The next morning I woke a little before 4am, having laid down at 6pm the previous night. I'd only intended on taking a nap after my shower, but I had started to realize that the last few days kept pace with my exhaustion.

  At first I wasn't fully sure of where I was, as my room was dark like moonless night. With a yawn I stretched, just hoping I wouldn't hit anything when I went to find the door or the light. At the max height of my stretch, the room filled with a soft purple and blue glow, allowing me to see once more.

  I'd noticed that the only things that I seemed to make it to bed with, were my underwear and the towel. ‘Classes haven't even started and I'm already acting like some spoiled college kid,’ I quickly gathered my clothes that I'd somehow thrown around the room in my haste to feel the embrace of a warm shower again. St. Pelli is great, but being so close to the Wastes makes having hot water far more annoying.

  When I was done I decided to go to the sitting area and contemplate my new Cards, or at least I tried for a while, I was still having a hard time looking at the three new Cards in my binder, even after the talk I'd had with Radwin.

  ‘Soon, I hope.’ I sighed wearily.

  There was still the envelope that I'd gotten from Dominic the day before, sitting on the ice-like table.

  “He said there's a Card in there, and it's up to me to find out which one.” I started to reach out, but a blue burst of energy popped and pushed my hand away from the envelope. “What the hell?” I whipped my hand back to find the tips of my fingers covered in a thin frost.

  -Warning! ? Has denied the awakening of this Card. Earn her respect before taking another.-

  ‘Denied me, and Her?’ I felt like there was something scratching at the back of my mind. This is similar to the message I had after my last Card awoke as ‘Unknown’. She awaits me to earn her approval. I'm starting to guess that means at least a Summon type Card of some sorts might be in that envelope. What's next, am I gonna be a counter tamer.? ’

  My mind kind of wandered with the thought of counter based abilities and friends that I could summon on the fly to help me, but I wasn't ready to get off topic yet.

  Unknown:(?) Ice Sprite, High Rare, T1R1.

  Type:Unknown Affinity: Ice, Space/Error!

  -Effects: You have not yet met the qualifications to use this Card fully. You've managed to keep (?)’s interest, and for that a show of her strength. Grow to earn their strength still hidden in this Card.

  –Summon a Ice Sprite that feeds off ambient mana if compatible, or 5mp per hour out of combat. Ice Sprite has its own mana pool independently of caster only used in combat. Sprites are temperamental and occasionally disregard orders if your life isn't in danger.

  “Am I gonna be a walking zoo at the end? First Bunnies, and now sprites. Not to mention I don't think I've even scratched what this Card wants.” I began to Summon a sprite to see what they were like.

  The mana rushed up to my palm, and I quickly righted it to face the ceiling. A blast of chilling wind made itself known in my hand, then snow. The wind and snow never stopped swirling, but instead stabilized while two purple eyes stared back at me inquisitively.

  “Cute little guys, aren't ya?”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  It chipped back at me like the sound of two pieces of ice rubbing against one another, but I could tell it was without a doubt a ‘thanks’. I just let the guy explore the room to see how it would roam without orders, and to see how they normally act. It wasn't long before I had several questions, but the main one being;

  “What the hell?” as a loud pop suddenly filled the room with blinding purple light. When it faded, the sprite was gone and the room was flooded in frost for all of a moment before it all appeared to be absorbed into the floor. ‘So no cleaning crews. Good.’ I nodded.

  “Now what exactly happened?”

  I started with summoning another Sprite, and it appeared in very much the same way. What I did differently was watch the sprite as it went along. It was almost the same amount of time as last but the Sprite was being progressively filled out by purple before going pop.

  I was completely unsure of what exactly happened other than they seemed to have a time limit, and the System wasn't helping me out on this one.

  “Guess I got kamikaze Ice Sprites, have no clue how to use this yet since I don't control the timer, but the last 2 were within 3 minutes. I don't want to test here how many I can Summon in case I blow out someone's floor, or myself through a wall.” I grumbled

  After brushing off the extra snow and ice sticking to my tunic, I finished getting dressed for the day, mainly my shoes which I was regretting not having on. When I got back from my room, there was loud knocking from the door.

  “Coming, just a moment please.”

  I got my shoes on and rushed to the door to find Dominic standing in hallway.

  “Don't you have any idea what time it is?” He asked me flatly while peering into my room. “maybe i?” (ask about the rest of this sentence)

  I politely stepped out of the way and let him in, and he walked over to a panel on the wall, hit two buttons, a sheen covered my walls and ceilings, then he plopped on my couch.

  “Almost as nice as my room, but I'm an Ice Water Affinity. Glad I was right about the space Affinity, it's nice here. Now tell me how a freshly awakened can make so much damn noise at 5am.” He waved his hand like he was waiting for me to get a move on.

  I Summoned an Ice Sprite and he sat up near instantly.

  “Now that's not a common card. Most Sprite summons are Uncommon or the result of a set. This one is certainly a set, but not,” he seemed to be lost in thought as he scratched his chin idly. “Now I'm almost temp….” But before he could finish what he had to say, the room was awash in shades of purple and blue all over again.

  Dominic just stared at where the Sprite had been, not sure exactly what he'd just seen.

  “Is it supposed to do that? You don't know for sure? Of course you don't, only like your 5th day, right?” He seemed almost unsure if he should tell me something, but just shook his head.

  “Find a professor you trust. And maybe check that envelope.”

  “About the envelope sir, the Sprite Card keeps stopping me from opening it with messages telling me to be more patient. Is that common?” He just narrowed his eyes at the envelope before shrugging.

  “Well I gave that to you, so no use regretting it now. Syilten do you understand anything about Summon or contract type Cards?”

  I sook my head.

  “Only that some come with the Summon already there, and others require me to find a contract.”

  He gave me an approving look.

  “That's already more than most know before starting their first year,” he gave me a knowing look. “Contract type summons require you to reach out to their plane and find a contractee. For direct Summon Cards though, the being inside is already bound so the personality is there from the start and they have to follow whoever owns their Card.”

  “This is all very insightful sir, but I'm not sure where you're going with this.” I interrupted

  He narrowed his eyes for a moment before going back to his normal nonchalance.

  “I was getting to that if you would let me. It's for the fact that Summon type Cards can sense one another. Though, having too many can muddle their senses they say. You'll be one to keep an eye on Syilten. And please remember to use the controls for your room, if you're going to use it for training. You woke up your immediate neighbors and in turn, me” he said with a tight smile, a polite farewell and he was gone.

  With a weary sigh, I slumped further into the soft ice couch.

  “Every time I get answers I end up with more. At least I have cool magic powers,” and with a swish another Sprite was floating around the room and then another and just one more for good measure. Then without further fan fare. Pop,pop,pop! “Nothing like an ice bath in the morning, but two minutes and thirty seconds was the detonation point. Still wondering if that's normal, but I'll get there later”

  Another knocking at my door brought me up short, causing me to double check the sound screen was still on before going to open the door. Radwin was standing there with a slight pout on his face.

  “I thought we'd meet up after seeing our rooms, sleepyhead.” he teased “Can I see your room, then we can go see mine? Spoiler, it's perfect for Alchemy.” His excitement was palpable.

  “Sure buddy, look wherever you like.” I stepped aside with a chuckle.