Chapter 62: To the Land of Summoned Monsters! [Bonus]

Despite the large duffle bags they brought, the group had little difficulty slaying the beasts in the hostile territory. Tyler remembered back to his first visit in the realm. The disappearing act through the pentagram felt like ages ago.

They continued to follow Tyler’s lead as the map showed another faction’s territory nearby.

They avoided it, but Tyler told everyone it was the "Reckless Faction," and explained, via Ash, that they were a fun group that acted more stupidly than their name suggested. Essentially, they liked to get drunk and cause havoc. They were also apparently quite strong and had a mythological leader named Darion, a minotaur.

He didn’t want to risk losing their haul of crystal hearts. They needed them for Esper.

[Congratulations, you are now level 60. No new quests. You have gained one stat point in every category.]

Ash flew out of Tyler’s chest.

"He’s evolving, this should be beautiful!" Tyler smiled while the girls turned and watched Ash catch fire. Everyone gasped, including Tyler, as the phoenix was now tremendously larger and much more vibrant. His flames were now white, matching the highlights in his feathers.

"Isn’t white one of the highest temperatures of fire?" Nyx asked while admiring the roaring phoenix.

"Only blue and purple are higher. He will eventually have purple flames." Vivian said after appearing from Tyler’s chest. Looking good Ash!"

"Ash, you look amazing!" Tyler and the women shouted.

Two white orbs formed and flew into his chest.

"Holy hell. I feel so much stronger." Tyler said cheerfully.

"Me too." Ash’s voice was deeper again, but he quickly reminded everyone he was the same, sarcastic, funny familiar he was as a baby.

"Maybe now Tyler might be useful and not make us all do the work."

They all laughed.

"Yup, he’s a freeloader!" Ritsu teased.

"Definitely lazy." Rex added.

"Freakin` bum!" Vivian teased.

"No more fish!" Tyler chuckled.

"Sorry you’re the beauty of the operation, I forgot." Ash playfully chirped.

"Nah, that’s you. Always has been, always will be...you cute little birdie, you."

"This dumbass thought I was a mimic..." Ash laughed.

"No way!" Maximus laughed.

"Well it certainly looks like Tyler is having fun with his familiars. Watch out, there’s more incoming." Nyx grinned.

Tyler and the others knew they were getting closer to their destination. They collected as many hearts as they could, adding them to the large bags of merfolk hearts they each carried. They also had the four punisher tyrant hearts.They wanted to give Esper a nice gift and buy potions in bulk.

They finally arrived and noticed Reza was expanding. The once small town was now alive with Eidolons walking the streets, talking, laughing and having fun. Tyler explained to his girlfriends how this once was a really small town where he first found an inn and if it weren’t for Ash being a well known Eidolon, he might have been in trouble.

Tyler led them over to Esper’s inn, which had a large "under construction" sign on the right side of the building with an attached permit signed by Bahamut. He grinned and led the ladies in. The bar was packed with televisions on, as was the meeting area, which now had a club like atmosphere with a DJ playing. It was bigger and the girls looked around in amazement.

"Esper!" Tyler exclaimed with a polite bow. "Glad to see business is great!"

"How’s my favorite human?!" He asked, hugging Tyler.

"Who is the lovely new lady? She clearly has Bahamut’s blessing."

"Hello sir! I am Nyxara Atwood," she politely bowed.

"So polite, just like Sophie, Amanda and Kass. It is a pleasure to meet you. Any friend of Tyler’s is a friend of mine and of Reza." He said kindly.

"Esper, we brought a ton of crystal hearts for you and are in need of a favor. We need a massive quantity of health, mana and food potions. Vexarra is running low and the prices are insanely high. I don’t want to buy out the stock and leave other people at risk."

"Well, you’re in luck. We’ve been mass producing due to high demand and high customer traffic. I can give you 5,000 of each if you have enough hearts."

’System, where would I store 5,000 potions?!’

[I would recommend buying a large deep freezer and second refrigerator for your apartment.]

’Do you think I have enough crystal hearts?’

[Speak with Esper, I am not sure. Each of you is carrying a large bag full of them.]

"Well, we have plenty of hearts but I’m not sure it’ll be enough for 5,000 of each." Tyler admitted.

They all showed Esper the large black duffle bags they were carrying.

"Talia!" He yelled. A younger Eidolon appeared.

"Yes boss?"

"Please watch the counter. I have to take some friends to the office.."

"Sure thing! Wait, is that Tyler?"

"Yes, nice to meet you!" Tyler smiled and bowed. He introduced his group and followed Esper into a storage room with tons of materials. Weapons, armor, crystal hearts and other random things were neatly organized.

He grabbed each of the duffle bags, pulling out a crystal each time, inspecting it while muttering to himself, "Guardian," "Guardian," "Punisher," "Legendary," while stacking them on a table. When he got through the fifth bag, he finally stopped.

"Ok, that should cover it!" Esper smiled. "Now how are we going to transport 5,000 of each potion back to your realm?"

"Nyx, can you come with me and teleport me to an appliance store? I can buy a deep freezer and refrigerator, set them up in the house and come back for them once they’re at temperature?"

"Sure. Are you ok leaving the other girls behind?"

"Oh, Esper, I trust they’ll be in good hands?"

"Of course."

Vivian and Maximus stepped out and joined the ladies. They weren’t worried about Esper, but didn’t want to cause a scene either.

"Shit, I won’t be able to return to this exact spot will I?"

"Leave the portal open. If you’re quick enough, you can make it happen."

"If you have to leave me behind to set up the freezer and refrigerator, do that. Or just give me your debit card and I can go?"

"Let’s go together just in case. I don’t want you being trapped away from us. Will one of the girls walking through the portal every few minutes keep it active?"

"Yes, a very clever strategy. Have one one of them walk through every 10 minutes. It will give you a 30 minute window." Ritsu explained.

Tyler smirked. "Ok, in 10 minutes, Sophie, you’re going to walk back through the portal home. Exactly 10 minutes later, Amanda, you’re going to walk through it."

"And 10 minutes after that, I’m going to meet you all there?" Kass smiled.

"Yes. Thank you so much, I love you all very much!" Tyler said, kissing each of them.

"Love you too!" they each said after a kiss.

’Is it too soon for me to say it to him? I think I love him... it’s been over a month and I can’t imagine life without him or the other girls,’ Nyx thought.

"Ready Nyx?" Tyler said while reaching his hand out for hers.

"Yes babe. I love you." She said nervously.

"Aw, I love you too sweetheart." Tyler said, giving her a kiss.

"Yay!" Amanda cheered.

"We love you too Nyx!" Kass and Sophie smiled.

"Hey! I love her too." Amanda laughed.

"Love you ladies. You have made my life so much better. Thank you so much." Nyx said.

Tyler smiled and saw Esper, Vivian and Maximus doing the same.

"Young love is so beautiful," Vivian smiled as he watched the two walk through the portal.

They teleported and got the refrigerator and deep freezer. Tyler and Nyx returned and saw Sophie sitting on the couch. Amanda walked through the portal.

"Crap, I better hurry!" Tyler thought.

He walked through and saw Kass standing with Vivian and Maximus. Two white orbs formed and floated into his chest. Tyler noticed a small box in Esper’s hand and Kass had a duffle bag strapped to her shoulder.

"These are for you. This box will expand when you open it and allow you to store the potions. They are good for at least 48 hours on your planet so no need to return to get them." Esper smiled while handing Tyler the box. He grabbed the duffle bag from Kass, grabbed a few extra hearts and handed them to Esper.

"Thank you my friend. You are too kind." Tyler said.

"The pleasure is mine. Don’t be a stranger."

"I won’t. Ok Kass, ready my love?" He smiled widely while grabbing her hand.

"Yup handsome. Let’s head home. We will get our report cards soon!"

They walked through the portal and everyone was amazed at the little magic box that slightly expanded, allowing potion after potion to easily be removed and stored.