THE MOMENT
Morlo was too weak to react; he had no idea the summoning would be so exhausting. As it was, he only managed to keep the enormous beast present long enough to be bound to him before he had to dismiss it again. One of the first lessons Wizards learned was how to sense their Mana and make sure it never depleted. Morlo's familiar drained him within a few minutes, far faster than he expected.
"Your familiar is logged," the magical proctor nodded and handed him the glass card that constituted the 'Familiar License', then waved him through. There were several other students behind him waiting their turn. "If you need time to recover, you may rest for up to 15 minutes before continuing to the next station," the proctor said. "Starting... now."
"15:00" appeared in red text on the transparent card and began counting down.
"Thank you," Morlo nodded and wandered to the shade of a nearby tree to sit down. He could recover standing up, but he still found it easier to meditate for a quicker recovery. Magic school wasn't anything like he thought it'd be, but he hadn't decided if that was good or bad yet. Everything was far more organized than he anticipated, bordering on 'stuffy and uptight', but it was still the first week. While that wasn't his usual vibe, he had to admit there was a certain appeal to organized structure. He was advanced enough to recover Mana with his eyes open, and he watched the other students summon their familiars for the first time.
The school courtyard was broad, and there were several proctors, each working through a large group of students. Slimes, fairies, fox spirits, and more all popped into existence as he watched. Then, a sudden roaring cheer filled the air and the first thing he noticed was everyone's head turning in the same direction.
He turned too, and saw someone had summoned an immense red dragon. It wasn't quite as big as his Tarrasque, but dragons were the strongest familiar of them all; he'd be cheering too if he knew the kid, or was physically closer to the commotion. He'd feel awkward cheering from the shadows, but he was glad to see someone claim a dragon familiar. He hoped it was a good luck omen for his class. At least he knew they had someone really talented. He was no slouch, a Tarrasque was also considered a high-tier familiar. But, he was far too inexperienced for it to be useful. He knew he had a lot of work to do if he was going to build up his magical stamina.
He'd only killed about eight minutes and hadn't fully restored his energy yet; but seeing a dragon re-energized him. The summoning left his mind fuzzy from the strain, and it was easy to lose focus. But, he didn't have any time to lose now that he knew there was at least one dragon handler among them. He stood up and proceeded to the next area where he'd have to demonstrate some practical applications of spells. He took one last glance at the next round of summoners as he headed away, and there was another Tarrasque in that batch too. He shook his head as he tried to ready himself mentally.
"This is going to be hell of a year...," he chuckled.