SSS Awakening: Only My Summons Evolve

Verso let out a violent, wet cough as he wiped a thick streak of viscous green blood from his forehead.

He looked down at his hands which was now covered in a disgusting lime colored slime and felt his stomach do a roll. The metallic, rotting smell of the centipedes’ insides was nearly enough to break through his mental barriers.

"Fuck man... no matter how much I try, I always end up looking like a mess."

He held himself back from puking, taking deep, steady breaths of the humid swamp air. Luckily, his Scale Armor had held up perfectly because of which not a single stinger or drop of venom had reached his skin.

He looked over at Moon, and his eye twitched in pure irritation.

"And how the fuck are you so clean?"

Moon was standing a few feet away, leaning casually on his massive iron greatsword.

Despite the whirlwind of violence he had just unleashed — chopping through dozens of massive insects — there was not a single splatter of green on his black leather gear.

It did not even look like he had gone hunting.

Moon just shrugged, a cocky grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Speed and precision, scum. If you hit them fast enough, the blood does not even know where to land."

Verso groaned, turning his attention back to the clearing. The ground was littered with the twitching, segmented remains of the Mutant Centipedes. It was a massacre.

’I am one hundred percent sure I heard an attribute crystal drop.’

During the short chaotic blur of the fight, the system’s sharp mechanical voice had echoed in his mind.

He scanned the bodies, his eyes narrowing.

"I’m pretty sure it was this one..." He muttered, walking toward a particularly mangled centipede that had been cut in half.

He stood over the mess for a long, agonizing second, wondering if he really had to do this. The prospect of digging through bug brains for money was starting to feel like a very poor career choice.

But then he remembered his measly bank balance, and his resolve hardened.

With a grimaced look, he bent down and shoved his hand into the creature’s open, shattered head.

His fingers moved through something jelly like until they touched a cold hard rock. He pulled his hand out, holding a small, pulsing blue crystal.

[Attribute Crystal: Mana 18]

’I would honestly rather die to the Wyrm ten times in a row than hunt these things for a living...’ He thought as pushed down on his gag reflex.

Turning back, he saw Moon watching him with an expression of mild amusement.

"Got the loot? I guess we are ready to head to the second clearing then?" Moon asked, already moving toward the mangrove trees on the left.

Verso blinked, looking around at the fifteen or so other dead centipedes lying in the purple water.

"Wait, aren’t you going to search the others? There were at least seven more that you killed personally."

Moon didn’t even turn around. He just waved a dismissive hand.

"I don’t really feel like shoving my arm into seven more bug carcasses on the off chance one of them dropped something. Not exactly worth the dry cleaning bill, is it?"

Verso stood there for a moment, stunned by the sheer waste of it all.

Then, it hit him. Unlike him, Moon did not have a system. Moon had no idea which body held the crystal. Which meant that to him, looting these bodies was a disgusting game of Russian Roulette.

’Ugh, every day I thank the system even more...’ Verso thought, cringing as he followed behind the noble.

’Without those notifications, I would have been elbow deep in bug guts for hours.’

After another few minutes of walking through the murky purplish water and dodging gnarled mangrove roots, the pair stumbled across another clearing.

The scene was identical to the first, a writhing, clicking ball of chitinous armor and hundreds of tiny, moving legs.

"How many of these clearings are there?" Verso asked, his skin crawling at the sight.

The way Moon traversed the dungeon suggested he knew the layout like the back of his hand.

"There are about seven of them," Moon replied nonchalantly.

"They are all connected by a short distance. Think of it was a trail that leads to the big guy."

Hearing his words Verso felt a violent shiver.

"No way... no way we plan on clearing all seven of them before we even look for the Elite Python?" He looked at Moon with a face full of genuine fear.

If his guess was right, Moon was going to drag him through five more clearings of green blood and leg crawling nightmares.

Instead of answering, Moon just turned back and flashed a wide crazy looking grin.

"Try to keep up, scum!"

Moon didn’t wait for a response. He pulled his greatsword back and shot it forward, the heavy blade spinning through the air toward the new centipede ball.

Verso gritted his teeth, watching Moon charge in with his usual recklessness.

He looked at his green stained hands and then at the new group of bugs. As a slow and mischievous smile began to spread across his face.

"Well... after cleaning up the last clearing, I have a feeling that this should work."

Verso flicked his hands, pulling out two summons from his summoning space as massive blue portals tore open in the right side of the clearing.

"Get to work!"

Two Stone Golems, towering masses made up of stone, stomped out of the portals.

Given their massive size, they were heavy, so heavy that they instantly began to sink into the murky swamp water with a massive wet splat.

But before they could be swallowed by the mud, the yellow runes etched across their stone chests flared with a blinding intensity.

Energized Rush.

The golems speed increased significantly in an instant. They did not sink in the mud anymore, instead running over it without any trouble.

The massive stone creatures charged into the clearing, their every step sending massive splashes of purple water and thick stinking mud flying in every direction.

CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH.

The golems began a weird systematic stomping session, flattening the centipedes with their massively heavy legs.

And just after a moment, Verso heard the sweet voice of the system.

[Mutant Beast Slain: Willowing Brown Centipede.]

Verso stood back, his arms crossed, a look of pure satisfaction on his face. The system notifications had just started rolling in and more importantly, he did not have to touch a single bug.

Suddenly, a loud, enraged shout shattered the sounds of crushing chitin.

"SCUM! I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Verso turned his head just in time to see Moon.

The noble was no longer clean.

He was standing near the center of the clearing, dripping from head to toe in thick foul smelling swamp mud and purple water, all thanks to his Golems.

Verso let out a loud bark of laughter.

"Precision and speed, right Moon?"