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「Then let’s form a contract!」

Mira’s mood improved upon hearing Sanctia agree to her petition, so she quickly extended her palm towards her and activated Summoning Skill : Carved Seal of the Contract. The starting skill of the summoner class, used to form new contracts. Mira moved closer to Sanctia, her hand glowing softly. Worthramble and Anlutine watched from afar, nervous about the outcome.

Sanctia remained still, her hands clasped together in front of her chest while she gently pursed her lips. Eventually Mira’s palm touched Sanctia’s cheek. A summoning contract could only be made if both parties agreed to it. If the spirit did not wish for a contract, then the light would vanish from the summoner’s hand, indicating that the contract failed. But Mira’s hand kept glowing even after she touched Sanctia’s cheek. Instead, the glow increased, eventually starting to give off bright flashes, as if a strobe light had been turned on inside the shrine.

「Ohh, it usually never flashes this brightly!」

Mira said, her voice full of excitement while she narrowed her eyes to see through the bright light. Depending on the spirit, the reaction to the light could vary a great deal. It usually depended on the might and abilities of the spirit, but this reaction was a first for Mira as well.

「Is that the light of a contract?」

Worthramble muttered curiously as he watched them. After a moment all the light focused on a smaller region, forming a magic circle around Mira and Sanctia. The circle then shattered into many glowing particles, which were all absorbed into Mira’s hand.

「I-is it over?」

Sanctia’s lips trembled slightly while her cheeks remained flushed red. She had her eyes closed the entire time, so she had no way of telling what happened around them.

「It was a success!」
「Wha-?!」

Letting go of the confused Sanctia, Mira raised her hand high into the air while shouting happily, rejoicing that the contract was successful. Hearing that surprised Sanctia, and after her shoulders jolted slightly she gently lifted her eyelids to peek around her.

「A sword spirit. I’ve been looking for one for so long!」

Mira was ecstatic having gained a new skill, so without waiting she declared a spot to summon and quickly activated it.

Summoning Magic : Sanctia

As soon as she cast it, a white magic circle began floating in mid-air. It slowly began warping, as if it was being pulled into itself, and then shattered into many prismatic shards. From them, Mira’s newfound power showed itself.

「What’s… this..?」

It fell to the ground with a metallic sound. She had been expecting an armed spirit of a higher level than a Dark Knight or Holy Knight, but she picked up the result with a confused look. All she had summoned was a lone sword. And after closer inspection, it was a perfect copy of the holy sword. Still, the original sword lay at Sanctia’s feet, so it was not like Mira had summoned the sword itself. All in all, it was a truly mysterious result.

「What’s the meaning of this?」

All her earlier enthusiasm was gone in an instant, her expectations dashed. Holding the sword, Mira turned to look at Sanctia, looking for an answer.

「Even if you ask me, I don’t really…」

Sanctia spoke hesitantly, Mira’s inquiring stare showed so much doubt as if she was even questioning if this was not a different type of possessed sword.

「I don’t even know how to use a sword…」

Mira sighed as she muttered that, looking at the sword while at a loss on how to proceed.

(Well, either way I just learned how to cast it. Maybe if I keep using it, it could evolve into an actual knight.)

Mira began thinking of options, though she still had no idea how she would reach that point. All she knew about sword fighting was that she was indeed holding a sword, other than that she was a complete beginner. She had always been a spellcaster, so mastering a sword was virtually impossible for her anyway.

「Hmm… let’s try this instead.」

When she began to think of how to train with it, she got another idea. To put it to the test, she summoned a Dark Knight. The three spirits increased their distance from her, holding their breath, while Mira made the Dark Knight let go of its usual grand sword and instead let it hold the summoned sword.

(Hmm, proportionally the sword looks too small, but I guess it’s fine.)

Seeing that the Dark Knight was firmly grasping the new sword, Mira ordered it to give a few swings. Following the orders given, the Dark Knight quickly moved to the center of the room to swing the sword there. All it did was swing the sword up and down continuously, but it created a clear sound as the blade cut through the air, leaving a bright afterimage after it.

「This is amazing!」

There was a clear difference in how the Dark Knight swung the summoned sword as opposed to its usual one, looking more sharp and even creating a particular sound and shine. Mira was impressed, realizing just how much of a difference the summoned sword made. And then, the prismatic afterimage exploded. A bright flash and a high pitched explosive sound filled the room.

「What was that?!」

Blinded from the flash, Mira slowly opened her eyes, turning to Sanctia with an inquiring stare again.

「That’s one of the holy sword’s powers! By focusing many layers of my magic power in the air, they resonate and explode like that!」

The summoned sword had the same properties as the original item. Noticing that, Sanctia proudly explained what happened, smiling happily while adding 「I didn’t know summoning magic could do something like this.」

「Ohh, so it’s like the holy sword itself? That’s amazing!」

The summoned sword had activated one of the powers of the original. Seeing that, Mira ran to the Dark Knight and took the sword back from it, holding it up in her hands.

「Hahh!」

Mira amassed all the power she could, shouting as she swung the sword down. The blade traveled down silently, carried by gravity, and then collided with the ground together with a clang. There was no colorful afterimage, nor an explosion. The sword required a lot more than Mira’s strength to be swung.

「…」

Mira stared silently at the sword in disappointment, then turned to Sanctia once again searching for answers.

「Err… you know, I’m a holy sword. It’s not like just anyone can swing something like that properly. You’re a summoner, right? So it’s not your fault, you know?」

Sanctia stated one obvious fact after another, desperate to wash her hands off the matter.

「Hmm… Well, in any case, I got a new skill, so I’m happy enough with that.」

Either thanks to Sanctia’s reasoning, or through simple resignation, Mira relaxed her face and looked at the summoned sword with pride.

「This was a first for me, so please take good care of it.」

Sanctia looked at the summoned sword with an endearing look, as if she was looking at her child, her cheeks reddening softly.

「As long as it’s easy enough to use…」

Saying that, Mira sent the sword away while sighing. 「Now then」 she muttered, grinning as she walked towards Worthramble.