Erica couldn't move her eyes from the tattoo. It was so... unique. She had seen many familiar marks, but this had to be the biggest. At first she was worried it was a death type familiar due to its bone-like appearance, but the smoke changed her mind.
Only shadow type familiars had an effect like this, and a high powered one. Her worries were not completely put to rest, as many shadow domains helped the evil domains, but it couldn't be a direct part of them.
However, what Erica did not know, is that very strong familiars could belong to two separate domains, which the Night Demon did. Night Demons can only be born from shadows and death, which very few creatures can be. This dual elemental affinity allows them to be very effective at their job; assassinations.
The students, however, almost feared the mark. They were young, and did not have the experience with them that Erica did.
She had felt the aura magical creatures can give off, but this was a first time for many of the students.
The aura even made Litany lose all her anger, as she became captivated by the tattoo. However, something no one noticed, is the slight bit of sweat starting to appear on her forehead as she contemplated the familiar's strength.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Erica spoke up.
"That is a very impressive familiar. Would you perhaps like to summon him?"
Her words also brought Ojero out of his awe at how fast the familiar's aura could silence the crowd.
'Should you appear?'
"I advise against that, master. Undead familiars are looked down upon on the mortal domain, and it could only bring trouble to you, master. I advise telling her the familiar is still weakened from passing through domains."
Taking the Night Demon's advice, Ojero repeated what he said to Erica.
"The creature says he is too tired from passing through domains."
Erica raised an eyebrow at this, as usually familiars wouldn't need much strength to simply appear, but she passed it off as stronger familiars needing more energy to pass through domains.
Noticing the crowd become visibly upset at Ojero's inability to summon the familiar, Erica decided to distract them.
"Ok students, that's enough gawking! Spread out, you will need some space! For those of you that can, summon your familiars out, let's take a look at this year's familiars."
Upon remembering they too had familiars, everyone grew excited. They started running out across the arena, but then realized Erica never told them how to summon a familiar.
They could see the Professor holding back a face palm, as she yelled out "Just say in your mind 'come out.' They can hear your thoughts!"
After this, magical creatures started appearing everywhere.
Not far from Ojero, a giant bear with long vines covering its back appeared in a puff of green smoke, its shoulders twice the height of its masters.
'What is that smoke?' Ojero thought.
"It is the summoning cloud, master. It is the residual energy that the creature took from its domain. Each summoning cloud will add a clue to the familiar's original domain."
A loud screech echoed around the arena, as a creature that looked like an eagle came from a cloud of gray smoke. It was made entirely of metal, with cogs and gears rotating and cranking all over its body.
Its summoner was a tall and thin boy wearing a plain white tunic and brown pants. He looked to be admiring his familiar, but it was hard to tell with his long brown hair covering his eyes.
Both the bear and the eagle attracted many looks, but suddenly a great wave of heat was felt by everyone. A loud screech similar to the eagles but full of much more power erupted, shaking everyone.
A giant bird of fire was flying above the arena, tongues of fire still falling to the ground from its summoning cloud.
Its summoner, a short boy who looked very young and childish, was gawking up at it. You could almost see the sparkles in his eyes as a smile from ear to ear was plastered on his face.
Even Erica looked impressed, as she introduced the creature to the class.
"That, students, is a mythic rank familiar. It looks to be a phoenix. Very few of those have been seen in the continent's history! It is an impressive beast. Its flames can melt even steel, but they have a dual property."
"Not many people know this, but a phoenix is not only a fire element familiar. It also contains the healing element, and a strong one at that. Their flames can be filled with this healing power, to heal even major injuries instead of causing harm."
While Erica spoke calmly, inside she was celebrating. It is very rare for a class to have this much potential, and she would possibly be able to apply for a raise if they did well in the tests and tournaments.
Soon, people turned their focus back to the other familiars, however a few could still be seen sneaking glances at the bird every now and then.
What drew Ojero's attention, however, was a short girl who seemingly had two familiars by her. There was both a cat with sparks of lightning dancing off it, and a giant ant with electricity arcing between its mandibles.
'Did she summon two familiars? Is that even possible?'
"Yes, master, she did. From my knowledge it is possible for those with high potential to summon and control even dozens of familiars, although most only control one or two to lessen the energy drawn."
"For those that have the summoning magic, master, they could potentially summon up to a hundred, although most of them would be very weak and low tier summons."
'I wonder, could I summon multiple?'
"I believe it possible, master, as a Necromancer can control thousands of undead creatures. However, the domain which Necromancers draw their undead from is different from the main domains familiars are called from."
"Familiars come from what we familiars call the Major Domains, of which there are thousands of various domains. Necromancers, Summoners, and other similar mages can call familiars from the Major Domains, but the majority of the creatures under their control come from the Minor Domains."
"The Minor Domains are domains that contain less magical energy that usually gives the creatures of the Major Domains their strength. This makes the creatures on these domains usually weaker and therefore cost less energy to summon and control. There are, however, some cases where stronger creatures appear on these Minor Domains."
"There are much fewer Minor Domains, but they have a strange property. Every few years, a burst of magical energy is released from the Major Domains, which is often referred to as magical waste. The Minor Domains, however, absorb this energy, and this will lead to a few creatures on these domains absorbing it into themselves."
"These creatures grew very strong with this energy, master, and are classified into ranks, but are often referred to as Lord level creatures."
It was a lot of information for Ojero to absorb so fast, but it made sense. A Necromancer wouldn't be feared if they could only summon a dozen or so creatures, but Ojero still had another question.
'If that is the case, why can't Summoner mages summon undead?'
"The energy signature of Summoners only resonates with certain Minor Domains, master. A Necromancer has an energy signature which resonates with many domains with undead creatures. This makes it so Summoners and Necromancers can only call creatures from separate domains."
'I suppose that makes sense.'
Ojero had a lot to think over about how he could use this knowledge to his future benefit, but before he could do anything else, he decided to focus on the different kinds of familiars other people had summoned.
***
The Book of the Known Undead
Chapter 2: Basic Zombie
Zombies, like skeletons, are weak undead, and are not classified as a threat in low numbers. They are not as fast as skeletons, but can take much more of a beating. They are often used in hordes by Necromancers to overwhelm enemies. There are many kinds of zombies, which will be detailed in later chapters.
Zombies are very easy to summon from the Minor Domains, not being able to put up much resistance to the Necromancer summoning them. They require almost no energy to use.
Element: Undead (Necromancy)