Rise of the Weakest Summoner

Grigorji and Narmaya looked at their old friend with some concern as Oria walked forward to meet the slimy raccoon. They most likely shared the same worries as Miria, anxious about Roki preparing some other traps besides the explosives ahead of time. In the end, even if he hadn’t ended up as one of their proteges, he was initially a candidate they saw something in.

And he had clearly proved his worth, just in a completely inappropriate way.

The confident panther lady simply directed a serious nod their way and stopped in front of her upcoming opponent. “Any silly rules we have to worry about in this challenge?”

“Who do you take me for? Do you think I would change the ancient traditions just to make it easier for myself to stay at the top? I’m fairly sure it was you specifically who told us that if we want to be taken seriously, we need to show others we can’t be trifled with.” The man chuckled and gestured at her to follow him to the side.

As the pair strolled to a more open part of the chamber, the others surrounded them with a loose circle. It was more of a subconscious action that worked fairly well as an intimidation tactic and a way to prevent the bastard’s escape when he would inevitably lose to the experienced Pantherkin warrior.

~What rules are they talking about?~ Asterios asked Miria as it didn’t look like the duo was going to elaborate.

~It’s a duel to the death or a fatal wound that prevents one of the challengers from continuing with the fight. It’s also possible to surrender but usually viewed as cowardly and shameful so most people choose death, acknowledging that they have been bested by someone better,~ she explained briefly. ~However, I don’t get the best vibes from him…~

~She’ll be fine. And if he does try anything weird, we’ll intervene. If one person breaks the rules, we aren’t going to watch idly,~ he reassured her with some loving pats. ~For now, let’s just give your mom some support and believe in her.~

Miria nodded softly while releasing quiet purrs and threw her fist into the air. “Mop the floor with him, Mom! I bet even Dad could bend his short ass in half!”

Her lively cheering evoked a bunch of snickers and chuckles as Oria winked back at her with a faint smirk. It wasn’t as well-received by the target of the insults as Roki’s eye visibly twitched in irritation. Perhaps his height wasn’t exactly the best part to point out.

The pair got ready to settle their debts with Oria bringing out Miria’s previous blades and Roki donning silvery knuckles with small blades extending from the outer edges and four studs poking out of the front of each weapon. The description given to them by the guards was spot on.

Narmaya nocked an arrow and aimed at the ceiling, the duo inside the ring tensing at the sound her bow released under strain. Waiting a few seconds, she released it and the quick projectile struck the wood with a soft thunk.

“Let’s get this show—ugh!” Roki began but didn’t get to finish his sentence as Oria’s boot struck his face with no warning, coming at him from the side as she launched a spinning kick.

The short guy was thrown aside with enough force to make him tumble on the ground a few times and hit Grigorji. The bear man grabbed him by the collar and threw him back into the middle of the arena, where Oria twirled her blades nonchalantly, looking down at her opponent.

“Bitch…” Roki cursed while hastily getting up.

“Your enemy won’t wait for you to strike, did you already forget that?” She scoffed at him. “You would have already been dead if I wished so.”

“I didn’t even feel that one.” He spat to the side, lowering his posture.

Well, perhaps because Oria had clearly held back, but he could believe whatever he wanted.

This time, it was him who started the next engagement. Light on his feet, Roki was a fighter relying mostly on his agility and speed. His smaller frame allowed him to make bolder and more difficult maneuvers as he zipped around Oria and tried to slice her tendons and vulnerable points with his tiny blades.

But, even if he was impressively fast in terms of beastfolk standards, she wasn’t a completely typical individual either, even if he had the advantage of bloodline on his side as Oria could not enjoy the benefits of Wereblood. Still, besides her immense experience and rigorous training, she had one more ace in her sleeve.

Her fresh connection with Asterios and the girls.

She might not be a core member of his entourage, bearing a simple position without an intimately deepened bond, but he still shared with her whatever he could. Little by little, she was able to perceive faint growth in her old skills, senses, and capabilities. She wasn’t as knowledgeable about Dragons as Miria was, but she didn’t have much trouble figuring out that Ast’s goodwill was enhancing her.

Therefore, even when faced with an opponent focusing on the practical utilization of lightning-fast movements, she managed to parry and block all of the rushing slashes. The small blades whizzed around, missing her armor and skin by a hair’s breadth. She danced over the arena and twirled around, keeping her younger enemy on constant move.

If it came to endurance and stamina, she wouldn’t be the one to lose. Especially with Ast’s passive assistance.

Could that be considered cheating? No, not really. Certainly not when the other side was frantically trying to make use of other external means to end the duel with his victory. Oria didn’t miss the fact that Roki was trying to achieve something. He knew his attacks couldn’t reach her properly, and even if they had, those wounds would be way too shallow in most cases.

So, the others calmly watched as the pair jumped around while trying to slice each other into pieces. To Ulgier’s and Zoe’s eyes, they looked fairly well-matched in terms of their strength. None could land a serious hit on the other as Oria skilfully blocked all the attempts while Roki dodged all her counters, slithering between them like the snake he was. She still managed to punt him a few times or score a decent kick, kindly presenting the lowlife with more and more bruises.

As for Asterios and his crew, they had access to more advanced cues than only the visual and auditory ones. Their bond shared thoughts, emotions, moods, and much more. Oria wasn’t yet as proficient in controlling that connection as her daughter or even Zoe so she had a hard time fooling them. She either had always been brimming with unshakable confidence or was so much better than her opponent that she didn’t even need to consider Roki a threat.

For the next five minutes, the audience was given a show of a few close calls and nothing more. Yet, neither of the fighters grew agitated or anxious. They both just kept trying and trying, both doing their own thing, slowly spending their energy reserves over time. It was a fairly mild duel, free of any exciting moments that would force the spectators to hold their breaths or shout in worry for their favored contender.

Which, in this case, was pretty much only Oria.

After another close exchange, the duo remained near, circling each other. The panther lady paused briefly and brought her fist up to her face, swiping it gently above her lip. Glancing down at it, she noticed a red trace of blood on her gloved hand and frowned, while the others spotted more of the crimson liquid trickling from her nose. Her body shivered lightly and her arm dropped a little.

With a growing grin, the Raccoonkin dashed forward quicker than before, his fur climbing further up his limbs. Oria’s sharp instincts reacted in time, but her swing felt weaker and less accurate. However, as Oria’s old friends gasped at the sudden change in the flow of battle, she realized that his aim was not to stab or cut her as he evaded the awkward counterblow. With a surprising show of flexibility, he dove between her legs and came up behind her, both of his blades pressed to her throat as he crossed his arms at the nape of her neck.

“Took you long enough.” He sneered. “I was starting to think there was something seriously wrong with your constitution.”

“Mom!” Miria shouted from a distance and the man spun them around to face her.

“Don’t move or you know what comes next,” Roki warned with a proud smirk. “Make way. It’s time I finally snuck out of this dull party. If you wish to see your good friend someday in the future, you better not try anything funny or come after me.”

“How?” Grigorji growled. “I did not see you connect any hits.”

The renegade rolled his eyes. “You old-timers and your obsession with living in the past. Did you really think I would face you with the same technique you fed me line by line? Idiots. No, this is the upgraded version. Sound-activated poison discharged by pressing the top of the studs into the opponent’s body? So old-school. An odorless gas released on demand throughout swings right from those same studs and pushed forward by correct movements? Now, that’s smart.”

“The bandits said there was no evidence of any toxins.” Narmaya squinted at him, her grip tightening around her bow.

“Those small fries? Why would I waste my trump card on those morons? It’s not like they would recognize the basic technique like you could.” He shrugged, accidentally pressing the tips of his weapons harder against Oria’s skin, drawing some blood as a result. “Oops. That’s your fault. No matter, though. This won’t be the last scar this pretty face receives. Now step aside if you don’t want to witness more.”

“You will not get far alive!” Miria snarled, assuming a rather aggressive stance.

“Duh. Why do you think I’m taking her with me? For a daughter of the legendary Death Hound, you seriously lack her smarts.” The man snorted. “Let’s not waste my time any furth—”

His words were cut off by his own grunt of pain. Looking down, he found one of the silver blades lodged deep in his chest, clearly going all the way through. It pierced into him from underneath Oria’s armpit, silently skewering him when he least expected it. Blinking in disbelief, he took a wobbly step back and fell to his knees.

“W-What?” Roki glanced between the blade and the cold panther lady looking down at him. “You should be paralyzed from the waist up…”

“Save for your thirst for blood, this was one of your few glaring flaws,” she stated indifferently. “You always failed to consider that you might not be the only one faking it. We knew it would one day lead to your very avoidable death. Unfortunately, today falls more into the unavoidable category.”

“Tch.” He clicked his tongue, spitting some blood on the side. “Looks like I won’t be making it out alive, unfortunately. But hey, at least I’ll see you all in hell!”

The man cackled as he brought his hands to the front and held them apart at the same level. Taking his thumbs off the inner edge of the knuckles, he revealed another set of round studs hidden beneath his grip. With a manic laugh, he struck them together, creating a loud, keening noise that pulsed with an extremely high note for quite a while, forcing most of them to cover their ears to shield them from the unbearable sound.

A few seconds later, it was reduced to a faint buzz and Roki’s laughter gradually faded too, replaced by troubled coughing that brought more blood into his mouth. He stared at his hands and their surroundings in visible confusion. Tilting his head, he attempted to hit the metal knuckles together a few more times but the result remained unchanged.

“Why is it not working?” he asked no one in particular. “How the fuck did you disarm all of them without tearing down the walls?”

“We had plenty of options to choose from,” Oria replied just as small tongues of shadows wiggled beneath him, making it obvious that she had never been in any real danger, even if he hadn’t noticed anything. “But, we didn’t have to do much. In the end, we don’t wield spiritual energy like the gifted line of multi-tailed Foxkin, nor do we have the magic of the outsiders, so you had to trigger the trap the conventional way. I didn’t see any pressure plates, strings, ropes, lines, or other functional elements. So, it was obvious you would utilize the only way to remotely blow this place up that you know of—sound.”

She glanced over her shoulder at Asterios and he smiled warmly, showing the backside of his glove. A single sigil glowed brightly over its black surface, the one surrounding the area they were currently inside with the Alcove of Serenity. For those uneducated in its inner workings, they understood that it silenced all the noise, but if someone studied its characteristics properly, they would learn that to achieve such a feat, it mitigated most of the shockwaves traveling through the air that carried all the sound around. Therefore, the explosives existing past the edge of the silent zone were simply unreachable by Roki’s trigger, courtesy of the clever Oria and her quick thinking.

“Magic is seriously scary…” Ulgier shivered as he looked at the mystical appearance of Ast’s spell.

“Fuck…” Roki cursed. “Fuck all of you! You always think you are so great, huh? So much better than everyone else, ha? The truth is, you are nothing! Just a bunch of wannabe heroes who need to rely on others to achieve anything!”

“You are just projecting now…” Tina sighed softly.

Before he could snap at her, Umbra’s tendrils wrapped themselves around his body and swallowed him whole. He flopped onto the ground inside a cocoon of darkness as Oria’s blade was pushed out of his body. Miria walked closer to pick it up, wipe it off, and hold it out towards her mother.

“You aren’t going to… interrogate him?” the panthergirl asked timidly.

Oria ruffled her hair with a cordial smile. “I think I simply want to put all of this behind me. Besides, I’ve gotten my fill with those two bitches who wanted to hurt my sweet kittygirl. Your ominous friend can do a much better job than me anyway.”

Miria giggled quietly. “I don’t think anyone can compare to him when it comes to that area.”

“Are the others alright with this?” Selene turned to the Roundback family. “It all ended in a quite… boring and disappointing fashion.”

Narmaya chuckled lightly. “We didn’t expect much from him, to be perfectly honest. Maybe if it was just the three of us, but with all of you present, it was closer to a formality. As Oria said, we should just wrap it up and put all of it behind us.”

“Alright. Let’s start with this fortress, then. After Bryn gets a quick look at you.” Asterios joined the two feline ladies and rested his hands on Oria’s and Miria’s shoulders. “We’ll help you all the way so just take it slow and let us know what you want to do and how you feel about it.”

The younger Pantherkin reciprocated his compassion with an adorable peck on his cheek while the more mature woman used a motherly hug to respond to his familial affection, not wanting to kick a fuss with her daughter again for messing with the panthergirls mate. Though, judging by the tiny smirk on her lips, she really wanted to. And Asterios wouldn’t mind that if it helped get her mind off the darker stuff.

Soon enough, Umbra finished going through the short guy’s mind and left a twitching, half-conscious body of his on the wooden floor for them to deal with however they pleased. Oria relinquished her chance to end things to the Roundback family and it was Narmaya who inadvertently sliced Roki’s throat with a look of disgust on her usually serene face.

Then, they sat down together to go through some of his memories and find out as much as they could about his downfall since their parting and everything else connected to the fortress they were currently in. 

It turned out that, just as they had originally thought, Roki wasn’t exactly a stable candidate for their successor. He had always had problems with others being better than him, being able to do something he couldn’t. His past was riddled with devious plans and attempts to overcome those hurdles, often undermining the individuals who wronged him.

Even his desire to join the Phantom Brigade came from the need to learn how they worked and how to best them. It had always been his scheme to remove them from the picture after figuring them out, remaining the only one who could carry on their legacy, but under his name. Their rejection was like a slap to the face for him which further intensified his tendencies.

Roki spent some time trying to start up his own squad like the old members had said some of their candidates would, but he was completely out of depth and his personality didn’t work well in a team. He was usually the reason people quit or even lost their lives, either intentionally or not.

That continued until his hatred for Oria’s team simmered long enough and turned him to the villainous side. He bested the leader of the Painted Dogs with Grigorji’s technique and held onto his position for a few years, slowly thinking up a plan on how to get back at the Phantom Brigade. The first step was to deal with the successors, which he had, unfortunately. The younger generation was taken off guard by his deceit and fell for fake kindness, not noticing the altered version of his weapons.

Asterios and the others had to pause for a moment so that their new friends could slowly process the loss. Even if they hadn’t been that close, knowing that either side could lose their lives at any moment in this occupation, those young people still were kind of like their adopted children.

Afterward, they moved on to another tough part. When they arrived at the time where Roki had ordered Lina and Rina, the two female tracker Painted Dogs, to sniff out the original members of the Phantom Brigade, Umbra brought up their memories too to show Oria and the others how their friends ended up and where they should go if they wished to pay them proper respects, perhaps preparing appropriate resting places.

Somehow pushing through the gritty details, they reached the current day. Their next steps were already decided. Thanks to Roki being somewhat paranoid, he knew everyone’s history pretty much inside-out. That allowed them to identify the real bandits amidst those who had surrendered. At the same time, they knew almost everything about this pack’s operations up from his takeover, including the list of goods stored in the warehouses.

First, they burned Roki’s body. From his memories, they knew he didn’t have anyone they could inform about his passing so his relatives could have a grave to visit. Then, they rounded up the remaining bandits. Those who still seemed redeemable were advised to seek a better path by Asterios and Umbra, who employed a bit of intimidation to make their point clear. The unredeemable individuals were swiftly beheaded by Grigorji and the rest of his old squad.

Miria wanted to join and lessen her mother’s burden, but Oria insisted on her staying out of it. This was her responsibility and she didn’t want to dirty the panthergirl’s hands even more. It wasn’t anything new to the mature lady as they had to make plenty of hard decisions in the past, like what to do with those who had given up but were not guaranteed not to hurt others in the future. Asterios knew Miria’s resolve was strong enough for her not to be bogged down by guilty thoughts about such matters, but he took Oria’s side while watching with his mate in his arms.

The third step consisted of gathering all the goods hidden in the fortress. With Umbra’s help, it didn’t take long. Asterios took out a spare spatial ring he had been given by his elf allies and shoved everything inside so it didn’t mix up with their personal items.

After that, came the last part. With everyone out of the fortress, save for the deceased, Asterios soared into the sky in his True Dragon form. Oria, Narmaya, and Grigorji sat together on his back to witness the closure to this sorrowful chapter of their eventful lives. 

Receiving permission from them, he rained fire onto the wooden stronghold. He held nothing back as his draconic breath poured onto the walls, battlements, buildings, and pathways. The intense heat burned everything to ashes, leaving nothing but black ash atop the scorched, glowing red rock making up the ground beneath the artificial structure.

For a moment there, the memory of his father lighting up Teira flashed before his eyes but he quickly shook it off.

This was different. It was no settlement, but a den of banditry. It was empty, its only inhabitants being dead bodies. And those belonged to evil people, not innocent bystanders who had nothing to do with the action he was taking.

When he was done, they flew down, and the girls immediately gathered around him, missing nothing. The trio of his passengers looked a tad confused as the women suddenly swarmed him and doted on the man, but wisely chose not to interfere. Asterios simply accepted their affection while continuously reassuring them that it had been just a stray thought and that he was feeling okay.

As the final embers died down, it was time to return. Instead of flying back to the moles, they made use of Ast’s and Umbra’s abilities to move through the shadows in a few seconds, surprising their new friends greatly. Before they could even consider bidding farewell so that the family could rest a bit amongst themselves, they received an invitation that would be rude to decline.

The Weremoles showed up once more, poking their frames out of the gravel, and allowed them to come in after the family’s polite request and explanation. At first, Ast’s group was confused about how entering and exiting their hidden community worked, but they were shown that with proper positioning they simply sank through the tiny stones and fell through an invisible hole.

Ending up inside neat stone tunnels, they could see small stairs leading up into some crafty contraption they had come in through, which upheld the gravel and prevented it from raining down into the passages too. It fascinated Miria and the girls how the concealed foxholes worked. A foreign enemy would never figure out that the moles weren’t able to hop out of the ground at any random point.

Thanks to Esil and Tina, no one needed the herbal masks to endure the smell. Ulgier was especially grateful.

Carefully moving through the small tunnels, which already felt expanded most likely to accommodate their quite burly guest, they found their way to the section given to the Roundback family. Narmaya trotted to bring some drinks and snacks to the living room as everyone settled down and breathed a sigh of relief.

For the first few minutes, no one said a thing. It was hard to find the right words to start a conversation after so much had happened in a short time. Especially from the family’s point of view. Oria had a moment to process the attempt to capture her and the loss of her old companions, contrary to them, who had been on the move since the moment Asterios approached them.

And it was the mature panther lady who spoke up first. “I think we should talk about the future.”

“I agree.” Narmaya placed her teacup down and joined her hands atop her thighs. “What do you have in mind?”

“After some consideration, I came to the conclusion that Roki was right about one thing,” Oria replied composedly.

A quiet growl escaped Grigorji’s lips but his mate gently rubbed his forearm, signaling at the feline woman to continue.

“There’s no such thing as retirement for people like us,” Oria finished her thought. “We have grown complacent thinking that we can just escape to the edge of the world and not bother with everything that led to that moment. I believe it was a mistake to split up and cut contact, as much as repressing our skills and abilities to appear as common folk was. If we hadn’t done that, it’s possible Charkes and Leonin would still be with us.”

Somber silence descended onto the round chamber once more, the others clearly having come to similar conclusions.

“That is why I would like to offer a suggestion,” the feline lady continued even more firmly, recapturing everyone’s attention. “Not to be rude to your generous hosts, but you should move back to the surface, preferably to our village.”

Miria gasped at her mother’s proposal, excitement already building up in her sunny eyes.

“Is there any other reason for this suggestion besides wanting to stay together, Oria?” Narmaya asked, raising her brow a little bit.

Oria smiled back at her. “You know me so well. I would love to have the two—no, the three of you back with us for old times’ sake. But, it’s just the first step that’s necessary for what I have in mind. You see, my amazing son-in-law is looking to form a branch of something called an Adventurer’s Guild in our realm.”

Miria gasped even louder, slamming her palms into the table hard enough to shake the silverware as she stood up.

“Go on.” Narmaya mirrored her friend’s smile, holding the woman’s gaze with deep interest.

“I can explain the details at a later date, but in short, it’s a voluntary organization that takes requests from the people and fulfills them for monetary and honorary gains, often revolving around taking down wild beasts, bandits, or collecting necessary resources,” Oria shared. “As I’ve been recommended for the position of a chief in such a lounge, I would need the support of other equally skilled and like-minded people. Especially if we wished to open the ranks of our adventurers to others. They will require proper training and education.”

“Since it’s a branch as you have called it, am I right to assume that we will receive some kind of support from the root?” Grigorji stroked his chin ponderingly.

“Of course. We will have to closely cooperate with our friends from another realm, but I’m in touch with one of the leaders who is acquainted with my daughter’s mate. She will provide us with all the information and equipment we will need, and in the future also people, whenever a way to transport them between our realms without Asterios becomes commercialized in his kingdom,” Oria listed. “So, are you interested in making our world a better place in a bit more open way this time?”

“Did I hear something about travel between realms and someone’s kingdom?” Ulgier swallowed thickly as his wide eyes wandered to Asterios.

Narmaya and Grigorji shared a long look before they refocused on Oria, completely ignoring their distressed son for the moment.

“No offense to our hosts, as you said, but I would do anything to escape this stinking hole, even if I can’t smell it anymore,” the woman answered with a ladylike chuckle. “If not for my son, at the very least.”

“I was getting sore from hunching forward so much already.” The man laughed deeply. “And after today, I can say with complete certainty that I miss swinging this big slab of metal around while visiting plenty of beautiful places.”

“Great.” Oria smacked her palms together. “I’m sure we can figure something out about your issue with the help of this winged beauty here, so let’s discuss our first soon-to-be-official quest. The actual owners of all the belongings in my son-in-law’s magical storage would definitely appreciate having them back. Someone will need to deliver those, am I right?”

Miria squealed from joy and launched herself at her mother, hopping onto her lap. She bounced up and down while talking so fast it came out as complete gibberish, purring and nuzzling her face into her mom’s long hair while the mature lady could only chuckle at her enthusiasm. Everyone else stared at them with wide, warm smiles, including Grigorji and Narmaya, who also shared their own excited expressions.

It looked like the beastfolk guild was on a very good track to start operating much sooner than Asterios had expected.