Monster Girl Menagerie – Celestial Archive

Summons (2/3)

[Amara - SSS]

• Favorability: 55% (Romantic Interest)
• Power Sync: -80.05%

[Titania—A]

• Favorability: 51% (Romantic Interest)
• Power Sync: -80.05%

Much like the last time, my heart thumped in an erratic rhythm—overcome by nervous anticipation. Standing beneath the thick canopy, I closed my eyes and extended my senses outward. I could feel the flickering flames of their vital essence, the rush of blood coursing through their veins, and the steady pulse of their hearts as they throbbed within their chests.

And I called out.

With my Perception over 300, I could feel the undulations in the very fabric of space. Like a blanket on a whirlpool, it was being sucked inside and ultimately torn asunder.

I felt heat.

As I opened my eyes, a towering inferno of flames manifested into reality before me. The shimmering portal was all but covered underneath the spiraling flames of chaos and destruction. Yet, I found no maliciousness in these flames. Instead, I found a warmth that deeply reminded me of my home.

The flames died down, leaving the ground scorched. Embers blew across the landscape, dying and reducing to ash as they drifted high above. Amid the glittering sparks, I saw a creature with her eyes closed, taking deep and measured breaths.

The woman had a mane of flaming orange hair that bled into a light shade of scarlet. She was tall—probably as tall as me—and wore a black ensemble: a pelerine with a fur-lined hem covering her shoulders.

I stared without blinking and watched as she finally opened her eyes. They were amber in hue and carried a mollified warmth. As our gazes met, her lips curled into a pleasant smile.

With a hop, she rushed toward us, coming to a halt right in front of me. "I smell something delicious," she said. "Tell me what you're cooking."

I blinked, taken aback by the cheerful smile covering her face and the question that made no sense in my mind. Both of my previous summons responses could be understood to some degree, but her words threw me off the loop. I was so confused that it took me a full half a minute to offer a response.

"Um, grass?" I tried, while inwardly questioning myself—what exactly was I doing?

She laughed a bright laugh, earning an awkward glance from me. "That was funny," she said, miming the motion of wiping a tear.

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow in surprise.

All of a sudden, the laughter died, and she regarded me with a vacant look.

"No," she replied.

"Ahem."

I heard Amara clear her throat as she shuffled forward. Her arms were crossed as she regarded the woman before us. "My name is Amara," she said, proffering her right hand.

"Pyra," she said, accepting the handshake. I took this moment to go over the stream of notifications.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

You have summoned Pyra, the Aetherflare Alchemist (A-Rank).

You have permanently bonded with your summon.

To raise your summon attributes, please increase your Spirit.

"So, what's going on here? Why am I here?" She finally directed her attention back to me, her questions concise but lacking even a sliver of anxiety. She was a strange creature indeed.

Before answering her, I glanced back at the quartet, only to find them standing stock-still. Thankfully, Tania was keeping watch, though I doubted they would try anything foolish this time.

I shifted my focus back to Pyra and gave her a brief glimpse of everything that had led to this point. Amara offered her own perspective, which helped, since Pyra seemed oddly curious about my origin—much more so than Amara or Tania had been.

"Am I your summon?" I nodded at her question. "And a member of your harem?" I paused mid-nod before I realized what she had posed.

"No!" I yelled, punctuating with a shake of my head. "This is not a harem, alright?"

"So, she's not your lover?" She asked, pointing at Amara. "And what about her?" She gestured in Tania's direction.

"I mean..." I trailed off, frowning. I realized that she seemed to have gotten the same impression that Tania had the night she was summoned. On one hand, I felt a faint worry coalesce in my gut; on the other, she wasn't entirely wrong.

I sighed and said, "You're right—about the lover part, probably even the harem part. But I won't take your choice from you—of that, you can be sure. That said, let's not focus on that for the moment."

"Fine by me," she said, shrugging her shoulders. I decided to go over her Soul Record.

Name: Pyra

Race: Ifrit [Awakened]

Age: 56

Origin: Aetherflame Alchemist [Transcendent]

Rank: ???

Attributes

• Strength: 111
• Agility: 155
• Vitality: 304
• Intelligence: 786
• Perception: 398

Talents

• [Essence Infusion - S]
• [Alchemical Growth - S]
• [Molecular Reconstitution—A]
• [Potion of Immortality—A]
• [Alchemical Restoration—B]
• [Ashen Cloud - B]

"Ifrit?" I frowned, looking back at the orange-haired woman. As I scrutinized my gaze, I could make out streaks of plasma traveling along the strands of her hair. "Is your hair on fire?" I questioned with a look of incredulity.

"Hmm?" Pyra shifted her glance to the locks of hair resting on her shoulder, and suddenly her hair wasn't on fire anymore. I blinked. "Better?" She asked, looking straight at me.

I blinked again. "Yes," I nodded, before frowning and shaking my head. "Wait, that's not the point. You're an Ifrit!"

"Yeah? Is that going to be a problem?" She probed, brow raised in interest.

"I..." I shifted my glance to Amara and found her looking at me in confusion. "What the heck is Ifrit even supposed to be?"

As it turned out, an Ifrit was an elemental. A force of nature birthed from the quintessential aspect of fire. They were known for their fiery personalities and capricious and impulsive behavior. Pyra seemed to be something of an oddball among her variety.

Seeing her light her hair on fire really drove home her incongruous nature. I watched wide-eyed and fascinated by the mane of her hair drifting upward. My eyes fell on her sparkling amber globes, her sharp features, and her pointy ears.

Hmm? Wait... pointy ears?

"Your ears are tipped?" I questioned with a frown. Pyra dimmed the intensity of her blazing hair before letting it die down. She then reached up and caressed her ears in a deliberate motion.

"It's a trait of an Ifrit, alongside our flaming hair," she said. "And before you ask, no—we cannot change it into a normal shape."

"I don't think it would pose much of a problem," Amara interjected. "Her hair color is odd, but nothing that would draw suspicion, while her ears are easily covered beneath the locks of her hair."

I nodded absentmindedly as I considered the implications of this new summon. I had once joked with Amara about her hailing from a different world, but now I couldn't help but solemnly consider the prospect. Both she and Pyra knew of the existence of an Ifrit, which meant my knowledge—and probably the knowledge this world had to offer—might prove ineffective in the long run.

To prove my conjecture correct, I called Tania over. "Do you know what an Ifrit is?" I asked.

Tania frowned, glancing between Amara and Pyra before nodding back at me. "Yes."

I thoughtfully mulled over the conundrum, lightly stroking my chin with my thumb and index finger. Drawing any premature conclusions would distort my views. I had to approach this problem with more thought and prioritize evidence.

"Maybe Ifrits exist outside of public knowledge?" Amara suggested, but I found the assumption unlikely. Though it was too early to rule it out completely, I simply shrugged.

"Either way, you have to teach me thoroughly in matters of general affairs," I said. "Of course, first we would have to finish our given task. Maybe afterward, we can all have an open conversation within a safe environment."

"The task," Pyra noted, "where you have to kill this B-rank monster?"

I nodded.

"Um." She pursed her lips, considering for a second before saying, "I might not be exactly combat ready right now—what with my attributes being reduced and my talents not well suited."

I had sifted through her Soul Record earlier, finding her Origin to be of the same rarity as Tania's. Coincidentally, her talents were also geared toward building rather than fighting. In her case, though, it was potion craft.

Some of her talents were utterly mind-boggling, and I hadn't even analyzed them at a deeper level yet. Her build seemed more solid than the dwarf's, though a comparison would be unfair, considering their strengths lay in different areas.

"I have that covered," Amara said, inclining her head. Somehow I had a feeling that she seemed to be trying to appear more intimidating with that posture.

"She's our main player; we are just side dishes," I said, offering a good-natured smile.

Pyra glanced between me and the vampire before shifting her gaze to Tania. "You know what," she said, "I like the dynamics of this harem you got."

"Hey, it's not—!"

I liked the dynamics of this harem, too.