The pair suddenly came to halt as the figure slipped into view: Keristis moved infront of Aurelius. If this was his first assessment as a Protector, then so be it.

"Do not fret Summon, I already know more about you than your own Summoner does."

The voice was feminine and soft yet it seemed fairly ominous and uncomforting.

Aurelius was curious, who would ever intercept someone heading out of a summon chamber?

The stranger spoke again,

"Aurelius, I am disappointed. How do you not know who I am?

It looked as if a light had lit up in Aurelius' mind. He walked to the side of Keristis and smiled,

"Ah, Serulia?”

"I see you're just as observant as ever."

It was impossible to say that Serulia was not beautiful, she was almost the same height as Aurelius. Her hair a platinum blonde that shimmered in the light. Blue eyes, a slim face and an outfit consisting of a cardigan, designer t-shirt and jeans supported by sneakers and tall, dark socks.

Aurelius' smile quickly disappeared,

"What're you saying about knowing more than me?"

Serulia defended her words,

"Come on Aurelius, can't you remember I'm in charge of the Summoning Index?"

"Eh, that makes sense. But what do you know about him?"

Aurelius pointed to the armoured summon next to him.

Her expression turned stern,

"I can tell you that he can manipulate time."

Serulia's tone was concerned but at the same time overjoyed for reasons unknown.

Aurelius was shocked once again by his Protector. Sure, Keristis was already powerful, however that's really not too uncommon; many Summons are very, very strong and have unimaginable abilities but time manipulation? The concept of it was unheard of.

"Huh? What?"

"There's no doubting it, I was in the spectator room above with the individual on duty there and the way he fought with Fallantis... There would be no other way to have avoided a few of those attacks except through the slowing down of time or stopping it completely, they came so fast that nothing could react to it naturally. Plus, my standard power of aura reading picked up a distortion in that area, albeit only for a moment." Her voice was backed by confidence.

"...I don't know what to say."

"Why? It's almost as if there's somebody right infront of you who has a Protector that can erase things from existence." Serulia remarked.

"Well, for one Elira can only do that near death. Also, another first-rate Summon isn't due for another few weeks."

Elira.

The name struck a chord in Keristis' head, almost as if he'd heard it before. Where? When? Who or what was Elira?

He wanted, no, needed to see them.

Gradually, the Summoners drew their conversation to an end and the three of them left the chamber entirely.

Aurelius informed Keristis,

"We need to get your aura checked out now. Seriously, I know it might not seem like a big deal to you but to us, it's something else entirely."

They reached a door at the end of the corridor, behind it were sounds of chatter and cheering. Serulia slowly opened it exposing alluring, warm yellow light visible that revealed many people and other Summons inside a room even larger than the previous chamber.

It was clear to see that this was a sociable area, with people and Summons alike sitting down and talking to one another; all their conversations blending into one atmospheric noise that defined the mood of the room.

The floor and ceiling were embellished by paintings that depicted portraits and landscapes. Some of which were somehow known to him, in particular the one that caught his eye first: it was a depiction of a strangely familiar landscape. In the foreground there was a castle possessing tall, menacing towers and a grand gate which extended all the way up to a bridge over its arch. You couldn't see inside of the castle but there was a forest in the background creating a contrast between natural and man-made. Even spiritual, with some silver arches levitating over it accompanied by an alluring glow.

The chatter continued for a few moments after Serulia and Aurelius entered the room, but it went completely silent once Keristis entered.

You could hear a pin drop as the atmosphere became so quiet and dense that you could choke on it.