The Seven Demon's Tamer

"Now that you are all awake, can we get moving?" Leo spoke, rolling his shoulders to work out the stiffness from his meditation session.

"Sure," Ryder replied, stretching one more time before getting fully to his feet. "What else should we be doing?"

"So how do we get there?" Brok stretched lazily as he inquired, still bearing sleepy eyes that made him look like a confused owl.

"Do you have another alternative apart from trekking all the way?" Leo, the man who had probably owned more vehicles than most people owned pairs of shoes, was now reduced to suggesting they walk several dozen kilometers to reach their destination... How sad.

Luxy was too small for them to ride on and hard to summon, so he was out of the question. Aside from that, Ryder doubted if Luxy would have ever agreed to serve as transportation.

Leo didn't have any familiar to begin with, so he wasn't an option either.

"I don't think we need to walk," Brok spoke as orange mist began to flow out from his arm, the familiar energy swirling around his shoulder that they all recognized instantly.

"Oh right!" Leo realized, his expression brightening. "You have a bigger familiar. At least you finally found a purpose."

A sulking drool ran down Brok's nose as he registered Leo's comment. The words stung because they contained more truth than mockery.

Deep down, Brok knew he had never really offered any reasonable contribution to the duo.

He was simply tagging along almost as a burden. Ryder had a raw, highly strong familiar and incredibly physical capabilities that even he didn't fully understand. Leo had decades of experience and the silver gaze technique that was nothing short of extraordinary.

And Brok? Nothing considerable.

To think that a summoner of lower rank than him was about to join the group made him inwardly curse. Mara, with her brown-marked familiar, was technically the weakest among them in terms of power and familiar.

"Oh, this reminds me," Ryder suddenly remembered, his tone shifting to a more serious concern. "My prize chest!"

Ryder's tone went down as he finished his statement. Almost like he had received some sort of revelation, helping him know the most likely answer.

The realization hit him like a physical punch to the gut—all that terra gold, his reward for the underling tournament, was supposed to be in Leo's apartment.

The chest must have crumbled alongside Leo's home. The thought made his stomach clench with disappointment and frustration.

It wasn't just the money, though that was significant. It was the fact that all his hard work could be wiped away so easily.

"Why do you look so disappointed?" Leo smirked, and there was something in his expression that suggested he knew something Ryder didn't. "You know I still got your chest, don't you?"

"Huh! Really? Where?" Ryder's head snapped up, turning left and right sharply.

At this moment, Brok's familiar had fully materialized after he allowed the red mist out of his shoulder. It was a massive turtle that was as big as a boulder, with a shell that was as dull as a rock, but remarkably sturdy. It is called Ragnar.

It didn't look so terrifying. It was just like an oversized animal.

Suddenly, from its mouth, it vomited a large box covered in its saliva. The sight was both gross and wonderful at the same time—a box Ryder recognized immediately as his chest filled with terra gold coins.

"Oh, gross," Ryder made a face at the saliva-covered chest. "Please tell me it didn't get to the terra gold coins."

"It's just saliva," Brok assured him quickly. "Ragnar doesn't actually digest things he stores. Think of his stomach as more like a... a pocket dimension that happens to be accessed through his mouth."

"A pocket dimension accessed through vomiting," Ryder repeated slowly. "That's an impressive capability and a disgusting one too. How did you know about all this, Leo?"

Leo simply chuckled and remained silent.

"I had Ragnar swallow it all and store it in his internal space," Brok began, looking pleased with himself for the first time in a while.

"Unlike other beasts, mine doesn't really have an affinity. Its tummy is like an endless void."

"Its ability is separate from its affinity," Brok spoke proudly, grinning smugly as he rubbed Ragnar's shell. "It might be weak in terms of combat power, but its ability and affinity put together make it seem like it has two different affinities, thereby making it a valuable asset."

Brok wasn't the type to brag, but now that he did, his bragging seemed justified. The ability to store unlimited items safely was incredibly useful, especially for a group that was... at their current state.

"Blah blah," Leo stressed, but there was less hatred in his words than usual even when he talked about familiars. "I hate it when people brag about their familiars."

"You're just jealous because you don't have one to brag about," Brok shot back, turning his head away in annoyance.

Leo could only grit his teeth and glare at Brok with laser intensity.

The beast swallowed the chest once more, and Ryder tried not to think about his money. At least it was safe, even if the storage method was... odd.

Hopping on the beast was Leo, followed by the other two. The shell was surprisingly stable and comfortable, despite having a slightly curved surface that should have been slippery.

"I hope this doesn't move in slow motion like actual tortoises," Ryder commented, settling himself as comfortably as possible on Ragnar's back.

"Nah," Brok replied with confidence. "Do not mistake beasts for animals."

"Its name is Ragnar Tortoise," Brok patted its shell proudly. "It isn't just a tortoise."

The moment they were all settled, Ragnar began to move. The movement was smooth and surprisingly quick, nothing like the pace one might expect from a turtle-like creature.

The landscape began to blur past them as they rushed away from the ruins of Leo's home, moving at incredible speed—nearly as fast as a car beyond the speed limit.

"You had this all this while and didn't use it when you were trembling from exhaustion after the fight at my village," Ryder suddenly realized, staring at Brok.

"Are you dumb or what!"

***

It took a couple of minutes, but eventually, the trio arrived at the gate of the village.

As expected, Mara was already standing there, looking like she'd been waiting for some time. Early bird indeed.

She stood with perfect posture, her small backpack slung over one shoulder, and there was something different about her appearance that Ryder couldn't quite identify.

Was it her composure? She seemed certainly different from the mostly silent girl he knew.

"Welcome everyone," she smiled, and the warmth in her expression made the morning seem brighter.

They all nodded in acknowledgment, returning the positive smile.

Hopping from the back of the beast, they joined her. Ragnar settled down to rest, his massive form creating a small area of shade that they instinctively moved to.

"You seem to have packed quite a lot," Leo commented sarcastically, noting her single, nearly empty backpack. "I wonder why."

Mara rolled her eyes at Leo's comment. "I wish."

She only had a small backpack on, nothing else. Her home had crumbled from the earlier disaster in the village along with all her useful belongings.

All she could retrieve from her crumbled house were just a handful of items—a few changes of clothes, some basic supplies, and whatever personal souvenirs she'd managed to retrieve.

"I guess you guys are in the same condition as me," Mara stared at the three men. None were even carrying as much as a backpack.

In fact, she could say she was in a better condition because she could at least retrieve something. The trio were standing with nothing except the clothes they wore from the previous day.

"Let that slide," Leo spoke as he walked towards the gate, sitting by it with his back rested against the sturdy metal. "The Red Eastern will be here any second now."

As if summoned by his words, a distant rumbling could be heard approaching from the road that led away from the village.

It was time.

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