After uttering the strange and incomprehensible words, the card in Reyn's hand disintegrated while something inside him seemed to flush out. Unlike the summoning of his spirits, casting a spell was like sprinting for several minutes. It drained his stamina.
A magic circle appeared beneath his feets, as if he was the center of the spell. Reyn realized something as a notification appeared in his vision.
[No available target!]
It was apparent that he needed to summon one of his spirit to complete the spell. Akira would be the ideal choice for possession, but he hesitated. He was not yet ready for a foreign mind to invade his body. He hurriedly cancelled the spell. In doing so, the green glow of light tracing his entire body disappeared along with the magic circle.
Feeling that his body was a bit heavy, Reyn went to a corner and sat down, swiping the sweat on his forehead with a wrist. It was unusual that he was fatigued but not gasping for air nor his heart beating faster than normal.
'Fuck this!' Reyn abruptly stood up after his mind wandered. If he thought too much, he'd end up less productive. This was not the time for leisure. With his will, seven swordsmen appeared, pulling themselves out from the ground. He was a bit relieved seeing that Yasuke had finally joined the ranks of his spirits.
Now that he remembered, he had an abundant number of shards and essences. He quickly contemplated on where to distribute them. However, now that he thought about it, Soul Essences are also sought out, like a currency. Evident why a demoness would approach him personally.
[You have 27 Spirit Shards, 12 Soul Essences and 12 Shadow Quintessences!]
Reyn couldn't help but chuckle as he thought of dropping all the spirit shards to Skill. With Yasuke and Noda's 26 Skill and multiplied by two, if he added 27 more, they'd have a whopping 106 Skill. No one would dare go near them and throw their life away. However, he had no idea of what kind of opponents awaited them on the next floors. It would be better that he reserved some for later. As such, he spent 4 Spirit Shards on Skill.
"Alright, guys... Let's go to the next floor." Before he could make a step and lead the way, the teen noticed that Akira was standing in front of Yasuke and Noda, who obediently stood shoulder to shoulder.
"I didn't know that you have another spirit just like me, kid..." Akira mumbled, caressing his bony chin with a finger. The pair of green orbs inside dark sockets depicting his eyes, intensely gazed at the other two awakened spirits.
"You mean Yasuke? He was injured when I battled you so you didn't saw him. But I did summoned him when we faced Lott." Reyn explained, a bit cautious that Akira can behave however he liked.
"I see..." A grin appeared beneath the assassin's mask. "Do they talk?"
"No. But they do things on their own way." Reyn answered, raising his brow in curiousity.
Akira chuckled and stayed silent.
Since there was no more questions, Reyn went straight toward the stairway. When he reached the sixth floor with the swordsmen in tow, he noticed something different. The air had a similar feeling just like when he cast the first spell he acquired earlier.
'Magic?' Reyn questioned in his mind. He was in doubt to send in his spirit. The room was empty, and some parts of the floor were charred. This was probably the only floor he had seen to lack any sort of design.
With some thought, he decided to send in Akira. He was the quickest and fastest, which meant he was the most capable to avoid any danger hidden within the room.
"Akira, go!" Reyn commanded.
The assassin scoffed before casually strolling into the open. As soon as he stepped inside the room, he instantly tensed and looked up. With his superior reflexes, he hopped to the side in haste and skidded upon landing as a fireball hit the place where he once stood.
'Boom!'
The explosion also affected Reyn and his spirits who were hiding on the stairway. They reeled backwards, as the youth felt the extreme heat seemingly peeling the skin on his exposed arms which he used to shield his face.
Before he could process what had just happened, he heard Akira's voice.
"A figure is floating up in the air!"
"Can you take care of it?!" Reyn shouted.
'Well, I don't have any weapon to reach it.. But yeah, why not..' Akira intently stared at the robed figure floating above him. Its legs were crossed while one of its hands held a staff. The staff itself was dry and withering, but the green crystal it held shone brightly.
The assassin slowly and carefully picked up a rubble on the floor, while his eyes carefully observed the figure. He immediately accelerated to a random direction when the crystal of the staff the figure held glinted as another explosion appeared. While in motion, Akira flicked the rubble in his hand with a finger. The projectile swiftly moved like a bullet and hit its mark as the head of the figure snapped back and it began falling to the ground.
Instead of a bigger rock, and wasting a big motion by throwing it which is very obvious and can be dodged, Akira chose a smaller object and only used his finger to propel it, masking it with his movement. He was an assassin after all, and most of his victims never knew how they perished.
With a thud, the figure hit the ground and never moved an inch. Akira inspected the body before calling out to his summoner, "He's dead."
Responding to the call, Reyn sprinted out and saw the assassin resting a foot on the corpse. Soon after, notifications appeared in his vision.
[Sixth Floor Cleared!]
[Rewards:
12 Spirit Shards
7 Soul Essences
9 Shadow Quintessences]
The teen also saw the dots of light above the corpse and absorbed them.
[You have gained 3 Spirit Shards and 1 Soul Essences!]
'So, I only had one opponent in this floor. I guess I can receive more rewards if there are more of them. But that was just too easy if Akira is around. This mage would have been a formidable opponent without him.' Reyn thought while taking a glance at the assassin.
-----
Somewhere in City C
"Julius!"
In a dark hallway, a voice echoed in an urgent manner. A figure standing by the small lights pentrating the holes on the wall, turned to face another figure approaching.
"Astor... I thought you're going to explore around?" The figure called Julius, asked. His voice was calm, but it somehow carried something dangerous, like a sharp knife.
"I came across two Shadow Duelists. I challenged them to a Shadow Duel but they managed to escape in the Shadow Realm!" Astor hastily explained. He knew that the man in front of him did not like to waste time with words.
"They did that?" Julius shook in laughter, "It looks like you're just unlucky. My victims had never done something like that. If they did, I have no way of finding them even if I followed them in the Shadow Realm."
"But...but if they could just go in and out of the Shadow Realm, how are we suppose to catch them?" Astor became desperate. In his mind, it was a waste of time coming to this continent if he couldn't benefit from the Shadow Duels.
"You can just wait on the same spot until they decided to come out." Julius' tone turned serious.
"What?" Astor's eyes widened and his mind went blank. He felt like he had just missed a great opportunity.
"But no matter," Julius waved a hand, "No more killings for now. I've already fulfilled the first condition. I only need to make a big announcement to this new generation of Shadow Duelists."
Feeling the disappointment of the Blood Summoner, Julius reassured with a chuckle, "You don't know how many Spirit Shards, Soul Essences and Shadow Quintessences these kids are receiving inside the Shadow Game. Unlike you who trained your Summoned Units since young age, they are just using these things to empower their Spirits and Heroes. So when the Third Phase begin, they'll be fat enough for your appetite.
With those words, Astor relaxed and cheerfully said, "You're right. I got carried away just because I couldn't catch those two kids."
"These two kids are actually interesting. They're creative enough to know that they can actually use the Shadow Game to escape you." Julius rested his chin on a fist.
"Well, I bet they were just lucky to have thought of that." Astor sniffed and turned to leave, "I'll leave you then. There's a city I must explore."
Julius stood silent for several seconds as the figure of the Blood Summoner slowly disappeared. With how fast the information flowed in this technically advanced era, it is indeed troublesome if the two teenagers that Astro encountered, shared their experience.