I returned to my personal space, excited to get another chance to explore the city. Looking at the far wall, I could see the familiar doorway leading from my personal space to Somhagen had appeared. Before I headed out, I needed to review my rewards and decide on what to bring with me. Sorting for new items I cracked open the rewards chest to see what I’d gained.
Reward Chest.
New Inventory.
1. Copper coins, 158.
2. Silver coins, 22.
3. Gold coins, 1.
4. Class Scroll.
The monetary rewards were about what I’d expected, but the Class Scroll was something new. Selecting it and pulling it from the reward chest caused the system to populate information on the item.
Class Scroll. Activating this scroll will unlock an item, skill, or upgrade related to your class. It is a single use item, and the results are completely random. Do you wish to activate this item now?
I hit yes, activating the scroll and new information appeared.
A new summoning template will be added to your existing roster. Please select the Tier and Rank of the template you wish to unlock.
After reading the item description, options filled out for each rank and tier. It was capped at my current Tier 1, Rank 5, but I had the option of selecting a summoning template from anywhere up to that point. I stopped and thought about what I needed to bolster the most. I already had the veteran orc warrior template that I could now access, and since it was a veteran template, I doubted that a normal one would compete for that slot.
My tier one options were well stocked, with Marvin Glum, ghoul, Advanced Skeleton, spider, and the new halfling healer. Any of the lower tier options were fine but burning the scroll on another tier zero, rank zero or tier zero, rank five seemed like a waste. Even though this was just a normal scroll, I felt that having at least two options for tier one, rank five seemed like the best play. Even if the veteran figure was the go-to choice 99% of the time, maybe I’d unlock something that was better in certain conditions or for a specific contract.
You have unlocked the Tier 1, Rank 5 template, Goblin Raiders.
The figurine formed in my hand, and like some of the consumable ones that I’d found, it was a trio of goblins on a single base. I’d have the option of a single, powerful orc, or a swarm of three angry goblins for this tier. Somhagen would have to wait a bit longer, I needed to test out my new additions.
There was just under 70% of the mana remaining in the training center, and Melvin wasn’t too upset that I kicked him from his training. He even seemed rather excited to see what I’d gotten. Just like with the other class figurines, these new Foe Summoner templates would customize with additional information when I activated them for the first time.
I started with the normal summoning, the goblin raiding party. They appeared as a group and looked like I had pulled them directly from my last summoning. I wondered if I had gotten the goblins because the reward was tied to that summoning I’d just had, or if it was just random. If I had chosen a lower tier, would I have gotten the same reward, just with fewer, or more poorly equipped goblins?
There was no point in wondering about other possibilities, I had some goblins to test out. The three were equipped with makeshift bits of armor strapped onto their rough clothing. As far as weapons were concerned, the trio were each armed differently, giving the group good flexibility in combat.
One of the goblins had a short spear, and the second had a one-handed chopping blade that looked like a cross between a meat cleaver and a shortsword. The final goblin held a short bow and a quiver of crude looking arrows. A dagger without a sheath was shoved into the archer’s belt, giving it at least something to fight with if things got up close and personal.
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Having two front line fighters and a dedicated ranged attacker was a nice mix and I summoned a few different creatures to try them out on. Despite their less than brave nature in real life, these goblins were summoned creatures that fought to the death. Not exactly durable, it still took the various foes some time to cut through all of them.
While not the most skilled warriors I’d seen, the goblins were what I would consider competent with their weapons. They seemed to wield them about as well as I did with the warhammer and my basic bludgeoning weapons skill. I did a few tests against multiple weaker opponents, which is where the goblins shined, and against more powerful single target foes.
After dismissing the trio, I checked out their figurine, the system giving a bit more detail now that I’d activated the item.
Glem, Glamb, and Glurk, Goblin Raiders. Tier 1, Rank 5.
Current health, 100%, 100%, 100%.
Attacks/skills/abilities.
1. Basic weapon and armor skills for all equipped weapons.
2. Crude, patchwork armor.
3. Horde Tactics. As long as at least one other goblin is alive, each goblin receives a 10% bonus to attack and defense.
The description gave me a name for each of the goblins, and their naming conventions seemed about as odd as the gnome ones had. Glem was the one with the spear, Glamb was the chopping blade guy, and Glurk was the archer. As I suspected, they had basic skills, and the Horde Tactics was a nice ability to get a bit more oomph out of their attacks.
I dismissed the goblins and then equipped the orc warrior. The veteran status of the orc didn’t disappoint as a hulking and well-equipped orc appeared in front of me as I activated the figurine. Wearing full chainmail armor, the orc warrior held a well-crafted axe in one hand, and a spiked mace in the other. Sheathed in a baldric were several throwing daggers and slung across his back was a small, round metal shield.
Testing out the warrior showed he was as good as advertised. Weaker foes fell quickly to his weapons, each of which he wielded with a skill greater than any of my other summoned minions. He would also adapt to the situation, putting away one of his weapons and equipping the shield when facing ranged attackers, and looking for weaknesses in more powerful foes.
I didn’t have the mana to equip both the goblin trio and the orc veteran at the same time and have them face off against each other. Despite that, I was confident the orc would mop the floor with my goblin trio, though I could see the goblins being more useful in situations where I just needed a bunch of bodies.
Just like with the goblins, the system gave a bit more detail on the orc figurine once I activated him.
Grulnok, Orc Weapon Master, Veteran.
Current Health, 100%.
Attacks/skills/abilities/equipment.
1. Intermediate weapon and armor skills for all equipped weapons.
2. Dual Wield. Grulnok can effectively fight with a weapon in each hand. When using two weapons, Grulnok’s melee damage is increased by 15%.
3. Second Wind. When below 25% health, Grulnok will gain a further 15% bonus to both attack skill and damage.
Grulnok was a beast, and I had some hard decisions to make on my roster. I had 95 mana to work with and the tier one, rank five minions required a reserve of 75. My Presence score would drop the reserved amount a bit, but I would still need to leave some gas in the tank for spells.
My ideal loadout would be Grulnok paired with the halfling healer, Elida Silverbarrow, but I couldn’t afford that with my current mana pool. I’d have to go with Grulnok, and something cheaper. With Grulnok, Rupert, and the hound, I was at 85 mana reserved. After the discount for Presence, my total reserved mana was 77. That left enough to cast Duplicate, which would be amazing on Grulnok, and a couple of Empower Minion, Fail Weapons, or Psionic Jolt spells.
Back home, I felt that Grulnok was also the better choice for a bodyguard. With Rupert and the hound to help deal with swarms, I was in as good a position as I could be at my current tier and rank. There was a busy day of shopping ahead of me in Somhagen, as well as a good chance of finding something to help with my mana problems.
Back in the armory, I finalized my selections and looked at what I’d need to bring into town for spending money. I had 68 summoning points, which was a decent amount for the Summoned Market. I’d need to reserve some cash for my return home, but with my return gauge at only 42%, I had at least a couple more summonings to stockpile funds before I was sent home.
I decided to take everything but 200 copper and 25 silver. With 200 copper and 25 silver as a nest egg, I should be able to earn enough on my remaining summonings to contribute to Refuge and still bring a nice pile of coins for shopping today. With my loadout squared away, and my pack full of money, it was time to hit the town.