Convinced that my late-night visitors hadn’t left behind anyone to watch me, I gathered my possessions. Thankfully, the place I was staying in was fully furnished, so I hadn’t wasted money on furniture that I’d have to leave behind. As it was, my pack was bulky and heavy. The crucible and my tools took up much of the room, and I also had a duffle bag slung over the other shoulder which held clothing, toiletries, phones, and the like.

I hated to leave the nice elderly family without any notice, so I jotted down a quick note telling them that I had a family emergency and would have to leave, I folded up some money with the note and slid it under the back door of their house. With that done, I had to find somewhere to stay. For now, I’d have to hoof it a few miles to a motel I found online that took cash.

On my walk, I kept an eye out for anyone that might be tailing me, but at least from my untrained eye, I couldn’t spot anyone. That was a mark in favor of Marie, Randy, and the nameless organization they worked for. So far, they seemed to have kept their word. That didn’t mean I wanted to sign up with them just yet, I was too paranoid that a decision to join their group would end up with me as some lab rat.

They claimed to want to help, and the fact they didn’t try to force me to go with them, like the Grimslade Group had done, led me to believe that they just might be the good guys. If the other groups could track me now whenever the portals opened, my life was going to take a turn for the worse. I’d have to keep on the run, and if I ever stopped in one place for more than one summoning session, I’d likely be snatched up by one group or another.

The streets were relatively quiet at this time of night, and I was a little self-conscious being the only person on the sidewalk. A few cars were always out driving around in the city, mostly people working odd shifts and the like. Huntington Beach was a nice, and very expensive, city, but there were still some sketchy parts of it tucked away here and there. Sadly, seedy motels seemed to be my lot in life for the time being.

I eventually made it to the place I was looking for, the Dolphin’s Bay motel. It was about what I expected, a place that had long since given up on any effort at resembling a respectable establishment. The once brightly colored building had faded, and the dolphin on the sign looked like it was about ready to be put out of its misery. Arriving so late cost me a bit extra, as I had to bribe the front desk clerk to let me in without a credit card.

Unlike the first motel I’d stayed at, this one seemed to at least make some effort at keeping the place clean, and I didn’t feel the need to go out and purchase cleaning supplies first thing in the morning. After settling in, locking the door, and barricading it with furniture, I tried to get some rest. When I came back from a summoning session, I was usually well rested, but the late visitors, and the need to relocate to a new place left me more mentally exhausted than anything physical.

The next thing I knew, I woke up as a beam of sunshine leaked through the tattered blinds to hit me in the face. Groaning, I got up from my short sleep and tried to prepare for my day. First off, I needed more cash, which meant I needed to melt down some of the metal I’d brought back with me. Unfortunately, this motel had nowhere for me to work, so I’d have to try and find some other place for my smelting.

With the crucible, my tools, and the metal in my backpack, I headed out. My first stop was a hole in the wall taco shop on the corner that had a rather tasty breakfast burrito to go with my morning coffee. I picked up the first bus to roll by, using the random trip to scout the neighborhood. Eventually, I found a decent place behind a strip mall with several closed stores. I’d be hidden from any casual passers-by, and someone would have to go out of their way to spot me.

Between a pair of dumpsters, I set things up and tried to work as fast as I could. It didn’t take long to smelt down the metal into ingots, but I was forced to wait for some time after the work was done while the crucible cooled down enough for me to place it safely back in my pack. After a quick trip to drop off the crucible and tools at my motel room, I took a bus ride south to find a couple of jewelry stores that offered a low, but still fair price for the gold and silver I had on hand.

It was odd, before the visitors last night, this part of my life, selling off my rewards, was the riskiest part of my day. Now, just being summoned was going to become the biggest danger I faced. Well, the summoning itself wasn’t that dangerous, it was coming back home to possibly find several nefarious groups on my doorstep.

Over the next few days, I made trips to various parts of the area, selling off the precious metals I had left in my possession. All the while, I kept thinking about my options. I briefly considered packing up and heading out into the wilderness, but I wasn’t exactly the survivalist type. To make matters worse, it was probably easier to track me out in the wild than it was in a city full of other people. At least here, there were other summoned beings, and lots of places to hide among the crowds.

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I also considered traveling further out, heading to other states, or perhaps even other countries. Other countries were a no-go after some thought. My fake ID wouldn’t hold up against any real scrutiny, and I would probably not know the language. To make matters worse, those hunting me were probably under fewer restrictions in many of the countries I considered living in. Traveling to other states wouldn’t fix the main problem either, since no matter what I did, the portals summoning and returning me home could now be tracked.

At some point I was going to have to choose a side, choose one of the organizations that I wanted to align myself with. It would be a choice of the lesser of several evils, I feared. My other option was to find somewhere else to live, another world, or Somhagen itself. To do that, I needed to find a way to quit the summoned being gig. Lavelle had done it, but the system was restricting how much he could tell me about the process unless I paid a rather exorbitant fee. Gathering 500 gold would eventually happen, but it would take some time, and I would have to survive capture for quite a while before I got there.

My power had grown, and I felt more confident in defending myself, but aside from my figurines, I was alone. It was odd, before, I’d dreaded each summoning session and now I was looking forward to them. My life in these other worlds was often dangerous, but it was also exciting. Many times, I had the chance to truly help other people. I’d saved lives, and even protected a kid from being eaten by zombies. That was something I doubt would have ever happened if I was still sitting in my cubicle working as an insurance adjustor.

I was never an adrenaline junkie, but I was beginning to look forward to the next challenge I would face. Thinking about it in my dingy apartment, I found that I was even looking forward to seeing Melvin again. The little gelatinous cube was probably hard at work, sparring against different foes. What would become of him after he was done with all this training?

Time passed and the expected headache that signaled another summoning session never came. I’d sold off all my metal and had enough of a nest egg to last a while, but it wouldn’t last forever. I was in the office paying another week’s rent when it finally happened. It was faster than ever before, I was talking with the sleazy desk clerk, trying to get a discount for paying in advance when the pain of a headache hit harder than it had before. My vision blurred and I felt myself falling to the floor as a system prompt appeared.

You are Summoned!

The arena challenge you have signed up for is now being activated. You will be given a short time in your personal space to make any final adjustments to your loadout.

I seemed to float for a few moments in the darkness, the pain of the intense headache lingering more than it usually did. Light began to gradually filter through the darkness, and I found myself on the floor of my personal space. I stood on wobbly legs as a countdown timer appeared in the corner of my vision. I had five minutes to make my final preparations.

There wasn’t a whole lot I wanted to change; I’d adjusted my loadout before I left for Earth the last time. I had expended some of my consumable figurines, but at least partially replaced their missing numbers with the newest addition to my consumable collection, Verdigrim. Melvin slithered his way into the armory, moving quite a bit faster than he had ever done before.

“Hey buddy, is all that training paying off?” I asked him. Instead of responding, Melvin’s body bulged a bit as a small stone cube was pushed out of his jelly-like mass. It clinked on the wooden floor, and I could feel through our link that Melvin wanted me to pick it up. As soon as I touched the stone cube, a system prompt appeared.

The entity known as Melvin has shed some of his power to create a summoning figurine for your use. This is a consumable item, but due to your link with the entity, there is no gear cost associated with the figurine. Melvin has asked nothing in return, and this offering should be considered a gift from a friend in order to assist you in the challenge you face.

That was odd, I knew Melvin was training hard, but I had no idea he would end up being able to do something like this. He sent kind feelings through our link, and I got the sense he was rooting for me in the coming arena trial. Not one to look a gift horse, or gelatinous cube, in the mouth, I accepted his gift. The system added the figurine to my loadout while giving me a peek at what it was.

Gelatinous Launcher. Tier 1, rank 1.

“What’s a gelatinous launcher?” I asked Melvin. He sent me an image of a cube spitting out bits of acidic gel that stuck to enemies and rapidly dissolved anything it came in contact with. The launcher was outside my direct control, but it would continuously target the nearest threat. My new friend had given me what was essentially a defensive turret to use in the coming challenge.

“Nice, thanks Melvin, I’ll put this to good use,” I told him. Melvin couldn’t speak, but I was pretty sure he could at least understand the gist of what I was saying.

Arena summoning is commencing. You will be sent to the preparation area and given a short chance to utilize any upgrade certificates you might have acquired. Once inside the preparation area, the parameters of the contest will be explained, and the challenge will commence. Perform well and earn valuable rewards.