Contract Summoner

I looked over to Leo. “Ready?”

He nodded and smiled. “Bring him out.”

I started the summoning chant and once it was done mana formed Agnox who appeared standing on the table with a hand on his head.

“Unholy fucking heavens. Mathew, who taught you to summon? I want to shove my foot up their ass.”

Not the first thing I expected him to say. “Nobody, I taught myself. Wait, why does that matter?”

Leo looked confused as well, expecting something entirely different.

“Your summoning is entirely inefficient! You just resummoned me as if I wasn’t already summoned.”

“Yea, because you weren’t summoned anymore. I unsummoned you remember?”

Agnox waved his hands in disgust. “No no no.” He put a hand to his forehead and took a deep breath. “Alrighty guess it’s time for….the talk.”

I stared at him blankly. What?

“Let me ask you something, your summoning spells, they take you what? Twenty? Thirty minutes each to summon? I imagine my own summon took at least ten.”

I nodded. “Yea, they are all like that.”

“So when you are in combat, that time feels like forever, how are you supposed to be ready for a fight when you take half a day to summon everything. So, how do you overcome that?”

“Typically I just have everything summoned in the morning or night before. That way my mana is fully recharged and my summons are ready.”

Agnox nodded. “I assumed as much. You don’t have to resummon us after you did it the first time. At least, till one of us poofs away from being destroyed or something. Except for me, I am a one and done summon. Once I’m dead, I stay dead.”

“So what are you suggesting? I can bring out my summons faster than the long ritualistic chanting?”

He nodded. “You did everything correctly up to the unsummon. Once you do that, your summons are inside of your magic, and we can come out in an instant. Instead of ‘Summon Agnox’ just push your magic out and imagine me appearing. Why do you think unsummoning is instant but summoning takes forever? Because in combat a Summoner must be ready to save his summons from death. Then on the flip side, be ready to send out more when the need is there.”

Have I been doing things wrong the entire time? Crow said that this is how Summoners work though.

Leo poked Agnox with the Bible. “How can we trust you?”

He slapped the book away from him. “Oi, who are you? Why are you poking me with a book?”

“Doesn't matter who I am, and it’s the Bible. Why are you not writhing in pain?”

“Is it a magical book blessed by a celestial or other holy variant person or creature made specifically to banish me back to my home world?” Agnox asked.

“Uh, yes?”

Agnox frowned. “If it was, then would I still be standing on your table?”

“You could just be very strong and resilient to such magic.” Leo suggested.

Agnox pointed back to me. “Then why would tall, dumb, and stupid be able to bind me to his service in the first place?”

“Hey wait a moment.” I protested.

Agnox put up a hand. “Easy boss, just be glad I allowed you to take me into your service. You’d be a mess without me!”

What is happening.

Agnox jumped up in the air and started to float around. “Alrighty, since I helped you out and solved your summoning problem, you get to return the favor.”

I looked up at him. “And why should I?”

“Because, you are a merciful summoner who cares about his favorite Familiar, no?”

I looked up at him. “You are my only familiar, I think.”

“Exactly! Now, what do humans eat? I am starving.”

“Well, we eat a bunch of things, to break it down to simple terms: Meat, Plants, and Animal Byproducts.” Leo said

“Oh you actually eat meat? I thought that was a myth. What kind? Please tell me you have something spicy. I enjoy spicy meat.”

I inwardly groaned. I am starting to regret getting Agnox. He is confusing, random, and overall a headache.

“Agnox, we can get food later, I wanted to ask you some questions about the Dungeon you came from.”

“Or we can get food now, and talk while we eat.”

I narrowed my eyes up at him, and took a sip of my tea. “Alrighty, how about a deal. You tell me what I want to know, answer all my questions. Then, Leo and I will take you to a buffet.”

“What’s a buffet?” Agnox asked curiously.

I smiled. “We humans call a place you can eat as much food as you want, endlessly.” He isn’t that big, so letting him eat at the Cafeteria here on base and calling it a buffet shouldn’t hurt.

His eyes grew very large and he sat down in a chair. “Alrighty, ask away. Hurry up! Ask your questions! I am starving!”

Negotiation -> Novice 8

I waved away the blue box. “First things first, who is the Dungeon Boss? What is her Level?”

“Ahh. That’s Morthrus Ky'Kegthellen. She is a real beauty ain’t she? Really knows her way around a whip. She is the final Dungeon Boss.”

“Final?” Leo asked.

Agnox nodded. “Right, we have another Dungeon Boss. Second in command. He is in charge of us Imps and any prisoners.”

“Wait, how do these dungeons work? What are they?” I asked.

Agnox looked up at me confused. “Wait, how do you not know about dungeons?”

Shit, do I play dumb or tell the truth? He is my Familiar now, so he can’t do anything to hurt me.

“We didn’t know about Dungeons till a little over a month ago.” I admitted.

Leo glared at me. “Mathew!”

Agnox looked confused for a moment. “Wait, what are you saying? Dungeons didn’t exist till then?”

I nodded regardless of the daggers Leo was looking at me with. “Correct.”

Agnox stared down in thought for a good long minute. Then his eyes grew wide and a large grin spread across his face. “That explains why we were stuck for a month! A brand new realm, all for us to take over!”

I looked down at him and he winced. “Sorry. What I meant to say is this is going to be big trouble for you all.”

“Why is that?” I asked sitting down and taking a sip of my tea.

Agnox scratched the back of his head. “Well, how do I explain this.”

“The best you can, Imp.” Leo said.

“Harsh much? Let’s start with the important bits for now. In a few days a large army of Infernals creatures are going to march out of that Dungeon to attack this base. We were under the assumption this was a low level area, where a bunch of younglings came to train. However if what you say is true, and you are all a brand new world, then you all might as well pack up and leave.”

“Attack? Why attack us?” I asked.

“Resources, Levels, crafting materials. A slew of things. Also The System gives rewards and quests. It gave us one when your humans came into our Dungeon. Hence the invasion.” Agnox stated.

I blinked at what he was saying. Leo spoke up again. “How can we trust you?”

“Other than the fact I am in a Familiar Contract with that guy” He pointed at me. “You can’t. I could be telling a half truth right now. There could be an invasion tomorrow, or next year. There could be an invasion, but isn’t targeting you all. You are going to have to trust me unless we play my least favorite game.”

“And that game is?” I asked curiously

“Ten Thousand questions and cuts. For every question answered you get a cut. If you refuse to answer, you get a cut. Involves a lot of cutting and blood. Hence why it’s my least favorite, I don’t have a lot of blood.”

“Agnox, when exactly is the attack?” I demanded.

“Seven Days, 10 Hours, and roughly 20 minutes from now. I don’t have a clock so I can’t be more exact than that.”

I looked up at Leo and we both thought the same thing. It’s when we were planning to attack the Dungeon ourselves.

“Alrighty Agnox, later you are going to tell us what we are going to be fighting. Right now I have other questions. Primarily about my class and profession.”

“If you demand it of me, I have to answer. Just know I don’t know much. Summoners are not a common class, and one at your level is supposed to be impossible, remember?”

I nodded in understanding. “Alrighty first things first. Am I stuck with having you as my only familiar?”

“Technically no. It depends upon your class upgrades. You can unlock more familiar slots and gain boons from acquiring more. I heard rumors of a summoner having five at the most.”

I nodded. “You keep mentioning class upgrades. What are those?”

He sighed and looked at me like a mother looks at a child who asked a dumb question. “Class Upgrades happen every ten levels. You get two choices like every spell, skill, and ability based on your actions using it. Some upgrades can give you an entire new class, hence why at Level 20 is the starting level for Summoner.”

I sighed. More questions for every answer. I looked over at Leo. “You want to ask him anything?”

He smiled. “Sure do. Alrighty Agnox what are the downsides for Mathew having you as a Familiar?”

Agnox looked up at me. “Let me guess, you want me to answer him truthfully as if I was speaking to you?”

I nodded. “I do.”

“The primary downside is he is stuck with me as his only Familiar. Anything else is subjective to opinion.”

Leo leaned in. “Like?”

“Like the fact his next class upgrade more than likely will have an option related to me. If he wanted an upgrade that has an Infernal theme to it, that’s perfect and not a downside. If he didn’t, now he is stuck with the other option, good or bad.”

I blinked. Well that is a downside I didn’t consider. I am going to need to have a long talk to Agnox about potential upgrades moving forward.

“Alrighty enough about me for now, but you and I will have a personal talk about my class moving forward. What is The System?”

“That is the golden ticket question Mathew. Nobody knows. At least, nobody I know does.”

I frowned. “What do you know?”

“Great and powerful Thing that came to your world. Gives you magic blue boxes. And gives rewards for progressing forward in life. Some call it a God, others think one of our Demon Lords granted us this power. The only thing in common is every intelligence life form can use the ‘Menu’.”

“Why our planet? Why us?” Leo asked.

“That is a bit easier to answer, at least in theory. Before a System takes over your world, typically it starts to fall apart. War, Famine, Death, natural disasters, going on for several years. The theory is The System saves planets from utter destruction, if it can. The worst off the planet, the less chance it happens. Then if it can save your planet, the longer it takes to fully synchronize with your world, the closer to the end you all were.”

“What’s the normal time it takes to do that?” I asked.

“Normally a couple days for most planets. The longest I heard was two weeks.” He floated over to my bed and laid down on it. “Nice bed.”

“Thanks?” I said.

“No problem, so about that buffet?”

I held up a hand. “It took a month for our planet to become fully synchronized. What does that mean?”

“Yup, was wondering when you were going to ask that. It means a few things. Firstly your planet was on the verge of utter destruction. Talking end of all life. Whatever it was, I have no clue. That’s up to your monkey brains to figure out.

The second thing is that all Dungeons are going to be weaker than normal, since the inhabitants couldn’t leave for supplies if they didn’t have enough. Our Dungeon had plenty of snacks.” He licked his lips in remembrance of eating something.

I really didn’t want to know what he could be implying. Just chicken noodle soup or something probably.

“So wait, if The System isn’t a god, then why do I have a divine class?” Leo asked.

He looked up at Leo and focused on him. “Ah, you are one of them divine bastards. Remind me to not answer your questions anymore.”

I glared over at him and he rolled his eyes. “No clue why I have to answer his questions, he is a potential enemy!”

“Well you are familiar of his friend. So get to the answers Agnox, please.” I said.

He rolled his eyes. “Fine, there are technically powerful figures who could be classified as gods. However they are not immortal, and are typically annoying fuckers.”

Leo raised an eyebrow. “Elaborate.”

“I’ll make it simple just for you. Anyone who has gone above Level 100 is given a unique title. That title is what defines what they are best at. War, Life, Swords, Grass, Fire, Cooking, etc. Those are not the titles, just what a title is related to. That title unlocks the level 100 upgrade. The only time you only have one upgrade.”

“Okay, so what does that have to do with his class?” I asked.

“Those that strong typically have a family or a sect of followers of that title or a similar area. They can give knowledge, power, and many other things. My clan all are under the Demon Lord of Infernal Chains. Certain warlocks and clerics are under his power and carry out his orders.”

I looked over at Leo. This is a lot of information, and we still have more to figure out. “Alrighty, well I think it’s time for a break. I need to put this ritual back up at the crafters corner before dinner, and we need to get everyone back together to share what we know about the invasion.”

“Does this mean what I think it means?” Agnox asked greedily.

“Yes, let’s get you that buffet.”

“What do you mean he isn’t here to attack us?” A very tall and large man said still holding Agnox in a very tightly gripped fist. Agnox’s head was slowly starting to turn green. Do Imps turn green with no air to breathe?

“Correct, he is my familiar. He is under my protection and I would really like it if you let him go.” I said.

“Why should I? These little freaks have been terrorizing us for days now!” He exclaimed.

“Because, he is our...prisoner.” I said. Agnox looked over at me and somehow conveyed the look of someone asking ‘what?’

The man looked at Agnox and then back at me. “Why did you bring him here?”

“Because, he answered some of our questions. As a sign of good faith we are feeding him. If you kill him, you kill our source of information. Then you will be personally responsible for the deaths of countless lives and the original team that went in to scout the dungeon. Do you want their blood on your hands?” I stated.

He started to look a bit guilty. “Uh no! I don’t!”

“Then let him go, please.” I asked nicely.

He looked at me and narrowed his eyes, then looked at Leo. “Fine. However I am watching all three of you like a hawk. If I see some much as a spark I am killing him. Prisoner or not.”

He let him go, and Agnox breathed in deeply. He sneered and flew up looking like he was going to attack. “Agnox! Don’t do it.”

He looked down at me, but floated back down and hovered near me.

We walked into the eating area and started to eat food. Tonight was spaghetti and meatballs. Even with the limited supply of food we receive, there seems to be enough for us to eat reasonably. The people who have cooking related professions and skills are always hard at work. I put a plate down in front of Agnox. “So why do you have to eat? None of my other summons need to eat.”

“Ahh, because they are just manifestations of mana. I am the real deal.” He popped a meatball into his mouth. “Needs a little bit of red salt, but not bad.” He then proceeded to eat the entire dish that would put professional eaters to shame.

Agnox let out a loud burp. “Alrighty, I like this dish. You have won over my stomach Mathew. What’s for the main meal?”

I blanched. “Main meal? That was the main meal. How did you eat that much? It was like a third of your body size.”

“We Imps have a large stomach. I was promised a buffet. Are you going back on your word?”

I sighed and went to get another plate, leaving behind Leo and Agnox. Please don’t kill each other.

When I came back to the table, Leo was gone. “Where did Leo go?”

“He asked me about undead and necromancers. He didn’t like my answer and left.”

Shit Leo. Why did you do that?

“Come on, let’s go find him.” I said.

“Oh no. I was promised food. I will eat this food. Once I am done eating, we can go find your boyfriend.”

“You did this, what did you say?”

“The truth! He asked if there was a way to reverse a person who became undead and I said yes.”

I facepalmed. “That isn’t good.”

“And that isn’t good why? I thought he would be thrilled with the answer.”

“The first night The System came, we found his sister was turned undead.” I looked down at the table. “I killed her.”

“Oh, bummer. So anyways, is that plate mine also? I sure hope so.” He slid it over to himself and started to eat again.

“Bummer? That’s all you have to say?” I asked with a hint of anger.

“Look, Mathew. Even if you did kill her, he can bring her back. He would need to become a necromancer himself though.”

I looked at him. “And did you tell him that little bit of information?”

“Nope, he didn’t ask. You didn’t tell me to inform him of everything, just answer truthfully!” He tossed the last meatball in his mouth and licked his lips.

“God damn it Agnox.”

“Ah, you mean Gods right? Don’t tell me you humans only thought there as one god…..right...right?”

I grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to find Leo. I headed toward the crafting area first, to see if he just went ahead there.

Once people heard of my Ritual they set up everything in a circle so everyone could stand just inside it. However, it wasn’t large, so they mostly did their crafting in shifts. A familiar scottish voice was heard over everyone.

“Mathew! Get over here, you are late!”

I walked over to the Smith. “Sorry! I had to feed this gluttonous Imp.”

“Isn’t that one of them flying rats that’s been attacking the base? Why do you have one by the arm?”

“The very same, I captured one and it’s now my familiar. So don’t think he is going to go around killing everyone. At least, he isn’t supposed to.”

“Right, anyways put the ritual down already. I am close to getting my skill ranked up.”

I rolled my eyes and started the ritual. Another day I am thankful for my Writing skill upgrade.

After half an hour, it was done. “There you go, one Ritual of Learning.”

Agnox floated down to the ritual and looked closer at it. “Mathew, tell me again what level are you?”

“Uhhhh 8. Are you okay?”

He darted up into my face. “WHY DO YOU HAVE THIS RITUAL.”

I jumped back in fright a few others also jumping up at his loud question. “Agnox, why are you yelling?”

“Mathew, if you dont tell me, I am going to literally kill myself. Come back to life, then kill you out of pure spite. TELL ME NOW DAMN IT.”

I glared down at him. “No.”

“No? No! NO?! Fuckign why not!” He proclaimed.

“Because you are being rude, Agnox. Don’t make me unsummon you.” Why is he reacting this way?

He took a deep breath. “I am calm. A peaceful Imp bound as a Familiar to a Human who has the Ritual of Learning. Nothing wrong with that at all.” He looked at me. “Alrighty there we are, I am calm. Now TELL ME-”

Agnox stopped himself and took another breath. “Tell me why do you have that ritual, Mathew.”

Obviously it’s either really good or really bad that I have this. “I have Ritual magic tree. It’s a tier one spell. Why are you reacting this way?”

“Just a tier one spell” he mocked. “Mathew, just because it’s a tier one does not make it a weak spell. Tell me, once you rank up passed Novice 9 what happens?”

“It becomes Beginner 0 and you get an upgrade.”

“Correct, now Ritual of Learning is currently Novice still correct?”

I nodded.

“When it becomes Beginner 0, it gets an upgrade. Then Apprentice, then Student, and so on till you get to Grand Sage rank. That’s ten whole upgrades. What do you think it can become?”

I realized what he was implying. Also the fact he just told me skills go up ten ranks didn’t slip past me either. “A powerful ritual that essentially allows anyone within to get stronger, faster.”

“Exactly.” He said.

“Wait, so why is it a Tier one spell? Something this strong should be Tier two or higher right?”

“Spells and tiers are weird. It just shows the difficulty of ranking them up. Higher tier, more work to increase their rank. It’s misleading. People think Tier five spells are the best, while in reality Tier one spells are the ones that become the strongest. “

“So what makes the ritual so special?”

Most of the crafters had stopped what they were doing and were listening to Agnox and his explanation. A few taking notes.

“Because you shouldn’t have it. Yes it’s Tier one, however nobody under level fifty should have it. You have to do a specific series of upgrades and quests to unlock it. We use it all the time to train Imps on a mass scale. However our trainer's version is different than yours.”

“Spells can be different?”

“Correct. Same with skills, abilities, and a slew of other things. Easy to unlock spells like Ice Bolt or skills like Swords are all the same at Tier one. The more difficult ones are always different. The fact your’s works on all skills is unique and honestly, very powerful.”

I didn’t correct him that the ritual worked on everything. Spells, skills, and Abilities included. “So why do I have it?”

“I have no idea, it could be The System granting it because of a rare title or achievement? Luck? Are you sure your planet didn’t have magic, and your family spent it’s entire lineage birthing a perfect prodigy?”

“Well I don’t know about the magic part, but the family part you are half correct.” I muttered.

Hennessy spoke up. “Um Mathew, as much as I and the others are thrilled to learn everything, you are in the middle of the circle taking up space. We need to get back to work.”

“Right, sorry. Have you seen Leo anywhere?”

He shook his head. “Nope, not today.”

“Alrighty thanks, if you see Crow tell him to be ontime for the meeting in the morning.”

I headed out and went to Leo’s room. During the walk over I figured I could question Agnox some more. “Alrighty, spill the beans. Why are you not just flying off or causing problems? Isn’t that what Imps do?”

“Eh, I thought about it, but you can unsummon me, or make me suffer. I am your familiar, but at the end of the day, you can still boss me around. I took a risk offering that contract. When our leader finds out, she is going to kill you. Then when you are dead, she is going to chain me up, make me suffer for about ten thousand years, then kill me.”

I stopped walking and looked at him to see if he was being serious. “Why?”

“Because you over-wrote her contract with me. I just had a simple contract. I worked for her, got paid, nothing else. You offered a Familiar Contract which within the laws of the True Courts, that overwrites what I had.”

“Huh, how familiar are you with the True Courts and contracts?”

“I wouldn’t say expert, but my Reading skill is Beginner 8 and my Writing skill is Beginner 1. So better than the average Imp.”

I turned toward him and grasped him firmly. “First, you have skills?”

He nodded.

“We can worry about that later, how do I get the Reading skill!”