Crouching down, Aurelius scooped a handful of the dark soil and slowly sculpted it into a small humanoid form. He was actually slightly pleased with how workable the soil was.

  The school’s Guardian spirit, the earth elemental named Lily, took care of the landscaping, tending to the grass and repairing any damage done by magic to the school grounds. In a bid to limit damage, she had left out a few clearings, aesthetically scattered across the fields.

  Students had been instructed sternly to keep their experiments and battles confined to these designated areas.

  After all, she would not feel too great healing gashes in her beautifully maintained grass every single day. Considerate in her own way, Lily even upturned the soil in these little arenas daily.

  This made the soil soft and workable. Very ideal for students to use for practicing earth magic and especially convenient for the creation of golems in Aurelius's case.

  “Why are you using your hands? Why not just use magic?” Seraphine asked, her voice tinged with amusement.

  “Well, my kind senior has declined my request for help, and since I’m still fatigued after making the charm, I’d like to save my energy for the spirit summoning,” Aurelius replied, casting a dirty look at Seraphine.

  Just then, the ground stirred. A stream of soil shot upward, swirling and compacting into the shape of a golem with stubby legs, stubby arms, and a rotund little body. It was lowered gently to the ground, as if it were no heavier than a leaf drifting down in autumn.

  “Well, I don’t like children who play in mud,” Seraphine said nonchalantly. Her hands lowered, her posture unchanged, still sitting cross-legged with the elegance of a noble.

  Aurelius scoffed. Showoff.

  He stood and brushed himself off, muttering complaints under his breath. With a few quick gestures, he cleaned the dirt from his clothes and hands, shaking them out with exaggerated disdain.

  Then, kneeling once more, he traced a hexagon into the soil around the golem, saving his stamina.

  From the small pile beside him, he picked out six gems and carefully inserted one into each corner of the shape. Double-checking the lines to make sure they weren’t disturbed, he pressed the golem core into the chest of the soil figure.

  Next, Aurelius drew a circle around himself, connecting it to the hexagon with a straight line. He placed his last gem, a shiny green quartz at the midpoint of said line.

  Careless in motion, yet precise in intent, he scattered the remaining spirit powder onto the golem.

  With the preparations complete, he rose to his feet, entering the circle and began to pray.

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  “Servant of Terravax,

  Lord of Earth, Dragon-Born, Teoyollotl,

  Bless me, your humble worshipper,

  I offer the children of stone.

  Gift unto me your follower,

  A lesser spirit, cultivator of life, Earth-Born!”

  Each line of the chant carried weight, and with every word the gems began to glow. One by one they flickered and faded away, dissolving until they were nothing but faint, translucent outlines in the soil.

  From those hollow traces, light emerged, sketching intricate patterns autonomously within the hexagon. It was a gate, a threshold, a bridge that allowed a spirit to descend.

  Summoning a spirit, unless one was calling directly to an angel, always required specification of legion. To summon blindly was to invite chaos—an unaffiliated spirit, often unstable, perhaps even hostile. The invocation of a name, of an angel and their legion, served as both safeguard and authority of protection.

  Aurelius was a believer of the Church of Dragons and naturally, his prayer called to the legion of Teoyollotl, the Church’s deity.

  The shifting air from the circle brought floral fragrances that mingled with the musty scent of the underground.

  The embedded green gem linking the two shapes dissolved fully, and from its absence, a translucent, purple fluid seemed to spread, filling the channels and completing the ritual.

  Then came the sound of bells.

  Their ringing was pure, each chime carrying warmth that resonated deep in the soul, steady and grounding. These tones were said to be divine miracles in themselves, the unmistakable herald of Teoyollotl’s stewards. Aurelius felt the sound echo through him, filling him with warmth.

  The scattered spirit powder lifted from the soil, glowing gold as it spun within the geometric patterns. Slowly, it gathered, condensing into the chest of the waiting golem.

  The bells grew faint, the glow faded, and the mingled scents drifted away. Silence returned to the clearing.

  And then, with awkward little movements, the golem shuffled up to its feet.

  It gave Aurelius a small, comical bow, then waved clumsily at Seraphine. On her shoulder, her tiny mouse familiar squeaked in return, acknowledging the spirit now inhabiting the earthen shell.

  The golem’s body was no longer mere dirt. A lesser spirit had possessed it fully, and it moved with energy drawn from the core embedded within. The gems and ores, sacrificed as the price, had sealed the first step of the contract.

  “You’ve summoned a cute one,” Seraphine remarked dryly. “I’m disappointed you didn’t manage something strange.”

  “The request to the spirit world was clear. There is no way for the summoning to go wrong—it is protected by the angelic legions,” Aurelius replied, lecturing as though to a child.

  Seraphine only shook her head, clicking her tongue. Stretching languidly, she rose to her feet. “Seal the contract, shaman kid. I need to catch up on homework. Mr. Cassius will kill me if I don’t hand it in tomorrow.”

  She snapped her fingers and the stone chair she had conjured crumbled instantly into gravel.

  “You volunteered yourself to watch this!” Aurelius shouted after her incredulously.

  Ignoring him, Seraphine left Aurelius to his task.

  He drew his blood once more, and let crimson blood pool across his thumbs.

  Approaching the waist-high golem, he saw it eagerly cup its hands, waiting. Upturning his hand, he let the droplet fall onto the earthy palms.

  The binding began immediately. He felt his soul brush against the spirit’s essence, and could sense the form and shape of the golem’s inner self. Carefully, he prepared to inscribe his mark upon it and felt the spirit was reaching back, scribbling its own mark upon him in turn.

  That was when it all went wrong.

  Without warning, the golem convulsed. Its body trembled violently, clumps of soil breaking off and crumbling to the ground.

  In a burst of dirt, mana, and shattering sound, the golem exploded.