Chapter 193. Summon up your Character.
The system advised me about my latest summoning just before the portal dropped me at my destination.
Your summoning parameters are as follows:
1. You are being summoned by a magical artifact.
2. Summoning tier, 1.
3. Summoning rank, 9.
4. Rewards level, modest.
5. This summons is for the purpose of exploration and combat. Prepare accordingly.
6. Forced compliance is active.
7. Your armory loadout has been equipped.
I stepped out into a brightly lit glade that faced some old ruins that resembled something from ancient Greece. Following my summoner link, I was surprised to see a young man, probably no older than ten or eleven. Three other kids, two more boys, and a girl of about the same age were gathered around.
“Tell us what your tier, rank, and class are,” my summoner demanded with a poor attempt and deepening his voice. He also puffed his chest out, like a bodybuilder trying to show off his muscles. Unfortunately for this kid, he was rather puny.
“I’m tier one, rank nine, and my class is called Foe Summoner,” I replied. As I tried to figure out what was going on with this summoning.
“Lakra, you have to keep this one, you cancelled the last two, and the artifact will run out of mana if you keep this up,” the young girl complained.
“Fine, Elniss, I’ll keep him, but he’s not going to take point, even if he can summon stuff,” my summoner, Lakra, replied.
“Young master, if this one is your choice, may I enhance him now?” a voice asked behind me. Turning, I could see an older man in grey robes that were marked with glowing sigils.
“Yeah, this one, but the rest of you don’t get more than one reroll either,” Lakra whined. What was with me being summoned by whiny, and/or spoiled kids so much? I felt a slight tingle as the old man in the robes cast a spell upon me.
Your link to the summoner has been enhanced, and the length of time that you can remain in this summoning session has tripled.
I still had no idea what I was supposed to do, or even how long a normal summoning from the artifact they were using would last. The artifact itself seemed average looking. It was a small stone statue that was vaguely humanoid in shape, and while it gave off mana, it didn’t seem exceptionally powerful. I couldn’t get that good a look at it as my summoner handed it off to another kid who immediately used it.
“Ha, this is what I’m talking about, what’s your tier, rank, and class,” one of the other boys, a chubby fellow with his hair buzzed down short enough to make a Drill Sergeant happy said as he summoned a massive orc holding an oversized axe.
“I am tier 2, rank 2, and I am a Blood Berserker of Gub,” the orc said. I wasn’t exactly sure what a Blood Berserker of Gub did, but it sure sounded like the kind of class the orc should have given his huge muscles and scarred skin. The orc wore no armor, or even a shirt. His only clothing was a kilt of thick leather studded with iron rivets.
“You’re so lucky Ilkas, your summoned being is way better than mine,” my summoner admitted, looking more than a bit dissatisfied that I was the summoned being he was stuck with.
“Me, me,” the last young boy said while using his hands to signal the gimme motion, which seemed like it was a pretty widely used gesture. Instead of handing it over, the chubby kid, Ilkas, passed it over to the young girl.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Ladies first, Yonto, let’s see what I get,” the young girl in pigtails said as she activated the artifact. A portal opened and I was surprised to see an emaciated ghoul step out from it. Having used a ghoul in my summoning rotation for quite a while, I knew they could be formidable, especially if their claws managed to trigger paralysis.
“Ick, not a chance, I want a do over,” the girl said. With a sigh of annoyance, the old mage waved his hand, and a blast of white-hot flames engulfed the ghoul, burning it to cinders in under a second.
“Whatever you get now, you gotta keep it, the last boy, who was skinny, but quite a bit taller than all his friends, reminded the girl.
“I know, I know, just let me do this,” she said as she activated the artifact a second time.
A fresh portal opened, and instead of another ghoul, something I considered even worse emerged. Hard chitinous legs were attached to a bulbous body the size of a large dog. Oversized fangs clacked together as the girl’s summoned being walked over to her.
“Oh no, not that,” she whined, but accepted her fate and passed the artifact over to the taller kid, Yonto.
“Tell us what it is, and the tier and rank,” my summoner demanded. The girl couldn’t ask the spider directly, but she must have been given some system notice of what her summoned creature was.
“It’s tier one, rank eight, and it’s called a Spigon Warrior, whatever that is.
“Yeah, whatever, it’s a creepy spider. Come on, artifact, get me something good,” Yonto chanted as he activated the artifact. The portal opened, and a young elf woman emerged. She was wearing purple robes and held a gnarled wooden staff with a glowing white crystal on the end of it.
“What’s your tier, rank, and class,” Yonto asked, scrunching his eyes and giving the elf woman a look that told me that he was less than pleased with what he summoned.
“I am tier one, rank seven, and I’m an illusion mage,” the summoned elf explained.
“Nope, boring,” Yonto complained, using up his one free reroll. Once again, the mage waved his hand, and flames consumed the young woman.
“You need to expedite this process, it’s already past noon, and you families have only engaged my services until an hour before sunset,” the mage explained as the ashes of the elf blew across the glade.
“It’s my last chance anyway, it better be a good one,” Yonto muttered as he activated the artifact one last time. From the portal stepped another human, this time, an older warrior dressed in chainmail and holding a teardrop shaped shield in one hand, and a spear with a wide-bladed tip in the other. A belt holding a scabbarded longsword and dagger completed his arsenal.
“All right, give me your tier, rank, and class,” Yonto demanded, looking a bit happier with his second summoned being. Despite that, he still cast jealous glances at the orc berserker.
“I am a tier two, rank zero, and my class is Armsman,” the older man explained.
“You have to take him, but it’s not that bad, at least you didn’t get stuck with a creepy spider, Elniss complained. I agreed with her assessment and noted that she wisely kept a safe distance from the creepy crawly that she’d summoned.
“Now that your summonings are complete, please bring your party to the dungeon entrance, and you may begin your game,” the old man ordered. I was getting a distinct teacher on a field trip vibe from him.
The four kids, with all of us summoned beings in tow, headed deeper into the ruins. In between two partially collapsed pillars, a small patch of darkness waited. The sun was directly on it, but the darkness did not abate in the least. This must be the entrance to whatever dungeon they were talking about.
“Are the game rules the same as before honored game master?” Elniss asked the old man.
“It’s your game, do you wish them to remain the same as last time, or shall I implement some changes?” the old mage asked.
“Same,” Ilkas blurted.
“No, let’s do something different. It’s getting boring with the same scenario each time,” my summoner complained.
“I agree with Lakra, let’s do something different,” Elniss said.
“I want to see something different too,” Yonto offered.
“The majority rules. Remember, I’m only here to facilitate things, the game, as always, is what you as players make it. Now, since the vote was not unanimous, we’ll just change things up a little bit. For this run, you cannot directly control your summoned beings and can only give them general instructions through your links. Clear the dungeon to the first boss, defeat it, and then I’ll reveal what the final stage of this day’s game is going to be,” the old man explained.
“Fine, but since Ilkas had the best summoned creature, he has to send his into the dungeon first,” my summoner said.
“You sure you don’t want to send in the stupid spider first?” Ilkas asked, but the others overruled him.
“In you go, orc,” the chubby kid ordered. As soon as he touched the dark patch between the pillars, the orc disappeared. The rest of us followed behind, unsure of what we were about to face.