A purple stag beetle sliced through the thick undergrowth, opening a path onto a clearing beside a small pond. Jean-Pierre appeared behind the large insect and took a breath of fresh air. He stepped into the clearing and was soon followed by Zachary and Katherine who brought up the rear.
They had been on the move for many days since they left their tree base. They had been unsuccessful in finding a new home due to the large numbers of dangerous Ensouled as well as other human parties. They had also encountered a few adept rank Ensouled but none of them fit Zachary’s needs.
“Where is this adept creature?” Jean-Pierre asked. “Are you sure we can beat it?”
“I’m pretty sure. It’s here somewhere, we just have to draw it out,” Zachary said. “It can’t run away easily. Just go slow.”
This time, Zachary had found exactly what he was looking for to hopefully heal his wounded soul. It had taken a while to convince the others, to challenge this adept rank Ensouled hiding on the other side of the clear. Actually, Katherine needed no convincing as she agreed to his idea without much thought. Jean-Pierre was the difficult one but he eventually agreed to give it a try after Zachary convinced him that their target had low mobility and they would be able to run away if things got too dangerous.
“Blue, scout there!” Zachary pointed ahead.
The little bird that was loitering above their heads zoomed across the pond and entered the thick foliage.
“Arrow, come out!” He called as he raised another summoning card to his forehead.
A streak of purple light landed on top of his head, depositing a diminutive frog with brilliant purple and green patterns. It hopped around a few times to get used to its surroundings and then obediently waited for a command.
“Okay, let’s go.”
“About time!”
Zachary and Jean-Pierre walked side by side across the clearing.
Jean-Pierre had his stag beetle in front. He carried a wooden spear as well as a few more on his back. His fighting ability was the best out of the three. He killed easily, without batting an eye, with a kind of eagerness that came with experience. Maybe he really was a serial killer.
They reached the other side but there was still nothing. Zachary didn’t dare to go in and summoned Boba.
“Hiss!” The little brown snake didn’t sound happy.
It had just settled into a well-earned nap after a long day of scouting.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Sorry, Boba.” He said softly and raised the snake on his arm towards the left side of the trail, “Do you sense anything?”
Boba hissed again but reluctantly pointed its head towards the right directly. After bobbing its head side to side and flicking its tongue over and over, it shrank back and didn’t make a sound. It probably didn’t find anything but he wasn’t sure. This was a weakness of card summons, they were obedient up to a point but it was a struggle if they were tired.
Katherine finally spoke up, “I’ll try. Marble has pretty good senses too. Come out, Marble. Go!”
A black and white ball of fur climbed out of her shirt and onto her outstretched arm. Her pet summon made a brave leap and then disappeared into thin air. A few breaths later, it was back, with a proud expression gracing its squashed, furry face.
“Meow… meowwww.” It said and licked her face a few times.
“She found it. She said it’s coming but it’s really slow” Katherine said.
“She said?” Zachary asked sharply.
Summons couldn’t say anything unless…
He shook his head and focused on the task at hand. He would have to address this discovery about Marble another time.
He waited silently until he finally sensed faint waves of Eternum. The trees shook and swayed. From the depths of the jungle, something was on the move and coming their way.
It was definitely at the adept rank. The powerful soul force it emitted was filled with the feeling of hunger and ferocity. There was also anger and indignation as if it couldn’t believe that a few puny creatures had dared to challenge it.
“Eee! Eee!”
Blue bolted out of the trees in fright, crying as if it was about to die. It returned to Zachary and landed on his shoulder. The excitable bird was almost useless. Its water-attribute attack was harmless. If it couldn’t fly, he would have probably cooked it and eaten it.
“It’s coming, careful!”
Zachary brought out his last summon, Onkie, which snorted aggressively at nothing in particular, seemingly ready for a fight. Beside him, Jean-Pierre summoned four insects in total and arranged them in a battle line. Behind them, Katherine’s cat returned to its home inside her shirt, as if this impending battle had nothing to do with it.
Then it appeared, a mass of thin green tendrils that snaked along the ground. It was some kind of living plant, blindly seeking nutrients and prey. The first few tendrils were thin as noodles but they quickly grew in width until they were thicker than a person’s arm.
The creature’s main body slowly broke through the underbrush. It was green like the forest around it. It was made up of thick vines twisted together into a straight stalk that rose above their height. At the very top was a large yellow flower with a blood-red pistil. It looked a head but it had no facial features, not even eyes.
“Fuck, that’s ugly!” Jean-Pierre exclaimed.
Zachary agreed but he also saw beauty in it. This was a plant type Ensouled. Across the world, this was among the two most common types along with beast type Ensouled.
He wanted a plant Ensouled because they were resilient. They had strong defenses and could soak up damage that would kill beasts of the same rank twice over. They also could recover from said wounds far more easily, even without the help of a summoner. But most importantly, it was not uncommon for this type to have an affinity with the element of life. And the element of life meant the chance for a healing ability, exactly what he needed for his soul.
“Get ready!” He called out.
His soul trembled with excitement and anticipation. It wasn’t going to be an easy fight. He hoped that this flower wouldn’t let him down.
The large flower atop the living plant opened fully and slowly turned in their direction. The wide petals fluttered and the long pistil quivered. It made no sound except for its countless vines that moved toward them once more. This somehow made it even more formidable.