I Can Contract Beauties-Chapter 40: Summoning Crystals

The heat of the sun penetrated the air as the winds rustled.

Eight carriages pulled by two wind horses each could be seen traveling in a rough road surrounded by humongous trees.

Behind these two wind horses were coachmen wearing a coat made of straw.

The eight carriages formed a line as they traveled forward in swift speed. Amongst the eight wind carriages, the two in front were filled with foods and rations. Next to these two were big carriages specially designed for passenger comfort. At the back were other supplies needed for the trip as well as the necessary servants like a cook to take care of everyone’s needs during this trip.

Separated according to their gender, Miguel and Gasper were inside one of the two carriages with two other boys of their age.

In the other passenger carriage was Erika, and four young girls. None of them were close and the four girls respected Erika and saw her as a big sister.

In the boy’s carriage on the other hand, it was pin-drop silence. Even Gasper, who usually boasts about everything, seemed to have become a mute. The two other boys seemed timid and they were used to being led by Gasper. With Gasper not saying anything, they didn’t know what to do.

Miguel on the other hand observed the flashing surroundings curiously. He also took note of how fast the carriage was moving.

According to Erika, these horses were called Wind Horses. They were Normal Grade Level 2 Beast, and unlike normal beasts, they were very docile and were often domesticated for the purpose of pulling a carriage. Unless provoked to the extreme, they were usually very docile towards humans. This doesn’t mean that they would follow human’s order though like what the coachmen were doing.

Being Level 2 Beast, these horses were very swift and can travel continuously without rest. According to Erika, they can arrive less than half a time to their destination precisely because the carriages were being pulled by these Wind Horses.

Using a normal horse carriage, it would take at least an entire day of travel just to arrive in Red Stone City. But using the Wind Horses carriage, they will be able to arrive there in three hours at most.

Not only were they fast, Wind Horses had a lot of stamina too so there was no need to stop too often during the journey, hence saving a lot of time.

In truth, these Wind Horses were actually summoned creatures as well. Their summoners were the coachmen.

However, unlike summoners like Miguel and the others that use them as grimoire, these summoners actually use a crystal to bind these beasts.

According to Erika, these crystals were also called Summoning Crystals, and only humans who don’t have a grimoire can use them.

In a sense, they were like the martial artists who refused to live to their fate and hence found another way to get stronger.

Unlike summoners who use a grimoire, the summoners who use the Summoning Crystals don’t have a rank system. Their strength mainly lies on their summoned beasts, and if they did not train, they were still technically just normal humans.

For them to summon their beasts and command them, they must first drip their blood to the Summoning Crystal and form a mental connection with it. There were no limitations to the number of summons and beasts they could use as long as they had the energy to do it.

Of course, summoning a single beast requires a lot of energy for them and hence, normally, they would only be able to summon one or two beasts before they would pass out from mental fatigue.

There were those who trained their will as well so they would be able to withstand these mental fatigue and can summon more than two beasts at once.

These kinds of summoners were also called Crystal Summoners.

Crystal Summoners were actually the mainstream occupation of this world. Grimoire Summoners depended on fate, while being a Martial Artists requires time and sheer dedication in order for them to get stronger.

Anyone could just buy a Summoning Crystal and they could become a Crystal Summoner right there and then.

Summoning Crystals on the other hand were not that rare but they were very expensive. Even more expensive than beast meats and materials.

Mercenaries who have already completed a lot of commission and saved would be able to afford buying the normal grade summoning crystals and use it to bind a beast.

No one really knows where these Summoning Crystals came from. It was said that they were sold by summoners who got them as reward from the World’s Will while some said that it was forged by outstanding blacksmiths and artifact refiners to aid those who wanted to become stronger, others said they can be found in the wild like naturally formed treasures as well.

Summoning Crystals were also classified into grades. The higher the grades, the more expensive they were and the higher the level the beast it can bind with. Of course, higher grade crystals meant that only those who have high energy can use them.

Although it looked promising, Crystal Summoners and Summoning Crystals actually have a lot of limitations.

For one thing, Crystal Summoners were unable to cast an absolute shield during a battle so they must constantly worry about their safety during a fight. Another major drawback of the Summoning Crystals was that beasts who have been bound by it would no longer be able to evolve or rank up.

In order for Crystal Summoners to increase the strength of their summons, they can only unbind the previous one and find another beast to bind it with, or they can just be straight up by another Summoning Crystal to bind a stronger beast.

The World’s Will also doesn’t reward them for their efforts even if they won a dangerous battle.

Grimoire Users would not be called ’Heavens Favorite’, ’Favored Ones’ and ’Chosen Ones’ for nothing at all as only they have the ability to be rewarded by the World’s Will with their performances.

When a beast summoned by a Summoning Crystal dies, the Summoning Crystal would immediately break and turn to dust. The summoner would also receive a feedback

When Miguel learned of this information from Erika, his interest and curiosity was immediately piqued.

In terms of persistence, the people of this world can be crowned at the top of the list. Their tendency to deny fate and work on their own to find ways to get stronger were admirable.

It was a pity that grimoire summoners would no longer be able to use Summoning Crystals, else, Miguel would have been very interested in owning a few of them.

Miguel shifted his attention to the coachman and asked, "How much does a Normal Grade Summoning Crystal usually cost?"