Ethan placed a firm hand on Luna's small shoulder and looked her straight in the eye. "Alright, Luna. If this is what you want, I'll help you."
Luna's face brightened, but Ethan raised a finger before she could get too excited. "But this isn't sothing we can rush. I need to figure out the right way to do this. If I ss up, it could hurt you."
She nodded vigorously. "I trust you, big brother!"
Ethan inhaled deeply. Just as he was wondering what to do now and how to proceed, a system prompt flashed before him.
[Ding! Do you wish to contract Xerthamia Thalia as your summon?]
[Ding! Yes/ No]
Ethan's eyes widened slightly. Was this her real na? It sounded like a disease more than a na. Should he tell her? He decided to save it for later.
"Yes." Ethan ntally willed, wondering what else was going to be revealed.
[Ding! Summoning Contract has been initiated]
[Ding! Summoning Contract Successful]
[Warning: You have ford a contract with a true being]
[Ding! Error]
[Ding! True being has not attained maturity. A contract is ford]
[Ding! Do you wish to confer a class upon the summon?]
[Ding! Error]
[Ding! True beings' class cannot be altered]
[Ding! True Being's Class is Locked: 'Primordial Neonate']
[Ding! Generating Unique System Frawork…]
[Ding! System Assigned: 'Independent Summon - Divine Tier']
Ethan felt a pulse of raw energy surge between him and Luna as the contract solidified. He had felt sothing similar when he had contracted Lia, but this was completely different. It was bigger. Deeper. Older.
A rush of unknown knowledge passed through his mind—nothing concrete, just vague impressions, as if he had glimpsed sothing massive lurking beyond his comprehension. It sent shivers down his spine.
He quickly checked his Summons Interface, and his breath hitched.
[Summoned Entity: Xerthamia Thalia]
Title: [One Who Exists Outside Fate]
Class: [Primordial Neonate]
System Variant: [Independent Summon - Divine Tier]
Status: Unawakened
Abilities Unlocked: [Fire Affinity, Water Affinity]
Ethan's heart pounded as he read the details on his interface. Primordial Neonate? One Who Exists Outside Fate? He had seen plenty of strange system prompts before, but this was sothing else entirely.
Luna—Xerthamia Thalia—was not just an ordinary child without a system. She was sothing beyond that, sothing the system itself struggled to categorize. A True Being. The words sent a chill down his spine. What did that even an?
Lia, who had been anxiously watching him, tugged on his sleeve. "Master, what happened? Why is your expression like that?"
Ethan hesitated. He wasn't sure how much he should reveal, especially not here. He forced himself to breathe evenly and knelt in front of Luna, placing both hands on her shoulders. "Luna… you're special. More special than even I thought."
Luna bead. "Does that an I can be strong too?"
Ethan hesitated for a mont before nodding. "Yes. But we need to keep this a secret. No one else can know about this, okay?"
Luna mimicked his serious expression and nodded. "Secret! Got it!"
Lia still looked worried, but Ethan gave her a reassuring glance before standing up. "For now, let's finish this dungeon run and keep things normal. I'll figure out the rest later."
Even as he said that, his mind was racing. A Divine-Tier summon. A locked class. A being outside of fate. He had just stepped into sothing far bigger than himself.
And if Luna truly was sothing beyond the system, it was only a matter of ti before soone else noticed. He was not willing to bet on her 'unawakened' status to keep her hidden. They needed to return ho. They could never co back here again.
Ethan clenched his fists. Perhaps his life would be easier if he did not associate himself with this little child whom he had no relation with. He had cut ties with his counterpart's family quite easily. He did not even care when the townsfolk who had been nice to him were in danger.
But this right here felt different. He couldn't bring himself to do it. He wanted to be selfish, and he wanted to survive more than anything, but not if that ant he would be losing Luna or Lia. He couldn't bring himself to be that sort of a coward to turn his back on people who loved him just for his benefit.
And he needed to be stronger in order to do that.
Ethan inhaled deeply, pushing aside the storm of thoughts raging in his mind. Focus on the now. Deal with the consequences later. If they were leaving after this dungeon, then he needed to make sure they walked away with as much as possible—levels, loot, and experience.
His attention snapped back to his minions, who had swept through the swamp with ruthless efficiency.
The bog striders were nothing more than twitching husks, their elongated legs snapped and broken. The swamp gators had been overwheld, their thick hides ripped apart by the insectoids. Even the leech serpents, hidden beneath the water, had been dragged out and devoured by his pack of dire wolves.
A quick glance at his status screen confird the progress—several of his minions, especially the weaker ones, had leveled up significantly.
Good. This was exactly what he needed. It was ti to move on to the next dungeon.
After collecting the loot, the three of them kept their head low and walked out of the dungeon. This ti, they did not turn any heads. No one seed to notice them as they silently blended in the crowd.
"Let's go the next one." Ethan led the group to the next green portal. There were ten green portals in total, and they had already gone through two of them. Each dungeon portal could only be visited once per day, and this left them with eight more of the easy ones.
Without hesitation, Ethan selected the next one, and all of them entered the third dungeon portal. Hot air hissed on their face as a vast desert sprawled all around them.
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