You are Summoned

“Your third calibration summons will begin shortly. This is the final trial session and if you are found to be compatible with the system, you will be integrated as a permanent summoned being. You may ask me one question at this time,” the strange voice said.

I thought about what question I should ask. Going on and on about whether or not I was crazy was a fool’s errand. The voice couldn’t answer that, what I needed to ask were specific questions about this place and how it functioned. Better yet, maybe the voice could tell me about the cause of the headaches.

“Why do I get headaches prior to summoning, and what exactly happens during the process,” I asked.

“You asked two questions; I will only answer the first. The headaches are caused by the system linking to your being and preparing it for transport to the void. You come from a world almost completely bereft of mana and your link to a place that is mana-rich can be somewhat straining on your body. Rest assured that there will be no long-term physical problems to your body due to the transportation process,” the voice explained.

This time, I held my tongue and didn’t pester the voice, despite how many other questions I had. From my last experience in this weird void place, whoever was controlling things would just magically shut me up if I started to become annoying. While the voice seemed indifferent, I didn’t get the vibe that it was trying to deceive me. If anything, it was more along the lines of a bored DMV worker that’s forced to recite some disclosure that they had already read a thousand times.

Its explanation on the headaches didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but I knew some books and games used mana as a resource. It was usually a blue bar or bubble that showed how much you had left. According to the voice, mana was real, and it was somehow being used to transport me to other worlds. At least it seemed like I couldn’t die in these strange worlds. Each time I returned home, I didn’t have a scratch on me.

I wonder what the doctor was doing with me right now. Was he calling an ambulance to take me to the hospital? In all likelihood, he had just walked in on a naked and completely unresponsive patient. From what the voice said, my body should be okay, and the process didn’t leave any physical problems. If my body was still alive, I didn’t have to worry about the doctor sending me to the morgue. Assuming that all this was real, was my body even back on Earth, or would the doctor just see my pile of clothes on the exam table?

If the doctor admitted me to a hospital and ran a bunch of tests, would it show anything out of the ordinary? As I thought about my body back on Earth, new prompts began to appear.

Your third calibration summons has begun. Completing this summons will end your trial period as a summoned being.

The parameters for this summons are as follows:

Queue position: 222.

Summoning level, 0.

Rewards level, minuscule.

This summons is exploration based, and the likelihood of combat is moderate to high. Prepare accordingly.

Forced compliance is active.

No compatible gear has been found in your armory. A facsimile of your current attire will suffice for this summons.

The queue numbers began to spin down. I wish there was a clock in this place, so I could keep track of how long I’d been gone from my body. When this summons was done, I’d have to prepare myself for being in the hospital. Hopefully my insurance was going to cover all this.

You are summoned by the mage Vizberon via a summoning spell. Prepare yourself.

A portal appeared again in the dark of the void. Knowing I had no choice, I stepped through voluntarily. At least by going willingly, I didn’t lose control of my body. Even for a short time, that feeling was a horrible one.

Stepping through the portal, I found myself in some kind of big underground chamber. The walls had compartments carved out of them, and each of the compartments held the skeletal remains of someone that had been interred long ago. Only a few torches lined the wall and there were two other people standing right next to me. From the way we all stood completely still, waiting for our orders, I assumed the other two were also summoned beings.

“That’s enough, I need to conserve my mana in case we run into real trouble,” a man who I could feel was my link to this world said. He wore simple grey robes and looked further into the chamber where another dozen people waited.

These other people weren’t summoned beings, and most were kitted out like miners or something of the kind. Other than the miner-looking people with their picks, shovels, and prybars, two other men were warriors of some sort, both wearing chainmail shirts and reinforced leather leggings as they stood watch. One of the pair held a longsword and shield, while the other had an oversized crossbow with a bolt loaded and ready to fire.

“Get them to work Vizberon,” the main with the sword ordered.

“Right, I’ll get started. Okay you lot, each of you grab a torch from that crate, light it, and carry it into the next chamber. If anything attacks or tries to slip past you, attack it. If nothing gets you, mount your torches evenly along the far wall, and come back for further instructions,” Vizberon told us.

This time, I didn’t fight the orders and walked over to the crate of torches as instructed. Control over my body remained my own. This was good news, it meant that I wouldn’t be moved around like a puppet every time this happened. As long as I followed the orders given to me, I had some leeway on how to operate.

To test how far I could deviate from the orders, I took my torch from the crate, but then changed things up a bit. Instead of following the other two summoned people to a small lantern where they lit their torches, I walked toward a burning torch on the wall that was a bit further away. Somehow, the system that governed this place knew my intent was indeed to ignite the torch that I held, and it refrained from forcing me to go where the others went.

After lighting my torch, I followed the others to where an open doorway to the next chamber was waiting. With me was another human and something I could only describe as a goblin. It was a short green guy with gangly arms and a long nose. He had a mean look to him and bared his teeth at me when he noticed my inspection.

Why couldn’t I have been given that guy to fight during my first summons? I was pretty sure I could have taken him on, or at least made a better showing of myself than I had against the orc. The other two led the way; my choice of initial torch lighting spots had put me a few steps behind the pair.

As we walked, I looked over my human companion. It was a man that looked to be in his early forties. He was dressed in a burgundy-colored toga-looking thing, and I didn’t think he was from Earth unless the poor guy got snatched up at a toga party. The goblin was naked except for a loincloth, which I was very grateful for. I think seeing a goblin’s junk would be even more traumatic than being cut in half by an orc.

Inside the new chamber, I could see it didn’t differ much from the one we had just left. These rooms were huge, and the torchlight didn’t reach the far end, making it a bit eerie. On the far wall was another doorway sized opening carved into the rock. Unlike the one we had just used; this one was completely covered in thick webbing. I hated spiders and I hoped that the summoning spell would end before this Vizberon guy ordered me walk through that mess.

Reaching the far end of the room, I found a crack in the wall that held my torch well enough once I wedged it in real tight. The others did the same and we started to return to our summoner. Halfway across the room, I could hear a skittering noise. The restrictions on my actions didn’t kick in when I turned around to look at what was coming. Maybe I had some leeway since our orders to stop anything from passing by us.

There, scuttling across the floor was a spider the size of a large dog. The monster had a hard, black exoskeleton and its legs made disturbing clicking noises with each step it took on the stone floor. It was moving right toward me, and like my previous encounters, I prepared to fight it off with only my bare hands. At least this time, I wasn’t alone. The goblin and the other human both joined me as the spider made it into striking range.

I was terrified and wanted to be anywhere but here at this point, but my orders were clear, and my body refused to disobey them. The spider plowed into my knees, knocking me onto my back. Before it could sink its six-inch-long fangs into my belly, the other human grabbed a leg and pulled, distracting it enough so I could crawl out from under the thing.

Shifting targets, the spider reared up and bit the other human on the shoulder. The man didn’t make a sound, but I could see the pain in his eyes as he let go of the spider’s leg and began to beat the monster on the head with his fists. Our goblin companion had grabbed another of the spider’s legs and was gnawing on it with his small, sharpened teeth. The spider wasn’t as powerful as the orc I had faced, but would the three of us be enough to defeat it?