My afternoon with Professor Izbix was an interesting one. I’d seen many types of summoners at this point, but watching those with tech-based minions was something else entirely. There were a few different classes represented in the group of students and how they summoned their minions seemed to vary. Some would do like I did and just conjure them up with their mana. A few others used consumable parts that they mashed together to quickly forge their minions.
The types of minions were an eclectic mix, and the majority of the students in the class were focused on regular work, not combat. Their minions were crafted to function in a particular type of job. I could see factories being very interested in these types of summoners. The more martial based summoners had minions similar to my drone, only substantially less powerful.
There were melee and ranged variants, with weapons ranging from bladed or spiked body parts to steam-powered repeating crossbows. I did summon my mana slayer drone for them to inspect, as this was surely the crowd to appreciate it. If my drone was a real person, he would have likely been irritated at all the poking and prodding, including some tests that Professor Izbix ran to try and figure out his armor composition.
The class also peppered me with questions about Earth. I found it amusing that many had a hard time believing that the technology I described was real. It seemed as far-fetched to them as mana had seemed to me when I first became a summoned being. The afternoon class finally wound down, and Professor Izbix thanked me for my time.
I didn’t walk away empty handed, either. The professor gave me a quick tour of the classroom after the students left and showed me some of his personal collection. It turned out that he was rather adept at crafting single-use upgrades to mechanical minions. Not interested in selling them, the professor was willing to trade me for some in exchange for a few of my basic healing and mana potions.
He liked to keep some on hand for any accidents or emergencies in the classroom, and trading to acquire a few of them would save him a trip to town. I traded two of my weakest healing potions and two of the weakest mana potions for three consumables that were compatible with my drone. A quick rundown showed me what the upgrades were capable of. The only downside was that I could only have one upgrade active at a time.
- Power Fist. This upgrade enhances the damage that one limb of your minion will cause. Each hit will deliver 40% more kinetic energy on impact. This is a single use item, and the effects will last for 1 hour upon activation.
- Lesser Targeting Array. This upgrade grants your minion the ability to track invisible and ethereal targets. In addition, the minion may choose to lock onto a target, granting a bonus of 10% to accuracy when engaging the chosen target. This is a single use item, and the effects will last for 1 hour upon activation.
- Flame Armor. This upgrade causes the minions armor to burst into flame on command. These magical flames will not harm your minion, though it should be used with caution among allies. This is a single use item, and the effects will last 1 hour upon activation.
Not a bad deal at all considering I was getting a minor healing potion from the guild for free each time I ran a dungeon. I did want to start stockpiling the potions to bring them back to earth, but a quick trip to the market would allow me to stock up whenever I wanted to. The professor could create these minion consumable upgrades several times a week, so it wasn’t much of a sacrifice for him to trade me a few now and then.
With my trades done, it was time to head to Professor Dalzrin office and see about helping out his friend. I did stop for a quick snack at the cafeteria first, making sure to avoid the spicy crackers this time. This was supposed to be a quick in and out summoning contract, but I didn’t want a growling stomach to distract me when I was in danger.
“Rico, thank you for agreeing to help. I’ve sent a message to Zerallia, and she’ll be waiting for you to arrive before she severs the agreement with her minion. I’ll get the contract ready,” Professor Dalzrin said as I entered his office. A moment later, the contract appeared in front of me along with a system prompt asking if I wanted to accept it.
The Infernal Summoner Zerallia wishes to engage your services to deal with a problematic minion. You are to defend her against any retaliation by this minion once she severs their agreement. The terms and conditions are as follows.
- Protect Zerallia for up to 3 hours after she severs her agreement with the Tier 3, Rank 7 minion, Felljaw. Once the 3 hours have expired, or if you have defeated Felljaw, your contract will be considered complete.
- Summoning conditions. You will be operating inside a warehouse in a temperate climate, with no detrimental environmental factors. After the contract is complete, the being known as Rico Kline will make no mention of Professor Dalzrin’s involvement in brokering this contract.
- For the successful completion of this contract, you will be offered 15 gold, and a pair of useful trinkets. The rewards are held by the being known as Professor Dalzrin. One trinket may be granted prior to the start of the contract, and the coin and other trinket may be retrieved after you have satisfactorily completed your contract.
It was a simple enough offer, and nothing triggered any concerns. My class seemed to streamline things for me, and I doubted that I’d need to consult with Tzes’zod over too many of these. I did read through it a few more times, just to confirm, and to assuage my natural distrust of infernals.
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You have accepted the contract offered by the being known as Zerallia.
“Everything seems in order. The contract mentioned something about a trinket that might help me. I’m going to be a lower tier and rank than my opponent on this one, and I could use all the help I could get,” I said.
“Yes, there are two of these, and I wanted you to have one now, and the other later. Only one can be active at a time, so waiting on the second should present no problems for you,” Professor Dalzrin said, handing me a small necklace. The necklace was a simple leather band with a dark, iron amulet with a red, glowing rune upon it. A system prompt appeared when I held it.
Amulet of Lesser Infernal Protection. When worn, the amulet will activate when attacked by any creature with the Infernal subtype. This amulet will reduce all damage from the listed subtype by 10%. The damage resistance will scale with the Tier and Rank difference between the two combatants, lowering if the foe is more powerful. There is a minimum protection rating of 5%. Once activated, the necklace will remain effective for 24 hours.
Dalzrin hadn’t been lying, something like this would be great in my upcoming fight with Gary. This one would be burned up during the contract, but another would be awaiting me once I returned. Reducing the damage Gary dealt, even by 5%, could be the difference between winning and losing the fight.
“This is perfect, I’m ready to go whenever you are,” I said, tying the amulet in place before double checking that all my gear was where I wanted it to be.
With a nod from the professor, the contract activated. A portal opened and when I stepped through, a system prompt appeared. It looked like the system had gotten its act together and was allowing me to choose minions and abilities before I arrived at the contract location.
Please select the two minions from your barracks that you wish to accompany you on this summoning contract.
- Mana Slayer Drone.
- Elida Silverbarrow.
- Glem, Glamb, and Glurk, Goblin Kill Team.
Since I was likely facing a single powerful foe, I opted for Elida and the drone. The goblins had been great before, but I feared they’d be picked off more easily by whatever this Felljaw was.
You have Chosen the Mana Slayer Drone, and Elida Silverbarrow, Battle Mender. Please select a third minion from the following list of options based on your previous summoning contract.
- Apprentice Necromancer.
- Human cargo wagon team.
- Skeletal Guardian.
It was interesting to see the choices based on my last contracted summoning. The human wagon team would have probably been great in something like my contract with the school, but I doubted it was going to be all that effective against an infernal creature of some type. That left the necromancer and the skeletal guardian. The two were supposed to be similar in power level, but I was more interested in seeing how the necromancer class functioned in combat.
You have selected the Apprentice Necromancer.
The Apprentice Necromancer comes with a small array of offensive and defensive spells, and the ability to summon lesser undead minions. Not skilled in melee combat, the Apprentice Necromancer has only a staff to defend himself with.
Summoner’s Gift has activated. Please select an ability you wish to share with your minions.
- Riposte.
- Switch and Replace.
I had a better choice this time, and Switch and Replace was great for getting out of trouble. With my minions able to activate it, they could really confuse our foes.
Minion Switch and Replace has been selected. This ability can only be used 1 time during the contract period.
This was a weaker and more restrictive version, but it was probably better than Riposte against a single stronger foe. My minions were in charge of my Summoner’s Gift, so I’d have to see which one ended up activating it.
Summoner’s Share has activated. Choose an ability/spell from one of your minions. This ability/spell will remain active for the duration of this summoning contract.
- Mana Drain.
- Personal Shield.
- Summon Skeleton (4).
All three choices were different from the last contract. I ruled out the drone’s Mana Drain ability since it was for melee only. If I was stuck in melee combat long enough for it to be useful, things had already gone horribly wrong. Having a shield follow me around was great but why have a magic shield floating near you when you could summon skeletal minions to block the attack.
You have chosen Summon Skeleton. This ability will conjure up a simple skeletal humanoid to defend you. The range for the spell is 50 yards and it requires line of sight. There are (4) charges to this ability, and no cooldown or mana is required.
With my choices made, I stepped from the summoning portal and found myself inside a vast, empty stone warehouse. There was a musty smell to the place, with a hint of rotten egg.
A young human woman in bright red leather armor stood about twenty feet away. At her side was a huge beast with flames rising from its paws and mouth. I recognized the creature as a hellhound, and it was probably my target for this summoning. The woman gave me a faint grin, patting the hellhound on the head as she addressed me.
“So, you’re Rico Kline, and Dalzrin is more of a fool than my new mentor thought. I’ve heard a lot about you from my mentor, and he sends his greetings,” the woman said, lifting her arm and pointing at me.
“Kill him Felljaw,” she ordered her hellhound.