Chapter 185. Panic Summon.

“Defend us, stop those things!” A voice shouted in panic as I stepped through the portal. Before I could even get my bearings, something hit me in the chest, sending me flying back and from the pain I felt, likely crushed a few of my ribs. Stars danced before my eyes as I almost lost consciousness. The sounds of battle rang out all around, but whatever had hit me must have thought me dead and moved on to a different target.

The air had been knocked out of me by the impact and I just couldn’t seem to be able to catch my breath. I could feel the jagged ends of my ribs tearing deeper into my insides. I tried to cast Health Bloom but was in too much pain to concentrate on the magic.

Rain pelted down on me as I lay there on the muddy, moss-covered ground. I struggled to pull a healing potion from my belt. After a few tries, my hand closed on the small glass vial, and I silently thanked whoever had invented the magic belt and pouches that allowed me to easily pull whatever I wanted out of them. Lifting my arm to bring the potion to my mouth caused a fresh round of agony and likely did more damage as the pieces of my broken ribs shifted around. Sucking down the potion, I didn’t even care about the horrible flavor, I just wanted it to work quickly and let me move again.

These weren’t the most powerful healing potions, but it was enough to dull the pain a bit. Now, I was able to get off a Health Bloom, and I lay there as the magic did its work. The blessed relief from the healing magic ended all too soon, but as it worked, I could feel the ribs in my chest begin to shift back into place. I was able to take a few shallow breaths, but each one elicited a fresh wave of pain.

My mana was down to only eight points, and I had to lay there and wait for it to regenerate up to ten before I could cast another healing spell. I was flat on my back, and unable to move without doing myself more damage. Looking to my left and right, I could see I was in a small clearing in a forest. It was daytime, but the rainclouds made it seem like late evening. The trees smelled and looked like pine trees, which always seemed to remind me of camping as a kid.

All at once, my body forced itself up to a sitting position, ribs grinding out of place again as the summoning compulsion kicked in. My summoner had demanded that I defend him, and I was forced to do so, even if it meant my own death. Pulling one of my figurines, I summoned Grulnok to assist me, followed by Lillia and Rupert.

I finally got my first real look at the fight going on around me. A dozen men and women in matching chainmail armor hacked at a pair of giant figures with longswords. Their targets were humanoid and around nine feet tall. Each of the foes wore only a loincloth and wielded huge wooden clubs. Rough, knotty hides protected the giants at least as well as leather armor would have, and from the waist down, they were covered in coarse fur. A single, oversized eye gleamed with hatred out of the center of their foreheads as they swung their clubs at the humans.

“Cyclops,” I muttered to myself as I waited for my mana to regenerate. I had used three points of it up to summon my minions, and while there was a decent concentration of mana in the area, it was taking too long to regenerate. Pulling a mana potion from my belt, I drank it down, waiting while it began to restore my mana back up to my current cap of 18.

Another Health Bloom was cast, and I could feel my body start to knit itself back together. When the spell ran out, I quaffed a second healing potion, which seemed to help a bit, despite the diminishing returns. A second mana potion followed it down, also with diminishing returns, but it brought me enough mana to cast a third Health Bloom. With the disturbing sound of bones popping into place, the worst of the damage was finally repaired, and I was able to carefully climb to my feet.

My minions and the human warriors were engaging the pair of cyclops’, which had already taken down several of the humans attacking them. Going toe to toe with one of those things wasn’t going to be the best use of my time. Instead, I drew my javelin and aimed at the nearest cyclops, waiting for the right opening.

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Grulnok was doing some solid work, dodging the rather slow swings of the cyclops’ club, and then jumping in to attack with his two weapons before leaping back out of range. The cyclops that was enraged by Grulnok and began to focus all his attention on him. This allowed Lillia, Rupert, and the trio of other warriors still fighting a chance to get in some damage. My javelin flew toward the foe, slamming into the cyclops’ chest and releasing its deadly charge of lightning. To my surprise, the cyclops seemed to shrug off the strike which barely penetrated its thick hide.

I checked on the link with my summoner. The thread led off into the distance, as if the summoner had fled deeper into the forest. While the link didn’t exactly pinpoint the summoner’s location, I could tell that he wasn’t anywhere near me or the ongoing fight. My attention was shifted to the second cyclops when a shield careened past, almost smacking into my side. The second cyclops had smashed his club into two of the warriors fighting him, smashing both, and sending them, and the errant shield, in my direction.

My team, along with the few warriors supporting them, were barely holding their own, but the second cyclops had the upper hand in his fight. Only three warriors remained to engage it, and as I watched, one was smashed to pulp by the cyclops’ club. I fired a magic missile to help them, but it completely failed to penetrate its hide.

The final two warriors charged in, slashing, and stabbing with their swords. Another club strike eliminated one, and the second was caught up in the cyclops’ grasp. The man had only a moment to scream as the cyclops squeezed. Pausing to toss away the body and lick the bloody remains on his hands, the cyclops turned toward me and grinned.

I turned to run away. Fighting by myself in melee against a giant cyclops wasn’t going to work out too well for me. Only a few steps into my retreat, I felt the compulsion kick in and I turned to face the monster who was now stomping his way toward me. Each of the cyclops’ steps shook the ground and sent splashes of mud flying. Drawing my sword in one hand, I kept the wand in the other, firing a final magic missile before the creature entered into melee range.

I wasn’t completely helpless, but my basic combat skill could only do so much. Thankfully, the cyclops was rather slow, and I managed to sidestep the huge overhead swing of his club. The weapon dug itself deep into the muck and allowed me to dart forward and stab with my shortsword. Unlike the magic missile, my enchanted blade sunk right through the monster’s hide, causing the cyclops to roar at me and release his hold of the club. I stepped in closer, landing a stab into his thigh.

Blood spurted from the wound I had just caused, and I began to feel a little better about my chances. Stepping back, I just barely avoided getting grabbed by the monster. Readying myself for another attack, I waited for the monster to make his move. He grinned at me and then, with some effort, managed to pull his club from the thick mud that made up the forest clearing.

The monster chuckled and pointed to the side. I didn’t want him to pull some kind of fake out on me, so I just gave a quick glance in that direction. What I saw wasn’t good. The other cyclops had killed both Grulnok and Lillia. Only Rupert along with one warrior was still in the fight. Rupert had grabbed the longsword from one of the fallen warriors and was swinging away at the cyclops arm that was reaching toward him.

I had my own fight to survive first before I could help the others. Triggering a magic missile at the cyclops in front of me, I used the attack as a distraction to get into range with my sword. A shortsword wasn’t exactly the right weapon to go against a giant foe with, but the enchanted steel seemed to cut through the monster’s hide like it was paper.

The cyclops didn’t even try to dodge my blow, and the sword sunk deep into its knee, and the monster growled in pain. My attack caused the cyclops to stumble, and I had a moment of trouble pulling the blade back out. That one moment was all the cyclops needed and I could feel one of his hands slam into me. I was lifted in the air, and for a second, I stared into my foe’s huge single eye. The hand squeezed and before I could feel any pain, everything went dark, and a system prompt appeared.

You have been crushed in the grasp of a cyclops. This summoning session is now complete.

Your performance rating is calculated as Below Average.

Your rewards will reflect the summoning tier of 1, rank 7, and your performance rating of Below Average.

You have earned 5 experience points.

You have earned 3 summoning points.

Congratulations, you have reached Tier 1, Rank 8.

With the new rank, you have gained 1 Point in Mind.

You will now be returned to your personal space.