Yes.

Under the grimoire’s instructions, Rick was preparing to seal Grant in his Fire-plan and use him as a summon. But the pure fire elemental plane was lethal for the Fiery Ant’s fire-poison body.

“Then why did you ask me to do it?” he was furious. He had spent a long time fighting and then soul-branding Grant. It would have all been for nought if he had followed the Lemegeton’s instructions. He gave the Ant an apologetic glance and added, “And I could never bear to lose you my-”

Before he could finish, the grimoire answered Rick’s question making him pause.

A beast’s soul-contract will slowly nourish its body allowing it to become compatible with its Master’s elemental-plane if it shares the same elemental composition as the Plane.

Time remaining for soul assimilation of Fiery Ant: 3 hours

“Thank god I asked! If I sent you to the plane right away you would have been burnt alive,” Rick muttered angrily, before adding sharply, “Lemegeton, be more clear of about the information that you give.”

Host requested for short directions for the task

Rick ignored the grimoire’s reply. He had to wait for another three hours before Grant could be sent to his fire-plane and he could not leave the dungeon before putting Grant away.

“Show me everything about Soul Contracts,” Rick barked at the Lemegeton, still disgruntled. On his right hand an orb of light lit up the text and he started reading. Since there was nothing he could do, he started reading all the new information while waiting for Grant’s soul to assimilate.

“Be careful about beasts introduced into the plane. New species introduced without prior planning can cause disruption and injury of the tamed beasts as well as a reduction in the efficacy of the plane.” Rick read along. Once done with Soul Contracts, he started Planar Ecology and then Planar Summons. “Summons can be made by others entrusted with the use of the tamed beast?”

“It would have been a mistake to not read,” he realized as he read the complete volumes on the topics.

By the time he had reached halfway through the last volume, he suddenly felt a change in Grant’s aura.

He turned to look at the Ant lying by his leg, one eye warily on Pip sleeping on his lap. There was no change in its appearance, but looking at him he felt a different vibe radiating off of it. While before, Ant felt like he was staring at a caged rottweiler, now it felt like looking at a pet.

“Lemegeton is the assimilation done?” he asked.

The pages flipped back to the original.

Time remaining for soul assimilation of Fiery Ant: 0 hours

Assimilation completed

“Yes!” Rick hooted aloud. Standing up he said, “Grant, it’s time to send to go to your new home.”

Grant stood up a jolt hearing Rick’s call.

Rick put his hand on the Ant’s forehead and reached out to the monster’s branded soul.

The method of sealing a beast to the fire-elemental plane was simple. His insignia on Grant’s soul and the Summoning-Seal he used were already the same. Now the only thing left to do was assign symbol for Grant, not dissimilar to roll numbers so that he could quickly summon Grant even in the future when his Plane would be teeming with hundreds of tamed beasts.

After carefully placing the marker, Rick was done. He looked at the Ant’s eyes and whispered softly, “I will see you in a second, okay? Devocco.”

In a flash, Grant disappeared.

Although he wasn’t there, Rick could still see the Fiery Ant once he delved into his own consciousness. The Fiery Ant was definitely floating away in his fire-plane.

“Vocco,” Rick said placing his hand on the ground and just like that, Grant appeared before him again.

“Master, you call?” Grant asked bowing his head.

“I was just testing. It was like I just sprinted up a flight of stairs,” Rick said catching his breath. Although the procedure for summoning Grant was simple, it wasn’t effortless. Sweat-drops dotted his forehead.

Ding

Notifications rang.

[Congratulations!]

[The proficiency of the Skill: Summoner has increased]

[Skill: Summoner (Apprentice) 18%]

All this while when he summoned inanimate objects, his proficiency only increased slightly, but now that he had understood summoning from his Fiery Plane directly, the skill ranked up from Novice to Apprentice in one go!

Although the progress made him happy, the increase in the proficiency of the skills did not mean anything much. He had already met the requirements to get the skill upgraded, the only thing the notification did was give him the report card.

Dismissing it he checked the next notification.

[Congratulations you have cleared the Fiery Ant Dungeon]

“Did it almost five hours back,” Rick smirked happily. The place was deathly silent, the only sound was his own breath. Turning to Grant he said, ““Since we have the time, let’s practice it a little more okay.”

Instead of leaving immediately, he decided to stay a little while longer. It was definitely a safe place and no one would expect him to defeat the Fiery Ant quickly anyway. In this way, he decided it to be the perfect place to fine-tune his Summoning and at the same time coordinate his attacks with the Fiery Ant.

Since there was no enemy to practice on, he summoned a golem to act as the dummy.

“As soon as I summon attack, I will tell you whom to attack before I summon.”

“Attack and then disappear.”

“How about you disappear as soon as I summon and then attack when you see an opening?”

Rick wanted to be ready for any scenario possible but the weakest link in the attacks soon became painfully obvious.

“I need to improve,” he said to himself. With Grant and the golems, the frontlines would be easily secured. But without any long-range attacks, he was pretty much a listless bystander.

Ding, another notification alert popped.

The Lemegeton has upgraded information on [Grant, the Fiery Ant]

[Fiery Ant Grant]

The tamed Fiery Ant’s elemental poison has been enhanced due to the host being an elemental mage and summoner.

Its elemental poison has enhanced to Poison Grade III.

As the sole resident of the host’s Fire Plane, it is also the regent of the fire-plane.

“Nice,” he said. It was an unexpected benefit and he could not complain about it at all.

With renewed vigour, the two continued to practice.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Rick stood with his hands on his knees, wiping the sweat off his forehead. Grant too looked parched and tires, his movements were getting slower. Walking up to the Ant Rick said, “Good job Grant. That’s enough for now. You can go rest. Devocco.”

With his training done for the while, he started walking towards the exit of the dungeon. A glowing orb on his left hand while he picked up the Summoning Scrolls strewn around with his right. The smile on his face refused to go. He had completed this dungeon run without any hiccups. Besides that, he was able to acquire Grant as well!

Suddenly the door to the dungeon opened with a creak.

Rick immediately snuffed out the light in his palm. “Grant come out, Vocc-”.

He pulled the spear pulled out and tossed two golems cores tossed when he suddenly stopped.

The moonlight showed a glimpse of the new arrival. A wooden bow strung taut, ready to shoot at a moment’s notice, slowly took a few steps forward before the door shut behind.

“Julia?” Rick called out surprised, "What are you doing here?"