The blinding golden light vanished as quickly as it had appeared, revealing a translucent golden panel that abruptly sprang into Elvis’s vision.
[FATE FINALITY: 5/5]
The panel slowly turned transparent with each passing moment before dissolving completely.
Elvis blinked and swiftly looked around, expecting to see the bustling night street—or perhaps daylight.
But to his alarm, he found himself still in his room, clad in his ragged clothes, with a few but crucial changes: Caelithia and the Arcane Codex of Destiny had vanished into thin air.
For a few minutes, Elvis stood there in silence. Finally, he mumbled, "Looks like I was left behind. Well, I guess I’ll just have to enjoy the newfound peace."
"Left where?" A sudden voice jolted him.
Elvis snapped his head around but didn’t see anybody.
"Am I hearing things? Isn’t that Caelithia’s voice?" he muttered to himself after seeing no one around. He shook his head to clear the thought. "There’s no way in hell I miss that nutcase daughter of misfortune enough to start hearing her voice."
"You are the nutcase son of misfortune!" A sharp retort startled him.
He scanned his surroundings yet still didn’t see even the shadow of a living being in his room.
But Caelithia’s voice continued regardless. "Get me out of here. Why is the strange screen writing I’m your spirit beast? Why am I stuck on this dark, gloomy, floating mountain? And why is my name Caelithia II Veyne?"
Her ranting made Elvis freeze in place. An appalling suspicion suddenly crossed his mind. He quickly summoned his systems.
────────────────────
[AWAKENER SYSTEM]
└──?DEVOURER SYSTEM?
────────────────────
[Name: Elvis Veyne]
[Race: Human] || ?Race: Human?
[Bloodline: None] || ?Bloodline: None?
[Class: Poison Heresy] || ?Devourer Class: Blood Warrior (Flawed)?
[Rank: Acolyte] || ?Devourer Rank: Acolyte?
[Level: 0 (0%)] || ?Devourer Level: 0 (0%)?
[Skills]: [Mana Corrosion], [Poison Artificer], [Poison Immunity]
└── ?Devourer Skills?: ?Anti-Mana Blood?, ?Blood Appraisal?
[Spirit Beast]: [Human]
└── ?Devourer Beast?: ?None?
[Strength: 1] || ?Devourer Strength: 3?
[Agility: 2] || ?Devourer Agility: 3?
[Constitution: 1] || ?Devourer Constitution: 3?
[Intelligence: 5] || ?Devourer Intelligence: 0?
[Mana: 5/5] || ?Essence: 5/5?
────────────────────
• [Corruption: 0%]
• [Free Attributes: 0]
────────────────────’Oh no...’ he thought and quickly focused on the Spirit Beast section.
[Name: Caelithia II Veyne]
[Race: Human]
[Status]: [Blood Contract], [Void Shackle (Pilgrim of Misfortune)]
[Class: Light Warlock]
[Rank: Acolyte]
[Level: 0]
[Monster Cores: 0/1]
[Bonding: 2%]
[Skills]: ...
[...INSUFFICIENT BONDING...]
[... INSUFFICIENT BONDING...]
———’Screw hell! I’m stuck with her!’ Elvis couldn’t help but swear.
Even though he hadn’t actively researched Spirit Beasts, he had still read a bit about them as it was part of the systems.
Spirit Beasts served as additional helpers for Awakeners, but more importantly, they determined the best Battle Art their master could learn.
Although he didn’t know what Battle Arts were yet, he assumed they were important. Worst of all, he had seen the warning in large, prominent letters cautioning against the deadly dangers of breaking a Spirit Beast bond.
So most people only have one Spirit Beast for life.
"Hey! Say something! I’m stuck here," Caelithia’s voice sounded in his head.
"This is just a..." Elvis instinctively wanted to lie, but paused and reconsidered his situation before reaching one conclusion—they were now stuck together for a long time, if not forever. He had to come clean.
"Have you ever thought that I might have been lying to you all this while? Have you ever thought I am just a swindling charlatan?" Elvis asked as he slowly paced around the room.
"No. I’ve seen the raw evidence and results of your powers. Or else, how are we in another world? Previously, I would never have believed another world existed," Caelithia replied with certainty.
"Then I have to burst your bubble and tell you that I am indeed a swindling charlatan. How did your misfortune worsen? I haven’t got a clue. Also—"
"So how do you explain swapping worlds after following your instructions?" she interrupted him.
"That is what I was getting at. Just as you are shocked and ignorant about the existence of another world, so am I. The reason my instructions seem to work is because of a string of coincidences that just happen to fit my narrative. And right now, it seems we are stuck here," Elvis explained.
But he was met with silence, accompanied only by the sound of his footsteps echoing through the room.
Elvis guessed she was shocked by the revelation, which was only natural.
After about a minute, with Elvis getting worried, she suddenly asked, "So is my misfortune gone? Because, this status..."
It was Elvis’s turn to become silent.
Finally, he replied in a comforting tone, "I don’t know. But now that you somehow became my Spirit Beast, in this world called Axaeris, we are stuck together. So we can figure it out. Besides, unlike Earth, this world has supernatural beings. You’ve witnessed it from that ’Arcane Realm Zeus.’ So, changing your misfortune should be easy."
"Okay," she answered calmly, which surprised Elvis.
Taking a deep breath, Elvis planned to bring her up-to-date about the supernatural of Axaeris.
He explained the Awakener System and Devourer System.
Halfway through his explanation, she suddenly asked, "Does this mean your attributes are stacked together? Two Strength attributes and so on?"
"Can you see my system?" Elvis asked, his eyes widening.
"Yes. I’m surprised your system isn’t like mine, which is incomplete, with ’Insufficient Authority’ at the end. But the bigger surprise is that you have two systems. And a Devourer System at that. Does that mean you’ll soon go mad?"
Elvis froze at her answer, realizing that he didn’t know much about Spirit Beasts and the connection to their host.
’I guess she’s never leaving me now she knows my secret,’ he concluded.
"It looks like it, but I’m not sure about the madness," Elvis replied.
"Cool. Can you find a method to summon me out now? I need to research this world," Caelithia said calmly.
Elvis was surprised by her calmness after learning that he had a Devourer System, attributing it to her lack of knowledge about Devourers.
But he was happy about it.
Elvis quickly scrolled through his phone and easily found it.
With the focused intention of summoning his Spirit Beast, he directed his attention toward the Spirit Beast section, and Caelithia appeared beside him, looking unchanged.
She patted him on the shoulder and quickly left his room without a word.
"Looks like the book is gone, and I’m permanently a citizen of the Terris Federation of Axaeris," Elvis muttered.
Shaking his head, he went to take a bath before falling asleep, as he was beginning to feel a faint headache.