Beatrice opened her eyes, it took a moment for them to focus but soon she could see the room that the summoning ritual had been performed in. She felt a bit out of it, the whole ceremony was unusual. The summoned spirits mostly appeared as phantoms in this very room and then formed the contract. Something like being sucked into a strange dimension and then looking at a titanic giant before her was unprecedented.

She wasn’t sure if it was a dream but when she looked at her right arm she noticed proof of it being true. On it she could spot a certain symbol, it looked like a magic circle with a specific rune in the middle. This was the proof of a contract being made and this magic circle would be used for channeling the summoned spirit's power.

The girl started standing up from the kneeling position that she was in. She felt a bit weakened after the ceremony and also disoriented. It felt like time was moving slower in that dimension and that here not that much had passed. Beatrice grasped her hand that had the summoner symbol on it, it was glowing for now but soon it faded away into her skin leaving it invisible to the eye.

‘I did it…’

She held that right hand close to her chest, it was as if she was giving it a big hug. Before she could finish up with her moment of delight a knock on the door was heard. She turned to the sound, knowing well that it was probably one of the teachers checking up on her. Beatrice remembered that before the spirit summoned her to his dimension she did use up a lot of time. Other people were probably still waiting outside and waiting for their turn.

“I’m coming!”

Her feet shuffled quickly towards the exit, even if the time was close to being up the teachers wouldn’t just barge in on a summoning ceremony. They probably noticed the surge of mana during the spirit binding magic. After it was finished they probably wanted her to hurry up, at least that is what she concluded.

“Lady Beatrice Hohenberg… were you successful…?”

A man in a teacher’s uniform greeted her, he had a large scroll in one hand while in the other a large feather. He was an older gentleman with a beard and a monocle decorated his face. This very monocle gave out a magical light as it was used as an identification device. The man looked at Beatrice’s right hand and could see that she did indeed have the magical insignia.

“I see, Lady Beatrice. Everyone that has passed the ceremony will have two days off. You may return to your family for the time being. I’m sure that you are aware of the next test.”

Beatrice just nodded while the old man scribbled something into that large scroll. She was aware that getting a summoned spirit was just one part of the bigger thing. New classes would be formed after each student got their summon. These summons would be tested in a couple of days and depending on how strong they were they could move up into a higher position. Getting a white student uniform was even possible if someone was able to procure an exceptional spirit.

This was also something that Beatrice had some hopes for, the huge white-haired titan that she saw looked like some kind of special heroic spirit. Why it was interested in her was unknown, the girl didn’t feel like she was exceptional. Her mana capacity was average and her grades were also somewhere in the middle of her class. Her position was also only of a branch family daughter, nothing really out of the ordinary.

“Yes I am aware, I will excuse myself. I need to go see my parents.”

The students that completed the ritual were moving through the side exit as to not bother the ones that were still not done. There was nothing here anymore but as she moved deeper into the school grounds she noticed some sad faces. Not everyone was able to pass this test and would need to try a year later.

The longer it took the harder it was to get a contract, she considered herself very fortunate to be able to do it on the first try. Even more with the gifts reserved for the spirit that were mostly of bad or mediocre quality.

It was already late and most of the campus was silent. This place was called Lestallum’s School Of The Arcane, it was further divided into smaller subsections. She was part of the summoner magic circle that was one of the more influential schools of magic in the kingdom she was in.

Beatrice, like most of the other students, lived in a dormitory. She was now heading towards it, on her mind, there was nothing else than contacting her parents. When they heard the good news they would probably praise her as their position would be secured.

She also hoped that this would stop them from trying to find her any strange marriage partners. As the only child from this family with a new summon, her worth would increase. Maybe she would be able to be the one in control of her life from now on.

While being excited she didn’t even notice that her feet were shuffling quite fast. Beatrice was now running towards her dorm room while her head filled up with various scenarios. She could already imagine being praised and showered by adoration from her parents. But the person that she wanted to impress the most wasn’t among them anymore.

“Isn’t that Lady Beatrice? Why are you in such a hurry?”

“I bet she failed and it running back to her room to cry.”

Her thought process was interrupted by familiar-sounding voices. She looked forward and saw a small group of three girls. All of them were wearing similar black school uniforms like her.

“Lady Adabelle…”

This was someone that she was familiar with. All of them belonged to Lady Isabella’s entourage along with her. Even though they all were theoretically part of the same camp it wasn’t of her choosing. It was something that was decided by their parents, the three here didn’t get along with her that well. Lady Adabelle was quite antagonistic towards her in particular.

“No, I successfully made a contract with a summoned spirit.”

Beatrice clutched her right hand tightly with her left one while slightly glaring at the three. Without Lady Isabella around there was no way of knowing what these three girls would do but she didn’t think that it would get violent.

“A failure like you managed to make a contract?”

“Who are you calling a failure?”

Beatrice glared at the girl next to Adabelle that was sniggering around. She didn’t really want to stay here and get belittled so she decided to just move past the three. Before she could move along one of the girls blocked her path.

“Why are you in such a hurry, why don’t you show us your spirit?”

“Yes, I bet she is just embarrassed that she failed. She probably doesn’t want to show us the proper respect!.”

A person that didn’t manage to summon a spirit was considered inferior to someone that did. Even if they were able to remain in the magical academy they would have to bow before the students that had a contract.

“You will see my spirit when the tests are taking place, now get out of my way!”

The three girls chuckled amongst themselves while continuing to block Beatrice’s way forward.

“How about we do it like this…”

Lady Adabelle moved her hand forward and the back of her hand gave out a greenish glow. A magical circle with a large rune in the middle of it appeared, soon before her, a large snake materialized.

“What are you doing…”

“Just a little test Lady Beatrice, just summon your spirit, otherwise…”

The large snake slithered towards her while hissing. She backed away while looking at it with wide-open eyes, clearly feeling the danger.

“Fighting is forbidden on the school grounds! You will get in trouble!”

The girls just looked at each other and continued to chuckle.

“Summoning a spirit isn’t forbidden~”

The large monstrous snake was moving towards her. Beatrice realized that the three were just trying to egg her on. They were probably trying to scare her and wouldn’t go overboard but the snake spirit was real. It was horrifyingly scary to look at and was moving towards her very slowly.

Beatrice moved her right hand forward, she didn’t have any practice but she knew the theory behind it all. Mana was guided towards her right hand, the magic circle activated quickly and started glowing in bright blue light. This caused the snake to stop in its tracks along with its summoner that was surprised that Beatrice actually had a contract mark on her hand.

“She really made a contract?”

The three girls were surprised but the astonishment on their faces quickly turned into mocking looks of pity.

“Was that it?”

“She couldn’t even summon it?”

“Maybe she doesn’t have enough mana to summon a basic spirit?”

The laughing continued while Beatrice’s face sunk. She looked at the glowing mark on her hand but couldn’t feel that special summon of her reacting in any way. While panicking the snake resumed slithering forward, it was now directly in front of her moving around her legs.

“S-stop this!”

She wiggled around in indignation while the trio laughed but unbeknownst to all of them a fifth person was among them, this being Zhang Dong in his new spirit form.

‘Well, this is an odd feeling…’

He thought to himself while floating right behind Beatrice, no one, not even his summoner, was able to see his true form. When the summoning process started Zhang Dong felt a slight tug. It was as if a small child was trying to pull him closer. The person doing the beckoning was far weaker, this meant that he as a summon didn’t really need to abide by the call.

Zhang Dong did it anyway as curiosity got the best of him. After getting some basic information about this world from the new AI companion he wanted to give this a test. Being able to move around in this new world was something he had to do. Finding more of the cubes would be his most important quest as only those would help him go back to his wife and family.

It was a strange feeling, he followed that tugging sensation and appeared in this world. He was floating right behind his summoner but invisible to her gaze. This was a strange feeling, it was as if he was floating between two worlds. When he tried using his cultivation the world resisted him but there was a small spark of power that he could use. This was coming from the summoning mark that the girl had on her right arm. Through it he felt that it was possible to do something.

The snake started to slowly entangle itself around Beatrice but suddenly it stopped. It wasn’t out of its own volition but instead, there was something else stopping it. Right below the snake's mouth a disembodied hand appeared. It was now holding the summoned creature and lifting it up into the air.

“What is that?”

Beatrice looked at the snake that was being dragged away. She was freed from the bindings before they could be sprung around her body. The hand that was holding the snake spirit looked like the one belonging to the giant that she made a contract with.

The snake was soon seen getting shocked by an electrical discharge before disappearing into thin air. This caused the girl named Adabelle to drop down to her knees. If a summoned creature was forcefully compelled to leave its owner would suffer a backlash. The other two girls looked at the disemboweled hand in fright and quickly helped Adabelle up to her feet.

“This isn’t over!”

One of them said while quickly escaping, Beatrice was surprised by the display as she had never seen those three flee so fast before.

“I see that you have peculiar friends. I guess young master types exist everywhere.”

A voice called out to her, it was coming from the floating hand. It was clearly her summoned spirit speaking. The summoning had worked and it seemed that the spirit was protecting her. Before she could ask a few questions she felt dizzy, the mana in her body was getting drained at a rapid pace and she was having trouble holding on.

“I guess we will have to build up your spirit before you can summon me… you should get some rest.”

The spirit said before the hand vanished into the void, it seemed that Zhang Dong’s new companion would need some training before he would be able to stay in this world for longer....