The Ancient Summoning Circle
Why had I forgotten that I could do it without being taught?
Right, it was because I lacked willpower. Having realized that I just needed to go for it, I suddenly put on an eager face.
“That lesson was really difficult. That’s why I want to hear it again!”
“……It wasn’t particularly difficult, though?”
If I don’t remember it, then it must have been difficult! Maybe I dozed off a bit.
“Still, I want to hear it again! Theory classes are important, after all.”
Though Iel wore an awkward expression, he opened the thick spiritology textbook he was so proud of.
“If it’s the lesson from back then, let’s see…… This is it. Summoning circles can be divided into four major forms. First, the wind spirit summoning circle. It contains these characters here. These are spirit runes. And for fire spirits, the spirit runes meaning fire go on the right, left, and center…… Miss Jeanie, do you understand?”
I ignored Iel writing simple spirit runes on the blackboard with chalk and peeked into his thick book instead.
I wanted to see what the summoning circle looked like, and it was simpler than I expected.
Compared to the summoning circle I had seen in the academy library three years ago, this was far too basic.
I wondered if what I saw back then had even been a summoning circle at all. The more I listened to Iel’s explanation, the more I realized that circle had been something unusual.
“The four words representing fire, water, wind, and earth distinguish which attribute of spirit the summoning circle will call. From there, they are further divided into Lower, Intermediate, Upper, Supreme, and Spirit King.
Among these, the summoning circles for Spirit Kings and Supreme Spirits have almost entirely been lost, making contracts with them considered impossible…… Yes, go ahead with your question, Miss Jeanie.”
When I raised my right hand high—something I had never done in my life, let alone during class when I was usually desperate to nap—Iel looked at me in surprise.
“So there are sixteen summoning circles in total, right?”
“Yes, that is correct. However, seven of those—belonging to the Spirit Kings and Supreme Spirits—are so unrecognizable in form that some believe they have been completely lost.”
“Then what does it mean if only one summoning circle is drawn?”
There had definitely been only a single summoning circle depicted in that book.
The only other illustrations were descriptions of Lower Spirits.
“Only one? Well. This summoning circle has been passed down for about eight thousand years. It is a very systematic and safe, widely used…… Ah, in ancient times, there truly was only one summoning circle. The sixteen we have now are derivatives that branched off from it. I never taught you this—how do you know about it?”
“Right? There was only one, wasn’t there? But why did that one split into sixteen? Wouldn’t one be more convenient?”
“An excellent question. The ancient summoning circle could not determine which spirit would be summoned. In other words, you had no way of knowing what would appear.”
“A random system?”
“Hmm, rather than random…… it was a method where a spirit whose wavelength matched the summoner’s would answer the call if it felt like it.
But it was not very efficient. Countless attempts resulted in no spirit being summoned at all, and there was also the risk of calling forth dangerous spirits. If an evil person summoned a spirit, an evil spirit would appear.”
That was rather interesting.
Why hadn’t he taught us something like that earlier? What had this teacher been doing all this time? Anyway, everything that actually shows up on tests is useless.
Unaware of my thoughts, Iel seemed pleased that I was finally paying attention and poured out everything he knew.
“In the past, when that single summoning circle was still in use, a certain wicked individual summoned a spirit with ill intent. The spirit that appeared was called a ‘Cursed Spirit,’ an existence never before summoned even in ancient times when countless types of spirits existed.
The spirit master who contracted with the Cursed Spirit committed all manner of vile acts. It was a calamity on the level of summoning a demon god.”
“There are things like Cursed Spirits too? I thought there were only the four elements.”
“They exist. There are spirits on the far side of the spirit realm that humans cannot possibly handle with their mental strength.
Only beings with powerful mental fortitude, like dragons, can endure Death Spirits…… Spirit Kings fall under the same category. They are practically gods.”
“……A Death Spirit would be practically invincible, wouldn’t it?”
“Invincible, you say. I suppose one could call it that. However, the one who contracted with the Cursed Spirit died within a year.
The Cursed Spirit is a darkness-attribute spirit, not light. They form contracts that devour the summoner’s life force rather than their mana. They are extremely dangerous beings, akin to demons. It is said that we cannot summon Death Spirits within our limited lifespans.”
I had always pictured spirits as cute little fairies fluttering about, but apparently some of them could be quite malevolent.
Well, just like humans. Where there are good ones, there are bound to be bad ones too. That seemed like a natural law.
“Back then, when the existence of darkness spirits became known to the Spiritology Society, its leaders spent years researching before creating the sixteen summoning circles we use today.
They aimed for stability. They apparently created nine additional circles as well, but no one knows where those went. Many have been lost because the number of spirit masters has drastically decreased compared to the past.”
“Ah, I know that one. As the ancient era known as humanity’s golden age came to an end, the number of humans born with spirit affinity plummeted. That led to an increase in mages who didn’t need affinity, which diminished the standing of spirit masters. On top of that, spirits began avoiding contracts with humans.”
“Yes, you haven’t been completely wasting your time in class.”
“Spirits avoid humans because we die far too quickly compared to other races and exploit them far too harshly. That’s what we call passion pay.”
“……Passion, what?”
“Passion pay.”
“You say the strangest things.”
It means working someone to the bone for low wages!
Instead of explaining further, I shrugged and asked what I actually wanted to know.
“More importantly, about that ancient spirit summoning circle. Can it still be used now? Is it not used at all these days?”
“Essentially, yes. You could find a sample if you looked through the Society’s archives, but it is functionally obsolete. It is a summoning circle that cannot actually summon spirits. Ironic, isn’t it?”
“A summoning circle that can’t summon?”
“Because of the great harm the Cursed Spirit once inflicted upon the human realm, spirits are reluctant to form contracts through that route. There are also stories that the Spirit Kings themselves discourage it.”
“Discourage? Not forbid?”
“The spirit realm operates differently from ours. It has rules rather than laws. Look at nature. It is like nature—free, and everything simply follows the flow.
Does nature have laws? No. Of course, since they are intelligent beings, they likely have their own taboos…… but we cannot possibly understand everything about the spirit realm.”
“Then if someone used that ancient summoning circle, could something like the Cursed Spirit appear again?”
Iel shook his head lightly, as if he had just heard something absurd.
“That is impossible now.
There are no longer any wicked and powerful humans in the modern era capable of summoning a Cursed Spirit. What made it possible in the past was that the world was overflowing with demonic energy. We call that era ‘ancient’ because it ended—when the demon realm, celestial realm, and human realm were all intertwined.”
“Ah, right.”
“After the demons suffered a crushing defeat in the Heavenly Demon War, they have rarely been able to enter the human realm.
Building countless temples to block their paths and suppress demonic energy is part of that same effort.”
So it was something only possible in the ancient era, which was practically a mythical age.
Back then, human-demon hybrids were common, and human power was incomparably stronger than it is now.
Nowadays, 8th-circle mages are almost nonexistent, but in ancient times there was supposedly one in every city. That alone made the difference clear.
There were even humans who could wield magic, sword aura, and spirits simultaneously and stand against dragons……
To survive in this land—called the human realm by us, but the middle realm by the celestials and demons—humans had no choice but to evolve and grow stronger.
Yet ironically, the longer the peace lasted after the war, the weaker humans became. Like herbivores without natural predators who no longer needed to run fast.
As the number of strong humans dwindled, countless techniques and arts were lost or abandoned. Spirit masters barely maintained their existence.
I became certain that what I had seen in the library that day was the ancient spirit summoning circle.
An outdated summoning method where you had no idea what might come out. And a high chance that nothing would appear at all.
“It’s already this late. Then let’s continue the lesson…… Miss Jeanie? Miss Jeanie! Where are you going?”
I ignored Iel’s anguished voice calling after me and sprinted toward the library.
The fact that class had only just begun was none of my concern.
“Miss Jeanie!”
***
“Where are you, Mia?”
I poked my head into the alchemy classroom and called for Mia.
Mia, whose seat was at the experiment table near the door, turned toward me and came running over with a delighted expression.
It was rare for me to seek her out first.
Not because I disliked Mia. I was just too lazy.
“Oh! Jeanie? What brings you here?”
“I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
Mia took off her gloves, which were soaked in some unidentifiable liquid, and looked at me with friendly eyes.
“Hey, do you have any mana concentrate? Can I have a little?”
“Mana concentrate?”
“You’re in the alchemy class, so you always have some, right?”
“I do, but…… I need it for my own experiments too. It’s a basic, essential ingredient used in almost every experiment.
It’s expensive, so the amount the school provides each month is limited……”
Tch. So nothing comes free, huh.