Nightmare Realm Summoner

Alex slipped the golden ticket into his spatial ring. It would have been a shame to lose it after all the trouble Wess had gone through to get it — especially since the ticket hadn’t exactly been free. A part of him wanted to check the date on the ticket to see if the auction had been set yet, but there was no point pulling it out every five minutes and losing his mind waiting.

He wouldn’t have put it past the System to make the auction trigger with practically zero warning, but the gold ticket didn’t look like it had been made by the System. The System didn’t seem like the type to go around throwing auctions for people. That wasn’t its purpose.

That meant the auction was probably hosted by people. Maybe it relied on the System to some degree, but it was very likely still controlled by a bunch of Outworlders. And the Outworlders wouldn’t go yanking a bunch of people into an auction without giving them time to prepare. Not when the people in question were themselves.

Nobody liked being inconvenienced.

“Right,” Alex said, noting that the small crowd that had gathered for Wess was now staring at him. “I think that’s just about enough excitement for the day. Let’s get back to it, shall we?”

He was actually somewhat surprised to find that most of the townsfolk broke off, waving their goodbyes as they went back to their tasks. A large number of them set course for the Warped Embassy. It looked like people were still actively using the Mirrorlands to train.

It wasn’t long before the only ones remaining were Alex, May, Claire, and Orchid. Glint was also there, but Ein’Zahl was still avoiding doing anything that would draw undue attention to himself. There was no need to broadcast the fact that his monster had gotten a big upgrade. Not yet, at least.

“Can we go back and train?” May asked, craning her neck up to look at Orchid. “I want to test out my new ability.”

“You were just in the Mirrorlands an hour ago,” Orchid said with a shake of her head. “Your practical training is done for the day. Go use the Cultivation Array. Then meditate for an hour. And don’t cheat out of it again, or I’ll plant your ass so deep in the ground it makes a dent.”

May scrunched her nose. “I hate meditating.”

“I don’t recall asking what your opinion was on it,” Orchid said. “Those were orders, May. Go.”

May let out a huff of annoyance. “Yes, Ma’am.”

Then she was off, darting away toward the Cultivation Array. Alex and Claire both watched her leave. Then, nearly in unison, they looked over to Orchid.

“What?” Orchid asked. “You have something to say?”

“You’re a lot more… teacher-adjacent than I initially thought you would be,” Alex said. He cleared his throat. “But why does she hate meditating? Getting stronger is awesome. It’s like… half the point of why we do everything.”

Orchid rolled her eyes. “Wrong kind of meditating. She loves that one, the little addict. What I am having her do is the far more mundane version. Meditation for the purposes of seeking yourself. No power gain or System involvement whatsoever.”

“Huh?” Alex blinked. “Why the hell would anyone want to do that?”

This time, it was Claire and Orchid’s turn to stare at him.

“Seriously?” Orchid asked.

“Okay. Maybe a bit of an overreaction,” Alex admitted. “But that doesn’t really seem all that important. I’m sure it’s great for your health and all, but it doesn’t exactly feel like it’s something that you’d have to be mandating for someone.”

“May is a child,” Orchid said flatly. “A dangerous one that will become even more dangerous still as she grows with the System. But there is a reason many Outworlder families shield their core members from the realities of the System for quite some time. There is training, yes, but not the kind that May is getting in the Mirrorlands.”

“What does that mean?” Alex asked. “Is there a difference? Aside from the Mirrorlands probably being a hell of a lot more effective because of the level of challenge. Is it because her mind is undeveloped or something? Is the meditation to… what, keep her from going nuts?”

“That’s one way to put it,” Orchid said. “Those who know only battle and war will inevitably turn out bloodthirsty. I have seen it, and it is not pretty. I do not believe we have sunk to the point where we need to raise child soldiers who seek out only death.”

This tale has been pilfered from NovelFire. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“That makes sense. But… May? Really? She’s not going to transform into a little demon. She’s a ball of positive energy, isn’t she?”

“She is certainly energetic,” Orchid allowed, glancing in the direction that May had left in before shaking her head. “But that girl is too apt at combat. She’s adapting quicker than even I would have expected. If we don’t make sure to keep an eye on her, you will not stop the monster growing within her until everything that was once May is consumed.”

Alex grimaced. He hadn’t even properly considered the mental effects of introducing a child into a literal hellscape. But it wasn’t like they could just tell her to sit things out on the sidelines. The day when being able to defend herself determined May’s future wasn’t even just coming — it had already passed.

The System didn’t treat children any different from adults. It wouldn’t be kinder to her just because she was weaker. No, May had to be able to fight. But maybe keeping an eye on things to make sure they didn’t get out of hand was for the best.

“In that case, thank you,” Alex said. “It would be terrible if she got warped into something that she never wanted to become. But I now have to ask… the whole monster within bit, that was figurative, right? May doesn’t have a literal monster growing in her?”

“It was figurative, yes,” Orchid confirmed. The corner of her lip twitched. “Though I can see why you would ask. I wouldn’t put such a possibility past the realms of capability. But for the time being, the only monster that poses her threat is the one within her mind.”

“Great,” Alex said. “Keep at that. And thank you for your hard work with everyone else. Mirrorwane has been coming along incredibly, and I haven’t even been here for most of it.”

“Town Leaders rarely are. Unless something is happening here, it is best served by you seeking out opportunity.” Orchid’s lips thinned. “And you certainly seem to find no shortage of it.”

“Oh!” Alex exclaimed, his eyes suddenly lighting up as activated his spatial ring. A small leather bag popped into his palms. “That reminds me of this!”

“What is that?” Claire asked.

“The seeds I got from Shawn,” Alex replied. “For the town garden.”

Orchid’s head tilted to the side. “Shawn?”

“The guy running the Ancestry,” Alex replied. “I bought them at the end of everything. I don’t actually know what the seeds are, but he said they would be pretty good. We can plant them in the Vibrant Garden. It’s just been sitting around empty, right?”

“They’re magic seeds?” Orchid asked, her own eyes lighting in interest. “Were you planning on planting them yourself?”

Alex scratched the back of his neck. “Well, no. Probably not. I don’t know shit about gardening. And I’m probably going to end up getting trapped in another dungeon or something and forgetting to water them. I don’t want to kill the plants, so I guess I’ll pawn it off to someone.”

Orchid stared at him expectantly.

“I think I may have found who to give them to,” Claire said dryly.

“Do you want them?” Alex asked. “Are you sure? It seems like a bit of a hassle. And you’re already doing so much else for the town by helping oversee training and all that. I don’t want to overload you with an extra chore. These are magic, you know. They could end up needing extra shit from you or something.”

“Alex,” Orchid said. “I am from the Everbloom family. Do you care to take a guess as to what our specialty was? Out of every single person in this entire town, I can assure you that there is nobody more suited to crowing magical crops than I am.”

“Ah,” Alex said. “Well, if you put it that way, knock yourself out.”

He handed Orchid the bag. She took it from him gingerly, pulling the drawstring open to peer inside.

“Do you know what they are?” Claire asked.

“They’re seeds,” Orchid replied, closing the bag again and looking back up at them. “I don’t have the skill to identify any more than that yet. But I should be able to grow them without too much trouble. I might need some magical fertilizer, but with all the rotting shit that Mite leaves around, I imagine it shouldn’t be too hard to get my hands on some.”

“Great. Thank you. You’re a lifesaver,” Alex said with a grin.

“Don’t thank me,” Orchid replied. “Magical plants tend to have some very significant bonuses when consumed… and everyone knows chefs have to taste their meals before serving them.”

Aha. So that was what she was after. Meh. Fair enough. If you go through all the work of growing magic plants, then you should also be the one who gets to reap the rewards first.

“Can’t complain there,” Claire said. “But before we lose you, I wanted to ask — where is everyone? I only see a small portion of the townsfolk here. Are the rest in the Mirrorlands?”

“And the Labyrinth,” Orchid confirmed with a nod. “We have rotations. The strongest combatants cycle through to make sure they can bail out anyone who gets in too much trouble. It lessens the challenge a bit, but it also keeps us alive. Now that the River King is dealt with, everyone is back to preparing. They all know it’s the calm before the storm.”

“What storm?” Alex asked. “There shouldn’t be anything else major coming too soon. I mean, other than the Auction.”

Orchid sent him a flat look. “There’s always something coming,” Orchid said. “Especially this early into a world’s initialization to the System. And that goes doubly so with you leading the town.”

Alex cleared his throat. “I — yeah. Guess I can’t argue with that.”

“You can’t,” Orchid agreed. She shook the bag of seeds. “I’m going to go get started on this. The garden has been empty for too long. If you see May in the Mirrorlands, send her back, would you? She’s banned for the rest of the day.”

“What makes you think we’re going to—”

Orchid arched an eyebrow.

“Okay. Yeah. Will do,” Alex said sheepishly.

Orchid nodded. Then she turned on her heel and strode off toward the Vibrant Garden, leaving Alex and Claire alone with Glint.

“So…” Alex said.

“The Mirrorlands,” Glint hissed. “Take me there. I wish to kill.”

Alex and Claire exchanged a glance.

“He did ask nicely,” Claire said. She grinned. “Why don’t we go see what he’s capable of?”