《FAILURE OF ICE》 my exeption the failure of ice my exception Invoker: a person who has made a contract with a familiar whether it be as a partner relationship or slave and master relationship. How you treat your familiar is up to you, for it is your property. The existence of invokers is a very contradictory matter, everyone wants to be one, but not everyone can be. Everyone has the capability to be an invoker, but you need the money. There are a total of 12 schools that any individual can attend to study and train to be an invoker, they will provide boarding and even your lifelong familiar. However, they are incredibly expensive. You may have to pay for your child to cross the country or even move to a different country altogether, you pay for boarding at one of the most prestigious schools in the world, you also pay for top of the end equipment and teachers. However, there are two exceptions to getting into the 12 schools. Exception 1: You can be recommended to a school, but only from someone working within the school with a relatively high influence over the school eg a principal or a highly respected teacher. Exemption two: all payments are final no matter who the money comes from whether they are royalty or live in the slums nor does it matter how the individual got the money. They are completely unbiased and confidential. As long as you have the money, you have the education. My father was a notorious criminal who would murder and steal to get what he wanted. And my mother was an honest hardworking woman who had just recently been hired at a highly respected bank. But it just so happened that the first day my mother was working there was the same day my father had planned to steal from it. During the robbery he saw her, she was terrified shaking all over, my father watched the fear consume her, he was excited. So he took her. She was kidnapped and controlled by him. I was the result of the repetitive and vicious rape of the most important person in my life, my mother. It disgusts me. My father was a horrible man. He would beat me and my mother continuously, he did not know what love and compassion were. He turned my mother into and used her as an emotionless doll used for sex and an object to release his rage on. I think he liked the noise she made when she was in pain that¡¯s why he kept her. And he probably didn¡¯t kill me because he was going to do the same to me when I got older. every night I would listen to it. The cries of my mother being used, and the sinister laughter of my father enjoying her raw cry for help. Some nights he even made me watch he chained me to the wall in their room, it was horrible. He would choke her so that the veins would pop out all over her head and lock her down so she couldn¡¯t move. He cut her, penetrated her and often looked at me to see what kind of reaction I would give to each act of torture as if he thrived off of it. This went on for 16 straight years. He truly was a monster. One day my father had decided to rob a bank, he picked this place because it was common knowledge that only the rich would use this bank. He assumed it would contain large quantities of money at almost any given time. And he was right. He easily walked in strapped with a large knife and demanded cash. Once again he had succeeded and brought home an enormous amount of money, enough to make royalty shutter and enough to make the sun look away because it was so bright. He was a very good criminal. He was untraceable. And lived his life slowly without spending much money at a time in order to not be suspicious. We lived at home for a few weeks after that, during this time father would use mother endlessly. However, my mother had somehow not given up. She had gotten in contact with the cheapest which also happened to be the closest invoker school. Imperium academy, roughly 400 miles from our current location. She had Enrolled me into imperium academy and ensured them that she had the money to pay them. She was told that within two days a teacher would arrive to receive the payment and take me back to the school. She had perfectly timed my enrolment so that I would smoothly integrate into the school at the beginning of the year so I wouldn¡¯t have to join late and have it affect my studies. she had thought it through thoroughly and planned on using the stolen money as payment. The minimal age for enrolment was 15. I will be seventeen this year. Most people finish school at any of the 12 invoker schools at age 21. The initial enrolment payment covers all living expenses and every year of schooling. Convenient for people with money. At the time, I was completely unaware of mother¡¯s plans. ''The day of the scheduled meeting between mother and the teacher''. *knock knock* two knocks sounded from the door I looked at the door slightly shocked, we don¡¯t really receive any visitors. For obvious reasons. Maybe it was fathers friend, howdisgusting.My father was sloped into the old broken brown couch with holes all through it watching t.v. Iwaited for my father to get up and open the door but he never did, he just sat there and ignored it.*sound of running lightly* My mother came running from her room looking very flustered she was carrying a sealed suitcase that looked pretty heavy. She quickly opened the door and pushed the sealed suitcase onto the man outside and dragged him into the house.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. The man had dark black hair that fell down one side of his face and had the rest tied up in a ponytail falling to just above his neck. He was a tall thin but also sturdy, almost like a sprinter. The most eye-catching part about him though was the white robe he was wearing. A pure white robe that fit him perfectly. It went down just before the floor revealing sneakers. An interesting choice of clothes. However. That high-class robe that suited him perfectly, it represented, a teacher of the imperium academy. My father turned around slowly and looked at my mother with these sinister eyes that would make a killer cringe, my father was neither smiling nor frowning he just stared directly at my mother with those horrible eyes. ¡°What¡¯s in the suitcase Asuka¡± the stern voice that came out of my father made my mother look to the floor and hold her hands together out of fear. ¡°I asked you a question bitch!¡±. My mother didn¡¯t speak. The tall man holding the suitcase stepped forward, and with a calm unwavering voice announced ¡° this suitcase contains Akiri Asunas enrolment fee, daughter of Mr and mss Asuna¡±. ¡°I rebuke it immediately!! You whore how dare you!¡±.My father quicklystood to his feet, understanding that the sealed suitcase contained the money he had stolen and the girl he used as his plaything tricked him, he was infuriated. However, the teacher did not yield one bit instead he stepped forward and with a smile that oozed confidence and said ¡°I¡¯m sorry Mr Asuna all payments are final¡± My father filled head to toe with rage reacted immediately. He ran straight towards the teacher. He looked like an animal with closed fists and a drooling mouth breathing heavily, intending to beat the teacher into nothing but dust. When just as my father was in striking distance. The man in the robe whispered.¡°FEAR¡±.after the teacher whispered these words, as if summoned the teacher was holding a long thin blade. The handle was the same thickness as the blade at around 1 quarter of the blades total length, on the side of the blade was a rain dragon and strange golden symbols carved into the side, the pointed tip of the blade was held up to my fathers throat slightly pressing into his neck without piercing it. My father didn¡¯t dare walk any further. He looked the teacher in the eye. and after a few moments passed. The man staring into death tried opening his mouth to speak. But as soon as his lips moved.*slice*. Red liquid poured out of my fathers throat splashing onto the floor in dangerous amounts, but my father didn¡¯t even notice. In roughly 4 seconds he died from loss of blood, it was absurdly fast. The blade had looked like it didn¡¯t move at all, I didn¡¯t even see where the blade came from. It scared me. My father''s dead body was convulsing on the floor as if being eaten by something. The tall man in the white robe turned to my mother as if my father''s dead body wasn¡¯t even there. he was no longer holding the katana, it disappeared again. ¡°Fear will be the death of all men and women if not kept under control, ms Asuna, Once your daughter is enrolled she cannot be un-enroled, you understood this correct?¡± he looked at my mother seriously but not in a threatening way. ¡°Yes¡±. The man then smiled and nodded. He turned to look at me and proceeded to say ¡°ms Akira you are officially a student at imperium academy, my name is rain and I am the homeroom teacher for the class you will be joining¡±. I fell to my knees and cried. Each tear filled with relief each tear filled with the lost years of freedom. In those few moments I tried crying away all the bad things my father had ever done to me, but it didn¡¯t work. My mother fell to her knees and held me in her arms for the first time in 15 years. We were allowed to hold each other. I didn¡¯t know what to do. So I just sat there and didn¡¯t say a word. I looked up at the man who appeared to be a teacher from imperium academy and claimed to be called rain. He looked down at me and smiled, he put his hands on his hips and straightened his back as straight as it could go. ¡°Missy I understand this is a very touching moment and I''m sorry to cut it short but it¡¯s time for us to leave if we want to get to the academy on time¡±. I tilted my head and asked, ¡°On time for what?¡±. ¡°Tomorrow all the new students will be enrolled in class¡± he smiled and gave me the thumbs up in a playful way. me and my mother both wiped our eyes and stood up. ¡°What will you do without me mum?¡± I said beginning to tear up again but I managed to keep it down. ¡°You don¡¯t have time to worry about me I¡¯ll be fine¡±. It was very rushed but we hugged one last time and I walked outside just behind rain and saw a fancy looking carriage pulled by two incredibly large and muscular horses with brown and white bodies. He stood to face me pointing his thumb over his shoulder smiling ¡°best get moving¡±. I jumped in the back and waved at my mother as she quickly fell out of view being left in the distance along with the dirt being kicked up by the horses as they pushed forward. For the rest of the trip, rain fell asleep in a really awkward position slumped over on his elbow leaning out the window, He looked funny ¡°pffff¡± trying not to laugh too loud I let out a small sound of laughter. I sat there for the rest of the trip imagining what the academy would look like. How grand is this academy? I hope its beautiful The 12 school鈥檚 Failure of ice imperium academy *thud* rains sturdy elbow that was supporting his head slipped out allowing his face to kiss the door of the carriage. He looked up at me teary-eyed, his lip slightly fattened. His black hair was all over the place. I looked at his teary eyes and fattened lip, flashbacks reminding me of my mother''s beaten face attacked me. A shiver ran up my spine making my thin 5,6 stature appear to spasm. My long black her fell over the front of my face, covering the small trail of tears coming from my eyes. The cold from the tears made me shiver once more. I lifted my head and pushed my hair back over my shoulders. The tears that had come out of my eyes made my green eyes look like they had a shine to them. I snuck a quick look towards rain out of embarrassment. He was looking out the window of the carriage as if he had no idea that anything was wrong. The rain had appeared to have fallen asleep in the same position as earlier, he stayed like this for around another hour. my eyes were exploring him when I caught his eyes open up slightly. Without looking at me he addressed me and said: ¡°Akiri, we¡¯re almost there¡±. I put a serious face on and looked out the window all Isaw were an endless amount of trees. We were in the middle of imperium forest, imperium forest was owned by imperium academy and is used as a training ground for the students. The carriage slowly moved along as I stared out the window and caught glimpses of elusive streams of sunlight through the endless line of trees. After about 5 minutes of slowly moving along the carriage came to a stop. Rain sat up straight. The carriage driver walked down the side of the carriage and opened the carriage door, the driver proceeded to turn to the side and put one hand behind his back he then bowed, very similar to how a butler would, he was even wearing very formal clothing. Rain stepped outside the carriage and I followed closely behind him. I looked towards the driver ¡°Thank you¡± he bowed further as if he was showing his appreciation. ¡°the carriage is not allowed on school grounds we have to walk the last little bit¡± rain said as he walked away. I walked quickly to catch up to him then steadied out my pace so that my walking was in time with rains. The endless trees around us made a perfectly symmetrical pathway. The pathway had narrowed down compared to earlier in order to stop carriages from getting through. The gravel road turned into a paved path. The pavement was wide enough to allow two people to walk side by side with a small space between them. The tree line and the pavement had a very small gap between them and it was symmetrical on both sides and didn¡¯t widen or shorten the whole way. Small amounts of sunlight seeped through the trees, light rays ran across the pathway illuminating the way. The trees were around 10 meters tall and were covered in leaves which is why very little sunlight could pass through. Up ahead I could see the pathway starting to widen. It gradually started becoming wider as you walked further. The path had gone from roughly 3 meters wide to around 6 meters wide. No more then 10 meters ahead the tree line ended and the pavement turned into grass. Rain and I stepped onto the grass simultaneously creating this pretty cool looking scene. Suddenly I was blinded sunlight because the tree line was no longer their to shade me from the sun. I stopped moving and waited as my vision slowly faded back in. I looked around with my eyes open wide. It was incredible. What has revealed to me was a massive square plane covered in neatly cut grass roughly 1 mile long and 1 mile wide. Centred At the other end of the plane directly in front of us was an enormous three-story cshaped building, The Academy. On my left and right at either end of the plane were large two-story rectangular buildings. The dorms. Rain looked over and saw me in shock ¡°Welcome to imperium academy. Directly in front of you that c shaped building, that¡¯s the academy there, you will train to become an invoker, as well as continue all of your general studies like maths, English and so on. On your left is the female dorm, that is where you will stay and make your best friends and biggest rivals as well as many other things you¡¯ll learn as you become more comfortable here. On your right is the male dorms.... stay away from their please.¡±. As we continued walking towards the main c shaped academy building rain continued telling me all about the academy. ¡° in both dorms is something called a supply shop where you can find all sorts of everyday items like food, furniture, clothes as well as not so everyday items like weapons. all to assist you in your stay here. The supply shop requires a payment in the form of imperium, Imperium is the currency used within the academy it will determine how comfortable your stay here will be. Though it has no value outside of the academy.inside the academy, Imperium can be earned in Many ways including doing well in your studies, doing quests for the school or the students, having a part-time job around the school or working for a student And finally winning duels. the school also runs tournaments and battle royals if you place high in these you can win prize money. The school has multiple ranking systems in order to distinguish valuable students. These ranks include duelling rank, study rank, support rank, familiar rank, tournament rank, battle royal rank, money rank, quest rank and overall rank. Achieving a high rank in any of these categories rewards you with prize money as well as popularity and influence within the academy.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. once we reached the front door of the academy rain turned to me ¡° once we go inside I will lead you to a room, inside that room waiting for you will be the academy¡¯s guidance spirit, the guiding spirit is a special existence not known to anyone except students and teachers at imperium academy believe. The guidance spirit will give you tips on what you should improve your existence within the academy, but he also can control his own thoughts so don¡¯t take everything he says as a fact instead use it as something to work off of and make your own way¡±. Rain opened the large door and walked inside, I followed close behind him familiarising myself with the large room I was in. There was a single desk with a large chair behind it. Further behind the desk there was a door, I assume it leads to behind the academy.¡± that¡¯s the principal''s desk, the principal is an interesting character. But he is reliable. He isn''t here at the moment but he will be here for tomorrows morning assembly¡±. We turned to the right and walked down a small hallway until we saw a single blue door. Rain looked at me and nodded, and so I walked inside. Inside the room were nothing but black walls a black roof and a black floor and a centrally placed pure white chair. I walked over and sat down. ¡±hmmmmm, Akira I presume¡±. I looked around shocked at the sudden voice but quickly regained my composure. ¡° How do you know my name. Are you the guidance spirit¡± a few moments later the voice sounded again ¡° oh you know about me. I suppose rain told you about me. Oh well it doesn¡¯t really matter whether you know what I am or not.¡± I looked around trying to see a physical form but I couldn¡¯t see one.Exactly as the name suggests, a spirit. ¡°I was told that you would give me tips to improve my life within the academy¡± I wasn¡¯t really sure about how I was supposed to talk to him so used formal-ish tone. ¡°I suppose that is what I do. akira you have a relatively frightening past, Their a very few students here who share a similar background to you most of them are of royalty. Fitting in here by socialising may be hard for you. I recommend you try and avoid offending anyone until you Aquire a standing within the academy. Popularity within the academy is mostly determined by how valuable the individual is to the academy and how promising they are as an invoker. Try and climb your way through the ranks while avoiding offending any big name family that may crush you. This is how you should go about your schooling here. Gain strength and climb through the ranks. This is all I have to say you may leave¡±. This seemed pretty rude and rushed but I didn¡¯t question him, after all, he gave me pretty good advice but nothing rain hadn''t already told me about, so I got up and left. ¡° hmmm she will be a very interesting person to watch¡±. I walked through the corridor rain led me through earlier and when I got to the large room where the principal desk was, a girl with long flowing blond hair walked passed me. She didn¡¯t say anything but snuck a look at me when she walked passed, I wasn¡¯t exactly sure if that look meant something or if it was just because she was curious either way, we would probably see each other again. I walked outside and saw rain sitting cross-legged outside looking up into the deep blue sky. I walked in front of him and looked down at him ¡°I¡¯m finished¡± he looked at me ¡°good, whatever he said to you treat it confidentially. Now, let''s go to the dorm and you can get settled in for the night. tomorrow all new students will attend the morning assembly so make sure you are dressed in uniform and outside on the grass by 5 am tomorrow¡± ... ¡°did you just say 5 am¡±. rain lead me towards the female dorms, once we got them he pulled out a key. ¡°This is just to let you in for tonight tomorrow your fingerprints will be magically imprinted on the handle but for tonight this will have to do. There may be other girls sleeping at the moment so please be courteous. Your room will have your name above it. have a look around until you find it then settle in. Your room will have a small amount of furniture already inside and in your room, multiple pairs of uniform will be folded and ready for use.¡± Rain turned around and started walking away. I went inside and found my room positioned on the first floor the last room to the right. I opened the door to my room and stepped inside and looked around. There was a nice little bed central in the room with a small bench and chair on the right, on the left Was a cupboard and just as rain said the were multiple pairs of uniform. The uniform was a white skirt and a blue and white t-shirt...¡± 5 am huh¡± I jumped in bed *sigh*. And fell asleep. Summon ceremony failure of ice The summoning ceremony *ding ding ding ding* the sound of a bell continually invaded my ears interrupting my empty sleep. I slowly sat up, my hair was fuzzy and fell over my eyes and some was even in my mouth. I really didn¡¯t want to leave the warmth of my bed but the bell kept urging me to. I ripped the blanket off as fast as I could, trying to avoid any more tempting thoughts to slip into my mind. I jumped to my feet and the cold immediately attacked my body, causing my hairs to stand up as well as make my face, hands and feet freeze and numb all over. I walked over to the cupboard where my uniform was waiting for me. I picked up the skirt and t-shirt and put them on. The skirts'' length was about 10 centimetres above my knee, showing off my feminine legs and wrapping tightly around my hips. The t-shirt was.... a little tight, but it was a good length. The uniform really showed off my feminine features... a little too much. I made my bed and proceeded to exit the dorm. Waiting for me out the front of the dorm was a line of girls and a female teacher, I walked up and joined the line of girls who were in the same uniform as me. ¡°Good, now that all the new female students are present I¡¯ll begin. Hello, everyone, I miss Aiko I will be in charge at the female dorms. I am not a teacher at the academy but I am responsible for the dorm supply shop, as well as being responsible for making the dorms as friendly a place as possible, so you will probably see me around a lot. Soon enough I will learn all of your names and hopefully, we can become good friends¡± miss Aiko was a very short and thin girl, she didn¡¯t really look that much older then we but the way she spoke made it seem as if she was many years our senior. She had a very cute voice but it was also clear that she knew what she was talking about so everyone listened without a complaint. ¡° now then my girls, the morning assembly will be taking place in the middle of the courtyard. Just over there on the grass where those teachers are standing is where you need to go. line up in rows in front of them and be silent. the new boys will also be over their shortly... Please don¡¯t get distracted¡±. we all walked in unison towards the teachers we stopped and started forming rows of 7 about 10 meters before where the teachers were. ¡°Good now we¡¯ll just wait for the boys¡± the man that talked was rain, he was standing on the left side of four other teachers who were in a straight line with the academy to their back. Almost immediately after rain spoke all the boys started walking over. Once they got here they joined the rows with the girls. everyone looked towards the teachers. No one talked so we just waited patiently, the cold air blew passed making the grass shake it made an incredibly peaceful noise. *bang* the front door of the academy flung open smashing into the wall. Standing there was A man with short scruffy red hair, wearing a dirty old brown coat and black shorts his rough short beard made him look like he had no care for his own image. But there was something intimidating about this look. He slowly started walking over with his head facing the ground, once he was about 15 meters away he looked up. Revelling a sinister looking smile. Immediately All of the boys and girls in the first row of the standing students fell to their knees. The air thickened making it hard to breathe, as he came close a purple haze could be seen surrounding him, with each step he took a row of students would collapse. As he got closer I could see the sinister looking smile on his face. He was enjoying it. All five of the teachers were still standing even though they were the closest to him. The row in front of me had just collapsed which meant that the next step he took would most likely affect me so i braced myself. As soon as his foot touched the ground my legs lost all feeling, I was struggling to breath and felt as if somthing incredible was pushing down on me. Everyone in my row including me fell to their knees. I tried struggling to get up but it was pointless. The pressure was too extreme. This continued until every row had collapsed. In total there were 10 rows of students each row containing roughly 7 students. So in total around 70 students, and all of them were crumbling infront of one man.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The mysterious man who had caused everyone to collapse casualy stood in line with the teachers and looked over at the students on the ground ¡° hello everyone nice to meet you. I am the principal of imperium academy, my name is mr hiro. The pressure you are all currently being exposed to is my natural presence so over time you will need to get used to it, or at least be able to do basic functions. Or I will expell you becuase life at this academy will be to difficult. But that¡¯s not really what I¡¯m here to talk about today. Today is you first day presumably at any invoker academy, which means none of you have familiars. So, The next week of your schooling will be very straight forward, you will be trained to make a contract with a familiar, and in exactly one week time if I deem you unfit to form a contract with a familiar or I feel your safety will be to much at risk. I will expell you. The rest of you will proceed to form a contract with a beast. The process of making a contract is a very dangerous procedure and there is no way to determine its success rate, every familiar and every familiars environment will differ so no one will benifet from individual training, its up to you whether or not you succeed in forming a contract. As most of you know, In order to make a contract with a familiar the contractor will stand inside of an ancient magic circle and will be transported to another land where the contractors familiar that was deemed appropriate by the circle will be. This process is called the summoning ceremony. However, these areas are mostly hostile, and lets just say the beast your hoping to make a contract with won¡¯t exactly just bow down to you. If the contract hasnt been made within 24 hours or the student has died the student will be transported back to school. But as a school we cant let this happen, so these teachers here will train you so you can form a contract smoothly.¡± he smiled one last time then turned around, and just like that the principal disapeared. All five teachers from left to right introduced themselves first was rain ¡°I am mr rain and I will be responsible for teaching you to protect yourself from enimies you encounter¡± next was a tall muscular woman who made rain look short. ¡°My name is yoko, I am responsible for teaching you how to form the contract¡± next up was a super short guy wearing glasses ¡° I am sensei uta, I am responsible for teaching you how to deal with the environment You find yourself in¡±. Next up was an older looking man with a white beard ¡° my name is Sebastion, I will be responsible for teaching you how to train and streangthen your bond as familiar and master¡±. and finally was a blond haired girl wearing glasses ¡° my name is suki, I am responsible for making sure you don¡¯t lose your sanity, to much...hehe¡±. Everyone¡¯s eyes opened wide but no body said a word. There was a mix of excitement and fear moving throughout the rows of students but everybody just sat still and waited to be addressed. the first one to talk after about three minutes of sitting in silence was suki, the blond sensei with glasses. ¡° ok everyone now that that¡¯s all over you are free, until school starts at 9 am. so feel free to do whatever you want untill then.. within reason, please dont do anything stupid and get me in trouble¡±. Immediately after she said that the once neat row of students started fusing together and formed specific groups. What do i do?. This is the first time ive experienced somthing like this everyone is talking and making freinds like its nothing. *tap tap* i felt somthing hitting my shoulder so i turned around. Standing in front of me was a tall boy with short black hair. He was very muscular and his t-shirt exaggerated the size of his arms by being one size to small. " hey, Im ryan whats your name little missy".... I didnt like it. The way he looked at me, it was as if he was he was looking down on me, does he think im a bug. His eyes they remind me of fathers. Somthing snapped. I lunged forward and grabed the colar of his shirt with one arm and his hair with my other. He was flusterd and reacted by grabbing me and throwing me back a couple of meters. Which wasnt hard because of my bodies thin structure. I stood up off the floor and staired him. I held out my hand palm facing down and slowly opend it i staired at him while the hair once on his head was carried away by the wind, endless strands of hair fell from my open hand creating a tickling sensation that made me smile. He looked at me like i was psychotic. By now all the new students had made a circle around me and this ryan guy. Some of them showed faces of curiosity and some showed faces of exitement. Ryan looked at me with anger and embarresment and started powerfully walking towards me. When suddenly. "Everyone, collapse" everybody including myself and ryan fell to our knees. Inbetween ryan and i stood the principal with hands on his hips. He was smilling. "Good, what a lively group of students. I like it !" He slowly raised his hand. "Pressure" everybody collapsed further onto the ground forcing their heads into the grass. " I do not mind a little fighting among the students. It really helps seperate the weak from the strong. However, if you are not prepared to be punished by me then the reasoning for your fight must be preaty pointless. I may be your principal but i will not hesitate to kill any of you if i beleive the saftey of any other student is involved." He lowerd his hand and just like that all the pressure dissapered. " it is not very easy for me to mask my presence so you are affected. Now Stand up.!" Almost everyone followed his command, i say almost becuase some phisicaly couldnt, there energy was all depleted. He looked at everyone " focus first on getting your familiar. afterwoods, you can go all out... Dismissed". And just like that every one scatterd. Most people shot me frustrated looks, after all, i was the one who started that. But That guy, i should try to avoid him. His eyes, they were disgusting.