As our school year came to an end, the winter break soon rolled around. Today was December 25th, 2022 - a yearly holiday known as Christmas. Everyone on the planet celebrated it, regardless of race, age, or gender. The history of this event dates back quite a bit, but put simply, it was a festival in memory of the unknown god-like existence who created our world - an entity we had come to call 'Christ'.

Thus, it makes sense that the festival in memory of this 'Christ' would be called 'Christmas'...though the pronunciation is a bit different. Either way, this was a huge event all around the globe, and nearly everyone was given the day off from work, school, or whatever other labor they have - I say nearly, because those working at recreational centers and shopping malls still had to attend their jobs, as a day off for the majority of the population wouldn't be fun without any entertainment. Said entertainment needs people to manage and control it, so unfortunately those working at certain places wouldn't be getting any down time.

Of course, the people working in arcades, shopping malls, and other recreational facilities were the minority compared to the rest of the population, such as us, students of Shenzhen Magic High School. Since school was the last word that comes to mind when thinking of 'entertainment', today marked the beginning of our winter break, a two week hiatus from the constant stress of school before resuming it once again on January 8th the following year.

Christmas was a happy event, and it was orthodox to hit up some friends, head out, have some fun or something. Me, on the other hand, is completely devoid of friends, so naturally I didn't 'head out' or 'have some fun'. Instead, I stayed cooped up at home, practicing the new multicasting ability I had obtained after breaking through to the Origin Chaos stage.

Now that I think about it...I technically have two cultivation systems in my body right now, huh? One is the mage system; everyone has that. But the other is something unique only to myself, the Chaos system. Currently, I am Intermediate Mage in the mage system and Origin Chaos stage in the Chaos system. Hm...pretty neat.

"Alright...let's try casting three spells at once this time," I murmured to myself as Mei Gui sat beside me, watching curiously.

Level One Fire Magic - Flame Lotus - Maledictum: Segnis - Potentia Excitant: Celeritas.

I had to stick with Level One spells since I was indoors (within my room), and I did not feel like breaking anything. A black flame in the shape of a lotus with a hint of red formed in my left hand, while in my right appeared a Maledictum orb - Curse Magic. I had learned from Xuan Kun and practiced casting Maledictum spells in rapid succession, but unfortunately I hadn't been able to reach his skill with it quite yet. That made sense, considering this was his usual fighting style and 'signature move'. However...now that I can multicast spells, don't even mention rapid succession, I can literally cast multiple Maledictum spells at the same time.

Well, I said that, but honestly, I can only handle two at the same time so far, since I still need to control the orbs with my hands. If I continue breaking my seals like this and advancing to the next stages of Chaos, though...I'm certain one of these days I'm going to unlock the ability to direct my attacks without my hands. If I combine that with multicasting, which I should be proficient at by then, I will be unstoppable, even when greatly outnumbered.

I then stood up from my bed and dashed from one end of my bedroom to the other. I skidded to a stop right before I slammed face-first into the wall - the whole running process took about 0.5 seconds.

Okay...I've certainly gotten better at controlling my speed when using this spell. That's good news. I guess this also means that my triple multicast (tricast?) was successful.

I quickly mentally undid the speed boost spell by casting Potentia Excitant: Celeritas Inverto. That was how you undid the effects of a Potentia spell - adding 'Inverto' to the end of your incantation. Of course, the effects would wear off by themselves after a while depending on the person, but this was how you end it early.

Then, sitting back on my bed, I sank into thought regarding new possibilities with the use of multicasting.

"Hm...I wonder, can I use Summoning Magic while casting an offensive spell at the same time?" I thought out loud. "That would be quite a nice ability to have in battle, as summoning takes time, and during the casting process you are left mostly defenseless...if I can cast a spell to keep my opponents busy, or just straight up defend myself without any help, that could very well help turn the tide of the battle in my favor..."

"Yes, it should be possible," Mei Gui replied with a nod.

Summoning Magic was a fairly unique element. It does not have different tiers and levels like any other element, but instead just has a single spell, by the name of Evocatio Spatium. Translated to the common tongue, the incantation would mean 'summoning space', or 'summoning dimension'. It's a great-risk, great-reward type. While it takes very long to use Summoning Magic, if successful, it would essentially provide you with an extra ally, usually granting you a number advantage over your opponents, if nothing else.

How Summoning Magic worked was like this: the caster, upon finishing his incantation, would have his ethereal body brought to an alternate dimension, where beasts you could form a contract with resided. Over time, a ranking system has been established to categorize the different beasts within this 'summoning dimension'. The stronger the beast was, the harder it was to form a contract with it - which made sense. So far, the strongest beast ever found was a dragon...though I had a feeling more powerful beasts were out there, in the vast summoning dimension.

Of course, the beasts in the summoning dimension are different from the Magic Beasts in the real world. For one, they couldn't exist in the real dimension without a contract with a mage, and since these contracts were almost always temporary, they would return back to the summoning dimension after the contract expired.

Most beasts within the summoning dimension decide whether or not they will accept a contract based on what the summoner has to offer - in most cases, something from the real world (food, toys, etc). However, the stronger beasts will test the summoner based on their aptitude, and if said mage passes their 'test', they will agree to a contract. As an aside, stronger beasts tend to form longer contracts as well.

However, for the sake of this experiment, I would just be forming a contract with a weak, low-ranked beast.

Evocatio Spatium - Level One Fire Magic - Flame Lotus.

Then, a bright white enveloped me, and my ethereal body - my soul - was pulled into the summoning dimension. However...possibly thanks to me casting a spell with my physical body at the same time as the summoning spell, I was still aware of what was going on in the real world. It was a weird feeling...I could still directly see what was going on all around me like normal, but right now, it was as if a movie was being projected into my head. I could 'operate' my ethereal body in the summoning realm just fine, all while staying aware of the real world.

This way, for one, my opponents wouldn't be able to tell I was in fact in the process of forming a contract with a beast, giving me the element of surprise, but also even if they did find out, they wouldn't be able to do anything to interrupt it, as I was still fully aware of reality and could defend against any incoming attacks just fine.

I operated my ethereal body carefully within the summoning dimension. It was a very different place from the dimension we know - the sky was a dark green, and the terrain was completely black, with bright green lines forming a grid-like pattern. Overall, it seemed like something you would see in a video game that involves going inside a computer to beat enemies or something. Apart from that, though, the world was still relatively similar to reality as we know it. Weird black and green trees could be seen, and I could make out a forest in the distance.

Luckily, gravity still existed (or it's just that the ethereal body wasn't affected by Zero-G), so my 'body' was able to walk through the dimension just fine. I spotted magic beasts here and there, but most of them were already being talked to by other mages.

I can see why Summoning Magic takes so long now...it takes forever to even find a vacant beast to form a contract with, and even if you do find one, there's no guarantee the contract will succeed. Luck plays a huge factor in this spell...I suppose it's both a blessing and a curse, huh?

I continued to wander through the mysterious black and green world. Sometimes, I would hear two mages fighting over the same beast impatiently, one of them yelling about how they were in a team competition and really needed this beast or something. I paid them no mind, and inconspicuously stayed out of trouble.

And then, something hooked my gaze. It was a cute, tiny orange bird that looked like it had just hatched.

Hm...? What's this? I have never seen this beast in any of the textbooks I read about Summoning Magic...

I decided to investigate, and slowly crept up to it. However, it noticed me immediately, and quickly ran away into the forest of black and green trees.

Oh no you don't...

An unexplainable motivation formed in my heart, and I followed the bird into the deep and unknown forest.