Just like with every other time Tsukuru had created a new Video Summon Race, he watched as the line of dashes slowly filled itself up with the given name.
An electronic "beep" was heard, and a new System appeared, overlaying the old one.
[Registration complete. The Video Summon Race Yuki-Onna has been added to your Video Arsenal. You can now create Video Summons of the Yuki-Onna Video Summon Race.]
Tsukuru turned back to Layla and Erin.
"Alright, I'm going to create my new Beast, now," he replied. "So don't bother trying to talk to me for a few seconds. Because I'm most likely not going to be able to hear you."
Erin narrowed her eyes.
"You're just making it now?" she asked, a tone of confusion in her voice. "Then, what was that whole light show a second ago?"
Tsukuru rolled his eyes.
He really didn't feel like explaining the existence, let alone the inner workings, of his System to Erin.
After all, with how she could even keep her own Ability a secret, it was unlikely that she would be able to keep her mouth shut about his System.
He turned back around, facing away from them.
'Open System Tab,' he thought, accessing the System using mental commands.
A System screen popped up in front of him, with his Summon Tab on the screen.
On it, he saw the series of six rounded rectangles, with an additional three rounded squares on the very bottom of the screen.
The first four squares clearly showed the faces of Artoria, Kujaku, Rakshara, and a much more mature version of Galina's Humanoid Form.
However, the fifth image only showed a greyed out silhouette of a head, and the final image was completely blank.
Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
It seemed that his new Summon Races would always appear as a silhouette on this screen until he had created at least one Summon of the said Summon Race.
Tsukuru imagined selecting the silhouetted image, and the rectangle lit up brightly.
A System message popped up in front of him.
[Would you like to create an Infantry-Rank Elite-Pawn Grade Yuki-Onna? Costs 8 Summon Points.
Summon Points: 12
[Yes] [No] ]
Tsukuru's eyes widened in shock from seeing the System message.
'8 Summon Points?!' he thought. 'That's the highest amount yet!'
Up to this point, the highest amount of Summon Points required for him to create a Summon was Galina, who had cost 5, but the Yuki-Onna was 8!
Tsukuru's eyes then narrowed, as he noticed something.
'Wait, 'Elite-Pawn Grade'?' he thought. 'Don't they all usually start out as Pawn-Grade?'
Reiju's voice rang in his mind.
"Usually, yes," she replied. "But, it seems that when you created the Yuki-Onna Summon Race, you created an exception. Remember, you wanted a Summon with Elemental Abilities. The base Pawn-Grade simply isn't capable of that. So, the Summon Race was set to default at the Elite-Pawn Grade. That's also probably why it has such a high Summon Point cost."
Tsukuru sighed internally.
It wasn't like he couldn't afford to create it.
Thanks to the 10 Summon Points he had obtained as a System Reward when he had reached Level 10, as well as the 2 Summon Points he had received upon his Level Up after defeating the Minotaur, he currently had 12 Summon Points.
It was enough to create the Elite-Pawn Grade Yuki-Onna, and still have Summon Points left over.
'Yes,' Tsukuru thought.
Immediately, Tsukuru's vision faded to black.
When Tsukuru regained his vision, he found himself in the same, strange room where the "Summoning Process" for creating his Summons took place.
He watched as the same "Summoning animation" as always took place, with the sword hovering above the magic circle splitting into five, which then spun around above the magic circle like a wheel.
The five swords dove downwards, hitting one of each of the five smaller circles in the magic circle's design, before shattering into pixels.
The whole magic circle began to light up, light spreading out from the five smaller circles and filling up the whole magic circle.
Then, the Summoning Process began.
Pixels appeared above the surface of the magic circle, and began to build on top of each other, like a 3-D printer.
As the pixels began to build layer by layer, a humanoid form began to appear.
Although, Tsukuru noticed that this particular Summon was getting bigger than his Summons usually were.
It wasn't the massive sizes of the Gargoyle, and even worse, the Minotaur, but it was noticeably taller than his normal Summons, like Artoria and Kujaku.
Eventually, the pixels formed the very top of the Yuki-Onna's head.
As Tsukuru took in her full form, her increased height made since.
After all, unlike his other Summons, who all looked to be around the same age as the rest of the students on the base, in other words, teenagers, this particular Summon was noticeably older.
If the other Summons appeared to be around 17 or 18 in age, this one looked to be of similar age to Shizuka or Sergeant Faye, appearing to be between 22 and 24.
Just like the card image used as a template, the Yuki-Onna had pale-white skin and light-blue eyes.
Rather than possessing "Hair", the Yuki-Onna's head was covered in a mass of ice with the same shape and thickness of human hair, it forming into icicles where the "tips" of her "hair" would be. Her "hair" was somewhat short, and pulled back into a bun behind her head with a large hair clip modeled to look like an ornate snowflake.
She had a series of thin "bangs" going across her forehead which reached down to eye-level, and had bangs on either side of her face, between her face and ears, which reached down to her jugular.
Much like the card image, she wore a pure-white, hakama-style kimono that reached down to her ankles with light-blue trim, and a purple obi sash around her waist.
She also wore light-blue sandals with white, split-toe socks underneath, and had a long, light-blue rectangle slid between her obi and her kimono on either side of her hip, similar to the way Starrk carried his sword sheath.
The Yuki-Onna reached her right hand down towards the "rectangle" fastened to her left hip, pulling it out.
With a single, dextrous movement, she flicked her hand and flipped it out, revealing it to be a tessen fan.
The inner leaves of the tessen fan were light-blue and were covered with numerous white snowflake designs.
The Yuki-Onna swiped her right arm in a long, wide horizontal arc over to her right, fanning the air directly in front of her.
As she did, a large gust of wind filled with driving snow appeared, making it look like a freak, howling blizzard, had picked up out of nowhere.
A moment later, the gust of wind dissipated just as quickly as it had appeared.
The gravely, masculine "announcer voice" could then be heard.
"You have created a Yuki-Onna!" the voice announced.
Tsukuru's vision faded back to black once again, and he soon found himself back in the Assembly Hall.
He blinked a few times, and looked around him.
When he looked behind, he saw that Layla and Erin were staring at him.
"Wow, you really did space out there for a moment," Layla mused.
Erin, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes.
"So where's this new Beast of yours?" she asked.
Just as Tsukuru was about to give her a retort, a series of four System messages popped up in front of him.
[You have successfully created an Infantry-Rank Elite Pawn-Grade Yuki-Onna. 1 Infantry-Rank Elite Pawn-Grade Yuki-Onna has been added to your Video Arsenal.
You have received 2 Skill Points.
Skill Points: 3
New Beast Gear has been acquired.
You have received an Intermediate-Tier Ice Amulet.
You have received an Intermediate-Tier Frost Fan.
Intermediate-Tier Ice Amulet and Intermediate-Tier Frost Fan has been placed in your System's Equipment Tab. ]
[Five Video Summon Races have been created. You have met the requirements to unlock a new Skill
A new Skill has been acquired.
New Skill Video Mind - Lv. 1 has been acquired. ]
[Video Mind - Lv. 1
Ability-Exclusive Skill
Active Skill
You can link your psyche with that of your Video Summon, allowing you to telepathically communicate with them, experience the world through their senses, and even take over their body to speak and act through them.
No Energy Required
You can only telepathically communicate with your Video Summons, and only those within close proximity to your current location.]