Ice-like crystals were embedded into the ceiling, bathing General Rynheart, King Harken and his chosen knights, in cold, blue light as they descended deep into the heart of the mountain and towards the location selected for the first transdimensional summoning in over two thousand years. As they went, their heavy, metallic footsteps resounded off the damp, stone walls creating a strange, chilling atmosphere and putting them on edge.

Due to the extremely tight deadlines given to the Masons Guild, and considering the entrance was not critical to the ritual's performance, many of the steps were roughly cut and uneven, requiring everyone to be extra vigilant during their descent. If they lost their footing, they would crash into everyone below, causing serious injuries, especially since they were all wearing heavy plate armour.

"This is a bloody death trap; let's hope no one blocks us down here or that we need to get to the surface in a hurry." Rynheart let out a disgruntled mutter, but due to the echo, everyone heard it, causing him to berate himself silently. 

After a few minutes, everyone in the group had reached the bottom of the stairs, and a long, dark corridor confronted them. At the other end, an eerie, dark-red light spilt out of a doorway that had been haphazardly carved into the rock. The light flickered as people moved around inside.

"Why does every magic ritual that I am forced to participate in, always have to be performed in a dark, creepy cave that feels like a devil's Fortress or a sacrificial pit of some fanatical cult? Just once, I would like it to be carried out in the middle of a lush, green meadow with clear, blue skies and under a bright, warm sun," grumbled Rynheart as he subconsciously touched the hilt of the sword hanging from his back, letting out a deep, uneasy breath.

After gracefully removing his helmet, Harken looked over at the general and smiled reassuringly. "That makes two of us, my friend. Unfortunately, the mana radiation caused by this type of ritual would pollute the surrounding area, mutating the landscape and those living nearby; it takes over a hundred years for the chaos energies created to separate back into their natural forms."

Rynheart sneered as he noticed a few of the knights tense at their king's words and took the chance to regain some of his pride from his grumblings. "Stop being a bunch of babies; you would need to be stuck down here for weeks to get a dose high enough for your core to fail and mutation to occur. You would be long dead from lack of food and water or... something much more abrupt by that time." 

The knights quickly pulled themselves together and marched down the corridor with the Harken and Rynheart in the centre. Death by conventional magic or by the sword was one thing, turning into a mutant was something completely different, and every single one of them wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible before heading to the Sacred Temple's church for purification.

Once they reached the end of the corridor, the two leading men entered the room, making sure there was no immediate danger before giving the signal for the others to come through and positioning themselves on either side of the door.

Not even five steps into the room, Harken came to an abrupt halt as his eyes widened and he became momentarily struck dumb at the scene in front of him. 

Dark, menacing, red light leaked out of blood crystals hammered into sides, barely illuminating the circular cavern, its walls showing the telltale smoothness of the earth magic that was used to carve it out of solid rock. On the left side of the room, a faint yellow glow, in the shape of a semi-circle indicated the position of the transportation array in which the summoned would be teleported back to the capital.

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The silhouettes of people rushing about in the blood light were horrifying enough, but even that was overshadowed by what stood in the middle of the room, where what could only be described as a thick, pitch black doorframe, seemingly absorbing every ounce of light that dared to touch it, oozed bloodlust and malice. A black fuzziness disrupted its outline, making it impossible to tell its exact shape, continuously moving and contorting as if it were alive and responding to those working around it.

"Impressive isn't it?" A grey-robed mage walked over and slightly bowed towards Harken before nodding at the general. "I don't know, or want to know where you got the schematics for such a ritual, but I must once again warn you that this is extremely dangerous, and if anything goes wrong, half of Vonai, let alone this mountain could be vaporised in an instant."

Concern flicked across Harken's eyes. "What are the chances of that happening? Anything above 1% and we stop now."

The grey-robed man coldly laughed. "I have not been a mage for two hundred years for nothing. There is a 0.01% chance of epic failure, the worst case scenario, 0.5% of a standard one probably resulting in the destruction of this mountain and 10% of an anomaly, though that should only affect the souls summoned or their generated bodies."

The mage continued after wetting his cracked lips with his tongue. "While the body is forming around the soul, it will be able to utilise its full spirit power while retaining all of its memories. Once the body is formed, it will forget everything and be just like a newborn of whatever species best suits the soul's persona... well, apart from being in the body of an eight-year-old who has never used their muscles and probably has insanely high magical affinities and large mana cores."

Harken scowled. "Why did you bother mentioning the first bit then? Also, I have the feeling the second part is where your real warning is. Are you saying that we need to be extra careful until the summoned's body has been completely formed? What if one goes berserk during the process? Should we kill them?" 

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Thanks for reading,

I am currently on holiday with the missus, totally not writing chapters for BOM:Summoned.... Nope, this is all a figure of everyone's imaginations. 

This chapter has not been PR/Edited yet so I expect there will be a fair few mistakes. (Will update as soon as it is/I notice anything wrong). 

I am still 'trying' to stick to the 16th of Oct as the official start but expect to fall off the waggon at least until the end of the Summoned arc (Mainly because I am struggling with all the potential of the second arc. Too many ideas.

Thanks for all the comments and support :)

Number 1 AA(Authors anonymous) attendee, Skada

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