Shadow Cat

Summonia, a world where summons and humans live together. Unlike the normal animals that are found in earth, summons have special powers and abilities. In this world, humans called "summoners" form pacts with the summons.

These tamed summons are then sealed in cards that are kept inside a bestiary. Bestiary is a book-shaped album that are innate in humans. Humans can summon their bestiaries at the age of fifteen. These albums have ranks that are determined by their color. Green for the beginners and as they accumulate more summons or as their summons evolve the green color will change into bronze. Next to bronze is silver and next to silver is gold. A few people reach the next color which is platinum and the legends say that there is the highest rank, Black Bestiary.

These teenagers who summoned their bestiaries are then given the chance to participate in a Summoner's Baptism wherein they are given a chance to enter a room where they can randomly meet their fated first ever summon.

This tale is about a young man who recently summoned his bestiary and is now about to change his ordinary life. This young man's name is Mark.

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"Hey Mark! Wake up!"

I woke up as I heard someone calling me. Refusing to get up, I hugged my pillow tighter in hopes in getting back to sleep.

"Wake up now!"

"Mom, five more minutes." I lazily said and attempted to sleep again when-

Splash!

I was startled by the water that came to my face making my body wet.

"Wake up now sleepy head! Today is your Summoner's Baptism. You don't want to be late in such an important day." She was holding a bucket in her hands as she reminded me.

I immediately got up, "I forgot!" My eyes were wide open when I remembered what day it was. "Thanks for reminding me mom." I rushed to the bathroom to take a shower.

"Geez. Kids these days." Mom shook her head and went out of my room when she saw me going to the bathroom.

After taking a bath, I wore a new set of clothes and went down to eat my breakfast. I sat down the chair and saw my dad reading the morning paper.

"Good Morning Dad." I greeted him as I grabbed a piece of bread and placed in into my starving mouth.

"You are finally up. Your mother was really upset a while ago. Right Whitey?" He placed his newspaper down and patted the white wolf that was sleeping beside him.

The wolf woke up and looked at my father then slept again.

Whitey is a summon of the Glacier Wolf Species. Glacier Wolves are the evolve form of Snow wolves. Summons can evolve depending on their species. Some evolve once, others twice but there are also others that don't. In rare occasions, summons that evolve undergo different transformation making them into something called a "variant."

"I hope I can meet a great summon like you Dad."

Dad had Whitey as his first summon. Together with Whitey they accomplished a lot and even won the Summoner's War during his time.

Summoner's War is worldwide competition that is held every three years. In order to participate one must win the Summoner's Duel. Summoner's Duel is a national event held each year and in order to participate you need to collect 10 emblems from different Fort Masters. Fort Masters are people in charge of a place called Forts wherein challengers must defeat them or pass a certain test to obtain the Fort's emblem. There is only one fort in each city and some forts are even hidden from the eyes of the public.

By the way, my Dad is currently a Fort Master in our city. I still can't believe that such a clumsy father would be a hero to the eyes of the others. On the other note, my mom was my father's last opponent in the Summoner's War. Both of my parents have high expectations from me, their son.

I'm still wondering though. My father changed his name after winning the war and is now living as a normal fort master. Whenever I ask mom about it, she would just change the topic. A few people know about his real identity. Us his family and a few higher ups in the Summoner's Guild.

Summoner's Guild is the organization that runs the Summoner's War and is also responsible for the things that the government cannot manage.

"Make sure you won't be late." Dad reminded me.

"I know." I quickly chewed my food and choked when swallowing.

*Cough* "Water"

Ivy, a summon that looks like a little green girl used her vine to reach for a glass of water and gave it to me. I immediately drank and placed the glass on top of the table. Ivy is from the species called Vine Fairies.

"Ahh. That was close. Thanks Ivy." I smiled and thanked my mother's summon.

"Mmmm!" She happily nodded and went to my embraced. I patted her head and placed her down.

"I need to go now." I told my father.

" You should. I'll tell your mother that you went already." Father continued reading his newspaper.

"Okay thanks." I grabbed my backpack and went outside.

Since it was not yet time for the bus to arrive, I decided to go and walk to the guild branch. Vehicles are not that common since people normally use their summons as modes of transportation.

Along the road I can see people riding their beloved summons to go to their destination. One of the common summons used as transportation are the Road Stallions. These stallions are often found in the mountains and have durable feet and stamina which is why they are suitable as a mode of transportation.

It took me a thirty-minute walk to reach the city's only guild branch. The guild was filled with 20-30 people like me who will have their first baptism.

The time struck 8 when an employee of the guild suddenly announced, "For those who will have their baptism please line here and wait for your turn."

Everyone rushed to follow the line. They have happy faces, and many were excited to meet their first summon. I too am no exception from this. But I did not rush to lineup and just walked towards the line instead of running.

The first one who went inside came out after a few minutes. Together with him was his new summon, a two-feet tall monkey that has a glove-like hands. This monkey was from the Fist Apes species. It is small since it was still an infant. Most of the summons obtained in the baptism were infants. Fist Apes are considered as a 2 star summon. The more stars the summon has, the stronger it is. The number of stars can also represent its rarity. Only a few have obtained a summon that has 8 stars and the legends state that summons can reach 10 stars.

As I was thinking about these things, my turn finally came. After giving my ID, I was asked to go inside the room. It was dim inside and the only thing that I can see is a crystal that was shining and a man beside it.

"Open your Bestiary and place your hand on the crystal." He instructed.

I placed my hand in front of me and said the magic word, "Book!"

Poof!

The Bestiary appeared in my hands. I placed my other hand on top of the crystal. The crystal shone brighter that it blinded me and as the bright light fade I noticed that a summon card was inside the Bestiary.

"Remove the card from your Bestiary and prick your finger with this needle and form a pact with your new summon." The man instructed me as he handed me a sterilized needle.

I received the needle and used the card. The card gave off light and a small black cat appeared in front of me. This little guy was sleeping. I pricked my finger and dropped my blood into the cat. A summoning circle appeared as the cat woke up. A bright light went to the cat's forehead and disappeared within.

"From now on, your name is Kuro." I raised my new summon up while it stared at me silently.

"Nyaa!" It took him a couple of seconds to make him realize that I'm his new master.

"Congratulations! Take care of your new summon." The man told me as I exit the room.

I went outside the room and the next person went in. I walked to the lobby of the guild to register as a formal member of the guild. As I was walking, Kuro lied on top of my head, sleeping comfortably. I opened my bestiary and read Kuro's card.

Shadow Cat ★★

Skills:

Shadow Claws

Shadow Dive

Ability:

Hunter of the Night: Increases skill effectivity by 10% at dark.

I was surprised to know that this little kitten is a 3-star summon. I approached the girl on the desk.

"Hi there! Are you done with your baptism?" She happily asked me.

"Yes, I'm here to register as a summoner." I told her my intention.

"I understand, please give me your ID so I can register it into the database."

I handed her my ID and after scanning it to the computer she gave it back to me. After a couple of seconds, she gave me another card and contact lenses "This is your Summoner's Card. Do you want an introduction to the road of Summoners?"

"Yes please." I nodded and opened my ears.

"Beginner Summoners like you are required to join the Summoner's School for a year. There you will learn the basics of Summons like summon battles, summon theories, etc. When you graduate, you will be legible to go out and challenge the forts and hopefully the Summoner's Duel." She stopped for a moment a tried to catch her breath then she continued. "Battles are friendly matches between summoners to display the might of their summons. I think you already know that though." She smiled

"Yes, I already know." I smiled at her.

"That lens is a scanner used to identify all known summons and its star level. Try putting it on and check your summon through it." She pointed at her eye as if she is demonstrating where to place it.

I wore the contacts and tested its effects. I grabbed Kuro who was sleeping on top of my head and held him in front of me.

"Nyaa!" Kuro complained trying to tell me that I disturbed him from his peaceful sleep. But I ignored him and read the figures in the scanner.

Shadow Cat ★★

It was like the card without the skills and abilities. This tool is handy especially when going outside the city.

"Please do remember not to wear the scanner for a long time because it might damage your eyes. If you don't want to wear contacts, we also have glasses for sale for easier use." She promoted their product with no shame.

"Thanks, I'll remember what you've told me." I bid the employee farewell and walked home.