New Skill

"Hey, shithead, we aren't done here," Azroc called out as Tom and his team were trying to leave.

"What?" Tom asked, turning in confusion to face Azroc.

"If you leave now, Achimp just disappears into the ether in hopes that one day you can summon him," Azroc explained.

"But I beat him. I thought that meant I got to summon him?" Tom asked, his brow furrowed in confusion as he walked back over to Azroc.

"You earned the right to form a contract with him. That doesn't mean you have the ability to summon that pap smear," Azroc rolled his eyes at Tom's ignorance.

"So, what do I have to do now?" Tom asked, beginning to get a bit annoyed.

"I've gotta give you the fucking skill to summon him, and then you have to perform the contract ritual. What? You just thought you beat someone's brains out and then can call on them? Can you summon goblins or ogres, or humans you killed?"

"Of course not. But they're dead, and he isn't," Tom said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder at Ajax.

"Idiots. I'm surrounded by idiots. You should have known better, Ajuice. You were a fucking patron!" Azroc facepalmed at their impatience.

"He's right. I might have taken one too many blows to the head. You can't just summon me yet."

"Fine. I'm sorry. I'm just trying to make sure we can be ready for the invasion, and I might have gotten a little excited. Please help me make sure I can summon Ajax, Azroc," Tom closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths as he calmed himself.

"That's more like it. Now, you have the summoning skill for the basic summons, but I'll need to give you the gift of the higher tier summoning skill. Let's see here." Azroc looked over screens that only he could see before his eyes lit up. "Aha! Here we go. The Dungeon of Chance having been claimed for me, but having multiple options that you completed gives me the opportunity to grant you a new skill. Got lucky there."

Azroc made a selection, and Tom received a pop-up notification.

Congratulations! You have acquired the skill Ultimate Summons!

Your patron, Azroc, has granted you the skill Ultimate Summons! There are 3 tiers to this skill that can be acquired by progressing its level.

 Tier 1: You will be able to summon massively powerful creatures to perform one ultimate attack before they will need to return to their plane of existence as a summons.

o Cost: 500 Mana

o Cooldown: 6 hours

 Tier 2: This skill will allow you to summon 1 of the same creatures in a more sustained capacity.

o Duration: 1 hour

o Cost: 1,000 mana

o Cooldown: 6 hours

 Tier 3: This skill will allow the permanent summoning of these same creatures at the cost of a sustained 1,000 mana from your mana pool. You will be allowed to maintain 3 of these summons at a time so long as the sustained mana cost does not occupy more than 75% of your total mana pool.

"It's not quite as nice as the normal summoning skill, but it makes sense for such powerful creatures," Tom said as he read the skill's description.

"Oh, we're gonna complain now? You know I didn't have to give you shit," Azroc said.

"No, that's not what I meant. It was just a comment on the differences. What do I need to do to form the contract?" Tom asked.

"You gotta fuck him," Azroc said.

Everyone in the room went completely silent and still. You could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed.

"I'm sorry....what?" Tom asked cautiously, eyes the size of diner plates.

"BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You should see the look on your face!" Azroc burst into laughter, nearly falling over as he tried to keep his balance.

"Oh...hahaha..." Tom laughed nervously.

Azroc finally got his laughter under control, wiping a tear away from his eye, "Oh, man. All you have to do is ask him to form a contract with you. You just didn't have the ability to initiate the contract process without the skill."

"Really had me going there for a sec," Tom said, still trying to feel his heart start again.

"You mortals are so easy. You should have seen the looks on your faces! Classic," Azroc said, almost bursting into another fit of laughter.

Turning from Azroc and rolling his eyes when he had his back turned, Tom looked to Ajax, "Ajax, I want you to form a contract with me."

A pop-up appeared in Tom's vision as he uttered the words.

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Contract Initiated

You have initiated a contract with Ajax. This contract is permanent unless both parties agree to its dissolution, or one party wrongs the other irreparably. Be warned that these contracts should not be formed lightly, as there are consequences to not upholding your end of the deal. Do you wish to continue?

Yes

No

Tom selected yes, and the screen disappeared from his vision. Ajax's eyes unfocused as he received a notification as well. After a moment of reading, he looked at Tom and nodded.

Contract Formed!

Congratulations! You have now formed a contract with Ajax! From this moment forward, you can summon Ajax with the use of the skill Ultimate Summons. He will answer your call and aid you in your future battles.

After Tom dismissed this message, Ajax began to fade, slowly becoming more transparent.

"See ya soon, Tom. Don't go dying on me."

"Well, now that the dickbag has been dealt with, what's next for you?" Azroc asked.

"Now we go finish preparing. We aren't sure of the exact moment it will happen, but the invasion is due to happen very soon," Tom replied.

"What do you think your chances are?"

"I'm not confident we can deal with it, seeing as they will have lived with the System their whole lives and can travel through space, but we have some surprises waiting for them. We aren't going quietly."

"That's what I like to hear. I wish I could do more for you, but the rules forbid me from interfering. But I think you'll do alright. Pirates come after newly integrated planets because they don't expect much of a fight. Show them why that's a mistake."

Azroc held out a fist, and Tom reached out in return and gave him a fistbump.

"You've done so much already for us. Thanks, Azroc. I'll see ya on the other side."

After returning to the guild, Tom and the others gathered in the security office.

"I don't want this to go too far outside this room and the people here, but we did manage to find a weapon that may give us some much-needed backup for the fight to come," Tom explained to TJ and Brian.

"Can you tell us what it is, at least?" Brian asked. And where the hell did the Mastadonians go?"

"The two are related. When we got to the site..." Tom began relaying the entire story of what had happened, from the statue's discovery to Azroc's summoning, the fight with Ajax, and finally, the ability to summon him as a weapon for their guild.

"And you think that this one summon is going to make a difference?" Brian looked at Tom with some trepidation.

"Look at the difference the Mastadonians are making. Imagine if someone as powerful as Azroc could be summoned, even for a single attack?" Tom replied.

"I do see your point. I hope it helps. But since you said you can only summon them every six hours, we should use it as a secondary tactic, not something we use right off the bat, or we could screw ourselves," TJ added.

"Agreed. We have plenty of other tricks up our sleeves first, anyway. Is everyone getting briefed on the plans?" Tom asked.

"We're working diligently to ensure they know what to watch out for and when to implement what, but without knowing how many there will be or what exactly to expect, it's hard to know when we can use what. We are trying to prepare for the worst-case scenario of a global invasion, but the odds of us pulling through if that's the case are not looking good. We are relying on the idea that pirates, much like here on earth, don't play too well with others and will be coming in small numbers to stay off the radar easier," Brian replied, trying not to sound defeated.

"You're right. But what else can we do?" Tom asked.

Both Brian and TJ just shrugged. No one really knew what to do but to prepare as many plans and weapons as possible.

Tom sighed heavily, "Right, so keep everyone going on the weapon production and start having extra guards posted to watch the skies. Hopefully, we get raided during the day, but I want them out round the clock watching."

"Got it. I'll have them ready to go out now," TJ said.

"I'm going to resummon the Mastadonians. I want to see if any have changed their mind from last time, as I don't want to make anyone do anything they don't want. If you need me, I'll be in the gym for a time, then I need to rest. I'm pretty beat from that fight," Tom said.

"Go do what you need to. We can handle the rest from here," Brian replied, moving over to where he had set his clipboard down to see what else needed to be dealt with.

Once Tom reached the gym, he took a moment to mentally prepare himself. Then, he began summoning the Mastadonians one by one, needing to drink a potion when his mana got low. Tom decided he would also summon Rularis, as they did have some Bards in the guild and felt they could use any edge they had.

"What is he doing here?" Inari asked.

"He helped at the last battle, and, honestly, we are about to be in peril here, and I need to use every possible advantage to make sure we survive. If that means summoning someone you don't fully trust and seeing if they can give us some information that we don't have, so be it," Tom said to Inari a little more forcefully than he meant.

Inari stared at him for a long moment, then nodded, "I see the wisdom in your words. I apologize for questioning you. You have proven yourself to be an honorable man who only looks to save his people."

"Thank you. Now, I want to ask again before I set your statuses to what they were before. Who among you wants to remain a part of the guild and be a member, knowing that you can choose to undo this decision at any point?" Tom asked.

Much to Tom's surprise, every one of the Mastadonians raised their hand, saying they would stay with Tom.

"What? Really? What made you change your mind?" Tom asked Onslo, Amath, and Kuthir.

"We have seen your honor. You have shown us that you are not one to just force someone to do what you want as a slave. You work to save your people and protect them. You are someone worthy of following," Onslo said.

The others nodded at his words.

"And I'm ever so curious about what will come with this war. It's been ages since I fought alongside someone like you. You intrigue me, Tom," Rularis said. "Besides, as you say, I can change my decision at any time, correct?"

"Yes. I would never force someone to make a decision like this against their will. It goes against everything I stand for," Tom replied.

"He speaks the truth. I was there when he fought the slave master in his own city," Bron added. "He stood against his actions and destroyed him while freeing those he had enslaved."

Inari smiled at him as she bowed her head, "We are with you. We will fight for you. We will help keep you safe. Just point us to the ones we must destroy."