Almighty Summoner System

A gruesome scene could be seen in the area where the herd of Sand Buffalos were running to earlier. 

The cloud of dust settled and what Ban and the others saw made them realize that it was a good idea to drift away from the herd. 

A humongous violet centipede could now be seen feasting on the Sand Buffalos as if there was no tomorrow. It's hundreds of legs were impaling a Sand Buffalo each, while its huge gaping mouth and two dark mandibles were munching on the largest Sand Buffalo, the herd's Boss. 

The herd's Sand Buffalo Boss was an E-Elite Lord Grade Beast, and yet, it was easily taken down by the humongous centipede.

The humongous violet centipede turned its head towards their direction. 

ROAR!

A gust of smelly wind reached their noses as the centipede roared at them angrily.

Even before Ban could order the two Sand Buffalo they were riding to gallop away, they had already started to turn around and run away like crazy as if their life depended on it. 

If they could talk, they would surely express their gratitude to Ban for separating them from the now genocided herd. 

Beads of sweat rolled down their cheeks as they saw that terrific scene. Even though Delo was already quite exhausted, he still managed to hold onto the Sand Buffalo's body just like a lizard. He knew that if he was left behind, he would be done for. 

Fortunately, the centipede only roared at them and did not pursue them. It must have felt that they are not worth its time, and that they could not even satiate a portion of its hunger.

"W-what the hell was that?" Belle said with a terrified expression as she firmly held into Ban's thighs. 

Ban could feel the horror she felt. Her hands were shaking while they were gripping for his thighs after all. 

"That's a Century Centipede. A century-old Beast that has the strength of at least C-Grandmaster Rank. It lived in dark and humid areas, for example, a cave beside a river." 

"The Sand Buffalo's also lived on such areas but unlike the Century Centipede, the Sand Buffalo's liked sandy areas more. The Century Centipede must have gone outside to hunt for food and the herd of Sand Buffalos was its target. It must have pursued them from a sandy and humid area all the way here." Ban explained to her. 

He was also quite worried about it earlier. He kept on checking their rear to see if what kind of entity was pursuing the herd for them to act that way. However, he was not able to determine what it was even though it has already been quite some time since he ran along with the Sand Buffalos. 

He was getting a dangerous vibe already so Ban no longer waited and decided to drift away from the herd. He does not want to get implicated in their problem and he was only running along with them to not encounter the entity that was pursuing them. 

Fortunately, he was fast on his actions, or else, they would surely die along with the herd of Sand Buffalos when that Century Centipede emerges. 

The centipede was actually not pursuing them from behind, but it was actually underneath them all this while. At first, Ban thought the shaking of ground must have come from the Sand Buffalos galloping but when he thought deeply about it, he realized that it actually came from the Century Centipede that was traveling underneath them. 

"A- a C-Grandmaster? It's as strong as my father?" She said clearly bewildered. 

She thought that her father was already the strongest in the city and the area around it, she did not know that there was actually another one right here that had the same rank as him. 

Ban tilted his head as hearing that piece of information. 'The Guard Commander is already a C-Grandmaster Rank?' 

He heard from the Adventurers that the City Lord and the Guild Master were only at the peak of D-Master Rank. He did not imagine that there were actually stronger Summoners than them in the city. 

However, he also thought that it was only natural. If the city only has D-Master Rank Summoners, it won't be able to survive this long, even more so with the constant Beast Tides every ten years.

If the Guardian Beasts of the Tranquil Forest, Elder Red Panda, were that strong, then Ban was expecting it to be the same case as that of the Lagom Forest's Guardian Beast. 

The Beast Tide always came from the Lagom, and he heard that it was the Guardian Beast's of Lagom Forest who always initiated the Beast Tide.

The city would go up with a Beast like that and even a C-Grandmaster Rank Summoner might not be enough to face it. Ban did not limit his thinking as he assumed that there was also another human hiding in the city that was already a Rank above the C-Grandmaster, a B-Elder Rank Summoner, or even greater. 

Anyways, it was great that he was able to learn it this early. It looks like he can't act the way he acted before even with his 'Leon' persona anymore. 

He needs to reconsider things. 

Acting as a strong Summoner won't help it, he needs to also have the actual strength to back it up in case something goes awry. 

And another thing, he could not afford to offend Belle and her father for now. He needs to return her in one piece in the city, lest he acquire the ire of her C-Grandmaster Rank father, the Guard Commander. 

Ban ignored her question as he was also not sure who was stronger, the Guard Commander or the Century Centipede. It was a known fact that Beasts and Monsters are stronger than Summoners of the same rank. 

However, it might be a different case if they are already at the Multi Realm. 

At Multi Realm, a Summoner would be able to Summon multiple Monsters to help them fight their opponents. The Century Centipede was only one and if it got besieged by one or more monsters of the same level, plus the Summoner itself, things might take an unknown turn. 

One should also consider the abilities of the Summoner as well. Just like him, with the use of the knowledge provided by the Book of Techniques, he would be able to kill a Beast of the same rank as him without Eva's help. Of course, it would be difficult but as long as he uses his abilities correctly, he knew he would be able to do it. 

Anyways, the two Sand Buffalo's ran for around thirty minutes before they sprawled to the ground exhausted. It was clear that they were already on their limits and even though Ban did not order them, they just did their best to get away from the Century Centipede as far as possible.

At first, Ban wanted to make one of them his Summon so that he would have a transportation Beast. However, he does not want Belle and Delo to see him contract a Beast so he decided to dismiss the idea for now. 

He thought that he should just contract another one if there is a chance. 

Ban decided to kill Sand Buffalos before they could recover their stamina. As they were not contracted, there's a high chance that they will attack them the moment they recover their stamina. It would be safe to kill them while they can't fight back. 

Belle and Delo were not against it as in their eyes, every Beasts were an enemy. 

The Sand Buffalos could only cry in silence to their fate. They really did escape the Century Centipede but they could still not escape their death in the end.

Ban recovered his lost stamina after killing the two Sand Buffalos with the help of Greed's passive effect. He felt refreshed as he removed the sellable parts of the Sand Buffalo's to sell them to Joana later. 

Delo wanted to have a share from it as he knew that they are worth many Gold Coins. However, he later decided to just ignore it and let Leon take all the sellable parts away. He doesn't know the exact details about the Beast anyways and there's even a chance that the Adventurers Market would not purchase this kind of Beast that is unknown to them. 

Belle only looked at his skillful movements as he extracted all the sellable parts of the Sand Buffalos. She already has many Gold Coins so there was no trace of jealousy in her eyes when she observed him. In fact, she even admired his actions a lot, seeing how skillful he was in cutting all of the sellable parts cleanly.

After he sliced off every usable part, Ban was now in a dilemma about how he would be able to transport it back. He still has plenty of space inside his Dimensional Storage space but he felt reluctant to reveal it to the two of them. 

But after thinking about it, he thought that it should not be that much of a problem even if Delo decided to rob it away from him. Delo doesn't have the strength to fight him, so Ban welcomes him to try.

  Just as he was about to store them in his Dimensional Storage space, he suddenly saw Belle taking out something from her pocket at the corner of his eyes.

"Y-you can use my Storage Pouch to store them away!" She said softly as she handed him a brown pouch the size of an adult human's head.