"You want me to form a contract with you, Miss Pirina?"
"Yes. When Reyna and Elan tried to repay their debt to me, Reyna refused, saying it was only natural to save a friend. But I’ve always felt indebted."
Pirina smiled warmly.
"The source of the Zerdinger’s power is the Phoenix's flame. If you have the qualities of a summoner, there’s no better candidate to contract with a phoenix."
"I never thought a phoenix would suggest a contract themselves."
Phoenixes, with their immense pride, were not the type of mythical beasts to propose a contract first.
"Of course, I’m not suggesting we form a contract immediately. You need to grow as a summoner first…"
"Is it possible to do it now?"
"What?"
Even if Pirina was willing to form a contract, Leo’s current abilities shouldn’t make it feasible. However, Leo believed he could succeed.
After all, he was the one who ended the Age of Calamity and had managed powerful mythical beasts in his past life.
"Even in my past life, I never formed a contract with a phoenix."
Back when he was Kyle, forming a contract with a phoenix had been a dream of his.
Contracting with a powerful mythical beast inherently expanded a summoner's potential.
But Pirina hesitated.
"I understand your determination, but with your current strength, you cannot form a contract with me. Attempting it recklessly could cost you your life."
Contracting with a phoenix was a grueling ordeal, even beyond Pirina’s control.
"I know, but I’m confident."
"You’re just like Reyna, challenging the impossible without hesitation. But I can’t let her son face such danger."
After a moment of thought, Pirina came up with an idea.
"If you’re that determined, I’ll grant you a contract. However, it won’t be with me."
"Excuse me?"
Whoosh—!
A crimson flame flared before Leo’s eyes.
As the flames dissipated, a golden egg, about the size of a fist, appeared. Leo’s eyes widened in surprise.
"A phoenix egg?"
"This egg contains my child, who will hatch soon. Try taming them."
If Leo could tame the phoenix egg, the contract would form naturally. Since the egg had not yet hatched, the risk was minimal. However, taming it would be as challenging as handling a top-tier mythical beast.
"A phoenix egg… quite the impossible trial."
Leo laughed as he held the golden egg.
"For most people, that is."
Whoosh—!
When Leo activated his spiritual energy, the phoenix egg responded, emitting crimson flames.
The intense heat made Leo grit his teeth.
"Even if it’s faint, the phoenix’s flame isn’t something a young human boy can handle."
Pirina thought Leo would soon give up. But instead, Leo closed his eyes and focused his mind.
His consciousness began to fade.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a pitch-black void.
This was the spiritual realm where top-tier mythical beasts tested their prospective contractors, determining their worth.
In the phoenix’s realm, there was nothing but blazing crimson flames.
Without hesitation, Leo reached out.
The flames wrapped around his body and began to burn fiercely.
The phoenix produces its power by burning its own body, enduring excruciating pain in the process.
It was this pain that earned the phoenix its reputation as one of the mightiest mythical beasts.
A pact with a mythical beast was built on bonds.
To form a bond with a phoenix, one had to understand its pain.
This was why contracting with a phoenix was particularly difficult.
"Ugh!"
Leo’s face twisted in agony as the burning pain consumed his body.
Overcoming the trial required sheer mental fortitude.
Pirina’s eyes widened in astonishment.
"Could it be…?"
Whoosh—!
The blazing flames were absorbed into the golden egg.
Crack—!
Cracks spread across the egg’s surface.
Pirina couldn’t believe her eyes.
"He succeeded?"
Whoosh—!
When the egg absorbed all the flames, Leo opened his eyes.
For a brief moment, his red eyes glowed crimson.
Thud—
Exhausted, Leo collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily, his body drenched in sweat. Yet his face held a confident smile.
"The contract is complete."
"Ahahaha!"
Pirina burst out laughing.
"Amazing! Truly amazing, Leo Plov! You are a genius!"
"Not a genius… just determined."
"If taming a phoenix egg at your age doesn’t make you a genius, then what does? You have the potential to become the greatest summoner in history!"
Leo struggled to his feet as Pirina, genuinely thrilled, praised him.
"I wonder what a baby phoenix looks like."
Even in his past life as Kyle, he had never seen a baby phoenix.
Crack—!
"It’s hatching. My child is being born."
The cracks spread across the surface of the egg until it shattered like a glasswork piece, sending golden fragments flying.
Leo’s expression turned odd as he saw the phoenix that emerged.
"A chick?"
The newborn phoenix resembled nothing so much as a tiny chick.
Whoosh—!
At that moment, Pirina transformed into her human form, gently taking her child from Leo’s hands.
"This child’s name is Fiora. Leo, while the contract is complete, Fiora is still just a baby. For now, I will take care of them."
"Understood. But I need to present the contracted mythical beast to the professor as part of the test."
"Then I’ll leave them with you for that time."
Smiling, Pirina placed Fiora on Leo’s head.
Though newly hatched, Fiora was brimming with life. The small phoenix pecked at Leo’s head a few times with their tiny beak before settling down comfortably.
"Is this really a phoenix? It looks like a chick no matter how I see it."
Leo kept his thoughts to himself, not wanting to offend Pirina, who was gazing lovingly at her child.
"Peep!"
"It really is a chick."
***
Professor Yura pulled out a watch from her pocket.
The allotted three hours were almost up.
Most of the students had already presented their tamed mythical beasts for evaluation by Professor Yura.
Some had even successfully formed contracts.
"Let’s see… there are four left?"
The remaining students were the ones Professor Yura had the highest expectations for.
Thud—! Thud—!
At that moment, the ground shook.
As the students widened their eyes in alarm, a massive blue bear emerged from the bushes.
"Ahhh!"
"Eek!"
The students screamed and scattered.
Some recognized the blue bear and looked horrified.
The blue bear walked toward Professor Yura and lowered its stance.
Chen Xia, who had been riding on its back, hopped down lightly.
"Professor, time’s not up yet, right?"
"That’s correct."
"Looking at your torn-up uniform, it seems you’ve been through quite a bit."
"You said you only knew taming in theory, but you managed to tame a juvenile Aqua Bear."
"I wouldn’t call it taming exactly… more like it decided to follow me."
Chen Xia scratched her cheek awkwardly.
In truth, she hadn’t fully tamed it.
"If it follows you this much, you just need to study taming a bit more to complete it."
"Should I just forcibly switch her to the Summoning major?"
While a juvenile Aqua Bear wasn’t as challenging to tame as a fully-grown one, it was still impressive.
For someone of Chen Xia’s caliber, the top scorer of the Knight Studies track, this was extraordinary.
Professor Yura smacked her lips in frustration as Chen Xia sent the Aqua Bear back into the forest.
Soon after, Warren appeared from the bushes.
A small crow perched on his shoulder.
"What kind of mythical beast is that?"
"For a top scorer, it seems underwhelming."
The students looked puzzled.
But Assistant Professor Carlo and the teaching assistants were astonished.
"Oh? You tamed a Shadow Crow? That’s remarkable, especially since your main focus is Spirit Summoning."
Professor Yura admired Warren as he stood before her.
The Shadow Crow, like the Aqua Bear, was a mid-tier mythical beast, but unlike Chen Xia’s case, Warren’s was fully grown.
Additionally, the Shadow Crow was notoriously difficult to tame, its difficulty rivaling high-tier mythical beasts.
"Your talent as a mythical beast summoner is top-notch."
"I didn’t manage to form a contract."
"That’s more than enough."
Taming a mid-tier mythical beast placed him among the top first-years across all departments.
"In the Summoning course, Eliza is likely to take first place."
As if to meet such expectations, Eliza soon appeared.
Unlike the other students, who looked disheveled from their efforts, Eliza was immaculate, just as she had been before class.
Her hair swayed gracefully as she approached Professor Yura.
"Where’s your mythical beast?"
In response, Eliza smirked and extended her hand.
A summoning circle appeared, and a massive snake materialized.
"Hiss—! Hiss—!"
"Ahhh!"
"A-a snake!"
As the enormous white snake flicked its tongue, seemingly capable of swallowing a person whole, the female students screamed and scattered.
"Wow… you formed a contract with a Gorgon Snake."
"It wasn’t part of my family’s collection, so I decided to take the opportunity to contract with one."
The Gorgon Snake was a rare mid-tier mythical beast.
"As expected of the heir to the Hergin family."
"Excellent work, Eliza!"
"Thank you."
Eliza elegantly lifted the hem of her skirt in a polite bow.
"Haha, this year is truly bountiful!"
As she smiled inwardly, Professor Yura tilted her head.
"Where’s Leo Plov? He’s still not back?"
Time was almost up.
Once the time limit expired, any mythical beast brought back would be disqualified.
Feeling parched, Professor Yura spoke.
"Get me some water."
"Yes, Professor. Here it is."
Assistant Professor Carlo handed her a water bottle as Yura checked the time.
Just then, Leo emerged from the bushes.
"Young Master Leo, over here!"
Chen Xia waved with a smile but soon tilted her head.
Taming often involved physical struggles, which was why, aside from Eliza, all the students had torn or dusty uniforms.
But Leo’s appearance was far worse.
His uniform was scorched and burned all over.
From his condition alone, it seemed like he must have tamed something incredible. However, what they saw was…
"A chick?"
A small red bird chirped proudly atop Leo’s white hair.
"Pfft! Did you really tame a chick?"
"Amazing! The class representative brought back a chick!"
"Hey, don’t laugh too loudly! He might hear us! Haha—"
The students tried to stifle their laughter.
"I was expecting great things from Leo after seeing how he handled the griffon earlier. This is disappointing."
Carlo let out a chuckle and turned to Professor Yura.
"Pfft—?! Gah! Cough, cough! Hrk!"
Professor Yura choked on her water and ended up spraying Carlo with it.
As Carlo grimaced, Yura, having calmed herself, stared at Leo with wide eyes.
"Did that lunatic just tame a phoenix?!"
End Of Chapter
