I said a few goodbyes and made my exit. Hopefully, nobody would think me rude for leaving before the entire tournament was over, but I couldn’t wait to see what kind of contract Ingrid had dug up for me. The trip to Somhagen Exports was a familiar one by now, though I did happen to come across Clancy and his cart in a prime position near several shops and a rather pleasant fountain. Taking a quick detour, I checked in on my third minion.
“Hey Clancy, looks like a new location for you,” I commented after he finished up with a customer. It was one of the people that lived in town, not an adventurer, and Clancy had sold her several linen squares that were napkins or something of the sort.
“Hello, Rico, yes, this is a solid location for weekends, at least during the day. I shift to another location that I negotiated a contract on, which places me near several taverns where adventurers like to gather later in the evening,” Clancy explained. It sounded like he had good handle on things, and I didn’t want to interfere with him making me more money.
“Sounds good, just out of curiosity, what are your biggest sellers?” I asked, noting that his cart was mostly filled with household goods at the moment.
“As you can see,” he said, gesturing toward the customer that had just left, “I do well with smaller items and household necessities for the local residents during the day. At night, I shift to goods that appeal to adventurers, and at our new location outside the tavern, I do very well with hangover cures, and intoxication purges. A deal with a local alchemist keeps me well supplied with simple remedies,” he said.
“Great, but you may want to check with a local alchemist named Itzlebit if you need some higher quality potions. He’s done right by me so far, and you can just mention me if he starts to get grumpy,” I advised, giving him quick directions to Itzlebit’s shop.
“I’ll take that into consideration. Did you want your current earnings? I’m sorry I don’t have any interesting items for you at present, just a single figurine,” Clancy said, opening a drawer in his cart before extracting a small pouch of coins and single figurine.
“That’s great, I’ll take what you have now,” I replied. Clancy had already let me know that my cut was separate from his operating expenses, so grabbing whatever coin he’d earned wouldn’t hamper the business in any way. A system prompt appeared to advise me of what I’d gained.
You have acquired the following.
Coins:
- Gold, 11.
- Silver, 33.
- Copper, 22.
Items:
- Consumable figurine, Warhorse, Tier 2, Rank 5.
I never had a mount before, and I doubted that riding a pony a few times as a kid granted me the ability to properly use a warhorse. Maybe it could fight well enough on its own, or maybe one of my other minions could use it. Pocketing my figurine and adding the coins to storage, I said farewell to Clancy and headed toward the nearby Somhagen Exports.
“Sir, welcome to our shop, how may I assist you?” A young human woman in the familiar orange robes of Somhagen Exports greeted me as I entered.
“Amalisa, I’ll handle this, I believe Mr. Kline is here to pick up something we’ve ordered for him,” Ingrid said, waving me back behind the counter where her small, rather cramped office was located.
“Thank you for arriving so quickly. By the time the contract arrived from Somhagen, the acceptance timer on it was running low,” Ingrid said, pulling the mana enhanced scroll containing the contract from behind her desk. When she passed it over, a system prompt appeared.
This contract is offered to the being known as Rico Kline. Please be advised that there is a limited time available to accept this contract or the offer will automatically be rescinded by the system.
Time remaining: 1 hour, 22 minutes.
“You weren’t kidding about the time limit,” I mentioned as the actual contract details began to emerge.
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This contract is offered solely to the being known as Rico Kline and cannot be transferred or reassigned in any manner. A collaborative effort among many members on the pre-integrated world of Earth, this is a long-term, semi-exclusive contract. Once accepted, you will only be limited to executing this contract, your current primary contract with the Starveil Tower Academy, and other contracts that have been previously negotiated.
The contract details are as follows:
This contract will be active until the world known as Earth has been fully integrated. As there are, at present, no system enhanced individuals of your tier and rank that can summon you individually, the system will instead assign you to random events that warrant your intervention.
Your tasks are as follows:
- Assist in system-related events that require summoning directly from lower tier and rank individuals when the system deems it appropriate.
- To assist local authorities, and to act as a system-authorized individual during pre-integration world violations.
- Other duties as assigned.
Summoning conditions:
- As this contract is set in the world you previously inhabited, you are familiar with most climes and physical conditions. Your world currently possesses extremely low mana levels, which are expected to improve as the world nears full integration.
- This contract will supplement your current primary contract with the Starveil Tower Academy. Summonings will only occur when you are not actively scheduled for work at the academy.
- Your mana core shielding will be enhanced for the duration of this contract. When you are summoned to Earth, you will not have to worry about item degradation or mana siphoning.
Rewards:
- You will be compensated monetarily, with items, and with experience for each summoning you complete. Compensation will be based on performance, and rewards other than experience will be held in escrow at the city of Somhagen and may also be accessed at any Somhagen Exports location.
- Upon successful completion of the entire contract. You will be granted the option for an early return to your home world. Some restrictions may be placed on you based on any disparity between your Tier and Rank at the time, and the world average.
“Wow, Agent Lopez must have gotten the message from Silas. The folks back home must have really pulled out all the stops to put this deal together,” I said, a bit taken aback by the scope of the contract. I also noticed that the contract had the dreaded “other duties as assigned” clause in it. Hopefully this wasn’t an indication that the system was going to integrate weaselly human resources mumbo jumbo into future contracts.
“Indeed, from what I hear, almost every summoned being from your world that reaches Somhagen has been active in negotiating the details of this contract for you, and a few others like yourself. I assume you wish to accept this contract. If you do not, I can offer you some other options, but if you accept this, it will pretty much cut you off from other contract offerings,” Ingrid said. I had almost forgotten that there were still lower tier and rank summoned beings back home that would get their normal trips to Somhagen, at least until they hit tier three.
“I’ll accept, and thank you for helping make this happen,” I said.
“I had nothing to do with it other than to pass on your request for contracts originating from your home world. Your fellow earthlings must have some faith in your abilities, as this is a rare opportunity for someone in your position,” Ingrid said.
“Do you have any idea how often I’ll be summoned or how much experience I might receive from these summonings?” I asked as I accepted the contract.
You have accepted the contract offered by the collaborative efforts of your home world. The contract is now active.
“I’m afraid that I’m not privy to that information, you’ll just have to wait for your first summoning with the contract to get an idea of your rewards. There was one thing that I’m supposed to give to you now that you’ve accepted your contract,” Ingrid said, pulling a small satchel from her desk that she passed to me. The system helpfully identified the item for me.
You have received a shielded, limited capacity satchel of storage. Items placed in this satchel before a summoning will be protected from a low mana environment and may safely be used in your home world. These items can even be left behind for others to utilize if they possess the means to do so. Please note that the satchel cannot be used to store other storage devices, doing so may result in catastrophic failure.
“Thanks, I wonder how much a ‘limited capacity’ satchel will hold?” I said.
“Test it out and see,” Ingrid suggested.
I followed her advice and placed one of my low tier healing potions inside, along with the war horse figurine I had just gotten from Clancy. When I placed the first healing potion inside, I received information on the bag’s available capacity.
Current capacity: 25%
It looked like a total of four potions was the max. The figurine also took up 25% of the bag’s capacity, so I ended up with three minor healing potions and the horse figurine. That answered the question on bag capacity, though I might not be done at Somhagen Exports if there was any new stock that caught my eye.
“Thanks Ingrid, can you check if the shop has any new inventory that might be a good fit for my class?” I asked. It looked like Ingrid wasn’t going to have the opportunity to answer as I was pulled into a familiar glowing blue portal.
You are Summoned!