Dark Fantasy Guide for the Summoner - Chapter 28

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 28.
Beast God
Hee, hee, hee, hee, hee—
The Owl’s beak gaped open, releasing an uncanny sound.
It was a strange cry that a bird’s vocal structure shouldn’t have been capable of producing, though I realized only too late that it was laughter.
Of course, there was something far more arresting than that grating cackle.
‘What in the world are those eyes?’
Those pupils. Despite being separated by hundreds of meters—possibly far more—why could I see them with such crystalline clarity?
The more I stared, the heavier my head felt.
My mind grew hazy, uncertain, as though I were being drawn inexorably into those very pupils—
Thump.
In that instant, something fell from the sky, wrenching my gaze away.
My consciousness, which had been on the verge of abandoning me, snapped back into place, and I looked down at the new arrival.
“A lizard…?”
It was the Ash-fire Lizard.
This time, it wasn’t coiled up, wasn’t keeping its eyes closed. The lizard turned its back to me and fixed its gaze on the Owl.
“You.”
And this creature had actually spoken.
“You’ve caught the eye of something troublesome.”
I blinked a few times before speaking.
“…What? Did you just say that?”
“Hm.”
It seemed I was right.
The lizard answered with a snort, baring its teeth at the Owl.
Hee, hee, hee, hee, hee—
Apparently delighted by this, the Owl continued its laughter, and as I watched, its neck twisted in a slow rotation.
I knew owls could do that. But this one…—
Crack, pop.
The vertebrae went far beyond what joints should allow, completing a full 360-degree rotation before settling back into place.
Splurch.
Bright red blood dripped from the Owl’s beak in heavy drops.
[Beast God ‘[Unknown]’ is pleased.]
The Owl flapped its wings in delight—a motion that resembled nothing so much as applause.
‘What’s so funny about that?’
As I gazed up at the Owl with a dubious twist to my feelings—
Kaaaaagh!
The lizard reared its tail in warning, and in an instant, its entire body was engulfed in ashen flames.
“Now you abandon your position as observer? Pasturing us for millennia—was that not itself your very identity?”
The lizard cried out with resounding force.
I felt myself flinch at the sheer pressure of its presence, yet the Owl regarded it with a leisurely calm.
Whoosh-crack!
Then it spread its wings, turning its back to the moon.
The Owl’s entire form grew pitch-black, swallowed by shadow.
And so only its pupils—once the darkest part of it—blazed with a luminous violet light.
“…!”
And then it vanished.
In an instant, with no warning whatsoever.
Had it simply evaporated?
Even scanning the surroundings, I could see no shadow anywhere.
“……”
The lizard, which had reared so majestically, lowered its tail.
Apparently having exerted itself considerably, it turned to face me at last, breathing slowly and steadily.
“I’m at a loss as to how you’ve attracted such a presence. You appear to be nothing but an ordinary human……”
A Magical Beast capable of communicating with people.
I knew what such creatures were called.
‘A True Beast…or perhaps a Spirit Beast?’
Honestly, it didn’t seem to be at that tier of Magical Beast, but the system message had verified it as fact.
I asked with a somewhat uneasy feeling.
“So what exactly are you?”
“Wasn’t it you who sought me out and saved me?”
“I was desperate, that’s all. The black tree was trying to kill me, and you were parasitizing it. I judged that if I saved you, I could get help.”
“Still, a human saving a Magical Beast. You’re not in your right mind.”
Perhaps not. I’m not entirely sure myself.
If it meant staying alive, I’d save a demon, let alone a Magical Beast.
“Regardless, you seem to know something about that Owl. I noticed.”
“Of course. Any being dwelling in this forest couldn’t help but know of his existence.”
The lizard studied my expression before continuing.
“Though it seems you’re not entirely without your own suspicions either?”
I rolled my tongue in my mouth for a moment, then something clicked, and I muttered it aloud.
“……A Beast God.”
The lizard nodded.
“We call them that as well. Though we primarily refer to them as the Primordial Beast God, or sometimes the Primordial Eternal God.”
Primordial?
For a mere Magical Beast, wasn’t that name far too grandiose?
Reading my thoughts, the lizard spoke again.
“Being called ‘Primordial’ doesn’t mean they were born with this world. But they are beings that existed long before this forest itself came to be.”
“Before the forest came to be…….”
That was certainly a staggering stretch of time.
The Eternal Forest was ancient—at least thousands of years old, perhaps far more.
“And the Owl we just witnessed is among the most dangerous of these Primordial Beast Gods.”
“You mentioned something about standing apart, or roaming free, or whatever.”
“Hmm.”
The lizard exhaled slowly, then spoke.
“In this vast forest’s ecosystem, there exists no neutral party quite as isolated as that one. The reason such a thing is possible is, of course, because that being possesses strength beyond reckoning.”
“What does the creature even do?”
“……A keeper of mirth and pleasure, the first jester. Or perhaps the deceiver of the night sky.”
Grandiose titles followed, but they didn’t quite land with me.
As I stared with an unconvinced expression, the lizard’s body swayed.
“Is this……all I can manage? Damn. Recovery still isn’t complete…….”
“What?”
“Listen, human. The details……once I’ve recovered……we can speak more…….”
“Hey, wait―”
Before I could say anything more, the creature’s eyes closed.
And then something even more startling occurred.
[The Magical Beast, ‘Ash-fire Lizard’, has entered a Comatose State.]
[The Magical Beast in a Comatose State is being transferred to the Nest.]
Right before my eyes, the lizard vanished without a trace.
“What……?”
Had it died?
No, that didn’t seem to be what the message indicated.
‘Nest? Ah.’
Was this a newly acquired skill? Around level twenty, it was normal to gain a skill or two.
I opened the skill window.
Nest Lv.1
Type: Support
Activation Time: Instant | Range: Designated Target
Duration: ― | Cooldown: ―
You can store tamed Magical Beasts in a safe space. Within the Nest, their health gradually recovers.
▶ Stored Magical Beasts: 2 / 2
So that was it.
The reason the lizard disappeared, and why Wizzerly hadn’t been visible either.
‘Convenient.’
With this, even if I returned to the kingdom, I could hide my Magical Beasts, and keep them concealed from sight at all times.
‘And there’s even a health recovery effect.’
Gradual, they said, but that would naturally improve as the skill level rose.
Next was…….
Heart-to-Heart Connection Lv.1
Type: Support
Activation Time: Instant
Range: Maximum 100 meters
Duration: ―Cooldown: 10 seconds
You can transmit your will to a tamed Magical Beast.
The moment I finished reading, something clicked into place.
When Wizzerly fought Godrak, I never gave him a direct command, yet he unleashed those blade cyclones at precisely the right moments.
‘As if he’d read my mind perfectly.’
In the heat of combat, there’s no time to speak.
One misplaced word throws off your breathing rhythm, and that split second could mean defeat.
A hundred-meter range was more than generous.
If I learned to use this well, it could turn the tide in battle itself.
“Kaindel…….”
Just then, Cria lurched toward me, unsteady on her feet.
The moment she stumbled, I grabbed her shoulder to keep her from falling.
“Careful.”
“Sorry…….”
“Don’t apologize. Are you all right? You look terrible.”
Cria shook her head.
“Yeah……. But we still need to collect what we can.”
“Mm.”
Collect what we can―
I’d heard that phrase somewhere before. It was my own habit, I realized.
I’d always emphasized collecting byproducts even if I was on the brink of losing consciousness, right after killing an enemy.
Hearing it come from someone else’s mouth felt oddly strange.
“Here, these are what the black tree left behind when it disappeared…….”
I examined the items Cria handed over, and was genuinely impressed.
First, there was a SEED―the currency of this world. Just one, but it was the size of a potato seed with a vivid color.
“A Red Seed.”
Literally, a seed of deep crimson.
“Is that a good thing?”
“Very.”
I wasn’t sure my expression was getting the point across.
Since she looked uncertain, I spelled it out for her.
“This single one is worth more than everything we’ve scraped together over the past five days.”
“Really? How much is it?”
“Hard to say exactly without an appraisal, but something like this should fetch at least five million.”
“……!”
Cria’s eyes went wide.
She seemed shocked that one tiny seed could be worth so much, but it made perfect sense given what SEEDs were used for.
Though explaining that now would take far too long…….
‘A bit of a letdown, though.’
While Cria beamed with joy, I felt a twinge of disappointment.
For a hidden boss with a Named tag, the loot was thin.
But there was no helping it.
This was an early-stage region, and the Woodman was notorious for meager rewards.
Of course, that wasn’t everything we’d picked up.
‘The Low-Grade Talent Stone and the 3rd Grade Trait Awakening Stone.’
Two consumable items that drop from bosses.
Just seeing them made my chest feel warm.
Naturally, both were keepers.
‘Next should be the branch―for crafting equipment.’
That bluish shimmer floating in the air had to be a Mystical Branch Imbued with Mana.
Mystical Branch Imbued with Mana
A mystical branch that contains quality mana.
The description was simple, but this was genuinely the jackpot.
With mana-imbued materials, you could craft special equipment—materials that were nearly impossible to acquire even with money.
‘And it’s wood, too.’
Unlike minerals, wood was generally a difficult medium to imbue with mana.
And wood was an essential component for crafting staves.
What did that mean?
Among wizards―people famous for having money to burn and spending it freely―it meant a material whose price went up every time someone asked for it.
‘All that suffering was worth it, after all.’
After a long time, I felt the satisfaction of loot hunting come alive as I examined the final item, and my eyes narrowed involuntarily.
“This is…….”
“Right. It was hanging from the top of the tree.”
One had fallen and burst, but somehow the other one remained intact.
At least when I checked it.
[Unknown] Fruit
Current item information cannot be confirmed.
It’s an item that needs appraisal.
There’s a chance it could be junk, but still—it’s a byproduct from the boss, so it might have unexpected value.
“What kind of fruit is it?”
“Who knows. I can’t tell right now.”
“There’s something even you don’t know, Kaindel?”
“……Well, of course there is.”
What does she think I am?
I looked at Cria with an exasperated expression, then shifted my gaze back to the seed.
“Of course, there are ways to figure it out.”
“Huh?”
I pulled the Exploration Crystal from my pouch and shone it on the mysterious fruit.
The crystal soon poured forth a faint glow, scanning the discovery as if reading it.
“What are you doing?”
“A workaround.”
“……?”
“An Exploration Crystal can measure the rarity of a discovery. Even if I can’t appraise it fully, I can get a rough sense of how valuable the item is this way.”
“Ah……!”
Cria let out a sound of realization.
“By how much the crystal’s exploration progress fills up?”
“Exactly.”
Just then, the scan finished.
[Discovery registered to Exploration Crystal.]
⁝
Lowest-Grade Exploration Crystal
A tool for recording the exploration progress of the Eternal Forest.
Current Exploration Progress: 70.9%
Time Remaining: 22 days 9 hours
Seeing the result, my mind went blank for a moment.
“……What was our exploration progress originally?”
“29…… or was it 28?”
If that was the case…….
Did it just fill by about 40% all at once?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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