Ali walked to the cave mouth where he looked up. A few seconds later, a drop of rainwater touched the ground. A minute later, the dust storm stopped and a drizzle took its place. The teenager was in awe with the power the air serpent commanded. He never thought controlling weather was an ability and, through Tian, he could do so. Then, he remembered the reason why he had the rain dance in the first place.
“It’s drizzling outside now,” said Ali. “Do we take action?”
After further debating, the party members chose to take action. They were gambling on the crashed airship to have supplies so they wouldn’t have to share theirs. As the group headed out into drizzle, Tian had already scouted ahead.
“Tian told me that there are about a dozen survivors from the crash. They are currently hiding within the airship wreck, appearing to be waiting out the drizzle.”
“How many are wounded?” asked Kurata.
“At least half of them.”
For the party, Kurata was the best answer to possible hostility from the survivors. By offering to heal the wounded, Kurata could build the rapport with the survivors and build trust between the two parties. As an added insurance, Ali asked Tian to explore inside the wreck to check on supplies.
“Tian confirmed there are supplies inside. Food and supplies are in plentiful amounts. It seems like the airship is carrying a lot of cargo and a good portion survived the crash.”
“Sounds like we might be taking a gamble then,” said Belen.
The group stopped beneath a ledge to discuss if they should proceed further. They didn’t know what caused the airship to crash. If it was lightning or a natural phenomenon, then there was no risk. However, they couldn’t discount the possibility of the airship being shot down. Cheudal was in a state of civil war so supplies were very valuable. It was even common for bandits to target merchants as a way to quick profit. If someone knew the airship would be carrying supplies and prepared an ambush in advance, the four of them would be stepping into their graves if they went to assist the prey in the scenario.
“The drizzle also doesn’t help our visibility,” added Belen. “If it can end in the next few minutes, that would be ideal.”
Unfortunately, the drizzle now lasts 3 hours so we cannot possibly wait it out anytime soon.
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Tian did a quick search around the crash site but he couldn’t find signs of an ambush. While it was possible that the ambushers miscalculated where the airship would crash and needed time to reach it, the group decided that it was still worth the risk. They could use Belen’s grade D bag to take all the valuables before they fled with the survivors to the mountains. Once they entered the cave, they should be much harder to find.
“I will go in with Kurata,” said Kamis. “We’ll give you the signal once we gain their trust. You know what to do if a fight ensues.”
The party agreed that, if they went in with all four members, they were far more likely to be viewed as enemies. Two people might make the survivors cautious but Kurata could then turn their opinion around. Meanwhile, both Ali and Belen remained hidden. The duo would only assist if necessary but the group hoped they wouldn’t be needed. As extra insurance, Tian would remain nearby to assist with the retreat if it came to that. With the plan figured out, the group reached a ledge overlooking the crash site. Kamis and Kurata then went out to carry out the first step.
I wish you can remain hidden too, Mika. Two hidden summonees can greatly help us in stealthy situations.
What makes you think I cannot?
After getting clarification from the lightning mink, Ali couldn’t believe how fortunate he was. Whether or not summonees could be hidden relied entirely on luck. For him to get two, those odds were extremely low. With this new knowledge, he summoned Mika to the surprise of Belen. She immediately dove and held Mika in her arms, very eager in cuddling with the mink. Ali wanted to tell her to not hurt Mika but the mink said that he was fine. As soon as Belen reluctantly released Mika, Ali asked the mink to go join Tian. Since the mink informed him that they could sense each other due to sharing the same summoner, Mika could join up with the air serpent without either of them breaking their concealment.
“I haven’t seen you summon your ice monkey in combat anymore,” said Ali shortly after Mika left. “Hard for him to gain levels if he doesn’t participate in combat.”
“It’s hard to use him,” Belen responded.
She then compared her summonee to Tian. She highlighted that the air serpent could remain hidden and could fly, giving Tian chances to strike and scout. To make matters worse, the ice monkey had to attack melee range. As seen in their battles thus far, those fighting in melee range had to have strong defense to survive attacks. After she and Ali separated in Dlacis, Belen used her ice monkey a few times but nothing came out of it. While the ice monkey could serve as a distraction, she deemed the MP cost too steep of a price for a mere distraction. Over time, she no longer considered her ice monkey as an option as she prioritized her other skills.
I guess that’s why there are so few strong summoners.
Ali had this conversation with Tian before as to why summoners weren’t so common. The air serpent shared that, unlike people who got a massive boost with a new ability, summonees were investments due to how little they provided relative to their costs. It wasn’t until level 50 that summonees became a massive asset in combat. Yet, most couldn’t wait that long so summon abilities were generally ignored altogether. For Ali, his access to the summoner realm at his low level was a rare, if not unique, case that made his summonees far more powerful than normal.