The summoned market was only two streets north of the apothecary shop. It was nestled up against the wall separating the first and second tier of the city. When I had visited the summoned market that was outside the walls of city, it had been a simple tent. Here, it occupied a storefront. As with the previous shop, it was painted orange for some reason. At least the color scheme made it rather easy to spot.

As I approached the shop, I noticed several people standing outside, each trying to get the attention of the customers either entering or leaving the shop. They didn’t look like employees of the place, and they were dressed in what passed for nice, but normal clothing in the city. One, an odd humanoid that looked like a mix between a mouse and a halfling, made a beeline toward me as I tried to get inside.

“Good sir, may I inquire if you are a summoned being?” the three-foot-tall creature asked. I was a bit taken aback, not expecting a mouse person to be talking to me.

“Sorry, I’ve got some business inside,” I replied, trying to brush past him politely. The last thing I needed was to create another problem like I had gotten myself into with that Bixby guy.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but if you would just hear me out for one minute, I’ll pay you a silver for your time,” the mouse said, holding up a silver coin in front of me.

Not one to pass up free money, I paused for a moment. I’d been invited to those vacation seminar scams before, where they give you a prize, but you had to sit through their entire spiel. I knew this was likely Somhagen’s version of it, but I could endure hearing him out for one minute if he paid me.

“You got sixty seconds, go,” I said as I snatched the coin out of his hand and placing it in my pouch.

“Thank you, I’ll be quick. I assume you are a summoned being and this is your first visit to this tier of the city?” He asked. I nodded; it was pretty obvious what I was since I was trying to get into the shop that catered only to summoned beings.

“Excellent. What you may not be aware of is that once you hit the first tier, you may sign contracts to participate in various summonings. You can review the type and duration of the summoning before agreeing, and you’ll be paid a small retainer in addition to the normal rewards you receive at the end of the summoning. I know my time is almost up, but if you would like to earn some extra coin doing what you’ll be doing anyway, just visit our nearby shop, Contracted Summonings LTD. Hand them this voucher, and you’ll get a bonus of five silver upon completion of your first contract,” the man said.

“Your minute’s up. I’ll consider it,” I replied. The mouse-man moved out of my way and gave me a friendly wave goodbye as I left to enter the shop.

“Thank you, good sir, I hope we can do business together!” He shouted after me as I walked inside the summoned market. As I entered, I looked at the voucher he had handed me.

This voucher entitles the summoned being to a bonus of 5 silver upon completion of the first contract. There is a performance requirement of at least a rating of Poor to remain eligible for the bonus. This voucher must be endorsed by an official recruiter to remain valid.

Signed,

Pakrinas

Tier 1 recruiter.

Weird, but interesting if this was legit. From what this Pakrinas guy had said, I would know the type of summoning that I’d get, and if I could get a bonus just for doing a summoning like I normally would do, it could be a good gig. Maybe I’d check it out, but first, I need to find some new skills and abilities while I was here.

I did remember that Minerva had recommended an information broker she said I could trust, Lavelle Varnoth, and his shop was supposed to be nearby. If I had the time, and if his fees weren’t too exorbitant, I’d ask about the contract deal. Maybe he could also give me some tips on this arena thing that I was supposed to enter.

“Honored summoned being, welcome to our market. May I assist you in a purchase today?” One of the attendants, a young-looking elvish woman dressed in the orange robe that seemed like the uniform for this place, asked.

“Thanks, I’m looking for some skills and abilities for tier one. Can you point me in the right direction?” I asked.

“Certainly, though I should warn you that the abilities we offer for that tier are quite numerous. Perhaps, if you tell me what you are hoping to find, I can narrow down your search?” The attendant offered.

“That’s a good question, do you have any suggestions for someone that’s kind of new to all this?” I asked.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“While I can’t recommend specific abilities, at this tier, our clients are typically trying to shore up either combat abilities, spell selection, or something to make their life easier,” she said.

I couldn’t help but notice she avoided asking me what my class was. Just like Lumpy had told me, it was considered rude to outright ask someone. What did I need? First off, something that would work just as well at home as it did during a summoning. Other than that, maybe a way to conserve my mana or unlock an additional skills that would improve the efficiency of my Foe Summoner stuff.

“I come from a world without mana, do you have anything that doesn’t require mana to activate? Also, anything that improves efficiency would be a good start.” I said.

“I think we can accommodate that, though I do remind you that most of the skill and ability scrolls we have merely offer you a selection from among a few random options. I can’t guarantee exactly what options you might be offered, but there should be some things here that might help you. Why don’t we start with some tier zero offerings. If you already possess a skill in one of these categories, we can go to the tier one upgrade if you wish,” the attendant said as she led me further into the shop.

Where the other shop resembled an old record store, this one looked much nicer. The ability and skill offerings were displayed on shelves like in a bookstore, and you didn’t need to paw through stacks of stuff to find what you wanted. Things were arranged by the tier and type of upgrade they offered.

New spells would be nice, but mana and gear rating were the bottlenecks to my growth. There was no guarantee that the spells offered would be upgrades over what I had. We stopped in front of a rack that was labeled physical skills. It was nearly full, but many were duplicate offerings. I took a look at a few titles.

Basic weapon skills.

Basic unarmed combat skills.

Basic ranged weapon skills.

Basic polearm skills.

Basic rogue skills.

It was all pretty generic, and I wasn’t sure if another combat skill was going to be that much of a help. I was a bit more interested in what a rogue skill might be, and after thinking for a moment, having an unarmed fighting skill would always be worthwhile, both at home and during a summoning. Still, I was looking for something a bit better suited to my class.

“Can you answer a question for me that’s not related to shopping?” I asked

“Within reason,” the attendant said, getting a more serious and suspicious look on her face. Oh great, she thinks I might be a creeper or something.

“It’s nothing weird, it’s just that I know asking about someone’s class is considered offensive, and perhaps dangerous. How can you truly offer the best help to someone if you don’t know exactly what they need?” I hurriedly asked. Her expression softened a bit as she replied.

“I see, and yes, asking about class information is considered offensive and something that could get you hurt if you have acquired powerful enemies that seek to harm you with the information they receive. As an attendant of the summoned market, I am bound by both my oath, and through a geas from disclosing any information I learn about our clients.”

“Why didn’t you just say that in the first place?” I asked, getting a bit annoyed with the woman.

“It’s another restriction we are placed under, you must be the one to ask about class revelation in order to prevent any unintended offenses from occurring. Now that you’ve broached the subject, if you wish, you may share your class information and I’ll help you as much as I can,” she offered. It was a gamble, but this shop seemed to be highly regulated by the system.

“Do I have any assurance that what you said is correct, I don’t mean to imply that you’re lying, but if you were, and my information came into the wrong hands, like you said, it could be dangerous for me,” I said.

“When you request to share information, you will see the restrictions that the system is placing on me. I’ll initiate the exchange if that makes you feel a bit more secure in your decision,” she told me as a system prompt appeared.

The summoned market attendant, Meara, has requested an exchange of class information. Meara is under geas and verbal bond to not disclose your information to any third party. If she violates her obligation, severe consequences, both physical and financial, will be imposed by the system. Do you wish to disclose your class, skill, ability, and spell book information to this person? Y/N.

It looked like my privacy was going to be enforced by the system which was as good as I could hope for. I allowed her access to my information, and she stood there, looking contemplative as she held her chin in her hands. After a few moments, Meara came to a decision.

“A rather interesting type of class you have, and one that lends itself to your home world much better than a typical summoner. I can see that you’d need a way to mitigate mana costs in a way that will not be affected when you return to a mana starved world. I have something that might help,” Meara said as she moved quickly to several shelves and grabbed a few scrolls.

“Remember that there is no guarantee that the choices you are offered will be exactly what you’re looking for. Ability slots are limited so choose what you think is best. I’ve also included some physical skills from tier zero that might offer a good option for you,” Meara said as she handed me the six scrolls that she had gathered. I read the titles of her suggestions, and two were the ones I’d already considered. Each one had the summoning point cost written on it.

Basic unarmed combat skills (10).

Basic rogue skills (10).

Tier 1 mana conservation abilities (25).

Tier 1 gear efficiency abilities (25).

Tier 1 summoner spells (25).

Tier 1 protection spells (25).

“Other than skill and ability scrolls, do you have other things to offer here? I don’t want to miss out on something if I go overboard on the scrolls,” I asked. My summoning point total was sitting at a healthy 131, but I didn’t want to waste a single point if I could help it.

“Yes, we do. The market offers gear and weapons, accessories, and consumables. At this tier, selection will be limited for many of these categories. Would you like to peruse what we offer before you make your final choices regarding spells, skills, and abilities?” Meara asked.

“Absolutely, let’s get some shopping done,” I said, getting more than a little excited over what I might find.