The monsters poured out of the dungeon hole and made their way toward the city wall of Arcross. Professor Egret and Bertrum had summoned large stone cyclopes who could shoot beams of fire from their eyes. The stone cyclopes did a good job of defending the wall from too much intrusion. Several warrior guild students were on the ground fighting the monsters who were more on their level. Declan had been standing with his team of sorcerers firing a consistent and constant barrage of spells from the walls.
The Rangers guild had all lined up on the top of the outer wall with their bows ready and arrows knocked. They waited for Professor Rob to give the command to fire. The first group of stone crawlers reached the outer wall. At that moment, the professor ordered the fire. Hundreds of arrows rained down on the heads of all the stone crawlers. The crawlers all fell off the wall, dead from the impact of all the arrows.
For the most part, the defenders were doing their job, and there had been no serious threat from the monsters. They were able to hold the line still from getting too close to the city’s walls. That was until the four-star monster appeared. The Scorzard had the tail of a scorpion and the body of a lizard. It looked like a scorpion and velociraptor mixed together. It was slowly walking through the battlefield, killing the defenders with ease. Most defenders avoided it as it was a four-star monster, but some felt that it was a chance to prove they could handle this challenge.
They could not. They would be dead before they would get within twenty feet. There were a few four-star defenders in the city of Arcross, two of them were summoners. The other was a hand-to-hand combatant from the Warriors guild and wizard from the Sorcerer’s guild. The four of them gathered together to discuss how they were going to defeat this monster.
“We cannot get close to it,” Bertrum said.
“This is true,” the wizard said. “It’s radius of attack is twenty feet.”
“I’ll be fine,” the fighter said.
“Sure,” Egret said. “If you are faster than its tail, which I don’t think you are Roy.”
Roy scoffed and leapt off the wall to the ground. Upon landing, he crushed several monsters. He looked up and smirked. Roy was a mountain of a man. He wasn’t human, he was a werewolf. Because of this his class evolution was a martial art specialist. He wore shorts that were loose fit that went to his knees. He never wore a shirt to show off his hairy, albeit very muscular chest.
Roy was both fast and powerful, not making much progress in wisdom. He reached the enemy in no time, a bullet through the monsters. He grinned as he approached the scorzard.
“A challenger,” the Scorzard said.
“What do they call you?” Roy responded.
“Warrior,” Warrior said. “You?”
“Roy,” Roy grumbled. “It seems your life must come to an end now.”
“Don’t be so sure, I-” Roy didn’t let the monster finish as he lunged forward with astounding speed, grabbed his head, and smashed it into the ground. Leaving a huge crater. A move that would have surely killed anyone or anything. The lizard got up shortly after and brushed dirt off his shoulders.
“Cute tricks are not going to help you,” Warrior said. This time, Warrior made the first move. Using his speed, he went to attack, but it was blocked. The two engaged in a fight that was imperceptible to anyone below three-star. The two combatants were exchanging blows to no avail. Both were effectively blocking and guarding against all attacks. Roy feinted a punch; Warrior went to block but realized it was a feint too late. Roy landed a kick across the torso of Warrior. Warrior at the last second was able to protect some but not all. The kick sent shock waves throughout his body.
Roy smiled at the hit he landed. Warrior spat blue blood and wiped his mouth. A predatory grin grew on his face. Warrior went to attack when a fire bolt landed in his shoulder, then burst into bigger flames. Warrior stumbled back glaring at the who could have done that. A wizard with a wand floated down on a cloud. The wizard was chanting something and the bolt in Warrior’s shoulder dug deeper, and the flames grew bigger.
In that short moment that Warrior had taken his eyes off of Roy, Roy had completed a combination of punches to the torso of the scorzard. The scorzard went flying with most of its torso beaten in. It smacked into something rock solid. It looked up and saw a red eyebeam being shot from a stone cyclops. The warrior tried to move out of way, way but it was too late. The lizard was incinerated by the beam of the cyclops. Roy and Wendle the Wizard both walked over to the ashen remains of the four-star monster.
“That was a strong beast,” Roy said.
“Indeed,” Wendle agreed. “It surviving your first attack was quite an impressive feat.”
“I know,” Roy said. “That usually doesn’t happen.”
“How many casualties from it?” Wendle asked.
“Three two-star and five one-star,” Roy reported.
“And that was without even purposefully trying to attack them,” Wendle said, shaking his head.
“They made quick work of the four-star monster,” Professor Egret said.
“They did, indeed,” Bertrum responded. “Let’s hope the teams are doing okay in the dungeon and can plug that hole.”
Inside the dungeon, Levi and his team were fighting the Assassin Leader. The first stage of the battle was brutal, as most of the group sustained major injuries. The healing magic of rituals, spells, and potions kept them alive and in the fight. The turn of the battle came when Anza was killed by the monster's spear. Levi noticed that she had died, and he was given a prompt to reset the time. He activated it. Time froze, and everything around Levi went backward a few minutes before Anza was stabbed.
Anza looked at Levi, and she nodded. Levi looked around, disoriented to see if the other’s time stream was affected. It wasn’t. Piper had given Levi an odd look, but she had to focus on her task at hand. Levi now knew a specific way the boss fought, it feinted, then it would do a backhand stab. Anza was aware of this as well. The boss did that exact movement, the feint and it twirled it’s long spear and went for the backhand stab; Anza wasn’t there this time. Anza didn’t fall for the feint; she threw her tentacles at the arm before it stopped.
A few other drones also held on, the assassin’s arm was now being held tightly by Anza and the drones. Tycen saw this and came through with his enhanced morning star, and he swung down. The monster’s arm shattered into a million pieces of skeleton. The spear clattered to the ground, and fire shot out of the now-empty socket.
Piper ran quickly and grabbed the spear. The second she touched it; it shrank to a size appropriate for her. She twirled around and nodded to herself.
“This is an excellent weapon,” she stated. “I’ll gladly keep it, thanks!” The majority of the green flame was petering out of the boss monster. It was not able to hold onto any of the flames that it had lost already. The attacks from its enemies were relentless. Every time it felt like it had the upper edge, there would be some sort of countermeasure. The leader’s weapon was taken, and he could no longer afford to use any fire spells; it became abundantly clear that it was going to die.
In a last-ditch effort, it would take these vile creatures to the grave with it. It gathered all of its remaining green flames. A green glow began rising in the assassin leader's chest. Hearing the chatter from all of the creatures, it grinned. This would be well worth the sacrifice.
“It’s gonna blow,” Levi said. “A kamikaze is crazy!” Dameion had created five large orbs that were the size of each team member. They were just like his old form, the black hole. The boss exploded. Skeleton bones flew in every direction as the blast pushed out in green flames. Everything that got near each of the voids was sucked in completely harmlessly.
Piper walked around the void shield that Dameion provided, holding her new weapon. She looked where the leader had exploded, and there was a chest for each of them, one for each of their guild symbols. She opened her chest and found another weapon—it wasn’t a spear, but it was the tri-blade spearhead. Anna found a bone wand, Tycen a bone morning star, and Levi got a staff along with a vial of the green flame.
A door appeared in the throne, and the team walked through it. To their surprise, it wasn’t a restroom but a library. There was a timer on the wall that was counting down from thirty minutes. The group looked at each other, confused.
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“Well done, mortals,” a mysterious female voice came from a bookshelf. “You have completed my dungeon.”
“Thank you,” Anna said.
“Because you were the first, you gain access to this room, as a reward for finishing the dungeon. You may,” the dungeon crafter said slowly. “Take anything you see in here with you. This is your reward.”
“Our reward is books?” Piper said.
“Your reward is knowledge,” the dungeon crafter said pointedly.
“How long do we have?” Anna asked.
“The clock has already started you have what time remains.” Anna and Tycen, the two magical nerds on the team, took off running throughout the library, looking for specific texts related to their type of magical study. Levi went searching for the dungeon crafter. Once he found her, the crafter looked at him with curiosity. “What is it mortal?”
“You said that we can take anything we see here?” Levi asked. The dungeon crafter was an elderly spectral warrior. She was well-defined and wore a plate skirt and chest plate, with a sword sheathed on her hip.
“Yes,” the DC said.
“What can you tell me about the summoner M. Veluvius?” Levi asked.
“Why do you think I will answer your question mortal?”
“You said I can take what I want in this room. You’re in this room, and I want answers.”
“Mmm,” DC mused. “Very well. Veluvius was perhaps the most powerful summoner this world had ever seen. It is an ancient name, not one that has been spoken by many since his disappearance. His specialty of summoning was summoning creatures and developing bonds for knowledge, exploring the greater cosmos. He became a Cosmic Summoner, constantly summoning cosmic beings. M. Veluvius had discovered that there is a rank past five-star. That became his life’s mission, he had an apprentice who he trained to seek that next rank up. The apprentice became skilled in order magic. He became obsessed with order magic; everything had to be ordered or it was not worth keeping around. The apprentice soon found this to be true in his dear mentor and the other summoner leaders. He began slowly killing them all. Veluvius went into hiding after hearing the monster he had created.”
“Thank you,” Levi said. “Is the apprentice an otherworlder?”
“No,” DC said. “He was the crown prince of the Arbor family.” Levi paled. He went extremely still as his mind started racing. This was not good. The Arbor family were the last known rulers of this continent before the Onyx family came and conquered and took over. Levi wasn’t sure how far the Arbor family’s influence spread, but he was certain that the Triadic Islands were a part of that kingdom. If the apprentice, who Levi believed is the bad guy in the prophecy, is truly an Arbor and a crowned prince, getting revenge on the Onyx family would be guaranteed, amongst other things. Levi had to warn the king. He had to do something to save Anna’s family. Piper’s family!
“You look troubled human,” the DC said. “Are you starting to figure out your purpose of being sent here?”
“What?” Levi said, being pulled out of his thoughts. “I wasn’t, until you just said that ominously.”
“Here,” the DC held out a letter rolled tightly. “This is for your summoned otherworlder.”
Levi took note at the word choice from the dungeon crafter. He grabbed the letter and began reading it.
Letter #10
To the one who was Summoned,
I hope you were able to find your way. I apologize if you were summoned into a hostile environment. This letter, if you find it. Is not going to provide you with any hope. I’m sorry.
I am running out of time to write this. You are in danger. There is a being of immense power rising up to summon a world-ending engineer. I put every effort into summoning the perfect being to come to this world and stop it before it happened.
The ritual is intact; unfortunately, I will have to sacrifice my life to bring you here. I am sorry I cannot be more of a guide to you. The prophecy of old is true, as I was the one to write it. It was my mistakes that brought this evil to the world. The amount of materials and rituals it will take to summon a world-ending engineer is extensive, and there are specific materials needed that are nearly impossible to find. Unfortunately, the summoner is resourceful and evil. I fear that there will only be five more years until it is ready. I summon you now so you may build up the power and allies.
I hope you get this letter and can do what needs to be done. I have written many letters about my history spread throughout the world. Seek them, and you will soon understand what you are up against. Be discrete, be cautious, and be brave. You were summoned for a reason. Good luck,
You can do this,
M. Veluvius
Levi fell to the floor, holding the letter. He hugged his knees and rocked slightly. This letter was not good news. He was meant to save the world in five years from a thing called a world-engineer? Levi wondered what that even meant. Why had been the one to be chosen? What was the reason to summon him here, now? Why couldn’t Levi have been summoned ten years ago, five years ago? Levi had already been here for a year; did that mean he only had four years left? Overall, Levi felt like that was a long time, but his instincts were screaming it was not enough.
All the doubts, all the insecurities, all the self-esteem issues came back with a vengeance to Levi in that moment. He felt like all the progress he made in being more confident was shattered to pieces. Levi didn’t want to save the world. Levi didn’t know how he was going to save the world. Something about knowing that the apprentice was an Arbor made things all the worse for it. Could he even trust his professors from the guild? Who could he trust outside of his small team and familiars?
The dungeon crafter looked down at Levi with no expression. She stood over the now scared chaotic paragon. She thought to the message Veluvius had told her all those years ago.
“I believe I am going to have to summon an otherworlder who has the purest form of chaos affinity possible. There are none on this planet,” Veluvius said. “I have narrowed it down to one guy, a human on a world that is magically desolate. It will take substantial magic to complete it and will be my last task before I complete my ascension to the cosmic rank. Will you build a dungeon near his landing point, and if/when he beats the room. Give him this as his reward, this specific letter. Letter #10.”
“I will,” the dungeon crafter said. “What do you expect his reaction to be?”
“Poor,” Veluvius said. “I think he will feel the weight of the entire world on his shoulders in that moment.”
“I will help him.”
“You mustn’t. Watch his resolve, feel his soul and aura; if he has a team -he will need one to beat your dungeon. Watch how they rally around him. Then, once he has picked himself back up, you may help him. I have no idea what kind of summoner he will be, but he will be a summoner.”
“I understand. After all, summoners are the most powerful magic-users in this world.”
“If trained properly. Which, sadly, most are not. I will send him to a place where strong summoners reside that could help him as guides.”
“How will I know when to summon and where he is?”
“Use this,” Veluvius handed the dungeon crafter a small stone. “It is a chaos affinity tracker. Very common, but he will have the strongest chaos affinity on the planet from any magic-user.”
“I will get it done,” the dungeon crafter said.
“Thank you, old friend. I cannot wait till we meet again,” Veluvius said with mournful eyes.
After reliving that memory, the dungeon crafter refocused her gaze on Levi. There is so much pressure, she thought. This one man has so much pressure. I do not belong to this world, so the end does not affect me. Nor does he, yet here he is feeling that pressure.
“Levi,” Piper rushed over to him. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t do it,” Levi said. “I can’t be the one. This has to be a mistake.”
“What has to be? What’s wrong?” Piper was shouting loudly. Anna and Tycen ran over to see him on the ground with tears in his eyes. Vapor manifested next to Anza and Serenity.
“Levi has just learned the purpose of him being brought to your world, Lady Piper,” Vapor said. “His task is to save it from the evil.”
“Wait,” Anna said. “The prophecy was real?”
“Yes,” Levi said. “But you hadn’t heard the real one.”
“What?” Anna and Piper said at the same time.
“Levi,” Vapor said, interrupting the girls. “We have four years. You are not alone. We are here to fight with you and fight for you.”
“Vapor is right,” Piper said. “No matter what is going on, or what is being said. We can do this. You’re quite possibly the strongest summoner on this continent and that’s a big deal.”
“We’ll figure it out together, brother,” Tycen said.
“Absolutely,” Anna said. “I believe in you fully.” Levi wiped the tears from his eyes. He took a long, calming breath. He nodded his head slowly with his eyes shut firmly.
“Alright,” voice barely a whisper. “Okay. I can do this; I can do this. Y’all are right. I’m not alone, and we have some time.”
“He was right,” the dungeon crafter said in a whisper. “Chaotic Paragon,” she said to Levi.
Levi looked up, “yes?”
“Take this item,” she held out a token with a rune on it. “Summon me when the time comes to fight your enemy. I was able to provide aid if your resolve was worthy. It is. I will fight alongside you.” Levi held the token in his hand. Unable to say anything. “Now, your time is up. The monsters will stop attacking the city of Arcross as I am leaving. Step through this portal and leave my dungeon. We will meet again, Levi Winters.” A portal opened; Levi went to respond but instead nodded respectfully and stepped through the portal last.
“Levi,” Anna said. “We have a problem.”
“What?” Levi said, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the bright light.
“We are not in the Onyx kingdom.”