You are Summoned

“We have a few more things to go over before you are set loose on Somhagen once more. By hitting the first tier, you’ve acquired the training center for your personal space,” Minerva said, gesturing toward a new door that was placed on the opposite wall from the armory.

Instead of just pestering Minerva with questions, I entered the training room to get a look at what I had to work with. It was a large, square, open space. There was more than enough room for me to move around in, and the ceilings were at least fifty feet tall, so swinging a weapon overhead wouldn’t destroy the place.

The wood floors and walls were the same as the rest of my personal space, and like the armory, an armor and weapon stand were placed in the room. Along the wall, next to the door, was a rack holding smaller items, including copies of all my summoning figurines. A larger rack held figurines for hundreds of other people and creatures. After giving me a minute to take everything in, Minerva started to explain what the place actually did.

“Your training center will allow you to practice using your abilities, spells, and class features in a simulated environment. It is powered by ambient mana, and once that mana has been used up, you’ll have to wait a while before using the training center again. While inside here, none of your abilities or spells will pull from your personal mana, so there should be no down time during your stay.

“I suggest trying out new abilities and tactics here rather than in the heat of battle. A collection of various opponents can be found next to your personal items. These are unable to harm you, but the system will inform you of what would have occurred if an attack or spell had been real. Why don’t you take a few of your new minions out for a test drive?” Minerva suggested.

I was all for that, a chance to practice before getting cut to pieces or stomped on by a giant was just what I needed. My three current summoning figurines were there, but the expendable ones that I had received as a reward were noticeably absent. One new figurine was present on the rack, it was a miniature version of Fitzfazzle. When I concentrated on it, system information populated.

Due to the class that you have selected, and the fact a reciprocal summoning contract is in force, a new method for your use of the contract has been unlocked. The being you are in a contract with, the gnome known as Fitzfazzle, is now bound to one of your summoning figurines. This figurine is a special item that is linked directly to your mana core and does not reserve mana from your mana pool. Just like your other figurines, it requires only a single mana point to summon.

When activated, Fitzfazzle will be summoned to your side. Once summoned, Fitzfazzle will remain for up to one hour, or until destroyed. He will be equipped with gear comparable to your current rank and tier, though he will enjoy any rank upgrades granted by your class or items.

Once the summoning is complete, a long-term cooldown will begin. The summoning figurine for Fitzfazzle will remain inert until the cooldown is completed. This summoning figurine cannot be lost or stolen, and if taken, it will return to your possession after a short delay. Unlike most items, this figurine is bound to your mana core and can travel between worlds.

I had visions of summoning Fitzfazzle and his MESS to take on the cultists and corporate thugs that were trying to capture me back home. The fact I could take it home and back without any problem was a huge bonus. I was willing to bet the cooldown was going to be long, but it would be fun to let Fitzfazzle get a look at the technology on Earth.

I placed Fitzfazzle’s figurine in my pocket, ready to take it with me wherever I went. The other two, single-use figurines weren’t represented here, but just by thinking about them, the system advised me of another benefit of my class.

You have acquired two consumable summoning figurines. When used, your Foe Summoner class will automatically upgrade these by one rank. The summoning duration for these figurines is doubled, and the mana cost to activate them is set at one. When you reach higher tiers, the Foe Summoner upgrade for consumable figurines will improve.

“To begin training, equip the gear, items, and spells you want to test, and select the opponents you wish to face,” Minerva advised once she realized I was done with the system information.

Looking at the armor stand, I selected my only armor, the padded leather, and the magic war hammer. I also grabbed my magic missile wand for some ranged firepower. For spells, I equipped all the ones I now knew, and pocketed the three figurines I’d created. Since this was practice, I wasn’t going to waste the cooldown on Fitzfazzle or throw away any of my single use items like the figurines or the MESS key.

For opponents, I checked out my options. There were close to a hundred figurines that were placed on five shelves. Some of the opponents were weird things that I had never seen before. The five shelves were placed on top of each other, and the opponents were laid out with the weakest on the top row, and then progressing through various difficulties until I reached the far-right row of the bottom shelf, where a large dragon figurine was placed.

This first go, I selected an orc about halfway down the first row. Minerva told me that I could place it anywhere in the training room, and it was good to practice with your opponents at various distances or coming at you from various directions at once. Not every fight would give me time to prepare and learning to react instantly was going to be key to my success and survival. I merely had to think about starting the fight, and the hostile figurines would activate.

I placed the orc in the far-right corner and returned to the area near the door. Giving my chosen opponent the start command, I fed mana into my ghoul figurine. The orc opponent and my ghoul materialized almost at the same time. With a roar, the orc charged toward us, his club held high and ready to strike.

I gave my ghoul the mental command to attack, and for a moment, I felt the creature try to resist my command. After hissing at me in anger, the ghoul turned and attacked the orc. Ghouls were terrifying, but the orc didn’t seem to care as he swung his club at my minion. The ghoul was not nearly as nimble as the crazy advanced ghouls the necromancer in the sawmill had with him, but it was quick enough to twist away from the club, receiving only a glancing hit to his side.

The ghoul leaped onto the orc, biting, and clawing before the burly green opponent could get another swing in. After a couple of bites, the orc went stiff as a board and fell to the ground, where the ghoul tore into him. Another bite and a slash of the ghoul’s claws ended the fight, the orc disappearing into vapor as the figurine magically returned to the shelf where it had come from. Glancing at the ghoul, the system populated some information on my creature.

Ghoul, undead, Tier 1, rank 0.

Current health, 91%.

Attacks:

Claws.

Bite.

Special abilities:

Paralyze (passive). The bite and claws of the ghoul are covered in gore that infects anyone injured by them with a mild paralytic disease. Each strike increases the chance that the target will stiffen with paralysis and be unable to defend itself for some time.

Hardened claws and teeth (passive). The claws and teeth of the ghoul are unnaturally hard, allowing them to penetrate even heavy armor if enough blows are landed.

Interesting, I could now see the details of what I had originally fought against. The ghouls were nasty, and I was very glad that none of them had managed to scratch or bite me back at the fight inside the barn. I had also seen a swarm of them pry open an armored mech, so I could confirm the hardened teeth and claws special ability was powerful.

Stalking around, the ghoul looked for another opponent. I walked back to the shelves and picked out something from the second row, it was a centaur figure. After placing it where the orc had started, I cast empower minion on my ghoul. As soon as the spell finished, the ghoul grunted in approval as his arms grew another six inches in length and the claw tipped fingers sharpened themselves to a razor’s edge.

Before I activated the centaur, I also summoned my two, tier zero, rank zero minions. The hound looked like a half-starved cur and was a weaker-looking duplicate of the one I almost fought back during one of my first summonings. I kind of felt bad for the pup. My other minion, the dwarf, I didn’t recognize, but I’d fought both a dwarf warrior during an earlier summoning, and more than a few undead dwarves while helping the gnomes.

The system must have taken one of them as the template and watered down its power to fit the tier and rank it was summoned at. My dwarf was about as basic as a humanoid could be. The dwarf was a bit chubby and wore what looked like simple peasant clothes. He didn’t have any weapons or armor, and simply stood there, waiting for my commands.

Trying something out, I tossed the dwarf a knife which he picked up and held in a clumsy grip. This guy wasn’t going to be all that effective, but at least he had something in his hand now that could hurt the centaur. Taking a moment to scan each of my new minions, I got an idea of what they could do.

Mangy cur. Tier 0, rank 0.

Current Health, 100%.

Attacks:

Bite.

Special abilities, none.

Rupert Stonehewer, dwarf commoner. Tier 0, rank 0.

Current health, 100%.

Attacks:

Unarmed strike/untrained simple weapon usage.

Not all that impressive, the pair joined the ghoul as I activated the centaur. Unlike my low tier units, the centaur was impressive. It was huge compared to my minions and held a thick wooden shield in one hand and a spear in the other. With a war cry, the centaur charged toward the nearest target, my ghoul.

I ordered everyone to attack, and at the same time, began casting duplicate on the ghoul. Just after my spell formed, the ghoul was impaled by the centaur’s spear. Screeching, the ghoul tried to claw at the centaur who held him back, kicking with his front hooves when the ghoul pulled himself up the spear, damaging himself further to get close enough to strike.

Rupert and the mangy dog also attacked, the growling dog tried to bite at the centaur’s legs, while Rupert ran in close and started stabbing. A hoof lashed out, crushing Rupert who disappeared in a cloud of mana vapor. Rupert was quickly followed by the ghoul, but not before my spell created a copy of the monster that appeared right next to where the original ghoul had been standing.

The copy attacked, slashing, and biting at the surprised centaur, who was hard pressed to defend himself. Remembering that I was supposed to do more than just be an observer of the fight, I cast Empower Minion on the dog and then fired off Psionic Jolt at the centaur. The dog filled out a bit, looking now like a well-cared for animal that had more pep in his step.

My psionic jolt followed on the heels of the empower spell, and it caused the centaur to flinch in pain, allowing the copied ghoul past his spear and lashing hooves. Once in close, the ghoul dug into the centaur’s chest, and the paralysis kicked in, giving my minions an easy kill on their foe. On their own, the summoned minions weren’t all that great, but when fighting together and supported by my magic, they became much more powerful.

With the initial test out of the way, it was time for some fun. I would surely lose, but I felt that summoning the dragon to be our opponent was something I couldn’t pass up.