Summoning

Allen decided to attempt his first summoning.

(All right, all right. Let's see... I can summon insects or beasts, right?)

The second page of the Grimoire indicated that he could summon insects and beasts.

(I'm inside the house, so I'll try summoning an insect.)

He had no idea what would be summoned. He expected his first summon to be some kind of low-rank monster.

But it would be a disaster if he chose Beast H and summoned a huge wolf or bear. The Summoner was supposed to be a Job even higher than Demon Lord. It was better to be overly cautious.

A year had passed since he was reincarnated in another world. Memories from that year flashed through his mind: suckling at his beautiful mother's breast, even though she was under twenty; having his beautiful mother wipe him down; and having his beautiful mother change his diapers.

(No, no. I'm getting distracted. All right, let's summon!)

Allen raised his hand toward the sky and concentrated on summoning an insect, just as he had when making the book move.

But nothing happened. The nursery where Allen was lay silent.

(Huh? Nothing's happening. Is it on the floor?)

With nothing changing, he sat up and looked around the room. They had already finished dinner. Serfs went to bed early, and darkness was beginning to fill the room.

If possible, he wanted to finish testing his summoning while it was still dim out.

(Huh? Did I say it wrong? Summon Insect!)

Nothing seemed to appear. He changed the words and tried all sorts of things.

"Come forth, bug!"

Thinking that simply willing it in his mind wasn't enough, he tried saying it aloud in his childish, lisping voice.

But nothing appeared.

(Oh dear, this is a problem. What should I do?)

He decided to examine the Grimoire thoroughly again. These days, you could find detailed game walkthroughs on strategy sites. Anonymous message boards even had question threads where people would tell you the answers. There was hardly ever anything you couldn't figure out.

(Could it be that I can't summon anything until I've created it first?)

He came up with a hypothesis. Since the options were Summon, Create, and Delete, perhaps he could use Create.

(Insect, create!)

"Huh?"

The Grimoire glowed faintly. It wasn't the pages that lit up, but the cover. In the now quite dim room, he noticed the faint glow from the book's cover.

(Oh? There's something written on it!)

'Which rank of insect would you like to create?'

Silver letters on the Grimoire's cover displayed the question.

(Which rank? So H really is a rank. Create Rank H!)

Then something glowing appeared in front of him. As the light faded, something card-shaped took its place.

(Whoa! It's a card!! There's an insect drawn on it!! That's a grasshopper.)

'You created one Insect H card.'

A card about a quarter the size of the Grimoire's cover had appeared. It showed a beautifully drawn grasshopper, with 'Insect H' written in the upper-left corner.

(A grasshopper, huh? It doesn't look strong at all. My summon is an insect? Now that I think about it, my Magic went down by two and hit zero.)

He had spent the past year imagining summons like the sea dragons of Greek mythology, heroic spirits, and grim reapers. But all he'd gotten was a single card depicting a grasshopper. And apparently, creating one card had used up all his Magic.

(Well, there's no point regretting it. So the indentations near the back of the Grimoire were card holders. I see, you store summoned creatures as cards inside the Grimoire.)

Now that he had a card, he was beginning to understand the basics of summoning.

(I'll continue tomorrow. It's pitch-black in here now.)

The room, already dim, had become completely dark. There was nothing to provide light, so he had no choice but to put the Insect H card he'd made into the Grimoire's holder. He would continue testing his summoning tomorrow.

"Good morning, Allen."

A powerful light flooded the room. It seemed Telesia had opened the wooden window all the way.

"Morning, Mama."

The sun was already quite high in the sky.

(It seems this other world has a twenty-four-hour day, too. It must be around eight now.)

Allen's parents had been serfs since birth, just like him, and perhaps because they hadn't received much education, it was difficult to figure out units and standards. At one year old, it was too early for him to ask questions himself, but those subjects rarely came up in his parents' conversations. He'd recently figured out the time, but he still didn't know about money, weight, or distance.

Allen realized that he wouldn't be able to do what protagonists in otherworld stories often did: read books in a noble's library and use his knowledge to get ahead from childhood.

Serfs rose early. How early? Allen had never once seen his father in the morning. He was probably leaving at six or even earlier. Telesia had also told Rodan that Allen was getting bigger, so she was going to help in the fields, at least while Allen slept.

(Summoning while Mom's here would be a bad idea, especially in this cramped house. She comes to check on me sometimes when I'm awake. I'll wait until nap time.)

Allen hadn't told his parents that he had reincarnated from another world or that he was a Summoner. He was pretending to be a baby who couldn't speak clearly. He didn't think there was any need to tell them in the future, either.

They might think he was possessed by a fox or a demon.

He twirled the Grimoire around as he waited for a chance to summon something.

After Telesia finished her chores, she breastfed him. It had been pretty embarrassing at first, but he'd gotten used to it. He had no sexual desire and felt like a sage or hermit.

"Good night, Allen."

"Good night, Mama."

(Here we go! Nap time!)

He was carried into the nursery and laid in the bed with its wooden railing. The wooden window was shut, leaving Allen alone in the dim room.

(All right, she's gone. Heh heh, time to pick up where I left off yesterday.)

He brought out the Grimoire and floated it in the air. Then he took the Insect H card from its holder.

(First, let's see if I can summon it without saying anything. Summon Insect H!!!)

He thrust both hands out in front of him, making it unmistakably clear that he was summoning. Light spilled from the card. It glowed faintly, then vanished as though crumbling away, and a grasshopper appeared in its place.

"Whoa! A grasshopper!"

The words slipped out before he knew it. His eyes were fixed on the grasshopper, which had dropped to the floor beyond the bed's wooden railing.

(Hmm, it's pretty big. It must be fifteen centimeters long. Maybe a migratory locust? It's a big one, like the kind you'd find in Africa or Southeast Asia. Still, it's the quintessential grasshopper.)

He watched the grasshopper. It hopped around in random directions, without a plan or purpose. It didn't even meet his gaze.

(It's called a summoned creature, so will it obey me? Come here, come here.)

The grasshopper briefly met Allen's eyes.

(Oh, you noticed me? Very well, you may approach.)

He tried to guide it over, waving his arms around.

But the grasshopper turned its gaze away from Allen and continued hopping around at random.

(Ah, darn. It's just a grasshopper. It has no intelligence, and it won't follow instructions. Is there nothing about that in the Grimoire? Hm? There's an extra page.)

After successfully summoning for the first time, he checked to see if any new information had appeared. A third page, which hadn't been there before, had opened.

(I see. So whenever new information is added, this thick Grimoire gets another page. Hmm, is this the grasshopper's status?)

The grasshopper's status was displayed on the Grimoire's third page.

【Type】 Insect

【Rank】 H

【Name】 None (set a name)

【Stamina】 3

【Magic】 0

【Attack】 2

【Durability】 5

【Agility】 5

【Intelligence】 1

【Luck】 2

【Blessing】 Durability 1, Agility 1

【Special Skill】 Hopping

(Hmm, it's pretty weak, but compared to me as a baby, its stats are quite high. Does it have more Attack than I do? Hm? What's Blessing? Could I be receiving a blessing? Wait! My stats have gone up!!)

"Amaazing!"

Compared to the previous day, Allen's Durability and Agility had each increased by one. They were displayed with plus signs.

The surprise that summoning had raised his stats made him strike a triumphant pose and let out a yell.

"Allen, you have to go to sleep properly."

Telesia, who had been in the yard, came back in response to Allen's voice.

(Wha—?! This is bad! She came into the room. Would it be bad to make the grasshopper disappear now?)

"Sorry, Mama."

"Hehe, it's all right. But... huh?"

The grasshopper and Telesia met eyes.

"Aaaah! A bug!!!"

Telesia's foot came down on the grasshopper.

(Wha—my summoned creature just got stepped on!! I-it's disappearing...)

The grasshopper vanished in a burst of glowing bubbles. Thinking it had gotten away, Telesia searched for it. Allen was stunned by what had happened, but he couldn't let it show on his face. He kept calm and went to sleep. And so, Allen's life as a Summoner began.