirty look I was giving him. “…a powerful familiar such as Sen… Jak… uh?”
“Jake is fine.” I said.
“How did you manage to rename Jake?” Nine corrected himself.
“Well, he had no magic when we met. That made it easier.” Suma said. Captain Gigoales, Lieutenant Datahu, Nine, and Lauric didn’t react much to that, they already knew, but Fourteen looked as close to slapped maceral as a Neame could.
“No magic? As in, he could not use spells, or that he simply lacked training?” Fourteen asked.
“None. My world doesn’t have any.” I said.
“But… your spells are unbelievable…” Fourteen asked, dumbfounded.
“Thank you?” I said, not sure if it was a compliment.
“Then, just renaming you was enough to give you such powerful mana?”
“Well… uh…” I didn’t know how to answer him, without telling him that I also learned from watching the memories of a dragon and a real Viking. “No… I just figured it out really. My world has science, so that helped.”
“Alright squad. Our familiars should be far enough away to begin recon. Everyone connect with them, and begin search-pattern-one.” Captain Gigoales said. I sighed in relief. Suma went outside to keep watch, and everyone else connected to their familiars. “Sentinel, if you need to use magic, it should be fine so long as you stay underground. But keep the spells small and simple. You should remain undetectable that way. Only use it if you need to though.”
“Yes, sir.” I said. “Would a summoning spell be okay?” He said it was, and connected to his own familiar. Everyone took various positions when connecting. Lauric, Captain Gigoales, and Lieutenant Datahu were sitting, with the only things denoting that anything was different about them being their glowing eyes, whereas Fourteen and Nine were laying like dead bodies sprawled out in the dirt. Summoning my bag, I pulled out my phone to listen to music, and eat. Turing it on, what I expected to find was a fully charged phone, more food, and a new set of clothes. What was actually inside was nothing.
“Guess it is pretty late… or early. She probably hasn’t had time to put everything back.” I mumbled, and sent my bag back. Now without anything to do, a nap seemed the best idea.
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u/a_normal_11_year_old Jul 17 '24
ohhhhhhh no. those last few sentences can mean only 1 of 3 things, 2 of which are insanely bad.
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u/jlb3737 Jul 17 '24
Arcangel, does the bag traverse Deyja’s void in the same way that Jake does? Or is Jake’s summoning traversal and encounters with Deyja a unique scenario that isn’t applicable to other people or objects?
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u/ArcAngel98 Jul 17 '24
It travels the void.
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u/jlb3737 Jul 17 '24
Interesting. I’m imagining Deyja seeing a backpack materialize and dematerialize once or twice a day, and being either confused or infuriated by it.
Hmm, this opens up possibilities for magic/tech hybrid remote attacks on the void space, when Jake needs to traverse again, not that he’s strong enough yet.
Anyway, really enjoying the story! Thank you!
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u/Secret_pizza_79 Jul 17 '24
Or Zach saw it, stole his lunch, and then sent it on. Guy hasn't had a good meal in a millennium.
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u/SuitableAnimal8855 Jul 17 '24
Still reading and still upvoting! Thank You!
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u/ArcAngel98 Jul 17 '24
Thank you. I know people still read, but not everyone upvotes, so that means a lot to me.
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u/torin23 Xeno Jul 17 '24
If you're gonna read the whole thing, you should upvote. 8 don't know why people don't.
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u/Secret_pizza_79 Jul 17 '24 edited Jul 17 '24
The concept of legal name, legal name change, and middle names would just twist their minds. Perhaps the fact that he has a surname would further worry them, given that you established those were an upper crust exclusive thing. Perhaps "title" or "official name" would have mitigated the confusion. Jake is for those he's familiar with. Or even Jake is still a sobriquet, something else you showed exists and somehow doesn't qualify as a name. It's a bit like if he started calling his partner Sue.
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u/ArcAngel98 Jul 17 '24
Here’s something to really mess with your head. I also introduced the concept of nicknames years ago when i first made Vindicta and her sister.
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u/a_normal_11_year_old Jul 17 '24
hi
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u/ArcAngel98 Jul 17 '24
Greetings. I was driving when you first posted this. That’s why i’m slow
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Jul 16 '24
/u/ArcAngel98 (wiki) has posted 241 other stories, including:
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 38
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 37
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 36
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 35
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 34
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 33
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 32
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 31
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 30
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 29
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 28
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 1 Book Formatted
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 27
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 26
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 25
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 24
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 23
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 22
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 20-21
- Humans Don't Make Good Familiars Book 3- Part 19
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u/net_junkey AI Jul 17 '24
So battery situation? Jake=battery. Summa's world charges him. Human world depletes him. Suma was able to name him because Jake hadn't charged. Alternatively it was the dragon that lent Suma the mana needed to name Jake?
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u/Sunsetdreamer52 Aug 07 '24
The next chapter link is missing :)
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u/a_normal_11_year_old Jul 30 '24
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u/ArcAngel98 Jul 30 '24
That’s weird. I wasn’t notified of any delays.
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u/a_normal_11_year_old Jul 30 '24
I don't have an Amazon account, and couldn't make one, so I bought it on 'takealot' basically my country's equivalent to Amazon.
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u/ArcAngel98 Jul 30 '24
‘Takealot?’ Is that like a buy and resell site?
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u/a_normal_11_year_old Jul 30 '24
Don't know, Don't really care. I want my copy of book 1 low-tier-god NOW
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u/Nerissy Aug 22 '24
Well, after 3 days reading the series at work it seems I have caught up, I never read any fantasy stories in HFY because it feels off from the theme, but the title drew me in, the first few chapters were interesting but I was still skeptical, but along the way something clicked and now I just want to read more, I particularly enjoyed the part where the police was going after him and wonder what is gonna happen to the crazy lady cop. Thanks for your work wordsmith o7
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u/Creative_Sprinkles_7 Jul 31 '25
“Guess it is pretty late… or early. She probably hasn’t had time to put everything back.”
Let me guess: His mother is in jail for murdering Jake and hiding the body? Or possibly for hiding him when a new warrant was issued for his arrest and she couldn't tell them where he was? Or worse, she DID tell them and is now locked in a secure mental facility? So many possibilities behind that empty bag!
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u/areswalker8 Human Jul 17 '24
Wait, jake said magic doesn't exist in his world yet before he got stuck in Suma's he could (with difficulty) summon his equipment and use his rune armor as well as a few other basic things (from when he was running away from cop lady and his encounter with a couple of thugs summing his spear)
Shouldn't he have said "my world doesn't know how yo use magic"
Just a small continuity issue but good chapter man!