As I started walking away from the settlement, I was looking at my updated status when I saw it.
This Summoner job that I have seems familiar. Can I also summon my very own monsters?
I was curious. And here, where there was no person or monster in sight, I could give it a shot. There was just one small problem.
How does one summon a monster though? My game knowledge—
Sigh. Isn't it silly how I'm just able to do things like this with something as superficial and dumb as "Novel or Game knowledge"? Why is this world so Anime?
"… Oh well, as long as it works."
My knowledge of games and novels said I should chant something like
Isn't what I'm thinking a common summoning circle to summon the devil though? What the heck, I don't want to accidentally summon the devil. I'm far too young to sell my soul, assuming I have one.
Shaking my head of unnecessary thoughts, I went to a clearing with some space around it and then put my hands in front and poured mana out. I was now used to the feeling of mana so it was not that hard to do. Then, partly expectant and partly ready to be disappointed if nothing happened, I chanted
The next instant, however, I felt my mana being sucked out of me and the ground around me started glowing forming what resembled a circular ring with indescribable patterns and inscriptions. I couldn't decipher it but it without a doubt felt like I had somehow managed to crack the summoning magic.
I wonder what will come out. A slime? That would be kinda cute. A wolf would do too. I don't know if I want a Goblin or Orc though. Maybe… What if I summoned a dragon? Shit, that would be too awesome. I'm getting kinda excited!
After a while, the initial light subsided and particles of light began colliding and forming a figure.
It's quite small.
The lights started turning into tangible substance and I could start to see the figure of my summoned familiar.
It's that, isn't it?
A round body, size barely bigger than my fist; what appeared in front of me was... of course, a slime.
"Well, can't say I'm not a bit disappointed but then again, as a first familiar, a slime Is probably ideal. And anyway, if I did end up summoning a strong monster like a high-ranked wolf or a dragon, how would I be able to take it around with me in town? I didn't see anyone with monster pets around."
But unlike the slimes I had seen before, this one had a transparent body and its nucleus was white instead of red.
Was it a different species of slime, perhaps?
The slime that appeared was still just sitting there and looked like it was awaiting my command.
Instead of commanding it, I used Appraisal on it.
Name: Noname
Age: 0 years
Gender: None
Race: White Slime
---
Level: 1
HP: 10/10
MP: 0/0
---
Stats:
STR: 10
DEX: 10
DEF: 10
AGI: 10
VIT: 10
INT: 10
Luck: 10
---
Special Abilities:
Absorption I, Regeneration I
***
So apparently the slime I had summoned was, in fact, from a white slime species. Although, its body was transparent, so perhaps the "white" part was based on its core. However, I had appraised wild slimes before when I was massac— experimenting on them. Their race was just 'Slime' and not 'Red Slime'.
Did summoning perhaps summon different-looking monsters or was this slime special? I was curious.
Other than its unique body, it also had two special abilities called Absorption and Regeneration that seemed interesting. From my skill appraisal, I could figure out that the first one meant it can absorb other monsters and magic cores to grow and the second ability was, as the name suggested, an ability to regenerate lost body parts.
Well, that's all well and good, but slimes don't even have limbs and such. How does it work for a slime?
I was going to have to figure it out somehow.
Having a slime as my first familiar wasn't that bad of a deal by the way. This fellow was small and cute-looking.
I don't think anyone would mind if I carried him around the town with me. Though I guess it can't be put on a leash, so it'll be troublesome if it ran off.
I had already started treating a slime as a dog.
Looking at the small fellow, who was still nameless. I felt an urge to give it one.
"What name should I give to a slime pet?"
I racked my brain to try to find all the nice and cute names I could think of.
"Ah! I've got it. I have the perfect name for you! From now on, your name will be Shiro!"
As I said those words, Shiro's body glowed temporarily. After which, it almost seemed to have come to life and it now began jumping up and down like a ball.
I appraised Shiro once again to see if it got the name.
Name: Shiro [Given name]
Age: 0 years
Gender: None
Race: White Slime
---
Level: 1
HP: 10/10
MP: 0/0
---
Titles:
Rio's Familiar
---
Stats:
STR: 10
DEX: 10
DEF: 10
AGI: 10
VIT: 10
INT: 10
Luck: 10
---
Special Abilities:
Absorption I, Regeneration I
***
Oh! So, it did acquire the name. And now it had a title section with the title 'Rio's Familiar'. Awesome!
I looked at my cute pet and spoke.
"Now then, Shiro. Let's get along well from now on! You're my first friend in this whole world. So don't go die on me okay?"
"Kyuu~"
"Huh?"
It spoke...
Well, it sounded like a squeak but somehow Shiro's reply seemed intelligent.
"Shiro, can you perhaps understand me?"
"Kyu!"
It said as it came to my legs and started rubbing its jelly-like soft body against me.
"You really can understand me!"
Its reply just now felt intelligent to me. It was almost as if Shiro's sound overlapped with a telepathic message from Shiro to my head.
Its first reply was "Master~" and its second reply was "Yes!". Or at least, that was what got conveyed through the telepathic link.
I wonder if it's also because he's my summoned familiar. Since he doesn't have any telepathy skills, that must be it.
Checking my status, I found out my MP after summoning Shiro was reduced by a whopping 1000 points! Apparently, summoning wasn't an easy task. Or perhaps, maybe it was because Shiro was a rare breed? Considering Shiro had two special skills instead of regular skills, it was plausible.
I bent down and picked up Shiro from the ground. I didn't know why but it seemed elated. I was somehow able to tell even though all it did was jiggle-jiggle.
I touched his body and squished it a little.
It went jiggle-jiggle and then formed back its original shape. Touching Shiro was like touching a jelly with shape-retention features.
Damn, Shiro's bloody cute though.
Hmm, I wonder what it eats?
The ones I saw in the wild were eating dead grass and other garbage on the ground. Did summoned monsters even need to eat?
I needed to do some research on this matter.
I pulled out some mushrooms and plants from my Inventory that were unrelated to the quest and put them in one hand and placed Shiro close to it.
"Can you eat this, Shiro?"
It moved near the contents and absorbed them all from my hands and everything was dissolved inside him. I poked into it to see if his skin was penetrable but it bounced back with a jiggle. I didn't want to poke my first slime to death so I didn't put too much force. But this guy was somewhat durable. Next, I pulled out a magic stone from my Inventory and put it in front of it. It seemed even more elated than before and quickly chewed down and dissolved the magic stone.
Maybe it likes magic stone.
I took a few remaining ones out and feed it all to it and it happily munched and
absorbed it. Well, I say munch but it didn't have a fixed mouth or anything. It'll just absorb everything I gave it through its outer membrane.
After eating, it lay on my palm, satisfied. What a cute thing.
I appraised him once more to see if there were any changes in his level and stats.
Name: Shiro [Given name]
Age: 0 years
Gender: None
Race: White Slime
---
Level: 4
HP: 40/40
MP: 20/20
---
Titles:
Rio's Familiar
---
Stats:
STR: 40
DEX: 40
DEF: 40
AGI: 40
VIT: 40
INT: 40
Luck: 10
---
Special Abilities:
Absorption I, Regeneration I
***
It leveled up! So, Shiro can grow by eating magic cores. I have plenty of those around... Well, I have to sell some but I can collect more and feed them to Shiro to make it stronger.
"I shall raise the greatest slime king the world has ever seen! It'll be undefeatable! Even dragons will shiver from its might! Muahahahaha!"
That was just a joke, by the way. I was just going to live a carefree life with my new pet slime.
But strangely, Shiro was bouncing up and down, quite vigorously.
Don't tell me, this guy is a power freak? Oh boy.
It might become troublesome if it really desired that. However, even if I thought so, it wasn't that big of a problem. It's not like it'll grow uncontrollably and become unimaginably strong in just one night or something. I did feed it plenty of wolf and goblin cores and it only leveled up to 4. So it was probably fine. Yeah.
"I wonder if unsummoning and resummoning works for summoned familiars."
I didn't mind holding onto the slime but it might be tough to explain how I got this rare-looking slime. And I didn't even know if summoning magic was common in this world.
I tried ordering it to
Slightly nervous, I tried summoning it again using
Sweet.
No trouble here. I could hide Shiro easily.
I wonder where Shiro goes when I dismiss him, though. Is there a special dimension for summoned familiar?
"Alright, Shiro. Listen up. I'll have you go back for now but I'll summon you once I am inside my inn room. Okay?"
"Kyuu~"
It didn't seem to mind that.
Having this type of understanding with your pet was great. Was this how real-life animal owners felt when they could easily communicate with their pet dogs and cats somehow?
I left the forest and entered the town through the same south gate and headed straight to the Adventurer's Guild.
I planned to drop about half of my loot but a few stashes of herbs. I kept some for when I feel like learning how to make herbs myself to save some money on potions and such.
"Excuse me."
"Hello. Welcome to Adventurer's Guild. Ah, you're Mr. Rio. Is there something you wish to know?"
It was the same receptionist girl who did my registration. Her smile was still as professional as ever but remembering how she forgot to ask for payment before somewhat broke that prim image she had. She felt more natural.
I didn't know why I thought about that, however.
"Yes, I would like to report the completion of my quests. Where should I submit my materials?"
"Right, give me a second. I'll check your quest."
I waited.
"Yes, so Mr. Rio took 4 quests in total which were Goblin, Wolf and Orc Subjugation, and Sunbeam herb collection. Are you going to drop a few quests? I did warn you that it might be a bit too much."
Did she perhaps not listen to me? She said something strange.
"Ah, no. I have already completed them all."
"Eh? ... All of them?"
"Yes. All of them."
The receptionist looked at me, somewhat baffled, for a brief moment in silence before coming back to reality.
"Alright then. Can you please show me the proof of subjugation?"
"Yes, here."
I showed her the 3 bundles of goblin's ears, a couple of wolf fangs, some Orc tusks, and the slime cores I had massac— defeated. She carefully examined them and then looked back at me.
"I've indeed verified their authenticity. You've not only gathered all required items but there's even a substantial quantity of them for a first-time rookie. There are even more than 10 Orc tusks. Just how many did you kill?"
"I found 3 Orcs in the forest and followed them to their settlement where there were about 20 of them. I managed to somehow finish all of them."
I said as a matter of fact and smiled.
I wonder why am I bragging about it to her. This could get me in trouble if they feel cautious towards me.
"Amazing. Mr. Rio might be the new rising star of this guild if you continue to give such results. I would like you to report the details of the Orc's settlement to an official I'll send right now. Meanwhile, I'll calculate your total reward."
"Okay. Got it."
Ah, did I brag too much? They're not going to be suspicious of me, right?
She headed to the back where there was an employee-only room and another receptionist, this time a young man from the dog-kin race— I used Appraisal on him out of curiosity— came to me.
"You're Mr. Rio?"
"Yes."
"You mentioned encountering an Orc settlement. Can you give me a detailed explanation of what you saw?"
"Okay."
I told him everything I saw there and he asked if there was an Orc leader among them. There wasn't. All the Orcs were normal Orcs. None of them had titles or names in brackets stating they were Leader, General, or King.
"Understood. It seems to be a relatively new settlement. It would have been bad if it was left unsettled. I've taken note of your account and we'll go confirm it with our official scouts. You'll be given a small reward for it after we're done verifying the details. Thank you."
With that, he went back. He didn't waste a single breath speaking about anything else and was to the point.
The receptionist girl came back soon after that with a pouch of money.
"Your total reward is 95 Silvers and 5 Coppers. Congratulations. This is quite possibly one of the most earned rewards for a first-time quest by any adventurer."
"Thank you."
Sweet. I won't have to worry about not being able to pay money for food and the inn for now.
I might have stood out a little with my first quest but since I was in dire need of money, this much was probably fine.
I might even not have to do this every day to earn if I can earn this much at once
"Ah, right. I have the magic cores and corpses. Does the guild buy those too?"
"Yes. Please take the corpses in the dismantling shop behind, from the hallway on the left, and take a receipt from them on the number and types of corpses. We will give you a tentative date when the work will be done and you can come and collect the payment for the materials. Do note that the condition of corpses affects the prices so there might be some cuts or some bonuses included based on its condition and usability."
"Great. Does it have to be just the monsters I submitted proof of subjugation for or could I sell other monsters as well?"
"You can sell any monster material. It doesn't have to be from the subjugated monsters."
"Thanks. That helps. I'll do so. Thank you, um..."
"Kenny. Please call me Kenny."
The truth was, I already knew her name from Appraisal but since she hadn't told me herself, I had to stop myself from saying it. She took it as me wanting to know her name and told me herself. It could have been strange if I knew her name without her telling me… But then again, I could make an excuse that I heard it from someone else. So, it wasn't that big of a problem.
"Right. Thank you, miss Kenny."
"You're most welcome. Good luck with your adventuring career."
I headed to where I was told and other than the Giant Viper and Goblin General, I dropped all the other monster corpses I had in my Inventory.
"What on earth?!"
The head of the dismantling division was astonished to suddenly see a mountain of corpses appear out of thin air and quickly called his subordinates to count and separate them with their types.
"That's a lot of corpses. Where did you even fit all that?"
I averted my eyes at his question. I couldn't tell him about my Inventory.
He then wrote me a receipt and asked how the hell did I manage to kill so many monsters. His reaction when I told him I was a new adventurer who had just joined the guild was quite amusing. Luckily, he didn't inquire too much. I had probably given him and his workers a lot of work but I needed these monster materials out of my Inventory. Keeping dead bodies inside my Inventory wasn't exactly fun.
I then went back to my inn and finally lay on my bed.
Phew. It was quite a bit of work.
I wasn't physically tired, even though this was a lot more physical work than I was used to doing in my world. But my mind had some signs of wearing down. How could one not get tired after killing dozens of beings, even if monsters, in a single day?
I summoned Shiro. It bounced on the bed in happiness looking at its new surroundings.
At least, it is happy.
I played and talked to him as a time-pass till it was nighttime, and then I sent him back and went down to have dinner. The dinner had more meat in the dish, which wasn't the simple broth I ate in the morning. I didn't know the name of the dish and while the appraisal did show the name along with the types of ingredients used, it wasn't very helpful since the name was still quite strange. But it did taste good, so it didn't matter. I ate heartily even though it was still somewhat lacking in spices.
I was also offered alcohol with my food but I refused. I had never drunk alcohol in my entire life. And I had no confidence if I would be able to take it or even like it. Plus, what they served wasn't normal alcohol or wine but beer and ale. It smelled too strong for my liking.
After I had my dinner, I went back to my room, with a hot water bucket and towel given to me by the innkeeper.
I wiped my body with the towel even though I had already used
I wanted to take a proper bath. I hadn't had a proper bath, other than that one time in that village at the well, since I came to this world. Submerging in some warm bathtub and washing my body with soap and shampoo somehow felt like a distant dream here.
Perhaps they had some organic soap here but it was probably expensive and not that good.
I would try looking for it in the shopping district later.
I summoned Shiro again after I came back to my room. For some reason, it kept going towards the dirty water that I had used to wipe my body with. When I let it, it ended up absorbing all the dirty water from the bucket.
Are you a garbage drain or something?!
Could it be that this guy was also a portable garbage bin? Perhaps it could eat and absorb anything.
Luckily, it didn't eat anything I didn't want it to eat.
I slept soon after with Shiro as a hug pillow. It was comfortable. I was glad to have a companion at long last, even if that companion was a slime.
***