The girl–Cadet Sable–walked up to him and crouched down to match Adrian's own height. There was a curious and fascinated look on her face as she adjusted her round glasses.
"So… you are Young Master Adrian?" She began patting his head gently. "I've heard a lot of rumors about you, and I was curious too."
She began pinching his cheeks.
"But seriously, who knew you would be so cute!"
Her awkward attitude shifted into a carefree one. It was a change so quick and dramatic that Adrian had no words. He struggled to free his cheeks from her grasp.
'Seriously, what's with her?'
But he didn't have to wait long before rescue came.
"Ahem! Ahem!"
Sir Joran let out loud coughs, making the girl come to her senses as she quickly let go of his cheeks and rose to her feet. She took glances at Sir Joran awkwardly.
After he was done pretending to clear his throat, he addressed her gently.
"Cadet Sable… I would advise you against being so… casual with the Young Master. After all, he is a noble despite his young age; your actions may be interpreted as rude."
"Ah… N-no, I forgot for a second, sorry!"
The young girl began to flail her arms around in panic. It seemed like she hadn't known that part.
At first, when Adrian had just opened his eyes in this world, it had seemed strange to him as well. Seeing old servants bow to him–a small child barely able to walk–felt awkward. But it didn't take him too long to adapt; he simply needed to ignore them.
After her awkward display, Cadet Sable led them into a room by the corner of the hall. It was a small room with a bed and a table in the corner; a lot of strange objects were lying on the table. The room was illuminated by the glow of moonlight streaming inside from the single large window on the wall.
The room was about the same size as his apartment back on Earth, yet it felt so small. Perhaps that was the result of living in the absurdly large mansion for five years.
But what drew Adrian's attention the most was the middle part of the floor. Strange patterns were drawn on it with a red substance that resembled blood.
'No… is that actually blood?'
Were they going to summon some sort of demon as his familiar? Because it looked like an altar for performing demonic rituals.
Adrian observed the circle closely, trying to understand the strange patterns. It was a circular pattern formed by connecting dots at weird angles; the patterns somehow resembled constellations made by connecting the stars in the night sky.
"Young Master Adrian, could you, um, stand in the middle of that circle over there?"
Adrian stood in the middle of that strange red circle, following Cadet Sable's instructions. She then handed him a piece of paper before stepping back to stand beside Sir Joran by the corner.
"Sir Joran, I know this may seem like a stupid question, but he does know how to use mana, right?"
Receiving a firm nod from him as her answer, she turned her attention back to Adrian. She seemed somewhat tense and excited at the same time.
"Young Master Adrian, the Eternal Realm is a separate dimension where beings of eternity dwell. What we are doing is creating a portal to that realm, inviting a being from that realm to this world."
She hesitated.
"I-I will try my best to guide you through it, so please try to follow my instructions."
Adrian firmly nodded his tiny head, reassuring her.
"The eternal beings–Eternarchs–are divided into ranks from Rank One to Rank Five. Although there can be exceptions, an Eternarch's strength corresponds to their rank."
'So it's best if I summon a being with a high rank? Sir Joran mentioned that I have no control over the kind of being that answers my summons. I wonder what their criteria for choosing are.'
The criteria was certainly not strength, otherwise Sir Joran wouldn't have brought him here to begin with. It meant that he at least had a chance to summon something powerful.
"Let's begin."
Adrian shook away his thoughts and steadied himself. He had expected to feel something at this moment: expectation, hope, nervousness. Yet all that he felt was the quiet numbness that he had been feeling since that incident with his mother.
"The piece of paper I handed you, the chant to initiate the summoning is written on it. To begin, release your mana while chanting, and the circle you are standing on will absorb it, initiating the summoning."
Adrian unfolded the piece of paper. As he read it, he became puzzled.
"What is this? What does it even mean?"
"Ah, well, nobody understands what it means. We just use it as the chant because it works."
Adrian glanced from the corner of his eye. Sir Joran and Cadet Sable stood in the corner. Sir Joran was observing him with a curious expression while Cadet Sable had her fists clenched tightly.
'Let's do this, I guess.'
He focused on his own body, concentrating on the energy flowing inside it. As he had practiced, he commanded the energy to concentrate on his legs. By now, he had learned to do it almost instinctively.
While slowly releasing mana, he began reading the chant written on the piece of paper.
"From the fusion of their stardust, a star was born, shining more brilliantly than any other.
"Yet its brilliance lasted only for a fleeting moment before shattering into a million pieces, scattering its brilliance into the lifeless earth.
"In the name of that brilliance, I summon you, beings of eternity. To form a pact."
As he finished the strange chant, a third of his mana was absorbed into the red circle, and it began to glow with a bluish light. Based on his guess, it seemed like the summoning had been initiated; now it all depended on the kind of being that chose to answer his call.
Cadet Sable's voice came from behind.
"Young Master, you must remember. The first summoning doesn't require any mana cost besides initiating the summoning itself, but higher rank Eternarchs require more mana to summon.
"Your current reserves of mana aren't enough to summon something beyond Rank One, but merely securing a contract with a Rank Three Eternarch or above will be a great boon to you in the future."
Adrian waited patiently, observing the glowing circle beneath his feet. Time continued to pass as all three people present in the room had their eyes fixed on the glowing circle.
But then, something strange happened. The bluish glow of the circle… simply faded. It returned to its previous state.
Confused, both Adrian and Sir Joran turned to Cadet Sable. She had a very awkward expression on her face as she began fidgeting.
"Well, um, I-it looks like… the summoning failed…"
"And what does that mean?"
She shrank back slightly at Sir Joran's question.
"It seems that… N-no being answered his call. After enough time, the mana simply lost its intent imprint and the summoning spell was canceled."
'No being answered my call? I should've considered that possibility too.'
It was so obvious now that he thought about it. If the summoning depends on the being itself, then there would obviously be a chance that nothing is summoned.
"Ah, no need to worry! This kind of situation is extremely rare. Please try again, Young Master, I'm sure you will succeed this time."
Although her attitude wasn't exactly reassuring, Adrian still tried again. He released mana into the circle while reading the strange chant.
The circle began to glow once again as a significant amount of his mana was consumed. There was only enough left to perform one more summoning.
The three people once again stared at the glowing circle with complete focus. Time continued to pass as a frown appeared on Sir Joran's face.
Adrian could easily guess what he was thinking.
'Another failure?'
But just as he thought that, the light of the circle began to flicker.
Nothing about their surroundings had changed, but Adrian felt as though something had. It was an indescribable sensation, as if another reality was connecting to their own.
Then suddenly, he heard a voice in his head. It was incredibly deep and resonant, as if it came from within an endless pit.
[Your call, I have answered. But feeble one, what do you have to offer?]