Luca DR
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Accidentally summoned 03
🕑 Added 2024-02-05 14:08:03 +0000 UTC03 – Pixie girl
Ishrin knew many magical spells from his past life, but most of them were locked beyond strict requirements he did not meet. The same went with rituals, most of which required materials or raw power he simply did not have. This was not to say that he could do nothing. Already in the few minutes he had scouted the forest using his magical sight he caught glimpses of low tier natural treasures he could use to improve his foundation. And rituals, unlike spells, could take items and mana crystals as fuel to circumvent Tier restrictions, provided the ritualist was able to control a ritual much more powerful than he was. Not always easy, as magic tended to have a mind of its own, enough that not even Ishrin would dare to attempt a ritual more than a Tier or two higher than he was.
Most people tried to rush through the tiers, despite the damage it would do to their foundation. They wanted power as quickly as possible. Ishrin did not judge them – a thing that surprised him, as he expected his mind to react rather differently to the thought.
Another effect of Albert’s tampering for sure.
He didn’t mind. Better to be positive.
In any case, I need to balance slow growth with some tangible power. I have already spotted several dangerous beasts in this forest.
The other reason he didn’t want to rush through the tiers was that there were certain rituals he could perform to increase his attributes permanently that could only be done before advancing into Tier 2. These rituals would grant him percentage bonuses that would carry over when he advanced, eventually stacking with each other, and resulting in a foundation that was to a normal foundation like heaven was to earth.
However, a good foundation is pretty useless if I die to a random monster. Fortunately, Albert gave me just the right items to fix this problem.
Ishrin stared into the metaphysical void leading to his inventory. All around, the forest was getting dark, and dangerous beasts were roaming at the edge of his perception. They seemed wary of him, but it could all change in a matter of moments. All it took was for the monsters and beasts to smell weakness and distraction and they would strike. Ishrin was mostly safe because his will was so focused that he almost exuded killing intent even without spending tons of mana on it, but it was not a surefire way defend himself.
First of all, the monsters could probably figure out the bluff, given time. And secondly, he would need to sleep, and soon.
Thus, my hand is forced.
This ritual would consume the last of his stash, after which he will have to forage for materials himself. It was also going to burn through a very, very powerful mana crystal Ishrin would have preferred to keep as a battery.
He was sure Albert was having a blast watching his internal struggle. Choose to be greedy and hoard materials, or spend them so that he didn’t risk dying a very premature and stupid death? The forest he was in was no joke, already several Tier 2 and above animals were after his scent and it would be a matter of minutes before they reached him.
The ritual would burn through all the resources he had on him but would allow him to summon a very powerful pixie that could defend him from threats well above his Tier.
Old me would never trust a spirit enough to bet his life on it. Hell, I didn’t even trust other people to protect me. The only one I truly trust was my dear Liù…
But he was not old Ishrin anymore, was he? This much was becoming clearer by the minute.
A roar echoed.
I need to hurry.
Quickly, he took out all the materials. Despite all his forced ‘personal growth’, his heart still ached a little when his eyes and his senses felt the sheer amount of mana he was about to burn to fuel the ritual. Oh, how good would it feel to absorb it for himself.
It would also cripple him.
The beasts of the forests were not of the same mind – they didn’t suffer backlash like humans did. As soon as the mana crystal was out in the open, several more roars from every direction began to echo as the forest came alive. If he wanted to get out of this situation in one piece, he needed to hurry.
He took out the items one after the other. Carefully, but quickly, knowing that it would be a matter of moments before some beast came out from the underbrush in search of a quick snack, he laid them all down on the forest floor. Orange, then red light from the setting sun trickled down into the glade, filtering through the canopy. A slight mist was gathering, making the rays of light visible to the naked eye.
Radiant Sentry. That was the name of the ritual, an obscure summoning he found on a scroll deep within the abandoned tombs of Elaria. The tombs were said to be the burial site of a well renowned Light mage, and an interesting piece of trivia was that even though the tombs were famous, nobody even knew if the mage’s name was indeed Elaria or not. Not much was known about him, or her, beyond the fact that the tombs were so riddled with traps that exploring them had proven to be impossible for everyone who tried.
Well, at least until Ishrin decided that he had enough of waiting and went there himself. He told everybody that he had gone there for his own pride, but in truth he did it because his wife wanted a pet, and who was he to deny her that? He remembered the feeling of looking at her face when he gave her the ritual, and her smile was so big and bright and radiant that the only time it was bigger was when they actually performed the ritual, and she got her own personal light pixie.
As he placed down the first ingredient, salt for the magic circle, he thought he heard a sound nearby. His body tensed up, but then a small lizard fell from the tree above and into a stack of leaves. Ishrin chuckled at that, but adrenaline once again flooded his body, and he kept looking around at every little sound until he was ready to perform the ritual.
Even then, a sense of unease once again reminded him of his mortality. The ritual was at the cusp of what his newly formed core could handle, even with the external mana battery, and controlling it would take up all of his concentration. Leaving him vulnerable.
I wish my senses weren’t this limited.
Not sensing any monsters was not as reassuring as it could have been. Ishrin had keen senses for a Tier 1, but they were still very limited compared to what he was used to. However, it would have to do, as the more time he wasted the worse his position became.
With a word of power, the ritual lit the forest up to day. At the center of the circle, with the items all around crumbling to dust, the mana crystal turned into a ball of pure light. It dimmed, pulsed and a chiming sound could be heard coming from it, like a cocoon about to hatch a beautiful butterfly.
Then it vanished, and in its place was a tiny creature. The small pixie was fluttering her wings as she flew laps around his face, and he tried to spin around to follow her, but she always hid behind his hair. He thought he could see her sticking out her tongue at him playfully, and with a smile on his face he once again thought of his wife. This had been her favorite pet to have, and now seeing her behavior he couldn’t help but think that perhaps this was the very same pixie she had summoned.
Impossible, isn’t it? Still.
“I’ll call you Little Liù, do you like that?”
The pixie chimed happily, and the sound was that of bamboo bells as they jingled, moved around by the wind.
Ishrin smiled.
Unfortunately the happy moment didn’t last long. Feeling the flying bundle of energy, a monster pounced out of the dark forest right behind the duo. It was huge, a mass of fur and sharp claws, barely visible in the faint glow of Liù’s wings.
Ishrin immediately rolled to the side, avoiding the claws by millimeters. In a corner of his mind, he could feel the pixie’s emotions: disorientation, fear, worry. He felt sorry for forcing a newly arrived spirit to fight, but he didn’t have time. The monster was already righting itself and preparing to jump again. Seizing upon the mental connection to the pixie, Ishrin sent her very specific instructions.
The little creature hesitated for a moment. Her tiny head turned to look at him, then at the monster, then back at him. Finally, she steeled herself and her face assumed the same expression as Ishrin’s. She then puffed her cheeks, and energy gathered in her palms.
What happened next dwarfed even the massive release of energy that the pixie’s summoning had created. A beam of solid light, gathered straight from the elemental plane of light that had been the pixie’s home until moments ago erupted from her palms, directed at the monster. It cut through the air, singing it, setting plants and leaves aflame. Where it hit the monster, flesh boiled and split, bone charred, and blood sizzled.
The beam faded instants later, but all the was left of the monster were smoking, sizzling chunks of meat that smelled like barbeque.
“Good job, Liù—oh!”
The little pixie, exhausted after the attack, could not fly anymore. Ishrin caught her and gently placed her in his pocket, making sure she was extra comfortable.
“You sleep, little thing. Let me do the hard work of digging through this monster.”
After that display, I wouldn’t worry about any more monsters attacking for a few hours at the very least. Especially if we stay close to the dead body.
He looked at said body with a frown. It was known that monsters had magical cores inside of them, which worked in a way that was similar enough to mana crystals that a competent mana manipulator could use them in much the same way. However, this also meant that Ishrin had to dig through bloody meat to get to the core.
Ugh, I miss my utility magic.
Alas, he did what had to do.
Sitting upon a branch high up on a tree – which took several tries to climb with his weak body – he examined the translucent crystal. It didn’t glow, but in the silver moonlight it shimmered with a faint red hue.
I would say a solid Tier 3. Not bad. We can fuel a few basic rituals with this, provided I can find the necessary ingredients.
Speaking of which,
His eyes went to the tiny sleeping pixie. She was like a yellow bundle of cuteness, having mostly humanoid features but being no bigger than a fist, with glowing yellow skin and silver hair. Her wings were folded on her back, and they too were silver but so faint as to almost be transparent. Her feet were, thankfully, not bare but covered by tiny shoes.
As if she was waiting to be summoned.
She was snoring lightly, which brought a smile to Ishrin’s face while simultaneously reminding him of his own need to sleep. At once, all the exhaustion from the day caught up with him, and after one last sweep of his senses to make sure he was safe, he fell asleep.
