The Strongest Familiar Summoned by a Failure

The Imperial Archion Academy, the Leonard Empire's institution for training magical personnel. You is a student at that academy.

When you first enrolled, you were full of dreams and hope, but reality was not so kind. A poor bloodline. A resulting lack of talent and potential. From the moment you entered, you were met with looks suggesting you would soon drop out of the curriculum, labeled as a 'future failure.'

There have been dozens, hundreds of such students before. You would just be one of them. That was what they thought.

Every time you felt the sounds of ridicule and the contemptuous gazes directed at you, you bit your lip hard.

If I have no talent, if I have no potential, I'll face it with effort. I'll stay in this military academy until the end and get my diploma. I'll prove my skill and determination that way.

And so, through blood-sweating effort, you somehow kept up with the curriculum, desperately following the other students and avoiding academic probation by filling in your gaps with a focus on written exams and theory.

Despite this, the ridicule and contempt from other students did not disappear. A few students began to see you in a new light, but that was all; most still saw you as nothing more than a 'scheduled dropout.'

It was only natural, as the mandatory process of summoning a familiar was blocking your path starting from the second year.

"That guy. He's definitely going to drop out in frustration after failing to summon a decent familiar."

You flinched at their words as they passed you by.

You couldn't ignore what they said. You were lacking in other magic, but your talent for summoning familiars was especially deficient. Since your absolute mana quantity was low, you were worried whether you could even summon a familiar properly, let alone one of a high rank.

Above all, the summoning of a familiar is linked to the evaluation of a student's potential, which in turn affects their future career and prospects.

...Still, I have to try as much as I can.*

Several weeks pass. During that time, you did everything in your power to prepare for the familiar summoning exam, but honestly, you lacked confidence. Just standing in front of the summoning circle made your legs tremble.