Drifting Embers
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[MGM]: 9 - Summon Thy Monster
🕑 Added 2025-01-17 11:30:06 +0000 UTCWhile the rarity of the Origin alluded to the overall potential of a hunter, the level, on the other hand, was indicative of their rank. Level 1 to Level 25 were referred to as E-Rank hunters, while Level 26 to 50 were those at D-Rank.
The ranking wasn't just an arbitrary measure but a tangible divide. Every rank-up would grant a hunter a talent associated with their origin.
I had received Basic Stealth right after awakening as a Scout. Basic Tracking came from a windfall after the first hunt. While Sprint had cost me 15 Gold.
And I had lost them all.
I called up my updated Hunter Profile.
Name: Markus White
Race: Human [Awakened] (Dragon Heart: Compatibility at 69%)
Age: 19
Origin: Celestial Archive [Supreme???]
Level: 1 | XP: 0%
Rank: E
Attributes
Strength: 15
Agility: 15
Vitality: 13
Intelligence: 10
Perception: 9
Spirit: 0
Free Stat Points: 0
Talents
[Summon - D]
[Talent Copy - N/A]
Summons (0/2)
[N/A]
The first thing I noticed was the compatibility had gone up by one percent. It might take less time to completion than I had initially anticipated.
Celestial Archive, as my origin, was there, alongside the supreme tier rarity, which I had never heard of before.
From what I could remember, the rarity started from Common, then went up to Uncommon, and then Rare, and at last Epic. I had heard rumors about the Legendary tier rarity, but never this Supreme tier. Was it good or bad? And how did it compare to others?
Either way, it had to be at least higher than the Epic, and that was already a massive improvement from my Common Origin. The question marks associated, though, had me a tad bit worried. I dearly hoped my Origin wasn't broken or something.
Seeing my level reset to 1 made me wince at the loss, but I considered it a fresh start and moved on.
My attributes would dwarf any human at level 1, and in fact fell only slightly behind my level 7. Although the Dragon-heart felt lackluster compared to what one would expect from a legendary existence, the benefits it provided at Level 1 were impressive.
Huh?
As I was sifting through my attributes, I couldn't help but notice an unusual and alien addition.
Spirit? What's that?
I had never heard of the Spirit attribute before. In fact, I couldn't understand why I even had such an attribute.
Levels could vary, and so could one's Origin rarity. Attribute differences between two individuals of the same rank and level weren't something uncommon in the world of Aetheria. But never have I heard of another attribute besides the known five.
Now I was positively panicking.
"Ok, calm down..." I breathed in and out rhythmically, bringing my beating heart under control. Maybe the addition of a new attribute was something common with a Supreme tier rarity.
Moving down, the talents were as expected. Summon at D and Talent Copy at nothing, whatever that meant.
Talent Copy in particular had me curious. The description said that it would allow me to copy a single Summons talent permanently. What that meant, I would remain oblivious until I had tested it in person.
While I expected my Hunter Profile to end there, the System seemed to disagree with me. I now had a new addition of a Summons tab added underneath.
Before I proceeded to test one of the only talents, I took a sweeping glance around the room, finding it utterly empty save for the dimly lit pillars and empty manacles.
Somehow after the dragon's death, the pillars had lost a portion of their luminosity. While I was curious, my desire to escape this place triumphed over that feeling.
Firming my resolve, I finally decided to invoke summoning.
As each talent came with a bare minimum knowledge of its usage, I knew what I had to do to activate Summon.
Taking a deep breath, I held out my hand, palm open and facing outward. Mana within my heart thrummed to life, heeding my call.
A glaring, bright halo came into existence before me, the radiance growing by the second. I could feel my enhanced reserves being depleted like water, and an unnerving thought evoked within my mind.
Did the dragon know I couldn't handle the strain from summoning? Was that why it bestowed its heart upon me? Was it the reason for my new Origin awakening?
So many questions and little to no answers, especially since the monster chose to die instead of sating my curiosity.
The halo started to falter, and I had to focus my attention on it entirely. Halo widened at a slow pace and eventually grew big enough to be able to engulf my entire body.
Then the cracks started appearing.
Right in the middle of the circle, the space fractured in a way that reminded of an Even Rapture. I could draw the similarity between it and the event that led to my current situation.
Behind the broken space, an abyss of eternal darkness stared back at me. The sight was both terrifying yet strangely familiar. However, before I could process that feeling, something shot straight out of the darkness and slammed into me.
I felt air knock out of my lungs as I stumbled back.
"What the heck?"
"Who are you?" I heard an unfamiliar voice question.
I glanced up and felt my breath hitch. Standing before me was the most beautiful person I had ever laid my eyes on. She had long silver hair and piercing red eyes. Her skin was pale white, and her lips were glossy pink.
She was dressed in a black gown with corset armor that gave off a matte black finish under the dim glare from the pillars. She also wore a hooded cape tied to her shoulder straps.
I was about to reply to her when I caught the glow radiating from my Hunter Profile, usually an indicative of a notification. I had a feeling it might shed some light on this very strange situation that I had caught myself in.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
You have summoned Amara, the Night Queen (SSS-Rank).
You have permanently bonded with your summon.
To raise your summons attributes, please increase your Spirit.
"You're not a monster?" I blurted out without thinking, only to realize a second later I might have sounded weird when saying that.
"What?" The woman before me questioned.
"Oh, I'm sorry." I waved my hands. "It's just I was expecting to summon a monster, not... you?"
She flashed me a confused look, then glanced back before turning to regard me once again. "You summoned me?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"How?" She pressed.
That was an easy question to answer. "Oh, I have this talent that lets me summon creatures, or so I thought. You certainly don't seem like the creature I was expecting."
The woman seemed at a loss for words. "No, I meant, why could you summon me?"
That was not an easy question to answer, so I just shrugged. "I just could."
"Why?" She persisted.
"Because my talent and Origin said so?"
"Ok, clearly this is confusing, so let's start from the beginning. Who are you?"
"My name is Markus, Markus White." I introduced myself with a smile.
"Amara." She replied curtly, before her brows pressed into a frown. "And I don't seem to recall much."
It took a little prodding, but I found out that Amara was indeed my summon. My Hunter Profile basically confirmed that.
Summons (1/2)
[Amara - SSS]
Favorability: 1% (Acquaintance)
Power Sync: -100%
The second thing I found out was that she had amnesia. Aside from her name, Amara only recalled her knowledge on general things.
Although it seemed hard for her to accept the fact that I had summoned her, she eventually acknowledged the reality.
"Ok, let me summarize it: You fell into a Rapture Event, got rescued by a dragon, killed the said dragon, and received a new Origin as a gift for that, thanks to which you were able to summon me."
It wasn't exactly accurate, but that about summed it up. "That's right." I nodded.
She looked at it with her eyes squinted.
"You don't believe me?" I ventured.
"No, I do believe you." She shook her head. "That's why it's a bit harder for me to accept."
"Why?" I probed.
She shrugged in return.
"So, can you see my Soul Record?" Amara asked.
I frowned. "Soul record?"
"You know... The Soul Record." She gestured as if stating the most obvious thing in the world. At my growing confusion, she groaned and said, "The thing where you look up your levels and such."
"Oh! You mean the Hunter Profile."
"The what?"
"The Hunter Profile." I repeated.
"You call your Soul Record Hunter Profile?" She blenched at me. "Who the heck came up with that name?"
"I don't know." I shrugged. I really didn't know who it was, though I knew it came from a fellow from the Academy. A nugget of knowledge I had picked over the years of work as a Hunter. Well, technically months, but that didn't matter.
"Anyway, can you see my Soul Record or not?" She asked, once more.
"Can you not see yours?"
"I can. But since you summoned me, shouldn't you also be able to?"
That did make sense. "Wait, let me see."
