Rise of the Weakest Summoner

Seeing the confusion on the faces of his gathered guests, Asterios chuckled lightly. “I think it might be time we finally filled you in on the full story.”

That statement didn’t help the situation in the slightest as the trio kept exchanging perplexed glances. They looked from him to his mates for some answer. Unfortunately, the ladies were simply smiling back.

“What do you think, Tina?” Asterios turned to the blue-haired girl.

“I trust Gwen with my life. You should know that I will always vouch for her whenever asked. And I can guarantee she is great at keeping secrets. We’ve shared plenty of them in the past,” Tina replied, looking at her sister with a kind yet quite excited expression.

“Uh, of course? We are family.” Gwen smiled wryly.

“And so is Ast.” Her older sister nodded eagerly. “Well, the formal ties have yet to be fully finalized, but it’s just a matter of time.”

“Alright.” He accepted their response gladly. “As for the two of you, I don’t think there’s anything more to say.”

“I agree,” Kindra confirmed. “Just as Tina said, we are family. You have already shared everything with me and I was waiting for the day I would be able to discuss it with my parents. I’m sure they will be able to help us even more with all the details at their disposal.”

James, still slightly disoriented, nodded firmly. “Of course. I’m not sure what this is about, but the more information the better. Always. If there’s anything we should do to earn your full trust, just say it.”

Asterios waved his hand dismissively at the older man. “No, you’ve already done enough. There was just no good moment to take care of this. Now, with both you and Gwen here, there’s no reason to hold back. Especially when my mother and Tina’s parents are already initiated.”

The present ladies chuckled at his choice of words, which certainly felt fitting. As a side effect, it also made the other side even more intrigued and curious.

“Let’s avoid beating about the bush for no reason.” He sighed softly. “I’d rather not put this room in complete disarray so you will have to believe me with just this at the moment.”

Reaching into the core of his being, Asterios stopped concealing his true nature as he had been constantly doing since the day he had learned how to do it from Althea. There was a slight spiritual gust as his rather characteristic draconic energies were released from their confines, making everyone shiver to various degrees.

As his crimson eyes brightened slightly, traces of dark red and black swirled behind their vertical pupils. Scales climbed up his visible skin as his hands transformed fully. Some of the tough yet enchanting scales decorated his cheeks and the far ends of his temples. All of his neck and part of his chin were fully reinforced now. Naturally, he didn’t miss the impressive black horns and ominous dark scarlet wings either.

“Starting from the beginning, there is more story to my sealed memories than some of you might be aware of,” Asterios said as the trio took in his altered appearance with various expressions of thought. “It was put in there by my parents shortly after my birth and was only one of the safeguards they included in their plan to hide my true nature from the outside world. We may cover those aspects later.”

“Your true nature?” Gwen raised a fascinated brow at him, sneaking a peek at her grinning sister.

“Just as my father, I’m a True Dragon.” He nodded.

Silence filled the air for a good few seconds before a gentle snicker broke it.

“Bringing hiding in plain sight to another level,” Anna said while shaking her head. “You are tempting fate with your naming sense, young man.”

“Tell that to them, not me.” Asterios smirked as the ladies escaped with their gazes innocently. “You might not have been there when it all went down but you must have heard how I was practically placed before a fact done, allowed only to accept or reject it.”

“Is this for real?” Gwen gaped at him. “True Dragons are long gone from our realm. I would know if there was one around. I think…”

She tried to add a bit of timid hesitation to her response near the end but it felt like a rather obvious subterfuge after catching herself getting a bit too shocked.

“Oh? Did you know about the Lesser Dragon hidden by the elves?” He challenged her, seeing Gwen’s eyes widen at that revelation. “I assumed so. You are already acquainted. She’s the mature beauty in the emerald uniform from earlier. A much older and wiser being than I am, just to be clear.”

“And I can confirm Master’s draconic body is incredible!” Miria grinned at them. “It’s so big, and ferocious, and strong, and just like from the legends! No! Even better! Because Master is like two True Dragons in one!”

He snickered while pacifying his bubbly panthergirl with some scratches. “That is part of the reason why my parents put so much effort into concealing my unusual existence, orchestrating a situation where I ended up in the hands of the young Kindra Hestizo. Which, I don’t think you would have known, right?”

Sensing his gaze on her, Gwen gained a faint blush and lowered her eyes.

“I…” She took a deep breath to recompose herself and raised her face with a slightly awkward smile painting her lips. “I’m part of an organization or two that specializes in being the ones in the know. I would love to tell you more, but… I need to consult this with… someone first… Sorry…”

Tina cupped her worried sister’s cheek with an affectionate touch and turned them towards each other to join their foreheads together. “It’s alright. Don’t feel pressured to return the favor just because we are sharing something important with you right now. Take your time. And even if it doesn’t turn out well, it’s still fine.”

“You are okay knowing that I might have been lying to you?” Gwen searched Tina’s eyes hesitantly.

The long-haired almost-twin snorted cutely. “Do you think I’ve been telling you everything the way it was?”

They chuckled together until Gwen nodded appreciatively and returned her attention to Asterios. “Two Dragons? That's information that would throw my circles in chaos.”

“It’s only the beginning.” He smirked at her amusedly. “We are in the process of bringing another dozen or so here. In fact, Tina has contracted one already.”

Gwen’s eyes turned into saucers again as her head whipped to the side, seeing her timid sister scratch her cheek embarrassingly.

“But, you don’t have to worry that much about keeping that specific bit between us,” Asterios added, recapturing her attention. “The fact that we employ Lesser Dragons will be public knowledge in less than a week. I guess, as a token of goodwill, we can let you provide your circles a leak or two. I feel like it would be smart to get in their good graces.”

“That… That would certainly help me out rather significantly…” Gwen pondered out loud. “Is that definitely okay?”

Silvia was the one to reply this time. “We believe so. I agree with Asterios. It might be a gamble, but there’s often no reward without an equal risk. The value of that reward depends on how much you and your circles know.”

“Not all of it, as it appears, but our contacts are spread wide,” Gwen reassured her. “If we could secure a mutually beneficial relationship, this might prove to be huge. A national ruler as one of the collaborators feels significant.”

“Let’s leave this in your hands then and return to the main topic of this discussion.” Asterios gestured at his form with both hands. “The one important bit that seems especially relevant to our theory about Rubytongs is the fact that the seal blocking off my memories originated from that region. And, its creation was negotiated by none other than… my father.”

“Almost two decades ago…” James stroked his beard. “Which means that Rubytongs conspired with your father and have been in the position of power since.”

“Correct.” Selene nodded. “And with my Lord’s mother, one of my ancient ancestors, too. We aren’t yet sure how big of a role she played in that operation, but it’s safe to assume that she might have shared some things coming from my people with the dwarves too. Though, the main conspirator would of course be Red, the True Dragon.”

“You think the materials and techniques they use have come from him, don’t you?” Anna caught up fast, displaying the same famous cunning that her daughter often represented.

“Exactly.” Asterios released a delicate sigh. “We have recently discovered an interesting reaction between True Dragon blood and certain minerals. It’s not impossible that my father was aware of this before us. We can’t confirm this without closely examining Rubytongs’ products first, but we have a hunch.”

“And even if they aren’t using dragonized metals, their techniques and ideas might still come from the pair,” Tina added. “As Ast says, we’ll need to take a closer look before anything, but no one can deny the secret cooperation between the involved sides.”

“So, everyone else might be going against a True Dragon,” James noted. “The same as in their stories?”

Miria shook her head with as much energy as always. “No! Master’s father is definitely not there anymore! He was always on the run in the memories we’ve seen and some of those happened after this weird seal was put in place! But, uhhh… If it was put in there earlier, how come Master didn’t remember being carried to Teira?”

Selene patted her sister-mate on the head. “It might have been designed with a delayed or remote activation in mind. It’s not an uncommon thing for many formations and arrays to wait for some kind of a trigger before powering up or kicking into another phase.”

“She is right.” Asterios kept his hand in place so that two people were now showering the slightly melting feline in love. “And since he came to this realm to hide and conduct research, he most likely isn’t the same one the legends mention. If that monster, beast, or whatever it is still lives, it’s most likely staying quiet deep under the mountain. Or the dwarves are keeping any incidents under wraps.”

“So, while Rubytongs had to have only a limited period of time to receive support and guidance from Ast’s father, they seem to have stocked up on everything they could for it to last them quite long,” Silvia pointed out. “If they are using Dragon Blood, they will run out at some point, because I don’t believe Red is sneaking in regularly to refill their reserves. And someone as proud wouldn’t offer an insurmountable amount to some lesser race without turning them into his slaves.”

“Unless that’s a thing here.” Kindra hummed. “Which would be a good thing for you, wouldn’t it?”

Ast’s eyes shone with understanding. “Yes. We might be able to get in touch with him through his servants. That would certainly be a huge leap ahead. Assuming we would receive a response or any acknowledgment.”

“You could at least confirm that he is alive, no?” Anna suggested.

“We already know that thanks to my Lord’s connection with his lineage,” Selene replied. “He has a way to tell if one of his kin is dead or not, albeit without knowing their identity. Only Red’s situation is different since his visualization is completely unique and easily recognizable.”

“In any way, this is becoming bigger and bigger.” Asterios rested his chin atop his palms. “It might be the biggest lead of our pursuit so far if we aren’t completely off the mark. When is the next Clash of Forges?”

“A month or two away, I think, but I’ll need to reach out to confirm the exact date,” Gwen answered. “I can have this information for you before midnight. As long as your guildmaster can lend me their guild network for a moment.”

“We’ll take you to her in a moment. This estimation is fine too. I was hoping not to completely demolish our schedule again and it seems that my prayers have been heard.” He laughed lightly. “There’s just so much we have to do in the upcoming weeks that it’s making me dizzy.”

“Negotiating with a whole flying settlement of Lesser Dragons shouldn’t take more than a week now.” Tina smiled confidently. “As for unsealing an artificial dark realm full of cosmic horrors, it’s much harder to predict, but I believe in us, so no more than a fortnight or two tops.”

The ladies chuckled with equal faith while the others gaped at them incredulously, only Ast’s mother matching them with a smirk of her own. He waved any concerns away while rolling his eyes. The girls were starting to have way too much fun teasing others with his insane life.

“Alright, let’s move on.” Asterios slapped his hands together. “Do the two of you mind if we take Gwen to Guildmaster Suanori now and get on with the rest of our plans? We were aiming to at least get a feel of the situation around Miria’s village today. It might be wishful thinking, but solving it in the few days that are left before our next presentation for the Lesser Dragons would be perfect.”

“Not in the slightest.” His grandmother showed a fond smile. “We’ll take the rest of the day to catch up with your mother and rest our old bones a little. There’s much we have to discuss. Especially regarding how we can further help you with the newly gained knowledge.”

“As she says.” His grandfather chuckled deeply. “We can entertain ourselves on our own so go and handle your responsibilities. It was not our intention to interrupt that magnificent ceremony of yours either so apologies. There’s much to see in this charming city and I can’t wait to explore it alongside my wife.”

“What he means to say is, there are so many shops and merchants that we need to evaluate the competition thoroughly to make sure the Hestizos keep a stable claim over the local market.” Kindra giggled as the older man shot her a slight glare. “But, I agree that you don’t have to worry about us. You have your Dragon stuff, we have our merchant stuff. Just keep us updated!”

And on that note, they all stood up and left the guest chamber together. Exchanging brief, temporary farewells, they split into two groups and headed in their respective directions. The whole way out of the castle, Gwen chatted with Tina about various things while sneaking curious and surprised glances at Asterios. He politely didn’t listen in on them even though they were more than enough in the range of his senses as the pair of sisters gossiped about him.

Soon enough, they wandered into the streets and Gwen focused more on enjoying the sights. Like many others, she was fascinated with how most passersby offered Asterios polite and grateful greetings. It wasn’t long since he had taken over, yet it was clear that he had managed to gain the respect and trust of people living on this land. And, to some extent, of some adventurers and travelers too.

“So, a real Dragon, huh?” she asked at some point. “It honestly doesn’t look like it from the outside. The Summoner cover was pretty good at explaining your added features.”

“That was the goal.” He smirked reminiscently. “We’ll show you soon if it’s still hard to believe. We just need a bit of space as you can imagine.”

“What about a flight?” Gwen glanced at him curiously.

~She might not be as obsessed with Dragons as Miria, but it certainly can’t be said that Gwen isn’t fascinated with them.~ Tina giggled in his mind. ~We’ve studied them together a lot during our childhood. I mean, there are as many fictional stories portraying them as magnificent as those where they are the vilest of villains.~

“Sure. We’ll make a short trip from the edge of the town to Althea’s lair so that you can witness a Lesser Dragon too. That fine with you?” He raised a brow at her.

An eager nod was all he received in response but it was more than enough.

They reached the guild in fifteen minutes or so and introduced Gwen to their favorite receptionists. The trio exchanged a few words that seemed to revolve around their profession, and both Truvi and Ellie were surprised to chat easily with the newcomer. It just proved how seriously Gwen took her studies, already comfortable being in the field.

Suanori was back in her office and that was where they headed next. Entering after an invitation, the group filled the room. Tina stepped forward with a gentle hold on Gwen’s hand.

“Hello again. We have a small favor to ask,” she began.

“I assume it has something to do with the intern you have brought with you.” Suanori offered the younger sister a respectful nod.

“This is Gwen, my sister, and she will be looking to serve her internship soon. We were hoping there would be a place for her here. I won’t deny that it’s partially for personal reasons, so that we can spend more time together, but I also know that there is no better guildmaster to learn from in the whole Human Kingdom,” Tina continued in almost one single breath.

“I’m a stand-in,” Gwen added to provide more context. “It would be my honor to learn from someone this famous.”

“Hmmm… It’s true that we could use a hand or two around here, especially with all the matters that seem to constantly keep popping up out of nowhere.” The Guildmaster squinted softly.

“And you can trust her like you trust us,” the shorter blue-haired girl pointed out. 

“Also true.” Suanori tapped her fingers on the wooden surface in front of her. “But I have a feeling there’s something more to you, young one. Call it a hunch if you want, but after being in this position for as long as I am, you tend to notice those little signs in people.”

Gwen stiffened a bit, but before her sister could come in her defense, she responded on her own.

“I will explain, after consulting with my guardian, but it’s nothing you need to worry about, Guildmaster. I only want to help my family.” She turned her head around to look at Ast’s party. “And that’s why I’m currently the best in my year, possibly even amongst the others too.”

“I’m aware.” A corner of Suanori’s lips tugged upwards, causing Gwen’s eyes to widen a tiny bit. “I might not be a Civil Guildmaster, but that doesn’t mean I don’t keep an eye on the academy. And someone beating a few records by a slight margin is certainly rather noticeable to the acute eye.”

No one said anything else as the two women stared at each other in some kind of a contest.

Finally, the elf lady waved at Asterios. “You can leave her with me. There’s a lot of silly official paperwork and completely unnecessary interviews to conduct. I’m sure we’ll come to an understanding without much problem. The others are already waiting for you on the other side. This one isn’t marked, is she?”

“No, we haven’t offered it to Gwen yet,” Tina replied. “Maybe later, but you can explain the system to her if you find time.”

“I’ll relay things to you for the two of us, then.” Suanori nodded. “Have fun on your little quest.”

After the sisters exchanged a few loving hugs, Miria opened her gate and they used it to appear in her village. Right away, they were greeted by the smiling faces of Oria and Zoe, making it clear who it was that had been waiting for them.

And from the look of things, they had come prepared.