Chapter 24: Eggsy and Sarah
Alex surveyed the pile that used to be Rambo, the amount was slightly disappointing, a little under what he got from Stephen, but still an impressive amount considering Rambo had nearly half the mass of Stephen.
[Collecting materials
3...
2...
1...
materials collected:
Diseased camel bone (40 kg)
Diseased camel muscle (30 kg)
Diseased camel leather (5 kg)
Diseased camel skull (X1)
Diseased camel cursed sand production organ (X3)
Diseased camel eye (X1)
Diseased camel diseased geysers (X20)
Diseased camel festering stomach (X1)
Diseased camel veins (30 metres)
Festering diseased camel blood (5 litres)
Diseased camel soul core (X1)]
Alex grinned, he could definitely make a few sets of items, some to keep, some to sell, but he really didn't feel like Rambo would fit either of his clients, Felicity seemed like the leader of the two, so Rambo may be a bit to, dense for her, and as for Dovahkiin, well, she was terrified by his dashing looks, she would probably faint if she saw Ranbo, ah well, he just had to hope the other stones provided something more suitable.
"Welcome back" Stephen greeted in a biting tone as the desert was swept away by a mighty breeze, returning him to the forge, "who's the new friend"
"Rambo" Alex replied, watching as the poor camel spun around in shock and confusion at the sudden change in scenery, "treat him well"
Stephen looked at Rambo with contempt as the camel began to try chewing the anvil, becoming disappointed when he couldn't.
Alex pulled out the next stone, ready to summon again.
"Hey, wai-" Stephen called out, only for Alex to disappear on the the spot, melting into the air like a liquid, leaving Stephen alone to deal with the frustrated camel.
The world warped around Alex, metal ore rising from the ground, slowly melting into puddles of slag, and reforming into trees of shimmering iron, with leaves of thin silver, looking as if they would snap at any moment.
The moment the trees sprouted into being, Alex felt a cold breath down his neck, sending chills down his spine.
Alex quickly swivelled around, only to meet nothing but thin air, the metal trees reflecting a blinding flash of light from some non-excitant source, causing Alex to through up his hands to shield his eyes.
As he blinked rapidly to soothe his aching retina, waves of cold breath rapidly washed down his spine, causing Alex to freeze.
This time, he moved around at a slow and measured pace, making sure not to move too fast, he already new what kind of creature it was, the unique, four toed tracks gave it away.
As he moved round slowly, he came face to face with a stunning creature, its rough skin gleaming like metal changing shade and colour constantly, it's long tail curling into a hypnotizing spiral, odd, metallic growths forming around its joints and back, resembling traditional plate armour, shimmering horns protruding from its head, and eyes, almost completely covered in its rough skin, save for two beady black dots, moving independently from the other.
[Congratulations for summoning the D rank monster 'Armoured chameleon'
Please assign your new summon a name
would you like to begin the harvest phase harvest
Y/N]
Alex reached out slowly to touch the creature before pulling it back, remember how chameleons hated to be touched.
As he stared at the creature, The creature stared back at him with a singular eye, the other swivelling around at high speeds, reminding of a time when he was younger, his friend proudly boasting about his new pet, the small chameleon sitting on top of his head, a light shade of brown, searching for a higher foothold, somehow looking satisfied when it found none.
"Eggsy" Alex whispered, recalling the name his friend had bestowed upon the poor creature, "that will be your name, harvest"
[Beginning harvest phase
Skill level is not high enough, less materials will be collected
Wis is not high enough, less materials will be collected
Int is not high enough, less materials will be collected
3...
2...
1...]
The chameleon lit up like a Christmas tree, falling down into the usual pile of raw materials, accompanied by a small version of Eggsy, floating merrily above its remains.
Alex extended his hand slowly for Eggsy to crawl up, despite the chameleons intangibility, it tentatively put one leg forward, reversing its actions just before it reached Alex's arm, repeating the process a couple of times before finally wrapping its toes around Alex's hand, repeating the motion as it moved slowly up Alex's arm, slowly picking up speed as it became more confident.
Before long, Eggsy had reached the top of Alex's head, crawling onto one of the broken stumps which had been Alex's horns, and began to wave its front legs in the air while standing on its back leg, trying desperately to reach one of the iron trees, slumping back down defeatedly upon realising it couldn't.
[Collecting materials
3...
2...
1...
Materials collected:
Armoured chameleon bone (10 kg)
Armoured chameleon muscle (70 kg)
Armoured chameleon skin (50 kg)
Armoured chameleon armour plating (X 30)
Armoured chameleon eye (X 2)
Armoured chameleon tongue (X 1)
Armoured chameleon skull (X 1)
Armoured chameleon iron melting acid gland (X 1)
Armoured chameleon veins (20 metres)
Armoured chameleon blood (4 litres)
Armoured chameleon soul core (X1)]
As the world dissolved around Alex, he felt a rising excitement, along with a slight twinge of disappointment, only one more stone to go.
Alex looked around for Stephen, and found him throttling Rambo.
"You can't eat the anvil you dumb beast" Stephen yelled in desperation, "we can't touch anything, understand, WE. CAN'T. TOUCH. ANYTHING"
Rambo gave Alex a desperate look as he was shook violently back and forth.
"Hey," Alex yelled, "don't bully Rambo, he's trying his best"
"His best is shit" Stephen yelled in response.
Alex stood for a moment, unsure whether he could actually intervene, could he even touch Stephen, Rambo couldn't do it, it was Eggsy who came to Rambo's rescue, seemingly just as flustered as Alex to begin with, but quickly floating over and wrenching Stephen from Alex as best it could.
"I'm summoning again," Alex called in a matter of-fact tone, "and when I get back, you had all best be getting along, or I swear to god Stephen, I will throw you in the furnace"
"What will that even do?" Stephen responded angrily, struggling as best he could against Eggsy's hold.
"It'll be fun to find out" Alex called, crushing the last summoning stone into a fine powder.
Waves of colour and sound rushed over Alex as the world turned into a poor piece of modern art, melting into itself till it was just sad brown colour, obscuring all he saw.
The chirping of birds greeted Alex as the dull greys of the world where washed away, a beautiful woodland replacing all he could see, warm sunlight breaking through the leaves to form a patchwork of light blanketing the littered floor.
A massive monument stood in front of Alex, a tall imposing archway leading to unfathomable depths and untold mystery's, beckoning Alex to come down into its depths, a massive stone statue of a porcupine standing guardian for the ancient monuments, rough carvings depicting its features, coupled with runic patterns snaking around its entire body, Alex could not properly describe how huge the statue was, it's spines where at least double the size of Alex.
If he new enough about summoning in games, he would probably find his new summon inside the temple, if his summon had such a grandiose abode, he could only imagine what creature he had summoned, maybe it was A rank, he could only hope.
As he strutted forward a small voice made him stop.
"S-sorry, b-b-but I-I'm n-not supposed to l-let you t-through"
Alex jumped, his heart almost stopping from the shock, swivelling around to find the owner of the voice.
A loud cracking noise made Alex painfully aware of who was speaking, a massive shadow looming over him.
To both his horror and delight, the statue began to turn towards him, the runes along its body glowing up a deep green.
[Congratulations for summoning the C rank creature 'Lesser guardian porcupine'
Please assign your new summon a name
would you like to begin the harvest phase harvest
Y/N]
"Ah, s-sorry" the massive porcupine stuttered, rapidly shrinking to half its size, "that was probably quite scary, I was told to be intimidating, oh god, I'm failing at that too, uuuuhhhh, I'm sorry"
"No, no" Alex reassured the massive porcupine, that still towered over him despite the shrinking, "your doing great, really intimidating"
"I hate sarcasm" the porcupine muttered in a defeated tone, "everyone uses it, and then I get confused, or was that genuine, *sigh* I can't tell"
"No, really it was genuine"
"Really"
The porcupine seemed to perk up at those words, the runes covering its body becoming even brighter.
"Y-yeah" the porcupine muttered to itself, "Yeah, I'm intimidating, come on, you got this, confidence is key"
A loud squawk came from the forest followed by a flock of birds to rise from the forest, causing Alex to jump slightly.
The porcupine on the other hand, let out a shrill shriek, and tried to hide behind Alex, shivering in fear.
"H-hey" Alex stuttered, slightly flustered, "it's alright, it's alright, they can't hurt you, seriously, your a mountain, how could birds scare you"
"Your right" The porcupine replied in a subdued tone, "I'm useless, you should probably never summon me again, I'd just get in the way, I-I'll be fine, I can just wait here a while, It'll be fine"
"Well," Alex began, "You better steel yourself for what comes next"
[Beginning harvest phase
Skill level is not high enough, less materials will be collected
Wis is not high enough, less materials will be collected
Int is not high enough, less materials will be collected
3...
2...
1...]
"Wha-" the massive porcupine managed to get out before it erupted into a dazzling display of technicolour lights, bathing the entire forest in its harsh glow.
The light finally abated, revealing a truly gargantuan pile of body parts, and a terrified little porcupine, spinning around wildly in the air.
"W-w-what happened, where am I, what am I, uuuhhh, this is why I was told not to trust strangers"
"Hey, hey" Alex said, realising he may have harvested a bit too quick, "it's ok, this was going to happen anyway, better if it happened now then later right?"
"Yeah, maybe your right" The porcupine said in a depressed manner.
Talking to this creature made Alex depressed, and uncomfortable.
"You know what," Alex said waving his hands, stopping the porcupine before it got into a depressive slump, "Lets give you a name, ok, have any you like"
"I would probably pick a dumb name, what's the point"
"It's ok" Alex reassured, his patience wanning quickly, "I'm sure you will pick a good name"
"Fine, I heard some of the names you use, I-I find the name Sarah nice, Sorry if it's a dumb name"
"No, no" Alex quickly comforted her, or at least, she sounded like a girl, and she picked a girls name, so it is the most likely option, "Sarah is a great name, it fits you well"
"Really," Sarah said, slightly perking up, "w-well, does anything else happen?"
"Nope" Alex said in a comforting tone, "that's all, we can go meet the others now"
[Collecting materials
3...
2...
1...
Materials collected:
Lesser guardian porcupine bone (500 kg)
Lesser guardian porcupine flesh (750 kg)
Lesser guardian porcupine skin (200 kg)
Lesser guardian porcupine Needles (X50)
Lesser guardian porcupine eyes (X2)
Lesser guardian porcupine skull (X1)
Lesser guardian porcupine mana cords (100 metres)
Lesser guardian porcupine crystal root (X1)
Lesser guardian porcupine tremor sensors (X10)
Lesser guardian porcupine soul core (X1)]
The sheer amount of materials made Alex almost faint with joy, how many armour sets could he make with that, there had to be at least three cubic metres of bone alone, he could sense a grinding session coming up.
When he returned, Alex began to search for his summons.
He found Stephen in a corner, drawing circles with his tail, it seemed something had happened while Alex was away, as Stephen was experiencing an existential crisis, best to leave him to it.
Rambo was going through something similar, but in the opposite corner, maybe the two had something to do with the other, maybe Rambo had finally realised he couldn't chew anything.
Eggsy was resting upon the anvil, its eyes closed tight as slowly sunk further and further into the anvil.
"W-who are they?" Sarah asked in a worried tone.
"Your new family" Alex replied with a chuckle, "make sure you get on well with them, you'll be spending a long time with them"