Another day had passed effortlessly, which led Chase to falling asleep due to boredom in the middle of a beast taming class.
He was having a dream. The so called dream was weirdly vivid, and showed him images of a frozen covered in ice and snow.
But the part of the dream that sent shivers down his back, was when the snow was swiftly stained with dark shades of red.
The Frozen Forest had turned into a bath of blood.
He woke with a gasp for air, drawing a bunch of strange looks from his classmates.
Professor Zelenna must not have even noticed, and continued to speak fluently as she lectured about something called a beast core.
Then he felt a tap on his shoulder.
Reaching over from the desk behind him was a smaller girl with beach blonde hair, and striking silver eyes.
She tried to whisper something that Chase couldn't hear.
"What?"
He asked quietly.
"I said, You guys did great the other day."
She must have realized that she practically had yelled it, a little too late.
Everyone turned their heads once more, and even Zelenna paused her lecture with a frown.
"Neveah, care to explain why you had the sudden impulse to yell in my class?"
The professor asked with an eyebrow raised.
Neveah's face had flushed to a bright pink, resulting in her swiftly burying her face in her arms.
There were two teacher's in the entire academy who you never wanted to get on the bad side of.
One was Professor Barron, who had been known previously as one of the greatest swordsman on the entire continent.
The other was Professor Zelenna.
The queen of monsters didn't obtain such a name for no reason, she had been one of the leading forces on the conquest of The Dark Forest about a decade ago.
Chase was still looking at Neveah with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
'Was that a compliment?'
He asked himself internally, which now that he thought about: It sounded like quite a dumb thing to ask, and he was thankful that he hadn't said that out loud.
He turned around and glanced at the tan-skinned Professor, who had returned to her lecture.
'A decade ago...'
The thought echoed within his mind.
The great houses had been trying to conquer The Dark Forest for more then a decade, and Chase had somehow survived the place on his own for a year.
He heard a faint grumble in the depths of his soul, and quickly apologized.
'Sorry, not alone...'
He wasn't sure if he was losing his mind, or if Sparky had somehow learned a way to speak with the soul that he resided inside of.
Just at that moment, Zelenna started to say something that had caught Chase completely off guard.
"Summoning is a ritual performed by a soul that has bound with a beast, be it through a contract or forced absorption of a soul..."
In response his heart skipped a beat, and he felt himself naturally lean forward against his desk.
He even picked up his feather and dipped it in the small container of ink, which would make it the first time this year that he had actually been dedicated enough to take notes for a class.
"We will need a demonstration..."
An awkward silence fell on the class, and many students tried to avoid eye contact with Zelenna.
"Neveah, since you want to yell in my class... Would you like to give the class the opportunity to see another student use summoning magic?"
Chase could have sworn the girl behind him let out a yelp. Only a couple seconds later, it sounded like she had almost stumbled over her desk.
As she was walking up to the front of her class, she never lifted her gaze off of the ground below her.
On the collar of her academy uniform, she bore the sigil of a great silver claymore.
Chase seemed quite intrigued by the overly nervous girl, but was skeptical as to whether or not she could really use the magic he was looking for.
She stood awkwardly next to the tall professor and awaited for her permission to use the summon.
"What is the main source of energy that brings your bound soul into the tangible world?"
Zelenna asked no one in particular.
A boy with short auburn hair, and lifeless eyes spoke up.
"You need to use your affinity?"
Zelenna nodded.
"Correct Talon, although not entirely."
She paused.
"Your affinity is only connected to one of the branches of energy, but a concept is what makes you... well you."
Taking a deep breath, she held her hand out. Forming only inches above her palm was a sphere of raw energy.
It was yellow, and about the size of an aetherball. The essence orb was swirling like ball of flames in her hand.
"Usually it takes more then two decades before someone can fully discover and understand their concept, but the knowledge of how to use it is already engraved in you by birth."
She expanded the sphere of mana into six surrounding orbs, each changing into a separate color from the original.
"A concept is the essence of your energy, and the most difficult ability to master... Only the strongest of the paladins can even use concept energy to its full potential."
She seemed to concentrate a little harder, even seeming to show slight frustration.
However, only moments later the six surrounding orbs began to swirl elegantly around the larger central sphere.
And then she stopped, and let out a deep sigh.
"While you cannot control your concept, and I don't expect you to: You can still use the idea of your affinity in order to summon."
Normally Chase would have been ecstatic about this revelation, but there was one problem.
He did not know his affinity, and there could have still been a chance that he didn't even have one.
Interrupting his negative thoughts, Zelenna whispered something in Neveah's ear. Then she stepped forward on the platform.
"Yefestus..."
Then a breeze of wind was felt through the windowless classroom.
And a green form of energy began to flow around the blonde haired girl.
Chase felt the hairs on his arms stand up, as if he was about to be struck down by the god of lightning...
Then a small dove with intricate green markings began to flow into the world like a scene from a children's book.
The bird happily flapped its wings, and landed on the girl's head.
Some of the female students clapped, and some of the boys yawned.
Yet all Chase could do was clench his fists under his desk.
'How in the hell is this supposed to help me summon a hell hound...'