Saito, the familiar

A/N: Dialogues are written between (—): — Hello, my name is ROB! — Said the cheerful supreme being.

Thoughts are written between ("): "Who are these ugly-looking readers?" Thought ROB as he faked a smile.

This is a test to see how a global audience reacts to my country's writing rules, depending on the feedback I'll change it, I'm only doing it this way due to Webnovel's lack of tools to write italic text.

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Volume 1: Kingdom of Magic

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Chapter 1: Saito, the familiar

The chilling cold night was like the cold embrace of a Specter, it sent chills down her spine despite the many candles lit up in the room. With a sigh, she stood up and made her way across the room to the drawers. After looking for a moment, she grabbed a thin black coat and warped herself in its warmth. Her pink skin-tight nightgown wasn't enough for this particular cold night.

The crestfallen girl sat down on the chair and pulled herself closer to her lowboy dressing table, looking at the mirror discouraged, she felt tears gathering in her eyes and threatening to fall. Grabbing the hairbrush, she looked at her petite and small frame and wondered if that would ever change.

She was Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, after all, how could she not take care of her appearance? Her pride? Her... honor...

Her shoulder shook as she covered her mouth and put down the brush, the teardrops falling on her hands as she looked at herself through the lonely mirror. No, that's not right, it isn't the mirror that's lonely, it's her.

Louise never felt this tired like before, but there was so much weighting in her mind. As a noble, it was expected of her to be an excellent magician, but her talent was horrible, she was unable to cast spells of any Elemental Natures and any attempt would result in an explosion. Her namesake carried her through her first year at Tristain Academy of Magic, but that wouldn't be possible anymore. Louise would ruin her family's reputation by proving herself the first noble unable to use any semblance of magic.

— Why? Why?! I studied so much, even in my free time... — Her body shook as she rested her tear-stricken face on the desk and under her arms.

In this state, Louise slowly grew tired and fell asleep, but before so, a thought crossed her mind. "Please, Brimir, allow me to summon something tomorrow! Anything will do! I swear I'll do anything in exchange for this favor..."

...

In Akihabara, Japan, a young man sneezed as he was walking down the street carrying his laptop.

"Is someone talking about me?" Scratching his head in confusion, he ignored this weird feeling in his heart and kept walking down the street.

It was a cold day, the rain had been going on for a few hours already, and his jacket was fully drenched in water. Looking around at the many signs on the way, he eventually found what he was looking for. The Head Hardware store is a quite popular one, Saito was used to coming here as the owner wasn't a nosy guy, he knew how to keep secrets and the quality of his work was superb.

— Old man, Yashiro! Are you there?

— At the back.

Saito smiled hearing that old and rough voice.

Walking through the piles of electronic trash spread all around the ground, he entered a dark and dirty room with dust on top of pretty much everything, the only thing keeping this place from smelling like electronic death was the window and the fan that is always turned on.

Putting the laptop on a table, he looked at the fan with an envious gaze. — Old man, can't you find one of those for me? You know they don't make them out of metal anymore, right? Those plastic ones are all trash, always breaking with just a month of use.

— And? Do you see a time machine with me? Go ask that guy, Jhon Titor, to fetch one for you. I bet he has one with all that science fiction bullshit he keeps spilling online. Humph, don't you know that they stopped producing these after the cold war?

— I know but it's just too good.

Seating on a chair he watched as the old man grabbed the laptop.

— The same?

— Yeah... — Saito replied a little embarrassed.

He had a taste for some adult art on the internet, but there were so many viruses on these sites... It wouldn't be uncommon for his laptop to go haywire after a few days of biology research.

— Here, it's done.

— Oh! You're getting better at this, Old man, how did you do it?

— I'll consider explaining when you stop wasting time with that crap.

— W-what? It's not crap! It's a genuine art!

— Yeah and politicians are good people as well.

Coughing, he decided that it was below him to bicker with an old man, so he paid and left.

Usually, he wouldn't get out of his home on a Saturday, even if his laptop was wrecked, but he recently managed to set up a date with a girl he had met online, after all, if he didn't fix his laptop, it would be impossible to speak to her.

With a lascivious look on his face, he drooled slightly as he made his way out of the store and down the road. He couldn't even wait to know that beautiful sister... she had such massive 'features' in her profile picture, if she was like that in real life, he could consider himself as having won the lottery!

As he made his way towards the train station, Saito froze when he heard the alarms ringing loudly in the street.

— What?

Confused he barely managed to hear a police officer shouting loudly to warn the people on the street.

— Seek refuge, now! There's a Tsunami coming!

"What!? Now?!" Shocked by the words, Saito was suddenly at a loss on what to do, he didn't know of any refuge in Akihabara, what was he going to do?

As the minutes passed and the tensions got the best of his heart, Saito who was on the verge of tearing up looked lost as he watched the massive wave going down towards him. Thinking it was his end, he closed his eyes and let the water sweep him, but without him knowing, a portal of white light opened behind him, and rather than being dragged off down the street, he was actually pushed towards an unknown place.

...

At dawn the next day, Louise stood confidently with her chin held high even with the looks of contempt cast at her. The dungeons inside Tristain Academy of Magic were some of the places where classes were held, for this specific class, they traveled all the way down to the deepest chamber in the depths of the castle used as an academy.

— Everyone, remember that this is a one-time thing, don't get distracted, and wait till your name is called to start the casting process, you don't want the Source to be shared when you are trying to make your summon. — The bald man, Professor Colbert spoke with a grave tone, reminding everyone of the seriousness of the matter. — Don't forget that this isn't as simple as it looks, summoning a familiar doesn't mean it will obey right from the start, especially the more powerful kinds of summons.

— You don't have to worry about us, Professor Colbert, although you might want to stop Louise from trying, wouldn't want to see a blasted Familiar broken in tiny little pieces.

The crowd chuckled at the words of the girl.

— She is so horrible with magic that I wouldn't be surprised if her Familiar was exploded to the afterlife. — Someone else said, and the crowd laughed.

— Shut up! Just wait and see, I show you how noble and powerful my Familiar will be! He will be the strongest, most handsome, and loyal of all! — Louise shouted with her fists clenched and wavering heart. Every joke slowly pierced through her already fragile mental state.

— Alright, alright! The next one to make a stupid joke will have to clean the halls of the castle! — Professor Colbert's reprimand was like a slap to their faces, the young, naive, and immature students closed their mouths and became serious.

Louise was still shaking slightly but the silence eased up her troubled heart to a certain extent. Now all that remained was dealing with the 'Summon Servant' spell.

Professor Colbert then explained the inner workings of the spell another time.

— Servants from another world. — He said, reminding everyone of the mysteries behind such creatures. — They might be similar to those that live in our world, but they are always fundamentally different. Possessing varying powers compared to our world's version of them, and/or sometimes different physical attributes and features. Finally, do remember that Servants aren't always loyal, some, very few actually, of them are very aggressive and won't obey till the contract is done.

Tensions arose in the air as the students gulped in anticipation of what was to come.

— Don't worry, Louise, you can do it! — She spoke to herself quietly in the corner as the first student was called.

Under the curious gaze of the students, a boy chanted the spell, and from a burst of light that came from the magic circle in front of him, came a yellow toad.

— Congratulations, Mister Gagneux, now please continue the ceremony.

The boy nodded and with a kiss to the toad's head, runes were carved on his skin with magic, bounding the toad to the boy.

Many interesting familiars were summoned this year, from apparitions to dragons and salamanders, but eventually, one person would have to take the trophy of the most unexpected summon.

— Miss Valliére, please, summon your servant.

Nodding, the girl took a step forward in the direction of the pentagon drawn on the obsidian stone at the center of the chamber.

Magic was a curious way to bend reality, the power however wasn't easy to be used. Louise knew that very well, and that's why she attributed her failure of casting any spell to a lack of talent, although how that results in explosions is still a mystery.

Per theories that they were all taught, the first step into casting magic is being able to tap into a source.

Sources could vary in size, complexity, and power.

The sea for example is the strongest and most complex of all Water Sources, successfully using the Sea as Source for casting is as difficult as surviving a fall of hundreds of meters.

This happens due to the dynamism of the sea which is in constant movement and under the effects of two other power sources, the moons.

Sucking a mouthful of air, Louise first concentrated on the Obsidian stone, forming a spiritual connection with it. The magic circle inscribe in the stone, a Pentagram that drew upon the five elements reacted and lit up.

In this case, the Pentagram was a mold for magical power, the runes inscribed in it guided the magic energy to the five poles, dividing them per their natural inclination, fire, earth, water, air, and void.

With a wave of her hand, Louise pointed her wand to the Pentagram. The wand was a focus for her internal power, it directed her magic energy into the pentagram.

With every step done flawlessly and without any explosion, a small flame of hope ignited in Louise's heart. "Now... the Runic Incantation."

— I, Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, in the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, following my fate, summon a familiar. — As the words leave her mouth, Louise feels a familiar sensation, like something is being taken away from her, and making her mind slightly more tired, the consumption of willpower.

As her power mix with the magic energy gathered by the Source and Molded by the Pentagram, the words act as the catalyst and an explosion of energy occurs, sending a wave of dust to every corner of the room.

— Cough, cough! Louise the Zero, like always!

— Damn, at least she didn't blow up the Chamber with us here, we might have died you know?

Gritting her teeth, Louise ignored the insults being thrown at her and focused her eyes on the outline of a figure hidden by the curtain of smoke that arose from the explosion.

Burts of white lightning crisscrossed on the surface of his skin like lightning snakes. He wore a white and blue jacket woven in a very complex way, much more than any other clothing they had ever seen, but the simplicity of its design and materials made them frown.

— A commoner?

— Louise summoned a commoner?

Looking at the boy with black short hair, Louise was dumbfounded. "Was this... the strong, handsome, and loyal familiar that I wanted...?" Feeling like her legs had lost their strength she supported herself on one of the pillars with a disappointed look on her face.

— P-professor Colbert, please, let me try again!

Colbert shook his head as he looked with curiosity at Saito who was groggily standing up. — I'm sorry, Miss Valliére, but it's impossible to do it.

— B-but what about my servant?!

— A servant will always be summoned when the spell is used. Although it's my first time hearing of another human being summoned, I don't think there's anything wrong with that, this boy is most certainly your servant.

Lousie dropped to her knees as she felt like reality was slapping herself. — This has to be a dream... — She muttered to herself.

— Louise what were you thinking summoning a commoner? — Someone asked and the people started laughing,

— I-I, it was just a small mistake! — Louise cried with tears in her eyes.

— Of course! After all, she is Louise the Zero, the one who never managed to cast a spell! — Laughed a girl with gorgeous long and curly blonde hair with freckles on her face.

Saito who was hearing all that was having trouble keeping up with reality, at one moment a Tsunami was about to drown him, at the other, he somehow fell into a white energy hole and appeared to her.

As if to make matters worse, these people were surrounded by strange demonic creatures, like Salamanders with Flames in their tails, ghostly eyeballs, and even a... "A-a dragon?!"

Gasping, he fell on his butt and stared at those people in uniform and robes and it finally hit him what had happened. "No! I don't want to be an Isekai Protagonist! I don't even have cool powers! Let me go back!"

Failing to notice the panicking servant of hers, Louise scowled at the girl. — Don't make fun of me! Even I do things right once in a while!

— Eh? You must mean once in a lifetime, Louise the Zero.

— Shut up! Montmorency The Flood!

— Why, you-

— Enough! — Colbert interrupted. — Don't you know what the word respect means? How can you call yourselves nobles if you behave like that!?

Reprimanded, Louise gathered the last bits of strength in her mind and turned to Saito. Kneeling in front of him, the two looked at each other in the eye.

Still confused about the situation, Saito wasn't really sure of what was happening. Why was this beautiful, cute, and strawberry blonde-haired girl doing? Looking at her appearance, he couldn't help but blush a little. She was ten or so centimeters smaller than him, had a thin frame, and slightly small breasts compared to other girls around.

But none of them had such a cute and innocent face like hers. In fact, seeing her teary eyes and the sadness on her face, made Saito think even higher of her beauty as a seed of desire of protecting her sprouted in his heart.

— You should consider yourself lucky, commoner. — Louise spoke almost nonchalantly.

Despite her blushing slightly, the way she looked at him was so hollow he couldn't help but wonder what was on the girl's mind.

Closing her eyes with an air of resignation as tears flowed down her cheeks, she waved her wand. — My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers; bless this humble being and make him my familiar. — Louise touched Saito's forehead with the wand and approached him slowly.

The Pentagram behind them shone in reaction to her words and dots of light started sprouting from the floor in the area around them. Entranced by the magical beauty of all that was happening, Saito didn't react when she touched his face with her left hand and her lips touched his. Feeling the taste of her mouth in his, his eyes went blank as a warm feeling crept up in his heart and body.

"W-what is this? What is this feeling?" Saito had never felt this well before, it was his first time kissing a girl and it was such a beautiful one as well... Like his mind had melted he closed his eyes and delved deep into the warmth of that kiss, both he and Louise lost in this feeling.

The girls were mesmerized by this even if they despised the commoner as well, never had any of them seen such a passionate kiss before and it didn't help that romantic magic light was surrounding them as well.

"Why did I summon a toad instead of a handsome guy as well?" Some of them thought that the situation was kinda romantic.

— This is a little bit like those Fairy tales, right? — One girl asked and the others nodded with a slightly jealous gaze.

Coughing, Professor Colbert poked Louise with his staff and said. — That's enough... Miss Valliére.

Waking up, Louise pushed Saito away, making him almost fall on his back, and stood up faster than they could blink their eyes.

— Y-you, why did you do that? — Saito asked dissatisfied.

Neither the crowd nor Louise knew if he was referring to her kissing him or stopping the kiss, but the more dirty-minded girls in the crowd liked to think that it was the latter.

— W-why? It was only to complete the ceremony! You better not think anything strange, y-you pervert! — She turned her head away while trying to hide her blushing cheeks.

Colbert sighed at this. Looking at the boy he helped him stand up and asked. — What's your name boy? You don't look like someone from Tristain. You look a bit like Romalian people...

— Hiraga... Saito... — He says trying to recompose himself.

Before he could stand up though, he suddenly felt like he was covered by flames and started crying in pain. — Agh! My body! It's burning!

— Just wait a moment! The runes will be carved soon! — Louise spoke as if annoyed by the fact that her servant was the only one hurt by the engraving of the runes.