Chapter 1687: Pain

"This is the detail about the crest." Koraxa showed him the book. Nathan also handed over his notebook.

Both of them took their time to read it, but since Nathan had less material to read, he finished first and asked, "This magic crest is interesting. To think that you will be able to use your familiars’ skills."

Nathan knew about the skills. He had seen everyone’s status through the Soul Contract, so he knew about the skills they possessed.

This crest actually allowed Nathan to use the skill. In other words, Nathan could use Nidhogg’s Chaos Breath by relying on this crest without the need for his Soul Contract or the Lifebound Contract.

It was extremely versatile and powerful.

"Indeed. The Magic Crest originated from two fundamental concepts. The magic circle and the summoning link. People already know about the summoning link, so by deciphering the summoning link and bringing it to reality, we can utilize their ability.

"However, we don’t know how to materialize the summoning link. That’s why we use the magic circle as the foundation. That’s the origin of the Magic Crest.

"Of course, most people actually prefer to focus on only one powerful avatar. This will allow them to focus on this crest and master all their abilities.

"Besides, it will keep the crest as similar as possible. After all, to form a magic crest, you need to combine the information about your familiar, their skills, and their energy.

"If you create a magic crest from a new familiar, you have to redo everything again, which will make you waste so much time.

"If you have nothing else to do, then who cares?"

Nathan nodded in understanding. "Still, why make it into a crest? If you use the magic circle, shouldn’t it be better to just form a magic circle?"

"There are three reasons... actually four, but the last one is personal. The original creator gave people four reasons. The first was to make it different. If they looked similar, you would need extra time to differentiate them.

"The second is efficiency. The crest is smaller and more compact compared to a magic circle. The third is a link to the familiar. We show them that the crest actually has them in it, which can make them proud."

"What about the fourth reason?" Nathan asked.

"Well..." Koraxa hesitated for a second, but since everyone was dead, it would be fine to say it. "It looked cool."

"Cool?"

"Yes. The original creator thought it would be cool to create a crest rather than a magic circle. He said that a magic circle was too common, so he wanted something special.

"Although I couldn’t completely agree with him, I understood the motive. Before this continent was ruined, the magic crest ended up becoming a family crest."

Nathan raised his eyebrows. He imagined the magic crest becoming the family crest. It was indeed something that could be considered. The magic crest was interesting, and if it became a family crest, it would boost morale.

"I see. That’s understandable. I guess you are creating the family crest as versatile as possible so that it can be modified to suit the new creations."

"Yes." Koraxa confirmed it. "Meanwhile, these crystal forms as well as the lifebound contracts sound fun as well."

"Of course. I can’t deny their power. In fact, I’m wondering if they can be fused together."

"What do you mean?"

"For example, if you have a lifebound contract, you can only fuse with the familiar you have a contract with. In that case, won’t it be easy to draw out even more power from your familiar even when you use the magic crest?"

Koraxa thought for a moment. "Now that you mention it... All this time, we’ve been able to use 100% of our familiar’s power. If we use the Lifebound Contract, we can actually surpass our familiar. And by using this crystal form, we should be able to break that limit."

"Exactly." Nathan nodded.

"This is the most interesting idea I’ve ever heard in my life." Koraxa nodded with a serious expression. "Unfortunately, we can’t do that kind of research."

"And that’s why I come here with a proposal. If you would like, we can bring you to Erendtall and let you settle there. If you teach your continent’s special power to them and vice versa, it may result in a stronger version of summoners."

"That’s what we desperately need..." Koraxa looked down, contemplating. "Actually, I have a better idea. How about some of us settle in Erendtall while I lead the others to Gratzel?"

"Hmm?" Nathan raised his eyebrows.

"Looking at your face, I know that you’re very young. So, you must be extremely talented, and your future potential is limitless. I’m thinking about relocating to someplace near you, or if you would take someone like me, I wouldn’t mind either.

"To be honest, all this fighting tires me out. Every day..." Koraxa looked down while gnashing his teeth. The pain in his eyes had been building up for so long. "Every day, I have to watch people dying. If they’re dying like a warrior, I can probably be proud of it.

"But have you seen children crying and begging for food every day, hoping to just get a single piece of bread? Have you seen that when they have gotten food, some adults will beat them up and steal their food? I keep seeing those children beaten black and blue, crying and begging again to get the food, no matter what kind of food it is. They will eat it like it’s delicious, even if we give them rotten food...

"Can you imagine the pain of someone who has to lead all these people, who think that death might be a salvation?

"I... maybe if I did things differently, the situation might be different. If I had been more persistent in asking them to evacuate, maybe we wouldn’t have been in such a dire situation."

Koraxa bit his lip. He shouldn’t cry, but the pain from all those memories just made him feel helpless.

He had to stay strong because if the leader collapsed, the rest of the people would worry. But it was too painful to think about.

Nathan patted Koraxa’s shoulder.