Being a Summoner on our Evolved Earth

Oath and Vows (18)

With the sounds of crackling fire and chirping insects, Lucia closed her eyes to fall asleep. Her usually quiet mind once again acting up with thoughts.

'What should I even do with myself from here on? I don't need to protect humanity, a majority of them don't deserve protection. Thieves, con men, and ungrateful wretches abound. Humanity is innately selfish, even being good is a selfish act of self satisfaction.' Feeling discouraged, Lucia peaked her eyes open to glance at Vicki, then at Aegis. 'I suppose in my quest to survive I've given myself a new reason to live. Rather than work for humanity; I'll keep working for those who form a bond with me, since they are the only ones I can trust. I will help them become powerful, find a mate, whatever they want. I have nothing I want other than to see them grow and prove to myself that I am capable for once in my life.'

Lucia glanced at the starry sky above as she made her resolve then finally was able to fall asleep.  Lucia didn't know though that she started subconsciously pouring her mana into Vicki and Aegis through the contract. Both Vicki and Aegis heard her pledge with the stream of mana. They simultaneously stared at her with stirred emotions.

"She..." Vicki was lost for the words she wanted to say.

"She is a princess who lacks the confidence and experience to become a queen." Aegis spoke while he moved forward to kneel before the unconscious Lucia. "My princess, your oath I have accepted it, please accept my vow to protect you with my everything so that you can become someone who is confident and happy." Aegis spoke solemnly while his soul flames burned bright enough to cast a glow out of his helmet. Upon making his vow, the mana flowing from Lucia etched onto his armor forming swirling patterns that looked like long vines with leaves scattered sparsely. Lucia's mana also crawled along her own skin to form similar patterns with a vine tiara over her forehead.

"You think she will become a queen?" Vicki asked in shock.

"She has the mentality of a good ruler, to serve her people while leading them. She wants not for her own greed, but for the good of those who follow her. She can be decisive when necessary, and can be generous, but she is missing the hardened heart that is willing to put her followers in life threatening dangers. I feel that as we continue and she gathers more familiars, she will learn the other qualities." Aegis explained his reasoning as he rose from his kneel and turned to stand guard again.

"I... You really trust her that much huh..." Vicki acted flabbergasted by the amount of trust Aegis had.

"A knight is trained to serve with their all. My first master turned into a greedy monster who abused those under his rule. I never thought I'd take another master, let alone a little girl. However, when we met for the first time and signed the contract; even though she looked down on me for being weak, she still started off with looking for how to raise me up and didn't try to send me into suicidal missions alone. She always came to my aid when I couldn't handle a fight. Giving guidance, healing, even partaking in the battle as well. The one time I was trapped in the arena fighting alone, I wasn't really alone since she was always trying to help even when all she could do was poke her staff through the iron lattice." Upon remembering that seen, Aegis laughed to himself.

"Really? Huh, I guess she really is trying to help us grow by acting as our teacher and support. She- She really hasn't done anything that would make me dislike her either. She even shares food with me... I... I'm rather useless aren't I compared to you two..." Vicki suddenly felt depressed when she thought about her presence in the group.

"Then just start taking the initiative to hunt, provide for both of you and maybe others in the future. Rather than being gloomy, take actions to improve. At some point we will be teachers for the new members, so we must improve ourselves as much as possible to ease the burden on our Princess." Aegis turned back around to lecture in a firm tone. "Only those who improve themselves under Princess's generosity deserve to serve her. If you start being lazy just because you feel useless or spoiled, I will not hesitate to chase you away." Even though it sounded like Aegis was threatening her, Vicki understood that this is the truth of the world. Only those who try over and over will be worthy of becoming strong and surviving.

"Thanks Aegis. I'll do my best and I hope you keep doing your best too. Master I'm sorry for my hesitation to trust you until now. Thank you and please allow me to keep following you with my everything." Vicki thanked Aegis and made a vow to Lucia herself. Lucia's mana formed similar glowing white tattoos of vines over her limbs, head, and tail. The tattoos on Lucia sprouted a few more leaves. Finally Vicki decided to get some rest so she could go hunting early tomorrow. Lucia kept subconsciously transferring her surplus mana through the contracts and started to quickly raise their power.

In Lucia's dreams though a quiet nightmare in the form of grey fog started to act up. Lucia found herself surrounded by the fog in an eerie quiet. Then she saw the shadow of several humans appear in front of her.

"Heretic!" "Monster!" "Traitor!" Dozens of voices shouted at once, but each word was heard clearly.

"How dare you choose monsters over your own people!?" "She's not even human anymore!"

"It's your fault the world is like this!" Soon the shadows started hurling rocks at her. Lucia dodged only to find out she was trapped in a small cave. Soon a severely injured Vicki and Aegis were tossed in front of her. Lucia felt like her heart was stabbed and her eyes swelled up with tears as she ran over to them wanting to cast healing magic but unable to.

"Your monsters have been defeated and you are next Monster Queen!" The shadows shouted as someone stepped forward with a sword and tried to stab down at Vicki's heart.

Lucia erupted in rage as she grabbed the blade bare handed and grabbed the shadow by the throat and snapped it. She then wielded the great sword to cut down the shadows that approached her injured familiars. While fighting, she heard the twang of a bow as one of the shadows fired an arrow at Vicki. Lucia dropped the heavy great sword to be able to jump in front of the arrow fast enough.