3-5: Feeling useless

“All right class, please come one by one.”

We were in a line and the teacher was calling us one by one. The reason? Today we had what some people considered the most important class of the year.

“All right, do it.”

One of my classmates closed his eyes and extended his arm before saying a word in a very ominous way.

“Appear.”

After that word was pronounced, a tiny eagle appeared and flew to his shoulder.

This was the class for what they consider obligatory to everyone who is learning how to use magic: The summon of a magic familiar.

“Remember, calling it waste a lot of mana, so you must use it as a last resort tool.”

In this world, the concept of “magic familiar” it’s a little different from mine. The word refers to a creature created with the magic of a person, like an incarnation of the spells someone knows how to use. Practically everyone in my class summoned animals or monsters, but the creature apparently can be something that couldn’t be considered a creature, whatever that means.

“Next.”

“Oh, my turn.”

Some people took a step back when I approached the teacher and extended my arm.

“Appear.”

Luckily for them, nothing appeared.

“I’d like to say that I’m disappointed, but I knew you would do something like that.”

“Thanks for trusting in me, I guess.”

Summoning a magic familiar requires knowledge about a lot of medium types of magic, something that I obviously can’t do, so this enters to the list of things I can’t do.

“Well, good luck to the rest.”

Even when I can’t summon a cool animal, I can see other people doing it and trying to find some patterns. For example: Problematic people usually summon birds or carnivores, serious people have a preference for dogs, and monsters like dragons or slimes are reserved to weird people.

“Huh, this is interesting.”

The next one in the line was Fran. Maybe he will summon a parrot or a shoebil stork, two things that I can relate to the sound.

“Appear.”

I was prepared to see what would appear, but nothing happened.

“Huh?”

The class continued until everyone except me and Fran had an animal with them. Due to our failure in this class, the teacher retained us to talk with him after classes.

“Thanks for staying here.”

“Yeah.”

“I understand why Thomas failed this, but I wanna know what happened with Fran.”

“Well…I don’t know either…”

“Hmm…”

The teacher gave us two encyclopedias and explained what could be the problem.

“Some people can’t summon a magic familiar because they can’t visualize a creature that they could consider a perfect company. Maybe with that book Fran can find something.”

“Why did I receive one too?”

“Because the favoritism would be obvious if I don’t do it.”

“That makes sense.”

“A familiar is not obligatory for being a good magician, I’ve never seen Leonard’s familiar for example. But, being able to summon one could help a lot.”

“Right…”

“Also, don’t choose any animal. One of the worst mistakes a magician can commit is using the first animal they can think of, even when it’s not something that they could see as a partner.”

“I get it.”

“Good, now, both can go back to your room, go outside the academy, or whatever both do for entertainment.”

We left the classroom and headed to our rooms after that. I didn’t have any problem with that. I know I can do fun things with my actual skills, I could even make a giant mana tyrannosaurus! (It would be impossible to move that, but I can do it to impress people). On the other hand, Fran sighed disappointed.

“I was waiting…something…”

“You already have a great voice and impressive magic.”

“Yeah but…it feels worse when I’m the only one who didn’t make it.”

“I guess I don’t exist.”

“You don’t count for this.”

“...”

That was a little rude, but I guess he’s right…Talking about rude, that made me remember something.

“Follow me.”

“Huh?”

“She will be close.”

I guided us to the advanced class classroom. Fran seemed worried about that.

“I thought you tried to avoid Cloe.”

“We promised that we must wait twenty days before doing another involuntary bet. Until then I can talk with her without the risk of being attacked.”

“Like, some kind of contract?”

“Actually, yeah. She’s good at making fake contracts.”

“I feel like I’m the only one who didn’t commit a crime…”

“Besides attacking her.”

“...”

After reaching the classroom, we started to search for a place. The classes didn’t end too long ago, and she isn’t the type who spends all her time studying, so she must be close.

“And, why are we searching for her?”

“I wanna see her familiar. We bet about that last year.”

“You will get something good at least?”

“If she summoned a reptile or a feline, she would give me money.”

“And for her?”

“If it's a canine, a bird or a monster I will teach her about a new type of firearm.”

“Some day you will explain where you learned that firearm stuff?”

“This is weird, I can’t find her.”

I saw some blonde girls, but none of them was Cloe. Trying to figure out what happened, I decided to use Fran’s help.

“Okay, ask someone where she is.”

“Why me?”

“I don’t know how my reputation is with them.”

“Right…”

“Do your best.”

Fran left my side for a few seconds before coming back without any inconvenience.

“Where is she?”

“That girl told me that doesn’t know the name, but she went to a place with this logo.”

Fran handed me a drawing of a cake shining surrounded by other deserts. I knew what that place was, so I grabbed Fran’s hand and started running.

“This is not good.”

“W-What is happening? What is that place?”

“A bakery!”

“...And why are we running this fast?”

“That bakery is one of the expensive ones!”

“She’s hungry?”

“She only wastes money on expensive desserts when is really angry.”

“...Oh god…”

“Yeah, whatever happened to her, it’s serious.”

“That’s not good.”

“Also, I want to ask her for a bite…”

“I heard that!”

My speed wasn’t enough, so I stopped and removed my shoes.

“You can take them?”

“Huh, sure.”

“Great, now, here.”

I got into position to carry Fran on my back, but for some reason, he was confused.

“W-What are you doing?”

“Just do it.”

When I felt his weight on my back, I started running again.

“Here I go!”

With my feet, I made a mana-bouncing surface that lifted me high. This way, we traveled further until we reached the nearest town. There, I ran across the rooftops.

“You were able to do this?!”

“You saw me doing something similar against Leonard.”

“I didn't know this technique gives you this kind of mobility!”

“The bakery!”

At first, I thought I could do a somersault, but Fran was on my back, so instead I stopped on the rooftop of a house and carefully descended with a mana rope.

“Safe.”

“That was…scary…”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah…Just…a little shocked…”

“Sorry for that.”

Fran handed me my shoes, so I put them on and walked into the bakery with him at my side.

“...Oh god.”

Cloe had a really angry face while she ate a whole cake full of toppings.

“All right Fran, follow my steps.”

We sat on the same table, and I took a piece of the cake with a mana knife. She looked at me very angry before stabbing the desert again.

“Hola, it’s good to see you in a place like this.”

“...”

“Maybe you need a show to put a smile on your face.”

With one finger I created a tiny mana man that grabbed a piece of the cake and threw it to Cloe’s face.

“Wha-.”

That probably didn’t have sense for Fran, but Cloe sure enjoyed impaling the tiny mana man with her fork.

“...That joke isn’t funny…”

“Then why are you smiling?”

“...Because I like bad jokes.”

Cloe threw me her fork, so I caught it before using it for cutting the cake instead of using a mana knife.

“So, what was this time?”

“...”

“I know I didn’t do something bad this time.”

“It’s not you…but…ugh.”

Totally resigned, Cloe extended her hand in front of me.

“Appear.”

Nothing happened. Fran and I immediately understood what happened.

“You too?”
“The teacher told me that I couldn’t visualize a creature that would help me.”

“Our teacher told us the same thing…”

The fact that she didn’t make it was shocking, but being shocked wouldn’t be useful.

“At least you tried it.”

“...But I didn’t make it…”

“You did your best.”

“But I wanted to have something that you don’t…”

“You can do a lot of things I can’t.”

“...”

“...Do you need venting?”

“I’m not that pathetic…”

“Hmm…”

This time, I grabbed a tiny piece of the cake and threw it to her face. She didn’t react, so I continued doing it until she stabbed the cake with too much strength.

“Do you wanna fight?!”

“Yeah.”

“...Fine! But if I win you will teach me how to make the flashbangs more efficient!”

“Wait wait wait.”

Fran tried to stop us, but I extended my arm to close the deal. She happily grabbed my hand and shaked it.

“Let’s do it now!”

“Let me go to my room for some things and we can fight in the forest near the academy.”

“Very well.”

Now with a gentle face, Cloe looked at Fran and smiled.

“You can watch our fight.”

“How things ended up like this…”