I Started By Summoning a Small Fire Dragon

The first day of Bronze class started earlier than I expected. Before the sun had fully risen, I had to wake up and prepare for a more intensive training schedule than the other classes.

Sol stretched himself on my desk, his sparkling blue eyes catching the dawn rays that filtered through the dormitory window. He looked much calmer than yesterday, as if the decision to be placed in Bronze didn't bother him too much.

If only I could be that calm.

"Wake up, losers!" Professor Gideon shouted from the bottom of the stairs. "Training starts in ten minutes!"

I hurried down to the second floor with my four classmates. Marcus with his bear familiar who still looked sleepy, Lydia who kept hugging her little bird protectively, Elena with her trembling white rabbit, and Thomas with a green lizard curled up on his shoulder.

We all looked like a bunch of people who had no idea what they were doing. And maybe that was true.

"Today we will start with basic summoning training," Professor Gideon said as he pointed to the small backyard of the Bronze building. "Before you can learn advanced techniques, you must first master the fundamentals."

We walked out into a courtyard filled with short grass and a few worn-out practice targets. Off to one side, I could see the main academy building in the distance, where other classes were probably doing far more interesting exercises.

"First," Professor Gideon continued, easing his white rat from his shoulder, "you will practice basic elemental manifestation. Each familiar has a certain elemental affinity. Your job is to find and develop that affinity."

He gave a simple demonstration. His white rat - whose name turned out to be Pip - emitted a soft white light from its body. The light gathered in front of him and formed a small ball that floated in the air.

"Pip has an affinity for light," he explained. "An element useful for lighting and basic healing."

I glanced at Sol, who was sitting quietly on my shoulder. What affinity did he have? The crystal explosion incident yesterday had shown that he could absorb energy, but it wasn't a common element.

"Now it's your turn. Marcus, you start."

Marcus stepped forward awkwardly. Her bear familiar slid off her shoulder and stood in front of one of the targets. For a few minutes, nothing happened. Then, slowly, the ground around the little bear began to shake.

"Earth element," Professor Gideon commented, taking notes in his notebook. "Good. Next, Lydia."

Lydia looked very nervous when it was her turn. Her sickly little bird flapped its weak wings and released a very small gust of wind - barely noticeable.

"Wind element," Professor Gideon said in a tone of uncertainty. "Although... very weak."

Lydia's face flushed with embarrassment.

Elena and Thomas were next. Elena's rabbit let out a small jet of water, while Thomas' lizard spat out a small flame that almost immediately went out.

"Okay," Professor Gideon said, taking a final note. "Nova, your turn."

My heart was pounding as I stepped forward. Sol hopped off my shoulder and stood on the ground calmly. he looked at me as if asking what to do.

Honestly, I had no idea.

"Try focusing your energy on Sol," Professor Gideon suggested. "Feel the bond between you and me and let it flow." I closed my eyes and tried to do as he suggested. The bond between Sol and me had always felt strange—not the warm connection that books often describe, but more like… a deep emptiness. Like looking into a bottomless abyss.

When I opened my eyes, nothing had happened. Sol was still standing there, looking the same as before.

"Hmm," Professor Gideon muttered, scratching his head. "Maybe your affinity isn't a conventional element. We'll try again later."

Before he could continue, a loud noise could be heard coming from the direction of the main building. A group of students were walking towards the training area near us - students I recognized as the Gold class.

At the forefront was the blond boy who had come to taunt us yesterday. He walked confidently, his golden eagle familiar flying above him gracefully.

"Oh, look who's training," he said mockingly when he saw us. "The Bronze class is playing around with basic elements."

His friends chuckled. One of them - a red-haired girl with a small dragon familiar - said, "They can't even do a proper elemental manifestation."

"Especially that country bumpkin," the blond boy added, pointing at me. "His weird familiar can't even summon an element at all."

Shame and anger mixed in my chest. Sol next to me began to feel restless, and I could feel something strange through our bond. Like... hunger.

"Let us show you how true elemental manifestation is done," the red-haired girl said as she stepped forward.

Her small dragon familiar flew forward and let out a large burst of fire. The flames formed a swirling ball in the air, far more impressive than Thomas's earlier attempt.

"See? That's how it's done," she said smugly.

Several other Gold students began to show off their familiars' abilities. Some were shooting lightning, some were manipulating water, some were controlling wind with pinpoint precision.

All of them were far more impressive than what we could do.

"You guys have a long way to go before you can be like us," the blond boy said with a laugh.

"Maybe you should just give up and find another job."

The words cut like a knife. Not just because they hurt, but because there was a truth in them that I found hard to deny.

But then, something strange happened.

Sol suddenly stepped forward. His sparkling blue eyes stared at the flames still hovering from the girl's dragon familiar. And then...

He opened his mouth.

Unusually, Sol's mouth opened wider than I had ever seen it. And from within his mouth, a strange darkness emerged - not the usual black, but a darkness that seemed to absorb the light around it.

Before anyone could react, Sol sucked the flames from the dragon familiar into his mouth.

No, not sucked. he ate them.

The flames that had been swirling in the air were suddenly sucked toward Sol and disappeared into his dark mouth. In an instant, the flames were completely gone.

Complete silence fell over the training yard.

The red-haired girl's dragon familiar fell to the ground, looking extremely weak and pale. The girl herself took a few steps back with a deathly pale face.

"That's... that's impossible," she whispered in a shaky voice.

Sol covered his mouth and returned to his original position, as if nothing had happened. But I could see something different in his eyes. Like satisfaction, or maybe... satiety.

The blond boy who had been so arrogant earlier now stared at Sol with wide eyes. "What just happened?" he asked in a voice that was no longer confident.

"He... he ate Pyrra's fire!" shouted one of the other Gold students. "His familiar is eating the element of another familiar!"

Panic began to spread among the Gold students. They backed away from Sol with fearful faces, as if he were a dangerous monster.

"Professor!" the red-haired girl shouted to Professor Gideon. "The kid's familiar did something abnormal! He took Pyrra's energy!"

Professor Gideon looked as shocked as the others. He stared at Sol with wide eyes, then looked at me with an expression I couldn't read.

"That... I've never seen it before," he muttered.

The Gold students began to gather around the red-haired girl, checking on her dragon familiar, which still looked weak.

"The elite students are panicking," Marcus whispered next to me in awe. "They're really panicking."

And it was true. The students who had been so arrogantly taunting us now looked scared and confused. Their familiars huddled behind their owners, as if they didn't want to approach Sol.

"We need to report this to the Dean," the blond said, his voice still shaking. "A familiar like that shouldn't be allowed to be free in the academy."

They left in a hurry, leaving the five of us with Professor Gideon still staring at Sol with a confused look.

"Nova," he said quietly, "we need to talk to Dean Aldric. Now."

I lifted Sol back onto my shoulder. She felt a little heavier than usual, and there was a strange warmth radiating from her body. It was as if she had just absorbed a tremendous amount of energy.

As we walked back to the main building, I couldn't shake the feeling that life at this academy had just gotten a whole lot more complicated.

Sol has shown abilities that have never been seen in any familiar history.

And that makes both of us very dangerous targets.