Nightmare Realm Summoner

The Memory Crystal sailed through the air. Berith’s eyes widened, but the huge demon was chained to the surface of the lake. What little motion he could take was not nearly enough to let him get out of the path of the shimmering gem flying toward him.

Alex and Berith both watched as the crystal shattered against the demon’s shoulder with a ringing crack. A wave of sparkling blue energy exploded out from it. The magic swirled around Berith in a cyan storm before flowing straight into the demon’s skin.

Magic shimmered within Berith’s eyes. He stiffened, the chains hanging from his limbs and body going slack.

And that was enough for Alex.

His hand shot out and the Visualization-capturing scroll he’d bought from Finley materialized within it. Alex hurriedly ripped the top cap off the tube containing the scroll. He turned it upside down and shook it until a rolled up piece of parchment slid out and into his hand.

Alex tossed the tube to the side and crouched, unfurling the paper on a pile of discarded building materials littering the ground before him. This was far from the best working space. It was, however, considerably better than trying to roll a scroll out on the black water covering the base of his Mind Palace.

The scroll was covered with scrawling script that Alex couldn’t understand. It had been written in a concentric pattern, flowing letters spiraling outward all the way up until the edges of the parchment. Nearly every single piece of open space had something written on it. The only part that had been spared was the very center of the scroll, where a circle around the size of a small watermelon had been left completely blank.

Even if Finley hadn’t told Alex what he had to do, it wouldn’t have been to hard to guess. The blank space may as well have been screaming touch me!

Alex’s eyes flicked back up to Berith. The demon still stared sightlessly ahead. His eyes shimmered with faint specks of blue light that drifted through his molten pupils like falling ash. According to Finley, Berith would be held there for at least a few minutes.

Then again, I’m sure there’s a way to break out of that shit sooner rather than later. I can’t waste any time. I have to make my Visualization before he wakes up. The drop of blood he gave to me so I could unlock Riftwalk should still be in me somewhere. I just hope it’s enough.

Alex shoved his hand against the scroll. Its surface was rougher than he’d expected. It prickled against the skin of his palm like it was covered with blades of infinitesimally tiny hair.

A moment slipped by.

Shit. I really hope the drop of Berith’s blood is actually still in me. I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t just vanish. Is it so diluted by now that it doesn’t matter? That wouldn’t make sense. Berith is so powerful. I’d imagine that his blood has similar strength and wouldn’t fade so easily. really overplayed my hand if I—

Hold on. Why is the paper so damn itchy?

In the time it took Alex to process that his now was practically on fire as if he’d shoved it into a fire ant nest, the prickling sensation had intensified twice over.

A shimmer of energy slithered through the words nearest Alex’s palm. It crawled outward, accelerating, as it passed from word to the next and left them glowing in its wake. The relief he felt at seeing the scroll do something was immediately swallowed by a brilliant flash of light biting into his eyes.

Alex was forced to turn his head away and squint as the intensity of the light pouring from the scroll grew stronger at an alarming speed. Warmth beat against his palm as if the scroll was trying to melt itself. Buzzing energy filled the air around him and his hair stood on end.

Yes! It’s working! Give me that Visualization, Berith! Actually, how do I know if it—

The ground fell out from beneath Alex.

He floated in the air for an instant, staring down at the glowing scroll pressed against his palm as its light tried to needle his eyes out. Beyond the scroll was nothing but a pitch black hole, ten feet in radius and centered directly below him.

Huh. Wasn’t expecting that.

Then he plummeted into the darkness.

Smolders of burning parchment twisted through the air around Alex as he fell, their edges blackening and burning away like dying fireflies in a rain around him. His Mind Palace quickly disappeared into the distance.

It wasn’t long until all the light that remained was from the faint, dying embers of the parchment — not that it was particularly useful. There was nothing here but darkness. Alex couldn’t even tell if he was falling or floating anymore. He had no frame of reference beyond himself.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

”Well,” Alex said, drawing the word out. His word didn’t even echo. It just vanished into the shadowy sea surrounding him like they had never been spoken. ”That was a little unexpected.”

I take it this is basically taking me to a deeper level of my mind, like the double-meditation I have to do when I’m condensing energy. Don’t think this is anything to be concerned over. Finley wouldn’t sell his only customer a trapped scroll. Can merchants even lie about the stuff they sell?

Alex forced the thoughts from his head. There was no time to waste. The scroll had pretty clearly activated, which meant he had to figure out how to finish forming his Visualization before Berith woke up from his doubtlessly exhilarating experience in the Memory Stone.

He tried to turn in a circle. It was hard to tell if it worked. The last lights from the burnt scraps of the scroll were fading rapidly, and it wasn’t like there was much to actually look at other than the darkness.

Alex’s jaw clenched.

Where’s the damn Visualization? Come on. Come out. I barely even know what I’m looking for, but I know it’s here somewhere.

***

Berith’s eye twitched.

Countless years of boredom. Of sitting around atop his prison in wait for something to happen and grant him a chance of freedom — and not even all of those years could have managed to get him the patience to deal with this.

The memory defiling his mind was uniquely infuriating. Whoever had not only decided to trap this into a Memory Crystal and but then also took a look at it and decided it was worth selling was worthy of an agonizing death.

”Just choose the black haired one,” Berith snarled, pounding a fist against his palm. ”Stop wasting time worrying about the blonde, woman. He’s clearly just trying to use you to increase his status. The black haired boy has clearly been interested in pursuing you since you were children. How is this even a debate? Could you be any more indecisive if you tried?”

His words were, of course, wasted. Memory Crystals couldn’t be interacted with. They could only be experienced. Push too hard trying to peer out of their bounds and they shattered. Berith could have done it with a thought.

A Memory Crystal this weak was nowhere near powerful enough to even try to contain him. It was like trying to trap a giant in a cage made of straw.

Berith heaved a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers. Then he, as he’d already done around a few hundred times in the last few minutes, stretched his arms over his head.

Not partially.

Fully.

Berith was unchained. The heavy white bindings that had enveloped him for so long that he could barely even remember the sensation of being free were finally gone.

They could not follow him into a memory. And, for that reason alone, the memory remained. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been able to move his entire form without the grinding restraints pulling his limbs to a halt.

The back of his mind prickled. He could feel a foreign presence trying to worm its way in and take a bite out of his power.

A flicker of amusement prickled at Berith’s insides.

Alex was certainly interesting. It wasn’t hard to tell what the boy was doing. Using a Memory Stone as a distraction while he rooted around, trying to slip away with more than what was his to take… it wasn’t a bad idea.

That greed is good. It will take him far in freeing me. But if he thinks he’s going to get my Visualization, the boy is sorely mistaken. He is unworthy of such power. I had to rebel against the very heavens to steal this power.

But this is good. I will allow the boy to witness the immensity of my Visualization. Then I will rip it from him.

A smile stretched across Berith’s face. Once Alex knew just how much power the Visualization promised, he would have no choice but to bargain for it in preparation for fighting the Region Boss. And that would be the end.

The cost will be great. Enough to get him fully under my thumb. Having an Incarnation beholden to my will shall make everything considerably easier.

Berith did nothing to quash the tendril of magic as it finished connecting to his Mind Palace. Forming a Visualization was not instantaneous. Alex would need enough time to bear witness to just how powerful it really was before Berith took it back.

He waited a second, a finger tapping against his thigh as a sneer pulled across his lips. Enough time should have passed by now. There was no need to be cruel and taunt Alex with what was not yet his.

Berith extended his senses toward the tendril.

His mind enveloped the tiny sliver of his Visualization gingerly. If anything, he had to be careful. Pulling too hard could accidentally snap Alex’s soul like a bowstring. That would have been most unfortunate.

Berith gave the sliver a slight yank.

A twang rang through his mind.

The Visualization didn’t move.

In fact, it didn’t so much as twitch. It was like trying to yank on a mountain. Confusion flickered through Berith. He extended more of his energy toward the lone tendril, enveloping it and the stolen piece of power completely.

”Persistent little shit, aren’t you?” Berith asked.

He gave the fragment of his Visualization another tug, this one sharper than the last.

It didn’t budge in his direction.

Instead, almost as if to mock him, it started to drag away from him.

”What?” Confusion bubbled up within Berith. Alex was a mortal. An Initiate Stage mortal. There should have been absolutely no way the pull of his soul was this strong. It was like he was trying to pull something out of the center of a black hole.

Some manner of item he hid from me? Impossible. I would have felt an artifact that powerful.

Berith yanked on his Visualization again to no avail. It continued on its path away from his soul, slowly starting to accelerate. The confusion he felt exploded in magnitude.

He pulled once more, but it did nothing to stop the fragment’s path.

It passed the boundaries of Berith’s Mind Palace.

”What is this?” Berith demanded, equal parts baffled and awed. ”How is his soul so damn dense?”

Then, with a faint pop, the fragment vanished.

It had been stolen.