“Let me summon my minions, and I’ll do some reconnaissance on the village,” I said.
“Very well, I’ll have one of my servants, one of the living ones, accompany you. Please wait here until I make the arrangements,” Rodnix said, calling for his butler and following him out of the study.
As I began to summon my minions, a new system prompt appeared. It looked like the system had delayed my minion selection this time before giving me options. Maybe it had to do with the necromantic energy this world was infused with, or perhaps there was something else here that interfered with my class. Despite the delay, the initial summoning process for my new class was back on track.
Please select the two minions from your barracks that you wish to accompany you on this summoning contract.
- Mana Slayer Drone.
- Elida Silverbarrow.
- Glem, Glamb, and Glurk, Goblin Kill Team.
Knowing that I was going to be facing undead, I decided on the drone as my first choice. It wouldn’t be as easily affected by any type of undead curse, unlike the goblin trio. Elida was my second choice, as I figured a single competent warrior that could heal would be better than the three goblins for this one. Also, if we were facing a weak swarm of undead, her aura ability might help turn the tide if we were overrun.
You have Chosen the Mana Slayer Drone, and Elida Silverbarrow, Battle Mender. Please select a third minion from the following list of options based on your previous summoning contract.
- Corrupted Naga Warrior.
- Team of Rabid Gnomes.
- Rifleman.
I had been hoping that I’d get something interesting like one of the ogres, or even better, one of the more powerful corrupted versions of the ogre. The naga and gnomes were rather generic, and there was no way I was going to pass up a rifleman. I doubted that the rifleman would have the skills and abilities that Silas had shown, but some ranged firepower was just what I needed to round out our party.
You have chosen the Rifleman as your final minion.
The rifleman possesses a single shot weapon with long range and high damage potential. With exceptional accuracy, the Rifleman possesses a system generated ammunition pouch that regenerates 1 cartridge every minute. In addition to the rifle, your minion possesses a bayonet to deal with melee threats. Please note that your Rifleman minion possesses only basic melee skill and should be kept out of close combat if at all possible.
Summoner’s Gift has activated. Please select an ability you wish to share with your minions.
- Riposte.
- Minion Shared Burden.
I had to make a choice before the system would let start summoning my minions. The Riposte ability was always effective, if not that exciting. Minion Shared Burden sounded like my ability but wasn’t quite identical. When I concentrated on the option, more information appeared.
Minion Shared Burden creates a link between your minions and shares 25% of the damage one receives with its companions. This ability also works with healing, sharing 25% of any healing received with the other companions.
That was interesting, and what I picked. The limited choices were also a reminder that I had very few personal abilities that could be shared, as most of my power was in my class abilities that the system didn’t seem to want to add as an option. Maybe more things would unlock as I gained higher tiers and ranks.
Minion Shared Burden is now active.
Summoner’s Share has activated. Choose an ability/spell from one of your minions. This ability/spell will remain active for the duration of this summoning contract.
- Lesser Plasma Beam.
- Minor Gleaming Aura.
- Sniper’s Shot.
All three sounded useful, and Sniper’s Shot gave a system prompt after I concentrated on it.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Sniper’s Shot. Your next ranged attack has greatly increased accuracy and damage. This ability can only be used 1/day.
I knew the abilities I received from Summoner’s Gift would be toned down versions of my minions’ abilities, but of the three, I had to go with the Plasma Beam after seeing how strong it was with my drone. Even with a weaker version, I’d be able to do some real damage.
Lesser Plasma Beam has been selected. You may activate this ability for a total of 5 seconds. The charge will slowly regenerate at the rate of 1 second of charge every 2 hours. To activate this ability, simply designate a target within 100 yards of your current location.
With all my selections complete, I could finally summon my minions. I started with the drone, then Elida, and finally, the Rifleman. I wasn’t sure what to expect, maybe something like the soldiers I’d worked with, but this new minion wasn’t quite there. The Rifleman was a human of average height and build, and he wore no armor, just sturdy clothing that wasn’t quite a uniform.
My first thought was that this guy was going to be squishy, but that was somewhat to be expected from a ranged damage type minion. The rifle he held was odd, but close to something I expected to see maybe right after the Civil War. It was longer than a modern rifle and was breech loading with a small lever on the side to open the breech and replace the spent cartridge.
A pouch over the Rifleman’s shoulder held his ammo, and after having him count, it turned out that the minion was equipped with a total of fifty rounds. That wouldn’t last long with a magazine fed weapon, but having to reload after each shot should make it enough for a normal fight. If things dragged on, at least his pouch, according to the system description, would replenish one cartridge each minute.
Looking at one of the cartridges, it seemed massive, much larger than the compact 5.56mm rounds I fired from the M4 in weapons training. Hopefully, they would do substantial damage to the undead we were about to face. With my team assembled, all I was waiting for was the necromancer to tell me how to get to the undead he wanted me to destroy.
Rodnix returned a few minutes later, with a frightened-looking older man in homespun clothing following behind him. The butler was also nearby, and if I had to guess, that undead butler was probably much more than a servant. It was most likely a deadly bodyguard as well.
“This is Cavendar, he’s from the village I wish you to visit. He’ll guide you there, but keep in mind that he is a non-combatant and should be protected. Now, there are also some special considerations for these undead. As you may know, in a normal, zombified undead, enough damage of any type is sufficient to break up the necrotic energy that animates them.
“In these I can sense only lingering wisps of necrotic energy, and normal damage will do little but hamper their mobility. You must destroy their brains in order to stop them. After that, I would like to see the remains burned. To that end, I’ll have a pyre built just outside the village. You’ll take the remains there and ignite the pyre to destroy every last vestige of whatever curse is animating them.
“Finally, once you’ve disposed of the remains properly, I’d like you to examine the object in the field. Can you accomplish this?” Rodnix asked. His description of the undead sounded more like something from a zombie movie where a virus was causing the dead to rise. Still, killing undead, even with headshots, shouldn’t be a problem for my team.
“I can handle that, just lead us to the threat, and we’ll take care of it for you,” I said with confidence.
“Very well, Cavendar will hitch up a wagon and get you where you need to be. After he observes your efforts, he will return here and gather a work party to build the pyre. Once you’ve completed all your tasks, you will consider this contract complete and return from whence you came.
“I must insist that after you come in contact with these strange undead, that you do not approach anyone else on my staff, and do not attempt to return here to my estate. That is non-negotiable, and I must have your understanding on the matter,” the necromancer Rodnix demanded.
“Not a problem, we’ll take care of the job, and then we’ll leave,” I assured him.
There was a large wagon outside the estate and Cavendar waved us inside. A pair of skeletal horses pulled the wagon at a sedate pace, and we left through an open gate in the walled estate. As soon as we left, the gate slammed closed with an ominous thump. The area around the estate was woodland, though most of the trees looked to be stripped of their foliage like it was winter, though the weather was rather warm.
We rolled on for a half hour or so before we emerged from the woods. In the distance, I could see the burned-out remains of a small village. Nearby fields were overgrown with crops that were well past their harvesting time. One field, the one closest to the forest, was burned down like the village had been. A swarm of figures milled about in the field, bumping into each other as they slowly shambled in a circle.
“This is as far as I can go. When you’re done, I’ll be waiting here to show you where the pyre is being made,” Cavendar said as we unloaded. As soon as we were out of the wagon, Cavendar whipped the wagon around and retreated into the woods.
“Well team, let’s get started,” I said, ordering my minions into formation while I made some final preparations.