Nightmare Realm Summoner

Seconds turned to minutes as Alex fiddled with the interface, trying to see if he could find any way to sort the information. He didn't dare click on anything — he wasn't sure if doing that would bring up a description of what he was about to choose or if it would just instantly select it.

He was quite certain that there were definitely differences in the quality of the options before him. Even ignoring the numbers that he presumed listed the number of Boons the options needed, some of them were just straight up useless.

Alex was fairly sure that nobody in their right mind would select Advanced Beauty Pageant Research Grounds as their Boon. He probably would have rejected that particular option even if it came for free.

"Goddamn it," Alex muttered. He threw a glance over his shoulder, but nobody had tried to step through the door. They'd all gathered outside of the building and were staring in at him in wait. s

I could definitely use Claire's help right about now. She'd definitely have some thoughts. Orchid would be useful too. Hell, I'd take Derek at this point — although he'd probably just suggest Advanced Beds or something like that.
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A small frown pulled at his lips. "Hey, why isn't anyone coming in? You don't have to wait outside, you know."

None of them responded.

Alex's brow furrowed. He squinted, not daring to actually step closer in case that somehow canceled the boons he'd earned. For a moment, he wondered if people had been frozen in time or something.

That didn't seem to be the case. They were moving around without any trouble. It was just that nobody was responding to him.

Claire definitely would have tried to come in by now. It's weird that she hasn't… which means the System must be keeping her out until I finish. Maybe it's part of the Town Initialization process.

"Damn," Alex muttered under his breath. He turned back to the screen. "I wish I had some form of suggestion boxes or something. A little help would be nice. I know you're a big fan of making everyone fly blind, but it's kind of a pain in the ass when half my biggest competitors are Outworlders who are basically cheating their way through everything with prior information."

The screen shimmered.

Options flashed away until only a few dozen remained. It had responded to his voice. Alex blinked in surprise, then scanned over the changed screen.

Town Fairy - 2

Town Lord - 1

Town Advisor - 3

Enhanced Interface - 5

…

Harbog - 5

It seemed to be a list of assistants. The list went on for quite a while and the scroll bar at the side of the screen had widened, indicating that it continued on — but not nearly as long as the previous one had.

Alex's eyes caught on the last option on the front page.

Harbog… that's a name, isn't it? Feels like a name rather than a generic role or title. It's also quite expensive, though I still don't know what kind of Boon that thing is using. I guess Harbog is some form of named advisor or assistant for the town?

That seems useful. Really useful. Another way to bridge the gap between me and Outworlders. If I've got someone that can help me run the town… that would be instrumental. Not hiring someone called Harbog, though.

Alex pulled the scroll bar down and continued to read through the options before him. He didn't want to decide on anything before he'd seen all the options. Hiring an advisor definitely seemed like the smart move. The worst case scenario here was wasting the Boons he'd just literally died to get.

Spending some now to get someone that understands how towns work would be a great move. But who to hire? I don't even dare say any of the names out loud in case the System decides that equates to me choosing them.

Alex's eyes caught as he scrolled once more.

One of the options was highlighted in bright bluish-purple rather than the dull gray that made up the rest of them.

Rhyss - 1

Alex's head tilted to the side. There was no missing that kind of message. So there was a way to clarify the rarity of Boons. This was definitely one that required a much higher quality. That, presumably, meant they would be a whole lot better than the other options.

Something prodded at the back of Alex's mind. His brow furrowed as he squinted at the name on the screen before him. Something about it felt familiar. Similar, almost. It was almost as if he'd heard —

Wait. I have heard this name before. Part of it, at least.

Keeper had almost said his name when they'd first met. The monster had cut itself off, but it had managed to get out a word that started with 'Rhy' before it had abruptly cut off. Alex's heart started to beat faster in his chest.

He leaned forward and stared at the glowing name.

There's no way this is a coincidence.

This is almost certainly an expensive Boon, though. Either Legendary or Mythic… and I'm going to bet that it's the latter. Using one of my two Mythics to get an advisor is a sharp price.

I also wouldn't have gotten 200% completion if Keeper hadn't intentionally helped me out. You know what? Fuck min-maxing. The System can eat shit. It went through a whole lot of effort trying to keep Rhyss from saying his name. If this is actually him… I'm willing to spend a Boon to cast the middle finger spell.

Alex touched the name. There was a faint, distant ding.

The air behind the counter before him collapsed, folding in on itself as a black portal ripped open. It let out a sharp, high-pitched whine.

Alex's ears popped and he grabbed onto the edge of the counter to keep himself from falling and accidentally smacking the screen in the process.

And, from within the portal, a gray, humanoid form emerged. The portal snapped shut behind it and the pressure in the room returned to normal.

There was a single second of silence.

Then Alex smiled.

"Hello, Keeper. I hope you didn't miss me."

"Alex," Keeper replied, lips pulling up in the faintest of smiles. "Do you make it a habit of making allies from those who have attempted to kill you?"

"You know, if I had a dime for each time that happened, I'd have two dimes. That's not really all that much, but it's a bit odd that it's happened twice."

Keeper's head tilted to the side and its lone eye blinked. "What?"

"Never mind. Reference to something I used to like. Don't imagine you get great cable connection out in space. Welcome to 274-50, Keeper. Or should I say Rhyss?"

The pale-skinned monster drew in a sharp breath. It shuddered, then flexed its hands at its sides like a junkie getting a good hit of the good stuff.

"Rhyss. Rhyss is good," the monster said. "I had wondered if I would ever hear that name from another being's lips again. I was right about you. You are an interesting one. Seeking me out intentionally so quickly… well done."

Alex cleared his throat. "I'm not sure if I'd say it was entirely intentional. I was looking for an advisor and I saw your name pop up."

Rhyss stared at Alex for a moment. Then it shook its head. "I am not sure if that is more or less impressive. Committing so decisively to an advisor that you would spend a Mythic Boon on one is… bold. Bolder than most. It was also the right decision."

"See, there's the problem. I don't have the faintest clue as to what I'm doing. I wasn't even sure you'd be a Mythic Boon. I thought you might be Legendary." Alex scratched the back of his head as he glanced over his shoulder at the crowd outside. "And it doesn't look like I'm getting much help from them."

"I can assure you that none of them will be nearly as beneficial as I," Rhyss said. It extended a hand to Alex. "Allow me a formal introduction. Our — my — name is Rhyss. From today until the time at which your town is entirely razed, stolen, or otherwise permanently disposed of, I will be your advisor."

"Our?"

"There are more minds than one present within this form. The merger was… less than pleasant." Rhyss' eye narrowed in what might have been discomfort or anger. It was rather difficult to tell which. "For now, you may think of me as male. I recall wanting to assign gender to most things when I was a whole being."

"That's better than thinking of you as an 'it'," Alex allowed. He glanced at the screen between them. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance when you aren't trying to kill me. Say, could we get Aubrey back with this thing as well?"

"No. She is no longer within the Logs. And even if we could, I would strongly advise you against wasting the likes of a Mythic Boon on her."

Alex went to ask another question, then paused. His brow furrowed. "Logs?"

"Records. The System retains all that exist within it… up until those presences are removed." Rhyss gave Alex a pointed look. "I suggest we focus on the topic at hand. You have a newly established town. I can see that you have 1 Mythic and 10 Legendary Boons remaining to spend."

"Right. Thoughts on what I can use those for?"

"More than I could ever say. It would be better for me to ask what your goals for this town are."

"Defensible," Alex said immediately. "I've got enemies, and I'm about to have a whole lot more enemies. Go ahead and just presume that most people in the world are probably enemies, actually."

"There are a number of ways to make a town defensible. Arrays are the most common one. Magical constructs powered by excess energy harvested off all those who live within it. The bigger your town, the more powerful the array."

Huh. I wonder if that's what Valley Ford has.

"However," Rhyss continued, raising a finger to the ceiling. "There are more methods than one for a location to be defensible. Offense is often the best manner of protection."

"I should probably say something," Alex said, clearing his throat. "The System said the town was going to get destroyed if I couldn't find a way to fix a little issue it's got. The stupid thing is meant to exist in the Mirrorlands, not here. It's making the System shit itself."

Rhyss' eye widened. "How long do we have?"

"168 hours."

"The System gave you an entire week for something like that? I was thinking we had minutes," Rhyss said, his shoulders slumping. "Why did it give you a week?"

"Something about being Enshrined."

"The town was Enshrined? Already?" Rhyss' eye widened once more. It was going to pop out of his head if he kept doing that. "How — wait. How long has your world been initiated?"

"About a week."

"You are a Nativeworlder."

"Yes."

"And you made a Town? In a week?"

"Yes."

"Damnation," Rhyss said. "This must be one of the first towns on your planet's leaderboard. You'll likely be notified after initialization has been completed. Fascinating. There are definitely options to solve the Mirrorlands issue in a week. But how did you even get a town meant to be in the Mirrorlands?"

"Long story."

Rhyss tilted his head to the side. "I see. I will have to seek it out later. For understanding, of course. For the time being, I will isolate the Legendary and Mythic boons to narrow down our scope."

He lifted a hand over the screen and it flickered. Words flashed over its surface faster than Alex's eyes could track. Within a few moments, every line upon its surface was either golden yellow or blueish-purple.

Rhyss wasn't done. He flicked his hand again. Once more, the words on the screen changed.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked.

"Filtering away the Boons that will not lend themselves to the town's continued existence after a week. I am prioritizing ones that have been unlocked based on accomplishment rather than mass assigned."

"You mean not everyone gets the same options?"

"Of course not," Rhyss said. He let his hand lower and nodded to the screen. "The System always rewards challenge. Now, have a look. We have a few choices that I believe would be quite effective. You have amassed some rather impressive options that I did not expect to find. I must admit that I am surprised. Just what manner of Nativeworlder are you? What is your relation to the Mirrorlands?"

Alex just grinned.