The Divine Summoner: Godson of Altima

by Antony W. F. Chow

  Luka gathered the light elements with great difficulty and imagined the door cleansed of the evil curse. "Purify!" His target glowed for a moment, and then the miasma dissipated from its surface. "It worked!" He exhaled a sigh of relief.

  His partner had been antsy to knock the door down and did so immediately. Bam! What greeted Bel was nothing! There were neither monsters to fight nor victims of cruel experiments inside the room. However, the demon stood at the doorway and declined to step inside. His fine-tuned senses told Bel that this room wasn't simple! Instead, it contained a dark secret!

  The boy peered over the rabbit's head and saw a ten-foot by ten-foot room with a twenty-foot tall ceiling. The floor, though, had a pentagram drawn on its surface -- in blood! At the center was a portal! In each corner of the pentagram stood a pedestal with a large gemstone laid on its surface.

  Luka sensed magical energy emanating from each rock, and these stones connected to create a magical barrier surrounding the pentagram. Seeing that Bel refused to enter the room, the boy obediently stood behind his companion. "What is this place?" he asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

  [This is a Room of Summoning.] Bel answered solemnly.

  "What does the portal connect to?" the boy inquired.

  [No clue. But it can't be anything good.] The demon shook his head.

  "Considering that dark miasma covered the entrance, I think you're right," Luka agreed.

  Suddenly, the portal activated, and the opening began to stir!

  Luka and Bel declined to approach and break down the protective barrier. They watched as a giant centipede arrived inside the pentagram. The creature's mouth was wide open, and a forked tongue wriggled in the air like a snake. Dark brown rings split the centipede's long body into portions, with a pair of lance-like legs attached to each segment. Luka estimated the creature possessed five dozen regions in all. At the middle of its length, the centipede had two pairs of wasp-like, crystal-clear wings. The insect unfurled them and flew toward the two observers! However, it could not break through the barrier and bounce right back!

  [Damn, that's another Infernal Horror! We have to destroy that portal before more of them come through!]

  "How do we destroy it? With Light Burst?" Luka asked.

  Bel shook his head. [You have to cut the portal to pieces. Luckily, you can destroy it without entering the barrier.]

  "How?"

  The familiar facepalmed with exasperation. [Use your Spatial Blade, dummy!]

  "Oh!" The boy gave his partner a look of embarrassment. "What about the centipede?"

  [Ignore it for now. You can destroy it afterward.]

  Luka noticed the portal began to stir again. He realized that another Infernal Horror was coming out! The boy quickly gathered spatial elements and cast Spatial Blade! He swung his right arm and targeted the center of the portal with his attack. The mage sliced the magic gate into two pieces, and he repeated the spell numerous times to dice the gateway into tiny parts. After his twentieth casting of Spatial Blade, the residuals of the portal dissipated.

  In the meantime, the Infernal Horror crashed into the barrier frantically to break it. The light of the magic stones began to dim as their power slowly became exhausted.

  Ting! The barrier abruptly disappeared!

  The flying centipede targeted the mage because he was the biggest threat in its eyes. The Infernal Horror opened its maw wide and prepared to devour the boy in one gulp!

  Luka lacked time to cast a spell, and he instinctively rolled to his side.

  When the Infernal Horror passed by the boy's body, Bel timed his jump perfectly and landed on the centipede's back! The demon unleashed his demon king form and strengthened his body with Enragement before he ran up to the monster's head. Bel grabbed one of its antennas before the centipede could throw him off! With his left hand taking hold of the body part, Bel made a fist with his other hand, wrapped it with demonic flame, and plunged it into the monster's eye!

  "Uaarrr!" The Infernal Horror screeched in pain and flew on an erratic path while twisting and turning to shake off its tormentor.

  However, Bel held on tight while his fingers dug deep into the monster's brain! He poured mana and increased his flame's intensity. The brain matter soon changed color from pink to brown and finally black.

  The flying centipede lost all brain activity, and its body crashed into a wall! BOOM!

  Bel hopped off in time and dug his claws into the wall to stop his freefall. He watched with joy as the Infernal Horror crashed to the ground. Then Bel pulled out his fingers and landed on the defeated monster.

  The boy gave him a round of applause. Clap-clap-clap!

  Bel returned to his rabbit form. He puffed his chest proudly and hopped onto Luka's head. He pointed at the closest pedestal. [Confiscate those magic stones, or someone else could recreate the portal!]

  The boy obediently picked up all five stones and stored them in his magical storage. He left the room and returned to the main chamber, which became filled with smoke. Luka coughed. "Let's leave the basement," he said and quickly ran up the tunnel to return to the first-floor antechamber. The boy then pushed the bookcase back in its original position.

  Chapter 20

  Practicing Shadow Magic

  Once Luka was out of danger, his body slumped against the bookcase for support.

  [Take a nap, kiddo! I will watch our camp.] Bel volunteered. Frankly, the familiar was surprised that his master didn't sleep sooner. After all, Luka fought alone against Gilan and his shadow minions, and then the boy performed a costly divine summons. Bel felt guilty for pushing Luka to explore the castle after the fight against the shadow army.

  Luka accepted Bel's suggestion to rest; the tired boy curled his body in a fetal position with his back against the wall.

  Bel kept his promise and remained in the antechamber. The rabbit passed the time reading the books on the shelf. He discovered that they were mainly experimental logs describing what creatures Gilan used to create chimeras along with their lifespans. The demon wasn't surprised to learn that the shadow mage focused his research on longevity; the researcher combined monster parts with human subjects for this reason.

  Moreover, Gilan turned out to be three hundred years old. He maintained his abnormally long lifespan by transferring his soul to young, healthy bodies while devouring the host's original soul.

  Gilan learned this forbidden technique from Ghruzhal, an Upper-Tier Infernal Horror who entered the shadow realm via a summoning portal. However, the creature demanded a steep price to disclose this black art: one thousand souls of young human children! Somehow, Gilan met the price and used this obscene method to increase his human lifespan.

  But over time, Gilan worried that Ghruzhal planned to betray him, and the shadow mage ceased further contact with this Infernal Horror. Consequently, Gilan engaged in new research exchanging body parts to prolong the host's life.

  By the time Luka awoke from his nap, several hours had already passed. But since the shadow realm lacked a sun and a moon, he didn't know if it was nighttime or daytime.

  Bel closed the book he was reading and asked a question. [What will you do next? We already explored this castle. You could stay and practice shadow magic because this realm has plenty of shadow elements. Alternatively, we could leave this place and explore the rest of the Dark Catacombs. I don't care either way.]

  Luka took out his map and retraced the areas which he already visited. He winced when the boy realized he had explored only a small fraction of the blank regions. However, Luka felt tempted to exploit this plane to practice his newly acquired magic. But he worried that Alectos would fail Luka if he didn't try to explore the Dark Catacombs further. Luka explained his dilemma to Bel, who listened intently.

  [I think you should stay here. The church already explored the Dark Catacombs; they might have encountered deadly obstacles in the blank areas. If so, there's no need for you to risk your life to fill the map. Moreover, if Alectos believe you mu
st explore that place, he will appear and kick you out of this small realm. There's nothing to stop him from doing this, right?]

  "You're right," Luka agreed. Alectos could also extend Luka's stay here if the instructor wished for his pupil to visit the Dark Catacombs' unmapped parts.

  With this dilemma resolved, Luka began to focus on his shadow magic training. The mage cast Summon Shadows to discover what he could call forth. Luka felt delighted when a pack containing fifteen shadow hounds appeared!

  These beasts sat behind the pack leader, who slowly approached Luka and sniffed the boy's scent.

  Luka reached out with his hand and scratched the large dog behind his ear.

  The beast laid on the ground and rolled over to display its belly.

  The boy obliged and rubbed the hound's soft spot.

  [Not bad.] Bel gave his approval. Although these shadow hounds were relatively weak, their quantity was sufficient to delay Luka's enemies while the boy escaped. The rabbit examined their bodies. [I will train them!]

  "Okay." Luka turned toward his minions and issued a command. "You will obey Bel," he said while pointing at the rabbit.

  Each hound in the pack sniffed at the rabbit to memorize his scent. Then they laid flat on the ground in apparent submission.

  Luka was curious how Bel would command the pack since the familiar couldn't verbalize his thoughts. But somehow, the demons created mental connections with these minions, and they started following him as the rabbit ran around the courtyard.

  "Why would you bother to train them?"

  [These monsters seem to possess intelligence and free will, unlike the shadow army summoned by the castle. With sufficient training, the hounds will become more useful to you.]

  Since Luka summoned monsters for the first time, he didn't know how long these creatures would remain with him. The answer? Permanently, until dispelled or death. The boy was shocked because he was under the impression that his summons had a limited duration, like the divine spirits.

  [Their longevity could be due to the unique environment of this plane.] Bel conjectured.

  "Should I dispel the summons?" the mage asked.

  [NO! I already started training your hounds!] The familiar vehemently rejected the notion.

  "Fine," Luka replied while throwing up his hands. He worried that Bel would engage in a power trip now that the former demon king had underlings to order around. The boy shook his head to dismiss this concern. He sat down and meditated on the vision which Luka received when he gained access to shadow magic.

  The young mage had witnessed many demonstrations of strange and bizarre magic. The easiest one to comprehend, though, was "Hide in Shadow." The caster hid his body within a shadow like a thief while avoiding routine detection from human guards. But it was not clear to Luka whether this spell could avoid magical detection. Nonetheless, Luka appreciated this spell's usefulness if he ever needed to sneak inside a guarded location.

  A companion spell was "Shadow Walk," which allowed the caster to move from a shadow to another nearby shadow. But to travel the distance, the mage enters the shadow plane. Thus, there was a risk of encountering a native of the dimension.

  The second recognizable spell was "Darkness," which snuffed out light sources within a defined radius. This spell could obscure enemies in a combat situation or help the caster evade pursuit from chasers. A companion spell named "Gloom" would dim the brightness of existing light sources to negate some of the damaging effects to light-sensitive creatures, including his summoned shadow monsters and vampires.

  Luka's third spell was "Shadow Tentacles," which create a handful of thick shadowy tentacles to entangle and bind targets within range. However, the tentacles lack intelligence; therefore, they couldn't distinguish between friends and enemies. Thus, the caster cannot command the tentacles to ignore specific individuals within their grasping range. Gilan used a variation of this magic against Luka.

  Luka learned other useful spells, including Turn Shadow, Shadowform, Shadowmask, Dark Mirror, Protection from Light, and Summon Infernal Horror. Turn Shadow forced residents of the shadow plane to return home. Shadowform transformed the spellcaster's body into a shadow and negated physical damage from standard weapons. Shadowmask created a mask of shadow which obscured the caster's face to prevent identification. Dark Mirror created a magical barrier that reflected all shadow spells targeting the user. Protection from Light was self-evident in its use against light magic.

  Luka winced when he saw the demonstration for Summon Infernal Horror because of its high material costs. The spell required gemstones infused with souls, and the ritual consumed several of them. More sacrifices would summon a higher-tier creature. Once the caster created a contract with the Infernal Horror, the abyssal creature could return without invoking the ritual again. But each reappearance required the sacrifices of additional souls. Since Luka already fought with these disgusting creatures, he resolved never to use this spell no matter what.

  When the young mage fully recharged his mana pool, Luka began to practice casting these newly learned spells.

  Bel offered to use the shadow hounds as practice partners for this magic, which Luka readily accepted.

  The mage used Turn Shadow to evict the hounds, and then he cast Summon Shadows while attempting to call these specific monsters. At first, Luka could only dispel a handful of them. But with continuous practice, his proficiency with shadow magic increased until Luka could evict all fifteen hounds with one single spell.

  The shadow hounds, given their intelligence, were frightened because they witnessed their pack mates disappear. But when the members returned without harm, their fears lessened over time until the hounds stopped caring about their evictions altogether. In a sense, this practice of turning and resummoning them strengthened the pack's trust and belief in their summoner.

  Bel witnessed this from the side and nodded his approval. Although the demon's training of his underlings was interrupted by Luka, the familiar understood the boy's necessity to increase his magic proficiency. Also, the hounds' increased loyalty and trust in Luka was an unexpected bonus.

  Once Luka achieved his goal of removing all fifteen hounds with a single spell, Bel regained his command over these minions and resumed their training. However, he became grouchy and complained that the disruption had set back his schedule.

  The boy smiled apologetically and directed his attention to the other shadow spells. Although shadow essence saturated the environment, Luka needed to expend his mana to cast spells. While each one required very little mana, his magic practice required unleashing them hundreds or even thousands of times before Luka attained sufficient insight and proficiency. After all, practice makes perfect regardless of the profession. Thus, the boy spent almost a year in his shadow magic training while losing track of time.

  During this period, Luka sparred with his shadow hounds and experimented with light magic. He created Light Beam, a concentrated ray of light disbursed in one shot, and Laser, a more continuous beam inspired by science from his previous life. The mage discovered that these offensive spells inflicted double damage against his shadow minions.

  However, the shadow hounds understandably became fearful of these spells, and Luka had to stop using them to coax the monsters to continue sparring with the boy.

  The mage became surprised when Bel issued orders to them and addressed the hounds individually by number, i.e., Number One through Number Fifteen. Although Luka was their summoner, he could not distinguish them as separate entities because the shadow hounds all looked similar in his eyes.

  Bel declined to reveal his secret, and the boy left it alone with a shrug.

  By the end of the year, Luka's shadow magic expertise increased to the extent where his Summon Shadows permitted him to call forth ten additional hounds above the previous fifteen!

  However, before the delighted Bel could start training the newcomers, Alectos appeared!

  Chapter 21

  Village of Langerlan


  The God of Magic smiled faintly at the sight of twenty-five shadow hounds running laps around the courtyard. He arrived ten minutes earlier without detection by either mortal. Alectos used his godly sight to check Luka's status card and saw the following:

  "Name: Luka Heavensfell

  Race: Human (10% corruption)

  Age: 13

  Primary Class: Divine Summoner

  Divine Summons: Glacius (Ice), Stowne (Stone), Tes (Lightning)

  Subclass: High Mage

  Magic: Light (VII), Shadow (V), Space (VIII), Time (locked)

  Familiar: Belphesto (sealed Demon King)

  Title: Disciple of Alectos, Godson of Altima, Heir of Heavensfell Duke House, Master of Gilan's Shadow Realm

  Health: 570/600

  Mana: 4,580/7,000

  Stamina: 2,100/3,000

  Skills: Aristocracy I, Arithmetic II, Barehand Combat IV, Enragement II, Etiquette II, Horsemanship I, Hunting I, Literacy II, Swordsmanship V

  Traits: Critical Insight, One with Magic, Singleminded, Toughness

  Special item: Recall Stone, Shadow Keystone"

  The teacher was amazed by Luka's rapid progress in magic. Skills and magic range from zero proficiency (locked) to level ten, and subsequent advancements in rank grew progressively harder to acquire. Since Luka spent over five years practicing spatial magic, Alectos wasn't surprised to see his pupil reaching the eighth-rank proficiency. Moreover, the "Godson of Altima" title granted Luka a natural affinity for light magic and permitted him to advance his rank more quickly than otherwise.

  But usually, a mage talented in light magic would have a more challenging time learning shadow magic and vice versa. However, Luka spent only a year practicing shadow magic. Therefore, his rapid increase in magical proficiency was puzzling to Alectos. The deity assumed that the boy's ownership of the shadow realm somehow enhanced his ability to learn this new magic.