2 [Call Upon Thee]

Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière is a young, short, petite woman with long, wavy pink hair. She is a second-year student at Tristain Academy of Magic, the very best magic institute in Tristan. She is also of noble blood, as are all mages here. However, she... had a problem.

You see, Louise has never cast a spell properly in her life. All except one and even that was deemed a failure. Louise had a... bad habit of making things go BOOM whenever she tried to cast even the simplest of spells.

It plagued her like a curse, eating away at her heart and mind. She practically had no friends and was ridiculed heavily by her peers, even given a derogatory nickname of "Louise the Zero", the zero standing for zero spells cast correctly.

She counted herself lucky that she so much as passed the first year, but now, in the second year, a massive obstacle stood in her way. Today, on this very day, they would summon their familiars. Familiars are creatures that could be summoned from anywhere in the world, from magical beasts to everyday mice. They always reflect the might of their master or at least part of it.

Today was Louise's last chance to prove herself to be more than a zero. To be more than a failure everyone claimed her to be. Not just for herself, but also for her family back home. She didn't want to be a disappointment to them.

She had pride, a pride that was constantly kicked around due to her inability to do anything right. Louise had an attitude, but, she was, somewhere deep down, not a bad person. But, today that will all change... at least, she prays it does so.

If she fails to summon a familiar... then it's all over for her.

Even if she boasts that she will summon the most powerful, majestic creature the academy has ever seen, in reality, Louise would be so happy with just a flea, or a butterfly, so long as its SOMETHING. Anything is fine, just... don't let it be an explosion... anything but that...

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Professor Jean Colbert is one of the most prominent professors of any magical institution, however, today his task was perhaps the simplest of them all. Today, the second-year students of Tristain Academy would perform Summon Servant, a familiar-calling spell that would eternally bind them to a creature that is chosen for them.

Who chooses these creatures for the young and upcoming mages? Why destiny and fate themselves! Jean Colbert was a middle-aged man with a balding hairline and a pair of small glasses on his nose to help him see better. His magic wand also wasn't really a magic wand, but more of a staff than anything else.

"Today is your first test since advancing to the second year, and also the sacred day where you will meet your familiars with whom you will spend the rest of your lives."

The introductory speech seemed to make some of the second-year students standing in front of him nervous while also making some tremble in excitement. A very obvious reaction he expected of his students as today is perhaps one of the most important days of their academic life. Jean can do nothing but wish them the best of luck and instruct them on how to perform the spell.

Louise was amongst the crowd as well, standing at the very back of it, trying to make herself seem as small and as hidden as she humanly could. She was... more than nervous, she was afraid. Any and all spells she had tried to perform so far were failures, this... she can't fail this. She simply cannot! Her pride, dignity and family name are on the line! Not to mention she very much plans on delivering on her threats to the one person she hates the most right now, Kirche Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst.

She can't stand that woman! Tall, dark-skinned and with more tits than brains, not to mention strong flame elemental aptitude and an attitude to follow. Truly, she was everything that Louise was not, but, not for long. Louise is going to prove them all wrong, she is going to prove to all of her classmates and teachers that she isn't Louise The Zero!

And so, the summoning official began. Most of the familiars were actually pretty boring, everyday animals from all over the country. A boar, a snake, a mouse, nothing particularly amazing has appeared yet. At least, so it would seem to the naked eye. Montmorency Margarita la Fère de Montmorency, a young, beautiful blonde-haired girl of noble descent has summoned a frog, but, this frog could secrete poison from all over its body. So that was pretty impressive. A bugbear followed, which was just some floating eye, impressive but not overly exciting.

Guiche Chevalier de Gramont, the class femboy- I mean, playboy, with his endlessly cringe-inducing attitude and "charm" has managed to summon... an earth mole. It wasn't THAT surprising considering his alignment with the earth element, but, it definitely shocked him at first.

But, most annoyingly and shockingly, Kirche, the red-haired busty beauty had somehow, through some sheer luck managed to summon a salamander. A fire-breathing, red-skinned lizard. How fitting that a woman with an aptitude for fire would summon a fire-breathing lizard. She promptly named it Flame and sent Louise more than one boastful look of accomplishment that just screamed "Beat that, Zero!"

But, most impressive was the girl that actually managed to summon a dragon. A fucking, dragon... The blue-haired studious girl was named Tabitha, and she was known for being quiet and very smart, as well as really strong in the arts of wind-based magic. It wasn't massive and imposing, but any mage of any calibre could feel the strength it held. A wind rhyme dragon... things were... not looking great for Louise who had yet to summon a familiar.

"Okay, was that everyone?"

"Not yet professor," naturally, Kirche was the one to rat Louise out, "Miss Valliére still has yet to have a go."

Murmurs immediately erupted and Louise was left alone in a matter of seconds, all of the students standing behind her. They didn't want to get hit by one of her explosions, again. Their whispers didn't help Louise's confidence, but if she succeeds... no... WHEN she succeeds in summoning a mighty familiar they will all see that she isn't as pathetic as they claim her to be!

'Please...' her hand trembled as she grasped her wand, 'Please work!'

And then, she began her own incantation...

"My name is Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière. Pentagon of the five elemental power. Heed my summoning... My servant that existed somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call... I wish from the very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!"

-BOOM-

And... an explosion followed.

A literal dust cloud descended upon the poor students and one professor as everything was temporarily obstructed from view. Some of the students were even blown back from the shockwave!

However, Louise didn't care about the yelps and screams of surprise and profanity directed toward her. She was far too busy praying that her spell, despite looking like another failure actually worked this time.

-CLOMP- -TAP- -PAT-

Louise, despite being bombarded with the voices of her peers, could make out one distinct sound from the rest. The sound of... footsteps... Yes... that's what it was. The distinct tapping of person's shoes against the grass as they walked in a slow but steady march... straight towards her.

It was frustrating and nerve-grating for Louise as she couldn't see past all the smoke she unintentionally created. However, soon, a tall silhouette came into view. And, for a moment, Louise's heart was confused about how to act. The figure stopped its march right before her, and then...

"Phew."

What sounded like a puff of air coming from someone's mouth was quickly followed by a brief but strong gust of wind that easily helped dissipate the smoke. Louise had to squint her eyes, but she refused to close or obstruct them in any way, shape or form. She couldn't afford to, she didn't want to.

What appeared before her was... not what she expected, at all. Louise was expecting many and few things at the same time, something as insignificant as a flea, or something as majestic as a dragon. However, deep down she knew that the latter was only wishful thinking on her part. Really, what she should have expected the most was another failure. An explosion followed by nothing else.

However, for the first time in her life... she didn't fail. She succeeded! She summoned a familiar! But... it... no, HE wasn't at all what she was expecting. In front of Louise stood a tall, young man of pale skin, black medium-length hair and athletic build. However, Louise didn't really look at his appearance, at all, she was far too captivated by two red rubies. The man's eyes told Louise all that she needed, this... was her familiar. The two crimson orbs should have sparked many flags inside her mind, but they didn't. Two black slits were acting as the man's pupils, and Louise had trouble looking anywhere but directly at him...

"What the-?!"

"Louise summoned a familiar?!"

"Yeah! But... is that a commoner?"

"No way that's a normal human! Look at the top of his head!"

"Are those... horns?!"

Louise's mind seemed to wake up from its daze once her ears picked up that last comment, and, on instinct, her eyes travelled up. To her shock and surprise, there truly was a pair of thin, slightly curved red horns on top of the man's head. He wasn't human... And therefore... not a commoner.

"Is he an elf?!"

"No you moron, elves have pointed ears!"

"He has horns! ...What magical creatures have horns again?"

"You're a moron, Mark."

Louise decided to ignore the chatter of her classmates, her mind was far too preoccupied with analyzing the man's features. He wore... strange clothes, to say the least. But, they suited him quite well. A white trench coat, a black button-up shirt, black pants and a pair of dress shoes. Truly, the man had more style than Guishe in his entire life would. And... his face was really nice to look at too.

A small smile appeared on the man's face before he suddenly leaned down... and knelt before the pink-haired girl, much to her surprise.

...

...

...

"Are you my Master?"