Chapter 49: Awkward
Checking his Domain, he realized his friends were surprisingly quiet.
He thought they might jump out and try to fight the wizard guy especially Death, who didn’t exactly have the best temper.
Instead, inside the Domain they seemed to have gathered together and were discussing something, only half paying attention to the outside world.
This is new, he thought. He wanted to join them and figure out what was going on, but looking at Alex who was standing there ready to fight him, he could only curb his curiosity for now.
Then, he realized a funny problem.
He was a Summoner, and he didn’t have a single "official" Summon.
Night:
(￣～￣;)
If he fought by himself, it would look incredibly suspicious. A Summoner obviously fights with his summons. He didn’t want to stand out right now, not before he fully understood how the evolution system and the Academy worked.
Being exposed by Blade earlier was a stark reminder that he still didn’t know much about this world.
Thinking quickly, he decided how to proceed. Though it might look a little off, this was the only thing he could try for now.
Standing in front of Night, Alex summoned a double-edged sword into his hand and got into a ready stance.
Before the teacher could start the duel, he paused upon seeing Night raise his hand.
Looking at him with an annoyed expression, the teacher barked, "We don’t have all day. The others are waiting for their opportunity."
Looking at the other kids, most of them seemed incredibly grateful that Night was wasting time, secretly hoping it wouldn’t be their turn today.
Night was amused. Scratching his head he said smoothly, "I have yet to summon my Summon."
The teacher stared at him. "You are a Summoner?"
The grateful looks on the other kids’ faces instantly disappeared, replaced by expressions that looked at him as if he were already dead.
The teacher, though surprised, huffed, "What are you waiting for a formal invitation? Summon it, then."
He is a Summoner, and he still got a mid-semester admission here? must be a really strong summon the teacher thought, completely confused.
He knew Summoners were notoriously weak in their early levels, making leveling up exponentially harder for them. Because of this, 99% of them never even reached Level 50.
Seeing Night just stand there, he was starting to feel anger bubble up again at the wasted time, only to hear the boy say, "Okay, then. I’ll try to summon one."
The teacher nodded but then paused. What do you mean ’try’?
Night:
(^_^;)
Then he realized exactly what the kid meant by "try."
High in the air, a massive magical circle materialized. Formed by the System itself, its intricate design far beyond the understanding of mortals and probably even gods.
The teacher looked at Night in sheer disbelief. What was this idiot doing until now? Did he just become a Summoner yesterday? But my Identify skill clearly tells me he is Level 16!
How lazy must one be to not even bother attempting a summon when their Class is literally Summoner?!
His expression turned dark. This was the third time he had been annoyed by this exact same kid.
Teacher:
(≖‿≖)✧
....
Sara’s POV
In the Headmaster’s office, Sara could be seen sitting comfortably in her chair as multiple screens displayed live feeds from each classroom.
Earlier that morning, she had been surprised when she checked Night’s screen and realized he wasn’t in class.
Then she peaked at his home, she definitely hadn’t expected to see Blade in his house, sleeping in the same bed and using him like a giant stuffed toy.
Blade:
(-‿-)
Around the bed, she could see his summons trying their best to pull her away from him, failing miserably because they were physically too weak to move Blade even an inch.
Half-annoyed and half-curious, Sara used her communication device to call Blade and see what the heck had happened.
Blade answered the call without moving a single muscle.
"What happened?" Sara asked.
"What are you doing at Night’s place? No, never mind, we can talk about that later. First, wake him up already! It’s past 7:00 AM; he is late for class!"
Upon hearing this, Blade had finally released him from her clutches, waking him up in the process...
Then, Sara watched him quickly run toward the academic area using Wind Aspect skills, making her think:
He is able to get skills entirely unrelated to his Aspect by devouring. If we feed him specific monsters with a clear purpose and try to develop him in a planned way, he could become a deadly, versatile fighter on the battlefield, equipped with sets of skills for every possible situation.
The number of dungeons appearing around the city has been increasing recently. We desperately need more hands. Even if they are just kids, they will have to share the burden soon, she thought unwillingly.
When he finally reached the class, seeing that weirdo teacher mess with him made her grit her teeth. But she was already used to his harsh methods and they seemed to work; these kids were undeniably stronger than the first batch.
When she saw Night was about to be forced into a duel, she grew nervous because a physical fight was the fastest way to accidentally expose his unique nature.
Just as she was about to intervene with an excuse, she saw him attempt to summon a creature right in the middle of the classroom.
Sara:
(?_?)
She didn’t know how to react, but she quickly focused, deeply interested in what he would actually summon. Maybe it will be a soul-devouring type of zombie, or a grotesque abomination with only mouths or eyes?
It wasn’t like she thought he was a walking disaster but to her, judging by his readings from the city’s magic circles and arrays, he looked exactly like that.
Plus, his name coupled with that terrifying [Natural Calamity] Class and its stupid 101% affinity, really didn’t help the situation either.
As the summoning circle started to gather ambient mana, it reached a crescendo and flashed with a blinding light, forcing everyone in the room and even Sara through the screen to squint.
Opening her eyes, she saw a tiny, white furball sitting in the center of the fading circle.
Eek-eek!
It made soft sounds as it started waddling toward Night like a clumsy toddler. Night bent down and picked it up gently, like a baby.
She could see it clearly now. It had fluffy white fur covering its entire body, big, cute round eyes, and a long tail that went swish-swish as it sat happily in his arms.
It was a baby monkey.
Baby Monkey:
@(・●・)@
Unlike the eldritch horror she had expected, this summon looked far too cute and so fragile that it could barely kill a chicken.
Sara facepalmed.
(－‸ლ)
How is he supposed to survive the practical combat classes with a summon like that? He will have to reveal more of his secrets sooner or later.
....
Night’s POV
As the summoning process concluded, Night sensed a small creature.
Watching the tiny white monkey waddle toward him, he was immediately reminded of Rogan, the hotel owner who also had a monkey as a companion.
Seeing it cross the short distance and reach him, he picked it up under the stunned gazes of the entire class. A prompt immediately popped up.
He could hear some of the girls in the class cooing, "Awww~" as they looked at it.
Girls:
(´,,•ω•,,)♡
[White Monkey - They are agile and cunning. They possess a strong tail that can be used like a whip.
They can "monkey" anything. (≧◡≦)
Backstory (BS) - In a distant world, this monkey was orphaned at birth and barely managed to survive by eating scraps. Not wanting to be lonely anymore, it desperately wished to be bonded to someone, and here we are.
Note - Since it is barely Level 1, after you bond with it, your EV reserves will be used to automatically boost it to match your current level.]
[Do you wish to bond with Lvl. 1 White Monkey?]
[Y/N]
[Note: If rejected, it will be sent back to exactly where it came from.]
White Monkey:
(* ॑꒳ ॑* )
Raising it up to eye level and seeing it looking back at him with big, hopeful eyes, he simply didn’t have the heart to reject it. Even though it looked as weak as wet tissue paper.
Hell, it was even weaker than he had been before his Awakening, making him realize there were actually beings out there born with base stats worse than his.
He guessed the monkey must have received a similar system message. From the skill description he had read earlier, he knew the bond required explicit consent from both parties.
Monkey’s POV
All alone with no family, she had run around the dangerous woods, desperately hoping to eat the tasty fruit growing on the high branches just to grow a little stronger.
But every single time she spotted a ripe one, it would be quickly snatched away by older monkeys or large birds.
One time, she spotted a small bug coming to pick at her fruit. Judging by its tiny size, she thought it must be weak, so she bravely fought the insect for her meal. She ended up losing terribly and almost died from the severe injuries.
Not even her fellow monkeys felt a shred of pity for her as she was left to die in the dirt...
She had prayed that someone, anyone, would come. Just as a random wild boar approached to finish her off...
She felt a strange pull. Scared but hopeful, she mentally reached out to it. Immediately, a brilliant white light descended, completely healing her wounds and pulling her away from the cruel forest.
Opening her eyes, she sensed a lot of funny-looking, hairless monkeys wearing weird things staring at her. But her eyes immediately locked onto the hairless monkey with the striking blue eyes standing right in front of her.
She instantly knew he was the one who had saved her, as she saw the very same white light that had rescued her recede directly into him.
Wanting to thank him, she waddled close to him. As he picked her up, she immediately saw a glowing message.
[Night (Homunculus) (Summoner)
Extremely Dangerous.
He has summoned you to become his 1st Summon.
Backstory (BS) - An artificial human born out of cruel experiments by humans.]
[Do you wish to bond with Lvl. 16 Night?]
[Y/N]
[Note: If you reject, you will be sent back to exactly where you came from.]
She immediately selected ’Yes’, not even bothering to read most of the warnings.
