The Sunless Forest

I walked into the Equipment Shop and the blacksmith looked at me and smiled. I smiled back at him and walked up to the counter. "What does it take to make a Greatsword?" I asked the blacksmith.

"Well, all it takes is your Brave Sword and some gold and I'll modify 'er up for ya. What made you want to upgrade?" The blacksmith asked.

"Well...I noticed the enemies of Aclia have been getting increasingly harder for my units and myself a tad bit. Higher levels and better stats." I answered and handed the blacksmith my Brave Sword.

"Well, that's because by this point all the enemies are equipped with Augmented Spheres. Spheres that gives your Units some amazing abilities whether it be negating status ailments or boosting your units stats by a percentage." The blacksmith explained as he began to work on my Brave Sword.

"Augmented Spheres. There's a Sphere Shop nearby that I can go to." I said.

"You can also go to the capital. They also sell Sphere's there. I'm sure there's someone in the capital who will guide you. Everyone there seems pretty nice." The blacksmith said then walked back over with my newly forged Greatsword. He set it on the counter. "Alright, that will be 1,500 Gold."

I nodded and paid the blacksmith then grabbed my Greatsword.

Name: Imperial Greatsword

Level: 1

ATK: 225

DEF: 105

Unable to equip Shield Equipment

"With a Greatsword you can't equip shields, but it balances that out with an increase in the defense stat whenever you do equip a Greatsword." The blacksmith informed.

I nodded and looked at my new stats.

Name: Shin

Class: Harem Summoner

Title: None

Element: None

Weakness: None

Resist: None

Type: Breaker

Rarity: Three Star Unit

Level: 15

EXP: 0/100%

HP: 1,587/1,587 + 1000

MP: 155/155

Burst Gauge: 0%

ATK: 320

DEF: 268

MATK: 46

MDEF: 52

AGI: 46

LUK: 46

Skills: Imperial Slash, Round Rush, Imperial Boost

Burst Skill: Great Imperial Crush

Burst Skill EX: Sacred Cleave

Leader Skill: Shining Imperial Rule [Boosts all parameters by 60%, Staggers enemies easier by 35%, Imperial Slash's attack power is boosted by 35%, Great Imperial Crush is boosted by 60%]

Extra Skill: Imperial Barrier [Grants 1000 Barrier Points, 40% Damage Reduction when guarding, Boosts DEF and MDEF by 15%]

Equipment:

Weapon: Imperial Greatsword

Shield: None

Accessory: ATK Ring

"Oh and one more thing, champ." The blacksmith said, walking back to the counter.

"Hm?" I looked at the blacksmith

"Your weapons can also acquire Weapon Skills. Sort of like Passive Abilities, if you didn't already know. Level up your weapon to a certain level to get the skills." The blacksmith informed.

I nodded and smiled. "I knew that already, but thank you for informing me. I'll get onto it when I can. I'll catch you later." I waved the walked out of the Equipment Shop.

I made my way down the sidewalk and looked at all of the friends and pets running around. I noticed some summoners with their units and noticed this universe isn't all just obtaining units to fight. One unit seemed to be the mother of a child, and it confirmed my suspicions that you can indeed have children in this universe even if it's not like my universe. Pregnancy is a thing of this universe and it made me wonder, if that's the case...you can potentially create your own unit.

I walked into the Sphere Shop and noticed the inside was more magical than the others. I walked to the counter and the shopkeeper looked at me with a blank stare on her face.

"Welcome to the Sphere Shop. We sell Spheres that boost attack, we sell Spheres that are practically useless. You can even make your own sphere that does stuff." The woman said dully.

"Wow, I can really feel the enthusiasm." I smiled and walked up to the counter and tilted my head to the side a bit.

"I'm just ready to close shop. I'm so over this shit...I can't keep my eyes open worth for shit." The woman said.

"Alright I'll make my visit quick.." I said then scrolled through the different Spheres I could buy for my units. I noticed there were only one and two star Spheres available. I looked at a sphere I could get for Yuki and one I could get for Ophelia. I decided to get a third Sphere because I was going to summon for a new Unit after I leave the shop.

Name: Dark Emblem

Rarity: Two Star

Type: Parameter Boosting

Effect: Boosts MATK and MDEF by 40%, Boosts all Dark Elemental attacks by 30%, more likely to curse targets.

Name: Floral Force

Rarity: Two Star

Type: Parameter Boosting

Effect: Boosts all parameters by 35%, Boosts Earth Elemental attacks 30%, boosts Recovery Effect by 15%

Name: Brave Symbol

Rarity: Two Star

Type: Parameter Boosting

Effect: Boosts all parameters by 25%

"Those three? Alright that will be 4000 Gold." The shopkeeper said.

I paid her the gold and got the three Spheres in return. I waved towards the woman and left the shop then hurried down the sidewalk to go to the Summoning Sanctuary. I walked inside the sanctuary and walked towards the gates.

"Welcome back, Master Shin. Are you here to summon once again?" The AI asked and looked at me with a smile on her face.

"Yes. I am here to summon again." I smiled back.

She nodded and pulled up a heads up display. "Please select a Banner to summon from."

I selected the Legendary Summon and noticed it only costed four summon stones to execute. I clicked the summon once button and it accepted my four Summoning Stones.

The gate shined and went from Bronze then Silver. The gate stopped and the doors opened.

"I must find her...even if it means asking for help from a Summoner. Will you help me find my friend?" The woman's voice said.

The light dimmed and revealed a woman who has light brown skin, purple colored hair with red highlights that stopped below the shoulders and covered her left eye, and shining red eyes. She had a huge bust and a voluptuous body. She wore a light shoulderless white battledress with red accents, knee high socks and armored boots. She carried a lance and a large shield with a cross design on the front of the shield

She looked at me and walked over to me. "It is nice to meet you, Master. My name is Shelly." She bowed.

"It's nice to meet you Shelly." I smiled at her.

Name: Flame Guardian Shelly

Rarity: Five Stars

Element: Fire

Weakness: Water

Resist: Earth

Type: Tank

Level: 1

EXP: 0/100%

HP: 712/712

MP: 83/83

Burst Gauge: 0%

ATK: 17

DEF: 20

MATK: 11

MDEF: 20

AGI: 14

LUK: 16

Skills: Burning Guard, Blazing Thrust, Cindering Impalement

Burst Skill: Volcanic Striker

Leader Skill: Guardian Flames [Boosts DEF and MDEF by 50% for all Fire Units, Boosts chance of burning targets when using Burning Guard by 25%]

Extra Skill: Burning Parry [If an enemy hits the user during Burning Guard, the user parries the attack instantly and strikes with Blazing Thrust for no MP Cost.]

Equipped Spheres:

Slot 1: None

Slot 2: None

I pulled out the Brave Symbol sphere and checked to see where I could equip it. She held out her shield and I noticed two slots where the spheres could go. I placed the sphere in the first slot and used some EXP Potions on her to level her up.

[Flame Guardian Shelly Level UP!]

Name: Flame Guardian Shelly

Rarity: Five Stars

Element: Fire

Weakness: Water

Resist: Earth

Type: Tank

Level: 1 -> 18

EXP: 0/100%

HP: 712/712 -> 2,366/2,366

MP: 83/83 -> 241/241

Burst Gauge: 0%

ATK: 17 -> 64

DEF: 25 -> 139

MATK: 11 -> 58

MDEF: 25 -> 139

AGI: 14 -> 61

LUK: 16 -> 63

Skills: Burning Guard, Blazing Thrust, Cindering Impalement

Burst Skill: Volcanic Striker

Leader Skill: Guardian Flames [Boosts DEF and MDEF by 50% for all Fire Units, Boosts chance of burning targets when using Burning Guard by 25%]

Extra Skill: Burning Parry [If an enemy hits the user during Burning Guard, the user parries the attack instantly and strikes with Blazing Thrust for no MP Cost.]

Equipped Spheres:

Slot 1: Brave Symbol

Slot 2: None

After upgrading her and getting her where she needed to be, we left the sanctuary together and I took her back to my home.

As we walked home, I noticed her dragging behind a bit. I walked over beside her and stopped her. She looked up at me and blinked.

"Is everything okay, Shelly?" I asked.

"Well...Is it really true? Has the Goddesses really lost it? Are they really trying to destroy the Universe? Have what we done in the past not mattered? We are just repeating history." Shelly said in an upset voice.

"I understand how you feel, and I promise you that I will stop it with the help from you and the others of course." I smiled at her. I held her shoulders and looked at her in the eye. "Trust me, we will make it out alive. Nothing will stop us."

"You promise?" Shelly asked, sounding hopeful.

"When I put my mind to something, I always make sure I can see it through. I won't stop until my task is complete." I nodded.

[Shelly's Bond Percentage rose to 7%]

Shelly nodded and smiled then we continued to walk home so she can meet Yuki and Ophelia. Once we got to my house, I opened the door for her, allowing her to walk in first then I walked in after her. Yuki and Ophelia noticed Shelly and got up to greet her. The three grew accustomed to each other quickly. Shelly seemed to be very interested in Ophelia since Ophelia isn't from this galaxy.

After the three became acquainted, we warped to the Warping Crystal at the exit of the Frozen Snowfield. We walked down a path leading to the next dungeon.

I stopped and turned around to Yuki and Ophelia. "Oh! Before I forget. Here. One for you and one for you." I said as I equipped their spears on their weapons.

"Augmented Spheres? Thank you." Yuki smiled and felt her magic prowess become greater.

"I appreciate this a lot, Master." Ophelia smiled cutely.

I nodded and we continued down the path until we reached the next dungeon. The sun began to disappear, but it was still the afternoon. The sun was getting blocked by the unnaturally large trees. I looked ahead and noticed Cuara sitting on a tree stump, watching the forest critters wander about. She noticed us walking ahead and smiled.

"Shin! Good, you made it through the Snowfield and with a new unit in hand. She's a fire element isn't she? Sadly, a Fire Element would have been good here if the boss of this dungeon didn't set a field effect across the entire dungeon." Cuara said.

"Field Effect?" I asked. "Since when did the early dungeons do field effects?"

"Since the Grand Order began to corrupt things around Aclia. The Grand Order is a guild full of Summoners who act as the new disciples of the Goddesses. You've met Yoshimune and Nevio, but there is a Grand Order member in this dungeon." Cuara said then sighed. "Anyway about this field effect. The Boss of Wise Woods has a field effect that weakens Fire Elemental attacks by 40% and boosts Earth Elemental attacks by 60%. All enemies in the area are now equipped with Augmented Spheres that boost their power even more, more specifically the Terra Boost that boosts all parameters of the wielder by 40% if the wielder is an Earth Element."

"That's wild...they really want to stop me. That's fine because with my new weapon and Shelly's abilities and Yuki's and Ophelia's upgrades, we will breeze through this dungeon as well." I smiled.

"Yeah because you really breezed through the last two." Cuara teased.

I rolled my eyes and smiled. "Whatever."

"Well anyway, good luck and fight hard! I'll meet you at the end of the forest!" Cuara warped away.

I looked at my units and we pressed forward. As we pressed forward we noticed we were stopped by a wave of Mandrakes. I summoned my Greatsword and rested the blade on my shoulder then got in my stance.

"Scream." A males voice said.

The Mandrakes began to scream all at once and we all yelled in pain. I grunted and fell on one knee.

"Make it stop!" Yuki screamed and fell to her knees and covered her ears.

Their screams produced soundwaves that immobilized us, making us unable to move. I grunted and slowly stood up then noticed a woman appearing and disappearing then the Mandrakes all turned into magic particles. The screaming stopped and we were able to move again.

A woman landed in front of us and Yuki looked at her. She had long red hair and red eyes. She wore a red assassin's jacket and a black one piece outfit with her legs exposed. She had on thigh highs and black boots. She carried a katana with her.

"Fiona..!" Yuki said happily.

"Fi..Fiona.." The other woman huffed and puffed as she ran to her with her scythe in hand. "Must you always forget...my boobs weigh me down..?"

I looked at the woman and noticed how beautiful she looked. She had long curly pigtails and violet colored eyes. She wore a black shoulderless top with her cleavage exposed , black skirt, fishnet leggings, brown boots with a black bow and lace gloves that stopped at her elbows.

The woman looked up and noticed me. She blushed a bit and stood up straight quickly. She flipped her hair and smiled. "Hey. My name is Kamie. 20 years old. Single and looking for a boyfriend in this God forsaken world. Who might you be handsome?~"

"Nice to meet you, Kamie. My name is Shin. 21 years old. Single and I think I might have found my girlfriend." I smiled at her and noticed her blushing even more.

She hurried over to me and held my arm. "Then let's make it official..~ You're now my boyfriend-"

We heard rustling and she gripped my arm tighter. She looked afraid and looked around. We heard a howl and an armored kobold emerged from the bushes. It landed in front of us and howled loudly, calling upon its pack.

"Armored Kobolds?! Isn't it enough that you summoned those annoying Mandrakes?!" Kamie yelled.

"You aren't a target so I suggest you move aside." The man said as he walked forward.

I looked at the man and glared. He had short brown hair, green brown eyes, and a beard. He wore a black top with red and gold accents, dark green pants, silver boots, and a green and gold cape with fur on the collar of his cape. He also wore brown gloves and carried a sword with him.

The man pointed the sword at me. "He is my target."