Elem stumbled out of the temple. He felt drained and slightly disoriented, as if he had just woken up from an exhausting nightmare. Judging by the orange sun, Elem deduced that he’d been inside for quite a while, especially when he considered the time distortion. He flushed when he saw his friends were still waiting for him outside.

“How did it go?” Aja asked immediately. Elem noticed that her voice was more careful than usual, sounding as if she’d been genuinely worried about him. How long had he been in there exactly?

“It worked out,” he managed.

Bertrand was practicing a cultivation form near the lake; his knees were bent, his arms slowly waving around his body.

“So are you gonna show us?” he asked without looking up from his exercise.

Elem hesitated. He didn’t really feel like Summoning the Kappa already. If he were honest, he’d rather do anything in the world than that. After all, it had only been moments since the Summon had tried to murder him.

However, at the same time, he knew that he couldn’t deny his friends’ impatient glances. They had been waiting for hours and had both displayed their Summons as soon as they’d come out of the temple.

Elem sat down and fostered his Essence. Reluctantly, he called the Kappa and the Summon immediately answered. Elem’s body began to quiver as a heavy energy raged through his veins. It was a strange sensation, feeling as if his entire soul was boiling. He could sense the Kappa’s Essence. He could feel how it climbed its way towards him.

“I summon the Kappa, a Water Summon; mysterious protector of rivers.”

The Kappa’s presence rose inside him until Elem felt his body stiffen and his eyes rolled backwards. He felt as if he was physically pulling his Summon into the material world. His mouth wanted to scream but he focused on his breathing and tried not to get overwhelmed by the sensation.

A whirlpool spontaneously formed on the ground before him and seconds later his Summon dramatically crawled into existence.

“Wow,” Aja shouted. “A Kappa? That’s sick!”

Elem could feel both the Kappa’s feelings and intentions. The Summon waited compliantly, it was as angry as it was perplexed. Elem realized the Kappa had to be just as overwhelmed as he was. He knew that he’d have to spend far more time with the Summon before they would get used to each other.

He tried to stay in his trance as long as he could but it didn’t take long before his Essence had fully depleted and he was forced to send the Kappa back to its own world. It had been an exhausting day.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Do you think it fits me?” Elem asked after he caught his breath.

Aja and Bertrand exchanged a quick glance.

“Yes, of course,” Aja finally said but Elem wasn’t convinced of the tone in her voice.

“It tried to kill me...” he admitted.

“What?” Bertrand was so shocked that he seized his exercise and bewilderedly crossed his arms.

“It attacked you? That’s not good. The Griffin bowed to me after a short standoff. I think it simply was impressed by my Essence from the start.“

“Ok Bertrand! Thank you for the contribution,” Aja interjected. she rolled her eyes before turning to Elem. “Your Kappa is just feisty, that's all. I like Kappas, they're tough Summons. Just be happy you didn’t end up with something like a Goblin or a Wolpertinger.”

Elem forced a faint smile. His friend wasn’t wrong. He knew that he should’ve been happier than he was but he also couldn’t shake the sense that the whole experience hadn’t panned out like he had originally imagined.

The fact that the Kappa had given him such a gruesome battle worried Elem. Like Aja and Bertrand, most people connected with their first Summons without any conflict. A person’s first Summon was supposed to be their easiest connection since it matched their Essence most naturally.

If the Kappa had given him so much trouble, would he even have a chance against other Summons?

At Sekuheim he’d been taught that everyone possessed five Essence Nodes through which the Essence channels of the body meet. Each represented a different element which could be linked to a Summon. So in theory, a powerful Duelist could potentially control five Summons at most. However this was an extremely difficult feat to achieve as each additional Node required more Essence. Even Master Ardan had never connected to more than three Summons.

They took the gondola down the mountain on their way back. While Aja and Bertrand argued about when they would have their first duel, Elem leaned his head against the window. He worried too much, he thought, watching Lightningrod City’s high rises glitter in the afternoon sun.

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When they arrived back at Sekuheim, the entire school waited for them at the practice grounds. It was tradition that each newly connected disciple presented their new Summon before the others.

Elem nearly fainted when he realized that he had to summon the Kappa once again. Luckily, this time, he did not have to hold his connection with the Summon for long. He quickly called the Kappa and collapsed shortly after it disintegrated.

Master Ardan seemed amused by his son’s struggle and Elem noticed how he suppressed an endearing smile while addressing the group.

“Very well. Those are three very potent Summons. You each make me proud,” he said, gesturing at the main building. “Now, shall we feast?”

In Elem, Aja and Bertrand’s absence, the other disciples had prepared a customary feast to celebrate their peers’ success. A large table sprawled across Sekuheim's great hall, filled to the brim with delicious foods; from dumplings to fresh fruits and from ice cream to fried squid balls.

Although the food was mouthwatering, Elem couldn’t stop his mind from wandering off. He had not connected with a Minotaur as his father and grandfather had. Instead his Summon was a slimy swamp creature, a trickster who had even tried to take his life. And now, their Essences had permanently fused and Elem would feel the Kappa’s presence inside his Water Essence Node for the rest of his life.

Why was he so different from his father? What did matching with a Summon such as the Kappa say about who he was? His head hurt as he tried to wrap his head around the whole situation.