The woman scrambled away from the monster standing before her. She didn't have any idea that the arm Aaron had out was the arm of a guardian, just shrunken down. It was too freaky for her. She got up and ran away as the demonic monsters followed her like slaves. It was surprising enough that they had become demonic, but to have them actually work for you is another thing.
How did Aaron know about the demonic possession chances? Well, it was because of Monument. Monument was telling him about what was going on in the moment. 'Thanks for that information, Monument.' Aaron mentally thanked Monument.
From the shadows in a nearby alleyway, a teenager looked upon the scene with awe. A person had an arm made of stone? How was that even possible? It piqued his interest, but as he tried to walk out of the alleyway, a hand grabbed onto his shoulder, pulling him back in. "We have a job to do. Don't get distracted." A male voice spoke out from behind him, presumably the person holding his shoulder. "We need you to get stronger. Staring at someone isn't going to get that done."
"I know, I know, but look! He has an arm made out of rocks! Have you ever seen anything like it?" The teenager responded, pointing his finger at Aaron. "I don't care about some arm made of rock! You are going to get stronger, and that's the end of it. You do want to get the money to help your family, don't you? They can't get the food themselves, after all." The voice replied, pulling the teenager forcefully back into the shadows.
"He's a summoner. Don't worry. You'll get your chance to stare at him all you want when you come face to face with him in battle. Let's go."
Aaron made his way through the busy city, watching as people stepped out of the way for him as he walked by. He couldn't help but feel uneasy, looking at the other people stare at him in fear. They moved out of the way just so that they wouldn't risk angering him, as word about the little "fight" they had spread like wildfire. It was amazing what a crowd could do when they were motivated about sharing information. Aaron wasn't looking where he was going, and a child no older than five bumped into him. Aaron looked down and realised what had happened. He got onto one knee so he could come to eye line with the child.
"You ok?" Aaron asked the child, who had tears in his eyes. It was a human child. "Y...yeah..." The child replied, its nose blocked. Aaron couldn't help but feel bad for the child, so he gave him a little gift.
"Hey, would you like a monster of your own? I can make a monster for you to keep right now." Aaron proposed to the child, a black portal appearing in his hand. The child looked at Aaron in awe. "Yeah! Could I please have one, sir?" The child excitedly responded, wiping his tears away. "Alrighty then! Let's get you one that will be fun to be around. A dog sounds nice!" Aaron realised as a husky walked out from the portal. "It has no special features, but there is one thing. It's super fluffy! Go on, pet him!"
The child walked up to the dog, filled with excitement. He'd never seen a monster like this before! Cats and dogs didn't exist because demi-humans were there in their place, who were evolutions of animals that resembled humans. It was now unheard of to have something like a husky or any form of normal animal without there being a humanoid evolution. Lizards became Lizardmen, with two separate appearance paths, so on and so forth.
The child pet the dog and realised how fluffy it was. He hugged onto it, almost like a child would a comfort object. He looked up at Aaron, who was just looking down at him. The child could feel a happy aura radiating off of the man in armour. Aaron was finding it nice to see that people still enjoyed the presence of animals, and it just made him smile. Seeing children happy was something he enjoyed seeing. It was peaceful. He had a dream long ago, while he was still on his first life. A dream of peace. He had steeled his resolve from that point on. He was going to stay alive to make sure nothing strange happened, but he was not prepared to have all the attention on him, so he'd do it without anyone knowing. It was something he should have done on the previous planet.
Aaron began walking away without saying a word, leaving the child to play with the dog. As he was walking away, he heard the child yell something. "Wait!" The child yelled. Aaron turned around and saw the child standing still, with the dog beside him. "Thank you, mister!"
"Don't mention it!" Aaron responded and began to walk away once again. He was going to enjoy his time here.
In a large building at the edge of the city, a woman was speaking to a man in a black suit while looking at a crystal focused on Aaron.
"Bring him in here. I don't care what you need to do to get him in here. I want you to do it. I need to talk to this person. He is on an unprecedented level. His power level...
"It's equal to that of a guardian."