EPISODE 5: A SUMMONER'S POTENTIAL
Oh, they're here!
Took you long enough to heal up, Rodin!
Sorry to worry you, fellas.
As you can see, I'm fit as a fiddle!
So, the little guy's really tagging along?
Yeah. As I'm sure you've heard, we're adopting Allen's hunting strategy this time.
But he's only tagging along to watch.
I won't get in the way. Thanks for having me.
Sigh. I wanted to be part of the hunt.
But Dad's such a hardhead. He wouldn't budge.
Oh, well.
The important thing is that we train the newbies to help the group hunt more boars.
I don't want to see anybody get hurt like that again.
Mr. Rodin.
I'm sorry about what happened last year.
Please don't cover for me if anything goes wrong today.
It's no biggie. Focus on your role in the hunt!
Uh, yessir.
Okay! Let's move out!
Right!
My seventh year living as a serf and I finally get to leave the village.
One small step forward!
Those must be the White Dragon Mountains.
Every fall, the boars leave the foot of the mountains to come here in search of food.
And legends say that a mythical White Dragon lives somewhere near the summit.
The fantasy vibes are through the roof!
Hey, Allen! You getting cold feet or what?
No way!
Just stick to what we practiced.
Everybody to your posts!
Right!
Okay!
Incoming!
Okay, yeah, that's terrifying!
Dig in those heels, men!
Hold fast!
Rodin!
The bait team lures the boar in.
Then the tank team holds it in place. And finally, the strike team attacks its vitals.
This is the method my dad and the others have used to hunt successfully
for over 10 years without any talents!
It's almost time! Please get ready!
S-sure thing!
It was a mistake to count on weenies like them to tank anything in the first place.
Mr. Gerda!
Better not spear me in the ass by mistake!
Y-yessir!
They should only need to attack it once to gain experience from the battle!
Good! Strike now!
I can feel power flowing through me!
Does that mean we overcame a Trial of the Gods?
Oh, thank the Lord!
Sweet! Just as planned!
Sounds like they leveled up.
Since boars are C-rank monsters, they must have gained a lot of EXP!
How did I make out?
Damn! I got squat!
Ugh. Figures that it doesn't consider me part of the battle for just standing nearby.
Allen!
Your advice made all the difference!
Thank you!
Great. You're welcome.
This sucks. A victory laced with the bitter taste of defeat.
Yo, Allen! You coming along on today's hunt?
Yep! I'll be there to watch as usual.
But do me a favor. Tell my dad he should let me try wielding a spear, too!
No can do. Rodin would kick our butts for even suggesting it.
I'm jealous. Wish I could join the hunt, too.
Then put down your butcher's knife for once and tag along.
Not when my wife's got a kid in her belly!
I've gotta play it safe for her sake.
Fair.
But I'm always happy to have more monster meat to carve up!
Oh?
Hey, pops.
I ain't that old yet, kid. What's up?
Can I ask you for a favor?
So, what did you need?
Whoa! These are albaherons!
I was hoping you'd butcher them for me.
There are just too many for me to handle.
I'll give you two packs of meat for each one you take care of.
Really now? You sure?
Yes!
These aren't part of our food reserves.
I need him to break down the carcasses so I can sell the meat.
I have to use something to earn those 50 gold coins to get my family out of serfdom, after all.
It would cost extra to have a butcher in town do it, anyways.
So it's better to just outsource the job here, which also means fewer trips overall.
Gotta make the most of my time!
Are you guys sure about this?
Absolutely. We already pulled it off once. Don't freak out.
By gradually adding new people to the team, we'll eventually have enough to make two groups.
That should double the amount of boars we can hunt.
But I wish I knew why the baron was so hung up on having more boars.
I don't get the impression his territory is suffering from food shortages.
Boar incoming!
Brace yourselves!
Attack now!
Get over here, newbies!
I can feel it! Another Trial of the Gods complete!
Same here!
Wow! You're right!
I feel so much stronger!
Oh?
YOUR EXP HAS REACHED THE MAX OF 2000/2000.
YOU HAVE GONE UP TO LEVEL 3.
HP HAS GONE UP BY 25
MP HAS GONE UP BY 40
ATTACK HAS GONE UP BY 14
ENDURANCE HAS GONE UP BY 14
AGILITY HAS GONE UP BY 26
INTELLIGENCE HAS GONE UP BY 40
LUCK HAS GONE UP BY 26
Hell yeah! My plan worked!
And I even leveled up!
YOU HAVE GONE UP TO LEVEL 3.
Just before the fight...
Go, Denka!
My creatures can be summoned to any location that I can mark by sight within a 50 meter radius.
And as long as the boar attacks one of my creatures,
it's enough to count me as a participant in the battle!
YOU HAVE GONE UP TO LEVEL 3.
All is grist when it comes to the mill! That's the hardcore gamer mindset!
Sorry, Denka.
R.I.P.
3 MONTHS LATER
This world apparently shares the custom of celebrating the start of the new year,
which led to me being invited to the chieftain's residence for the first time.
Those candies were yummy, huh, Allen?
Totally! And we even got some gifts to take home.
I assume this is supposed to be the reward for successfully meeting the 15 boar quota.
We're home!
Ah, welcome back.
Did you have a good time at the chieftain's place?
Yep! You two should have come with us.
Sitting through all that pomp and circumstance is a boring way to start the new year.
Now, let's get this party started!
Mm-hmm!
Yum!
Does it taste good, Mash?
Yeah! It's nummy, big brudder!
Ain't that nice?
So, did the chieftain have anything to say about us?
Yeah, he was really appreciative.
Given how things are going, we shouldn't have a problem meeting the quota of 20 boars this year.
It's all thanks to Allen and his plan to train the newbies.
By the way, Allerino...
Yes?
Do my eyes deceive me, or is that a special bottle of something behind you?
Oh, this? It's liquor.
The chieftain gave it to me as a gift.
Hook, line, sinker.
Now to reel 'em in.
Oh, hey, Mash! Want to do more spear training soon?
Yeah!
I wanna train, too!
Forget it. You're already strong enough, Krena.
We gotta nurture Mash cuz he has the makings of a spear user.
Oh yeah?
What's the deal?
Dunno.
That's it. Like moths to the flame...
Is something the matter?
Well, ya know, since the chieftain sent you home with that liquor...
Yep! It was a gift he gave to me!
Oh, come on!
Let's not be silly now, kid.
What's so silly? He gave it to me, so it's mine-
But everybody knows you're not old enough to drink it!
Yeah, what he said!
Well, shucks.
I guess I'll let you have it, but only if you beat me in a contest.
A contest?!
Huh? What do you mean?
You against the two of us?
That's right.
Fine by me. You're on!
Wait, Gerda!
Okay, but...
What do I get from you if I win?
Boo! Are you two really that stingy?
Well, why don't you tell us what you want?
If I win the contest...
you have to let me wield a spear during all the boar hunts this year.
We walked right into his trap. He's a smart little cookie.
I'll be damned.
All right.
If we win, we get the liquor. And if you win, you can fight in the boar hunts.
No take-backs!
Oh jeez...
I don't see a problem with it. We could use a little entertainment!
So, what kind of contest did you have in mind?
Arm wrestling, of course!
Arm wrestling?!
Bring it on.
Sorry, kid. But I ain't going easy on you. Not with liquor on the line.
I stocked my inventory full of Fido cards just for this.
All buffs into attack power!
Not to mention, I'm level six now! I've got this in the bag!
Get ready...
and go!
Whoa. What the-? Aw hell!
Aw hell! Aw hell! Allen!
Whoa there!
Aaaaand BAM!
Dammit! I lost!
You're so cool, Big brudder!
Whew! That was a close one!
From what I can tell, Gerda's attack stat must be somewhere between 150 and 200.
Okay, Allen. I'll wait until the soreness in your arm wears off.
Oh, wow. I never realized how calloused Dad's hands were...
It's proof of how hard he works for us every day.
So big and hulking.
It's hard to believe.
My son's old enough to wanna compete with his old man.
The earlier you all treat me like an adult, the better!
I've gotta put in a hundred times more effort than everybody else!
And it all starts with raising my stats by leveling up!
Okay, get ready...
and go!
Rodin takes it!
Aw yeah!
Guess I've gotta take the L...
His attack stat has to be over 300 at least!
You win this one, Dad.
Here. It's yours.
Look.
Hooray! Time to drink!
Yeah!
Considering their strength, Gerda's attack stat is around D-rank.
While Dad's is more like C-rank.
That at least gives me a reference for how strong the people playing on normal mode can get.
You should know better than to go so hard on a child!
Don't let it get you down, Allen.
Huh?
Oh, I guess they thought I looked upset.
They're right. You're not weak by any means.
I'm just too strong is all!
But you're not hunting any boars until you have what it takes to beat me!
Nice. I'm gonna hold him to that.
I stand a decent shot of making that happen if I can get to summon level four before fall!
Okay, Dad. I'll give up on hunting for now!
But I'll beat you eventually!
Hey, Mathilda! We need more snackage!
You two better give it a rest!
C'mon, it's the new year! Let me have my fun!
Just bring me something to snack on, already!
Okay. You were saying?
Nothing.
Mathilda might lowkey have C-rank stats, too...
THE HARDCORE GAMER DOMINATES
IN ANOTHER WORLD WITH GARBAGE BALANCING
ALLEN - AGE 7
JUNE
My summon level finally went up again!
ENHANCE SKILL HAS REACHED
THE MAX EXP OF 100000/100000.
YOU HAVE REACHED ENHANCE LEVEL 4.
YOU HAVE REACHED SUMMMON LEVEL 4.
YOU HAVE REACHED GRIMOIRE EXPANSION LEVEL 3.
YOU HAVE OBTAINED THE STORAGE SKILL.
That's a lot of new info.
Better check my stats page.
Oh! I've unlocked E-rank summon creatures! And even a new type!
Seems I have to fuse them together again to find out what kind exactly.
But I have plenty of MP to spare this time, so I can experiment freely!
My card inventory went up by 10, too!
The amount of buffs that summon creatures provide scale by their level,
so I should get a significant boost if I fill my inventory with 40 E-rank cards.
I can totally beat Dad at arm wrestling now!
STORAGE
"Storage"?
No level number next to it, so it must be a fixed skill?
Uh... is that a hole?
Coming through!
Seems pretty deep.
I didn't hear it hit the bottom...
Ah! It's the stone I threw in earlier.
ITEM OVERVIEW
STONE: 1 COUNT
So, I can call up a mental image of the items I've stored, huh?
Okay. Time to experiment!
Yeet. Yeet.
Yeet! Yeet! Yeet! Yeet!
ITEM OVERVIEW
STONE: 200 COUNT
FIREWOOD:
WATER:
Okay, so, I can put anything in this hole as long as it fits.
No limits on the amount, either.
Weird. This feels very wrong.
One major aspect of games is how many items the player can hold.
So why are they giving me a god-tier storage skill at this particular point in time?
Whether it's a key, a boat, or a magic carpet...
items are usually obtained around the time they become necessary.
Why? Because that's how the devs design it, of course.
Is something wrong, Allen? You're so quiet.
Oh, nothing! I'm fine.
There must be a reason behind this.
Something that makes it necessary to have right now.
Time to play around with the E-rank summons.
Let's go! Create: Insect E!
Huh? Why didn't it work?
Do I not have enough MP?
But I just recovered it back to full...
YOU DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH E-RANK MAGIC STONES
TO CREATE INSECT E.
M-magic stones?!
So creating E-ranks requires items now?
Um, let's see. Where can I get some?
Ah!
With all the stealth of a ninja...
Stored in this bag with all the money I've earned lately...
I kept some magic stones from the horned rabbits that wandered into the village.
Being a hoarder pays off!
Okay. Take two.
Create: Insect E!
Bruh.
YOU DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH E-RANK MAGIC STONES
TO CREATE INSECT E.
I'm literally holding an E-rank magic stone.
Oh, right. I should put it in storage.
Yeet!
And now, take three. Create: Insect E!
There we go! Guess that's what I'm supposed to use storage for.
INSECT E
ENDURANCE +10 AGILITY +10
INSECT E
Looks like the E-rank insect is a butterfly.
ENDURANCE +10 AGILITY +10
Come on out, little fella!
Whoa! You ain't little!
Allen?
Oh crap!
Hide!
I'm boned. She's gonna notice for sure!
What's the matter? I heard you shouting.
Oh, uhhh... I was like shazam! And then yowza! Big surprise!
What does that even mean? You're such a goofball.
No idea why that worked, but thank God.
Butterfly! Butterfly!
Magic stones in the sk- argh!
My own summon nearly scared the pants off me.
So, Beast E is a saber-toothed tiger, huh?
Seems bigger and tougher than my dog summon!
TYPE:
LUCK:
RANK:
NAME:
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
AGILITY:
INTELLIGENCE:
BUFFS:
ABILITY:
BEAST
HP +10 ATTACK +5
CLAW
Its buffs increase my stats by 10, too!
That's double what the F-ranks do!
Okay! I'm going to name you "Tama."
Welcome to the team, Tama.
You can go back now!
BEAST E
Let's do some fusion.
INSECT E
BEAST E
First, I want to get Bird E.
Fuse!
That got me a whole lot of nothing.
Let me guess...
There!
And fuse!
BIRD E
I figured that was the problem.
This means I'm going to need a lot of magic stones.
Horned rabbits?
They shouldn't be coming around anymore.
Why?
We made a ditch around the whole village a couple years back.
Oh, shoot...
Even small monsters like those can be dangerous to kids.
That's not good. How can I get more magic stones without any rabbits?
Ow! Ow!
Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!
Hey, Pelmoas. Got a minute?
I heard you're pretty smart. What can you tell me about magic stones?
Magic stones? They're small gems that are embedded in monsters close to their hearts.
They're mostly used to power magic tools.
Magic tools are items that activate when used with magic stones.
They have many different types of them in the royal capital.
Oh really?
D and C-rank stones can be useful for people in the capital.
But E-rank stones are basically just trash.
You can usually find them lying on the ground.
See?
Wow!
Here.
Thank you!
You're welcome.
Guess I'll need to scavenge around the village for them.
Time to call in backup.
I was able to gather a bunch of magic stones thanks to the help from some villagers.
INSECT E
STONE E
PLANT E
BEAST E
BIRD E
And now, I've created all of the E-rank summons available!
Alright. Let's find out what kind of abilities they have!
What's wrong, Hawkins?
Ouch!
Thanks, Beanzie!
Papillon!
Sic 'em, Tama!
Hell yeah!
You rock, Wally!
Wally? Tama?! Papillon?!
Did I just hallucinate that?
For these past seven years, I've been considering exactly how a Summoner is supposed to play.
I could read a game FAQ or walkthrough for any other game,
but that isn't an option here.
I have to figure out how to tap into a Summoner's full potential all by myself.
At this point, I'm convinced that each summon type is designed to fulfill a specific role in battle.
Come on out, everybody!
Insects types are for applying debuffs.
TYPE:
INSECT
RANK:
NAME:
PAPILLON
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
AGILITY:
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK:
BUFFS: ENDURANCE 10, AGILITY 10
ABILITY: SCALE POWDER
TYPE:
BEAST
RANK:
NAME:
TAMA
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
AGILITY:
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK:
BUFFS:
ABILITY:
HP +10, ATTACK +10
CLAW
Beasts types are for offense.
TYPE:
RANK:
NAME:
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
AGILITY:
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK:
BUFFS:
ABILITY:
BIRD
HAWKINS
AGILITY +10, INTELLIGENCE +10
HAWK EYE
Birds types are for gathering and relaying intel.
NAME:
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
TYPE:
RANK:
AGILITY:
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK:
BUFFS: MP +10, LUCK +10
ABILITY:
GRASS
BEANZIE
LEAF OF LIFE
Grass types are for healing.
TYPE:
RANK:
NAME:
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
AGILITY:
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK:
BUFFS: HP +10, ENDURANCE +10
ABILITY: HARDEN
STONE
WALLY
Stone types are for defense.
Attack, defense, debuffing, healing, detection.
They enable me to fulfill every role of a typical party by myself.
That's what makes a Summoner good.
It also helps explain why I got the storage skill at this specific moment.
Because I couldn't walk around with hundreds of magic stones on me otherwise.
Now I understand what the devs were going for!
I have an unrivaled army of creatures at my disposal
that can overcome any situation and rout any enemy.
It's the ultimate power that makes the Summoner stronger than even the Demon Lord!