Louise, on the night of the failed summoning ritual, finds herself in a strange, frozen dungeon and has to fight her way out of it. In the process, she gains a system that allows her to enter dungeons and summon monsters that she defeated. Little does she know, these dungeons and monsters are from Runescape, and it's not just limited to monsters; bosses are also free game for her.
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Louise's Runescape System (Runescape / Familiar of Zero)
- Thread starter Stimpak Medic
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Statistics (2 threadmarks, 3.5k words)
User Total Stimpak Medic 2
Prologue: My First Dungeon
Stimpak Medic
Novitiate
- Joined
- May 4, 2025
- Messages
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- 681
Prologue: My First Dungeon
Cold!
So cold!
My body feels like it's going to freeze at any moment now!
Louise sat against the icy wall of a strange stone room full of nothing but stone and ice. There was a dull light from the glowing blue runes on the square walls, but other than that, it was somewhat dark. Her breath froze midair and dropped to the ground as tiny ice crystals that shattered on the ground in front of her.
She shuddered as she shivered. Her nightclothes were not enough to warm her up, not in any way. Her silver silk shirt, silk pants, and socks barely did anything to stop the cold from seeping into her bones.
This is all just a dream. Yes, that's it. I'm dreaming now, and I'll just wake up if I pinch myself.
In between her shuddering and chattering of her teeth, she raised her right hand to her cheek and pinched. She could feel a dulled pain, but nothing else happened.
Oh.
That's no good.
She did not wake up. Not even for a moment. At least she had her wand.
Lying on the frozen stone next to her on her right was her wooden wand. It seemed to be slightly frozen, as a thin sheen of ice coated it.
There's no reason to keep sitting here and eventually die of freezing in the cold. I need to get out of here.
She slowly rose to her feet and held her wand closely to her, and now she got a better view of the room around her.
A large door to her right with a large purple triangle on it, the size of a portrait, stood silently closed, and a stone table that looked much like an altar sat at the far left of the room, standing silently, as if awaiting her presence.
Shivering again and hugging herself, she walked over to it. The cold floor bit through her socks, and she felt like she was going to freeze to death at any minute.
Come on, Louise, Rule of Steel. Don't let this be your end!
Atop the table that rose up to her chest sat a small dagger made of purple metal, a soft-looking robe made of gray fabric, boots of the same gray fabric, and a full-faced hood of the fabric as well. A large wooden purple staff made of a wood she had never seen before lay atop the table next to the robes. Small runes were carved into the wood, and they glowed faintly. Next to it was a round glass vial full of a white liquid that had a carved-in lettering that said "Antipoison", whatever that meant.
Not even thinking twice, she threw on the robe over her shirt and pants and slipped on the boots. Tearing off the face of the hood, she slipped it over her head, feeling the warmth the moment she put it on. Thankfully, the robe fit her, if only slightly too big. It made the cold bearable, almost as if it was designed for such a cold place. Perhaps it had an enchantment to ward off cold temperatures.
She let out a breath of relief.
Thank Brimir for this. I'm not sure what I would have done if not for this robe.
She gave an unconscious prayer and then picked up the staff, placing her wand in a small pocket in the robe around her waist. The staff was a good head taller than her, and the wood was carved in a way only a novice would carve, but she could feel the magical power pulsing within it.
It's not like I can do much with it.
Louise lamented her situation, seeing a powerful staff like this wasted on her failure of magical ability. Then, she shook her head to rid herself of self-doubt.
No, I can't think like that. I have to worry about what's in front of me.
She slipped the antipoison vial into her other pocket and looked around again. Across from the large stone door, there was a ladder that seemed to go up somewhere, but when she approached it, the ladder disintegrated, and the tunnel upwards collapsed, leaving nothing but rubble.
There goes my escape.
Louise groaned, feeling suddenly very much trapped. Looking through the rubble in hopes of finding something, she found a small purple triangle-headed steel key that glowed with a faint light, barely the size of her pinky finger. She picked it up and immediately looked over to the large door.
This had to be it, the key to the door.
She walked over and held the key up to the door, in which it flew out of her hand and was absorbed into the stone of the door, which rumbled and slid to the side with a loud rumbling grind.
On the other side was another frozen stone room, in which there was a large, clear crystal in the middle, shedding a bright light all around it.
The room was almost empty, and she would not have noticed them if they did not make a clacking tapping noise as they crawled across the walls. Louise looked up at the wall near the ceiling to her right, and she saw something horrifying.
Spiders!
Big frozen spiders!
"Eeeeek!" She screamed a fearful scream. She hated spiders, and these were huge, almost half the size of her, and three of them at that, all slowly walking across the walls towards her.
"Die!" She shouted, focusing her magical power towards them.
Booom!
An explosion rocked the room, sending two of the spiders splattering against the wall, dead in one hit. The other one was only struck slightly by it, and two of its legs had been shattered, so it dropped to the floor, limping towards her, its frozen mandibles clicking angrily.
"No!" She shrieked and sent another blast towards the spider, where it blew up just like the others.
Ding.
A ding of a small bell could be heard, and something appeared in front of Louise. It was a translucent blue box with white text.
'You have gained the ability to summon the defeated monster, Level 1 Ice Spider, as one of your five summoned creatures. Do you want to add it to your Summoned Creatures list?'
What? Summoned monster? Summons list? But I failed my summoning. What even is this?
Questions flooded Louise's mind as she looked at the box in front of her. What even was this? This wasn't a dream. So what then, was this? Had she truly gone insane from the cold and begun hallucinating? Was she actually lying against the wall and in a coma from the cold?
Well, if she could summon a monster to help her, that was good, right? Right?
She shuddered. It was a spider, though. A gross, icky, frozen spider.
Not now. Not ever.
The box, seeming to understand her, disappeared, leaving her in the now-empty room.
Across the room from her, past the crystal, was another door of frozen stone. Icicles hung from the small stone outcrop atop it.
Then she involuntarily shivered as she noticed something atop it. It was a white eye with a slitted black pupil that sat atop the door, watching her unblinkingly. She flinched before slowly gathering her fortitude.
The eye did nothing but follow her movements.
Slowly, she took a step forward, and the eye moved slightly, taking in her new position.
Another step.
Nothing.
Another.
Nothing.
It seemed that the eye would only watch, so she stepped forward towards the door again. She let out a sigh of relief when nothing happened to her. Eventually, after some hesitation, she walked up to the door and found that it simply slid open as she approached it with the same grinding rumble as the one before it. Stepping through with some renewed confidence, she found herself in a large, well-lit room, easily the size of a ballroom.
Its floor and walls were of frozen stone, and bright crystals hung from the tall ceiling, as if they grew out of them.
In the middle of the room was a sleeping humanoid creature that looked twice as large as a normal human. It had thick white fur, and it lay curled in a ball. A thick shield of stone covered in ice rested against its side.
At the far end of the room was a large door that led somewhere else. It had glowing runes all across it, and there was a warm light slipping through the cracks.
Perhaps she could slip by it and go through the door.
One step.
The monster still slept.
Another step.
Silence.
Oh no!
Achoo!
Louise sneezed, and the sleeping thing in the middle of the room woke up, jumping to its feet with a speed unexpected from such a stocky creature.
It was entirely covered in long white fur, which made it almost look like a bush, if not for it's gray skinned humanoid face.
"Leave Icy Bones alone!" It shouted with fury, spreading its arms wide.
Louise only had a second to react, and by then it was too late.
Ice crept up her legs, waist, chest, and then head, and turned her into a brick of frozen human.
The thing wobbled over to the block of ice that, after a few seconds, cracked and shattered, leaving Louise to fall to the ground.
Quickly pointing her staff up at the monster after recovering, she sent her magic out.
Boom!
The creature was sent flying with a violent yelp, where it slammed into the far wall. Its right arm twisted and mangled, as its face was a charred mess. It slowly rose to its feet and let out a gurgling, muffled cry from its destroyed jaw.
"Diuughh," It shouted, as if it wanted to say die, but its jaw was too mangled to make such a sound. Blue blood poured out of wounds in its fur, but it survived.
Boom! Louise hit it with another explosion, and it fell to the ground dead.
Louise, dropping to her knees and panting with exhaustion, both physical and mental, just sat there on the frozen floor, looking at the charred remains of the monster that had frozen her temporarily.
'Congratulations, you have defeated one of the level 1 floor one bosses, Icy Bones. Do you want to add Icey Bones to your Summoned Creatures list?"
Her eyes widened as the corpse began glowing, and then it disappeared, leaving in its place a small leather-bound book.
She got up and walked over to the book, picking it up and opening it. It read as such.
"Fings wot I've eaten' in dis place:
Day wun: Icy bones. Good name. Me called dat now.
Day too: Ice spider. Crunchy. Taste good.
Day free: Rocks. Tastes same as uvver rocks, but 'arder. Teef 'urt.
Day four: Nuffink. Teef still 'urt.
Day five: Noisy human wearin' fur.
Day sicks: Fur. Taste okay. Froat itchy now."
"Uggh," Louise belched, throwing the disgusting book down on the floor and walking towards the door at the far end of the room.
Right as she got to the door, the box appeared before her.
'You have completed floor one. You can return to this floor any time you want. Leave the dungeon?' It asked, and Louise, relieved, said one thing.
"Yes"
And in that moment, the door opened, leading directly to Louise's room in the Academy.
She stepped through, and the door disappeared behind her, returning her to the warmth of the summer night in Tristain.
"That was crazy." She said, dropping her staff and falling into her bed, not caring at all that she was wearing a robe.
Almost instantly, she fell into a very deep sleep.
Cold!
So cold!
My body feels like it's going to freeze at any moment now!
Louise sat against the icy wall of a strange stone room full of nothing but stone and ice. There was a dull light from the glowing blue runes on the square walls, but other than that, it was somewhat dark. Her breath froze midair and dropped to the ground as tiny ice crystals that shattered on the ground in front of her.
She shuddered as she shivered. Her nightclothes were not enough to warm her up, not in any way. Her silver silk shirt, silk pants, and socks barely did anything to stop the cold from seeping into her bones.
This is all just a dream. Yes, that's it. I'm dreaming now, and I'll just wake up if I pinch myself.
In between her shuddering and chattering of her teeth, she raised her right hand to her cheek and pinched. She could feel a dulled pain, but nothing else happened.
Oh.
That's no good.
She did not wake up. Not even for a moment. At least she had her wand.
Lying on the frozen stone next to her on her right was her wooden wand. It seemed to be slightly frozen, as a thin sheen of ice coated it.
There's no reason to keep sitting here and eventually die of freezing in the cold. I need to get out of here.
She slowly rose to her feet and held her wand closely to her, and now she got a better view of the room around her.
A large door to her right with a large purple triangle on it, the size of a portrait, stood silently closed, and a stone table that looked much like an altar sat at the far left of the room, standing silently, as if awaiting her presence.
Shivering again and hugging herself, she walked over to it. The cold floor bit through her socks, and she felt like she was going to freeze to death at any minute.
Come on, Louise, Rule of Steel. Don't let this be your end!
Atop the table that rose up to her chest sat a small dagger made of purple metal, a soft-looking robe made of gray fabric, boots of the same gray fabric, and a full-faced hood of the fabric as well. A large wooden purple staff made of a wood she had never seen before lay atop the table next to the robes. Small runes were carved into the wood, and they glowed faintly. Next to it was a round glass vial full of a white liquid that had a carved-in lettering that said "Antipoison", whatever that meant.
Not even thinking twice, she threw on the robe over her shirt and pants and slipped on the boots. Tearing off the face of the hood, she slipped it over her head, feeling the warmth the moment she put it on. Thankfully, the robe fit her, if only slightly too big. It made the cold bearable, almost as if it was designed for such a cold place. Perhaps it had an enchantment to ward off cold temperatures.
She let out a breath of relief.
Thank Brimir for this. I'm not sure what I would have done if not for this robe.
She gave an unconscious prayer and then picked up the staff, placing her wand in a small pocket in the robe around her waist. The staff was a good head taller than her, and the wood was carved in a way only a novice would carve, but she could feel the magical power pulsing within it.
It's not like I can do much with it.
Louise lamented her situation, seeing a powerful staff like this wasted on her failure of magical ability. Then, she shook her head to rid herself of self-doubt.
No, I can't think like that. I have to worry about what's in front of me.
She slipped the antipoison vial into her other pocket and looked around again. Across from the large stone door, there was a ladder that seemed to go up somewhere, but when she approached it, the ladder disintegrated, and the tunnel upwards collapsed, leaving nothing but rubble.
There goes my escape.
Louise groaned, feeling suddenly very much trapped. Looking through the rubble in hopes of finding something, she found a small purple triangle-headed steel key that glowed with a faint light, barely the size of her pinky finger. She picked it up and immediately looked over to the large door.
This had to be it, the key to the door.
She walked over and held the key up to the door, in which it flew out of her hand and was absorbed into the stone of the door, which rumbled and slid to the side with a loud rumbling grind.
On the other side was another frozen stone room, in which there was a large, clear crystal in the middle, shedding a bright light all around it.
The room was almost empty, and she would not have noticed them if they did not make a clacking tapping noise as they crawled across the walls. Louise looked up at the wall near the ceiling to her right, and she saw something horrifying.
Spiders!
Big frozen spiders!
"Eeeeek!" She screamed a fearful scream. She hated spiders, and these were huge, almost half the size of her, and three of them at that, all slowly walking across the walls towards her.
"Die!" She shouted, focusing her magical power towards them.
Booom!
An explosion rocked the room, sending two of the spiders splattering against the wall, dead in one hit. The other one was only struck slightly by it, and two of its legs had been shattered, so it dropped to the floor, limping towards her, its frozen mandibles clicking angrily.
"No!" She shrieked and sent another blast towards the spider, where it blew up just like the others.
Ding.
A ding of a small bell could be heard, and something appeared in front of Louise. It was a translucent blue box with white text.
'You have gained the ability to summon the defeated monster, Level 1 Ice Spider, as one of your five summoned creatures. Do you want to add it to your Summoned Creatures list?'
What? Summoned monster? Summons list? But I failed my summoning. What even is this?
Questions flooded Louise's mind as she looked at the box in front of her. What even was this? This wasn't a dream. So what then, was this? Had she truly gone insane from the cold and begun hallucinating? Was she actually lying against the wall and in a coma from the cold?
Well, if she could summon a monster to help her, that was good, right? Right?
She shuddered. It was a spider, though. A gross, icky, frozen spider.
Not now. Not ever.
The box, seeming to understand her, disappeared, leaving her in the now-empty room.
Across the room from her, past the crystal, was another door of frozen stone. Icicles hung from the small stone outcrop atop it.
Then she involuntarily shivered as she noticed something atop it. It was a white eye with a slitted black pupil that sat atop the door, watching her unblinkingly. She flinched before slowly gathering her fortitude.
The eye did nothing but follow her movements.
Slowly, she took a step forward, and the eye moved slightly, taking in her new position.
Another step.
Nothing.
Another.
Nothing.
It seemed that the eye would only watch, so she stepped forward towards the door again. She let out a sigh of relief when nothing happened to her. Eventually, after some hesitation, she walked up to the door and found that it simply slid open as she approached it with the same grinding rumble as the one before it. Stepping through with some renewed confidence, she found herself in a large, well-lit room, easily the size of a ballroom.
Its floor and walls were of frozen stone, and bright crystals hung from the tall ceiling, as if they grew out of them.
In the middle of the room was a sleeping humanoid creature that looked twice as large as a normal human. It had thick white fur, and it lay curled in a ball. A thick shield of stone covered in ice rested against its side.
At the far end of the room was a large door that led somewhere else. It had glowing runes all across it, and there was a warm light slipping through the cracks.
Perhaps she could slip by it and go through the door.
One step.
The monster still slept.
Another step.
Silence.
Oh no!
Achoo!
Louise sneezed, and the sleeping thing in the middle of the room woke up, jumping to its feet with a speed unexpected from such a stocky creature.
It was entirely covered in long white fur, which made it almost look like a bush, if not for it's gray skinned humanoid face.
"Leave Icy Bones alone!" It shouted with fury, spreading its arms wide.
Louise only had a second to react, and by then it was too late.
Ice crept up her legs, waist, chest, and then head, and turned her into a brick of frozen human.
The thing wobbled over to the block of ice that, after a few seconds, cracked and shattered, leaving Louise to fall to the ground.
Quickly pointing her staff up at the monster after recovering, she sent her magic out.
Boom!
The creature was sent flying with a violent yelp, where it slammed into the far wall. Its right arm twisted and mangled, as its face was a charred mess. It slowly rose to its feet and let out a gurgling, muffled cry from its destroyed jaw.
"Diuughh," It shouted, as if it wanted to say die, but its jaw was too mangled to make such a sound. Blue blood poured out of wounds in its fur, but it survived.
Boom! Louise hit it with another explosion, and it fell to the ground dead.
Louise, dropping to her knees and panting with exhaustion, both physical and mental, just sat there on the frozen floor, looking at the charred remains of the monster that had frozen her temporarily.
'Congratulations, you have defeated one of the level 1 floor one bosses, Icy Bones. Do you want to add Icey Bones to your Summoned Creatures list?"
Her eyes widened as the corpse began glowing, and then it disappeared, leaving in its place a small leather-bound book.
She got up and walked over to the book, picking it up and opening it. It read as such.
"Fings wot I've eaten' in dis place:
Day wun: Icy bones. Good name. Me called dat now.
Day too: Ice spider. Crunchy. Taste good.
Day free: Rocks. Tastes same as uvver rocks, but 'arder. Teef 'urt.
Day four: Nuffink. Teef still 'urt.
Day five: Noisy human wearin' fur.
Day sicks: Fur. Taste okay. Froat itchy now."
"Uggh," Louise belched, throwing the disgusting book down on the floor and walking towards the door at the far end of the room.
Right as she got to the door, the box appeared before her.
'You have completed floor one. You can return to this floor any time you want. Leave the dungeon?' It asked, and Louise, relieved, said one thing.
"Yes"
And in that moment, the door opened, leading directly to Louise's room in the Academy.
She stepped through, and the door disappeared behind her, returning her to the warmth of the summer night in Tristain.
"That was crazy." She said, dropping her staff and falling into her bed, not caring at all that she was wearing a robe.
Almost instantly, she fell into a very deep sleep.
igfry
Lurking eternally
- Joined
- May 19, 2015
- Messages
- 366
- Likes received
- 4,265
I saw RuneScape and I thought my eyes decieved me! Pleasant surprise TBF. I was wondering how this was going to go, as I wasn't sure much of the settings were thematically or topically similar, other than the generic fantasy elements, but the dungeoneering aspect truly surprised me.
Thinking about it carefully, dungeoneering as always been one of the most self contained aspects of RuneScape and makes a pretty good crossover without getting the whole setting involved.
Poor Louise, having to do dungeoneering. When it first came out, I really didn't like the change of pace. Ended up maxing it twice, but still not my favourite skill haha.
Thinking about it carefully, dungeoneering as always been one of the most self contained aspects of RuneScape and makes a pretty good crossover without getting the whole setting involved.
Poor Louise, having to do dungeoneering. When it first came out, I really didn't like the change of pace. Ended up maxing it twice, but still not my favourite skill haha.
AvatarGallia
Know what you're doing yet?
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2021
- Messages
- 117
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- 676
Nice. Never thought to see another louise fic here.
Chapter One: Failure
New
Stimpak Medic
Novitiate
- Joined
- May 4, 2025
- Messages
- 167
- Likes received
- 681
Chapter One: Failure
Earlier that day, as the late spring sun blazed down from the sky, covering the buildings, trees, grass, and shrubberies on the Tristain Academy of Magic with light and warmth, it was an important day. It was the day that the second year of the Academy performed the Familiar Summoning Ritual.
Students dressed in black robes, with academy outfits consisting of well-ironed shirts, skirts, blazers, and all sorts of accessories.
Soaring across the sky were wyverns of majestic colors, reds, blues, greens, and even violets. Their scales and sharp eyes glint in the sunlight.
A young second-year girl was chatting to her friend, her bright blue eyes glinting from the sun as she walked through the courtyard with her friend. Her silky black hair was parted and fell down to her shoulders. She had an excited and invested look as she asked her friend, another girl of her year, a question.
"Hey! Today is the second year students' initiation ritual, isn't it?" She asked, staring expectantly at her friend, who nodded.
"Yeah, the springtime familiar summoning." Her friend, a young girl with slightly curly, sandy blonde hair, replied, adjusting the stack of books she held at her chest with both arms.
Sitting on a small wooden bench they passed, a young blonde boy with short cut hair, and a wide face spoke to the girl sitting attentively next to him.
"I wonder what kind of familiars everyone will summon?" He mused, curious as to what magical and fantastical creatures would arrive.
The girl next to him, a shy, small girl, spoke up, her soft voice rising with excitement.
"Well, it'll mostly be things like owls, frogs, moles, and such...But there for sure will be some amazing creatures." She said, a smile forming on her thin lips.
The boy replied with a similar level of excitement.
"A Basilisk or bugbear would be nice. But everyone knows Dragons or Griffins would be the best." He finished, taking a deep gulp of air due to having forgotten to breathe whilst lost in excitement.
Returning to the two girls, the black-haired girl took a moment to think as she and her friend entered a pretty hallway with beautiful stone arches, and almost a dozen portraits on the wall.
"That reminds me. Isn't there that problematic student this year?" She asked her friend, eyes slightly narrowed as an image came into her mind. One of a pink-haired monstrosity of a girl.
"You mean that dropout from the Valliere family?" Her friend asked, adjusting her books.
"So it's her huh? The "Zero"." The friend replied as they walked up to a classroom door and entered one by one.
"Louise the Zero."
Sitting down at a desk by the clear glass window, the black-haired girl looked out at the courtyard where over a dozen students had gathered.
Standing in front of a large patch of grass was a blonde-haired girl with fine golden hair that was tied in many small drills, with bright blue eyes and healthy pale skin.
She was standing arms outstretched with a wooden wand in her right hand and was in the middle of a chant.
"Heed my summoning, and bring forth my familiar!" She said jubilantly, excited for this chance to summon a regal and fitting familiar for her elegance and regality.
Dust began kicking up in a swirling cloud before, with a popping sound, as if a large bubble had just popped, the sound of ribbiting could be heard.
Looking down at the creature in front of her, she found herself face to face with a foot and a half long frog with a long red stripe along its face from its eyes.
"Very good, Ms. Montmorency, your affinity is that of water." Came the instructor's approving voice. A man holding a notebook wherein her recorded the basic information from the summoning.
"Yes." Ms. Montmorency said, picking up the frog in her small hands and looking it over.
The bright, excited, and lovestruck voice of a young man came from the throng of students.
"Well done, my lovely Montmorency!" A blonde-haired boy with a sturdy build for a young man of his age, who was the same age as hers, almost shouted, jumping up and down, cheering her on. You could almost see the little red hearts in his eyes.
The instructor's voice broke the excitement, calling out the last and final student.
"And the last and final student, Louise!" He said, taking a breath before giving her full name.
"Louise Fancoise Le Blanc De La Valliere," He finished, and the class was silenced for several moments, with many students stepping back for their safety.
A thin, pink-haired young girl stepped forward from the throng, where the blonde-haired girl had hurriedly left after hearing Louise's name called.
"Yes!" The girl replied enthusiastically back, but there was some hesitation in her steps, despite her false bravado.
Several students started murmuring to each other.
"I wonder if she can manage?"
"What will she summon? I'm curious..."
"She'll probably just screw up again."
The speculation wasn't in her favor. Not one bit. However, she didn't let that stop her. Raising her wand, she took a gulp, then breathed in deeply.
"Haaa....Fuuu.." She breathed out, then began chanting.
"My name is Louise Fancoise Le Blanc De La Valliere. Pentagon of the five elemental powers.. Heed my summoning!"
The magical circle beneath her began glowing a bright white, gaining some excited gasps of "Ooh" and "Aah" from the crowd of students.
"And bring forth my Familiar!" She raised her arms dramatically, shouting the final words.
However. Nothing came. The circle stopped spinning, and it faded to nothing on the grass.
"No.." She let out a defeated whisper, barely above the soft breeze that had kicked up, blowing her hair across her face.
"No..This isn't right..." She muttered, her eyes turning dark as she stared defeated down at the grass. Then, she fell to her knees.
"This wasn't how this was supposed to go.." She said, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
She was, without a doubt, a failure.
The morning sun shone through her window when Louise woke up. her vision blurry, and she felt the wrapping of her silk nightclothes.
She let out a soft breath as she looked up at the ceiling of her bed canopy.
Whatever that was, that was just a dream.
There was no robe on her, nor was there a staff. Nor was there the vial of Antipoison. However, when she rolled over to put her face into the pillow, she gave a startled gasp.
Her bed has a deep gray stain on it, as if some thick gray liquid had melted into the mattress, almost melting it, but seemingly disappearing before so.
Her clothes had the smell of her sweat, and the chill from her dreams had not entirely left her.
Two strange things. Her failure of a summoning ritual and her strange nightmare.
She rolled over again, face to the canopy.
This can not be real. I'm imagining things. Whatever happened yesterday with the summoning has effected my mind. I must go to the infirmary.
She thought that to herself, but the evidence could not be denied. The feeling of being frozen from head to toe in a block of ice. The fear. The cold.
That was no dream of hers. Nor was it a fancy trick of the night.
Her fears were immediately confirmed when the box from the night before appeared before her, almost as if to dash her hopes upon the rocks and sink them below the waves.
'List of summonable creatures: Level One, Floor One boss: Icy Bones(1). Level One Monster: Ice Spider (3).'
"No!" She shouted, wanting to deny it. To deny that horrible experience, but no matter what she told herself, the strange box floated above her nonetheless.
When her disbelief subsided a little, she let out a long sigh, blinked about seven times, and abruptly sat up. She looked down at the mattress and sheets. She would have to get a maid to replace these filthy things and swear her to silence. Nobody could know about this.
She would just have to say this was a potion-making incident or something along the lines of an accident. What accident it was was yet to be properly fabricated.
Alright, with that done, I have to explain that I actually summoned something, lest I be expelled.
A look of unease passed her face for a moment. She hated spiders, but she hated the troll thing more. It was either summon the spider or get expelled.
She winced.
All she had to do was summon the spider once in front of her instructor and give a small white lie about how it arrived late, if such a thing was possible from summoning rituals. Let the instructor, Mr. Colbert, look at it for a moment or so, then unsummon it and never look at it again. It couldn't be that bad, could it?
But it was a spider...
Of all things, why did it have to be a yucky, gross giant spider?
Well, if anything, she wouldn't be expelled at least. One problem was solved, but the bigger one...The dungeon. It had not been solved, or even understood.
Not even close.
Earlier that day, as the late spring sun blazed down from the sky, covering the buildings, trees, grass, and shrubberies on the Tristain Academy of Magic with light and warmth, it was an important day. It was the day that the second year of the Academy performed the Familiar Summoning Ritual.
Students dressed in black robes, with academy outfits consisting of well-ironed shirts, skirts, blazers, and all sorts of accessories.
Soaring across the sky were wyverns of majestic colors, reds, blues, greens, and even violets. Their scales and sharp eyes glint in the sunlight.
A young second-year girl was chatting to her friend, her bright blue eyes glinting from the sun as she walked through the courtyard with her friend. Her silky black hair was parted and fell down to her shoulders. She had an excited and invested look as she asked her friend, another girl of her year, a question.
"Hey! Today is the second year students' initiation ritual, isn't it?" She asked, staring expectantly at her friend, who nodded.
"Yeah, the springtime familiar summoning." Her friend, a young girl with slightly curly, sandy blonde hair, replied, adjusting the stack of books she held at her chest with both arms.
Sitting on a small wooden bench they passed, a young blonde boy with short cut hair, and a wide face spoke to the girl sitting attentively next to him.
"I wonder what kind of familiars everyone will summon?" He mused, curious as to what magical and fantastical creatures would arrive.
The girl next to him, a shy, small girl, spoke up, her soft voice rising with excitement.
"Well, it'll mostly be things like owls, frogs, moles, and such...But there for sure will be some amazing creatures." She said, a smile forming on her thin lips.
The boy replied with a similar level of excitement.
"A Basilisk or bugbear would be nice. But everyone knows Dragons or Griffins would be the best." He finished, taking a deep gulp of air due to having forgotten to breathe whilst lost in excitement.
Returning to the two girls, the black-haired girl took a moment to think as she and her friend entered a pretty hallway with beautiful stone arches, and almost a dozen portraits on the wall.
"That reminds me. Isn't there that problematic student this year?" She asked her friend, eyes slightly narrowed as an image came into her mind. One of a pink-haired monstrosity of a girl.
"You mean that dropout from the Valliere family?" Her friend asked, adjusting her books.
"So it's her huh? The "Zero"." The friend replied as they walked up to a classroom door and entered one by one.
"Louise the Zero."
Sitting down at a desk by the clear glass window, the black-haired girl looked out at the courtyard where over a dozen students had gathered.
Standing in front of a large patch of grass was a blonde-haired girl with fine golden hair that was tied in many small drills, with bright blue eyes and healthy pale skin.
She was standing arms outstretched with a wooden wand in her right hand and was in the middle of a chant.
"Heed my summoning, and bring forth my familiar!" She said jubilantly, excited for this chance to summon a regal and fitting familiar for her elegance and regality.
Dust began kicking up in a swirling cloud before, with a popping sound, as if a large bubble had just popped, the sound of ribbiting could be heard.
Looking down at the creature in front of her, she found herself face to face with a foot and a half long frog with a long red stripe along its face from its eyes.
"Very good, Ms. Montmorency, your affinity is that of water." Came the instructor's approving voice. A man holding a notebook wherein her recorded the basic information from the summoning.
"Yes." Ms. Montmorency said, picking up the frog in her small hands and looking it over.
The bright, excited, and lovestruck voice of a young man came from the throng of students.
"Well done, my lovely Montmorency!" A blonde-haired boy with a sturdy build for a young man of his age, who was the same age as hers, almost shouted, jumping up and down, cheering her on. You could almost see the little red hearts in his eyes.
The instructor's voice broke the excitement, calling out the last and final student.
"And the last and final student, Louise!" He said, taking a breath before giving her full name.
"Louise Fancoise Le Blanc De La Valliere," He finished, and the class was silenced for several moments, with many students stepping back for their safety.
A thin, pink-haired young girl stepped forward from the throng, where the blonde-haired girl had hurriedly left after hearing Louise's name called.
"Yes!" The girl replied enthusiastically back, but there was some hesitation in her steps, despite her false bravado.
Several students started murmuring to each other.
"I wonder if she can manage?"
"What will she summon? I'm curious..."
"She'll probably just screw up again."
The speculation wasn't in her favor. Not one bit. However, she didn't let that stop her. Raising her wand, she took a gulp, then breathed in deeply.
"Haaa....Fuuu.." She breathed out, then began chanting.
"My name is Louise Fancoise Le Blanc De La Valliere. Pentagon of the five elemental powers.. Heed my summoning!"
The magical circle beneath her began glowing a bright white, gaining some excited gasps of "Ooh" and "Aah" from the crowd of students.
"And bring forth my Familiar!" She raised her arms dramatically, shouting the final words.
However. Nothing came. The circle stopped spinning, and it faded to nothing on the grass.
"No.." She let out a defeated whisper, barely above the soft breeze that had kicked up, blowing her hair across her face.
"No..This isn't right..." She muttered, her eyes turning dark as she stared defeated down at the grass. Then, she fell to her knees.
"This wasn't how this was supposed to go.." She said, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
She was, without a doubt, a failure.
The morning sun shone through her window when Louise woke up. her vision blurry, and she felt the wrapping of her silk nightclothes.
She let out a soft breath as she looked up at the ceiling of her bed canopy.
Whatever that was, that was just a dream.
There was no robe on her, nor was there a staff. Nor was there the vial of Antipoison. However, when she rolled over to put her face into the pillow, she gave a startled gasp.
Her bed has a deep gray stain on it, as if some thick gray liquid had melted into the mattress, almost melting it, but seemingly disappearing before so.
Her clothes had the smell of her sweat, and the chill from her dreams had not entirely left her.
Two strange things. Her failure of a summoning ritual and her strange nightmare.
She rolled over again, face to the canopy.
This can not be real. I'm imagining things. Whatever happened yesterday with the summoning has effected my mind. I must go to the infirmary.
She thought that to herself, but the evidence could not be denied. The feeling of being frozen from head to toe in a block of ice. The fear. The cold.
That was no dream of hers. Nor was it a fancy trick of the night.
Her fears were immediately confirmed when the box from the night before appeared before her, almost as if to dash her hopes upon the rocks and sink them below the waves.
'List of summonable creatures: Level One, Floor One boss: Icy Bones(1). Level One Monster: Ice Spider (3).'
"No!" She shouted, wanting to deny it. To deny that horrible experience, but no matter what she told herself, the strange box floated above her nonetheless.
When her disbelief subsided a little, she let out a long sigh, blinked about seven times, and abruptly sat up. She looked down at the mattress and sheets. She would have to get a maid to replace these filthy things and swear her to silence. Nobody could know about this.
She would just have to say this was a potion-making incident or something along the lines of an accident. What accident it was was yet to be properly fabricated.
Alright, with that done, I have to explain that I actually summoned something, lest I be expelled.
A look of unease passed her face for a moment. She hated spiders, but she hated the troll thing more. It was either summon the spider or get expelled.
She winced.
All she had to do was summon the spider once in front of her instructor and give a small white lie about how it arrived late, if such a thing was possible from summoning rituals. Let the instructor, Mr. Colbert, look at it for a moment or so, then unsummon it and never look at it again. It couldn't be that bad, could it?
But it was a spider...
Of all things, why did it have to be a yucky, gross giant spider?
Well, if anything, she wouldn't be expelled at least. One problem was solved, but the bigger one...The dungeon. It had not been solved, or even understood.
Not even close.
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