“This is unbelievable.”

I glance over at Alana as she comes out from behind her hands, sitting up straight. Her clear blue eyes turn to me and I’m glad to see there is nothing worrisome in her gaze. No fear, no disbelief, and no dangerous awe.

“It’s ridiculous…but it’s also right in front of me so there’s no point in denying it.” She sighs. “This is what you meant when you said you are more talented than anyone else.”

“Eh. There’s another secret connected to that.”

I chuckle at her exasperation. “There’s more?”

“A little thing. Nothing big. It can wait for another day.”

Her eyes narrow. For a moment, I think she’s going to demand the answer. If she does, I’ll answer. Don’t want her to think I don’t trust her. But she doesn’t. Instead, she drops her head on the back of the couch. “Fine. This summoning. I suppose the creature you want to summon is obviously not fire aligned.”

“Light, actually.” Which surprised me. With their feeding habits, I would have guessed mental. It’s also surprising that a light caster would be a summoner. Suppose the affinity wasn’t as venerated then as it is now.

“Ah. That’s how you plan on getting me a teacher. You want to summon one.”

“For both of us. I have to train too.”

“Yes. You have to train seven affinities.” She shakes her head. “A caster with seven affinities. A master with seven affinities. Saints.”

“Aw. You’ve got a lot of faith in me.”

“If you don’t, it’d be insulting to whatever creature gave you that power.”

“I think of him as a second father.”

She gives me a look before turning to Kierra. “Suppose this is why you had to stop yourself from laughing.”

Eh?

My wife finally joins the conversation. “It is funny, but you must not give up. I am looking forward to seeing you conquer the impossible.”

“Hmph. Don’t take a knight of Victory lightly. We’ve been throwing ourselves against the impossible for centuries.”

I…am sure I am missing something but Alana seems to be taking everything well, so I’ll let it go. I drain the rest of my tea and set the cup down. “Now that that’s straightened out, are you ready for your first summoning?”

While Alana has taken the news of my affinities well, she isn’t as unaffected as she would like me to believe. She is distracted as we make our way to the spare bedroom I’m using as a summoning room, sneaking glances at my back when she thinks I’m not paying attention. It doesn’t appear to be anything bad so I leave her to her thoughts.

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Two chairs have been placed against the back wall for my wives, one pending. The succubi wait outside, with strict instructions not to enter or interfere unless there is a threat to one of our lives. The residents of Burning Earth get around. I don’t know what their reputations are like throughout the realms but, knowing their nature, I doubt it’s good. Last thing I need is for Geneva to ruin this by simply being in the room.

“So, what happens now?” Alana asks once they’re seated.

“Now, I am going to power the circle and ask something to meet with me.”

“…that’s it?”

“Mm, that’s it.”

Alana crosses her arms and scowls. “But you’re just pushing your mana into a drawing. How does that open a path between realms and allow something to step through?”

“Hey, Alana. How come the sun shines just enough to grow our crops and keep us warm but not enough to kill us?”

“What…I don’t know. And what does something that random have to do with this?”

“I don’t know why the rules of summoning are what they are either or exactly how they work but that doesn’t stop me understanding them and using them to my advantage. If I had to guess, there is some super all-powerful elemental that is called the Guardian of Dimensions that is facilitating all of this. Do I know that for sure? Do I know how? Do I know why? Nope. Doesn’t matter. All I know and need to know is that if I pour some mana in that circle and call on a creature, it steps through.”

“Using things you don’t understand is dangerous. Or have you already forgotten last night?”

I wince. That hit below the belt.

“Sorry,” she mumbles, realizing such herself.

“No. You aren’t wrong and I understand your hesitance, but this isn’t the same thing. Summoning has been done for centuries. It’s been tried and tested by geniuses and idiots. The rules are foolproof. Everything will be fine.”

My confidence seems to reassure her as her expression eases and she settles into her seat. I check on Kierra but she’s perfectly fine, her eyes telling me to get started already. Satisfied, I turn to my circle.

Kneeling at the edge of the circle, I put a finger in the ink and push my mana into it, charging the boundary. A shuba has a coefficient of one or lower. The amount of mana I’d need to hold it is so minuscule, I’d need a spell to use that exact amount. Instead, I throw a few units into it casually. The ink gains a faint luminance. Not even enough to make the circle glow with power.

As I get to my feet, I can feel it. Though there is nothing but air in front of me, I can feel something on the opposite side of it. A presence that can feel me as I feel it. The last time I did this, I was nothing but nerves. There’s a hint of those but my heart is thumping with excitement. “Will you speak with me?”

An orb of darkness appears over the circle. It flows and dips, looking very much as if it is comprised of the ink that fills my circle as it expands, larger and larger until it is twice the size of my head. Then it flattens into a disk, tall enough for a child to walk through, hovering several inches off the ground.

A small shape comes through. It’s…different. Incorporeal beings are always a bit strange, as they don’t need to be concerned about functioning bodies. The shuba is gray and transparent like smoke. Small enough to fit in my palm. It reminds me a little of a cloth thrown over a lamp, narrower at the top and fluttering at the bottom. In the middle of its upper half is a golden circle that makes me think of an eye though I can’t imagine how it sees.

“Shuba,” the creature says in a pleasant whisper.

I suck in a sharp breath as a pressure fills the room, so strong the air itself seems to become tangible as it weighs on my shoulders. From the corner of my eye, I see Kierra reach for a startled Alana, holding her still. That’s not good. I can’t bring her to more summonings if she can’t keep her cool. Ah, well. She’s a newbie. She’ll grow out of it.

Behind the shuba, in the middle of the black disk connecting this realm to another, a golden reptilian eye slowly opens, focusing on me. Shubas are creatures with low intelligence. Too low to understand and form contracts with a summoner.

No, it is their lord that does the negotiating. I haven’t invited that creature to this realm, as I’m not insane, so it cannot enter this realm or use its magic. It’s incredible that its mere attention is enough to affect us. But now that I have its attention, the fun can begin.