Nightmare Realm Summoner

"So, what are the options you've narrowed down?" Alex asked, leaning forward eagerly to get a better look at the screen.

Rhyss flicked his hand through the air, pushing the screen to the side before crossing his arms in front of his chest like a disappointed father.

"No."

Alex blinked. "What? Can you even do that?"

"I am acting within my responsibilities as your advisor. Making an uninformed choice here would be stupendously foolish. You must understand what it is that you work with before you can decide on what Boons wish to take. Correct me if I am wrong, but given your status as a Nativeworlder, I do not believe you understand what a Town actually entails."

Alex cleared his throat and let his hand lower. "I know that a town is a protected area that's more defensible than normal buildings… but I'd say your assessment is pretty correct. I would greatly appreciate if you enlightened me."

"A town," Rhyss said, floating clean over the counter before his gangly, wrung-out feet landed gently on the ground to bear his weight like they were meant to, "is a method to invoke Challenge. It is opportunity that comes at cost, just like most things the System encourages. The opportunities they provide are almost endless. While towns stand, they allow you a safe place to farm powerful magical plants. You can use them to concentrate magical energy into areas and increase the growth of those who live in the town. You can gather ancient Inheritances within the town and allow people to vie in attempt to receive them. I could go on, but there is no point. Towns are potential."

Alex wasn't sure what half of the things Rhyss had mentioned even were, but he was following.

Gotcha. Lots of opportunities to get stronger if I have a town, but it's also basically asking things to come try and fuck with me. Fair enough. Nothing new there.

"I'm with you."

"Good," Rhyss said. "While the options you can take your town in are limitless should you have the power to claim them, there are certain aspects that are universal amongst all towns. Chief among them is thus: should the core in the center of your Town Hall be removed from the town's premises by anyone, the town will be destroyed and the thief will claim your Town Token."

"Shit. That's a bit much, don't you think?" Alex's eyes widened. "Does the System just really like Capture the Flag or something? Also, can I just build a brick wall around this core thing?"

"You may do what you see fit to protect the core so long as it does not leave its location. It is the heart of your Town. Should it be moved, the town will fall."

I suppose a brick wall wouldn't actually stop anyone, would it? Hell, I could probably punch through one of those myself if I was really motivated. Either way — keep people away from the core. Got it.

"Noted," Alex said. "What else?"

"The town's core manifests an ability directly related to the leader of the town. As the town and its leader grows in power, this ability will also grow. It is the most powerful weapon you will have at your disposal. The exact nature of the ability depends on the town leader. So — you."

"I get to choose it? Or is that something the System does?"

"The ability is created in accordance with you and your talents. You have already had your influence over it. It is based off you as a whole."

Lovely. I get to see what kind of ability the System thinks represents me. If it's using my life as a whole… I'm going to be pissed if my town's special technique is skipping a really boring class or slamming back a copious amount of sugary shit at 3 in the morning.

"Lovely."

"Quite," Rhyss agreed without a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "This signature ability will determine much of how you can build your town. Unfortunately, your Boons must be spent during town creation… so before we choose anything, you must take your best guess as to what your ability will be."

Alex stared at Rhyss. "Seriously? Is everything a goddamn game with the System?"

"Yes."

Fair enough, actually.

"I'd probably guess my ability would be something involving doing something potentially stupid. High risk, high reward. That kind of thing."

"Offensive? Defensive? Honorable? Sly? How do you prefer to fight? Nobody can answer those questions better than you. What do you value most?"

"I generally prefer to win."

Alex and Rhyss stared at each other.

"Pragmatic," Rhyss declared. "Dangerous. And, unfortunately, largely unpredictable. Focusing our efforts on what may be will end poorly if our guess is wrong. I suggest selecting Boons that will be useful in all situations. If you do not have a specific fighting style, then adaptability is your best friend."

That seemed logical enough to Alex. He didn't much love the idea of locking the whole town into some singular fighting style in the first place. Anyone who was really good at just one thing would inevitably run into someone that was really good at the one thing that fucked them over.

"I'm with you there," Alex said.

"Good," Rhyss said. "Then I have aligned my understanding with your goals. There is only one more thing you must be aware of. I trust you noticed that not all boons come at the same cost?"

Alex nodded.

"I also noticed some of them are way too damn expensive."

"There are other ways to earn Boons for your town — all related to successfully growing it or accomplishing tasks related to it," Rhyss explained with a wave of his hand. "For the time being, focus on what we have rather than what we lack. 10 Legendary Boons could get you a number of individual Boons… or a few very good ones."

"If you're asking me if I prefer quantity or quality, I'm always going to go with the latter. I don't want to spread things so thin that we're a jack of all trades and a master of none. Is there some good balance we could hit? Three that each cost 3 Boons or something like that?"

"Yes. That is the approach that I have already taken," Rhyss said. He put his hand over the System screen that he'd pushed to the side and pulled it back over to Alex. Golden options shimmered upon it. And, this time, Alex actually had enough time to read them.

Gilded Walls - 4

Source Cannons - 4

Vibrant Garden - 2

Black Fortress Plans - 3

Warp Shifter - 5

Animated Golems - 3

Cultivation Array - 3

Haunted Graves - 4

Pickling Chamber - 2

"Goddamn it. What is it with everyone and pickling?" Alex demanded.

"It is an excellent way to preserve food."

"I know that! Why the hell is it a Legendary boon? Do you know what a pickling chamber is? A jar. That's a pickling chamber."

"I suspect you do not take kindly to the Pickling Chamber."

"If I ever pick the pickling chamber, pickle me first."

"I will remove the chamber from the list. Pickles are — were — a delicacy in my world. I had thought you may be use them as offerings to make alliances with other towns."

Alex squinted at Rhyss. "Pickles? Really?"

"Yes."

Right. So his advice is definitely less useful in social situations. He knows about the System and about the towns. Not about what the proper gifts to people are going to be. Suppose that makes sense.

"What about this thing?" Alex asked, pointing at Black Fortress Plans. "A fortress seems pretty badass, but do plans mean I'm literally just getting a blueprint?"

"You would get detailed instructions on their construction and would find that structure considerably easier to create," Rhyss said. "Certain objects are powerful enough that the Boons only give you access to a method to create them. Others, such as the Cultivation Array, will become active the moment the town is initialized."

Alex rubbed his chin. "I see. How long do you think it would take to build a Black Fortress?"

"Months. Years, depending on the resources in this Subsector of your world. I am not aware of the concentrations and distributions of supplies, so a concrete answer would be difficult. Given how fresh this world is… I would not be optimistic."

Bad pick for surviving a Region Boss, then. Right. On to the next.

"What are Gilded Walls and Source Cannons?" Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire

"Gilded Walls are defensible structures that ring the edge of your town's borders. They are particularly resistant to magic. Source Cannons are weapons mounted on buildings or walls that gather magical energy from a variety of potential sources and fire concentrated blasts of it. They are a common tool of war in many worlds."

Alex tilted his head to the side as he pondered Rhyss' words. There was something beneath them, hidden just beneath the surface.

Common weapons. That's an odd thing to include, isn't it? How freely can Rhyss actually guide me here? Is the System still breathing down his neck? And if that's the case… are all of these options really good?

"Question."

"Ask."

"Which of these is the best?"

"I cannot answer that. I am merely an advisor. All options have potential, but final decisions must be made by you."

Alex's suspicions deepened. This wasn't Rhyss trying to make sure he didn't dig himself a hole. The monster was still limited by the System. Just because all the options had potential didn't mean they had equal potential.

Yet another game, huh? Well, at least nobody can say the System isn't consistent.

"Tell me about the other options."

"Vibrant Garden creates a magically empowered patch of land that will speed the growth and potency of anything grown upon it. Its effectiveness does depend on having a competent gardener, and it will be rather useless in the hands of an idiot."

"Noted," Alex said. "What about Warp Shifter?"

"A building that enables its operator to execute short-term teleportation on a number of town residents. It is limited by range and duration, which can be as low as minutes."

Interesting.

"The golems?"

"Exactly as the name sounds. Magically empowered statues that will defend your town against any that you see as a threat. Their power will scale with the strength of everyone within your town."

"And the last two?"

"A Cultivation Array gathers magical energy in certain locations to allow increased growth of magical strength in those areas. It is commonly used near caves, secluded rooms, or gardens. Haunted Graves creates a concentrated zone of death energy that brings back the souls of any town residents that die within a certain range, reanimating them as a monster."

"Fuck the last one," Alex said without missing a beat. A flicker of anger lit in his chest. If he didn't know better, he might have thought the System was taunting him with that last option. He would not be turning anyone — much less the people on his side — into a monster.

"Very well. It has been removed from the list."

There might have been a note of approval in Rhyss' voice, but it was hard to say for sure. Alex didn't linger on it. His thoughts had already turned to his other options.

Teleportation… that was something. A way to quickly send people in and out of a fight. Even if it didn't last long, it would basically turn everyone in his town into shock troopers. They could show up, attack, and vanish an instant later.

And if the range gets long enough, isn't it just a way to break right into other towns or dungeons? That might be getting ahead of myself, but I can't pass something like that up. It seems way too good.

Alex tapped a finger against his thigh. If he went with the Warp Shifter, then he only had 5 Boons left. He didn't want to choose something that left him with just 1 Boon left. Even if he could fill it in with something else, it felt like a waste.

Hold on. Didn't he actually mention two of these twice, in his examples? Rhyss brought up growing magical plants and increased rate of growth while we were talking earlier… before he let me see the options.

The corner of Alex's mouth twitched in amusement. He might have been jumping at straws, but the options were good nonetheless. If he assumed that his Town's ability would be enough to let them defeat the Region Boss, then the thing he wanted to invest into the most was a way to keep getting ahead of the competition.

"One more question before I make a decision. For the cannons — what kind of potential sources could they use? Do they come with one?"

"No. There are a variety of sources that most energy weapons can consume, but the most common is magical energy. Groups of people can work together to power a cannon if one is not strong enough to do it alone."

Alex rubbed his chin. He did want some form of offensive weapon to deal with the upcoming Region Boss. While the cannon wasn't exactly at the top of his list, it was the only offensive option before him that would be ready in a short period of time.

"Assume that the people of my town are all, on average, my level or slightly weaker. There are around ten of them. Would we be able to power the cannon we get if I choose this?"

"They would likely be able to manage one or two shots for the duration of a fight before expending all the magical energy within their body."

That's a steep cost.

"Would a shot be able to take down an Adept level Region Boss?"

"I cannot say, but the likelihood of that is relatively low. Region Bosses are not so easily brought down."

Which means people might honestly be better off fighting themselves. These cannons just aren't strong enough. Looks like I really don't have much of a choice, then. I'll go with the strongest options for the long-term.

"I think I'll go with the Warp Shifter, Vibrant Garden, and Cultivation Array."

"Very well. Then there is only one thing left to do before your town is ready." Rhyss' eye shimmered and he waved a hand over the screen, causing its contents to shimmer and change to a vibrant blueish purple. "Choose your final Mythic Boon."