Summoning Magic

Inside the main building of the rebel camp, Alex sat on a large chair that symbolized his leadership. In front of him, Lexi smiled as she introduced the top members of the group.

Lexi gestured to the first member, Aria, a tall woman with fiery red hair in her late twenties. Aria's magic aptitude was fire, but she primarily used spears and ranked second in terms of strength after the leader. Next, she introduced Kael, a middle-aged man with bright blue eyes whose magic aptitude was water. Kael acted as a strategist for the camp.

Lexi then introduced Garrick, an older man with a weathered face, whose magic aptitude was wind and dark. Garrick had been serving the rebel camp for years. Selene, a woman with dark skin and piercing green eyes, had an earth magic aptitude and could communicate with every living species using a null spell.

Julian, a man with a stern expression, had a light magic aptitude. Though not strong, he had a brilliant mind and was in charge of finances and businesses operated anonymously by the rebel camp. Lilith, a woman with pale skin and dark hair, commanded the assassination unit that was responsible for eliminating corrupt nobles and slave traders.

After the introductions, Alex addressed the group, and they all kneeled and spoke in unison, "We greet the leader!" Alex then introduced himself as Alexander Crown and requested a brief report from each member about the rebel camp, their duties, and planned operations.

The reports revealed that the base at Zephyria was the main headquarters of the rebel camp, and their influence had spread throughout Sandora, except for the capital Kyuray, where security was tight. The group also ran several anonymous businesses, providing basic necessities to the common people and controlling a large market.

As the reports concluded, Alex canceled all future assassination plans, announcing his plans for something more significant. He then asked the group about their future plans if they succeeded in rebelling and usurping the monarch of Sandora.

The group replied that they planned to overthrow the monarchy, abolish slavery, and introduce a system similar to the Roadmare Union.

However, Alex thought that their plans were all full of flaws.

Sandora has a large desert region, and all the human settlements which is of a very short population lives along the western coastline.

The country relied heavily on slave traders, who contributed to 60% of the economy.

Abolishing slavery would lead to an economic crisis, and there was a risk of unrest among those dissatisfied with the new system.

If they were to take over the whole kingdom by their plans there will be many problems they will be facing which are all demeritial to them and Alex pointed them out one after the another.

"...Sir are you implying that we shouldn't abolish the slavery?"

Aria who had been silent the couldn't help but speak up in a deep voice making the atmosphere more tense.

"No I',m not implying to that Miss Aria"

"In my opinion the slavery should be abolish but before we abolish the slavery we will need to formulate a better plan to address this situations first"

"So what should be do about it?..Sir"

Kael who pondered about what Alex said couldn't help but agree with him as it would really be a hassle if they didn't prepare for these situations.

Alex grinned at Kael's question and began discussing his own plan which he came up with them.

***

After the meeting ended, all present members couldn't help but admire Alex, and let go of any doubts they previously held against the young man.

"Julian, right? You have many connections in the market. Can you look for some books related to null magic and some mithril?" Alex asked.

"Yes, sir. I will try my best," Julian replied.

"Well then, let's end the meeting here," Alex concluded.

"Yes, sir," everyone saluted as they left, leaving only Garrick behind.

"Mr. Garrick, please stay here for a few more moments. I have something to discuss with you personally," Alex said.

"Oh, very well, leader. What can this old man do for you?" Garrick asked.

"Nothing much, Mr. Garrick. I hope you can teach me more about dark magic, specifically about the summoning spell. As you can see, I do have talent for dark magic, but since my teacher isn't a dark magician, she couldn't teach me about summoning properly. You, on the other hand, are well-versed in dark magic," Alex explained.

"You praise this old man too much, leader. Hahaha. Don't worry; I will teach you about the summoning magic to the best of my abilities," Garrick replied.

***

Outside the building Garrick drew a large magic circle on the ground and started to explain more about the dark and summoning magic.

"When handling the unique Summoning spells of Dark-type magic, the first step is to draw a magic circle and summon a creature. "

"The creature you summon is completely random, although there is speculation that it is influenced by the caster's magic or reflects the caster's personality. However, this is not confirmed."

"The challenging part is to form the contract with the creature. To contract with the summoned creature successfully, you must first pass a test."

"These tests can range from being incredibly simple to nigh-impossible, depending on the strength of the creature itself."

"If you fail to meet the contract's conditions, the summoned beasts cannot exist outside the magic circle's bounds since there's no contract to bind them to this world."

"Moreover, long-range attacks will be absorbed by the magic circle's barrier, making it completely safe."

"However, there is an exception to this rule. If the summoner themselves step within the magic circle, the conditions for some creatures can require them to fight and prove their strength."

Garrick explained everything about summoning magic as he finished drawing the magic circle.

"Leader, please," Garrick bowed slightly as he gave the signal of completing the magic circle. Alex carefully examined it before stepping forward and channeling his magical energy into the circle.

Alex closed his eyes and gathered all his dark magic together, then activated the summoning circle. A black fog rose from the circle, spreading throughout the area. When it cleared, a large magical beast appeared before Alex.

The creature had a scaly body, a spiked tail, a head like a camel, claws, large eyes, paws like a tiger, the ears of a bull, and often a lion-like mane around its elbows, neck, and chin. It had a long, serpentine body with beards, thick manes, two elk- or deer-like horns, and long whiskers, like a catfish or carp.

It looked down at Alex with its golden glowing eyes with vertical slits as it floated in the air and let out an ear-deafening roar, as if announcing its manifestation to the world.

"Th-this great aura... this golden-colored visage... it can't be, it isn't possible, is this... is this the golden Monarch?" Garrick, who was watching the summoning from the sidelines, couldn't help but shout out in disbelief at the majestic black coloured eastern dragon with golden eyes that had manifested in front of him.