Book 1. Chapter 12: Summoning

Book 1. Chapter 12: Summoning

The demoness had stopped Jake and grabbed his sleeve, directing him to his make-shift armor stand: his coat rack. It appeared that she wanted to present themselves as adventurers to the newly summoned. He set about getting dressed like he was ready to enter the dungeon. She even made a few more purchases to try to complete his look. It looked like she wanted him to finish his equipment, replacing his helmet and bracers with red to match with the rest.

She purchased an ornate looking fan for her, which fit just fine in or was sized for her tiny hands. She had Jake rearrange the furniture and everything was as clean as it could be. Once they were ready, she pointed over to the computer. That made sense as they could select their partner together, utilizing the menu on there.

Before they triggered the menu, Jake thought about what his party needed. They needed the humanoid version of the badgerdillo, Jake thought, to which the demoness laughed. Really, what they needed the most right now was what in MMO terms is called a tank. A person that was able to take the beatings that enemies dished out, while protecting allies and forcing enemies to focus on them: one way or another.

This was not a game but real life for Jake though, so the idea of taunt likely did not truly exist. Having creatures and thinking humanoids focus on them, the armored tank, instead of their squishy allies required more than just activating a spell or being the first one to attack: it required positioning, it required that the person was a threat on their own, and it required the person to have abilities or spells in which they are actually able protect their allies.

In the game, Jake preferred a paladin to be the partys tank. In a way, they were kind of like the summoner when it came to all the things a tank could do and do well. They did it all, and while they were not the best at them individually, their counterparts that were other party choices could only do some of those things.

They had answers to non-taunt-able creatures where they would significantly reduce the enemys damage when they did not focus on them, they could also heal themselves and others, and they even had some area of effect abilities to hit and draw the attention of many enemies along with barrier spells. A paladin would be an excellent addition to the party no matter what other classes Jake picked for the other party slots.

While Jake was thinking about paladins he felt a mental eye-roll from the demoness, and he wondered why. Is it because hes min-maxing his party members? She shrugged but also shook her head no, so then he thought some more about paladins right. He has to actually live with and speak with the person, and hearing them go on about their god that they worship in order for their powers to be granted, and their strict adherence to both their gods tenants and their rules, it could be quite a challenge.

The demoness agreed, so he would certainly keep that kind of idea in mind when he looks at the potential party members and not just jump to grab some justice seeking paladin, or worse, some paladin that refuses to fight others for some reason.

Jake triggered the summon from within the [Menu], and was given a list of choices. Of the ten choices, only four of the classes even began to meet Jakes criteria of what he felt they needed for the party right now, and the demoness looked at the list in interest.

Overall he was a bit unhappy about the information given about what he would be summoning. He supposed that he was lucky to get a choice at all and it was not just random, but he would like to get as much information as he could, such as their attributes or skill levels. Instead, he was just given their race, class, and gender.

Jakes top choice on the list was a Centaur Paladin of Tyr, which he had just thought about. It appeared that this one was a male. Jake imagined having the advantage of having a Centaur with him, especially up against creatures like the gnolls. They would be crushed under his hooves, and his plate mail would render him nigh-invulnerable to them. A centaurs mass, power, and speed were simply a huge advantage that could likely be used in countless situations.

Jake then imagined them fighting side by side, or Jake riding the Centaur into battle, casting spells and watching each others backs as they fought hordes of enemies. They had drinks at a fantasy inn, and gave each other a high-five. At some point during his imagination, the demoness took on a feeling of dread, and then urgency. He looked over, and saw her crossing her hands in front of her like she was making an X like she did not want the centaur, and he could have sworn he saw her eye twitching.

She rushed to a piece of paper and immediately began drawing. When she returned: a picture of a ladder, with Jake at the top of it, and the centaur with his shoulders slunk down at the bottom, unable to proceed. Jake laughed, and he shook his head. It was clear that she did not want the centaur, so he would move on and look at the other options at least, first.

There was an Elvish Warrior, male, that didnt stand out at all to Jake but met the criteria, and a female Dwarven Guardian. While the latter sounded like it could be quite effective, Jake felt like that sort of option was a weaker one as such a class was probably lacking any kind of magic. Jake would rather take a non-tank based on his choices for this rare summon, as he could see some interesting race choices for some of the remaining.

It was with some trepidation that he looked at the last of the tank-viable choices, but he could just feel Fhesiahs interest over the bond. He knew this was her pick: the Valkyrie Shieldmaiden, for which their race could only be female. Jake decided to look over the wiki for information about both Valkyries in [The Alliance] and also [Shieldmaidens].

The winged womans expression shifted to one of desperation, as she searched for what to say. Uh I didnt have one?

Jake took that in, and the demoness pointed at her, motioning for Jake to continue. He started to feel bad, as it was clear she wasnt used to this type of situation. So, he doubled down, as he took an almost disbelieving expression and said, If you didnt have a commanding officer, what did you have? What were you doing last before entering the void of [The Framework]? Jake felt even bad asking this question: it was like asking what were you doing when you died? Jake guessed that more often than not, it was probably a traumatic experience.

The winged woman had almost responded like she had been struck and she now seemed to be tearing up, almost ready to cry. She replied I was clearing a den of kobolds Jake couldnt help it, as he was stupefied by the idea that a trained valkyrie would ever die to mere kobolds, he replied, ...Kobolds? A valkyrie died to kobolds?

Ophelia was now openly crying, and she responded sniffling, Ihad just finished my training, and was getting revenge for all the times that they hurt me and stole my stuff while training when I was youngerwhen the cave collapsedI didnt make it out in time

So, the winged woman fell in the unlucky category. She never earned enough for her initiation into the framework and thus was not deemed a viable target for resurrection without fixing her debt first, by becoming a servant. Jake suddenly realized something, and decided to voice it, The cave collapsed? I thought that incursions couldnt do that.

If they could do that, then the outsiders would have no need for monsters. They could simply just crush anyone that entered, or flood them with water or lava, line the halls with traps and there would be nothing they could do to stop it. It turned out there is a complicated set of rules that determined how the outsiders could attack and corrupt the multiverse, and how or why they used dungeons and what they could do inside of it was related to that. Collapsing tunnels was not something that it was allowed to do.

Not without the initiated having a fair shot of circumventing the challenge like some kind of trigger that could be avoided or disarmed, anyway. Jake had learned that these types of things could begin to appear when Dungeon Masters appeared, potentially. Jake would need to prepare his party with the skills needed to circumvent and mitigate these types of threats.

Ophelia despondently responded, Incursion? I grew up in a contested world, and this was just a natural cave that had a den of kobolds. Igot a little overzealous, and might have charged and crashed into a kobold with a little too much fervor

Jake would almost think that it was funny if the winged woman wasnt so distressed and clearly pained by the experience. After all, if not for [The Framework], it would have been a tragic demise that not only took the life of a prospective valkyrie, but also empowered the evil entity. The demoness had hidden her face behind her fan, but her shoulders were shaking with laughter.

Jake looked over to the demoness and glared at her. Surely this was enough of her mischief. They had to live with Ophelia, there was simply no way that they could keep up this act like they were rigid military officers forever, nor was he going to continue to act like a boss that didnt care about his employees well-being.

Fhesiah shook her head, and sent confidence and reassurance over the bond. She took on a regal air, and motioned to fluff things up even further, gesturing to the three of them and Jakes [Refuge], and then pointed to the portal.

Jake tried his best to piece together what she wanted from him by using the emotions that she also sent over the bond when she made her gestures, though he really felt like this moment was like a dog telling the parents a boy was trapped in a well on TV. He guessed that she wanted him to reassure and instill confidence into Ophelia using the belonging and camaraderie of their fake three-person military unit, and have her work out some of her frustration and to bond together killing some gnolls. This was a plan that Jake could get behind, at least somewhat. Hed play it by ear.

The demoness showed a beaming smile, and nodded. The whole time this exchange happened the Valkyrie was completely focused on inspecting the dirt on her greaves, still kneeling on the floor, occasionally wiping tears. If Jake was not talking to her or expecting something from her, she was content to stare forever, it looked like.

Jake approached, to which she snapped her eyes up at him. He put his hand on her armored shoulder, and gave her a reassuring smile, as the demoness floated above and beside him with her regal demeanor, flourishing her fan. That was before, soldier. Raise your chin up. You are now a part of Jake Harts Company, and here we will do everything in our power to make you successful, to be the best of the best. You are now part of something greater than yourself, and together we will go on to accomplish great things. What do you say?

The Valkyrie was a little shocked, but she showed a small, shy smile, before replying, somehow having difficulty meeting Jakes fake steely-eyed stare. Y-Yes sir! Thats what I always wanted

Jake stood back, and tapped the butt of his spear on the ground. Good! Well make the best soldier out of you yet. Fall in, soldier. He began walking to the portal, and the Valkyrie stood and followed him there. With that, we are ready to move out. On the other side of that portal could be enemies, so be on the lookout. Lets go, Ophelia. Welcome, Jake said. The winged woman replied Yes sir. Thank you, sir. Before they all stepped through the portal.