You are Summoned

I walked back with the soldiers to the village where the gnomes were planning their next moves. Flunzzlebump and his mech, along with a second machine, were patrolling the edge of the forest, keeping watch in case another wave of undead spewed out of it. The remaining two undamaged mechs remained behind at the cave where much of the population was still seeking refuge.

One of the soldiers gave me a small crystal and told me to chew it. I was skeptical, but the crystal dissolved like sugar in my mouth, though it sure didn’t taste like sugar. Within moments, I could feel a warmth pass through my body before settling in my hand and among all the bumps and bruises I’d acquired during the battle.

Pain replaced the numbness in my hand as the healing crystal did its work, but I welcomed the pain, it meant my hand was going to be okay. I was a bit worried when I had lost feeling in it, which might have meant some kind of nerve damage. My body would be healed when I returned home, but I did want to remain helpful here.

We entered the village through the side gate that I’d defended before leaving to fight the zombies at the farm. It was relatively clear of bodies and the main gate facing the forest was a mess that would take some time to clear away. The soldiers posted at the gate looked tired and worn out, but also relieved to be alive.

The village itself was quite a sight. Everything was scaled down to fit the gnomes and I kind of felt like a giant walking around. Most of the residents were back inside the cave complex, but a few brave souls returned to the village, helping with repairs as well as performing the gruesome, but necessary, job of clearing away the bodies of the undead. I was struck by something, given the size of the village, there were far too many soldiers defending the place given the population. Not that I was complaining.

“Rico, you survived, and from what I hear, you racked up an impressive body count,” Fitzfazzle said as we neared the village square.

“I’m glad to see you made it out relatively unscathed. Did the giant zombie damage your MESS?” I asked.

“Yep, I bobbed when I should have weaved, and it got ahold of one of the MESS's legs. Did the same thing happen to you?” Fitzfazzle asked.

“Pretty much, I was covering for the family at the farm, so I couldn’t use my mobility to the fullest,” I said.

“Thank you for that. Zazzlefizz Jr. was a stubborn one and refused to evacuate when the order came down. I hear he paid for that stubbornness with his life, but his family made it to safety, thanks to you,” Fitzfazzle said.

“What happens now, and do you know how long I have here before the summoning is completed?” I asked.

“Want to leave already? No, you wouldn’t want to miss out on all the action, would you? As far as how long you’ll stay, you’ll be here until you croak, or until we defeat the enemy,” Fitzfazzle said.

“I’m not looking to back out, I just wanted to confirm that I wasn’t missing anything as far as the summoning went,” I assured the gnomes, not wanting them to think I was trying to shirk my duty.

“I figured as much. As far as what happens now, we need to track down where these undead are coming from. The army has gathered here, but I can’t keep everyone at the village indefinitely. The soldiers need to return to their home villages before long if we want to get the crops in,” Fitzfazzle said. So that was the reason why there were so many soldiers, the gnomes had other settlements that had contributed forces to help defend here.

“Maybe I can help a bit as far as the source of all this trouble. Back at the farm, after the giant fell and my mech was destroyed. I heard a necromancer named Pharox talking with some of his acolytes. He left the acolytes here to run the battle for him, and he said that he was going back to the crypt, wherever that might be,” I offered.

“We need to track down those acolytes, if they have other undead forces nearby, the danger here is greater than we thought,” Fitzfazzle said, starting to shout orders to the soldiers nearby.

“No, hold on,” I interrupted before Fitzfazzle could send the soldiers on a wild goose chase. “The acolytes won’t be a problem; I took them out. You can find their bodies back on the farm. I didn’t check them, but maybe they had something on them that might help you figure out where they’re based out of,” I offered.

“Good, very good. I thought their final attack was a bit crude. Without anyone ordering them around, the zombies just went after the nearest target, and we mowed them down. Let me get word to Master Fazzlemore, he might have a seer he works with that can find this crypt you mentioned,” Fitzfazzle said.

“Anything I can do to help now? The MESS is toast, but maybe I can join the other soldiers for the fight,” I offered.

“Don’t worry about your mech, we can get that hammered back into shape. The magic missile wands will take a while though. Not enough mages to charge them since all our magic support were drained of mana during the fight. The city will be dark tonight, but we can make do with old fashioned torches,” Fitzfazzle said.

Taking a closer look at the city, I could see streetlamps that looked out of place for a medieval village. It wasn’t just that, the streets were paved with a sort of concrete and cobblestone combination. Several of the homes had contraptions built on the outside of them, but I had no idea what they did. None of the contraptions seemed to be working, but if the mages that would normally power them were working on the war effort, little mana could be spared for creature comforts.

Every mage in the village and the ones that traveled from the other villages to join the army would be using all their mana to help build and charge up the mechs. They’d also have to create and charge the wands we had mounted to the mechs. Mana seemed to regenerate quickly, but powering the mechs must have taken an immense amount of mana. In a time of peace, I’d love to get a look at how things operated inside the village.

“Hey, Fitzfazzle, we can use him in the shop, he’s got a good brain in that oversized noggin of his,” one of the gnomes gathered with Fitzfazzle asked. The gnome was dressed in coveralls with various tools attached to him. A floppy, oversized top hat with a long feather stuck in it covered his head.

“Sure thing Lumpy, put him to work, but don’t forget to feed and water him,” Fitzfazzle said. The gnome named Lumpy motioned for me to follow as he led me through the village and back toward the cave.

We stopped at a well and drank our fill. For the first time during a summoning, I was feeling thirsty. Normally, I was gone from a summoning one way or another long before I needed to eat or sleep. Back at Rico’s Place, I was sustained by system and didn’t need anything. Now, on this extended summoning, I’d have to worry about a few more things.

“Lumpy, do you mind if I ask you some questions?” I asked.

“Sure, have at it, I’ll answer whatever you want. It was my brother-in-law that ran the farm, and while he got his fool of a self killed by zombies, I understand you’re responsible for saving my sister, her kids, and Zazzlefizz Senior,” Lumpy said.

“Sorry for your loss, and I’m glad I was able to help save them,” I offered, not quite sure what to say about his brother-in-law, so I jumped right into my question. “Fitzfazzle said he could fix my mech, shouldn’t that take a long time?” I asked, curious if repairs were magical or if they were going to have to turn some wrenches to get things fixed.

“Fitzfazzle and some of the other mages are specialized in technical magic. You know, doing stuff like creating the mana lights for the city, waste disposal combobulators, samophlanges, that sort of thing. He’s the one that came up with the idea of converting the harvesters into our MESS units. We’re going to have to gather the crops the old-fashioned way this year, but I’d rather sweat in the fields than be overrun with undead,” Lumpy said.

“Let me know if this is crossing the line, but how did you get the name Lumpy? It doesn’t strike me as a very gnomish name,” I asked cautiously, not wanting to offend.

“Yeah, human, what do you know about gnomes,” Lumpy said with a scowl on his face.

“I’m sorry…” I started to say before I was interrupted by Lumpy.

“Ah, I’m just pulling your chain. They call me lumpy because of my head. A fire in the smelter burned my hair clean off and it never grew back. I think they’re all jealous of my smooth looks,” Lumpy said as he doffed his top hat to give me a good look. Just like he said, the top of his head was covered in smooth scar tissue with no hair showing. True to his name, his head was a bit lumpy now that I got a good look at it.

“Don’t worry about my noggin, worry about yours and getting that brain inside working overtime. We’re going to get started on our new MESS, a scaled-up version designed specifically for war. I’m going to call them a BIG MESS, and you’ll get to help me design them,” Lumpy said as we made it to the cave. Designing a new war mech was not the worst way to spend the next few days.

“Just think of all the firepower and destruction we’ll create,” Lumpy said with a bloodthirsty look plastered on his face. The guy was even rubbing his hands together in anticipation, just like a cartoon villain. Gnomes looked like friendly happy people, but I was reminded to not get on their bad side. They had a vengeful streak and the know-how to make you suffer if you did them wrong.

The poor necromancer didn’t have any idea what was coming his way.