The Ultimate Summoner

Chapter 1: Council Meeting

Chapter 1: Council Meeting

…

In the beginning there was only you,

So you decided to go on to the end,

Till there was nothing left of you.

In the beginning I was alone,

So I went on to the end,

Till there was only I left,

Who am I?

Who are you,

We are Zen,

The beginning,

And the end.

…

In a hall about fifty meters in length and breadth were two youngsters moving about rapidly, one of them had lightning flickering around his form with each tensing of his muscles lightning cackled and each fist he threw was accompanied by electricity but the other person looked quite ordinary and very unimposing and despite the difference in appearance none of the former’s attack was able to land as the ordinary looking young man seemed to effortlessly evade and parry each attack.

After several exchanges both came to a halt with the empowered young man barely out of breath while the ordinary one was dripping with sweat and totally out of breath, he had his hand on his knees with his dark hair matted across his face.

“Young master Aldrin is as exceptional as ever, a hundred fists and none was able to land, if only you had a Zen core I wouldn’t be your opponent.” The empowered man who had a brown hair and muscular build said with a flattering smile but the other man frowned slightly instead.

“Indeed if I had a Zen core I’d have killed you for what you just said.” Aldrin replied as he left the training hall for the attached locker room to have a shower and change of clothes.

As water drizzled from the shower head his mind flashed through his life, in this world zen practitioners and zen warriors were the rulers and law makers, those without the aptitude to become a zen practitioner nor constitution to become a zen warrior became peasants or trashes that everyone else looked down on and people like him who had no zen core were the worst of the worst, trashiest of the trash, in the community he had no hope, even amongst peasants he’d definitely rank amongst the lowest caste but as fate would have it he was born into one of the three ancient clans, second only to the imperial family and what made it worse was that he was the first son of the clan head.

…

Within a small room illuminated by a frost shaped chandelier hanging from the ceiling was a long rectangular table around which sat twenty men ranging from being middle aged to elderly and at the head sat an imposing man either in his late thirties or early forties, his seat was akin to a throne and this made the other twenty fancy seats look very ordinary in comparison.

He sat leisurely upon his throne with his cheek resting on his fist while watching the others bicker endlessly amongst themselves.

“The Ancient Dragon clan has been led for centuries by might alone, we can’t allow it to suddenly change now due to ‘peculiar reasons’” one of the elders said with a sneer while laying emphasis on his last words.

“Leading a clan is not all about brute strength, knowledge, wisdom, leadership skills are all very important otherwise what difference we would be from barbarians.” Another countered.

“And what would happen if the clan came under the attack of enemies, of course he’d try to lead the others to battle but who would be willing to listen to someone weaker than themselves.”

“You can’t judge him using normal standards, it would have been a different case if he had a core but was too stupid to use zen then you might have had a point but he is clearly a genius but the gods are cruel creating him without one.”

“Elder Sky-Hand is right, Aldrin doesn’t even have a zen core, how would he hope to understand the principles of zen nor the struggles of warriors, all he’ll ever be is a fancy face.” A middle aged man replied with a sneer causing the one who spoke earlier to almost spit flames from rage.

“There’s also the case of bloodline, during his birth there wasn’t the slightest disturbance within neither the ancestral hall nor the bloodline shrine.”

“Tch, that is also to be expected, if not that the bloodline resonance test came positive I’d doubt he’s truly the child of the clan head or who knows some trickery could have been played in order to pull the wool over our eyes.” An elderly man with grey hair and wrinkled face spat out in disgust and the instant he completed his statement silence washed over the entire room as a formless pressure descended suppressing everyone present and filling them with dread.

The source of the pressure didn’t even change his posture or expression but everyone had their eyes on him, the clan head slowly raised his head his eyes trained on the elder who had just spoken.

“I need you to explain yourself properly.” The clan head said slowly one word at a time, his dark eyes seemed to contain an abyss within them and the elder who had just spoken slowly levitated into the air but not of his own power as it could be seen in the panicking expression on his face and the helpless flailing of his limbs

“Are you accusing my wife of infidelity or are you accusing me of harboring a bastard or perhaps you see within me a liar and a cheat?” The clan head said taking his sweet time to speak each word.

“Clan head…..” one of the elders tried to speak but the moment those pair of demonic eyes belonging to the clan head landed on him he instantly shut up and the entire room was even more quiet than a graveyard with the tension so thick it could be cut with a knife, everyone was afraid of even breathing too loudly for fear of angering the human shaped demon sitting upon the throne.

“You have to the count of five to explain yourself or I shall judge you guilty of treason.” The clan head said facing the floating elder who was still trashing around

‘If only you were truly giving him the chance to speak.’ All the remaining elders had the same thought going through their minds, the guilty elder’s face had turned pink from suffocation making it obvious that the clan leader was responsible for choking him making it impossible to even breath not to talk of speak but despite knowing the truth no one said a thing as it was already obvious that the clan head was intent on killing the said elder

“One, two, three, four, five. Since you can’t defend your words then die.” The clan head said and without any superfluous motion the floating elder suddenly had his body wringed in opposite direction like a ragdoll before being tossed aside, his bones bent into odd shapes.

“Now let me make this clear, there were twenty of you here, seven of whom have remained silent wearing a façade of neutrality, three who has supported Aldrin in taking over as the clan head and ten who were against that motion.

As elders of the clan you have a right to tender your thoughts and I have a responsibility to hear you out but the reality of things is that I have no reason whatsoever to listen to your ramblings or do I need to obey whatever it is you say.

I am the leader of this clan and my words are law, anyone who goes against this law dies, like that old fool over there, don’t worry as long as I don’t kill thirteen of you at once the ancestral hall won’t make a move, all I need to do is kill you one at a time and slowly replace you.” The clan head said with a natural smile as though he was just talking about the weather or what to have for supper, both his demeanor and power rendered everyone else in the hall speechless.

“This is the power of a supreme master, easily crushing a grandmaster like it was the most natural thing in the world.” One of the elders murmured and the others agreed with a solemn nod.

“Clan head please allow this old one to speak.” One of the elders who had remained silent during the earlier bickering suddenly spoke up and all attention turned to him, the clan head waved at him to continue while he leaned on his knuckle once more wearing a lazy expression

The old man stroked his snow white beard with a chuckle as he turned his head from side to side surveying all the elders present.

“Everyone here has one concern and that is the question if young master Aldrin is suitable to lead the clan after your esteemed self and I have an opinion that might favour everyone present, first the position of clan leader is one that tests leadership skills and not raw power so I suggest we put all the candidates through a test that checks their leadership skills and secondly is bloodline power, young master Aldrin would have to make it to the inner section of the bloodline shrine, successfully passing through these two tests would prove him worthy to the entire clan.” He said with a smile while stroking his beard and everyone had different expression some of panic, some of joy and some felt just incredulous.

“That sly old fox, reaching the middle section of the shrine is impossible for any of the youngsters, being crippled is the best outcome and death is the worst.” Many of the elders whispered amongst each other.

“I accept.” The clan head declared and everyone burst into a noisy chatter.