CH.83 Operation Umbrella

CH.83 Operation Umbrella

“I can go buy you an umbrella, if you would like.” The hostess offered as we were about to leave.

“No thank you.” I answered. “I have a plan.”

“Brian?” Alice looked at me. “Are you really going to stop the rain?”

“I already said I wouldn't do it. There are other ways of doing it.” I told her.

A summoner will deal with small problems in the summoner ways, after all.

I pulled two monsters out of my collection.

The first one being: “Dark Magician.” I said as I summoned the first monster.

“Hello Master.” He said as he stepped out of his card. I heard some surprised gasps from the people enjoying their lunch. “What might I do for you?”

“I need a spell that can protect us from the rain.” I told him. “That shadow shield that Mana uses should suffice.” I told him.

“As you wish.” He agreed. “Dark Shield.”

A large shadowy plane appeared above the front door of the inn. It was large enough that I could summon the second monster within it.

“Thank you. Now, Overdrive.” I summoned my second monster. You don’t need to walk in the rain, if you use a mechanical carriage. This is at least 120 IQ move.

“Brian.” I felt Alice pulling on my sleeve. “Is he the same summon as the one that had the purple robe?”

“Yes, but also no.” I told her. “It’s complicated.”

“Could you explain it to me?” She asked.

“Later.” I postponed the problem. “Let’s get back to the manor first.”

I took Alice to the passenger side door, opened it for her and helped her inside. I’m trying to be a gentleman here. Then I entered the driver seat and Dark Magician got in the back seat. I’ll need him at the manor as well, so I won’t unsummon him just yet.

After we got inside and closed the doors, the dark shield that was keeping the rain from us disappeared, and the raindrops began hitting the roof of Overdrive.

“This was your plan?” Alice asked.

“Yes. Works perfectly, does it not?” I answered.

“Well, I guess.” Alice admitted.

“Come on. Let’s get back home.” I told her.

Now, to the manor.

—

I was driving Overdrive slowly. Not because I couldn’t drive quickly, I think I proved that part when I was preparing to deal with the wyverns, but because there were a lot of people running in the streets. People trying to get home before the rain really picked up. I also have no clue how well Overdrive’s tires would hold in the rain. They had good grip on the grasslands so it should be fine, but I’d rather not crash into a person or a building. And we were in no rush to get back.

“Brian, are you sure it’s fine to use summoning like this?” Alice asked.

Christina was checking it out and seemed to like what she saw.

“Where did you get it? I don’t think Bakula would hold something like this.” She commented.

“It’s from the Traveling wonder.” I answered.

“Oh yeah, that little store. I’ve been looking for a new staff for Alice since she cast her first spell a few days ago, but I didn’t think something like this was so close. I guess I shouldn’t underestimate a failing store.” Christina said.

Failing? Is that store going under? Well, perhaps Lawrence just can’t compete with Bakula. Bakula has a larger store and multiple income sources, so even if he can’t sell his vares, he can just rely on the transport aspect of the business. But Lawrence doesn’t have something like that. Or maybe he does and I just don’t know of it.

“So you went with treant wood staff. You need to be careful not to overload it as you start using it.” Christina was instructing Alice. “You don’t want to break something Brian gave you, now do you.”

So it can break if she overloads it. I guess if it is one that grows over time, it might be brittle early on.

“You seem knowledgeable about staves and treant wood. Do you perhaps have a treant wood staff yourself?” I asked.

“Oh I do.” Christina told me. “I got it almost a year ago, but it still can’t hold up to powerful combat magic, so I can’t use it fully.”

“Does it take that long for a treant wood staff to grow?” I asked.

“Yes, it really does. Some say it’s foolish to even attempt to use a treant wood staff before you’ve grown it for at least three years. Some say only a month is enough, but then again, the longer you nurture the staff, the stronger it will be.” She explained.

“Could I see yours? For reference.” I asked.

“Yes. Please wait a moment. I’ll go get it.” Christina said as she left the room.

After her mother left the room, Alice turned to me.

“Why are you so interested in staves all of a sudden?” She asked.

“I just want to know some of their limits.” I told her. “If I don’t, I’ll end up breaking yours when I offer to upgrade it.”

“Please don’t break it.” Alice plead.

“And that is why I study. Can I hold it for a bit?” I asked.

“...will you do something stupid?” She asked.

“No, I’ll just analyze it.” I told her.

“What does that mean?”

“I’ll use my power as a dungeon founder to find out more about the staff.” I told her. “It shouldn’t cause any damage to it.”

“... just don’t break it.” She said as she handed the staff over.

“If I do, I’ll get you another one.” I promised her. “Perhaps I’ll carve one for you myself.”

“Having a summon do it, is not doing it by yourself.” Alice told me.

Well, she is not wrong. I have some woodworking experience, but not enough to carve something like this. School for the win. And projects with my dad. But then again, modern tools are required for that, so I really couldn’t do something like this.

I analyzed the staff, before handing it back to Alice. See, no damage.