Elem woke up feeling fresh and well rested. For the first time in weeks, he took his time when getting out of bed and stretched his body in front of the window of his hostel room. It was a beautiful day. The sky was blue, the sun bright, and white puffy clouds casually drifted above the ocean. He stared at the quiet waves for a moment. The world had never looked so peaceful but he couldn’t shake the excitement rattling through his body.
He took a deep breath. Today was a special day. Today he would finally challenge the master of a renowned summoning school and he knew well that the outcome of that encounter would have a great impact on the rest of his journey to become a legendary summoner.
Fully immersed with his training, the past month had flown by. Together with Aja and her Bicorn, Elem had trained every single day; rigorously pushing himself and both his Summons to their limits. Each morning, they walked to the mainland and had practiced their dueling skills in private.
Apart from meditation sessions and their endless bouts of sparring, they’d come up with specific exercises for each of their Summons. For example, to train the accuracy of the Wyvern’s attacks, they strapped a series of roped barrels behind the Bicorn which Elem’s new Summon then had to scorch with small but precise fireballs. Other exercises involved carrying heavy loads while flying or dodging the Bicorn’s powerful moonblade attacks. For the Kappa, Elem tried to increase its strength and endurance by having the Water Summon roll boulders up nearby hills and break them into pieces with its bare fists when reaching the top. Meanwhile, Aja had trained her Bicorn by having it sprint across a nearby beach and by having it evade the Wyvern’s fire attacks while moving forward.
On two occasions, Elem even had the opportunity to duel traveling summoners that happened to pass by. Although these summoners weren’t nearly as talented as his upcoming opponent, the matches did provide him with confidence and much needed experience in handling his Wyvern in combat situations. Controlling his new Fire Summon had been easier than Elem had expected. The natural bond he shared with his Wyvern made it easier for them to blend their Essence and operate as one.
When they had trained for thirty days straight, Elem had immediately reached out to Master Zorya to let her know he was ready. She offered to meet him for an official match three days later, after he had taken some rest
After a light breakfast down the street, Elem and Aja left to face the town’s summoning master. News of the duel had garnered so much attention from the locals that when they arrived at the battlefield, the stands were already filled with eager villagers. Some latecomers had even attempted to snatch a viewing spot on the nearby beach.
This was a match that nobody wanted to miss. Master Zorya was obviously extremely popular within the village, especially after defeating her last challenger, but the crowd had also grown attached to Elem during the month he spent in Unagi village. After all, everyone knew that he had connected to a powerful summon inside their very own hidden temple; a place that all of the villagers knew about but only a select few had actually seen themselves.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Elem stared at the anticipating faces in the stands. Unagi Village had treated him well, he thought. The people living there were friendly, honest and hard working. Now it was up to him to give them a good show.
He met Zorya on the beach overlooking the battlefield and reached out to shake her hand.
“Good morning challenger,” the master said. “I hope you’re ready for today.”
She was not openly unfriendly but Elem thought something felt different about Zorya. Her face carried an unusually serious expression and the serious undertone in her voice was a stark departure from her usually relaxed demeanor.
“It was a pleasure to have you here, Elem. You seem like a good person and I truly hope that you will have great success as a summoner, but this will not happen at my expense. I will not go easy on you and I want you to know that I'll do everything in my power to utterly crush you and your Summons.”
“I expect nothing less,” Elem replied. He wanted to sound reasonable but the intensity in Zorya’s voice made him feel uneasy. “I am ready for you.”
Without saying another word, Master Zorya stretched her legs and sunk into her unusual summoning stance. She then brought her arms forward and leaned towards the battlefield.
“I summon the Landshark; an Earth Summon,” she called out. “The unbreakable jaws from the depths!”
Following her words, the stage began to shake and a massive molehill erupted in its dead center, giving birth to a truly monstrous Summon.
Elem had never heard of Landsharks before but the creature fitted its namesake perfectly. The Summon resembled a gargantuan hammerhead shark with a large, vertically extending cranium and a series of fins on its back and tail. However, instead of pectoral fins, the shark had two clawed arms and legs to accommodate for its terrestrial lifestyle.
The hair on Elem’s neck stood up straight as he looked at the Earth Summon. Recently, he had almost lost his life to the jaws of a very similar creature and he could have never expected to encounter an even more terrifying shark only a month later. He let out a sardonic snort, the universe always had a strange way of playing out.
“I summon the Wyvern; Fire Summon. The winged beast of destruction!” Elem shouted the incantation as loud as he could and the Wyvern immediately spawned from its orb of fire.
He had wondered whether it was risky to start out with his new Summon but knew it was ultimately better to keep his Kappa as a reliable ace in case the duel went south.
Rather than flying, the Wyvern crashed its heavy body into the stage and stuck out its forked tongue. The sounds of both Summons’ roars raged over the battlefield, followed by a wave of gasps from the audience.
Duelists ready?” the referee asked, raising her batons. “Let’s begin!”