Online Game: Starting With SSS-Ranked Summons

Back at Power Guild, oblivious to the chaos spreading through Caldera's elite, Arthur and Elara continued their tour.

Anna remained close to her princess, watching Arthur like a hawk.

"This guild has no members beside us?" Elara asked.

"Lucas Ashencroft is an advisor," Arthur replied. "We're still recruiting."

Elara raised an eyebrow. "You have the princess and the son of House Ashencroft already?"

"You are quite ambitious."

Arthur shrugged. "Things happen."

...

The moment Princess Elara and her shadow departed, Arthur wasted no time. He pulled the protector's insignia from his inventory and activated it.

Light enveloped him, and the world shifted.

He materialized in the forest outside the village, and the teleportation was flawless as always. No sign of Lupin or Jasmine.

He needed privacy for what came next.

Arthur set off toward the mountain, his pace quickening with each step. The countdown in his mind ticked relentlessly.

Arthur checked his surroundings one final time.

He was at the top of the mountain, the same mountain where a powerful demon resided.

...

Arthur checked his surroundings one final time.

Nothing but stone and sky. Not even wildlife dared come this high.

"My second Primordial beast." A smile crept across his face. "I wonder what I'll get this time. I've been waiting for this bad boy or girl..."

Arthur activated his talent:

Talent Effect #1: You are able to summon primordial beasts once every 2 months. Additionally, you can summon normal beasts at will, though these beasts are random. Your summoned beasts level up with you.

But his fourth talent effect made the duration less:

Talent Effect #4: Talent Effect #1 Cooldown reduced to 1 month.

'It's time.'

The mountain peak trembled. Stones cracked beneath his feet.

A portal tore open in the air before him, not the size of his palm like when he'd summoned Neko.

No, this one was massive. Ten feet tall and growing.

Pure black energy swirled within it, occasionally flashing with colors that didn't exist in the natural spectrum.

'Oh, whatever's coming out is going to be big.'

Neko, who had been sleeping in his robe's pocket, suddenly woke up. She climbed to his shoulder, fur standing on end as she stared at the portal.

'Bad-nya,' she thought to him. 'Danger-nya.'

"Relax," Arthur told her. "It's ours."

The portal's edge began to crack, fracturing reality itself.

Something was pushing through from the other side.

A claw emerged first—obsidian black, each talon longer than Arthur's forearm.

Then another.

The portal stretched wider, struggling to accommodate whatever was coming through.

Neko hissed, her eyes gleaming as she stared at the portal.

The mountain shook violently. Rocks tumbled down the slopes. The air crackled with power so intense Arthur's skin prickled.

A massive claw emerged first—pitch black, gleaming like obsidian. Then another.

'This is going to be powerful,' Arthur thought, excitement building.

The portal strained, edges fraying as something massive pushed through. The tremors intensified.

Then it happened.

A head emerged—draconic, with midnight scales that swallowed light. Eyes like crimson stars. Teeth that could shred steel.

And it kept coming.

A neck thick as a tree trunk. Shoulders wider than a house. Wings that could blot out the sky.

The beast pulled itself free with a final surge, the portal snapping shut behind it.

Arthur stared up at his new summon.

A dragon. A primordial dragon. At least ten meters long, its body radiating ancient power.

It looked... terrifying. Everything about it screamed apex predator.

Then it blinked.

And sneezed.

"Achoo!" The sound was so unexpected, so incongruous with its appearance, that Arthur almost laughed.

The dragon looked around, eyes wide with curiosity. It tilted its head, examining its surroundings.

"Where am I?" it asked, voice surprisingly high-pitched. "It's so pretty here!"

Arthur blinked. This wasn't what he expected.

It bounced on its claws, all ten meters and several tons of it, making the mountain shake again.

The dragon spotted her. "A kitty!"

Before either could react, the dragon lowered its massive head, eyes level with Neko.

"I love kitties," it whispered reverently. "So soft."

Neko hissed.

"It doesn't like me," the dragon said, somehow managing to look devastated despite its terrifying appearance.

[You have summoned Primordial Beast, Aetherion]

"Aetherion, you are now my companion," Arthur said, placing a hand on the massive dragon's snout. "This is Neko. She doesn't hate you, it's just that she's somewhat cold. Give her some time—she'll open up."

Aetherion perked up instantly. "Really? You promise?"

"I promise."

The dragon's tail swished excitedly, narrowly missing a boulder. "What will I do as your companion? Eat things?"

"Of course and much more."

"Yay!"

Neko rolled her eyes. 'Too energetic-nya.'

"So," Arthur said, "let's see what you can do."

"Oh! Oh! I can show you my Singularity Collapse!" Aetherion bounced excitedly, eyes gleaming with childlike enthusiasm.

The dragon turned toward a distant peak, his massive body tensing.

"WAIT!" Arthur shouted, suddenly realizing what was about to happen.

Too late.

"SINGULARITY COLLAPSE!" Aetherion roared.

A tiny black sphere—no bigger than a marble—shot from the dragon's maw. It streaked across the sky, a comet of pure darkness.

For one heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then the world broke.

The black sphere expanded, just slightly, before collapsing in on itself. Space warped visibly around it, light bending toward the singularity.

The mountain peak didn't crumble. It didn't shatter.

It flowed.

Rock, trees, snow—all of it stretched and distorted as it was dragged toward the tiny black hole. The air itself seemed to scream as it rushed toward the singularity.

Arthur's jaw dropped.

The dragon watched his handiwork with proud excitement. "Cool, right?"

Arthur couldn't answer.

Five seconds felt like eternity.

Then, mercifully, the singularity winked out of existence.

Everything within fifty meters of the impact point was simply... destroyed.

Silence fell across the mountainside.

"Was that good?" Aetherion asked, tail swishing anxiously. "I tried to make it small!"

Arthur stared at the devastation, mouth still open.

"Arthur?" The dragon nudged him gently. "Did I do bad?"

Arthur finally found his voice. "That was... that was..."

"Bad?" Aetherion's entire massive body seemed to droop.

"Incredible," Arthur finished.

The dragon perked up instantly. "Really? You like it? I can do it again!"

"NO!" Arthur and Neko shouted in unison.

"I mean," Arthur amended, "save it for when we really need it."

"Like for big bad guys?"

"Exactly."

Arthur's mind raced with possibilities. With Aetherion at his side, even the Four Families would think twice about moving against him.

"One more question," Arthur said. "What's your cooldown on that ability?"

"My what?"

"How long until you can use it again?"

"Oh!" Aetherion thought for a moment. "Five minutes!"

Arthur nearly choked. "Five MINUTES?"

The dragon nodded happily. "Want me to show you again when it's ready?"

"That won't be necessary. Aether." Arthur patted the dragon's snout.

Arthur still shocked by Aetherion's display of power, immediately checked his status.

[Race:] Primordial Draconis

[ID:] Aetherion

[Level:] 18

[Talent:] Space (SSS)

[Health Points:] 230

[Mana Points:] 420

[Magical Damage:] 420

[Physical Damage:] 28

[Damage Resistance:] 22

[Attributes:] Strength 26, Agility 30, Vitality 22, Intelligence 42

[Skills:] Singularity Collapse (Mythical), Space Lock (Legendary), Dimensional Slash (Epic)

[Attribute Points:] 0

[Skill Points:] 0

'Insane,' Arthur thought, as he immediately checked the skills Aether had.

—

<Singularity Collapse>

<Rank: Mythical>

<Active>

Description: The Void Dragon creates a miniature gravitational singularity at a targeted location within 50 meters, pulling everything toward it for 5 seconds. Enemies caught within 5 meters of the centre take massive crushing damage and are stunned for 2 seconds. Those within 100 meters suffer a 60% movement speed reduction and take continuous damage.

Cooldown: 5 Minutes.

—

<Space Lock>

<Rank: Legendary>

<Active>

Description:

The Void Dragon locks a target's position in space, preventing all forms of movement and teleportation for 6 seconds. The target is completely immobilized, unable to move, or blink. If the target attempts to escape via teleportation or spatial abilities, they are forcefully pulled back, suffering high spatial rupture damage. If used on a weaker enemy, the space around them begins to contract, causing gradual crushing damage every second.

Cooldown: 2 minutes.

—

<Dimensional Slash>

<Rank: Epic>

<Active>

Description:

The Void Dragon tears through space, creating an invisible rift up to 10 meters in a chosen direction. After 1 second, the rift collapses, instantly severing everything caught within. Enemies struck suffer high spatial damage, ignoring 50% of physical and magical defenses. If an enemy is killed, a spatial shockwave erupts, dealing AoE damage in a 5-meter radius.

Cooldown: 40 seconds.

—

"What in the..." Arthur's hands trembled as he scrolled through the skill descriptions.

"Is something wrong?" Aetherion asked, head tilting with childlike concern.

Arthur let out a laugh that bordered on manic. "Wrong? No. Nothing's wrong."

"Then why do you look funny?"

Arthur's mouth slightly twitched at the oblivious dragon.

Arthur ignored the dragon and checked Neko's status.

[Race:] Primordial Felidae

[ID:] Maneki-Neko

[Level:] 18

[Talent:] Lucky (SSS)

[Health Points:] 210

[Mana Points:] 320

[Magical Damage:] 32

[Phyiscal Damage:] 27

[Damage Resistance:] 21

[Attributes:] Strength 27, Agility 27, Vitality 21, Intelligence 32

[Skills:] Claw Slash (Rare), Paw Steps (Rare), Ninefold Fortune(Mythical), Shadow Pounce (Legendary)

[Attribute Points:] 13

[Skill Points:] 13

'Their total stats are pretty close, it's just that i haven't allocated Neko's free attributes,' Arthur thought.

'The skills rankings are also pretty similar. While Neko's stats and skills mainly focus on survivability and adaptation, Aether's focus purely on offensive side and destruction.'

'With these two primordials, I can handle almost any situation. Neko for stealth and survival, Aetherion for raw power.'

Arthur turned to the eager dragon. "Are you able to change your size?"

Aetherion tilted his head. "I can be smaller!"

"Show me."

The dragon's form shimmered, and suddenly where a ten-meter beast had stood, a dragon the size of a large dog sat wagging its tail.

"Is this good?" Aetherion's voice was even higher pitched now.

"Perfect," Arthur said, genuinely impressed. "Can you maintain this size?"

"Yep! But my powers are a teensy bit less strong."

"A necessary trade-off."