The Normal Farmer - Completed

Chapter 26 - The “Groundshaker Beast”

Ronald left after Ari placed the Sphere in the hideout and started to get the beds ready for the night. He went to sit on his rock again and told Taly that Ari was waiting for him to go to sleep. He smiled and bid farewell.

Reylom quietly went to find a place near the fire, while Ini and Ovaidel stayed for a little while longer. After some moments of silence, Ronald complained: “This is the part I don’t like about this voyage: standing guard during the night with nothing to do. What do you guys do when you are guarding?”

Ovaidel showed him some figures he carved, and Ini pulled some new arrows from his belt quiver. Ronald snorted. “I don’t know how to do that… Well, I think that today I could try to make some balls for us to play a game of ‘Petanque’, while we wait for the food to be ready.”

Ini frowned. “I never heard about a game like that. What’s that?”

“Never? No one? That’s weird; it’s an ancient game. We can play it one against one or by teams.”

Since they were all making weird or surprised faces, Ronald explained the game while making a drawing on the floor. Ini was looking at the drawing, and he questioned, “But what is the point of this game?”

“It’s mostly for fun. It has some strategy, but you can also make bets to earn some money. Or to make a tournament where we could have prize money gathered from the money that each team pays to participate. Or, to be a little different, you can also make a drinking game. A person who loses must drink a cup of wine. By the end of it, we could all be very drunk and unable to throw a ball!”

Ovaidel smiled at that idea. “That indeed sounds very amusing. But how do we make the balls?”

Ronald smiled, and he quietly grabbed a piece of wood and some rocks. He then called the Giant Spider and showed her the materials.

“Can you use those big pincers of yours and your sharp frontal, pointy legs and make a small ball of this wood? Like the size of a marble… like, this size? And with this rock, a ball as big as my fist?”

The Spider clacked the pincers and started munching the wood. But the noise was too much; Ronald had to tell her to stop before Duza woke up and smacked their heads. “Better if you do this in the morning when everyone is awake, okay? I will gather more rocks for you to use. Sorry guys, but tomorrow we can try this. It’s better if you all go to sleep, or neither of you will wake up when it’s your turn to stand guard.”

Ini and Ovaidel went to sleep, but Sonja and Conan remained near Ronald, enjoying the night. They didn’t need to sleep; Sonja told him that they could if they wanted, but considering the amount of time they slept, they didn’t want to.

Ronald took that opportunity to have a look at his Cards, including the ones that Duza took from the Mage at the checkpoint at Tannery. Sonja, Conan, and Riattus were whispering to him, advising on the Cards he could put in his deck.

They also told him some stories about the last time they saw some of those Cards being used by Mages or by Riattus. But then Sonja became silent, looking at one particular Card. Ronald looked at it and gasped. “I already saw this ugly thing… What’s this?”

Sonja remained silent, and Conan had to explain instead of her. “The Groundshaker Beast is an armoured beast bigger than a bear, and he almost killed Sonja during a fight. Riattus made it specifically to stop us, in case of need. He is relentless, almost indestructible, and able to wipe out a City alone. That time, she annoyed Riattus a little too much. She wanted to kill everyone in a certain City, and he wanted to make them acknowledge him as their new ruler. She didn’t obey him and started to kill every man that was in that City because some of them were using the children as hostages against Riattus forces.”

Sonja confirmed while still looking at the Card. “That was the only time I disagreed with Riattus. And my last… After that, I never disagreed with him, but whenever he decided to do something I thought was wrong, I knocked him out before he could summon this beast. He eventually learned to listen to my advice. He got fed up with so many knockouts. I liked him, but sometimes he was more violent and relentless than our worse enemies.”

Ronald thought that was weird. “But… a Magical Being attacking their summoner is a little… against the rules, no?”

“Yes, but it was his fault for making me like this. I can’t stand still if I face evil deeds or wrongdoings, even if they are done by my creator.”

Ronald took the Card from her hand. “Let me just take this from your hands before you decide to destroy this Card. If he can stop you, that’s good to know. You may one day go on a rampage and attack everyone. Or I may need this guy to squash a Goblin Village.”

Conan nodded while Sonja was still looking at the Card in Ronald’s hand. “Yeah, we can use him as a last resort against anything, that’s for sure. But you need to introduce yourself and show him that you can stop him or hurt him, if needed, by using your strength or more Cards. Or he won’t obey you. He is a little temperamental, and more of a wild beast than a Magical Being.”

Ronald smiled. “Well, this guy will be good to scare Ini tomorrow morning. He was the one that wanted to see a nasty and ugly Magical Being, right?”

Sonja frowned. “Better if Conan and I won’t be here, or he may attack us, thinking we are his enemies. That beast used to be summoned to fight with us.”

Conan smiled. “Well, that could be because you always asked Riattus to summon him for you to train. And I had to do the same because, on more than one occasion, he was too much for you to handle!”

Ronald had to shut his mouth with both hands to stop a burst of laughter just by imagining that scene.

They stayed like that for the entire Guard shift, choosing his Cards and explaining how they could be used. At least until Ronald went to wake up Reylom for his shift. Ronald went to sleep after placing more wood on the fire and waving at his watcher.

…

The morning came, and Duza was looking at the sunrise with Sonja by her side. Sonja was smiling, and Duza noticed that the morning sunlight was reflecting on her hair, making it look redder than it normally was.

Duza asked her in a whisper, “You are disappearing today. How do you feel about that? Because if it were me, I would not be happy.”

“I guess I am a little sad, but I think Lord Ronald will summon me very soon, considering the length of your voyage. I hope not, but you may face some danger that requires my help.”

“Yeah, it can happen. It’s a pity that Ronald wants to keep hiding what he can do from the others. I wouldn’t mind having you around. Or Conan.”

Sonja nodded. “He is right, you know? It’s too risky for him to show all his power. Your group may not like it, or he could attract someone who wants to take him down to absorb his Mana and steal his Cards. My Master Riattus used to do that. He was always searching for strong Mages to kill and absorb their power. And I helped him to achieve that more times than I would like to remember.”

“Yeah, I guess that could happen. Well, I see Ronald stretching his arms, and Reylom too. Better if we put more wood in the fire for breakfast, right?”

…

As soon as everyone was awake and eating, the Spider started making the small ball out of wood and the bigger one from a rock. When she finished, she went to show them to Ronald. “Let me see… this wooden one needs some polishing, and the rock one too. Can you cover them with a thin layer of your thread? It will also make them more resistant to throwing during play. You can make more rocky ones. I need eleven more of the same size and weight as this one, okay?”

The Spider went to the pile of rocks that Ronald had gathered during the night and started to make more balls, covering them with her thread. Duza was looking at the Spider and wondering what that was about. “What are you trying to do with that? You want to use those balls in your sling?”

“No, it’s a game. We can try it later on, before lunch.”

…

After breakfast, Ronald started to clean up the campsite. Sonja and Conan slapped his back and bid their farewells to everyone, saying they would scout ahead, and if everything was safe, they would continue their voyage.

After they left and Ronald finished his part, he called the others. “So, I want to test a Card, but I don’t know if that Magical Being will obey me or not because I never summoned him. Better if you all go hide behind those rocks and someone grabs Woof; he might try to attack that thing and get hurt. Ini, this one is pretty scary; try not to piss yourself all over!”

“Hey, why are you saying that? And why do you want to summon something you are not sure you can control?”

“You were the one that wanted to see some of my nightmarish Magical Beings, remember? Well, shall we try this or not? Because if this works, we will get one very big and ugly Being to help with our protection during our voyage. If I can’t control him, I make him disappear again.”

When everyone was behind the rocks and Ari was grabbing Woof, Ronald placed the sword on the sheath at his waist and threw a Card into the open space in front of him. “Summon Groundshaker Beast! Let’s see how… Damn, you are ugly!”

From the summoning whirlpool, a gigantic being appeared. A green lizard, armoured with scales that looked hard as metal, with a big mouth filled with teeth sharp as blades, and short horns around his entire low jaw and surrounding the top of his head. What was scarier about him was his size.

He was taller than the highest house that Ronald had seen so far during his voyage. He heard Ronald, and he lowered his enormous head to sniff him — a head bigger than Ari’s carriage.

Ronald tried to talk to him, but he didn’t sound impressed by his little summoner. “Hello, you… Groundshaker Beast. I am your summoner, Ronald O’Sullivan, and…”

The gigantic beast snorted into Ronald’s face, making him fall on his back and roll for two metres. Duza got up to get to him, but Ini pulled her down. Ronald got up with an angry face. “Hey, what was your idea, you ugly beast? Try to do it one more time, and I will show you some manners!”

He did the same thing as if he were defying Ronald. But at that time, Ronald was ready for it. By stomping his feet hard on the ground and leaning forward, Ronald resisted the wind that was coming from the Beast’s mouth. He didn’t seem to like seeing Ronald still standing, so he increased the wind. But it was no use; Ronald was still firm and looking at him.

“Is that the best you got? For such a big Beast, I thought you would be stronger than that!”

The ‘Groundshaker Beast’ raised his head and screamed to the sky. The sound was overwhelming; it sounded as if a thunderstorm was upon them all. He then suddenly approached Ronald and tried to swallow him.

Ronald jumped to the side, and as soon as the Beast was biting the soil where he was previously standing, Ronald ran toward his neck.

He grabbed one scale, pulled it out, grabbed another one, and pulled again. He was so fast that the Beast didn’t even have time to scream from the pain before most of his neck scales were in a pile on the floor.

Ronald pulled his arm back while still grabbing one scale, made a fist, and with all his strength, punched where the scales used to be, right in the Beast’s bloody flesh. The Beast rolled over and fell on his side, with Ronald ripping the scale that he was still holding. Ronald threw to the ground the scale bigger than a long shield, rushed to get near him, and climbed to his head, stopping in front of his left eye.

He quickly took his sword and pointed at the Beast’s eye while shouting: “Don’t you dare ‘frilting’ me, you bastard! You either do as I say or I will blind you, and the next time you annoy me, I will destroy your Magical Card! Will you obey me? Or shall I take this eye and use it as today’s dinner?”

The Beast didn’t even move; he just made a very low whistle. Ronald approached the sword even more. “Is that a yes? Or are you mocking me?”

The Beast did the same whistle, and Ronald grabbed the Beast’s eyelid with his free hand and pulled. “I don’t understand you, you piece of ‘shilum’! From now on, one whistle means yes, and two whistles mean no. Understood?”

The Beast made one low whistle without even moving. Ronald let go of the eyelid and said, “Good, as long as you understand what’s best for you. I was told I could use some Cards to hurt you if you didn’t obey, but I don’t want to hurt you so much or completely erase you. Don’t move; let me get down.”

Ronald carefully went to the ground again, and he then shouted to the Beast: “Now, be a good boy! Turn around and come down to me; let’s see if you are going to behave properly, or I need to punch you again!”

He did as Ronald told him, rolled over, and when his belly was touching the ground, approached Ronald very slowly. He then rested his colossal head on the ground, closed his mouth, and just stayed there, looking at him.

Ronald was waiting for any sudden reaction and asked, “Are you going to try to eat me again, and I need to hurt you?”

The Beast made two low whistles, and Ronald smiled. “Good, as long as you understand what’s good for you…”

Riattus told him that if the Beast was acting like that, it was a sure indication that he acknowledged Ronald as his Summoner. Ronald carefully approached him and taped one horn to one side of that enormous head. “See, now we can be friends. I am going to call the others to take a good look at you; don’t you dare to attack any of them!”

The Beast made a low whistle, and Ronald went near the rocks where the others were peeking from behind it. Duza was trembling, Ini was completely pale, Reylom and Ovaidel were passed out, Taly was smiling, and Ari was clapping her hands while holding Woof.

Woof was trying to get free; he smelled some strange animal, and he wanted to see what it was. Ronald grabbed Woof’s scarf and pointed with his head to the fainted ones. “Too much emotion for the weak of hearts, no? Do any of you want to say hello to that big lizard? He was being a little stubborn, but he will behave properly from now on.”

Ari took another peek at the Beast that was still lying down on the floor and looking at them. “That was scary! I thought he was going to kill you! But then I remembered you are very fast, and you would probably be okay. Miss Duza was the one who had it rough. She tried to get to you, and Taly had a lot of trouble stopping her. That is a very large Magical Being! And strong! Look at the hole he made when he tried to catch you! He can easily destroy a City Wall!”

Ari was the first to rush to the ‘Groundshaker Beast’ and she just stood in front of him, looking into his eyes. Duza wobbled until she could grab Ronald’s arm and spoke with a hoarse voice: “Are you nuts? That thing almost killed you! What is that? It’s so big!”

“Yeah, not one of my brightest ideas, for sure. Sonja warned me that he was strong; I didn’t know he was that strong. And fast, too, for something of that size. Mister Ini, is that guy enough to protect us in case of need? Or maybe he is a little too much?”

Ini stuttered for a while: “Too… much… Really too much. Maybe if he was smaller and not a lizard… I hate lizards… and snakes…”

“Yeah, I understand. Let’s go say hello to him. It’s better if he learns how to distinguish his friends from his foes. It would be better if Mister Reylom and Mister Ovaidel went there as well, but considering the state they are in, I don’t know if they can endure being so close to that Beast.”

Taly helped Reylom and Ovaidel, and when they were feeling better, she convinced them to join the others in meeting the ‘Groundshaker Beast’.

Ronald was already there, with Duza still grabbing his arm. Woof was barking nonstop; that thing was scaring him. After everyone approached the Beast, Ronald introduced each of them to make sure he understood they were all his allies.

After he whistled one time to show that he understood, Ronald told him to disappear and retrieved his Card from the ground. Woof finally stopped barking, but he was still sniffing the place where the Beast was moments ago.

Duza took one deep breath and said, “That thing would only be useful if we ever needed to conquer a country! I guess we could send it to Breidan with a banner from Loriath on its back as a warning for them to stop trying to invade us. But how in the world do you have such a Card? And who was the crazy Mage that created that thing in the first place? For sure, he was a very powerful one to create such a thing!”