Entering the next guest house, Rentaro was relieved when he noticed that the setup was identical and maintained its simplicity. Laying the grimoire on the wooden desk by the bed, "Roy, I"m going to be handling some important stuff with Wilhelm. You can enter the system"s spatial pocket, there"s a special s.p.a.ce allocated for you and any of our future companions to live in there. Just don"t mess with anything I place in the inventory without permission.""Alright Second Brother, will I be able to speak with Eldest Brother and you when I"m in the spatial pocket?"
[I can transmit my voice directly to both of you at any time. For future reference, Rentaro, as all of your Soul Contracted companions will have a connection to your soul, they will have an indirect connection to me as well.]
"Eh? So it"s kind of like a "party chat" function? Are we able to converse through thoughts, my thoughts directly to Roy and inverse?" Rentaro questioned, amused by this function.
[As long as you don"t stray too far from your summons, I"ll be able to maintain a connection with them.]
Having answers to their questions, Roy went into the spatial pocket whilst Rentaro explored his mission rewards. "Alright, that"s all cleared up now. Wilhelm, open [Missions] function."
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[First Summoning] [Simple] - [Complete]
[Rewards] [1,500 of one credit type or 750 of each] [Elemental affinity increased depending on the summon"s affinity] [Innate Talent - Spirit Whisper - Allows one to initiate a mental conversation with spirits of all types.]
[Collect Rewards]
[First Contract] [Simple] - [Complete]
[Rewards] [1,500 of one credit type or 750 of each] [Elemental Essence Gourd - A gourd filled with an elemental essence, perfect for improving a summon"s grade. Essence type varied on first contracted summon"s elemental affinity.]
[Collect Rewards]
[Elemental Sensory Upgrade] [Intermediate] - [Incomplete] Upgrade Elemental Sensory"s rank to Apprentice 1.
[Rewards] [2,000 credits of one credit type or 1,000 of each] [Elemental Sensory evolves into an enhanced perceptive skill.]
"Collect the rewards for [First Summoning] and [First Contract]."
[Rewards Collected] [Elemental Affinity Increase] [Innate Talent - Spirit Whisper] [Elemental Essence Gourd]
As the elemental affinity increase reward showed up, Rentaro felt something strange flowing within his body albeit for a few seconds. There was a strange heat, followed closely by a contradicting coldness. In the same time frame, he felt a short-lasting headache as the notification for obtaining the innate talent, Spirit Whisper, showed up.
[Automatic Functions have detected selection rewards for Type: Credits. How should the system credits be distributed?]
"Put 1,500 credits towards each credit type."
[Processing Request]
[New Credit Balance] [Syndicate Credits: 6,500] [Spatial Credits: 6,500]
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Having acquired the mission rewards, Rentaro immediately equipped the elemental essence gourd. Opening the gourd, he saw a mix of red and black and immediately felt a unique connection, an affinity, toward them.
Understanding the situation by now, "So, these two essences are of the fire and darkness elements? The warmth and coldness that I felt flowing within my body earlier was from increasing my elemental affinity with fire and darkness."
Without wasting any more time, Rentaro opened the inventory and transferred the orb that was filled with a myriad of elements, having only used the dense aura of life force and the fire and darkness essences for the "Soul"s Calling," into the elemental essence gourd.
[Rentaro, leaving the orb in the elemental essence gourd with the new fire and dark essences should help to cultivate it back to its former peak, excluding the dense aura of life. No matter what, it won"t be able to be used in a summoning, as there was another aura that made up the orb previously, an aura capable of creating a soul.]
[An aura that could create a soul, I"m afraid that is something even I lack information on. However, you can use it in the future to reform your body, constructing a legendary elemental physique that has perfect affinities with all the elements.]
Nodding in confirmation to Wilhelm"s words, Rentaro picked the grimoire up off of the desk. While Rentaro couldn"t read the golden runic symbols on the cover, Wilhelm translated it as simply being: "The Grimoire of Twilight. From Dusk till Dawn. Darkness towards Light. The Unending Abysmal Darkness Will One Day Accept the Light of Hope, Forming a Shadow of its Former Self."
Opening the grimoire, Rentaro noticed that the back of the cover was now blank, Twileigh"s message had vanished off the page, as if it had never existed to begin with. For Rentaro, however, the message had remained deep inside of him. He"d never forget the loyalty of such a man, a loyalty that moved him, for his own desires followed the path of loyalty and companionship.
Relocating his site to the front of the first page, he noticed a strange signature, reading: Rentaro Eccel
Rentaro was rather confused, but Wilhelm spoke up before he could even give voice to his question, [Lil" Bro, that"s from when you imprinted your soul signature into the grimoire and binded it to your soul.]
"Uh-hm." Murmuring in agreement, Rentaro suddenly had a thought, "Wilhelm, can I link the Self-Scan function to the grimoire? Then I can see my own stats here as well as my summons" contracts."
[Sure thing, Lil" Bro.]
[Linking Self-Scan function to Grimoire of Twilight] [Link Successful]
Rentaro looked down towards the first page of the grimoire as the link finished, only to see a page enveloped in a golden aura, preventing the eye from seeing any further. The aura only lingered for around two seconds, but it left a lasting impression on Rentaro, as it emanated a grand and soothing feeling.
[Oh? Interesting...] Wilhelm seemed to have noticed something when the golden aura had appeared, but refrained from saying anything further about it to Rentaro, deciding that was the best course of action.
Seeing that Wilhelm had nothing to say in response to the golden aura that had just appeared, Rentaro a.s.sumed he had no knowledge over what had just happened. As such, he went about his own way and checked his stats.
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Name: Rentaro Eccel
Race: Human
Contracts: 1
Cultivation Stage: Affinity Awakening - Affinity Foundation
Elemental Affinities:
Fire - Authority Stage
Dark - Authority Stage
Innate Talents:
[Summoner] [Novice 4] - Summoning spirits from other realms, a Summoner doesn"t rely on their own battle prowess, but fights alongside companions. [Current Summon Rate: Two summons at a time]
[Paktierer] [Novice 4] - Allows one to perform contracts with summons, enabling one to call for their contracted summons at any time. [No restrictions on contracts] [Pact Skills unlock as skill levels up]
[Elemental Sensory] [Novice 3] - Feel the elemental energy around you, utilize the energy to sense any changes in your surroundings.
[Spirit Whispering] [Unranked] - Initiate mental conversations with spirits of all types.
Abilities:
[Elemental Control] [Locked] - Ability to control elemental energy in the atmosphere. [Requires Apprentice 1 in Elemental Sensory]
[Elemental Manipulation] [Locked] - Ability to manipulate the elemental energy in the atmosphere. Allows one to use elemental abilities, the power of which is directly effected by one"s elemental control. [Requires Apprentice 1 in Elemental Control]
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Surprised by his skill levels increasing so much, Rentaro was interrupted before even asking.
[Don"t worry, Lil" Bro, the system is functioning perfectly fine. Your first summon and pact will greatly level up the Summoner and Paktierer skills, as skills level up faster the lower they are. Furthermore, they were used in a great instance such as the "Soul"s Calling". However, even that wasn"t enough to push their levels over the level five threshold.]
[Once you level those skills up to level five, your summons at a time will increase to three, while you"ll unlock a special pact skill. However, the skills will level up even less next time, unless you summon and make a pact with some heaven defying existence.]
[A more important aspect to pay attention to is your cultivation base, which is a bit strange at the moment, being stuck between Affinity Awakening and Affinity Foundation. You"ve already gained an affinity with two elements, yet you haven"t awakened an element by yourself yet, only through Roy. Thus, your current cultivation stage is rather unstable and lacks a st.u.r.dy foundation.]
"Aren"t the elements awakened by Roy in correlation to the elements I should awaken? Roy was created through my soul"s calling, wasn"t he?"
[I haven"t inherited knowledge in depth on this type of situation, but I a.s.sume that the "Soul"s Calling" can only reach so far in to your soul, unable to reach its very core. I presume that Roy was created with the affinities just outside the very center of your soul. Thus, you still have an elemental affinity to discover from the very depths of your soul, an affinity that only you can discover.]
Wilhelm"s presumption left Rentaro deep in thought, curious as to what his own element is. He once again thought back to his earlier thoughts, about how he wished he could choose his own elemental affinity. Thereafter, he was filled with a strange thought, "Why can"t I choose which element to embrace in the deepest part of my existence, my soul?" Rentaro immediately brushed it off, while Wilhelm was momentarily shaken, before he regained his bearings and moved to the next topic.
[Moving on to Elemental Sensory"s leveling up, that happened as you sensed the elemental auras from the "Soul"s Calling", when you summoned Roy, and when you awakened your affinity to the fire and dark elements with the [First Summoning] mission reward acting as a catalyst to speed the process up. The order of Affinity rankings goes as following: Embryonic, Neophyte, Recognition, Authority, a.s.similation, Paragon.]
"Hmm, I see. I only managed to reach the Authority level because of the mission reward, huh?"
[That, and because your soul contracts allow your summons" affinities to intertwine with your own affinities. Before you get any crazy thoughts, your affinities won"t always intertwine with their own, as it may conflict with their bodies that are constructed in relation towards a specific element, excluding special circ.u.mstances like Roy, who is a chimera. Furthermore, elementals without any specific type or that have compatibility with a myriad of elements can take on your affinities.]
"Uh-hm" Rentaro grunted in understanding, as his hand flipped to the next page of the grimoire, simple reading: Contracts. Flipping the page, that back of the second page was completely blank, while the front of the third page revealed a realistic ill.u.s.tration of Roy.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Name: Roy
Contracted by: Rentaro Eccel
Race: Chimera (Variant)
Grade: Unique
Cla.s.s: Jack of All Trades
Cultivation Stage: Affinity Foundation [Linked to Contractor"s Cultivation]
Elemental Affinities:
Fire - a.s.similation Stage
Dark - a.s.similation Stage
Innate Talents:
[Chimera] [Unranked] - Special bloodline skills will be unlocked as the power base increases. As a chimera, the skill is ever-changeable and can mutate if the chimera undergoes further mutations or evolutions.
[Bloodline Prime] [Unranked] - An exclusive chimera skill, allowing one to fully take on the form of one of their bloodlines. Gives the ability to use their bloodline skills to the fullest capability, while unlocking further skills in relation to the specific bloodline. [Unlocks alongside the innate [Chimera] bloodline skills.]
[Shape-Shift] [Unranked] - Innate ability to change into any targeted form. Copying a target"s form will not copy over their strength, but it will give access to their moves. [Restrictions Apply]
[Black Flame Embrace] [Unranked] - Born alongside the embrace of flames that embody the element of primal chaos.
Innate Bloodline Skills:
[Obsidian-Scaled Armor] [Novice 1] - Releasing its obsidian-scaled armor to its fullest state allows maximum defense, while lowering speed and offense to the minimum. [Evolves at Apprentice 1] [Bloodline Prime State Currently Sealed]
[Skeletal Control] [Novice 1] - Manipulating its skeletal structure, it releases the spikes along its spine to pierce its victims. [Evolves at Apprentice 1] [Bloodline Prime State Currently Sealed]
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