Chapter 303. Important Lessons.
Looking over my opponents, I singled out the boar as the most immediate threat. In melee, the wolf or the gnoll might be stronger, but it was probably a safe bet to assume the boar had some kind of charge ability that would let it close the gap with me quickly. We were faced about twenty yards apart, so there was not a lot of space to work with.
The handkerchief floating in the air between us suddenly dropped and we all snapped into action. First, I heaved the javelin at the boar, trusting my slowly improving aim, and the weapon’s magical targeting to land the blow. While I charged forward, I drew my shortsword and pulled the shield off my back.
That was it, I was following my orders, so no other magic items, spells, or summons would assist me in the fight if I could help it. The javelin hit the boar, which squealed briefly as the electrical damage coursed through its body. It turned to mana vapor as I engaged the first of my opponents in melee.
In the lead was the wolf, who lunged for my leg. I dodged to the side, stabbing at the animal in reply. Its jaws snapped closed just an inch away from my knee, but my sword strike was on target. The blade stabbed deep into the wolf’s neck, but it leaped back before I could deal a fatal blow. It might bleed out, given the amount of blood dripping from the wound, but for now, it was still in the fight.
A blow hit me on the back, as the goblin thrust out his spear. My armor blocked the attack, but it did push my next blow at the wolf off target. The wolf moved to keep me in front of it, and I could see the gnoll maneuvering to my right. Behind me, the goblin kept up a series of stabs with his spear, but so far, it hadn’t found any weak points in my new armor.
While I was happy that my armor was proving effective, I feared that I was going to easily win this fight. The wolf moved in for another strike, and just like with its previous attack, I dodged the blow and landed one of my own. With a meaty thump, the wolf’s head dropped to the ground before it turned into mana vapor. That left four opponents. I hadn’t spotted the rat yet, but the slime had reached my foot during the fight and was slowly flowing over my boot, looking for an opening to slither inside and begin digesting me.
Before I could do anything, Melvin reacted. My armor took on a wet-looking sheen as my gelatinous cube friend went to work. He slithered down my armor and began to envelop the slime attacking me. The pair rolled off my foot and onto the grass. I was confident that Melvin would come out on top given the tier and rank discrepancy between them, but it was going to take a while.
With Melvin gone, my defenses were a bit weaker. The slime had distracted me, allowing the gnoll to slash my arm with his rusty shortsword, and stab my neck with the dagger in his other hand. The slash to my arm failed to breach my armor, but the dagger found the unarmored gap just under my helmet. Pain lanced deep into my neck, and I reflexively stabbed at the gnoll in response.
My aim was on target, and I speared through the gnoll’s chest, skewering his heart. As the gnoll disappeared, the giant rat made its appearance as the chisel-like teeth of the monster gnawed at my leg. It found a small gap between the boot and leg armor, slicing out a chunk of meat that it greedily swallowed before biting down a second time.
Pain hit again, as the goblin, having learned from the gnoll’s attack, hit the back of my neck near the existing wound. I stumbled back, slashing ineffectively at the goblin, and rat, trying to keep them at bay. My movements were uncoordinated, and I could feel something important had been hit in my neck. A numbness started to set in along my body.
A flash of light blinded me for a moment, and I was hurled back from my opponents. As I sat on the grass, I received a command from my summoner to stop fighting. A booming voice sounded out over the dueling field, magically enhanced so everyone, even the furthest spectator, could hear.
“Cease this foolishness! Unauthorized dueling, even through the use of summoned creatures, is forbidden. Whoever is responsible, step forward immediately,” the voice demanded. My vision returned as the magical flash-bang effect wore off. Between me and the surviving pair of Dag’s summoned minions was a glowing, humanoid shape.
I’d never seen anything like it, and the being looked to be composed entirely of light. The faint outline of mages robes could be seen, but even the fabric of the garment did little to block the being’s light. It hovered two feet off the ground as it looked down upon a frightened-looking Dag, her friends that had participated in the duel, and Nasraf.
“Headmaster, I can explain. I was merely defending myself from Dag and her cronies. They demanded I duel them, or they would make my life on campus miserable,” Nasraf pleaded.
“He’s right, headmaster, I saw the whole thing,” Lonnie, Nasraf’s flunky called from the sidelines.
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“Enough!” I don’t need the soothsayers here to discern your guilt or innocence. Both of you were involved, and both of you will be appropriately punished. Since you’ve gathered a sizeable portion of the student body here to witness this spectacle, why don’t we turn it into a lesson as well as a means of disciplining the offenders. Gather round everyone,” the headmaster demanded.
The crowd jogged toward the center of the field, gathering around the space where the headmaster floated in front the two culprits. I was a few feet away on one side, and the other summoned creatures on the other. So far, we hadn’t been dismissed, which I was curious about. I finally gained my feet, the numbness in my body receding as the Troll’s Belt I wore slowly did its regenerative work.
“So, you two thought you would have an unsanctioned duel. Tell me, what did you each summon, and why was that your choice?” The headmaster asked.
“Sir, fearing for my safety, I summoned my most powerful minion. It’s a tier two, rank six, uh, warrior,” Nasraf answered first.
“And the rest of you?” the headmaster demanded.
“We each conjured the best minion we had available to us, but unlike Nasraf, we don’t have mommy and daddy sending us expensive summoning figurines,” Dag replied for her group.
“So, what you’re all telling me is that none of you thought tactically about the situation. Nasraf just went with the most powerful thing in his arsenal, and the rest of you did the same. Dag, given the composition of your team’s summoned minions, I take it that your group didn’t discuss how to create a cohesive force before you started summoning,” the headmaster said, his light-filled eyes locked onto Dag.
“I, well, I think I see what you’re getting at, headmaster. We acted on emotion and didn’t plan out our overall summoning strategy ahead of time. If we had done so, we would have had a better chance of success,” Dag admitted.
“Leave it to the lesser species to act on foolish emotions,” Nasraf mumbled.
“I don’t recall giving you permission to speak out of turn, Nasraf. While Dag and her friends made a tactical error. The most foolish one out of this group of miscreants is you. A tier two, rank six summoned creature should have no trouble dealing with even a dozen low ranked opponents. Tell me, Nasraf, what exactly did you summon to fight on your behalf?” The headmaster asked.
“It was a figurine that my parents sent to me for my protection. It’s obviously a warrior of some type, but given that he struggled a bit, I think my mistake was trusting my parents to supply me with quality goods. This one is obviously something less powerful than the tier and rank would suggest,” Nasraf answered.
“No, wrong again in your conclusion. Given that this item was supplied by your family, I assume you have the financial means to have identification cast upon it. An item like this shouldn’t be wasted on a duel, and if this had been a true threat, and you were trusting your life to it, you would have likely perished,” the headmaster said before looking directly at me.
“You there, summoned being. I can see your class and basic information. Tell us, what exactly did Nasraf demand of you when you were first summoned,” the headmaster asked. I looked toward Nasraf for permission to reply and he nodded in agreement. I gave a recap of the exact instructions that I had been given by Nasraf.
“All right, can any of you figure out Nasraf’s mistake. Not just with failing to identify the summoning figurine, but also in the instructions he gave it?” the headmaster asked to the group. A few raised their hands, and he picked a small gnome girl to respond.
“Headmaster, after summoning an unknown figurine, he didn’t ask it about its powers and abilities. Even worse, his instructions limited its options,” the girl replied.
“Precisely. Well done, Lizzle. Nasraf, you got lucky, and this figurine managed to summon a very powerful minion. Next week we’ll get into the difference between a summoned minion that is a mana construct and the very rare, and often more powerful, summoned beings that occasionally answer the call. For now, summoned being, give us your name and tell us your class,” the headmaster demanded. Nasraf added a summoner link to the headmaster so I would now be able to answer him without seeking approval each time.
“My name is Rico Kline, and I’m a class called the Foe Commander,” I replied.
“Excellent, thank you for participating. Please, Rico Kline, show us what your class can do,” the headmaster asked. I was happy to help out and summoned my entire crew. After they were all out, I cast duplicate on the mana slayer drone, since he was more impressive looking rather than Digbaz who was probably the more dangerous of the pair.
“As you can see, Rico here could have created a powerful force to assist you. Instead, you ordered him to use only his melee weapons. In fact, I believe that Rico may have even assisted a bit by pushing you in that direction,” the headmaster said. I gave him a subtle nod of agreement.
Now, Nasraf, Dag, and the others who directly participated in the duel can write a 20- scroll complete examination of the duel, your mistakes, and learning opportunities of this situation. The rest of you, for the crime of choosing to spectate instead of trying to put a stop to this, can write a shorter, 5-page version of the assignment. You all have until the end of the week to complete this project,” the headmaster said.
“Rico, perhaps you would be willing to participate in further instruction here at the academy?” the headmaster whispered to me.
“I’d like that, if it’s possible,” I replied. It wasn’t a bad summoning, and the headmaster seemed like a reasonable guy.
“It is possible, and it has been done. Thank you for helping to put Nasraf in his place, and I look forward to working with you in the future,” the headmaster said to me quietly enough so the others couldn’t hear. After that, he demanded that we be dismissed by our summoners.
You have survived and successfully completed your summoning.
Your performance rating is calculated as Very Good.
Your rewards will reflect the summoning at Tier 2, Rank 6, and your performance rating of Very Good.
You have earned 29 experience points.
You have earned 48 summoning points.
A single use summoning link has been created between yourself and the being known as Headmaster Glorine.
You will now be returned to your personal space.