A month has passed since Damien's new Subskill was unlocked. During this past month, Damien had become accustomed to the abilities of (Sensory Link) and could now easily switch between his summon's senses and his.
At first, alternating between the three senses of Luton his slime and his five senses wasn't easy but as he practiced with it, he'd somehow made it work.
Aside from training with (Sensory Link) to get a better mastery over it, Damien had been doing two other things. One of them was physical training. Damien couldn't afford to slack on his sword and martial arts training just because Luton could easily devour mana beasts. Damien knew mana beasts weren't the only things he would face in the future and so he prepared in advance. He was sure to face humans after all.
Standing in front of a large tree as thick as a dozen of him, Damien swung a wooden sword in a downward slash repeatedly.
A smile slowly crept on his face as he admired the effects of his slash. He'd made enough progress despite training all by himself. With no one to train him, Damien had no choice but to build on the foundations his family had drilled into him.
Swoosh!
Each slash came with enough force to produce a small gust of wind that blew away the surrounding leaves. Even the leaves on the tree he was facing fluttered with each slash.
"Five hundred and twenty." He counted as he swung once more.
The second thing Damien had been doing during this time was continuous absorption of essence to further increase the total essence his core could hold at any given time. Damien had received so much essence cores from Luton that he lost count.
"Status." Damien muttered under his breath and he brought his swinging to and end. He was done for the day.
««««««••••••»»»»»»
Name: Damien Terrace
Race: Human
Level: 20
Exp: 650/1000
Talent: E-Rank Summoner
Life Force: 3987/4000
Magic Essence: 557/560(+430 from essence cores)
Strength: 45 Agility: 43
Stamina: 45 Endurance: 45
Intelligence: 40
••••••••••
Skill: SSS-Ranked Summons
Subskills:-
Pact of Summons
Essence Devourer
Sensory Link
Transformation (locked)
Merger (locked)...(locked)
««««««••••••»»»»»»
Damien didn't know how many cores he'd absorbed since his arrival in the Forest of Twin Disasters but he was certain it was now in the thousands. Just the previous day, he'd absorbed over forty cores from Grade Seven mana beasts and ten from Grade Six mana beasts. He'd also managed to find nine Grade Seven Demonic essence cores as well as one Geade Six.
About a month ago, on the day Damien had received the Subskill, he'd cancelled Luton's summon and then summoned the slime again. When Luton did arrive, it provided Damien with the essence cores it had managed to accumulate during its short trip that led it to encounter the group of six.
Damien had discovered two distinct cored among the essence cores provided by the slime. One felt very familiar and reminded Damien of his own core. Damien immediately identified it to be the essence core of a human and refrained from absorbing it despite it being full of essence. No wonder the group of five Damien had seen through Luton's eyes were very weary and cautious around it.
There and then, Damien made sure to warn Luton never to devour a human except they posted a threat to its existence.
The second core Damien had discovered as an oddity was one full of ominous energy. It was dark and felt very intimidating. Damien had never received a core like that from Luton devouring hundreds or even thousands of mana beasts so Damien was quick to conclude it was a demonic essence core. He was right.
However, something kept bothering Damien. The cores weren't Grade Seven or Six. They were both higher. This made him question the capabilities of Luton's (Devourer) skill. However, right now, Damien had more pressing matters to attend to.
"It's about time for another summon. I need to get my limits." Damien muttered. He stared at Luton, the summon which had remained still all the while as Damien did his daily routine of physical training. "I'm about to get more pals for you." He smiled at the Stellar Slime, hoping it understood his statement.
He had multiple times as much magic essence as when he first started with the system. Although he knew his magic essence wouldn't be enough to summon and makes pact with another mythical beast, Damien had a way around that. Converting his life force to magic essence was always an option. An option Damien wouldn't hesitate to use as long as it meant getting another summon.
Damien took in a deep breath before giving out his order. "Convert half my life force into magic essence."
A panel immediately appeared in his peripheral vision in accordance to his command.
«2,000 Life Force converted to Magic Essence»
Another panel popped up a second later to confine the successful exchange of Life Force for Magic Essence.
«+20,000 Magic Essence»
With this much Magic Essence available at his disposal, Damien was certain he would be able to summon a good beast. He didn't know why he has so much Life Force from leveling up but it helped him regardless. That was all that concerned Damien.
"Now, summon a decent beast for me." Damien ordered and once again, a panel appeared.
«Summoning a Random Mythical Beast...»
«Congratulations! You have summoned a Monstrous Wolf!»
«-9,000 Magic Essence.»
Woooong~
A blue portal opened in the air and like the previous times, a large white furred wolf jumped out.
Thud!
It landed on the ground gently and raised its head, locking crimson red eyes with Damien.
Damien paused for a moment as he tried to recall any myth surrounding wolves. Were they mythical beasts?
«The Monstrous Wolf is one with the potential to grow into a mythical beast. When it achieves the peak of the growth and becomes a mythical beast, it is known as Fenrir, a ferocious and giant wolf that devours all in its path and destroys all that stands in its way.»
The description was more than enough to sweeten Damien's insides and untie the knot in his belly.
However, he wasn't even finished. "Summon another." He commanded with a wild grin. Today, he would be making a (Pact of Summons) with not one but two beasts he'd summoned.
«Summoning a Random Mythical Beast...»
«Congratulations! You have summoned a Three-Headed Hound, Cerberus!»
«-9,000 Magic Essence»
Damien didn't need an explanation to know about this beast. He'd read about the Three-Headed Hound in books and knew just how ferocious it could be. It was one of the few mythical beasts that had written down information.
"Yes!" Damien roared in ecstasy as he watched the blue portal open and then expand even further detailing its massive size.
Thud!
The moment the first leg stepped out of the portal, the temperature spiked!