Chapter 12: Capital Academy (Part 2)

"Well, now that all of the introductions are done. I would like to tell you the pairings for the dorms" 

Dorms, huh..? 

In this academy, two students of the same gender stay in the same room for the whole 4 years of their study here. 

Somehow, I am bit excited who I would be with. Even though it is surely a guy…

"Well, let us start with girls. First are Reina Arledimeth and Anna Kirthyln. Next is…." mister Gustav went on and gave the pairings for the girls.

Reina and Anna, would it be okay for that two to be roommates? 

A total opposite of each other became together, like how opposite poles attract each other, ey?

It kinda sounds interesting, but is surely dangerous for Anna. 

Hope that Reina wouldn't treat her badly, just because she doesn't want to get along with anyone.

"Next is the pairings for the boys. First are Edward Collins and Russell Figmorth. Next is..." mister Gustav spoke up and went on giving the pairings for boys.

Oh! I'm with Russell, huh? Good thing, it isn't with the other trouble kids, like Gino or Forth and not Kirt, as well. 

"The other one are Gino Borther and Kirt Yulirken" mister Gustav continued on. 

Hmm, aren't the problem ones together except for Forth?

I kinda counted myself as one of the problem kids that made Mister Gustav cough, throughout the introductions earlier.

After telling us the pairings for the dorms, Mister Gustav told us our schedule and the names of our professors, other than him.

"What to do, we still have some time" he mumbled, as he looked at the table clock, beside his documents.

He then gasped, and his lips formed a smirk, which made me tilt my head to the side. 

"Ah, right! Everyone get ready we're going to the training hall!" he raised an index finger and pointed it towards the window, where the said place is seen.

We followed his finger with our eyes and went back to him, before mumbling, "Eh?"

…

As we reached the training hall, Mister Gustav went to the middle of the hall and we students surrounded him.

"We will go with the phase 2 for your introductions" mister Gustav stated, with a smile that wasn't as fake as the one he showed earlier.

Phase 2..?

Forth raised his right hand and Mr. Gustav pointed him, "Forth-kun!" 

"What are we gonna do with the Phase 2 of our introductions" the guy asked and Mister Gustav mumbled, "That is a good question…"

His lips then formed a smirk. 

"We will be summoning your familiars" Mister Gustav swayed his hand to the side and we all mumbled, "Sir..?"

A familiar…

"First of all, do you guys know what a familiar is?" Mister Gustav asked and Forth raised his hand, which made the teacher point him, "Yes Forth-kun!" 

Forth step forward and cleared his throat, "Ahem!"

"A familiar is created with the ether of their master and they take the form of a creature that can be made with the amount of Ether the master had unleashed"

Mister Gustav flicked his fingers, "Correct!" and nodded. "One must only summon one familiar, since familiars tend to fight with other familiars" 

  "It can also be a way of showing both the master and the familiar's loyalty" 

Familiar, huh? This is exactly one of the thing I was expecting from a fantasy world, like this one. 

But…

I raised my right hand and Mister Gustav asked, "What is it, your highness?"

"Sir, just how would summoning our familiars help in our introductions?" I asked, and put my hand down.

He smiled.

"They would you show your capabilities to others. Summoning a familiar would require a great amount of Ether, more if it is a big one" 

So, that's the purpose of this whole summoning.

"Is that all?" he asked and we all nodded. "Then, let us move on. But, first. Let me write a magic circle, here" 

Summoning a familiar is a kind of craft magic, which is known to be categorized in the 5th Origin that is known to exists, only in theories.

It is a kind of Craft Magic that involves both types of Craft, Runes Magic and Chanted Magic.

I spared a glimpse over Mister Gustav and noticed the big magical circle he wrote, in the middle of the hall.

It is enough to fit a dragon there. Hahah, as if someone would be able to summon a dragon with our age. 

In this world, a person's age is equal to the capacity of ether he has and that will increase as he grow up.

And the ether we will use to summon our familiars won't go back from us.

Summoning a dragon would need a large amount of Ether, so our 12 years of life is nothing but a clutter when compared to that necessary amount.

"Ok then, who will gladly volunteer to summon his familiar first…" mister Gustav asked and I step forward, "Me sir" 

He rubbed his untreated beard and mumbled, "Your highness, huh?"

Now that I stand here, I'm kinda bothered on what I want to summon.  After all, it's not like I can summon everything I want in a flick of a finger.

"Sir? Would the familiar take on the appearance of what I am imagining on my head, as I concentrate the ether on my hand?" 

I asked mister Gustav.

"Well, yes. But, it would take on the form the ether is enough to summon, if the one you're thinking is impossible to summon with your ether amount" 

And so, he answered.

With our age, no one might be able to summon a Dragon. But, with my age would it be possible..?

I reached my right hand forward, and grabbed it with my left hand. 

Is our ether amount based on our physical age or mental age? I'm not sure, but it's worth trying out.

Deep breath in and out.

Twelve years of a new peaceful life plus twenty-seven years of despair, equals thirty-nine years!

I tried to gather more ether, whilst concentrating it on my right hand. 

"More, more..! More!!!!" these words kept on showing out my mind, as I kept on gathering ether to my right hand.

When will I know it is the right amount? Oh damn, what should I do? I should have asked before I started. 

Well, I should just continue on adding more. 

Not just as thoughts, the words, "More, more..! More!" even left my mouth, in a quiet voice, as I kept on gathering.

Out of a sudden, a certain image of a man came into my mind.

An unfamiliar yet nostalgic man spoke up, "This system is enough to kill a person from the inside"

"If one spends too much mana, he would die due to the lack of energy needed to protect his soul" 

A man with black curly hair and was wearing a white lab coat stated, with his back turned against me.

"But on the same time, if one doesn't use his mana he would still die"

A chuckle left his mouth.

"The mana would explode and destroy his soul, which will cause his eternal death that would leave him with no chance of reincarnation" 

Slowly, the man turned to look at me.

"Knowing that even if you were to attain such power that is too fictional, death is still for certain, no matter what you do"

The mysterious man's face was blurred, except for his lips that slowly formed a tad creepy smirk.

"Would you still dream of freedom from this unchanging life cycle, my...?" 

The last word he uttered faded into echoes, as his voice slowly became like something a broken machine would sound like, whilst telling me those things.

No, it is not me.

It is someone other than me. After all, even though I am the one seeing them right now, it feels like they aren't my memories. 

Whose memories are this, then? And why does that man feel nostalgic?

Wai-Wait a second, I am in the middle of summoning a familiar. What am I doing getting distracted out of a sudden? 

Remembering the words I just heard, I slowly concentrated some ether on my right hand, as I took a deep breath in and out.

I then started chanting. "I am thee, thou art I" 

"Let the chains of time break, thus connecting thine fate with mine. Let thy heart decide for thee. 

What is the purpose of thy existence? I shalt give thee. Come forth..!"

As if throwing a ball of baseball, I unleashed the ether that I had gathered at my right hand, to the magic circle. 

Whether it was a beast, an angel or even the Dragon I am aiming to summon, I am thrilled to see it. 

A strong gust of wind, enough to throw us all away from the middle of the training hall occurred over the magic circle, in front of me. 

The dust, the gust of wind blew into my eyes, made it blurred and hurt a bit, so I quickly wiped my eyes to see what I managed to summon.

And it was then, that a student exclaimed the word, "D-dragon…!" 

I opened my eyes up and saw a black dragon in front of me, as the smoke that surrounded the hall faded away, into dusts.

Looks like I've done it… I managed to summon a Dragon!