SSS Awakening: Only My Summons Evolve

"That was a crazy night..."

Verso lay flat on his back, staring at the boring white ceiling of his hotel room.

He had just barely managed to escape Han’s relentless ’Brotherly’ energy by using the exam as an excuse.

Slipping away right before the Young Master could drag him to a second luxury auction house in the area.

He looked toward the nightstand, where a pile of empty room dishes sat.

"At least the money came in useful." He muttered with a smile, patting his stomach.

It was the first time in his life he had eaten until he was truly full without checking the price of every dish he ordered.

But as the comfort of the meal faded, his expression sharpened.

"I don’t know what to expect at all for tomorrow..."

He had tried to get any sort of information out of Han, but the green haired boy had been just as clueless.

Despite his Great Clan background, the specifics of the Summoner Academy Exams were kept under a strict veil of secrecy until the moment they began.

"But I was right. He is already an Apprentice Summoner."

During their talk, Han had casually mentioned his rank. It was the title given to those who had successfully condensed their core and increased their stats.

"I should also reach it by tomorrow morning, but..." Verso trailed off.

A new, frustrating reality was reinforcing itself in his mind.

Even if he ranked up, he was functionally locked out of his progression as both the Land of Atlantis and the Shattered Wilds were still greyed out in the Realm Menu.

Without a realm to hunt in, he had no better way to obtain the higher tier attribute crystals he needed to push his stats toward the new cap of twenty.

"Ugh, why is my luck so bad?"

He turned over, trying to force himself to sleep.

Not only had he lost his hunting grounds but he had also managed to get entangled with a Young Master and accidentally broadcast his so called mutation talent to the entire city.

For him, today had been no short than a disaster.

Just as he was starting to drift off, a mechanical chime echoed in his mind. This was a sound he had not heard in a while.

[Realm Update Finished: Land of Atlantis]

Verso shot up from his bed like he had been electrocuted.

"No fucking way..."

He focused up on the Realm Menu, pulling up the blue translucent window.

---

[✦Realm Menu✦]

Available Realms:

1. The Shattered Wilds (Unavailable)

2. Land of Atlantis (Available)

Locked Realms:

???

???

---

"What do you mean you were Updating?! I thought I lost the damn realm!" Verso shouted at the air.

The system, as usual, offered no explanation for its actions. But the implication of this was clear, the greying of their name wasn’t a permanent ban.

Putting the clues together Verso came to the conclusion that opening the final door had probably triggered an update for the realm, meaning that Shattered Wilds should also become available sometime soon.

"But what use is Atlantis?"

He groaned and fell back onto his pillows.

The last time he was there, it was a silent ghost town with a golden temple which when he entered a giant serpent had came and bitten him in half.

It wasn’t exactly a prime farming spot.

He stared at the ’Available’ text besides the realm’s name for a long minute.

He didn’t exactly have anything better to do and the curiosity of what the update meant was eating him alive.

"Fine. Let’s see what changed."

He focused on the Realm’s name as a familiar feeling of heavy drowsiness pulled at his consciousness.

[Entering: Land of Atlantis]

Verso felt something cold, wet and heavy pressing against his skin.

His eyes snapped open but unlike before he didn’t see the outskirts of a golden city or the dusty floor of a temple.

He saw... blue.

"!!!"

Panic instantly surged through his veins.

He was completely submerged in water. He tried to gasp but his brain screamed at him to hold his breath.

He moved his arms around wildly, his heart thundering against his ribs as he realized he was floating in the middle of a massive flooded hall.

He was inside the temple.

It did not take him long to realize that the dome that kept the water out of the city was gone as now the entire Land of Atlantis was now at the bottom of the ocean.

’I’m going to drown!’

He kicked his legs, desperate to find the surface but unfortunately for him, the temple was too deep.

He watched as a stream of bubbles escaped his mouth. He then waited for the burning sensation in his lungs and the suffocation to claim his life.

But it never came.

He stopped thrashing, his eyes opened wide as he realized he was... inhaling?

It wasn’t like breathing air, instead it was like a cool rhythmic flow of energy that entered his lungs and oxygenated his blood directly.

"I can breathe?"

He spoke the words and instead of a choked gurgle, the sound vibrated clearly through the water.

He looked around, his panic fading into awe.

The temple looked completely different. The dim and dusty atmosphere was gone. Now, the walls were lined with glowing blue stones that emitted a soft ethereal light and illuminated the area.

The water was crystal clear and the pressure that should have crushed a human felt like a warm, supportive hug.

His gaze drifted toward the front of the hall.

The stone podium was still there, but unlike before there was no blue flame there.

"Is this because of Son of the Seas?"

Verso looked at his hands.

They were somehow also glowing with a faint, bioluminescent light. Unlike before, he did not feel like a visitor to the realm, but rather someone who belonged here.

He pushed off the floor, his movement through the water as fluid and fast as a sea serpent.

"Well, I think I can get used to this" He said with a wide smile.