Another morning, another day. But today was a bit more special than the other. It wasn’t my birthday, which I did not know of. It was not my graduation day, because there were still two more years left until that day, even if I looked forward to it.

Today…was the day that I had to summon my familiar.

After finishing my daily morning preparations, I donned the black cloak of Melas and walked out of the room to head for the location the summoning ritual would take place.

Things had been rather quiet lately for me, there wasn’t any notable trouble caused by my power. The seal did wonders at holding me back, for which I was grateful.

But just because the problem with my power had been temporary solved for the time being didn’t mean I would have an easy school life because of it. The gap of life experience and my innate fear of hurting others had made my school life quite a tough one, and then there was the issue with Amadia bugging me day after day. But I finally managed to make some friends, however few they were.

But today…I needed to face with another problem, my future familiar…

“Oh…Off early to class, Miss Draconis?”

As I walked on the hallway leading to the courtyard, where the summoning class would take place, fate just had to arrange a rare meeting for me with the busy Headmaster Nilrem.

“Good morning, Headmaster. As they said, the early bird catches the worm.”

“And what do you expect to catch, Miss Draconis?”

She really knew how to ask question that made people feel awkward, as always…

“A fitting familiar.”

“Ah, so it’s that day already. I remember the first time I summon my familiar as well. A beast bound to your soul through a connection that transcends dimensions, it’s romantic in a sense.”

I stayed silent. I couldn’t make up a good enough topic to gossip about, especially to Nilrem herself. It was not like I came here prepared for a chat.

“I have heard good things about you lately, Deborah. The model student, always at the top of her class in performance, though not in attitude. Still very impressive, nonetheless. As expected of Dargoth’s granddaughter, I think?”

“I intend to graduate out of this Academy, and I want to make sure that I absolutely can.”

But being at the top came with its own problem as well, like how easily forgettable I was compared to some grandiose title like being Dargoth’s granddaughter.

“And I never doubt that you can’t. You have already proved yourself to be far more capable than most students in the Academy. Have you heard what they called you lately? Flame Dragon! Ha, if only they know.”

That was a secret, of course. I couldn’t just blabber the fact that I was a flame dragon to people around me. Still, it was rather surprising that the people who made that nickname actually hit the mark rather well. Despite disliking it, I still found that nickname rather amusing.

“So, what type of familiar will be the most fitting for the Flame Dragon, I wonder? They say master and familiar share a bond that makes summoning the familiar possible because of how similar they are to their master. I already have my hands full with you alone, if you summon another dragon with personality similar to you, maybe I’ll consider a quick resignation.”

Yes, it was my fear as well. With my innate power, summoning another dragon from the dimension of Celestia wasn’t something impossible to do.

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

Which was why I intended to botch my summoning ritual so that it would summon something else. I didn’t want something strong, I just wanted something obedient and would follow every order I make.

“How can you be so sure?”

“It’s just a feeling.”

Nilrem seemed to have ran out of questions to ask, or maybe she felt like doing something more productive than having a chat with her student. The woman turned her back to me and prepared to leave, but not without throwing away some warning.

“Well, I hope you won’t cause any trouble today. I guess you hold the same view as I am. We both want a peaceful life if we can help it.”

“I know, Headmaster.”

The woman quickly left the area. I resumed on my own journey as well, toward the castle’s courtyard, toward the summoning class where I would summon the familiar bound to me, only for something else to appear because I would meddle with the ritual.

No matter what appeared, I just hoped my new familiar would not cause me a lot of troubles in the future.