9 Dianthe
The path to becoming a Summoner was tough. If the summons didn't want to assist you, you'd be left with no arsenal. On the opposite side, if summons liked you, you'd gain powerful allies.
Amongst them, spirits were one of the hardest to contract, because they had their own minds and would reject the call of those they despised.
However, unlike the other spirits, Dianthe liked her to a high level right from the start. It didn't take long for them to form a close bond that couldn't be replaced. Not only that, she wasn't restricted by the laws of summoned creatures and could evolve.
She stayed in the mortal world and grew alongside Aria, going through life and death trials, and eventually reaching the peak of power and dominating over her peers.
That same Dianthe, could she help her once more?
_____
She recalled that she summoned Dianthe right after a pinch, just like this time.
She was cornered and overwhelmed by numbers, and risked everything to summon anything.
Dianthe was the one who offered to help her, drowning her enemies with water.
The spirit, who was typically gentle, would do a 180 degree rotation when it came down to her safety after they formed a contract.
For Aria, who never had a relative tied by blood, Dianthe and her teacher were the two figures she recognized to be her family.
_____
Dianthe. All that could come in mind was Dianthe.
'...' Aria debated on whether she could risk wasting all her mana into one summoning spell, to hopefully call out Dianthe. Or something similar.
Something that could aid her.
If it failed, she was doomed.
But her quick calculations had determined that it was impossible for her to reach the next level without running out of mana first. Without her enchantments, she wasn't confident that she could take on the wolves' pure strength.
She forced herself to believe.
A risk had to be taken anyway, it was her only chance of winning.
She believed in her former past as a Summoner. The countless times she had contracted her allies and brought them over to her side. She might've restarted from the beginning, but that did not mean that her past was void.
'Dianthe... I'm counting on our luck!' Aria began to chant the arts of summoning.
Her magic circle was set. It was a poorly made one, despite her desperate attempts to improve it.
She couldn't afford to choose the creature type, not even the category. Her mana was probably not enough.
The only thing left was for the unknown creature she connected with to respond.
'Help me and I will help you.' Aria was washed down by a wave of melancholic air.
The same sentence that she said to Dianthe in the past.
--Help me and I will help you.
Indeed, they helped each other.
They had a bond closer than that of a master and its summon, even closer than what Aria had with the humans around her. Within her lonely world, Dianthe was like a bright light that illuminated her surroundings.
The closest meaning she has ever gotten to 'Unity' is probably the spirit herself, apart from the countless hours she spent on researching theories left by her teacher.
The magic circle grew in size, and a transparent form was materializing in front of her.
Ding!
[You have successfully summoned a 'Lower Water Spirit'.]
[The summoned creature wishes to form a contract with you. Would you like to contract the 'Lower Water Spirit'?]
'..!'
Water Spirit! It was actually a Water Spirit like Dianthe!
She played a game of chance, and the results showed a correlation with her original start in the past.
Was this a sign? A sign on how she was going to rise to glory once more?
Hope welled up in her heart.
She felt a surge of joy go through her.
'Yes.' Aria replied to the notification without thinking any longer.
[Acceptance confirmed.]
[A contract has been formed.]
[The 'Lower Water Spirit' wishes to aid you in battle.]
[You have depleted your mana.]
[New condition: Mana depletion.]
Her mana bar plunged. It was all sucked by the summoning spell.
A headache attacked Aria once again. It left her stumbling over nothing.
Her mana was sitting prim and proper at 0.
She was dizzy.
She bit her lips and fell to the ground, struggling to regain her focus.
"Let me borrow your power." Aria beckoned for the unnamed spirit to come closer.
The two hands were joined. Aria felt the spirit's mana flow through her.
The power of 'Borrowing'.
If for a low-classed Summoner, one could only instruct their summon to do their bidding.. Through Borrowing, you can channel the summon's powers and use it as your own. The costs would be dealt by the summon, and you wouldn't need to exert your own mana.
This was something that couldn't be done without mutual trust between the summoner and the summoned creature.
But this newly summoned spirit trusted her enough to lend her power.
'..Truly just like Dianthe.' Aria mused over the similarity. The spirit's trust towards her already reached a point where it was willing to lend her its energy without further commands.
With her thoughts cleared up by the temporary supply of mana, she picked up her sword and coordinated with the spirit.
"Wash them down. No need to do it altogether. Separate them into factions, I'll charge into the small groups. Block the other factions while I deal with one," Aria instructed.
The Summoner's language was universal for all of the summoned creatures. Even though their native tongue could be massively different, the creature would understand the commands no matter what.
Only, the higher-ranked spirits would be able to understand commands much better.
Aria felt a sense of melancholy standing beside the new spirit. She wasn't Dianthe, as that one had no chances of surviving after what happened to Aria.
The spirit was low-ranked, but she understood Aria's instructions.
The spirit seemed to have agreed and turned to the pack of wolves.
Similar to a water jet, it created strong currents of water to separate the unified pack.
The wolves were thrown into disarray and confusion.
Aria took advantage of that and charged without hesitation, slaying five wolves in succession.
[Level D Blue Wolf <Mad > successfully killed.]
[Level D Blue Wolf <Mad > successfully killed.]
[Level D....]
[Experience points increased by 8700.]
