Chapter 327. Minion Power.

  I did manage to get turned around a time to two finding my way back to the training fields. Melody hadn’t mentioned anything about the hours of operation, so I hoped that I wouldn’t be too late and find that the fields had shut down for the night. Thankfully, they were open, and there were still a few people in there practicing.

  The lowest tier and rank field had the largest crowd, about twenty or so people were inside training. My field, the one that went from tier two, rank one to tier five, rank zero only had three others inside training. As I walked onto the field, a system prompt appeared, somehow triggered by the protective spells placed on the field by the school.

  You have entered a training field that is valid for your tier and rank. Do you wish to commence training? Y/N.

  I hit yes and received further instructions.

  Move to the highlighted area and commence your training. Should you leave the highlighted area, your training session will cease. You may remain for up to 1 hour on the training field before a mandatory break of 1 hour is enforced. A selection of disposable training aids has been placed in the training area for your use. Only one set of training aids will be provided every 24 hours for each individual trainee.

  My training spot was in the far corner of the field where the end zone would be if this was a football field. The highlighted area assigned to me was rather large, about a third of the total field, which I assumed was due to the limited number of trainees currently here. A row of training dummies was set up at the edge of the field for me to use, some of them encased in battered armor.

  I suspected that if there were more people trying to train, my available space would be cut down drastically. More space was fine with me, and I had always hated working out in the gym when it was crowded. I was ready to go now, and I had upgraded minions to test out.

  First out, I summoned my drone, and the upgrades for hitting tier three were easily visible. The drone seemed about a foot taller than before and had bulked up to match his new height. My drone’s long, bladed arms looked more like axe blades now than the more simple, knife-like appendages he’d had before.

  Testing out its melee weapons on one of the training dummies, the drone completely shattered the wooden dummy, turning it, and two others into a pile of kindling with only a few swings. Even better, the drone was faster and more agile than before. Its armor also appeared thicker and denser. A few hits with my sword confirmed my suspicions.

  The grenade launcher on its shoulder had a longer barrel, and what looked like a magazine feeding into the side of the weapon. On the other shoulder was something entirely new. A small turret with a short, narrow barrel was mounted so it wouldn’t interfere with the drone’s movement.

  Another thing I noticed was a slight haze over the heavily armored body of the drone, its stealth field wasn’t active, but it was almost like it was still partially functioning somehow. All in all, the drone had a much more ominous appearance than before and should intimidate many of the foes I might face. A system prompt documenting the changes to my drone appeared after my cursory inspection.

  Please note that upgrades to your Contracted Summoner minions are based on your Tier and Rank. In addition to their new Tier and Rank, your minions have been granted further enhancements based on the number of experience, gear, or ability/spell tokens that may have been used upon it in the past.

  

  
1. Mana Slayer Drone. Tier 3, Rank 0.


  

  Equipment/Abilities/Spells.

  Equipment:

  

  
1. Armor. At this Tier and Rank, the Mana Slayer Drone’s armor consists of overlapping composite plates that are effective against all types of physical attacks and resistant to any elemental damage. The plates will shift on the drone’s body to reinforce areas that the drone deems critical. The armor includes a self-repair feature with an over boost that can be activated to provide a total of 30-seconds of rapid repair.


  
2. Melee Weapons. Your minion is equipped with a pair of bladed hands that can extend for up to twice their length. In addition, a shorter pair of mechanical arms provides your minion with the ability to manipulate objects or function as close-range, simple bludgeoning weapons. When needed, the drone can form weapons, including ranged weapons, for the smaller arms to wield.


  
3. Ranged Weapons. The drone possesses a shoulder mounted grenade launcher that can store up to 6 grenades. The drone can set the grenades to be high explosive, incendiary, or caustic. The range for the grenade launcher is 150-yards. The grenade launcher will slowly refill its magazine over the course of a 24-hour period.


  

  A second weapon, a Plasma Beam Generator, is mounted on the other shoulder of your drone. This weapon can fire at ranges up to 100 feet per tier, though accuracy may suffer at extended ranges. The beam can remain active for up to 12 seconds per day before it needs to shut down for 24 hours to recharge. This weapon is highly effective against both physical armor and magical protection fields.

  

  
3. Stealth and Defensive Field Generator. The stealth field generator may operate for up to 5 minutes per Tier. The field leaves behind a slight distortion which may be used by more observant foes to track your minion. Attacks targeted while the stealth field is active have a 55% chance to miss.


  

  When stealth is broken or deactivated, the drone instead produces a protective barrier around its body that mitigates up to 10% of any damage received. An additional 5% damage mitigation is applied to any magical attacks or enchanted weapons.

  Abilities:

  

  
1. Nullify magic. This passive ability grants the mana slayer a modest damage reduction to all mana-based spells and abilities. This damage reduction is on top of what the Stealth and Defense Field Generator provides.


  
2. Spell Reflect. This ability will reflect a harmful spell or magical effect back onto the caster. Spell Reflect can only trigger 1/hour, and more powerful spells can often resist the effects of Spell Reflect. If this ability is resisted, the mana slayer drone will still reap some benefit, doubling its Nullify Magic ability for the next 30 seconds.


  
3. Mana Drain. Whenever the Mana Slayer drone lands a melee attack on a foe, it will drain 2 points of mana from its target. The drained mana will increase the damage of the drone’s next melee attack.


  

  Spells: None, this minion cannot use magic of any type.

  Woah, there were improvements across the board for my drone. It had gone up a total of nine ranks from where it was before, but like the system mentioned, the minion was juiced up further by the all the minion tokens it had absorbed during my time as a Foe Summoner. I had it fire off some grenades, testing all three of the new types. To my surprise, the explosive force of the grenades seemed to have pretty much doubled from what it was before.

  The incendiary grenades left behind a napalm-like substance that would be almost impossible for a foe to easily scrape off or extinguish. For the caustic grenades, they created a thick acidic cloud that took almost a minute to dissipate. From the way the dummy I’d targeted sizzled and liquified inside the cloud, I was sure it would do well against almost any foe.

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  The new plasma weapon was almost as impressive as the grenade launcher. Its bright red beam was the diameter of a pencil and hummed ominously when active. A quick test showed the beam burned completely through the armored training dummies like they were made of paper. I wasn’t sure what opponent could stand up to a full twelve seconds of that weapon.

  I was pretty sure that my drone could now go toe to toe with an actual tank and come out on top.

  Next up was Elida, and before I brought her out, I tried to check out the goblin trio. Sadly, I didn’t see an option to show me the upgrades for the goblins. It looked like they had to actively be summoned on a contract, and not just hanging out in the barracks for me to examine them. I did have Elida and her new Battle Mender class, so I summoned her next.

  Elida appeared next to the drone, and despite her diminutive size, the change in appearance was even more apparent than the drone’s upgrades had been. She was now encased in a full suit of plate armor that, from the mana I could sense inside it, was enchanted. In one hand she held a heavy, flanged mace and strapped to the other was a steel kite shield.

  Just like with the drone, the system came through with more detail on my upgraded minion.

  Elida Silverbarrow, Battle Mender.

  Spell Slots: 4. When resting, Elida will regenerate 1 spell slot per hour.

  Healing Slots: 5. When resting, Elida will regenerate 1 healing slot per hour.

  Equipment/Abilities/Spells.

  Equipment:

  

  
1. Armor. Elida is equipped with a full set of plate armor that is further enchanted with protective spells and is able to project a resistance field that boosts the healing rate of all allies within 100-feet by 25%.


  
2. Weapons. Elida wields a heavy mace that is enchanted to reduce its weight and increase the accuracy and damage of each strike. A steel shield provides additional protection and is enchanted with bonus protection against ranged attacks both magical and mundane. For ranged threats, Elida has a sling with minor accuracy and damage enchantments placed upon it.


  

  Abilities:

  

  
1. Channel Mana. 2/day, Elida can stop for 3 seconds and quickly gather any ambient mana, refreshing one of her spell or healing slots. This ability can be disrupted if Elida is harmed or distracted during the channeling.


  

  Healing Spells and abilities:

  

  
1. Healing Beam. This spell heals any ally that Elida targets within a 100-foot range. It generates a moderate amount of immediate healing, then a minor heal over time effect that lasts for 10 seconds.


  
2. Restoration. This spell cures 1 simple negative status effect such as poison, disease, and minor curses on the targeted ally.


  
3. Battle Mending. The signature healing ability of this class does not require a healing slot to activate, but there is a cooldown of 1-minute after each use. When engaged in melee combat, Elida’s attacks heal all allies within 100-feet for 25% of the damage she deals to an opponent. The attacks also heal her for 50% of that damage. Battle Mending has a duration of 30 seconds.


  

  Spells:

  

  
1. Deadly Beam. This spell has the opposite effect as Elida’s Healing Beam. It will inflict moderate damage on a hostile target within 100-feet, and add a minor damage over time effect that lasts for 10 seconds.


  
2. Gleaming Aura. This spell causes Elida’s armor to emit radiant energy that will damage any enemy within melee range. The damage is minor, but the effect lasts for 30-seconds. Damage from Gleaming Aura also benefits from Battle Mending, and when the two are active, the aura will heal Elida for 50% of the total damage it deals.


  
3. Personal Shield. This spell grants Elida a second shield that matches the one she wields. It will follow her and intercept any blows, both magical and mundane, that might strike her. The shield lasts for up to 1-hour per tier, or until it has absorbed damage equal to Elida’s total health pool.


  

  Elida had gone from the squishy healer of my group to a healing juggernaut that would be difficult for any foe to take down. She had a strong ranged heal, and her new melee healing abilities would have great synergy with the drone or the two melee goblins of the trio. Her Deadly Beam was a solid counter for more powerful foes, while the Gleaming Aura was going to obliterate any weaker, swarm-like attackers.

  I had been a bit unsure about losing most of my minions with my new class, but now, I think that just one of my minions would give the entire previous team a run for its money. A quick test with the surviving pair of target dummies showed that Elida now fought like a skilled warrior, and there was more power behind her blows than her size would suggest.

  With Elida and the drone squared away, I summoned the final minion of this contract, the Merchant Cart Vendor. A human man in homespun clothes and chewing on the end of a corncob pipe appeared along with a sturdy-looking wooden pushcart. As I looked at the man and his cart, a system prompt appeared, giving me the rundown on my odd, new minion.

  This is the temporary minion you have chosen for this summoning contract. The Merchant Cart Vendor can remain active, even when separated by great distance. When not given other, specific orders, the vendor will patrol around the area in an ever-widening pattern as he seeks customers for the goods on his cart.

  Clancy, Merchant Cart Vendor.

  Equipment:

  

  
1. Merchant Cart. This enchanted cart carries an array of items that appeal to a broad selection of potential customers. The car will slowly replenish missing goods at a cost to the vendor of 75% of their retail value. If the vendor remains in the same area for a time, his goods will begin to change and reflect the desires of the nearby customer base.


  

  If the Merchant Cart Vendor is killed and his cart destroyed, he will respawn with a new cart that contains half the normal starting goods, and he will lose half the currency that he possessed before he was destroyed.

  

  
2. Multi-pass. The Merchant Cart Vendor possesses a multi-pass that grants him permission to sell his wares in any appropriate local area. This pass fulfills all local vendor regulations and sets a maximum tax rate of 25% of any profits generated by the merchant. Multi-pass is ineffective in hostile territory.


  

  Skills/Abilities.

  

  
1. No soliciting. If attacked or threatened, the merchant and his cart are granted a substantial burst of speed and increased durability for a total of 1-minute. The merchant will use this speed to attempt to escape and will also notify the summoner, and any appropriate local law enforcement personnel of the danger he faces.


  
2. Summoner’s Choice. The summoner can request that the vendor purchase goods for the summoner. These goods cannot exceed the Tier and Rank of the summoner, and the cost of the goods will be deducted from any profit the vendor makes.


  
3. Recall. 1/day, the summoner can call the Merchant Cart Vendor to the summoner’s current location.


  
4. Keep an Eye Out. The Merchant Cart Vendor will always be on the lookout for special items he comes across that might be desirable for your current class. If the merchant is able to locate such an item, you will receive a system notification of the item and its price.


  

  “Well, Clancy, it’s good to meet you. Unless you have something that might be of interest for me now, I guess I’m supposed to just send you out to do your thing,” I told the minion.

  “Howdy sir, a pleasure to meet you. I don’t think I have anything that you’d be interested in right at the moment, but I’ll let you know if I come across anything that I think might catch your eye. This looks like a good area for sales,” Clancy said as he looked around the campus. The minion had a calming, down-home sounding accent, and was much more interactive than my other minions, which made sense given his purpose.

  “I’ll talk to you later, Clancy, stay safe out there, and see if you can make us some money. Oh, if you come across any consumables, like healing potions or summoning figurines, hold onto some of them for me,” I told the merchant.

  “Will do, off I go then, sir. There’s a customer born every minute you know, and I don’t want to miss a single one of them,” Clancy announced with a wave as he began to push his cart and whistle a jaunty tune as he left.

  I had a 24-hour money making machine with my latest minion, as well as the pair of deadly, and recently upgraded ones. This new class was shaping up to be a solid choice, and while I was curious about my instructor position here, I couldn’t wait to unleash Elida and the Drone on one of the local dungeons.