My mind instantly thought of numerous possibilities to start a conversation, all of which had one thing in common: talking to my summoner.

  Him being the first person to know I can understand him makes sense. He’s the first person I met (although in less than ideal circumstances), I’m his roommate, and because of the nature of our relationship, he’s responsible for me like a child being told they must take care of the dog after adoption, much to the resistance and chagrin of his parents.

  How should I let him know?

  I looked at everyone around us before, turning to Kiori, who was staring at my face.

  I should let him know in private.

  As I was about to convince him to move to a less-populated corner of the town, a voice interrupted.

  “Nolval!” A woman’s voice entered.

  It turned out to be Ms. Peach Blonde, though I should stop using my naming convention of referring to people by their hair colors or a simplified impression of who they are.

  “Have you finished eating?” The girl asked, staring at me.

  “Umm… yeah. I was just talking to him.” I pointed a thumb at Kiori.

  “Well, we need your help with something. Come with me.”

  “Alright.”

  I couldn’t bring myself to stop talking to her or commit to my initial plan.

  “I’ll talk to you later.” I walked off, following the Peach Blonde Girl.

  “So… what’s your name?” I asked her, not wanting to walk in awkward silence.

  “Kalits. I’m a trainee of the Givilrin Knight order, tasked with ensuring the safety and rescue of the common folk while my juniors and seniors helped fight off Korons.”

  “Kalits, huh? Is Korons the name of that cyan-haired attacker who was flying earlier?”

  “Yes, he was, and it took so many of us just to tire him out, just to struggle with capturing him when he was weak.”

  I avoided saying anything that first came to mind, not wanting to sound stuck-up or insensitive. After a few seconds of deliberation, I spoke this instead:

  “How are the others of the Givilrin Knight order? The ones I saw fighting against him?”

  “Injured, but I’m told they’ll survive. Though some of them will have to retire after this incident.”

  “That bad? Did some of them receive life-altering injuries?”

  “No, at least, as far as I’ve seen. So the sudden announcement took me by surprise.”

  We stopped at the upside-down pyramid leaning on the ground between two buildings. It was the hovering platform I made, though, thinking about it, creating it seemed unnecessarily excessive. I just created whatever design came to mind without thinking too hard about how it’ll affect the environment.

  “Another thing we’ve been struggling with…” The Peach Blonde- no, Kalits continued. “…is this contraption with an odd design. We’ve tried getting Plant, Ice, and Earth mages to move it, but couldn’t due to its sheer weight and size.”

  I nearly forgot about this thing.

  I stepped up, inspecting the fallen contraption of my mind’s design. It looked like something you’d see in a Sci-Fi movie or TV show.

  I wanted to make it disappear right there, but there was a sudden worry I had. If I made it disappear from where I’m standing, and if there were people behind it, could I accidentally erase them from existence?

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  It was basically Schrodinger’s box, except that I could choose what was inside. This potential application of my power, I’ve yet to explore, made me wonder if I could erase or override the existence of something with a thought.

  Best to check before I make it vanish.

  “I’m gonna go on that roof.” I pointed to my right. “Are the stairs and walls leading to it still up?”

  “Huh? Oh, no. They were dismantled, though I’ve heard some Earth mages complaining about it.”

  I stood on a spot of the ground and imagined a square section of it slowly rising to roof height. It was basically a rudimentary elevator.

  “When you’re done using it, make sure put it back!” I heard Kalits shout from the ground.

  Just to be sure, I produced a picture of the erected rock and held it before shifting my focus to the upside-down pyramid platform.

  No one was on the other side, though there were crates and a 2-wheel wagon nearby.

  I changed my position so that the entire thing was in my view while ensuring Kalits was in my bottom peripheral, then I visualized the thing transforming into a mass of bright yellow light before it split and dispersed into smaller balls of light, accompanied by a digital, Sci-Fi sound. Those balls of light faded away, and the street was clear of any out-of-this-world technology.

  I then stepped onto the pillar I erected, then willed it to lower until it was flush with the ground.

  “Hey, what’s your attunement?” Kalits asked me. There was a mix of confusion, scrutiny, and deep thought on her expression.

  “What?”

  “Your attunement. It determines what element you’re capable of wielding after you go through the Crystal Rite.”

  I should’ve stuck with my summoner.

  “Is this something everyone knows?”

  “It’s something a lot of mages go through when they’re a child. Also, what do you mean by summoner?”

  There was a flash of surprise when Kalits said that, which was weird when I didn’t open my mouth.

  I hid my shock and calmly said:

  “I… didn’t say anything.”

  “Really? I could’ve sworn…” She sighed. “Never mind, maybe fatigue’s getting to me, and made me start hearing things.”

  I stared at where the upside-down pyramid platform was.

  “So, the issue of that thing has been resolved?” I pointed to the now-empty street.

  “Yeah. If it wasn’t gone by tomorrow, the Arch Mage Council would’ve gotten involved.”

  “What would happen if they did?” I asked, trying not to sound completely clueless, in contrast to ‘what’s the Arch Mage Council?’

  “I’m not sure. My best guess is that if they somehow managed to move it, it would be kept somewhere hidden, while people all over the world would try to research, dismantle, and reverse-engineer it while keeping it a secret from the public.”

  The way she described that reminded me of how governments classify information before it’s declassified and released to the public.

  She then walked off, looking back at me.

  “Well, it’s been nice knowing you, Nolval, but I’ve got to report back before Jensly scolds me for being late.”

  Those were her parting words before running off, making a series of odd movements and zipping away with a burst of wind.

  When she was no longer in view, I thought back to certain terms that stuck out to me.

  ‘Attunement,’ ‘Crystal Rite,’ ‘Arch Mage Council’

  It wasn’t hard to guess what “Arch Mage Council” meant. Likely a group of mages whose words have political weight to them. My main concern was the words “Attunement” and “Crystal Rite.”

  The way she spoke about them made it sound like I should know what they mean.

  Perfect timing, too, since everything everyone else says won’t sound like an adult speaking in a Peanuts cartoon.

  This topic could be the best first thing I can talk to my summoner about.

  I should clarify what his name is first.

  The few instances I’ve heard what I believe is his name ranged from clear to muddled, so I wanted to hear it from him.

  So I walked back the way I came to the party in front of the building I woke up in.

  When I returned, no one was eating. A few were still walking to others, while some were helping clean up. Tables were being carried, plates and utensils were being gathered, and food scraps leftover from eating were being cleaned up off the floor, either with a thick, floating line of water gliding over the ground or with wind gently pushing and gathering whatever was on the floor into a box. The sight of both made me wonder if any mages of those 2 elements (or rather, Attunements) sold cleaning services.

  “Nolval!”

  I heard another voice shouting my name. When I turned to find its source, it was Kiori running up to me.

  “Where did you go?”

  “Just went to clean up something I produced.” I casually explained.

  His eyes widened.

  “You… understand me.”

  “Oh, yeah. The umm… language barrier disappeared earlier while… someone was hanging from the ice.”

  “Oh.”

  We just stared at each other, neither wanting to speak over the other at this conversational standstill.

  “So…” I began. “What’s your name. I’ve heard it, but avoided saying it because I didn’t want to get the pronunciation wrong.”

  “Kiori. Kee-yor-iee.”

  I held my hand out, initiating a handshake. “Nice to finally meet you, Kiori.”

  He took my hand, firmly, and gave it a strong, single shake.

  “Nice to finally meet you, Nolval.”

  “Is that the name I go by? What did you call me before?”

  “Naked dancing boy.”

  I felt my brows raise reflexively. “Yeah, Nolval’s a good replacement.”