Chapter 118: Ash’s memories

Deep within the forest, the group gathered while keeping an eye on the scoreboard. They’d grown accustomed to checking it, not for the time, but the remaining schools. With less schools remaining, the already slim chances of their discovery relaxed them. With a plan already in place, the leader called the masked tracker and Vox to the meeting again.

"Well, it seems most of our work is done here, is it not?" One of the Eidolons asked the dark scaled leader, who was clicking their nails on the table again.

"Not quite. We’ve established this as our living area and I intend to keep it that way. We just have to remain mindful and continue to remain hidden amongst the shadows," the Leader let out a menacing laugh afterwards.

"Is there anywhere you’d like me to be? It’s pretty easy to see they’re both just camped out hiding and waiting for each other to fight," the hooded, masked Eidolon asked.

"Keep an eye on those Armitage brats. I have a meeting to attend and won’t be back for 2 days. Vivachel, I leave you in charge."

"Yeah my lord." Vivachel, a larger female Eidolon, grinned as she stepped over to the throne chair.

"Well then. Let’s sit back and enjoy the reset. This shake-up will be lots of fun!"

******

Ash peeled away the barrier just a bit to catch a glimpse of the timer.

’Still have 13 hours left...I wonder what mom and dad are up to and if they’ve figured out who runs the forest yet?’

Ash kept watch but remembered back to all the fights his dad and his aunt had when the Land of Summoned Monsters was created. Giant battles lasting weeks where the two mighty dragons continued to go at one another. The only difference was Tiamat was going for blood where Bahamut was just trying to keep her in check and get her out of the realm.

’Why didn’t dad just kill her?’ Ash thought, still perplexed why his father was so kind to such a malevolent being.

He remembered the day his father banished his aunt from the realm permanently. He couldn’t understand how or why his dad remained separate from the other gods and goddesses. Bahamut kept in touch with them, primarily through Zeus, but didn’t bother much with the affairs of other Universes once the summoners became extinct. That was until a little Sanju boy appeared in front of him and cloned one of his familiars, killed it and passed the trial.

’Why wasn’t I able to be his host? I could have helped that kid...’ Ash sighed, looking at the timer again to ensure they didn’t oversleep.

The Land of Summoned Monsters became a place where the Eidolons accepted their fate. They already had factions and with enough beasts, Generac stones, creation crystals, and natural breeding, the realm flourished even if it was dysfunctional. Bahamut and Asura tried their best to keep everyone in line, but it was impossible. Ash was just glad to be free with a shot at redemption to break the wretched curse placed on him.

Time felt irrelevant to Ash for a long time now. Simple days like this when he was just out and watching could feel like an eternity for a bored, young student. For him, it was nothing.

"Ash you ok? You look sad." Kass whispered while stretching her arms while sitting up in her sleeping bag.

He gave a faint nod and looked back up at the scoreboard.

’Looks like they’ve been busy.’ As thought with a small frown.

#1. Armitage 1 - 24,060

#2. Ability 1 - 22,600

#3. Armitage 2 - 20,500

#4 Armitage 3 - 20,060

4 Teams Remaining

05:14:25 Until Next Reset

Kass walked up to Ash and hugged him. He didn’t expect it but returned the hug with a smile. Kass caught a peak of the scoreboard, causing her to gasp.

"Why did you let us sleep so long?!" She asked anxiously.

"Because you need to rest. 9 hours isn’t very long," Ash chuckled.

Nyx, Amanda and Sophie all woke up and noticed Tyler was still peacefully sleeping with his head sideways on a pillow.

"He’s drooling," Nyx giggled.

"We should go hunt or something. Let’s leave him be and go score us points!" Sophie exclaimed quietly as she grabbed her gear.

The four ladies went to leave but Ash wouldn’t let them through.

"Nope," he said sternly.

"Come on Ash, Nyx could just teleport us out of here. We need to do something. We can’t just sit here idly while they’re out hunting." Amanda pleaded.

"Until you’re ambushed by the Armitage teams and one of you is hurt. What happens then?" Ash gave them a stern stare.

"Then we teleport back to him using our emergency blessing from your mom. Please Ash? Trust us..." Sophie said with her hands folded together, returning his intense stare with a kind, honest one of her own.

"Fine, but I’m going with you." He smirked.

"What about Tyler?! We can’t just leave him here alone." Nyx complained.

Gaia emerged from the floor. "I’m here. I came back about an hour ago. I’ll watch him, go get some points and look for the ruby chests. Those are the best ones."

They teleported with Ash, which was weird. They felt warm and cozy. It was so relaxing, they wanted to drift off into another deep sleep.

"What’s up with your flames right now when you’re in your human form? They make me sleepy," Nyx yawned.

"Oh, sorry. I was trying to keep myself relaxed," he laughed before turning into his majestic adult phoenix form.

They teleported to a new area that looked untouched by anyone from the schools so they immediately got to work slaying the nearby beasts.

"Looks like Ability is up and out!" Tommy V commentated on his livestream.

The Dean nervously paced back and forth while watching, trying not to get too excited.

"Nyx, look out!" Amanda screamed.

’Form 47,’ Nyx said while turning to block a giant talon from a griffon using a body slam. It dented her shield, which pissed her off.

’Form 32,’ changed her into a vampiric ninja. She hacked and slashed the griffon away while others flocked the ladies. They worked in a group and Ash spewed fire to keep them safe.

"What’s that over there?" Sophie shouted, noticing beasts were popping out of it.