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***
It was finally the day.
The day of the familiar ceremony.
Amon woke up early to Lily climbing on his chest and pounding it.
Ever since Zephyra had disappeared, it was Lily who usually woke him up.
He quickly took a shower and got dressed.
Thereafter, he cooked himself and Lily breakfast before leaving the house and locking the door.
Lily, though had some problems with being left alone in the initial days, waspletely fine
now.
She had her toys and she knew how to do most of the stuff to not have any problems.
As Amon stepped outside in the cold air, he walked down the stairs and quickly headed to the academy gates.
***
As Amon arrived at the location, he immediately noticed therge group of students likest time.
It surfaced some unwanted memories for him but he quickly pushed them down.
He quickly met up with the usual group.
Alya waved at him.
"Here!" She said, smiling.
All of the group members were close to each other now, so everyone spoke informally.
It was only because he had returned those memories to the cast.
He reached them and also raised his hand to greet them.
"Sup."
"Yo." Ren greeted him first, throwing the cigarette stub to the ground.
Amon''s eyes followed it from the corner and for a split moment, his face scrunched up in disgust.
He hated these types of things like always.
They were the cause of his parent''s death after all.
And Ren knew that he hated them which was why he finished it early.
"You woke upte like always?" Michael questioned, leaning back against the railing.
Amon nodded.
In all of their group, he was the one to sleep the most.
But he rolled with it.
Just because they had bodies capable of making them not feel tired for 2 whole days, it didn''t mean Amon didn''t like to sleep.
Even 6 hours was barely enough for him.
From the side, Charlotte chuckled.
"It''s good that you woke up at least."
Elizabeth alsoughed, surprising Amon for a moment at such a sharp contrast.
"True."
"How disgraceful..." Then he heard a venomous voice from behind him.
He looked up and his ck eyes locked with two emerald green ones.
It was Liliana.N?v(el)B\\jnn
She was the only one in the group whose rtionship with him was rock bottom.
No, even in the negative.
But he couldn''t do anything or care less about that.
She was an NPC in the trip arc anyway so there was no development at all.
And not like he liked her.
"Your acts disgust me, you filthy bastard." She said it clearly.
Amon shrugged back, waving off her usual attitude towards him.
"Cry about it, bi**h." He cursed casually.
Nobody minded it.
With how much Ren and Alya cursed, this was normal.
As for the rtionship matter, the other 3 girls had given up on it.
All 3 of the boys had a beef with Liliana to the core.
Like always, a p resounded in the area that took everyone''s attention.
Their heads turned and they saw Athena standing at the center again.
The scene was just like the previous time.
"Wee students. I know you have been here once already so I won''t waste any time and get
straight to the point."
She took a breath.
"Today is your Familiar Ceremony, In some moments, a transportation array will cover you all again and transport you to the Familiar Grounds."
She exined.
"It is advised to stay close and not get out of the array. In case of being left behind, you yourself are responsible. In such case, you will also take the ceremony next year so be
careful."
Everyone nodded, preparing themselves.
"Then, I''ll start." She sped her hands.
Just likest time, a circr diagram etched itself on the ground with various runes and
inscriptions on it.
It started shining in a ck and purplish hue, illuminating all the students.
And in the next moment, everyone disappeared.
But just before his view faded away, Amon noticed a shadow wriggle behind Athena.
And from it, arose Arthur and Amelia.
***
Amon''s senses distorted as he felt his breath being taken away from him.
It onlysted a moment though.
As in the next moment, they all returned to him one by one with his vision being thest one.
However, even before he opened his eyes, he felt suffocated.
Not by air. He couldn''t be suffocated by air.
But by the density of mana in the atmosphere.
It was so much that he felt it being weighed down upon his body.
Something very rare as a person''s body was continuously sucking mana.
He felt as if his body would be instantly back to full mana after using a spell seconds ago.
He opened his eyes, and immediately a vast lush green clearing entered his view.
It waspletely circr, therge majority of trees being the border of the area.
And in the absolute middle of the clearing, was arge circr clear pond.
Every student was currently aligned along with the tree border.
Right beside the pond in the distance, stood Athena and Arthur.
''Huh?'' He was surprised.
He was sure that he had seen Amelia before being transported as well.
Whatever, he shrugged.
"As you can see, you are currently standing the familiar grounds." Athena gestured around
her.
"I''m sure you all know what is the process for getting your familiar as it was exined in the
sses."
"The Familiar Grounds are a sacred and secret location that no one knows the location of."
"The whole area that you see ispletely engulfed inrge and pure densities of mana
which I''m sure you can feel."
Everyone nodded.
"However, what you feel is just the start of the density."
She gestured to the pond beside her.
"This is the source of all mana in this area. The closer you step to the pond, the higher the
density you experience will be."
Then, Arthur finally spoke up.
"You can get as close as you want to the pond. The speed with which you form the familiar
will increase with this as well." He said and everyone perked up.
But he tapped his cane on the ground, signaling a warning.
"However, the higher the pressure that weighs down on you will be as well. If you aren''t careful, you will blow up your mana pathways and end up as a cripple."
"The Academy will never be responsible if something like that happens. It''s on your own
ord if you decide to do so." He warned them all, sending a shiver down their spine.
Everyone nodded again.
"With that, you are free to start your familiar process. You have 4 hours to do so, failure will result in the person having to take it next year." Arthur exined.
Then, he started to talk about other things but Amon didn''t waste time on any of that.
This old geezer...
He knew that what he was saying now was useless and just wasting the student''s time.
The time had started the moment he dered the students free to start the process.
Amon quickly sat down and closed his eyes.
The group looked at him with surprise since Arthur hadn''t finished his words yet.
But contrary to their thoughts, he said nothing...
It was then that it clicked in their minds and they also sat down with a certain distance to each
other.
Familiar awakenings could be terrifying with some creatures being veryrge so it was
advised to keep a certain distance.
Amon concentrated on the mana around him.
As exined before, Familiars were just the embodiment of your mana nature in the form of
an animal.
They were like the amalgamation of your mana.
The process of awakening them was also like a game. Except the game was much serious.
Because when forming a familiar, the more mana you used in the process, the better andrger your animal could be.
But at the same time you were taking the risk of getting your mana pathways exploding under
the pressure.
So it was like go big or go home.
You could summon a small squirrel or a gigantic hawk. It all depended on the amount of mana
you inputted.
But yes, the rank of the creature didn''t depend on the mana you use.
The rank was just a measurement of how far the familiar could go after all.
The rank from which all familiars started was Order I.
Several minutes passed before Amon finally opened his eyes, he noticed other students also
sitting down and focusing on themselves.
It waspletely quiet.
Some students like Klein, Elizabeth, Adam, Charlotte, and others were trying to step further,
carefully.
They carefully checked each spot, trying to find the best one for them.
Even Ren was included in them.
As Amon stood up, he noticed Arthur''s and Athena''s stare on him, waiting to see what he
would do.
Looking to the side, he also noticed Michael standing up, a few meters away from him.
Good.
Amon had an idea.
It was a do-or-die idea.
A maniacal slight smile came on his lips.
"Let''s do a gamble..."