I'm in a classroom, I think. I've been to plenty together with Ara, used for different lessons, so I like to think I can tell the signs. It's got the things on the wall that actually mean something instead of being there only for decoration. There is a lectern on a raised platform in a corner with some chairs nearby. There are people in more or less the same clothing as a sort of uniform who walk around with an authoritative attitude and people in a similar, but less interesting outfit paying attention to them. That is where the similarities end.

The uniform is a dark, hooded cloak and an optional mask. Their ages, as much as I can tell, are far spread out, young and old mixed. With Ara, the students were all somewhat younger than the teachers. All the furniture looks battered and ready to fall apart. The floor and the wall are damaged. Above all, there is none of the order and... studiousness I'm used to. It still feels classroom-y though.

Currently, I'm in a summoning circle that barely fits me. I can see the runes on the ground and some of them look wrong to me. I don't know what they mean, but I can sense the energies flowing through them and it feels off. A shimmering wall appears whenever I get too close to the runes, making me feel rather cramped. Luckily it doesn't hurt. In fact, the barrier feels weak. There are three people around me, occasionally looking down on me and I can feel a weak link to all of them. Did they work together to summon me?

The rest of the room is more chaotic. There are a dozen or so other circles with a summon in them, two or three people per circle looking back and forth between what I think are the instructors and their summon. Those summons are what is making the most noise. Quite a few swarmlings are protesting harshly and lashing out at the barriers keeping them inside. There is also what looks like a fish flopping around in one of the circles. A bit further on is some kind of weird bird with long legs and tiny wings, pecking the barrier with a terrifying-looking beak. Near the centre of the room are a few well-equipped people. They have armor with metal plates, shields and short swords. My guess is that they are here for security. Three instructors move from circle to circle, pointing out flaws and giving suggestions.

The people near the circles that don't contain swarmlings look decidedly nervous, so I assume they failed. Judging from the body language of my summoners, two of them are smug while the other one is nervous. The thing he's pointing out is that I'm so big compared to the norm, but the other two wave it off as them doing things right rather than wrong.

Meanwhile I try to listen in on what the teachers are saying. They're already hard to hear through the general noise and I find a limitation of my amazing language learning ability. Just because I understand the words doesn't mean they'll make sense. They talk about initiators, Kose's enclosure almagram, a warbelar and other terms. Their students nod along and take notes, but to me it's like a code I can't break. I consider breaking out to take a look as they explain things, but I doubt that will go over well. Besides, one of the armored men has been glancing in this direction a lot and has been making his way here ever so slowly and unobtrusively.

It takes a good thirty minutes before the teachers come to my little circle. They've left me for last and I doubt it's by accident. The attention of most of the other students is on the three people surrounding my circle as the teachers approach. The two confident ones who summoned me are getting nervous now too. Apparently, being left for the end means you either did something exceptionally well or exceptionally bad. It's funny to see their faces change as a tiny sliver of doubt starts to enter their previous confidence. The previously nervous one has calmed down, but now only looks down to the ground and barely reacts to anything the others say. Finally, the teachers stand in front of them.

"What," the lead one begins, "is the most important rune structure we taught you."

Two of those who summoned me look at one another.

"The barrier?" one tries. "It protects the summoner until the will of the summon is broken or an accord is reached."

What follows is a short dissertation on what they've done wrong with the barrier. I can feel the flow around me improving as the runes are adjusted. It's still weak, but at least it isn't flawed anymore. There still a different kind of flaw, but I don't know enough to decide if it's supposed to be like that or not. The teacher now looks at the second man.

"The determination?" he ventures. "To summon the right tool for the job. It's why we're here, after all. To learn how to summon specific tools instead of using the generic spells." He shoots a smirk at the group that was standing with the fish-like creature. It's still breathing, so it probably not an actual fish, but it can only weakly flop around.

The teacher nods. "You've done that one almost perfectly. Well done." As the man glows with pride, the teacher looks at the gloomy man. "Next?"

"The limiter," the man whispers so softly even I can barely hear it. A moment later, he repeats himself louder. "The limiter."

Unlike all the jargon earlier, these terms are rather self-explanatory. When I look around at the still shrieking and clawing smaller swarmlings, I can only agree. One of my summoners, however, does not.

"What do you mean? It's under perfect control! Unlike the others, this thing is quiet and obedient," he protests.

"Really?" the teacher interjects. "And that doesn't make you concerned? It's quietly observing and considering instead of acting on instincts and you think you're in control? Then order it to bite its tail off to show us your control."

I'm slightly startled at the absurd command, but the man takes it in stride and immediately turns to me to relay the order. I just stare at him. It didn't come with the force of a Command and I'm not about to hurt myself. I see his surprise, then his determination.

"Bite your tail off," comes the Command a few seconds later.

I feel the force of his will and strength bear down on me. It reminds me of the times Ara forced me to obey her and of the adventurers sending me to my death. Compared to those, though, this man feels like a rock to their boulder. I'm not the same young swarmling anymore and a pressure like this won't make me crumble. I push back with my disgust for his weakness. During the short struggle my disgust quickly turns into anger. How dare he. How dare this weak thing try to order me around! How dare he try to make me hurt myself! The thought of being summoned by this weakling to fight for him, to die for him, physically makes me sick and I throw all that back at him through our link.

I see his eyes roll up in his face as he faints. The other two are also not unaffected. Though they did not give the command, they still share in the link. One is on the ground, cradling his head in his arms and not moving. The gloomy one has also fallen back but is already getting up, rubbing his forehead. All that I notice in just a moment as my rage is still building. Focusing again on the piece of filth that dared to order me, I unfold my weapons from my back.

I hook the end of my spikes over the top of the barrier. I can see why they didn't put it all the way up. It's too narrow to fly and I don't think anything can jump well enough to clear it, but to me it's an extra handhold. With it, I lift myself off the ground so all four claws rest against that barrier. My spikes begin to hurt a bit. The thin barrier is slowly cutting into them, which makes me glad I didn't try to climb out. With one hard push from four claws, the barrier disappears. It catches me off-guard as the barriers I'd seen Ara conjure up shattered, while this one just disappears in thin air. I land gracelessly on the ground, but quickly manage to right myself. Searching around for my target, I'm still somewhat surprised that I'm not under attack yet.

Some of the other students are backing off, but the teachers and the armored people stand their ground. The main teacher has a smug smile on him as I make myself over to the still unconscious man that tried to command me. He doesn't have a tail, so I'll settle for biting off a leg. As I bite down on the fleshy part of his thigh, fearful shouts from the students encourage me to continue. It is right of them to fear. My teeth pierce his flesh and I anticipate the sweet taste of blood to fill my mouth.

What I taste instead is something so vile it defies description. I back off and shake my head to get rid of the taste, to no success. I can hear the teacher address his students, something about a potion so their summons won't eat them if things go wrong. Very smart and very despicable. Using my acidic saliva I try to burn away the taste, but it only dilutes it slowly. The saliva mixed with the terrible taste slowly starts to dribble out of my mouth. Shaking my head once more I try to speed up the process. First I try to think of tasty food, because that always makes me salivate. Soon I find I have more control over it than I thought and if I just focus on the need for saliva, it will keep producing. It still can't go fast enough for my taste.

Ahead of me the teachers are explaining something about a banish spell, but I can't be bothered with it. The armed men are watching me, but not interfering. With one claw I reach out and tear open the offensive man's leg. All of his blood has the same bad smell, the stink of it makes me back away. Whoever thought of that potion was an evil person. Looking around, I don't see any way out and away. There are no windows and the doors are closed. Before I could get one open, the armed men would cut me to pieces. Whatever is going to happen, it's going to happen here.

Two of the students take a small, hesitant step forward. They don't look like a threat, so I keep trying to get rid of the terrible taste in my mouth. It's getting a bit less, but I think some got stuck on my teeth and I don't want to use my tongue to wipe it away. Not unless I have something to clean my tongue with afterwards. I glance at the two students again. They probably taste just as bad. One of the teachers then? It's entirely possible they didn't take any of that potion. Is it possible to take a bite of one? That's less likely.

The two students that stepped forward draw my attention as they complete a spell. I'm ready enough to dodge anything hatchlings like that can throw at me. To my surprise, no projectiles or energies are thrown my way. Instead, everything just ... goes wrong. There is no other way to describe it. It feels like the me that is me, my mind, spirit or whatever is forcefully ejected from my body, or what passes for my body here. I have no time to appreciate the agony though. Instead of the world going white and the sensation of moving back, I am slammed back into my own world and my own body almost instantly.

It's so disorienting, I fall over and take several tries to get back on my feet. I am back in the cavern. My body hurts as if I just got crush-hugged all over. My mind isn't much better. I feel dizzy, disoriented and have trouble focusing. There is also still the memory of an exceedingly vile taste still in my mouth, so I plot a careful path to the nearest source of water. Forget about the brutal deaths in other summons, or being used as bait, this was by far my worst experience up to now. Next time I hear anything resembling 'banish' aimed at me, I'll tear some throats out before they can finish a spell.

At the little stream I take the time to carefully rinse my mouth. There is no taste left, it was all left behind, but the act calms me down. It allows me to focus on my surroundings a bit more. The attention-demanding pokey things are gone. Now I know, they're summons and probably not all suitable for me. Once I feel a bit better, I plot my way to Harijia's place. The minor headache is normally quite bearable, but with my overall condition I'll take any relief I can get. Plus, it will make me look better behaved. Some Keepers were very stand-offish because they thought I might be a trouble-maker. They have knowledge I may need, so I can't have them holding back.