To my surprise, I found he was holding the cup I had knocked over moments ago. Looking back at his face, he simply returned an expectant look. “You want some more water?” I asked anxiously. He gave me a happy little nod as he moved the cup closer towards me. I stepped forward on my bed and cautiously took the cup from his hand. Upon releasing the cup from his grasp his hand fell and rested at his side as he patiently watched me inch my way around him. Once I made it around him, I noticed that the portal was still open and there was some more sand falling out from it. I silently cursed myself, in my shock at having him appear before me I had yet to finalize the bonding process, I could feel the portal still slowly sucking away at my mana reserves. Realizing that once my reserves were empty the portal would close, and this man would be sucked through back to his world, I began to move with more purpose.

Quickly I made my way to my bathroom door and opened it, walking towards the sink I activated the mana seal and the sink started to pour out water from the spout. Speedily filling up the cup I returned to my main room and found the strange man right where I had left him, except now he was looking intently at the book that lay open on my bed. Once he sensed that I had left the bathroom, he looked towards me expectantly and held out his hand for the cup. Making my way towards him I handed it to him. Without wasting even a second, he began to chug the water, cleaning out the cup in a matter of moments. After finishing, he held the glass back towards me, giving me the same expectant glance he’d given earlier. However, the thoughts of my steadily draining reserves helped me decide that his excessive consumption of water could wait for a moment.

“Before I can get you more water” I said, hoping he could understand my words, “I can’t hold this portal open for much longer, and once it closes, you’ll return to your world.” His gaze shifted warily to the portal looking at it with a sense of impending doom, then back to me, seemingly urging me to continue speaking. “In order to prevent you from returning to your world when the portal closes, we will have to form a bond.” I stated, while trying to decipher his expression, to see if he understood me. His head cocked to the side in confusion, as if he was requesting further elaboration. I didn’t think the more complex definition the instructors had given us students would be very helpful towards his understanding, so I tried my best to simplify it. “Essentially the binding ritual will signify us as friends, tethering you to this world through that bond.” I elaborated, hoping he understood me.

His mouth opened as if he was trying to say something, however, nothing but a strange grunt escaped his lips. His brow furrowed as he seemed to concentrate on what he was trying to do. Again, his mouth opened, and again only a grunt came out. Looking apprehensively toward the portal, his brow furrowed deeper as he once again let loose a grunt, louder than the past couple, with more force behind it. Suddenly the hairs on my arms stood up on end as my vision darkened whilst watching him struggle. Catching myself, I realized that I had nearly fainted, not from my fleeting reserves like I had in the past, but instead from the pressure that suddenly manifested from the man in front of me as he unleashed his mana while trying to accomplish whatever it was, he was attempting.

 I broke into a cold sweat as I noticed the expression on his face becoming increasingly more frustrated as nothing but grunts escaped his throat. Just when I thought I might be crushed from the overwhelming pressure he was emanating, a new sound burst forth from his mouth, nearly popping my eardrums as it resonated throughout the dorm. “FRIEND” he yelled out, shaking my room as his voice was enhanced with mana. The word itself was powerful, but his voice was raspy, as if he was speaking for the first time in his life. Upon successfully yelling out, the frustration left his face and was replaced instead, by a look of satisfaction as he moved the cup from his right hand into his left. Then he reached towards me with his right hand letting it hover in the air, as he awaited my response, once again, wearing that terrifying grin of his.

Realizing that this was him agreeing to the bond, I stepped forward with what was likely a very goofy looking smile. I let my hand clasp his in a handshake as I could feel tears begin to form in my eyes. “Yes,” I said, “friends.”

Stopping myself from crying, I tried to remember the process for completing the ritual. Moving towards the book on my bed I attempted to release his hand. Instead, his grip tightened as a foreign power started to flow from him, burning into my hand. Looking at him in shock, my body automatically attempted to resist his power with mana of my own. However, where I had expected my mana and his to clash, I was shocked to find that my mana instead pushed its way into his hand and started making its way up his arm, and then towards his core. Likewise, his mana did the same as mine, and worked its way towards my core. Upon reaching my reserves I felt a sudden burst of pain spread throughout my body. Burning away at me from the inside out as it made its way through my mana channels. I imagined he felt something similar as his face grimaced momentarily in pain.

Then, just as suddenly as it had arrived, the pain began to recede, dissipating throughout my body until all that was left was a burning sensation in the palm of my hand. Noticing a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye, I looked over to my right, witnessing the portal I had summoned begin to move. It quickly moved towards us, shifting, and bending as it did so. Once it was little more than a few inches away it broke into two, the dark image that was projected within it shattered and dissipated, leaving only the outline of the portal, broken in half. One half shrunk and began to wrap around my wrist, while the other did the same with his. As it finished its trip across the circumference of my wrist, both ends of the border connected with one another, forming a sort of bracelet. Glancing at his wrist I saw that his portion of the border had done the same.

The burning sensation in my palm dissipated as the bracelet finished forming, and his grip on my hand released as I collapsed to the ground, exhausted from the experience. Laying on my back, I raised right hand towards the ceiling, observing the new bracelet that had formed upon my wrist. Recognizing this bracelet, I was filled with a sense of accomplishment. Afterall, the bracelet was known as a pact, proof of a bond between a summoner and monster. All summoners had a pact, and for the most part, that pact took the form of a bracelet. Turning over my hand, so that the palm was facing me, I found the unique identifier of my pact, branded into my palm. It was in the shape of a seed, with a sprout sticking from the top, and roots growing out from below. I was clueless as to what the symbol meant, but I did know one thing. That the symbol on my palm, coupled with the pact on my wrist, was undeniable proof, that I was a summoner.