Elem burst through the doors of the Sekuheim school, his heart racing through his chest. Today was a terrible day to come in late.

As the wooden door opened with a loud creak, he instantly felt the eyes of his fellow disciples peer his way. He flushed, knowing that each and every one of them was judging him.

He had hoped to sneak in unnoticed as he always did whenever he overslept but in his rush he had forgotten how loud that door could be. Thankfully, his father- the only person whose opinion mattered- hadn’t noticed his tardiness. The Master seemed fully occupied with his challenger.

With his head bowed down in shame, Elem rushed to his spot in the back in the great hall and took his seat among the other unconnected disciples.

Aja rolled her eyes as soon as he sat down.

“Late again? What were you doing?” she whispered. “You missed the first match. This challenger’s actually pretty good. His Wind Summon annihilated Tarjun with a snow blast. I wonder how he’s gonna fare against Master Ardan.”

“Overslept,” Elem admitted. “Lost track of time last night. Trying to cram in as much as I can before tomorrow.”

Aja mocked him with a hissing sound.

“We both know you can’t afford to miss your father’s duels. Demonstrations like this are worth more than weeks of studying from those stuffy tomes.”

An older disciple sitting in the row in front of them turned his head and gave them an angry glare, holding his index finger pressed on his lips. To Summoners, duels were sacred and distracting chatter would not be tolerated.

Elem’s father casually cracked his neck. The Master of the Sekuheim Summoning School sat on the far side of the black tiled hall, wearing an unassuming black tunic. His back was straight and his legs were firmly folded over one another. His facial expression was that of a statue, balancing somewhere between serenity and disinterest.

Calm as always, he addressed the challenger standing before him.

“You did well against one of my instructors but you should know that I am of an entirely different level. I advise you to take some rest before challenging me. We could resume this later today, or even tomorrow if you wish.”

The challenger let out a dismissive grunt. It appeared he took the Master’s suggestion as an insult.

“My name is Lamashu Denshichiro, from Kantur village. The Lamashu name represents an old and powerful lineage. Don’t slander me by offering me a break.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Very well then,” Master Ardan replied lightly. “Then shall we begin?”

Denshichiro nodded before walking to the other side of the room where he dropped into a low stance.

Elem shifted to the edge of his seat. Maybe Aja was right for once; this challenger appeared formidable. He was a wall of a man with a thick black beard, shoulders like cannonballs and forearms resembling tree trunks. If it came down to it, Elem expected that the man was well-conditioned to maintain a long, heated duel.

One of the older disciples moved to the center of the hall to serve as a referee. She carried two shaded batons which she would use to declare a winner later. Master Ardan was black. Denschichiro was white.

Denshichiro closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths as he tried submerging himself into a meditative trance. When he reopened his eyes a few seconds later, they had become as white as snow. He had connected to his Summon.

“Aaargh!” the challenger grunted. “I summon the Yeti, a Wind Summon; the mighty lord of ice and mountains!”

A frozen wind raged through the dueling hall, blowing around snow before crystallizing as a fountain of bright light. The temperature drop made Elem shudder. He could hear the other disciples gasp as an enormous humanoid creature materialized before its Summoner.

Elem rubbed his chin. So that was what a Yeti looked like.

The Summon was enormous, dwarfing even the large Denshichiro. It was covered in white, coarse fur. A set of four ram-like horns sprawled from its monstrous head, matching the large tusks escaping from its maws.

Although the Yeti looked like a pure embodiment of violence, it calmly waited for its opponent to appear. Through years of diligent practice summoners like Denshichiro were able to connect with beings from other planes of existence and could fully control them and their abilities in the physical realm.

Now it was Master Ardan’s turn. The color of his eyes had already transfigured into a dark bronze. His voice however remained undisturbed.

“I summon the Minotaur, my Earth Summon; an ancient being as hard as rock!”

As he spoke the words, a whirlwind of dust gathered in the empty space before him and, mere seconds later, the bull-headed Minotaur triumphantly stepped out of the dust.

Elem’s eyes twinkled at the sight of his father’s Summon. The Minotaur was a magnificent creature. Apart from its hoofed legs, the Summon’s body roughly resembled that of an extremely muscular man. Patterns of black veins were visible through its rough but slightly translucent skin, making the Minotaur look as if it were covered with dried earth.

However most impressive were the steel horns emerging from its bovine head. Not only were the horns extraordinarily durable, they were also as sharp as blades and Elem had seen his father’s Summon use them to defeat an impressive roster of challengers.

But there was one more reason why the Minotaur just felt special. Most of Elem’s family members that trained in the Summoning Arts had connected with Minotaurs. In fact, their association with the Earth Summon was so prevalent that the Minotaur had become synonymous with the Eldyck family name. If luck was to be on his side, Elem would one day head the Sekuheim School himself, just like his father now and his grandfather had in the past and he couldn’t stop himself from wondering whether he would be able to summon a Minotaur as well.

With Master Arden’s Minotaur facing the challenger’s Yeti, the duel could finally begin. The referee raised both her batons in the air and let out a scream.

“Duelists ready? Begin!”