A Dual Crest Summoner In Infinite Summoning World

A pack of wolves ran away the second they noticed the large group of men, shining in their steel armor. They had already killed many snakes, boars, and other small animals. Auren had no idea why the hell they were doing that. Most animals tried to hide upon seeing the shiny humans, but the soldiers and knights ran after them—killing them and showing them off to others with pride.

After a while, Auren realized it had to be their normal. In a world that was full of summoned beasts, and the only way to get stronger was through hunting prey—proving how good a hunter one was had to be a thing of pride. Small birds, squirrels, and even rodents—the Blue Crest Knights had all kinds of animals as their summons, and they kept them close while killing these random animals along the way.

Auren had yet to unsheath his sword, and he was in no hurry to do so. Even Hanzo had run out of things to teach him—besides, he had suggested the guy not speak to save energy once Auren felt like the guy was going out of his way to chat with him. The jaguar had returned somewhere in the middle of their traveling and had disappeared in black smoke as the Earl canceled the summon.

They had already rested once while having their lunch. The soldiers had more than enough food for a two-day hunt—they shared that with Auren and Hanzo. He already had things Sable had packed, but he accepted the food anyway. Extra food was not a bad thing at all.

Auren noticed Hanzo trying to talk to some of the soldiers, but they were acting too high and mighty—being a part of the elite guard from all the nobles present. Plus, there were groups among the soldiers belonging to different nobles, and none considered them to be part of theirs at all—their own Baron's men hated them the most.

They continued after lunch, Hanzo showing them the way, and everyone following behind, making enough noise to wake up a Godzilla.

Even the chattering of the noble teenagers had lessened over time. The little lady had cleverly changed her position to be with her father and Earl Cedric, so most of the boys let her be. There was Earl Braegor's younger son, her brother, with her. From the looks, they only had barely a year's gap in age.

The relatively older sons of the Barons and Earl had found the game of hunting scared animals more amusing, and their attention had shifted there, with still a few trying to be with Petricia. The Baron's daughter was intelligent, Auren had noticed that. But just like her father, she too was noble first and human after. She was showing deliberate interest in the Baron-lord's sons. Being an only child, Petricia would inherit the Thornmarch one day, and being with her meant having Thornmarch's manpower behind them.

The Baron-lord's sons wanted to become a Baron themselves, following in their father's footsteps.

Somewhere a couple of hours into their after-lunch proceedings, Auren was suddenly called back from the front line by Earl Cedric. Auren did not want to displease the guy anymore—Barons were another thing, but Earls were something he could not mess around with. So he obediently went to the middle part of the group, walking beside the horse-riding Earls.

"Do you come here often with Dante?" Earl Cedric asked.

Auren shook his head. "No, my lord. It's my first time."

"Did he teach you how to use Chi to maintain stamina?" the Earl followed.

"Yes, my lord," Auren answered—not like he could hide the fact that he was using Chi when grown men were wheezing around them.

"Did he teach you how to use the sword?" the Earl asked again.

"Only the basics, my lord," Auren replied.

"Were you the one who made that game? What was it called.. Chess?" This time the question came from Earl Braegor.

Auren looked at the guy for a second—the guy already had all the information about him. It was just him acknowledging that.

"Yes, my lord," Auren replied.

"How did you think of it? Are you a wood summoner?" This time the question was from the young boy. Why did it feel like he was in an interview all over again?

"No, I am not a wood summoner," Auren replied honestly. "The villagers made it. I just gave them the idea."

"But how?" the boy persisted.

"There is not much in the village of Rootfast. We needed a wall—so I used the only thing I could to make money. Entertainment. Thinking of random ideas and making it into something enjoyable is not that hard," Auren explained.

"A kid barely ten years old, makes games that have become a fashion trend, uses his own money to aid his village, and has skills enough to defeat not one but two grown men," Earl Cedric summarized. Then continued, looking at him, "Either you are a second coming of Agenor, or not everything about you is true."

"Why would anyone lie about such things? In such a village at that.." the little lady argued.

"Why indeed," the Earl said while looking at him, as if Auren was a rare creature he couldn't quite figure out was dangerous or not.

"How old are you?" Althea asked.

"Eight," he replied.

"Why did you attack the Baron's knights, in your father's absence at that, and despite knowing that the Baron-lord was coming?" asked the little lady.

Auren could see that she wanted to ask that for a while now. Maybe calling him here was also her doing, not the Earl's.

"My people were attacked," Auren replied, looking at her. "I told the young fool—whatever the matter, he did not have any authority over our village. Wait for the Earl to pass the judgment. I told the knights not to listen to the young fool telling them to kill the little girl—neither listened. I had to act, especially because of my father's absence. No one kills little children in a Goatshield village—no matter the offense."

The two Earls acted like they did not care what he was saying, but he could still feel their gaze on him, despite them not looking at him. The pair of siblings looked at each other, hearing his words, and then Auren heard from the Earl,

"You can go now, boy."

Auren did so, not looking back. He did not want to remain a second longer with this lot anyway. After continuing the slow march forward for two more hours—the Earl called it a night. They camped in the middle of a forest—there was no source of water anywhere, so they had to make do with what they had brought along. Some soldiers and knights got busy preparing the dinner, others put up the camps and temporary fences around the camp perimeter using solid wood stumps and rope.

It wouldn't save them from the thralls, but it would wake everyone up if any animal or thrall came near. Half the people would keep watch—the other half would sleep. Of course, that did not include the nobles; those could do anything they wanted at any time. Hanzo prepared a tent for them too. Auren helped as much as he could.

The only protection they would have against the thralls and echoes was fire. At least that's what he had assumed, but Hanzo told him that was not true. Pointing toward the nobles, he said,

"Do you see those yellow stones on them?"

Auren nodded. The girls had them around their necks and wrists; the males had them on their swords. In the Baron's family, only one was available for all of them, held by the Barons themselves. In the day, it was just another piece of stone, but as the evening grew darker, Auren could see the slight yellow glow coming out of it.

Hanzo continued, "That's called Screaming Stone. Only Lady Starseer can make those in all five kingdoms. They are extremely precious—priced at more than 500 gold a piece. Once charged, it leaves a slight circus sound behind that is unbearable for the thralls—with that, they stay far away, actively avoiding the source. The charge only works for two weeks, and each charge costs 100 gold by Lady Starseer. Tonight, we won't be under any threats from the thralls at least."

A thrall repellent? The cost was insanely high, but it was good to know at least something worked against those immortal night monsters.

"We keep a lookout all night, sleeping in shifts," Auren said, and his eyes held enough seriousness that Hanzo was about to reject it, but instead just accepted it as the more efficient plan.

No one wanted to walk all day and night and then fight a basilisk at the end without getting any rest the day before. It could cost the guy his life—Auren would not have that on his consciousness. Auren ate the food served and immediately fell asleep—the knights and soldiers were carefreely chatting and drinking alcohol they had brought along, completely ignoring the fact that thralls and echoes were not the only things that roamed a dark forest.

But with the wolverine and jaguar present, already summoned and keeping watch—no animals tried to come near at all till it was Auren's turn to keep watch.