5.1 - Housekeeping

As I returned to the world of Rynn, the Great Hall of Silica was filled with commotion. A heated discussion was taking place, and I quietly found a seat close enough to listen but not engage. Silica was the first to notice my presence.

Telepathically, I asked Silica, "What are they discussing?"

"They are talking about a new name for your house," with a sarcastic smirk. "The best name so far is 'The Dog of Silica'." Knowing her she put this discussion for a new name in effect.

I smiled and thought to myself, "Hmm, it should follow the House of Silica, but I won't accept your name without a fight. “Silica smirked even more, saying, "Well, it is my land and property that you will be moving into, after all."

“Hey Vise Pres, nice Speech today.”

“Thanks, Soro, I’m not cut out for speeches.”

“Haha, I would have a standing ovation if I did the speech,” said Steef.

“Haha yeah right” laughed Ryota “you wouldn’t even stand a chance standing on the stage with your looks and personality even alone vice president.”

I chuckled at his remark, and just then, the class representative, Yumi. Came by.

"Class rep, I have a job for you," I called out.

Yumi perked up with excitement, asking, "A job for me?"

"Yes, it's a task only you can handle. I want you to create a poll and ask everyone for suggestions on what we should name my house. You will also need to design a banner and symbol for it," I explained.

"I accept!" eagerly to start.

Curiosity got the better of me, and I asked Yumi another question. "Hey, class rep, I have a question for you. You're a summoner, right? What element does that fall under?"

She approached me and demonstrated, saying, "Summoning is not an element, but rather a contract." She then called upon her pet wolf by casting a diagram on the ground, and a small dog like creature appeared. "This is Fluffykins, my pet wolf. Silica gave me some money, so I bought him last night. All you need is to form a contract and undergo basic training in magic and drawing."

I pondered for a moment and inquired, "Can it be any creature?"

"I believe so, as long as it wishes to be tamed and summoned."

A sudden thought struck me, and I exclaimed,

"So, I can tame a dragon if it allows me to?"

Yumi shrugged and apologized, saying, "I don't know, sorry."

I’m not sure if Yumi is the right choice to name the house since she named her pet wolf as Fluffykins but hey I’ll let her pick some names and I’ll make the final choice.

Fascinated by the possibilities, I thanked Yumi and turned my attention back to Silica. There was a strange expression on her face, so I established a mind link with her, making eye contact. “Can you lend me some money to buy a horse?"

"A horse? That's a bright idea,"

"Yes, yes, with a horse, we can travel much greater distances and even ride to the capital. It saved us a great deal of time and compete quest efficiency.

"Great idea! The horse will come in handy later on. There's a small barn of horses to the north. Let's go and ask the magic teacher when Kendra arrives," I suggested.

***

"How can we make a contract with a horse?" I asked eagerly asked Master Grignard.

"It's easy to do," searching for a book. "Ah, here it is. Miss Yami just returned it to me yesterday. This page explains how to form a contract." He handed the book to Silica.

"To form a contract, both parties must agree of their own free will," Silica read aloud, studying the page. "You must draw the circle below and let the creature stand within it. The contract will be formed when an image is drawn on your arm or any body part."

Silica continued reading,

"Note: this method does not work on humans or any other major races, and it cannot be used on beings with more magical or physical power than the summoner."

She turned to the next page, which depicted a magic circle for summoning a companion. Kendra interrupted, "Um, I can't use magic."

We stood there for a moment, stumped by the predicament. "Ahh, I've got it!" I exclaimed. "I can forge multiple contracts and summon your horse when needed."

"Good plan, if it works," Silica replied with a smile.

We arrived at the horse farm, a small place housing only eight horses. The owner, a small, elderly man, greeted us.

"Are you the owner of these horses?" Silica asked.

"Yes, my sweet girl, I am,"

"Are your horses for sale for summoning? Can we ride them?" Silica inquired.

"Hmm, yes, you can, but they are primarily meant for farm work. They have little riding experience. Come, let me show you," the owner offered.

We walked into the somewhat smelly barn, and inside, we saw three horses. One of them stood out—a gorgeous, white horse. Silica’s eyes sparkled with delight.

"This is Shadowfax. He is a younger horse, the perfect age to ride. Would you like to ride him?"

"Yes, yes, Silica, I love him!" she exclaimed.

The owner noticed our lack of experience and asked, "Have you ridden a horse before?"

Both Kendra and I shook our heads in response.

"No problem, let me show you," eager to assist.

With the saddles on, the old man grabbed her hand and helped her up onto the horse. Silica didn't pay much attention to his actions, but watching from behind his hands were all over her buttock groping if you will, quickly hopping onto the horse. It was all done in mere moments, and with a push, the horse started moving. But the man's mood was disappointed soon after.

Next, it was Caspian and Isabella's turn. They were older horses but still good to ride and experienced. Caspian was a dark older black male, while Isabella was a beautiful, dark brown female horse.

The old man did the same to Kendra, groped butt the same as Silica's while assisting her onto the horse, which made me uncomfortable. But without any help, she would struggle to jump up onto the horse, managing to get on with difficulty.

"All right, now it's your turn," the old man said, his face bright red and very happy about himself. He pointed to where I should step and jump, leaving me to figure out the rest on my own. I struggled to get on without any help. Since he didn’t help me. The horse walked itself out with me on it. I looked back and the old geezer was sniffing his hand in bliss. Creepy old dude.

After everyone was on their horses, we went for a ride around the field and spent over an hour enjoying ourselves. Even though Caspian was an older horse, he seemed experienced and knew what he was doing, at least from my perspective. As someone who had never ridden a horse before, I couldn't claim to be an expert. I remembered the basic instructions: squeeze my legs to move, pull the reins in the desired direction, and lift to stop. Those were the moves I could recall. Meanwhile, Silica and Kendra were galloping and running laps around the field, displaying their horse’s agility. Caspian my horse liked to walk and do its own thing. He gave me a tour of the farm. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. My ass was tender after the ride!

Silica had an impressive knack for negotiation. I almost felt sorry for the poor old man selling the horses. With her charm spell, she had him under her thumb. The young white horse, Shadowfax, which Silica desired, was initially priced at 100 gold, but she managed to bring it down to 10 gold. Similarly, Isabella, another young horse, had a starting price of 50 gold but was ultimately acquired for just 5 gold. Finally, we obtained Caspian, the oldest horse, for a mere 3 gold. Taking care of all three horses, including barn fees, housing, cleaning, food, and water, would amount to 1 gold per month. The man would do every work for the horses and all we had to do was summon them. We would have to let him know when we were planning on traveling as he would have to saddle them up.

The contract process turned out to be easier than expected. We drew a magic circle, the same one as in the book, on the ground and had each horse walk over it. As the ritual unfolded, my wrist began to sting, forming a mark on it, while a corresponding mark shone on the horse's leg.

Kendra's horse proved to be a bit problematic, but eventually, we managed to calm her down, resulting in two marks appearing on my wrist. To summon the horses, we had to use a different magic circle listed in the book. If the combination was accepted, the horse would be transported or teleported from its current location to the designated circle. The same process applied when sending the horse back. However, the mana cost for this transportation was quite substantial.

***

Upon returning to Silica's hall, there was a buzz of conversation, and Yumi was busy gathering opinions and suggestions for the new name. When Yumi noticed my arrival, she exclaimed, "Hey Mackenzie, where have you been?"

"I was out finalizing a horse contract." Yumi was excited and urged me to sit down quickly, as there was a lot to discuss regarding the new name. It seemed Yumi couldn't wait to start brainstorming and involve everyone in the class and Silica's house. She had even enlisted Rino and Sara, who were apprenticing at the tailoring and blacksmith shops, to design the symbol and banner.

As the evening wore on and it grew closer to the time when people would meditate and return to Earth and Japan, we narrowed down the list of potential names to the top three: Dreamweaver, Twilight Sentinels, and Radiant Souls. We had to eliminate many of the less favorable suggestions, such as Silica's Dog, Silica's Lover, Day Walkers, Resist, Brute, and many others. The voting process went smoothly, and we achieved an impressive 80% agreement on the name "Dreamweavers" for our house.

From this day forward, our house would be known as Dreamweavers!