Book 2. Chapter 9: Assault Preparations

Name：Bonded Summoner Author：
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Book 2. Chapter 9: Assault Preparations

Jake watched as Ophelia spun through the air in an odd pirouette and blazed towards the frozen Sleipnir; a giant horse-like monster. She dodged the monsters kick with ease, piercing above its shoulder with her spear infused with the flames of Hestia.

The giant Boss monster collapsed, and the floor was completed.

Floor Complete 4/4

Kill 100 beasts of the cold and defeat Boss monster.

Incursion Complete!

Reward: 4,374 T1 Credits, Accessory Loot Box, 325 CP

Berri cheered from atop a near-mound of monster corpses, and Fhesiah cleaned her claws with her cleaning spell-form with a smile. It had not yet been two weeks, but they had already come a long way in their advancement. Jake felt like they were close to being ready.

Jake had talked with a few guilds over the course of the last week and was surprised to find out that the [Sons of Rome] were the best positioned to be the ones involved in their [Fortress Assault]. There were other more powerful guilds in this contested world, but this guild had the most members within their needed level range. They too were now preparing for the assault, and Antonius even had a lead on their potential fifth party member.

They just had some things to wrap up on their end, and they would meet this person. Jake was a little concerned about the overall war efforts, though. Within the last week, things appeared to be on a downward spiral. Many rifts opened, and those sent to close them were often ambushed with few survivors. It became clear that the outsiders were trying a lot harder than usual, or something unexpected was happening. While the war effort was at 65% in favor of [The Alliance] and steadily climbing before, it was now under 55% and steadily losing.

Jakes party even had to scramble to save the very town they originally helped protect, where they had closed the rifts nearby. They had once again set out to clear up the rifts, and even more egregious things occurred while attempting to close those than the young wyverns from before. It was actually only thanks to that frantic scramble and fights that led them to reach even remotely close to their goal, at likely more than half way through level 13 for Jake and Ophelia, and Berri being close to level 15, Jake guessed.

They would like to level up more, but they knew the longer they took, the more dire things would be when they eventually arrived at their desired destination. They hoped the large amount of enemies they faced on entry would get them to 14 and 15. Though Fhesiah had surpassed them in level, thanks to her Alchemy and consuming [Foundation Establishment] pills, she was now level 15 already.

Dont worry, Jake. You will all catch up as these pills lose their efficacy. Knowing that we were in a rush, I did everything I could to scrape out every ounce of power in the time we had left. I will not make the same mistake again.

Jake was amazed at her speed, but learned that her high soul strength from already having reached the Nascent Soul realm before, along with her having created her body with the proper preparations really made it possible for her to skyrocket through the early levels like this.

Jake smiled at Fhesiah. She really learned from her mistakes, and has set about to make things right. The entire party now had [Techniques] from the framework, including her, and everyone had advanced all of their Tier 1 skills slightly. Jake was very excited to try out his new abilities in this Assault. He wasnt even sure he fully understood Fhesiah and Berris new abilities, but could not argue with their effectiveness.

Each of the techniques accentuated their strengths, while compensating for each of their weaknesses. Jake was really excited to see the girls at their maximum, as the incursions did not require them to bring out even half of their overall strength, even against the few bosses they ended up facing. The surprise enemies prepared by Tartarus machinations would have required it, if not for Jakes liberal use of his spell, Einherjar.

When his Hearth Runic Magic hit level 2, he was able to add a rune configuration to his Champions spell-staff, along with his personal capability increase to cast the spell freely. He had been able to do 15 Runes at the first level, and he was now at 18 Runes. He was still able to keep the easy casting of his runic spears in his regular rune setup as well. While a level 22 to 24 creature would be nearly impossible for a level 12 or 13 to face normally, his girls were different. Thanks to how powerful Jakes buffs really were, at least against foes that were not at the level of Boss monsters, they were able to bridge the gap.

Im done looting. Were going to leave for the real fight soon, right? The valkyrie was just brimming with excitement, Jake able to see a wide smile of anticipation on her face. Jake smiled and nodded at her, and he could see Berri just cleaning her massive club lovingly from her pile of corpses. She had no interest in spell-forms until Jake showed her the cleaning spell, and it seemed to spawn much more interest in her own spells.

The demoness snorted, You thought it was because of the cleaning spell? Yeah, sure, it had nothing to do with [Energy Sharing], or you spending time with her. There was even a close call. Did you forget already?

Jake blushed in remembrance of the event. He didnt forget, but he was optimistic, he supposed, about her having an interest in magic. It was certainly true that after that day, Berri spent a lot more time mastering her own spells, and that was even without Jake helping her. But it was also true that when they were practicing the spell-forms, she had needed him to send some mana using [Energy Transfer] in addition to guiding her, and she had gotten excited. She had nearly wrapped her tail around him once again, her breathing heavy, but Jake managed to distract her by declaring that it was time to make dinner.

Her other hunger must have won out, because it snapped her back to reality right away. Still, Jake had seen her practicing a lot without him, hence his optimism. The demoness cleared up his misunderstanding, speaking into his mind so that the topic of their discussion could not be overheard, [I may have hinted to her that if she practiced hard, she just might get some more time with you using [Energy Transfer]. Its been quite the carrot to motivate her, has it not?]

Jake was a little annoyed, but responded, Just when were you going to tell me I was a carrot about to be eaten? I dont feel that shes ready to join you girls, and skipping to the end might undo some of the work weve done.

Iyoull let me wear these? Butthese are more beautiful than what some Matriarchs would wearI was never allowed to wear any jewelry, but most of them wore many piercings. She smiled a small smile looking at them, and said, The little snakes are so cute.

Jake wanted to hug the lamia, but was stopped once again by her equipment. He sent reassurance over the bond along with the best mental hug he could send, and said, Of course we will. Youre a part of our family, after all, and that equipment is perfect for you. Even if it provided no benefit, wed be happy for you to have it. The girls nodded along reassuringly, and Berri broke down into tears.

Thank you so much. Other than my armor, I have never received something so precious

Fhesiah said, Of course, Berri. Lets get those in your ears, then we can head out and earn some more treasure.

Fhesiah used some thick needles that she produced from her storage bracelet, apparently used in alchemy to prepare certain materials. Jake was surprised, but thanks to [Advanced Cure Wounds], he was able to somewhat guide the healing process now, allowing him to have the wound healed over in the way he desired. Thanks to the skill, he could now target more lethal damage as opposed to blindly healing his target. He was concerned that he would simply heal the hoops permanently into her ears, or heal the ears to where they would need to be re-pierced, but this turned out to be no problem at all for the new skill.

Jake made a few more purchases in the [Multiverse Market] using the Tier 1 Credits they just earned. He had been purchasing all sorts of materials to use for raising his [Enchanting] and reselling them. In addition, as they got closer to the deadline, he had purchased various preparations similar to their [Trial]. He had new tools and consumables, and each of the girls had some tools of their own to fill in their gaps in their [Storage Bracelets], even Berri as she had now raised her Mana Control to the Advanced stage.

They headed through the portal, and then moved their way through the original city they arrived at in this world. The group arrived at the [Sons of Rome] guild headquarters, where there were dorms, training grounds, and other facilities to help with both the conquest of the world and future recruitment endeavors.

Jake had learned that his [Refuge] was rare among newer Tier 1 adventurers. In the [Fringe], all recruits would receive one, and only be able to pick their destination once they completed their [Trial]. In contrast, those recruited on [Bastions] or [Contested Worlds] would not receive one until they spent contribution points on one, or reached the peak of their tier and were otherwise forced to leave their world in the case of those starting on a contested world.

Otherwise, they could pay for a teleportation gate to take them to worlds bordering their current one. It would take the same amount of time or longer to travel, and their soul would reside in the void during this time, completely unaware of time's passage. A Refuge that could travel anywhere was somewhat expensive for most. However, upon reaching Tier 2, nearly 100% of all adventures would have one.

They waited in the guild headquarters lobby for Antonius to pick them up. Jake had learned that part of Antonius pull to leadership was due in part because of his family having a lot more influence in the guild. When Jake reached out regarding his Champion status and the current situation, he was shocked, and nearly fell over himself to accommodate Jake and his party.

Despite what Hestia had said about it being an advantage to pick up Jake very early as champion, it was still extremely rare. Most Champions prove themselves long before they are offered to become one, and being picked up at Tier 0, or even Tier 1, was nearly unheard of. At the very least, they would often have achieved a noble rank from becoming a savior of a world to even be considered. At that point, it was more common, as many of the lower Tier gods would target these worlds and unattached prospective champions, being a valuable source of devotees for their worship.

Antonius entered the lobby with a serious look on his face, but shifted to a slight smile when he spotted Jakes group. Welcome, Champion Of Hestia, Runemaster Jake. Please, walk with me back to our strategy room so we can discuss our plans.

They began to move through the halls together, and Jake asked Antonius as they walked, Is the potential party member we discussed here? I realize we came unannounced, having just wrapped up an incursion.

Antonius smirked, and said, Yeah, your fan is here. Well be meeting her in a little bit.

Jake was a little confused. Fan?

"That's right. Shortly after your help with the rifts, this woman had a lot of questions about you and your group, asking nearly everyone involved about you. When it was announced that you needed another party member, she went on a campaign of dueling all other candidates to be on the top of the list. We made it clear you had final say, but she's proven that among level 15's, she's well above her peers."

Jake thought the first detail was a little strange, but perhaps they had really set themselves apart from others with their display, starting various rumors. Jake could see someone like Ophelia expending just as much effort to join Jake's group once they learned they had an opportunity to join a Champion's adventuring party.

Still, for anything permanent, they would have to be willing to join as one of Jakes summons. Jake would also only be interested in someone that would fit in well with their family, and not just their adventuring party, thanks to the Summoners bond. Jake already had a fourth summon slot after becoming a Battlemaster, but Tier 1 tokens were beyond rare, and Jake wasnt so sure he wanted to use another, even with an Advanced summoning token like he had previously gotten.

Jake would rather find their respective party member, and his girls were in agreement. Of course, the demoness was quite excited at the idea of properly shopping around, and not just accepting whatever girl a god or goddess shoved in their way.

They entered the strategy room, and Jake guessed the woman next to a planning table was their prospective party member. She was a beautiful elf dressed in dark leathers, with blades and knives tucked in holsters all over her body. Her hair was black and long in a ponytail that reached the small of her back.

Her body was voluptuous, and she had what Jake thought was a shy smile on her face as they approached. Jake would certainly think she was quite attractive if his familiar wasn't currently growling at her from the void.