Book 1. Chapter 6: Goblin Shaman

Name:Bonded Summoner Author:
Book 1. Chapter 6: Goblin Shaman

It turned out: not a lot. The return back was uneventful, as the demoness confidently led him back to his home. When they had started walking he had felt a bit of pain in his thigh where he was stabbed, but it slowly cleared up. He had cleaned himself up when he got back and found to be mostly healed; the potion and the healing unguent were easily able to heal up what would have been stitches and weeks of healing during the time it took for him to return home.

He was now on the [Multiverse Market], reviewing selling his gains. The goblin canines sold for a credit or two for what came from each goblin, and then the cores were only worth about two each in credits as well. As soon as he chose to sell the items, they would be enveloped in light and disappear.

All told, Jake had only made a little over 50 credits; effectively bringing him right back to 500 from what he spent on supplies; of which, he still had most of them. That means even if it turned out that the rest of the dungeon was simply crawling with goblins and their mouths full of canines, he simply couldnt hope to reach 1,000 credits without receiving some sort of clear bonus.

Jake decided to relax a little. For nearly two full days, he lived and breathed the dungeon. While he only entered the dungeon for the first time today, for nearly two days other than the time he slept, he spent all of his time thinking of or preparing for the dungeon. With that thought, he asked the demoness if she wanted to watch a movie.

After he described what it was, she was quite excited at the prospect, and he wondered if she would have any difficulty understanding it; she could understand his thoughts and speech, but that didnt mean she could understand English. It appeared this was of no concern, as she floated about, quite happy about the idea.

The demoness didnt seem to have a preference for a movie, just leaving it to Jake to pick. He picked an old sci-fi action flick that had a little romance, and five elements. It looked like the demoness just wanted to enjoy time by Jakes side doing something other than research or fighting, because she enjoyed it despite Jakes thoughts probably ruining every plot point of the movie; knowing what was going to happen next. She floated around and struck poses through the air as they watched.

Jake got ready for bed, and realized he ached all over his body. It turned out that fighting goblins and all of his other activities were a great workout. He decided now was the time to spend his attribute points.

Jake Status Level 2

Strength

13

Dexterity

12

Constitution

12

Intelligence

17

Wisdom

16

Charisma

13

Nothing overly exciting with him spending his points, one each in intelligence, wisdom, and charisma. He thought he felt like something shifted in him, but he was not sure exactly what? When he only gained three attribute points and already had over 80 attributes between his six attributes, it did not feel like a lot. In the game, Elves would start with 2 or 3 more dexterity, intelligence, wisdom, charisma, but less strength and constitution.

Overall, it would still take Jake nearly two or three levels just to make up the difference, a level 3 or 4 human being equal to a level 1 Elf in numbers of attributes. He didnt want to think about what a Titans starting attributes looked like, a level 1 was probably superior or close to superior to a level 10 human in physical attributes. This was not like a game where everything was balanced, and everything was equal, though [The Labyrinth] was this way as well; that was why so few people played human, they were just not good.

As he laid in bed, he came up with a schedule that he would likely follow over the next few days. He would continue training the spear and the spiral. During the fight with the five goblins, his concentration on the spiral had lapsed. His goal was to keep it going at all times, though he was unsure if he could let it go during his sleep. If the demoness knew other spell-forms, he would learn those even if they were not particularly useful to him, or continue working on [Mana Bolt].

Jake would then spend more time in the dungeon, working through and clearing it. He had read that most of the time it took at least two beginner dungeons before he would move up to something more challenging, and that he would probably need to be beyond the starter dungeons before he would receive a [Summoning Token]. He would plan on unwinding with research and a movie or show with the demoness after each day.

Jake went through his training when he woke up, and as it turned out, the demoness did know some other spell-forms for him to learn. He wanted to learn a mana shield type spell, but it appeared that it would be out of his reach until he improved his skill with lesser spell-forms. He was concerned about the goblin caster that was the boss of the dungeon, as he doubted his armors ability to protect himself from a fireball for example, but the demoness didnt feel concerned about this at all. Apparently, the damage the creature could put out was simply not enough to put him at significant risk; at least not with the demoness distracting it, or with Jake targeting it with [Mana Bolt].

The demoness showed him the spells he could learn next: a sort of push spell that would stagger enemies, a flame, a cleaning spell, and a blade of mana. [Mana Blade] was absolutely what he wanted to learn next, as it looked like it could work with his spear-staff. Jake would eventually learn all the spells, but that was what he wanted next.

Still, Jake was unable to learn it before entering the dungeon his first full day, as the shape and application was much more challenging than forming a shape, wrapping it, and shoving it out. In this instance, he had to build the shape, wrap it and move it to his spear, then expand it and constantly channel mana into it and keep the shape with his intent, all while he was fighting or using the blade. Still, it was excellent training, and he had gotten the cast time of his [Mana Bolt] down even further when he was done, working on the [Mana Blade].

The dungeon run was uneventful, with Jake making easy work of all the goblins he ran into. There were larger groups, with no group smaller than 4 now. Still, after killing about 25 goblins this time, they had no luck discovering where the boss monster they needed to kill was located, and Jake took on no more wounds. Jake decided that this was fine; there was still over a week left, and clearing every enemy was gaining him experience and he was moving closer to the spiral being completed.

This time, they sat and watched a movie about a waterboy for a football team that was abused and bullied, only to channel his rage into becoming the ultimate football linebacker. A comedy, Jake and Fhesiah laughed at the mans antics as he went on to become revered and even find love.

Fhesiah left the room at some point, and returned with one of Jakes action figures from his room. A man with a sword from a role playing game he bought, she squared off like a linebacker, and he looked on with interest at her posture. The difference with her wings and tail was interesting to Jake, even if he couldnt see more detail through the shadows. He stared almost as if his eyes could unveil the shadows, just how did the tail come out of her clothing, did it have a hole, or?

The girl in question caught his interest in her rear, and she smacked it, once again teasing Jake. She then tackled the action figure, making Jake laugh.

The next two days were a repeat of the previous, with one change: Jake had completed [Mana Blade] on the third day working on it. His [Lesser Spell-forms] skill reached the next level, as well. Jake wasnt sure if he was talented, or if the demoness was just an excellent teacher. Still, reaching level 3 in a skill was not much to write home about; these were lesser spell-forms, after all. It looked like eventually he would move on to normal spell-forms and eventually greater ones, which had multiple stages and shapes.

They wrapped up their dungeon run a little earlier than they usually would, but Jake was at a loss of what to do with the spare time. He did want to celebrate for completing their first dungeon, but just what could they do? There were countless things he wished he could show the demoness back on Earth, but he could never go back.

Watching another movie didnt seem very appealing, and the demoness didnt eat, so its not like he could cook a feast for her to enjoy with him. Playing cards or most other games would be ruined by the thought link, and a gaming controller would be too large for her currently. Jake tried his best to cut off these negative thoughts: of what they couldnt do. The demoness had shown him that improving the bond and improving his mana would fix their link, so he would just have to work harder and be patient.

Jake was ashamed that they could not even celebrate his minor victory, but he would move on and focus on the things he can change. He settled in after a snack to continue with his spiral practice, to which the demoness joined him. He felt resolve and determination coming over the bond from her, so he did his best to match and focus his efforts.

A few hours later, it really felt like they were getting there. He couldnt imagine it would take more than a few more days, but hed certainly been wrong before. His [Mana Control] had finally improved as well, and he really felt he was on the cusp of forming something special. It was almost like he was turning the glob of mana in his chest into a sort of spell-form. Jake wondered what kind of effect this would have, but he trusted the demoness to act in his best interests, so he was not worried.

They did their usual evening rituals of dinner and some shows, then settled in for bed. Jake then spent his attribute points from his most recent level up.

Jake Status Level 3

Strength

14

Dexterity

12

Constitution

12

Intelligence

18

Wisdom

17

Charisma

14

Jake was surprised; it appeared that his physical attributes had improved on their own. His body was becoming stronger from the work-outs and dungeon crawling, and probably the assistance of [The Framework], or mana itself. He was in decent shape before, but the body by dungeon routine appeared to be a nominal improvement; his body was now cut, his muscles much more expressed than before.

While this was good, this made Jake even more worried. How high could this supposed Titan raise their attributes, being around mana while growing up? With how in-shape Jake already was, it would take months of high-intensity training to really have a measurable difference, but this took place in not even a week. He hoped that this effect was due to the spiral, whatever training it was doing to him. He remembered how exhausted he had gotten just learning [Mana Control] or working on it.

Jake then reviewed his current skills:

Skill Name

Skill Level

Lesser Spell-forms

3

Mana Control

2

Melee Specialization

1

Dismantling

2

While there would be a new dungeon for which Jake was interested in the morning, he was most excited about the spiral. He could tell that while utilizing it that it allowed his mana to flow better; it would likely be quite the qualitative improvement when it was completed. The demoness joined him on his chest like usual and he drifted off to sleep.