Chapter 381. Swapping Goblins.

  I popped back into my room at the academy, and a flood of system messages appeared.

  Congratulations!

  You have successfully completed your primary objective and destroyed the creature troubling the Sentinelese.

  You have successfully completed your bonus objective and have given valuable guidance and resources to a system-sensitive people.

  You have been awarded 12 Experience for completing the primary objective.

  You have been awarded 6 experience for completing the bonus objective.

  Your rewards will be available at Somhagen Exports, and for your bonus rewards, you need to see Headmaster Glorine.

  Experience/experience needed for the next rank: 40/50.

  I was closing in on tier three, rank five, which was likely a milestone rank that would unlock new or enhanced class options. I also had two stops to make in order to collect my rewards. It was well past office hours for the headmaster, so my best bet would be to head to Somhagen Exports and gather the rewards located there, and then check with the headmaster in the morning.

  It was the middle of the night now, and I had a busy schedule for the week, so the trip to town would need to be a short one. The tower was almost empty but once I crossed out of the gates of the academy and into the town, I could see several adventuring parties going about their business. The dungeons were a 24-hour operation, and the adventurers had to get their runs in whenever they could.

  Having my goblins out doing the drudgery of running lower tier and rank dungeons was a huge bonus, and I expected they would have completed another by morning. My minions didn’t need to sleep so the only delay would be the queue time for the next dungeon, or time to recover from injuries or losses.

  Without a dedicated healer, the goblins were going to get scuffed up, even inside dungeons ranked lower than they were. I suspected they might even fail occasionally as a boss could be a challenge far above what their tier and rank might suggest. The goblins and all my minions would probably get a bump in power when I hit my next rank, and that would also hopefully let them clear the dungeons even faster than they currently were. Faster clears meant more experience.

  It wasn’t long before I was outside Somhagen Exports again. The store was doing a brisk business, mostly with groups of adventurers picking up basic gear and potions before their runs. I didn’t think Ingrid would be around this late, but I was supposed to just ask anyone at the front counter. Most of the clerks were busy, so I had to wait a minute or two before I had a chance to approach.

  “Hi, I’m Rico Kline and there is supposed to be a package waiting for me behind the counter,” I said when it was finally my turn.

  “I’d be glad to help with that, give me a moment to check,” the young woman at the counter said. She disappeared behind the counter for a moment, returning with a pouch of coins, and a small bag that clinked when she placed it on the counter.

  “Is there a free dressing room that I can use. I can wait if they’re all full right now,” I asked.

  “Not a problem,” the woman replied, pointing to a small booth that had just opened up. Id didn’t want to advertise my rewards out in public, and I also didn’t want to wait until I got back to my room to start sorting through the hard earned loot.

  Once hidden behind the booth’s curtain, I dug into my rewards. The pouch held the 25 gold that had been promised for the contract. The other bag held the equipment bead reward, and a dull, steel ring. As soon as I examined the ring, the system gave me a rundown of what I was looking at.

  Minion’s Ring of Attack. When activated, the ring allows the minion bearing it to strike an additional time when in melee. The additional strike is instant and coveys all bonuses or penalties from the previous strike. The ring holds a maximum of ten charges, and one charge will be restored every 24 hours.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  It looked like I had earned the bonus reward that had been promised. Having an item already targeted toward my minions meant that I wouldn’t have to waste time scouring the shops for something. The drone and Elida already had an equipment bead, so that meant one of the goblins would get this one.

  Glurk had a longbow, which wouldn’t benefit from the ring, since it was only for melee attacks. That meant it would go to Glem or Glamb. It was a good fit for either of them but Glem’s gap closing ability, and the bonus to damage and critical chance that it provided after use, made him the better choice for this one. He could zip in and then land multiple strikes with a bonus to damage before his ability buff ran out. Glamb and Glurk would get their chances as I acquired more items and more equipment beads.

  This did mean that I had to recall the goblins after their current dungeon run. It would probably delay their position in the queue for the next run, but I was willing to have that happen if it meant an upgrade to their power. Even something as small as the ring might mean the difference between success and failure in a tough dungeon fight. I pulled the writ for their dungeon runs, and pushed some mana into it.

  You have activated the Writ of Dungeon Expedition. Your minions will be recalled after completing their current assignment. Estimated time until completion is 2 hours, 18 minutes. Upon return, your team will be placed at the back of the queue for their next expedition, which may substantially increase the wait time.

  Please note that while Glem, Glamb, and Glurk are not currently in your minion loadout for the academy summoning. You may briefly switch out minions for the sole purpose of inspecting new abilities or upgrading their gear. While summoned in this manner, the minions will be unable to defend or support you in any meaningful manner. Once your interaction with them is completed, you may swap them back for the originally selected member of your team.

  That was good, the goblins would probably finish in a couple hours, and the system was giving me a way to get them equipped without having to wait for another contract to activate and selecting them as one of my minions for it. It would be bad if something were to happen to me while gearing up the goblins, but I was relatively safe here at the academy, and it wouldn’t take more than a few seconds to attach the ring using the equipment bead.

  I left the shop and had a, thankfully, uneventful walk back to my room. When I got there, I noticed a small piece of paper stuck to my door. The drone was ordered to cautiously collect it, and confirmed it wasn’t some kind of trap.

  Rico,

  This is Kelsan Spindrix, we competed in the tournament, and you mentioned that you might want to spar sometime. I have most evenings free before my night shift starts, and I like to get some practice in at the training fields. Feel free to join me whenever you have time for a sparring session. I’m curious to see how our minions compare when we are allowed buffs, healing, and the like.

  Thanks,

  Kelsan.

  This was good news. I’d wanted more practice against other summoners, and since Kelsan was close to my tier and rank, it would be good to see how I stacked up against him. Our match in the tournament wasn’t a perfect test, given the restrictions in place, and I wanted to get a chance to see what he could do to improve his minions.

  Kelsan’s minions were an odd mix, with an orc warrior, a giant beetle, and a mage that was the same spider-like species as Kelsan. I also had an odd mix of minions, but they had proven rather effective. I’d have to check out the training fields tomorrow if I wasn’t too exhausted after a full day of classes and less than a full night of sleep. It seemed like it was an open-ended invitation, which was good because I needed to see Headmaster Glorine after classes were over if I wanted to collect the reward he was holding from my last contract.

  It seemed like the alarm went off way too early, but after a shower and meal in the faculty cafeteria, I was feeling up for the day’s events. A system prompt greeted me while I was in the shower. It looked like my goblins had completed their dungeon run while I had slept.

  Your minions have successfully completed an expedition. You have earned 2 experience. Minor injuries were sustained during the expedition and your minions require 2 hours, 13 minutes in the barracks to fully recover. Per your prior request, they are waiting in the barracks for summoning and are not currently in an expedition queue.

  I swapped Elida for the Goblins and summoned them. I’d done the minion equipment thing twice now, so it was easy enough to equip the ring using the equipment bead. Once that was done, I swapped the goblins back for Elida and activated the writ to get them back in the queue.

  Glem, Glamb, and Glurk have been added to the dungeon queue. They are currently at the back of the queue, and it is estimated that it will take 13 hours, 49 minutes before they can begin another delve.

  It was going to take a while, but by tonight, they’d be back in business earning me more experience. They were also collecting half the coin that would be awarded during the run, and that was being automatically added to my inventory after each run. With the lower tier and rank dungeons that they were running, it wasn’t a windfall of cash, but every bit helped.

  With the goblins sorted, it was time to start the day.