The next morning I woke up fresh, rested and in a very good mood. Half an hour later, I said goodbye to Tori and left her as I had a meeting with the group of 47 fellow summoners.

This was our second official meeting and the main topic was again how to better use our summons in and out of combat, different types of creatures we had access to, seals to improve them and so on. Me and two other summoners gave lectures.

At the previous meeting we had exchanged our various magical summoning diagrams and I had made a copy of my notes from the Summoner's Library for anyone interested. Today's meeting also had great significance, as I would be the first of the group to enter a second, (in my case third) summoning training session. And since the time difference I will immediately be able to talk about the experience.

So after paying 650 currency units, I found myself in the well-known private space of Nathan, the summoning instructor.

I had three whole weeks of special training, but I spent almost two of them in a special magic formation in which Nathan helped me improve my body and soul. Thus, my overall strength, speed, stamina, mana capacity, and mana control improved a little bit, but more importantly I was now able to summon more and stronger creatures.

In the next week, I studied and practiced summoning several types of creatures under the watchful eye of my trainer.

I had to pick three types of creatures to improve. Nathan then used his powers and resources and we made three great rituals. In result I was able to summon significantly stronger versions of my special three creatures, namely: warbears, hellhounds and forest imps.

The well-known bear has been my faithful companion since the beginning of my adventure. Its help was invaluable and besides, it was physically the strongest creature I could summon for now. Once I improved my skills, I could summon two weaker bears or one huge three meter monster, with thick and tough fur, incredibly strong paws and teeth as sharp as knives. This creature's strength greatly surpassed that of the normal bear I used, and I was very pleased with the result.

A pack of hellhounds with huge canines, fiery red eyes and three rows of teeth, have provided me with access to considerably more fighting power than a single warbear, but each of them was individually weaker and considerably more vulnerable than a bear. My battles with the demons showed me that sometimes a group of weaker creatures can be more valuable than a single strong individual.

The imps were small flying creatures, about 30-40 centimeters in size with sharp teeth, small legs and hands with strong claws, which they often used to attack their prey. Most importantly, they used spells in battle and had their own supply of mana. Even though their spells weren't that strong, I could summon a whole group of them. Furthermore, their mobility could also be of great benefit. Since my familiar was also imp, he would provide them with a small bonus when staying in this plane of existence, making them stronger. For my part, my familiar also benefited from the ritual, becoming a bit stronger and the mana regeneration bonus it gave me became a bit higher.

After I finished my training and returned to the tutorial island I reported to the other summoners everything about my training and choices, then demonstrated some of the techniques I had learned as well as the new summoning diagrams.

This immediately started a discussion and I had to answer a lot of questions. Now I was completely broke and despite my need for currency units we spent another hour talking, and then I finally headed off to the zombie town. But before that, George caught up with me.

"Meridin, I must ask you to join in the exploration of the forest. Groups of orcs were seen entering the city again early this morning. We need to know more about the potential dangers."

"But I don't have any currency George, besides, isn't that why we formed a government and an army, so I can hunt in peace and increase my strength."

"Ha ha, very funny."

"I am not kidding!"

"Please Meridin, the forest is quite large, I sent several groups, but you are the only one I can trust. Your summons can scout much better than a whole group of people. "

"Which summons?" I asked suspiciously.

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"Well, those new hellhounds of yours, for instance. Or your forest imps."

"Hey, I just learned how to summon them, how do you know about them?"

If I figured out which of my fellow summoners had ratted me out, I intended to send him off to play with my hellhounds for an hour or two. Unarmed and naked.

"I am very well informed as you well know my friend. I promise that if you join this mission, I won't want anything from you for at least a week!"

"Ha, a week, more like a month or two."

A discussion ensued in which I confronted my two different needs. One to get stronger and the other to help the people in the camp. One came from the depths of my soul and the other from somewhere else.

In the end, however, I succumbed to George's persuasions, as well as to my upbringing as a nobleman. "I have obligations to society" I remember thinking.

After we specified the contribution points from the new reward system I would get, I summoned a group of hellhounds and headed for the forest. Despite what their name suggested I knew from my informational packages and studies with Nathan, that these creatures were good at navigating forests and they also had a pretty keen sense of smell.

I had several weapons I kept from the demon dungeon, and I decided to use a shorter, sturdier sword like a machete so I could move faster through the thicker sections of the forest. In addition, I often shaved makers on the trees so I could easily find my way back to camp.

Because of the presence of mana in my body and my training with it, I could take quite a lot of physical strain. For this I moved quite fast, and in practice, most of the time I was running at a moderate speed and thus covering quite a distance.

George turned out to be right. My skills were pretty good for the job - my hounds were getting around pretty well and I could use their senses to peer into a new world of smells and strange new sensations. Their innate instincts helped me to make sense of all this and gave me a lot of information.

It was quite overwhelming though, and despite my recent practice sessions with Nathan, I had to stop to meditate several times to calm my over-stimulated mind.

I managed to cover a distance of over 10 miles in 6 hours. By this time, with the help of my hounds, I was beginning to find the tracks of small groups of the creatures.

Soon I also saw a group of them and immediately recognized them:

Goblins - small grotesque creatures, with two arms, legs, small malicious eyes, big noses and sharp teeth. They were less than a meter tall and had primitive weapons. Some of the goblins had little horns on their heads.

"I need to scout carefully and learn more about them. Both about their habits and their location and numbers," I thought.

I was faced with a large group of goblins - about 20 individuals.

I sent my imp forward, hidden high in the branches of the trees, and soon a terrifying sight revealed before me. One of the groups we had sent out to scout the forests, only yesterday, was being held captive by the little creatures! The corpses of some of the group members were visible on the ground, they had been cut into pieces and piled up next to a huge cauldron. The little evil bastards were eating people!

"I have to do something," I thought and directed my hounds.

Slowly and quietly they crept towards the creatures and when they approached they immediately attacked the surprised goblins.

Each greyhound was larger than a goblin, so despite their numbers, they presented little danger. However, they often managed to stick their spears or shoot an arrow or even sometimes stick their small poisonous knives into my hounds. After the battle I would have to summon some fresh new creatures.

While the battle was raging, I didn't waste any time either, but blasted the little buggers with arrows and magic.

Surprise was on my side and so just minutes after the battle began, half the goblins fell and the rest ran away in panic. I sent my hounds in pursuit and began to search the goblin camp for survivors. Almost immediately I found a group of three men tied up and placed on the ground between several large bundles of strange blue grasses.

I approached the terrified captives with a loaded crossbow and began to release them one by one.

"Meridin! Thank you, sir Meridin," said the first man I rescued and hugged me tightly.

I looked around confused and then patted him encouragingly.

"It's all right. The goblins are gone. Help me untie the others."

So while I was untying the prisoners, I learned that they were ambushed by over 50 goblins!

Within the first few minutes, a large number of people had received multiple wounds from the goblins' small arrows, and some people had even lost their lives. An unequal battle ensued in which, despite their brave resistance, the humans were captured.

The goblins then split in two. One half of the group took some of the captives, and the other half stayed with the 3 captives and the corpses of the murdered humans.

After a short reflection, considering my recent battle succes, I decided to try to rescue the other captives. My hounds were able to smell the creatures' tracks and with their small bodies, I don't think they could have gotten far.