[Lifespan Remaining: 20 days, 22 hours, 2 minutes.]
In front of him, the pink-haired upperclassman was still staring at the wyvern. A few students had begun moving behind their friends, while others seemed torn between retreating and getting a closer look.
"Hands away from your weapons, please." Lenia finally approached, her voice cutting through the whispers. "If it wanted to attack you, drawing your sword would hardly improve the situation."
The upperclassmen slowly lowered their hands. Lenia stopped beside Noct and looked up at the enormous spirit behind him.
Her gaze lingered for a moment before she turned toward the students. "As some of you have already realized, Noct has managed to secure a contract with a Named Spirit."
"A Named Spirit...?" someone in the back muttered.
"Yes," Lenia continued. "Which should answer your question about whether he has any experience with summoning. Though I suppose this is a good opportunity to explain what that means."
Noct finally sighed, releasing the visage and taking a step back to give Lenia center stage. The instructor lifted a finger. "Spirits are divided into four tiers, largely according to how long they have existed. Fledgling, Developed, Named, and Lord."
She gestured toward the pool nearby. Several of the water spirits had gathered under its surface, their faint shapes still visible through the clear water.
"Most of the spirits you’ve been interacting with are Fledglings. They’re young, their forms are simple, and their understanding of the world is still limited."
As if responding to her attention, a small droplet rose from the pool.
"As spirits grow older, they become more stable. They learn, develop preferences, and gain better control over their element. Eventually, we classify them as Developed Spirits."
"So they get stronger just by getting older?" the same pink-haired senior asked.
"Generally, yes. A spirit has considerably more time to accumulate power than a human does. But age alone won’t tell you everything about its capabilities." Lenia continued explaining. "Named Spirits have existed long enough to establish identities that distinguish them from others of their element. Their names, appearances, and abilities may have been recorded across generations."
"And the last tier?" Alice asked, glancing at Noct. "What makes a Lord Spirit different?"
For some reason, Noct broke out in a cold sweat as her golden eyes kept focusing on him, trying to probe if he was still hiding anything else.
"Lord Spirits," Lenia said, her tone becoming a bit more serious. "They are ancient existences whose lives stretch far beyond the histories we’ve managed to preserve. They hold authority over their respective elements and the spirits under them."
She then gestured to the surrounding cavern. "What attacked Altaire was just a fragment of a Lord Spirit. Yet, it managed to do this much damage. Think of how powerful they really are if they manage to manifest in full."
It was a warning to the other students, but somehow, Sylph took it as a compliment instead. ’Hehe, don’t you see how powerful I am!’
’Alright, I get it...Your Majesty.’
"How can someone secure a contract with a spirit then?" the pink-haired upperclassman asked, her eyes practically glittering with hope.
Lenia raised a finger, pretending to be an expert in the field when she had been bottlenecked for five years with the exact same problem. "Power alone won’t secure a contract, and neither will reputation. You need something the spirit values enough to offer its cooperation in return."
"Then I’d like to ask how our Teaching Assistant was able to make a contract with his if that’s okay..." she said softly.
She seemed quite sincere and there was no accusation in her expression—someone who genuinely believed that she could learn something from his answer.
"Well..." he scratched the back of his head. "To be honest, I don’t understand it that well myself. Spirits are fickle after all."
Her expression faltered slightly.
"It approached me when I was in danger," he continued. "I would’ve died without its help. We ended up making a contract around then."
The explanation was not entirely incorrect. He simply left out a few things. Though in actuality, Noct still had no idea why Sylph chose him.
"So you didn’t summon it first?"
"No."
"Then what did you offer?"
Noct hesitated. "I can’t really give you a method to follow. The circumstances were a little unusual and things were quite chaotic..."
The girl nodded slowly, though a few of the students around her looked disappointed. He supposed that was understandable. Having someone tell you that a powerful spirit had simply approached them wasn’t particularly useful advice.
"Actually, I wasn’t even strong enough to make a normal contract at the time."
Alice tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"My body couldn’t handle it. So we made an Assimilation Contract instead."
"An Assimilation Contract?" the pink-haired upperclassman rose her head once more. "Why would you do that if you said your body couldn’t handle it?"
"Well, it’s—"
"Wait." Another student leaned forward. "If you weren’t strong enough to make a normal contract, how would assimilating with it help? Wouldn’t that mean—"
"That will be enough for today."
Lenia finally found her tact and stepped in, placing herself beside him as she addressed the students. "Contracts differ according to the spirit and the circumstances. You’ll need a better understanding of the basics before we start discussing unusual cases."
"But Professor—"
"And you have other classes to attend."
She gestured toward the transportation mirror. "Back through the mirror, everyone. Once you’re in the classroom, collect your belongings and check that you haven’t left anything behind."
A few students looked as though they still wanted to ask something. However, Lenia was already directing the group nearest the pool toward the exit. As the pink-haired upperclassman passed, she gave Noct a small bow.
"Thank you for answering."
"Right. No problem."
He watched her join the others, but for some reason, something about her still bothered him. He felt as though he’d seen her before...
After everyone had left, Lenia simply sighed, returning back to the ’bratty’ mode that he remembered her in. Her shoulders slouched and he could now see the dark circles under her eyes clearly.
"Teaching is soooooo exhausting..." she sighed, leaning onto a nearby rock. "If I didn’t owe that damn disciple of mine, I wouldn’t even be here!"
Noct approached her, a vein about to pop out from his head. "Yeah? Does that favor also include revealing my personal information to your disciple?!"
"Ah. She mentioned that?"
"She made it pretty obvious."
She glanced toward the transportation mirror, checking that the last of the students had gone. Noct waited, as he wasn’t particularly interested in arguing about something she had already done, but he would’ve appreciated knowing how much information had changed hands.
"I owe Scarlett quite a lot," Lenia admitted.
"You mentioned that."
"Then you should understand why it’s difficult for me to refuse when she asks me something."
"That depends on what she’s asking."
Lenia gave him a tired look. "She kept asking about you. How we met, what happened in Altaire, what sort of person you were..."
"Why?"
"If I knew, I wouldn’t be wondering about it myself. But she kept asking me about your prophesized death."
"...What did you say?"
"That she should ask you."
Noct was silent for a bit, trying to figure out why the Headmistress would be so interested in his personal affairs. Was it simply personal interest? Or something else...?
But before he could, Lenia shooed him away. "Go back to class. Didn’t you say you have a class right after this? You’re gonna be late, you know..."
"Ah..."
He had only intended to accompany Alice to her elective. Somehow, that had turned into a trip to Altaire, and teaching a whole lesson. Noct sighed and headed toward the mirror. Whatever Scarlett wanted, he would have to figure it out later.
"Oh, Noct?"
He stopped just before stepping through.
"What?"
"Don’t forget to check the Summoning schedule. I expect my assistant to arrive before the students next time."
’...I never even got to ask how much merit this pays.’