Pink Bow

"Seriously Sam?" Jack was met with the annoyingly squeaky voice of a young blonde man in robes as he appeared back in the world.

"Are we playing with dolls now?" The man laughed obnoxiously igniting Jack's already flared temper. He would have lunged forward already had he not noticed his surroundings. The area he had been summoned to appeared to be an arena of some sort.

His summoner, Sam and the obnoxious blonde man stood on opposite ends of a large stone circle. They were surrounded by a translucent bubble. Upon close inspection magical runes could be seen floating on the bubble's surface. Outside the bubble stands were filled with crowds of screaming people. Not all were human either. Some were summons pulled out to learn from watching the fights while other races such as elves and dwarves sat or stood cheering while wearing what appeared to be school uniforms.

Jack was surprised to find he could hear every individual sound with ease if he put the slightest focus on it. No longer did every noise echo, no more did his hearing feel muffled. He realized it must have been an effect of the pocket dimension designed to improve his senses. His summoner may be a pervert but he was a crafty pervert.

"Zombie got your tongue Sam?" The blonde man scoffed as he pulled out a jewel encrusted bastard sword. Fitting for his personality Jack chuckled. Not that anyone could hear his laugh outside of the necrotic energy dense pocket dimension. "Why don't I show you what your betters are capable of peasant trash."

The blonde mans face got even uglier as he began a summoning of his own. Jack didn't even need to see his summoner's raised finger to know his orders. He disappeared from the field leaving nothing but a small puff of dust in his wake.

The blonde mans shock was clear to anyone with a keen eye, he barely stumbled in his summoning however as he raised his sword to guard. Jack didn't even notice as he traveled through the edges of the shadows in an unimaginable rage.

[Skill Unlocked: Berserk]

[Fight with boosted health, strength and speed while intelligence is lowered]

[Skill Unlocked: Shadow Dash]

[Dash with incredible speeds making you appear to vanish in the shadows]

Darkness hugged him close like a blanket as his new joints gave him speeds he never could have imagined before. Ivory claws gleamed crimson as gashes appeared all over the blonde mans body. Those in the crowd with some experience had to admit he had some serious grit to keep summoning.

While Jack had found his new title a cruel joke the truth of it was far from that. Even to those who had more than a little experience under their belts he didn't appear to be a goblin skeleton.

No, they all saw something far more terrifying, for before them there appeared to be a student able to summon every child's living nightmare. A Rag Doll. More than a mere child's toy, Rag Dolls were said to be the darkest of spirit demons that had possessed the body of a child slowly turning them into a doll made of rags with ivory claws capable of ripping through the strongest of armors. Only the strongest of summoners were able to control such a creature.

The instructors stood on edge as the fight moved on. The consequences of a Rag Doll going wild in a stadium filled full of students was beyond what any of them wanted to imagine. So far it didn't appear to be trying to kill the young noble however, but instead appeared to be tormenting him at the summoners bequest.

The sounds of cheering and booing was cut short as the young noble finished his summoning with a prideful grin. In the center of the stadium a massive fire elemental had appeared. Elementals were a notoriously fickle summoning branch. They were often swayed by their own emotions and desires making them difficult for weak minded summoners to control. Fire elementals in particular were even more unruly than the rest.

The difficulty of controlling it could be seen in the young nobles expression as he forced a grin on his strained face. His family had put a lot of money into providing him with relics and tools to increase his ability to summon elementals. Such items weren't hard to find, however their cost was prohibitively high for most summoners to even consider bothering with them.

Most watching believed the winds of fortune had changed in this battle. Those who believed Jack to be a Rag Doll knew otherwise. If anyone had've been able to see Sam's face through the bandages they would have seen a wicked smile curled on the Necromancer's face.

Sam had been taught by the greatest necromancer in centuries since birth. All of their tricks and secrets had been passed on. After all, what mother wouldn't pass their secrets to their beloved child.

Of course the greatest of these secrets was the pocket dimension. While most summoner's put their summons into a form of stasis when not summoned Sam's summons were conscious, and had a specialized realm to battle, train, evolve and recover in.

Sam had even been watching Jack's progress when free time allowed. This was how Sam knew how this would end before the fight had even begun. Sam had guided Fang specifically to watch over and guide Pet on the same day they had met in the the pocket Dimension.

This was why even through the fog of rage Jack could chuckle at the summoned Elemental's appearance. He had been training against an S class Death Knight for weeks. Though it had been hellish, it had tempered him greatly on top of his new evolution.

The fire elemental was a joke in comparison to the Death Knight's pyre flames. A fiery tempest filled the arena with a burning fury as Jack turned to the new foe. He had wanted the noble to suffer so hadn't finished him yet, but the fire elemental held no such sway for Jack.

The eyes of the professor's who had once been concerned about Jack widened in shock as the fire elemental broke from the young noble's control. Normally perhaps the relics should have been enough for the noble to keep control.

However, the fire elemental had sensed its own death the moment Jack had turned to him. He was an E class fire elemental, and far higher than anything a student should have been able to summon normally. So it never should have been in a situation to fear for its own life. This was why the noble's parents had felt no concern in loaning this spirit to their son. How could anyone have expected the goblin skeleton known as Pet.

Time slowed down as the young noble passed out from summoner backlash and the fire storm continued to fill the arena. Sam stood in place without fear or worry. The teacher's rushed forward knowing they wouldn't be in time. It was here Jack stopped as a voice whispered on the air.

"...save her..." Everything seemed frozen to Jack as he looked about for the source of those words. He had heard that voice before, he knew he had, but where he wondered. Realizing the voice wasn't returning today Jack dashed through the flames that made the elemental's body. It was hot enough to melt flesh, yet to Jack it seemed like a warm summer breeze. It was nothing compared to Fang's flames.

Jack briefly considered using his clawed hand on the crystal core that made up the elemental's life force. But, Fang had taught him to be smarter then that. He balled up his other fist instead and smashed it against the crystal core.

Silence echoed over the stadium for a brief moment that seemed like an eternity. Then a cracking sound could be felt in the bones of everyone present as the crystal shattered. Just like that the flames that had nearly filled the stadium and was mere centimeters from Sam's nose vanished. Sam had never faltered having seen Jack's progress in the Pocket Dimension. Even had Jack failed the flames would have never pierced through Sam's wards anyways. Besides, moving from that spot for a petulant child, would have been an insult to everything Sam's mother had taught. There had never been any danger to Sam even for a moment.

A stunned silence held sway over all those present for a long moment before the loudest cheers of the year erupted from every corner. Not everyone had a high enough rank to see everything that happened. But all had seen and felt enough to know it had been a terrifying battle where death herself had paid everyone a visit to breath down their necks.

Healers and medics rushed forward to take the unconscious noble away to be treated as Sam quietly approached Jack. No words were spoken as Sam kneeled down to place something in Jack's hand and fixed a pink bow just above his left ear bone. Jack reached up to pull the bow off in embarrassment as he was a guy and didn't wear frilly things like pink bows.

[Warning: Discarding a Gift from The Summon's Master May Reduce Relationship]

Jack cursed inwardly as he let his hand back down and gave a wicked goblin grin to the best of a skeleton's ability. As Sam turned to acknowledge the congratulations with silent nods and waves Jack looked down to see what had been placed in his hand. A small candy in a wrapper had a tag tied to it that said To: Pet.

'What the hell... I can't eat candy I'm a skeletal goblin!' Jack thought to himself in annoyance before widening his eyes in shock. 'Oh my god. My Summoner really is a pervert!"

Getting through the crowds outside the stadium took more time than usual after a duel. A student with no background or money had been challenged by an up and coming noble and won spectacularly.

The social divide between the rich and poor had only gotten wider in recent years as nobles passed their power and wealth on to self entitled younger generations. This had led to faster advancements in magic and combat arts for nobles as the masses were only repressed more. Naturally such an upset spoke deeply to the majority of the students there, and even some of the teachers though they would never say so out loud.

Jack was eventually sent back to the pocket dimension to keep up appearances once enough people had taken the opportunity to check out the new champion. Normally summoners could only keep their summons out for a fixed amount of time before their mana ran out. The techniques Sam's mother had taught bypassed those issues. Something like that was unheard of and undoubtedly listed as forbidden magic by the powers that be. Either way it wasn't knowledge Sam's mother would want to get out.

Necromancer's were classified as Summoner's on paper, but many still considered them as practitioners of forbidden magics. Naturally a close eye was always kept on such individuals. As such most would often disguise their magics as other types of summoning. Whether they were open or closeted about being necromancer's, no necromancer wanted more attention on themselves. Naturally they went to great lengths to hide anything new techniques they came up with.

Sam smirked bitterly beneath the gray rags. Pet's appearing to look like a Rag Doll had been a known risk factor. However the only other summon Sam had at the moment capable of defeating an E rank Fire elemental was Fang. Fang would have been a bad idea on all fronts. First he had no means of appearing as anything but an undead skeletal Death Knight. Secondly an S rank summon would have been an instant disqualification in a student duel. Not that anyone would believe a student could control an S rank Death Knight which would have sparked an immediate investigation into Sam and Sam's Mother.

Sam rushed back to campus hurriedly once the crowd had broken. Large crowds always made Sam nervous after what had happened at the old estate. It was a memory Sam preferred to keep repressed, but moments like this always brought it up.

The noise, the constant movement, and unpredictable behavior of crowds always trigger it unfailingly. Food helped tho. Food and music. Music was a little harder to come by on campus however with magical music players being banned on campus, so food became Sam's saving grace whenever the terrors began popping up.

The cafeteria was blissfully empty as Sam grabbed a tray and filled it full of food. Most people were still at the arena filling up on junk food at the stalls. Though few had followed Sam all the way here in celebration, they still went to get their own food when their stomachs grumbled.

Sam wasn't popular under normal circumstances due to always remaining silent and not getting involved in others business. Sam's aversion to crowds, also didn't help on that front. But, the young noble had been particularly aggressive about his bullying, and it had been a good chance to test out Pet's progress.

The disaster in the sewers had worried Sam initially making it in everyone's best interests to avoid them for a while. It had cut down on Sam's collection of necromancy materials heavily. Thankfully with Pet's more than impressive progress having been verified that would change soon.

Sam almost didn't notice the new person until they sat down. She was a young girl with red hair and an overly chipper smile. She had an energetic yet safe and friendly vibe about her so Sam didn't give her much notice, until she spoke up.

"Hi! My name's Amber! I saw you at the fight!" She paused awkwardly waiting for a response. Sam didn't say anything however simply looking up from the tray of food. "I... um a group of us were going to go out to the west woods this evening to hunt for some summon stones. We were wondering if you'd like to come."

Amber was clearly awkward when it came to talking to new people. The fact that it didn't stop her anyways intrigued Sam. Conversations had always been a difficult thing for Sam after all. Hunting for summoning stones wasn't unheard of amongst students either. They were used by most classes of summoner's in forming new summon bonds and housing the new summon after all.

Sam considered the offer for a moment before nodding softly. It was clear that Amber wasn't holding any ill intent and was perhaps more nervous than Sam was.

The remainder of the day went rather uneventfully as Sam took the time for some research in the library. At their age reading wasn't the most popular thing as adventure and combat were far more exciting. This left the library relatively empty most hours creating a nice little safe haven for Sam away from the crowds.

This habit had even led to many new discoveries regarding summon merges, creature artifacts and residual spirit souls that had actually influenced Pet's creation. A soft smile formed under Sam's mask at that thought. Neglecting the library and its books would be the last thing Sam would do.

For now however, Sam had a hunt to go join.

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