Nightmare Realm Summoner

The massive crabs were considerably smarter than their smaller counterparts. Instead of charging ahead blindly, they encircled Alex, legs thundering as they skittered across the ground in search of an opening where they could get past his monsters and strike directly at him.

Alex had to admit that there was something deeply strange about watching a monster more than three times his height skitter. Skittering felt like it was something that should have been reserved for small creatures — but he doubted anyone was about to tell the massive crabs that.

A loud crash echoed out as the crab that Spark was fighting swung one of its pincers like a club. The Knight Wraith swapped spots with his shadow, effortlessly dodging the strike. He leapt, clawed gauntlets digging into the other monster's thick armor as he clambered up its side.

The crab spun, reaching for him with its other pincer, but Spark moved faster than it could react. He got onto the other monster's back before it could stop him and lunged for one of the eye stalks, grabbing onto it with both hands.

With a loud, wet crunch, Spark ripped it clean off.

A chittering scream of pain filled the air.

That spurred the other four monsters into action. They all charged as one, each coming from a different direction as they raced toward Alex. He couldn't afford to dedicate any more time to watching Spark's fight.

Glint and Princess both rushed to take on one opponent each. That left two of them entirely focused on Alex — which worked out perfectly for him. When one was fighting an enemy this large, having two opponents was going to make things considerably easier.

Still, no reason to be stupid. These things are definitely smarter than the previous ones.

Alex drew on his magic and cast Mirror Image. Strands of purple energy branched out from him, crawling through the air with a loud crackle. They drove down into the ground and a brilliant flash split through the darkness for an instant.

When it faded, two perfect copies of Alex stood at his sides.

Then the crabs were upon him.

Instead of waiting for one of the massive monsters to attack, Alex ran straight at one of them. His feet pounded against the ground as blood thumped in his ears — and the grin on his face never so much as faltered.

A pincer sliced down to crush him and he dropped to his knees, sliding beneath it before jumping back to his feet as he arrived beneath the huge monster. The monster turned in a circle and tried to get a look at him while the other one chittered loudly in fury and tried to reach through the first monster's legs with its smaller pincer to no avail. It wasn't stupid enough to trip up its own ally, so the three of them were stuck in a dance to see who would slip up first.

Alex barely managed to jump out of the way before one of the monster's legs slammed into the ground where he'd been standing. Several more blurred toward him and he hopped back again. One of his Mirror Image clones shattered as it was caught in the chest.

I just have to buy time and avoid spending too much energy. I don't want to waste my Qi yet. Not this early on.

The sounds of battle rang out all around him as his summons fought for the upper hand. He couldn't pause to check how their fights were going. A moment of distraction would be enough for one of the crabs he was fighting to catch him off guard.

There was a brief lull in the leg strikes. Alex glanced up. Then his eyes widened. The carapace of the crab was plummeting toward him. The monster had given up on trying to impale him and was just dropping its full weight on his head. Suppressing a curse, he burst into a sprint and threw himself forward.

Alex hit the ground in a roll, barely managing to avoid getting flattened like a pancake. The other crab was upon him before he could even rise. He rolled to the side and narrowly avoided a claw driving down where he'd been a moment before.

The air above him crackled as he cast Funhouse, and not a moment too soon. The second crab's claw hurtled down for him, entering the fracture in reality and jerking to the side, landing several paces away from his head.

Alex rolled to his feet just in time to see a silver flash slice through the air. Glint slammed into the crab that had tried to crush him, his wing-blade carving through both of the monster's eye stalks in a single blow.

A chittering scream marked the monster's final words as he dispatched it. The other one went to try and back its comrade up, only for Princess to come barreling at it like a freight train. She slammed into the monster's side and sent it crashing to the ground in a tangle of legs and claws.

Spark joined into the fight, having finished off his own opponent, and the three of them ripped the two remaining monsters to shreds within moments. Alex wiped the sweat from his brow. His heart hammered in his chest and he bounced from foot to foot.

Far in the air above, the shimmering golden words changed to report his progress in the trial.

Town Potential: 42/100%

Alex's smile widened. The wave had been a whole 10%. It seemed that every consecutive round of monsters would give him more than the last, but they would also get considerably stronger. He couldn't let himself celebrate the victory when it was only the next small step in a series of many he had to take.

Several portals carved through the dark air around him, marking the arrival of the next wave. Alex's lips pulled back into a grin and he prepared himself to face them.

***

Wave after wave of monsters came — and wave after wave of monsters died. Lumbering, 10 foot tall giants wearing the armor of the very crabs that Alex had been cutting down were the next of the enemies that arrived to attempt to take him down.

Alex dispatched them, but not without losing Glint in the process. He brought the Glasmir back without a second thought. The second wave of giants came with an extra challenge of one that stood in the back and flung rocks at him.

That one nearly caught him off guard, but his experience with Diego ended up being what saved him. Alex managed to dive behind Princess just in time to avoid getting crushed. That wave fell, but Princess died in exchange for his life.

He brought her back as well — but the amount death energy in the room was reducing. Every consecutive wave of monsters came with less enemies, and though they were getting smarter and stronger, they didn't seem to be leaving nearly as much strength behind to work with.

Alex pushed on. The percentage of completion continued to crawl upward. It reached and passed 60%, then went up to 70%. By the time it reached 80%, the death energy in the room was nearly depleted.

When he reached the next wave, which consisted of a pair of massive, blue-skinned giants that each stood around twenty feet tall, both Spark and Princess died in order to let Glint land the final blow on the last of the deadly monsters.

Alex spent the last of the death energy in the room, including the energy the dead giants left behind, to bring the two of them back. He wasn't sure how long he'd been fighting anymore. It felt like it had been a whole day, but it was probably far closer to hours.

His body was completely spent. He'd drained his magical reserves heavily, though he'd managed to keep his Qi saved up.

Damn it. I'm starting to reach my limit.

His gaze drifted up to the glowing words in the sky.

Town Potential: 90/100%

Alex's lips twitched in wry amusement. Based on the amount of completion every wave got him, he was pretty sure that this next one would be the last round that was planned.

If I make it past this and another stage starts… then that confirms it. I'll be able to go for 200% completion. I don't have the faintest idea how I'll make it that far, but I'll deal with that when I get there.

A lone portal twisted to life before Alex. It was, surprisingly, only a little taller than he was. It seemed the System had run out of massive brutes to throw at him. He finished catching his breath and wiped his mouth with the back of a sleeve, settling into a fighting stance and preparing to dodge. All three of his summons did the same.

These monsters weren't above trying for sneak attacks.

But it was not a monster that emerged from within the portal.

It was a woman.

She stood at about Alex's height and wore bleached bone armor. She had two curved, swords made of the same bone in each of her hands — and she was splattered with gore and blood.

The woman looked winded, but determination burned behind her eyes like flames.

"What's going on?" she muttered. "I thought — no. It must have been a trick. Of course. No wonder it was so unfair."

Wait, what? She speaks? This is just another human! Why is she in my trial?

The woman's gaze landed on Glint and she froze in place. Her hands tightened around the swords at her sides.

"You've got to be kidding me," she muttered as her face paled a shade. "What the fuck are those things? They're nothing like what I've been fighting. This trial is bullshit."

"What are you doing here?" Alex asked.

The woman finally spotted him. Confusion passed over the woman's features and she took a step back, raising her weapons before herself.

"What? Why is there another person here? Why are you in my trial?"

"I'm not in your trial. You're in my trial," Alex said. He glanced around to see if another portal was opening somewhere while he was distracted, but all he found was darkness.

What's going on? Shouldn't the next boss have been some big ugly crab-giant thing? Is this some kind of trick to get me off guard?

"A likely story. The System is being tricky. Trying to confuse me," she said, shaking her head furiously before her gaze focused on Alex. "Is it trying to test my resilience? First by pretending to kill me, then by forcing me to fight another human? I won't be broken so easily."

Alex glanced at Keeper of the corner of his eyes. Something deep in his stomach twisted uncomfortably. Even though it wasn't human, there was no mistaking the emotion in the monster's features. It was deep, profound sadness.

Something is wrong.

"Hold on," Alex said, raising his hands. "I'm not part of a trial. I'm taking a trial. Are… you trying to establish a Town?"

"Yes," the woman said. Her eyes narrowed. "You're definitely part of the trial. There's no way you'd have known that."

That can't be right. The System told me I was the first one to establish a town. The chances of someone else also managing to make one so soon after I did seem pretty damn low. There would have been at least a bit of time between us making towns. This is too coincidental. Something is up. Come on. This is important, I can tell. Think!

Alex's teeth clenched.

The woman readied her swords. "You will not trick me. I will not fail."

"Wait!" Alex called. "There's no time limit, right? Think about it! Something seems wrong, doesn't it? I've been fighting monsters this whole time, and I bet you have been too given how surprised you were to see me… so why are we up against humans suddenly?"

The woman hesitated. A frown pulled at her lips. Then she shook her head. "Enough of this. I will not be so easily distracted."

Alex's jaw clenched tighter. The expression on Keeper's face was enough to convince him that he was right. Something was definitely wrong.

It just doesn't add up. How could someone have made their town so close to me? It just doesn't make sense… wait. Hold on.

The way Keeper was looking at the woman was more than just sadness. It was recognition.

"What planet are you from?" Alex asked, a sinking feeling building in his stomach as he thought over everything the woman had said. "Something tells me you aren't from 274-50."

The woman blinked and hesitated for a moment. "No. I am from 211-10."

Keeper's expression didn't change. It didn't look like it recognized or cared about the planet name. That meant it wasn't the woman or her people it related to enough to feel sad about.

It was her situation.

Oh, shit.

"You said the System tricked you into thinking you died," Alex said. "Are you certain it was a trick?"

"Of course it was!" the woman snapped. "Do I look dead to you? It was a trick to test my resolve. Enough of this. Raise your weapon. I do not want to cut down an enemy that will not defend themselves, but my people need me."

Alex felt sick. His stomach lurched like it was trying to force its way up through his throat.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"You're wrong," Alex said. "I'm sorry."

The woman's eyes thinned. "Last warning. I don't care what you are. Ready yourself for a fight. I must succeed."

"You can't," Alex said quietly. "You've already failed. I'm sorry. The System repurposed you."

"What?" The woman took a step forward. Then she froze. She clutched at her chest as something bubbled beneath her skin, rippling through the parts of her arms that her armor didn't cover. When her gaze raised again, there was horror in her eyes.

Horror — and realization. Her body was no longer hers.

"No," she whispered. She took a step forward — but Alex could tell by her expression that the motion wasn't one she'd chosen to make. The woman hadn't been given a choice.

She had died, and the System had repurposed her.

"You died in your trial," Alex said grimly. "And now you're part of mine."