Summoning, Commanding, and Employing

Summoning, Commanding, and Employing

----Magic Circuits.

They were the innate source of magical energy possessed by all Magi, simulated nerves within a Magus's body that determined the Magus's aptitude.

They could convert life force into the fuel needed to perform magecraft and generate magical energy. They were the most important thing to a Magus.

Without them, not only would normal use of magecraft be impossible, but becoming a Magus at all would be impossible.

Even with them, the quality of one's Magic Circuits determined a Magus's talent.

After all, they were nerves used to generate magical energy.

The better their quality, the stronger the magical energy they generated.

The greater their number, the more magical energy they generated.

Therefore, the better the quality of one's Magic Circuits, the more formidable one would be as a Magus.

Unfortunately, the number of Magic Circuits one possessed was determined at birth. They did not exist within the physical body, but were determined by the soul, and could never be increased through external factors.

In other words, a Magus's aptitude was determined from birth and could never be changed.

In order to produce superior Magic Circuits, countless Magi had racked their brains, only to resort to accumulating bloodlines and marrying partners with excellent Magic Circuits, so that their descendants could inherit better talents and their children could possess more Magic Circuits.

This was also why the so-called "prestigious families" and "nobles" existed in the world of magecraft.

The longer the history of a prestigious family or noble house, the more outstanding the Magus bloodline it had accumulated, and the greater the aptitude of its descendants.

Olga Marie's family was a noble house that had accumulated at least several centuries, perhaps even a millennium, of Magus bloodlines. Her aptitude as a Magus was exceptionally high.

Compared to Olga Marie, Luo Zhen was no noble heir. In the world of Magi, he was a complete nobody.

Yet Luo Zhen had been born with extraordinarily excellent Magic Circuits. His talent was in no way inferior to Olga Marie's, and even faintly surpassed hers.

Now, Luo Zhen activated the Magic Circuits within his body, setting the magical energy that had long accumulated inside him into motion.

"Crackle..."

It felt like an electric shock.

Under that sensation, the Magic Circuits branded upon Luo Zhen's soul began generating a current known as magical energy, like an active electrical circuit, while gathering that energy at his fingertips according to his will.

Then, using his magic-infused fingertips, Luo Zhen drew patterns across the ground.

The next second, magecraft activated.

"Buzz!"

The spell formula carved into the ground became part of a Magic Circle, and radiance spilled through the gaps between Luo Zhen's fingers.

Had there been a third person present, they would have noticed that the scale of that radiance and spell formula was remarkably similar to the scene from earlier, when the Heroic Spirit Summoning System activated and a Servant was summoned.

Then, a "miracle" that ordinary people could not perform appeared in this world.

"Chirp!"

It was the cry of a bird.

The spell formula engraved upon the ground seemed to transform into a gateway to another world, allowing bird after bird to fly out of the light and into the sky above Luo Zhen.

Only then did Luo Zhen open his eyes. Watching the flock flap its wings and rise into the air, he wore a smug smile.

"Even if you searched all of Chaldea, there probably wouldn't be many Magi who could summon this many Familiars at once, right?"

That was both confidence and fact.

This needed some explanation.

Luo Zhen's talent as a Magus was undoubtedly first-rate.

However, magecraft came in countless varieties and was even divided into many different systems.

Many magecraft families devoted themselves entirely to a single system, passing it down through generations in the hope that their descendants would inherit their research and one day reach the Root of magecraft, learn the truth, and attain omnipotence.

As for Luo Zhen, if his talent as a Magus was first-rate, then his talent in one particular system of magecraft was nothing short of astonishing.

That system was Summoning.

For some reason, Luo Zhen possessed a talent for Summoning far beyond what others could imagine. His command and employment of summoned beings were likewise inhumanly exceptional, as though he had been born specifically to master Summoning Arts. It was truly frightening.

That was precisely why Olga Marie was so furious over Luo Zhen's laziness. One reason was that he possessed such astonishing talent, yet did not diligently train his magecraft, choosing instead to spend all day playing games and browsing websites.

Wasting talent like that was practically a sin. The more ancient a prestigious magecraft family was, the less it could forgive such behavior.

What Olga Marie found even more unacceptable was that the system of Summoning was an extremely important factor to Chaldea's very existence.

The Summoning of Heroic Spirits.

The employment of Servants.

The command of Familiars.

All of these were the most important qualifications for a Master.

And Luo Zhen, whose talent in this regard was unmatched, naturally became Chaldea's most outstanding Adaptable One.

Not only did he possess astonishing compatibility with Spiritron Transfer, he was also proficient in Summoning magecraft. His qualifications as a Master were exceptionally high. To Chaldea, someone like Luo Zhen was a treasure beyond treasures.

That made Olga Marie even less able to forgive Luo Zhen's wasteful behavior.

Thus, the conflict between Luo Zhen and Olga Marie became so intense that they almost always argued whenever they met, utterly incompatible as fire and water.

Of course, to Luo Zhen, Olga Marie's anger was completely baffling.

"Even if I'm wasting it, that's my business. What does it have to do with her?"

Even as he said that, however, a knot of emotion remained pent up inside him.

Without realizing it, memories began surfacing in his mind.

He recalled that pure white room.

He recalled the pungent smell of medicine.

He recalled the cold instruments.

He recalled the unpleasant bedding.

And then...

"----Why am I thinking about that?"

Luo Zhen hurriedly shook his head, flinging away those unbearable memories. He took a deep breath and focused again.

"Scatter!"

At Luo Zhen's wave, the flock circling overhead immediately dispersed. Amid pleasant birdsong, they flew toward every corner of the forest.

After closing his eyes and sensing for a moment, Luo Zhen finally turned around and looked at the Servant that had remained obediently where it was ever since being summoned.

"Follow me."

After giving that brief command, Luo Zhen headed in one direction through the forest.

Behind him, the shadow-like Servant followed silently at his back, stepping over dead leaves and branches as it moved forward with him.

A normal Servant would not have been so obedient.

They had their own wills and values. Even if they clashed with their Master and disobeyed the Master's orders, that would not be strange at all.

But a Servant without consciousness like this was merely an obedient tool of war.

"I really want to command a real Servant someday and see what it feels like."

With that thought in mind, Luo Zhen led the Shadow Servant behind him and vanished into a corner of the forest.

PS: Today's three updates are all here! Please support me, everyone! Recommendations! Clicks! Favorites! Please give one if you can!