Elemental Summoner 1 by D. Levesque (best beach reads of all time TXT) 📕

Bromar. It’s in the Mital Forest. It’s about a ten-day journey,” Leeha enlightens me.

“Shouldn’t we see about this Rabini settlement and make sure they are all right?” I ask, a bit worried.

“No need,” Maxil says, shaking his head. “I will be sending some of our hunters to make sure all is well there. If it’s not, they will hasten to intercept you on your way to see the Elders.”

“It will be our job to get through to the Elders,” Leeha says. “It will be a hard journey, but it will give us time for you to train, Alex. And honestly, I need to train as well, as I am learning what I can do with my own spells. And you are going to continue to teach me your language, right?” she asks me, sounding uncertain.

I nod to her and smile, “It will be my pleasure to teach you, Leeha. You know that. It will be good to learn how to use my power more.” I turn back to Leeha’s parents. “Where is Marken, anyhow?” I ask them. I hadn’t seen him since we got back.

“Ah,” Maxil says with a proud grin. “He has gone to train with a Fire Mage. We do not teach the new Mages in the Homestead in case things get destructive. So he is training about three hours east from here..”

“Now, let’s get you some supplies,” Lahana says with a clap of both her hands.

“Do we need supplies?” I ask curiously, since we didn’t need any when we came from the city of Lomar to here.

Leeha nods at my question. “We can survive on hunting as we have been, but that takes time. If we bring our food, we can reduce that time and get to the Elders quicker. As speed is our goal, we will only make camp when we sleep at night. Most of the food will be travel rations, and we will supplement it with hunting when we can, but only if the animal appears for us. We shall not be going out of our way to do so.”

“So, things like dried meats?” I ask her, wondering what their idea of travel rations are.

“Yes, dried meats, fruits, and some nuts,” Leeha tells me with a smile.

“And bread,” Maxil tells his daughter.

“Oh? You made some travel bread?” Leeha asks her mother in surprise.

“Yes. I figured you would all be heading out soon for your own adventures, so I made some Elven Bread.”

“Elven Bread?” I ask, hearing the pronounced way she was saying it.

“It’s a recipe where we add things that will give you stamina and energy,” Lahana tells me with a smile.

“So why is it called Elven Bread?”

“Because only we Elves can make it. We are not sure why, but when we make the bread and add the ingredients a certain way, it creates Elven Bread. The humans have tried to duplicate it but to no avail. Mostly they think we cannot make it anymore, as we refuse to sell it to them,” Lahana says with a conspiratorial grin.

“You have hidden that for how long?” I ask her, amazed. So as a race, they can make something and somehow imbue it with magic? Is that like a race ability you would find in a game?

“Well over five hundred years,” she says with a laugh.

“Damn!” I tell her with some admiration. A race hiding something like that for so long? Wait, so if they have that, what do the other races have?

“Can the other races create things like that as well? What about the humans?” I ask.

Lahana shakes her head and says, “I am not sure about the other races. Just as we have hidden our bread from others, they might have hidden things as well. As for humans, we are one hundred per cent sure they do not have anything like this, and that they never did.”

“Then why are you telling me?” I ask her with a questioning look.

“Because of what you have done for our family. Also, we are about to send you to the Elders, and you will need to prove to them you are not simply a human. Just as you have been honest with us, we wish to be honest with you.”

“Prove it to them? How?” I ask her nervously.

“With power,” Maxil says, answering instead of Lahana.

“What? You want me to show them how powerful I am?” I ask, looking at him.

Maxil shakes his head. “No. With her.” He points to Leeha.

Leeha? I look at her, trying to figure out what he means. She looks just as confused as I am. I turn back towards Maxil, and he laughs.

“What I mean is, you need to teach my daughter this language of yours and make her more powerful. They have met her. They know her power. I need you to teach her to be stronger, so they will have no doubt that you are not simply a ‘human’. That other thing you named yourself, I think you can keep quiet about that for now,” he says, talking about the title of Elemental Summoner that I had given myself.

Why does he want me to keep quiet about that? He must realize what I am thinking, as his next words prove. “We are not ready for that yet, and you are not powerful enough yet. The Elders are truly powerful, Alex. Be careful,” Maxil says softly.

“I will watch over him, Father, Mother,” Leeha says softly, putting a hand on my knee. “As I am sure he will watch over me,” she continues, with a smile directed towards me.

“I promise I will make her powerful and watch over her as well,” I tell Lahana and Maxil passionately.

I do want Leeha to be powerful. I need powerful allies in this world. And if it means teaching her English, as it seems to be a magical language here, then so be it. I put my hand down on hers as it rests on my knee, and I smile at her. Fucking hell, she is beautiful. I