Ethan sunk into the most luxurious mattress he’d ever rested his body on. It felt like clouds had come to life, only to support his exhausted frame. Renting separate rooms in the illustrious Golden Ox Inn had lightened his coin purse, but that hardly mattered. The room was massive, compared to the Marsh Wolf Tavern. And it didn’t stink of stale ale. His enormous bed afforded him a view of the plaza outside the duke’s spire through a clear glass window. A fresh skin of fine wine sat on his nightstand.

Lilac broke off from the group when they arrived in town. Ethan was just happy no one bothered him on the way to the finer districts in town. He’d all but confirmed that people were interested in the spirits, not him, but it was still a relief. Waking from the night’s sleep, he couldn’t imagine going out into the wilds again.

Although that was a luxury he couldn’t afford.

Today’s agenda was contacting a ritualist and negotiating a price for his ascension into the next rank. Ethan sipped his watered wine by the bedside, watching the people below go about their day. After a time, he made his way to the bathroom attached to his room. An actual bathroom. Not some bush, or the walls in the dungeon. It even had a bath.

As the grime of travel fell away from his body, Ethan formed a plan for the day. He hoped his companions were as dazzled by their accommodations as he was. He needed a word with Telbarantis, and felt the spirit’s will flowing from the lake.

Cleaned and ready for the day, Ethan descended the wide staircase in the inn’s lobby. A man in a black vest over a pressed white shirt bowed his head as the Caller exited. The streets were bustling with activity, the events of the festival still taking place. Once he called the spirit back to the mortal realm, there would be more celebrations. There was nothing he could do about that. People needed to learn that the spirits would show themselves when he was near.

The spirit of Telbarantis was near enough to feel at the docks. Ethan didn’t need to travel to the island or the temple to commune with the Great Spirit. His mind put off his intent to meet with Tel and before he could decide against it, the water was bubbling. Like last time, it boiled under the surface. Unlike last time, a massive monster didn’t break free, showering those within miles with lake water. Instead, a creature roughly the size of Luca shot into the air, only to flop down onto the dock.

“Tel?” Ethan asked, stooping low. The creature was an exact copy of Telbarantis’ massive form.

“Greetings, human,” he said. “Did you expect a show every time you call me?”

“I did.”

“Too bad. I sense you have questions.”

“How do I upgrade my summons?” Ethan asked, patting the lizard-like spirit on the head.

Tel narrowed his eyes. “Same recipe for the mortal rank-up rituals. Except you don’t need a seal. Substitute the boss core for a sub-boss core.”

“Thanks.”

Ethan turned to leave. Tel cleared his throat.

“I’m looking forward to lending you my power.”

“I haven’t forgotten about you, Telbarantis,” Ethan said. “I didn’t want to delve into a corrupted dungeon before I hit Rank 1.”

“Yes, fair enough,” Tel said, shuffling awkwardly on the deck. “I liked the larger form better.”

When Ethan turned to leave again, the lizard-spirit cleared his throat again.

“I confess I wasn’t certain about you. Perhaps I’m still uncertain,” Tel said. “But there’s something strange about the corruption.”

Ethan came over, sitting on the dock near the spirit. He watched the motes of blue light fall off the creature, like a bird losing feathers in the air. “Strange?”

“Dungeon corruptions aren’t common. I’ve heard whispers of them before, but only whispers. This seems more like a shout. Like an attempted corruption of the land.”

Ethan rubbed his chin. He didn’t know enough about how the Great Spirits worked to say either way. “That’s why we’re investigating it. Right?”

“Curious, though. Isn’t it? That the system wants you to investigate it. A roundabout way. Sending you to me. Then I send you to the dungeon. Where does it end?”

“If you’re uncertain about this, Tel… I don’t know what to say. We’ll take it one step at a time. First the dungeon, then we can work on rebuilding Lucantele’s temple. More spirits is better, right?”

“Right. Of course. I haven’t heard the Spirit of Hope whisper through the aether in a while. Troubling, isn’t it?”

“Perhaps it is. If I knew how common that was.”

“Quite common.”

“Does that imply that the Great Spirits draw their power from worship?” Ethan shifted on the dock, finding a spot that didn’t poke splinters into his butt.

“No, the temples are anchor-points. Places that keep us from slipping away. Most of our bonds to the land are strong enough, but Lucantele represents an abstract concept. If he loses his grasp on the temple, he’ll drift away.”

But Ethan had never doubted the importance of his purpose here. Lucantele brought him from Earth for a purpose, trusting him to get it done without supervision. He couldn’t count the spirit’s Symbol as a watcher, since the thing didn’t have a personality.The Caller didn’t want that faith to be misplaced. Just like he wanted to do right by Targe and Twist, he needed to show that he was worthy of the powers he’d been given.

Memories of Earth flashed by. Without realizing it, Ethan had experienced what it was like working the night shift alone in that dungeon. The long silence of it, punctuated by moments of rest that seemed more disturbing than his wakeful hours. Living like a vampire in both Aquarium Warehouse Bonanza and the [Goblin Dungeon] had made him realize how little he wanted to solo another dungeon. Perhaps like the fear for the night shift, that feeling would fade. Not before he’d soaked up enough sun for several lifetimes, though.

Telbarantis descended into a pleasant conversation about the river. Oudsted’s mighty river was fed by the mountains to the north. The water pooled in the lake, creating an interesting ecosystem that the Great Spirit enjoyed. From there, it flowed south into the ocean. Dotted along the length of the river were towns. Farmer’s towns that worked the earth, enjoying the endless bounty of fresh flowing water.

The Great Spirit had memories from the moment of his birth. Before what he referred to as his creation, he was a salamander-like lizard that roamed the banks of the river. From nowhere, he gained consciousness. While he’d spent eons trying to understand what gave him such a gift, he came up with nothing. From there he was a spirit beast, finally ascending to become a Great Spirit after much effort. Too many trials for him to relay in casual conversation, but it ended when he pierced the veil and became more than an intelligent lizard.

“Although salamanders are hardly lizards,” Tel scoffed. “You understand my meaning. Lucantele was not formed in that way.”

Instead, the story of Lucantele, the Great Spirit of Hope, was shrouded in mystery. None of the spirits knew how he came to be, but theories were thrown around. When two Great Spirits met, the topics of conversation surrounded the idea of conceptual spirits.

“Born from nothing, meant to serve an idea,” Telbarantis said, nodding his tiny salamander-lizard head. “Ah. Your friends are looking for you. They think you were kidnapped by someone named Lilac.”

“Whoops. Better go,” Ethan said, gathering himself up. “I’ll stop by the chat later.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Please do.”

Ethan was off, turning on the spot and heading back to the Golden Ox Inn. He found Twist and Targe outside, casting their eyes around the crowd in a desperate search. When they spotted the Caller, they looked annoyed.

“Can’t just run off like that,” Targe said.

“I thought about leaving a note.” Ethan shrugged, clapping a hand on Twist’s shoulder. “But I didn’t. Are we ready to upgrade me?”

“Yes,” Twist responded.

The magical services provided in Oudsted were extensive. While Ethan was impressed, Targe wasn’t. Compared to the larger towns in the duchy, the services here were lacking. They could only perform a rank-up ritual to a certain level. After that, one would need to travel to find a Ritualist who could handle the job. Near the duke’s spire, surrounded by affluent people going about their lives, the group ducked into a stuffy shop. Like most places in Oudsted, they burned a censer in the room’s corner. Resting in the center was a large, ornate circle wrought in silver.

“Yay. New caller comes to town, needs an upgrade,” a voice said from behind the counter. “Come to drop coins in my hand. You love to see it.”

A squat woman came from behind the counter, trundling over to the circle to assess Ethan. She came up to the Caller’s waist, and was wider than a normal person should have been. After a moment, he realized she was a dwarf.

“What are we doing? Hmm? Rank 0 to 1? Fine,” she said, waving them away. “A gold coin if you don’t have the materials, otherwise it’ll be 10 silver coins.”

Ethan swung his pack around, digging through to find the coins he’d gained from the dungeon and his [Boss Monster Core]. Twist provided the regular [Monster Cores], which was nice.

“Perfect. Junk goes in the circle. Along with the Caller.”

The dwarf had no desire to talk to them any longer than she needed to. The group obeyed without a word, dumping their stuff in the silver circle then shoving Ethan within. She cracked her knuckles, approaching the circle and nodding.

“My money?”

Ethan handed the coins over.

“Aren’t we all happy, now?” she asked, cracking her knuckles. “This will only take a moment. Groblag’s Magical Upgrades does not guarantee the power provided by a rank-up. Side-effects may include nausea, dizziness, an excessive need to seek out water and drink, but are not limited to these things. Do you understand the terms of the upgrade?”

Ethan blinked a few times, then nodded.

“Excellent. Hold still.”

A flood of magical energy spread through Ethan’s body before he could think. Something swelled in his chest, as though something was growing inside. It radiated outward from there, racing to the tips of his fingers and toes with an electric sensation. A moment passed as a magic wind whipped through the shop, then nothingness. The still silence brought by a sudden sound. A system message appeared.

[Ethan Stout’s] [Caller’s Core] has ranked up! Rank 1!

Level has been reset to 1.

Free point earned.

And that was it. Checking his attribute screen, Mark found that his mana had increased. Total mana was tied to rank, then. But he didn’t feel much different than before. Perhaps a little stronger than before, but that was it.

“Thanks for your business. Bye.”

“One second. How do I upgrade my subcores?”

“The standard ritual for subcore upgrade is typically cheaper to perform,” the dwarf said as though reading from a script. ‌”Provide 10 equal-rank [Monster Cores]. Typical fee is 1 silver coin for the starter ranks. And we only do the starter ranks here. Bye.”

The dwarf disappeared behind the counter. Targe clapped Ethan on the back. Twist playfully punched him in the arm.

“Now we can do the dungeon,” Targe said.

“Miss dwarf,” Ethan said, digging items out of his bag. “I have an odd request.”

“I like odd requests,” the voice said from behind the counter.

Ethan channeled [Summon Lucantele], watching as the spirit burst forth from the ground. The dwarf hobbled over, poking her head around the counter. Her eyes went between Luca and Ethan.

“I’m listening.”

“I need you to perform an upgrade ritual for my summoning spell, but…” Ethan said, trailing off.

“You don’t know how to do it. Do you know the ingredients?” the dwarf asked, withdrawing a book from behind the counter. She placed it on a dwarf-height table.

“A [Sub-boss Core] and five [Monster Cores],” Ethan said.

“Perfect. Falls almost in line with the standard pet-upgrade spell. I just need to make modifications,” the dwarf said, withdrawing parchment and a pen.

Targe gave Ethan a look. “Forgot you’ll need to upgrade your summon. What happens when you have more than one?”

“Then it gets expensive,” Ethan said.

“Meh,” the dwarf said, coming over to hold her hand out. “One silver. This one is easy.”

Ethan produced both the items and the silver coin. She tossed the items into the circle haphazardly. The Caller ordered his summoned spirit to stand in the center, waiting for his upgrades.

“Same rules apply for your critter,” the dwarf said, closing her eyes.

Energy swirled around Lucantele. The spirit rose into the air, rotating on the spot. The silver like that came from Luca grew more intense, filling the room with his hopeful glow. Then they felt the power of the real Great Spirit of Hope flood into the room. A warm comfort that spread through all their bodies, easing what troubles they had on their mind. Ethan forgot about the dungeon alltogether. He’d happily delve into one right now, if he had the chance.

“All done,” the dwarf said. Lucantele’s symbol lowered to the ground, slightly bigger than normal.

A system message appeared, marking the occasion.

[Ethan Stout’s] [Summon Lucantele] spell has been upgraded to Rank 1!

“Indeed, it is,” a voice came from the silver circle. There were now two versions of Luca standing there.

“Since when can you make two of them?” Targe asked. The bored dwarf was already retreated behind her desk.

“I can’t,” Ethan said, bowing his head at Lucantele. “That’s the real one. How are you here, Luca?”

“A temporary effect from upgrading my Symbol,” Luca said. Both Twist and Targe looked with confusion at Ethan. They realized they couldn’t understand the Great Spirit, and shrugged it off.

“How are you?” Ethan asked. “I’m working toward fixing your temple.”

“I’m speaking with Telbarantis at the same time. Eager to share what I know with the other spirits,” Lucantele said. “I’ve been cut off for too long, but now there is hope.”

“Should we hurry up with the orc problem?” Ethan asked, feeling guilty now that he was speaking to the spirit that brought him here.

“No. My fading into obscurity happened over centuries. You’ll change nothing by rushing.” The spirit’s head tilted to the side, silver eyes locking onto Ethan. “A full [Mana Regen] build was popular the last time I formed a pact with a Caller.”

“You think it’ll work out?” Ethan asked.

“I watched how you used my Symbol in the [Goblin Dungeon]. I think you’re going to do great things with that build.”

“Thanks. I haven’t even told them about the [Evoker’s Subcore] I got. Didn’t want to make them envious. Do you have a read on them? My companions? Are they on the level?”

“They are,” Luca said. “Their hearts are pure, despite their pasts. I’m proud of you, Ethan. You didn’t jump to another… team. Sorry, I must go. Telbarantis’ rantings are dragging too much of my attention away.”

“Until next time,” Ethan said, bowing to the spirit before it faded. He turned to his companions. “All done.”

“Good, now get out of my shop,” the dwarf said from behind the counter.

“What did he say?” Twist asked as they left the shop.

“Just some words of encouragement.”

“Damn. I can see why people worshiped him. Feels like I don’t have anything to worry about,” Targe said, letting out a contented sigh.

“The power of hope, I suppose. Hey, check out my new core.”

The pair was less offended than Ethan expected about his new subcore. The subclass was weird and situational. They encouraged him to hold on to it, even if his [Healer’s Subcore] would be more useful for their purposes.

Instead of rushing to the corrupted dungeon, the group had business to take care of in town. Twist and Targe needed to sell what little they collected in Oudsted forest, so they planned a few days break before heading back out. Ethan wasn’t interested in selling what he had and stowed his bag back at the Golden Ox Inn. After that, he headed for the lake once again, with Luca’s symbol close behind.

On his way, there were many citizens that wanted to play with the summoned spirit. It brought none of the waves of hope that the real thing did, but just the sight of him was enough to make some people’s day. Luca would dance with people, play games of tag with children, and otherwise just be cute for them to admire. It took most of the day for him to make his way to the lake. When he finally came to the water’s edge, he snaked a path to a shallow spot.

With his shoes off, and his robe tucked into the belt of his new comfortable pants, he stepped into the waters. Bodies of water on earth varied drastically. In the United States, it wasn’t uncommon to see an ecosystem destroyed by invasive species. But the waters in this lake seemed pristine. There were clusters of algae and water plants resting under the surface. They were joined by minnow-like fish holding under the shade, and other skittish fish that held near the drop-off into deeper water.

The markings on the fish that held the deeper water were foreign to him, but Ethan guessed they were panfish. Although he waited for hours, wading through the shallow area of the lake, he didn’t spot predator fish. He expected to see something like a bass swing by, gulping up the minnows before darting back into the depths. Instead, he was treated to sights of water foul, and the small fish that stuck to those safe places.

Combined with Lucantele’s soothing effects, the cool water over his legs was a treat. The road ahead didn’t seem so bad. Not even the idea of the corrupted dungeon could dampen his spirits.