NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 36: Summoning 2
A/N: Hello Y'all, as I had said, my laptop got done in by one of my nephews so I ended up buying a new one, though it took me a little while to save up and I got a sweet deal on a Legion Pro 7i with all the bells and whistles. So that means that I should be returning to a more regular writing schedule. I've also been reflecting and thinking of switching the POV of the novel to be more 3rd person rather than first, but I want the reader's opinions on this before I go through with it.
Insert TEAM GIFS/PICS here - Most likes wins 😀(A/N: Only TWO Entrees Per Person!) Winner(s) will be announced in the next chapter.
Winner: YungMastuh (I appreciate your consistent support 🥹)
*Third Person POV*
Aspen Smiled at the scene of Ghost's pain, but his smile was cut short as a searing pain suddenly assaulted his back.
"ARGHH, JESUS," Aspen exclaimed as he dropped to his right knee. Everyone around him tensed up at the sight, thinking that he had been attacked or shot by someone. Takeshi and Takara immediately sprang to action using their bodies to shield Aspen, who was reaching for his back while in pain.
The Pain then spread to his arms, legs, chest, shoulders, and collarbone. Aspen writhed in pain as the sound servos and the wiring of mech reactors resounded across the valley. All the mechs were on high alert attempting to find the threat, but nothing could be spotted. The valley was pretty much lifeless with the exception of some wildlife.
The pain Aspen was feeling slowly faded and was instead replaced by a warmth throughout his body. It was comforting at first, but it soon turned painful, like a burning sensation. Aspen took off his shirt and pants in the hopes that the cool air of the valley wind would help soothe the pain.
As he did, his entire body glowed in a golden hue while the skies darkened and thunder rang out. Lightning started coming down all throughout the valley, its pink shine illuminating the atmosphere.
At one point, the entire sky was darkened, the lightning stopped and the thunder no longer rumbled. The mechs were all forcibly turned off and all electronics, except for those vital for the function of the human body, were momentarily turned off. Silence emanated across the valley and everyone turned to Aspen who was starting to stand up from the ground.
He looked up to the sky, his eyes closed, and a smile plastered on his face. Then sunlight broke through in a perfect circle and shone directly on, and only on Aspen. Then without warning, a Blindingly pure white lighting came down and struck him, then another, and another, and then 4 more lightning arcs struck his body. But he remained standing and with a smile on his face.
When the lightning show stopped, the sky cleared and the sun broke through once again. The sound of mechs whirring alive resonated throughout the valley once again. Ghost, who had recovered before the lightning show commenced, glanced towards Aspen who was still glowing in a golden shine.
A few seconds went by before the golden hue covering Aspen's body disappeared, His once unblemished body was now covered in tattoos. On his back was a central tattoo of a skeletal angel of death, adorned in intricate armor and flowing dark robes.
It stood upon a rocky outcrop, shrouded in mist, wielding a massive scythe as a symbol of divine judgment and the passage of souls. It held an ancient, worn Bible, on its other hand that emphasized divine authority and faith. Behind it, massive worn angel-like wings extend from its back.
Apart from this, there were some phrases that were tattooed throughout his body. Positions across both his forearms, the words "Dominus Illuminatio mea" could be seen tattoed. Engraved across his biceps were the words "Deus meus et omnia" (My God and my all). Starting at his shoulders and stopping where his collarbone met his neck were the words "Fiat voluntas Tua" (Let Your will be done). In a circle centered on his chest, where his heart would be, the words "Cor meum Tibi offero, Domine" ("My heart I offer to You, Lord") were tattooed.
Inscribed along his spine and cutting through the angel were the words "Miserere mei, Deus" (Have mercy on me, O God). Centered on his upper back, directly below the neck, and above the angel were the words "In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti" (In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). Finally on both his thighs were the words "Soli Deo Gloria" (Glory be to God Alone), reinforcing the idea that all strength and achievements belong to God alone.
As Ghost examined all the tattoos that now adorned Aspen's naked body, Takara and Takeshi walked up to him.
"Sir, are you alright?" they both asked in unison.
Aspen simply looked at them and nodded, his eyes and mind slowly taking in his new appearance and the fact that he was completely naked thanks to the lightning strikes. He opened his system interface and searched for something to wear.
As he was doom-scrolling down the interface, he came across something quite interesting: An all-purpose Vibranium Pilot's nanosuit. It was a pilot nanosuit that was made of Vibranium but could also act as whatever clothing the wearer chose through a connection to their Neural Link. It was walking armor in the shape of whatever the hell the wearer wanted and would actively block any projectile headed toward the wearer, unless, of course, it was beyond the Vibranium's resistance. Its price was a cool 40,000 CSP, but it would be worth it.
He purchased it and immediately equipped it, materializing on his body in the form of a necklace and then covering his entire body. He then thought for a moment about what he would want to wear, settling for a black suit with midnight purple and golden highlights and lining, especially at the sharp edges of the suit.
"Neat trick," said Ghost once the transformation of the pilot suit to a formal suit finished. He then raised his right hand and asked, "Mind explaining this to me?"
Aspen looked at the cross tattoo on Ghost's hand and was about to explain before a notification from Jarvis interrupted him. The panel in front of Aspen's eyes read:
Congratulations on introducing the Word of God and amassing a first follower. You have begun the process of reintegrating this universe into the multiverse.
Titles Awarded - Bearer of Good News, Leader
Bearer of Good News: Enhances the way people perceive you by 77%. They are more likely to heed your words and follow your cause after a little bit of convincing or explaining, perceiving you as a trustworthy person.
Leader: When giving orders, people are 30% more likely to follow them without question. Increases accuracy and evasion rate of pilots under your banner by 25%.
Aspen dismissed the message after reading it and examined Ghost's hand. Another notification popped into his vision:
Mark of the Vanguard: A chosen lost soul with a desperate desire for salvation yet refusing to accept it. This mark ensures that their soul will be saved and over time will come to know God. It also acts as a limit breaker, allowing its bearer to bypass their pilot potential by a single tier.
Aspen then looked up at Ghost, "This means you have been chosen by God and it is also a limit breaker of sorts. Your maximum pilot level is no longer beta, it has now been elevated to Alpha. Congratulations, you're now part of the 5%."
Ghost was stumped by the sudden revelation and looked at his hand once again. "Well shit, color me impressed."
Aspen smiled. "You can also now summon your Bible from it. Just think of having it in your hand and it will materialize."
Ghost did as instructed and low and behold, the Bible materialized in his hand. "Impressive," was all he could muster.
Aspen clapped his hands, "Alright then, Ghost you coming with us to the factory? I'm pretty sure Takeshi and Takara won't mind giving us anot-"
"Fuck no," Ghost did not even let Aspen finish before answering. "I'm not doing that shit again."
Aspen chuckled at this before turning to Takara, "Mind giving me a lift while Ghost gets a little tour of the place? I don't need one, I've got this entire place mapped out. I also prefer taking the scenic route rather than going through the underground tunnels."
Takara smiled softly and nodded, "Yes, sir. It'd be my pleasure." She then got into her Reaper and opened the palm for Aspen to climb aboard. Once he did, she turned toward the factory and started off in a light jog before activating her thrusters and jumping, picking up speed as they flew across the valley toward the factory.
Once they had crossed the valley, Takara turned and deactivated her thrusters, letting them fall for a second as the mech twisted to get its feet below it, displaying her expertise in piloting the Reaper. She then activated the thrusters again, slowing their descent to a crawl before softly touching down on the ground at the entrance of the factory.
She then knelt and opened her mech's palm, allowing Aspen to step out before she too exited her mech. Aspen looked at the facade of the factory, taking in its grandeur, before promptly summoning the Lead Mech Engineer and Lead Mech Researcher he had received from the system. A man and a woman materialized before him, the woman, who was clearly the researcher, was wearing a lab coat while the man had on some overalls.
(Images Here)
The man approached Aspen and extended his hand for a handshake. Aspen obliged and shook his hand, "Name's Presley, I'm guessing you're the one who brought me here." The man smiled and then turned, motioning to the researcher, "And this is my wife, Patricia."
Aspen smiled at them both. "You both know who I am and my purpose here, but allow me to introduce myself personally. My name is Aspen Del Santo, currently using the alias of Azrael Fallcrest. It is my pleasure to be working alongside you both."
Jarvis had already notified him before summoning the factory or the HQ with the pilots that any people summoned from the system would know of who he was and what his purpose here was and held absolute loyalty toward him. But that wouldn't stop him from treating them as he would treat any other person.
"The pleasure is ours," Presley and Patricia said in unison.
Aspen clasped hsi hands and motioned to move to the interior of the factory. "Now, you two will be in charge of running the show here, I'll also be spending some time here. I'm going to be designing a mech that will dominate the battlefield for myself and then with the help of you both, we'll make a new mech to introduce to the market that will dominate its competition, especially the Reapers. I want them to be mere relics of the past." He opened the door and held it for the 3 to enter. Once they all walked in, a chime was heard and lights throughout the entire factory were turned on.
"Welcome to Azrael Vanguard Industries' factory. I am Vera," a voice resounded throughout the room they had just entered as a translucent blue figure materialized at its center. "I am the AI that runs and oversees the operations of this entire factory with the supervision of a Lead Engineer and a Lead Researcher."
Aspen saw this and smiled before turning to Takara. "You may return. Please tell Ghost that I'll be holed up in here for a little while." Takara nodded at his words and turned to leave but was stopped by Aspen. "Actually, wait a second, I want you to take 3 people with you."
Aspen opened up the System shop and scanned the Soul Summoning. He immediately selected Jess and Santos while mawling over who else he should choose. The number of summons he could choose from had expanded, and he was debating whether he wanted to summon Maximus, a pilot that could rival Santos in both potential and combat ability, or summon Caroline, the deadliest sniper who had been a part of the previous Aspen's resistance and also had a matching potential.
After about a minute of deliberation, he decided to do something else instead. "Fuck it, I'll use the voucher on Maximus and then use 75,000 CSP to summon Caroline. Having someone keep watch of the battlefield and as talented as she was is worth it."
With that, he used the three vouchers he had to summon the most expensive of the bunch and then watched as his CSP balance dropped from 695,432 CSP to 620,432 CSP. When he did so, a bright light encompassed the room. "Takara, there's going to be an additional passenger."
The light dimmed, and in front of their eyes, four human figures materialized. Just like when Ghost was summoned, the same process took place. At first, it was just bone with other layers coming in until four naked bodies stood before them, being promptly clothed in black combat gear.
The first of the four to come to was Jess, callsign Gray because of her eyes and hair. She locked eyes with Aspen and smiled softly, a tear rolling down her cheek. "It took them some time, but they got you too in the end." She then walked to Aspen and hugged him, not acknowledging anyone else around her. "I missed you; it's so peaceful here, but it felt empty without you here."
Aspen leaned down and hugged her five-foot-six frame, whispering into her ear. "Yeah….they got me too." He then looked up at the other three who had been summoned, locking eyes with all three of them. Their mouths were agape, and they took in their surroundings.
Santos, callsign Viking due to his sheer size of six-foot-five and bulging muscles, was the first one to speak. "Bossman, you've gotten taller… stronger."
Maximus, callsign Roman because of his name and appearance, nodded and added to Santos' words. "You also seem to have awakened a sense of fashion.
Caroline, callsign Raven, chuckled as she spoke. "Yeah, Commander, the beard and the long hair suits you. Adding onto that your size, we'll have another Viking walking around in no time."
At the sound of their voices, Jess finally broke away from Aspen's embrace and took in her surroundings, as well as getting a second look at Aspen before she said something that left the others speechless. "You… you're not Aspen… You're not my brother… Who-who are you?"
End of Chapter. The following are character images and their stats.
Word Count: 2350 Words 🙂
Jess, callsign Gray (Image)
Epsilon Pilot-Level, Potential of Omega
Stats:
STR: 50 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
END: 40 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
AGI: 70 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
PER: 60 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
INT: 40 (Normal Human Average 7-10)
MRES: 25 (Normal Human Average 10-15)
TECH: 45 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
Caroline, callsign Raven (Image)
Epsilon Pilot-Level, Potential of Alpha
Stats:
STR: 45 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
END: 72 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
AGI: 63 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
PER: 75 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
INT: 40 (Normal Human Average 7-10)
MRES: 47 (Normal Human Average 10-15)
TECH: 40 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
Santos, callsign Viking (Image)
Epsilon Pilot-Level, Potential of Alpha
Stats:
STR: 70 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
END: 90 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
AGI: 50 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
PER: 30 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
INT: 30 (Normal Human Average 7-10)
MRES: 41 (Normal Human Average 10-15)
TECH: 67 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
Maximus, callsign Roman (Image)
Epsilon Pilot-Level, Potential of Alpha
Stats:
STR: 60 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
END: 70 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
AGI: 60 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
PER: 50 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
INT: 32 (Normal Human Average 7-10)
MRES: 42 (Normal Human Average 10-15)
TECH: 41 (Normal Human Average 15-20)
-
-
-
🍷🍷HEAR YE, HEAR YE!🍷🍷I DEMAND THY SHINY STONES 💎💎💎
🥹SO PLEASE, VOTE 🥹