244 The Triforge (1/2)

Mercer corrected his brother with triumphant flair. ”Obviously, the seer is blessing the soil before he leaves.”

”Ah,” nodded Mason.

Meanwhile, the three beastwomen, Old Thane, and Zagan had stepped backwards, sensing the magical energy beginning to emanate form Li as he chose on a familiar to summon, putting its image in his mind and then channeling his magical energy to fill in that image such that it could manifest upon reality.

A spark of green crackled from Li's hand, arcing into the dirt beneath. The spark instantaneously spread out into a lit-up circle of arcane symbols flashing with green, though at its center, framing Li, there was another circle that shone with ominous hints of orange and red.

The ground lurched, as if it had been made water for one instant and swelled up and down, and Mason and Mercer both fell on their backs in utter surprise.

”You two should stand back,” said Li, and the brothers scrambled backwards, giving him space and clearing the summoning circle.

”New friend!” said Tia as she clapped her hands and looked down from the backpack with wide and curious eyes.

”Friend? Hm. It may not be as playful as you want it to be,” said Li as he pressed his hand into the soil. It merged into the firm dirt without meeting any resistance, as if becoming part of the earth itself, and then, the light from the circle intensified into a flash.

The ground under Li began to split and crack apart rapidly, spider web streaks of broken earth quickly becoming fissures that swelled up dirt at the center of the circle. From this swell, roots emerged. Crimson, spiked roots. Blood Roots – very similar to that of the [Blood Root] spell that Li could cast.

The roots wriggled like prehensile tentacles in the air before curling down and latching onto the earth, digging their tips in like anchors. Li stood at the center of these roots, and now he stood, awaiting the rest of the familiar to emerge from the earth.

The roots pushed, and the full body of the creature broke through the soil in a rumbling entry.

”Hold tight, Tia,” said Li as with a sudden lurch, he found himself several meters high in the air, his feet not on soil anymore, but the flat, smooth and orange surface of an enormous pumpkin. Four large, thickset roots sprouted from the pumpkin's sides, curling and digging into the dirt before raising it up like the legs of a spider.

”High up!” said Tia as she looked down from the backpack, over the pumpkin's edge where everyone else seemed so much smaller.

”Care to join us up here?” said Li down to everyone else. The familiar sensed his will and from its stem, several blood roots – thinner than its supportive leg roots – emerged, curling down and offering up a quick ride to the rest of the party.

Its size was imposing, giving off the same sturdy and powerful bearing as an armored tank, its pumpkin shell shining under the sun not like organic rind, but more like reinforced metal. It had a face much like that of a Halloween Jack o' lantern, a sinister, jagged grin bared with sharply slanted eyes that spoke only of mischief and evil.

From its eyes and mouth glowed an eerie orange shine, one that made those that looked within queasy and nauseous.

This was the Elder Vukanovi, a level 75 familiar meant as a tank unit suited for mowing down weaker familiars. It was sourced from folk tales of the Balkans which believed that pumpkins and melons left out at certain nights became ”vampires” that moved on their own and drained the blood of humans and livestock.

In Elden World, Vukanovi manifested as hopping pumpkins that sucked blood. They were not truly vampires, only sharing a penchant for blood, but they were still night creatures attuned with darker magics.

The Elder Vukanovi was extremely rare and the highest-level variant of vampire pumpkin, acting like a mobile fortress with its extremely durable shell and its capability to spam blood roots to instantly kill familiars of sufficiently low level and health to constantly regenerate its own vitality, making it quite suited to mowing down masses of weaklings, though with stronger opponents, it did struggle.

Well, compared to the average of this world, the Elder Vukanovi was an apex predator that had precious few much stronger than it.

One could even hide other summons or allies inside the hollow of the pumpkin, sheltering them from damage and targeting. Apparently, the place was also quite cozy as well, and Li was somewhat eager to see for himself.