Having given up on summoning a life spirit, I decided to try summoning forest, lightning, and metal spirits. A forest spirit required a living tree, a fresh flower, a little soil, and flowing water as mediums.
So you gather the creatures and materials that form the basis of a forest to summon it. Uh...... Let's see...... The incantation for calling a forest spirit......
“Home of life...... Refuge of all living things, spirit of the forest...... Reveal your form.”
The incantation was surprisingly simple. When I chanted it, a threadlike strand of green energy soon stretched out from the mediums—Why's it so predictable?! Forest means green! Why green?! I hate things this predictable!—and transformed into a pretty woman about 30 centimeters tall. Looking at me with her eyes gently lowered and her head slightly bowed, she greeted me.
“Great dragon, have you called me?”
“Yes, that's right. I called you.”
She looked older than me, so I used polite speech without hesitation. At least the tree used for the summoning looked older than I was now.
Since she'd been summoned by borrowing the energy of a tree that looked at least 100 years old, wouldn't she be older than me?
But the spirit hurriedly waved her hands as she spoke.
“Polite speech for a spirit like me...... Please speak casually. I'm not such a great spirit that a dragon should address me politely. I was only born recently. I came into being when the flower beside that tree was born.”
“Hmm, all right. I'll speak casually.”
“Yes, thank you. And the reason you called me......”
“I'll cut straight to the point and keep it simple. Won't you make a contract with me?”
“A contract? With a lesser forest spirit like me?”
I shook my head slightly at her reaction, which seemed rather exaggerated. Lesser or greater, that didn't matter.
“I don't care. I just want to make a contract with a forest spirit, and although we've only just met, I like you. Well? Won't you make a contract with me?”
She seemed hesitant. After thinking for a while, she stole a glance at me, and I sent her an intense look saying, ‘Hurry up and answer!’
That startled her into speaking.
“I will! I'll do it! But my abilities are so meager......”
“I said I don't care, didn't I? Whatever you say, I know. If a spirit makes a contract using dragon blood, it breaks free of its rank. That doesn't apply to the 5 elemental spirits, but I understand it does to forest spirits?”
As far as I knew—according to Mom—when a forest spirit made a blood contract with a dragon, its power grew according to the dragon's overall abilities. The moment it contracted through blood, it broke free of rank, and its power changed along with its master's growth. That was why I wanted to make a contract with that spirit.
A spirit that grew according to my abilities. And a cute-looking one at that. That said it all. Hahahaha! I must have quite a streak in me. Ah, dangerous! I want to stay on the normal path, at least!
While I briefly indulged in those fantasies, the forest spirit called to me.
“Um...... The contract......”
“Huh? Oh, uh...... Right. We should make the contract, shouldn't we? Ow! Here. Drink this.”
“Yes......”
She gulped down the blood beading on my front toe—dragons had no hands in their original form. A brilliant red glow swept through her body, and she smiled sweetly as she spoke.
“The contract's been established. My abilities will be with you, Master, and my life will be with yours as well. Please give me a name. And tell me your name.”
Another one asking me for a name? What is it with these spirits......
After thinking carefully, I decided to use the name of a forest spirit I'd seen in a fantasy novel.
“Dryad. That's your name. And mine's Rainisis. I look forward to working with you.”
“Dryad! Thank you, Master Rainisis. I look forward to working with you, too.”
With that, I'd completed my contract with a forest spirit, one of the 5 non-elemental spirits.
After finishing my contract with Dryad, I felt my mind growing hazy. A sudden wave of dizziness left me lightheaded.
Aaaah, what's wrooong? As I gazed at the spinning lair ceiling, my consciousness fading, I heard Mom's voice.
“Oh dear, you've pushed yourself too hard. You called and contracted with 2 of the 5 non-elemental spirits. How could your mind hold up? You'd better get a good long slee......”
I lost consciousness before she finished speaking.
Hmm, I'd learned that even a dragon had limits to his mental energy. I'd only summoned and contracted with 2 spirits, but did that really consume so much? Well, non-elemental spirits were very different from elemental ones, so perhaps this mental drain was natural. Still, wasn't collapsing after summoning and contracting with just 2 a terrible return on the energy spent?
Oh, leave it. I'll get used to it someday. If I keep calling and using them for about 200 years, surely the day will come when I can handle them properly? Gwahahaha! Just wait! I'll keep at it as long as it takes!
But first......!
“Gwahahahahaha! Gyahahahaha!”
“......Shut up, you madman.”
I snapped at the luminous object floating before me, laughing like mad. More precisely, it was a raving object. I'd expected this much. Since it was a lightning spirit, I'd expected it to be rather electrifying.
But, but...... I hadn't known it'd be a ‘mad·man.’ Seriously!
To summon a lightning spirit, you gathered the mediums for all 5 main spirits, meaning fire, water, earth, air, and light—like air, this only required keeping the space lit.—then concentrated and chanted an incantation. The summoner's mental energy and affinity with nature determined the probability of success.
So I'd followed the manual and summoned it, and the result......
“Wahahahaha! Gyahahahaha!”
A madman like that had come out. I heaved a deep sigh. I'd had a bad feeling right from the summoning!
“Gyahahahaha! Young dragon! Why'd you call me?! Gyahahaha! Little dragon...... A little dragon! Gwahahahahaha!”
It was laughing so damn hard at something that wasn't even a joke.
The lightning spirit continuously gave off bright yellow, crackling sparks, repeatedly bunching together and spreading out. Its movements seemed to respond to its laughter.
Was laughter this fellow's power source? Did that mean I'd have to make it laugh with lousy jokes to boost its power...... Cough, surely not.
“Shut up, you madman. I'll get straight to the point. Want to make a contract with me?”
“A contract? He says a contract! Gyahahahaha! Kyahahahaha! I will! I'll do it! Gyahahahaha!”
Too easy......
“No precautions or anything?”
“None! None! Just call me whenever you want! Gyahahahaha! Ahahahahaha!”
I felt rather doubtful, but still drew a little blood from a front toe, sprinkled it over the spirit, and spoke.
“All right. Here. I'll call you again later. Your name's Spark. I'm Rainisis.”
“Spark! Spark! Gyahaha! See you, Ranis! Kyahahaha! Raaaanis!”
“Hey! Who said you could make up a nickname?!”
Spark disappeared in a shower of sparks—Hmm, something's odd. I think I chose the wrong name!—and I sighed. Why did I feel so empty? With that fellow Spark around, I felt I could become a very quiet person.
Now, is the metal spirit all that's left?
A metal spirit. I'd already thought of its name. Steelsquall! It meant steel skull. But what if the metal spirit was a madman, too? Oh, surely not.
“Mom, what's a metal spirit like?”
“Well, I'm not sure myself. We hardly ever make contracts with metal spirits.”
“Huh? Whyyy?”
“We dragons have a convenient race called dwarves. Whenever we want something made, they bring it straight to us, so there's no particular need to make things with a spirit.”
Haha, hahahahahaha! So in the end, you just work the dwarves? Well, when you had convenient beings who'd promptly make things with an “I'll have this!” and a “Yes!” without any mental energy spent, why bother summoning a spirit...... But I wanted one. If possible, I wanted to try everything within my abilities. So I decided to summon a metal spirit, and Mom prepared the mediums for me.
“First, a metal spirit needs bubbling molten iron. Pour in a bucket of mercury, add a piece of mithril the size of a human head and a similar-sized piece of adamantium, then add all kinds of jewels and boil it for a day. After that, you need to put in a medium to give the spirit its summoned form.”
Mom dropped a piece of metal the size of a human head, gleaming pure silver—it was probably mithril. Its luster certainly deserved the name ‘true silver.’—into a huge furnace that looked about 5 meters across. Next, she put in a similarly sized piece of black, very hard-looking metal—that'd be adamantium? I thought I'd read in a novel that it was the hardest of all metals.—followed by a stream of jewels of every color. But a medium to give it a summoned form? What's that supposed to mean? Mom dusted off her hands and asked me.
“Hmm, would you prefer an animal form or a human form?”
“Pardon? What do you mean by that?”
“Metal spirits aren't summoned for use. They're passive spirits that always stay beside their masters and obey commands. They have no will of their own and only follow orders, so they need a form to take when they're with their masters, you see? Usually, if you put in 2 living creatures, the spirit you summon afterward looks exactly like them and can transform. It can also take a form halfway between the 2. For instance, you could put in a human and a wolf, keep it beside you in human form, turn it into a wolf to take around, and make it fight as a werewolf in battle. Well? Would you like to try a wolf and a human, too?”
A human, a wolf, and a werewolf? That sounds good.
I nodded and was about to agree when I hurriedly stopped myself.
Wait! A human and a wolf? Mediums?
“Um, Mom, does that mean you put a human and a wolf into that furnace together?”
“Of course. Well? Would you like to try that, too?”
Gaaah! Put a person in there?
I hastily shook my head.
No! No! I might be a dragon now, but I absolutely couldn't commit murder!
It's a shame(?), but let's give up on a werewolf and look for something else?
Hmm, a tiger and a lion? Would the middle form be a liger? A lion and an eagle would make a griffin.
Hmm, having an animal that could fly would be nice.
I'd probably be able to communicate with it, so it'd be useful for scouting, too?
Then something fast and strong...... A cheetah? A leopard? A leopard...... A leopard...... A black panther......! Yes! That's it!
“A black eagle and a black panther!”
“A black eagle and a black panther? Oh? Our Rainin's got unusual tastes? Yes, a black panther and a black eagle would make a winged black panther. That sounds quite nice. All right, wait here. Teleport!”
Mom vanished in an instant with the spell called Teleport, and I gazed absently at the furnace, which was about 5 meters wide, long, and high.
The furnace flames looked very hot, but a Red Dragon, almost completely resistant to fire, wouldn't mind them. My skin was still too delicate, but Mom could probably put her hand into that boiling molten iron to check its temperature.
Hmm, it's so warm I'm getting sleeeepy...... Yawn......
Yaaaawn...... Did I curl up my tail and fall asleep because it was warm?
I rubbed my eyes with difficulty—dragons had small front feet and comparatively long necks, so rubbing your eyes meant ducking your head low enough to make your neck ache a little.—and got up.