A few seconds passed in the quiet office before the bones on the floor started rattling again.
Verso watched as the ribs and limbs began to slide across the marble, dragging themselves back toward the spine. It was a clunky and slow process but the skeleton was clearly trying to regain its form.
He looked toward Alicia and saw that she still had that subtle, amused smile on her face as she watched the pile of bones struggle.
"Headmaster, about my talent-"
"Stop right there."
Alicia cut him off in the middle of his sentence. She leaned back in her chair, her expression turning serious as she looked at him.
"For an awakened, their talent is like their lifeline." She said, her voice echoing slightly in the cold room.
She shifted her gaze toward the skeleton, which was currently trying to snap its skull back onto its neck.
"And in your condition," She continued, "I think it is something you need to make sure you hide from the world."
Hearing her advice, something clicked in Verso's mind.
The excitement of finally awakening had made him forget the reality of situation he was in for a moment.
He wasn't safe just because he had mana now. In fact, he might even be in more danger than he had been in before.
The admission test for the Summoner's Academy was starting in a month and as Verso was a top ranked student that was not a part of any powerful clan he stood out like a sore thumb.
To the elite families and major clans, a talent like him was either a tool that they could recruited or a threat they needed to take care of.
By awakening, he had just painted a bigger target on his back.
'She's right.' He thought.
'If people know exactly what my talent does, they will know exactly how to stop me.'
But then a different problem occurred to him.
'How do I even find out what my talent is?'
His awakening had been strange. He had spent his entire life studying to be a summoner, and he knew how the process was supposed to go. None of the books he had read mentioned hearing a mechanical voice in your head.
He opened his mouth to ask Alicia for help discovering his specific talent, but then he stopped. He remembered what she had said to him earlier about being guided by the hand.
If he wanted to survive until the next month, he could not rely on her forever. He had to figure this out on his own.
"Thank you, Headmaster Alicia." Verso said, bowing his head slightly.
A surprisingly warm and genuine smile appeared on Alicia's face. It was a stark contrast to popular icy demeanor.
"No, thank you," She replied.
She turned to look at the skeleton. It was now fully reassembled and was wandering around the room again, its little feet making a light clacking sound on the floor as it walked around.
"It has been a while since somebody made me laugh like that." She said, her eyes twinkling with leftover amusement.
She looked back at him and nodded toward the door.
"You are allowed to leave now."
Verso stood there for a second. He stared at the skeleton for a good few seconds, watching it walk in a small circle.
"What's wrong?" Alicia asked, confused by his sudden hesitation.
Verso rubbed the back of his neck, feeling his face turn a bit red.
"Umm, how do I recall him?"
A few minutes later, Verso was standing in the quiet hallway outside the Headmaster's office and beside him the tiny skeleton stood still.
Alicia had eventually told him how to pull the summon back into his summoning space but for some reason the skeleton was not responding to his mental command at all.
Verso looked down at the small skeleton.
"What do I do with you?" He said out loud.
He was supposed to be heading back to his dorm to rest, but he couldn't exactly walk through the school with a skeleton trailing behind him. It would draw way too much attention.
Almost as if the skeleton understood his words, it looked up at him.
Then, it did something Verso didn't expect.
The skeleton reached up with both of its bony arms, holding them in the air toward Verso. It looked exactly like a toddler asking to be picked up and carried.
Verso's eyebrow started twitching.
"I am not going to carry you..." He said, his voice flat.
He stared at the creature in disbelief. This was supposed to be a creature of the undead. A monster from the void.
'I thought I was going to get a summon, not a child.' He thought to himself.
He let out a long, tired breath. The energy from the awakening was starting to wear off, and he could feel the exhaustion creeping into his bones.
He looked toward the skeleton again, ready to tell it to just walk, but he stopped.
He could have sworn that the skeleton's hollow eyes had slightly narrowed.
Its little frame seemed to sag as it looked almost as if it was going to cry almost as if it was genuinely hurt by Verso's rejection to it's request.
Amused by the skeleton's expressions, Verso cracked a subtle smile.
"Okay, fine," He said, reaching down. "I will carry you only if you promise me you will return to the summoning space once we get further away."
To Verso's surprise, the skeleton suddenly started shaking it's head excitedly. It put its arms back up immediately, almost as if it were eagerly accepting the deal.
"Well, isn't that convenient." Verso muttered.
He bent down to pick up the small creature.
The skeleton was surprisingly light. But just as his hands made contact with the dull grey ribs, a familiar mechanical sound echoed in his head.
[Ding!]
[System Update Successful.]
Verso froze, his hands still holding the skeleton. The voice was clearer than before, sounding more integrated with his own thoughts.
[You May View System Now.]
The text appeared right in front of his eyes, glowing in a soft blue light.