Chapter 192. Rent and Rewards.
“And…this is just right,” Gary announced as he found the perfect spot on the wall for the door to the expansion.
He began to scratch on the wall, his nails leaving behind glowing lines as he carved a series of intricate symbols. A burst of red light flashed and when I looked back on the spot Gary had been working on, a door had appeared. The door was constructed from thick, aged boards, and had a series of iron bands reinforcing it. To my surprise, a faint red glow could be seen leaking out from between the boards, telling me this was no ordinary doorway.
Our agreement prohibited me from going inside, but even if it didn’t there was no way I was opening that door and strolling through. Gary had no qualms and threw the door open, walking inside and muttering to himself for a while. He emerged after a time, giving me a thumbs up before walking back to the portal that was still going strong at the entrance to my personal space.
Figures began to emerge from the portal, more of the big, winged, demon-looking guys as well as various types of humanoids hauling large crates from the portal and into the expansion. I tried not to look too closely at what was going on, but I couldn’t help but notice that several of Gary’s workers were chained to the crates they were hauling.
“That’s not good,” I said, nodding toward the latest batch of chained workers strolling through my personal space.
“About what you can expect from a being like Gary, in fact, this is probably tame compared to most. He must like you enough to spare you the worst of what he’ll probably do,” Tzes’zod replied.
“Did we make a bad decision?” I asked, beginning to second guess choosing Gary as my tenant.
“No, you made the best decision you could with the information available. If anything, these poor creatures are probably glad to be out here hauling cargo rather than be stuck back where Gary normally keeps them.”
I had to believe Tzes’zod, but the sight of Gary’s moving team left me feeling a bit sick. To make matters worse, it appeared that summonings would be suspended until the move was complete. I had no idea how big the expansion was, but they were sure bringing in a lot of stuff.
“Perhaps your time would be better spent reviewing the compensation that Gary has paid,” Tzes’zod suggested. He was right, I had new items in the armory, as well as in the rewards chest. First off, I cracked open the rewards chest to see what was new.
Reward Chest.
New Inventory.
1. Glowing Scroll.
2. Class Scroll (2).
3. Burning Scroll.
4. Phylactery of Tzes’zod.
“I see your phylactery is safe and sound, I think I’ll just leave it in there. Uh, Tzes’zod, I have two of the class scrolls like I was supposed to get, but there’s also something called a glowing scroll and a burning scroll. Do you think they’re safe?” I asked, worried about taking either out without checking since they did come from Gary.
“The entire collection must be the four promised class scrolls. For some reason the system deemed it appropriate to label two of them differently, but the system restrictions on harming you remain in effect. Gary cannot bring you harm in any way. Other than that, I can’t really advise you further, it’s not my area of expertise. I suppose you could ask Gary directly, but he seems rather busy,” Tzes’zod said.
“I’ll start with the class scrolls just to be safe, if I burst into flames or anything, make sure the system does something horrible to Gary in return,” I half-heartedly joked as I pulled the two class scrolls out of the reward chest. While they didn’t cause me to burst into flames, they did activate a system description.
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Class Scrolls (2). These scrolls will reveal or upgrade one of your class abilities. You must reach Tier 2 and select a class evolution before you can activate these scrolls.
More stuff to dig into once I hit tier two. I was looking forward to it, but I also was hoping for something that would be useful to me now. Next up was the glowing scroll, and this one didn’t disappoint. As soon as I touched it, I could feel a surge of energy as the system explained what was happening.
You have activated a scroll of knowledge and gained 35 experience points. This is the first scroll of knowledge you have activated. Please be advised that only one scroll of this type can be activated per year.
Congratulations! You have reached Tier 1, Rank 9.
You have gained 1 point in Presence.
Your current status is as follows:
Rico Kline, Foe Summoner.
Tier 1, Rank 9.
Experience/experience needed for next rank: 6/30.
“Wow, I guess Gary was serious about helping me reach tier two more quickly. He must really want to get to Somhagen,” I said.
“That is a rare and expensive item, but I do believe that the system restricts their use in some way,” Tzes’zod replied.
“The system said I could only use one per year,” I confirmed. Maybe it was the system’s way of evening out the playing field so the uber wealthy couldn’t just buy stacks of these and become insanely powerful. Last up was the scroll I was the most concerned with, who wouldn’t be about something called a burning scroll given to you by someone like Gary.
Pulling the scroll from the reward chest revealed it was exactly what it said it was, a rolled-up scroll that was on fire. The flames didn’t burn my hands, but the paper was being rapidly consumed. As the scroll burned down to ash, flames erupted from my hands, quickly covering my entire body. Despite the shock of bursting into flames, the magical fire didn’t harm me or my gear, it just gave off a soothing warmth as the system explained what was happening.
Your association with an infernal being has been rewarded. A portion of their natural resistance to heat and flames has been granted to you.
You have gained resist flame, minor.
Your resist flame, minor, has been upgraded to include magical flames of all types.
Your resist flame, minor has been upgraded to resist flame, moderate.
“Nice, having an evil infernal creature as a house guest has some benefits it seems,” I said.
“Any resistance you can gain without excessive painful practice is an excellent find,” Tzes’zod confirmed.
With the scrolls completed, it was time to check out the armory. It wasn’t quite as easy as the reward chest, there was no option to sort for only new items. Given the limited amount of gear I possessed, it shouldn’t be too hard to find what had been added. To my surprise, it wasn’t a collection of actual gear, it was mostly scrolls save for a single dagger.
You have gained equipment upgrade marker x11. These can be exchanged inside the Summoned Market for new gear, or to upgrade existing items.
Gary was hedging his bets, giving me a batch of scrolls that could only be redeemed for gear inside Somhagen, which would incentivize me to reach tier two more quickly. While I might have preferred an armory full of magical items, being able to shop and potentially upgrade items in the summoned market was probably a better option rather than getting random items that may or may not be useful to me.
Mind Render. Gear cost, 5. Forged by a master smith in the infernal realm, this dagger deals not only physical damage, but also cuts into the psyche of the victim, dealing mental intrusion damage.
I knew from my own experience that mental intrusion damage was nasty, and with a gear cost of five, I should be able to find some way to fit it into my loadout. Since I was in the armory, I went ahead and added it. Not having any consumable figurines equipped left enough room in the loadout for the dagger. Even if I didn’t end up wielding it, giving it to Rupert would give a huge boost to his effectiveness.
“Hey, Rico, we’re wrapping things up here. I’m going to be busy organizing everything inside for quite a while, but whenever it’s time for you to head to Somhagen, just give my door a knock and I’ll be ready to roll,” Gary said as he followed the last few workers carrying crates into the expansion.
When he entered the expansion, the door squealed as it closed. The sound was too close to a human screaming for my taste, and I gave an involuntary shiver as I realized the door very well may have been infused with someone’s scream of pain, or something equally nasty. Despite his happy-go-lucky way of speaking, Gary was most assuredly a powerful and evil being, not someone I’d want to become buddies with.
With all my loot sorted and my gear loadout updated, all I could do was wait for my next summoning, which wasn’t long in coming.
You are Summoned!
The familiar blue portal opened next to my reward chest, a welcome change from the angry red portal that Gary had kept active while moving in. Stepping into the portal, I was ready for my next adventure.