I woke up feeling like a kid on Christmas morning. I felt well rested, my body was no longer in pain and best of all, I had a new spell to explore. Whatever the spell turned out to be, I am not going to be disappointed. Even though I have yet to see any creature summon, all my spells so far have been useful and had been fun to use. I am still annoyed about the fireball. However, I can tell myself that it doesn’t count since it was from a book and not my class.

In fact, I didn’t expect to see any kind of summon creature spell in my list. Expecting one so far has only led to disappointment. And who knows, maybe not wanting a creature summon will finally give me a creature summon, reverse psychology or something.

Nope, summoner probably has nothing to do with summoning lifeforms. I mean it would be a bit too overpowered for someone to command an army that could farm experience for them, right? I was resigned that my fantasy of sitting back while my summoned creatures do all the work was never going happen.

After mentally preparing myself, I looked over my status.

Name: Reigner

Race: Human

level: 4

Class: Summoner

Health: 1300/1300

HP Regen: 1.6/minute

Stamina: 2370/2370

SP Regen: 81/minute

Mana: 470/470

MP Regen: 24/minute

Strength: 96

Constitution: 74

Dexterity: 89

Intelligence: 16

Wisdom: 14

Skills:

Appraise Item (5) +

Axe One-handed (5)

Axe Two-handed (5)

Blunt One-handed (7)

Counter (22)

Dodge (11) +

Parry (10)

Polearms (5)

Shield (5)

Small Blades (5)

Spear (6)

Sword One-handed (27)

Sword two-handed (5)

Unarmed (12)

Weapon Throwing (17) +

Spells:

Identify (7) +

Mana Marble (2)

Summon Armour (0)

Summon Campfire (1) +

Summon Weapon (2)

There it is. Summon armour. Maybe I don’t have to worry about Miko ruining my clothes anymore.

Summon Armour

Rank: 0

Cost: 20+ MP per item

Effect: 20hp

Description:

Summon armour that provides some protection against the elements. Absorbs damage equal to mana invested above summon cost. Each level increases maximum investment.

You may summon five types of armour: Head, Chest, Hands, Legs, Feet.

Item defence will be determined by spell rank.

Summoned Armour will last for 10 hours.

As expected, it’s not a summon that could fight for me. I am not sad, I am not angry, everything is okay. On the bright side. This spell did not encourage me to gain skills in a profession. Something I am grateful for. I have to admit the timing was excellent as I had run out of shirts. I wonder what Miko’s expression will be once she discovered ruining my clothes was now meaningless.

Just as I was about to rise and test out the spell, I felt someone loom over me. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw Burin staring down at me. I couldn’t make out his expression as his face was in shadow. He was shaking and I felt something wet land against my cheek.

Burin said something under his breath, and I only managed to catch the end of it “…your fault.”

He reached down towards me and pulled off my sleeping blanket.

Not sure what he was doing, I sat up and watched the dwarf. His face changed from one of grief to surprise. His eyes were watery and wet lines could be seen running down the sides of his cheeks. He reached out and touched my left shoulder, lifting my arm and turning it this way and that. “Ye skin is pristine… What happened to your burns?” He dropped my arm, took a step back and turned his back to me.

I looked over my body and sure enough, did not have a single singe or scar on it. The many old and pale scars I had from my time as a hero were now completely gone. I could not find a single scratch or mar on my chest or stomach. Mr.T really went all out. I was saved from trying to make up some excuse to Burin as he started talking again.

“Torva… Olwirck… Thrin…” He let out a small sob. “They were asking about you. About the latest human to step out the toybox. Knew ye by name.” He turned around and faced me. Tears streaked down the side of his face. “They knew ye’d came to the goblin fort. Torva… She refused to tell them anything.” He balled his fists and started taking in deep breaths. “If ye just nay showed up they would be… I would still…” He met my eyes and I could see anger and grief battling against each other in his eyes. “You killed them! It’s your fault they are dead!”

I pulled myself to my feet and walked past the small mountain of frustration. “Meet me outside,” was all I said to him as I opened the tent flap and walked past the campfire. Sunlight was streaming through gaps in the trees. Not much made it through, but it was enough to turn the landscape into a mottled beauty. There were no glowing mushrooms to be seen. The forest looked very different than just a few hours before.

I heard the heavy footfalls of Burin stepping out of the tent as I summoned two wooden clubs and two shields.

+1 to Summon Weapon Spell rank.

The joy of progressing my spell rank felt bitter in the face of Burin’s grief. I tossed him a set of the wooden weapons and readied myself into a combat stance. No words were needed. What he really needed was a target to work out his anger on. Burin picked up the weapons and ran towards me, shield out front and club held high.

I did not keep track of time as Burin took out his frustrations in combat, but it was long enough for him to break three clubs and two of my shields. At first, he was all fury, giving no mind to his own defence and attacked without form or reason. After a while I noticed he started getting serious with his movements, positioning his body and feet correctly to generate more power with each swing. He also started to defend himself from my attacks. After a while his strikes weakened and eventually dropped both his club and shield while gasping for breath. We both looked battered and worn. I let him hit me on occasion and punished him with a whack or two whenever he made any big mistakes.

Burin fell to his knees and looked at me. He still had tears running down his face and appeared exhausted, but there was an acceptance there. During my time as hero, before I entered the tower, I lost many companions, instructors that were kind to me, friends I had made, and fellow adventurers that wanted to keep the city safe. Doesn’t matter how many times you go through it.

Burin moved his mouth, and it took a second before he managed to form a word. “Why?” was all he got out.

The grief of losing someone you care about leaves a hole inside you that can be all consuming if you dwell on it for too long. Anger, shame, denial, guilt, are all part of the process and if not careful can lead you to some dark places. At some point, if you don’t give in to that darkness, you can get to acceptance.

Burin’s head was now hanging low, and he just stared at the torn ground between us. “Because you are weak.”

But just because you have accepted the loss doesn’t mean you are not still pained by it. Loss is something every person picks up and is, ironically, something we can never put back down. We can only learn to live with it.

He raised his head and looked at me. Anger and shame written on his face.

I threw my weapons to the ground. “You can’t protect anything the way you are now. If you want to stop people from taking from you then you need the strength to stand up to them. You need to become strong. So strong that no one dares fuck with you… And once you have that strength… Remember those who wronged you. Find them. Hunt them down… And make them regret ever touching what’s yours.”

My fists were clenched, and my heart was racing. I realised at some point I had raised my voice and was yelling the last few words. I turned away from Burin and brought up my fist. I stared down at my hand and had to consciously slow down my breathing.

My words were not meant for Burin. They were directed firmly towards myself. I never did much protecting as a hero. I was so far in front of the support team that they just had to pick up the loot from the corpses. I was so angry at the beginning. At the loss of the people around me, but the anger only lasted for so long… Until climbing the tower became so monotonous it became a daily chore. Each day the same as the one before it, never changing.

Anger faded but hatred remained. I hated that tower and all the destruction it wrought on the world. I also hated the world for showing me magic that I couldn’t touch… A lot has changed since then. I only hoped that killing the tower guardian was enough for the support team to end the terror of the tower. It’s only now that I know there was another existence behind the guardian, the true owner of the tower.

Mr. T. did not look like much, but he could do some incredible things. Hopefully there was only a corpse and not some undead mega lich at the end. For the first time I felt a pang of regret. Not for using the book but for using it so fast. I can only hope the city was in a better position than when I left it. I like to think that the city is celebrating with song, dance, and feast as the tower crumbled in the distance.

I summoned a large cup of water and drank it down along with my thoughts of the world past. Burin, behind me made a grunting noise and when I turned to look pointed to the cup with a pleading expression. Giving the dwarf a grin, I summoned another cup and offered it to him.

“I’m sorry…” He said after taking a swig “and… thank you, Reigner.”

“I’m sorry too.” I offered my hand out to Burin and pulled him to his feet. “I don’t know why they were so interested in me but there is one thing I am certain of.”

“Aye?”

“That elf and his clan should treasure the days they have left. For I’m going to make sure they regret ever hearing mention of my name.”

Burin looked down at the empty cup in his hands and crushed it, turning it into motes of mana that faded away. “Aye.”

His stomach rumbled like a small thunderstorm and a smile broke out on my face. “After breakfast.”

He let out a weak chuckle “Aye… After breakfast.”

Miko rushed out of the tent and tripped over the campfire. “Wai- Ahh!” She must have been moving fast, or the campfire was low on durability, as the firestone smashed into motes of mana from the impact. Miko continued falling and her face slammed into the grassy ground.

“Ye have any more of those noodles, Master Reigner?”

I gave a chuckle. “I see… It’s Master Reigner whenever it comes to food. Maybe I should start charging coin.”

Miko managed to pull her head out of the grass to yell out “I want nachos!”

“Noodles and nachos are not really breakfast food. I have something different in mind.”

One of the few things I knew how to cook back on earth was bacon and eggs. Very simple as you only needed to throw them on a hot pan. Add in some baked beans and toast, and you have a tasty way to start the day.

I summoned three plates for us and only then realised we had no cutlery. I was able to summon small knifes but sadly I was unable to summon a fork or spoon. Fortunately, we could use the toast as a small shovel. No breakfast would be complete without a cup of coffee and so I conjured up some for all of us. Have I mentioned I love magic? It’s pretty damn amazing.

As we were packing up Miko came over to me while Burin was doing something outside the tent.

“I’m so sorry. I saw him and… He looked so hurt. I had no idea what to do. Last night was just… I know that death happens in the tower just I have never thought I would actually see it for myself. When we got hit by that fireball, I thought… I thought I was going to die. I’m sorry, we never should have responded to that flare.”

I placed my hand on Miko’s shoulder. “It’s okay, you did great. You saved me and Burin. You practically carried us through the fort to safety. If not for your actions, Burin might not even be breathing right now. You are a real hero, Miko.”

“No. You were right. I am weak. I need to get stronger if I want to help or protect others.”

I finished packing my bedroll into my storage and got to my feet. “Come on. We have quite the walk ahead of us.”

While Miko collapsed and packed her tent I finally took a moment to try out my new spell

Since I still needed a shirt that’s what I kept in mind when I casted the spell for the first time. I noticed I could push more mana into the spell after the initial cost. I pushed in more mana until it hit a limit before letting the spell complete.

A dark grey shirt appeared in my hands. It felt low quality but was soft enough to not be scratchy. It looked a bit small for me, but when I pulled it on it stretched into a comfortable size. The shirt felt well fitted and after moving my body a little, could not feel any tightness or restriction. I doubted this provided much protection against an attack but at least I don’t have to worry about running out of clothes anymore.

“Okay, let’s get going. Tower is.” Miko looked down at her compass. “This way!”

“How far do ye think the tower is?” Burin asked.

“Hopefully we can reach it before sundown, but I have a feeling we are going to be spending another night in this forest.” According to the visitors last night it would take them until lunch while sprinting. I doubt we could move as fast as they could, and we have already gone through a large chunk of the day.

We kept walking until we reached a glade, a wide open grassy area free from trees. From here I could get a clear view of the sun, which was almost directly above us. However I still could not see the tower in the distance.

“Looks ominous.” Burin commented.

Miko nodded. “I have never seen a place like this on the second floor. We must really be out far.”

In the centre of the clearing, roughly two hundred metres away were two large humanoids fighting each other. “Do giants appear on this floor?”

“This floor mostly has bandits and big spiders. Never seen a giant.” Miko brought her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun. “I heard a story of a troll once but was just a rumour.”

I felt myself grinning “So you are saying it’s a rare creature.”

Burin turned to look at me. “Ye want to fight? I heard tales that trolls are incredibly resilient to physical damage and have massive health pools.”

“yeah, but they are slow. I wonder what kind of loot they will drop.”

“What level are you two now?” Miko asked.

“Level six.” Burin answered

“I just hit level four from the fort goblin.” I added.

“You two should form a group. It will let you see each other’s health, stamina, and mana and receive some bonus experience.”

“You gain more experience in a group?” That caught my attention.

“Yes and no. Here” Miko pulled out a few rings from her storage. “These are party rings. Only good for up to level ten but they give a ten percent experience boost for every party member within thirty metres.”

Burin picked out one of the rings from her hand “Oh not bad. Did you make these?”

Miko’s cheeks reddened slightly, and her tail started swishing behind her. “Yeah. But they are only iron. I use the metal I find myself in the tower.

I picked up one of the rings. It was a band of iron with a pattern of squares running around the outside.

[Party Ring]

Quality: Common (Magical)

Weight: 8g

Value: 50 copper – 1 silver.

“I don’t mind grouping up, but won’t that impact your current groups?”

Miko put the rest of the rings away. “You can only wear one at a time. However, you can swap them if you want to change groups. Pre level twenty rings are cheap but can get more expensive the better the bonus.”

“That’s interesting. So climbers keep different rings on them for different groups. Can you get a ring that lets you form multiple parties?”

“You can but they are very expensive. I’m talking platinum coins expensive. As for the group, it will just be you two. My level is too high and would absorb most of the experience. You generally want to be within three levels of your group members for the best split.”

Burin was looking down at a jade ring he held in his palm. Must belong to Torva’s group.

“We don’t have to form a group just for my sake.”

“Nay, I’ll do it.” Burin met my eyes. “We have to get stronger.”

“Aye, I mean yeah.” I grabbed hold of Burin’s shoulders. “We will crush our enemies and see them driven before us.”

Burin put on the iron ring and held out his fist to me. Grinning, I slipped mine over my finger and bumped his fist. There was a little spark between the rings. Looking closer I could see that two squares on the ring had lit up a dull blue.

Looks like it’s going to be another eventful day.

“Let’s hunt some troll.”