The NPC that called out to me as I got off the Darley also landed easily on the ground from a tall tree. They don't seem to be the enemy at the marker...

I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he said, "but I heard a lot of anger in his voice. I was curious to observe the battle. It's very impressive.

Huh... hi!

The adult woman suddenly stabs me with her spear. I dodge as quickly as I can and hit her in time. Then she played with her hand and threw a kick, but I defended myself with my foot. But he knocked me off my feet and I managed to hold on with one foot.

'Mm-hmm. The depth of your reading, the knowledge of martial arts, and the quality of your experience. There aren't many people who would not hesitate to strike at me, right?

You're the first person who's ever stabbed me with a spear out of the blue.

"Hmm... hahaha!　Delightful man!　Very well. You have the makings of a true leader. Follow me. I can't have you all in my house.

"You attacked me out of the blue, and now what?　You are!

When Ion protested, everyone protested. But the adult woman snaps her fingers and everyone is forced back to the summoning stone. Bullshit!

I hate kids who can only scream. I'm sorry, but I'm forcing you to leave. You'll see the advantage of coming to my house, won't you?

Yes, sir.

Wooddragons only seem to go deep into the forest, so we should have a place in the forest where we can warp. And I know who this woman is.

I followed the woman and we arrived at our destination. There is a magnificent mansion there.

I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Skaaha. I'm the one who teaches these idiots a lot of things.

Hi. This is Summoner Tact.

I knew it would come like that. Skaaha may be known in Japan as Scarsaha. She is a martial artist in the legend of Ulster and the queen who rules the underworld called the Land of Shadows.

She's famous for being a teacher at the school of martial arts, and for being the one who apprenticed the famous great hero Kufrin and gave him various skills and the legendary spear Gayborg.

Then a person came out of the mansion.

'I'm not in that fool, am I?　Master.

You're a wild man, that's why you're in the Fool's Chest. Mr. Kufrin.

Tsk...

Oh no... here comes the great hero of Ulster! Then two more people appear from the mansion.

''Koo... you're being rude to Master.

...all right. Fell.

Is Fell a fer diad? He's the one who took Kufrin's gaybolg to the groin. He is also Kufrin's brother and sister.

'Master... who is he?

Noish. A new potential apprentice.

I was a potential apprentice! No, I kind of knew that! And Noish is famous for his love story with Deodora. All three are famous for being disciples of Skaaha.

Are you kidding me?　You're taking that little guy as an apprentice? I'm against it.

Oh, well... what about the others?

I'm with Cu.

Me too, sir.

Then I thought Skaaha's eyes lit up.

'I see... then we have no choice. Let's decide on a duel. If you guys lose to Tact, I won't have any complaints.''

Oh, come on. You're kidding me, but we're going down.

'Well, well. If your master says so, that's fine. What about Neusch?

I don't mind.

No, no, no, no, you can't fight these three guys and win!

If Tact wins, I'll teach each of you one skill you like.

...any?

''Oh. I can teach you about dragonholes, magic cutting and shrinkage.

It's obvious....come to think of it, Skaaha had the ability to predict things.

'I understand. I'll accept.

Well, you've got guts. Okay. I'll take the first one.

What about the strongest beings coming out of nowhere? Then Skaaha generates a duel field.

Duel.
Opponents, Tact and Kufrin.
Judge, Skaaha.
Rules, time limit is 10 minutes.

There's a time limit, that's where you have a chance to win. You're effectively saying that you have 10 minutes to get out of there.

What about a weapon?

Nothing, please.

Heh!　Excellent!　I'm good without me too.

Then the duel begins. Before that, Skaaha says.

'Come to think of it, you guys never decided on a punishment for your losses.

The three of us are jumpy.

"Well... do you think you'll be able to stand on your little finger for ten years?

'Whoa, whoa!　Seriously!　Seriously, I'm going to kill you!

You purposely got Kufrin to take the gloves off. Now, I'm gonna take a stance.

"Be prepared.

Oooooh!

Kufrin senses my mood and warns me.

"Then are you both ready?

Yes, sir.

Oh!

Then let's begin.

Kufrin turns into a four-armed man and disappears. There!

Ugh!

My kick hits Kufrin and connects with a series of blows.

'Continuous kicks!'

Finally, a series of kicks to put it all together, but yikes. Apparently Ulster's strongest warrior isn't a master. Wherever he attacks, he's hard, and it doesn't feel like he's done any damage. I'm using quite a few status points for muscle power... but that's only the muscle power of a summoner. How can I be an opponent?

'Peh... that's a pretty weak attack.

I take a stance and challenge him with my hand. Seeing this, Kufrin makes a streak come to life.

'Excellent!'

Kufrin attacks me. But I dismiss the attack and use Kufrin's attack to throw it.

'Nah!'

I don't go deep and stand at the ready. Kufrin gets even angrier and jumps at me, but I throw him each time.

'Coo!　What are you doing!　You're going to be living on one pinky toe in a handstand for ten years!

'Shut up!　I know!　But this guy. Strange bodywork.

One minute to go.

'Duh!　You old hag!　My eyes are serious!　d*mn it!

Then both of Kufrin's limbs glow. Something's coming!

Enough is enough!

Kufrin is moving at a rapid pace! Strengthening! Oh no! They've staggered the timing!

Hey!

I duck Kufrin's fist. It gives me the illusion of a large truck passing by at close range.

'Not yet!　Whoa!

I tackle him into a lower stance, and as I take Kufrin down, I keep it up and take him into a layup.

'Stupid bastard. There's no way that's going to work on Koo.

'He has the most muscle power of any of us. See, he was easily overtaken.

You're the idiots! Time up!　The game is over.

""What?"

That was just barely enough. My poor tackling and laying down was just stalling. No pro fighter would do this to buy time against Kufrin, who is probably unbeatable, except to buy himself some time.

Huh...I'm glad he's not Kufrin in his prime. In the setting, this Kufrin is probably just a new apprentice to Skaaha. He only attacked in a pattern and with force. If he had used the last technique from the beginning, I would have lost for sure.

That Kufrin is currently stuck in a tree from his head. That's what happens when you call me hag, right?

'Well, which one of you will play Tact next?

I'll take care of him. I'm Koo's brother-in-law, after all. I'll take the sword as my weapon of choice.

Then I'll take the sword myself.

"I'll provide you with a fair weapon.

He takes the sword from Skaaha and holds it up. Then the match begins. At first, they keep their swords at the ready and close the distance between them.

''Hah!''

Fell is slashing away with an uppercut. He's got it! I wrap it around Fell's sword, twisting it around and launching Fell's sword upwards. It's called a roll technique. Normally I don't think you can do it with a shinai, but in this game, it seems you can do it with an ordinary sword.

'Wha?　Ku!

Fell jumps and tries to take the sword. You can't let him! My thrusts exploded into Fell's crotch. I know your weaknesses!

Geez!

I knocked Fell down and, with my sword stabbed into him, kept kicking him in the crotch until time ran out.

''...''

'Fell?　Is he alive?　...No?

You don't have any training.

Is that all you've seen of that tragedy, Master?

The last one is Neusch. Neusch's weapons are a shield and a spear. I'm the sword.

We strike each other occasionally, doing no damage, but consuming time. Skaaha is so boring that the match is absent.

But finally Neusch throws a spear at me. I dodge and close in on him in time. Noish sets up his shield and challenges me. That's not going to work for me!

I hit the shield, disarming the provocation, forcefully stabbing the hand holding the shield with my sword, and time is up when I get out of range. I won. It was a contest between us to see who could land the final blow in the last hour.

But Skaaha's assessment was harsh.

'Noish... you're a slacker.

I don't know what you're talking about.

'Well... noish, I'm going to give you a back-to-back training session!　Your rotten guts, they'll beat you back!

'Master!　Master!　Wait, wait!

Neusch was taken to the mansion. Um...what about me? Then Skaaha came back.

'Tact. I officially recognize you as my apprentice. I've given you permission for the warp gate and you should be able to come to me at any time. I will teach you the skills I promised you at night. Reassure the summonses that they are safe. But I will not allow you to bring them with you.

You don't like kids! Then I'll take you up on your offer and let you go home.

When I left, Lily and the others were grumpy and hard to deal with. Well, it can't be helped because it was the first time they treated me like that. When I made them a treat, their moods were easily restored. Now, I have some things to do before I log out.

I'm sorry, but I need to use the training room. I'll have a word with Moonlight Night there.

No problem. Master.

'Uh, uh... tact?　Lily and the others.

No. I'm the one who summoned Moonshine Night. I have to speak as the summoner.

So I summon Gekkiriya in the training room of Ex Machina's ship. I'm not sure if Tsukimukiyo understands that she's going to be angry, but she's very excited.

I'll start with the reason why I'm angry. It's a good thing that you're not the only one. You can also have a look at a few of the most important things you can do with your life. I've decided that we should all fight for the Wood Dragon. But, Moonshine Night, you thought you were going to win on your own, didn't you?

Moon Teruyo nodded.

''If you've made that decision, it's fine. I don't think my instructions are all correct either. But... that battle of yours was a dangerous battle that put my friends in danger. That's the only thing I can never allow as a summoner.

It seems that even Tsukihira Yoru has realized his mistake. I knew he heard us back then, didn't he? They could hear us, but they gave priority to the battle.

'There's nothing wrong with one-on-one combat. It teaches you your strength and allows you to feel your opponent's strength the most. I know there's a lot to learn from it. But, when you're with your people, think of your people. The book says the ogre rages on instinct, but so far you've been fighting alongside your friends. If that's what the ogre has been told to do, Moonshine Night, you can change it. You should be able to do that.

Goooooooo!

I guess you get the idea.

My sermon is over. I'll be looking after you from now on. Moonlight Night.

We put our fists together and went back to Leapling.

'Moonlight Night!　Were you afraid of the Takht?

That's a man's secret, right?

"What?

I'm sure Lily and the others will be fine. If I made a mistake, it was my job to scold them. That's why I kept this a secret.

But even so, the fact that the wayward Lily and her friends served up the food to Moonlight Night with no thought for the rest of the day was a bit of a surprise. It seems that it was that important for them to know how scared I was that they got angry.

Name Takuto, Summoner of Affection Lv19

Vitality 88
Magic power 234.
Strength 80
Defensive Strength 40
Agility 60
Dexterity value 144

skill

Fighting Lv 15 -> Lv 18 Kicking Lv 20 -> Lv 23 Cane Lv 35 One-handed sword Lv 30 -> Lv 32 Spear Lv 20 Sword Lv 15 -> Lv 18　
Throwing Lv 10 High Speed Chanting Lv 39 Summoning Magic Lv 39 Summoning Magic Lv 26 Sealing Magic Lv 33 Rider Lv 33　
Alchemy Lv 23 Mining Lv 28 Logging Lv 33 Dismantling Lv 42 Appraisal Lv 32 Identification Lv 39　
Rapid Magic Lv 3 Fire Magic Lv 4 Earth Magic Lv 5 Sea Magic Lv 4 Dark Magic Lv 3 Sacred Magic Lv 11　
Lightning magic Lv 32, explosive magic Lv 33, wood magic Lv 27, ice magic Lv 29, space-time magic Lv 41.　
Beast Magic Lv 3 Delayed Magic Lv 9 Continuous Chanting Lv 10 Underwater Action Lv 15 Shunsuke Lv 4 -> Lv 8
Reading Lv 16, Cooking Lv 40, Feeding Lv 8, Fishing Lv 20, Synchronization Lv 17, Cooperation Lv 8.