The gem emitted a faint blue glow as Jace positioned it in the center of his palm. As if resonating with his heartbeat, the light from the gem brightened with each glow. To his surprise, the gem was not cold and in fact, warm to the touch.

“Oh, your color is blue,” Leo remarked, placing the gem in his palm while doing so. “So that’s what the color of your magic would’ve been if you had chosen to become a mage, huh?”

Jace raised his eyebrows, fairly impressed with these little stones. Initially, summoning gems were used by magicians to summon familiars to help them with tasks. These days, however, they were more widely used by the militaries to create training partners for their soldiers. Mineral golems were a top choice, chosen specifically for their toughness and obedience towards the summoner.

“And yours is yellow,” Jace responded, looking at the gem shining in the middle of Leo’s palm. “I kinda thought yours would be white actually…”

“Oh? Why is that?” Leo asked, curious about Jace’s assumption.

Instinctively, Jace’s eyeballs stole a quick glance at Leo’s ever shiny forehead before returning to where they should be.

“Ahh, well, just a gut feeling…”Jace replied, all the while trying to hide the guilty look on his face.

A sudden flash of green light enveloped the area behind Jace, causing Leo to shift his attention immediately. A fellow recruit stood at the center of the light, his right hand tightly grasping his summoning gem.

“Stay clear,” Staff Bryce cautioned while ensuring the recruits nearby stayed behind him. “The summoning has begun.”

The gem slipped out from the recruit’s hand, seemingly getting larger by the second. It was a familiar scene as Staff Bryce had just done something similar. The blinding light faded gradually and within moments, the summoning gem has turned into a mineral golem, albeit a little shorter when compared to the previous one. The golem stood on the spot like a statue, awaiting orders from its summoner. Unless it was moving, there was no real way to know if it was a statue or a golem. Seeing this, one could almost understand why experienced adventurers could fall prey to golems in the ruins.

“Alright, spread out!” Staff Bryce ordered, breaking the silence. “Make sure there’s enough space between each of you!”

The recruits ensured that they were at least two arms away from their partners before attempting the summoning. It was like a fireworks show, minus the loud noises and obnoxious crowds. Lights of various colors started filling the room, with the majority being white. Researchers have long been baffled by the different types of light people could emit. As far as they were concerned, the majority of the colors meant nothing in terms of practicality or effectiveness.

“Whoa,” Leo gasped in amazement, seeing the process up close in his palm for the first time.

Looking up, Leo witnessed Jace initiating the summoning sequence. As expected, Jace was soon enveloped in blue light, with the gem vibrating in his palm. As the gem vibrated in Leo’s palm, it soon turned a little too hot for comfort. Leo involuntarily released the gem, finally understanding why the previous recruit dropped his. Leo decided to turn his attention back to Jace as soon as his gem started enlarging before him.

“Uh, what…” Jace blurted out in surprise just as Leo looked at him.

A liquid with thick, pulpy consistency seeped out from the core of the gem, filling Jace’s palm. The pool of liquid stirred around on its own, forming multiple ripples as it moved. Leo’s jaws dropped, realizing something has gone terribly wrong.

“Staff Bry-” Leo was about to shout for help before an even louder scream interrupted him.

Jace released the gem due to the commotion, causing the liquid to dissipate almost instantaneously. The duo stared at each other in the eye, still trying to make sense of what had just transpired. Before they could even speak, a second scream soon occurred, sharper than before, causing them to snap out of their thought.

“Move!” Staff Bryce ordered, shoving some recruits out of his way.

From where the scream came from, a dark purple ball of light pulsated slightly. All the other recruits stayed clear of it, being extremely wary of this weird object before them. Staff Bryce soon broke through the crowd, coming face to face with the ball of light.

“Staff Bryce!” A recruit with long red hair exclaimed, grabbing Staff Bryce’s right arm. “Milly is in that ball of light! Please help her!”

Silently, Staff Bryce took a couple steps forward, raising his war hammer as he moved.

“Definitely,” Staff Bryce replied under his breath, clenching his teeth.