Summoner: Training (Chapter 3)

    ---One Month into Trainee Program---

    "Summoners are trained to be defenders of Valoran. I'm sure you're all confused on what exactly Valoran is to be protected from. That is what I will be teaching you about today. The thing that people have to fear, the very reason why summoners are trained, is because of the Rogue."
    The new instructor paced back and forth in front of us, treating us like a pack of Noxus militia. Sid had brought him in overnight, to help us prepare for some real summoning. His idea of summoning, however, was running laps at five in the morning. The wake-up call was a disaster. A smoke bomb imported straight from Piltover had went off, forcing us out of the room and straight into the instructor's waiting track. We ran until seven, and are now getting prepped on the day before breakfast at 8:30
    "Now, what is the Rogue? Good question. The Rogue is a plague of sorts that infects the minds of warriors and turns them against their homelands. The first time this happened, our very own Ashe was the victim. She unleashed fury upon the Freljord, until the king of Demacia sent a wise man to control her and make her stop. Many people died because of the incident. As a result, that man became the very first summoner, teaching himself the ways of control, and becoming one with Ashe. The man set up the League of Legends, recruiting new summoners and training them to combat the Rogue. Every time a warrior is overcome by the Rogue, their minds are opened, making them available for use with summoning. However, to summon a warrior, or champion, you must make First Contact before gaining the ability to call upon them at times of need. First Contact is the very first time a summoner binds with their champion, and it must only be done once per champion. After that, your spirits are linked and you can use the champion's skill and talents to the best of their abilities.
    "Today we will be focusing on learning to make First Contact. A set of instructions will be given to you before you attempt First Contact with Ashe. This will be like your recent training. Simply use your magic to cast your consciousness towards the champion you wish to make First Contact with. We will use it on a set of dummies first, then you will try to link with Ashe, who has given us consent to use her to master your summoning abilities. First, however, we exercise. You need to build endurance to keep up with her speed and strength, since summoning is only as exhausting as what you do while spiritually bound to your champion. That means that if you over-exert yourself, you can die. But. If you can follow my orders and my training schedule, that will not happen. Am I clear?"
    No one responded. Simply staying awake was too tiring.
    "Not clear enough? Fine. Bread and eggs for breakfast. I believe in discipline and effort. There will be no pampering while I am your instructor. Now, AM I CLEAR?"
    Everyone seemed to wake up, or maybe they just feared extra laps around the Trainee grounds. "YES SIR."
    "Good. I expect you all to be back here by nine thirty, sharp. You have one hour to eat as many eggs and as much dry bread as you want. Water will await you in the northern Parthenon."


    "He can't do that to us. We aren't supposed to be champions ourselves. We're still kids! This isn't football, this is summoning. It's a mental thing!"
    Carter whined the whole way to the dining hall. "Summoning doesn't have anything to do with physical fitness! He's just making that up so he has an excuse to torture us!"
    "Maybe some of us can actually suck it up and just do the stupid drills, unlike you." I shouted back in his direction. Carter is really starting to annoy everyone.
    Ciara fell into step beside me. "He's such a baby. I mean, come on, you're a guy! just do it!" She raised her voice so he could hear her. "HEY CARTER! I THINK YOU'RE JUST LOOKING FOR EXCUSES AS TO WHY I, A GIRL, BEAT YOU IN THE LAP RACE!" That sent a whisper rippling through the wave of kids. More people started to realize that he was almost dead last to finish his running, and they started to tease him for it. "That should deflate his ego a little bit." She muttered to herself.
    She seemed to have forgotten what happened the first night. "Hey, about that thing you were looking at on the first night, what was that? I mean, was it a sibling or a parent or pet hamster even?" I didn't mention her crying.
    "What? I don't know what you're talking about. You must have been dreaming, because I don't even have a locke-" She clasped her mouth in her hands, realizing her mistake.
    "So it was a locket? Who gave it to you? You had a boyfriend?" That must be it. An old love life, probably crying because she wouldn't be in contact with him for two months. "It's ok, you'll see him in a month. Once this is all over, you can show him your summoner magic, maybe even get married." The age now when someone can drink or get married legally got moved up to sixteen. But still, they can get engaged and wait until they're both sixteen.
    She hesitated before responding. "Yeah, that's it. I should have just told you. I don't know why I hid it." Her voice was sort of unnatural, but I'll let the subject drop. It's time for some food.


    "I saw your use of your Flame to cook the eggs into egg sandwiches. Very resourceful." The instructor eyed me, even though he wasn't even there. Everyone else's heads turned to Carter. It was my idea to do that, but Carter saw me do it and took the credit. Everyone loves Carter, I guess.
    "So after a month of training yourself to master your magic, You've learned next to nothing about using your champions. Who can tell me how it works?"
    A kid raised his hand- Patrick, i think his name was. "Well, you need to make First Contact. Then, I think you can control them? I'm not really sure."
    The instructor nodded his head. "Good. You were right on. What happens is this: You need to actually try to broadcast your very consciousness into your champion in order to achieve First Contact. Then, once you're in, you'll know what to do."
    He closed his eyes and concentrated, and Ashe, who stood about twenty yards behind him, disintegrated into an orange beam, reappearing to his right. He opened his eyes, and looked over our astounded faces. "That is how you summon champions. Over the course of the next month, you will learn this trick and master it. This is vital to your success as a Summoner. If you can't use your champions, you will be defenseless, and therefore useless, in battle. I'm going to give you a quick explaination on how to do this, then you will each try to make First Contact with Ashe.
    "So, when you use your magic, imagine yourself floating, weightless. Your spirit needs to be freed for this to work. You need to want to connect with the champion. Hold on to the desire to connect, and land your spirit on the champion. Then, First Contact will happen. You will know what do to once you're in. Don't worry."
    Ashe stepped forward. she scanned over the crowd, looking for someone to go first. "You. Front row, second seat over. Come up here. You can try first." Her voice was cold and smooth, like a sheet of ice. And her finger was pointed at me.


    Before I made it into the center of the field, she leaned down and whispered in my ear. "Listen, don't force yourself to succeed. Some people can't even get it right until the third or fourth try. If you can't get your spirit in the air, there is nothing wrong with at all. Good luck, Summoner." She crossed the field and sat down in a medatative sort of position. I sat, too, directly in front of her.
    A hand rested on my shoulder. I looked up to see the instructor. "Dont worry about everyone watching. Just breathe, and concentrate. You'll do fine. Your little egg trick was good, by the way. Not many people thought of that in all of my years here."
    "You saw that? How?"
    "I've got a few tricks up my sleeve, kid. Just watch out for them. Good luck."
    I nodded, sitting down on the grass. Ashe faced me with a confident smile, and 19 pairs of eyes watched eagerly for me to either mess up or do something cool. I took a deep breath. From the way that the instructor said it, this sounds more like a 'just do it' type of thing, like whistling or breathing.
    I felt a sort of warmth in my chest when I go near Ashe, and it seemed to pull towards her. Focusing on that warmth, my thoughts scattered, what happened next was hard to describe. I felt like I was standing right where I sat on the grass. Everything I looked at seemed to not register in my mind, like if I were only half-conscious. Everything except the champion waiting patiently in front of me. A blue aura came out of her, but her body showed no sign of movement.
    "Do not be afraid, Summoner. This is not bad. Stay confident, do not waver, and come here." Her voice spoke directly into my mind, and I focused on the aura that must have been her spirit. Smoky tendrils of light reached out towards me as I stepped closer to her, almost trying to grab me and pull me in. I reached out my hand and touched one, and a flood of memories- Ashe's memories- ran through my mind. A cold land filled with ice. The Freljord. A horde of men chasing her through the blizzard, and her stumbling upon the bow that saved her life.
    Some of my memories flowed through as well- A scraped knee when I was six, my excitement about training, my admiration of summoners and their noble titles. All of this happened in a second, and I pulled my finger away.
    "That is only a portion of my experiences, although I only have to share them once, through First Contact. Are you ready to bear my past and link our minds, Summoner?"
    I was speechless, but managed a small nod. She grabbed me and pulled me towards the center of the aura, now in the shape of a teenage girl. She had the same nose and eyes as the adult Ashe, and four other people stood in the room.
    "Ashe, you must run the tribe." The man with gray hair said.
    A man in a cloak spoke up. "Be sure not to wage war with clans too powerful."
    A woman next to him finished his sentence. "And not to bully the clans too weak."
    The second woman turned her head, her eyes pure white ice. "You must become a fair leader, or the Freljord will fall to barbarism, and freeze over. Do not fail me, Ashe. Or your tribe will pay the price."
    The door to the room blew open and a blizzard raged into my face, the teenage Ashe stumbling backwards from the gale. The setting melted into a mountainside filled with snow. Barbarians ran after the young adult, now probably at least 19 years old. In the back of them stood the same woman with the frozen eyes, simply staring at her without an expression. Her words whispered in the wind around us, although her mouth didn't move. You have failed me for the last time. Emotions shot from the memory. Confusion, innocence, a feeling of unfairness. The scene shifted again into a room with a man dressed in blue and gold robes.
    "I've been informed of your troubles, and I may have found a cure. You can be the first person I've used this on." Everything became blurry, like static on a television in Piltover. The image refocused to reveal Ashe sitting on top of the man, an arrow pointed at his head. His eyes were closed, and she wavered before collapsing on her side next to the man. He opened his eyes and shrieked, "It worked! She's stopped." Ashe's spirit, floating back at my side, volunteered the missing information. "By entering my mind, he was able to remove the plague that forced me to destroy my clan, and harm the people of the Frejord. That disruption was when I was put under the influence of the Rogue, and I was controlled by something that I still do not know. It made me try to kill him.
    "Now, Summoner, we will merge, and I will be forever yours to use among your travels. Are you ready?"
    Merging with her? That sounds like it could go wrong in about a hundred different places. But still...
    "Yes."
    My vision faded back to normal, the trainees to my left and a boy sitting in front of me. But... he had my face. My senses seemed at least twice as sharp as before. I looked down to see a blue and white skirt, the colors of the Freljord. Am I...?
    Yes.
    What?
    Our minds have become one, and we share a body for as long as you should need my help
    Cool. let's see what we can do.
    I stood up straight, and the instructor nodded at me. Reaching for an arrow, I selected a target about halfway across the courtyard, maybe seventy five yards away. I pulled back the bowstring, and let the arrow fly. Thunk! Bull's eye.
    The instructor clapped, followed by everyone else's applaud. "Trainees, he is the first of you to perform a perfect binding with their champion. And in mere seconds, too." Seconds? That whole memory-sharing experience had to consume at least a quarter of an hour. How could have that only been seconds? "Okay, now, to return to your normal body and seperate your minds from the champion, simply focus on anything that is close to you, and you personally. A family member, or a childhood memory, for example. Maybe a favorite place to go on vacation or a special someone."
    Hmmm... Let's try my father. His face formed in my head, and I focused on his eyes, nose, and beard. Looking back up, I saw Ashe stagger a bit as she regained full control of her body. This is so weird, yet so cool.
    More trainees got called up and connected. Only two couldn't bind on the first attempt, but everyone did eventually. Some kids walked around as Ashe, some shot arrows. Carter, showoff that he is, did a backflip. Everyone had went and connected eventually. Everyone but Ciara.
    She slowly approached the grass, and sat down reluctantly. An unsure look on her face, she closed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to fuse with Ashe for First Contact. After a few seconds, frustration came onto her face, and thirty seconds later, her expression melted into nonchalance. She was in. A few seconds of quiet passed and nothing happened yet.
    Then the screaming began.