Bonded Summoner

Jake thought that him winning would be met with cheers, but for some reason everyone else in the party left instead. Were they really just jealous that Jake was able to finish the boss by himself, or just mad that he didn’t listen to them and let himself die instead of trying to win? Jake did his best to put himself in their shoes, but he just could not understand how they could be upset. Jake looked over to the loot he earned with a sigh.

While it was important to progress his own character with better equipment, he was more looking forward to having a team to take on the next dungeon. Still, there was nothing for it. He would have to find a new party to team up with, and take on the dungeon again to proceed through more bosses, as the Infernal Demon was not even the last one. It was at that time that he noticed he had earned an achievement, [Last Man Standing – finish a raid boss as the last one alive from over 5 percent health]. The effect of the achievement had an odd, perhaps ominous, statement: “Account Marked.”

Jake finished his usual post-raid tasks of replenishing his potions and reviving his summons and logged out of the game. Jake would need to find a new group of people to party with if he were to continue playing, it appeared. There were several different dungeons beyond the one they took on, but a party that didn’t put in the kind of effort Jake did would be hard pressed to ever reach them.

Jake thought about his life. Orphaned at the young age of 8, he bounced from foster home to foster home until he came of age and was able to live on his own; moving into his own place before even finishing high school. He could not immediately afford college, so he got a job working third shift so that he could both afford his own place, and save up.

Jake always felt that he only had himself, so personal improvement had been high on his list of priorities: he had taken up boxing for personal fitness and to have something to focus on, and had worked hard to keep all his grades up and while he hadn’t earned the Valedictorian at his school, partially due to his switching schools almost each year: he had still come very close.

Jake found that despite providing detailed transcripts from school to school and class to class, he was still penalized for moving schools, like it was his fault. It was like the system left him to fall through the cracks, constantly having to make up the entire semester's worth of work or take classes for credits that were “missing” due to some supposed incompatibility between the two school’s curriculum. Still, he would work his tail off each time he switched schools, and often worked into the night to ensure he had the best possible grades he could and was not penalized due to missing work or hit with a quiz unprepared on his second day at a new school.

He yearned for family, and thought that was perhaps why he had chosen the Summoner class in the first place: he wanted to be useful, to be desired, as he felt that this class had a lot to offer teaming up with anyone. He also didn’t like being alone, something that being a Summoner hardly had to worry about; an escape from his real life.

Not only was his world of gaming running into roadblocks, but his career and personal life, too. He had recently quit his job working third shift at the warehouse to finally look for a job that uses his computer science degree he earned online, but it appeared there were no true entry level positions; every company wanted years of experience, even those jobs labeled as entry level. On top of that, the few internships he applied for scoffed at his online degree.

Then on the personal level he had struck out enough times on the dating app that he was losing confidence there as well. It’s not that Jake was bad looking: 23 years old, at 6’1, brown hair with hazel eyes, and in decent shape, he felt like he was attractive and had a lot going for him. The problem he had thought was due to working third shift, his available time was simply not meant for being involved with normal people; this was one of the main reasons for leaving his third shift job in the first place. Being honest, between work and schooling he did not feel he had the time for a relationship, anyway, and maybe could have tried a bit harder but hadn’t.

He thought that being around at normal times now that he left his job would allow him to match up with someone, but it looked like him being jobless now was far too big of a flaw to be overlooked to continue conversations towards going out on a date, and Jake wasn’t interested in a one night stand. Jake had money saved, and he could just lie, but he felt like if that was what was needed to get past the gate then he didn’t want to go through it.

Jake got up from his gaming desk. He would not spend any more time feeling bad for himself. He would continue to work on and improve himself, and things would change naturally on their own. He would continue to focus on the things that he can change, and acknowledge the things that he couldn’t. That was why he pursued his degree online despite working full time at the warehouse, and why he kept in shape.

If they wouldn’t hire him because he had no experience, then he would write his own application or make his own game. He would be his own boss and successful at best, or he would have something in his portfolio to show prospective employers, at worst. He would also take a small break from his game, and go back to volunteer work. He had given it up before due to simply not having enough time between work and school, but now, he had nothing but time. Volunteering both felt good and was a great place to meet people. He decided he would go for a run outside. Just as he was about to head out the door, he heard a voice.

“That was a good showing kid. You even had a few more cards to play if that blight dragon wasn’t quite enough, didn’t you? Jake Hart, isn’t it? Your drive and ingenuity are exactly what we need.”

Jake started. His apartment was locked, and the voice came from all around him. He began to wonder if he was hallucinating–

“You’re not imagining me, kid. I’m very real. I’ll start from the beginning. Nice to meet you, I’m Odin.”contemporary romance

The last few words came from behind him, and he spun around. In front of him was definitely someone that looked like they could be the god, Odin. He had an eye-patch, white hair and wizened face despite looking middle-aged, wearing some kind of armor that exuded power, and a spear. There was a palpable energy leaking off of him, giving Jake a feeling he had not felt before. Was this divinity?

Odin had a smirk on his face and he was holding out his hand for a handshake. “Are you going to just gawk at me? I greeted you; you are being a little rude. Yes, I’m hearing your thoughts as if you were speaking them aloud, yes, you are experiencing my divinity,” Odin said.

Jake shook himself out of it and reached out and grasped Odin’s hand to give it a shake. “I- I’m Jake. A pleasure…”

Odin released Jake and replied, “Yes. It is. Now, as I said, we need you. I’ll do my best to bring you up to speed here. Many of the fantasy races and settings that you know of are actually real, and their respective universes are a part of a greater multiverse.”

Jake was about to ask a question as that bomb was dropped, but he was cut off by Odin, “Save your questions. They will all be answered, in due time. My time here is limited, however, and the information I can provide you is restricted. We, [The Alliance], are fighting a war with outsiders: eldritch-like beings as you know them. Their goal is to consume and consume until nothing is left. Their attack on our multiverse is an insidious thing, an expansive web spanning all over the multiverse as something that you might know: A dungeon. [Tartarus], an infinite labyrinth, to be precise.”

Jake was very interested, as this felt a lot like the game he was playing. Still, he wondered what on earth this had to do with him, and why a god was now in his pathetic living room. Odin interjected, “I was getting to that. Just listen. [Tartarus] does spawn dungeons all over the multiverse: including Earth, some called incursions.

You can think of the known multiverse like the Yggdrasil, the tree of life. [The Alliance] created a giant barrier around it, [The Framework]. It forces the outsiders to fight us using rules, like a giant game, using the dungeon and various other means in order for them to enter, many of the means we contest with the outsiders resemble MMO games you are familiar with. The tree floats through the cosmos, and new planets it encounters are called fringe worlds, such as Earth. They must go through a [Trial] to be integrated into the Yggdrasil, the same as you. Worlds can be thought of as leaves, and the pathways between them the branches. The outsiders are a rot creeping up the roots and into the tree, trying to eat at the leaves, or any leaves encountered as the tree floats through the cosmos.”

Odin continued, “For everything they destroy, more specifically, the beings they kill and their soul consumed, the Infinite Labyrinth expands just a little bit more. It spawns more incursions and so on, and it will continue until the outsiders have consumed everything, if we do not stop it. At best, we have managed to slow it down. It was a major victory in the battle against the outsiders, creating the barrier that is [The Framework], but so far it has only prolonged the loss of the war.”

Odin let that ominous statement sink into Jake’s mind, then spoke again: “Earth is lucky, being on the fringe of where the outsiders can reach, but it is still under attack. If things get worse, monsters can spawn on earth and invade then everyone could potentially be drafted to fight this evil, making the world contested.

There are countless worlds that are at this stage, where they are actively defending against dungeons and their spawn on the surface, but it is a losing battle. With every death, they are only empowering their enemy. While we have won back some worlds, we have lost many more than we have won, once they get to that point.”

Odin once again let that sink in. Jake learned that Earth is under attack, and Odin and the people he recruits are responsible for keeping it safe and perhaps in the dark, for some reason. Odin continued, “To combat the outsiders, [The Alliance] has come up with many methods for accumulating power to fight them, and means of recruitment. I personally like to use games like [The Labyrinth] to test people’s mettle and introduce them to the concepts needed to be successful, for recruitment.

My [Einherjar], and those that I recruit to [The Alliance], make use of [The Framework]. You can think of [The Framework] like an artificial intelligence, template, and guide all-in-one. Its purpose is to guide us in the war against the outsiders, and raise warriors. Like the game, you can choose a template or class that fits you. It then quantifies your advancement, and awards you for defeating the outsiders in the dungeon, granting skills and knowledge as you progress, as your soul grows to be able to contain them.”

Odin continued, “It also guides your advancement, helping you become better at your spells and skills, becoming a better warrior. Time is a valuable commodity, and those able to train you are better spent pushing back the outsiders. You might know of fighting through boxing, and that will help set what I consider the bare minimum, but you are not a warrior, at least not yet. [The Framework] will help make you into one in no-time.

Lastly, there’s the Artificial Intelligence portion of [The Framework]. It connects incursions from [Tartarus] to what we call [Refuge]’s, allowing the initiated to destroy them and take that power back for themselves, and to grow [The Framework]. It is like a general that directs our war against the outsiders.

Drafting, or initiating people into [The Framework] has a cost. It has various benefits, but that cost is part of the reason why we don’t just draft everyone. A large portion of that cost is protecting the soul, so that those defeated are not able to be used to grow [Tartarus], and instead those people’s souls can be revived or used in various ways to continue the fight against the Outsiders.”

Jake took that in. It appeared that these so-called drafted into [The Framework] were effectively immortal, or even more like how a video game character was. Still, despite this long introduction about this framework and the alliance, Jake wondered what this had to do with him–

Odin once again interrupted Jake’s thoughts, “So, I wanted to congratulate you. You’re being drafted! Welcome to [The Alliance].” Jake gawked at Odin, “Wait a minute! Don’t I get some sort of choice?” Jake thought that such a major task was not for him. He was no warrior, like Odin pointed out. Surely Odin should grab some Navy Seal or something? Odin snorted, but replied.

“Don’t you know what being drafted means? Of course, you don’t get a choice,” Odin smiled. “Now, you accepted the agreement when you joined [The Labyrinth] that said that you would join [The Framework] if you were called upon, does your word not mean anything?”

Jake started. Was Odin talking about the terms and conditions that nobody reads when logging into the game? Odin laughed, “It’s not our fault that nobody reads them. Now, you mentioned the Navy Seal. I have recruited a few of those guys, and they do well enough. A few have even become [Einherjar]. But they are few and far between, and at the end of the day: they are only human.

The multiverse contains myriad races, and Earth is extremely soft. Those guys train to be some of the best of the best on modern Earth, but do you think they really compare to a Spartan that trained their entire lives to use weaponry that works well against outsiders practically from the day they are born?

Let alone the equivalent of those, but as a Titan, or Dragon, or something like this? That’s not even mentioning the other paths to power in advancement in the multiverse, outside of those that use the class templates of [The Framework]. The rules that the framework forced outsiders to use, outlaws advanced weaponry such as guns. This goes both ways, as now the dungeon won’t be able to spawn gun wielding goblins or fire cannons at you for setting off a trap.”

Jake realized that, of course, Odin was right. Just within [The Labyrinth], Jake didn’t even play a Human for his character; they were just not very good. Odin continued, “With that said, there’s only so many Navy Seals, and many of them have lingering attachments. Drafting them is still done, but sparingly. For recruitment, we have to cast a wider net. We have hundreds of methods of finding people to draft, [The Labyrinth] was just one of them, one that I use. And don’t look down on humans. I started out as one, after all.”

Jake was resigned to his fate. He tried to look on the bright side, that he would be a part of something greater, but he had a hard time picturing where he would truly be successful as a warrior. Even in the game, he did not focus at all on doing damage himself, even if there were offensive summoners. Even fighting that boss, he only had creatures that could situationally produce a lot of damage, usually meant to be working together with his allies. He had a hard time imagining being some kind of immortal warrior clearing dungeons of monsters.

Odin looked at Jake, and his one good eye glowed. The feeling Jake got that was Odin’s divinity spiked and grew, and he guessed that he was drawing some of his power. He fondly smiled at Jake like a father to his son, and Odin spoke,

“Jake Hart, know this. Continue to be who you are, and you will find what you have been searching for all your life: a family, and to matter in the world. Work hard on yourself like always, and you will be an excellent Summoner that helps us fight the outsiders, and obtain glory and love beyond belief. I know that you will be mad that I took this choice from you, but it is for the best.

I will be turning this place into your [Refuge]. A shame it’s a dump, but everyone has to start somewhere. At the very least: it will be familiar to you. Even your computer will remain, but your ability to contact the outside world will be removed. I know you have no lingering attachments, that’s part of why you were drafted. You will find new bonds, and you will find happiness, that I promise you.

This is all the time that I have, and all the information I am allowed to give you without both of us paying for it. I will now initiate you into [The Framework]. When you awake, you will be able to interact with it by thinking [Menu]. It will allow you to learn skills and spells just like your gaming character. The wiki, found on your computer or [Menu], will help you gain knowledge to fight the outsiders, and you can use [Credits] in the [Alliance Store] or [Multiverse Market].

I will even leave you some gifts. Good luck to you, child. The [Einherjar] will welcome you once you are strong enough to complete your [Trial] and can visit worlds outside your [Refuge], but you are welcome to join any faction within [The Alliance]. We are all a part of the same team, after all.”

Jake felt a burning in his chest, and then his vision went dark as he lost consciousness.

done.co