"Greetings, summoners." The voice was robotic - calm and expressionless. When the voice spoke out, the group backed up against the wall in fear. Lily held tightly onto Ian's shirt while Conner hid behind Mrs.Willard. They faced the static TV that lit up the dark room.
"What the fuck!" Ray held his gun up and aimed it at the TV.
The voice was not only heard on TV, it was also on phones and radios. The group immediately tossed their phones on the ground for fear that something might happen.
"Congratulations Planet Aries for being selected as one of many planets to test [The Summoning System]." the voice continued.
The group turned to look at each other in confusion, but they still remained vigilant towards the unknown voice.
"You'll be able to summon beasts to help fight
"In two years time, the strongest individuals will be chosen from each planet for their first battle against those that closely served the Gods."
"Fight, grow, and evolve." The voice faded away, and the TV went black. It came as it went, only saying a few words.
"Just what the hell is going on?" Ray sat on the bed and rubbed his forehead.
"It said something about the monsters that were sent here by the Gods," Conner dejectedly said. The rest felt despondent when they heard that.
"Whatever they are, they're not Gods to us." Ian slowly replied.
The fear of the unknown suffocated Ian as if a boa is tightly wrapping around his neck. The more he struggled, the tighter it gets. He's felt scared of death; he felt scared for Lily. In order to protect her, he has to come up with a way to get stronger.
Ding!
The sound of a ringing bell startled the group. A transparent, black screen appeared in front of Ian and surprised him.
[Profile]-[Summon]-[Party]
[Name]: Ian Sawyer
[Skills]: N/A
[Title]: N/A
[Souls]: 300
Note: Souls are extracted from {Gods' Underlings} by killing them. The user is unable to extract Souls from others of their own kind unless a duel request is sent. Users who have killed {God's Underlings}, before the system's arrival, will be rewarded the appropriate amount of soul points. The system has granted new users, 200 Souls, to start with.
[Summons] (2 Max) : 0
Note: Press the Summon tab to begin summoning a beast. The user will be able to extract 1 skill from each beast at RANDOM. Increase your maximum amount of beats by gathering Karma Stones dropped by certain monsters.
...
Ian noticed that he had three hundred Souls. The monster that he killed earlier granted him one hundred Souls.
"Does anyone else see a black box in front of them?" Lily asked them before looking back at her system box. Everyone nodded their heads with shocked expressions.
"What the hell, man," Ray said. "Are aliens fucking advanced enough to turn reality into a video game?"
"I'm not so sure about that, but the system box functions like the ones you see in roleplaying games," Conner replied. He played with the system to understand it better.
"Check the [Party] tab. It says that we can form a party." Conner continued. Everyone immediately checked their party tab.
[Profile]-[Summon]-[Party]-[Missions]
[Party affiliation]: None
Note: The user is able to create or join a party. A party allows benefits to those that join.
A member of a party who slew a monster is granted 100% amount of Souls given. However, an individual affiliated with a party is granted 25% of the total amount of Souls.
[Create Party]
...
"I think we should create a party," Conner suggested. "It will help us gather souls faster if we work together."
"Conner's right," Ray said. "It's inevitable that we will come across more monsters along the way. We have to at least get stronger to defend ourselves."
"I'll create the party," Ray added. "What do you guys think?"
"I'm cool with it." Ian agreed.
"I-I'm fine with it if Ian is," Lily said.
Conner and Mrs.Willard nodded their head in agreement. Ray tapped the [Create Party] button and began creating a party.
Minutes later, Ian got a notification.
[User Ray Mazzi invites you to join his party 'Papa Ray's Super Warrior Squad', would you like to join?] : [Yes]/[No]
"Why the hell did you name your party that, boss?" Ian's eyes twitched. He almost choked up when he saw that ridiculous name.
"Bite me, asshole." Ray glared at Ian.
"Yeah, this name is pretty stupid." Lily agreed with Ian and said. The two other members agreed as well.
'Just join the damn party, guys!" Ray yelled. His face turned red from embarrassment. Everyone hesitatingly complied.
[The user Ian Sawyer has joined 'Papa Ray's Super Warrior Squad'. Congratulations!]
Ian turned to look at the group and said, "For now, we need to get some rest. We have to look for food tomorrow."
"Right, we should hit up the grocery store, where we fought that huge monster earlier, to gather some supplies," Ray said. "But still, our main objective is to leave town so we have to find another ride."
"For now, let's sleep in." Ray finished what he said and lied down on the floor.
The night slowly passed for the group as they slept soundly. However, Ian and Lily were the only ones awake. They sat up against the wall and looked at each other. The screams of monsters were heard, but they didn't care. The two of them were in their own little world.
"Ian, promise me that you won't do anything too dangerous." Lily looked at him with a stern expression.
Ian smiled as he rubbed her head, "I want to do everything that I can to protect you and the others."
"I know, I don't want to see you die though." She leaned on his shoulders with tears welled up in her eyes.
Ian put his arms around her and gently caressed her shoulders. "Didn't I tell you that I'm too stubborn to die?" He had a large grin on his face.
Lily dejectedly smiled and said, "I feel so powerless, though."
Tears started rolling down her cheeks.
She held him tightly and began to cry. "I couldn't help you when you almost died back at the apartment."
"I felt like a burden when everyone was fighting that monster at the grocery store."
Ian hugged her tightly and stroked her hair. "Lily, I always felt scared. I'm afraid of dying; I'm afraid of losing you guys."
He looked at her grey eyes and rubbed her wet cheeks. "But I wanted to protect you, your mother, and everyone around me."
He drew closer to her and their foreheads touched. He gently pulled her hair back and said softly, "More importantly, it was you. You were the driving force that kept me alive."
He leaned in closer for a kiss. Lily didn't reject it and their two lips connected. She closed her eyes and relaxed her body. They both felt their hot breaths on their faces. He forced his tongue into Lily's mouth and intertwined it with hers. A long time passed before their lips parted.
She looked at Ian with a newfound determination. "Ian, I want to grow stronger and protect you as well."
"Me too." Ian smiled sweetly at her and hugged her again.
They both fell asleep in each other's embrace.