Test Summoning: Apocalypse

Maybe two more loops was a little too optimistic on my part. Cut me some slack, I just got out of a roughly 30 year long depression and got overly excited about finally finding a good solution to the problem. I still had to get the details down and then figure out how to make my final run perfect. I wasn't going to loop back and kill everyone I cared about again just to fix some small mistake.

The first problem came when I failed to pay attention to WHERE the cistern was. Sure, I knew it was under the mall and I did follow the mass. The problem? My mind was in bad shape from all the drugs and my memories of the path we took was poor. I couldn't even follow the lights down there since whoever set up the ritual didn't want to make it easy for someone to randomly stumble upon the site.

I ended up wandering around down there for a week. I was starving and I was subsisting on water I found in the catacombs and purified with my limited magic. Then I finally found the cistern. I had the wonderful luck of wandering in there at the exact same time as a crate was being delivered. I was promptly shredded by wind magic from one of the delivery people. The upside was I learned there was a lot of water down there and I wouldn't have to carry any with me, saving on weight and trips.

On my next attempt, I was captured by Lisa's people trying to get down to the catacombs. I had to bumble around a bit in front of Lisa in her Gully Jack persona before she let me go. I went back to try and sneak down to the catacombs, got caught again and was executed for defying orders.

My third attempt went a little better. I managed to avoid Lisa's people in the shopping center basement and found the catacombs. Now that I knew where they were, I could go back and buy my provisions. When I returned, I climbed up to the tangle of ancient pipes along the ceiling to find my stakeout point. When I selected a spot, I didn't pay attention to the condition of the pipes. The spot I picked couldn't support my weight and the gear. It crumbled, I fell and after a brief plummet, I was back in the castle basement with my beer.

The fourth one, like that fellow who built a castle in the swamp, was the charm. I now knew how to get to the cistern reliably and I could get there without being caught. I also knew to pay attention to where I was stepping when I climbed up into the tall ceiling.

Then I waited. Let me tell you, it's a dull experience. I brought a couple of books along and severely underestimated how much I could read in a day. I ended up reading the same trashy romance novel about a badger-clan milk maid and a deer-clan warrior having trysts in barns at least a dozen times. Sir Stephon, your antlers shine like freshly churned butter in the moonlight. Oh, my lady Irene, your deep love muffin engulfs my comically oversized pleasure rod. Who, besides a very bored me living in the rafters, reads this stuff?

The other problem I ran into was what to do with my personal bio-waste. Thankfully, whatever it is the cultists were doing to summon He Who is Eternal involved a lot of support. One of the many things I missed my first time around in my drug-fueled haze was the extensive support needed to have all these cultists down here. One of them was toilet facilities, which I snuck in to use when everyone left.

More crates started to arrive after I'd been down there for two months. Then, three days before the apocalypse, I identified the best time to invade. I was waiting for a moment when all six of the heavy hitter mages were present. They were the core of the ritual and were the ones we needed to stop. I had seen each of them come in here and there as part of the preparations, but never together.

Now, they were here at the same time along with the full force of soldiers who participated in the battle. They began directing people to open up crates where they unloaded a number of items. I didn't have the opportunity to gain access to the guild library to bring along a book to research what the items on the list were, where they came from or what they looked like. Whatever they were, they were very expensive and very difficult to obtain.

I could have tried to figure out how they were getting into the catacombs, but that would have taken forever. I already spent a good chunk of time retracing a somewhat familiar path. I could be lost for multiple loops down here and get nowhere. We would have to fight here in the ritual room where the mages would be forced to protect their extremely expensive materials as opposed to fleeing.

Six such items were removed from the crates and set aside. Another crate was opened and white powder was removed. A large wooden barrel was cracked open to reveal a silvery liquid which the powder was dumped into. One of the mages began casting magic over the barrel which took a while to complete. This was repeated by each other mages. I noticed the effect they were casting matched their attuned element.

I looked at my watch and calculated when the preparations began in earnest. The powder was added to the barrel around 1013Af on the 27th of Jaulis. Three days before the creature invaded just at the start of the last week of summer. This was the time to strike when they were fully committed to what they were doing.

I remained obscured in the tangle of pipes to observe the rest of the ritual to ensure I didn't miss anything. The mages meticulously drew out the ritual star using the silvery-white liquid on the floor. They had tools to ensure they were drawing a, mostly, perfect circle and straight lines. I watched the mages array the expensive reagents at each of the six tips of the star. I noticed they, too, were aligned with each element based on their coloration.

The ritual began around 5Mor on the 28th when a seventh person in robes arrived and sat cross legged in the center of the star. Either he's a willing sacrifice or was duped into the proceeding since he wasn't bound or escorted in like a prisoner. I knew at this point it would take around four hours to complete the summoning ritual since I saw the effect at 9Mor.

Additional crates arrived and, when opened, revealed costly mana potions. I had researched healing and mana potions early in my loops. While they existed, they were extremely expensive to produce. They were mostly reserved for the military since they were frequently in situations where they didn't have access to healers and needed mana boosts on long campaigns. They also had a nasty side effect of making your bars go grey if more than one was used. I was looking at hundreds of platinum Sovereigns worth of mana potions in each of the six crates. The mages were planning on burning a lot of mana and needed to maintain their stores for a while.

The mages began to cast and chant out the ritual. All the while, a helper behind waited to feed a mana potion to the waiting mage whenever he or she started to show signs of wavering. I wondered if this is what Willem had to go through summoning us. He didn't seem tired when I arrived, though it was likely because, despite his appearance and disposition, he is an Advancement 12 royal mage.

Another realization came to mind as I observed the ritual. The mages had pressed Lisa hard during the fight, which was a few hours after the ritual's completion. They had built up quite a bit of grey in their mana bars at that point, meaning they were weakened. When we attacked during the ritual preparation, the mages would be quite a bit more powerful. Based on how they fought Lisa, I'd peg each of them at Advancement 4. I needed to remember this for when I briefed her.

The ritual itself was surprisingly dull. They just stood in their spots along the tip of the star and chanted the same dozen words over and over again. The entire time, they were being fed mana potions while the fellow at the center sat there motionless.

Four hours later, the star flared with white light and the fellow at the center burst into a green flame. He silently endured the fire before toppling over and turning to dust. Then all was silent. I knew, far above, a nearly invisible distortion on the air formed, rocketed higher and vanished at the point where the rupture will form.

Below me, there wasn't a celebration or fanfare. The mages each sat down to rest while the small army remained in place to guard them. Since the mages were still present when the battle started, they were just going to rest. I determined there was nothing left to glean from my position. My leg was cramping while my beard was thick and tangled. I smelled awful and I badly wanted to get out of here. I took one last look around the cistern and noticed nothing else of importance. It was right about this time Lisa's forces stormed into the catacombs.

Before plunging the Heartstop dagger into my gut, I considered what I had to do. The next loop was the last. I felt it in my bones. A twinge of fear washed over me. I had no other chances. I'd have to make the next run perfect. If I messed anything up, it was stuck that way. I'm not about to off myself just because something is less than optimal. I can't wipe my friends' experiences just because it's inconvenient to me.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

With one final deep breath to prepare myself for the final run, I plunged the dagger into my gut.

I found myself falling backwards and landing hard on my ass. The stone floor beneath me hurt. My right hand instinctively held onto a precious cargo. I looked over and saw I was holding an ice-cold pint of beer in a glass mug. I gingerly set the beer on the floor while King Ormond spoke and prepared for the world magic to integrate me. I didn't want to accidentally drop the brew during my rictus of pain. It would be the very last time I ever got to experience it.

I didn't pay any attention to what the king was yammering on about. I had heard it literally thousands of times. We were then walking up the stairs at the invitation of the king. I lifted the beer gently to my lips and took a small sip. I let the liquid linger on my tongue. The cheap, mass-produced pisswasser from Earth tasted like the most amazing thing in the universe. With my depression gone, it was the first time in decades I even had interest in drinking it.

"My God, that is good," I muttered while we were walking up the stairs to where the king was going to hold our last-minute banquet.

"I…uh…what…wow…you're taking the summoning rather well," I heard Willem comment next to me.

I turned and smiled. "I'm used to weird things happening. I'm something called a Florida Man from back home. I'm more afraid if a day doesn't have something strange going on. I'm Oliver by the way."

"Willem. What I mean is you seem…happy," Willem said with a raised eyebrow.

I laughed. "Oh, that. My life for the last 30 years or so has been utter misery. You have no idea how thrilled I am to be here right now. Happy birthday by the way. I heard your buddies mention it earlier."

"Hey thanks! I'm going with my family to my favorite pub tonight. It's a place called The Gnashing Teeth out in the middle-class sector. You should look it up once you get settled. The food is amazing," Willem replied with a smile. He was reliably distracted when I mentioned his birthday.

The rest of the day went the same as normal. I talked with the king, had my little introduction and pep talk with the kids. I set up the deception to get Lia given to me as a parting gift. I acted dumb in front of Illian to make him think I was a little slow to get the personal invitation to the Exterminator's Guild. I even remembered to ask Willem where I could sell my mug so I didn't have to gaslight him about Jummi's Baubles.

With Jummi, I decided to set it up so she would get her life together. Maybe I'd be able to finagle a way to get her back with Amis and her kids. I knew my sob story about losing everything corrected her hoarding problem. I just had to hope an opportunity would come along to tell Amis about it. My gut told me it would come via Sari, so I had to engineer a way to be at The Gnashing Teeth to meet her along with Willem and their kids.

Tizek was, well, Tizek. I held back on making him a knight since I'd rather it come along with his little blow up about the spiders. It meant I had to find a reason for us to go to Silk Caverns. I didn't like how he got aggressive with me, but I felt it was an important event to ensure we resolved his fears and gave him the purpose he sorely desired in life.

I was even back in my comfy pink flower boots. I missed wearing these things. It didn't feel right to buy them when I was in my depressive cycle.

It wasn't all perfection. While I had gotten ownership of Lia's slave contract and ingratiated myself with Willem after I informed him I didn't violate her virginity, something was off. I managed to convince her of my time loop, but unlike the last time, she was more distant. She looked uncomfortable around me and it gave me bad flashbacks to the loops I tried to show her a good life.

For instance, when I was sitting on the bench outside of The Gnashing Teeth waffling about seeing Void, she was quiet. She didn't needle me about being afraid to talk to a girl. I inquired if she there was something wrong and all she responded with was a mumbled "nothing". It felt strange since she usually warmed up to me immediately after I released her from her bondage without asking for anything in return.

I had an inkling things were beginning to go off the rails. I just had to ensure I was upbeat with Lia and supportive.

I felt much better when I had my first meeting with Doun, Mira and Void. I got on Doun and Mira's good side while I managed to play the initial conversation with Void flawlessly. Unfortunately, Lia continued to act meek and insecure around us.

My efforts to maintain the same set of events as the last time I was with everyone really started to fall apart at our first training session after joining the Exterminator's Guild. I had just gotten through explaining the details on how I believed we'd finally stave off the apocalypse and return our future along with my spiel on keeping me grounded and how I didn't know everything.

"I don't understand what you need us for," Void said with a big yawn. She was exhausted from trying to acclimate to the day shift.

I had to think for a moment. "The problem is I estimate their heavy hitters at Advancement 4. Gully Jack is Advancement 3 and she struggled against a depleted enemy. It was down to luck that she even won and she was the sole survivor. If they're healthy, I doubt any of them would go down with the spells I saw them slinging."

"She?" Void raised an eyebrow and looked at me with her Guard-mode expression.

Shit. I made a big, careless mistake. "Forget I mentioned that. Believe me, it's a bad idea to know who Gully Jack is. Knowing she's a woman is already a huge problem."

"How much of a problem are we talking here?" Void asked with crossed arms. She was pushing to find out more.

"A 'she will disappear you' problem," I said grimly. Lia looked down at the ground and pretended to not hear the conversation while Tizek nodded with agreement. I knew he took it as an order from his lord.

"I hope this isn't one of those 'it's to protect you' things," Void said angrily. Then she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. This is a notorious criminal you've gotten tangled with. Still, why us?"

"If you three can get to Advancement 2, that should level the playing field some. With your rating, you'd be roughly equal to an average Advancement 4. I won't lie to you, this is very dangerous. I won't force you into this if you don't want to do it." I really didn't. If all three of them refused to come along, I'd struggle to hold back a sigh of relief. I'd prefer Lisa do all the lifting here even if the chance of success was far lower.

Void closed her eyes and crossed her arms in thought. I saw Lia shuffling her feet while Tizek had an intense stare. Tizek spoke first. "I pledged my loyalty. If my lord commands, I will follow."

I was about to chastise him for referring to me as a lord and to make his own decisions. Then I caught myself and remembered the conversation we had before seeing the spiders at the arena. I had initially planned to play it out a bit and let Tizek get upset. I now realized I was being an asshole about this. Why wait to make the poor guy happy? He made his choice when he offered his services as my vassal.

"Tizek, we need to do something first," I said. I leaned down and picked up a rapier from the ground. "It's a ceremony from my home. I'm formally inducting you into my service as a knight."

"My lord? What is a knight?" Tizek asked. I noticed his frills flutter briefly with curiosity. Lia continued to look at the ground and wasn't paying much attention while Void gave me an odd look I couldn't decipher.

"A knight is the highest ranking and most important servant in the service of a lord. He is an honorable warrior and is the one the lord relies on the most," I explained, once again embellishing the truth a little.

Tizek's eyes lit up brightly at my words. He jumped to his feet from the bench the three were sitting on. "What do you ask of me, my lord?"

"Come and kneel before me," I said as I held my sword up at the ready. Lia's eyes turned up to watch with curiosity while Void continued to have her strange, indecipherable expression on her face.

When Tizek knelt, I continued the little ceremony. "Tizek, you have given your oath to me. Am I correct?"

"Yes, my lord!"

"Then I must give you my oath in return. I swear I will never take advantage of you, mistreat you or force you to do that which you find objectionable. I also swear I will, to the best of my ability, protect you as you do me." I made sure to speak in a voice with gravitas and ceremony.

"Bow your head," I said. When Tizek's head lowered, I tapped my sword on his shoulders, once again not knowing if it was two or three. Who cares? I'm making this up as I go along. "Rise, Sir Tizek, you are now a Knight in the service of Lord Oliver Stewart."

Tizek stood and his posture improved like before. He had a big, happy grin on his face. "Thank you, my lord!"

"Please sit. We have weapons to distribute." I really didn't want to ruin his moment when I informed him he was going to get the mace and buckler, but it had to be done.

After getting that out of the way, and asking Tizek to work with Void learning the basic heal spell since I felt uncomfortable slinging orders, I asked Void to help with the sparring session again. I was once more concerned with how Lia reacted. She didn't get excited about how the Grand Creator potentially brought us all together due to their high potentials. She also didn't question why she received the greatsword and not the rogue's kit. She was silently following along and I was getting terrible flashbacks to our time together during my depression spiral.

Void was also suddenly acting different. She was her familiar self up until I did the little ceremony with Tizek. Once that happened, her awkwardness vanished and she became more like the Guard version I met during the loop when I taunted the squid to squish us. She was overly professional when accepting the rogue kit and didn't question why she received it, either. When she prepared to spar, she still had that odd look on her face I couldn't decipher.

"What did you do with Tizek?" Void asked as she readied her rapier.

"I learned on our previous loop he needs a lord to be happy. I had spent many loops fighting it and only recently learned about how he felt. I decided to get it out of the way this time so we could have a better outcome," I explained.

The look Void gave me further added to my confusion. It also triggered an instinctual sense of panic in my gut like everything was about to go wrong. I didn't know why. Was it Lia? Did I do something wrong with Tizek?

Our spar went roughly like last time. I barely pulled off a win since Void was exhausted while I started to build grey in my stamina bar after the effort. My worry grew when Void, unlike other sparring sessions, didn't compliment me, ask me who my instructor was or make a quick taunt about almost winning. She politely thanked me for the match and sat down.

We then broke out into our training pairs. Lia continued to act strangely and didn't bring up our past relationships, wonder if we were romantically involved or even mention I felt like a brother. She dutifully and silently followed instructions. Our relationship felt tense and distant. Every time I inquired if she was feeling alright, she only replied with a quiet "I'm fine".

This is how it went for the entire time we trained before the arena match. The only one showing any energy and motivation was Tizek. Void acted distant and professional toward me while Lia continued to act aloof. Even Doun and Mira noticed something was strained between us. They tried to help us make light conversation and we came up empty. Most of the talking ended up between Tizek and I. Lia and Void retreated to their rooms at night.

Now it was the day of the arena exhibition to introduce the heroes to the kingdom. I had a new stress bubbling up from beneath with the Aoto situation. This would be my last chance to keep the stupid kid alive. I had to figure out what to do and no time left to ponder. I tried everything. Having both Void and Lia acting wildly different only added to my stress.

Things were falling apart and I had no idea why.