Chapter 239. Shaking Things Up.

“You should have accepted the dungeon’s offer,” I said drawing my gladius as I prepared to finish off the source of the dungeon’s problems.

Despite being bound, Avius raised one finger that he pointed at me, unleashing the spell he had been working on. A beam of black energy slammed into my left leg, knocking me off my feet. I managed to keep ahold of my blade as I fell, but pain inside my leg began to grow as the spell took effect.

The flesh on my leg corroded and rotted at a sickening pace from the spot where the spell had landed. Avius then tried to cast another spell, not aimed at me, but at the chains binding him. The high price of 42 gold I had paid for magic chain proved to be worth it as the item resisted the magic Avius was using. Cursing me, Avius pulled on his mana once more, and I could see him wince as the pain of a nearly empty mana pool hit him.

He had enough left in the tank to cast the rotting spell at me once more, this time hitting my right arm. Before the pain could keep me from concentrating, I cast Health Bloom over myself and pulled a health potion from my belt, drinking most of it, but losing some of the precious liquid when the pain made me choke. A second healing potion followed the first, but its diminishing returns seemed to hardly make a dent in the pain.

The magic that Avius used was too powerful for the simple healing spells and potions to deal with, but it seemed to slow the progress of the rotting spell. I just needed the healing to buy me enough time for one more spell. Forcing down a second mana potion, I was able to cast Entangle over the area.

It was just in time as the ten second duration of the Chains of Bal’sharuk ended and the item disappeared. Avius struggled to his feet, tearing a slow path through the grasping vines and roots of my spell. It was going to be too late for him, as the goblin archers managed to land another strike, and Khurr appeared behind the mage, stabbing Avius with his dagger while biting at him with the impressive teeth of a gnoll.

I could hear the dungeon defenders in the distance charging toward us as darkness began to encroach and my life faded. Avius fell, with my minion crouched next to him stabbing the mage over and over.

You have been killed by the spell, Beam of Rot and Corruption. This summoning contract is now considered complete.

Your performance rating is calculated as Excellent.

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

You have earned 28 experience points.

You have earned 35 summoning points.

Congratulations! You have reached Tier 2, Rank 3.

You have gained 1 point in Mind.

Mana Slayer Drone has reached Tier 2, Rank 1.

Elida Silverbarrow has reached Tier 1, Rank 2.

I floated in the void briefly before finding myself back in my personal space. One of the servants was immediately at my side, offering a warm washcloth and a variety of beverages. It was great having a staff ready for my return.

A warm, clean washcloth felt wonderful after being rotted from the inside out by a spell. The towel reminded me of something you’d get in an old-time barber shop, and it was great after a stressful situation. I declined the beverages. I had no need for nourishment, and I wasn’t sure if drinking something here would kick start by biological functions. There was no restroom in my personal space.

“I see you’ve returned from another adventure,” Tzes’zod said. He was back and parked at his desk, writing furiously on a parchment. As curious as I was about what he was doing, I knew better than to ask. Tzes’zod had been rather short with me last time I’d inquired into his business.

“Thanks, a contracted summoning that I think went well. Oh, hey, before I forget. Do you know if I eat or drink something in my personal space, will it cause me to…you know?” I asked.

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“No, anything you imbibe or consume here will be processed into mana by this space. I should warn you that any secondary effects of any food and drink you consume will continue as normal. That means, you can get drunk, poisoned, ingest a parasite, etc.” Tzes’zod said, hardly looking up from whatever he was working on.

“Cool, thanks for the information,” I said, grabbing what looked like a glass of orange juice from the attendant next to me.

The juice was delicious, and now that I knew what to look for, I could feel the juice inside my belly being transformed into mana and drifting into the atmosphere. It wasn’t uncomfortable or anything, but the feeling that the mana conversion process left was an odd one. It took some of the joy out of enjoying a snack. That was fine, I had no idea how my staff would restock anyway, and I’m sure it cost me more than a few coins to do so.

“Tzes’zod, does all this stuff automatically appear, or do I pay for it?” I asked.

“I’ll answer this one question, then I must finish up my work and leave for a time. Your room upgrade generates a small stock of refreshments and the like automatically. Should you draw too heavily upon this supply, funds will be deducted from your reward chest to compensate the manufacturer for the added demands on the room upgrade. There is a limit as well to what can be created,” Tzes’zod said before completely ignoring me and returning to his writing.

“Thanks,” I replied before heading to my rewards chest. An excellent rating on the summoning should have some nice rewards associated with it. Sorting for new items only, I took a look at the spoils of my most recent dungeon adventure.

Reward Chest.

New Inventory.

1. Silver coins, 922.

2. Gold coins, 39.

3. Minion ability/spell token (2).

4. Minion equipment token (4).

5. Minion experience token (1).

6. Dungeon Gift.

The dungeon gift intrigued me, but first I wanted to get my minions upgraded, starting with the ability/spell tokens.

Mana Slayer Drone has upgraded its Nullify Magic ability.

Mana Slayer Drone has upgraded its Mana Drain ability.

In addition to gaining a level, the drone was also doing well on the random allocation for ability upgrades. The Mana Drain was something new and must have been unlocked by my minion hitting Tier two, rank one. To verify, I pulled up any changes to the mana slayer drone.

Mana Slayer Drone. Tier 2, Rank 1.

Experience, 0/35.

Abilities: At this rank, the Mana Slayer Drone has unlocked Mana Drain.

1. Nullify magic. This passive ability grants the mana slayer a minor damage reduction to all mana-based spells and abilities. The ability will also protect any ally within 5-feet of the drone.

2. Spell Reflect. This ability will reflect one harmful spell or magical effect back onto the caster. Spell Reflect can only trigger 1/hour, and more powerful spells can often resist the effects of Spell Reflect. If this ability is resisted, the mana slayer drone will still reap some benefit, temporarily increasing its Nullify Magic.

3. Mana Drain. Whenever the Mana Slayer drone lands a melee attack on a foe, it will drain 1 point of mana from its target. The blow must not be deflected, either partially or in full, by any armor, both magical and mundane, for this ability to trigger.

Mana Drain has been upgraded.

Mana Drain:

Whenever the Mana Slayer drone lands a melee attack on a foe, it will drain 1 point of mana from its target. This ability will function through any physical armor but will not be activated if the target is protected by magical means.

Nice, the drone got a new ability from ranking up, and then had it immediately upgraded. With four arms and two clawed feet, the drone could deal out quite a few blows in quick succession. If those landed on an unprotected foe, their mana pool would take as much of a beating as their body would. Magic spells like Shield would counter the ability, but my drone could usually tear through simple magical defenses rather quickly.

The new upgrade to Nullify Magic gave it an area of effect. To benefit from the ability, my other minions would have to be standing pretty close to the drone, but the area that the ability covered would probably expand as the ability was improved. I also pulled up Elida to see if gaining another rank had made any changes.

Elida Silverbarrow, halfling healer. Tier 1, Rank 2.

Experience: 0/25.

Spell Slots: 5. When resting, Elida will regenerate 1 spell slot per hour.

Elida didn’t have any new abilities added, but she did get another spell slot. I was more than happy to have an extra healing spell. If she continued to gain spell slots, I might eventually feel more comfortable having her cast some offensive spells to support us in combat. For now, I’d rather have her healing up the more capable fighters, not to mention, saving my skin both during a summoning and back home.

Before I could start on the next minion upgrade, the equipment tokens, a dull booming sound was heard from Gary’s door. The floor gave a small shake, and I began to get worried.

“That has ruined the last thirty minutes of my work. Rico, why don’t you knock and see what’s going on in there? Our agreement stipulates not harming ourselves or our minions, and something powerful enough to exert its force on your personal space surely has enough power to do us all harm,” Tzes’zod said.

The last thing I wanted to do was knock on Gary’s door, but I couldn’t have the little creep destroying my personal space.