Chapter 261: – Back With Gwen. |
“Let’s see… There are a lot of them this time around!”
Quest: | Mystwood Academy Excursion |
Difficulty: | Hard |
Description: | Help your summoner during the trip to the Rose Knight Academy. After settling into Class B, she has gained a certain degree of renown. She now sets out to see the world with her own eyes. Guide and protect her from hidden enemies while helping her earn further achievements during this joint excursion. |
“So that’s what Gwen has been up to?”
Alexander and Aburdon were there as well. They glanced over the panels displaying the summoning missions, each commenting on which one Rusty should choose.
“If you compare it to the others, Gwen’s mission is probably the obvious choice.”
“The girl again? Why not go with the necromancer? He’ll offer us more summoner coins!”
“You don’t know that.”
Quest: | Necromancer Rebuilds |
Difficulty: | Hard |
Description: | The necromancer Vesperus Mortis seeks to rebuild his power. He has summoned you to help establish a new base of operations near a small village. Assist him in regaining his lost strength by performing various tasks. |
“And this mission sounds shady. There’s only one thing a necromancer would do near a village, and you know that, Aburdon.”
“What does it matter if we capture or kill a few villagers?”
Alexander floated nearby, his glow pulsing gently.
“Rusty isn’t someone who kills innocent people, and I don’t want him to start now!”
“Oh, but he could be. Sooner or later, he’ll have to. Why not do it now?”
Aburdon cackled and turned toward Rusty.
“Think about the possibilities, Rusty! Imagine how much wealth you could gain!”
Rusty paused for a moment. Thinking back on his previous actions, he realized he had never really attacked people who left him alone. While adventurers wandering through a dungeon could be considered innocent, they had still come to kill monsters like him or steal treasure from him. To them, he was nothing more than a box filled with gold coins.
Even so, he usually avoided killing children or people who posed no threat to him and offered nothing useful for leveling up. It wasn’t that he couldn’t do it, but there was rarely a reason to kill people who neither threatened his life nor stood in his way. That did not mean he would spare them if they interfered with him, but he also did not go looking for conflict with such people.
‘What are the other missions…’
Quest: | Dungeon Defender 2 |
Difficulty: | Medium |
Description: | Summoned by the dungeon once again, you must protect the core from invading raiders. Drive back all enemies or slay them as you did before. |
The third quest involved defending the dungeon core once more. It was the same mission he had completed recently, and the dungeon was still listed among his summoners. However, the fourth person he had saved before was nowhere to be seen.
‘No mission for Teral?’
He wasn’t sure why Teral was missing from the list, but there was also a fourth mission available, one that did not seem very interesting.
Quest: | Merchant Escort |
Difficulty: | Easy |
Description: | A traveling merchant requests protection while transporting valuable cargo between cities. Ensure the merchant arrives safely while dealing with possible bandits, monsters, or rival traders. |
Rusty stared at the final quest for several seconds before slowly closing the panel.
“…That one sounds boring. And is the merchant the summoner, or is someone else doing the summoning?”
The mission was rather vague, but from what he knew about merchants, it would not be very interesting. He had hidden in merchant caravans before, and while they were sometimes attacked by monsters or bandits, nothing more ever really happened. It was also an easy mission, and considering he had never failed a medium difficulty quest before, there was no reason to waste one of his precious summons on something like this.
‘Maybe it’s good that Teral is missing for now.’
Rusty feared he would have a hard time choosing between the elf seeking vengeance and his first summoner, Gwen. However, the summoning chamber had made the decision for him, allowing him to choose easily. Besides, now that he had unlocked it in the regular world, he no longer felt as though he was missing out on anything.
‘It’s a difficult mission though… Should I unlock something before I go in?’
He still had some points left to spend. One option was giving Gwen one of the upgraded living armor variants he had received after the Teral missions. However, she did not possess as much mana as the young elf and would struggle to sustain that many constructs. Still, with the help of the new skill he had received, he might be able to recover mana on his own instead of relying entirely on his summoner.
‘Maybe I should increase the storage capacity instead… or perhaps the link range… or the mana conversion rate…’
Rusty had plenty of options available, but only thirty-three points to spend. Increasing the link range would allow him to move farther away from Gwen. At first, this had not seemed important because his only task was protecting her, so staying within fifty meters was manageable. However, during the competition between the classes, he ran out of space and nearly lost because of it.
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Gwen was also no longer alone. She now had other summoners and, in this case, potential knights to protect her, so being able to move farther from his summoner would be quite convenient. However, the skill upgrade was tied to each summoner individually, which made it feel somewhat wasteful. The same could also be said for the mana conversion rate.
“I don’t like making decisions like this… but it feels like I should get something if this is a hard mission…”
After thinking for a while, he finally chose the link range upgrade. If he could recover his MP by himself, there was no reason to improve his summoner’s mana conversion rate. With that settled, he was ready. The only remaining problem was his frame and weapons.
Taking the goliath form as an additional form had created a new issue. Even though he could assume the larger body, storing weapons meant for it had become a problem. He usually used a much larger shield with the goliath form than with his regular body. Carrying it required a lot of space, which severely limited his options.
His regular body carried a smaller shield and a halberd, with a mace strapped to his side. The larger form could wield more specialized weapons such as oversized maces or axes. He could also fit in a bow with a quiver, but that was all his current summoning storage system could handle. After this mission, he was considering increasing his storage capacity so he could carry more weapons for different situations. Eventually, he also wanted to use swords or throwing knives, but before that, he needed more summoner coins.
“Well, see you two around. Behave yourselves while I’m gone.”
He waved at both Aburdon and Alexander, who seemed to have forgotten he was there as they continued arguing about the necromancer mission, something he had already decided to ignore.
“I am always on my best behavior, my dear Rusty.”
Aburdon replied with his usual lie.
“Keep Gwen safe. She is a good child.”
Alexander seemed more concerned about Gwendolin, and Rusty simply nodded. Soon, the summoning circle beneath his metallic feet began to shine, and just like many times before, everything turned white. Moments later, he found himself somewhere else, seemingly back at Mystwood Academy, though he was not entirely sure where exactly.
“Rusty!”
A familiar voice rang out behind him, and there she was, Gwendolin Rainstar, his very first summoner.
“Hah, I told you he would come when we needed him, Gwen!”
Another familiar voice followed, and when he turned his helmet, he saw another young girl he remembered, Astrella Fjord. The fairy-human with greenish hair still wore the same circlet, though her hair was clearly longer than before. Airy floated above her right shoulder, but now there was also a second fairy hovering above her left shoulder, one that had not been there previously.
‘This place looks familiar. Isn’t this the dueling arena?’
Rusty wanted to turn and greet his summoner, but the moment he appeared, another voice echoed through the arena, loud and domineering.
“So you finally brought it out, Rainstar!”
It was another voice he vaguely remembered. It belonged to a large humanoid he had faced before, the one who rode a massive summoned beast. He stood on the opposite side of the arena, his summoned creature already beside him. It was the same bear-wolf Rusty had fought before, though now it looked even larger, with spikes protruding from sections of its armor.
“I was still a D minus when I fought that thing…”
It had been some time since he had seen all these people. They all looked older and stronger. Syber was here as well, standing off to the side and leaning against a column, while the other members of Gwen’s B class watched the competition from the rafters. As Rusty glanced around, he noticed something mounted on the wall. It looked like a scoreboard, currently tied at two to two.
‘Could this be?’
“You got it, Rainstar! Show them who the secret weapon of B1 is!”
“Woodward, you can do it! Prove that B2 is superior to B1 once and for all!”
It was quite the scene, and not at all what he had expected to find the moment he was summoned. Still, he immediately understood what was happening. These summoners loved pitting their creatures against one another to establish rankings, and this appeared to be another competition between the two classes. The winner would probably earn greater resources and prestige, while the losers risked demotion, with some students perhaps even falling into the lower C class.
“Gwen, it’s been a while. Did you grow a little?”
Ignoring the shouting around him, Rusty finally turned toward his summoner, Gwendolin Rainstar. When he had first met the girl, she had been a complete mess. Her raven black hair had been unkempt and hung over her face, while her skin had looked pale and unhealthy. To make matters worse, her build had been frail and sickly. Her whole demeanor had been nervous, withdrawn, and constantly stressed. Now, however, she had changed.
Gwen no longer looked like the timid girl he remembered from his first summoning. Her black hair was still long and dark as midnight, but now it was properly cared for and tied into a neat braid resting over one shoulder. The heavy shadows beneath her eyes had disappeared, replaced by a gaze filled with far more life. Even her posture had changed. She stood straighter now, no longer shrinking into herself whenever someone looked her way.
Most surprising of all was the mana flowing around her. Rusty could feel it immediately through the contract linking them together. Compared to before, her magical energy had become denser and far more stable. While she was not quite on Teral’s level, she was no longer as far behind him either.
“You look great, Gwen. How have you been?”
He spoke in a cheerful voice, trying his best to ignore the noise around them.
“I do? Thank you, Rusty. It’s really you, right?”
“Of course it’s me. Who else would it be?”
Gwen sounded genuinely surprised, and even though she looked healthier now, her eyes began to water as if she were on the verge of tears.
“It’s because it’s been so long…”
“Long? It couldn’t have been that long, right?”
“What do you mean? It’s already been half a year!”
“Half a year!?”
Rusty was genuinely shocked, though at the same time, it made a strange sort of sense. Time inside the summoning chamber flowed differently from the world he lived in. For him, only two and a half months had passed, spent grinding through dungeons and completing summoning quests to reach his current level.
“Yes, I tried and tried to call you… but you never came…”
“I…”
Rusty wasn’t sure how to reply. He had tried to return to the summoning quests involving Gwen, but he couldn’t. Her mana had been too low, and even after he increased her willpower, it still wasn’t enough. Only now, after triggering a full evolution, had the quest finally opened again.
“Are you afraid, Rainstar? You should be. Why don’t you just give up already and take that rust heap with you!”
Bartholomew Woodward burst out laughing while his bear-wolf growled from the other side of the arena. Rusty turned toward him, but before he could respond, Astrella exploded in anger.
“That’s why you don’t have a girlfriend. You have no tact, you idiot. You’re ruining the mood for everyone!”
“Huh?”
Bartholomew’s eyebrow twitched as he heard Astrella shouting from the side of the arena. The large youth looked completely caught off guard by the accusation.
“What does that even have to do with anything?”
“It has everything to do with it!”
Astrella shot back immediately while sticking out her tongue.
“You interrupted a heartfelt reunion just to insult someone for no reason!”
“Heartfelt reunion? What are you babbling about? Have you gone insane?”
As the two bickered, the tears in Gwen’s eyes began to fade. She covered her mouth, trying to stop herself from laughing. Her mood had noticeably brightened, and Rusty could feel her happiness through their connection.
“Gwen, why don’t I take care of this fight first, and then we’ll talk?”
“Let’s do that, Rusty, but be careful. Bartholomew is strong.”
“He’s gotten stronger, but so have I. Watch this!”
Rusty still had not unlocked his loadout changing ability during the last mission with Gwen. At the moment, he stood in his regular form, but as he turned away from her, his body began to shift into his goliath form.
“Wait, can living armors do that?”
“I don’t think so… but this is no ordinary living armor!”
“Yeah, it belongs to the Metal Maiden!”
People in the stands began to cheer as they watched him grow in size. His frame became bulkier as reinforced high steel plates shifted and locked into place. The transformation looked more magical than mechanical, and soon even the sound of his footsteps across the stone floor changed. They became louder and far more menacing.
“That thing got bigger.”
“It looks much stronger now. I wish I had a special familiar like that…”
Rusty flexed his fingers once before pulling the massive shield from his back and slamming it into the arena floor. The impact echoed through the dueling grounds, and even Bartholomew’s bear wolf took a cautious step backward. Then Rusty lowered his halberd toward the large youth across the arena.
“Come then!”
Although the summoner could not hear Rusty’s voice because he lacked a possessed head, he clearly understood the gesture. The large youth narrowed his eyes and quickly leaped onto the back of his summoned beast. His main specialty was fighting as a rider, strengthening his creature whenever they battled together. The crowd soon fell silent as the bout was about to begin.