“I’m Ehr Barre. Born and raised in the downtown slums, and I’m seventeen! Got any problems? I’ll hear ya out! And peace!”
He ignored the previous examples, and I chuckled at his forceful introduction. When I turned around, he looked at me proudly and smugly.
“Dammit, no one else is laughing…” he muttered.
“Oh, I thought you were funny,” I whispered back.
I’m starting to feel like Ehr might be my only friend at this school…
“All right, now that introductions are done, let’s finally get to what we’ve all been waiting for—summoning familiars!” Professor Whipp declared. She had a stack of summoning notes and handed one out to each student. “Don’t touch it yet,” she said. “Just sit tight, okay?”
Almost all my classmates patiently waited as they listened to the professor’s orders. A summoning note was placed on my desk as well. It was the size of a trading card and inscribed with a magic circle and spell. She gave us a brief explanation about familiars.
“There are four types of familiars,” she said. “Mythical beasts, fairies, spirits, and magical creatures.”
Mythical beasts were very intelligent and could be good friends with humans. Spirits boasted high mana and could support wizards and witches. Fairies had extensive knowledge of flora and could be a huge help in making potions.
“Magical creatures were created using mostly small animals like cats or dogs,” the professor explained. “They’re given mana and intelligence so that they can be familiars or messengers.”
Many had turned wild, and there were more magical creatures than mythical beasts, spirits, and fairies combined. In other words, almost all of the students here summoned magical creatures.
“If you can get a mythical beast, fairy, or spirit, you’re quite lucky,” she said. She added that there was technically one more type of creature that would answer a student’s summons, though it was very rare. “Monsters with goodwill.”
The occasional goblin, kobold, cockatrice, or other monster not driven to do evil would heed someone’s summons.
“But monsters are typically stupid and slow,” Professor Whipp explained. “They’re generally not very useful, unfortunately.”
If a student happened to summon a monster, that contract would be nullified, and they would be given another chance to summon something more useful.
“I wonder what you will summon,” Professor Whipp said in a singsong voice. “I look forward to seeing the results.”
Once she passed out all the summoning notes, she taught us how to use them.
“First, place the card onto your forehead,” she said. “Then chant your spell. A magic circle will appear, so touch that to summon a familiar. Once you give them a name, the contract will be formed.”
This summoning ritual would be done one at a time. We moved our desks to the side so that we could summon in the middle of the room.
“First, Rena. Go on,” Professor Whipp urged languidly.
“Yes, Professor.”
Prince Rena stood tall and stepped into the center of the room. Since this was our first time, I expected her to be tense, but she proudly maintained her composure and followed Professor Whipp’s steps. She placed the card on her forehead.
“Come on out! Summon!” she chanted.
A magic circle appeared in front of her, and she touched it before the circle spread throughout the floor and emitted a blinding flash of light.
“Oh?” Professor Whipp murmured. “Hee hee… I sense something grand…”
A large silhouette slowly emerged from the bright light, and we all eagerly watched on. When the light finally died down, we finally saw the creature in all its glory—a unicorn with a crystal horn.
“Splendid,” Professor Whipp hummed. “I’ve never seen a unicorn before.”
This creature was rare among familiars, but Prince Rena looked troubled. I couldn’t blame her. Unicorns were known to be unique in that they loved only maidens who protected their own purity. No one else seemed to know this scandalous tidbit and only showered Prince Rena with praise.
“You can summon and store your familiar as you please,” Professor Whipp said. “You can bring them around with you, but your creature is quite large. It might be best if they were kept stored.”
Prince Rena named her familiar Cheval and stored it away. She swiftly moved to the side of the room, sadness riddled all over her face. I knew that the prince was hiding her gender, and she must not have expected to summon a unique creature that blatantly loved women. I sort of feel bad for her…
“Next, Alice von Kirsten,” Professor Whipp called.
“Yes, ma’am,” Alice replied. She gallantly strode to the middle of the room and started her ritual. “Come on out! Summon!”
The magic circle that appeared didn’t shine as brightly as Prince Rena’s, but it was still dazzling. The silhouette was smaller this time, and when the light cleared, a white cat with a jewel embedded in its forehead primly sat in the middle of the magic circle.
“Ah, a cat fairy,” Professor Whipp noted.
“A kitty?!” Alice gasped. Her cheeks turned rosy with delight, and she practically cried with joy as she stared at her familiar. “Sh-She’s so cute!” she cried. She scooped the kitty up in her arms and hugged it tightly. “My familiar’s warm!”
She snapped back to her senses after that outburst, but it was too late. Clearly, she loved cats and doted over them. When Alice tried to introduce what she liked earlier, maybe she tried to say that she liked cats. In any case, she swiftly named her familiar Kitty and quickly retreated to the side of the room with flushed cheeks.
Rena summoned a mythical beast, followed by Alice’s cat fairy. The tension in the classroom was sky-high as everyone expected something awesome as well, but the next students all proceeded to summon a magical creature. Frogs, birds, mice, praying mantises, and land crabs answered the students’ calls.
“I guess it won’t be easy to summon a dragon,” Ehr muttered.
“I think it will be,” I replied.
It was finally my turn. I wished for anything other than a slithery reptile as I used my own summoning note.
“Come on out! Summon!” I chanted.
My magic circle let out a blinding flash of light, obscuring my vision for a few moments. My classmates all gasped and raised their voices because the light was brighter than Prince Rena’s.
“Misha! Will you summon a dragon?!” Ehr cried.
“Of course not!” I retorted.
A silhouette slowly emerged, round and large like an exercise ball.
“Huh? Is it an egg?” I wondered.
When the light died down, I spotted not an egg, but a crystal-like being sitting there. It had round, adorable eyes and a small mouth as it stared at me. It’s so pretty… I stared in awe before I noticed my cheering classmates fell silent in their confusion. I gasped and turned to my professor.
“Um, Professor Whipp, what is this?” I asked.
“I think it’s a slime,” she replied.
Slimes were considered the weakest monsters in this world. I didn’t expect to summon one as my familiar.
“Slimes are usually much smaller, but this one is very, very large,” the professor added.
Slimes would occasionally be summoned, but they were the size of a basketball, at most. The slime in front of me was larger and sat there proudly, its dignified presence clear for the world to see.