Regaining my feet, I gave the spider a hard kick to the abdomen. I could feel something crack as the blow hit, and spider scuttled back a bit as it sought to put distance between itself and the source of its pain. It dragged the goblin along for the ride, but to my surprise, the little green guy clung tight to monster’s leg and had already chewed through most of it.
My human companion wasn’t looking so well, and the venom the spider had just pumped into him was working fast. Still, he was forced to keep going just as the rest of us were. He staggered forward and the spider struck a second time, latching onto his leg with another, venom-filled bite. I aimed a kick at the spider’s head, hitting it hard, and breaking the hold on its victim.
The other human flopped onto the stone floor of the chamber, lying there for a moment before dissolving into a small cloud of rapidly dissipating vapor. It was my first look at what happened after a summons was over. The man had been pulled back into the void and was enjoying his debrief in safety while I continued the fight with the spider.
Turning toward me, the spider started to attack. Before it could reach me, the spider stumbled. My goblin buddy had chewed through the spider’s leg completely and was grabbing onto another for a second course. I wasted no time, stomping and kicking the spider for all I was worth. The shoes I wore had dealt with dozens of the spider’s lesser kin over the years, and I was looking to add this big daddy version to my kill count.
Our prior attacks had injured the spider and it was having trouble deciding which of us to deal with next. I didn’t give it a chance to decide. After my fifth kick, I could feel the exoskeleton protecting the spider’s head crack. My next strike caved in the monster’s head and my foot was covered in nasty spider goop. The monster collapsed on the floor as I waited to see if it was playing dead or not.
Several seconds passed and I waited for the monster to stand up and attack, but it looked like my little goblin friend and I had chalked up a kill. The compulsion to continue our task kicked in and I was forced to walk back into the chamber occupied by that Vizberon guy. We made it back safely and I stopped near my summoner to wait for further instructions.
“They ran into something, the other human’s gone,” the man with the sword and shield said.
“It doesn’t matter, their summoning time is almost over. Let me get the new batch summoned and we can investigate what they found,” the mage said.
Looking at the link between us, I could see it was getting rather dim, and would run out shortly. I had picked up some useful information from my last summons. The elderly elf guy had mentioned that summoning a tier zero, rank zero creature, like me, would last a minute per tier and rank of the caster. This guy had three summons active at once, which meant he had to be at least a few tiers higher than the apprentice that had summoned me the last time.
The elf instructor had also said that it was easier to let a summons expire and summon something new rather than to try to keep pumping mana into it. Vizberon seemed to be doing just that. His first summons replaced the man we had lost. This time, it was another human, a rather corpulent woman in her thirties. She was also dressed in some kind of medieval style clothing which meant she was unlikely to be from my home planet.
The mage started on his next cast, which would likely replace the goblin. I had been the last one summoned, so I figured that I was last in line for the exit. When the spell was finished, the goblin disappeared in a puff of vapor and another human stood in his place.
This new guy was looked to be in his twenties and was decked out in shorts, a Hawaiian shirt, and a pair of blue Vans slip-ons. With his outfit and hipster facial hair, I concluded that this was another earthling. Unfortunately, the restrictions on our summoning didn’t allow us to speak, but I could see the same recognition in his eyes. We both wanted to chat about our circumstances, but there was no way we could.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
“Hold, I hear something coming. Defensive positions!” The guard with the crossbow shouted, causing the workers lazing about to jump into action. I could hear something in the distance, more of that clicking sound the spider’s legs had made on the floor. This time, there wasn’t just one spider on its way to attack. The workers looked on the verge of panic as they gathered up various tools to use as makeshift weapons.
“Grab a weapon and defend the entrance,” Vizberon ordered. I followed the other two summoned folks over to the nearest item I could use as a weapon, an unlit torch. It was far from an ideal weapon, but the solid wooden haft of the torch would make an okay club. It was sure better than trying to deal with giant spiders using only your hands and feet.
After grabbing the club, I jogged over to the entrance of the chamber just as the lead spiders made their appearance. The middle-aged woman responded first, charging in with a stick of firewood she had picked up. I was right behind her with the hipster on my left. We didn’t make it to the doorway before more spiders started to crawl inside.
The woman hammered the lead spider on the head with her makeshift club, the blow made a disturbing crunching sound that told me the spider wasn’t having a good day. I zeroed in on a target, a spider trying to sneak around our group. It turned toward me and raised its front legs while baring its fangs. Slimy venom dripped from the fangs as it waited for me to enter striking distance.
I wanted nothing more than to turn and run, but the summoning compulsion drove me forward. Just before the spider could strike, a crossbow bolt slammed into its face, penetrating deep and causing the monster to squeal in pain. I didn’t know that spiders could make such noises, but I was glad it was distracted. Thrusting my torch like a small spear, I stabbed the spider near where the crossbow bolt had gone in.
Scrambling backwards, the spider tried to use its legs to knock the bolt out, but only succeeded in breaking off the shaft and pushing the point deeper into its face. I didn’t relent and continued to club the spider, shattering a leg it raised to defend itself, and then going to town on its body. After a few more blows, I was completely out of breath, but the spider was down. It had done that weird roll over on its back and curl up its legs thing when it died, just like the small spiders at home did.
Unable to stop and rest, I turned back toward the fight. My duel with the spider had pushed us back against the wall of cavern and away from the entrance. That proved to be a good thing for me, as the flow of spiders hadn’t abated yet. At least a dozen spiders were inside the chamber fighting with the group of workers and the two guards. They were trying to hold off the horde, but more spiders were pushing past, a few even crawled along the ceiling to drop on top of their victims.
I moved toward the nearest spider, one that was smaller than the others I had fought. This one was the size of a large cat, and while it was smaller, it was lightning fast. It sensed my approach and scuttled forward, dodging my first blow with the torch. Rearing up, the spider sank its fangs deep into my thigh, I could feel the bite skid off the bone in my leg as it dug deeper.
Now, I had been hurt before, and even broke my arm pretty badly in high school, but nothing I had faced before today compared to the pain I was experiencing right now. The bite itself was like two knives being driven into me, but the venom was much, much worse. It felt like I was on fire as the venom began to spread through my system. The spider grabbed onto me with its legs, refusing to let go as I hammered away at its body.
More venom was pumped into the wound and the burning feeling spread, causing me to drop to the ground. Nobody was there with a crossbow to save me this time, and after a few seconds I could no longer move. The spider detached from my leg and crawled up my chest. I could only look on in horror as it made a small bite in my chest and then in my neck, pumping more of its venom inside me.
My mind started to fade, and I was feeling drowsy as the little spider scurried away and back into the fight. A larger spider approached and began to spin me around, wrapping my body in webbing. I caught a few glimpses of the fight as I was being wrapped up. Things weren’t going well for my side and the spiders had overrun the defenders. A few people were still putting up a fight, but most were down and being wrapped up tightly like I was.
You have succumbed to venom and perished. Your summons is considered complete. Standby for integration as a summoned being.