“Back already?” Gary said as I entered Big Dave’s pawn.

“Yeah, got another batch in the mail, and figured I might as well bring it in,” I said.

The haul had been another twenty-eight silver coins, which was a good start to replacing what I’d lost earlier. Gary went through his usual routine, he was thorough with making sure that everything that I brought in was legit, despite working with me several times already. I could appreciate that; I figured a pawn shop owner couldn’t afford to be too trusting if they wanted their business to stay open.

“Just over twenty-five ounces here. That’ll come to $230, but I know you’ll want to haggle for more, so we’ll just say $260 this time,” Gary offered.

“Sounds good to me, it’s kind of nice when you negotiate for me,” I joked. Gary was getting the better part of the deal, but I had limited options right now. “What about this, it was also included in the shipment from my dad’s estate. Does it have any value?” I asked, taking out the long dagger.

“That looks dangerous. Nicely made, but I don’t have much of a market for something like this. I’d have to sell it online, which is tough to do. There are too many cheap display pieces for sale, and that makes it hard to find people who are willing to pay for a quality blade. I can give you $25, but that’s not even close to what it should be. My advice, keep it for yourself,” Gary said.

“I’ll keep it, it is kind of a nice conversation piece,” I admitted. Pocketing my $260, I left Gary’s shop for the second time that day. My next stop would be the bank. Just before I made it there, I realized I was carrying around a big old knife. The bank may not appreciate armed customers coming in, but as long as they didn’t check the bag I had, it should be hidden well enough.

I didn’t want to risk running home to drop off the blade. Who knew if there was another crazy linked summons waiting for me out there. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember if any of my other summoning’s had mentioned anything about a link to the summoner. I’d have to check with Minerva about that, hopefully she was feeling generous with her information the next time I arrived.

With most of the cash safely stashed in my bank account, I treated myself to the local taco place near my apartment. The weather was nice, so I sat outside at one of the tables they had, just enjoying the sunshine. Sadly, even tacos in the California sunshine were difficult to enjoy when you had to worry about being summoned into battle with little notice.

I had just started getting used to the schedule of several summoning’s in a row before being sent home for a few days. Now, I had to worry about some summoner that had a link to me calling up. I didn’t mind Sharnlynn calling me back, I enjoyed her company and wanted to help her and her village. Admittedly, I was a bit worried about her, those ruins we were in weren’t exactly safe, and I hoped that she had made it back home without any trouble.

Lunch and my trip home were uneventful, and I even went out to the heavy bag workout at the dojo. Sifu Dan was there and while I couldn’t get any new knife fighting training, I did get a good workout in and was able to practice my punching and kicking forms.

Days passed without incident, and I kept up my usual routine. Workouts at the gym when they were open and if not, I would workout at home, trying to build strength and endurance which would serve me well in the other worlds I was summoned to. That brought up another question. Was I going to the same world each time, or were there multiple locations?

After three days of my routine, I woke up with a headache. Before the headache built, I decided to be proactive. I bought several large bandages at the store the last time I went shopping and I tried a combination of stuffing some in my pockets and tying a few to my belt and clothing. More than once I could have used a bandage to help keep me on my feet for a bit longer during a summoning.

I also strapped the new blade I had to my belt. Maybe it would slip through whatever restrictions that there were on weapons since it wasn’t from Earth originally. It was a longshot, since Minerva had said that I couldn’t bring back the dagger I had stashed away in Rico’s Loot if I brought it home to Earth.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

My outfit was more carefully chosen as well, I selected a thick jacket, jeans, and a pair of old work boots I had in the closet. I also wrote a note to remind myself to ask about buying some of the protective gear like they had at the dojo. While it might make me look like a dork, it might also help me to survive.

There was a rather high chance that any protective gear would be classified as armor and blocked from coming into Rico’s Place, but I had to at least try. I’d feel like a fool if there were obvious things I could have been doing and decided not to because I wasn’t sure it would work or not. If only I could bring some modern firepower back, that would give the orcs and whatnot a big surprise. I didn’t think their medieval armor would stand up all that great when shot with a rifle. My headache reached its peak, and I was pulled back into the void.

You are Summoned!

Rico’s Place appeared as the void around me faded. I noted with some disappointment that my blade was gone, but the bandages in my pocket and the ones tied to my clothing were still intact. Minerva was also here waiting for me this time.

“Welcome back Rico, I see you’ve gained both experience and summoning points while you were gone. A summoner link, perhaps?” Minerva asked.

“Exactly, and why didn’t you warn me about those?” I demanded.

“Because you never inquired about it. Whenever you are summoned, there is a chance of a stronger bond with your summoner. That bond can result in a higher chance of you being summoned whenever that summoner casts an appropriate level summoning spell,” Minerva belatedly explained.

“Yeah, figured that out already. And from what Sharnlynn said, that’s my summoner by the way, she got something called a critical success which is what caused me to be selected. I also got robbed while I was gone since there’s apparently no warning for these types of summons. There was less than a minute from the headache starting to being summoned. Do I get compensated for that?” I asked.

“No, you will not be compensated. It is not the system’s responsibility to assure your home world is safe. That is the responsibility of yourself and the inhabitants of your realm. The information on the link activating with a critical success is interesting, I’ll have to look into it further,” Minerva said.

“Can you also look into how many summoners I have a link with?” I asked.

“That I can answer, you have a link with two.”

“Who else besides Sharnlynn?” I asked.

“A gnomish mage named Fitzfazzle,” Minerva replied. I tried to remember, and I think I was only summoned by a gnome once. It was the guy on the caravan where I got to use my knife for the first time. He said he was pleased with my performance, which might have something to do with it. Before I forgot, I went to Rico’s Loot, and equipped my knife.

“If I don’t choke on my next summoning, I should hit tier zero, rank five this time. Any hints you can give me about that?” I asked.

“No, that will be explained when the event occurs,” Minerva replied.

“If I hit that rank at the end of my series of summoning’s, will I be sent home, or will whatever happens, happen first?” I asked, wanting to see if this was going to be a really extended summoning session or not.

“I cannot answer that for you.”

“Helpful as usual,” I muttered, frustrated once again by my supposed advisor.

“I am not the one deciding how the summoning process works. You would be well advised to not take out your anger and frustration on the one being that is trying to help you,” Minerva snapped back.

“Woah, Minerva, I think that was some emotion I heard in your voice. Well done,” I said, genuinely happy that she wasn’t being so robotic, but a little sad that it had taken me being passive aggressive to bring it out.

“We will speak again when you return from your latest summoning,” Minerva said flatly as she gestured toward the wall near Rico’s Loot where a summoning portal was opening.

I was so close to rank five that I could taste it, so I walked into the portal without any further complaints.

Your summoning parameters are as follows:

1. You are being summoned by the war mage Decarion. This is your first mass summoning, please be advised that your performance will be judged by the group average.

2. Summoning tier, 0.

3. Summoning rank, 4.

4. Rewards level, minimal.

5. This summons is combat related. Prepare accordingly.

6. Forced compliance is active.

7. The armory has not been unlocked. A facsimile of your current attire and gear will suffice for the tier and rank of this summons.

I stepped out of the portal and onto an open field. All around me, dozens of other summoned beings were appearing. We were in a large block formation and a command from the summoner forbade us from moving.

In the distance, a fortress wall was seen, and small figures were busy climbing ladders up the wall or running up a large ramp that had been rolled against a tower. From atop the wall, arrows flew, some already hitting among the summoned beings in my formation.

Several glowing balls of light began to streak toward our formation from the tower. I recognized them instantly. Sharnlynn had used something very similar. We were about to eat a trio of fireballs, and my summoner refused to let me move out of the way.