You are Summoned

Chapter 240. Noise Complaint.

“We are under threat,” I told the butler nearest me, using the phrase that Chaladoom had taught me to say when I needed extra protection. Dealing with Gary was never a risk-free endeavor so I figured it would be wise to get every bit of help we could. As I began summoning my minions, the six staff members of the personal space transformed.

Instead of waiting patiently with a beverage for me, the three butlers were suddenly equipped with steel breastplates and longswords. The three maids wore leather armor and had crossbows loaded and ready to fire. They also spread out around me, the butlers up front, and the maids taking cover behind some of the furniture.

They looked to me for further orders, and I had them just stand ready in case something hostile came out of Gary’s door. To back them up, I summoned my minions. The process of going from the contracted summoning and back to my personal space seemed to have reset the timers for the fallen minions.

Before knocking on Gary’s door, I took a moment to equip my gear. Returning to my personal space might reset the cooldown on my minions, but it also placed all my gear back into the armory. Once armed and armored, and with a small army of minions and household staff ready to defend me, I approached Gary’s door.

“I’ll assist in any way possible, Rico,” Tzes’zod said. The undead negotiator stood from behind the desk, and I felt him pulling mana into a spell. He then floated a foot over the floor and moved to position himself on my right, just past one of the armed butlers. A system prompt appeared a second later.

The spell Bone Armor has been cast upon all friendly allies within the room.

A swirl of bones appeared around my body for a moment before disappearing. While the bones faded from view, I could still feel that they were ready to appear instantly and absorb any damage headed my way.

In addition to Tzes’zod’s spell, I got a mental note from Melvin that he was ready to fight if needed. My gelatinous minion was sliding along the roof from the training center and making his way toward Gary’s door. I ordered him to stay back, not wanting to risk some fiery creature from Gary’s realm burning him to a crisp.

“Here goes nothing,” I said giving the door a firm knock. The surface of the door looked like thick, worn wood that was reinforced with iron bands. An ominous red glow pulsed from the cracks in the door, and when my knuckles knocked on the door, it felt oddly warm. Even worse, the wood didn’t feel quite like wood, it had a soft, fleshy give to it, that was more than disturbing.

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but for a while nothing happened. The noise had also not reappeared, and the personal space wasn’t shaking like an LA earthquake anymore. After a few long minutes, a scroll was pushed under the door. Hesitant, I looked toward Tzes’zod who scrutinized the scroll for a moment before shrugging and motioning for me to grab it. The paper felt as odd as the door, and I tried really hard not to think about what, or who, it was made from.

“Let me examine that before you open it,” Tzes’zod suggested. I gladly handed the note over. The undead negotiator stood there with his faintly glowing eye sockets focused on the object before he handed it back to me.

“Is it safe?” I asked.

“While I would never assume anything handed to you under a door to an evil demi-plane was safe, I sense no threats with this scroll,” Tzes’zod replied. I broke the simple wax seal and began to read, expecting to be turned into a toad or set on fire at any moment.

Rico,

Hey there buddy, sorry about the noise. I was doing some renovations and part of the work team I’d teleported in through our portal turned out to not be what they seemed. There was a little scuffle that you probably felt and heard, but trust me, no permanent damage was done to your personal space or the expansion.

While I can’t promise there will never be a disturbance again, I’ve got some pretty persistent enemies lurking around out there, I will make sure there is no threat to you. Yeah, I know, I know, we have a mutual defense deal going on, but, um, you and your team really didn’t want, or need to be present for the kerfuffle we just dealt with.

Don’t worry, I’ll still send help if you ever need us, but I won’t force you to aid me if it serves no purpose. Now, with all that being said, I’ve attached a little “I’m sorry” gift to apologize for the disturbance. I hope it helps.

Your best buddy, and the coolest neighbor ever,

Gary.

As I finished reading, the scroll rolled itself up again, and the texture shifted from the odd material to something more akin to the parchment that I associated with the other magic scrolls I’d used before. After the scroll finished its little transformation, the system filled me in on what it was that Gary had gifted me with.

Scroll of Eternal Suffering. This powerful scroll will inflict massive true damage on any target you designate. Depending on the Tier and Rank of your target, they may be able to resist some of the effects of this scroll. Despite its name, the scroll’s duration is limited to 10 seconds. The duration of the damage over time inflicted by the scroll might be limited, but the scroll itself is not. Once used, the scroll will be consumed and then reappear in your inventory after a week has passed.

“That is a very powerful item, Rico. There are very few ways to mitigate true damage,” Tzes’zod said as I placed the scroll into the armory and added it to my loadout.

“It’s not going to like suck up my soul or form some kind of contract with Gary when I use it, is it?” I asked, loving that the scroll seemed powerful, but cautious of any obligations that using it might incur.

“No, it is like any other magical item you use, and is of no threat to you unless you foolishly target yourself with it,” Tzes’zod confirmed.

“Thanks,” I replied, letting the workers know that the threat was over so they could revert into their non-combat uniforms. With that little bit of excitement over with, I continued with the minion upgrades that I’d been granted. Upon activation, the system began to randomly assign the four minion equipment tokens I’d been given.

Khurr has received a weapon upgrade. His weapon rank is now 1.

Elida Silverbarrow has received an armor upgrade. Her armor rank is now 3.

Elida Silverbarrow has received an armor upgrade. Her armor rank is now 4.

Elida Silverbarrow has received a weapon upgrade. Her weapon rank is now 1.

Elida was the big winner for gear this time, but I was glad to see Khurr finally get his first upgrade as well. I pulled up both minions to see what the upgrades had done for them.

Elida Silverbarrow, halfling healer. Tier 1, Rank 2.

Equipment:

Armor, Rank 4. At this Rank, Elida’s wears a steel breastplate over a set of leather armor.

Since they were already summoned, I got to not only see the system description, but also the actual effect of the upgrade. Elida looked more heavily armored than my goblin trio now. The breastplate wasn’t bulky and was sized perfectly for the small halfling frame of my minion.

With leather armor underneath, the breastplate would provide better protection over the critical areas, and not hamper her movement in any way. I didn’t get to see what the rank three upgrade was, the system skipped the description on it and had gone right to rank four. With Elida squared away, I checked on Khurr.

Khurr, gnoll scout. Tier 0, Rank 6.

Equipment:

Weapons, Rank 1. At this rank, Khurr wields a hand crossbow and has a steel shortsword as a backup weapon.

A look over at my minion confirmed the dagger had been replaced by a simple, steel shortsword in a crude leather sheath. His hand crossbow also looked less rickety, and the arms on the weapon were a bit longer, giving it more punch. Last up on the minion upgrades was the experience token.

Khurr has received 15 experience.

Khurr has reached Tier 0, Rank 7.

Khurr has unlocked a new ability, Double Shot.

Khurr, gnoll scout. Tier 0, Rank 7.

Experience 10/20.

Double Shot. This ability can be activated 1/day and will allow Khurr to fire two shots at once, doubling his damage for one strike. Your minion will control when, and at which target, he will use this ability on.

Khurr was up to rank seven and with his new weapon upgrade, the Double Shot skill should give him a nice bump in damage. Too bad the minion was the one controlling when it was used, and I wouldn’t be able to choose the target. All of my minion upgrades were done with, and it had been a nice haul.

Now, my last, and most mysterious reward awaited, the Dungeon Gift.