The Summoner's Tale

The rattling of wheels, tapping out as the train moved along the mountains all night, prevented Chaeus 'Kai' Ergon from sleeping. He sat down, legs crossed, face grim in the wide hall. His nose could still smell the scent of pungent horse dung from the train. Despite staying all night together with the horses in the same cabin, Kai never got used to the horrible stench.

He held his knapsack close to his chest while his chin rested on top of it. He would never have expected traveling from the Ergon Clan's mansion to the city of Wren would take a whole night. Had he known, he would never have agreed to watch over the horses and stay in a freight car which had holes laden on its roof just for a couple of copper coins.

A sigh escaped his lips. At the very least, he and his uncle had already found the huge wrought iron gates of the Hou Family, one of the founding families of the city.

"We had promised this young man training. But that was only because we never thought he would come out as a weed." The croaky voice of the second elder echoed inside the hall, interrupting the peaceful sound of waves gently lapping against the shore nearby. She met Kai's curious gaze; her aged eyes carefully scrutinizing the young man sitting silently on her left.

"It was a part of the arrangement that was made before the children were even born. You cannot cancel the engagement now. Not when we have already traveled miles just to come here." Kai's Uncle, Darius Ergon said as he stood next to Kai. "This was something that the families had agreed to for a long time now. Chaeus will marry Cassandra Hou."

"Presumptuous!" another elder chimed in. "Do you think we would allow Cassandra who can summon magical weapons to marry a useless weed? Someone who can not even fight in the war against demons?" the elder's gaze was full of disgust.

"Are you saying that you will break the promise that—"

"What promise? The promise was made on the assumption that the union will strengthen our families together! That boy was deemed useless. What can he do? Summon grass and use it to defend Cassandra? Do not forget Darius, Cassandra is the Eldest miss of the Hou Family. She can not marry someone weak!"

Kai lowered his head as he continued to listen to the people arguing in front of him, hiding the wry smile on his lips. He and his uncle had come a long way. Traveling from the small town of Tara to the prosperous City of Wren took them several days before they were able to reach this place, hoping the Hou Family would still honor the promise that they had made years ago with the Ergon clan even if their Clan was losing its influence in the City.

"We have already talked about this and we have come up with the decision that we believe will benefit our clan the most. Cassandra will marry a young man from the Liu Family instead of the young weed."

"You— "

"Darius… you must to terms that your family is no more. The influence that you once held over this City changed along with the death of your patriarch a few years ago. We cannot continue to hold on to a promise that would not benefit the Hou Clan. Surely, you understand that, right?"

"Second Elder! Our families have been— "

"I already told you!" the Second elder's voice echoed inside the room. "Forget about the previous promises!" she looked at one of the attendants. "Bring it inside!"

"Second elder? What do you mean by this?" Darius Ergon asked, as his face changed into that of a frown when the attendant handed them a small pouch.

"Compensation. A hundred silver should be enough to compensate you for your efforts in coming here. This will be end the of – "

"Third Elder! My father saved the current patriarch of the Hou Clan, how could you do this to us?" Defeat laced his uncle's words. "We have— "

"Do you want me to call the guards so they could drag you and that weed out of our estate?"

"Third elder… there is no need for that." The second elder said calmly. "They will leave on their own accord." Smiling, the second elder added. "Of course… if you wanted to stay then we will gladly welcome you to the family, after all, you can make potions for us. However, that weed can leave on his own."

"How dare you!" His uncle's voice shook.

Seeing the current situation Kai nudged his uncle's arm. "Uncle… we should just leave." Too much anger was bad for his uncle's health.

"No… these people…"

"Uncle… let's leave," Kai said. There was no point in trying to convince people who had already made their decision before they even arrived here. "The Ergon clan is no more." He said in a low voice. Their Ergon clan was no longer the clan that it used to be. Many of its geniuses had long died, poisoned by an unknown sickness that only affected those with the Ergon Blood, except Kai. After all, he wasn't really one of them.

He eyed the clenched fist of his uncle before he added. "Let's leave this place before they throw us out of here."

Gritting his teeth, his uncle nodded and turned his back away from the elder, marching out of the estate without saying anything. However, the moment they left the place, his uncle's face instantly went pale.

"Uncle!" Kai immediately supported him. "Are you alright? We should—" He was not able to finish his sentence when he saw his uncle start coughing. What followed next was something that his uncle had been experiencing for the last couple of weeks.

He started coughing up blood.

Just like the rest of the Ergon clan, his uncle had been very sick for a few months now. "Uncle!" He started panicking as he helped him up. The two struggled until they reached a cliff just a few hundred meters away from the Hou Clan's estate.

"Uncle." Kai immediately let him sit on one of the tree's huge roots, that swirled from the ground into the sharp rocks of the cliff. "Here... have some medicine."

Darius said nothing as he accepted the vial and gulped down its contents. "It's useless." Smiling, he swallowed the blood in his throat. "I am dying."

"Uncle… you— "

"They abandoned us." Darius interrupted him. "The Hou's… every one of those wretched people who owed our clan. In the end… they still chose to abandon us." Darius lifted his head, eyeing the huge tree that sheltered them from the scorching sun as the rhythmic sound of the waves nearby reached their ears.

Kai went silent. Sighing, he sat next to his uncle. "I could find a job in the city." Their funds were dwindling. As someone who hadn't learned summoning magic, Kai might be able to find something that could feed them through other ways. "I could save up and buy something that could heal you."

His uncle's laughter followed his words. "You are—a humorous young man." He sighed. "You know… you could have left me in Tara. After all, I am a burden. Someone who could not even talk for a long time without coughing up blood." His voice faltered. "But you didn't."

"Uncle what are you saying?" Kai looked at the older man beside him. Memories of his childhood quickly flashed in his eyes. As the person who raised him since the people from the Ergon Clan found him abandoned outside of the gates, Kai owed everything to this man. "Wait… are you saying this because you are already hungry?" He let out a burst of awkward laughter. "Let me get the…"

Darius cleared his throat interrupting him in the process. "It is our last bread. You should have it."

"But— "

"No buts." Darius shook his head. "You will turn sixteen two days from now. Take it as a birthday gift from me."

"Then… I will keep it until I turn sixteen." Kai raised his head again, looking at the clear skies of Radfall Country. "Once I turned sixteen… I will know my soul star color, right?" he asked.

The older man shifted his gaze towards Kai, his eyes devoid of any emotion. "Yes."

"And… if I am beyond green, I can summon something beyond grass?" he asked almost innocently.

"Yes, you can summon trees and dangerous weeds."

"But?"

"But… a weed always has a green colored soul star. Weeds who have sky blue and blue soul stars are rare, one in a million. And if they exist, people fear them as they can not understand… their abilities." Darius' shoulders shook from another cough.

"Oh." Kai turned silent. So if the weeds who had sky blue and blue soul stars are considered rare, then what about dark blue and the highest purple Summoner? Do they exist too?

"People are selfish in nature, Kai. They had long thought that weeds are either useless or dangerous. They could not understand how someone with the power of plants could defeat someone who held spears and summoned beasts." His uncle's eyes turned serious. "And… we tend to destroy something that we do not understand."

Kai nodded. Of course, he was perfectly aware of this fact. "Once I learn of my soul star, I will go to the – what is this?" he eyed the vial with a transparent liquid that his uncle handed him.

"It's the last gift from our clan," Darius answered. "Drink it."

Kai accepted the vial. "What does it do?" Some people said that the Ergon clan was punished by the gods because of how they created a potion that had broken all the rules. Was it possible that—

"This was our clan's priced position. Something that we could only make once… in our lifetime." Darius smiled. "This is the perfect place to try that. Drink it… I will stay next to you until you wake up."

"What will happen if I drink it?"

"You will know once you give it a try." Assurance laced Darius' tone. "You should drink it now."

"But… how about you? You are sick? If I—who will take care of you?" he asked.

"I am not crippled, young man. I might not be able to fight but I can still move like a normal human."

For a few seconds, Kai was silent. He held the vial closer, watching its translucent contents. "Alright then." He said. This was not the first time that he drank a potion that his uncle made and he was sure that this would not be the last either. As an expert in potion making, his uncle had given him a lot of options for his personal use.

Without having second thoughts, Kai finished the potion in the vial. Almost immediately his gaze immediately turned dark before he felt his body hit the ground with a loud thud.

Seeing this, a mysterious light glinted in his uncle's eyes before he started coughing up more blood.