It took quite a while before one student finally raised her hand.
Professor Sylph swept her gaze across the room and called her by name. "Emma Metis, you answer this one."
Emma Metis was a little girl with brown hair and a round, still-childish face. She seemed to be developing more slowly than the other students her age, but she was taller than Diana.
She stood up nervously and accidentally bit her tongue. Still, she managed to answer fairly smoothly. "The easiest way to earn credits is to pay attention in class. Every lesson is worth ten credits. You can earn extra credits by answering the professor's questions correctly or impressing them. Your final exam grades can also be converted into credits, and... um, there's also Magic Guidance dueling!"
"Very good! Five points for Metis!"
Professor Sylph clapped and gestured for her to sit down, then added, "Answering questions correctly in class earns you extra points, but if you don't pay attention, your instructors are also entitled to deduct credits. Magic Guidance dueling competitions are taken very seriously at St. Marian. They can earn a great many credits for each house! Your Dueling Class instructor will explain how to enter the competitions. Now, let's begin the lesson. Open your Beginner's Guide to Summoning."
"Miss Know-It-All, huh?"
Dark glanced at Emma's back again and realized she must be the last member of the main trio.
But Emma's fluffy brown hair and the baby fat still lingering on her face did nothing for him.
Dark neither wanted anything to do with them nor felt any particular need to avoid them.
Especially since this heroine's looks simply weren't his type.
Professor Sylph then began teaching the most basic Summoning Technique.
Summoning was a technique based on Magitech Cards. It allowed the user to summon all kinds of things sealed inside them, such as elves, items, and potions.
There were supposedly more advanced techniques, too, including Sacrificial Summoning, fusion summoning, ritual summoning, and reversal summoning.
Some Magitech Cards even came with special Summoning Charms!
A duelist's proficiency in the Summoning Technique determined how many Magitech Cards they could use in a given amount of time.
In short, if it took you five seconds to cast the Summoning Technique, while your opponent needed only three, they could act two seconds before you.
And if your Summoning Technique had a thirty-second cooldown, you wouldn't even be able to use a third Magitech Card within a minute.
The famous dueling master Swiss Lu Xun once said, "The Summoning Technique determines a duelist's ceiling and floor."
That lesson's task was to use the Summoning Technique to summon the Familiar sealed inside their Sorting Cards.
Professor Sylph spent half an hour explaining the school rules, another half hour teaching the introductory theory behind the Summoning Technique, and the final half hour letting the students practice.
After confirming that his Greed indicator hadn't increased, Dark followed the steps in the textbook and tried to summon his Familiar.
He had studied in advance in the common room that morning, so he was making faster progress than almost every other first-year.
And since a Sorting Card was designed for beginners, its summoning sequence was much easier to activate than that of an ordinary Magitech Card.
So, just after nine o'clock, Dark successfully summoned the Familiar inside his Sorting Card!
A Sorting Card was a very unusual composite Magitech Card, packed with powerful functions.
Since the final step in making a Sorting Card was completed by the student, the Familiar summoned from each student's card was different.
"In the name of Dark Dimon, I summon my Familiar!"
The Sorting Card used a special Summoning Charm that made the process easier.
As Dark recited the incantation correctly, the magic within him flowed from his fingertips into the Sorting Card.
The card burst into a dazzling, daylight-bright radiance, drawing countless eyes.
Emma, who had also studied beforehand but failed to summon anything after several attempts, couldn't help looking over.
Framed by the white light, Dark's fair face, handsome features, and calm eyes left a deep impression on her.
She gritted her teeth. Without even looking to see what Dark had summoned, she quickly flipped through her textbook, searching for mistakes before trying again!
Her competitive streak was on full display.
But Dark wasn't feeling relaxed at all.
He suddenly realized that the magic was pouring out of him faster and faster, as if the Sorting Card were actively draining it!
The magic he had gained from his awakening Demon God Bloodline was almost completely depleted.
Only then did a hexagram magic circle suddenly appear on the Sorting Card!
"This is..."
It was a little demon that looked like a bat.
And not just any little demon!
Dark Dimon had mastered the art of balancing work and rest.
"Demon Species?"
At some point, Professor Sylph had come to stand beside Dark. The elf's distinctive, sweet fragrance drifted into his nose, making his heart itch a little.
Dark drew a small breath and asked in confusion, "Professor, didn't the age of the Demon Race end long ago? Why was I still able to summon a Demon Species?"
Professor Sylph explained in an utterly even tone, "A Familiar from a Sorting Card is a type of Magic Spirit. Strictly speaking, it's an alchemical product. Like a Golem, it isn't a living being. 'Demon Species' is simply a category of Magic Spirit; it doesn't mean that the creature is actually a demon. As a mage, you must learn to distinguish reality and seek the truth. Don't let appearances deceive you. As for why you summoned a Demon Species, that has to do with your magic, knowledge, and personality. Besides, the technology behind Magic Spirits is still imperfect, and there's much we can't explain."
The first-years around them nodded along, understanding some of it—or so they thought.
Only Dark asked very earnestly, "Then, Professor, what's my Familiar's name?"
Professor Sylph replied solemnly, "That will be your homework. Before the next Summoning Class, successfully summon your Familiar, find out its species, name, and characteristics, and write me a report of about three hundred words. All right, five points for Dimon!"
With that, Professor Sylph walked over to another student.
Watching her go, Dark wondered if she had no idea what this Demon Species was called.
After all, this thing was a DemiDevimon!
No wonder Duel! St. Marian Super-Something Academy was such a mash-up. It had even borrowed—no, copied—Digimon!
He'd known this game was a hodgepodge, but did they really have to copy things so blatantly?
Dark felt a headache coming on.
Could DemiDevimon evolve into VenomMyotismon?
Digimon had so many branching evolutions, and they were such a mess, that he couldn't quite remember.
Still, a Sorting Card's Familiar should be a relatively low-level Magic Spirit. Its main purpose was to help its master deliver messages or send and receive letters, taking the place of an owl.
According to mages, Familiars had an intelligence rating of 2.5, slightly below that of ordinary beasts, and were harmless.
Dark teased DemiDevimon's head and found that its reactions were still a little sluggish. Was that because it had only just been born?
DemiDevimon had a plump little body, batlike wings, and claws with three fingers. A white skull was stamped on its forehead, and the longer Dark looked at it, the more ugly-cute it seemed.
The important thing was that it had wings and could fly, making it a fairly suitable Familiar!
Dark quickly accepted the fact that he had summoned a DemiDevimon. After all, wasn't a little demon exactly what a Demon God would have for a Familiar?
Next, Dark began glancing around.
To put it nicely, he was checking on his classmates' progress. In reality, he was "slacking off"!
He'd been paying attention for over an hour. Surely he had to slack off for a bit to unwind?
An idea gradually took shape in Dark's mind.
Then it suddenly clicked!
If studying too intently could trigger the Greed indicator, wouldn't taking a few breaks while studying—balancing work and rest—be the perfect way to beat it?
Bingo!
Dark promptly suppressed his sense of triumph before it could turn into Pride.
Perhaps because they had him as an example, the first-years became even more eager to learn the Summoning Technique.
At last, Miss Know-It-All became the second student to complete her Familiar summoning!
The moment Emma successfully summoned her Familiar, she didn't look to see what kind it was. Instead, she instinctively glanced back at the seat in the very corner of the classroom.
Her eyes were clearly competitive, as if she were saying, "Look, I did it too!"
But Dark's gaze met hers only briefly before sliding away, as if he didn't care about her at all.
Emma turned back, a little unhappy.
Then the tiny Familiar perched on her desk quickly brought her smile back.
It was a little white-furred otter.
Its beadlike eyes, its short limbs, and its timid little habit of rubbing its face while squeaking "eek, eek" all hit the little girl's adorable-creature sweet spot!
"So it really was an Otter?"
Dark had expected as much.
Otters were alert and quick-witted, with boundless curiosity. The heroine in the original story had also had an Otter as her Patronus.
It was the most likely option.
"Then Robert's Familiar should be a hound, and Victor's a Stag?"
Dark glanced over at them, only to see Robert and Victor scratching their heads in confusion. Neither of them seemed to be making much progress.
In fact, the Noble House first-years generally summoned their Familiars faster than the Knight Academy first-years.
That was the advantage of a preparatory education.
"Wow!"
A delighted cry caught Dark's attention.
He saw that Diana had also managed to summon her Familiar before class ended!
It was a round-headed Iron-Eating Beast!
The panda, only about the size of a stuffed toy, was sprawled across the desk, its eyes still bleary and its expression adorably dopey.
"That Familiar suits her perfectly..."
Dark couldn't help covering his eyes.
How had the Greatbear Family, the Kingdom's Bear, ended up with such a lovable goofball?
Well, fine.
A panda was still a bear!
Diana, however, clearly adored her Familiar. She even lifted it above her head and spun it around wildly. She only stopped when Professor Sylph gave her a glare.
Rose was the only one who still hadn't summoned a Familiar, and she couldn't help growing anxious.
The second lesson that morning was Magic Theory.
If the Summoning Technique was how you used Magitech Cards,
then Magic Theory was the basic theory behind making them.
And Dueling Class was the practical side!
The students had been forbidden from summoning their Familiars in the school corridors. Even so, some of them ignored the rules and ran around with their Familiars in their arms.
Dark ignored them and went ahead to the Magic Theory classroom.
There was a full half hour between classes. Lazy students wasted it, while diligent ones had already started studying ahead.
To avoid being labeled "lazy," Dark took out his Magic Theory textbook—Basic Magic Theory 1—and started flipping through it without taking it too seriously.
So when Emma Metis hurried into the classroom, she saw someone sitting by the window in the very last row, studying diligently.
That really wasn't the sort of thing someone from the Noble House would do.
Before you continue