The Summoner And Contractor System - Chapter 10 First Spar Rentaro Vs Roy
Outside in the small training field, Rentaro stood with impatience as he questioned, ‘Alright, Big Bro, before I spar with Roy, I have an important question. How do I cast elemental energy into the grimoire?’
[You’ve already shown your ability to gather the elemental energy in your surroundings around you. Do exactly that, then send the elemental energy along your body, down to your hand which is holding the grimoire, before guiding the energy into the grimoire.]
[After doing so, think of the type of ability you want to cast with the elemental energy and what elements you want it to be composed of. For instance, you can cast a pure elemental skill, a set of armor, or even a specific weapon. Then, choose an element like light, fire, or darkness, along with a design if you cast a weapon or armor. Lastly, cast it through the grimoire by willing it through your soul’s connection with it.]
[Remember, it’s best to cast any abilities with elements you have an affinity with. The stronger the affinity, the stronger the ability will be, especially when your elemental control and manipulation are too low for you to cast the abilities yourself. Also, limit the amount of abilities you use to avoid tiring your self out and exposing all your cards. Only cast abilities when they will be useful or necessary in any given situation and keep your mind alert for any sudden changes that may occur while fighting.]
Wilhelm rambled on, going rather off topic from Rentaro’s question, but Rentaro didn’t interrupt as he enjoyed the feeling of warmth that filled him when hearing the voice filled with concern and care. ‘Alright, Big Bro, let me try this out first.’
Donning his blue summoner’s robe with the Grimoire of Twileigh in his left hand, Rentaro started gathering the elemental energy in his surroundings. A gold-colored elemental energy soon started to condense around him, surrounding his body as it slowly traveled towards his arm, moving alongside his arm and into the grimoire.
“Shield of Light! Condense!” Rentaro yelled as his eyes filled with a light of anticipation, a golden, yet transparent screen formed around him, giving him about two feet of space between him and the screen. The screen appeared rather fragile, as if it could break from a punch, yet Rentaro smiled as his first ability was successfully cast. ‘In combat, this shield of mine would last for less than a second, huh?’
[You’d be surprised at how quickly a situation can turn around in a second, Rentaro. That’s enough time to shift your body, one small shift in position can change a fatal wound into a flesh wound, saving your life, while also giving you the opportunity to counterattack your enemy.] Wilhelm immediately reprimanded Rentaro’s self-underestimation.
[Furthermore, as you use your abilities in actual combat, you’ll think of different ways to use them. For instance, you can apply your Shield of Light in multiple different ways, depending on what the given situation calls for.]
‘Hm, I see. Let’s try something offensive now!’ Rentaro reached his hands out as he shouted, “Sword!” Within a second, a red elemental energy poured into the grimoire, Rentaro’s right hand reaching out with a light, fiery-red sword forming within his hands.
“Hah!” Rentaro swung the sword in a rather clumsy manner, showing the inexperience of a novice sword-wielder. His body positioning didn’t line up with any of swings, giving an unsteady and unbalanced feel to his movements. Rentaro could easily be countered by any unarmed person with his current ability.
[Lil’ Bro, I suggest you fight using your fists instead of a sword for the current moment, you need to work on your sword stances first.] Wilhelm coughed awkwardly as he watched Rentaro’s sorry excuse of swordplay.
‘Well what do you expect? I’m not very experienced with a sword at this moment. Why don’t I try something else.’ Rentaro feigned a downcast appearance as the sword dissipated, a sharp contrast with his eyes which lit-up as if he thought of the perfect solution. “Dawn Breaker!” This time, instead of a blade forming in Rentaro’s hand, there was a small, red revolver in his right hand.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
Rentaro fired the revolver three times, each shot consuming a lot of fire elemental energy while giving off a brilliant blast from the barrel of the revolver. Firing three shots had taken a toll on Rentaro, exhausting himself to the point where the revolver dissipated into thin air and Rentaro lacked the strength to continue casting abilities.
[Ooh, not only an interesting idea, but also an interesting name. Casting a weapon unique to your previous life, very interesting. While such a weapon is considered to be a stranger in this realm, different abilities that are even more shocking in appearance exist, so it shouldn’t cause much trouble if others see it in the future.]
[Furthermore, the energy inside the revolver appears to be rather condensed, thus strengthening the impact behind each shot. Such an ability is not without flaws however, as each shot will require a lot of energy. Furthermore, when shot from a long range, there is plenty of time to dodge or block the shots fired by it. I suggest you use such a weapon for a surprise attack or trump card.]
‘Alright, that’s enough practice. I’ll rest for a little before I spar with Roy. Hey, Roy!’ Rentaro spoke as he took a meditative pose.
‘Yes, Second Brother?’ Roy immediately responded, with a tone of anticipation.
‘The two of us will be sparring with one another, so rest up to your peak state. Remember, we’re not trying to harm one another, only testing one another’s abilities!’
‘Hehe, Alright Second Brother!’
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
‘Roy, are you ready to go?’
‘I’ve been ready!’ A voice burning with anticipation rang out.
“Alright. I call forth Roy, the strongest of all chimera!” Eyes burning with resolution, Rentaro gave off a rather feverish quote with his summoning.
Following Rentaro’s voice, the spatial pocket immediately opened with a beam of light flying out from within. The spatial pocket closed almost instantly, as the beam of light immediately grew to his wolf-like size.
Fueled with excitement by Rentaro’s feverish summoning, he unleashed a draconic roar which covered the training field and even caused the people in their homes to rush out and see what was going on.
Taken aback, Rentaro was stunned as he did a closer inspection on Roy and noticed that his far left eye was encompassed by a black flame, his far right eye encompassed by a white flame, and his two middle eyes still maintaining their molten-lava color.
[After you awakened your light element, Roy had awakened it as well through your soul contract and consolidated his cultivation stage at Affinity Foundation sub-stage 3. Furthermore, the light and darkness elements balanced out, creating an equilibrium with the fire element.]
[Furthermore, his [Black Flame Embrace] has mutated into the [Yin Yang Flame Embrace], giving him control of not only primal black flames, but also the primal white flames.]
‘I see, well, that will certainly make this spar more interesting.’
[Of course, just make sure not to use any abilities that will quickly drain your energy, like that “Dawn Breaker” revolver of yours.]
“Hehe, Well, Second Brother, I’m pretty impressive, right?” A voiced containing a slight bit of narcissism rang out.
“Very impressive, but you have yet to see my own abilities as well. Remember, we’re only sparring and showing off our abilities.” Flashing a smile, Rentaro resumed a challenging stance, but not before stressing that it was only a spar. He didn’t want Roy to accidentally decimate him with his primal flames instantly after all.
By this point in time, many villagers, young and old, had showed up to spectate, their ice blue eyes flashing in interest at the two. Icrin had also made an appearance, along with the group of elders and two grand elders watching in the background.
‘Big Bro, please link your voice to both of our minds and act as a referee for our spar.’
[Already done, Lil’ bro. The match starts now. Start!]
Without waiting for any further instructions, Rentaro propelled himself towards Roy, who had crouched back, pouncing towards Rentaro as well.
“Fire-bolt!” Still holding the grimoire in his left hand, Rentaro thrust his right hand out, from which he launched a fire-bolt.
Encompassed by his scaled armor, “Sorry, Second Brother. I’m the bane of all flames however!”
The fire-bolt had diminished after hitting Roy, the scale armor had not merely blocked the fire, but rather absorbed it, a characteristic that could make Roy seemingly inexhaustible. “Now it’s my turn! Skeletal Control!” Suddenly, the spikes along Roy’s spine extended out, piercing towards Rentaro.
“Shield of Light!” Having known about Roy’s skills beforehand, Rentaro was able to jump back and dodge the sudden attack by using the light shield to stall for what would otherwise be a short second of time. While he managed to buy a few extra seconds, the spikes quickly pursued.
As the spikes closed in, Rentaro had a sudden thought and yelled, “Shield of Light!”
This time, the shield of light didn’t accompany the area around him, taking on a rather weird “shape” in which it blocked every spike perfectly. Cracks had formed on the shield, slowly spreading out along the shield, but giving Rentaro enough time to get another attack in.
“You’re the bane of fire, huh? Then, let’s try this out. Water-bolt!” A blue elemental energy was guided into the grimoire and this time, a light blue version of the fire-bolt fired out, clearly much weaker than the fire-bolt however.
“Obsidian-Scaled Armor!” The water-bolt clashed against Roy, but subsided shortly after clashing with his obsidian scales sparkling, as if the water-bolt had merely cleansed them.
“Hehe, Second Brother, my turn on the offensive! I haven’t had the chance to try out my fire yet!” Immediately, a black flame formed above Roy, taking on the shape of an arrow before flying towards Rentaro’s location.
“Shield of Light! Fire-bolt! Water-bolt” Rentaro quickly cast a chain of abilities, his shield for defense, while the two offensive moves were meant to weaken Roy’s attack.
The fire-bolt and water-bolt managed to hit the target, slowing the arrow down by a second, while slightly weakening the flames that it composed of. Given the extra time, Rentaro dived towards the side while maintaining the shield of light around his body to protect himself from the flames as the arrow hit the ground and combusted soon after his dive.
[Alright, hold up you two! The spar is over for now. Now that you’ve had some practice, you should have an understanding as to where you can improve. Although absolute power is important, if you lack wits you’ll still lose in a battle of attrition. Study up some tactical abilities, you two.]
[Rentaro, your adjustment to your Shield of Light was a good idea. Sometimes, you need to focus on defending the vital points, ignoring everything else. Your application of the element of water was also nice. Sometimes, you need to use an element to the best of your ability, even if you don’t have an affinity with said element. Such an act will help you form an affinity with said element anyway.]
[However, your techniques lack variety. You’ll need to study different techniques and methods of application if you wish to survive any combat you might encounter in the future. If possible, try joining an academy. There, you can study applications of elemental energy and physical training.]
[As for you, Roy. You’ll naturally have access to more techniques when the time is right. For now, practice using your primal flames, they are a heavenly gift bestowed to you! It’s a waste to just toss them around in whatever form you think of. There are many techniques that exist in this world and if you can’t find one that fits your gifts, come up with your own!]
Having finished with his constructive criticism, Wilhelm left the two to ponder after giving Rentaro one last reminder, [Hey, don’t forget about that kid, Icrin. He’s been watching your fight, I’m sure his blood is boiling for a fight. Although he might be weaker than Roy who was born with primal flames, he has trained and practiced longer, so I’m sure his coordination and technique is stronger.]
[Heck, he’s probably even more difficult to face than Roy.] Wilhelm continued to jab both of them, pointing out their weak points, while comparing them to Icrin.