The Kind Summoner

"What should we do?", Marriane asked, as they all watched the man inspect the beast's wound.

Erial was silent for a moment before she shrugged.

"Probably best to avoid him, I think I remember him from the village. Probably one of the solos", she said evenly.

The term "solos" was what the chosen had taken to calling those outliers who had gone out to hunt on their own. Marriane hadn't really known any of them and had heard most of them had died.

Curious, she looked up at the man again in an attempt to see if she could recognize his features.

The man was tall, 5'11 or 6'0 with messy golden blonde hair and green eyes. He had strong features, a definitive jawline, and a sharp nose. All in all, he looked like a model of sorts, whether by ranking up or genetics Erial didn't know.

He was around twenty or so years old, Marriane had always been good at guessing ages. And clad in a dirty long sleeve shirt that had once been white but was now covered with dirt and blood stains. Along with a pair of khaki jeans that looked to be in tatters, with holes at the knees and lower thigh sections. On his hip hung an old scabbard, with the hilt of a longsword peaking from it.

While the face did seem familiar on second glance, Marriane didn't remember ever speaking to the man. As she stared at him in curiosity, she was surprised when he stood from the would and waved his hand. Instantly the wolf dispersed into a dozen emerald shards trailing a greenish energy. The shards flowed into the mans outstretched hand before disappearing completely.

"What is that, some sort of summoning magic?", Austin asked.

"I don't know", Erial said evenly. "But we don't know if the man's hostile, we do know he's dangerous. Let's just take a right and continue."

Marriane nodded with the words, though part of her couldn't help but feel a little let down she didn't get to meet the man. If she could ask how he'd gotten his affinity for summoning, she might be able to recreate it.

As they began to turn to head in a different direction, the man seemed to notice them standing there. They froze for an instant, locking eyes with one another before the man began to approach them.

Marriane wondered whether or not they should all just leave, but in the end figured it didn't matter. The man had little reason to attack them, none of the chosen had really tried to hurt each other besides the occasional fight. There was little point, the village had plenty of opportunities for them to get food, as well as enough space for everyone to sleep under a roof. Though she knew if there had been a lack of food or shelter there was a good chance the chosen would have turned on each other. Human nature was fickle when it came to survival.

Erial seemed to change her mind about avoiding the man, though she made no move for them to put their weapons away. With the wolf injured, she likely thought they would be able to handle the man and his bird in a fight.

As the man cleared the space between them quickly, coming to stand right in front of them a kind smile never left his lips.

"Hi there", the man said in a happy voice.

"Hello", Erial replied, her tone business like and emotionless.

"You guys are chosen from Rivercross right? I think I remember seeing you at some point", he said, his tone jovial.

"We are, are you chosen as well?", Austin asked, his tone optimistic once more.

"I am, my name's Aidan Smelt. Nice to meet you", the man said.

"I'm Erial Hela, this is Austin Brent, that's Jin Choi, and Marriane Smith is in the back", Erial said, indicating each of them as she spoke their names.

"Nice to meet you guys, how long have you been out here?", Aidan asked.

"About an hour or two, we were just about to do some hunting ourselves", Aidan said.

"Gotcha, well if that's the case would you guys' mind doing me a slight favor? I'd be more than willing to pay you for the trouble", Aidan said, producing two coins from a small satchel hanging around his torso.

The money system in Gia was far simpler than the one from their own world. It went by coins, each growing in value as their metal increased in worth. The lowest was copper, then bronze, followed by iron, silver, gold, emerald, and finally diamond. Each coin was worth ten times the cost of the last coin, making the system easy to follow.

How one could shape diamond, the hardest element known to man Marriane didn't know. But considering there was magic in this world, the concept wasn't too crazy.

Aidan held up a handful of copper coins, enough for each of them to get one or two. Considering just one copper was enough to get dinner from the village tavern for a night the money was more than a little alluring.

The party had made some money on their own, from selling monster corpses to the villagers who then butchered and ate them. Though the cost for one corpse was often four coppers, while the heavy snake were worth ten due to them being considered a delicacy. That and apparently the villagers used their scales to make weapons and tools.

"What do you need held with?", Erial asked.

"See that snake back there", Aidan said indicating the corpse over his shoulder. "Just help me carry it back, one of the villagers asked me to bring them one. Usually, I'd just have Cat do it, but he's a little hurt at the moment."

"Cat?", Austin asked in a confused tone.

"Ah sorry, that's the name of the big wolf you saw before", Aidan explained with a smile.

"You named your wolf "cat"", Marriane asked with a frown.

"Yep, because he acts like one. Now what do you say?", Aidan asked.

Erial glanced at the rest of the group thought for a moment, before reaching out to hold the coins.

Aidan handed them over, and Erial counted them before looking back at the group.

"There's eight coins here", she said to them all.

Marriane's frown deepened, 'doesn't that mean he'll only make a couple of coins in profit?', she wondered.

"Yeah well, it's a big snake, and I don't really need the coins all that much. Plus, I really need the help carrying it", Aidan said at their confused faces.

It was surprising how lightly the man had said he didn't need the money. After all they had been scrounging for money just to eat every night, and yet he didn't seem concerned about that at all. The man seemed too carefree for having been placed in a new world only three weeks before. It was almost suspicious, but in the end the amount of money they were getting was worth the same as them hunting two beasts and came with far less risk.

"Alright, we'll help", Erial finally decided, knowing that the others would go along with what she said.

"Great, then let's get to it", Aidan said.

***

They entered the village with the great snake hoisted up in their arms. They had each taken turns in carrying the corpse, with Austin, Aidan, and Erial doing the most. Marriane's turn was just finished so she walked through the village with just behind the group carrying the corpse.

The village was an old place, located just next to a wide river and mainly made of wood. Most of the wooden houses had stone chimneys and were wide with only one floor. There was an old dirt road that led up through the middle of the village, along with a few others leading to the river. All in all, it looked just as a medieval fishing village was expected to look, although perhaps it was a little larger considering it was also a trading spot. Though they hadn't seen any of the trading take place, as traders often came monthly to buy monster parts, fish, and parts. They had seen enough of the place to say it was a pleasant one, filled with smiles and happy children.

Some of those said children had even taken to staring and pointing at the snake. Marriane couldn't blame them considering the sheer size, and ferocity of the corpse. None of the kids approached them or made too big of a deal out of the sight of the snake.

After all, the snakes might have been rarely brought in but they were common enough in the parts that all the villagers had seen them.

Aidan led them to a small wooden hut, with hides strewn up for tanning at its front. They set the corpse down in front of the house, and then Aidan walked up and knocked on the door.

A tall, broad man in his forties answered the door with a scowl on his face. Upon speaking with Aidan, he stepped out of the door and approached the corpse to inspect it. The man had thick black hair, a moustache, weathered features, and a constant hardness to his expression.

"This'll work, scales are a little ruffed up, but I'll be able to make it into armor no problem", the man said after a moment of scanning the snake.

"Alright, then about our agreement", Aidan said with a smile.

"I'll chop the thing up and give it out to the chosen, might not be today though considering the size of the beast", the man said with a gruff sniff, his strange southern-like accent making the words sound drawn out.

Then the man stood up, shook hands with Aidan and then went back into his house to grab some tools.

"You're not accepting any payment?", Erial asked with a frown.

"I am, just not in coins. The meat is the payment, it should be enough to feed all the chosen at least for a night or two", Aidan said with a happy shrug.

'This man… he's worrying about others', Marriane realized.

It wasn't that she was deaf to the chosen's struggle, most of them hadn't gone hungry or had found jobs but she knew that to be fleeting. There was work in the village but not enough to be constantly sustainable for everyone to live there for longer than a few months. More than that, she had found herself often wondering how much food the village really had to be feeding so many mouths.

'How long has he been doing this? Has all the food the villagers have given us come from him, besides the first few meals that is?', Marriane wondered.

Not only did that speak volumes of Aidan as a person, but it also spoke to his ability. While everyone in the village from earth was struggling to get used to their surroundings, Aidan seemed to be thriving. Not only did he have enough money to pay their party, but also enough to feed the chosen less fortunate than himself. It was admirable, and Marriane couldn't help but feel impressed by the man. Not only because of his character, but also because of his strength. Before she had thought Erial the strongest amongst them, but now she was sure it was Aidan.

Marriane toyed with the idea of doing solo hunts herself when she got good enough with the bow, but quickly rejected the idea. She could barely walk around in the forest without feeling a sense of fear, let alone fight a beast.

"That's very… generous of you", Erial said, still frowning.

"I guess", Aidan said, seeming uncomfortable for the first time since they'd started speaking.

"We're all just doing our best to figure out this world, I've been doing a little bit better than most so I figured I might as well help out", he said, looking away as if in embarrassment.

"That's commendable", Austin said with a smile that seemed to have a bit of guilt laced within it.

Marriane understood that, while they hadn't been doing amazing, they had been doing relatively well compared to the other villagers. Yet they'd been so concerned with their own strength and survival they hadn't even considered helping.

"Thanks", Aidan said.

"How long have you been doing this?", Marriane asked.

"About two weeks now, after I figured out a more efficient way of hunting. I have a running deal with Sterm", he indicated the man who was stepping out of his house to skin the snake.

"I bring him corpses and he cuts them up to make them into clothing and armor, he chops up the meat and gives it too the villagers. Sometimes I'll bring him two or three dead things and he'll give me a little extra money. Plus, the parts he doesn't use are sold to the smiths and tool makers, so everyone gets a little something", Aidan explained.

Marriane nodded at that, "so does that mean you intend on staying in the village after the marketing season, you have a pretty good system going after all", she asked.

"Nah, it's only temporary. I've been saving to pay one of the visiting merchants to take me to Ariea, the nearest city. I'm hoping to find some more answers about Gia, and the infinite planes there", Aidan explained.

Erial nodded at that, "we've been thinking about doing the same", she said.

They had all been discussing it at length, the fact of the matter was that while the villagers knew a lot they didn't know enough. For their party to survive what they needed most was information. Not only about this world, but also about this eternity that had brought them to it. It also wouldn't hurt to find out more about portals, the different planes, and the technology of the planes.

"Really? Well in that case you guys are more than welcome to join me. Honestly there's a lot of benefits to being alone here, more points and all that. But it does get to be a bit lonely when my only company is Cat and Mouse", Aidan explained.

"Mouse, your bird?", Marriane asked.

"Yep", Aidan said gesturing upwards where the large hawk was flying in circles over their heads.

"You're not very good at naming things", Jin said, speaking to Aidan for the first time.

Aidan laughed, "yeah, I guess that's true", he agreed.

Erial was discussing with Austin during this interaction, then finally turning to Aidan.

"Do you mind if we think it over, going to Ariea with you I mean?", Erial asked.

Aidan nodded happily, then handed over the coins they were promised to Erial.

"Sure thing, just look for me in the old barn at the back of the village. The farmer's been letting me stay there because there aren't any animals", he said.