Free Web NovelAfter completing several summoning courses, it was finally time for practical application. In this class, the instructor issued each student a Third Tier gemstone meant for summoning sacrifice.
With 76 students in total and each gemstone costing at least 100 gold coins, just this one expense alone cost nearly ten thousand gold coins.
No wonder every academy enforced strict admissions standards. Calculated this way, each apprentice cost several thousand gold coins per year.
Apart from a few students who had prior knowledge and had already summoned Astral Plane creatures for combat, many were experiencing their first summoning practice.
The group of apprentices arrived at a specialized summoning hall, where pre-engraved Magic Arrays were set up, strict safety measures were in place, and various summoning materials and reference materials were stockpiled.
"Then, who wants to go first?" The instructor looked at the apprentices with a hint of a smile.
"I'll go first." A student stepped out from the crowd. He was tall and sturdy, and even in the black school uniform robe, his solid muscles were visible.
"Og, what creature do you plan to summon?"
"I plan to summon a 'Blue-Claw Giant Crab'." He had already decided.
"Ah, that..." The instructor seemed thoughtful.
"It looks like you want its big pincers."
Blue-Claw Giant Crabs were bottom-tier creatures of the Astral Plane, surviving by devouring rotting corpses there. Their pincers were their power core, extremely sturdy, and with simple processing could be made into decent hammers.
"Come on, let me see how well you've studied this semester." The instructor stepped aside from the summoning array behind him, letting Og set up.
Then everyone watched curiously as Og busied himself. The array he drew wasn't very refined, with rigid lines, but it still met the standard. After preparation, he placed the main sacrifice gemstone in the center of the array, then added a piece of dead Blue-Claw Giant Crab shell, some 'Tide Shell' powder, and a somewhat stinking chunk of Third Tier monster flesh.
After preparing all these items, he stood before the array, beginning to sense and channel the power of the Astral Plane.
"We invoke the ancient Star Spirits, the gods who spread their wings among the stars. May your will be made manifest, drawing the power of the Astral Plane to descend." He chanted the invocation to enhance the ritual's completion.
Soon, faint light rose from the Magic Array, then passed through the summoning shaft toward the heavens, forming a fluorescent blue mist pillar of light.
A large crab silhouette, about four meters tall, gradually materialized within the array. It had strangely shaped limbs of varying lengths, over a dozen eyes arranged across the shell on its back, and two pincers—one large, one small—with the larger one measuring about one meter six in diameter.
"It's appeared. If you want to obtain its corpse, you need to defeat it individually according to the rules of the Astral Plane." The instructor told Og.
"Of course, I've been ready for a long time." Og extended both hands, and golden battle armor materialized around him, then pieces strapped onto his body one by one, transforming him into a fully armed tall knight.
"No matter how many times I see it, I still think Og doesn't look like a mage." An apprentice nearby commented.
"Playing with Construct spells like this always feels like taking the wrong path."
Compared to last semester, the armor on Og's body was noticeably sturdier and more ornate, with many newly learned Rune patterns added.
He wielded his greatsword and engaged the giant crab in a direct clash of strength. After several exchanges back and forth, he finally found an opportunity, splitting open the Blue-Claw Giant Crab's leg joint with one swing of his sword, causing the creature's prideful giant pincer to fall.
At that moment, the Blue-Claw Giant Crab spewed out bursts of foam, engulfing itself, then vanished from the spot, leaving only that enormous pincer behind.
"It ran away. According to Blue-Claw Giant Crab behavior, when it encounters an enemy it can't defeat, it spits out mist-like foam to escape."
"It looks like it's back in the Astral Plane." Another apprentice commented.
"One Third Tier gemstone in exchange for one big pincer. If you don't specifically need it, it's actually a loss."
"If he likes it, there's nothing to be done about it."
Next, the other apprentices took turns experimenting, summoning Astral Plane creatures. Some were purely practicing, some wanted to obtain rare resources from Astral creatures, and some wanted to test the creatures' abilities to see if they could use them later.
"Tie up that Golem ahead!" An apprentice stood before the array, commanding a summoned Astral Serpent to coil around a nearby Golem.
The six-meter-long Astral Serpent shot out, gliding through the air, then wrapped itself tightly around the Golem.
Throughout the process, the Golem struggled continuously, but the serpent's body was rubber-like, stretchable and writheable, making the Golem's physical attacks ineffective.
"The effect is great. If the opponent were one of those big dumb warriors, this method should also be able to control them." For mages, their favorite thing to bully was those warriors who relied solely on brute strength. Whether through illusions, mental attacks, or binding, they could toy with them using very little power.
After all the apprentices finished practicing, only Sylutia and Spencer were left who hadn't summoned.
Spencer glanced at Sylutia, who wasn't in a hurry, gave the black-haired girl a slight nod, and then stepped forward.
"This time, I'll go. I want to try summoning an Eye Tyrant." Among all the Third Tier Astral Plane creatures, summoning an Eye Tyrant was the most difficult tier.
"It looks like the Chief wants to challenge something high-difficulty." A few apprentices whispered among themselves.
"I also want to see what an Eye Tyrant really looks like. Is it really that powerful?"
Under everyone's curious and expectant gazes, Spencer began sketching the Magic Array on the ground, then laid out various prepared materials. These included not only the gemstone issued by the academy but also items he had prepared himself.
Sylutia stood nearby watching, her gaze somewhat curious.
The materials Spencer had prepared were clearly different from the records in her memory from the Hundred-Eyes Sect. They were more precious and special. Just the value of these materials alone was over 600 gold coins. Adding the gemstone, it was probably close to 800 gold coins.
Too extravagant, the girl silently criticized. This was basically a summoning method that the Hundred-Eyes Sect had already abandoned long ago.
As an expert in studying Eye Tyrants, although the Hundred-Eyes Sect had declined, they had still improved many of their past secret arts. Back when they held summoning rituals in the Regas Kingdom, where would they have had such luxurious resources? They would just casually grab a batch of people from the village or capture a group of prisoners with the right rank, kill them on the spot as sacrifices, extract their rank and power, and transform them into offerings.
About a few minutes later, within the rising pale blue mist, a phantom of a single Eye Tyrant appeared. Its head was about three meters in diameter, like an enlarged eyeball, and around its body grew tentacles resembling nerve tendrils.
The Eye Tyrant blinked its eyelids, looked around, then gazed at Spencer, who was presiding over the summoning ritual. Facing this descended Eye Tyrant, Spencer concentrated his attention and began communicating with it, trying to gain control.
The apprentices in the distance lowered their voices, observing quietly.
Unfortunately, the subsequent process didn't go smoothly. As one of the stronger Third Tier Astral Plane creatures, the Eye Tyrant's Mental Power was clearly not low, and it also carried the aura of another world. During the communication and control process, sweat gradually beaded on Spencer's forehead. He felt his vision slowly growing dim, and he knew he was being affected by the Eye Tyrant's ability—his eyesight was deteriorating.
Not good, he thought to himself with unease. From the beginning of the communication, he had felt increasingly strained. After all, as a Second Tier practitioner trying to control a Third Tier Astral creature, the gap was still too wide. Even though he had exceptional talent and his Mental Power was stronger than an ordinary Third Tier mage, he felt he was on the verge of losing control.
To save face, Spencer gritted his teeth again, took out a potion to boost Mental Power, and gulped it down. At that moment, a dazzling gleam burst from his eyes, and in that instant, he finally broke through the Eye Tyrant's mental defenses and established a connection with it.
Finally under control, he wiped his sweat and turned to look at the instructor.
The instructor gave a slight nod, indicating it was acceptable. Only then did Spencer relax a little. Then he commanded the Eye Tyrant to aim at a target in the distance and test its attack power.
A pale purple light beam shot out, instantly striking the exact center dot of the target. The Eye Tyrant's precise Locking ability was on full display at that moment.
Next came testing its ability to influence living beings. Spencer turned around, making the Eye Tyrant look at the group of fellow students. Then, from that enormous eyeball, an invisible hypnotic force radiated outward.
Some of the apprentices immediately felt their minds becoming dazed. Fortunately, everyone's Mental Power was not weak. They snapped out of it, strengthened their will, and blocked and resisted this power.
"The hypnotic ability doesn't seem that strong. I can resist it directly." One apprentice commented.
"True. It doesn't feel as powerful as the records claim." Another person spoke up.
Standing by the railing in the distance, Sylutia blinked her eyes and looked at the Eye Tyrant.
This guy must be a child among Eye Tyrants, she thought to herself with slight amusement.
She had seen quite a few Eye Tyrants summoned by the Hundred-Eyes Sect. Most of them were over five meters in size, much larger than this one, and also more formidable. Their tough hide was so hard that even knights found it very difficult to cut through.
A few minutes later, after testing all the different aspects, Spencer dismissed the summon. Under the world's rejection, the Eye Tyrant returned to the Astral Plane once again, vanishing from the spot.
Spencer stepped back. At this point, the instructor noted down the summoning results in his handbook, then called out the last name.
"Hedra, it's your turn."
Everyone's gaze turned toward the girl in the black uniform standing in the corner. She gave a slight nod and walked down the steps.
"What do you plan to summon, Hedra?"
"I'll also try summoning an Eye Tyrant." Sylutia had learned quite a few secret arts of the Hundred-Eyes Sect, but when it came to summoning, she had never experimented before.
So, under everyone's expectant gazes once again, the girl walked into the Magic Array and began performing the summoning ritual.
