Dreu made the decision to not wake the civilians. He was worried they would panic in the situation and give away their element of surprise should the intruders be enemies. While he and the front liner crept closer towards the intruders, the other adventurers stayed further back ready to support. Dreu felt tense as he recalled the powerful demon in the tunnels. The idea of one of those demons with subordinates made him shiver.

The intruders had yet to light a fire which concerned Dreu. Unlike humans, demons possessed the ability to see in the dark. This made battles at night or, in their case, battles in a dark cave unfavorable for humans. To make matters worse, his side wasn’t fully rested either. They had at most a few hours of rest which was insufficient for classes like Clerics and Sorceresses. Mana regeneration might vary between casters but proper rest could greatly increase the regeneration and a full rest could often fully replenish one's mana. Dreu was fairly certain that the casters in their group were running empty on mana by the time they fled the tunnels. Therefore, they weren’t close to their full strength.

“Fireball!” shouted one of the intruders.

The fireball briefly illuminated the human caster before it flew in the direction of the cave mouth and made contact with a dark silhouette. The burning creature flayed helplessly prior to its collapse onto the ground. Yet, more dark silhouettes appeared at the cave mouth. Then, Dreu was caught off guard by a light similar to the illumination casted by the Cleric back in the cave and shielded his eyes with his arms.

“Shield Wall formation!” shouted another voice while Dreu’s eyes tried adjusting to the light.

The young man could hear the shuffling of armor followed by war cries. Once his eyes were adjusted, Dreu was greeted by the scene of armored knights in a tight formation faced off against demons clad in armor and weapons. Behind the knights, a sorcerer supported himself with a staff and another caster laid on the ground with a bloodied robe. Then, he noticed an odd shadow moving along the cave wall past the knights towards the injured caster.

Summon Footman, he thought in his mind.

A footman appeared before him. This time, its equipment looked a lot more presentable as there was no sign of rust or damage. In addition, the footman also possessed a shield similar to the one he gave the first footman. Compared to his first summon, the second summon, with the recently footman class upgrade, seemed far more ready for battle.

Protect that caster on the ground, ordered Dreu.

The footman nodded and charged towards the humans. Its presence was first noted by the sorcerer who tried raising his hand towards it. Dreu then turned his attention from the sorcerer to the shadow which had gotten a few meters from the caster on the ground. His eyes widened when a demon materialized out from the shadow with its claws directed at the helpless human.

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Before the demon’s claws could make contact, the footman intercepted the claws by diving forward and putting its shield between the demon and the human. Due to the dive, the footman landed awkwardly so it couldn’t recover while the demon, being far more agile, already pivoted to go around the footman and finish what it started.

“Fireball!”

A fireball hit the demon’s arm forcing it to back away. Before it could focus on the sorcerer, another fireball hit its other arm. Dreu turned his head to see the sorceress in his group with her arms raised. When he focused on the demon again, it dematerialized into its shadow form and withdrew from combat. Following that demon’s withdrawal, the other demons also fell back. Dreu breathed out while he watched the footman standing guard over the injured caster.

“Uncle!” said the sorceress who ran up and embraced the sorcerer.

After overcoming the initial shock, the sorcerer laughed and embraced her back. While those two enjoyed their reunion, the cleric made it to the side of the caster and promptly casted healing spells. Dreu, the front liner and the ranger approached the humans slowly. Once they stopped beside the cleric, they noticed the caster was a woman and she was looking up at everyone with a smile. With the battle won and the caster in the process of recovery, all the humans sat and began introducing themselves.

The knight captain first introduced himself as Baldwin. Next, the sorcerer introduced himself as Aleit and introduced the wounded cleric as Isylte. The adventurers then introduced themselves. Dreu learned the sorceress was called Sela while the cleric was Jeane. Sadon was the name of the front liner and people called the ranger Gaenor. Finally, all the gazes turned to Dreu and the footman.

“My name is Dreu,” he said in response, “and this is my summon.”

Dreu watched as the sorcerer’s eyes widened from his introduction. He studied the footman from its head to toe before turning to the young man.

“I have studied magic for over a decade and had never come across such summons. Are you, by chance, a genius summoner?”

“I only unlocked my ability recently,” said Dreu as he quickly shook his head.

“Truly fascinating! If it weren’t for the demon invasion, I would love to learn more about your ability.”

“I’d hate to interrupt,” said Baldwin, “but we should be resting now. We don’t know when the next attack will arrive.”

Everyone agreed and headed deeper into the cave where Dreu discovered the civilians somehow managed to sleep through the entire battle. He turned to his footman.

Is there a duration before you are unsummoned? Dreu asked the footman.

Unless I am defeated in battle or you unsummon me, I will stand guard by your side.

Will keeping you summoned drain more of my mana?

No, the mana cost you use initially is all that’s needed.

Satisfied with the answers, Dreu ordered the footman to keep watch and wake them if any more demons showed up. He informed the others so they could all get much needed rest. This time, sleep came easy for Dreu as soon as he closed his eyes.