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[ Summon Status ]
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Name: Claire
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Racial Classification: Humanoid
Loyalty Status: 🟢 (Fully Loyal)
Note: Loyalty status may shift due to certain effects or external factors.
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[ Attributes ]
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Grade: D
Path: Martial
Anima: 0 / 5000
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[ Special Traits & Talents ]
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None!
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[ Skills ]
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- Martial Manual: Basic Swordsmanship (Lv: 3)
- Aura: (Lv: 1)
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[ Equipment ]
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- Tattered cloak and cracked armour (Heavily damaged)
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Arthur studied Claire's status window, glancing over the details as she stood beside him, her face expressionless and posture discipled.
Despite its game-like design for his convenience, there were still terms that left him puzzled.
"Grade… I know it is something related to the quality of a summon, but what exactly does it mean?" he muttered as his eyes lingered on the unfamiliar rank.
[Grade denotes the inherent quality and potential of a summon. Each grade reflects a summon's strength, intelligence, adaptability, and growth capacity.]
"Alright, so it's more or less what I thought. But where does D Grade stand, comparatively?"
[G to E Grades: Are known to be low-tier grades, the summons with these grades have basic abilities and more limited intelligence.]
[D to B Grades: Are considered Mid-tier, and summons of these grades are competent in skills, capable of following complex commands, and there is also potential of learning and acquiring new skills.]
[A to SS Grades: These are known to be high Tier, the summons have enhanced intelligence, often possessing unique traits or skills.]
[SSS Grade: The epitome of summons could reach, the supreme tier. Summons of these tiers are basically godly beings.]
"So, she's barely mid-tier. Still, I think that's good enough for a first summon, right?"
After sacrificing hundreds of human souls and seven powerful beastmen, each capable of slaughtering those hundreds in minutes, In reality, Arthur had at least expected something beyond a mid-tier summon.
However, the system's power scaling seemed to differ greatly from what was commonly known in Welhemheim, so he couldn't quite gauge her strength just yet.
In Welhemheim, those who pursued the path of power had two primary choices: the Path of Martial Arts or the Path of Mana.
The Path of Martial Arts focused on an internal force known as Aura. Beginners could barely sense it, but as practitioners advanced and mastered the essence of their chosen art, they would learn to resonate with their soul, ultimately manifesting an Aura.
As they ascended realms, they could imbue this Aura with attributes, enhancing their strength further while growing in soul power, mind, and body.
A martial artist's journey consisted of nine realms to reach the pinnacle of their being:
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced
Elite
Master
Grandmaster
Primordial
Demi-God God / The One
In contrast, the Path of Mana involved harnessing the natural mana present in the world, and using it to shape and manifest spells. Like martial artists, mages also advanced through nine realms on their journey to reach the Epitome of their being:
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced
Elite
Magus
Sage
Warlock
Demi-God God / The One
Arthur briefly glanced at Claire, then back at her status window.
"So… what realm is Claire at?" he asked.
Her status didn't specify, but knowing this would give him a clearer understanding of both her real strength and this new scaling system.
[By the standards of Welhemheim, the summon Claire is near the Advanced realm.]
"Wait… Advanced realm? She's that strong?" His jaw dropped as the realization hit.
He gulped, the sheer impact of the information leaving him momentarily frozen. His first summon was already at the Advanced realm.
"???"
A rush of excitement pulsed through him, but one look at Claire's stern expression was enough to bring his enthusiasm back in check.
Even though the Advanced realm was only the third realm, practitioners at this level were still regarded as veterans and were highly respected across the world.
But then, Arthur's excitement turned into a frown as his gaze shifted from her grade to the Anima gauge below it. "And what exactly is Anima, now?"
[Anima is the essence a summon gathers through battle and learning, fueling their growth. When the Anima gauge reaches its limit, the summon can evolve to a higher grade, gaining greater strength, and intelligence, and possibly unlocking unique traits or talents.]
With a brief spark of excitement, Arthur asked, "So… if she survives enough and fills her Anima bar each time, can she eventually reach the supreme tier?"
[No. To evolve to higher tiers, additional conditions beyond Anima must be met.]
Nodding thoughtfully, Arthur dismissed the status screen with a wave of his hand, as now he had gotten the general gist of the system.
It was already midnight, and Arthur felt the cold seep through his thin, tattered clothing. He maintained his usual stoic expression, but every now and then, a shiver betrayed him.
Claire, standing nearby, noticed the subtle tremors in her master.
"Master, are you feeling cold?" she asked, her tone neutral. "I could warm you up if you'd allow it."
"Huh??"
Arthur's eyes widened slightly, caught off-guard by her words. For a brief second, his mind leapt to far-ended conclusions, and he blushed, quickly looking away to hide it.
"C-Claire! That's— what are you talking about? I… I wouldn't… allow such behaviour," he stammered, clearly flustered.
She tilted her head, not fully understanding his reaction but respecting his choice. "As you wish, Master. If it's uncomfortable, I won't insist."
Arthur chanced a small awkward glance her way. Her expression was as calm as ever, trying to hide his embarrassment, he cleared his throat.
"But… if you really want to… then you can," he muttered, almost too quietly. 'Well, she is my summon, so in a way this is her duty and we have some time in our hands also,'
A small smile tugged at the corner of Claire's mouth as she nodded. She moved to one of the fallen soldiers nearby, lifting a cape from his belongings.
Holding it carefully, she channelled a precise amount of energy through her palm, warming the fabric just enough that faint wisps of steam rose, but not enough to damage it.
With a practised touch, she wrapped the warm cloak around Arthur's shoulders, pulling it snugly to shield him from the cold.
Realising his earlier misunderstanding, Arthur's blush deepened, though he tried to mask his discomfort by turning and running to the other side,
"Oh… so this is what you meant by 'warming me up,'" he mumbled.
"Hm? Is it not what you expected, Master?"
His face burned redder as he forced himself to focus. "Right, well... thank you, Claire."
Calming himself down Arthur turned back to her, "Now, our destination is 99 Block Stefan Street. We're looking for a broker named Arda. And if we want to meet her, we'll need to leave immediately."
☘︎☘︎☘︎☘︎☘︎☘︎☘︎☘︎☘︎
{A/N}
Originally, Just like other novels I planned to introduce each realm/ stage of the power system with time, but then I thought why not just do it, instead of later making an Auxiliary chapter about explaining it and it's confusing for most readers.
This way progression remains clear to understand.
And this is Claire's character image:
Peace Out!!