Chapter 312. Maze Runner.
Your summoning parameters are as follows:
1. You are being summoned by an artifact.
2. Summoning tier, 2.
3. Summoning rank, 8.
4. Rewards level, moderate.
5. This summons is for competitive purposes. Prepare accordingly.
6. Forced compliance is active.
7. Your armory loadout has been equipped.
I popped out of the portal and found myself in a well-kept garden. Others, that I assumed were also summoned beings, were lined up a few feet away. My summoner link connected to a glowing stone placed in the center of the garden, at the top of a fountain. A goblin in odd clothing that resembled a blue tuxedo stood in front of the line of summoned beings. Two heavily armored humans stood just behind the goblin, like a pair of bodyguards.
“Okay folks, it looks like we’ve got a bonus contestant on this run. It’s confirmed there are a total of eight contestants now. Let me check the summoning stone to make sure this is all,” the goblin said.
As the goblin spoke, the summoning link split off from the stone atop the fountain, and connected me to both the goblin, and his two bodyguards. I looked around and could see that the garden was completely fenced in by an eight-foot-high hedge made of thick plants and vines. There was no visible entrance or exit from the square garden I had been summoned to.
“Step into line, and keep quiet unless spoken to,” one of the guards ordered with the harshness of a drill sergeant. Not waiting for compulsion to kick in, I walked over to the right end of the line and waited for further instructions.
“I’ll interview the last contestant and then we can begin shortly. All right human, who are you and what can you do. Just the basics, mind you, species, tier, rank, and class,” the goblin ordered.
“I’m a human, tier two, rank eight, and my class is called Foe Commander,” I replied. The goblin wanted just the basics, so that’s all I gave him.
“Great, everyone we have the final contestant logged, and I’ll be passing off the focus to our announcer, Blix the Bold. Let our good viewers know what’s in store for them today, Blix!,” the goblin said. After a moment, he seemed to relax a bit.
“Boys, we’re off focus now while Blix hypes up the event. So, you all may be wondering what’s going on, yeah?” the goblin asked us. I nodded along with the other contestants.
“Here’s the deal, this garden isn’t as pretty and proper as it seems. The organization I work for has ported part of a dungeon here, and you brave folks are going to speed run it. Your goal is to run through the garden maze as fast as possible, trying to survive until the end. There will be bonus points for the number of kills you make, both of the dungeon mobs, and your fellow contestants, so hold nothing back. Any questions?” the goblins asked.
“Sir, what is this all for?” a rather polite orc in full plate that practically glowed with enchantments asked.
“Just like everything else, this is for profit. Buckets full of gold and gems are being wagered right now on you jokers, so don’t let me down. Give it your all, and even if you’re about to be killed, make it exciting for the viewers,” the goblin explained.
“We need to get out of the garden maze, but exactly how big is it?” another contestant, an elf woman with greenish skin asked. Given that her armor was made from living plants, she must have been a druid of some sort. I could almost feel the betting odds moving in her favor for this type of environment.
“The maze is completely square and maybe a total of a quarter mile across. Not that far, see, but the place isn’t called a maze for no reason. Lots of twists and turns in there, not to mention things that want to kill you. Like I said before, just have fun with it,” the goblin explained.
“What are the rules, can we cut our way out?” the orc asked.
“The only rule is that there are no rules. I take it back, there is one rule, do not do anything to harm any of us working on the event. As far as cutting your way out, sure, that’s a valid tactic, but you need to understand this was part of a dungeon, and those plants making up the hedge are a bit tougher than normal. Flying or jumping over the maze is not allowed. Also, the more damage you do to the maze, the more heat you’re going to draw to yourself from the dungeon core,” the goblin explained.
“Boss, they’re almost ready, should I get them into position?” one of the guards asked.
“Yeah, anything else before I send you to your starting positions?” the goblin asked. I did have one question, one that would help shape the overall plan I was starting to form.
“Do we get any prep time before this thing starts?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah, thanks for reminding me, you’ll get a one-minute warning before the whole shebang kicks off, now everyone get into position as I call you out,” the goblin said. A scroll appeared in his hand as he began to call out our classes.
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“Bloodblade, you’re number 1, dark druid is number 2,” as the goblin started numbers began to glow on sections of the hedge around us. We were being placed two to each side of the square, and everyone an equal distance from the nearest competitor.
I remembered another summoning close to this, where I had to run a gauntlet and avoid the opponents. That was a haunted house type of place, and the betting was among a small group of old, stodgy men that were just betting among themselves. This time, I was getting the feeling that the event was being televised through magical means to a much wider audience.
“Foe Commander, you’re number seven,” the goblin said.
I moved into the position marked on the hedge. To my left was a lean elf woman wearing scale armor and holding a golden spear. To my right was a gnome holding a huge wrench in one hand, and a simple wooden case in the other. Knowing Fitzfazzle, I made sure not to underestimate a gnomish engineer and the devices they used. I was hoping that my class was odd enough sounding that they wouldn’t figure me for a summoner.
“One minute to showtime folks, start your preparations,” the goblin announced.
I got to work right away, summoning the drone to watch my back and then cast Duplicate on him. As I summoned the rest of the team, a quick glance to either side showed that neither of my opponents seemed to be focused on me. There were no rules, so there was always the chance that someone would go on a killing spree before we even got into the maze. I was counting on my minions to put a stop to any of those types of shenanigans. Before time ran out, I had orders to give.
“Duplicate as soon as this starts, use your launcher to blast a path through the hedge. We’re going to cut a path through the hedge in that direction,” I said pointing at the glowing seven where we were starting from, and then toward the closest point out of the maze.
“Drone, once the duplicate’s launcher is empty, you take up the slack. After that use your blades to cut through. Digbaz, as soon as we start, spam Blades of Air to help out the drones cut through. Blieek, stick close to me. The rest of you, form a defensive perimeter,” I ordered.
Both drones aimed the grenade launcher on their shoulder toward our starting point. They also extended their bladed arms, and with the smaller pair of arms, they created hand scythes as the perfect weapons to cut through foliage. I was expecting the hedge to try and reform quickly since it was a dungeon-based structure, but with the drones’ Nullify Magic, and Mana Drain, I hoped that we would be through the gaps before the dungeon could react.
I had no plans of blithering about in a dungeon maze. I was going to use firepower and steel to cut and blast our way to victory.
“Go!” the goblin shouted when the countdown ended.
At his command a section of hedge where the glowing seven had been placed disappeared, granting us an entrance to the maze. The duplicate drone was already firing on the next section of hedge blocking our path. It took two grenades to blast through, and then the duplicate shifted to the next section of hedge.
I had Khurr and Digbaz follow behind the drones, and with Blieek at my side, I was next through the gap. The goblin trio and Elida brought up the rear, with Glurk was firing off arrows in the direction of the elf with the spear. Almost directly across from us was a halfling mage with about the same idea that I had, he was pouring fire from his hands and burning quickly through the hedge.
While the gnome seemed to be making good progress, he had nobody to watch his back. I ordered Glurk to shift his fire to the halfling who seemed to have the best chance of beating me at my own game. Just as Glurk’s first arrow hit, the golden spear of the elf next to us also flew into the halfling’s back, causing him to collapse to the ground and struggle with what was probably a healing potion.
We were now three hedgerows deep into the maze, and none of the other contenders were in sight. That didn’t mean there were no other threats, as dungeon creatures, mostly plant-creatures the system tagged as vegepygmys, hurled themselves at the drones. Khurr, Digbaz, and Elida kept the dungeon creatures off us.
With the final grenades expended, we had cut through four hedgerows and the drones were shredding their way through the next. I estimated that we were more than halfway to our objective, and even without the grenades, the drones were making good progress. None of our competitors had shown themselves, though I could hear sounds of combat in the distance.
Just as we reached the much thicker final border of the maze, huge vines reached up from the ground, pinning the drones in place and slowly crushing their armor. They fought back, and even with the help of the other minions, first one, then the other was crushed into mana vapor.
“Everyone, keep those vines busy. Blieek head to the hedgerow and stop for nothing!” I ordered, as I activate the Cloak of the Minion Master and pulled an animal from Rodney’s Bag of Beasts.
A small monkey that was apparently called a Lutung appeared from the bag and charged the vines. It lasted about a second, but every second counted. I held my breath as Blieek managed to avoid drawing the attention of any of the vines. When he reached the final hedge wall, I hit him with the Ring of Final Sacrifice as one of the tentacles finally caught up to him.
“Don’t resist, Blieek, and don’t heal him, Elida,” I ordered. A moment later a big explosion erupted as Blieek’s mana vapor fueled the ring’s magic. As I expected, a small gap had been blown through the hedge maze, though most of my minions were being killed off quickly.
The gap that had been blasted was too small to walk through, but I was able to finally see outside the maze. I targeted a spot outside the maze and cast Switch and Replace. The spell briefly disoriented me as I found myself standing near a deadly vine one second, then in the next, I was outside the maze enjoying the nice sunshine in peace.
“Ladies and gentle beings, we have our second-place finisher, the Foe Summoner!” I heard the goblin announce, his voice magically amplified. I was almost sure I’d be first, but one of the others must have beaten me to it. Before I could try and find out who beat me, my summoning was over.
You have completed the terms of this summoning and survived. This summoning is now complete.
Your ranking for this summoning is Good.
Your rewards will reflect your current Tier and Rank, as well as your summoning rating of Good.
You have earned 25 experience points.
You have earned 38 summoning points.
You will now be returned to your personal space.