"What the hell?!" Once again, Damien was awake and the sight that lay before him was simply… unexplainable.
He couldn't find the words to describe the scene in front of him.
If he has to describe it in simple words he would call it a mess of flesh.
The cause for the mess sat calmly at a corner, its white pristine fur a complete opposite of the disaster it had caused while Damien was unconscious.
Damien turned to the creature, its gaze meeting his gaze as if to acknowledge him. "You did all this?" Damien asked with a perplexed expression. On one hand, he was hoping the creature would understand. On the other, he was hoping it couldn't.
A nod confirmed his fear and he squinted his eyes in suspicion. Had he really just communicated with a beast?
He had memories of what transpired before he went unconscious and so he knew that somehow, he was responsible for the beast's appearance.
[Technically, I am responsible for it but since we're one and the same, you're not wrong either.]
Ah, yes!
The same troubling voice was back.
"What even are you and where areyou speaking from?" The words rolled off Damien's mouth as his curiosity got the best of him.
[A skill bestowed upon you by the God of Summons. He couldn't bear to see a summoner die. When he saw that you were a weakling thrown here to die, he felt pity.]
[After going through your information, the God of Summons discovered that he wasn't the one who'd given you such talent and decided to override it with a skill of his own. A Summoning system that only allowed you to summon mythical beasts provided you have enough Magic Essence.]
[So yes. I am the voice of the system he blessed you with. I along with the system have fused with you which is why you hear me directly in your head.]
"And what is the name of this system?" Damien asked, eager to understand more of whatever this new skill once.
He'd never heard of someone going through a second awakening but since the system said it was a skill that blended with his initial Summoner talent, he thought it plausible.
[The Mythics Summoning System.] The voice in his head answered.
"Pfft!" Danien tried not to laugh but ended up almost choking on his own spit. "Who came up with that name? It's lame!"
[...]
There was no response from the system which suggested something was wrong.
Damien didn't know if it was due to what he said so he called out again to confirm. "Hello? Did I say something wrong?"
[No! I simply do not know how the name came to be. Most likely, I was named by the God of Summons himself.]
"Oops!" Damien said, quickly covering his mouth with his hands. He'd mocked a God's naming sense as has almost gone further.
Still, he couldn't agree with the name. "How about Mithas?"
[Sounds like a male name.]
"Well, you sound masculine and so, I thought of a male inclined name." Damien shrugged at the system's confrontation.
[I will accept the name the host has bestowed me with. Would you like me to change how I sound? There's a feature for that.]
At that, Damien's eyes lit up but he quickly shook his head. He was already getting used to this voice. There was no need to change.
Then, the rumbling sound of a stomach free Damien's attention to the dog-like creature sitting a few meters away.
It very much resembled a fox except for the snow white fur and the nine tails sticking out of its behind.
"That's a Nine Tailed Fox? Wasn't it supposed to be way bigger?" Damien pointed at the beast as its stomach grumbled again. He'd read about it a little and the description did seem very off.
[Fully grown Nine Tailed Foxes can reach the heights of ten metres but that one before you is yet to fully mature.]
As the system explained to Damien about the fox's features, it rose up and walked toward him. The beast, when standing on all fours, was almost the same height as Damien.
Scared but determined, Damien closed his eyes and stretched forth his hand, placing it on the fox's head.
He could hear its growl as his hands closed in on it and it only got louder until his hand landed between its brows. Then it went silent. Damien slowly opened his eyes and was immediately met with the silver eyes of the beast.
It growled gently and then pulled back its head and walked past Damien, heading toward the mess of flesh it had made.
[To do that, it needs to feast on Essence Cores from slain beasts. As a pure Mythical Beast, it will only devour the cores of magic beasts as the cores of the demons have been tainted.]
True to Mithas' statement, Damien watched the white fox swallow certain orbs of glowing energy. The similarity between the swallowed orbs was that they were the Essence cores of the magic beasts. One could identify them as cores with coloured or white condensed energy.
The Essence cores of demons were however, marked by their distinct black energy. Energy that had been tainted by darkness. The fox avoided cores like this.
"Wait, so there are various mythical beasts and they all consume Essence Cores from magic beasts to grow to their full potential?" Damien asked a question that bothered him.
[Although, there are various mythical beasts, not all of them are as pure as the Nine Tailed Fox and depend solely on the Essence Cores from slain beasts.]
[With time, you'll come to know them. As long as you do not stop summoning them that is.]
[However, we need to refill your life force and the Nine Tailed Fox happens to have something to help with that. When it is done with its meal, it will help you out in that area.]
"I… I see." Damien stammered as he thought about it.
Powerful magic beasts indeed had skills and so, it was normal for a mythical beast to possess it too. He just hadn't thought that far ahead.
[There's a feature you need to try out. It lets you see your various abilities quantified in numbers. Call out "Status" and go through it all while we await the fox's return.]
For some reason, Damien didn't need to argue. He just did as told.
"Status." He lazily called out and another panel materialised.
««««««••••••»»»»»»
Name: Damien Terrace
Race: Human
Level: 5
Exp: 48/150
Talent: E-Rank Summoner
Life Force: 120/1300
Magic Essence: 20/100
Strength: 20 Agility: 18
Stamina: 20 Endurance: 20
Intelligence: 15
••••••••••
Skill: SSS-Ranked Summons
Subskills:-
Pact of Summons
Essence Devourer (locked)
Transformation (locked)
Merger (locked)...(locked)
««««««••••••»»»»»»
As Damien went through the panel, his face morphed into a smile like never before.