Rise of the Weakest Summoner

It didn’t take long before a crimson gate surfaced next to him and an ecstatic panthergirl lunged into Ast’s arms.

“You did it, Master!” Miria giggled adorably while attempting to spin them around.

He allowed his cuddly mate to snuggle to him while the others joined them with warm smiles, taking a glance around to confirm their surroundings. Rusilthea was examining the forest and the village the most, which wasn’t surprising considering the fact that it was all new to her.

“Well, that is unless Master wasn’t aiming for your village, Miria,” Bryn commented, looking at the duo curiously.

“Worst case scenario, at least the overall destination is right,” Silvia added.

Putting his beloved mate down and offering the cheerful girl a few tender kisses as an apology for interrupting her fun, Asterios turned to them. “It more or less worked out as I intended it to. I was thinking of Miria’s village while at the same time trying to not be too forceful and demanding regarding the final destination. The transfer was much smoother too.”

“All that matters is that you managed to succeed. And you still have a few days to polish your new ability before we have to present it to the Nest Mother,” Althea said proudly. “Congratulations are in order anyway. It’s truly inspiring watching a True Dragon discover his capabilities. Unfortunately, we don’t get that chance very often. For obvious reasons.”

“Am I the only one feeling like all of that appeared kind of… orchestrated?” Tina chuckled anxiously.

“What? Do you now believe in divine frogs capable of predicting the future and intelligent enough to plot an entire scenario to mysteriously unlock someone’s potential by showing them the way?” Grea snorted while putting her fists on her hips. “Yeah, right.”

The ladies laughed but many of them felt at least a tad weirded out by their recent encounter. It couldn’t be denied that the whole experience seemed off from the moment Asterios had landed right in front of a lone frog in quite a big vicinity around the small swamp and a rather massive for the tiny amphibian distance from its home.

But, they didn’t really have any means of investigating the matter unless the frogs decided to show up in front of them again someday. Perhaps Asterios wouldn’t mind taking their realm as one of his targets during the upcoming practice. One time might have been a lucky shot so he needed to verify that he truly could hop dimensions now almost at will.

“How do you feel after the transfer?” his doting teacher asked.

“Good. Less spent than the other two times, though those weren’t particularly draining either.” He scratched his chin while using his other hand to scratch Miria’s rounded ears. “I think I need to mostly work on the speed with which I complete the ritual and the size of the breach I can create. After getting used to doing it in my humanoid form, I might need to switch to my draconic body just as you mentioned before.”

Selene assumed a thoughtful expression while her single bushy tail lazily swayed behind her back. “How big do you think you will be able to make it in the future, my Lord? The number of people going through it at the same time won’t be an issue, right?”

“Regarding your former question, I don’t think so. It’s similar to creating a static corridor through Summoning Magic which almost anyone can use. This is part of the reason why I kept messing up. It’s just too close and I couldn’t get my mind to properly separate them,” Asterios replied, wrapping his free arm around his vulpine lover’s waist and starting to stroke the long white cloud with his fingers, effectively caressing both of his beastfolk ladies.

“And why are you wondering about that, Selene?” Bryn glanced the vixen’s way ponderingly, who gave the Valkyrie an impish smile.

Their winged friend’s eyes widened after a few seconds as the realization dawned on her. But, the others had picked up on it too.

“Don’t tell me, you are thinking about moving entire ARKs through those tears?” Asterios stared at Selene incredulously, who only kept grinning.

“That’s insane!” Tina gasped.

“But I love it!” Grea cackled, her bright eyes shining with even more ferocity.

“ARKs?” Rusilthea furrowed her brows at them.

“Imagine a floating fortress made of golden metal that functions as a city housing at least a few thousand individuals,” Silvia explained. “There are twelve of them and each one is as big as a small mountain. They are what is left of Bryn’s people after a grand cataclysm struck her home realm, rendering the ground beneath uninhabitable and mostly useless.”

“That would look so cool, Master! I can already see it! Twelve beautiful structures floating in a ring around Glimmervale!” Miria practically vibrated in place and it wasn’t just because of her loud purrs. “That would also make everyone so much safer and give them an opportunity for a life they all deserve!”

“I admit that it’s a compassionate idea, but I’m afraid that it’s not as simple as opening a big enough gap and somehow pushing the ARKs through, even if we arrived at a point where that’s possible.” Asterios tried to curb her enthusiasm a tiny bit.

“Master is right.” Bryn joined his efforts with a melancholic smile. “Personally, I would love nothing more than to see all of my kind move into this incredible realm but we have already learned that it’s not limited only to those living inside the ARKs. Additionally, we have just freed the Descending Spire and I don’t think it would be as easy to move, so we would have to leave it and the people who settled down there behind. But, after deeply considering the opportunity your new ability offers us, I think it could be agreed that a few cities should be moved.”

“Brage, for example,” Selene suggested. “And the other ARKs that aren’t military-themed. Your sisters could comfortably be born, grow up, and get education or training here, and whoever wished to aid those still in Heven would get a chance to move to Tyr or the city atop the Spire. Just imagine how much stronger and better-motivated they would be by developing and maturing in much more favorable conditions.”

“Granted, we figure out a way of transporting people between realms we know about without Asterios having to open an interdimensional gap every day,” Silvia pointed out. “It might not feel like that much right now, but I can almost guarantee that it will become an extremely difficult chore to keep up after a while.”

“Once in a week should be enough, perhaps even fortnightly,” Grea added, scratching her head. “But you are right, it wouldn’t solve the problem of Ast being unavailable. It’s either we transfer literally everyone we know and don’t think about those who might have been left behind somewhere or not do it at all. Splitting a community is never a good thing. It can destroy its unity, creating a group of more privileged people.”

“Maybe our ancient, wisdom-seeking, and all-powerful friend can help us out a little?” Tina pondered out loud, looking at the ominous lady who had again appeared silently between them without anyone noticing. “I’m sure she knows a thing or two about spells permanently connecting two worlds or such. I mean, even our people figured out long-range teleportation. A little bit of help wouldn’t be as much of a problem as a reward for solving Umbra’s world’s issue, no?”

Abyss didn’t respond instantly, even as everyone’s focus turned to their mysterious companion. Tina endured the emotionless stare that was directed back at her by those deep and profound swirling dark violet eyes. The fact that Abyss hadn’t immediately denied the possibility or shot the idea down gave them all an inkling of hope that she might actually be considering sharing what she knew about certain techniques.

“It’s a serious bit of magical feat to do so and there’s a reason not many can achieve it, even amongst True Dragons,” she finally spoke up. “Although, being able to jump realms at will, from any place to any other place, is fundamentally different from an established transfer channel that can be used only in two chosen locations. I’ll need some time to think about it.”

Miria pumped her fist while cheering adorably and shooting their winged friend a joyful grin, making Bryn blush a tiny bit from the amount of care and affection.

“Don’t get your hopes too far up.” Asterios chuckled, pacifying his lovely mate a little. “Even if we learn this, logistics will still play a massive role in that operation. But, I guess you can start researching and working on things while we are visiting Umbra’s realm since you are staying behind, Bryn.”

“Just don’t think of finishing your quest to collect all the Wings without us!” The panthergirl squinted at her, bursting into cute giggles when Asterios put more pressure into his rubs.

“I’ll try not to.” Bryn smiled back at them affectionately. “But, I can have a little adventure of my own while you are having fun in Umbra’s world, can’t I?”

A cute pout snuck onto Miria’s face as her nose wrinkled a tiny bit. “I guess that’s only fair…”

Their valkyrja friend laughed openly and stepped closer to envelop all three of them in a cordial hug. “I promise I won’t do anything too adventurous without you. It wouldn’t be anywhere near enjoyable without your presence and cheerful personality, Miria.”

“You are the best sister-mate, Bryn!” Miria nuzzled her cheek into Bryn’s as Asterios and Selene watched them in amusement.

“Are you going to continue practicing or take a break like the last time?” Silvia asked.

He glanced at the two women who had been helping him achieve that feat.

“Now that you have managed to succeed, I don’t think you necessarily need to give your mind time to cool down and reset before another attempt. Or perhaps attempt is no longer a valid expression,” Althea answered the question first. “Only your mana reserves and mental exhaustion should limit the number of breaches you can create in a day.”

“I agree.” Abyss nodded slowly. “I believe you’ve gotten it and your next attempt will be successful too. We can even test that theory immediately if you wish. Of course, do not pick my child’s realm for it yet as we don’t know what might happen after we step inside.”

“Can we visit the village while we are here, Master? Pretty please?” Miria struck him with pleading eyes right after and he chuckled softly, knowing that it was a real challenge not to give in.

“I don’t see why not. Do you mind, Rusi?” He turned to Tina’s new familiar and his fellow disciple.

“Of course not.” The draconic girl waved dismissively. “I’m sure you can tell but I’m loving this. This is all so interesting and I can’t wait to see what else the big universe has in store for me, or what kind of people live in this village before us. I’ve mostly interacted with other Lesser Dragons and the last few days were truly entertaining.”

“Looks like it’s decided.” Grea smirked. “Good thing we had a quick dip in a clean spring. Though, after someone took their relaxation a bit too seriously, I don’t think it’s that unsullied anymore.”

While the demon woman directed knowing smiles his way, a certain fox-eared lady didn’t hide her hungry expression as her cheeks were tinged with the faintest trace of warmth. Then, Abyss excused herself for now and returned to whatever she had been doing before appearing by Ast’s side in the previous realm. The others grouped up and walked together towards the entrance to Miria’s hometown. Their sweet panthergirl showered Rusilthea with facts and information about her race with visible passion while the recipient of those tales and stories ate them up with rapt attention.

The two sentries keeping watch at the border of the village quickly recognized their black-haired hunter and waved at the group happily. After exchanging a few words with the pair, Miria brought everyone inside. As usual, while they weren’t exactly in the center of attention, a numerous party of non-beastfolk turned some heads.

At the same time, Asterios was well-known amongst the residents enough to be recognized as Miria’s strong mate and someone they could consider family by now. Though, that fact earned him some rather amorous glances from the various animal-like ladies and none of his current lovers missed those, giving him playful and amused smiles. Even Rusilthea noticed, raising a brow at him.

“Oh, look, it’s Dad!” The panthergirl suddenly pointed to the side.

Surely, Rook was standing next to one of the log cabins while chatting with its owner, most likely. His daughter dragged them towards him immediately. They created enough commotion to be spotted ahead of time and the man could only smile wryly at their approach.

“Hi, Dad! What are you talking about with Mr. Toughfur?” the grinning panthergirl asked nonchalantly.

The older Bearkin chuckled deeply, possibly quite used to her joyful nature while Miria’s father simply shrugged. “Nothing much, Miria. I was just delivering a new piece of furniture for one of Anot’s mates.”

“The old kitchen counter unfortunately gave up under… a bit too much pressure.” The big, bulky man smirked while Miria’s dad scratched his cheek. “We were going to replace it anyway so it was a lucky timing that your father had some time to take our request. Now I can be sure it will hold no matter what we put on top of it. I bet the equivalent weight of two, no, even three people won’t be an issue!”

Giving them a polite nod and Rook a firm handshake, the bearman retreated into his home. Miria’s dad turned to them with a raised brow.

“I didn’t expect any visits today. What brings you guys here?” he asked.

“Master was just testing his new ability!” Miria proudly announced. “And since we happened to be close, I wanted to see you and Mom. And perhaps my friends too.”

Rook looked over them all and stopped his gaze on Asterios. “You really don’t know when to stop, do you?”

The quiet snicker made it clear what the man meant and that he didn’t aim to offend anyone. The ladies exchanged knowing glances as their beloved shook his head wryly.

“Well, as long as Miria is happy,” the blond-haired Tigerkin added.

“I couldn’t be happier anywhere else, Dad!” His daughter frowned at him playfully. “I love Master and all my sister-mates just as much!”

“Besides, they aren’t all my mates,” Asterios responded, nodding towards the silver-haired beauty. “Rusilthea is simply accompanying us.”

“Oh, I thought you had to mate someone to be able to bring them through your portals?” A familiar voice reached them from behind.

“Mom!” Miria instantly spun around and jumped into the arms of the more mature woman sharing many of her features. “You are here too?”

“Sweetie, where else would I be? Someone had to help your father carry that heavy counter. You know his hands are legendary for their dexterous nature rather than brute strength.” Oria grinned at her husband, making the man glance away as he cleared his throat.

“Master’s fingers are really nimble too! It feels so good when he rubs me! My knees get like super weak!” The younger Pantherkin gushed out compliments as her mother’s grin just kept growing and a few chuckles could be heard from the direction of Ast’s group.

Asterios moved to the duo and rubbed behind Miria’s cute ears before she got out of control, evoking an adorable mewl from his enthusiastic mate. “That’s enough. You don’t need to boast to the whole village. As for your question, Mrs. Blackclaw, I’m now capable of using a different ability to transfer people between realms. Even though Rusi is contracted with Tina.”

“Oh, right! You can now, Master, can’t you?” Miria fought against the bliss and looked up at him with wide eyes. “Can we bring Mom and Dad to Glimmervale? I always wanted to show them our home!”

He thought about it for a moment as her parents looked at him curiously. “Well, I haven’t yet tested it on anyone else but myself so I’m not sure if we should do it right now.”

“No matter what, you will need someone’s help to do that, no?” Oria asked. “I don’t mind volunteering. What kind of a mother would I be if I couldn’t trust my daughter’s mate? Especially with how much she always praises him about his countless unimaginable achievements?”

“Master?” The feline girl continued to beg him silently.

“Hmmm. If everyone is okay with it.” Asterios sighed lightly.

“YES!” Miria squealed in delight. “We are going to have so much fun showing you guys around!”

“Let’s move out of sight before doing that, if you don’t mind,” Althea suggested and they all agreed, hastily walking back to the family’s house.

After getting inside, Asterios got to work right away. Retracing all the steps he had taken to succeed earlier, he repeated them and cut a sizable vertical breach in the air, opening up a swirling crimson chasm before their eyes. Miria’s parents were shocked to see something so ominous but the others reassured them that nothing connected to him would hurt or make them uncomfortable.

When he was done and chose to glance back over his shoulder, Miria couldn’t meet his eyes, her face redder than a tomato. He snorted under his nose and shook his head.

It had taken her a while. Or perhaps someone had a hand in it.

Taking a look at Miria’s mom, he received a firm nod with a confident smile. He reciprocated them and stepped into the tear first. Just like earlier, the passage didn’t seem as chaotic and troubling as the first two, and a moment later, he stepped out of it into a busy market. A few blinks later, he knew that it was another almost perfect success. Glimmervale’s main market square surrounded him along with all the people and stalls. A few bystanders stared in confusion at the crimson crack and his arrival, but amidst the lively atmosphere, barely anyone paid any mind to it.

Confirming that the connection was still stable, Asterios gave the girls permission to send Miria’s parents and waited with bated breath for either of the two to pass through without any problems. He didn’t have to stay nervous for long as Oria’s figure popped out of it soon enough and he helped his mother-in-law catch her balance as she was clearly unused to such means of travel.

“Incredible…” she whispered while leaning on him, taking one more look at the crevice before gazing around. “This truly doesn’t feel like Eabiarhia anymore… So many different races…”

Rook followed after his wife less than a minute later and Asterios was ready to catch the man’s arm before he tripped. Miria’s father wrapped his hand around his mouth before he threw up, somehow managing to hold his nausea down. Out of the two, he drew the shorter stick this time.

Surprisingly, the girls walked out of the breach too, but Asterios figured out that it was a good idea to test it on them. From what he could tell, there was no issue with anyone, no matter if connected to him directly, indirectly, or not connected at all. After everyone was there, he sealed the passage properly.

“Welcome to Kraedorion, Mom, Dad!” Miria beamed at her parents, spinning around the market square. “Just remember not to do anything naughty or you might have to talk to the big guy over there to explain yourselves.”

The pair followed the direction of her thumb and their eyes almost popped out of their sockets at the sight of the massive Dragon-like entity napping not that far from them.

“Asti~! I knew I felt you appear nearby!” A voice reached them from the side and most of the group recognized it right away.

A short, sunny woman pushed through the crowd and stopped by them. The moment Kindra came close, standing before him and their two guests, her face snapped to Oria and her expression turned almost severe. Both women gazed deep into each other’s eyes in silence for a few long seconds before smacking their hands together in a firm handshake.

“It’s my pleasure.” Kindra grinned. “I think we have plenty to discuss.”

“Likewise.” Oria matched her smile. “Why don’t we start right away?”

“It’s like you’ve read my mind, dear.” Ast’s mom giggled. “Shall we?”

“After you, darling.” Miria’s mother chuckled deeply.

The two women linked elbows and strolled away from the group, starting to chat amongst themselves.

Rook’s hand landed on Ast’s shoulder as the man appeared beside him. “And so it begins. Want to grab a drink? This will take a while.”

Asterios snickered softly. “Alright. Let me show you a few of our favorite spots. We might even run into some of our local artisans.”