Chapter 332: The Other End Of The Deal
"Hm..." Ethan muttered, not giving it much thought before asking, "What’s the special reward?"
[Congratulations! You have been rewarded with a Beast Class Summon.]
[Summon Name: Titania]
"Interesting..." Ethan murmured, nodding with growing interest before deciding to leave the details for later.
Letting out a slow breath, he swung his legs over the side of the bed.
After washing up briefly, he made his way downstairs.
The moment he stepped into the living room, he paused, taking in the unexpected liveliness before him. It made him wonder whether it wasn’t still too early for all of that.
A few of them were standing, while the majority sat around the thick glass table covered with cards and snacks, completely immersed in a card game.
"You’re cheating!"
Percival lightly slammed a hand onto the table before glaring suspiciously around the room.
"I don’t know who it is... but somebody here is cheating."
Most of them simply giggled at his frustration, urging him to count the cards again.
Somehow, the entire team had gathered together, even their part-timer, Bettie.
The Princess was there as well, while Eduardo seemed very much invested in winning than anyone would have expected.
Not too far away, Ishtar quietly observed a different game altogether. She still hadn’t fully understood the rules, so she had spent most of her time watching everyone else play while trying to learn.
Only then did Ethan finally step into the room.
Almost instantly, every conversation came to a halt as heads turned toward him.
Then the room erupted with cheerful greetings and bright smiles.
Ethan could only shake his head, the smile on his face growing as most of them stood to approach him.
The conversations that followed stretched on for the next several minutes. They consisted mostly of scattered exchanges as different people brought him up to speed on everything that had happened during the three days he had been unconscious.
The King, along with everyone who normally resided in the palace, had temporarily relocated to one of the royal villas.
Reconstruction of the palace had already begun with the aid of Earth Magic. However, rebuilding the main structure itself was a lot easier than restoring its countless interior details.
Those, apparently, would take considerably longer.
He also learned that King Carson had repeatedly asked about his condition, instructing those around Ethan to notify him the moment he regained consciousness.
According to everyone, Carson had referred to him exclusively as "my son-in-law."
Unfortunately...
Ethan wasn’t particularly eager for that meeting.
At least, not today.
A large part of him simply wasn’t in the right frame of mind, so he asked them to delay informing the King until the following day.
Another piece of news brought him a great sense of relief.
The noble and corporate family heads whose lives had been linked to Audrey’s were all completely safe.
The moment Esmeray died, the spell linking their lives to Audrey had collapsed along with her. Whatever happened to Audrey afterward no longer had any effect on them.
A few more minutes passed before Ethan eventually found himself seated among everyone else, having been convinced to join the next round of cards.
Percival immediately gathered the scattered deck into a single pile. "Alright! We’re resetting this one. Nobody touch anything!"
Ethan’s attention suddenly drifted. Something had appeared inside his pocket.
Slipping a hand inside, his fingers brushed on a folded piece of paper that wasn’t there initially.
He shook his head with an amused smile, not even bothering to take it out, given that he already knew who it was from.
The Trickster.
---
At a mountain range several hours later...
Ethan followed Merlin along the narrow trail until it opened into a wide, flat clearing overlooking the valley below.
It still didn’t make much sense to him why they had traveled all the way out here, to a place he hadn’t even known existed on the outskirts of Dynadale.
But according to Merlin, this was the ideal location for the spell he intended to perform.
Alistair was already there, waiting with a stern expression on his face.
Ethan slowed slightly the moment he saw him, but let out a sigh, allowing whatever lingering resentment he held to settle back down.
Merlin had already told Ethan that Alistair would be waiting for them, having agreed to take part in this.
The Prince, however, hadn’t minded.
Especially after Merlin had informed him that he had altered the rules of his own summoning, leaving himself no longer completely subservient to his summoner.
In fact, Merlin had casually added,
"I could leave you eternally bedridden while I wander the world freely using the mana you provide me."
And since Alistair would much rather summon someone who obeyed him than someone who could stab him in the back at any moment, he ultimately agreed to play his part in Merlin’s plan to return to life.
Ethan looked between the two of them for a moment before speaking. "Alright."
His gaze settled on Merlin. "So... how exactly is any of this supposed to work?"
Merlin turned to face him before adjusting his monocle.
"Every summoner," he began, "has the ability to tap into what is known as spiritual force energy."
He tilted his head slightly.
"In fact, that is the true purpose of their mana. Summoners don’t use mana directly to summon. Their mana is converted into spiritual force energy, and that energy is what carries out the entire summoning process."
Ethan’s brows drew together in understanding. "Like how Sabers convert mana into battle aura."
Merlin pointed at him. "Exactly. Every class possesses a specific form of energy that its mana is converted into. The people of this world only understand that mana is required. They don’t actually know what that mana becomes."
He began pacing slowly. "Now, spiritual force energy is not a single energy. It is divided into three components."
He raised one finger. "Life Energy. This is what keeps a summon stable after it has been brought into the living world."
A second finger followed. "Death Energy. This forms the greater portion of the force that reaches into the Well and draws a soul out in the first place."
Then a third. "Soul Energy. This is what binds a summon to its contractor, making the entire connection, and everything shared through it, possible."
He lowered his hand.
"All three must work in unison for a summoning to succeed. Remove even one of them, and the entire process fails."