Summoner Quest (Celestial Menagerie) Crossover - IC (2024)

This chapter is longer than what I want. I got inspired when writing about Gobimon's fight and the Dungeon's delving. I hope you enjoy it.

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Once Laoban finished restoring the beach to a pristine state that it lost decades ago, I thanked him for his help and he returned to his realm.

Then it was back to the HQ after one last autograph. Instead of teleporting, we flew on

's back. I wasn't in any kind of hurry and the weather was nice today.

spent the whole way back talking excitedly about the process he witnessed.

We landed on the heliport. Despite the nervous look of the troopers, I didn't dismiss Massue. He'll enjoy flying around the Rig. Mentally he sent me some images of the bay and I understood that he wanted to go swimming. He really enjoyed moving in the water during the battle against Leviathan. It was no trouble to apply Grant Movement to him. A minute later he was deep underwater chasing after an unfortunate fish.

I deposited my current partners into the orb before I went to lunch.

It was less enjoyable than my patrol, it was a working lunch with the image department. While I had an excellent relationship with them, it was still as painful as it was possible to be. Considering the increased scrutiny I would be under, the team felt the need to educate me on what I could and couldn't say, which words to avoid at all costs, how to dodge a question, and the expression to us to promote the PRT and Protectorate. It was all political doublespeak and I wasn't a fan.

I much prefer speaking my mind or remaining silent.

After that, I had an hour-long session with the PRT troopers, a basic lesson on how they should interact with my partners in my absence. It wasn't strictly necessary, the telepathic network between us meant that my partners were always with me. Still, after my showing during the Battle, some people in the hierarchy realized that offending my partners could have disastrous consequences. So it was decided that a little lesson about respect was mandatory.

That was fine by me, it was much more enjoyable than some of the recent meetings I had. The main gist was to not startle them and to be respectful, even if they looked weak or goofy. Yes,

didn't look very impressive but using the Parahuman power chart would be classified as at least a Mover 3 and Blaster 3. On another note, I also mentioned that if they ever found something that remained after my partners disappeared they should pick it up if able and bring it back because some of those materials could be dangerous in the hands of civilians.

That lesson went very well, the trooper being particularly attentive. However, I doubt this came from any sort of teaching talent on my part. More likely it came from my recent reputation as an Endkiller.

In any case after that, I had a free afternoon. Happy with my freedom I hurried to my office and then straight into the Orb.

It was time for Gobimon to reach Champion level. I summoned

but only as a spectator, she wasn't the right adversary for her brother. Instead, it would be

, I hadn't called on the humanoid bird much so far apart from training sessions.

As was his habit, he knelt as soon as he appeared. "My lord. How can I be of service?"

I suppressed a sigh and didn't correct him. It was a hopeless battle and if he wanted to call me a lord I would respect his choice.

"Yes, Domo." I gestured toward an impatient Gobimon. "I think you'll be the perfect opponent to push Gobimon to his limits."

"As you command my lord."

We were at the edge of the Orb's dimension among the ruins of the palace. It was a dirt-filled backyard with big blocks of stone scattered through it. I figured that it would make for a good place for this. The rock could act as both cover and high ground. It would favor Domo but that was the point, Gobimon must struggle to trigger his Digivolution.

A few seconds later the two were facing each other and I brought my arm down to signal the start of the spar.

Domo was content to wait, his arms/wings crossed in front of him. Gobimon hesitates a bit before deciding that he should make the first move.

It took the form of a blast of sand that he spit out of his mouth. Domo evades easily by jumping up and landing on a rock. He retaliated with a sacred bolt that knocked back Gobimon a fair bit and then followed that up by jumping down and striking with his clawed wing. Despite being disoriented Gobimon retaliated with his own claw but again the agile Domo evaded.

This would set the tone for the rest of the match. Gobimon would attack, Domo would evade or endure what he couldn't evade with his minor earth resistance, and then he would retaliate.

Despite knowing that this was just a spar with the goal of allowing him to Digivolve, Gobimon soon began to be frustrated with the situation.

Gobimon screamed. "Stay still damn it!"

Feeling that he was ready I brandished my digivice. Immediately a bright glow covered his form, growing into a dome of light, before dissipating and revealing a big spiked turtle.

The shout of joy that came out didn't surprise me. "

!"

That put an end to the spar and we all celebrated Gobimon's achievement. Aylamon was quick to jump and climb on the neck of her brother. Domo jumped down from his rock and bowed to Gobimon.

"Congratulations, young one. You look magnificent. It was an honor for me to help you achieve such a feat."

After the fierce spar against the birdman, Gobimon didn't know how to respond to the change in atmosphere. He ends up mumbling a thank you with his now metallic-sounding voice.

Coming closer, I offered my own congratulations. "That was great. You're really impressive as a Tortomon Gobimon."

Gobimon's reaction showed that despite looking like a turtle he could blush, his yellow skin turning orange.

Once he regained his composure we started testing his new powers. His badly named attack called Strong Carapace, launched the spike on his back like missiles doing massive damage to the unfortunate tree that served as a target. It did leave him more vulnerable during the period needed for the spike to regrow, however.

I was much more impressed with his ability to retract his limbs and head before moving at high speed by spinning his shell. Nobody would expect a turtle to move that fast. And the prospect of a fusion with Koops was tantalizing.

Apart from those codified moves, Gobimon proved to be really strong and extremely resistant in that state.

When we finished I left my partners to their own devices to enjoy themselves for the rest of the day. As I walked I reviewed the power that the Menagerie just gave me.

With a touch, I could once per hour fully heal one of my partners. It was at the same time really potent and underwhelming. Potent because as long as the targeted partner was clinging to life, even as just a severed head, I could regenerate them fully. Underwhelming because I already had access to multiple means of healing and even more means to increase the resistance of my partners. So the situations where it could come in handy were limited, to say the least.

My Minds did suggest that healing an Ultimate Summon or Solar could turn the tide of battle. And that was true but I still had a hard time imagining the scope of a battle that would require it. Maybe against Behemoth?

When I reached the entrance of Nimue's dungeon I found the team members either relaxing or practicing.

was training his swordsmanship with a swordsman version of shadow boxing. With frequent use of the spin attack. Little

was, well, zapping repeatedly a fallen log.

was just lounging in a tiny pond. And

slithered toward me as soon as she spotted me, and quickly climbed over me to wrap herself around my torso. I indulge her by stroking her behind her head.

I called everyone over and we spent a few minutes going over their performance in the dungeon and their progress in their respective classes. All four were more than a little enthusiastic about their progress and said so loudly.

We also briefly brainstormed for a team name together. As usual, I wasn't the most inspired for a name and my partners weren't much better. The less said about Zap's propositions the better. Really, calling the team Master Zap and his

friends wasn't very nice. It was

who mentally came to the rescue and gave us a winner. The team would be called The Pioneer, owing to the fact that they were the first team to delve Nimue's Dungeon.

Satisfied with that choice, they returned to their activity or lack thereof. It was time for me to delve Nimue by myself. I need to level up my Dungeon Master class.

Kuja wanted to accompany me but I let her down as gently as I could. For now, the challenge provided by Nimue was too limited to provide any real growth if I had company.

The first floor was a breeze and the second wasn't much better. The just-created third floor was more challenging but a little trippy. The Slime theme transformed the floor into an alien landscape, almost organic. All surfaces were made of green slime, with visible chunks of mysterious matter semi-visible under the surface. Not only that but the properties of the slime could vary immensely in between two steps, from slippery, to gluey or bouncy. It made progressing a chore.

In my role as an adventurer, it was a pain. But in my role as Dungeon Master, I could only approve. It made for a good environmental hazard.

This floor was conceived by Nimue with assistance from one of my Minds that didn't share the details with the others or myself so I had no idea what to expect.

I was first caught off guard when an

's minion fell from the ceiling right on my head. It didn't hurt but it caught me by surprise, I was running with only my human senses to increase the challenge. The giant snail was heavy and it took turning to plasma to burn it off before I could remove it. The stench of burnt slime was awful.

From this point on I kept my eyes peeled, particularly on the ceiling. And it was a good thing I did, Nimue repeated the trick with the Achatinas on the ceiling four times.

Apart from those, the Mudcrabs were reused on this floor. It wasn't a bad choice, they could blend well with the ground. Still, my increased wariness allowed me to spot the first one and deal with it with a snap kick.

The traps on this floor were less interesting, simply stakes hidden under the slimy floor among the blurry shapes already present.

The first real obstacle was a

in the biggest room of the whole Dungeon so far. It couldn't really hurt me, but it could move fast not only on the floor but also on the walls and the ceiling. It tried to disorient me with fast movements and then rushed to break my legs.

I was too agile for it to succeed but I had a hard time hitting back. I was only armed with a knife so my reach was crap. It took far too long to deal with this minion. Eventually, I managed to jump on his back, landing face down, and used the momentum to embed my

in his skull. It wasn't enough to kill it, but it was stunned long enough for me to deliver more blows, that did the trick.

The following Mudcrab was easy enough to deal with and I avoided the last Achatina. The boss was another matter entirely. It was my recently acquired

. I stood just before the entrance of the boss room. It was smaller and almost fully occupied by a pool of water, giving a massive home-field advantage to the elemental. Both the boss and the water were colored green like the rest of the slime on this floor.

The elemental was standing on top of the water perfectly poised, unmoving apart from a current on his surface as only a non-biological being could.

It only started moving when I set foot in the room. Opening its beak it screeches in my direction before diving into the pool, melding with the water.

That was a problem. I look at the knives in my hands. I may need to rethink my approach. It wouldn't be wise to go too far, I wouldn't progress if I just crush the boss but if I couldn't even harm it that wouldn't either.

After much deliberation, I picked

as a weapon, a hammer. Mainly because the magic wood it was made from should allow me to truly harm a water elemental, even if a hammer wasn't the best weapon in water. That the boss left me enough time to change weapons without acting was good for me, but I would mention it to Nimue, it should show more initiative. Though the idea of forcing any foes to join it in the pool of water to attack it wasn't without merit. It may depend on the foe and it may be asking too much thinking from a facsimile minion.

I repeat my move used against the Mini-Moldorm, jumping toward the pool hammer first. I regret it when the boss manifests his head and breathes out a blast of water that sends me straight into the ceiling, the pressure keeps me there for a few seconds before cutting off and letting me fall to the ground. The only saving grace was the fact that the slime where I landed was bouncy so I didn't take much damage, except for my pride.

Getting up I glared at the bird head still bulging out of the water. If I didn't know that it was impossible for a mindless elemental with a beak to smirk I could have sworn that it was doing just that.

To wipe that non-existent smirk from his face I threw my hammer at it. It whirled in the air and struck the surprised boss right in the beak, forcing it to meld in the water once again.

I recalled the hammer to my hand and jumped again toward the knee-deep pool. This time nothing screwed with my trajectory and I landed in the water with my hammer hitting the surface first. Despite the impressive splash it made, it didn't hit the elemental. It came swinging immediately afterward, reforming into its full bird shape and attempting to strike me with its talons.

I took the hit, I could handle the damage and use the opportunity to strike again. This was the beginning of the end for the boss. Despite the advantage it held in the water, it couldn't do enough against me and my hammer was sufficiently magical to do real damage to it.

It tried to evade by melding in the water multiple times, but the pool wasn't that big. I struck it each time it emerged and with my fourth blow to his side, the elemental collapsed into water one last time.

With that I breathed a sigh of relief, this had been fun. It was a nice challenge to fight under some constraints to not make it too easy. A little like those guys that tried to finish really difficult games with no equipment or without using the jump button. For the first, I got an inkling as to why they did it.

Getting out of the pool I checked on my status, I was satisfied to see that I gained my second level of Dungeon Master. I obtained an ability called Deploy Trap, that allows me to manifest traps present within Nimue's domain. It wasn't extremely powerful but it allowed me some flexibility beyond calling on my partners so it was appreciated.

Nimue was also happy with this expedition, her third floor was a success and a serious step up in difficulty. Team Pioneer may have a hard time with it. I briefly visited her core room, to give her my feedback before exiting.

Tomorrow was Sunday and I didn't know what I would be doing. The current situation means that my schedule was often drawn up at the last moment. For now, I would just go home and rest.

Wordcount: 2799
Excess words: 582
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Again a slow chapter as much as I try to advance things faster I always get bogged down in minutia. Ah well, it's the style I'm comfortable with. And if you're still there after more than two years of quest and with 189 chapters, I assume that you like it too.

So I want to bring back something I did just after the Empire attack, for a few in quest-days I'll include a vote to determine the following day activity that will be covered during one chapter (two chapters max). In the same way as last time, some activities may become unavailable after a time, and new ones may appear. Also in the same way, if one activity is too limited for one chapter I may add another one that is compatible under my own initiative.
Last time this system remained in place for around ten in-game days, this time it will probably be shorter, probably no more than five or six. And of course, a particular new creature or power may disrupt everything.
Here's the new list:

[] Sergeant Blair contacted me to organize another training exercise with the Wards
[] I should check on that animal shelter that accepted the dogs from the dog fighting rings.
[] The PR department organized a visit to an orphanage for me.
[] Compendium is supposed to visit a school and talk to the children
[] I accumulate a fair number of Enchanted books, it's time to put them to use.
[] Armsmsaster proposed a spar. Me against the rest of the team.
[] I got a rest day. it will be good to spend some time at home
[] Clockblocker asked to talk to me about something private.
[] The meeting with the Adepts had been approved. Let's see what they want.
[] Kid Win has found his specialty and he wants to show off. Let's go see the results.
[] It's time to give away more partners and create more heroes.

For the roll, 790 (Banked) + 240 (Chapter) + 120 (Excess words)= 1150 points.

[] Creature

[] Power

Voting will be closed Wednesday at 3 PM GMT