Online Game: Starting With SSS-Ranked Summons-Chapter 562: Trial of Comprehension [4]

He extended both hands now, completely vulnerable, offering himself to the darkness and whatever it contained.

"Maybe even summon you."

The moment the words left his mouth, something fundamental shifted in the trial space. The darkness that had pressed against him like a physical force suddenly felt less oppressive. The blood around his chest began to recede, draining away as if some cosmic plug had been pulled.

And for the first time since entering this space, Arthur saw light.

Not bright illumination, but faint luminescence emanating from the creatures around him. They became visible as shadowy outlines, their forms still indistinct but no longer completely hidden. Dozens of them surrounded him, their glowing eyes watching with what might have been curiosity rather than hunger.

Arthur looked at the nearest beast—something wolf-like with too many legs—and reached out not with his hand but with his intention. The same mental gesture he used when forming contracts with defeated creatures, but different somehow. Gentler. An invitation rather than a command.

Join me. Not as servant or tool, but as part of something greater. Let me understand you, and in understanding, connect.

The wolf-beast tilted its head, considering. Then, slowly, it padded forward through the receding blood until it stood directly before Arthur. Its glowing eyes met his, and he felt something click into place.

Not a contract. Not exactly. But a moment of mutual recognition. An acknowledgment that they were two parts of the same fundamental concept—the summoner and the summoned, existing in relationship to each other.

Understanding flowed into Arthur’s consciousness like water filling an empty vessel.

Primordial Summoning isn’t about domination or control. It’s about recognizing the intrinsic value in other beings and forming connections that elevate both parties. The summoner doesn’t diminish what they summon—they provide opportunity, purpose, evolution. And in return, they receive not just power, but partnership.

Arthur pulled up his status screen again, hope building in his chest.

[Primordial Summoning: 3%]

Three percent. Progress. Real, measurable advancement toward understanding his domain.

The wolf-beast before him dissolved into light, its form dissipating peacefully rather than violently. Not destroyed, but acknowledged. Understood.

Around Arthur, the other beasts began moving closer, their hostility completely gone now. They approached like supplicants, each one offering themselves to be understood, to be recognized as part of the fundamental truth he was uncovering.

He reached out to the next one, and the next, each connection adding another layer to his comprehension. With every beast he acknowledged, every moment of recognition where he saw them not as threats but as reflections of his talent’s true nature, his understanding deepened.

[Primordial Summoning: 5%]

The blood had drained completely now, leaving solid ground beneath his feet. The darkness receded further, revealing more of the creatures surrounding him. There were hundreds—maybe thousands—each one representing another aspect of what summoning truly meant.

Connection. Partnership. Mutual evolution. Recognition of worth beyond immediate utility.

[Primordial Summoning: 7%]

Arthur moved through the gathered beasts, acknowledging each one. Some were familiar—species he’d in reality. Others were alien, strange, representing possibilities he hadn’t yet encountered. All of them were valid. All of them mattered.

’This is what I’ve been doing all along without fully understanding it,’ Arthur realized. "Every summon I’ve made, every contract I’ve formed, I’ve been creating these connections. But I never grasped the fundamental truth underlying the action."

It’s not about collecting power. It’s about building relationships that transcend the boundary between self and other.

[Primordial Summoning: 9%]

So close now. Arthur could feel the threshold approaching, his comprehension reaching critical mass. Just one more step, one final piece of understanding to push him over the edge.

He looked around at the remaining beasts, searching for what he was still missing. His eyes fell on a shape in the distance, barely visible even with the increased illumination. Something larger than the others, its outline suggesting immense power.

Arthur walked toward it, drawn by instinct more than conscious decision. The other beasts parted before him, creating a clear path to this final challenge.

As he approached, the creature’s form became clearer. It was massive, easily dwarfing any beast he’d encountered in reality. Its body seemed to shift between different shapes—dragon, wolf, bird, something entirely alien—as if it couldn’t settle on a single form.

Then Arthur understood.

This represents the primordial aspect. The original, fundamental force that all summoning draws from. The source.

This wasn’t just about forming connections with individual creatures. It was about understanding where that ability came from, what underlying principle allowed summoning to exist in the first place.

Arthur stood before the primordial beast, feeling impossibly small yet strangely unafraid. He extended his hand one final time, not to control or even to connect, but simply to acknowledge.

"I understand now," he said quietly. "Summoning isn’t just my talent. It’s a fundamental force of reality itself. The ability for beings to transcend boundaries, to form connections across impossible distances, to become more than they were alone. I’m not creating this force—I’m channeling it. Drawing on something that’s always existed, always been part of the cosmic fabric."

The primordial beast’s eyes—thousands of them, maybe infinite—focused on Arthur with sudden intensity.

"And my role isn’t to control it. My role is to be a bridge. A conduit. Someone who facilitates these connections and helps both parties evolve through their union."

The beast moved forward, its massive form somehow gentle despite its size. It pressed what might have been a head or appendage against Arthur’s extended hand, and in that moment, everything clicked into place.

[Primordial Summoning: 10%]

[Domain Awakening: SUCCESS]

[You have comprehended the fundamental truth of Primordial Summoning]

[Your domain is now forming...]

The white space exploded with light as Arthur’s understanding reached critical threshold. The trial dissolved around him, the primordial beast and all its lesser manifestations fading into brilliance as something new began to take shape.

Arthur felt power unlike anything he’d experienced before flowing through him. Not just strength, but authority. The right to impose his will on reality itself within a defined space.

His domain was awakening.

And with it, Arthur transcended from powerful individual into something approaching a force of nature.

The trial of comprehension was complete.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​