Chapter 636 - Mortal, Are You the One Who Summoned Me? (1/2)

Chapter 636: Mortal, Are You the One Who Summoned Me?

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

There was a howling sound. It was the first sound that Link had heard since entering the realm crack. It sounded like a gust of wind blowing through a canyon.

In the next second, Link felt a sudden weightlessness. His body was now no longer under his control; he could not even move a single muscle. He seemed to be falling down a tunnel of sorts. Distorted images swam dizzily across the tunnel’s four walls, giving him the impression that he was now falling through a kaleidoscope.

This was the first time he was summoned into a realm. It was an entirely new experience for Link. He was also apprehensive about it, as he had no idea what awaited him at the bottom.

He tumbled on for a few seconds down the tunnel. Suddenly, a blood-red streak of light shot out of nowhere. Link could not make out what it was at first. As it got closer, he strained his eyes to see what it was.

It was a cluster of souls wailing in agony!

The ball of light was more than 50 cubic feet. There were at least 3000 souls in it, and each of them was disfigured beyond recognition. It was as if someone had kneaded them into a misshapen mass of putty. What was even more terrifying was the fact that as soon as the cluster of souls drew closer towards Link, it quickly began to melt away like wax.

Argh… Help me… Oh god… I don’t deserve this…

Link could hear a cacophony of agonized wailing coming from it, which grew louder as the clump of souls came closer towards Link.

When the ball of light finally came before Link, the souls inside it had melted completely inside it. Its contents were now a goopy blood-red mess. Link could not help but shudder at the sight of it.

The blood-red ball of light hurtled towards Link and finally collided against his dragon scales. Upon impact, Link could feel an icy sensation seeping into his body, all the way to the deeper parts of his body.

Throughout the whole process, Link’s body remained motionless. His power was still sealed within his body by an unknown force. He could only watch helplessly as the ball of light invaded his body.

As he panicked, a line of words popped up in his field of sight. Entry of unknown energy detected, now setting up quarantine area for unknown energy… Quarantine process successful.

This was the first line of words from the game system. The icy sensation remained still within Link’s body. However, it had stopped spreading inside his body.

After a while, a second line of words appeared before him.

Now examining composition of unknown energy… Examination complete. Unknown energy is determined to be soul energy, which is commonly used in Realm Summoning Contracts. Summoning technique currently in progress is a sacrificial summoning technique. Upon reaching the realm they are currently being summoned to, the player will be placed under the binding power of a summoning contract and will be prohibited from violating terms of said contract.

Link was now mentally prepared for this. May I know the terms of this contract? thought Link.

Examination in progress… examination complete. Player’s current contract is a mutually binding agreement. The Summoned will assist the Summoner in completing certain tasks as required from them. Upon completion, the Summoned will be allowed to keep the soul energy of the Sacrificed that was used to carry out the summoning ritual. However, the Summoned will be subject to the Dimensional Rejection’s influence once more after fulfilling the terms of its contracts. During the contract’s duration, both parties will be prohibited from hurting each other.

Hearing this, Link asked, “Is there any way to break the contract?”

Attempting to dispel contract’s binding power… Dispelling unsuccessful. Player has two options. First option is to reject the quarantined soul energy in player’s body in exchange for his freedom. However, the player will receive the full brunt of the Dimensional Rejection. The player will have his power severely suppressed and will only be able to use Level-7 power as a result. Second option is to maintain current course. Player will remain under the contract’s constraints. The Summoner will be forced to bear a portion of Dimensional Rejection the Summoned is subject to. The more powerful the Summoner is, the more Dimensional Rejection the Summoner will be required to take on. In consequence of this trade-off, the Player’s power will not be suppressed as much.

After pondering it for a moment, Link decided to choose the second option. He was repulsed by the source of the contract’s binding power. However, due to his current situation, he would be a fool to limit his powers any more than he had to.

Let’s go with the second option, then.

As soon as he said this, his body trembled slightly. There was that cold sensation in his body again. He then realized that the sacrificed soul power had taken up one percent of his total power, while the remaining 99 percent was still his own.

Only one percent of my power seems to be affected by this magical contract. I’ll probably survive whatever punishment it has reserved for me should I decide to violate any of its terms. This was even better than Link had imagined.

Soon, Link realized that he had stopped falling. He could feel his feet hit solid ground. The distorted imagery around him began transforming into a wall of fog, which then dissipated to reveal the scenery of the realm he had been summoned into.

Throughout the whole process, Link felt an irresistible power pressing against him. It was as if he was being compressed beneath the depths of an ocean.

He moved a finger slightly. He could feel an invisible resistance when he tried to cast the Magician’s Hand spell. This resistance seemed to be inhibiting his physical strength and the power inside his body by about ten percent.

In other words, his power level was currently within the neighborhood of Level-10, which was a lot more than what the game system had predicted.

This resistance must be the effect of the Dimensional Rejection. It’s a lot weaker than I had anticipated. My summoner must be taking on some of it right now. Judging by my current state, they must be quite the Magician.

At that moment, the distorted light show around him had faded away completely. Link now found himself in the middle of a canyon thick with grass and trees. The canyon was approximately 400 feet wide. Its two walls were around 200 feet high.

With his 360-degree vision, Link was able to take in his surroundings without turning his head.

He realized that he was standing in the middle of a 150-foot-wide magic seal which had been etched on the ground with fresh blood. The stench of blood wafted to his nostrils from every line of the magic seal. It was so pungent that Link’s face contorted in disgust.