Professor Theodric Thornewood stalked across the front court of Elderglow, his heeled boots thudded against the brick pathway, set at a brisk pace. Barkly, his faithful familiar, lumbered closely behind, ducking every so often under arched doorways unfit for his size Triple-checking the logistics of the mass summoning in his head, he headed distractedly towards the school’s training grounds, in which the floor was temporarily dotted in summoning circles and containment shield spells.

He moved across the training grounds, glancing quickly but critically at every single summoning formation. Satisfied, Theodric nodded to himself, making his way back to Barkly.

He prodded questioningly at Barkly through their mental connection from the familiar bond. Barkly straightened and turned his attention back on his master, sending his own nervousness back in response.

“Calm down Barkly, you've helped me out with summonings before,” Theodric reassured the relatively young tree wraith. “With any luck, this time will just be as accident-free as the last ones.”

Barkly didn't return his optimism. Theodric sighed deeply, reaching out to pet Barkly affectionately on the tree wraith's gnarly arm in an effort to reassure him.

They stayed like that for a brief moment, Theodric's comically tiny hand on Barkly's gargantuan arm, until a voice shook them both from that peaceful moment.

“Professor Thornewood, I have gathered all of the volunteer teachers for the overseeing of the summoning,” Professor Roswen Copperleaf called out from beneath the arched doorway leading out of the castle to the training ground. “Would you like me to brief them on procedures or would you like to do it yourself?”

Theodric blinked. “Ah, yes, thank you.” He cleared his throat. “Ahem, please remind the others to renew the shields for every new student, have two teachers per summoning circle, and don’t forget the signs of a weak connection, you’ll have to be prepared to suppress the summons.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Tapping his chin, he added. “Oh, and help provide extra mana in case the student runs out on a strong summons, but should the summons be still too aggressive right before the binding ritual, the supervisor must take over the formation and release the summons instead of providing their mana. Younger souls are flexible but anything three tiers above them would be too much for any of their souls to handle.”

“And above all, remind the students to not push their luck.” He said gravely. “And to give up on forming a bond with a summons they cannot control. They should all know this, but I’m certain that some of them will get greedy and not heed my warnings.”

Professor Copperleaf gave a quick nod, and popped back in the castle to debrief the other teachers. Theodric gave her back one last glance before directing his attention back to Barkly.

Giving the tree wraith a soft but firm a mental nudge to go make itself useful, Theodric faced the clear blue sky and concentrated on his other familiar’s bond, calling on Morvax and feeling a distant rumble of displeasure. Huffing at the lazy antics of his familiar, he prodded the forest dragon’s soul impatiently through the bond.

Finally managing to force the unruly beast off its behind for once, he followed his fellow professor, and retreated into the castle, his robes swishing around his legs on the way to the headmaster’s office, who should have concluded the welcoming ceremony, to temporarily lower the school’s shields to let his powerful familiar in.

There’s no need to piss the dragon off more than he already has when the shields mistake Morvax for a threat. Theodric grimaced as the memories of the last time that happened resurfaced in his mind.

Though the spells barely tickled his scales, Morvax was surprisingly intensely insulted, and Theodric had to blow through three months of wages to buy him a rare mana herb as an apology after a week of the silent treatment. His wallet still stung till this day.

Unwilling to repeat the same mistake again, he straightened up and doubled his pace.