Bonded Summoner

Of course, his familiar growling was not something just anyone could hear, and Jake did not even miss his step as they entered the room. He had decided on the name Ira, which meant ‘watcher’ or ‘protector’ and was otherwise gender neutral, which the young voidwyrm had accepted.

Ira took its job very seriously, and Jake had never seen this sort of reaction of Ira’s from anyone that they met. He immediately expanded his own senses to look at this party member with [Arcane Eye], and while he was impressed with the magical aura in her body, there was clearly something not quite right about this woman.

In the magical center near her heart, where the metaphysical doorway to the soul is, there was a sort of void, or just something missing. Someone like Antonius would have a small blur or haze of magical energy in this center despite his lack of magic ability, but someone with an impressive magical aura like this woman should have a much more solid core or otherwise distinct bubble of magical energy. The haze was sort of there, but it was like it was obscured even from Jake’s [Arcane Eye].

Antonius reached the elven girl and spun around, then with a hand motioning to her said, “This is Alisara. She’s a shadow rogue, a rare advanced class, and I think she will be an excellent addition to your party.”

Alisara’s smile became wider, and she said, “It’s so nice to meet you, Champion Jake and party. I’ve heard so much about you already. I hope we can work well together.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Alisara, and likewise, I hope we’re a good fit. Antonius, has anything changed since we were last here?”

Antonius’ face became serious. “Things have gotten even worse, and we are losing nearly 1% per day in conquest progress, and even more than that on some days. This type of downturn is unprecedented, on this size of an established world. We have even lost some of the members that would ultimately have been a part of your battlegroup for this assault.

As you may or may not be aware, when someone dies in a Tier 1 contested world, their minimum resurrection timer is one week. There are other factors, including the conquest progress and where they died in relation to the conquest map that alters the timer, but you would likely need to wait a few days for [Sons of Rome] to provide the full forty members now.

We are hoping that defeating this fortress assault will bring things back to a more positive upturn like was seen before, but we have already begun seeking help from our parent organizations. I think it’s important that we move forward as soon as possible, filling the final members from other guilds, and working with them to close the rifts near the area for our assault.”

This shocked Jake that things had become so dire, but he shared his thoughts with his party aside from Berri, as she could not receive his thoughts just yet. Jake thought they might have treachery of sorts in the works, and the primary culprit might be right in front of them. But is there more? What could they do about this threat? One thing Jake was sure of was this being in front of them was in fact a member of [The Framework].

They had met the uninitiated people on this and the other world they visited, and using his [Arcane Eye] he could discern with ease whether someone was a part of the Framework or not; the influence and latticework over their auras and body easy for Jake to discern. The Framework would protect any attack against this person. Just how was this possible? Jake felt the same mental compulsion that he had when trying to communicate with people of Earth. His own body refused any movement with the intentions to attack Alisara.

While Jake and his party could duel or spar, part of this capability was because they were in his [Refuge], where the rules were different. The other part was that the intent mattered, just like it had when he had been able to type on the computer or write something but unable to do so if he attempted to communicate with others, he was simply unable to do that if his intent was to attack or even capture her. In large fights, that same compulsion would guide area of effect attacks that might hit allies to somewhat avoid collateral damage.

They needed to learn more, Jake decided. He would send Ophelia to their shrine in the refuge to consult with Hestia about dealing with this type of threat, while they entertained or otherwise distracted Alisara and made their other preparations.

Jake said, “Do you think we should use my [Call to Arms], Antonius? We may get a much better turn-out if we set things up that way.”

“I…You have a noble rank already? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I think that would be effective, and that will even increase people’s contribution.”

Jake triggered the option within his [Menu], to look over the options. He could schedule a sort of event, with a targeted area or zoning where he could direct other adventurers. The Framework itself would then give quests for clearing the Rifts.

“It looks like I can schedule something, and I am of the same mindset that we need to do something sooner rather than later. I will send Ophelia to the local shrines to recruit some healers. Even if they might be too low level to take part in the overall assault or even not members of the [Framework], they should be of some use for such a massive undertaking. Would tomorrow at dawn be enough time for everyone to organize?”

“That was going to be the time I was going to recommend. That gives us only 18 hours, but that should be sufficient; thanks to the teleportation gates and guidance of the framework, it does not take too long to rally. You should take Alisara with you as you make your preparations, and see if you can find the time to get used to each other’s capabilities. I will get word out, but you can trigger your [Call to Arms].”

Jake nodded and did so.

Call to Arms by: Hestia’s Champion Jake Hart, Knight

Rally Point: City of Roseburg

Levels: 13-25. See Sons of Rome Guild for direction.

Ophelia headed out where she would both accomplish her cover task and her task of meeting with Hestia. Meanwhile, Jake and the rest went to the [Sons of Rome] training grounds. Here, they had a place for Framework-sanctioned duels, as well as training golems that would allow them to simulate fights that were difficult for their level. Antonius went ahead to [Alliance HQ] to meet with other guild leaders.

“Are you interested in dueling one of us, Alisara? We can also get a firm idea of your capabilities if we take on one of the training golems as a group as well, I suppose. The choice is yours.”

“Can I? I have wanted to have a bout with you, Jake, since I heard about you.”

Fhesiah said, “We’re talking about fighting on the training grounds and not something else, right? Either way, our Jake here will not disappoint, will you Jake?” Jake could tell Fhesiah was fishing for how this strange interloper would react while also trying to have fun at the same time.

The elven girl blushed and stammered, but Jake just shook his head and ignored Fhesiah. “Sorry about her, please ignore that. Let’s head over and get started.”

Jake was familiar with the shadow rogue class from the game, [The Labyrinth]. Jake guessed that things should be similar, but would, of course, keep his eyes open for anything that might be different. Shadow rogues were very much an assassin type, but their use of shadows for teleportation and clones of shadow allowed them to behave more like a duelist.

Jake felt Ira’s uneasiness over the bond from being around this person, but he sent reassurance over the bond in reply. Its warning had not gone unheeded. Fhesiah was laser-focused on monitoring this person with her [Divine Sense] ever since they had met, and she could light this person aflame with little more than a thought if she did something unexpected. They had to believe that if that person acted against them, that they could react and defend themselves at that time.

Upon triggering the Framework-sanctioned duel from the adjacent station, a countdown timer began. If someone was otherwise killed, the Framework would protect their life, allowing them to at a minimum receive medical attention before they otherwise expired.

As maiming was not possible in the duel, such as causing the loss of an arm or leg, the goal was to bring someone down to 10% of their overall effectiveness. However, if a powerful enough attack was dealt to a limb, they would lose access to it until the duel was over. The Framework was the judge of the battle, so there should be no chance for anything untoward to happen.

The sun was high in the sky, but the training grounds had various canopies, arches, rafters, and pillars scattered throughout within a few dozen meters of the central location they had chosen. Alisara would have many shadows to work with for her teleportation. That is, if Jake left things as it were.

The duel started with Alisara disappearing from view, entering her own shadow. Jake slammed his staff into the ground and released four simple prepared spells: [Runic Magic: Orb of Light]. He left them floating just slightly off the ground in four directions in relation to himself. So, combined with the sun that was high in the sky, there were not any shadows near Jake for her to take advantage of. The shadows near him were indistinct.

When Jake reached the second level of his [Hearth Runic Magic], Jake had learned that there was an advanced method of casting Runic spells. The best way to describe what he could accomplish now was that he could store runic spells in a sort of bubble within his Hearth. This preparation would expend but save the mana spent, allowing him to regenerate it and have more total spells to cast. Most importantly: it allowed Jake to instantly cast the prepared spell, with little more than a thought. He could prepare the same number of runes as was his current maximum of 18 runewords for a single spell, or he could split them into several. In this case, he had prepared 4 simple spells to be cast simultaneously.

This prepared casting had a disadvantage: he could not use the bubbles with his staff “functions.” Still, preparing control spells or a shield could save a life, and he often didn’t have functions in his staff reserved for such spells anyway, those often being completely different runic phrases from one another.

Alisara approached Jake from a nearby pillar using some kind of general magical invisibility, instead of shadow stealth, similar to what Jake saw from the dark elves they had previously faced. Jake was able to see her with [Arcane Eye], but he pretended to look around their training arena warily, his shield and spear at the ready. Her approach was somewhat rapid, so Jake decided to throw out some spells and see what she would do.

He sent a wave of force in a frontal arc in the opposite direction from where she was approaching; this would appear to be a guess on his part. He then spun around, and aimed where he imagined she would be unable to dodge or otherwise move out of the radius in time, but it surprised him when she moved far more rapidly than he thought she was able, causing him to miss once again.

She was now only a dozen meters away and would arrive within a mere instant, so Jake sent out another spell: [Runic Magic: Nova of Frost]. Instead of forming a layer of ice like the field of frost spell, this one sent cold energy in a circular wave originating from himself. This spell would not do a large amount of damage, but Jake imagined it would be like receiving a punch to the gut worth of frost damage all over the body.

Alisara was revealed as she was slammed with the nova of frost, and while Jake could follow up with various spells to otherwise lock her down and defeat her, that would not help them understand her overall capabilities. She blurred towards him, and he activated his new technique, [Runebound], causing all the runes etched onto his equipment to light up with a blazing intensity, and met her opening attack with his shield.

This was merely the first part of Runebound, the [Unbound] state. This would increase the effectiveness of Jake’s runes on his equipment, and allow him to better utilize his mana and stamina to otherwise improve his physical parameters; not all that different from what [Advanced Melee Specialization] would otherwise allow him to do, but gave Jake greater control over what he wanted to accomplish, such as more strength, speed, or durability.

Jake currently had three bound states which would alter his parameters significantly, but for the purpose of this fight, he would access none of those. Jake guessed that at a minimum this [Unbound] state, when combined with his equipment’s enchantments, allowed him over fifteen percent to all physical parameters, and up to fifty percent to single ones as he shifted the effects of his magic to maximize strength or speed, for example. On top of that, the training effect the Framework provided for the technique helped him fight using his changed parameters and use of magic and stamina when using his spear and shield.

His spear blurred as he returned the elf’s assault, but her body twisted and blurred indistinctly as his spear approached, and she diverted his attacks just slightly away from her body using her own blades. Jake guessed that this was some sort of shadow dodge ability or technique, but Jake’s lights weakened it somewhat. However, Jake was already quite used to facing speedy or otherwise shifty opponents, so he used a feint that required her to lean backwards in order to dodge, and managed to slam his shield right into her body.

Her body flung through the air as she grunted, her ribs likely at least bruised by the power of his attack, and Jake followed up by chasing after her while sending some smaller runic spears of ice her way. One of them struck her leg as she rolled to dodge, but just as he was about to pursue her, a knife flew from behind from the shadows of a nearby pillar. He swiveled to block, and only just managed. She flung more knives from her position, and Jake began casting runic barriers, queueing them up into his prepared spell bubbles as he approached her once more. Jake couldn't help but feel happy that his ability to multitask had reached such high levels, allowing him to accomplish this now.

She was faster, but between having to fling her knives to slow his advance and dodge his runic spears, he was once again harrying her with his spear. When she threw her knives, they would enter the shadows in the distance, to come out from another location at an unexpected angle.

Alisara didn’t create any shadow clones, Jake guessed due to his spreading of the light around him. Jake had shifted the orbs of light with him as they moved, not allowing her to take advantage of her shadows. He shifted his attacks, and despite knives coming at different angles from behind or to the side of him, he just released or shifted a small runic barrier and blocked them with ease.

Jake started scoring some cuts along her body, getting used to her movements with each attack. He increased his speed further, allowing him to bypass her defenses. As he went for what would otherwise be a killing blow with his spear, Jake saw that she gathered a large amount of mana for an attack, so he used the terrain like she seemed to like to: by sending a powerful wave of force out of his spear instead, with her only a few meters away from a pillar.

Before she could finish whatever spell she was casting, her body slammed into the pillar and all breath was forced out of her lungs as she fell to the ground, and Jake guessed several of her bones were fractured or otherwise broken. The duel was still not called by the framework though, so Jake still charged. Just before he could strike out with his spear though, the duel was called in Jake’s favor.

He immediately cast his [Advanced Cure Wounds] while pushing his [Purifying Flames] additional effect to its maximum near the anomaly he spotted near her magical center, and a few casts of his [Runic Healing] from where he was standing a few feet away. Jake had hoped that his purifying flames might reduce whatever effect it was that Alisara possibly had on her, but it seemed his flames couldn’t latch on to whatever was there and had no effect at all, as far as he could tell. He updated Ophelia on this over their bond.

Alisara was facing away from him, crouched and recovering, as he approached from the side, and he said, “That was a good fight. I was surprised at all the things you could do.”

If Jake hadn’t been watching her from the other side with [Arcane Eye], he’d have missed it, but her face took on a mask of utter hatred for a brief moment, before switching to a tired smile. Catching Fhesiah’s thoughts, it appeared she caught the slip, too.

“Thanks Champion Jake, but I really felt like I was a fly on your web the entire time. You didn’t even fight at your best, did you?”

Jake smiled and replied, “Sure, but you weren’t able to bring out yours either, could you? Arenas are no place for a rogue, and fighting this way with the sun high in the sky leaves us both some room for doubt. If you brought your best and I brought mine, who would win? Isn’t this where you talk shit and say something like ‘You hide behind your lights, but the sun won’t always be out, and you won’t always know I’m coming for you, summoner’?”

The elf smirked and was just about to reply, but they were interrupted by the sound of a large crash. Jake immediately looked towards Fhesiah, giving a look of blame, but she just arched her brow in reply. It appeared she wasn’t to blame this time. Alisara stood, and the three of them went to see what was going on, and found Berri standing over a destroyed golem in a nearby training field. She was standing there nonchalantly inspecting her mace for damage, while a crowd had gathered in the wake of the commotion.

It was Alisara that spoke, “She…really destroyed the Tier 1 training golem by herself? She’s not even level fifteen yet. Most of those at the peak of their tier cannot even accomplish that.”

Jake watched as the golem sort of reconstituted itself by its pieces merging together like some sort of metallic blob, perhaps a much more advanced training golem than what he had at his Refuge. Jake shrugged. He wasn’t there to watch, but had gotten the feeling that she was practicing her new technique over the bond.

He had seen it during training previously, and if he had to describe it, it was a sort of cobra-like dance that led to viper-like fast and powerful sudden strikes, while also making her tough to hit despite her large body. There was a lot more to it, but Berri was not helpful at all in explaining the things that it could do, her having the information downloaded into her brain by the Framework. Luckily, it was Jake that purchased her Tier 1 spell-book and her Priestess spells had viable descriptions, so he at least knows and understands those spells.

Still, Jake knew that this skill would make it difficult for her attacks to be dodged with speed alone, and it also blended magical effects into the dance that matched her dark magic quite well. Combining the attack with [Mace of Hestia] made an absolutely deadly combination that left craters in the ground from the amount of force.

Jake had thought he could just buff Berri with [Einherjar] and it would simply be game over for any enemy they could potentially run into if they got hit with her mace, but it turned out that there was no such thing as a free lunch. Now that they were Tier 1, the spell had a much smaller effect than it had before. Jake had learned that rather than adding a certain amount of attributes, it was more like it added a set amount of power.

For example, someone that could lift 1000 lbs before the buff spell might be able to lift 2000 lbs. But someone that could lift 10,000 lbs would get the same benefit, being able to lift only 11,000 lbs rather than something percentage based or similar. It didn’t precisely work like that, but it was easy to understand that the effect on them at Tier 0 was significant, but would be much less now that they had more attributes, and the effect on the snake woman with monstrous strength was much less. Jake would have to funnel even more mana into the spell, and implement additional runes, in order to have a serious increase in her strength.

Jake looked upon the dark lamia with worry. While she had an almost serene expression on her face, her emotions were all over the place. Jake felt a little bad, as she had not been privy to the mental conversations he and the other girls had been having because of her lower bond level. Perhaps…was she jealous, or otherwise worried about this elf girl? Jake looked for the words to say to her, but with their present company, it was a real challenge to reassure her.

It was Alisara who ended up speaking first. “Well, that fight definitely took a lot out of me. What’s the verdict? Will I be joining you in the [Fortress Assault]? I assure you that for this level range, you won’t find better than me in the time frame that we have available. I need to rest as well as complete my own preparations before we head out. I can meet you a few hours before dawn at Roseburg?”

Jake still had not received confirmation from Ophelia, and he didn’t like the idea of giving this enemy room to act. At the same time, he also didn’t want them in his remaining business, and certainly wouldn’t allow them to join his party in his refuge, so things worked out that way. Fhesiah agreed mentally with his thoughts, so he decided to accept.

“Welcome to the party for now, Alisara. Yes, we will meet in Roseburg early tomorrow at the branch HQ. Rest well.”

She gave an almost flirty smile and a wave goodbye as she sauntered away in the other direction. Jake wished he could warn Antonius and others, but that could give away that they were on to her and cause her to flee. There could also be other enemy agents they were not aware of, and could make things worse rather than making them better.

That just left Jake and Fhesiah standing in front of a fully armored lamia, minus the mask, watching the elf walk away with rapt attention. “Everything okay, Berri? You seem...worried.”

Berri’s emotions became even more tumultuous, but were then cut off. “Berri just…doesn’t like the new girl. We still haven’t mated, and now another woman has joined our party. Do you really not want Berri?”

Jake searched for the words to reassure her. He now felt really bad that they didn’t have a way to keep her in the loop with their interloper up to now, and that she had been denied what she wanted for as long as she had been. In the end, she is at least partially a monster, and she got along well enough in their family. Wasn’t it fine? Still, Jake was not ready to give up on her. Jake wanted her to be a complete person, one that can blend in with society and for her to be able to have a world beyond just their family and the dungeon.

Whether she did anything with that or not, Jake thought she would have a much more fulfilling life if she could truly experience all that life had to offer, for her heart to be able to encompass all things, and not just herself and her own species. Jake felt like she had already done quite some mental gymnastics whenever they would discuss empathy, to even include Jake at all in her circle of care.

After all, her species would be one that saw humans as nothing more than for breeding, and never an emotional connection. Jake being a Champion and Knight, are probably the only things keeping her from seeing Jake this way, and this didn’t make him feel good about it.

Not only that, but she currently only valued two things in her life, when asked about it anyway. Power and motherhood. Even her children, she was only interested in them being powerful and strong, things that were synonymous in dark lamia society. Well, that had started to curve a little bit: she was interested in them playing baseball with her. Of course, Jake saw how happy she was to have fun with the things they did, but once again, she was only willing to do those things because she hoped she was going to get the two things she valued.

Jake did his best to send confidence and his feelings for her over the bond. “You don’t have to worry about her, Berri. I do want to mate with you when we’re both ready. I promise that you won’t have to wait much longer, and you won’t be replaced. A Goddess could show up wanting to join our family, and I would have her wait for you, if I have anything to say about it. Berri is next, I promise. Does that make you feel better?”

Jake had done his best to convey his certainty and resolve over the bond, and he thought it had the desired effect. Berri looked like she was about to cry, but they were going to be happy tears. She nodded, and once again Jake knew he would be enveloped in breasts if not for her armor getting in the way at the moment.

It was at that moment that Ophelia contacted them over the bond.

[I have news, and almost none of it is good.]

Jake could feel her worry over the bond. Just what was it that the goddess had to say about Alisara?