I returned to my personal space a bit freaked out. That Gary thing wasn’t just some normal monster, it was an intelligent embodiment of evil. At least the thing didn’t seem to take enough interest in me to worry about. I’d just have to remind myself to never take any deal without reading the fine print first. Whatever awaited King Hamlin in that horrible pit he was dragged into, I wanted nothing to do with.
Shaking off the last summoning, I decided to jump right into my rewards. Before I dug in, I checked out the return gauge. It was at 94%, and it was almost time to return home. Oddly enough, I didn’t dread returning as much anymore. The people at Refuge were treating me well, and I didn’t have to hide in fear anymore. When I did return, I’d have to take some loot back to share with them, so I set my rewards chest for new items only and reviewed what I’d received.
Rico’s Loot.
New Inventory.
1. Copper coins, 188.
2. Silver coins, 29.
3. Gold coins, 1.
4. Small gems, 5.
5. Arena upgrade certificate. 1.
It was a good haul, and another arena upgrade certificate was good to see. The toxin resistance scroll from my previous reward was also a good find, and I couldn’t complain with the amount of money I received from this one. I’d have a good haul to bring back with me, and I also needed to see how Refuge worked out their fee and how well they converted the coins and gems into cash that I could use at home.
For now, they’d been generous enough to stake me a small bank account, credit card, and furniture for my apartment. It would feel bad not to at least try and reimburse them for what they’d done. There was also the upcoming trip to Somhagen when I reached Tier 1, Rank 5. A quick check of my status showed I wasn’t too far away from that goal.
Rico Kline, Foe Summoner.
Tier 1, Rank 4.
Experience/experience needed for next rank: 9/25.
Summoning points: 49.
Max Gear rank, 170.
Only sixteen experience points to go before I hit Rank 5. I probably wouldn’t do that on this summoning series, as there was likely only one more summoning before it would be complete. While I was eager to visit Somhagen and get more shopping done, I was also happy to return home and explore the database further before I went.
That brought up the question of what to budget for the trip. I would have access to all my summoning points, and I should probably take a sizeable portion of my loot chest with me, leaving enough so I’d have some funds to bring back home. My visit to the city would still be at the first tier of the place, and I already had a good idea of what things cost there.
I had plenty of time to plan my trip, and I wanted to check in on Melvin. A quick inspection of his summoning figurine showed it was still recharging. The system had said it would take longer than normal for him to become available for a summoning again, but I hoped it was less time consuming than the Fitzfazzle figurine, that one still hadn’t recharged from when I summoned him to help out inside the dungeon core.
Just as the system had said, Melvin was still here in my personal space despite being on cooldown for his figurine. He was back and in the training center which had recharged all its mana from our last visit. He sent a greeting over our link and didn’t seem too traumatized with the adventure I had taken him on. Maybe the system suppressed trauma for him, like it did for me. It was also possible that the gelatinous cube dealt with things differently.
It must have affected him somewhat, as Melvin was hovering around the last row of training figurines. “Melvin, don’t bite off more than you can chew there, buddy,” I warned him, though I supposed he would learn the dangers of taking on powerful opponents on his own quickly enough once the sparring started.
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Leaving Melvin to do his thing, I headed to the armory. A new point in my Mind stat from hitting rank four gave me five more mana to work with. I could now add the hound back into my lineup. He wasn’t especially powerful, but I always liked dogs, and I got the feeling that the hound really tried hard to help on a summoning. Having a second nose to sniff out traps and hidden enemies was also a welcome addition to the party.
Current Mana, 78/95.
I had 17 mana left over after the discount for my Presence stat. It should be enough to summon all my minions, cast a few buff spells on them, and have a Psionic Jolt or Fail Weapons ready to go. Psionic Jolt was becoming less useful as the opponents I faced rose in strength but Fail Weapons had saved my life in the real world.
I finished up in the armory, only to have the summoning portal appear.
You are Summoned!
“Sorry Melvin, it looks like your figurine is still on cooldown. Maybe you can join me for the next summoning. If not, I’ll be taking you home to my world and let you check things out there if you want,” I told the cube. He sent back feelings of excitement, but I could also sense that he was distracted by his training.
With that, I stepped into the familiar blue portal. As I entered, the system gave me the normal, less than detailed information on what I’d be facing.
Your summoning parameters are as follows:
1. You are being summoned by use of a magical device.
2. Summoning tier, 1.
3. Summoning rank, 4.
4. Rewards level, modest.
5. This summons is support related. The chance of combat for this summoning is considered low. Prepare accordingly.
6. Forced compliance is active.
7. Your armory loadout has been equipped.
I stepped out of the portal and into an argument between a middle-aged man and woman.
“Reginald, I’ve told you that I don’t like you summoning things to watch over the baby,” the woman complained.
“Dear, you know what happened with the last nanny we hired. With what that fiasco cost me, I could have bought another champion mount for our stables,” the man replied.
“Horses, horses, horses, that’s all you care about. Maybe if you’d paid more attention to your family, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.
“Oh no you don’t, you’re not blaming that on me. You were his mother, and you were supposed to be watching him,” the man hurled back.
“So, while you galivant around all day, showing everyone how important you are, I’m supposed to stay home and be the dutiful housewife!” She shouted at him.
“Dutiful housewife, tell me, dear, when’s the last time you did a lick of work around here. Don’t worry, I’ll answer that for you, the last time you did any work was never. I can show you the bills for the staff I’m forced to hire if you need any proof. If you helped out a bit, maybe I wouldn’t have to spend as much of my hard-earned money on a bevy of servants to keep the house up to standard,” the man argued.
The two didn’t show any signs of slowing, so I was forced to stand there and listen to them. Nobody wanted to watch a family argument, and I still had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. The summoner link led to the man, who held a summoning wand in one hand as he argued with his wife.
It was a good twenty minutes before they turned things down a notch and finally spoke to me.
“You’ll obey my wife just as if she is your summoner,” the man ordered, I nodded my understanding.
“What can you do, I don’t suppose you have any childcare skills do you? Out with it, what is your class,” the woman demanded.
“I’m a Foe Summoner, and no, I don’t have any experience caring for children,” I replied. Children were fine, I didn’t mind being around them, but I wasn’t looking forward to figuring out how to change diapers and whatnot if this was a young child that they wanted me to care for.
“See, Reginald, another wizard of some type that will be totally useless with Junior,” the woman complained.
“Ha, a wizard or warrior stands a better chance dealing with Junior than another nanny would,” Reginald said.
“We wouldn’t be in this mess if you hadn’t decided to play at being an alchemist,” the woman screeched. I waited for them to launch into another argument.
“My alchemist set wasn’t the problem, you not watching Junior and allowing him into my study is what put us where we’re at,” Reginald growled back.
“Let’s drop it, we both have things to do, and Junior needs to be cared for,” the woman said. I thought I detected a hint of sadness and regret as the heat of her anger finally cooled a bit. Whatever had gone on with Junior, it was tearing these two apart. I was happy to remain silent here, marriage counselor wasn’t in my job description.
“All right, we’re wasting time, just send him into the nursery and see how he does,” Reginald told his wife.
“Fine, in you go. I must emphasize that you are not to harm Junior in any way. Play with him, keep him entertained, but don’t let him get ahold of you,” the wife warned. We were standing in the hallway in front of an oversized wooden door that was reinforced with iron straps. I hadn’t noticed earlier that the door was barred from the outside and the couple summoned a pair of servants to open the door and shove me inside.
What had I gotten myself into this time?