Satoru decided to egg Eliron long enough until he noticed the crease begin to form between his eyebrows. Only then did he finally explain what he meant.

"It’s simple. You are close to awakening."

His answer left much to be desired. Even Tsukiko gave him a look before slwoly shaking her head.

"What is even awakening?" Although Eliron knew it was meant to give him some sort of boost, Satoru had never really explained what it was.

There were many paths to strength that revolved around mana. Magic, like what he practiced, and swordsmanship... which he also practiced.

But there were others, like cultivation practiced in the east, mysticism that involved communing with gods, or was it demons... and divination among others.

Eliron had at least a little information about all of them. But awakening? Not once had he heard of it, at least not in this novel.

Was it a foreign concept? Satoru was not even of this world so it was not out of the question that it might just be.

Satoru frowned, then said bluntly. "I can’t tell you what awakening is."

"Why??"

He looked like he dreaded the thought of explaining. But maybe because Eliron was his student, he eventually decided to expand on what he meant.

"Awakening is different for everyone, it is like how we see colours, no two person sees the exact same thing."

"So what do you think would happen if I told you what to see? You will chase after my ideology of what is, when in reality it is not."

He paused, realising he was getting too philosophical.

"Alright, put simply. If you chase after my perception of awakening, you will end up following a path that does not pertain to you. Your growth will be hampered, and it will take a long time to correct your perception of things."

Eliron nodded as he listened. He could understand where he was coming from because it applied to magic as well. A good part of magic had to do with the feel and flow of mana...

But mana did not exactly feel the same way. Auro, Tiris, Hydro, they were fundamentally the same, but very different in practice.

Being trained by a hydro mage when your specialty was Tiris had the potential to hamper your growth. It was likely the same thing here.

"Can you at least tell me what I need to do in order to awaken?" Eliron asked, rising to his feet.

Satoru seemed to contemplate on it a bit. "Mana... expose yourself to as much mana as possible. The more you understand mana, the closer you will get to awakening."

It was a vague answer, but at least Eliron had something to work with.

Still, it made him wonder. Was it that no one had awakened in this world? Or was it possible that some had awakened, but didn’t know what happened to them?

It would make sense why it was not mentioned in the novel if that was the case...

"Now, I guess I should ask my own questions. What are you really planning?" Satoru asked, his eyes narrowed.

He had watched Eliron go through the tomb, risking his life just so that he could grab that shard.

It had undoubtedly made him stronger, but Satoru felt there was an ulterior motive behind his actions.

Why did he need the light at life element?

Eliron grabbed a long stick and began whistling as he cleared the leaves away. Tsukiko gave him a look as she followed his movements with her indigo eyes.

"You know, you can only use skills and spells you have affinity for right?" Eliron asked as he continued his work.

"I am a shogun. Don’t patronize me with common knowledge."

Eliron shrugged. "You know what makes a beast tamer a beast tamer?"

Satoru did not answer so Eliron did. "The life affinity." He said with a devious smile on his face, his lips stretching from ear to ear.

Although he had access to a million plus skills, they were useless if he did not possess the affinity needed to use them.

"Eliron... What are you planning?" Satoru almost seemed... concerned.

"Nothing much. I’m just going to..." he paused, thinking of the right word to fit the current situation. "’Convince’ our good friends at the castle to pick me."

He finished the sketch he was drawing on the floor— a large magic circle with many conjoining parts.

Tsukiko stepped back, a wary look on her face. It seemed she recognized it, or at least knew its function.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" She asked, a rarity for her.

"Simple." Eliron raised a finger. "I’m going to summon a dragon and have it attack the capital."

He could bypass the gates by simply teleporting the dragon there, and then at the right time, he would swoop in and save them, proving his abilities to the council.

"..."

Tsukiko and Satoru shared a look.

A few seconds passed. And then—

"That’s a genius plan! Now that is my student!" Satoru laughed loudly, his laughter rumbling through the forest, although only Eliron and Tsukiko could hear it.

Tsukiko stared at them, but too uncaring, lazy and unbothered to say anything, she laid back down, curling into herself.

Eliron made some finishing touches to his sketch, then pulled out his sword.

Although his plan seemed a little extreme, it was warranted. While the army of the dead marched onward, the nobles were too busy bickering to do anything useful.

He knew the destruction that awaited them, if he waited too long, there was no telling how bad the situation would get.

The easiest way was to work for free, but he was not a charity. Everything he did, he did with Artaris in mind.

If he was going to risk his life fighting an apostle, it would not be for free.

He slit his palm and watched his blood flow down. The moment the crimson liquid soiled the brown earth, the magic circle ignited like fire.

[SSSR—Mythical Beast Summon]

A bright light shone out of the circle, so brightly that it neaely blinded him, and then the immediate area was occluded by white smoke.

Eliron immediately stepped out of the magic cycle, his eyes glued on it. Something fluttered within the smoke... A wing?

Satoru stared at the smoke with anticipation, Tsukiko could not be bothered to look.

The smoke was just about to clear when Eliron saw a glint of pale, naked white skin, velvet-like white hair and orange eyes— deep, slit pupil eyes that gleamed with supernatural intelligence.

But this girl... was naked??

He immediately turned around, a white cloak already flying out of his infinitely pouch in her direction.

It was Yen’s, but he was sure she wouldn’t mind, considering the situation.

"Get dressed."

He did not turn to look, but he heard sluggish movement behind him and a few seconds later, there was silence.

Only then did both he and Satoru turn, and once they laid eyes on her, Eliron’s face fell.

’Scammed yet again!’

"Hahahaha!" Satoru laughed, his eyes watery as he moved around her. He leaned closer to the white scaly wings surging out of her back.

"What is this?! A bat girl?!" He babbled, unable to keep his mouth shut.

"My God, kid. You’re the only one that can screw up this spell! And you said you were lucky? The luckiest man alive? Bah!" 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

’Who knows? Maybe she is secretly powerful like Tsukiko?’ Elirom communicated mentally, grasping at the faintest glimmer of hope.

"BAHAHAHAHAHA! Do you see her? She looks like a stowaway princess! How old is she even? Five?"

Suddenly, the girl’s orange eyes snapped towards Satoru’s direction. Her mouth split open unnaturally, and then a gust of magma—not fire—spewed out, racing right towards him.

Eliron felt the heat, the intense mana that followed the attack, and he witnessed the sheer destruction it carried, as a whole swath of the forest was melted to ash.

’She can see Satoru?!’

Of course he was not affected, but his opinion on her had definitely changed. He stared at the molten earth and trees that had melted like it was plastic, then let out a, "hmm..."

Eliron had other concerns apart from her insane firepower. Just how sensitive was she to mana that she could sense Satoru?

The girl wiped the magma off her lips like it was mustard, then happily jogged towards him, bowing clumsily.

"Jade Selbstverbrennung Antares at your service, new daddy!"

"Antares?!"

Eliron turned his hand to see a seal being magically engraved behind his palm with fire. It was strange, the only words they he could describe it with was ’liquid fire.’

Jade had accepted him, and now they were bound. He should have been happy right? She was clearly a prodigy... Nope! How could he possibly be happy?!

That name... his face fell and he let out a dry, humourless laugh. Never did he think he would get himself in this much trouble by using summoning magic.

The girl in front of him... she was the daughter of Antares, the Hellfire Dragon.

One of the Seven Titans Of The End.

Only then did the last part of her sentence hit him. "Wait, new what?!"