The grand auditorium of Celestial Summit Academy smelled like incense, ambition, and the cold sweat of three hundred nervous fifteen year olds.
Rin Eldraven stood in line, wiping his palms on his academy uniform for the seventh time in as many minutes. Around him, the other first year students whispered excitedly about what they might summon. A girl two spots ahead kept muttering prayers to the Goddess of Light. The boy behind him wouldn't shut up about how his family's bloodline guaranteed at least a Gold tier summon.
Rin had no such confidence.
His family had no bloodline. No legendary artifacts. No connections to the noble houses that populated ninety percent of the academy. He was here on a scholarship, one of five commoners accepted this year out of pure merit. His entrance exam scores had been perfect, his magical aptitude tests off the charts.
But none of that mattered right now.
In the world of Asteria, everything depended on your summon.
"Next! Step forward into the circle!"
Rin's heart hammered as the line moved forward. On the elevated stage, Professor Aldric Whitemane stood beside an intricate summoning circle that glowed with silver light. Behind him, the faculty watched from elevated seats. In the highest seat, Headmaster Silvanus observed with his arms folded.
The girl ahead of Rin stepped into the circle. She was Melissa Thornwood, a merchant's daughter.
Professor Whitemane raised his staff. "Channel your mana. Speak the words. Call to the one who resonates with your soul."
Melissa closed her eyes, her hands trembling as magical energy swirled around her. The circle erupted in green light.
"By the ancient pact, I call forth my destined partner! Come to me, creature of bond and covenant!"
The light coalesced into a deer like creature with crystalline antlers. A Forest Guardian. Solid Silver tier.
Applause erupted. Melissa bowed and exited the stage, her new summon trotting obediently beside her.
"Acceptable," Professor Whitemane noted. "Next!"
Rin's legs felt like lead as he climbed the steps.
The summoning circle was larger up close, inscribed with runes in languages he'd studied but never quite mastered. He could feel the eyes of three hundred students and two dozen faculty members boring into his back.
"Name?" Professor Whitemane asked, though he clearly already knew.
"Rin Eldraven, sir."
"The scholarship student." It wasn't a question. Professor Whitemane's tone suggested exactly what he thought about commoners diluting the academy's prestigious bloodlines. "Well then. Let's see if your test scores translate to actual talent. Enter the circle."
Rin stepped forward. The moment his feet crossed the boundary, he felt it, a pull, like invisible strings attached to his chest, reaching out into the vast unknown. The sensation was supposed to be comforting.
Instead, it felt wrong. Discordant.
"Begin," Professor Whitemane commanded.
Rin closed his eyes and channeled his mana. The runes began to glow, first silver, then flickering to gold, then…
Someone gasped.
The runes turned crimson. Then black. Then began cycling through colors that had no names, hues that hurt to perceive.
"What in the Goddess's name..." Professor Whitemane stepped back.
Rin's eyes snapped open. He tried to stop the flow of mana, but it was too late. The circle had latched onto something, and it was pulling.
"By the ancient pact," Rin shouted, his voice not entirely his own, "I call forth my destined partner! Come to me..."
The circle exploded.
Not literally. But reality cracked above it, a jagged tear in space that looked like someone had taken a knife to the fabric of the world. Instead of gentle light, this rift leaked darkness, not shadow, but absence.
Cold air blasted through the auditorium. Students screamed. Several professors stood, hands moving to their own summoning contracts.
And through the rift, something laughed.
"Oh," a deep voice echoed from the void, "how delightfully unexpected."
A figure emerged from the rift, not floating gently but falling, crashing down onto the stage with enough force to crack the marble. Rin stumbled backward, barely staying on his feet.
The being straightened to its full height.
He stood nearly seven feet tall, wearing armor that looked like it had been forged from congealed blood and blackened steel. His skin was ashen gray, marked with scars that glowed faintly red. Two horns curved back from his head, and his eyes burned with crimson fire. In one hand, a massive sword materialized from nothing.
The demon looked around the auditorium with supreme disdain.
"A school," he said, his voice dripping with contempt. "You've dragged me to a school. I, who commanded legions. I, who brought kingdoms to their knees. I, Malachar the Crimson Tyrant..." He paused, noticing Rin. "...have been summoned by... a child."
The silence was absolute.
Professor Whitemane found his voice first. "A demon lord. You've summoned a demon lord." His face went pale. "Seal the auditorium!"
"It is standing right here," Malachar interrupted, examining his clawed hand. "And 'it' can hear you perfectly well."
"Explain yourself, demon," Headmaster Silvanus said, his voice carrying absolute authority.
Malachar's smile was sharp. "I am no longer of my world, old man. I am of the Nexus now, the place where defeated legends go to rot. Your boy's ritual tore a hole between dimensions."
Rin's head was spinning. Defeated legends? The Nexus?
"The summoning must be severed," one professor declared.
"Cannot?" Malachar turned, and the temperature dropped. "The contract is already formed." He held up his left hand, where a mark was burning itself into existence, a complex seal that mirrored one searing onto Rin's own palm.
Rin looked down in horror. The mark was black and red, nothing like the silver or gold bonds on other summoners.
"No," Rin whispered. "I didn't mean to..."
"Didn't mean to?" Malachar laughed. "The boy doesn't even want me." He leaned close to Rin's face. "Listen well, summoner. I didn't ask to be here either. But your ritual yanked me out. So like it or not, we're bound now."
"Look at the seal," Headmaster Silvanus said quietly.
Every faculty member who knew contract theory went silent.
"It's a Soul Resonance Bond," Malachar explained mockingly. "The strongest, rarest, most unbreakable form of summoning contract. So unless you're planning to kill one of us, which would kill the other, you're stuck with this situation."
Headmaster Silvanus stood slowly. "Rin Eldraven will remain enrolled. However, he will be placed under special observation. His summon will be restricted from manifesting except during supervised sessions. Any violation will result in immediate expulsion."
"How generous," Malachar said dryly.
"Then you will learn," Silvanus said firmly. "Dismissed."
Malachar yawned. "Well, master. This should be entertaining." He began to fade. "When you need me, and you will need me, just call."
The demon lord dissolved into crimson mist that flowed into Rin's shadow.
Rin stood alone on the stage, his future at the academy suddenly very much in question.