Only half an hour later, the suite had completely quieted down once more.
Jim, Lyra, and Iris sat around the table, now all completely awake again.
Theo sat on the other end, smiling awkwardly.
Jim was still staring daggers at him.
Every now and then, he’d rub his chest before returning to glaring at him, as if trying to decide whether to punch him or not.
In contrast, Iris and Lyra barely paid any attention to the two of them.
Their focus remained entirely on the strange feeling inside their hearts.
Every time they inspected the place, they could clearly feel the foreign mana engraved into the summoning circle.
Seeing that everyone had finally settled down, Theo cleared his throat.
’’Well...’’ he began. ’’That was by far the most difficult part.’’
Jim let out a quiet scoff.
’’Are you sure?’’ he asked sarcastically.
Theo pretended not to notice before continuing.
He explained how the procedure worked from here, including the soul fragment, core, and bones requirements they needed to fulfill next.
’’That’s it?’’ Lyra asked, raising an eyebrow.
Theo nodded.
’’After collecting those, you’ll be able to enter the summoning dimension,’’ he said. ’’From there, it’s all on you to convince a beast to form a contract with you.’’
Silence fell over the room as all three of them digested the information.
’’Seems... reasonable enough,’’ Iris finally spoke up. ’’But where do we get those items? We aren’t in New York anymore.’’
Theo’s brows furrowed for a moment.
’’Actually,’’ he admitted, scratching the back of his head. ’’I have no idea.’’
Staring at him, both Lyra’s and Iris’s eyes narrowed.
’’That’s problematic,’’ Iris said slowly.
Jim suddenly leaned back against the couch.
’’We’re in the capital of Egypt,’’ he said with a shrug. ’’There’s no way a city this big doesn’t have an auction house or some kind of summoning resource market.’’
Theo glanced at him, nodding right away.
’’That’s actually a good point,’’ he said.
’’I know,’’ Jim said proudly. ’’It happens every now and then.’’
Theo ignored what he said and turned to the rest.
’’Anyway,’’ he said. ’’We have plenty of time to figure that out over the next few weeks.’’
’’I think it’s best we wait for Owen before doing that anyway.’’
The others immediately nodded.
’’Speaking of Owen,’’ Lyra said, standing up. ’’I’ll be heading to the hospital now.’’
Iris glanced at her, slowly nodding.
’’I’ll go with you,’’ she said right away.
Nodding once, Lyra started moving toward the door.
Jim stretched his arms above his head before standing up as well.
’’Guess I’ll go see what this city has to offer,’’ he said. ’’No point sitting around all day.’’
He paused for a moment.
’’Besides, I desperately need to buy some artifacts later, so I might as well start searching for a place like that.’’
Theo nodded once.
’’Don’t wander too far,’’ he said. ’’And call me if something happens.’’
Jim didn’t even bother looking back at him.
’’Yes, yes,’’ he answered, raising his hand. ’’Just relax. It’ll all be fine.’’
Just like that, the suite gradually emptied.
After all three of them left, Theo let out a small sigh and stood up.
’’Guess I’ll head back to cultivating,’’ he muttered, clenching his fists tightly. ’’I need to make that breakthrough happen.’’
Without another thought, he walked toward his bedroom.
Even though he was determined to cultivate, a small thought inside his mind couldn’t help but make him smile.
’I wonder what kind of contracted beasts they’ll pick,’ he thought. ’And even more what they’ll end up with.’
...
Three days quietly passed by.
Theo sat cross-legged on his bed, his eyes closed as mana threads steadily made their way toward his core’s walls.
The room around him was completely silent.
Suddenly, his phone vibrated on the bedside table.
Theo slowly opened his eyes before reaching over and picking it up.
The screen lit up with Lyra’s message.
’’Owen woke up!’’
Theo’s eyes immediately brightened.
’’Hey, Feng,’’ he called out to the unicorn floating beside him. ’’I told you it wouldn’t take him longer than a week.’’
The unicorn let out a light scoff.
’’I’ll admit it. Your friend has admirable willpower.’’
Theo let out a faint chuckle.
At the same time, a swirling emerald mass appeared behind Feng.
’’I’ll have to put you back for now,’’ Theo said. ’’I’ll call you out again as soon as possible.’’
Feng nodded once.
Without a word, the unicorn disappeared into the mass.
Theo jumped up from his bed, put on some clean clothes, and hurried out of his room.
’Finally,’ he thought. ’That idiot’s back.’
...
Less than twenty minutes later, Theo arrived at the hospital.
It didn’t take much longer before he stood before a familiar door.
Without hesitation, he pushed it open.
His eyes immediately landed on Owen, who sat upright in his hospital bed with one arm wrapped around Lyra.
Lyra had a huge smile on her face, though her eyes were still red from crying.
The moment Theo stepped inside, Owen’s head turned toward him.
A huge grin instantly spread across his face.
’’Heya,’’ he said, raising a hand. ’’I’m finally back, baby!’’
Theo couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
’’You absolute idiot,’’ he said, shaking his head.
’’What?!’’ Owen asked, feigning hurt. ’’You don’t sound happy to see me at all?!’’
Theo rolled his eyes with a smile and immediately approached his best friend.
After bumping fists for a moment, Theo couldn’t help but chuckle.
’’You really had us worried,’’ he said.
Owen’s carefree grin faltered slightly.
’’Yeah...’’ he said, scratching the back of his head. ’’Sorry about that.’’
Before Theo could respond, Lyra tightened her arms around Owen once more.
’’Don’t apologize,’’ she muttered, resting her head against his shoulder. ’’Just don’t ever scare me like that again.’’
Owen glanced down at her before gently patting her back.
’’I won’t,’’ he said softly.
Seeing the two of them, Theo smiled.
Though he knew Owen was far from being out of danger, having his best friend awake again was all that mattered.
’’Now,’’ Owen suddenly said, clapping his hands together. ’’This hospital smell is driving me crazy. Besides, I’m starving.’’
’’So let’s get out of this dump!’’