New Summon

The struggles of the three lasted for a long time, the gorilla's grip on the sabertooth's maw prevents the poor fellow from biting which was its only method of attack against the tough enemy, furthermore, it couldn't even run away from this stupid stalemate

The bear, however, didn't give up and always tried to go for the fruit, sadly for it, and thankfully for Yu, the baboon made sure it was nowhere near the crippled human, the poison also started to kick in after a few dozen bolts slowing the relentless fellow down until it finally relented its life unwillingly

Feeling the body within its grasp getting limp the gorilla kept its grip for a while longer until it was sure this wasn't an act, only then did it let go of the dead body and pull the sabertooth closer for a good beating

"They shouldn't have let it take hold of them, even at the expense of the fruit being stolen, that strength is no joke"

Yu concluded seeing the creature that both saved him and is torturing him beat its chest victoriously, it was amazing how a single mistake could end battles between such high-rank creatures which proved that no matter how strong you get there is always going to be a thin line between you and death

After enjoying its victory the beast dug into the bodies of its prey and took out their crystals before making its way toward him

"Oooha!"

It pointed at him and then then the crystals

"Want me to store them as well?"

He asked, opening his pouch which contained the other gorillas' crystals it let him store, apparently it didn't understand the ring's functions and only accepted him keeping it within a bag

"Hoo hoo haa!"

It grabbed the bag and threw the crystals to the ground, putting the new ones with them as well as the fruit before pointed between him and the loot once more

"??"

He couldn't comprehend what the hell the crazy fellow was going on about, this pissed it off quite a lot it seemed since it smashed the ground angrily, trying to get the point to him in its own language

"Hoo!"

Suddenly it seemed to get an idea and drew measly across the ground, placing the crystals and fruit on the sides of the drawing

"?...Oh! You want a sacrifice?"

While messy he could make out the shape of the hexagram he always drew, the nodding baboon proved his assumption to be correct

'Ah shit'

This was a big problem, a very big problem since his skill stated sacrifice could be used on each beast one time only

"Oohaha"

It put all the loot next to him and demanded the miracle once more, clearly there was no room for escape

'So this is why its been dragging me along this entire time, I should have known'

The wolf he recruited back near Halferg probably thought the same and followed him because of that, it seems not only humans but even beasts went after benefits alone

'The hell am I supposed to do now'

If he didn't please the power hungry fellow then he would end up either beaten to half death or just outright killed by it, he already saw what humans would do to satiate their greed and for sure beasts would be just as brutal

An impatient expression started to etch on the gorilla's face when he fell into thought, it made him gulp nervously and start drawing on the ground, taking as much time as he could to think of a way out of this tricky predicament

'Lyra is out of commission, I can't run even if my feet were not injured, the only way I can think of is bringing out my shield and using the sacrifice on one of the other three...two summons, that little fish cant fight on land'

The sounded like the most viable option but then who should he strengthen? Neither the spider nor the snake could use the current crystals to their advantage

'Well, the spider is of the beast attribute so it might be capable of evolving into something strong enough to fight off this unreasonable fellow'

With an uncertain plan in mind he finally placed the last item on the formation and took a deep breath, then, summoned his ever-useful shield

The eager gorilla which was about to step onto the formation was pushed out the way by the unbreakable shield making it stare with a dumbfounded face, soon though it realized the injured two-legged creature was probably stealing its treasures plunging it into a mad fit

Seeing it bang one the shield futilely he let out a heavy sigh, the plan was already in motion and he could not take back what he already did, all hopes were now pinged on the little spider

Just as he was about to summon the little critter out he noticed the banging stop shortly after it started promoting him to look up in confusion at the baboon who was supposed to keep raging on

The gorilla wasn't looking at him though nor the formation but at the top of the shield causing his sight to once again seek the cause of this weird phenomenon

Surprisingly there was another creature banging on the shield, this one wasn't angrily trying to break through but knocking its small hands on it as if asking for him to let it in

'Isn't this the small guy from earlier?'

The cute squirrel looked like a little animal sticking to the window in a rainy storm, begging for some warmth and love

"Oooha!"

Already incensed by his actions the gorilla sent a punch at the small creature in order to let out some steam making Yu hastily decide to let the fellow in so he could find out what this was all about

Slipping through the transparent shield and avoiding death it quickly ran past Yu and into the formation before turning to him and putting its hands together in a begging motion, please make stronk, was what he understood

"Heh, your quite the smart one aren't you"

While he admired the high intelligence of the creature the gorilla's bald head entered his sight behind the small squirrel, sticking its face and hands to the shield asking to be let in just as the squirrel did

"Uhh, just no"

Ignoring the ugly beast he returned to distinguishing the much cuter one on the formation

It was a brown almost normal looking squirrel, the only abnormal thing about it was a dark brown gem embedded in its chest

'Hmm, there is no mistake about it, this guy is a Gemarium'

-Gemarium, Beast Branch, Squirrel Sub-Branch, Beast Attribute, Bronze Rank Exclusive

This species was known for storing plenty of food for winter, not like normal squirrels do though but in the form of energy, instead of the usual organic substances they gnaw at beast crystals scavenged from fights and store the energy in the gems at their chest

"Hmm"

This guy was courageous enough to try to steal the fruit right in front of the much stronger beasts, not only that it didn't even actually leave after being threatened and hid in the surroundings, probably waiting for an opportunity until it saw the formation and gathered its big guts once more for another attempt at power

"Your really greedy aren't you, perhaps just as courageous as well"

He didn't come to like greedy creatures, this time was different though, this was exactly what he needed, a courageous beast to fight the enemy rather than the cowardly spider who might not even be able to put up a struggle

"You want power right"

Crawling next to it he asked to which the squirrel gave a surprising nod seemingly understanding some of his words

"Then, pay the price"

The grimoire floated to the little guy, opening a new page for the first ever contract he would sign on his own

There was no need for an explanation, every beast somehow knew what to do when they saw the grimoire, the squirrel however hesitated, looking between the book and the formation as if weighing the price of freedom for power

"Come on, my shield isn't going to last forever"

Yu hurried once he felt an entire minute pass

Sensing his urging tone it realized it had o make the decision now, a decision that was quite clear from the beginning for one as greedy as itself

Placing its small hand on the empty page caused both the grimoire and itself to shine brightly before the small body was sucked into the book, now an image of a squirrel looking around attentively filled the once blank page

Time was of the essence so Yu did not dally and strung the weird syllables once more for the new summon to come back onto the formation, then he quickly chanted the words of sacrifice

"I, Yu, Sacrifice this as a means to nourish thou, in body and mind, in hope thou reach thy Zenith"

The formation started to shine and under the wrathful gaze of the bald gorilla treasures were absorbed one after the other, changing the colour from the dull yellow its started as into a golden glow that filled the woods along with the mad beast's shout increasing Yu's tension to a new high, there was no reconciling after this

As the golden glow dimmed the newly evolved squirrel came to view, its fur now gold just like the darker gold colour its gem took, there was also a white triangle on its forehead adding to the appeal of the small fellow

"Huh?"

A confused sound came out of Yu for that was all there was to the changes

"It f-failed?"

He stuttered, if this was all there was to the evolution then he might as well kiss his life goodbye

Every bang on the shield now sounded like the footsteps of death coming closer and closer, soon his shield would bar the wrathful beast no longer and there will be no hope of escape

His new summon didn't seem to agree with him though as it turned around with a disapproving look on its face, looking at the larger enemy in a condensing manner

'Perhaps it got something up its sleeve now?'

Recalling how his snake could stun the mind of others he thought that perhaps not all was lost, maybe a new energy based power was gained

Sure enough the squirrel did do something out of the norm, and that was jumping out the shield to tackle its enemy

"Wait!"

He yelled for it to come back but it was too late, a huge palm was already swinging toward the golden figure

Thanks to its speed though and the fact that its attack was unexpected it managed to dodge the palm and stick to its swinging arm for a second before climbing it all the way to its back

'Is it distracting him? Maybe-'

BAM!!

Before he could continue his line of thought a large body grew on the gorilla's back, smashing it to the ground and pinning it down with two muscle filled arms as another pair forcibly held the mouth open, ripping the beast in half from head to tow

"...."

Perhaps influenced by the ripped open mouth Yu stilled with his own mouth agape, the incomprehensible sight before him left his mind empty of any thoughts whatsoever

Thud…

Allowing the dead body to drop the four-meter creature made its way back to Yu proudly, flaunting its transformation

Four giant arms supported its steps bringing to his attention the heavy shield made of gems covering the torso, and once the creature came face to face with him he couldn't help but snap back to reality as a skull with golden eyes peeking out its socket filled his sight

Tens of seconds passed before he gathered the courage to extend his hand forward to touch the beast only for the big figure to shine brightly and disappear from sight followed by a much smaller one jumping onto his extended hand, making its way to his shoulder

"Ho? You can shift between your two forms so easily?"

The squirrel nodded with a yawn, perhaps transforming took a toll on it since it quickly bundled up on his shoulder and drifted into sleep

"This guy…. Well, guess I should get going then"

Finally free from the mad beast's grasp his journey could be resumed once more, with a new strong summon on his side