Summoning * Shikigami
The wind whistled past his ears, and in less than two seconds he was close to the Hokage Rock. Izuna couldn't help but marvel at how fast birds could fly compared to humans.
He adjusted the angle of his wings, and as he approached the top of the cliff, he flapped his wings twice to slow his descent, landing barefoot on the rocks at the edge of the cliff.
He felt a rough texture under his feet, so he put on the slippers he was holding before opening the System Panel to check.
The text on the task panel had changed.
[The Summoning System is now available. Please find a suitable location on the Hokage Rock, project the Summoning Array, and summon once.]
Izuna blinked. Summoning System?
Curious, he opened the System Panel and found that a new option had indeed appeared on the interface, which originally only had a map and a taskbar.
The icon is a small circular pattern with a faint golden shimmer around the edges, and the page that opens is incredibly simple.
The main interface is transparent, with a small Offering Box at the bottom and a line of small text stating the conditions required to initiate a summon.
Toss Five-yen Coin.
"...?"
How hasty.
Do I only need to insert a Five-yen Coin?
Will the summoned creatures actually be useful?
It feels like inserting a coin into a gashapon machine on the street, twisting it and a candy of who-knows-what flavor comes out.
He subconsciously touched his cuffs, then his waist, and then remembered that he was wearing the clean shirt that Brother Ban had given him, so there was no way he could have any money.
He sighed and was about to look elsewhere for any fallen coins when his fingers inadvertently brushed against the inside of his sleeve, his fingertips touching a small patch of cold metal.
He rolled up his cuff, and a Five-yen Coin lay quietly in the fold of his sleeve, its edges worn white, face up, reflecting a dim golden light in the twilight.
When was this coin inserted? Is it really possible for something like this to be left inside a thin garment?
But the system task was there, and there just happened to be a coin in my sleeve.
The coincidence seemed almost deliberate.
However, he still flipped the coin between his fingers and then looked up to search for what he considered a suitable spot.
The top of the cliff at Hokage Rock is a bare rock platform. The heads of the Hashirama have not yet been carved out, and it is still a barren open space.
"Where is a suitable place...?" Izuna looked around and paced back and forth.
He didn't search for long before he saw the projection of the Summoning Array on the System Panel.
Like a 3D holographic image seen through a camera lens, pale golden lines float about half a meter above the ground, the patterns of the Formation are clear and exquisite, and it looks very beautiful.
Izuna tried moving left and right a few steps, but the projection remained fixed in that position without moving an inch. Only by moving to a specific angle could the complete formation be seen.
Earth Flow over and waved his hand in the middle of the projection Formation. His fingers passed through the Formation, but he felt nothing.
Izuna muttered to himself, "How amazing."
He casually found a rock at the edge of the cliff, sat down, tossed the Five-yen Coin into the air and caught it. The coin tumbled a few times in the air before landing in his palm.
After thinking for a while, he decided to give it a try.
As the saying goes, since we're already here, have the coins, and found the Summoning Array, it would be a waste not to give it a try.
Furthermore, since the system issued the task, it shouldn't be anything dangerous.
He stood up and walked to the front of the Summoning Array projection.
He twirled the Five-yen Coin between his fingers, then flicked it lightly with his thumb. The coin traced a short arc and fell into the Offering Box with a clink.
The Offering Box closed and vanished as specks of light.
The next moment, Izuna regretted it a little.
A blinding white light suddenly appeared before his eyes, instantly engulfing his entire field of vision.
He yelled and covered his eyes, squeezing them shut tightly.
"Wow! This will definitely give us away!"
The light came quickly and went quickly.
When he lowered his hand, the cliff top had returned to the twilight's gloom. The System Panel was gone, the Summoning Array's light and shadow had vanished completely, and in the spot... a person had appeared.
It was a child.
Dressed in a green Kariginu and wearing Geta, her long sleeves fluttered gently in the still air as she slowly drifted down from mid-air.
The Geta clogs clicked against the rocks with a crisp sound.
But what's most striking is his face; he has a traditional bob haircut, and his eyes are covered by a piece of paper.
The paper had a red eye drawn with a red line, the pupil of which was positioned directly in Izuna's direction.
The paper was tied to his face with a red string, which went around the back of his head and was tied in a small knot at his temple.
The wind at the top of the cliff was strong, making Izuna's bangs look all messed up, but the paper fluttered around and completely covered the upper half of his face.
The boy stood still, his legs slightly apart, his posture lazy and seemingly nonchalant.
He held the Five-yen Coin in his hand, waved it at Izuna, and said in a clear and cheerful voice, "My name is Mokushō. Young man, you and I are destined to meet."
Yuan has the same pronunciation as "" in Japanese.
Izuna naturally understood, and was so stunned by the pun that he shivered on the spot.
He opened his mouth, his expression subtle, and said, "Uh, so there are puns here too?"
"Yes, that's right." Mokushō, his tone completely matter-of-fact.
"So... you are..." Izuna sized him up, "You're not human, are you?"
"Oh dear, you've found out. I'm Yōkai, and you summoned me, so now I'm your Shikigami, and you're my master."
Izuna remained silent for a moment.
Shikigami... Onmyōji?
Legends and game settings about Abe no Seimei from his past life surfaced in his mind.
He wondered, what exactly is this system for? First it gave him a map and a perception system, then Rhythm Game battle system, and now even Shikigami have appeared?
Isn't the system covering a rather wide range of topics?
Before Izuna could come up with a solution, Mokushō spoke first.
"I am a tree Yōkai." Mokushō tucked Five-yen Coin into his sleeve, crossed his arms, and tilted his head to examine Izuna. The red pupils on the paper flickered slightly with the angle of his head. "I never expected to be summoned by Tengu- sama. That's quite surprising."
"Tengu?" Izuna pointed to himself. "You're saying I'm Tengu?"
"Yes," Mokushō said, "Black wings that allow them to soar through the sky, and this noble aura—these are the characteristics of Tengu."
Izuna fell silent.
He looked down at his thin shirt, wrinkled by the wind, and his bare feet on sandals; he had almost tripped and fallen from the white light.
Where exactly did he see that she was noble? But more than that, he was more concerned with another question.
"Let's put the Tengu thing aside for now." Izuna brushed his wind-blown bangs aside, his expression turning serious. "Can you tell me how to retract these wings?"
Mokushō tilted his head, his tone puzzled. "Isn't this something you can just take back after thinking about it?"
"No, I've tried so hard to fold the wings, but they just won't..." Izuna's words trailed off.
His expression changed from anxious to confused in an instant, and he slowly turned his head.
The pair of jet-black wings were slowly retracting.
It sank into his back as if it had melted.
His single layer of clothing was completely intact, without even a single wrinkle.
He subconsciously reached up and touched his back, his fingertips brushing against his own warm skin and the smooth outline of his shoulder blades through his thin shirt.
The feeling of feathers connecting with muscles, that incredibly real sense of my own limbs, has completely vanished, as if they had never grown there at all.
"How could it be so sudden..." Izuna blinked and turned to look at Mokushō.
Mokushō tilted his head, and the red eyes on the paper stared intently at him, then he uttered four words in a light tone. "Who knows?"