The Summoner's Mark (First Draft) (Book One)

A Guiding Hand

Within his dorm room, Sin had the first volume of Black Magic cracked open in front of him and from his bunched-up brow it would have been obvious to anyone if they had only been present that the young male was quite lost within the words that he was devouring. Considering that Sin had already been reading for an hour, he had already gotten past the section that gave a quick guide to Shadow Magic and though he was intrigued by the discipline; Sin wasn't sure if this was the right path for him to take.

The section that came after; was one that gave Sin a brief understanding of Summoning and just from this little section, he was quite intrigued by the prospect of being able to summon creatures that could battle beside him as well as be a companion when he had no one else willing to be one.

Feeling that this may be the path that he wished to take, Sin focused more intently on the words the were written upon the pages.

Welcome to all that have chosen to follow the Summoning discipline of the school of Black Magic. Within this section we will give you a brief understanding of what Summoning is and what a Mage could gain from choosing to follow this path.

Many Mages that have come before you have chosen to follow this discipline because of the power that creatures they summon can grant them by bonding with them. While these creatures are known as Fae and have been known to break through the barrier between our two worlds to wreak havoc upon our world of Everia; they also have another name once they are bound to a Mage. The bond between a Mage and a Fae can become a powerful thing which is why we name this creatures Familiars once one is bonded to a Mage.

To help solidify the bond between a Mage and their Familiar, we have come to understand that blessing the Fae with a name that their Mage had given them helps cause these creatures a more sentient like mind.

So far, everything that Sin had read only reinforced that his initial instinct that this would be the correct path for him. Just like what had happened when he was with Sylris and the other trainee Dark Mages; Sin's mind formed questions that he wished to gain the answer to. "Is it possible for Mages to gain more than one Familiar?" Sin asked himself as if he could gain the answer by doing just this.

Knowing that there was only one way for him to truly gain the answer to his question, Sin focused once more on the pages that were before him. Scanning through the information that he was reading; he came upon a section that seemed to contain the answers that he was searching for.

In the history that surrounds the Summoning discipline of the school of Black Magic there have been a few dozen Mages that have determined that they wished to have more than one Fae as their Familiars. While many within the Mage community wasn't sure if this was possible; we have come to learn that with enough training and strengthening of a Mage's mana reserves that it was in fact possible to bond with more than one Fae.

We wish to congratulate and thank you once more for taking the path that will allow you to summon and bond with the Fae. For a deeper understanding on the Fae and the land that they reside within; please refer to the tome that is known as Into the Faelands.

This was all the information that Sin needed in knowing that Summoning Magic would be the correct path for him. Though Sin was sure on the choice that he was going to make, he was slightly interested in what the Curse Magic section held within the volume and was just about to turn to this section when he heard a small knock upon the door to the dorm.

Slightly surprised that someone would willingly come and visit him, Sin pushed himself from his chair and started making his way towards the door. As he gained ground, he began to worry that maybe this was a trick and someone who was meaning him harm had come to make sure that he didn't have a chance to get more knowledge in the Arcane Arts which would make him more dangerous and harder to kill.