"First things first, you know that summoners aren't physically strong, right? So, why are you making me climb a mountain when you already know that?"
While making his way up the mountain, Liam suddenly asked a asked a question loudly, but no answers came back.
Still, Liam didn't stop; he kept questioning,
"Wouldn't it have been better to just have us summoners fight each other and improve our skills? This mountain climbing is such a waste of time..."
Currently, Liam is unable to summon, and he can't even use Ellie's shadow magic as that will attract Themes's attention.
Moreover, the only reason Liam can use various kinds of magic without even being a mage is because he's been blessed by a dragon.
It's Ellie's powers as a summoned beast that help him use magic on his own, but now he can't use them, as Themes will again notice the strange fact that Liam can use magic even though he's not a mage.
In other words, right now, without his summons and magic skills, Liam is just as weak as Riya. The only thing he has right now is just base stats that are barely at the early levels of an A- ranker and all the mana that he can use to give himself a physical boost.
Every being in the world knows how to control mana, and they can use it to give themselves a simple physical boost without even needing any skill or talent for that.
It's a basic ability that every creature in the world has.
Right now, Liam can only use that to help him climb the mountain, which is basically not enough.
'Themes likely knows that even without my summoned beasts, I can still climb this mountain if given enough time, as I am an A-ranker and physical fitness is not really a problem for me...'
While trying to walk up the mountain via easier paths, Liam kept thinking about everything over and over.
'There is literally no point in making summoners like me use their physical capabilities to solve a problem... This is basically against the fundamental way of how a summoner should be...'
Liam's eyes narrowed as he stood on a giant fallen tree's trunk and stared at the giant mountain in front of him.
'A summoner is supposed to use his summoned beast to do everything... If you are relying on your physical capabilities, then that just shows that the summoner himself is not good enough...'
Being a summoner means that you need to become strong enough in commanding your summons that you don't need to do anything yourself in battle.
If you end up having to interfere yourself, then that means you aren't good enough as a summoner, as you weren't supposed to do anything from the start.
'There's clearly something that I am missing here... Even Themes is a summoner, and he won't just arrange a random test for fun; there must be some reason why he banned summons...'
A summoner without his summons is just a weak target that can be defeated easily, and such a situation is very weird.
In the first place, the main point of being a summoner is that you must not let your opponent get too close and must not let your opponent catch you off guard.
If your opponent is able to attack you (the summoner), that just means that you are lacking in your commanding abilities and aren't controlling your summoned beasts well enough.
A summoner isn't supposed to be at the forefront; they are supposed to be in the background, controlling their beasts that are at the front.
'Hmm... without summoning a summon, there's only one way to deal with all this... and that is to use the power of your primary summoned beast...'
Liam thought for quite a while, and he came to the conclusion that Themes likely wants the participants to use the power of their 'primary' summons to climb this mountain.
A primary summon is basically the very first summon you ever have and you use in combat most of the time.
'Ellie is my primary summon; only she's the one whose power I can always use without even summoning her on the battlefield...'
A summoner can always use the power of their primary summons without needing to even summon them.
Although it takes a lot of cooperation between the two parties, it's a very handy ability that all summoners must learn in their lives.
'But the main problem is, I can't use Ellie's powers right now... If I did, that would spell disaster for Ellie... d*mn! It seems I am stuck in great trouble now...'
Liam couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated now.
Although he can indeed climb the mountain with just his physical abilities, that will likely not get him a good evaluation in the end.
Moreover, this evaluation test likely also has a very short time limit. The evaluation test
might be over in just three days or a week.
If Liam uses his physical abilities, he's confident he can climb this mountain in ten days at the
earliest.
But he likely doesn't have that much time.
'Ugh... Am I going to fail a test for the first time in my life?...'
Liam has never failed a test before; he's always been quite good in all aspects.
Except for Link and Rio, he doesn't think anyone else can even rival him in the younger
generation.
Forget about failing; Liam has never gotten below 95 percent marks in any of the theory or combat-related tests.
But today might be the day when Liam might 'fail' for the first time in his life.
Other participants will likely figure out sooner or later that they have to use their primary summoned beast's power to clear this test.
And Liam will be left behind in dust by them as he can't use his primary summoned beast's
power.
'Think, Liam think... There must be some other way around this problem...'
Liam stopped staring at the mountain, sat down on the fallen tree's trunk, and closed his eyes
to think.
He refused to believe that there was any other way around this problem.
'Every problem in the world has more than just one solution to it... If I can't use Ellie's power,
I need to figure out some other way...'
Liam couldn't help but frown at the situation.
He doesn't have enough time, and he can't even take advice from his biggest helper by communicating with her via telepaths, as Themes will notice it too.
'Currently, I feel like a person who is forced to commit a crime while being right under the watch of the police, which is ready to catch me at any time...'
'It's kind of frustrating...'
The moment Liam dropped his guard and used Ellie's power, he would not be able to explain
anything to Themes.
Moreover, this place is likely very remote; no one will come to save his life in this place.
'Er... I kind of regret coming to the Dragon Valley now... Maybe it would have been better to just stay at home and make cookies...'
The problem that Liam is facing seems to have no way out of it, and this time, Liam might really fail a test for the first time in his life.
Meanwhile, at the same time.
In the sky.
'What is this kid even doing? Why is he delaying?'
Themes couldn't help but frown at Liam's strange behavior.
Unlike all the other participants, Liam simply stopped moving and sat down in one place, as if
he were already giving up on the test.
Meanwhile, the other participants have already started to figure out that they need to use the powers of their primary summons to pass this test.
Only Liam is the one who isn't using his summoned beast's power.
'Strange... Isn't it said that he has a dragon as his summon? Why isn't he using that dragon's
powers?'
Liam became famous the very day he summoned a dragon for the first time.
The world knows that Liam has summoned a dragon, but as Liam wasn't allowed to summon Ellie in the supreme tournament, the world doesn't really know much about Ellie.
The entire world is aware that Liam owns a dragon, but they are unaware of the type of dragon he possesses or its appearance.
Even Themes has seen Liam's battle videos in the Supreme Tournament arc, but he has no
idea about Ellie either.
Although Liam did use Ellie's powers quite often, people misunderstood that his summoned
beast Kazto is capable of using 'space' and 'shadow' type powers, so they don't think that his
dragon is a shadow type.
It's been centuries since a dragon made a proper contract with a summoner, and there has never been a shadow dragon who made contracts with humans.
So, even the thought that Liam has a shadow dragon didn't cross anyone's mind, including
Themes.
'Forget it; everyone has their own way of doing things. Let's wait and see; it's not like you will be able to climb the mountain with just this much...'
'I have taken my time to arrange this test; it's not so simple that you can beat it so easily... I estimate that even the fastest of them will need at least five days to complete this test...'
Author's Notes.
Yo! It's your beloved author here!
It seems that Liam is stuck in quite a difficult situation now...
Question of the day:
What are your thoughts on Liam's situation?
(Tell me in the comments.)
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story.
Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.