The Greed of Kronos

Skia and ??

Forty-two: Skia and ??

Astian was overly regretful that he did not partially listen to Kronos when he said that they should get going as he was immersed in the serene place. Then they should be early and could witness the other summoning their familiars.

He could not also help it either. It was Astian’s first time going to such an area, after all. That was why Astian acted as if it would also be the last time. Good thing Kronos mentioned that they can go back anytime.

While Astian was drowning in regrets for being late, Sir Samael shook his head and started to walk towards the summoning circle in the center while talking. “It’s fine. Let’s get things done. Come here, Astian.”

With that being said, Astian dragged his two feet and went to the center too. The summoning ritual for Astian’s familiar then officially started with the other looking and excited with the outcome.

On the other hand, Kronos was spectating on the corner with his arms crossed and blank expression.

Sooner or later, it would be his turn. However, the fact that he already has a familiar seemed to be troublesome given that Sir Samael was not aware. He initially planned to tell Sir Samael that he already had a familiar. But observing his classmates, they appear to be silent with the truth. If it’s not a big deal, then the class should have told Sir Samael about the shadow king.

Truth be told, Kronos guessed that Sir Samael might know about Skia because of his potential. However, it would less likely be impossible when he found out that the corpses he sent were merely following orders without using senses such as sight and hearing.

The question on Kronos’ mind was that if it’s really dangerous if he would inform Sir Samael about Skia.

Hence, Kronos quietly glanced towards the direction of his classmates and called for his familiar in his mind. ‘Skia.’

With that being said, Skia got out of Kronos’ shadow and appeared in front of its master, bowing its head. “Yes, Master.”

As soon as Skia showed up in front of Kronos while being invisible in front of others and talked that only its master was able to hear, a familiar nearby seemed to feel its presence that it whipped its gaze towards Kronos and announced nonchalantly. “Shadow King. Spotted.”

While it’s true that Skia liked that title very much, at times like those, it was not a good thing to hear. Hence, Skia glared towards the other familiar and replied. “Shut up, you fool.”

“Hey! Shh!” Luca replied to his familiar as he flinched a while ago and looked anxious when his familiar announced such a thing.

Even Aeria, who was near them, broke in a cold sweat when she heard Luca’s familiar. She could say that it was a good thing that Sir Samael was distracted with the ritual. Otherwise, it would mean trouble.

Kronos was correct. Showing off Skia means trouble. Although he was not sure why but he felt like he needed to cooperate with them, keeping their mouths shut.

Thus, Kronos finally knew what to do next and looked at Skia. ‘Can you f*****g pretend that you’re being summoned?’

Since there would be no summoned familiar by the time Kronos stepped in and did the ritual, Skia would instead act as if he was being summoned and it was their first time encountering each other. That way, Sir Samael would not notice anything that was suspicious, and the summoning ritual of Kronos would end peacefully.

As if expecting for that to happen, Skia bowed once again and replied. “Absolutely, Master.”

‘Then good.’ Kronos replied simply.

The stage has been set. The only thing that Kronos needed to do was to play his role very well. And it seemed like it was his turn already when a blue gust of wind swirled right at the summoning circle, and precisely before they could even react, a blue dragon appeared.

Seeing this, everyone was in awe. It was such a splendid dragon that had an aura of a noble. Elegance and kindness were mixed together in the way they looked.

Astian could not even wait to show it to Kronos that he abruptly shifted his gaze towards Kronos and pulled the dragon to go to where Kronos was standing. “Look! Kronos!”

While Astian wore an excited face, his familiar wore an uncomfortable one. How could Astian drag a dragon’s nail and present it to someone? Fortunately, they were already contracted. That was why the dragon could not help but to go with the flow even though it was dragged by its toenail.

At that moment, Kronos felt some kind of sympathy towards the dragon and mindlessly gave it a pat on its feet. What a poor guy.

“Dragon,” Kronos mumbled as the dragon merely let out a soft groan.

On the other hand, Sir Samael nodded as he checked on the Astian’s familiar and replied with his usual serious expression. “Impressive, Astian. You successfully got contracted and got the Ichor Dragon as your familiar.”

The Ichor Dragon once served the high priest as his familiar because it tends to be drawn by people with pure hearts. However, when the high priest tainted his heart by doing terrible things, the dragon was in despair. Naturally, the dragon was a familiar, so it would do anything the high priest would order. Even the most inhumane orders. That was why when the time that they needed to renew the contract, the dragon abruptly cut ties with the high priest and lived in seclusion, as if sure that there was no pure-hearted person left.

And then there’s Astian.

The story of the Ichor Dragon was not known to the public. That was probably why Astian and the others did not react that much about it. But for Sir Samael, it was a serious case.

“Thank you, Papa!” Astian smiled.

Having the former familiar of the high priest and being one of the ‘masters of the masters.’ Astian Dyclour is a lad who is bound to have thousands of assassination attempts if someone were to leak about his secrets.

And Sir Samael’s role is to protect the child no matter the cost. That was why he took a glance over the Ichor Dragon and then at Astian before he gave his instruction. “Now order your familiar to turn into a smaller shape so that they could not be suspicious of the class.”

Their enemy is the high priest. And the moment they make a simple wrong move would also be the moment of their downfall.

With that being said, Astian then looked up to the giant dragon and felt like he really needed to reduce its shape. Come to think of it, Skia could also turn into a puppy. If Skia could, then surely Ichor could do too. However, it does have wings, so a puppy would not be the best choice.

After pondering for a moment, Astian then finally came up with what little creature would suit Ichor the best.

Hence, he smiled at his familiar and asked for a request. “Can you turn into a white bat? The blue bat is something that is questionable, so I was thinking if you can do something about it.”

To summon Ichor. Astian indeed was a kind person.

Hearing its master’s request, Ichor then bowed its head and replied. “Contractor, heed. Ichor, follow.”

Shortly after that, at first, Ichor changed its color. From being a blue dragon to being a white one. And then, Ichor reduced its shape until it finally had the shape of a white bat.

And an adorable one at that.

“Uwaah! It’s so cute!” The class commented as soon as they saw Ichor being a small albino bat.

With the attention that Astian and Ichor had, Sir Samael seemed to be in a rush that he cleared his throat and did not wait for them to finish their business with Ichor.

As soon as the class was settled, Sir Samael eyed Kronos and announced. “It’s your turn Kronos.”

With that being said, Kronos shifted his gaze towards Sir Samael and nodded. “Yes.”

Finally, it’s time for the play.

When Kronos went near to the summoning circle, he immediately noticed how similar it was to the summoning circles he could see in movies. The same familiar circle with unknown text and drawings. Inside the circle was another circle with another text inscribed on it. In a rather coincidental manner, the summoning circle was glowing red. Kronos could not help but to think that he would be summoning a devil instead of a familiar.

Setting aside the trivial thought, Kronos positioned in front of the summoning circle while Sir Samael was on the opposite side together with a small knife. Perhaps, a blood would be needed as a sort of catalyst to call for a familiar.

“As I’ve said earlier, your contract with your familiar is under five years only. That is to give both the person and the familiar the freedom to either break the contract or renew. The familiars are not representatives that you are to use in a war instead of fighting yourself. They could never fight in your stead. The familiar’s role is to assist you and run errands. They are familiars, not knights who pledge to be one’s sword. Are we clear?” Sir Samael once again announced to everyone.

Because Sir Samael was eager to go back to the dormitory and have his slumber, the good sir forgot to announce the information once again when it was Astian’s turn. That was why he abruptly announced as soon as he remembered. In that way, Astian and Kronos were already notified of the contractor-familiar relationship.

“Yes.” Kronos nodded together with the others.

The information matters not. With or without the knowledge about it, Kronos would still choose to make Skia as his servant who runs small errands rather than making it have the trouble to fight for his own battle. Just with the thought of it, Kronos had an idea that it was only for those cowards.

Who on earth would pass his problems to their servant? What an absurd thing for those who value their pride.

Sir Samael snapped him back to reality in the midst of pondering when he offered a hand with his usual serious expression. “Kronos, come here and give me your pointer finger.”

Hearing this, Kronos then patiently cooperated as he rested his left pointer finger to Sir Samael’s palm with a nonchalant look.

When Kronos also offered his pointer finger, that was the time when Sir Samael raised his hand with a small knife and explained the situation even before Kronos could react. “I am going to take some of your blood and place it in the summoning circle while you are to imagine what kind of familiar you would like to summon.”

However, it was not as if Kronos was not expecting for that kind of development. Summons, of course, tend to have a high demand for blood sacrifice.

“Alright.” So Kronos was chill.

Seeing his expression, Sir Samael nodded and then replied before slicing the skin of Kronos’ pointer finger. “Good then, here I go.”

It was a cut that was deep enough for the right amount of blood to sacrifice. It was dripping on Kronos’ finger that he could not help but to get excited whenever the light in the summon circle would grow brighter.

When the blood was enough, Sir Samael pressed the cut wound, and it miraculously disappeared. That would mean that the summoning is nearly done.

That was why Kronos abruptly called for Skia to avoid having conflict with Sir Samael. ‘Skia.’

With that being said, a black smoke similar to the blue smoke with Ichor appeared and became thick. It then slowly disappeared and gradually showed off a familiar face.

“I’m here, master!” Skia replied with a bow.

Because the shadow king was bowing, it was not too difficult to see that there was actually something behind him.

A black dragon with the same size as Ichor. More importantly, it had a cheerful vibe which made Kronos to get confused. “Contractor, hi!”

“What in the f*****g world...” Kronos mumbled as he stepped back while staring at the two black species in front of him.