Nightmare Realm Summoner

Laughter burst from Samuel’s lips. He shook his head in mirth. “I’m afraid not. As much fun as I had sparring you, I’m afraid there really isn’t much for me to gain by entertaining that. Consider that your free trial. If you want fights against the stronger members of the Empty Court — especially if you want them to actually show off some of their real secrets, you’re going to need to pay.”

Alex grimaced. If he was honest, he’d expected that response. Teddy had already told him as much. Still, he wouldn’t have minded getting away with a few more freebie fights. Going up against Samuel had been as entertaining as it had been enlightening. But he wasn’t so sure he was ready to spend his Denarius quite yet. Not until he got a better idea of just how rare they were and how he could get more.

“Fair enough,” Alex said through a sigh. “Can’t say that’s a surprise. What about people closer to my level? I assume they’ll be more willing to spar for free?”

“So long as they feel like they’ve got something to learn from it, I’m sure they will,” Samuel said with a nod. “It’s all a trade. Anyway. I do need to be on my way, but I’ll be around. Find me again sometime in the future when you’re stronger… or bring pay. I’m sure we’ll have more to learn from each other.”

The Evoker extended a hand. Alex took it, and the two of them shook.

Then Samuel stepped past Alex and headed back up toward the top of the mountain. Alex turned to watch him leave, catching sight of Claire standing behind him with her arms crossed and a thoughtful expression on her features.

“Oddly silent,” Alex observed. He shook off the last of the adrenaline of the fight. “Is something up? You should have been there. That was—”

“I was,” Claire said.

Alex blinked. “Huh?”

“There’s a way to watch the fights, remember?” Claire asked. “I figured it out. You just have to go into the arena on your own focused on the fight you want to see. I’m sure there’s a way to block that from happening, but since neither you nor Samuel did that, I was able to sit in the stands and watch it go down. I was just running back through it in my mind.”

“Oh. Huh,” Alex said. “What did you think, then?”

“It was a good fight,” Claire said. “He was obviously really holding back. So was his summon. Even though he clearly avoided using his Soul Manifestation and had reduced his strength down to something more comparable to yours, that much was clear. But I think you genuinely caught him off guard once or twice. A lot for me to learn from as well. Intentionally letting yourself take a hit that serious just to killing blow of your own is clever. Samuel is clearly experienced. I didn’t actually expect an Evoker to be so composed in close-combat.”

“I suppose the ones that aren’t are dead,” Alex said. “Because if I were someone going up against an Evoker, the first idea that would come to my head would be to run past the monsters and kill the summoner. I’m sure he expects it by now.”

“Probably,” Claire agreed. “We should use that arena ourselves. See what else we can get out of it. Being able to spar without being worried that we’ll kill each other will make things a lot easier.”

“Now?” Alex asked, his eyes lighting up.

Claire snorted. “I mean, I don’t see why not. I don’t want to spend my coin yet on a real fight. Not before I’m at least comfortable with how things work in the arena. I’m sure we can get a few rounds in before we completely run out of energy. I’m curious to see what other kinds of constraints and limits it can enforce.”

Alex grinned and rubbed his hands together. “Let’s do it. Then we can figure out if this place has anything else to eat.”

“You just ate,” Claire said.

“Yeah, but I’m hungry again.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Claire rolled her eyes. Then, as one, the two of them strode straight back into the arena.

***

Teddy glanced up as Samuel stepped into the room. He set the hand mirror that he’d been examining down on his table, looking up as the Evoker closed the door behind him.

“You were right,” Samuel said.

“Would it be arrogant for me to say that I’m quite used to hearing such?” Teddy asked.

“Yes,” Samuel said.

“Ah. Well, I’ve never claimed to be anything else,” Teddy said. “He performed well, then?”

“He performed like someone who believes himself to be invincible. He fights without proper regard for his own life and in lack of the abilities to actually enable such a style. He almost seemed used to the arena before he had ever used it. That would only be possible if he had a death wish in the outside world. His movements are fairly rudimentary, without any earned skill or natural talent to note. Nothing unbearably low, but nothing to be truly impressed by either.”

Teddy arched an eyebrow. “And?”

“He thinks quickly on his feet. Even though his movements aren’t refined, he has clearly had some training in hand-to-hand combat. His mentality will align very, very well with the Empty Court. He will advance quickly so long as he has the proper guidance and utilizes the arena properly.”

“So, in summary?” Teddy asked, pushing back from his table and rising to his feet.

“He will be dangerous so long as he survives his own idiocy,” Samuel said. A small smile pulled at the corners of his lips. “In short, he is quite interesting. I will be considerably more interested if he lives through the next few months. Is that why you wanted me to test him? Trying to measure if it’s worth your effort to keep him alive?”

“No,” Teddy replied with a shake of his head. “I’m not keeping anyone alive. Why do I have to keep saying this? I can’t control the future. Anything that Alex does will be done by him and him alone. I’m just trying to nudge a few things in the right direction to help out.”

“If you want me to take him on as an apprentice…”

“I don’t,” Teddy said.

“I didn’t even say if I would have done it or not.”

“I didn’t ask,” Teddy replied. He looked out the window and down at the sprawling city of the Empty Court stretching out far below. “It was never on the table. I told you as much when I let you know that Alex was here. He can’t get weighed down by a single teacher. The best thing for him is to just learn on his own. If you want to help, then go fight him. But I don’t think you’ll have any luck recruiting him.”

Samuel let out a small breath. “Yes, I did guess as much. Not the biggest surprise. Most people in the Empty Court are loathe to pledge their allegiance to anyone but themselves. You don’t get this far by trying to stick yourself to the side of someone stronger. But it never hurts to check.”

“It doesn’t,” Teddy agreed. “But I think we both have somewhere to be.”

“Another meeting?” Samuel asked, arching an eyebrow. “You’re a busy one, especially for having joined the Court so recently.”

“Tell me about it,” Teddy said with a chuckle. “I just got out of one a few seconds before you showed up. Just remember what we discussed. If you think that Alex is worth trying to build up… well, he might not be looking for a master, but I think having another Evoker to fight and train against will do you well. There really aren’t many of them here.”

“I’m quite aware,” Samuel said. He shook his head. “But you’re asking a lot. For me to pull that much weight to interfere—”

“I’m not asking you to do it yourself. You’ve been here a while,” Teddy said. “And this benefits you. In the long run, at least. All I’m asking you to do is send a bit of extra trouble his way. That’s the best way to learn. Overcoming obstacles. You know how it is.”

“That costs favors,” Samuel said. “Nobody here does anything for free.”

“You don’t think getting someone capable of pushing you is worth it?” Teddy asked as he cocked his head to the side. “Aren’t you concerned that you’re falling behind? When was the last time you had a major breakthrough? Don’t pretend like the fight against Alex didn’t go nearly as easily as it should have. He stabbed you, didn’t he?”

Samuel’s lips thinned. “He did, yes.”

“Not the smoothest victory, then,” Teddy said. “Seems like you might be in some need of a fresh perspective. The older he gets, the more set in his ways a person becomes.”

Samuel grunted. “You really think he’ll be able to get strong enough within a reasonable amount of time to genuinely give me a challenge? There’s a very, very wide gap between stabbing me and actually fighting at a level that truly forces me to grow. It takes many, many years for most people to reach a level of any real competence. And even for me… years are quite a long time. A lot can happen. New worlds. New opportunities. I’d be burning favors on the mere hope that Alex advances at an incredible speed. It isn’t hard to figure out at least a bit of what you’re capable of, Stargazer. And you haven’t tried to hide it from me. But I don’t buy that your powers stretch nearly as far as you pretend they do. Can you really predict so much that far ahead?”

“No.” Teddy shook his head. “Not even close. It would be completely impossible. Like sticking my head in a coursing river and trying to lick up a single drop.”

Samuel’s head tilted to the side. “And yet you still think that Alex will become that powerful?”

“Oh, I don’t think.” A small smile split across Teddy’s lips. “I know.”