Chapter 21
“Contract with Pirina?”
-Yes. Reina refused when Ellen and I wanted to repay her favor. She said it was only natural to save a friend. But that’s always weighed on my mind.
Pirina smiled faintly.
-The source of the Gerdinger’s power is the Phoenix’s flame. If you have the qualities of a summoner, there’s no better candidate to contract with a Phoenix.
‘Even so, I never thought the Phoenix would suggest a contract first.’
A Phoenix with pride would never be the one to propose a contract.
-Of course, I’m not saying we should contract right now. You’ll need to grow as a summoner…
“Can I do it now?”
-Hm?
Even if Pirina was willing, Leo’s current strength shouldn’t allow for a contract.
But Leo was confident he could succeed.
No matter what anyone said, he was the one who ended the Age of Calamity and handled powerful beasts in his previous life.
‘Even in my past life, I never contracted with a Phoenix.’
Back when he was Kyle, he’d wanted to contract with a Phoenix.
Contracting with a powerful beast alone would raise a summoner’s potential.
But Pirina shook her head.
-I understand how you feel, but you can’t contract with me yet. If you try recklessly, you’ll lose your life.
A contract with a Phoenix was especially grueling.
Even Pirina herself couldn’t bypass that.
“I know. But I’m confident.”
‘That fearless drive to take on the impossible—just like Reina. But I can’t put her son in danger.’
Pirina pondered and came up with an idea.
-If you’re truly set on this, I’ll let you contract, but. The Phoenix you’ll contract with isn’t me.
“What?”
Whoosh—!
A crimson flame flickered before Leo’s eyes.
As the flames cleared, a golden egg the size of a fist appeared, making Leo’s eyes widen.
‘Phoenix egg?’
-That egg is my child, about to hatch. Try taming it.
If he could tame the Phoenix egg before it hatched, the contract would form naturally.
Since it was still an egg, it wouldn’t be dangerous to attempt.
But the difficulty of taming it matched that of a top-class beast.
‘Phoenix egg. Setting the impossible as a test.’
Leo grinned as he took the golden egg.
‘For most people, anyway.’
Whoosh—!
When Leo roused his Spirit Power, the Phoenix egg responded by emitting crimson flames.
Leo clenched his teeth against the intense heat.
‘Even if it’s faint, Phoenix flames aren’t something a young human boy can endure.’
Pirina thought Leo would give up soon.
But Leo didn’t quit, closing his eyes and focusing his mind.
His consciousness drifted.
When he opened his eyes, there was only pitch-black darkness.
A mental space where a top-class beast would test the challenger.
A world where the value of the contractor was determined.
In the Phoenix’s unborn world, nothing existed.
Only blazing crimson flames.
Leo reached out without hesitation.
The flames responded, wrapping around Leo’s body and burning fiercely.
A Phoenix burns itself to unleash tremendous firepower.
That process comes with endless pain.
In exchange for that pain, the Phoenix is praised as the mightiest of beasts.
A contract with a beast is forged on the foundation of a bond.
And to build a bond with the Phoenix, one had to understand its pain.
That’s what made a contract with a Phoenix so difficult.
“Grrrk!”
Leo’s face twisted with pain as his whole body burned.
The only way to endure the test was sheer willpower.
Pirina’s eyes went wide.
-No way…?
Fwoooosh—!
The blazing flames were drawn into the golden egg.
Craaaack—!
Cracks appeared on the surface of the egg.
Pirina’s face showed disbelief.
-He succeeded?
Whoosh—!
When the egg absorbed all the flames, Leo opened his eyes.
For a moment, his red eyes flashed crimson.
Thud—
Leo collapsed to the ground, exhausted and panting heavily.
His whole body was drenched in sweat.
But he was unmistakably smiling.
“I’ve completed the contract.”
-Ahahaha!
Pirina burst out laughing.
-Amazing! Amazing! Leo Flove! You’re a genius!
“Not a genius… I just worked for it, that’s all.”
-If taming a Phoenix egg at your age doesn’t make you a genius, what does? You were born with the greatest summoner’s gift in history!
Watching Pirina’s sincere joy, Leo forced himself up.
‘I wonder what a baby Phoenix looks like?’
Even in his Kyle days, he’d never seen a newborn Phoenix.
Craaaaack—!
-It’s being born. My child.
The cracks spread all over the egg.
Snap—!
Golden fragments scattered like shattered glass art.
Leo’s expression grew strange as he saw the Phoenix emerge from the egg.
‘A chick?’
The just-hatched Phoenix looked like a chick.
Whoosh—!
At that moment, Pirina, transformed into human form with flames, gently lifted her child from Leo’s hands.
-This child’s name is Fiora. Leo, the contract is done, but she’s still a baby. I’ll keep her for now.
“Yes, but I need to show my contracted beast to the professor for the test.”
-Then I’ll leave her with you for that time.
Smiling gently, Pirina placed Fiora on top of Leo’s head.
Though only just hatched, Fiora was brimming with vitality, pecking Leo’s head with her small beak.
Then, as if pleased, she settled comfortably.
‘Is this really a Phoenix? No matter how I look at it, it’s just a chick.’
But since Pirina gazed at Fiora with such affection, Leo kept his thoughts to himself.
Cheep—!
‘It’s a chick, alright.’
—
Professor Yura took a watch from her pocket.
The allotted three hours were almost up.
Most students had already had their tamed beasts evaluated by Professor Yura.
Some of them had successfully formed contracts.
‘Let’s see… Four students left?’
And those remaining students were the very ones Professor Yura was looking forward to the most.
Thud—! Thud—!
At that moment, the ground rumbled.
As the students’ eyes grew wide, a massive blue bear appeared, pushing through the bushes.
“Ahhh!”
“Kyaa!”
The students screamed and scattered.
Some recognized the blue bear and looked on in shock.
The blue bear walked over to Professor Yura and lowered its posture.
Chen Xia, who had been riding on its back, jumped down.
“Professor, there’s still time left, right?”
“Yes.”
‘Judging by the ripped uniform, there must have been quite a fight.’
“You said you only knew taming in theory, but you brought back a young Aqua Bear, a mid-rank beast.”
“Well, I don’t know if I should call it taming… or just following me.”
Chen Xia scratched his cheek awkwardly.
In truth, it wasn’t a perfect taming.
“If it follows you this much, just a bit more practice and it’ll be a full taming.”
‘Should I just recruit her into the summoning department right now?’
A young Aqua Bear wasn’t as hard to tame as a full mid-rank beast, but it was still impressive.
A talent like this as the top student for the knight department…
As a summoning professor, it was a bit depressing.
While Professor Yura licked her lips in regret, Chen Xia sent the Aqua Bear back into the forest.
A moment later, Warren appeared from the bushes.
A small crow sat perched on his shoulder.
“What beast is that?”
“That’s a plain one for the top student.”
The students looked puzzled.
But Assistant Professor Karlo and the TAs were shocked.
“Oh? Taming a Shadow Crow? That’s impressive, given your major is spirit arts.”
Professor Yura, looking at Warren, couldn’t hide her admiration.
The Shadow Crow was a mid-rank beast like the Aqua Bear, but unlike Chen Xia, this was a fully grown adult.
Plus, the Shadow Crow was a tricky beast; in terms of difficulty, it was as hard to tame as a high-rank beast.
‘His talent as a beast summoner is top-class too.’
“I wasn’t able to form a contract.”
“That’s more than enough.”
Just taming a mid-rank beast made him top of the first years in all departments.
‘Eliza will probably be number one in beast summoning, though.’
As if on cue.
A moment later, Eliza returned.
Unlike the other students, she looked as neat as she had before class, flipping her hair as she approached Professor Yura.
“Where’s your beast?”
Eliza smirked at Professor Yura’s question and held out her hand.
A summoning circle appeared and a massive snake manifested.
Hiss—! Hiss—!
“Kyaa!”
“A snake!”
As the giant white snake flicked its tongue, the girls shrieked and scattered.
“Oh… She formed a contract with a Gorgon Snake.”
“It wasn’t in my family, so I took the chance to make a contract this time.”
Gorgon Snake.
A very rare, mid-rank beast.
‘As expected of the Hergin family’s heir.’
“Excellent! Eliza!”
“Thank you.”
Eliza gave a graceful curtsy with her uniform skirt.
‘Hehehe. This year’s a bumper crop, a bumper crop.’
Professor Yura, smiling to herself, tilted her head.
‘But where’s Leo Flove? Is he still not done?’
Time was truly almost up now.
No matter what beast he brought after the time limit, it wouldn’t count.
Feeling parched, Professor Yura spoke.
“Water, please.”
“Yes, Professor. Here you are.”
As Assistant Professor Karlo handed her a water bottle, Professor Yura checked the time.
Just then, Leo emerged from the bushes.
“Young master Leo. Over here!”
Chen Xia waved and then tilted his head.
Taming usually involved a struggle.
So, except for Eliza, every student’s uniform was torn or dirty.
But Leo’s appearance was in a league of its own.
His uniform was completely burnt and singed all over.
Just by looking, you’d expect he brought back some legendary beast. But what could be seen was…
‘A chick?’
Atop Leo’s white head, a small, red bird chirped boldly—cheep, cheep.
“Pfft! Did you just bring back a chick?”
“No way! The class rep brought a chick?”
“Hey, don’t laugh, he’ll hear you! Heehee—”
The students tried to stifle their laughter.
“I had high hopes when Leo handled the griffon earlier, but this is disappointing.”
Karlo snorted and turned to Professor Yura.
“Pffft—?! Ack! Cough, cough! Kahak!”
And then, Professor Yura, caught off guard, ended up spraying water all over Karlo.
While Karlo made a miserable face, Professor Yura finally regained her composure and stared at Leo in shock.
‘That lunatic actually brought back a Phoenix?!’
