Book 1 Chapter 710

710.

“Calling a spiritual being is similar to the sensation of feeling mana.”

Arty Ann, sitting in front of Leo who was sitting cross-legged, explained.

“Now, close your eyes.”

Swish-

Leo gently closed his eyes.

“Slowly take deep breaths and focus on your breathing. Slowly. Slowly.”

As if teaching a child.

Artyan kindly explained from the basics.

Leo breathed as Artyan explained.

Even if Leo was an All-Class, there were abilities he couldn't use.

The most prominent among them was Spirit Summoning.

Moreover, Spirit Summoning itself wasn't an awakening of Leo's hidden power.

It was literally a power received from Risinas.

He had used Spirit Summoning unconsciously several times until now, but strictly speaking, even that wasn't Leo's unconscious.

'It was Risinas's unconsciousness.'

When did Risinas's spirit reside in him?

'…When I entered Risinas's world.'

After defeating the Gluttony King Yormungand in Risinas's world.

Using his past self as a medium, Risinas appeared before Leo.

After the world's conquest was complete.

Leo obtained the essence of Risinas's mana as a conquest reward.

It was probably then that he gained the ability of Spirit Summoning.

From that moment, Risinas must have become a spirit and resided in Leo.

However, Leo still couldn't use that power properly.

He couldn't even grasp a clue to control the power, let alone use it properly.

'I'll start as if it's from the very beginning.'

He took a deep breath and concentrated his mind.

As he waited for Artyan's next words.

The summoning circle drawn on Leo's body began to glow.

Along with it, spiritual power began to flow through Leo's body.

It wasn't Leo's spiritual power.

It was Artyan's spiritual power.

'I see.'

Artyan had drawn the summoning circle on Leo's body using his blood to show him the flow of spiritual power.

Leo consciously followed the movement of Artyan's spiritual power flowing through the blood as a medium, trying to sense it as much as possible.

'So this is how Professor Artyan utilizes spiritual power when using Spirit Summoning.'

A moment later.

Artyan's spiritual power disappeared.

With that, Leo also opened his eyes.

“How was it?”

“I'm starting to get a feel for it.”

“You're already getting a feel for it. As expected, an honor student is different.”

Artyan clapped his hands.

Artyran smiled brightly and said.

“Unexpectedly, you might master Spirit Summoning perfectly very quickly.”

“I don't think so.”

“Yes?”

“Because it's harder than I thought.”

“You're humble.”

Artyan smiled faintly.

But Leo's words were sincere.

'It might even take a lifetime.'

Through endless effort, Leo was able to imitate the techniques of his past comrades to some extent.

In the case of magic, Leo's unique magic system, the Bible, could theoretically contain all magic formulas existing in the world, allowing him to imitate Luna.

He could also imitate Aaron's howling and breathing with the power of an All-Class, and he could also control Dwenno's flames to use powerful fire magic.

Risinas's summoning magic was also similar.

He could imitate Risinas's phantom beast magic or spirit magic.

However, what Leo could imitate was always within the scope of what he was naturally capable of as an All-Class.

Beyond that realm, it was an unknown ability even to Leo.

Just as Leo couldn't imitate Luna's unique magic.

Aaron's enlightenment of martial prowess.

Dwenno's hand techniques.

Spirit Summoning, an ability not granted to Leo from the beginning, was literally a realm where he had to start from scratch.

Moreover, the original owner of the Spirit Summoning Leo obtained was Risinas.

If it had been the power of an ordinary Spirit Summoner, Leo would have been confident in imitating it.

However, the original owner of the Spirit Summoning residing in Leo was none other than Risinas, the King of Wisdom.

A being called the strongest summoner in history.

The reason she was called the strongest summoner was exceedingly simple.

In summoning phantom beasts and in summoning spirits.

And finally, in summoning spiritual beings.

She always maintained the highest level.

Generally, summoners are divided into two main categories.

The first is a summoner who summons powerful phantom beasts or spirits and maximizes their abilities.

The second is a summoner who summons an enormous number of summoned creatures.

In this case, it could literally be called an army of summoned creatures.

Risinas was an all-rounder type of summoner who possessed both styles.

'She could even summon powerful summoned beasts and an enormous number of summoned beasts at once.'

The reason why the great heroes were able to win battles despite being overwhelmingly outnumbered compared to Tartarus was largely due to Luna's power, but before that, it was possible because Risinas had somewhat compensated for the numerical balance.

And what shone in that large-scale battle was Risinas's Spirit Summoning.

Summoning powerful summoned creatures and many summoned creatures simultaneously.

That applied not only to phantom beast and spirit magic but also to Spirit Summoning.

Remembering Risinas summoning countless spiritual beings, Leo sighed.

'I wonder if I can do something like that too?'

“Now, shall we try calling a spiritual being?”

As Artyan smiled faintly and spoke, Leo closed his eyes and concentrated his mind.

And he began to awaken spiritual power as Artyan had just taught him.

Gooooooooo-!

Spiritual power began to swirl around Leo's body.

'Wow… I knew student Leo had spiritual power of various colors, but… the color manifested when using Spirit Summoning is black.'

It wasn't a gloomy or ominous feeling.

Artyan said, looking at the pitch-black spiritual power that was dark and deep but somehow gave a warm feeling.

“Amazing. To reach the level of being able to use basic summoning with just one explanation.”

Artyan said with admiration.

“Then, student Leo! Shall we summon a spiritual being now?”

“Summoning?”

“Yes. Call someone intensely in your mind. A spiritual being will be summoned, drawn by student Leo's voice.”

At those words, Leo took a deep breath and called out to Risinas.

'Hey. You scammer lizard. Come quickly. Hurry.'

The moment he said that.

Kwaaaaaaa-!

“Huh?!”

Artyan was startled.

The power of the spiritual energy emanating from Leo grew even stronger.

Like a black hole.

Everything around him began to be sucked into Leo.

“Uh-uh-uh?”

Artyan, with a flustered expression, clung tightly to the floor to avoid being pulled in.

Parararak- Whoooooosh!

But not only books and small furnishings around, but even large pieces of furniture were sucked towards Leo, causing Artyan's body to float up.

'Just how powerful is this spiritual energy!'

The method of spiritual energy manipulation Artyan taught Leo today was basic soul summoning.

Soul summoning has the power to strongly pull something.

Not only spirits but also tangible objects.

That's why there are sometimes cases where physical influence is exerted when actually using soul summoning.

However, Artyan had never seen such a powerful gravitational pull, enough to physically affect the surroundings to this extent.

'Just how powerful a spiritual being is being summoned?'

“Student Leo? Student Leo! Stop it… Kyaaack?!”

Artyan cried out urgently.

Eventually, unable to overcome the force, Artyan's body floated up and flew towards Leo.

The moment Artyan tried to generate spiritual power to regain his posture.

Leo opened his eyes.

Eyes gleaming with black spiritual light.

Leo, who instantly grasped the situation, stood up from his seat.

And lightly caught Artyan, who was being pulled towards him.

Kugugung-!

Furniture that had been pulled by the gravitational force generated by Leo's soul summoning fell to the floor.

“Whoa-a-a-a-a.”

Artyan, held in Leo's arms, exclaimed.

“Just… just how powerful a spiritual being did you summon?”

“…I did try to summon someone great. But I failed.”

“Failed?”

Even with such powerful soul summoning manifested, he failed?

“Yes.”

“Hmm. What could have been the problem?”

Leo gently put down Artyan, who was lost in thought.

While Artyan stood on the floor, lost in thought.

Leo looked around the room.

He let out a small sigh, looking at the messy room.

'If I'd known this would happen, I should have done it outside.'

***

Late night.

The central hall of the Clock Tower Dormitory.

During the day, it was the most lively place, but at night, when students were absent, it exuded a gloomy atmosphere.

Eliza, sitting on a sofa in the central hall with her legs crossed, took out a pocket watch from her embrace and checked the time.

The time, dimly visible in the moonlight, was approaching 1 AM.

'Late.'

It was then that Eliza's eyes twitched.

Dong-! Dong-!

The bell of the clock tower, announcing the hour, resonated throughout the building.

A sound that couldn't be heard from the dormitory rooms.

When the clock rang late at night, it made her feel even eerier for no reason.

It was when annoyance appeared on Eliza's face.

Tap, tap-

Someone tapped her shoulder from behind without a sound, and Eliza gasped.

“Ugh?!”

Seeing Eliza about to scream unconsciously, Kyle quickly covered her mouth.

“Hey, hey. Eliza. It's me. Me, Kyle.”

Hearing Kyle's voice, Eliza calmed her trembling heart.

And she looked up and turned to look behind her.

From an empty space, Kyle removed the cloak he had been wearing.

It was an invisibility cloak made with Dwenno's alchemy.

“You startled me! And why are you so late!”

Kyle scratched his head, looking at Eliza, who was glaring at him.

“No. I tried to come quickly, but the kids kept asking me to go exploring with them. I had a hard time shaking them off.”

“How did you shake them off?”

“I said I was going on a date.”

“Funny?”

“Just kidding. I just said I was going to rest today and snuck out.”

“It'd be hard to avoid other students' eyes with just your invisibility cloak, wouldn't it?”

Eliza was right.

While the invisibility cloak was indeed a great item, it wasn't something that perfectly erased one's presence.

Among magic students, there were some who constantly used detection magic as part of their combat training.

Avoiding their detection magic wasn't easy.

“I also borrowed item power for my presence.”

“Item?”

“Normally it would be a trade secret, but…”

Kyle grinned and showed her the bracelet on his wrist.

“A bracelet made by Lord Dwenno.”

Things related to Dwenno's world were still under a gag order and not publicly known.

However, Eliza, who had participated in the conquest, knew of its existence.

Because Eliza had also received a gift from Dwenno.

“Mine has a function to conceal presence.”

It might seem like a trivial function, but it was a very necessary ability for Kyle, who needed to stay close to the battlefield to constantly read the flow of battle, even if he didn't participate in combat.

Clang-

“Huh?”

It was then.

The sound of metal scraping echoed.

Clang- clang-

Kyle and Eliza looked at each other's faces.

The sound was getting closer towards them.

Kyle put on his invisibility cloak and said to Eliza.

“Get in here.”

“Why?”

“If it's the professors or other students, we'd have to fight. You might be discovered if you hide with your summoning magic. It's safer to just hide inside the invisibility cloak.”

At Kyle's words, Eliza clicked her tongue in annoyance and stepped into Kyle's cloak.

And she pressed her body tightly against Kyle's.

“You don't have to press that close.”

“You should have said so earlier.”

Eliza frowned and slightly widened the distance.

They were still close, but Kyle didn't say anything specifically.

The two held their breath inside the invisibility cloak.

Clang- clang- clang-

A moment later.

Someone appeared from the darkness.

The sight was shocking.

It was a knight holding a bastard sword in one hand.

Armed in full plate armor, he was literally covered in blood.

“Hoo-wook- hoo-wook-”

Seeing the knight exhaling rough breaths, Kyle and Eliza froze.

In the dark night.

The knight, appearing in a nearly horrific form amidst the gloomy atmosphere, had something about him that made their hearts pound.

“Hoo-wook- I'll kill… hoo-wook…”

Then the knight muttered in a voice imbued with killing intent.

“I'll kill… mages… summoners…”

Clang- clang-

The knight, who had briefly revealed his killing intent, disappeared back into the darkness.

A moment later.

Eliza muttered with an incredulous expression.

“What the hell was that?”

“How would I know? But it seems like the Knight Department is doing some sort of concept roleplay.”

Given that there were many eccentrics at Lumeren, she thought it might be possible.

“By the way.”

“What?”

“Miss Eliza, were you scared?”

Kyle smiled slyly.

A moment ago, when the knight revealed his killing intent, Eliza had unconsciously gripped Kyle's arm tightly.

“Our Miss Eliza has a surprisingly timid side…”

Crunch-!

“I apologize. I spoke nonsense.”

Kyle immediately bent at the waist, seeing Eliza pull out a whip and tauten it.

Seeing that, Eliza said.

“Let's go conquer the labyrinth.”

“Alright.”

……. (Continued)