Chapter 318 A Meeting Between Summons

The dark beings sat around a table in a remote part of the forest of the Desolate Lands. The table and chairs had been conjured through the use of magic.

Grokus looked at the two Obsidian Skeletons as they all held their chins in thought. He sighed. What was he doing here? He honestly did not care about this as much as Kaladin and Nero, but the latter two took this matter way too seriously, and had invited him to take part in this small 'meeting'.

Kaladin looked around and opened his mouth. "We are no longer the master's strongest summons. This is bad."

"Very." Nero concurred with a deeply worried tone.

The two of them were worried about their standing in Leon's view after Axel had been turned into a summon. He was strong enough to fend off the three of them easily when he was still alive, but now that he had gained the bonuses of being one of Leon's summons, then how much stronger would he be? It would be ridiculous!

"I still say there is no need for us to worry about it. It is not like we are being replaces." Grokus, the only one with physical eyes among the three, took advantage of his features to roll his eyes dramatically.

"You two are being too extra. There is no way that the newcomer will take over your roles. We three are indispensable to Leon." Grokus pointed at them and the two of them turned to glare at him. Thunder rumbled in the skies while the air turned blisteringly sharp.

"Do not call the Master by his name!" Both Kaladin and Nero were of the same mind and spoke the exact same words at the same time.

"Hahaha! Look at you two, riled up over my utterance of his name. Fine, fine, whatever." Grokus waved his hands in the air as he decided to back off. The two Obsidian Skeleton summons were feeling rather touchy at the moment.

The Undead Orc Shaman sighed and took a look at the dark sky. It was still just the early hours of the morning. The sun had yet to rise, but soon, it would illuminate the sky over the horizon.

Caw!

A bird's cry drew Grokus' attention upwards and he spotted a black shadow approaching at high speed. It turned out to be Oris who was making his way to the three of them.

Whoosh!

The giant black eagle flapped his wings as he landed, creating a gust of wind that shook the branches of the trees all around.

"What are you three discussing?" Oris opened his beak and the words of the common language flowed out of his mouth like water. The three summons that had been discussing all paused and turned to look at him with stunned expressions.

"You can speak?" Grokus asked.

"Of course, I can. The common language is child's play in front of me. What did you think? I could only screech?" Oris snorted and picked through his black feathers while the others looked on incredulously.

Shhh.

The leaves rustled to the side as several other powerful summons belonging to Leon's army made themselves known.

Fenrir, the Ice Wolf King, Seth, the Giant Black Mamba, Tyrant, the Flame Raptor King, Ignis, the Flaming Steed King, and a few others that were more prominent under Leon's command, all emerged from the forest. They had all kept their presence on the low as the lingered, but with Oris' entry, they had decided to reveal themselves and rushed forward. The privacy that they wanted to give their 'seniors' had already been broken by now.

Grokus' eyes twinkled and he asked, "Can you all speak the common tongue?"

"We can." Fenrir answered on behalf of the others.

"Does the Master know of this?" Kaladin stood up.

"Not that we are aware of." Ignis answered this time.

"I see. So when we fought before you became the Master's servants, why did you only hiss and roar?" Kaladin asked curiously and the summons that had been conquered during Divinity's Bout all turned their faces away, embarrassed.

"Were you so into acting the part of a monster?" Nero asked, his tone mocking.

"As long as we acted the part, then our growth would be guaranteed. Don't mock us for doing what we could to survive." Ignis snapped at Nero, his burning mane blazing behind his head. He was a rather touchy one, much like the element that he embodied.

"Oi, oi! What did you guys think you were doing, coming here and stealing the attention? I asked a question. I want to know what you three were talking about!" Oris screeched out in annoyance. His eyes were narrowed, making his already small and narrow face even more so.

The three in question looked amongst themselves. They were the strongest and oldest out of Leon's summons, aside from the millipedes. Even Kaladin was older than the first millipedes that Leon had raised. However, the millipedes had yet to produce an A rank amongst their ranks. It seemed that they had finally hit the ceiling in their potential and growth.

Because of that, none of them were present. In fact, they were not even interested in any of these power plays amongst Leon's summons. They only wanted to wholeheartedly serve Leon in his glorious rise.

"Kaladin and Nero are feeling uncomfortable with the new summon, Axel." Grokus finally spoke up after seeing the two Obsidian Skeletons holding back. He could almost literally see their cores tremble under their robes and armor, while the air around them became much more charged with mana.

Lightning crackled within Kaladin's eye sockets and his fingers twitched. Nero on the other hand remained still, but the table in front of him was already covered with many little scratches. Both of them felt as if their insecurities had been exposed for all to see.

"You... Your tongue. I will fry it!" Kaladin reached for Grokus with a growl, but before he could latch onto the Orc Shaman, he felt a call from his master.