The Hero’s Supplier

The ability to summon an inanimate object!

The Lemegeton could summon the entire Demon Horde of Hell, but for Rick, even the ability to summon an inanimate object would be a huge achievement.

Sol, the previous owner of the Lemegeton had told Rick that he had to become strong enough to be able to summon at least one of the Kings of Hell before the end of one year. But the problem was that Rick had no idea had to summon anything.

The only clue he had was that he had to first be able to summon an inanimate object. When he tried to find out how to summon an inanimate object, the Lemegeton had only a single line of information…

 

[The Owner needs to increase the overall Stats.]

 

But now there was a notification that he had fulfilled the first requirement for summoning an inanimate object.

Rick decided to check out what information had appeared in the Lemegeton.

With Rick's command, the pages of the Lemegeton flipped open a new volume and the page read…

 

[SUMMONING ARTS]

[Summoning is divided into Realms. Each Realm is divided into Primary, Intermediate and Expert ranks.]

 

[Novice Summoner]

[The Summoner has the ability to summon inanimate objects.

Three pre-requisites to becoming a Novice Summoner:

1. Gain knowledge of the existence of runes

2. Discover the required runes

3. Discover and increase the level of necessary stats]

 

The Lemegeton had more information on what exactly was Summoning Arts. As per the grimoire, there were various realms of summoning. The first of which was a Novice Summoner.

Rick did not understand half the things written. What he did understand was that he had to start by summoning simpler things first and then in the higher realms he would be able to summon more complex things. The higher the Summoner's Realm the greater his abilities!

Rick decided to stay up all night and absorb all the information he could find about summoning before day-break. The Lemegeton described the basics of summoning art, its significance and even had details of historical summoners. 

But when he tried to find information on the other Realms and in which realm he would be able to summon the Kings of hell, a single line appeared on the Lemegeton.

 

[The owner is unable to comprehend the information]

 

But Rick was not disheartened. The information he found out increased his understanding of the subject of not just summoning, but also on runes. The only thing that was bothering Rick was that he had to discover stats. But Rick had already found out all of the five basic stats, [Strength], [Stamina], [Perception], [Vitality] and [Agility]! 

By the time Rick was done reading through the information, it was already past three in the morning. He climbed out of his chair and crashed into his bed.

 

---

 

By the time Rick got up from his sleep, it was just before daybreak. Although he slept for less than two hours, Rick felt completely refreshed. Since the day of the mutation, he needed lesser sleep than before to sustain himself. 

After a shower, he walked into the kitchen.

At the dining table, there was a note written. Rick picked it up, it was from Samira,

 

'I know you were up late last night, so I didn't wake you up.

Jay and I are going to the Kazi Wildlife Sanctuary. We will probably be back into two, three days.

I have left candles, the lights are out

Take care,

Samira'

 

Rick let out a smile.

Rick was not shocked by the letter. They had already discussed this last night. Jay had already been to the Kazi Wildlife Sanctuary. That is where he got all the beast meat he had sold in the bazaar, including the Winged Serpent. 

He had been the one to suggest that they hunt the nearby grounds first so that Jay and Samira could solidify their teamwork. This way he could concentrate on figuring out how to make a Communication Stone which would work over longer distances.

Rick wanted to make sure Samira and Jay had the best information available so that they could become the strongest Heroes.

After a quick bowl of cereal, Rick retired back to his room with two bottles of water. He had decided to dedicate the entire day if need be, but he was determined to find all the runes required to make the Communication Stone.

He sat back down on his chair and opened the Lemegeton. He had to first find out all the information he could find on runes before he started his work. His understanding of runes was very rudimentary. All he knew was that runes were patterns which possess the ability to absorb the mana to manifest a certain function. "Like a chemical reaction!"

'So what makes a higher level of rune? The quality of the material on which it is made? Or the complexity of the rune? Or maybe both!' Rick wondered.

He knew that the Communication Rune was made of several runes. He had only found one of those till now, the Sound Rune.

Rick flipped through all the information he could gather regarding the crafting of runes. Rick poured through all the contents of the book continuously for the entirety of the morning.

"Wow! Runes are complicated," Rick mumbled under his breath.

Runes were a complex class profession on its own. Knowledge of runes was a key to summoning.

But it did not mean that an expert Rune Craftsman would be an expert Summoner. Similarly, there were instances of Summoners who were not proficient in rune crafting but excelled in Summoning.

Although Rick did not know what exactly the diving point between the two classes was, he suspected that the answer lay in the ability to use the World Essence. The only problem was that when he asked the Lemegeton regarding the World Essence, he got the same annoying text

 

[The owner is unable to comprehend.]

 

Rick composed his mind before taking the next step.

'I need to make a device such that I can communicate over long distances' Rick though.

Rick started carefully drawing the runes on his notebook again.

One after another, all his attempts failed, but he did not give up. What others would consider torturous was enjoyable for him. As an aspiring lawyer, Rick spent hours on end in the library trying to find the smallest of crucial information only to return the next day to try find it again.

He kept it up till sunset when the room became too dark to continue. He lit up candles and continued his work, without pause.

Late at night he finally stopped. He had tired his arms and he had a headache from the constant focus required to keep drawing the fine runes, but Rick did not frown. Although most of his tries failed, Rick was not at all letdown, he had discovered two new runes.

The [Mana Gathering Rune] and the [Word Rune]

The [Mana Gathering Rune] was as pretty much self-descriptive, It was the core which stored mana required for the Communication Stone to work.

The [Mana Gathering Rune] in the Communication Rune was only of a Low-Tier and stored only a small amount of mana. From what Rick could gather, it was the Mana Gathering Rune that determined the distance at which the Communication Rune Stones would work.

On the other hand, Rick did not know what the purpose of the [Word Rune] was in the Communication Stone. The [Word Rune] on its own was useless. But paired with a Mana Gathering Rune was able to communicate with the other using words.

Basically, with the [Word Rune], Rick could write down something, and it would be received by the person holding the other [Word Rune].

Reading the description Rick was really excited. The only problem was that it did not work at all.

"I am too tired. I have to look at it with fresh eyes tomorrow." Rich rubbed his eyes. He had been working for more than twelve hours and decided to call it a day and make dinner before calling it a night.

Rick picked up the Communication Stone from the table and took out the other from his pocket. He checked them both under the flickering candlelight.

"The two pieces fit together!" he exclaimed with wide eyes. This was his eureka moment.

Although there were two Communication Stones, but when he carefully checked the edges of the stones, it seemed it was a single stone broken into two!

Without a moment's hesitation, Rick picked up the page where he had drawn the [Word Rune] and [Mana Gathering Rune] and ripped it in half.

A blue hue emitted from the talisman.

 

Ding

 

A notification sounded.

But he did not need the notification. He already knew what it would say!

 

[Congratulations!]

[You have successfully crafted a Low Ranked Word-Transmission Scroll]

Rick let out a hearty laugh. He finally did it!

 

Right after, he received another notification

 

Ding

[Skill: Rune Craftsmanship has been learnt].

[Skill: Rune Craftsmanship (Novice)]

[Proficiency- 1%

The host can craft a complex rune by combining two other runes.]

 

---

 

At the Kaz Wildlife Sanctuary...

The moonlight poured on the forest cover. 

"Ready?" Samira asked 

"Ya!" Jay replied with a smile. 

The two had their backs against each other and there were four overgrown Fox around them. Jay and Samira were covered in blood. It was not theirs. It was the blood of the eight dead mutated Foxes lying dead around them!

Whoosh The two leapt at the foxes.

It was the making of two of Earth's strongest Heroes.