Kyle's parents arrived at the Hall with Kuzan. Although it was already nighttime, it was lit just so one could see the surroundings.
"I haven't been here since I was a teenager," Eric said, looking at his wife.
"Yes, honey, I remember how you were then," the woman answered as she let out a slight chuckle.
"Mom, Dad, why are we here again?" asked Kuzan.
Eric immediately held him on his shoulder and answered, "You need to get checked out as early as possible. We can't have you in the same state as your elder brother."
"Okay," Kuzan replied while reaching for his mother's hand.
They walked towards the machine located at the front of the hall.
"Put your hand on the scanner, son," implored Eric.
"This is good," Eric said with a proud look on his face.
"Really, Dad?"
"Yes, my boy, you do not know this summon because it is incredibly rare even among the A-ranks. It's a summon that looks like an ogre but has one of the highest offensive powers you can get in a summon. It is among the four summons that have the ability to heal, although it heals with fire."
"Cool!" exclaimed Kuzan.
"I'm happy for you, sweetheart," his mother said to him.
"You can't get it till you are 15. Probably a measure set up by the Council."
"Those higher-up bastards," uttered Eric with an angered look on his face.
"That's something I agree with you on, Mr. Vaden," an unknown voice with a piercing tone spoke.
Eric turned his head immediately towards the direction the voice came from. It was a man who wore a black cloak that also hid his face.
"Who are you?" questioned Eric.
"Afraid I can't tell you that," he answered curtly.
"Kikiki... Let's just say that we are the ones that will put an end to the Vaden bloodline and end Realm Walking perma–"
"Burn him to the ground, MagmaLoft!" Eric shouted.
Immediately, a serpent-like summon came forth, firing an intense beam of fire from its eyes.
"So that's how you're gonna play it now, Mr. Vaden?" The cloaked man got into a stance and flipped back, evading the attack.
Eric immediately turned to his wife, saying, "Get back, Elisa! Take Kuzan and run!"
Kuzan and his mother immediately started running away from the hall.
"Are you sure you want to let them go?" the man in the cloak asked mockingly.
"Your opponent is me!" Eric retorted.
"Magmaloft, use Slither Slash!"
The serpent covered itself in ash and in an instant rushed in front of the cloaked man, wanting to attack him with its tail.
In that moment, a bolt of lightning struck the creature dead just as it was about to deliver the strike. It turned into cinder and disappeared. When a summon dies, they cease to exist and disappear according to their basic elemental ability.
"Where did that come from?" Eric said.
At this time, he had become so red from anger that his body heat could be felt if anyone stood near him.
"Kikiki... Surely you can't expect to use a measly C-rank summon against me to win."
"You can come out now, Voltaiss."
A dark creature resembling an eagle with eyes that sparked electricity came flying out from the back of the summon machine and onto the shoulder of the cloaked man.
"This is my B-rank Voltaiss. As you can see, I'm not playing around."
Eric closed his eyes for a brief moment and became calm. In that moment, he saw his family.
"I do not know how you were able to get in here, but I will end your existence."
"Sylphros, come!"
"BOOOOM!" An explosion occurred revealing a medium-sized humanoid creature with eyes made of ember. It wore clothing made entirely out of fire and held a paintbrush in its hand.
"Well, this was certainly unexpected," said the cloaked man.
"Create iSpear!"
The creature waved its brush in the air towards the direction Eric was. Immediately, a spear made of fire appeared in Eric's hand.
"Voltaiss! Shock shield! Now!" the cloaked man shouted, which made his summon create a dome that was made out of pure electricity.
Eric ran towards the dome with the spear in his hand and launched it at the dome like a projectile.
"That's a futile effo—"
"Multiply!" bawled Eric as the spear instantly burgeoned into about a hundred, piercing all sides of the dome.
Most of the spears stopped just as they penetrated the dome, disabling it in the process. But one went through and pierced the leg of the cloaked man.
"Urgh!" he groaned as he came to his knees.
The spear had two effects: it passed through his leg and burned him at the same time.
"Voltaiss, urgh!... Explosive Streak," holding his leg and heaving to speak.
His summon wrapped itself in high-voltage electricity, with its wing being the most prominent. It became almost like a bomb about to set off.
"You'd sacrifice your own summon just to get the better of me," Eric said with an expression that showed disgust.
"Sylphros, create FireStorm."
Eric's summon weaved its brush again. And this time, a heap of fire immediately came upon the cloaked man and his summon.
"Burn out."
Immediately, the firestorm intensified, burning out the cloaked man and his summon. Eric noticed that the man showed a sneer before being consumed by the storm. Then he remembered he needed to find his wife and child.
"Huff!" Eric sighed.
It had dawned upon him that using the summons in battle took a toll on his summon magic and stamina.
"I have to conserve my strength. Something tells me this isn't the only battle I'll have tonight," he said to himself as he jolted out of the Hall.
**********
Some moments after Eric left, Kyle came in and was struck by the sight of the damaged surroundings and the burnt body. There was also no sign of Finn, who he was supposed to meet there.
"What's going on? That clearly looks like a person that has been roasted," he thought in his head.
Kyle cautiously approached the body. As he got closer, he noticed something on the man that had not been completely burnt off, an emblem with the letter "V" inscribed on it.
"I haven't seen this before, It looks like an abbreviation for something," he thought.
Kyle realized that staying there any longer might not be safe.
"I should go, The Council of Summoners will find out what happened soon enough."
"Damn, and Uncle Finn said he could help me," Kyle muttered in disappointment as turned and headed home.