Wait! Don't end the class with that! That was a serious red-flag. Miss Collins drops a bomb like that and just leaves!? What the hell! I think critical information like that needs to be said sooner rather than later!

Linda glances towards me.

"Don't worry about it. All the students already know about the curses."

"What curses?"

The other students had left, and Linda and I moved to the back so nobody could eavesdrop. Linda hesitated and then explained.

"Arch-magician Dio was a practitioner in the forbidden Dark Magic and attached various curses to the contract when he made it."

"Why would he do that?'

"Who knows what a Dark Magician thinks. They are often all lumped together and just called insane. In fact, it is a criminal offense to practice Dark Magic without special permission and constant supervision. It was a criminal offense way back when too. Arch-magician Dio practiced the magic illegally."

"Wow. So what are the curses on the contract?"

"They are nothing harmful so long as you do not break the biggest taboos. The taboos being: do not summon more than five familiars in your lifetime, do not summon familiars at a faster rate than once every two years, do not tamper with the contract, do not create a new contract, and do not name familiars without the proper merits being achieved."

"The last one is ambiguous."

"It is free to interpretation some say. In reality, there does seem to be a set number of merits a familiar must accumulate before being named though."

"Is it bad if I already have a name?"

"It would mean that you would kill me. Yes."

"Uh-oh."

"What."

"When I did status check I had a name."

"......"

"Sorry."

"You seriously named yourself!?"

Linda almost cried it out and looked around frantically. We appeared to be safe for the moment though.

"Yes."

"You idiot!"

"Sorry!"

I bowed my head repeatedly to Linda. She sighed.

"The curse would have activated immediately and have had a noticeable effect though."

"So the curse is not going to activate?"

"There is not a recorded instance when after the name is given there will be a delay before the curse takes effect."

"So I will not kill you then? How does that work anyways?"

"The curse nullifies the contract and the familiar gains powers comparable to an arch-magician."

"So then the familiar become super powerful when the curse activates?"

"Yes, and they are also directed to kill the master."

"Scary."

"Nobody has ever survived the curse's activation."

"Not a single person?"

"Not many are stupid enough to break the very obvious taboos. Also the familiar will only attack the master and ignore everything else to the extent that being nearby is safe. While they can damage the surroundings, they often will not because they will kill their master that quickly."

"Really scary. What about summoning a sixth familiar right before you die and giving it a name to pass on?"

"You can't name the familiar when the contract is null."

"Oh. So there really is no workarounds huh?"

"None. People that have experimented with the familiar summoning always die. So nobody does it anymore. Too many sacrifices with no gains. Still, that doesn't mean idiots don't periodically try it."

"Language."

"I will kick you out of this class."

"So who is this Dio fella?"

"That's arch-magician Dio. Always pay respect to the greats."

"So he was a big deal then?"

"Still is."

"Well, who is he?"

Linda does not respond. Instead, we notice a pair of girls headed our way, so I zip my lips shut for the time being. Actually, the girls are running at top speed which is why we noticed them approaching us. Have to be careful not to get to engrossed in conversation in the future.

"Linda!"

"Ack!"

The girls slowed down their approach but they still full body rammed Linda straight out of her seat. Hey, that is dangerous you know!

"Linda I would like you to meet my roomie Marie Poppin."

Do all nobles have such unusual names?

"Hello!"

The girls are both squeezing Linda. She tries to gasp out a reply but her airway is blocked. Don't die, master! They remove themselves from atop master just before her face started to turn blue. That greeting was far too enthusiastic.

"Greetings, I am Linda, your neighbor."

Master panted out the eloquent words. I don't think you need to be so formal with these two energizer bunnies. Casey opens her mouth next.

"Why are you way back her you should come sit with us."

While it is nice to have master nearby to explain things to me, I don't mind it if the master goes to play with her friends. I'm going to urge her to go with them. I secretly make a hand signal to her and nod my head indicating she should go with them. She gives me a cold glare. The two girls whip around towards me. Impassive face achieved in the nick of time.

"Hey, Linda why are you glaring at your familiar?"

"He is annoying."

"Haha, why don't you tell him to away then?"

"I think I will."

Linda flashes me an evil smile. She did not even try to hide it from the girls. They just nod their heads though.

"Familiar trouble we get it." Casey laughed before grabbing onto master.

The two girls drag her off. I can't help but chuckle at the pitiful look on master's face. Master must not be good with those type of girls, but at least she seems to have made some firm friends. As for me. I guess I'm staying here. I wonder if the teacher will notice if I take notes?

Miss Collins returns and orders the class which had suddenly been filled again to take their seats. I'm already seated. Number one student material right here. Just kidding I am the college student sitting in the back of the class who has no idea what he is doing. Except this is high school. I think.

"Well, then shall we pick up where we left off?"

The students silently stared back at Miss Collins. You better keep quiet BOB.

"Oh well. Doing a little switcheroo never hurts. We'll use this period to begin talking about magic theory then."

I can see the invisible cheers going around the classroom.

"For the most part, this class will deal with systematic magic. Since non-systematic magic is not a field grounded in magic theory, we will not be touching up on it."

What is the difference? Unfortunately, she moves on without explaining it. Damn. I'm already lost without Linda passing me notes. I better take good ones and go over anything I don't know with her later. I hope Miss Collins elaborates on that later.

"I'll be passing around a syllabus that you should read and sign tonight for my two classes. I forgot to give one earlier, but it shouldn't be a big deal since you all are with me for two periods. It will explain what is going on in the class in greater detail. It will also detail study plans as well as the class semester schedule so you should never come to class unprepared. It is on you to make a copy of the syllabus."

Miss Collins then proceeds to pass out the syllabus to each row. Needless to say, I do not receive one. This is going to be a long year.