The True Journey Begins

We finally made it to our destination which was a village. I looked around and noticed the any houses and shops available for everyone. There were many summoners and other NPCs interacting with one another. It was a beautiful site to behold and it filled me with such nostalgia as I haven't seen this village in a while.

"Welcome to the Town of Summoners. Come, I'll show you around." Cuara smiled and walked ahead. Yuki and I followed her as she hurried down a path. We stopped at a building with a sign that had a potion bottle on it. "This is the item shop. This is where you can buy and craft your items at and-"

"I already know this Cuara." I crossed my arms and looked at her. "You don't have to tell me what is what. It's all self-explanatory."

"Ah...alright." Cuara smiled and looked at me. "I do have to show you to a certain building though."

I nodded and she walked down the sidewalk. Yuki and I followed her. We soon made it to a large building and she stopped. I looked at the building and crossed my arms.

"This is the Summoner's Home. You can have up to five units living with you at a time. It's the same as the party, you can have only up to five units with you at a time. The rest of your units are turned into a Soul and go to what I like to call the Unit Dimension, but it's called the Summoner's Otherworld. Luckily you can traverse there via warping and from there you can interact with your units and whatnot." Cuara explained. "Also you can use the Party Option to form your team and change units as you please. Speaking of units, let's go summon yourself a new unit!"

Cuara led us to a summoning sanctuary and we walked inside the building. I looked around and moved my eyebrow up and down. The sanctuary was way bigger now that I was here in person.

"Here you go, Five Summoning Stones." Cuara said then sent me five Summoning Stones.

[Obtained Summoning Stones x5!]

"Now go summon yourself a unit using the Summoning Gates!" Cuara said.

I nodded and walked towards the gates. I looked at the gates then an interface appeared in front of me.

"Please select a Banner to summon from." The female AI spoke.

I was given three options: Rare Summon, Legendary Summon, and Event Summon. I looked at the Event Summon option.

April Event Unit: Spring Elf Ophelia Rates UP!

Event Summon Description: Enjoy increased rates on Spring Elf Ophelia! Every x10 summons will reward you at least one Silver Star Unit to a Platinum Star Unit.

"Fuck it. Here goes nothing." I said to myself and selected the Event Summon Gate.

I clicked the summon one time button and the Summon Gate accepted my five Summoning Stones. The gate shined and went from Bronze to Silver to Gold and finally stopped on Platinum. The doors of the gate opened slowly and a bright light shined.

"Spring Time is a wonderful time for floral healing!~" A voice said and the light dimmed.

I opened my eyes and noticed a woman with long rose gold hair and sparkling pink eyes. She had on a frilly pink dress with white accents. She had fairy wings on her back and they had a beautiful pattern. She also wore a flower crown on her head. She had gold gauntlets on her arms and wore gold ankle accessories.

I had summoned Spring Elf Ophelia on my first try and it honestly felt amazing getting lucky. Ophelia skipped over to me and smiled.

"I am honored to join your ranks, Master." Ophelia said happily.

"It is nice to have you here, Ophelia." I nodded and smiled.

I decided to check Ophelia's stats before I left out of the sanctuary.

Name: Spring Elf Ophelia

Rarity: Eight Stars

Element: Earth

Weakness: Fire

Resist: Thunder

Type: Support

Level: 1

EXP: 0/100%

HP: 512/512

MP: 94/94

Burst Gauge: 0%

ATK: 11

DEF: 17

MATK: 23

MDEF: 21

AGI: 19

LUK: 25

Skills: Floral Shine, Spring Rush, Cherry Beam, Spring Tides

Burst Skill: Petal Shower

Burst Skill EX: Floral Hurricane

Final Burst Skill: Spring Break

Leader Skill: Time For Spring! [Boosts parameters by 200% for all Earth Units in the party, boosts MATK and MDEF for all allies by 100%, Negates all negative statuses for all allies, Heals allies by 40% when an ally is within medium range.]

Extra Skill: Spring Breeze [When using Spring Tides, a healing breeze will heal all allies by 15% for 10s regardless of range.]

"Wow she's really good. Well I'm all done here." I said.

"You've completed the tutorial and are now ready to tackle the story of Harem Summoner head on. I am going to go ahead to the next area. Meet me at the Blazing Cave once you've finished around the town." Cuara nodded then warped away.

[Tutorial Complete!]

[Tutorial Rewards: Summoning Stones x3, Gold Ingots x5]

"Alright let's hit up the shops and be on our way. Sounds like a plan?" I asked.

"Yes..." Yuki nodded.

The three of us left the sanctuary and headed over to the item shop. We walked in and noticed a woman at the counter looking bored.

"Welcome.." She said in a monotone voice.

"Slow day?" I asked.

"No, just the new players constantly asking me the same question over and over again. It gets tiring having to repeat myself on a constant basis." The shopkeeper groaned.

"Well I'm sorry about that. I've come to sell these Ingots and stock up." I said.

"Right to business huh? I like the sound of that." The shopkeeper smiled.

I pulled out my five ingots and traded them over for 900K Gold. I decided to buy 10 High Potions, 10 High Elixirs, 10 Burst Potions, and 20 EXP Potions. In total, I spent 14,500 Gold which wasn't bad since I had 900K to work with. I thanked the shopkeeper and she waved goodbye to me.

We went to the Equipment Shop next and I was able to finally buy an iron sword and iron shield with a basic ATK Ring.

The man looked at me after handing me the equipment. "If you manage to bring back some good material while you're on quests, I can make you some special equipment. I'm the best blacksmith in Soria so all you'll need are the material and a few gold and I'll get 'er done for ya."

"Ah, thank you." I smiled and nodded then he nodded back.

We walked out of the Equipment Shop and I used the EXP Potions on Yuki, Ophelia, and myself.

[Shadow Yuki Level UP!]

Name: Shadow Yuki

Rarity: Two Stars

Element: Dark

Weakness: Light

Resist: Dark

Type: Magic

Level: 2 -> 20 [MAX]

EXP: 0/100%

HP: 213/213 -> 790/790

MP: 55/55 -> 101/101

Burst Gauge: 0%

ATK: 6 -> 19

DEF: 8 -> 26

MATK: 14 -> 38

MDEF: 14 -> 38

AGI: 10 -> 25

LUK: 12 -> 48

Skills: Dark Beam, Shadow Chain, Dark Heal

Burst Skill: Shadow Buster

Leader Skill: Shadow Hymn [Boosts Dark Element Units parameters by 10%]

[Spring Elf Ophelia Level UP!]

Name: Spring Elf Ophelia

Rarity: Eight Stars

Element: Earth

Weakness: Fire

Resist: Thunder

Type: Support

Level: 1 -> 15

EXP: 0/100%

HP: 512/512 -> 1,290/1,290

MP: 94/94 - 299/299

Burst Gauge: 0%

ATK: 11 -> 27

DEF: 17 -> 33

MATK: 23 -> 59

MDEF: 21 -> 57

AGI: 19 -> 55

LUK: 25 -> 61

Skills: Floral Shine, Spring Rush, Cherry Beam, Spring Tides

Burst Skill: Petal Shower

Burst Skill EX: Floral Hurricane

Final Burst Skill: Spring Break

Leader Skill: Time For Spring! [Boosts parameters by 200% for all Earth Units in the party, boosts MATK and MDEF for all allies by 100%, Negates all negative statuses for all allies, Heals allies by 40% when an ally is within medium range.]

Extra Skill: Spring Breeze [When using Spring Tides, a healing breeze will heal all allies by 15% for 10s regardless of range.]

[Summoner Shin Level UP!]

Name: Shin

Class: Harem Summoner

Title: None

Element: None

Weakness: None

Resist: None

Type: Breaker

Rarity: Three Star Unit

Level: 1 -> 15

EXP: 0/100%

HP: 150/150 -> 992/992

MP: 20/20 -> 97/97

Burst Gauge: 0%

ATK: 9 -> 42

DEF: 8 -> 41

MATK: 5 -> 29

MDEF: 5 -> 29

AGI: 5 -> 29

LUK: 5 -> 29

Skills: Blade Dance, Quick Slash, Heavy Blow

Burst Skill: Slash Combo

Leader Skill: None

Equipment:

Weapon: Iron Sword

Shield: Iron Shield

Accessory: ATK Ring

"We're all set for now, let's get out of the village and set out for the Blazing Cave." I said then they nodded and followed me as I walked ahead.

As I pushed forward, I heard a squeak and looked to my left. I noticed two players jumping another Summoner who couldn't fight for herself. Her unit was already taken down and wounded. I rushed to her aid and punched one of the player's cheek and he groaned as he took a bit of damage.

He stumbled to the side and held his cheek. He looked at me and his eye shined. "Who the fuck are you..?" He asked.

I stood in front of the woman and summoned my sword. Yuki and Ophelia stood at my sides, ready to fight when I gave the command to. "I could ask you two goons the same. You both are scum for jumping a helpless woman and her downed unit."

"Oh..? Look at Prince Charming here rushing for the damsel's aid. Should we teach him a lesson about messing with us, Taji?" The man's partner smirked.

"Yeah." Taji nodded then looked at my name. "Shin...that's the same name as the top five players in the USA servers. Nah this guy is definitely an impersonator. No way this can be the real Shin. Let's take him down, Sojuro!"

[Players Taji and Sojuro have challenged you to a Player Battle. Will you accept?]

I looked back at the woman who whimpered softly, obviously scared out of her mind. I looked back at Taji and Sojuro. "Let's get this battle started. Accept challenge."

[Initiating Battle Zone. Stage Map: Town of Summoners.]

[Win Conditions: Defeat Taji and Sojuro.]

[Lose Conditions: Your HP falls to 0]

They summoned their units and I looked at them. One of them was a woman with red hair and blue eyes. She wore a red sleeveless top and a black skirt with black thigh highs and boots. She had four floating swords around her. The other unit was a woman with black hair tied in a ponytail and her eyes shined purple. She wore a black shirt and unbuttoned short shorts. She had on a trench coat over her body as well. She wore black boots with yellow embellishments. She carried a scythe with her.

"I see...Four Blade Aisha and Reaper Alice. Both three star units, Aisha is the fire element while Alice is the dark element. Now that I'm a higher level, I can check your stats but not your moves unfortunately..but checking them leaves me vulnerable so I'll leave it up in the wind." I said then got in my stance.

[Battle Start]

"Yuki, you handle Aisha. Ophelia, you handle Alice. I'll take on the Summoners. Act accordingly!" I commanded then dashed into battle.

Yuki and Ophelia rushed into battle as well and clashed with their opponents. Taji smirked as he watched me dash towards him. Sojuro appeared beside me then slashed down with his Great Sword, but I dodged it and went straight for Taji.

"What the- Why is he coming straight for me?" Taji asked then blocked my slash with his Great Axe.

He pushed me away and slashed in a circle, but I perfectly parried his attack then spent 15 MP to execute my Heavy Blow. I bellowed and slashed at him then he groaned as I hit him blew him away.

"Yuki!" I called out.

Yuki dodged Aisha's attack then sent a dark orb at me and I slashed down, knocking it towards Taji. Taji looked up and looked surprised then was hit with the dark orb and an explosion happened.

[Taji has been slain.]

Aisha looked at her body as it slowly turned into magic particles after her master was slain.

"How did he know to do that..?" Sojuro asked himself then shook his head and went back to concentrating.

Sojuro dashed towards me and bellowed then slashed down. I dodged his attack and stepped back then kicked him away and used another 10 MP to execute a Blade Dance, boosting my ATK by 25%. I dashed towards Sojuro and dodged his downward slash and slashed down at him then combo'd into a Quick Slash. He groaned then slid backwards.

"Nngh..! This is getting so fucking annoying! How are we losing to this bum?!" Sojuro asked in annoyance. "Alice! Help me out!"

"Oh no you don't." Ophelia giggled then her eyes shined brightly. "Cherry Beam!"

She bellowed and spent 45 MP to execute her Cherry Beam. She released a massive pink energy beam at Alice, blowing her away. Alice was slain by Ophelia's overwhelming magic attack.

I looked at Sojuro. "Just me and you now."

I dashed towards him and spent another 10 MP to use Quick Slash on Sojuro, cancelling his attack then hit him with a five hit combo consisting of quick strikes then spent 15 MP to execute a Heavy Blow on him, defeating him.

[Match Over! Shin Wins!]

[Reverting Area to normal..]

The woman watched in awe and looked at me. "He took on both of them at the same time...is it really THE top player Shin? I-I have to thank him.."

"This ain't over. Wait until we get better units.." Taji said as he stood up slowly. "We will be back!"

Sojuro grunted and stood up as well then hurried off with Taji.

I walked over to the woman and held my hand out then she grabbed my hand. I helped her up and she looked into my eyes. "Are you okay?"

I was able to get a closer look at her. She had blue hair tied into a side ponytail, wore a blue colored mage outfit with brown boots and carried a wooden staff with her that had a blue crystal on the top of it. Her eyes sparkled a light blue color.

"Yeah...thanks for helping me. I-I really appreciate it." She bowed.

"It's nothing. I'm glad I heard you when I did. People like them are immediate bad news. You should stay safe." I said then turned away.

"W-Wait! Can I ask you something?" She asked.

"Hm?" I turned back towards her.

"Can I join you? I don't feel too safe traveling alone. I'm a very new player and I am not very experienced with combat and my starter unit and I keep getting beaten up by thugs like Taji and Sojuro...I promise I'll do my best while with you!" The woman said.

"What is your name?" I asked.

"My name is Selene. I want to become a powerful mage in the game and collect waifus, but I'm too weak to do it alone...Can you help me?" Selene asked.

I looked at her then shrugged and walked off. "Come on. I'll protect you the best way I can."

Selene's eyes shined with excitement and Veria looked at us. They hurried behind us and followed.

[Selene and Veria have joined your adventure!]

[Note: Another Summoner has entered your party. They will not be added as a party member, and will be added as a Friend/Guest Unit. They can still earn EXP like you can! You may only bring one Summoner along with you on your journey.]

I closed the interface and headed towards the Blazing Cave to meet up with Cuara and advance through the story.