Marie was true to her word, and Jeanette provided me with a couple hundred dollars in cash, as well as a key to the crappy Buick. It was transportation, and it was free, so I wasn’t complaining. I’d have to share the car with a few others, but if it wasn’t being used, I could take it when I wanted to.

Jeanette also said she could get me a new driver’s license and a credit card to use. Her class allowed her some system mumbo jumbo to create them, and I wasn’t going to complain. In return, she wanted one of my mana tabs, which I gladly handed over. If she was going to burn mana to get me squared away, the least I could do was help refill her mana pool.

I drove over to a few stores that were close to the apartment, purchasing some more clothes and some groceries for the fridge. Jeanette’s class made a mean breakfast, but she was only able to do that occasionally. Other than those special meals, I was on my own. Being able to go out without hiding and worrying about people trying to capture me was a huge relief. Sure, the cultists were still out there, but unless I was summoned, they wouldn’t have any idea where I was.

With all my personal needs squared away, I dove into the database. It was well organized, despite there being some rather huge gaps in the information. First, I dug into general information on summoned beings. There was no good estimate on how many of us there were, but the group speculated that the numbers were increasing.

It seemed that as Earth slowly absorbed mana, the system was able to exert more influence over the planet. How long the summoned beings had been around was a mystery. The first chapters of what would become Refuge were founded in the 1970s and nobody had information on summoned beings going back much further than that time.

The speculation was that summoned beings had been around for way longer, but the numbers of summoned beings in the past would have been minuscule since the mana levels wouldn’t support very many. It was also doubtful that anyone in the past would document their experience, they would have been considered nuts or probably burned at the stake for their powers.

When one summoned being died, the system was able to select another, usually from a nearby match. Minerva had explained that to me before, but the database also confirmed that a new summoned being would always be in the same general area. It was thought that the system needed us in specific places to keep seeding mana in those areas. When that area finally had amassed enough mana, a new summoned being position would be opened, and a fresh candidate recruited by the system.

Everything was leading toward our world eventually gathering enough mana for the system to integrate it. The numbers were all over the place regarding when they thought this integration would happen. Some figured we were close, and others estimated the integration was centuries in the future.

Hopefully I’d be around to see it. Sure, things would be chaotic, but at least I’d be ahead of the curve, along with all the other summoned beings. Thinking about that, I delved into who the highest-ranking summoned beings were. That’s where I hit a snag, the highest recorded in the database was only tier four. It seemed that gaining tiers and ranks got progressively more difficult, and before long, everyone seemed to either run into a fatal situation they couldn’t get out of, or just disappeared.

I was warned to never become complacent in my abilities. No matter how strong I became, there was always a threat out there that could beat me. While I was sure that dangers here on Earth, and during the various summonings claimed more than a few victims, I suspected the overwhelming majority simply decided to pull up stakes and move elsewhere once they had the power and means to do so. It was something I was still on board for, and I wanted to move to Somhagen or some other world once I could afford it.

While perusing the database I came across the tax requirement for the group. We were expected to bring at least 20% of what we earned during our summonings back. It would be used to keep Refuge going and provide for our day-to-day expenses. The group had various contacts that would convert the raw metals, gems, and other valuables into cash, and they could do so at a rate far better than I would get at pawn shops and the like.

The 20% seemed like a lot to give up, but if they could give me safe shelter, spending money, and transportation, it would be worth it. I figured much of what I was giving up would be offset by the considerably better exchange rates on our precious metals that we were given by the people that handled things here. Even better, they could give me access to real bank accounts, and the documents that Jeanette provided were real and would even pass a government screening.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

I skimmed through a lot of the summoned being information. Much of it was stuff I’d already known. There was a rather extensive list of summoning types and how they were broken down by classes. The class you held determined the types of summonings you were qualified for. There was some crossover and even non-combat classes could be summoned into a battle.

I’d had a rather odd mix of summonings and was able to add a bit here and there to the database on different encounters. In particular, my summoning aboard Serapis was something I hadn’t seen documented. Alien space wizards being tracked down by terminator robots was a new one for Refuge. From what I could gather, most of my summonings would be for combat-related or other potentially dangerous situations, which fit my class.

Class descriptions were all over the board, and I added the basic information of my class to the sub-category of summoners. It was interesting to find that most classes had at least one summoning spell or ability offered to them. The consensus was that we all had experience with being summoned, so the system granting us a summoning spell was a natural fit to almost any class.

I thought back to one of my earlier summonings, when I had been summoned by the guy in Nigeria named Isaac. A few instances of being summoned by another summoned being were recorded, but it was a very rare occurrence. I documented my experience and wondered if Isaac was a member of something similar to Refuge.

I scanned the information on the database for hitting tier two. It looked like I had quite a bit to look forward to when I finally reached it. Most classes would evolve at tier two, and most changed quite a bit from the standard way the system operated things. More basic classes would plod along the same, but stuff that was a bit more unique, like my Foe Summoner class, could have completely altered mechanics.

I was the only Foe Summoner listed in the database, so I couldn’t confirm what awaited me at tier two. The arena would become another option when I hit that tier, but this time, I’d have to pay for it. From what the others had experienced, if you at least placed in the middle of the pack, you’d would likely earn more than you spent to enter.

The cost to enter for tier two varied, but it was a healthy sum of anywhere from 25-50 gold. I’d done well on the first visit, and hopefully that trend will continue. I was sort of looking forward to the arena again, and from what I understood, the type of challenge could change drastically from what I’d already experienced.

Since I was closing in on rank five for my tier, I would have another Somhagen visit in the not-too-distant future. There was a rating for the various shops as well as a rundown of where the best place was to find different items. The summoned market was the only place to spend summoning points, and those were best used for abilities, skills, or other items not easily found in the other shops. Cash was king everywhere else, and I could expect a fresh restock for most shops every few days.

Staying in Somhagen would still be prohibitively expensive, and there were dangers involved as I found out during my last visit. That was another entry I was able to contribute to the database, my experience with the creepy leech girl thing that had crawled through the window of my room at the inn. A scan showed only a few other entries on creatures attacking you in the city, and most of those occurred when the summoned being decided to poke around in areas they shouldn’t, like the sewers.

There were other dangers besides creatures that slipped into attack you in your room. Most of the warnings revolved around bad summoning contracts and which companies and individuals to avoid. I also found it interesting that some of the merchants in the city would offer contracts to summoned beings to provide security for their shops. These were typically lucrative and highly sought after as they usually include a free stay while on the job.

I was probably too low of a tier and rank to attract the eye of shopkeepers just yet, but at least I knew it was possible. There were also some reviews of the various information brokers for each tier of the city. Lavelle stood out for the first tier, and one named Rhett seemed to be the go-to for the second. Much of what I would have paid for on my next visit was already documented here. Mostly, I had some good general arena strategies for the various types of formats. Some of the information was unable to be shared, the system filtering it out if we tried to document it.

The database also explained several types of arena challenges that could be offered. My arena experience seemed to be a bit of a hodgepodge of mini versions of various challenges thrown into one. There were also ones that weren’t combat related at all, though those seemed to me more on the rare side. I kind of felt sorry for the support classes, they didn’t have much of a chance for most of the challenges. I suspected many didn’t bother with the arena after the first one or two.

There was a wealth of information, and I dug in whenever I had some free time. My days flowed into a pattern now, I’d help some of the others out with things around the apartment or go along with some of the other people when they went to place more sensors around the city so we could detect summonings. My class allowed my summoned figurines to reset automatically, which was seen as a huge benefit by the group. I became the defacto bodyguard for many of the others when they were out and about, since I could always summon help if we needed it.

Only three days into my stay with Refuge, A headache began building. After a short while, the familiar prompt appeared.

You are Summoned!