Chapter 92 - Ancient History
Theo clenched his jaw.
He felt a sharp pain spreading through his ribs, forcing the air out of his lungs.
His fingers dug into his shirt as his back arched.
It felt like something was entering his body and slowly crawling through it.
The sensation grew worse, forcing him onto one knee.
Theo quickly shut his eyes and focused deep inside himself.
There... a strange white mana flowed through his mana paths.
It rapidly spread to his heart and surrounded it completely.
"W-What?"
A cold sweat broke out across his skin.
"What... is this—"
Suddenly, it surged forward.
The white mana rushed into his heart, carving into it.
His body jerked violently as warm blood shot up his throat.
Leaning forward, Theo began coughing wildly, throwing up puddles of blood.
The white mana continued ravaging his heart.
Line after line etched themselves into it.
Theo’s body trembled as more blood spilled from his mouth.
"What... is it doing—"
The pain stopped spreading, focusing on a single point.
Quickly focusing back inside, Theo’s eyes widened.
All the lines began to link together.
Slowly, very intricate patterns revealed themselves and locked into place.
Then—
The pain vanished.
Theo let out deep breaths, feeling his heart racing.
That’s when the patterns lit up in a bright white flash.
His eyes snapped open, feeling a warm sensation flood through his body.
All the previous pain washed away instantly.
After a few seconds, the light faded again.
Everything returned to normal.
Theo remained where he was for a moment, his breathing still uneven.
His hand stayed pressed against his chest.
"...It’s gone?"
Slowly, he shut his eyes again and focused inside himself.
The circle carved into his heart was still there.
But it simply... wasn’t active anymore.
Theo frowned slightly.
"What is this supposed to do?"
Everything felt completely... normal.
His eyes opened again.
Theo pushed himself up slowly, stumbling forward a little.
He wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.
"I’m sure that wasn’t just for nothing," he muttered.
His gaze shifted across the room, falling on the other item he’d received.
The forbidden manuscript.
"If there’s anything about the summoning circle... it’s going to be in there, huh."
Walking over, he picked it up and raised it to his eyes.
At first, the letters were in some strange foreign language.
But slowly, they started to change into regular English.
"The reason I chose this option..."
He sat down on his bed, eyes locked on the manuscript.
Without hesitation, he flipped open the first page.
A faint orange mana rushed over the next page, the letters immediately rearranging themselves into proper English.
"The origins of the summoning element."
Theo felt his hair stand on end just reading the title.
His gaze dropped down slowly.
"Long ago, a fierce war broke out between the planes of the universe."
Theo paused immediately.
"War?" he muttered, eyes wide. "And different planes of the universe?"
He shook his head and quickly continued reading.
"This war shattered the universe into several planes, each sealed from each other."
"In one of these planes, the Empress of the Sovereignty ruled over both gods and ancient monsters."
His grip on the page tightened.
He kept on reading, completely absorbed in the story.
"But as time passed, the gods grew wary of the monsters."
"Those who had fought side by side now sought to erase the other."
Theo’s expression changed slowly as he flipped to the next page.
"Tiamat, the empress of sovereignty at the time, thought otherwise."
"The monsters had been a part of her army in the ancient war... just as the gods had been."
"So she refused."
His breathing slowed down, a shiver running down his spine.
"Using the powers of her bloodline..."
"She tore a fragment away from the universe."
"And constructed a plane of her own."
Theo’s pupils shrank immediately.
"A plane of her own?" he mumbled. "That’s... possible?"
Completely lost for words, he quickly continued reading.
"It was a domain that she had access to at all times and allowed monsters to live separately."
"...But it was merely a flawed imitation of the universe’s laws."
"It could not sustain itself and threatened to collapse with all the monsters inside."
"To prevent this, the empress created a way for others to summon the monsters."
"These fragments were scattered across countless civilizations... and became known as summoning circles."
Theo’s body froze.
A summoning circle... That was the other reward he’d gotten.
"Over time, repeated use created belief in the element."
"In turn, the universe itself began supporting the plane, creating what is now known as the summoning plane."
For a moment, he stopped reading.
His breathing grew heavy as he processed the information.
’All of this...’ he thought, unable to keep up. ’I...’
He couldn’t even think properly.
Ancient wars, different planes, someone capable enough to create an entire separate space... and even other civilizations.
Exhaling slowly, he forced his thoughts to settle.
"...This is insane," he muttered.
He lowered his gaze to the page again.
For a split second, the remaining scriptures distorted.
Without Theo noticing it, a faint flicker of blue light passed over them.
Then, just as suddenly, everything snapped back into place.
"The only thing the universe lacked to complete the element was a primordial embodiment of it."
His eyes narrowed.
"A primordial embodiment?"
A feeling in his gut told him he needed to remember those words.
He continued reading.
"So Empress Tiamat made a choice."
"She abandoned her form... and offered herself."
"Finally, she merged with the foundation she’d created."
"Becoming the primordial embodiment of the summoning element."
With that, the introduction came to an end.
Theo didn’t move.
The room around him was completely silent as his mind raced.
Lowering the manuscript slowly, one of his hands rose to his chest again.
"All of this... is out there?" he said, glancing out the window with wide eyes. "Then... just what are we?"
He stood there for a while, saying nothing.
Finally, he shook his head.
’I shouldn’t even think about that right now,’ he thought. ’There’s something far more important than that.’
The summoning circle.
His fingers pressed against his shirt, feeling his heart pound inside.
The carved pattern was still there.
Theo let out a slow breath, his mind flashing back to a specific line of text.
’So these circles... were spread around at first?’
’And I have one of them now?’
The thought lingered for a few seconds.
His gaze dropped back to the manuscript.
Then—
He flipped to the next page.