Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit-Chapter 154: The Hero Summoning Ritual(Part 2)

"Okay, I’ve gathered all the necessary ingredients, I should go over the instructions just to be safe, I can’t afford to screw this up," Alphonse muttered to himself.

It was the next day, and after listing down everything he needed to conduct the ritual after skimming through the documents, he snuck into Sapphire City.

"Mmmpf! Mmmm!"

"Tch, shut up, you filthy little brat, I’m trying to focus here!" He snapped, kicking at a young boy tied up with ropes, sprawled across the dust-caked floor.

"Mmmm!" The boy pleaded desperately, tears flowing out as he frantically tried to break free of the ropes, but to no avail.

"I wish I could just kill you, but I need a living sacrifice, a child who hasn’t yet awakened their Magic. Okay, let’s see here...interesting, so these so-called Heroes are summoned from a world without Magic. How is that even possible? And it says that these Heroes usually have little to no combat experience, and they tend to be highly empathetic. Tch, who cares about that? Ah, here we go...when summoned to this world, they gain powerful Magic abilities, with potential as great or even greater than that of Royals. Fantastic!

I just wish I was able to gather more than one sacrifice and summon several Heroes, instead of just one. But I couldn’t afford to get too greedy, it would have been pointless if I ended up exposing myself and got captured by the Knights. Alright, then, I think I’m more or less clear on how this works, everything is already set up, so all that’s left to do is activate the ritual and hope for the best," He muttered to himself, before standing up and turning his gaze towards the boy he kidnapped, who froze in terror.

Alphonse reached down and grabbed him by the hair, a muffled, despairing cry ringing out as he dragged the boy towards a large Magic Circle he’d drawn across the floor.

He then lifted the boy up and carefully placed him at the center of the circle, before stepping back and placing his hands on the edge of the circle, taking a deep breath to ease his nerves before running his Mana into it.

His heartbeat quickened as the formulations inscribed across the Magic Circle began glowing, getting brighter and brighter with each passing second, before an excruciating scream of pain rang out from the boy as his body spasmed violently.

Alphonse flinched with a startled look on his face as the boy’s torso suddenly burst open across the middle, blood spraying out and splattering across the ground, a few drops hitting Alphonse, who grimaced in disgust.

Suddenly, the boy’s body began glowing as he continued to howl in agony, the space surrounding him shimmering with increasing intensity.

The glow of the boy’s body grew blindingly bright, his screams fading as his body broke apart into a mass of energy, which swirled rapidly over the Magic Circle...right before cracks spread out across the air around the swirling energy sphere, a triumphant glimmer appearing in Alphonse’s eyes as the cracks deepened rapidly, a wide rift forming over the Magic Circle, before the silhouette of a person came into sight.

Meanwhile, in Opal Town...

"Hm? Hey, what’s wrong, Raven?" Inquired Celia, as Raven tensed up and looked around with a wary look on his face.

"Didn’t you feel that? It felt like the intensity of the Mana in the air spiked all of a sudden."

"No, I didn’t feel anything. But, I mean, I can’t sense Mana like you can. Is someone attacking?"

"I don’t know, but I don’t think that’s it. The spike in Mana is all around us, not in one place, it’s as if the quantity of Mana in the nation just suddenly increased or something. No, wait...something feels a bit off. Like there’s a new, unfamiliar element mixed in with the Mana," Responded Raven uncertainly, getting a bad feeling.

Back at the abandoned mansion...

"Yes...YES!!!" Exclaimed Alphonse gleefully, as the figure in the rift approached, before stepping out through the opening.

It was a young man, appearing to be in his early-twenties, with messy, wavy black hair and dark brown eyes. His complexion was on the darker side, his face was scruffy and unshaven, with dark circles under his eyes.

He was about average height, with a sturdy build, wearing a black tank top and dark gray sweatpants.

"Hm, I wasn’t expecting someone so slovenly. But, so long as he’s powerful, I suppose it doesn’t really matter. Now, I just need to trick him into wearing this Enslavement Collar," Alphonse thought to himself as he glanced down at the collar in his left hand, before clearing his throat and greeting the young man, "Hello, I’m-..."

"Woah, no way, is this for real? I seriously thought it was just a dream! Am I seriously in an Isekai!? This is wild! Holy shit, I can’t believe this!" He exclaimed excitedly, before adding as he glanced at Alphonse, "You must be the one who summoned me, right? Alright, lay it on me! What’s my purpose here!? Am I, like, a warrior from some ancient prophecy who’s been brought here to defeat some great evil or something!? Is it, like, a Demon Lord situation, or maybe a corrupt King? Ooh, or maybe there’s going to be a massive outbreak of Monsters, a Stampede! Well? Which is it!?"

"Uh...I don’t know what exactly I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this. Wait, actually, I think I can work with this. Forget the collar, he’ll be sure to turn on me if it ever gets destroyed or something. It’ll be a lot more effective if I trick him and get him on my side instead, so I’ll play along," He decided, before responding, "Why, yes, you have been summoned for a special reason. You are the Chosen One, destined to be the Hero of this land, I summoned you to free the people of this nation from the cruel, tyrannical rule they’ve been forced under."

"Gotcha, so it’s an evil King situation, then? I can dig that," Grinned the ’Hero’ in response.

"Queen, actually, it’s-...oh, how rude of me, I never introduced myself, did I? My name is Alphonse Plore, it’s an honor to make your acquaintance, Hero," He introduced himself with a bow.

"Cool, nice to meet you, Alphonse. Can I call you Al?"

"Huh? Er, sure...that’s fine."

"I’m Akila Ekanayake, I know my last name might be a bit tough to pronounce, so just call me Akila."

"Very well, then, Akila it is."

"So, tell me more about this world, especially the current situation with this evil Queen," Responded Akila eagerly.

"Yes, of course. You see, this nation used to be peaceful and prosperous, but that all changed when the current Queen took over, along with her followers. They had the previous King assassinated, they covered their tracks, of course, but everyone knows the truth. The Queen and her followers then proceeded to impose heavy taxes, they treated the people like trash.

A few people tried to speak out against them, but they were framed for crimes they didn’t commit and were executed. Plenty of others have been executed for the smallest offences, those vile bastards even executed a young child for glaring at one of them. They also often kidnap attractive young men and women to have their way with, either sexually or just straight-up torture."

"A-are you serious? That’s so fucked up, how could anyone commit such horrible atrocities?" Gasped Akila in horror.

"Indeed, but they don’t even think twice about it. They rule the people using fear, everyone’s far too afraid of them to resist, so they act cheerful and like nothing’s wrong. The cities and towns may seem prosperous and bustling at first glance, but don’t be fooled, the poor citizens are just putting on masks to protect themselves.

We did try to rebel against the Queen and her followers, I was actually a part of the resistance group. But I’m the only survivor. All my comrades were killed, one by one...the Queen’s forces, the Knights, captured them and conducted cruel, torturous public executions, designed to humiliate them. I-I’m sorry, it hurts to talk about," Muttered Alphonse as he averted his gaze, feigning a voice crack as he thought to himself while trembling to make it seem like he was emotional, "Damn, I’m really good at this! And based on his expression, he’s buying every single word of it!"

"I...I’m so sorry, that’s horrible. I can’t imagine how painful it must be to relive those memories, you don’t have to talk about it if it hurts too much," Replied Akila with a concerned look on his face.

"No, I...I have to tell you everything. I know how unfair this must be, to tear you away from the life you knew, just to ask you to fight a battle that has nothing to do with you. This Summoning Ritual was a last resort...my comrades and I came across it a while ago, and even though it was just what we needed to turn the tides, we agreed that it wouldn’t be right to summon someone from another world and take them away from their life in that world.

So, we set it aside as a last resort...and by the time I was the last of my comrades left, I was desperate. You see, I possess a form of Magic called Detection Magic, I’m not a fighter, I played more of a support role. So, I was helpless against the Knights, all I could manage was to run away, that’s all my Magic is good for now. I really am sorry...in my desperation to make sure my comrades’ sacrifices weren’t in vain, I felt like I had no other option, so I-..."

"Hey, man, you have nothing to apologize for. See, I didn’t exactly have a great life in my old world, so this is just the kind of fresh start I needed. I was just wasting away in a rundown old rented apartment that I could barely afford, so when I suddenly found myself in front of a God, telling me that I was being summoned to another world, I was, like, totally stoked!"

"Huh, I thought it would be worth trying to appeal to his sympathies and convince him to fight for me with an elaborate sob story, but it turns out that I don’t need to. Also, based on what he said, it sounds like he was just a random Commoner in his old world. Well, whatever. Since I plan on using him as a weapon, it’s actually better than way. That last part of what he said is pretty interesting, though," Alphonse thought to himself, before responding, "A God, you say? Forgive me, I’m not familiar with the exact details of how the Summoning Ritual works."

"Well, I suddenly found myself in this endless, vast void of white, and there was glowing figure, too bright to make out any features, but it was definitely a man’s voice. Anyway, after he told me that I was being summoned to this world, I was given the option to customize my powers.

Though, it was a bit disappointing how simple it was...the only things I could choose were Magic Class and something called Combat Template. I guess this world doesn’t have Skills or, like, a Level-Up System. That kinda bummed me out, it would’ve really cool if I was able to level up like in a video game."

"Uh...sorry, I’m not quite sure what some of those words mean."

"Yeah, I guess they wouldn’t really make sense in this world, my bad."

"It’s fine, it’s only natural that the culture in another world would be different. Anyway, what Magic Class and Combat Template did you pick?" Inquired Alphonse curiously.

"I went with Phase Shift Magic and the Dual Blader Template," Replied Akila with a grin.

"Huh? Er, I’ve never heard of Phase Shift Magic, what exactly is that?"

"So, I was given this long list of Magic Classes to choose from. It was split into two categories, General Classes and Arcane Classes. The latter sounded way cooler, and had, like, hundreds of options, so of course, I went with that! Phase Shift Magic is pretty simple, but it sounded really useful, it basically lets me turn myself intangible at will!" Smiled Akila with a gleam in his eyes.

"Wait, there are hundreds of Irregular Magic Classes? Considering how powerful The Irregulars are, that’s quite the scary thought," Alphonse thought to himself warily, before replying, "Uh, yes, that does sound quite useful."

"Yeah, I still wish I got a cool System or OP Skills, though. Oh, and after I picked my Combat Template, the God adjusted my body to suit it. I was pretty out of shape before I got summoned, but I’m totally jacked now," Grinned Akila, lifting his tank top up to reveal a row of abs.

"Yes, I see..."

"He also told me that I’ve got a Magic Power Level of 150,000, is that a lot?"

"A hundred and fif-...!? Y-yes, that’s a lot...the natural upper limit of Magic Potential for humans is 100,000, I believe there are currently only two or three people in the entire nation with Magic Potential above 90,000, and a handful with over 80,000," Explained Alphonse in disbelief.

"Woah, awesome! Then, I bet I can totally kick the asses of that evil Queen and her followers, huh?"

"No, Magic Potential is pointless if you don’t train to master it first. I’m sure the Knights are hunting me as we speak, which means we probably don’t have a lot of time. So, you’re going to have to train hard before they catch up to us," Alphonse informed him.

"Cool, I’m fine with that, bring on the training arc!" Declared Akila with a smirk.

"Er, yes, quite. Hm, we’ll need to get you a pair of twin blades, and-...," Began Alphonse.

"Oh, no need for that. See, after I picked my Magic Class and Combat Template, I kinda pestered the God to give me a bit more to work with. So, he set me up with a pair of blades, let me show you," Replied Akila, before Alphonse’s eyes widened in surprise as a square portal opened up next to Akila, who reached in and pulled out a pair of blades.

They were in sheaths attached to a belt, which Akila strapped around his waist before drawing the blades out, which were slightly curved, and had a dark red tinge to them.

"What...what is that...?"

"Pretty cool, huh? The God told me that these are basically unbreakable, and they have +100% slashing and piercing damage. In other words, if I slash or stab with them, the damage I inflict will be doubled!"

"Y-yes, that is remarkable, but I was talking about that," Responded Alphonse in bewilderment, pointing at the portal.

"Oh, this? Well, it’s sort of an Item Box-...a storage space, I mean. It isn’t very big, the capacity is just two cubic meters, but I can freely compartmentalize it to organize what I put in there," Akila informed him.

"I see...so, it’s like a Storage Ring, but better," Realized Alphonse in fascination.

"What’s that?"

"It’s a Magic Item, a ring that can store, and in some cases preserve, objects."

"Cool, that sounds useful. Though, I guess I won’t need one."

"Indeed. Alright, then, you’ve got weapons, and your body has been pre-conditioned to suit your chosen Combat Template. That’s quite a useful head start, let’s make use of it and begin your training right away..."