“I hope that stupid kid enjoys the handbag I won for her,” I complained as I returned to my personal space.

The summoning hadn’t been a bad one, and with a good rating, the rewards would be decent. As I headed to the reward chest, I checked on the return gauge. It was almost there, pegged at 98%. It looked like I’d have one more summoning before I went home. Going home had much more appeal for me now that I had somewhere I belonged. It was a good feeling, and one that I hadn’t experienced much in my life before.

Reward Chest.

New Inventory.

1. Copper coins, 921.

2. Silver coins, 199.

3. Gold coins, 4.

4. Small gems, 3.

5. Handbag.

My coin rewards were about what I had expected, but the handbag was something new. It also further confirmed that the system tended to match rewards to the tasks completed during the summoning. Pulling the bag from the reward chest, I was relieved to see it was a normal looking leather pouch, not some extravagant handbag that the girls from the previous summoning would wear. It may not have been garish, but the bag was odd looking with an exterior that had crude drawings of animals etched into it. As I examined the bag, a system prompt appeared, giving me more information.

Rodney’s Bag of Beasts. The trickster mage, Rodney the Unobtrusive, fashioned a collection of these bags to aid him in combat. When the command word is spoken, the bonded owner of the bag may reach inside and pull out a random beast. The beasts will aid the owner to the best of their ability and will disappear after 1 hour has passed. After each use, the bag will remain inert for 24 hours before it can be used once again.

It was an interesting find, and I wondered if the beasts I pulled out of it counted as summoned creatures. If so, they would benefit from my class abilities, making them more formidable. As I pondered what types of beasts I might summon from the bag, I could feel a mana connection form with the item.

Once the connection solidified, images of various animals flooded through my mind. It seemed like every animal I’d seen in person or on TV was represented, and I could feel the bag informing me that those beasts would form the pool of animals that I could randomly summon. The command word to activate the bag was Zoo, which seemed to fit.

The bag was one of those items that could turn the tide of a battle or cause more harm than good depending on what I summoned. Another positive was that it didn’t seem to have any type of gear cost associated with it, so I could equip it without worry. It wasn’t exactly my style, and it looked a bit like a bag some hippy from the 60s would have sported, but it was a free bag of animal friends, so I wasn’t going to complain.

With my rewards squared away, and the new bag added to my armory loadout, I checked in on Melvin. He was hard at work in the training center, and since I didn’t need to use it at the moment, I let him continue his training. Melvin had done a great job during the contracted summoning, and I was looking forward to seeing what he would accomplish as he grew in power.

I watched Melvin for a bit, he was trying to deal with a small earth elemental. It was a strange match, and it appeared neither foe could harm the other. The elemental didn’t have any biomass for Melvin to dissolve, and he was highly resistant to the blows the elemental dished out. After a time, I began to see Melvin’s reason for taking on this training challenge. He began to anticipate the elemental’s attacks, learning to read and avoid the different types of strikes that an opponent could make.

Being a gelatinous cube, Melvin wasn’t exactly agile, but he was able to avoid the worst of most blows. When he faced an enemy that could damage him, Melvin would be ready. Eventually, Melvin cancelled the match, and chose another foe, the lesser fire elemental that he liked to square off against. He was doing better against it this time, but before I could see the end of the match, another system prompt appeared.

You are Summoned!

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

After a quick check of my loadout, I stepped into the portal. Once inside, the system provided some information on what I was facing.

Your summoning parameters are as follows:

1. You are being summoned by an unknown entity.

2. Summoning tier, 1.

3. Summoning rank, 6.

4. Rewards level, moderate.

5. This summons is support related. The chance of combat for this summoning is unknown. Prepare accordingly.

6. Forced compliance is active.

7. Your armory loadout has been equipped.

That was weird. The system couldn’t or wouldn’t tell who was summoning me this time. I also caught the unknown chance of combat, which was odd. It might be wrong, but the system usually had no problem giving me some kind of indication of how likely I was to find myself in a fight.

I exited the portal and found myself in complete darkness. The air smelled strange, but it was a smell I had never experienced before. It wasn’t a bad odor, it was just something that wasn’t quite right, like it was unnatural but not dangerous. My mind raced, and I was a bit concerned over what might happen next.

Looking for the summoner link, I could see it stretch up into the dark, but I lost sight of it after only a few feet. I should have been able to feel the connection to my summoner, but there was nothing. All I could do was wait for a command, or at least some explanation of what was going on.

“Can you hear us?” a voice called out from the dark.

“Yes, what’s going on here?” I asked.

“We wish to observe your kind, is that acceptable?” the voice asked.

“Well, if you’re the one who summoned me, I’ll do whatever I can to help,” I offered.

“Very well, your compliance has been noted. Please wait while a suitable environment is created for you,” the voice said.

“I’ll be right here, it’s not like I can go anywhere,” I replied. The voice was silent, though I could hear noises in the darkness. I tried to identify the sounds, but it was like someone was rustling around in another room where the walls muffled what I was hearing. All at once, the lights turned on and I had to cover my eyes with my hands to protect them from the brightness.

“Apologies, we forget the bodies you inhabit are rather fragile things. We should have gradually applied luminescence to give your ocular receptors time to acclimate. The error will not be replicated, and the experiment is unaffected,” the voice proclaimed.

It took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust, and I was a little shocked by what I saw. I was standing inside my apartment back home, or at least that’s what it looked like. All my stuff, including the pile of dirty clothes I meant to wash, was right where I’d left it. The blinds were partially closed, but the bright Southern California sunshine lit up the room.

“Where is this? I take it I’m not home right now,” I asked.

“You are correct, we wished to observe you in your normal habitat. A recreation has been fashioned from your memories. Please go about your normal day, the experiment continues,” the voice said.

“What should I call you, and what exactly do you want me to do?” I asked, more confused than ever.

“We are here to observe and have no need of names. As for what we expect you to do, we expect you to act normally in your recreated habitat,” the voice said.

“So, just act normal?” I asked.

“Correct, that is what the experiment requires,” the voice said. This was weird, but if my summoner wanted to observe me in my daily routine, it beat being eaten by monsters.

“Well, let’s see,” I said, walking over to the blinds and opening them. I could see as far as the parking lot, but past that, where the street would normally be, only a grey wall of hazy vapor waited.

“Uh, am I supposed to stay in here? I mean, if you want to see my normal activities, I typically have work to do during the day. I’ll run errands, escort others from Refuge that need protection, that sort of thing. Is there anything past that grey haze?” I asked.

“Please wait as we consider your latest input,” the voice said.

“I’ll be right here, checking for an internet connection,” I said as I picked up my phone, which was sitting in the charger where I’d left it when I was summoned. The lock screen was on, and nothing I could do would unlock the phone. It showed nearly a full charge, and I wasn’t missing any connection bars.

“Hey, is this just a prop or something?” I asked.

“It is a simulacrum of what you possess in your dwelling. We do not know what you expect of that item,” the voice replied.

“Great, I guess whatever you used to create this place didn’t recreate electronics,” I said.

“You are correct, it is merely a representation of what you last remember from when you left your abode. Complex mechanisms are unable to be replicated exactly,” the voice confirmed. There went any plans for spending this summoning watching videos or playing games.

“You mentioned that you typically escort others to offer them protection. Is combat a normal part of your daily routine. Please think about some of the common foes you face, and we’ll have some created to challenge you. As for what you call the grey haze, it represents the limits of this experiment. Please remain inside the designated area. If you choose to cross the limits of this experiment, your safety cannot be guaranteed,” the voice said ominously.