Unsure of the answers, I decided to take a step back and properly consider everything I had learned and confirmed.
The biggest discovery was the essence of summoning magic itself. If it truly functioned as a gateway to another world and some unknown mechanism selected and linked creatures to the summoner, then blocking it would be far more difficult than I had imagined. Affecting a summoner was one thing, but if the connection was forged by some unknown power rather than the caster’s magic itself...
How did I even manage to summon that fox?
The more I thought about it, the less sense it made. I had used the simplest seal and only a tiny amount of mana, yet somehow a demigod had answered my call. If that fox truly possessed such strength, then why had the seal not brought forth something weaker? Something more appropriate for the amount of mana I had invested?
Or perhaps strength had nothing to do with it.
Perhaps whatever governed summoning had chosen the fox for an entirely different reason.
I pushed those thoughts aside. I was not about to waste time dwelling on that mystery. It was irrelevant to my goal.
Instead, I turned my attention back to the scrolls that described how to cancel the summoning of humanoid and undead creatures. If summoning magic was truly nothing more than a portal, perhaps both seals functioned in the same way and targeted the connection between the summoner and the summon rather than restricting a specific category of creature.
But as I unfurled the scrolls and let them hang before me, I quickly realized I had no chance of deciphering them.
Recreating the seals was one thing.
Understanding them was another entirely.
To do that, I would need to know what the runes meant and how they shaped the diagram itself.
I’ll have to find runemasters. There must be mages capable of creating new seals, and doing that without understanding runes should be impossible...
I had reached a dead end.
Perhaps if I observed enough summoners and their creatures, I would eventually identify the connection between them and learn how it functioned. Maybe I could target it directly with my divinity. Or perhaps I could create an artifact powered by mana that would generate an area where summoning magic simply ceased to function.
With nothing more to gain from staring at the scrolls, I flew toward the Window and shifted it to Eriavel.
More specifically, the training grounds.
Three fenced fields stood apart from the residential compounds. Two were built side by side. One was reserved for duels and divided into a dozen smaller sections, while the other served as the primary training ground for mock battles, archery practice, and similar exercises.
“Where is Mirion?” Dariel asked, wiping sweat from his forehead.
Three velmoryns were sprawled on the ground around him, bruised and breathing heavily.
“He was summoned by the council,” a young woman replied, her scarlet eyes fixed on Dariel with obvious excitement.
“You’ll get your chance,” the burly man sighed.
A small frown immediately appeared on the woman’s face. She lifted her long silver braid over her shoulder and sheathed the twin blades strapped to her back.
“What?” Dariel asked.
“You and Mirion promised me proper duels, but I’ve yet to have one.” She glanced to the side, her fierce gaze causing several nearby men to avoid eye contact. “Everyone else is too weak. Lucas refuses to fight me too...”
Dariel laughed, his voice rough and booming.
“They’re not weak. You’re strong,” he said before lowering his voice to a murmur. “And you keep cutting them...”
She was the sister of one of the velmoryns who had died fighting the demons. Following the custom I had established, I had taken the remaining life force of her brother and mixed it with my divinity, creating a Divine Essence. I had been doing that for all the fallen, allowing their families to grow stronger in recognition of their sacrifice.
The two had been orphans, so Kayle consumed it herself. The very next day she awakened a Class and even advanced her Rank to Gold.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Her Class was called Duelist.
It enhanced her speed and reflexes to an absurd degree, though none of her other attributes had improved. I suspected she had sacrificed growth in other areas to gain what she desired most.
A Class perfectly suited for killing her enemies.
“I’ll go train with Sylfa then,” she murmured.
“Do so!” Dariel nodded, not missing the flicker of relief in the other velmoryns' eyes as Kayle left the dueling grounds and headed toward the third fenced field separated from the other two.
It was where mages practiced.
There, they unleashed their mana and tested new spells. Accidents involving unstable magic were common enough that only mages used the area. Mana was the safest way to restrain a mage who had lost control of their spell.
“You again?” Lily shook her head when she spotted Kayle. “Sylfa is working on a new diagram. She doesn’t…”
She stopped as Kayle walked straight past her, completely ignoring the woman.
Lily raised a brow but chose not to press the matter. Instead, she turned toward the small group of mages holding staffs who were now glaring at Kayle with obvious displeasure and yelled at them.
“Keep practicing!”
Despite Mirion and Dariel being named commanders of the army, the mages were far more influential than the warriors.
Karla, Aria, Ninali...
Even Amon was a mage.
Eriavel possessed two Platinum Ranks, and both were mages. Naturally, many had begun to see magic as the backbone of Eriavel. Slowly, that belief had started creating an unspoken hierarchy within the army.
The mages viewed themselves as superior.
The warriors, in turn, had grown colder toward them, increasingly dissatisfied with their standing.
Kayle was different.
“Sylfa, are you ready?” she grinned, unsheathing her twin blades.
She lowered her stance as if she were moments away from charging.
Across the training ground, Sylfa stood near the edge of the fenced field. Dozens of runes had been carved into the packed earth around her, a wooden stick beside her feet.
“Not today, Kayle. I’m this close to summoning a healer,” the short, slender velmoryn replied, bringing her thumb and index finger together and peering through the tiny gap at Kayle.
She was a Silver Rank summoner, a rare sight in Eriavel where most mages followed the path of dark magic.
“A healer?” Kayle frowned. “I can’t fight a healer...”
“Wait, I’ll show it to you!” Sylfa exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.
“Remember the books Lady Karla showed us?” she asked, walking closer and presenting a grimoire.
It had a dark brown leather cover and yellowed pages. Only three of them had been used, each covered in carefully drawn diagrams.
“Yes...” Kayle murmured, though the way her eyes drifted aside made it obvious she was lying.
“Of course you do,” Sylfa chuckled. “The books were given to Lady Karla by our Lord, and one of them described summoning magic.”
She flipped to the third page, revealing a simple diagram containing only five runes.
“I noticed that some runes repeat themselves in different spells. Lily uses this rune to create vines, so I believe it's related to earth or plants. Lady Karla told us this one means wind. And this...”
As she continued explaining, I found myself becoming increasingly interested.
So rather than listening, I pressed on our connection and examined her thoughts directly. As Sylfa thought about the runes, her knowledge surfaced clearly enough for me to grasp everything she knew.
Out of the five runes, she believed she had deciphered four: earth, wind, control, and summon.
The fifth was the variable.
She kept replacing it with runes copied from Vaelari's diagrams, hoping one of them would allow her to summon a creature capable of healing.
The fourth rune was also present in the seal I had used during my experiment, so it most likely truly triggered summoning magic, and I had no reason to doubt Karla’s knowledge about the wind rune.
The unfortunate part, however, was that elves did not require runes.
Karla could simply shape her mana into whatever form she desired. That was one of the greatest advantages of formless mana and one of the reasons it was desired even among gods. Without understanding what the runes actually meant, she had little reason to study them beyond simple curiosity.
“So, are you going to summon anything I can fight?” Kayle cut the excited velmoryn off. Sylfa had already begun going into greater detail, explaining how she could only maintain three summons each day and hoped that as she matured and her mana reserves increased, she would be able to overcome that limitation.
“Fine,” Sylfa pouted as she channeled mana into the grimoire in her hands, excitement immediately returning to her eyes.
The book shimmered green. Tiny particles rose from its pages and swirled around it while an identical green energy formed a circle on the ground a step away from her.
The green particles drifted upward, gathering in the center of the circle.
A silhouette slowly began to emerge.
As more particles were absorbed, the shape grew clearer and the green light gradually gave way to other colors.
“That’s it!” Sylfa yelped, feeding more mana into the grimoire.
The circle brightened as fresh fuel poured into it.
Then the light flashed and a creature finally took shape.
It was tall and broad, its dark green skin slick and covered in scales larger than a velmoryn’s fist. A massive shell rose from its back, resembling that of a turtle.
The creature heaved a breath as its pale white eyes slowly swept across the training ground before settling on Sylfa.
Guidance.
[The Summon]
The creature is a Silver Rank and specializes in defense. Additional information can only be obtained through direct observation or interaction.