Summoner's Shadow 2: A LitRPG Adventure, page 1
Summoner’s Shadow 2
A LitRPG Adventure
DB King
Copyright © 2022 by DB King
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
v001
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Contents
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Contents
Series by DB King
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
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Support DB King on Patreon!
Free progression Fantasy Novel!
About the Author
Series by DB King
Apocalypse Knights
Crafter’s Fate
Dragon Magus
Dungeon of Evolution
Elemental Mastery
Kensei
The Last Magus
Mage’s Path
Ranger’s Magic
Shinobi Rising
Summoner’s Shadow
The Last Magus
War Wizard
Chapter 1
Bran woke before the sun, as he usually did, and sprang out of bed. He practically jogged down the castle stairs, heading out of the Ketria Academy’s large double doors to begin his morning training.
He made it out onto the grounds before Lara and Alaro, and ran a whole lap of the academy before he saw them both walk out toward him.
Training, breakfast, and gearing up all went far too slowly.
They were going to a different Monster Realm today. They had explored the Monster Realm Alaro had taken him to for his Ranger training more than enough, and as Bran would have to start facing lower-level monsters again, he didn’t want to go back to facing the same old Vampiric Locusts and Mire Crabs.
He wanted something different. And, fortunately, Lara agreed.
As it was Lara who was training him this time, she was the one to choose the Monster Realm.
Though she hadn’t told him anything about it. Bran wasn’t sure if that was because she still hadn’t made up her mind about where they were going, or if she wanted to keep him on his toes. He imagined it was the latter.
When it was time to finally go, Lara led Alaro and Bran down to the library and into the archives. She pulled on the book that made the shelf swing open to the tunnels, then cast a fireball to light their way as it opened.
“I hope you’re not taking me to that damned spider realm,” Bran muttered.
Alaro shuddered. “I’m not a fan of that one either. They always seem to take new summoners there.”
The Ranger, who looked to be in his early twenties, had a patch sewn into the shoulder of his Ketria Academy uniform, denoting his class’s specialization as a Marksman. The patch was of a longbow ringed by a circle. Also sewn into his uniform was a ‘3’ above his chest, showing his year level at the academy. He had a dusting of stubble on his chin, and his hair was getting a bit long—definitely something he wouldn’t have gotten away with had he been attending regular classes and not training in a party with Bran.
“It isn’t just spiders in that realm, you know.” Lara led the way through the tunnels. “There are all types of monsters, you’ve just never traveled past the first clearing.” The Mage was only a few years younger than Bran. Her dark black hair was tied up in a familiar braid, and she had three earrings in each ear—something Bran hadn’t noticed before. He wondered if they were all enchanted. “But no, don’t worry, we’re not going there.” The woman was tall and slender—though not quite as tall as Bran’s six-foot-two. And, unlike Bran and Alaro, she wore Mage robes of deep red, cinched tightly at the waist by her Summoner’s Bandoleer.
Bran relaxed a little. The spider realm hadn’t been his favorite. Though, to be honest, he didn’t really mind where they were going. He just wanted to start training. He was already in the Mage configuration, and it felt a bit strange knowing he wouldn’t be drawing his bow today. He didn’t even have his quiver wrapped around him. In fact, Lara had instructed that he leave his bow and quiver in his room. She didn’t want him tempted to use them.
He almost felt naked without them, after training so long with the bow, almost how he had felt not having a spear the first time he had faced monsters.
He still wondered what it would be like, training as a Lancer. Perhaps that could be the next class he trained with. Though even if it were, it would be at least a month away.
Lara’s fireball lighting the way, they turned three corners before the Mage finally stopped in front of a monster portal. “This is one of my favorite places to train that I’ve encountered at the academy.”
That made Bran wonder how long she had actually been here. She still hadn’t told Alaro who her father was. And she certainly wasn’t a normal student at the academy. Being Urslan’s ward seemed to give her free rein over the academy, but she didn’t seem worried about the end of year examinations. She didn’t wear a uniform, nor did she seem to have any classes.
Then again, Alaro didn’t have any classes anymore either, not since he had been chosen to tutor Bran. It seemed as though none of them had to attend regular classes like other students at the academy.
“Ah, I’ve been here before.” Alaro smiled. “I can see why you chose it. It has quite the history with the founders.”
Bran tilted his head to the side, wondering if there would be more ruins in this place. He still hadn’t found out enough about the ruins back in the Monster Realm he had been training in for his Ranger training.
“Ready to go?” Lara asked.
Alaro nodded. Bran did the same.
Alaro summoned his Blade Fiend, as he always did before they entered a Monster Realm. He liked to have one of his monsters enter first, so it would encounter whatever danger lay ahead.
The Blade Fiend was a metal-type monster. It was humanoid, with two legs and two arms, except it was entirely made of metal. And though it had arms, it lacked hands. From the elbows down it had massive, double-edged blades that ended in wickedly sharp points. And its teeth were made of needles. Bran had grown used to the monster, but it was still a sight to behold.
Bran summoned his Bronze Lynx.
The Bronze Lynx was a sleek, cat-like beast that was large enough that it came up to his midsection. Like the Blade Fiend, it was a metal-type monster. Its skin was the color—and strength—of bronze. It had large, padded paws bigger than Bran’s hands, with sharp, retractable claws. When Bran had first encountered the beast, it had been massive—even taller than him. Back then, it had been at a higher evolution—an Iron Lynx. When he had tamed the beast, capturing it into his third crystal, it had lost its levels, one of its evolutions, and became far smaller.
As Bran was in Mage configuration, he didn’t actually need to summon any of his monsters. They would gain mastery as long as he was using their spells. However, as Lara had explained to him before, if the monsters weren’t using their spells on their own, the spells were unlikely to reach the next level.
However, his monsters and their spells were higher level than his Mage configuration. So he wouldn’t have to worry about that for a while.
He took one last look at the different spells he had before stepping through the portal.
Stone Griffin Spells
Wind Blast: Level 4
Gale Breath: Level 4
Wind Whip: Level 4
Vortex: Level 4
Shadow Mageling Spells
Shadow Step: Level 4
Dusk Miasma: Level 4
Dark Binding: Level 4
Bronze Lynx Spells
Steel Slash: Level 4
Cannon Ball: Level 4
The Bronze Lynx was the monster with the least amount of spells, as when he had tamed it the monster had de-leveled from level 13 to level 2. Unfortunately, whatever spells it had poss
He hadn’t tested either of those spells in the Mage configuration. He had only used them when enchanting arrows. His hand reflexively went down to where his quiver usually was, itching to reach for the different arrows and check the notches.
But he didn’t have his quiver. He didn’t have his bow.
It was going to be a strange day.
The Blade Fiend, Alaro, and Lara had already stepped through the monster portal.
Bran counted to five, as he usually did before stepping through a portal after one of the other party members or monsters. Then he sent through his Bronze Lynx and waited a few more seconds.
He stepped through.
The cold hit him as it always did, though now it had become very familiar. He was used to feeling the cold snap whenever he stepped through a portal. He shook his limbs, trying to bring warmth back into them. But he didn’t need to focus on it for long.
Bran looked around. Trying to gain his bearings.
They were standing on the edge of a swamp. There were trees all around them, and the area was awash with noise. Birdlike monsters sang high in the branches, and the water swished around as unseen monsters swam through it.
Bran stayed alert, waiting to see if any threats would come. Portals always attracted monsters toward them—usually low-level monsters as they were more susceptible to a portal’s pull.
But as he stood there, he didn’t see or feel any threats nearby.
“This place feels nothing like the last Monster Realm we ventured into,” Bran said.
Lara nodded. “I thought it was time for a change.” She led the way forward, heading toward the swamp. “This way.”
“What, you expect us to wade through that?” Alaro asked dubiously.
Bran glanced at the swamp, then looked to Lara. Did she actually expect them to walk right through that? Wouldn’t a monster attack them?
“I’m not going to wade through it. Nor will Bran.” Lara smiled. She faced the swamp, her boots a few steps away from the water’s edge. It didn’t look terribly deep, maybe just enough to reach their knees.
Lara took a breath in, then a shadow appeared from nowhere. It sucked her straight into it, then disappeared. Lara was nowhere to be seen.
The shadow appeared on the other side of the swamp, and Lara stepped straight out of it.
Bran blinked. He knew that Lara was able to Shadow Step, but he’d never seen her actually do it. He supposed she had never needed to in all their other fights.
For the longest time, Bran had been using the Ranger configuration. That meant that he had not actually used Shadow Step to teleport himself since he had practiced doing it in the study at the Founders’ Fortress. That was quite a while ago now, almost a month.
Bran let out a breath and focused on the other side of the swamp. Imagining where he wanted Shadow Step to send someone was second nature to him now, as he had used Shadow Step with an enchanted arrow plenty of times.
He activated the spell.
A dark patch of shadow sprang up in front of Bran, pulling him into it. For a split-second, he was in the Shadow Realm.
In that moment, his fear-sense went wild. He could feel beasts around him—powerful beasts. And in his vision, he could spot dark, shifting shapes—
Then he was standing on the other side of the swamp, as though he hadn’t entered the Shadow Realm at all. He was facing the direction he had intended to face, and looked out over the water with a wave at Alaro on the other side.
That was the first time he had entered the Shadow Realm since his fear-sense had developed. Whatever he had felt—and seen—lingered in his mind. His breathing came a little fast, but he steadied it.
He had studied what was known about the Shadow Realm, in the books he had found in the library, and he had never seen any accounts of summoners coming to harm from entering it.
“Good work,” Lara said.
Bran blinked and snapped himself back into the present, putting the Shadow Realm out of his mind. He would just have to make sure the next time he entered it, it didn’t disorientate him.
“That’s not fair!” Alaro called over the water.
Lara chuckled. “Some classes are better at certain things than others.” She didn’t say this very loud, not loud enough for Alaro to hear.
“That did feel… quite amazing.” Bran looked down at the ground. As he hadn’t used Shadow Step in weeks, the spell still felt quite remarkable to him.
Alaro sighed loud enough for them to hear across the water, then he walked toward the edge of the swamp. He stopped short of touching it with his boots. He looked around, trying to see if any monsters were beneath the water. It seemed clear.
Bran smiled. “If I had my Shadow Step arrows, I’d use one on you to get you over here!”
“Thanks.” Alaro shook his head. “For offering to shoot me with an arrow.”
The Ranger sighed again. He dipped the toe of his boot into the water, then paused. A massive grin bloomed on his face. “I have a much better idea.” He rested a hand on the third crystal on his Summoner’s Bandoleer. The crystal was green with hints of brown, denoting the type of the monster it held—a nature and earth hybrid. The crystal glowed, and a moment later, Alaro’s Crocolisk stood in front of him.
The monster was huge. It looked like a mix between a snake and a crocodile. It shifted from side to side then opened its massive jaws and let out a low yawn, revealing rows and rows of jagged teeth. Its scales looked hard as rock. And, Bran knew from experience, they were.
Alaro grinned down at the monster. “All right, Crocy, don’t go bucking me now.”
Bran raised his eyebrows, staring at Alaro. The man was a Ranger, not a Lancer, and he still hadn’t developed a very strong bond with the monster.
He couldn’t imagine this going well.
Alaro threw a leg over the Crocolisk. It bucked, then let out a low whining noise and snapped its jaws.
Alaro put a hand on its neck. “Hush now, Crocy.” He nodded across the swamp. “Come on, take me across.”
The Crocolisk snapped its jaws once more, then finally complied. It began to walk, then ran, right at the water. Alaro clung on for dear life.
Bran just watched in stunned amusement.
The second the Crocolisk met the water, it bucked again, and Alaro completely lost his grip on the monster, sliding into the swamp. He cursed under his breath then reabsorbed the monster with a long sigh.
When the Ranger reached the other side of the swamp, his pants were soaking wet. He shook them out, spraying water on Lara and Bran.
Bran chuckled. “It feels good to be a Mage.”
“You say that now, you might think otherwise when we encounter danger,” Alaro said, his clothes still dripping.
“Don’t listen to the Ranger,” Lara said. “You’ll get used to being a Mage in combat quickly enough.”
Lara led the way through the trees. The trees here were different to any Bran had seen before. They weren’t as tall as the ones in the spider realm, nor the ones in the mountainous realm. Their leaves, however, were larger than any he had ever seen, making the canopy so dense that they couldn’t see the sky. What little light that flowed through the branches was enough to illuminate their way without Lara having to cast a fireball, but only just.
The dirt beneath his feet wasn’t hard packed like the ground in the Monster Realm they had just been training in. The air was humid, and that made the ground slightly soft. It almost felt like he was walking on snow, as there was a little bit of give on each step.
It was quite strange, walking through this type of terrain after all the time they had spent around the mountains.
Bran couldn’t help but have his head on a swivel, looking around at every noise, trying to spot what caused it. Usually, the second he entered a Monster Realm he was under attack. Here, nothing had tried to fight them yet.
“Feels pretty quiet here,” Bran said. “Well, despite the noise.”
“Oh, there are plenty of monsters around,” Lara said. “I’m sure we’ll encounter them soon.”
