Summon Master

The first rule of being a Summon Swordsman—never fight alone under any circumstances.

[Spent 1 skill point to raise Moon Shadow Swordsmanship to 1/5; proficiency C — Moonlight unlocked]

[Spent 1 skill point to select the talent — Summon Master awakened]

[First-tier Summon Master talents unlocked: Soul Resonance (the number of spirits that can be summoned increases every ten character levels),

Mind Call (the duration of shared senses and mental communication with summoned items increases),

Construct Coordination (allows the fusion of two spirits)]

[Permanent skill acquired: Soul Resonance Lv. 1 (the number of spirits that can be summoned increases by 1 every ten character levels)]

[Number of summonable spirits +1]

Just as the last line of system text disappeared, a huge shadow flashed at the corner of Rhode's eye. But he didn't retreat, much less falter. Instead, Rhode raised his longsword and swung it forward with all his might.

"Whoosh!"

A blue-green figure shot from the sword's edge and pounced on the incoming Gargoyle.

The Soul Bird.

Rhode's biggest problem right now was that he couldn't summon two creatures at once. And unfortunately, Star Trace, his weapon, was itself a summon.

Like ordinary swordsmen, most Summon Swordsmen equipped themselves with a "normal" weapon. Rhode was an exception. He had considered using a more conventional weapon, but he simply couldn't give up Star Trace's stat bonuses. That was what allowed him to kill monsters around his level, or even a little stronger, so easily and gain so much experience early on. On the other hand, it also meant Rhode couldn't use the Summon Swordsman's signature style of "attacking alongside a summoned creature." To all appearances, he looked more like a traditional swordsman.

Rhode was extremely uncomfortable with this, but there was no way around it. If he summoned the Soul Bird, he had to give up Star Trace, leaving himself completely unarmed. Summoned creatures might be the main focus of his class, but the last two words were "Swordsman," not "Mage," so he couldn't just hang back and do nothing like a spellcaster. But if he used Star Trace, he had to seal the Soul Bird. And fighting like an ordinary swordsman wasn't a good option for Rhode.

That was because Summon Swordsmen had one major weakness compared with full-fledged swordsmen: their class penalty—one less level of proficiency in every sword art.

In other words, a full-fledged swordsman could raise their swordsmanship proficiency to SSS. No matter how hard a Summon Swordsman tried, they could only reach SS. And the two classes didn't even start on equal footing. A full-fledged swordsman began with every sword art at proficiency D, while Rhode's Summon Swordsman could only start at E. That was the difference. In fact, from the moment he arrived in this world until now, Rhode had been fighting a difficult battle. Without Star Trace and his knowledge of the Dragon Soul Continent, he would have been in a sorry state long ago. He had already grown used to having summoned creatures fight by his side at all times, and this current situation put him under enormous pressure.

Now, having unlocked the Summon Master talent, he finally felt the weight lift from his shoulders.

That was right. Summon Swordsmen didn't have the same individual offensive power as full-fledged swordsmen, but they had never been meant to fight alone.

The Gargoyle hesitated when the Soul Bird swooped toward it. It sensed the magic emanating from its opponent, but its unimpressive artificial intelligence couldn't determine what the thing flying at it was. Still, it identified the Soul Bird as an enemy and struck at it with a claw.

But this time, the Gargoyle struck nothing.

The instant it felt its claw hit the Soul Bird, the bird's solid form suddenly dispersed like a snowball kicked apart. In its place, a faint current of air slipped between the Gargoyle's claws and vanished. Before the Gargoyle could react, Rhode had already rushed forward, longsword in hand, and swung it ahead of him.

A silver crescent burst from Rhode's blade and streaked toward the enemy, whose missed attack had left it wide open.

This was the third skill in Moon Shadow Swordsmanship—Moonlight.

Like Shatter Blade, it condensed sword energy into an attack, but the two skills worked very differently. Shatter Blade took the form of a sharp blade of light that shot forward. It was powerful and highly penetrating, but its range was far too narrow, making it easy to dodge. Moonlight was different. Its crescent-shaped attack swept across a wide area, threatening nearly everything in front of it. It was extremely difficult to evade.

Faced with the incoming blade of light, the Gargoyle instinctively tried to beat its wings and fly clear of the attack. But it was a step too slow. The silver blade swept across its right wing, sending several small stone fragments tumbling away. The Gargoyle's body, which had been hovering in the air, suddenly lurched to one side and lost its balance.

But that wasn't the end of it. Just as the Gargoyle tried to steady itself, Rhode stepped forward twice and brought down his free left hand in a strange gesture.

The Soul Bird, which had dispersed into a breeze to evade the Gargoyle's attack, reappeared behind it, wheeling through the air. The rushing wind gathered once more into the bird's form, and with a clear cry, the wind-wreathed creature slammed into the Gargoyle's back. The powerful gust sent the Gargoyle flying. Already furious, it let out an angry shriek, but before it could vent its rage, flashes of light appeared before its eyes.

One, two, three.

The spinning Shatter Blades struck the Gargoyle's wounded right wing with pinpoint accuracy. Even a wing made of obsidian couldn't withstand one attack after another. As the Gargoyle reeled from the impacts, spiderweb cracks spread across its wing. Soon, with a sharp crunch, the hard stone wing shattered completely. The Gargoyle, now missing one wing, shrieked as it crashed to the ground, leaving a sizable dent in the bluestone floor.

Overwhelm the few with the many, combine numbers with strength—that was the Summon Swordsman's style.

Rhode had finally rediscovered the feeling of fighting the way he was meant to. If he had a normal weapon in his hand right now, unlocking Summon Master would let him control two summoned creatures at once. At that point, forget two rare elites—even if a boss showed up, he'd be confident he could wear it down.

But there were no "what ifs" in the world, and Rhode didn't have a second Soul Core to awaken another spirit.

So he had to abandon the idea of pressing his advantage and quickly retreat.

Because a second Gargoyle was diving toward him.

Perhaps it had seen its companion get hurt; this Gargoyle's attack was especially fierce. But now that Rhode could summon the Soul Bird, he had no intention of foolishly meeting it head-on. Facing the shadow that had given him such a hard time earlier, Rhode simply tilted his head back and whistled. A gust of wind roared past from the side, forcibly shoving away the shadow that had been about to attack him. Thrown off course, it tumbled several times before crashing into the church wall and coming to a stop.

Rhode wasn't about to let such a good opportunity slip by.

At his command, a blue-green whirlwind sprang up from the ground. The flying bird spread its wings and pounced on the enemy once more.

The tide of battle turned in an instant.

The two Gargoyles that had been swaggering through the sky were now as helpless as drowned rats. Rhode, who had been struggling under immense pressure just moments before, had turned the tables and regained the upper hand. He deliberately coordinated with the Soul Bird to force the Gargoyles apart, keeping them in a "two against one" situation at all times so that one couldn't reach the other in time to help.

Even though the situation had changed, Rhode couldn't make any further progress. He had already used up most of his strength, and while players could level up in the game and instantly revive "at full health," reality obviously didn't offer anything so convenient. So although Rhode had reached level ten and unlocked his talent slots, his soul power had only increased by the amount he'd gained from leveling up.

That alone wasn't enough to kill two Gargoyles. Controlling two summoned creatures at once consumed even more of Rhode's soul power, so he had to be more careful than before to avoid "running out of power and shutting down." The level gap between them was simply too great, and the Gargoyles' defenses were no joke. Rhode's earlier attacks had only shattered one of their wings; they hadn't seriously injured either creature. In these circumstances, Rhode could indeed kill one Gargoyle if he went all out. But afterward, with all his power spent and no weapon in hand, he'd have to face the other one alone. Anyone with half a brain could guess how that would turn out.

The only thing Rhode could do now was keep the two annoying creatures at bay and wait for Lize and Mace to find the "control core."

Otherwise, things would go back to the way they were before.

"—!"

Though it had lost a wing, the Gargoyle was still dangerous. It crawled along the ground like a huge black stone hound, all four legs flying as it raced along like a phantom. That was what made these alchemical creatures so frightening. If you thought they were monsters that could only swagger around in the sky, you were bound to pay dearly for it.

Fortunately, Rhode knew them well. He wasn't like a newbie who thought knocking a Gargoyle out of the sky meant he could do whatever he wanted to it, but knowing it could still fight on the ground eased some of the pressure. At least he didn't have to worry so much about what was above him.

A dark figure appeared behind Rhode. The Gargoyle howled and plunged its right claw toward his back, but Rhode sidestepped at the last instant. The spotless white blade in his hand flashed like lightning, narrowly blocking the attack. At the same time, Rhode raised his left hand. The Soul Bird circling him saw his gesture, let out a clear cry, and spread its wings, narrowly stopping the other Gargoyle from attacking him from the air.

At the Soul Bird's current level, it couldn't do much damage to a rare elite like a Gargoyle. But as a pure elemental creature, it had no particular difficulty simply blocking one.

As the seconds ticked by, Rhode grew more and more anxious. His body felt tired, and even his mind was growing sluggish. These were signs that his soul power was nearly depleted, yet nothing had changed inside the church. Had they still not found the control core?

"Whoosh!!"

A fierce wind howled beside Rhode, making his heart leap. He instinctively dodged to the side and tried to activate Shadow Blink, but just as he was about to evade the attack, his step faltered and the skill failed to activate.

His soul power was almost gone!

Rhode's heart sank, but he had no time to think. He spun around and thrust his sword behind him. The hard stone claw struck the spotless white blade, producing a grating screech. After its attack missed, the Gargoyle quickly withdrew, but Rhode couldn't pursue it.

Just then, a voice suddenly rang out behind him.

"Mr. Rhode! We found it!!"