“We can rest here for now, Klare,” suggested the girl with a long black hair; her hair ruffled and her long light blue dress frayed.

After checking the vicinity of the forest and making sure there were neither monsters nor wild beasts nearby, they rested under a big tree, enough to provide shade from the sunlight.

“Come here, Raela,” Klare tapped her lap with both hands with a soft smile.

“Ah… I can’t, my hair is dirty and oily,” Raela meekly declined.

“Do not worry about such things. Just come here and lie down,” Klare insisted.

“But—”

“Raela.”

“Alright…”

Klare’s persistence won, and now Raela is soundly sleeping. Klare can’t help but smile at the sight of her getting her well-deserved rest.

She glanced at Raela’s left hand and saw a ring—the exact same one she’s wearing on her left hand’s ring finger.

This made her giggle a bit. “Take a good rest, Raela,” she muttered as she slowly and ever so gently caressed Raela’s head.

———

——

—

Klare and Raela are the daughters of one of the most notable nobles of the Anemos Kingdom. A nation of elves and beastmen. Not only that their fathers were childhood friends, but they also have a friendly business rivalry going on. If one of them is backed into a corner, the other one will gladly help him get back up.

Because of this, Klare and Raela grew up relatively close. They’d play together, study together, sleep together, learn magic together, and do stupid things together as children.

After graduating from the Royal Magic Academy at the age of eighteen, they both decided to become adventurers. But this is no easy task. As nobles, they knew that they had duties to uphold for their households. They know they can’t be selfish, but still, they wanted to at least ask once and hear it directly from their parents’ mouths.

To their surprise, none of their parents disagreed. More like, they encouraged the two of them to be adventurers. From buying their equipment to helping them train, they got all the help they ever needed to challenge the world. As they’re already well-versed in the field of magic, the training they received personally from their fathers made them much better and more powerful than when they were at the Royal Magic Academy.

Unbeknownst to Klare and Raela, their fathers were also a famous adventurer duo known as the “Absolute Duo” back in their younger days.

And because fate is a funny thing, they would soon acquire the same title.

As the years went by, they became much closer than when they were children. At first, all they ever wanted was to be by each other’s sides, but little by little, their friendship bloomed into something much more complicated yet endearing on its own.

—

——

———

Four hours later, Raela woke up. When she opened her eyes, she was greeted by Klare’s sleeping face, leaning her back against a tree, her right hand still on her head.

“Klare…” she muttered as she holds Klare’s hand.

“Mmm…?” Klare mumbled, slowly waking up.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up. Good morning.”

“Raela… Good morning…”

Raela slowly stood up and held her hand out to Klare. “Well, then. I know you just woke up, but shall we get on our way?”

Klare took her hand and stood up.

The two of them continued to make their way out of the thick forest.

*****

Meanwhile, Greo’s party arrived in Flitaria, a village near the Flatta Forest, where Flatta Ruins are located. It took them two full days of traveling by wagon before they arrived. A normal wagon would take seven days, but because they used a wagon driven by centaurs, their traveling speed drastically increased.

Although Flitaria Village is a relatively small village, it still has small inns and restaurants to accommodate the adventurers and merchants staying in their village.

Of course, this village has a specialty that they are so proud of. It’s a sandwich that they call “Lettuce Beef Sandwich,” made from a wild beast called Sativa Taurus. This wild beast appears in the depths of Flatta Forest. It has the appearance and height of a calf. They’re a pretty weak wild beast, as their skin is made of a leaf—lettuce, to be precise. A single deep stab of the knife in any part of their body would make them bleed profusely and die afterwards. But do not let their appearance fool you; they’re known to put any unsuspecting adventurers—especially those who are lost in the forest—to sleep and consume them afterwards, leaving no trace behind.

But even after learning about the horrors of this wild beast, people still see it as a high-quality ingredient. One would wonder what the person who discovered this was thinking.

“Summoner boy, let’s eat that before we find an inn to stay,” Zelentriya suggested, as she pointed to a stall.

“Alright, I guess we could do that first.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

They went into one of the stalls in the street where people were lining up. Upon getting closer to it, their noses were tickled by the smell of the crispy-looking round meat that the man was frying in a pan.

“Ohhh! That’s quite the smell. I can’t wait to taste it. But still… this line is pretty long,” whined Zelentriya.

“It looks like this will take some time. I’ll find us an inn in the meantime,” said Jiuru.

“Hm? Will you be fine? You get lot easily.”

“I-I’ll be fine, brother Greo. I’ve been on this village before. Besides, it’s not that big for me to get lost.”

“Well… if you say so. Be careful, alright?”

“I will.”

*****

“He’s lost,” said Greo.

“He is?” asked Aelee.

“Definitely,” answered Zelentriya, her mouth full.

Three hours have passed since Jiuru went looking for an inn, and he has yet to come back.

“Summoner boy,” called Zelentriya.

“Hm?”

“Let’s have you try summoning support animals.”

“Support animals huh… Now that I think about it, I haven’t tried summoning one yet—wait! We should look for Jiuru first!”

“What? There’s no need to worry about him. If he can easily withstand my fourth tier magic, nothing in that forest can harm him. I already told him to constantly keep his Body Barrier on.”

Zelentriya has been continuously training Jiuru ever since he joined their party. Same routine for a month. Zelentriya will bombard Jiuru with fourth-tier magic until his barrier breaks and call it a day. As the days go by, he lasts longer, and his barrier becomes sturdier. When the last day came, he’d been able to block Zelentriya’s fourth-tier magic without breaking a sweat.

Even Zelentriya was surprised by this. Jiuru, she thought, easily adapts to every magic she uses on him. On the first day, she only used simple magic using the four elements: fire, wind, water, and earth. Zelentriya noticed that her attacks are becoming less effective when she uses the same spell she did the day before. Because of this, she went from combining two elements to four elements every time he adapted. In a span of thirty days, Zelentriya used a total of three hundred and forty-five spells.

“He sure progressed a lot in a month. Alright, if you’re confident that he’ll be fine, let’s try your suggestion.”

“You do know how to summon one, right?” asked Zelentriya.

“I did read about it before. I still remember it, don’t worry.”

“Good. Let’s move outside of the village.”

After walking—while eating—for a while, they arrived in an open space near the forest.

“Alright. This place should be fine. Summoner boy, try summoning a hollow eagle,” said Zelentriya.

“Hollow eagle?” asked Greo.

“Hm?” Aelee wondered. “Zel, isn’t that from demon realm?”

“Oh? I’m surprised you know, light girl. Yeah, it’s from demon realm. Since we need something to help us look for the mage boy, that one should do the trick.”

“I heard that they’re pretty hard to control. Are you sure Greo will be fine?”

“Light girl, you worry too much. He’ll be fine,” reassured Zelentriya.

Zelentriya then went on to describe what the hollow eagle looks like and the amount of mana it requires. Since the magic circle for all types of support animals is the same, a strong mental image of the specific support animal that a summoner wants to summon is necessary. Thankfully, Greo has it. He can get rid of his unnecessary thoughts and solely focus on his objective.

“You got it, summoner boy?”

“Yeah. I’ll start.”

“Good luck, Greo,” said Aelee.

Greo stood in front of the magic circle and held out both of his hands in front with his eyes close.

First, imagine the look of a normal eagle… then remove both of its eyes… add two small black horns on its head… and an aura of darkness…

The magic circle grew a faint blue light.

“Hohh… Looks like there won’t be any infected monsters this time,” said Zelentriya, amused.

“That’s a relief—“

“Now, we need to defend him.”

“Eh?”

“I kind of forgot to mention. The light will turn black in a few minutes, and when it does, it will attract monsters and wild beasts. The black light is a sign that he succeeded in summoning the hollow eagle, it is a corrupted mana that all normal monsters and wild beasts like, they see it as a sustenance that they must have. We’re only at the entrance of the forest, but don’t let your guard down, light girl.”

“Geez, Zel. You should’ve told me that sooner,” Aelee huffed. She put her staff at her back and cast “Light Blade!” to materialize a one-handed sword made out of light magic.

Aelee went beside Greo, enough to not disturb his summoning, to protect him.

A few minutes later, the magic circle’s light slowly went from blue to black, and the Hollow Eagle emerged bit by bit. First, its dark horns; then its expressionless face; its wings; and lastly, its sharp, jet black talons.

Greo opened his eyes and…

“Just… what happened here? Why are there so many magic stones and dead wild beasts here?” he asked, confused.

Aelee scratched her cheek. “Uh… Well…”

Zelentriya went and explained what had actually happened.

Greo sighed, “You should’ve told me that before I started…”

“And do what exactly?”

“…. good question. Anyway, this is the hollow eagle right?”

“That’s right. Now, you just have to give it a name so you can summon it anytime.”

“A name huh…”

Greo thought long and hard for a name. He really did, but unfortunately…

“How about Hollo?”

“Are you being serious right now?” Zelentriya asked with a sour look on her face.

“What?”

“I think it’s good name, Greo.” Aelee seems to like it.

Zelentriya shrugged and let out a sigh. “Just do what you want.”

Greo stood in front of the hollow eagle and placed his right hand on its head.

“You. A creature from the demon realm. A corrupted eagle of the sky. I grant thee the name, Hollo.”

As Greo finished naming the hollow eagle, it faintly glowed for a second. After receiving its name, it looked at him, spread its wings, and flew over his shoulder.

I will gratefully accept the name master has given me. Today, I shall be known as Hollo.

“Whoa! That scared me…”

“What’s wrong, Greo?” asked Aelee.

“Ah, nothing. I was just surprised when he suddenly talked to me.”

“Oh that’s right, summoners can talk to their summons telepathically, can’t they?”

“Yeah,” Greo said. “Alright, Hollo. I’ll give you your first task. Can you look for Jiuru? This is what he looks like.”

Greo projected Jiuru’s image on his mind and showed it to Hollo.

Understood. I will depart at once.

With his objective in mind, Hollo flew up high at the speed of sound. It left no sonic boom or sound, and the only thing that the summoner can see is a trail of shadow. In the eyes of others, Hollo simply looked like he had disappeared.

“Ohh! Look at him fly. That’s some speed,” complimented Zelentriya.

“I didn’t know they could fly that fast,” said Aelee.

But it seems like Aelee and Zelentriya can see Hollo just fine.

After seeing Hollo fly off, they went into the forest on foot to search for Jiuru. They asked the villagers on their way out of the village if they’d seen him go somewhere. One of them told Greo that he went into the forest in a hurry.

*****

“Why did he even go in here in the first place? We’ve been walking for an hour now, I’m getting hungry,” complained Zelentriya.

“But we just ate earlier, Zel…”

Master! I found Jiuru. He’s currently engaged in a battle. He’s protecting a single girl behind him.

“Wha-!?”

“What’s wrong, Greo?”

“Did the eagle found the mage boy?”

“Yeah. It looks like he’s fighting someone. Hollo, can you lead us there?”

Understood. I’ll mark their location.

“What do you mean—? W-What the hell is this?”

All of a sudden, an image popped in Greo’s mind.

“What is it, summoner boy?”

“Suddenly, there’s a map on my head…”

“Oh, that has to be their skill, [Locator]. That’s the skill you will obtain after successfully summoning a hollow eagle,” explained Zelentriya.

“That’s so convenient. Is that why you made him summon the hollow eagle, Zel?”

“Something like that.”

The image in Greo’s mind is the map of the whole Flatta Forest. Numerous red dots are scattered all throughout the map. Some are isolated, and some are in groups. Greo also sees a small number of white dots; some are entering the forest, some are exiting, and some are clashing with the red dots on the map. There are also four blue dots; three of them are close to each other, while the other one is on the other side of the map, a little bit further away from them. Near the lone blue dot are two dots of different colors; one side is white, and the other is a red one. Near those three dots is a single green dot circling them in the air.

“I think I know how this skill works now. You two, let’s go!”

With that, they rushed to Jiuru’s side.