The Summoner Guild (On Hold)

Self Training

"But man is this place creepy." Kyle sighed to himself as he surveyed his surroundings. He was currently outside of large metal fence that surrounded the mansion, and to his surprise, there was nothing there save for a forest of dead trees with tombstones dotted randomly between them. He was here because he hoped to train his summoning in a place where no one else could see him, and his small dorm room couldn't fit any more of the minions that he summoned now that he'd exceeded it's limit. And quite frankly, he was tired by being buried by goblins anyway whenever he tried to practice. Now, out here, he would be able to summon anything that he wanted with plenty of space to spare, or at least he hoped that he would be able to. However, the atmosphere felt as if he'd stepped into a horror book, and Kyle felt nervous being out alone even if he did have a small army of small green minions at his beck and call.

"Rotten." Gobby complained, and Kyle sighed as he couldn't help but copying her in holding his nose closed. The 'guardians' that were apparently guarding the facility fit the graveyard scenery perfectly, being the fact they they were all  either zombies or skeletons. And while they did leave Kyle alone while he wore his black robes, they still made the air reek with the smell of rotten flesh, which was even worse then his own minion's smell in Kyle's personal opinion.

"Yeah... well, i guess that I'll just get to training so that we can leave sooner." Kyle sighed, raising his hands while looked over his already large army of fifty-two goblins and seventy three gremlins. There was no way that he could summon this many at once, but they all seemed to persist in following him after they were summoned until he didn't have a use for them anymore. Though the more he had out at once, the weaker he felt as the all required a small amount of magic to sustain their presence in the world. And if he ever ran completely out of magic, the entire army would vanish without a trace, only leaving Gobby there to help him as his familiar didn't require magic in order to sustain.

"Servants, gather before me!" Kyle chanted for perhaps the third time that afternoon, and he immediately collapsed to his knees as almost all of his magic. However, as his head spun, twenty seven more goblins and gremlins appeared before him, all ready to follow him commands. Though instead of commanding them, Kyle just leaned back and rested against one of the many dead trees around them so that he could recover himself. Magic in this world relied on one's magical power, which was basically another kind of endurance for spell casters. And just as someone would recover their stamina after running for too long, spell casters could rest to. However, the process affected their minds instead of their body, and Kyle had almost thrown up several times from his spinning head before he finally started feeling better. He knew that he would recover faster if he dispelled his army, but with how grim the atmosphere was and how much he didn't trust the undead to simply just start attacking him, he felt that he needed to surround himself with protection.

"It's impressive, but you should know that your training will only be slowed by having this many minions out at once." An unexpected voice called from somewhere, and Kyle looked up to surprisingly see that Livana was sitting on a branch in the tree above him. 

"It's alright, I can handle it." Kyle replied. "Plus, I want to leave here soon. I don't really like the zombies."

"Then why not just kill them?" Livana asked, and Kyle looked up at her curiously.

"We can do that?" Kyle asked.

"Of course. You don't really think that they're important, do you?" Livana asked arrogantly. "The real guardians of the academy are on the edge of the forest. These things here are just fodder ment for summoners to practice against. Stinky... smelly fodder... And as you can see, my minions are already taking care of a couple of them."

Looking around, Kyle only just now realized that there were several zombies and skeletons that were covered in some type of reflective liquid. And it took him a few moments before realizing that they were actually covered by slimes that were slowly digesting the undead with their weak corrosive effect.

"Well that's good to know." Kyle stated. "But why are you here? Are you training yourself to?"

"Not really. This place is just quiet, so I come out here to think." Livana answered. "That, and killing the undead gives you a slight amount of the magical power that keeps them moving, so I guess that it's really killing two birds with one stone...This place would be perfect if it wasn't for the smell."

"It doesn't seem to be very effective..." Kyle stated softly as he watched her slimes attempt to slowly dissolve the undead.

"My slimes have other uses then just combat, so don't even think about making fun of them!" Livana yelled down at Kyle angrily, and he held up his hands in surrender.

"I wouldn't dream of doing that!" Kyle yelled out in his defense. "I was just about to ask if you wanted to work together is all!"

"Work together?" Livana asked suspiciously.

"Yeah. My minions can take out the undead faster than yours can, so why don't they attack while your slimes slow them down so that mine don't get hurt? Wouldn't we both get the magic that way?"

"You are not incorrect, but why help me when you can replace your minions so easily?" Livana asked.

"Even if they're minions, I learned from our duel earlier that I don't like seeing them die." Kyle stated seriously. "To see so many creatures just throwing their lives away because I asked them to... I don't like it at all."

"Interesting." Livana chuckled slightly to herself. "So you must have withstood the introductory spell, am I correct?"

"How did you-?"

"I withstood it myself for the first few times." Livana answered. "However, soon the spell whittled away my resistance to it and I fell victim, though I don't mind it personally. It merely plants the suggestion of being a dark lord into your mind, it doesn't force you to become one. It also gives you many of the aspects needed of a dark lord, including complete disregard for your minions."

"Yet you defend yours so proudly?" Kyle asked with a smile, and Livana's face turned red from embarrassment before she turned away from him to hide it. "You wouldn't happen to know how to make myself immune to it, would you? I mean, I love being manipulated as much as the next guy, but I'd rather stay myself."

"Then change up oath in a way that the instructors wouldn't scold you." Livana said simply. "The oath contains a carefully placed spell that becomes completely ineffective if you modify it. Though, most make the mistake of saying nothing at all during the oath, and then they get affected from when everyone else says it."

"Wouldn't me doing that effect everyone then?" Kyle asked, thinking that he'd be targeted by the instructors if he changed the spell.

"Like I said, change in a way that won't get you into trouble." Livana shrugged before jumping down from her position in the tree. "Now, as a reward for my advice, I will have you help me in defeating these undead."

"Whatever you say." Kyle laughed slightly to himself. "But I really do appreciate the information."

"Just be careful with what you say. I've never seen someone resist the spell completely, and I'm not sure what will happen to those who reject it."

"Oh, don't worry about that." Kyle replied. "I know exactly what to say that won't cause me any more problems in this place, either with the instructors or the students!"