Book 1 Chapter 20

"Practical exam from the first day?"

"The other classes are temporary, so why just us!"

Seeing the flustered students, Professor Yura spoke seriously.

"I told you. If you're not serious, leave. Do you think you are the same as the other two majors?"

At the question, the students fell silent.

"As summoning students, you should know. Summoning cannot be learned solely by having mana sensitivity. To contract with a spirit, you need spirit affinity, and to command a familiar, you need 'taming' ability."

Professor Yura spread her arms wide.

"Thanks to this, the number of summoners is overwhelmingly smaller compared to knights or mages. That's why the number of people who reach the hero's position is small."

The summoning students, unable to refute, gritted their teeth.

"But! The summoners who reached the hero's position have achieved even greater feats compared to other heroes!"

She shouted with a proud face.

"Does it make sense for you, who are like that, to do the same as students from other departments?"

"No!"

"You are the chosen ones! Aren't you?"

"Yes! We are!"

"Then we're going in with full force from the first day!"

"Yes!"

"Great! Let's go!"

"Let's go!"

As Professor Yura raised her fist and shouted, the first-years raised their fists and shouted in unison.

The atmosphere instantly heated up.

As Professor Yura, who had instantly raised the students' concentration, wore a satisfied expression, a silver-haired female student raised her hand.

"So, if it's a practical exam on the first day, what kind of exam will we take?"

"Good question. Eliza Hergin."

At the name, the students murmured.

The Hergin family.

They were a renowned family of summoner heroes from the northern continent.

"The familiars managed by Lumern are all gathered on this island."

Familiars are a type of weapon for summoners.

"I will test your taming ability."

Yura pointed to the forest.

"Tame a familiar from this forest and bring it back. I will give you points based on what kind of familiar you tame."

After hearing the explanation of the exam, Eliza asked again.

"What if I tame and contract with it?"

At her words, the students swallowed dryly.

Taming and contracting are distinctly different.

Taming is the ability to become friendly with a familiar, and it is the first step to contracting.

After taming, if you have the ability, you can contract.

Yura smiled at Eliza's question.

"If you succeed in contracting, that familiar will be yours."

"Ooh!"

"As expected of Lumern! To be recognized for succeeding in a contract during class!"

There are two ways to contract with a familiar.

The first is a summon contract using a catalyst, and the second is to meet the familiar directly and contract.

In the latter case, an untamed familiar can also be 'sold'.

That's why familiars are traded at very high prices.

It was only natural for them to be motivated when they could freely contract with such familiars.

"Professor, what about students aspiring to be spirit summoners?"

This time, Chen Xia asked.

"Summoners can basically handle both spirits and familiars. While there are specializations, Lumern's summoning classes are designed to maximize abilities in both areas, so work hard."

Chen Xia nodded.

'Familiars.'

In her past life, Leo had also contracted with powerful familiars.

'They all disappeared in battle.'

As she recalled her old pacts, Professor Yura spoke.

"Time is three hours! Start!"

"Ooh!"

The first-years enthusiastically ran out.

"Huh? Aren't you guys going?"

Professor Yura tilted her head as she looked at Leo, Chen Xia, Waredden, and Eliza, who remained at the starting line.

The students she had chosen among the first-years were not moving.

Eliza tidied her fingernails and said,

"I'm not interested in low-level familiars."

Whoosh! Eliza blew air on her finger and smiled sweetly.

"……"

The taciturn Waredden did not reply.

"Hmm… I only know about taming theoretically, so I'm worried."

Chen Xia had a troubled smile.

Finally, Leo, who had been gazing at the forest, took a step.

"Oh, the class representative?"

Leo looked back at Eliza.

"I heard about your achievements in knight class. Can we expect great things in summoning class too?"

Seeing Eliza ask with a smile, Leo shrugged.

"I'll just do my best."

Seeing Leo effortlessly deflect the provocation, Eliza looked bored.

As Leo entered the forest, Professor Yura laughed.

"Good, that's youth."

"Well, you're getting old too, Professor…"

Thwack!

"Cough?"

Professor Yura punched Karlot in the side and grinned at Leo's retreating back.

'Personally, I have expectations, you know?'

Her intuition told her so.

***

'I didn't know it was possible to create such a familiar ecosystem.'

Leo admired inwardly as he walked through the forest.

He had never seen such a diverse range of familiars gathered in one place, even in his past life.

For a summoner, this forest was literally a treasure trove.

The students were frantically searching the forest like lice, looking for familiars.

It was also frequent for them to miss familiars while fighting over them.

Someone skilled in familiar summoning would probably have moved very carefully.

The more powerful the familiar, the more it avoided appearing before humans.

That was why Waredden and Eliza had stayed at the starting line.

Eliza's skill was also not inferior to Waredden's.

"Isn't that guy going too deep?"

Some students looked bewildered as they watched Leo go deep into the forest.

While other students were making noise searching the forest, they refrained from going too deep.

Many high-level familiars had considerable hostility towards humans.

Moreover, this was not just a class, but a practical exam.

Points would be awarded regardless.

If you risked going for a high-level familiar and failed to tame it, you would receive zero points.

Lumern is a place of endless competition.

There is no room for excuses like "bad luck" or "good attempt."

"Let them be. They probably think they can just take knight class if they fail."

"Is that what they're thinking?"

Some students scoffed and lost interest.

Leo, who had entered the depths, looked around.

After confirming that there was no one around, he took out the gray feather he had found upon arriving on the island.

'As expected, this is…'

Leo's eyes lit up, and he generated aura.

Gray aura began to burn.

It was the power of the Phoenix Breath that Leo had learned.

The aura flames transferred to the feather and began to burn even more fiercely.

Then it turned to ash and scattered.

*Fwoosh!*

'As expected, this was a phoenix feather. Is there a phoenix in this forest too?'

The phoenix, one of the strongest familiars, was particularly difficult to contract with.

The burning phoenix feather, a summoning catalyst, turns to ash and disappears the moment it reacts to mana, so it cannot serve as a catalyst.

Ultimately, the only way to contract with a phoenix is to find a phoenix directly.

However, since phoenixes are proud creatures, they cannot be easily contracted with even if you meet them.

Therefore, they are called dream familiars by summoners.

"As expected of Lumern. Amazing."

It was at this moment that Leo's eyes gleamed.

*Fwoosh!*

"……!"

Crimson flames flickered above Leo's head.

He flinched and lowered his stance as blinding light and powerful heat surged.

*Fwoooosh!*

Leo, who knew what this phenomenon was, looked incredulous.

The intense flames soon transformed into the shape of a giant bird.

Flames ebbed and flowed with every beat of its wings.

Leo generated aura flames to protect himself.

The familiar, the phoenix, which revealed itself in response to Leo's reaction, opened its mouth.

-Is that Schrödinger's flame? I thought it was Reina's flame… I felt a familiar scent of flame, so I came, but it wasn't… Was I mistaken?

Leo asked in surprise at its muttering.

"Do you know my mother?"

-Mother?

The phoenix's eyes widened, and it laughed heartily.

-Indeed! I wasn't completely wrong! Yes! If she had a child, she would be around your age!

The intense flames subsided.

-Heh heh, you know my mother? Of course! I owe a great debt to your mother, Reina.

The phoenix, flapping its beautiful wings, sat before Leo.

It had a gentle aura, unbelievable for a phoenix, which is known to be arrogant.

Leo could only look bewildered at the phoenix's reaction.

'It's a world of difference from the phoenix Lysinas had. That bird-brain was rude.'

Luna had even suggested roasting it for dinner.

-Reina's son, what is your name.

"I am Leo Floyd."

-Yes, Leo. My name is Pirina.

"What is your relationship with my mother? Didn't you just say you owed her a debt?"

Pirina smiled at Leo's question.

-Reina was a lifesaver to my pact holder, Ellen Lundua.

"Ellen Lundua?"

Leo was surprised by Pirina's words.

The Lundua family was a renowned heroic family of elves.

Furthermore, Ellen was the head of such a Lundua family and a hero whose name was recorded in the Hero Record.

-At the time, Ellen was a dungeon conqueror assigned to a dungeon conquest mission in Seirun.

"Dungeon, you mean a hero's dungeon that appeared due to the rampage of a lost page from the Hero Record?"

-Yes.

There are five places that hold Hero Records.

However, there are also Hero Records somewhere else in this world.

More precisely, it's the lost pages of the Hero Record.

Pages scattered around the world sometimes rampage and create hero worlds.

The worlds created in this way are called hero dungeons.

-Hero dungeons invade reality. Over time, monsters from the hero's world will cross over into reality beyond the dungeon entrance. Finding and conquering them is one of the main missions of the Hero Academy.

Many countries conceal the fact that they have discovered hero dungeons.

This is because if they conquer the dungeon, they can achieve succession, just like in the hero's world.

Countless countries have been destroyed by concealing hero dungeons in this way.

Hero dungeons are so dangerous that only those with the highest skills can be assigned to missions.

-One day, Ellen was deployed to conquer a certain hero dungeon. And he failed the conquest, and all his comrades died. When Ellen was also on the verge of death, it was Reina who saved him.

Pirina muttered sadly, recalling the past.

-In the process, Reina lost her flames. If that hadn't happened, Reina would have reached the hero's position…

"My mother doesn't regret the past. Her philosophy is that the present is most important."

-Heh heh… that personality hasn't changed, has it?

Leo asked Pirina, who smiled softly.

"Then why are you, Pirina, here at Lumern?"

-I came here at the request of Lumern's principal, Kalian.

"The principal's request?"

-Yes, I cannot tell you the exact reason.

Leo felt a sense of mystery about the secret story.

-And why are you on this island? A first-year student in the knight department shouldn't be here.

Pirina assumed Leo, as Reina's son, would naturally be in the knight department.

"I'm also taking summoning classes."

-What?

Pirina, who was surprised, realized that a faint spiritual energy was emanating from Leo's body and exclaimed.

'The possessed spiritual energy is weak… but the vessel is excellent.'

Pirina, who was assessing Leo's potential, burst into laughter.

-Heh heh. This must be fate.

"Yes?"

-Leo, will you make a contract with me?