Chapter 32: Requirements

After Valerio and Arthur's exchange was completed, the group quieted down, when suddenly Jayden remembered something.

“Guys, I'm finally done cleaning my mess at home. You guys can come visit me later” Jayden said with a smile.

“Sure, Jayden, and it's a good thing you've come now,” Valerio said as he looked at the people around him seriously.

“I've got something to tell you guys. Take a seat” Valerio said slowly.

“What would that be Mr Val?” Mathew asked in confusion as everyone started to sit in the nearby chairs.

‘Is it related to that research he mentioned?’ Mathew thought.

“We’re gonna perform a summoning ritual” Valerio declared with a smirk.

“Woah, that sounds a bit ominous. Why are we doing that?” Jayden asked with a frown. He was still recovering from the trauma of the mirror world.

“It's gonna be the fruit of my long research and maybe help us find clues about Ascendants” Valerio replied in melancholy. All his sleepless nights of research were finally about to bear fruit.

“Find clues about The Ascendants?” Mathew asked in doubt.

“Yeah” Valerio nodded.

“When are we gonna do it, Mr Val?” Jayden asked with interest. He was very curious about this summoning ritual as he wanted to know more about other dimensions like the mirror world.

“A month from now. In the meantime, Mathew and I will be training Arthur, teaching him the basics of Nova” Valerio explained about their plan.

“Uncle Val and the Manager are gonna train me?” Arthur asked in joy. He wanted to get more powerful and not be a burden to the gang.

“Yeah, Arthur. We still don't know anything about your ‘eyes’ and their capabilities. So we are gonna have a hard time” Valerio replied with a heavy sigh.

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“Don’t worry Mr Val, the twins will keep us company” Mathew tried to console Valerio.

“Wait, then I'm joining in too” Jayden said excitedly.

“Sure thing Jayden” Valerio laughed, already thinking of ways to shift the work onto others.

“I'm looking forward to it” Arthur laughed in happiness.

“Mr Val, how are we gonna perform the ritual? You still haven't told us about the details yet” Mathew asked, trying to find more about the ritual they are supposed to be performing.

“I've stumbled across something when I was researching about the other fragments and something caught my eye” Valerio started to explain.

“What is it?” Jayden asked with interest.

“We're gonna summon an ancient ruin which may be related to the next fragment. But… there are a few requirements for that” Valerio continued his explanation as the others started to listen in with interest.

“Requirements?” Mathew asked with a frown.

“Yes. As this is a powerful ritual, we need the Nova of at least 2 Ascendants which we already have. But we also need the Nova of someone who is not an Ascendant” Valerio stopped as he looked at Arthur.

“That's where you come in Arth-” Valerio was shocked to find that Arthur was already asleep.

Jayden and Mathew started to chuckle at this scene.

“Snore…snore” The sound of Arthur's snore echoed throughout the room. It seemed like Arthur wasn't ready to take on Valerio's lecture for the second time.

“Well…I'll inform to him afterward. So as I was saying, we need the Nova of 2 Ascendants and another one who is not an Ascendant.

“Mr. Val, this just sounds too comfortable” Mathew voiced his opinion with a frown. It just sounded too easy.

“Yeah, it is” Jayden also agreed with him.

“I didn't finish my explanation, it comes with a catch” Valerio smirked.

“Ahh, here we go” Mathew sighed.

“The only ones who can enter the ruin will be the ones who give out their Nova during the ritual. They will be sucked in as soon as the ritual is over” Valerio completed his explanation as he looked at Mathew and Jayden.

“Then the ones who’ll be doing this besides Arthur are?” Mathew asked.

Valerio looked at Jayden and Mathew with a mischievous smile.

“Wait what? You can't be serious Mr Val. I just came out of another dimension after being stuck in there for half a decade, now I've gotta go to another one? Arghh” Jayden held his head with a helpless sigh.

“When you got stuck, you didn't have me, but now it's different” Valerio declared confidently.

“Haha, I don't mind going. So it's me, Jayden, and Arthur huh?” Mathew asked with a smile.

“Yeah, that is the lineup that I have planned. The twins can't enter since they're not up to the mark and I'm staying behind just in case something happens” Valerio replied.

“But Mr. Val, what would you have done if Arthur didn't awaken his eye?” Jayden asked with doubt and interest.

“I would've have called for help then, I picked a few other guys who also possess the “eyes” during my journey” Valerio explained with a smile.

“So, you know others who possess the eye that are not the Ascendants?” Jayden asked.

“That's right, I met them 4-5 years ago” Valerio laughed.

“Wow, I really wanna meet them” Mathew looked at Valerio in surprise. Valerio hasn't mentioned anything about these other “eye” users.

“When the time is right, you will” Valerio smirked mysteriously.

…

Soon, a whole month passed and a lot of changes took place.

Valerio, Mathew, Jayden, Twins, and Arthur trained every day for 4-5 hours daily. The underground facility echoed with sparring sounds.

Their mastery of Nova grew as well, but that wasn't the only change.

Jayden started to do a lot of shows, even though his eye was the most suitable for magic shows, he never once used that and relied solely on his skills. He even got contracted by an entertainment company which filled his pockets with gold.

Ruby’s recipes and her special coffee made a huge hit and Raven’s burger sales skyrocketed, so did their number of customers. So, Valerio promoted Ruby to the assistant manager of the shop.