Chapter 157: The quest to the Summon’s World 1

Words : 1177 Updated : Oct 8th, 2025

Chapter 157: The quest to the Summon’s World 1 Finally, the long-awaited time of the hunt had arrived. Strangely, earlier that very morning, a message had been delivered to every first-year cadet with a peculiar and unsettling instruction: they were not to bring any equipment or special clothing with them. This was an incredibly senile thing for each student to read, and it left a sour taste in their mouths. The implications were far from subtle. They had always suspected the military was eager to make them stronger—by any means necessary—but sending them off to a foreign planet without so much as a blade or armor? That wasn’t just negligence; that was outright lunacy. It was like being handed a suicide note, signed and sealed by command. Some students obeyed without question, trained well enough to suppress their fears. But others, those a bit more cunning or simply unwilling to die for blind orders, hid what they could. A few stuffed miniature weapons into the soles of their boots or slipped them into the linings of their uniforms. Those fortunate enough to own storage rings tucked their gear inside, defying the rules in silent rebellion. With that tense matter somewhat settled, all the students were escorted out of the first-year side of the academy and led toward the heart of Titanfang’s main military base. Many had seen glimpses of this place from the outside—a towering structure of steel and energy shields, casting long shadows over the academy grounds—but now they were entering it for the first time. The inside, however, was nothing short of otherworldly. Kairos Veyl found himself in awe, baffled by what stood before him. He had severely underestimated the military’s capabilities. The interior of the building was so advanced, it bordered on science fiction. No traditional flooring supported their feet; instead, they stood on a strange translucent surface that felt solid but appeared to hover midair. It wasn’t just a trick of the light. The very ground beneath them was transparent, revealing a massive shaft that burrowed deep into the earth. Thousands—perhaps millions—of glowing golden crystals protruded from its walls, some small like shards, others towering and sharp like spears. The light they emitted bathed the space in a surreal golden hue, making the air shimmer with ethereal brilliance. Kairos gulped. He wasn’t the only one unnerved by the sight. The thought of what lay below—those razor-sharp crystal spikes waiting like the jaws of a beast—crawled into the minds of every student present. Dirty little thoughts began to sneak in. ’What if this floor suddenly gave out? What if this was a test to see who would panic first?’ Kairos didn’t doubt for a second that the military could do something that deranged. He imagined the floor vanishing beneath him, sending him plummeting downward, his face colliding with crystal, his bones crunching and twisting into a grotesque sculpture. The image made him wince. ’Disgusting,’ he thought, trying to shake off the nightmare. Thankfully, as if reading the collective tension in the air, the instructor at the front halted and turned around. Sergeant Henry followed suit, his sharp eyes scanning the students. "Sorry, sorry," Henry began, raising both hands in a calming gesture. "This is a nanotech-based flooring, built from one of our finest scientific minds. It’s not fragile, and it adapts to your movements. It’s thin, yeah, but trust me—it’s impossible to fall." ’Impossible to fall? Easily breakable?’ Kairos raised an eyebrow. Those weren’t the most reassuring words to string together in a sentence, especially in a place suspended above death by what looked like glass. After what felt like an eternity of tiptoeing down what Kairos now called the ’Bridge of Trust’—an ironic name for something so anxiety-inducing—they finally reached the end of the descent. His legs were tense, and his breath had been held longer than necessary. ’A bridge of trust... right. For someone like me who doesn’t trust anything without a warranty, this is a damned nightmare.’ They reached the bottom of the crystalline chasm, and only then did the students realize where they were. This wasn’t a portal room. They stood in the heart of a massive underground cavity, a colossal chamber carved into the world’s crust. Golden crystals jutted out from every surface—walls, ceiling, and floor. The energy they gave off felt familiar, almost nostalgic. "Aren’t these the crystals that allowed us to awaken the first time?" Rayla, the more outspoken cadets, asked as she turned to the instructor, her tone curious. The instructor raised a brow, clearly unimpressed that someone had the nerve to speak so casually. He didn’t know who Rayla was and appeared slightly offended, as though a child had just questioned the gods. But before anything awkward could erupt, Sergeant Henry stepped in smoothly. "Yes. However, these crystals are vastly different from those used in the first awakening. To advance to Grade Two, the process changes significantly." The room fell into silence. Everyone leaned in subconsciously, hungry for the truth—secrets long kept from them were finally being laid bare. "During your first awakening," Henry continued, his voice calm but firm, "your summon was brought into this world and tethered to your soul. But this test will reverse that. Instead of your summon coming here, you will go there—your consciousness, your soul—will be transported to the world of summons." A few gasps echoed in the room. "There, you must locate your summon’s true soul and bind it completely to yours. Only then will you be able to return." He let those words linger. "Until you succeed, there’s no way back. And understand this well: dying in that world is no different from dying here. Your body will remain, yes—but empty. No thoughts, no spirit, just a shell with a heartbeat. A coma, if you’re lucky. A living corpse, if not." That chilling silence returned, thicker than ever. "But if you refuse to take the Grade Two test, you’ll only have ten more years before your summon begins to consume you from within. You must complete the bond to stop this. Summons are still beasts. You only called their soul into yours. Now you must earn the right to keep them." Kairos felt his chest tighten. ’So that’s why they never told us until now. No time to panic. No time to escape. No way out but forward.’ Henry stepped forward, placing both hands behind his back as he looked over the crowd. "This is also why equipment is not allowed. None of it will follow you where you’re going. You’ll have nothing—no help, no armor, no weapons, not even your summons. Just your will, integration and your bond. The choice is yours: attempt the test... or choose a slow, certain death." Once again, silence. For the first time in weeks, no one dared to speak. No whispers. No complaints. Only the sound of their breath, heavy with dread and determination. Kairos closed his eyes, feeling the weight of the moment settle on his shoulders. ’The quest to the Summon’s World.’

Chapter 157: The quest to the Summon’s World 1

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