Lilia's Tale

Chapter 70: Fire

The first attempt was unsuccessful. The moth turned incorporeal, prompting the teacher to ask me if she could check.

"I'm just trying to make its winds particularly sensitive to wind magic to see what happens."

"You're just...trying to change the summon's attributes like that?"

"I guess, yeah."

I tried again and made sure to focus more, specifically on having a proper summon that simply had different wings. It became incorporeal again.

"I know that it's possible to change a summon's attributes at will since that's basically what happens for elemental moths, but it's usually done in a very specific way which involves extremely precise anatomical changes to the creature."

"Yeah, I do have to say it seems to be very precise. The problem is, according to this moth on my head, their wings are their most magic-sensitive area, but I don't know much more. Also, wait, did you just say that changes are done in very specific ways?"

"Ah, yes, why?"

"You should have told me that earlier and explained to me what changes you make for elemental moths compared to regular moths."

"The thing is... I don't know how to summon regular moths. I always learned with elemental moths directly, as not only is it what is taught here, giant moths aren't really useful."

"Well, I can definitely get behind elemental moths being more useful than regular moths."

I could feel the worry from the one on my head, so I reached up and started patting it, saying:

"Don't worry, you won't be forgotten."

It was overjoyed, although I could feel it was still a bit scared of its own future. It was a bit funny to me, considering it was a summon.

"You really look at your summons like pets, huh."

"I mean, they're living creatures, even if temporarily. They deserve to be cared for."

"That's the first time I hear that kind of talk. You really are a special girl."

I didn't want to comment further and went back to practising. Despawning the incorporeal summon and thinking through it further, I got an idea.

"Hey, Koko-sensei, I have a question. Is it possible to alter a summon after having summoned it?"

"I've never tried, but I'd say it's not."

"That's sad. I thought that maybe if I struggled with summoning an elemental moth directly, I could try summoning a giant moth then turning it into an elemental moth."

"That sounds optimistic."

"Yeah. Now that I think about it, it would hurt it a lot. I had to stop myself from being too strong on the winds earlier, although there was a slight chan..."

I didn't finish my sentence, realising that my idea might not have been as foolish as I thought. If there was a way to infuse summons with a certain type of magic, it could be possible.

"Another question. Is it possible to infuse a summon with a different type of magic?"

"Infuse? What do you mean?"

"I'll try and show you if I can."

I summoned a giant moth and told it to stay still no matter what. I then took a deep breath and closed my eyes to visualise magicules. I set my focus on the summon, and started conjuring fire magic to blend in together within the summon. I did it slowly, but made sure to keep going for a while.