Summoner's Second Chance

Chapter 46

The group of six stood in front of a large magic circle. The etching inside it was complicated and delicate, filled with runes and characters that they can only assume a lost language. Their eyes would sometimes wander to the woman deftly making the last quarter of the magic circle. Her long, golden colored hair seemed to glow, even though the sun was no longer visible. Her slender fingers held a gem; the sort they've never seen in their whole life. A few more minutes of oppressive silence passed before the woman nodded with a small smile, seemingly satisfied with her work.

Turning to the group, the woman's stern expression returned to her face as she lowered her head slightly. "The magic circle is complete." Raising her head, she turned to look at the six smaller circles made outside of the larger circle in the center. "I would like one person to stand on each minor magic circle. We will begin the ceremony once you have done so." As instructed, each person stood on one magic circle. After sweeping her gaze through the six, Ars nodded once more. "Then we will begin the ceremony."

The moment those words escaped her lips, the magic circle began to glow, starting from the inner circle, then slowly moving to the outer circle. The runes and characters inside the magic circle began to glow softly, and soon enough, they began to glow more fiercely. As the light grew stronger, the expression of the six standing on the minor circles began to contort in discomfort.

Gilbert raised his hands in front of his face and saw it trembling greatly. A small, nervous smile appeared on his face as he struggled to curl his hands. "Well... this is... a lot more... difficult... than I... thought..." It took all of his willpower to just stay standing. He can feel the magic in his body getting drained from his feet. Gilbert started to feel nauseous as time went by, but the thought of seeing Trace staying on his current state gave him the strength to keep standing.

Fang on the other hand, had both eyes closed and both hands curled tightly on his side, completely oblivious of his surroundings. His body hunched lower and lower to the ground as he feels his magic escaping his body through his feet. The only thing that kept him from falling to his knees was the face of the man who had saved him and his family from certain doom. He had to repeatedly swallow the bile rising through his throat, for he had the feeling the moment he relieved himself, he would fall to his knees and lose consciousness.

Liu was able to have some semblance of composure as he was able to raise his head and smile at Gilbert's somewhat ironic statement. Squeezing the voice from his throat, Liu replied to Gilbert's aimless statement. "You just... came out... unscathed... from fighting those... lizards!" His words seemed to have amused Gilbert, as a snort escaped his nose. Even though he had managed to squeeze out a joke, Liu is enduring the same amount of pain and discomfort the others felt.

Melody managed to stand tall on her feet, but her knees were visibly shaking. Although she had a lot of magic in her, the rate the circle drained it out of her body was not something she was accustomed to. Even though she had practiced imbuing magic into small items with Trace, the amount of magic going out of her body was far greater than that. Melody bit her lips, so hard it bleeds to keep her eyes open.

Olivia had forsaken the thought of trying to stand on her feet since the moment she felt her magic being drained out of her body. Instead, she rested on both knees, and propped her body up with a sword. Her knuckles had turned white as she gripped the sword's hilt with all her strength. She managed to keep her heavy as lead eyelids open by just sheer willpower and her strong desire to see Trace again. She knew if her eyes close, then that would be the moment she lose consciousness.

Even Alice, the one with the most magic in her body, could not handle the pressure. She had fallen to one of her knees, and she can feel her other feet giving way too. It felt as if the air had turned solid and tried to crush her under their weight. She could feel her consciousness slipping, but she was not going to let that happen. Weakly pulling out the dagger she kept on her waist, she stabbed it onto her thighs. Alice grimaced from the pain, but her head felt clearer after doing so.