Lesson with Mother Ena

"Synchro Summon Magic?"

"That's right, little Greo. It's one of the Summoner's skills. They call it magic, but it's more of a class skill."

"Class skill? What's that, Mother Ena?"

The one in front of the young Greo standing near a blackboard with a small wand in her left hand and a book in her right hand is one of his mothers, Ena. She wears her favorite light blue beret given by Greo's father as well as a long, light blue coat that is definitely too big for her. Both she and Greo like light blue. Behind her pair of glasses are her deep, dark, sharp blue eyes that seem to be holding immense knowledge. Along with her long, silky, smooth black hair, she gives off the aura of a sophisticated person. She might look like a snobbish person at first, but when you get to know her, she's actually a caring and gentle person, although a little mischievous from time to time.

"You know that, besides magic, there are skills and multiple types of it, right?"

"Yes, but you haven't taught me that yet."

"That will be our topic for today. So, the first one is the unique skill. Each person has their very own skill that manifests at levels ten, twenty-five, sixty, eighty, and ninety-nine. These skills are, true to their name, unique to each and every individual. They could be a very powerful attack, defense, or support skill. It could also be something for production or something that could be used for everyday life."

Greo raised his hand. "Mother Ena, a question!"

"Yes, little Greo!"

"Um… why is it only until ninety-nine?"

The highest possible level that an individual can attain is nine hundred ninety-nine. Even prior to the appearance of the strange monster, the Monster King, the number of people who were able to reach this level was very few. You can count them on your one hand.

The most respected and the most well-known level nine hundred ninety-nine adventurer is the Hero who defeated the Tyrant Demon Lord, Vendebra.

"A very good question! You see, each and every race on this planet, Haria, only has five "Life Skill Gates." One Life Skill Gate opens every time you meet the condition. In this case, reaching those five levels."

"Life Skill Gate?"

"Yes. Life Skill Gate is what keeps a person's unique skills dormant. Having it opened too early would cause a heavy burden on your body. The skill could either latch onto your soul and drain all of your mana to repair the gate that was opened too early and contain the skill once again. If this happens, you won't be able to use any magic. And the worst that could happen is… death."

Hearing the word death scared little Greo, but a more important question was on his mind.

"You can open them?" Greo asked.

"Hmm. The simple answer is no; it's normally impossible. But there have been abnormal monsters before that were able to open someone's gates."

"EH!? There are monsters like that?"

"There sure are. But not in Haria. They are up there, far beyond the sky.

"Far beyond the sky…"

"Let's continue. Next is the special skill. There is no limit to how many special skills an individual can possess. Special skills can only be obtained through special means."

"Oh! I remember. It was from the previous lessons. You can get one in dungeons, right?"

"Good job on remembering that, little Greo," praised Ena as she patted little Greo's head. "On top of dungeons being a rare occurrence, the chance of getting a special skill in a dungeon is one in five hundred."

"That sounds really hard. Can we get them in other ways?"

"Yes. They are not as powerful as the ones you can get from dungeons, but you can get Rune Stones that could be found inside the ruins. Deciphering the chant embedded in the Rune Stone will give you a special skill. The other way is the Gods' or Goddesses' Blessings."

"Blessings… Does that mean I'll also have special skills?"

"That's right, little Greo. And four of them at that."

"Four!" Greo's eyes are sparkling like the stars in the sky.

"Yes. But it'll be a long time before you receive them, so do your best to be strong until then."

"I will!"

"Good boy!" Ena praised. "Now, then. Let's move on to the last one. Class Skills. With the exception of Beast Tamer and Summoner, the starting classes only have one class skill. Now, here's a question for you, little Greo! What do you think is the reason?"

Little Greo thought long and hard.

"Uh… Um…. Eh… Ah! I know!"

"Oh? What is it?"

"It's because Beast Tamer and Summoner can't evolve, right?"

"Very good! That's right, little Greo. To this day, it's still a mystery as to why they cannot evolve unlike the other classes. Or maybe it's just because no one met the conditions yet. In any case, class skills could only be used by specific classes. For example, your father's [Compose Magic] could only be used by an ArchMage."

"[Compose Magic]?"

"Yes. Normally, everyone can use a combination of two elements. But with this skill, it grants an ArchMage the ability to combine and use three or more elements at the same time to create a new element of magic and spell."

"Sounds cool!"

"Right~?"

"Mother Ena, can you also use it?"

"Sure can. Here."

At the tip of her wand are the four basic elements of magic. She then combined the water and wind elements to create the ice element. After making the ice element, she combined the fire and earth elements and made the lava element.

"Ohh!"

Seeing the young Greo's reaction, Ena giggled. "It's too early to be amazed. Look."

Ena encased the lava with ice and formed a spherical shape. It's transparent, and the lava swirling inside is visible.

"Amazing! The ice is not melting at all! Why?"

"That's because there's a layer of wind between the magma and ice that is rapidly spinning, preventing the heat from reaching the ice."

"So that's why the lava is also spinning. But can you use this to attack?"

"You can. Let's use that tree outside," pointed Ena at a thick and large tree outside the window.

"I-I don't think Mother Kali would be happy about that. She said she wanted to make a sculpture using that tree."

"Don't worry. We can just ask for Chronoa's help later," she winked.

"O-Okay…"

"Then, here!"

Before Ena hurled her magic, the spherical-shaped ice quickly shrank into the size of a small pebble.

The small ice instantly penetrated the large tree and…

"Hm? Nothing is happening, mother—Uwahh!"

…small and large spikes of ice protruded out of the large tree's body. Each and every branch has a spike of ice sticking out of it. After a while, the ice spikes melted and a large amount of lava oozed out from the holes, burning the entire tree.

The young Greo was too stunned to speak, his mouth agape.

Ena quickly used [Eliminate] before the lava crawled out of the tree and spread into the nearby woods. The lava turned into a particle of light and disappeared, leaving the tree burning.

"What about the fire, mother Ena?"

"We do it like this! [Little Rain!]"

A small, dark cloud slowly appeared at the top of the burning tree, making a small amount of rain enough to extinguish the fire.

"Wow…"

"Amazing right? Next year, you will have your Class Reveal Ceremony. As you already know, your class is a summoner."

"Do I still need to go even though I already know my class?"

"Yes. Well, it's just formality. Don't worry, Vignette and Desmon will go with you."

"Mom will? What about Mother Ena and the others?"

"Mmm… The other three would definitely cause a stir the moment the people from the church lay their eyes on them. Lium would not be a problem; she will definitely attend too. Paula would still be on an expedition for the next two years. Maybe Kali, Deme, Jeanne, and I can also go," she warmly smiled, patting Greo's head.

"Yay!" Greo cheered.

"Now, let's continue. [Synchro Summon Magic] is the skill you will immediately obtain once you successfully acquire your first summon."

"What does it do, Mother Ena?"

"It's a pretty risky skill that temporarily combines your and your summon's soul. Your appearance will also change."

"Eh? I will be a monster?"

Ena giggled. "No, you won't. You'd still look like a human, but you will have your summon's characteristics. Let's say you summoned the Water Lion. A mane made up of water will appear on your neck like a scarf; you will also grow three tails, and your nails will be sharp."

Sacred Beast, Mythical Beast, and Honored Beast are the most powerful beings that a Summoner could ever summon. The Water Lion is considered a Sacred Beast that uses water and ice magic and could freely manipulate them. Water Lion is the guardian of the sanctuary rivers where pure mana flows.

"That sounds cool!"

"Right~!? But when you're in this state, you cannot use your own magic and skills except the Special Skill. In exchange, you can use your summon's magic and all of their skills."

"Even the special ones?"

"Even the special ones."

"Whoa…."

"You have to be very careful when using it. It will take a heavy toll on your body if you're not accustomed to it. I would've let Desmon train you on using [Synchro Summon Magic] but unfortunately, your current mana is not enough to summon even the weakest summon."

"It's because I'm still a kid, right? Father told me that it will increase when I grow up."

Ena smiled. "Yes, yes. Although grueling, there are other effective methods to increase your mana—"

"EEEEENNNNAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"

A loud voice that made their surroundings tremble cut Ena's words short.

"Ah… I completely forgot to reach out to Chronoa…"

"Mother Ena…" A look of disbelief is painted on Greo's face.

"Sorry, little Greo. We will have to end the lesson for today."

A gentle knock emanated from the room's door.

The door opened and…

"Mom!"

"Sorry for calling you so suddenly, Vignette."

"No worries."

Greo ran towards his mother and hugged her.

"Time to go home, Greo. You wouldn't want to see Ena get beaten up, right?"

"Ugh," Ena groaned.

"See you tomorrow, Mother Ena, and good luck surviving Mother Kali's wrath today."

"I-I'll be fine…" or so she claimed, but she looked so pale.

After wishing Ena good luck, Greo closed the door.

———

——

—

It was a nostalgic scene from the past. I should visit them sometimes.

Ugh…! My whole body hurts.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw an unfamiliar ceiling. I looked around the room until her face entered my vision.

"Good morning, Greo."

"Aelee… Good morning. I feel like I slept for a long time. How long was I asleep?"

"Six days."

"That long!?" I cannot help but sit up to my bed. "Ow, ow, ow…"

It looks like suddenly moving is still too much for my body.

"Ahh! Don't do any sudden movements," she warned as she's supporting me to sit. "Your soul ran out of mana, so it entered the "State of Repose." I'm surprised it only took you six days when most people would be asleep for a month or so," she smiled, feeling relieved.

Although you will not die, your body will enter the "State of Repose" when you exhaust your mana until the very last drop. When you're in this state, you will normally be asleep for at least one month to eight months. This is your soul trying to heal itself and recover the mana that you lost. When you wake up, you will sometimes notice that your maximum mana capacity has increased. The increased amount is not fixed, sometimes big, sometimes small, or sometimes nothing at all. It's not really an effective way to improve your mana.

I feel like my maximum mana capacity increased though.

"It's probably because of my master's hellish training—wait! What about the quest!?"

I almost forgot; we were here to fulfill a quest. If only we hadn't encountered Virtuo, we would've been done by now.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about it. Zel and Jiuru did and finished it yesterday. Klare and Raela helped them."

Klare and Raela…

"Ah, the girls we met last time."

"Yes. Mist already woke up two days ago, but she's still recovering, so she's resting on her bed."

"That's good to hear. Where's Hollo, by the way?"

Aelee slowly moved her head to look at the bed beside mine, and there I saw an ominous eagle lying on its back with wings spread wide. It's a weird feeling. He somehow looks cute and sinister in that position.

"Is he also on "State of Repose?"" I asked.

"No, that's just him resting. He also helped catch string serpents."

"Oh, what a good boy. I'll make sure to praise him later."

Praising your summons can help you become closer to them. The stronger the bond, the stronger they become. This also means that the burden on my body when I use [Synchro Summon Magic] would lessen.

"By the way…"

"What is it?"

"Have you been taking care of me since then?"

For some reason, my clothes were changed, and my body was clean. I might just be overthinking; it's probably Jiuru who—

"Yes. Should I not have done that?"

"N-no. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome," Aelee brightly smiled.

I know it's too late to realize this, but ever since we formed the party, she's always been by my side whenever I'm hurt.

I need to thank her somehow.