Limitless Summoner: Rise of the Soul God

Ethan's face twitched. "All the times she ran off, saying she had something important to take care of… don't tell me… this is the important thing?" He watched the old lady cackle and shove some pastries in her mouth. Their eyes met briefly, but she continued acting as if she did not see him.

"Well, whatever." Ethan prepared to walk away when he noticed something else. The old woman was reaching into her bag and taking out some talismans. She then handed the talismans to her friends, one for each.

"These are her important clients?" Ethan was speechless. Was he training under a random old hag?

All this time, he thought that the woman was some secretly overpowered character lying low so that she did not want to be disturbed. Or perhaps she had some powerful enemies, so he was hiding in a small city.

He had several interesting theories about her background, but the one thing he hadn't considered was… she was just a batty old woman.

Ethan let out a sigh and rubbed his temples. The image he had of the old hag in his head was completely ruined. "Fuck it. It doesn't matter. A teacher is a teacher, and she is teaching me things. So whatever."

He gave another look at the group of old ladies before he shook his head and continued walking to the fields. He did the usual and watered all the herbs before returning to the house.

He was pretty exhausted at this point, and since the old hag did not have any special tasks for him that night, he went to bed directly after a hearty dinner.

The next day was pretty much the same, and the day after. In time, as the days turned into weeks, Ethan began to see subtle progress. The water spell grew smoother. He was now able to produce fine mists. His control over the fire spell also increased. He was able to make it hotter to some degree.

He tried to sweet talk the old lady into teaching him to craft an actual talisman, but that only resulted in mocking laughter thrown back in his face, along with the words 'you are a hundred years too early'.

In the weeks that followed, Ethan threw himself into his training with renewed determination. Eventually, he was going to convince her; he was sure of it. Finally, one day after several hours of grumbling and nagging, the old hag relented.

She coughed up a skill scroll that described basic talisman creation.

Ethan's eyes widened as he accepted the scroll, his heart pounding with a mix of excitement and trepidation. He unrolled it carefully, reading the intricate instructions and diagrams that detailed the delicate process of crafting a talisman.

Every symbol and rune was explained in meticulous detail—a far cry from the haphazard theory he'd been forced to piece together on his own. He willed for the skill scroll to activate, and all of the information appeared in his mind the next second, the scroll disappearing.

In the quiet solitude of the underground workspace that evening, Ethan carefully attempted the creation of his first talisman.

He cleared the floor and started drawing the basic runes one after the other. He paused for a moment, looking down at his work. The runes began to shimmer faintly as he channeled a measured pulse of mana through his fingertips.

It was as if the ink itself, mixed with his own spirit, was coming to life. A quiet thrill of accomplishment warmed him.

After the runes were complete, he placed some catalysts around to help the process. The old hag already had some beast bones she had been using as catalysts, and he went with the same.

Lastly, he placed some ink pots near him and then sat down cross-legged. Today he was going to attempt a basic fire spell talisman. He took a blank parchment in his hand and then, steadying his breath, began to trace the intricate symbols for a basic fire spell talisman.

Every stroke of his brush was measured and deliberate, following the instructions burned into his mind by the skill scroll. The ink glistened as it met the parchment, each rune coming to life with a subtle, fiery glow.

Ethan focused intently, channeling his mana into the delicate lines he drew. Slowly, a warm radiance spread from the runes as if the parchment itself were beginning to smolder.

Then he activated the last step, which was to invoke all the runes he had drawn earlier on the ground. He sent his mana through all of the runes, which quickly became amplified thanks to the catalysts.

The entire area lit up with a golden glow as he cast the fireball spell. But instead of the spell materializing, the runes empowered by mana and the catalyst stored the spell into the small parchment paper.

The entire parchment paper started burning except for the small section in the middle where the runes were etched. The next second, Ethan held the first talisman he ever made in his hands.

He stared down at the small talisman in his hand, hardly daring to believe his eyes. The parchment, now charred around the edges and glowing softly in the center where the runes remained unburned, pulsed with a warm, steady light.

It was his first true creation—a tangible piece of magic forged by his own effort.

For a long moment, he simply held it there, his heart pounding with excitement. Despite the early setbacks, this small success affirmed that every bit of practice, every failure, was leading him forward.

"Ah… would you look at that? My little bird is now all grown up." The old hag stood in the doorway, smirking at the talisman in Ethan's hand. "I didn't think you would do it at the first attempt."

"Ummm… I have watched you a lot." Ethan awkwardly explained, not used to the praise from the devil herself.

The old hag's smirk widened into something almost approving. "Great, now you can even do my orders for me."

Your journey continues with My Virtual Library Empire

"What?" Ethan froze. Fuck no?!

"My clients are very important clients."

"Nope."