Damon cast a radiant wellspring near him to reduce the speed of the health drain, and it was only a little effective.

"Fuck, what am I supposed to do now?" His mind spun. He thought that he could break the curse thanks to this stupid landmass shuffling, but instead, he was getting even more punished because of the damned phenomenon.

Damon then suddenly remembered something. He still had a skill he had taken from someone else, a skill he hadn't used yet.

[Summon a Fire Sprite]

As far as Damon knew sprites were small elemental spirits, tiny beings born from a single type of magic. They were essentially condensed bits of nature's power. Their size ranged from a small spark to the size of a fist. He had heard that there were much stronger sprites but it was very rare for those guys to show up.

The stronger the environment one was in, the higher the chance to contract a strong sprite. He had been waiting for an ideal location to use this skill to summon a fire sprite and try to form a contract with it.

And now a good opportunity has presented itself. Considering how strong the fiery aura was, it shouldn't be impossible for him to attract a high-tier sprite.

Not to mention, a place rich in hellfire like this was a very special environment that could entice a powerful sprite. It was a good time to try the skill out.

Damon did not hesitate anymore and used the skill. As soon as he activated the skill, a ring of fire appeared in front of him. It rose like a small sun, hot air shimmering around it. Sparks danced and hissed.

Damon felt the heat slice at his skin. His health dropped a little more. However, that was that. Nothing else happened. He waited for a few seconds and yet nothing else happened. Soon the ring also started to close up.

Damon was a little surprised. He knew he was only going to attract something small because of his insignificant rank and level, but to attract nothing at all?

He thought of something and quickly pricked his skin, letting a drop of blood come out. The next instant his gamble paid off as the collapsing ring froze in mid-air.Immediately several bright and fiery shapes appeared on the other side.

Damon was completely blinded and he couldn't see anything at all but he could feel powerful auras. They were actually fighting with each other to be the one who stepped out of the ring.

He grinned and rubbed his hands, waiting for the most powerful one.

However, all of a sudden, all of them disappeared. Damon flashed his eyes open. What the heck? He was about to pull out more of his blood when finally something stepped out from the ring.

Not a huge something, but a small sprite no bigger than a bead of water. It was just a spark. It was one of the weakest spirits anyone could pull out.

Damon frowned. This had to be a mistake. Clearly, so many other powerful sprites wanted for form a contract with him. How could this weak one possibly win out? Maybe he could try to activate the skill again and have another attempt at it?

Unfortunately, before he could do anything about it, the ring collapsed right behind the spark.

The small spark flew over to him, and it sat down on the drop of blood on his finger. It then completely absorbed that drop of blood. A second later even a satisfied burping sound came from the little spark.

Before Damon could say anything, the spark started flying away from him and towards one of the lava rivers. It dove straight for the river and went right into it. For a moment, Damon thought that it was going to disappear but the next second, the river spat it back out.

The next instant, something shocking unfolded. Thick threads of fire essence rose up and wrapped around the spark like ropes. The little thing sucked them in like a bee drinking nectar.

But this wasn't just any fire essence. It was thick condensed hell fire essence.

The spark continued absorbing the rich essence continuously for more than a minute. Even the temperature in the vicinity noticeably dropped. Damon's health stopped bleeding.

Finally, after about two minutes, the spark flew back to him and landed on his finger again. It let out another big burp. The most shocking part was even after absorbing so much, the thing hadn't grown at all. Not even by a little.

Damon bitterly smiled. For a second, he assumed something based on the little thing's size but it turns out that looks were extremely deceiving in this case. This small spark was definitely not a normal fire sprite. He had pulled out something nice this time!

As he looked at it and observed it, a crisp system chime rang and a notification popped in front of him.

[Ding! A new contract has been formed]

Fire Sprite

Status: Fledgeling (Can be evolved)

Rank: ???

Origin: ???

Skills:

Hellfire Burst (Active): Fires a concentrated mote of hellfire. Small, but pierces normal fire resistance and leaves a burning wound. Cooldown: None

Hellfire Affinity (Passive): Grants the holder small resistance to hellfire and slightly increases the power of fire-based attacks and hellfire affinity.

Flame Born (Passive): Sprite can absorb nearby fire essence to grow. The purer the fire essence, the better the growth prospects and evolution potential. A portion of stored essence can be transferred to the bonded user to temporarily boost fire damage.

***

Damon blinked as the info sank in. The little sprite was definitely not ordinary at all. It was just a fledgeling and its skills were already terrifying. He could only imagine how powerful it would become when it grew more and evolved.

[Ding! Do you wish to name your sprite?]

Damon nodded. "Let's go with Goldy."

He reached for the small spark with his finger and tried to touch it. He couldn't really touch it or feel it. His finger was going right through it. "Do you like your name?" He smiled. Immediately a giggling laugh sounded in his mind like the laugh of a child.

***

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