First Summoning.

"Nutgrove took a small group south," Augustus mumbled, a furrow in his brow. "Said something about investigating unusual beast activity."

Magnus paused, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. 'South? Isn't that Gaylord's territory?'

He turned back to Augustus. "When did he leave? Do you know when he's due back? And how many men went with him?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Augustus admitted. "I heard he left yesterday, right after our meeting. He was already gone by the time we concluded. Some of our men saw them depart, but I don't have the specifics."

"I see," Magnus said, a frown etching itself onto his features.

Augustus watched Magnus's expression carefully. "Is something wrong? Should I gather the details for you?"

"It's nothing urgent," Magnus replied, his tone casual. "I just wanted to discuss some territorial defense strategies with him. It can wait until he returns."

"Well, then, I'll be going," Magnus added, abruptly turning and leaving with unexpected haste.

Augustus watched him go, a puzzled frown on his face. His attention was soon diverted, however, by one of the men who had been distributing food. It seemed a minor issue had arisen that required Augustus's intervention.

-----

Meanwhile, Magnus walked directly to his room, his pace brisk and purposeful. He didn't stop to acknowledge anyone or anything along the way. Nutgrove's sudden trip south, coupled with his recent suspicious behavior, had set off alarm bells in Magnus's mind the moment he heard the news. He had a strong suspicion that this was connected to the spy he'd been trying to uncover. This was his chance, perhaps his only chance, to gather concrete evidence, proof he could use to expose the traitor and bring them to justice.

Reaching his room, Magnus opened the door and stepped inside. "Status," he commanded, his voice echoing in the quiet space.

-----

-[Status]

Name: Magnus Lancaster

Age: 18

Health: 100% (Full Health)

Title: (Lucky Son of Arthur Lancaster)

Level: 3

Trial Status: (0/10)

Magic Affinity: Locked

Mana: 1,000

[EVOLUTION POINTS: 109,465]

[Attributes]

Strength: 12

Agility: 14

Defense: 11

Charm: 16

Endurance: 4

Luck: 100 [Max]

〔Attribute Points: 2,600〕

[Skills]

>General Skills:

×10 Reward [SS], Akashic Insight [SS], Synthesis [SS], Summoning [SSS], Aegis of Mind [S]

>Combat Skills:

Unarmed Combat [Lv 5/10], Archery [Lv 3/10], Swordsmanship [Lv 3/10]

>Magic Skills:

None (Locked until Essence Awakening)

>Crafting Skills:

Apothecary [Lv 7/10]

-----

Magnus stared at the displayed information, momentarily bewildered by the sheer number of attribute points he possessed. Then, the reason dawned on him. He had eliminated over five hundred Mangleon. For every ten Mangleon slain, he earned two attribute points. However, with the [×10 Reward] skill active, that number doubled to twenty points. The Vorax kills yielded half the reward – one point per ten kills, or ten points with the [×10 Reward] skill. Doing the math, it seemed Vorax had already eliminated over fifteen hundred beasts.

The realization that Vorax had continued his relentless hunt even after Magnus left was both impressive and concerning. In just a single day, Vorax had amassed a significant kill count. Magnus began to worry about the potential consequences of leaving Vorax unchecked. What if he decimated the entire forest population? The thought of disrupting the delicate balance of the ecosystem troubled him. He considered recalling Vorax, but then he reconsidered.

Vorax was currently stationed in one of the most dangerous areas of the beast lands – the Silent Forest. Even the outer regions teemed with creatures, and venturing deeper meant encountering potentially stronger, more ferocious beasts of Feral and Rabid rank. Magnus wasn't entirely confident that Vorax could handle a group of these higher-ranked beasts, even though he was capable in one-on-one combat. However, he trusted Vorax's intelligence. He knew Vorax was smart enough to stick to the outer areas and hunt only the beasts he could manage. With that thought, Magnus dismissed his concerns.

Turning his attention back to the system interface, he navigated to the summoning nexus option and selected it without hesitation.

-----

-[Summoning Nexus]

---[Option 1: Random Draw]---

Cost: 『100 EP』

「Summon a random entity from across time to come and serve your needs!」

[DRAW]

---[Option 2: Custom Draw]---

Cost: 『1000 EP』

「Refine your summoning to meet your specific needs. Select your desired parameters below」

〔Filters:〕

-Force Alignment: - Light, Darkness, Neutral, Nature, etc. 

-Entity Type/Race:- Beast, Human, Elves, Demons, Draconic, etc.

-Gender: - Male or Female

-Class: - Warrior, Mage, Rogue, Priest, Support, Tank, etc.

-Magic Affinity: - Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Light, Darkness, Necromancy, Chronomancy, etc.

[CUSTOMIZE]

-----

Magnus studied the screen, carefully considering his options. He began filtering his choices: Force Alignment – Darkness; Race – Human; Gender – Male; Class – Assassin; Magic Affinity – Darkness. Satisfied with his selections, he pressed the "Customize" button.

The screen shimmered, bathed in a brilliant white light, followed by a flashing notification.

-[You have received 1 Assassin F ranked summoning card]

-[10× Reward activated]

-[10 Assassin F ranked cards have been rewarded.]

Magnus didn't hesitate. He initiated another summoning, tweaking the filter parameters slightly while keeping the core elements the same. He repeated the process again and again, five times in total, spending 5,000 evolution points and accumulating fifty F-rank Assassin summoning cards.

With the summoning complete, Magnus retrieved the cards. Fifty shimmering cards materialized before him, each etched with strange, otherworldly symbols.

"Okay, let's get this over with," Magnus muttered, gathering the cards. He held two of them close together and activated his [Synthesis] skill.

As the skill took effect, the two cards merged, emitting a bright, otherworldly light that momentarily obscured them. When the light subsided, a single card remained.

At first glance, the new card appeared identical to the originals, but the inscribed symbols had subtly shifted. The change was so minute that Magnus initially didn't notice as he continued merging more cards.

It wasn't until he had combined ten cards that the changes in the symbols became apparent, although nothing significant seemed to happen. Magnus persisted, merging more and more cards. Finally, after the twentieth card was absorbed, a satisfying notification chimed.

-Ding!

-[Synthesis completed successfully]

Magnus examined the card in his hand. It was distinctly different now. The symbols had transformed, and the card shimmered with a more potent otherworldly energy.

With a furrowed brow, Magnus activated [Akashic Insight].

-[Item: Summoning Card (Synthesized)]

-[Rank: E]

-[An assassin class summoning card that can be used to summon an E ranked assassin.]

A smile spread across Magnus's face. The synthesis had worked, successfully upgrading the card's rank.

Without delay, Magnus initiated the summoning. As the skill activated, a dark purple portal shimmered into existence before him, pulsing with otherworldly energy.

"That's one ominous-looking portal," Magnus murmured. He acknowledged the unsettling nature of the portal. It was, in a way, a violation of time and space, plucking individuals from their timelines and depositing them into another to serve a new master. A disturbing thought, but Magnus pushed it aside, focusing on the task at hand.

He lifted the summoning card and released it towards the portal. The card floated in mid-air, drawn into the swirling vortex.

The portal's rotation intensified, unleashing a powerful gust of wind that sent Magnus's hair flying. The wind grew stronger, becoming a gale that ripped through the room, tossing around anything that wasn't firmly secured.

Magnus gritted his teeth, making a mental note to never again perform a summoning inside his room, or any enclosed space for that matter.

Fortunately, the fierce wind subsided quickly. Magnus kept his gaze fixed on the portal, anticipation building.

A foot emerged from the swirling darkness – a male foot clad in a boot. Magnus's eyes narrowed, focused on what would come next.

A second foot followed, then a full figure materialized, cloaked and hooded, concealing its identity. A strange, almost menacing aura emanated from the figure.

-[Ding! Summoning complete. You can now check your summoned entity's information.]

A notification flashed before Magnus's eyes. Before he could access the information, the figure abruptly pulled back its hood, revealing a handsome young man with jet-black hair and crimson eyes.

"By the power that binds, I, Kael Osborne, swear my loyalty to you, the great one who saved me from the abyss of sorrows," the young man declared, kneeling before Magnus. "I vow to repay this debt with my life."

Magnus smiled, pleased with the young man's declaration. He then accessed the summoned entity's information, which appeared on his screen.