Chapter 7: The Summoner’s Chain

Miriam, Charlene, Melinda and Calvin peered over the ridge, barely able to see anything because their torch had gone out. The four adventurers looked out over the rolling dark hills beyond. At the base of a particularly large monolith a few hundred feet away, Miriam saw a gaping cave. Faint light emanated from its mouth, illuminating the gradual incline that led down to it.

“We’re here,” Calvin said faintly.

“I guess we are,” Miriam said. “So, where do we go from here?”

“Let’s take this nice and slowly,” Charlene said. Miriam could all but see the gears turning in her mind, formulating a plan. “We’ll slowly crawl down the incline until we find cover or get into position. I have some javelins, so I can take out any guards from a distance.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Miriam said. “But I don’t see any guards.”

“As I explained before, they’re probably stationed farther back in the cave,” Calvin said. “They’re paranoid about attracting the demons’ ire.”

“Anyway, no point in waiting longer,” Charlene said. “I’ll go in first; follow when I signal.”

Miriam inhaled as she watched her armored companion haul herself the rest of the way up the ridge. “Good luck,” she whispered.

Charlene gave a silent nod as she finished her climb. Miriam peeked over the edge, watching with bated breath as her companion slowly began to crawl down the hill, making sure to stay low to the ground. After two or three tense minutes, Charlene stopped behind a large boulder. She waved with her hand, the signal for the group to follow.

Without a word, Miriam, Calvin and Melinda pulled themselves up the ridge and down the incline. The ground felt warm beneath Miriam’s hands, like it had been burning but was blasted with frigid air and hadn’t finished cooling. Ash began to cling to her robe, boots and hands. Her heart pounded in her chest as she reminded herself over and over again that she was safe. Her stamina started depleting slightly, and she felt her muscles burn from the unfamiliar walking pattern.

Once the group had safely reunited behind the boulder, Charlene explained the next step of the plan. “There’s a lot of boulders near the cave entrance. Instead of crawling, we’ll now run single-file, using the boulders as cover and resting points. Is that clear?” When the others gave their affirmations, the champion nodded. She ran out from behind the boulder and darted to a nearby, albeit slightly smaller, one. Miriam quickly followed, her legs pounding on the ashen ground. When the others finished the sprint, Charlene repeated the process, running to another boulder. For three or four minutes, the group sprinted between boulders, using nearly two dozen of them as cover. The light from the cave slowly got brighter as the group approached it, but no sounds could be heard emanating from its interior.

Finally, Charlene stopped at a boulder scant yards from the cave entrance. She motioned for her team to join her. Once they were together, Charlene began to whisper.

“The apparent absence of any cultists here is quite odd. You’d think that there would be guards or something, but I’ve heard nary a call nor shuffle since we first laid sight on the cave. It’s unnerving. How could 50 people not make any semblance of noise?”

“Back when I was here, you used to be able to hear the sentries from this far away,” Calvin muttered. “It’s strange.”

“Let’s proceed with caution,” Charlene said. Her voice belied a faint hint of apprehension, one that Miriam also was feeling.

Caution is good, Miriam thought. Either the cultists are laying an ambush, or they’ve… They can’t all have died already, can they? Her thoughts were interrupted as Charlene motioned to Melinda, and the two women rushed from the hiding place and charged into the cave mouth.

Immediately, Charlene cursed. “Miriam? Calvin?” Melinda called in a frightened voice. “You’re gonna want to fucking see this shit.”

What? What the hell happened? What is it? Miriam took deep breaths to calm her tempestuous heartbeat and walked to the fighters’ position alongside Calvin. When the sight first came into view, Calvin vomited and began screaming. Miriam felt sick herself.

Dozens of stone spikes (Miriam could tell that they weren’t stalagmites; these ones seemed to be man-made) protruded from the pockmarked ground. The greyish rock was stained with lines of red, barely visible in the faint firelight. Upon each spike, several people were impaled. The voice simply identified them as [Wretch Corpses]. Crimson blood matted hair and tattered dark cultists’ robes as it dripped downward, staining the ground along with the corpses’ entrails.

“They’re… They’re dead!” Miriam exclaimed. It was the most horrific sight she’d ever seen. Nothing in any horror movie or history documentary even came close to the brutality that lay before her. She dry-heaved and calmed her stomach, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away from the gruesome sight.

Calvin was sobbing on the ground. “No… No… This can’t be real… This can’t be happening…” Miriam understood that he’d just seen the mangled corpses of friends or family, so she let him cry.

Charlene just stared at the impaled corpses slack-jawed. “No… They’re all… Order. Oh, Order.” She let out a wheezing sob and looked down.

Melinda was the first to speak. “We need to press on. We’re here for a reason. Gazzack probably killed all these folks, taking their experience and presumably leveling up as a result. We need to kill him.”

“Just give us a few minutes, for Order’s sake!” Charlene exclaimed. “Look at Calvin! Can’t you see the poor boy’s just lost everyone he fucking knew?” The young man was sobbing on the ground in a fetal position. Melinda gave a stuttering, gaping sigh and turned away. Nobody spoke for the next four or five minutes as the group tried to process the terrible sight they had just witnessed.

Calvin was the first to break the silence, the last vestiges of sorrow leaving his face and dripping onto his robe. “We need to proceed,” he said in a soft voice that Miriam could tell was just barely hiding more tears. She also noticed that he was looking as far away from the corpses as possible. “We know that Gazzack killed my brethren to take their experience. He’s strong now, stronger than he’s ever been before. He wanted to send us a message by displaying the corpses of my people here. He wants us to think that we can’t defeat him, that he’s too powerful. But we need to push on. We need to take revenge. I need to make sure that that spineless, backstabbing bastard receives the punishment he Orderdamn deserves.” His fists clenched at his side and his face took on a look that was equal parts anguish and determination.

“You’re right, kid,” Melinda said. “Charlene, you and I will take the front. The old lady and the kid’ll stay behind.”

“I’m not an old lady!” Miriam protested jovially. “I’m barely older than Charlene!” The muscular woman was clearly holding back laughter at that remark. “I’m not!” Miriam insisted.

“Anyway,” Melinda said firmly, “this isn’t the time for levity. I’ve said this a hundred times, but we need to be careful when fighting Gazzack. He could probably kill us in a single hit. But there are more of us than there are of him, assuming he murdered all his lackeys. That alone gives us an advantage.”

“Hear hear!” Charlene exclaimed. “On three! One, two, three! For Smogvale!”

“For Smogvale!” the foursome bellowed. We need to do this. Gazzack is despicable; I don’t feel one whit of sympathy for him. Anyone who would do… That? He’s fucking dead. Dead. Fucking dead. Without further ado, they began to proceed into the cave. Charlene lit another torch, illuminating the dark, rocky walls. Miriam saw a few signs of habitation - a ruined table, the still-lit firepit that had been causing the illumination, a haphazard stack of bedrolls. The only thing that was missing was the people.

The “cave” wasn’t so much a cave as a long, narrow hole in the hill’s wall. It had a wide mouth that gradually tapered down like a “v” shape. Eventually, Miriam and her companions had to stoop. The farther down the cave they got, the more bedrolls, ash-filled firepits and rotting crates they saw. The sight didn’t disturb Miriam like the display of corpses had before, but it definitely unsettled her.

Soon, Melinda held up her hand and ordered those behind her to halt. “There’s a doorway up ahead,” she said. “I can hear someone moving around.”

“Gazzack,” muttered Charlene. “This is it, folks. Either we win or we die.”

Miriam had always been partially of the danger of this mission. In the back of her mind, she knew that this endeavour would probably result in her death. But now that it was here, the reality of her situation was readily apparent. She gulped. Every cell in her body told her to run, run, run!

I am NOT a coward! She exclaimed to herself. I am NOT a coward! There are too many cowards in the histories and on the news - commanders who refuse to bleed and die with their troops, rich bastards who live in luxury while those under them make do with next to nothing, sadists who order others to carry out murder and violence in their name. I am NOT one of them! I am a good human being, and I will NOT act otherwise! I will NOT flee from this fucking barbarian!

She didn’t have much more time to think before Charlene came over to her. She pulled out a small vial full of a murky green liquid from her inventory and handed it to Miriam.

“Thanks,” Miriam whispered, pocketing the item that was identified as a [Potion of Healing]. “What does it do?”

“It heals you up to full Hp,” Charlene said. “But I only have a few of these. So only drink it when your health is really low.”

Wow, that’s useful! Miriam saw Melinda give a similar vial to Calvin. The young man evidently knew what it was, for his eyes lit up and he began to profusely thank the fighter.

“All righty then,” Charlene said. “I’ll go first.” With that, she strode into the chamber and began to speak in a clear, carrying, strong voice. “Gazzack of the Association of Divine Thanatos! I sentence you to death for the heinous crimes of pillage and massacre! And we the good people of Smogvale will hereby carry out your sentence!”

Miriam entered the chamber beyond. It was a surprisingly large cavern, about the size of the gymnasium back at her high school. The fires of many lit braziers illuminated its russet confines. Aside from the braziers, it was bare save for a single figure sitting at the far back. As Charlene warily walked farther into the room, he turned around and stood up.

[Combat initiated versus Entitiy: Gazzack: Champion Lv. 42]

“Ah, fuck!” Charlene exclaimed, clearly seeing how dangerous the foe was. Calvin and Melinda gave similarly profane reactions as well. Miriam gulped as a wave of paralyzing terror washed over her. The man was a full 38 levels higher than her, and thrice the level of even Charlene! How were they supposed to kill him if he was so much higher than all their levels combined?

As the cult leader got closer, Miriam could make out his appearance. He was a tall, handsome, sturdy blonde man with short hair and a clean-shaven face. He wore a suit of ashen grey plate armor with a scarlet cape draping behind him. In his hands, he carried a strange weapon. It looked like a whip, but instead of a single strip of material, it was a long, interlocking chain of metal links. It clacked along the ground as its wielder strode towards his enemies.

Strangely, the weapon seemed to be calling to Miriam, giving off a faint yet perceivable presence. She could feel a pulsing emanating from both it and her body. Frantically thinking, she checked her inventory. The Book of Demons that she’d nearly forgot about was thrumming and vibrating, as if it was connected to the chain-whip.

“I have no words for you weaklings,” Gazzack uttered. “I will kill you and absorb your experience. Then, I will kill more creatures until I am the most powerful in this pathetic world.” He cracked his chain-whip against the ground, causing a faint tremor.

Charlene pulled out a short spear - the voice identified it as a [bone javelin] (not that Miriam didn’t know what a javelin already was) - and hurled it at Gazzack with a grunt of exertion. The weapon struck him in the abdomen, and Miriam saw the familiar health bar go down - but by a miniscule amount.

The cult leader laughed, oblivious to the damage. “Feels like a fly bit me!” He pulled the javelin out of him and threw it to the side. It clattered against the stony walls, the tip breaking off.

Charlene threw another javelin, and another. How many of those does she have in her inventory? Both of them struck true, but they hardly damaged Gazzack. Each time, he pulled them out and broke them on the ground or with his hands.

“Dammit,” Charlene groaned as the cult leader laughed. “I’m almost out of javelins.”

“Your mosquito bites can’t even make me break a sweat!” Gazzack boasted.

“Spears out!” Melinda called. “Stand in a row, and slowly advance!” Miriam and Calvin procured their weapons, holding them out alongside the more experienced fighter. It would be hard for anyone to attack them from the front without skewering themselves on their long, sharp polearms. They began advancing towards Gazzack, Charlene stepping beside them. She struck the man with one last javelin, then pulled out an ornate axe that looked to be made out of silver.

No, it’s probably not silver. Silver’s too brittle to make a weapon out of. Why am I thinking this, anyway? I’m gonna die soon. Oh, Tom…

“We gotta beat him quickly!” Charlene yelled. “I don’t know how, but we have to kill him fast!”

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Gazzack was now less than forty feet away. He bellowed, cracking his whip against the ground. The weapon pulsed. The book pulsed from within Miriam’s core. She gasped, a wave of energy washing through her. It didn’t necessarily hurt, but it felt uncomfortable and distracting. She barely noticed the cult leader leap towards the foursome with a cry of “You’re done!”

She lifted her spear and thrust it out, feebly attempting to impale Gazzack. In the time it took her to do so, Charlene cried out, “Champion’s Honor!” As she did so, an aura of bluish energy appeared around her, and her eyes set in a determined glare. She lifted her axe and swung it at the cultist, whose whip missed its target by over a yard. He grimaced in pain as Charlene’s axe connected, taking off a not-insignifigant chunk of his health. Unfortunately, Gazzack swung his whip and it connected with Charlene’s left arm, the sound of flesh tearing and bones shattering rending the air.

“No!” Miriam shouted. Charlene screamed in agony as her unarmed hand literally flew off her arm at the wrist. Blood spurted from the wound, staining both her and Gazzack’s armor. The cultist looked at her in confusion.

“How are you not dead?” he said in a faint tone. Charlene screamed again and stabbed the end of her axe at him. Taking another hit of damage, he flung Charlene aside like a sack of potatoes.

Miriam, blinded by rage and fear, had three choices - fly, fight, or freeze. She chose the second. Roaring, she ran at Gazzack, holding her spear out. He smirked and swung his whip again. The spear and the whip simultaneously connected with each other’s arms.

[Skill: Defy Death has activated. Lethal damage reduced to 46. Entity: Miriam Ward has reached Lv. 2 in Skill: Defy Death. Recharge time is now 23 hours. Recharge in 22:59:59.]

Unadulterated agony tore through Miriam as she screamed in pain. It wasn’t quite as agonizing as the imps’ attack had been, but it was so horrible she nearly passed out. I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m dead… Wait, I’m not dead! That skill I had, Defy Death, activated! It saved me! As her senses came back, she realized that Gazzack’s chain had wrapped itself around her arm. It had left a long, deep cut along her torso and upper arm, but it had lodged in her forearm.

Gritting her teeth, she began to pull on the chain. As she did so, it began to pulse louder and faster. It started to sound like a heartbeat. A wave of calm washed over her. Touching the whip felt… right. It felt like she was supposed to wield and have it, not Gazzack.

“What’re you doing, lady?” he scoffed. “You’re alread d-” The chain’s handle slipped out of his hands, causing him to stumble back in surprise. Thinking quickly, Miriam pulled the healing potion out of her inventory and downed the bitter draught in a single quick gulp.

Immediately, the pain disappeared, and her senses returned. Discarding the empty vial, she grabbed the handle of the whip and equipped it before Gazzack had a chance to even react.

[Weapon: Summoner’s Chain (+30 Strength when attacking). Grants additional abilities to individuals in the Summoner class.]

It felt like she’d been crawling through the desert for years, and had only now found an oasis to drink at. Strength and stamina flowed through her in an addictive, pleasurable, agonizing, pulsating wave as she discarded her spear and hefted the Summoner’s Chain.

[Entity: Miriam Ward is eligible to change class to: Summoner. Entity: Miriam Ward possesses the required items: Summoner’s Chain x1, Book of Demons x1. Change to Summoner? -Yes -No]

Without thinking, she mentally clicked on [-Yes]. Immediately, the whole world flashed around her, notifications blaring in her eyes and ears.

[Entity: Miriam Ward has changed class to: Summoner. The extremely rare and elusive Summoner class excels neither at fighting, nor casting spells. However, it possesses the rare ability to tame and utilize those creatures designated as Demons or Angels. Damage such enemies with your whip, then use the book to capture them. You can summon them at a later time to aid you in combat or other actions. Until they die, they will be your devoted servant and obey every order you give them. Additionally, you automatically gain 10 proficiency in Weapon: Summoner’s Chain. Your attacks will be stronger, faster and more accurate.]

[Entity: Miriam Ward has learned the Advanced Skill: Capture Lv. 1. Cost: 5 Mp. Unleash an attack on an enemy. If the attack kills the enemy, and it is a Demon or Angel, the enemy will be transported to your Book of Demons for later use.]

[Entity: Miriam Ward has learned the Advanced Skill: Summon Lv. 1. Cost: 0 Mp. Summon a tamed angel/demon onto the field. Requires equip: Book of Demons.]

Holy shit, what does this mean? Can I capture demons? I can tame them and make them fight for me? How does that work? How is the Book involved? She was reminded of a video game her students sometimes played in class - pokey men or something like that. She hadn’t seen much of it, but it seemed to entail the players capturing creatures and making them fight each other. Anyway, there’s no time to think. Gotta fight. Gotta see Tom again…

“No!” Gazzack screamed. A look of pure terror appeared on his face. “My chain! No!” He procured what looked like a two-foot-long, white stick from his inventory and attempted to get it to bear.

“Serves you right, you fucking bastard!” Charlene roared. “You cut my Orderdamn hand off!” She’d downed a healing potion and stood up in the time it took Miriam to process her new abilities. Her arm was no longer bleeding, but her hand was gone. She balled the other into a fist and struck Gazzack in the chest. He grunted and stumbled back, dropping the stick.

“NOW!” Melinda exclaimed. “KILL HIM!” She and Calvin began stabbing the cult leader, driving him onto the ground with their spears. Miriam joined in, slashing at him with her chain. Its snake-like movements felt natural to her, as if she’d had years of practice with the weapon. Each time she hit Gazzack, a wave of adrenaline and ecstasy flowed through her as he screamed in agony. Her strikes took out a humongous chunk of his Hp with each hit. He writhed on the ground for only a few seconds before the last of his Hp was depleted. With one last gasp of pain, he slumped to the ground, the light leaving his eyes.

[Combat complete. Entity: Miriam Ward victorious. Earned sufficient experience to reach Lv. 14. Max Hp +20, +30 stat points.]

The surge of adrenaline and power she had been feeling abruptly ended, leaving her feeling as if she’d just ran a marathon. She slumped to the ground, panting. The chain fell from her grasp and disappeared into her inventory.

“Wh- What just… Did we get him?” Charlene asked. She was clutching her stump, which was now covered with smooth, fresh skin. She was also resting on her knees.

“I think he’s dead!” proclaimed Melinda. She rushed over to her wounded companions and crouched next to them. “I mean, he’s obviously dead! I got a bunch of levels, too!”

“Levels?” Miriam groggily asked. She checked her notifications and was surprised to find that she’d gone up a full ten levels from killing Gazzack. “Holy… I have thirty stat points to spend!” She felt a surge of primal elation at gaining so much power. “I also changed to a new class!”

At this, Charlene stiffened and hobbled over to Miriam. “A new class?” she asked sharply. “Which one?”

“It’s called Summoner,” Miriam said. “Apparently I can capture demons or something.”

“Summoner,” Charlene mused. “I’ve never heard of that one. Must be pretty rare.”

“The description said it was,” Miriam said. “I think it was because I took the whip from Gazzack-” she pulled it out and deposited it onto the ground “-and this book, the Book of Demons.” She procured and displayed the book to her companions.

“How odd,” Charlene said. “I’ve been around the place, and I’ve never seen anything like it. How does the ‘capturing demons’ work?”

“I have an attack that, if it kills a demon, sucks it into my book. I can then summon it, and it’ll be perfectly tame and fight for me.”

“Holy shit,” Charlene gasped. “That sounds powerful. You don’t even need to fight; you can just swarm enemies with a horde of demons.” She paused and looked at her stump. “I can’t fight anymore.” Miriam saw the reality of her situation hit her friend’s eyes. The older warrior stared at the ground and tears began to well in her eyes.

Miriam felt a twinge of sympathy. “No, it’s all right,” she said. She moved to Charlene and put a comforting arm around her shoulder. “You’ve still got one working arm.”

“No, but…” Charlene spluttered. “You need, you need to balance your weapon arm, and stuff… Forget it, it’s too hard to explain.”

“Anyway, we beat him!” Melinda exclaimed. “I wonder what stuff he has.” Without further ado, she reached down and touched Gazzack’s arm. Instantly, a wide variety of objects appeared in the air and gently fell onto the ground. Teeth, weapons, armor, food, tools…

She’s looting his entire inventory! Melinda began to rummage through the knee-high pile of items. After looking through them for a bit, she walked over to where Gazzack’s stick had fallen and added it to the pile.

“Most of this is food and scrap metal,” Melinda said, standing up and brushing herself off. “I’ll take it back to the village. But y’all can go through this pile and take what you want from it.”

“Worth a look,” Charlene said, standing up. She steadied herself with her arms and limped over to the pile. “C’mon, Calvin, Miriam! Y’all need some better gear; those robes won’t cut it forever.”

Miriam walked over and began to sift through the pile. Aside from a great deal of [Spider Jerky], [Full Waterskin]s, [Scrap Metal] and [Detritus], she found a few weapons. None of them looked to be particularly stronger than her whip, but they all looked interesting. The white stick that Gazzack had attempted to use as an emergency sidearm was called a [Wand of Healing]. It sat alongside a pale blue rod about two feet long that was called the [Wand of Ice]. She didn’t know what each of them did, so she set them aside and continued rummaging.

Charlene, seeing the rods, stopped sifting through the loot pile and looked closely at them. “These are magic rods!” she exclaimed. “You can use them to cast spells!”

“Spells?” Miriam asked.

“Skills that consume your Mp,” Charlene explained. Her eyes lit up. “I might just be able to fight again…” She picked up the [Wand of Ice] and flourished it. Instantly, an aura of bright blue energy suffused her, and then was gone. A look of bliss appeared on her face, and, laughing, she yelled, “Freeze!”

A bolt of what looked like snow shot from the end of the rod and shattered against the far wall. Snowflakes drifted lazily down onto a small patch of snow that had sprung up where the wand hit.

“I changed class to an Ice Wizard!” Charlene exclaimed. “It’ll take some practice and investment, but I can fight now!” She cast another bolt of ice, and another. “Blast, I’m out of Mp now. Guess I’ll allocate some points to magic then. I’m no longer a Champion, but that hardly matters anymore.”

“Can I…” Calvin stuttered. “Can I… have the other wand?”

“Be my guest!” Charlene said. Melinda looked on fondly as the young man picked up the [Wand of Healing]. He tentatively held it out, then flinched as a flash of pale green light mantled his scrawny form.

“Gazzack…” he growled. “That spiderfucker was hiding this… We could’ve saved so many lives that way…” He hefted the rod and exclaimed, “Heal!” A bolt of pale energy zipped from his wand onto Charlene.

“I didn’t need that, but thanks anyway,” the warrior said. “Did you change class too?”

“I’m a Life Wizard now,” Calvin said proudly. “Unlike that coward we just killed. Bastard was always too proud to accept aid from anyone or anything. He always destroyed every health potion we pillaged before we settled here.” He spat onto the ground. “Well, that mindset came around to bite him. It came around real hard.”

They didn’t find much armor aside from several sets of generic robes that were equal in quality to Miriam’s gear, but they were much better than what Calvin had had, so he donned them. Melinda scooped the remaining gear into her inventory.

“Say, that armor looks pretty strong,” she said, gesturing to Gazzack’s grey suit of plate. Miriam got what she was implying, and for some reason, it grossed her out.

“No way am I… looting a corpse,” gagged Miriam. “I’ve had enough violence for one day. One lifetime, even.”

“Suit yourself, then,” Melinda said. She lifted Gazzack’s corpse and quickly unbuckled the suit of armor. It came off surprisingly easy. Beneath it, the former cult leader was wearing a bloodstained white shirt and pair of white pants.

“Hey, this armor says that it’s for Summoners,” Melinda said. “It won’t let me equip it.”

“Miriam, didn’t you say that you were a Summoner now?” Charlene said. “Maybe you can.”

Melinda tossed the armor to Miriam, who barely caught it. She bucked under its weight before disappearing it into her inventory. Once it was in there, she analyzed it.

The armor consisted of three pieces - [Summoner’s Plate], [Summoner’s Greaves], and [Summoner’s Sabatons]. Each piece provided +10 defense and +10 resistance, and increased the amount of demons Miriam could hold at a time by ten when the entire suit was equipped. The red cape billowed out behind her, but didn’t get in her way at all. Wearing the armor felt natural, as if it was an extension of her own skin. She took a few steps and swung her arms, pleased to find that doing so was as easy as if she was naked. Still, she remembered that it had recently been worn by a dead person, so she tried to shove that fact away.

“Hey, this armor’s pretty good!” Miriam said in a tone perhaps a little bit too overenthusiastic. Checking her overall stats, she felt quite proud of her new abilities.

Attribute Sheet of Entity: Miriam Ward

Name: Miriam Ward

Class/Level: Summoner Lv. 14

Stat Points: 30

Moves (basic):

Unarmed Lv. 1

Spears Lv. 1

Summoner’s Chains Lv. 10

Defend Lv. 1

Dodge Lv. 1

Enhanced Calluses Lv. 1

Enhanced Breath Lv. 3

Moves (advanced):

Defy Death Lv. 1 (immune to bleeding out, survive 1 lethal blow/day)

Capture Lv. 1: 5 Mp (Attack a demon/angel, capture it if killed)

Summon Lv. 1: (Summon a tamed demon/angel onto the field)

Demons (0/100/110)

Stats:

Hp: 67/67

Mp: 5/5

Stamina: 9/9

Defense:

Resistance:

Strength: 7 (+30 when attacking)

Agility: 6 (+0)

Vitality: 11 (+0)

Endurance: 7 (+0)

Magic: 5 (+0)

Wisdom: 7 (+0)

Charisma: 5 (+0)

Now all I gotta do is allocate my points, she thought to herself. Charlene smiled at her, but Melinda wasn’t looking her way. She was staring intently at a small object in her hands.

“Melinda?” Miriam asked. “What is it?”

The warrior proffered the item to her. It was an apple-sized translucent sphere of red and green, looking like an oversized child’s marble. Within it, Miriam could make out the outline of… a person? She swore she could see a person in the fetal position suspended in the center of the marble.

“Is that a person?” Miriam asked. “In the marble”

“Seems so,” Charlene said, taking the marble back and beginning to pace back and forth. “Found it in the loot pile. So pretty. Man, whoever made this trinket to look like an actual wretch was a good craftsperson. I’m gonna keep-” With a yelp, she tripped on a rock and dropped the marble.

“Damn it!” Miriam exclaimed before anyone else had a chance to react. The marble almost seemed to be falling in slow motion, but still too fast for anyone to react. Before her eyes, it struck the russet floor and shattered.

A blinding flash of white light erupted from the impact, causing Miriam to gasp and shield her eyes. In less than a second, the light faded away. A person now lay where the marble had shattered, in a fetal position. They stirred, groaned and looked up.

“Hello?” the person asked. The voice identified them as [Alendi: Lv. 9 Wretch]. “Who… Who are you?”