Maybe the boy didn't notice. However, Eryk's hand trembled holding his dagger.On the other hand, White kept urging Eryk to get rid of the boy. It doesn't matter which way Eryk has to go. White didn't like it when their hiding place was exposed because a seven-year-old boy's prank leaked."Not!" Eryk replied to Alland's question and requested to stop at his nest. "Leave me alone!"Alland's face looked disappointed."All right… all right…," he said. "Just relax. I'm not going to force it. Give me a moment to rest. Okay? After that, I will go."Eryk continued to watch the boy suspiciously.Alland suddenly took off the backpack on his back and started to unzip it. Alland's hand gesture alerted Eryk. Reflexively, he again pointed his dagger at Alland."Hey, don't be like that!" Allan was shocked. "I'll be going soon. You don't have to threaten me. You can hurt me with that!"Alland was starting to get a little scared. He didn't really know Eryk. This was the first time Alland met Eryk in
"Hey, it's me!"Eryk was a little startled and almost jumped down from the nest. When the doves flew away, Eryk thought a human had come there following Alland's appearance. Apparently, it was just the crow who helped him last night."Should you have come making such a fuss, Black?" Eryk looked irritated."I hate those doves," complained the crow. "They always swarm and snatch my food. I just wanted to scare them a little."Suddenly, Eryk and Black fell silent. They glanced at Alland together. How shocked Black was when he realized too late that another human was in Eryk's nest."Wayland, who is this little human?" Black became alert. "I thought you didn't like dealing with other humans?"Eryk didn't answer."Is that how you talk to birds?" Alland asked enthusiastically. "Did the crow understand what you were saying? That's so cool! Can I try it? Speak to him?""Are you crazy, Son of Man?" Black shouted, flapping his wings back and forth to scare Alland.Eryk sighed and muttered to hi
Eryk always felt uneasy when he went out during the day. At night, when exploring the city for food and supplies or just strolling around, the darkness shields him from the prying eyes of humans.Moving around at night makes it freer on the streets and along rooftops. But, on land under the dazzling light of the sun, Eryk felt exposed.Eryk had to cover his head with a hood and walk with his head down. Along the sidewalk, Eryk kept his arms folded across his chest. By doing so, he could dispel people's gaze on his whereabouts."Rockwool is quite a large city," muttered Eryk. "The streets are arranged like a grid. Unfortunately, I can't read street names. Because some are written using foreign letters that I don't understand."It's as if Rockwool is a fantasy city that doesn't exist in real life. In fact, so far, Rockwool has never been found on any map.Occasionally Eryk looked up at the sky to ensure White was always with him. Now coupled with Bla
"That place?" Allan frowned. The boy looks cute and very innocent."I mean," said Eryk. "Take me to the archive room, which holds history and information about this city. You understand, right?""Well, of course. The archive room is a great destination if you want to learn about history. So, my guess was right. You like history books, Eryk."Alland acted as if he were a grown man. He tried to level up with Eryk in conversation. Even though it looks hilarious, Eryk appreciates the boy's efforts.Eryk followed behind Alland and walked between the shelves. He tried not to stare at the irresistible books all over the rows of shelves. Eryk must focus and pay attention to his goals.Alland continued walking up the stairs until he reached the second floor. They walked down the halls and corridors. And then, they turned right. Suddenly, Alland stopped."Here!" he said, pointing to a large door in front of him. "But, there is another problem."The boy turned around and faced Eryk. He grinned g
White flew ahead and perched on the roof of Mr Jarvis' car."It's not too late to turn around," she told Eryk.Eryk steeled himself and kept walking. In the distance, he heard the bells from the Rockwool Prison tower chime that it was 7:00 p.m.The sun had long since set, and it was already quite dark in the sky, with only visible dark clouds. There is no pale moon, let alone stars."We could go into town and loot a dumpster of chicken restaurants," Black said. "Why do we have to come here? Wasting time! There are many choices in town. And as long as I can remember, you haven't paid off your promise to feed me a delicious dinner, Wayland!"Eryk stopped. He tried to cover up his nervousness by slipping his hands into his pants pockets. His back was slightly bent, and his face looked pale. Eryk was always pale and thin."I want to do this, attend the Jarvis family dinner," Eryk said to the two birds."But, you don't look like you want to go, Eryk. Your face is ashen, even paler than usu
The atmosphere in the dining room really felt very awkward. When Alland left the room to get a plate, Eryk thought about turning around and running away."They clearly don't want me here. I should have listened to White."Eryk tried to smile. But he was sure it would look more like a grin. Mr. Jarvis nodded as if he wasn't sure how to respond to Eryk's smile. Mrs. Jarvis slowly put the plate on the table, and Alyssa avoided meeting Eryk face-to-face."Please, sit down!" said Mr. Jarvis to Eryk. The man also turned to Alyssa and asked the girl to return to her seat.Nervously, Eryk did as he was told. His hands are placed on either side of his body while sitting. Everything looks immaculate! Walls, floors, and tablecloths. He barely dared to move for fear of getting all those things dirty.For a moment, Eryk felt like a fool. He had completely forgotten what it was like to be rich with all the luxuries that existed. Six months of being homeless and living as a vagabond on Rockwool City
Eryk froze for a moment. He tried to digest what he was seeing. Coki was huddled at the bottom of the stairs and barking like crazy. While Alland screamed and kept screaming.A snake lying on the carpet. The snake's scales were dark and about three meters long. The snake's body was coiled up, but its short fat head lifted off the floor.Eryk was about to jump but was held back by Mr Jarvis."No, step back!" he said. "That is dangerous.""Get away from my dog!" Alland shouted at the snake. "Coki!"Instead of retreating, the snake darted forward. Coki's bark became squeaky when the snake's fangs bit his leg and got stuck. The brown-haired dog growled, nibbled, and rolled around. He writhed until he managed to free himself.The snake hissed, turned, and slithered straight at Alland. Its eyes were emerald and shiny. The snake watched Alland's every move closely.Eryk broke free from Master Jarvis' grip. He had grabbed the lamp in the corridor, unplugged it from the socket, and tossed it a
Eryk woke up even before the sun really came up. He stretched all the muscles of his body that felt stiff and sore. His skin tingled in the cold air."It's so good you can sleep. Meanwhile, I have to stay up all night,” complained White."Aren't you a nocturnal creature? You should have stayed up all night. Go to sleep now. Let me take turns guarding.""Guys, what are we looking for and waiting all night for?" Black rejoined after jumping out of the bushes.The three spent the night in a tree trunk across from Jarvis's house. Even though White urged Eryk to return to the lair, Eryk did not sleep a wink. He had just drifted off to sleep when the morning was just around the corner and was awake thirty minutes later. They argued all night.“What if the big man comes back? What if his two comrades—the strange woman and the hunchbacked man return?”Eryk remembered how strong Snake Eyes was when he was in the alley. He is no ordinary prisoner. And Eryk began to relate the escape of the conv
Alyssa and Joker, accompanied by Wanda, meet the Lightning Summoner. He is a tall man with a large spear weapon that can emit electricity.The man sat opposite Wanda in a cafe. Meanwhile, Alyssa and Joker stood not far from them but could still hear their conversation."Is it true that the weapon made by Iron killed Kayes?"Flash, the Lightning Summoner, looked very surprised by the information that Wanda had just conveyed.Gloomily, Wanda nodded. "That's right."Suddenly, Flash stood up and yelled angrily in front of Wanda."Why was Kayes just killed now? Did Iron mean to frame me and make me the culprit? Was Iron also the one who snatched the sealed summoned spirit from Sandra's hand? Was he the one who killed Sandra that time?"Wanda was furious. She stood up straight with her back to the cafe window and glared at Flash."Why are you asking me that? I should be the one demanding answers from you. Because only you and Iron rejected Sandra's decision to sell the sealed summoned spiri
"Joker?" shock Alyssa and Duri together.“Belinda?” asked Joker, who was no less surprised when he saw Alyssa's appearance at his weapon shop.Alyssa growled and clenched her fists. "Don't call me by that name!""Oh, sorry, I forgot. However, among the Guardian Summoners, you are known as Belinda the viper.”"Joker, what are you doing here?" asked Alyssa. "Shouldn't you be level nine?"Joker shrugged his shoulders. “You can see for yourself. I'm trading here. How could I pass up an opportunity to make money? I can easily sell my collection of antique objects here. You, I mean you guys, what brought you here?”Alyssa took a deep breath. He pulled a stool in front of the table and sat down without being invited.Joker came out from behind a counter displaying various types of rare weapons and went to the mini fridge to get a can of soda."You look really tired," Joker said as he handed Alyssa the cold soda."Yes. There's a lot going on here. And I feel no progress. Even though I have to
"I don't agree with that method!" the other Guardian Summoner members protested. "That strategy will harm the villagers.""That shouldn't worry you. Because the villagers you are referring to here are none other than the summoners themselves. Each of them should be able to fight and protect themselves. And the villagers should not relax but join in the struggle with us against the destroyers.""But-"Alyssa glared at the stubborn young man. "The battle this time was completely orchestrated by me–Alyssa Harris, vice-leader of the Guardian Summoners. Please obey my orders!"After the meeting did not go smoothly, they finally disbanded. Alyssa returns to town, where her inn is. He walked accompanied by Duri.Duri appears dressed as a warrior, although his skin is still green. Duri's body, in its original form, looked firm and muscular. He always escorted and watched over Alyssa.As soon as they entered the city gates, Alyssa and Duri gasped in shock. Above the fortress gate that protecte
After the main prize was given, which was won by Eryk, suddenly, the vast, boundless field has now turned into a city. The town's appearance resembles the cities on levels one and two.Eryk and the other participants realized that the field they had just seen was a floating island where the arena matches were usually held.Lizard immediately ran away as fast as his foot could take it. But, the testers seem to let it be."Why did you let him when you found out he was cheating?" Rosemary shouted at the level three examiner through the loudspeaker before her."According to the rules we have explained," replied the examiner. "The only rule in the land of shadows is to deal with summoners who kill each other. The examiners and organizers will not take any action concerning theft and other crimes. But, because now you are still in the level three area. Even though the match is over, I still give the same rules."Rosemary suddenly grinned and glanced at Eryk. They both nodded their heads at e
Returning to the centre of the competition arena was much more troublesome and difficult than leaving it to seek the outer limits of the field. Eryk got lost several times and walked too far. However, they started to find summoners running last and slowing down."We are getting closer to the centre of the arena. In a moment, the centre of the field should be visible.""Hey, Young Man!" said the turtle summoner who strolled. He rides his turtle. "Why did you return to the centre of the arena? Did you find the limit? You should have crossed that line to survive.""Sorry, Old Man, it seems we failed to find the outer boundary of this field. Too vast and impossible. We haven't even reached it after an hour of running.""Gosh, if you guys who are as strong and as good as this can't even find it, what about my turtle who strolls and me? How many hundreds of years would it take us to get to the outer limits of the field? This is simply impossible. I could return with you and repeat this exam
"Watch everyone!" exclaimed the examiner through the loudspeaker. "We will immediately carry out the challenge at level three without rest. You will be able to rest after going through this challenge."Everyone was making a fuss. They haven't finished calming down after the tension in the previous level two challenge. And now, when they arrive at level three, they hope to rest for a while but are offered the next battle instead."I'm a kind examiner!" said the figure through the loudspeaker. "I will not burden you with serious and difficult challenges. There is only one challenge this time. You have to find the boundary of this field. Only the first 20 participants who manage to find the field's outer boundary will be selected and will qualify for the next stage."Everyone was whispering. The remaining 40 summoners will be eliminated in half. Everyone started to get excited and threw away the tiredness and tension before. Now they welcome new challenges to defend life and death."Spec
"Trying to kill us with this stuff?" quipped one of the summoners.But she still dared to open the gift box. Her eyes immediately lit up when she saw a beautiful dress there."Wow! How did you know I wanted this beautiful dress?""Time to open the gift box!" shouted a food summoner. He let out a scream as he earned so many gold coins."Eryk, what did you get?" White asked.Eryk opened his gift box and got a giant clam shell made of crystal."I don't know if this thing can be of any use? How about you?" replied Eryk.White opened her gift box and showed a pen made of goose down. The cell has solid toxic ink."Oh, I got some golden hairclips here. Not too bad," said Rosemary.Then they turned Black."Why haven't you opened your gift box yet, Black?""I was too scared to open it. I'm not sure if I deserve a prize? I've never had a surprise before," said Black, who looked such a melodrama when he received his first gift box."Just try it," said a summoner. "Your gifts are quite interestin
"The competition has just started," muttered someone in front of the level two area surveillance monitor.The figure in the black robe pressed a button.After rescuing the summoners almost mired in the crater, Eryk and the others started to rush off to find another place with fewer traps."We should head back to town. This forest is not safe at all. And I'm not sure there will be an exit in this forest.""I'm sorry," said Rosemary. "I have already given the wrong advice.""There's nothing to be sorry for, Rose. We are all struggling and trying our best."They returned to the city. While on their way to the plaza, they saw that many summoners had died, trapped in a battle, or by attacking each other with their teammates. Everything was prepared by the testers at level two."In fact, I suspect this level two area has no way out," Black said defensively. He was still carrying Rose on his back.While in the city centre, Eryk accidentally found a building slightly different from the usual
"Crow summoner spies?" Eryk asked. "I guess that's a bit impossible. If it is true that this land of shadows upholds rule and justice."Their conversation was cut short by an announcement."Participants, we have a little surprise for you on this wild night. The competition will be carried out earlier than the actual schedule."The two summoned spirits, Eryk and Rosemary, were surprised to hear the sound from the loudspeaker. Even though they are sure that a new competition will be held tomorrow morning. Suddenly the schedule was accelerated tonight, and they had no preparation."Testing at level two this time is a bit different. You don't need to come to the arena. We'll do it out in the open."Eryk and the summoners on the second floor also clearly heard the announcement. They all started scattering out of the house and their respective comfortable places.The summoners gathered in the plaza and filled the streets with panicked faces. They need clarification.Midnight and they were f