On floor 8 we're greeted by Drake Wolves. They are still as strange-looking as they were before. Pallid green fur that somehow looks as if it was imitating a dragon's scales, snake-like eyes and bull horns instead of ears.

This reminds me, weren't they the first enemy I fought after gaining summons? It was either them or the stick figures made of censor bars.

This makes me think... are monsters and summons even notably different? If my theory is right, you can't really kill monsters, they just come back after a week. Same as summons, they return until their owner - either the summoner or monsters the dungeon they inhabit - is destroyed. And no matter what, they always seem to have the same levels across all of their classes and races.

Well, aside from the π-Rats, they might just be the exception because of their name.

So... are monsters just spirits created by a given dungeon floor? But what about those monsters outside that form a flood then? Are they undefeated dungeon monsters that leaked outside?

But then they would have much higher levels as well and not just be mobs below level ten.

Yeah, that was a stupid train of thought.

Hmm... what Iris said a while back has given me a dumb idea and I still have the weird Ring of Monsters... A try can't hurt.

"Can you kill all but one of the wolves? I want to try something with the last one."

Marca is surprised, "Sure, we can try but what is your plan?"

"I want to try to tame it."

"Huh? I don't think you have the necessary classes for that."

"Just let me try it. Though in case it becomes too dangerous will abandon that idea."

They do as I have ordered and leave one of the wolves alive.

I don't have a masterball, so the hard way it is.

I hit it a few more times until its HP gets low.

"Geoffrey, can you hold it down? Make sure it can't escape or fight back."

A bit confused he affirms, "You got it, Jared."

He grabs the wolf and takes it into some kind of submission hold.

The wolf tries to fight back but can't, no matter what it does, it can't reach Geoffrey at all.

Close enough.

4̷̥̈́7̶̙͗7̶̺͌2̶̨͑6̶̈́ͅF̸͓̈7̴̫͝7̸̭̃6̷͎̃C̶̫̄

No, you shut up!

Here goes nothing, I put on the ring.

I sit down close to the green wolf, "Do you understand me?"

Grrrr

So is that a no? At least the growling is a bit more understandable now.

I feel just like a man trying to tame a wild dog.

Damn, I thought the ring would allow me to talk with monsters, it seems that Dan was wrong about that.

"Come on, talk!"

Grrrr

Lucia is confused, "Jared, what was that sound you made?"

"This ring claims that it lets me talk with monsters. Now give me a moment."

The item has to be good for something.

I can hear some faint sounds around me but they soon cease.

I turn back to the wolf, "How about it? Why not serve me? I promise I'll take good care of you."

After saying that, I start to feel a bit lightheaded. Is that a side-effect of using the ring? Was it a trap after all?

Growl

At least there's nothing weird in my status...

"Cease your resistance and accept me as your master!"

I already knew THAT, but how about taking it as a summon spirit?

You stupid, worthless piece of shit! Can't you work with me for once?

Come one, you damn wolf, submit to me!

Wimper

Why 'yet'? Did you finally decide to help me?

...probably just wishful thinking.

...

I get a desire to 'play', which makes me end the wolf's life. If my suspicion about monsters is right, we'll meet again in a week or two and it'll return as a pissed-off boss or something. The stronger you become the more fun we'll have then, my dear friend. I can't wait for it.

A big grin creeps across my face.

But it is not enough, I want to play more. Yeah, but with who?

I look around and see my friends standing there, their mouths moving but I can hear no sounds.

They'll make fine playmates.

...

What is going on with me? Why did I even consider this?

Angrily, I remove the useless Ring of Monsters. The lightheadedness turns into a bit of a headache but it gets slowly better over time.

I notice that the ring crumbles to dust instead of going into my inventory like a regular ring.

You crappy piece of shit ring, you've done me no favors, and given my headache, I'd say you did the opposite of guarding me!

I can't make out who is talking with me but a sudden incomprehensible screeching turns into a regular voice, "-red? Hey, Jared!"

"Hey, what is going on?"

Chloe asks me, "What exactly were you trying to achieve? All we heard were indecipherable noises. And now Maria and Elly are unconscious."

"What? What happened to them?"

"No idea. After you started speaking in strange sounds, they complained about headaches and then soon after collapsed. We tried to call out to you but you didn't react, as if you didn't hear us anymore."

Was that what I sounded like to them? No, that's not important now. Why couldn't I hear them...

Lucia glomps me with tears in her eyes, "Jared, please tell us, what were you doing there! What were those sounds?"

I hug her back, "Huh? I told you back then already that this ring allows me to speak with monsters. Somehow."

"No, I only heard that you said something but it was incomprehensible. I started feeling strange as well... it was scary..."

Marca agrees with her, "She's right, Jared."

"What the hell happened there... the ring was only supposed to let me talk with it and not do... whatever happened there..."

Lucia sounds angry and concerned, "Don't do that again..."

"Yeah... yeah, I won't do that again. The ring is already destroyed, I can't repeat that. It... won't happen again."

The sobbing mess in my arms tries to comfort me.

I've still no clue what was going on. By what little I understand, the ring wasn't only there to let me talk to monsters... its true purpose was something else.

Geoffrey suggests we call it here, "Should we stop here? Anna is already pretty worn down and you don't look too well either, Jared."

"...yeah, we really should. Today nothing works as it should. Well, I've achieved my primary goal, I reached Summoner level ten a few floors ago, so now I need to design the third spirit together with Lucia. Though that one probably won't see any actual use. I guess the day after tomorrow, all of you can add another class unless you already have four. Feel free to start planning what you'll take then."

Iris says, "I'm looking forward to it. May I ask someone to advise me on which healing class exactly to take? I don't really know what to look for."

 

"When Elly is up again she can help you with that. Until then... I guess you can just train a bit sword fighting with Marca?"

Marca nods, "Fine by me."

"Don't forget about me!", Anna reminds me.

"You can continue to train with me", offers Geoffrey, "I promise to be more careful."

"Uh-huh."

This experience was mentally draining... maybe I should take a drink soon? A full belly might take my mind off of things.

Oh, yeah, that reminds me, "When selecting a new class, keep on the lookout for a skill like [Create Food and Water]. Chloe already has it from Survivor level fifteen."

Iris asks, "Why do we need something like that?"

Chloe answers, "Food supplies. Aside from how strong we get, food will always put a limit on how far we can go. It will give us a few days more we can spend at once in a dungeon. Especially now, when there is still a food shortage going on. We're already stretching our resources pretty thin. Even with a lord finally in place, it will be quite a while before the fortress will have enough surplus production to allow for longer dungeon expeditions."

"Correct. Though for you, Iris, a healing class has still the utmost priority. But after that, if you find something, consider it. Maybe ask Elly for help, she's an expert in finding specific classes."

"Understood."

I unsummon the unconscious spirits and then we walk towards the dungeon exit.

I still feel a bit off from the effect of the ring... it is probably a good thing that the cursed thing is destroyed...

I have a feeling it was moments away from achieving its goal, whatever that is.

One minute later and I might have called it 'my precious'...

We continue to walk towards the exit, Lucia won't leave my side, she's still visibly worried about what just happened.

Why did I even consider trusting anything that cursed 'Dan' left me? The Monster Core should've been a clear signal that he wants to ruin my life. I bet his true form is some kind of trickster fairy.

Well, the Title Card was so far a genuine help... then that was the cheese in the mouse trap, huh?

Once I stop thinking about these things, everyone else has already left the dungeon but the exit looks a bit strange today. I probably only have that impression because of that damn headache.

I sit down for a while and try to get a clear head again. I want to wait at least until I have enough for two rain casts. We'll need more exp. A lot more.

Total deja vu towards the Blood Mage fiasco. My HP, MP and SP are depleted and I've gained class levels I didn't want... Shit.

But why is my exp exactly zero? Previously, when I was forced to gain levels against my will it went into the negatives.

...still got a massive headache, I better not think about this too hard right now.

...

No, I really should. Just accepting everything as it is without a second thought will get me killed next time.

But was my guess so wrong? Did I misunderstand the skill description that much?

It clearly says that I can only create so many spirits but there is no listed restriction on how many I can possess. There must be a different way to obtain more. With the skill as it is, it is not possible to emulate the fantasy of a summoner that commands a literal army of monsters, so something critical is missing. A piece of knowledge, a skill, an exploit, something.

Not that I'd have the MP to have a literal army active... but a few more beefy bodies to throw at a problem can't hurt.

Summon one, wait until it gets hit or runs out of SP then switch to the next.  Repeat. Better they get hurt than me.

Sigh

What exactly did the system say back there? At first, the action didn't exist, then it only said I can't do it yet. Why would it change like that? Does it have something to do with what happened to me?

I ponder some more about it but achieve no result.

I finally check through my skills again and notice something is off.

Whatever it was before, Blood Mage's second skill has taken a hit.

The name might be the same, don't know, can't tell with these flickering characters, but the effect is different. Its cost has gone down, it can only target five creatures per cast now but it deals much more damage. Worse for flood grinding, better for dungeon crawling? Well, the original fake wasn't that good for grinding in the first place, so no major loss. [Blood Burst] is the better option to cast a spell from SP, nothing has changed there.

The second issue I notice is that the original [Extra Affinity] has joined the dinosaurs. Instead, I now have this.

So... I can choose the second affinity right now instead at Wizard level thirty which I am unlikely to ever reach? Sign me up!

...but what the hell are these options? Only Titanium makes sense since that is a natural element, not just a fantasy one, but everything else... whatever, since when makes anything sense in this system?

Peanuts might work against someone that has an allergy but so far that didn't come up in [Appraisal]. Could I conjure edible peanuts with the rank 0 version? If the quality of the water from the rank 0 magic is anything to go by, I'd rather not count on that.

Bad Spelling, Cursor, Fist, Surprise... no clue what I should make of those. It just seems like it is another of the usual glitches. As if it reads data from the wrong list.

Given how it is going, I doubt that this system will ever be fixed while I'm still alive. And that better be a literal eternity, Jeff, if you know what is good for you!

Out of the presented options, only Titanium sounds useful. At a minimum, I should be able to create titanium bars or something as materials for Lucia to craft with. Gimme that!

Ok, so I really could select it. But did I actually gain [Titanium Magic] though [Affinity Magic]?

Heck, yeah! It worked!

I try to cast a projectile spell the same way I did for ice and indeed a mass of silvery metal shoots forth.

Hmm... does it count as physical 'element'? It isn't one of the original elements, so I doubt there is anything at all that is resistant or weak to this metal specifically. But you can certainly make weapons out of metals, so if the system follows any shred of logic, it would let me exploit physical weaknesses that way.

Well, more importantly, can I create some of the metal with rank 0 magic?

Thunk

Lucia, dear, you got some work to do!

The new magic aside, now I know for certain that something happened there... did the ring try to turn me into a glitch creature? The two newly glitched skills would lend credence to that.

...

I facepalm.

...of course... Ring of Monsters... it tried to turn me into one of the real monsters, and not just someone with a monster-like extra class like vampire...

I'm so stupid sometimes... *sigh* so much for that language expertise.

Once I reach 1950 MP, I get up again, take a deep breath and go through the exit.

But instead of outside, I arrive in what looks like a dungeon's boss room and no one else is to be seen.

As if I didn't already have enough problems...