Chapter 94

Because Ethan had been late for a full week, all the good seats in his new classroom had been snatched up. The room was already buzzing with the low murmur of conversation, filled with the sharp, focused faces of New Veridia Academy's top students. Now, there was only one empty seat left—right in the front row, a prime piece of real estate directly under the teacher's watchful eye.

Tch! Ethan thought with an internal grimace, a flicker of comical disappointment running through him. What a pity. I didn't get the universal protagonist's back-row window seat, the king's exclusive VIP throne where one can gaze thoughtfully at the clouds. But there was no helping it. Who told him to be late? He could only obediently slide into that front-row position. He was pleased to find that the desk's drawer was already filled with a crisp, new set of textbooks, which he guessed Marcus had probably helped him get.

His deskmate was a boy with thick glasses who looked very quiet and studious, his posture perfect as he reviewed his notes. He pushed his glasses up his nose and offered a polite, slightly shy smile as Ethan sat down.

“Hello,” the boy greeted him, his voice quiet but clear.

“Hello,” Ethan replied.

“My name is Arthur Wells. I have a Superior-rank water-type ability. I'm the vice president of this class,” he introduced himself. “You were a week late. If there’s anything you don’t understand about the new curriculum, you can just ask me.”

“Okay, thank you,” Ethan said, grateful for the friendly welcome. “By the way, who is our class president?”

“It's Iris Thorne,” Arthur answered. “Originally, we planned to give the position to Seraphina, but she didn't want the responsibility, so we gave it to Iris.”

“I see,” Ethan responded thoughtfully. It was just a casual question, but it made perfect sense.

As the two were chatting, the pleasant chime of the bell for class echoed through the hall. A female teacher wearing simple, black-rimmed glasses walked in. She wasn't an exaggerated supermodel figure from a webtoon, nor was she exuding the powerful aura of a cool, mature beauty. She was just a very ordinary and normal female teacher dressed in a simple, professional black pantsuit. Novels are indeed deceiving! Ethan thought with a private smirk.

The teacher walked in, her gaze immediately falling on Ethan. “You must be Ethan Atherton, right?”

Ethan stood up. “Yes, teacher.”

“Mm,” she said with a small smile. “Your homeroom teacher has already told me about your situation. It’s understandable. Just right, then. In this class, I will go over some of the key points I've taught over the last week for your benefit, and it will also allow the other students to have a good review.”

“Okay, thank you, teacher!”

“Mm, everyone listen carefully. This is a key point.” She tapped the large holographic display behind her, and a few large words appeared on the screen: Elemental System, Physical System, Mental System, Special System.

“As everyone knows,” she began, her voice clear and engaging, “psionic abilities are wonderfully varied. For five hundred years, we have categorized the countless abilities humans have awakened into these few major systems. First, the Elemental System. This includes the common attributes of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, as well as the relatively rare light, dark, lightning, and ice.”

“Next is the Physical System. This includes everything from simple strength and speed enhancement to full-body beastification. The Mental System is also an important category, covering psychic attacks, direct mental control, and the ability to tame the Vicious Beasts of our world. Lastly, the Special System covers all sorts of strange and wonderful abilities, such as sound waves, gravity, time manipulation, and even the ability to summon psionic gear from other spaces.” Her tone became more pointed. “Here, we need to pay close attention. The beast-taming of the mental system and the summoning of the special system are both about controlling creatures. But one is taming real monsters that exist in our world, while the other is summoning contracted beasts from another dimension entirely. This is a favorite topic for university entrance exams. Everyone must remember this distinction.”

Ethan was diligently taking notes, a look of intense concentration on his face. His original soul, before the transmigration, had been a top student. To him, this was far more interesting than the boring math and language of his previous life. The teacher saw this and was very satisfied. I heard Ethan Atherton didn't like to study, she thought. It must all be baseless rumors.

After he finished writing, she began the formal lecture. “Alright, students, today we are going to learn about a very interesting psionic ability—the Summoning System! Everyone please open your textbooks, 'A Detailed Explanation of Psionic Abilities,' to page forty-five.”

The teacher continued, “The Summoning System is a relatively special and rare type of ability. For a long time, it was theorized that the Rift Worlds might be a parallel universe that had somehow overlapped with our own. However, the appearance of the Summoning System proved this theory wrong.”

A look of confusion spread through the class.

She explained, “Through our first summoners, we discovered another parallel world, completely separate from Earth and the Rift Worlds. A place ruled by powerful creatures we call ‘summoned beasts.’ Although these creatures are similar to the monsters from the Rift Worlds, they are not inherently hostile to humans. Of course, they have a very strong sense of territory. When the first summoning-type psionicists made spiritual contact with that realm, they were immediately attacked. But some succeeded, managing to sign a psionic contract with the summoned beasts there.”

“People soon discovered that after a summoner signs a contract, the two can train together, their growth complementing each other. The training speed for both is much faster than normal. And the summoned beast can be brought to our world and sent back at will. This unique characteristic caught the attention of our world's leaders. Thus, under the leadership of Master Zephyr, the Space Supreme, humanity reached a consensus with the powerful leaders of the summoned beasts. Summoned beasts must not actively attack humans, and humans can go to their world to form contracts, but they cannot use coercive means. A summoner can contract multiple beasts, making one person an entire team, a very welcome addition to any adventuring party.”

“From the perspective of raw strength, a summoned beast is about the same as a mutated creature from Earth, but far behind a true monster from the Rift Worlds. But many summoned beasts working together can defeat a powerful monster. Like us, their races also lack those truly innately powerful individuals who can contend with the strongest Rift monsters, which is why they use the same innate talent rank system as we do.”

The teacher chattered on, explaining many fascinating points about this new dimension. Ethan's notes quickly filled two full pages. When he used to read fantasy novels in his past life, he was always puzzled as to where summoned creatures actually came from. Now, finally, he knew.