A Million Little Pieces

For our final class, Summoning I, the focus is on learning to command and coordinate with our summons, as well as make optimal use of our monster magic. Strangely though…

“Lucas… why are we in the top class? Our summons were rated as, well… about as weak as it gets.”

“After I finished crafting yesterday, I showcased my summon’s use of that gear to Coldheart and convinced her to get me re-evaluated. And I imagine you’re here because of how smoothly you can coordinate with Pudding—the academy probably figures it’s something worth exploring further.”

“You hear that, Pudding? You’re cute and special!”

He excitedly bounces. “Squee!”

“How can a lump of goo be cute?”

“Oh come on, Lucas! Just look at those adorable little eyes of his! That precious smile!”

“...Nora, what are you even talking about? Slimes don’t have faces.”

“No, but they might as well! Look how expressive he is!”

Lucas stares for a moment.

“...Squee?”

“Yeah, I don’t see it.”

“Squee...”

I think Pudding might have taken that one personally.

My eyes drift over to our teacher, and I realize I’ve actually seen him before. Back in the capital, he was putting on a street performance with his summon—a cute little white bunny with a yellow horn that lets it cast all sorts of stunning elemental magic.

He’s got a handsome face, fine brown hair, yellowish-brown eyes, and a sparkling smile. His top hat and fancy jacket are red and gold, while his gloves and frilly undershirt are white. His pants and shoes, meanwhile, are plain black.

At his left hip hangs a white, double-sided wand resembling an extendable baton, while a brown whip hangs from his right. He’s also the only professor besides Veronica I’ve seen without the academy’s standard teacher’s cape.

Unfortunately, I’m unable to hand him a bouquet as he spends the entire time before class speaking with Arthur.

GONG! GONG!

“Salutations everyone! I am your professor, Xavier Yarrowzazzle.” He briefly removes his hat and bows with a showman’s flair. “My duty is to provide you with the tools necessary to make the most of your summons. I must warn you, training your summon won’t be a simple process—it takes years of dedication. But the reward? The ability to soar to heights no ordinary mage or warrior could ever dream of achieving. So let us begin without delay!

“First we must discuss the very nature of soul contracts—or, as they’re known colloquially, summoner’s contracts.”

His lecture ends up going over much of what I learned under Vincent, though I do occasionally learn something new.

“—Furthermore, if your summon is injured when you de-summon it, not only will it drain your mana in order to recover, but it’ll also disrupt your mana flow—making it significantly harder to cast spells. Recovery can take anywhere from seconds to weeks depending on the severity of the injury, and they can’t be re-summoned until fully recovered, so be careful about when you de-summon them.

“That being said, our infirmary has talented summoners on staff who can heal your monsters before they’re de-summoned, or lend you large quantities of mana after, dramatically speeding up recovery.

“Fatal wounds, however, are another matter. While your summon usually won’t die, recovery can take months—with no way of speeding up the process. This can severely hinder your education, so avoid it at all costs—even if that means fleeing a battle or surrendering a duel.

“I should also note that while the death of a summoner results in the death of their summon, the reverse isn’t true. And should a summoner fall unconscious, their summon is forcibly de-summoned. Keep this in mind when fighting other summoners.”

I wonder… does that mean Pudding—all summons—can no longer die of old age?

“Moving on! While humans’ souls almost completely stabilize upon coming of age, monsters’ souls only partially stabilize. As a result, monsters never stop evolving throughout their lives, though growth does become progressively slower.

“This is why it’s crucial to regularly fight alongside your summon. With enough experience, it may even evolve into an entirely new species.

“Sometimes, the path is obvious, like a Lesser Cockatrice becoming a Cockatrice, then eventually a Greater Cockatrice. But monsters can also evolve to adapt to their environment. Hand a Skeleton a shield and routinely place it on the front line to defend its summoner, and it might eventually become a Skeleton Knight, whereas a Skeleton that spends its battles fighting bare-fisted alongside its summoner could instead become a Bone Golem.

“Monster magic works somewhat similarly. As you’ve all likely experienced, when you unlock new monster magic, its name seems to reveal itself from somewhere deep within you. Some believe it’s the first summoner himself speaking to us from beyond the grave. Others believe it’s merely our subconscious.

The truth remains unknown. However, what we do know is that new monster magic can reveal itself either naturally as you and your summon grow stronger, or in response to an experience connected to that magic. For example…”

The professor shouts a command to his summon and—GOOD GODDESS!

We all watch in horror as large, bladed spider legs violently burst out of the bunny’s sides as it morphs into something far less cute, its jaw unhinging to reveal several rows of sharp teeth and a ghoulishly long tongue.

I… I don’t think I can ever look at bunnies the same way again.

He holds out his wand, and his summon leaps at it, clamping its jaws around the middle.

He sprints towards a particularly durable group of training dummies.

“Laceromorph Magic: Flesh Ripper!

He swiftly spins his wand while channeling mana into his summon, whose bladed legs begin rapidly saw back and forth. Between their furious vibration and the speed of his spinning, his summon becomes a blurry cyclone of blades. Then, as he runs it against the group of dummies—

VRZZZZZZZZZZ!

A piercing buzz fills the air as it tears into the dummies, shredding them apart into a gajillion pieces.

His summon releases the wand, and with another command, its blades snap back into its body.

“My summon and I once were up against a particularly tough horde of plant monsters. We put everything we had into tearing through the onslaught of vines and branches, but things weren’t looking good. Then, in the middle of our assault, I felt the call of that very monster magic. Flesh Ripper allowed us to slice to slice straight through the horde, saving our lives.”

He turns to us.

“A summon is often a summoner’s strongest tool, so it’s critical that you do all you can to strengthen it. Speaking of which, follow me.”

The professor guides us to the summon stables and hands us each a key to our personal stable.

“Normally, it’s best practice to keep your summon de-summoned outside of combat so that it never needs food or rest. However, this academy has the resources to provide our summons specially prepared food and places to rest that can help keep them in peak condition.”

As I peer into the stables, I’m filled with pure joy upon seeing the sheer variety of monsters housed here. If the academy really does end up giving me permission to access the other students’ stables, I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to tear myself away from this place.

“Finally, I would like to give you all a personal demonstration of what peak control over one’s summon looks like—a goal for you all to strive towards…”

He pauses.

“...or at least, that’s what I’d normally say. However, I’ve been informed by the headmaster that we have a student among us who’s achieved a level of control we never thought possible. Someone who can give a far better demonstration than I ever could. Nora Littleroot, would you please come up here?”

My heart sinks, and I look to Lucas in a panic. “Please, Lucas. I didn’t—”

“It’s okay, Nora, I understand. Just do what he says, try to end things quickly, and please don’t ruffle any feathers.”

I nod, then Pudding and I step up to the front.

“Um, I never got to give these to you before class.” I reach into my satchel and hand him my last bouquet.

“Ah, talented and thoughtful, how wonderful. If you’d be so kind as to give us a repeat of the performance you put on during your exam, I’d most appreciate it.”

I oblige, yet despite toning down the showiness this time, my unprecedented coordination with Pudding—all without even a single command—causes just as much of an uproar as before.

Yarrowzazzle lets out a hearty laugh. “Incredible! It truly had to be seen to be believed!”

He turns to me. “Now, if you don’t mind me asking, do you have any monster magic?”

“Uh… three spells… kind of? The last one is, uh… complicated. But I can’t just use it anytime I want, so…”

“No problem at all! The first two, then, if you’d kindly show us.”

I hold out my hand and take aim at a dummy.

“Slime Magic: Acid Shot!”

I fire a glob of slime, though the acid isn’t particularly strong.

“Slime Magic: Sticky Shot!”

I fire another glob of slime at a different dummy, then launch several rocks at it to demonstrate its stickiness.

The incantationless wandless earth magic gets far more of a reaction than my bottom-tier monster magic does.

“Ahem.” Yarrowzazzle awkwardly tries to change the subject. “Well, monster magic aside, the control you exhibit over your summon is truly remarkable. Please educate us on how you accomplished it.”

I glance at Lucas. “I… um… I can’t.”

Yarrowzazzle’s expression shifts. “Miss Littleroot, to keep such revolutionary knowledge to yourself—knowledge that could greatly benefit our kingdom—must I really explain how shameful such behavior would be?”

The other students give me judgmental glares as they chatter among themselves. My eyes dart to Lucas, who’s motioning for me to keep quiet, then to Arthur, who looks perplexed and disappointed at my apparent selfishness, then back to Yarrowzazzle’s disapproving stare.

“I… well—I did it by, um… making him my… my…”

“...my friend,” I mumble.

“Miss Littleroot, you’re going to have to speak louder—”

“He’s my friend!”

The class goes silent.

“That’s how I contracted him. Not by besting him in battle, but by finally realizing he was my friend. Summoners’ contracts allow a summoner and their summon to feel each other’s emotions. I don’t control him. He doesn’t control me. We just listen to each other. It’s by learning to understand one another that we’ve become so perfectly in sync.”

“Nora…” Arthur interjects, “This has to be a joke. You lost your parents to monsters. You spent all that time studying how to fight them. How could you possibly call that thing your—”

“I said I lost them when I was young… not to monsters. And it was that loneliness that led me to spend so much time with them. Not just Pudding, but the other monsters around my village. They helped me when I lived all alone, just as I helped them. They even saved my life—on multiple occasions!”

I look him straight in the eyes.

“Arthur, I know how much suffering they’ve caused, but a lot of that stems from misunderstanding. If people and monsters could just learn to understand each other, there wouldn’t need to be so much bloodshed. You said you wanted to help the kingdom, right? I do too… This is how we can achieve that.”

“What you’re suggesting, Nora… it’s sick.” Arthur’s face is wracked with betrayal. “For centuries, these things have slaughtered us, and you want to make nice with them? They’ve proven time and time again that the only thing they understand is violence. And I refuse to pretend there’s something more to them just because you want there to be.”

His expression hardens.

“I was a fool to think you and I were the same.”

“Arthur—”

GONG GONG!

He storms off.

I turn to the class and find that the only people not looking at me with disgust are Nettle, Petra—surprisingly, and…

Where’s Lucas?

“I… I see why the headmaster declined to tell me the mechanics behind your control.” Yarrowzazzle remarks. “I apologize for pressuring you to divulge that information, Miss Littleroot. I’m not saying it isn’t worth exploring. If it truly could help summoners save more lives, then it absolutely is. But… this would be a tough sell to the summoner community, let alone the public.”

I… I messed up… really badly.

I have to find Lucas.

***

I search everywhere nearby, but there’s no sign of him. With no other leads, I make my way to the workshop, where thankfully I find him working on what looks like a set of armor—though far too large for Sugarcube.

The room is empty.

“Where’s the club?”

“...They’re not here today.”

“Lucas, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t just—I thought maybe if everybody knew how much good could come from better understanding monsters, they’d…”

No response.

“Lucas?”

Still no response.

“Lucas, please, you have to talk to—”

“I’m done, Nora! I can’t deal with it anymore! You can try as much as you want, but sometimes we just can’t change who we are—the sooner we all learn to accept that the better. This just… it can’t work. We’re too different.”

Tears rush down my face.

He’s leaving me.

And I don’t know what to do to stop it.

“That’s not true, Lucas, please! I know that deep down, you see potential in monsters that nobody else does, just like I do! I know in my heart that we’re the same!”

“What the hell could you possibly think you know about me?! I mean, for goodness’ sake, Nora, it’s been three days! We’re practically strangers! You don’t know the first thing about me!”

…

“I know… I know you adjust your glasses when you’re embarrassed.”

I sniffle.

“I know you pick the carrots out of your food in the cafeteria. I know you talk faster when you get excited. I know you pretend to be annoyed at compliments but actually really like them. I know you smile bigger than anyone when you talk about crafting…

“I know you were patient with me when nobody else was. I know you stood up to Petra for me, despite understanding the consequences. I know you’re thoughtful and smart and talented and hardworking and passionate and all sorts of other things

“I know you were kind to me when nobody else would be.

“Most of all, I know that you’re amazing more than anybody I’ve ever met.”

Lucas refuses to look at me. His clenched fists tremble at his sides as tears slowly fall to the floor.

“Yeah, well… I don’t know any of those things. All I know is that…

“…I just want you to leave me alone.”

I sprint out of the workshop to the nearest restroom, shutting myself inside a stall so I can cry without disturbing anybody.

It feels like my heart’s been ripped out and stomped into a million little pieces.

Nothing’s changed since the village. I’m still the same outcast I’ve always been, destined to be what I’ve always been…

All alone.