38 Rallaka

"Are you sure with this?" Aria asked.

"Anything... Anything but death! I still have a lot to do! This great spirit-"

"I'll take that as a yes. I only needed a yes or no response." Aria grabbed the spirit in one go.

She bit her thumb, drawing out blood from the pierced skin. This was the contract that was sometimes considered as 'illegal'.

It was crude, and didn't favor the summon at all. Every right went to the Summoner.

Even though the summon ultimately had the last say, it was very easy to exploit.

A lot of creatures were cornered and forced to initiate the submissive contract, which stripped them from their fine rights. Deemed as an inhumane act, and loathed by many.

Aria had a sly grin on her face as she continued with her actions without a shred of care.

"Aaaaakkk!! Be gentle, you venomous woman-"

In response, Aria pinched the spirit.

Another pained shriek came out of the spirit.

"Then.. I will give you a name. Your name shall be Rallaka." Aria chuckled.

The spirit had comical reactions, making her want to tease it even more.

She stamped her bloodied thumb onto the spirit's forehead. The action created a chain reaction, where the spirit was brought to the air and surrounded by a magic circle that went up and down its body like a scanner.

"I-I, the Great Earthen Spirit accepts the name 'Rallaka' and.. and.." The spirit stopped its speech.

It was supposed to contain her name in its speech. The spirit didn't know her name.

"Aria," she said. "Aria Schreiner."

"I accept Aria Schreiner as my Contractor!"

"I also accept the spirit Rallaka as my Contracted." Aria followed the vow.

With the sealing words, the magic circles that went around Rallaka got bigger. A bright ray of light was produced, illuminating the entire room.

Rallaka absorbed the magic circle. The energy was condensed into a single mark.

'So it's still the same.'

Aria's signature mark resembled that of a trinity shaped Celtic knot, with a golden shine. Now that it appeared before her once again, she was washed with a flood of nostalgia.

Yes, a golden shine.

The very shade that is supposed to be exclusive to the Arcana Element.

Something that she was never able to comprehend even back then.

She couldn't use the Arcana Element, but her mark glinted in the foreign golden gleam.

"Ah!" Rallaka jumped after the process ended.

The trinity Celtic mark was firmly imprinted on its forehead.

'My mark didn't appear on Dianthe. Does that mean she's not an official summon yet?'

Looking at the oblivious Dianthe, Aria tried to theorize the possible reason why only Dianthe's summoning was allowed.

"Fuu... Haa.. Your magic sure is special.." Rallaka took deep breaths in and out, calming itself before turning around and testing the movement.

"Are you satisfied?"

"I was one of the Spirit Kings, but my power got stolen by..."

The spirit stopped. Even after a few seconds had passed, it didn't continue. Or rather, it couldn't continue.

"Memory loss?" Aria raised a brow.

"No, that shouldn't be possible. I clearly remembered that figure's identity! What..?" Rallaka held up its head in disbelief.

He couldn't recall any memory about the one who harmed him.

'A similar case with mine.' Aria commented.

Vague memories pertaining to something important.

'Even so, a Spirit King, huh.'

Outside of the universal spirit ranking, nobility titles were conferred to strong spirits.

Being a Spirit King meant that Rallaka possessed massive strength at his prime. One that towered over other spirits.

There were higher rankings above the title, but usually a King was enough to lead an entire army of spirits.

However, another question came to mind.

"You didn't have a name?"

Spirit Kings were known to have names. Whether they were named by another party or obtaining one through a self-naming process, they had a spiritual name that others address them with.

They prided themselves over the name, which separated them from other classes.

Lower-classed spirits rarely had names, those who had one were all thanks to being contracted.

"Uhh... I did have a name.. but I don't remember!" Rallaka clenched his fists and wrung his head around.

Aria sighed. The spirit had no knowledge of his background. How was she supposed to unravel the mystery?

Shrugging the matter off, she let Rallaka play around Dianthe in order to get them to know each other.

Meanwhile, she opened up her status and looked at it.

On Aria's status was plastered the text 'Stage 2' next to her title. According to her experience, the stages could be reached when she got through ten levels.

She waited as the EXP transferring process begun to start.

Rallaka's submission towards her apparently counted as her victory, and the System gave her the experience points for it.

Although the boss didn't die, Rallaka's life and death was betting on Aria's will.

She was able to command the spirit to take its own life if she wanted.

[Level ??? Earth Spirit Rallaka <Mad >  successfully murdered.]

[Experience points increased by 170125.]

[Experience bar full. Storing excess points in the bank.]

[You have accumulated enough experience to break through the second stage.]

[Stage breakthrough is possible. All conditions were met.]

[Breaking through Stage 1.]

[Upgrading <Player > features.]

[You have advanced to Stage 2.]

Just like the first time, the System introduced the existence of a higher stage above the second one she was in right now.

Closing her eyes, she knew that the System was starting to move its hands to perform said command by the time it sent the notifications over.