Rise of the Weakest Summoner

“What is this?! I didn’t know you had armor like that, Mom!” Miria grabbed her head as she gaped at her mother, who chuckled lightly and struck a pose to present herself from the side.

The panthergirl’s reaction was warranted as it was the first time they had met with Oria wearing anything else other than casual clothes, ranging from shirts and shorts to occasional light dresses. This time, though, she lacked either, appearing before them in a full set of leather gear of midnight black shade.

Starting from the bottom, she had donned quite high reinforced boots reaching far above her ankles. Right after them, tough shin guards continued the path of protection. Contrary to her daughter in the past, she had similar thick leather reinforcements present on her impressive thighs. 

Rather complex shorts wrapped her waist tightly, offering plenty of pockets, buckles, small hooks, and belts for various utility items. Her muscular stomach was laid bare, but Oria’s chest was fully hidden behind an impressive black leather breastplate. Naturally, she made sure her arms were protected with bracers and other elements spanning as far as her shoulders went.

All in all, the dark set complimented Oria’s long black hair and fierce grin, almost turning her into a completely different woman.

As for Zoe, she had jumped into her best gear too, which had been a gift from Miria made by their elf friends, but her set was simply outshined in comparison. Which didn’t mean that the brown-gray hunter-styled apparel wasn’t impressive. It was simply something that could be expected from the canine warrior woman, what couldn’t be said about the other lady.

“There wasn’t really a good reason to bring it into the world again,” Oria replied to her daughter’s question, watching in amusement as Miria bounced around her with a gleeful expression. “But, it’s only natural that I dress properly for an adventure with my beloved daughter, isn’t it?”

The younger panthergirl practically melted from the amount of affection she had for her mom and the pair hugged each other dearly. Asterios didn’t miss the part about picking this set up once more, and Oria met his gaze with a side glance, giving him a small smirk that told him she knew he hadn’t. Understanding that she would expand on it later if she would be willing, he shelved that bit for another time.

Although…

“It looks amazing, but…” He tapped his cheek ponderingly. “Feels a bit off? Like there’s something missing?”

Oria let out a quiet laugh and nodded his way as if to commend him for his perceptiveness.

“There was one more part to this get-up, a dark gray bodysuit that went under everything and covered the wearer’s skin up to their chin, but I didn’t think it was necessary to go that far.” She winked at him. “Besides, it would have looked ridiculous at the current time of the day. I’ll rely on all of you to have my back and on your healing magics if I do gain a small scrape or two.”

“I rarely managed to even touch you during duels so I can’t see that happening ever!” Miria rubbed her cheek into her mother’s while purring noticeably. “But, wait. The suit would cover your skin and leave your face like this. Isn’t that kind of counterintuitive for night hunting?”

An amused smile decorated the older woman’s lips, and judging by the look in her eyes, Miria’s claim was quite off the mark for some reason, though he wasn’t sure which part.

“Of course it is. That’s why I had this.” Oria stepped back from Miria’s embrace and pulled something out of one of the pouches attached to the small of her back.

Hooking some kind of dark material behind her neck, she pulled it skillfully over her head and yanked it down to her very chin. In a flash, she donned a reinforced leather cap with a face mask leaving holes only for the eyes, and some thin striped openings for breathing. Over the black surface glowed a pure white depiction of a panther’s skull, which spooked Miria so much she jumped away with an adorable yelp.

Everyone chuckled at the scene but the panthergirl squeezed Ast’s arm and pouted at them. “That’s not funny! It was scary! Did any of you expect it?”

Asterios offered his embarrassed mate a peck on the cheek. “I didn’t, and I agree that it looks quite frightening. I would never want to randomly stumble on it past the sunset while having a walk through the forest.”

Oria raised a curious brow at him with a sly grin that could be interpreted in many ways.

He just hoped she wouldn’t use that idea against him anytime soon.

“Anyway, I’m glad to see that I can still fit into this without having to alter anything.” She took off the masked cap and examined her figure, striking quite a few sensible poses. “A few places have gotten quite tight, though.”

As she ran a hand over her extremely strained shorts while offering them the full view of her side, everyone’s eyes helplessly wandered onto her barely contained behind. Running that palm up, she tapped her chest piece a few times, which looked stretched to its limits and ready to burst a seam or two. As Ast’s eyes met hers, she grinned impishly, clearly enjoying his and everyone else’s attention.

“Mom!” Miria put herself between Asterios and her mother, spreading her arms to the sides as she huffed at the older feline. “You are doing this on purpose! What would Dad think?”

“Oh, I’m afraid he might not be able to think much at this very moment.” Oria snickered mysteriously. “He had quite a… reaction… after seeing me in this set once more. I think he might still be recovering from the shock.”

The allusion went right over Miria’s head, but with Oria’s sparkling gaze full of mischief still locked with his, Asterios could not be as badly mistaken even if he wanted. Clearing his throat and glancing away from her, he wrapped his arms around his slightly flustered mate from behind.

“It’s alright. She’s just teasing. And you have to admit that she’s filling the outfit rather nicely, clearly being proud about it, just as you are proud of your amazing armor and gorgeous figure. You can’t say that your mom doesn’t look pretty in it, can you?” He rubbed their cheeks together.

Miria went all red in a moment as she realized he was heavily complimenting her through a rather sophisticated means. Glancing back at her mother, she bit on her bottom lip and nodded softly.

“You do look pretty, Mom…” she admitted a tad shyly. “Like a real badass female Pantherkin warrior…”

“Of course I do. But, I still pale in front of you, dear. However, perhaps turning you into such a fine-looking hunter can be considered my greatest achievement.” Oria chuckled slyly, enjoying playing with her daughter’s cute reactions. “Enough about me. At least in this sense. We have a job to do. Which, I might or might have not already partially discussed with some Elders and our skilled friend here.”

Zoe’s tail wagged a bit faster under her praise.

“Besides talking about the weird change, we also briefly touched on the topic of an Adventurer’s Guild being set up in our village,” the long-haired woman continued. “It’s a new concept to our people so many are still somewhat confused by my explanations, and honestly, I might be too, but the initial reception isn’t negative.”

“We might need to start looking for a guildmaster, then.” Tina chuckled lightly.

“My mother thinks Mrs. Blackclaw would make a great guild leader and I agree with her,” the canine girl commented.

Miria gasped loudly. “Mom?! A guildmaster?! That’s amazing!”

Oria shook her head with a gentle smile, not denying anything yet.

“I don’t think it’s impossible,” Silvia shared her thoughts. “We might have to consult Suanori, but someone local certainly sounds like a logical choice when it comes to a land so far away and so different. We would need to add her to Ast’s connections just in case, though.”

That once more caused Miria to turn quite shy, but Asterios felt that with such an exciting prospect, she wouldn’t be this embarrassed about it for too much longer.

“That’s a thought for the future,” Selene said, saving her sister-mate from considering the matter right then. “Are we ready to head out? What is even our goal or purpose?”

“We are going to further investigate the appearance of more violent and aggressive beasts and monsters in the vicinity of the village,” Oria started explaining. “They usually don’t get too close since our hunters—especially Zoe here—take care of them either on their patrols or hunts. We’ve tried figuring it out, but without much luck at the moment, and also unwilling to send out a bigger group for an unknown amount of time to wander around and weaken our defenses and hunting strength.”

“As for the beasts, they seem to be coming from one or two general directions and slowly making their way in the direction of our village,” Zoe continued after her. “It’s like they are rabid, but somehow worse, possibly even strengthened. From time to time, an animal we don’t see often mixes into the group too. They are susceptible to wounds as usual, though slightly tougher in terms of grit and pain tolerance. Their bodies don’t seem too different on the inside either.”

“That kind of reminds me of Glimmervale’s issue.” Tina hummed thoughtfully. “There really might be a dungeon nearby or some other source of contamination that affects the fauna. But, this might also be something unique for the beastfolk realm.”

“We’ll investigate as much as we can, then.” Asterios nodded at the local duo. “Our five and your two should be an impactful enough group. As long as the village won’t be hurt too much by Zoe’s absence. Then, we can go with just the six of us.”

“It will be alright.” The person in question shook her head. “I swapped my upcoming shift with a friend. I would love to accompany you if you will have me.”

Miria leaned closer to Ast’s ear. “She really wants to show you how good she’s gotten with the glaive you gifted her, Master.”

Asterios saw how fast and expectant were the movements of the wolfgirl’s tail so he could tell.

“Alright, then. We could use your glaive.” He nodded kindly at Zoe, who answered with a sunny smile. “What about you, Mrs. Oria? I don’t see any weapons on you. Unless they are concealed.”

“No worries, I’ll—”

“Here!” Miria stepped forward and flicked her wrist. “You can use these!”

The panthergirl held her old heirloom blades with their hilts directed at her mother with an enthusiastic grin. Oria looked down at the weapons, and the teasing expression faded into a neutral one. Tentatively, she reached out with one hand, but paused with her fingers right above the handle. A ghost of nostalgia and perhaps uncertainty glinted through her distant eyes before she apprehensively wrapped her palms around those comfortable hilts.

“It’s been… quite a bit since the last time I wielded these properly…” she whispered softly.

“Right? I miss our practice duels too!” Her daughter, again oblivious to the depth of her mood behind those words, bounced around excitedly. “Now we can fight side by side and you can give me more notes!”

Oria smiled weakly at her and attempted to spin the blades in her palms. Even though she did it rather nonchalantly, years of experience made themselves apparent as the action was completed with utter perfection, putting the weapons in a reverse grip the intended way. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she lowered her stance into a very feline crouch with both shortswords at the ready, her expression growing cold and fierce, and finally lifted her eyelids again.

A strong shiver ran down Ast’s spine as her perfectly steady, ferocious eyes set right on him, his senses perhaps not screaming but warning him that danger was imminent, and from the powerfully flexed muscles of the fierce panther woman in front of him, he could tell.

But, just as quickly as that feeling surfaced, it disappeared, and Oria straightened up, exhaling slowly. Her posture relaxed and she spun the blades a few times more, shooting her daughter a grateful smile. Yet, as she returned to her teasingly cheerful self, Asterios couldn’t stop thinking about the recent image he still had at the forefront of his mind.

All mothers were scary creatures.

Well, it certainly explained how Miria had been so skilled when they had first met. At least partially.

“So, where do we start?” Selene asked, glancing around the place.

“A bit further away from the village to the east,” Oria replied. “That’s the most common direction the disturbances appear from. It’s between an hour and a half on foot depending on your pace. For Miria, much quicker, but unfortunately, not all of us have been blessed with wereblood.”

“With Master, we can reach it in no time!” The panthergirl grinned shyly at her mother. “Come on, Master! Let’s fly!”

“You sure? We are in the middle of the village?” He raised a brow at her.

The older Pantherkin chuckled warmly. “There’s barely anyone who doesn’t know about Miria finding a mate in a Dragon with how much she’s boasting about it on every occasion. Though, not all take it completely seriously. At least, this shouldn’t cause too much chaos. And I know how badly she wants to prove her words to the nonbelievers.”

Asterios glanced at the other ladies and didn’t see any objections from them either. Making sure they had enough space, he gradually shifted into his True Dragon form, thwarting the desire to announce his presence with a roar that often accompanied the change. The nearby beastfolk flinched at his appearance, but as Oria guessed, they looked more dumbfounded than frightened. Especially with one of theirs jumping around him like a kid who had just gotten the best present.

Not dawdling around for too long, he invited the others onto his back and carefully lifted off, heading in the direction pointed out by Miria’s mom. A few minutes later, he received the signal to descend and found a nice spot between the lush trees to touch down. Everyone slid off his body and he turned back.

“Now, as much as I would love to say that we have some trail to follow, I’m afraid we will have to rely on luck to search for any of the weird beasts,” Oria said, putting her hands on her hips.

“Let’s split up until we stumble on something,” Tina suggested. “We can quickly regroup through the gates, shadows, and such.”

That was exactly what they did, with Zoe staying with Asterios so that he could take her with him in case someone else found something first. Initially, Oria had offered to accompany him, but Miria quickly shot her down, replacing her own spot by Zoe’s side with Ast’s as she decided to keep an eye on the mature woman.

Enhancing his senses as much as he could, Asterios allowed Zoe to lead, relying on her skill and experience from being an active hunter. And certainly, he wasn’t disappointed. She was a bit hesitant at first but didn’t take long to fall into her hunting rhythm, attentively looking for animal traces while moving through the jungle-like forest like a silent predator.

Umbra joined them, offering his assistance in looking for any familiar contaminated energies. Asterios welcomed the help and sent their shadowy friend ahead. With Umbra spending most of his time around Kori now, it would do him good to spread his wings once in a while too. Not that he was forced to interact with the Core so much. No, he was enjoying it a lot more than he had expected.

The expedition moved slowly. The girls kept in touch as they all looked around in their spots. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to track besides normal animals and beasts hanging around this part of the forest. Some ran away after stumbling on them, some didn’t take too kindly to their territorial rights being challenged.

Ast’s side was just as uneventful, at least for the next forty minutes.

~Something is heading straight for you, Master,~ Umbra warned.

~Yeah, I can tell,~ Asterios replied.

He caught up to Zoe and tapped her gently on the shoulder. “A quite sizable entity seems to be coming this way.”

She showed no hints of fear or concern, simply giving him a calm nod in response and assuming a defensive stance, ready to take action. With a flick of her wrist, the artifact glaive appeared in her grip, held freely to the side so that it could strike or parry immediately. He was once more impressed by the young Wolfkin. Even without Miria’s assistance, Zoe felt very reliable in terms of personal strength.

Summoning his greatsword behind his back, Asterios decided to let her handle the situation for now. Just in case, he activated a slotted Diamond Skin token, a much more durable version of Steel or Iron Skin he had often used on Miria back in the past. He decided against any other spells since she wasn’t used to their effects and could unnecessarily throw Zoe off.

Soon enough, the mysterious entity burst out from the nearby shrubs.

Zoe immediately shifted her stance into a more aggressive one. “It’s a Mossback! Their territory shouldn’t extend this far, but it won’t let us live now that it has seen us! Damn it!”

What emerged in front of them was a gorilla-like animal with brown skin and lush green fur. After Zoe’s comment, Asterios realized that it was not fur but grass and moss. It fascinated him to see such a curious being, but from his friend’s tone, he knew that they weren’t in a position to let themselves be distracted. This gorilla was almost twice as big as they were and it clearly packed a punch with those massive muscles.

The beast beat its chest while roaring, which sounded like someone punching the ground, and launched itself forward, its slightly glowing cream eyes locked on Asterios, possibly judging him as the bigger threat.

That, unfortunately, wasn’t the smartest choice, as Zoe didn’t waste a single moment. Lowering herself even more to appear smaller, she snuck right under the beast’s guard and sliced her blade over its thigh. Asterios expected it to cut the limb cleanly off, but even the impressive craft of Spellsongs managed only a semi-decent slash, which still caught the attention of the target.

Zoe stepped aside in a flash, dodging the upcoming fist of rage. She seemed experienced in fighting its kind as she danced around its reach without much issue. Each slam caused a strong tremor, making the nearby trees creak and birds escape into the air. The holes left behind could easily fit a whole body in a prone position.

Keeping an eye on his canine partner, Asterios had his tokens and spells at the ready. It wouldn’t take much from him to down their opponent, but recalling Miria’s words, he wanted to grant Zoe’s wish and simply observed how the wolfgirl handled the situation. A small smile snuck onto his lips. He really had a tendency to rely on strong ladies since the beginning of his days.

Receiving a bunch of minor wounds, the Mossback had enough of their game. It raised both arms over its head, suffering a few more cuts in the process, and slammed both into the grass with all it had. The force of the blow sent Zoe flying to the back even though it hadn’t touched her directly. All the earth surrounding the beast cracked and shot up with lots of dirt and dust, covering it entirely.

When the obstruction fell, the gorilla could be seen spinning around its axis while holding onto a big chunk of that earth. Zoe managed to steady herself right before it flung the block right at her. Her eyes widened and her ears flicked tensely, but she still reacted impressively fast. Yet, the bulky projectile still clipped her shoulder, evoking a pained grunt from her as she stumbled back a bit.

The Mossback charged at her right away, gaining even more confidence after landing a hit on its enemy. Zoe’s gaze flicked to Ast’s briefly, making him wonder if she was going to ask him for help, but no, her expression only grew more determined as she crouched and flexed her muscles, moving her weapon to the other hand on the healthy side.

Surprising him a bit, she rushed straight back at the beast, the two of them on an obvious collision course right from the front. He wondered what her plan was, and got ready to step in at any moment. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Zoe, but he had already seen what wanting to impress him could push a person into doing. And right now, she gave off the vibes of a certain Pantherkin girl during the early days of their cooperation.

When the two of them were getting close, Zoe dug her heels hard into the ground and groaned loudly while drawing her arm back. Using her momentum, she sent the glaive at her opponent with an impressive show of strength and accuracy. As the deadly projectile flew right towards its eyes, the Mossback quickly brought both arms up and crossed them to protect its face, causing the weapon to ricochet somewhere into the air.

The sly canine lady used that brief opportunity to close the distance and grab those arms from below, swinging back and forth before launching herself above the beast’s head, causing the very first scene of Miria’s battle prowess Asterios had ever seen to flash before his eyes, overlapping with the present. The only thing lacking were dual blades in the woman’s hands.

The Mossback noticed her there and attempted to grab her awkwardly while walking backward. Skilfully twisting herself around, Zoe positioned her body in the perfect place to catch her spinning glaive as it came back down, instantly launching it towards the ground, but with the bottom end this time.

As the artifact lodged itself in the earth at a slight angle, she barely avoided one last grasp from the Mossback and fell behind it, grasping at the grassy fur on its back. Yanking hard while using her descent, she threw it off its balance, and Asterios watched as the gorilla comically waved its muscular arms to keep itself from toppling.

Unfortunately, it was already mid-motion and could do nothing else but fall right on top of the sharp end of Zoe’s glaive, which speared right through its chest using its own massive weight. A heavy thud shook the area as the beast fell amidst its frustrated cry, which gradually grew quieter and quieter, turning into gurgling before going completely silent.

Standing above the defeated beast’s face, Zoe panted heavily while looking down. She raised her gaze and turned towards Asterios, her cheeks tinged with a delicate flush, partly from physical effort, partly from his own eyes firmly locked on her. She showed a shy smile, flicking her wrist to recall the glaive to her as her tail swished happily behind her back.

He responded with a smile of his own and started lightly applauding the wolfgirl’s display. She certainly made him proud to have someone so amazing amongst his subordinates to watch Miria’s village or even this whole realm.

“That throw and catch was impressive,” he complimented as he slowly approached.

Zoe blushed a bit more. “To be perfectly honest, that was not part of the plan. I was going to use this weapon’s ability to appear back in my hand up there, but it just so happened it fell right into my grasp.”

That was even more impressive than he had initially thought. Being able to alter her own designs on the fly and still make them look so seamless and perfect was a rare talent.

Asterios had a feeling that Zoe would make a great adventurer for their remote guild if they ever started it up.