Chapter 2: Summoning and Power Metal
Summoning List (Ephemeral)
Name
Material Cost
Mana Cost
Ghost
Tier 1 Circle, Rock Salt
10
Apparition
Tier 1 Circle, Rock Salt
25
Spirit
Tier 2 Circle, Rock Salt, Iron Shavings
50
Phantom
Tier 2 Circle, Rock Salt, Iron Shavings
75
Specter
Tier 3 Circle, Rock Salt, Iron Shavings, Candles
100
Wraith
Tier 4 Circle, Rock Salt, Iron Shavings, Candles, String
150
Poltergeist
Tier 5 Circle, Rock Salt, Iron Shavings, Candles, Blood
250
...
The list of creatures he could summon was immense, though only five were currently within his mana capacity. Each summon required a summoning circle on the ground, unified across all types of creatures that could be summoned. Those went all the way up to Tier 10 and in the other timeline, he’d had a series of metal plates with each one carved into it to be used at will.
For now, however, all he needed was a Tier 3 Circle.
And as for why he was going to focus on Ephemeral Type summonings for a bit, there was a rather obvious reason. Collateral Damage. Those kinds of entities directly struck at the living, often through solid objects, without destroying the battleground. In other words, perfect for summoning directly into his apartment.
Of course, the stronger ones, especially Poltergeists could easily toss around furniture and often did so to devastating effect, but Isaac had neither the inclination nor the mana pool for that.
So, he went to work on the linoleum floor of this living room, laying out the circle in duct tape. Sturdy enough to survive for quite some time, yet still possible to remove them. Cleaning it up would be a pain in the ass as an unfortunate idea in his younger days had forced him to learn, but still doable in a reasonable timeframe.
The [System] provided him with the design of the circle as a matter of course, even helpfully overlaying it into the floor he was working on, though Isaac didn’t need it anymore. He still used it, of course, seeing as any mistakes would be a serious pain to correct.
It took him around twenty minutes, but then he was done.
Now, it was time. Isaac piled the rock salt into the circle, grabbed a file and a piece of iron to add the iron shavings and ended the whole thing by placing three candles on the outside of the circle.
“Being from beyond the veil, I call to you. Specter, I summon thee.”
The chant for creatures this weak wasn’t particularly long, mostly just necessary to signify intent.
Isaac rubbed his temples as he felt a slight headache coming on. He’d just used up almost the entirety of his mana pool, but the summoning was complete. All he had to do now was activate the circle to actually call the creature here.
He’d do that only in half an hour, when all his mana had regenerated. The calculation for that was rather simple, one regained the equivalent of ones mana regen stat, multiplied by ten, over half an hour, which came out to exactly 100 points for him.
Isaac didn’t sit idle during this time, however. He grabbed his knife, some disinfectant from a first aid kit and a band aid.
The mechanics of fighting Ephemeral type enemies were rather simple. Ordinary, mundane objects couldn’t touch them, let alone hurt them. Some of the beings did become solid for a split second to land blows of their own, but even then, only the parts it actually used to attack could be damaged.
Therefore, a different kind of attack was needed. Magic worked well enough, as did [Skills] that required mana to activate, but that would burn through his reserves in short order and he needed to kill as many of these things as he could in a day.
Thankfully, there was also the option of enchanting his “weapon”. True enchantments might require rare components, specialized [Classes] and a fuckton of mana, but there were several temporary ones that should work just fine.
Isaac quickly disinfected the tip of his left index finger and swiftly stabbed it with the knife. It didn’t go deep, but it did draw blood.
Laying the knife on the ground, he proceeded to draw several arcane symbols onto the blade, the wound pulsing with pain as each was completed. Finally, he was done and both the runes and the wound flared in a crimson glow before settling. Then, the band aid went on.
This kind of enchanting was painful and the wounds the used blood was taken from wouldn’t heal except slightly scabbing over as long as the enchantment persisted, but it was somewhat effective. A quick and dirty solution for small scale projects. The unfortunate fact that stronger enchantments not only required more blood but also larger wounds kept the technique from finding all that much popularity amongst all but the most masochistic or desperate.
It would do, for now.
Isaac walked over to his phone, connected it to his blue tooth speaker and put on Sanctified with Dynamite by Powerwolf. The Power Metal wasn’t his favorite kind of music, a friend had made that playlist for him, but it was just perfect for covering up the imminent sounds of combat.
Dressed in his shabbiest clothes, knife held in his right hand, he stepped up the circle and spoke.
“Specter, come forth.”
An unearthly howl that was almost completely swallowed by the bombastic music tore through the apartment, followed by a pale blue form erupting from the center of the circle.
A head wreathed in hair that streamed in all directions in full defiance of gravity turned to face him, blue eyes so dark they seemed black locking in on him. Unnaturally long arms tipped in vicious claws lashed out towards him, but Isaac dodged backwards, completely avoiding the attack.
The Specter floated closer, right hand swiping towards his head. Ducking under it, he flung himself forwards while activating [Piercing Strike]. A yellow glow wreathed the blade just before it stabbed through the robe-like exterior of the monster, white whisps escaping in place of blood.
But that was only step one of the attack. The second began as the runes began to glow so brightly their crimson shapes could be seen even from the outside.
Isaac simply let go of the handle and rolled to the side as the bottomless abyss with razor sharp incisors for outer gates that was the Specter’s maw tried to close around his head.
It wailed, trying to grasp at the dagger, but between the [Skill] allowing it to penetrate so deeply and the runes fusing it with the flesh even as others tore the beast apart, it was an exercise in futility.
All he had to do now was wait for it to die.
He glanced back over his shoulder at the specter to see the right arm shooting at his face and ducked, only to be forced to roll to the side once again as the left hand erupted from the floor to claw at his leg.
Typical Ephemeral Type, attacking through solid object that only their fleshy opponents couldn’t see through, or were impeded by. Despite being solidly outmatched in terms of abilities and raw stats, Isaac still felt he was in a good position to defeat this thing. He’d fought so many of these things, he knew their move set pretty well. This being real life, those weren’t exactly set moves, but rather a general way of moving attacking.
One arm began to flail around, randomly trying to hit him while the second went into the ground while Isaac couldn’t see where it emerged. Uh-oh.
It ended up coming out of the wall behind him. Isaac noticed and threw himself forward, but this time, he was just barely too slow. Four lines of pain burned down his back as the claws tore through his flesh.
He landed on the ground with a pained exhalation of breath, but still dodged the follow-up strike, and the one after that. And that had been the final one as the Specter dissolved.
Specter (Lv. 7) has been slain. 67 XP gained (50 base * 1.35 due to level disparity)
Better yet, the beast had left behind a wad of gunk as it dissolved. An Aspect, a kind of Item one could fuel with XP to gain one of several [Skills] related to the beast, as well as some stat points. Those were always easy to spot when it came to Ephemeral type monsters.
Every human gained one slot for an Aspect every [Class] Evolution and further ones could be purchased for XP, with the cost increasing exponentially with each new addition. Theoretically, Isaac could have reached his previous level of power with just these Aspects, but that would have required more XP than all of humanity, combined, had ever earned. Exponential growth was no joke.
And to put the cherry on top, this thing was why he’d been dead set on killing Specters in the first place. Score! Now all he needed to do was fill it with ...
... not score. He had nowhere near the required XP points to activate this thing just yet.
Name: Isaac Thoma
Class: Rogue
Species: Human
Level: 0
XP: 67/100
Health Status: Slightly Injured (see breakdown?)
Mana: 101/110
Stats
Fortitude
11
Perception
9
Strength
9
Agility
10
Magic Power
11
Magic Regeneration
10
Free Points: 0 Stat, 0 Skill
Species: Human
Level: 1
XP: 1007/200
Health Status: Healthy
Mana: 120/120
Stats
Fortitude
12
Perception
12
Strength
10
Agility
12
Magic Power
12
Magic Regeneration
12
Free Points: 0 Stat, 0 Skill
Skills
Hundred Faces I
Stealth I
Power Strike I
Piercing Strike II
Sundering Strike I
Knives II
Sneak I
Sweeping Strike I
Far Strike I
Excellent.
Activate Aspect of the Specter for 1,000 XP?
“Yep.”
It might not be strictly necessary to speak out loud to command the [System], but doing so was what Isaac was more comfortable with unless there were people around to overhear.
Choose one of the Following Skills:
Spectral Shift
Specter’s Flight
Hunt of the Damned
“[Spectral Shift].” Isaac commanded. Being able to selectively ignore gravity via [Specter’s Flight] was an enticing prospect, as was the incredible sensory power that was [Hunt of the Damned], but the [Skill] he’d picked was the clear winner, at least in Isaac’s mind. It had become one of his staple powers in the other timeline, and for good reason.
A little bit of mana let him ignore most attacks or barriers. Mana based attacks or wards could hurt him, but only a small part of the damage would carry over to his fleshy body. And he’d soon get a little something to deal with that.
Spectral Shift (rare)
Allows the User to shift into an Ethereal form, allowing them to pass through all non-mana-infused objects and non-Skill-enhanced attacks. Mana passing through the User’s body will inflict small injuries both on the surface and the inside. Avoiding powerful attacks without a regeneration Skill is recommended.
Cost: 10 mana for activation, 5 mana per second of upkeep
Perfect. And he’d even gained a second Aspect of the Specter during the grinding process.
Name: Isaac Thoma
Class: Rogue
Species: Human
Level: 1
XP: 7/200
Health Status: Healthy
Mana: 120/120
Stats
Fortitude
12
Perception
12
Strength
10
Agility
12
Magic Power
12
Magic Regeneration
17
Free Points: 0 Stat, 0 Skill
Skills
Hundred Faces I
Stealth I
Power Strike I
Piercing Strike II
Sundering Strike I
Knives II
Sneak I
Sweeping Strike I
Far Strike I
Aspects
Aspect Skills
Specter
Spectral Shift
For his next plan, it would be better to get another one, though it wasn’t strictly necessary.
As Isaac made to set up the next ritual, his phone rang. He glanced at it, hoping it was his mother calling, but the display simply read “Boss”. He sighed. He was currently working in a normal office job, hence having been offered the [Office Drone] [Class], while he was working on getting his Bachelor’s degree in economics. That man was an ingrate he’d been promoted past the instant he’d completed his degree.
Isaac sighed. This could only end in disaster.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Scott.”
“I take it that means you’re not planning on showing up like everyone else?” the annoyance tinged voice of Isaac’s direct superior replied.
“In case you haven’t noticed, the world is ending. Nobody is coming in.” Isaac snarked. And in fact, almost nobody was going in to work. It had been so bad that the governments had even had to pass a bill to prohibit people from getting fired over this. It was only the efforts of a few good Samaritans that kept the water, power and electricity going.
“I don’t see any mushroom clouds or zombies outside, so where are you getting that information? Or are you, mayhaps, saying I’m blind?”
“I’d tell you precisely how you can shove the idea that everyone needs to come in despite the situation up your ass ...” Isaac waited until he heard a sharp intake of breath from the other end of the line “... but I’m fully aware that that is anatomically impossible, given that your head is already wedged up in there.”
“YOU ...”
He just hung up before the tirade could start. Getting fired for a stunt like this would normally be an issue, but Isaac already knew what he was going to do for cash. It was a blob of ectoplasm lying in a bowl on the kitchen table.
