A Dual Crest Summoner In Infinite Summoning World

He could not fight them all. Auren doubted he could even properly kill one. He had never even killed a squirrel before in his life. There was 40% energy left in his body after the summoning and using it here and there throughout the day. He could use it to.. run.

Alone, he could easily leave them behind, but with Kenzo, he needed to use a bit more energy and take a little bit more risk.

He could not leave the kid alone.

Auren quickly pushed the energy towards his legs and froze still, waiting. Then it came; a chance. With an unnatural force, Auren lunged forward, his feet leaving deep marks in the soft soil of the forest. In a second, he reached near Kenzo, grabbed him, put him on his shoulder, and jumped off of the tree in front of them to take a sharp turn back.

The wolves moved just a few seconds after him. He jumped over all of them and made a run for Kenzo's house.

"Aonen, lemme go!" Kenzo shouted.

"Look behind, you nuts-for-brain," Auren shouted back.

The little boy's head lifted a little, and he saw the dozen wolves chasing after them while drooling. Suddenly, Auren felt Kenzo's little hands hitting on his back.

"Aonen, faster! Faster! Run faster!"

"I am trying. Stop hitting me!"

The wolves were fast—too fucking fast. He had to power his legs even more—it was too much energy. He wouldn't be able to keep it up till Kenzo's house came. The backlash would come after 60 seconds or less. What to do?

Trees!

Auren quickly looked around and found a big, high tree—this was going to be really risky now. Auren transferred all his remaining energy into his feet and calf muscles while running near the tree. Meters away from it, Auren pushed against the ground with all the enhanced power the energy provided his feet and calf muscles.

The branch was quite high up—he had no idea if he would reach that far with Kenzo on his shoulder. But..

He had underestimated the power stored inside him. The jump was too powerful. The branch came and went, along with other higher branches. Rustling the green leaves, they had come above the treeline even. 

They could see their houses—Auren did not waste time thinking and shouted "Mother!" loudly. Kenzo's mom should hear that at least. She would surely come out to check on them and find them missing.

Kenzo also imitated him and screamed for Sable—his was much more genuine than Auren's own. He quickly grabbed the scared kid and aimed at the branches beneath them. When they fell, he quickly grabbed onto one—it wasn't without injuries though. His hand was bleeding, there were scratches all over his face, and some even on Kenzo's—though he had tried his best to protect the kid, so Kenzo was mostly all right.

Auren quickly made Kenzo sit on the big branch—it was big enough for them to sit without falling. He instructed him to go flat on the branch and hold it tight with his hands. The backlash was almost there—Auren could feel the pain increasing. After Kenzo was secure, Auren too went flat on his stomach on the branch and closed his eyes—trying to breathe and calm his mind to endure the incoming overwhelming pain.

But it wasn't anything he could endure at all. The power he had used for the jump was too much—more than he had ever risked doing—the backlash was also something far worse than anything he had ever felt. It felt scarily similar to the pain he had felt moments after the truck had hit him.

Auren's mind went numb with pain, and he screamed with all his might. It was probably five times louder than their earlier shouts. Kenzo must be scared shitless—Auren couldn't even open his eyes though, as they were filled with moisture, and his mind did not register any other thing except pain.

He had no idea how long he was screaming for or how long they stayed up that tree. He only remembered screaming and feeling mind-shattering pain. In the end, the pain just kept increasing, and his mind shut down on its own—probably to protect itself from the intense, uncontrollable pain. He blacked out.

***

When he opened his eyes, he was back in his house, lying in a warm bed. There were many water soaked pieces of clothes on him. The outside looked like a morning. The sun was up. His grandma saw him open his eyes from the back door and quickly called out to him. He heard Sable running outside—a second later, she rushed inside the house. She called out to him too. He tried to get up but felt too tired to do that.

Sable took his small figure in her arms, hugging him tightly. His grandma from the side also touched his forehead as if checking his temperature. Was he sick? Did he catch a fever somehow? Where was that kid..

"Oh my gracious Lord, thank you. Thank you so much," He heard Sable say in between her sobbing.

Wasn't the reaction a bit too much for a night's unconsciousness? Guess it would be hard to understand if they had no idea why it happened.

Even his grandma, who was not as emotional as Sable, had her eyes glistening with tears, looking at his face. Now he was confused.

"What happened?" Auren asked.

"You were asleep for ten days, boy," The grandma replied.

What the fuck? How was that possible? Did he fall off the tree or something?

"Kenzo?" he asked.

Sable's face changed slightly, a hint of anger. His grandma was more stable. She was the one who answered again,

"He is all right. He cries a lot though—whenever he comes to see you. 'Told us he ran in the forest and you went behind to save him. He has not missed a single day without visiting you—he gave you all his toys, even his favourite ones. Though I suspect he stole a few back."

Auren smiled. His grandma also laughed heartily—the long Kenzo appreciation lines were more for Sable, he felt like, than for him. Sable knew she shouldn't blame Kenzo, he was just a kid. But she was a mother—worrying was her job.