Chapter 2: First Summoning

After all, in his past life, he had been a semi-homebody who had never experienced any actual battles. Despite excelling in games, his physical combat skills were pitifully weak, and he had no combat experience at all. As a result, his two attempts to venture into the forest to hunt for crystal cores ended in failure without a doubt.

This time, Donald learned from his previous mistakes and combined the outdoor survival knowledge he had acquired from the internet in his past life, preparing more thoroughly. Not only had he practiced wielding his iron sword for several days, becoming more accurate and powerful, but he also spent the last of his family’s money to borrow equipment from a hunter in a nearby village—gaining a hardwood bow and a bag of arrows for this mission.

He realized that for someone with weak close-quarters combat skills, a bow and arrows were undoubtedly a weapon to save his life and increase his chances of success in hunting.

Rather than spending long hours practicing swordsmanship—given his physical condition—he decided to master the relatively easier yet still effective bow and arrows. After all, neither his strength nor his physical coordination could compare to those of strong swordsmen born for battle. Although being an archer wasn’t ideal either, his goal now was to obtain crystal cores, and mastering archery required only short periods of practice.

As for accuracy? Simple—just shoot more arrows. Eventually, luck would bring a hit. If that still didn’t work, he could always fall back to fighting with his long sword!

The waiting time was unbearable. Donald’s arms, constantly ready to draw arrows and nock them on the bow, had become numb. Realizing this approach wouldn’t work, he gently set down the hardwood bow and stuck the arrows in front of him, ready to draw them again at any moment, before slightly moving his stiff arms.

“Damn those deer—they’re so timid! They even check around before drinking water, forcing this young master to wait so long!”

As he grumbled to himself, he heard a faint rustling sound coming from the bushes near the stream ahead.

“They’re coming!”

Donald immediately put aside all his complaints, nocked an arrow, and aimed it at the edge of the stream. He was so focused at this moment, as if he were an experienced hunter who had instantly entered battle mode. It was all due to necessity—after learning about Donald’s difficult and struggling life in his past lives, he decided to change this situation, at least to achieve a basic standard of comfort. Otherwise, it would be a waste of his chance to be reborn in this dangerous world after years as a lazy homebody. He had to live up to his new life and the soul that had left this body.

So Donald showed a level of seriousness he had never exhibited in either of his lives, determined to succeed or die trying, and resolved to capture a magical beast core, hoping to use his favorite game from his past life to stand out.

Before long, a majestic stag led several does with slightly smaller antlers and seven or eight fawns with only two small bumps on their foreheads through the bushes and came into Donald’s sight.

“Well, no wonder they were so cautious—they must be bringing their families along!”

Donald understood, but his focus didn’t waver. Watching the herd move cautiously under the lead of the stag, gradually approaching the stream about ten steps away, he drew his bow tighter and tighter.

The habits of these deer were similar to those of their close relatives, wild deer—usually, a strong male led several females and their offspring. Only when migrating due to the seasons would they form large herds of hundreds, with the strongest male taking charge.

Donald’s target was the male stag and the females; the fawns were too young, and their magical cores hadn’t fully developed, so they were not valuable.

Although deer weren’t very aggressive, their speed in escaping was beyond Donald’s reach. He knew he had only one chance. While the deer were still at the water’s edge drinking, they were stationary. If he missed the first shot, his amateurish archery skills would make it difficult to hit a moving target again.

As the herd reached the stream, Donald’s palms sweated, and his anxiety was indescribable.

The herd’s caution impressed Donald, who was human. Upon reaching the water, the male leader didn’t drink first but instead led his mates to scout the surroundings, using their keen ears and eyes to detect danger, allowing the young to drink first.

The naive fawns rushed to the water’s edge as if in celebration and began drinking eagerly. Only after they had drunk their fill did they return to their mothers under the urging of the stag males, who continued to keep watch, while the stags lowered their heads and licked the water. “Now!” The taut bowstring snapped suddenly, and the wooden shaft of the iron-tipped arrow shot through the air like a meteor, launched from Donald’s hand. Having fired this arrow, Donald didn’t pause to relax; he quickly drew his bow again, firing a second arrow in quick succession. A cry came from one of the female deer watching the surroundings, followed by a burst of blood—as an arrow, still seemingly trembling, was embedded in the largest target on her body: her rump. The arrow had penetrated three inches into her flesh, likely due to insufficient force from the shooter, but such an injury was enough. Her hind legs, the main source of strength while running, were now injured, so even if she could run, she couldn’t go far. With Donald’s clumsy iron sword, capturing this prey was within reach. At the same time as the female deer’s cry, the male stags immediately raised their heads and led the herd away from the water’s edge at lightning speed. The herd scattered instantly; aside from a few young fawns still in disarray, the unharmed deer moved as if they had practiced countless times, quickly leaving the dangerous open area and heading toward the bushes, where even the most experienced hunters could no longer pursue them. But just then, another arrow appeared. Though the deer were far faster than ordinary humans, they couldn’t withstand the sheer luck of this otaku—this arrow, fired without proper preparation, lodged crookedly in the neck of a male stag. Its carotid artery was severed, and blood gushed out instantly. The strongest male stag in the herd could only run about seventy or eighty feet before collapsing due to the loss of blood. It wasn’t until the second arrow was fired that Donald’s tense heart finally relaxed. Without even checking on the prey, he collapsed in the grass, panting heavily, as if all his strength had been exhausted. After all, in his past life, he had been an ordinary young man with no strength at all, unable to even kill a fish, let alone hunt large beasts like deer with a bow and arrows.

Transitioning from a homebody to a hunter, Donald wasn’t prepared enough, neither physically nor mentally. If it weren’t for his body being much stronger and healthier this time compared to his past lives, he might not even have been able to draw that hardwood bow properly, let alone hunt magical beasts!

After catching his breath in the bushes where he hid, Donald regained some of his strength and excitedly got up to check his haul. At that sight, his heart swelled with joy. The female deer hit by his first arrow had the arrow not deeply embedded, but the injury to her hind leg’s tendon rendered her joint immobile, so she could only drag herself along on three legs and didn’t go far. As for the male deer, which had luckily been hit in its carotid artery, it was already lying outside the bushes he had come through, its blood covering the ground; it didn’t even have the strength to breathe, only its chest rising slightly—clearly on the verge of death.

“What great luck! It seems I’ve accumulated all my luck from the past two times in this hunt! Hehe, two adult deer—two crystal cores already! Their fresh meat alone is worth at least two Silver Moons. Finally, I’m free from poverty!”

Donald laughed heartily and got up to run over. He tied up the female deer with the prepared rope and stuffed some dry grass over its wound to stop the bleeding. After all, fresh prey was far more valuable than a corpse—maybe the female deer wouldn’t be dead by the time he returned to town. As for the male deer, its certain death meant Donald didn’t bother much. After its blood stopped flowing, he used a few thick branches to make a makeshift sled, tied the male deer to it, and dragged it along, holding the lame female deer in one hand and the sled in the other.

As for why he didn’t carry the prey away on his back? With his small frame—though much stronger than that of the useless homebody from his past life—he simply couldn’t carry a male deer weighing nearly twice his own weight!

Pleased with his haul, Donald was eager to leave the forest and head home as soon as possible. After taking the crystal cores from the prey, he planned to sell the carcasses at the market for money. Unfortunately, his underdeveloped body at seventeen wasn’t up to the task. Having done little physical labor since childhood and suffering from malnutrition, coupled with the exhaustion from shooting those two arrows, he could only drag the prey a few miles before collapsing in sweat.

“This is no human job! Who would have thought that after going through so much trouble to hunt a magical beast, I’d collapse on the way back? My reputation is ruined in an instant!”

Too weak to move, Donald watched the lame female stag with its antlers tied with ropes bow its head and sniff at the body of its companion already cooling in the makeshift trailer, letting out mournful cries from time to time. It was unclear whether it was grieving for its dead husband or crying in pain from its own injury.

Suddenly, Donald slapped his head and shouted, “I’m such an idiot! How could I forget to use summoning?”

He suddenly remembered the purpose of his journey—wasn’t it to obtain magical beast cores to test the power of the Book of Truth? Now he was upset because he lacked the strength to carry his prey out of the forest. He had become so excited after catching two magical beasts that his mind had gone clouded!

Ignoring the danger still present in the forest, he dug out the still-warm, blood-stained core from the male stag’s brain. Eagerly, he issued a command to the artifact in his mind, ready to conduct his first summoning.

A pale golden image of a book appeared before Donald, revealing numerous summoning icons on its pages. Although he had the magical beast core, Donald, facing summoning for the first time, didn’t know how to choose at first. According to the Book of Truth’s detection results, a first-tier stag core could summon all creatures of level one and below listed in the catalog—such as basic population units of various races, wild monsters of level one, and smaller animals below that level. Of course, it could also be used to summon items and buildings, but summoning inanimate objects only required ordinary energy crystals, so there was no need to waste the magical beast cores containing soul fragments that could summon living beings.

After much thought, considering his current situation, Donald made the most reasonable choice: summon a first-tier wild monster—a jackal.

“In the name of mine, appear! Jackal!”

As soon as Donald spoke, a mysterious magic circle composed of faint light, resembling a starry sky, appeared before him. After the light faded, a large adult jackal, six feet long from head to tail, appeared before him. At the same time, the stag core in his hand instantly turned into a stream of light and disappeared from his palm.

Seeing the fierce jackal with bared teeth, Donald was initially shocked. But when he saw the animal bow its head in a submissive manner, he was so excited that he almost cried with joy. Ever since arriving in this world, he had felt a constant sense of impending danger. Though it wasn’t apparent on the surface, he couldn’t sleep peacefully at night and was often awakened by nightmares.

Now, he possessed miraculous abilities beyond what he had known in his past life. This world not only had knights and warriors but also mysterious and powerful mages. Among the mage branches, there was a class known as summoners, who could call upon creatures from other realms to fight for them. As the heir to a noble family with a history of hundreds of years, although living in poverty, Donald still had much more knowledge about the world than ordinary commoners. He knew he could easily pretend to be a summoner and, using his status as a mage and the magical power of the Book of Truth, protect himself in this world, even gaining considerable wealth and noble status! The miraculous effects of the Book of Truth dispelled Donald’s initial fear of arriving in this new world and his timidity as a homebody, igniting his ambition as well as the ambitions from the memories of the deceased Donald. With a determined gaze, he murmured to himself, “Starting today, I am the noble youth named Donald Merlin. With such miraculous abilities, I will surely restore my noble status and lands for you, and make the Merlin family even stronger!” Having made up his mind, Donald turned around and secured the ropes of his makeshift cart to the summoned jackal. Though still fierce, the jackal, bound by the summoner’s command, reluctantly pulled the cart despite itself. Meanwhile, Donald sang a tune from this world, casually leading the lame female stag beside him. This was the purpose of choosing to summon a jackal. Although in terms of strength and intelligence, the jackal might not compare to the laborers of beastkin or the farmers of humans, nor could the acolytes of the undead or the elves serve as draft animals (as they couldn’t bear the weight of the prey and cart), it was one of the largest among first-tier wild monsters. In terms of attack power, the unarmed ordinary people of both races were no match for the ferocious jackal with its sharp claws. Since it could haul prey for him and also provide some protection, such a summonable creature that served both transport and combat required only a first-tier crystal core as a summoning condition, making it far more cost-effective than relying solely on human labor. With the jackal as a laborer and fighter, if danger arose, its keen senses would alert its master immediately, allowing Donald to walk confidently on the outskirts of the Green Cloak Forest, which was extremely dangerous to him, while thinking about his next move.

“With the power of the Sacred Artifact, the Book of Truth, my main goal now is to acquire enoughBeast cores and elemental crystals. With these two materials for summoning, I can meet the basic requirements for summoning, which is the most fundamental way for me to establish a foothold in this world.”
“With the help of summoned creatures, huntingBeast will be much easier next time. I’ll store theBeast cores as materials for future summonings, while selling the remaining fur, meat, etc., for Gold Sol to improve my life or purchase elemental crystals.”
“Unfortunately, more powerful summoned creatures require higher-gradeBeast cores. The areas around the Green Cloak Forest are filled with low-levelBeast of levels 1 to 3. The deeper parts of the forest are complex and too dangerous for me at the moment; I don’t have the ability to enter yet.”
As he thought these things, unbeknownst to him, he and the wolf, along with the two prey, had already reached the edge of the forest. About two miles further ahead was Red Maple Town, where Donald lived.
From here, one could see the smoke rising from the town above the red maple forest.
Donald entered the forest via a side path behind Red Maple Town, not the main route taken by ordinary adventurers and hunters, so he didn’t encounter anyone along the way, which kept the existence of his summoned creatures a secret.
Now that they had arrived, despite his reluctance, Donald had no choice but to untie the reins from the wolf and order it to lurk in the forest waiting for his summon.
“As a level 1 summoned creature, based on the energy contained in the crystal core of that strong stag, this wolf can remain active for over ten hours. After dealing with the two prey and resting to regain enough strength, I can enter the forest again before the summoning period ends to hunt moreBeast.”
With that in mind, Donald stopped complaining and pulled the cart and prey forcefully toward the town.