Two days had passed since that day, and Ludelth had chosen to wait until he was fully healed before re-summoning Scáthach, so he could give his all to the training.
At the moment, the boy was standing in an open space surrounded by trees.
"Lucky I know this place otherwise it would've been hard to find somewhere to train."
Ludelth had discovered this spot as a child, after running away from his mother for sneaking into his father's office and scribbling on some important documents. Since then, he had used it to escape from everyone and find some peace, turning it into his secret garden.
Fortunately, the place was far enough from the castle that loud sounds couldn't be heard, making it the perfect place to train with Scáthach.
Thinking of his mentor, he opened his status screen.
[Name: Ludleth Ashenvale
Race: Human
Age: 12
Strength: 5
Agility: 4
Vitality: 5
Mana: 10/100
Aura: 200/200]
[Contacts ]
[Summon ]
Seeing the two new options that had appeared, Ludelth couldn't help but sigh especially at the sight of the summoning option, which he had tried out over the past few days.
—————————
Ludelth was in his room, looking around to make sure there was enough space.
"Alright, let's double-check everything. Space for the summoning—check. No one else in the room—check. Clothes—check."
"Looks like I've got everything ready. Time to begin the second summoning experiment."
[Summoning begins]
[Driiiing…
Driiing...
Driiiing...…
Driiiing...….]
As the ringing sounds echoed, Ludelth crossed his fingers and kept repeating to himself:
'Please let it be something good, please let it be something good…'
After a few seconds of unanswered rings:
[Summoning Successful]
[You have successfully summoned Lillipup (Pokémon)]
[The summoned creature will appear in…
3…
2…
1
Thank you for summoning. The summon will remain active for 01:00:00]
[To extend duration, use your own mana]
A small puppy with dark fur appeared. It had large eyes and a red nose, with its snout covered in thick cream-colored fur.
Its ears and tail were tipped with little tufts, and it had tufts of fur on the ends of its paws, along with a patch of darker fur across its back.
The little creature sniffed the air cautiously as it looked around curiously until its eyes landed on something familiar. It slowly approached the human figure who had been watching from a distance.
Ludelth felt slightly disappointed. He knew that with the summoning mode he was using, he wouldn't get anything powerful but he had still hoped.
Meanwhile, Lillipup had reached the boy's feet and began rubbing its head against his leg perhaps to mark him with its scent, or maybe it was just its way of asking where it was.
The little Pokémon looked up at him with round, intelligent eyes, then suddenly jumped on him, its front paws pressing against his chest as it licked him relentlessly.
"Hey! Wait! Hahaha, are you crazy?" Ludelth laughed, picking him up and trying to shield his face. "Okay, okay, you win. Fine!"
Seeing the creature's behavior, the boy couldn't help but pet him.
"You're fluffier than I expected. And you smell like… the forest?" Ludelth narrowed his eyes. "I wonder where you came from."
He sighed, thinking, 'At least I've learned something interesting. The system doesn't just let me summon humanoid beings but animals too.'
'So maybe that means I can summon insects… or even intelligent objects? It said I could summon beings from across the multiverse, so I guess it depends on what the system defines as a "being." '
Meanwhile, Lillipup slipped from Ludelth's arms and began exploring the room. Every so often, it would turn to see if the boy was following, and if he wasn't, it would trot back and nudge his leg with its head as if to say, Come on!
The room was no longer silent, as the sound of Lillipup's claws tapping against the wooden floor echoed with every step. It sniffed everything desk legs, the bedframe, even the corners.
"You're really an interesting little puppy." Ludelth couldn't deny he was enjoying the Pokémon's behavior, though he also thought he'd better clean up the fur it was shedding so no one would suspect a dog had suddenly appeared in his room.
He could've asked a maid to do it, but they might mention it to Mara, who would tell his mother, who would ask questions and that was the last thing he wanted.
So he spent the whole hour playing with the Pokémon. Ludelth found it genuinely fun, especially when he saw the little dog claim his bed and turn it into a cozy den.
The boy had always wanted a puppy, but for some reason, he had never been allowed to have one. At least for this one hour, he'd lived out that childhood dream playing, feeding, and laughing with Lillipup.
"We had fun," he said as he gently stroked the Pokémon's head while it lay curled up on the bed.
"But I guess it's time for you to go home now."
He glanced at the notification that had appeared
[Summon ended]
[Would you like to save Summon +6754822 (Lillipup) to your contacts?]
[Yes] [No]
Ludelth sighed as he watched the Pokémon dissolve into a myriad of glowing particles. But as his gaze returned to the screen, he noticed something strange after pressing Yes, the system interface had turned gray.
He remembered it had happened the day before too, but with everything going on, he hadn't paid it much attention. Now, with a clearer mind, he began to analyze it.
"Why are the Summon and Contacts tabs grayed out, but my Status screen isn't?"
"Does that mean those functions have stopped working?"
To test it, Ludelth tried initiating another summon. Nothing happened no system message, no loading screen.
He also tried to resummon Lillipup. Still nothing.
"Okay, maybe I'm just overthinking it. Of course gray means it's not working…" Ludelth muttered, annoyed with himself. He couldn't help but feel a bit stupid but this system was completely foreign to him. After all, he lived in a world that hadn't even entered its industrial age. Even with the memories of a boy from Earth, they weren't exactly helpful in dealing with something like this.
"There's no point in dwelling on it. I should probably start cleaning. I heard maids use something called a broom…" He vaguely remembered using a similar tool back on Earth.
But as he stood up, he noticed something odd there was no fur. Not a single hair from Lillipup, even though his room had been full of it earlier. That was strange.
He began searching more thoroughly.
After finding nothing, he stood there puzzled.
"So the system not only removes the summon… but everything that belonged to it too?"
The boy brought a hand to his chin, trying to think if there could be another explanation. But unless someone had used magic right under his nose, he couldn't think of anything else.
"No matter," he said, a small smile creeping onto his lips. "I'll test the theory again in the future."
"At least I don't have to clean up." Honestly, even though he knew he should clean to avoid raising suspicions, he really didn't want to.
"I mean, a prince like me cleaning? I can already hear everyone laughing at me." Ludelth shook his head and changed the subject.
"I should probably find another place summoning people in my room isn't going to stay a secret forever."
—————————
He was extremely lucky if he hadn't succeeded on his very first summoning, he probably wouldn't have gotten anything useful for quite a while.
He thought so not just because his second summon had been practically useless, but because his third summon… was a caterpillar.
Not some magical caterpillar from a fantasy story. No just an ordinary, Earth-born caterpillar. A damn caterpillar.
"Better not think on that…"
Steeling himself, Ludelth summoned Scáthach.
[Summoning initiated]
[Drinnn…
Drinnn…
Drinnn…
Drinnn…]
[Summon successful]
[You have summoned Scáthach (Fate version)]
[The summon will appear in…
3…
2…
1
Thank you for summoning. This summon will remain active for 01:00:00]
[To extend the duration, use your own mana]
A figure took form from the void.
Scáthach emerged.
Her purple hair drifted slightly, as though the air bent to her will. Crimson eyes locked onto his. No smile. Only that sharp, unyielding stillness he had come to recognize like standing before an ancient mountain.
Ludelth gave a small bow. "Master. Welcome back."
An impassive expression. Then came her voice sharp and cold as the tip of her spear.
"I am not your master. I'm not here to guide you like a mother does her child."
"I am teaching you. That's different. Remember that."
Ludelth raised his eyes to meet hers."Then… if you're not my master what are you?"
"It doesn't matter what I am. What matters is that you learn."
Scáthach slowly moved her hand through the air, tracing a symbol that shimmered into a violet line before fading. "This world has its own rules. Different from where I come from. But the energy here… it's not so different. If anything, it's more complete. More alive." She fell silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thought.
Then she turned to him, her gaze now locked with his.
A crimson flash cut through the air.
In a blink, Scáthach had summoned her spear its tip now aimed straight at his face.
Ludelth recoiled just in time. The spear struck the ground with a heavy thud. He felt the tremor shoot up through his bones.
"You have decent reflexes," she said, calm as ever.
"Why did you attack me?" Ludelth asked, eyes sharp, bracing for another strike.
Scáthach shook her head. "That was merely a test to see if you were paying attention."
"Now prepare yourself. We don't have much time. I want to see your limits."