Chapter 32: Summon

She released a small amount of her aura.

The moment the Starry Beasts sensed the overwhelming difference in strength, they immediately turned around and fled through the passages.

Ben watched them disappear before walking toward the stone platform.

He carefully picked up six Starry Hearts and stored them inside his storage ring.

"Heh. Now I can use these to break through to the Bronze Realm."

He looked at the Starry Hearts with a smile.

"I wonder what kind of sub-ability I’ll awaken."

Morbius was still staring at the angel.

"Who is she, and how did you summon her?"

Ben looked at him.

"Hmm? Oh, her."

He casually held up the summoning card.

"I had a summon contract. I just used it now."

Morbius looked at the card before looking back at Ben.

Ben had actually obtained the card several months ago. At the time, he had been extremely excited after seeing the beautiful angel depicted on it.

She looked like the perfect anime character.

Unfortunately, when Ben tried to summon her back then, the system informed him that he didn’t have enough mana to activate the card.

He had been devastated.

The summon had been right in front of him, yet he couldn’t use it.

Ben had spent several days complaining about how unfair it was.

Now that he had awakened and possessed celestial energy, he could finally use the summon.

Ben smiled as he looked at the angel.

"At least the wait was worth it."

He then stored the Starry Hearts safely before looking toward the angel.

"Let’s see your status."

A blue holographic screen appeared in front of him.

[Summoned Being Status]

Name: Runiel

Race: Star Angel

Realm: Peak Gold Realm

Attribute: Water, Light, Celestial

Innate Ability: Night Radiance

Description: A powerful innate ability unique to the Star Angel. It allows the user to create and manipulate a special form of celestial energy that combines the properties of Darkness and light. The energy can be used for offense, defense, healing, purification, and strengthening the user’s body.

Skills:

Celestial Radiance (Lv.10 - MAX)

Celestial Light and Darkness Manipulation (Lv.8)

Radiant Wings (Lv.7)

Celestial Barrier (Lv.6)

Holy Purification (Lv.6)

Radiant Recovery (Lv.5)

Starfall Spear (Lv.5)

Ben stared at the status screen.

"You’re quite powerful," he said with a nod.

Runiel smiled softly.

"Thank you, Master."

Ben nodded before looking toward Morbius.

"Hmm, alright. When we go back, we’ll say that while we were hunting for Starry Hearts, we found her sleeping inside a hidden cave. When she woke up, she decided to form a contract with me. Does that sound believable?"

Morbius looked at Ben for a moment before simply nodding.

"Yeah. That should work."

Suddenly, Runiel looked at Ben.

"Master, if you want, I can hide inside your soul space."

Ben raised an eyebrow.

"My soul space?"

Runiel nodded.

"Yes. I can remain inside it and conceal my presence completely."

She then demonstrated her ability. Her body slowly faded from view before disappearing completely.

Ben looked around for a moment.

"You’re really gone."

"I’m still here, Master. I’m just inside your soul space now."

Her voice sounded directly inside his mind.

Ben nodded with interest.

"Hmm, that’s pretty useful. And a little creepy."

Runiel appeared beside him again.

"As long as you allow me to enter your soul space, I can remain there until you call me out."

Ben nodded.

"Alright. Let’s do that for now."

Runiel nodded and disappeared once again, entering his soul space.

Ben then looked toward Morbius and Lumi.

"Anyway, let’s keep exploring. We might find some more useful resources before we leave."

Morbius nodded, and the group continued deeper into the Starry Mountains.

They continued deeper into the secret realm, following the rocky path between the mountains.

Star Stream remained pointed ahead, although its reaction had become weaker now that they had moved farther away from the previous Starry Beast nest.

Ben looked at the sword.

"Looks like there aren’t any strong concentrations of star energy nearby."

Morbius nodded.

"That’s probably a good thing. It means we won’t have to deal with another group of Starry Beasts right away."

Lumi suddenly jumped off Morbius’s back and landed on the ground.

"Hmm?"

She immediately started moving toward a small patch of glowing plants.

Ben followed her with his eyes.

"What did she find this time?"

Morbius flew over and looked at the plants.

"Those are Star Grass."

"Are they useful?"

"They contain a small amount of pure star energy. They aren’t particularly valuable, but they can be used to make low-grade cultivation medicines."

Lumi had already reached the plants and started eating them.

Ben sighed.

"She really will eat anything with energy."

Morbius nodded.

"At least she isn’t picky."

Ben walked over and carefully collected the remaining Star Grass.

"If we find enough of these, I’ll take them with us. They might be useful later."

He stored the plants in his storage ring and continued forward.

After walking for another ten minutes, the surroundings gradually changed.

The grassy land disappeared, replaced by a wide rocky valley. Several enormous rocks were scattered across the area, and streams of star energy flowed between them.

Ben raised Star Stream again.

This time, the blade immediately began glowing.

Ben stopped.

"It found something."

Morbius looked ahead.

"How strong is the reaction?"

Ben turned the sword slightly.

"It’s much stronger than before."

Morbius became more serious.

"Then we should be careful. It could be another Starry Beast nest."

Ben nodded and slowly moved forward.

They followed the direction of the sword until they reached a large rock formation.

A narrow opening could be seen between two massive rocks.

Ben looked inside.

"It’s a cave."

Morbius nodded.

"And there is a strong star energy signature coming from inside."

Ben held Star Stream firmly.

"Then let’s check it out."

Lumi quickly climbed back onto Morbius’s back as the two of them entered the cave.

The deeper they went, the brighter the walls became.

Small crystals were embedded throughout the stone, giving off a faint blue-white glow.

Ben looked around.

"There are Star Crystals everywhere."

Morbius nodded.

"This place is probably naturally rich in star energy."

Ben continued walking until Star Stream suddenly pointed directly ahead.

He stopped.

"Something is there."

A low sound came from deeper inside the cave.

Ben and Morbius immediately became alert.

A large shadow slowly moved in the darkness ahead.

Ben tightened his grip on Star Stream.

"Looks like we found another Starry Beast."