Chapter 195. A Token for your Trouble.
Back in my personal space, I almost reached for my weapons when Tzes’zod stepped out of the training center. It was the first time that I had returned after hiring him and I wasn’t expecting a skeleton in a robe to be walking toward me. Hot on his heels was Melvin, who I was expecting.
“Welcome back, Rico, I take it your summoning was successful?” Tzes’zod asked.
“Yeah, I suppose. I was rated average by the system, which seems a bit light for what I did. It was one of those summonings that I had little control over, which can make things frustrating” I told him.
“I’m sorry, it’ll take me some time to acclimatize to how the system ranks summonings. It’s not my area of expertise, but I do enjoy learning new things. I wasn’t expecting you to be here, I was telling Melvin that I was heading out for a while. If you need me, just focus on your mana and speak my name. Alternatively, you may retrieve my phylactery from your reward chest and speak my name, either way, I’ll hear it and return to you as quickly as possible,” Tzes’zod said.
“Well, we’re glad to have you here, and be sure to check in now and again. Also, do you have any preference for furnishings? I should hit Somhagen soon and was thinking of buying some if they’re not too expensive,” I said.
“Hm, Somhagen, I think you mentioned tier two of the city. You may want to visit Chaladoom’s goods while you’re there. They offer a myriad of things that a summoner can use to customize their abode. As for myself, I have no need for rest, but would enjoy a desk to work on, as well as an ample supply of paper, quill, and ink. You can take the funds from my pay if you wish, to offset anything you spend,” Tzes’zod offered.
“Great, I appreciate the recommendation. Anything I should be aware of at this Chaladoom place?” I asked.
“No, just don’t let their appearance distract you. This is an establishment that requires some negotiation to get the best price. While you can summon me to negotiate on your behalf, I think it would behoove you to make the attempt on your own. Chaladoom’s is a reputable establishment, and as such, will not attempt to charge more than 30% over the normal rates, no matter how bad your negotiation skills are,” Tzes’zod explained.
“Can I get a system skill for negotiation?” I asked.
“Of course, and most shopkeepers and those that offer services tend to be very skilled in various negotiation strategies. Just remember, the system can only do so much to assist someone with negotiation skills. So be vigilant during any business transaction and use logic when shopping in Somhagen. I think you’ll do well enough. And with that, I must be on my way,” Tzes’zod said. The door leading out of my personal space appeared again, and a dark grey swirling portal appeared.
“Safe journeys, Tzes’zod,” I said.
“Thank you, though I now have a bit of an insurance policy should things go wrong on my journey,” Tzes’zod said, pointing toward my reward chest where his phylactery, and toe, now resided.
My skeletal negotiator stepped into the portal and disappeared. As soon as he was gone, the portal vanished, and the doorway was replaced with a smooth wall once more. Unless I was allowed into Somhagen, or someone visited me, the only doors in my personal space were the ones to the armor, my training center, and now, to Gary’s expansion.
“Everything good, Melvin?” I asked. He sent back images of his continuing work on his slime armor project. He seemed to feel that he was getting close to perfecting it, which I was looking forward to seeing, and using. Melvin also sent images of Tzes’zod, who, to my surprise, went rooting around inside my reward chest. He didn’t take anything, and just pulled his phylactery out to look at it.
I remembered that I had given him permission through the system for viewing rights, which should have been enough to prevent Tzes’zod from doing anything more than taking a look at things. After all, he probably needed to know my financial situation in order to represent me properly. He did pick up the toe with his phylactery attached to it, but that was his personal possession, and part of his body, so it seemed natural that he would be able to access it at will.
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“Thanks for looking out for me, Melvin. I think Tzes’zod is okay, just make sure he, or anyone else, doesn’t try to swipe something that isn’t theirs without my permission,” I said.
Just saying that gave me an image of Gary going through my rewards chest. While I didn’t think Melvin could physically stop him, at least he could keep tabs if anything like that happened. I was probably being paranoid, I also had a system enforced contract with Gary, and I was pretty sure that stealing would come under the clause of not harming the other party. It might be financial harm, but it was harm, nonetheless.
“Nobody stole anything from me but let’s see what the system might have added for my last adventure,” I said, pulling up the new loot tab in my rewards chest and trying not to be disappointed with the average rating reward.
Reward Chest.
New Inventory.
1. Copper coins, 615.
2. Silver coins, 48.
3. Gold coins, 1.
4. Dungeon token, 1.
Well, that was something new. I had never seen or heard of a dungeon token yet. The copper, silver, and gold coins I’d gained were all well and good, but I was always most interested in the items the system sometimes dropped into my rewards.
Selecting the dungeon token, I pulled it from the reward chest, surprised to see it looked like a softly glowing stone. As I examined it, the system helped me out a bit by explaining what its purpose was.
You have acquired a dungeon token. These are rare, random rewards that can be found when a previous summoning caused you to enter a dungeon under the direction of your summoner. Being summoned directly to a dungeon, either to join your summoner inside, or to aid a dungeon core, will not cause these tokens to appear as rewards.
This token is keyed to the dungeon from your last summoning. When activated, the token will take you to the entrance of the dungeon and you will be allowed time to explore the challenges inside. The token can be used in place of a summoning, but only during a summoning session, and cannot be activated directly from your world. In addition, you cannot place it in your loadout or use it when on another summoning.
All experience, rewards, and items that you gain in the dungeon will follow you back to your personal space, and physical items will be deposited inside your reward chest. A number of summoning points and progress on your return gauge will be assigned based on your performance inside the dungeon.
Should you perish inside the dungeon, you will be returned, unharmed, to your personal space, just as you would on a normal summoning. Once inside, you may activate the dungeon token a second time to end your delve early and return to your personal space. Returning early will not have an adverse effect on the experience received or the summoning points assigned for the delve, though they may be pro-rated based on how much of the dungeon you’ve completed.
This token is a single use item.
“That’s kind of neat, you want to help me clear a dungeon Melvin, or do you want me to wait and summon you when I’m back on Earth again?” I asked. His summoning figurine had regenerated, which I was happy to see, and he could join me whenever he wanted.
Melvin seemed to think for a moment, and I was glad to let him take his time. The system also seemed to be allowing me some time to decide on whether I wanted to activate the stone now, since another summoning portal hadn’t opened yet. Melvin sent me a feeling of pause; he wanted to wait and not join me just yet. He was still working to perfect his armor and wanted to complete that for me and visit Earth rather than do a dungeon delve right now.
“I got you; I’ll hold off on summoning you until I’m back on Earth,” I explained, sending him images of the places I wanted to visit with him. He seemed particularly interested in fast food and kept sending me back images of tacos and wouldn’t stop until I confirmed that I’d take him out for tacos back home.
“I’ll let you keep working on your armor, I’m going to check out the dungeon,” I said.
Peeking at the return gauge, I could see it was nearly full and the dungeon run would probably push me past the return point and send me back to Earth. I wasn’t sure if I would hit tier two, though, I still had 16 experience points to go before I reached it. As soon as I confirmed that I wanted to go, the system gave me a prompt and opened a summoning portal near my reward chest.
You have activated the dungeon token for the Ruins of Forbidden Glade. This dungeon’s threat rating varies between Tier 1, Rank 5, and Tier 2, Rank 5. Prepare accordingly.
Stepping through the portal, I found myself back at the entrance to the dungeon. This time, there was no group of kids and their wizard dungeon master here to boss me around. Nope, I had the dungeon to myself, and could do things exactly how I wanted to. Knowing what was on the other side already, I stepped through the dungeon entrance.
Unlike the dungeons we’d cleared back on Earth, there was no chance of me dying this time, and I intended to enjoy the experience and find as much loot as I possibly could.