I didn't sleep that night.
Not because I was scared the centipede would come back — okay, maybe a little because of that — but mostly because of the menu still floating in my head.
> [Summon Menu]
Goblin – 5 Crystals
Bat – 3 Crystals
Current Crystals: 1
One. Pathetic.
And crystals only drop if the monster dies by my command. I didn't get a single shard from the centipede because it limped away like some smug cockroach.
I sat in the dusty lobby of the Ironwood Apartments, watching the rain drip through a hole in the roof. My bat — the same one from last night — hung upside down on a broken light fixture, occasionally twitching its ears.
"Alright," I whispered, gripping a rusty pipe I found in the stairwell. "We're going hunting."
The bat blinked at me, like it didn't care.
---
The street outside was empty. I stuck close to the walls, the pipe clutched in my sweaty palms. I didn't have armor, I didn't have skill, but I had…
well… an attitude problem when people — or monsters — messed with what was mine.
"Anything that tries to eat me is getting gutted," I muttered.
We found our first target in an alley — a hunched, dog-like creature with too many eyes and teeth. It was chewing on a dead crow.
My pulse spiked. If it runs, I get nothing. If it kills me, I get… nothing forever.
I pointed at it. "Bat. Go for the eyes."
The bat swooped down, shrieking. The dog-thing snarled, swiping at it, but my bat was small and fast. It clawed at its face, buying me just enough time to rush in.
I swung the pipe with every ounce of strength I had.
Crack!
The dog-thing staggered, and my bat tore its throat out before it could recover.
> [Monster Killed]
[Crystals +2]
I froze, staring at the glowing shards on the ground. They were beautiful. Warm. Mine.
My hands shook as I picked them up. Three crystals now. One more kill, and I'd have enough for a goblin.
---
We hunted two more monsters before the sun began to dip — weak, twitchy things that went down with some coordination.
By the time I returned to the apartment, I had five crystals in my pouch.
I opened the summon menu. My finger hovered over "Goblin."
> Confirm Summon: Goblin – 5 Crystals
"Yes."
A circle of red light formed in the middle of the lobby. The air rippled, and a short, green-skinned creature stepped out, holding a jagged dagger made of scrap metal.
It grinned at me, all teeth.
For the first time in my life, I grinned back.
"Welcome home," I said. "We've got a city to take."