"So if I swim in the ocean, I can get stronger?" the little girl asked.
"Yes," Ning said. "But not until you start forming a bond. Let me get a beast for you to bond."
Ning jumped off from the octopus' head and into the ocean. He looked around for a bit and found a very young fish that was barely at Rank 1.
He caught the fish in a bubble of water and floated it up to the octopus' head.
"Wow, teacher, you can fly?" the little girl was amazed.
"You can too once you start being able to form bonds," Ning said. "Here, try and tell this guy to follow you and in exchange, you will give it all of your spiritual energy."
"This guy?" the princess cocked her head to the side to look at the weak little fish. "I don't like this guy. I want a big monster like Occy."
"You need to be big to have a big monster like Occy. For a small princess like you, this fish suits best," Ning said. "Now try and send your spiritual energy to this guy and say you want to control it in return for all your spiritual energy."
"Okay," the little girl said as she closed her eyes. "What do I do now?"
"Let your spiritual energy out," Ning said.
"Okay," the girl said and waited for a bit. "What's my spiritual energy?"
Ning sighed. "Try and feel it a power in your body. You should feel it," he explained.
The princess tried but there was no way she could feel spiritual energy in a single day after all.
"I can't," the princess grumbled. "Am I not good at summoning?"
"No, no, no. You're fine. Everyone takes time. I needed to wait until I was very old before I could even summon my first beast," Ning said.
"Really? I am going to beat you then teacher. I will try again," she said. The princess continued trying but to no avail.
Ning saw her confidence deteriorating so he let her play with the octopus for a while.
At the same time, he answered a few of her questions.
"Why is it that I have to bond with something in front of me when you can summon something from far away?" she asked.
"You can try and summon something from far away too, but it's easier to bond with something that is right in front of you," Ning said.
"Hehe, Teacher is right in front of me. What if I bond with Teacher? Can I get Teacher to do whatever I want? Ooh, I can play with occy all the time if I can do that," the girl said.
The maid at the side hid her smile and let her princess dream a little.
"Unfortunately, Janice, you cannot bond with a human. You can only bond with that which is not human," Ning said.
"Why not? I want to play with Occy," she said.
"That's just how it is. You cannot bond with something that is the same as you. If you are a human, you cannot bond with another human," Ning said.
"What if I was a big monster like Occy? Could I then bond with teacher?" she asked.
"Yes, you could. If you were an octopus like Occy, then the only thing you could not bond with would be another octopus," Ning explained.
"Oh!" the little girl said.
"Alright, let's return back for today. Your father must be worried right now," Ning said.
"Huh? So fast? I don't wanna," the princess said.
"Princess, it's time for you to eat something and start your other studies," Joann said.
"Those are boring. I want to summon monsters," the princess grumbled.
"Do you want me to tell that to your mother?" Joann asked.
The princess suddenly closed her mouth and didn't say another word. Ning was surprised at how easily Joann got her to stop her tantrum.
"Joann, you meanie," the princess started sulking just then.
"Alright, time to return," Ning said. "Say goodbye to Occy."
"Eh? Occy is going?" she asked.
"Yes, he has to go," Ning said.
"Where will he go back to? Does Occy have a home? Can I meet him again?" she asked.
"Don't worry. Occy lives close by on the other side," Ning said. "And if you're a good little girl, I will let you meet her too."
"Okay," the princess said reluctantly.
"You can go back now," Ning told the Octopus who seemed reluctant to leave as well.
A summoning circle appeared deep within the waters and in a flash of bright light, the octopus disappeared.
"Aaaaaah!" the princess cried as she suddenly went into freefall. The same was true for Joann, but she had somehow already twisted her body enough to get next to the princess and grab her.
She embraced her tightly as they were about to reach the water. Just before they splashed, however, Ning caught them both with his telekinesis and brought them high into the air.
"Sorry about that. I might have stared directly into the light for a bit there," Ning said as they came closer.
"We're—"
"Hahahaha! Do it again, Do it again!" the princess started laughing all of a sudden.
"Okay," Ning said and took her from Joann. Then in a single throw, he sent her 10 meters high into the air.
"AAAAH!" the princess shouted as she came down, but Ning caught her softly again.
"Again!" the princess said.
"No, it's time we return now," Ning said. He turned towards Joann and grabbed her by the shoulder. In the next moment, Joann found herself standing on the beat near the palace.
"We're back!" the princess shouted.
"My daughter!" the king ran up to them as they had been waiting for him all this time.
"Are you okay?" the king asked her.
"Father, Father! The teacher is amazing!" the princess started saying.
"You aren't hurt?" he continued asking.
"Why would I be hurt?" she asked. "Listen, the teacher said that I will be able to summon big monsters very soon. I will get to play with them then right?"
The king realized that his daughter was fine and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
