MINISTRY OF MAGIC, ARWINTAR, BAHARUTH EMPIRE
This was it. Finally, after years of constant research and development, not to mention the dozens of tests conducted to reach this point, Felice Ritter's project was now finally ready to proceed with the final test: to summon a creature from another world.
Yes, that was right. She was going to summon a creature from another world. If successful, it would give the Empire far more better options than the summons granted by tier magic. Why? First off, unlike the summons from tier magic, her summon would be permanent. No time limit. Second, she could choose what she wants to summon. Whether it was a human, a beast, or even a dragon, all of these and more were possible choices. Thirdly, her summon's potential power and utility was not pre-determined, meaning it could be as strong as an adamantite adventurer or as smart and wise as Master Fluder himself. Who knows, maybe it could rival those so-called 'godkin' or even the dragon lords themselves.
There were more reasons why it was better, but these three were the most important ones. The ones Master Fluder Paradyne and His Majesty, Emperor Jircniv Rune Farlord El-Nix, cared about the most.
With this, she'd finally get what she was truly after.
All of her fame, all of her power, all of her wealth. None of them truly made her happy. None of them truly filled the void in her heart. A void that appeared many years ago, during that fateful night. The night she knew what losing a loved one truly felt. The night she lost her-
"Mother."
Felice whispered.
'I am close. So close. Once this is done, once I have succeeded. Surely, the Emperor will give me what I want, even just for a few years. I need it. I have to do it for her.'
She closed her eyes and inhaled. She imagined herself relaxing, calming down. She let her exhale carry her attention as she felt her nerves settling down.
'I've come so far to lose control of myself now.'
Felice looked down at the floor ahead. On it was a crystal unlike any other, its smooth surfaces swirling with the colors of a rainbow. Those colors were the souls of various living beings. Souls that were somehow contained inside it, trapped for eternity. Until now.
"Actuate the crystal."
She observed it as it started to glow, illuminating the room with its colors. A slight pressure was beginning to rise.
"Keep it steady until its stable."
Several minutes passed and the crystal was now bright. Bright enough to irritate the eyes.
"Crystal's stable now, Lady Ritter."
"Good. Start activating the formation and make sure not to do it all at once. We can't afford to make any mistakes now."
Shapes and symbols surrounding the crystal started to glow as well as the crystal's energies slowly seep into it. Like flowing liquid fitting the shape of its container, the lights followed the magical formation prepared beforehand. Until finally, the crystal's light covered all of it.
"Formation activation complete. The crystal's energy output is still holding steady. She's all ready for you, Lady Ritter. It's now or never."
"Thank you, Rollan."
Felice stepped forward as she entered the magical formation. Stopping in front of the crystal, she lowered herself as she placed her hand on it. With her eyes closed, she activated her Talent. It made her a genius when it comes to any kind of summoning magic and allowed her to summon a wide variety of creatures. This included undead, demons and angels despite lacking the necessary knowledge and expertise they usually need.
She cleared her thoughts and focused on the three simple specifications required for this test's desired summon. One, a human. Two, a master of magic. Three, a good person.
A human. A master of magic. A good person.
'Someone smart won't hurt as well.'
Human. Master of magic. Good person.
'I don't mind if he's good-looking either.'
Human. Master of magic. Good person.
'Wait, 'he'?'
Human. Magic. Good.
'I just wish he could show me the answers I'm looking for.'
With that, the room rumbled and the crystal gleamed. The pressure was now noticably growing stronger. Dust rose along with any other objects inside.
"Lady Ritter, something's wrong! The output is rising rapidly, we're losing control!"
He was almost inaudible to Felice. Like he was far away instead of inside the same room. She can also hear the others shouting and screaming.
"Lady Ritter, get away from the crystal! It's going wild, it might explode!"
She heard him but his words didn't register inside her mind. She was mesmerized by the crystal she was holding on to. Its brightness was no longer bothering her. It now felt warm, comfortable. Like it was where she belonged, where she was meant to be.
The pressure changed. Instead of simply being there, it started to pull everything towards the crystal. Something large bumped into Felice from the side.
"Lady Ritter, we have to go! Now!"
The man grabbed hold of her and pried her away from the crystal.
Felice felt like she just woke up from a dream as soon as her hand left the crystal. A quick, cursory glace around showed her what was going on. She immediately evacuated as best as she could against the pressure.
The pressure was still rising, its pull getting stronger until they can barely move because of it. Then, as sudden as it rose, the pressure disappeared. They all stumbled.
Felice looked behind her to see what happened. The crystal was still glowing, and so was the formation. Also, everything it pulled was now hovering in place in the air. Silence reigned as uncertainty passed through everyone.
'Did it stabilize again?'
Then, it exploded. Not the fiery kind of explosion, no. It was like a shockwave that violently pushed everything back causing no small number of injuries. Felice herself felt something cut through the side of her arm as she fell to the floor.
That wasn't where her attention was though. She was still looking at the crystal, or what happened to it. It shattered into dozens of pieces and rearranged themselves on the floor, forming a complete circle.
Felice stood up to see better. She saw a void opened up inside the circle. A portal as black as ink. She also saw twinkling white, little lights inside it. Not unlike a night sky.
Then something rose from it. A figure of darkness. It quickly changed to resemble that of a human. Meaning a head, a body, and a pair of arms and legs. Color other than black started to appear. It was steadily creating a work of art. And when it was finished, the world returned to normal. The crystal's dozens of pieces dimmed until they no longer emitted even the slightest trace of light. The formation went dark as well, now a chaotic mess. Silence reigned as everyone simply stared at the figure- no, person in the middle of the room.
The person, most likely a man, was veiled with shimmering, luxurious, deep blue robes with long sleeves edged with sunset orange, the finest she'd ever seen. On his hands were a pair of dark blue, metallic gauntlets. She stared at his hooded face. On it was a featureless, silvery-white mask that shone like a full moon. There were no eyeholes nor anything else. What was most curious, however, was on one of his wrists. There was a bracelet and its surface had a similar swirl of colors that the crystal had which now lay in pieces beneath him.
The mask glanced around as the deafening silence continued. Eventually, he spoke with an orotund voice reverbing through the room.
"Where am I?"
"Where am I?"
That was the first thing he spoke. He was still processing on what just happened.
'Am I still in YGGDRASIL?'
Half an hour ago, he returned after months of being offline to at least be there when the game ended. He and a friend of his planned on meeting before everything disappeared, but they failed to find each other. While he waited, he was suddenly pulled from reality as everything went dark. The next thing he saw, he was in this unfamiliar room filled with strangers.
'Seriously, where am I? None of these people look like players. Are they NPCs? Is this the rumored sequel of YGGDRASIL? I have to say, it looks good. Did they upgrade the game's engine?'
He noticed one of the 'NPCs' approach him with visible caution. She was a woman in her early twenties or so. She wore white robes with a grey mantle that was similar to what beginners usually had. Her auburn hair was tied in a ponytail and her emerald green eyes glimmered with curiosity. He also stared at her curiously.
'She looks so lifelike. If this is the sequel, they knocked it out of the park. Still, I need to logout soon. I have an early shift tomorrow.'
The woman was within his reach now. He immediately grew nervous. He was never good at talking with women, even if this was still a game.
The woman raised her hand, aiming for his mask. He felt like sweating bullets now as he stood stock-still. His mind was racing now. Countless scenarios played inside his mind. He noticed his thoughts were leagues faster now. It was like the world slowed down while his brain processed and analyzed everything. Now he was scared too.
'What happening to me? What's going on?'
He jolted as the woman's fingertips touched his mask which made her retract in response. His face looked down at the woman. She was a head shorter than him which fired off another round of questions in his mind.
'Since when am I this tall?'
Now that he thought about it, there were dozens of other problems he noticed. He felt so... alive. Every motion he made, every breath he took, he 'felt' it.
'Is this really still in the game?'
Now, he was very nervous for an entirely different reason.
'I need to logout before I lose my mind.'
He raised his hand to summon his console. It didn't work.
'What?'
He tried several more times before he tried to call the GMs. Didn't work either.
"What's going on?!"
He didn't mean to shout, and it made everyone in the room freeze. Whereas the woman in front of him, nearly stumbled backward.
"M-my apologies!" The woman yelped.
When he heard that, it was like something clicked in his mind. Then, he felt himself calming down at rapid pace, his nervousness fading away at the back of his mind. His mouth responded instinctively.
"I apologize, miss. I did not mean to shout. However, I am awfully confused at the moment."
The woman nodded her head, her fear still visible.
"May I ask you a few questions?"
The woman regained her composure and stood straight up.
"S-sure. I-I mean, you may."
She coughed on her fist before fixing her posture. Now, she looks like a professional. He felt his nervousness slowly return, but he suppressed it.
"May I ask as to where I am? I believe I do not recognize this place nor any of the people here."
The woman's eye widened a bit before she tried to hide it, but he caught it. She took a few seconds before she found her answer.
"You are in the Baharuth Empire, oh great one."
'Great one? Now, hold on.'
"Please, call me..."
'Which name should I use? On the off chance this is still the game...'
"Lumen."
"As you wish, Lord Lumen."
'Lord?!'
Lumen calmed himself down which was surprisingly easy to do now.
'Right. This calls for some good roleplay. Or should I act like at work?'
This whole thing was giving him headaches.
'Shit. I should ask another question before this gets awkward. But what should I ask next?'
"May I ask who you are... miss?"
He almost facepalmed himself with how he said that.
"Oh, forgive me. My name is Felice Ritter. I am one of the head researchers in the Empire's Ministry of Magic."
'Wait, Ministry of Magic? Is this Ha-'
No. He stopped himself. In less than a second, Lumen sorted out his thoughts.
'Right. Let's deal with this one step at a time. For now, I need more information.'
"Is that so? You are an important person in the Empire then? May I ask what you are researching?"
He felt something happen to her. In fact, he noticed that the others in the room who were just returning to normal collectively froze once more.
'Is it something I said? Is she not allowed to say? Is it top secret in this Empire?'
Lumen mentally rebuked himself for his carelessness.
"Uh... it's... my research is... about summoning creatures."
'Oh, she's a summoner then? Still... why is she so nervous about it though?'
Lumen wondered if summoners were somehow illegal in the Empire, or something like that. He needed to know.
"Is that bad?"
Again. Her eyes widened ever so slightly that it made Lumen ponder even more.
"It's not but..."
She looked like she was struggling with something.
'I should assure her that it's okay.'
"Oh? That's good. Just know that whatever you're about to say, you don't have to worry about it. Just tell me."
'That's sufficiently reassuring, right?'
"I see, forgive me then. What I meant to say was that my research is about summoning creatures. From other worlds."
Lumen's brain froze for a moment.
"In other words, I summoned you to this world. To this Empire."
'Oh, shit.'