Chapter 231. Collapse.

“Here it comes,” I said as the end of the tunnel finally collapsed. I wasn’t sure what I expected, some giant monster of some sort. Instead of a tunneling monster, the collapsed tunnel opening roiled with large insects that poured into the tunnel. They looked like dark colored beetles, and each was the size of my fist.

Hundreds of the things were in the tunnel and it didn’t appear that the flow of insects was going to stop anytime soon. I cast Entangle in their path, and as the roots shot up from the ground, each tendril snatched a beetle. Where the roots would just hold a larger foe, the smaller beetles were crushed in the grasp of my spell.

Despite my spell’s success, there were far too many beetles and they flowed around the area of danger, climbing the wall and ceilings of the tunnel as they relentlessly crawled toward us. I cast Entangle twice more, finding that I could target any solid surface, even the sides and ceiling of the tunnel. Dozens of bugs were crushed by my spell, but the unrelenting horde of beetles continued to grow in number as they continued forward.

“Back up,” I ordered the team. My mana was almost drained after three castings of Entangle and I didn’t think that even my consumables would make a dent in the horde of bugs that seemed unstoppable. There was one thing I could try that wouldn’t cause me to burn all my consumable resources.

“Blieek, I’m sorry, but I need you to charge the enemy,” I ordered my hapless goblin minion. As he bravely charged toward the insects, I hit him with the Ring of Final Sacrifice before casting Duplicate. Fingers crossed; I watched as a second Blieek joined the first in his suicidal charge toward the insects. As I had hoped, the duplicate matched the first Blieek exactly, including the Ring of Final Sacrifice’s enchantment.

The pair of goblins stopped when they reached the leading edge of the insect horde. Both began to stab furiously with their spears, but it was a hopeless venture as the bugs swarmed over their feet and up their legs, taking bites of goblin flesh as they went. In seconds, the pair of goblins were covered in beetles. A moment later, the bodies of the goblins were turned into mana vapor.

That mana vapor was then used to power the twin explosions from the Ring of Final Sacrifice. A pair of bright flashes were accompanied by a powerful blast as the spell’s energy was unleashed. Before, I’d only seen one explosion from the ring. That was inside a much wider tunnel, and near a wide-open chasm that the bridge spanned. Here, the blast was confined in a much tighter area, and the rest of my party had only made it twenty or so yards from the explosions.

I was hurled against the side of the tunnel, my back snapping against a support pillar. The other minions were gone, the concussion of the blast killing them almost instantly. I only survived because I was in the back of the formation. Alone, and unable to move, I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to make it much longer.

Dust and debris filled the tunnel, making it hard for me to breathe. A few beetles came into view crawling directly at me. Most of the monsters had been killed in the blast, but I could hear movement in the distance that must mean more of the monsters were on the way. All I could do was watch the few bugs in front of me approach, lacking the mana necessary to cast Health Bloom. I couldn’t move my arms, so grabbing a healing potion was also out.

It looked like my summoning was going to end soon. The end I faced was going to be a horrible one, and I was worried that I would be forced to use a Notice of Cessation and take the penalty to my rating it imposed. Being engulfed in beetles and eaten in a manner of seconds was one thing but being slowly eaten by a handful of the monsters, was a long-term torture I didn’t think I could endure.

The ground shifted under me, causing my body to fall onto its side. Where I lay, I could no longer see the beetles approaching, and I could only wait for them to arrive and start their meal. Maybe the other damage I’d sustained would help to end my suffering more quickly. A low rumble was heard and all at once, the tunnel collapsed on top of me. The next moment, I was drifting in the void as a system prompt appeared.

You have been crushed by a collapsing tunnel. Your summoning session is now considered complete.

Your performance rating is calculated as Very Good.

Your rewards will reflect the summoning tier of 2, rank 2, and your performance rating of Very Good.

You have earned 18 experience points.

You have earned 22 summoning points.

Glem, Glamb, and Glurk, Goblin Raiders, have reached Tier 1, Rank 6. Their combat prowess has improved. Agility for all three has improved.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Blieek, Goblin Spearman, has reached Tier 0, Rank 1. His combat prowess has improved. His constitution has improved.

You will now be returned to your personal space.

I stepped from the void and back into my personal space. One of my new servants was there as I returned, offering me a glass of what looked like orange juice as well as a warm washcloth for my face. I had been returned completely whole, and exactly the same as I had left, but for some reason, the juice just hit the spot and washed away the phantom feeling of dust in my throat. In the same way, the warm cloth helped me forget the dirt that had clung to me for days as we dug inside the tunnel.

“Thank you, I could get used to this kind of service,” I said to the servant as I handed her the empty cup and the towel. This type of greeting when I returned sure beat coming back to an empty personal space with only my rocking chair to sit in.

“Rough summoning?” Tzes’zod asked from where he sat at the desk. My undead advisor seemed to like his new office setup, though I wondered what exactly he was working on.

“A long one, and a bit iffy at the end, but overall, not the worst I’ve experienced. Are you doing okay? Do you have enough supplies for whatever it is you’re working on?” I asked as I walked over to my reward chest.

“I’m perfectly content with our arrangement, and the initial supplies provided by Chaladoom have proven sufficient for now. Don’t worry, any further items I might need will be procured at my own expense,” Tzes’zod assured me. Paper and ink were cheap enough in Somhagen, so I didn’t mind picking some up for him the next time I was there.

I turned my focus to the reward chest, opening it to see the new items I’d acquired. It would have been nice to have received another excellent rating, but I figured that very good was nothing to sneeze at. After all, I had collapsed at least part of the tunnel that I had been initially summoned to dig. Of course, I’d also crushed the deadly flesh-eating beetles as well, so I would call that an overall win.

Reward Chest.

New Inventory.

1. Silver coins, 611.

2. Gold coins, 19.

3. Minion ability/spell token (1).

4. Minion equipment token (2).

5. Minion experience token (1).

6. Sheath of Flame.

Not a bad haul, and the system seemed to liberally dole out the various upgrades for my minions after each successful summoning. I was more than happy with that since the pickings had been slim in Somhagen for the various minion tokens I needed. At least it looked like I had one item for myself, the Sheath of Flame.

Pulling the sheath from the chest, it looked like an ordinary leather sheath, that would easily fit my gladius. The leather did look blackened a bit, like it had been left a bit too close to a fire. As I held the sheath, the system granted me information on how it functioned.

Sheath of Flame. This sheath will work with any blade up to a longsword in length. Once the weapon placed in the sheath is drawn, it will have its blade covered in magical flames. These flames will inflict minor fire damage to any target struck. The flames will not harm the blade in any way. The sheath may be activated 3/day, and the flames will last for 20 minutes.

It was a minor bump to my melee damage, but I could see where having the flame would come in handy against several monster types. Next up, it was time to start doling out minion upgrades. As always, the upgrade targets were randomly selected by the system.

Mana Slayer Drone has received a new ability.

Mana Slayer Drone has received an armor upgrade.

Elida Silverbarrow has received an armor upgrade.

Elida Silverbarrow has received 15 experience.

The system randomization shined on the drone and Elida this time. While the experience boost wasn’t enough to bump Elida to the next rank, she was very close now. To check on their upgrades, I pulled up information on the changes to my two minions.

Mana Slayer Drone. Tier 2, Rank 0.

Experience, 30/35.

Equipment/Abilities/Spells.

New Equipment and Upgrades:

1. Armor, Rank 3. At this rank, the Mana Slayer Drone’s armor consists of overlapping composite plates that are effective against all types of physical attacks and resistant to any elemental damage. The plates will shift on the drone’s body to reinforce areas that the drone deems critical. The armor includes a self-repair feature that works whenever the drone is out of combat and can also be activated 1/summoning to quickly repair damage even while in combat.

2. Shoulder Mounted Launcher, Rank 0. At this rank, the Mana Slayer Drone may launch up to three projectiles from the launcher. It will be reloaded in between summoning. The projectiles are fragmentation grenades, capable of showering a 5-foot radius in deadly, steel fragments. Range is limited to 20-feet.

While my drone wasn’t going to be firing off the disruptor beam grenades just yet, it did finally get the launcher installed. The ammo count was limited to three rounds for each summoning and the range wasn’t all that great. Despite the limitations, it made my most powerful minion a bit deadlier.

The drone’s armor also got a nice boost, and being able to reinforce areas under attack would help greatly in a 1v1 situation. The upgraded automated repair, and the chance to use it in combat, gave the drone even more survivability. Overall, I was very pleased with the upgrade progress on my drone.

Elida Silverbarrow, halfling healer. Tier 1, Rank 1.

Experience: 20/25.

New Equipment and Upgrades:

1. Armor, Rank 2. At this Rank, Elida’s has changed out her robes for leather armor.

It wasn’t quite as big a difference for my minion healer. Swapping out robes for leather armor was a good boost to defense, and I had high hopes that further improvements to her armor would allow Elida to survive long enough to use up all her healing spells. Before I forgot, I added the sheath to my loadout, finishing just in time as another summoning portal opened.

You are Summoned!