The letter that I sent a while ago should reach them in a month or so. Roluks don't have their own cities and tend to live in the eastern part of the continent by the ocean. But my village is just outside of the empire in neutral territory.

On this continent, the empire and other human kingdoms lay around the center. The continent to the west, the Seluran continent, is where the Elves originated from. Ilitherau is the continent to the east. It holds a few of the Dwarven kingdoms, the beastmen live in the forests around the continents. Duawnil is the southern continent. I don't know too much about it but there are a few notable kingdoms there.

All of them are separated by a small ocean in the middle.

By the way, this continent is called Ouruan, it's the biggest and where most human civilizations are. A few small islands float around in the ocean, none seem to be inhabited though.

If my family lived near the other Roluks I'd have to wait a few months for a reply.

I'm sitting in class reading a book. Well, I was mostly thinking about my letter. Miss Ein hasn't come into the classroom yet. Another minute or so and she should be here.

"Everyone please take your seats!"

Yep. She's here.

"Today we'll be moving on." she rolls out a scroll on the stand. "We will be summoning a spirit today. Has anyone here summoned anything before?" only four hands go up. All are elves. "Does anyone have any questions before we join the other classes?"

Iris's hand shoots up.

"Yes?"

"When you say spirit do you mean an elemental?"

"No, at least not the kind that you're thinking of." she holds up the scroll. "This here will be a scroll for summoning a companion, they'll fight but they're also there to help the students unlike the elementals. They'll be with you until you choose to break your contract with them, they won't disappear after a while like elementals."

"Will they be needed for our classes?"

"Only for summoning"

Iris asks another question.

"How come some summoners don't have one then?"

"For one the scrolls are costly and the magic circles are hard to draw." she taps her clothing. "Because we are an academy under the empire we have a few circles drawn in the summoning room. Secondly, the one's that are very useful, the intelligent ones or ones that can speak, are very mischievous. Much like demons they may harm the contractor at times, so some summoners choose to do without them."

"So... could we accidentally summon a demon?"

"No, although they're very very similar, a demon won't be summoned unless the circle is made for it or the summoner calls out to one."

I raise my hand.

"What do spirits do for us?"

"They'll assist in attacking and defending but will also grant a slight buff to your magic. This also brings up the third reason. Spirits that are contracted, unlike ones that are summoned for a short period of time, take mana to be kept around. It's a constant drain. One also cannot contract with two or more spirits."

Miss Ein looks around.

"Anything else?"

Black hair raises his hand but my eyes are glued on his face, it's bruised. His left hand is bandaged up too. What happened to him over the weekend?

"What would happen if a... possessed person were to contract with a spirit?"

"..." Miss Ein thinks about the question for a while. "Possession is... strange." she scratches her cheek. "Possession usually doesn't happen just out of the blue you see. It's a either the product of a tear where a demon gets out of the other realm and takes over someone or it's a failed contract." she pauses again for a bit. "I'd have to assume that if an alien entity entered one's body they would be unable to make a contract."

"...Why is that?" he asks.

"Because the spirit takes refuge inside of the summoner until it is called out. A spirit can't even be called forth unless the host has no other alien entity inside them or the summoner uses a large amount of mana."

Miss Ein looks around the room again.

"Let's go to the summoning room."

She stops right before opening the door, "Also, an important lesson to keep in mind. Do not think of another summon you've done before unless you want to get that same spirit or animal summoned again. If you do, and the spirit is no longer here, nothing will be summoned."

--------

The summoning room, like everything else in this academy, is big. It's like a smaller version of the battle arena without the high walls and thousands of seats. Thirty magic circles lay on the floor, the teachers are standing behind them.

"Okay students, listen up!" an older magician who looks middle aged stands up. "Summoning is simple, all you have to do is put your hands on the circle and pour mana into it while thinking of attributes. If one wishes for a fire spirit think of a flame." he kneels down and puts his hand on the circle. "I'll summon one."

It starts glowing, the room is suddenly tinted blue. I'm holding my hair in front of my eyes to see if it'll blend in a bit.

Small particles start swirling in the middle, it's making a shape.

A fairy appears. The teacher holds out his hand, a circle appears on his hand, same as the summoning one, and the fairy disappears. He turns to us.

"That was a successful contract. Come out wind spirit." the fairy materializes next to his head. "Their physical forms aren't what they actually look like, they're able to change their appearance if they wish." the fairy changes into a butterfly.

"Now you guys will give it a try. Who'll be first?"

Ten students rush up. Two from each first year class. That means that even the ones training in swordsmanship are here.

Iris and Elis somehow managed to be the ones from my class. I'll be betting that Iris is looking for one that can talk and Elis will be looking for a fire type,

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A few minutes later and I'm right. The one's who can talk have to be approved by the teachers. Iris got away with no problems, Elis on the other hand immediately tried testing her powers out and Miss Ein subdued her.

She's standing next to me wearing some magic cuffs. I pat her head. There there.

"El." I turn to Iris. "What kind of spirit are you going to be aiming for?"

"I-I haven't really thought about it." I answer honestly.

"Hmmm." she starts studying me. "I think for someone delicate like you, you should look for a fun loving friendly one." she repeats the words to herself and nods. "Yeah, that sounds like a good fit for you."

"Eh? You think so?"

she nods.

Is that how others see me? I guess I can't really disagree.

--------

Now I'm up. I think that I'm the last one in my class who hasn't gone yet. The magic swordsmen students finished early because of their lower numbers so the other classes started using those too. If my math was right there should be another person from my class with me up here.

I can feel the gaze of everyone on me, only two other students are at the circles. Their stares are making me feel uncomfortable.

I kneel down and channel my mana into it. My mind is sees nothing but black. I start thinking of what Iris said, friendly, fun loving, cute. I can feel the presence of something, it's forming. I feel like I can control it, It's like wind that you can see, you push it a bit and it scatters but reforms.

I open my eyes. A bluish furry creature with large eyes, four legs, a tail and a pointy mouth floats in the air, carried by its small wings. It's so cute that I wanna go hug it, but I unfortunately have the fortitude to restrain myself. I hold out my hand and it disappears, I feel a slight mana drain but I can also feel a weird safe feeling.

I stand back up and scurry back to my classmates.

"Yep, that creature really suits you El."

"Thanks for the advice Iris."

Miss Ein speaks up.

"Is that everyone?"

No one says anything but I can hear some whispering, sounds like two people.

"The-"

"Miss Ein. Rainen hasn't gone yet!"

Black hair's friend, Axel hops around in the back.

"Then Rainen please come forward."

"..."

"Step forward." she says it more firmly.

He walks up, his head is down, he doesn't seem like his usual somewhat confident self. Is he feeling down again? My eyes keep falling on his left hand.

"What's the matter?" Miss Ein asks.

"...I don't think that I can do it." he replies.

Some students start giggling.

"I told you that his magic was weak!"

"Yeah, remember his fireballs?"

"I guess he really should be learning the sword."

Miss Ein clears her throat.

"Rainen, at least give it a try."

"...O-okay."

He hesitantly kneels down and puts his hands onto the circle.

It starts glowing, just like before. The spirit starts forming, the balls of light are more erratic than the other summons. They fade out then more come, again and again it happens. What's going on? The students' whispering has gotten louder.

Finally something materializes. It's a small black lizard like thing, with little horns growing from its head, large black eyes, and a fiery tail. When black hair opens his eyes he seems surprised to see something there in the circle. He sticks out his right hand. The lizard looks at him, there's something strange in those eyes, something that I know a little too well.

Fear.

Why would the spirit be afraid? Am I just missing something here?

Black hair gives it a wry smile and it reluctantly makes the contract. It wasn't forced, it was just unsure of the contract. Was it a young spirit?

"See!" Miss Ein didn't seem to notice the spirit's reaction. "You can do it if you try. Don't sell yourself short next time okay?"

"...Y-yeah." 

He walks back to us, his eyes on the ground and eyebrows furrowed.

-------

It's the end of the school day. I'm walking back with the book I was reading this morning. Like I thought, I'm not suited for choosing a book for myself.

"Haaaaah."

I let out a sigh. Isn't it strange? I mean, I know what I like but I can't seem to find a book that I enjoy. I'd be better off closing my eyes and picking a random book off the shelves. I'd stumble and fall but I already do that enough anyways.

"You feeling okay?"

"Yeah just fine." I say.

"Going to the library today?"

"Hmm? Yeah." I turn around to look at the person.

"Hello there."

It's someone I haven't seen before.

"Oh, uhhhh..."

"I'm Marlon Eade. A fourth year."

"Uh, I'm Ellar Wholehart. A first year." I say quickly.

"Nice to meet you. What book are you reading there?" he points to the book while walking next to me.

"It's..." I turn the book to look at the cover.

"What's it about?"

He stops me before I read the name.

"Huh? Well, I kind of spaced out during some parts but it's about a boy who tires to get revenge on the people who invaded his village."

"Heeeh~. So did you like it?"

"Not really. I can't seem to find books that I like."

"That's quite the problem there." he rubs his hands together and changes the subject. "Are you partners with Rainen Weaver?"

I tilt my head, "Yeah. Why?"

"No real reason. I just wanted to know a bit about the person who battled my partner."

"You're partners with umm..."

"Abelard."

"Thanks. I kinda forgot his name." I say.

"No problem."

"What do you want to know?" I ask.

"Just a few things." he says.