"Oops, I overslept again."

I had stayed up till late trying to learn more about Flare"s power. She was teaching me how to talk to her telepathically. Flare usually liked sitting on the roof but she used to come in through the window often.

I opened my eyes and found Sistina standing right next to my bed and leaning towards me. She had already changed into her academy uniform and her open hair was touching my face.

When she saw me opening my eyes she stood straight and said, "Did you already forget what we were going to do today?"

"Sorry, I overslept. Weren"t we going to try the Dark Summoning today?" I said getting up.

Sistina had been excited about this ever since Miss Lilith told us that she would teach us the summoning magic next. Miss Lilith said that it was necessary to learn this if we wanted to survive the journey to the labyrinth.

"Did something about her look different?" I thought but I couldn"t tell what it was.

"Okay, get ready and come down quickly. Everyone is already awake," said Sistina with a smile.

"Something about you looks different," I said not being able to ignore my curiosity any longer.

"Oh, it"s probably because of this hairpin Princess Anna got for me. Does it look weird on me?" She asked showing her hairpin. It was a small flower-shaped hairpin made of white crystal.

"No, it looks good on you," I said regretting my inability to notice it earlier.

"T-thanks, now get ready and come down," said Sistina and left the room. It may just be my imagination, but her cheeks looked a little red as he was saying that.

After I got ready and changed into the academy uniform, I went downstairs. Everyone including Miss Lilith was already there in the sitting room.

"Oh look Mr. Sleepyhead finally woke up," said Arica when she saw me coming.

"Look who"s talking," I replied since Arica was the one who usually wakes up late.

"We will summon familiars in the training room," said Miss Lilith after which we all followed her to the training room.

Miss Lilith had explained to us the procedures involved while summoning a familiar before. The whole process was made up of two parts, summoning and making the blood contract.

After everyone got inside the training hall Miss Lilith said, "Okay, those who don"t have the apt.i.tude for dark magic stand back, those who have the apt.i.tude for dark magic come forward."

Arica, Sistina, Princess Anna, and I came forward while the rest went towards the chairs at the corner of the room and sat there.

Sam brought a bucket of black paint and gave it to Miss Lilith after everyone was ready. He quietly left the room with just a slight bow.

"Now, you need to draw a magic circle on the floor as I show you. Everyone needs to draw their own circle," said Miss Lilith.

Miss Lilith then took the brush and drew a Pentagram and two circles outside it on the wooden floor. One of the circles was touching the pentagram"s edges while the other had a bit bigger diameter. The inner circles had a diameter of around a meter.

"Hope the paint is erasable. More work for Sam," a part of me thought that. But this wasn"t the time to think about such things, so I concentrated back to the ritual.

"Now Sistina, you go first," said Miss Lilith sensing her excitement. She was wagging her tail and twitching her ears when she was watching Miss Lilith draw the circle.

Sistina replied with "um hum" and drew a magic circle similar to Miss Lilith"s on the floor. The shapes weren"t exact but since Miss Lilith wasn"t saying anything, that probably wasn"t a problem.

"Now, you need to put a drop of your blood in the magic circle and pa.s.s dark magic through it," said Miss Lilith after Sistina finished drawing the magic circle.

"Here, use this needle," said Nina bringing a needle to her. She had probably brought the needles knowing that it would be necessary for us.

"Okay. Thanks," said Sistina and used the needle to make a small cut on her index finger. She dropped the blood that was dripping from the cut into the circle. She then sat on her knees and pa.s.sed dark magic through the circle.

The black-colored magic circle changed into crimson red. A dark smoke appeared inside the circle and when the smoke cleared, an animal-like creature could be seen.

He looked like a kangaroo but was black colored with a long white stripe on his back. He was two-meters tall and was wearing gauntlets in his hands. He started doing shadow boxing even though he was just summoned. It looked like he was trying to impress Sistina by showing his strength.

"Now, give him a name and finalize the contract," said Miss Lilith.

"Umm... How about Smasher," said Sistina after thinking for a while.

His shadow boxing became even faster after he heard the name. The name may sound weird to others, but it looks like he likes it.

"Next Anna," said Miss Lilith looking towards Princess Anna.

Princess Anna drew a similar-looking magic circle. Her circle was a little better than Sistina"s, but the shapes were still not perfect. She then used the needle to make a small cut in her hand and dropped the dripping blood inside the magic circle. She also sat on her knees and pa.s.sed dark magic through the circle.

What she summoned looked like a normal white mouse that was wearing a small golden crown. The mouse looked towards Princess Anna and started making some noise. Surprisingly, Princess Anna was nodding as if she was understanding what the mouse was saying.

"Princess Anna, do you understand what it"s saying or something?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes, it"s speaking normally. Can"t you hear?" said Princess Anna who also looked surprised but for a different reason.

"No, I can"t," I replied and looked towards Sistina for the third opinion.

Sistina shook her head saying, "No, I can"t hear either."

"It"s nothing new, some familiars can talk to their masters. Name him quickly so that we can move to the next one," said Miss Lilith sensing everybody"s confusion.

"He said he is the king of Mice so I will call him King," said Princess Anna Carrying the mouse on the palm of her hand.

"Is it just my imagination or is that mouse trying to act cool?"

As I was thinking that, Miss Lilith said, "You are next Nara" so I took the brush and drew the magic circle.

"Man, it"s harder than it looks. It"s at least better than Sistina"s."

I made a small cut on my index finger and dropped my blood on the magic circle. I was about to pa.s.s dark magic through the circle when I heard a mature male voice saying, "Go home kid. I am not coming out." And, before I could realize what was happening, I was in a different s.p.a.ce.

This was the third time I had been pulled to a different s.p.a.ce, but this must be the weirdest one out of all. There was a blue sky above me as far as I could see, but the floor that I was standing on wasn"t ground. It was made up of gla.s.s that was reflecting the sky above.

I could see someone laying down on the floor far away, so I walked towards him. He was looking towards the sky as if there was something amusing there. When I reached closer, I could see that he was wearing a trench coat and black jeans pants.

"Who are you?" I asked when I reached near him.

"You are one strange kid, kid. Who comes to someone"s home and asks them who they are?" said the man looking towards me. He had golden-colored eyes and a handsome looking face and nothing about him seemed abnormal.

"Oh sorry, it"s just that I wasn"t sure where I am," I replied in a polite tone.

"Who are you? Since it"s my home, it"s only proper to ask," said the Man.

"My name is Nara. I was trying to summon a familiar, but I ended up here," I replied honestly.

"I am not sure what you did, but I am not a familiar," said the man in a calm tone. He then looked back towards the sky and said, "I am a demon."

Next Chapter: The Dark Summoning - Part 2