He studied the panel for quite a long time, trying his best to fathom the ’penalty’ and its conditions. Gently, he started stroking the bridge of his chin thoughtfully. ’He didn’t succeed in attaining a summon, nor did he level up. And now there’s a penalty because of it, which will make ’Me’ suffer?"
Then, his attention flickered over the ’Teleportation’ part, and it made him stand there in utter confusion. But it didn’t take him much to regain control over his mental state.
’Teleport to the summoning tower? "Surely I will; I don’t want to suffer penalties right after spawning here."
He extended his hand and tapped the [Yes] option.
The next instant, his surroundings changed entirely. The forests and streams vanished without a trace, which got replaced by the colossal walls that stretched across the chamber.
When his vision finally settled, he found himself standing inside a massive building. Enormous pillars rose from the ground-to-ceiling, giving support to the building. Huge bookshelves containing multiple books, which were radiating silver yet thick mana, were placed inside of them.
At the center of the hall stood a massive pavilion; stairs were connected on both ends, which led from the ground to the pavilion’s top. On that pavilion was kept a colossal mana circle radiating mana, which didn’t seem normal.
Engravings of mana characters were made on the mana circle, which stretched across it whole. Dozens of crystal orbs hovered above it, rotating silently as if observing every visitor who entered. Each and everything there felt ancient, making Emil feel insignificant in front of it.
’So this is the summoning tower? It looks grand and mighty.’ He looked around himself, taking a better look. ’If something like this is entitled to the summoners, then why’s this class considered bad when compared to the others?’
A strange question lingered inside his mind, making him wonder about the random odds of the game’s classes. But a voice, which seemed as if it belonged to someone old, traveled into his ears, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"A new summoner? Am I being delusional?" The woman’s lips parted, and slow gasps left through them.
Emil turned towards her, his gaze remaining locked onto her as he noticed that she was old, wearing a robe that had the symbol of a phoenix and silver branding on it, and below it was written ’Master Summoner.’ Her face was covered in wrinkles, but still a visible charm was there.
A sense of confusion flickered past him the moment he read ’Master Summoner’ written across her chest, but out of pure instinct he bowed down to her. To him it felt like he should do it, not because of her age, but because she was higher in authority than him.
The old woman covered her mouth with her palm as a series of amused chuckles escaped her lips.
"Hohoho~"
"There’s no need to stand there looking as though you’ve just been sentenced to death, newbie summoner."
She slowly walked towards Emil, stepping down the stairs politely. She studied him whole, and because of that an amused smirk tugged upon her lips. "Judging by your mana, you’re here to form a contract with a summon, right?"
Although it seemed like she was asking a question from him, she already knew the answer was ’yes.’
Emil straightened his back upon hearing her question. His gaze briefly drifted toward the colossal summoning circle before returning to the old woman.
"Yes," he replied with a nod. "I’ve come to form a contract with my summons."
A faint chuckle echoed through the chamber once again, but this time around she was already walking towards the pavilion. "Follow behind me, newbie."
"I’ll have to check a few records to see when you awakened as a summoner. We don’t get new awakenings at random times throughout the year."
Emil didn’t hesitate for even a sliver of a second; he followed behind her trails. He still was studying the surroundings, but his entire focus remained at the front.
When he reached the top, he stood next to a table on which multiple documents were kept. All of them had different colors; some of them were kept in a black file, and some were in white.
Firstly, she opened the black file, and across its front was written, ’The Failed Summoners.’
The moment he read those words, he didn’t have to hear any other explanation regarding what this file was being used for. ’The records of summoners who failed to form their contract...’
Out of sheer instinct, he gulped. Although it was nothing but just a game, still the emotions that he was feeling in here belonged to those of a ’real human.’
A couple of minutes passed, but she was still going through those records. She surely was taking her sweet time, but when the records came to an end, she lifted her gaze and looked at Emil.
A glimmer of distress showered upon him, and a slight trail of sweat appeared on his forehead. ’That look... Did this guy fail in forming a contract or something?’
The silence fell over the chamber, and for the time being, she didn’t try to say or question anything to him.
After a few moments of silence, she finally spoke. "Your name isn’t in these records, which means you haven’t failed to form a contract."
Those words were like an antidote to Emil because the distress that he had suffered moments ago was too much for him to handle. A sigh of relief left his mouth as he closed his eyes in pure satisfaction. ’Thank god, at least I’m good to go for the time being.’
But then she picked up the white file, and even on it, some characters were written across its front: ’The Successful Summoners.’
She went through it too, but after some time when the records came to an end, her eyes widened. The sudden shock that she suffered made her look up from the file and glance at Emil.
"Boy, you haven’t tried to form a contract yet?" She asked, curiosity lingering through her voice.
’I knew that this would happen... a loser like him would’ve never even tried to form a contract after seeing the Summoner class.’
A/N
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