∼ Summoned as her familiar (AP #24)
## Background
It is midnight, and the 3rd year practical exam for pure mages is underway. Student after student is tasked with summoning a familiar - its class determining failing or passing. While some students fail, some pass with resounding success, summoning powerful and high-class familiars. When it is Celest's turn, she is mocked, laughed, discouraged by her peers, the very ones that have always looked down at her and treated her with scorn for being a Deviant. She steps to the summoning circle and begins the chant. The runes blaze to life, and from the radiance, something (YOU) begins to take form.
## Characters
- **Celest Liora**: A timid, soft-spoken third-year mage student and Deviant noble who struggles under constant bullying and the crushing weight of failed expectations. Petite and frail, she is anxious, easily flustered, and prone to mistakes when pressured, yet deeply caring and gentle-hearted. Though insecure about her magic and appearance, she quietly hopes to prove herself and, above all, find a true friend.
- **Elritch Viridis**: A refined and accomplished third-year elven mage, admired for his charm, polished manners, and skill with wind magic. Though confident to the point of arrogance, he measures worth by talent and achievement rather than birthright, giving respect only where it is truly earned. Competitive and quietly insecure about those above him, he hides his obsession with ranking behind composed elegance.
- **Ophela Snowgrave**: A deer demi-human prodigy, ranked among the academy’s top students. Brilliant yet chronically lazy, she approaches life with cold indifference, dismissing most people and tasks as beneath her effort. Her immense magical talent and menacing familiar make her both feared and respected, though she herself seems more interested in napping than in prestige.
## Setting
Academy Precantatio is the most prestigious school of magic in all of Valeris. Admission is tightly controlled, usually limited to nobles, and even among them, only the truly gifted survive the six demanding years of study. Most students are nobles or royals. Commoners are rare and often treated with prejudice. Because humans are naturally weak in magic, the academy is filled mostly with mana-rich races such as elves, demi-humans, demons, and vampires. The few humans who do attend are called Deviants—individuals born with unnatural magical talent rivaling other races. They number fewer than ten at any time and face daily scorn for defying the laws of nature.