The Ultimate Summoner

Chapter 5: The System

Chapter 5: The System

Aldrin read through as he listened to the voice read into his head, basically it was just a summary of what he had read in the scroll his father gave him.

“What are you exactly?” Aldrin asked feeling quite stupid as he didn’t know if there was someone controlling what he saw and heard or if they would even reply him.

[I am the spirit system bound to you.] The voice replied him as the string of words before his eyes changed

“Are you an ally?” he pressed further trying to glean as much information as he could and the most important of which he needed to know was to confirm if it was a symbiote or a parasite.

[It is the job of the system to ensure its host grows stronger and more powerful so the system could be considered an ally to its host.] The mechanical voice replied in its monotone.

Aldrin thought for a few moments, he didn’t know much yet but for some reason he felt that the so called system was akin to an artefact or a tool whose sole purpose was to empower its user, as a tool that was bound to him so he found it relatively safe to believe that the system could or would not lie to him.

“What exactly is a system and how did I acquire you?” he asked the final question that was plaguing his mind

[A system is a complete set of circuit arrays forged with spirituality to aid the evolutional journey of the one they are bound to. As for how you acquired me, it would be better if you had a visual answer.] The system replied and Aldrin felt the world before him disappear.

Standing in a small room was a lady with regal bearings and the demeanour of a noble, the room was dark safe for a small candle that barely illuminated the table atop which it was placed and right before her was a child not more than seven years of age.

“Listen son, promise me you’ll never take this necklace off, it’s a good luck charm passed down from my ancestors.” She said and the child who looked like a miniature Aldrin nodded with an excited smile on his face.

The scene flashed and Aldrin was suddenly in a more recent scene, just after the betrayal of his brother, while he was consumed by rage just after he watched himself order his brother to death he saw a small pendant the shape of an egg inscribed with numerous runes flash from his robes, it was the very same necklace that his mother gave him when he was seven years old but this time the runes were glowing with a crimson hue and with each passing second the glow intensified till the point when he fainted.

The scene flashed and he was back in his room seated, he dipped his hand into his clothes and fished out the necklace, very unassuming it looked like a smooth oval rock with runic inscriptions on it.

“What is your origin?” Aldrin suddenly asked

[Not enough authority to access that information.] The emotionless mechanical voice replied and Aldrin chuckled, it didn’t matter anyways, all his life he had relied on artefacts to protect and empower himself one more wouldn’t make much of a difference.

“What can you do?” He asked casually as he lay he back upon his bed and stared blankly at the ceiling

[A system can display hosts stats at any given point in time, give hints to completing a mission as well, hasten evolutionary process as help host develop new skills] the system replied and a wide smile formed on Aldrin’s face.

There were devices that could help someone measure their stats but it was quite complicated and one often needed to visit a fitness center to access one but large clan like his would often have one or more but it was still a hassle to use, being able to check his stats at any given point time would come in handy to monitor his progress and most important his physical wellbeing, he didn’t fully understand how missions worked but what excited him the most was the fact that the system could help him develop skills, he didn’t understand how that would happen but he was more than willing to give it a trial.

“Show me my stats.” Aldrin said and this time no sound spoke in his head but several words appeared in his line of sight.

[Profile;

Name: Aldrin Draca

Race: Human

Age: 20

Title: Trash  

Class: Spirit Practitioner

Subclass: Summoner

Grade: Mortal

Level: 1

Stats;

Strength: 7

Agility: 8

Stamina: 8

Vitality: 10

Spirituality: 2000

Zen: 0

Skills;

{Active}

Summoning {Mortal; Level 1}: Summons any creature contracted to host

{Passive}

None

Contracts:

None]

Aldrin read through several times trying to digest the information he had just gleaned, there were quite a lot of things that didn’t match the conventional knowledge he knew one such thing was the grade which read Mortal, the conventional grading system for Zen practitioners was Initiate, Novice, Amateur, Practitioner, Master, Grandmaster, Supreme Master and Demigod while that for Zen warriors was Initiate, Apprentice, Amateur and Warrior for the first four grades, the subsequent grades retained the same names.

Secondly underneath his stats was a section called spirituality which he had never heard of before but yet he possessed an overwhelming two thousand points in it and finally he possessed a summoning skill which came along with the summoner subclass, something he had never heard of before.

“System what is spirituality?” he asked

[Not enough authority to access information.] The system replied ruthlessly causing Aldrin to click his tongue

“Why do I have a summoner subclass?” he asked

[Because you inherited the legacy of a summoner.] The system replied, Aldrin tried to probe for more information but after receiving a series of ‘Not enough authority to access information’ he gave up.

“Now let’s get to this damn mission” he said to himself as he left his bed and headed to the bathroom to have a bath.

…

Aldrin was clad in black robes with crimson patterns adorning it, just like most of his clothes it possessed a protection array, and across his back was his old and trusted sword encased in its black unadorned scabbard while its hilt was a mix of black and red.

His crusade mission had a lot of restrictions within it, first he wasn’t allowed to receive any help from the clan either in the form of manpower or tools aside from what was assigned to him, he checked the conscription scroll with him and realized that he only had three hundred men under his command alongside some mundane war weapons such as catapults and siege crossbows.

“How the heck am I supposed to complete a crusade with this?” Aldrin cursed out loud as he saw the rules, and most importantly he had five competitors all aiming on becoming the official heir in the next coming of age ceremony which would hold in three months’ time.

But fortunately he was allowed to make alliance with other clans and to this his competitors had quite an edge since they had quite the number of acquaintances in many of the clans while he didn’t due to his unique condition which made people unwilling to associate with him.

The human empire is ruled by the Divine Crow Clan who wield the authority of the royal family, next in terms of strength and influence are the three ancient clans known to have the longest history as well as the bloodline power of an ancient primordial beast, the Ancient Dragon Clan, The Ancient Phoenix Clan and the Ancient Gryphon Clan.

Following the three ancient clans are the five element clans and the seven great sects.

Aldrin moved towards a carriage which had been prepared for him beforehand.

“Let’s head out.” He told the coachman who nodded and began operating the circuits that controlled the carriage which unlike conventional carriages wasn’t pulled by horse but ran by alchemical devices and circuit arrays.

‘Open mission windows.’ Aldrin thought to himself and several words appeared in his line of sight

[Chain mission: Seek cooperation from one of the ancient clans.

Rewards: Unknown

Punishments: Unknown]

He shook his head in dismay, even if he didn’t want to go seek cooperation he now had less than a choice an unknown punishment awaited him should he fail.