“U-urgh…”

My voice was hollow as I opened my eyes to see the ceiling.

It took a few moments for me to fully grasp my current predicament, but I silently processed it. With empty eyes and strained breaths, my lips curled up in a slight smile upon realizing all I remembered was not a dream.

‘I did it, uh? I got myself four Familiars!’

That wasn’t the only good news. My Mana Cores, with the exception of my original, had advanced to the Yellow Core Grade, each accumulating enough to put the best highest Yellow Core Grade student in any class.

These were all things worth celebrating.

Unfortunately, my body was in no state for festivities. Thanks to pushing myself well past the limit, and depriving my body of the appropriate nutrients after going through such a tasking procedure, this much was expected.

Fortunately, I sustained no permanent damage, and I was most likely in an infirmary. After taking a good look around, I confirmed my assumption.

‘Six Mana Cores is the limit for my body currently… but that doesn’t mean I should push it!’

Human beings were like rubber. Our base form was not the limit, and we could continue stretching and increasing in power. However, it would be inadvisable to keep any piece of rubber in its stretched state for too long or to push it to the point of its elastic limit.

‘I shouldn’t have six Cores within me, even if I can. There has to be a balance, else I’ll just be overtaking this body…’

That meant one thing—for now, I had reached the limits of my Mana Core growth, at least in quantity. I could still increase the quality.

“Ah, maybe I overdid it a little, though…”

I was fully recovered, having only slight aches here and there, so it wasn’t necessary to remain in bed. But, seeing that no one was around to interrupt me and that the place was quiet, it was the best time to manifest my Familiars.

Closing my eyes and maintaining a steady breathing pattern, I entered a meditative state and connected with my four Mana Cores that had the Wisps dancing within.

‘As expected, they’ve gotten accustomed to the Core…’While a Mana Core may appear little to humans, once Familiars contracted with a Host and entered it, the Mana Core was basically like a whole world to it.

The better the Core Grade, the larger the world would grow. Currently, thanks to the quality of my Cores, their sizes were each as big as my family’s manor back home.

I was certain that the Familiars wouldn’t be uncomfortable for a while. But, now wasn’t the time for leisure. Now that I had contracted with them, the next step would be to begin enforcing our agreement.

SHUUUUUU

Infusing the Mana within my cores, I manifested the four Wisps locked within, causing mist-like energy to leave my body and appear above me.

One after the other, the wisps took form. They used my mana as catalysts and manifested in the normal plane even if their main bodies remained in my Core.

“Well, well, well…”

“Looks like you’re finally awake.”

“Who would have thought you were that exhausted when we contracted with you?”

“Pfft.”

The image they took on was identical to how they originally looked like, plus their voices brought back memories. Now that I had more clarity, I was able to recognize the Wisps better.

The crimson one had a rough-looking face, and judging from its attitude and tone, it was most likely the fiercest of them all.

The blue Wisp was the one who spoke very few words.

The green one had a playful and free-spirited charm about it.

As for the ashen one, an earth attuned Wisp, it had a serious demeanor and spoke very bluntly.

“I’m happy you were all worried about me.” I smiled sarcastically and the Wisps made flustered expressions in response to my comment.

“W-wahh?! Who said we were worried?!”

“Fool.”

“Ehhh?”

“If you were that weak, we wouldn’t have agreed to the contract.”Did they not notice my sarcasm, or were they just airheads?

Either way, while it was nice and all to get along with one’s familiars as well as crack jokes with them, it was also very important for a Host to assert his dominance in the relationship.

“Well, you are now officially my Familiars. I hope you understand what that means.

“Duh.”

“This guy thinks we’re airheads.”

“We know that much.”

“Do not underestimate us.”

They all spoke, one after the other, as though they could read one another’s thoughts. Maybe they could, or perhaps they had lots of spare time practicing their lines.

Their statements seemed condescending, though, like they did not acknowledge me as the dominant figure in our relationship. This was why I was surprised by the next thing they did.

Each of the floating wisps bowed their brimming heads and showed respect. With joint speech and a reverent tone, they rendered their speech to me.

“Master… you have proven yourself worthy of our power. We officially declare ourselves as your Familiars.”

As soon as I heard this, I smiled—both in pride and also relief.

It would have sucked if they forced me to use the Bond Contract to dominate them. I wasn’t keen on keeping my trusty Familiars bound by fear.

“Very well. I accept your vows. I shall also prove myself to be an able master to you. Mark my words, you three. Soon, you shall all have more neighbors. You shall witness as I grow stronger and you shall all grow stronger with me. I shall show you things beyond your understanding, and together, we will arrive at the hidden truth… The Root of Magic itself!”

These emotion-filled words echoed across the room, my unwavering will remaining intact.

As I concluded my speech, I was greeted with silence… and then…

“Pfft!”

“Puahahaha!”

“Our Master is quite the funny man!”

“Do you overestimate yourself? How interesting.”

Shaken by the mockery of those who had called me their master just a few moments back and swore their allegiance to me, a slight tingle of hurt permeated my heart.

As their laughs radiated the room and they danced gleefully in the air, I comforted myself with a tiny thought.

‘Damn you guys… I should have dominated them, after all!’