Stepping into the portal, the latest information appeared. Once again, I had forgotten to check the gauge to see how many more of these I’d have before being sent home. I’d done one summoning before I went to Somhagen and got a good rating. On my last trip, I’d also scored a good rating, so the gauge should have filled up a solid chunk by now.

Your summoning parameters are as follows:

1. You are being summoned by the illusionist Gilbert.

2. Summoning tier, 0.

3. Summoning rank, 5.

4. Rewards level, minimal.

5. This summons is combat related. Prepare accordingly.

6. Limited autonomy is active.

7. You have chosen to automatically equip your tier 0 loadout.

I stepped out of the portal and into the chaos of a tavern brawl. The tavern was huge, and it seemed like everyone in the place wanted in on the action. My summoner was a man in work clothes that was busy slamming another man’s head into the card table they had been seated at.

“Hey, get over here and watch my back. Don’t kill anyone, just give them a good walloping,” my summoner commanded.

While my summoner worked on his current opponent, I kept an eye out for anyone sneaking up for a sucker punch. It didn’t take long for me to spot the first one. It was a short, stout-looking dwarf that readied his wooden ale mug to smash into my summoner, who I think was named Gilbert.

“Not so fast," I said to the dwarf as I snapped off a front thrust kick into his back. The dwarf stumbled forward into the table next to my summoner. I’d only had a few lessons so far, but Sifu Dan had already drilled into me that I needed to keep up the aggression in a fight. To back off is to risk your opponent getting a second wind.

Closing in on the dwarf, I fired off a pair of jabs into his face, followed up by a knee to the gut. The dwarf shook off my attacks, and grabbed my leg, pulling me forward into his meaty fist. It felt like I’d been hit by a truck, and I almost lost consciousness from just that one blow. Things didn’t stop there either, the dwarf unleashed a flurry of quick punches, pushing me back. I blocked a few of the hits, but the damage was piling up.

After one particularly brutal hit, my fist shot out on its own and nailed the dwarf in the nose. It was a perfect punch from my new ability, Riposte. It was the dwarf’s turn to go on the defensive as I attacked with the small repertoire of attacks I had learned in the dojo. When the dwarf moved in to headbutt me, I slipped to the side and hooked my arm around his neck.

His neck was thicker than anyone’s I’d ever seen, but the dwarf was slow to react, and I was able to lock my choke in place. I slowly applied pressure to cut off the blood supply to his brain. This guy was strong, though, and pushed me back, causing us to topple over.

I kept my grip even as I slammed onto the rough wooden floor of the tavern. The dwarf growled and then started to flail at my arm in a panic. Keeping him locked up for a few seconds more, the dwarf finally lost consciousness and stopped moving. I let go immediately, not wanting to really hurt him. He was breathing just fine and wouldn’t be a problem for a while.

Finding my feet, I followed the mana tether to my summoner. He was only a few steps away, but he was on the ground now and being kicked by a pair of men that looked like they had just walked in off the farm. I ran forward, kicking one away and then swinging on the other. He shook off my first hit and snapped a pair of punches to my face. Everything was spinning when I felt my fist automatically strike again, hooray for Riposte.

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“Help out your buddy,” the summoner said as another punch landed on the side of my head, sending me to the floor once again.

I lay there in a daze, trying to gather my wits and get back into the fight, expecting someone to jump on me at any moment. Nobody else came to attack me and I made it to my knees, shaking off the confusion and looking for my summoner. He was still fighting but had a cut over one eye that half blinded him.

Another man, dressed in leather armor, stood next to the summoner, and he was assisting the summoner in fighting off the two farmers that I had just tried to deal with. A thin thread of mana linked the summoner to the guy in leather armor, telling me that I had bought Gilbert enough time to cast a second summoning spell.

Staggering to my feet, I approached one of the attackers. His back was turned to me, but I had no convictions against hitting a man while his back was turned. Instead of a punch, I swept his legs out from under him. My summoner began to kick the man while he was down, before ordering me to help the other summoned being.

My fellow summoned being was trading blows with the second farmer who was giving as good as he was getting. I joined their duel and swung the tide of battle in our favor. When the other summoned being finally landed a knockout blow on the farmer, we were both panting for breath and the tavern had grown quieter.

Looking around, our little trio were some of the only people still on their feet. I was feeling like a tenderized steak and didn’t relish getting beat on anymore. Instead of ordering me to fight, my summoner raised his voice for everyone to hear.

“Now that was a good fight everyone, the next round is on me!” The summoner shouted. All the patrons of the tavern seemed to have worked whatever was bothering them out of their systems and gave Gilbert a cheer. He was soaking up the attention and I didn’t think he was going to have any more trouble tonight. Buying a round seemed to wipe away any animosity the folks had toward him.

“Now if you’d just offered that before we’d gone to blows, it would have saved me a lot of trouble,” the dwarf said, glaring at my summoner and trying to stumble to his feet.

“Lad, I don’t know what you did to me, but that was the first time in a long time anyone’s been able to best me. Well done,” the dwarf said, giving me a grin and shaking my hand. Gilbert shoved a mug of ale in my hand.

“Here, you may just be mana that I summoned up for the fight, but I think you both deserve a drink after that,” Gilbert said, clinking mugs with me and the other summoned being.

The mana tether between us was thinning rapidly so I started drinking my ale. It was warm, which wasn’t my favorite, but it was good and strong, cutting through the dryness in my mouth. I got two good swigs down before I was unsummoned. Sadly, before I left, I could see the half full mug drop and spill on the tavern floor. It was such a waste of good ale.

Your summoning time has expired.

Your performance rating is calculated as Good.

Your rewards will reflect the summoning tier of 0, rank 5, and your performance rating of Good.

You have earned 5 experience points.

You have earned 3 summoning points.

Your summoning points have been deducted due to an outstanding debt. Your current debt balance is 2 summoning points.

Prepare to return to your personal space.

I appeared back in Rico’s Place to find Minerva gone again. With not much to do other than rock in my awesome new chair, I checked on the return gauge. I had three “good” summoning’s in a row, and it was now just over 85% full. One more summoning should do it. Before I got summoned again, I checked on my loot.

Rico’s Loot.

New Inventory.

1. Copper coins, 118.

2. Silver coins, 28.

3. Nigerian Naira, 25,000.

What the heck was Nigerian Naira? I pulled the money from my chest, surprised to find it was paper currency in 1000-naira denominations. The currency was colorful and had a picture of two guys in odd hats on one side and an official-looking building on the other. So, this is what Nigerian currency looked like, I wish I had some idea what it was worth in US dollars. The prompt when Isaac’s summoning was over mentioned something about compatible world resources, that must be why I was paid in Earth money, even if it was from a country thousands of miles away from me.

I placed the money back in my loot chest. When I left to head home I could take it to the bank, they should be able to exchange currency into US dollars for a small fee. With my loot squared away I took a few minutes to enjoy my rocking chair, waiting for the portal and familiar prompt to appear.

You are Summoned!