Even after our banter, Vivi couldn't help herself. She followed me to the edge of the field, shouting last-minute pointers until I was out of earshot. Her concern was annoying, endearing, and terrifying all at once.
and with that out of line, I came back to Arbutus palace and went straight for my room.
I bypassed the palace servants, my muddy boots leaving a trail on the polished floors as I bolted straight for my room. I locked the door, the heavy click of the bolt signaling the start of my private vigil.
I can't wait
After coming to my room, I cleared the center of the room, pushing my desk and chairs to the walls and then I went straight to my desk.
Everything is ready.
There were three things lying on my desk.
A Magic chalk, a chalk made with mana dust, a dust made from pulverized mana stones—specifically the stones that were deemed too fractured and defective for industrial use.
Its quite funny How something that was considered to be useless in one use case is now one of the most important component in another use case.
A small blade and a beautiful sturdy, leather-bound hardcover book that I had borrowed from the royal library with Vivi's suggestion.
The Name of the book was 'Your First Spirit Summoning'. The title was not flashy or legendry but it perfectly explained what the book is even about.
Yes, today is the day i plan to summon a spirit for the first time. Honestly, a mage like me who is talented in all the other elements, does not really need a contracted spirit.
But, I am not really performing the spirit summoning for the sake of getting more power. I am doing it out of sheer curiosity ...and perhaps something that most people would consider to be a bit ...pathetic.
I mean, imagine a spiritual being making a contract with you, a spirit that can stick to you all the time and is visible only to you. A companion who will know you and learn about you more than even yourself and you can even talk with it in your mind, in silence when you're bored. Isn't that fascinating ?
A companion who sees what you see, can feel what you feel, and can talk to you in the silence of your own mind.
I am not exactly afraid of being Alone. No, if anything, I love my alone time. Alone time makes you think and realize things you might never even bother thinking. I've always found a strange peace in the silence and I love it.
But, Just because I love alone time and Being alone does not bother me, that does not mean I have to voluntarily accept being alone.
Especially when I have other choices and that choice is a companion on whom I can leave my back and perhaps even my life as well.
Humans, by nature, are Social Creatures, after all. Yes, Even reincarnated humans.
I knelt on the floor and opened the book to the section on Water Spirits and then opened the page where a summoning magic circle was drawn.
Teacher Vilas has also given me a one week break because he is busy with preparation of the Grand celebration. So, I have the whole night at my disposal.
The first element of summoning, that I have chosen is Water. There's not really any particular reason for this choice.
...No, actually there is a certain reason for my element choice but I am not gonna say it. Nope. No way.
I started drawing the magic circle on the floor by copying the circle in the book, exactly line by line.
Each element requires a slightly different summoning circle. So, if i fail in water summoning, I just have to erase some certain parts and try another element again.
In about ten minutes, i finished drawing the circle. The reason we use magic dust chalk is for the same reason we use magic ink. Both of them have Mana Conductivity.
Now, for the final ingredient.
I picked up the small silver blade. I stared at my reflection in the blade for a second before making a quick, shallow cut on the tip of my index finger. A line of crimson appeared on my skin.
I never thought, a day would come when I would have to resort to self-harm for a reason other than depression.
Not that Nick had ever done any self-harm but.... Whatever!
I knelt in the center of the circle and smudged the little blood that came out of my finger in the center of the circle.
but, Before I committed a single drop of mana to the ritual, I performed the most crucial step: I sealed the room.
I created a Null attribute barrier around my room. With this, even if loud noises are made and unnatural mana fluctuation happens in this room, no one outside will know, at least the people that are weaker than me in terms of mana sense and sensory perception.
I knelt before the chalk circle and took a steadying breath. Then, I injected my mana in the Summoning circle. The reaction was instantaneous. The magic chalk drank my energy, the white dust igniting into a vibrant, pulsing oceanic blue. The light was so thick it felt liquid.
The summoning ritual starts now.
No chants were needed. My mana, blood and Will were enough.
The spirits live in the spirit realm. Not much is known about this realm. Even i, as a player do not know much.
The only thing I know is that it is not a place that exists in Verden. So, Spirits are fundamentally not members of Verden's ecosystem. The spirit realm is a place that is existent and yet non-existent, at the same time. It is a spiritual realm without a physical existence. It is a realm of its own that exists outside the concept of space and time, with its own independent timeline.
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As an unperfect actor on the stage
Who with his fear is put beside his part,
Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,
Whose strength's abundance weakens his own heart;
So I for fear of trust forget to say
The perfect ceremony of love's rite,
And in mine own love's strength seem to decay,
O'ercharged with burden of mine own love's might.
O, let my books be then the eloquence
And dumb presagers of my speaking breast,
Who plead for love and look for recompense
More than that tongue that more hath more expressed.
O, learn to read what silent love hath writ.
To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit.
--------Sonnet 23 by William Shakespeare