Waking up in the dark, I jump to my feet and check my surroundings. Heart racing, my first thoughts are that I am back in the Tower. The dim light from a window and warm floorboards under my feet remind me of where I am. Catching my breath I become aware that I have a notification in the corner of my vision. Focusing on it a window appears.

Spell Gained:

Summon Weapon

Rank: 0

Cost: 20 MP

Effect: F-grade Weapon (base F)

Description:

Summon any crude weapon you have a skill of 1 or more in. Higher spell rank increases weapon quality and grade. Summoned weapons will vanish after 10 hours or when broken.

Rubbing my eyes, I look over the spell again. No, this can’t be right. What happened to summon creature spell? What about fireball? Why is it weapons? To make things worse I need a weapon skill of at least one to even cast it!

“FUCK!” I look around the room for something to kick only to remember that I’m a guest here. Looking to the window I see that it’s still night outside. The dim light is coming from the Tower in the distance. Six glowing blue rings wrap around the structure. Still time until breakfast. If I want to be able to cast this new spell, there is one thing I need to do first.

I open the room door, step out, and slam it behind me. I hear the wood crack and somehow that made me feel a little better. With a place in mind, I wander around the corridors opening doors until I find my target.

A large open room with training weapons lined up in racks against the wall.

Grabbing the closest weapon, a short spear, I swing it around a few times to get used to its weight. I then perform a kata, a series of body movements and set positions used to train weapons and improve muscle groups. The moves feel effortless, and I fall into a trance practicing the motions.

After 5 minutes I check my notifications and see that I gained rank 5 with spears.

I grab the next weapon, this time a two-handed sword, and do the same thing.

I continue going through the weapons on the rack methodically.

Just as I pick up a wooden sword that fit comfortably in my right hand I am interrupted.

“Nice moves. Were you a martial artist on Earth?”

Turning around I see Yui, tying her hair back with a white ribbon.

“Something like that” waving the sword a few times, I get a feel for it before positioning into the first form.

Yui walks past me and grabs a wooden katana from the rack. “Instead of swinging at air. Why don’t we have a little spar?”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“Don’t be a baby. I will go easy on you. Skills go up much faster by fighting a real opponent. That’s what you are doing right? Getting the first skill level for each weapon?”

Stopping the kata, I turn to face her. “Okay fine, you convinced me. Facing against a person is a better ending than form practice. I don’t plan on using the weapons now I have skill points in them.”

Walking to the middle of the room Yui beckons me over. “Why? I saw you with the glaive, you clearly know what you are doing.”

I move to stand across from her. “That life is behind me. I’m a caster now. What’s the point of having mana if I’m not going to dedicate myself to its use?”.

“You are not a fighter? I thought for sure you were going to have a physical class. What spell did you get after reaching level one?”

“I was hoping for an attack spell or creature summon. Instead, I can only summon a weapon that I have a skill of at least 1 in.”

“That’s even more reason to continue practicing with weapons. If you don’t keep your close combat skills close to your caster skills, anyone that gets into melee range will end you!” Pointing her wooden sword towards me she continues. “Besides, casters become useless once they run out of mana, but with your skills you could keep helping the team!”

Getting into a fighting stance I ready myself “Okay, let’s make a bet then. If you beat me here, I’ll continue honing my weapon skills. However, if I win, I’ll focus on magic, and you won’t bother me about this anymore.”

“Absurd! I have been training with the sword since I was six!”

I grin towards her “Don’t be a baby. I’ll go easy on you.”

A serious look forms on Yui’s face. “Prepare yourself!” Dashing towards me, she stops just before coming into my attack range and strikes down with her wooden katana, making good use of her longer weapon. Taking one step back, I turn by body, letting the weapon pass in front of me. Before she can recover, I go to poke her with the tip of my shorter wooden sword.

Yui jumps back a meter and resets herself. Coming at me again, this time Yui stabs her weapon towards my face. Faking the attack Yui then swipes towards my sword, knocking my arm wide. I step forward, around her next attack and give her back a slight push with my free hand. I smell lavender as she moves by me exposing her back. Yui hops forward and brings her weapon around fast, keeping it between us. Her eyes widen in surprise.

“Hey, not bad for, what?” I do some quick calculations “10 years of practice?”.

“Argh! I’m 23, asshole!” Yui attacks me in a flurry of ever-increasing speed. Not being able to dodge all her attacks without moving backwards, I use my sword to defect and parry.

Yui’s wooden katana starts to blur, making it harder to keep track of. Yui jumps back a meter outside my range and holds her sword in a sheathed position, with legs bent. Yui flashes towards me at an incredible speed, pulling her… wait her sword has become invisible. Reacting on pure instinct and reflex I spin, bringing my sword across in front of me and swiping out with my free hand. I feel the contact of my strike and that of our wooden blades meeting. A loud crack reverberates through the room. Yui’s body goes spinning behind me. Turning around I see her slide across the floor for a good five meters. Crap, that was a mistake!

Rushing over to her I check to make sure she is not hurt.

“Ow… H-How did you do that?” Sitting up Yui has a hand to the side of her face.

Getting to one knee next her I put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t stand up. What’s your health like? That hit was mostly out of reflex and took almost everything I had to open my palm before it hit”.

Yui’s eyes focus on a spot in front of her for a moment. “What! I lost 30 percent of my health… you slapped me… for over two hundred damage!”.

Helping her to her feet I support her and walk us towards the room’s exit. “Come on. You have a healer or some health potions nearby?”

Yui points to a section of the wall. “In that side room.” A short distance to the side from where she pointed, was a sliding door. Walking her towards it I rest her against the wall and look inside. I spot a cabinet and open it to see several glass bottles of different colours inside. Grabbing one of the reds, I bring it to Yui.

Yui takes the bottle with both her hands. A bright red welt marks her face. As she finishes drinking, the welt heals to a soft rosy mark of my hand.

Grimacing, I change the subject. “So… What’s for breakfast?’

Yui guided me back to my room and left, mumbling that she needed a bath and something about a grandfather.

I opened the window feeling the cool breeze and move the desk chair over so I could sit and admire the city surrounding the Tower.

This must be how things were like in the other world. Before the tower went rogue. The sky is a dark blue and brighter than when I woke up. I can see clouds reflecting the rays of a still hidden sun. There are more blue rings of light on the Tower now, a total of 7. Feeling the cool breeze against my face I open my stats and have a look at my gains.

Name: Reigner

Race: Human

level: 1

Class: Summoner

Health: 1240/1240.

HP Regen: 1.5/minute

Stamina: 2370/2370.

SP Regen: 78/minute

Mana: 180/180.

MP Regen: 12.5/minute

Strength: 96

Constitution: 74

Dexterity: 89

Intelligence: 8

Wisdom: 8

Spells:

Summon Mana Marble (1)

Summon Weapon (0)

Skills:

Axe 1handed (5)

Axe 2handed (5)

Counter (22)

Dodge (10)

Parry (10)

Polearms (5)

Shield (5)

Small Blades (5)

Spear (5)

Sword 1handed (27)

Sword 2handed (5)

Unarmed (12)

Not bad for a few hours work. Concentrating I focus on summoning a dagger with my new spell. I feel the mana course through my body and down my arm, forming into a sharpened bone.

Amazing! Summoning a weapon, even if its low quality, with just mana is really, really, cool.

Going by the description, higher ranks will improve the quality and grade.

Weapons can be graded from F to S. With F being the worst, C being the middle ground and S being the best in terms of damage and weight. There is another grade, double S, however weapons of that quality are extremely rare.

Gripping the dagger by both ends I flex my arms and bend the weapon. After a few seconds the weapon snaps and vanishes into motes of dim white light. By the feel of it, these summoned weapons will break long before the ten-hour mark. Playing with the spell, I cast it a few more times, trying out different weapons. All the rank zero weapons look to me made from wood, bone, or a mixture of both.

This is fun! Chuckling, I continue casting the spell repeatedly. A pile of summoned weapons starts to form around me.

I take a break when a notification window pops up.

+1 to Summon weapon rank

+1 to wisdom

Nice. A bonus stat!

Checking the spell details again shows me what’s improved.

Summon Weapon

Rank: 1

Cost: 20 MP

Effect: E-grade Weapon (base F)

Description:

Summon any crude weapon you have a skill of 1 or more in. Higher spell rank increases weapon quality and grade. Summoned weapons will vanish after 10 hours or when broken.

I summon another dagger and this time instead of bone, the weapon is metallic. The weapon looks more like a dagger now with a blade, a small cross guard, and hilt with twine wrapping. I tested the edge with my thumb, it can cut but only with some effort. Gripping the dagger, it takes a little more than the bone to break. A strong improvement from just one rank.

A few more and I won’t be able to break the weapons from just flexing my arms. I start laughing and continue playing…uh exploring with the spell.

The sound of someone knocking on the door breaks me from my research. I walk over and open the door, on the other side stands a woman with long blond hair, wearing a matching green tunic and skirt. Her face is flawless, almost glowing, and her eyes are like brilliant sapphires.

“Good morning, sir. I am Sara, Master Gushiken’s lead assistant. Are you well? The guild cleaners heard some concerning laughter coming from your room.”

I step out the room and close the door carefully, making sure that Sara can’t see the mess of weapons piled up inside. It takes me a few tries to close the door, it did not fit the frame smoothly. “Ah... Sorry. I was just doing some spell practice”

“I see…” Saras eyes flicker behind me before focusing back on me. “Ahem… I have been asked to guide you to the breakfast hall, as Miss Gushiken is feeling unwell.”

“Miss Gushiken? Do you mean Yui? And please, just called me Reigner.” That grandfather comment is starting to make more sense.

Smiling, Sara starts leading the way from my room. “Yes, Reigner. She is Master Gushiken’s sixth great granddaughter”

“I have a feeling you don’t mean she is one of six.”

Sarah’s laugh was like music to my ears. “No. I mean six generations. Master Gushiken was one of the first humans to arrive on this world and is the sole surviving founder of the guild.”

Just how old would he have to be to have six generations of descendants.

Continuing to follow Sara I use this time to apologise. Something I feel like I have been doing a lot lately. “I heard that you had to clean up the… mess in the meditation room. I want to ap-.”

“Reigner, please do not feel any shame. The hall staff and I have spells well suited for cleaning any manner of body fluids. It did not take long, and the only damage done was to the pillows.”

Sara led me into a large hall filled with tables. There are adults of all ages sitting around socialising. Children are running all over the place between and under tables. Dodging one of the small human missiles, I see platters filled with different kinds of bite sized food laid on the tables.

Sarah navigates the chaos like an Elf in a forest, gliding gracefully in front of me. I continue to dodge around running children, following her until we reach a small table with two chairs.

Standing next to the table is Hiro, a stern frown on his face.

“Reigner, has Earth changed so much that its now commonplace for a guest to slap their host’s granddaughter across their face?”