Chapter 211. Contract Offered and Accepted.
I was happy with my haul from Zamly’s shop, but I had a couple of more stops to make today. Next up on the agenda was a visit to the local Contracted Summonings office. I’d spotted the office during my trip through the tier last night, and it was only a brief walk from Zamly’s shop to my destination.
My journey was slightly delayed when I passed a food cart offering the second tier of Somhagen’s version of a funnel cake. It was essentially a huge fried donut covered in a sticky glaze that took me a few minutes to get off my hands after finding a handy fountain to wash them off. That was one thing Somhagen could use, a public washroom, as well as some well stocked drink vending machines. I’d kill for a carbonated beverage about now.
“Welcome to Contracted Summonings, how may I assist you today?” A middle-aged halfling woman asked as I entered the small, storefront office. The business was in a nice part of town, close enough to the arena, but not too close where it would get caught in the chaos of the crowds on an arena day.
“Hi, I have a voucher for a previous contract on the first tier that I need to turn in. I’d like to talk to someone about any new contracts you may have,” I said.
“One moment,” the woman said, excusing herself to head back into one of the offices. The place was laid out like many of the other businesses I’d seen in Somhagen, with a small front reception area, and a hallway leading to individual offices in the back.
“Wrygur can see you now, it’s the second office on the right. Please go on in. While you two are talking, I can take your voucher for the previous summoning, confirm it, and have your bonus for you shortly,” the receptionist offered. Handing her the voucher, I walked to the office indicated and let myself in.
I normally wasn’t shocked by what I saw in Somhagen, but just like with meeting Zamly, Wrygur’s species threw me a bit. When you think contract salesman working in an office environment, you typically don’t picture a minotaur, which was exactly what Wrygur was. His huge frame had a large chair specially designed for it, and the size of his office desk made me feel like a little kid walking up to ask the teacher a question.
“How may I help you today, Mr.…?” he asked.
“Rico, I’m Rico Kline. I worked with your organization on the first tier, and Pakrinas did right by me, so I thought I’d see if I could work with Contracted Summonings again,” I informed him.
“Pleased to meet you Mr. Kline, I’m Wrygur. I’m always happy to help a previous client. If you don’t mind, I’d like to get a little more information before we dig into the current offerings,” Wrygur said, offering to shake my hand. He was careful not to crush my hand, but I could feel there was power enough in the minotaur to pull my arm from its socket if he wished to.
“Sure, and it’s just Rico, no need for formality. I know you need some system information to make a good match. While we’re at it, I also ran into a rather unusual situation I hoped you could help with,” I said, remembering my deal with the Ruins of the Forbidden Glade dungeon.
The being known as Wrygur has requested to review your summoning history and results. Only the most limited information on the types of summons’ and your associated performance rankings will be available to him. He will also be able to view, in greater detail, your previous work with the organization known as Contracted Summonings. Do you wish to allow this?
I agreed to the system promptly and gave Wrygur a moment or two to review things. He grunted a few times and gave a very bull-like snort once as he read my history. After reading, he dug through his desk, pulling a few contracts out.
“Interesting history, and you’ve done well with every contract we’ve offered you. As for the other issue you wished to discuss, I think the system just revealed it to me. I have a few normal summoning contracts I can offer you, including one longer term offering, but you may want to review this one first,” Wrygur said, pushing one of the scrolls over to me. As soon as I grabbed the scroll, a system prompt appeared.
You have offered to broker a summoning contract between the Ruins of the Forbidden Glade and the business known as Contracted Summonings. This summoning is also compatible with your class, Rank, and Tier. Should you accept the summoning contract personally, you will not need to post a reward. In addition, your final performance ranking for the summon will be improved by one rank for fulfilling the contract personally.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
Should you wish to merely offer this as a contract for another summoned being, the typical fee for the summoning would be 2 gold, though you may enhance the fee if you wish to attract more capable applicants. Do you wish to accept the contract yourself, or offer a fee for another summoned being to complete it?
“Interesting, I admit, I kind of wondered if I’d be able to take on the summoning. I’m going to accept it, but it says that there is no fee since I’m taking the contract myself. I don’t want to make you work for free,” I said.
“Don’t worry about the fee. When the system does something like this, it usually works out a way to compensate everyone involved. If you want to accept the contract, don’t worry about our fee,” Wrygur advised.
You have accepted the summoning contract for the Ruins of the Forbidden Glade dungeon core. During your next summoning session, this contract will be activated.
“Since you brought your own summoning with you, and you’ve done well for us in the past, I can offer you a second contract if you wish,” Wrygur said, pushing two more scrolls over for me to peruse.
You have been offered a choice of single use summoning contracts.
1. General labor contract for a summoner class to help staff a business. Duration, long. Bonus, 3 gold.
2. Provide protective services for a team seeking to explore ruins in a hostile environment. Duration, moderate. Bonus, 2 gold.
Both sounded interesting, despite the descriptions being a bit vague. Having a second contract for my next summoning session was great, and these were typically not going to go badly to the point that I’d ever need to use a Notice of Cessation. I’d get enough combat in the rest of my summonings, so staffing a business sounded different. The fact that it was a longer duration helped as well, it should mean greater rewards.
You have accepted the general labor contract of long duration. This contract will be activated during your next summoning.
“Thanks, Wrygur, you’ve been a big help,” I said.
“Pleasure doing business with you Rico, here’s Lisa with your bonus for the last summoning. Will you be seeing us again when you hit tier two, rank five?”
“Yeah, I should be back to cash in the contracts from today, and see what else you might have to offer,” I told him as I took the gold coin from the halfling receptionist, Lisa.
“Good, always glad to see happy, repeat contractors. Safe journey’s Rico,” Wrygur said.
“You too, see you at rank five,” I replied as I left.
It had been a productive stop, and with two contracted summonings in the bag for next time, I wouldn’t have as many odd, random ones to worry about. While my bonus from the previous contract had only been one gold, it was nice to add to my funds instead of just taking from them. My last, scheduled stop was the arena.
“Hey, bud, you want to place a wager on the games?” A shady looking human asked as I walked across the plaza toward the arena entrance.
“No thanks,” I replied, brushing him off and ignoring other requests for gambling, or selling my personal information to the odds makers if I was participating. I’d already been warned about these kinds of things, and I wasn’t going to jeopardize my time in Somhagen to potentially make a few extra coins.
Once past the entrance, which was guarded by heavily armed and armored city watchmen, the hawkers backed off. I joined a sizeable crowd heading into the place, but as before, the line for summoned beings to sign up for the arena was short. Waiting behind a hairy humanoid that looked like a blend of a man and gnoll wasn’t pleasant. The guy had a wet dog smell wafting off him, but I sure wasn’t going to make a fuss about it.
“Are you a summoned being, and do you wish to inquire about the next arena contest?” The clerk, another one of the odd lizard-like people, said in the robotic manner of any employee that’s been forced to say the same line over and over again.
“Yes, and yes,” I replied.
“The entry fee for this tier is ten gold, payable in advance,” the clerk said, taking my money when I passed it over. Ten gold was a sizeable cost, but the potential rewards could more than make up for it. Depending on my performance and rewards on this tier, I could decide on the next arena option at tier three, where the costs were supposed to increase substantially.
“You are now officially entered for the next arena contest. The system will inform you when it’s time for the contest to begin,” she offered.
“Any idea how long that usually takes?” I asked, remembering my experience with the dwarf on the first-tier gift shop, I passed over a silver for her trouble.
“Thanks, the crowds today are for the latest contest, you missed it by a day. I’d guess anywhere between one to two weeks for the next one. Oh, and since you’ve offered a gratuity, I’ll give you some advice. Don’t bother shopping the gift shop here,” she said.
“Great, I’ll avoid the gift shop, and I appreciate the arena info,” I said, taking my leave.
I’d accomplished just about everything I wanted to in Somhagen, and other than a trip to buy some furniture on the way out, I felt I was done. With the mana gauge in my inventory, I figured that getting home to Earth was probably something I should expedite.