A sensation of diving forward, effortlessly piercing gentle water, and rapidly sinking. Colors paint the firmament. Lightning strikes my chosen location, and I take form. That was different!

I’m not far outside a walled city, not far from the forest I last visited. In this form, I can go anywhere there is air, unseen. If all goes well, I’ll learn something about this world and leave without spending too much mana.

At the gate, there are two lines: merchants with carts, and pedestrian travelers, probably adventurers. I pay it no heed and move right through. I’m overcome with the sensation that I’m being watched. A summoned owl is perched in the guard station, staring directly at me. It doesn’t make a sound as I pass through.

Inside, the city is bustling. The line of merchants extends directly to the marketplace, where they’re unloading their goods. Is this a typical amount of traffic for this town? I continue toward town center, where I’m bound to find something important.

I find another gate, this time blocking the way to the inner city. As usual, I breeze on though. Again, I feel a set of eyes on me, and see an owl in the guard station. This time, it’s a Wise Owl. Nobles spare no expense! Its eyes lock on me, and I get the sense that we’ve met before. It doesn’t make a sound as I cross the threshold.

Now, I’ve got to think that there’s a gentlemen’s agreement in place. The last time I encountered a summoned owl, it foiled my invisibility and fought against my party. Is it because I’m not summoned this time? Can they tell?

Inside the inner city, stunning buildings stand proudly. The palace can be seen in the skyline. Shops dealing in magical and otherwise expensive wares line the wall. Monuments and slabs punctuate the streets. Shame that this form can’t read.

Getting closer to the palace, the buildings grow in gravitas. These are unmistakably temples. What sort of beings do they worship?

*

Incoming Request

World: X-002

Spell Level: 2

Duration: 10 minutes

Mana offered: XX

Karma: +X

“That’s not a bad deal. Maybe…,” I thought, and a scene flashed before me. A lone summoner, encircled by three hostile adventurers. This is all the mana he can offer without losing consciousness. He fears for his life.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Have I been doing it wrong all this time? It can’t be a coincidence that it’s a request from X-002. Let’s do this.

Request Accepted

Select your form.

The forms offered won’t be enough to save him. Even though they’re EX upgrades, they best suited for boosting a party. If my client is going to make it, I’ll have to pitch in some mana.

Upcast: Level 3

Choice: EX Venomweb

Select spawn location.

Minion Spawned

What?! I got a second mind’s eye, like when I was summoning wolves in the forest. Is this ability permanent?

I have my main form half-mindedly explore the inner city and put my attention behind the fight. I could pilot a whole wolf pack without much thinking last time, but this is different. This is using my own ability to control minions, not that of the form.

The adventurers are a warrior, a thief, and a pugilist. This unbalanced team wouldn’t last a minute against monsters; it’s only suitable for committing crimes against their own kind. All three are closing in with their weapons drawn when I materialize before them. They jump back a pace and shout some things to each other.

This form is an enhanced giant spider. It relies on webs and venom to debilitate but it lacks the strength to penetrate armor. While every spider form has webs and venom, this one has venom baked into its webs. And, like every spider form, its weakness is fire, which burns webs away.

Client safety is my first priority here. I wrap him in a ball of thick, non-venomous webs. If these ruffians have any sort of clue, they’ll avoid me and target him, if I let them have that option. Next priority, kill all three of the criminals before time runs out. I’m only here for 10 minutes.

The warrior is easy pickings. I sling a long stretch of web at him, spinning like a bola; he tries to move away but the only way to dodge this is to jump or fall prone. It wraps around him, adhering to his armor, completely disabling him.

The thief makes a run for it. The pugilist rushes in. I throw a stretch of the web at the thief, just like the warrior, and pursue him. The thief drops prone and lets it whiff overhead. Then he rises to run again, and looks back to see my forelimb reaching for him.

He slips it and breaks into a run. I want to catch him in webs, but the pugilist has been on my case this entire time, and I have to do something about him.

The pugilist has been on my tail, kicking at my legs whenever I’m not in motion. Pugilists’ fighting style is best suited against humanoid opponents. When they branch out to other body types, it’s usually quadrupeds, because they’re very common and more similar than different to humanoids. This is to say he has been entirely ineffective: my legs don’t have any joints between the ground and where he’s kicking.

I turn and overwhelm him with lunging limbs, but he doesn’t take a scratch. I reach for some webs, but he goes on offense, attacking my back legs. Is he adapting? I pepper him with thrusts, in a rhythm, while preparing some webs. After blocking enough thrusts, he moves out of range. Once he sees the web, he knows it’s over.

The thief is long gone now. After finishing the two web-bound ruffians with venom, and cutting my client free, this job is as done as it will ever be. The moment my client’s unbound legs touch the ground, he sprints toward the city. I might have made a bad first impression.

In less than a minute, my time expires, and I’m refocused on my air elemental form.

Contact Acquired

Name: Decker Woodcut

If I can complete requests while exploring this world, and I get to know more before accepting, then visiting worlds might be even more profitable. I really have been going about it wrong way!