Niara stayed completely silent, but Darian—being inside her body—could feel the pain she was going through. She'd probably been trapped in that dungeon for days, already weak, and now her neck had nearly been sliced in half.
The blood kept pouring nonstop, making her tense.
'Come on!'
Out of nowhere, Darian shouted from inside.
She felt something strange happen and opened her eyes. Through the gaps in the chains, she saw the fallen body on the ground start to change.
A faint black, ghostly thread rose from him. She shivered as it slithered toward her body.
Darian felt a deep satisfaction as he devoured it. After all that intense training, he could now consume the enemy's power without needing physical contact—as long as they were already dead. He'd always been able to do that, but didn't know how.
A strange energy spread through his soul, anchoring itself into the two rings on his wrists. That man had just as much energy as the first monster Darian had killed. Just like before, 99% of it was white power, with only a tiny bit of black mixed in.
The next moment, Niara felt heat surge through her body—and in seconds, all her pain vanished.
'This is your power... is this a Blessing?!' she asked, her voice full of surprise.
Darian had heard that word—"Blessing"—before, from his instructor back on Earth. That's what they called the power of Spiritual Guardians.
He sighed and replied, 'I don't know how or why... I've just had this. Even as a kid, I already had a piece of it.'
'This… I've heard of it in old legends. You guys use the word "awakening" in your universe, right? There are really rare people who are said to have had the "ancestral awakening." They come here with a Blessing already built into their foundation. Of course, it's just a base; they can still develop it on their own. Or build on top of it, adding another ready-made Blessing that fits with the first one.'
What she said made Darian feel excited. So there were others like him—maybe he didn't have to be so afraid after all.
'But…' She suddenly remembered something. 'An Ancestral Awakened is just a legend because they don't get summoned in the usual way. They're brought directly by powerful Spiritual Guardians, who then call a secret meeting at Celestia Academy to choose a compatible person. It's not left up to fate… that's how the stories go…'
Darian let out a long breath. If those stories were true, then back on Earth, someone should've been able to tell he was different. If no one did… then maybe he was even weirder than he thought. Definitely not something he could just go around telling people.
'Still, even if you're not one of them… could you have a healing Blessing? The last time someone with that showed up was in the early generations of Spiritual Guardians.' She sounded like she was trying to stay calm, but Darian could feel a subtle nervous energy from her.
'I'm a healer?' he muttered, thinking. 'Well… you'll have to explain stuff better if I'm gonna know anything for sure. So far, everything's been told to me way too vaguely.'
She nodded inwardly. 'Sorry, I hate reading and wasting time studying. I'll take you to the library at Celestia Academy—you can look everything up there. But don't worry, they're already here.'
Fast footsteps echoed in the distance, catching Darian's attention.
Soon, three figures stepped out of the darkness. They were all wearing full armor, holding a spear in one hand and a torch in the other.
They walked up and saw the body lying on the ground. Instantly, their attention snapped to the chained-up figure in front of them, their movements growing tense.
"That's the guy King Jotre talked about! She killed him!"
One of them shouted, and the other two pointed their spears forward, ready to strike.
Niara stayed calm, her eyes locked onto them. The soldiers only got more nervous. She was sealed in a way that went beyond just physical restraints—not even her voice could be used, that's how cautious and afraid they were of her.
Seconds passed, and the two realized she wasn't going to attack. Still, they didn't lower their spears or step closer. Then one of them reached behind him, grabbed something small, and snapped it.
A chain near her neck suddenly lost its energy.
*Cough, cough...*
She felt her voice return and coughed hard, spitting out the blood that had built up in her throat. Then, focusing on them, she spoke with a slightly hoarse voice: "I passed the test."
"What fucking test, you demon?! What the hell happened here? He wasn't supposed to be here and—"
"Are you stupid?" she cut him off coldly. "Just look at his blade, lying next to his body. A little digging and you'll see that bastard king sent him."
"You—"
They clearly knew who that assassin was, but couldn't say anything out loud. The rules and laws of Celestia Academy were completely different from those of the common folk in this universe.
"Again, I passed the test. I'm a Summoner now. You can't keep me here."
Her words finally caught the soldiers off guard.
One of them turned to the others, and suddenly it hit them: she'd come alone to take the Summoning Test at Celestia Academy. They'd only been able to arrest her because she entered on her own and failed the test.
Historically, people who passed always appeared within the first three days—never once, in millions of years, had that changed. Since the days had passed, she, like many others, was marked as a failure. That's when King Jotre made his move, right inside the Academy.
She was a wanted criminal, so she got locked up immediately. Not under Celestia Academy's laws, but under the laws of regular people. If anyone found out a Summoner was being treated like this, those three—and everything they knew—would be wiped out.
Summoners were this universe's last hope. They were to be respected by everyone else. If she really passed, everything changed.
Niara finished calmly: "You can confirm it easily. My Spiritual Guardian is using my body to recover."
The second soldier hesitated for a moment and looked to the others, who nodded. Then he pulled out a small jade crystal and stepped forward cautiously.
Still at a distance, he reached out toward her... and soon the crystal began to emit a faint glow.
"This..." he confirmed in shock.
Niara scoffed: "Just like I said. I'm a Summoner now. By the rules, all my crimes can be paid off through service. I'm already under Celestia Academy's restrictions."
The three took deep breaths, clearly more at ease now. Even though she was extremely dangerous, there was no risk she'd go crazy and kill them—or commit any other crimes—without consequences.
Once someone becomes a Summoner, they're bound by a whole different set of strict rules—break even one of them, and they explode on the spot.
But… those amber eyes of hers still gave them chills.