Tears welled up in his eyes as a cry tried to escape his mouth. He clenched his fists and bit his lips to stop himself from trembling.

He just wanted to help people.

Since he couldn’t become a Medela student and learn healing techniques and spells because of his Imperfekta, all he could do to achieve his dream of helping people was become a Rune Master like his mother.

Hopelessness consumed his very being.

“What would you give for my services?”

Illuminating the darkness was a tiny flame that spoke to him in a playful high pitched voice. It crackled and danced in front of Noah’s surprised face.

“Whatever you want!” He tried not to wince at the eagerness in his tone and the offer he gave.

His mother will chew him out if she ever found out that this was how he acted in front of a negotiation. Good thing nobody will ever know about what went on in this realm.

The flames swayed to and fro, as if in deep thought. “Hmm, if that’s the case, then I’ll gladly offer you my guidance!”

“Really?! Thank you so much!” Noah smiled, but he did not feel relief at the offer. The mischief in the tone was not lost on him. He felt like he was about to get scammed.

The fire spirit in front of Noah transformed into a quill adorned with red leaves and flowers. A piece of parchment manifested beside it. The statements of their contract were simple and as clear as day. In exchange for the spirit’s guidance and teachings, he is to provide them a certain amount of mana a day. It wasn’t much and shouldn’t trigger his Imperfekta.

Ink touched the parchment and his fingers were about to swoop into the first letter of his name, when the contract burst into flames and the spirit screeched.

“What the–”

The warmth of a body radiated from behind him as a hand laid on his shoulder. Pitch black fingers adorned with golden rings and long manicured nails reached out to the burning contract and crumbled it into a fist. The palm opened and the small fire spirit he wanted to sign a contract with trembled in fear before vanishing into thin air.

Noah’s eyes followed along the pitch black arm adorned with golden lines of tattoos, to find a being shrouded in a veil of fire dancing in various colours. Dark lips smiled as he leaned down to touch Noah’s cheek with his other hand.

“This one is mine.”

The veil of fire almost brushed Noah’s face, and he thought the spirit would burn his soul for the insolence of forcing himself into the spirit realm. However, the flames weren’t as hot as Noah thought. They were pleasantly warm, like sunshine on a cold winter day.

“I’m much more powerful than that puny little fae,” the being whispered in his ear. “And, I won’t need your soul for my guidance either. All I want is…”

The whispered demands tickled his ears and he tried not to blush at the being’s proximity to him.

“If that’s all you want, then I’ll be able to provide,” Noah said.

“Perfect. Close your eyes and we’ll settle this exchange.”

Noah thought it was an odd request, but still did as he was told and waited for the spirit’s next move.

Fingertips travelled up his neck, long sharp nails left behind goosebumps on his skin. The cold metal of several bracelets brushed against his ears while the hands moved to tenderly caress his face like a long lost lover.

This was odd, but still, Noah remained motionless and waited.

“What’s taking this spirit so long?” he wondered at some point.

A thumb brushed past his lips, making his eyebrows crease. Surely there’s no way this spirit was going to kiss him, right?

“Hey what–”

Lips crashed against his own. The hand on the nape of his neck pulled him forwards and tiny fangs brushed the inside of his lips. Noah yelped in surprise as he got bitten.

He could barely breathe when a tongue entered his mouth.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!”

An arm wandered across his lower back and he felt himself weaken into the embrace. Noah was confused as to what was happening, but mostly hoped the spirit remembered that he is only human and requires air to breathe.

Pushing back into the kiss surprised the spirit and Noah managed to finally separate their lips.

The first thing that came out of his mouth was an angry exclamation. “What the hell! This is sexual harassment!”

Noah wanted to sue! He wanted to contact the spiritual HR responsible for all of these spirits if there ever was one. Nevermind the fact he’s not supposed to even be in this dark realm in the first place, and that he used dark magic to force the door open.

Someone needed to be pointed and yelled at, because his first kiss was just stolen and there was tongue involved to boot! None of his professors ever talked about sealing a contract with a kiss.

A signature on a piece of parchment was enough to bind the spirit and summoner together. There was no need for salivas to be exchanged.

Only a handful of spirits could bind a human to them in such a way, and one of them was–

Noah froze as his eyes gazed upon an amused face.

The vision before him would definitely leave ladies swooning into the bare pitch black arms. Long smokey gray hair fell over his shoulders and covered the muscular pectorals. A handsome face marked with golden lines and pupilless eyes gave Noah a cocky smirk.

Noah couldn’t care less at the attractive face before him, for his eyes were glued at the pair of pitch black horns on the spirit’s head.

It was a well known fact, only one race in Al Tierra had horns that were blacker than ink and darker than shadows.

There was no denying it, Noah signed his own life away.

“Oh shit, you’re a demon.”

Noah’s sight blurred as he swayed from side to side. Sunshine on a bright spring day caressed his skin in the darkness of the summoning room, even though there were no windows in sight. Heat pierced through his skin and flowed into his brittle mana system. Wind howled at his feet before igniting into bright orange flames.

Contracting with a spirit can oftentimes be painful, as the host and spirit struggled to fit in together like puzzle pieces from a mismatched set. Noah read of cases where the summoner was weaker than the spirit. Their mana dried up faster than it could be replenished and in the end, they were left as nothing but a husk of a person.

The opposite rarely happens, but when they do, it often leads to nothing but death.

Such worries left Noah the moment the final kiss of sunlight blended into his mana system. The demon was surprisingly compatible with him.

The entrance to the summoning room slammed open, followed by a familiar grating voice yelling.

“Quick! Cast a barrier!”

Five dark cloaked figures rushed inside and surrounded Noah. They spread evenly around and put their hands together, before their combined chanting echoed in the room. Bright blue energy emerged from their hands and formed a dome over Noah.

A man in long purple robes approached slowly. The thick silver bracelet on his wrist squirmed like liquid metal, before transforming into a silver wand embedded with amethyst gems. With every step he took, he tapped his wand on the palm of his empty hand.

Professor Owain Angharad was someone with slicked back brown hair, a weary face and sharp mean eyes. He was a water elementalist and was one of the overseers for the summoning exams. He’s tasked to rush and help those signing a contract with fire spirits and was dispatched with his apprentices in cases where the summoner could lose themselves.

The bond between them had to be broken before it was too late and they become a ticking time bomb. It was his duty to detain the person and seal their magic to prevent a tragedy from befalling Nymphaea. That was the usual course of action for such incidents. However there were special cases, where simple detainment was not enough.

“According to article 3 of the Hexenzirkel Decree, any demon summoners are to be eliminated on sight. Noah von Vinter, you are hereby sentenced to death,” he stated grimly, but his eyes showed he was pleased with the outcome.

The usually reserved heir of the Orion business empire grinned and laughed with his head pulled back.

“Finally!” He yelled. “Finally, finally, finally!”