Several dozen books lay scattered on the floor around the white-haired mage as he eagerly devoured their contents. Whatever he didn't memorize was saved by the System anyway, just like the ten-some maps that he'd looked over upon arriving in the library. That said, he'd spent about two hours getting lost in the pages of his discoveries, giving him more information with which to work. Thanks to his newfound gains, maps and all, his journey would be easier, instead of him attempting to fly blind.
Of course, other than maps and journals, Luca found several texts on the native wildlife, provincial history, haunts and tombs, along with a trio of well-aged spellbooks. While the information within the books had all been scanned by the System, Luca read them over manually to commit them to memory. As for the spellbooks, upon touching them, pop-ups appeared before him.
___
You have discovered the Lv. 1 Lightning Spell - Static. Would you like to learn it now?
___
You have discovered the Lv. 1 Non-Elemental Spell - Barrier. Would you like to learn it now?
___
You have discovered the Lv. 1 Secret Spell - Guardian. Would you like to learn it now?
___
Luca had little reaction to the first two, as they were the basic spells for their respective level, thus he accepted them with a blank look. The third, however, made him sit up quickly in surprise as he recalled its description.
___
Spell Name: Guardian (Lv. 1)
Spell Type: Secret, Unique, Summoning
MP Cost: Undeterminable
Effect 1: Upon use, a protector beast, the guardian, is summoned to protect and aid the user, until death or dismissal.
Effect 2: The guardian is self-sufficient for recovery, thus requiring mana only for summoning and unsummoning.
Effect 3: The guardian grows with its summoner, its potential is restricted by species summoned and talent of the summoner.
Effect 4: The guardian is unique to each user, and no subsequent guardians can be acquired upon the death of the guardian. Should the user die, the guardian will follow shortly.
___
One of Andor's most famous spells, Guardian was rare and hard to learn, but a mage with a guardian was far more challenging than one without. In the game, all mage players were given the option to learn it after the first chapter of the main storyline was completed, while NPCs and enemies that had Guardian were few but mighty. In a sense, it was rare for the world of Andor, but not for the players.
The developers said there was a formula for how summoned guardian species were chosen, but it was eventually proven to be totally random, with some influence from player decisions and stats such as Luck and Charisma. Luca, in the game, got a mediocre species that was ironically more useful than him in combat, a Wind Wolf, which was great for early stages in the game but fell short drastically after the middle stages. Still, thanks to his Wind Wolf companion who unfalteringly carried him to his death faithfully despite countless injuries, Luca became a hero that was considered akin to the legendary heroes, 3 of which held the title of Archmage and had Guardians of S-grade. The strongest of them had a unique TR Incalculable guardian, Saint Lion Aslan, making his standing untouchable.
Luca had just discovered a version that didn't exist in the game, however. The original spell had a sustained cost, taking a certain percentage of MP away from the total. If a mage had 100mp and summoned the weakest guardian, their MP would become 80mp as long as the guardian was summoned. This version did not have this effect, something that did not escape his eyes as he unhesitatingly accepted the spell. He did not immediately use it, though he did want to. Instead, he quickly replaced the books and maps in their rightful places before dashing toward the outside of the keep.
___
Not ten minutes had passed when Luca reached the sparring grounds by the barracks, a look of bright hope in his eyes even while he panted from the incessant running. Once he recovered his breath, he smiled widely; he was ready to cast his first summoning and subsequent contracting of his guardian, but he still had one more thing to do first. A common practice in the world of Andor was to pray for luck before any fateful decision, and players took this seriously. Clapping his hands twice together, he prayed, "O Lords of Light and Darkness, O Lady Fortuna, bless your child with the partner I need the most." After a customary three seconds passed, Luca took a sword he had borrowed and began to draw a magic circle in the ground, making sure each rune was correct. The first usage required a magic circle to be present, so as to protect the summoner and their surroundings in the case of failure. When he finished, he cut the back of his left forearm before sheathing the sword and setting it aside.
With a number of witnesses to his behaviour, which he was too focused to notice in the first place, he removed his shirt and began using his blood to runic patterns onto his upper body. With the sudden input of the System, Luca altered some of them from the game's original design, particularly those on his face. When he was done, he began to chant the spell. Halfway through, a strange warping began forming above the spell circle, drawing attention more than Luca's behaviour, especially when the wind began to be sucked towards them like a tornado. As the chant grew to the climax, the warping expanded into a large sphere of purplish-black gaseous and hazy light that pulsed like a heart. Clapping his hands together to conclude his chant, the lad finished the casting of the ritual spell and witnessed its power. The strange orb of light contracted and exploded, though it was contained within the large magic circle, expanding into the sky like a beacon as a great and powerful roar, seeming to echo from beyond the ages, resounded as the immense pillar of light brightened to intensity before vanishing within an instant.
Anyone with eyes could see that, within the magic circle, was a creature the size of an adult wolf, though not the magical kind, with scales of silvery-white, specked with gold, a streamlined yet sturdy body with four strong legs. Golden eyes shone on its graceful yet majestic visage. Without checking via the System, Luca already knew it was a member of the Dragon Race.
___
Name: N/A (Unnamed)
Species: Stellar Dragon
Grade: C (Provisional)
Age: Newborn
Elemental Affinity: Water, Earth, Space
Passive Abilities: Ancestral Bloodline, Dragonkin, Five-clawed Royal, Contracted
___