Nightmare Realm Summoner

While Claire meditated, Alex took a look over one of his Spatial Mirrors to examine the Soul Flames stored within it.

Spatial Mirror

Stored Energy:

High-Mid Grade Novice (Floraking) - 1

Low Grade Initiate (Riftwarped Crawler) - 1

Low-Mid Grade Initiate (Riftwarped Granite Soldier) - 1

High Grade Novice (Corpse Burrower) - 1

Low Grade Novice (Corpse Poker) - 1

Mid-Grade Novice (Boneraptor) - 1

Reward Soul (Conglomerate) - 1

Bonded Creature: Shardwalker (Novice 7)

There were quite a few Soul Flames, but Alex’s attention was mostly focused on the final two. The first, from the Boneraptor, was still an oddity. He had absolutely no idea as to why he’d gotten the soul when the Trial had sucked up every other one and mashed them together into a Reward Soul.

Unfortunately, just like the last time he’d wondered about it, he didn’t have the faintest idea as to why it had happened. The only thing he could do for the time being was remember the coincidence and try to see if he could replicate it in the future.

The Reward Soul, at least, was a much easier mystery. Alex didn’t know how strong it would be, but it had the stored up energy of many monsters. Even if they hadn’t been particularly powerful, there had been hundreds of them, not to mention the Crawling Tomb.

I could split these between Glint and Spark… but I kind of just want to push one of them to be as powerful as I possibly can, just to see how far they can get. And, if I’m doing that…

”Glint, come out,” Alex said, his quiet words bouncing through the dark room before fading away.

His attempts to avoid making too much noise were unfortunately completely wasted by the sound of shattering glass as Glint stepped out through a portal and onto the wood before him.

The Shardwalker was as intimidating as always. He stood a little taller than Alex sat, covered in glistening rows of mirrored blades. His long, gaunt arms hung low to the ground, the curved claws on his gray fingertips just barely missing the floor. The claws emerging from his feet weren’t as merciful. They dug into the planks and cut clean through them.

Alex winced.

I’m glad I didn’t give them a security deposit.

”You hungry, buddy?” Alex asked. Glint stared at him, two empty yellow moons waiting for a command. Alex lifted the Spatial Mirror. He wiggled it like a box of treats. ”I have some Flames for you.”

Still, Glint stared.

Alex repressed a sigh.

I don’t know if I should be happy or sad that he’s completely unresponsive. On one hand, it helps me not feel bad about killing him. On the other… come on. At least laugh at my shitty jokes.

”Here,” Alex said, fishing the Floraking’s Soul Flame from his Spatial Mirror. It crackled in his hand, energy fizzling as the green orb buzzed against his skin. Alex lobbed it into the air.

Glint moved like a striking snake. His glistening, fang-filled mouth slammed shut on the Soul Flame, swallowing it whole. Then he looked back to Alex, who had already fished the next Flame out of the mirror. He passed over the Riftwarped Soul Flames, saving those as well as the Reward Soul for last, and started to feed the others to Glint.

The Shardwalker’s body changed with every flame he ate. The shifts were gradual, but grew faster with each successive bite. Moonlight lit within the mirrors covering him.

Glass shifted. Shards adjusted their positions to align with each other in rows of razor-sharp spines, pressing free of his skin like the quills of a porcupine. His fangs sharpened and straightened even further, and the light burning behind his eyes grew deeper still.

The Spatial Mirror in Alex’s hand warmed. He pulled his gaze away from Glint and glanced down at it.

Spatial Mirror

Stored Energy:

Low Grade Initiate (Riftwarped Crawler) - 1

Low-Mid Grade Initiate (Riftwarped Granite Soldier) - 1

Mid-Grade Novice (Boneraptor) - 1

Reward Soul (Conglomerate) - 1

Bonded Creature: Shardwalker (Novice 9)

Your Bonded Creature has reached the threshold to advance to Initiate 1. Would you like to evolve this Shardwalker? [Y/N]

Alex blinked. There was no System message asking about the evolution — which meant he didn’t actually have to respond immediately. His head tilted to the side.

Huh. That’s interesting. He’s reached a threshold amount of energy… but that’s not the same thing as saying he’s capped out, is he?

What are the chances that my monsters work similarly to my Mind Palace? If that’s the case… advancing Glint now would basically be like screwing him out of all the potential strength he could have had if I’m patient.

But if I’m wrong, I would just be wasting energy.

Alex pursed his lips. He still had a single normal Soul Flame left in addition to the ones he’d been saving. He could try that one out at the very least. If it proved to be worthless, the loss would be relatively minimal.

He pressed his hand into the Soul Mirror and drew the flame free, feeding it to Glint. The monster devoured the energy without a word. Then he went still. Alex watched his Shardwalker for several seconds, but nothing happened. The Spatial Mirror hadn’t changed either.

Well, shit.

”Did that make you stronger?” Alex asked Glint.

The monster did not respond.

Alex chewed on the insides of his cheeks. That was slightly less than ideal. He had absolutely no idea if it had done anything.

That meant he only had two options. Either he could risk spending some of the stronger Soul Flames in hopes of seeing a change, or he could let Glint evolve now. As much as he liked bets, even if Glint did have the potential to grow more at this level, had absolutely no idea how much more energy the Shardwalker would need.

There was a very real chance it would end up consuming the rest of his Soul Flames, and he could still have absolutely no idea if it had worked or not.

Alex blew out a short breath.

He’d gotten a lot today.

A Title Fragment.

The Riftwarped Domain Qi — even though he hadn’t had a chance to figure out what it did yet.

Three skill upgrades.

An upgrade to Glint.

Alex could afford to be a bit greedy. He’d already gotten such a huge boost in strength from his meditation that he could take some extra risks.

Alex plunged his hand into the Soul Mirror and drew out the Riftwarped Crawler’s Soul Flame. He studied it for a second, then tossed it to Glint.

The Sharwalker’s mouth yawned open. It slammed down on the energy. Then it was gone, and Glint stood before Alex in wait once more.

That was it.

There was no change. No update to his mirror.

Nothing.

Alex grimaced. Then he reached into his mirror once more. He drew free the Granite Soldier’s Soul Flame. It was the strongest normal Soul Flame he’d managed to get thus far at Low-Mid Initiate Grade.

He tossed it into the air like a scrap of trash.

Glint bit down, and it was no more.

Two yellow eyes bore into Alex. He suppressed a groan. Once more, nothing had changed. The only difference was that his Spatial Mirror only listed a single remaining Soul Flame. The Reward Soul.

Alex pulled it free.

This time, he hesitated longer. He wasn’t about to sacrifice a random Soul Flame. This was the culmination of hundreds of kills. The reward from a Trial. Minutes slipped by.

Alex’s eyes narrowed. There would be other Trials.

He tossed the flame.

Glint ate it in a single bite. Alex watched the energy vanish down the Shardwalker’s gullet.

A second ticked by.

Alex’s eye twitched. He was about a second away from driving his head through a wall and letting out a groan of frustration when something flickered in Glint’s gaze.

The dull yellow light that filled his eye sockets changed. It grew brighter, shifting from yellow to a dull silver, like the shimmer of the moon on a cloudless night. His heart skipped a beat.

Out of the corner of Alex’s eye, he caught something written upon his Spatial Mirror shift. He jerked his gaze down to look at it. The final line had changed.

Your Bonded Creature is 75% above the threshold to advance to Initiate 1. Would you like to evolve this Shardwalker? [Y/N]

A delighted grin split Alex’s face. It was followed by a sigh of relief. He leaned against the wall and rubbed the bridge of his nose, dismissing the mirror with a thought. It transformed into a stream of silver energy and returned to the deck at his side.

It’s not like I made that huge of a leap. It would be weird if monsters and humans were that different. It makes sense that you can advance before you’ve completely stuffed yourself full of magic, but that was still nerve wracking.

But… how much energy does Glint need to be completely full? Good god. He ate so many souls. I’m not too far from reaching 100% over capacity now, but what an immense amount of energy. That’s terrifying.

Alex looked over to Claire. She still sat cross-legged on the bed, focused on her meditation. It would be at least a few hours before they could head out and test out their new abilities — and as tempting as it was, Alex wasn’t about to leave her unprotected because he was impatient.

He dismissed Glint with a wave of his hand. The Shardwalker transformed into a stream of energy and flitted into his deck like a silvery snake, leaving Alex and Claire alone in the room once more.

He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He’d been doing a lot of that recently, but it was difficult to keep the excitement bubbling in his chest contained. There were just so many things he wanted to do.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait to get started. Not everything needed a monster to test on.

It’s time to figure out just what this Riftwarped Domain Qi is. I haven’t the faintest idea about it, but if it’s part of my Core Ability, it’s in me somewhere. I’ll spend the rest of the time until Claire wakes up seeing if I can hunt it down.

Alex crossed his legs beneath him and sat down on the ground. He braced his back against the wall and placed his palms upon his knees. Then he sent his mind inward, searching for the power he had released within himself.

Time ticked by.

Alex wasn’t in meditation — he was still aware of the room around him — but his attention was digging his mind in search of new power. It was there, somewhere.

Waiting for him to find it.

And, deep within himself, his mind ran into something new. His thoughts brushed against something that responded with what felt like a jolt of electricity. Deep within his stomach, just behind his navel, was a burning droplet of power.

It wasn’t magical energy. The power within it felt completely different. Electric and alive, rather than freezing cold.

No, this was something else.

It was Qi, and it responded to his call.