The earthen behemoth rampaged through the forest in a blind, berserk state. Its fist shattered whole walls while its steps caused tremors to shoot out from the earth.

The cave succumbed to the crystalline beast's barrages; whole boulders fell, stone walls caved in, the ground cracked and shattered. The beast stomped on the ground once more, but with more bite. A debilitating blast of wind shook my stance- I managed to avoid stumbling into the floor just barely.

The winds grazed my figure, causing the fabric of my clothes to dance in the wind; fluttering, waving--almost in a entrancing rhythm. The heaving gusts of winds fade out.

Regaining my much needed composure, I hung my head high. My gaze met the crystalline beast's sheer form. A ray of light seeped from the cave's ceiling through a small crack, beaming down into the beast's body.

The luminescence was dim, but it nonetheless bathed the creature in its path, its rigid form glinting at the light. I swore my eyes dilated as I examined it more thoroughly. It was that of a humanoid, but much more deformed. It was hunched as if a gorilla.

Its two arms were constructed of pure crystal--I could even see my reflection on its surface. It had diamond-like protrusions the size of my entire body covering it. If I get hit by even once, I'll be minced and torn into pulps.

It reared its head towards me, allowing me to see its featureless face of crystal-embedded head of dirt. Its torso was constructed primarily of dirt. Perhaps that's where its vulnerability would lie?

"Chrysalis! Aim for the body! Ignore everything else!" I yelled out. Extending my arm, I opened my hand to point at the beast's abdomen.

The beast charged full-speed, scattering boulders and debris through every nook of the cave. My eyes fixated on an incoming pebble honed to a lethal sharpness that was inching towards my face.

With a reflexive tilt of my body, I felt the wind rippled as the rock cut through the space just inches away from my face. I felt a trickle of sweat drip itself from my forehead to the dirt below.

Chrysalis, jumping high in order to avoid being eviscerated by a soaring boulder, managed to yell out, "What? Why?"

"The body's made of dirt rather than crystal!" I trembled as the beast took another step, quaking the flooring below me. Staggering to hold my footing, I managed to utter out, "It's softer there to hit, probably!"

Chrysalis nodded as she sparked her horn with magic. "Well, if you say so!"

Suddenly, as if responding to the magic being channeled, the beast held its leg high in the air. It let out a fell roar, echoing the cave with its deafening volume. Slamming its foot into the ground, I saw a wall of wind send out as the earth itself seemed to disintegrate.

The torrents of wind battered away at me. I felt my feet leave the ground as my figure went airborne as a sudden whirlwind came at my way, I let out a muffled curse, "Oh. Bleeding hell..."

Stray stone pelted me like a squall; bleeding me, battering me. I couldn't even raise my arms in defense as I spun in a disordering, rapid gyration.I could dazedly taste the dust in my mouth as I felt my whole body being peppered with stony fragments.

Seconds passed. Then it felt like minutes.

Adrenaline surging, heartbeat pacing at a threatening rhythm, blood dripping from my body; I felt very, very dreadful. My perception of time shifted; decelerated.

I could see the pebbles inching and passing by my body at decelerated speed. It was as if they were going at a snail's pace. What wasn't too sightly was the streams of blood blossoming from my body as stone bore hot into my flesh.

I didn't feel any pain at all. No agony. No sensation. Nothing. Just the vining dribbles of blood passing down my skin.

I blinked.

I could see the creature just standing there. Its faceless head glancing my way. It was motionless, as if mocking me.

I felt being stopped by a flinty, steely surface; a whole boulder--and in mere seconds, sounds of bones fracturing, fragments of skeleton rebounding from within my flesh rang out from my body.

I slumped to the ground, barely alive. A resonant, ear-splitting pitch rang in my ear. My vision blackened. My limbs felt they evanesced into nothingness.

I was beyond physical suffering at this point. I was moments away from dying, and I was well-aware of that.

Hazes of dust settled into the cave, misting the darkness with its parched touch. Most of the cave's network was now blocked off by rubble and debris of crystalline fragments.

My mind throbbed with a sundering sting. Groaning out in pain, I noticed that my voice was hoarse and garbled- presumably by blood. I clutched my head and noticed a sticky dampness.

My head was enveloped in my own blood. It was quite... a hazy image.

"Dammit! Summoner, we're blocked off from you!" I heard a muffled voice call out from behind the pile of rubble and earth behind me, snapping me out of my own trance. "I suggest you run! Go find an alternative route to Canterlot! Whatever you do, don't die!"

'Wow. What an inspirational motivation for someone that is basically crippled beyond healing, Chrys.'

I opened my mouth to speak, but I was unable to do so; my tongue was numb- my whole body was, my lungs were as if they were aflame, and the constriction of pain made it unbearable to even just to fidget my fingers.

I felt the rumbles of the ground once more. Rearing its head, the golem peered its head from the billows of dust. If it had any eyes, it would probably be glaring at me with a predatory leer.

It stepped closer. It was slow, as if taking satisfaction in building up the suspense. Geo-based creatures are surprisingly sadistic...

Suddenly, a familiar aura emanated through the fabric of my robes--it was the book. Plunging my hand into my clothes, I retrieved it from my hand.

It exuded a light--the usual scarlet color. Suddenly, it flashed, prickling my eyes with its intensity. My mind was both at tension and serenity; I could feel an equilibrium of emotions.

Faded, obscured whispers began playing at the back of my mind. Those whispers were unintelligible- all of them spoke at the same interval. I couldn't make heads or tails on the words that they were trying to convey to me.

Suddenly, they warped and shifted. All of them melded into one voice. A sentence echoed in my mind;

"Perhaps I'll try and actually allow you to have a chance, knave." The voice continued on reverberating within my mind. I felt as if my whole body chilled. "I shall unlock the book's powers, while also ceasing all attempts in killing you."

I blinked and blinked once more. Through coarse voice, I muttered out just audibly enough, "What's the catch?"

"You become an official Summoner."

Without even the slightest of acknowledgments or the general concept of a true Summoner, I nodded my head in agreement. Pain dissuaded me from thinking of it any further.

"Deal!" I lashed out, flailing my arm forwards. "Now save me from being crushed!"

Suddenly, the book flipped open by an unforeseen force. It flipped its pages in an erratic manner. It persisted on glowing. Suddenly, its pigments shifted repetitively.

Its emanation shifted from red to blue, and then to green. Reverting back to its red aura, it shot out a spectral prism of colors, scattering the pillars of color throughout the cave.

It intensified in intensity before burning out in a blinding flash--It all ended in a blink of an eye. Nothing appeared to change, but if one had a more honed eye, one would see a faint, persistent glow around the Grimoire.

I blinked. My instincts called out to me; I felt an urge to snap my fingers--and promptly I did so.

With a swift motion, I snapped my fingers together, causing the familiar clicking sound. Shadowy flames sparked on my digits as I did so.

The small blazes of black danced a bit on my hand, but I felt no burning sensation. If any, it felt an odd cold. The embers fell from my hand, fading into nothing as they hit the ground.

"That's... peculiar." I took note of the golem-like beast examining me. It held itself from attacking this long- perhaps it's curious?

Without hesitation, the beast let out a deafening, feral roar, shaking the walls of the cave. Clutching both ears, I shut my eyes tight as it wailed out its war-cry.

I looked upwards, facing it. It had stopped its roar. It was still for a moment- motionless and immobile. Suddenly, it heaved its legs skyward. Plunging into the dirt with its leg, the ground itself faltered at its kinetic force.

It took a steady step forward.

And then another...

It fastened its pace, causing wave-like distortions through the ground as it cut through the wind with its sprint.

Eyes widened, body stiffened, I dove to the right.

I felt the beast rend through where I stood. I nearly got swept by the walls of winds it shot out.

Taking a deft landing, I dusted myself off. I snapped once more, and I confirmed my suspicion; blackened flames did spark as I snapped my fingers. Snapping once more, the shadowy flames ignited into a spherical shape of blackness.

The orb expanded. Inflating to my head's size, I eyed it curiously. Without warning, it burst, scattering its licks of black flames around my entire body.

I cringed, fearing that I was about to get scalded. Once again, I felt nothing but a chilling touch as the dark flames lapped me. Weirdly enough, I was becoming swiftly fond of this feeling. It's oddly addictive.

I felt as if was being rejuvenated. My lacerations and gaping wounds mended as shady flames flared around my limbs. The searing pain stabbing into my body waned a bit before it completely faded.

The black flames vanished, dissipating into sparks. From the reviving flames appeared my body. The blood staining my clothes vanished, the tears and gapes on the fabric of my clothing were sewn, my once shattered bones were now restored.

I felt great.

No. I haven't felt anything like this since forever.

My attention was promptly caught as the beast rammed itself into the wall of cobble and stone. It lodged itself deep within it, its reckless charge causing it to be stuck there.

I held the book high, pointing it steadily towards the leviathan of a rock formation. The same innate reflex told me to thrash it around in the air.

Shrugging of the peculiarity, I did so. I waved it, swishing it to the left. The book blinked a faint, red luminescence. The sound of paper rustling rang out as blank pages of the book detached themselves from their binds and fluttered freely among the winds.

"That seems like a waste-" Recollection dug deep into my mind. "Never mind. This thing apparently doesn't run out of pages, if I remember right..."

The torn pages let out a resonating whistle as suddenly runic markings suddenly. I tensed myself for what was about to happen.

Suddenly, the pages drove themselves fast towards the crystalline beast. The pages clung onto the monster's back. Confused and presumably concerned for the ominous pieces of paper, it struggled hard to dislodge itself from the rubble.

The symbols on the pages turned red, emanating some sort of red glow. Promptly, the papers all detonated in synchronized execution.

The winds howled, gusts of whirlwinds tugged my clothes as rocks and smoldering pieces of crystals landed beside me. There was no light from the explosion as seemingly darkness itself acted as the combustion.

Suddenly, I saw a blurring piece of blue coming directly at my forehead- a blown off piece of crystal, causing me to cringe back while clenching my eyes close. Reflexively, I caught it in my hand.

I opened my eyes, a sigh of relief escaping my lips. I glanced at the crystal, noticing that its seeping out some sort of blue, thick vapor. The crystal continuously bled out this cerulean mist, and I continuously absorbed it through my body.

I felt it coarse through me- additional supply of magic.

"Right. Crystals gather in the ambient magic lingering in the atmosphere." I looked towards the shattered ruins of the rubble.

A sudden shift in the boulders caught my attention.

Emitting itself from the rubble, a menacingly low-pitched growl made its way into the air. The growl echoed for miles on end through the cave.

My eyes widened as the rubble suddenly started to shift and crumble at a much more faster pace. "It's still alive."

I clutched at the crystal in my hand a bit tighter, flailing it around within my hand. "Come on! Dammit. I need your goddamned-" The rubble exploded, catching me off-guard as I recoiled back in shock.

Discarding the now-drained crystal to the ground, I pointed my book towards the unrelenting predator. It roared at me again.

It pounded the ground repetitiously, a crack forming every time it struck it. With another ferocious war-cry, it charged at me once more.

I did not falter; I didn't budge an inch.

The Grimoire let out a subtle whirring hissing noise as it formed a condensed black orb of magic just above its rim. I could feel the magnitude of its strength just by glancing at it.

The sphere of shadows rippled reality itself around it. My grip on the book faltered as it suddenly became heavy with power.

Letting out a muffled, sharp curse, I fired away.

The book pushed itself backwards with much kinetic force, the unexpected recoil causing me to take a stumbling step backwards.

I could barely catch the glimpse of the ashen black pillar spiraling into the colossal beast. It pierced through its rigid, reflective armor of minerals. The beast abruptly halted its advance, a gaping maw scorching its chest.

With one last fell roar, albeit a weak one, it slumped to the ground dead.

"Oh- bleeding hell. Bleeding hell! I can't believe I did that." I fell to my knees, panting and shaky.

Suddenly, the voice emerged once more, the static playing in my mind being an indication of that. "You didn't do that. The book did. Don't be so proud of yourself."

"Right." I took myself up, taking a waning step forward into the deeper part of the cave. "So, what exactly is the duty of a 'True' Summoner?"

The voice paused. Static was the only thing audible for a second before it spoke once more, "For now, you can't do anything as this world remains as a blockade. I advise you not to incur the wrath of something greater than you could imagine by simply getting out of here."

"Right." I began descending further into the cave. It noticeably grew much darker--it would've been absolutely pitch-black had it not been for my eerily glowing left eye. "What happens when I get out of this world?"

"You contribute your part as soon as possible."