Once he was back in the safety of Aok’s store, Ali found himself surrounded by his companions who all gave him a big hug. Only Kamis cried like a big baby while the others shed some tears over this reunion. Miniya walked up to him and claimed that she missed him due to her worry of Mika disappearing with him. Since summonees were connected to the summoner on so many levels, the death of the summoner rarely meant good things for the summonee.
Looks like you were doing fine with me, Mika. Maybe you would rather I don’t come back?
The lightning mink was quick to state that he would never leave Ali’s side. If it weren’t for the importance of keeping Miniya safe, he would have left to search for him regardless of where he went. The teenager didn’t know who taught the lightning mink to speak like that but he wasn’t displeased with his companion. Mika couldn’t fly like Tian which would have caused a lot of problems if the lightning mink was running around the cavern. Since he had returned safely and Miniya was unharmed, he could count his blessings on this matter.
Mika, there’s something important I need to discuss with you. Can you come to my summoner realm tonight?
Later that night, Mika arrived as he was asked and Ali went to sleep. In the summoner realm, both Tian and Mika stared at him, curious why he wanted the two of them present.
“You can come out now,” said Ali as he stared at a large tree, surprised he could sense the snake's presence with such ease.
Few seconds later, the snake came out, to the surprise of both Tian and Mika. The three of them interacted briefly before Tian turned to Ali.
“This is the same creature that came out of the toad dragon,” stated the air serpent.
“So he…it…is a toad dragon?” asked Ali.
“First, I’m a she.” The snake didn’t look pleased with Ali’s misidentification of its gender. “Secondly, I told you I’m not a toad dragon. Do not associate me with those abominations!”
Ali looked to his two companions to see if there was truth spoken by the snake.
“She is not a toad dragon,” said Mika. “It clearly says that she is an earth dragon whelp.”
“Where?”
After several minutes of trial and error following the vague instructions of both Tian and Mika, Ali discovered the way to make information appear above any creature within his summoner realm. The information was displayed similarly to that of the prompt but his companions told him that one didn’t have access to the prompt within the realm. Having learned something new, the teenager took a few seconds to stare at the information.
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<
Name: Qeday
Type: Earth Dragon Whelp
Summoner: N/A
>
“So how does Qeday get a summoner? Does she leave here to find someone she finds worthy?”
“I cannot leave here anymore, human.” Qeday’s voice sounded more irritated. “Either you accept me as your summonee which is a very good option for you or I perish.”
The teenager looked to his two companions who confirmed what the whelp said. He then asked how it was possible, to which the whelp touched his finger with its tail. A small glow erupted from the contact before it went out like a fire. Ali checked the updated information.
<
Name: Qeday
Type: Earth Dragon Whelp
Summoner: Ali Cissoko
Ability Learned: Earth Dragon (Level 1)
>
“It feels inconvenient at times when I cannot access the prompt here,” said Ali who wanted to see Qeday’s stats and how the earth dragon whelp could help him in combat.
“We can have a few mock battles if you want to see how strong Qeday is,” offered Mika.
The resulting mock battles were certainly disappointing for the three of them as they expected Qeday to be quite strong. One would expect an earth dragon, even a whelp, would pose a threat to others. However, Qeday redefined the very definition of weak and she was complaining about getting bullied after the two battles. She not only couldn’t cast any offensive abilities of her own but both Tian and Mika could finish her off with a single blow. As the whelp cried on the ground, Ali went and carefully picked her up.
“I’m sorry about that,” said Ali. “We’re so used to combat that we always gauge the strength of others through battles. We aren’t picking on you on purpose.”
Qeday stopped her crying after the apology and said that she forgave the three of them. She then asked them what they did in the summoner realm for fun.
“We fight each other to hone our skills,” replied Ali awkwardly.
“Why do you have the summoner realm?” asked Qeday suddenly. “Neither you nor your companions look remotely strong enough to unlock the summoner realm. You mentioned you got it through unconventional means?”
Ali looked to Tian who nodded his head. The teenager then explained to the best of his abilities of what happened that led to him accessing the summoner realm. He stated clearly that he had no clue what triggered but he was thankful for unlocking the realm as it had made a big difference in life and death situations.
“What are your plans now?” asked Qeday. “Surely you don’t plan on staying in this city, right?”
“Why wouldn’t I? There are…” Ali then stopped himself as he recalled what Aok told him as the two of them exited the underground caverns. “You know something, right? You know what was in those caverns and what was released with the death of the toad dragon?”
“I do but I’m not sure if you want to know,” replied the whelp. “There are horrors you may not want to know as long as you live. They were sealed away for a reason and those responsible for the sealing were far more powerful than anyone in the city right this moment. With them released into the city, it will be a matter of time before they bring destruction and death in their pursuit of power and control.”