Chapter 228 – Summoner Limit.

“…Now that was one strange mission.”

Rusty was back in the summoning chamber. His mission was over, and he wondered whether he should have worked for the dungeon instead. His new summoner had been completely uncooperative, and now he also had to fear his mother, who had somehow managed to interfere with the soul forge.

“Gwen is still the best one.”

He made a mental note to prioritize his first summoner, who had been the most cooperative by far. The second one had done little more than force him to spend precious coins, and the necromancer just impeded his progress.

“Oh?”

As he stepped off the summoning platform, system windows began appearing before him. He had gained more experience from this mission than from the one involving Gwen, and also more than from Teral’s. It seemed that being chased for a week by powerful paladins and barely escaping was far more rewarding than fighting summoner students.

“What?”

Rusty was surprised by this turn of events. He had stuffed his new summoner into a backpack and kept elbowing him throughout the journey, and yet his synergy had gone up. Looking for answers, he opened the summoning log to see not only what he had gained coins for, but why he had gained them.

• Gained 1 summoner coin for correcting their attitude.
• Gained 1 summoner coin by spending time with your summoner.
• Gained 1 summoner coin for correcting their attitude.
• Gained 1 summoner coin by spending time with your summoner.

“I can gain summoner coins for hitting them? For bad behavior?”

Rusty scratched his metal head as he stared at the logs. He was not gaining much from any single action, but the list was filled with entries about correcting Vesper’s attitude and spending time with him throughout the journey.

After going on three adventures with Gwen, he had ended up with sixty-seven coins. He spent sixteen of those on upgrades for living armor summons and a new steel variant. After that, he went on a mission with Teral, where he gained five coins but spent nine. That left him with forty-seven. This time, however, he gained a whole fifty-four, bringing his total to exactly one hundred and one coins.

“Wait… this means… I can get that upgrade!”

He was overjoyed by the realization. After the way he had treated Vesperus, he had even wondered if he might lose coins for hitting him so many times. Instead, it seemed to have the opposite effect. Carrying him around like a backpack may also have contributed to the steady stream of coins from spending time in close proximity.

“A strange way to give rewards… but I’ll take it!”

With glee, he moved over to the console. Time was starting to run out, but he still wondered whether any other options might appear. To his surprise, a new option was already there.

“Summoner slots?”

Rusty was puzzled by the option at first, but soon realized what it meant. He brought up the section showing his current summoners and noticed a small red exclamation mark in the upper right corner. When he clicked it, another window appeared and explained everything.

It seemed he could not go on an unlimited number of summoner missions without some kind of restriction. If the message was accurate, he would need to remove one of his previous summoners before selecting a mission that involved a new one.

“This complicates things…”

Of the three he had interacted with, he was certain he would keep Gwen, which left the other two. At first, he thought Vesperus was the worst of them, but if he could earn more summoner coins simply by smacking the necromancer around, then perhaps Vesperus was worth keeping. That left Teral as the weakest option, but Rusty had already invested resources in him, so abandoning him now would likely be a waste.

“Uh… time is up…”

As he continued to deliberate, he felt the pull back to the real world. His physical body was still in the dungeon, hidden beneath a barrier of rocks that Gleam had fashioned.

“I hope those two didn’t start fighting while I was gone…”

The pull grew stronger. The summoning chamber stretched and dissolved, as if it were an illusion, and soon everything went white. Rusty’s awareness snapped back into his physical body with a faint metallic chime, and he was back. The first thing he noticed was the noise of familiar voices.

“This is the last time… I’m going to destroy you, hero!”

“Hah, so you finally lost your mind?”

“( •́ ᴖ •̀ )”

What he returned to was Aburdon and Alexander locked in a shoving match, with Gleam wedged between them, trying to calm them down. The earth barrier they were using for cover had begun to crack as the two suits of armor wrestled against it.

“Hey, what are you two doing? Cut that out! Are we getting attacked or something?”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“◝( ᵔᗜᵔ )◜”

Rusty immediately ordered the two to stop, and Gleam was quick to leap onto his chest and wrap him in a hug. Gleam clung to him for a second longer than necessary, her small frame pressed against his chestplate as if she were making sure he was really back.

“Easy, easy…”

Rusty said, steadying himself.

“I’m here. You did great, but what happened, and how long was I gone for?”

She finally hopped down, looking proud and just a little smug as she glanced back at the other two. Aburdon straightened first, smoothing an imaginary crease in his armor.

“I was merely engaging in a… tactical disagreement, nothing to worry about, my dear Rusty.”

“A disagreement?”

Alexander scoffed.

“You tried to shove me through the wall.”

“Yes, I told you not to move that much hero! This great lord needs his space.”

Rusty shook his head and gave out a sigh as he imitated the humanoids.

“So there was no monster attack or adventurers?”

“(ᵕ—ᴗ—)”

Gleam recounted it for him.

“I see, so I was just gone for a minute, and nothing happened just as we predicted.”

The coast seemed to be clear, so he pushed against the rocky barrier to produce a fist-sized hole to look outside. There was no one there. No life signals from adventurers and no crystalline golems or lizards waiting to attack them.

“At least the plan was successful. Let’s continue, and I’ll tell you guys about the summoning.”