Reincarnated With A Summoning System

Cain's small team sets out right after the goodbyes are said, while the rest of the Guilds are still socializing and getting to know their teammates. Without any credible leads of Ogres in the area they're in no big rush, and it's more important to them to balance members skills for optimal group efficiency than to rush out in a blind search for something to kill.

The Quest they were given was to stabilize the region around the Troll capital, and it looks like that is already mostly done. Once they clear out a few more occupied villages they'll most likely get the quest achievement.

The forests and swamps of the Troll Kingdom are unusually quiet, any wild animals either hiding, or hunted to extinction by ravenous Ogre armies. The war went on for years, and this region wasn't ever capable of supporting so many.

The first night, Cain and his party come across a dungeon just before sunset. The first they've personally seen in the Troll Kingdom. Hoping that it will be as more pleasant place to sleep than the swamp they're currently traversing, they decide to enter, Vala in the lead with Cain right behind, carrying Laura in her Pixie form on his shoulders.

The first thing they see are spiders, spiders everywhere. Not even half humanoid arachnid fae, just webs and overgrown spiders everywhere. Fortunately, today they've brought a fire mage with them. Misaki is more than happy to set every spider web she can find on fire. So happy in fact that they end up needing to have Laura chill the area around them to avoid roasting as the area goes up in flames.

The screams of arachnids continue for a few minutes, fading into the distance, before the group gets a notification.

[Bosses Defeated 1/2]

What level was this dungeon again? Misaki said she used an ability called [Hungry Fire] that spreads, doing damage over time to anything near a burning target and lighting them on fire too, but a single skill shouldn't kill a boss.

They walk carefully through the ash until they get to the boss room, finding nothing but smoke and a smoldering corpse. Looks like the fire really did get to it.

Shocked by this outcome, they all take a much closer look at the enemies beyond the boss room. Spiders again, but mostly hidden in traps, pits and loose sand. They're mostly level 34 and 35. The dungeon they've entered is ridiculously far below their level.

With that in mind, Cain sends the Lamia Scourge Casters he's using a Lesser Golems forward with orders to kill everything. They're fast and agile, plus easily able to enter the hiding places of the spiders with their snake like bodies.

[Bosses Defeated 2/2]

Well, that was easy, and now they've got a place to rest.

"Start looking for somewhere comfortable to sleep. The Golems should have cleared out everything from the dungeon, so just pick somewhere that looks comfortable." Cain smiles at the group, happy to be out of the swamp for the night.

"How long do we have until the dungeon resets?" Luke, the Ranger that Sylvia picked to accompany them asks, having never stayed an extended time in a completed dungeon.

"24 hours after the final boss dies, or 48 hours total if you don't finish the dungeon." Kone explains, riding atop her giant Lynx while she looks for a good spot.

"There's a nice sandy area just behind us a ways, that should be plenty soft to sleep on if we've got blankets to keep the sand out." Sylvia suggests.

"I've got a bunch of rugs and ground sheets, since I usually bring a large tent for the Guild. The sand should be perfect. Do you have a long lasting campfire spell Misaki? The dungeons tend to get very, very dark at times." Cain asks.

Every transfer carries a torch or light of some sort for just that reason. Cain never really thought about it before, because either Misha or one of the Summoned Clerics would take care of the light spell on their own, but today he didn't have any with him, having brought more clones of Kone instead, who gets night vision but not a light spell.

Currently the dungeon has a mild light, as if nearing twilight, bright enough for comfortable travel, but low enough to help the spiders hide. But that is liable to change without notice.

Once they get to the sandy area, Misaki sets up a campfire spell that is supposed to last for 8 hours and Cain sets out a collection of sheets and cushions on the ground for comfort. The Golems have set up a perimeter around them, and Nemu is getting comfortable by the fire with a lute and pan flute. While everyone else picks their spot, she starts playing relaxing music, making Luke chuckle.

"Has anyone ever told you that you live an enviously good life? Summons to do the fighting, more to rub your back when you're tired, another pair to play you gentle music to lull you to sleep. You didn't roll a class, you rolled a lifestyle." The Ranger gives an envious laugh.

"He's got it pretty good for sure. Though he has a hard time traveling with other guys, the jealously gets to them." Kone laughs, resting her head against her Lynx.

"Oh, you startled me, I totally forgot you weren't a Summon." Sylvia laughs, looking over at the Druid.

"Yeah, the half dozen clones of you keep making me forget that there's a real person version of you here too." Misaki agrees and Cain hugs the little Druid to keep her from pouting.

"Don't worry, I always know where the real you is." Cain assures her with a smile, making Luke chuckle.

"And to top it all off, there's Dragons. How is that in any way fair?" Misaki laughs as Laura transforms into her Dragon body and stretches out on the cool sand.

"That's actually the result of an S ranked ancient skill book. Class exclusive, but it gives me the companions. Vala, Nemu and Laura. There might be another one possible, but I haven't come across it yet." Cain shrugs.

"No wonder you're on such a different level, S Rank skills have some crazy abilities." Sylvia agrees.

Best to let her think everything strange is from the ability that creates the companions, giving out more details about his overpowered class will just breed envy for no good reason.

When morning comes they start heading for the exit to the valley. Without anything slowing them down it's been a very short journey that they'll likely finish this afternoon.

There's still no signs of the Ogres, which seems a bit odd, but maybe they've all moved toward the southern borders where all the other armies of the alliance will be pushing up against their borders. Nobody intends to wipe them out entirely, it wouldn't be good for the power balance in the valley, but they took a fair bit of extra land during the war with the Trolls, and the Alliance intends to push them back north to their old Kingdom boundaries.

Cain and Sylvia both hope they're having as smooth of a time as the Troll Capital fight. The sooner things get settled again the sooner small villages can stop living in fear of Ogre Raids. They might have focused on big cities like Sunnybrook, but that didn't mean they left the villagers alone.

Laura has taken her Dragon Pixie form to stay incognito, and Nemu is in her cloth outfit that looks like a belly dancer's costume. Vala can't really change to an unassuming outfit, so she's playing the role of their guard while all the others are in casual looking outfits as if they were merchant travelers and not a hardcore dungeon team. A small deception intended to mislead anyone who might be thinking of robbing them or in the wilderness.

Bandits aren't exactly unheard of, though this far out into Ogre territory they seem much less likely, even if they're near the exit city.

Just after noon, the barrier Ridgeline that marks the edge of the beginner's valley comes into sight, and a half hour after that they can see the city in the gap between the mountains. It looks nearly modern to Cain's eyes. Tall stone and brick buildings with an architectural style reminiscent of the early twentieth century. They decide to sit down and eat before approaching, in case there's trouble.

"Who are we kidding, of course there's trouble, there's always trouble." Cain teases Kone when she suggests they might just be antisocial.

"I'm just saying, maybe they don't like visitors and that's why they don't let travelers through." The Druid shrugs. Luke has noticed something more sinister though. They're being tracked. Whoever is out there isn't getting closer like they're going to attack, more like they're making sure the group keeps going towards the city.

He signals to the group that they're being herded and everyone gets ready for things to get really ugly when they reach the city.

So much for the chances of them just being antisocial.