Summoned and Unwanted

225 Unexpected awakening changes everything

*Gulp!* The alpha grizzly bear swallowed the rolled leaf ball filled with mysteriously dangerous ingredients. The effects appeared to be potent because the alpha grizzly bear immediately showed signs of disturbance.

Vincent suddenly felt the heavy pressure trying to crush him to death decreasing. ‘It’s time to counterattack.’ He thought after absorbing enough mana from the hardened fur to give him one charge. One of his fingers regained its feeling again, meaning one charge of mutated condensed mana was ready to be used.

Vincent pushed upwards as vigorously as he could. The moment Vincent stood up, he quickly lowered down while extending his charged finger straight, and like a blade, he swung his arm in one fluid motion.

*Roar!*

The alpha grizzly bear slammed its back against the wall with a vicious contoured face. The pain from burning and irritable throat and its paw bleeding from a two inches deep laceration were so sudden that it caused the monstrous bear to flinch momentarily.

Vincent retreated a few steps back for a breather. His body was aching in pain, and his stamina was almost depleted.

Lupa approached Vincent and asked, “My mate, what do we do now? My claws aren’t sharp anymore. The fur is too hard.”

Lupa raised her hands and showed her ten damaged claws. A few had their tips broken while others became flat and dull.

“Stay with Iris and keep an eye on Ester... ” Vincent was about to order before Kazumi warned him of unexpected danger.

.....

[You better grab Iris and take cover because what Ester is trying to do, it’s about to blow. I think she is pushing her limits again... I hope she is ok.]

“Huh?” Vincent turned and saw a sword half-planted inside the ground glowing so bright it was almost blinding. A small whirlwind was swirling around it, and its color was faintly changing into a blueish tint.

Vincent focused his gaze, and dozens of meters far away, he saw Ester sitting in a meditating position with both her hands together as if she was praying.

Vincent thought Ester was overdoing it, but it wasn’t as simple as it appeared to be. Elsir was empowered by a mysterious influence causing all the mana and sigils accumulated inside it to increase in potency tremendously.

The cool breeze started changing the temperature around them. What was happing wasn’t a simple wind bomb empowered by Elsir anymore. It was something else.

[Go for Iris now! The mana is so chaotic that even I don’t know what is happening! It’s dangerous, I tell you! I think Ester lost control!]

Vincent didn’t take a second to reflect on their current situation. He tapped Lupa’s shoulder once and started running towards Iris.

While Vincent was running and Lupa following right behind, a notification window appeared.

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[Blessed Retainer Ester advanced her class after meeting the requirements.]

[Class advancement update.]

[Class Upgrade | Sigil Apprentice]

[New Class Spells | Sigil Fusion]

[Stat improvment | Strength +2 || Agility +1 || Perception +5 || Mana +55

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[Third Eye automatic activation.]

[Sigil Fusion description.]

[Blends multiple sigils into one entity. The Fusion will change depending on the mix ratio of the element fused.]

[The more diverse the different elements fused, the more challenging it becomes to keep Sigil Fusion stable.]

[The more modification in the element Sigil Fusion receives, the more challenging it becomes to keep Sigil Fusion stable.]

[The less stable the Sigil Fusion is, the more mana is consumed. The user might suffer from unexpected hazardous incidents.]

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Vincent closed the notification window immediately and kept running. Shortly, he arrived in front of the perplexed Iris and jumped on her with open arms. Vincent held Iris tightly and turned his body while falling on his back, not to hurt Iris.

“Wh-what’s wr-wrong?” Iris asked with her cheeks flushed. Iris thought everything was happening as Vincent, Ester, and Lupa had planned. Iris didn’t try to run away because of this thought.

The alpha grizzly bear leaned against the wall and started scratching its throat while ignoring the temperature change. The mixture Iris rolled into a ball was potent more than she thought.

“Stay down! Lupa lay beside me too!” Vincent urgently ordered.

Lupa dropped to the ground and looked at Vincent with a perplexed expression. She didn’t know why they didn’t use the opportunity to attack. ‘Why did we run away?’ She thought.

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[1x Nok Ape Corpse (Earth Demonic Beast) (Rare Quality) summoned. x0 remaining.]

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A large corpse started materializing beside them. Vincent decided the corpse of the demonic beast should be able to protect them from anything that might happen. Vincent hoped Ester would be safe even if she were pretty far from the about to blow Elsir bomb.

*Some time ago on Ester’s side*

Ester started running away in the opposite direction after hearing about the plan. Ester thought it might be better to attack with her Wind Sigil enchanted Elsir, but Ester believed Kazumi had a different plan prepared.

Ester stopped a few meters later and mumbled, “I need to make a huge hole. Please work.” She shoved Elsir to the ground and gulped.

Immediately, Ester channeled Wind Sigils in the hiltless blade Elsir and later activated Amplify Sigils on them. After the spells integrated with the blade and the runes engraved in light became blinding, Ester ran away to escape the blast.

Ester later stopped after reaching the hiding goblins. Then she saw Iris’s father and informed him of the plan.

Iris’s father raised his staff and ordered the goblins, who had all climbed the trees down, to start collecting rocks and sharpen thick branches for digging.

“This feeling...” Ester felt slightly dizzy, and she could feel the mana connection with the hiltless blade Elsir was about to break.

Ester turned around quickly walked back until her connection with Elsir and the Sigils became stable again. She sat on the ground as staying on her feet made her feel nauseous.

Ester placed her legs on one another as if she was about to meditate and closed her eyes to focus on the connection with all her entire being. However, she felt it wasn’t enough.

‘The hole might be too small for the bear. I need more power. I need to surpass my best.’ She kept pondering.

Not much later, Ester felt the side effects of Mana Fatigue becoming worse. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling as the pain, cramps, and soreness gradually increased the more she forced her body to produce mana she didn’t have. To regenerate and produce more than her body can handle in that time.

“Argh... not enough...” *cough, cough* Ester coughed blood, but her resolve didn’t waver, and her determination to continue remained.

Ester wanted to help no matter what, and she even told Lupa a white lie. Her mana was almost exhausted after killing the great grizzly bear. After she saved Iris, her mana reserve was almost empty.

“Grow... stronger...” *cough* “Not enough... I need more sigils...” *cough, cough, cough...* Ester placed her hands on her knees to remain sitting while coughing mouthfuls of blood.

A few goblins became worried about Ester’s condition because if she failed, there would be one less person fighting the alpha grizzly bear. But Iris’s father ordered them to ignore Ester in order to let her concentrate without interruptions.

Ester raised her trembling hand and clenched her fist weakly. After increasing Amplify Sigils as much as she could, Ester tried a different approach.

‘If I can barely keep myself from fainting, then I will try that.’ She thought of a dangerous idea.

Ester tried and tried, but casting a second Sigil on top of another wasn’t working. ‘Combine! Fuse! Come on! Mix!’ She repeated in her mind dozens of times.

Ester stopped channeling one of the two Wind Sigils, and with great difficulty, she cast one Frost Sigil. One hand with a windy sigil emitting strong gusts of wind and the other hand with an icy sigil emitting cold.

Ester placed her hands together as if praying and closed her eyes. It wasn’t easy keeping her hands locked together as the two hands were being pushed back by the conflicting elements accumulating in each hand.

Ester opened her eyes and looked at Elsir with brightly glowing Wind Sigils runes on its blade. Ester noticed how one rune had a slightly blueish hue. Even if the blade was far away, the blueish hue was noticeable.

‘I can do it! I can fuse the sigils! I can’t let everyone down, Argh!...’ Ester was thinking with great determination before a sudden headache almost made her faint.

Ester saw a memory of a new spell and its applications. Additionally, after the memory stopped, Ester felt her body filled with mana she never had.

Ester became perplexed because she felt somewhat relieved of the pain caused by Mana Fatigue after gaining a new spell. It was the first time for her to gain mana after awakening a spell.

Ester felt confused because unlike Vincent, she couldn’t see a message telling her about the awakening. Furthermore, Ester never heard how people would understand they have undergone an Awakening Advancement after feeling different because of the new stats.

Ester focused all her new mana into the new spell and said, “Frost Sigil and Amplify Sigil. Wind Sigil and Amplify Sigil. Sigil Fusion, Amplify Sigil, Sigil Fusion...” Ester clenched both hands tightly and uttered before fainting from a critical case of Mana Fatauge, “Am...amplify... Sigil!”

Elsir lost connection with Ester a moment later, and it grew unstable by the second. The enchanted blade shone blinding light while freezing cold and turbulent wind surrounded it.