“Wake up, sleepy heads.”

An unripe berry of some kind hit Zachary’s face and bounced off. It was rather hard.

“Ugh…” He groaned and rubbed his head.

He got up and stretched his stiff legs. He had sat for half the night. His soul energy was mostly recovered and his headache had subsided.

Jean-Pierre was nearby while Katherine was on another branch higher up. She was rubbering her head and glaring at the cheerful youth as if he had offended her entire family.

“Are you done moping?” Jean-Pierre asked Zachary.

Zachary snorted, “Who was moping? I was just resting.”

“Whatever… take this.” Jean-Pierre threw a small, flat object at him.

He caught it and recognized the familiar shape. It was a summoning card and not an empty one. He stared at the tiny purple and cyan crystal embedded in the middle. It only required a brief burst of soul sense to tell that it was the same stag beetle he had failed to catch last night.

He looked up at Jean-Pierre to ask why.

The other young man shrugged, “Your net trap was really good. We caught two more Ensouled after the beetle.”

He flashed two summoning cards in his hand. One had a clear, white crystal while the other one was a solid green.

“Well, technically I caught all of them. Our princess over there,” He nudged his head toward Katherine, “Didn’t think they were good enough for her.”

“They weren’t.” She replied flatly.

Zachary rubbed the gem on the card. It was a construct of pure Eternum known as an anima crystal. They were created by the soul force of an Ensouled and represented their entire being. Each Ensouled had one. When a soul died, they left behind an anima crystal. In this sense, capturing an Ensouled through the summoning card was akin to killing them, killing their free will so that they would obey human commands.

This way of summoning was widely accepted throughout the Old World but it was something that few truly understood. The manufacturers of these summoning cards maintained strict secrecy and it was unheard of for ordinary summoners to recreate a card on their own. Some said that these cards came from the ruins of ancient civilizations. Nobody knew the truth. These cards had been around for a long time but their origin remained murky.

The stag beetle’s anima crystal contained two colors, purple and cyan. It meant that it was a very talented Ensouled with the attribute of the sky and the attribute of death. The attribute of the sky was common for Ensouled that could fly. The attribute of death was unexpected but made sense given its penchant for eating meat and dead animals.

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It was a really good summon. It would sell for a sky-high price in the Old World.

“What a pity,” Zachary said and threw the card back at Jean-Pierre.

Jean-Pierre caught it with a questioning expression.

Zachary shrugged, “I don’t like its attributes. Just give me the normal one.”

Jean-Pierre scoffed but didn't argue, “Fine, suit yourself. And take your dagger too.”

Zachary received the two items and retreated to his own branch. He put away the dagger and examined the summoning card which contained a tiny, white anima crystal. This color meant that it had no attribute, that it was the normal attribute.

This type of Ensouled was easiest to summon and control. It was the best bet to avoid embarrassing himself and revealing his unique weakness. He hoped that it would work.

He raised the card to his forehead. He first wiped Jean-Pierre’s soul imprint from it and injected his own. He then opened the seven available paths in his soul and let Eternum flow through them.

The card glowed white as a bond formed between human and beast. The anima crystal turned into a streak of white light which landed on the branch at his feet. It quickly took shape, a coiling body of scales and sinew. It was a snake, probably of the boa family. Its body had a camouflaging pattern of brown and yellow. It wasn’t venomous and killed by constricting. Its favorite food was small animals like mice.

Zachary picked up the snake. It wasn’t too big. The thickest part of its body wasn't even as big as his wrist. He studied it and the snake stared back at its new master. Because of the bond through the card, it was completely obedient and awaited his orders.

He wasn’t disappointed since he was able to successfully summon it. But he wasn’t impressed either. This boa snake was on the small side. Its movements were slow to begin with and it also had no venom. Its only strengths were sneaking around and constricting other animals to death. It was a far cry from the stag beetle which had dangerously sharp pincers as well as the ability to fly.

“I’ll call you Boba, Boba the Brown Boa.”

The snake bobbed its head, making its name even more fitting. It couldn’t understand his words directly but it understood his intent through their bond.

Zachary smiled for the first time in what seemed like forever. Boba didn’t react, its large yellow eyes with narrow black slits continued to move around and look for prey. Its pink-colored forked tongue shot out and flitted about in front of his face, tasting the scent of its human companion.

“Boba, let’s see what you can do.”

Zachary climbed down the tree with the snake wrapped around his arm. He walked around in a circle and counted the number of creatures he could find, whether it was up in the thick foliage or down on the ground, inside the hollows of dead trees or beneath large rocks.

“Alright, use your senses to find creatures around us. Squeeze my arm when you find one and point to it with your head.”

Boba nodded its head earnestly. Simple commands were easy to understand, especially actions it was already used to performing.

Zachary slowly walked around the tree. He only made it four steps before he felt a soft squeeze on his arm. The snake flicked its tongue and pointed its head toward a bare patch of dirt.

He knelt down and primed his soul sense to the limit. But he got nothing and could only give up. There was probably some kind of underground beast, a large bug or worm or even a mole. It wasn’t something he was interested in at the moment so he continued.

After they finished the loop around, Boba found so many creatures that he lost count. The forest was teeming with life but as a human, he was greatly limited. His summoned snake’s senses were incredibly sharp and far better than he had thought. Whether it was smell, sight, or perhaps its special ability to sense heat, they were far superior to his current physical senses as well as soul sense. Although its combat ability seemed low, these more than made up for it.

Zachary looked at the boa and rubbed its head. This was the New World so he had to change his mindset. Even a normal attribute beast at the novice rank was so talented!