Aurelia smiled warmly, a real smile, an expression Zeke had not seen once while talking to her earlier. From this gesture alone, it was clear that the woman doted on her niece quite a bit.
Zeke used this chance to scan the girl with his [Analyse] spell.
[Results of Analyze] First name: Celine Mage name: None Last name: Thorsten Age: 15 Gender: Female Height: 1.52m </div></div>
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Strength: 13 Constitution: 9 Agility: 15 Intelligence: 11 </div></div>
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Lightning Magic (Perfect affinity), Rank: Apprentice, Engraved spell: none.
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Zeke was shocked. The girl didn't have an engraved spell yet? She was still an apprentice? Then why was she going through the ritual? He had clearly seen that Albert had a spell engraved on his core despite having a summon. Was there an advantage to going through the ritual before engraving a spell? There had to be, otherwise, there would have been no reason to wait. Zeke knew from first-hand experience how painful it was to delay the engraving.
"Very well. Let us begin," Aurelia said. With a snap of her finger, a circle of light lit up on the ground. "Step inside."
This was it! The Spirit Summoning Ritual! With eager anticipation, Zeke focused completely on his Spatial awareness. He was not willing to miss even a single moment. However, his Spatial mana was unable to even get close to the circle or the girl who had just stepped inside.
This had never happened before and Zeke had no idea what could have caused this phenomenon. Was there some kind of protective barrier? There did not seem to be anything…
Frustrated, he inspected the Mana around him to find the reason for this. However, he immediately recoiled in shock.
The entire stage was completely flooded with the most potent Mana he had ever felt. So, that was the reason the matriarch had remained standing in place! She had used her own Life and Death Mana to push out anything else in the vicinity. This was an effective way to protect any spell from taking form.
It was the same principle that prevented Mages from casting spells inside another Mage's body. Even Zeke's [Perfect Spatial Awareness], which was designed to be unobtrusive to the senses, was repelled. This was akin to draping a blackout curtain over the entire scene. Only somebody with equivalent strength could even attempt to fight her for dominance.
With a sigh, Zeke resigned himself to the fact that his second objective of the day had failed as well. With Aurelia present, there was no way he would be able to use his Trinity Project. It had been naive to assume the Thorsten family wouldn't have a way to deal with magical snooping. Now that Zeke was moving up in the world, he would have to get used to encountering more and more countermeasures to his abilities.
Now, all he could do was use his ordinary senses to observe… as well as his Soul Sight. Without a moment's delay, Zeke slipped into his new state. As he did so, all his senses were on high alert, and he was ready to discard the extended part of his Soul right away — Just as he had practiced.
This was it, the first time he used his Soul Magic publicly and in the company of many of Tradespire's most influential Mages no less. This was an absolutely brutal test, but if he managed to remain undetected here, then he would be fine almost everywhere. With bated breath, Zeke waited. He didn't even dare focus on anything with his Soul Sight, merely waiting for any reaction from the crowd…
However, even after a long moment, there was nothing. Zeke's guard relaxed gradually as he saw nobody even react in the slightest. The only thing that was odd was when both Aether and Nexus, the two crows, simultaneously glanced in his direction. But they had averted their gazes just as quickly, seemingly not finding anything out of the ordinary either.
A smile spread across his face. A small win! Even if he could not use his Trinity Project, he could at least learn something about the Soul aspect of the procedure. He focused his Sight on the girl in question.
During the time he took to get ready, Celine had sat down in the middle of the glowing circle. Her eyes were closed and she had a look of utter focus on her face. Aurelia was silently observing the girl, waiting for some unknown sign.
"She is ready," Aether croaked after a while of silence.
"Begin, now," Nexus added.
Aurelia nodded, raising both of her arms to gather ambient mana. This reminded Zeke of what Maximilian had done during his Engraving Ritual. It only took moments for the scene to change completely. Above their heads, spanning almost the entire length of the hall another circle appeared.
This one was noticeably different from its earthbound counterpart. It wasn't just a simple demarcation but seemed to actually be some kind of portal. The ceiling had turned into a single giant window through which the sky could be seen. This wasn't the sight above Tradespire, however. It was showing a completely different sky.
As wide as the eye could see, there were squirming dark clouds. Lightning would periodically flash between them and Zeke got the distinct feeling that those clouds were actively attacking each other. This was the most menacing sky he had ever witnessed and he had a creeping suspicion that it was not any scene from this world.
Celine stood up, looking at the sky above and extending both of her hands. "I am Celine Thorsten, and I offer all I have! I seek power, power to defeat all that would stand in my way. If you think you are worthy, approach now."
The girl remained motionless and for a moment, nothing happened. Then, he saw it. It was not something that happened in the physical world, but in the spiritual. Something came through the portal. Zeke held his breath as he spectated the scene.
A giant serpentine spirit wrapped itself around her multiple times, before approaching her face with its own head. The serpent hissed in the girl's face, before licking her cheek with its arm-long tongue.
Their silent confrontation lasted for a few moments before Celine shook her head. The serpent hissed again, unwilling to accept this outcome. But eventually, it realized there was nothing it could do to change her mind. With one final flick of its tongue, it retreated back through the portal.
It didn't take long for another visitor to appear. The second spirit was akin to a toad, but unlike the humongous serpent, it was small enough to fit into the palm of one's hand. But despite its smaller frame, the toad didn't appear any weaker than the previous spirit. As fast as the lightning it was made of, it appeared in different spots around her, even landing on the girl's head and shoulder occasionally.
It took a longer time for Celine to make a decision this time, but eventually, she still shook her head. In the next moment, the toad was gone. Apparently, the small creature was too proud to bicker with her. This time, there was a longer pause before another spirit appeared. But when it arrived, it did so with a bang.
With the sound of a massive thunderclap, the beast appeared. Its blue fur had the distinct stripes of a tiger, yet its ears were long and sharp, instead of rounded. Its snout was also more pronounced and aggressive than in any species Zeke had ever seen. Its entire body screamed power and speed: This was an Apex predator, no doubt.
The moment she laid her eyes on it, Celine's face lit up. Slowly, ever so slowly, she extended her hand. The gesture was clearly meant as an invitation for the spirit to approach. Still, the creature remained motionless. Its bestial eyes held intelligence far beyond anything Zeke had ever observed from any animal. It appeared to be taking the girl's measure.
Eventually, the beast seemed satisfied with what it found. With slow, yet assured steps, the spirit approached the hand that had remained outstretched all this while. Each of its steps left a field of static on the ground that was visible to the naked eye. These electric paw prints allowed the spectators to follow its path.
Zeke's focus was absolute as he observed the moment the spirit touched the girl's hand. The change was instantaneous, and the spirit disappeared. But he had clearly seen it all. The moment they made contact, the spirit had been sucked into the girl's chest, where her core was located. In the physical world, Celine stumbled backward a few steps, as if hit by a physical blow.
In the next moment, she fell to her hands and knees, gasping for breath. The crowd remained in a state of anticipation as they waited for what would happen next. Zeke was no differnt. He once again cursed the field of Mana that prevented him from using his spatial awareness. He had gotten so used to it that he now felt blind without it.
Meanwhile, the portal above started to shrink as Aurelia withdrew her Mana. Eventually, it completely disappeared, revealing the wooden ceiling of the room once more.
After catching her breath, Celine rose. Her face was covered in sweat and her blueish hair was a mess. However, belying her bedraggled state, there was a wide, suspiciously smug grin on the girl's face. Turning toward Aurelia, she spoke in an excited voice. "I've got a good one, Aunty. I'll catch up to you in no time."
Hearing those words, Aurelia returned the smile. "How about you show us what you've got?"
Celine nodded. She closed her eyes and focused. The crowd collectively leaned in, curious to see what kind of creature could be tamed with a perfect Lightning affinity. However, even after a long moment, nothing happened.
Several heartbeats later, Celine's eyes opened again. A slight blush had crept into her cheeks as she addressed Aurelia. "How do I summon it, Aunty?"
Aurelia's smirk was mirrored by many in the crowd. With this gesture alone, the tense atmosphere had changed to something several shades lighter.
"Don't embarrass my niece any further, spirit," the matriarch proclaimed. "I know you can hear me. Obey your master, and come out."
"Yes, come out!" Celine echoed.
A moment later, the same Tiger Zeke had seen earlier emerged from the girl's chest with a graceful leap. Compared to its spirit form, it appeared a lot more corporeal now. The summon curiously studied its new surroundings, warily peeking at the Arch Mages that sat in the front row.
"Marvelous," Aurelia exclaimed, full of pride. "That's a Thunderclaw. It has only been summoned once in the history of our country. If memory serves me right, this was during our peak, and its summoner went on to become a renowned general. If this cannot be considered a sign, then I don't know what can."
Celine puffed out her chest proudly as she listened to her aunt speak. Meanwhile, the Thunderclaw was circling her protectively, shooting venomous glares at the crowd. "Aunty, Aunty! I want to fight!"
"You can play with your new summon later, dear, we still have guests to entertain," Aurelia chided softly.
Celine considered those words for a moment before a crafty glint entered her eyes. "I think it would be interesting for our guests to see the power of the summon as well, don't you think?"
The Thorsten matriarch considered the girl's words, and after slyly glancing at the impressive figure of the Thunderclaw, she nodded slowly. "I had not planned for this, but maybe a little demonstration would not be such a bad thing. Who did you want to fight?"
Without a moment's delay, she pointed her finger at a certain red-haired young man. "Mordred! I want to fight Mordred. He has been bullying me for years. It's time for some payback!"
Aurelia looked over at the boy in question. Mordred, for his part, had an awkward expression on his face. It was clear that he didn't want to have anything to do with this situation. He looked to his father for help, but Tristan wasn't even acknowledging his existence, pretending he didn't know him.
Betrayed, Mordred swept his gaze around. However, wherever he turned, only eyes filled with condemnation greeted him. How dare he bully such a sweet young girl! Finally, his eyes met Zeke's, and his despairing expression suddenly turned shrewd.
"Ahem… Even though I would love to fight you, such a pairing would be a little unfair considering our age difference…" Mordred announced. He quickly continued before anybody could interrupt him. "However, may I suggest somebody else? We have the pleasure to be in the presence of Ezekiel von Hohenheim today. The recently crowned number one talent of the empire and also the rising star of Tradespire. I have personally fought him recently and can attest to his skills. I believe a match against him would be far more interesting, don't you all agree?"
As one, every pair of eyes turned toward Zeke, including Celine and Aurelia. Even the Thunderclaw's bestial eyes fixated on him. It appeared to him as if the beast had just designated him as its next meal.
How did things end up like this?