The Water Spirit's Call
Iel must have thought I was deep in thought, what with the scowl on my face as I argued with Rai. He patted my shoulder gently and spoke with kindness.
“If you can’t decide, how about a fire spirit? They’re the most common, after all. Practical, and they have the strongest attack power among the four great elements.”
“Rejected.”
“Pardon? It would suit your temperament perfectly… or rather, given your prickly personality, fire seems quite compatible…”
“I absolutely hate fire!”
“I see…”
I’d died because of fire in my past life. Why on earth would I want to contract with a fire spirit? I clicked my tongue loudly.
I wasn’t entirely sure, but if I’d died in that situation, my body must have burned to ashes. Was there any greater act of filial impiety? Suddenly, my mother’s and father’s faces flashed through my mind, and a pang of sorrow struck my chest.
I’d never been able to grow attached to my parents in this world.
One of the few comforts of being at the academy was that very fact.
I didn’t have to call them “Mom” and “Dad.” Every time I did, it felt like thorns were lodged in my throat.
Iel knelt down beside me, his arms crossed and his expression suddenly displeased.
He often tried to meet my eyes and earnestly understand me. He never quite succeeded.
“Then how about a wind spirit? You’re my student, after all. It’s also the field I’m best equipped to teach.”
“Aren’t wind spirits difficult to handle?”
“They do have that reputation. But they’re also versatile spirits that can be used in many ways. Their attack and defense are balanced, and they’re incredibly fast and agile, so they’re often used for communication.”
I recalled the lessons I’d received about spirits so far—excluding fire spirits, of course.
Wind spirits were hard to control because of their capricious nature. However, summoning them was relatively easy.
As Iel had said, they possessed well-rounded abilities without excelling in any single area. A balanced type, so to speak.
Water spirits had gentle personalities, making them easy to handle, but they were the hardest to summon. Their defense was excellent, but their attack power was notably weak. On the plus side, they possessed a faint healing ability, allowing intermediate water spirits and above to use healing magic.
Water had long symbolized regeneration. It was also called the source of life and was often compared to a mother who embraced even rage.
The Water Spirit King was said to possess the power to revive the dead.
Lastly, there were earth spirits. Their personalities were generally slow and stubborn rather than violent. They boasted the strongest defense among the four elements, and their attack power wasn’t bad either. High-ranking earth spirits could cause widespread earthquakes, bringing chaos to the battlefield—perfect as a weapon against large groups. They could dig tunnels, create barriers, and trigger quakes, making them highly useful in war.
[Master, why are you spacing out?]
[I’m not spacing out. I’m thinking.]
[About what?]
[Which element I should contract with… Which spirit would have good compatibility with you? Wind? Water? Earth? I hate fire.]
[My attribute is close to non-attribute, but if I had to choose, I’d say earth. Most things that come from the ground fall under my domain. That said, I’m not particularly bound by attributes.]
Oh? In that case…
“Teacher! I’ve decided!”
“Oh! What will it be?”
“A water spirit!”
Rai’s voice rang out in my mind, sounding strangely drained.
[…If that was your choice, why did you even ask me?]
[Because you said earth, I realized I didn’t want earth. Thanks!]
“A water spirit, is it? An excellent choice. May I ask what drew you to it?”
“Because water can put out fire.”
“…I see.”
“That’s it.”
Iel seemed to have given up on understanding me. He quietly took out a ring of keys.
We stood side by side beneath a large door engraved with the spirit word for “water.”
[Water? Tch. Water, of all things.]
[What’s your problem now?]
[I don’t want to share my master with such a common little thing!]
I was still carrying the talkative candlestick tucked under my arm. It insisted it was a spirit, but I had no idea what use it could possibly have. Would the day ever come when this thing proved helpful?
That remained to be seen.
***
As we stepped inside, lights automatically flickered on from the ceiling, illuminating the room. They looked like magic lamps. On the floor was a summoning circle similar to the one I’d used for Rai, though much simpler—it appeared to be a lower-tier water spirit contract circle.
Even though it was called the Contract Room, there wasn’t anything particularly impressive about it. It was just a large room with a pre-drawn contract circle.
“Hmm, so this is what it’s like.”
While I stood there relaxed, looking around without a hint of tension, Iel fidgeted restlessly as he laid out the items needed for the summoning on the floor.
He repeated the same words he’d said before, pestering me.
“Miss Jeanie? I say this because you seem overly confident, but… even if the contract fails, please don’t be too disappointed. You might simply be better suited to a different spirit, and finding the right one is part of the training process.”
“It sounds like you’re convinced I’m going to fail. Or am I imagining things?”
“N-no, of course not. I believe in you, Miss Jeanie. Even though you skip class at every opportunity and doze off whenever you do attend, I still believe you’re a kind and gentle girl at heart.”
The fact that he had to “believe” in me already meant he didn’t, didn’t it?
“This is practice, Miss Jeanie. Practice.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Stand over here and read this.”
Iel positioned me in the center of the room, handed me a book, and began pouring mana concentrate onto the contract circle.
I’d done this yesterday, but seeing it in a bright room felt different. The dark green lines that gradually formed the pattern still looked mystical.
When mana followed the proper rules, it became magic. Contract circles and mages’ spells worked on much the same principle.
The book he’d given me contained the spirit summoning incantation.
“You know the theory, correct?”
Iel handed me a pouch of fairy dust with a worried expression.
Not just the theory—I’d done the practical yesterday too. I nodded confidently.
“Then please read this page. The summoning incantation for a lower water spirit is: ‘O spirit of the blue waters, with your pure and tender power, with your benevolent strength, I seek to be with you. By the ancient and steadfast covenant passed down since the beginning, answer my call.’ That is all. Can you memorize it, Miss Jeanie?”
“I’m not exactly a genius at memorization.”
“Try to memorize it anyway.”
“Can’t you just hold the book for me?”
It wasn’t like the spirit would care if it was open-book anyway.
Iel looked displeased, but knowing my stubbornness, he seemed to have decided to give in. He took a step back and held the book up for me. He really was a good person.
“Take a handful of fairy dust in your hand.”
“Yes!”
“If you channel mana into your hand, the fairy dust will glow.”
Maybe because I’d done it yesterday, it felt much easier today.
“Feel the mana flowing through the mana solution in the contract circle with your toes. Slowly mix your own mana into it.”
Iel patiently explained each step, creating more of a practice atmosphere than a real summoning.
He was probably letting me do as I pleased because he believed the contract was impossible.
“When the contract circle lights up, scatter the fairy dust and recite the incantation. You must speak loudly so the spirit can hear you.”
I grabbed a generous handful of fairy dust—since it wasn’t mine anyway—and tossed it into the air without hesitation.
The dust was sucked into the contract circle on its own, swirling in golden spirals as it sparkled in midair.
Light met light and intensified, opening a path.
The same familiar light I’d seen yesterday burst forth from the contract circle. Because the room was already bright, it didn’t seem as dazzling as before.
If this were my first time, I might have been thrilled.
I recited the incantation written in the book in a calm voice.
“O spirit of the blue waters.”
“Louder.”
“With your pure and tender power, with your benevolent strength, I seek to be with you. By the ancient and steadfast covenant passed down since the beginning, answer my call.”
It wasn’t only the fairy dust that was caught in the wind that had begun to blow from somewhere. The mana inside my body was slowly being drawn in as well.
But it was far less than when I’d summoned Rai. That guy really did eat up a lot of mana! What an inefficient little pest!
“Hah?”
Just as the light from the contract circle faded and Iel let out a strange sound, a small droplet of water formed above the circle.
It bubbled and frothed, gradually taking shape until it looked up at me with a perfect little form.
Pop.
“Oh my.”
I reached out toward the lower water spirit, Undine, who had shyly revealed herself, feeling as delighted as a child receiving a doll as a gift.
I didn’t particularly like dolls, but I liked spirits. They were useful.
“How cute! Spirits are this adorable?”
“……That’s impossible!”
I ignored Iel, who was gasping beside me, and extended my hand toward the spirit.