Skyler froze the moment he heard Caelum’s request.

He already knew that the other party was the son of a Count, and not just any ordinary Count at that, but one who ruled an extremely wealthy territory.

Which made the situation even more terrifying from Skyler’s perspective.

Lending money to Caelum for something like constructing a giant golden statue was essentially the same as an ordinary civilian being asked to personally fund state development projects.

If he actually agreed to such madness, he himself would probably need to borrow the amount from a bank first, and those banks were practically controlled by the government anyway.

Skyler immediately gave Caelum a deeply suspicious look.

’What a terrifying scam technique...’ he thought inwardly.

Meanwhile, the summoning session continued for quite some time as more and more students received their summons.

Some obtained ordinary magical animals, while others formed contracts with insects, elemental creatures, or low-ranking magical beasts.

A few students even succeeded in summoning genuine spirit entities, although most of those spirits belonged to relatively lower ranks in the Spirit Realm’s hierarchy.

Eventually, Anastasia’s turn came.

The moment she stepped forward, Volka’s gaze sharpened noticeably.

’What incredible fire affinity...’

Being a dragon came with many advantages, and one of them was perception far beyond that of ordinary humans.

Volka could see much more than normal people.

The fire affinity of Anastasia was astonishing, and he was already certain that once she matured further, numerous Red Dragons would likely attempt to establish contact with her voluntarily.

He simply did not know how many volcanoes across the world would erupt once such dragons became emotionally excited.

"So, what kind of summon will you choose?" Volka asked with genuine interest.

"A spirit summon," Anastasia replied calmly, as though she had already decided long ago.

Volka handed her the Spirit Crystal.

The instant Anastasia touched it, the crystal erupted with a brilliant radiance far greater than any reaction shown so far during the entire session.

"You possess the highest spirit affinity among everyone here so far. Not bad at all," Volka commented honestly while observing the dazzling glow.

He then motioned for her to step onto the Spirit Familiar Circle that had already been prepared beforehand.

"Inject your mana into the spirit’s circle," he instructed.

The moment Anastasia obeyed, her mana flowed into the circle and the entire summoning formation ignited with fierce crimson light, clearly reflecting her overwhelming fire affinity.

**

Spirit Realm — Domain of the Primordial Phoenix Ignis

Ignis was sleeping.

Not ordinary sleep either, but a deep slumber that had lasted for countless years.

However, at that exact moment, she suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of opportunity.

Her eyes snapped open.

The flames throughout vast regions of the Spirit Realm trembled violently as the Primordial Phoenix awakened from her ancient rest.

And the source of this strange opportunity, was merely a tiny mortal’s summoning circle.

Ordinarily, such insignificant summoning rituals were casually answered by lower spirits according to the agreements established between the Spirit Plane and the Material Plane.

Yet for some reason, Ignis instinctively understood that this opportunity was extraordinary.

As a being comparable to gods themselves, there was absolutely no way she would allow such a chance to slip away.

The summoning point existed unimaginably far away, but before she could personally descend there, her gaze pierced across enormous distances throughout the Spirit Realm.

And what she saw, was a tiny fire spirit chicken answering the summon.

At that moment, Ignis released a furious screech that shook nearly half of the Spirit Realm itself.

Realizing her own mistake, she immediately attached a fragment of her primordial flames onto the little spirit chicken through her supreme authority.

That very day, numerous ancient beings throughout the Spirit Realm awakened from their rest, attempting to identify the reason behind the sudden awakening of the Primordial Phoenix Ignis.

Meanwhile, Ignis descended into the shared spiritual space connected to Anastasia’s summoning.

Beside her stood the small chicken-like fire spirit.

Although the little creature was merely a low-level spirit, it immediately lowered itself respectfully before Ignis.

Within the Spirit Realm, hierarchy was absolute.

Fortunately for it, Ignis had no interest in bullying such an innocent lower spirit.

Instead, her full attention shifted toward the little human girl standing before her.

[Little human... form a contract with me.]

Ignis’s voice carried immense authority and pressure.

After all, she was unquestionably the superior existence within this spiritual space.

"Cauk-cauk!" the tiny spirit chicken also cried enthusiastically, seemingly trying to participate in the contract discussion.

"Alright! Let’s do it!" Anastasia replied brightly without the slightest hesitation, because who would refuse a phoenix?

However, the moment she agreed her consciousness blurred, as a shadow suddenly formed behind her.

The shared spiritual space, which had originally been completely dominated by the flames of the Primordial Phoenix, began collapsing slowly.

[What?!]

Ignis cried out in alarm.

Behind Anastasia appeared a towering figure so massive that even worlds themselves seemed insignificant before it.

Countless mysterious shackles restrained the gigantic silhouette while terrifying flames burned throughout the collapsing spiritual dimension.

The sheer existence of the being caused the entire shared space to distort violently.

Then, It spoke.

[Little Phoenix... you are correct.]

The colossal being’s voice echoed throughout the collapsing realm like judgment itself.

[Let us form a contract.]

**

Anastasia stood atop the summoning circle as the formation beneath her blazed with intense crimson light.

For a brief moment, everything appeared normal.

Then suddenly, the circle flashed once, and violent flames erupted around her body.

The surrounding students immediately panicked as the blazing fire spiraled upward like a miniature inferno.

"What the heck?! Instructor, stop that!" Caelum exclaimed instinctively as he immediately stepped forward.

Volka, however, looked genuinely puzzled.

No student before Anastasia had triggered such a phenomenon during the summoning process, and even he had not expected the reaction to escalate so dramatically, however knowing what was happening he did not intervene.

But that was not the case with Caelum, as his expression grew increasingly serious.

The idea of his childhood friend, who also happened to be the Empire’s princess, suddenly becoming engulfed in mysterious flames was absolutely not something he wanted to witness calmly from the sidelines.

Fortunately, during the week before the summoning session, Caelum had spent a significant amount of time retraining his magic after rebuilding his cultivation foundation.

Although his current First Circle differed greatly from his previous one, he had still successfully returned to the level of a First Circle Mage.

Without hesitation, he raised his hand.

[Moisture Pull]

The spell activated instantly, though no magic circle appeared.

The surrounding moisture rapidly condensed toward his body at an astonishing rate, forming a dense watery layer around him until his clothes and skin became thoroughly soaked.

Then, without the slightest hesitation.

Caelum jumped directly into the flames.