- The Lead

Cold.

The chilled hallways sent goosebumps up my arms and legs, allowing me to feel the cold as it brushed against my skin. The hallways were long as they always were, darker now that no torches licked the shadows away.

I walked down a hallway such as this. The darkness brushed against my light blue dress, as I kept the stern face I had always kept. This did not scare me. This did not harm me like the foods or rocks thrown at me by my people when I passed by. This would not stop me.

"Your highness."

I turned to see a maid slowly trailing behind me. She was obviously set to follow me, but I didn't care. I was used to my family sticking tails on me in or out of the palace.

"Your highness, is this very wise?"

Worry could be heard in her voice. I knew why. Down this hallway lies a door. That door led to the top of Mount Row tower, a tower filled with over a dozen artifacts and treasures regarding summons and summoners. The man who rested in that tower was Al Shir, a summoner who was famous around Rovsta.

Hailing from the Southern Isles, Al Shir was one of the most powerful summoners within Rovsta, and ranked thirty two on the world wide rankings. His knowledge and power had made him both feared and sought after when he decided to retire and become a teacher. My family was the luck group that was able to hire him. Though he only agreed because he liked Rovsta's rolling mountains and peaks, it was a major win over neighboring countries.

Al Shir was responsible for teaching high ranking nobles - dukes, marquise, etc. But his main job was to teach the children of royalty. Thus being me.

I could understand the maids' fear, considering Al Shir is known as the Devil's Pirate in the Southern Seas, and for a maid who had no summons to protect her, he was a deaths sentence. In reality he was just a grumpy old man who hated to be bothered, but he would never kill someone for just knocking on his door. I knew him better than most, after all he wasn't my teacher for nothing.

"Stay here if you're scared. I don't care."

And like that, with my cold and emotionless glare, I walked off having no fear within my steps.

Out of everyone in the castle, the people here who had shown me kindness were once in the hundreds. Now, after I was disowned, that number dwindled until I could count them on one hand.

One of them being my uncle, the grand duke, who sadly lost his child and wife to a bandit attack when they were coming home from the northern farmlands. Knowing that his time was limited on this earth, he chose to give me kindness where others would not.

This was something I would always be grateful to him for.

Master was also another friend who showed me kindness, though in his own, strange way. But I was still grateful to him for everything he was doing for me, or had done.

His task was to teach the children of the king and queen, who had summons. I did not. Meaning he had no reason to teach me at all, yet still, he did. Everyday to the point of exhaustion. But I had no right to complain, especially when given this rare chance that seemed almost like a fantasy to me now.

He would often grill me for information regarding the various books he made me read. In fact, one was on me right now, inside my satchel.

I wasn't the type to wear gowns or dresses, much to my mothers dismay, but why else would I wear leather clothes, other than to upset her. As a child I would often let my mother do my hair, dress me up, and turn me into whatever doll-like little girl she wanted. I wasn't upset about it back then because I desperately wanted to be like her, even in some small way.

But after her sudden departure from the ship 'Parenthood', I decided to withdraw all the love I had for being a princess. It felt wrong. My mother wasn't happy about it, as I could clearly see when we would pass each other in the halls on the rare occasions we met.

She'd always look at my clothes like they were some detestable rat that had snuck its way into the palace. To be honest, I judged her hair more than she judged my clothes. That looked like a rat, and there was nothing she could do to change my mind.

Once I reached the large wooden and iron door, I glanced behind me to see the maid scurrying on the edge of stone that separated the hallways. She was too afraid to follow.

I smiled as my excitement grew. Whenever I needed a break from the tails that followed me, I would often come here. Master didn't mind it since he, himself, hated the maids and butlers that came anywhere near his door. The fact that I was scaring them off using his simple tower, made him burst into laughter every time I told him the stories.

Over the years many tails have been stuck on me by my family. Some were simply sent after me to report on my many moves around the castle, while others were sent to get closer to me, in hopes of secrets being revealed between us. Though I wondered at times what secrets they think I could be hiding, it didn't matter to me.

After being fooled once, I swore to never give in to anyone else again. I may be a failure of a summoner, but I was still a princess. There certainly weren't any shortage of suitors from lesser noble families who tried to get into the royal bloodline. Always pretending to care for me, yet in the end my uncle would always uncover just who they really were underneath.

Greedy and power hungry people. Unlike the times I could count kindness that was given to me with no ulterior motives on one hand, the amount of debts I owe my uncle for the things he's done number in the hundreds.

I reached the top of the stairs, where a large and decorated iron door sat. Engravings of men and beast battling from the time of the old ages were carved and etched into the iron and stone surrounding the door. As expected of my master, a summoner fanatic.

-Knock -Knock -Knock

I carefully knocked on the door clutching my satchel at my side. Soon, the door creaked open revealing an older looking man in his sixties. He had gray hair that traced down past his shoulders, and a long gray beard that ended at his ribs.

"Have you come back again? It's only been three days?"

He stroked his beard as he talked casually looking behind me for any maids of tails I might have. The braver ones often venture up the stairs, only to get an earful from my master who claimed we were doing dangerous things and they could possibly die. They always bolted after that, and those that didn't got the glare of their life from my master.

Needless to say, no tail of mine has ever gotten past this door in one piece, though none of them have gotten close enough to be shredded.

"Yes master, I understand. But I didn't have much to do these past few days, so I spent my time working."

He was quiet for a minute, before seemingly coming to a conclusion. I thought I could catch a hint of pride in his eyes as he turned his back to me.

"Fine, come on in. I've got plenty of time."

I closed the door behind me as I entered the room. A large room with a high roof the one would expect to look like at the top of a large tower. The tower itself wasn't even that big in diameter, so the room was more tall than it was wide.

I caught a glimpse of my master's unkempt bed on the second floor in between bookshelves. Along the walls were decorated bookshelves with dozens and dozens of books, numbering in the hundreds if you count the ones sprawled out on the floor. Not to mention the possibly thousands of scrolls that looked as if mice and moths had been digging into them.

My master may have been a powerful pirate captain in the Southern Isles, especially with his powerful summon class, the Sea Serpent at his side, but most probably didn't know that he was, at heart, a scholar.

He would often find time on adventures and plunders where he would hold himself up in the captain's quarters, spending hours to days researching. While he had studied a great many different things in this world, one topic came across to him as something he solemnly loved. The Eternal Realm.

In fact, it was the very reason he chose to retire and begin teaching summoners about the basics, and even more so for how much knowledge he truly had. Another key detail as to why so many were after him. Even the slightest chance to pass on that knowledge to one of their own children, many nobles, kings, and emperors wanted him. But he chose here.

"Tell me Lia. What have you learned from this one?"

Master spoke as he abruptly turned around pointing at my satchel. I reached in and took out the large, overweight book titled 'The Masters of Destruction,' a book previously given to me three days ago by Master.

"Quite a bit actually. Mostly on Runes."

"Good, good. Explain"

He took a seat near one of the large bookshelves and gestured for me to sit across from him. I sat, trying not to look at all the books sprawled across the floors and shelves. I was a very big book lover, and simply being limited to one a week has been torture for me, especially when there were so many here.

"Runes are the markings of summons. They are what links us to the Eternal Realm. A rune circle appears -"

"Yes, yes. I know all this. Explain to me the interesting parts. I know you're smarter than that."

He was correct. I already knew half of everything that was in that book, but the only reason I was told to read it was because of the final chapter.

"Runes are small portals."

"Oh, elaborate."

Master crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair with a smile on his face.

"Runes act as small portals to the Eternal Realm that allows us to draw power from the Eternal Realm, using our summons as a medium."

The topic in question was in fact a very interesting one. It had caught my attention several times in the past, but I was still far too low in my level of knowledge to begin reading it.

"Essentially, this mimics the ability to use mana. Something that we cannot do."

"Correct. Wizards and warlocks are a thing of fantasy here. Now our world relies on summons like their everything. Our connection to the mana they give us is one of these many treasures they've handed to us at no charge."

"You don't sound like you're happy about that?"

It was true, Al Shir may be obsessed with summons and the Eternal Realm, but that didn't mean he was getting rid of his firm beliefs. He was still a former captain after all. He had his morals.

"If someone is given something for free, based on luck, they will never work for anything in their lives, and get fat off that free cash."

"You make a valid point."

"Of course I do."

He chuckled slightly before staring at me for several minutes. He was clearly thinking about how I was able to finish this huge book in such a short amount of time. Especially given that I was a princess.

I decided not to let him ask and just jump straight to the point.

"I didn't have much to do these past few days. I was bored."

He sighed deeply before continuing.

"Don't you have a social life, girl?"

I gave him a look, raising my eyebrow. He quickly receded his comment after realizing what he had said. Obviously I knew he didn't mean any offense by it, but he was being honest. I didn't have much of a social life, and that wasn't a healthy habit for a young woman like me, who had barely broken past the age of twenty.

"Sorry girl. Don't pay any attention to an old geezer like me."

"You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault."

Even though my master was teaching my brother and sister, who I was in no way in a sibling type relationship with, he still cared for me as one of his students. And even if I was his student, he didn't stop teaching my siblings. As he once told me, they were geniuses, but they weren't the geniuses that would carry this county.

They were too soft.

In a way, you could say he put more effort into training me, because of the fact I didn't have a summons. I knew what it was like to struggle and claw my way back into the light, where others once pushed me down.

I just told myself that my siblings were the guinea pigs of the class, who often got everything my master could throw at them, while he was careful with how he taught me. Almost as if he was testing a brand new sword, while using its failures and successes to sharpen his own blade.

"Well, I assume you're here for a new book?"

Recently my master has been increasingly busy with matters involving the king and crown prince. My father and brother. Father was concerned for Rall as he had not yet broken through to an B class summoner. And so, he's basically forced Master to pull in more hours in training him.

Summners didn't get a choice what summons they would call forth, nor were they granted the choice in class. If you were granted a C class insect beast, that's just what you were given.

However, summoners did get to change their own class. If a summons they called froth was more powerful than they were, they wouldn't be able to use all their strength, and instead could only use a measly amount.

Thus, the reason why so many summoners grappled for higher classes and training. Even for summoners with lower class summons, by ranking up, they directly increase the strength of their own summons. It's the very cause of so many institutes, colleges, and academies popping up all over the continent. So many wanted to raise their rank and grow stronger in power. Sadly, it was at the cost of my monster's sleep schedule.

Master looked up and down my book, clearly taking notice of the wear and winkles of the sides and cover.

"Judging from your lack of self respect for a book, I can definitely see that you read this whole thing."

I gave him a look. I took very good care of my books. Minus that one.

"This book belonged to one of a series with many to follow."

Master placed the book down on the table next to his chair. There he picked up another book, with a simple black cover with golden letters.

"But those are useless. All the information you need to know is in the first one, and you've clearly read that already.

He looked between me and the book several times before eventually seemingly coming to a conclusion.

"I was planning on reading this one after I found it inside an old book store, since it caught my interest. But I think this one will suit you a little better."

Once he handed me the book, I got a good look at the worn corners, the many scratches on the front cover, and the subtle signs of folded pages where my master must have left off. It drew my interest immediately.

For something so ill taken care of to catch the attention of my master, who judged you forever if you gave a good book the smallest of scratches, must have meant that this was that good of a book. But I couldn't see it. Which made me want to read it even more.

'Rex Chaos."

Such a strange name that made no sense. Who would put 'Rex' and 'Chaos' together for a title? So why was my master so interested in this one book?

My face must have given away my confusion because soon master jumped in dwelling down my doubts.

"The book's name has nothing to do with the contents. It's a myth. A collection of old legends and tales mixed together to form a story. Fiction is what I call it."

If he was trying to give me answers, all he did was give me more questions. Afterall, master hated anything fictional when it related to summons and summoners. It wasn't fake nor did it come from someone's mind. It was real, therefore - according to him - it belonged to a book of logic.

"Why would you read fiction?"

To this he simply smiled. "Because girl, it's the work of fiction in this book, that paves the mind to think, 'could this be real?'"

That drew my interest. If fiction was a collection of fake beliefs and thoughts on paper, it could be written off as a child's tale. But if a work of fiction made you question your own morals, essentially if those morals were as strict as master's, then it had an even larger demand for attention.

"The title's in another language. One that comes from the Eternal Realm. How the author was able to translate I don't know, but it makes it that much more interesting. Their language looks and is spelled just like ours, but has a different meaning. The author clearly knew this, and was trying to drift attention away from his book with this strange title."

"What does it mean?" Now my attention was even more drawn in as I was already on the edge of my seat.

Master's smile grew even more. "The King of Chaos."

The King of Chaos. A name that was titled to something incredible and powerful. Such a dead looking book had such a demanding title? And what's more, the author wanted it hidden.

Suddenly, a thought struck me.

"Master?"

"Hm?"

Master turned to me, but seeing the look in my eyes, he quickly stopped talking and listened in.

"What if a summons was the one who wrote this?"

"Oh, oh, oh. Interesting deduction. Elaborate…"

I was about to continue with my sudden hypothesis, but I was quickly interrupted by the tower door slamming shut.

Both my master and I quickly turned our heads in the direction of the sound, and soon our bodies froze.

There stood a young man, maybe nineteen or in his early twenties, dressed in fine leather with golden vines decorating the long coat he wore. He gave off a prestigious feeling to him, as though the world itself was beneath him.

Master was the first to speak, given my frozen demeanor.

"Hello, your highness."