After a few hours of training with Qeday, Ali suggested that they take a break. By then, the ice monkey had made his appearance by standing a safe distance away while observing their training. Ali walked up to the summonee.

“Welcome to the squad! I hope you don’t hate Belen for this.”

Ali had the intention of being the mediator if the two of them parted poorly. He feared how the ice monkey would perform whenever Belen was also present.

“We parted amicably because we understand this situation,” said the ice monkey after shaking his head. “Why do you have the summoner realm, by the way? This is beyond weird!”

“That’s what I said!” exclaimed Qeday who popped up beside the ice monkey. “It’s quite comfortable here though so I have nothing to complain about!”

Ali waited for the two summonees to finish their short exchange before resuming his conversation with the ice monkey.

“What name do you go by?” asked the teenager.

“Belen gave me the nickname Glacier and I like it. You can call me that.”

“Alright, Glacier. Can you show me what you can do?”

“I can only scratch, like what I did when you dueled Belen. Beyond that, I’m no good at anything else.”

The teenager scratched his head as he pondered what to do with the ice monkey. This summonee lacked the ability to fly like Tian and was much larger than Mika. Both of those made it harder for Glacier to land any clean hit without taking hits from a foe. Even without his prompt, Ali knew that that Glacier was low level which didn’t help either. Leveling up Glacier would be very challenging unless the ice monkey unlocked new abilities.

Why would Miniya suggest this? Does she believe that I can turn Glacier into a dangerous summonee?”

“Let’s go to your temple then! Maybe we can gain something useful there.”

Ali led the way as the party of three made its way to the pillar. There were now four temples forming a square if one looked down and connected them with four lines.

“Glacier, let’s start with your temple then. Which is yours?”

The teenager didn’t want to admit that he couldn’t differentiate which temple belonged to who. His summonees could easily tell which one was theirs so he allowed them to lead the way. The ice monkey led him and Qeday into a temple that wasn’t all that different from Tian’s or Mika’s temples, both on the outside and inside.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

I must remember to check with Tian. Maybe he had grown stronger for more of the temple to get unlocked.

They arrived at the altar where three choices appeared before them.

“An icicle seems harmless until it’s used as a weapon.”

“No one takes a winter storm seriously until they are caught in a blizzard.”

“Watch the terror of others as their world freezes before their eyes.”

Qeday was the first to finish reading all three. The whelp then waited until Ali and Glacier were done as well before saying how all three choices sounded incredibly strong. Even Ali had to agree that these suggested special abilities were more than mere stat changes. They might be exactly what Glacier needed to be more useful in combat.

“The icicle seems like a possible ranged attack which can improve Glacier’s offense immediately,” said the teenager.

“I like the idea of summoning a blizzard!” exclaimed Qeday. “Our foes will fear our might!”

“The blizzard isn’t useful unless we have someone who benefits from it,” said Glacier. “It can be great with Belen’s abilities and her alone. I personally think it does more harm to us than good.”

Ali nodded after hearing Glacier’s assessment. A blizzard created heavy snow and lower visibility which could hinder those unaccustomed to those conditions. The teenager had his fair share of snow storms back on his pillar home and, based on what he read, blizzards were much worse. With that knowledge, he agreed that a blizzard ability was a poor choice for them.

“The third one appears to be a flash freeze ability,” continued the ice monkey. “That is situational but far more useful than a blizzard if it’s focused more locally.”

“If you had a choice between the icicle and the flash freeze, which would you pick?”

Unable to justify one over the other, Ali wanted the ice monkey to make the choice. The two remaining choices were both special in their own ways. Icicles was an offensive move while flash freeze was a terrain changing ability. Both had their pros and cons.

If we want something different for our arsenal, flash freeze is probably the best. It’s a terrain altering ability that can allow us to get out of certain tricky situations. Still, I want Glacier to pick.

He couldn’t say it out loud but he pitied Glacier. Pity was probably not the right term. He just found their situation relatable in some ways. Following his parent’s death, he was supposedly given to another family where he was seen as a burden. Never once did he feel wanted so he stayed far away and became independent out of necessity. The ice monkey could be facing the same situation if he didn’t do what he could to make Glacier feel at home.

What happens when a summonee gets abandoned? Maybe I don't want to find out.

“I will pick the flash freeze one then,” said Glacier after he had some time to think. “I can move better on ice which means I can reach my foes more easily in an icy environment.”

“Good! Let’s give it a try then!”

The party headed to another pillar where Ali and Qeday watched from above. Glacier warmed up a bit, though the teenager wasn’t sure if that was necessary. A minute later, the entire pillar surface was covered in ice. To Ali’s surprise, Glacier wasn’t kidding about moving better on ice. The ice monkey was barely a blur as he moved across the ice. That combined with many individuals fighting poorly on ice meant the ice monkey had an overwhelming advantage.

Looks like we got ourselves a very helpful ability...