TRPM 103

chapter 103

After a few days had passed since I placed the restriction on Alex,
he drew a magic circle to subjugate a dragon right in front of me and Yeon Mirae.

Of course, he could have forced the dragon into servitude back when I restricted him,
but instead, he had asked a lot of questions about the magic circle and requested some time.
Now, he returned with a brand-new circle.

“…Unbelievable.”

He had not only grasped the entire structure of the familiar contract circle at a glance,
but in just a few days, he had modified it.

And what he brought wasn’t some sloppy imitation—it looked legitimate,
even in Mirae’s and my eyes.

“Usually, modifying a magic circle takes multiple professional researchers months of trial and error…”

And yet, Alex, who wasn’t even that great of a mage, did it in just a few days.

No—thinking back, even before my regression,
he had modified the familiar contract circle.

He wasn’t content with just finishing one for himself, either.
He compiled an entire method for altering circles for others to use.

“That just shows how sincere he was about familiars.”

The knowledge he had gathered in his pursuit of dragon subjugation
was what allowed this to be possible.

But…

“The part Alex added this time… is it meant to account for collisions between multiple forces?”

Alex believed that Sarang’s body wasn’t filled with mana, but with aura and some unknown energy.

The additions he made in recent days contained an attempt
to exploit the destructive clashes between such forces.

“…She was able to accept both aura and inner energy into her body,
but since they weren’t compatible, they clashed within her,
cutting away at her lifespan until she died young.”

In the previous timeline, Mirae’s inner energy and aura
constantly collided inside her, wearing down her life.

Which also meant—the power created by those collisions
was so immense that even someone as strong as Mirae
couldn’t withstand it without losing years of her life.

If that power could be harnessed,
a strong familiar could be sustained with relatively little energy.

“And familiars don’t really have a lifespan anyway…”

Familiars were beings of mana.
Even if multiple energies collided within them,
they wouldn’t be wounded or shortened-lived.

No side effects to worry about.

“(May I ask this favor?)”

So Alex asked us directly,
requesting that Mirae and I supply aura and inner energy into the circle.

I nodded.

“(I’m curious about the results of the circle you created, too.)”

But I set one condition.

“(The circle will need a little modification.)”
“(Eh?)”

The original circle I gave Alex had been based on the Azure Dragon,
one of the Four Divine Beasts of East Asia.

Famous as it was, the Azure Dragon didn’t fit with the idea of clashing energies
that Alex wanted to incorporate.

“(The Azure Dragon is a sacred beast. It wouldn’t be right to tie it with chaotic energies.)”

Instead, we needed the story of an evil dragon—
a being where mixed forces wouldn’t feel out of place.

“(Fafnir comes to mind. Or maybe the Red Dragon of the Apocalypse. What do you think?)”
“(…The first is scary enough, but the second one is worse…)”

Alex wiped cold sweat.
“If we must, please—let’s go with Fafnir.”

I lightly modified the circle,
erasing the directional marks symbolizing the Four Gods,
replacing them with runes.

Since Fafnir was a dragon of Norse myth,
I also added symbols for Sigurd from the Völsunga Saga
and Siegfried from Der Ring des Nibelungen,
both of whom slew Fafnir.

“…Wait, I’m supposed to play the role of Sigurd and Siegfried?” Mirae blinked.
“Yeah. It’ll be good for you, too.”

Heroes who slew Fafnir—
Sigurd gained divine wisdom by consuming Fafnir’s heart,
while Siegfried became immortal after bathing in dragon’s blood (or oil in another version).

Mirae wouldn’t literally gain divine wisdom or immortality,
but she’d become sharper, stronger, and more effective against dragon-kind.

“…Wouldn’t that suit you better, Master?”
“I don’t benefit much from such narrative power.”

And with that, I pushed Mirae into the circle
and told Alex to activate it.

“(Then… here goes.)”

Alex, visibly tense, activated the circle.

Wooong…

The circle whirred to life.
From the rune symbolizing “dragon,” something small emerged.

“…Kyuu!”
“…Kyuu?”

Alex and Mirae blinked in surprise.
They were expecting Fafnir…

Had the summoning failed?

“(No. It worked.)” I reassured them.

“(But…)”
“(Look closely.)”

At the corner of the circle sat a tiny lifeform,
no bigger than a fist, smiling happily.

“…Don’t tell me…”
“(Yup. That’s Fafnir.)”

A baby, but still.

“Kyuu! Kyuu!”

The baby dragon crawled to Alex’s feet
and tugged at his leg, asking to be picked up.

“(Not what you imagined?)” I asked.
“(Well…)”

“(It can take the form you imagine,
though your mana won’t sustain that form for long.)”

Like Sarang, my familiar, who usually stayed in puppy form
to conserve mana.

I was about to send Alex off when—

【User Han Gunwoo has nurtured User Alex into an excellent summoner as a Grandmaster.】
【The familiar paradigm shifts through User Alex.】
【User Han Gunwoo has fostered User Yeon Mirae as a Grandmaster.】
【The power of narrative accelerates User Yeon Mirae’s growth.】
【Reward granted to User Han Gunwoo.】

The Awakener System displayed messages I hadn’t seen in a while.

I’d nearly forgotten it even gave rewards,
since my cultivation method, Harmony Divine Art,
had developed too independently for it to provide useful ones.

But then—

【User Han Gunwoo’s accumulated points have surpassed the threshold.】
【All points will be consumed to grant a reward.】

“…What?”

The system, which had struggled for ages to reward me,
was finally offering something.

【Harmony Divine Sword (Incomplete) granted to User Han Gunwoo.】

A sword hilt without a blade appeared in my hand.

【The Harmony Divine Sword (Incomplete) grows alongside the Harmony Divine Art.】
【It is among the finest artifacts the system has ever produced.】

The grip fit my hand perfectly—
even in my puppet body, I could feel it.
This sword was truly mine.

“Feels just like the old blade I wielded for years before regression.”

That old sword, which had soaked in blood until it verged on becoming a demonic blade,
had still been just a mass-produced weapon.

But this?
Even as just a hilt, it radiated an unusual energy.

“It’s been a while. Thanks for showing up.”

The system’s gift was more than enough.

“(What’s that…?)” Alex asked.
“(Pretend you didn’t see it.)”
“(R-right.)”

He nodded furiously.
Even the baby Fafnir clinging to his leg looked spooked.

Bzzz… Bzzz…

Then both Alex’s and Mirae’s phones vibrated.

Their expressions soured as they read the messages.

“What happened?” I asked.
“Animals are attacking people.”

“…Animals?”

Sure, wild animals occasionally attacked humans,
but never at this scale—especially not with so many awakeners around.

“…Not just a few. Thousands.”

Mirae showed me her phone.
At the same time, I checked mine and clicked my tongue.

“Currently confirmed: thousands of animals attacking humans.
Not only wild animals but pets as well.”

From harmless hamsters and lab mice,
to endlessly spawning insects,
to stray dogs and cats,
to full-grown zoo predators.

Owners of large dogs and zoo handlers
were already among the dead.

“…A spirit user. A druid, to be precise.”

A very powerful one had commanded
every animal across Seoul:

Kill all humans in sight.

The countermeasure wasn’t difficult.
A druid of equal strength could override the command.

And I happened to have one—
a druid on par with an Aura Master or Archmage.

“Mirae, contact Kim Baekrang of the White Wolf Guild.
Tell her to deal with this immediately.”
“Yes.”

She dialed.

But…

“…It says the call cannot be connected.”
“…”

Blocked.

She’d been blocked by Kim Baekrang.

“…So it was her.”

The one who caused this entire incident—
was Kim Baekrang.