Auren was curious about his summoning crests from day one. Finally, he learned the method—he could not stop himself now. Not knowing what he was capable of was the worst feeling.
That night, Auren waited till everyone fell asleep. There was one weird thing he had noticed about nights in this world: once in a while, when he was trying to sleep or his eyes opened in the middle of the night—he heard sounds. It was different every time, but the gurgling, wolf- or dog-like sound it made was unmistakable. Like it was a dangerous beast growling, but it was also in pain. It was a terrifying thing to experience.
But that was the thing—Auren was not sure if he truly heard these sounds or if it was just some leaves rustling outside that his child brain turned into a monster. Sable and the granny did tell him lots of stories about monsters to scare him.
He didn't care much about it since the voices he heard were always months apart. He forgot all about it come morning. So technically, this was his first time trying to stay awake late into the night. He wanted to make absolutely sure even Maru had fallen asleep before he powered his two crests to see what they summoned.
Maru acted like a real animal in all aspects. He ate, slept, and even showed the tendencies of chasing other small animals that came near their house once in a while. If he had not seen with his own eyes Maru disappear in a poof of white smoke and reappear when his father summoned him back—he would never believe it was a summoned animal. The unusual degree of intelligence, and once in a while saying a word or two, he had long since started to consider normal for animals in this world for some reason.
After forcing himself to stay awake for a long time, Auren finally decided it was time. He mostly slept with Sable and Dante; occasionally, he slept beside his grandma, who liked to sleep on the other side of the few-meters-high stone wall. He did not want to recall those memories, but once in a while, he did hear noises that disturbed his sleep. His parents were indeed a young couple. Their house was too small for privacy.
Today, he was with Sable. Both his parents were sound asleep. Auren slowly removed the blanket and put both his hands above it. A clay lamp—his mother's summoned object—was burning, placed in the window space. It was giving enough light for Auren to see his hands clearly.
As a Blue Crest summoner, Sable could summon five to six clay lamps in a day. She could even change their size and shape a little—the changes were not easy to do though, he was told. She gathered the many summoned clay lamps; the little oil inside and the clay itself were useful—they often sold those or used them to make something else, like pots and other clay stuff.
He breathed in, emptying his mind to focus. He had not used his white, swirling energy today at all—he was saving it for just this. Auren gathered all the white smoke-like energy inside his body, tugging at it to move it freely. He stored all of it in his upper body, and once it was all together, Auren pushed it towards his hands—he had done this before to feel enhanced power in his hands for a few seconds, but today he did not let it settle in his muscles and instead directed it towards his palms—and the back of his palm felt like it was slowly heating up. His hands were thin, and it barely took a second for the guided white energy to connect with the crest.
His hand felt like it was on fire, and the heat was increasing each second he tried to force the white energy to connect with the black crest. Even though it was black, Auren could see a little glow of the color on his hand. He had done this for only his right hand.
It was ready, still the summoning did not happen—Auren remembered the words his parents said while doing their summoning. He opened his mouth and whispered:
"Come, Companion or Curse, I will not turn."
The white energy inside suddenly rushed out from near the crest, but Auren could not see any at all with his eyes—it didn't come out, but more like got sucked into the crest from inside his hand.
And.. there was nothing.
Auren felt like some dirt fell on him from the roof, but that was all. It took 30% of his white energy and produced nothing. He furrowed his brow in the dark of night—what joke was this now?
Thinking would come later; he got ready to try his other crest. Once again, Auren powered the black crest with the white energy connecting inside, and the same burning sensation was felt near the crest area, with the same glow illuminating his black crest.
He said the words—then it was gone. This time, over 40% of it.
This time, Auren saw and felt a black object fall from his palm down onto his stomach. It was pitch black and round, a bit too big for his small hands. The top and bottom of it were flat, the feel was like a polished, shiny stone fresh out of some ocean or shallow river. Like a perfect sphere, but just squished from two sides.
From all angles and senses, it was.. just a rock. Very shiny and nice shape, but still just a rock. It wasn't as heavy as a real rock though. And the material did not really feel like rock—it was more of a mix between metal and plastic or aluminium. Something Auren had never seen or felt in his previous life on Earth. He tried sending some energy into it, but it did not take any.
Auren's face got even more confused and conflicted.
So.. that was it? Nothing and a rock? Those were his two summons?
He got two chances at it, unlike others who only had one, and not a single one had any worth?
He hid the small rock behind one of their less-used chests and closed his eyes—he was wrong, not knowing was better. This is far worse.