Eternum surged around them, emanating from the summoning orb. It was an invisible wave that rose and crashed down, rushing his two summons, gifting them energy as well as a new and unique strength. Feeling something strange, Onkie squirmed around uncomfortably and jumped a few times. Hammer let out a stream of bubbles in confusion. Then, before his very eyes, the two seemed to grow noticeably in size. Or perhaps, it was their soul aura that grew.

"Onk, onk?" Onkie snorted and dug its face in the dirt.

"Ka!" Hammer swung its claws around, hoping to catch something and tear it apart.

Zachary could feel their rising emotions through their bonds. They were stronger and more aggressive, their prior fatigue seemingly forgotten. Even though both were injured, they appeared ready for another fight.

All of this was due to the black wolf's ability. It was a commonly known ability of canine species called pack bond. In the wild, pack bond increased the strength of canine Ensouled when they were in a pack. As a summon, Sable's ability treated his other summons as members of its pack and increased their fighting strength as well as fighting spirit. It was a very effective support ability and one often utilized by summoners which increased the power of their entire lineup by a significant margin.

As for ability summoning, it was the biggest reason why orb summoning was so prized over card summoning and one of the fundamental methods humans used to gain an advantage over wild Ensouled and establish a foothold in the world. Due to the much stronger soul bond, it allowed a summoner to use certain abilities of their summon. There were limitations such as the effects being weaker and not being able to replicate passive abilities or physical traits. He wouldn't be able to gain a hard shell like Hammer or grow fur like Onkie. But he probably would be able to shoot poison with Arrow or throw out some water droplets using Blue. It provided a tremendous amount of flexibility for human summoners to overcome countless challenges.

"Wow, ability summoning with a freshly bonded Ensouled..." Katherine said.

"Nothing special, I just have a lot of practice with ability summoning." He replied.

She laughed softly, "You sure know how to impress a woman."

"All thanks to Yaoyao."

That statement was the truth, sort of. Zachary did have a lot of practice but he had never held a soul orb until today. He had bonded with Yaoyao through another method known as soul summoning. However, both soul summoning and orb summoning allowed a summoner to utilize ability summoning, albeit with some differences such as effectiveness and power.

“Don’t you mean thanks to the Ice Saint?” She asked teasingly.

He ignored her and turned to his summons, "Onkie, Hammer, let's go fight some wolves."

The two beasts eagerly followed him to the land bridge where the battle was still raging. Aaron was still holding the line with three others. One of them even had a black wolf as a summon already.

"Aaron, let me help for a while," Zachary called out as he approached.

"Oh, it's you. Yeah, come on, we need you. James, switch out with Zachary!" Aaron shouted.

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One of the summoners who had been fighting without rest until now retreated with an expression of relief. Zachary commanded Hammer to move up and fill the gap as James recalled his two summons, an armored beetle and a black crow. Although both beasts were rather weak individually, together, they took care of defense and offense.

However, such a combo was far inferior to Hammer, especially this current Hammer that was strengthened with pack bond. It immediately caught a feisty wolf that tried to jump the new arrival. It crushed the beast’s torso, causing it to yelp painfully and struggle to get free. The wolf bit and clawed at Hammer to no avail. Hammer's shell was impervious to this level of attack. It was like a brick wall, a brick wall with two deadly claws.

"Hammer, that's enough. Throw it over!" Zachary commanded, "Onkie, your turn, subdue it."

Hammer swung its claw, easily tossing the injured wolf overhead. Onkie immediately charged over and slammed its body into the other beast over and over. Its strength was so great that it directly knocked the wolf unconscious, even surpassing Zachary's expectations.

"Damn, that's one scary pig," Aaron commented.

"Onkie is not bad. Your Meatball is quite strong too."

The other pig in question was holding a spot in the defensive line by itself, its tusks helping to ward off several wolves. Every once in a while, it would pick out an injured wolf and drag it back to be captured.

“Maybe… I didn’t think your pig was that strong, at least it wasn’t before. Did it have a breakthrough?” Aaron asked.

Zachary hid a frown. This person beside him was very perceptive, a sign of a talented summoner.

“No, it’s just the pack bond ability from the black wolf I just caught,” He replied and held up the soul orb.

“Ah…” Aaron fell silent for a moment before he turned and shouted, “Mia, give me a soul orb!”

“Alright!” A slender woman ran up and handed him one.

She gave him a warm smile before going back.

Aaron’s expression didn’t change as he headed to one of the captured wolves that was currently unconscious. He roughly lifted its body by the neck until its mouth hung open. He used the sharp fangs to draw some blood into the orb and then dumped the contents into the beast’s mouth.

It was a rough and unsympathetic style of capture. Aaron was probably one of those summoners who sought to dominate their summons. To them, summons were the means to an end, tools that provided them with strength.

It wasn’t Zachary’s style but he wasn’t one to judge others.

“Ha, I’m in luck. This mutt also has the pack bond ability.” Aaron said, “Alright, I’ll name you Blackfang. Come on, Blackfang, show me your ability!”

He clutched the soul orb and thrust it out in front of him. Eternum surged around him and the orb, bending to his will. The orb started to glow white. It increased in intensity for a few moments before it eventually wavered. After several strong fluctuations, the light dimmed and the gathered energy dissipated.

“Eh?” Aaron stared at his hand and the summoning orb in confusion.

“Boss, your Blackfang is still injured.” Someone chimed in, “Let it heal and you’ll easily be able to use ability summoning.”

“I know that!” Aaron said and turned to Zachary, “But… how did you do it?”

Zachary shrugged. It wasn’t some big secret so he decided to show them. He summoned Oakley and Arrow to take over from Hammer and Onkie. The treant filled the gap and used its spindly arms to keep the wolves away. Arrow found a perch on top of its head and started launching poison spit with careful aim.

He then lifted Sable’s orb again and channeled Eternum into it.

“Sable? It’s me again.” He whispered, “Can you use your ability again? It will be the last time. I’ll let you have a good rest afterward. I promise.”

The tired wolf let out soft murmurs of complaint. It was very tired. Another ability would completely drain it of its remaining energy. However, after Zachary’s coaxing, it still obeyed for the sake of its new master.

“Ahhwwooo!”

Pack bond was activated once more and its effects immediately took hold.

“Arrrrrhh!” Oakley let out a cry.

Its movements sped up and it swung its arms with extra force, sending a hapless wolf flying into the air.

Arrow croaked loudly and started spewing poison rapidly. It took potshots at everything that moved without regard for conserving its energy.

Oakley and Arrow were already quite strong after Zachary’s diligent training. Now, they became even more so thanks to pack bond. They combined flexible defense and flexible offense. It was the most fearsome pairing among the summons currently active on the battlefield.