1 Fortune Smiles Upon You
"Mina! We'd appreciate the help of your summons right now!" Erick yelled over the grating screeches of the shadow crawlers and the sound of him and his companions fighting to protect Mina as she casts her summoning spell, praying that Fortune's Roll would succeed on one of her summons.
"Summon Feral Beast!" Mina hoped that the spirits were kind today and would give her a creature that could save them, but she didn't hold her breath, as the spirits were hardly ever kind.
[Fortune's Roll activating...]
The true hope of Mina was this skill, Fortune's Roll. Any time Mina casts magic, this skill will activate and roll for a chance of upgrading the spell she'd cast.
[Fortune does not smile upon you...]
"Urgh..." Mina could only pray that her summon wasn't a waste, and that Fortune's Roll would succeed on her next summon.
[Summoning in progress...]
She crossed her fingers as she helplessly watched her friends fighting with everything they had to protect her as she waited for her summoning to complete.
[10 Mana units have been used for summoning...]
[Summoning complete! A Yellow-Tailed Fenex has been summoned!]
A small burst of blue light accompanied the appearance of a pillar of light that faded to reveal a grey, fox-like creature that was almost double the size of normal wild foxes and had a bright yellow-tail.
"Ah... Could've been worse. Now then, go help my friends!" Receiving its master's order, the Fenex dove into the middle of the fight tearing apart the young shadow crawlers with every bite and swipe of its claws. Its rampage through the crawlers bought a moment of respite for Mina's companions, who had begun showing signs of fatigue.
Tale was exhausted the most out of everyone. His complexion had become exceedingly pale; each breath he took was short and ragged, and, in addition, it looked like he could collapse at any given moment. These were all signs that he was suffering from stamina deprivation. Anymore fighting may cost him greatly, and could even take his life.
Prica had already done what she could for him by casting soothing mend, but deprivations don't just go away that easily. It could take weeks to even a month before Tale would fully recover, and even then, he will still have lost some attribute points permanently.
Mina was relieved to have created a moment of rest for her friends. But her work was far from over. They were still surrounded by hundreds of young shadow crawlers, who were all brimming with hunger.
Mina knew that these crawlers weren't the real nightmares of this place, for they were young, nothing more than children. Far from the fully grown adults whose scything arms reaped life from the shadows beyond one's sight. Their large, writhing bodies overflowed with the power of darkness that was kept contained within by their steel-like exoskeleton, their thousands of legs carried them silently over any surface, without fail. Adult shadow crawlers were the last thing anyone would want to meet in this maze.
However, if Mina couldn't get a summon powerful enough to break the encirclement, then meeting one of these terrors would be unavoidable, and not something her party could survive against.
"Summon Feral Beast!" Mina concentrated on the Mana flowing through her and forced a dozen more units of Mana into her summoning spell.
Her intentions were clear. By overcharging the summoning spell, she intended to get a stronger beast, and if Fortune's Roll succeeded, her summon would be truly spectacular.
[Fortune's Roll activating...]
[Fortune does not smile upon you...]
Mina cursed her luck underneath her breath and eyed the crawlers who had begun pushing back the Fenex as it grew ever more exhausted.
[Summoning in progress...]
The Fenex could finally no longer hold back all of the crawlers and defend itself at the same time, allowing for a few to slip by.
"I've got them! Tale, stay back! Prica cover me, and Kuya, get ready to intercept any more crawlers!" Erick speedily shouted his instructions as he flew forward propelled by his charge skill.
His first swing carried the momentum of his charge, putting much more force behind his blade, enabling it to slice the leading crawler's head in half.
The following crawlers were unfazed by the gruesome death of their fellow and merely threw themselves with wild abandon at Erick, who was now feeling a lot of pressure as he fought since Tale was out of action and couldn't support him.
[22 Mana units have been used for summoning...]
[Summoning complete! A Rock Snapper has been summoned!]
[New Skill acquired! Spell Overload!
Increases the efficiency of overloading spells by 0.4% and reduces the chances of mana detonation by 0.5% per mastery level! Mana cost: Variable. Activation Period: 0.276 seconds. Effective Range: Self. Risk: 70% chance of mana detonation! Category: Active, Magical Enhancement, Self.]
Mina thanked the spirits for the new skill she'd earned, and for giving her an incredibly tough beast.
Brownish-blue in coloring, the giant crab that Mina had summoned appeared the same way as the Fenex had, in a flash of blue light and the appearance of a pillar of light that quickly faded to reveal her new servant.
"Push the crawlers back!" The crab heeded its master's order and stormed forward.
"Erick! Out of the way!" Erick almost missed Mina's warning, and he was glad he hadn't, because the crab plowed through the location he had just been, and either outright crushed the crawlers into paste, or took them along for a painful ride on the sharp and jagged edges of its exoskeleton.
The crab's momentum was unstoppable. The Fenex had also, just barely, managed to move out of the crab's way as it ran into the army of shadow crawlers, and tossed them back like a tidal wave.
"Oooh! Good one, Mina!" Erick felt relieved to have such a powerful ally now holding back the hundreds of shadow crawlers that wanted nothing but their deaths.
[Trainee Summoner proficiency has risen to level 8! AWN +1, INT +3, WIS +2, WIP +2, LUK +1!]
[Summon Feral Beast's mastery has risen to IV!]
Mina breathed a sigh of relief. Now that her spell's mastery had gone up, there was a much better chance of getting a worthwhile beast.
Nevertheless, worry still crowded her thoughts, as she noticed the number of shadow crawlers wasn't going down but was, in fact, climbing. Meaning there wasn't much time left until an adult would catch wind of the trapped intruders. With this in mind, she immediately started a new summon while her Rock Snapper and Fenex held the growing army of crawlers back.
"Summon Feral Beas—" Mina concentration was shattered by a clanking that sounded like a blacksmith hard at work—but this was no blacksmith.
The clanking was the sound of an adult shadow crawler's mandibles repeatedly opening and closing. Mina and her companions spotted the adult instantly.
Its sleek black exoskeleton was covered in metal-like scratch marks, all of which were caused by attacks that had failed to pierce through it. Or the legs of shadow crawlers as they climbed over one another to get to their prey.
The Rock Snapper snapped its pincers with explosive force, ready for battle against this new foe. Mina prayed in her heart that the Rock Snapper would be able to hold the adult crawler back long enough for her to summon something that could get them out of this situation.
"Summon Feral Beast!" Mina's casting shout was like a signal for the adult crawler and Rock Snapper to begin fighting.
Plunging towards the crab, the crawler's two feet long, scythe-like arms swept towards the crab's legs while it bit the crab's face with its mandibles.
Thankfully for the crab, its exoskeleton held firm against the crawler's attacks, suffering only shallow gouges and scratches from the crawler's arms and mandibles.
With its attack having failed, the crawler avoided the crab's counterattacking left pincer, but in doing so, it was unable to notice the right pincer as it rose up from below the crawler's line of sight and snapped shut upon its midriff.
Stuck in the crab's grip, the crawler went wild. Its scythe-like arms and mandibles relentlessly attacked the crab, gouging out several deep wounds in the crab's exoskeleton, in an attempt to get out of this stranglehold the crab had over it.
[Fortune's Roll activating...]
[Fortune smiles upon you!]
[Summon Feral Beast has been upgraded to Wicked Circles of Sin Evocation!]
[Wicked Circles of Sin Evocation detected!]
[Firmament approval required!]
[Firmament approval request has been generated and sent by Unique Skill: Fortune's Roll!]
Mina was bewildered by the bizarre messages she was receiving.
She knew Evocator was the final profession of the summoning path, but she had absolutely never heard of this, "Wicked Circles of Sin Evocation."
Worst, her skill had automatically sent a request to this "Firmament" whatever it was. Mina was unsure of what would happen, as she'd never heard of Fortune's Roll upgrading a summon to an evocation. And even more strange was the need for permission, something she'd also never heard of before.
[Firmament approval granted...]
The moment the message appeared in her mind, Mina felt nauseous. Every line of thought in her mind ground to a halt and slowly extinguished like the dying embers of a fire. Colors slowly bled out of her surroundings, leaving only black and white.
Her companions were too focused on protecting her from the crawlers that were bypassing the crab, now that it had engaged the adult crawler, to notice her collapse to the den's cold, unforgiving floor.
Bloody tears silently slid down her cheek as even white began fading from the world. Memories of her time at Lenon's Explorer Academy flashed through her mind, as that too vanished into white noise.
[Evocation in progress...]
[Insufficient Mana! 12,828,073,946 Mana units are required to complete the Evocation!]
[Evocation cannot be canceled!]
[Acquiring Mana from nearby sources!]
