2 – Answering the Summons

[Interlude]

Louise glanced nervously at the hulking armour that towered over her. After so many failures, she had finally summoned a familiar—two of them!—and this one both looked and sounded powerful.

'A renowned hero and knight!' She thought. 'He must be truly powerful to be known by so many titles! If he could be my familiar…'

She eyed the strange weapon he wielded. It looked a bit like a smaller version of a rifle, but it fired what looked to be a spell instead. Was it his focus, she wondered. Some mages used unconventional foci such as wandswords and such, but she'd never heard of a gunwand. Although she wasn't sure if she was breaking any laws by summoning a noble, if she could get a familiar like this, nobody could call her a failure again.

Her throat was tight but she swallowed and composed herself before answering in as refined a voice as she could.

"My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. And I have summoned you to be my familiar as part of the sacred rite, the Springtime Familiar Summoning," she clearly enunciated.

"I see. And what would being a familiar entail?" The man who called himself Axion asked. It was a man's voice, a sound that was naturally soothing and harmonious.

"You don't know? Aren't you a noble?" She asked in confusion. It was among the most basic knowledge for any mage.

"I am aware of what it means in other lands. I do not wish to make assumptions regarding this land's magic and customs, especially when you say it is a sacred rite to your people. It is best if you explained so there are no misunderstandings."

That only confused her more. Was the man saying that the Springtime Familiar Summoning handed down by the Founder Brimir was not a sacred rite where he came from? That would be heretical!

Just then, professor Colbert interrupted. "Perhaps I can explain, Sir Axion. Here in Tristain, every aspiring young mage is expected to perform the Springtime Familiar Summoning at some point when they feel ready. In the Tristain Academy of Magic, our students are required to do this ritual in the beginning of their second year, because the familiar summoned determines the student's elemental specialty, and therefore enables the student to advance to the appropriate courses for that element. As for what being a familiar entails, a familiar's most important role is to protect its master. It also helps the master with tasks like retrieving items, and lets the master see and hear through its eyes and ears. Although, familiars that are summoned have always been magical beasts in the past, not humans, and it should certainly only be one, not two. This is a very unusual case."

"Is that so? If all students are required to complete the ritual, why do I see no other familiars around?" Axion asked in a suspicious tone.

"That would be because the rest of the students have already completed their rituals, and their familiars are resting in the Familiar Garden. Louise has had to make a few more attempts at the spell than others, and her spells often have some unfortunate, ah, side effects, so we thought it best not to have the new familiars present as they still remain much of their bestial instinct just after the bonding," said Colbert.

Louise's cheeks burned in shame when the sniggers from the other students started.

"I see. Well, miss Vallière, you have incredible potential to have summoned me. However, based on professor Colbert's description, I must respectfully decline the position. Unfortunately, I have other commitments that would interfere with any duties as your familiar."

The words were like a physical blow to Louise, whose face looked like the picture of despair. She barely heard the words from Sir Axion after that. Her eyes glanced back to Saito, who had been watching silently with a dumb expression as if he still didn't believe what was happening. She watched as the commoner pinched himself a few times to no avail and was muttering quietly to nobody.

Louise needed a familiar to retain her status as a student, but how could she accept having a commoner for a familiar? Even if she couldn't get a powerful and beautiful familiar like a dragon or Sir Axion, her familiar had to be strong enough to protect her at least, not some commoner boy whose head might be less than fully there.

"Mr. Colbert, please let me try summoning one more time!"

"I cannot allow that, Miss Vallière. It is strictly forbidden. It is not possible to change the familiar once you have summoned it. The Springtime Familiar Summoning rules, as a sacred rite, take precedence over every other rule. However, you seem to have summoned two familiars where you can only have one, so if Sir Axion has declined, then you may take Mr. Saito instead."

"M-me?" Saito pointed to himself. "Hold on, I still don't understand what's going on here. Are you guys shooting a movie or something? But where are the cameras?"

"You have got to be joking…a commoner for a familiar?" Louise drooped her shoulders in disappointment.

"Well then, you should continue with the ceremony," said Colbert.

Louise looked at Saito again. The boy suddenly tensed and looked ready to run. Then he glanced around at the crowd and seemed to realize he was surrounded. His expression looked like something close to panic.

"What are you talking about? What ceremony? I-I haven't agreed to anything!" Saito said with wide eyes.

"With him?" Louise complained. Even putting aside the commoner's ability to protect her, finishing the ceremony meant she had to kiss him!

'To think a proud scion of the Vallière family would have to give away her first kiss to a commoner…' she thought glumly.

"Yes, with him. Hurry. The next class will begin any minute. How much more time is this summoning going to take? After mistake upon mistake, you have finally managed to summon him. Hurry and form a contract," Colbert urged. The students voiced their agreement and the jeers started.

Louise groaned and prepared to step towards Saito.

Then she froze when a hand came upon her shoulder with an iron grip. A current of something seem to spread through her body, making her shudder.

"Excuse me, aren't you going to unsummon me, now that I've declined?" Axion said.

"Un—unsummon?" Louise stammered. She felt immensely relieved when professor Colbert interrupted.

"Oh…that might be difficult, sir Axion." Colbert eyed the man's grip on his student warily and shifted his staff.

"What's the problem?" The man released his grip on Louise, but Colbert did not relax.

"The spell doesn't have a way to return familiars to where they came. Nor are there any other spells that can do this. There has never been a case of a human summoning in history, so there was never any need to return the familiar. I'm afraid the only way for you to return is regular travel," said Colbert.

The ground beneath the foreign mage cracked suddenly without warning, setting off all sorts of alarms in Colbert's head. As an elite Square-class combat mage, he recognized the little signs that indicated a powerful opponent. Few were the mages whose very presence and raw emotion was enough for their magic to affect the environment around them—why, he himself was one of them—and if this man was of that sort, then he would have to be very careful.

Louise stumbled back when Axion rounded on her.

"That's rather inconvenient, considering just how far you've transported me with your summoning. Where I come from, there is only one moon in the sky." Axion's voice was deep and tightly controlled, but everyone present understood that he was not pleased.

There was a long moment of silence as the words sank in. Louise's eyes widened as if in realization, then dread.

"I…I…" Her mouth moved but she could not form words as the heavily armoured knight loomed over her ominously.

A pitch black wand materialized from nowhere in Axion's hand. Most of the students present did not take particular note of this minor action, but a couple of discerning individuals did not miss its significance.

'What manner of magic was that!' Colbert thought with a mixture of wonder and fear. Earlier the man had shown Royal Knight level reflexes and agility when he had drawn and fired that strange weapon, but this was something else entirely—certainly not speed or sleight of hand.

Then Axion turned and levitated into the air as his armour started glowing with a menacing red tint, the tip of his black wand releasing a small trail of rainbow coloured light.

'He's prepared to do simultaneous casting during the Levitation spell for airborne combat? That's at least Triangle-class skill!' Colbert thought as his veteran instincts kicked in. 'I've got to get the students away from this.'

"And I'm to find my way back through regular travel? To what might well be another world altogether?"

"Oh dear," said Colbert. "Let's not be hasty. I'm sure we can find appropriate compensation for your inconvenience, Sir Axion. Let us discuss this calmly." He positioned his staff in front of himself protectively and flew quickly, circling around to Axion's front, positioning himself between his student and the enraged knight. "Students, please return to the school and go on to your next classes! Except Louise, you stay here so we can discuss things with Sir Axion."

The rest of the students levitated away immediately.

"Shit! Shit! What the fuck?" Saito stared at the sky and looked around at the levitating mages with horror. "I'm dreaming, I have to be dreaming!"

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[Kaleidus]

I slowly dropped back down the ground after the short standoff, and had Agate phase back out.

What I needed was their respect as a powerful mage, not their enmity, so that I had leverage to negotiate a deal with them. Unfortunately my magic wasn't very impressive, so I had to resort to trickery.

After cracking a small bit of the ground beneath me with improper Reinforcement, using Agate's light tricks, and materializing Agate from nowhere, I hoped that Colbert would be suitably wary of my apparent magical power.

Flying was the one spell I was willing to directly reveal, as Levitation in this setting was something any random mage could do. I also had Agate phase in to keep my ability to cast without a focus hidden. In this setting, if I remembered correctly, only Firstborn magic could be cast without a focus, and using anything that seemed like Firstborn magic would freak people out and cause them to assume I was one of the 'evil' elves, their religious enemies.

Additionally, I did not want Louise to complete the ritual with Saito just yet. I wanted it to be done in a controlled and private setting, with some opportunity to experiment and analyze it.

That Structural Grasp spell I performed on her body when I touched her did not reveal anything particularly useful. So far all I'd determined about the locals' magic was that their internal Willpower mixed with the surrounding environmental mana to create spells, but the mixed energy for only noticeable for an instant upon casting. I couldn't yet perceive where the 'Willpower' was coming from before the spell activated.

Plus, while she had a hope of persuading me to be her familiar, I could use that to extract some resources and support from her in negotiating with the school—assuming the staff cared about their students' future, and they should, given Louise's family held a Dukedom.

The fact was, if Louise already had a familiar, I would just be an irrelevant outsider. I was not naïve enough to think that these people would take pity on my circumstances regardless of how much fault they believed they had, and my lack of a true noble title they could recognize in any nearby country meant that they had nothing to fear from ignoring me except my own retaliation. The idea of compensation was probably just lip service unless they had something to gain from helping me.

By the time Colbert had come down from the air, only Louise and Saito were left standing near us.

"It seems that it is my turn to apologize. I was out of line. I understand this is an unusual situation for you, and you were not aware of the true nature of this summoning ritual," I said.

"Why can't I wake up?!" Saito shouted. He slapped himself several times then fell to his knees, looking despondent. "I want to wake up from this dream. I'm going to wake up and go on the computer. Tonight's dinner is hamburger steak. My mom said so this morning."

"It must be very stressful, indeed, to be taken suddenly from wherever you were, from friends and family, from your home," said Colbert with a sigh, glancing at Saito.

Then I turned to Louise. "As you are not skilled enough to send me back yet, I will reconsider the matter of contracting with you."

"R-really?!" Louise shouted with joyous disbelief. "You'll be my familiar then?"

"I said I would reconsider the matter. There are some things I need to educate you on, seeing as your school doesn't understand the magic you wield and the significance of summoning a human familiar, let alone me. You must prove yourself worthy of my support."

"O-of course, what do I need to do?!"

"Sir Axion…if I understand you correctly, you are saying that you know why Louise summoned human familiars?" Colbert asked.

"That is exactly what I am saying."

He stared at me expectantly as if waiting for me to explain.

"I must be clear, professor, I will not simply hand out valuable secrets of magic for free. I will inform Louise because she is the one who summoned me. Whether or not she chooses to inform you is her own decision."

"But Sir Axion, Louise is a student here, and we are responsible for guiding her in magic. Moreover, if you don't tell us anything, how could we possibly assist in returning you to your home?"

"Professor Colbert, I have seen enough to understand that your school is simply not qualified to teach a mage such as Louise. Whatever your skill at teaching, it is evident that your school does not have the requisite knowledge to understand or bring out Louise's true potential, because it's different from whatever system of magic you normally teach. The fact that she has been ostracized as 'the Zero' for being a failure at magic despite her magical potential is proof of this," I said.

"My true potential…?" Louise whispered to herself.

"As for assistance in returning to where I was summoned from, we will need to discuss in detail what exactly you can offer."

"Very well. I do not have the authority to offer you anything, so we must bring this to the attention of Headmaster Osmond. Please follow me," said Colbert.