MTLNOVEL Chapter 9: Evocation
Location: Unknown
Date: Unknown
Three strange-looking people stood inside a random cave in the middle of the night ...
There was a middle-aged, strong, bald man, his body was a bit muscular and he was standing in the middle of the group.
On his right stood a person wearing a bland mask and a bland robe with no distinguished features, and on his left, there was another masked figure who looked almost exactly the same as the other one.
The only difference between the two figures was that the figure on the left had much longer black hair.
The bald man looked around him, then spoke in a dignified tone
"It seems the timing is about right. Shall we begin?"
The replies were instant
"Yes, my lord"
"Understood"
The masked figures started by drawing a circle on the floor ...
Then they started drawing all sorts of bizarre things inside the circle, from geometric forms to strange illustrations to random alphabets.
In the beginning, it seemed like they were drawing random shapes, but by the time they were done, everything simply connected, just like pieces of a puzzle.
If you looked at the circle's final form, you wouldn't understand what it represented. However, you'd instinctively feel that it's correct.
After completing their drawings, the two figures stood up.
The bald man kneeled, touched the circle, and started chanting something ...
He kept chanting for a long enough time that the two figures couldn't help but feel amazed regarding how he could remember such a long chant.
When he was done, a diagram in the shape of a cube started floating about 1 meter above the circle, then the bald man stood up.
The diagram looked like an open box.
'More like an open maw' thought one of the masked figures to himself ...
The bald man extended his arm forward, keeping it above the box-shaped diagram, and then he turned to the masked figure on his right and ordered solemnly
"Do it"
"Understood, My Lord" replied the masked figure in a manly voice
The masked man unsheathed his sword, raised it up in the air, then slashed it down with all his strength, severing the bald man's arm from his elbow down ...
Despite the pain, the bald man didn't even flinch.
For a while, his arm kept spilling blood into the diagram. Then he chanted something and covered the end of it with white light, stopping the bleeding immediately.
The three of them watched the arm and the blood fall directly into the diagram ...
The diagram became dark, and then it greedily consumed the arm and the blood, making both disappear ...
After seeing that, the bald man turned to the figure on his left and said
"Now bring the object"
The masked figure nodded without saying anything and walked deeper into the cave.
A couple of seconds after the diagram consumed the arm, it disappeared. Then the circle on the floor shone brightly.
The long-haired masked figure returned and said
"Here, My Lord"
Her voice was feminine, soft, and pleasant.
The bald man noticed that the figure's voice was a lot warmer than usual, and he immediately understood the reason
'She's feeling bad because of my arm'
He spoke in an easy-going tone
"Now now, don't let such a minuscule incident affect you, it's a small price after all"
Hearing that, her demeanor quickly changed, and she replied with a machine-like, cold voice
"Understood"
Then she went to place the object she brought in the middle of the circle.
After she was done, the masked man asked
"Now what, My Lord"
The Bald man replied nonchalantly
"Now we wait"
A chair materialized out of nowhere and the bald man sat on it.
The masked female asked with a neutral voice that had a tinge of tenderness in it
"Can't you regrow your arm in the process, My Lord?"
The bald man replied evenly
"Not currently. I'm already maintaining different spells, connecting Realities, and Summoning."
He continued
"Doing all of that at the same time is consuming a big portion of even MY Mana and Life Force, and I'm not planning on consuming even more and becoming completely defenseless. We will just wait for now, and after everything is over, I will do it"
"Yes, My Lord" She nodded in understanding.
A short time passed, and then the masked female asked in a weak voice
"Do you think we'll succeed this time, My Lord?"
The bald man replied without removing his eyes from the shiny circle on the ground ...
"Eventually"
The masked man joined the conversation
"We've done it countless times until now, My Lord, why is it not succeeding?"
The bald man explained
"The first couple of hundreds of attempts were mostly failures.
I was not even able to correctly manage the spells, nor did I have sufficient mana for the entire process ...
After I was able to solve these problems, I discovered even more problems with the spell itself. Only recently I was able to stabilize it."
He continued with a sigh
"Although I fixed the species so it doesn't summon anything other than human souls, and I also managed to limit the number of Realities the spell summons from, it still summons random souls."
His voice became bitter
"Even after all this, I do not have any idea how to make it limited to a specific timeline in these Realities ...
I have a rough idea about how to set a couple of filters on the soul, but I still need more tries to understand.
My goal is to limit the gender and age next."
The masked female said in a concerned voice
"But, My Lord, if you keep on increasing the complexity of the spell then it'll surely demand more sacrifices"
The bald man nodded
"You're right. My arm will only take us so far ...
After we reach a certain point I'll have to sacrifice another arm or leg ... then ... "
The tone of his voice changed
"Don't worry ... I will fulfill my deal with The Archivist"
Both the masked figures shivered as soon as they heard that name ...
They certainly didn't like that idea ...
However, because they didn't have anything else to suggest, they only kept quiet. Both of them knew how important this matter was to their Lord.
After a couple of moments of silence, the masked man muttered
"It's simply a matter of time"
The bald man agreed
"Yeah, and we have a lot of time ... But will you follow me until then?"
"Of course, My Lord, until eternity and beyond" Said the masked man confidently.
"As long as I'm alive, My Lord" Said the masked female with her usual, Machine-like voice.
The bald man said
"Ahh, Beta, as long as you are alive? Do you think I'll let you die?"
He added with a soft chuckle
"If the situation is tough, then Alpha will die first."
He pointed at the masked man and continued
"As I told him, if push comes to shove, his highest priority is protecting you rather than staying by my side.
Right, Alpha?"
Alpha replied without hesitation
"I'll protect her with my life, My Lord"
"Under~stood" Said Beta
She tried to keep her voice in check, but it trembled for just a second ...
After that conversation ended, no one said anything.
Hours passed ...
The circle kept shining, but no change happened. Regardless, the 3 figures kept staring intently at it.
Days passed ...
Finally, after a couple of days, a change happened; the circle started blinking, and the earth began shaking.
Alpha shook the bald man's shoulder
"It's happening, My Lord"
The bald man extended his remaining hand and stopped Alpha from shaking him
" ... I can see that"
"Ah, indeed" Replied Alpha awkwardly.
Beta snickered watching them, then everything went quiet ...