Chapter 458: Complete


    ?


    Adam was only stunned momentarily before he heaved a sigh of relief. He thought to himself, I''m in the right ce, after all... But the journey here was quite bumpy. She should have at least given a heads-up.


    The coordinates that Professor Whitaker had given to him belonged to a location in the Spirit World where a certain group of lightning elementals resided.


    Of course, elemental spirits resided all throughout this mystical dimension. This ce happened to be the residence of a cluster of lightning elementals whom Professor Whitaker had made a contract with.


    As he witnessed the branches of yellow-colored lightning spread in all directions, Adam couldn''t help but mumble to himself, "I assumed the thunderbirds to be residing in the sky, but they''re actually in the depths of the ocean...


    "Whereas the whales that were supposed to be swimming in here are actuallyzily floating in the skies. The Spirit World is truly a bizarre ce!"


    After having confirmed that he was where he needed to be, he resolved himself and swam toward the bottom of this waterbody.


    The old professor''s reminder rang inside his mind as he descended toward the depths.


    ''Remember,dies and gentlemen, you will be able to find Rank 1 and Rank 2 elementals in the periphery of the lightning branches.


    ''No matter what, you must not enter the core of the lightning grid. For there are elementals in there that are far more powerful than even me.


    ''Be prudent in your approach and return to the material world as soon as you sign a contract with a lightning elemental in the periphery.''


    Adam turned his head and gazed toward the center of the enormous grid of lightning branches. It was the brightest ce in the entire grid.


    So someone even stronger than Professor Whitaker resides there, huh?


    The youth''s eyes shed with immense curiosity before he hurriedly shook his head and swam toward the outer peripheral areas.


    It''s a simple logic, really. I won''t die if I don''t court death! He constantly repeated this statement inside his mind, ensuring that his intrusive thoughts didn''t win.


    The grid of lightning branches beneath him was like a gargantuan circr maze. It was the only source of light in the depths of this dark water body.


    Finally, after what felt like forever, Adam arrived at the boundary of the grid. His feet touched solid ground as he nced at the scenery around him.


    Countless trees that didn''t have any leaves whatsoever dotted the broad pathways that made up the maze. The walls of these paths were made of lightning that flickered continuously.


    The ground was made of rock and dirt. There was no vegetation in this ce. Everything seemed to have been fried up by the lightning energy that coursed through this area.


    Only the naked trees remained as well as the creatures that perched upon them. SCREECH!


    "Thunderbird!" Adam muttered under his breath as he nced at therge and majestic birds of prey.


    These birds were lightning elementals that took the shape of an eagle. Their feathers were ck in color, except for the area that consisted of thier neck and head where the feathers were pristine white.


    Their beaks were yellow and so were their ws. The most striking aspect of their appearance was their piercing topaz eyes that shed with lightning.


    "Hmm, these guys are the weakest of the bunch, their strength equivalent to Rank 1 Magi," said the youth as he leisurely walked toward the nearest tree.


    He nced at the thunderbirds in curiosity, meanwhile these birds also did the same. One of the more fearless birds flew down from the tree andnded on Adam''s shoulder. Then, it started fondly rubbing its head against his cheek.


    "Oh?" Adam was very amused. "Do you think I''m handsome too?"


    The thunderbird nced at him strangely before flying back to the top branch of the tree. The youth''s lips twitched when he saw the spirit''s reaction.


    Adam stood there at the bottom of the tree for a long time, deep in thought. He then looked toward the depths of the maze with a pondering expression.


    If I want to sign a contract with a Rank 2 Thunderbird, then the maximum number I can summon is three, maybe four. But that will severely deplete my mana during battle. And I also won''t be able to sustain them for a long time.


    Assuming that the next wave of assassins that the Umbra Thieves sends after me consists of arge number of them, a mere two or three thunderbirds won''t be able to help me at all.


    He then turned his head around to look back at the tree. Gazing at the dozens of thunder birds perching upon it, his eyes shed with brilliance.


    On the other hand, say I contract this convocation of thunderbirds, it will be greatly helpful in battle. After all, when the quantity of something increases beyond a certain point, it leads to a qualitative


    change!


    Adam didn''t dwell on it any longer. He made his intent known toward the dozens of thunder birds curiously gazing at him.


    Perhaps it was because of his strength that was oneplete rank superior to the spirits, or it was something else entirely, the thunderbirds were very docile toward Adam throughout the whole process.


    The youth crouched on the ground and drew a ritual formation with his spiritual power around the bare tree.


    As hepleted the formation on the ground, he also made sure to exin the terms of the contract for both parties.


    The Thunderbirds happily agreed to the uses of the contract.


    As long as they were not forced to sacrifice themselves, they would help Adam whenever they were summoned. Furthermore, Adam would also provide them with resources that would help them in their advancements.


    This type of transactional contract was verymon between the summoner and the summoned.


    After everything was established, the youth weaved a series of hand gestures, following which the runic formation on the ground lit up.


    Dozens of ethereal strings rose from the formation and shot toward the thunderbirds. These strings connected to Adam, signifying the contract bond between the two parties.


    The strings as well as the ritual formation glowed with an ever-blinding light before finally it dimmed down. Now, Adam felt a connection to the spirits that perched on the tree before him. He nced at them and smiled, "Contractplete!"