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The Familiar Summoner
Chapter 83 - Moving Backwards

Chapter 83 - Moving Backwards

A man was panting under the moonlit sky. He was surrounded by dozens of monster bodies, lying lifeless. Black smoke started to rise from each of the monster's bodies as their essence became one with the world once again. Blood dripped from the fingertips of the man onto the cold, wet ground.

A wet footstep forced the man to turn his hand and ready his weapon. He held out his arms like he was pulling an arrow taut with nothing in his hands. Suddenly, a red arrow made entirely of fire mana manifested in his hand.

"Take another step and that will be the end of your life," the man said.

"But I have so much to offer," a female's voice replied.

"Who are you?" He responded. The woman stepped closer and was finally in sight. She had pointed ears, an elf. Her light blue eyes shone in the moonlight.

"I am here to complete a mission," she replied simply.

"What mission is that?"

"You must die in order for Order magic to creep its way back into this land. After your death I am to visit the leader of a certain League who has yet to know of my plans."

"Why must I die?" the man replied without an ounce of fear in his voice.

"Your death, Guildmaster Rob, will be the starting point for the city leadership to fold to the pressures of Order."

"I must warn you," Rob said. "I am not that easy to kill?"

The elf smirked, "Nor am I. My name is Princess Arayln Althmar." After her introduction, a fire arrow flew through her face. She slightly moved her head just as the arrow passed. It cinged a bit of her hair. She smirked again. Pulling a few small throwing knives from her bandelier, she began running full sprint toward Guildmaster Rob.

Rob wouldn't let her close the distance; he jumped back several meters. He pulled back his imaginary bow and two more arrows manifested; these were black. He fired both of them at the ground where she was running. The ground exploded in a shower of mud and rocks the second the arrows made an impact. This provided the guildmaster a moment to chug a health potion.

Vital energy began flowing through Rob as he waited for his opponent's next move. He pulled his arms back again, manifesting a green arrow. Just as he did, Aralyn appeared from the debris. Her once-white outfit was now covered in dirt, grime, and mud. She threw her knives. The sheer speed was too fast for Rob to comprehend, and they sliced his arms. Gashes formed on his arms, and the impact dismissed the arrow. He pulled back his arms and quickly fired the green arrow.

The arrow glanced at Aralyn's arm, leaving a small cut that barely broke the flesh. Rob's arms were already starting to heal as he was a 4-star ranger. The skin around her arm began to turn a sickly green, "poison arrow huh?" she said. "Not bad." She chanted a spell, and the ground around her started to glow light blue, like her eyes. The glowing engulfed her entire body. Soon, all wounds, dirt, and grim were all cleaned as she continued to fight.

However, the healing spell was somewhat disorientating; Rob was not going to stand still and watch her heal herself. He had fired several arrows, three of them connected; two landed in the back of each shoulder and one in the hamstring. Aralyn screamed as the arrows went straight through her skinny body. The onslaught didn't stop there.

Rob chanted a spell, and several images of Rob appeared all around the downed elf. She looked up with a face of disgust. All the Rob's pulled back their arms as if they were knocking an arrow. Each arrow was different than the other. They fired the arrows all at once. A light shield appeared around the elf, bouncing each arrow off harmlessly.

Aralyn smirked at the human. She broke off the arrows lodged in her body and stood up. She had blood staining her white clothes.

"That wasn't half bad," she said. "But that was your chance to kill me. You missed your moment and now you must die."

"Why are you obsessed with Order magic, young one?" Guildmaster Rob asked. Aralyn didn't respond but simply threw her knives. She would throw them, run around Rob with great speed, and then throw more. To anyone who wasn't a magic user, it would have looked like the two were teleporting around each other. Their movements were swift and brutal to perceive without high perception.

Not only was it hard to see, but it was also not safe to be close. Guildmaster Rob's explosion had just created a 5-meter hole in depth and diameter. The exploding sound was deafening, yet Aralyn walked out of it dirty, unharmed but dirty. Rob had learned the pattern of the elf he was fighting. He understood her movement and fighting style. It was swift yet basic. She would use her speed to throw her knives, which were enhanced by some spell or ability; their flight speed was much too quick for her to simply throw them.

Guildmaster Rob looked up at the moon and nodded. His time was almost up. Now, it was time to learn as much as he could about his enemy.

"Order is the best magic in the world," she said eventually. She was constantly running and trying to hit him with anything. Finally, she decided to stop the throwing knives and try hand-to-hand combat. She threw a flurry of punches; most of them were either blocked or dodged with relative ease.

"Hmm," he mused. "You must have traveled far for you to reach this kingdom; last I heard, Stravenia was not close. Although I am honored, I do not believe I am what you are here for. At least the sole reason." He continued to dodge the knives, punches, and any general attack his enemy gave him. He took a few hits, none too serious, but they did leave him to become bloody once again.

"How did you know where I am from?"

"You gave me your name. I am not just a guildmaster because of my fighting abilities, although they play a significant role. I also love teaching. I teach combat, cultures, and other kingdoms or nations."

"You talk too much," Aralyn said.

"I talk when I need to," Guildmaster Rob said. "Or when I am angry. This was a lovely fight but I am afraid, it is not my time to die, not yet at least." Aralyn frowned at the statement. She kept her assault, but she felt the moon's presence and intensity grow. She looked up to see the human was now glowing in the moonlight. "I do believe we shall meet again. Next time, I will not be merciful. Your death will come swiftly and painfully."

"That's a lot of talk from someone running away."

"In life you must make your moves strategically; sometimes moving backwards is just the right path," the Guildmaster said. "Your path is clouded child. Turn away from your path or you will face a short life, Princess Aralyn Althmar, the fifth in line for the throne."

"Don't you dare tell me what to do!" She shouted. A blast of light blue energy went soaring toward the guildmaster; the white light bounced the blast-off and reflected it right toward Aralyn. She was unable to dodge most of it. Aralyn went flying backward and landed in a field several hundred meters away, knocked out cold.

Guildmaster Rob looked at the unconsious elf sprwaled out on the ground as his teleport lifted him to the Cloud Plaine Kingdom. He shook his head, "such wasted potential. Veluvius is going to love hearing this." As he was going higher and higher, he made another illusion of himself that fell from the white beam and splattered on the ground.

"That should be enough to show my death."

***

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"Yes of course, my lady," Franz said. She led him into a different room that was away from the others. Her eyes were intense as they looked deep into his very core.

"Is everything alright?" Alessia asked. "You seem extra nervous."

"I am humbled by your concern, my lady, I am fine, thank you."

"It's nothing Franz, you are an important figure for this city and our kingdom. If you want or need anything please do not hesitate to reach out."

"Your generosity knows no bounds, thank you my lady," Franz said with a slight bow.

"Of course, we would love to have you and Heidi over for dinner and your kids…" she paused, searching for their names. "Milo and Prada, were their names yes? Twins?"

"That's exactly right my lady, we are honored you remembered. A dinner with the royal family is an incredible offer. I do not want impose."

"Nonsense," she said. "I will send over an official invitation when I return."

"Thank you, my lady. I look forward to seeing it." Alessia smiled brightly at Franz and left the room without another word.

As Alessia left, she walked at a brisk pace. The queen was not just a puppet head or someone who was a pushover. She was not her husband in terms of combat capabilities. What she lacked in combat skills, she made up for it with her political mind. She could read body language, tone, and anything else nonverbal in people with extraordinary accuracy. That was why she pulled Franz aside. He knew something and was hiding something from the council.

It wouldn't do to outright accuse him of doing anything nefarious. She only knew he was hiding something; for all she knew, it could be another child on the way. Even if he flinched at the mention of his children tha,t wasn't enough for her to form any accusations. The invitation was genuine. It was also helpful that they could create some runic formations to prevent spying ears from listening in.

This would allow the king and queen to hear the truth of Franz's position without harming Franz or his family.

Franz made his way back to his house after his frightening conversation with the queen. The invitation put him in quite possibly the worst position imaginable. His family were hostages; there would be no way the kidnappers would allow him to take his family to the royal kingdom. This led to another predicament… ignoring the royal family's invitation would also mean death. He currently was faced with a lose-lose situation.

"About time you return," a gruff voice said. A large wolfman sat in a rocking chair with his eyes closed. "Your family are fine, they had dinner and pissed off to bed."

"I could use a meal and sleep myself," Franz said.

"I'll say, you look terrible," the wolfman said.

"Well lying to the Queen of the Onyx kingdom is not easy."

"I imagine it's not. Oh well, so tell me, before you go get food and rest, how did the meeting go?"

"Well, it went just as bad as you imagined," Franz said. He relayed the details of the meeting to the wolfman, being sure to note his attempts to the man with added emphasis. Franz finished by getting an invitation for him and his whole family to the royal family's estate for dinner.

"Excellent work," the wolfman said. Franz looked at him with surprise. "We put you in an impossible position, and you're doing the job. Dinner with the Onyx family is mandatory to attend, and you simply cannot skip out on that invitation."

"Thank you and I agree. What do I do?"

"You go of course; you're no use to us dead." The wolfman leaned in. "I hope you know that there is nowhere in this world that we cannot find you. If we find out that information has been leaked or you tried to run. We will find you, gut you, and force your family to eat your remains, and then we will kill them."

"I wouldn't dare speak these things," Franz said.

"Good," the wolfman said. "Let me know when the invitation comes. For now, you and your family can be normal until we call upon you again." The wolfman stood up; he was almost double Franz's height. He patted a beefy paw on his shoulder. The razor-sharp claws gently touched Franz's skin, drawing some blood. "You did a good job."

Then, a portal opened behind Franz, and the big wolfman stepped through.

Franz took a deep breath. "What in the world am I going to do now?" The first thing was to get some food, then take a shower, and then sleep. He would worry about the events of tomorrow when they arrived, but for now, his mission was food and then rest, food and then rest.

Franz sat next to his dining room table, a bowl of stew steaming in front of him. He was sipping a mug of tea spiked with alcohol. He was reflecting on how this all happened, how he became the agent for the League of Order in the city. It all started when Guildmaster Rob had died. Franz was the one to find the body. He was fighting alongside the guildmaster until they got separated by a large rush of monsters. Once Franz managed to defeat his horde of monsters, he made his way back to where he had separated.

Franz didn't find an enemy around Guildmaster Rob's corpse. Which meant he had killed all the monsters already. The body of the guildmaster was really torn to pieces, and it was a harrowing sight for Franz to see. It had often kept him in the middle of the night. He had even contemplated leaving his job, leaving the kingdom, and going somewhere nice.

He never got the opportunity to do it. Once he had collected the body or the remains of his old friend, he made his way back to the city. He had seen grim days, but this monster outbreak from the dungeon was the embodiment of the grim days. So many were injured or worse, and now his powerful friend had perished. Franz was happy the monster spawning seemed to be decreasing, which meant an end was near.

Franz recalled that night. Two terrible things happened. First was his friend dying, and then it was coming home to three strangers in his house. There was an elf, a wolfman, and a human. The elf looked like she had just fought and lost badly. Her armor was tattered and stained with mud, grim, and blood. She didn't look up at Franz as he walked in.

Next to the wolfman was his hand firmly on top of his wife's head.

"Good evening, Mr. Franz," the wolfman said. "I am Cedric. You must be wondering why we have your children and your wife."

"That's a good starting point," Franz said.

"As I said I am Cedric; these two don't matter, just as long as things continue to go smoothly. We are all apart of the League of Order. A league designed for those who are seeking Order magic. That's not entirely true, the elf is not apart of the League but she is a cultist of Order magic which is enough."

"Okay?"

"Our plans are simple," Cedric said. "We need you to get the League to have a branch in the city, really it's the kingdom. But we wanted to start in the something you could handle."

"And if I refuse?" Franz asked.

"Then your entire family will visit each other in the afterlife." Cedric grinned, showing all of his sharp canine teeth. His dark fur made his teeth appear whiter and sharper. "You see we are not the pacifist that most would expect from a league. We will kill when we don't get our way or even if we do but someone is seeking to prevent it."

"What do I get if I succeed?" Franz asked.

"You'll be reward for 15% of the profit and your family lives. That should be enough of an incentive."

"It is quite good," Franz said. "Fine, I can't have you killing my family." The second he agreed, the wolfman grinned maliciously. He released Franz's family as they all came rushing to his arms. His twins had tear-soaked faces; their eyes were red and puffy. Both of his children were eleven years old, one boy and one girl. His wife kissed him on the lips and hugged him close. They were scared and hurt.

"We'll be back tomorrow to discuss the details of the plans," Cedric said. "Let me correct that, I will be back tomorrow. These two have other business to attend to. Smart choice to come with us. I do not like killing children, but I will do it for the right cause." A white portal opened up in the middle of his living room and the three walked in, forever changing his life.

Franz heard footsteps that shook him out of his memories. His wife, Heidi, had walked out to him. She kissed him on the forehead. She took a seat next to him and poured herself a mug of tea as well. The two sat in silence for a while. Heidi had known her husband long enough to know what he was thinking about.

"I'm sorry we are in this mess," Franz said.

"You didn't do anything but be alive," Heidi replied. "They chose us out of randomness, could have been anyone in the city."

"I feel like there has to be a connection, first Rob now this, seems too fishy."

"It does but it doesn't matter what it seems like. We have to do what we can to survive. They don't seem particularly violent if you do what they say."

"That's what troubles me," Franz said. "Whenever I have bad students, they are bad all the time. Everything they do is bad. These people are so kind that they are not. Cedric will smile and tell me good job and then threaten me in the same breath. That is not something I can trust.

"So what are we going to do?" She whispered.

"Pray that the Onyx kingdom can save our lives… I have a plan," Franz said.