Mission Rewards; Roy's Stats

Entering the next guest house, Rentaro was relieved when he noticed that the setup was identical and maintained its simplicity.

Luckily, he placed the earlier red-colored clothing provided for him into his inventory.

'Wait, do you think Elder Astrona noticed the blue robe I was wearing?' Rentaro paused.

[Don't worry so much, be more carefree. My senses are telling me there's no trouble here, so just focus on improving yourself in the meantime.]

Rentaro relented, placing 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 space 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 while 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, we'll be able to maintain a connection with them.]

Having answers to their questions, Roy went into the spatial pocket.

Roy couldn't help but complain about the emptiness of it, laying in boredom.

But soon, he found his own inspiration there, watching as flames burnt around him and gave birth to light, whilst Rentaro explored his own mission rewards.

'Open the missions function.'

***

[Missions]

[First Summoning] [Common]—[Complete]

A summoner's first summoning is the most important event in their life. Your summon is your life partner, a companion who will fight alongside you no matter what obstacles you may face.

[Rewards] [1.5 of one credit type or 0.75 of each] [Elemental affinity increased depending on the summon's affinity] [Innate Talent—Spirit Whisperer—Allows one to initiate mental conversations with spirits of all types.]

[Collect Rewards]

*

[First Contract] [Common]—[Complete]

The first contract is imprinted deeply into a person's core, their soul. The summoner and summon must swear an oath and link their lives together. Relying on one another, living together, dying together. All hardships in life are tackled together.

[Rewards] [1.5 of one credit type or 0.75 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]—[Uncommon]

Attain sufficient understanding of Elemental Sensory.

[Rewards] [2.0 credits of one credit type or 1.0 of each] [Innate perceptive talent awakens, replacing Elemental Sensory.]

*

'Collect the rewards for [First Summoning] and [First Contract].'

[Rewards Collected] [Elemental Affinity Increased] [Innate Talent Unlocked—Spirit Whisperer] [Received 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 burning heat that couldn't be controlled, followed closely by a mind-numbing chill that seemed to come from the depths of the night.

Lastly was an unnoticeable strand of warmth that cleansed any discomfort caused by the previous two sensations.

Subsequently, he felt a short-lasting headache as the notification for obtaining the innate talent, Spirit Whisperer, showed up.

[Automatic Functions have detected selection rewards for Type: Credits. How should the system credits be distributed?]

'Split credits towards each type.'

[Processing Request]

[New Credit Balance] [Syndicate Credits: 6.5] [Spatial Credits: 6.5]

***

Having acquired the mission rewards, Rentaro immediately equipped the elemental essence gourd.

Opening the gourd, he saw a mix of red and black liquids. There was a strange feeling as he felt a unique connection, an affinity, towards them.

Wilhelm spoke, [So, these two essences are of the fire and darkness elements?]

'Uhm. The warmth and coldness that I felt flowing within my body earlier was from increasing my elemental affinity with fire and darkness.' Rentaro nodded in agreement.

Without wasting any more time, Rentaro opened the inventory and transferred the orb that was filled with a myriad of elements, having only used up the dense aura of life force, along with 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 though.]

[That strange life force... it held something more... something capable of allowing the formation of a new soul.]

[An aura that can bring about the creation of a soul, I'm afraid that is something even I lack information on. However, you can use the elemental orb 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 been engraved deeply inside of his heart. He'd never forget the words of loyalty from Twileigh, for his own desires followed the path of loyalty and companionship.

Relocating his sight to the front of the first page, he noticed a strange signature, reading: Rentaro Eccel. The signature was much neater than his own writing, further baffling him.

Confused, Wilhelm spoke up before he could give voice to his question, [Rentaro, that's from when you imprinted your soul signature into the grimoire and binded it to your soul.]

'Uh-hm.' Rentaro murmured in agreement before asking, 'Can I link the Self-Scan function to the grimoire? That way I can see my own stats here as well as my summons' contracts.'

[No need, Rentaro. Transmit your energy into the Grimoire's page and your information will automatically be imprinted.]

Following his directions, a wisp of energy traveled from Rentaro's hand into the Grimoire. He looked towards the first page of the grimoire, only to see a page enveloped in a golden aura, preventing the mortal eye from seeing any further.

The aura only lingered for mere seconds, but it left a lasting impression on Rentaro as it emanated a grand and soothing feeling, while also seemingly having the capability of intelligence and seeing right through him.

[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 more to say in response to the golden aura that had just appeared, Rentaro assumed he had no knowledge over what had just happened. As such, he went about his own way and checked his stats.

***

Name: Rentaro Eccel

Race: Human

Contracts: 1

Cultivation Stage: Affinity Awakening — Affinity Foundation

Elemental Affinities:

Fire — Authority

Dark — Authority

Credit Balance:

[Syndicate Credits: 6.5]

[Spatial Credits: 6.5]

Innate Talents:

[Summoner] — Summoning spirits from other realms, a Summoner doesn't rely solely on their own battle prowess, but fights alongside companions.

[Paktierer] — Allows one to perform contracts with summons, enabling one to call for their contracted summons at any time. [Pact Skills unlock as the user grows more familiar with contracted summons.]

[Elementalist] — An inseparable bond connecting one with the elements. Strengthen the bonds and connect with the many elements around you.

[Enhanced Sensory] — Feel the energy around you, utilize the energy to sense any changes in your surroundings.

[Spirit Whisperer] — Allows one to initiate mental conversations with spirits of all types.

***

[The most important aspect to pay attention to is your cultivation base, which is a bit strange at the moment; it's 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. That is why your current cultivation stage is rather unstable and lacks a sturdy 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 assume that the "Soul's Calling" can only reach so far into 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.

Wilhelm asked a question to himself, 'Does an "innate" element truly exist for an individual? Do people decide their own element unconsciously? Perhaps... logical thinking is just an obstacle, a limitation at times....'

Regaining his bearings, Wilhelm moved on to the next topic, [Ahem. You should be nearing proficiency in Elemental Sensory thanks to the "Soul's Calling" acting as a catalyst to speed up your progress by allowing you the chance to experience the many different elemental auras contained within the core. After using Elemental Sensory on your own, it should awaken your advanced innate perceptive talent.]

[As for your elemental affinities, the mission reward gave you an early start. The natural order of affinity rankings goes as follows: Embryonic, Neophyte, Recognition, Authority, Assimilation, Paragon.]

'Hmm, I see. I only managed to reach the Authority level because of the mission reward, huh?'

[Don't cut yourself short, you'd have awakened them on your own during Affinity Awakening. The mission and your soul contracts act as a shortcut, in which they 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. Elementals without any specific type and creatures like Roy, who seems to be a chimera, are the exceptions to this rule.]

'Uh-hm' Rentaro grunted in understanding.

His hand flipped to the next page of the grimoire, simple reading: Contracts. Flipping to the back of the second page, seemed to be an empty index for names.

The front of the third page finally interested Rentaro, a realistic illustration of Roy drawn upon it in the top right corner. Roy's stats, like Rentaro's, were written neatly on the page.

***

Name: Roy Eccel

Race: Chimera (Variant)

Grade: Unique

Cultivation Stage: Affinity Foundation — Stage 2

Elemental Affinities:

Fire — Assimilation Stage

Dark — Assimilation Stage

Innate Talents:

[Chimera] — Ability to absorb bloodlines, undergoing constant mutations and evolutions.

[Primal Chaotic Physique] — A physique born from primal chaos. Innate primal chaos energy endowment.

[Bloodline Prime] — An exclusive chimera skill, allowing one to fully take on the form 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.

[Shape-Shift] — 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]—Born alongside the embrace of flames that embody the element of primal chaos, specifically of the Yang origin.

Innate Bloodlines and Skills:

Bloodline 1: ?

[Obsidian-Scaled Armor] — Ability to cover itself in an obsidian-scaled armor.

[Bloodline Prime State Currently Sealed]

Bloodline 2: ?

[Skeletal Control] — Ability to manipulate its skeletal structure.

[Bloodline Prime State Currently Sealed]