Chapter 98 - Summoning Orb

"You make it sound almost too good a deal."

Rynold was skeptical. Honestly, who could blame him? This so-called "Spirit of Fire" standing before him was willing to give up whatever sort of wishes or demands in exchange for its subservience. It was a rather unexpected chain of events.

"Truthfully, Human. There is a reason for my willingness to follow you in whatever path you wish to take. Unfortunately, my lips are sealed on the matter of disclosing the said reason."

The Spirit of Fire certainly didn't give Rynold much room to guess whatever reason it could be. Who knows, maybe by the end of the week, Rynold might already be dead.

"You're not making it sound any more appealing to me," Rynold doubtfully said, "It seems I would soon die by the hands of the beings I am in possession of rather than an actual enemy in battle."

That statement that he just said wasn't a joke. Not in the slightest.

The creatures or the sentient beings that he was in charge of were much stronger than he is. X was a testament to that. There wasn't a single doubt in Rynold's mind that the Mech Knight had the ability to finish him off in a one-on-one fight. Luckily for him, there was no way that would happen.

"Don't sell yourself short," the Spirit of Fire's voice echoed in Rynold's head once more. "To create a medium that is capable of handling my power is a feat in itself. Albeit, the medium is a bit low quality. I can only exert about 10% of my own power."

Rynold's eyebrows lifted as he stared daggers at the spiritual being. He thought to himself, 'This guy keeps insulting my work. How the hell does he even know what good craftsmanship looks like?'

"The decision, Human, is ultimately up to you," the Spirit of Fire said as the heat in the room slowly dissipated. "If you want to get stronger, I suggest you take it."

The Spirit's voice that echoed within Rynold's head slowly got quieter as its entire physical form was being reabsorbed. By the end of it, the sphere that had projected the Spirit of Fire's entity fell to the ground.

Rynold moved ever so slightly forward with hesitation, thinking that the Spirit would jump out again. After a few seconds and slight nudges to the sphere with his foot, Rynold eventually let his guard down.

As he looked closer at the spot where the sphere had landed, Rynold noticed that the scorch marks were very evident. So evident, in fact, that the immediate surroundings had a little bit of ash covering them, a testament to the Spirit's ability to control fire.

[Calculation Completed!]

A window appeared before him, indicating that the process was done. It wasn't every day that it took this long for the system to calculate the results. So, with an eager smile on his face, Rynold grabbed the sphere and checked the outcome.

[Name Item.]

As a window prompt appeared before him with a blank space to enter the name of his creation, Rynold thought long and hard.

'It has to carry the elements of both power and dominance. A fitting name for the Spirit of Fire. Hmm... How about...'

[True Calling: Prominence Dawn]

By pressing the 'Enter' button and confirming the newly appointed name, Rynold was soon able to read the effects of his newly created "weapon."

===

[True Calling: Prominence Dawn]

Summoning Orb

Uses: Infinite

A small golden sphere made by Rynold. The Mana Crystal contained within has the Spirit of Fire: Promino Alpha residing in it. Capable of producing 10% of the Spirit's power.

Summoning Skill:

- Upon activation, summons the Spirit of Fire: Promino Alpha, dealing 200 immediate Fire damage to the surroundings with a slight chance to inflict [Burn] on enemies. For the next 3 minutes, the summoner is infused with [The Premise of Victory].

- [The Premise of Victory]: Promino Alpha assists the infused in battle, converting a small percentage of physical attacks into the Fire Attribute.

- Cooldown: 3 hours

===

Reading the thing that he had just made, Rynold felt slightly conflicted. He honestly couldn't tell if it was strong or not. And, considering the power that the Spirit had personally demonstrated, Rynold was truthfully underwhelmed.

'It's better than nothing, I guess...'

Grabbing the small sphere that had turned golden due to Promino Alpha's influence, Rynold let out a deep sigh. He hoped that someday that he won't resort to using someone else's power to get stronger.

And, hopefully, he won't come to regret using them either.

What made him worry was the fact that this Spirit of Fire was a bit too powerful for his own liking. Showing off the Spirit's power like that wasn't really something he was worried about. After all, any being of such power would be proud of it.

The thing that actually bothered him was the fact that the Promino Alpha only showed off 10% of its power. It terrified Rynold, thinking that someday he might need to face the Spirit when it had its full power.

Or, well, what if the thing it wanted in exchange for its subservience was a cost that was too high for Rynold to pay?

'Well, no use in thinking about those things now.'

Dismissing those thoughts, Rynold decided that thinking about the implications of bringing the Spirit of Fire back to life were might not be the best use of his time. Especially considering that thinking about those things would be a fruitless endeavor.

Placing the summoning orb into his inventory, Rynold decided to clean up the workshop. At that point, there wasn't really anything else he could make since the place was a real mess.

Grabbing the nearby broom, Rynold started dusting the place down. As his muscle memory took care of the cleaning, Rynold's mind drifted off into space.

'Can't believe I did something like that.'

This was the first thing that popped into Rynold's mind as he swept the broom across the floor. Despite his natural instincts practically yelling at him to avoid the damn thing, Rynold couldn't help but give in to his curiosity.

What's more, Rynold couldn't actually believe that something like that would be sitting on the ground of his storage area. It would be practically impossible for someone to leave something as valuable as that in a random corner of the room.

Thinking about that sort of thing may not be the best use of his time, but Rynold seriously couldn't help but think about it. Because of the sudden twist of his expectations, he was stuck with dealing with yet another godlike figure.

'Oh man, it's like I did something horrible in my past life. I just wanted to make something that would shoot fireballs or something, but goddamn. Well, I probably deserved it for doing something so ridiculously stupid.'

As Rynold finished cleaning, he stood there and looked at the scorch marks on the ground. The blast had created a mark that has stained the marble floor.

Throughout Rynold's numerous failures and explosions in the past, this was the first time that an actual stain marked the floor. But, instead of attempting to buckle down and wipe the damn thing off, Rynold decided to leave it there.

It served as a reminder to not take his experiments and creations lightly. Even though it wasn't enough to physically harm him now, Rynold knew that if he kept doing dumb shit he would've ended up dead in his own workshop.

And, with that, Rynold placed the broom back to its spot and left the workshop for the day. His creation took most of the day and it was soon nighttime.

Rynold rarely left the workshop during the past 8 months, always adamant to stay inside and often sleeping with his face covered in sweat.

However, in the rare times when he would leave, Rynold was greeted by the dark sky. Even though the lights in the penthouse were artificial, he could still feel a sense of calm. It was made to imitate a natural-looking night sky, after all.

As Rynold looked up, he saw the stars and the moon all the same. It was as if he were back home in the lonely town that he grew up in, without a worry in the world. Rynold remembered a simpler time, a time when he wouldn't even imagine something like this would happen.

He took his time to walk back to his quarters. Which, distance-wise, wasn't really all that far.

But, even then, Rynold still decided to take a leisurely stroll. He appreciated the times that he was alone in the dark. It was peaceful; a truly serene time of the day that he was comfortable in.

Rynold walked up the stairs and opened the door to his own room. Without giving anything much though, he immediately went and jumped onto his bed. It's been some time since he last spent the night at his own bed and somehow forgot the comfort that it brought.

Soon enough...

He dozed off.