Ding!
«-3,000 units of Magic Essence!»
Damien smiled, understanding that this was necessary to form the (Pact of Summons) with the Griffin in front of him.
The clover-shaped seal drifted through the air growing smaller as it pajed forward until it landed in the forehead of the Griffin.
The seal sank into the beast’s head and after glowing for a few seconds, it disappeared as though it had never been there.
Kreeee!!
The Griffin’s cry spread through the forest area while Damien tried to calm it down. “Hey, hey, you’ll have to calm down or we’ll attract very powerful beasts we don’t want to attract.”
As he was speaking, he heard the approaching steps of multiple legs, and as he got ready to fight alongside his new summon, he remembered, “Oh, it’s alright. It’s just Fenrir and Cerbe. The two beasts that had been chasing after us earlier. They’re summoned beasts just like you.”
The Griffin let its guard down and returned to its kneeling position while Damien sat on the floor as well, his back resting against the body of the Griffin. “That’s right, you need a name to deepen the bond… Or not.”
Damien chuckled as he remembered the description he had read concerning the Griffin. It said that the beast was a very loyal creature. It was no wonder it had immediately surrendered to Damien after the first test.
After pondering for a while, Damien finally came up with a name for his new summon.”Aquila sounds like a good name considering your nature.”
Just as the name registered in the system, Fenrir entered their line of sight and the Griffin raised its head again. “It’s fine, it’s fine…”
Damien was still trying to calm it down when Cerbe also appeared and the Griffin rose in all its majesty and moved to stand in front of Damien. Clearly, it hadn’t listened to what Damien had said earlier about them being fellow summons.
“It’s stubborn and…protective.” Damien tapped his forehead not knowing what else to do. The system said it was loyal and protective but it never said it was obedient.
Still, Damien was determined to make it obedient. “Hey! I said stop it!” Damien commanded standing in between Aquila and the other two who were also stubbornly advancing.
They didn’t listen. Not Fenrir who kept growling as it approached. Not Cerbe whose mouth was already drooling as it closed it. And definitely not Aquila whose eyes shone with a righteous light. It wanted to purge both creatures before it simultaneously.
However, none of that was possible as they all shared two things in common. The first was their grade. All four of them including Luton were Grade Five mana beasts.
The second thing they shared was the same summoner and whatever he said was final even though they were currently proving stubborn.
“I don’t want to have to resort to punishing you all with the (Pact of Summons) so please…”
Before Damien could finish his words, a terrifying murderous intent descended upon the area, and as Damien struggled to identify why the other beasts had gone quiet, he noticed they were all staring at him with caution.
“No, not me.” Damien understood where they were looking. Their eyes were fixed on Luton, the source of the murderous intent. With no visible ear, mouth, or eyes, its very being seemed to instill a certain level of fear in all three of them.
It was as though it was warning them that it wouldn’t hesitate to devour any one of them if they proved stubborn any further.
Now that all four of them stood at the same Grade, Damien had a feeling that Luton could easily devour all three with minor setbacks.
“Try me and see.” That was the exact feeling the other three summons were getting from the small blood-colored slime that rested on their summoner’s head.
Just as the murderous intent had suddenly appeared, it disappeared once again and Damien could almost hear a sigh of relief from all three summons. None of them made any advances toward the other after the subtle warning from Luton.
“Thank you.” Damien smiled. Only now did he understand why Luton’s requirements for advancement were higher than the others by a large margin.
Damien was walking over to meet the other two summons when he felt a change in the atmosphere and immediately knew what was coming.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Multiple Grade Five demons descended with terrifying speed and force, their explosive arrival picking up dust enough to cover their entire surroundings.
They too were affected by it.
Kreeeee!!
Aquila’s wings flapped repeatedly, blowing the dust away and once the demons, over half a dozen were revealed—black scaled skins, two horns, jagged teeth and fangs, dirt-filled claws, and large batlike wings—-the other two summons, Fenrir and Cerbe launched themselves at two of the demons.
Boom!
Boom!
The two demons Fenrir and Cerbe had attacked were knocked down and in an instant, Damien appeared above them, his sword was spat out by Luton, and with one mighty twist, he brought down the weapon in a beautiful arc.
Thud
The first of them was beheaded, its head falling not so far from its body and Damien smiled as he received a notification he was very much anticipating.
Ding!
«You have slain a Grade Five Demon! +100 Exp!»
Kaareeeei!!
The others screeched madly at the sight, their heads raised to the sky in what seemed like both fury and sorrow. Seconds later, their heads were brought down back and as it turned toward Damien and his summons, the demons attacked.
But it was too late. Damien twisted in the opposite direction and with the momentum gained, his sword beheaded the second demon.
Another notification rang and Damien smiled.
Ding!
«You have slain a Grade Five Demon! +100 Exp!»
Although that was the first notification, it was the ones that got to him.
Ding!
«You have leveled up!»
Ding!
«Level 40 achieved! +5 to all stats! +100 to mana reserves, +500 to Life Force!»
This was it! Damien could feel the energy rising inside of him and it was similar to the feeling he got when he entered level 20.
He was now Gold Ranked!