“Aagh, I feel something being drained out of my body. Is that supposed to happen?!”
::When attempting to establish a Contract, half of your remaining MP is expended, regardless of whether your attempt succeeds or fails. What you felt just now was probably due to using a large amount of magic all in one go.::
“Tell me important things like that beforehand! Anyway, did I succeed?”
I turned to look at the blue slime just as it began to glow with a white light. That’s too bright, dude.
::Congratulations. The Contract has been successfully established.::
“So we’re done?”
::The monster that you’ve just Contracted with does not yet have a name. Would you like to try giving it one?::
Hmm, a name...problem is, my naming sense easily veers into cringeworthy middle schooler territory with even the slightest trigger. Let’s play it safe here — wait, but I’m in a fantasy world...wouldn’t a cringey name not be cringey here?
“All right, from today onwards, your name will be Clotho. Let’s take care of each other, buddy!”
Clotho jumped up, jiggling intensely, then exploded into particles of light that were immediately sucked into my body. So this is what turning into a magical entity means. Going by Melfina’s earlier explanation, I take it this means Clotho’s been assimilated into my magic pool.
“Heeey, Clotho, can you hear me in there?”
Although I couldn’t hear Clotho’s words, its feelings seemed to flow directly into me. It’s really happy right now, I think?
::The telepathic connection works even without words, honey. This way, communication is possible between Followers too.::
Oh, I can feel Clotho being a bit scared. Please be nice to it, Melfina. I think I’ll call this the Follower Network. It’s even faster than communicating with words, so I can see this being very useful during a fight.
“Next is Summoning. If I’ve lost half of my MP from the Contract just now, I should still have 10 MP left. Would that be enough?”
::For a slime of this level, that’s more than enough. Oh, and I forgot to mention this before, but a Follower’s HP reaching 0 means that it’s dead, at which point the Contract is forcibly dissolved. Just be mindful of that.::
So HP reaching 0 equals death in this world? From the sound of things, it doesn’t seem like the classic gaming system of dying and reviving at a church or something exists here. Clotho is now a precious partner who’s going to accompany me going forward. I’ve gotta be careful not to slip up.
::As long as even 1 HP remains, you can dispel the Summoning and return the Follower to your magic pool. Magical entities naturally recover HP and MP over time, so be sure to make good use of that.::
Oh, I see. That’s a very helpful piece of information. Well then, since I have Melfina-sensei’s stamp of approval, let’s try out the Summoning skill now. And since I’m not sure what my magical range is yet, let’s just do it right here in front of me.
In an instant, a magic circle appeared before my eyes. But it was already gone in the time it took me to blink, replaced by the figure of Clotho. Hm, Summoning is quite fast.
“All right, so that’s our first goal of the day accomplished. Now for the subjugation quest.”
::Honey, you’re going to make Clotho kill those of its own race? That’s quite brutish of you, isn’t it?::
“Oh shi—!”
As I mentally berated myself for my lack of consideration, Clotho sent a thought my way.
“Slimes naturally follow a system of the strong absorbing the weak, so it’s okay? You sure, Clotho? You don’t have to force yourself, you know.”
Clotho jiggled its body in an effort to express its willingness to get started. Well...all right, as long as you’re fine with it, I guess.
“I don’t mind you absorbing the ones we defeat, but as proof of subjugation for our quest, I’m going to have to dissect them and take out the slime cores first, okay?”
Or so I had thought, but as it turned out, Clotho could already control its absorption process to selectively leave out the cores.
I didn’t have much MP left but, with that settled, I still wanted to try out a spell or two. So we set off in search of new targets.
✦ ✦ ✦
With my newest companion in tow, we quickly sought out some more blue slimes. It wasn’t long before we found two of them.
“I’m going to try out a Green Magic spell. Clotho, I’ll attack one with magic and leave the other to you. Show me how you fight, all right?”
Clotho nodded in acknowledgment. With the stats bonuses from my Summoning in effect, defeating normal blue slimes should be a cinch for it. As for Green Magic, I had learned a few elementary spells from Melfina on the way over. Between Clotho’s Contract and the Summoning, I had just enough MP left for a single shot, but I also had recovery items on hand. I was confident that I could handle a lone slime.
“Wind!”
Wind was a Rank F Green Magic spell that materialized small blades of air to attack a target. Although it wasn’t all that strong, its MP cost was low and the attack itself was invisible, so it had seemed like a useful ability to me at first glance. My casting of Wind tore the blue slime apart, ending its life instantly.
“Clotho, your turn!”
Clotho shot forward with incredible speed and slammed into its target with great force. The charge caused the opposing blue slime to go flying, dead upon impact. Clotho’s speed before and after the Contract were like night and day. Guess that goes to show how incredible the stats boost from Summoning is.
::Honey, Rank S Summoning grants Followers +100 for all stats.::
Whoa, +100 for all stats?! I activated Analyze Eye to confirm Clotho’s current numbers.
✦ ✦ ✦
Clotho (0 y/o, Genderless, Blue Slime)
Level: 1
Title: None
HP: 105/105 (+100)
MP: 100/100 (+100)
Strength: 101 (+100)
Endurance: 101 (+100)
Agility: 102 (+100)
Magic: 101 (+100)
Luck: 102 (+100)
Skills: Blunt Damage Resistance
Passive Effects: Summoning/Magic Supply (Rank S)
✦ ✦ ✦
Wow...isn’t this a bit too OP? At least now I understand why countries value Summoners so highly. If a Level 1 slime as a Follower already has monstrous stats like this, even a single Summoner with only slimes as Followers could be a formidable fighting force.
::Allow me to provide a bit more context. There is only one Rank S Summoner in this world right now, and that’s you, honey. The other riff-raff are Rank B or Rank C at best, and their skill only provides +10 or +20 in the way of stats boosts. Contracting with slimes is not going to amount to much military strength for them.::
Oh, is that so? Then I suppose possessing this skill when I’m just starting out makes me quite the cheat character. And...is that the first time I’ve gotten praise from Melfina? Makes me kind of happy.
A short while later, after Clotho had defeated our third slime, a fanfare rang out.
Is that what I think it is? Is it that common mechanic of so many games?!
A screen appeared before me.
✦ ✦ ✦
Level Up!
(Level 1 ⇒ Level 2)
Kelvin (23 y/o, Male, Human, Summoner)
Level: 2
Title: None
HP: 20/20 (+10)
MP: 23/35 (+20)
Strength: 3 (+2)
Endurance: 3 (+2)
Agility: 9 (+6)
Magic: 15 (+10)
Luck: 12 (+8)
Skills: Summoning (Rank S) [Available slots: 8], Green Magic (Rank F), Analyze Eye (Rank S), Double Growth Rate, Double Skill Points, Experience Sharing
◇ You have earned 100 Skill Points!