Online Game: Starting With SSS-Ranked Summons - Chapter 234

Chapter 234: Space Talent (SSS) (2)
The fact that he was able to return the rock back to normal, made his talent even more terrifying.

“I need to test this properly,” Arthur murmured, flexing his fingers. “Theory isn’t enough.”

Aether bounced excitedly beside him. “Can I help, Master? Can I? Can I?”

Arthur considered the dragon’s enthusiasm. “If you could help me find a suitable target.”

“You mean something to squish?” Aether’s eyes gleamed.

“Sure,”

Aether puffed out his chest. “Leave it to me!”

With a powerful thrust of his wings, the dragon launched skyward, circling above the trees. His enhanced vision scanned the landscape below.

Arthur waited, patient.

“Master! Master!” Aether called down after a minute. “I found something good! Wolf pack at the eastern ridge!”

Arthur teleported to Aether’s side, the displacement so smooth it felt like stepping through an invisible doorway.

From their aerial vantage point, Arthur spotted them.

A pack of seven, circling a wounded elk.

‘The wolves have evolved since the last time I spotted some…’ Arthur thought.

The wolves were around level 5-7, but the pack he was looking at were level 8-10. Which was quite surprising. Nonetheless, they were still fodder to Arthur.

“Perfect,” Arthur said. “Let’s get closer.”

Aether swooped down, landing silently on a clifftop overlooking the pack.

“Stay here,” he instructed. “I need to test these abilities myself.”

The dragon pouted but obeyed, settling down to watch.

Below, the alpha wolf, nearly the size of a small horse, closed in for the kill. Its packmates formed a circle, preventing the elk’s escape.

Arthur extended his hand, focusing on the space directly above the alpha.

This would be his first real test on a beast. Not just collapsing space, but manipulating it with precision.

The air shimmered. Distorted. Folded.

Reality compressed in a perfect sphere two meters wide. The alpha wolf had no warning—one moment it was lunging for the elk’s throat, the next it was caught in a vortex of impossible physics.

The beast’s howl cut short as its body compressed inward, bones and muscle forced to occupy the same space in defiance of natural law.

When Arthur released his hold, what remained was unrecognizable—a compressed mass of fur and meat no larger than a melon.

[You have killed level 10 Alpha Wolf]

The remaining wolves froze, hackles raised, unable to comprehend what had happened to their leader.

“That’s one application,” Arthur murmured. “Now for defense.”

He teleported directly into the center of the pack.

The wolves reacted instantly, six sets of jaws lunging for him from all directions.

“Spatial Barrier.”

The air around Arthur solidified. Not invisibly, but with a subtle distortion, like heat waves on summer pavement.

A sphere of warped space surrounded him.

The wolves slammed into it at full speed—and rebounded as if hitting solid steel. Yelps of pain and confusion filled the air as they tumbled backwards.

The barrier held without a flicker.

‘Interesting,’ Arthur thought. ‘I am merely using the talent itself without any talent skills like Aether.’

‘it’s terrifying, even when I just received the talent, and don’t perceive it’s full potential…’

The most aggressive wolf recovered first, throwing itself against the barrier again. Claws scrabbled uselessly against the spatial distortion.

“Offense and defense,” Arthur said quietly. “But what about manipulation?”

He focused on the persistent wolf, not to crush it, but to move it. Space bent around the creature, folding like fabric.

The wolf yelped as it suddenly found itself high in the air.

Arthur released his hold. The wolf fell down from the air.

The remaining wolves backed away, their survival instinct finally overriding their aggression.

But, Arthur wasn’t finished testing.

He extended both hands, focusing on two wolves simultaneously. Different applications—compression for one, barrier around the other.

Both powers activated perfectly, with no interference.

One wolf imploded, crushed by collapsing space. The other found itself trapped in a sphere of solidified reality, unable to move or escape.

‘Multi-targeting works,’ Arthur noted. ‘No apparent limit to concurrent effects.’

He dismissed the barrier, releasing the trapped wolf. It bolted instantly.

Three wolves remained, retreating into the underbrush.

Arthur teleported directly into their path.

The lead wolf snapped in panic, jaws inches from Arthur’s face.

He caught those jaws with one hand. It thrashed wildly, unable to close its jaws or pull away.

Arthur simply squeezed his hand, breaking the wolf’s jaw instantly.

The last two wolves fled into the night.

Arthur let them go, collecting the drops from the previous wolves.

“THAT WAS AMAZING!” Aether swooped down, bouncing around Arthur. “You made them go SQUISH and POP and BOOF!”

“Crude descriptions, but accurate.” Arthur examined his hands.

He didn’t feel any fatigue, nor strain.

‘Maybe it’s because they are much weaker than me. I can’t override that possibility, I still need more testing to feel my limits. But these should be enough for now…’

“What else can you do?” Aether asked eagerly.

“That remains to be discovered.” Arthur teleported to a higher vantage point, the dragon following.

From here, he could see the village he protected and the mountain peak where that mysterious door waited.

He didn’t bother going back to the door for more checking, as even Aether wasn’t able to sense what was behind it.

With these powers, everything had changed.

“The only thing that’s left is the merge,” Arthur muttered softly, his thoughts drifting to the military facility. “But I still don’t know where my sister is… I need to convince Donald to let me enter the facility, at least once. Then when the merge happens, I can instantly teleport there.”

Arthur received a notification, it was a message.

‘Gates… he’s in the city.’

He glanced at Aether, who was happily seated.

“Aether, I’m going to a place where it would be dangerous for you to show up. Do you want to stay here and explore, or enter my summoning space?”

The dragon’s enthusiasm dimmed slightly.

“I want to stay here,” he decided after a moment. “But can the cat accompany me? We could be friends!”