Chapter 276: Spirit Summoning

Vlad didn’t respond for a few seconds as he was at the end of the solution. Once he solved the problem, he placed the pen on the table and shifted his eyes to the phone in Seraphina’s hands, where her finger was pointing.

[Fundamentals of Spirit Summoning]

"Oh, I enrolled in this subject because it sounded cool," Vlad revealed with a grin, rubbing the back of his head. "I haven’t attended a single class, though."

"Y-you! You!" Seraphina muttered, veins bulging on her forehead as she pressed her temples between her fingers and thumb.

"What happened?" Vlad asked, his brows rising in concern. "Is this subject too difficult? I have a whole day to prepare, so it shouldn’t be a problem, right?"

Seraphina gave him a sharp glare through the gap between her fingers, making him flinch.

"Difficult is an understatement when describing the complexity of this subject," Seraphina revealed, her tone serious. "I didn’t have the talent for summoning, so I dropped out after the first semester. But the theory and complex magical circles I had to learn just to pass the exam were things I would prefer never to experience again."

Vlad’s lips parted in worry. Seraphina was a mage, a highly talented one at that, who had already reached the level of a Four-Ring Mage before even turning twenty. She spent every day studying magical circles and performing the complex calculations required to cast them. If Spirit Summoning had given even someone like her trouble, Vlad didn’t need to see its syllabus to understand the subject’s complexity.

He swallowed nervously before asking, "Sera, am I screwed?"

Seraphina took a deep breath, removing her hand from her face. She shouldn’t crush his morale before he even opened the book.

"What score are you aiming for in these exams?" Seraphina asked, her voice calmer.

"A total score of above ninety percent with no backlogs," Vlad revealed, raising nine fingers before Seraphina’s face.

For a moment, Seraphina didn’t say anything. She placed her hand on his shoulder and said with a warm smile, "Pack it up, lil bro."

Vlad’s brows furrowed. "Don’t call me bro," he muttered, removing her hand from his shoulder.

Seraphina gave him a concerned look. He was more bothered by her calling him bro than by the intent behind her words.

She let out a sigh. "Cutie, I only meant it as a pun."

She leaned forward over the table, grabbed a pen, and began writing something down, her gaze shifting back and forth between the notebook and phone.

"Here, you might be able to reach the desirable score with this plan." She handed him the notebook.

All of his subjects, arranged in order of their exam dates, were written down.

---

[Theory || 1 credit per subject]

1. Elemental Studies

2. History of the Arcane Age

3. Magical Law & Ethics

4. Fundamentals of Combat

5. Aura Awakening

6. Fundamentals of Tactics

7. Fundamentals of Beast Taming

8. Fundamentals of Spirit Summoning

[Practicals]

1. Fundamentals of Combat, Aura Control and Tactics. [8 credits]

2. Fundamentals of Beast Taming [3 credits]

3. Fundamentals of Spirit Summoning [3 credits]

---

Below the list, a simple calculation of the credit score was written. If Vlad were to pass Spirit Summoning theory and practicals with the minimum required marks of 60%, he needed to pass the remaining subjects with an average of 96.67%, which Seraphina had rounded off to 97%.

Vlad’s mind was still processing how he would reach those ridiculous numbers when Seraphina added, "I’m not confident with this subject. I still have the notes from last year, but you shouldn’t depend on them. It would be better if you asked an expert in Spirit Summoning to tutor you."

"Expert?" Vlad murmured. He didn’t have any friends in the summoning major. Even if he did, the other students were also busy preparing for their exams.

While he was still thinking about whose help to seek, Chloe raised her head from his lap, waking up.

"What are you doing?" she asked in a sleepy voice, hugging his arm like a pillow as she sat beside him.

"Oh right, I also enrolled you in Spirit Summoning," Vlad remembered, his eyes shifting to Chloe. "How is your preparation?"

Chloe’s eyes were only half open, her whole body leaning against Vlad’s arm, his hand placed on the floor between her thighs as she murmured, "It’s the easiest."

Both Vlad and Seraphina blinked, making sure they weren’t imagining things due to sleep deprivation.

Seraphina’s eyes shifted to Vlad’s hand placement, her eyes widening. Not only was Chloe’s chest pressing against his elbow, but his hand was also dangerously close to a very wrong place.

Her cheeks flushed red as she immediately pulled Chloe back by grabbing her by the back of her collar. "Speak clearly. Vlad needs your help."

"Anng..." Chloe whimpered, being suddenly pulled while still half asleep.

"Be gentle with her... she’s very vulnerable when she’s sleepy," Vlad scolded Seraphina in a soft tone as he gently removed her hand from Chloe’s collar.

Chloe leaned forward, her body pressing against his arm again.

Now it was Seraphina who was sulking. Her cheeks puffed slightly as she moved back to her place.

"Hmph, I knew childhood love was more precious to you," she muttered, her back facing him.

Vlad flinched. Where did that come from? Since he was so comfortable with Chloe, he was clearly failing to notice that his hand placement was obviously bothering Seraphina.

"Sera..." he called, but only received the sway of her crimson hair in response.

"Stay with your Chloe," Seraphina muttered. "I don’t want to disturb you two."

Vlad had only parted his lips when Chloe declared, still half asleep, "Well said."

"..."

A brief silence followed. Vlad could see the bulge in Seraphina’s cheeks even from behind as her body tensed in anger.

She was about to rise from her spot when a hand suddenly grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back.

Her body only stopped when she was sitting on Vlad’s lap.

"Now why are you angry all of a sudden, Sera?" Vlad asked in a low whisper, his chin resting on Seraphina’s shoulder.