Darian finally saw sunlight again, after Niara was pulled out from the depths of the underground.
He was still inside Niara's body, but he could see everything around them. His attention turned upward, where he noticed the sun's glow was much dimmer — or maybe just a bit farther away than Earth's.
Excited, he confirmed it: he really was on another planet. He had passed the test and overcome every obstacle. Now he could finally train in this world and become stronger.
Niara was being escorted by several soldiers, all of them still holding their weapons and keeping an eye on her every move.
They walked toward the huge gates of a castle. When they arrived, Darian was stunned. The structure looked a bit like the medieval castles on Earth, but was definitely built by an alien civilization.
Its shape gave off a strange feeling, and everything was made of a silvery metal, giving it a mystical air. Its size was about the same as twenty average Earth houses put together. Around it, several towers pierced the clouds, so tall and imposing they were.
'This is just the most basic castle, made so rookie Summoners and visitors can explore it. As we grow stronger, we gain access to new areas of Celestia Academy,' Niara explained mentally, making Darian sigh at how grand everything was.
Not long ago, he'd been just some poor guy running from underground folks, trying to secure a future for his family. Now, he was in a whole different universe, being thrown into things way beyond anything he could've imagined.
They stepped inside. Just past the gates, Darian's eyes widened as he finally saw figures not wearing full armor.
They were all humanoid, but some had tails, wings, scales, feathers — or even a mix of all that.
'Are they all hybrids of divine or demonic beasts?' Darian asked in his mind, remembering the creatures described in that fantasy book.
In that book's world, Qi was everywhere. It was a magical energy that could shape the world, and people absorbed it to become unbelievably powerful. Those two types of beasts existed there too, and were just as smart as humans — sometimes even more.
Children between completely different species were born with no problem, probably thanks to the mystical power they had.
'No, they're all part human... or close. In my universe, there are no pure humans left. Everyone is like me, their bloodline tainted and mixed with that of a deity since birth. That's why we call them Mannaz.'
Her answer made Darian even more curious. He loved reading stories, so learning about new places always thrilled him. But he didn't push it, since they soon walked into a brightly lit building.
As soon as they passed the entrance, the soldiers nodded and walked away.
A tall, slim female figure with black scales covering parts of her body approached and stared at Niara. Darian could feel that this woman shared the same Divine Dragon bloodline, but she was way weaker than Niara.
"This is impossible...," the woman growled, locking her gaze on her. It seemed like she could sense Darian inside Niara's body.
After a few seconds, she let out a breath, accepting it, then turned around. "There's a first time for everything. Anyway, come. We need to get your partner to manifest physically."
Niara nodded, and the two of them walked off. Darian, meanwhile, got excited when he heard that.
They went down a bunch of corridors, passing all kinds of figures. It didn't take long for Darian to spot something that made his heart jump.
He saw another Spiritual Guardian already physically manifested. Darian could tell right away it wasn't a native, not a Mannaz. It was someone like him.
What surprised him was that it didn't look even remotely human. It was three meters tall and looked like a golem made of gold. It was imposing, shiny, and stood out a lot. It was walking beside a Mannaz who had a fluffy tail.
'Focus on its forehead, you should be able to feel it,' Niara said mentally.
Darian did what she said and quickly sensed three rings on that golden golem. That was all he could feel, which worked well as a power indicator. Now he understood there was a power level difference based on the number of rings.
Right after that, he saw another one — this one looked like a western-style dragon with colorful scales, about the size of a falcon. It was resting on the shoulder of a Mannaz woman covered in feathers. This one had two rings, and Darian thought it looked awesome.
Soon, he saw tons of other different-looking Spiritual Guardians. All with two, and some with three rings.
'Aren't they all supposed to be from my universe? Why are they so different?' he asked mentally.
'They are. But the physical form of the Spiritual Guardian is something it can choose for itself.'
She explained, making Darian even more excited.
'The size of each one is connected to its rings. You haven't seen any newbies like us yet because they're all probably training in isolation right now. The first month is the most dangerous for all of us. But at the beginning, they're usually small and simple. When they gain more rings, they can change form.'
He was just a spirit, so he could really choose whatever form he wanted. Even if he started out small, he could eventually become something imposing—or even a legendary monster... all he had to do was decide.
Before Darian could ask anything else, they entered a large hall.
It was empty, with a circle on the floor in the center. It wasn't very big, but it glowed in several different colors.
Niara slowly walked to the center of the circle. Once she stopped, she turned to the woman who had brought her.
The woman spoke bluntly, "Just activate the contract with the Spiritual Guardian. I'll provide my power, the rest is up to you two."
Niara nodded when she heard that. Then she stayed quiet for about three seconds, took a deep breath, and asked mentally:
'Partner, I still don't know your name.'
'Oh, sorry! I'm Darian. I totally forgot to introduce myself.'
She gave a small nod, not showing any annoyance.
'I'm going to start the ritual, but I don't know if it'll work. When this inscription activates, it'll pull you out of me. Then, using my blood, the inscription, and the power from her ring, you should be able to create a physical body just by thinking about it. In theory, you just have to imagine the form you want.'
'Okay,' he replied, taking it seriously.
Their situation was way different from normal, and everything around him tended to turn into chaos. All they could do was try and hope for the best. After all, he couldn't stay inside her body forever.
Even though Niara had died and all her life force had run out, her Primordial bloodline could slowly restore it. That's how she could live a thousand times longer than a regular human.
But Darian could already feel that the little life force she had left was fading, not growing. That was because of him being there. In other words, he had to get out and live in his own physical form in this world.
The woman in the distance sighed, then touched an object in the room, activating the inscription with her power.
Niara took another deep breath.
She moved one hand toward her other wrist. Blood started dripping down, falling onto the glowing circle on the ground.
A second later, the circle beneath her pulsed even brighter.
...
Several seconds went by...
Nothing happened.
The woman in the distance narrowed her eyes.
Niara, tense, stopped the blood flow. That was the maximum limit of the inscription. 'Darian, it's not working... the inscription's not responding.'