11 The First Summoning
The man died a horrible, lonely death from blood loss. His lifeless eyes stared at the cold, empty ceiling. Tears from earlier, are now dried on his cheeks. In his hand held an old photograph of what looks like to be his family. The woman looked mature in the photo. Although not quite attractive looking, she had an aura around her that was welcoming. Standing in the middle of the photo was Mac, with a big, silly smile on his face without a care in the world.
Mac Russell was the young boy's name. He had ripped jeans and a tattered black shirt. His eyes were light green like the budding leaves during the early season of spring. His red hair looked burning to the touch and spiked up that resembled a burning flame. His bright smile could melt the hearts of others if they stare at him. But now, the little boy was in shock. He didn't want to believe his father's passing. He ran up to his father's corpse and kneeled down beside him.
"Papa, I'm back!" Mac vigorously shook his corpse thinking it would bring him back to life.
"Papa, I'm here!" He shook him again; all of it for naught.
Ian tried pulling him back, but Mac violently resisted. Ian can only stand there and watch the scene unfold. Mac's pent-up emotion finally broke loose like a raging flood in a cracked river dam. He loudly wailed with streams of tears flowing down his face. The group can only silently watch on. However, Lily kneeled beside Mac before holding him in her embrace. She caressed his hair and patiently waited for him to calm down. After a period of time, she picked him up and walked back into the hallway.
Ian bent down and closed the father's eyes. Different emotions flowed through him: Hatred, sympathy, and sadness. He hated the monsters for endlessly slaughtering people. He also felt sympathetic to the boy who lost his father. He couldn't imagine losing Lily like that. Lastly, he felt depressed about what other people might have experienced from the invasion. Ian needed to get stronger quickly. Then he remembered what the robotic voice said yesterday.
Fight. Grow. Evolve.
He opened his system status and pressed on the [Summon] tab.
[Profile]-[Summom]-[Party]
First Time Summoning: 1000 Souls
Note: New users on their first summon will have a chance to summon a beast from the list of ranks: Normal, Rare, Epic, Mythical, Legendary
[Begin Summon]
Total Souls: 1100
"Hey guys, I think I'm going to try summoning a beast." Looked at the three who were still inside the room.
"Wait, right now?" Conner looked at him with a panicked expression. "At least do it outside! What if the beast is like two stories tall?"
Ian thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, you're right. I should probably wait a bit."
"I don't think you should." Ray shooked his head. "What if the beast starts attacking us?"
Mrs.Willard butt into the conversation. "I think we should leave now. Looking at this boy's father just breaks my heart."
Everyone nodded and left out of the door one-by-one with gloomy expressions. They stood by the hall for an hour until Mac cried himself to sleep in Lily's arms. Ian took the photograph from the father's corpse and placed it into Mac's pocket. Ian hoped that this photo will stop Mac from falling too deep into depression. After all, he is still a young child.
"How do you do it, Lily?" Ray's voice broke the long silence in the hall. He was quite impressed with her ability to care for a child.
"Well, I was a babysitter for a while," Lily said. She had flashbacks of some of her fond moments with the children she took care of over the past two years. She prayed that the children are still alive right now.
They didn't stay in the building much longer and walked out into the streets. Afternoon arrived, and the fog had finished clearing up. However, this only made it a lot harder for the group to sneak around. The group went through different blocks checking each car that was still working, but they found nothing. Their search for a car was fruitless.
"This looks like a good spot." Ian opened the system statue and pressed the [Summon] tab. "I'm going to try summoning a monster."
"Wait, Ian!" Ray panicked.
Before Ray could stop him, Ian pressed the [Summon] tab. A giant, white magic circle appeared on the road. The group slowly backed away from the magic circle. Ray thought that a giant monster might attack him, so he ran off and hid behind a car. A bright white pillar of light blinded them, and they covered their eyes with one arm. What followed afterward was a dark crimson light that gave the surrounding area a heavy atmosphere. However, it didn't end there as the crimson light changed into a purple, then to a majestic golden pillar of light.
Ian anticipated that the beast he summoned would be a powerful, legendary beast that could destroy mountains and cities. He continued to stare at it with wide eyes. Moments later, a shadowy figure appeared in the midst of the magic circle, contrasting perfectly against the golden light pillar. Ian swallowed his saliva in excitement.
"This is it!" Ian's chest heaved.
The golden light slowly disappeared and revealed an adorable, black wolf pup. It looked at Ian with its tongue hanging out as drool dripped down onto the ground. The pup ran towards him and jumped into his arms before letting out a series of barks.
"What the fuck is this!" Ian's awaited powerful beast of his dreams shattered in an instant. The hope that he had for the future crumbled into dust and carried off by the wind. The only comfort that he received was from the licks of the black wolf pup.
"That wolf pup is cute!" Lily's eyes sparkled with delight. She wanted to pet it, but Lily was holding Mac, who was sleeping, in her arms.
Ray noticed the wolf pup and breathed a sigh of relief. He came out from behind the car and head towards the group. He walked in a large stride without feeling any sense of shame.
"And here I thought a giant monster would show up." Ray sneered at the wolf pup. "But this guy? What an absolute joke."
The wolf pup felt offended and growled at him. It disappeared from Ian's arms and struck its head into Ray's stomach.
"URRRGH!" Ray's face turned red like a tomato and collapsed on his knees. He gripped his stomach from the sheer pain and rolled around on the ground.
"Beaten by a small wolf pup." Lily sneered at him with schadenfreude. "What an absolute joke."
The wolf pup stared at him with a look of triumph before joyfully jumping into Ian's arms. Ian was astonished at the wolf's speed as he couldn't even see it move. He checked his system's status to see the wolf's attributes.
[Profile]-[Summon]-[Party]
[Name]: Ian Sawyer
[Title]: N/A
[Skills:] N/A
[Souls]: 100
[Summons]: 1
[Name]: Bounye - Descendant of the Wolf God
[Rank]: Mythical - Evolvable.
[Skills]:
1] Absolute Form (Passive): Grants tremendous improvement to the user's physical and mental conditions. This includes strength, stamina, speed, accuracy, defense, perception, and immunity to diseases. (MAX LEVEL).
2] <Locked>
3] <Locked>
4] <Locked>
[User is able to select a skill at RANDOM. However, since one skill is only unlocked, the user will be given that skill.]
[YES/NO]
Ian immediately pressed yes. The message box was gone, and a stream of golden light swirled around his body. He felt his body transforming into something completely different. Ian's bones got denser, and his muscles slowly expanded. The golden light seeped into his head and expanded his mind. A few minutes passed, and everything calmed down around him.
Ian checked himself out with an astonished face. He felt a lot stronger than ever before. He closed his fists really tight and made a loud cracking noise. He looked back up again, and his perception had improved leap and bounds. Ian is now able to see objects closer from two hundred feet away. Not only that, he's able to adjust how far or close an object is within range. He checked his status again and noticed a new skill:
[Skills]: 1
1] Strengthened Form (Passive): Greatly enhances users physical and mental condition. This includes strength, stamina, speed, accuracy, defense, perception, and immunity to diseases. (Level 1/50)
