Chương 126: Chapter 110. Gil

Where am I? This is strange... I'm in the dark, but not like usual. I did the routine, the lighthouse was working fine. I looked for the figures and next thing I knew, I was here. /RUMBLE! / A sound just came from behind me. The area I'm in... It's shaking!? Why!? SHAKE! I'm shaking now!? What the hell is going on!? /CRASH! / Ah, light! Wait! There's a bunch of rocks around me. Large boulders and small stones were falling all around me." Ah! I found you! Sorry about this, I'm kind of bad with most Magic!

That includes Our Species' Spells." pain... A light was shone on my face as a gruff voice spoke to me. I placed my hand in front of my face to block some of the light. It felt like someone was pointing a flashlight directly in my eyes from how strong the light is." Oh! Sorry, kid!" Click! I heard a click and then, the light was gone." Here, follow me, there's natural light this way." I followed the sound of the man's voice." Good, good. Just be careful with the hole in fron---" Stub!" OWW!"

Before he could finish warning me, I knocked my foot into the wall that his voice was coming from. Wait! Hole? Why is there a hole here?" Hey, Mister, why is there a hole here?"" It's where I dug to find you. Ah, right! You're a Summoner. We're underground right now, young man."" Underground? Where exactly underground?"" We're at Molemen City. More specifically, we're in the Royal Cavern."" Molemen?"

I repeated the word that sounded the weirdest to me as I entered the hole and my eyes adjusted to the light on the other side. Blue, purple and green light illuminated a giant underground city." Shame you arrived in a wall, but what can you do? Magic is Magic, it's not Science. Anyways, nice to meet you! I'm Gilbert Harrow, King of the Molemen! And I've chosen you to form a Contract with! Tell me, young man, what is your name?" The man who spoke to me, Gilbert. He was a large man.... No, that's not the right word.

Gilbert looked like a cross between a gorilla and a mole rat. The only thing humanish about him is his face. Like a macho man with more of a bush on his lower face than just a beard and the mole rat teeth poking out of that bush as well. He wore what looked like a brown version of what a mechanic would wear in my old world and goggles to protect his eyes... Or are they prescription? I should probably answer his question, I don't want to be rude to the Spirit who wants to form a Contract with me."

My name is John, John Ericsson. And what do you mean you've chosen me? Do you already know about me or something?"" Yes, word has come down from the surface about how you've managed to form a Contract with Queen Lily. You have to be something Special to be able to form a Contract with her! You're only the 3rd person to Contact her and the 1st to actually form a Contract with her. I think you'll make something special out of yourself in the future and do something great.

I figure a representative of the Molemen should also join you. From what I've observed, you seem to be a good man. So, I've brought you here to form a Contract. What do you say? Want to team up with me?"" I see. Well, sure! Why not?"" Really? You're not even going to ask what I can do? Just accept my selfishness?" Gilbert had a surprised look on his face from my answer to his question... At least I think that's supposed to be surprise on what little of his face I can see?" Well, considering you're a King.

I assume you have some interesting abilities. I haven't had Lily fight much, but just from our training, I can tell her abilities are top notch. It's just my skills as a Summoner that are lacking currently. I'm working on fixing that of course. Add on to that, Warrick is really strong as well. I think I can guess how strong you are, but if you'd like to tell me, I'm all ears." Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Gilbert seemed happy by my praise.

He began to answer my question." Well, I'm glad you could say something like that! However, my people aren't fighters. Don't get me wrong, if push comes to shove, we fight. We spend most of our days digging however. You could think of us more as Miners in Human terms. Us Molemen love to dig and find jewels and the like! That's where my abilities lie. Mostly in being able to scan deep underground and specializing in Earth Magic. Because of that, our people are hardy and strong from all of the manual labor."

Gilbert spoke with a happy voice... Wait! EARTH MAGIC!? step. step. step." Did you say Earth Magic!?" I closed the distance between Gilbert and I as I spoke." Huh? Yes. Earth Magic, it's the specialty of us Molemen."" Can you by chance, make different types of rocks?"" Yes, it's one of the special characteristics of us Molemen. Anything you could possibly imagine about creating or manipulating any kind of rock or stone, the Molemen can do it!" Gilbert spoke proudly to me."

So, say, just for the sake of argument, make cement?"" Yeah, why?"" Because I want to make roads for the lands I Govern over."" Oh, well, as long as you have the mana, I can make a better mixture than cement for roads. It's a result of blending different aspects of stone and rock in the Magic. From that, the stone will be resistant to things like weathering, rust, cracking or breaking and can hold ridiculous amounts of weight. It's what we built this city under the ground with.

Also, the support pillars and beams helping support the cave ceiling from all of the digging going on. As you can see." I looked around our area and there were different colored pillars going up into the ceiling and walls, it was like someone shoved multi-colored spears into the ceiling of the cave deeply. Between the pillars were beams where the natural light was coming from. The light illuminated the city Gilbert had mentioned earlier.

It looked like one of the old civilizations from my old world that discovered how to use stone for houses. I turned back to Gilbert and began to speak." If you're really fine with me, then, please treat me well." Extend! With my questions answered, I saw no reason not to take up Gilbert's offer. I stuck my hand out and waited for Gilbert to take my hand for a handshake."

Well then, from now on, just call me Gil, I may be a King, but the relationship between Summoner and Spirit shouldn't have to include all of that weird pageantry with Titles, right? Sound good to you, John?" I cracked a smile. For some reason, Gil reminded me of Dan, Laura's Dad. He always treated me well." Sure thing, Gil. Also, just a warning, I'm using a fake name right now in the town I'm in. I go by Matthew Drake. A few people know my real name, like my Wives for instance.

Try not to use my real name when we're around other people besides them, okay?"" Can do, Matthew." Gil shook my hand. We finished the Ritual for the Contract right after. With that finished, Gil wished me well and I saw my surroundings and Gil start to melt away like running water. / splash... rippling... clang. clang. / I heard the sound of the running water of the stream in the garden and opened my eyes to see the sun still high in the sky.

The wind was still swaying the flowers, leaving a cool feeling in the air. I heard the sounds of Sarah and Anna continuing to clash their training weapons together as they grow stronger slowly together." So you contracted with King Gilbert?" Lily spoke to me." Is that alright?" I asked, wanting to gauge how she felt about the new addition to the team." I don't mind, in fact it's good. He'll help you accomplish one of your goals."" Well, I'm glad you're okay with my choice to bring him in.

He's one step for me towards changing this place for the better."" I agree, also, his ability to sense what's underground could be used to find useful metals and gems in the ground." Lily didn't seem too bothered by Gil joining us. I decided to check on Paula as well." Paula, are you okay with Gil Contracting with me?"" Another member of Royalty..." There was a sound of sadness in her voice." Now, now, little Dark Pixie. Just treat me like the old man I am. You are the Senior Spirit here after all.

Titles like King and the like mean little to the Molemen. If not for the fact we needed a representative at the Summits, we may not have even crowned one."" Summits?" Gil tried to calm down Paula, but he said something interesting as he tried to soothe her." Yes, Summits. The Kings and Queens of the Spirit World meet every few years to exchange information and also make trade deals. For instance, King Gilbert offers fine metals and gems for jewelry or for trade. I trade special seeds made for specific climates.""

I see. Sounds... Peaceful."" Well, there's not much reason to fight, since we all operate on Good Faith and Trust. Not many Spirits are bad to other Spirits. And those that are, become scrutinized and ostracized for many decades if any trickery happens." Lily explained everything to me. After Gil introduced himself to everyone, I wondered what to do next, until Paula spoke to me." Why not continue Meditating? Getting closer to those other 2 would be a good use of your time until nightfall, right, John?""

That would probably be best. You can practice your Magic and sword skills tomorrow, when you go and hunt again." Paula and Lily expressed what they thought was best. I thought about it and agreed with them. So, I sat and began to Meditate again. This time, the lighthouse's light was strong. I felt the presence of the 2 other figures. They were close, so close that I felt one of them closing in on me. I felt its eyes staring at me. I shone my light on them without thinking, and a flash of light blinded me.

I opened them again to find myself in a mountainous region." Hey! Nice of you to finally find me!" I heard the voice of a kid? He sounded like he was about 10 or 12 I'd say?" Where the hell???" I looked around to see where the voice came from, but I couldn't see him? Why?"" I'm right in front of you, Mr. Summoner." The voice came from a bit higher up than before. I looked up to see a big wolf, the size of a horse, with black and gray fur And blue eyes. And what looked like sharp teeth and fangs." Hi there!"

It talked!" You can speak!?"" Yeah!" I heard a voice, but the wolf's mouth didn't move. What the hell is going on?