novelraw Chapter 82
Chapter 82
Her crystalline white eyes stared at him, unblinking. Aiden looked at the fool.
“We're not going out to hunt anymore.”
The light in those shining white eyes visibly dimmed with disappointment. Seeing this, Aiden reached out and gently stroked her gaunt, white head.
“We're leaving this sub-plane and going to the main plane. Once we're there, I'll let you eat your fill.”
Hearing this, the light returned to her eyes in an instant, and the white tail behind her began to wag furiously. Aiden glanced at the rapidly swinging tail. As expected, all of Bianca's emotions are in her tail. He retracted his claw.
“Aiden! How are we leaving, aow? Ooo?” In recent days, Azure had told her many things. Bianca now knew that this world was just a sub-plane. A month ago, the magical beasts outside had become frenzied, slaughtering each other without thought for their own survival in an endless cycle of violence. If it weren't for that, she never would have obediently stayed in the cave with Azure, gnawing on cacti.
Ignoring the little fool's question, Aiden lowered his head and focused on the mark on his right claw. The connection was there. Red mana condensed from the air into fine threads, flowing into the mark until it began to glow.
Seeing the mark on his red claw, Azure's blue pupils narrowed. That's… a contract mark. How was he bound by a contract? Chromatic dragons are naturally blessed by the Fifth Crown and should be immune to contracts. Is Aiden not a chromatic dragon? Her gaze fixed on his crimson scales.
*****
Rhoyce Empire
Seated at the head of the table, Thea set down her knife and fork, quietly watching the spectacle next to her. Before Isolde was a roasted leg of meat nearly the size of her own body. Her small hands worked with clear purpose, knife in the right, fork in the left. The knife became a blur of silver flashes across the roast. A perfect, bite-sized piece of meat fell onto her plate. She speared it with her fork and popped it into her mouth. Watching Isolde eat was a form of entertainment in itself, as the mountain of meat steadily diminished.
Thea's gaze drifted down. Isolde's small stomach, hidden beneath a black dress, showed no signs of swelling. What a miraculous stomach. Where does all that food go? A flicker of curiosity passed through Thea's black eyes.
Breakfast proceeded in this quiet, ordinary fashion.
Without warning, a familiar, searing heat bloomed on the back of Isolde's right hand. Her knife and fork paused in mid-air. She set them down and held her hand up. The summoning mark was glowing with a brilliant red light as a single thread of red mana unfurled from it.
He's contacting me.
Isolde looked up at Thea, who was already watching her, her eyes focused and serious.
Isolde gave a small nod. Seeing Thea's encouragement, she turned her gaze back to the mana thread. Without hesitation, her left hand shot out and grasped it. A scorching, stabbing pain shot up her arm.
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Back in the cave, Aiden's red pupils narrowed. The connection was made. He sank his consciousness into the link. Huh, what was her name again? For a moment, he didn't know how to begin.
“Hello?” a sweet, girlish voice echoed in his mind.
“Greetings, Contractor,” Aiden replied, his eyes fixed on the red thread emanating from his claw. Better to get straight to the point.
“Contractor, what is your mana level?”
“Two thousand five hundred and forty-one.” Her young voice was timid, tinged with a clear anxiety.
2541? That will do. It's sufficient.
“I'm sorry, I couldn't reach the amount you asked for,” the contractor's apologetic voice sounded in his head. Aiden ignored it.
“Contractor, begin the summoning. Your mana should be enough.”
“Really?” Her voice was full of surprise and delight. It seemed this contractor was also very eager to meet him. Staring at the orange thread of her mana now intertwining with his own, Aiden's red eyes were impassive.
“Yes. Summon me, Contractor.”
“Okay! Please wait, I'll prepare to summon you right away!”
With that, the connection was severed. The orange and red mana threads vanished. This time, Aiden hadn't drawn any of her mana. He turned his head and looked at Azure. She had been staring at him since the beginning. As for Bianca, the moment he had started his conversation, she had scurried back to chewing on her cactus, her back turned to them.
Scrape, scrape… The sound of her gnawing filled the silence.
Ignoring her, Aiden met Azure's deep, blue-slitted eyes. “I know what you want to ask, but I don't like explaining things. So don't ask.”
The blue wyrmling nodded once and looked away. She understood that if Aiden wasn't prepared to say something, asking would be useless.
...
Seeing that Isolde had finished her conversation, Thea noticed the irrepressible smile on her small face. It must be good news.
“Good news?”
“Yes, Thea! He's finally letting me summon him!”
Thea's eyes narrowed slightly. To be honest, she had always been intensely curious about the partner Isolde had contracted. The powerful feedback, the unreasonable rate of advancement… what kind of being was it?
“Congratulations. You'll finally be able to meet your partner.”
“Thank you! Can I… can I do the summoning in the estate garden, Thea?”
“Of course.” A smile touched Thea's lips. She hopped down from her chair, walked over to Isolde, and took her by the hand. “Come, let's go to the garden together.”
“Mm!”
They walked hand-in-hand out of the dining hall. Behind the main manor lay the estate garden. It was summer, so the space was overflowing with all kinds of beautiful flowers, their beauty accentuated by meticulously trimmed green hedges. The two of them stopped before a gazebo.
Thea released her hand and gently patted the girl's small head. “Alright, Isolde. You can do this.”
“Mhm!” She nodded rapidly, her body practically vibrating with excitement.
Thea walked into the gazebo, sat down, and gave her an encouraging smile. Returning the smile, Isolde turned around. She stood on the small path before the gazebo, clasped her hands before her chest, and closed her eyes, beginning to carefully construct the summoning formation.
Orange mana manifested in the air, falling to the ground and beginning to form the complex lines of the array. The formation for a partner summoning was not overly complex; one simply had to construct the shape of the mark. In less than two minutes, the final line connected.
A brilliant orange light flared. A glowing portal, twenty yards high and fifteen yards wide, opened before the formation. Her partner had said he was very large, so Isolde had deliberately expanded the gate.
Inside the cave, a gate of light materialized from thin air. Seeing it, Aiden's maw split into a wide grin. Finally, he could leave this damned, garbage sub-plane.
He turned his head and looked at the blue wyrmling, his eyes meeting her deep, slitted ones. “You and Bianca go through first.”
The blue head nodded slightly. Seeing Azure agree, Aiden turned to the other side. The white figure still had her back to him. The little fool was still gnawing on a cactus, having apparently forgotten what he'd said.
He padded forward and stopped behind her, rising up on his hind legs. His two foreclaws seized her white tail, and with a great heave, he swung her through the air.
Off you go!
“Aow?”
Her body was suddenly airborne. Bianca instinctively hugged the cactus in her claws for dear life.