Chapter 313. Home Again.

My personal space attendants greeted me and Melvin as we returned. Pretty much like always, Melvin slid toward the training center, which reminded me to ask him what he was working on. He sent me a confusing array of images, everything from new armor configurations to Melvin casting spells and using strange, elemental abilities. I got the feeling that Melvin wasn’t focused on a particular project and just wanted to see where the training led him.

“Best of luck to you, buddy. Let me know if you turn up anything interesting, or if you want to practice together sometime,” I said. Taking a look around, it seemed that everything in the personal space was as it should be.

Tzes’zod was gone again, his desk messy as always. It was funny how so much of my personal space had been taken over by others. Of course, the addition was rented by Gary, so that really didn’t count. But here in the actual personal space, Melvin had set up shop in the training center, and Tzes’zod had claimed the area around the desk. Already, I could see his space expanding as a small wooden cabinet had somehow been brought here and placed next to this desk. At least Tzes’zod seemed to have good taste, and the cabinet matched the other furniture in the room.

I didn’t really mind that much; it was nice to have company here. When I’d first started, it was just a bare wooden floor with the only other thing in the room being my reward chest. To go back to that would be rather depressing, and I was happy to have the staff, Melvin, and even the occasionally helpful, but still a bit creepy, Tzes’zod to share the space with.

“Sir, Mister Tzes’zod requested that I give you this,” the head butler, Whirtmir, said as he held out a sealed scroll. I took the scroll and looked longingly at my reward chest. The rewards could wait a minute, if Tzes’zod left a message for me, it was probably either important, or maybe a nice consumable scroll for me to use. I broke open the seal, noticing a faint whiff of mana from it, and began to read.

Rico,

Our previous conversation about the disappearance of summoned beings on your world after hitting a tier and rank over three made me a bit curious. I had been ready to dismiss it as another system quirk. The system tends to prefer to create some diversity in its various integrations as well as keep up the appearance of fairness in allowing the other inhabitants a chance to adjust before unleashing those already experienced with the system. Learning many centuries ago to not ignore my curiosity, as it is often an indicator of potential, I conducted some research.

It turns out, the disappearances are not unique to your world, and they have occurred at least three other times in recorded system history. I’m afraid that I can’t give you more information on your predicament, as my focus was more on the lines of any changes to your personal space. Fear not, none of the instances of summoned beings disappearing resulted in a negative result for the summoned beings, and in most cases, you’ll stand to benefit greatly.

The disturbing information I’ve gained is that your personal space will likely change in a significant way once you’re no longer a summoned being. As my phylactery is linked to your personal space in general, and your reward chest in particular, I believe we may need to make an addendum to our previous agreement.

My studies prevent me from meeting you in person this time, but when you next return for a summoning series, I’ll be there to discuss the terms of a new contract for a potential long-term, disturbance-free residency.

Tzes’zod.

Having my personal space change wasn’t something I’d considered. I could see why the system would change it, though. The personal space and reward chest were more a feature of my life as a summoned being, and probably not something every system integrated person had access to. Hopefully Tzes’zod will have more information when I return next time, information on not just my personal space, but also on my potential future after my term as a summoned being ended.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I turned my attention away from the coming changes and back to the reward chest, opening it to see what the good ranking for my last summoning had given me.

Reward Chest. The Minion Experience Generator has issued 1 experience point to each of your minions.

1. 28 gold.

2. Scroll (elite).

3. Class ability token.

4. Minion experience token (2).

5. Minion equipment token (3).

6. Minion ability/spell token (3).

My ability upgrade token, and the unlabeled scroll were the first things I wanted to examine. First off was the elite scroll, which contained a single-use spell.

Scroll of Diminish Foe. This scroll will cast the elite version of the spell, Diminish Foe. Once cast at a hostile target, Diminish Foe will lower the Tier and Rank of your opponent for a total of 5 minutes per tier of the caster. The change in Tier and Rank is proportional to the disparity in power between the two individuals. As the elite version of this spell, the maximum power reduction of your foe is 1 Tier and 5 Ranks.

Wow, that was a powerful spell and could really help even the odds and turn an unwinnable fight into something manageable during a difficult summoning. The scroll was probably the difference between a poor ranking and an excellent one, so I’d have to be selective on when I used it. I made sure to add it to my loadout before I grabbed and activated my class ability token.

You have unlocked the Revive ability for your class, Foe Commander.

Revive: This spell will instantly recall one of your minions after they have been destroyed. It can only be cast once per summoning, and can only summon minions up to Tier 3, Rank 0. This ability can be upgraded as you increase in Tier and Rank.

A new ability was always a welcome surprise and Revive seemed like it would be a powerful one. It could only be used once per summoning, but bringing back one of my most powerful minions during a tough fight would really turn things around. The fact that it was an ability also meant that I could potentially use it back home and it wouldn’t just be restricted to my summoning sessions.

I’d made out like a bandit with the rewards from the last summoning, now it was time to see how my minions were going to do.

Minion experience tokens.

1. Blieek has gained 15 experience. Blieek has reached Tier 0, Rank 4 and has unlocked the Dodge ability.

2. Digbaz Bazam has gained 15 experience.

After the experience token, Digbaz was at 33/40 experience to the next rank. Any of these experience tokens were pretty much an entire rank for Blieek. His Dodge ability that unlocked would allow Blieek to activate it 1/day for 10 seconds of increased awareness that would allow him a chance to dodge incoming physical attacks. It would do nothing against magic, but I couldn’t expect too much from my rank zero minion upgrades.

Minion equipment tokens.

1. The Mana Slayer Drone’s Stealth Field Generator has reached Rank 3.

2. Blieek has reached Armor, Rank 5.

3. Glem, Glamb, and Glurk have reached Weapons, Rank 4.

The drone’s stealth field generator upgrade to rank three made it so foes targeting him while the field was active faced a 50% miss chance. Blieek had maxed out his armor, which was still a set of studded leather, but he had now added a round wooden shield to the mix. The shield was of decent quality, but nothing special. At least the minion seemed to have also been granted the skill to wield the shield effectively.

Last up for the gear upgrades were the goblin trio. Glem’s spear enchantments added an armor mitigation effect to go with its bonus to hit and damage. Glamb’s two chopping blades added the chance to hit and damage to go along with the bleed effect they could cause. For Glurk, his bow was enchanted to give it a 20% range enhancement as well as a small bonus to hit. Next for the final upgrades, were the three ability/spell tokens.

1. Elida Silverbarrow has reached Personal Shield, Rank 2.

2. Elida Silverbarrow has reached Channel Mana, Rank 2.

3. Khurr has reached Double Shot, Rank 2.

Elida was the big winner here, though both upgrades were minor. Her Personal Shield was upgraded from having the strength of studded leather armor to that of chainmail and her Channel Mana ability dropped its concentration time to six seconds. Khurr’s Double Shot at rank two just added a bonus to hit.

I’d finished up all my rewards and upgrades, and the mana gauge was full, which meant it was time to head back home.