"What are we doing, if I may ask?" said Mason as he saw Li kneel to the ground.

Mercer corrected his brother with triumphant flair. "Obviously, the seer is blessing the soil before he leaves."

"Ah," nodded Mason.

Meanwhile, the three beastwomen, Old Thane, and Zagan had stepped backwards, sensing the magical energy beginning to emanate from Li as he chose on a familiar to summon, putting its image in his mind and then channeling his magical energy to fill in that image such that it could manifest upon reality.

A spark of green crackled from Li's hand, arcing into the dirt beneath. The spark instantaneously spread out into a lit-up circle of arcane symbols flashing with green, though at its center, framing Li, there was another circle that shone with ominous hints of orange and red.

The ground lurched, as if it had been made water for one instant and swelled up and down, and Mason and Mercer both fell on their backs in utter surprise.

"You two should stand back," said Li, and the brothers scrambled backwards, giving him space and clearing the summoning circle.

"New friend!" said Tia as she clapped her hands and looked down from the backpack with wide and curious eyes.

"Friend? Hm. It may not be as playful as you want it to be," said Li as he pressed his hand into the soil. It merged into the firm dirt without meeting any resistance, as if becoming part of the earth itself, and then, the light from the circle intensified into a flash.

The ground under Li began to split and crack apart rapidly, spider web streaks of broken earth quickly becoming fissures that swelled up dirt at the center of the circle. From this swell, roots emerged. Crimson, spiked roots. Blood Roots – very similar to that of the [Blood Root] spell that Li could cast.

The roots wriggled like prehensile tentacles in the air before curling down and latching onto the earth, digging their tips in like anchors. Li stood at the center of these roots, and now he stood, awaiting the rest of the familiar to emerge from the earth.

The roots pushed, and the full body of the creature broke through the soil in a rumbling entry.

"Hold tight, Tia," said Li as with a sudden lurch, he found himself several meters high in the air, his feet not on soil anymore, but the flat, smooth and orange surface of an enormous pumpkin. Four large, thickset roots sprouted from the pumpkin's sides, curling and digging into the dirt before raising it up like the legs of a spider.

"High up!" said Tia as she looked down from the backpack, over the pumpkin's edge where everyone else seemed so much smaller.

"Care to join us up here?" said Li down to everyone else. The familiar sensed his will and from its stem, several blood roots – thinner than its supportive leg roots – emerged, curling down and offering up a quick ride to the rest of the party.

Everyone except Mason and Mercer took the roots, but the brothers were left shaking in equal parts fear and awe, for there was no doubt that this creature was, in normal circumstances, not entirely friendly.

Its size was imposing, giving off the same sturdy and powerful bearing as an armored tank, its pumpkin shell shining under the sun not like organic rind, but more like reinforced metal. It had a face much like that of a Halloween Jack o' lantern, a sinister, jagged grin bared with sharply slanted eyes that spoke only of mischief and evil.

From its eyes and mouth glowed an eerie orange shine, one that made those that looked within queasy and nauseous.

This was the Elder Vukanovi, a level 75 familiar meant as a tank unit suited for mowing down weaker familiars. It was sourced from folk tales of the Balkans which believed that pumpkins and melons left out at certain nights became "vampires" that moved on their own and drained the blood of humans and livestock.

In Elden World, Vukanovi manifested as hopping pumpkins that sucked blood. They were not truly vampires, only sharing a penchant for blood, but they were still night creatures attuned with darker magics.

The Elder Vukanovi was extremely rare and the highest-level variant of vampire pumpkin, acting like a mobile fortress with its extremely durable shell and its capability to spam blood roots to instantly kill familiars of sufficiently low level and health to constantly regenerate its own vitality, making it quite suited to mowing down masses of weaklings, though with stronger opponents, it did struggle.

Well, compared to the average of this world, the Elder Vukanovi was an apex predator that had precious few much stronger than it.

One could even hide other summons or allies inside the hollow of the pumpkin, sheltering them from damage and targeting. Apparently, the place was also quite cozy as well, and Li was somewhat eager to see for himself.

"Come on, you two," said Li to the two brothers as the rest of the party were carried atop the pumpkin through the roots. "Come up here. Unless you want to cross through the West on your own."

=============

The Vukanovi made its way through the Midpath without much issue. There were knight patrols around the strategically crucial road that linked the Triforge to Riviera that immediately saw the massive, shambling horror of a pumpkin and raised their weapons, but from within the pumpkin, Li could project his voice to calm them down, affirm his identity and purpose.

The Vukanovi also was essentially an automaton following Li's every single whim and will, so it did not have the unpredictability of a living creature that might have lashed out at creatures that showed it sudden hostile intent.

The duchess had done a rather good job of informing everyone in the chain of military command that Li was approaching and to be aware of it, and so there was not much issue traversing the Midpath. Just the scared looks of knights shaking in their armor at the presence of the plant creature, though in a way, Li did find it amusing that they were so terrified of what was basically a big pumpkin.

Inside the familiar, Li could indeed confirm the space was cozy. It was almost like a different dimension within. It was a surprisingly spacious single room lit up with a warm, orange light that mimicked the comforting luster of a home fireplace, and the light could be adjusted for easier sleeping.

There was enough space for everyone to make their own beds and spread out their supplies, and it was possible to look out of the pumpkin through its own sight, though it was impossible for others outside to look into the pumpkin's light covered eyes and see what was within it.

"We'll travel in the Vukanovi for now," said Li. He had a map sprawled out at the center of the room, and everyone else was huddled around it. He pointed a finger to a depiction of three spires linked together by chains. "Until we get through the Triforge mountain pass."

"The Triforge…," said Mason reverently.

"What of it?" said Li, and the beastwomen leaned in as well, for they were not native to this land and knew nothing of what was beyond Riviera.

"Legends say it is a cursed spire," said Mason. "Once a mighty fortress for dwarves."

"Now a ruin," continued Mercer. "Three tribes of dwarves there were, and three forges they held in each spire. In one of the earliest demonic invasions, the forges were swallowed in darkness, and then, the dwarves were no more, and the spires ever forbidding to mortal travel."

"Seems to me some adventurers still pass through it," said Li. "Like Triple Threat, for example."

"Of course Triple Threat can do that," said Mason with a reverent nod. "They are the finest heroes of Riviera, after all."

"Ah, I see," said Li. "Then the Triforge will have no problems that should concern us. Then let us plan for after we pass through it."

"Good seer," said Mercer, evidently worried. "I hear tales of an ominous presence in the Triforge. A sleeping evil spirit, some say, one that the dwarves attempted to summon to fend against the demons, only to find that it turned its horrible wrath against them. Even adventurers choose to sneak their way past the Triforge for such reason. Should we truly, well, travel like this? With such noise and presence?"

"Come to think of it, I have yet to see a Primal Spirit face to face," said Li.

He knew that Primal Spirits were basically the highest tier of spirits in Elden World ranging from level 60-90, many of them representing primordial elemental or conceptual forces. They were masters of wind, fire, ice, water, rage, love, hate – whatever it was that they embodied.

His close friend from the past world, Oceanmaster, was also a Primal Spirit in broad classification, though at level 100+ he ascended even past that into becoming an Ocean Vein that was basically more god than any spirit.

"I would like to see one, if only for curiosity's sake, and I know it will do Tia very well to see all manner of new people and beings," said Li, completely unworrried. "So onward we go."