Chapter 54: Summons and Goddess
The Black Dragon, Volka, who was currently polymorphed into a human form, stared at Caelum with growing suspicion.
’How is there nothing left? There should at least be a lingering scent.’ he thought internally.
The human child standing before him neither possessed enough strength to conceal such traces nor seemed capable of perfectly assimilating the condensed energy cores of two dragons.
After all, Dragons were prideful and arrogant beings by nature.
Even when they granted their contractors condensed energy cores, traces of their power would remain behind permanently, subtly altering the contractor’s aura to resemble the dragon itself.
Volka’s memory was far too sharp to forget that Caelum had consumed not one, but two condensed dragon cores.
Yet now, every trace of them had vanished completely.
Not only that, his instincts were saying that Caelum had somehow grown even stronger than before.
Quietly, Volka replayed the memory of their previous encounter from several days ago, comparing every subtle difference.
"Instructor... you are standing way too close," Caelum finally said.
Volka had unknowingly leaned down until he was practically staring directly into Caelum’s eyes.
Still carrying a doubtful expression, Volka pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and glanced at it.
The moment he read the first line, however, the paper burst into flames in his hand.
’That bastard... does he think I suffer from memory retention problems?!’ he cursed internally.
The letter had been from Aurelius.
"Omg, he is an expert!"
"Such fast and precise fire control!"
"Is he a famous mage?"
"This instructor looks rich and cool!"
"Listen, you little–!" Volka abruptly stopped himself midway before lightly slapping his own forehead.
’I should be careful with the language, they are still children...’
If he lost his temper now, his temporary teaching assignment would likely end very quickly, which he did not want as he was here on a mission.
Taking a deep breath, he glanced around and noticed the other instructors handling their own classes and after getting a general look he nodded to himself.
Then coughing lightly, he finally began the session.
"Ahem! Listen carefully, students of the Human School. Today, you will learn about summoning, so..." his gaze swept across the crowd before stopping abruptly.
"You there! Come here."
His finger pointed directly at Paul who froze instantly.
Then, like a machine whose soul had left its body, he slowly began walking toward Volka.
His heartbeat thundered inside his chest like a raging storm, pumping enough adrenaline through his body to rival an intense training session of 76 minutes.
Even his glasses turned completely white from the reflected light, giving him the appearance of some enlightened transcendent being.
Paul arrived beside Volka while breathing heavily.
Seeing his condition, Volka casually tapped a finger against Paul’s forehead and cast a simple calming spell to cool his nerves.
For exactly two seconds, it worked.
Then Paul’s anxiety returned at full force.
Volka stared at him in disbelief.
’...How did he break my mind-calming spell through sheer anxiety?’
Even ordinary adults would struggle to resist a dragon’s mental spell, yet this ordinary-looking child who was not even a mage or swordsman had somehow shattered it through pure nervous energy alone.
At that point, Volka could only accept reality.
He was a dragon in mind and body, and a quick one to adapt at that.
"You should already know the basics of this subject, right? Explain summoning briefly to the others." he said, handing over the task to Paul that he was too lazy to explain personally.
Paul adjusted his glasses dramatically.
"LISTEN, YOU MIDGETS!" he shouted while raising one arm to shoulder level, instantly drawing the attention of nearly every student present.
At the moment, almost a hundred first-year Foundation Division students were gathered within the Beast & Summoning Grounds.
Normally, attendance in shared lectures varied greatly since students only needed to complete twelve core subjects within three years and could freely choose which classes to attend as they only needed a minimum of four subjects to pass each year.
However, Caelum’s group had ambitiously decided to complete the entire Foundation curriculum within a single year, which was one of the main reasons they had become closer.
Paul himself originally intended to finish within two years, but had apparently been persuaded by the promise of a future permanent job opportunity.
Now, unfortunately for him, he was facing the greatest crisis of his life.
"Summons are divided into two primary categories," Paul declared loudly.
"Spirit-type summons and non-spirit summons. Additionally, tamed beasts may also be bound as personal summons!"
Seeing everyone actually listening to him somehow increased his tension further.
"If you want a Spirit Summon, then you must possess compatibility with spirits, then using a Spirit Summoning Circle, you can call forth a spirit entity and attempt to form a contract with it!"
He paused briefly before continuing at rapid speed.
"As for non-spirit entities, you must purchase a Beast Summoning Crystal from the Summoning Goddess Palace. The crystal conveys your intentions to the Summoning Goddess, and if a compatible beast is found, you may attempt a summoning through prayer and contract that beast!"
"But what is the catch?" Volka interrupted.
Like an exemplary student answering a prepared question, Paul responded immediately.
"The catch is that you cannot abuse or intentionally harm your summoned beast! If your summon faces danger, it may even reverse-summon you to protect itself! Also, summons are partially luck-based, meaning compatibility varies between individuals!"
His breathing became increasingly intense.
"And finally, if you tame a beast naturally, you can later visit the Summoning Goddess Palace and officially bind it through a summoning contract!"
Paul finished the entire explanation in just a few breaths.
His eyes widened dramatically behind his glowing glasses while even his nostrils flared from stress.
"Excellent!" Volka declared before patting him on the back with enough force to nearly launch him away.
Paul stumbled backward four-five steps and a backflip before he managed to return to his original position as his glasses flashed.
His hair had become completely disheveled in the process.
"...Are you alright?" Caelum asked cautiously.
"YES!"
