Her expression worsened the moment she noticed the giant standing beside Emil. Acting purely on instinct, she opened a dark-purple portal beside her, immense waves of mana radiating from it.
Moments later, a blue crocodile emerged through it, sharp teeth jutting out of its mouth, red markings imprinted on its arms, which stretched across its back.
The crocodile didn’t seem normal; back on Earth, such species crawl on the ground. But this crocodile was standing on its feet, small limbs stretched to its torso, which had sharp fangs attached to it.
A roar echoed through the chamber; when it took notice of the giant, it immediately stood in front of its summoner.
Emil’s eyes widened slightly when he noticed this scene unfold, but his attention was fixed on something else. He kept looking at the giant through the side of his eye, trying to figure out what she meant by ’summon.’
’This unknown man kneeled in front of me, and she also said that he’s my summon?’
His lips curled into a smile as he turned towards the giant and finally asked. "You’re my summon?"
The giant, who had kept his attention fixed on the old woman the entire time, finally tilted his head toward Emil so he could reply to his question.
The giant didn’t answer verbally; maybe it was because the summons were incapable of speech like normal humans. Emil couldn’t fathom the situation. However, the giant gave a single nod in agreement to Emil’s words.
The reveal wasn’t something that he expected; a sudden wave of mixed emotions flooded his mind. His jaw dropped in confusion, but a small trace of a smile was on his lips.
’I didn’t expect anything great... But a being who looks like that is my summon? Is that what winning a lottery feels like?!’ Emil said inwardly.
Out of nowhere, the giant’s attention shifted towards her once again, but this time he was looking at her summons.
The crocodile bared its fangs, flaunting them as a warning to drive the giant back. Yet the reaction it expected never came. Rather than retreating, the giant took a step forward.
The giant lifted his enormous axe in the air and was about to swing it down towards the beast’s head. The enormous axe blocked the light spilling from the lamps, casting a massive shadow across the hall. But before he could do anything, the old woman’s voice echoed through the hall, carrying a hint of worry. "Child, stop your summon." Instantly, Emil paused and looked at her.
"My Bluefang Crocodile is a tier 6.0 summon. Yours has only just been awakened and isn’t strong enough to indulge in battle with stronger summons. If your summon suffers any significant damage, the backlash will be transferred directly to you."
Her expression grew serious. "And if the backlash is severe enough, it could damage your soul space."
Emil knew what it meant, and he surely didn’t want to risk his survival rate anymore.
When the memories of past Emil overflowed inside his mind, he came to know that a summoner will eventually lose their ability to grow further if they damage their soul space in any sort of way.
Emil bowed his head lightly, trying to sound respectful. "I’m sorry about this gesture; I didn’t have any sort of intention to cause this conflict."
"You summoned your beast out of nowhere, and it led to the current situation."
Then, he turned toward the giant. The towering warrior was so tall that Emil had to tilt his head back just to meet his gaze, yet he still did so. He knew that if he didn’t explain the situation, something troublesome might happen.
"Halt your weapon, and please refrain from acting in that kind of way again."
The giant tilted his head, acting confused. Why was Emil trying to stop him when he just wanted to protect him from the beast that was acting maliciously towards him? But still, he rested his axe on the ground and stood next to Emil.
The woman was slightly overwhelmed by this situation, but she knew that it all happened because she got frightened the moment she looked at the potential of Emil, the potential that could shake the entire politics of summoners.
A few gasps left her mouth as she tried to compose herself, then the same portal appeared beside her once again. She looked at her beast once and then gestured towards the portal. The beast didn’t argue or try to act stubborn and simply went through it.
It seemed as though it already knew what she wanted him to do, understanding her intentions without needing any further explanation. Still, while leaving, the crocodile had an expression that reflected that it was feeling sad.
Emil picked up one thing from their act: that summons were intelligent enough to understand what their summoners were trying to tell them.
The woman stepped forward, trying to ignore Emil’s beast. She stood in front of Emil and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Your summon’s current tier is 4.0, with a potential of 7.0."
She then looked towards the mana circle, still trying to fathom whether the potential of Emil, which she saw before, was actually true or just a calculation issue created by the malfunctioning of the device.
She slightly shook her head and whispered inwardly. ’I can’t reveal the potential of this child to him yet... I have to discuss it with the tower master first.’
’Or else who knows what this child might do if he decides to turn evil.’
Emil looked at her, trying his best to act normal, but the look on her face, which reflected that she was lost in her own thoughts, sent chills down Emil’s spine.
’What’s this woman thinking about? I hope that I don’t get in any kind of trouble.’
A/N
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