Damien crashed on his butt as he panted heavily. He'd almost gotten himself devoured by the creature he'd just summoned.
He watched as the slime slowly turned from blue to red and all he could think of as the cause was the blood he'd fed to it.
"What next?" Damien asked when he finally calmed down. He wasn't willing to take any other risk against this fragile looking demonic creature. He'd almost gotten eaten after all.
[Now? We wait until it finishes what it had started—devouring you.]
Mithas could feel Damien's thoughts and so, beforeDamien could speak, [Joking. In about a minute or two, it'll let go of that hand and then you'll need to name it. A name deepens and strengthens the bond between a summoned creature and its summoner.]
A sigh of relief came from Damien as he dropped both hands and lay flat on his back, awaiting the release from the slime.
True to his words, the slime slowly retracted after a minute and Damien, who had watched his hand slowly dissolve when it first attacked, was shocked to see that his hand was whole again.
"What the hell?" Damien asked with a perplexed expression. Just a few minutes ago, he'd definitely felt pain to an extent that told him what he experienced wasn't a hallucination.
[That's one of the skills of the Stellar Slime. Restoration. A skill that allows that creature to restore previously devoured items or things to its original state. However, it will only work if the item was devoured within an hour and if there's enough Magic Essence to restore it to its original condition.]
The explanation from Mithas was more than enough to make Damien understand what had just happened. Without a second to waste, he asked his question again. "Back to my question. What exactly does it do? Is it powerful?"
Mithas remained quite for a few seconds and Damien for a second thought the system's guide was just ignoring him.
He opened his mouth to rephrase his question but before he could form the words, he heard a response from Mithas.
[It certainly depends on perspective. It possesses almost no active or passive attack still neither does it possess any active or passive defense skill.]
Damien had a fair share of knowledge on skills as he'd come from a family of very skilled awakeners. So, he was well aware that the most important of skills were attack and defense skills, either passive or active.
This was why he immediately frowned. How was he going to utilise a creature that couldn't attack or defend? Simply allow it to take his place and die?
[However,] Mithas continued with a tone that drew Damien's attention back to its explanation.
[It possesses two inherent skills. One is called the (Devourer) and the other is (Universal Space). The first one is a skill that allows it to devour any and everything. There isn't a limit to what it can devour.] Damien paused for a second as he tried to comprehend the meaning behind the words the system's guide has just provided him.
[The second skill allows the Stellar Slime to limitlessly store things within its body. There is almost no end to what it can store and the best part is that it doesn't increase in size despite storing things.]
Damien's eyes widened as he heard the second skill's explanation. "When you say anything, you mean humans too?"
[Anything…] Mithas answered. It didn't directly answer Damien's question but it was more than a sufficient answer for the young boy.
"That's basically an upgraded version of the Void Key we use." Damien said with a crazed grin.
The void key refers to an item that opens a pocket dimension that is used for storing things. They came in different shapes, sizes and qualities. They were expensive but they performed their duties very well. So well that they were sought after by many despite their prices.
[They're so much better than those items of yours but yes. You're not exactly wrong.] Mithas answered with another explanation that wasn't direct but still detailed enough.
The slime finally pulled off from Damien's arm, bouncing on his open palm. It was wiggly and warm to his touch with made him smile a little. "You're not useless after all." He muttered.
[You should name it. It needs a name.] Mithas added. It reminded him that a name was necessary to build a stronger connection between the Summoner and the Summoned Creature.
"Hmm," Damien muttered as he rubbed his chin in thought. "Luton. Seems like the perfect name for it." Finally, he came up with a name that he felt was perfect.
[Derived from Gluttony, huh? I see.] Damien could almost hear a chuckle behind the words Mithas spoke.
Ding!
«Congratulations! You have named your summon "Luton". The bond has been strengthened!»
A panel appeared in front of Damien's eyes to confirm that the naming ceremony has been completed.
[You should know this though.] Mithas' sudden advisory tone made Damien curious. What was this guide about to say?
He sincerely hoped it wasn't bad but regardless, he waited for Mithas to continue.
[Your summon might be a mythical beast but its current level is quite low. Very low in fact. You should consider feeding it later to increase its power level.]
Mithas had just finished speaking when Damien suddenly felt dizzy. His eyes spun and he almost fainted immediately.
«Warning! Your Magic Essence has reached a critical point and it is beginning to affect your Life Force. Please consider ending Essence Usage.»
[Your Magic Essence has been depleted. You should consider cancelling the summon. Don't worry, since you already made a pact with it, you can summon it anytime you want provided you possess enough Magic Essence.]
Heeding immediately to Mithas' warning, Damien cancelled the Summoning skill.
He panted as he almost lost consciousness. "I need more Magic Essence. I can't even keep the summon for up to ten minutes."
[That's where the (Essence Devourer) comes in. Ready to test your newly unlocked Subskill?] The question was laced with anticipation.
Damien grinned as he thought about it. He also wanted to test out this newly unlocked subskill and now, it would do that.