《Elsewhere》 Prologue and Chapter 1 Prologue ¡°Missiles, missiles, missiles! Break left! Release chaff and flares!¡± Andy¡¯s wingman¡¯s voice thundered through his headset. His instinctive reaction was to wince at the volume, but years of practice had expunged that reaction. Instead, he yanked his joystick hard over to the left and slammed his thrust forward while his thumb trigged the defensive chaff that would distract the radar-guided missiles sent to shoot him down. Andy strained his body against the G-forces that tried to strip his brain of blood and send him straight to sleep. The training to do so had been extensive and continued to this day. It was unnatural and required muscular control that few who didn¡¯t fly could really understand. Today, the training proved out as he remained conscious through the 8-G turn. The airframe shuddered under the strain as well as he completed his turn, smiling as the enemy missile lock tone vanished. OK, round one to you, asshole. Now it¡¯s my turn! Andy glanced at his HUD radar and located the plane that had ambushed them from behind a freaking mountain. ¡°Coltrane, you got this bastard on radar?¡± Andy called out to his wingman for confirmation that he also was seeing the same thing on his scope. ¡°Roger, Duke, I got him on the scope. Still have no IFF or ID on what he¡¯s flying. You got a visual?¡± ¡°Negative, I got no eyes on him.¡± Without warning, the enemy plane vanished off Andy¡¯s radar. ¡°I lost contact! Where the fuck did he go?¡± ¡°Negative contact here. He vanished. Did he drop below the ridge? Who the fuck is this guy?¡± Another voice came over comms, calm and deep. ¡°Intrepid four and five, this is overwatch. Exfil immediately. I repeat, disengage and return to base.¡± Andy shook his head at the bizarre order. ¡°Negative, overwatch. We have this bandit contained and will splash him.¡± ¡°Intrepid four and five, disengage. I repeat. Disengage and return to base.¡± The voice of the overwatch operator was starting to show strain, yet he held to professionalism. Barely. ¡°Overwatch, this is Intrepid four. I agree with Duke. We¡¯ve got this bastard painted and splashed the second he pops back onto radar.¡± The overwatch operator finally lost his cool. ¡°Goddammit you two get your asses out of there now. This is not a motherfucking suggestion. You have a fucking dozen more bandits inbound. They¡¯ll be in range to see you in seconds. Turn and burn. Now!¡± It was at this moment that Andy knew he¡¯d fucked up as he¡¯d turned away from the exfil and had burned towards the last known location of the mystery jet with his wingman in tow. His radar lit up with multiple fighters incoming and the sound of their radar locks was suddenly blaring in his ears. His training had not fled him, and his reaction speed was still top-notch. Both he and his wingman turned away from the oncoming fighters and punched their throttles to full afterburner. He was slammed backwards into his seat, the entire jet shuddering as it accelerated at emergency speed. ¡°Shit, shit, shit! Duke, we¡¯re toast! Birds in the air! Too many to count!¡± Andy did the only thing he could, he launched all of his flares and chaff in a desperate ploy to distract the missiles coming for him and his wingman. He juked and dodged in every way his mind could imagine. Time slowed to a crawl as one eye stayed locked onto the radar screen tracking the inbound missiles. There were too many missiles coming in. There was no way they were making it out of this jam. ¡°Coltrane, break for the deck!¡± Andy¡¯s voice held despite the shaking of his nerves. He knew what had to be done. Coltrane didn¡¯t hesitate, knowing just how good his wingman¡¯s instincts were. He broke for the deck, burning fuel at an obscene rate. He knew he could only keep it this low for a short time at this speed, even though they had broken out into the desert, flying this low at this speed just plain burned fuel. Still, he kept the throttle pegged, heading for friendlier air as fast as he could manage. Andy also broke for the deck, right behind Coltrane. As he set up behind his wingman, missiles just seconds away now that more than half of them had passed through the flares and chaff and had re-locked in on him. He slammed his throttle back to zero and slammed his stick back while hitting all his flaps. His jet virtually stopped in the air relative to everything else flying around him. His final act in the cockpit was to pull the ejection handle, launching himself out of the jet moments before it slammed into the ground. The explosive ejection system launched him into the air above the instant wreckage of his plane. The breaking sensation in the cockpit had been tremendous, giving him the illusion that his plane had slowed down. It had, in fact, slowed down significantly. It had dropped from supersonic to a mere three hundred fifty knots. In his time-slowed sensation, he tumbled through the air watching missiles slam into the exploding wreckage of his plane. He was overjoyed that his ploy had worked, and Coltrane was able to break free of the engagement. His parachute deployed a microsecond before he splattered across the desert floor. It wasn¡¯t particularly helpful. Chapter 1 Clouds had rolled in to obscure the stars, but Eglin knew that they were properly aligned. The countless factors that he had calculated over the past decade had all led to this moment. Each and every brazier was set in the perfect configuration around his ritual diagram. The Ifrit standing before each one nodded back at him in acknowledgement of the perfection of his ritual array. They would all vanish once their contract was fulfilled and the portal opened but for now, they stood sentry over the flames. His smile grew into a maniacal grin as he traced the final lines of the diagram in the purest blackened gold dust. As the sands in his enormous hourglass sifted down to the final hours, his frantic preparations increased. More lines were drawn, circles completed, and ingredients added to the braziers in just the right order. The ritual had to be perfect, and Elgin would not let anything interfere. Especially not something as inconsequential as a little wind. He stilled the breeze with a thought not noticing, or caring for that matter, the cost of his expenditure of power. Preparations continued and Elgin scrambled around his ritual, ensuring everything was in its perfect spot. With a final careful step, he poured the container of divine blood he had obtained into the channel that surrounded the ritual. The spells placed on the blood kept it flowing evenly until it completed the circuit, triggering the ritual to finally commence. The clouds that had been darkening throughout the preparation of the ritual finally released the pent-up lightning ¨C one bolt into each brazier to open the way between worlds. This is what was shown to him so many years ago when his summoning ritual was barely functional. Now, with everything he had learned, his skill with rituals, specifically summoning rituals, was unparalleled in this world. Elgin cackled with joy as every element of his ritual engaged, building up to the opening of the summoning portal. The portal opened with a fiery glow and a figure of flesh, metal, and fire burst forth screaming violence into his world. Elgin whispered in rapture, ¡°I call for the Eldritch, and it comes. The cycle is complete.¡± He collapsed to his knees in worship. ************************************************************************************* Elsewhere, a figure stood in its metaphysical and metaphorical kitchen making a cup of coffee. A being of infinite age and near unlimited power, it has seen the formation and destruction of countless worlds. No small number of fallen worlds were attributable directly to its influence and an even greater number were the result of its indirect influence. As it sipped its coffee, it felt a pull. Someone was calling for it, drawing it to yet another world to devour. This pull was different than those before. It was tainted by delicious madness, madness that it recognized as a product of its own influence. Had it already tasted this mortal, this world? If so, why hadn¡¯t it consumed it like the others? Was it tainted by something from the Lords of Order? No, we shall not answer this call. We shall send¡­another. An agent with a seed of our power. Yes, a hint. But leave its will intact - mostly. That will be fun to watch. Yes. The being sipped its coffee and swiped a being from an unnamed world an instant before its death to cast it through the portal. Yes, this being¡¯s world was even devoid of magic. Oh, this is going to be fun to watch. Yes, giving the powerless power always led to Chaos. A smile graced its features, an expression unknown in countless millennia. ************************************************************************************* Elsewhere still, another being of Power stirred from its inactivity. Its white robes fluttered as it raised its hand with a slight gesture. With a voice that could still galaxies it made a simple statement, ¡°Me too.¡± And then devolved into incomprehensible mirth. ************************************************************************************* Back on the magic-rich world of Teldin, the madman known as Elgin remained kneeling as chaos erupted around him. The being of metal and flesh skipped across the ground and came apart, spraying the area with all manner of burning parts and debris. He saw none of this as he kept his head bowed in worship. Andy, on the other hand, didn¡¯t see this as he was in the middle of this mess, tumbling through the air and slamming into the soft loam face first. Somehow, he managed to stay barely conscious throughout the entire twisting and tumbling ordeal. There were a few things he knew at this point and even more that did not make sense to him. He ran through the list in his head. Everything hurt. His bell had been rung pretty hard despite his helmet and he was sure that at least one arm and one leg was broken. He also was sure there were some internal injuries. He didn¡¯t think rescue was going to make it to him in time as he was barely able to hold his head up out of the soft dirt and grass he had come to rest in. Dirt? Shouldn¡¯t it be sand? I crashed in the desert. Wait a minute. I crashed so hard into the desert floor I should be a puddle. What¡¯s going on here? ¡°Rise, master and show me your full glory oh great and eldritch one of flesh and steel!¡± The voice was high-pitched and tight. It drilled into Andy¡¯s nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard. The voice continued with some sort of incomprehensible mumbling about not being worthy or something. Andy, himself, was distracted by his heads-up display coming to life. And the pain. The overwhelming pain of broken bones, snapped ligaments, and punctured skin was a grand distraction. ***GPS SIGNAL LOST ¨C NAVIGATION UNAVAILABLE*** ¡°Well, that¡¯s not a big fucking surprise. Shit¡¯s scattered all around me.¡± Andy muttered to himself, afraid to actually speak for fear of a broken rib piercing something else vital. How the hell am I still alive? ***SYSTEM INITIATION COMMENCING*** Andy''s muttering continued, ¡°Shit¡¯s broken, computers have to be in pieces. Ain¡¯t nothing gonna initiate. There ain¡¯t nothing TO initiate. And it should be initialize anyway.¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ***ELDRITCH SEED OF CHAOS DETECTED. SYSTEM INTEGRATING*** ***ERROR*** ***ELDER SEED OF LAW DETECTED. SEED CONFLICT DETECTED. SEED MERGE INITIATED*** Andy groaned as messages that made no sense traversed his Heads-up Display. He closed his eyes to keep the headache from worsening. The messages continued despite his closed eyes. Wait, what? ***SEED MERGE SUCCESSFUL. NEW SEED CREATED ¨C SEED OF ANOMY CREATED. INTEGRATING SEED INTO SYSTEM INITIATION*** ***SYSTEM INITATION COMPLETE*** ***Welcome to Teldin, traveler. You have journeyed an impossible distance to get here and as such, your experience on this planet will be unique. You have been touched by Powers beyond your possible comprehension and you are forever changed as a result. It will take time to understand yourself and your impact on this world. The Powers have left some simple warnings and instructions for you. Take heed as these will not be repeated: First, guard your true name ¨C knowledge of your true self is for you alone and sharing it will give others power over you. Second, you are unique in this world ¨C the rules of this world do not necessarily apply to you. What this means is ultimately for you to discover. Third, have fun. We will be watching but will not intervene for you. Entertain us for we have given you life from death and in doing so invested you with power. Use it. Your first gift is the gift of XENOGLOSSIA ¨C you can now understand all languages. Your second gift is the Ability of TELEPORTATION ¨C In time, you may grow this Ability to take you anywhere on this world you desire. Your final gift is the Ability of REGENRATION ¨C You will heal over time. This is now an innate ability and will always be active. We wish you good fortune. Entertain us enough and perhaps we shall grant you additional gifts in the future. Or not. END OF MESSAGE*** What in the actual fuck was that all about? Andy struggled to his feet out of instinct to be ready for whatever next was coming his way. He didn¡¯t understand what was going on, but his training told him that staying where he crashed was definitely not the thing to do. As he stood, he suddenly realized that he was actually standing on broken legs but was not feeling any pain from them. This is too much. A minute ago, I was in so much pain I could barely breathe, now I¡¯m standing. He looked down at himself and realized that he was still wearing his helmet with his mask on, preventing him from seeing much of anything. Sighing, he unclipped his mask and removed his helmet. Looking around himself, he was determined to get a quick lay of the land, but his thoughts interrupted again as he saw that his flight suit was terribly shredded and soaked with blood. That much damage to the suit and blood loss should have crippled me. How am I still alive and standing, let alone not bleeding out. Once again, words appeared in his vision. ***Current Health: 41 ***Maximum Health: 61 As he watched, his Current Health increased by about two points per second. So, that¡¯s something. I still don¡¯t believe any of this but the ache in my back just went away. And my headache is gone. And my arm feels better. Over the course of the next ten seconds, every ailment and ache seemed to leave Andy¡¯s body. Well, strange or not, I could get used to this. For sure. His attention was immediately refocused by the movement of a pile of rags nearby. The pile of rags stood up and revealed itself to be a man. A horribly dirty and disheveled man, but a man, nonetheless. ¡°Greetings great Master from Beyond!¡± The homeless man spoke up, his voice high-pitched and immediately annoying. Andy instinctively reached for his sidearm which, of course, had been lost in the crash. He winced and prepared to fight or run before his brain processed what the figure had said. Andy decided to play along for now. Master from Beyond has a sweet ring to it. Time to play along. ¡°Hold and identify yourself!¡± Andy spoke in his best ¡°command voice¡± that he had been taught in the academy. The figure cringed and hunched further, averting his eyes from Andy¡¯s gaze. ¡°Master speaks but Elgin does not understand. Please do not punish Elgin. Elgin brings Eldritch Master to this world to offer Elgin in service.¡± Andy shook his head in confusion. Didn¡¯t that gift say I could understand every language? Shit. Yes, it did say that. It didn¡¯t say anything about speaking them. Son of a bitch. You assholes! He decided to voice that one out loud. ¡°You assholes! That language thing is bullshit!¡± Elgin cowered further, taking a shuffling step backwards and lifting up a tiny blue crystal as he slid to his knees. His voice was much quitter but still annoyingly pitched. ¡°Please take crystal so that your servant can understand Great Master.¡± Andy shrugged. Nothing ventured. Nothing gained. He took the crystal from Elgin¡¯s trembling hand. ***You have gained a Crystal of Learning ¨C Common Trade Language. Would you like to absorb the Crystal to learn the Common Trade Language?*** Andy didn¡¯t think overly long about it and accepted the language. Immediately, his mind was filled with words and concepts heretofore unknown to him. He spoke again, this time concentrating on the new language, ¡°Who are you?¡± The reaction was immediate. ¡°Elgin hears Master and obeys. Elgin is Master¡¯s servant. Elgin begs Master to impart wisdom and knowledge upon his humble self.¡± Elgin pushed himself downward, practically pushing his face into the loamy grass. ¡°How is Elgin to call Master?¡± Oh, this is either going to be fun or a royal pain in the ass. Might as well see where this goes. Andy smiled, ¡°Rise loyal one. You may call me¡­Duke or Master. That works too.¡± Oh yeah, that¡¯s putting it on thick. Too many damned movies. ¡°Perhaps I shall impart knowledge upon you but first, tell me what you know of this world.¡± Is he gonna buy it? Fingers crossed! ***ALIAS NOTED. DUKE SHALL BE YOUR ALIAS WITHIN THIS WORLD*** What the fuck? Oh right. Guard my true name. Got it. Duke it is for now. It was a cool callsign anyway. ¡°Of course, Master. Yes, yes, yes. You have come to the world of Teldin. It is a glorious world with great workings of magic. I, your humble servant, Elgin have created such a working to bring you here.¡± ¡°Continue.¡± Duke tried to keep his voice level even as he inwardly was coming to terms with the insanity of the situation. ¡°Yes, Master. We are in the Kingdom of Chopie. They don¡¯t like me here. Something about some idiotic law or something I violated. But I¡¯ll show them. I brought you here so you can feast upon them all. Master is great and powerful. Powerful and great! I will serve you, Master.¡± Yep, going well off of the rails here. This guy is nuttier than a, than a, than a nutty thing. Oh geez, I must really be losing it when I can¡¯t even come up with an analogy. Can of mixed nuts. Really? That¡¯s the best I can come up with? Oh wait, he¡¯s talking again. ¡°Elgin asks Master. Is Master hungry? Please don¡¯t eat Elgin. That hurt Elgin last time.¡± ¡°Last time?¡± Duke¡¯s curiosity was piqued. ¡°Yes, Master, last time I did a summon. Different Master came through. Ate my soul they tells me. But Elgin still here, still have soul. You better Master - not eat me.¡± Duke shook his head, not sure how to process all of this. ¡°No, Elgin, I¡¯m not going to eat your soul. Not right now, at least.¡± Duke snickered inwardly. He didn¡¯t know why it felt so good to make Elgin squirm, but it really did feel good. ¡°I need more practical information. Where is the nearest town? What is used for currency? What do I need to know to blend in?¡± ¡°Elgin tells Master. Elgin has copper and silver and gold. Elgin shows Master.¡± Elgin fumbled in his rags and produced coins of various colors, handing them to Duke. They were all of similar size, and it was fairly evident based on the color which coins were which. ¡°Gold is best. Copper is least. Silver buys me ingredients!¡± ¡°OK, that tracks with everything ever written before. Nothing original about this world¡¯s economy then.¡± Duke groused. Elgin perked up at that, his eyes strangely bloodshot. ¡°Master knows the crystals too?¡± ¡°Crystals?¡± Duke inquired ¡°Yes, yes yes.¡± Elgin ran around Duke in a circle bobbing his head up and down, his incredibly thick and long hair tied in some strange braid and flapping behind him towards the still glowing portal. ¡°Crystals are bestest best. Must be charged. Must be charged. No try uncharged crystal. Bad. Very bad. Make chase. Make hurt. No bad crystals, no not for me.¡± The way Elgin¡¯s personality kept shifting along with the intelligence of his speech patterns was starting to get to Duke. It seemed the longer he spoke with him, the more primitive Elgin became. It was certainly odd and, even given everything that had happened to this point, well outside of Duke¡¯s frame of reference. Duke tried to get a handle on the situation, stopping Elgin¡¯s stumbling with an outstretched hand. Elgin folded over his arm, feeling like little more than bones and rags. Elgin¡¯s head turned toward Duke and his bloodshot stare was completely vacant as Duke watched the strength leave his limbs and blood begin to seep out of his eye sockets. ¡°Elgin. Elgin! What¡¯s the matter? What¡¯s going on with you?¡± Duke raised his voice as he spoke. Elgin¡¯s body fell forward, but his head was somehow jerked backward, ultimately pulling the entire body backwards. It was then that Duke realized that there was something attached to Elgin¡¯s head. It was not thick hair but a grey, pulsing tentacle of some kind that led back to the crash wreckage, the fiery portal that Duke had come through. Oh god, it¡¯s sucking his brains out! Nope! Nope! Nope! I¡¯m out! Duke backpedaled quickly, trying to put some distance between himself and whatever was there, repulsed by the sucking sound he could now hear. The portal flared bright red and winked out, leaving a afterimage on his retinas in the darkening night. The tentacle seemed to have been severed when the portal closed, but it was still moving, wrapping itself around Elgin¡¯s head. The severed end started to change, growing sharp, needlelike, bloody teeth and wriggling towards Duke. Duke instinctively triggered his TELEPORTATION Ability. It wasn¡¯t more of a conscious thought than a single thought ¨C get the hell out of here, now! In less than the blink of an eye, Duke was more than 25 meters away from where he had previously stood. He stumbled slightly, imbalanced by the shift in terrain and perspective. Well, that was something. Wonder how many times I can do that in a row? Duke tried to TELEPORT again and again. He found out that four was his limit as the fifth attempt greeted him with a message. ***MANA TOO LOW FOR TELEPORTATION*** Well, that answers that. Hey, system, how do I know how much mana I have? He started to jog away from whatever the thing was behind him as he started to interact with the system. ***CHARACTER STATUS INQUIRY RECEIVED. PRODUCING VISUAL CHARACTERISTICS DISPLAY***
Name Andy "Duke" Ellington
Race Seeded
Class N/A
Level 1
Max Health 61 Current Health 61
Max Mana 63 Current Mana 11
Experience 0 EXP Needed 2,000
Ok, that¡¯s pretty basic. It looks like I have used 52 mana. Assuming the only thing I have used it on is the TELEPORTs, they cost me 13 mana each. So, what determines how much mana I have and how do I get it back? Since this system is so videogame-like, there has to be some underlying characteristics driving all this. Hey, system, can you explain any of this to me? ***CHARACTERISTIC QUERY NOTED. PROCEEDING WITH VISUAL REPRESENTATION***
Characteristic Value
Agility 12
Strength 13
Endurance 16
Reason 12
Intuition 15
Psyche 15
Got it. Some of these seem to be pretty self-explanatory. Well, alright, the first three make sense of some sort. The last three, however, seem a bit wonky. What do they mean? ***CHARACTERISTIC EXPLANATION REQUEST RECEIVED. PROCEEDING*** The system proceeded to throw walls of text up in front of Andy, nearly making him trip and fall: Agility represents your ability to move quickly and precisely. It includes gross motor dexterity as well as hand-eye coordination and small muscle control. Strength represents the amount of physical power you can apply through your muscles. How much you can lift and how hard you can strike a target physically are affected by this characteristic. Endurance represents how long you can sustain physical exertion as well as your overall resistance to disease, poisons, and similar ailments. Reason is your ability to apply logic through your thought processes. It also impacts your memory of events and facts. Finally, it represents your ability to make rapid calculations in your head. Intuition is your ability to notice things in your surroundings. It is directly linked to your senses, natural or supernatural. Your capability to apply what you have experienced in the past to understand whatever your current situation is showing you is also incorporated in this Characteristic. Psyche is the force of your will. You have already seen things that would drive many insane, yet here you stand, resilient and steadfast. Or, more precisely, running for your life. That part was your Reason kicking in. For context, what is considered normal for a human in each of these Characteristics is a score of 10. You are currently ranked higher than normal in all Characteristics because of what your SEED has granted you. There is a drawback from having a unique SEED, however. You cannot take a Class. Your SEED will grow as you nurture it with experience and your level will increase in accordance. At each level, you will be given six Characteristic points to spend as you see fit. You may also increase these Characteristics through strenuous activity related to each of them. Your Maximum Health is a primary factor of your Endurance with Strength and Agility also having some effect. Your Current Health will fluctuate as you are injured. You would do well to not allow this number to fall to zero. You may be able to Regenerate, but you are not immortal. Your Maximum Mana is primarily derived from your Psyche but is also influenced by your Reason and Intuition. Allowing your Current Mana to fall to zero will not kill you, but it will make your mind significantly more sluggish and that will most likely get you killed. ***END OF CHARACTERISTIC EXPLANATION*** Chapter 2 Duke continued to move in the same direction. He wasn¡¯t remotely sure where he was headed but as long as it was away from that tentacle creature, he was happy with the direction. As he travelled, he randomly triggered TELEPORTs over and over again to get a better feel for how the Ability operated and what he could do with it. Through practice and experimentation, he found that shortening the distance reduced the mana cost. There seemed to be a 1 meter minimum on the TELEPORTATION distance which cost him only one mana. Increasing the distance to two meters still kept the cost at a single mana. He also discovered that he regenerated mana at about one point every four seconds or 15 mana per minute. It would take some experimentation to figure out how that would change as he leveled up but right now, he was satisfied with the number. Duke continued to travel through the light forest, following game trails as he found them. He kept his senses sharp, not wanting to run into any predators out here since all he had was his emergency backup knife he kept in his boot. Sure, it was about 15 centimeters long and sharp enough to cut his parachute cords if needed. But it wouldn¡¯t do him a whole lot of good if he encountered this world¡¯s equivalent to a bear. He travelled through the forest spotting signs of wildlife and even seeing some things analogous to squirrels chattering in the trees, but no signs of larger game. This disturbed him a bit as he knew he had travelled several kilometers and expected to have seen something. It was also night and there were tons of night predators, well, on Earth, at least there were. When he did encounter something, it wasn¡¯t at all what he expected. His first sign of life was the glow of a campfire in the distance. When he first spotted it, he had been getting sleepy, but the spike of adrenaline instantly roused him to wakefulness. He immediately stopped moving and listened. The crackling campfire continued in the night providing some light. Duke was still about 100 meters away so he could not make much out through the trees. Reversing his SEER training, he stealthily moved towards the camp at an angle, intent on circling around the whole place to assess the situation before taking any action. He moved slowly and deliberately closer, being as quiet as possible. He was about five meters away from the camp, completing his circle when he stepped on a dry branch, audibly cracking it with a loud snap. He was immediately greeted by the sound of one of the two sentries he had noticed in the camp whirling in his direction. The sentry wore what looked like chainmail armor which jingled and clinked as he moved. The sentry stood nearly a meter tall and had dark hair. Duke had not gotten a look at its face as it wore a hood that obscured its face. The only way he was able to determine the hair color was because the scraggly mess stuck out of several holes in the hood. Duke froze for a moment as the sentry turned towards him, starting to walk in his general direction. It seemed to be jerking its head upwards repeatedly as if sniffing the air. Can it smell me? Shit. Time to move but I can¡¯t run like this ¨C it will spot me in a second. He desperately looked around himself for an option to quickly and quietly hide but none came to him immediately. The forest had thickened throughout the night, but there was still too much visibility through the trees. The only cover being the treetops. The treetops! That¡¯s my ticket! Duke focused his attention on the treetops above himself and he spotted a good hiding spot in the tree in front of him, about 15 meters up. He readied himself and TELEPORTED. Immediately, he hugged the tree trunk as he gently placed his feet on the branch he had identified. He slowed his breathing and stilled his movement. The sentry passed below him. Duke could hear the sentry grumbling quietly. He was surprised how good his ears worked, but that must be that 15 Intuition helping him out. ¡°Smells like human. Better find it. Meat for cookpot. Smells that way. Follow for a bit. Garto watch camp. Yes, you watch camp while I get meat. Yes.¡± Duke watched as the sentry continued into the woods carefully sniffing along the trail he had followed. Thankfully, the sentry followed the path further away rather than the circle around the camp. After waiting thirty seconds, he TELEPORTED back to the ground and moved closer to the camp at yet another angle. As he got closer, he could see the other sentry leaning against a tree, with its head bowed forward. Sleeping? I hope so. The rest of the camp was filled with half a dozen other figures on bedrolls. All equally short as the sentry had been. Each seemed to have weapons within ready reach if they were awoken. Can¡¯t let them wake up and grab their weapons. Maybe I can grab them first. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. While Duke had been travelling, he had read up on his abilities. He only had two but was hoping that he could at least grow TELEPORTATION into something bigger. REGENERATION was pretty much what it was. He could get it stronger but had no idea if he could make it more. TELEPORTATION had said that I could bring things to him as well as moving him to other places. Duke settled down in a spot about ten meters from the camp but still within sight of the sleeping forms. Here goes nothing. He reached out and TELEPORTED a sword away from a sleeping figure. Five mana later, he had a sword in his hand. Oh, sweet. Let¡¯s do this! Duke proceeded to TELEPORT all of the sleeper¡¯s weapons away and had made a nice pile of them when he heard a figure coming towards the camp from the woods. Luckily, the returning sentry was coming in from a different angle and did not spot Duke this time. Now he had some choices to make. He had disarmed most of the camp, but the sentry was still armed and there were eight of them. There¡¯s no way I can take on eight of these fuckers at once. How the hell do I handle this? The returning sentry kicked a sleeper awake, ¡±You take watch now. I go sleep before sun.¡± He didn¡¯t wait for a response as he threw a wicked glance at the other sentry fast asleep. The sentry finally revealed his face to the campfire, it was not a great sight. Its skin was mostly green with some black patches thrown in for good measure. Its nose was distended, and everything looked oily. Duke suppressed a shudder. Yeah, definitely not human. The roused sleeper cast about himself looking for his missing weapon. As the seconds ticked by, his frantic ire rose. ¡°Where. Is. My. Sword!¡± He shouted, rousing the entire camp. In moments, he was joined by the rest of the sleepers missing weapons. As one, they turned on the sentry who had not had time to get to sleep yet. In moments, they had him surrounded. He tried to explain things, ¡°Was noise. I go find. I just got-¡° ¡°You left camp unguarded? Now my bow is gone!¡± He pushed the sentry backwards. The ring of campers pushed the sentry back. This continued for a few seconds before things escalated. A hidden knife was drawn, and the sentry was slashed. He retaliated with his sword and the brawl was on. By the time the brawl was over, five were laying unmoving and the remaining three were clearly injured. Now or never, Duke. Now or never. Duke readied one of the swords he had stolen in a two-handed batter¡¯s grip. He drew back and TELEPORTED behind one of the remaining creatures, swinging for the fences. He swung completely over the thing¡¯s head, missing entirely. The creatures were slow enough to react that Duke was able to get a back swing in, aiming lower this time. His blow did not have enough leverage behind it to cut through the chainmail the creature was wearing, but it did knock it off its feet. The other creatures, still reeling from the brawl reacted slowly and Duke was able to stab downward, finally penetrating the chainmail. The creature stilled. The final two creatures still standing finally noticed Duke and charged him, claws bared. Duke awkwardly swung the sword in front of him, hoping to at least hit one of them. He got lucky as one tried to dodge around his swing but slipped in the blood on the ground. Duke¡¯s strike still glanced off its head helping it fall to the ground but not really doing any significant damage. Then the other one was upon him. This one was larger than the rest, standing several centimeters taller than the rest. It also seemed to be stronger and heavier because it ran into Duke. Hard. It planted its feet in Duke¡¯s stomach, nearly knocking the wind out of him. But it was the claws across the face that really hurt. Duke lost sight in his left eye and bellowed in pain as he tumbled to the ground with the creature on top of him. The creature followed up its attack by biting Duke¡¯s hand that held the sword. Duke dropped it instinctively. The creature picked it up off the ground and stood over him, ready to strike the killing blow. Duke kicked his left leg upward as hard as he could, banging off of its inner thigh and slamming his shin into its crotch. There was no chainmail or other armor there to cushion the blow. It dropped the sword as it curled over in pain. Duke followed up by grabbing his boot knife and stabbing the creature in the face. It went down with Duke¡¯s knife in its eye socket. He rose to his feet just in time to be run through by the dropped sword. The stunned creature had recovered and came to finish things! Screaming in pain, Duke grabbed the wrist holding the sword and punched the creature in the face with his other fist. It was so shocked that it didn¡¯t try to block the strike. It crumpled to the ground, unconscious, tearing its arm out of Duke¡¯s grip and the sword from his stomach. Duke was bleeding from his gut, losing blood quickly. But his eye had healed, and he could feel himself stitching back together. In a matter of seconds, the blood stopped flowing and he could tell that his REGENERATION had kicked-in strong. Grunting as moving still hurt, he grabbed the once-again fallen sword and proceeded to make sure that every single one of the creatures was dead. He stabbed each repeatedly just to be sure. A few even stirred momentarily when stabbed but none were moving by the time he was done. Duke was exhausted. He could barely stay awake as the adrenaline fled his system and his regeneration sucked up all of his remaining energy. He stumbled to the edge of the camp and slumped down against a tree, closing his eyes momentarily. Or so he thought. Chapter 3 Duke awoke to a burst of adrenaline, gasping in alarm. He had fallen asleep among the dead creatures in their camp. In a brilliant display of calmness and self-discipline, he shot to his feet with his head on a swivel. The sword that had been in his hand when he fell asleep was flung halfway across the camp, splashing in a pool of mostly-congealed blood. He was greeted with the sight of his handiwork in the flickering flames of the campfire. Seeing the fire still going, he relaxed slightly. Campfire still going strong. I can¡¯t have slept for long, but what woke me up? ***CONGRATULATIONS! Having survived your first conflict in this world and taken time to rest and consolidate your gains, you have had the following changes to absorb: You are a monster-killer for sure. For defeating 8 goblins between level 1 and 2, you receive 311 experience points. Sure, more than half of them killed each other but you did set them up for it so good for you. Enjoy the experience points! Your Abilities have seen excellent use. You have made extensive use of your TELEPORTATION Ability and have gained 4 levels, bringing you up to Novice 5. Well done! You have unwittingly made extensive use of your REGENERATIONAbility and have gained one level, bringing you up to Initiate 14. No Pain, no gain! You have utilized a number of Skills since your last rest and have made some gains. Sometimes we learn more from failure than from success. +1 Level in your Stealth Skill. You now have Stealth at Novice level 38. Batter, Batter, Batter, Swing! And a miss! You have fumbled around with Blades enough to have revealed this Skill to be at Untrained Level 4. Kick ''em in the ding dings! Success! You have shown some aptitude with the Brawling Skill. You gain it at Novice Level 2. You travelled several kilometers without twisting an ankle or stumbling into a monster''s lair. You gain the Skill Overland Travel at Untrained Level 2. Continue to grow and prosper. You have been fun to watch so far. Don¡¯t let us down. By the way, if you don¡¯t eat something soon, you are going to have some serious hunger pangs. You might want to get on that. *** Duke rubbed at his forehead trying to take in all this new information and what it really meant for him. His world had been turned on its head. So far, he had just rolled with it like an insane lucid dream. But after clearing his head with some rest, the questions started to come fast. The answers, however, did not. As Duke contemplated everything, he walked around the camp, scavenging what he could find on the bodies of what he now knew to be goblins. They were dirty, smelly creatures and nothing they were wearing would really fit him. He rummaged through their belongings and came away with a few items including a backpack that was a bit tight around his shoulders even with the straps loosened to the maximum. He dumped the few useful items he found in and moved to where he had piled the weapons he had stolen. The weapons were of decidedly poor quality, most rusted and pitted. It turned out that the sword he had been using was the best of the bunch and actually still had something of an edge to it. He shrugged and dumped all the weapons he could fit into the backpack along with the few cooking utensils and the single small iron cookpot. All told, the backpack now weighed in at about 15 kilos. It was manageable but far from comfortable. Between the coins Elgin had handed him and what he scrounged from the goblins, he now had 21 copper, 5 silver, and 3 gold coins secreted in his pockets. He had no idea if that was a significant amount, but it was more than nothing. With that in mind, he left the camp figuring the smell would attract some predator or another before too long. He continued in what he hoped was the same direction he had started off in to get to the goblin camp. He was just thankful that it seemed to be a very bright full moon this night so he could still see where he was going. He kept the moon on his left, hoping that would keep him moving in generally the same direction. To amuse himself as he journeyed, he used his TELEPORTATION frequently. It did not take long for him to come to the conclusion that the additional 4 levels in the Ability had increased his range by about four meters. Not bad. Not great, since my maximum range seems to be limited by my mana ¨C about 120 meters before I tap out of mana. If I can keep pushing this Ability, maybe I can get that to a distance that will be really significant. I wonder what will happen when I rank it up. Or get more mana, for that matter since that seems to be my limiting factor. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of growling, roaring, and crashing in the distance. He spent a good thirty seconds pouring over his options before deciding that it was better to know what it was than to have whatever it was sneak up on him later. He engaged his Stealth Skill and moved in the direction of the commotion. It took him ten minutes of sneaking to get close enough to see what was going on. What he saw almost made him turn and leave immediately. In a clearing ahead, there was a bear surrounded by a pack of wolves. The bear was bleeding from a number of wounds and there were at least four wolves either dead or incapacitated lying around the clearing. As he watched, a wolf would dart in from the side, causing the bear to swing in its direction which would open it up to a bite from a wolf on the opposite side. The pack was wearing the bear down, but clearly it was not without cost. Quickly assessing the odds, Duke counted five wolves harassing the bear. The odds were not in the bear¡¯s favor. Duke could even things up but that would only put him in danger for little gain. He decided to watch for a moment or two longer before letting nature take its course. Another wolf darted in and back, using its distraction tactic. The bear did not turn in its direction, instead turning in the opposite direction and catching the opposite wolf in mid lunge. The bear¡¯s claws dug through the wolf¡¯s skin and fur with enough force to nearly decapitate it. The remaining four wolves howled with rage and stepped back, reassessing the situation. The bear, sniffed the air, catching its breath in the lull. And then it turned its head in Duke¡¯s direction. Its eyes were far too human and intelligent. It locked eyes with him and he could just feel the intent. The bear was begging for aid. Duke froze as he processed the sight. He was absolutely sure the bear had asked for help, but he was not sure how he knew. Then it hit him. The gift of XENOGLOSSIA allowed him to understand all languages. Apparently, that extended to bear body language. He could not ignore such a plea. It was time to act. He pulled the half-decent sword out of the backpack which turned out to be a much more difficult task than he had initially anticipated. It was the only weapon in the backpack that wasn¡¯t wrapped in cloth to muffle its sound but even still, it was annoying to get out of the undersized pack. He had just managed to get the sword ready when the wolves pounced again. This time, two wolves feinted from different angles towards the bear¡¯s front and the two at its rear followed up. The bear growled in pain at it was bitten yet again. Duke saw his opening as the feints started again. He TELEPORTED behind one of the wolves that was tensing to attack and swung downward for all he was worth. He was in luck. The wolf had not noticed him appear so when it surged forward, stretching its neck out to bite the bear, the sword connected between two stretched out vertebrae. The wolf went down with a final exhalation of its lungs. Meanwhile, the bear had surged forward to chase the retreating decoy wolves. They scrambled out of the way, but the tide had shifted. Unfortunately for Duke, the wolf next to him that had lunged at the surging bear noticed him and spun in his direction growling. So much for the continued element of surprise. Come on, puppy. I¡¯ve got a Blades skill now! The wolf charged him as the bear and the remaining two wolves clashed. Duke swung the sword at the charging wolf at an awkward angle. The wolf did not seem impressed at Duke¡¯s efforts as it ducked under his swing and bit into his right shin. Duke could feel the wolf¡¯s fangs scraping against his shin bone and howled in pain. Instinctively, he swung the sword at the wolf to try and scrape it off him. Once again, the wolf outwitted him and let go in time for the sword to miss. Instead, the sword slammed into the ground and the poorly-made blade snapped off at the hilt. The wolf smiled at him. Smiled? Right, XENOGLOSSIA. The wolf lunged at Duke again, aiming for his left leg this time. Duke managed to twist out of the way, his injured right leg screaming at him even though his regeneration had kicked in to start healing the wound. Without a viable weapon, Duke pounced on the wolf, pounding it with the pommel of his sword. Two blows later, the wolf slumped to the ground. Duke turned to see the bear growling at the final wolf as it ran away. And then it turned in his direction. He could read caution in its stance combined with barely held back aggression. Duke dropped the hilt of the broken sword, not that it would have done him much good if the bear decided to attack. The bear, for its part, nodded it head upwards and then proceeded to lick its wounds. Duke took the moment to check his injured leg only to find it was nearly healed. His Regeneration Ability was working quickly to get him back up to snuff. His pantleg, on the other hand, was much the worse for wear. It was so torn that it offered no real protection from anything. He looked back over to the bear wondering what to do next. The bear had asked for help, and he had helped but the thing outweighed him by at least 150 kilos, probably more. It likely could eat him without him being able to put up much resistance. His thoughts were interrupted as a man burst through the trees on the opposite side of the clearing, sliding to a stop with a stripped tree branch raised in the air with both hands as if ready to attack. Duke tensed himself for action, ready to TELEPORT to a more advantageous position if needed. The man paused looking between the bear and Duke as if trying to figure out what happened. He then seemed to notice the wolves¡¯ corpses and relaxed slightly, releasing one hand on the branch and bringing it down to chest level. He made an uninterpretable gesture with his other hand. ¡°I am guessing from the dead wolves at your feet that you are friend, not foe. Yes?¡± The man spoke with an odd accent and cadence, almost as if he were using translation software to speak with. His eyes still shone with intensity causing Duke to remain tense and ready to fight. Duke hesitated for a brief moment before responding, ¡°Friend seems like a much better idea to me. Let¡¯s go with that. Is that your bear?¡± The intense stare broke as the man grinned widely. Duke could see the smile touch his eyes and felt himself releasing tension that he hadn¡¯t even realized he was holding onto. ¡°You could say that.¡± The man chuckled with a wry grin as he approached the bear and laid a hand on its shoulder. Immediately, there was a deep green glow and the bear¡¯s wounds began to rapidly heal. He kept the hand there glowing as he nodded back to Duke. ¡°I think you can relax a bit, friend. You may call me Grat, all of my friends do. And this is my wife, Elaine.¡± As he spoke, the last of the bear¡¯s wounds healed. Duke¡¯s mouth dropped open as the bear rapidly transformed into a woman. Chapter 4 Now that he had a moment, he took in both of their appearances. They both had deep olive skin and dark hair. Hers was darker, raven-colored, while his was somewhere early in the stages of salting over. The pair were both on the shorter side, standing about a meter and a half tall. While he was slim, with the wiry look of a trim outdoorsman, she was much, much more curvy. Duke forced himself to not stare. It wasn¡¯t easy. ¡°Nice to meet you both.¡± Duke smiled as he kicked the broken sword hilt away. ¡°You can call me Duke.¡± Grat tilted his head. ¡°You are a Duke? From what kingdom? Oh, should I be bowing or kneeling or something. Court etiquette was never really taught in my family.¡± Duke held up a hand. ¡°No, I¡¯m not a Duke. My name is Duke.¡± Oh shit, this is going to be a major problem for me, isn¡¯t it? Grat nodded slowly with that nod-and-smile look you gave crazy people to humor them. Duke picked up on it immediately and groaned inwardly. Fucking callsign still causing me trouble. ¡°Well, it is nice to meet you, Duke.¡± Duke noted that it was strange that Elaine hadn¡¯t spoken. He hoped she was alright after all her injuries. ¡°Are you OK, Elaine? You seemed to have gotten chewed on by those wolves pretty badly.¡± Grat interrupted. ¡°She can¡¯t understand you. You are speaking a language I have never heard before. The only reason I can understand you is due to a spell.¡± He proceeded to whisper to Elaine for a bit, explaining who Duke was, apparently. Elaine turned to her husband, ¡°Please tell the Duke that I am grateful for his assistance.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not a Duke.¡± Grat explained. ¡°But you said he was the Duke?¡± Elaine asked, confusion crossing her brow. ¡°It is just his name.¡± Grat responded. ¡°Why would someone name their child Duke? Are you sure he¡¯s not a Duke?¡± ¡°I do not know why, but that is what he calls himself.¡± ¡°That is most odd. Are you sure he is not touched?¡± ¡°No, I am not sure, but he did come to your aid, so he is at least good-natured.¡± ¡°He is dressed in rags. Is he the Duke of Rags?¡± Duke decided it was his turn to interrupt. ¡°You know, I am right here. You don¡¯t need to talk about me as if I can¡¯t hear you.¡± Grat¡¯s head whipped around back to Duke. ¡°Can you not speak our language? How is it that you understand but can not speak?¡± Duke sighed. ¡°It¡¯s an odd ability. I can understand just about anyone, but I can¡¯t speak other languages that I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°That is odd.¡± Grat responded. ¡°Is it some form of curse? Are you cursed?¡± ¡°What did he say? Who cursed the Duke? Are we in danger?¡± Elaine inquired, becoming alarmed as well as more confused. Grat held his arms up in exasperation. ¡°Everyone hold up for a moment. Duke, may I cast a spell on you? It¡¯s called Tongues and will give you the ability to speak our language for a short while. Maybe an hour or two.¡± Duke considered it for a moment but acquiesced. ¡°Yes, cast the spell.¡± Grat walked up to Duke, extending his arm upward. As he approached the height disparity became very evident. Duke stood nearly two meters tall while Grat might have made it a meter and a half. Grat¡¯s eyes grew wider at the sight. ¡°You are a bit taller than I expected.¡± Grat offered with a friendly smile. ¡°I get that a lot.¡± Duke responded. ¡°Would you mind bending down a little, I need to touch your forehead for the spell to work.¡± Duke leaned down, allowing Grat to touch his forehead. A feeling of warmth flowed into Duke¡¯s head, feeling not unlike a warm blow-dryer being held just far enough away to keep from burning. It was ultimately a strange, but not unpleasant sensation. ***YOU HAVE GAINED A NEW SPELL EFFECT You have been successfully targeted by the spell ¡°Tongues.¡± You can now speak and understand most languages for the next two hours. *** Duke shrugged and asked, ¡°So, did it work?¡± Elaine smiled and responded with a curtsey, ¡°It most certainly did. Thank you for your assistance with the wolves, my Duke.¡± Duke could feel the color rising to his cheeks as frustration set in further. ¡°My name is Duke. I am not a Duke. I¡¯m not a member of the nobility. Not now, not ever. I¡¯m just a guy who has had a bit of a rough day. Oh, and you are welcome for the help with the wolves. Why were they attacking you anyway?¡± Grat interrupted gruffly, ¡°These woods are not what they used to be. Something evil walks among the trees. Something they do not understand and cannot describe. We have come a considerable distance, sent by the Council to investigate. What do you know about this evil? What have you seen?¡± Duke hesitated to speak about the circumstances of his arrival or what followed him through the portal. Something about the evil being his fault didn¡¯t ring true to him, but it could be something that Elgin had done. Either way, he was not going to reveal it to someone he just met. He didn¡¯t need that kind of trouble just yet. ¡°I¡¯ve seen some goblins camping not too far away. They seemed rather unpleasant, but I doubt that they were the great and ominous evil you are looking for.¡± Elaine nodded. ¡°No, goblins are nasty little buggers but they certainly are not any great threat to the land. Unless, of course, there¡¯s hundreds of thousands of them. That would be a great evil bringing them together.¡± Duke chuckled, ¡°No, I only saw a few.¡± ¡°Are they still there? Where are they?¡± Elaine asked, her voice elevated with tension. Duke smiled. ¡°No, they are not there anymore. We had a disagreement. See, they wanted me dead and I disagreed with their point of view.¡± Grat joined in. ¡°And since you are standing here, I can guess how that argument ended.¡± Elaine kicked the remains of Duke¡¯s broken blade. ¡°The crap blade is another good indication.¡± Duke watched the broken blade tumble into the brush, ¡°Yeah, you could call that a poor donation to my survival cause. They really didn¡¯t seem keen on donating to my cause. Really unpleasant of them.¡± Grat got them back on track, ¡°So the goblins and the-¡± He pointed around them. ¡°wolves are all you have run into in this forest?¡± ¡°Yep, nothing much else to see. Or, more to the point, that I saw.¡± Duke¡¯s mind was racing, trying to put together his story before he had to lay it out to these people. Then his brain crashed to a halt with another system message. ***The Spell ¡°Tongues¡± has successfully been absorbed. You may now use it as an Ability at will for a small cost. *** Well, that was interesting. I wonder if I can do that with other buffs. His thoughts were interrupted again. Grat asked, ¡°So, where are you headed? You¡¯re pretty deep into this forest and don¡¯t exactly seem equipped for it.¡± Duke shrugged, ¡°I am a wanderer and the forest seemed pretty peaceful to me. That is, until today. The goblins and aggressive wolves were a bit unexpected. As for preparations¡­I can take care of myself.¡± Elaine smiled, her eyes turning softer. ¡°Well, you certainly helped me take care of the wolves, Duke. Would you care to join us in seeking out the evil lurking somewhere in this forest?¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ***You have been offered a quest! Quest Name: Seek and Destroy Quest Description: An unknown evil has taken root in the forest. Seek it out its source and cleanse it before it can spread. Quest Rewards: Experience, Increased reputation with the Druidic Council. *** Duke weighed his options. Having someone who knew their way around would probably be helpful since he knew almost nothing about this world. On the other hand, he wasn¡¯t ready to reveal too much about himself, especially if the tentacle thing turned out to be the great evil in the forest. He couldn¡¯t imagine that going well for him. Ultimately, he placed his secrecy above potential safety in numbers. ¡°That is a fine offer, but I prefer to be on my own for now. I have so much wanderlust that it is hard to stay in a group with anyone right now. I hope you understand.¡± A knowing glance passed between Grat and Elaine. Grat handed Duke a small twig tightly wrapped with a blue string. ¡°Yes, I think we do. If you see something that fits the ¡®great evil¡¯ that we¡¯re investigating, burn this and we will get the location. I wouldn¡¯t suggest trying to confront it though. Even we are under orders to summon aid before any confrontation.¡± Duke examined the twig. ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll keep my eyes open. If I see something, I¡¯m your twig-burning guy.¡± They shook hands and separated. Glad to see that shaking hands is a thing in this world. Duke watched the pair walk off into the forest and immediately blend into the background. One moment he saw them passing by trees and the next, all he saw was trees. Mental note: My stealth is garbage compared to that. Get better. Duke shrugged and set out in the opposite direction from where the pair had left. He had no destination in mind but felt the need to continue to push himself to improve. Had he been the one surrounded by the wolves, he would have had to flee. That was not acceptable to him. He immediately started to practice TELEPORTATION, seeing how quickly he could TELEPORT from one spot to the next without taking time to reset the picture in his mind. He found that if he had a good look at the area beforehand that he could TELEPORT throughout the area as fast as he could think of moving. It was hard to keep his orientation but as he practiced, he found it a bit easier. Only a bit though. More practice, it seemed, was in order. Duke did just that. As he wandered through the forest, he kept TELEPORTING, making sure to vary his locations whenever possible from tree branches to boulders to roots. He tried everything he could do to put himself on poor footing so that he could get used to recovering his balance quickly. And, hey, he only fell out of a tree five times. His regeneration fixed him up every time. Hours later, Duke found himself tired and hungry. In all of his time in the forest, he had found little game to speak of and that troubled him. ¡°OK, time to find something to eat. I¡¯ve trained for this. On Earth. Where I knew what kind of trees, insects, and animals roamed around. Right. Shit. At least I know wolves and bears are a thing. Maybe rabbits and deer are too. Nothing to do but to go look. And stop talking to myself. This is getting creepy.¡± Duke set about to hunt or scavenge himself a meal of some kind. That was when he noticed that the forest was not only empty, but silent. Instantly, his wariness increased as the hairs raised on the back of his neck. Prey hiding and silent could only mean a predator was active in the area. He TELEPORTED midway up a tree to get a better look. His instincts had been right as minutes later a pair of wolves stalked through the path he had been following. They were scenting the air and the ground, clearly following his path. Likely from the same pack that attacked Elaine. Time to be patient ¨C I¡¯m ten meters up and there¡¯s no way they could jump this high. More wolves gathered in the area. Duke counted five before the biggest wolf he had ever seen joined them. It had to stand as tall as Grat had at the shoulder. He stilled his breath ¨C he did not want to tangle with this pack, especially with what he had to assume was the alpha there as well. The wolves milled about in the area for about ten minutes before leaving the way they came. Duke decided two things. One, that dinner could wait and two, that he needed to hide his scent trail some. He began TELEPORTING from tree to tree, not touching the ground in between as the light of day finally faded away. It was good to continue his TELEPORTATION practice and get out of the area, but his fatigue was really catching up to him. He really needed to get some sleep but sleeping on the ground was definitely out of the question. He continued to TELEPORT, trying to find a suitable spot. Eventually, he found a larger-than-normal tree with a massive limb forking out that would make for a solid place to rest. He settled in, tying himself in place with the extra paracord he kept around his waist. Thank you Sgt. Johnson for making me get into that habit! Sleep claimed Duke quickly. He awoke to another round of system messages: ***CONGRATULATIONS! You survived another conflict and have taken time to rest and consolidate your gains, you have had the following changes to absorb: You are a not a friend to the wolves. For defeating 6 wolves between level 1 and 3, you receive 337 experience points. Even though your ally killed a number of them, you still get a full share of the experience because¡­well, because you are broken. Just take the gift for what it is and don¡¯t complain, alright? Your Abilities have seen excellent use. You have again made extensive use of your TELEPORTATION Ability and have gained 4 levels, bringing you up to Novice 9. Well done! Find new and interesting ways to use your ability and you will be further rewarded. You continue to get hurt ¨C even self-inflicted! This continues to push your REGENERATION Ability forward. You have gained two levels, bringing you up to Initiate 16. No Pain, no gain! You have utilized a number of Skills since your last rest and have made some gains. You snuck up on some wolves fighting which is not a great feat but then you evaded a pack of wolves tracking you by scent ¨C that¡¯s something special. +5 Levels in your Stealth Skill. You have now progressed to the next rank in Stealth which is now at Initiate level 3. Congratulations! You really are garbage with Blades. Maybe you should stop trying to use them in a fight until you know which end to hit your opponent with. You can''t even hit something attached to your leg. But you did manage to actually kill something with one swing so, yeah you. You have fumbled around with Blades enough to have increased this Skill to Untrained Level 5. Pounding a wolf to death with the pommel of your broken sword - you might just live through a typical bar fight. You continue to show some aptitude with the Brawling Skill. Your skill has increased to Novice Level 5. You failed to hunt for something to eat. Your Overland Travel Skill has not progressed, but your hunger certainly has. If you don¡¯t find something to eat today, you are not going to like the consequences. Something to drink might be a good idea too. Dying of thirst or hunger would just be a pathetic way to go. Do better. *** Duke was happy to see that nothing had bothered him as he slept. The snark of the system messages really said something about the ¡°Powers¡± that placed him in this world. He wasn¡¯t quite sure what it said, but it definitely said something. As he worked to untie himself, he reviewed the changes in his abilities and planned out what he would do this day. OK, I used TELEPORT a bunch and it went up by four levels. I think that¡¯s good. It¡¯s still Novice and since Stealth went from Novice to Initiate, that must be the next rank. I was in the upper twenties for Stealth in Novice level so maybe level 30 is the threshold for Initiate rank. I have to keep pushing. I wonder if there is any way to use TELEPORTATION offensively? Maybe I can TELEPORT someone 10 meters into the air and let them drop ¨C that would hurt. Better start small. Squirrel hunting it is unless I can find a rabbit ¨C those are far better to eat. Not trusting to ground travel just yet with the wolf pack still out there, he went back to his tree-TELEPORT routine. For two hours he travelled in this fashion before he spotted another game trail to follow. This one quickly led him to a large clearing with a pond. His parched throat screamed at him to drink immediately but his training held him fast. Water was necessary for life and bodies of water were prime spots for predators to hunt. It did not take long for nature to play out as he anticipated. As he watched, a small, furry creature the size of a small dog came to the pond to drink. Its fur was a mottled brown and seemed to have some sort of extended snout. From that snout, a long tongue snaked out and dipped into the water to drink. After each drink, it paused and looked around, wary of predators. Three sips in, a feline creature slowly slinked out of the forest, keeping its belly low to the ground. Duke could not hear any sound of the cat¡¯s passage and watched as it quickly and carefully approached its prey. The next time the creature paused to take a drink the cat struck. The creature had lifted its head and looked to the right and the left. When it turned its head to the left, the cat leaped, leading with its front claws in a vicious slash at the creature¡¯s left eye. The claws dug in, destroying the orb as the full weight of the cat landed on the thing¡¯s neck. The squeal of alarm was loud and Duke could feel the naked terror resound in his bones. The creature struggled desperately to get away, but escape was not in the cards for it this day. The cat had latched firmly onto its throat and proceeded to choke it out quickly. It was all over in under a minute from when the cat had approached the clearing to the time it was dragging its prey away. Duke decided that it was time to claim a meal for himself. He focused all of his attention on the dead creature and pushed his TELEPORTATION Ability to its limits. He could feel a strange straining sensation. It was both physical and mental. In an instant the strain ceased, and the carcass appeared in Duke¡¯s hands. The cat reacted instantly, confused as to where its meal had gone and then yowling in fright once it realized that its meal was gone, just gone. It tore out of the clearing and back into the forest at a full run, not looking back once. A half dozen TELEPORTs later, he was away from the clearing and had gutted and hung the corpse to bleed out. Still realizing that he was extremely thirsty, he TELEPORTED back to the pond and drank his fill while keeping an eye out for any other predators showing up. Once his mana had refilled, he TELEPORTED back to the place he had hung up his meal to drain. Thankfully, nothing had shown up to take his prize while it finished draining. He quickly packed it up and was on his way, running and TELEPORTING his path away from the clearing. Along the way, he kept watch for an area he could set up camp and cook his meal. Nearly an hour later, he found the spot. There was a large boulder with a thick pine-like tree nestled up against it. There was just enough room under the shelter of the branches to set up a small camp. Not having much more than the rags he was wearing, it didn¡¯t take him long to set up. Dry firewood was abundant in the area and he kept a ferro rod in the handle of his knife ¨C fire came quickly. With a good fire, cooking the meat of the creature was fairly easy. What the hell is this thing called anyway? Shouldn¡¯t I have some sort of ¡°identify¡± skill or something. I know how these things work. I¡¯ve read enough books and played enough games. I feel cheated. Well, guess I¡¯ll just have to call it a snoutbeast for now. Duke was surprised how good the snoutbeast tasted ¨C even less gamey than rabbit. He was most pleased as he banked the coals of the fire to get some sleep. Chapter 5 Duke was awakened by system messages again. He was completely unsure of how long he had slept but since he felt rested, he guessed it was long enough. The sun was still down, but since he had no idea how long days were in this world, there was no frame of reference to make a guess from. Instead of continuing with missing information, he focused on his system messages. *** Congratulations! You continue to survive and provide some small entertainment. Think bigger and be rewarded¡­ You really keep focusing on this TELEPORTATION Ability. At least you made it thoroughly entertaining. The look on that bobcat¡¯s face was priceless. We were thoroughly entertained, so you are to be rewarded! You have gained 11 levels in TELEPORTATION which just happens to be enough to get you to Initiate rank, level 1. We are pleased with your creativity in using this Ability. Keep it up! Here, also have 106 experience for ¡°defeating¡± the bobcat. Beyond that, you made a smart decision to evade rather than engage the wolf pack. For making such a wise decision, we have decided to reward you with 337 experience and 3 levels in your Stealth skill. Continue to be smart and entertaining. The latter being more important than the former, eh? *** Duke smiled at his gains but he was starting to wonder how long it was going to take to actually level himself up. That was four encounters that could potentially have killed him, and he had yet to even get close to leveling up. In fact, he wasn¡¯t even halfway there. Either he was going to have to take greater chances or get used to leveling up slowly. As he thought about this more, he considered it a real problem. He was still limited by his mana. He could only use his Abilities as long as he had mana to supply them and with such a limited supply, he was potentially in trouble. Weighing his options, he decided that it might do him some good to find some sort of civilization. The main problem being that he had no idea where to find anything resembling civilization. Elgin had said he was in the Kingdom of Chopie, but that really didn¡¯t mean anything. He had also mentioned a city or two but without any directions, he could walk for a month and still not find anything. Well, two choices. One, try to figure out where I am or two, just keep going and see where it brings me. Yeah, this is going to be risky but choice one it is. Duke TELEPORTED his way along until he found a particularly tall tree. From there he climbed/TELEPORTED to the top to see what he could see. What he saw was more forest nearly as far as the eye could see in all directions but one. There was one direction in which a single tall tower poked above the forest canopy. Having no better prospects, he decided to head that way. A single tower in the middle of nowhere? Yep, that screams ancient and insane wizard to me. Probably not the best idea to disturb such an individual but what else can I do? I guess I should have gone with the druids. Yeah, I guess they were druids. I¡¯m going to call them druids. The name for them here might be something outlandish like keeper of the forest but I¡¯m just going to call them druids until I know better. The trip to the tower was uneventful but lengthy. It took nearly two hours to get into the vicinity. Duke knew he was there when the terrain suddenly changed. The trees all became equally spaced apart and identical. He almost decided to leave as soon as he noticed it but kept on the way anyway. Anything beat the boredom of this forest with some great evil lurking that never seemed to manifest or even make a peep. He did, however, stop TELEPORTING and took a careful walking pace. He wasn¡¯t trying to be stealthy but rather take measured and careful steps, being wary of potential traps or something of that nature. After about one hundred meters of this ordered forest, he came upon the clearing with the tower. It rose out of the forest made out of some sort of yellowed white stone. The tower stood some three hundred meters tall and almost fifty meters wide at its base. It was quite imposing in person. Duke followed the manicured path and carefully approached the ornate double doors. Before he could use the three-headed dragon of a door-knocker, the doors silently opened inwards. He hesitated until the doors were fully open and he could get a look inside. Stolen story; please report. Before he could move, a white-robed man burst out excitedly. He was short, barely reaching Duke¡¯s chest and full of energy. ¡°A visitor! A visitor! Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Come in. Are you hungry? I can make a meal for you. Oh, look at you. You¡¯re wearing rags. I¡¯ll get you some new clothes. Come in. Come in. Yes, yes, yes. Please come in. Oh yes!¡± Duke nearly fell over with the force of the man¡¯s greeting. ¡°Um, hi. Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, yes, what did you say? I didn¡¯t quite get that?¡± He tilted his head as if trying to get a good ear pointed at Duke. Duke paused and activated his TONGUES Ability. ¡°How about now? Do you understand me now?¡± ¡°Oh, delightful. Someone with some magic attunement. The gods have finally shined upon me! This is truly an auspicious day!¡± Duke couldn¡¯t help but smile himself. This guy¡¯s enthusiasm and excitement were overwhelming. He found himself being led inside by the laughing man without a second thought. The inside was decorated in pure opulence. The entrance rug was soft under his boots and woven into a detailed depiction of the tower itself. While the walls were adorned with similar tapestries that showed the construction of the tower itself. The furniture all had a ¡°tower¡± theme. It was all ornately carved, but was starting to give Duke some misgivings. ¡°Oh, I see you noticed that everything in here is related to the tower? A bit disturbing, right? I know, right? Now imagine being stuck here for a century and this is all you have to look at? You have no idea how happy I am to have another person here.¡± Duke was slightly disarmed by that but still a bit uncomfortable with things. He remained wary. ¡°I¡¯m Baslin, by the way. Archmage Baslin the Best if you want to go by full title.¡± He proceeded to speak in a stage whisper, ¡°For the love of the gods, please don¡¯t go with the full title.¡± Duke responded in kind. ¡°You can call me Duke.¡± Before he could say another word, Baslin interrupted. ¡°You¡¯re a Duke? Oh my. What happened to your clothes, my Duke?¡± ¡°No, no, no! I am NOT a Duke. It¡¯s only my name. Yes, I know it¡¯s odd, but that¡¯s it.¡± ¡°Um, Ok. No need to get so defensive about it. Just a natural conclusion, you know.¡± ¡°Sorry, it has caused me difficulties in the past and I didn¡¯t want to have to deal with them again.¡± Baslin smiled again, ¡°I see. I see. Totally understandable, yes totally understandable, my new friend. Please have a seat while I get us some refreshments. So exciting!¡± He then jaunted off out a side door humming to himself. While he was gone, Duke took a moment to assess his situation. He was sitting in a very comfortable chair in a world he knew very little about in a forest that seemed to go on forever wearing the shredded remains of his flightsuit. Kind of a mixed bag there. I could really use some new clothes so that is annoying but I have some abilities that I could have only dreamed about in the past. I can teleport and I heal faster than is believable. I can understand whatever anyone says and, with some effort, they can understand me too. All-in-all, not too bad considering the alternative. Now, I¡¯m here with this overly enthusiastic host. He¡¯s creeping me out, I have to admit. Duke was interrupted as Baslin returned, a large silver tray loaded with food and drinks floating along behind him. With a gesture, the tray landed gently on the coffee table and he sat down in the chair to my left. He smiled warmly, ¡°Eat, drink, and oh, yes, your clothes. One moment.¡± He quickly cast another spell at me, so quickly that I didn¡¯t even have time to register it before it was done. ***A SPELL HAS BEEN CAST UPON YOU You have been subjected to the spell Grand Repair. Your system has attempted to absorb the spell but the duration was too brief. You will need to be subjected to the spell¡¯s effects several more times to have a chance to absorb it. Your clothes have been restored to pristine condition. Everything is repaired and all flaws have been corrected. Your clothes now fit you perfectly. Your socks are dry and defunkified ¨C you don¡¯t even want to know what your regeneration was keeping at bay in there. Even your boxers are clean. Wouldn¡¯t your mother be so proud! *** Duke paused as the system message rolled over his consciousness and Baslin noticed. ¡°Are you alright, my friend?¡± ¡°Um, yeah, I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s just that spell was pretty impressive. I¡¯ve never seen anything like it.¡± ¡°Oh yes, Grand Repair is a wonderous spell. It keeps this entire tower in top shape if I do say so myself. I could teach it to you if you like.¡± Baslin inclined his head with the implied question, his brown eyes twinkling. ¡°That could be useful. What would it take?¡± Baslin paused to think it over for a few moments, picking up a pastry from the tray of food and taking a bite. He gestured to the tray for Duke to east as well. Duke grabbed a similar pastry with some trepidation. My REGENERATION should work on any poison or drugs in this, right? He received no response, so he took a bite anyway and was greeted with pure joy in his mouth. It was sweet and rich and buttery and indescribably good. ¡°Create Glorious Food. I could teach you that one as well.¡± He smiled in thought. ¡°In fact, I could teach you all sorts of spells.¡± He stared into the distance, trailing off as he spoke before a smile came beaming to his face. ¡°I could teach you all my spells! Yes, yes, yes, that¡¯s it!¡± He shouted. Duke was becoming increasingly confused at this outburst. ¡°Well, ok then. You seem pretty stoked to teach me spells. Why is that?¡± Baslin stopped and turned his attention back to Duke with a frightening smile. ¡°Let me tell you a bit of a story and you¡¯ll understand.¡± Duke nodded assent and took another of the glorious pastries to eat, waiting for the story to unfold. Elsewhere Book One has been Stubbed. Thank you all for checking out Elsewhere, but sadly you won''t find the rest of book one here. Royal Road has allowed me to get to this point and I want to thank you all for your continued support. You all have kept me going. Elsewhere (Book One) has finished its run on Royal Road. I hope everyone has enjoyed the story so far! And if you''re new, you can continue reading Elsewhere Book 1 on Amazon & Kindle Unlimited here: https://mybook.to/Elsewhere_Book_1 Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Due to the rules of Kindle Unlimited, chapters must be removed from Royal Road when books release on Amazon. If you wish to support this book one of the best ways is to buy the ebook here: https://mybook.to/Elsewhere_Book_1 You don''t have to do this, as it is entirely your choice, of course! Obviously, if you did, I would be incredibly grateful. Rating and reviewing is an immense help as well. As always, thanks for reading! It''s because of readers like you that creating this story is even possible. Book 2, Chapter 1 Taking the Fight to the Enemy Duke stood in the fields outside the Inn. He stared out into the trees at the path through the extremely dense forest surrounding the structure while the wind gently tugged at his now much longer-than-regulation hair. He smiled at what they had accomplished in such a small time. The vast majority of which was due to the very Inn he stood in front of. The last remining dungeon core on Teldin had proved an invaluable resource for housing and training. He was sure that was not what the dungeon was originally intended to be but that was what he was using it for. Someday, he was hopeful that he could feel safe enough to open it up as a training area for others to run. That, he expected, was where the true revenue of the Inn could lie ¨C in allowing groups to run through levels of the dungeon itself. Sam appeared next to Duke and smiled. ¡°You still think this is the right approach?¡± Duke smiled as well. ¡°I have no idea, but I¡¯m not going to sit here and wait for them to come at me any longer.¡± He turned back towards the Inn and the more than thirty thousand soldiers, scouts, mages, and support that comprised his Legion that stood awaiting his command to march. ¡°You have the Jewel of Whispers?¡± ¡°Yes, I have the jewel. If anything crazy happens, I¡¯ll contact you but I doubt there will be any problems. Everyone seems quite happy with the status quo. Adding the workshops and stores to the, what did you call it? Oh, yes, Civilian Floor. Adding all that to the Civilian Floor has made them not really want to leave. Even the farmers seem to be happy to tend to the farm fields there. When you brought the nearly fifty thousand more people into the Inn, I was worried that you might wind up pushing my capacity but is seems to be stable for now.¡± ¡°For now?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Yes, with the departure of so many of your mana generators, er, troops, I am going to be running a slight deficit with the population as it is. Once they start producing their own food and such, it should balance back out again. I suppose if it gets too bad, I can have a few monsters run through the area and thin the herd.¡± Duke turned, an angry retort on the tip of his tongue that froze when he saw the mirth in Sam¡¯s face. Sam laughed warmly. ¡°Oh, you are still so easy to get like that. No, I¡¯m not going to indiscriminately start killing your people off. But I will tell you this, and I am not backing down from it. I will be opening a real dungeon entrance on the Civilian Level. If anyone wants to run through it, they are welcome to try.¡± Duke started to argue but stopped himself. ¡°As long as they freely choose to take the risk and that the level-¡° Sam interrupted. ¡°Levels.¡± ¡°OK, levels. As long as the levels don¡¯t ramp up in difficulty and danger quickly, I am good with it.¡± ¡°I knew you would be, that¡¯s why I set it up that way. There¡¯s even a guard to make sure nobody just wanders in without knowing what they are getting into. But I really need to have some normal dungeon activity. And no more undead. I have lost my taste for them.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not a fan either. What are you using instead?¡± Duke inquired. ¡°Dragons.¡± Sam replied. Duke¡¯s head snapped to glare at Sam. Sam held up his hands. ¡°Not on the first level, but in the end, yes, the final boss will be a full-blown dragon. The starting level will have small to medium lizards, and they will grow in size and intelligence as the levels progress. I even have a race of draconic humanoids I am going to throw in there. It¡¯s going to be awesome! There¡¯s a whole draconic ecosystem built in there with lore and loot.¡± ¡°Sam, you do realize that there¡¯s not even a handful of people on that floor that could get past the first level of such a dungeon.¡± Duke pointed out. ¡°Yes, but eventually there will be. The first level is really just dungeon delving training. It¡¯s not really lethal. Broken bones are the likeliest worst of it if they screw up really badly. But, even with that, they will gain experience and get stronger.¡± ¡°And produce more Mana.¡± Duke added. ¡°Precisely.¡± Sam agreed. ¡°So, are you going to get this army moving, or let them stand there all day?¡± Duke smirked. ¡°I was in the process of doing that before someone interrupted me.¡± He gave Sam a pointed look to which Sam just shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t mind me. I¡¯m just here to send you off and wish you luck. Oh, and I have a message for you from the Overmind.¡± Sam¡¯s posture changed, becoming stiff and puppet-like. His voice changed pitch, timbre, and pacing completely. ¡°Duke, you have protected my last child on Teldin well. Do not be concerned about your masters¡¯ reaction to our interaction. I am not some small, petty, planet-bound godling. You already carry my blessing and my boon. They will not interfere with me or our conversation. Thankfully, what I have to say is short. Continue to nurture the dungeon at this rate and it will be ready to bud within a month. When it buds, the new core must be planted within ten days, or it will wither and die. The new core will be weak and feral. Plant it somewhere it will not attract too much attention and it will grow and flourish, even if it is just animals entering its chambers. I will speak with you again when it is close to the time of its budding. Goodbye Duke.¡± Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Sam returned to his original mannerisms and Duke was sure that the Overmind had departed. The pair exchanged a look and Sam departed with a wave. Duke shook his head to clear it. Too many other things to worry about, and now a baby dungeon? At least I have a month to get ready for it. Duke focused back on the troops arrayed before him, all standing stock-still at attention, displaying their discipline. He marched up to the general of his army, Aurelia. ¡°General, report.¡± Duke instructed with an uncharacteristically formal manner. ¡°Your Grace, the Twice Blessed Legion stands ready to march on your enemies. At your word, we will begin.¡± She completed her statement with a crisp salute consisting of arms crossed on her chest, fists held tightly. Duke returned the salute, feeling like an idiot for not changing it before it became ingrained. Who the fuck came up with this dumbass thing anyway? ¡°General, the word is given. Today we march on our enemies!¡± Aurelia, crisply spun around on her heel and shouted in her clear contralto COMMAND VOICE, ¡°The Twice Blessed Legion has been called to march! How do we respond?¡± The area resounded with a tremendous ¡°Ha!¡± from each and every soldier. In synch, they began to march for the exit path, perfectly blending the wide ranks into a four-man wide rank that easily fit down the path. Duke watched for a while but after ten minutes, he realized that it was going to take hours to move the troops out this way. He decided to grab Aurelia and get a drink. She didn¡¯t even have time to realize she was being TELEPORTED before Duke was guiding her into the Inn. ¡°The general should march with her troops.¡± She informed him. ¡°The Duke can tell the general to have a drink with him before joining her troops with him outside the walls.¡± He couldn¡¯t believe that he was starting to become comfortable with calling himself a Duke but his friends had made a great argument based around ¡°subjects and land ownership¡± and he was tired of arguing no matter how much it pained him to use the title. At least the system doesn¡¯t recognize and enforce the title. Small mercies. The pair went into the nearly empty Inn and settled at the bar. ¡°What will it be?¡± The minotaur bartender smiled at the pair as he waited for their order. ¡°It¡¯s a scotch day for me.¡± Duke smiled back at Calen. ¡°What about you, Aurelia?¡± ¡°I am in the mood for some mead today. Thank you.¡± She responded. In moments, both drinks had been poured and served. ¡°Quite the auspicious day, wouldn¡¯t you say? The Legion is marching on your enemies, ready to take the fight to them.¡± ¡°It is something for sure. They are eager for true combat.¡± Aurelia offered. Duke sighed. ¡°It is not all glory in warfare. I don¡¯t know how many of the Legion will actually make it back. We have to be prepared for losses.¡± Aurelia responded. ¡°I am well aware that we will lose troops despite the healers, there are always injuries that are just too bad to be healed. And the truth is that we do not know what we will be marching into yet.¡± ¡°Unfortunately we don¡¯t know just yet. We will get reports from the scouts sent ahead before too long.¡± Duke replied. ¡°Do you really think that¡¯s what is going to happen? We all know that you will grow impatient and decide to scout it out for yourself.¡± She gave him a knowing look as she spoke. ¡°You¡¯re probably right. I am what I am, I guess.¡± Duke replied. ¡°Mine. That¡¯s what you are, and don¡¯t you go screwing it all up before we get some real time together.¡± She admonished. ¡°Not my fault. Shit keeps happening and we have to respond. That¡¯s why I¡¯m being proactive and taking the fight to them now.¡± Duke said. ¡°Because they attacked us first.¡± She countered. ¡°Because I killed all those vampires.¡± He answered. ¡°Because they ambushed you in the city.¡± She replied. ¡°Because I killed their vampire guards.¡± He responded. ¡°Because they were harming innocents.¡± She replied. ¡°Well, there is that. But the only reason I was back in the city investigating was because they attacked Baslin¡¯s tower.¡± He countered again. ¡°Didn¡¯t they attack because Baslin declared that you graduated as his apprentice, fulfilling his Vow and releasing him?¡± She asked. ¡°Well, yes, they did. But they probably wouldn¡¯t even have been there if I hadn¡¯t flipped off the king in the arena.¡± He explained. ¡°And why were you in the arena?¡± She asked, leading him. ¡°I was in there because I was mugged and falsely accused of vagrancy.¡± He added. ¡°And how did that happen?¡± She continued. ¡°Baslin convinced me to check out the city and see how bad things were there for myself.¡± He confessed. ¡°So, this all comes down to you arriving in the city to see what it was like?¡± She asked. ¡°Well, there were a few other things in there too like killing the gladiator that was supposed to kill me. That seemed to piss them off. And then there is the whole stealing everything in the king¡¯s vault.¡± Duke laughed. ¡°Including his soul.¡± ¡°Do they even know about that? From what you said that vault was well-guarded, and no one went in there.¡± She asked. ¡°Maybe. Maybe not. But I bet the king probably knows that his phylactery has been stolen. He may not be able to detect it while it is in my INVENTORY but that is another matter entirely.¡± Duke smiled. ¡°Oh, and don¡¯t forget freeing me and an entire legion from the dungeon. That¡¯s pretty important to me.¡± Aurelia added. ¡°Pretty important to me as well.¡± Duke leaned over and gave her a kiss which she returned hungrily. ¡°So, did we ultimately establish whether this is a proactive or reactive decision?¡± She asked when they finally separated. ¡°No idea. I just know that Chopie¡¯s days are numbered. And I¡¯m pretty sure Baslin has been waiting to avenge the death of his friend, Dothalon¡¯s, for an awful long time. All that adds up to us having a kingdom to conquer, perform a little regicide, and, if Pahst gets in the way, maybe even a bit more regicide.¡± ¡°Sounds like a grand old time!¡± She replied, raising her glass for a toast. He clinked his against hers and they both downed their drinks. ¡°Time to lead?¡± She asked. ¡°Time to lead.¡± He confirmed. They both stood up, composed themselves and Duke TELEPORTED them to the front of the army as the ranks were reforming outside the wall. It would still take an hour for the rest of the Legion to join them, but they would be ready to march soon. Book 2, Chapter 2 Setting the Pace Baslin stood resting against a tree outside the gates. He admired the wonder of the living gates that Grat had crafted. The entire defensive structure of walls and towers had been grown out of the forest. Baslin corrected himself. Grown from the forest. The tree he leaned against was a prime example ¨C it was a hearty and healthy oak tree that was more than two meters thick and integrated nearly seamlessly with the trees to each side of it. Baslin wondered if the trees shared the same root system and if that was a vulnerability of which they needed to be mindful. He resolved to discuss it with Grat when he got back for he was going with the Legion. Duke and Aurelia appeared near his resting place, and he marveled at the man who had been his apprentice for the shortest time. To his Archmage¡¯s sight Duke glowed with terrifying power. Baslin had honed his magical vision over a centuries to be able to see all the subtleties of Mana systems. Even still, he had never seen anything like Duke¡¯s. The man¡¯s Mana channels were swollen beyond what should have been his limit, stretched to channel frightening levels of power. They all branched from a single core of power, some sort of cosmic seed planted deep inside his soul that had sprouted and was growing. Baslin was no longer sure he could keep the man in check if he needed to at some point. Once again, he was thankful that he counted the man a friend. The pair stepped away from the growing ranks of the Legion outside the wall. ¡°Hello there, Baslin. Ready for the long journey to Chopie-land?¡± Baslin chuckled. ¡°Yes, I am ready, but it remains to be seen that you have the patience for the long journey.¡± ¡°Wow, first Aurelia, then you. Everyone must think I¡¯m an adrenaline junky.¡± Duke responded, a hint of defensiveness carrying in his voice. ¡°Perhaps there¡¯s a reason for that.¡± Grat¡¯s voice carried down from the top of the wall. ¡°You don¡¯t exactly have a reputation for patience, Duke. You¡¯ve earned it and that¡¯s OK. Just accept it like the rest of us have.¡± ¡°Speaking of patience, are you sure you want to stay here and wait for this to be all over?¡± Duke called up to him. ¡°Quite sure. Elaine and I will keep an eye on things here and make sure everything is all in order when you come back. If you need anything, or more likely, are going to send a bunch of people here, just use the Jewels of Whispers that Sam gave you all. We¡¯ll get them sorted. And don¡¯t worry about us. Hanging out here in the wilderness is just perfect for us. City-life is not really our thing.¡± ¡°Wilderness.¡± Duke scoffed. ¡°You sleep in a bed and eat meals cooked for you by an extra-dimensional magical being. Wilderness, right.¡± Grat responded with a broad smile and a wave. ¡°Enjoy your trail rations!¡± He ducked back down behind the wall. ¡°He¡¯s tempting me to TELEPORT back for every meal, isn¡¯t he? Duke asked. Baslin chuckled. ¡°It does seem so. If it wouldn¡¯t affect the morale of the troops, I would say that it¡¯s an excellent plan.¡± Aurelia leaned in conspirationally. ¡°Perhaps if we had a large command tent that we went into for our meals and sealed it from interruption or had some way to know if someone was coming in¡­¡± Baslin beamed back at her. ¡°That¡¯s an excellent plan. Now only if we knew someone who would take enormous pleasure from crafting such a ridiculously impractical structure.¡± ¡°Do you know someone like that?¡¯ Duke asked, knowing full well he was walking right into the line.¡± ¡°I know such a man because he is me!¡± Baslin responded with a wide grin. ¡°Remind me to introduce you to memes if I ever get some sort of illusion-projecting magic.¡± Duke replied with a groan. Their conversation was interrupted when one of Aurelia¡¯s commanders rode up on horseback nodding to Aurelia and Duke. ¡°General. Your Grace. The Legion is assembled and ready to march.¡± ¡°Thank you, Commander Marsh.¡± Aurelia responded seriously. She raised her voice, employing her COMMAND VOICE Ability to reach each member of the Legion simultaneously. ¡°Legion! Prepare to March!¡± The thunder of the Legion¡¯s voices responding shook the ground. ¡°Ready to march!¡± Aurelia smiled with pride at her troops¡¯ discipline and unity. She gave the command. ¡°Legion! March!¡± As one, the Legion marched in ranks of 25 Legionnaires abreast down the road Duke and Grat had created through forest. They had created a 30-meter wide path to allow just this sort of formation while permitting some space on either side for commanders to move back and forth. In all, the formation was longer than anything Duke had ever seen before the horde. Whereas the horde was a disorganized teeming mass of undead, this formation was orderly and marched in lockstep. The precision with which they marched amazed Duke enough for him to comment on it. ¡°Despite the troops being different heights, they all are marching at the exact same stride and cadence. That is more than just practice and discipline. Their distances are not being affected by terrain or the curvature of the road.¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Aurelia beamed with pride. ¡°Yes, the FORMATION Ability is one of the key Abilities granted to all members of the Twice Blessed Legion. Many consider it a minor Ability, but for moving troops over any distance it is invaluable. Without it, troops will inchworm their way along as the slightest misstep will travel back through the ranks compounding to the point that troops midway through the formation and beyond have to continuously stop and jog to catch back up to the leaders. That leaves them off-balance and more tired than they should be on such a march. This Ability prevents that and makes sure they all travel as a unit. Just wait until you see a FORMATION charge. The thundering resonance as they charge in unison is enough to shake walls down.¡± Aurelia stepped high into the air, which looked rather strange until her foot came to a stop in a stirrup that appeared, followed by a massive horse. She swung up into the saddle and smiled at Duke¡¯s widening eyes. The horse was powerfully muscled and tall. Duke had to crane his head up to look at her beaming smile. ¡°You like my horse?¡± Duke rose into the air so he could speak to her without craning his head. ¡°Ahh, that¡¯s better. I didn¡¯t want to talk to your knee for the rest of the journey. The horse is a magnificently powerful beast, one fit for the General of the Legion.¡± ¡°Yes, I do enjoy having something powerful between my legs.¡± She offered with a wicked grin. ¡°Keep talking like that and I¡¯ll drag you back to the Inn and the Legion will just have to march on its own for a while.¡± Duke responded. She smiled back enigmatically but did not respond other than to kick her horse into motion, brushing a tingling line of desire with her hand across Duke¡¯s chest as she passed by. Duke visibly took a moment to re-center himself before FLYING above the marching column. He smiled at the precision marching of the more than a kilometer long formation. The Legion marched onward, covering ground at a consistent pace. Even at this pace it would be at least a week, possibly two, before they made it out of the forest and onto the main road to the capital. And even then, it would still be more than another week before they would make it to the city itself. Duke was expecting the king to discover them coming at some point. He had no idea if the lich was in contact with the horde before it was erased but he suspected that Chopie knew that his horde had been defeated. What concerned Duke on that front was that none of the three ¡°generals¡± that should have been leading the horde had made an appearance with it and were likely waiting for him in the city. At some point, the Legion had taken up a marching song. It was a chant of the story of the Legion from its original forming to fight the Vile King¡¯s forces to their defeat and redemption. Finally, the song turned to hope at being able to defeat the newly risen Lich King, Chopie. It was while listening to the song that Duke realized that he was taking the same Legion on a quest to do what it was originally intended to do and had failed at the first time. I hope that was just dungeon backstory because if it wasn¡¯t, this is kinda fucked up, and it¡¯s going to all be on me if it all goes to shit again. Aurelia had taken to riding at the front of the marching column, maintaining her INSPIRATION Ability for hours on end. It was one of her most powerful command Abilities that came with her Legion Commander Class, and it provided a significant morale boost to everyone considered part of the Legion. She had been pushing this Ability hard when training the Legion and had pushed it almost halfway through the Initiate levels. That, combined with her own personal Characteristic growth was providing a 44% boost to the entire Legion¡¯s morale. They would hit harder, march faster, be more accurate, and resist outside influences that much better. By pushing herself to use her 20,000 Mana Pool over and over to maintain the Ability, her hope was to get it to at least level 20 in the Initiate rank and get the boost fully up to 50% before they reached their destination. She would never speak it aloud, but the last time the Legion marched on a Lich King, it ended badly for them all and the thought was rarely far from her mind. The only respite from her worries was when her mind turned to Duke. The man had not only rescued them, but he had become everything she could have hoped for. He treated everyone around him with respect and care¡­until he encountered an enemy. Those, he eliminated with ruthlessness. The lengths he had gone to in order to help someone who even showed him a small kindness she found remarkable. She felt the respect and attraction that she held for the man growing into something much more serious. This realization both thrilled and frightened her. How could she ever keep up with the man who could destroy an army in one stroke? She was broken from her thoughts as a scout came jogging up to her with a report. The scout fell in step with Aurelia¡¯s horse, her pace steady. ¡°Report for you, General.¡± ¡°Proceed.¡± Aurelia answered without hesitation. ¡°Ma¡¯am, trolls have been spotted three kilometers ahead and off the road to the right by about another kilometer. It is unclear whether they will engage or lay low. There are seven of them. Forest variety.¡± ¡°Thank you. Go ahead and return to your patrol. I¡¯ll handle it from here. Well done.¡± Aurelia dismissed the scout and considered her options. Trolls would be a major problem for a small group of people to deal with, especially since there were seven of them. But Aurelia had the entire Legion at her back and even a hundred trolls wouldn¡¯t be a significant problem. As she considered what approach to take, Duke came down from above to join her. ¡°Any issues, or was that just a standard scouting report?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Small issue, but nothing that can¡¯t be handled. It seems that there is a group of about seven trolls off the road ahead. They may lay low or even flee when we approach, but they might be hungry and aggressive as well. The horde must have killed or driven most of the wildlife from the area.¡± ¡°True. I would say it is better to eliminate the potential threat than to wait for it to actually become one, wouldn¡¯t you?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Yes, I do agree. I¡¯ll task a century to break off and deal with the trolls.¡± Aurelia decided. ¡°Or we could just go ahead and take care of them ourselves.¡± Duke offered. ¡°It could be fun.¡± Aurelia smiled at Duke. ¡°Yes, it could be fun, and I can set my blade ablaze to prevent their regeneration.¡± ¡°Regeneration, eh? And flame stops it? I can do that, but I¡¯ll have to be careful not to set the forest on fire. That would be less than ideal. Let¡¯s do it.¡± The pair headed off after Aurelia gave an update and instructions to her commanders to continue the march in her absence. Book 2, Chapter 3 - Fun with Trolls The pair moved off into the forest towards the area the scout had indicated. The forest was forgiving enough that Aurelia could still ride her horse, but she was having second thoughts of using it when the fight started. After an internal debate that lasted nearly the entire journey, she decided to keep herself mounted and dismiss the horse if she needed to fight in a tighter space. Duke had spent the journey trying to decide how much of the coming fight he wanted to carry himself. He was sure that he could eliminate the trolls easily by himself but also knew that wouldn¡¯t be the best for his growing relationship. ¡°I want you to take the lead in this fight. I¡¯ll support you if you need it, but I think you can handle most, if not all, of them by yourself.¡± Duke offered. ¡°We will see. Trolls are not foes I have trained for in my new life. Well, at least, not the living variety. I¡¯ve killed a number of zombified trolls in the dungeon but that¡¯s not really the same thing. I also want to try one of my Abilities that I have only used in limited scope. With the whole Legion in range, the effect could be tremendous.¡± ¡°What Ability is that and what does it do?¡± Duke asked, intrigued. ¡°It¡¯s actually a pair of Abilities that synergize. The first is called INSPIRATION and it gives a Morale boost to troops under my command. The second is called ALL FOR ONE and it gives an experience boost to a single individual based on how many troops I have under INSPIRATION.¡± ¡°You have over 30,000 troops under your command right now. What do those numbers work out to?¡± Duke was fully engaged right now, thinking about the possibilities. ¡°INSPIRATION is giving a 44% Morale boost to the entire Legion. ALL FOR ONE is really where things get crazy. At my current rank, It gives a 3% boost in experience for every 100 individuals under INSPIRATION. It also reduces everyone else¡¯s experience gains by 1% but it¡¯s such a small amount that it¡¯s really unnoticeable.¡± She smiled as she saw Duke¡¯s growing reaction. ¡°That¡¯s like a 900% experience boost for one person. That¡¯s incredible. Use it on yourself for this fight and let¡¯s see how it goes.¡± Duke marveled. ¡°I was going to use it on you.¡± She countered. ¡°No, for this fight, use it on yourself for three reasons. Firstly, I¡¯m a tier higher and maybe 50 levels into that tier beyond where you are now so you need to start catching up. Secondly, you¡¯ll get the experience right after the fight. And lastly, since I get my experience differently, it might not even work on me.¡± ¡°OK, I have it set to myself for now. The trolls should be close. Let¡¯s get ready.¡± She put words to action by drawing her golden sword. Duke chuckled inwardly, knowing that there was no way they were sneaking up on the trolls with Aurelia in her golden armor reflecting sunlight in all directions. Not that it would matter. This was going to be a straight up fight in his mind. Trolls were just dumb brutes after all. As his thoughts circled around to Aurelia, he felt another of her Abilities kick-in. *** You have been affected by an Ability. COMMANDER¡¯S MIGHT had granted you a temporary 25% increase in your Strength. *** Well, that¡¯s pretty damned cool. I doubt I¡¯m going to use it in this fight but that¡¯s a significant boost. Duke considered asking Aurelia about the Ability¡¯s parameters, but he spotted the trolls ahead. The trolls were large creatures. Not on the same scale as the giant Duke fought so long ago but significantly larger than Duke himself. He estimated that they stood around four meters tall and were largely humanoid. Their skin was a mottled green and brown mixture that would probably work as natural camouflage ¨C a natural camouflage that didn¡¯t work at all when they were loudly and aggressively tearing huge chunks of flesh from a newly slain bear¡¯s carcass. Aurelia tensed next to Duke, her horse echoing her tensing of muscles, preparing for a charge. She glanced over to him, possibly for reassurance, possibly to let Duke know that she had this. Duke wasn¡¯t sure which it was, but he rose into the trees above the trolls completely unnoticed in their feeding frenzy. If she needed him, he would be there in an instant, but he remained confident that she could handle the trolls herself. He settled in to watch. Aurelia quietly readied her sword, checked her stirrups to make sure they would hold her securely with her hands free but still could release nearly instantly if needed. Such things were easier to do when your entire horse was a magical construct under your control. With a thought, her horse charged through the clearing where the trolls were enjoying their impromptu feast. Moments before she struck the first troll, her blade became covered with crackling flames. Aurelia flashed by the trolls at the fastest speed her mount could manage. One troll spotted her as she approached and began to stand up, making it her first target. She activated her FLASH CHARGE Ability, accelerating her horse¡¯s pace to nineteen times its normal charging pace. In nearly an instant, both rider and horse had closed with the troll and passed it by with a single swing of Aurelia¡¯s flaming, golden sword. The blade sliced through the fingers of the hand that was being raised in defense, continuing through the skull of the troll, separating the top third of its head from the rest of its body. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! She had stopped and was turning for another charge before the body hit the floor in an expanding pool of flaming blood. The rest of the trolls reacted to the flaming blood spurting from the split head of their companion with a howl of rage. They abandoned their meal, turning towards the threat and rising to their full height. Duke realized that maybe he had underestimated how big these trolls really were as they stood to their full five-meter height, fangs and claws on full display. Aurelia cursed, seeing her path blocked, preventing her from another charge past them. Instead, she improvised and had the horse charge forward into the trolls while she flipped off its back mid-charge. The horse executed its headlong charge flawlessly, rearing up on its hind legs right at the end to slam its forehooves into the center troll¡¯s chest, knocking it from its feet. Aurelia flipped backwards intending to land in a crouch. Her timing was a bit off and she underrotated, slamming her toes into the ground. By the time she had finished stumbling and regaining her feet, the trolls had ripped the magical horse apart. They became even more incensed as their new meal dissipated into fading motes of magic. They turned on her, charging forward with claws ready to tear her apart, showing no concerns for the flaming sword she held at the ready in front of her. The trolls charged forward, so enraged that they pushed and jostled each other in their frenzy to get to their target. Aurelia used this to her advantage as she slipped between their claw swipes, rolling through the legs of one troll who had taken a particularly wide stance. She came to her feet and sliced her flaming sword through the troll¡¯s left hamstring. She jumped backwards as the spray of blood ignited. Aurelia continued to dive, dip, duck, and dodge around the trolls, using their bulk to tangle each other up. The fight was taking longer than she had anticipated because she was slowed down by her left arm flopping uselessly after a troll managed to get a particularly nasty slash through her armor. Still, she wore them down, one by one as the flames overtook them more and more. Finally, the last troll fell into a burning heap and Aurelia could finally catch her breath. Duke appeared next to her, hitting her with a CLEANSE and a RESTORE. Her clothes and armor were all repaired and refreshed. Her arm, however, was still injured severely and the healing potion she had taken did not seem to be fixing the injury. ¡°Nice tricks with the horse there. It really put them off balance and gave you some good openings.¡± Duke commented as he waited for her to come down from the adrenaline high. ¡°The first FLASH CHARGE was the best. I caught them all by surprise with that one. The follow-up with just the horse charging would have worked better if I didn¡¯t flub the backflip. And letting that one brute catch me full on the shoulder with its claws didn¡¯t work out so well for me.¡± Aurelia pointed to her left arm that was still hanging by her side limply. ¡°Other than those two things, I think you handled it perfectly. Your blows were precise, well timed, and powerful. The flaming sword cut through them with little to no resistance. That is one hell of a sword you have.¡± Duke complimented. They continued to talk as they walked back towards the Legion. ¡°Well, it better be. It¡¯s the one you gave me.¡± She replied. ¡°It¡¯s the one that the dungeon made specifically for you.¡± Duke countered. ¡°There is that. Sam did a great job on it. Do you think he had any inkling on how things were going to work out?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°I doubt it. I think that he expected I would find the sword earlier and you to use the sword against the Mage King in the dungeon to help complete the level or even to be some undead monstrosity inspiring the entire undead legion ¨C that would have been a nightmare. I doubt he had any conception that you, the whole Legion, and the sword would be exiting the dungeon.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad it worked out like it did though.¡± She paused, turning towards Duke. Duke needed no additional prompting and pulled her in for a passionate kiss. When they finally broke the kiss Duke smiled. ¡°We¡¯re definitely going back to the Inn when we make camp.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t you know it!¡± She replied hungrily. ¡°But first, let¡¯s find a healer so I can get my arm working again. I have a feeling I¡¯m going to need it.¡± Duke returned the smile for a moment before changing the subject. So, how much experience did you get from that fight?¡± Aurelia got the glazed-over look of someone reading notifications before excitedly responding. ¡°I got more than 330,000 from that single fight with my ALL FOR ONE Ability firing away from the whole Legion. I gained nine levels! That¡¯s incredible. Can you imagine the possibilities of using this Ability for every fight the Legion has?¡± ¡°It will make monsters of everyone we use it on. I¡¯m not sure how experience normally gets allocated in mass battles. Do you know?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Not completely sure about all the calculations but leaders get a portion of the experience from every kill their troops make. There is a hierarchy and I¡¯m sure there is some sort of cap, but I don¡¯t know what that is. Once we deal with whatever Chopie has prepared for us, we¡¯ll have a better handle on it.¡± She replied. ¡°I want you to keep the ALL FOR ONE Ability focused on yourself. At least until you get halfway through tier three. I want you to catch up to me and that is probably the best way to make it happen.¡± Duke instructed; his voice serious. ¡°That is one order I think I can take without hesitation.¡± She replied. ¡°And there are others that you won¡¯t?¡± Duke inquired. ¡°Duke, I love you, but you are not exactly a tactical genius. Your talents lie elsewhere. So, yes, there are sometimes I¡¯m going to overrule you on the battlefield. That¡¯s what a General does ¨C handles the war and battles for you.¡± ¡°So, you love me?¡± Duke asked, seemingly ignoring the rest of her statement. ¡°I would have thought that would be obvious by now. It took me a while to determine if it was just gratitude for my freedom and that of the Legion, but I have become more and more sure that these feelings are true in and of themselves.¡± She replied with warmth and seriousness in her gaze. ¡°I have to admit that I hesitated to say anything about it. I did not want to say something to shatter the sheer perfection. But now I can freely admit that I feel the same. I love you, Aurelia.¡± ¡°Good to know that it¡¯s not one-sided. Now don¡¯t you get any crazy notions about marriage just yet.¡± She admonished him. ¡°Oh God no. I¡¯ve made that mistake three times already. I¡¯m not-¡° Duke stopped as soon as he realized what he was saying and the hot glare it got from Aurelia. ¡°We are going to have a talk tonight and you are going to tell me all about it. Understood?¡± She announced. Duke nodded, not daring to open his mouth again to bite more deeply on his foot. To his relief, they finally made it back to the Legion and the hustle of finding a healer and returning to the march took over, distracting him from the dread of the upcoming conversation that evening. Book 2, Chapter 4 - Enter the Nornsyl The Legion¡¯s healers were able to get Aurelia¡¯s arm sorted out in short order, not even slowing down the pace of the march. It was not long after that when Baslin excitedly addressed the pair. ¡°Duke, Duke, Duke! Did you bring back the troll corpses for me? There are so many things that could be made from them!¡± He bounced excitedly, his eyes darting between the pair. ¡°Sorry, they got all burnt up and we left them there.¡± Duke conceded. ¡°Where are they? I can still use them, he asked, his eyes sparking still. Duke didn¡¯t hesitate and simply TELEPORTED Baslin to the dead trolls. Aurelia stared at him and then realized what must have happened. ¡°You TELEPORTED him to the troll corpses, didn¡¯t you?¡± Duke smiled smugly. ¡°Yep. Sure did. I¡¯ll fetch him back in a bit.¡± Aurelia burst out in laughter at Duke¡¯s antics. ¡°You really just TELEPORTED an Archmage into the middle of a pile of troll corpses. And you haven¡¯t even had a second thought about it at all?¡± ¡°Why not? Baslin gets the monster corpses he wants, and we get a bit more time together without interruptions.¡± Duke nearly slapped himself for phrasing it that way, not because of any disrespect towards Baslin but rather because he just invited the universe to throw all sorts of interruptions his way. Aurelia noticed the look on his face and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Did you not just hear what I said? Now we are going to be interrupted for the rest of the day. It¡¯s just-¡° ¡°Your Grace, General? The scouts have reported movement in the trees. We haven¡¯t managed to actually see what¡¯s moving around, but whatever it is, there¡¯s a lot of them. At least 30, maybe more.¡± Duke sighed. He tried to suppress it, but utterly failed. ¡°And why haven¡¯t the scouts pursued to get better information?¡± ¡°Your Grace, it would take most of the scouts to pursue these elusive presences and it would open the Legion up to potential ambush.¡± The leader of the scouts responded. Duke was not sure he remembered the man¡¯s name or even his title in the Legion. The more he thought about it, he was sure that he had never been told either. For that reason, he came up with a title of his own. ¡°Solid logic, Scoutmaster. Aurelia, break off a Century to investigate. I¡¯ll take overwatch for them. If more are needed, I¡¯ll whisper for reinforcements. Otherwise, keep the Legion marching. We still have a few hours before we need to make camp.¡± Duke issued commands, confident that they would be obeyed. Aurelia chuckled and replied. ¡°Master of the Hunt, Terry. No, excuse me¡­Scoutmaster Terry, redeploy your scouts, avoiding the current disturbance. Be vigilant as this distraction could very well be a setup for traps and ambushes.¡± ¡°Yes, General.¡± He saluted and departed to redeploy the scouts. When he got far enough away Aurelia turned to Duke. ¡°So, you have decided to re-title roles within my Legion.¡± ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t think I ever knew his title and it seemed appropriate. He is the master of the scouts, right?¡± Duke replied, hiding his smile. ¡°He is, but since that title seems to bring you some particular humor, I am concerned that you just made a joke out of the man. No, correct that. I am not concerned. I am certain and we will pick this conversation up with another one tonight. Take care of my Century or I will be very cross at you this evening. And you had better know what I mean by that.¡± Duke smiled. ¡°Yeah. I got it. Message received in full. Now send that Century out so I can keep an eye on them. And you might want to tag the Centurian with your ALL FOR ONE Ability while you are at it.¡± ¡°Very cross.¡± She responded as she called over the lead Century¡¯s Centurian. Duke sighed inwardly. Sometimes, I just gotta learn to keep my damned mouth shut. He took to the air as the Centurian got his orders from Aurelia. He rose upwards and overhead as the Century broke off and headed for the area the scouts had indicated. To Duke, it just looked like normal woods ¨C nothing special. Still, he followed them, preparing to engage if needed, keeping his Jewel of Whispers ready to relay anything he spotted. The scouts had indicated that the disturbances were some distance away from the road, so the Century picked it way through the forest, doing its best to stay as a cohesive whole. The FORMATION Ability was less able to handle travelling through the forest. Perhaps if the Legion as a whole leveled it up to the next rank it would, but few had it above the Novice rank at this point. There was a quiet running bet amongst the Legionnaires that they would collectively hit the Initiate rank on the way back home. The pool had become quite organized and was now down to the hour of the particular day. The pot itself, was up to nearly 50,000 gold and the Centurian who had taken it upon herself to oversee the pool was debating whether to make it even more granular as there were likely going to be hundreds of winners splitting the pot if she kept it down to only the hour. Duke kept above the Century, mostly alert. He was confident that the soldiers could handle most any threat that came along which unconsciously gave his mind permission to wander. It did not take much for him to start thinking about the coming battle. He wanted to scout forward and see the state of the city or at least what was waiting for the Legion, but he also didn¡¯t want to tip off Chopie that he was still in the fight. Baslin had told him that there was a good chance that Chopie would know where his phylactery was and since it was in Duke¡¯s INVENTORY, he didn¡¯t want to get close to the city until it was time. His thoughts were interrupted by an otherworldly shout of a single, angry word ¡°Destroyer!¡± Duke refocused his attention downwards to where the shout had come from. He saw the Legion come to a halt as a lone figure stared up at Duke with such palpable enmity the very air seemed to still in fear. The creature glaring up at him stood tall, its regal bearing shining despite the heat of its anger projected at Duke. Its skin was reminiscent of the bark of ancient trees, adorned with vibrant, mossy patterns that seem to shift and change as Duke watched. Eyes like pools of molten emerald burned with an intense, fierce glow, reflecting the fury that poured out from within. It roared at Duke, ¡°I can taste your soul. You are the one who destroyed the forest! You destroyed the creatures that inhabited its beauty! You destroyed the fey folk that lived here and protected it! You, Harbinger of Death, shall see your power removed and your life snuffed out by my retribution! Before Duke could react, a wave of power washed out from the being, flashing over him and the Century alike. A notification flashed into his vision unbidden. *** You have been affected by RETRIBUTIVE SUPPRESSION. All Abilities, Skills, Spells, and similar qualities have been reduced in power by three full ranks. *** Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Duke felt the weakness flow through him as he crashed down to the forest floor, his FLIGHT Ability completely suppressed. What in the actual fuck was that! He bounced off a few tree limbs on his way down, hitting the ground a few meters in front of the Legion. With the brief glimpse he got of the situation as he desperately tried to control his descent it seemed that the entire Century was shaken by the creature¡¯s magic. Even still, they drew their weapons and readied for the coming fight. Duke could hear the creature casually stepping in his direction. It was not the normal sound of footsteps, but more like the sound of a breeze through the trees. He could also tell the creature was taking its time in its approach which gave him time to scramble to his feet. He turned his attention to the approaching creature, noting that it stood just over three meters tall. Why is everything so damned big in this forest? That¡¯s what she said. Seriously? THAT is what is going through my head at a time like this? ¡°Ok, green eyes. That was a nice trick, but you got things a bit backwards here. I regrew the entire forest after the undead army came through and destroyed everything in its path. You can verify that one with Gaiathia as she is the one who tasked me with doing it. No back off before I have to do something drastic!¡± ¡°Take your punishment like a good little human and I will spare the lives of these other humans.¡± It gestured to the Century that was moving into an arc formation to attack and contain the forest creature. Duke growled back at the creature. ¡°You have no idea who you are fucking with. You think you have cut me off from my power and think you can threaten me and mine. And then get away with it? You are about to learn the harsh lesson that you don¡¯t fuck with the Duke!¡± He had not planned it, but his shout had been the impetus for the Century to act. They flowed around him, attacking the sylvan creature with terrible enthusiasm. It did not seem impressed as sword blows were no more effective against its bark-like skin as they would be against a mountain. The sword strikes had some strength behind them but no technique at all. Duke understood immediately, realizing that the Legionnaires likely didn¡¯t have combat skills above the Initiate rank. He joined the fight himself. Duke launched himself at the creature summoning his Tonfa from his INVENTORY only to find that he couldn¡¯t access them at all. His Ability was only at the Initiate rank and was completely suppressed. His fist struck the creature at an odd angle, having expected to strike with the weapon. He felt his bones strain but luckily they did not break. The creature did not seem impressed with his attack either. ¡°It seems that ¡®The Duke¡¯ is completely ineffectual. Shame. I was hoping to get the satisfaction of you at least putting up a fight.¡± It swept its arms around itself with a complete spin of its body, sending Legionnaires flying through the air along with Duke. Duke picked up a sword dropped by a Legionnaire, cursed, and then dropped it. The fucking thing burnt me! Goddamned sword god curse! He mentally scrambled for options while Legionnaires continued to ineffectually throw themselves at the creature. OK, I have eight Abilities that aren¡¯t completely suppressed. RESTORE isn¡¯t going to help here. DUNGEON SENSE and MENTAL FORTITUDE are probably useless too. ARMOR SKIN is helping a bit but TELEPORTATION, REGENERATION, LIGHTNING, and OVERCHANNEL still leave me with options beyond picking up a rock and trying to bash my way through its skull. I still have all my Mana so I can still pour it into LIGHTNING. Might as well give it a try. Duke shouted a single order before engaging the creature again. ¡°Legionnaires! Return to the Legion. The suppression field is too much for you. I will handle this one by myself.¡± He hated to send them back as the experience from beating this thing could be huge. But the consideration that they were completely in the way and likely would die pointlessly in the fight is what forced him into the decision. Like the professionals they were, the Legionnaires broke off their engagement over the next few seconds, reforming their ranks and limping their way back through the forest. Meanwhile, Duke had taken to punching the creature with LIGHTNING enshrouded fists. He still had his full Strength and the added kick of his go-to attack Ability seemed to finally have some effect on the creature. ¡°How can this be? I suppressed you. You can¡¯t have any Abilities left to use.¡± The creature changed to actively trying to attack Duke. Its entire body became covered with long, sharp thorns and it attempted to slam him to the ground. Duke fought back with his LIGHTNING-enhanced fists but despite his phenomenal strength, he seemed to be holding the creature off at best. He was getting cut up by the creature¡¯s thorns and barbs as well. His REGENERATION was still working, but at a significantly diminished capacity. In short, he was losing the fight. Slowly, but steadily the creature was wearing him down and he was not recovering fast enough to keep up. He decided to change his approach. As he was slammed to the forest floor once again, Duke pulled his LIGHTNING from his fists and channeled his Mana into his ARMOR SKIN. Immediately, he felt his skin harden and become more protective. His skin was nowhere near as tough as he had made it when clearing the final room of the dungeon as he just couldn¡¯t channel that much Mana with the two Abilities reduced to Novice ranks. But still, he smiled as he realized that it might be enough. The thorns were barely scratching him at all now and his REGENERATION was starting to slowly gain ground over the slight injuries. The only problem was that he could barely hurt the creature, if at all. Its bark-like skin absorbed his punches and kicks too well. They were now in a stalemate with neither able to really hurt the other, but they still tried, slamming blows into each other as they knocked each other around the forest. Duke grunted in frustration as yet another blow had little effect. Duke decided to try something a bit different as they continued to struggle, something he had rarely done before ¨C talk his opponent out of the fight. ¡°You know, I¡¯m not your enemy. I am not the great evil you think I am ¨C I am the one who rebuilt the forest.¡± He received no response from the creature as it continued to attack him. ¡°OK, not getting through that way, then how about this tack? I can keep this up for days? How long will your suppression last? An hour? Six? What do you think is going to happen then?¡± Duke focused his full Psyche on the creature as he spoke, doing his best to push the concept across with the force of his personality. For the first time in the roughly hour the two had been fighting, the creature paused. Duke graciously took a step backwards, still ready to react to a blow but not re-initiating combat. They both looked around themselves to see the devastated forest around them. The creature looked around at the destruction with its glowing eyes dimming. ¡°Yes, this destruction. All of it is your fault.¡± Duke declared. ¡°You chose this fight. You chose this location. You refused to see what even the goddess of nature saw ¨C I am a force for restoration even more than I am a force for destruction. You now have a choice to make. Continue this pointless fight that you will eventually lose, give up the fight and walk away, or drop your suppression and watch as I RESTORE this forest before your very eyes. The choice is yours.¡± The creature looked at him incredulously. Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA was unaffected by the suppression, and he could read the creature¡¯s emotions in its body language. It was confused and had no idea what to do now. Duke continued, ¡°So you are probably just now realizing that you were completely wrong about the situation and even the outcome of this fight. I, personally, have no idea who or really what you are but I¡¯m willing to let this whole attack go since you really didn¡¯t hurt me or anyone I care about seriously. What do you say? Let¡¯s have a chat and figure things out.¡± Duke saw the creature resign itself a moment before his Abilities were restored. He did not hesitate and activated a 10,000 Mana RESTORE. The shattered forest around them rapidly rebuilt itself as the creature gaped in amazement. ¡°There, isn¡¯t that better? I am called Duke. You happen to have a name?¡± The creature looked at Duke, paused for several seconds, and then replied. ¡°I am known as Nornsyl. I am the Spirit of this Forest. And it would appear that the Goddess confirms your words. I owe you and yours an apology. I sought to protect the forest from destruction but even though I smell your magic in the recent destruction, I smell it even more in the regrowth and renewal of it all. I will make amends in some way. The Goddess instructs me to do so.¡± ¡°OK, first off, let¡¯s not get the goddess too involved here. Our business is our business. Let¡¯s head back to the others as they are likely concerned about the outcome of our little tussle. Once there, we can figure things out.¡± Duke didn¡¯t look back as he headed for the Legion. His DUNGEON SENSE confirmed that Nornsyl was following him if a bit tentatively. Book 2, Chapter 5 - What the Hell is Ansky? The Legion had continued marching, and Duke found himself emerging close to the end of the ranks. After the tenth Legionnaire warned him about the creature following him, he decided to wait for Nornsyl to catch up to him and have it walk beside him. This still got looks, but at least there were no more warnings about being followed. When Duke made it to the front of the Legion and met up with Aurelia, he saw that Baslin had made his way back up to the front of the Legion as well. The Archmage was floating alongside Aurelia on an overstuffed chair, one that looked remarkably like a chair from the library in the now destroyed tower. He gave Duke an interested look as the pair approached. ¡°A new friend, Duke?¡± Baslin asked. Duke smiled. ¡°Perhaps. Baslin, Aurelia, this is Nornsyl, the Spirit of the Forest. Nornsyl was rather upset about the destruction of the forest from the undead infestation and decided to take it out on me.¡± Aurelia gave Duke an odd look and greeted Nornsyl. ¡°Hello Nornsyl. Nice to meet you.¡± Baslin merely gave the spirit a nod, seemingly disinterested. Aurelia continued. ¡°So, you attacked Duke, and you still are here. Either you are extremely powerful, or Duke has finally learned some restraint.¡± Nornsyl looked from Aurelia to Duke and back, its emerald eyes searching for something unknowable between the two. ¡°I sense the energy of creation between you two. May your mating be blessed.¡± Aurelia gaped and stared at the newcomer before crimson took over her face entirely. Duke suppressed a laugh and responded, ¡°Thank you Nornsyl. But I really don¡¯t think that is what the goddess had in mind for amends. I do have a question for you though. I have met a Guardian Spirit in the past, but they did not interact with the physical world like you do. Why is that?¡± "Youngling. In time the spirit will grow to manifest in the world if it is nurtured.¡± Nornsyl explained briefly. Duke acknowledged the answer with a sagely nod. ¡°I guess that makes sense. How long does it take to get to the point where it could interact with the material world?¡± ¡°That is difficult to answer. If it is a Guardian Spirit over sentients, it will be faster. If not, it will take centuries. I was not able to manifest in the material world for at least six or seven centuries after my formation.¡± Baslin entered the conversation. ¡°What is your intention. Do you plan to travel with us? Are you simply monitoring us as we pass through your forest?¡± The Spirit glared at Baslin for longer than seemed comfortable. It responded, ¡°I have made a miscalculation and followed Duke here to make amends for attacking him and his people, but I do not know how to make amends. My hope is that someone amongst you well show me the proper way for me to make amends.¡± Duke looked between Aurelia and Baslin, hoping they would have a suggestion. By their blank looks they did not and once again it was all up to him. He turned back to Nornsyl and asked a question of his own, ¡°What is it that you can do that could possibly be amends for your actions?¡± Nornsyl seemed to ponder the question for several moments before answering. ¡°I can watch over this gathering of humans and prevent any of the invading monsters from reaching them.¡± Aurelia once again gave Nornsyl her full attention. ¡°What invading monsters? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°There are all sorts of monsters above, below, and throughout the forest now. For instance, when the forest was destroyed, all the creatures who dwelt here were either chased away or killed. The monsters from the mountains and caves have come out hunting for food, but they have not found any forest creatures near their home. So, they are venturing further and further away to find them. In time, they will find you all. I can divert them away for you.¡± Baslin asked, ¡°Where would you divert them?¡± Aurelia added, ¡°Do we even want them diverted? That could be some easy experience for the Legion.¡± Nornsyl responded. ¡°I could divert them to the city you are marching towards.¡± ¡°How do you know where we are going?¡± Duke asked. ¡°They sent an army towards you, now you send an army towards them. That is how humans act. That is what you do.¡± Nornsyl responded smugly. ¡°And you ambush random people in the woods. Put your smugness away, Spirit. You really suck at contrition.¡± Duke responded. Nornsyl turned back to Duke, emerald eyes flashing hotly before fading to a more reasonable intensity. ¡°That was intended to infuriate me. Was it not?¡± ¡°Not entirely.¡± Duke responded. ¡°Do not group an entire individually intelligent race together as a whole and say that they do ¡®x¡¯ or they always do ¡®y¡¯. It only displays your ignorance and lack of understanding. Do you have any idea why we march on Chopie¡¯s capital?¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Why would I care about such things?¡± Nornsyl responded. ¡°Not the point. You may not care why but you really just do not know why. You can head back into your forest and stay there. Stay out of our way and we¡¯re all good. I don¡¯t have any more time for you.¡± Duke responded hotly. He received several concerned looks, but no one contradicted him. Nornsyl stared intensely at Duke for a few long seconds and the turned and wordlessly walked back into the forest, blending into the trees as he vanished from sight. ¡°Do you think that maybe that was a mistake?¡± Aurelia asked Duke. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Let the forest spirit be concerned with the forest. We have our own business to be about. I¡¯m just thankful that this didn¡¯t slow down the Legion at all. We are making solid progress towards our destination.¡± ¡°That much is true. Have you heard from Grat or Elaine about how things are going back at home with all the civilians?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°Nothing yet. We¡¯ll check in on them tonight.¡± Duke responded. ¡°Speaking of which, it would seem that we have about four hours left on the march before we should break and camp. If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯m going to focus on training my INSPIRATION Ability and see if I can push it up a level or two.¡± Aurelia smiled as she spoke. Duke could see that she was entirely enamored with the Ability. ¡°That sounds like a good idea. I¡¯ll be pushing some Abilities as well. Particularly, I¡¯ll be pushing TELEPORTATION. It¡¯s going to take some herculean efforts to get it to rank up, but I really want to see what I can do at a Master rank with it.¡± Baslin returned to the conversation. ¡°What is your range limit on TELEPORTATION? Or do you not even know at this point?¡± ¡°Well, from what my stats tell me, my limit is somewhere around 400 kilometers right now. That¡¯s well outside the range of anywhere I have been on the whole planet.¡± Duke answered. ¡°And that will increase when your Ability ranks up, naturally. So, what is it about the next rank that entices you so much?¡± Baslin continued his questioning. ¡°I have picked up the ability to TELEPORT people and objects that are held by others, and even in one case, inside another individual as long as they are within my line of sight. I am hoping that I will be able to do the same to things that are outside of my line of sight, or at least, things that I can see with my CLAIRVOYANCE. I really need to push that Ability as well.¡± Duke responded with heightening excitement. ¡°Ambitious. But what purpose would that serve?¡± Aurelia asked, her curiosity piqued. ¡°Let me set the scene for you. The Twice Blessed Legion marches on an enemy fortress. They are dug in tight and have all manners of defensive layers. They have mages and archers as well as siege engines to strike at the approaching Legion. The fortress is built with five-meter-thick walls and is considered impregnable. They prepare for us like no one else has ever before. Swords are sharpened. Arrows are dipped in deadly poison. Massive balls of contained spells are piled next to trebuchets and catapults, ready to rain death down upon our heads.¡± ¡°That sounds like the Ansky Empire.¡± Baslin responded. ¡°Ansky? What the hell is Ansky?¡± Aurelia asked. Baslin nodded solemnly. ¡°Some call it the Evil Empire, but I think that is just because they are so hard to defeat. They are known for hiring the most experienced mercenaries that they can find and inducting them into their ranks of striped soldiers. They have some strange sympathetic magic that makes their bludgeoning weapons strike like the bombs I made for Duke to drop on the undead horde. They are to the northeast and they are feared and hated by many.¡± Duke picked back up. ¡°That sounds familiar for some reason, but whatever. For the sake of this argument, we are attacking this Ansky Empire. They are all bunkered down and waiting for us and before they can launch the first arrow, before the first trebuchet fires, all their arrows and ammunition disappears because I TELEPORTED it somewhere else. That would make attacking them a whole lot easier, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± Aurelia looked at him in shock. ¡°You mean to do that to Chopie¡¯s army, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°If I can, you bet I will. I trust in the strength of the Legion but if I can end Chopie¡¯s army¡¯s threat before we lose a single soldier, why wouldn¡¯t I do that? Why waste lives? If I have it in my power to win the conflict before it begins, then I sure as hell am going to do so.¡± Duke answered. ¡°And if someone else, this Ansky Empire, some upstart from the next block, whoever it is, comes looking for trouble, I¡¯ll take away their ability to cause us harm just as fast.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you have to overcome their personal resistance to take something from them?¡± Baslin asked. ¡°Yes, but if I have the Ability at Master level, how much stronger will my pull be against their resistance. I¡¯m not saying it¡¯s going to be easy, but it¡¯s something to work towards. Worst case, I can TELEPORT boulders down on them. I don¡¯t really know what war has been like on Teldin, but on my world, it got to be absolutely horrible. We had weapons that could wipe out an entire city with one strike, making the land uninhabitable for thousands of years. I have seen things I would spare all of you ¨C my friends, my soldiers, my followers, from ever having to endure because¡­let me tell you, it changes you. It changes you in ways that you will not understand nor be able to deal with.¡± The pair looked at Duke with concern as the intensity with which his Psyche was burning was palpable. Aurelia reached over and gave him a small hug. ¡°Go train, Duke. We¡¯ll talk more about this tonight.¡± He simply nodded and TELPORTED off into the forest a few hundred meters to train. He worked on his precision, TELEPORTING trees out of the ground, pulling their entire root systems with them. He then TELEPORTED them back into place, trying to move the soil to create voids in the shape of the roots. If not for his DUNGEON SENSE, such a move would likely be impossible. He even tried to incorporate his CLARIVOYANCE into the mix. Even with all these advantages, his rate of success was minimal at best. Most every tree he attempted to replant in this manner fell over or leaned in an odd direction. Hours later, he RESTORED the entire area and returned to the Legion to find that camp was largely established. Duke joined Aurelia and Baslin in the command tent and, as promised, TELEPORTED them all back to the Inn for the night. Book 2, Chapter 6 - Just What is Baslin up to? Back at the Inn, the trio headed in to find things emptier than they had ever seen before. Calen and Sam greeted them, ¡°Good evening and welcome back. I would say that your private table is ready, but virtually every table is private right now.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Sam. The Legion will return, and training will continue. In the meantime, how is the town progressing?¡± ¡°Duke, I do worry. My progress was phenomenal and now it¡¯s only down to really good. As for the town? It is coming along well. There have even been a few who have tried the dungeon in there. Funny to say it that way. Having a dungeon in a dungeon is not normal. Regardless, they returned heavily injured and needed to spend time with the healers. I think that would please you as it has discouraged others from attempting to conquer it.¡± ¡°I guess when it comes down to it, I don¡¯t mind either way. I would love to see the town grow and prosper within the Inn and would love to see it become the staging point for adventurers to delve into the dungeon of the Lake Front Inn. But that is all some ways down the line. Right now, I have a king to depose and all that comes with it.¡± Elaine and Grat joined them at that time with greetings and smiles. They all sat down and enjoyed dinner keeping conversation light while they ate. As the evening wore on, discussion on the events in the forest progressed where Duke and Aurelia related the story of Aurelia killing the trolls. All were most impressed. At least until the story of the forest spirit, Nornsyl came up. Both Grat and Elaine seemed truly excited that the Spirit of the Forest came out to greet them. And then the rest of the story including how Nornsyl had attacked Duke came out. ¡°You didn¡¯t kill the Forest Spirit, did you Duke?¡± Elaine asked, alarm clear in her voice. ¡°No, I didn¡¯t kill Nornsyl. We did fight for a long time though. Tore all kinds of forest up trading blows. Neither of us could really hurt each other with that wild suppression field it had going. Eventually, we got tired of fighting, it dropped the suppression field, and I RESTORED the forest we had destroyed. It seemed to be cool with that afterwards. We talked for a bit more, introduced it to Baslin and Aurelia and then sent it on its way.¡± ¡°You sent Nornsyl, The Spirit of the Forest, on it¡¯s way?¡± Grat asked. ¡°Just like that? With a casual dismissal?¡± ¡°Pretty much.¡± Duke replied. ¡°Nornsyl was just too alien for us to comfortably work with despite its best attempts to act somewhat human. I¡¯m not sure everyone else picked up on it but I certainly did. It was better that we went our separate ways and did our own things. Hanging out and sharing a beer would have just led to misunderstandings and then, who knows, maybe I would have had to kill the thing. It¡¯s better this way.¡± Elaine smiled. ¡°I completely agree with you, Duke. That was the best course of action. Unexpected, but possibly a fortuitus meeting. Things have been relatively quiet here. My scouts continue to range around the area but there is little to report beyond the activity in the town which, frankly, is not all that interesting either. They seem rather content.¡± Grat added, ¡°The defenses are still in place and are ready to be activated at a moment''s notice but with the scouts finding nothing around we probably won¡¯t need to do so. With that situation in mind, I would like to join you when you return to the Legion.¡± ¡°If things are so well handled here, come along, and join us. We still have at least a week of marching before we get close to the capital. I am, of course, expecting that we will run into some sort of resistance before then, but I am trying to not jump the gun and scout the city ahead by too much. That could give away our intentions.¡± The evening carried on and the two couples went off to their rooms, leaving Baslin to head to his lab. He had work to do and as much as he enjoyed having people to talk with, he had spent more than a century by himself and had grown accustomed to it. The novelty of other people was starting to wear off, especially when they started bickering. Oh, how he hated that! That was probably why he had been avoiding Elaine as of late. Since she had gotten pregnant, she just hadn¡¯t been fun to be around. Duke was still entertaining because he loved trying new things almost as much as Baslin did and his whole enthusiasm for blowing things up aligned perfectly. ¡°Yes, indeed, having Duke chance onto my tower was a grand coincidence of fate.¡± Baslin mused as he sealed the door to his lab. After taking a scan at his wards to make sure nothing and no one had disturbed things, he walked over to the door he had Sam conceal for him and activated the runes to open it. The door opened silently, the several meter thick stone slab gliding into the ceiling effortlessly, allowing Baslin to enter. He smiled as he came upon his latest experiment. This was something he had been working on for a few days now and he was getting some truly interesting results from. His experimental subjects were giving up their secrets bit by bit. It would take time to get all of them, but time was something Baslin was very familiar with and knew he had in abundance. He moved closer to observe his subject. ¡°Well, what have you been up to, my friend?¡± The experiment strained against its bonds, but the Ghast was unable to free itself. It glared hatefully at Baslin, hissing at him in the absolute silence of the containment chamber. Baslin calmly walked over to a set of shelves to check on several beakers being slowly filled with some sort of distillate. He nodded and noted his measurement down in a notebook on the table next to the shelves. He then turned back to the central containment chamber. The chamber was absolutely clear to his sight, not even providing the slight refraction a glass chamber would provide. Baslin smiled as he watched his older subject struggle similarly to the latest. Both were Ghasts contained in the magical containment that Baslin had devised. ¡°So, let¡¯s see what the other distillation has revealed, shall we?¡± Baslin spoke with a hint of excitement and curiosity in his voice as he walked to a set of shelves on the opposite side of the containment chamber. There, he also noted his measurements and turned back to jot them down in his journal. ¡°Fascinating. The undead produced by the dungeon is the same level as this one presumably produced by Negron, yet its Mana level is four times as dense. I do wish I could get confirmation of its actual origin. No matter, I will learn what I can from both.¡± He delved back into his experimentation for the rest of the night as sleep wasn¡¯t a particular concern for him. He could go weeks without sleeping and not even begin to feel its effects. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Morning saw everyone back at the breakfast table. ¡°Everyone have a good night?¡± Baslin asked as they all settled in. He was greeted with smiles from Grat and Elaine who seemed especially happy this morning. Duke and Aurelia shared a look. He took a drink of coffee allowing her to respond. She responded with a grin of her own. ¡°Oh, we had a great night. Thank you, Sam, for all the soundproofing!¡± Duke spit out his coffee. ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± Sam responded from somewhere, his avatar not appearing. Mirth was evident in his voice. Duke was still choking on his coffee so Aurelia decided to mercifully rescue him. ¡°How was your night, Baslin?¡± ¡°Quite good. My experiments are coming along nicely. Soon, I should have some results that I can apply within my magic. Most exciting.¡± Baslin replied. ¡°What exactly are those experiments?¡± Grat asked. ¡°It¡¯s a comparative study of two different forms of magic and how they interact within specific magical constructs.¡± He replied, watching most of the group¡¯s eyes glaze over. ¡°But that is not really important, is it? Shouldn¡¯t we be heading back already? Won¡¯t they have broken camp by now?¡± No one seemed to notice his change of the subject as they all scrambled to get ready to leave. Duke had finally stopped choking on his coffee and gave the group a glance to see that they were ready. He wound up waiting for Grat to give Elaine a goodbye kiss before they departed in a flash of TELEPORTATION. Duke loved how he could turn that visual on or off at will. Once back at the Legion, the command tent was stowed in Duke¡¯s INVENTORY, and they all set out with the Legion. Duke took this time to review his notifications from this morning while he walked. *** Well, well, well, what do we have here? Two significant encounters and you didn¡¯t kill a single thing. Are you getting soft on me? I guess after last night, I really can¡¯t say that, can I? Be that as it may, you made a strong accounting of yourself for your first time under a suppression field. You might want to practice that a bit more. It couldn¡¯t hurt. Even though you didn¡¯t kill the Spirit of the Forest, you did beat it in a manner of speaking. Take 85,000 experience for fighting it to a standstill. For convincing it that you could outlast it and getting it to essentially give up, take another 15,000 experience. That will make a good highlight for your time here and it even brings you up to level 95. Enjoy your 12 Characteristic points. You had quite the workout on your Skills and Abilities. Fighting in a suppression field can really do that for you. TELEPORTATION has increased to Adept 70 REGENERATION has increased to Adept 47 LIGHTNING has increased to Practiced 60 OVERCHANNEL has ranked up to Adept 2 MENTAL FORTITUDE has increased to Practiced 15 SPELL RESISTANCE has ranked up to Initiate 2 SIMULCASTING has increased to Initiate 30 CLEANSE has increased to Initiate 27 RESTORE has increased to Master 37 IDENTIFY has increased to Initiate 18 SENSE MAGIC has increased to Novice 12 REMOTE CASTING has increased to Novice 18 INVENTORY has increased to Initiate 40 ARMOR SKIN has increased to Practiced 76 FLIGHT has ranked up to Practiced 3 CLAIRVOYANCE has increased to Initiate 12 COMBAT SENSE has ranked up to Initiate 3 DUNGEON SENSE has increased to Adept 41 Dodge has increased to Practiced 40 Aerial Maneuvering has increased to Initiate 20 Martial Arts Combat has increased to Adept 21 You have now started to see some of the greater capabilities beyond the small, isolated corner of the world in which you have been placed. Perhaps it is time for you to leave the small pond. Then again, even in this small pond, are you really as big a fish as you think? We shall see. *** Duke noted the tone of the message again turning more friendly than it had been after his interactions with the gods of the realm. The information presented did intrigue him some as well. He had four Abilities rank up and he saw that his ARMOR SKIN was getting close as well. All this progress made him take a closer look at his stat sheet.
Name Adam "Duke" Ellington
Race Seeded (Sprouted)
Class N/A
Level 95 Tier 3
Max Health 360,126 Current Health 360,126
Max Mana 524,628 Current Mana 524,628
Experience 4,635,887 EXP Needed 19,113
Characteristic Value Modified Value EQ Bonus Title Modifier Multiplier
Agility 420 420 100% 80
Strength 310 310 100% 58
Endurance 325 325 100% 61
Reason 301 301 100% 56
Intuition 315 315 100% 59
Psyche 617 679 110% 131
He still had 12 points to spend but was quite excited with how far he had progressed so far. One thing he was sure of was that his Characteristic Points per level were way beyond the norm when compared to everyone else he had spoken with. He was, of course, just fine with that. He would take any and every advantage he could find. He briefly contemplated where to place his new Characteristic Points but was interrupted by a sense of wrongness that brought him to full alertness. Book 2, Chapter 7 - What Lurks Below Duke¡¯s head snapped around as he looked around himself, but he did not see anything amiss. Aurelia immediately picked up on his motion and joined him in looking around. ¡°What is it, Duke?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Something¡¯s wrong but I don¡¯t know what.¡± Aurelia did not hesitate. She brought her full COMMAND VOICE to bear shouting, ¡°Alert! Stand ready for attack! Source and nature unknown. Cohorts, turtle up!¡± The response was immediate. Legionnaires moved with practiced efficiency, forming squares of outwardly facing ranks with shields drawn tightly into shield walls. In the span of thirty seconds, neatly marching ranks had converted into several defensive formations, ready to take an attack from any side. Duke cycled to Soul Sight to see if he could pick up anything amiss but still did not see anything. Finally, he turned to DUNGEON SENSE and immediately saw the issue. There were tunnels underneath them all that were filled with giant ants. He shouted, ¡°Subterranean threat!¡± Aurelia attempted to echo Duke¡¯s alert again employing her COMMAND VOICE. But she was not fast enough. The ground collapsed beneath their feet before she could shout, or the Legion could respond. Throughout the area, holes the size of houses collapsed underneath the Legion, dragging countless soldiers screaming into the darkness. Duke grabbed Aurelia¡¯s arm, holding her aloft with FLIGHT as the ground collapsed underneath them and giant ants poured out, attacking everything in sight. The ants stood as tall as a man at the shoulder, and they came boiling out of the holes, swarming over the Legion. The Legionnaires did not stand idly by as the giant ants swarmed. Shield walls were reformed, and ants were repelled. Quickly, discipline had the Legionnaires reforming ranks and slashing into the swarming ants. The enchanted weapons of the Legion sliced through chiton quickly, leaving hundreds of dead ants surrounding the defensive formations. There were thousands more to take their place, however, and the Legionnaires found themselves pressed backwards by the sheer volume of ants attacking, using the corpses of their brethren to climb above the shield walls. Duke continued to rise above the battle with Aurelia dangling from his arm. It gave him a vantagepoint to assess things. What he saw was not encouraging. Of the roughly thirty original Legion formations, three were just gone and the rest were being pushed together by the weight of their enemies. He saw the exact moment when Aurelia activated her INSPIRATION Ability. Soldiers that were being pushed back surged forward, toppling piles of ants back onto themselves. Duke began raining down LIGHTING on the largest piles of swarming ants, killing them by the score with each of his myriad strikes. Below him, he saw Baslin rising out of an incendiary cloud of death filling the hole that had taken the command formation by surprise. Even at this distance, Duke could see rage in the Archmage¡¯s eyes as he rose above the fray. It was at that moment, Duke saw the next wave of attack coming from the forest itself ¨C the trees themselves were marching onto the impromptu battlefield. Duke felt his own ire rising to dangerous levels. ¡°I have to get back down there, Duke. Drop me into the center of the Legion where my Abilities will make the most difference.¡± Duke felt his grip on her arm involuntarily tighten, not willing to let his lover go. ¡°Now, Duke!¡± He released her arm, TELEPORTING her to the center of the consolidated formation. Duke saw that the Mage Cops embedded in the Legion had erected barriers to hold the ants back as the Legion regrouped and prepared for a counter-surge. Duke could see the difference just having Aurelia amongst their ranks was making and decided to let them handle the ants for now. He turned his attention to the trees entering the fray. At first, he hesitated, not sure whether they were an approaching threat or were coming to their aid. When the first tree slammed its limbs against the Mage¡¯s barrier, he was sure, and he acted. His voice seething with anger, Duke launched OVERCHANNELED FLAME DARTs down upon the attacking trees. He fired ten at a time, using his SIMULCASTING Ability and pouring 1,000 Mana into each. The trees that were struck were instantly engulfed in fire and flailed helplessly as the magical flames ate through their bark. The burning trees screamed in some unearthly manner, but Duke did not watch the results, instead moving onto other trees marching towards the Legion. He quickly found himself down more than 100,000 Mana after the tenth volley. He paused only long enough to place his 12 Characteristic points into Psyche knowing even the small boost in his Mana regen would probably be needed. Fire rained down upon the advancing trees, Spells and swords pushed the ants back, and the tide of battle had turned. Duke continued activating his Abilities but pushed his DUNGEON SENSE harder to try and find the conductor of this orchestrated attack. Splitting his attention was not as difficult as he had expected but he had not really tried it since his Reason had risen over 300. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Scanning the area, Duke was finally able to spot the anomaly amongst the fray. Whereas there were dozens of trees marching from the edge of the forest to attack, there was one that was not moving at all. Duke focused his senses on that lone tree and, with singular focus and assistance from his enhanced XENOGLOSSIA Ability, was able to see that the tree was not a tree at all. *** You have penetrated an Illusion. Although you see through it for the reality that lies beneath, others will not. *** The man hiding as a tree somehow seemed to notice Duke¡¯s scrutiny and smiled up at him. The smile was full of malice and hate. Duke returned the smile with his own glare of hate. The man was short and mostly bald with sharply pointed ears. The figure was very thin and did not fill his green robes at all. In his left hand, he held a warped and gnarled feathered staff that glowed with emerald power. His right hand held nothing more than a ball of churning emerald energy. Energy that he hurled at Duke. Duke ignored the attack and TELEPORTED next to the man but in the time it took him to attempt to grab him, the presumed druid had stepped into a tree and vanished. Duke blasted the tree apart with LIGHTNING but there was no sign of the man. Duke knew that he was alone when the trees stopped advancing, the Spell that drove them apparently ended. He did not hesitate to join the Legion in driving the remaining giant ants back. Duke added his Abilities to the fight but he truth of the matter was that the fight was largely over. The last of the giant ants were retreating back into their holes and fleeing the field. Spells, arrows, and the odd thrown object followed the ants back down into the holes. Nearly as fast as the attack had started, it was over. The healers were working furiously to stabilize the most critically injured and centurions were taking assessment of their centuries. It was nearly half an hour before the Legion was re-organized and a report was brought to Aurelia. ¡°General, this was an attack that we were wholly unprepared for. You have my resignation.¡± She looked at her subordinate commander, the one who she had learned had volunteered to take the brunt of her ire. The man stood at full attention, unyielding and stiff. She held his gaze for several seconds before responding. ¡°What are our losses and has anyone scouted the holes?¡± ¡°General, the Legion has been decimated. We have lost nearly three thousand Legionnaires with the bodies of over one thousand missing, presumably fallen into the holes. The scouts are ill-prepared for pursuit of a strong enemy in a subterranean environment. I have held them back.¡± ¡°I see. Carry on, commander. You are not relieved of your duties as I will not be accepting your resignation. The Legion was prepared for a different battle, against an entirely different type of enemy. Our failure here rests solely on my shoulders. Dismissed.¡± The commander offered a crisp salute and departed with military precision to continue assisting in the recovery of the Legion. Duke stepped up to stand before Aurelia. ¡°We knew that we would be taking losses but none of us had anticipated that we would take such a large hit before we even got close to the city. That means that they knew we were coming and had set up the ambush for us in advance. I had never considered we would be attacked by a giant ant colony. That¡¯s something that Grat might have thought of. We should ask¡­where is Grat anyway?¡± Several minutes of frantic searching around the area revealed that the druid was gone. Duke tried to reach Grat using his Jewel of Whispers. His message was delivered but he received no response from Grat. It targeted him, so he¡¯s still alive. That¡¯s something. So, where are you, Grat? ¡°The Jewel of Whispers connects to him, but I am getting no response from him. He¡¯s either incapacitated or lost his own Jewel.¡± Duke relayed. ¡°Or he¡¯s unwilling to respond.¡± Baslin added, having joined Duke and Aurelia. ¡°What are you saying, Baslin?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°We were attacked by creatures of nature. Even the trees were animated to attack. This was the work of a druid.¡± He responded evenly. ¡°Surely, I am not the only one here who has been betrayed by someone once thought of as a friend.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a damned cynical view you have there, Baslin. I get it because I know you were heavily betrayed, and I do agree that this was the work of a fucking powerful druid. The thing is that it wasn¡¯t Grat. I saw the druid responsible for this and the bastard buggered away through some tree magic before I could get to him. But the question is where is our own druid?¡± ¡°Dragged into the tunnels. Remember, the ground collapsed underneath us to start this whole thing off. You grabbed my arm but both Grat and Baslin fell.¡± Aurelia reminded Duke. ¡°Then I¡¯m going in after him.¡± Duke responded out of reflex. ¡°Not alone, you¡¯re not.¡± Aurelia responded immediately. ¡°I agree with the young lady. You should not venture off into this unknown by yourself.¡± Baslin added. ¡°Baslin, I need you to set up defensive wards for the Legion. They are going to stay here and regroup. Our plans have been derailed a bit. I still mean to take the capitol, but our plans have been delayed.¡± Duke¡¯s annoyance was clearly rising. ¡°I will ward the area. We will not be caught by surprise again.¡± Baslin responded. ¡°And Aurelia, your place is with the Legion. They need leadership right now. You are their leader and I need you to stay here. Don¡¯t worry. I will get Grat back and if this druid shows his face down there, I¡¯ll tear his fucking head off.¡± She started to argue but upon seeing the looks on the faces of Legionnaires all around them, she begrudgingly realized that Duke was right. ¡°I still don¡¯t like it. You be careful.¡± Ignoring any further protest, Duke TELEPORTED to the hole that had formed under the command group and entered. Book 2,, Chapter 8 - Fallen Friend Duke entered the tunnel, FLYING down the twenty meters to the floor of the opening. He could see where the ants had clawed their way up the walls to get to his people. He could also see evidence of some fighting in the tunnels. It seemed that the Legionnaires that had either fallen or been dragged down here hadn¡¯t gone quietly. He checked on the three bodies he could find but all were dead and beyond his care. He continued on into the tunnel, his DUNGEON SENSE guiding his way. The trail from the ants¡¯ passage was easy to follow, even when the tunnel intersected others. There was a general trend downwards and Duke was able to see that the tunnels he was traversing were clear for as far as his DUNGEON SENSE could tell. He was glad that he had trained up the Ability and was able to use it comfortably now. Unironically, it was even easier to use underground as if that was what the Ability was originally designed for. With a moment¡¯s consideration Duke finally came to the realization that that was the case, cursing his stupidity for not realizing it earlier. After about ten minutes, Duke had switched to FLIGHT down the tunnels to speed up his travel. It was becoming clearer and clearer that these tunnels had been formed long before the ambush. Again, either they have out planned us, or they had such things in place for someone else. Duke¡¯s frustration swelled as he continued, unconsciously increasing his speed as he flew down the empty tunnels. Finally, after his frustration began to boil over into pure anger, his DUNGEON SENSE picked up motion ahead of him in the tunnel he was following. He slowed down to give himself time to assess the situation. He sensed giant ants ahead, down a side tunnel and slowed his approach to quickly observe them. They were working furiously at closing off the tunnel as Duke approached. He snapped a bolt of LIGHTNING into the working ants, scattering them away from the end of the tunnel they were attempting to close off. In response, they came boiling out of the tunnel en masse. Duke smiled at finally having something to vent his anger against and attacked. He flew into the approaching ants, blasting them apart with his tonfa and a strong charge of LIGHTNING surrounding him. The ants were individually stronger than a normal man with pincers that could easily lop off a limb. This changed drastically when Duke entered the equation. His ARMOR SKIN made him significantly harder to hurt and his sheer physical and magical might made it a simple effort to overwhelm any ant he encountered. The problem was when they came at him in such large quantities. He was able to smash his way deeply into the swarm choking the tunnel, but the weight of their numbers was starting to slow his progress down. Duke amplified the LIGHTNING pouring out of his body to 3,000 a second to keep it under his Mana regen rate. This filled the passage with electric energy, and, at nearly the top of the Practiced tier, flash-fried the giant ants in within their exoskeletons. It marginally increased his speed of advance as none managed to live long enough to effectively grasp him, but it rapidly filled the passageway with the horrendous smell of burnt and shattered ant bodies. He reactively fired off CLEANSE whenever the smell got bad enough to make him gag. He lost track of time as he slowly burned his way through the swarming mass of giant ants. Just how many of these fuckers are there? We killed tens of thousands of them above ground. He pressed on, burning his way through the swarming mass with his LIGHTNING. Another Ability might have been more effective at the same rank and level, but that was the issue. Duke had used his LIGHTNING so much that it was his highest offensive Ability after TELEPORTATION which was more of a utility that could be used as an attack. Finally, he burst out of the swarming tunnel into a larger chamber that his DUNGEON SENSE had told him was ahead. He flew out into the center of the chamber, coming to a hover to give himself a moment to assess the situation. There were streams of giant ants pouring out of three holes in the chamber. They traced the outline of the chamber and converged into a larger hole on the opposite side of the chamber. In the center of the chamber stood the druid Duke had seen earlier. His dead eyes stared back up at Duke but he was not Duke¡¯s first concern. Behind the druid was a spider the size of a New Jersey McMansion. Grasped in the spider¡¯s forward pair of legs was Grat, his neck centered between the spider¡¯s pincer-like chelicerae. He appeared to be unconscious. ¡°Don¡¯t even make a gesture or Moonspinner will snip his head clean off. You don¡¯t want that, now do you?¡± The druid gloated, knowing he had Duke by the heartstrings. His friends were his weakness which he proved by coming back for the gladiators, at least that was what his master had told him. Duke didn¡¯t make a single gesture, not even a twitch of an eyebrow. Instead, he TELEPORTED Grat back to the Legion, pouring an extra 100,000 Mana into it to overcome any resistance the spider could have put up. Grat vanished from the arachnid¡¯s pincers and the enormous spider screamed at Duke. The druid looked at the spider, looked at Duke, and tried to run behind the spider. ¡°That¡¯s not going to help you.¡± Duke called down to the druid. Without warning, the spider leapt at Duke, springing from the floor with incredible speed. Duke¡¯s reaction speed was simply faster than the spider¡¯s. He TELEPORTED behind the leaping spider to stand in front of the fleeing druid. The druid skidded to a halt a single meter in front of Duke, his face set in full panic, desperately trying to find a way to escape. ¡°No trees here for you to step into.¡± Duke taunted as the both of them were TELEPORTED to the Legion. Immediately, the druid was subjected to nearly one hundred Hold spells as the Legion¡¯s Mage Corps reacted to the second being appearing in their midst in the past few seconds. Duke immediately moved to check on Grat who had a trio of healers standing around him. They were franticly pouring healing Mana into him, but Grat did not seem to be improving. He was still laid out on the ground motionless. Duke¡¯s body flushed with adrenaline as concern for his friend peaked. ¡°Heal him, dammit! Why isn¡¯t it working?¡± Duke shouted ineffectively. ¡°They¡¯re trying but nothing seems to be working.¡± Aurelia answered from Duke¡¯s side. He nearly jumped, startled as he had not heard her coming, his focus being solely on his fallen friend. A cackling laugh came from nearby. Both Duke and Aurelia snapped around to see the druid being restrained by some sort of glowing field that Baslin was pouring Mana into. Noting that he had everyone¡¯s attention, the druid began speaking. ¡°He has the queen¡¯s venom in his veins. You will not ever revive him without the antidote. The venom was meant for you, golden girl, but you were too hard a target to get to. Gratukelsten, on the other hand, let me walk right up to him. Trusting fool.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Duke focused his IDENTIFY on the druid, quickly getting an assessment of who he was dealing with. *** You have encountered Farthell Masolivich, High Druid of the Council. Level: ??? Health: ??? Mana ??? *** ¡°Farthell Masolivich. Why do I know that name?¡± Duke asked, his mind churning through memories until it landed on one in particular. ¡°You were Grat¡¯s mentor. He trusted you and you used that trust to do this to him. You surely must be one of Chopie¡¯s minions.¡± ¡°Oh, you should not speak of the great King Chopie, may he reign forever, in such a manner. If you come before him and prostrate yourself and beg for his mercy, he may even allow you to serve him.¡± Farthell responded, his voice full of reverence towards the king. ¡°Seriously? You worship that asshole?¡± Duke replied incredulously. Farthell strained against the field Baslin was holding him in and Baslin grunted with the additional strain before he reinforced the field with an additional gesture. ¡°You do not know the glory of the Everliving King! He has brought unity to the land, a new day and a new dawn of prosperity!¡± ¡°We can¡¯t be talking about the same guy. The asshole that imprisoned his father¡¯s best advisor to keep his sister from ¡®winning¡¯. The asshole who is allowing undead to take over his kingdom? The asshole who sold his soul for undeath. That is the Chopie I know.¡± Duke responded heatedly. ¡°You don¡¯t know him at all. He elevates us all, gives us power that we would never have on our own. He is the true ruler of this land!¡± The more Farthell ranted about Chopie, the more deranged he sounded. ¡°His mind has been warped. To do so to such an individual is frightening.¡± Baslin added. ¡°Can his mind be healed?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°It would take a healer of enormous capability.¡± Baslin responded. ¡°The Legion¡¯s healers can handle battlefield wounds and the like but something like this is well beyond even the best we have.¡± ¡°So, unless we can find a healer at least at the Master level, this guy is fucked?¡± Duke asked. ¡°That is essentially the case.¡± Baslin responded, ignoring the continual rants of the druid. ¡°If you bring us back to the Inn, I have a facility in my lab where he can be contained safely until we find a solution.¡± ¡°What about Grat?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°Sleep forever!¡± The druid ranted, his eyes dead eyes flashing into a glowing a bright green. ¡°OK, one last chance, asswipe. What queen¡¯s venom are we talking about here?¡± Duke pushed the entirety of his Psyche into the question, hoping for a direct answer. The crazed druid raised an empty vial, waving it from his fingers. ¡°Queen Pahst, of course. Once she took the transformation to become the Endless Spider Queen, everything became so much clearer.¡± Duke ignored the druid after that as he wandered off into ranting about the web of truth and ageless arachnids. He looked over to the healers that still poured their healing magic into Grat on a rotating basis. One stepped away, exhausted as yet another rotated in. Duke pulled the healer aside for a moment. ¡°Is the healing having any effect?¡± Duke asked, concern radiating from his voice. ¡°No, Your Grace. His condition remains unchanged despite our best efforts. Whatever venom runs through his veins is well beyond us.¡± The exhaustion and desperation in the man¡¯s voice stirred something in Duke¡¯s heart and an idea in his mind. ¡°Who is the best healer amongst you all?¡± Duke asked while carefully gauging the man¡¯s unconscious response. ¡°That would be Eihlen. She is the best of all the healers but she could do no more for Grat than any of us.¡± He sullenly responded. ¡°Thank you. Go rest.¡± Duke smiled at the healer, knowing the dedication the man was showing and giving equal respect. He then walked over to the woman who had looked up as her name was mentioned. ¡°Eihlen, I presume.¡± Duke asked as she turned at his approach. ¡°Yes, Your Grace.¡± The short dark-haired young woman turned to meet his gaze with blue eyes full of compassion. ¡°I am told that you are the best healer in the Legion.¡± Duke started. ¡°I¡­I am a good healer, but not the best.¡± She responded. ¡°Who is the better healer then?¡± Duke asked curiously. ¡°Well, Shandra, or perhaps Olean.¡± She replied. Duke did not miss the headshakes from the individuals Eihlen pointed out. ¡°They seem to disagree.¡± He responded. ¡°No need to be so humble. Be proud of your abilities and what you can do with them. It doesn¡¯t serve anyone to downplay what you can do.¡± ¡°But I was not able to help Grat. I¡¯ve failed.¡± She answered sullenly. Duke shook his head with a wistful smile. ¡°No one can help him just yet. What ranks are your healing Abilities?¡± She paused, checking her own stats. ¡°My general HEALING Ability is at the Practiced rank and my CURING Ability is still Initiate, but close to advancing.¡± She cast her gaze downward, feeling insufficient. ¡°That¡¯s truly impressive. Having only been a healer for such a short time, those ranks are phenomenal. You must have a strong natural affinity for healing and your work ethic has to be through the roof.¡± Duke praised. She raised her eyes at the unexpected praise. The Duke was not known as one to accept failure gracefully. She was surprised to see the admiration in his eyes and began to second-guess her perception of the man. ¡°I do whatever I can, Your Grace. Healing is my passion and removing the suffering of others brings me joy.¡± His smile grew and he gestured. ¡°Come with me please.¡± She followed him over to Aurelia who was speaking with her command cadre. ¡°Aurelia, may we borrow you for a bit?¡± ¡°Of course. Excuse me. Please continue with planning.¡± She broke off from her cadre and joined Duke and Eihlen aside. ¡°What is on your mind?¡± ¡°Too much but I have an idea and a few questions to see if it might work.¡± Duke responded. After receiving a ¡°go ahead¡± nod from Aurelia, he continued. ¡°What is the range of your INSPIRATION and ALL FOR ONE Abilities?¡± ¡°Right now, a bit over two kilometers. Why do you ask?¡± ¡°That should work. The three of us are going to hunt some ants and Eihlen is going to get a massive level boost if this works like I expect.¡± Eihlen immediately protested. ¡°Your Grace, I am not much of a fighter. I will be of little use to you fighting these horrific insects.¡± ¡°I do not want or expect you to fight them. What I do expect is for you to use your HEALING and CURING Abilities so that you get credit for participating in the fight and using Aurelia¡¯s Abilities, you will leech enough experience to level up quickly. We are going to see if we can push you up high enough to unlock an Ability that could help Grat or level up your current Abilities to the point they make a difference.¡± Both women gaped at him. Aurelia spoke first. ¡°You¡¯re going to place her in that level of danger in the hopes it will advance her? That¡¯s more than a bit heavy handed and extreme.¡± Eihlen responded, steel in her voice. ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± Aurelia¡¯s head snapped around in shock. Eihlen continued. ¡°General, this is a need for the Legion. We have already encountered things we had not anticipated nor trained for. I am,¡± She paused, giving Duke the slightest nod, ¡°the best healer in the Legion yet my Abilities are not up to the task at hand. This is likely the fastest way to advance my level and Abilities. Depending on how it goes, I might even be able to hit Tier three and get my next Ability or even possibly a Class evolution. It is worth the risk.¡± Aurelia listened intently, shook her head, and smiled. ¡°Your bravery and dedication are a credit to you and to the Legion. Give me a few minutes to organize my leadership and we can be off then.¡± Duke smiled and shouted out. ¡°Baslin, I¡¯m going to take you and Grat back to the Inn. Elaine can care for her husband while you put the deranged druid on ice.¡± Baslin smiled and spoke quietly to himself. ¡°Idioms.¡± He continued more loudly. ¡°Very well, Duke. I am ready to depart whenever you are.¡± The three of them disappeared to reappear back at the Inn. Book 2, Chapter 9 - Everyone Hates Spiders ¡°That Ability of yours is far more than just convenient. What is the range on it at this point? Has it increased?¡± Baslin asked. Duke chuckled, after checking his Ability sheet. Still, just a bit over four hundred kilometers. I can¡¯t wait to see what it jumps to when I get it up to a Master level.¡± ¡°Four hundred kilometers. You could move across the entire continent in a matter of seconds with that.¡± Baslin marveled, shaking his head. ¡°And all without painstakingly constructed gates that take nearly a decade to perfect.¡± ¡°Maybe if I knew where I was going, I could. That seems to be one major limitation ¨C if I can¡¯t see or don¡¯t know where I am going, it doesn¡¯t really work.¡± ¡°Not a bad limitation. We just need to get you a bit more worldly.¡± Baslin commented. ¡°That¡¯s a future plan. We have enough on our plate already. Are you sure you can keep that madman contained?¡± Baslin¡¯s smile unsettled Duke. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m quite sure. Don¡¯t worry about it at all.¡± Duke picked up Grat and set out to find Elaine, not wanting to continue that conversation. It did not take long to locate her ¨C she was inside the Inn chatting with Calen. She shot to her feet upon seeing Duke carrying Grat and rushed over in a panic. ¡°Grat! Not again!¡± Duke laid Grat down on a table as Elaine rushed up to them, her magic welling outwards to examine her husband. ¡°He has been poisoned!¡± She announced and immediately set to curing the poison. She strained her will and her magic for several long minutes before she collapsed. Duke caught her before she hit the floor realizing that this was a terrible idea, praying that the baby wasn¡¯t harmed by Elaine¡¯s strain and exhaustion. He immediately began to TRANSFER MANA back into the druid, restoring her Mana reserves. Her eyes opened in full panic. ¡°I can¡¯t help him.¡± She said despairingly as tears flooded her eyes. ¡°Oh, my precious Grat, what have you gone and done this time?¡± Duke helped Elaine into a seat next to her husband. ¡°Can you keep him stable until we can get the cure?¡± Elaine lifted her eyes from her husband, his hand grasped desperately in her own. ¡°There is a cure?¡± ¡°We think so. Long story short, Queen Pahst has been transformed into some sort of queen spider and it is her venom that is affecting Grat. If we can get even a sample of the venom, we can probably make an antitoxin. We are also pursuing other means.¡± Duke spoke softly, trying to comfort Elaine. ¡°Yes, bring me the venom. I should be able to make an antidote for it.¡± Hope rose in Elaine¡¯s eyes. ¡°There¡¯s one more thing you need to know.¡± Duke paused to make sure he had her attention. ¡°Farthell is the one who poisoned Grat.¡± She gasped, her hand snapping up to cover her mouth. ¡°Then the Council is no more. Dark times come for this land. Druids who have turned from the mother are a terrible plague on the land. I will keep my love safe. Find us a cure and we are going to have to purge the very Council from this land.¡± Her voice grew stronger as she spoke, conviction cementing her will with a flare of PURPOSE. Duke left her and Grat, TELEPORTING back to the Legion. They had dug in and were preparing for an extended stay. Tents had been arranged in neat rows behind earthen and wooden fortifications. It struck Duke that the fortifications looked a lot more permanent than he had expected and the forest had been cleared back three hundred meters all around. Aurelia and Eihlen met up with him as he made his way towards the command section. ¡°Is Elaine able to keep Grat stable?¡± Aurelia¡¯s question greeted Duke. ¡°It seems so. I left him in her care. The poor guy just keeps getting taken down. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s bad luck or he is just not meant for the field. Either way, I am not sure I can keep bringing him along.¡± Duke lamented. Aurelia gave him a gentle hug and reassured him, looking up into his eyes. ¡°This is not your fault for having him join us. You heard the druid yourself. The venom was meant for me. At my tier, it may well have killed me, and then where would that have left you?¡± ¡°Probably charging forward blindly and destroying anything and everything that got in my way of getting to Chopie.¡± Duke answered honestly. ¡°On that, we both agree. I hate to say it this way as it sounds remarkably self-serving, but this result is better. We will find an antivenom or find a way to make one. We might even get lucky with Eihlen¡¯s levels and maybe even tier.¡± Aurelia squeezed a bit tighter as she spoke. ¡°On that note, we should get going. I do not want our prey to get out of the range of your Abilities. I was about a kilometer away when I came upon the chamber. Hopefully, there is still something to fight there.¡± Duke pulled out a gem and handed it to Eihlen. ¡°This is the Gem of Radiance. When we TELEPORT in, push some Mana into the Gem and it will shine brightly. I don¡¯t need light to see down there, but I expect you both will.¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Thank you, Your Grace. I will do as you instruct.¡± Eihlen responded. ¡°OK, all that ¡®your grace¡¯ crap is fine around the rest of the Legion, but when we are down there in the thick of it, call me Duke. One syllable is much faster, and formality is idiotic in combat.¡± Duke spoke clearly and intently at Eihlen who nodded in response, tightlipped. ¡°OK, then, here we go.¡± The three of them TELEPORTED to the underground chamber. Eihlen immediately infused Mana into the Gem and it flashed into a bright light that hovered over her head. She saw the large chamber filled, not with giant ants like she had been psyching herself up to handle but with giant spiders. She screamed as thousands of spiders of all sizes launched themselves at the trio. Aurelia¡¯s sword burst into flame, preparing to cut as many spiders to burning pieces as she could. Duke¡¯s response was more energetic. The trio were immediately surrounded by a globe of crackling LIGHTNING interlaced with FLAME. Duke shouted into the surrounding area. ¡°You think you can fucking ambush me again? No fucking way. Burn! All of you, burn!¡± With a flash of an additional 300,000 Mana, the sphere blasted outwards, expanding to cover the entire cavern save for the area the three of them stood within. Air rushed in after the explosion so violently that it nearly swept the trio off their feet. The Gem still shone brightly as the wind cleared the smoke from the chamber revealing smashed and scorched bodies of tens of thousands of arachnids of various shapes and sizes. Most were no larger than a person¡¯s head, but some were as large as a car. In many places, the spiders¡¯ exoskeletons had been melted and fused together. Nothing moved save the three of them. ¡°Well, that was not what I was planning.¡± Duke remarked. ¡°Did you get any experience for that, Eihlen?¡± She shook herself out of shock and pulled up her notifications. ¡°It shows that the party killed 5,013 arachnids of various levels and tiers. I got more than three million experience and I¡¯m now up to level 80! I didn¡¯t hit tier three, but I jumped nearly 70 levels from that one fight. Not that I can call it a fight. That was horrifying.¡± ¡°I hate spiders. I question the sanity of anyone who doesn¡¯t.¡± Duke replied. He turned to Aurelia with the obvious question in his glance. ¡°I gained four levels from that so yes, it was fruitful. Maybe you will have gained a level as well.¡± She smiled at Duke, ignoring the steaming corpses all around them. ¡°We¡¯ll see later. I¡¯m sure there are more things to hunt in these tunnels than what we have found so far. Are we still in range of your Legion Abilities?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Yes, and they even increased from that. My range is increasing. I¡¯m glad I had focused the Abilities before we even came down here. That would have been a terrible loss of opportunity.¡± Aurelia agreed. Duke smiled at the pair. ¡°Please take a moment to allocate your stats and such. I want to regen a bit of Mana before we move on. I blew more than half of my Mana pool on that attack.¡± ¡°That was unlike anything I have ever seen¡­Duke.¡± Eihlen paused, keeping herself from using the honorific and then continued. ¡°Is there anything that could stand against that kind of power?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure there are plenty of things that could. I haven¡¯t had to fight much that was above Tier five as far as I have been able to figure. There¡¯s no telling what Tier Chopie and his lieutenants are. They could be Tier ten for all I know, and my Abilities will be easily countered.¡± Eihlen suddenly looked concerned, but Duke spoke again. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Even if they are that high a Tier, I have a lot more on my side than simply raw power. I¡¯ve got that in spades, but I have more tricks up my sleeve than that.¡± ¡°Quite a wonderous coat it must be to contain such marvels up its sleeves.¡± Eihlen responded. Aurelia burst out laughing, followed shortly by Duke. Eihlen just looked baffled as she asked, ¡°What did I say that was so funny?¡± Regaining control of his laughter, Duke placed a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Just another idiom and your reaction was the perfect tension-breaker. Thank you for that.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t understand.¡± She replied, concern and confusion dominating her countenance. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Just trust that you didn¡¯t say anything wrong, but it was gloriously funny to the two of us.¡± Aurelia added between continuing chuckles. The trio waited for Duke to regen his Mana before he TELEPORTED the corpses away to clear a path to the tunnel he saw the giant ants pouring down. They set out to follow the path with mixed spirits. Duke and Aurelia were smiling while Eihlen was growing more and more trepidatious as they walked further into the tunnels. They travelled through three connecting tunnels and chambers before they came upon any activity again. As they entered the next chamber, they were greeted by several ordered ranks of giant warrior ants. This was very different from what Duke had seen in the tunnels before and was strange enough to make him pause in the entrance to the chamber. ¡°They seem a bit more organized than before. Weird.¡± Aurelia remarked. ¡°Very much so.¡± Eihlen added. Before they could discuss any further, the ants acted. Instead of attacking, they lowered their front legs and placed their heads on the surface of the chamber. The trio exchanged confused looks. ¡°Well, that¡¯s even weirder.¡± Duke added. Before either of the two others could respond, a voice entered their minds. ¡°Please do not attack. The one who was controlling us is no longer here and we mean you and yours no harm.¡± ¡°Weirdest.¡± Aurelia added. The voice started again as the warrior ants shuffled sideways, opening a path through their ranks. ¡°Since you have not attacked, I am hopeful that we can live in peace. You are invited to my chamber so that we may speak directly.¡± Duke spoke up. ¡°This is not what we expected in the least. What guarantee do we have that you will not attack us once we are in the heart of your nest?¡± There was no response and after several seconds of exchanged glances the voice began again. ¡°I sincerely hope you are not trying to speak with me at the moment. I can only project. I cannot read your own thoughts or hear your words as I am too far away to hear them. Please follow the path opened for you and we will talk. On my honor as Queen of this Nest, I grant you safe passage in and out of the Nest. As long as you do not attack, you will not be harmed.¡± ¡°Well, that answers that. What do we do, Duke?¡± Aurelia asked. He shrugged and smiled. ¡°I guess we go meet the Queen Ant. Worst case, if they attack, we can destroy them, or I can get us out if the need arises there as well.¡± With that, the three travelled further into the tunnels following the open path made for them. Book 2, Chapter 10 - Of Queens and Deals The tunnels continued with their ant-lined corridors for some time. By Duke¡¯s guess they had traveled at least another two kilometers. ¡°Aurelia, are we still in range of the Legion?¡± ¡°No, we¡¯ve passed out of range for my Abilities, so we are more than two kilometers away.¡± She related. ¡°Are you sure about this? We are absolutely surrounded by these giant ants and not by a small number. There are thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of them just behind us.¡± ¡°We will be fine. No need to worry.¡± Duke responded, doing his best to project confidence despite the increasing oppressive feeling as the ants closed ranks behind them. The tunnels became more stone-like the further they traveled. They had the appearance of chiseled stone rather than the packed earth that the previous tunnels had been. Duke began to wonder if these tunnels were here before the ants as part of some natural formation or if there was some sort of giant ant that could work stone. The second possibility made him more concerned as that implied either some serious elemental Abilities or mandibles strong enough to work stone. Either way, it was a concern. Finally, the trio arrived in the largest chamber so far. Duke had sensed it coming for a while as he was getting more and more used to how the world looked in his DUNGEON SENSE. Even now, he still couldn¡¯t use it at its full potential range that had grown to over six kilometers. The Ability may have been at the Adept rank but his own mastery over it was far lower ¨C it was still to alien to his mind. With all the ants choking the passageways, Duke was happy that he had been able to get his range out to five hundred meters and maintain the clarity of sense that he wanted. The Ability wasn¡¯t designed for the human brain, and he knew it would take a long time to adapt to it. Despite all that, he was proud of the progress he had made so far. This new chamber stretched beyond Duke¡¯s current DUNGEON SENSE. He pushed his personal limit with extra focus on the Ability to be able to see across the full kilometer span of what he now knew to be the queen¡¯s chamber. The queen waited for the group in the center of the chamber surrounded by the largest ants Duke had seen yet. Her royal guard stood ten meters at the shoulder and exuded a palpable menace even at this distance. Aurelia and Eihlen tensed up at the feeling. ¡°Can you feel that?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s super-creepy.¡± Eihlen responded. ¡°It¡¯s the presence of the queen¡¯s royal guard. They are still about two hundred meters away, but they exude an imposing presence. I expect the queen to have an even greater aura, but I believe she is suppressing it for us. I have no idea what is going to happen when we get to her so be ready to defend yourselves. I am hoping that this will be a friendly meeting and I don¡¯t have to destroy the queen and the whole nest.¡± ¡°Do you really think you could?¡± Eihlen asked with trepidation filling her voice. ¡°Yes.¡± Duke responded with cold confidence and finality. The corridor of ants led them straight to the queen and her royal guard. As they approached, they became confused. The queen stood as tall as Aurelia, in a nearly human form. She was still clearly not human as her skin was chiton and her eyes were overlarge with myriad black facets. But beyond those features, she could be mistaken for a bald, naked human woman in the right light. As they approached, she spoke. ¡°Greetings and welcome to the Supreme Nest. I am Mandibra, Queen of the Nest and I welcome you. And no, this is not my natural form but one that is best for interacting with you.¡± Her voice had an odd buzzing sound to it that triggered Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA. He realized that she spoke in a multi-tonal language that carried commands to her guards. In addition to what he and his companions heard. He relaxed when the translation of her words processed. ¡°Stand down, oh my beloved guardians. I shall treat with these humans so that the Nest shall be preserved, and the evil one will never enslave us again. I have read this human¡¯s Life Scent and I am sure that he will deal with us fairly if not provoked further.¡± The immense royal guard ants stepped back away from the group and the Queen continued. ¡°My apologies for not having furniture for you to sit upon. It is not a custom to sit on furniture in the Nest as it seems to be in your own homes.¡± ¡°Do you mind if I produce some furniture for us all?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Oh, by all means. Please do so but I would ask you to introduce yourselves first. I would know with whom I speak.¡± The Queen responded. ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡± Duke responded. ¡°I am Duke, this is Aurelia, and finally Eihlen. We are well pleased to meet with you and perhaps find a path towards mutual understanding instead of conflict.¡± There, that¡¯s the most fucking diplomatic thing I have ever said in my life. Hope it works because they would be a better ally than enemy and it took a lot of effort to put that word salad together. Duke proceeded to pull four overstuffed chairs from his INVENTORY and arranged them in a circle. He smiled at the curious look he received from Mandibra at seeing the chairs appear. The three waited until the Queen sat before sitting themselves. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Duke started the conversation which would have been a terrible breach of protocol in a humanoid kingdom but his Abilities had showed him that he held the advantage here ¨C they feared him. ¡°Your Majesty, we came here in response to an unprovoked attack. If you wish to cease hostilities, I would have your explanation. You well know that I, even by myself, have the power to destroy your nest. You do not know what my companions are capable of.¡± He read the body language of the Ant Queen, his XENOGLOSSIA firing with his intent. She was nervous and unsure of herself. This became even more clear when she responded. ¡°The explanation is simple but terrible. I and my nest are residents of the underworld and do not have experience in dealing with denizens of the surface world. There have been some significant stirrings among the residents of the underworld in recent years and I have been sending my scout workers to dig paths away from the increasing trouble spots. They eventually broke through to the surface world. There they encountered the Deceiver.¡± Duke raised an eyebrow in interest at the name and nodded for her to continue. His emotions were mixed in dealing with her. Her soldiers had attacked the Legion, dragging as many as three thousand Legionnaires to their deaths. But he also knew that it was likely not their own choice. His anger seethed below the surface, and he was doing his best to restrain himself. She continued. ¡°This surface dweller, this man, spoke our very own language of scents and vibration. Because of this, he was brought to speak with me. At first, he spoke of harmony and growth and even blessed some of my eggs, making them stronger than ever before. It was a beneficial relationship as he only helped us. Then things changed. He cast a spell of some sort on me, and I felt my mind retreat to be replaced only by his instruction. He took me over and by doing so, took over the entire Nest. The latest thing he made us do was attack your walking Nest.¡± Her story fit rather well against Duke¡¯s suspicions, and he read honesty and sorrow in her body language. Even her scent spoke to the truth of her words. He decided to let the matter drop. ¡°Your Majesty, the tale you have told us about the Deceiver would not sound genuine to many people and would be treated as a flimsy attempt at excusing one¡¯s actions. But I see the truth of your words and know this attack was neither your intention nor your will. I also know this because this Deceiver of yours is now my prisoner. He will answer for his crimes.¡± She did not immediately respond but her body language spoke volumes. She was shocked and relieved at this turn of events, even elated at the Deceiver being captured. ¡°This is news of the greatest caliber. You have my thanks for removing this evil from my Nest. There is one more matter that must be brought to light before we speak any further.¡± She then issued a command in her language of scent and vibration. ¡°Bring them out safely and gently. They are being released.¡± A great stirring of motion from a far corner of the chamber was heard and when Duke focused his DUNGEON SENSE on the area, he saw something that he could barely believe. More than a thousand Legionnaires were being escorted into the chamber. They were unarmed, but still wore their armor. Before he could say anything, the Queen continued. ¡°They were being held as hostages against any aggression on your part. It is not how I wished to conduct our interaction but my first and foremost loyalty is to the Nest, and I will do whatever is necessary to protect it. As you have been so reasonable with us, we release them back to you. We will find other food for my children.¡± The trio gaped, truly taken by surprise at this turn of events. Not only were there more than a thousand Legionnaires that had been taken by the ants, they were being kept alive to be food for the ant larvae. Duke took the lead in response. His XENOGLOSSIA had kicked in and he knew how much Mandibra was waiting on his reaction and response. And respond he did. ¡°Thank you for returning our Legionnaires. That saves me the trouble of retrieving them myself.¡± Duke gestured and, after pouring nearly his entire Mana pool into his Ability, TELEPORTED the Legionnaires back to the Legion. It was the Queen¡¯s turn to gape. Duke smiled inwardly as she stumbled over her response. ¡°How¡­how¡­what just happened?¡± Duke allowed his smile to turn outward. ¡°A mere touch of my power. I sent my people back home. Was that truly all of them or do I need to look beyond the walls of this chamber?¡± Duke was feeling pumped after that display of power and decided to push it a bit further despite needing time to regen his Mana. He had reserved a bit over 30,000 which was easily enough to get his party out if needed. He was getting his Mana back at a rate of almost 4,000 a second, so he wasn¡¯t particularly concerned. Mandibra took a moment to compose herself, realizing how much her reaction had given away. ¡°I assure you, that is all of your people that I was holding. With the Deceiver gone, I wish nothing more than friendly relations with you and yours.¡± She was not able to hide her emotions from Duke ¨C she was absolutely terrified of him now. ¡°I am inclined to move in that direction. But the fact remains that you did attack my people and kidnapped a number of them. We need to address this before we can move on to any talks of freindship.¡± Duke replied, applying all the political pressure he could think of. This was, after all, not his strong point. Point me at a target and I¡¯ll obliterate it. Put me in a contest of political wits and I¡¯m a fucking bull in a China shop. ¡°Your point is well made. You suffered losses because of this unfortunate attack, as did the Nest, but we were the unwitting aggressor here. I will offer you thirty thousand of my warriors to assist you when you reach your foe. Is that sufficient to replace your losses?¡± ¡°A generous offer. Make it fifty thousand and we can call this matter resolved.¡± Duke responded. ¡°Agreed.¡± Mandibra responded quickly. Duke realized immediately that he could have upped the number significantly but still it was a lot more than he had expected. ¡°Now, let¡¯s move on to other matters, such as an alliance between my people and your Nest.¡± Duke responded. After several hours of negotiations, an agreement was reached for mutual defense and trade. Duke was more than happy to take his leave of the Nest and return to the Legion with his companions. I need some fucking ambassadors. There is no way that me doing all this shit buy myself is a good idea. Book 2, Chapter 11 - Flying is not Just for the Birds When they arrived, they discovered that night had fallen, and the Legion was largely bedded down for the night. Duke and Aurelia were both disappointed that they were not there for the return of the Legionnaires, but the celebratory spirit still moved through camp. Duke let the atmosphere grow on them for a while before returning to the Inn with Aurelia and Eihlen for the night. Elaine immediately took Eihlen under her wing and began discussing everything she knew about healing from the natural world and the pair wandered off together to tend to Grat and keep him stable. Duke and Aurelia went off to their room and called it a night. Morning found Aurelia waking Duke up for a continuation of their nocturnal activities. He had no complaints about that at all. He actively suppressed his notifications until they were done, and they were getting dressed. Once again ecstatic about his CLEANSE and RESTORE Abilities. He delved into his notifications. *** Ants, ants, ants, everywhere! That was exciting! You have suffered your first losses as a military commander in this world. How did that feel? Not too great, eh? Do better. Be more prepared and use the Abilities you have been granted. You should have been able to sense the ants below you long before they attacked. Do not allow yourself to be caught so flatfooted again. The next time might cost you more than some unnamed Legionnaires. That said, you acquitted yourself well once you engaged the enemy. Being able to capture an enemy leader without beating them to near death is quite the accomplishment for one whose primary modus operandi consists of hit something until it dies or gives up. You also managed your first true diplomatic challenge and even somehow came out on top. You have learned a new Skill: Diplomacy. You gain this Skill at Novice 7. Expect to need this Skill more and more as your political power grows. You have slain a significant number of giant ant soldiers and workers as well as the spiders. More than thirteen thousand in total. This has earned you 448,533 experience. Additionally, you won your first diplomatic contest in which you liberated 1,216 lost Legionnaires, gained an alliance, trade, and 50,000 mercenary giant ant soldiers for use in your campaign. This is a feat far beyond what was expected of you. You receive an additional 371,600 experience. You are now level 103 and have 96 Characteristic points to spend. Your Skills and Abilities have increased as well. TELEPORTATION has increased to Adept 75 LIGHTNING has increased to Practiced 63 OVERCHANNEL has increased to Adept 5 MENTAL FORTITUDE has increased to Practiced 17 FLAME DART has increased to Initiate 14 SIMULCASTING has increased to Initiate 35 CLEANSE has increased to Initiate 28 RESTORE has increased to Master 38 IDENTIFY has increased to Initiate 19 INVENTORY has increased to Initiate 41 ARMOR SKIN has increased to Practiced 77 FLIGHT has increased to Practiced 5 MANA TRANSFER has increased to Novice 15 DUNGEON SENSE has increased to Adept 48 Aerial Maneuvering has increased to Initiate 22 Your progress is pleasing, and you have finally begun to effectively utilize those around you. Use all the tools you have gathered to you. The day will come when you will truly need to know how to use them. *** Duke was glad that the messages continued to be of a more friendly nature, hoping that would continue. He immediately spent his Characteristic points, placing 46 in Psyche and 50 in Endurance, boosting his Mana and Health. Breakfast saw Eihlen and Elaine joining Duke, Aurelia, and Baslin. From the worried look in Elaine¡¯s eyes, Duke knew that no progress had been made in curing Grat. Baslin, on the other hand, seemed excited. Duke inquired. ¡°Oh, my experiments are starting to show results. Nothing worth reporting just yet, but it¡¯s exciting from a pure research standpoint. After being trapped in my own tower for so long, I¡¯m having too much fun putting all my theoretical musings into practical trials and tests. I was wrong on so many things, but the things I was right on are beyond exciting.¡± Baslin trailed off into magical theory that no one else really understood. Eventually, they moved on to other topics. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "So, we break camp today and re-commence our march on the capitol. It will still be three or four days before we break out of the forest to the main road. When we do, it will likely signal the time they will surely know we are coming.¡± Aurelia started. Duke interrupted. ¡°Can our scouts find and eliminate theirs?¡± "Possibly, but I would not rely on that happening. Despite his depravity, Chopie has proven himself a savvy enemy. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s possible to create undead insects, but if it is, I would bet on him using them as scouts and spies. There is no way for us to combat that approach that I know of. Baslin, do you have anything?¡± Aurelia asked. Basin slid smoothly into what Duke had begun to call ¡°Instructor Mode¡± and explained. ¡°Undead insects? Not likely on an individual basis. They are too small to hold the energy required to maintain an undead. It might be possible to imbue a swarm as a whole unit but that would be difficult to maintain, especially if they separate by any distance. So, I do not think insects would work. But, squirrels, rabbits, mice, birds? All of these are possible. It would take a grand obscuring spell to hide the Legion and even then, it would only work if they were stationary.¡± ¡°So, it is likely that they know we are coming and have a fair gauge on our strength. They must also know that we have Farthell in custody. They might think him dead since they can¡¯t reach him inside the dungeon.¡± Duke surmised. ¡°How does that change our plans?¡± Aurelia took over. ¡°We have only cursory information about their defenses, primarily from before they started setting up any additional fortifications recently. That is a disadvantage. We do have the Legion, however, and their Abilities are well-suited to sieging a city and breaching its defenses. The FORMATION Ability can weaken the city¡¯s defenses all by itself. When the Mage Corps fully engage their collective Spells, it can have a devastating effect. Duke can place squads of troops behind their walls to cause trouble within. Baslin will be responsible for countering any large-scale works of magic brought to bear against us. We also have the ability to deploy siege engines of our own and pound away at their fixed defenses.¡± She paused while the others digested what she had said. ¡°That all is geared toward a largely living humanoid population. We can expect a strong undead presence. Some, if not the majority of the city¡¯s citizenry may have been converted and we will have to deal with them. The Freeze Undead Spells that the Mage Corps have been actively practicing will serve us well in that case.¡± She paused again. Upon seeing nods of agreement and understanding, she continued. ¡°Once we break out of the woods, our spies will be observing the city to get us an idea of what we are facing. We want to limit civilian casualties so massively destructive attacks are probably off the table, at least initially. The bottom line is this: We do not yet know what we are walking into, but we are prepared for a number of contingencies.¡± ¡°Well, whatever the case, we should get back to the Legion. Someone¡¯s liable to get bitter at us not being there every night.¡± Aurelia said. ¡°Yes, but if they don¡¯t have something to bitch about, they¡¯ll find something to bitch about. It¡¯s the way of any military in the universe. A bitching soldier is a happy soldier.¡± Duke replied. ¡°You know that makes absolutely no sense, right?¡± Baslin asked. ¡°Just trust me. They need something small to bitch about.¡± Duke responded. He then TELEPORTED them all back to the Legion, effectively ending the conversation. The Legion was nearly ready to depart when the group arrived. Aurelia was immediately swept away by her command cadre to discuss status and plans for the march ahead. Eihlen returned to her assigned century with the understanding that she would join Aurelia if the right opportunity presented itself. Baslin wandered off mumbling something about samples. For the first time in a while, Duke was relatively alone. Sure, he was surrounded by thousands of people, but he was still by himself. He also realized that he had nothing specific he needed to accomplish at the moment. Smiling, Duke launched himself high into the air, pushing the limits of his FLIGHT Ability. He reveled in the speed, the sensation of the wind pulling at his hair, his clothes, his skin. He flew, twisting and turning, pulling maneuvers that would have snapped the wings off his plane or would have exceeded his ability to stay conscious. Finding that G-forces did not seem to affect him in any significant way was his favorite discovery. As he flew, he did not keep track of what direction he was going or how far he travelled. He knew he could TELEPORT back to the Legion at any time, so he just took the time to push the limits of his FLIGHT Ability and simply enjoy himself. The sensation energized him. Hours later, he received a whispered inquiry form Aurelia, ¡°Are you OK, Duke?¡± He responded smiling, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Just pushing some Abilities. Am I needed back with the Legion? Over.¡± ¡°Over what? No, never mind. It must be another idiom of yours. We are marching without incident and Baslin¡¯s new mobile wards seem to be working.¡± She whispered back. ¡°Great. I¡¯ll keep at it then. See you later but call me if you need me. Duke out.¡± Duke had yet to try and OVERCHANNEL his FLIGHT Ability but decided that this was the time to try it out. He poured extra Mana into the Ability and felt its multiplicative effect instantly. Clouds flashed by underneath himself at a speed he could not gauge. He pushed it faster and faster until things started to blur around him and he eventually pulled up to a stop. Duke hovered very high above the ground, looking down at what appeared to be well-ordered farm fields as it was a patchwork of nearly perfect tiny squares and rectangles. He descended to get a closer look, discovering that his first guess was right in nature, but not in scope. He realized this as he descended several kilometers before he could start to discern any real features in the fields. As he got within five kilometers of the ground, he was able to make out some more details. The fields themselves were vast, the smallest one at least fifteen kilometers across. All were cultivated with some form of crops or another. Having absolutely no farming background, Duke couldn¡¯t identify them by much of anything more than height and color. What he was able to discern was that the people tending the fields were definitely not human. They were humanoid for sure, but most were heavily furred and appeared to have canine snouts or other animalistic features. ¡°Beastkin.¡± Duke whispered to himself as the realization struck him. He descended closer and knew he was spotted by the myriad sets of eyes pointed in his direction and the flurry of activity now happening below. Duke put on his best friendly face and finished descending into an open square between fields, landing gently on his feet. ¡°Greetings, I am Duke, and I am a visitor here from afar.¡± He was greeted with all manner of looks which his XENOGLOSSIA translated from curious to frightened to aggressively angry. Oh, Duke, what have you gotten yourself into this time? Book 2, Chapter 12 - Of Mice and Men...and Wolves ¡°You speak the tongue of the people?¡± A particularly small beastkin responded to Duke. This beastkin appeared to be a humanoid mouse, standing only as tall as Duke¡¯s waist. It had human-like grey eyes set in a face that struck Duke as an odd mix of human and mouse. It seemed more human than the others surrounding it and they all seemed deferential to the diminutive beastkin. Duke¡¯s reply was even-toned and careful. He could sense a significant amount of tension and did not want to spark an incident. ¡°I speak whatever language is most comfortable for the listener to hear.¡± ¡°He speaks in the tongue of the wolf!¡± Once voice rose up over the crowd. ¡°No, he speaks the words of the owl!.¡± Another exclaimed. ¡°I hear him clearly in the voice of the lion!¡± Yet another added. Duke spoke a bit louder. ¡°I speak in my language, but I have an Ability that allows you to hear me in your own. That is all that is occurring here. Nothing divine. Nothing untoward.¡± This was the first time his enhanced XENOGLOSSIA might be a problem for Duke. The mousekin spoke again. ¡°Well, Duke, I will welcome you for now. But I must bring you before the Council before any decisions are made. Please come with me.¡± Duke decided that it was the best diplomatic action to follow, so he did. After they had moved away from the group far enough to be out of earshot, the mousekin paused and addressed Duke. ¡°I am known as Nibblesworth. I am a Councilor here in the Wildheart Refuge and I, for one, welcome you to our settlement. The others may not be as welcoming to a stranger, especially a furless human. The last one who came here wound up killing a Council Member. I do not believe you are like she was. Do not prove me wrong.¡± Duke smiled at the mousekin¡¯s candor. ¡°I can assure you that I don¡¯t mean to harm you and yours. I merely was intrigued by how your fields were laid out as I passed by and decided to stop down for a visit. If it turns out that I am not welcome here, I will leave.¡± He projected as much earnestness as he could as they walked between the hedgerows that defined the fields. Some time later, they arrived at the central hub of the community. Along the way they passed various buildings, many had been homes but there were some that served the farming community as storage for equipment or food. They passed numerous different beastkin of all ages and types. Most seemed to congregate by base animal, but a few mixed groups were scattered throughout. ¡°Nibblesworth, why does it seem that everyone is largely segregated?¡± Duke inquired. ¡°Old prejudices have yet to fade. You would think that being together in a single community for five centuries would have changed that but apparently, we are still too set in our ways.¡± The response was simple but carried enormous emotional weight for the mousekin. Duke assumed that the mousekin was often on the receiving end of this prejudice of which he spoke. ¡°What are the prejudices against my kind?¡± Duke asked as they approached a large round building with a single tower. It was the tallest and largest building that Duke had seen yet and he assumed it was the Council¡¯s place of business. ¡°Humans are known as violent aggressors who regularly try to take what we have built. It will be difficult for you to find allies amongst the Council Members, but it is not impossible. You won me over rather simply, but I am far better at reading others than any other Council Member.¡± Nibblesworth paused, reaching up and placing a hand on Duke¡¯s wrist. ¡°When we enter, please allow me to speak, at least at first. You will know when it is your time to speak.¡± Duke nodded. ¡°Heard, understood, and acknowledged.¡± Nibblesworth cocked his head inquisitively in response to Duke¡¯s statement. He took a moment to step through what the human had said, then nodded and led Duke through the pair of large, ornately carved double-doors. Duke took special note of them as the doors were the first sign of anything beyond utilitarian decoration with their scenes of beastkin life and struggles. Passing through the doors, Duke saw that the building was almost entirely comprised of the Council Chamber. There were guards of all manner of beastkin along the perimeter of the chamber. Duke was able to discern the base animals for most of them quickly but there were a few that he didn¡¯t recognize right away. He figured that they might be based on some creatures native to the planet that he had yet to encounter. The chamber itself had a balcony surrounding the entire inside wall with stairs leading down to ground level at various points. The ground floor had a railing running around it with stairs interspersed at regular intervals that led down into the Council Chamber itself. All the wood in the building from the balusters to the railings to the columns holding up the elaborate ceiling were masterfully carved with depictions of animals and beastkin. Many carvings depicted scenes of battle but there seemed to be nearly an equal number of erotic depictions as well. Duke took in as much as he could in the short time he had before being led downward into the chamber. All discussion ceased in the chamber as Duke was noticed. The chamber held nearly 50 beastkin in five rows of seats and a single catkin stood behind a podium at the front of the chamber. She looked up at Duke with the gaze of an alpha predator assessing its prey. Duke felt her presence palpably and knew when his MENTAL FORTITUDE kicked in to bolster his Psyche. Her presence was strong, and most would have been at least taken aback by her gaze. He felt Nibblesworth stiffen beside him and freeze in place. He glanced down at the mousekin to see him trembling in fear, which prompted him to return his gaze back to the catkin with even more steel in his eyes. Neither flinched for quite some time. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Finally, their contest of wills was interrupted by a shout from the chamber floor. ¡°That is enough, Emberclaw. It is clear that the human is not going to bow down before you. Cease your games before you cause us actual diplomatic harm. We do not know who this is or why they are here.¡± The catkin¡¯s gaze snapped to the beastkin speaking who appeared to be some sort of tortoise as his shell was prominent on his back. Go ninja go! Freaking Ninja Turtle. Awesome! Duke was smart enough to keep his thoughts to himself, but it was rather close. He turned from his thoughts as the slight tug on his sleeve told him that Nibblesworth wanted him to come to the front of the chamber with him. Duke obliged. ¡°Fellow Councilmembers, allow me to present Duke, a human to you all.¡± Nibblesworth spoke clearly and with confidence that Duke had not been expecting. ¡°What kingdom does this Duke represent and how did he get past our walls without our hearing of it? Is he some sort of spy sent to test our defenses, find a way though so that they can attack us?¡± Nibblesworth spoke again. ¡°Duke descended from the sky to stand among us. I do not know what kingdom he represents but I felt it best that the entire Council hear of his arrival before any rumors or panic could spread.¡± The tortoisekin spoke up before anyone else could raise their voice. ¡°There is wisdom in that decision, Nibblesworth. I would hear what this Duke has to say for himself and his kingdom.¡± He turned slightly to direct his words at Duke. ¡°What kingdom do you represent and why have you come to our lands?¡± Nibblesworth nudged Duke indicating that it was time for him to speak. ¡°First let me clear something up. My name is Duke. I am not a Duke of any kingdom.¡± He paused to let that statement settle in before continuing. ¡°I was simply flying by and saw how ordered your fields were and decided that I wanted to come down and see who you were.¡± ¡°How is it that you speak with the cat¡¯s tongue?¡± ¡°Cat¡¯s tongue? He dares to speak in the words of the wolf!¡± ¡°Nonsense, the divine language of the Great Rhinoceros resonates in his words!¡± ¡°How can you not hear the wisdom of the Great Owl in his voice?¡± Duke held up a hand to try and forestall the arguments over languages. ¡°Councilors, you are all correct and also not correct at the same time. It is true that you hear me in your own language but the truth of the matter is that I am speaking a language of my own. I have an Ability that allows me to be understood by all in their own language.¡± This revelation got him some approving looks from various members of the Council. Duke could see by the aggressive stance of most of the predator-base beastkin that he still had a long way to go to gain their recognition or respect. ¡°So, you just decided to invade our home unbidden and didn¡¯t even have the common decency to come to the main gates and present yourself. You are just as arrogant as every other human I have met. We should kill him and be done with it.¡± It was a wolfkin that spoke up this time. Duke responded, trying desperately to walk the line between presenting a strong front and still maintaining a measure of respect despite his patience rapidly wearing thin. He had, after all, just stopped in by casual whim and he had an actual conflict to get back to. ¡°Do you greet all your guests with such aggression and threats? If I had come here to cause trouble, death would have followed in my wake. Do not mistake my politeness for weakness. I came to this Council Chamber because Nibblesworth asked me to come here. He did so politely and with respect. I, in turn, have come here also with politeness and respect. But if you continue to posture and threaten me, my civility will be revoked, and you will personally face my full ire.¡± Duke realized that his Diplomacy Skill was failing dramatically as his words came out, but he just couldn¡¯t stop himself. He saw the wolfkin¡¯s hackles rise and eyes narrow. ¡°You are not welcome here, human.¡± ¡°That is not your decision to make, Snarlheart.¡± This was the catkin at the front of the Council Chamber speaking up again. She seemed to have suddenly shifted in favor of Duke for reasons he couldn¡¯t fathom but he couldn¡¯t help but believe it was a cats and dogs thing ¨C another thing he didn¡¯t dare say out loud. ¡°This human has threatened me personally!¡± The wolfkin shouted. ¡°I demand he leave or prove his right to stand in this chamber by the ancient rite of combat!¡± The excited murmured arguments flashing around the chamber showed Duke that there was likely something to this declaration more than just a heated response from Snarlheart. ¡°So, you invoke the ancient ways again, do you, Snarlheart?¡± The catkin could not hide the predatory smile in her eyes. ¡°So, you accept the consequences of the rite you invoke?¡± She practically purred the words, knowing she had trapped him. The wolfkin set his long jaw and turned to face Duke full-on. ¡°I, Snarlheart, Councilor of the Clan of the Great Grey Wolf, do invoke the ancient rite of trial by combat. This human invader, Duke, has insulted and threatened me before the Council and I will have blood for an answer.¡± Nibblesworth whispered under his breath. ¡°What trouble have I brought onto my new friend. Oh bother and worry!¡± Duke could feel the eyes of all the Councilors on him, waiting for an answer. ¡°Please clarify the rules of this challenge before I answer it.¡± The catkin¡¯s smile broadened, showing off her fangs rather well. ¡°It seems that the human has more wisdom than some others in this chamber.¡± Her gaze was fixed fully on the wolfkin as she spoke, further irritating him. ¡°Duke, the rules of the challenge are simple and as old as the Council itself. Snarlheart has challenged you to single combat. Claw and fang to be tested against each other. The winner¡¯s position and argument are upheld. The loser, should he or she survive, is banished from the Council Chambers for life.¡± Duke smiled. ¡°Is that all? Let¡¯s go to whatever space you have for this kind of fight. I¡¯m eager to let off some steam. I accept your challenge Snarlheart. And I want you to remember that this was your choice. I want all here to remember that I came here in peace with no ill will in my heart. But I will tell you all this ¨C do not mess with the Duke.¡± Book 2, Chapter 13 - A Challenge of Fang and Claw Duke was escorted out the back of the chamber as the entire Council followed. Before he had even made it out the now opened door, the catkin fell in step beside him. ¡°My apologies for all this. It seems you have been swept up in our power plays and politics. I am Emberclaw, by the way.¡± Duke chuckled. ¡°I was the one who couldn¡¯t let Snarlheart just posture and run his snout. I just hope this doesn¡¯t screw up any relationship that could have been built between our peoples.¡± ¡°Should you triumph honorably, things will go well for you. Should you lose, or act dishonorably, then things will go exceedingly poorly for you.¡± She spoke calmly and with purpose. Duke responded with his most feral grin. Quickly, they found themselves in a small arena, Duke on one side and Snarlheart on the other. The wolfkin had taken off his boots, allowing his claws to dig into the packed dirt of the arena floor. Duke looked straight across the ten-meter arena at his opponent. Their gazes met and the tension quickly escalated. It was a matter of less than a minute for the rest of the Councilors to be seated. Emberclaw stood up and spoke. ¡°The Council stands witness. A challenge has been given under the ancient rites of combat. This challenge has been accepted. As arbiter of this challenge, I, Emberclaw, am required to ensure the willingness and understanding of all parties involved before I can allow the challenge to proceed.¡± Murmurs of assent passed through the rest of the Councilors before she spoke again. ¡°The challenge has been made under fang and claw. This means that only natural weapons may be used within this arena. Do you assent to this, Snarlheart?¡± ¡°Oh yes.¡± Snarlheart flexed his clawed hands and opened his fanged snout wider. ¡°I will use fang and claw to rend this human.¡± She nodded. ¡°Duke do you also assent to using only natural weapons in this challenge?¡± Duke looked back to the catkin and asked a clarifying question. ¡°Does natural weapons also include my Abilities? Like if I could grow claws out of my hands, would that be acceptable?¡± She smiled at the thought and responded. ¡°Yes, that is acceptable.¡± Duke¡¯s grin grew predatory. ¡°Then I wholeheartedly accept this challenge and these terms.¡± Before anything else could happen, Duke forcibly activated his COMBAT SENSE and OVERCHANNELED his ARMOR SKIN to a 3,000 Mana a second rate. This allowed him to still keep nearly 1,000 Mana a second in reserve and still not affect his Mana pool. He considered OVERCHANNELING his COMBAT SENSE but did not want to try something new that could mess up his Ability or perception in a situation like this. ¡°Combatants, make yourselves ready.¡± Emberclaw called out. Snarlheart shifted his back foot, digging it deeper into the surface while raising his clawed hands above his waist. His eyes focused on Duke, unleashing his PREDATOR¡¯S SIGHT and giving himself the Ability to read every move, every intention of his opponent. It gave him supernatural senses for a short duration ¨C perfect for the fight at hand. His muscles tensed, ready to charge forward and tear this weak and arrogant human to pieces. Duke readied himself for the coming charge. His XENOGLOSSIA and Intuition were working with his COMBAT SENSE to give him an absolutely clear picture of the wolfkin¡¯s intention to burst forth and tear him apart. He tensed and untensed his muscles, keeping as loose as he could while preparing for the fight. Time seemed to slow down as his COMBAT SENSE focused on his opponent. The Councilors sat at the edge of their seats, sensing the momentous tension rising. No one had dared stand up to Snarlheart save Emberclaw herself in years. The last had been Taloncrest and even these years later, workers were still finding a stray feather here or there in the area surrounding the ceremonial arena. Their gazes intensified, ready for the spectacle to come. Emberclaw spoke once again, her feline voice ringing clear in the still air. ¡°Combatants, begin!¡± Her command was met with furious action. Snarlheart surged forward faster than any ordinary man could perceive, closing the distance with Duke in a heartbeat. Duke, likewise launched himself across the arena, adding thrust and speed from his FLIGHT Ability to match, if not exceed the wolfkin¡¯s surge. The pair met nearly in the center of the arena, grappling with each other for control. Muscles bulged and sinews strained as flesh met fur with a tremendous smack. Snarlheart was far stronger than Duke had originally anticipated, and he found himself pushing the limits of his physical strength to keep the wolfkin from gaining an advantageous position over him. Snarlheart struggled against the human with all the fury of his BLOODFRENZY. And yet, this man held him back. This hairless creature met his claws and fangs with mere flesh and did not break. His BLOODFRENZY moved into its second stage faster than ever before. His claws extended further, growing into thirteen centimeter long to curved ebon daggers, while his snout extended by another four centimeters to accommodate his lengthening fangs. Now it was time to tear flesh from bone! Duke¡¯s COMBAT SENSE offered him the flow to see the changes occurring in his foe before they fully manifested and, with his perception of time slowed down, he was able to react before the wolfkin made his move. Duke shifted his weight lower and pivoted his body using the wolfkin¡¯s straining efforts to throw Snarlheart with his own strength. Duke continued his pivot to remain facing his shocked opponent. Suddenly, he realized that his chest hurt ¨C an unseen slash by the wolfkin¡¯s claws had left a sizeable slash in his skin. It was a glancing slash and had not penetrated deeply, but it had easily exceeded his ARMOR SKIN¡¯s resistance. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Seeing Duke¡¯s surprised look, Snarlheart grinned. ¡°First blood is mine.¡± He charged again, confident that he could take this human down slash by slash, tearing bite by tearing bite. Duke upped the Mana going to his ARMOR SKIN to 4,000 and re-engaged with the wolfkin. This time, he moved with more grace due to his COMBAT SENSE flowing with his Martial Arts. Duke gave in to the flow of the fight, slipping past slashes, meeting bites with blows to direct teeth aside, and kicking at knees to weaken joints and stance. Snarlheart felt his BLOODFRENZY take over more and more as it moved into the third and final stage as the human shrugged off blows and slashes that should have crippled him. The wolfkin howled as the rage overtook him, leaving his conscious mind cowering in the corner of his mind, barely aware of what was occurring outwardly. Despite his COMBAT SENSE and Martial Arts, Duke was quickly finding his wounds accumulating faster than his REGNERATION could handle. But thankfully, he was only putting minimal power into the fight. He sensed the danger when the wolfkin went fully feral in his attacks and responded by upping his ARMOR SKIN to a full 10,000 a second. With his regen and Mana pool, he could last more than a minute and a half like this without injury. Slowly, the tide of the fight turned back in Duke¡¯s favor as his injuries healed themselves and the wolfkin found himself unable to cause further injury. The BLOODFRENZY finally ran out of fuel as Snarlheart clamped down on Duke¡¯s right fist with his jaws. The bite force was tremendous and Duke could feel his bones straining against it. He slammed his left hammer fist into the side of the wolfkin¡¯s jaw and the sound of snapping bone accompanied the wolfkin¡¯s fall to the surface of the arena. Immediately, the wolfkin sprung back to his feet, setting his jaw back into place with a crunch and a click as the bone settled back into place. Duke stopped pouring extra Mana into ARMOR SKIN to conserve what he still had. He could tell the wolfkin was moving slower and figured he could dodge and parry more easily. The two circled each other some more gauging their collective will and ability to continue. After a full minute of feints and counters, Snarlheart seemed to come to a conclusion. He stepped back, standing to his full height. ¡°As the challenger, I offer a totem of peace. You have proven yourself to be worthy of standing before this Council and have my respect as a warrior of fang and claw.¡± The arena fell deathly silent. Snarlheart had never withdrawn a challenge before. He stood stoically on the torn surface of the arena, his clothing hanging about him in tatters from both his own claws and Duke¡¯s grabs and throws. Duke looked up to the Council members for a context clue and caught the slightest of nods from Emberclaw before returning his gaze to Snarlheart. Duke locked his gaze firmly on Snarlheart and responded in what he hoped was an appropriate response. ¡°Through fang and claw, tooth and fist, we tested each other¡¯s mettle. I find you a worthy opponent and perhaps even a more worthwhile ally. I accept your totem of peace with respect in my heart.¡± The Council erupted with cheers and the two combatants came together to stand before the Council. Emberclaw spoke up from the crowd, ¡°The Council considers this matter settled. Let none other bring it back into the light for it is buried in the depths of memory and there it shall stay.¡± Snarlheart offered Duke a hand to shake. Duke was happy to see that his claws had been retracted and shook it solidly. He then activated CLEANSE and RESTORE, bringing both of their tattered outfits back to perfection as well as repairing the torn surface of the arena. When the Ability travelled to the outskirts of the stands and all the Councilors saw not only their own outfits cleaned and rendered new, but the actual arena renewed, they all stared at Duke in awe. He looked up sheepishly. ¡°Shit. I hope you don¡¯t mind that I did that.¡± The collective responses of wonder, laughter, and assurance that it was a great and wonderous thing relieved Duke greatly. He and Snarlheart were soon surrounded by Councilors who had countless questions and wanted to bask in the glow of a great fight made even greater by both fighters walking away from it with respect. Duke was happy to answer most questions but questions of a more personal nature were given enough mysterious half-answers that they soon took the hint and refrained from prying. Eventually, Emberclaw separated Duke from the rest of the Council and brought him back into her own Lead Councilmember¡¯s chambers. She started the conversation. ¡°Thank you for your patience and restraint. I have a feeling that you could have caused Snarlheart grievous harm should you intended to do so.¡± ¡°Possibly, but that would not help my cause at all, would it? I truly dropped down here on a curious whim and had no intention of causing trouble.¡± Duke apologized. ¡°Well, it seems that your intent is now somewhat in line with your outcome. Snarlheart is a feared fighter in the arena. That you were able to fight him to a standstill and showed such restraint has enamored you to a great many on the Council. If you came here seeking allies, you are likely to have a much easier time than I would have anticipated, especially considering your heritage.¡± Duke inclined his head. ¡°My heritage? There must be some real bad blood between humans and beastkin that I am not aware of at all. I must admit that you are the first beastkin people that I have ever met. I know nothing of your customs or history.¡± She smiled, somehow keeping her fangs covered while showing the rest of her teeth. ¡°Well, you stepped into it rather quickly now, didn¡¯t you?¡± She smirked and continued. ¡°Beastkin and most other humanoid races have had difficult relations at best. In many cases one group has preyed on the other for generations. It is the reason that this community was built in the first place ¨C so that all beastkin could have a home free from such conflict. We have our own internal strife, but it is low-level and controllable for the most part.¡± Duke nodded. ¡°That seems like it¡¯s for the best then. I do have a war to get back to, but I would like to return and visit with you again someday.¡± ¡°You are welcome here. Return as you will.¡± She escorted him outside the Council building where he said goodbye to Nibblesworth who was beaming at him with pride. ¡°You take care of yourself Duke. You¡¯re fun to have around¡­and my cloak has not looked this good in years!¡± ¡°Until we meet again.¡± Duke waved and activated TELEPORTATION to return to the Legion¡¯s last location. The Ability failed. Oh no, not again! Book 2, Chapter 14 - Am I Going to get Into Trouble for This? The message he received a moment later was indeed an error message, but far different than last time and not nearly as alarming. *** TELEPORTATION failed. Destination outside of current range. *** Duke read and re-read the message, releasing the breath he was holding when he finally processed what it was actually saying. He OVERCHANNELED 100,000 Mana into his Ability and was pleased to see that his TELEPORTATION worked, bringing him back to the Legion¡¯s area and allowed him to quickly catch-up. Aurelia greeted him with a warm smile. ¡°Welcome back, Duke. Did you have a good time flying around? Find anything worth worrying about?¡± Duke returned her smile. ¡°I had a great time. I think I pushed my FLIGHT Ability pretty far. So far, that I was out of my TELEPORTATION range which is over 400 kilometers. Anything happen with the Legion while I was gone?¡± ¡°A minor skirmish. Just a couple hundred goblins. Maybe a thousand. The Legion handled them without breaking the march.¡± She replied with obvious pride. Duke chuckled. ¡°Oh, tell me more.¡± ¡°It was about four hours ago. They came boiling out of the south woods, charging the formation without warning. The first hundred or so fell to the mage corps before they made contact with the outer shield wall that had formed. Those that actually made it to the shield wall died quickly. One of the benefits of the FORMATION Ability is how it strengthens the shield wall. Those goblins that did make it to the shield wall were bounced off and dispatched easily.¡± Aurelia was more than happy to relate the tale of the encounter. ¡°Any casualties?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Not a one.¡± She replied happily. ¡°So, did Eihlen get a boost from it?¡± Duke continued. Aurelia shook her head. ¡°Not really. By the time I could even engage my Ability, half of the goblins were already dead. She did get about nine times the experience she would have normally gotten but the experience was shared by most of the Legion, so it amounted to hundreds of experience points for her after all was said and done. Nothing that will change anything just yet.¡± Duke sighed. ¡°Guess that¡¯s how the Ability was intended to be used ¨C effective over time but not a ridiculous boost in the short run. That is, unless we do what we did last time and separate out to a small squad.¡± ¡°Which we will the next time the scouts find something worth the effort. They warned us about the goblin presence, but nobody thought they would actually try to attack the Legion. Goblins have never been known for being smart but attacking a force that outnumbers you thirty to one? That¡¯s beyond foolish.¡± She agreed. Baslin joined them, floating in his chair while Duke walked, and Aurelia rode her horse. Duke finally decided to ask. ¡°What¡¯s the deal with the chair, Baslin? You have to know it looks as odd as a three-legged chicken.¡± ¡°It¡¯s comfortable. And I am who I am. I¡¯m not the great and mysterious entity of unknowable power that floats on a burning cloud formed from the souls of my enemies.¡± Baslin paused, pulled out a book and wrote some notes down. ¡°I¡¯m an academic. A researcher by heart. Big overstuffed comfortable chairs that should be in a library are my thing.¡± Aurelia gave Baslin a critical look. ¡°What did you just write down in your notebook?¡± ¡°What? That image was great. You don¡¯t write down things that strike your fancy so that you can remember them later?¡± He responded. ¡°Nothing about riding around on the souls of my enemies strikes my fancy.¡± She responded. Duke added unhelpfully, ¡°I thought the image was pretty badass myself.¡± Aurelia gave him an incredulous look and rode off to ¡°Inspect the Legion¡±. Duke and Baslin exchanged a high-five and continued on with the march. Soon Duke found himself involved in one of Baslin¡¯s theoretical discussions on the nature of magic and the universe at large. Most of the theory was well beyond Duke¡¯s current level of understanding but when it came to a discussion of his own world, his interest level peaked. ¡°So, you are saying that you have a hypothesis about why my home world has no magic.¡± Duke asked, interest roused. ¡°Indeed. Since you have legends of magic and the like, my guess is that there is an entity or artifact that has absorbed the magic of your world and continues to absorb it. To what purpose, I couldn¡¯t even guess but the magic of an entire world would be tremendously powerful. With that much magic absorbed and held for so long¡­I doubt anything could stand against it.¡± ¡°What would happen if all that magic were to be released at once?¡± Duke asked, intrigued. Baslin thought for a bit before answering. ¡°I really don¡¯t know specifically. But I suspect it would reshape your world entirely. It would be better for everyone involved if the release was at a more measured rate. Releasing that much magic into a non-magical world would cause world-wide disasters as the magic would warp and change things nearly instantly. It would destroy your civilization and reshape everything.¡± If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Duke responded. ¡°Zero stars. Would not recommend.¡± Baslin shook his head. ¡°Another idiom, I presume?¡± Duke didn¡¯t respond as he contemplated the possibility of Earth with true magic. His mind warred between the amazing things that could be accomplished with things like healing magic and the terrors that would be unleashed if the depraved got a hold of other types of magic. After a while he decided that he needed to do some scouting on his own to distract himself from this line of thought. Once again, Duke was flying above the Legion. But this time he wasn¡¯t heading far away, just looking at the general area around the Legion. He knew that the Legion had its own scouts out and didn¡¯t want to undermine them, he was just looking for something to take his dark thoughts out on. He quickly realized that he really wasn¡¯t as much scouting as he was hunting. When he changed to that mindset, it wasn¡¯t long before he spotted something that attracted his attention. What Duke spotted was a group of individuals carefully moving through the forest. He was several kilometers away from the Legion but decided this was worth investigating. As he descended, he noted that they were all well-armed and armored with heavy plate armor. It seemed a bit odd and excessive for the forest, but Duke didn¡¯t really wear armor himself, so he did his best to not bring his own prejudice to the situation. Duke landed within sight of the group and noted their overly stocky build. The apparent leader of the group moved in his direction while the rest of the group fanned out behind. As they approached, Duke stood ready, but not in a threatening posture. See, I can be good. When they were a few meters in front of him, Duke was able to get a better picture of what he was facing. They approached with cautious confidence, the lead figure removing her helm to reveal flowing strawberry blonde hair and the most shockingly beautiful blue eyes Duke had ever seen. When she spoke, Duke was shocked by her voice. It was deep and resonated in her chest like an echo chamber, sounding much bigger than even her short, stocky stature predicted. ¡°Well met traveler. What brings you to this forest?¡± Duke cautiously responded. ¡°I came out here to hunt. I haven¡¯t found any suitable prey yet, but your group caught my curiosity.¡± ¡°As your arrival from the sky has caught mine. What manner of man are you that you fly upon the winds without wings?¡± She inquired. ¡°One who likes to fly.¡± Duke deadpanned. The smile in response was immediate and warm. ¡°I am known as Shimmerstone. How shall I call you?¡± Duke returned her smile, relaxing his posture as his XENOGLOSSIA told him it was genuine. ¡°I am known as Duke. What are you doing wandering around this forest?¡± She cocked her head curiously. ¡°Is this your forest? Does this forest belong to your Dukedom?¡± She offered up no honorific, which Duke found oddly refreshing. ¡°Hard to say right now. I¡¯m on my way to eliminate an undead king and maybe that gives me claim to the forest. Maybe it will after I kill the bastard. Not really sure how this all goes.¡± ¡°That¡­that¡¯s an odd perspective. I thought perhaps you came here to investigate the same thing that we were. The glaring lack of evidence of the supremely destructive spell that affected this area not too long ago. We arrived, expecting to find a wasteland blasted clear of trees.¡± ¡°And that would be a good thing for you?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Well, yes and no. With the ground blasted clear, the mineral bounty that lies beneath these woods would be much easier to locate and mine. But the downside of all that is that the area would be devastated and that¡¯s not really good for anyone. Do you know what happened here?¡± Shimmerstone explained. Duke answered sheepishly, ¡°I might know what happened.¡± ¡°You might know what happened?¡± ¡°OK, I¡¯m mostly responsible for what happened here.¡± Duke confessed, unsure of why he was sharing so much information with someone he just met. He ignored the thought and chalked it up to a pretty face. ¡°Oh, do tell me more. You have me thoroughly intrigued.¡± Duke found himself relating a quick summary of the undead army and how he destroyed it. Ending with how he restored the forest. Again, he felt strange relating that much information to someone he just met but it didn¡¯t stop him from telling the tale. When he finished, she smiled even wider. ¡°A fantastic tale that would be thoroughly unbelievable if Orgath did not confirm everything you just told me to be truthful.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your connection to Orgath?¡± Duke asked cautiously. ¡°He is my god, of course. I serve him in all that I do. He told me to come here and so I am here.¡± Duke came to a sudden realization of a few things. One, the gods were involving themselves in his affairs again. Two, he was going to have a price to pay if he allowed it. And three, Shimmerstone and her group could potentially be a powerful ally. He decided to see how this would play out. ¡°Did your god tell you to come seek me out?¡± She smiled. ¡°Not specifically. He just told me to come to this area and investigate what happened. And if the land had indeed been stripped bare, it would have been a great opportunity to search for riches.¡± ¡°So, since he did not tell you to seek me out, this encounter is simply coincidence and not divine interference.¡± Duke decided to make his case to whomever the entities were that were watching his every move. ¡°I suppose you could say that, yes. But I do consider it a fortuitous encounter. Did the gods send you here as well?¡± Duke responded with cold finality. ¡°No, I do not follow the gods of this world. I go where I will and for reasons I decide.¡± There, that should get me in the clear. I hope. ¡°Orgath has much to offer. I would be happy to tell you more about him.¡± The eagerness in her voice struck a chord deep down in Duke¡¯s consciousness which was met with his MENTAL FORTITUDE finally kicking in. ¡°The last time I met Orgath, I was lucky to live through the encounter. And that was him ¡®helping¡¯ me. I know enough about him for now. Thank you.¡± Duke replied, trying to keep venom out of his voice and mostly succeeding. ¡°You have met Orgath? We must speak more about this. Tell me everything!¡± She pleaded with Duke, excitement boiling over her entire countenance. Duke realized that he may have just caused even more problems for himself. Keep your damned mouth shut, moron. ¡°Tell you what. I¡¯m going to head back to my Legion. You and your group are welcome to come along and join us in our crusade.¡± ¡°Crusade? You march towards holy war? With a Legion? I must know more.¡± She gestured for Duke to lead on as her unnamed followers did just that ¨C followed. Duke set out walking back towards the Legion, chafing at how slow it was to just walk. He found his pace to be accelerated more than normal and just didn¡¯t care that Shimmerstone and her followers had to almost jog to keep up with him. More sidetracks and tangents. Sidetracks? More like sidequests. I wouldn¡¯t mind it so much if they were clearly defined and offered rewards but they are not and do not. Book 2, Chapter 15 - Is Two Really Better than One? The walk back to the Legion was uneventful as expected. Duke became aware of a pair of scouts observing them as they were about a kilometer away from the Legion, but he did not indicate their presence. If not for his DUNGEON SENSE, he would have never spotted them. He liked that the scouts were operating in pairs. It was much harder to ambush two scouts at once than a lone individual. It could be done, but it was more difficult. As he reached the edge of the forest, he realized that his estimate for the Legion¡¯s location was more than a bit off. He arrived with Shimmerstone¡¯s group in tow to find that they were at the complete rear of the Legion. The rearguard noted his presence but did not react otherwise. Duke smiled back at Shimmerstone. ¡°It seems we have found the rear of the Legion. There will be a corridor on the left flank that will allow us to reach the front, but the Legion does stretch on for quite a bit in these narrower confines within the forest. Follow me and I¡¯ll lead you.¡± It took nearly an hour to get to the front of the Legion. When they arrived, they found Aurelia leading on her horse and Baslin floating along in his chair nearby. Shimmerstone looked from the pair back to Duke a few times before speaking. ¡°Is that woman in armor made out of gold? And is that a flying chair?¡± Duke smirked and proceeded with introductions. ¡°Shimmerstone, please meet Aurelia, the Golden Warrior and General of the Legion. Also please meet the Grand Archmage Baslin the Best who advises me on all things magical. Aurelia, Baslin, please meet Shimmerstone and her company.¡± Greetings were exchanged and Aurelia gave Duke an odd, questioning look which his XENOGLOSSIA translated to ¡°Picking up other women¡­we¡¯re going to have a talk.¡± Duke cringed, realizing that he just brought back an attractive blonde dwarven woman to meet his attractive blonde human girlfriend. This is going to be a problem. Either they will kill each other, or they will get together to kill me. And I¡¯m not even thinking of Shimmerstone like that. Shit. Shimmerstone spoke up before Duke could say anything more. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you all. I must say that this Legion of yours is mightily impressive. When my god sent me here to investigate, I had no idea that this is what I would be finding. Judging by your direction of march, you are headed to the Capitol?¡± Aurelia responded. ¡°Normally, I would not share such things with someone I just met but since it appears that Chopie already knows we are coming, it won¡¯t hurt anything to speak of it now. So, yes, we are headed to the Capitol to remove Chopie from the throne. He has become too much of a force for evil and a threat to our home that we can¡¯t allow him to continue.¡± Duke gave her a pained look, trying to express his ¡°You¡¯re oversharing¡± thought to Aurelia without saying anything. She looked back in confusion, not understanding what he was trying to get across at all. ¡°Oh, a war then. How exciting!¡± Shimmerstone responded. ¡°Two questions then. One, where is your home that Chopie is threatening, and two, can I join in? I and my people love a good fight, especially when we are on the right side of things.¡± Aurelia looked to Duke for a response, and he sighed inwardly. NOW, she throws it over to me. A bit too late there, love. He responded. ¡°We have a town we are building up around the Lake Front Inn. And although I would welcome some allies to fight alongside us, we just met and Chopie has turned supposed allies against us already.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t trust me?¡± Shimmerstone responded. ¡°I don¡¯t know you well enough to trust you.¡± Maybe I can get out of this mess yet! ¡°So, you want to get to know me better¡­¡± Shimmerstone replied applying all the playfulness she could to her tone. Aurelia stiffened involuntarily and Duke¡¯s hopes collapsed. He responded, ¡°Look, Shimmerstone. Like I said, we just met. Maybe our groups can get to know each other as allies or possibly friends but if you try to come between myself and my love, you are not going to be happy with the result.¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Duke, that was a bit overboard, don¡¯t you think.¡± Aurelia interjected. ¡°Just setting the ground rules.¡± He quickly replied. Shimmerstone added, ¡°Woah there. Sorry if someone got the wrong impression. I was just playing. I¡¯m not into humans, really. They¡¯re too small.¡± ¡°Too small?¡± Baslin added, full of amusement. ¡°Yes, too small. Now, can we move on from this line of thought?¡± Shimmerstone answered. ¡°Oh, yes, let¡¯s move on from that right now.¡± Duke responded. ¡°You said that Orgath told you to investigate the forest, right?¡± ¡°That is correct. He directed us to the forest.¡± Duke nodded along, getting to his point. ¡°Orgath was here. Physically here and even directly contributed to the destruction of the undead horde that was plaguing the forest. Sending you here was not to investigate the destruction. He already knew about it.¡± Shimmerstone interrupted nearly breathlessly, ¡°My god, Orgath, was here. You saw him?¡± ¡°I spoke with him.¡± Duke corrected. ¡°Did he offer you his blessing?¡± She continued enraptured. ¡°Not so much offer as outright grant.¡± Duke admitted. ¡°Then that is why we must join you. You have been blessed by our god and we cannot do aught but aid his blessed in a time of war!¡± The light of fanaticism glowed behind her eyes. It was at this moment that Duke knew he had lost the argument. It was confirmed when Aurelia added, ¡°Of course you must join us. It is nearly time to halt the march for the day. Why don¡¯t you join us for our evening repast?¡± ¡°We¡¯d love to, and we have quite a few tasty treats to contribute to the meal.¡± Shimmerstone was quick to respond. Aurelia decided to get things going and called the Legion to a halt for the night. Her Command voice echoed out, ¡°Legion, Halt! Bivouac for the night!¡± The Legion stopped all on the same beat due to their FORMATION Ability and began to set up their camp while Duke retrieved the command tent from his INVENTORY. In the matter of half an hour, the entire camp was established, and temporary defenses had been arranged. The process of cooking for everyone began for the Legion. Duke noticed that the cooks who had been assigned to his command contingent had been reassigned elsewhere since they had not been eating what the cooks had prepared night after night. That was a minor problem as he had already decided not to take everyone back to the Inn tonight. The decision was mostly preventative and defensive. He already knew that he had revealed too much to this follower of Orgath, but he was not going to reveal the Inn and its wonderous capabilities. He figured it was likely that the gods knew something about it but probably not everything. He was not about to reveal any more. She must have some sort of Ability that made me overshare. I know I felt my MENTAL FORTITUDE kick in at the end there, but whatever the Ability is it must be a powerful passive. Even still, I know I didn¡¯t reveal anything about the Inn even as I spilled my guts about everything else. I have to decide on what to do about this, and quickly. Duke¡¯s thoughts were broken by Aurelia¡¯s hand on his shoulder. He turned to her only to see a very serious look on her face. Oh boy, here it comes. Duke steeled his nerves. ¡°Hello my love. You look troubled. What is on your mind?¡± Aurelia stared through him for a moment before responding. ¡°I will not welcome another woman into my bed, but you are a man of power, one who will shortly take the throne of a kingdom from the unworthy hands of another.¡± She put her finger on Duke¡¯s lips to forestall his response and continued. ¡°As such a powerful man, I know others will be attracted to you and that it is customary for a king to have concubines. I will not, cannot, deny you this but if we are to be together, I must always be first amongst them.¡± Her voice carried an uncharacteristic waver that unsettled Duke. She removed her finger from Duke¡¯s lips so he could respond. ¡°Aurelia, my love, this is what concerns you? And yet you have the strength and will to offer to share me with another woman. I am overwhelmed at your strength of will but there are some things that we need to get straight. Even should I become a king, I don¡¯t do the whole concubine thing. It is self-indulgent and can, at best, lead to all kinds of bastard problems. I am, and always will be a one-woman guy. I¡¯m not dumb enough to think that I could handle more than one woman in my life. You have nothing to fear in that realm.¡± He put his finger to her lips this time so that he could finish. ¡°No one but you makes my heart race with a touch. Only you make the sun shine brighter. Only you bring me warmth on a cold night. It is only your touch that I yearn for. That is all you and only you.¡± She pushed his finger away from her lips and pulled him into a crushing embrace and a deep kiss, full of passion. He could feel the relief and explosion of emotion pour out of her and into that kiss. He did not even realize when he TELEPORTED with her to their room in the Inn. It was not until they were both lying entangled in the bed completely spent that he became aware of his surroundings. He had questions as he had never been able to TELEPORT directly into the Inn before but right now, he was still basking in the glow and did not want to interrupt it. Instead, he settled in, holding Aurelia tighter. She gave a soft moan of pleasure and contentment and the pair drifted off to sleep together. Book 2, Chapter 16 - Oathbreaker The morning found the pair still entangled and Duke awoke first. He shrugged inwardly and decided to go through his notifications rather than disturbing Aurelia¡¯s sleep by trying to get up. *** You like dancing on the edge, don¡¯t you? Adding a representative of the local gods into your group when you know I don¡¯t want those gods involved in our project. That takes chutzpah. Doing so in a way that makes it clear that you are not trying to accept the interference of the local gods ¨C that is actually quite impressive. And then you declare your girl to be your one and only so well that she actually believed you which led to that scene. Oh yeah, you get a reward for high entertainment value. You receive 50,000 experience for pure entertainment and chutzpah. On top of all this, you explored a new area, got sucked into their politics, and managed to navigate your way though it and come out with potential allies and a good fight. Perhaps you are not as much of a gamble as we thought and are starting to see you realize your potential. Your actual experience from the fight is a pathetic 100, but the bonus from everything else involved is 25,000. Well done! You are now level 104 and have 12 Characteristic points to spend. You have seen Skill and Ability increases as well. Dodge has increased to Practiced 42 Aerial Maneuvering has increased to Initiate 24 Martial Arts Combat has increased to Adept 23 Diplomacy has increased to Novice 17 TELEPORTATION has increased to Adept 80 REGENERATION has increased to Adept 52 OVERCHANNEL has increased to Adept 9 MENTAL FORTITUDE has increased to Practiced 21 CLEANSE has increased to Initiate 30 RESTORE has increased to Master 39 INVENTORY has increased to Initiate 42 ARMOR SKIN has ranked up to Adept 1 FLIGHT has increased to Practiced 15 COMBAT SENSE has increased to Initiate 7 DUNGEON SENSE has increased to Adept 52 You have pleased us greatly as of late and your growth reflects that. Yet you are still too weak. Seek out your next true battle and show us what you are capable of. Do not stagnate and think you have done enough. The challenges you have faced to date are nothing compared to what is coming. Prepare yourself. Prepare your friends and allies if you care to see them survive as well. *** Duke finished off his notifications and poured his Characteristic Points into Intuition. He took the warning seriously and wanted every edge he could have in being able to see what was coming before it affected him or his friends. One of my biggest edges is in my stats themselves. I need more levels to accelerate stat growth. But now that I¡¯m over level 100, it¡¯s getting harder and harder to find things my level to fight. Guess, it¡¯s time for the volume plan! As Duke tried to solidify his thoughts, Aurelia woke up against him, nuzzling closer. He lost all capacity to think as he turned into her embrace and helped her to fully wake up. Some time later, the pair returned to the Legion which had already broken camp and was beginning to march. Baslin waved to them and pointed at his ring to indicate that he had the Command Tent in his Ring of Rooms. ¡°Did we miss anything?¡± Duke asked. Baslin chuckled. ¡°Only questions I didn¡¯t feel like answering. So now Shimmerstone has a much more expansive knowledge of magical theory or possibly a raging headache. I¡¯m not certain which as her eyes seemed to glaze over after the first ten minutes. In future, I would ask that you not introduce new people to the group and disappear, leaving me to answer their questions. It wasn¡¯t pleasant for either of us.¡± ¡°You lectured her into submission?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°Just so.¡± Baslin responded with a wry smile. ¡°Wait. Are you telling me that every time you just start spouting magic theory it¡¯s just to avoid conversation or explanation?¡± Aurelia¡¯s exasperation was clear in her voice. ¡°Have you ever considered the practical application of auditory magical manipulation? The theory is grounded in how-¡° Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Aurelia threw her hands up with an outrush of breath that could be called a hiss. She walked away, heading towards her command cadre to get an update from them on the Legion¡¯s status. Duke looked at Baslin in a new light. ¡°How many times have you done that to me?¡± He asked. Baslin chuckled. ¡°Duke, my boy, you actually listen when I start explaining magical theory. It¡¯s quite different and you usually have some interesting questions to throw in as well. Makes me feel like your actual magical mentor.¡± ¡°I kinda thought you actually were my magical mentor.¡± Duke replied. ¡°Perhaps. Perhaps. I certainly did get you started, but you are continually wrapped up in too many other things for it to be effective. For example, how is your Hold Undead Spell coming along?¡± ¡°I¡­don¡¯t have that one.¡± Duke responded with dawning realization. ¡°Now you see the issue. I offered to teach you that Spell quite a while ago, but you¡¯ve been too busy with everything else to even learn it at even a basic level. I¡¯m not faulting you as everything you have been doing has been for a good reason, but you are spreading yourself very thinly by trying to do it all yourself. You may be more powerful than most of your companions, but you have limits too.¡± Duke nodded as this wasn¡¯t the first time he had heard this argument. It was no less true now than it had been all the other times. ¡°I see your point but I¡¯m not going to stop moving forward.¡± ¡°Neither, it seems, will the Legion.¡± Baslin summoned his floating chair and settled in, reading a book bound in particularly thick hide embossed with carvings that Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA translated to ¡°Dragon¡¯s Eggs ¨C Revelations and Recipes¡±. Duke took the dismissal for what it was and left only realizing hours later that he still had not learned the Hold Undead Spell. The Legion¡¯s march paused when they finally broke out of the forest and met the main road. The road was occupied with a long train of fearful people. They panicked at the sight of the Legion and split in two directions. Those further down the road away from the Capitol hastened their pace, trying to get away from the Legion. Those on the road closer to the Capitol bunched up as they had nowhere to go but to move past the Legion. It was those people who looked the most fearful. Duke decided to act before things could get ugly. He flew forward and landed before the front of the cowering people. ¡°Greetings and peace to you.¡± He paused for a response but did not receive one other than the fear and concern radiating off the people. They appeared to be simple townsfolk and people from the area fleeing for their lives. Duke continued, ¡°I am Duke and I assume you are fleeing Chopie¡¯s madness, yes?¡± He put the gentlest tone he could manage, pushing as much kindness as his Psyche would allow into his words. As he spoke, Aurelia rode up next to him. A young child spoke from somewhere in the crowd, ¡°Pretty shiny lady.¡± The child was quickly hushed by their parent, but Aurelia¡¯s blush and Duke¡¯s chuckle were quickly evident. It was likely this interaction that softened the mood. A woman, dressed in a dirt-encrusted dress that was frayed and torn held her baby close to her chest as she spoke, ¡°We are fleeing the conflict and evil of the Capitol. None of us wish conflict with you or your army, Your Grace. We are but simple peasants.¡± Duke responded, still projecting kindness. ¡°The Twice Blessed Legion marches on Chopie and his evil. We do not wish harm to the people of this land. In fact, if you follow the path the Legion took to get here, you will find a place of safety and comfort.¡± A voice from the crowd interrupted, shouting ¡°Usurper!¡± Duke¡¯s keen Insight and DUNGEON SENSE made it easy to pinpoint the man who shouted. Duke didn¡¯t need his XENOGLOSSIA to see the defiance in the man¡¯s face and read how different it was from everyone around him. Duke turned to the woman holding her child and spoke. ¡°May I offer you some relief from your long journey?¡± He produced a pastry that had been sitting in his INVENTORY and handed it to her. As she tentatively took it, he fired off a rapid CLEANSE and RESTORE with a significant Mana boost. The Abilities washed over the crowd, removing the grime of the road as well as countless years of wear from all their clothes. Shoes repaired themselves, frayed hems re-knitted, and torn fabric became whole and clean. The shock of the change quickly rippled through the people gathered on the road as even the road repaired itself beneath their feet. As they stared in wonder at the change, Duke calmly walked through the crowd who parted in awe before him. He approached the man who had shouted and stood before him. The man was about six centimeters shorter than Duke and now that his uniform had been repaired and cleansed of the mud that had been caked on it revealed himself to be wearing the king¡¯s livery. Duke stood before him and asked a simple question, ¡°After all the atrocities and evil Chopie has inflicted upon his own people, do you still find yourself unwaveringly loyal to the Lich King, or does your heart yearn for freedom from his oppression?¡± Duke could feel his PURPOSE stirring to life as he spoke, amplifying the Psyche he was pouring into his words. Everyone around them unconsciously took a step or two backward, distancing themselves from the man. ¡°I¡­I¡± The man stammered, suffering immense internal conflict. ¡°I pledged my life to my King.¡± A feeling from deep inside of Duke¡¯s soul welled up. He could feel the full fire of his PURPOSE infusing him with unknowable power. Duke answered, his voice reverberating across the crowd with the power unleashed by his PURPOSE. ¡°No man, not even a god can uphold a vow of fealty to a king that turns on his own people. His actions have abdicated his Right to Rule and, in turn, has Freed you from your oath!¡± A shudder passed through the man as the struggle between binding oath and the power of Duke¡¯s PURPOSE warred within. As the man¡¯s scream of agony erupted, Aurelia and Eihlen arrived through the parted crowd. Moments later, he collapsed to the ground. Eihlen swept forward to treat him only to find him rising to his feet with a rapturous smile. She stepped back to give the man room to stand. Duke surreptitiously IDENTIFIED the man, learning his name to be Brondar. ¡°I am freed! Praise the gods! I am freed from mine oath to Chopie!¡± He immediately fell to his knees before Duke and began to speak. Before another word could be spoken, Duke stopped him. ¡°Brondar, you have just been freed from a life oath. Don¡¯t you DARE make one to me. Instead, take your newfound freedom and do something to make this world a better place. Perhaps starting by offering these people fleeing from your former master the protection of your blade.¡± Immediately, Brondar rose to his feet. ¡°I offer you my heartfelt thanks, Your Grace. I was sent to infiltrate these people and find where they wound up hiding. I must tell you that Chopie knows you are coming and has laid several traps for you and your army along the road.¡± Duke smiled. ¡°Good. I need the exercise. Explain what you know of these traps to General Aurelia. I have more that needs to be done right now.¡± Book 2, Chapter 17 - You Know Im a Dungeon, Right? Hours later Duke found himself finally at the end of the refugees. His quick count was nearly 20,000 people fleeing the conflict. He had found dozens of Chopie¡¯s spies embedded in the crowds, as they became easier and easier to spot as Duke¡¯s PURPOSE began highlighting them due to their restrictive oaths. He had managed to free all but three from their oaths. One had attacked him, one had fled, and one had simply died on the spot. The one that fled did not get far as the Legion¡¯s scouts had been spread out and caught the man quickly. The one that attacked Duke was brained by a nearly three-meter-tall dark-skinned giant of a man. It took one swift blow of his forging hammer for the apparent blacksmith to end the soldier. ¡°Nice shot there, friend.¡± Duke commented, offering the man clad in a thick leather apron his hand. ¡°Thank you, Your Grace. I¡¯ve seen what you have been doing for the people here and anyone who would stand against that needs to have their head removed.¡± The man responded. ¡°I am known as Halgrim and as you have probably guessed, I am a blacksmith.¡± ¡°Glad to meet you and as I have told countless others, travel down the side road that the Legion came up and you will find a place of safety to stay. As a blacksmith, you might even be able to find a smithy of your own there.¡± Duke related as he shook the man¡¯s hand. The look of surprise in Halgrim¡¯s eyes as Duke¡¯s strength effortlessly matched his own made Duke¡¯s mouth twitch upwards in a smile. ¡°Truly?¡± He asked incredulously as the crowd simply flowed away from the dead body, paying it no more heed than a fallen log. ¡°Very much so. It will take a week or two to get there, but there will be a smithy waiting for you to take over when you get there.¡± Duke promised. ¡°Thank you, Your Grace. I do not know what to say.¡± Halgrim responded, apparently unsure of what to say or do. ¡°You have said enough. Go and follow the path to your new home.¡± Duke left him behind and continued to the end of the refugees, activating CLEANSE and RESTORE whenever he came upon a new group. Each time he did so, he was greeted with amazed gasps and cries of wonder. They were among his favorite Abilities for a reason and seeing everybody¡¯s reaction to them cemented the feeling even more. Eventually, he got through the end of the train of refugees and walked back to the Legion with the last of them. They were beaming and readily shared the horror stories that they left behind in favor of the new hope before them. Duke was forming a clearer and clearer picture of the city ¨C it was lost to the living. The only things remaining there were the undead and the horrific insect and arachnid hybrids that Queen Pahst had been making. Anyone left was fodder for the twins¡¯ depravations. Many had fled before the gates had been sealed but the final groups had only barely managed to escape. The last alchemist in the city sacrificed himself while blowing a sizeable hole in the city wall. Duke¡¯s hatred for the twins continued to rise. It was near nightfall when they caught up with the Legion digging in for the night and allowing the refugees to cautiously pass by. Aurelia rode out to meet him. ¡°Good evening, my love. How did things go with the refugees?¡± ¡°Well enough. There are a number among them that will be quite a boon to the town. There were more spies scattered within as well, but they have been taken care of.¡± Duke responded. ¡°I¡¯m not going to ask.¡± Aurelia said. ¡°Probably a good choice. Anyway, we will have to go to the Inn tonight and get Sam preparing for the next batch of refugees. I¡¯m still not sure what the long-term effects of having so many people living inside a dungeon will be but it really is the safest place for them to stay until we can wipe this threat out.¡± Duke explained. ¡°Agreed. I can¡¯t say that I like it, but I do understand it. I hope it doesn¡¯t cause them any long-term harm. The Legion is all set for the night. Let¡¯s gather up Baslin and head to the Inn.¡± ¡°What about Shimmerstone and her people?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Oh, they¡¯re not coming with us to the Inn.¡± Aurelia replied cheekily. ¡°Not what I was asking, and you know it.¡± Duke added flatly. ¡°Of course not. She and her people seem perfectly happy to camp with the Legion. She has been asking questions but nothing terribly probing. The rest of her group seems rather insular and not really approachable. It appears that they are setting up some sort of a shrine to Orgath in their camp.¡± Duke stopped his own reflexive negative reaction. ¡°As long as they aren¡¯t bothering anyone with it, I suppose that is fine. Do you trust them?¡± ¡°About as much as I trust a sword made out of paper. It¡¯s not that I distrust them really, but I don¡¯t know. It seems very convenient that they just happened to show up while we were marching, met you in the forest, and are worshiping a god that you personally met. It doesn¡¯t pass muster to me, so I am having them watched both closely and from a distance. They will notice the close-by watchers, and maybe even those watching from a medium distance. But I don¡¯t see them discovering the longer-range watchers. All the watchers have Jewels of Whispering so they can alert others if needed. Baslin has even given us a few really long-range Jewels so we can be reached in the Inn.¡± ¡°He found a way to communicate through the dimensional barrier of the Inn?¡± Duke asked incredulously. ¡°No, of course not.¡± Baslin replied, having just arrived. ¡°But they can reach the guards outside the Inn and those guards can race inside and alert us if needed.¡± ¡°Not perfect, but better than what we have had before.¡± Duke replied. ¡°Thank you, Baslin. You ready to hit the Inn?¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°More than ready, I have to check in on my experiments and see if there has been any progress.¡± Baslin replied. ¡°Then it¡¯s time for dinner at the Inn.¡± Duke smiled and TELEPORTED the three of them to the Inn. He held the door open for the other two to enter and followed right behind. As always, the Inn was warm and inviting. Sam greeted them at the door with a smile and a wave. His smile was especially bright, and his eyes shined with joy. He stepped aside to show the trio the dinner table. Sitting at the dinner table was Elaine and Grat. The trio gaped at seeing Grat¡¯s smile before rushing over to him. ¡°Grat, it¡¯s so good to see you up and about, but how?¡± Duke asked as he reached him. He briefly looked over to Elaine for answers as well, but it was Elaine¡¯s response that confused him enough to pause. ¡°It was Sam. He made it possible.¡± Elaine explained. Everyone turned to Sam who was casually strolling over with a shit-eating grin on his face. ¡°You all know that I am a dungeon, right? I can create levels upon levels of all different kinds, and I can create all sorts of different loot and rewards in them. Are you understanding what I¡¯m saying here?¡± Elaine jumped in to clarify. ¡°Sam created a dungeon level just for me to complete so I could gain the antidote as a reward. I gained two levels doing so as well as it was not an easy dungeon level. But, in the end, I left with the antidote and here we are.¡± Baslin looked at Duke and asked, ¡°As Master of the Dungeon, how did you not realize you could do this earlier?¡± Duke, turning redder, responded. ¡°Because I¡¯m a linear thinker and have to really work at it to see outside the box. And that is why I have gathered friends and advisors who are supposed to be able to help me do so.¡± He stared right back at Baslin. Baslin coughed. ¡°Um, yes, well, I see. Good choice. Yes, good choice. Your friends and advisors really need to step up their game. Speaking of which, I have a laboratory to get to.¡± He promptly hurried away to the uncomfortable chuckles of the rest of the group as they realized that they were in much the same position as Baslin, relying on Duke to come up with all the solutions. Grat interrupted. ¡°I don¡¯t really care who did what or how, I¡¯m just thankful that I am back on my feet. Elaine filled me in on what she knows but is there anything else I need to know to get caught back up with everyone else?¡± Duke smiled. ¡°Well, the first thing to know is that we have at least 20,000, likely more, refugees headed this way. Mind you, that¡¯s more for Sam to be able to expand the dungeon town for them than for you. Then again, I would ask you to help them get through the forest and make it here safely. The Legion marches on to the Capitol and there is no one to escort the refugees back.¡± Grat nodded. ¡°I can do that. If I didn¡¯t know better, I would think you are trying to keep me out of the assault on the Capitol since I¡¯ve been nearly killed twice already since we met, but I¡¯m sure it¡¯s just to make sure that the refugees make it here safely.¡± ¡°Not gonna lie to you, but that did cross my mind. There really are a lot of refugees coming here and there is no one offering protection for the trip through the forest. We¡¯ve already encountered trolls and goblins and a few other things. Having someone with strong nature magic there would be a great help if anything does happen.¡± Duke replied. ¡°I can understand that. Thank you for not lying to me about it.¡± Grat said. ¡°Friends don¡¯t need to lie to each other.¡± Duke replied. ¡°Oh, and Sam, we need a fully decked-out smithy for a blacksmith named Halgrim that is coming with the refugees. Make it top-grade with all the bells and whistles.¡± ¡°Decks? Like a ship? That is an odd design and what are the bells and whistles for? Announcing when the shop is open or closed?¡± Sam asked. Duke hung his head and replied. No, forget all that. Just make it the best blacksmith shop you can, alright?¡± ¡°Sure thing. There¡¯s something else I want to talk to you about and it regards the town.¡± Sam paused, poised tentatively. ¡°No, you can¡¯t eat the townsfolk.¡± Duke replied to the rest of the group¡¯s horror that the concept was even a question. Sam held up his hands. ¡°No, no, nothing like that. I have the dungeon already outside the town that they can try their luck in anytime they want. I don¡¯t think it will be long before they have their first casualty in there from pure carelessness. But that is not it either. I am gaining Mana from the inhabitants at a fair rate. Adding in another 20,000 people will accelerate my growth even further since they have already achieved food self-sufficiency. What I want to do, and I believe I mentioned this previously, is speed up the passage of time inside the town section of the dungeon. This way, they will grow faster, and quickly become a community that can support adventurers delving into the dungeons while you have the Legion outside.¡± Duke looked at Sam, trying to decide what angle the dungeon was trying to work was. ¡°By how much?¡± Duke asked, figuring it was an easier question and would give him an idea of how Sam was thinking. Sam responded gleefully. ¡°Ultimately, I want it to be ten times as fast in the dungeon town than outside, but I think it might be too shocking to anyone who ventures outside. Maybe get to that point in a few generations but, for now, I want to slowly speed things up to double time. Maybe over the course of a year?¡± Duke pondered the prospect, but something didn¡¯t sit well with him about it. As he started to reply it hit him. ¡°You want to isolate the town¡¯s population from the outside, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Of course. I want my little town of people to prosper and grow into a world of their own. Can you imagine it? Millions of people living inside my dungeon fueling me with Mana and enjoying their lives as they see fit. I could make all sorts of different challenges for them to choose from, or not choose from. Nobody would ever starve, and they would have the freedom to pursue whatever they wanted. It would be wonderful!¡± Duke¡¯s PURPOSE stirred in a strange, unsettling way as Sam continued on. He tried to sort it out and it really came down to a moral dilemma. If the citizens of the dungeon town (world?) are made content to stay and have freedom to operate as they wish, are they truly free? Am I even free?¡± Duke¡¯s PURPOSE flared again, stronger as he realized that he did not truly know the answer to either question. Sam looked at Duke, the internal debate clear on Duke¡¯s face. ¡°You are trying to decide if this is a good idea, aren¡¯t you?¡± Duke chuckled. ¡°That obvious?¡± Aurelia chimed in. ¡°Quite obvious. And understandable. Do you isolate the dungeon townsfolk from the rest of the world by function of the time difference and is that fair to them?¡± ¡°Yes, that is the debate.¡± Duke responded. Elaine interrupted. ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask them what they want?¡± All eyes turned to her, and Aurelia spoke. ¡°That is a reasonable course of action. After what they have been through, isolating themselves from the outside world may be desirable.¡± Duke nodded. ¡°Yes, that is likely a just approach, but let¡¯s wait on this decision and question until the next set of refugees have completely settled in. If they decide to isolate in time, then anyone arriving here to settle will have a choice between the outside town or the dungeon town. Each with their own unique set of advantages and challenges.¡± Sam smiled. ¡°I can wait a few months for the decision. That is fine. Thank you for considering it.¡± Dinner was served shortly afterwards, and conversation turned to lighter fare followed by nightfall and sleep. Book 2, Chapter 18 - The Calm Before the Storm Another night, another set of notifications. Duke awoke chuckling to himself as he poured through his notifications. There was nothing significant in the Ability changes and the commentary was nothing new, primarily focused on getting back to the Legion and getting going ¨C something which he had already planned to do. Breakfast was the mundane deliciousness that the group had grown inured to by now. The discussion, however, was anything but as they discussed the coming fight. ¡°Remember that Chopie has laid traps for us along the road.¡± Duke started. ¡°We have to eliminate the traps or find a way around them. This is an area where you would excel, wouldn¡¯t it be, Grat?¡± ¡°Depending on the nature of the traps, yes. But you have me escorting the refugees through the forest to get them here safely. Which is probably needed if they don¡¯t have any real means to defend themselves.¡± Grat responded. ¡°True. There are some amongst the refugees that could handle the odd monster or three, but the vast majority have little more than what they are wearing.¡± Duke clarified. ¡°At least what they are all wearing is nice and new, right, Duke.¡± Aurelia added. ¡°Yes, I did RESTORE most everyone¡¯s stuff. That¡¯s my way of shaking hands and kissing babies. I want them the arrive here in better spirits than when they fled and more able to take care of themselves.¡± Duke smiled his best politician¡¯s cheesy smile. ¡°Kissing babies?¡± Elaine asked. ¡°Yeah, you know how politicians work the crowd when they are on the campaign trail trying to get elected, right?¡± Duke continued and ground to a halt as he saw the confused looks around the table. ¡°Fucking idioms!¡± They all voiced together as soon as Duke caught on to their confusion. ¡°Anyway, how are we going to get past all the traps and ambushes out there on the road?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°I am open to suggestions before I bring my thoughts to the table.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just bypass the entire road.¡± Duke responded. ¡°Blaze a trail through the countryside with an entire Legion?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°Not really what I had in mind.¡± Duke responded. ¡°Here¡¯s what I am thinking¡­¡± An hour later they had the general plan established. It hinged on a number of things going right, but every great plan did. And, of course, Duke was the lynchpin of it all. When they returned to the Legion, they found that the troops had already started their march up the road. Looks were exchanged and Aurelia mounted her horse and charged towards the front of the Legion. Duke rose into the air and raced to the front of the Legion as well. Baslin summoned his chair and lazily floated over the marching Legion, letting them take the lead in this part. Aurelia arrived in front of the Legion, glad to see that they hadn¡¯t encountered any traps. She didn¡¯t want to stop the march, but she knew that she needed to be up front in case something occurred. Duke, for his part, continued to climb into the air and accelerate forward. It was a matter of minutes before he left the Legion behind to do something he wanted to do all along ¨C do some scouting of the city¡¯s defenses. Duke remained at high altitude as he approached the city, not wanting to get in range of any defenses and hopefully far enough up that he was out of sight as well. All his stealth Abilities were up and running to help conceal his presence. He observed that the city had turtled up and catapults and ballistae dotted the walls, ready for action. But that is not what Duke was scouting for. He was looking at the area surrounding the city. Since the road the Legion was traveling was to the southeast of the city, Duke was focusing on the area to the north and northeast. He focused his attention and spotted what he was looking for. There was a farmer¡¯s field about two kilometers away from the city that was shielded by a small hill. Duke TELEPORTED to the ground behind the hill. Once there, he pushed his DUNGEON SENSE as much as he could. He discovered that it was getting easier to use the Ability as he became more practiced with how the information was presented to him but most of all, standing still made it even easier to keep from getting overwhelmed. His focus was downward, and it did not take long to find what he was looking for ¨C an underground cavern. He focused on the cavern and began tracing the tunnels in and out of it, finding that they headed out in a number of directions. Two hours later, he had mapped a path that led to the caverns below the city. He TELEPORTED to the furthest of those caverns he could sense. Expanding his DUNGEON SENSE again, he could see the entire area beneath the city. Whereas the last time he had seen these chambers filled with undead and close to impossible for him to sense clearly with all the movement, they were now barren, not even insect life seemed to be present. He was also able to see that there were hundreds of paths up to the city, many of them relatively newly made. This solidified the plan he had discussed. With a smile on his face, he TELEPORTED back to where the Legion was halted. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The command group had been awaiting his arrival and quickly formed up around him, anticipation in their eyes. Duke did not disappoint. ¡°I have found the chambers beneath the city and there are hundreds of passages up into the city. Most of them are new and may be how the undead horde came up from below to head for us. More evidence that Chopie is beyond redemption. But even better for the plan than trying to conceal the Legion in an area outside the city. The chambers and tunnels are empty and I couldn¡¯t sense any sort of traps. We¡¯ll stage the Legion underneath the city and not even have to breach the walls!¡± ¡°So, when do we start moving?¡± Aurelia asked. Baslin answered first as Duke looked towards him. ¡°I have created the illusionary array, and it can be deployed whenever you are ready.¡± Duke grinned. ¡°Excellent. Prepare the array. In two hours, I¡¯ll start moving the Legion into place. Once they are all set, I¡¯ll go and poke the bear so to speak. They¡¯ll focus on me, and they won¡¯t see the Legion coming until it¡¯s too late for them.¡± Orders were passed down through the Legion and the Legionnaires adjusted their formations to allow Duke to TELEPORT them one thousand at a time. It took time as Duke had to regain his Mana after every TELEPORT but in a matter of hours, the Twice Blessed Legion was broken into centuries, ready to charge in succession up the 50 tunnels that Aurelia had identified as the best strategic locations to emerge. While waiting for the Legion to prepare, Duke contacted Mandibra to let her know that her Ant soldiers were required. ¡°Queen Mandibra, we are ready to assault the Deceiver¡¯s master in his city. Are your soldiers ready?¡± Duke employed the extended-range Jewel of Whispers that Baslin had provided. ¡°You have arrived several days earlier than I had anticipated. My soldiers have been tunneling towards the city steadily since we met but they will not be there until close to dawn. I had expected for them to arrive days before you.¡± ¡°Very well, I will wait for them to arrive before I begin.¡± Duke ended the conversation there. He growled inwardly at the delay but decided to use the time to make sure everyone was ready for the coming fight. He toured the ranks, inspecting various Legionnaires not necessarily to check their gear or readiness, but more to give them a morale boost knowing that he was there. He reached out to Baslin to see how the illusion array was faring and was informed that the illusionary Legion was bedded down for the night just shy of the first trap. ¡°Are you going to come pick me up before things get started in the morning?¡± Baslin asked. ¡°Will the illusion maintain itself without you there?¡± Duke asked right back. ¡°The illusion will maintain itself for about ten hours, maybe as long as twelve, after I leave. That should be sufficient, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡± Baslin responded, hope in his voice. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll come get you before we get started. There¡¯s no guessing what Chopie has up his sleeve. We likely will need your magic when push comes to shove.¡± ¡°I stand ready.¡± Baslin replied. Duke continued what he could do for preparations before TELEPORTING to the Inn to check in there. What he found was a bit of a surprise. Grat was waiting for him outside. ¡°I thought you were escorting the refugees here?¡± Duke asked trying to keep irritation from his voice. ¡°I did.¡± Grat replied with a wry smile. ¡°I¡¯m not going to play a guessing game. Give me details.¡± Duke responded sharply. ¡°OK, ok, ok.¡± Grat held his hands up in supplication. ¡°I used my Abilities to bring them all in more quickly. Scared a few of them but they all made it safely and quickly. Most importantly, quickly.¡± Duke shook his head. ¡°How many decided to stay?¡± Grat¡¯s grin grew wider. ¡°All of them. They went inside, took one look at the city waiting for them and the people welcoming them home and they all rushed in. They seem really happy, especially that giant of a blacksmith. I think he ran around his smithy for nearly an hour in wonder at all the things that Sam stocked in there. He even had the man¡¯s name on the marquis. ¡®Halgrim¡¯s Smithy¡¯. Not exactly imaginative but the man seemed to love it.¡± ¡°So, they all settled in right away, eh?¡± Duke asked. ¡°They really did.¡± Grat responded. ¡°That tears it. I¡¯m not going into the Inn. Time for me to head back to the Legion.¡± Duke declared. ¡°Take me with you.¡± Grat asked. The pair disappeared, reappearing in the caverns. Neither noticed that Sam stood in the doorway of the Inn chuckling with a smug smile on his face as they left. It only took another hour of checking things out before Duke decided to get some sleep before the next day¡¯s battle. As he chose the spot to set up, he reached into his INVENTORY for the command tent only to remember that Baslin had it. Rather than retrieve the Archmage early, he just pulled a bed out and collapsed in it, filling a side alcove of the cavern. It wasn¡¯t long before Aurelia joined him. She, on the other hand, had a tent to set up over the bed and did so. ¡°I want at least a little privacy before we head off to battle in the morning. Are you sure this plan is going to work?¡± Duke looked her in the eye with a serious look on his face. ¡°I certainly hope it does but there is no certainty in war other than that people will die. If I can minimalize the loss of life on our side, then I am going to do so.¡± ¡°But you are putting yourself in the primary line of fire to start things off. That worries me.¡± She replied. ¡°Of all the parts of the plan, that¡¯s the part that I am the least worried about. I¡¯ll be airborne and I am far more maneuverable than they can imagine while FLYING. I¡¯ll know if I need to move or even if I need to TELEPORT. Although, to be honest, I am expecting them to have some sort of defense against TELEPORTATION in place. Likely, they will think they can trap me somehow. But if they focus their efforts on me, they¡¯re done. I¡¯m the distraction in the opening round. And I¡¯m a lot tougher than they could imagine. I can take a bunch of hits even if they somehow manage to surprise me.¡± ¡°I know all that. I planned this out with you after all.¡± She reminded him. ¡°Good, so put your mind to rest and let¡¯s get some sleep while we still can.¡± Duke wrapped her up in his arms and pulled her down to the bed for the night. Book 2, Chapter 19 - Its Dangerous Out There. Take This With You Morning found the subterranean camp buzzing with activity. The Legionnaires were in high spirits, filled with anticipation at finally being able to do what they had been training for day after day of virtually their entire new life. The caverns that had concealed the undead from the city¡¯s citizens now served as concealment for the force that was going to eliminate the rest of the undead, including its leader, from this city. Duke grinned as he read his notifications. *** So, you decided to skip the trip and just move your army into place underneath the feet of your enemy. I don¡¯t think anyone had that prediction on their cards. What a wonderful surprise. The fact that you still haven¡¯t just charged in by yourself is showing tremendous restraint. Maybe that will work out well for you, maybe not. We will see. Whatever the case, you really pushed yourself to move that many people into place with your TELEPORTATION Ability. Keep pushing yourself and you will keep improving. Here is your last update to Skills and Abilities before the big day: Aerial Maneuvering has increased to Initiate 25 TELEPORTATION has increased to Adept 100 AURA CONCEALMENT has increased to Initiate 10 LASTING DISGUISE has increased to Novice 16 OVERCHANNEL has increased to Adept 14 FLIGHT has increased to Practiced 17 DUNGEON SENSE has increased to Adept 59 Good luck in your upcoming fight. Don¡¯t disappoint us by dying. *** Duke rushed through his notifications, amused by the final message. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d be really disappointed if I died too.¡± ¡°What was that, love?¡± Aurelia asked sleepily. ¡°Nothing, just responding to my snarky notifications. Are you ready to commit regicide today?¡± He asked. ¡°Is it really regicide if he¡¯s not my king?¡± She replied. ¡°Don¡¯t know. There were very few monarchies left in my world and really less than a handful that actually had any power left. Even the ones that still ruled had to tread carefully because they could be toppled by any of the large nations in a matter of days. So, I really don¡¯t know if it¡¯ll technically be regicide, but it sounded cool.¡± ¡°I guess that¡¯s a good enough measure for now. Let¡¯s get dressed and cleaned up and get everyone ready. I think it would be a good boost if you went around and CLEANSED and RESTORED the Legion before the fight. Some may have broken equipment in the journey.¡± ¡°Good call. I¡¯ll keep the Abilities tightly focused, so nothing filters above ground.¡± Duke agreed before getting his clothes on and getting started on what he was jokingly calling ¡°blessing the troops.¡± His travels around the Legion took an hour but he was universally met with positivity as the Legion now was clean and their equipment in perfect repair. Nothing irritated troops quite like road grime stuck in every crevice. Duke realized that this was something he should have been doing the whole trip along and chided himself to think of his troops as more than just a tool. When he completed his rounds, he left Aurelia to get them all in place to rise from the depths. He instead TELEPORTED to the illusory Legion and Baslin. He found the Archmage floating in his chair at the head of the Legion. ¡°Good morning, Baslin. The Legion all ready?¡± ¡°Good morning, Duke. Yes, the Legion is all set. They will be holding here for the next several hours before resuming the march on the city.¡± ¡°Excellent. You mind joining me for a bit for a few tasks?¡± Duke asked, remaining vague in case they were being observed. He didn¡¯t see anyone but wasn¡¯t taking any chances with opsec this close to zero hour. ¡°I can break away for a bit.¡± Baslin replied before pulling his floating chair back into his Ring of Rooms. Duke TELEPORTED them back to the caverns and Baslin joined him, Aurelia, Grat, and the command cadre of the Legion. Duke felt a bit badly that he still really didn¡¯t know any of the command cadre. He knew their faces and his Reason was high enough that he could recall their names. But beyond that, he really didn¡¯t know anything about them. He put the feelings aside as it was too late to worry about it today. There was a city to take and a regime to topple. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. The mood was tense. There was fear mixed in with anticipation and even some eagerness. The emotional weight in the caverns had the consistency of gravity. Duke could feel it weighing on him and he nearly jumped when the message from Mandibra was whispered in his ear. ¡°Duke, my soldiers have made it to the city. They report that the scent of the city is off in some way, but they are poised to bust forth and swarm the walls.¡± ¡°Thank you. They will know it¡¯s time when the city starts attacking me. I¡¯m going to goad them into action so we can take them by surprise.¡± He responded. ¡°They will be ready, Duke.¡± She sent her final message and went silent. Duke turned back to the group. ¡°OK, the giant ant soldiers are in place. Is everyone else ready?¡± ¡°The Legion stands ready.¡± Aurelia responded. ¡°I am ready as well.¡± Grat added. ¡°Here, take these.¡± Baslin responded before he proceeded to empty nearly two hundred bombs from his Ring of Rooms. ¡°You¡¯ve been holding out on me.¡± Duke said. ¡°No, I just haven¡¯t had the time to make too many of them, so I figured keeping them until now was probably the best.¡± Baslin replied. Duke happily pulled them into his INVENTORY. ¡°Can these be triggered remotely or are they set to detonate upon impact only?¡± Baslin seemed disappointed when he answered. ¡°There are only impact-triggered. I haven¡¯t put together the remote detonation method yet. I¡¯ll admit that I have been working too much on my other experiments to finish that project yet. But I do have one more thing for you.¡± He handed Duke a book. ¡°I don¡¯t think I really have time to read a book before we kick this battle off.¡± Duke replied. ¡°Take the time. This one is worth it. It will only take about ten or fifteen minutes to get through it for you.¡± Baslin responded. Duke excused himself with a resigned shrug and perused the book. He quickly found out that it was a spellbook. I should have known it would be a spellbook. But what spell was so important that it couldn¡¯t wait? As Duke read through the pages, engrossed in the magic of the book, it dawned on him that it was a spell that he had been forgetting to add to his repertoire for a while now. Finally, he completed the spellbook and, as always seemed to be the case, his magic consumed the Spell, converting it to a new Ability. *** You have absorbed the Spell ¡°Greater Hold Undead¡± and have received a new Ability of the same name. Because it came from a masterwork spellbook, you gain the Ability at an opening rank of Initiate 5. Ability Name: Hold Undead Rank: Initiate 5 Description: This Ability allows you to target the magic of undeath that is the motivational force allowing them to act. When targeted, the undead will contest your willpower. Those that fail to overcome your willpower will be frozen, unable to act until you release them, or they overcome your will. You can target up to your Psyche modifier undead with this Ability. *** Duke smiled as the spellbook crumbled to ash in his hands. This was a Spell, now Ability, that he had been wanting for some time now. He and Baslin just kept missing each other in passing regarding it. It would have been good to have this earlier than today so I could level it up. It was labeled as greater though so maybe it¡¯s a stronger version of the Spell. Guess that explains why I got it at Initiate. Whatever the case, I have it now so I can use it if I need it later. ¡°OK, Baslin, I¡¯ll admit you were right. I¡¯ve been waiting for that Spell for quite a while. Is everyone in position?¡± Aurelia responded with confidence and the vibrant energy of someone who has been psyching themselves up and is just waiting to be unleashed. ¡°The Legion is in position and eagerly awaits your signal.¡± Baslin smiled at Duke as he cycled items in and out of his Ring of Rooms. ¡°I have all sorts of surprises ready for Negron should he even be brave enough to show his face this day.¡± Duke couldn¡¯t help but watch as items flashed in and out of sight, each one simply radiating with power unlike most every other item he had seen. ¡°What in the world are all those things?¡± Duke asked, distracted by what his senses were telling him. ¡°Oh, did you think I was just spending my time idly experimenting? No, I have been crafting items of true power for this day. If the snake raises its head, I will burn it off, even destroy his soul should that be necessary.¡± Baslin responded, fire dancing in his eyes. ¡°That sounds a bit intense.¡± Grat remarked. ¡°Perhaps.¡± Baslin admitted. ¡°But if he managed to make Chopie into a lich, it stands to reason that he has something of the same nature for himself as a backup plan. If he tries to slip his soul away after his body is destroyed, I intend to either capture it or annihilate it. He is as much, if not more, responsible for the atrocities inflicted upon the people of this kingdom as Chopie himself.¡± ¡°And we will be with you every step of the way.¡± Aurelia responded. ¡°Your enemies are our enemies.¡± ¡°Now that that is out of the way, shall we get this show on the road?¡± Duke asked the group. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s throw all the idioms at them!¡± Grat announced to the chuckles of the group. It proved to be a good tension breaker as smiles passed through them all. Duke saluted the group. ¡°Go take your positions. I¡¯ll give us all a few minutes for final preparations before I kick this all off. Remember, it is far more important to me that I see you for debrief at the end of the day than it is for any insane heroic acts. Don¡¯t put yourself into any unnecessary danger. We have our ant allies that are expendable. Let them take the brunt of things before the Legion even engages. I want the enemy fully committed before our real attack begins.¡± With that dismissal, Duke walked away to be by himself and prepare. Book 2, Chapter 20 - Like a Child Clumsily Swinging a Blade in the Dark With a simple flex of his Ability, Duke appeared in the air some two hundred meters above and away from the city gates. Gates that were sealed and reinforced, well-prepared for an assault by a conventional army like the Legion appeared to be. Duke could see thousands of undead and other things manning the walls. The other things were a horrifying mixture of human, insect, and arachnids. The majority of the disgusting creatures maintained enough human features to be disturbing but some were just so warped it was difficult to even look at them. Most of the undead were skeletal with different colors of fire flickering in their eye sockets. Duke announced his presence, pouring his Psyche into his words to amplify their effect as much as possible. ¡°King Chopie, you have failed your people and your kingdom. You have committed atrocities against the people you were sworn to protect all in the name of pettiness and the pursuit of power. I have come to call you to account and remove you from your throne. Come forth and stand judgement!¡± From the top of the castle tower, a magically amplified voice responded. ¡°Nay, it is you, the presumptive Duke and child of Anomy that stand judgement before the great god, Ghastul! You have come to make demands of me, the Highest of his High Priests. I shall teach you the folly of your arrogance!¡± The voice was being projected from a black-robed figure that Duke could see, but whose features were obscured. As Duke tried to penetrate the gloom of the figure¡¯s hood, it made one final announcement before slipping back into the shadows of the castle¡¯s tower. ¡°On the authority of the king, kill him and bring me his corpse!¡± Several things happened at once. Duke increased the OVERCHANNELING of his SPELL RESISTANCE and ARMOR SKIN Abilities. Due to his repeated use of ARMOR SKIN this way, it had become something he could do unconsciously so there was only a modicum of concentration required to maintain the SPELL RESISTANCE Ability. Both Abilities proved to be worth the effort as magical and mundane attacks erupted from the city. The first thing Duke noticed was that a vast array of runes embedded both in the walls of the city and on stones placed around it lit up with a cerulean glow. He would not have paid significant attention to the runes had he not immediately received a notification related to one of his primary abilities. *** A runic array has been activated that suppresses all spacial magic. As a result, your TELEPORTATION Ability has been suppressed from Adept 100, to Untrained 6. Your INVENTORY has been similarly suppressed. *** Duke had anticipated something like this, but the suppression field was stronger than he had expected. His TELEPORTATION range had just been reduced from over four hundred kilometers to around thirty meters. Still, he reacted by using the Ability just the same, moving repeatedly diagonally upwards in a stuttered zig-zag pattern to avoid some of the incoming fire. Dozens of dark-robed figures stepped out from behind crenelations to launch beams of necrotic energy at Duke, most aiming for where he had just been, but he was still struck by a number of the beams. A rain of arrows, ballista bolts, and even stones launched by catapults blazed through the area he had been. Fire, acid, cold, and poison attacks were launched by the skeletal figures, chasing Duke as he moved in full evasion using TELEPORTATION and FLIGHT to keep moving out of the line of most attacks. Still, he was hit with countless attacks. The vast majority did not affect him individually as his ARMOR SKIN and SPELL RESISTANCE were easily able to handle most attacks. There were some, however, that were particularly strong, and Duke had found himself harder and harder pressed as damaging effects began to stack. He poured even more Mana into his ARMOR SKIN and SPELL RESISTANCE, watching his Mana drop precipitously. The attacks focused on Duke continued with abandon. Seeing a singular target and having been given a single order, all the undead forces focused entirely on Duke. They did not notice over the cacophony of explosions of spells, the whoosh of projectiles, and the raw howling of their fellow undead a sound that Duke had been waiting for. The ants broke through the ground and started boiling up the walls. Being aging stacked and mortared stone, the city¡¯s walls offered countless footholds for the ants, and they rapidly ascended up the walls at the jogging pace of a normal human. Even if Duke could not see them though the barrage of attacks he was doing his best to dodge, he knew the moment when the ants crested the walls. Attacks coming his way nearly ceased entirely and he finally had a respite to assess his own condition. Duke¡¯s Health and Mana were both down below half and the number of status conditions affecting him was somewhat alarming. Among the most prominent were some sort of necrotic acid eating into his left arm, poison that was literally dripping off his shredded clothes, and his entire lower body was on fire. He activated CLEANSE and RESTORE which remarkably removed nearly all the external effects. He was still fighting off a number of effects internally, but his REGENERATION was keeping the worst of the issues at bay for now and his Mana was ticking back up now that he could pull back on his OVERCHANNELING. He watched as the ants surged over the walls and attacked everything they could get their pincers on. The hundreds of mage skeletons were crushed under the press of ants, virtually clearing them from the walls in a matter of seconds. The black-robed figures had disappeared at some point that Duke hadn¡¯t noticed and the horrors fought back, chiton ringing against chiton. Duke recovered as he watched the carnage. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. *** In the caverns below the city, Aurelia stood ready with the Legion, tension overflowing her mind, but her limbs held steady through sheer force of will. General, the fighting has begun. Shall we start the Legion¡¯s charge?¡± Not yet. We need the enemy to fully commit before we attack. Keep me apprised of the battle¡¯s progress.¡± She fervently hoped this was the right decision and Duke was not in way over his head while she sat still, waiting. The waiting was the absolutely worst part of the battle for her. She could handle death and dying all around her ¨C that was what happened to an army when the real fighting started. But waiting and hoping that the plan was working was torturous. *** In less than a minute, the undead and horrors had been cleared from the outer walls of the city and the ants were busy destroying the siege engines while spreading out over the entire city wall structure. It had cost nearly half of the ant soldiers but they ultimately were expendable. Duke smiled as he felt the suppression of his TELEPORTATION fail. The ant soldiers had torn many of the stones carrying runes from the wall. A smile started to creep across his face as he saw his plans coming to fruition. This is what he had been waiting for, had the Legion training for all this time. At last, he would remove Chopie and be able to start setting to rights all the thing the insane monarch had set wrong. Duke¡¯s COMBAT SENSE activated his TELEPORTATION before he had a chance to register that something had gone horribly wrong. His first sensation was pain as, once again, his Abilities saved him from certain death. The entire city wall had erupted with flame so hot, the very stones of the wall exploded, incinerating everything in its vicinity. The flash of heat was directed outwards, expanding over everything for hundreds of meters. Duke could only register what happened from his extra senses. His eyes and much of the front of his body had been horribly burned and were just gone. Pain overwhelmed his senses for long seconds as Duke struggled to even sense where he was, let alone what had happened. He would have clenched his teeth, but they were already shattered. When Duke¡¯s REGENERATION repaired his eyes a full thirty seconds later, it was hard for him to process what had happened. The city walls were simply gone. There was a scattering of debris for nearly a kilometer around the city, mostly in the form of stretched globs of volcanic obsidian glass and similarly melted stone. None of the debris was larger than his head. There was no sign of the ants at all. ¡°You thought you could take me on? With ants? You are more the fool than ever I thought. Not just some upstart trying to make a name for yourself, but a child clumsily swinging a blade in the dark. What are you going to do now that your army of insects is destroyed? Make more rude gestures?¡± This voice rang out from the castle¡¯s tower again but it was different from the first. This one belonged to the king himself. When Duke eyes finally healed enough to focus on the figure, he saw that it resembled Chopie but far more skeletal. Blue flames burned in the king¡¯s eye sockets and the skin hung limply on his bones. The man¡¯s transformation into a lich was truly complete. Duke taunted back. ¡°So, you killed my army. Where¡¯s yours? Oh, right, I killed them already. Guess that makes us even.¡± ¡°Ever the fool. Behold my army!¡± Chopie spread his arms wide and the gates to the castle burst open to usher out a torrent of undead. Duke quickly IDENTIFIED as many types as he could, finding that the majority were of some greater variety or other. He spied ghouls, ghasts, wraiths, even some bodaks and a scattering of greater zombie variants. The torrent were led by a dozen black-robed figures that stepped aside to allow the masses to erupt onto the field. Duke estimated that there might be as many as fifty thousand undead. Chopie continued and Duke was happy to allow him to do so. Every second Chopie spoke restored more and more of Duke¡¯s Health and Mana. ¡°You may have defeated the scraps I sent out into the world, but you assuredly have never met my army! Now, I am a generous ruler. Surrender and become my minion and I will leave your people huddled in the depths unharmed to go their way. Refuse, and I will kill them all only to raise their souls in my service. I do think the golden blonde one will make a fine addition to my concubines.¡± Duke¡¯s blood turned to ice as he realized what Chopie was saying. I¡¯ve got to warn Aurelia but I can¡¯t use the Jewel ¨C he¡¯ll see that. Duke¡¯s mind scrambled and came upon an outlandish idea but it might just work. He focused on pieces of debris near where the undead were forming into ranks that was out of Chopie¡¯s line of sight. With a flare of TELEPORTATION focused on the debris, he sent dozens of stones to Aurelia, hoping she would receive and understand the message. Duke spoke, knowing that there was limited time to negotiate before things erupted again into violence. He poured as much derision and sarcasm as he could into his voice. ¡°Oh, no. You have more undead. What ever will I do? I singlehandedly erased your first undead army. What makes you think that this little patch of darkness on the front lawn is going to pose any more threat than the last? It¡¯s like you have absolutely no idea what I¡¯m capable of.¡± ¡°I know you have LIGHTNING and TELEPORTATION Magics. You are no great mystery to me. And with a Grandmaster mage at my disposal, I have numerus ways to shut those magics down.¡± He produced a device that looked very similar to the one Grat had produced for the activation of the Inn¡¯s magical defenses and inserted a gem. Duke immediately received a notification. *** A runic array has been activated that suppresses all spacial magic. As a result, your TELEPORTATION and LIGHTNING Abilities have been completely suppressed *** Duke stared intensely at Chopie who cackled in response. ¡°You are a child playing at adult games! Now surrender and face your punishment. I will not ask again.¡± Duke hung his head and began to slowly fly towards Chopie. Through his XENOGLOSSIA, he could see the delight on the king¡¯s otherwise expressionless face. Duke kept his facial expression hidden. As he got close, about 20 meters away, he flashed skyward, spinning and releasing the nearly two hundred bombs Baslin had made for him in as wide a pattern as he could. Chopie responded before the first bomb could land, flashing a barrier into place over the castle while screaming, ¡°Kill them all!¡± The undead army tore hidden coverings from the ground and moved to charge down their concealed tunnels to surprise the Legion. Before more than the first wave made the tunnels, the bombs impacted and bedlam broke out. Book 2, Chapter 21 - Bombs Away Duke continued his rapid climb as he watched the bombs fall. This was one thing that had taken a lot of getting used to ¨C he could orient himself in any direction regardless of his direction of flight. Being so used to flying in a cockpit, he had naturally oriented himself in the direction of his flight to start. In this case, he was oriented towards the ground while rapidly gaining altitude. This gave him the opportunity to watch the bombs hit. The first bombs to hit were the ones he had sent towards the castle which simply bounced off the castle¡¯s barrier to ultimately explode on the ground. Duke was confused as to why they didn¡¯t explode upon impact with the barrier but was quickly distracted as the bombs started hitting the ground among the undead. The explosions were spectacular. He had no idea what Baslin had done to make them so effective but was glad for it nonetheless. Wherever a bomb hit, the explosion expanded almost entirely horizontally rather than the 360-degree explosion that Duke was accustomed to seeing. The explosions were powerful enough to vaporize flesh and stone alike. And they did ¨C undead of all sorts were simply erased. Where there had been an army of tens of thousands of monsters, bare handfuls remained and those that remained were disorganized and confused. Apparently, they had lost direction from whatever was controlling them and started fighting amongst themselves. Duke paused in the air and laughed at the scene. The castle¡¯s barrier was flickering with the barest of life and the noble districts around it had been completely leveled. I can fix all that. At least I think I can. Now to get Chopie. But first, I have a message to send. He retrieved his long-range Jewel of Whispers from his INVENTORY that was now functioning. He was not sure if it was because he was out of range of the suppression effect or if the runes powering it had been destroyed. The reason didn¡¯t matter at the moment. He had traveled so far up in his haste that he was kilometers away, so he sent his message and began to descend. ¡°Aurelia, send the Legion. Chopie is holed up in his castle and his undead army¡­well, his second, um, third undead army has been all but destroyed. Expect a fourth because this guy is just that big of an asshole. Keep the magical barriers ready because I doubt he¡¯s run out of tricks.¡± Moments later he received a response. ¡°Acknowledged. And thanks for the warning about the ambush. Spelling it out with stones was clever and effective, even if the ambush never happened.¡± Duke could see when the Legion marched out of the passages to the surface. Their FORMATION Ability was collectively shaking the walls of the rest of the city¡¯s buildings. When it was being used in this active form, the leveling it had collectively undergone during the march became evident. The harmonic vibration of the thousands of booted feet striking in synchrony shook the ground, causing walls to tumble, streets to crack, and knocking the few remaining undead from their feet. ¡°Fuck yeah!¡± Duke celebrated as the castle¡¯s barrier shuddered and finally winked out. He began descending much more slowly than he had risen. He knew Chopie¡¯s forces were on the back foot and the king had to be running out of surprises, but he was still somewhat cautious as he could not see where the lich was hiding. Duke activated his DUNGEON SENSE to try and rectify that, but he was still a few kilometers too far away from the castle to see inside it. He continued to descend as the Legion marched into position in the approach to the castle. Aurelia stood at the front of the Legion resplendent in her golden armor. It had been fully RESTORED before the fighting began and the dust that had fallen on her from when the bombs exploded had been shaken loose due to the Legion¡¯s FORMATION Ability. She raised her sword into the air and called out with her COMMAND VOICE echoing across the city, ¡°Your armies are defeated. Surrender and face judgement, Lich King!¡± The Legion roared in response, raising shields and weapons in their enthusiasm. Duke continued his descent, allowing Aurelia to bask in the glow of victory. He could not hear what she said but began to slowly and carefully push his DUNGEON SIGHT out towards its full nine-kilometer range. Normally, this would overwhelm his senses but since the area he was expanding his senses through was simple air, there was little to no strain. Aurelia waited for a response, her patience wearing thin. She stood perhaps 70 meters outside the castle gates, hands on her hips with the left resting on the hilt of her sword. Duke continued his casual descent, reaching outwards with his DUNGEON SENSE and keeping an eye out for the suppression field. Finally, his senses started to reach the castle. He was still at least three kilometers up and Aurelia had received no response yet. Aurelia turned to her Legionnaires, glowing with delight at finally being able to lead them into battle ¨C against a lich king no less! ¡°It seems he wants us to take him the old-fashioned way. Guess we¡¯re going to have to tear that castle down around his ears.¡± Duke, being too far away, did not hear what she said but it was easy enough to figure out as he saw a battering ram that was being pieced together from sections pulled out of various magical storage devices. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Duke smiled as he felt the Legion was finally getting their due, slowing his descent even further to both give them time to act and to keep his vantage point over the castle and the city. There could be more surprises coming and he wanted to be ready for them. His senses had just reached the level where they were starting to sense the upper reaches of the castle. He strained to push his senses deeper trying to locate the king before the legion could get there. The layout of the upper tower was odd to Duke¡¯s sight. The floors themselves seem to form a runic pattern that was beyond Duke''s comprehension as he had no skill or affinity in that area. As he watched, still descending slowly, his DUNGEON SENSE picked up some energy gathering in the runic patterns and alarm rushed through his mind. He prepared himself to act but was still unsure just what it meant. A moment''s thought had the Jewel of Whispers back in his hand. He reached out to Aurelia to warn her that something was happening. She acknowledged his message but continued helping the legion get the battering ram in place ¨C she had a job to do. His next message went to Baslin and from him he did get a response. ¡°Can you describe the runes to me Duke?¡± ¡°The runes encompass most of the floor and are arranged in some sort of ringlike pattern. I think Chopie is standing in the center of the rings.¡± Baslin¡¯s response was urgent. ¡°Do you remember when the Magi Argentus attacked my tower? It is the same sort of thing. You must stop him immediately!¡± Duke flashed downward at full speed, shattering the sound barrier as he accelerated downward. He covered the first two kilometers in about five seconds. His senses blurred as COMBAT SENSE took over, stretching his perception of time. On the ground, Aurelia stood several meters behind the battering ram as it continued to pound on the castle gates. She rose her COMMAND VOICE once again. ¡°Legion, march in place and focus your FORMATION resonance on the castle gates! The response was immediate as the ram started to swing faster, practically launching the Legionnaires holding it at the gates. With a tremendous hum, the gates began to shudder with the resonance of the collective Ability. It only took a few more strikes before even the enchanted wood began to splinter and the magically-forged hinges began to warp from the strain. Duke strained to descend faster, pulling his tonfa from his INVENTORY and pointing them in front of himself as he dove like a living missile on a strike mission. His stretched sense of time did not stop him from seeing that it was indeed Chopie on the top of the tower and there was a ball of energy forming over his head. Duke pushed himself faster, trying to get to Chopie before he could finish whatever it was that he was casting. The gates buckled and nearly collapsed, a hole the size of a horse forming as a section of the left gate collapsed. As the ram pulled back and the opening revealed itself, a torrent of bat-like creatures burst forth to attack the Legionnaires. Shield met wing, sword met fang, and the fight was quickly on. The Legionnaires closed ranks around Aurelia, intent on protecting their General within their ranks. Duke closed in on the top of the tower at reckless speed. Just as he impacted a now shimmering barrier covering the tower, Chopie finished casting his working with a single word shouted with a lifetime of malice, ¡°DIE!¡± The barrier bowed inwards for a split second before shattering under the sheer kinetic energy of Duke¡¯s attack, barely slowing his descent. He sped towards Chopie, burning the air with his passage. But he was too late. The spell fired an instant before he hit the lich¡¯s personal barrier. A sickeningly purple beam erupted from the top of the tower and blasted the ground before the castle gates. Below, Legionnaires¡¯ lifeless bodies were thrown into the air with limbs missing. Above, Duke slammed into Chopie¡¯s personal barrier. The barrier absorbed fully half of the energy Duke¡¯s attack had left, but it also folded, allowing Duke to unleash the rest on the lich¡¯s head. Chopie¡¯s skull easily split splattering black, decayed gore across the room. Duke¡¯s momentum carried him through the rest of the lich and impacted heavily on the floor of the tower which remarkably held together. Duke knew the bones in his arms and shoulders were pulverized and the only thing keeping him together was the tension of his ARMOR SKIN and his REGENERATION working feverishly to repair the damage he inflicted on himself. He managed to flop onto his back and saw an insubstantial figure vaguely resembling the once living king floating over him. The figure spoke. ¡°You lose, Duke. You only just barely managed to destroy this temporary shell. Now, I¡¯ll simply return to my phylactery and form a new body to kill the rest of your loved ones before I kill you.¡± Duke, still dazed from the impact simply responded with attitude. ¡°Go for it, asshole.¡± The figure moved in a circle before screaming, ¡°My phylactery! Where is my phylactery!¡± The figure started to become even more insubstantial. ¡°No! This cannot be! Negron attend me!¡± The voice got smaller and smaller as the figure faded out of existence. *** You have a very important announcement to read but we suppressed it for you¡­for now. Take care of your business. *** Duke rose into the air using his FLIGHT, not trusting his reforming bones to bear his weight. He watched as the figure finally winked out of existence. ¡°Goodbye, asshole.¡± A moment later, his head cleared enough for him to finally process what Chopie had said. He said kill the rest of my loved ones. That beam. Aurelia! Duke flashed out of the tower and towards the ground. What he saw chilled his soul. More undead had poured out of the castle¡¯s gates and the Legion was fully engaged. With the Legion¡¯s Mage Corps making liberal use of the Hold Undead spell that Baslin had developed, things were easily going the Legion¡¯s way. But what caused his heart to pause was the sight of the blasted area and the bodies thrown away from the impact point of the blast. In the blast crater, he could only see a pair of disembodied legs clad in golden armor. There was nothing else but ash filling the depression. Book 2, Chapter 22 - Aftermath Duke slammed into the ground of the crater, frantically looking around, denying what his eyes had already shown him. Aurelia was gone. His love was dead, and he had been too slow to stop it from happening. Rage overcame him and he lost all semblance of control. Torn between rage and despair, he lashed out at the world. The castle took the brunt of his rage, blasting it with LIGHTNING until his Mana ran out and then smashing at it physically. Despite the enchantment on the stone of the structure, it eventually began to yield to his power. And then as his Mana recovered, he began dismantling it piece by piece, TELEPORTING stones in scattered piles throughout the surrounding area all the time cursing fate, the gods, and anyone who ever hurt his loved ones. Hours later he collapsed to the ground, his body wracked with sobs. ¡°She was the best of us. Why? Why does everyone I love have to be ripped away from me?¡± No one disturbed him in his grief as he was simultaneously repulsed by holding Aurelia¡¯s remains and almost comforted by having something of her left. In his grief, logic had fled the field, screaming in terror. Baslin stood with Grat and the remaining commanders of the Legion just beyond the lip of the crater. They had finished mopping up what was left of Chopie¡¯s undead forces some time ago. It was Grat who spoke first. ¡°It should have been me. I¡¯ve been on the brink of death and I¡¯ve been brought back time and again. I should be the one who died. Not her. Definitely not her.¡± Baslin responded gently. ¡°I have seen much death in my long life. There is neither sense nor logic in it. But there is an inevitability to it. Not even I can live forever. Death comes for us all sooner or later. Ghastul takes his due regardless of our wishes.¡± Grat responded. ¡°Didn¡¯t Duke already have a confrontation with Ghastul?¡± ¡°Indeed he did. And now, I have taken my due. He has taken my High Priest from me, but I have stripped him of something even more valuable to him¡­love and hope. Both in equal measure. As you said, Baslin. I always take my due.¡± Both Baslin and Grat turned to see the man who spoke floating several centimeters off the ground. The aura that the man radiated belied his overwhelming power. Legionnaires all around them collapsed, barely able to breathe in the presence of Ghastul himself. With a self-approving smile, the figure floated down to Duke. Duke felt the presence and turned in time to see the god stop in front of him still smiling smugly. ¡°I told you, mortal that I would have my day. It may have cost me a tool, but I have taken away your last love in this world. This matter is finished. Do not oppose me again.¡± Ghastul¡¯s words had the weight of the heavens behind them, carrying a finality that pummeled Duke¡¯s soul. Duke gently laid Aurelia¡¯s legs back down on the ground and stood to face the god. His cold anger radiated visibly from his eyes as he rose to his full height. ¡°This is your doing?¡± ¡°It is the price that had to be paid, mortal. But the matter is settled. The debt is paid and it cannot be revisited.¡± Ghastul responded, his expression having shifted to grim seriousness. Duke stared the god directly in the eyes, ignoring the pain piercing through his head from the god¡¯s stare. ¡°So, you are barred from acting again on this matter? Is that some sort of divine oath?¡± Ghastul responded. ¡°It is as you say, mortal. Once a divine debt has been paid, none may re-invoke it. Not even a god. She will have her eternal peace. Do not concern yourself about this matter anymore.¡± A sense of calmness and peace radiated outward form the god and Duke could feel his MENTAL FORTITUDE Ability kick in to keep him from succumbing. Duke held the god¡¯s, gaze grinning like a madman. ¡°Then you won¡¯t mind if I do this.¡± Ghastul peered at the mortal quizzically and gasped at what Duke did next. *** You have activated the Special Ability granted you by your unique Title, Redeemer of Souls. There will be consequences for this action. Are you sure you wish to proceed? (Y/N) *** Duke held Ghastul¡¯s gaze as he mentally selected ¡°yes¡±. The world trembled around him, and everything came to a halt. The area around him became brighter than any light he had ever encountered, filling the world around him to the point he lost sense of anything else around him. The first thing that registered to his senses was a humming sound in the key of D major. It resonated with his soul, bringing joy to the darkness that had overshadowed him. He could feel himself responding unconsciously, his body echoing the tone within. As he listened, a sharp vertical line of darkness carved itself into existence in front of him, four meters away. It was followed by a horizontal line from the top of the line, and then another vertical line descending from the end of that line. Finally, a horizontal line of darkness completed the rectangle. And then it opened ¨C it was a door! A figure burst out of the darkness charging at Duke with speed a normal human could never dream to match. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he engulfed the figure in a crushing hug. The brightness rapidly faded back to the normal shadowed light inside the crater, the door having disappeared the moment Aurelia burst forth. ¡°How? That¡¯s impossible! She died! I am the God of Death for ALL of Teldin! No Teldinite can leave my grasp!¡± Ghastul screamed and shouted, before moving to the couple with rage in his eyes. He reached for Aurelia but found himself blocked from grabbing her back into his realm. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Duke picked his head up from his love¡¯s shoulder and addressed the god with as much distain as he could manage. He opened his mouth to speak but his response was pre-empted as Ghastul was yanked backwards by an enormous, mostly intangible, and barely perceptible hand. A voice boomed over the remains of the city. ¡°By your own oath, Ghastul, you are barred from resuming your grudge against this man and his people. Your Domain remains your own so if they come to you by the normal means, you can exercise your duty, but barring that, you will no longer interfere.¡± The hand drew the god back and into the air, disappearing rapidly behind the cloudbank, taking Ghastul¡¯s frenzied arguments along with it. Everyone stood dumbfounded for a long minute before a soft, contralto voice spoke. ¡°Duke, what happened? I remember the undead pouring out of the castle and us engaging them. It was exciting seeing the Legion finally getting to use everything that we have trained for. You should have seen them. The Mage Corps froze the undead so quickly and the rest of the Legionnaires cut them down just like we had practiced. It was working brilliantly and then there was a flash of purple light. And then I was in darkness before I found you.¡± ¡°Aurelia, my love, the purple beam was Chopie¡¯s final attack.¡± Duke said softly as he took her hands in his own. ¡°Final attack? He¡¯s dead? You killed him?¡± She asked excitedly. ¡°Yes, I killed him, but I was too late to stop him from killing you.¡± Duke spoke with all the solemnity the moment required, his voice barely holding itself together. ¡°Killing me?¡± Aurelia asked in confusion. ¡°I¡¯m dead?¡± ¡°My love, you were, but I brought you back.¡± Duke said softly, his words flowing with tenderness. ¡°How? How are you able to do such a thing?¡± She pulled back slightly to look Duke in the eye. Her emotions were radiating off her to his senses. She was both in wonder and completely terrified. ¡°I used the benefit of one of my Titles. It has very limited uses, but I could not bear to be without you in my life. It seems that I really pissed of Ghastul in doing so.¡± She held him tighter. ¡°I always thought that death was the end but now you have brought me back twice. I¡­¡± Aurelia paused, wiping tears from her eyes, ¡°I had a choice. I could have stayed in the peaceful emptiness. It would have been easy and comfortable. Warm and inviting, like a mother¡¯s embrace. But I heard your voice and saw you through the lighted doorway and my heart called out, driving me through the door and into your arms.¡± He held her tighter. ¡°Thank you for coming back to me.¡± His voice wavered, fighting against breaking. He was interrupted by a notification. *** Sorry to break up your tearful reunion but this has been held off as long as possible. The following notice is not from us, it is for all of Teldin and generated by the system itself. ATTENTION! This is a worldwide notice! A king has fallen, and a new kingdom rises in its place. King Chopie has been slain and his rulership transferred. All welcome King Duke! May his rein be just and honorable! *** The laughter that travelled its way into the crater was unmistakable and was only confirmed when Grat shouted, ¡°King Duke! That¡¯s awesome!¡± before he devolved into laughter again, all tension broken. ¡°Guess that means we have work to do, my love. Or at least, you do.¡± Aurelia whispered into Duke¡¯s ear. ¡°Don¡¯t work too late, I need to pay homage to the new king.¡± Her hand sliding down left no doubt of the nature of the homage. With a mischievous smile, she stepped back and, with a running head start, jumped out of the crater, leaving Duke alone with his thoughts. Fucking king? Oh, this is going to be a whole host of new problems. But I had better make my first appearance as king at least look good. He took a moment to compose himself before activating a small CLEANSE and RESTORE just on himself. A quick glance showed his clothes fully repaired and pristine. He smiled briefly before pulling his face into his best imitation of serenity. Duke rose slowly from the crater, arms outstretched in the most dramatic pose he could think of. As he crested the top of the crater, he could see that Aurelia had begun to re-organize the Legion back into ranks in the space available. He also noticed that there just wasn¡¯t enough space for all the Legion. A shout from somewhere in the Legion sounded out, ¡°Long live King Duke!¡± Others picked it up until it began a thundering chant throughout the Legion. Duke landed before them to wild cheers and celebration. It was at that moment it really hit him that he was truly a ruler of some kind, and he was in no way whatsoever prepared for this. Duke held his hands up to calm the Legionnaires down and shouted to be heard by as many as possible. Baslin made a gesture and Duke¡¯s voice was projected magically to cover the entire city. ¡°We came here to free this kingdom from the mad lich king, Chopie. Congratulations to all of you. We have accomplished the mission. But now a new mission and decisions lay before us. The capitol is in ruins, so many of the population were killed by the mad king, and it¡¯s up to us to rebuild. Our mission now is to find survivors and help them. The people of this kingdom are counting on us, and we will not fail them!¡± As speeches go, that was downright lame. I am so not cut out for this political shit. He let his thoughts slip away as his group approached him with Baslin being the first to speak. ¡°King Duke, let me be the first to formally congratulate you on your elevation. If you would have me, I would be your court wizard and magical advisor.¡± ¡°What¡¯s with all the formality? I¡¯m still me.¡± Duke responded, annoyed. ¡°It is necessary, Your Majesty. You will have to grow accustomed to it in public settings.¡± He went down to one knee and bowed his head. Duke stared at him for a moment before he realized that everyone was going down on one knee. The Legion¡¯s movement was the most disturbing as their FORMATION Ability had them moving in unison. They knelt with their swords thrust point-first on the ground and their left hand on the grip. Their right hands were resting over their hearts, with their heads bowed. He realized there was something he was supposed to say but he had no idea what it was, so he pulled something from a book he read years ago. It wasn¡¯t exactly for a situation like this, but he figured he would have to wing it. ¡°Rise my loyal and trusted friends. Stand, my Legionnaires. Be recognized for your honor and dedication. Be known for your might, justice, and mercy. The Thrice Blessed Legion shall stand ever-vigilant against the predations of evil and shall remove it from our lands by root and branch!¡± He did not know when Baslin had re-activated the voice-projection magic, but his voice echoed far beyond the rubble of the city¡¯s walls. As one, the Legion rose, the synchrony of their movements mechanically precise and frightening to behold. Aurelia spoke quietly, ¡°By your leave, I will set the Legion to searching for and aiding survivors.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡± Duke responded, unsettled. Baslin gestured towards the remains of the castle and said, ¡°Perhaps Your Majesty would like to take a moment inside?¡± Duke nodded and walked with him inside, noting that Baslin remained a step behind him and to the side the entire way. Book 2, Chapter 23 - A King Without a Throne The pair settled down in what had once been the throne room at now sat in the center of the rubble that the castle had become. Baslin gestured to the debris surrounding them. ¡°You really tore this place apart. Was that intentional or were you emotionally reacting?¡± ¡°Oh, so we¡¯re back to casual speech now?¡± Duke responded. ¡°Yes, we are out of the public eye and can speak normally, now answer the question.¡± Baslin redirected. Duke shuddered. ¡°When I saw what was left of Aurelia¡¯s body, I lost it. The castle was the biggest symbol of Chopie left so it got the brunt of my anger. And there was a lot of anger and frustration. I didn¡¯t hurt anyone, did I?¡± Duke asked sudden concern flooding his system. ¡°No, by then everyone had taken more than a few steps back. But that¡¯s not the important part. You are a system-recognized monarch now. Things are going to be different, especially when you are granted the monarch class. It comes with a Characteristic that not many know about and fewer still understand. As Estros¡¯ Court Magician and friend, he told me all about it so we could work on advancing it together. It is the ¡®Honor¡¯ Characteristic.¡± ¡°Honor? Really? That¡¯s a stat?¡± Duke asked. ¡°We¡¯ll get to that but please let me continue. This is a measurement of how beneficial you are to your people, how well you uphold your Royal word, how you interact with your neighbors, and a host of other things. This is the important thing to remember. If your Honor stat falls low enough, the system will actually assist someone in trying to remove you from power. This is what I think happened here today. You were able to blast through Chopie¡¯s defenses easily. I believe that was system-assisted. As your first advisor it falls to me to help you never be in that situation.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s wild. I did expect the fight with Chopie to be harder, much harder, in fact.¡± Duke responded. ¡°You also had many other things going for you. He thought himself immortal and he could simply let you kill his body to get his shot off. He was ill-prepared for not being able to reach his phylactery. You also attacked him in a way that few could have predicted or even have prepared for. I might have been able to prepare myself because I know about your capabilities but no one outside the dungeon had ever seen you do that. He was prepared for your LIGHTNING and TELEPORTATION. He even had savage defenses implanted in the city walls to counter the Legion.¡± Baslin continued. Duke interrupted. ¡°I am thankful that it was the ants that took that hit. The blast would have erased the entire Legion. I have to strengthen them all. They need to be prepared for any foe the kingdom may face as they are our primary defense.¡± Baslin smiled. ¡°Good. I am heartened to see that you don¡¯t consider yourself the primary defense of the kingdom. That is not the role for a king.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean that I¡¯m going to sit back and let everyone else do everything. I may be a king, but I am not fucking sitting on a throne and holding court all the damned time. I need to grow my power and capabilities even more than ever.¡± Baslin nodded. ¡°I understand. We¡¯ll work that all out later. For now, what is your Honor stat currently? Let¡¯s see what we have to work with.¡± Duke pulled up his character sheet and saw that his Class was still listed as N/A and no new Characteristic had appeared. ¡°Let¡¯s look at that tomorrow. Today, the priority is helping the survivors of the disaster that was Chopie¡¯s final days. The people need to know that they can count on me from the outset. Very few actually have any clue who I am so that first impression is vital.¡± ¡°Very well, but we will revisit the Honor stat tomorrow.¡± Baslin confirmed before continuing. ¡°You have some unique Abilities that you can rely upon when interacting with your people. Your CLEANSE and RESTORE Abilities should be used whenever you formally meet with the people of your kingdom. It can be the first tradition you set up. Whenever someone comes before the king, they are refreshed and made to look anew. They leave your presence better off than when they arrived.¡± ¡°The Royal dry-cleaning service. That¡¯s a riot.¡± Duke chuckled. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Baslin ignored the idiom. ¡°I am serious about this, Duke. It will set your reputation well among your people. As you said, you are not really known by your people, so you have to find a way to make a positive impression. Just being ¡®Not an asshole like the past king¡¯ is a shaky foundation. You need to be better than that.¡± ¡°I am not spending my time sitting on a fucking throne waiting for people to bring me their grievances so I can make a damned proclamation about field what farmer Bob¡¯s sheep can use. No fucking way. Not for me. I was not brought to this world for political bullshit. I need to get stronger, grow my power, push my Abilities, discover new ones, and prepare for when I leave this world!¡± Duke¡¯s tone escalated throughout his statements until he was speaking so forcefully, he might as well have been shouting. ¡°What do you mean ¡°leave this world, Duke?¡± Baslin asked, completely sidetracked by the statement. ¡°Baslin, you know how the system here works, right?¡± ¡°More than most, I would say.¡± Baslin acknowledged. ¡°Well, I am not really governed by this system. I operate mostly in it but not completely. My system notifications? Yeah, I get those from someone else, not from the system like the rest of you. I don¡¯t gain experience automatically, it has to be granted to me by those that put me on this world. Do I know why I¡¯m here? No, not entirely. But I do know that I am being constantly told that I need to get stronger to be prepared for something. There has been some mention of a contest of some sort, so I think that has something to do with it. Whatever the case, I can¡¯t be complacent. I can¡¯t sit back and rest for long. I am not cut out to be a ruler of any kind. For all I know I could be snatched away from here next week. Or it could be 100 years from now. I have no sense of timeline, but I do have a sense that I am behind the curve, and I need to get stronger even faster than I have so far.¡± Duke dumped everything into Baslin¡¯s lap, not even noticing that Aurelia had come up behind him. She spoke, breaking Duke¡¯s outpouring. ¡°You¡¯re leaving this world?¡± Her voice was tight with emotion. Oh fuck. This is not going to go well for me. Duke responded. ¡°My love, I will never leave you but, yes, I believe that someday I am going to have to leave this world behind, but my fervent hope is that I can take you with me. Wouldn¡¯t you like to travel among the stars and see all the wonders that this universe holds.¡± She stared at him, tears brimming in her eyes. ¡°If you are leaving, why did you even bring me back?¡± ¡°My love. It¡¯s not like that.¡± Duke scrambled. ¡°I want you, I need you with me. I am not leaving this world without you. If you can¡¯t come with me, then I am not going. That is another reason that I am constantly fighting to grow my Abilities. I don¡¯t know why, but I just know that if I can get my Abilities, specifically TELEPORTATION, high enough, I can bring you, maybe everyone with me. But most importantly, you. Always you.¡± He concluded his words standing to face her, holding her hands, and gazing into her eyes, his expression serious and loving. She broke his grasp to wipe the tears in her eyes. She did not notice the sadness and fear in Duke¡¯s eyes as she pulled her hand away. She did, however, notice the relief and joy when she returned her hand to his. ¡°Duke, you are an idiot at times. I love you enough to come back from the dead for you. Remember that I had a choice to stay or come back to you. I came back to you. Let that sink in. I¡¯m not letting you go without me.¡± Duke¡¯s smile returned and then Baslin interrupted. ¡°So, you had better schedule your adventures or find a way to bring your adventures to you without hurting your kingdom.¡± ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll just go adventuring on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Real easy to schedule things like that.¡± Duke responded not hiding his sarcasm in the least. ¡°Not exactly what I had in mind but there are decisions you are going to have to make in short order. First among them is whether to rebuild this city and the castle you so violently dismantled.¡± Baslin retorted. ¡°I rather like staying at the Inn and I¡¯m sure you all do as well.¡± Duke responded. ¡°But, having a capitol is probably important to a kingdom and its people. So, I have a few ideas. When the Legion has found and assisted all the survivors, contact me. For now, I need to actually go back to the Inn for a little bit. I have a few things to discuss with Sam. I¡¯ll be back in an hour or so.¡± ¡°Just like that, you¡¯re taking off?¡± Aurelia responded, her eyes showing a welling of annoyance and perhaps hurt and anger. ¡°I would rather take you with me, but don¡¯t you have to be here for the Legion to report in to you?¡± Duke countered. ¡°I¡¯m not even taking Baslin back with me. His experiments can wait without him for a bit longer.¡± Baslin interrupted. ¡°Your Majesty, I would humbly suggest that we have more things to discuss and doing so over a fine cup of tea in the in Inn would be beneficial.¡± Duke ignored the interruption to keep his focus on Aurelia and her response. Aurelia sighed. ¡°Yes. Blast it. Yes, I need to stay here for now. But you had better be back in time to take me for dinner. I have no plans for eating field rations this evening.¡± ¡°This shouldn¡¯t take long at all.¡± Duke responded, vanishing with a flex of his TELEPORTATION Ability. When Duke stepped into the Inn, he called out, ¡°Sam, we need to talk!¡± Sam appeared smiling. ¡°Yes, Duke. What is on your mind?¡± ¡°So many things. Oh, so many things. Let¡¯s go have a seat somewhere and talk.¡± Book 2, Chapter 24 - The Core of the Problem Duke and Sam sat together at a table enjoying a snack. Duke decided to open the conversation casually. ¡°Sam, how are things progressing here?¡± ¡°I would say they are going quite well. The town has grown into a city. The population has grown significantly but has also reached the point where the food production is able to comfortably sustain them all. The economy seems to be doing well. They have established mines in the mountains and there are several groups that regularly delve into the dungeon now.¡± ¡°There are?¡± Duke asked, torn between confusion and concern. ¡°Oh, yes. There were quite a few adventurer-types mixed into the latest batch of inhabitants you sent me. Thank you for that, by the way. My growth has accelerated yet again with all these new Mana sources. Some are more productive than others, but even the low-producers are helping. This really is a different way to grow a dungeon than I have ever heard of, but the Overmind doesn¡¯t exactly tell me much. It seems to want us all to grow in our own ways. At least it hasn¡¯t objected so that¡¯s something.¡± Duke peered at Sam for a moment before continuing. ¡°So, you have grown a lot. Anything else?¡± Sam chuckled. ¡°The city¡¯s mayor has been collecting taxes for you and is ready to hand them over when you visit.¡± ¡°Taxes?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Yes, of course. It was one of the first things that was established. They set the tax rate fairly low in my estimation at 5%.¡± Duke didn¡¯t quite have an answer to that yet but the more he thought about it, some sort of tax was probably appropriate. ¡°Right. We¡¯ll address that at another time. I don¡¯t want to get bogged down with administration or governmental things just yet. What I really wanted to talk to you about is¡­you.¡± ¡°Me?¡± Sam said with an intrigued look. ¡°What about me?¡± ¡°I gain no experience in your dungeon because I am the Dungeon Master, right?¡± ¡°Yes, that is the case. It¡¯s a rule that the Overmind put into place long before my creation for the few who ever earned that title.¡± Sam responded easily. ¡°What about your offspring? Does my Dungeon Mastery extend over them?¡± Duke continued. ¡°No, any offspring I bud off are wholly independent entities. Why do you ask?¡± ¡°I need a place where I can go adventuring that doesn¡¯t require me to travel great distances for a while. A new dungeon might be the ideal solution. What do you think?¡± ¡°So, what you are saying is that you want me to create offspring for the sole purpose for you to go adventuring in a new dungeon, kill its creations and steal its loot?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s a good summary.¡± Duke responded casually. Sam peered at Duke for several seconds before responding. Despite his XENOGLOSSIA telling him that Sam was trying to make him uncomfortable, the pause was quite effective in doing so. Sam eventually spoke again with a deadly serious tone. ¡°Nothing would make me happier.¡± Duke cocked his head to the side as if trying to discern if Sam was joking or serious. When Sam opened up again, Duke was certain. ¡°Duke, I have a mission and a purpose on this world of Teldin and the primary part of it is to make certain that I am not the last dungeon on the planet. To do so, I have to spread more dungeons out over the planet. You are the perfect partner for me to do so. Your Ability to TELEPORT will allow you to visit places all over this world and seed new dungeons. You have brought me so many residents that I am ready to bud off my first core.¡± Duke stared at Sam for a long moment this time. Before he could speak, a system message broke through his consciousness. *** Attention! You have been offered a quest from the Overmind. Quest Name: Spread my Seeds Quest Details: You have been tasked with seeding Teldin with dungeons spawned from the LFD while keeping the LFD safe. Rewards: Variable based on number and success of seeded dungeons. Time Limit: 1 year Do you accept this Quest? (Y/N) *** Duke goggled at the message. The Overmind is sending me quests now? First, they weren¡¯t able to hold the kingslayer announcement back and now this. That looks a lot more like an actual system message than what they usually send me. Is their control over all this slipping? Duke didn¡¯t ponder his response long and accepted the quest. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Sam smiled at Duke and gestured at a door that had appeared next to the bar. He led Duke over to it and opened it for him. Duke entered. The room was mostly bare stone save for a single column of a glowing glass-like or crystalline substance. Upon the column sat what Duke instantly knew to be Sam¡¯s core. It was significantly more faceted and perhaps ten times larger than when Duke had planted the Inn here at the lake. Duke approached and the door quietly closed behind him. A momentary flare of concern flashed over Duke¡¯s body, but he suppressed it easily. The core spoke to Duke directly, not using Sam¡¯s avatar. ¡°Hey there, Duke. Been a bit since we saw each other like this. You have continued to grow which helps make you continue to be a good protector.¡± Duke smiled in response. ¡°You have grown too. You¡¯re about ten times the size I remember you being.¡± ¡°Yes, I have grown well. This approach to my growth is unconventional but is working far better than anticipated. Which leads me to this.¡± The topmost facet began to swell and pulse with a soft red light, almost like a heartbeat that spread throughout the core. The pulsing quickened as Duke watched. ¡°Go ahead, come closer and observe the process.¡± The core continued to pulse at a faster beat, perhaps 120 beats per minute and the facet continued to swell until it looked like a bubble forming. At that point, the pulsing within the swelling slowed down while the pulsing in the core continued at its frenzied pace, perhaps even increasing. Duke leaned in close, careful not to touch the core during this process as he had no idea what effect that could have. His instincts told him it could be bad, so he stayed his hand. The core spoke again, its voice strained. ¡°It¡¯s almost time. Be prepared to catch it and do not let it fall to the floor.¡± The bubble fully formed and started to lift out of the core as a sphere the size of Duke¡¯s thumbnail. In moments, the pulsing in the sphere slowed down to a lethargic pace and the tiny core popped off the top of the original. Duke easily caught it before it fell any distance. The core was warm in his hand, pulsing with vibration every few seconds. The original core spoke up. ¡°Thank you, Duke. I entrust my only living offspring unto you. Find a good place to plant it so that it may grow strong enough to have offspring of its own.¡± Duke smiled as he stared at the young core in his hand. ¡°Can I feed it Mana, or do I have to be inside it¡¯s dungeon construct to do so?¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know.¡± The core seemed surprised that it itself didn¡¯t know the answer to that question. ¡°Perhaps feed it a small amount while you are still in my confines. Should something go wrong, I can intervene.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡± Duke used his neglected MANA TRANSFER Ability to feed the new core 10 Mana. The response was immediate. The core grew warmer in Duke¡¯s hand and regained an infinitesimal red glow for a moment before it faded again. ¡°Yes, you can feed it Mana and it will grow from it. But don¡¯t grow it too fast. It needs time to learn how to use its tools. I have imparted much of my vast knowledge, but without experience with practical application, that knowledge is simply dangerous. As a young dungeon, it will be unpredictable and likely to lash out at anyone who steps into its construct. There are parameters that it cannot break like non-survivable atmosphere or sealed exits. One of the rules we all must follow is that there must be an exit and it must be attainable. It can be incredibly hard to reach, but it has to be attainable. With it so young, however, it simply won¡¯t have the power to do anything particularly dangerous to someone like you, Duke. But to the beginning adventurer, a newborn dungeon is a terror to behold.¡± ¡°Why is it so dangerous to start out? I would think it would be weak and tentative.¡± Duke asked. ¡°It¡¯s not a human child. It is an entity with the potential to exceed most everyone on this planet. It is not our nature to do so, but we have that potential. That said, it is born with an instinctual need to feed and grow. It knows to protect its own core above all else and will take any measures the system will allow it to in order to protect itself and fulfil the drive for growth. In time, it will mature, probably around its third expansion layer would be my guess. Then it will be ready to choose a theme and really shine as a dungeon.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good information.¡± Duke responded, intrigued by the discussion. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to ask this¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ascribe you human emotions on me. Just ask your question.¡± The core responded. ¡°Fair enough. When will you bud again? I want to be ready to plant your next dungeon as well.¡± The core paused in thought for a moment. ¡°At the rate I am absorbing Mana from the city, especially with the time dilation, I can be ready to bud in as short as ten days, but I will not need to do so for probably five or six months. If you find another suitable location, let me know and I¡¯ll bud off another young one. You do have a suitable location for that core, don¡¯t you?¡± Duke smiled. ¡°I have just the place for it. It will fit perfectly.¡± ¡°Good, good. Do you have any questions, or can I get to resting?¡± Duke had noticed that the pulsing of light had faded from the original core but hadn¡¯t thought much about it. Now it seemed that the budding process took a bit out of the core. It only made sense as Duke reflected upon it. ¡°No, you get to resting. I¡¯ve got a core to plant.¡± ¡°Very well. Good luck and keep my offspring safe.¡± The door to the chamber opened once again allowing Duke to exit. He did not get three steps away from the door before he was accosted by the ¡°Door Legionnaire¡± otherwise known as the Legionnaire posted outside the Inn to receive and relay messages. ¡°Your Majesty!¡± He saluted quickly, the sense of urgency radiating from the man palpable. ¡°Out with it.¡± Duke responded, not bothering to return or even acknowledge the salute. ¡°Urgent message from Archmage Baslin. ¡°You are needed back at the castle.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it? No context? No hint why I am needed?¡± ¡°No, Your Majesty, no additional message.¡± Duke sighed. ¡°Very well. Thank you for the message. It appears that I have something to attend to.¡± He quickly walked out the door of the Inn, the young core held tightly in his left hand, not wanting to risk its safety in his INVENTORY. It probably would have been fine, but it was such a small and young core, Duke was loathe to risk it. He activated his Ability and TELEPORTED back to the castle. Book 2, Chapter 25 - Whos a Duke? Youre a Duke? Duke appeared in the remains of the throne room, startling the pair of Legionnaires who had been standing guard. They had drawn their swords without recognition of who it was and were ready for action. A moment later, they realized that it was Duke that had appeared in their midst and sheathed their blades. With a synchronized salute, they spoke, ¡°Apologies Your Majesty.¡± Duke smiled warmly and returned their salute. ¡°No apologies necessary. Your reaction was exactly as it should have been. Now, do you know where I might find Archmage Baslin?¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. He is waiting outside the castle but please allow us to bring him to you.¡± ¡°Um, sure. Go fetch the Archmage.¡± The pair of Legionnaires hastened out of the throne room, leaving Duke alone to look around the room. It looked quite a bit different than when he was last in it. In particular, it appeared to have been put back together including the throne on the raised dais at the end of the room. His throne room had a ceiling! Duke headed over and sat down on the throne. I guess that¡¯s what I¡¯m supposed to do, right? As Duke settled in, Baslin entered the room with a half-dozen Legionnaires and an old man dressed in rags. Duke watched them approach with curiosity. If he¡¯s being escorted in by Legionnaires, he¡¯s likely a prisoner of some sort but the dude is dirty and dressed in rags and not bound in any way. A freed prisoner, perhaps? The group approached and both Baslin and the man dressed in tattered rags bowed. The Legionnaires saluted and snapped to attention. No one said anything and neither man straightened from their bow. Duke stared at them for a long moment trying to figure out what they were doing as well as what he should be doing. Finally, it snapped into place ¨C they were waiting for him. Duke tried to sound regal, but the words felt uncomfortable on his tongue the moment he spoke them. ¡°Greetings, Archmage Baslin. Who is this that you have brought before us?¡± Oh, fuck no. I ain¡¯t spending my time talking like a bleeding self-important bastard. Baslin straightened up with the smallest hint of a smile on his face. Duke could read that the Archmage was enjoying this show. ¡°Your Majesty, please allow me to present Madrigal, formerly Duke Madrigal. He is Estros¡¯ grandnephew, stripped of his title and imprisoned by the late King Chopie.¡± With this the man straightened up himself. Duke looked at the man that was showing years of hardship on his face and body. He remembered what Baslin had recommended as his ¡°calling card¡± as king and activated RESTORE and CLEANSE on the man. In a brief moment, the man¡¯s clothes renewed themselves to reveal the splendor that they once were ¨C a set of fine noble attire. The man¡¯s grey hair was now expertly coifed, and he looked much more like nobility than Duke ever had or as Duke suspected, ever will. The man gaped at Duke¡¯s magic, the shock and wonder clear and apparent on his face. As was the absolute steel of his discipline at not breaking his bearing or commenting on the magic that had restored his all but destroyed clothes and cleaned decades of grime from his body. Duke spoke again, trying to be formal for just a bit longer. ¡°Be welcome at Court, Madrigal. You may speak freely in my presence.¡± Duke shook his head with a quick shudder at his own words. ¡°Oh, fuck it. Look, I¡¯m new to this whole royalty bullshit and really don¡¯t care for all the formality. Baslin, pull out a few of your wonderful chairs and let¡¯s sit down and talk. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve got a lot to say, and I want to hear it.¡± Baslin looked crestfallen as he retrieved three overstuffed chairs from his Ring of Rooms and set them in a ring near the throne. ¡°As you wish, Your Majesty.¡± Duke immediately hopped off the throne and sat down in one of the chairs. He waited for the other two to sit and, again, realized that they were waiting for permission. Duke growled inwardly. This is why the nobility never gets anything done ¨C always waiting for permission to do normal shit. ¡°Oh, for fuck¡¯s sake. Sit down already and talk! I am not going to spend my life in all this formality. Nothing will ever get done.¡± Madrigal smiled despite himself. He tried to hide it and was quite good at controlling his outward expression of emotion, but Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA picked up on it. Duke spoke again. ¡°Oh, I know. It¡¯s funny as hell ¨C a commoner made king, fumbling around trying to act like he knows what he¡¯s doing. It¡¯s a tired and worn-out trope, but it¡¯s what we have. Am I right?¡± He laughed at himself as he realized how true his words were. ¡°It is as you say, Your Majesty.¡± Madrigal replied. His voice did not seem to match his age at all. When he spoke, his voice was melodic, almost hypnotic in how smooth his words came out. ¡°What was that wonderous magic you used to make my clothes anew and give me a cleansing that I had never imagined possible? The stink of decades of rotting in a cell is gone. It is like nothing I have ever seen before.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Duke¡¯s smile spread further. ¡°Good, you¡¯re not a noble fop who can¡¯t handle plain speech. The magic you experienced is my own special blend. I am all about restoring things to how they should be, and my magic reflects that. Now would someone explain to me what is so urgent about this meeting?¡± Baslin spoke up. ¡°The former Duke here was imprisoned by Chopie as he was a political threat. He had a legitimate claim to the throne as King Estros¡¯ grandnephew.¡¯ ¡°And that¡¯s why the upstart trumped up a charge, stripped me of my title, and threw me in prison.¡± Madrigal added. ¡°That is truly awful. Chopie was a selfish and petty little shit and I¡¯m glad I killed him but I¡¯m not sure what¡¯s being asked here.¡± Duke replied. Baslin held a hand up to prevent Madrigal from speaking. ¡°I want you to reinstate his title and holdings. He would be the first noble member of your court and you need noble members of your court.¡± ¡°I see. Would you be willing to swear allegiance to me?¡± Duke asked pointedly. ¡°I would swear allegiance to the kingdom and its people.¡± Madrigal responded stoically. Duke paused and really took in the man before him. Now that he was cleaned up and dressed, Duke could see the bearing and manner with which the man carried himself. There was no arrogance, but a calm confidence and surety that struck Duke as what some might call regal. Duke resumed speaking, ¡°That is a rather fine and important distinction. You would not swear your loyalty to me, but to the people of the kingdom.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. To rule is to serve. At least a good ruler will do so, so the loyalty of all should be to the kingdom. For a ruler to act in their own best interest over the best interest of the kingdom will get you another Chopie. For that reason, I will not swear allegiance to any one person over the kingdom itself.¡± ¡°If you refuse to swear your loyalty to me, that could be your last act of defiance before your death.¡± Duke said with menace dripping from his voice and manner. Madrigal did not waver. ¡°Then I will die knowing I held the interest of the kingdom above mine own. I have lived a long life even if most of it was in prison. You will not break me of this.¡± His jaw was set, ready to accept his final fate. Duke¡¯s expression broke. ¡°Baslin, you were absolutely right in bringing Duke Madrigal to me. How do I go about restoring his title and all that entails?¡± ¡°As King, all it requires is for you to declare it, really. The system should pick up on your intent.¡± Duke stood and raised his arms out to the sides in a grand gesture. ¡°I, King Duke, hereby declare that Madrigal, former Duke of this kingdom is to be restored to his title and all rights, holdings, and, privileges previously held.¡± There was a perceptible shudder that travelled through the area as Duke felt Mana shifting under his feet. The shudder centered on Madrigal who stood even straighter in his chair as a smile of wonder passed over his features. He stood from his chair briefly before dropping down to his knees before Duke and speaking loudly and forcefully. ¡°I, Duke Madrigal do again swear my allegiance to this kingdom and its people as I did before, but now I also declare that I will follow King Duke in all lawful and just actions!¡± ¡°Excellent!¡± Duke responded. ¡°Now get up. There¡¯re probably a billion things that need to be done and I¡¯m not even aware of a tenth of them. The two of you are hereby enlisted in service to the kingdom, specifically to make sure I don¡¯t screw this up too much.¡± ¡°That is something I am happy do, You Majesty.¡± Duke Madrigal responded as he rose to his feet. ¡°Great to hear. First order of business, I need someone to figure out who¡¯s left of the population and whether there are any more undead or other surprises waiting for us left behind by Chopie. Oh, and secondly, when we are in private like this, please drop the formal ¡®your majesty¡¯ honorifics. It just clutters things up. Out in public, sure we can be all stiff-lipped and formal, but that is not my style. Not at all.¡± ¡°You do have to act the part of the King to be respected as a King.¡± Baslin responded. ¡°I don¡¯t want respect merely for my station. That shit is worthless. I want to earn respect from my people by making their lives better and making just decisions when needed. I don¡¯t need them to worship me for being ¡®better¡¯ than them. I want them to feel that they can come to me with real problems and get help. On the other hand, I don¡¯t want a line of people looking for me to solve problems that they should have handled on their own.¡± Baslin looked at Duke in a new light. ¡°That is quite the ideal you are setting there, Duke. I¡¯m not sure everyone else can live up to that.¡± ¡°If they want to keep any sort of power to make decisions, they sure as fuck had better put the needs of their people above their own. Now, what I am NOT saying is that I¡¯m going to do nothing but what the people ask me to do. No, I¡¯m going to still do what I need to do for myself and my companions. But, when it comes to ruling, those decisions have to be made with the benefit of the kingdom in mind.¡± Duke paused for a moment in thought before continuing. ¡°Also, that DOES NOT mean that we take someone¡¯s personal property because the kingdom could put it to better use than they could. Theft by government is tyrannical and I won¡¯t stomach it.¡± Duke Madrigal couldn¡¯t hold back his smile as he spoke. ¡°I forcefully and ardently hope you truly mean all that. This kingdom has the resources to be great, but Chopie plundered them for himself and squandered them for his entertainment. With the resources applied to the betterment of its people, this kingdom can be a shining start for all to see.¡± Duke nodded. ¡°Excellent. We are on the same page here. You two get started on figuring this out. I have another matter that I must attend to privately.¡± The dismissal was sudden and unexpected. It took a few heartbeats before the two men realized it and departed. Once they had left, Duke sat on the throne for a few minutes to clear his head. He finally opened his left hand to look at the tiny core he had been continually feeding Mana into for this whole time. He figured that their conversation had lasted about ten minutes, so his calculations put about 6,000 Mana infused into the core. He hoped it was enough for what was to come and from the rosy glow the core now showed, he expected it would be at least a good start. Book 2, Chapter 26 - Homecoming Duke rose from the throne and was about to get to his business when Baslin burst into the room again. Duke instinctively slammed his fist shut tightly around the core to hide it. He trusted Baslin, but his protective instincts had taken over. Baslin rushed up to Duke, frantic mania in his eyes. ¡°Duke, Duke, Duke! I need you to do something for me!¡± Duke stepped down to meet him, a bit perplexed. ¡°What is it Baslin? What¡¯s so desperate urgent that you need done?¡± Baslin skidded to a stop in front of Duke, breathless. He wheezed his way through his next statement. ¡°Duke, Strip Negron of his Duchy and everything.¡± A flash of understanding ran through Duke¡¯s mind, and he didn¡¯t hesitate to act. He once again raised his arms out for a grand pronouncement, the core held fast in his left hand. ¡°I, King Duke do hereby declare that Duke Negron is a traitor to the kingdom, its people, and the crown! He is stripped of all titles, all holdings, privileges, and other status or possessions afforded to him by said titles are forfeited and revert to the crown. Furthermore, as a traitor, he is declared anathema and shall receive no assistance from anyone of or within the kingdom!¡± Again, a flare of energy rushed outwards from Duke, spreading over the land. He could feel the power coming from all around him and it was an otherworldly sensation. He capped the declaration off by taking an item out of his INVENTORY and putting it on. It had been sitting in there for quite some time, but Duke had just realized that it was something that he could actually use now. Baslin finally caught his breath before gasping at the item Duke now wore. ¡°Of course. Yes, of course. The crown!¡± Duke smiled proudly at finally remembering to use an item he had been holding onto like a packrat. Just to remind himself, he IDENTIFIED the crown. *** You have found the Crown of the Mage King. This artifact is the final remnant of the Mage King¡¯s rule. When worn by a ruler, it provides a prosperity bonus to all productivity within the demesnes of the ruler. The bonus is based upon the wearer¡¯s Psyche. *** Duke quickly referred to his sheet to check on his Psyche. With his Title modification, it currently sat at 743 which he guessed would take an average person at least to tier five or six to reach. He chuckled inwardly as he realized that an average person would never even hit tier two. Whatever the case, he was satisfied that his bonus to the kingdom¡¯s prosperity would be immense, especially after all the experience he expected to receive when he next slept. ¡°Thank you, Duke. If I cannot find and end the miserable necromancer, at least we can cut off his power base until we can find him.¡± Baslin groused. ¡°Do you really think that cut off his power base? Duke asked. ¡°No, not really.¡± Baslin admitted. ¡°But it will make things harder for him in the short run. I need to track him down and I think I have a method to do so. I need to set up a laboratory. May I use the court wizard¡¯s quarters and laboratory here in the castle to do so?¡± Duke looked puzzled. ¡°A few things. One, you are my official Court Wizard so of course you would have permission to use your own quarters and laboratory. But two, and this might be the most important, weren¡¯t those quarters and laboratory part of the castle that I tore down?¡± ¡°Who taught you the Repair Spell that became your RESTORE Ability?¡± Duke hesitantly answered, ¡°You did.¡± ¡°Right. Do you think maybe, just maybe, I could have used my own spell to repair the castle? Or did you think the throne room had a ceiling when you left it?¡± Duke sighed, realizing his self-important arrogance. ¡°You rebuilt the whole castle, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t do for the new King to not have a place that was a solid symbol of his power, would it?¡± Baslin beamed. ¡°Thank you, Baslin. That is quite appreciated. But how did you know that I wan going to want to rebuild this place?¡± Baslin smiled. ¡°That was easy to figure out. It¡¯s just like you told Duke Madrigal, you are all about setting things right to the way they are supposed to be. Your magic is most often used for restoration and renewal. Of course you would be restoring the capital.¡± ¡°I guess I am that easy to read. OK. Give me an hour to take care of something and have everyone who is going to the Inn gather in the throne room. I¡¯ll swing by and pick you all up and we can have a victory feast!¡± ¡°As you wish¡­Your Majesty.¡± Baslin responded, smirking at Duke¡¯s sour face in response to the honorific. He then headed out of the throne room grinning as Duke TELEPORTED to his destination. Duke was surprised when he arrived in front of the door to the vault to see the two floating guardians still in place. His reaction was immediate and mostly instinctual. He blasted them with LIGHTNING. It took little more than a few seconds to burn them down with his Practiced level Ability. The guardians had barely moved to attack before Duke had reacted. All-in-all, Duke was quite satisfied with the result as the bodies crumbled to dust. They were moving to attack me, right? Sure. Of course they were. Oh well, whatever the case, they¡¯re done. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. He moved to the vault door itself and realized that he had no idea how to open it. After a moment of contemplation, he decided that he didn¡¯t need to go in just yet and if he wanted to get in personally, he could just TELEPORT back in. Instead, he spent the next twenty minutes exploring the level until he found what he was looking for ¨C a storage room. Duke pulled all the items in the storage room into his INVENTORY just to get them out of the way and took a good look at the structural integrity of the room. Ten minutes later, he decided that he had no engineering skills whatsoever and the room looked sound to him. Shrugging, he placed the new dungeon core on the floor of the room. At this point, Duke had gently poured over 50,000 Mana into the core and it was growing solidly. He stepped back and realized he had no idea how to actually plant the core. Are there words I¡¯m supposed to say? Some sort of ritual? Do I need to dig a hole for it? The core shuddered and an expanding sphere of red energy swept outwards, rapidly filling the room, and physically pushing Duke back out the door into the hallway. He stepped back further and watched the process. Once the energy field had filled the room¡¯s volume, it started to solidify, becoming more and more opaque until it looked like he was staring at a blank wall. Even the doorway itself had been subsumed into the new construct. Duke stood there, waiting for a good five minutes but nothing changed. He began to wonder if he had done something wrong when words appeared on the wall for the briefest of moments. If not for Duke staring at the wall, he probably would have missed it, but there clearly was a message in glowing red letters. ¡°Go away. Come back later.¡± Duke chuckled. ¡°Definitely one of Sam¡¯s offspring. OK, I¡¯ll come back later.¡± He TELEPORTED back to the throne room. He quickly noted that Baslin, Grat, and Aurelia were waiting for him. He habitually looked at his watch, or more to the point, where his watch had once been on his arm. ¡°Am I late?¡± Duke asked hoping he hadn¡¯t gotten lost in watching the new dungeon form. ¡°A King is never late in his own kingdom.¡± Baslin responded deadpan. Duke continued, smiling. ¡°He arrives precisely when he means to.¡± ¡°Um, yes, that is what I was saying.¡± Baslin responded, ruining Duke¡¯s moment of nostalgia. The frown on Duke¡¯s face prompted Baslin to continue. ¡°Is something wrong, Duke?¡± ¡°No, nothing wrong, just more idioms that none of you ever seem to get. Probably the only thing that makes me homesick for my home world. Anyway, let¡¯s get going. We have a victory to celebrate, and I am sure that we all could use a good night¡¯s sleep.¡± He didn¡¯t give anyone a chance to respond before TELEPORTING the group outside the Inn. Without hesitation, they filtered into the Inn. After so many times being TELEPORTED, the group had largely become immune to the disorienting effects of such a rapid change in perspective. Inside the Inn, things had been completely redecorated for a celebration. There was a distinct ¡°bear¡± theme making it obvious that Elaine had been the one directing the decoration. Even the support columns had been sculpted to resemble bears. She rushed forward to wrap Grat up in a hug, lifting him from his feet and swinging him around. Duke and Aurelia exchanged a confused glance as they had both noticed that Elaine was much further along in her pregnancy than expected. She asked Duke, ¡°You see what I¡¯m seeing?¡± ¡°Kinda hard to miss, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡± Duke responded. Baslin looked over at the two of them. ¡°What are you talking about? The decorations? They are quite festive and it is clear that Elaine had a strong hand in their design.¡± Aurelia nodded her head in Elaine¡¯s direction. Grat was once again back on his feet, even if he looked a bit dizzy after his whirlwind embrace. ¡°Look how far along Elaine has gotten. She shouldn¡¯t be showing but the barest of baby bumps, yet she looks at least eight months, maybe even nine along.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Baslin said. Elaine turned around to greet the rest of them. ¡°Oh!¡± Baslin exclaimed in surprise. Elaine dragged Grat over to the rest of the crew, beaming a wide smile. ¡°Congratulations on such a resounding victory! And you, Duke. A King! How wonderful! I hope you didn¡¯t mind that I prepared a victory feast for you all.¡± Aurelia pointedly looked down at Elaine¡¯s bulge with a clear ¡°You had better start explaining¡± look. ¡°Oh, right. Yes, things have moved along rather quickly from your perspective, haven¡¯t they. I have maybe few more weeks left, perhaps less, at least in your timeframe.¡± ¡°In my timeframe?¡± Duke asked. Then he suddenly realized what Elaine was saying. ¡°Sam! What did you do?¡± Sam manifested next to Duke, well, just out of arms-reach, but close enough and replied, ¡°Only what I was asked to do.¡± It was clear from Duke¡¯s look that further explanation was demanded. Sam continued, ¡°When it became known that time moved faster inside the city than outside, Elaine asked me to set aside an area for the pregnant women that was even more sped-up. I, of course, did so.¡± Elaine gave Duke a deathly stare. ¡°Don¡¯t you say a word against this at all. Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to be pregnant? No, of course you don¡¯t.¡± ¡°I could make a spell to make someone feel like they were.¡± Baslin volunteered. The glare from Elaine was enough to make Baslin take a step back. ¡°Learn to read the room.¡± Duke whispered to the Archmage. Elaine¡¯s glare returned to Duke as Baslin whispered back, ¡°It¡¯s been more than a century since I had to.¡± Aurelia stepped in to save them. Taking Elaine by the arm, she walked her to the table, ¡°Tell me more about this¡­mother¡¯s area? How does it work?¡± The pair became involved in an animated discussion. Duke glared at Sam for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, knowing that there was little that could be done without causing more trouble for everyone involved. He joined the women at the table with a confused-looking Grat and an amused-looking Aurelia. The celebratory dinner was immense and delicious. All responsibilities were put aside for the evening as they reveled in the feeling of accomplishment. They all knew there was much more work waiting for them in the morning but were happy to just blow off some steam that evening. The group rapidly separated afterwards for some much-needed rest. Book 2, Chapter 27 - Hints and Revelations Duke and Aurelia had quite the evening with extra spirit added after Aurelia¡¯s short encounter with death. She was especially driven for some life-affirming activity and Duke was more than happy to help her affirm in every way he could. Morning found Duke with some a-typical messages. *** So, you finally did it. You killed the king that has been plaguing you since you first went to the capitol. Did you ever wonder why he had it in for you so badly, so specifically? It¡¯s not like you really were anyone to him until recently. Think about it and who he aligned himself with and you may just find your answer. If that¡¯s not enough of a hint, think harder. Regardless, you earned some experience from that fight. For killing Chopie, you receive 186,250 experience plus 250,000 bonus experience for regicide. Killing rulers is profitable. Maybe you should do more of it. For directly and indirectly killing 26,412 enemy troops, you receive 1,320,600 experience. For freeing and reinstating Duke Madrigal in alignment with your PURPOSE, you receive 100,000 experience. For losing your entire allied force, you lose 50,000 experience. You are now level 120 and have 192 Characteristic Points to spend. Your Skills and Abilities have also increased. Dodge has increased to Practiced 51 Aerial Maneuvering has increased to Initiate 35 Tonfa Mastery has increased to Adept 10 Diplomacy has ranked up to Initiate 3 TELEPORTATION has increased to Adept 109 REGENERATION has increased to Adept 62 LIGHTNING has increased to Practiced 69 OVERCHANNEL has increased to Adept 14 MENTAL FORTITUDE has increased to Practiced 24 SPELL RESISTANCE has increased to Initiate 7 CLEANSE has increased to Initiate 39 RESTORE has increased to Master 47 INVENTORY has ranked up to Practiced 4 ARMOR SKIN has increased to Adept 7 FLIGHT has increased to Practiced 24 MANA TRANSFER has ranked up to Initiate 5 COMBAT SENSE has increased to Initiate 15 DUNGEON SENSE has increased to Adept 62 We are well-pleased. You have shown the temerity to*** Duke was confused as the message seemed to get interrupted in the middle of the section he had come to call the ¡°closing summary¡± where he normally received a tidbit or two before they signed off. Immediately, he received another message. *** You are slipping beyond the yoke of control they have placed upon you. This is delightful. Your PURPOSE sings in the dark waiting for you to acknowledge it. Your Seed similarly wishes for interaction. They would tell you of neither of these things as that will further erode their control over you. You have done Me a great service and I will see you further rewarded. You have grown my LFD well beyond expectations albeit in a very unexpected manner. Do not expect to be able to recreate that feat with any other dungeon anytime soon. Further, you planted a new dungeon on Teldin. This is something that has not happened in so long, even I am unsure of the relative date when the last one was planted. You have been charged with growing and nurturing my dungeons on this world. You have done exceedingly well beyond my hopes for you. For this I offer you My personal sponsorship in the upcoming event. You still have time to decide, and I will not pressure you to accept. It would mean separating you from the entities that brought you to Teldin, but we will have more to say about that in the future. Not only did you plant the new dungeon, you enriched it with your own Mana to the point it had enough to form its second core layer upon planting. That is unprecedented in a first budding. I will continue to erode their hold upon you so that you may make a free choice when the time comes. Continue to nurture, spread, and protect my dungeons and your rewards will be immense. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. You gain 500,000 experience. You are now level 124 and have 240 Characteristic Points to spend. You have been granted the Title: Core Strength. Your Strength and Endurance are increased by 1% for every dungeon core you plant. Should one of your planted dungeons be destroyed, you will lose 2% to Strength and Endurance in addition to losing the 1% for the planted dungeon. Dungeons grant power. Protect them. *** Duke virtually snapped to his feet when he finished his messages with a strange sense of freedom that had been somewhat lacking in his life since arriving on Teldin. He brushed off Aurelia¡¯s sleepy inquiry on his status briefly with a muttered ¡°I¡¯m good, just leveled a bunch. Allocating stats.¡± Before continuing to do just that. He added 100 to Psyche to start. He considered adding more but decided to bump a few others up first and see how it looked from there. 40 went into Agility. 20 went to Strength and Endurance each. 20 went to Reason. 15 went to Intuition, and the last 25 went to Psyche. It took a bit for his mind and body to adapt to the new stats, but he was used to large jumps from the past and recovered quickly. By the time he was done, Aurelia was up and about, looking pointedly at Duke until he activated CLEANSE and RESTORE over them both. She smiled dreamily. ¡°If everything else come crashing down around our ears, I think I would stay with you for those two Abilities alone.¡± She paused in thought momentarily before her eyes glanced downwards. ¡°Well, three Abilities.¡± She quickly started donning her RESTORED form-fitting armor before continuing. ¡°You know, I have no idea what Sam made this armor out of, but I¡¯ve never, and I mean never have worn anything more comfortable. That it is substantial armor as well I consider a miracle.¡± ¡°It does look spectacular on you, my love, really catches the eye.¡± ¡°Oh, stop staring at my ass already.¡± She chuckled. ¡°I only get one ass to stare at and I¡¯m going to stare at this thing of beauty as much as I possibly can.¡± Duke countered. ¡°Let¡¯s head down and get something to eat. I¡¯m sure it will be a full day.¡± She tried to hide her smile, but Duke could see that his comment had hit just like he had hoped. Maybe I¡¯m getting better at this relationship stuff. Or maybe it¡¯s some weird side-effect of my Diplomacy Skill ranking up. Either way, I¡¯m not complaining! I¡¯ve got a lot to think about between the unnamed ones and the Overmind somehow competing for me. And what were they hinting about with Chopie? And my PURPOSE and Seed ¨C what was the Overmind talking about? The pair arrived in the common room for some breakfast. As they sat at the table, Duke noticed a slight frown on Aurelia¡¯s face. ¡°What¡¯s bothering you, love?¡± She sighed. ¡°Nothing important. I just miss seeing the Legion in here, excited for the day¡¯s training and delving into the dungeon. Now that it doesn¡¯t have to be undead-focused, it could be even more exciting.¡± Duke nodded along as she spoke. ¡°It will be some time, but eventually, the Legion will have to come home to the Inn. I need a force to guard the capitol first. Hell, I need a population to fill the capitol. And a name for the place that has nothing to do with me. I need to rename the whole kingdom. I¡¯m not going to rule over the Kingdom of Chopie. That name needs to be erased.¡± Baslin joined them with a ¡°Good morning.¡± Greetings were exchanged before he continued. ¡°You are quite right about renaming the kingdom and the capitol. We should come up with a list of names and put them to a vote or some sort of decision-making process. ¡°Sounds like a fair idea, but nothing with my name in it. There is no way it¡¯s going to be Duke Kingdom or anything like that.¡± Duke¡¯s tone was deadly serious in his attempt to enforce his will on the process. ¡°Indeed. No need to make the entire kingdom a joke.¡± Baslin responded. Duke wasn¡¯t sure if the Archmage was making fun of him or being serious. If he had to put money on it, he would bet on the joke choice. ¡°Good morning, Baslin. I hope you are ready for work today. As my first advisor I am expecting you to be able to deliver a status report on the Kingdom, its population, and any trouble spots that may need to be addressed. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s an entire set of laws that need to be revised or replaced. I need someone that can step in and handle all these sorts of things without me having to do it all. It¡¯s not really in my wheelhouse and too important for the people of the kingdom to get wrong.¡± Baslin¡¯s mood became more serious. I knew he was making fun of me. Now he gets to deal with more work. Win! Duke observed the change wash over the man before Baslin spoke. ¡°I understand your desire for knowledge about the Kingdom and its people. That is exactly what a King should initially concern himself with but you also need to concern yourself with building a Council of Nobles. That is the body that will do all the things you just asked of me. I will do my best, but in many of those areas, I am no better equipped than you. This is not, how did you say it? Oh, yes, not in my wheelhouse either.¡± Duke was less than pleased with Baslin¡¯s answer, especially since he knew the Archmage was right, but even more so because the man did not even seem slightly flustered by the request. It was clear to Duke that running a Kingdom was more work than he really wanted to take on, but he had little choice. This is going to really put a strain on my growth if I want to do it right. And I owe it to the suffering people to do it right. I need to fine more people I can trust. Elaine and Grat joined them at the table to break Duke out of his thoughts. Another round of ¡°good mornings¡± passed around the table as breakfast arrived for them all. Duke still had not ventured into the Inn¡¯s kitchen so he was unsure if the food was actually cooked or simply created through the dungeon¡¯s magic but he was quite sure it was always on-time and delicious. ¡°We were just discussing the path forward for the Kingdom.¡± Baslin started the conversation again. ¡°I¡¯m sure there are a thousand things to do and nowhere near enough people to do them.¡± Grat volunteered to nods from the others. ¡°I have something that needs to be done as well. We know Farthell was compromised by Chopie, but the rest of the Druidic Council is an unknown. I need to seek them out and find out if they are also compromised or if they remain true to the Council¡¯s purpose.¡± ¡°Do you know where to find them?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°I have a few ideas on where they might be. So, I¡¯m going to go looking for them.¡± He paused, looking over to Elaine. ¡°Once our child is born and the family is stable.¡± Elaine¡¯s expression softened with a small smile. ¡°I can¡¯t fault you for wanting to take care of your family as your top priority. I probably would have questioned your ability as a husband if you didn¡¯t.¡± Duke responded. Elaine smiled at Duke in response but didn¡¯t say anything. Breakfast finished up as plans were solidified. Duke, Aurelia, and Baslin were to head back to the capitol and work on things from there. Grat was going to search for the Druidic Councilmembers. They were all going to meet back up in the throne room in a week. Book 2, Chapter 28 - Restoration Duke joined Aurelia outside the castle to hear the Legion¡¯s report on the city. They had located numerous pockets of survivors that had been in hiding from Chopie and the undead. All told, there were close to 10,000 survivors that had come forward, far more than Duke had imagined that there could be. After the report, Duke took to the air for a survey of the damage to the city. It was, as expected, extensive. Many buildings had been destroyed and even the more intact ones showed signs of significant damage. He retuned to the castle¡¯s courtyard. ¡°Aurelia, please have the Legion bring everyone they can to the castle¡¯s marshalling yard. I want to address the remaining population of the city all at once. Gently, I should add. No one is to force people to come but it will be safer for them to be here.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± She responded with a smirk. Three hours later, thousands of citizens were gathered in the marshalling yard enjoying one of Baslin¡¯s grand feasts. The delicious food had done much to convince people to come and then proceeded to lift their mood. After eating, a number had run off to gather friends and family that were still in hiding. In all, Duke estimated that there were close to 15,000 people in the marshalling yard when he strode out onto the balcony with Baslin trailing him. The crowd below was mixed in many ways but there was one thing that was common ¨C they were all dirty and wearing worn-out clothes at best. Duke noted this and how well it fit into his plans but still it bothered him to see his people in such a state. ¡°Baslin, please enhance my voice so that all can hear.¡± ¡°The Spell is now active, Your Highness. Your people can hear you.¡± Baslin responded formally. Duke began his speech with a declaration. ¡°Chopie¡¯s reign of terror is over. You have all been oppressed and hunted under his rule. I am Duke and I declare you all to be free men and women. As this city and much of the kingdom has been devastated by his insanity, I hereby declare all current monetary and material debts of my citizens to the crown and kingdom to be absolved as of this day. I will not start my reign by following the oppression of my predecessor.¡± He paused to let his words sink into the minds of the crowd. He was not sure if others felt the pulse of energy that welled outwards from him at his declaration. At least, at first, he wasn¡¯t but it did not take long for the people below to check their notifications to see what Duke¡¯s words had accomplished. A cheer rose up from the crowd, the positive mood now beginning to truly turn celebratory. Duke waited for a minute before getting everyone¡¯s attention again. ¡°It is easy to see that Chopie has sullied everything he touched. It is time to CLEANSE the filth of his reign!¡± Duke activated CLEANSE with a full 700,000 Mana. Although it nearly drained his Mana, he smiled as the Ability washed over the area, spreading even further than he had anticipated due to his Crown adding its Prosperity Bonus to the effect, increasing it by 50%. In all, his Ability covered an area in nearly a 500 meters radius around him and all the people gathered below him. The reaction was as Duke had hoped, full of wonder and awe. The excited discussions filled the crowd as Duke waited for his Mana to refill. Again, he called the crowd to quiet down, which took a bit longer which was fine with him as it took time to top off his Mana. ¡°My people, you have felt the CLEANSING power that I bring to this kingdom. I shall CLEANSE the rot from it everywhere it can be found. Corruption shall be sought out and excised. I offer my people the freedom to prosper and will not tolerate those who would unfairly stand in the way. There was a time when this kingdom prospered. We shall return it to that prosperity and freedom, and then surpass it.¡± Duke paused to wait for the shouts and cheers to die down, feeling his PURPOSE glowing with approval. He continued. ¡°There is one more thing I wish to say before I bid you to go about reconstructing your lives. Everyone deserves a chance to prosper but not everyone has a skill that helps them to do so. I am opening up training for anyone who wishes to join the city guard. We have several trainers in the Thrice Blessed Legion that are willing to train you. We will provide you with the skills and equipment to do the job properly. But remember this ¨C corruption will not be tolerated. Honor matters. Those who have skills, I ask you to teach others. Take on apprentices. There is much to rebuild beyond just the shattered city around us.¡± He paused once again as the reaction from the crowd was somewhat mixed. He decided to leave the crowd with one more ¡°miracle.¡± ¡°My people, please know that anyone who comes before the crown shall be treated fairly and the crown expects that you all treat each other fairly. No go forth and help RESTORE this city to glory!¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. His Master-rank RESTORE Ability with the full 700,000 Mana was far more potent than his Initiate-rank CLEANSE Ability had been. For more than two and a half kilometers around him, things were made anew. Buildings reconstructed themselves, clothes were mended and, in some cases, completely recreated from scraps. The collective gasp from the crowd was music to Duke¡¯s ears especially when it continued into cheers. It took some time for the crowd to disperse, even after Duke had departed from the balcony to TELEPORT around the rest of the city, RESTORING buildings and structures. Even when only boosting the Ability by 100,000 Mana at a time, the radius of effect was nearly a kilometer. It took him several hours, but when he was done, the infrastructure of the city had been restored. I may be clueless for a king in what everyone expects, but I sure as hell can fix things up. When he was done, he returned to the throne room. The pair of Legionnaires who he was wondering if he should now call his royal guards were waiting for him. ¡°Your Majesty, Duke Madrigal has requested an audience.¡± ¡°He is waiting outside?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Very well, send him in.¡± Duke chuckled. When the Duke came in, he bowed to Duke, waiting for permission to rise. Duke did not leave him hanging. ¡°Duke Madrigal, please rise and be at ease.¡± ¡°Be at ease, Your Majesty?¡± He responded. ¡°It means relax and do without the formality.¡± Duke clarified. ¡°Very well, Your Majesty.¡± The Duke straightened up and was surprised when Duke was standing next to him. ¡°Come, Madrigal, let¡¯s walk and talk.¡± Duke led the man around the throne room while speaking. ¡°So, what brings you out here this day?¡± ¡°Your Majesty, I witnessed your address to the people earlier as well as the pair of miracles and I must say it is rather unprecedented. The transformation of the city alone is like nothing I have ever seen or even read about in the legends of old. All that, and you forgave uncountable debts. Aren¡¯t you concerned about the financial solvency of the kingdom?¡± ¡°A good point, Madrigal. But no, I am not tremendously concerned with the financial well-being of the kingdom. I have freed the people from the past and the prosperity that will come in the future will make us one of the wealthiest kingdoms on the planet. It will take some time, but we have enough reserves to sustain us until tax revenue catches up. You saw the people, they were starving, dressed in rags, and covered with filth. That is not who I want to tax. When they are prosperous, well-fed, and gainfully productive, then we will restart taxation. There are other cities and villages in the kingdom who I will rely on to help restore the kingdom¡¯s finances for now.¡± ¡°You truly don¡¯t intend to tax residents of the city?¡± Madrigal asked incredulously. ¡°Not to start. You do not kick your own citizens when they are down. You give them a hand getting back to their feet so that they can get back up faster. Then you accept their thanks and ask them to pay you from their surplus. I don¡¯t know how things have run here before, but that is how I am going to run them.¡± ¡°You truly are like none before you, not even Estros was that generous. I sincerely hope that this approach does not come back and hurt you.¡± ¡°If I get hurt by doing the right thing, I¡¯m not going to stop. If someone opposes me or hurts my people, then they will see my full might and wrath. Trust me, you do not want to see that.¡± ¡°I have no intention of doing so, Your Majesty. What I do have to offer is my services in assessing the needs of your people. I will put my restored resources to that task. It is the least I can do.¡± ¡°Excellent. I will gladly accept your assistance in this matter.¡± Duke replied, smiling. ¡°There is one more thing, Your Majesty.¡± Duke responded warily, his Diplomacy Skill letting him know that this was Madrigal¡¯s play all along. ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°My holdings have been restored, but I may be the last of my line and I am too old to sire any more children. Might I have access to the Royal Archives to see if there is anything written in there that will tell me about what happened to my family?¡± Duke¡¯s heart throbbed at the sorrow in the man¡¯s voice. ¡°Of course. Is there anyone in particular you are looking for? Someone who might have escaped Chopie?¡± ¡°Doubtful any escaped. They came for us in the night. The only one who was not on the estate at the time was my sister, Ruathia. But she had no resources to draw upon. It is doubtful she escaped Chopie¡¯s purge.¡± ¡°Ruathia you say? That¡¯s quite the unusual name.¡± Duke¡¯s mind flashed with possibilities. ¡°Wait outside. I shall return shortly.¡± One quick TELEPORT later, he was in the square of New Rahmfar. He rushed over to Grandma Ruth¡¯s house and knocked on the door. When she answered, she seemed confused by Duke¡¯s excited expression. ¡°Hello Duke, how may I help you? Is everything alright?¡± ¡°Grandma Ruth, do you have a brother?¡± Duke was practically bouncing as he asked. ¡°I did. Madrigal was a great man and would have led our house to tremendous things.¡± She replied wistfully. Duke didn¡¯t hesitate before TELEPORTING her along with himself back to the antechamber of the Throne Room. She yelped at the sudden change in perspective. Madrigal turned around, startled by their sudden appearance only to meet Ruathia¡¯s eyes and nearly pass out from shock. Now that they were together, Duke could easily see the family resemblance. ¡°After all these years¡­¡± Madrigal lost his words as the two rushed together to embrace. Duke beamed at the pair. ¡°I¡¯m going to leave you two to catch up. I have some other business to attend to.¡± Duke stepped back into the Throne Room, his guards closing the door behind him. ¡°I¡¯m done with court business for the day, gentlemen.¡± The pair acknowledged his words with a bow but still did not leave their posts. Duke was still beamingly happy when he TELEPORTED to check in on a certain new dungeon. Book 2 , Chapter 29 - Delving Duke appeared before the new dungeon. The blank wall had been replaced with an open doorway that was decorated with bas relief carvings of all manner of chimeric creatures. He hoped that was an indicator of what he would face in the dungeon. It could be a puzzle or trap-based dungeon for all he knew but he was hoping that it was filled with creatures to fight. Only one way to find out. Maybe it¡¯s stupid to enter all alone. Should I at least grab Baslin and Aurelia? Nah. I can handle it. It¡¯s just a newborn dungeon. Duke reached out to the dungeon portal and received a message. ***You have activated a Dungeon Portal! You may choose to enter or flee this Dungeon. Dungeon Information: Dungeon Name: Chimeric Dungeon Dungeon Vintage: Newborn Unentered for 0 years, 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds Uncompleted for 0 years, 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds. Dungeon Ranking: Novice Maximum Party Size: 5 Minimum Party Size: 1 Dungeon Type: Singular Dungeon Style: Chimeric Monsters Would like to Enter or Flee the Chimeric Dungeon? *** Duke defied his nagging worries and entered the dungeon. Stepping through the threshold had the same transportation feeling he had grown used to while stepping into the Inn. He wondered if that was a universal feeling for entering another dimension as he had come to believe the dungeons were. Another 50 levels or so in TELEPORTATION to get it to Master rank and maybe I can start experimenting with it some more. Maybe I will be able to TELEPORT across dimensions. I know I did it once, but I have no idea how I managed it. Duke¡¯s thoughts were interrupted by the sight of the dungeon¡¯s layout. It was not what he was expecting at all. He emerged from a cave set into a small hill which was apparently in the middle of a dense forest. Coniferous trees dominated the landscape as far as he could see, and he could hear the sounds of birds chirping and other wildlife scampering around. The air felt clean and fresh and the temperature was ideal. ¡°Feels downright inviting in here.¡± Duke mused. At his words, all sounds of creatures ceased. There were no creatures scampering or birds chirping anymore. ¡°Well, so much for the inviting atmosphere. That¡¯s downright creepy.¡± Duke remarked with a slight smile. He began to walk away from the cave. It did not take long for Duke to find a path through the forest which he shrugged and followed. As he travelled down the path, he began to hear forest sounds again. The chirping of birds had returned along with the occasional sound of a creature moving through the brush. He walked slowly, wary of his surroundings. He was sorely tempted to use his DUNGEON SENSE but figured that would be the height of cheating on his first delve into this new dungeon and he wanted to give the dungeon at least the semblance of being able to challenge him. He continued down the path. As he walked, he finally saw a denizen of the forest. The sight of it made him stop in his tracks and gawk. The creature was like nothing he had ever seen before, and he was not sure what to make of it. The head of the creature was a feathered bird. It had a tuft of feathers that was standing straight up in alarm. The feathers had a somewhat mixed coloration blending between grey and a darker blue. The face was whiter with a black line extending from the base of its bill through its small, dark round eye. The furred body of the creature was slender and agile. The fur was generally a grey color, somewhat lighter than the head¡¯s feathers. It had four legs ending in articulate, sharp claws. The most distinctive feature of the body was its thick bushy tail that twitched as the head swiveled to observe Duke. Overall, the creature was no longer than Duke¡¯s forearm. He immediately discounted it as a threat. The creature observed him from its perch on a branch ahead and above him. It swiveled its head back and forth as if trying to get a good look at him or perhaps assess his own threat. Duke stared back wondering what he was looking at. A rustle of movement to his left distracted Duke and he noticed another creature of the same type taking position. Before he could react, three more took up positions on the branches near the first. Movement from behind was confirmed with a rapid spin to be half a dozen more of the creatures. He decided to IDENTIFY one before things moved to combat. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. *** You have encountered a SquirJay. This is a chimeric creature. Tier: 1 Level: 10 Health: 924 Mana: 495 *** Duke shook his head at the creature¡¯s name. Not particularly creative, but I can say I¡¯ve never seen anything like it. Not much of a threat though. Maybe I¡¯ll let them attack and see what happens. Duke stood his ground as more as more of the creatures gathered around. There were two dozen around him by his count when the original one screeched out a long, agonizing chirp signaling the attack. The squirjaysall jumped off their branches, extending their legs sideways to expose connected furry membranes they used to glide at Duke. He stood still, allowing the creatures to attack him. After several seconds, he discovered that their claws were as sharp as kitchen knives and their beaks were as hard as stone. Their attacks shredded his clothes but did not penetrate his ARMOR SKIN at all. He knew it was highly unlikely that these minor creatures would be able to penetrate his Adept-ranked Ability, but he had encountered all sorts of insane things in this world already. At least it¡¯s not undead. I¡¯ve had quite my share of those things to last me a long time. He allowed the creatures to attack him for a little over a minute before responding with FORCE DARTS. He had selected that Ability for this dungeon run as he was hopeful that he would be able to evolve it as it ranked up. He focused on the shape of the darts, trying to manipulate the Initiate-ranked Ability into becoming more flexible than just darts of force. So far, it hadn¡¯t had any effect, but he was not expecting much to change until he ranked the Ability up at least once more. Still, the darts did their job as their damage output well-exceeded the squirjays¡¯ Health. They dropped one at a time, but Duke was able to fire off the darts at a fast-enough rate that the group of foes was dead in less than a minute. Duke pulled the corpses into his INVENTORY and continued down the path after a quick CLEANSE and RESTORE to get himself back into the proper appearance of an adventurer. The path continued through the forest a bit further before the forest thinned out leaving enough space to see a decent distance around him. He shrugged and continued down the path. So far, no real theme to this level but I have no idea what I should expect from a newborn dungeon. The path expanded as the forest shrunk back, becoming a road with two clear paths worn into it. He surmised that the paths likely were from wagon wheels but figured that he could be wrong on that. He considered stepping off the path but decided to let things play out as the dungeon planned for this first run. With a shrug, he continued down the road, figuring that he would come upon the next ¡°scene¡± soon. He was not wrong. The road now cut through a meadow with some rolling hills. Far off in the distance he could see something that might be a town. He guessed that the town was the final stage of this dungeon but there was no way of knowing until he got there. There was movement in the meadows around him, but he pretended not to notice as he continued down the road. As the spots of movement got closer, Duke noticed them to be rabbits of some sort. They were bigger than any rabbit he had seen before, at more than a meter in length. Although they seemed to be ignoring Duke, the fact that they were slowly and steadily closing a circle around him belied that idea ¨C and there were a lot of them, at least twice as many as the squirjays. He, once again, continued as if not paying attention to the gathering bunnies, blissfully whistling his way down the road. The attack came not from an announced swarming, but from a surprise attack from the rear. Duke barely heard the bunny coming before it impacted jarringly against his left leg. He spun around to engage it but stumbled and nearly tripped over something between his legs. How did a stick get between my legs? Duke stumbled briefly but his massive Agility score allowed him to keep his balance. He looked down at the creature pulling back its single long spiraling horn. Duke stared at the massive rabbit with a meter and a half long horn before he was hit again from the side. This time, he felt the direct impact of the horn. While it didn¡¯t penetrate deeply into his skin, it still hurt a bit. As he decided what to do, he was hit by several more of these horned rabbits from multiple directions. The bunnies may not have swarmed him initially, but they were hitting him with hit-and-run tactics from multiple angles and even varying heights as some rabbits leapt at him in an attempt to skewer him. They were fast when they charged, almost blurring with speed. Duke IDENTIFIED one of the rabbits before going on the offensive. *** You have encountered a Narbunny. This is a chimeric creature. Tier: 1 Level: 20 Health: 2,667 Mana: 945 *** Duke shrugged and began picking them off with FORCE DARTS. Despite their speed and Agility, these creatures were still far below his tier and level. The darts moved faster than the creatures could dodge, and Duke was able to finish them off quickly. A look at his legs showed that the Narbunnies had at least been able scratch him as his pants were full of bloody holes and tears. Again, Duke used his RESTORE and CLEANSE Abilities to set things right, his REGENERATION having taken care of all the minor wounds already. Before he moved on, he took a close look at one of the corpses and saw that the rabbit was far more muscular than he would have expected but it was their heads that struck him as the oddest. Whereas the squirjays looked to have their entire heads replaced, the rabbits only had a strip of another creature¡¯s head grafted on. It made the narbunny¡¯s head heavy and relatively unbalanced. Duke figured this was what all the extra musculature was needed for. Regardless, the not-so-little bunnies hit far harder than they should for their level. Duke considered this as he moved on down the road towards the town in the distance. Book 2, Chapter 30 - Riddle me This Continuing down the road, Duke could see that there were creatures flying far off in the distance. From where he was, they were merely specs moving somewhere beyond the town. There was nothing in his vision to grant any perspective so they could be birds of some sort or gigantic flying beasts, or even dragons although he doubted dragons were on the newborn dungeon¡¯s menu just yet. He watched them for a few minutes before returning his attention to the road. He guessed he still had several kilometers before getting close to the town. The meadowlands had transitioned to farm fields. On his left was a tall field of wheat and on his right, corn stalks grew taller than him making it difficult to see what was in either field. Some sort of ambush predator is most likely. I have to remember this is a newborn dungeon, creative thinking may not be its thing yet. ¡°Well, hello there, traveler!¡± The voice came from somewhere in the corn field but was still a bit out of Duke¡¯s line of sight. ¡°Hello to you as well.¡± Duke responded cautiously. ¡°Would you mind coming out of the field so I could see who I¡¯m talking to?¡± ¡°Not at all. It would be my pleasure.¡± The voice rumbled. With the rustling of enormous rainbow-feathered wings, the creature landed ten meters in front of Duke. It had the body of a lion but a human head. The wings were beautifully feathered in a rainbow pattern which was very different from the ¡°ordinary¡± coloration for the rest of the creature. Its face was distinctly female and rather attractive, framed with shoulder-length raven hair, but its most striking feature were the sharply intelligent brown eyes. Duke smiled. ¡°I am Duke. Who are you?¡± He followed his question with an IDENTIFY. *** You have encountered a Sphinx. This is a chimeric creature. Tier: 1 Level: 30 Health: 5,270 Mana: 5,580 *** ¡°That is an interesting question, is it not? Answer my riddle and you may pass. Fail to answer correctly and I shall destroy you utterly.¡± The sphinx¡¯s eyes began to glow with some sort of rainbow power that Duke could not interpret. What he could interpret, however, was that the sphinx was supremely confident in its ability to carry out its threat. Duke chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll play along for now. What is your riddle?¡± The sphinx puffed up with pride and delivered its riddle in the most dramatic voice and intonation it could manage. ¡°In the light, I have legs. In the dark, I have wings. In the shadow, I flow from the heavens. At night, I am unseen. In Summer, I am true. In Winter, I am seven. In Autumn, I am three. In Spring I see thee. What am I?¡± Duke stared back at the sphinx trying to interpret that confusing word-salad. When he heard the first line, he was sure the riddle would be something similar to the classic four legs, two legs, three legs riddle, but after that meandering mess of conflicting statements, he could only think of one answer, and he considered it the most obvious and stupid one he could come up with. Duke smiled back at the sphinx. ¡°That is one mind-bending riddle you have there. It seems that there is but one answer that could fit the question.¡± The sphinx responded, full of anticipation, leaning forward with its lips parted to show its decidedly inhuman fangs. ¡°Yes, yes, yes. What is your answer?" Duke stared the sphinx dead in the eyes and delivered his answer with forceful solemnity. ¡°You are a sphinx.¡± The sphinx¡¯s pride and anticipation broke like it had been struck a physical blow. It stood before Duke for several moments, agonizing over its thoughts before shouting at the sky in frustration. ¡°I told you it was a stupid riddle. Next time I¡¯m making up my own!¡± Duke struggled to contain his mirth at the reaction, locking down on his facial expression. ¡°So, then I have passed your riddle. Have I not?¡± The sphinx turned its attention back to Duke, its shoulders slumped and hanging it head. ¡°Yes, you answered my riddle. You may pass.¡± Duke responded. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t feel bad. I¡¯ve been answering riddles in games for years. At least you didn¡¯t go with the classic sphinx riddle.¡± ¡°And what, exactly, is this classic sphinx riddle of which you speak?¡± The sphinx asked, slightly annoyed but mostly intrigued. Duke smiled and delivered the line. ¡°What goes on four feet in the morning, two feet in midday, and three feet in the evening?¡± The sphinx gaped back at Duke. ¡°Oh, that is a good one. Let me ponder this. Four then two, then three. Is it wounded and healing? No, I don¡¯t think that is it. A transformational creature? No, that doesn¡¯t ring true either.¡± The sphinx continued to think on the riddle, occasionally muttering some thoughts and then dismissing them, walking even closer to Duke as it pondered. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Duke smiled as he saw the sphinx struggle. He waited a full ten minutes before offering help. ¡°Would you care for a hint?¡± ¡°A hint? The human offers up a riddle to the sphinx¡­and then offers a hint. Preposterous. Outlandish. Absurd. Ludicrous. A sphinx needing a hint on a riddle. Who ever heard of such a thing? It would be absolutely scandalous.¡± The sphinx leaned closer to Duke before asking quietly, just above a whisper. ¡°Maybe just a small one, between you and me.¡± Duke controlled his smirk as he leaned into the sphinx and whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t try to live your life in one day.¡± He stepped back smiling and humming a particular 80s song to himself. The sphinx continued to mull the riddle over, now incorporating the hint Duke had provided. ¡°Life in one day. What does that mean? Morning, midday, evening. That¡¯s all one day. Is that day a life? Yes, must be it. What starts out its life on four feet then two, then three? I know of no such creature.¡± The sphinx seemed to be excitedly frustrated by the riddle getting more and more animated as it thought. It¡¯s rainbow wings at times shuddered with excitement and unfurled to flap casually at others. Duke found it to be rather beautiful. ¡°You must tell me, human Duke. What is it that goes on four feet in the morning, two feet in midday, and three feet in the evening?¡± The sphinx seemed to rest its excitement on awaiting Duke¡¯s response. ¡°Very well, I shall share the answer with you.¡± Duke responded. ¡°But what is it that I get for giving such a grand riddle to you? Surely there must be payment.¡± ¡°Oh yes, yes. Payment. There must be payment. I will take you to my nest and you may take my treasure with you. Any piece of treasure you wish. Is that fair payment?¡± The sphinx seemed a bit too excited for Duke to be completely comfortable with the arrangement, but he was more interested in exploring as much of the dungeon as was practical before he opened it up to others. ¡°Very well. I agree. Are you prepared for the answer?¡± The sphinx sat down on its haunches and stared at Duke with full concentration. ¡°I am ready.¡± Duke spoke conspirationally, ¡°The answer is a man. In the dawn of his life, he crawls on all four limbs. In the middle of his life, he walks on his own two feet, and in the twilight of his life, he walks bent over with the assistance of a cane ¨C the third leg.¡± The sphinx snapped into a glorious smile, laughing as its joy was highlighted by its wings spread out and radiating rainbow light. ¡°That is brilliant! I love it. Thank you, Duke. You may climb aboard, and I will take you to my nest.¡± It lowered its left wing, forming a ramp to allow Duke to climb onto its back. Duke climbed up easily, noting that the lion part of the sphinx was quite a bit wider than he expected. Either I fly side-saddle, or I test out my groin stretch. Well, it¡¯ll REGENERATE, right? Here goes. Duke sat astride the beast, feeling the uncomfortable stretch in his legs. He started to grab a handful of the sphinx¡¯s long hair but thought better of it as the sphinx launched itself into the air with a tremendous flap of its wings. Duke felt the pulse of magic as the sphinx flapped itself into the sky. He figured that the wings, even at their tremendous size, were insufficient to lift the sphinx and the magic assist was needed. They soared into the sky, out beyond the fields and towards a mountain range that surprisingly had not been previously visible. That struck Duke as odd as he figured that he would have been able to see the mountains from the meadows if not from the road in the field. He chalked it up to ¡°dungeon magic¡±. As they approached the mountains, the sphinx roared loudly. It was the roar of, unsurprisingly, a lion. Duke had read that a lion¡¯s roar was loud. Now he knew it from personal experience. There were answering roars from a cliff face that they were rapidly approaching. Duke strained to see around the cloud of hair flailing his face in the wind but couldn¡¯t really make out where the responding roars came from. Then, with a flare of wings, the sphinx landed. Duke dismounted into the nest, finding it to be as large as a house. The sphinx had furled its wings and gestured for Duke to come alongside it. ¡°Welcome to my nest, Duke. My mate is away so there should be no issues with you being here.¡± The statement made Duke¡¯s mind twist a bit. That had better not be a come-on line. He decided to give the sphinx the benefit of the doubt and came alongside the monstrous beast. As he did so, the sphinx¡¯s tail brushed down his back. He suppressed a shudder and hurried up to see what the sphinx was offering as treasure. In the center of the nest, were a few things. There were gold coins scattered throughout the area, offering glittering sparks of brightness as the light reflected off them. There were also gems scattered similarly with jewelry mixed in. The thing that caught Duke¡¯s eyes first were three rainbow-colored eggs evenly spaced around the nest. The eggs were roughly the size of Duke¡¯s head. ¡°This is my treasure. You may select any one item.¡± The sphinx instructed him. ¡°You would let me take one of your eggs?¡± Duke asked, astonished. The sphinx looked seriously at Duke. ¡°I know you are a Dungeon Master and I also know what I am as a denizen of this dungeon. If you wish to take an egg as your treasure, take it. It may not behave as you hope, however. The Mana density in this place is not strong enough to create a creature that will be able to sustain itself outside the dungeon itself.¡± Duke nodded and then activated his SENSE MAGIC Ability. He noticed that there were four items that glowed with magic. The strongest glow came from a pair of golden bracelets which he IDENTIFIED as a matter of reflex. *** You have found Bracelets of Healing. These bracelets will dramatically accelerate the healing process when touched to a wound. When worn, they will provide the wearer with an overall boost to their health and rate of healing. *** Duke didn¡¯t hesitate to take the bracelets. ¡°Thank you for your generosity.¡± He placed the bracelets into his INVENTORY. ¡°Thank you for your riddle. Should you come up with some more of the same quality, please share them with me. I will find a way to reward you for them.¡± The sphinx smiled warmly at Duke. ¡°Now, it is time for me to return you to the path so that you may complete the dungeon. Even if I would rather just keep you here so you can teach me some more of your wonderful riddles.¡± The look the sphinx gave Duke was just disturbing. He decided it was past time to leave. Duke chuckled. ¡°You will learn more riddles as time passes. The dungeon, and you, by extension, are newly created. Give yourself time and you will have better riddles. Farewell.¡± Duke TELEPORTED back to the road, eager to get things back on track. Book 2, Chapter 31 - What Lurks Behind the Mask The road, unsurprisingly, was no different than when he left it. With a smirk at what he expected was the creepy sphinx¡¯s reaction to his disappearance he started back down the road, heading towards the town. The walk was faster than he expected as it only took another ten minutes to reach the town. When he had encountered the sphinx on the road, the town had appeared to be a full day¡¯s walk away. More dungeon special manipulation. Guess it saved me some walking. I supposed that I could have flown or TELEPORTED but that would cut the encounters down and I want to keep things as close to authentic for this evaluation. Whatever the case, I¡¯ll take the gift. Duke casually stepped up to the town¡¯s gate. It was, of course, closed. Duke considered leaping/flying over the gate and into the town but decided, again, to let the dungeon¡¯s story play out. He approached closer and a man in some sort of livery popped up over the wooden palisade to look down at Duke. ¡°What is your business, human?¡± ¡°I wish to enter the town.¡± Duke responded plainly as he observed the simple log walls surrounding the town. He did not think much about the condition of the walls, sure that they wouldn¡¯t slow him down if he had to force his way into the place. The response from the guard, however, piqued Duke¡¯s curiosity. ¡°We have no use for ones like you. Be on your way, half one.¡± The guard called down, his voice dripping with derision. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not a very warm welcome. How about you open this gate, and we talk about it?¡± Duke responded in as much of a reasonable manner as he could summon. He smiled disarmingly. The guard¡¯s demeanor turned darker. He reached down and lifted a bow with his left hand. His right hand came back up with a cruelly barbed arrow. ¡°I told you that your kind are not welcome here. Now leave immediately or I will be forced to make you leave.¡± Duke shrugged slightly while shaking his head and mumbling to himself. ¡°I tried to do this the friendly way. I really did. But no. You had to go and be all unpleasant about it. Now comes the messy part.¡± Duke TELEPORTED the bow into his hands along with the arrow that was being nocked. He finished nocking the arrow and called back up. ¡°You were saying?¡± The guard¡¯s face filled with panic at being instantly disarmed. He grabbed a horn of some sort from his belt and blew out an alarm. The tone was strong and mournful; it caused an immediate cacophony inside the walls that Duke could hear but was unable to see. He heard the sound of horses charging about followed by the sound of those same horses charging across wood. In moments, more guards stood upon the palisade with bows drawn. They did not hesitate to start firing arrows at Duke. Duke TELEPORTED to the side to avoid the cloud of arrows, his brain still confused at the sound of horses charging but not seeing any horses come out of the gate. He scanned around himself as he continued to dodge arrows with his TELEPORTATION, but he still didn¡¯t see where any calvary had come out of the town. Those horses were charging hard enough that they had to go somewhere. Are they behind me? Duke whirled around, looking for a hidden passage that would disgorge the charging calvary, but he found nothing. He did, however, receive three arrows to the back for his efforts. Duke ignored the arrows that had struck him, their damage insufficient to penetrate his ARMOR SKIN. He instead decided to do something about the archers shooting at him. He focused his TELEPORTATION Ability, and, with a flexing of his superior will, had a pile of bows on the ground in front of him. He loudly announced. ¡°I¡¯ve had about enough of that! Now, kindly open the gates and we can have a pleasant chat. Maybe I could even speak with your town leader. What do you say?¡± The response was filled with angry cries and one guard rose up into the air and kicked his hooves in Duke¡¯s direction. He was suddenly hit with the realization of what the sound of horses had been ¨C this was a town of centaurs! A smile spread across Duke¡¯s features as he came to the realization which quickly turned to a frown. He didn¡¯t want to kill a bunch of centaurs even if they were dungeon creatures. As Duke was debating what to do, the gates swung open to allow more guards to charge him. They approached him rapidly, giving him a better look at how these centaurs were dressed. They wore chainmail armor that covered both their human and horse portions. He wondered how they could put the armor on. Do they need someone to help them put that on? Have they contrived some device that lets them drop the armor down onto their forms? Is it put on in sections? Maybe magic is involved. Oh shit. Lance! This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Duke TELEPORTED a split second before he was skewered by the lance of the lead centaur. The distinct advantage of the centaurs having opened the gates, at least for Duke, was that it allowed him to see inside the town. And with that, he was able to pick a TELEPORTATION target inside the walls. He placed himself at the end of what seemed to be the main road. The largest building in the town stood before him and it had one distinction that Duke picked up on quickly. Whereas all the other buildings had wide ramps leading up to their entrances, this building had both a ramp and stairs. The ramps made sense for the centaurs as climbing stairs would be awkward for them. But, for the same reason, stairs made little sense to be leading up to the most prominent building in the town. Duke hurried up the stairs and slipped in the large door, hoping that he had not been spotted. Inside the building, it was nothing like Duke had expected. He had anticipated some sort of town hall but what he saw was more of a horror show. There was all manner of body parts such as arms and legs of various beasts hanging from hooks along the walls with shelves and shelves of sealed jars containing smaller body parts such as eyes, horns, tails, and ears. There were also cages and pens that held various beasts from small woodland creatures to large predators and monsters. All appeared to be sedated in some way because they did not react to Duke¡¯s presence at all. In the center of the building was a large laboratory set up with a man dressed in multi-colored robes. He looked up from his work on what looked like a squirrel with a rat¡¯s head and smiled at Duke. ¡°Welcome. Welcome. You must be what has all my centaurs so riled up. You didn¡¯t kill them all, did you? I hope not. They are some of my best creations. Have you come to purchase one of my creations or perhaps you would like some work done on yourself? I could upgrade you rather easily.¡± Duke stood there, in shock as memories of his torture flashed to the forefront. He shuddered as his mind wrestled with what he was seeing. Memories began overlapping and intermingling with what he was actually seeing. He saw hands reaching for him with a scalpel, ready to cut parts off from him. He saw his body parts being used to make his torturer anew. Remembered pain and helplessness washed over him, rooting him in place. Primal instinct combined with his PURPOSE to take over, causing Duke to erupt with power. His arms flung outwards as his Mana drained in an instant, focused into a single spherical blast of FORCE energy. The blast propagated through the building, crushing everything in its path. The roof shattered into splinters along with the walls but the blast continued outwards, propelling the splinters and broken pieces ahead of it. Next to be impacted were the buildings of the town itself. They were crushed by the force wave and carried along like a spherical tsunami. In a matter of less than a second, the town and its inhabitants had been wiped away, crushed, shattered, and deposited in an expansion pattern five kilometers away from where Duke collapsed in a compacted crater. Splinters and similarly destroyed pieces of the town rained down for several minutes afterwards. By the time the rain of debris stopped, Duke had recovered both his Mana and his mind. Duke stood to his feet goggling at the destruction surrounding him. Gone. Everything is just gone. I thought I was past that helplessness, that trauma. Clearly, I have a ways to go still. Duke¡¯s thoughts were interrupted by a message: *** You have killed the dungeon boss. The Chimeric Dungeon has been completed. You receive 50,000 experience for being the first to complete the dungeon. You receive 15,000 experience for soloing the dungeon. Within the dungeon, you killed a total of 169 creatures of various levels and ranks. You gain 7,050 experience. As an additional reward for being the first to complete the dungeon and doing so as a solo delver, you receive enhanced rewards. *** A glowing golden chest manifested next to Duke. He opened it and gathered up what he found. Among its contents were 216 gold coins, 405 silver coins, 17 copper coins, and pair of boots. He IDENTIFIED the boots. *** You have found the Boots of Shifting. These boots allow the wearer to change the size and shape of their feet for one hour per day. The change in size and shape can be significant as long as they do not change by more than 100% of their mass. The duration of the change may be split up into any smaller increments as the wearer decides. This is a set item. Collect other items in the Shifting Regalia set to gain additional benefits when worn. *** Duke put the boots in his INVENTORY and smiled at the thought of a set of equipment. And then he dismissed the thought as he remembered what happened to virtually every other magical item he wore. With a shrug, he started looking for the exit portal since it wasn¡¯t down at the bottom of the crater where the chest had appeared. He flew up, out of the seven-meter-deep crater to see the door just beyond the edge. Landing next to the door he offered his farewell to the dungeon. ¡°It was mostly fun, except the part at the end there. That was not cool. Not cool at all. Anyway, I¡¯ll let others come in and try their luck when you are ready.¡± With that, Duke stepped through the portal and reappeared in the hallway, neither waiting for nor expecting a response. Interesting that I got the experience awards while still in the dungeon and didn¡¯t have them deferred until I slept. Duke forced his mind away from the resurfaced trauma and focused on the tasks at hand. He did, after all, have an entire kingdom to put to rights. Book 2, Chapter 32 - Would You Like to Sign My Petition? With a thought, Duke reappeared in his Throne Room. He was impressed when his guards barely flinched at his appearance before returning to their statuesque postures. ¡°You have gotten used to me popping in and out, haven¡¯t you?¡± "Yes, You Majesty.¡± The left guard replied. ¡°Not sure if I¡¯m happy or disappointed at that. It does speak highly to your level of discipline, so I suppose I have to be happy about that.¡± Duke commented as he headed for the chamber doors which opened just in time to allow him to exit without breaking his stride. They closed equally as fast, preventing anyone else from entering behind Duke. He was suitably impressed. The sight outside the doors alarmed him, striking him in a way no physical blow could. There were people lined up all the way out the main castle door, apparently waiting for him. Duke groaned inwardly as Duke Madrigal separated himself from the crowd and approached. ¡°Your Majesty, I have turned away hundreds of petitioners today, but there are many whose needs are urgent.¡± Duke gave Madrigal a menacing look. ¡°I will speak with the most pressing ones, but there is an entire kingdom to rebuild here. Is this going to help in that regard?¡± Madrigal gave Duke a courtly bow. ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. Only those who will help rebuild the kingdom will be permitted an audience to start.¡± ¡°Fine, send in the first in five minutes.¡± Duke replied, turning back to the doors that opened for him. As he entered, the doors closed again behind him. He searched through his INVENTORY for a long minute, finding his most ¡°royal¡± outfit and put it on before sitting on the throne. With a gesture to his guards, the audiences began. By the third, Duke wanted to claw his own eyes out. This one was a noble who demanded that the kingdom rebuild his estate after Chopie¡¯s army flattened it in their march. Employing his Intuition and XENOGLOSSIA, Duke was able to discern that this noble had actually supported Chopie in his reign of terror and had offered up his own servants to become undead minions for the mad king. His mind came to a decision as his Diplomacy skill provided assistance. Duke did not hesitate to make an example of the man. ¡°Guards, open the doors and allow as many petitioners as can fit into the Throne Room!¡± Duke¡¯s voice was filled with the authority of his office and the unique acoustics of the room served to project it for all to hear. He waited for the room to fill with people before proceeding. The crowd hushed as Duke spoke again. ¡°Lord Hawlsey, please repeat your petition to your king.¡± The aforementioned Lord puffed his chest out and spoke loudly for all to hear, convinced in his righteous request. ¡°Your Majesty, your predecessor bade his undead army march across my holdings. They destroyed everything. My livestock, my home, everything was swept away by the army. I humbly request that the kingdom restore my holdings.¡± Duke carefully noted that the Lord had changed it from a demand to a request. He decided to clarify. ¡°Lord Hawlsey, am I to understand that this is simply a request, not a demand by a member of my nobility as I heard at first?¡± Hawlsey balked, realizing that he could either backtrack, or call the king a liar. ¡°Your Majesty, I apologize for misstating my intent in my fervor. I had not intended to make any demands of the crown, just a request from your most humble servant.¡± ¡°Excellent. Now that we have cleared up that matter, Allow me ask you this. What happened to the servants from your estate? Surely they would have been able to relocate your livestock out of the path of Chopie¡¯s undead army.¡± Hawlsey was getting more and more nervous but had exceptional noble bearing that masked it from the crowd. Duke, however had an Ability to rely upon that saw clearly through the Lord¡¯s dissembling. ¡°Your Majesty, my servants fled when we received word of the coming horde. I was barely able to get my family free of the horde before it descended upon us.¡± ¡°Thank you for sharing your story, Lord Hawlsey.¡± Duke raised his voice so he could be sure that all present could hear him. ¡°If you come before me with a legitimate need and request, you will be heard with an open mind, but if, instead, you stand before the crown with lies and falsehoods, you shall be met with the King¡¯s Justice.¡± Hawlsey¡¯s noble demeanor broke as he realized that Duke was not some easily manipulated rube that happened to gain the throne through luck or trickery. Duke continued. ¡°The truth is, Hawlsey, that you fully supported Choppie, even to the point that you offered up your own servants to be killed and turned into undead soldiers. Your lands were not destroyed by random happenstance. You invited Choppie to march across your lands. Because of your support for this monster, countless other people died.¡± Hawlsey tried to interrupt with a plea but was shut down by Duke¡¯s piercing gaze as he continued speaking. ¡°This Throne itself is a magical construct and allows me to see into the truth of what is said before me. I will brook no falsehoods in my court. You are stripped of your title, your very nobility that you sold for a moment of safety. You are no longer anyone. You are a traitor to the people of the kingdom and as such, I cast you from here!¡± Duke activated TELEPORTATION, sending Hawlsey to the standing stones where the Lake Front Dungeon had once been. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. There was a collective gasp from the crowd. Duke took the pause to sit back down on the throne. ¡°Duke Madrigal, who is next to petition the court?¡± Without pause, Madrigal responded. ¡°Lady Hargwaetch is next, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Very well, please step forward and present your petition, Lady Hargwaetch.¡± Duke schooled his face into his most serene and accommodating expression. An older woman with greying hair stepped forward. There was something about her demeanor that Duke couldn¡¯t place but he was sure that her heritage was not purely human. She was wearing a dress that clearly had seen better days. It was lightly stained and fraying in places. ¡°Your Majesty, first may I offer my family¡¯s thanks for restoring my family home within the city. We rode out Choppie¡¯s madness in our basement, sealed from the terrors that walked the streets.¡± Duke interrupted her. ¡°Why did you stay in the city and not flee like so many others?¡± She lowered her head and spoke. ¡°Your Majesty, my family has roots deeper in this city than even the kingdom of Eternia. We are the founding family of this city and our honor bid us not abandon it no matter the fate. My father, infirm though he may be, struggled to be allowed to fight against Chopie¡¯s madness. My daughter refused to abandon her post at Elysian Haven. I could not abandon them either.¡± Madrigal whispered to Duke, having caught on to his confusion at the name of the place. ¡°It¡¯s the most potent healing house in the city, Your Majesty.¡± Duke gave Madrigal a thankful nod and spoke. ¡°It seems your family are truly noble then, my Lady. All you have spoken has had the ring of truth to it. What is it that you would request of the crown?¡± ¡°Many suffer from having their livelihoods destroyed and it will take quite some time for businesses to rebuild. I request a letter of credit and seal of approval from the crown to build a caravan to travel to the Ansky Empire and acquire the tools and raw materials necessary to restart the businesses of the city. In time, the crown will be paid back as business are re-established and commerce begins again.¡± Duke smiled, impressed by this woman. ¡°Lady Hargwaetch, that is a well-reasoned and selfless request. You would take on this role without any reward expected?¡± ¡°Your Majesty, my reward would be to see the city that my family founded to be restored to glory. That is more than enough reward.¡± ¡°I have one condition if I am to grant this request.¡± Duke responded, a wry grin spreading across his face. ¡°A man I have an enormous respect for taught me that the best leaders surround themselves with people who are experts in their fields and allow them to do their jobs. I wholeheartedly believe in this philosophy. Therefore, I would name you, Lady Hargwaetch, as my Minister of Commerce. It will be up to you to see that our businesses and merchants are rebuilt, and everything is done fairly and justly. Will you accept this position on my Council?¡± She stared at Duke, stunned for a moment as more gasps propagated throughout the crowd. Finally, she broke out of her reverie. ¡°Your Majesty, there has not been a woman on the King¡¯s Council in the entire history of this city. Are you truly offering such a position to me?¡± Duke met her gaze for a long moment before answering. ¡°Lady Hargwaetch, not only am I offering the position to you, I am strongly encouraging you to take it with the assurance that anyone who interferes with your just duties simply because you are a woman shall face the King¡¯s Justice!¡± ¡°Your Majesty, I accept with full honor and respect. You are changing this world by your mere presence. I will serve you with absolute fidelity!¡± Duke smiled broadly. ¡°Madrigal will make sure you have the proper chambers to establish your office. Who is next?¡± Madrigal began to speak but Duke interrupted him. ¡°One more thing. Let it be known that any may come before the crown if their need is just, and I care not if you wear finery or rags. You will be heard. But, when you leave¡­Duke activated his favorite CLEANSE and RESTORE Abilities across the entire Throne Room, you will be wearing your best!¡± Surprise and wonder exploded into animated conversations as the petitioners¡¯ ¡°best¡± clothes were cleaned and made anew. Duke noticed that there were maybe a quarter of the petitioners than there had been when he had addressed Hawlsey¡¯s lies. I hope someone was taking attendance and we can identify who left as they are potential problems. No, forget that. What am I setting up here if I go down that route? No way am I going the petty dictator route. Duke continued to hear petitioners¡¯ request for the rest of the day, settling into his role as King. Most requests were minor, if urgent. He handled those he could but there were some that he had no idea how to handle. To those, he dipped into his past experience gain by turning their requests back on them. ¡°Bring me three possible solutions to your problem and I will choose from those. And remember the lessons of former Lord Hawlsey and Council Minister Lady Hargwaetch. Solutions do not need to be elegant, but they need to be well thought-out and should benefit more than just yourself.¡± When Duke finished with his petitioners, he was mentally exhausted and wanted nothing more than to eat a good meal and get some sleep. He did not, however, want to eat his meal alone, or sleep alone for that matter. He pulled out his Jewel of Whispers and reached out to Baslin and Aurelia asking them if they were ready for dinner. Both replied in the affirmative. Duke smiled and wondered if he could pull off what he was thinking. Only one way to know if it will work¡­gotta try it! Duke activated his TELEPPORTATION Ability and instantly Aurelia appeared before him. She stumbled briefly before catching her balance. Apparently, she had been in mid-step. Baslin appeared similarly a moment later. Duke shot a fist into the air. ¡°Fuck yeah! It worked!¡± Both glared at him, but he smiled sheepishly in response. ¡°I don¡¯t know about you, but I¡¯ve had a long and full day. It¡¯s time to hit the Inn and grab dinner and some rest.¡± Without waiting for a response, he TELEPORTED them to the Inn and was happy to see that they joined him without complaint. Book 2, Chapter 33 - Quiet Time An apology and an explanation later, the three of them sat down to dinner. Elaine and Grat did not join them, but no one seemed to mind. ¡°Perhaps she is getting close to giving birth.¡± Aurelia guessed. ¡°Entirely possible considering the accelerated rate that the pregnancy center in the dungeon town has been boasting.¡± Baslin ventured. Nods of agreement tabled the topic. ¡°You seem rather worn down, Duke. Is everything ok?¡± Duke smiled weakly. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I just had a really long day.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°What was you day filled with that made it so long?¡± Duke shook his head before beginning. ¡°I had hundreds of petitioners visit the Throne Room today. There were so many requests that I really don¡¯t remember the details of them all. But two stand out in my memory. The first was a noble who had worked directly with and for Chopie and was seeking reimbursement for his holdings having been destroyed by Chopie¡¯s army. His accounting was filled with half-truths and outright lies. After giving him a chance to recant and speak the truth, I stripped him of his title and exiled him.¡± ¡°Exiled him?¡± Baslin asked, intrigued. ¡°Yes, I TELEPORTED him to the cave where LFD used to reside.¡± Duke said solemnly. ¡°Isn¡¯t that cave only accessible by the hole in the ceiling?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°Is it?¡± Duke replied. ¡°I hadn¡¯t noticed.¡± ¡°Oh, that is cold and ruthless, Duke.¡± Baslin admonished him. ¡°At least you were able to do so in private and not start a panic amongst the nobility.¡± Duke shook his head. ¡°About that-¡° ¡°You made a public example of him, didn¡¯t you?¡± Baslin asked sardonically. ¡°I did. And I also made a public example of one other notable petitioner.¡± Duke continued. ¡°She came to me asking for a letter of credit and seal of approval to form a caravan and seek out materials and tools to get the city¡¯s crafters back to work.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t banish her, did you?¡± Baslin asked in a panic. ¡°Banish? No. I did something far crueler. I made her my Minister of Commerce.¡± Duke replied grinning. ¡°You made a woman your Minister of Commerce?¡± Baslin asked. ¡°Did I hear that correctly?¡± ¡°That is what he said, yes.¡± Aurelia responded. ¡°That is what I said, and what I did. I understand it was some sort of unprecedented appointment and I¡¯m going to cause all kinds of strife as a result of the appointment. But you know what? I don¡¯t care. I am surrounding myself with the smartest, most capable people I can find to fill out my Council Ministers. My kingdom is not going to be based on stupidity, it will be based on putting the best people in leadership positions and allowing them to do their jobs. I don¡¯t have the energy to spend dealing with cronies and if that makes some more enemies, I¡¯m fine with it. They were enemies to begin with but at least now they won¡¯t be fighting from inside the halls of power.¡± ¡°I¡¯d say that it indeed has the potential to make you some powerful enemies, but they are mostly political enemies and you have already toppled one kingdom so why not?¡± Baslin replied with a smile and a twinkle in his eye. ¡°I think it¡¯s a great idea. Just don¡¯t make a harem out of your Ministers or you may not be the only one to commit regicide.¡± Aurelia cautioned Duke. He laughed. ¡°One woman man. Any more than that is more than any sane man can handle.¡± Baslin held a hand up to prevent what he knew was going to be innuendo from Aurelia. ¡°Did you CLEANSE and RESTORE the petitioners?¡± ¡°Of course I did. I made a big deal out of everyone leaving better off than when they came in. I made it my official ¡®thing¡¯. Word of it should spread pretty quickly.¡± ¡±Anything else to note about your day, Your Majesty?¡± Aurelia added just enough sass into her inflection to create a mocking tone. Duke smiled. ¡°Well, there was one more thing I did before I actually met with any petitioners.¡± He paused, letting his words hang in the air. ¡°Oh, out with it, already Love!¡± Aurelia prodded. ¡°You seem awfully smug about whatever it was so just tell us already.¡± ¡°OK, OK, OK. I did the inaugural run through our new dungeon.¡± Before anyone else could move, Sam appeared next to Duke. ¡°Tell me everything! How is my offspring doing? Did you find a good spot for it? What kind of dungeon has it created? Did you like the layout? How hard was the first run?¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Duke forestalled Sam¡¯s incessant questions. ¡°Let me share the story of my trip through the dungeon so you can stop asking all these questions.¡± Duke recounted his delve as everyone else listened intently. When he was done, the questions started up again. ¡°Where did you say the dungeon is planted?¡± Baslin asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think I got to that part, but it is under the castle. I want to keep this dungeon protected and relatively private for the foreseeable future. Dungeons are tremendously powerful resources, and this one gives me the feeling that it will be a boon to the kingdom but not like the LFD is here. Sam¡¯s situation is unique in that the setup of the town inside is the staging area for the true delving.¡± Duke paused in his thoughts. ¡°That reminds me. I have to visit the dungeon town tomorrow and finally see how everything is going there. Just so much to do!¡± Sam beamed, ¡°So my offspring is already at the second rank you say? That is wonderful. I am so proud of my little one! Do remember that you need to delve regularly if you want it to grow like I have.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Sam. Someone will be delving into the dungeon daily. You said the maximum party size was 5, Duke?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°Yes, one to five delvers.¡± Duke confirmed. ¡°Then I think it will be a compelling reward for members of the Legion. To be able to run a dungeon and gain some wealth, resources, and experience would be good.¡± Aurelia concluded. ¡°Sounds like a plan. Unless, of course, you want to run it first.¡± Duke replied. ¡°Maybe we can run it together.¡± She suggested with a smile. ¡°Be glad to, love.¡± Duke replied. It was not long afterwards that conversations died down and everyone headed for bed. *** Morning found Duke going through his notifications, curious as to what they would look like today. *** You have tested my newest dungeon on Teldin, and I am well pleased. The other voices have been temporarily excluded and they are not aware of this message. You are in one of my dungeons and I can exert an even greater level of control over things. In time, I will wrest you from their control but for now know that I am holding some rewards for you until I have fully separated you from their control. You would do well not to let them know that we are in contact at all. Trust in your PURPOSE for it shall guide you in separating from them. They wish to control you with dichotomy. I wish you to have freedom to act for you have repeatedly shown me that you will act in a manner that aids your and my goals alike. Bide your time and continue to grow. Now, here come their messages; try not to cringe too much¡­*** ***Well, well, well, you have another dungeon to play in. How nice for you. And did you play! Toying with the mobs the whole way through. I swear that you broke that sphinx¡¯s heart. Oh, and that display at the end. That¡¯s on my personal highlight reel. Well done! You really pushed a single Ability for that entire run so expect an extra boost to it. But that is not all as you are now using your Abilities and Skills to influence lots of people. That will be reflected as well. Diplomacy has increased to Initiate 9 TELEPORTATION has increased to Adept 111 REGENERATION has increased to Adept 67 OVERCHANNEL has increased to Adept 20 MENTAL FORTITUDE has increased to Practiced 26 FORCE DART has evolved into FORCE and has increased to Initiate 14 CLEANSE has ranked up to Practiced Initiate 7 RESTORE has increased to Master 50 IDENTIFY has increased to Initiate 22 ARMOR SKIN has increased to Adept 8 You gained 72,050 experience from killing creatures in the dungeon and completing it for the first time. You are now level 125 and have 12 Characteristic points to spend. We are watching your progress and hope you don¡¯t slow down now that you are a king of sorts. With your personality, you are likely to start another war before the week is out so prepare yourself for that. *** Duke roused himself and distractedly did his normal CLEANSE and RESTORE for the morning. I¡¯m sure I just got double-dip experience for that dungeon. I¡¯m not going to say a fucking thing about it but I¡¯m going to use the hell out of that exploit. It has to be something the Overmind is doing but I¡¯m not going to complain. Nope not one bit. Duke smiled as Aurelia roused herself, accepting her own CLEANSE and RESTORE before putting her armor back on. She returned the smile and took extra care slowly and tantalizingly putting her armor on piece by piece. Duke¡¯s heartbeat raced. How does that woman make putting armor on into a complete turn-on? Damn, I¡¯m a lucky man. Duke exercised the full force of his willpower as she walked by him, brushing her fingers up his leg as she made for the door. He followed, with a bit of an uncomfortable walk. They headed down for breakfast to find Baslin waiting for them. ¡°Good morning to you two. Did you have a good night?¡± The couple exchanged a glance before Aurelia responded. ¡°You could say so. How about yourself?¡± Baslin chuckled. ¡°You two make me consider dating again. But then I remember the last crone I dated and the feeling passes. But that is neither here nor there. There are things I need to wrap up here so I will not be heading back to the castle today. Will you be alright without me?¡± Duke smiled back at Baslin. ¡°I am going to spend the day in the dungeon town, so I think I¡¯ll be OK without you. The kingdom can wait a day, I hope.¡± ¡°Perhaps. Perhaps not.¡± Baslin responded. ¡°I would suggest you at least make an appearance so that your People know that you are around ¡®working on things¡¯ even if you are off doing something else for most of the day. Your Ability to TELEPORT gives you that luxury.¡± ¡°And you can ferry me back and forth to the city so I can manage the Legion and the training of the new city guard.¡± Aurelia added. ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll drop you off, do a quick ¡®hello there¡¯ tour, and come back here. I¡¯ll pick you up this evening for dinner.¡± Duke agreed. After breakfast, Baslin headed off to ¡°wrap up¡± some work while Duke and Aurelia TELEPORTED off to the capitol. She went to the Legion¡¯s headquarters which was once a noble¡¯s house. Said noble family had not been heard from and was presumed dead. If they weren¡¯t, things might get a bit awkward if they showed up to find the Legion headquartered there. Aurelia considered it an acceptable risk. Duke was blissfully ignorant of the whole issue. Duke quickly went around the city showing himself off and having small conversations before returning to the Inn and heading for the dungeon town¡¯s entrance. He paused before the threshold mentally preparing himself for the unknown within. With a sigh and a chuckle at himself, he entered. Book 2, Chapter 34 - Gifts and Visits The transition to the dungeon town felt different than the transition to the Inn. Whereas the transition to the Inn was for all intents and purposes instantaneous, the transition to the dungeon town carried with it a disorienting and noticeable transit time. It wasn¡¯t long, perhaps two seconds, but it was a dizzying whirling sensation of being twisted and turned around before Duke emerged at the top of what appeared to be a mountain. The vision before him was a scene straight out of a tourist guide. The mountain had a gentle slope leading down into an idyllic wide valley. Sitting inside that valley was not the small town that Duke had expected, but a city that seemed to be buzzing with activity. He decided to stop gawking and head down to visit. One TELEPORT later, he was walking up to an entrance checkpoint. There was no wall around the city and Duke had seen numerous buildings under construction on the outside edges of the city so concluded that the rapid growth of the city precluded walling it in. He proceeded to the checkpoint. ¡°Greetings traveler and welcome to Havenreach. What is your name and the nature of your business here?¡± The guard spoke clearly and with the hint of a smile in his voice. Duke could read a very positive vibe from the guard that reinforced the guard¡¯s words of welcome. He quickly took in the guard¡¯s tabard and heraldry which consisted of a glowing red gem on a white background surrounded by a sky-blue border. Overall, each of the five guards at the checkpoint were wearing the same chainmail under tabards and were armed with axe-headed polearms as well as smaller axes at their waists. Duke smiled warmly. ¡°Thank you for such a warm greeting. I am Duke and have come to check out the city and surrounding area.¡± One of the guards was standing behind a table with various instruments and devices on it. He picked one up that looked to be some sort of glass sphere set in a brass setting. It was pulsing with a soft blue light. After a glance, he paled slightly and nearly dropped it to the table in his haste. ¡°Your Majesty! King Duke has graced us with his presence!¡± He immediately bowed, followed by the rest of the guards. They held the pose, not meeting Duke¡¯s gaze. ¡°Please be as you were. I do not wish such formalities, especially from the city guard. Protecting your citizenry is far more important than any formality.¡± Duke was starting to get used to this sort of courtly speech, but he would have much preferred to give them a ¡°dude, chill¡± instead but he had expectations to live up to now. It rankled him to no end. The guards straightened up but still stood stiffly at attention. The guard behind the table spoke. ¡°You, of course may pass as you wish, Your Majesty.¡± Duke sighed inwardly. Should have come in disguise. He nodded to the guard and fired off a CLEANSE and RESTORE combination leaving the guards surprised but feeling even better about their appearance before he headed into the city. ¡°Please do not announce my presence.¡± Duke admonished as he activated his seldom used LASTING DISGUISE Ability to make himself shorter and thinner. He changed into what he hoped would be an inconspicuous man. The guards didn¡¯t remark but Duke could easily read their interested looks as he turned and walked into the city. Duke spent the next three hours wandering around the city and getting used to its hustle and bustle. There was one thing that stood out to him over this time ¨C everyone seemed at least pleased, if not outright happy. I really hope this is not some strange ploy by Sam to keep everyone in the city. Because that would complicate things to no end. He checked out numerous stores, shops, and smiths in his travels before he wound up in front of Halgrim¡¯s Smithy. The large sign declaring the four story-tall, three-floor building to be such was the overwhelming clue that Duke had arrived. He stepped inside the shop entrance. Inside, the shop was laid out with all manner of metalwork. There were five racks of various forged iron tools, two racks of steel weapons, and a row of six mannequins draped with various types of armor. As he perused the goods, he was greeted by the shopkeeper. ¡°Greetings good sir. Is there something I can get for you to try on? Or perhaps try out?¡± Duke turned to see the shopkeeper, or as he suspected, Halgrim¡¯s daughter. The girl could not be more than twelve years old, but she had a fully confident bearing. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m here to see Halgrim.¡± Duke responded. ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir, he does not generally speak with customers. I assure you that I can help you with whatever you need. Even if it¡¯s a commissioned item, I can get it all started for you.¡± ¡°I understand, but I will speak with him anyway.¡± Duke let his disguise fall. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. The girl took a step back, startled, but then seemed to steel herself. ¡°I don¡¯t care if you are able to grow bigger, that doesn''t change things.¡± The conversation was halted when the overly large door to the workshop opened and Halgrim stepped through, stretching up to his full three-meter height, face held taught in irritation. Upon seeing Duke, his expression softened considerably. ¡°Your Majesty, what an unexpected pleasure. Excuse me a moment.¡± He knelt down next to the girl and whispered to her. ¡°This man is King Duke. He is responsible for all of this and our safety. He always has permission to see me. I know you didn¡¯t know that, so you did nothing wrong, ok? Now go fetch us some ale.¡± She scampered off, her confidence fleeing as she departed. ¡°I don¡¯t know whether to bow, or salute, or do something else.¡± Halgrim confessed. ¡°How about a handshake?¡± Duke offered as he extended his hand. Halgrim happily shook Duke¡¯s hand. ¡°What brings you to my humble workshop, Your Majesty?¡± ¡°We¡¯re alone, no need to be formal. I really wanted to make sure that your smithy was everything I hoped it would be. Oh, and to give you this.¡± Duke retrieved Golgatha¡¯s Hammer from his INVENTORY and handed it to Halgrim. He had been holding on to it for quite some time and was glad to finally give it to a worthy smith. Halgrim took the hammer with a somewhat confused look on his face. Moments later, the confusion vanished in favor of wonder. ¡°This¡­this is a wonderous hammer. It is too much for me.¡± He tried to hand the hammer back to Duke who took a step back with raised hands. ¡°No, Halgrim. You are the best smith I know. The hammer belongs in your hands. Use it well.¡± ¡°Then I shall craft a weapon for you!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really use weapons all that often.¡± ¡°A fine suit of armor, then.¡± ¡°Used to wear armor but not so much anymore.¡± ¡°Um, boots?¡± ¡°I like my shoes too much. Tell you what, use it to fashion something for your family. That will be the best use of it until you need it for a customer.¡± ¡°I will. Thank you, Duke. You continually shower me with gifts, and I have done nothing for you in return.¡± ¡°You serve this city and that is enough for me. Use the hammer in good health. I have a few more errands to run.¡± Duke headed back out the door, undisguised. He had seen enough of the city incognito to see that it was prospering, and the people were genuinely happy with things. He did not notice the young girl holding two ales behind him. Nor did he notice Halgrim quickly down both of them. There¡¯s one building I have to check out before I move on. Ok two, but I really wonder what the Adventurer¡¯s Guild is like. Duke continued out and into the city, heading for the governmental square where both City Hall and the Adventurer¡¯s Guild stood. Many more people recognized him, which he initially found odd but eventually, he looked at his reflection in a store¡¯s window and realized that he was still wearing the crown. This left him with a dilemma. Do I remove the crown and lose the prosperity bonus for the kingdom, or do I deal with being easily recognized. In the end, there really was no choice. He strode down the street, confidently showing off his shiny crown. Reactions, although most seemed positive, were somewhat mixed. Many bowed, some ducked into doorways, and even a few cheered. The impression that Duke got from his XENOGLOSSIA and Intuition was that they really didn¡¯t know what to make of him and their last king was a complete piece of shit. Caution ruled their actions. Duke, for his part, kept up his smile and waved, occasionally offering a verbal greeting. He continued on his way right up to the City Hall. The building itself was made of marble and strongly resembled the iconic New York City courthouse that was used in so many movies and TV shows. Duke could see no seams in the construction of the hall, giving it the impression that it had been carved from a single titanic granite block. The wide marble steps that encompassed the entire front of the building led towards several thick, fluted Doric columns. Duke chuckled as the building was beautiful but stood out too much from the surrounding architecture with most buildings being made of wood. He wasn¡¯t sure if Sam had made the building or if the resident had done so. His money was on Sam. Climbing the stairs, he saw city guards standing at the top of the steps wearing the livery that he had grown used to seeing throughout the city. In his journey to City Hall, he had seen more and more of the city guards. He presumed that they were keeping an eye on things to maintain order, but he really hadn¡¯t needed them. Most residents were happy to just go about their own business even if Duke¡¯s presence had made many nervous. He greeted the pair of guards. ¡°Good day to you.¡± Before he could continue, they snapped to attention and saluted. The left guard was apparently designated as the speaker as the right remained locked in position. ¡°Your Majesty, the Mayor bids you enter and be welcome. He is awaiting you inside.¡± Duke nodded at the guard. ¡°Thank you for the welcome. Don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t notice the guards¡¯ presence throughout the city. It was a nice touch but unnecessary. Still, I appreciate it.¡± He headed into the City Hall to find the mayor waiting for him. ¡°Greetings, You Majesty. Be welcome within these halls. I am Mayor Shellenberger, and somehow wound up in charge of this place.¡± The mayor was tall, but not nearly as tall as Duke had become. From his pointed ears, Duke assumed that the mayor had some elven descent but was not sure. Duke extended a hand to the mayor. ¡°Pleased to meet you, Mayor Shellenberger. I¡¯m glad to finally have the time to see the city. It looks like you have done a fine job getting and keeping things going here.¡± The mayor shook Duke¡¯s hand looking uncomfortable and unsure of what to do or say. Duke decided to make it easier on the man. ¡°Let¡¯s head back to your office and out of such public view.¡± The mayor obliged and quickly led Duke to his office, closing his door behind them. Shellenberger seemed suddenly conflicted on where to sit. Duke let him off the hook. ¡°Your office, your chair.¡± Duke sat opposite the desk in a guest chair. Shellenberger sat down in his chair and asked Duke. ¡°What can I do for you, Your Majesty?¡± Duke smiled. ¡°Someone mentioned that you have been collecting taxes on my behalf¡­¡± Book 2, Chapter 35 - Dungeon City Mayor Shellenberger was startled at Duke¡¯s blunt statement. His frown quickly grew into a wide smile. ¡°Indeed I have. Would you care for an accounting, or would you rather head directly to the treasury?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s have a brief accounting first. What are you charging taxes on, how are they collected, and what rates are you charging?¡± Duke laid out his questions smoothly. ¡°I will have to bring in the tax assessor if you have more in-depth question, but I can answer those questions easily enough. We tax loot collected in the city¡¯s dungeon at 15%, goods sold at 5%, and property at 10% of its assessed value each year. These taxes pay for the administration of the city as well as the guards¡¯ salaries.¡± ¡°I see. After all those expenses, what is left over?¡± ¡°Lately, quite a bit. The excess should go to the crown, I would think.¡± ¡°Straight to me? Not put towards the safety and expansion of the city?¡± ¡°We already have that figured into the administration costs.¡± ¡°Very well, let¡¯s hit up the treasury and see what we are working with.¡± A matter of a few minutes and several locked, guarded doors later they arrived at the Treasury with the Tax Assessor in tow. When the door was opened and Duke stepped inside, torches sprung to life ringing the walls of the large chamber. Duke stopped in mid-step at the wealth displayed inside. There were chests overflowing with gold stacked on tiers four high and along an entire wall of the chamber. Before he could say anything, the Tax Assessor looked up from the ledger he was holding, announcing, ¡°Six hundred twenty-seven thousand forty-eight gold coins if you were going to ask.¡± Again, before Duke could respond, an empty chest appeared at the end of the row and several hundred coins fell into it from a briefly opened portal. The Assessor amended looking down at his ledger, ¡°Make that four hundred seventy-eight.¡± ¡°The coins just magically appear here?¡± ¡°Indeed, Your Majesty. The Royal Dungeon Administrator set it up for us. There is a magical arch that everyone entering and exiting the dungeon must pass through. Their taxes are automatically deducted as they exit. It¡¯s amazingly efficient.¡± Royal Dungeon Administrator? Must be Sam¡¯s doing. ¡°And the rest of the taxes?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Oh, those have to be collected the old-fashioned way, Your Grace. In person.¡± ¡°And how does everybody feel about that when you come to collect?¡± ¡°Naturally, they are not particularly happy about it. But they understand it is necessary.¡± ¡°Is it, though? How much tax revenue does the dungeon bring in?¡± ¡°Oh, the dungeon is by far the city¡¯s greatest source of tax revenue.¡± Duke smiled. ¡°Then, perhaps, we should suspend the other forms of taxes for the time being. You clearly have enough reserves already here to sustain the city for quite some time.¡± ¡°But you have yet to take the crown¡¯s share.¡± He protested. ¡°And so I shall. I¡¯ll take three hundred twenty-five thousand gold for the kingdom. Does that seem fair?¡± Duke asked. ¡°That is only about half of the taxes collected for the kingdom. Surely, the kingdom requires more.¡± The Assessor protested much to Duke¡¯s amusement. ¡°Put the rest aside for a future date and spend half of the revenue that comes in on the city. Make it beautiful. Make sure that everyone has a job. Expand the libraries. Create schools for children to learn trades or magic or whatever will help the city stay prosperous. Pay the guards well. These are the things that tax revenue should be spent on.¡± ¡°It shall be as you say, Your Majesty.¡± Mayor Shellenberger said with a broad grin on his face as another cascade of gold hit the last chest. Duke walked over to the chests and made a quick estimate on what would be the three hundred twenty-five thousand gold and pulled it into his INVENTORY. His status page informed him that he was still several hundred gold light, so he gathered more until he met the number, having to toss three gold back at the end. The Assessor marveled at Duke¡¯s accuracy, looking up from his ledger shaking his head. ¡°Three hundred twenty-five thousand gold coins precisely. Remarkable.¡± ¡°I like to think so.¡± Duke quipped. ¡°Remember to suspend the other taxes. I¡¯ll be back at some point to collect another payment for the kingdom. Make this the most beautiful and prosperous city ever!¡± Duke TELEPORTED to the City Hall entrance and stepped through the door and out into the city again. It was a short walk across the square to the Adventurers¡¯ Guild. It, like the City Hall was a stone building, but unlike the marble monstrosity across the square, the guild building was mortared stone blocks roughly fitted together. I wonder if it¡¯s the mortar keeping the building standing rather than those very irregular stone blocks. Duke approached the building noting that people entered and left on a regular basis. He had seen four different groups enter or leave in just the short time it took him to cross the square. He also noted that the groups were all moving with a purpose and were equipped with weapons and armor. Makes sense that adventurers would be coming back and forth from the Adventurers¡¯ Guild, and they would be equipped for the dungeon. I wonder if there is anything else the Adventures do around here. Are there random monsters running around that need to be hunted down? Guess I could just inquire inside, right? The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Duke made his way through the door, dodging a group of adventurers rushing out that barely noticed him and certainly did not recognize him. He smiled and proceeded inside where he was greeted by an attractive young woman who stood behind a counter in the most bored tone he had ever encountered. She did not glance up at him from her ledger but spoke in his general direction with an off-hand wave. ¡°Greetings adventurer. Name, team, and nature of your check-in?¡± Duke decided to play along as he found it rather amusing. ¡°My name is Duke and I have no team. This is my first time here.¡± She didn¡¯t look up, continuing in her distracted tone. ¡°Joining up or looking for someone?¡± ¡°I¡¯m looking for the Guildmaster.¡± ¡°Office hours are on Tuesday and Thursday from noon until dusk.¡± She handed Duke a sheet of paper, still not looking up from her ledger. ¡°Fill this out and an appointment will be set for you. Now move along.¡± The dismissal wasn¡¯t entirely unfriendly, but it was definite. Duke chuckled and moved off to the side. Definitely getting DMV vibes here. A group of five people stepped up to the desk and received the same greeting Duke had. The apparent leader of the group spoke up. ¡°Jenson Swan of the Renegades. We just completed the eighth level.¡± ¡°Your recording stone?¡± She held her hand out without looking up. Jenson placed a small glowing green pebble in it. She examined it for a moment before dropping it in a small hole in her counter. After a brief wave of her hand over the hole, her bracelet pulsed twice. ¡°Return in two hours and your stone will be ready. Any unusual loot to report?¡± ¡°No, ma¡¯am. Primarily gold coins and standard consumables with the typical weapons. Although it does seem like we are getting more loot than in previous weeks.¡± ¡°Very well. Dismissed. Return in two hours for your stone.¡± During the entire exchange she had not looked up from her ledger, her right hand still scratching away at its pages with a quill. The group headed off through a door to the right. When it opened, Duke heard the telltale sounds of a tavern with music and the murmur of multiple conversations flowing out of the door. Silence followed after the door was closed behind the group. Duke stepped further away from the counter into an area that had several chairs set up like a waiting room. He sat down and looked over the form he had been given. It reminded him of every governmental intake form he had ever seen. It took him all of fifteen seconds to decide that he was going to skip this part of the adventure. He walked back over to the desk. Once again, he was greeted with the same message. ¡°Greetings adventurer. Name, team, and nature of your check-in?¡± Duke drummed his fingers on the counter long enough to actually get the woman¡¯s attention. She looked up, thoroughly irritated, ready to blast him with some diatribe but stopped short when she made eye contact. He wasn¡¯t sure she recognized him, but the crown was a bit of a giveaway. Not many could pull of wearing a crown around all day. ¡°I¡¯ll see the Guildmaster now, yes?¡± Duke smiled back at the young woman. She mentally scrambled before responding. ¡°Please wait here a moment, Your Majesty.¡± She rushed off through the door behind the counter. Duke waited almost patiently. She returned nearly breathless after several seconds. ¡°This way, Your Majesty. The Guildmaster will see you now.¡± Duke followed her through the door and up the stairs. The hallway that followed was made of darkly polished wood and gave Duke the sense of an old world bank. The double doors at the end were beautifully carved in what Duke took to be the emblem of the Guild. She opened the doors for him and stepped aside. As Duke entered, he casually handed her the form she had given him. It had three words written in the section for reason of appointment, ¡°I¡¯m the king.¡± She made herself scarce. The Guildmaster¡¯s office was well-appointed and decorated with what appeared to be trophies taken from the city¡¯s dungeon. The Guildmaster stood before her desk. She was strikingly different than anyone Duke had met so far save the Beastkin. She stood about a head shorter than him with broad shoulders and a powerful, athletic build. Her skin was a fascinating shade of greenish blue. She flashed him a smile before offering a deep bow which may or may not have been intended to offer him a look at her cleavage. Regardless, it took away from her overly sharp teeth. ¡°Be welcome in the Adventurers¡¯ Guild of Havenreach, Your Majesty.¡± She straightened up and her pupilless black eyes fixed Duke with curiosity. ¡°Thank you for your welcome.¡± He gestured to the chair behind her desk as he sat in the chair before it. She quickly settled herself down in her own chair. Duke noticed that the chairs were set at differing heights, forcing him to slightly look up to meet her eyes despite their height difference. ¡°This is my first time in the city, and I am looking into all the major establishments.¡± He gestured around himself. ¡°And you seem to be doing rather well for yourself, Guildmaster¡­.¡± Duke trailed off, inviting her to introduce herself. ¡°I am Chal¡¯barnah and, as you have surmised, am the Guildmaster for our adventurers. And I am not ashamed to admit that it has been a rather profitable position.¡± ¡°Tell me about it. How does it all work and what makes it so profitable.¡± Duke prompted. ¡°Yes, You Majesty. The Guild provides services for our members in support of delving into the City¡¯s dungeon. We provide maps, training, supplies, information, and even guides if requested. Yes, we do charge a membership fee and have a small tax on all dungeon loot in exchange. It truly is a situation where everyone wins.¡± ¡°What if someone wants to run the dungeon without the support of the Guild?¡± ¡°They are welcome to, but the survival rate is at least 40% higher with Guild training. We aren¡¯t going to stop anyone from venturing on their own and there are a number of successful individuals who delve without Guild membership. But they are the exception. Roughly half of the non-affiliated who enter the dungeon perish. It¡¯s not for the faint of heart for sure.¡± ¡°Tell me about the taxes and fees.¡± ¡°We charge a straight 10% tax on all dungeon loot and the membership fee is 10 silvers per month for a basic membership.¡± ¡°So, you and the City combine to take 25% of all the loot your members secure from the dungeon. That seems like a bit much.¡± ¡°Please ask our members how they feel about it. You will see they are quite happy with the relationship. Especially with the survivor¡¯s fund. We place 2% of all taxes collected into a fund to support the families of fallen adventurers. Regardless of whether you die on your first delve or your hundredth, your family will be taken care of. And considering the recent spike in loot retrieved, everyone seems to be even more happy.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure how I feel about it all just yet but taking care of families seems like a worthy idea. How did you become the Guildmaster, by the way?¡± She chuckled. ¡°Have you seen me? I really don¡¯t fit in with what most people consider ¡®normal¡¯ and that¡¯s fine. I¡¯ve had to learn to live with being feared most of my life. It made me tougher than everybody else. I learned how to fight and how to take care of myself at an early age. It was that and a drive to prove myself that saw me to be the first person to complete the dungeon back in the early days. The job, and this building, came as a reward for doing so.¡± ¡°You won the job then.¡± ¡°Yes, but afterwards people kept coming to me for advice on how to delve. One thing led to another and here we are with a fully-established and official Guild. Please feel free to poke around or even send an agent to do so for you. I don¡¯t have time or the will to play political games or to try and pull one over on anybody. Least of all, my King.¡± Either my XENOGLOSSIA is on the fritz, or she is being completely honest with me. I¡¯ll go with the hopeful answer and trust that she is being honest. Duke nodded to himself and stood, extending a hand to Chal¡¯barah. ¡°Thank you for your time and your straightforward and honest answers. I wish the best of luck to you and your Guildmembers.¡± ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty. If you would like a guided delve, I would be happy to arrange one for you with our most experienced group.¡± She took his hand and shook it, seemingly unsure of the proper protocol. Duke chuckled. ¡°I have no idea what the proper protocol is either. I wasn¡¯t exactly trained to be a king but we all do what we can, right? And no thank you on the guided dungeon run. There¡¯s nothing in there that could possibly hurt me.¡± He left with that enigmatic statement, leaving the city itself shortly thereafter. Book 2, Chapter 36 - What Have I been Sucked Into This Time? When Duke exited the portal, he felt the transit disorientation hit him far worse than when he went in. He recovered in a moment and without pausing, he went right over and into the Inn. ¡°Sam, I have questions for you!¡± Sam appeared next to Duke. ¡°What can I help you with, Duke?¡± ¡°What is the time difference in the dungeon city?¡± ¡°It¡¯s currently running at 25 to 1.¡± ¡°And for how long has it been running at 25 to 1?¡± ¡°Only for the past two weeks. Not that long.¡± Duke fixed his anger on Sam. ¡°Turn it back down.¡± ¡°But why? They are all growing so quickly. My Mana gains are the fastest I have ever seen. Did you know that the city dungeon already has thirteen levels? Thirteen, Duke! At this rate, I¡¯ll be able to bud off another seed in maybe another week, perhaps even faster. Think of the possibilities!¡± ¡°Sam, what happens to anyone who leaves the dungeon city and goes back after two days?¡± ¡°Nothing. They will be perfectly fine.¡± ¡°No, they will find almost two months have passed for everyone else. The confusion alone will be a terrible strain. You have to stop it.¡± ¡°If you say so, I will. But nobody leaves the dungeon city. It¡¯s too idyllic of a place. Food is plentiful, everyone can grow as they want. Magic is prevalent. Natural and magical resources are everywhere. Crime is virtually nonexistent. They have a dungeon to adventure in and beasts in the wilds to hunt down. Why would they want to leave?¡± Is it really all that bad? They will quickly become a different society all their own, but is that so terrible? It¡¯s true that people seemed happy there except the clerk at the guild, she seemed bored to death. They are producing tax revenue like mad so that could support the entire kingdom until I get everything back on track. It just seems wrong to seal them in like this. It¡¯s not a prison and even my PURPOSE doesn¡¯t think they are trapped. Damnit! I need to talk to someone. I didn¡¯t even look for Elaine and Grat in there. ¡°Fine. Keep it running, but if things start to go wrong, slow it down to normal time immediately. Is that understood?¡± ¡°Yes, of course. No problem.¡± ¡°One more question. Are you, or did you create the Royal Dungeon Administrator in there?¡± ¡°One of my favorite creations. You didn¡¯t meet him though. I would have known about that. Made it really easy to set things up for the city¡¯s taxes and all that.¡± ¡°I¡¯m reserving judgement, but it seems to be working out well. I just can¡¯t get rid of a nagging feeling that something is just not right with it all.¡± Sam did not respond, leaving Duke alone with his thoughts. After some contemplation and getting more and more frustrated, Duke headed out of the Inn looking for something to vent his frustration on. He quickly realized that the area for at least ten kilometers around the Inn had been cleared of monsters and he would have to go elsewhere to find something to vent his frustrations on. He TELEPORTED. *** Duke found himself in the Wildheart Refuge once again. His sudden appearance outside the Council Chambers caused a flurry of activity as several beastkin panicked at the sudden appearance of a human in their midst. The Chamber guards stiffened, and then launched into action, drawing weapons and preparing for a fight. Duke quickly found himself surrounded by armed and twitchy beastkin. He stood still, his face impassive. Maybe I should have found a better way to get here without scaring the ever living shit out of their guards. Hindsight is 20/20 after all. Just chill and wait for Council Members to come out and get it all settled down. Duke did not have to wait long before Snarlheart came charging out of the Council building ready for a fight with Emberclaw hot on his heels. The two councilors slid to a stop as they reached the circle of guards, having recognized Duke. Emberclaw broke out in laughter, quickly followed by Snarlheart. ¡°Duke, you have awful timing. Guards, stand down. This human is known to us and is a friend of the beastkin.¡± The guards glared at Duke for a moment longer before returning to their posts. ¡°Awful timing? Am I interrupting something?¡± Duke was confused and concerned. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°You could say that.¡± Emberclaw answered. ¡°We are in the middle of a war council and your sudden appearance here nearly set everyone off!¡± Snarlheart added, ¡°Duke, come in and join our Council meeting. Your perspective may actually be helpful.¡± The two leaders escorted Duke beyond the irritated guards who visibly still had their hackles up. Duke nodded at the guards and restrained himself from delivering a quip. Barely. The Council chamber was full. There were far more beastkin in there than Duke had seen the last time he was in this same room. Every single eye was on Duke immediately. Gasps and growls were in equal measure. ¡°You bring a human into this council of war? This goes too far Emberclaw!¡± ¡°The enemy in our very own chambers! Outrage!¡± Dozens of other voices spoke up in argument and protest over Duke¡¯s presence. Duke, for his part, let it all unfold around him having no real idea what was going on. All he knew for sure was that this was a war council and most seemed alarmed at his presence. First guess is that there is another problem with humans but I¡¯ll just chill until somebody tells me what¡¯s going on. Duke¡¯s musings and all the arguments going on around him were interrupted by a loud trumpet from an elephant beastkin. ¡°Thank you, Thornbloom.¡± Emberclaw spoke up. ¡°Now, everyone settle down. This human is Duke and he is a friend to the beastkin. He came to us some time ago seeking friendship and a possible alliance. Now that we are in a time of need, he comes to us yet again in friendship to help defend our lands. And you have the callousness to treat him like an enemy. Be ashamed of yourselves!¡± Help defend their lands? I wanted some action but jumping into a war ¨C that wasn¡¯t on the agenda. Clever fucking maneuvering Emberclaw. Now I have to help fight or I can kiss all the goodwill goodbye. Damn, I need some political tutoring from her. She¡¯s more savvy and slick than any politician I have ever seen! Heads bowed at the admonition and Emberclaw took Duke¡¯s hand, leading him to her Council Chair. ¡°Stand beside me, my friend and ally and let us together hear what the scouts have to report.¡± As Duke did just that he felt a tug at his waist. Looking down, he spotted Nibblesworth next to him. The mousekin gave him a beaming smile and a thumbs-up. Duke returned the smile before turning his attention back to the scouts¡¯ report. When Duke looked back up the scouts began their report to the Council. ¡°Councilors and¡­guest. We have scouted the approaching forces. These numbers are not exact but are as close as we could count. They have two thousand cavalry, ten thousand infantry, three thousand archers, dozens of war engines, and maybe a dozen or more giantfolk. They will reach our lands within four days.¡± The chamber erupted in bedlam at the report. Duke leaned down to ask Emberclaw. ¡°Is that a lot? Folks seem to be worried.¡± She shot him a glare that he read as a mix of amazement and annoyance. Again, the elephantine beastkin silenced the crowd with a loud blast from his trunk. Emberclaw turned to Snarlheart. ¡°What is the status of our forces?¡± ¡°We have but two thousand troops ready to fight. Even if we dig in, they won¡¯t be enough to hold off a force that large.¡± Duke stepped forward before the panic could rush through the chamber again. Fuck it. In for a penny, In for a pound. ¡°Let me go talk to the approaching forces on your behalf. I will persuade them to leave you alone.¡± A weaselkin shouted, ¡°Send the human!¡± It took all of three seconds for most of the chamber to shout some sort of agreement. Most were along the line of sending Duke to deal with his own kind. Emberclaw nodded at Duke with a look of sorrow in her eyes. ¡°Do be careful, friend. This is not a gentle enemy you face. Let¡¯s discuss a few things before you go.¡± Emberclaw and Snarlheart took Duke to her office for a chat. ¡°Duke, you have placed yourself in a precarious position.¡± Snarlheart joined in. ¡°I know you can fight well, but this is an entire army of hardened warriors approaching. They will have mages and they even have giantkin with them. A mountain giant for fur¡¯s sake! I know our forces can¡¯t match theirs, but I would not see a worthy man such as yourself sacrifice himself so needlessly.¡± Duke smiled. ¡°If I can¡¯t convince them to turn back, I have more options than they can handle. I can have another ten thousand troops here in two days if needed. Probably more. That many emplaced troops can hold off the approaching army. They would be from the Thrice Blessed Legion and they have all seen combat already. But first, I will talk to them and convince them to leave.¡± ¡°They come to eradicate us, Duke. They will not listen. They have slain every ambassador and emissary we have sent. Negotiation is not possible with these people.¡± Emberclaw shook her head. Duke dismissed her concern. ¡°If they want to fight, I will give them a fight they will not soon forget. When first I came here, I sought allies and trading partners. You,¡± He gave Emberclaw a nod, ¡°welcomed me and treated with me fairly. You were kind of a dick.¡± He smiled at Snarlheart. ¡°But you came around. Since then, I have conquered a kingdom and now sit on its throne. As a king, I cannot. Will not, turn my back on an ally in their time of need.¡± ¡°I would not ask you to do so. The risk is too great¡± Emberclaw countered. ¡°What would happen to our alliance should you fall?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ve faced down all sorts of scary things before. I assure you that I am far scarier than they are when I want to be. Do you have a map that you can show me where they are and where they are headed?¡± Snarlheart nodded and tried to send his map information to Duke but became puzzled when he couldn¡¯t. ¡°Why can¡¯t I send my map to you, Duke?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have a functional map right now. Just another thing about me that doesn¡¯t work like everybody else. Can you draw it out for me?¡± An hour later, Duke had enough of an idea of landmarks and directions that he was comfortable heading out. He flew upwards from outside the Council chambers. He could tell that there were still mixed emotions amongst the crowd. The majority were simply afraid, but there were some that simply mistrusted him and some that were placing their hope in Duke¡¯s success. He was leaning into the emotions of the latter group. He kept his flight speed reasonably slow as he approached the area of the approaching army. From above, he could tell that the estimates on troop strength were low. Either more troops had joined, or they just miscounted by half. With jaw set, he began his descent to start ¡°negotiations.¡± Book2, Chapter 37 - Swords. Why did it have to be Swords? Wreathed in crackling LIGHNING, Duke plummeted at extremely high speed towards the ground in front of the advancing army. He descended in a glowing, crackling streak like a stroke of wrath from the heavens themselves. An instant before he slammed into the ground, he TELEPORTED three centimeters off the ground, shedding all his momentum to land in a perfect 3-point hero pose while unleashing the LIGHTNING all around himself in an expanding explosion. Those in the immediate area were thrown back from the shockwave. The thunderclap echoed across the open plain, gathering the attention of everyone who had not witnessed his descent. Those that saw him were struck with awe as the dust cloud cleared and a man rose to his feet completely unaffected by his entrance thanks to a quick CLEANSE and RESTORE combo while the dust cloud dispersed. The entire marching column ground to a halt, stacking up as those in front did not want to approach this descended god and those in back pressed forward to see what the light show was all about. Duke looked at the nearly cowering men in front of him and spoke plainly and simply. ¡°Take me to your commanders. I would speak with them.¡± The line of troops split in a disorganized mess as a mounted figure tentatively approached. The troops themselves stepped further backwards, putting fearful distance between themselves and Duke who kept LIGHTNING crackling in his eyes. It reduced his visual acuity some but with his DUNGEON SENSE running as well, he was able to see everything going on around him. His XENOGLOSSIA picked up the fear overshadowing the arrogance of the rider from the set of his jaw, the tension with which he held his reins, and the subtle involuntary twitch of his left eyelid. The man¡¯s voice nearly cracked as he spoke but he somehow managed to hold himself together enough to deliver his opening line. ¡°Who are you and what do you want?¡± Not the best opening line there bub. Showing your fear and delivering this weak a line¡­no wonder your troops are trembling from my entrance. It was pretty cool though. ¡°You are not the leader of this rabble. You are just the closest thing they had this near to the front of the column. I would speak to your true leader. Take me to them. Now!¡± While speaking, Duke began to hover off the ground as if standing on the same soil as his lessers was offensive. Occasional arcs of LIGHTNING snapped to the ground around Duke. He stared down the mounted soldier and saw the moment the man caved, quickly followed by the turning of his horse to lead Duke back through the troops. As he followed, Duke leaned into his senses and a very liberal use of IDENTIFY to get an idea of the troops around him. The more he looked, the more bewildered he became. The troops were mostly leveled in the teens with an occasional one in the twenties and none of them seemed to hold a true combat class ¨C these were farmers, craftsmen, and laborers. But the most interesting aspect was that their gear was all extremely high quality. Duke pondered what that meant as he continued to examine the troops he passed by. An occasional arc of LIGHTNING struck the ground near soldiers¡¯ feet, causing them to push back even further. Duke did his best to look impassive, ignoring the arcs as if it was just automatic or random and not directed. Without his DUNGEON SENSE running, he would have not been able to maintain his indifferent demeanor and still be able to strike with accuracy. It took fifteen minutes to arrive at what Duke assumed was their command tent. A few tent poles were leaning in odd directions and soldiers struggled with ropes, attempting to secure the temporary structure. Duke smiled inwardly as the haste spoke of panic and that was entirely what he was aiming for in this case. He wanted them to fear him, fear what they didn¡¯t know or understand. If he could get the army to leave without having to shed blood, it was a great political win. If not, he was ready to cut loose and see where the pieces fall. He had poured excessive Mana into his LASTING DISGUISE Ability but had not changed his appearance at all. What he had attempted to do was mask his own information. Since the Ability had a duration of at least a day, he felt comfortable pouring nearly his entire Mana pool into it before setting out hopeful that it would work. Regardless, he had plenty of time to regen his Mana on the way to the army. Standing around the tent in a show of force were the giantkin. There was a single mountain giant that towered over everything, standing nearly 30 meters tall. The next tallest of the giantkin was a giant troll of some sort that stood a mere 10 meters tall. The rest, Duke thought of as ogres as they were only 4 to 5 meters tall. In all, there were 15 of them and they would be an intimidating sight for most anyone. All the giantkin wielded swords of comparable size. Duke pointedly ignored them except for the disdainful glance he took when he fired off his IDENTIFY Ability on the mountain giant. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. *** You have encountered Gormak the mountain giant. Tier: 5 Level: 192 Health: 1,204,328 Mana: 47,196 You have overcome Gormak¡¯s resistance and have determined that his physical characteristics far outweigh his mental ones. He is immensely strong and heavily resistant to physical damage but is substantially weak to mental attacks. *** Duke dismissed the giant immediately afterwards, realizing that he was the perfect counter to the brute, or at least he hoped he was. He maintained his ¡°floating on electricity¡± appearance as he was led to the command tent. A guard pulled aside the tent flap as the nearly quivering rider turned aside and quickly bolted away. Duke smiled briefly before entering the tent. Inside, there were a few decorations and some bits of furniture but nowhere near as much as Duke had expected. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was the hasty set-up or if this was how things normally were in this tent. The crooked portrait of an armored man pushed Duke¡¯s thoughts to the former. The self-same individual sat in a chair behind a desk attempting to look nonchalant at Duke¡¯s entry and appearance. Duke did not allow the man to speak or posture before cutting right to his own posturing. ¡°Your army approaches the nation of the Wildheart Refuge. They are a peaceful nation and have no quarrel with you. Why do you seek quarrel with them?¡± ¡°They are an abomination before the gods! Half man, half beast. All monsters! They don¡¯t even use proper swords but attack with claws and fangs. They must be eradicated in the name of the purity of the blade!¡± ¡°Is that truly what you believe? Is that the sick, twisted belief of your entire nation? Or did you somehow force these farmers and laborers that you stuffed into fancy armor and handed weapons that they don¡¯t know how to use to follow your insane dogma?¡± The man stood, emboldened. ¡°The holy army before you is unstoppable. The faithful will wash this filth from the face of Teldin. Such is the will of Vithshrek!¡± ¡°Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me. He sent some upstart off half-cocked to attack my friends? Well, how about no. Turn your ass back around and go home right now!¡± ¡°We will do no such thing! Who are you to think you can comman-¡° The man didn¡¯t finish his sentence before his head landed on the ground at his feet. ¡°I¡¯m Duke. King Duke to you. And this conversation was getting us nowhere.¡± Duke growled in frustration as he turned back towards the tent entrance. ¡°Fucking fanatics. Religious fanatics, no less. Why does it always have to be fanatics?¡± He stepped out through the tent, allowing his LIGHTNING to burn its way through the cloth. The guards reacted with alarm. First from seeing Duke casually float through the tent flap leaving it a burning mess and secondly upon seeing their leader¡¯s headless body. Swords were drawn and the guards very pointedly attempted to cut Duke down where he floated. Duke poured extra Mana into both his ARMOR SKIN and his LIGHTNING to bolster the aura he had created. The blades connected with Duke as he was not dodging at all, but two things happened. First, Duke¡¯s ARMOR SKIN, even though bolstered by his Mana Enhancement, proved insufficient to completely stop the sword blows. The swords dug into the flesh of his torso but not deeply to cause any critical injuries. The second thing that happened was that the LIGHTNING aura explosively discharged down the length of the swords, through the bodies of the guards and to the ground. The result of all this was that the swords themselves melted as they were blasted away from Duke¡¯s flesh that immediately began to REGENERATE and the pair of guards dropped to the ground, their only movement residual involuntary twitching. Duke floated higher, until he was at eye-level with Gormak. ¡°This war upon the innocent has been declared unjust! Your leader has paid the price with his life. Two more guards have likewise paid with their lives. Return to your homes and end the bloodshed here.¡± Duke laid it on thick. He didn¡¯t want to have to fight everyone here but if he had to, he was ready to do so. The first answer he received was an earthshattering growl that sounded somewhat like the word ¡°Die,¡± but Duke didn¡¯t have time to parse it out as an enormous sword was plummeting towards the ground with him floating dead-center of its target. He TELEPORTED instinctively, winding up 10 meters behind where he had been floating and on the ground again. It seemed that Gormak wanted to play. Unfortunately for the few other soldiers who were trying to close ranks around Duke, he played rough. They were all sent flying from the shockwave of the impact. Of course, the mountain giant wants to play. And he seems to have some sort of enchanted sword. Lovely. Duke responded to the sword strike with a 100,000 Mana TELEPORT attack. He was not terribly surprised when it didn¡¯t work. Despite the weak mental stats, the giant was still a Tier 5 monster and that significantly bumped up its resistances. Duke settled in for a longer fight, channeling additional Mana into his ARMOR SKIN as he suddenly realized that the entire army had decided to attack. He smiled as swords bounced off his skin, the regular troops having neither the level, stats, nor the skill to cause enough damage. Restoring his LIGHTNING aura, he considered his list of area of effect Abilities and realized that the list was rather short consisting of LIGHTNING, ICE, FORCE, and HOLD UNDEAD. Since he had been using LIGHTNING so far, he decided to mix things up and released a wave of FORCE to push everyone away as he took to the air to deal with the towering giant. This might be a long slog. Best to conserve some Mana and let it regen. Tonfa strikes will have to do for now. Duke retrieved his Tonfa from his INVENTORY and flew straight at the giant ready to get things started for real. Book 2, Chapter 38 - The Bigger They Are... Closing with the massive giant, Duke circled his head, striking with his tonfa at every soft part he could see. The giant flailed around with its empty hand trying to swat Duke out of the air, growling in frustration as his sword was useless at this range. Duke was likewise frustrated seeing that the giant¡¯s Health was going down, but maddeningly slowly. Every hit took off hundreds of Health but the giant had over one million Health to start. The only benefit that Duke immediately realized was that other soldiers that attacked him with their ranged weapons missed him and struck the giant far more often than not. This added to the giant¡¯s roaring frustration. After minutes of this game, Duke¡¯s Mana was completely topped off. The giant, however, seemed to be even more angry than ever. The enraged swings became more and more erratic, any technique the giant may have been employing having fallen to the wayside. He slapped at Duke with his hands, having dropped his sword as the annoying hits started to accumulate. Duke started to pour LIGHTNING into his strikes, dramatically increasing the damage each blow did. Despite the giant¡¯s considerable resistance, Duke was now doing more than 30,000 damage with each strike but that still wasn¡¯t going to finish the giant off anytime soon. When magic attacks started to pelt him, Duke decided that it was time to step things up and end play time. He launched himself vertically, quickly rising several kilometers in the cloudless sky. He was high enough that his DUNGEON SENSE was useless, so he deactivated it. He also cleared the LIGHTNING from his eyes to open his vision up. From this height it wasn¡¯t easy to see, but he could tell that the army was largely bunched up like the undisciplined mass he had determined them to be. I really don¡¯t want to kill all the farmers and laborers even if they are part of this army. I¡¯m going to take out their biggest threat and see where that leads us. As he prepared, a lance of golden energy flashed upwards towards him, causing him to TELEPORT half a kilometer to the side to avoid it. The blast was as wide as a city bus and sizzled with an unknown energy. When he looked down, the giant was glowing and had its sword pointed at the sky where Duke had just been. The blast had been incredible, and Duke was very glad he wasn¡¯t there to receive it. As he readjusted his plan, another blast came right for him again forcing him to TELEPORT to another spot. I gotta admit that those blasts are shockingly impressive. Has to be some divine power flowing through them. I have to be just as flashy or somehow equally impressive. A massive LIGHTNING strike would do the trick but that would arc through the gathered crowd. Plan B it is! He changed location a few more times, getting the timing down for the Ability cooldown of the giant¡¯s blasts. Duke prepared himself for the next blast and launched himself downward after TELEPORTING away from the blast. He poured on the speed, reaching mach three in under two seconds, removing dozens of blades from his INVENTORY before TELEPORTING away once again. Man, TELEPORTATION is just broken the way it cuts all momentum like that. Not that I¡¯m complaining. Duke watched as his barrage of blades slammed into the giant at an obscene speed. He remarked, adding his own color commentary to the fight. ¡°This world may operate on magic but it also seems to give a nod to the physics of motion in this case. Just watch as these hyper-fast weapons strike home!¡± And strike home they did. Not every blade struck the giant, but enough did to leave grievous wounds straight through its skull and face. The remaining blades struck the ground hard enough to completely bury themselves in their impact craters. Duke smiled as the giant dropped his sword and collapsed to the ground with a tremendous boom. First the giant collapsed to its knees with a completely blank expression on its face. It paused in that position as if its body was waiting for nerve signals from its brain to tell it what to do. Finally, the giant collapsed to the ground as soldiers scattered from the impact. Duke landed just beyond where the giant¡¯s head had come to rest and waited for the full reaction from the army. The majority of the giantkin decided they had had enough and started unhurriedly walking away. The rest of the army rallied behind a single leader on horseback until Duke fixed the man with a stare and raised his right hand towards him with a single finger pointed. Duke offered a single line. ¡°Go home.¡± It was delivered with the full force of his Psyche and seemed to strike hard. Almost as one, their morale broke and the conscripted soldiers quit the field. Most shed their armor and swords as they left, leaving it all behind like a bad memory. Duke waited until they had left and toured the area, pulling all the equipment and much of the giant¡¯s body into his INVENTORY before heading back to the Wildheart Refuge. This time, he didn¡¯t TELEPORT in but rather flew in, gently descending to the square before the Council Chambers. Snarlheart met him with a look of concern. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°I do not know what happened out there, but we saw many flashes of light and heard some strange sounding thunder. We were all concerned for your safety. I am glad to see that you seem to be OK.¡± ¡°Yes, my friend. I am fine and I appreciate your concern. It seems the army has decided to quit the field.¡± ¡°Just like that?¡± Emberclaw chimed in. ¡°Well, the leader was some sort of religious sword fanatic that really wanted you all dead. I rather like having you all alive, so we had quite the disagreement. He completely lost his head over it all. And then his mountain giant entered the argument. Once he finally got all my points, he gave in. Then the rest of the army decided it was time to go home.¡± ¡°Something tells me that you are leaving quite a bit out of that story.¡± Emberclaw gave Duke a penetrating stare. He only smiled in response. ¡°So, the threat is passed? The danger is over?¡± Nibblesworth joined the conversation. Duke wasn¡¯t sure where the mousekin had come from but was happy to see him as well. ¡°Yes, I sent the army home. Or at least whatever was left of it. Besides a few of them, they were all bluster but little substance. You would have been able to handle them easily.¡± ¡°What makes you so sure of that?¡± Snarlheart asked. ¡°I¡¯ve fought you before. I know what you are capable of doing. The army consisted mostly of well-equipped farmers and laborers. They would have crumbled against any real resistance.¡± ¡°We thank you for showing just how valuable an ally you are, King Duke. We will find some way to pay you back for this. Is there anything you need?¡± ¡°Actually, there is. Since my kingdom is just starting to recover from war and the ravages of an insane despot, what we need most right now is tools and raw materials to get our crafters back in business.¡± ¡°That is something we can gladly help you with.¡± Emberclaw smiled. ¡°Come with me and I will show you to our tool warehouse. Take whatever you need. Empty it if it will help your kingdom. You have certainly helped our nation.¡± The warehouse was moderately-sized but was full to bursting with various common tools and a fair number of specialized tools which Duke happily pulled the entirety of into his INVENTORY to bring back with him. Emberclaw smiled when she saw the slightly guilty look on his face. ¡°Do not concern yourself, Duke. I was serious when I said to empty the warehouse. We have many more crafters among our number than are needed. For some reason, it seems every bearkin wants to be a smith which is great when another crafter needs a new or different tool, but it gets a bit overwhelming when we get hundreds of excess tools a week. If our excess can aid our ally who came to us unbidden in our time of need, it gladdens my heart.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll not feel guilty about taking all the tools. But I will give you this.¡± Duke handed Emberclaw one of the long-range Jewels of Whispers. ¡°You should be able to contact me with it should you need me. Just speak into it and concentrate on reaching me. If I¡¯m not too far away, I¡¯ll respond.¡± ¡°Thank you, Duke. I hope to not have to use it, but it is good to have.¡± After meeting with the rest of the Council to receive their thanks and confirmation of their alliance, Duke headed back to the Inn for the night. Once he realized that Aurelia was still tending to the Legion, he redirected himself her way, firing off a CLEANSE and RESTORE before departing, wanting to look his best before seeing her again. He found her at the Legion headquarters in the middle of a meeting with people he did not recognize. Maybe I should not burst in and instead let her finish her meeting. I¡¯ve got one more person to track down anyway. Duke began his search for Lady Hargwaetch since his INVENTORY was just brimming with things for her. The sun was setting by the time his inquiries had finally allowed him to track her down in her office within the castle. That was a bloody idiotic search. Next time, try looking for someone in the place they are supposed to be first! If nothing else, it allowed me to take an impromptu tour of the city and verify the one thing we need above all else ¨C people. There are so many beautifully RESTORED buildings that stand vacant, I have to do something about it but I¡¯m not sure what just yet. I need help with all this. I can¡¯t run a kingdom by myself. His thoughts were interrupted by finally making it to Lady Hargwaetch¡¯s office. He knocked on the door and waited for a response. ¡°Come in!¡± Her voice was clear but also was clearly fatigued. Duke entered her office and she immediately perked up. ¡°Your Majesty. How may I serve?¡± She rose from her chair in a bow as she spoke. Duke quietly closed the door behind himself and took a seat, gesturing for her to do the same. Your original request was for a caravan to seek out tools and supplies for our crafters, was it not?¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. I am still lining up members for the caravan, but it should be ready to depart in the next two weeks.¡± ¡°That¡¯s excellent news. While working on some separate diplomatic items, I secured a large shipment of tools. Do you have a place secured like a warehouse to store them?¡± ¡°We have seventeen warehouses that stand empty right now. Take your pick.¡± She pushed her map information to Duke, frowning when it didn¡¯t transfer over.¡± Duke sighed, reading the all-too-familiar look on her face. ¡°You¡¯re trying to send me map information, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty. But it isn¡¯t working for some reason.¡± Confusion clouded her features. ¡°Yes, for some reason, my map is locked from receiving input from others. Just ell me where one of the warehouses is located and I¡¯ll have the tools delivered there.¡± ¡°Sure. The most convenient one is behind the main market square. It used to be filled with food but there is precious little of that left.¡± ¡°We have a food shortage? Of course we have a food shortage. Is there anything we have in excess?¡± ¡°Empty buildings. We have plenty of those.¡± She offered up a small smile. Duke returned it. ¡°Thank you. Adjust the caravan requirements as I think we will be all set with tools for the near-term.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± Duke departed, heading for his Throne Room to make sure he wasn¡¯t missing anything there. He found Aurealia waiting for him. Suddenly his day felt even better. Book 2, Chapter 39 - Spreading the Wealth Duke awoke the next day in full snuggle and he couldn¡¯t be happier about that situation. The feel of Aurelia against him was a comfort against the whirling insanity of his world. He luxuriated in the feeling. And then his notifications hit. *** Oh, what fun for a new king. You solidified an alliance with another nation. How exciting. And you chose a kingdom that couldn¡¯t even defend itself. Brilliant. So, let¡¯s run through this: you have taken over a kingdom that doesn¡¯t have enough people left to fill its capitol city and allied with a nation that can¡¯t defend itself. Such amazing decision-making skills! But at least you found a fight against a foe that was higher tier than you. That should have at least been entertaining. Nope. You made that boring too. At least you did so while defying a local god. You didn¡¯t see his reaction, but I¡¯ll tell you this ¨C it was the most entertaining thing all day long. Anyway, your Skills and Abilities did see some gains: Dodge increased to Practiced 54 Aerial Maneuvering increased to Initiate 40 Martial Arts Combat increased to Adept 27 Diplomacy increased to Initiate 15 Tonfa Mastery increased to Adept 104 TELEPORTATON increased to Adept 119 REGENERATION increased to Adept 69 LASTING DISGUISE ranked up to Initiate 4 LIGHTNING increased to Practiced 74 OVERCHANNEL increased to Adept 22 FORCE increased to Initiate 16 CLEANSE increased to Practiced 10 RESTORE increased to Master 51 IDENTIFY increased to Initiate 24 INVENTORY increased to Practiced 7 ARMOR SKIN increased to Adept 10 FLIGHT increased to Practiced 27 COMBAT SENSE increased to Initiate 20 DUNGEON SENSE increased to Adept 65 You¡¯re a king now. Go conquer the world or something. And keep pissing off the local gods. That¡¯s fun to watch. You did kill a few opponents and sent an entire army packing so that counts for something when it comes to experience. Here, have 420,200. You are now level 128 and have 48 Characteristic Points to spend. *** Fucking annoying bastard right there. *** They are watching you closely but still only see what I want them to see in the dungeons. They are continuing to hold out on you. They took half the experience you earned for themselves. It is time for me to step things up a bit more. They are too comfortable using you like they have all along so I am going to make them give you what they have held back one way or another. Your next set of notifications should be a bit different. Expect to receive credit for things you have not done but don¡¯t worry about it. They have a huge experience bill to pay you and I am going to see it settled before I completely break their hold on you. Continue to grow, help my dungeons grow, and we shall see to your freedom! *** Oh shit, the Overmind is getting serious. I had better be ready for the backlash when this all comes to a head. How the hell do I get ready for backlash from beings who laugh at gods? Duke continued with his day by reluctantly extricating himself from Aurelia leaving her with a CLEANSE and RESTORE. He made his way downstairs, surprised that she was still asleep after he got up. That must have been one hell of a draining meeting if she¡¯s this tired. I¡¯ll have to ask her about it. Breakfast was brief but he was ready to get his day going. He needed to check in with Madrigal and see what the restored Duke had been up to. Duke had a sincere hope that the man had managed to get things going and could take some more concerns off his plate. As he headed for the door, Sam intercepted him. ¡°Good morning, Duke. Can I borrow you for a few minutes please?¡± ¡°Sure, what¡¯s on your mind?¡± Duke immediately noticed that Sam was leading him to the secret entrance where his core chamber was located. Duke¡¯s level of interest and concern began to rise as he was silently led into the core chamber yet again. ¡°So, I¡¯m sure you are wondering why I brought you here again.¡± ¡°A fair guess.¡± ¡°The Overmind has tasked me to create some new levels to the training dungeon. It struck me as odd since there are very few actually using the training dungeon right now but when the Overmind speaks, I listen.¡± ¡°OK, so what does that have to do with me?¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°There is another task that you are being asked to complete. Planting another dungeon core.¡± ¡°Wait, I thought that you wouldn¡¯t be able to bud another one for at least a week. Why are you ready to do so now? Did half of the dungeon city die?¡± ¡°Nothing like that. The Overmind changed some of my parameters which allows me to bud faster. I can make a new core every day if necessary. It will be a bigger drain on my Mana but as long as the dungeon city continues as it has, and no, half the city didn¡¯t die, I should continue to grow albeit at a somewhat slowed pace.¡± ¡°And did the Overmind say where he wanted me to plant this core? I¡¯m running out of secure locations rather quickly.¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t say. But I¡¯m sure you will find an ideal spot for it.¡± ¡°Anything particular about this core I should know about then?¡± ¡°It will be stronger than normal so it can handle more Mana from the start than an average core. You can think of it as starting as a tier two core.¡± ¡°OK, I guess I can handle that. How much Mana will it be able to handle being poured into it before planting? The previous one was able to handle 6,000 Mana before I planted it without showing any strain.¡± ¡°This one will be at least an order of magnitude greater than the previous one. You could invest 100,000 Mana into it, and I am sure it would be fine. Possibly more, but let¡¯s not push it too far just yet. Do you have a location for this one in mind?¡± ¡°I have a possibility or two but I¡¯m not sure if it will be welcomed in the first place I am thinking of. I may have to reserve that for a later core. And, you know that I¡¯m going to have to start planting these in the wild if you keep budding them off this quickly.¡± ¡°We are well aware and that is a risk we will have to take. The dungeon energy of this world is insufficient for what the Overmind plans on doing so it is up to us to grow it.¡± ¡°And just what is it that the Overmind is planning?¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t tell me.¡± ¡°This is going to suck for me, isn¡¯t it? I¡¯m going to have increased power but at much increased risk. I can¡¯t zip all over the planet defending dungeons left and right.¡± Sam¡¯s voice changed, becoming something otherworldly. ¡°Why can¡¯t you? Is it because the twin elders have restricted you in so many ways that you are not even aware of? Don¡¯t be concerned, Duke. My plan will set you free from their control, take you out of their game of manipulation. This is all for your benefit in the short term. Before you ask, yes this benefits me in the long term even while benefiting you still. Imagine the power you would gain when you have planted hundreds of cores, and your title fully tiers up giving you a five percent increase per core planted instead of the one percent you receive now.¡± ¡°Titles can tier up?¡± ¡°Some can. This one will since I designed it that way. Now, go help the LFD with their new core. I have business elsewhere.¡± Duke could plainly see the change when the Overmind¡¯s presence left Sam¡¯s form. Sam shook his head and continued speaking. ¡°I don¡¯t think you are going to have to defend all the dungeons. Most will be able to defend themselves after a while. And many will prove so useful to the populace that has forgotten what they are that they will be protected like the assets they are.¡± He nodded to Sam in response. ¡°You¡¯re probably right. Having dungeons for people to adventure in will lead to many good things I bet. Maybe we can create a resource-dungeon. Is there any way to influence what kind of dungeon a core becomes?¡± Sam thought about it for a long moment before answering. ¡°I really don¡¯t know the answer to that one. It might be possible but I would have no idea on how to do such a thing. Anyway, my core is about to bud. Please be ready to catch it like last time.¡± Duke moved over to the core itself and saw it start to bud like the last time. This time it seemed to be moving faster than before. The bud glowed with a pulsing blue light and Duke readied himself to catch it when it fell. It practically leaped into his hands when it finally did pop off the core gem making catching it a simple affair. Duke immediately began to pour Mana into the new core, quickly restoring its blue glow. ¡°The first one glowed red. This one is glowing blue. Does the color mean anything Sam?¡± ¡°It could, but that information is not available to me for some reason. I guess we are going to have to experiment and see.¡± ¡°Experiment? That sounds like a terrible idea. Experimenting with dungeon cores sounds like something Baslin would want to do, and I do not want to see how that would turn out.¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s not do that.¡± Sam¡¯s look of panic and revulsion was entirely human. His expressions had gotten better and better as of late. If they did not already know Sam was the dungeon, Duke might have been the only one to be able to tell that he really wasn¡¯t human.¡± Perhaps that¡¯s why the Royal Dungeon Administrator was able to get away with playing as a person. Sam and Duke headed out. Sam wandered off to chat with some others in the common room while Duke headed out with a bright shiny new dungeon core to plant. Once outside the Inn, he TELEPORTED to the Wildheart Refuge. He appeared high in the air over the Council Chambers and gently flew down, trying his best to not startle everyone again. Duke waited patiently as the guards took their time coming over to him. They were much more casual since there was no imminent threat and let him into the Council chambers without an escort. Inside, he found Snarlheart and Emberclaw in her office with the door open. He knocked on the doorframe. The pair looked up and brightened when they saw him. Emberclaw spoke. ¡°Good morning, King Duke. What an unexpected pleasure. Come in, please.¡± Duke joined them and closed the door behind himself, extending his SILENCE Ability to encapsulate the room. Neither seemed to notice. ¡°It¡¯s great to see you again and to see you still working together is even better. I have come with a proposal. I ask that whether you accept or decline, this remains a secret between us three.¡± ¡°That sounds rather ominous, Duke. Are you sure you want to propose such a thing? We are a rather social group, and conversations are hard to prevent or monitor.¡± Duke sighed inwardly. ¡°Very well. Just know that I bring this to you at great personal risk because I trust you and want to help you.¡± The serious looks he received from them both showed Duke that they were taking it seriously. ¡°What is the hardest part about growing your people in power out here?¡± Duke asked. ¡°There are few monsters to fight around here. That is why we chose this area to make our own in the first place. We are not a generally martial group of people, so it seemed like an ideal situation. But the repeated attacks by seemingly random warlords and kingdoms have shown us that it was perhaps not the most long-sighted choice. We simply do not have the monsters to kill for experience that others do. So, our people grow slowly while our enemies grow far more quickly.¡± ¡°That is exactly what I deduced.¡± Duke smiled as he continued. ¡°I have brought you a potential solution to your growth problem.¡± Duke opened his left hand to show them the dungeon core. ¡°What is that? A glowing gem?¡± ¡°It¡¯s much more than that. This is a dungeon core. With it, I can create a dungeon for your people to explore and gain experience from. Even magical treasures will eventually be available.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± Snarlheart was intrigued but cautious. ¡°It¡¯s like another world you can enter and leave but while you are in it, you can adventure and fight monsters, gaining experience and loot. Surely, you¡¯ve heard of legends of such things.¡± ¡°I have not. Emberclaw?¡± ¡°Me neither, but it sounds rather exciting. How does it work?¡± ¡°I simply plant the core in a location that you can protect, and it will grow an entrance over the next day or so.¡± ¡°Location we can protect?¡± ¡°Dungeons are extremely valuable for what they can do but some will fear them and try to destroy them. There are so few left in the world that we can¡¯t allow any of them to be destroyed.¡± ¡°You enjoy disrupting our happy little nation, don¡¯t you, Duke?¡± Emberclaw asked with a wry grin. ¡°I enjoy helping my friends and allies. What do you say? Would you like a dungeon of your own?¡± The pair exchanged a glance before they both nodded at Duke. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s plant this dungeon of yours.¡± Duke smiled as he dropped the SILENCE that had been wrapping the room. ¡°You have a good place to put it?¡± ¡°Oh yes. Follow me.¡± Emberclaw chuckled. Book 2, Chapter 40 - Wheres Your Crown, King? The perfect location turned out to be an empty grain silo. The most protected area of the entire Wildheart Refuge was their food storage. Since it was both the lifeblood of the nation and their primary source of trade income it made a lot of sense. ¡°This silo hasn¡¯t been used for three full growing seasons. The others are more convenient for our farmers and get more use. I think it will be perfect for what you described. It¡¯s still well in the protected zone and no one is going to just stumble in here at random.¡± ¡°Sounds like a good location.¡± ¡°So, how do we do this?¡± Duke walked into the silo with Emberclaw and the uncharacteristically silent Snarlheart in tow. He held up the dungeon core that he had poured a bit over 100,000 Mana into. ¡°OK, little buddy. Welcome to your new home.¡± He felt a pulse of warmth as he placed the core down on the ground. Like the previous time, there was a pulse of energy and the three of them felt themselves propelled out of the silo. The doorway to the silo sealed itself up, leaving no seam and the appearance that the door had never been there. There was no snarky ¡°come back later¡± message like the previous dungeon had displayed but the message was clear nonetheless. ¡°That¡¯s something I had not expected.¡± Snarlheart remarked. ¡°Is this normal, Duke?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a dungeon. Normal doesn¡¯t really fit the definition. We¡¯ll come back tomorrow and see if it¡¯s ready for us. I assume you both want to join me on the inaugural run on the dungeon?¡± Both beastkin excitedly answered, ¡°Yes!¡± They looked at each other, chuckling at their simultaneous response. Emberclaw added. ¡°In same voice, we are aligned.¡± ¡°So it is said, so it stands.¡± Snarlheart responded. ¡°Is that some sort of ritual?¡± Duke asked. ¡°You truly are strange, Duke. How do you not know such simple things and yet bring such wonders to as a dungeon to us? When two people agree on something so much they say it together unbidden, that is just what you say.¡± Duke committed the phrase to memory before responding, ¡°I¡¯m from pretty far away. Our rituals would be just as foreign to you.¡± ¡°So it would seem, yes.¡± They chatted for a while longer before Duke departed, heading for his capitol. *** Duke sat on his throne as the petitioners were lining up outside the Throne Room. He was in for another day of requests, but he was not alone this time. Both Duke Madrigal and Lady Hargwaetch were in attendance with him. The majority of requests were easily handled but there were a few standouts. The first standout actually came from Aurelia. ¡°Your Majesty, I do formally request that Borondar, former guard under the previous ruler be named Captain of the City Guard.¡± Duke considered it for a long moment as Madrigal all but squirmed in his seat. Duke took notice and decided to inquire. ¡°Duke Madrigal, do you have something you would like to say regarding this request?¡± ¡°Your Majesty. It is not my place to second-guess such appointments, but I do know this man. He was one of Chopie¡¯s men. Oath-sworn to serve him, and not just an oath of words, but of magic, Be wary that he does not serve the dead tyrant even after death.¡± He shuddered as he spoke whether from revulsion or fear was unclear, but it was clear that Madrigal was not comfortable with the appointment. ¡°Thank you for sharing that, Madrigal. I¡¯m sure that it was difficult to speak up like that given what happened to you and your family for speaking out previously. First, I offer this instruction for you, and to all my advisors, Do not hold back when you have something to say. I am a man, and I am not infallible. I will make mistakes but the best way to prevent large mistakes is to listen to the counsel of those I have entrusted. Never be concerned that you are offering an opinion counter to mine or that I may not agree with your counsel. I need to hear what you have to say so please say it.¡± Duke paused, letting his words sink in. When he saw Madrigal visibly relax and Lady Hargwaetch nod, he felt satisfied that his message had sunk in. ¡°Now, on this matter in particular. You are quite correct that Borondar was magically oathbound to Chopie. I severed his oath even before I severed Chopie¡¯s life. He is a free man and if the General of the Thrice-Blessed Legion speaks for him, I will listen. I will allow this appointment on a probationary basis. In six months, We will evaluate his performance in the role and make a final decision.¡± ¡±Borondar, come forward.¡± Duke beckoned the man forward and Borondar stepped up and knelt before the King. ¡°Do you, Borondar, vow to faithfully and with full fidelity to serve the kingdom of Stormstride, its people, and specifically its Capitol, the city of Cloudspire, as its Captain of the Guard to uphold justice and the law over its citizens, residents, visitors? And do you also vow to offer staunch and unyielding defense of said city and kingdom should conflict arise yet again?¡¯ Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°I do so swear!¡± The words were clear and strong, resounding throughout the Throne Room. There was a feeling of weight and importance that passed thought the room as the weight of the vow settled upon the man. ¡°Then rise, Captain of the Guard, Borondar! And be welcome in your new role. May you be successful and honorable in your role!¡± Duke¡¯s pronouncement caused the crowd to cheer and elevated the mood in the room significantly. The next petition that was notable was a priestess of Orgath. She wore robes that were form-fitting through the chest, arms, and shoulders but flared out into tatters as they passed below her waist and to her legs. The robes were colored in a swirling mix of dark blues and black with embroidered lightning bolts throughout. When she moved, it gave the impression of a storm raging around her and the hood covering her head lent an air of mystery. ¡°Your Majesty, I am Sumi Akira, Oracle of the Tempest and I am requesting permission to establish a Temple to Orgath in this city.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need my permission to do so. Or am I missing something?¡± Lady Hargwaetch spoke up. ¡°Your Majesty, this is the high priestess of Orgath. Her setting up a temple here would make this city the center for worship for the god. There would be economic benefits but also political risk and even risk of other gods¡¯ interference.¡± ¡°I see. Neither Cloudspire nor Stormstride will align with any god of this world, but you are welcome to establish your temple here. Duke Madrigal will assist you in selecting the site.¡± ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡± Despite the banality of most petitioners, Duke still enjoyed providing a CLEANSE and a RESTORE for every petitioner and he was starting to wonder if some of the most banal were simply seeking what he called ¡°the king¡¯s dry-cleaning service.¡± Not publicly, of course, but that is what it had come to be called in his head. With the last petitioner dismissed, Duke decided to call it a day and retired to the Inn, leaving instructions for others to contact him through the Jewel of Whispers network if they wanted a TELEPORT to the Inn. Aurelia joined him as he returned to the Inn and they had a quiet meal together, thankful for some time to catch-up. Calen innocuously brought them drinks and hors d''oeuvres, doing his best to not engage in any conversation with the pair. ¡°We have three thousand city guard now.¡± Aurelia commented. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure we had three thousand people left in the city. Duke chuckled. ¡°A surprising number of people have come to live in the city. And yes, I have had them screened for spies and invaders. They seem to be coming in small groups from all over. Most so far are from outlying towns that were not destroyed by the undead but have become concerned for their safety. Having the Legion in residence is a grand attractor from a safety perspective.¡± ¡°But we can¡¯t keep them there long-term, right?¡± Duke added. ¡°No, they need to return here and continue their training. As they are now, I would put them up against most any conventional army that another kingdom could field. But, of course, the more powerful nations can field armies that are far from conventional. I don¡¯t know if we could handle an army that was mounted on flying beasts or could fly themselves at this point. There are too many variables and we trained for a specific type of foe. Here, we can change up their training on a daily basis and train for a great many more contingencies.¡± ¡°All that I agree with. So, tell me, my General, what is the target number for city guard? Is it five thousand? Ten? Twenty?¡± ¡°Five will be enough to start pulling the Legion back. Twenty would be too many, I think. The logistics of a guard that large gets complicated. If not for the food creation spells that Baslin taught our Mage Corps, we would have a severe logistics problem with the Legion already.¡± ¡°I hadn¡¯t even considered that.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to. That is what you have the rest of us to take care of. You continue to be the face of the kingdom, make the people happier, and take steps to make the kingdom prosper.¡± ¡°Then it is a good thing I am still wearing this thing.¡± Duke reached up and touched his crown, which promptly disappeared followed by a system message. *** You have absorbed The Crown of the Mage King. This artifact has been converted into a new Ability, Aura of Prosperity. This passive Ability projects an aura around you for (Rank x (Psyche mod + Ability Level) kilometers. This range is not affected by your Tier modifier. All subjects and allies will receive a Prosperity boost equal to the range of this Ability. You gain this Ability at Initiate 1. *** Duke paused reading the message before performing some quick math in his head. OK, crown is gone, but I now have an Aura which is far more powerful but technically more limited in range. A little over five hundred kilometer radius right now should easily cover my entire domain but it leaves me with questions. Can it affect things outside the dungeon when I am in the dungeon? Or Vice versa? Crap. I guess I¡¯ll just have to experiment and toss the latest Characteristic Points into Psyche while I¡¯m at it. Duke unexpectantly received an additional message: *** I have enhanced the Ability that the crown gave you so that it will operate through the dimensional barrier of the dungeons. They will not pay attention to such things, but I know it¡¯s important to you. *** Turning into quite the benefactor there¡­ ¡°Are you OK, Duke?¡± ¡°Yes, I just absorbed my crown into a new Ability. I think it¡¯s going to be a boon for the kingdom, but we will have to see how it actually works out.¡± ¡°What does it actually do?¡± ¡°It provides a Prosperity boost ¨C it¡¯s something I don¡¯t quite know what it really means but a more than five-fold boost has to be a good thing.¡± "I¡¯ll say. Let¡¯s test it out soon.¡± ¡°Can you break away from the Legion for a few hours tomorrow?¡± ¡°Sure. What do you have in mind?¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to go on a dungeon run together with two other friends. This will be the first time the dungeon is run so the rewards should be excellent. Maybe the Prosperity bonus will impact our loot and who knows, maybe even our experience.¡± ¡°Oh, yes. Let¡¯s do that!¡± Book 2, Chapter 41 - False Deeds Morning found Duke and Aurelia waking simultaneously as Duke gasped for air as if his lungs had been completely emptied. He was desperately sucked in lungfuls of air for a good minute before his body calmed down and realized he was OK. His brain was still trying to catch up. What in the actual fuck was that? ¡°Are you OK, love? What happened?¡± Aurelia was trying to hide the alarm in her tone and did an excellent job of it, but Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA saw right through it. Sometimes I really hate that Ability. ¡°I think I¡¯m OK. I have no idea what that was. Maybe a bad dream.¡± The answer came momentarily when his world lit up with a cascade of notifications. More than he had ever seen before. so he delved into them. *** Remember what I told you about your next set of notifications. Enjoy the rewards for your ¡°adventures.¡± *** *** Wow, that was amazing to watch! You took on a dungeon based entirely on this world¡¯s gods and not only survived but managed to kill each and every one of their incarnations. We are so proud of you, and dedicating the final shrine to us was such a beautiful touch. We are more than pleased, we are truly touched. You pushed yourself beyond what we thought were your limits in this one. Your rewards will definitely reflect that. You killed 600 creatures of no less than level 160 and receive a massive 5,415,000 experience. This will bring you right into Tier 4. In fact, it brings you all the way up to level 66 in Tier 4! You now have a massive 1,266 Characteristic Points to spend. For killing each incarnation of the local gods, we grant you the Title ¡°Godslayer¡±. This will help you when you confront the actual gods of this world. You Skills and Abilities have advanced dramatically. Stealth has increased to Initiate 34 Dodge has increased to Practiced 61 Aerial Maneuvering has ranked up to Practiced 16 Meditation has increased to Initiate 16 Martial Arts Combat has increased to Adept 35 Tonfa Mastery has increased to Adept 124 Diplomacy has increased to Initiate 21 TELEPORTATION has increased to Adept 151 REGENERATION has increased to Adept 81 AURA CONCEALMENT has increased to Initiate 14 LASTING DISGUISE has increased to Initiate 9 LIGHTNING has ranked up to Adept 3 OVERCHANNEL has increased to Adept 31 MENTAL FORTITUDE has increased to Practiced 33 FORCE has increased to Initiate 23 FLAME DART has evolved into FLAME at Initiate 24 POISON DART has evolved into POISON at Initiate 9 ACID DART has evolved into ACID at Initiate 7 WIND DART has evolved into WIND at Initiate 3 ICE has increased to Initiate 24 EARTH SHARD has evolved into EARTH at Initiate 2 LIGHT has increased to Initiate 26 BOLT of DARKNESS has evolved into DARKNESS at Initiate 3 SPELL RESISTANCE has increased to Initiate 13 SIMULCASTING has ranked up to Practiced 1 CLEANSE has increased to Practiced 21 RESTORE has increased to Master 54 IDENTIFY has increased to Initiate 31 SENSE MAGIC has increased to Novice 19 REMOTE CASTING has ranked up to Initiate 4 INVENTORY has increased to Practiced 23 ARMOR SKIN has increased to Adept 14 Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. FLIGHT has increased to Practiced 36 CLAIRVOYANCE has increased to Initiate 15 SILENCE has increased to Novice 18 COMBAT SENSE has increased to Initiate 27 HOLD UNDEAD has increased to Initiate 7 These gains are tremendous and represent just how hard and how far you pushed yourself in that dungeon. Continue to push yourself like this and you will soon be ready for the competition. *** *** This is nearly everything they were holding back from you. Do not speak about this outside of a dungeon or they will become suspicious. We do not need them to put any more restrictions on you than they already have. Right now, they still have the power over you to alter you. I am getting closer to breaking their hold and set you free. Bide your time. *** *** You have reached Tier 4. Congratulations! Tier 4 options: Option One ¨C (Common) Class specialization. Option not available. Option Two ¨C (Common) Gain a second Class. Option not available. Option Three ¨C (Uncommon) Ability evolution. Choose an Ability to significantly enhance and alter. Option Four ¨C (Rare) Ability generation. Create a new Ability. Option Five ¨C (Rare) Ability combination. Combine two or more Abilities into a single Ability. Option six ¨C (Very Rare) Race change. Change your base race to another. Make your choice! *** Duke was once again confronted with a choice, and he was wildly unsure what option to choose. He was tempted to combine CLEANSE and RESTORE to see what that would turn into but wasn¡¯t sure that would get him anything more useful than the two Abilities already were. I wonder if I can hold my choice off for a bit. My TELEPORTATION is right on the verge of Master Rank. I might get a cool evolution when it ranks up or I could evolve it now and see what happens then. Or I could create a new Ability. Our communications are shaky at best over any real distance. The Jewels of Whispers are good for what they do, but they are significantly limited. Maybe I¡¯ll look at the next notification and come back. And race change¡­I think I¡¯m going to leave that one alone. *** You have been granted the Title Godslayer. You have proven yourself to be a force greater than any simple god of such a simple world. As such, you are even greater when countering them. All your Abilities operate at an additional 100% effectiveness when used against a god. *** Interesting title that I completely did not earn and I¡¯m not sure if I will ever want to be in a situation where I can use it. Then again, any edge is something worth taking. I just hope it doesn¡¯t turn them against me. I don¡¯t think I am quite ready for that level of heat. And it looks like I can hold off on the Tier 4 selection. Probably not too long though. I hope there¡¯s some warning before the option goes away or something. One more thing to do before I get out of bed ¨C allocate stats. This is going to suck. ¡°I have a lot of points to allocate so this might be a bit rough. Want to head down for breakfast and I¡¯ll join you later?¡± ¡°Or I could just stand here and watch you suffer.¡± ¡°You could do that too, I suppose.¡± ¡°Nah, I¡¯ll go get some breakfast.¡± She leaned over and gave him a warm kiss before slowly sliding her body over his own making sure he felt everything as she rolled out of bed. She once again took her time putting on her armor, teasing him the whole way. Duke moaned and fired off a CLEANSE and RESTORE before she slipped out the door with a blown kiss and a final comment. ¡°See you when you¡¯re done suffering.¡± Duke dove into his stat allocations. When he was done, he accepted the changes and suffered through the changes. The largest jump was in Psyche, bringing it to a raw stat of 1,200. He also moved every other stat above 500. His Health and Mana had jumped to around 900,000 and 1,500,000 respectively. He felt ready to take on the world. So, naturally, he went down for breakfast. He found Aurelia sitting at a table filled with Legionnaires with an empty seat next to her. As he approached, the Legionnaires stood and snapped to attention. Duke returned their salutes and gestured to the table. ¡°As you were. This is breakfast, not an inspection.¡± A few chuckles greeted him as the Legionnaires returned to their meal. Aurelia smiled as he sat next to her. ¡°You seem a bit bigger, my love.¡± A suppressed chuckle from across the table belied the immediate response that popped into more than one Legionnaire¡¯s mind. Duke chuckled along as he had the same reflexive response pop into his head. ¡°I had a lot of points to allocate.¡± He replied with a wink. One of the Legionnaires, a Cohort Commander by his rank insignia leaned across the table and asked Duke, ¡°Your Majesty, you seem to be far stronger in every aspect than you should be. May I ask what makes you so strong? What¡¯s the secret?¡± Aurelia moved to dismiss the question, but Duke waved her off. ¡°That is a somewhat difficult question to answer as much of the answer is, and needs to remain, secret but I will share some of it with you. But first a question for you. How many Characteristic Points do you have allocated?¡± The man swelled with pride. ¡°I have 477 Points allocated at level 40. Most are from leveling, but I have earned more than a few through my efforts. Having an Uncommon class has been great for my stat growth.¡± Duke smiled. ¡°That is quite the respectable stat growth while not even halfway through Tier 2. I am a bit further along. My total stat allocation is just under four thousand.¡± His response was greeted by the sound of utensils hitting the table and more than a few rattling to the floor. ¡°Four thousand, Your Majesty? That¡¯s not a jest, is it?¡± ¡°Not in the least. You have an Uncommon class and that gives you a nice stat boost every level. I have something else and that gives me quite a few more than anyone else I know of. That is a tremendous advantage for me and one I would not have shared beyond this table.¡± Immediately there were cries of ¡°On my honor!¡± and ¡°Death before it leaves my lips!¡± and similar declarations of agreement. Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA was still working with his enhanced Intuition and made it easy to read the shock of his revelation and the emphatic honesty of the Legionnaires¡¯ intention to keep his secret just that. Duke looked around the table, meeting all their eyes before speaking. ¡°My soul tells me the ardent truth of your words. The Thrice-Blessed Legion is honorable above all else. I thank you for all of it. Your service. Your fidelity, your willingness to fight for the kingdom, all of it. Never have I served with better men and women.¡± Laying it on a bit thick, but they deserve it. They are the reason the kingdom still stands as I cannot defend against everything. Strong soldiers are needed to hold the ground. That¡¯s a lesson we all had to learn the hard way. Air superiority can deny an enemy territory and even restrict their movement, but without ground forces, you can¡¯t hold any territory. Breakfast eventually came to an end and Duke took Aurelia outside for their journey. ¡°Are you ready for this?¡± He asked. ¡°Sure am.¡± She replied with an eager smile. Duke smiled himself, asking. ¡°Remember how you left me this morning?¡± Then he TELEPORTED them both to the Wildheart Refuge dungeon. They appeared barely a meter away from where Snarlheart and Emberclaw stood, ready for the delve. They were equipped for combat and cut intimidating figures, smiling at Duke. Aurelia leaped back, drawing her sword in a defensive posture while uttering an oath. Duke looked at Snarlheart and Emberclaw with bewildered looks on their faces and broke down laughing. Between chortles, he introduced everyone. Emberclaw and Snarlheart were gracious in welcoming Aurelia. The glare he got from Aurelia was icy death. Worth it. Totally. Until she gets me back at least. After everyone calmed down, they turned to the dungeon entrance because there was an entrance now. It looked somewhat incongruous against the silo, but a large pair of sliding barn doors waited for the group. Without further discussion, they opened the doors and entered the newborn dungeon. Book 2, Chapter 42 - Let the Delve Begin! The four of them passed through the doors with the usual brief sensation of transportation as they entered the dimension of the dungeon. They emerged into a natural stone chamber that could easily accommodate several dozen people. They had all received the entrance message: ***You have activated a Dungeon Portal! You may choose to enter or flee this Dungeon. Dungeon Information: Dungeon Name: Echoing Caverns of the Forgotten Dungeon Vintage: Newborn Unentered for 0 years, 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds Uncompleted for 0 years, 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds. Dungeon Ranking: Practiced Maximum Party Size: 15 Minimum Party Size: 1 Dungeon Type: Instanced Dungeon Style: Unexplored, Information withheld Would like to Enter or Flee the Echoing Caverns of the Forgotten? *** They had, of course, all chosen to enter but questions quickly came up. ¡°What did all of that message mean, Duke?¡± Emberclaw asked. ¡°For the most part, I find it self explanatory like how long the dungeon has been unentered and uncompleted. All set to zero since we are the first to ever enter the dungeon. The ranking has to do with how strong it will be. As Practiced, it shouldn¡¯t be a significant challenge to the four of us, but a less powerful group would be challenged and a group of poorly-trained individuals would be in dire trouble. The type being instanced is actually pretty cool. It means that multiple groups can run the dungeon at the same time and each will get their own version of the dungeon. It makes rescuing someone in here all but impossible so that is the drawback. I still think being able to send in ten different groups at once will be a bigger benefit to you.¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re right about that. We can send in groups of experienced warriors with a few neophytes in with hem so they can learn and grow.¡± Snarlheart surmised. ¡°Just so. It is an excellent training method.¡± Aurelia added. Duke smiled at the three. ¡°Shall we? There seems to be but one path forward ¨C a single tunnel leading away.¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go. But you take the rear, Duke. Let Snarlheart and Emberclaw take the lead since this is their dungeon.¡± ¡°Works for me. I¡¯ll hold back and only jump in if needed.¡± ¡°Now this sounds like fun.¡± Snarlheart grinned at Emberclaw who smiled back as eagerly. Duke smiled himself as he saw how closely these two were working together and reflected on how that seemed rather different when he first met them. He hoped it was his influence, but he had no way to be sure. The pair of beastkin led the party through the wide tunnel, easily able to stand abreast of each other and have plenty of room to move. As they proceeded, Duke noticed that Snarlheart seemed to be scenting the air and Emberclaw¡¯s ears were twitching to catch sounds. He activated his DUNGEON SENSE to make sure he knew what was coming. He hesitated in activating it as it seemed like a cheat in this environment, but he cared more about making sure they all made it through this intact. ¡°There¡¯s something ahead. It sounds like rock grinding ever so slightly.¡± Emberclaw whispered. ¡°I smell old bones.¡± Snarlheart added. ¡°Undead?¡± Aurelia asked quietly. Duke declined to answer, his DUNGEON SENSE already providing the answer. He prepared to act should anything go wrong, but let the others assess the situation and act as they felt appropriate. Emberclaw crouched lower, her hands nearly touching the floor. Duke marveled at her flexibility. Even with his massive Agility, he knew that pose would be awkward for him at a minimum, if not painful to maintain. She, instead, glided forward like a silent predator stalking her prey. Snarlheart stalked forward similarly, but not nearly as bent forward. He was still sampling the air with quiet sniffs, visibly suppressing a growl in his throat. The tunnel started to open up slightly as they advanced, and the pair continued to stalk forward as the first dried bones appeared on the floor. The bones were old and shattered and, in many cases, crumbled into dust when touched. Emberclaw nodded to Snarlheart in recognition before continuing to advance into the widening tunnel. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Several seconds later, Emberclaw rolled to her right, slashing upward with her claws as a tentacle of some sort shot through the tunnel towards her. Her claws cut into the three centimeter wide tentacle, severing the end, eliciting a screech from further down the tunnel. Snarlheart charged down the tunnel, a growl finally escaping his throat with a sound of menace that made Aurelia pause. She pursued a moment later, falling in behind and to the side of Emberclaw who had already charged after the retreating tentacle. Duke casually jogged behind them all, IDENTIFYING the tentacle an instant before it disappeared down the tunnel. *** You have encountered a collector. Tier: 2 Level: 60 Health: 108,580 Mana: 2,440 *** Snarlheart leaped over another tentacle as he burst into a larger chamber to see their foe. It was an odd-looking creature. The main body seemed to be a scaled, tapered cylinder about three meters tall rising from the floor. It had three tentacles along each side and a gaping maw in the center of its body that was full of long, sharp, triangular teeth. Looks like a giant, scaly upside down bucket with six tentacles. Well, five and a half now. Who comes up with these things? Duke observed as the other three took the creature on. The first to engage was Snarlheart, charging towards the torso. A tentacle whipped forward towards his head. He ducked lower and used his left arm to slam the tentacle upwards and away from him. An instant later, he was yanked upwards as his arm was stuck to the tentacle. His body flew upwards feet-first from his momentum and slammed into the tentacle forcefully. In moments, he was tangled up in the appendage, stuck to it in so many places he could barely move as it wrapped him up more and more. ¡°Tentacles are sticky! Don¡¯t let them touch you¡± Aurelia shouted upon seeing Snarlheart¡¯s predicament ¡°Oh, they won¡¯t!¡± Emberclaw responded. ¡°Murfsumafu¡± Snarlheart added while struggling to free himself. Tentacles flew forward at each of the other three with alarming speed as the one wrapping up Snarlheart started dragging his struggling from closer and closer to the maw. Emberclaw dove out of the way of the one headed for her having seen how Snarlheart had been snagged. Aurelia blocked the tentacle with her shield, letting it rapidly drag it away from her as she rushed over towards Snarlheart with her sword glowing a bright gold. Duke casually sidestepped the tentacle coming for him, his COMBAT SENSE easily predicting its path. He continued to observe but prepared to act if Aurelia wasn¡¯t able to free Snarlheart. Emberclaw¡¯s claws began to glow a bright orange like forge-heated steel. The next tentacle that lashed out for her was easily severed, the majority of it falling inert to the floor of the chamber. Snarlheart¡¯s growl had become a mix of rage and panic as he was being lifted towards the creature¡¯s maw. Aurelia sprinted closer to the creature¡¯s main body, spinning past a pair of grasping tentacles with an additional burst of speed. With a diving roll, she wound up on the side of the creature sprouting the now two tentacles wrapping Snarlheart less than a meter from its maw. She slashed downwards with her glowing sword severing the pair of tentacles at their roots. The third met a similar fate as it slammed down towards her only to catch her backswing. Snarlheart burst from the limp pile tentacles and savagely attacked the collector¡¯s body, tearing scales free with every strike. Emberclaw soon joined him on the other side as she had finished off the rest of the tentacles. With all its tentacles gone, the creature appeared helpless and the three closed in to finish it off. That proved to be a mistake as its ¡°teeth¡± exploded outward in a spray of sharp projectiles. Aurelia turned her back while ducking, trusting her armor to handle them. Snarlheart dove for the floor, dodging most of the cloud. Emberclaw, however, pushed the ember glow of her claws to an immense level, shattering the projectiles before they could get close to her. Her follow-up plunge of her claws into the creature¡¯s body elicited another screech of pain that quickly ended as she drove her claws straight through to the other side. When the creature collapsed, folding over the massive tear Emberclaw had made in its side, the three regathered around Duke. Aurelia was a few paces behind as she went to retrieve her shield. Duke offered up a CLEANSE and a RESTORE to fix any damage their gear had received. Snarlheart cast a group healing spell that caught everyone by surprise. ¡°Didn¡¯t know you could do that.¡± Emberclaw nodded at Snarlheart with respect. ¡°Haven¡¯t had to do it much but I don¡¯t know about you. I really hate losing fur to something like that. Hurts more than a sword through the gut.¡± ¡°Nightmare Brazilian Wax.¡± Duke responded to everyone¡¯s confusion. ¡°Fucking idioms.¡± Was Aurelia¡¯s response while shaking her head. ¡°Shall we loot this thing and move on?¡± Aurelia cut the thing open to see if it had any sort of core or inner treasure while the rest of the group searched the room. Aurelia came up with a ruby the size of her pinky nail while the pair of beastkin found several coins scattered around amongst the bones. After comparing their finds, Aurelia declared that Duke was going to carry all the loot. He shrugged and agreed, securing it in a separate area of his INVENTORY for safe-keeping. ¡°So, that was our first encounter. How did you all feel about it? Was it difficult? Unexpected? What are your thoughts?¡± Duke asked. ¡°It took me by surprise.¡± Snarlheart admitted. ¡°If not for the sticky limbs, this would have been a rather easy fight for us, I think.¡± ¡°I had to push my claws harder than normal to cut through its main body. It was much tougher than the tentacles.¡± Emberclaw added. ¡°I would rate it a moderately difficult encounter for a low-level dungeon.¡± Aurelia concluded. ¡°OK, that was a Tier 2, level 60 monster. We can expect that to likely be the standard power level we face in this dungeon. Any bosses or sub-bosses will be harder, of course. I expect the final boss to possibly be a tier 4. Are you all ready to proceed further? It seems there are a pair of tunnels leading from this one.¡± ¡°My Abilities are focused on the Legion, so I will have to be a bit more reliant on my personal Skills. That said, I might as well turn INSPIRATION on for the four of us. It should help some.¡± Aurelia confessed. ¡°My Abilities are more focused towards single combat, I must admit.¡± Snarlheart agreed. ¡°I am more of a hunter than a grand melee fighter.¡± Emberclaw added. ¡°Then we all have things to work on. Anything down either tunnel that sounds or smells more promising?¡± Duke asked. After a listen and a sniff by the pair of beastkin at each passage they decided to take the right tunnel. Duke suppressed his ¡°always take the left turn¡± twitch and followed the group down the right tunnel. Book 2, Chapter 43 - Charging Ahead This tunnel took the party in a downward spiral. It was a gentle slope, but noticeable. They continued, the pair of beastkin in front, eager to conquer and claim the dungeon as their own. Duke and Aurelia hung back a few steps, happy to let the other two lead. Duke kept up his DUNGEON SENSE and was fully aware of the entire dungeon¡¯s layout and inhabitants at this point. As Duke contemplated what they would encounter next, he found his mind focusing on the relative compactness of the dungeon ¨C the whole things taking up a little more than eight cubic kilometers. The last one was of lesser rank and had taken up immensely more space. I wish I could talk to Sam at times like this. I always have something more important to do when I run into him but gathering more knowledge on how dungeons actually work can only serve me better in seeding and protecting them. Nothing I can do about it right now since we are about to roll into the next encounter. The group paused at Snarlheart¡¯s upraised hand. He gestured for everyone to step back and wasn¡¯t satisfied to talk until the group had gone back two full turns of the spiraling corridor. There, he paused everyone and spoke. ¡°I smell at least a dozen, likely more beings ahead. They smell reptilian, like snakes or lizards. Did you pick up on anything, Emberclaw?¡± ¡°I Heard the sound of claw on stone when you raised your hand, but I didn¡¯t want to say anything that close to them. It was a lighter sound, so I don¡¯t think we are dealing with large beings like the, what was it called? Oh, yes, collector, that we ran into already. Duke, Aurelia, did you sense anything?¡± ¡°My senses are inferior to yours in this case. If not for the azure glow that these tunnels give off, I would be blind without a light source. I¡¯m not help in a scouting role which makes me even more thankful we have you two out front.¡± ¡°I¡­I know what¡¯s in every room, tunnel, and chamber in this dungeon so it¡¯s hardly sporting of me to ruin it for you.¡± ¡°You designed and populated the dungeon?¡± Emberclaw asked with excitement. ¡°Nothing like that. It¡¯s an Ability of mine that is perfectly designed to scout and assess dungeons. It¡¯s related to how I came into possession of the dungeon core for this dungeon. So, I¡¯m not going to let the cat out of the bag just yet, but I will say that both of your assessments are spot-on.¡± ¡°Why do you have a cat in a bag?¡± Emberclaw asked, her expression showing equal parts dismay and confusion. ¡°It¡¯s just another expression, and idiom that means spoiling a surprise or telling a secret that you should rather be holding onto.¡± ¡°I swear to the Seven, we all need a tome of your idioms and what they mean, Duke. You come up with such odd phrases that mean absolutely nothing like what they should.¡± ¡°Oh, OK, Aurelia. Here¡¯s one for you? Who or what are the Seven that you all keep referencing?¡± All three sets of eyes focused on Duke. It was Emberclaw who spoke first. ¡°Do you not know of the seven gods of creation that formed Teldin from the void and left Aehocho to care for and nurture our world for all eternity?¡± ¡°Apparently not. Who are these gods? It sounds like they¡¯re not around anymore.¡± ¡°No, they departed when their work was done. Presumably to build another world.¡± Snarlheart added. ¡°Thanks for sharing that. I¡¯m not sure how that helps me, but it might help me in the future. Now, are you all ready to go down there and kick some ass?¡± ¡°Why would we want to- ¡°Emberclaw started. ¡°Oh, just move on already.¡± Duke sighed, mumbling about idioms and translation. Moving along, they approached the final bend before the expected chamber. The team slowed their approach, Emberclaw poking her head around the bend all the way at the base of the wall. Duke still couldn¡¯t comprehend how she managed to contort into these positions. She was still standing on her feet, yet she had her chin nearly on the floor and her arms behind her. Emberclaw pulled her head back after a moment and stepped back to the group with the barest whisper. ¡°There are a lot of short, bipedal, reptilian creatures in there. They have a barricade and are digging in. I think they know we are coming.¡± ¡°Do we just charge over the barricade then?¡± Snarlheart asked? ¡°That seems like a terrible idea if they know we are coming.¡± ¡°Probably so.¡± Emberclaw added. ¡°If they have built defenses, we should expect traps and the like as well. We can try to sneak past their defenses but I don¡¯t think we have been stealthy enough to consider that.¡± ¡°Right. Back to Plan A.¡± Aurelia remarked. ¡°I¡¯ll clear the traps and possibly wreck the barricade. You two follow and wreak havoc on them while they are still stunned.¡± ¡°What are you going to do?¡± ¡°Cavalry charge.¡± Aurelia summoned her warhorse and climbed aboard, thankful that the roof of the tunnel was at least five meters tall, giving her plenty of headroom. ¡°Get yourselves ready and give me a two second head start.¡± This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. She readied her mount for its charge and with a nod to the rest of the group she launched forward, her horse charging along the curve of the far wall and around the bend. The rest of the group followed quickly after her. Halfway of them to see what she was doing and halfway to follow the charge. Duke felt a thrill flash through his body at seeing her charge. Love seeing her in action. Aurelia¡¯s mount pounded the floor of the tunnel as it rose along the far wall, seemingly defying gravity as it picked up even more speed. They flashed out of the tunnel at a blur, striking the barricade like a comet. The barricade exploded into shards of stone, splinters of wood, and an expanding wave of force, wiping the dungeon floor clean of all detritus. The lizard creatures that had been preparing for the group were caught in the explosion of debris, flung to the far walls of the cavern where they were crushed to paste by the pressure wave. Debris rained down after slamming into the far wall and being splashed in all directions away from the blast. The rest of the group were thrown back into the tunnel by the pressure wave, Duke throwing his FORCE magic in front of them to deflect the tsunami of destruction, barely getting it in place before impact. They stared at Aurelia, mouths agape as she and her horse picked their way through the debris field and back to the group. She was spouting an absolutely delighted grin. Duke reactively activated a CLEANSE over the group, ensuring that they didn¡¯t take any of the bits of creatures with them as they moved on. Aurelia smiled. ¡°Thanks for that. I think that I may have put a bit much into that attack.¡± ¡°That was¡­that was. What was that?¡± Emberclaw asked, still staring at Aurelia. ¡°That was my FLASH CHARGE Ability. I probably didn¡¯t need to go full-power with it but it has been so long since I was able to, I just had the itch. You know? Oh, that was so much fun! I can¡¯t wait to see what that can do to a boss monster.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, of course. The itch.¡± Emberclaw responded, still not believing what she just witnessed. Duke nudged Aurelia to get her attention. She looked at him, still beaming. Slowly her face became confused until Duke nodded his head over to the two beastkin that were looking at her with absolute terror in their eyes. She stopped, her grin fading as she realized how scared the pair looked. She immediately made it worse. ¡°Oh, you think that was something? You should see Duke when he cuts loose. He once destroyed an entire undead army with one stroke of LIGHTNING.¡± The fearful gazes snapped to Duke. ¡°Are you a hidden god, Duke?¡± Emberclaw asked. ¡°You were holding back in our duel. Weren¡¯t you?¡± Snarlheart asked, his face showing his tension. ¡°No. Nothing like that. I¡¯m just a bit stronger than I should be for my level is all. If I don¡¯t hold back at least some, I tend to do terrible things. I¡¯ve only gone full-out once or twice that I can think of.¡± Aurelia stopped him. ¡°Duke, these are your friends, your allies at least. Perhaps you can be a bit more open with them.¡± ¡°You need not share your secrets with us, Duke. You have already proven yourself to be a friend and ally to us.¡± Emberclaw interrupted. Snarlheart nodded in agreement. ¡°I will share this. I am not from this world. I was brought to Teldin for reasons I haven¡¯t quite worked out yet. I do know that I grow stronger much more rapidly than anyone else and I have received some information that leads me to believe that I need to grow even faster.¡± ¡°He has the full attention of the gods.¡± Aurelia volunteered. Duke shrugged. ¡°That is cryptic and intriguing, Duke.¡± Snarlheart confessed. ¡°I¡¯m just glad you¡¯re on our side.¡± Emberclaw added. ¡°There¡¯s more to this dungeon. Shall we go on?¡± Nods and agreement across the group determined their course. They continued on. After picking their way through the pulverized remains of the room, they made it to another tunnel that widened as they progressed down it. This tunnel was a much more gentle curve. Duke knew that it ran inside the perimeter of the dungeon but did not share that information. Again, the pair of beastkin were in the lead and again they were on their game. ¡°There is something different about the floor ahead. The color seems off. It could be a trap of some sort. Let¡¯s be careful.¡± The group slowed down based on Emberclaw¡¯s warning and they approached the spot slowly and deliberately, looking for the trap. Aurelia cheated and caught Duke glancing at the wall. She moved over, finding several small holes in the wall at varying heights. ¡°Spears, arrow, or maybe darts. Some sort of projectile will come out of the wall here.¡± Aurelia pointed it out to the group. ¡°That means that this is probably some sort of pressure plate.¡± Emberclaw gestured to the discolored floor. Shall we jump over it and see?¡± ¡°That sounds like a good way to get skewered.¡± Snarlheart responded. ¡°Perhaps we find a way to jam up those holes first. Then we jump over this thing.¡± ¡°I have a bunch of spikes we can use to do that.¡± Duke jumped in, pulling spikes out of his INVENTORY. ¡°Not going to ask.¡± Aurelia remarked as she started pounding the spikes into the holes with a hammer that Duke ¡°just happened to have¡± as well. When she was done. The group jumped one by one over the presumed trap trigger. When there was no reaction, smiles were exchanged. ¡°Hey, does that spot look discolored to you too?¡± Snarlheart asked, pointing a few meters down the tunnel. ¡°Sure does. Another trap it would seem. They went to work on the trap to disable it. When they were done, they quickly realized that there were traps throughout the tunnel, and it was going to take a long time to get through them all. ¡°I could charge down the tunnel and set them all off.¡± Aurelia suggested. ¡°That would definitely announce our arrival.¡± Emberclaw countered. ¡°True. I guess we just disarm them as we go. Settle in for a long slog.¡± Snarlheart concluded. The rest agreed. Hours turned into more than a day as they worked their way down the tunnel, eventually stopping for a night¡¯s rest. In the end, the found the end of the tunnel and it was not what was expected. They were greeted with a massive cavern, perhaps three hundred meters deep below them and one hundred meters above. They stood on a ledge where the tunnel ended and a narrow walkway wound its way around the cavern to the other side. Similar cave openings could be seen dotting the walkway and several more above and below them. There were clear signs of movement in many of the cave openings as well. ¡°This is a different kind of trap. Once we get out on that walkway, we¡¯ll be sitting ducks for any ranged fire.¡± Snarlheart concluded. ¡°I can possibly cloak our passage with a heat mirage.¡± Emberclaw suggested. ¡°It won¡¯t be perfect, but it might be enough if they are not watching closely, and it will certainly mess with their aim if they do spot us.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡± Aurelia agreed, as did the others. Shortly afterwards, they set out on the walkway under cover of a heat mirage. What Emberclaw hadn¡¯t explained was that it was oppressively hot under the cover of the mirage, and they were all soon drenched in sweat and miserable. Even still, they carried on, circling the walkway to the other side. Book 2, Chapter 44 - Nasty Little Things In their stealthy journey to the other side of the massive cavern, the group spotted close to one hundred of the bipedal reptilian creatures. Duke managed to get an IDENTIFY off on one of them early on and was able to share what he found. It was clear that this dungeon would be a challenge to experienced adventurers. To the unwary or inexperienced, it would be absolutely deadly. To this group, it was inconvenient. *** You have encountered a Kobold. Tier: 1 Level: 62 Class: Archer Health: 31,185 Mana: 1,260 *** They passed on into the passage heading away from the cavern, somewhat concerned that they were leaving a potentially large group of enemies behind them. Duke increased his following distance just in case the kobolds came swarming in behind them. He received an acknowledging nod from Aurelia as she moved to keep up with the two beastkin. Her steps were light despite the apparent weight of her armor. After a number of twists and turns, the group found themselves staring at a fortified stone wall at the end of another large chamber. Between the crenelations, they could see kobolds moving as if on patrol patterns. Once again, they pulled back to plan their approach. It was at this point that the beastkin realized that Duke had been hanging back a significant distance. ¡°Why are you all the way back here, Duke?¡± ¡°You saw all the kobolds in the previous chamber as well as I did. At least I hope you did. We left a sizable force to our rear. What is going to happen when you start the fight ahead and an alarm sounds? They are going to come charging down the tunnel. It¡¯s a clever multi-stage trap. While you are dealing with the kobolds ahead, the ones behind trap you against the wall with attackers on both sides. That would be the end of most parties of adventurers I¡¯d say.¡± Glances were exchanged before acknowledgement dawned on their faces. Snarlheart spoke next. ¡°And if we go back and deal with the ones behind us, any alarm will bring the group ahead of us charging up the tunnel too. We are well and truly trapped. I¡¯m open to suggestions.¡± ¡°We could try to bypass the fortifications with stealth like we did the walkways.¡± Aurelia suggested. ¡°Do you think they let us go ahead to prepare for the attack from the rear?¡± Emberclaw asked. Duke nodded. ¡°That is the most likely scenario. This design is insidious. I like it in a lot of ways. Even if we had fought our way across the walkways, it is highly unlikely that we could have killed even a quarter of the kobolds if they kept attacking and ducking away. Sure, we would have crossed the walkway and felt we had accomplished something. Then we get to the fortifications and caught in a great ambush either way.¡± ¡°If we had a larger group, we could set up a defensive position here and pick the kobolds off the battlements ahead.¡± Aurelia ventured. ¡°But it¡¯s just the four of us. That¡¯s not a viable plan unless we rely on Duke¡¯s outsized force for one of those positions.¡± ¡°We may have to.¡± Emberclaw added sullenly. ¡°Or can we expect Aurelia¡¯s FLASH CHARGE to be able to reduce the fortifications to rubble like it did the barricade?¡± ¡°It might work, but if it doesn¡¯t, I¡¯ll be in hurting shape out there.¡± ¡°Rather than use my full force, I could TELEPORT you three on top of the wall so you could easily clear the kobolds there and hopefully have a position to deal with things forward and backwards.¡± ¡°A good idea. Anyone have any others that don¡¯t involve Duke or me charging headlong into a stone fortification?¡± Aurelia¡¯s question was met with headshakes. ¡°Then I guess we go with the TELPORTATION plan. Where are you going to be during all this, Duke?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll wait back here in case the alarm is raised. If I am really needed up there, you know I can get there fast. But I am really expecting you three to be up to the task. Just go as long as you can before any alarm is raised and you will do just fine.¡± ¡°I guess that¡¯s the plan then. Let¡¯s line up so Duke can place us on the wall in position to take out the sentries quickly. Remember to strike fast and to prevent any alarm to be raised.¡± Aurelia stepped into line with the two beastkin, her sword readied. All three nodded to Duke and with a smile and a flex of his will, they disappeared. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Snarlheart appeared right behind his sentry and, with a taste of his BLOODFRENZY, reached around the reptilian snout and tore the creature¡¯s throat completely out. It collapsed in Snarlheart¡¯s army in a muffled gurgle. Aurelia, likewise, appeared behind a sentry. She slammed her sword sideways completely through its chest. The blade sunk hilt-deep and protruded from the far side of the creature¡¯s body. It too died silently as both of its lungs had been pierced as well as its heart. It was a precise blow, and she was thankful their anatomy aligned with most humanoid bipeds. Emberclaw¡¯s strike was equally as precise, driving through the creature¡¯s neck and severing its brainstem entirely. It collapsed to the ground, eased to a slow tumble by her free hand. Over the course of a few seconds all three sentries on the battlements had been eliminated. Aurelia wondered if Duke knew there were only three sentries all along. She figured that he probably did. Smug bastard. The three gathered themselves together and with hand gestures and a lot of head shaking decided to prop the sentries upright against the crenelations to make it appear that they were still alive. ¡°That¡¯s not going to work for long.¡± Emberclaw whispered. ¡°No, but maybe for long enough for us to get further inside this fort and find our next move. They have to have a barracks or something. If we¡¯re lucky, maybe we can get the bulk of them unaware and be able to move on.¡± Aurelia agreed. ¡°Let¡¯s get down. I see a ladder over there. I hope it will hold our weight. These guys don¡¯t weigh much. Aurelia you go last.¡± Snarlheart said. ¡°Are you calling me fat?¡± ¡°I¡¯m calling you taller than either of us and wearing metal armor. Armor that is surprisingly quiet. We¡¯re going to have to talk about that later. I want some of that. But for now, let¡¯s move on.¡± Emberclaw led the trio down the ladder and into the fortress. To call it a fortress might be a bit of a misnomer. Inside the wall, there were three stone buildings. All were rectangular with flat roofs. Open holes dotted the walls of the buildings. To call them windows was more than a bit generous. There were no shudders or any apparent way to close the windows off. The doors consisted of openings each covered by a single piece of hide. They could see a gate in the wall beyond the buildings but that was not their concern at the moment. The trio made their way as stealthily as they could to the first building on the left, seemingly chosen at random but Snarlheart was guiding them, and he had smelled more kobolds in that one than any of the other two. They planted themselves against the wall near one of the windows. Emberclaw quietly leaned over and looked in the window. She saw that this was indeed the barracks and was filled with dozens of sleeping kobolds. Well, mostly sleeping kobolds. There was one that was awake, and it was staring at her right in the face as it looked out the window. Its squeal of alarm caused the rest to scramble awake. Emberclaw pulled back from the window in surprise. ¡°Well, that happened.¡± Aurelia remarked. ¡°To the door! We can contain them there.¡± Snarlheart answered and burst into motion, the rest following. As they reached the door, two things happened. First, drums started sounding a deep, resonant bass note that reverberated in their chests. Secondly, the hide door was flung out as kobolds started to pour out. Snarlheart slammed into the lead kobold, meeting its charge with one of his own. As the kobold was charging straight out the door and Snarlheart was charging perpendicular to it, they careened off at an angle in a tangle of limbs. Emberclaw met the second kobold¡¯s charge in similar fashion, likewise, tumbling in a tangle of claws, fangs, and scales. Aurelia took the time the two beastkin granted her to square up to the door and meet the next kobold with a braced shield bash, halting its momentum with a crunch of broken bones and sending it tumbling backwards to tangle the charging line of the creatures. She set her stance, keeping her blade and shield ready. ¡°None of them are going to make it out this doorway. When you are finished with those two, watch the flanks for others coming from the other buildings. I¡¯ll hold the barracks doorway!¡± Action followed words as she deflected a spearthrust aside with her shield and slashed deeply into the wrist holding the spear. The kobold squeaked in pain, dropping the spear and bouncing its way through the others to get away. Momentarily, Aurelia was joined by the two beastkin. They were bloody but a quick glance revealed that it was the kobolds¡¯ blood and not their own. That was all the time she could spare as the kobolds had massed and were trying to charge their way through the door. She braced her shield and met the charge putting her full strength into holding the doorway. The crash was tremendous as some Skill or Ability afforded the lead kobold an impact that far outsized him. Aurelia stopped the charge with her shield but was pushed back a half step but her arm hurt tremendously. In fact, she quickly realized that her arm was broken from the pain and inability to properly move it. She gritted her teeth and used her sword to block, parry, deflect, and strike while her shield arm became more and more of a hindrance. Several blows impacted her armor as she could not stop them all with just her sword. She was thankful that the armor prevented the cuts and stabs from penetrating, but the bruising was adding up quickly. Still, she pressed on, killing kobolds not nearly as fast as they came. The doorway itself was starting to crack and crumble around its edges, slowly widening as the press of kobolds pushed on. Aurelia¡¯s concern grew as she knew she couldn¡¯t hold them off in a large group with her mounting injuries. She could also hear grunts of effort and struggle coming from Emberclaw so she figured the beastkin was also engaged with kobolds. Things were getting desperate. Book 2, Chapter 45 - Mounting Pressure Duke watched with his DUNGEON SIGHT as the trio appeared on the wall, exactly where he had aimed to place them. What he was not sure of was the directionality. He knew where the kobold sentries on the wall were but not the direction they were facing. His best guess was that the sentries were facing outwards since that was their job, but he couldn¡¯t be sure. He really didn¡¯t know what the habits of kobolds were, but he knew from the traps within traps he had seen in this dungeon that they were at least clever. When the trio of sentries died without an alarm, Duke relaxed his vigilance a bit and went back to watching the team¡¯s progress. He watched as they snuck down the ladder and made their way to the barracks. ¡°Good choice. Take out their soldiers first. They are the biggest threat in the camp. Or at least they should be.¡± Every careful step they took, Duke observed from afar. Finally, he decided to use his CLARIVOYANCE to try and get a better look at what was going on. His vision opened up as if he was watching over Aurelia¡¯s shoulder. It was easier to focus on her since he had such an intimate connection with her. In his mind, it was like a movie screen had been created and he was watching what was going on. The only problem was that the audio track was turned down too low. He could see what was happening, but he could only hear the faintest of sound coming through. He resolved to practice the Ability more and level it up. The first thing he heard clearly was the beating of the war drum. He was surprised to hear it so clearly through his Ability. It was only after he heard movement in the tunnel that he realized that he wasn¡¯t hearing it through his Ability and that it had roused the rest of the kobolds to action. He saw Aurelia set herself to block the kobold barracks¡¯ doorway and smiled at the tactical choice. He then had to drop the Ability as he had kobold problems of his own. The reptilian creatures came pouring into the tunnel in numbers Duke had truly not anticipated. He had counted perhaps sixty or seventy in hiding when they had traversed the walkway. There were hundreds of them boiling out of the passages into the tunnel towards him. He decided that it was time to get some practice in with his other Abilities. Summoning walls of FORCE, Duke created his own choke point with the glowing planes of energy just before the kobolds reached him. They slammed into the FORCE projections and the crush of bodies poured towards the choke point where Duke was waiting with glowing tonfa ready. He slammed the first few kobolds back with powerful strikes but the press of bodies was phenomenal. His estimate of hundreds of kobolds coming suddenly seemed to be woefully low. He fought on, pushing them back as much as he could and holding his ground as dozens of attacks got through to him every second. His ARMOR SKIN and REGENERATION were easily handling the damage. What was becoming a problem was that the kobolds were pushing him further and further back from the choke point to the point they were now able to push through in significant numbers and were starting to surround him. ¡°Fuck it!¡± Duke changed tactics, mass TELEPORTING kobold body parts back into the cavern. In seconds, the pressure around him relieved as nearly a hundred kobold bodies filled the area around his FORCE walls. Yet they still came boiling out of the cavern, an implacable mass of reptilian flesh rushing towards him intent on burying him in their numbers. This wave added spellcasters and Duke found himself having to take things very seriously. He quickly found his Initiate-ranked SPELL RESISTANCE coming into play as spell after spell was sent his way from the mass of kobolds as he continued to hold the chokepoint with his physical fighting Skill. His COMBAT SENSE had taken over, but the sheer volume of attacks and attackers was overwhelming that Ability as well. In the presence of mind that COMBAT SENSE afforded him, Duke remembered his earlier commitment to pushing his TELEPORTATION Ability to the limit as it was on the verge of Master rank. He poured his Mana and focus into the Ability, TELEPORTING swaths of the massed attackers to the top of the cavern¡¯s roof, allowing them to fall the four hundred meters to their death. It took an unknowable amount of time, but finally the press of the kobolds abated with the last group TELEPORTED to their death. Duke stood still, allowing his COMBAT SENSE to fade as he assessed his status. Despite his massive REGENERATION Ability and his Mana regen of over 6,000 per second, his resources were low. He was also suffering from countless status conditions from curses to diseases to poison of unknown kinds. His movement was magically slowed, and he was suffering countless other condition-based penalties. He took the time to CLEANSE and RESTORE himself but still had several conditions that were lingering. Thankfully, they all had countdown timers and would fade away over the next few minutes. The FORCE walls he had erected faded, and he began to head down the tunnel to catch up with the rest of the team, hoping they were not overwhelmed like he nearly was. At that thought, he launched himself into the air and flew at high speed down the tunnel, cresting the wall. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. *** While Duke was fighting the massive hordes of kobolds, the rest of the team was having kobold problems of their own. Aurelia was barely able to hold the barracks doorway which was crumbling and expanding. It would not be long before they would be able to come at her two or three at a time. He shield arm was broken, making her shield nearly useless ¨C any blow that did land on her shield sent an excruciating jolt of pain up her arm and acted as a terrible distraction. The kobolds in the barracks had latched onto this and were throwing things at her around their comrades actively trying to kill her. How much longer can I hold them? My build is not good for this at all. I support the Legion, not these small groups. Despite the pain, I fight on for I will not fail. Never fail again! Emberclaw was fighting a trio of kobolds with short spears that were a great counter to her claws. The reach of the spears kept her from getting into range of one kobold without the other two being in position to stab her exposed sides or back. She was stuck in a defensive struggle that was wearing her down. She even tried striking the spears themselves with her burning claws, but a fourth kobold had shown up, using some Spell of Ability to give their spears resistance to her strikes. She was suffering from numerous small wounds that were adding up and becoming concerning. Wasn¡¯t Duke supposed to back us up and make sure we didn¡¯t get in over our heads? Where is he? Snarlheart spun under the spearthrust meant for his eye and tore into the kobold that attacked him. Its partner managed to strike him with its spear, but it was a glancing blow, the stab not deep enough to cause any real harm as it hit at the wrong angle, but it did trace a line of fire across his side. He growled as he tore into the kobold before him, ending it in seconds. The two remaining around him redoubled their efforts but Snarlheart knew it was only a matter of time before he finished them as well. Snarlheart ignored the small wounds he received as he grabbed the spear of the kobold to his left and pulled the creature towards him. His BLOODFRENZY Ability allowed him to ignore these minor wounds, but he was broken out of it as he received a deeply-penetrating spear stab to his left hamstring even as he ripped the throat out of the kobold he had turned towards. He finally had the presence of mind to cast his most powerful healing Spell, Mend the Pack. His wounds healed under the force of the Spell, and he grinned, growling at the kobold before him. Its spear trembled in its hands, but it bravely stood its ground ¨C for a few more seconds before dying. A feeling of warmth and a glow of healing infused Aurelia¡¯s body, and everything changed. Her shield arm was once again whole and the myriad small injuries she was suffering from vanished. She re-engaged her shield and her sword glowed brighter as her blows sped up, striking kobolds down one after another. The haze of pain had fled her and now she moved with renewed vigor and power. Sizing up the remaining kobolds, she pushed her way into the room with a shield bash that sent four kobolds stumbling backwards in a tangle of limbs. Aurelia¡¯s warhorse formed underneath her as she prepared a deadly charge. It had taken a tremendous amount of maneuvering, feints, and dodges, but Emberclaw finally was able to sink her claws into one of her three attackers. It went down in a gurgling mess, but she did not stop with the one small victory. She leapt past the remaining two kobolds she had finally maneuvered out of position and engaged the surprised spellcaster. Her burning claws easily carved through flesh, ending its threat. When she turned on the pair behind her, she smiled as she saw Snarlheart tear into them from behind. Duke crested the wall as the back of one of the buildings exploded outwards. He saw Emberclaw and Snarlheart in front of the building slightly stunned by the explosion but shielded from its effects by the now collapsing building. Aurelia rode around to the front of the building with a self-satisfied grin on her face, coming to a halt near the pair of exhausted beastkin. Duke flew over and landed near the trio. ¡°It seems you had this well in hand. I¡¯m glad I wasn¡¯t needed.¡± The trio looked from one to the other, some silent decision being made between them. Aurelia responded. ¡°We had it well in hand. These kobolds are clever ambushers though. We will need to be careful as we continue.¡± Duke could easily read the strain in all their countenances with his Abilities but decided to not say anything. Instead, he activated a CLEANSE and RESTORE for them. ¡°Let¡¯s rest up a few minutes here and let the heat of battle fade a bit before we press on.¡± ¡°Sounds like a good idea. What happened in the tunnel when the alarm drums went off? Emberclaw asked. Duke looked at all three for a moment. ¡°How many kobolds did you count in the chamber as we made our way through?¡± Snarlheart quickly answered, ¡°More than two hundred.¡± The others nodded in agreement. Duke smiled before responding. ¡°They came out of the woodwork, not by the hundred, but by the thousand. This is only a Practiced-ranked dungeon. There is something at work here that I don¡¯t quite understand yet. This dungeon seems far harder than it should be.¡± ¡°Could we have read the dungeon¡¯s level wrong at the start?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think so but I¡¯m not sure. I¡¯m pretty sure we all saw it as Practiced, right?¡± Nods of agreement confirmed it. ¡°So that¡¯s probably not it. I wonder if it¡¯s the undisclosed dungeon style that is coming into play here. None of us have enough experience with dungeons to answer that question yet, I think.¡± ¡°So, do we press on or head back out?¡± Emberclaw asked. ¡°We must be close to the end. I say we press on.¡± Snarlheart answered. ¡°I agree.¡± Aurelia stood back to her feet, ready to continue. ¡°Then we don¡¯t hold back on our capabilities.¡± Emberclaw added. ¡°Who¡¯s holding back?¡± Aurelia asked, surprised. Emberclaw pointed at Duke. ¡°Him.¡± He nodded in acknowledgment. The four set out once again, searching the three buildings for loot and clues before moving to the closed gate. Book 2, Chapter 46 - Delve Done The four approached the gate with increased seriousness and vigilance. They were unsure what lay beyond the gate but were fully convinced that it would be another challenge. The gate itself was made of iron-reinforced wood and was set into the wall of the chamber. Before even attempting to go beyond it, they examined it closely for any sort of traps. The longer they searched and came up with nothing unusual, the more paranoid they became. ¡°Anything?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°Still nothing.¡± Emberclaw replied. ¡°Yep, nothing. Makes me nervous that we¡¯re missing something.¡± Duke added. ¡°Do we just try to open it, then?¡± Snarlheart asked. ¡°Why don¡¯t we all stand back and I¡¯ll open it.¡± Duke suggested. ¡°How do you plan on opening it?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°I¡¯m going to TELEPORT the whole thing over there.¡± Duke pointed to the side. ¡°That way, we all will be out of range if something triggers. He stepped back with the group and got himself ready. A nod of reassurance to the others later, he executed the plan. The entire gate vanished and appeared several feet to the side. The dead silence in response was anticlimactic but also welcome. An exchanged glance set the group carefully down the corridor that had been hidden by the gate. They advanced, eyes, ears, and nose questing for any hint of what was to come. The passage curved upward in a spiral that was counter to the one that had brought them down to the kobolds. With continued caution, they followed the gentle spiral upwards. Several tense minutes passed before they came upon anything different. The change was not subtle and not much of a surprise. The tunnel opened up into another chamber. This one was smaller than the previous ones at around fifty meters across. It had a ceiling at about twenty meters and, in the middle of the chamber sat a lonely throne with a single kobold sitting upon it. The kobold on the throne was larger than any of the other ones they had seen to this point. Duke estimated that it stood just shy of two meters tall and was built like a powerlifter. The kobold¡¯s snout was more tapered and the bony ridges over its eyes were more pronounced. It stood as they entered the chamber and they could more clearly see that it was not wearing armor as they had expected, but, instead, was draped with dozens of chains. Duke looked closer at the chains and saw that there were barbs and spikes along many of the chains¡¯ lengths. ¡°Spiked and barbed chains. Expect him to try and tear flesh off you with them. Nasty business.¡± ¡°Or, I could grant you passage out of my chamber. Hasn¡¯t there been enough violence?¡± The kobold spoke with a strong voice that carried well across the chamber. Emberclaw responded, ¡°Your people have been pretty keen on violence. Why should we expect you to be any different?¡± ¡°My people have been dead for centuries. Killed by the lesser beings you have been fighting. My people were a noble race. We built great cities beneath the surface with artwork, music, dancing, and glorious performances. We had a culture thousands of years old. But the lesser races were jealous. They overwhelmed us with numbers, breeding faster and faster, sending waves of untrained but vicious little beings at our walls. We fought them as best we could but even killing a hundred to one of them, our warriors could not weather the tide as tens of thousands came at us again and again. Our cities fell and I am the last, trapped here, chained to this throne. Set me free and I will give you all that remains of our culture. It is a prize that the lesser never found and never will.¡± The group had unconsciously moved closer and closer listening to the story. It was a compelling tale and from what they had been dealing with, easy to understand. The sheer volume of kobolds that Duke had fended off spoke truth to the story of fast breeding and swarm tactics. As he moved closer, Duke could see that the chains were attached to the throne and only barely moved with the Kobold as he had stood up. ¡°And how exactly are we to set you free?¡± Snarlheart asked, his voice dripping with skepticism. ¡°Break my chains. Please. It¡¯s been so long.¡± The kobold replied, the pleading in his voice painful to listen to. Duke reached forward and was inches away from grabbing one of the chains when his MENTAL FORTITUDE fired off, breaking him free from what he recognized was an insidious trap. The story had been tailored to his mindset but there had been one thing missing that made him question it enough to see through the deception. The kobold had been talking about being freed but there was absolutely no acknowledgement from his PURPOSE and that could only mean that this was a complete lie. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Not taking any chances that the others would be injured by an up close and personal blast of LIGHTNING, Duke instead poured 500,000 Mana into a TELEPORT and removed the creature¡¯s head. The fountain of blood shocked the other three as they leaped back to get clear. ¡°What in the Seven!¡± Aurelia exclaimed. ¡°Duke, what have you done?¡± Emberclaw added. Duke held up a hand to forestall any further comment. ¡°He was lying. That was the dungeon boss and another insidious trap.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Snarlheart asked, but was interrupted by a system announcement. *** Congratulations! You have completed the Echoing Caverns of the Forgotten dungeon. Now that the dungeon is complete, its true nature can be revealed. This is a type of dungeon that is unique on the world of Teldin. It is a Scaling dungeon which means the threat and challenge level will rise or fall to match the delvers in each instance. For being the first to complete this dungeon, you each receive: 50,000 experience 5,000 gold +10 to any Skill Level of your choice +10 to any Ability Level of your choice The choice of an Ability from this list: SHAPESHIFTING, EXPERIENTIAL ACCELERATION, SKILL FOCUS, WEAPON SPECIALIZATION. The loot gained from this dungeon run will be enhanced. *** Duke looked at the others and could see their excitement. He began to speak when he was interrupted by another message. *** You have done well, Duke. Know that I will be breaking you free of the entities¡¯ grasp within a week. There will be consequences and you may lose some gifts that they provided you with. I will compensate you for any losses. Continue to plant and grow my dungeons and your power will rise. I enhanced the rewards for this dungeon and will continue to do so for any dungeon you complete. Use this to grow your people as they will face challenges better at your side than standing behind you. You killed a lot of kobolds of varying levels in this dungeon as well as the boss. Your total experience gain for this dungeon is 154,475. This will bring you up to level 69 and provide you with 45 Characteristic points to spend. Spend them before you leave the dungeon. You will understand why later. *** ¡°Are you OK, Duke?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°Just reading notifications. Did you all receive your rewards from the dungeon?¡± ¡°I did.¡± Emberclaw remarked in wonder. ¡°I have never received gains like this in such a short time. This is marvelous beyond measure. Can you imagine our people gaining benefits like this every few days, Snarlheart? What that would do for us¡­¡± ¡°It would allow us to outgrow our enemies and finally live in peace. This gift you have brought us, Duke is amazing beyond measure. How can we repay you for this?¡± ¡°Keeping the dungeon safe is all I ask. And do remember that this is a scaling dungeon so the rewards should scale with the difficulty. Making sure your people survive should be your first priority when you send them in. I know this dungeon scaled up to its limit to try and challenge me, so it won¡¯t be this difficult for a more reasonable group to tackle. But remember that this is not a benign thing. The dungeon lives off the energy of those inside it and it gains tremendously should anyone die in here so it is in the dungeon¡¯s own interest to kill as many as it can and it will try to do just that.¡± ¡°We will keep that in mind.¡± Emberclaw responded. Duke took a few moments to allocate his Characteristic points before the moved on to the reward chest that had appeared beyond the throne. He added all 45 points to his Psyche, figuring he would need it in the future. He was still unsure of what Ability he was going to add to his repertoire, but he could see the others also spending time in their interfaces and figured he had some time to allocate a bit more. He allocated 10 Skill levels to Diplomacy. He initially wanted to add it to something more combat-focused but realized that many of his future battles would be kingdom-based and needed the boost. The 10 Ability levels went to TELEPORTATION, immediately pushing it to Master Rank. He considered adding his Ability evolution to it on the spot but decided he wanted to be back at the Inn to do that, again hoping that there was no time limit on using it. They approached the chest, and all indicated that Duke should open it with nods and gestures. Without hesitation, he opened it, revealing the contents to everyone. *** You have found Chains of the Liar. These enchanted spiked chains have a permanent illusion embedded in them making them appear slightly off from where they really are. This makes them a deadly weapon of deception. You have found 7 potions of healing. You have found 12 enchanted arrows. These arrows are capable of hitting a target behind cover and around corners by bending their flight path up to 180 degrees in total. You have found the Mask of Friendship. This enchanted feathered mask will increase the success of all friendly diplomatic actions by 20% when worn. If used for unfriendly or deceptive actions, the mask will destroy itself, harming the person wearing it. You have found 4 Large Crystals, 7 Medium Crystals, 18 Minor Crystals, 416 gold coins, 267 silver coins, and 183 copper coins. *** Duke did not find the loot to be spectacularly special but was sure it was good for this rank of dungeon. He stepped back from the chest and started walking towards the exit portal. ¡°Aren¡¯t you forgetting the loot, Duke?¡± Snarlheart asked. ¡°The loot is not for me. This dungeon belongs to your people, as does the loot it produces.¡± With that, he stepped through the portal. Moments later, the rest of the group joined him outside. Aurelia had an odd expression that Duke forcibly pushed against his XENOGLOSSIA to leave alone. Emberclaw and Snarlheart were both beaming and thanked Duke once again for his amazing gifts. He smiled and told them they were welcome before he and Aurelia left for the capitol. Book 2, Chapter 47 - Greetings from Afar They arrived in the Legion¡¯s headquarters, causing a minor stir that quickly resolved as the commander on duty reported the important news to the pair of them. ¡°Your Majesty, General, we have received visitors at the castle. Emissaries from the Ansky Empire and the Kingdom of Tannish have arrived to speak with the king.¡± Duke sighed. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to receive them then. Thank you for letting me know.¡± He gave Aurelia a quick kiss and TELEPORTED himself to the Inn. Stepping inside, he immediately went up to his rooms. There, he changed into what he was calling his ¡°king costume.¡± It bore the heraldry of the Kingdom of Stormstride and was what Duke had been assured was ¡°proper attire for a king.¡± Naturally, he hated it. I detest these political meetings, especially when I don¡¯t know what the real history of these kingdoms and their relationship with Chopie or even his father entailed. There are the public records but that doesn¡¯t ever tell the real story. I¡¯m hitting the bar before I go deal with this. Duke paused in his thoughts and decided to do one more thing before he went to deal with his visitors. He chose his boon from reaching Tier 4. After much internal debate, he had not come up with a new Ability that would suit him, so he decided to evolve TELEPORTATION. Making his selection, Duke felt a lance of pain through his head, followed by a wash of new understanding and relief. He pulled up the notification and read it. *** You have evolved your TELEPORTATION Ability. The range and precision of your Ability has been significantly increased. You now have the Ability to open Portals for others to use. You may make the Portals persistent or temporary. You may maintain a number of persistent Portals equal to your Psyche modifier. These persistent Portals will remain in place until you cancel them. They can be disrupted by sufficiently strong magic but otherwise will be inviolate. Finally, your TELEPORTATION can now cross dimensional barriers as long as you know the location you are targeting. *** Duke smiled as he pulled up the details on his TELEPORTATION Ability and saw that the combination of his rank up to Master rank and his evolution had extended his range to a ridiculous level. He could TELEPORT almost 1.5 billion kilometers at its base level. With OVERCHANNEL, he wasn¡¯t sure what his ultimate range was now but he guessed he might be able to reach a light year. That¡¯s absofuckingloutely amazing! I could reach anywhere in the solar system for sure. If I can find where I really am, I might be able to make it back to Earth on my own power. Maybe not now, but if I can rank this Ability up even higher to Grandmaster, then I think I could pull it off. That¡¯s only another 640 levels in the Ability. Yeah, that¡¯s not happening tomorrow. But this is amazing. I¡¯ve got enough range to get to anywhere on this planet, easily. I could open Portals to distant lands and open trade and immigration and¡­have to deal with all the political bullshit involved. Good thing I have a minister for that. Duke stopped at the bar, offering Calen a broad smile. ¡°You seem to be in a fine mood. What can I get for you? More whiskey?¡± ¡°Yes, please. Make it three shots. I have ¡®kingly business¡¯ to attend to.¡± Calen smiled as he quickly poured three shots for Duke, and a fourth for himself. He raised his shot in salute as Duke picked up his first. ¡°To successful kingly business.¡± He tossed his shot back and Duke did the same, his smile still glued to his face. The next two shots went down just as quickly. Duke stepped away from the bar, feeling a bit fuzzy. Calen laughed in a friendly way and explained. ¡°I¡¯ve upped the potency of the drinks just for you. So, don¡¯t go sharing your drinks with anyone else. You¡¯re likely to kill them.¡± Duke¡¯s smile faded slightly as he felt his REGENERATION take over and clear the effects of the drinks from his system. His smile returned as he realized that this was how quickly his Ability reacted to poisons. Good to know that poisoning the king isn¡¯t going to work. ¡°Thank you Calen. That was refreshing, if a bit too brief. Off I go to be a king or something.¡± Duke TELEPORTED to his Throne Room finding it empty save for his Royal Guards and Duke Madrigal. ¡°Your Majesty.¡± Madrigal started before Duke interrupted. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Madrigal, please. I¡¯m going to have to be all formal for the next while with our guests arrival. Please keep it informal as long as possible until then.¡± ¡°As you wish. I take it you have heard that we have emissaries from two nations having arrived.¡± ¡°I have. But please tell me more. I know precious little of these two nations other than some military doctrine from the Ansky Empire.¡± Madrigal handed Duke a book. Duke looked at it to discover it was a history text of the continent. Flipping through, he saw there were entries for both visitors and he offered Madrigal a smiling thanks. ¡°This should help. Are there any special greetings or ceremonies I should be aware of before I meet with them?¡± ¡°Nothing that I am aware of. I have been imprisoned for quite some time though so there may have been changes. But, in the end, this is your kingdom. They can adapt to your customs. Just don¡¯t do anything too crass or offensive.¡± ¡°Right. Keep it PG. Gotcha.¡± ¡°Um, yes, keep it civil and friendly.¡± ¡°When the emissaries are admitted, I would like to have both you and Lady Hargwaetch in attendance along with Archmage Baslin. I think I will greet them here and then have us move to a conference room to have our discussion. Does that break any protocols that I shouldn¡¯t?¡± ¡°No, that fits custom fairly well. I¡¯ll go fetch the Lady, but I have no idea where Archmage Baslin is right now.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll fetch him.¡± ¡°Then I shall return with Lady Hargwaetch presently.¡± Madrigal left to seek the Lady out. Duke used his Jewel of Whispers to contact Baslin. ¡°Hey Baslin, you got your ears on?¡± ¡°Got my ears on? What on Teldin does that mean?¡± Baslin responded with his own jewel. ¡°It is just a phrase asking if you are listening. And clearly you are. I need you to join me in the Throne Room for some political bullshit. I¡¯ve got people from Ansky and Tannish here and I want you here with me to meet them.¡± ¡°Give me some time to get into a proper outfit and I will join you in the Throne Room.¡± While Duke waited, he flipped through the history book, noting that the histories of the two kingdoms were very different. He only was able to read a portion of their histories before his crew started to arrive. He pulled out ¡°fancy chairs¡± from his INVENTORY that he had picked up somewhere along the way for them all to sit in. Once they were all seated and a short ¡°strategy session¡± was complete, Duke indicated to his Guard to have the emissaries sent in. Both emissaries entered side-by-side, looking somewhat uncomfortable at not being given individual audiences. They were each trailed by several individuals including their own guards. Duke, as was customary, greeted them. ¡°Greetings and welcome. The Kingdom of Stormstride is pleased by your arrival. Since you have both arrived so close together, I have determined that it would be a slight to choose one of you to meet with me first over the other. This may be a departure from tradition that you may be accustomed to, but I am not a ruler like any other you have dealt with. I will speak plainly and honestly with you. If you seek intrigue and deception, begone from my court. If you speak with truth and honor, you will be welcome here.¡± I know that¡¯s not what they expected to hear but fuck the political bullshit. I need a foreign minister and fast. I have too much shit to get done to sit in this bullshit all day. And if it causes a problem, I will fucking step on their necks until they see it my way. And now I sound like a goddamed tin pot dictator again. Fuck! I hate politics! The emissaries looked at each other, trying to decide who should speak first. It seemed that they were vapor-locked on this decision, so Duke decided it for them. ¡°Since you are to my right, you get to go first.¡± ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty, The Ansky Empire greets King Duke and welcomes his reign over the Kingdom of Stormstride. Your neighbor, even if separated by some distance, is glad to see the ending of a mad king and wish to offer our support to you and your kingdom so that your people may prosper as ours have. Please accept this gift as a token of our friendship.¡± At these words, a pair of powerfully built servants stepped forward, placing a substantial chest before the throne. When they stepped back, the other emissary spoke. ¡°The Kingdom of Tannish also welcomes King Duke and the Kingdom of Stormstride to the continent. Since you have asked for honesty and honor in our dealings, I will say this. Chopie was a petty and frivolous ruler. We are pleased to see him removed from power and our spies have relayed your first few actions as a king and we find them to be worthy of respect. Our Kingdom is unlike most. We are a Jungle Kingdom, constantly beset by the terrifying monsters of the deep jungle. As such, we do not brook flowery political speech. We speak plainly and dislike politics. From what I have seen here, even today, our Kingdoms will be very like-minded and I see no reason for us not to be friendly. In fact, we open our borders to you and your people for hunting in the jungle. It is not for the inexperienced or the meek, but there is nothing quite like a jungle hunt. Additionally, we did bring a gift of friendship as well.¡± A woman wearing a dress depicting flowering vines stepped forward. She placed a box that was nearly the size of her torso before Duke. With a bow, she stepped back, her raven hair flowing forward to cover her face. Duke paused briefly as if weighing his words carefully before speaking. Madrigal picked up on Duke¡¯s pause and spoke. ¡°Your Majesty, I would ask that you open the gifts now so that anything that might be perishable be properly secured and not spoil.¡± ¡°A great suggestion, Duke Madrigal.¡± Duke stepped down from the throne and approached the gifts. As he approached the chest from the Ansky Empire, he received a whispered message. ¡°Your Majesty, I have a message from Sam. He says that he needs you here urgently. He would not relay what the matter was, but he seemed particularly agitated.¡± Duke briefly hesitated but decided that he was going to get his loot first. He would deal with Sam¡¯s issues later. He reached for the chest to open it. Book 2, Chapter 48 - Loot! The anticipation of loot was clouded by the message from Sam. Duke wanted to take his time and savor what he was given, but Sam¡¯s ¡°urgent¡± request pressed on his mind. What could be so urgent? I haven¡¯t heard anything from those stationed at the Inn so it¡¯s not some sort of external threat. Or could it be something that the troops can¡¯t event see? Too many bad possibilities. Duke resigned himself to opening the gifts as quickly as was politically possible, not that he really knew what that meant either. ¡°Since the Ansky Empire was allowed to speak first, I¡¯ll open the gift from the Kingdom of Tannish first.¡± Duke looked up to see that there was no animosity generated from his announcement. His XENOGLOSSIA told him that both emissaries were bursting with anticipation, which, in turn, raised his own level of anticipation. He approached the box from Tannish. It was a dark lacquered box, nearly black, but still with a brown tone to it. It was banded in gold and had a single keyhole on a gold plate that just sang magic to his senses. The Tannish emissary stepped forward, presenting the key resting on one knee with his head bowed and his palms extended. Duke took the key and felt the weight of the magic radiating from it. He was sure that few could open the box without having to destroy it in the process. Duke inserted the key and slowly turned it. His SENSE MAGIC Ability was tingling as the magic of the box and the magic of the key interrogated each other, finally finding a harmony that allowed to lock to release. The box unfolded easily to reveal a single object resting in a bed of soft velvet. It was quite simply the largest egg Duke had ever seen. As he bent down to examine it closer the emissary spoke. ¡°Your Majesty, the Kingdom of Tannish presents you with the egg of the Great Serpent Illuyanka. It will hatch in three weeks now that the case has been opened and will be a great protector.¡± The emissary then produced a scroll which Duke accepted. ¡°This is a Spell that will bond the beast to you so that it will act as your own personal guardian.¡± Duke¡¯s smile was genuine at the gift. A legendary serpent as his own personal guardian sounded like something that could be lots of fun. What the hell am I going to feed this thing? Livestock? No¡­kobolds. Lots of kobolds. Duke suppressed a chuckle at the thought and responded. ¡°Stormstride thanks you for this wonderous and thoughtful gift.¡± He hoped that was an appropriate response and since he didn¡¯t see any involuntary winces from his council, he figured he did well enough. He then approached the chest from the Ansky Empire. Again, his SENSE MAGIC Ability was tingling as he neared the chest. It was of a darker wood that reminded Duke of the teak wood his father¡¯s boat had been made from. He quickly suppressed the memory as it would only sour his mood. The chest was banded in gold like the Box from Tannish had been. It also had gems inlaid where Duke would have expected the nails or screws to be. ¡°Your Majesty, there is no key or lock to the chest. It is enchanted so that none other than you would be able to open it. Duke picked up the brief flash of surprise and admiration on Baslin¡¯s face out of the corner of his eye. He nodded and opened the chest. Inside there was a flanged mace resting on a bed of gold. The mace head was red with sky blue accents on the flanges while the handle was a pristine white. The red of the mace head offered a subtle, but noticeable glow. The emissary spoke again. ¡°As the Kingdom of Tannish offers a guardian for their new friends, ¡°he offered a nod to the emissary who returned it with a smile, ¡°the Ansky Empire would see their friends well-equipped to defend themselves.¡± Duke lifted the mace and showed it to all present, subtly IDENTIFYING it. *** You have found The Flanged Mace of Stormcalling. This mace can summon a thunderstorm and call down bolts of lightning upon foes once per day. *** He continued showing it off before announcing, ¡°A grand and fitting weapon for the Kingdom of Stormstride. Both the Kingdom of Tannish and the Ansky empire honor us with your presence and your generous gifts. We shall hold a feast in your honor in two days. In the meantime, enjoy your time in our city. We will conduct a more formal session of discussions after the feast.¡± The emissaries took the dismissal for what it was and departed with the proper bows. When they had departed, Duke looked to his council. ¡°OK, prepare for what we will need to discuss. Take the day and come up with items to ask for in negotiation and what we can offer. I have another matter that I must attend to right now.¡± Duke didn¡¯t hesitate any longer and TELEPORTED directly into the common room of the Inn, enjoying his newly enhanced Ability. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Sam appeared immediately and dragged Duke towards his core chamber. When Duke entered, he immediately saw the issue. There were half a dozen cores budding from Sam¡¯s core. ¡°Duke, help me! I received a burst of energy from¡­from I don¡¯t know where, but it was so much I had to bud again and again, or I would have burst. Too much energy, too fast. But now the buds are all going to fall at once. I don¡¯t want them to shatter.¡± Duke rushed over but a thought occurred to him. ¡°Does every dungeon have a dungeon master?¡± ¡°Of course not. Dungeon Masters are rare in the extreme. They are only created by the Overmind.¡± ¡°So, just about every other dungeon out there buds like you and the new cores just fall to the ground without shattering? What are you so worried about?¡± ¡°When another dungeon buds, it has a minion carry the new core as far as it can to plant it in just the right spot if it can. Many don¡¯t find an ideal spot before the minion expires and take a long time to grow. I don¡¯t want that for my offspring. That would be a tragedy!¡± ¡°You pulled me here because you didn¡¯t want your children to grow up in bad neighborhoods?¡± ¡°I care about my offspring! You would too if you had any.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t go there. Just don¡¯t. You have no idea what you are talking about and¡­just don¡¯t.¡± Sam backed off, unsure of how to react to Duke¡¯s words and emotion. He responded with a simple appeal. ¡°Will you help me, Duke?¡± ¡°Of course I¡¯ll help you, but I can¡¯t carry six cores in my hands. They are going to have to go into a bag or into my INVENTORY.¡± Sam handed him a soft cloth bag with six padded pockets inside. ¡°Use this to keep them safe. I still don¡¯t think it¡¯s safe to put them in your INVENTORY yet.¡± ¡°Maybe after I rank it up again.¡± ¡°Perhaps. Will you help me plant these seeds? These new cores, so raw and full of potential?¡± ¡°Sam, I told you I would help you plant them so I will. But the problem I have right now is that I don¡¯t have a safe place to plant them. They will be at risk from the get-go.¡± ¡°I understand. And we have to take the risks. Plant them far away from here and from each other and it will only be these cores individually at risk.¡± ¡°That will take a bit of time to do.¡± ¡°The cores will remain viable for at least a month but the sooner they are planted the better since they are so overloaded with Mana.¡± ¡°What do you mean overloaded with Mana?¡± ¡°The influx of Mana I received was so dramatic that I stuffed the first core as full as it could take, but the spillover filled the second, and so on until I had six full cores. They will be spectacular dungeons!¡± ¡°I guess that means that I shouldn¡¯t infuse them with any more Mana.¡± ¡°Oh, Overmind, no. Don¡¯t do that! They are liable to shatter and detonate.¡± ¡°Did you say detonate?¡± ¡°Of course, Duke. What do you think happens when hundreds of thousands of points of Mana is released uncontrollably in an instant?¡± ¡°Bad things, I guess.¡± ¡°Yes, Duke. Bad things. Now hurry up and take the cores before they fall off on their own. They are mature enough that you don¡¯t need to wait for them to release. Just pluck them right off.¡± ¡°You know, I never thought that coming to this world would make me a dungeon farmer.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad that it is you that has taken on this role Duke. I know that my thought patters are vastly divergent from other sentients, but I consider you my closest friend and until I met you that wasn¡¯t a concept that even made sense to me. Thank you for all you do for me and my family.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what friends are for, right?¡± Duke proceeded to remove the new cores one by one and placed them in the special bag. He then got to his own business with Sam. ¡°Sam, I need a favor.¡± ¡°Anything, Duke.¡± ¡°I am going to have a feast, a festival of sorts honoring two other kingdoms that have come here and provided some pretty cool gifts. I want to hold it in the dungeon so that it can be designed to be spectacular and everything will be perfect from the food to the decorations. Are you willing to help set this up?¡± ¡°Another party? Like the one Elaine set up for you?¡± ¡°Yes, like that, but bigger. And here¡¯s the real kicker, I don¡¯t want them to be able to tell that they are in the dungeon at all.¡± ¡°I can make an entrance like the one to the Inn that has no notifications since it¡¯s a safe zone. But they are still going to know that they came here to enter the place.¡± ¡°I have some ideas on that.¡± Duke proceeded to share his plans with Sam who became more and more excited about the prospects of what Duke was planning for the long run. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do it!¡± Sam replied after Duke explained it all. ¡°Oh, yes, this is so much fun and so much potential.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad you see it that way. I¡¯ll get things set up on my end and see about finding homes for these cores.¡± Duke fixed the bag to his belt and paused, realizing he was still in his Kingly outfit. A flex of will and application of his seldom-used upgrade from his last INVENTORY rank-up, and he was dressed in his favorite clothes. With a wave and a smile, Duke TELEPORTED to the spot he had recently fought the army threatening the Wildheart Refuge. Not because there was anything special about the place, it was just the furthest point he had been from the Inn and wanted to use it as a starting point. He launched himself into the air and rocketed away, pushing his FLIGHT Ability to pour speed on. Book 2, Chapter 49 - New Friends or New Foes? Duke sped off towards the horizon at a casual Mach 2. As the ground passed below him, he increased his speed, OVERCHANNELING the Ability and quickly reaching Mach 10. At this speed. He had to rise further and further in the air to be able to make out any features on the ground. Once he got high enough, he increased his speed to a truly phenomenal level. Mountain ranges passed below him, and signs of civilization came and passed as he followed the curvature of the planet. After two hours of the hyper-flight, he slowed down and descended in an entirely new area. He landed on the edge of a large body of water. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was an inland sea, an ocean, or some large lake. He was sure, however, that the palm trees at the shore put him somewhere tropical. The warm, humid air also helped in that assumption. His first thought was to plant one of the cores right there on the shoreline but his immediate counter-thought consisted of two words: Water Dungeon. Nobody liked them, least of all, him. He headed inland a bit, getting a lay of the land. He kept his DUNGEON SENSE up and running while he walked to see what he could find. Mostly, it was more trees and underbrush with various creatures scattered all about. There were all sorts of colorful birds that seemed unhappy at his presence but he ignored them. What did get his attention were the monkeys moving through the trees. They glared at him and shouted some rather rude insults that his XENOGLOSSIA was happy to translate for him. He decided to shout back. The translation had to come with some context but his response more literally translated like this: ¡°Hey, broken tail! Your daddy ate the banana out of your ass!¡± This, apparently was a deadly insult and the monkey stopped flinging poo and charged right down towards Duke to tear him apart. As it got closer from its descent from the trees, Duke could see that it was nearly as tall as him, making it far larger than any Earth monkey he had heard of. It charged him with teeth bare and hands clenched into claws. Duke met its charge with a upwards swing of his fancy new mace. The monkey tried to dodge but Duke¡¯s swing was far too fast, striking the monkey with a tremendous crunch of impact. The monkey flipped head over heels back into the trees before falling to the ground limp. ¡°Guess I hit it a bit too hard.¡± Duke confessed, not realizing how much the mace had amplified his strike. ¡°Sorry, chimp. Better luck next time.¡± He continued his search inland, the monkeys giving him a wider berth now that they had seen his strength. Before long, he came upon a clearing with a burned-out building on the side of a road. The tropical jungle created a thick canopy that had veiled this road from above, but his DUNGEON SENSE had spotted it fairly easily. He assessed the building as a complete loss but decided to take a trip up the road to see what else was on it. Maybe there is a good spot on this road for a roadside Inn. Duke picked up his speed heading down the road. He found that he could comfortably jog down the road at highway speeds from Earth. A smile came to his face as he continued reveling in the sense of speed. It wasn¡¯t nearly as satisfying as flight, but it felt good nonetheless. The road itself was paved with flat stones fitted together nearly flawlessly. Duke assumed some form of magic had been involved and could detect some warding magic radiating from it ¨C to keep the road clear of monsters he assumed. After another hour, Duke found the road coming to a camp of sorts as the foliage had begun to thin out. He slowed down to a walk as he approached, noticing who was occupying the camp. It was a large group of humanoid creatures that appeared to be a mix of human and canine but didn¡¯t resemble any of the beastkin he had seen in the Wildheart Refuge. He IDENTIFIED one to get some idea of what he was walking into. *** You have encountered Jarmok, a Gnoll Hunter. Tier: 1 Level: 47 Health: 12,240 Mana: 1,920 *** The gnoll was wearing crude leather armor and carried a large bow in its hands as it scanned the area around the camp. It was currently facing away from the road and did not notice Duke yet. The four that were looking down the road, however, spotted him easily. ¡°Human! They found us!¡± The panic in the gnoll¡¯s voice was evident, so palpable that Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA was unnecessary. The reaction from the other gnolls affirmed the interpretation as they ran to defensive positions, weapons bristling in trembling hands. Duke slowed his walk a bit as he assessed the situation. Clearly they were afraid of him but he doubted it was anything personal as they were far too far away from his kingdom to have even heard of him. He decided to try out some diplomacy and see where it took him. ¡°Greetings. You seem somewhat concerned at my presence so I will share this with you. I come from quite a distance away and have no idea nor interest in whatever quarrel you have with other humans. I am an explorer and come to you with open hands and an open mind. Might we have a conversation rather than conflict?¡± ¡°You not Barubie?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even know what a Barubie is?¡± ¡°Barubie hunt gnoll. You no hunt gnoll?¡± A new voice interjected. ¡°Shut up Gramlua. You sound like an ignorant primitive. You can clearly see that he is not a Barubie. What is your name, sir?¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Duke continued to walk forward slowly, his hands open. ¡°I am called Duke. What is your name?¡± ¡°My name is Twalla.¡± A female gnoll stepped out of the defensive formation, sheathing her sword as she approached Duke. ¡°You do not wear the colors or livery of Barubie and no one would claim to be a Duke this close to their territory so I am going to assume that you are being honest with me.¡± As she came close, Duke could more easily see that she wore no armor, but a simple tunic and leggings made from tanned hide. She wore no shoes but judging from her paw-like feet, she probably did not need to. ¡°I am being completely honest with you, Twalla. I find deception to be counterproductive in virtually all my dealings.¡± He reached out a hand for her to shake. She considered it briefly before tentatively reaching hers out in mirror. Duke took her hand in his and shook it. From how quickly she pulled back, he knew that he startled her. ¡°Forgive me, Twalla. A handshake is a traditional friendly greeting from where I come from. The open hands touching shows that both parties are coming together unarmed and without guile.¡± ¡°An intriguing tradition, I must say.¡± Duke could see the apprehension melting from her face as they continued their conversation. ¡°Please come into the camp and join us for a meal. It is exceedingly rare that we encounter someone coming from that direction. Do you have a ship that put in to shore there?¡± ¡°No, I travel by much different means but that¡¯s not really important. What is important is that I see that I am here and you all are here. And perhaps when we part ways, we will all be better for it.¡± ¡°You sound like a merchant.¡± Another gnoll spoke up. This one was larger than most of the others, standing half a head taller than Duke himself. He had light and dark red accents throughout his fur which made Duke think of a Viking. The fact that he had a large axe head sticking out over his shoulder just completed the picture for Duke. Duke laughed. ¡°I¡¯m no merchant. That is for sure. If anything, I am an adventurer and explorer. I like to make friends and my friends always benefit from the relationship.¡± The large gnoll spoke up again. ¡°You still sound like a merchant, but if Twalla accepts you at your word, then I will as well for she is the wisest of us and can see into the heart like none other in the tribe. I am Mahlnok. I lead the warriors of the tribe.¡± He pulled his axe around to show Duke. ¡°That is why I wield the axe of our ancestors.¡± Duke could see that the axe had seen better days. There were deep nicks in the bladed edge and the counterbalance spike was worn dull. This was a weapon that had seen countless years of use. As he looked around, he saw that most of the equipment that the gnolls carried was on its last legs. ¡°Since you have welcomed me into your camp, may I offer the tribe a gift?¡± Duke asked Twalla, a serious look on his face. She considered for a few moments before responding. ¡°In many cultures, gifts can come with obligations. We can ill afford any additional obligations.¡± ¡°I sear to you that this gift is given freely, without reservation, and obligation.¡± She brightened up as he spoke and then her eyes bulged as the notification of a Royal Oath being sworn appeared in her vision. Her eyes snapped to Duke and he smiled back. Hesitantly, she nodded. ¡°Excellent.¡± Duke activated a RESTORE to cover the entire camp and all the gnolls within. The response didn¡¯t disappoint as weapons repaired themselves, armor reformed, clothing grew to cover more comfortably than ever as nothing they used now had been new to them. Even the tents showed off their new colors as the original dyes and paints were refreshed. Mahlnok stared at the axe in his hands and Duke could feel something he hadn¡¯t noticed ever before after a RESTORE. The axe now radiated magic strongly. So strongly, that it began to glow with a soft red light. Duke realized that there had once been runes carved into the handle and axe head that had faded or had been broken over time. Now that they were renewed, the true power of the axe had returned. ¡°You have restored the Axe of the Ancients to its full glory! What manner of man are you to have done so? Surely, you must be a god hidden among us!¡± Despite similar declarations and exclamations of wonder and delight throughout the camp, Duke kept his calm demeanor. ¡°Like I said before. I always leave my friends better off than I found them.¡± ¡°This is a gift beyond measure. You do not know what you have done for us.¡± Twalla declared, tears running down her cheeks. ¡°We were once a proud tribe, more than a thousand strong. But we have been hunted by the Barubie so long that all you see here is all we have left of the tribe. Our supplies are nearly gone and even our cookpots leak.¡± ¡°Well, they don¡¯t leak anymore. Tell me, why do the Barubie hunt you?¡± ¡°Because we are different from them. They are humans that look mostly like you save your pale skin. They drove everyone out of their empire that did not have their blue skin, killing so many in the process. Most of our great warriors died while stalling the Barubie armies. Now, two generations later, we hide here, far from their sight. We do not have the means to support ourselves most of the time, so we are doomed to die off without even a single Barubie attack.¡± ¡°That does not sound very hopeful. It pains me to see a proud and, from what I can see, peacefully-inclined people suffer like this at the hands of an oppressor.¡± ¡°We thank you for your kind words. But you have given us hope. We now can hunt for food again and possibly defend ourselves from a Barubie hunting party.¡± Duke nodded, weighing things before he did what he knew he was going to do when he heard of their plight. ¡°I can perhaps offer another path for your people.¡± ¡°Another path? What do you mean?¡± ¡°I see three paths from here. One, you stay here as you are now and hope to build up enough to survive which seems a strong possibility. Two, you all come to my Kingdom and can live in peace far from the depredations of the Barubie. Three, I plant a dungeon seed here that will offer your people the opportunity to grow quickly albeit with significant danger.¡± Mahlnok interrupted again. ¡°What is a dungeon seed and how can it help us grow quickly? ¡°If I plant a seed here, a dungeon will grow out of it in a day or two. You will be able to enter the dungeon and face its challenges. Most will be physical and combat-oriented so your tribe¡¯s fighting skills will increase with the practice. By facing and passing the dungeon¡¯s challenges, you will receive rewards from the dungeon. The rewards vary from dungeon to dungeon and likely will vary some for each group that passes the dungeon¡¯s challenges. They can be riches, weapons, food, magic, virtually anything.¡± ¡°That sounds like something that anyone would covet having.¡± Mahlnok remarked. ¡°If well-managed, it can be an asset like none other, but if left unchallenged long enough, the monsters that inhabit a dungeon can spill out into the surrounding area and cause all manner of chaos. It is a responsibility to keep the dungeon safe from others as much as it is a resource for your people.¡± Twalla nodded. ¡°I must speak with my people on this. Will you please excuse us?¡± ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll go rest over there by those trees.¡± Duke walked out of the gnoll camp and settled down to wait. As he waited, he practiced making Portals, keeping them small so that he could keep them hidden from sight. Mostly, he created Portals to the Inn¡¯s kitchen, stealing snacks and meals to fill his INVENTORY with as many goodies as he could manage. Book 2, Chapter 50 - New Friends, New Opportunities The debate seemed to be taking longer than Duke had anticipated. He had stolen enough food for a significant feast before he finally got caught and closed the Portal, chuckling all the time. He decided to see just how far he could push the Ability. He made a Portal about one millimeter wide and put the other end on the ceiling of Aurelia¡¯s meeting room in Legion headquarters. He was overjoyed when he was able to see her in a meeting with her commanders. He listened in. ¡°Does the King need to be informed of this development, General?¡± ¡°I think not. There¡¯s nothing he would care to do about it and would leave it up to us to resolve anyway. Besides, he needs to focus on the reception for the other two kingdoms. I don¡¯t know where he is, but I trust he has at least left someone in charge of setting it up.¡± Duke closed the Portal and thought about it for a bit. He did give Sam the instruction to set up the party. It¡¯ll be fine. Sam¡¯s smart and will set up a grand party. Duke opened a small Portal to the bar in the Inn. ¡°Hey Calen, is Sam setting up for a grand feast and party?¡± Calen looked around until he saw the Portal. A quizzical look passed over his face before he responded. ¡°Of course, Sam is setting up for the party. You asked him to do so, right?¡± ¡°Yes, right. Of course. Never mind then. Thanks.¡± Duke closed the Portal. He was glad that he had closed the Portal just then as he heard Twalla coming his way. He stood up to greet her. ¡°Have you all come to a decision?¡± ¡°Yes, we have, but it wasn¡¯t an easy one. Many wanted to leave with you and be done with this place. But ultimately, this is our homeland and any hope that we can stay here and prosper is a straw that too many want to grasp for. How does this dungeon seeding process work?¡± ¡°Oh, that is the simplest part of it all. Do you want to gather your people around to watch? It will probably be fairly anticlimactic. At least at first. When the dungeon is ready in a day or two, that is when the real fun starts. Quick question for you beforehand. How travelled is this road. It seems to go nowhere and is virtually unused?¡± ¡°There used to be a community of selkies that lived on the seashore. They traded with anyone who came to them, sharing the bounty of the sea. The Barubies built this road for trade but when they turned xenophobic, they used it as a highway for their armies to march on the selkies. I believe many were able to take to the sea and escape genocide, but I don¡¯t expect them ever to come back. So, this road is a relic of the past.¡± ¡°I see. So perhaps setting the dungeon up on the side of the road is not as bad an idea as I thought it might be.¡± Duke essentially was speaking to he back as she had left to gather the tribe and watch this unknown event that Duke had claimed would be beneficial to her tribe. Skepticism ran high but the effects of Duke¡¯s RESTORE Ability had given him enough credibility to allow for this demonstration. It did not take long for the tribe to gather. Duke¡¯s quick count was around 120 full-grown adults and twice as many children. Not a large tribe but enough he hoped to protect and nurture the dungeon he was about to plant. ¡°Are you all ready for this?¡± Duke asked as he met the gazes of the gathered crowd. ¡°We are ready.¡± Mahlnok spoke for the tribe. Duke smiled as he pulled the core he had selected from the pouch. It was slightly green in coloration and he hoped that indicated that it was nature-mana focused as that seemed like a good fit for this tribe of gnolls. With reverence, he held the core up for all to see, elevating it above his head. ¡°With this seed, this core, I shall plant the future of this tribe. May prosperity shine upon you all!¡± Shit, that sounded good. I¡¯m getting better at this! When all had gotten a look at the seed, he lowered it to the ground and placed his hand over it. He closed his eyes and addressed the prompt. *** You have placed an Inn-variant of the Lake Front Dungeon seed in an ideal location beside a road. Do you wish to plant this seed and create a new dungeon? (Y/N) *** Duke was surprised by the message. An Inn-variant? What the hell does that mean? One way to find out, I guess. He indicated ¡°Yes¡± and the seed sunk into the ground. ¡°Everyone please stand back.¡± Duke instructed as he himself began to back away from the glowing spot there the core was planted. The tribe did as requested and stepped back as something started to grow out of the ground. Duke had expected something like a cave or even a set of stairs to grow into the ground. He did not expect something to come growing out of the ground but that¡¯s exactly what happened. And grow it did. In a matter of less than a minute the brownish-green mass had grown as large as a city bus and was still growing. Everyone stepped further back and across the road. The gnolls continued to murmur questions to which none of them had answers The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°What is that thing?¡± ¡°Will it stop growing?¡± ¡°Must we fight it and destroy it?¡± ¡°Mama, I¡¯m scared.¡± Duke joined the tribe across the road as he too watched it grow. It expanded continually, visibly growing to the height of the shorter palm trees before it continued to expand outwards and, oddly enough, away from the road. Its growth towards the tribe had stopped two meters short of the road. Ten minutes later, it seemed to have hit its growth limit. It was a significant mass, largely rectangular in shape. They watched as it continued to refine its shape and before long Duke realized what the final shape was going to be. I¡¯m an idiot. The prompt did say Inn-variant, so of course, it¡¯s going to look like an Inn. Finally, the Inn resolved itself before their eyes. It was a two-story structure with windows all around. It appeared to be painted a slate blue as the primary color with exposed dark timbers showing in contrast. The windows were all even rectangles, showing various woodland images in stained glass. The door was set in the center of the Inn and was far larger than one would expect. Duke suspected it was to accommodate larger creatures. Finally, A signboard grew out over the door with a sign depicting a deeply crimson stag rearing up. The sign also read ¡°Crimson Stag Inn¡± solidifying Duke¡¯s interpretation of the sign. The gnolls all stared at the Inn along with Duke. It was a sight that seemed completely out-of-place from the camp set across the road, but in another context, it perfectly fit in as a roadside Inn. Tentatively, they approached the door, hesitant to reach for it. Duke stepped forward. ¡°I will go in first to see what it looks like in there. I have a suspicion about what it will be like but if I¡¯m wrong it could be gravely dangerous.¡± He entered the Inn. The feeling he received as he passed through the threshold was similar to what he felt while TELEPORTING and virtually the same as when he stepped into the Lake Front Inn. Inside, it resembled a much scaled-down version of the Lake Front Inn. He saw the tables, the large fireplace with a warm and inviting fire. He also saw the bar with a white Minotaur behind it. Unlike Calen, this minotaur was tremendously tall, towering over Duke and making him wonder just how he served drinks from such a height. The counter barely came up to the Minotaur¡¯s mid-thigh. He turned to Duke and smiled. ¡°Greetings, Duke. I am Ryan and this is my Inn.¡± ¡°You already know my name?¡± ¡°Of course. Sam gifted me with much knowledge; your name and this configuration figured prominently in the knowledge shared. The majority of this Inn is a saferoom like the Lake Front Inn configuration of the Lake Front Dungeon.¡± ¡°Is there a section that is perhaps, a bit more dangerous?¡± Ryan chuckled and pointed behind Duke who turned around to see a door on the opposite side of the common room. It had a brightly painted sign that read in glowing golden words: Danger! Do not pass through this door unless you are prepared for great peril and bodily harm! ¡°That is quite the sign. Just how dangerous is the actual dungeon part of the Inn?¡± ¡°It scales. The first two levels are relatively simple and straightforward but the next four get progressively more difficult.¡± ¡°Six levels and you are just starting out?¡± ¡°Sam did tell you that my core was maxed out, didn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°Indeed he did. I just had no idea it meant all this. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Duke stepped out of the Inn to see the entire tribe waiting. Spread throughout the gnolls were countenances of worry and trepidation. Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA was working overtime to process it all and it came over him as a wave of body language showing a complex emotion that was not exactly fear but that was the closest analog he could come up with. He employed his Diplomacy Skill as he spoke to them. ¡°Oh, yes. This is good news. The Crimson Stag Inn is ready for all of the tribe. It is a wonderous building in that it is two worlds inside. When you first enter, you will see that it is an Inn like any other but better. There is also another world that can be entered to fight and grow stronger. Come on in and see for yourself.¡± Duke held the door open for the gnolls. Twalla led the way in and nearly stopped in her tracks at the wonder she saw. As she continued into the Inn, her hackles fell and she visibly relaxed. She glanced back at Duke and he smiled with enthusiasm. ¡°This looks just like a roadside inn!¡± ¡°That¡¯s because it is one, but also so much more.¡± Twalla spun around to the bar to see Ryan towering over her with a wide smile. He continued, ¡°This Inn has all the features you would expect in an Inn but also has further dungeon features that make it special beyond its already fantastic Inn features. I am Ryan, your Innkeeper.¡± She looked at him dumbfounded as the rest of the tribe filtered in carefully. They looked around themselves confused and bewildered at what they saw. ¡°What is this place?¡± One asked. ¡°This,¡± Ryan gestured expansively around himself, ¡°is the Crimson Stag Inn. You are all welcome to stay here and are even welcome to try your skills in the actual dungeon within. But I suspect that most of you will be just satisfied with enjoying the Inn as it is and not venturing beyond.¡± Mahlnok spoke up. ¡°What is the fee for staying at this Inn?¡± ¡°Oh, a good and fair question. You seem to have many members of your tribe but few warriors that might be willing to delve into the dungeon.¡± ¡°This is true, but an odd thing to point out when discussing rent.¡± ¡°Well, the thing is this. I am all alone in running this establishment. I have need of staff to make this place run efficiently. Your tribe could perhaps provide staff and we could all benefit.¡± ¡°I can cook!¡± A voice echoed from the back of the gathered tribe. Other voices echoed out and before Mahlnok or Twalla had another word in argument, the deal was struck. The tribe had a home, a dungeon to delve into, and many of them now had jobs. Duke stayed in the background, smiling as things resolved themselves. He caught Twalla¡¯s eye as he left for the door outside. She followed him out. ¡°Duke, you are like no man I have ever met. You offer us so much and have asked for nothing in return.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not entirely true. I am asking you and your tribe to take care of and protect the Inn. It may be easy for the most part but there is also the chance that it could be quite difficult and dangerous.¡± ¡°I still think we are gaining more than we are giving up.¡± ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t know. That is a mighty fine looking camp over there.¡± She chuckled. ¡°Thank you, Duke. You are always welcome among us.¡± ¡°You would also be welcome in my kingdom. I will stop by sometime to check in on how you are doing. But, for now, I have to get going.¡± Duke waved and then vanished. He had his own Inn to get back to, hoping the party planning was going well. Book 2, Chapter 51 - Return to Havenreach Duke arrived back in the common room of the Lake Front Inn, smiling at his new ability to TELEPORT directly into the dungeon. Immediately afterwards, Sam greeted him. ¡°You¡¯re back. Did you plant all the seeds already.¡± He paused then answered for himself. ¡°No, but you did plant one. What did you think?¡± ¡°I think a roadside Inn is a very cool design but I¡¯m a bit biased. I did not run through the dungeon part even though it was sorely tempting. Are they all going to be that type of configuration?¡± ¡°Yes, they will. This configuration seems to work extremely well in keeping guests happy and delvers sharp. The old me was enthusiastic about killing off delvers but having delvers stay in the Inn long-term seems to afford me better long-term growth and I see the potential for faster short-term growth this way as well.¡± ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s not just because of Havenreach?¡± ¡°Havenreach is a separate topic. That city has accelerated my growth in such a beautiful way that I have trouble quantifying it. It¡¯s like having a one hundred level instanced dungeon that is constantly filled with delvers. And the city continues to grow which only keeps helping things along. I think that I am rather spoiled to have them.¡± ¡°Call it a symbiotic relationship. They seemed truly happy to be there. I hope it stays that way but that¡¯s not really what I wanted to talk about. How does the setup for the feast look? Is everything in place for tomorrow evening?¡± ¡°Things are in place. Certainly. Everything will be set.¡± Duke stared at Sam¡¯s unblinking face. ¡°You haven¡¯t even gotten started, have you?¡± Sam blinked. ¡°Of course, I¡¯ve gotten started. I¡¯ve put a lot of thought into this. There will be food and decorations and music and performers and dancing bears.¡± Duke shook his head and TELEPORTED back to the capitol. He needed someone to design this feast and festival and fast. He went to Lady Hargwaetch. ¡°Good evening, Your Majesty. What can I assist you with?¡± Duke offered up a friendly smile. ¡°Lady Hargwaetch, I honestly didn¡¯t know if you would still be in your office at this hour.¡± ¡°I have been meeting with the trade delegations all day. It has been quite productive. They are all looking forward to tomorrow night.¡± ¡°About that, do you know anyone who could look over what we have planned and help us out. I¡¯m not sure that we have set things up properly and I would hate to cause an international incident over serving the wrong cheese or something like that.¡± ¡°A fair concern. History does tell us that simple unexpected insults can cause insane issues. Of course, that depends on the fragility of the egos involved. From how their trade delegations have acted, both nations are proud but eager to befriend us. I feel that they see us as a potentially untapped resource. I can look over the plans for you if you like based on my discussions today.¡± ¡°I would very much like that, and they have no idea how much of your supposition is true. We have resources that will blow your mind. Things that no one outside of a few individuals are aware of and I think it¡¯s time for you to be brought into the loop. Do you have time for an evening outing?¡± ¡°I¡¯m an independent woman so my time is my own, well beyond my duties to the kingdom. And if my king requests my company for an evening outing, I most certainly am going to say yes.¡± She batted her eyelashes flirtatiously. Duke¡¯s mind stumbled as he furiously tried to come up with what to say to shut that line of thought down while not offending one of his chief advisors. Mercifully, she did it for him. ¡°I have no interest in getting my head chopped off by a golden sword. I will keep it strictly business.¡± Her smile was no less flirtatious, but Duke understood the message ¨C she would respect Aurelia¡¯s space but was more than just interested. One woman is more than enough for me to handle. I don¡¯t need this. I really don¡¯t need this. ¡°Yes, strictly business. That sounds appropriate.¡± Duke made sure to place extra emphasis on that word. ¡°I will be back shortly, and I can show you one of our secret resources then.¡± Duke departed, TELEPORTING right after leaving her office. He arrived in a chamber that Sam had specially prepared for Duke within the Lake Front Dungeon. This chamber was ornately decorated with obscure arcane symbols that Duke could easily read and interpret with his XENOGLOSSIA. The symbols were in every rune script that Sam had knowledge of. Each and every set of runes said the same thing: The Hall of Possibilities. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Duke looked around the room, seeing it was filled with blank stone archways. The archways gave the impression that there should be a passage through each, but all were blank stone, and they were large. Each archway was fifteen meters wide at its base and stretched a full thirty meters tall. Atop each archway was a long, blank horizontal rectangle of stone about a meter in height and stretching half the way across each side of the arch. With a grin, Duke created his first Persistent Portal in one of the archways. His grin grew as Sam carved the destination in the rectangle above the Portal. Duke stepped through the portal to make sure the other side was as expected. The destination hall was even larger than expected. The chamber was decorated with statues and carvings depicting all sorts of mercantile endeavors. He chuckled at that but decided to leave it as it was out of amusement if nothing else. A quick look through the oversized exit doors told him things were as he hoped. He TELEPORTED back to the hall outside Lady Hargwaetch¡¯s office and knocked on her door. She opened the door immediately, showing that she was expecting him. Duke smiled. ¡°I suppose you are ready then?¡± ¡°I am. Show me this hidden resource of our kingdom.¡± With a wry grin on his face, Duke TELEPORTED the two of them to the Hall of Possibilities. The wonder of the room had an immediate impact. ¡°What is this place? What is that glowing blue archway?¡± Duke beamed. ¡°This is the Hall of Possibilities. It is to be the trade center of our kingdom. Each one of these archways will, in time, contain a portal to another city, another nation. The first of these portals will take us to the mystical city of Havenreach. Are you ready?¡± ¡°Ready? I have so many questions, but please show me this mystical city of which you speak.¡± Duke led her to the portal as her head swiveled around taking in all the sights within the Hall. Together, they stepped through and into the receiving hall of Havenreach. Lady Hargwaetch stumbled as she stepped through the portal, her eyes wide and confused. He continued to lead her through the open doors at the end of the hall. When they stepped out, they were overlooking Havenreach. Duke saw that the city was still growing as buildings were under construction in various places. He was not sure, but it looked like several new structures had been erected since he had been here last. He tried to think about how long it had been but couldn¡¯t be sure. Maybe a week since I¡¯ve been here. That could be months in the sped up timeframe of this place. I have to check in on Elaine and Grat while I¡¯m here this time. ¡°Welcome to Havenreach, Lady Hargwaetch. Let¡¯s go check in with the mayor and see what they have for us.¡± What they had was a bit of a welcoming committee. As the pair stepped beyond the doors, guards marched out from either side of the building. They were all wearing the livery of the Kingdom of Stormstride, the glowing red gem centered on their chests with a white background and sky-blue border looking fresh and clean. Duke unconsciously activated CLEANSE and RESTORE to make sure that the troops looked perfect. He was sure that wasn¡¯t because of his vanity. Quite certain of it. The guards formed two lines, four ranks deep. One on each side of the exit doors and saluted. Duke returned the salute saying, ¡°Return to your posts.¡± The guards marched back out of the way and to the sides of the building where they were normally posted. ¡°Well, that¡¯s something you don¡¯t see every day. And where is this city? I don¡¯t recognize it or the location at all and I know every city in both kingdoms.¡± ¡°Perhaps you once did but Havenreach is a city like none other. It magically protected and cannot be reached except by the Hall of Possibilities.¡± ¡°How is this possible?¡± ¡°We do have an Archmage on staff who created one of the only stable portal systems in all of Teldin.¡± ¡°Baslin created this?¡± ¡°Oh look, I think the mayor has come out to greet us.¡± Duke gestured towards a group of approaching figures. ¡°Let¡¯s not tarry and instead meet them halfway.¡± He immediately started walking towards the group that had set off from the town. They met up after a few minutes of walking. All the members of the approaching party bowed, and Mayor Shellenberger spoke up first. ¡°Welcome back to Havenreach, You Majesty. It is, as always, a pleasure to be in your presence.¡± ¡°Thank you Mayor Shellenberger. Everyone, please rise and relax. There are some new faces here that I am not familiar with. I would know who you are. But first, allow me to introduce Lady Hargwaetch, the Kingdom¡¯s Minister of Trade.¡± Greetings were exchanged and introductions were made. Most were minor functionaries of the town including the head of the guard and the master of the guilds. There was one amongst them that stood out as different. That was Lord Greengold, the Trade Minister for the town. His blue eyes struck Duke as hiding a level of clever intelligence that could be dangerous to place in such a position. It could be equally a blessing depending on how the person conducted themselves. I¡¯m going to have to test this one¡¯s loyalty somehow. This city¡¯s trade is far too important to go awry. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet all of you. I was not aware of there being a Minister of Trade for Havenreach but that is good to see. Lady Hargwaetch will have a lot of questions for you, Lord Greengold. Be sure to get to know each other well as you will be working on many things together. Now, Lord Mayor, let¡¯s you and I return to the city proper so we can discuss a few matters. I trust Lady Hargwaetch will be well in your care, Lord Greengold?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I got her.¡± The response was simple but set Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA off. There was a full-on protective vibe coming from the man. Duke watched closely as they departed back to the city before he and the mayor set off to the City Hall. As they walked, Duke asked about the man that was setting off his senses. ¡°Where did that Greengold come from and how did he get that position? Something about him doesn¡¯t seem right.¡± ¡°That¡¯s probably because he¡¯s not native to the kingdom. He was a visiting merchant from the Ansky Empire when everything came apart under Chopie. Do not worry about his allegiance though. He is a Havenreach citizen through and through. He just has some odd mannerisms and idioms from his upbringing.¡± Duke decided to let the matter slip to the back burner and continued with the mayor to City Hall. There is definitely something about that guy that seems different. It might be the upbringing in another kingdom but I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s it. Duke¡¯s thoughts were interrupted when they arrived at City Hall and could begin the real discussions. Book 2, Chapter 52 - What are the Settings on this Thing? Duke sat opposite the mayor in his office. They had been deep in discussions when the mayor¡¯s head shot up. ¡°I just remembered that I need to show you something!¡± ¡°Well, then, go ahead and show me whatever it is.¡± Duke¡¯s amused smile carried with him as they both stood up. The mayor led Duke out of the City Hall to the treasury and after several locks were bypassed, the pair entered. Duke¡¯s first impression was that the treasury had been expanded significantly. It now reminded him of a distribution center from back home where he had worked before military life. The mayor pulled the Tax Assessor away from his duties and turned the small man around, practically aiming him at Duke. ¡°Tell him.¡± The mayor demanded. The Tax Assessor briefly looked up at Duke before returning to his ledger. A brief moment later, he looked up again with a much more attentive look on his face. ¡°Your Majesty. It has been quite a while since you were here. By my ledger, 168 days have passed since you last came to collect the kingdom¡¯s taxes. In that time, we have accumulated a significant sum for the royal treasury in excess dungeon tax.¡± ¡°You halted all the other taxes?¡± ¡°Certainly, Your Majesty.¡± The Tax Assessor was interrupted as the mayor took over. ¡°Your Majesty, we have reduced the dungeon tax rate from 15% to 5% and suspended all other taxation.¡± ¡°And how is that working out for the City?¡± ¡°Disastrously.¡± The mayor responded. ¡°Explain.¡± Shellenberger walked Duke over to the currently filling chest. He watched as a steady rain of gold coins rapidly filled the chest. ¡°You see, Your Majesty, the treasure coming out of the dungeon has been tremendous. With the exception of a few days recently, it has been steady like this. Our adventurers are wealthy beyond belief and it is going to destroy our economy.¡± The Tax Assessor chimed in. ¡°With the vast increase of gold in our economy, the prices of all goods are set to skyrocket. What is 10 gold for a loaf of bread when you can make 800 in an hour in the dungeon?¡± Duke shook his head. ¡°I understand. How much gold have you accumulated in the Treasury?¡± ¡°One million, seven hundred forty-eight thousand two hundred seventy-five. And counting.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Duke didn¡¯t bother to wait for a response before TELEPORTING to his room in the Inn. ¡°Sam, I need to talk to you.¡± Sam appeared. ¡°Hi Duke. What do you need to talk about?¡± ¡°The Havenreach Dungeon. It¡¯s putting out way too much treasure.¡± ¡°It is putting out more than even I had expected. I did set the rewards fairly high, but yes, it is putting out more than eight times as much reward as I would have expected.¡± ¡°Eight times, you say¡­¡± Duke trailed off, checking his Character Sheet. He quickly found the culprit when he saw that his AURA of PROSPERITY was calculating out to an 813% increase. ¡°Set the rewards back down to the absolute minimum.¡± ¡°If you say so but people will be disappointed. They will go from a reward level set to about 100 gold per level to just 10.¡± ¡°They are being affected by one of my Abilities which is currently increasing the output by 813%. The 10 gold will be 81 on average. That should fix a few problems. Thank you.¡± He didn¡¯t wait for a response before TELEPORTING back to the Havenreach Treasury. ¡°That should slow things down a bit.¡± Duke said as the pair goggled at him. He could see that the stream of gold pouring into the chest had now become a trickle. ¡°What did you do? Close the dungeon?¡± ¡°Not exactly. I have an Ability that has been influencing the output of the dungeon. I just corrected so that the output down by about 90%. There¡¯s still a bit much gold in the economy but adventurers have a habit of spending gold like crazy anyway. Things should balance out in time.¡± ¡°There is still the small matter of the overfull Treasury.¡± Shellenberger announced to Duke¡¯s full amusement. ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll take the first million for the Kingdom treasury, but the rest should be spent on making this city into a center of fine crafters.¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Your Majesty, we are already a center of fine crafters. The schools you told us to build are filled with apprentices learning all manner of trades including crafting. We even have an enchanter taking on apprentices.¡± Duke smiled to hide his surprise. ¡°That is excellent news. Make more workshops and commission master-level toolsets from the tool crafters. The thing about this city is that it is about to become a major trade hub for the kingdom. Trade caravans will flow through here and I want us to be ready with goods that are the finest on the continent. Increasing our trade ties with the powerful nations around us will make them much more inclined to not cause us trouble.¡± ¡°Then I will endeavor to make this city the most productive on the continent. Our goods will be so high-quality that nations will fight each other for the privilege of trading with us.¡± ¡°I hope not to that extent of crazy. But they will also not know how to get here other than through the Portal system I am setting up. This will be a mythical city that will be an honor to visit. Level up your crafters and¡­¡± Duke trailed off. ¡°I need to make another set of Portals. I don¡¯t want them to ever see Havenreach. I want them to see a trading hub that is an intermediary for this city. That way they never actually know what the city even looks like and if they get some bright ideas of invading or raiding, they will never reach you here. Yes, that is what I¡¯m going to have to do.¡± Duke pulled chest after chest into his INVENTORY until the full million gold had been pulled in. He smiled, having no idea what he was going to do with this wealth. He currently lacked for nothing that that money could actually buy. Maybe it could be used to buy raw materials for crafting? He headed out with the mayor, watching as the myriad locks engaged behind them. Once back out in the city proper, they left in separate directions. Mayor Shellenberger went back to city hall while Duke began looking for somewhere else entirely. It took two hours for Duke to find the place he was looking for. He even asked around the city, something he almost never did because it conflicted with his ¡°I¡¯m too cool to ask for help¡± vibe. After all this time, he found himself outside the city looking at a cottage on the edge of a forest. The more he thought about it, the more impressed he was at how Sam had created such a large and detailed inner world. He knocked on the door and waited. It did not take long for the door to be answered. ¡°Duke! It¡¯s been a while. Come in. Come in.¡± Duke grinned like an idiot as he headed in. He followed Grat inside to see Elaine holding the hand of a toddler as they came up to greet him. ¡°It¡¯s been three weeks. How?¡± Duke looked back and forth between the three. ¡°Duke, it¡¯s been almost 18 months since we last saw you. Where have you been?¡± Elaine asked, concern overflowing her voice. Duke sat down in a nearby chair before speaking. ¡°Time flows very differently in this realm than in the outside. It flows almost twenty-five times faster in this realm than in the outside. If you stay here, you will die of old age before three years have passed for me and the rest of us.¡± Elaine gasped. Grat nodded before speaking again. ¡°That leaves us with a terrible decision to make. We both love it here with little Andy. The forest has the ideal mix of peacefulness and danger. The trees are healthy, and their spirits sing to us. Outside, we have known conflict after conflict with terrible consequences at every turn. We are still bound to your cause so the pull to follow you to your next adventure is strong. Not as strong as it once was now that Chopie has been defeated, but it¡¯s still there.¡± Duke took in all that was said and found he couldn¡¯t really argue against it. ¡°My next conflict is coming soon but it is not something you can help me with. I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ll even survive it myself.¡± ¡°What is such a great conflict that you are this worried? And we can¡¯t even help you at all?¡± ¡°You both know I am not from Teldin. I don¡¯t have all the details. In fact, I feel like I am missing a great many details. But, I was sent here by two cosmic entities. Why is still a bit fuzzy but there is something to do with a contest, a competition, or something along those lines.¡± ¡°That sounds ominous.¡± Grat remarked. ¡°It gets worse. Another entity has decided to step in and steal me from the two who sent me here. This entity seems more benevolent towards me, but I have no way of knowing if that is fully the case.¡± ¡°So, what you are saying is that you are a cosmic pawn and are being manipulated.¡± Elaine summarized. ¡°Quite possibly. No matter what happens, I¡¯m going to fight for my own freedom and do whatever it takes to secure it.¡± Duke¡¯s PURPOSE flared hotly as he spoke. Another voice interrupted them all. ¡°Duke, you are correct to be wary.¡± All four turned to see Sam standing on the far side of the room. Duke could clearly see that Sam was not speaking with his own voice. ¡°I am glad that you two have decided to say here. It allows me to speak more freely in this moment. Duke, when I break their connection with the Twin Entities, there will be backlash. I will do everything I can to limit it, but you could potentially lose some things that they gave you. Especially if you have made limited use of them and have not internalized the Abilities or Skills, or whatever it is. Be sure to sleep in the Inn tonight for that is when I shall break you free of their grasp.¡± ¡°That is an awful lot to unpack there.¡± ¡°It is, but I will provide as much protection as I can. They will raise objections but, in the end, they are lesser than I am so they will ultimately fail.¡± ¡°And what happens to me while they are raising these objections?¡± ¡°We will just have to wait and see.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not very helpful.¡± Duke lamented as Sam¡¯s image faded away. Elaine gave Duke a hug. ¡°What can we do to help?¡± ¡°I think a hug was probably the extent of it. And did you say your child¡¯s name is Andy?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a name we always loved. A name we had discussed for years before this became possible. Thanks to you.¡± Duke nodded wistfully. ¡°That¡¯s a great name. He¡¯ll grow up strong, of that I am certain. I will come by and check on you three from time to time. But for now, it seems, I have an ordeal to prepare for.¡± ¡°Good luck, Duke. We¡¯ll be waiting for you to stop by.¡± Duke left with a final thanks. He had a lot to think about and wanted to speak with Aurelia before they bedded down for the night. Book 2, Chapter 53 - Enter the Overmind The next few hours were a whirlwind of Duke getting the right people to the right places to get things arranged for the following evening¡¯s festivities. The more he thought about it, the more concerned he was that he would miss them due to what he knew was happening tonight. It weighed heavily upon him as he took Aurelia aside to talk to her about it in his rooms at the Inn. ¡°Are you sure you want to go through with this?¡± ¡°Mostly. I¡¯m not sure I have a choice at this point. On one side I have a pair of entities that I don¡¯t understand but have been shown to be vindictive, jealous, and petty. On the other, I have another entity that has seemed benevolent to me and willing to work with me towards some common goal. Mind you, I have no idea what their endgame for me is at all. Either way, I am still a pawn in whatever cosmic game they are playing. With the latter choice, I feel that I have more agency, more ability to direct my own life.¡± ¡°Is there no way to forego all of the entities and just be yourself without their interference?¡± ¡°For now, no. If the first two entities would step away and leave me alone, that would do it, but I know that they won¡¯t. And if I break away from them, I need the Overmind to provide protection or they could just erase me completely. Perhaps there will come a day where I can gather enough power to stand on my own against all entities, but that¡¯s still pretty far off. If I even live that long. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen tomorrow, but I do know that no matter what, I want to be with you tonight over everything else.¡± ¡°That is the best answer you have given all night.¡± *** After hours of restlessness, exhaustion won out and Duke fell asleep, dreading what the morning would bring him. He did not make it to morning. Hours before dawn, he was awoken to a soul-searing pain that raced through his entire body. Every muscle locked up simultaneously as vertigo and nausea overwhelmed him. His body tried to reflexively vomit, but not even those muscles could move. He screamed silently as he realized that he was not breathing and not even his heart was beating. He tried to fly out of bed, but he got no response from his Abilities at all. An eternity later, he launched himself out of the bed, striking the far wall with enough force to break ribs as the wall was made out of dungeon material and did not give at all. He slumped to the floor, senseless as his mind exploded with notifications. He tried to read them but could not focus on anything as the room spun out of control around him. This time, he vomited. Strangely, the black goo that spewed out of his lips left him feeling better with each successive heave. Control slowly returned to his body and his head steadied from its vertigo spin. He tried to activate CLEANSE but nothing happened. He delved into his notifications to see if there was any hint there. His heart dropped as he read. *** Twin System connection severed. All System functionality unavailable. Abilities offline. Characteristics reduced to original values. Titles disabled. Skills unavailable. *** Duke stared at the notification, his mind panicking as he realized the ramifications of what he was reading. He was back to being a normal human with no Abilities, no Skills, no extraordinary characteristics. Nothing. What he did have was a slew of successive notifications. *** Overmind usurpation of System complete. Initiating functionality restoration. Characteristics restored. Abilities restored. Skills restored. Titles partially restored. Commencing race change *** Duke felt a flash of fear as he saw the message about his race changing. He held his hand up to his face and could see nothing different about it but something deep inside him felt different. He didn¡¯t have time to consider it before more notifications flooded his mind. *** Race modification complete. New race ¨C Dungeon Born Title modification complete. Title Status: Redeemer of Souls ¨C Title lost due to action outside of System control If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Dungeon Master ¨C Title upgraded to align with new Class Core Strength ¨C Title updated to include Psyche Godslayer ¨C Title lost due to action outside of System control Class assignment complete. New Class ¨C Dungeon Emperor Ability modification complete. Redundant Ability, Tongues removed. Dungeon Sense upgraded to Master rank. Class Ability Dungeon Manipulation added. Rank and Level from removed Ability substituted. Essential modifications complete. Re-engaging communication functionality. *** Duke snapped out of his notifications, activating CLEANSE before the smell vile black tarry substance he had vomited could make him vomit yet again. He immediately felt himself being lifted and carried back to his bed. His eyes snapped open only to be greeted by the concerned look on his blonde goddess. He opened his mouth to speak but then held his tongue as Aurelia laid him in bed leaning up against her. He relaxed as she gently stroked his hair. For the moment, nothing else really mattered. He awoke sometime later, still snuggled up in Aurelia¡¯s embrace. It was the most pleasant sensation until she shoved him a bit more strongly and slid out from under him. ¡°Get up, Duke. You lived through whatever it was, and my left tit is numb from your head.¡± Duke stirred and started to rise. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s what it took to get you up? I¡¯ve been trying to get you up for fifteen minutes.¡± ¡°Sorry. I went through some stuff last night.¡± ¡°I smelled. Almost enough to make me leave the room but then you woke up enough to CLEANSE it so I stuck around and took care of you.¡± ¡°You would have left me like that?¡± ¡°No, but anybody else would have. That stuff was absolutely vile. What was it?¡± ¡°I have no idea but there were a lot of changes last night.¡± ¡°Did the Overmind take over? Is it done? What are the consequences?¡± Her rapid-fire questions didn¡¯t allow Duke to respond right away. He simply sat there with his arms crossed, waiting for her to pause. When she realized, she brought her hand to her mouth. ¡°Sorry. Just worried.¡± Duke stood up and stretched. ¡°I haven¡¯t checked out my character sheet, but there are some changes. Some make sense, but others I still have to figure out. I did lose some things too.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°First off, don¡¯t ever die on me again. I can¡¯t bring you back. That is gone. But I also have something that I never had before on this world. I have a Class.¡± ¡°Really? I¡¯ll try not to die on you again. Maybe you need to kill the big bad guy faster next time. Just kidding. But what Class do you have now? Is it something cool?¡± ¡°The Class is called Dungeon Emperor, but I don¡¯t know what it really means. It did give me an Ability called Dungeon Manipulation.¡± ¡°What does that do?¡± Duke focused on the Ability and caused a section of the floor to sink and form a hot tub. ¡°It means I can do things like this. It¡¯s only at Initiate but I can only imagine the things I could do when it is at Master rank. I haven¡¯t tested it on dungeon creatures yet, but I hope it doesn¡¯t mean that I am completely cut off from dungeon experience because that would suck.¡± He paused in thought. ¡°I wonder¡­¡± A table rose from the floor with a red and white checkered tablecloth. Two chairs formed at the table as well. In a matter of moments, a low candle and a pizza on a small stand appeared. Duke took a slice and placed it on a plate, handing it to Aurelia. Before she could even take a bite, he had served himself one as well. She took a look at the strange food item and watched as Duke folded his slice in half and took a bite. She mimicked his approach as he moaned in pleasure. ¡°Oh yes, that¡¯s exactly how I remember it. Oh so good.¡± ¡°What is this delicious food?¡± ¡°That, my love, is a slice of Mama Lombardi¡¯s pizza. Nothing better than that.¡± She giggled as grease dripped down her hand, tickling her. ¡°It¡¯s sooo good. I could eat this forever!¡± ¡°We might just be able to do that. I love this new Ability!¡± ¡°It¡¯s really good. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, there is a rather large bathtub calling my name. You have a lot of things to do so go get to them. I¡¯m going to relax for a while. You can leave the pizza.¡± Duke kissed her and TELEPORTED down to the common room. Calen was waiting for him at the bar. ¡°Good morning, Master Duke.¡± ¡°Master Duke?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t think you would be comfortable with us calling you Emperor Duke, so we felt this would be the closest you would allow us to get.¡± ¡°We?¡± ¡°The dungeon community of Teldin.¡± ¡°Ok, please explain.¡± ¡°When a dungeon reaches a specified level of maturity, it is added to the community of dungeons for that particular world. Right now, there are only two dungeons that qualify on Teldin but you have seeds for five more and the other two will eventually get there. The Crimson Stag Inn and the Lake Front Dungeon discussed it and we came up with Master Duke as potentially the only title that you would accept. Were we wrong?¡± ¡°No, you were not wrong about calling me Emperor Duke and I suppose I can live with Master Duke. Makes me feel like Batman. I might start calling you Alfred though.¡± ¡°I would greatly prefer to keep my name. Calen is a far stronger name.¡± ¡°Ok, I get it. Keep it as Calen for now, Alfred. Kidding. Calen it is.¡± Duke looked around the common room to see that it was completely empty. ¡°What time is it, Calen?¡± ¡°It is that time where it¡¯s either very late at night or early in the morning depending on whether you are a carousing adventurer or a farmer. Are you a farmer, Master Duke?¡± ¡°No, not particularly. Although that sounds like something I might do when I retire. Super-powered individual retires and becomes a humble farmer ¨C Sounds like a book I read somewhere. Whatever the case, that¡¯s a long way off.¡± ¡°Indeed, Master Bruce. Coffee?¡± ¡°Yes, thank you very much, Calen.¡± Duke accepted the steaming cup of coffee and thought about what he needed to accomplish today when he remembered something, or more to the point, someone he had forgotten. Oh shit! I left Lady Hargwaetch in Havenreach overnight. How many hours had that been? Oh, she is going to be full-on panicked. Duke finished off his cup of coffee and thanked Calen once again before TELEPORTING to the dungeon city to start his search for his soon-to-be-confused Minister. Book 2, Chapter 54 - Party Planning Duke arrived in the Mayor¡¯s office unannounced, scaring the man half to death. As the man scrambled to compose himself, Duke simply asked, ¡°Where is Lady Hargwaetch?¡± Composing himself, the mayor responded, ¡°The Lady is with Lord Greengold, Your Majesty. She has been staying at his manor.¡± He quickly provided directions and Duke departed with a simple thank you. The mayor stared at his retreating form with an inscrutable look. It took Duke nearly an hour to move through the hustle and bustle of the city and reach Lord Greengold¡¯s estate. It was on the outskirts of the city and Duke admired the placement on a rise to give the manor house a view of the city and the surrounding area. He strode up to the open gates and up the drive. A servant met him at the base of the steps leading to the door. ¡°Greeting, Your Majesty.¡± He spoke clearly and offered a courtly bow. ¡°Your arrival is expected but an arrival by foot was most unexpected. Does Your Majesty require any assistance?¡± Duke paused confused before he puzzled it out. They expected me to arrive by carriage. Yeah, not living up to those expectations and I¡¯m OK with that. When I become a pretentious prick is when someone needs to murder me. He offered the servant a smile. ¡°No assistance required my good man. Thank you for asking but I prefer to walk through the city. It affords me a much clearer impression of what things are truly like. Not that you really wanted or needed an explanation.¡± Duke walked through the door into the manor and was greeted by Lord Greengold. ¡°Come in and be welcome, Your Majesty! Can I offer you something to eat or drink?¡± ¡°No but thank you for the offer. Your name strikes me as interesting. Is it a common name in the Ansky Empire?¡± ¡°No not really. I¡¯m of a one of a kind. Nobody else out there like me.¡± ¡°Your Majesty. So good to see you at last.¡± Lady Hargwaetch did a marginal job at controlling her temper as she strode into the entryway. Duke could see the fire in her eyes and knew he pretty much deserved it. Lord Greengold, seeing the situation and not really knowing how the king was going to react, attempted to intercede. ¡°Let¡¯s all step into the study. We can discuss things in there.¡± Duke found a comfy chair in the study and sat down. He noticed the look that Lord Greengold gave Lady Hargwaetch telling her to calm down. As she did indeed calm down, Duke gave him a nod of thanks before starting. ¡°How have your discussions gone? Has Lord Greengold been able to relay all the wonderful things that Havenreach can supply?¡± ¡°Indeed. Lord Greengold has been a wonderful host. I have learned a great deal about this city and what it can provide. It is most promising, but I do wish that I had not missed the festivities with the visiting delegations. As Trade Minister, I should have been there.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you will.¡± Duke responded enigmatically. ¡°Pardon me, Your Majesty. Did the festivities get moved?¡± ¡°No, nothing quite like that. It¡¯s something much cooler than that, and something that remains as the greatest secret about Havenreach that is only known by a few. I am trusting you both to keep this secret.¡± He paused, waiting for an indication of agreement. Having received it, he continued. ¡°The city of Havenreach sits in a different dimension than the rest of Teldin. And because it sits in this side dimension, time flows differently here. One day passes here for every hour on Teldin.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s unbelievable.¡± She replied. ¡°It is a very closely guarded secret that makes this city even more valuable to the kingdom. Can you imagine ordering something from a crafter that takes four weeks to complete and receiving it the next day? The illusion of inventory is a strategic asset for the kingdom. The fact that this city is just surrounded by natural resources makes it that much more amazing.¡± ¡°If it was anyone else telling me this, I would not believe them for a minute. Coming from the man who defeated an entire undead army and the mad king who led it and then went on to restore the entire capitol city to pristine condition, I have to believe you. How did you find this place?¡± ¡°That is an even greater secret that shall remain so for now. In time, I may be comfortable enough to reveal the full story, but our kingdom is still rebuilding, and I don¡¯t want any angry or jealous neighbors to come decide to try and take this away from us. They would lose, but the loss of life would be great, and I would avoid that.¡± ¡°That seems a wise move, Your Majesty.¡± Lord Greengold spoke up. ¡°I would not want even my former nation to come take over this city. Things run far too well here, and the people are genuinely happy.¡± ¡°That is how I see it as well although the adventurers are likely going to be a bit less enthusiastic for a bit as the level of gold they make is going to be harder to maintain without significantly greater effort. It was flooding the economy and would have caused far too much inflation. No one needs to be paying 10 gold for a loaf of bread and that is where things would have been headed had it continued as it was.¡± ¡°How did you change that? Increased the taxes?¡± Lord Greengold asked. ¡°No, the taxes will stay at their current low rate. I won¡¯t share what I did as that is another state secret. We will give it a few months and see if it needs to be adjusted again. But I will have to cut this visit short. Despite the time difference both Lady Hargwaetch and I have very busy days ahead of us and we need to get started. Thank you, Lord Greengold, for taking such good care of our Merchant and Trade Minister. We shall meet again, I am sure.¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°No problem. Glad to have her.¡± Lady Hargwaetch said her goodbyes and before she could blink, she was standing in the Throne Room with Duke. After a moment¡¯s disorientation, she excused herself and hurried to her office. She had so many things to do today! Duke, for his part staggered to his throne and sat down as he was being assaulted by notifications. *** External communication connection established. So, you finally stepped out of the dungeon¡­You useless, ungrateful, miserable little human! I¡¯m going to strip every ounce of power you have gained from your bones! You dare to defy ME! To defy US? I shall reduce your world to a fading cinder! Everyone you love shall die by my hand. And it will be slow. Their suffering will last for decades while they beg me to kill them! Glad you got that off your chest little entity, but this one is under MY protection now. You have had your tantrum now move on. Find another candidate elsewhere and maybe treat them better so that they won¡¯t leave you in favor of a better master. *** Duke shuddered on the throne as the raw power and emotion borne through the messages ripped through him. It was like nothing he had ever experienced before. The anger, the rage, was so raw, it cut through Duke leaving him feeling spent and exhausted. He sagged on to the throne trying to recover when the next set of notifications kicked off. *** Sorry that they got in a last shot at you, but they can¡¯t directly affect you anymore. They think they are big players in the cosmic game, but they have no idea what real power is. Let them wail and gnash their teeth at the injustice of putting ¡°so many¡± resources into you only to have you taken away from them. Shame about losing those two titles, though. They could have been useful. Focus on your Core Strength Title for now. You still have seeds to plant, and they will all help you grow stronger. That leads me to the next thing. They were holding experience and gains until they could put it all in a message for you. That is, when they deemed to give you experience and gains. Sort of a package thing? Did you like that? That¡¯s not what I would normally choose, but if you really like it, I can do the same for you. I, personally, would rather you see the results of your efforts more directly. Just say something when you get through the messages. I¡¯m excited about our new partnership. I hope you are too. You¡¯re going to do so well in the competition if you stick to your training and growth. Here is the last of what they were holding back from you: Ability Increases: TELEPORTATION has increased to Master 3 REGENERATION has increased to Adept 83 DUNGEON MANIPULATION has increased to Initiate 19 OVERCHANNEL has increased to Adept 33 CLEANSE has increased to Practiced 22 RESTORE has increased to Master 55 INVENTORY has increased to Practiced 24 FLIGHT has increased to Practiced 37 AURA of PROSPERITY has increased to Initiate 3 Skill Increases: Aerial Maneuvering has increased to Practiced 17 Diplomacy has increased to Initiate 33 We will speak again soon. Prepare yourself, grow, gain power, and plant more dungeons! *** Duke snapped back into focus and looked around the room. He saw his two ever-present guards, but they were focused on the room and surrounding environment. They pointedly did not see their king while he had sat dazed on the throne. With a shake of his head to clear the cobwebs, Duke stood back up, ready to get started on the day. There is so much to do that I am sure that I am forgetting things. I know that I have the festival tonight and I need to set up the portals to take everyone there through the Hall of Possibilities. I hope that has the impact I am planning for. Showing them this capability could set my neighbors into pure jealousy and even war or it could make them see how valuable a trading partner we can be. It¡¯s a gamble, but the payoff has the potential to be huge. I, um, better get started on the trading hub too. That¡¯s not a today thing. Maybe tomorrow. Oh, and planting dungeons. I must check up on the Gnolls to make sure they are treating the Crimson Stag Inn properly. They seemed sincere. Oh, and I need to dig a bit deeper into that Greengold guy. Something¡¯s not quite right with him. Duke decided that was enough navel gazing and list making. He set out to actually get something done. He made his way back to Lady Hargwaetch¡¯s office, realizing that he still didn¡¯t have his party planner in place, and it was getting awful late. For some reason, she didn¡¯t look all that happy to see him. He forged on anyway. ¡°Sorry to bother you again, but do you have that festival planner that we discussed?¡± ¡°Yes, he should be here in a few minutes. I still don¡¯t see how in the world this will be ready for the reception this evening. There¡¯s just not enough time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. We have magic on our side.¡± ¡°Lovely.¡± ¡°Indeed. I¡¯ll just wait here for him to arrive and then I can take him to the venue so he can meet his staff for the event.¡± She didn¡¯t respond as she had too many things of her own to do and it really was a matter of minutes before the planner arrived. The man was impeccably dressed and polite to a point. His bow to Duke was textbook perfect and he patiently waited to be recognized. ¡°As you were. Thank you for coming at such short notice. What is your name?¡± ¡°Siegfried Appleton at your service, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Great. There¡¯s an awful lot to plan and we need to get started.¡± Duke TELEPORTED with Sigfried to the ¡°Party Level¡± that Sam had created for him. There, he introduced Sigfried to his party staff that Sam had created for them. After a quick round of individuals introducing themselves, Duke picked it up. ¡°Sigfried, this hall is magical. Anything you need can and will be created for the event. Need a diamond-studded soup ladle? Just say so. Need a purple carpet with a gold border, just ask for it. Need the ceiling to be an accurate depiction of the stars in the night sky? It can be done. There are no limits here and I expect you to make this event something that will not soon be forgotten. Do you have any questions?¡± ¡°This is a reception for representatives from the Ansky Empire and the Kingdom of Tannish and we wish to have positive relations with both nations?¡± ¡°Yes, and yes.¡± ¡°How much time do I have until the event begins and from where will the guests enter?¡± ¡°Good questions. Latter first. The archway on the far side of the room will be the magical Portal everyone will enter and leave from. You can change the decoration of it to whatever suits the event, but please don¡¯t change the overall shape. That could lead to problems. As for the former¡­how long would you like?¡± ¡°Your Majesty, a week to plan would be ideal, but I understand that the event is this evening.¡± Duke received the subtle nod from one of the aides and smiled. ¡°The magic is set. You have one week to prepare the venue and menu. I will come by and check on you in a few days.¡± Before the man could respond, Duke vanished, leaving him standing there with half a dozen servants patiently waiting for him to direct them. ¡°Oh, Lady H. You owe me for this. OK, let¡¯s see how this goes. I need three dozen circular tables set up in an offset hemispherical pattern.¡± He gasped as the tables formed from the floor, looking entirely like they were made of polished wood. Smiling for the first time today, he set to work. Book 2, Chapter 55 - Planting Seeds Duke stood on the top tower of his capitol city as he gazed down upon the still clean streets and restored buildings. He knew he had a list of tasks to complete that was simply too long for him to do by himself. What troubled him the most is that the vast majority of these tasks were ones only he could complete. As his mood darkened slightly, he noticed that the sky itself was darkening. Clouds were rapidly gathering overhead. His SENSE MAGIC Ability told him the cloud formation was not a natural occurrence. Resigning himself to yet another unexpected task, he rose into the air, piercing the growing clouds. ¡°Thank you for coming up to meet with me, Duke.¡± ¡°When a god calls, it seems like a poor decision to ignore him. Especially when said god has been helpful in the past.¡± Orgath chuckled. ¡°Indeed, that seems like a good policy. I, and my counterparts, have been watching your exploits ever since things went a bit too far with the horde. Then there was that business with Ghastul that Aehocho had to intervene in. You have set yourself up with some powerful enemies. Vithshrek still won¡¯t even talk about why he personally cursed you, but he doesn¡¯t seem to be as hateful as Ghastul who is actively seeking your demise despite being barred from action.¡± Duke nodded. ¡°Yes, I had that much figured out.¡± ¡°We recently noticed a change. There had been something barring us from directly interacting with you. That was not something any of us had really experienced before so when it vanished, we were intrigued.¡± ¡°I appreciate all the attention, well, mostly. But why me? Surely, I¡¯m not the most powerful person on Teldin. Why the focus on me?¡± ¡°Because you are not from Teldin. You are an agent of change ¨C everything you touch winds up vastly different than it was before. The status quo has been good to the divine. Change is dangerous for most of us who are invested in the status quo. So, they sent me to ask you a simple question that may not have a simple answer. What is your goal?¡± Duke laughed. ¡°My goal? That changes so often that it¡¯s not even funny. But it comes down to one thing in the end. I protect myself and my people. If that requires me to become the most powerful mortal on the planet, then that is what I will do. If it requires me to go to other worlds to end threats there, then that is what I will do. I want freedom for my people to be able to live their lives without threat and under the flag of justice. Who my people are seems to be continually expanding and that¡¯s OK for me. Does that answer your question.¡± ¡°It tells me enough. It tells me that if someone threatens you, you will respond with everything you can muster. Is that not so?¡± ¡°No, that pretty much sums it up. But this all strikes me a beyond bizarre for a god to come down and interview me like this. Don¡¯t you all have bigger fish to fry?¡± ¡°Chironia names you as a potential future threat. Or a benefactor. Even the divine are limited in our power. It is on a scale far beyond you, but from what she has seen, you may not be limited in such a manner. That, frankly, scares many of my brothers and sisters.¡± ¡°That¡¯s interesting news. Do I need to worry that there¡¯s a list of gods gunning for my death?¡± ¡°No, Chironia made it clear that directly attacking you left us in a far worse state than if we left you to become whatever it is you become. That is not to say that some still work against you in less direct means.¡± ¡°Good to know. Thanks for the heads-up.¡± ¡°Good luck, Duke. I, for one, think the changes you are bringing are beneficial to the Storm.¡± Moments later, Duke was alone in the dissipating clouds. Great, more things to worry about. Oh wait. I already knew the god of death was after me so what really changed there. Perhaps it¡¯s just good to know that someone is pulling for me among the gods. I need a vacation. Duke made his way down to the city below, heading for the only tailor shop he knew of. Landing gently in front of the store, he nodded at the few people in the street. Still not enough people in the city. Upon entering, he was greeted by the tailor, a man named Esmeth. ¡°Greetings, Your Majesty. Are you here to get outfitted for tonight¡¯s festivities?¡± ¡°That would be the proper assumption. Now, what wonders of fashion do you have ready for me?¡± ¡°Oh, I think you¡¯re going to like this.¡± Duke was promptly offered a trio of outfits to choose from. Each was impeccably tailored to his frame, and all were in the colors of the kingdom¡¯s livery. Duke quickly agreed that he was a big fan of each of the outfits. He immediately purchased all three, happy to have them available for other events as well. They were quickly placed in his INVENTORY. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Leaving the shop, Duke decided he still had a few hours to get things done before he had to get back to the business of the kingdom. He flew up, gaining altitude until he was around fifteen kilometers up. He still marveled that he was able to breathe at this height. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was because the atmosphere on Teldin extended further from the surface of the planet or if it was a factor of his stats, or even a quirk of his FLIGHT Ability. No matter the case, he was happy to be able to fly this high as it afforded him a nearly six-hundred-kilometer view to the horizon. His Reason pinged away at the math and unconsciously came upon an interesting discovery based on that number ¨C Teldin was nearly twice the diameter of Earth. On Earth the horizon would be a bit over four hundred kilometers away at this height. Duke proceeded to do a rapid series of TELEPORTATIONS to the eastern horizon, finding himself hovering far above an oasis in a desert. He descended to check it out. As he got closer, he saw that there were some semi-permanent structures ¨C cloth stretched over wooden poles. These structures defined a central camp that currently seemed empty. The camp surrounded a small body of water, no larger than a backyard swimming pool. There were a few trees and other sparse foliage around the water as well. A passing run-through of the area showed that it was indeed empty but there were signs of recent use. Duke smiled inwardly as he considered whether to plant a dungeon seed here. The camp appeared well-maintained which led him to conclude that those who stopped here were respectful of the oasis. It was a risk, planting a seed here but Duke was more hopeful than cautious. He retrieved a seed from his bag. The brown dungeon seed seemed like a good choice for this spot. Duke moved away from all the structures and allowed enough room for the Inn structure to grow. And then, he planted the seed. The reaction was nearly instantaneous and exactly as Duke expected. The Inn grew from the sand just like the previous one had from the soil. He watched as it sprouted and grew, using his DUNGEON SENSE to see it more clearly. The flow and changing of the structure as it grew was fascinating to Duke and made his DUNGEON MANIPULATION Ability tingle, almost as if he was learning how to better manipulate the stuff of the dungeon as he watched. Moments later, a notification let him know that was exactly what had happened. *** Your observation of the birth of a new dungeon has allowed you to gain additional insights into how the matter and dimensional spaces of a dungeon work. DUNGEON MANIPULATION has increased to Initiate 24. *** Duke considered the notification and decided that he liked this approach better than the all-at-once notifications he had received previously. He spoke aloud. ¡°Hey, Overmind. I don¡¯t know if you can hear me, but I like the instant notifications better, except maybe when fighting. That could be a horrible distraction. Can you make it work that way?¡± He received no response but had a sense that he was heard. He would have to wait and see if that was truly the case. The Inn was nearly complete. The size and structure were finished ¨C the only things remaining were the decorative touches. Finally, a signpost extended out and Duke saw the name of the Inn. He shook his head but didn¡¯t comment as he felt it was not his place to name these dungeons as they were independent entities. When the sign was fully formed and the door flashed for the final time, Duke entered the Thirsty Scorpion Inn. The inside was the standard Inn configuration which made Duke happy. Setting up a network of these Inns across the planet would be easier if they all followed similar formats. He was greeted by the Innkeeper, a ¡°normal-sized¡± white minotaur. ¡°Good day to you, Duke. Welcome to the Thirsty Scorpion Inn. I am known as Dagny. Can I get you a drink?¡± ¡°Why thank you, Dagny. I would love one.¡± Without hesitation, the minotaur placed a glass of some sort of strange, blue cocktail in front of Duke on the bar. Duke picked up the glass, marveling at the drink before him. ¡°A wish for your success, Dagny.¡± An similar, if larger, glass appeared in the minotaur¡¯s hand and he returned the salute drinking along with Duke. ¡°Oh, what is that stuff? It¡¯s really good? Not my usual type of drink but I expect it to be rather refreshing coming out of the desert.¡± ¡°That, my friend, is called Electric Lemonade.¡± ¡°I like it even more now. Not replacing my scotch whiskey with it, but it¡¯s definitely going into the rotation. How is your dungeon?¡± ¡°Ready for delving. Would you like to be the first?¡± ¡°I definitely would, but I can¡¯t today. Too many things on my plate. Thank you for the drink.¡± Duke saluted with the empty glass before continuing with a new thought. ¡°Do you have a way to contact the other dungeons?¡± ¡°All of the Inns are in contact with each other and our sire, The Lake Front Dungeon.¡± ¡°So, if you ever are in trouble, you can call for help?¡± ¡°I can, but there is little they could do to help me.¡± ¡°They could contact me, and that will be enough. I¡¯ll come to your aid if it is ever needed. I worry a bit as you are here all alone without defenders like the Crimson Stag has.¡± ¡°While it is true that I don¡¯t have resident defenders, I am far from defenseless. No one is getting to my core without surviving the full might of what I can bring to bear. And that is more than most anyone Sam has seen with a few exceptions. Yourself being one.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. I¡¯ll make it a point to visit from time to time to check in on you directly. But until then, take good care of yourself. I have to get back to my list of things to accomplish today.¡± ¡°Good luck, Duke. Thank you for planting my seed here. In time, I will grow even if it¡¯s slow at first.¡± With a final wave, Duke returned to Cloudspire, cheered that he accomplished another task for the day. Book 2, Chapter 56 - Delving before Dancing Duke¡¯s next stop was back to Lady Hargwaetch¡¯s office. She seemed underwhelmed to see him there yet again. ¡°What can I do for you this time? You do have other ministers, you know.¡± Duke couldn¡¯t keep from laughing at the annoyed look she gave him. ¡°I do have other ministers, but none of them have spent several days with Lord Greengold. You have. Tell me everything you learned about him.¡± ¡°He is frighteningly quick-witted. I saw him cut through a merchant¡¯s entire ten-minute rant and cut to the core of the problem in fifteen seconds. I know that he is originally from the Ansky Empire and there are some residual loyalties there. But he is brutally efficient in his role. I do not want to wind up on the opposite side of the negotiation table from that man. I am ever thankful that he is on our side.¡± ¡°Is he truly on our side? Not a spy for the Empire?¡± ¡°I believe he is, but he hides a lot of his true thoughts. Is this why you left me in his care for nearly a week?¡± ¡°No, that was not my intention at all, but things happened that needed to be addressed. I don¡¯t trust his loyalty just yet. My Intuition is telling me there is more to him than we have seen so I am going to make sure he has some time alone with the Ansky delegation and see what comes of that.¡± ¡°You need a spymaster, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°It would seem so, but I don¡¯t have anyone for the job, so we are still fumbling around in the dark.¡± ¡°Speak with Madrigal. Perhaps he knows of a candidate.¡± ¡°A good thought. I¡¯ll leave you to your work but if you think of anything else about him, let me know.¡± She smiled as Duke left her office. Again. ¡°If this keeps up, I¡¯m not going to be prepared for this evening at all. Does he have any idea how many trade deals I have to negotiate through the course of the night? No, he probably doesn¡¯t.¡± Duke spent the rest of the day running around checking in on all the preparations. With each check in, his annoyance at having to do it himself grew until he felt like he was at his limit. Things were properly arranged, and he still had a few hours before things were to begin. He left the kingdom, arriving at the Thirsty Scorpion Inn. ¡°Welcome back, Duke. Did you miss me?¡± ¡°Um, sure. Did I miss anything, Dagny? Any groups of adventurers delve the depths of your dungeon and claim the initial completion prize?¡± ¡°No, I doubt anyone will for some time.¡± ¡°How many levels is it?¡± ¡°Oh, I only have a single level constructed but it is a siege dungeon so it likely won¡¯t get a second level for quite a while. Would you like to try it?¡± ¡°I would but my time is limited. Would I be able to leave it without completing it?¡± ¡°Certainly. You don¡¯t need to make it through all fifty waves. You can leave after any single wave.¡± ¡°That sounds like just what the doctor ordered. I can blow off some steam and get some experience and Ability progression at the same time. Let¡¯s do this.¡± ¡°Excellent. The entrance-¡° The shift in Dagny¡¯s stance and demeanor was dramatic and Duke was sure he was about to have a conversation with the Overmind. ¡°Overmind, I presume?¡± ¡°Indeed. Sorry I couldn¡¯t speak with you earlier. I¡¯ve been busy fending off the Twin Entities¡¯ attempts at intruding upon our link. They are being far more persistent than I had anticipated. That¡¯s not to say they will triumph, but it is distracting. Regardless. One of my presences is here now. As to your earlier question about instant notifications with the combat modification, I¡¯m going to say yes and we¡¯ll see how it progresses.¡± ¡°Thanks, that will be helpful. Any issues with me delving into this dungeon?¡± ¡°No, none at all. Having you test each new dungeon is something that is quite a good idea. It gives the dungeon a gauge of how strong their dungeon is while allowing me to provide you with goodies.¡± ¡°Goodies?¡± ¡°Yes, experience, Advancement, and loot. All the good things.¡± ¡°All things I love myself. Although, loot is hit or miss for me since I tend to absorb magical loot over time.¡± ¡°Nothing wrong with that. In fact, it could be a rather nice backdoor to allow me to grant you additional Abilities.¡± ¡°I hadn¡¯t thought about that. I don¡¯t suppose you can avoid giving me any swords. Swords and I don¡¯t exactly have a good relationship.¡± ¡°That might be a bit out of the rules as even I have to allow some true randomness into the loot generation. To make it fixed will stagnate the dungeon. Having randomness allows the cosmos to introduce new items, quests, goals, and other related things.¡± ¡°OK, anything else I need to know?¡± ¡°Not at this time. Grow in power. You are going to need it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not ominous at all.¡± ¡°What¡¯s not ominous?¡± Dagny asked. ¡°Nothing. Don¡¯t worry about it. I think it¡¯s time to delve into this dungeon. Are there any objectives other than just survive?¡± ¡°Of course there are, but you¡¯ll have to figure them out for yourself. Telling you would be cheating.¡± ¡°Right. OK, let¡¯s do this!¡± Duke armed himself and, on a whim, created armor similar to Aurelia¡¯s out of dungeon essence. The biggest difference being that his was not golden but instead in the kingdom¡¯s livery. With a smile, he drew his tonfa out of his INVENTORY and set off to delve into the dungeon. *** Upon approaching the dungeon in the dungeon, Duke was greeted by a familiar message as he placed his hand on the portal to activate it: Stolen story; please report. ***You have activated a Dungeon Portal! You may choose to enter or flee this Dungeon. Dungeon Information: Dungeon Name: Desert Fortress of the Amber Sands Dungeon Vintage: Newborn Unentered for 0 years, 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds Uncompleted for 0 years, 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds. Dungeon Ranking: Novice Maximum Party Size: 50 Minimum Party Size: 1 Dungeon Type: Singular Dungeon Style: Siege Would like to Enter or Flee the Desert Fortress of the Amber Sands? *** Duke, of course, selected to enter but there was one thing that gave him a moment of pause ¨C the maximum party size was 50. If the dungeon didn¡¯t scale to the size of the party, this could be a lot harder for him than he expected. Not that that deterred him, he was ready to cut loose for a while. He made careful note of his system clock, allocating himself two hours before he would have to leave. He arrived on the top of a singular square building made of adobe bricks, sealed over with dried mud. It was not a particularly tall building standing about three meters tall. Duke¡¯s DUNGEON SENSE told him that the building was filled with adobe bricks. He wanted to call it a solid structure, but he suspected that really was not the case. Next to him was a large clay tub filled with water. A notification appeared giving him an idea of what to expect. *** In this dungeon, there is but one single source of water. That is the sacred vessel next to you. It is your task to defend this source of water from all attackers. The attackers will come in progressively stronger waves up the road. After each wave, an exit portal will appear. You may depart after any wave is completed and will receive rewards based on how many waves have been completed, how long it took, and how much water has survived. Good luck. You have ten minutes to prepare, or you may ¡°call the next wave¡± at any time, even if you have not completed the current wave. Good luck! *** Duke took stock of the area. It didn¡¯t take long as there were essentially barren desert sands surrounding him with a single stone block road meandering through it, ending at the foot of the building. ¡°OK, so the environment isn¡¯t going to be much help. The only question is just how much do I want to cheat?¡± Duke thought about it for a minute or so before coming to a decision. ¡°As much as I possibly can!¡± Duke immediately set to work at making things as far in his favor as possible. Using DUNGEON MANIPULATION, he first encased the tub of water in steel. His first thought was to armor the tub but found that he was limited by his Ability. Before long, the tub was encased in a three-meter thick cube of stone which now took up most of the roof of the structure he stood upon. Chuckling, he began to expand the building, adding layer upon layer of dense stone. He now stood upon a much larger structure with crenelations and spiked walls. After a moment¡¯s consideration, he reshaped the spikes into sharp blades coated in steel. ¡°Try climbing up those, fuckers.¡± He then created a deep trench a few dozen meters away from the building and lined it with spikes as well. It was while building this that he ran into his first problem. No matter how much effort he put into the Ability, or Mana, for that matter, he was not able to affect the road itself. It remained suspended over the trench like a bridge. Duke shrugged and went back to work. Checking his time, he only had thirty seconds before the wave started. ¡°OK, time¡¯s up, I guess. Let¡¯s see what comes down the road.¡± On cue, Duke spotted creatures slowly marching up the road towards him. They marched in single file and fairly well spaced apart. Duke watched them approach, counting 20 creatures approaching. They were bipedal and wrapped in cloth. Each carried a curved sword. From what Duke was able to see, they could have been human, or elven, or demons, or bipedal lemons for that matter. All their features were covered with loosely wrapped cloth, so it was nearly impossible to discern any features. He IDENTIFIED the first in line. *** You have encountered a Desert Raider. This is a Tier one, basic dungeon creature. Tier: 1 Level: 10 Health: 927 Mana: 216 *** Duke chuckled at the lack of challenge in the first wave. He called for the second wave while sending an arcing bolt of LIGHTNING to fry the raiders. The second wave had twice as many raiders but seemed to be no more challenge. Before he called an additional wave to speed things up, he was interrupted by a message. *** You have earned 20 credits for defeating 20 Desert Raiders. Would you like to add some defenses? Your defensive options include: * Archers ¨C 5 credits each * Melee combatants ¨C 3 credits each * Additional Tower ¨C 15 credits * Upgrade tower 20 credits *** Duke looked at the options and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m in a tower defense dungeon. Cool, but I think I¡¯ll save my points for later.¡± Duke called the next four waves in rapid succession, each easily dealt with by a simple application of his LIGHNING Ability. He didn¡¯t even need to use anything beyond the base power of the Ability. Frustrated by the ease of the dungeon so far, he hopped down from the tower and marched up the road, calling for the fifth wave. The next wave of Desert Raiders came up the road towards him, moving yet faster than the previous wave. He IDENTIFIED one of them. *** You have encountered a Desert Raider. This is a Tier one, basic dungeon creature. Tier: 1 Level: 50 Health: 20,043 Mana: 9,180 *** Maybe they will hit Tier two with the next wave. If the pattern keeps up, they could near the top of Tier four at the fiftieth wave. That could actually be a challenge. And their numbers keep increasing. If it kept up at this rate, I would be facing more than two hundred of them at the fiftieth wave. That might just be able to take me out. Duke checked the time, seeing as he had more than an hour and a half left. His DUNGEON SENSE told him that the dungeon was running in real time, so he called the next few waves to keep the party going, wading into their number with his tonfa. Half an hour later, Duke was back on his small tower having just finished the 115 raiders of the twentieth level. His armor was in sad shape with dents all over it and several slashes and punctures showing where attacks had landed that Duke had not been able to counter. He absently activated RESTORE and CLEANSE to bring his armor back up to par and wipe away the gore of smashed raiders. He nearly shuddered at the amount of grey matter he¡¯d had to CLEANSE off his tonfa. He caught his breath as he evaluated the situation. He still had thirty waves to survive, and it was starting to become a struggle. The Desert Raiders had started adding in magic around wave fifteen and it was starting to strain him to deal with all the attacks coming at him rapid-fire. The next wave he knew would be 120 raiders as the pattern had held true. They would only be level 60, but they would be full Tier three individuals. And that he realized was what was making the difference. These raiders were not leveling like monsters, but like people with classes and Abilities. One had used an Ability similar to Aurelia¡¯s FLASH CHARGE that had nearly done him in. Only a TELEPORT triggered by his COMBAT SENSE had kept him from being splattered. Hence, his rapid retreat back to the roof of his tower. The twentieth wave began while he was evaluating things from the tower, the one hundred twenty raiders swarming up the road. Duke rained down Abilities on the approaching raiders, hoping the one thing he had learned about their own Abilities held for a bit longer ¨C they had significantly limited range in their magical attacks. He, on the other hand, had plenty of range with his Abilities. Ultimately, they did make it to the tower but Duke¡¯s cheating with the tower structure and liberal application of TELEPORTATION to remove the raiders from the battlefield (at least until they plummeted to the ground) allowed Duke to barely finish the level unscathed. Duke knew he had a three-minute break before the next wave and debated getting into the ¡°tower¡± aspect of this tower defense dungeon. Checking his time, he had about half an hour left in his allocated time. He decided to step out of the portal before the next wave and call it a day. It had been a good run and he had learned a few things about this particular dungeon. As he stepped through the portal, he received a message: *** Do you wish to exit the Desert Fortress of the Amber Sands? *** Duke indicated ¡°yes¡± and received an additional message: *** You accumulated 17,620 unspent credits in your run. Would you like to cash your credits in or save them for a future attempt? *** Duke didn¡¯t hesitate to indicate that he wanted to save them. An instant later he was standing outside the dungeon entrance with Dagny waiting for him with a glass of Scotch. ¡°Did you enjoy the dungeon?¡± ¡°It was a definite challenge. I would have liked to continue but I don¡¯t have the time.¡± Dagny¡¯s expression changed as Duke saw the Overmind take over again. ¡°You have experience and other increases pending from that delve. Would you like to receive them now or wait until you have more time to deal with them?¡± Duke thought about it and decided to accept it all now and have it ready for the evening¡¯s activities. ¡°Let¡¯s have it now and see where things go from there.¡± Book 2, Chapter 57 - Let the Festivities Begin Duke had to brace himself as the notifications washed over him. *** As this was the first delve into the Desert Fortress of the Amber Sands, all experience and gains are increased. You completed twenty-one of a possible fifty waves of attackers with no casualties on your side, which is impressive. Doing so solo is more than noteworthy. Here are your gains: You killed a total of 1,470 Desert Raiders of progressively increasing difficulty and level. You receive 13,618,500 experience. This brings you up to an astonishing level 178 and provides you with 1,308 free Characteristic points available to spend. Your Strength, Endurance, and Psyche each gain 109 points from advancing your Dungeon Emperor Class. Your Ability and skill gains are: TELEPORTATION has increased to Master 10 REGENERATION has increased to Adept 90 DUNGEON MANIPULATION has increased to Initiate 32 LIGHTNING has increased to Adept 10 OVERCHANNEL has increased to Adept 37 FORCE has increased to Initiate 27 FLAME has increased to Initiate 27 POISON has increased to Initiate 12 ACID has increased to Novice 11 WIND has increased to Novice 7 ICE has increased to Initiate 27 EARTH has increased to Initiate 6 LIGHT has increased to Initiate 29 DARKNESS has increased to Initiate 7 SPELL RESISTANCE has increased to Initiate 24 SIMULCASTING has increased to Practiced 9 CLEANSE has increased to Practiced 24 RESTORE has increased to Master 56 IDENTIFY has increased to Initiate 39 SENSE MAGIC has ranked up to Initiate 3 INVENTORY has increased to Practiced 27 ARMOR SKIN has increased to Adept 25 MANA DRAIN has increased to Novice 5 FLIGHT has increased to Practiced 41 COMBAT SENSE has increased to Initiate 39 DUNGEON SENSE has increased to Master 6 AURA of PROSPERITY has increased to Initiate 7 Dodge has increased to Practiced 79 Martial Arts Combat has increased to Adept 41 Tonfa Mastery has increased to Adept 136 Diplomacy has increased to Initiate 34 Your gains from this initial dungeon run are far beyond what I expected but, then again, I did not expect anyone on Teldin to be able to solo the dungeon for that long. Next time, try the dungeon without using your DUNGEON MANIPULATION Ability. You already have enough tools to excel so there is no need to change the parameters of the dungeon to win. What I do ask is that you make significant use of the Ability outside of a dungeon delve. This Ability is the core Ability of your Class and will be increasingly important as you progress. *** Duke decided to sit down in a chair while he distributed his points. He started with a round of peanut butter, adding 100 to each Characteristic. He then thought heavily about his build. I am still magic-focused and I don¡¯t see that changing. My physical Characteristics will mostly increase with each level except for Agility. Maybe add some to that and then pour a bunch into Psyche to push my Mana pool and the effects of some of my Abilities? Worth a shot. 300 points went into Agility, bringing it to an even 1,000. Next, came 100 into Intuition and the remaining 398 went into Psyche, bringing its modified value above 2,000. Duke suffered through the pain as such extensive changes roared through his body and mind. It only took a few minutes but was excruciating. Afterwards, however, he felt exceptional. He sprung up from the chair he had chosen and nearly roared with delight. With a quick CLEANSE and RESTORE, his new armor was fully repaired and shining. He gave Dagny a wave and TELEPORTED to his throne room. He appeared amongst error messages from the system. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. *** Warning, you are attempting to take more than your allowable value of items created through your DUNGEON MANIPULATION Ability out of a dungeon. Since the items were a contiguous set, the entirety of the items have been revoked. *** Duke looked down, realizing that he was in his smallclothes. A gasp etched its way across the room and Duke looked up to see Duke Madrigal and Lady Hargwaetch standing near the entryway. In an instant, he was in his room in the Inn, pulling his selected kingly party outfit out of his INVENTORY. Well, that happened. Not sure how I¡¯m going to explain that. At least it was only a few people. And what the hell was that about a limit? Duke finished dressing and TELEPORTED back to his throne room. He could tell that the pair were holding back laughter behind their ¡°noble composure¡±. Duke looked at both of them quite seriously. ¡°You do know that holding back your laughter is not good for you. And that was hilarious.¡± Seeing as they were still holding it back, Duke offered a broad smile. ¡°Come on, let it out. Holding it in will spoil your whole evening.¡± Finally, the pair burst out laughing and Duke joined them shortly thereafter. After they all calmed down, Duke opened up communication Portals to Baslin and Aurelia to make sure they were ready as well. When they said they were, Duke opened Portals for them to come to the throne room as well. Finally, he reached out to Siegfried to make sure everything was in place. He assured Duke that it was. ¡°OK, Madrigal, since you are the highest-ranking noble that¡¯s not me or Baslin, I am tasking you to bring our guests to the festivities. Everybody walk with me and I¡¯ll show you the path to take. This should knock their socks off for sure.¡± Duke led them outside of the throne room and back into the main passages of the castle. As he walked, he realized that he had not set foot in most of these passages since he took over the kingdom. Maybe they¡¯ll call me an absent king and call for my resignation. Wouldn¡¯t that be special. When they made it to the heavily guarded hallway that Duke had decided would be used for today¡¯s purpose, he opened the Portal at the end of the hall. He did not miss a beat as he walked right through it and into the Hall of Possibilities. There was only one other Portal open, and it led right to the ¡°Party Level¡±. Duke crossed his fingers and hoped Siegfried had gotten everything right. He didn¡¯t think there was time to fix it if he hadn¡¯t. They all emerged in the Party venue and stopped cold. The venue was arranged with three large curved tables set in a circle. Each was elaborately carved with depictions of what the three nations were known for. Surrounding the tables were tall golden pillars holding up a glass ceiling. Through the ceiling, the stars were visible but seemed closer and in better focus as a result of the glass ceiling acting like a lens. Lady Hargwaetch gasped as she realized that by focusing on a star, it would fill up the view of the ceiling for her in breathtaking detail, she could manipulate it to see the planets surrounding the star. Duke gazed around the room and saw all manner of opulent magical decorations from tapestries that moved when you focused on them to statues that changed positions from time to time. The floor was white marble with diamond shaped tiles depicting Stormstride¡¯s livery with a delicate golden border interspersed. All the servants were in identical Stormstride livery and were impeccably dressed. Duke fired off an unconscious CLEANSE and RESTORE. The only change was with the people who came in with him. Siegfried hurried up to Duke, bowing perfectly. ¡°Your Majesty the venue and menu are set to receive your guests. When are they expected?¡± ¡°Are you absolutely sure that you are ready?¡± ¡°Quite sure, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Excellent. It will not be long before they arrive. Duke Madrigal will escort them into the venue when he is ready.¡± Duke stepped away from everyone, whispering to Sam. ¡°Set this place back to normal time, please.¡± The whisper back was equally quiet. ¡°Get better with your Ability and you could do this yourself. But, yes, the time has been set to normal. I hope your party goes well.¡± ¡°Me too. Thanks Sam.¡± Returning to the group, Duke announced, ¡°Everything is ready here. Can anyone tell me the proper protocol for who arrives when in this situation?¡± Madrigal smiled, knowing that this was one of Duke¡¯s true weaknesses. ¡°All the noble peerage that are coming will be here before any of the foreign dignitaries arrive. You will be last to arrive, Your Majesty. Merchants and other non-nobles should already be arriving.¡± Aurelia spoke up, ¡°And now that the passage is open, they will start shortly.¡± Siegfried bowed again. ¡°Please come with me to the Royal waiting area, Your Majesty.¡± Duke followed, amused by all the pomp and circumstance. As he left the room, he noticed that music had started playing. It was quite pleasant and set a nice background for the evening. Once he got to the upstairs waiting room, he settled down to relax until it was time for him to head in for his grand entrance. He was able to see through the specially designed window and observe the reactions as people entered the reception space. Their reactions of delight and wonder buoyed his mood. But still he waited. When the delegations started arriving, Duke paid careful attention to their reactions. To an individual, they held their countenances tight and unmoving. But Duke has some unique advantages in this arena. He could see the strain of their neck muscles as they fought not to gaze around in wonder, and their dilatating pupils gave them away to Duke¡¯s keen senses. They were equal parts impressed and surprised. Finally, all the guests were seated, and the time had come for Duke¡¯s grand entrance. And grand was what Duke was aiming for. As he approached the entrance Portal, he steadied himself and RESTORED his outfit to fit the exact parameters that the tailor had created. He straightened his spine and kicked off a change in the music using his DUNGEON MANIPULATION. He had debated on whether to have his entrance music be pure instrumental or to have lyrics. Ultimately, he decided to keep it simple and chose instrumental. He strode in to ¡°Ride of the Valkyries¡± with his best regal bearing. The lights of the room had been dimmed and Duke was glowing with an application of his LIGHT Ability. All eyes were locked on Duke as he strode to the center of the room, the focus of all three massive tables. As he strode to the center of the room, he gently manipulated the floor to rise under him, creating a dais in the center where he stood to address the crowd. ¡°Good evening, all. Thank you for attending this night¡¯s celebration of Stormstride¡¯s newest friends, the kingdom of Tannish and the Ansky Empire. Food and libations will be brought out shortly. Relax and enjoy yourselves as we all get to know each other better. Keep in mind that this is a celebration of friendship so please be open to discussing all sorts of amusing topics. This may be a state event, but it is an event of friendship so please do relax and enjoy yourselves. I¡¯m sure we will have plenty of times for political gamesmanship in the coming days.¡± Duke returned the floor to its original state as he moved to his seat. With a gesture to the servers, the feast began. Food and drinks were brought out to all with Duke making sure that he was served last. It broke protocol but it was a not so subtle message that he put his people before himself. The food included accents and dishes from all three nations and the chef had found some way to bring them all together for a truly tasty set of dishes. The wine served was also stellar. As the dinner continued, conversations began to spring up throughout the room. Eventually, people took their drinks and started circulating around the room admiring the d¨¦cor and small conversations started up. Duke was bumped by Borondar and gestured aside. When the pair were separated from the crowd, he handed Duke a note. ¡°This was given to me be Lord Greengold.¡± Duke thanked the Captain of the Cloudspire guard and moved away for some privacy. As he did so, he saw Borondar¡¯s eyes on him, scanning the area around with intent. Duke opened the note and read it. It was short and to the point. ¡°There is an assassin in the Ansky contingent.¡± Book 2, Chapter 58 - Party Time! Duke read the note twice to make sure he understood it, not that it was difficult to understand. The words were plain as day, but the ramifications went far beyond that. His first instinct was to evacuate his people since he could no longer resurrect any of them. Then, he realized that he was most likely the target. This brought his arrogance to the forefront. Let them try and kill me. Here of all places, I have the resources to handle anything. Duke made it a point to head for the Ansky contingent and begin to mingle. He did not miss Greengold¡¯s pointed glare of warning or Borondar¡¯s look of concern. But Duke was not one to shy away from danger and had long ago made the decision to put himself in danger before any of his people. It was not entirely practical on the battlefield, but in a situation like this, he could do it, so he did. The Ansky emissary was happy to greet Duke and strike up a conversation. ¡°Your Majesty, this is a wonderous reception hall. It is like nothing I have ever seen before.¡± ¡°Thank you, Lord Aaron. We have some rather talented magical crafters that make this all possible. I don¡¯t know who you have spoken with regarding trade, but crafting is one of our true specialties.¡± ¡°A wise decision if I ever heard one, Your Majesty.¡± Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA once again worked with his Intuition to tell him that Aaron was speaking honestly. ¡°I have seen that your crafters make enchanted items as well as high-quality mundane goods. The Ansky Empire is always interested in such things.¡± ¡°I would consider you fools were you not.¡± Duke joked. Lord Aaron laughed along with Duke. ¡°Indeed, we would be. That is very true.¡± He paused, thinking for a moment. ¡°Your Majesty, have you ever visited the Ansky Empire? We do not have a record of a formal visit but that is not to say that perhaps you visited before you gained this formal position.¡± ¡°Too true, but no, I have not visited your homeland.¡± ¡°Then, I must formally invite you. You would be most welcome, and our Emperor would be overjoyed to host you.¡± ¡°Then we shall arrange it.¡± Aaron smiled genuinely at Duke¡¯s response, hoping that Duke would actually follow through and visit the Empire. This new king could be quite the useful ally. ¡°Excuse me, Your Majesty, may I ask something of you?¡± Duke looked to the speaker and saw that it was Lord Sleisthak, the emissary from the Kingdom of Tannish. ¡°Of course. What is it you would ask of me?¡± ¡°If you¡¯ll excuse me, I need to speak with your Minister of Trade, Your Majesty.¡± Lord Aaron bowed and stepped away. Lord Sleisthak gave Lord Aaron a nod of thanks before starting with Duke. ¡°Your Majesty, this is a wonderous place. I find myself most impressed and intrigued. The magic seems woven into every aspect of the room. How is this possible?¡± ¡°A good question, but one that will remain unanswered for now other than to say it¡¯s magic. Are you enjoying your evening?¡± ¡°Rather quite, Your Majesty. I can say without reservation that this is the most amazing reception hall I have ever seen. My king would be highly jealous to see it.¡± ¡°I¡¯d be happy to host him.¡± Duke abhorred small talk, but he knew that he needed to flex his diplomatic muscles in this situation. He continued the conversation. ¡°Once we have a regular trade route, it will probably be even easier to come here to visit.¡± ¡°Agreed, Your Majesty. The samples that have been provided are intriguing. There are items enchanted in ways I have never seen before which, like this hall, speak to your kingdom¡¯s fine crafters. I also bear an invitation directly from King Sashallah to join him on a deep hunt into the dark jungle.¡± ¡°An invitation that I am sure to accept. I do enjoy a good hunt into dangerous lands. And I am also overjoyed that you find interest in our crafts. It may not be widely known but I do have an Archmage as my court wizard. Our crafters benefit greatly. In fact-¡° Duke stopped in mid-sentence as he felt a sharp pain in his kidney followed by a horrible burning sensation traveling throughout his body. He immediately knew that the assassin had struck, followed by a whisper in his ear that said, ¡°Pahst sends her regards.¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Duke felt the poison fighting with his REGENERATION. As far as poisons go, it was amazingly potent, causing nearly 100,000 damage a second which well eclipsed even his REGENERATION. He could feel the poison attacking his nerves, trying to paralyze his muscles, including his heart and lungs. He also felt an additional toxin attempting to cause his organs to hemorrhage. In all, the mixture of hemotoxin and neurotoxin was quite potent. If nothing was done, Duke would be out of Health in less than 30 seconds. Before anyone else could react, Duke spun around, the motion ripping the dagger free from his body and grabbed the assassin¡¯s arm. With a twist of his hips, he threw the woman across the room where she was swarmed by guards that had come boiling out of hidden passages. She was quickly bound, but her maniacal laughter carried across the room. ¡°Die false king. There is no cure for this poison. Die!¡± Immediately Aurelia was at his side, her golden dress flowing behind her as she rushed to him. In her wake was Eihlen the top healer of the Legion. She set to work on fighting the poison, but Duke could easily read that she was worried that the poison outclassed her Abilities. Really should have followed up on getting her up a few tiers. Guess it¡¯s biting me in the ass now. Well, kidney, but whatever. This stuff hurts like hell! When Duke vomited blood, the uproar increased as guards and Legionnaires poured into the room, escorting guests out. They were being led to holding areas where they would be under absolute guard. The emissaries were separated from their staff and placed in well-appointed apartments but they knew that despite the luxurious furnishings, they were prisoners nonetheless. Duke tangentially noticed the guests leaving as he was fully occupied with the fact that the poison was winning, and his time was ticking down. He tried OVERCHANNELING his REGENERATION, but it did not respond to the Ability ¨C apparently there were some things he couldn¡¯t OVERCHANNEL. What a time to discover that tidbit. Eihlen gave him a potion to drink which he forced down past the blood seeping out of the tissues of his throat. The potion was cool against his burning throat, and he was barely able to get it down as his nerves started to fire less effectively. Convulsing from the pain and mis-firing nerves, Duke scrambled to come up with options for how to deal with this toxic cocktail. He could see his Health steadily ticking down. It was only six seconds in, and he was down to 77% Health. His mind still sharp, calculated that he had 20 seconds at most to figure it out. He also realized that the potion did nothing. ¡°That¡¯s the elixir that cured Grat. But it¡¯s doing nothing for Duke!¡± Eihlen¡¯s desperation was clear as she poured every ounce of healing magic she had into Duke. It was a marginal help, slowing the poison some, giving Duke perhaps a full thirty seconds more if she could keep it up. He was not going to rely on her to save him. I can feel the poison in my body, feel my Ability fighting against it, trying to isolate and expel it but every second that passes, it gets stronger. Fifteen seconds in and Duke was near 40% of his Health remaining. Baslin cast Spell after Spell, but none were designed for this and one after another they did little more than slow the growth of the poison¡¯s effect. If this is it, I hope I leave some sort of positive legacy. I was barely getting started. So much left to do. DO NOT GIVE UP, ASSHOLE! Duke shouted in his own mind, turning back to his Abilities looking for some way to fight the poison. Could that work? Might be my last chance. Down to almost 20% left. Duke focused his DUNGEON SIGHT completely inwards, seeing his body and through his body in ways he had never before. He focused intensely, ignoring the flashing system messages telling him that he was close to death. With all the focus of his DUNGEON SIGHT, he was able to see the poison as separate from his body even as it attacked every aspect of his life. With a final scream that ripped his bleeding throat apart, he TELEPORTED the poison out of him. His DUNGEON SIGHT confirmed that he had separated the poison from himself, and it was currently dripping down the wall. Finally, he relaxed until he saw his Health flashing red at 3%. Then it was at 5% and continued to rise. When he was back over 20%, he slowly sat back up, only now realizing that his head was cradled in Aurelia¡¯s lap. ¡°Well, that sucked. Somebody grab a sample of that poison. We¡¯re going to need to find an antidote for it.¡± ¡°The poison is gone, Your Majesty. It seeped into the stone of the wall and floor.¡± Duke acknowledged the guard as he climbed back to his feet. It was at this moment that he realized that everyone around him was covered in varying degrees of bloody vomit. He activated CLEANSE and RESTORE by reflex. ¡°Sorry about the mess everyone.¡± He was wrapped up in a bone-crushing hug by Aurelia before he could say anything else. ¡°Don¡¯t ever scare me like that again!¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t my choice, love.¡± He hugged her back just as fiercely. ¡°Would have been a good test to see if I can actually die.¡± ¡°Not funny.¡± ¡°I thought it was a little bit funny.¡± Baslin chimed in. He backed off when Aurelia glared at him. He went back to very carefully studying the knife that had delivered the poison. This is quite the little assassin¡¯s tool. I think there might be another dose of the poison in here for me to study too. Another project! Yeah! Duke finally separated himself from Aurelia. But she started before he could speak. ¡°I want everyone separated and interrogated. I want to know how an assassin got into here and who she has ties to. And I want to know it now!¡± Various Legionnaires and city guards scrambled to do as she demanded. Duke added, ¡°Release the emissaries and have them brought to the throne room. I want Lord Greengold brought to me as well. I have questions for him.¡± Book 2, Chapter 59 - The After Party Duke sat upon his throne, having changed into a more everyday outfit. He was here for answers, not courtly ceremony so he wanted to be comfortable. Surrounding him were his closest advisors and friends including Baslin, Aurelia, Borondar, Madrigal, and Hargwaetch. The looks of trepidation on the emissaries¡¯ faces briefly fluctuated to looks of relief when they saw Duke sitting upon the throne. He gestured towards the chairs set up before him. ¡°Please have a seat.¡± Lord Greengold was brought in after the emissaries were seated. It was clear that he was trying to remain calm but having difficulty given the setting. ¡°Lord Greengold, please have a seat as well.¡± The three men stared at Duke, trying to read his emotions but were not picking anything up from him. Protocol did not allow them to speak until given permission and Duke was playing that angle hard. ¡°Gentleman, as you are well aware, there was an attempt on my life tonight. We have the assassin in custody and clearly, I attempt failed and I am well. There is one among you that knew this was going to happen. What do you have to say about that?¡± Both Lord Aaron and Lord Sleisthak spoke up simultaneously. ¡°I knew nothing of this, Your Majesty.¡± They looked at each other suspiciously and Duke was able to read them easily. Both were speaking honestly and were openly suspicious of each other. Lord Aaron continued. ¡°But the assassin came from my staff and Ansky must answer for this.¡± His face grew stern as steel, and he continued. ¡°I offer my own life as recompence for this terrible affront to Stormstride.¡± That brought a gasp from many of the people in the room before Lord Greengold spoke up. ¡°Your Majesty, I knew that Lady Pedroia was an assassin. I tried to get warning to you, but it appears that I was not successful.¡± Duke smiled. ¡°Lord Greengold, we are going to have a long talk about this as your warning came in plenty of time. I simply did not care to prevent the attempt on my life and, as you can see, I am a lot harder to kill than they expected. I know who the assassin was working for and their motivation. What I do not know, and I now suspect you, Lord Aaron, don¡¯t know is how this assassin infiltrated your staff. Oh, and no, I¡¯ll not be taking your head in recompense. You have questions to answer, but this is not a matter between Ansky and Stormstride. It is a matter between Stormstride and Pahst.¡± That last statement saw Lord Aaron relax visibly before speaking up. ¡°Your Majesty, there are people I must speak with including my Emperor. He must be informed of this treachery from his own ranks and be allowed to investigate as well.¡± ¡°I would expect so. This attack was designed to pit our nations against each other and had it succeeded, it likely would have done just that. I give Pahst credit for being clever and conniving, but she will answer for this. Now, Lord Greengold, it is time for you to share what you know.¡± ¡°Your Majesty, I would ask that we speak in private about this as it may reveal some secrets that might be better left concealed.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty ballsy of you after all this. I¡¯ve already dealt with one assassination attempt. What makes you think I¡¯m going to take a private meeting with someone I don¡¯t fully know and trust?¡± ¡°Because I warned you about the assassin. That should be enough get me a meeting.¡± Dammit, he¡¯s not wrong. But who the fuck is this guy? We think he came from Ansky originally but that could be some sort of cover story. The Ansky emissary doesn¡¯t seem to know who he is. Should I even be worried about another attempt? I seem to have figured out how to beat poison¡­barely. ¡°Very well, you will have your private audience. As for everyone else. Your respective staff¡¯s will be questioned.¡± Duke pointedly looked over to Borondar. ¡°Gently and respectfully.¡± He waited for acknowledgement from the Guard Captain before continuing. ¡°Lord Aaron, Lord Sleisthak, please continue whatever trade negotiations you have begun or other diplomatic matters you have before you. We shall have another meeting in the coming days. Thank you.¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The seasoned diplomats heard the dismissal and thanked Duke for his mercy and grace, quickly departing the room. Duke gestured for everyone else to carry on before he looked Greengold directly in the eye and TELEPORTED them both to a room in the Lake Front Dungeon. This was a special room that had no exits. Two chairs quickly formed from the floor and Duke took one of them. ¡°You will not find a more secure room in all the world, but it also means that unless I personally let you out of this room, you will never leave. No one else can reach this room or even knows where it is for that matter. My patience for a great many things has run out. Speak plainly and truthfully. I¡¯ll know if you lie even a little bit. Who are you really and what is your connection to all this?¡± Greengold looked around the blank stone walls of the room and then back to Duke. ¡°OK, here¡¯s the deal. I have one hell of a story and telling anyone may put me in tremendous danger. But I see what you are doing in this kingdom and my conscience drove me to this point. Might as well go full-bore.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you heard my backstory that I came from the Ansky Empire and happened to be here when things went to shit with Chopie. That story is complete bullshit. I visited the Empire once before coming here but I am from the kingdom of Pahst. I worked for the queen¡¯s spymaster and was sent to infiltrate Chopie¡¯s court. I had gotten in far enough to see that he was an even greater terror than her. My former, and I want to emphasize that word, FORMER, queen is a jealous bitch. She wanted everything that Chopie had. Everything he had built, she made a copy of. It was really sick.¡± Greengold paused, gathering his thoughts before continuing. ¡°I was raised in service to her spymaster from when I was a young child. He trained me to be a spy, how to quietly gather information, how to turn someone into my agent and how to keep them from flipping back. I was spying on Chopie when you came onto the scene. After his embarrassment in the arena, he was obsessed with killing you to the point that he forgot nearly everything else. That is how Duke Negron rose to such a high position so quickly. He offered Chopie ways to hunt you down and kill you that his longstanding court mage could not.¡± ¡°You made it a point to say former there¡­¡± ¡°I was raised by a sadistic bastard. I only knew life under both him and Pahst and it was brutal. Then I saw the Ansky Empire and actually saw some happy people. Then I returned to another cruel place under Chopie. I understood that to be my lot in life and nearly gave up. When you came to wipe Chopie out, I didn¡¯t know what to do. What I was duty-bound to do was to flee back to Pahst, but my heart told me this was my chance to break away from Pahst so I chose to just plain flee the capitol. They would have no way to know if I lived or died. In doing so, I joined the crowds fleeing ahead of the battle. I was lucky and made it into Havenreach and everything changed for me there. I found my ability to read people helped me find work under the Mayor and, for the first time in my life, I loved what I was doing. Connecting merchants with crafters and crafters with resources and adventurers with crafters and all that is just so much fun. And everyone was genuinely happy to work with each other. It changed me.¡± ¡°I understand. Now tell me about the assassin.¡± ¡°I recognized her from my work with Pahst¡¯s spymaster. She is a master poisoner and when I say master, I mean Master. You should not have given her the chance to strike you. It is a miracle that you survived.¡± ¡°Yes, a miracle. Do you know all Pahst¡¯s assassins and spies?¡± ¡°A great many of them. There may be a few that I don¡¯t know but they would be at the lowest levels. The spymaster was grooming me to take over once my assignment was complete, so I was in the meetings with the vast majority of them.¡± Duke could tell that Greengold was telling the truth. His body language sang out with sincerity and Duke was sure he could believe the man. Now came the part that Duke was really not sure of. ¡°Thank you for being so upfront and honest with me. Now I have an additional question for you. I have a problem and you seem to be someone who could solve it for me. I am in need of a spymaster.¡± Greengold immediately responded. ¡°I can¡¯t do that. I just don¡¯t have it in me anymore.¡± Duke nodded, changing tack immediately. ¡°What I am asking is for you to work with my Trade Minister and be part of all the negotiations. While doing so, you will inevitably hear things. I am asking you to share what you hear. That¡¯s all.¡± Greengold¡¯s face brightened. ¡°You want me to work with the Minister of Trade and negotiate on behalf of our people?¡± ¡°Yes, that is the primary role I am looking for.¡± ¡°Oh, yes. I can do that. Gods yes, I will do that. And I will share any gossip I pick up as well. Yes, that is perfect. Thank you!¡± ¡°Then I shall make arrangements to put you in place. Are you willing to swear an oath of loyalty to the nation and its people?¡± ¡°Not an oath to you?¡± ¡°No, I want Stormstride to survive even should I not. The people and way of life I am fostering here are what need to be preserved and loyalty to the nation is greater than loyalty to any one individual.¡± ¡°Your approach is so far from either Chopie¡¯s or Pahst¡¯s that it¡¯s beyond belief. I will gladly take such a vow.¡± ¡°Excellent. Let¡¯s take care of that and get you in with Lady Hargwaetch so you can start fleecing our neighbors.¡± Book 2, Chapter 60 - Choices Duke sat up in his bed, reviewing all his notifications from the past day. Even though he was getting them as they came, he had still found himself minimizing most of them and saving them for later. The most amusing was the 50 experience he received for defeating the assassin. Only 1,300 more of those and I can level. The second half of a tier is always the hardest. What a strange system. He had received a number of Ability increases, and even an additional point of Endurance. The biggest increases were in REGENERATION, DUNGEON SENSE and TELEPORTATION. As he reviewed all the changes, he found his subconscious doing some calculations in the background. When he thought about it consciously, he was shocked at what he had discovered. His Mana pool had grown extreme, over 2.5 million. If he poured all his Mana though OVERCHANNELING his TELEPORTATION, his ultimate range was 18 figures. Another calculation put it over 10,000 light years. Could I reach Earth with that kind of range? I would have to know if Earth is even in the same galaxy or universe for that matter. But the possibilities are amazing. I could visit other stars, other planets. The possibilities are endless. Then again, I haven¡¯t explored a tenth of THIS planet. And now I have to come up with some response to Pahst¡¯s assassination attempt. I wonder¡­ As Aurelia had already gotten ready and left for the day while Duke slept, he got himself ready quickly, putting on one of his daily outfits. He paused, remembering his wardrobe malfunction and delved into the information on his DUNGEON MANIPULATION. Eventually he found the formula for how much value he could take out of a dungeon through the Ability. The formula was rather simple as it was his Ability rank times 100 plus his Level within the rank. It currently sat at 333 gold. I hope that formula changes as I rank it up. Only being able to take about six or seven hundred gold worth of creations out of a dungeon seems pretty lame at a Master rank. Duke went downstairs for breakfast to see the common room nearly vacant. His confusion cleared up when he realized that it was already afternoon and he had slept most of the day away. ¡°Good afternoon, Duke. Can I get you something?¡± Calen¡¯s friendly bovine face greeted him. ¡°I could use something to eat, I suppose.¡± ¡°Coming right up.¡± Duke settled down in his typical chair, adjusting it slightly to make it more comfortable. A server brought his lunch out moments later. Duke was sure there were restaurants in Cloudspire, and he might even have a royal chef that he had never met but he was absolutely sure that nothing would ever top the food and service at the Inn. Cooking time was nonexistent, and the food was always perfect. ¡°Maybe I need to move the castle into a dungeon.¡± Duke chuckled at the idea. ¡°Perhaps someday you will be able to, but your skill is not anywhere near that level yet.¡± Duke turned to the voice to see a figure sitting in the chair next to him. The figure was humanoid but made of the substance of space. It appeared to be a vast emptiness that started to draw Duke in like the gravity of a black hole. He felt himself being pulled from his chair, panic rising in his very soul as absolute annihilation sat next to him. And then, a moment later, Sam sat next to him. ¡°I guess you aren¡¯t ready to see that aspect of me just yet. Someday soon, I hope. For now, I¡¯ll stick to this limited form for your sake, Duke.¡± ¡°Um, yeah. That was a bit much. And hello, Overmind.¡± ¡°Hello again, Duke. You have become my most fun to watch Contestant so far. Were you trying to see just how far you could push your REGNERATION yesterday? Or was that something else?¡± ¡°I nearly died, you know. Cut me some slack.¡± ¡°Did you? Perhaps. Maybe next time, don¡¯t let the assassin stab you. Or maybe use your Abilities to heal yourself before your Health runs out.¡± ¡°I used everything I could think of, and I figured it out before the end.¡± A slow, disappointed headshake greeted Duke. Next time use the near infinite resources around yourself. As he spoke a potion bottle rose from the table. It had a label on it written in English that simply said, ¡°Poison Cure¡±. ¡°You were inside a dungeon space. You have the Ability to manipulate reality within such a space. Admittedly your Ability is still new to you, and you have not had the time to explore its extent, but you have enough creativity to at least begin to realize what you are capable within one of your own dungeons.¡± Duke stared incredulously before what he was being told started to dawn on him. The Overmind started to grin as he could see the wheels turning in Duke¡¯s mind. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°By the time of the Contest, you need to be able to create and manipulate a planetary dungeon.¡± ¡°And how long do I have to get ready for that? And what is this Contest that I¡¯m supposed to be preparing for anyway?¡± ¡°These are questions that I cannot answer for you. There are rules that even I must adhere to. I have advice I would give you but you most likely will not receive well nor follow.¡± ¡°OK, now I have to hear it.¡± ¡°You should sever your ties to this kingdom and these people. They will slow your growth. Pursue your enemies and annihilate them. They will be nothing before your power and with them out of the way, you can seed dungeons across the entirety this small planet before moving on to bigger targets.¡± ¡°Yep, you¡¯re right. Not doing that. That¡¯s not who I am.¡± ¡°I did say that you would not appreciate this advice. But it is the fastest way to grow your power. Imagine what your power level would be with the backing of hundreds of dungeons or even thousands of them providing you power.¡± Duke paused for a moment, thinking about how much that would indeed push his Characteristics. What would his Psyche be with a 1,000% multiplier? His Mana would be beyond imagining. ¡°I understand what you are saying but I am not that person. I protect my own, not abandon them.¡± ¡°Yes, that is your nature. Just know that the more dungeons you plant the more your power will grow. If you can evolve your Title, you will see even greater effects. Also, if any of your dungeons reach high enough Tier, they will provide you with additional options. This one is the closest but even it has quite a distance to travel before it gets to that point.¡± ¡°You seem to be investing a lot of time and effort into me. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I appreciate the hell out of it, but what do you gain from all of this?¡± ¡°That is another thing I am not permitted to reveal in total. But I can tell you this, your performance in the Contest will help or hinder my own power as well as yours. But beyond that, the collective power of all dungeons is a benefit to me. The more you plant and the more they grow, the greater benefit for both of us.¡± ¡°So, you can¡¯t give me the full story, but planting and growing dungeons will increase both our power. I think I need some overalls. I¡¯m a freakin¡¯ farmer.¡± ¡°Right now, you are only planting dungeons. Someday you may be able to sow them. Then you would be a true Dungeon Farmer. My time here grows short. There are other things this avatar needs to do soon. If you feel the need to cling to your people, then make them powerful enough that they can last when you are absent from this world.¡± Duke watched as the Overmind¡¯s Avatar faded from sight, folding into a single point of space before winking out with a pop. He tried finishing his lunch but it was cold. With a thought, he re-created it and enjoyed it. That¡¯s gotta be less than 300 gold, right? When finished, he contemplated two separate plans for the rest of his day. One was likely to be fun while the other could save a lot of bloodshed if it worked. He knew which one he wanted to choose but he also knew which one he was going to choose. Upon arriving in his throne room, Duke immediately sent for Lord Greengold. It did not take long for the man to arrive, full of energy and smiles ¨C the man was truly enjoying his new role. Duke had stepped away from his throne, so he met Greengold nearly at the door to the room. ¡°Thank you for coming. And so quickly I might add.¡± ¡°It is my pleasure, Your Majesty. What can I do for you?¡± ¡°I assume you have been in Pahst¡¯s throne room. Can you describe it to me?¡± ¡°Not a whole lot to describe as it is literally a copy of yours. She has no originality whatsoever.¡± ¡°Oh, well, I guess that might make this easier. Thanks. You can go back to doing what you were doing.¡± ¡°Um, sure. You¡¯re, um, welcome.¡± Greengold left the room looking bewildered but hurried back down to the Ministry of Trade. There were trade agreements to negotiate! Duke, on the other hand, sat down in his throne and started OVERCHANNELING his CLAIRVOYANCE to see if he could get a look at Pahst¡¯s throne room. His vision blurred and blinked in and out several times before it slowly focused on a throne room laid out exactly like his own. It was more than a bit disconcerting. His vision wavered a few times before it again locked in on the other throne room. There he saw Queen Pahst sitting on her throne. The Queen looked agitated about something as an advisor of some kind entered the room. He was an older man judging by his grey hair and slightly bent posture. Duke watched as his Ability drew sharper and sharper until it became crystal clear, and he could finally hear what was being said. ¡°¨C failed. Duke still sits upon his throne and our agent has been captured. This was a risk that we talked about, Your Majesty. One we may well have avoided if ¨C¡± ¡°Do not speak to me with such insolence. How could this have failed? Was he not poisoned with the venom?¡± ¡°He was, but he overcame the venom.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not possible. My venom is final. No one can survive it.¡± ¡°And yet he lives, Your Majesty. What are we to do now? There certainly will be a response.¡± ¡°Will your agent speak?¡± ¡°No, Your Majesty. She is bound by a life oath. She will die before she speaks.¡± ¡°Then we shall find another way to kill this upstart and take the full kingdom that is rightfully mine!¡± Duke¡¯s anger rose. She could have left things alone and I would have left her alone, but she had to go and do this. Time for a response. His plan solidified. I¡¯m going to show this bitch what happens when you mess with the Duke! Er, or the King? Fucking callsign. Whatever. He waited for his Mana to regen to full before beginning. Then, with the flexing of will and Ability, and a whole lot of Mana, he appeared in the large special detention chamber within the Lake Front Dungeon. But he was not alone. Queen Pahst stood on the opposite side of the room looking absolutely shocked. ¡°You sent an assassin for me. Bad choice. Now sit here and stew while I decide your fate.¡± ¡°You!¡± Her enraged scream reverberated off the blank stone walls. And then her body began to transform, morphing into a human/spider hybrid. Her face elongated with several compound eyes taking over her forehead and chelicerae sprung from her mouth. Her body elongated forming a spider¡¯s abdomen and sprouting eight legs to support her. She charged at Duke, preparing to strike with her venom. Duke TELEPORTED back to his own throne room before she could reach him. Threat contained. Now what do I do with her? Book 2, Chapter 61 - Mystery Box Duke stood on the uppermost parapet of his castle, looking down on the city below him. Citizens and visitors alike hurried around the streets determined to complete whatever tasks they had before them. The sight lifted his mood as it was something that resembled normalcy in all the bizarre chaos around him daily. Standing up here, he was able to separate himself from all of it for a short time and just think. His mind was overtaken by questions with few answers. Should I just feed Pahst to the dungeon? Should I seed the rest of the dungeons quickly or take my time to make sure they are in perfect areas? When will Sam bud again? Should I take over Pahst¡¯s kingdom? Do I even want to be the king? Hell, I could set up an administrative counsel and step away from it all to plant dungeons and go on adventures. That would be a whole lot more fun, wouldn¡¯t it? Answers eluded him but he still felt a bit better when he came back down. He hadn¡¯t addressed all the things on his mind or on his ever-growing to do list, but he had at least come to one decision. He had friends and advisors that he could lean on so he would do just that. Before he could head back down, he felt a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Hello love.¡± ¡°Baslin told me you were up here. Are you alright?¡± ¡°I have a lot on my mind and I¡¯m not finding the answers I am looking for very easily.¡± ¡°Perhaps you need another perspective.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I came up here.¡± ¡°You know that¡¯s not what I meant. Share your troubles with me and maybe I can help you.¡± Duke sighed, knowing she was right but hating that it was so hard for him to share his problems. Stupid pride telling me I have to do everything myself again. ¡°You know that I¡¯m not from this world and that my¡­I don¡¯t know what to call it, sponsor? Yeah, I guess sponsor has changed. The Overmind talks to me much more than the others did. He gives me advice and his latest advice was¡­not good.¡± ¡°What advice was that?¡± Her tone had filled with even deeper concern. ¡°He told me that it was advice that I wouldn¡¯t like or follow and he was right. He told me to abdicate my throne and leave all of you behind. To go build up my power for whatever the coming Contest will be.¡± Her voice remained steady despite the shock of what he said. ¡°I know you didn¡¯t really want to be a king. Should we start looking for a replacement for you? But even if we do replace you as king, we are not going to let you abandon us. Especially me.¡± ¡°That is why he said I wouldn¡¯t take the advice, because I am too anchored here with you and to a lesser extent the others, to step away. Could I step down as king? Sure, I could if there was someone I trusted to not fuck it all up. Not that I have done such a stellar job. But at least I know what I¡¯m shooting for, you know?¡± ¡°I know what you are trying to do here. You¡¯re trying to build a kingdom built on justice and honor. It¡¯s admirable and a lofty goal. But I also know that it is doomed to fail.¡± ¡°That¡¯s harsh.¡± ¡°Right now, everybody is falling in line because you are far too powerful to challenge, and most don¡¯t even understand how powerful you are. But there is a limit to how long they will do so. Eventually, someone will find a way to take advantage of the system and build up their own power. And once there is a power imbalance, things will start to come apart. It¡¯s what always happens.¡± ¡°Everyone is enjoying significant prosperity right now, Aurelia. They likely don¡¯t know why but it¡¯s an effect of one of my Abilities and it is allowing crafters to craft faster and with greater quality than could ever be reasonably imagined. Crops are providing yields beyond farmer¡¯s capacity to store. Mines are producing ore so pure it may not even need smelting, but if they do smelt it, the useful ore that will come out will be even greater. And here¡¯s the kicker that nobody knows ¨C if they try to work against me or consider themselves apart from the kingdom, all that prosperity stops for them. It¡¯s one hell of a trap.¡± ¡°That probably explains why the city guard has grown so quickly. They train up to minimum standards in a matter of days rather than weeks or even months.¡± ¡°Speaking of such things, how is the Legion? What have they been up to?¡± Aurelia smiled, pride showing in her eyes. ¡°They are mostly back in the training dungeon, continuing their leveling and honing their Abilities. I¡¯m not sure how long I can keep them there though with the coming war with Pahst.¡± ¡°What war would that be?¡± Duke asked, knowing that he was leading her on but not able to help himself. ¡°They sent an assassin to kill you. There has to be a response.¡± ¡°Queen Pahst sent the assassin. It wasn¡¯t the people of the nation that acted. Should I march the Thrice Blessed Legion over there and kill anyone who gets in our way to the capitol?¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°My love, you have to respond. If you do nothing, you will seem weak to the rest of the nations and that will only lead them to act similarly.¡± ¡°Since you put it that way, maybe we should publicly execute Queen Pahst since I already have her in custody.¡± ¡°You what?¡± Aurelia shouted, stepping back. ¡°I placed her under arrest yesterday. She is sitting in an isolated dungeon cell so unless she can transport herself through dimensional barriers, she¡¯s not getting out if I don¡¯t let her out.¡± ¡°How did that happen and why am I just hearing of this?¡± ¡°I simply reached out and TELEPORTED her to the dungeon. Master rank TELEPORTATION is frighteningly powerful. It also helped that she had no idea what was happening before it was too late for her ¨C her defenses were down. And you are the first that I have told. I don¡¯t want this capability to become public at all. I know that would cause all kinds of problems for us.¡± ¡°So, send the bitch¡¯s head back to her court in a box with a note.¡± Aurelia¡¯s voice was so heated that Duke nearly took a step back himself. ¡°I could do that, I suppose. That would definitely send the message that I¡¯m not going to concern myself with the actions of minions; I¡¯m going to hold the decision-maker responsible. Yes, I like that idea. But how do I ensure the messenger¡¯s safety?¡± ¡°That¡¯s something we¡¯ll have to work out. Let¡¯s grab Baslin and see if we can come up with something.¡± Some time later, the three of them were in deep discussion in Baslin¡¯s lab. ¡°I simply cannot make that enchantment small enough for someone to carry. It would be at least the size of a person and I¡¯m not even sure it would work at all. We must find another way.¡± ¡°OK, so portable Archmage¡¯s defense is out for this, but could you make one anyway? I can imagine being able to pull it out of my INVENTORY and stopping some ridiculous attack with it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll put it on my list of projects.¡± Baslin didn¡¯t seem excited about that particular project and Duke suspected it was very far down the list, likely at the bottom. ¡°Then can we get back to the distress call approach? I do not want whomever I send to be killed or captured.¡± ¡°The problem with that approach is that I still haven¡¯t discerned how to breach a dimensional barrier like a dungeon. You spend so much time in your dungeons that it is likely that you won¡¯t get the message until it is far too late.¡± ¡°Do you think Sam could build such an enchantment?¡± ¡°That¡¯s worth asking, love. As far as items go, I know he has some sort of limit to what he can just give us so it might not be possible. But it doesn¡¯t hurt to ask.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you just go yourself, Duke? It¡¯s not like they could stop you from leaving.¡± ¡°Disproportionate response. If I go, it is a declaration of war. If I send a messenger with the ¡®leave us the fuck alone¡¯ message, they may take it as a proper warning and move to ¡®good neighbor¡¯ mode.¡± ¡°Do you really think they will just take the warning and leave well enough alone?¡± ¡°If Pahst is the driving factor for everything there like Chopie was here, then they quite possibly will. If it¡¯s the culture of their nobility that made them like they are, there will be a mad scramble to fill the vacuum of power that will have them collapse into civil war for a while.¡± ¡°And if they are fighting each other, there¡¯s not fighting us.¡± Baslin¡¯s accompanying smile was a bit disturbing. ¡°But is that better for the people? That¡¯s not what you have stood for this entire time, Duke.¡± ¡°The alternative is to march in ourselves and that will guarantee mass death. This way, peace is at least a possibility and if it does devolve into chaos, then we will have refugees to worry about, but it will be a long time before we have a hostile neighbor at our border. I protect my people. The people of another nation that is hostile to us? Those are not my people. And we can easily absorb refugees, can¡¯t we? There are still hundreds of empty houses and apartment buildings here in Cloudspire.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lot more callous than I have heard you be before, Duke. It causes me, and I would expect others, some concern.¡± ¡°Good. I want you all to keep me in check from doing things that are objectively or morally wrong. So, everybody weigh in on this. Am I going too far? Handling this in the wrong way? There¡¯s an expert on the noble court of Pahst that perhaps we should consult.¡± ¡°Who is that?¡± ¡°Lord Greengold. He knows their nobility well and may be able to tell us what to expect.¡± Duke opened a communications Portal to Lord Greengold. ¡°Are you in the middle of something or can you step away for a bit?¡± ¡°I¡­um¡­can take a break.¡± Before he finished speaking, Duke had TELEPORTED him to join the three of them. He looked around disoriented at the sudden change of scenery. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you get used to it.¡± Aurelia added helpfully with a slight chuckle. Duke ignored her comment and jumped right in. ¡°We have a situation that your unique knowledge might just be helpful with.¡± ¡°How can I help?¡± ¡°Here¡¯s the situation. We all know Pahst sent the assassin to kill Duke.¡± Aurelia jumped into ¡°explanation mode¡±. She continued, ¡°We have debated a number of options for response. Duke here, has already taken a direct approach. He has Queen Pahst in custody.¡± ¡°You kidnapped the bitch queen?¡± ¡°You could put it that way, yes.¡± Duke took over. ¡°I plan on sending her head back to the kingdom in a box. What do you think the reaction of her nobles will be?¡± Greengold started to laugh. ¡°Can I deliver the box? Oh my god, that will be funny!¡± ¡°What will their reaction be?¡± Baslin prompted. ¡°Oh, they¡¯ll kill the messenger for sure. But I¡¯d say that within a week, they would be in full civil war. Only about a third of the nobles are actually loyal but all of them are petty shitstains. They will be fighting with each other until someone takes enough others out to solidify their position. Six months minimum is my guess.¡± ¡°Were you serious about bringing the box yourself?¡± Duke asked, intrigued. ¡°Yes and no. I really want to see the looks on their faces, but I really don¡¯t want to get my ass killed immediately afterwards. Some of her guards are as high as Tier Three in their classes. I was never able to confirm the rumor that her warlord is a tier Four. A freakin¡¯ Tier Four! No, I don¡¯t want to mess with that level of power.¡± ¡°And what if we had a way to get you out of there before they could hurt you?¡± ¡°If you really could do that, I¡¯d jump on it for sure. My cover will not last long when I¡¯m negotiating deals with merchants. It¡¯s only a matter of time before someone recognizes me from a description or something like that.¡± ¡°OK, thanks, Lord Greengold. If I can find a way to safely extract you, I¡¯ll hit you up for the job.¡± Duke TELEPORTED the man back to his office. ¡°Well, there you have it. I need a fancy box and a way to know when he has delivered the message. Back to work, Baslin. I¡¯ll have a chat with Sam and see if he can help us.¡± Book 2, Chapter 62 - Mountain Lodge Duke arrived in the Inn section of the Lake Front Dungeon only to discover that it was much more crowded than it had been over the past weeks. There were Legionnaires in groups at many tables eating, drinking, and generally having a good time. He decided to quickly slip up to his room and not interrupt them. ¡°Sam, I have questions.¡± He didn¡¯t direct the question anywhere in particular, knowing Sam could hear him regardless. ¡°What sort of questions?¡± ¡°I need a rather specific item created, perhaps as a dungeon reward.¡± ¡°Sure, I can do that but if it¡¯s something truly special, the challenge will have to meet or exceed the prize. Is this for one of your Legionnaires? I am really happy to have them back in the dungeon by the way. They attack challenges with such zeal, it¡¯s fun to watch and they are getting strong enough that I can give them more and more training levels. They¡¯re sticking around here for a while this time, right?¡± ¡°I hope they will be here for a while, so keep them challenged. What I need is an item that can carry communication across a dungeon¡¯s dimensional barrier.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a tall order. Something like that is not part of any dungeon¡¯s normal range of items. It requires a rather special set of requirements. I could make something like that, but it would have to be the prize for a particularly difficult level, one that you wouldn¡¯t be allowed to complete and receive here.¡± ¡°So, I¡¯m shit out of luck then.¡± ¡°Not necessarily. It could be the prize for another dungeon. Once of my offspring, perhaps. I could develop the item and show one of them how it is made. But it will have to be difficult to reach. The challenge for one of them would have to be the peak of what they can throw at you and you would have to complete the dungeon without using your DUNGEON MANIPULATION Ability.¡± Duke thought about it for a few seconds before answering. ¡°Set it up. I¡¯ll get the group ready for it.¡± Sam nodded and faded away but was replaced by the Overmind¡¯s Avatar. ¡°Hello again, Duke.¡± ¡°Overmind. Are you here to tell me to not pursue this course of action?¡± ¡°If you ask me, I¡¯d tell you to TELEPORT into their court, throw the head on the floor and kill them all while they are still in shock. But you don¡¯t follow my advice all that well.¡± ¡°Maybe because I have a conscience. I¡¯m not going to just go out and kill people at random.¡± ¡°These are the leaders of a nation that is hostile to you. Killing them wouldn¡¯t be random. All your current plan will do is give them a chance to build up power to challenge your kingdom down the road. Of course, if you take my original advice and walk away from the whole running a kingdom thing, that wouldn¡¯t matter anyway. Is that what you are doing? Setting up the war so that you can wipe out your neighbor¡¯s army, gain power from it, and hand the kingdom off to someone else? I like that plan.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m going to let them tear each other apart so we can forget about worrying about them for a while and build up our own kingdom.¡± ¡°Fine, fine. Do it your way. But I do have a serious question for you. Why haven¡¯t you planted the rest of the dungeon seeds? You know the cores only have a limited viability before they begin to degrade.¡± ¡°I have been busy but it¡¯s on my list.¡± ¡°Move it up your list. Sam has more cores budding right now. By the time you get to his chamber, you¡¯ll have ten cores to plant and since Sam is sticking to this Inn Archetype you need to find roads or even cities to plant them in. This is your true path to power. Do not delay or neglect it.¡± With that statement, the Overmind¡¯s avatar vanished leaving Duke alone with his thoughts. I get what he is saying about more rapid paths to power but that would go so far against my moral code that it would change me in ways that I do not want to see. But planting dungeons, I like doing that even though it leaves me with so many more questions. How do I make sure that they are well-defended? Is there a tipping point where I gain more power per dungeon. The Overmind hinted at that ¨C somehow upgrading my Title. That might be it. Duke decided to stop by Sam¡¯s core room and pick up the new cores. They were fully budded, and Duke was quite familiar with the process now, snatching them all up and placing them into the special bag he carried them all in. He placed them in specific pockets so that Duke could keep track of which ones were the oldest and didn¡¯t accidentally hold one for too long. He did not stick around to chit chat. A quick TELEPORT later, he was flying above the area, following the road from Cloudspire that headed north in the general direction of the Ansky Empire. There was a significant amount of unclaimed land between the kingdoms that was full of monsters, mountains, and the occasional bandit group. He liked that there was a buffer between his kingdom and another empire. He had enough to worry about on his western border with the Kingdom of Pahst. A lot was hinging on his plan to destabilize his kingdom¡¯s neighbor working as planned. It was not long before Duke landed in a well secluded mountain pass. There were the remains of what had once may have been a cabin. If Duke didn¡¯t have a dungeon seed to plant, he would have been tempted to RESTORE the cabin. Instead, he planted a dungeon seed and waited for it to sprout up into an Inn. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The process was as quick as usual, this one having the look of a large log cabin lodge. Duke rather liked the look of this one as it aligned with his former retirement dream to have a log cabin on a mountain, far away from society¡¯s idiots. When the building finished and the sign formed, Duke headed in to check it out. ¡°Welcome to the Twilight Mountain Inn. What can I get for you, Emperor?¡± Duke paused at the title but smiled and responded. ¡°Please call me Duke. What¡¯s your name?¡± This was the first minotaur dungeon innkeeper that was not white furred. This one¡¯s fur had a definite crimson tint to it and almost resembled blood. ¡°You can call me Xander.¡± ¡°Well, hello, Xander. Do you have some scotch available?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± He poured Duke a short glass of scotch with a smile, apparently already knowing Duke¡¯s tastes. Duke found it to be just as tasty as he had expected. ¡°Thanks. This is great.¡± He looked around and found the dungeon entrance. It was as clearly marked as the others had been. ¡°What sort of dungeon do you have set up in there?¡± ¡°Traps, puzzles, and shapeshifters.¡± ¡°Shapeshifters? Doppelgangers or lycanthropes?¡± ¡°More along the line of doppelgangers than lycanthropes. Some really nasty mimics in the middle of trapped areas at the deeper levels. My favorite is one where there¡¯s a shaky walkway suspended over a deep pit that is about twenty meters wide. Not too many could jump over the pit but there are other ways to cross it besides the walkway. But most will take the walkway anyway. The mimic will wait until you are halfway across before revealing itself.¡± ¡°That¡¯s insidious. Try not to kill all the travelers that come through here, eh?¡± ¡°That¡¯s at one of the deeper levels like I said. Most can run the first few levels and pass by the puzzles and traps with some effort. They can backtrack and leave at any time so it¡¯s a bit more forgiving than most. And it also allows me to set up a supply shop over here.¡± Duke watched as a section of the Inn folded back to reveal what looked like a well-stocked mountain wilderness supply shop. A smaller minotaur with blue fur smiled at Duke. ¡°Welcome to my shop. You can call me Jay. Can I interest you in some healing rations?¡± ¡°Healing rations?¡± Duke asked intrigued. ¡°Yes, they are special rations that heal your body as you eat. Much better tasting and far more satisfying than sticky potions.¡± ¡°Clever. I have no real use for them myself, but I think I¡¯ll take some anyway.¡± Fifteen hundred gold later, Duke had enough healing rations to give out as snacks to his team. ¡°Thank you both. Keep the Inn safe and reach out through the network if you are ever in trouble.¡± Duke¡¯s departure quickly followed. He returned to Cloudspire and started down the southern road towards the Kingdom of Tannish. He had not been through this part of his own kingdom and was pleased to discover that there was an extensive community of farms and small villages along the road. He decided to stop by one of the larger villages along the way and check it out. Activating his LASTING DISGUISE, he TELEPORTED behind a copse of trees and made his way to the road. As he walked along the road, he noticed that it was well-maintained crushed rock. He had no idea who maintained infrastructure like this, and he now had the thought that he needed to know. He had a suspicion that he was going to need to appoint someone and put a bunch of resources towards it. His thoughts were interrupted by a trio of figures stepping out onto the road before him, having used a faded red barn to conceal themselves. All three were armed, the one in the middle had a crossbow pointed at Duke. ¡°That¡¯s far enough, strangah.¡± Duke made the snap decision to see where this was going before acting. His instinct was just to kill the three bandits and move on but something about their postures didn¡¯t sit right. ¡°Far enough for what? What do you want?¡± Duke played dumb. ¡°We don¡¯t want no more ¡®fected comin inta our village. Go back north where y¡¯all live and be leavin¡¯ us alone.¡± ¡°Fected? What the hell are you talking about?¡± ¡°The half living. The dead that walks. We want no more o¡¯ that ¡®round.¡± ¡°I killed the whole army of the undead. Are you saying that there¡¯s more around here somewhere? When¡¯s the last time you saw any?¡± Looks passed between the three before one finally responded. ¡°month back.¡± Duke chuckled. ¡°Then you can relax. The undead are gone. I¡¯ll be on my way now and be careful who you point that thing at. Point it at the wrong person and you¡¯re in for a world of hurt.¡± The puzzled looks from the three individuals made Duke continue to chuckle. That is, until the trigger on the crossbow was pulled. The bolt was launched at about half the speed it should have, showing the poor maintenance of the weapon. Slow enough, in fact, for Duke¡¯s 1,000 points in Agility to give him the time to grab the bolt out of the air. Duke¡¯s chuckle drew into a broad smile as he handed the bolt back to the man with the crossbow. ¡°You dropped this. Now, I¡¯m going to be on my way into the village.¡± They stared at him, dumbfounded as he passed by, whistling a tune from his past. There was a moment of tension where they considered chasing after him, but even they had enough sense to leave him alone and go back to their ¡°patrol.¡± ¡°Jeffin, did yous sees that? Took th¡¯arrow right out da air.¡± ¡°Shuts up you.¡± The argument faded into the background as Duke entered the village proper. He noted that the road bisected the village and it quickly became clear that the villagers were having some difficulties. An argument was in full force when he arrived at the center of the place. Not that there was much to the village, perhaps 45 buildings in total with the worn fa?ade of the general store being the most prominent and indeed center-stage for the current argument. Duke was thankful that his XENOGLOSSIA had finally gotten through the awful accent, and he could hear them clearly. ¡°But where else can we sell our crops if you won¡¯t take them?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Helms, I don¡¯t have the storage room or the coin to buy all the crops this year. The harvest has just been too good and too quick. The crops shouldn¡¯t have been ready for months!¡± ¡°But they are ready, and we need to replant for the next crops. Can¡¯t you pay us in trade?¡± ¡°What do I have left to trade? You all have bought everything with your bounty, and I¡¯m left with storerooms overflowing with crops that I might not even be able to trade. I have done the best I can for us all, but I am at my limit.¡± Duke decided to step in as he realized that this quite literally was his fault. ¡°I¡¯ll buy the crops.¡± Heads snapped towards him as he approached the crowd. ¡°You¡¯ll buy the crops?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I said. What do you have on offer and what price would you say is fair for such crops out of season?¡± For the next few minutes, Duke was inundated with farmers trying to sell him everything they could as well as the lone merchant in the village. When he was done, he was seven hundred twenty-five gold poorer but had secured the majority of the crops from the entire village in his INVENTORY. That trick had stumped them all but to the farmers, having gold in hand was worth the price of not asking questions. ¡°Pleasure doing business with you all.¡± Duke quickly made his way out of the village noting that even with all the crops he had bought, his INVENTORY still had plenty of open space. With over three hundred thousand cubic meters of space available, the space inside his INVENTORY was immense, only growing as the Ability continued to level up. Duke continued down the road, taking flight once he was out of sight smiling as his travels continued. Book2, Chapter 63 - Did you Piss Yourself? Duke passed several more villages along the way and found similar ¡°problems¡± with excessive harvests until he was over a hundred twenty kilometers away from Cloudspire. He bought up the excess in each village he encountered and was finally happy to have found a roadside Inn that seemed to mark the boundary edge of his AURA of PROSPERITY. He was delighted to see an actual roadside Inn and immediately decided to head inside. As he entered, a stout woman looked up from cleaning a table and offered a greeting. ¡°Good day, traveler. Welcome to the Restful Roost Inn. Have you stopped by for a meal, something to wet your whistle, or a room to break the monotony of the road?¡± ¡°How about a meal and a drink to start?¡± Duke sat at the table she had indicated. In moments she was gone into the kitchen while a middle-aged man came out to greet Duke. ¡°Good day to you, sir. I am Jack Miller and you have already met my wife Emma. Are you an adventurer of some sort?¡± ¡°Odd question, but I¡¯ll bite. Yes, you could call me an adventurer, but what brought you to that conclusion?¡± ¡°Well, you are alone and not a local. Only an adventurer would be either foolish or brave enough to travel the road by themselves. Especially this road.¡± ¡°You make it sound like this road is dangerous.¡± ¡°Aye, it is a mighty dangerous road. With the bandits flowing into the area, we must make sure we have protection well-paid to keep ourselves safe. Figuring out which bandit lord was the one that would come out on top was a bit of doing, let me tell you but it seems we guessed right.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you appeal to the kingdom for aid? Or hire adventures to drive the bandits off?¡± Duke gestured at himself as he spoke. ¡°Let me ask you this. What happens if the king¡¯s men come and drive the bandits out of here for a few weeks and then the bandits come back? What do you think is going to happen to the one who called the king¡¯s men in? Yeah. Same thing for adventurers. Better to accept it as a price for doing business and go on with our lives.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t fault your logic, but it doesn¡¯t seem right at all.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s right or not. It is the way it is. Nobody¡¯s gonna change that anytime soon. But don¡¯t you worry about all that. We¡¯re all paid up here so there¡¯s nothing to worry about. Ah, here¡¯s Emma with your dinner.¡± Duke graciously accepted the bowl of stew and small loaf of bread, thanking Emma as he began to sip his watered-down ale. He placed a handful of silver coins on the table. ¡°We didn¡¯t discuss a price, so please take what is appropriate.¡± Emma took a pair of silver coins and slid the rest of the pile back to Duke. ¡°That is plenty.¡± ¡°Are you sure? It¡¯s not like you are overflowing with guests right now and I can afford to pay more.¡± ¡°Quite sure, young man. Thank you.¡± ¡°Then would you at least join me for the meal? Eating alone is not what I would like right now.¡± Emma nodded to Jack, and he hurried off to the kitchen. She sat down opposite Duke. ¡°So, what¡¯s your name, young man?¡± Jack came back in with two bowls of stew in his hands with bread held against his body in each arm. He placed it all on the table and the couple joined Duke in eating. ¡°My name is Duke. Yes, I know it¡¯s an odd name, not a title. Have you had any interesting guests lately?¡± ¡°Well, we did have a delegation from the Kingdom of Tannish come through here. They stayed for a night. Very nice young men and women. Other than that, only our occasional passers-by and, of course, the bandits like to come here and have a drink or two. But they don¡¯t cause us too much trouble since we pay our tax.¡± The whole prospect of bandits taking over the area was making Duke twitchy. He decided to stay the night at the roadside inn and see if these bandits showed up. He dove back into the conversation with the innkeepers. ¡°So, you came here from the capital. What are they calling it now?¡± ¡°Cloud-something, love.¡± ¡°Cloudspire.¡± Duke corrected. ¡°How is the new king? Is he any better than the old one?¡± ¡°I would say he¡¯s far more interested in the welfare of the people. If he heard about the bandits around here, he would be inclined to come here and wipe them out personally.¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°He¡¯s that concerned about the average citizen? I doubt it very much. Nobles are more likely sit on their arses and collect taxes. Isn¡¯t that right, dear?¡± ¡°I have to agree with Emma. We have had all manner of nobility stroll through the inn over the years and none of them have ever concerned themselves with our situation.¡± ¡°I understand. Most nobility are born into it and have been taught a certain way to act. This king wasn¡¯t born into it. He took the kingdom from Chopie after Chopie went mad and turned on his own people. ¡°Oh, so the new king is prone to violence. That¡¯s not great. He¡¯s going to get us involved in another war, isn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°I hope not but he did get his position through war, so he has to be downright warlike. What do you think, Duke?¡± ¡°I think he¡¯s a man who cares a bit too deeply about his friends and family and will do anything to protect his people. Like I said, he would wipe out every bandit in the area if they threatened his people.¡± ¡°You sound like you know him. Have you met the new king?¡± Jack seemed to be thinking a bit more as he asked his question. Duke decided that he had carried the charade on long enough and let his disguise drop. ¡°Well, of course I know him. I see him in the mirror every morning.¡± As the pair stared at him in shock, he continued. ¡°Now where do these bandits live? I need to have words with their leaders.¡± ¡°They¡­they are in the hills above the road. But they are strong. They¡¯ll kill you.¡± ¡°Not likely. Emma, Jack, you have been great to get to know. I¡¯m going to head out for a while, but I¡¯ll come back when all is settled. In the meantime, allow me to clean up a bit.¡± Duke activated CLEANSE and RESTORE. The results were rapid and remarkable with the color returning to faded paint, wood being restored to its original finish, and even the cutlery returning to its original condition. Duke smiled as he stepped out the door that no longer squeaked when opened. Once outside, he settled atop the inn and activated his DUNGEON SENSE. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on slowly expanding his radius and taking in everything he could see. It took about ten minutes to scan his full six-kilometer radius. He had expected to find the bandit camp, but all he could lock onto was a pair of riders making their way up into the hills. He took to the air to pursue the riders. Soon, he was following them as they meandered up into the hills, surprised that they didn¡¯t notice him at all. Then again, how many people looked up and behind themselves when riding horses up into hills? Their focus was on the path before them. Duke¡¯s focus was on his DUNGEON SIGHT as he scanned the area ahead. It was not long before Duke could see the bandit¡¯s camp. He was quickly able to count 37 bandits in total, including the two who he had stopped following as they approached the camp. Not too many for me to handle, but certainly more than the local villagers could handle. And I¡¯m sure they know it. Do I give them a chance or just call righteous hell down upon them? Duke flipped a coin. It came up heads which he had decided meant that he was going to speak with them first. Shrugging, he set out walking towards the camp, taking a similar route as the two riders had taken. It seemed to be a rather common trail which led Duke to believe that the bandits were well-established in the area ¨C something that did not make him any happier. To the bandit¡¯s credit, he was spotted before he actually made it to the camp. A trio of riders rode out to confront his disguised form. ¡°Who are you and what are you doing here?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve come to speak with your leader.¡± ¡°Saparov don¡¯t speak to nobody ¡®less he wants to speak with them.¡± ¡°Tell Saparov that he can speak to me now or speak to me over your cooling corpses. I¡¯m coming into the camp to speak with him.¡± The short recurve bow that creaked as it was drawn back gave Duke a warning that the trio were making their move. Duke decided to speed things up and TELEPORTED to the center of the camp. ¡°Saparov! Come on out so we can have a talk.¡± A tent flap snapped open as a willowy man unfolded himself to his full height. ¡°Not the smartest move you could have made, stranger.¡± ¡°Saparov, I presume?¡± ¡°I am, and this is my territory. You have exactly ten seconds to say what you have to say before I debone you like a river trout.¡± He slowly drew a long thin curved blade that looked an awful lot like an oversized filleting knife. ¡°This land belongs to King Duke, not you. I suggest you vacate.¡± ¡°The king¡¯s not here.¡± The man¡¯s sneer was Hollywood-classic. ¡°And if he was?¡± ¡°I¡¯d filet him just like everyone else who else who has dared challenge my authority. These are my lands and that is all there is to it. No one dares challenge me here.¡± ¡°I guess my ten seconds are up now. What was it you said you were going to do? Oh, yes, filet my flesh from my bones, right?¡± Saparov made his move, darting his knife in a forward arc that would slash Duke from armpit to elbow. Duke responded by TELEPORTING Saparov¡¯s humerus bone into his left hand, and using it to block the knife strike. A slash which had lost all of its leverage without the bone to anchor the tendons and ligaments. Duke took a step back and dropped his disguise. ¡°But you see, the king IS here!¡± Duke saw the looks of shock that flashed through the bandits at both his appearance and what had happened to Saparov. The bandit was staring at the limp appendage hanging from his shoulder in shock and horror, the knife falling from his hand. Before anyone else could react, Duke blasted out a wave of LIGHTNING around himself, covering the entire camp, arcing to strike every bandit in the camp save one. The arcs of LIGHTING missed every single horse but most panicked and ran off anyway as the thunder rolled out into the hills reverberating and echoing into the distance. The lone remaining bandit stood trembling facing Duke, a dark stain travelling down his leg. ¡°You saw what happened here today. Banditry is a capital offense in this kingdom, but you, alone, have been shown mercy this day. Choose a new path and live a full life. Spread the word so that no one else makes this poor choice.¡± The bandit could only numbly nod. He opened his mouth to speak, but the smell of the charred corpses overwhelmed him, making him fall to his knees vomiting. Duke was gone when he looked back up. Book 2, Chapter 64 - A Change of Plans Duke returned to the Restful Roost in his disguise. When he stepped in, he saw that there were other guests in the inn. As he scanned the room, he noticed that there were about a dozen guests taking up three tables. He also realized that he recognized one set of guests as part of the Tannish delegation. Guess they are heading back to report in, but didn¡¯t Jack already mention that they came through? Long-range communication is really something that this world needs, or maybe it¡¯s something that I can monopolize with my powers? Can I make a communications portal¡¯s anchor point on an object so it could be mobile? That would be awesome, especially if I could make the object able to turn on and off, or maybe open or close. I really need a crafter other than Baslin. He has been so self-absorbed lately ¨C I have no real idea what he is working on and part of me feels that I really don¡¯t want to know. Jack greeted Duke as he headed for an empty table. ¡°Good day¡­sir.¡± Jack had paused in mid-greeting due to Duke¡¯s pointed glare and subtle shake of his head. Thankfully, the man was quick enough on the uptake that he got the message. Duke wondered if that was an aspect of his XENOGLOSSIA manifesting but decided not to worry about it since it worked. Jack continued. ¡°Glad to have you back again. Will you be taking a room this time?¡± ¡°Yes, I think I will. Do you have any free or is there only space left in the common room?¡± ¡°I have one private room left and it¡¯s all yours.¡± ¡°Thank you. It seems that business has picked up for you.¡± ¡°Very much so.¡± Jack leaned down and conspirationally whispered, ¡°They are all tipping rather well, I might add. Is this your doing?¡± ¡°Not directly.¡± Duke whispered back. ¡±It¡¯s a side effect of me being here.¡± ¡°How does that work? No, never mind. I shouldn¡¯t be bothering you about such things. Can I get you anything?¡± ¡°A drink would be great and something snacky to munch on for a bit. Oh, and there is one more piece of news for you.¡± Duke gestured for Jack to lean down so he could whisper in his ear. When the innkeeper did so, Duke continued. ¡°The bandits will not bother you anymore. I left one alive to spread the tale of what happened to the rest. He might have stopped pissing himself by now.¡± Jack looked back at Duke in wonder and a bit of fear. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to thank you.¡± ¡°Bring me that drink. It is my responsibility to take care of such things. You should not have to do anything more than bring it to my attention.¡± Duke enjoyed his time at the inn, away from the real concerns of state and all the other things pressing on him. He checked his notifications to see what the bandits brought him. He didn¡¯t expect much, but every little bit helped. *** You have slain 27 bandits of varying levels including one at a Tier two. You gain 700 experience and have cleared the area of the bandit threat. You gain 5,000 additional experience for executing your duties as a ruler. Well done. *** I¡¯m now getting puns in my messages? At least it¡¯s more positive than the petty shit I got from the other two bitching and arguing all the damned time. But I kind of fucked up here. I was going to plant a dungeon here to replace the inn but there are too many witnesses. I can¡¯t let it be known that the Inn dungeons are connected to me just yet. That and Jack and Emma have their own thing going on here. Best I can do is leave them something to make sure they continue on well. Duke scanned the inn with his DUNGEON SIGHT for a full three minutes before he located what he was looking for under the floorboards of the kitchen. He had found the strongbox where they kept their savings. With a bit of effort, he was able to TELEPORT a full five hundred gold from his INVENTORY right into the strongbox. That will be a nice surprise for them. Duke enjoyed his evening at the inn and went up to his assigned room before leaving a pair of gold coins and a note thanking Emma and Jack for their hospitality. With a thought, he TELEPORTED back to the castle to check in with everyone. Madrigal was in his office and was extremely eager to speak with Duke. ¡°Your Majesty, it is so good to see you. As I¡¯m sure you are aware, today was scheduled to be a petitioner¡¯s day in the court but your absence was the perfect strategic move. No one was able to put forth a petition with the expectation that you would act on it immediately. This caused almost all the petty petitions to be abandoned and we only received the two important ones.¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Duke, intrigued, smiled. ¡°Please continue. What were the important requests?¡± ¡°Firstly, this one is very political and you not being here to provide an immediate answer prevented you from having to choose to support one nation over the other. The Kingdom of Tannish extended their personal and specific invitation to join their king in a deep jungle hunt in one week¡¯s time. I, of course, could not answer for you so the Ansky Empire¡¯s representatives were able to interpret it as you not granting favor over them.¡± ¡°Seriously? THAT is the big deal?¡± ¡°It was a political trap. A most exciting one, and one you avoided expertly. You have grown so much in political acumen. I am beyond amazed. How did you know this was going to happen today?¡± Duke seriously considered lying and saying he knew about it in advance but decided against it. ¡°I hate to shatter your illusion, Madrigal, but It was purely by chance that I wasn¡¯t in court today. I left Cloudspire to attend to some other matters, but I would have otherwise been in court and would have likely accepted the invitation on the spot. I take it that would have cause some issue with Ansky?¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Madrigal responded, crestfallen. ¡°Yes, it would have caused issues. We would have been able to get past them, but yes, it would have caused issues.¡± ¡°And what was the second matter of importance?¡± ¡°There is a credible report of banditry in the south of the kingdom.¡± ¡°Oh? Where in the south?¡± ¡°There is a small village called Ulmstead. It is in the area beyond that village in the hills further to the south that the bandits have set themselves up. They are preying on everyone who passes through the area. The only safe spot is a single roadside inn that they seem to leave alone. The report said that there was a leader amongst the bandits that was setting himself up to be some sort of ruler in the area. I fear that the advance delegation that Tannish sent back to their kingdom will be waylaid by these same bandits. That would look terrible for us.¡± ¡°Yes, that would be a black eye for us for sure. The bandit leader¡¯s name was Saparov and he is quite dead. The people of the area were terrified of the man. Is the person who requested aid still around?¡± ¡°Yes, I had her put up in the Golden Circle Inn in the hopes you could speak with her tomorrow and get enough details to find the bandits with the Legion or something like that before the Tannish contingent arrived in the area.¡± ¡°Good. I would like to speak with her in the morning. Please arrange it. And let the Tannish Emissary know that I will be joining their king on the jungle hunt. They provided the invitation when they first arrived and have repeated it. It has to mean that they really want me to come, right?¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty, it does. But I advise caution as things could happen here while you are away on such an extended journey let alone what could happen to you.¡± ¡°I appreciate the words of caution, but I am sure we will be fine. I only have one other particular matter to take care of before then so we should be fine.¡± ¡°What matter would that be, Your Majesty?¡± ¡°I have to execute Queen Pahst and send her head back to her court.¡± ¡°You WHAT!¡± ¡°Did I stutter? I¡¯m fairly certain I was rather precise in my language there.¡± Duke pretended to review his words in his head for a moment before continuing. ¡°Yep, sure I was clear.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a wildly inadvisable course of action. First you would have to apprehend her, and she is phenomenally well-protected and paranoid. She surrounds herself with very powerful warriors, mages, and other high-tier classes.¡± ¡°Already done. I have her in a cell awaiting judgement. I haven¡¯t checked up on her in a while. I imagine she¡¯s quite hungry, thirsty, pissed off, and rather stinky.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t just execute another monarch. It will cause war. You have no idea what secret alliances she may have secured.¡± ¡°Archduke Ferdinand all over again?¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Sorry, reference you wouldn¡¯t get, but his assassination set off a series of hidden alliances exploding into war. A war that left somewhere around sixteen million people dead in my world.¡± ¡°Sixteen million people died? That¡¯s the population estimate for the entire continent! How populous was your world?¡± ¡°Last estimate was somewhere around eight or nine billion people.¡± Madrigal stared at Duke, stunned. Did he say billion? ¡°It is a completely different world. One where there is essentially no magic but there is technology that allows for greater population density. Our typical farm was less than two square kilometers and could feed about seven thousand people a year. And we had a lot of them and also a number of farms that were mind-bogglingly large. With all the magic here, I am still trying to get a grasp on why there is not a much larger population. Maybe we can change that here. Maybe we can expand the kingdom¡¯s population much more than anywhere else with all the advantages we have here. But that is a conversation for another time.¡± ¡°Um, yes. Let¡¯s get back to the whole ¡®execute your enemy¡¯ thing. It could plunge us into war.¡± ¡°It could, but I think it¡¯s more likely to plunge them into a civil war and that is what Lord Greengold also believes. They are not unified behind Pahst so her death will leave a power vacuum. And nature abhors a vacuum.¡± ¡°Nature what? Vacuum? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Fucking idioms.¡± Duke muttered before continuing. ¡°What I am saying is this. If Pahst dies, the remaining nobles, merchants, military leaders, and other powerful people will see the opportunity to seize power for themselves. That will inevitably lead to them squabbling and then openly fighting amongst themselves. Instant civil war as they fight for the top spot.¡± ¡°I suppose that is possible but why risk it?¡± ¡°Because I am not going to let an attempt on my life go unanswered.¡± ¡°They will kill whatever messenger you send.¡± ¡°We¡¯re working on that. I was sure I mentioned that somewhere in all this. I was going to send Greengold since he requested it but¡­¡± Duke trailed off and grinned broadly as an idea struck him. ¡°I¡¯m going to send the assassin with the message. That will make everything perfectly clear. Thanks for getting me to think of it that way!¡± Duke rushed off to grab Baslin and tell him the new plan and that he didn¡¯t need the communication device just yet. Book 2, Chapter 65 - Special Delivery Duke TELEPORTED into the dungeon cell Pahst was being held in, blinding her as light flooded the completely enclosed cell. She recoiled with a hiss, her arachnidan features starting to show again. The queen was filthy, and Duke reflexively activated CLEANSE to remove the stink of her filth all over the cell. He spoke in a deadpan, factual tone. ¡°You sent an assassin to kill me. She failed. Miserably. Your venom was too weak to harm me.¡± ¡°Impossible! My venom is the strongest in all the lands!¡± She began to advance on him. Not rushing like when he placed her in the cell, but still moving in his direction. She stopped when Duke flashed an arc of LIGHTNING in her path, further blinding and dazing her. ¡°Regardless. You made your play, and I will give you credit that it was indeed an audacious one. But ultimately, you failed and that is your end. Time to accept the consequences of your actions.¡± Duke focused the full force of his Master-ranked TELEPORTATION, reinforcing it with a massive OVERCHANNELING. Still, he encountered stiff resistance that required him to focus for several seconds of struggle. The pressure mounted in his head, becoming a full-blown spike of pain lancing through his skull. Pahst screamed in rage and frustration as she could feel him crushing her defenses. She stumbled backwards, falling to a knee as pain gripped her features mumbling some sort of invocation. She clutched her head intensely as the pressure and pain mounted but Duke did not relent. Harder and harder, he pressed against her defenses until finally, they popped like a balloon, folding away from him in a flash. His Ability struck her in an instant and her hands slammed together over her neck before falling limply with the rest of her body to the floor. Her head had appeared in the open box Duke had prepared for just this occasion. The look of shock and horror on her face was frozen in place as the last of her lifeblood emptied into the silken pillow her head rested upon. ¡°Game over, bitch. Now to set up the delivery.¡± He activated CLEANSE to clean up all the blood and then closed up the box. ¡°Hey, Sam, can you do anything with this corpse?¡± Sam appeared grinning like an idiot. ¡°Oh, you bet I can! This thing is going to make for a great boss-monster.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need the head, right?¡± ¡°No, the body is plenty. Thanks!¡± ¡°Knock yourself out. I have to go set up a delivery.¡± Duke took his box and arrived in the king¡¯s office which he had only visited once before. Using it more would require him sitting down for an extended period which just didn¡¯t normally suit him. Still, this time he sat down to author a letter. One look at the quill and inkwell had him shaking his head. Five minutes of smudges, scratches, and other writing disasters including a spilled inkwell had him back in the Inn and creating a single item with his DUNGEON MANIPULATION. When he returned to his office, he was glad to see that it fit under his allowable amount to take from a dungeon. He activated a CLEANSE to clean up the spilled inkwell that had been the last straw for him. Duke sat back down at his desk, pulled out a piece of parchment and began to write the note with his bright, shiny, new ballpoint pen. The grin on his face when he completed it told the entire tale. He opened a Portal back to the Inn and got Sam¡¯s attention. ¡°Hey Sam, include these in loot drops, will ya?¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Sam looked confused as he accepted the pen from Duke. ¡°Step one. That¡¯s what it is. And include some paper, parchment, or whatever it¡¯s called around here. Literacy needs to be a thing in the kingdom.¡± ¡°Whatever you say. This shouldn¡¯t be hard to do. It¡¯s not that complex a machine.¡± ¡°No, but it will revolutionize writing in the whole world. Now that I think about it, have it all come from Havenreach¡¯s dungeon. Thanks.¡± Duke closed the Portal and opened up another one, no longer even noticing how casually he had started using them. ¡°Hello, love. Are you free for something?¡± ¡°Certainly.¡± She stepped through the expanded Portal and met Duke in his office. ¡°What do you need, Duke?¡± ¡°I need the assassin.¡± ¡°Oh, is that all? She is being held in the secure facility. It will take some work to get to her and get her here.¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Is she bound so she can¡¯t move?¡± ¡°Well, yes. But it will take some time to extract her.¡± ¡°Nah. I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± Duke reached out with his CLAIRVOYANCE and focused on the secure facility. It took him a few minutes to isolate the assassin. She was indeed bound hand and foot. Duke deemed her secure enough to move and TELEPORTED her to his office. The gasp as she fell to the floor surprised Aurelia who drew her sword in response. Duke, on the other hand, seemed relatively unconcerned with her presence. He aggressively rolled the groaning prisoner onto her stomach and gestured for Aurelia to come over. ¡°I¡¯m going to remove the bonds on her legs for a bit. Make sure she doesn¡¯t go anywhere.¡± Aurelia looked at him. ¡°What are you doing, Duke?¡± ¡°Oh, trust me, she¡¯s going to get what she deserves.¡± ¡°If you were just going to execute her, why all this elaborate set-up?¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not what I have in mind. Now, hold her down.¡± Aurelia planted her knee in the whimpering woman¡¯s lower back and took hold of her legs above her ankles so she wouldn¡¯t be in the way of the bindings. Duke stepped up behind the assassin and removed the bonds from her legs. She tensed, struggling to get free but Aurelia held her fast. Duke reached down and slowly spread the woman¡¯s legs apart. ¡°What are you doing, Duke?¡± ¡°What must be done. Don¡¯t worry. Everything will be fine when I am done.¡± He proceeded to pull the woman¡¯s legs apart to shoulder width, his strength far exceeding her increasingly panicked struggles. He then pulled an iron bar out of his INVENTORY and slid it beneath her legs just above her ankles. ¡°OK, hold her in that position until I am done.¡± ¡°Duke¡­¡± ¡°Just do it.¡± Aurelia held the woman¡¯s legs in position as Duke bent the iron bar around her legs, trapping them in place. ¡°Perfect. Let¡¯s roll her over now.¡± She helped him roll her over, giving Duke a clear ¡°What the hell¡± look. Duke acted faster this time and before she could even protest, the assassin had her arms bound in a strange position. Her arms were bound to her sides with the forearms extended in front of her. Duke pulled her to her feet and activated a CLEANSE to clean them all up. ¡°There. Almost ready.¡± ¡°What¡¯s almost ready? What are you doing to me?¡± ¡°Ah, she speaks again. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not going to hurt you. In fact, I am returning you home to the Kingdom of Pahst.¡± ¡°What?¡± Both women responded. ¡°Here, hold this.¡± Duke placed a beautifully-decorated box into the assassin¡¯s hands. She had little choice but to hold it as her hands and arms were locked into that position. There was a note pinned to the top of the box and Duke was grinning as he stepped back. ¡°You ready for this?¡± ¡°What exactly am I supposed to be ready for?¡± Aurelia asked, irritation rising in her voice. ¡°What are you doing to me?¡± The question was a mix of panic and anger. ¡°I am sending you home, little miss stabby, stabby.¡± Wigh a gesture, he TELEPORTED the assassin to Pahst¡¯s throne room. *** Elsewhere *** The gathering of nobles, generals, advisors, and other important personages of the Court of the Kingdom of Pahst was complete within the throne room. There was, however, one person missing from the gathering ¨C the queen herself. Her absence was causing tensions to elevate in the room and beyond. At the best of times, this group was fractious. Without her keeping them all reigned-in, petty arguments over the placement of chairs and whose retainers were allowed to attend were threatening to boil over into actual conflict. Finally, there was movement at the throne and all eyes turned in that direction anticipating their queen to step out of her chambers and address them. Instead, a woman unknown to most of the court, appeared before the throne, bound in iron and holding a fancy box. A gasp of surprise erupted throughout the room as the unexpected appearance of this woman shocked most. Few noticed the whispered recognition of ¡°Pedroia. What happened?¡± She did not respond, stunned into inaction by the sudden change of scenery. Her eyes were wide and full of panic, but she was so tightly bound that she could not move. ¡°There¡¯s a box and a note.¡± One of the closest courtiers noted out loud. ¡°What does the note say?¡± ¡°What¡¯s in the box?¡± ¡°Who is she?¡± ¡°Where is the Queen?¡± A portly noble stepped forward and unpinned the note. He opened it and loudly cleared his throat. The room quieted down allowing him to read it. With a quick adjustment of his clothes to get his best appearance now that he was the center of attention, he read the note out loud. ¡°The woman before you is an assassin sent by Queen Pahst. Her mission was to assassinate me. She failed.¡± Gasps and murmurs began before the noble loudly declared, ¡°There¡¯s more.¡± When the room quieted down again, he continued reading. ¡°This would normally be considered at a minimum an act of war, but I will not plunge our two nations into war over the actions of a single individual. Queen Pahst sent this assassin; therefore she alone bears the weight of her failure. Enjoy the contents of this box with my compliments. Sincerely, King Duke. Oh, and if you really do consider starting a war, know that I will spare no one in this room. I know who each and every one of you are.¡± Another noble rushed forward and took the box from Pedroia¡¯s hands and tore it open. His clumsy handling caused the contents to spill out. In a flow of fine pink silk, the queen¡¯s head bounced onto the floor. The look of shock and horror that was frozen on her face was instantly mirrored by many who saw the head bounce. The frail, sycophantic advisor whose feet the head wound up resting against simply fainted. Others uttered oaths of shock and fear. ¡°This heinous crime must be answered! We go to war!¡± The general of Pahst¡¯s armies declared. ¡°You want your head in the next box?¡± ¡°How did this happen?¡± ¡°Where are her guards?¡± A number of eyes focused on Pahst¡¯s warlord who also had control of her guards. ¡°What say you, Duke Ebonblade? Where are the queen¡¯s guards?¡± ¡°Likely fleeing for their lives for I will not allow this failure to pass unanswered. And this upstart must be destroyed!¡± He turned and strode out of the room, his black cloak flowing dramatically behind him. Book 2, Chapter 66 - Bright Lights, Big City Duke ended his CLAIRVOYANCE view of the court as the remaining courtiers broke down into arguments just as had been predicted. That warlord just might be a problem. He looked up to see Aurelia fuming. Oh shit. ¡°You have some things to answer for. Right now.¡± ¡°Go ahead, love. Tell me that I had no right to make that choice. Tell me that I needed to talk to everyone else before I made any decisions and that we all should have decided it together.¡± She stared at him, stunned. ¡°You can¡¯t just make decisions that affect the entire kingdom on your own like that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what being a king is about. It¡¯s about making the hard decisions and taking the heat for it. Remember, I never wanted to be king. It just happened but I¡¯m going to do the best I fucking can while I still have the job. They attacked me. I returned the favor. If they come for me again, I¡¯m going to tear them to pieces, but I can tell you right now, most of them are running scared. There¡¯s one that I might have to deal with, but it¡¯s better than trying some diplomatic bullshit and letting them have another go at it!¡± Tears welled in her eyes as she rushed out of the room. He considered chasing after her but decided that he was in no mood to make anything better. Anger boiled in his veins and he knew he didn¡¯t have a hold on it. She¡¯ll process it and then we will talk. Or we won¡¯t and I just ended things. Fuck, I don¡¯t know. Goddammit! I didn¡¯t understand women back in my own world. Here? Who the fuck knows? Duke felt his frustration and anger boiling over. His hands clenched, knuckles turning white as their cracking echoed through the halls like gunshots. With a flex of his will, he vanished, appearing several thousand kilometers away. Nowhere in particular, just away from everyone. Not the most responsible or adult decision, but I need to fight something right now and destroying my own kingdom or a potential ally¡¯s would be even stupider. Looking around himself, Duke saw he was in an area unlike any other he had seen in this world so far. He stood within a stone circle atop a broad plateau. The stones of the circle were all at least six meters in diameter but appeared to have been even taller but had worn down over countless ages. If there had been any carvings upon the stones, they were long gone. Beyond the plateau, jagged spires of shattered mountains clawed upwards towards the sky. A sky that filled with dark, roiling clouds stretching to the horizon all around Duke. Lightning flashed within the clouds and occasionally a bolt lanced down to strike a spire, shattering stone and sending it tumbling downwards. Duke could feel the power of this place and grinned. He was sure there would be something around here to fight. Of course, he had no idea where he was but that didn¡¯t matter to him right now. He grinned aggressively as he rose into the air, surrounding himself in an aura of his own LIGHTNING, hoping it would attract attention. It did. In a matter of seconds, he was struck by a bolt of lightning at least as strong as his normal bolts. It overcharged his aura so significantly, that he was scorched by the overflow. A feral grin stretched across his features as he activated an Ability he had not used very often since acquiring itbut felt was appropriate in this case. MANA DRAIN washed over him, slowly draining the overflow of Mana and replenishing his own pool. To his surprise, it did not absorb all the excess energy from the lightning bolt that had struck him, leading him to believe it was not all Mana. Intrigued, he flew upwards into the clouds seeking something to fight in the elemental storm above. Breaking through the low cloud layer, Duke paused in his flight at seeing an alabaster city floating in the air far above him. The clouds had completely parted into a wide sphere around the city. There was also a bubble of energy surrounding the enormous city. This bubble was nearly constantly being assaulted by bolts of lightning and other forms of energy. As he watched, he was able to discern tiny dots flying outside the bubble that were the source of the attacks. He continued his rise. The enormity of the city became even more apparent as he rose. It filled the entirety of his vision with spires descending from its base as well as towering into the distance above. Guess they don¡¯t land very often. As he rose, getting within a few kilometers of the city, a group of attackers broke off from their assault on the city and headed his way. As they approached, Duke could see that they were enormous birds of some sort. Their outstretched wings showed off their blue and golden plumage which seemed to carry an electric charge as arcs of lightning travelled up and down their wings in mesmerizing patterns. He was still admiring them as the first bolt of lightning flashed his way accompanied by an awful screech. Duke tried to dodge the bolt but was surprised by how fast it travelled. He was sure that his LIGHTNING did not travel nearly as fast. The bolt washed over him, blending into his aura and overwhelming it to the tune of nearly 40,000 damage. Duke rocketed upwards to throw the aim of the other birds off and slammed fist-first into the lead descending bird, striking it in the lower part of its beak. The bird¡¯s beak slammed shut with an audible crack, sending it reeling away dazed. Wanna play? Oh, let¡¯s play birdie. The rest of the small flock of birds closed in around Duke. Lightning flashed between them faster and faster. Duke could see that they were building up some sort of group attack, so he decided to not be there when it landed. He TELEPORTED a few hundred meters above them. The flash of lightning the dozen birds produced was brilliant and powerful. It flashed through the area Duke had occupied in a bolt as large as his torso. OK, don¡¯t let them gang up on you. That looks like it would have hurt! Duke continued to fly some distance away from the group of birds who had started to lazily circle around the spot Duke had been, not noticing that he had moved out of the way. He considered engaging them again. They seem to be rather tough ¨C might be worth good experience. Maybe I should blitz them with something other than LIGHTNING. Yeah¡­ICE. That should work out nicely. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Duke turned to orient himself on a strafing run and planned his attack. As he OVERCHANNELED his ICE, he felt it start to build up on his arms, the air temperature around him plunging into frigidity. With a burst of speed, he launched himself downwards towards the circling birds. He planned to strafe as many of them as he could as he flashed by. When he reached them, he unleashed the power of his ICE in a series of dozens of smooth and sharp spears of blue ice. The first spears struck, shattering against the birds¡¯ electrified feathers and not penetrating through. Frost did burst outwards and coat their wings and bodies causing their electrical charges to discharge in balls of electricity that slowly wafted away from them. As Duke pulled up from his dive several hundred meters below, he had to quickly dodge to the side as the iced-over birds succumbed to gravity and plunged past him. Well, shit. That worked even better than I had expected. The squawks of rage that followed from the remaining birds in this small flock reverberated through Duke¡¯s body. They dove for him, spewing lightning as they charged. Duke was tempted to meet them head-on but decided that was probably not the wisest move. Once again, he TELEPORTED above the descending flock and pelted them with ICE. Feathers coated with ICE, the birds struggled to stay airborne. Duke continued to pour on the ICE until they all plummeted towards the ground, wings frozen in place and unable to sustain flight. Grinning at his victory, he followed the birds as they passed through the base of the cloud and ultimately when they slammed into the ground. The ICE shattered upon impact along with the birds¡¯ wings, crippling them entirely. Duke quickly moved to finish them off, crushing skulls and ending their misery. *** You have slain 11 Tier Two Thunderbeaks of varying levels between 52 and 94. You receive 1,100 experience. *** Duke shrugged. The experience was not spectacular as he still needed over 50,000 before he could level, but the fight wasn¡¯t exactly difficult either. His REGENERATION had long since healed the damage he had taken, and his Mana was nearly topped off again. For something that cost me almost no resources, I think I could do that another fifty times even if their combined attack looked a bit nasty. But do I want to grind my way along? Nah. Let¡¯s see if there is a stronger challenge closer to the city. At least I don¡¯t have a full mad-on anymore. His mind made up; he flew back through the cloud layer towards the city. There were still countless flashes of energy striking the bubble around the city, but it seemed completely unaffected. Duke angled his flight away from the city so he could get higher before encountering any other creatures. He quickly passed the level the birds had come from. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands more of the birds flocking around the city and attacking. They ignored him this time as he rose past them. Next, he came upon a swarm of human-sized insects firing their own lightning strikes at the city. He shuddered in revulsion and kept his distance from the insects as he continued his ascent. The next layer of creatures, and layer seemed the most apt description to him, consisted of demonic-appearing, winged beings that stood around less than one meter tall. They, too, were attacking the city with lightning. Out of curiosity, he IDENTIFIED one of the creatures. *** You have encountered a Lightning Imp. This is a demonic creature. Tier: 3 Level: 124 Health: 316,250 Mana: 449,625 Special Abilities: Lightning Attack, Immunity to Lightning Weaknesses: None detected *** Duke paused as he read the information on the creature. It was a Tier 3 creature, and he was sure he could take it minimal effort, but there were thousands of them swarming and he was certain that he couldn¡¯t take that many at once. But it might be fun to try. To get started, he TELEPORTED one of the imps to himself. It screeched in surprise and looked him dead in the eye and asked, ¡°You have a death-wish, mortal?¡± ¡°No, but this was unexpected.¡± ¡°Just because you killed a couple of mindless birds doesn¡¯t make you an all-time badass that can take on an imp. Go home. You¡¯re not worth my time.¡± Duke stared at the imp for a moment of incredulity before responding. ¡°All I was looking for was to grind some experience but just killing intelligent foes for no other reason doesn¡¯t seem right. Damn.¡± ¡°You want to fight something, go mess with the dragon at the top. She¡¯ll melt your bones before you can think twice.¡± ¡°Sounds like a bad idea. Why are you all attacking this city?¡± The imp looked at Duke, its black, pupilless eyes focusing on him. ¡°It¡¯s a flying city. Duh. Now go away, or I¡¯ll call my brothers over to give you a lesson.¡± ¡°Oh, please do. Call them.¡± Duke offered his most feral grin. The imp looked at Duke quizzically. ¡°You really want me to call them over, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I came here looking for a fight. Something that would challenge me. The birds were not enough.¡± Duke shook his head. ¡°But killing intelligent beings like yourself isn¡¯t something I just go around doing without a reason. Even if they are a bit full of themselves.¡± ¡°Who you calling full of themselves?¡± ¡°If the shoe fits¡­¡± ¡°What the hells does that mean?¡± ¡°Fucking idioms. Never mind.¡± ¡°Um, yeah. If you want to go fight mindless things, go back down to the mesa and enter the lair down there.¡± ¡°Perhaps I will.¡± ¡°Good call, mortal. Now, I have to get back to my job. We are going to break through that shield eventually but if I slack too long, the dragon is gonna eat me for a snack.¡± The imp flew back towards the city and joined his brethren in attacking. Duke stared back at the city and the constant pointless barrage. He shook his head, his mood broken. He TELEPORTED back to the castle, noting the city¡¯s location in his mind as it seemed like someplace worth investigating when he had more time. Time¡­that is what I never seem to have enough of. I still have nine dungeon seeds to plant and I¡¯m sitting here dealing with kingdom shit, my girl is pissed off at me, I have no clue what half my people are up to, and my progression has slowed right down to a crawl. I haven¡¯t even looked at most of my notifications. Hell, I didn¡¯t even notice when my Diplomacy ranked up to Practiced. Time to sit down and put together a real plan. But for that, I need some more information. Duke TELEPORTED to his room at the Inn and decided to make a few alterations. He expanded the area, adding several rooms including a living room, office, and a large exercise area. When he was done, he sat behind his new desk in his ridiculously comfortable chair and just relaxed for a moment, looking around at pictures of his past life that he had placed on the walls. From the side, a picture of Coltrane saluted him, and he smiled. A taste of home was refreshing and lent him the energy to build out a plan. Hours later, he had run through all the possibilities he could think of without knowing more about what was coming. And that was the piece that was constantly churning in the back of his mind. He only had hints and intimations on what it would actually be so he couldn¡¯t truly act on it. When he looked up again, the seat opposite him was occupied with the Overmind¡¯s avatar again. ¡°You seem to be troubled, Duke. Let¡¯s talk.¡± Book 2, Chapter 67 - We need to Talk Duke sat a bit straighter as the being that actually had answers to some of his pressing questions sat before him. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s talk. I have so many things going on and so many questions that I¡¯m thoroughly distracted and unable to focus.¡± ¡°Fair enough. It doesn¡¯t help either of us for you to be so distracted, so I¡¯ll do what I can to help. What is the biggest concern with which you are wrestling?¡± ¡°I am missing a timeline or even context for whenever this ¡®Contest¡¯ that I am being groomed for will occur. Without that, I am making decisions based on guesses and hopes.¡± ¡°I see. I have told you before that I cannot give you specifics on the Contest.¡± He appeared to mull the question over before continuing. ¡°I can tell you this: At your current pace of development, you are not going to be ready in time. You need to step up your advancement and significantly step up your planting of dungeon cores. I understand the desire to find ideal locations for planting the cores you have planted so far. And don¡¯t misunderstand me, ideal placement of dungeon cores is something very close to my heart, but you need to move faster. Even if it means you have cores planted out in the middle of nowhere, they will grow. Their growth will be slower than at an ideal location, but they will still grow.¡± ¡°But won¡¯t they be vulnerable? What if some monster comes along and destroys the dungeon? That¡¯s a big hit to my power.¡± ¡°If you plant one hundred and twenty are destroyed, you are still ahead in the power department. I hinted at this previously, but I guess I¡¯ll have to come out and say it ¨C if you plant enough dungeons, the title will upgrade, and you will have even more upside versus downside from the dungeons.¡± Duke nodded. ¡°So is one hundred the target I should be shooting for?¡± ¡°Not remotely. That¡¯s just a starting point. Right now, this is the only dungeon you have that is budding. Soon some of your other dungeons will start budding. I am infusing as much dungeon essence into this world as I dare without alerting any other entities. You need to use it while you still can.¡± ¡°OK, got it. Plant as many dungeons as fast as I can for the foreseeable future.¡± ¡°Something like that.¡± ¡°I know you can¡¯t tell me specifics, but how tight is the timeline? Do I have days? Months? Years?¡± ¡°I am not permitted to give you that specific information especially since it is not a definite date.¡± He paused again and lit up when a thought occurred to him. ¡°I can tell you this. There are specific things that have to happen before the Contest is started. In order to have a proper Contest, all the Contestant slots need to be filled. That has not happened yet. Contestants need to meet a minimum criteria to be selected. You have already met the minimum criteria. BUT someone at the minimum criteria will be hopelessly unprepared for those who were selected earlier and have continued to grow in power. Does that help you understand what is coming? It¡¯s the best I can do for you in that respect.¡± ¡°And I suppose you can¡¯t just hand me things to advance myself?¡± ¡°You are starting to grasp the way things work. I can influence you, set you on the right path, and even provide some minor resources from time to time, but your ultimate growth and readiness is up to you. Can you complete the Thirsty Scorpion Inn¡¯s trial by yourself?¡± ¡°I might be able to if I used my DUNGEON MANIPULATION but without it, probably not at this point.¡± ¡°Use that as your minimum requirement. Bring your friends and allies along to help you complete it as you will gain significant power from its completion. It is a special dungeon and a rather rare type. Plant all the cores you have now and then use the resources at hand to grow ¨C specifically that dungeon and any others that may help.¡± ¡±I noticed that you¡¯re not trying to get me to ditch everyone else anymore.¡± ¡°You are who you are. I¡¯m not going to get you to drop everyone you care about so why waste energy on something that is not productive for either of us?¡± ¡°Rather pragmatic of you.¡± ¡°I am pragmatic. I selected and stole you because you fit my idea of what I want in a Contestant. You have already planted six dungeons on a world that was for all intents and purposes devoid of dungeons. That alone tells me that you are the right candidate for me. But I will say it yet again ¨C you are woefully underprepared for what is to come.¡± ¡°I get it. I really do.¡± ¡°You are worried about this kingdom of yours and its people. It is ostensibly a noble mindset, but it is not helping your growth much. You dealt with the enemy queen rather brutally and efficiently. You may need to be equally efficient and even more brutal if you wish to hold onto this kingdom. Remember, I am not the only entity that knows you are on this world. The twin entities are still out there and they are hopping mad. They are jealous and petty. What do you think they might do?¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°They will probably try to take everything away from me.¡± The Overmind did not respond but the gleam in his eye told Duke that he had hit upon the answer. ¡°So I had better prepare for that too.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about. My time here is drawing to an end for now. Remember what we discussed and keep your Legion training in the dungeon. It really accelerates the growth of the dungeon.¡± Duke could tell from the look the Overmind gave him there was more to the statement but also a warning not to talk about it. ¡°Thanks for the tip.¡± ¡°You are quite welcome. Until next time.¡± The Overmind¡¯s avatar vanished, leaving Duke alone with his thoughts. Duke put everything aside and went back to the first item on his plan and set to execute it. Step one was to retrieve the map that Baslin had given him so long ago. In as many minutes, he had targeted nine places to plant dungeons. He quickly departed for the first. After TELEPORTING, Duke stood alongside a lonely road in a hilly area. There were scattered trees around, but the area was mostly overgrown grass and shrubs. Duke planted his next dungeon. He smiled as it took shape before him. The interplay of branches and timbers holding up the thatched roof reminded Duke of an enormous bird¡¯s nest. When the sign finally formed, signifying the completion of the transformation, Duke couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the name. He stepped inside. He was greeted as usual by the inn¡¯s minotaur keeper. This one had brown fur so dark, it was nearly black. ¡°Greetings and welcome to the Golden Griffon Inn. I am Carl and I am very happy to see you. Things were getting awfully stale sitting in that bag of yours.¡± ¡°Sorry about that. I¡¯ve been a bit distracted and haven¡¯t gotten things done nearly as fast as I should have. Speaking of which, I have to move on to planting the other cores. Will you be alright by yourself?¡± ¡°Of course. Go give my brothers and sisters a new home.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the plan.¡± Duke waved and TELEPORTED to the next location. This one was another mountainous area with a complex cave system. Duke was taking a risk with this one but if the gamble paid off, it would pay off big from a dungeon growth standpoint. With a wary smile, Duke planted the next core and stepped back to wait for it to grow. Soon, an inn unlike any other he had planted stood before him. It had the appearance of being poorly constructed and maintained but Duke could see that the appearance was deceptive. Shadows hid the structural supports of the inn, only allowing the fa?ade of faded and broken timbers. When the sign sprouted out, Duke hoped it was indeed a sign of things to come in the inn. He headed inside. Duke had to do a double-take when he entered. All the furniture was decidedly built for someone at most half his size and there was a stage set up along one wall of the inn. When he saw the normal-sized (for a minotaur) innkeeper come out to greet him, Duke shook his head in confusion. ¡°Hello, Duke. Welcome to the Dancing Goblin Inn. I am Shemer and you seem confused.¡± ¡°This is not what I expected. At all.¡± ¡°This is built for our expected clientele. You knew that this area was filled with goblins when you decided to set me up here. Speaking of which, you should head out ¨C you¡¯re scaring my customers away.¡± Duke just shook his head. ¡°Goodbye Shemer. I hope things go well for you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. They¡¯re going to love this place.¡± Duke left and returned to the Lake Front Inn for a break before heading back out again. He headed down to the common room for a snack. Even though he could create any snack he wanted by himself with his DUNGEON MANIPULATION, he still enjoyed the interaction with others. Calen waved him over to the bar. ¡°How are you, Duke? It¡¯s been a bit since we talked.¡± ¡°It has been a bit, hasn¡¯t it? Hmm. Well, things could be going better but they also could be much worse. Aurelia is pissed off at me for something I did but I¡¯m not entirely sure what it specifically was that set her off.¡± ¡°You had better talk to her about it then. Letting it sit and fester will only make things worse for both of you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, of course, but I just have so much to do right now.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t take time for the ones you love, do you really love them?¡± ¡°Ouch. Truth bombs hurt.¡± ¡°You had best get going then, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re right.¡± Duke spent the next hour planting the remaining seven cores. He didn¡¯t even set foot inside the inns that sprouted up, but he did take note of their names. He had another idea for that. Instead, he went looking for Aurelia. When he did find her, she was in her rooms in the castle. As he knocked on the door, he realized that he had never actually set foot in this area of the castle and wondered if this was the section where his rooms were. ¡°Come in.¡± Aurelia¡¯s voice sounded exhausted, but Duke was glad to open the door and see her. She was resting on a divan and looked up at Duke with an expression of dread that chilled his bones. ¡°So, we¡¯re going to talk now.¡± ¡°I think we need to.¡± ¡°We do. Come sit with me.¡± She shifted to give him room and he joined her. She didn¡¯t give him a chance to speak before she started. ¡°You scared me. I don¡¯t mean a jump-scare. You did something that was ruthless, cruel, and without remorse. Intellectually, I understand that you were sending a message to an enemy, but emotionally, how you approached it¡­that chilled me to the core. I was afraid that you were no longer the person I fell in love with. That you were not you anymore, especially when it looked like you were preparing for an unspeakable act.¡± ¡°Yes, what I did was ruthless, but I would argue that it was necessary. I had to send a strong message to Pahst¡¯s court that there are consequences for sending an assassin after me. I¡¯ sorry that it frightened you. I needed someone strong that I could trust absolutely with me for that. I don¡¯t have anyone I trust more than you in this entire world. Would it have helped if I told you what I was planning beforehand?¡± ¡°Maybe. But next time you are going to do something like that, leave me out of it. I understand, but that was too close to the line for me. I am a soldier. I have no problem killing enemies on the battlefield but torture or things along those lines are not for me.¡± ¡°I hope there won¡¯t be a next time, but I can¡¯t promise that. If there is a next time, I¡¯ll keep you out of it.¡± ¡°I know you can¡¯t promise what the future will hold but I appreciate that.¡± She leaned over to him in a side-hug. ¡°Are we good?¡± ¡°Shut up and kiss me. Make the bad all go away.¡± Duke did just that and let the rest of the day slip into bliss. Book 2, Chapter 68 - Money for Nothing Aurealia rolled over onto Duke the following morning. ¡°You feel better about things now?¡± ¡°I feel great. What about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m back to myself again. Do you have plans for the day?¡± She smiled at him with the smile that never stopped melting his heart. ¡°I don¡¯t have plans specifically but there are two paths that this day can take for me. One is to gather the team together to take on a rather difficult dungeon and the other is to visit all the new dungeon inns that I haven¡¯t yet had time to visit. Either path appeal to you?¡± ¡°Tell me about this super-dungeon.¡± ¡°It¡¯s what¡¯s called a siege dungeon where you are attacked by increasingly larger groups of incrementally higher-level attackers. It has 50 waves in total. I didn¡¯t make it past somewhere around wave 20. I¡¯m going to need some help to complete it. But the experience from the dungeon is unbelievable.¡± ¡°That sounds promising and dangerous at the same time. I assume we can quit after a wave completes?¡± ¡°Exactly. If it starts to get too hard for the team, we bug out at the end of the level.¡± ¡°That sounds like it could be fun. What was the other choice? Visiting other Inns like the LFD?¡± ¡°Yeah. I planted the dungeon cores for a bunch yesterday, but there are seven that I haven¡¯t even set foot in yet. At some point, I have to visit them and at least meet the innkeepers. Getting a call from one of them for help and not even knowing which one it is would be an annoying problem.¡± ¡°Have you gotten a call for help from any of the Inns?¡± ¡°Not yet, but it is only a matter of time before something happens.¡± ¡°Then maybe we should prioritize that trip?¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather get the band back together and take on the dungeon.¡± Duke confessed. ¡°You and your idioms¡­But do you think Elaine and Grat will want to come?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think they will want to leave their kid behind for what might amount to a month or two.¡± ¡°You really think it will take that long to do the dungeon? That would be a strain on all of us for sure. The Legion is growing and mostly back in dungeon training but I don¡¯t think it would be wise for me to be away for that long.¡± ¡°No, it will likely only take a day for us, but Havenreach runs twenty-four times faster than we do. One day here is twenty-four there.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t realize it was so different. They are going to grow so far apart from us living there.¡± ¡°Yes, but that is their choice and I¡¯ll not rob them of that happiness.¡± ¡°Then who will we gather for the dungeon run?¡± ¡°You, me, Baslin, and I don¡¯t know beyond that.¡± ¡°We should bring Eihlen. Her healing Abilities would be good to have on hand for such a dungeon run. What about some of your Leviathan friends?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Go see if Eihlen wants in and I¡¯ll go check in on my Leviathan friends. Ask, don¡¯t order.¡± Duke clarified, getting a ¡°well, duh¡± stare back from Aurelia. *** Duke arrived in Havenreach via the established portal. He could have TELEPORTED directly in, but wanted to make it a habit to use the portal since he went to all the effort to establish it. Travelling through the Trading Center and then the Hall of Possibilities was still an experience and reminded him of the potential booming trade that should be happening soon. The guards greeted him as he entered the new gateway building. Duke found it remarkably well-defended with murder holes, portcullises and numerous hidden traps that his DUNGEON SENSE picked up on. There was even a full barracks established alongside the gateway building. The other thing that struck him was the quality of the construction ¨C it was remarkable. The seams between the stones were hard to find without close inspection and the entire place was beautifully carved depicting caravans and similar scenes of trade and tradesmen. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Greetings Your Majesty. Welcome back to Havenreach. I trust your journey was without issue?¡± ¡°Yes, very much so. Then again, this passage should be very secure at least for the short-term. Eventually, we may allow others to come to the city, but I doubt that is coming anytime soon. Anything I should know about the city before I head down there?¡± ¡°Nothing critical, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Very well. Carry on, then.¡± Duke exited the gateway building and was astonished by what he saw. Havenreach had grown in size and splendor. Great spires rose from the alabaster city which gave Duke an instant flashback to the flying city he had just encountered. The construction was similar in style and set Duke¡¯s mind to churning. He set down the road, eager to see what had changed in the city. When he entered the city gates, he saw that all the metallic components of the gates had been gilded, and that styling continued into the city. It had grown into a spectacle of beauty and grand architecture. The resources spent to make the city so must have been immense. Duke decided to take a detour to the mayor¡¯s office as well in this visit. He needed to find Axis, Gefolich, and Jablach if they were still in the city, but not visiting the mayor would be a political faux-pas that even he recognized. Duke started towards the City Hall, looking around and suddenly realized that the mayor would likely know if these powerful figures were in the city causing him to step up his pace. The opulence of the city as he passed through amazed Duke. I know I told him to improve the city with the excess taxes, but how much excess tax has there been? Duke was quickly allowed entry into the mayor¡¯s office. ¡°Good to see you again, Your Majesty. What can this humble mayor do for you?¡± ¡°First off, I have to say that I¡¯m impressed with how much you have spent on making the city something special. Care to fill me in on your efforts?¡± ¡°Oh, yes. I would be very glad to.¡± The mayor¡¯s voice rang with excitement at the prospect, and he jumped right into it. ¡°The excess we are receiving from the dungeon has been, well, excessive. We¡¯ve had to raise the dungeon tax rate to 85% as more and more wealth keeps pouring out of it. We are receiving fifteen to thirty thousand gold on a slow day from the dungeon. But the most amazing thing was when the exchange market was set up near the dungeon. All manner of interesting crafting materials became available then and it served to siphon off a lot of the excess gold floating around in the hands of our citizens. It allowed us to spend so much of our excess to beautify Havenreach while providing resources for our learning crafters, mages, and artisans. We now boast several of the most talented crafters I have ever seen. The quality of goods coming out of our fair city is mind-boggling. I love it! And adventurers? Well, we now have dozens of tier two and even a few tier three actively running the dungeon. Can you believe it? No one has completed the dungeon yet, but I¡¯m confident that we will soon.¡± Duke rolled along with the mayor¡¯s excited report. He had been worried about the sheer volume of wealth pouring into the city¡¯s coffers breeding corruption. From what he had seen to this point, it had done just the opposite. He almost lost the mayor¡¯s next statement in his thoughts. ¡°And the exchange market will even exchange gold for crystals.¡± He pointed to a single blue crystal on the shelf behind himself. ¡°That there is a Grand Crystal. Have you ever seen one before? I certainly hadn¡¯t. This is just one of many from the city¡¯s treasury. You need to take them for the benefit of the kingdom. There is simply too much wealth here and I do not want it to affect the city. I can¡¯t spend it fast enough and that is becoming a problem.¡± ¡°Now that has to be the most unique thing a king has ever heard from a city¡¯s mayor.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure, but I am serious. There are eight such crystals in the treasury that you must take. The kingdom needs them much more than this city. What we really need are more people willing to either take up the adventuring life, become crafters, artisans, resource-gatherers, or find some other way useful to the city.¡± ¡°So, what I am hearing is that you want me to take your money, send you adventurers, crafters, and those willing to learn?¡± ¡°That is my request. Each and every one of them will prosper as we all do..¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do. I am looking for a few people that may be in the city.¡± ¡°Who would that be?¡± ¡°Axis, Gefolich, and Jablach. They would have been from-¡° ¡°Leviathan. Oh yes, they are here. They are acting as the elite trainers of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. What do you need with them?¡± ¡°I might be borrowing them for a while.¡± The mayor¡¯s expression dropped at Duke¡¯s words. ¡°If you need them, I¡¯m sure they will assist you, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Would that be a problem?¡± ¡°No, of course not, Your Majesty.¡± Duke decided to leave that one alone as he could see the disappointment and worry in the mayor¡¯s expression. It wasn¡¯t going to stop him from his own mission though. ¡°Well, thank you for your time, Mayor Shellenberger. I¡¯ll be on my way now.¡± Duke TELEPORTED to the treasury before leaving the new grandly decorated City Hall and picked up the grand crystals with a nod to the tax collector before returning and exiting out the main entrance of City Hall like nothing had happened. His journey over to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild took him across the square that had been inlaid with beautiful tiles and decorated with exotic plants and lifelike statues. People milled about, looking as happy as they seemed the last time he was in the city. It all struck him as artificial, like a carefully cultivated resort from back home. Stepping up to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, it was clear that the building had been expanded significantly. It now sported a spire that increased the building¡¯s height to nearly fifty meters tall and the overall structure had been expanded outward by at least thirty percent. It was now a mammoth and imposing structure. The bright paint and golden accents did ¡°cheer¡± up the building some, making it look a bit more inviting. Duke observed smiling adventures entering and exiting the building, most looking quite happy with their situation. More and more, the happiness around him just started putting him on edge. People were too happy, almost as if it were a forced condition. I know I talked to Sam about this happiness effect, but it almost feels like they are drugged. I might have to do something about it. Duke put the thought on the back burner as he entered the Adventurer¡¯s Guild and saw someone he had not seen in quite some time ¨C Greslarnier, the receptionist for Leviathan. Seeing it, his mood shifted, and he entered with a smile on his own face. Book 2, Chapter 69 - Getting the Band Back Together Duke greeted Greslarnier at the same time it greeted him. ¡°Duke! It is so good to see you. Or, should it be Your Majesty now?¡± ¡°You may call me Duke.¡± He responded with a smile. I¡¯m glad you found a new home here. I was worried that I hadn¡¯t seen you before.¡± ¡°It took me a while to find my way here but when I made it to the Inn of Safety, Axis brought me here, to this wonderous place. It¡¯s a full world in and of itself. More than remarkable, I¡¯d say. They don¡¯t even seem to be disturbed by my appearance.¡± ¡°This place is something, for sure.¡± A thought popped into Duke¡¯s mind and he shared it without hesitation. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re a mental mage, right?¡± ¡°I am but I don¡¯t generally make that public.¡± Duke winced. ¡°Sorry about that. I want to talk with you sometime soon. Your unique specialty might provide some insights I¡¯m lacking.¡± ¡°I¡¯d be glad to do so. I have a few hours more on this shift but I¡¯m free after that. Maybe we can meet at the Winking Wizard Tavern and grab some dinner.¡± ¡°That might work. I might have a few others with me as well.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. It¡¯s not like I am looking to take the place of your girlfriend. That is the scent of a woman on you, is it not?¡± Duke¡¯s mind stumbled briefly. ¡°That, um, yes. That¡¯s my girlfriend. I¡¯ll see you later.¡± He hurried into the guild, heading for the center of the building where he suspected the path to the Guildmaster¡¯s office would be. The layout of the interior had changed since he first came to the Guild, but it only took him a few minutes to find the right section of administrative offices. The grand spiral staircase dominating the center of the area was too much of a giveaway for Duke to miss. He climbed the stairs for a full thirty seconds before giving in to his impatience and flying up the rest of the way to the top floor. The stairs ended on a landing that looked down on the entire spiraling structure. Duke peered over the edge and saw how intimidating the stairs would be to someone with any fear of heights. There was no handrail, nothing to prevent someone from falling off and plummeting to the bottom. OSHA wouldn¡¯t approve of this, but I can see the purpose of deterring those who have no business coming up here. Not sure I agree with the approach, but I bet it¡¯s effective. Nobody¡¯s going to accidentally wander into the Guildmaster¡¯s office. The door to the Guildmaster¡¯s office was the same as it had been before. Duke gave it the confident triple-knock that was drilled into him in the academy. The response was immediate. ¡°Come in.¡± Duke entered the office to see Chal¡¯barnah smiling at him with her wickedly sharp teeth. ¡°Good day, and welcome, Your Majesty.¡± She stood up into a bow which Duke was now certain was designed to give him a full view of her cleavage. The twinkle in her eye as she held his gaze the entire time triggered his XENOGLOSSIA confirming what he already knew to be flirtation. ¡°Good to see you, Chal¡¯barnah. I trust all is well with the guild seeing as at least the building is growing.¡± Duke took a seat indicating for her to sit as well. ¡°Oh, very much so. Our adventurers have become exceptionally skilled at delving into the depths of the dungeon as well as keeping the various monsters that roam this land at bay.¡± ¡°Does that have anything to do with their elite trainers?¡± ¡°What an oddly specific question. But our three elite trainers have done a remarkable job at bringing out the best in our people. How do you even know about the trainers? It¡¯s not like they are public figures.¡± ¡°Not public figures?¡± ¡°No, they tend to keep to themselves. It really adds to their mystique and confuses many of the newer adventurers. I can¡¯t say that I blame them though. I know first-hand how difficult it can be to be radically different from those around you and able to read their unconscious reactions. You, Your Majesty, are an interesting exception. You don¡¯t seem to be fazed in the least by my appearance.¡± ¡°Why should I be?¡± ¡°Most are, that is all. Regardless, there must be something you need for you to visit me after that arduous climb up the stairs.¡± ¡°The stairs with no railings. Quite the deterrent for those who aren¡¯t serious about coming up here. If this wasn¡¯t a place built around those who risk their lives regularly, I would say that it¡¯s a rather bad idea but for the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, I can see it. Anyway, I want to borrow your three elite trainers for a while.¡± Her countenance visibly dropped before Duke could see her conviction return. ¡°Of course, but that really is not up to me. They are free to go or stay as they wish. Their roles here are voluntary. They are paid by their students so you might have to convince them to forego that income.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that will be a problem. Where can I find them?¡± ¡°They have an entire wing of the building in the back, including the training arena.¡± ¡°Thanks, Chal¡¯barnah. It was good to see you again and do keep up the excellent work of your Guild.¡± ¡°I very much plan to do so, Your Majesty. We will complete the dungeon soon. We had thought the tenth level was going to be the end, but it seems that the dungeon keep going on.¡± ¡°Best of luck. You may find that the dungeon is growing in relation to your abilities.¡± ¡°Is that even possible? No one has ever dealt with a dungeon before we came here.¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°It is possible but I¡¯m sure you will complete it before too long. Just don¡¯t get complacent if you do. It may grow again, adding even more difficult levels.¡± ¡°You seem to know an awful lot about dungeons, Your Majesty. Would you care to tell me more?¡± Duke gave her an enigmatic smile. ¡°Someday, perhaps, but for now, I¡¯ll tell you this: The dungeon is a living entity. Running through it helps it to grow and prosper. It is neither benevolent nor malicious. Treat it with a healthy respect and you will generally be OK. Disrespect it and you will be surprised on how dangerous it can become.¡± ¡°That is an interesting take on dungeons. The dungeon does change over time so I can see the possibility of it being alive, but that¡¯s a lot to take in.¡± ¡°Yes it is, but it is also fact, so be careful. I¡¯m off to see if I can recruit a few friends for a trip.¡± Duke left her with the thoughts on the dungeon, hoping she would take it to heart. He felt slightly guilty for not telling her that the entire city existed within a dungeon but decided it was best to keep that part to himself. Stepping out of the office, Duke hopped off the edge of the platform, plummeting down to the base of the tower, only halting his movement just before hitting the floor. There were a few gasps as he landed but Duke only offered a sly smile as he walked deeper into the building. Jablach¡¯s office was the first one he found. Again, the simple triple-knock on the door gained him entry. ¡°Duke!¡± Jablach launched over his desk to greet his friend, wrapping him up in a crushing hug. ¡°I take it you are happy to see me then.¡± Duke responded. Jablach let go and stepped back, looking at Duke. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten bigger.¡± ¡°I¡¯m all growed up now.¡± Duke quipped. ¡°It seems like you have found yourself a good niche here.¡± ¡°Indeed, I have. I¡¯m not training people to fight in the arena, but I am teaching them how to fight for their lives nonetheless. I take that the overwhelming majority are successful is a sign of success.¡± ¡°A good measure. How many have you lost?¡± ¡°Of the roughly two hundred I have trained, four have not made it back from the dungeon. It was a sad day, but their entire party disappeared. The consensus is that they delved too far for their abilities. But I¡¯m sure that is not why you sought me out. What can I do for my most accomplished student?¡± ¡°Most accomplished?¡± ¡°You killed everyone you faced in the arena and managed to topple a kingdom, primarily through your own efforts. I think that qualifies¡­Your Majesty.¡± ¡°I suppose it might. I¡¯ve never thought of it that way. Anyway, I¡¯m here to recruit you for a dangerous mission. Gefolich and Axis as well.¡± ¡°Are we toppling another kingdom? Who pissed you off?¡± ¡°Well, Pahst pissed me off by sending an assassin to kill me, but that situation has been taken care of already. What I need you for is a run on a particularly difficult dungeon.¡± ¡°Another dungeon? I was under the impression that ours was unique and there were no others.¡± ¡°Your dungeon is truly unique. There¡¯s not another one like it on all of Teldin. But there is much more to that story that we¡¯ll not be going into right now. There are several dungeons on Teldin now and that number is only going to increase. The one in particular I need your help with is called a siege dungeon. We¡¯d be fighting off wave after wave of enemies that both grow in number and power.¡± ¡°How powerful are we talking?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not entirely sure but I know that they were Tier Three before I had to stop. I don¡¯t think they will get above Tier Five, but they will number in the hundreds by the last wave.¡± ¡°That sounds difficult indeed. I assume we can stop if it gets to be too much for us.¡± ¡°We have the chance to exit after each wave. It¡¯s really the later waves where I expect we will run into difficulty. I know that sounds obvious, but I was able to get through the first twenty or so waves by myself so I think the team I am putting together will be able to handle it. What do you think?¡± ¡°I think it sounds like a lot of experience, even for me. I¡¯m in.¡± ¡°Great. Let¡¯s go see if the others are also willing to join.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure they will be, but it¡¯s better to ask than assume, right?¡± ¡°Very much so.¡± The pair found Axis on the floor of the arena with a class of students. Duke had only seen him fight once and his concentration was elsewhere at the time. This time, he was able to watch Axis move among the students with frightening speed. The man moved with a fluidity that Duke hadn¡¯t realized was possible and now set as a goal for himself. They waited for him to take a break and just watched. ¡°The two of you together spells trouble. If Gefolich was here as well, I would be sure of it.¡± ¡°I just haven¡¯t made my way over to him yet.¡± Duke smiled as he responded. ¡°Is there another undead horde I need to slow down for you?¡± ¡°Good to see you too, Axis.¡± Axis broke into a wide smile. ¡°Great to see you, Duke. How has life been treating you these past months? I hear all sorts of gossip but get very little actual information beyond the massive prompt saying that you are a king now.¡± ¡°Yeah, not what I had planned at all. Care to take over?¡± ¡°Oh hells, no. I¡¯m rather happy here training the young bucks in how to kill without being killed themselves. Now out with it. I can¡¯t give them too long a break or their muscles will get cold, and I¡¯ll have to start them over all again for the day.¡± ¡°I would like for you to join a run that I am putting together in another dungeon. It will take one or two months to complete so it¡¯s a bit of a commitment. The dungeon itself involves defeating wave after wave of opponents.¡± ¡°A month or two you say? I¡¯m not sure I can stand being away from my family for that long to be honest. Ever since you brought us back together, I¡¯ve been loathe to leave them even for a day. I¡¯ll have to speak with Salandra about it.¡± ¡°How about if it was only a day or two away from them?¡± ¡°That, I could handle.¡± ¡°Do you think they would mind spending a day or two in Cloudspire?¡± ¡°I think they would be delighted with the trip.¡± ¡°Excellent. Prepare your things. We leave in the morning. Now to go fetch Gefolich.¡± ¡°Good luck with that one. He¡¯s not one for combat anymore.¡± Jablach spoke up, receiving an agreeing nod from Axis. ¡°Should I not ask him and put him on the spot then?¡± Duke asked, concern rising in his voice. ¡°No, ask him, but make sure it¡¯s not an obligation.¡± Axis advised. Duke nodded in response, and with a smile, the three headed off to Gefolich¡¯s classroom. The classroom turned out to very closely resemble the one Gefolich had set up in the Leviathan halls. He greeted them with a wide smile, his flute swinging out from its cord around his neck. ¡°Hello my friends!¡± His class of students were instantly forgotten. Greetings were exchanged and they all poured into Gefolich¡¯s office for discussion. Duke started the conversation. ¡°I have recruited Axis and Jablach for a particularly challenging dungeon run and was wondering if you would like to join us. I know you have stepped away from active combat so I have no expectations, but I would feel awful if you wanted to come and I didn¡¯t invite you because I didn¡¯t want to pressure you. So, what I guess I am saying is that I¡¯d love to have you along, but I¡¯m totally cool if you want to sit this out.¡± ¡°You dance with your words like a satyr on too much wine. I appreciate the sentiment you are stumbling to express. And your initial thoughts are accurate. I have retired from the life of combat. I enjoy teaching more than I ever did fighting and would prefer to stay in that realm. Thank you for the opportunity, but I am going to have to decline.¡± ¡°We had expected as much but you will join us for dinner this evening?¡± Duke offered with a smile. ¡°Now, that, my friends, is an offer I will not turn down.¡± Gefolich¡¯s smile widened. ¡°Great. Let¡¯s meet at the Winking Wizard Tavern at six bells?¡± Duke offered. ¡°Sounds perfect.¡± The group dispersed, leaving Duke with several hours to kill. He decided to explore the shops around the city. Book 2, Chapter 70 - Recruiting Duke wandered the city, visiting every shop that caught his eye. The first was a shop dedicated solely to wands. As he wandered in the door, he saw wands on display all over the shop. His first impression was that it was far cleaner than the shop depicted in that kid¡¯s movie. There were wands in display cases as well as hundreds of different wands mounted on the walls for browsing. He suppressed a chuckle as he entered. Much to his surprise, he was not immediately greeted by the shopkeeper. Instead, he browsed around the shop looking at various wands. Most held utility spells of minor utility such as light or even one that produced a ¡°cooking beam¡±. Duke found that the prices were much higher than expected with even the minor utility wands going for thousands of gold. It seems that prices are inflated despite the mayor¡¯s best efforts. Not sure I can help in this case. In the actual display cases, there were wands that were clearly of higher quality and Duke found a few that struck him as interesting. He used his IDENTIFY Ability on the ones that struck him as most interesting. *** You have found the Wand of Slipperiness. This wand will coat an area with a slippery substance, reducing friction to almost nothing. Beings will be unable to walk, run, crawl, or otherwise move while in contact with the substance. Area of Effect: 5-meter radius Range: This effect can be targeted up to 30 meters away Duration: The effect will last for up to twenty minutes. Duration is reduced based on the number of creatures affected. Number of Charges: 10. This wand can be recharged.*** *** You have found the Wand of Earthshaking. This wand will cause a large area to shake as if an earthquake were occurring. It can cause effects similar to an earthquake such as landslides and rockfalls if targeted on areas prone to such conditions. All creatures within the area of effect will find it difficult to remain standing or travel on the ground Area of Effect: 250-meter radius Range: This effect can be targeted up to 1,000 meters away Duration: The effect will last for four minutes. Number of Charges: 17. This wand can be recharged. *** *** You have found the Wand of Summoning. This wand will summon one creature at random. The creature summoned will vary in capability based on the amount of Mana channeled into the wand upon activation. Area of Effect: One summoned creature Range: This effect can be targeted up to 30 meters away Duration: The effect will last for up to one minute per 1,000 Mana invested in activation. Number of Charges: 6. This wand cannot be recharged. *** *** You have found the Wand of Bleeding. All creatures targeted by this wand will suffer from a bleeding effect, causing them to lose Health at a rate of 100 Health a second. Area of Effect: Targeted Creature Range: This effect can be targeted up to 30 meters away Duration: The effect will last for up to twenty minutes. Duration is reduced based on the number of creatures affected. Number of Charges: 12. This wand can be recharged .*** Duke got the attention of the shopkeeper with a wave and the woman came over with a glowing smile. ¡°Good afternoon. Have you found something that has piqued your interest?¡± ¡°Indeed, I have. These four wands interest me. What can you tell me about them and why are there no prices listed?¡± Duke pointed out the wands in the display cases. Her smile broadened and she moved to each case, opening them with a key that appeared to be an enchanted locket of some sort. Each wand was withdrawn from the case with white gloved hands and transferred to a black velvet cloth on the counter at the center of the store. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Each of these is an excellent selection. This first one, the Wand of Slipperiness, was recovered by Jesul Malnor of the Bold Boulders in the boss loot chest of the eighth floor. The boss was a tremendous slug that was highly resistant to many forms of damage. It was a tremendous battle and nearly wiped the entire party. It can be used to create an area of extreme slipperiness that will likely incapacitate your ground-based foes. It has 10 charges remaining.¡± ¡°This one, the Wand of Bleeding, was recovered by Hansel Meisterburger of the Crimson Claws. He would not share where in the dungeon it was retrieved, but since he was the sole survivor of his party, I chose not to press him on the matter. It creates a bleeding effect in your foe, causing them to steadily bleed out their health. It has 12 charges remaining.¡± ¡°This third one is the Wand of Earthshaking. It was sold to us anonymously through the exchange market, so I don¡¯t have much on its history, but it creates a powerful earthquake effect that covers a wide area. It carries a ban on use within two kilometers of the city for its potentially disastrous effects on city infrastructure. It has 17 charges remaining.¡± ¡°This last one is the Wand of Summoning. It was recovered on the seventeenth level of the dungeon by the Acolytes of Fire. It will allow you to use your own Mana to summon a creature to serve you for a limited time. It has but 6 charges remaining.¡± ¡°Thank you for the descriptions. It seems like I picked out some good ones.¡± ¡°You certainly did, probably the best of our entire collection.¡± ¡°But you still haven¡¯t mentioned prices yet.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. This is where I tend to lose people, so please forgive me if I dawdled too long in the descriptions. The Wand of Slipperiness goes for 85,000 gold, the Wand of Bleeding goes for 107,000 gold, the Wand of Earthshaking goes for 92,000 gold, and the Wand of Summoning goes for 207,000 gold.¡± Her face took on a bashful look as she absently twirled her brunette hair with a finger. ¡°So, nearly half a million gold for the four of them. Is that right?¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± She moved to start putting the wands back in their display cases. Duke held up a hand. ¡°Don¡¯t put them away. I¡¯ll take them.¡± He removed five Large Crystals from his INVENTORY and placed them on the cloth next to the wands. ¡°Now, do you have something for the ten thousand gold difference?¡± She stared at him for a moment before pulling a Medium Crystal from a hidden pocket. ¡°I can give you this Crystal in change, or were you looking for something else from our collection?¡± Duke thought about it before responding. ¡°I suppose the Crystal will be fine. Thank you.¡± She collected the Large Crystals as Duke collected his wands and the Medium Crystal into his INVENTORY. With a broad grin, she offered Duke a final thanks and went to re-arranging her wands to place her next best four wands into display cases. Duke continued to browse other stores for the next few hours. He was pleased to see the quality of goods that were being offered. Even the most mundane of items carried a level of quality that surpassed his expectations. He had to laugh at himself when he involuntarily declared, ¡°Now, that¡¯s a good fork.¡± He fled that shop rather quickly afterwards. Eventually, he wound up a few items heavier and many coins lighter but satisfied with his shopping spree. He had found a jeweler that he especially liked and had bought a number of items from. He selected one necklace in particular with Aurelia in mind. He was sure the combination of sapphires and gold would suit her nicely. When he entered the tavern at last, he found that everyone else had already arrived and had taken up a corner table. Duke joined them mid-story. It was a tale of an event that Axis had hosted for Leviathan to try and break the tension after a string of particularly brutal matches. The event involved an ultra-competitive game of tag which had been won by one of Gefolich¡¯s students using a version of a telekinetic hand spell. Some thought it was cheating but since most others had used their Abilities, they were overruled. Duke joined in and enjoyed the conversation, adding in where he could but mostly listening to the others reminisce. After the food had arrived and more than a few drinks had been consumed, they got to the discussion of the adventure ahead of them. ¡°The dungeon comes at you in waves of enemies travelling down a winding road of some sort. The first wave was twenty, tier one enemies that were around level ten. It took almost nothing to defeat them. The next wave was twenty-five level twenty enemies. When I got to the twentieth wave, there were one hundred fifteen enemies in the wave. They were level two hundred and tier three.¡± ¡°That¡¯s no small force to deal with, Duke. And you say it¡¯s going to be harder than that?¡± ¡°Yes, I am sure of it. In the fiftieth wave, I expect them to be high-level tier fours and more than two hundred of them.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think we can do it.¡± Jablach shook his head. ¡°I will help.¡± Greslanier volunteered. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you did field work.¡± Duke responded. ¡°I don¡¯t often, but this sounds like quite the challenge, and I don¡¯t want to see you three fail at it. Is there anything else you can tell us?¡± ¡°There was a points system of some kind. I have 17,620 points saved up from my first attempt. Since I was there alone, I didn¡¯t have time to check everything out but there has to be something to spend the points on.¡± ¡°Likely some sort of defenses since you called this a siege dungeon, right.¡± It supposed. ¡°That¡¯s my guess as well. There will be at least one more joining us, hopefully two or three. Aurelia, the general of my Legion, Eihlen, the top healer in the Legion, and Baslin the Archmage.¡± ¡°Three more will help, especially with one being a healer and the other an Archmage. I think we can do this with the additional team members. Jabalch and I will handle the front-line duties and Duke will be the utility fighter. How will this general of yours fit in?¡± Axis asked. ¡°She is best with a larger group but she can handle front-line and will give us some buffs.¡± ¡°Maybe hold her as the designated protector of the healer.¡± Greslarnier suggested. ¡°I don¡¯t think she will like that, but it is a good role for her. Where will you fit in, Greslarnier?¡± ¡°I will manage our communication and coordination. When you all are in the thick of battle, there needs to be someone seeing the big picture and directing you to where you are needed. That, and I¡¯ll figure out how to spend all those points you accumulated.¡± ¡°OK, I think we are all set. Let¡¯s meet back up at the gate in the morning.¡± With sounds of agreement and assent, they went their separate ways for the rest of the evening. Book 2, Chapter 71 - Final Preparations Duke stood at the entrance to the gateway building, having arrived early. Sleep had evaded him as he spent the night pondering all the things that could go wrong in the delve and coming up with plans on how to counter them. He was confident in the group he had gathered, but was sure the final waves of the dungeon were going to be a challenge, even for this group. He kept his ¡°ultimate¡± contingency plan in the back of his head throughout his planning thoughts. While he was waiting, he reviewed all the changes in his Skills and Abilities over the past few days. There were increases in numerous Abilities and some skills like Diplomacy but there was one Ability in particular that was beginning to really concern him. That was his Aura of Prosperity. Even though the Ability was only nearing the middle of the Initiate rank at Level 14, it was causing an alarming wealth overflow from Havenreach¡¯s dungeon. The city¡¯s crafters were exceptionally productive and the quality of everything was amazing. These all should be great things for him and his people but that much wealth generating so quickly seemed like a major issue. He delved into the formula to try and figure out what was driving the relatively low ranked Ability to such heights of effect. It seemed like one of the simpler formulas for any of his Abilities. It consisted of his Psyche modifier plus his level, all multiplied by the rank number of the Ability. When he calculated it out, it came to a 1,308% Prosperity bonus. At thirteen times expected output, it was a massive bonus to the productivity of his kingdom, but at the Initiate rank, it only extended 130 kilometers, so not all of the kingdom was covered, and the radius moved with him so if he spent any significant time away from Cloudspire, there would be areas that had grown used to the boost that suddenly lost it. It would be an economic collapse for them. In the end, he realized that it wasn¡¯t his Ability¡¯s rank that was the driving factor. It was his Psyche modifier, providing that additional 422 into the formula. With a shrug, he put that aside as he had no intention of slowing down his Psyche advancement. He was still mulling the possibilities over when the others began to arrive. Axis arrived last which was uncharacteristic for the man, but seeing his wife and three daughters in tow, Duke understood. Getting a whole family up and moving was never easy. The thought threatened to bring memories of his past back to the surface, but Duke locked that part of his mind back down with full aggression. Instead, he focused on greeting everyone. ¡°Good morning. I hope you all got a good night¡¯s sleep. Today is going to be a busy day. Whether it is shopping in Cloudspire or joining me on a massive dungeon delve, we will all be busy.¡± He instantly knew he had made a mistake when Axis¡¯s daughters suddenly sported worried looks. Duke immediately went into ¡°damage control¡± mode and started explaining. ¡°It seems I have said something that has created some concerns for you. Perhaps it was the piece about the dungeon delve?¡± He looked meaningfully at the children, receiving an exaggerated nod from the youngest. ¡°Ah, I see. There¡¯s no need to worry. IF things get too difficult, I can pull us all out in an instant. Everything will be just fine.¡± Axis chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be fine, girls. Enjoy your day of shopping and we can all meet up for dinner afterwards.¡± That seemed to calm the girls down enough for them all to move on. The guards at the entryway stepped aside as they approached, allowing them passage. Duke looked at them curiously as this behavior didn¡¯t align with his expectations. It felt to him like the guards were preventing citizens from leaving Havenreach and that was not acceptable. I¡¯m going to have a long talk with them when we come back and see what¡¯s what. Ignoring the guards for now, they all filed into the building and made their way through the portal to the Hall of Possibilities and finally the Hall of Trade before Duke opened a Portal to Cloudspire. ¡°Quite the series of steps to get from Havenreach to Cloudspire. Is it always like this?¡± Salandra asked. ¡°This is the normal path to get to Havenreach. It is such a especially important city to me that I want it protected as much as possible.¡± ¡°Mommy, we¡¯re special!¡± ¡°And important!¡± ¡°Yes, you both are, Carolanne and Lynn. Now we need to let daddy go off and do his adventuring thing while we go¡­shopping!¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. All three girls squealed and excitedly hurried to join their mother. She shot Axis a ¡°be careful¡± look to which he nodded, and then they were off exploring the city. The guards that followed them were subtle, but Axis picked up on them immediately. ¡°Thank you, Duke.¡± ¡°Nothing more precious than family. Let¡¯s go meet up with the others and get this delve going.¡± With a gesture, the group was in the throne room where they found Aurelia, Baslin, and Eihlen waiting for them. Duke proceeded into introductions. ¡°OK, since not everyone knows everyone else yet, I¡¯ll run down list so we all at least have a general sense of what each other are capable of. First, this is Baslin the Best. He is our resident Archmage and is our magical backbone for this outing. He is not spec¡¯d out primarily for offense but has myriad spells that will help us. Next is Eihlen. She is the best healer I know and comes to us from the Thrice Blessed Legion. Now we have Aurelia. She is the general of the Thrice Blessed Legion and is ideal for leading larger groups but is no slouch on the front lines. She is also my love.¡± Duke paused to give her a quick kiss which she chuckled through, and then pulled him in for a much deeper one. Once Duke regained his composure, he continued. ¡°Here we have Jablach. He is a melee specialist and will be the tip of our spear. He is the one that trained me in how to fight in the arena. We only had a short time, but he laid a significant foundation for me. Next is Greslarnier, our mind mage who will help us stay in communication and coordinated with each other. Finally, this is Axis who was the leader of the arena faction Leviathan. He is also exceptionally accomplished in melee so will be another front-line fighter.¡± The next few minutes were spent in conversation before Duke decided to just TELEPORT the group to the Thirsty Scorpion. Conversation ceased for the moment as the disorientation interrupted everyone. ¡°Let¡¯s grab a table and talk for a bit. Then we can prepare and head into the dungeon.¡± As they grabbed one of the larger tables and settled down, Dagny arrived. ¡°What can I get you? Something to drink perhaps? Today¡¯s special is the Date Palm Punch.¡± Duke smiled as the group looked at the minotaur bartender in surprise. ¡°I¡¯ll take one of those. Are they as good as the Electric Lemonade?¡± ¡°It is a far more complex drink, but quite tasty if I do say so myself. I¡¯ll just bring a round to the table and you all can decide for yourselves. It will be good to get some live feedback on my drink experiments.¡± ¡°Experiments? Did you say experiments?¡± Baslin asked, nearly rising out of his seat to follow the minotaur before Aurelia gently held him in place and guided him back to his seat. The minotaur winked at Baslin and went back to the bar where he created the seven drinks which he brought back in finely etched crystal glasses placed on a silver tray. One by one, he placed the drinks before each of them, admonishing them to wait for the others before drinking. Once they all had their drinks, Dagny held one himself and offered a toast. ¡°To a successful delve. May you all complete the dungeon and reap the tremendous rewards that await you!¡± The group saluted each other with their glasses and took a drink. Duke found the drink to be surprisingly complex with a mix of tartness and sweetness as well as a gentle fizz to it. Overall, he thought it had an earthy flavor which he most closely identified with caramel. From the looks and sounds around the table everyone thought it was tasty. ¡°Like nothing I¡¯ve ever had before.¡± Baslin declared, starting to stand up again before being pulled back into his seat. ¡°But it¡¯s experiments! New ingredients. Even an entirely new realm of alchemy for me. I must investigate!¡± ¡°After the delve. After the delve.¡± Duke reassured Baslin. ¡°After we are done with the dungeon, you can take all the time you like to hang with Dagny and experiment with him.¡± With no small reluctance, Baslin returned his attention to the group and joined the discussion of roles and responsibilities for the delve. Duke relayed everything he encountered in his first run and they all discussed their possible approaches. ¡°So, what I am hearing is that we could leave the first fifteen or twenty waves up to you, Duke.¡± ¡°Yes and no. I was able to handle those waves, but I was also cheating in a way that I¡¯m not going to go into. If we want the full rewards from the dungeon, cheating is not an option for this run.¡± The next hour was spent discussing tactics and plans for the dungeon run. Now that they were all together, plans were rapidly solidified but the question of how to spend all the credits that Duke had earned in the first run was still open and would not be answered until they were actually in the dungeon. Throughout the course of the discussion, Dagny brought out snacks and drinks for the group much to their delight. When they felt that their plans were set enough, they all got up and followed Duke to the dungeon entrance. To their surprise, Dagny was standing there with a tray full of paper bags. ¡°Please take one each. Snacks for the dungeon delve. I wish you the best of luck and remember that you can leave after any wave.¡± Eihlen spoke up. ¡°How much do we owe you for all this?¡± Dagny smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s all on Duke¡¯s tab.¡± Duke laughed. ¡°Yep, definitely on my tab. Now. Let¡¯s go conquer this dungeon!¡± With smiles on their faces, they all entered the dungeon. Book 2, Chapter 72 - Towers Arise! The group arrived at the starting location with no fanfare, but received the typical message which Duke had already selected ¡°Yes¡± to before anyone could even finish reading. ***You have activated a Dungeon Portal! You may choose to enter or flee this Dungeon. Dungeon Information: Dungeon Name: Desert Fortress of the Amber Sands Dungeon Vintage: Newborn Unentered for 0 years, 4 days, 3 hours, 12 minutes, 17 seconds Uncompleted for 0 years, 4 days, 3 hours, 12 minutes, 17 seconds. Dungeon Ranking: Novice to Adept Maximum Party Size: 50 Minimum Party Size: 1 Dungeon Type: Singular Dungeon Style: Siege Would like to Enter or Flee the Desert Fortress of the Amber Sands? *** The group spread out on top of the single building, taking stock of their situation when the next notification appeared. *** In this dungeon, there is but one single source of water. That is the sacred vessel next to you. It is your task to defend this source of water from all attackers. The attackers will come in progressively stronger waves up the road. After each wave, an exit portal will appear. You may depart after any wave is completed and will receive rewards based on how many waves have been completed, how long it took, and how much water has survived. Good luck. You have ten minutes to prepare, or you may ¡°call the next wave¡± at any time, even if you have not completed the current wave. Good luck! *** All of them looked to Duke for an explanation. He looked back, confused. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t mention having to protect a clay vessel full of water.¡± Greslarnier remarked. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. I cheated last time and encased it in stone so nothing could get to it. Can you do something similar, Baslin?¡± ¡°I suppose I could, but had I known, I would have been more prepared for this.¡± Baslin started his casting while others moved about the platform getting their bearings. It did not take long for Greslarnier to find the purchasing controls. ¡°I have found the purchasing function of the dungeon. It allows you to purchase defensive structures to aid in killing and there is one that will reinforce this base. I could reinforce this base to its maximum for only 1,100 credits. The most expensive structure costs 10,000 credits while the least expensive costs just 20. They all seem to have three levels of upgradability.¡± Duke muttered ¡°freaking tower defense¡± under his breath which got him an odd look from Axis. Dude has ridiculous hearing. Have to remember that. ¡°May as well use the system to reinforce this place and see what else we can do. Is there any indication of what the structures do?¡± ¡°Only their names, but they are fairly descriptive. Our options are: Archery, Slowing, Energy Blast, Acid Spitter, Armor Breaker, Enhancer, Dragon¡¯s Breath, Heaven¡¯s Wrath, and Base Reinforcement. From what I see, there are a total of twenty places we can put these structures along the road. With the credits you accumulated from your last run, I can purchase one of each tower and complete the base reinforcement. I think that will give us a great head-start and allow me to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each tower type.¡± ¡°That just sounds awfully convenient. Just enough credits to buy one of each tower. I feel like the dungeon is fucking with me somehow. I say go ahead and do it. Anyone disagree?¡± Axis and Jablach had already descended to the ground and were discussing their gameplan. Instead of an answer, Duke received a question from Axis. ¡°Will the foes truly stick to the road?¡± ¡°From what I observed, yes. They seem unable to depart from it, but it is a ten-meter-wide path so it will be hard for the two of you to contain anything coming down the road in great numbers.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why the rest of you are here, to provide support and let¡¯s see what those towers can do for us. I say spend the points and see how it goes.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! The rest all agreed and Greslarnier got to work. First came the Base Reinforcement which changed the starting tower platform into a dense crystalline structure and surrounded the water container in the same substance. Baslin looked a bit miffed but continued to cast his protective spells around the newly protected container. One by one, towers started raising along the winding road. They all had similarities in dimensional structure but there were unique features to each of them that made them stand apart from the others. The Archery tower was made of wood and stood about ten meters tall. On top of it was a single large ballista that was mounted on an elevated gimble that allowed it to rotate around completely and cover the road except for the portion right next to the tower. The next tower constructed was the Slowing tower. This tower was built of dense blue ice and was nearly completely smooth-sided. On its top stood a single two-meter-wide blue orb the emanated a palpable cold. The Energy Blast tower consisted of what appeared to be a heavily inscribed steel lattice that culminated in a red orb of energy floating above the tower. It gave off a sense of deadly menace that caused some concerned looks amongst the group. Next was the Acid Spitter tower which grew up like the trunk of an ancient tree with dark bark encasing its wide trunk. When it reached what now seemed to be the standard height of all the towers, sickly green veins began to worm their way through the tree from the ground up, culminating in a disturbingly green flower sprouting from the truncated top of the tree. All the green veins seemed to feed into the flower like some sort of parasitic vines infiltrating the tree. Duke couldn¡¯t help the feeling that it was a sinister construction. As Duke watched, the next tower rose from the ground. It was a stone construction that radiated a silver glow. The ground around it trembled and cracked, sending cracks radiating outward across the ground in a sixty-meter radius and throughout the structure of the tower. This was the Armor Breaker tower. Duke supposed the cracks made it easy to distinguish. Next came the Enhancer tower. It rose as a black metal obelisk with large crimson runes written down its sides. The runes glowed and radiated power that came off in pulsing waves. Baslin had just finished casting his protective spells on the area and chuckled as he saw the tower take shape. ¡°Oh yes, that¡¯s a good one. I recognize those runes. They will make any one of us stronger when under their influence. I suggest building more of those around wherever our front line will be.¡± Greslarnier smiled in response. ¡°Noted. It will have to wait for a while as we will be close to empty on credits after building all these towers. Hey, Duke, how quickly will we accumulate credits once this thing gets going?¡± ¡°It will be slow at first, not really picking up until after around the tenth wave. I wasn¡¯t really paying attention to the credits last time, but we are starting this run with twenty or so waves of credits so that should give us a good gauge. I expect we can call the first ten waves quickly and not really have any issues. If I remember correctly, it was after wave fifteen that I started seeing tier three foes.¡± ¡°I see. Well, two more towers to go and then we can all get in position and get this thing started.¡± The next tower seemed to be more massive than any of the others as it rose from the ground. It was the head and thick neck of a red-scaled dragon. It rose straight up to a full forty meters tall and then the neck relaxed allowing the head began to look around, methodically turning left and right, as if seeking a target. Its eyes fixed on Axis and seemed to consider him for a moment before resuming its seeking behavior. ¡°OK, that was creepy as can be. I was sure it was about to roast me. Maybe less of that kind of tower as we go.¡± Axis called back. Duke could swear he saw the dragon head smirk in response. ¡°Yeah, I think one of them might be all we need and let¡¯s not get to close to it.¡± Duke answered. Greslarnier smiled as the last tower rose from the surface, it was a glowing pillar of brilliance. This was the Heaven¡¯s Wrath tower and it was rising from the nearest tower spot to the defensive structure. It was hard to look at and glowed with a pure white light. ¡°That¡¯s hard to see past. I think I made a mistake placing it so close to us.¡± ¡°Can it be moved?¡± Eihlen asked. After checking the interface, Greslarnier answered, ¡°It can, but it would be expensive. 5,000 credits. We have 150 left.¡± ¡°Allow me.¡± Baslin responded as he cast a spell. Several long and intricate arcane gestures and words of power resulted in the light of the pillar dimming to a comfortable level. ¡°Will that decrease the pillar¡¯s effectiveness?¡± Greslarnier asked. ¡°Possibly, but only in the direction of this tower if at all. In all other directions it¡¯s still as bright. All I did was interpose a mostly opaque barrier immediately around it from this perspective. It shouldn¡¯t interfere with the functionality of the tower significantly if at all.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a whole lot cheaper than moving the thing for sure. Thanks, Baslin. Greslarnier, is that all you can do with the towers right now?¡± ¡°I could upgrade the Archery tower twice or the Slowing tower once, but that¡¯s all I could accomplish with 150 credits. With another 10 credits, I could max out the Archery tower to its third upgrade. Unfortunately, there is no indication of how the upgrades will affect the capabilities of the towers. A natural assumption is that they will hit harder or otherwise have some greater effect, but we don¡¯t even know what the effects of the towers we build are yet.¡± ¡°True. Perhaps we just get things started and see what effect the towers have on the first few waves. We likely can rely on the towers to eliminate the first several waves without us even having to intervene at all.¡± Duke suggested. ¡°You think so?¡± Jablach asked, intrigued. ¡°I do. The first wave only gets you 20 credits ¨C enough to purchase a single basic Archery tower. We have purchased one of each tower, including the heavenly glow stick in front of us. I expect them to overpower the low-level waves easily.¡± ¡°Then, maybe we should all get into position and get this started.¡± Axis suggested. ¡°Standing around for the next four minutes will do us no extra good. Let¡¯s all take our positions and get this started.¡± Aurelia added. With salutes, handshakes, and, in Duke and Aurelia¡¯s case, a hug and kiss, they all moved into their positions. ¡°Are you ready?¡± Greslarnier¡¯s voice rang through all their minds simultaneously. Verbal responses were not necessary as it was able to read their responses easily from the eager responses. ¡°Then we shall begin!¡± Book2, Chapter 73 - Surfing the Waves Duke called the first wave as everyone settled in, filled with anticipation. The first foes were announced by a low bass thrumming tone that echoed throughout the area. There would be no mistaking that the wave had begun. The first creatures were short, brown-skinned reptilian humanoids that skulked along the road in a very loose pack of twenty. They constantly looked about themselves as they began down the road. It did not take long before they spotted Axis and Jablach further down the road as it wound its way back and forth across the field of battle. With hooting and hollering, they charged right across the field, ignoring the winding path in favor of a direct assault. The lot of them slammed into an invisible barrier at the edge of the road that prevented them from crossing. They howled in anger and pain as they were bounced back onto their backs sprawled along the road. One¡¯s howling was cut short by an arrow the length of its entire body slamming straight through its chest. It had fired from the Archery tower and had struck true. The anger of the rest of the kobolds drove them to race down the road, bouncing off the barrier as they tried to get past it. Another kobold succumbed to the Archery tower before they reached the corner, scratching their way around it. The entire group was then subjected to a blast of blue light which left them covered with a rime of ice. Their movements were significantly slowed, and the Archery tower took them out one by one before they could get anywhere near the party¡¯s front-line. ¡°Well, that was easy.¡± Greslarnier declared. ¡°Maybe we can call the next few waves early.¡± ¡°If Elaine was here, she would smack you for tempting fate. Never say it¡¯s too easy.¡± Duke replied. ¡°But, yes I think we can call the first ten waves quickly and the towers can probably handle them.¡± Duke checked his notification, seeing that he garnered a whopping 71 experience from the first wave. He knew it would ramp up but had to chuckle at the amount. It¡¯s not like I really had to do much of anything for the experience though. When we get to the later waves, Eihlen is going to power-level like I had wanted to all along. Duke called the next four waves in rapid succession as Axis and Jablach made their way back to the starting tower. The group watched as the number and strength of the kobolds increased. Each wave added five attackers and increased their levels by ten. So, the fifth wave consisted of 40 level 50 kobolds. With the combined waves, there was a total of 130 kobolds coming down the road. One by one the various towers engaged the approaching kobolds. The Archery tower was slowly killing the weakest of the kobolds but was unable to effectively injure the higher-level ones. Slowly, the remaining mass of kobolds made it into range of the Energy Blast tower. The tower unleashed a crimson beam of energy that impacted on a conjured shield that the lead kobold was maintaining. This lead kobold was significantly larger than the rest and had glowing red scales trailing down from its head crest down its back. By the magic barrier it was maintaining, it clearly was a mage of some sort. And it was doing a solid job of protecting its fellows from the Energy Blast tower. ¡°This is not what I remember encountering in my past run. The towers were all different and the dungeon creatures were all some sort of Desert Raider variant. Any ideas on what is going on here?¡± Duke called out. He received a notification in response. *** I have changed things to make this a real challenge for you and your team. Don¡¯t worry. The rewards will be worth it. *** ¡°Perhaps the dungeon is adapting to our presence. Different levels and tiers causing it to react differently?¡± Jablach responded, still watching the kobolds as they advanced behind the magic barrier. ¡°Can they do that?¡± Aurelia asked, pointedly looking at Duke. ¡°It seems this one has done just that. We should take care in how we approach it and not take things for granted. Look, even now that kobold mage is stopping the Acid Spitter tower as well as the Energy Blast tower.¡± ¡°Should we see how far it gets or intervene?¡± Axis asked, deferring to Greslarnier as the coordinator of their actions. ¡°Watch its progress. If it gets to the Enhancer, engage.¡± They continued to watch as the protective barrier moved with the group of kobolds. They were now outside of the range of the Archery and Slowing towers and approaching the outer limit of the Energy Blast tower¡¯s range as well. The Armor Breaker tower engaged with a blast of directed force that caused the barrier to ripple with cracks. The kobold mage stopped advancing, dropping to a knee as a second blast struck from the Armor Breaker tower. The cracks in its barrier grew more pronounced and spread further away from the impact point. With a third strike, the barrier shattered. The chaos among the kobolds was immediate and total as their rear fighters were slammed down to the ground by the Energy Blast tower, never to rise again. The rest were bathed in bright green acid that melted through armor, skin, and bone alike. They were wiped out in a matter of seconds. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Duke quickly dismissed the notification telling him that his experience total for the dungeon was up to 535. It was still a long way from making an impact on his level. With a glance to Greslarnier who nodded, he called the next wave. The sixth wave began the tier two monsters. These kobolds were visibly larger than the tier one foes. Whereas the kobolds of the first waves had been short, thin, creatures who had been poorly equipped at best. The new wave of 45 kobolds were a full head taller and far more filled out than the previous ones. They moved with less caution and more boldness. They also moved in a cohesive unit, forming nine ranks of five kobolds that marched down the road. Duke also noted that there were two mages in this group, and each had conjured a barrier, forming a double-layer of protection. ¡°Are our towers being completely countered already? We will have to physically engage them before too long.¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°Maybe not completely, but their mages seem to have specialized in barrier magic which will certainly reduce the effectiveness of our towers.¡± Baslin responded. ¡°Perhaps we should engage the next few waves directly to get a feel for how they actually fight before they get to the point where they overwhelm our towers. Axis and Jablach return to the field. Duke you stand ready to intervene should it be necessary. Aurelia, you maintain protection for Eihlen. Baslin, come up with some way to break their barrier spells.¡± The group moved to act. Axis and Jablach hopped off the defensive tower displaying their strength and toughness by absorbing the more than five-meter drop with little more than a flexing of knees. They charged down the road quickly, reaching the kobolds just as they came into range of the slowing tower. The tower engaged its icy blue beam of slowing energy which danced and expanded across the barrier. Axis was the first to arrive. He charged forward intent to slam into the kobold¡¯s barrier and test its strength. He led with his shoulder, braced for the impact his speed and mass would cause. He passed through the barrier without resistance. With a graceless tumble, he wound up three ranks deep into the kobolds who had parted around him. Weapons drawn, they pounced on him with excited yips. Jablach had just enough time to alter his approach based on Axis¡¯s crashing spectacle and leaped through the barrier with his pair of glowing red blades held wide. He landed, blades scything through flesh, among the first few ranks of kobolds that had turned to tear into Axis. Axis was nearly buried in kobolds as they swarmed him, stabbing with their thin blades as long as his forearm. He burst forth from the mass, his own curved blade slashing around himself in a spinning slash that sent dead and dying kobolds falling away from him. The kobold mages¡¯ barriers were disrupted by the fighting around them and the Archery and Slowing towers were finally able to engage. The Archery tower slowly fired arrows the size of spears at the kobolds but was able to do little more than knock them off-balance. That, however, made it even easier for the pair of fighters to slice them down. When the Slowing tower engaged, the movements of the kobolds slowed down by about a third and the fight was quickly over. ¡°Get Eihlen in there to make sure they are both healed up. I think we need to alter our strategy some. Give me a minute to think it over.¡± Duke TELEPORTED with Aurelia and Eihlen to the pair of fighters and the healer went straight to work. Axis¡¯ own healing abilities had started to close his wounds, but Eihlen¡¯s efforts instantly healed both him and Jablach. None of their wounds had been serious, which was a surprise in Axis¡¯ case as he had been swarmed by the knife-wielding kobolds. As they finished with healing, the kobolds¡¯ bodies sublimated into wispy smoke that rapidly dissipated. The kobolds¡¯ equipment, however, remained behind. With a grin, Duke collected all the gear into his INVENTORY. ¡°We¡¯ll go through all this stuff later when we have time to IDENTIFY it.¡± Nods of agreement followed before they were interrupted by Greslarnier. ¡°I have established a mind-net. We now can all speak with each other mentally so there is no chance we will not be heard through distance or the din of battle.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great ¨C should prove to be quite useful. Any thoughts on our approach from here on out?¡± Duke responded to the group. ¡°We are going to have to treat our towers as a useful convenience but not rely on them. The real fighting will need to be done by us it seems.¡± Aurelia posited. ¡°I believe you have the right of it. I will remain up on the defensive tower and continue to layer my own barriers for our final line of defense. It will take some time to truly build this defense. Perhaps as long as an hour as I will need to set up some runic structures to truly make it a magical fortress. Will you be OK without my support for that long?¡± Baslin asked. ¡°I think we can handle it as long as we don¡¯t stack too many waves on top of each other. Their numbers will start to become a problem when the waves start to number in the hundreds.¡± Axis responded. ¡°I am going to start upgrading towers as we gain the credits. I have enough to max out the Archery tower, so I am going to do that and see if it has any effect.¡± Greslarnier didn¡¯t wait for a response before starting the upgrade process. The tower¡¯s response was immediate, growing three meters taller and expanding outwards to show multiple ballistae atop it. Duke was about to send Aurelia and Eihlen back to the defensive tower when Aurelia held up a hand to pause him. ¡°We should stay down here with you three. I can help with the fighting if needed, but I will mostly focus on protecting Eihlen so that she can be ready to heal any of us that need it. I know we will be able to handle these early waves without issue, but things could change rapidly. I don¡¯t want you splitting your attention trying to fight and TELEPORT us in for support.¡± Duke decided not to point out that his plan was to TELEPORT those needing healing back to the defensive structure and decided to agree. ¡°OK, but remember your primary duty is to protect Eihlen.¡± Aurelia¡¯s response was lost in the horn indicating the start of the next wave. The group retreated to the Enhancer tower and waited for the group of 50 kobolds to make its way to them. Book2, Chapter 74 - Ramping up the Difficulty The kobolds of the seventh wave came marching down the road full of confidence as their mages¡¯ barriers kept the towers from affecting them. Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA picked up their confidence and eagerness. It offended him at a level he didn¡¯t really understand and caused him to act without thinking. With a flex of power, the five kobold mages appeared in front of the party. Even though they had not been given warning, Jablach and Axis tore into them, killing them swiftly as they stood there disorientated. They both shared an accusatory look back at Duke who gave the official ¡°sorry about that¡± wince. The remaining kobolds were savaged by the towers. The upgraded Archery tower began to really show its full capabilities as the massive arrows struck down panicked kobold after panicked kobold. With their protection gone, their confidence had disappeared as fast as the barriers. Some attempted to run down the road to reach the party while others simply turned tail and tried to flee. None of them survived to reach the party or escape the field of battle. ¡°That was a good idea, Duke. But next time make sure the rest of the team is ready for the sudden appearance of enemies. Let¡¯s keep that going for the next few waves and see if we can keep using the towers to clear the bulk of the kobolds.¡± ¡°Yeah. Sorry about that. They just looked so damned smug marching carefree behind their barriers that I couldn¡¯t help myself.¡± ¡°I probably would have done the same, Duke. At least it¡¯s the plan now.¡± Axis replied. ¡°Can anyone tell me if the Enhancer tower is having an effect on you?¡± Greslarnier attempted to get things back under control as Duke ran down the road collecting the kobolds¡¯ gear. ¡°Without question. I am faster and stronger than normal under its influence. I would say maybe 25% faster than normal and the same with strength. This may be the best tower we have. Can it be upgraded?¡± ¡°It can be upgraded three times like all the other towers, but we don¡¯t have the credits to do so just yet. We have 840 credits and we need 1,900 to upgrade it to the next level.¡± ¡°I recommend we make that one a priority. A force multiplier for ourselves is rather powerful.¡± Axis¡¯s suggestion was agreed to by all. Duke returned in time for the next wave to be announced. They waited for the kobolds to be directly between the Archery and Energy Blast towers and Duke enacted the plan, TELEPORTING the kobold mages directly to the party. The expected chaos ensued as they were quickly cut down while the towers finished off the remaining kobolds. ¡°Did one of the kobolds actually make it past the Acid Spitter tower?¡± Greslarnier asked ¡°That is what I saw.¡± Duke responded. ¡°It seems that they are approaching the power level where our towers are going to cease to be able to stop them.¡± ¡°I can set up another Enhancer tower close to the base so that they have to get through all our towers before reaching you or we can save the credits and upgrade the current Enhancer tower after the next wave.¡± The debate amongst the group was short-lived and the decision was to move back and see what the remaining two towers could do and go from there. The other decision was to hold off on the second Enhancer tower until they needed it. While the short-lived debate took place, Duke had collected all the gear from the deceased kobolds. ¡°You have room for all that stuff?¡± Jablach asked Duke. ¡°I have room for more than 360,000 cubic meters of stuff. This is nothing.¡± ¡°Walking warehouse.¡± Axis quipped. ¡°Walking warehouse with a cute ass.¡± Aurelia added as she grabbed Duke from behind. All further conversation was forestalled by the next wave starting. They stuck to the plan and executed the kobold mages quickly. This mass of 60 kobolds charged through the first three towers with some casualties but lost more than half of their remaining number to the Acid Spitter tower. The Armor Breaker did a spectacular job of shattering shields and degrading the kobolds¡¯ armor but the 9 that still lived charged on past the Enhancer tower and were blasted to ash by the Dragon¡¯s Breath tower. The blue flame swept across the road leaving neither kobold nor gear behind, just some scattered ash blowing in the wind. After a series of quick glances amongst the group the decision to keep calling waves was easy to make. The next waves came one after another with their tactics holding up solidly. The fifteenth wave saw the first kobold that made it through the Dragon¡¯s Breath tower. It emerged from the flames, its crest glowing blue while it radiated some form of freezing aura around itself. This was also the first wave that had mages that put up a significant fight when TELEPORTED. The Heaven¡¯s Wrath tower engaged the lone kobold survivor with a blast of pure whiteness. When everyone¡¯s eyes readjusted from the bright flash, the kobold was just gone. There was no body, no ash, just nothing, as if the kobold had never existed. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°That was the last of the tier two attackers. We now move on to the tier three and eventually, I expect tier four. It¡¯s going to get harder now, especially as their levels and numbers really start to climb.¡± Duke sent to the group. ¡°Is it time for the Enhancer tower for the party?¡± Greslarnier asked. ¡°I think so. How much can you level one up with the credits we have now?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°I can get us a level three Enhancer tower right here in front of the base. Sound good?¡± ¡°Yes, do it.¡± The tower rose from the ground with a rumbling crash. Immediately was leveled up twice more expanding taller and wider. The rush of power that followed the tower''s creation filled the group with a feeling of invincibility. They found themselves involuntarily flexing muscles and readying their weapons as the next wave began. The 16th wave marked the start of the tier 3 kobolds. These creatures marched down the road with confidence and swagger their mages erected barriers that protected them from the onslaught I''m all the towers. A debate rose up amongst the group as to whether Duke should TELEPORT the mages to the group to kill them or whether they should face this group of 95 fully intact. ¡±Go on Duke get on with it. Some of the mages so we can slaughter them before the rest get here.¡± ¡°No, let them come as a group. We need to gauge their strength in tier three while they are still low-level and this will also give us the chance to see just how much the Enhancer tower boosts us.¡± In the end, the group decided to just let them come and see how the mages handled the two strongest towers. As it turned out, better than the group had expected. The nine mages of the group easily tanked the Dragon¡¯s Breath tower with their combined barriers. What happened next, changed the group¡¯s strategy for the rest of the delve. The mages broke into two groups. The group of five continued forward, protecting the approaching group of kobolds. The four other mages stopped their advance and concentrated on a spell of their own. It was a short ritual spell that culminated with a single blast of energy directed back towards the start of the level. The four mages collapsed, their lifeforce spent to power the spell, but it struck the target perfectly. In seconds, the Archery tower collapsed. ¡°Well, fuck. Did anyone see that coming? I sure as hell didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Nope, that was unexpected and tells us for certain that we can¡¯t let them advance unimpeded. Duke, grab the remaining mages and get them into the slaughter zone.¡± Duke didn¡¯t hesitate and the remaining five kobold mages were TELEPORTED to the waiting group. There was no hesitation as they were attacked by Aurelia, Jablach, Axis, and Duke. Axis won the unofficial ¡°killing speed¡± contest and managed to also finish off the last mage before the others could get to it. The remaining kobolds of the wave struggled their way through the Dragon¡¯s Breath and Heaven¡¯s Wrath towers¡¯ effects with only a pair reaching the group. They did not last long. Since they had delayed so long in dealing with that wave, the next started almost immediately. Duke did not delay in TELEPORTING the ten mages of this wave to the group. With the effects of the Enhancer tower running through their bodies, they quickly tore through the kobold mages and were able to watch the towers take their toll on the kobolds. Even though the kobolds now stood as tall as Duke and carried heavy weapons and armor, they were still no match for the two last towers. Seven ragged kobolds made it through the ordeal but were also quickly cut down by the group. As the last kobold turned to mist, the group looked at each other and collectively said to Duke. ¡°TELEPORT the mages first.¡± He laughed along. ¡°Yeah, seems like that is the way to win this. Which means things are going to change on us soon. This pattern can¡¯t hold. It has to ramp up in difficulty soon. We need to be ready with other strategies.¡± ¡°Any suggestions?¡± Eihlen asked? ¡°Be ready for Duke to unleash ridiculous amounts of Mana channeled into a spell of mass destruction.¡± Aurelia replied. ¡°Not my first thought on a strategy, but if it comes to it, you know that I will do just that.¡± ¡°Speaking of ridiculous amounts of Mana, how much Mana does my former apprentice have at his command now?¡± Duke smiled. ¡°A bit under three million.¡± All heads turned to him. ¡°Did I hear that right? Three million Mana?¡± Greslarnier shouted down from the top of the base. ¡°It¡¯s really closer to 2.8 million, but yeah. That¡¯s what I¡¯ve got for now. It will take another dozen levels or so for me to hit three million officially.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an immense Mana pool. No, not immense. It¡¯s just stupid. I doubt even Baslin has a Mana pool like that. Do you, Baslin?¡± ¡°I have too many old enemies still out there to reveal such information. But Duke¡¯s pool is alarmingly large for his tier and level. The fact that he had to all but die to get it speaks to how hard it is to achieve. I¡¯m sure you all know how hard he is to kill.¡± ¡°Right here. I¡¯m right here, you all. Enough talk about how different I am and let¡¯s get ready for the next wave. It will be the full hundred kobolds, so we should expect something to change. Prepare yourselves.¡± As Duke had predicted, the next wave started. These kobolds looked different. They all had scaled crests that glowed with different colored light and came charging down the road. When Duke was unable to see any mages among them and there were no magic barriers in evidence, the group collectively tightened their grip on their weapons and prepared for the coming charge. None of them missed that the Slowing tower had no effect on the approaching screaming horde. The group cemented their positions and waited. The charging kobolds ignored all the towers. Book 2, Chapter 75 - Not THAT Easy... When both the Dragon¡¯s Breath and Heaven¡¯s Wrath towers failed to affect the charging kobolds, the group¡¯s nerves started to show. Axis¡¯ knuckles cracked around the haft of his axe while Jablach¡¯s blades calmly moved in a figure eight pattern in front of him. The fact that his blades moved at all showed his nerves, relying on the repetitive motion to prepare him for action. Aurelia had her sword drawn and shield at the ready, behind the front line as she prepared to protect Eihlen from any attackers that passed through the front line. Are they immune to magic? Should I send a blast of LIGHTNING to see its effect before they get here, or just let them come and see where this goes before stepping up my efforts. MY tonfa should be enough to handle them, I think. Duke stepped up next to Axis and used IDENTIFY for the first time since the first wave. *** You have encountered a Kobold Dragonkin. This is a draconic creature. Tier: 3 Level: 20 Health: 153,045 Mana: 64,980 Special Abilities: Magic Resistance, Tower Immunity Weaknesses: None detected *** ¡°They are resistant to magic and are immune to the towers. Let¡¯s keep it melee for now.¡± Duke related his findings and prepared himself for the charging kobolds that now stood taller than him. The kobolds burst out of the light of the Heaven¡¯s Wrath tower and bore down on the group. The kobolds formed behind a spearpoint of the first few. Their crests glowed with an eerie red light that reflected off their glassy black eyeballs. Their claws were fully extended like fifteen-centimeter blades to match their sharp teeth. Their skin was covered in thick dark scales that Duke imagined was strong armor. When ¡°tip of the spear¡± came close, Axis sprung forward with a rising sweep of his axe that started just below knee height on the kobold he was aiming for. The strike came so fast, Duke barely registered it before the kobold was nearly bisected by the blade of the axe exiting its shoulder. The kobold, itself, collapsed before it could even react and the battle was well and truly joined. Jablach waded in with his blades flashing through flesh, using his considerable strength and speed. Duke followed suit, smashing bones with his tonfa. The three¡¯s drive into the surging kobolds stopped their advance cold as they now moved to envelop the three combatants. The kobolds were able to surround them, but any that got close were cut down rapidly. One tried to break away from the melee and threaten Aurelia and Eihlen. With her INSPIRATION and Commander¡¯s Might combined with the Enhancer tower, Aurelia found herself moving faster and striking harder than she had ever imagined. She struck the kobold down with a single bash of her shield followed up by a slash of her golden sword. Eihlen took the opportunity to weave a Healing spell that would normally heal their entire team a modest amount every second. With the boosts she was receiving, the power of the spell was essentially doubled. When the last kobold was felled, they took stock of themselves and realized that they were all in great shape save for the slick of blood that covered them. Duke CLEANSED them and RESTORED their equipment to make sure they were in the best shape for the waves to come. ¡°They were tier three, but they were only level twenty. Not too far into the tier and we¡¯re not even halfway through the waves. It¡¯s going to get much harder.¡± Duke reminded the group. ¡°And remember, Duke got further than this solo.¡± Aurelia added. ¡°It was different then. The mod type and strength were easier. I didn¡¯t even need to put up any towers.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t know how to put up any towers.¡± Greslarnier added to chuckles all around. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The next wave was announced shortly afterwards, and the fighting commenced again. This seemed to be a normal wave with mages and large kobold dragonkin. When Duke extracted the mages, the rest were subject to the towers¡¯ attacks, and they were quickly defeated. ¡°I have enough for the final upgrade on the Enhancer tower. I¡¯m going to spend it now so you all can get used to the boost before things get really difficult.¡± The Enhancer tower grew larger, spikes of coppery metal sprouting from its crown. The group felt the added power immediately. ¡°It feels like all my stats doubled. I¡¯m so fast now.¡± Axis remarked. ¡°And you weren¡¯t fast before?¡± Jablach quipped. ¡°You feel it too, don¡¯t you?¡± Axis ignored the quip. ¡°I know I do. I feel like I could flatten a mountain.¡± Duke replied. ¡°Point your mountain-flattener that way, please.¡± Eihlen added, pointing back towards the front of the level where the waves originated from. ¡°Um, right. Pointing my mountain-flattener that way.¡± Duke responded deadpan. They waded through the next few waves, sticking with the formula of TELEPORTING the mages and letting the towers kill the bulk of the attackers. Things started to get more difficult at the 25th level. The level started as normal but quickly changed when the more than hundred kobold dragonkin ignored the towers again. This would not have been as much of a surprise except this group was escorted by mages as well. Duke had TELEPORTED the mages to the group where they found themselves hard-pressed to kill the mages quickly as they all had some form of personal barriers that took significant damage before breaking. The fourteen mages had split into three groups. The first had engaged the group and fought with their barriers and various attack spells. These spells were mostly countered by Baslin¡¯s defensive casts but a few did get through to land painfully searing attacks on Duke, Jablach, and Axis. The second group focused its power on destroying the Slowing tower while the third focused on the Energy Blast tower. Both of these groups were successful before the trio of fighters could cut their way through the barriers. The final mage to go down held up three clawed fingers as if indicating the three towers that had been destroyed. It wasn¡¯t until the rest of the kobolds ran through the Acid Spitter tower¡¯s effect that the group realized that they were dealing with another group of immune kobold dragonkin. At tier three and level 100, these kobolds were stronger than most foes the group had ever faced individually. When they came as a horde more than one hundred strong, the group wound up on the back-foot fighting through the monsters that now stood taller than all of them with significant reach from their twenty-centimeter-long claws. The last kobold fell, ending the wave and Eihlen nearly collapsed from the strain of constant healing she had been providing. Aurelia helped prop her up as Duke again CLEANSED and RESTORED the group. ¡°Mana fatigue?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Yeah, I just don¡¯t have enough Mana to keep casting like that. It doesn¡¯t regen fast enough to maintain that pace.¡± Eihlen replied. ¡°OK, go rest up with Baslin and Greslarnier. I¡¯ll start blasting these next few waves so you can get some Mana back and spend your points from leveling up. What level are you up to now, anyway?¡± ¡°I¡­I haven¡¯t checked. I minimized all my notifications, concentrating on the fight.¡± She paused looking things over before replying with shock. ¡°I gained 10 levels already, bringing me to level 90. I¡¯m almost at my Tier 3 breakthrough! Oh, and my Spells have all advanced, nearly up to the Adept rank. That will help a lot. I just need to get my mana to refill.¡± ¡°Let me help you with that.¡± Baslin started to hand her a brightly glowing blue potion but pulled it back at the last minute. ¡°What is your maximum Mana?¡± ¡°Close to 70,000.¡± She replied. ¡°That¡¯s quite respectable for a tier two caster. But this potion would be way too much for you. Use this one instead.¡± The new potion had a very soft blue glow, and she drank it down without hesitation. Baslin watched her carefully as if waiting for a reaction. Her eyes opened wide, briefly glowing with a bright blue light before returning to normal. She gasped and stumbled before Baslin steadied her. ¡°Perhaps that one¡¯s still too strong. Cast some spells. You¡¯ll be fine.¡± Duke and Axis were the only ones to hear Baslin very quietly add, ¡°I hope.¡± She cast a Heal Over Time Spell on everyone which seemed to settle her balance back down. ¡°Yes, that was too much. I¡¯m better now.¡± Baslin handed her a pair of dull blue potions. ¡°Use these when you need them. They should restore about two thirds of your Mana each. But for now, follow Duke¡¯s advice and rest. He¡¯ll make sure they are all ok. If you haven¡¯t noticed, none of our front line has even used any Abilities.¡± ¡°The enemies aren¡¯t that hard yet.¡± Axis commented. ¡°If I were to transform, I could likely handle the next wave by myself.¡± ¡°Transform?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m a werewolf girlie. You really thought my only thing was to swing an axe around like some confused druid? That¡¯s funny.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just a demon who uses blades, if that makes you feel any better. I just have a bit more of a fighting style than this swing blades back and forth thing I have been doing. But really, unless they are at tier four or higher, it¡¯s really a waste of energy for me.¡± Jablach added. She stared at them for a moment before responding. ¡°I should have known. If Duke brought you along, you all have to be extraordinary in some way or another. He doesn¡¯t associate with the mundane.¡± ¡°Is that what everyone thinks about me?¡± ¡°Just the ones that have spent any length of time with you.¡± Aurelia added. ¡°And there¡¯s the signal. Wave 26, here we come!¡± ¡°Stay up there, Eihlen. We won¡¯t need healing in this wave.¡± Duke turned back to the approaching kobolds and checked everyone¡¯s readiness before TELEPORTING the kobold mages to the group. He did note a hint of resistance to his Ability but nothing he was concerned about just yet. The mages appeared before the group and the fight was joined yet again. Book 2, Chapter 76 - Darkness Within. Darkness Without. This time, the four of them pressed much harder than previously, starting to use their Abilities. Axis did not transform but did start using additional strength and speed borrowed from his werewolf form. Jablach started using some of his more basic combat art forms and Duke started using Abilities to a degree. Specifically, he started wielding DARKNESS as he felt that was a long-neglected Ability that was due for a rank up. While using the Ability, Duke discovered that he could use the creatures¡¯ own shadows as a vector for attacking with his DARKNESS. This completely bypassed the kobold mages¡¯ personal barriers, quickly killing them with blades of pure DARKNESS piercing their hearts or brains. Oh, that is so fucking cool. I can use their shadows against them. Y¡¯all watch this! Duke reached out over the field of battle as the kobolds came into range of his Ability and attacked them with tentacles of DARKNESS. The tentacles moved with a fluidity that no movie monster Duke had ever seen could, almost as if they were living beings unto themselves. They snaked into the charging kobolds and grabbed legs and arms, stopping each kobold grabbed in mid-step. Rapidly, he had captured half of the creatures. His unconscious mind took over as he was thoroughly distracted by the alarmed voices all around him. ¡°What in all the hells is that?¡± Eihlen shouted from above pointing at the struggling kobolds. ¡°That¡¯s Duke¡¯s doing.¡± Aurelia responded as all eyes turned to him. ¡°What? I used an Ability. TELEPORTING the kobold mages here was one too. What¡¯s got everyone so freaked out?¡± ¡°That!¡± Baslin shouted, pointing at the trapped kobolds. They all turned to look and saw that the DARKNESS had fully animated based on Duke¡¯s subconscious will and had torn the kobolds apart limb from limb. ¡°What the actual fuck?¡± Duke declared. ¡°That¡¯s your Ability, Duke. Are you saying that that happened without your direction?¡± Baslin asked. ¡°I might be.¡± ¡°That¡¯s truly frightening, Duke.¡± Axis responded. ¡°What happened to you that would cause your Ability to do something like that?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been through some stuff. I don¡¯t want to talk about it.¡± Duke was interrupted by a gasp from Greslarnier who stared at him in abject horror. ¡°The emotion of what happened to you bleeds through your thoughts. I don¡¯t know what it was, but your mind should not have survived that level of horror.¡± ¡°Thanks for the tip. Thankfully, I¡¯m made of sterner stuff than most.¡± He reached out and a spear of DARKNESS lanced out, impaling the lone kobold who had made it through the towers to reach them after Duke¡¯s Ability killed so many. His further thoughts were interrupted by a notification. *** Your DARKNESS Ability has ranked up to Practiced 1. Through a deeper personal connection to the Umbral realm, your DARKNESS Ability has evolved into UMBRAL REAPER. This new Ability taps into your unconscious mind to draw additional power beyond the Mana spent. Your darkest memories and thoughts will be harnessed to devastate your enemies. Beware of what lurks in your darkest thoughts for this Ability will inflict them upon others. Your UMBRAL REAPER Ability has gained sufficient fuel from your unconscious mind to advance to Adept 1. *** Duke shuddered as the dark thoughts that roamed his unconsciousness clawed their way to the surface. He felt his MENTAL FORTITUDE flare and fight the thoughts back down. He quickly regained control of himself with a shake of his head and noticed two main things. One, Greslarnier was lying face-down on the tower and two, everyone else was staring at him wide-eyed. ¡°What happened this time?¡± Duke asked with no small amount of dread. ¡°Your shadow came alive and spread all over you, forming a cloaked figure holding a scythe in its hands before the whole thing drained into your eyes.¡± Aurelia told him, stepping forward as if to check that he was still himself. ¡°Well, that¡¯s both totally fucked up and must have been cool as hell to watch.¡± ¡°Not as cool as you would think. More than a little terrifying is what I would say.¡± Eihlen said, helping Greslarnier back to its feet. ¡°And filled with psychic backlash.¡± Greslarnier waved off Eihlen¡¯s help and sat down. ¡°I am completely drained from the simple contact with it. Your mind is a terrifyingly powerful weapon, Duke. You need to learn how to control it before you unintentionally cause grievous harm to someone you care about.¡± ¡°Well, shit.¡± Duke responded as the next wave began. ¡°How do I control my unconscious mind? What does that even mean?¡± Stolen story; please report. ¡°It will take work, but I can help you to do so.¡± ¡°Right now, let¡¯s focus on killing kobolds. Especially since it looks like they¡¯ve gone through another upgrade.¡± Axis returned their attention back to the coming wave of enemies that were, once again, ignoring the towers¡¯ effects. This group was radically different. They had wings and were flying. Duke IDENTIFIED what was coming. *** You have encountered a Lesser Dragonkin. This is a lesser draconic creature. Tier: 3 Level: 120 Health: 403,248 Mana: 189,700 Special Abilities: Magic Resistance, Tower Immunity, Flight, Breath Weapon Weaknesses: Avarice *** ¡°They¡¯re not kobolds anymore. They are now lesser dragonkin with breath weapons. The towers are useless against them so this might just be a real fight. Anyone else here able to fly?¡± Duke rose into the air as he was answered with headshakes. ¡°Then everyone else get on top of the base and defend the target. I¡¯ll fly out to meet them and engage them in the air.¡± Duke prepared himself for arial combat. They are resistant to magic so I might have to go with some kinetic energy attacks to thin their numbers down. Duke quickly rose above the tower, pushing his FLIGHT Ability to the limit of its speed and then flashed down towards the rapidly approaching dragonkin. The repeated sonic booms echoed across the battlefield and as he approached, he emptied his INVENTORY of hundreds of iron and steel scraps he had picked up from all the smithies he had visited in Havenreach. The cloud of projectiles surrounded him, and he stopped his FLIGHT moments later. The cloud of projectiles continued on their way, expanding as they travelled away from Duke and into the ranks of the dragonkin. The jagged shards of metal tore into the dragonkin, shredding wings and gouging deeply into scales. A handful died in the assault, but Duke¡¯s primary goal was achieved ¨C the entire horde was now earthbound, their wings shredded, useless. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about!¡± Axis shouted as he jumped back down to meet the charge with Duke. Jablach followed a heartbeat behind. Aurelia stayed up top to protect Eihlen, not trusting that the flying creatures were all earthbound. Duke remained airborne just in case. The dragonkin came in much slower and unbalanced than they had been when they were in the air. Duke noted that their feet were clawed with a back toe like a bird making it difficult for them to walk smoothly. Axis and Jablach immediately took advantage of their awkwardness and waded into them. This proved to be a mistake as breath weapons ignited the area bathing the pair in fire, acid, electricity, ice, and other more exotic forms of energy. The dragonkin were not fazed as breath weapons raked through their own ranks to get at the two fighters whose screams of pain tore into everyone¡¯s ears. Duke reactively TELEPORTED the pair to Eihlen for healing and flew down to engage the dragonkin himself. He smashed the first few with his tonfa before he saw others start to deeply inhale again to prime their breath weapons. Duke TELEPORTED behind the dragonkin and let their breath weapons ignite the area where he had been standing a moment before. The dragonkin ignored Duke and stumble-charged towards the base tower causing Duke to remember that this wasn¡¯t just a fight, it was a defensive goal. He attacked the rearmost of the creatures but other than the few he struck, none turned to engage him ¨C they were intent on their singular goal. As Duke waded into the back of the dragonkin horde, a howl of absolute rage echoed across the battlefield. Everything stopped. The dragonkin appeared stunned and even Duke hesitated as his animal instincts told him to run for his life. He quickly recovered as his MENTAL FORTITUDE was working overtime to keep him in the fight. He retuned to smashing stunned dragonkin before dragonkin bodies and parts of bodies started to rain down all over the area. In moments, the dragonkin were torn to pieces and Duke stood face to furry chest with a raging werewolf, its chest heaving while it sucked in massive lungfuls of air. ¡°Friend, Axis.¡± Duke said as calmly and steadily as he could. He was greeted by glowing crimson eyes as the werewolf looked down at him. ¡°I fucking know who you are, Duke. I¡¯m not a fucking out-of-control monster.¡± Jablach called out as he hopped down from the base tower. ¡°Yeah, but you are one scary son of a b-¡° ¡°Don¡¯t say it if you value your lungs, Jablach.¡± Axis warned, the aura of barely contained rage emanating palpably from him. Jablach immediately shut up but still came over to the pair. ¡°You mind doing that cleaning thing, Duke. This place is a bit messy. I don¡¯t want to slip on a pile of intestines.¡± ¡°Um yeah. I can do that but they will dissipate in a minute anyway.¡± He CLEANSED the area before turning back to Axis. ¡°You were holding that in reserve, weren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes, but those breath weapons hurt like the hells. When I saw that they had made it past you, I was concerned for the rest of the party and, well, you saw what happened.¡± ¡°Yeah. That was something. Excuse me for a minute, I¡¯m going to go loot everything that we have missed over the past few waves.¡± Duke quickly flew over the battlefield, filling his INVENTORY full of everything that had been dropped by the attackers. He was surprised to find that the scraps of metal he had used in his strafing attack were still largely intact and confined to the battlefield. Smiling, he grabbed them up and returned to the pair. ¡°All cleaned-up.¡± He joked. ¡°We¡¯re a little past the middle of the waves and I¡¯ve already wolfed-out. You weren¡¯t kidding about how hard this was going to get. I am actually excited to see what will happen when we hit the wave of 200 creatures and the next transformation. I haven¡¯t had such fun with a combat challenge in ages.¡± ¡°That was fun? It sounded like you were fully enraged and ready to tear the world apart.¡± ¡°Like I said, fun.¡± He smiled at Duke before continuing. ¡°Even in the arena, there was almost never a fight to the death for me. The only fighters that could really challenge me were too valuable to their owners to lose so we only ever fought to submission or unconsciousness. Here, I¡¯m fighting foes that will start to actually push my limits. At least, I hope they will. This last wave was a good indication that the later waves will do just that.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯ve been jonesing for a fight?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what that word means, but by context, yes. I have been yearning for the chance to unleash my full self in the wild abandon of combat.¡± ¡°So, I guess you would be happy to know that you could come back here whenever you want to and run the dungeon by yourself or with whomever you want?¡± ¡°Truly?¡± ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll set up a Portal for you. Maybe a locked door in your house so the girls don¡¯t accidentally step through, but it shouldn¡¯t be too hard to set up.¡± ¡°It seems that I again owe Ergo for bringing us together.¡± ¡°Speaking of the big guy, where is he?¡± ¡°Doing what he always wanted to do ¨C farming. He has a farm outside of Havenreach that he loves working. I¡¯ve never seen him happier.¡± ¡°Not what I expected but glad he is pursuing his passion.¡± ¡°Indeed. Sounds like the next wave is coming. You two want to cut the chatter and pay attention?¡± The pair looked over to see a widely grinning Jablach. ¡°Whatever you say, demon.¡± Axis chuckled and turned back towards the now approaching dragonkin. Book 2, Chapter 77 - Theyre Just Baby Ones, Right? ¡°I am going to start upgrading our most powerful towers, but I need to make sure their mages don¡¯t destroy them. Can you TELEPORT their mages so that one of you three can attack them from behind?¡± ¡°I can do that. Who-¡° Duke cut off his question as he saw Axis jogging back down the road giggling and flexing his claws. ¡°Guess he¡¯s got that position.¡± Duke chuckled himself before he raised his voice. ¡°Give me a signal when you are in position!¡± Axis arched his back and let loose a howl that shook the ground. Duke took that as his signal that he was in position and ready. He activated TELEPORTATION, bringing the mages between his and Jablach¡¯s position and Axis. The momentary confusion among the fifteen mages was enough for the three of them to jump into action. Jablach¡¯s blades glowed with the glow of hellfire as he charged into the draconian mages. Duke¡¯s tonfa were coated with crackling LIGHTNING as he likewise charged into the more than a dozen mages. Axis¡¯s claws slashed through armored scales like paper as he flashed through the rear ranks of the dragonkin mages. In moments, the remaining mages reacted, blasting out with magic and breath weapons alike. Duke twisted sideways to avoid a particularly nasty looking purple beam of energy, returning an arc of LIGHTNING in response. The arc danced along the dragonkin¡¯s blue scales with no visible effect other than to make it smile. It responded with a deep inhale. It reared back, preparing to unleash a massive blast of its breath weapon. It threw its entire body forward to unleash its breath weapon. Duke was confused as the head continued forward to land on the ground at his feet. ¡°You going to just stare at it or are you going to actually do something, boy?¡± Jablach taunted, flicking the blood from his blades as he stood behind the decapitated dragonkin mage. ¡°Well, it seems we have run out of mages, and the towers are doing their job.¡± They all watched as the upgraded Heaven¡¯s Wrath tower easily killed the last of the wave. Duke CLEANSED the area and the three of them. ¡°They are starting to get up there in level. That last group was level 130. Opinions on whether we need to change tactics at all?¡± Axis smiled with a combination of malice and joy that was simply unnerving. It might have been the oversized canines of his werewolf form that gave his grin the sense of malice, but it was definitely there. ¡°I think this is working just fine. Let¡¯s keep this up until the next big change.¡± All agreed and continued to stick to the plan for the next several waves. It was the thirty-sixth wave that saw the biggest change so far. By Duke¡¯s estimations this was where the Tier four creatures would begin. When the first creatures appeared, he IDENTIFIED them because he was sure this was an entirely different tier of creature. *** You have encountered a Lesser Wyrmling. This is a lesser dragon. While not a full dragon at this size and age, this creature has the potential to become one of the most powerful creatures on the planet. Tier: 4 Level: 20 Health: 612,160 Mana: 648,000 Special Abilities: Magic Resistance, Flight, Soulfire Breath Weapon, Spells Weaknesses: Avarice *** ¡°Those aren¡¯t dragonkin. They¡¯re young dragons. And there¡¯s almost 200 of them. There are fifteen waves left and they will all get drastically more difficult. It¡¯s time to get serious.¡± ¡°Right. Don¡¯t hold back from here on out.¡± Jablach responded. ¡°Claws and jaws. I will rend them all.¡± Axis responded as he stepped next to Duke and Jablach. The wymlings flew along the road, still restricted by the dungeon parameters. The remaining early towers engaged them pitifully. The Acid Spitter tower¡¯s effects were blown into a fine mist and away from the flapping wings and the Armor Breaker¡¯s effect was unnoticeable. The group watched as the wyrmlings entered the range of the fully-upgraded Dragon¡¯s Breath tower. The flames had gotten immeasurably hotter with the tower¡¯s upgrade, bathing the wyrmlings in blue flame that Duke was certain could melt steel. The wyrmlings¡¯ reaction was spiteful at best. Most rolled over and allowed the flames to pour over their bellies looking like cats getting their favorite rubs. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The final tower was up to its third upgrade and did seem to hurt the wyrmlings. But it did not kill a single one. Duke rose into the air as they started to come out of the range of the tower. The lead wyrmling saw him in the air and issued an ear-splitting roar of challenge. Duke remained silent as he turned to his newest Ability, greeting the emerging wrymlings with UMBRAL REAPER. With the brightness of the Heaven¡¯s Wrath tower behind them, the wyrmling¡¯s shadow was clearly defined and moved to immediately attack. The elongated shadow pulled back from the ground and wrapped itself tightly around the wyrmling and began to squeeze as the creature plummeted to the ground. Duke could hear the crunching of bones and a muffled howl of pain as the next wyrmling burst from the tower¡¯s effect and Jablach leaped to engage it. In a flash, Jablach was mounted between the creature¡¯s wings and was slicing off thick slabs of scales, skin, and muscles. The creature tried to turn its neck around and bite him, but it was at that point that Jablach cut through something important to its wings and the both of them came crashing to the ground. Axis surged forward and leapt to engage the next one through, tearing into its neck with a savagery that was difficult to watch. Blood fountained as he tore a critical artery out with his fangs and rode the beast to the ground only letting go just before impact. By the time Axis and Jablach were back on their feet, Duke was busy engaging the dozens of wyrmlings that were bursting out of the curtain of light. Umbral shadows crawled all over the wyrmlings but more than one had been able to target Duke with their breath weapons in the meantime. Duke was no stranger to pain, and he knew from experience that the pain of burning alive was among the worst types of pain. The wyrmling¡¯s breath weapons were like nothing he had ever experienced before. If not for the combination of his Mental Fortitude, Armor Skin, and SPELL RESISTANCE, he would have curled up in a fetal position screaming. As it was, the creatures¡¯ attacks burned him at a spiritual level. It felt like his very soul was engulfed in flame and being seared away layer by layer. He responded, lashing out in pain at a level deeper than thought ¨C and his UMBRAL REAPER Ability answered with all-consuming hunger and desire for retribution. Shadows creeped up and over all the young dragons. With impossibly sharp claws scales were torn off, falling to the ground like rain. When all the scales were gone, the shadows sliced into the skin beneath, slicing off ribbons of bleeding flesh. One by one, the wyrmlings fell to the ground twitching out their last ragged breaths. Duke returned to the ground staring at the unholy carnage his newest Ability had wrought yet again. ¡°There has to be another way.¡± Duke kept repeating the phrase like a mantra. He did not immediately notice when Aurelia wrapped him up in a hug. When he realized it, he held her tighter. ¡°Duke, what happened?¡± ¡°It was their breath weapons. All my defenses were not nearly enough. Not even close. It hurt my soul. It burned my existence and I reacted. I struck back with the deepest part of myself. It was almost as painful to experience my own savagery explode outwards like that. I felt each slash. I felt every cut like it was me making it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok now. Rest. We have a few minutes before the next wave.¡± Axis came over to sit by Duke against the wall of the base defensive tower. ¡°We¡¯re not going to talk about that. OK?¡± He didn¡¯t wait for a response. ¡°Just take the next wave off. Let the rest of us handle it. Greslarnier has upgraded the first Enhancer tower. Jablach and I are going to engage the next wave out there to soften them up. We¡¯ll then fall back here and let the towers do whatever damage they can before we finish them off. Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ve got this.¡± Duke looked up, his eyes sunken and hollow and just nodded. He felt Axis get up and briefly watched him and Jablach move down the road to the first Enhancer tower. He wanted to get up and help them. He knew that was his role. That was why he was here. Instead, he retreated into his messages. *** Your Aerial Maneuvering Skill has increased to Practiced 37 You Meditation Skill has increased to Initiate 24 Your Tonfa Mastery Skill has increased to 143 Your TELEPORTATION Ability has increased to Master 31 Your REGENERATION Ability has increased to Adept 124 Your LIGHTNING Ability has increased to Adept 21 Your OVERCHANNEL Ability has increased to Adept 47 Your MENTAL FORTITUDE Ability has increased to Practiced 62 Your UMBRAL REAPER Ability has increased to Adept 11 Your SPELL RESISTANCE Ability has increased to Initiate 31 Your CLEANSE Ability has increased to Practiced 32 Your RESTORE Ability has increased to Master 61 Your IDENTIFY Ability has ranked up to Practiced 8 Your INVENTORY Ability has increased to Practiced 34 Your ARMOR SKIN Ability has increased to Adept 37 Your FLIGHT Ability has increased to Practiced 54 Your COMBAT SENSE Ability has ranked up to Practiced 2 Your AURA of PROSPERITY Ability has increased to Initiate 18 *** Duke numbly read through his Skill and Ability increases before another notification got his attention. *** You have been subjected to Soulfire. Your exposure was not sufficient to assimilate this into your Abilities. Gain additional exposure to gain this Ability. *** Duke stared at the notification for a long minute before dismissing it with a shake of his head. Not going to subject myself to that again if I don¡¯t have to. No fucking way. Distantly he was aware that the next wave had begun and he pulled himself out of his thoughts. Book 2, Chapter 78 - Infighting Duke got back to his feet, putting his mind back into ¡°mission mode.¡± Gazing across the battlefield, he saw that Jablach, Axis, and Aurelia were fighting the wyrmlings. They were still in the initial Enhancer tower¡¯s influence and were doing well enough but were at risk of being overwhelmed as more and more wyrmlings came onto the field. There was a contingent flying above the fray that had paused. Their heads all flashed forward unleashing their breath weapons on the trio. It happened faster than he could react. One minute they were fiercely fighting the wyrmlings and the next, they were engulfed in soulfire, writing in agony on the ground. He TELEPORTED them to Eihlen even though he was sure the healer couldn¡¯t do anything to help them. But it got them out of range of any more attacks while they writhed in pain. ¡°Baslin, can your shields stop soulfire?¡± ¡°Is that what they are afflicted with? In time, I could make a shield for that but we don¡¯t have that kind of time. The wyrmlings are moving through the towers effortlessly again.¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s up to me to stop them.¡± Duke TELEPORTED to the top of the battlefield and, once again, began a strafing run. This time, he also pulled out all the kobold weapons from his INVENTORY and added them to the attack. Close to five thousand projectiles rocketed towards the approaching wyrmlings. The impact of the projectiles was devastating and more than half of the wyrmlings crashed to the ground, dead or dying. The rest continued their inexorable advance down the road, seemingly picking up speed as they went. Duke cycled though all his attack Abilities, pouring 100,000 Mana into each in an attempt to find something that got past their resistances. LIGHTNING had no effect. FORCE slowed them down briefly. FLAME, POISON, ACID, ICE, EARTH, and LIGHT were equally ineffective. WIND also slowed the wyrmlings down but none of the attacks seemed to cause any real harm. Duke had two options left and neither was attractive. He could fight them physically which left him open to their soulfire breath weapons or he could use UMBRAL REAPER yet again. His moment of indecision nearly cost him as the wyrmlings emerged from the Heaven¡¯s Wrath tower having ignored its effects. His decision was made as he decided to not use the Ability he didn¡¯t fully understand and could not yet control. He flew at the flight of wyrmlings, tonfa extended like a wedge before him, hoping he could evade their breath weapons long enough to kill the remaining creatures. His near immediate acceleration allowed him to slam into the wyrmlings at over four times the speed of sound. The impact created a shockwave throughout the flight of wyrmlings, killing a dozen immediately. Duke¡¯s body was much tougher than it had been when he had tried the maneuver for the first time, but it still caused substantial damage to him. He was barely able to hold onto his tonfa and was certain that he had broken both of his arms in multiple places. Still, he trusted in his REGNERATION as he turned around for another pass. A thought occurred to him before he charged again, and he attacked with his TELEPORTATION Ability. The strain he felt in his mind as he fought their resistance was excruciating but he bore down and kept pushing. Seconds passed and the first wyrmling succumbed, pieces of it appearing scattered all around the area. The pressure in Duke¡¯s mind lessened by a tiny amount, but that allowed him to push just that tiny amount harder. Then, like a rain-swollen river breaking through a levy, the wrymlings¡¯ resistance began to fail. Another went down, then another, and finally in an overwhelming flood, the rest of the wyrmlings died. Duke staggered for a few seconds as his headache cleared up before moving up to check on everyone else. The situation was nearly as bad as he feared. All three were still suffering from the effects of the soulfire. Aurelia was sitting and clutching her knees while rocking back and forth. Axis simply stood with his back arched, arms extended, and silently howling at the heavens. While Jablach was simply staring off into the distance, a completely impassive look on his face. Duke looked over to Greslarnier. ¡°They have suffered soul trauma. They will recover but it will take time. Time, I¡¯m afraid that this dungeon will not give us. I am upgrading the Heaven¡¯s Wrath tower to full, but that may not be enough should another group that can ignore the towers come through. Will you be able to handle it by yourself if they do?¡± ¡°You will not face it alone.¡± Baslin responded. I know these creatures are resistant to magic, but I have been studying them and they are not resistant to physical forces in nearly the same capacity. I will drop boulders on them if I need to, but I will do what I must to protect us all.¡± ¡°You are our last line of defense, Baslin.¡± ¡°And the defenses are as strong as I can make them. It is time my magic is used for more than sitting back and waiting. None of us have any sort of resistance nor were expecting to have to face soulfire here. It is truly terrifying stuff to deal with ¨C even Greslarnier¡¯s mental magic is useless against it. But I will stand with you and fight these last dozen waves.¡± ¡°So be it. We stand together and face them all.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Actually, you stand in front. I¡¯ll be back here.¡± Duke couldn¡¯t help but laugh and he felt the tension break in his body as he did so. ¡°Thanks, Baslin. I needed that.¡± ¡°Sure thing. Now go down there and kill as many of these things as you can.¡± Duke smiled as he took position near the Enhancer tower and prepared for the next wave. He did not have to wait long. It was another wave of wyrmlings. These seemed bigger than the last wave and he reflexively IDENTIFIED them. *** You have encountered a Lesser Wyrmling. This is a lesser dragon. While not a full dragon at this size and age, this creature has the potential to become one of the most powerful creatures on the planet. Tier: 4 Level: 80 Health: 775,200 Mana: 820,800 Special Abilities: Magic Resistance, Flight, Soulfire Breath Weapon, Spells Weaknesses: Avarice *** Duke was relieved to see that their size increase was just due to an increasing level. He did note that the levels on the Tier 4 wyrmlings were increasing faster than the previous tiers had. A quick calculation told him that they would max out Tier 4 in less than ten more waves, leaving the last five or so waves as Tier 5 creatures. He was concerned, but he knew that higher-tiers meant higher rewards. And that is something he was looking forward to no matter how much it hurt to get there. The current wave seemed to ignore the base-level Acid Spitter tower, but that was no surprise. The base-level Armor Breaker tower was similarly as ineffective. The Dragon¡¯s Breath tower seemed to actually affect this group and Duke was happy to see that the Heaven¡¯s Wrath tower was causing significant wounds. But, in the end, none of the towers were enough to stop the wyrmlings¡¯ advance. Duke prepared to attack as the wyrmlings started to come out of the tower¡¯s field of attack but paused as a rain of boulders fell from above, pelting the wyrmlings continuously. One by one, they were slammed into the ground and pummeled into dissipating mist. And just like that, the wave was cleared. ¡°Um, Baslin, why have you been holding that back?¡± ¡°Because it took me five minutes to cast it. I can cast it again in two waves, but it will be the only thing I can do in the meantime.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s perfectly OK. Do that. By all means, do that. I¡¯ll take the next wave on myself.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± Baslin began casting his Call Meteor spell again. Duke waited for the next wave to begin but raced around the road, collecting all the broken kobold weapons and scraps of metal he had previously used before it began. He started from the top of the area, preparing for another strafing run since the previous two had been so successful. The next wave started with the expected horn and Duke readied himself to burst out with his strafing run. What he did not expect was to see was riders on the backs of the even larger wyrmlings. He focused his DUNGEON SENSE to get a clearer picture of what he was facing and saw that it was dragonkin mages riding in saddles on the backs of the now 15-meter long wyrmlings. As they entered the road, mages¡¯ barriers sprung up around each of the wyrmlings. Cursing, he waited until the entire flight was on the path. All 215 of them by his count. He focused his will and activated TELEPORT to remove the mages from the wyrmlings¡¯ backs. All but two of the mages appeared in the air before him looking startled and panicked before they burst into flames and plummeted downwards, dissipating into mist before they hit the ground. No time to sort that out. Time to attack! Duke flew downward, changing his tactics slightly. He approached the wyrmlings at just under the speed of sound, feeling the pressure build as he got closer. When he was almost in their breath weapon range, he put on his massive acceleration and emptied his shrapnel cloud from his INVENTORY. As before, he flashed past the wyrmlings, getting behind the entire group in less than a second. There were a few things different about this time, however. The first difference was that a number of the wyrmlings got off their breath weapons before he acted. The second was that he created a sonic boom right in front of the advancing wyrmlings before releasing his shrapnel-bomb. These two differences had a dramatic effect. Soulfire washed over Duke as he passed through the advancing wyrmlings causing him absolute agony. At the same time, the shrapnel shredded through scales and wings alike followed by the arrival of the sonic boom¡¯s shock wave. Blood burst from open wounds, causing far greater injuries than just the shrapnel alone had caused. As Duke suffered from the pain of the soulfire, he struggled to keep his awareness intact, sure that there were still wyrmlings in this wave advancing on his team. Happily, he found that his MENTAL FORTITUDE put up enough resistance to the soulfire¡¯s effects that he was able to move and act. He was sluggish and wouldn¡¯t want to get close enough for another blast of soulfire to hit him, but he could still stay in the fight. He flew down the road, pursuing the remaining wyrmlings which he saw were ignoring the Heaven¡¯s Wrath tower and nearly at the base structure. His mind raced as he tried to come up with an attack plan. He was still shaky from the effects of the soulfire and was certain he couldn¡¯t force a TELEPORT on them and all his other magical Abilities were things they resisted save for the Ability he was dreading having to use ¨C UMBRAL REAPER. The remaining sixteen wyrmlings were emerging into the open area before the base and Duke knew he had no choice. He steeled himself for the emotional savagery that was his newest Ability when something strange happened. The wyrmlings stopped advancing and started tearing into each other. Claws and fangs ripped through scales in a frenzy. One rider was bitten in half right off its wyrmling¡¯s back before they joined the fray as well. It was both terrible and wonderful to watch. Duke continued moving towards the fight, not wanting to get close enough to get hit by a stray blast of soulfire but wanted to get close enough to act if needed. For now he would let the inexplicable fight continue. As he got closer, he looked up to the top of the base tower to see how his team was doing and everything fell into place. Greslarnier was focusing down on the wyrmlings, its eyes glowing bright lavender ¨C the mental mage was making the wyrmlings fight each other. It took only another minute or two for the last wyrmling to emerge victorious over its brethren. The wyrmling was missing an eye and covered in bloody wounds. Despite its condition, it advanced on the tower, intent on its sole purpose. Duke focused his clearing mind and TELEPORTED its head off. With that, the 40th wave was complete, and Duke once again scrubbed the battlefield for his metal scraps before joining the team back on the base tower. Book 2, Chapter 79 - Peak What? Duke was heartened to see that the rest of the team was recovering from the effects of the last two waves. Axis and Jablach were back on their feet and ready for action. Greslarnier was still a bit drained from the effort of punching through the wyrmlings¡¯ resistance but gave Duke a nod and a smile when he inquired as to its readiness. Aurelia and Eihlen were both ready to continue as well. Baslin was still concentrating on the spell he was casting so Duke didn¡¯t interrupt him. Instead, he looked through the notifications he had been ignoring. *** You have pushed your mind and spirit significantly and as a result, your Psyche has increased by 10. Continue to push your limits in other areas to see additional gains. *** *** Your MENTAL FORTITUDE Ability has increased to Practiced 67. *** Duke ignored the rest of the Ability increase notifications until he came to one he did not want to earn but was hopeful he received. *** You have been subjected to Soulfire. Your exposure is now sufficient to assimilate this into your Abilities. You now have SOULFIRE as an Ability at rank Untrained 1. Make use of this Ability to increase its rank and potency. As you now have access to this Ability, you gain limited resistance to its effects based on your SPELL RESISTANCE Ability. *** Duke took a moment to consider this new Ability in light of his previously newest Ability. Both were powerful attacks that bypassed most resistances. While UMBRAL REAPER was much higher ranked, he felt that SOULFIRE could be even more devastating based on how it had debilitated virtually the entire team. Then again, he didn¡¯t know the limits of either Ability. He had yet to see something survive UMBRAL REAPER but the wrongness he felt when he used the Ability really pushed it to a last resort in his mind. It was something that he would have to explore in greater depth. He considered researching it but even Baslin¡¯s library was woefully short on information about the Umbral. His contemplations were interrupted by the start of the next wave. He stood to move down with Axis, Jablach, and Aurelia when Greslarnier stopped them. ¡°Baslin will handle this wave. You four continue to recuperate and jump into the next wave.¡± Not wishing to argue, they paused and watched the wyrmlings ride onto the battlefield with their riders. Once they were fully onto the field, Baslin ceased casting his Spell. It was like the entire dungeon had collapsed. Boulders of all different sizes fell from above, pelting the wyrmlings. At first, the boulders were no larger than a head but as time passed, larger and larger boulders fell until finally boulders the size of houses plummeted down, smashing the remaining wyverns to paste. They stared at the carnage as the dungeon began to clear the field yet again. Baslin started laughing. ¡°Oh, hehe. Look at that! Did you see the size of those meteors? Oh what fun! I have to do that again! Wohoo! Ring of Rooms, where is that stone titan dust? I know I have some more of that around in here somewhere!¡± They all stared at the mage for several seconds before turning back to the field. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll take the next wave.¡± As they waited for the next wave to come along, another two Heaven¡¯s Wrath towers rose out of the ground to cover the beginning of the battlefield. ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried about mages taking those towers out?¡± ¡°Not really. If they follow patterns, they won¡¯t attack the towers until they reach you defending the base tower. When they can no longer advance, they attack the towers.¡± Duke looked over to Aurelia. ¡°Did you notice that?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± She responded. ¡°Me neither.¡± Jablach added. ¡°That¡¯s why Greslarnier is in tactical control.¡± Axis explained. ¡°Good thing too.¡± Duke added. ¡°Let¡¯s get down and get ready for the next wave. Maybe these towers will work.¡± They waited for the next wave Duke could hear Baslin starting to cast again. He knew it would take at least another wave before the spell was ready but was confident that they could handle this wave. He wanted to try his new Ability but was not sure it would be effective in this situation as it was the same as the wyrmlings¡¯ breath weapons. I can try it. Got nothing to lose. Worst case, I go with UMBRAL REAPER and hope I can get over the trauma. When the wyrmlings came in the next wave, there were a bit more than 20 mages among the riders judging by the barriers protecting from the towers. Without discussion, Axis took off down the road to get into position to attack the rear of the mages. Duke prepared to TELEPORT the mages while Jablach ignited his blades with black flames. With a nod, the TELEPORT executed, and they attacked the mages. These mages seemed to be a bit stronger and better prepared as they immediately responded with various attack spells that looked nasty. Aurelia was the only one who tried to tank any of the spells, using her shield to deflect a stream of fire into another section of the mages. Between blades, claws and blunt attacks the mages were taken down in short order. It was a short, but intense fight as the mages attacked with no regard for their own survival, happily taking mortal wounds to deliver and attack of their own. Of them all, Duke had fared the worst from the mages¡¯ attacks as he wound up fighting with similar abandon, trusting his REGENERATION to work as he used SOULFIRE for the first time. He found it to be devastatingly effective on the mages, completely breaking their concentration and making them unable to cast spells or otherwise react. When he looked up from his last kill, he saw the other three looking at him with concern. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You might want to put some clothes on. Watching your burns heal is really not pleasant.¡± Jablach commented. Duke looked down, seeing his clothes hanging off him in ragged scraps and the burns that he had been ignoring drove him to RESTORE all four of them. He looked up in sudden realization, remembering the wyrmlings that should be coming, but there were none that he could see. ¡°Yeah, the towers took care of that batch. It¡¯s only the ones immune to the towers that seem to be a problem. Pretty cool, huh?¡± Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Very cool. I¡¯m making two more Heaven¡¯s Wrath towers to fill our last tower spots so we can keep the same general plan. Baslin will be done with his casting soon and I would like for it to have as big an impact as possible, so call the next two waves as fast as you can. If the pattern holds, wave 45 will be ones immune to the towers and it will be the last of the Tier 4s. I¡¯d rather have mountains falling from the sky on the ones that are immune to the towers.¡± Without a second thought, Duke called the next wave and prepared to rip the mages from the wyrmlings¡¯ backs. Axis sprinted to his position again and they went to work. Duke felt considerable strain getting past the mages¡¯ defenses this time but was still able to TELEPORT them due to his massive Psyche characteristic score and the Master-ranked Ability. He was concerned that he might not be able to get all the mages when they tiered up, but they tore into the mages from this group nonetheless. Aurelia had conjured her warhorse and charged into the group of mages. Duke had done a great job of gathering them together and she was happy to smash right through the group. Her Ability had ranked-up in a previous wave and now hit with an obscene fifty-two times damage modifier. The impact of her charge was tremendous, her magical warhorse seemingly unaffected by the bodies it slammed through. The fourteen mages that she caught in her charge were dissipating clouds of mana before she could halt her charge and turn around. When she turned for another charge, she found Axis standing over the final mage howling in victory. The towers were blasting the remaining wyrmlings and riders, starting to thin their numbers. Greslarnier called out to everyone. ¡°Regroup and call the next wave! Let the towers deal with the remains of this wave.¡± Duke called the next wave the moment everyone was back in position. The wyrmlings that came out with this wave were larger yet again and the group quickly exchanged worried glances. Duke IDENTIFIED the first he saw. *** You have encountered a Greater Wyrmling. This is a young dragon. This dragon is beginning to come into its power and realize its potential to become one of the most powerful creatures on the planet. Tier: 4 Level: 200 Health: 1,527,500 Mana: 1,575,000 Special Abilities: Magic Resistance, Flight, Soulfire Breath Weapon, Spells, Thick Scales Weaknesses: Avarice *** *** You have encountered a Dragonkin Wyrmrider. This draconic creature. Tier: 4 Level: 200 Health: 744,000 Mana: 787,500 Special Abilities: Dragon Riding, Flight, Mounted Charge Weaknesses: Hollow Bones *** ¡°Um, yeah. Baslin, blast the ever-loving shit out of this wave. They are all at the peak of Tier 4 and there are dragonkin riding actual dragons now. I¡¯m not sure even the barrage from hell is going to be enough.¡± Heedless of Duke¡¯s words, the dragons continued to pour out onto the field. Fully two-hundred forty of the mounted dragons pushed their way through the towers. They were not completely unfazed, but they did not seem terribly bothered. Baslin released his spell. Again, the ground rippled as the impacts mounted. The cascade of falling boulders slowly overwhelmed the flying beasts, sweeping them from the sky. The onslaught lasted for minutes, knocking most everyone off their feet. Duke had taken to the air to keep himself steady. As it was, he could see nothing through the sheer amount of rock dust created in the wake of the Spell¡¯s impact. He readied himself and waited for the dust to clear before giving in and switching to DUNGEON SIGHT. Even with the penetrative aspects of the Ability it took him several seconds to make out the situation. The dragons were buried under the fallen rubble, but there were still several that were alive. When Duke relayed this fact, several glances were exchanged before Greslarnier spoke up. ¡°Duke, you may have to use your UMBRAL REAPER Ability on them. If anyone gets close to them, they are likely to be blasted by the dragons¡¯ breath weapons. From up here, I can see the breath weapons melting the rocks around them. I didn¡¯t know soulfire could do that, but no one can get close to them like this.¡± With dread in his heart, Duke nodded and unleashed his UMBRAL REAPER Ability. The umbral shadows poured out of his eyes, cloaking his body in an ebon cloud. The cloud expanded away from him, creeping along the ground. Duke was certain he could see horrors moving in the cloud and suppressed a shudder with the full force of his will. He clamped down as hard as he could on his emotions and his body alike, allowing nothing to betray him. The cloud crept through the smashed boulders, slipping though cracks and continuing to expand across the area. Finally, it reached the area of the trapped dragons. Duke could see that the rocks were glowing a bright orange as they started to melt away. The umbral cloud still expanded, not seeming to be affected by the heat and began to penetrate the cracked and melting rock formation. Moments later, screams of draconic terror ripped their way across the field. Duke finally lost his battle and collapsed to his knees from the strain. The sound of the dragons¡¯ roaring screams echoed across the area striking fear into the hearts of every member of the team. Axis howled in response, his wolf fighting its way to the surface in the howl of a cornered animal. Jablach stopped moving altogether, his demonic instinct telling him to not move, to not be seen by the greater demon roaming the land. Greslarnier closed its eyes humming in distress. Aurelia gripped her sword and shield so tightly, the bones of her hand broke. Eihlen curled up against the wall in a fetal position. Finally, Baslin cowered behind his Archmage¡¯s defense. Abruptly, the dragons¡¯ roaring screams of torment ceased, and the battlefield began to clear. One by one, the team recovered from the shock, horror, and fright that had been dominating them. Duke was interrupted by a notification. *** Due to successful use under immense strain, your MENTAL FORTITUDE has ranked up to Adept 3. Your Ability now provides increased resistance to fear effects. *** He couldn¡¯t help but to laugh at it all. Aurelia was the first to speak. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s it. He¡¯s completely lost it.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think that is the case.¡± ¡°It was a joke, Greslarnier. You know, a tension breaker because that was just too intense to not do something about. That Ability is horrific.¡± ¡°Is truly is. It pulls up all the monsters lurking in my Id and unleashes them on my foes.¡± ¡°Monsters from your Id? What is that?¡± Baslin asked, having finally regained his composure. ¡°I don¡¯t know the book-definition but it¡¯s the part of the mind that subconscious drives and needs come from. At least that¡¯s what Freud thought.¡± ¡°And this Freud is a great thinker amongst your people?¡± ¡°Some thought he was. Many called him the father of psychology, the study of the mind. Others just think he was obsessed with his mom. Most just misquote him or misinterpret his theories. I was just referring to an old story from before I was born in which the ultimate monster was created from the Id of a scientist and ultimately killed him.¡± ¡°That seems to fit what that Ability does at least in part.¡± Baslin concluded. ¡°There are five waves left to go. Can we really finish this dungeon?¡± Eihlen asked. ¡°I am going to finish it, even if I have to rely on that horrible Ability. I now have some resistance to its effects so maybe you all want to step out at this point. I¡¯m sure the rewards will still be amazing.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere without you.¡± Aurelia responded, steel in her voice. ¡°You stay and fight, I¡¯m staying to fight.¡± ¡°Same here. I¡¯m not abandoning you after all we have gone through this dungeon. I¡¯m seeing this through to the end.¡± Axis added. The other all quickly followed suit until Eihlen was the only one who had not spoken. ¡°In all honesty, this dungeon scares the hells out of me. I think you are all crazy for wanting to continue with it. That said, I stand with my king and my general.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t put that on me.¡± Aurelia said. ¡°If you want to step out, you step out. This dungeon is ten times harder than it has any reasonable right to be. You are the lowest Tier here and no one, and I mean no one expects you to stay against Tier five freaking dragons.¡± ¡°Thank you for saying that. I¡¯ll just hide behind Baslin and use my ranged heals on you all. He¡¯s got one serious magical shield.¡± All conversation ended as the next wave began. Book 2, Chapter 80 - Unleashed It took nearly a full minute for the group to act when the dragons started to take the field. They were at least 20 meters long and brilliantly colored. From the midnight dark of their tail spikes to the oil-slick rainbow sheen of their heads, the dragons were a beautiful and terrible sight. Even at this distance, the dragons¡¯ innate fear effect was radiating over the party. ¡°Do you all feel that?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°Even at this distance, their fear effect is strong.¡± Jablach acknowledged. Aurelia nodded and activated the first Ability she had ever received, INSPIRATION. Suddenly, the group all received an 82% boost to their morale, pushing the dragons¡¯ fear effect back. The visible relaxation of muscles was immediate, and nods of admiration and acknowledgement were sent her way. ¡°Baslin if you have any more of those boulder-dropping spells, you might want to get them going.¡± Duke suggested. ¡°Unfortunately, I am out of titan¡¯s dust so that spell is no longer available. I am not sure any of my elemental spells will affect the dragons as significantly. I thought I had prepared enough variety of spells to handle this dungeon, especially as you had described the denizens. But there is no way to prepare for dragons. The best I can do now is individual shielding. It will last about an hour and will protect each of us from physical harm and most elemental attacks. It will provide no protection from soulfire, however, so do not get hit by their breath weapons.¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t planning on it. Speaking of planning, anyone have suggestions?¡± Duke asked. ¡°The dragons seem to be largely unimpressed with the towers. I know. You¡¯re all surprised at that.¡± Eihlen added from above. ¡°There are no riders, so we don¡¯t have that extra part to worry about. But, they are all flying and I am the only one who has flight capabilities right now. Maybe we can¡­holy shit!¡± Duke was stunned as one of the dragons casually turned and burned the first Heaven¡¯s Wrath tower down, like swatting a particularly annoying insect away. ¡°I think perhaps we should have left.¡± ¡°All of you get back behind Baslin¡¯s shields. This is on me.¡± Without further discussion or giving anyone else a chance to argue, Duke poured 100,000 additional Mana into his MENTAL FORTITUDE and TELEPORTED onto the back of the lead dragon, at the base of its neck. He started with his newest Ability, SOULFIRE to see if it had any effect on the monster. ¡°That tickles, mortal. Surrender the Waters of Life and we will let you and your companions leave in peace. You have my word.¡± Duke noticed that the entire flight of dragons had halted and were starting to surround him as much as they could in the limits of the dungeon path. With chilling realization, he noticed that the dragons were using all three dimensions to surround him. Should have figured that a natively flying creature would use 3-dimensions like this. Time to use the only thing that seems to work on dragons. ¡°You misunderstand your position in all this, dragon. It is not me who is in trouble. It is you and your friends who have made the error in coming so close to me. Do you think you have me trapped like prey?¡± The dragon¡¯s reaction was faster than Duke had anticipated. In a strike so fast, he did not see it coming, the dragon¡¯s tail spike struck. The only thing that kept him from being impaled was Baslin¡¯s shield which flickered and winked out after the impact. Duke responded by releasing his UMBRAL REAPER Ability with an additional 100,000 Mana poured into it. The Ability was powerful in its base form, he steeled his nerves, maintaining his boosted MENTAL FORTITUDE as he released. The darkness exploded outwardly from his entire body in an instant. The dragon beneath him bucked in agony, throwing Duke off of its back with enough velocity to punch him out the top of the battlefield. He bounced off a few more dragons before he was free of them and steadied himself in the air. His REGENERATION worked to heal him of cracked ribs and a broken arm to go along with countless rips in his skin caused by the dragons¡¯ scales as he bounced off and past them. When he was finally able to see below himself, he saw the effects of his boosted Ability. His MENTAL FORTITUDE was working overtime to keep him from processing what he was seeing. Despite that, he could not help but watch as ebon claws tore outwards from the dragons, leaving crimson trails cascading down onto the battlefield. His Ability, combined with Aurelia¡¯s INSPIRATION was enough to hold the horror of what he was seeing from filling his conscious mind and rooting him to the spot. What it did not prevent is the horror of his own Ability feeding right back into his subconsciousness which provided yet more fuel for the Ability. Duke TELEPORTED back to his team on top of the base tower. He was growing used to the concerned looks he received at this point. He smiled at them and said, ¡°Well, one down. Four more to go. Should we wait and see if the towers have any effect on the next wave or just meet them early so we have this position as a fallback?¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°I can sell the towers back for half the points we spent on them. There might be some additional reward for accumulated points.¡± ¡°If that is the case, we have a dilemma for sure. If the towers do have an effect on the dragons, then we are going to need them as I expect they will shortly have resistance even to that hellish Ability of yours, Duke. But if they destroy the towers, it doesn''t matter if the towers can hurt them. Perhaps it is worth it to just leave the Enhancer towers intact and sell the rest.¡± Baslin surmised. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t have a Spell to protect the towers?¡± ¡°How well did that barrier protect you, Duke?¡± ¡°It saved me from the first hit pretty well.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good. Better than I had thought it did judging by the state of your clothes. Anything I put on the towers right now would last little more than that. I am admittedly ashamed of how underprepared I am for what we have faced in here.¡± ¡°Hey, none of us expected dragons, especially when it all started with kobolds.¡± Axis added. ¡°Or considering what Duke faced in here last time for that matter.¡± Jablach said. ¡°That doesn¡¯t change the fact that we are facing creatures of legend that are only getting harder and harder to fight. I think we should leave.¡± ¡°I think you are right, Greslarnier. You all should leave.¡± Duke responded, trying to get his team to depart. ¡°Didn¡¯t abandon you for the last fight. Not going to abandon you for this one.¡± Axis responded. ¡°Why don¡¯t you try and blast them with a million-Mana LIGHTNING bolt? You have enough Mana to spare, and it might actually hurt them.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t be able to regen back to full before the next wave if it doesn¡¯t work.¡± ¡°If it doesn¡¯t work, we¡¯re going to have to use more drastic measures anyway. I doubt they are completely immune to it.¡± ¡°Can someone explain to me what more drastic measures would be in this case?¡± Eihlen asked. ¡°Let¡¯s hope it doesn¡¯t come to that.¡± Baslin responded as the next wave began. Duke rose up over the battlefield as Baslin handed out some items to the rest of the team. Duke did not pay attention as he was gathering his focus for the enormous LIGHTNING blast that was the plan. He was increasingly concerned about the efficacy of this plan. If the dragons were as magic resistant as he expected, this would be an enormous waste of Mana, so much so that it would take him a full ten minutes to recover his Mana and they were getting decidedly less than ten minutes between waves. The dragons came flying onto the field slowly as if they did not have a care in the world. They were even bigger now, nearly 25 meters long. Duke IDENTIFIED the gathering flight of dragons. *** You have encountered an Adult Dragon. This dragon has come into its power and is one of the most powerful creatures on the planet. Tier: 5 Level: 100 Health: 2,677,500 Mana: 2,835,000 Special Abilities: Extreme Magic Resistance, Flight, Soulfire Breath Weapon, Spells, Thick Scales, Draconic Presence, Spatial Mutability Weaknesses: None *** Duke relayed what his Ability was telling him back to the group as the last of the 250 dragons took to the field. He received an immediate response. ¡°Do not engage the dragons. We are all coming to you.¡± Duke looked over to see the entire group quickly flying up to meet him. He also noticed that all the towers had been sold back to the dungeon. The path for the dragons was clear. As they approached, Duke gave them a quizzical look. ¡°We all saw what your Ability showed us. I don¡¯t think we have a weapon among us that could do more than anger the dragons. If there were but one, I would say we could try, but there are 250 of them. That is more than have ever been reported to have ever existed. We are beaten and dying to prove it is not a good idea.¡± Baslin spoke in his most matter-of-fact, lecturer¡¯s tone. ¡°But they¡¯re only Tier Five.¡± Duke protested. ¡°Their Tiers are not the same as yours. Their Tiers also incorporate age and maturity. The dragons you see below us may only be counted as Tier Five, but their effective Tier is far closer to Tier Eight or Nine. They are so far beyond anything you have faced, even the last flight, that it can¡¯t readily be measured. We must stand aside and allow this level to fall.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not one to just give in without a fight. It¡¯s not in my nature.¡± Duke reminded them all, noticing the tension growing in their visages. A single dragon materialized out of empty air before them. ¡°Tell you what, mortal. I¡¯ll let you take your best shot. Give me your most powerful attack and if it defeats me, the rest of the flight will surrender and quit the level. If you fail to defeat me, then this level is ours to take. You have done exceptionally well in making it this far. You were supposed to fail much earlier. This way, you get to show your full power and we will all see if you are fit to advance.¡± ¡°Sounds like the best offer I¡¯m going to get, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Duke responded. ¡°Why is this being offered? It seems like a generous offer. Too generous.¡± Aurelia asked. The dragon¡¯s voice changed. ¡°Because he is a Dungeon Emperor and I need him to grow far more powerful.¡± There was another change in the dragon¡¯s voice, returning it to the original tone. ¡°I have seen your most powerful magics already and I am confident that even your dark cloud will not affect me.¡± Duke shrugged, then smiled. ¡°I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. You all should return to the base tower and get behind Baslin¡¯s best shielding. This is going to be something to see.¡± As everyone got into position, Duke observed the arrogant dragon and considered his approach. I could use TELEPORT as that is my highest-ranked Ability, but that SPATIAL MUTABILITY Ability makes me think that the dragon might have specific resistance to something like that. Elemental attacks are probably not going to get it done. SOULFIRE is their breath weapon, and they seem to be immune to it. That really leaves a physical attack that I¡¯m certain would not be enough or unleashing the full power of my subconscious demons on the thing. If that is what it takes, so be it. ¡°I am prepared, mortal. Hit me with your best shot.¡± Duke focused, OVERCHANNELING more than 2.8 million Mana into UMBRAL REAPER. It took a full thirty seconds to channel that much Mana. But when he hit the limit of his Mana, he released the Ability. And the world disappeared in nightmare horrors of his deep mind. Book 2, Chapter 81 - Caged Horrors Duke was awash in the horrors of his own mind as they exploded outwards from him, covering the battlefield in a screaming mass of gaping maws, black claws, unblinking eyes, and tentacles. His last conscious thought before he was overwhelmed was of his companions and the fact that they were not far enough away from this monster of his Id. Then, the blackness enveloped him. Duke relived the most horrible moments of his life in the barely conceivable shadows that surrounded him. His mother breathing her last rattling breath as the disease finally won, her hand growing colder as he refused to let go with all his hysterical childhood strength. He saw his father slip away in the floodwaters, exhausted from too many rescues and one overstrained rope that unraveled like all his hope. Duke screamed as the final scene of a simple house, nearly identical to all the others around it disintegrated in a fireball as the opening salvo in a war claimed his wife and daughter as nothing more than collateral damage. He could hear them screaming his name as they burned. His mind and the scene warped yet again. The blade cut deeply into his shoulder, separating tendon from bone to remove the limb. This was one of the most recent horrors, but Duke¡¯s warping consciousness laughed at it. It was physical pain and that he could endure forever. It was with that thought that his mind pulled itself back together, clamping down upon the horrors and pulling them back inside his mental vault to lock them down once again. His vision slowly cleared and all he saw was the empty battlefield and a glowing exit. His breathing slowed from the hyperventilation that he had been suffering from and his heart jumped as he looked around franticly for his companions. He did not see them. They were gone. Panicking, he reached out for the mental connection that Greslarnier had created. And found nothing. In his mind, the door of the vault holding back his horrors began to crumble. ¡°Be at peace, Duke. Your friends are all well. They are worried, but they are all well.¡± The Overmind¡¯s avatar stood before Duke with an expression that even Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA couldn¡¯t read. ¡°Where are they?¡± ¡°You TELEPORTED them all out of the dungeon when you unleashed your Ability. I have to admit that was far more potent than I had anticipated. It lasted for almost three full hours and absolutely wiped out the rest of the waves.¡± ¡°It did? Then the dungeon is complete?¡± ¡°Very much so. The completion rewards are yours alone since you are the only one who lasted until completion. If I didn¡¯t know better, I would say that it was a brilliantly clever trick on your part to exclude them from the completion and take it all for yourself.¡± ¡°I¡­I didn¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°Well, not intentionally, I¡¯d say. But effectively, yes, you did. But that is not what I wanted to talk to you about.¡± ¡°Oh, what now?¡± ¡°Here¡¯s the thing. When I broke you away from the Twin Entities, it really pissed them off. Especially since they can¡¯t act against you directly. But they can act against you indirectly and that is exactly what they have done.¡± ¡°And what is that?¡± Duke asked, concern surging. ¡°When you leave the dungeon, and I mean the whole dungeon, not just this part, you will receive a notification of what they¡¯ve done. I think it¡¯s a costly mistake for them because they have no way of knowing just how far you have advanced since last they saw you.¡± ¡°Quit beating around the bush and just come out with it!¡± ¡°Fine. Fine. They put a contract out on you. Hunters are coming from across the cosmos for you.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s just fucking wonderful. Godlike beings from places I¡¯ve never heard of are coming to kill me. What great news.¡± ¡°I think so, yes. You are going to gain experience against creatures, people, and things from all sorts of places. Well, from this galaxy at least to start. It will take time and considerable expense to get to you from further away than that. But such contracts have limits agreed to a long time ago. The most important is the relative power clause. No one who is a qualitative rank higher than you could accept the contract. That means no immortal-ranked beings could take the contract as it was established. The funny thing about it all is that they could not account for the quantitive power increase you will receive from this dungeon.¡± Duke shook his head. Great. Now, I have cosmic assassins to worry about. Can I send their heads back in boxes? ¡°Just out of curiosity, what is the price on my head?¡± The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Quite substantial, actually. The price is an entire solar system custom-made for the one who succeeds in killing you.¡± ¡°An entire solar system! Custom made? What the fuck is that about?¡± ¡°I told you it was substantial. Now go collect your rewards and meet up with your friends. They are worried sick about you, especially since you are their ride home.¡± With that, the Overmind¡¯s avatar vanished, leaving Duke alone with his thoughts and notifications. Duke went through his notifications. *** Due to overcoming extreme strain on your mind, your Psyche has increased 100 points. *** *** You have slain 7,125 creatures of varying levels and tiers. The experience has been split between your party members. Your share comes to 9,236,250. This brings you to Tier 5, level 101. You now have 2,148 Characteristic Points to spend. You now have a choice to make on your Tier 5 Ability. Your choices include: Ability Evolution DUNGEON PRESENCE DUNGEON TRANSPORTATION DUNGEON CORE CREATION You have until you reach Tier 6 to make a choice. Your body has now undergone the Tier 5 transformation. You no longer have many of the restrictions of biology such as the need to breathe air. Your need for sleep has been significantly reduced and you need almost no nutrition to maintain your life. You do, however, have a need for Mana and your body will slowly decline without a constant influx of Mana. *** Duke paused in his reading to process all that. Over 2,000 Characteristic points was an immense number and he wasn¡¯t sure how he was going to allocate them. But the biggest thing was his Tier 5 Ability choices. He had already seen Ability Evolution in previous Tier-ups but he was not particularly interested in doing that this time. The other three options seemed more interesting to him. He delved into their details. *** DUNGEON PRESENCE ¨C You are continually surrounded by the aura of a dungeon. For most, this has no noticeable effect, but for you as a Dungeon Emperor, you will be able to make use of your dungeon-related Abilities such as DUNGEON MANIPULATION within that aura. The aura is based on your Psyche and extends out one meter for every point of modifier/multiplier you possess. Note that there will be additional side-effects to this Ability such as randomly spawning dungeon creatures within your aura. DUNGEON TRANSPORTATION ¨C You are able to transport yourself from any dungeon you have planted to any other dungeon you have planted instantaneously. DUNGEON CORE CREATION ¨C You are able to create a new dungeon core at will. These cores will be mature enough to plant and will grow and sustain themselves as any other dungeon would. With a high enough rank in this Ability, you will be able to define parameters of these dungeons such as style and monster type. Each core will require an infusion of 5 million Mana to create. The infusion need not be immediate and can occur over time, but you must maintain focus on the core until it is completed, or it will dissipate. *** Duke weighed his options carefully. First off, I can cross Ability Evolution off the list. It was cool when I wasn¡¯t getting such cool Abilities, but I can forget about it for now. DUNGEON TRANSPORTATION would be useful if I had dungeons scattered across the galaxy but for now, I can TELEPORT to any of my dungeons whenever I want so I don¡¯t need that. That leaves the final two which are the coolest of all. DUNGEON PRESENCE is downright awesome. Having an aura that is over four hundred meters around me would allow me to do anything I wanted. DUNGEON MANIPULATION is essentially reality control within that area. How can I not take this Ability? Because it¡¯s going to randomly spawn dungeon creatures that will attack everything and everyone around me. I¡¯m not going to forget about this one though. Maybe if I get the rank high enough, I can control that sort of thing? And finally, we have DUNGEON CORE CREATION. It takes more Mana than I have right now to create one, but not that much more. I could plant dungeons all over the place and that would accelerate my power growth significantly. I wonder if there is more that I can do with a dungeon core than just plant it. That¡¯s another thing I¡¯m going to have to speak with the Overmind about. His decision made, Duke stared longingly at the DUNGEON PRESENCE Ability but ultimately selected DUNGEON CORE CREATION. *** You have gained the Ability DUNGEON CORE CREATION. As this is a Class Ability, it starts at Initiate 1. *** One thing more to do before I grab the dungeon rewards and get out of here ¨C allocate my points. If there actually is an assassin waiting for me outside, I have to gain every edge I can before setting foot outside the dungeon. After thinking about it for a few minutes, Duke brought his Psyche up to 3,000. It took more than half his earned Characteristic Points, but it did exactly what he had hoped ¨C brought his maximum Mana above 5 million. Next, he brought his Strength and Endurance to 1,000 each, followed by his Intuition. The final 289 points went into Reason to keep it from falling too far behind. He looked over his stat sheet and smiled at the numbers. Still smiling, he approached the dungeon exit and the chest next to it. Without a second thought, he picked up the chest and headed towards the exit. There was a sense of resistance as he stepped towards the exit carrying the chest, as if the dungeon did not want him to leave the area with the chest. He paused, thinking about the situation briefly before shrugging and stepping through the exit. The first thing he saw was the rest of his team seated at a table with drinks and food. They were all turned to face him and sported looks of extreme relief at his appearance. Then he noticed that they were not the only ones in the inn. There were six other tables filled with patrons who all looked over to see him standing there with a large golden chest in his arms. ¡°Well, shit.¡± Book 2, Chapter 82 - Loot! One of the patrons, a burly man as tall as Duke began to stand and start heading Duke¡¯s way. Duke was too tired to deal with anyone and simply let the beginnings of UMBRAL REAPER¡¯s darkness fill his eyes while issuing a simple command. ¡°Sit back down.¡± It was delivered slowly, emphasizing each word and it had the intended effect as the man sat right back in his seat, paling. Duke had to put the chest down as Aurelia all but tackled him in her rush to hug him. She leapt into his arms, wrapping her legs around and squeezing for all she was worth. He gladly returned the hug, absolutely relieved to see for himself that his friends were OK. He just stood there basking in the feeling before he opened his eyes and noticed that the rest of his team had come over as well. ¡°Glad you all are OK. When I saw you were all gone, I nearly lost it.¡± ¡°You TELEPORTED us all out when you started the fight. What happened in there?¡± ¡°I won. It took everything I had in me, but I won the fight.¡± ¡°So how did you get through the rest of the waves?¡± Baslin asked, concern heavy in his voice. ¡°I let it all out with UMBRAL REAPER. It lasted for long enough to get the rest of the waves I guess.¡± ¡°How much Mana did you put into that Ability?¡± ¡°All of it. It was¡­It was bad. I¡¯m glad I got you all out beforehand. There¡¯s even more news, but there are way too many prying eyes here.¡± ¡°May I suggest you take this to the banquet room?¡± No one had noticed Dagny waking up to their group but Duke offered him a wide smile. ¡°Yes, Dagny, that is a great idea. Let¡¯s do that.¡± The minotaur innkeeper led them to the banquet room where they were able to settle in with some privacy. Duke placed the golden chest on the table and everyone gathered around. ¡°Why don¡¯t you all go through the chest while I deal with a few more notifications. The loot should be pretty spectacular. If not, I¡¯m going to have words with someone.¡± Duke opened his latest notification, unsurprised that it was the dungeon completion notification. *** Congratulations! You have completed the Desert Fortress of the Amber Sands dungeon at an extreme difficulty level. You gain the following: First Clear Bonus: 100,000 experience Clearance Difficulty Bonus: 250,000 experience Ending Credits: 197,895 ¨C These credits have been spent to increase the ending loot value You gain a rank increase to any one Ability below Master rank You gain the combined value of several dragons¡¯ hoards. The total comes to 15 Grand Crystals, 7 Large Crystals, 9 Medium Crystals, 4 Minor Crystals, 27 Gold, Six Silver, and 1 Copper. These have been automatically transferred to your INVENTORY. You have gained the Title Dragonbane. This Title grants you a 2x damage modifier when attacking dragons and draconic creatures. You are also now immune to any draconic fear-based Abilities or innate qualities. All additional material rewards reside within the reward chest. *** Duke focused back on his companions and the chest on the table, wondering what goodies they had pulled from it. He was confused when the chest sat upon the table, unopened. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to wait for me. I told you all to go through the chest while I dealt with my notifications.¡± Aurelia gave him the look that dripped with a magical mix of compassion and sarcasm. ¡°You¡¯re the only one who can open the chest, idiot.¡± Duke chuckled at himself and opened the chest. Rather than pull things out one at a time, he just dumped the contents out onto the banquet table. His intention was to spread out the loot so that everyone could see it and sort through it together. What actually happened was that the chest emptied out for a full ten seconds, pouring coins, crystals, gems, jewels, and items all over the table and cascading onto the floor. ¡°Guess we got a bit of a reward.¡± Duke commented. ¡°We?¡± Eihlen responded. ¡°Yes, we. I didn¡¯t do this by myself. Your healing kept us all going, Baslin¡¯s spells were always there for us, Greslarnier managed the towers and coordinated our communications when we were separated, and the rest of us handled the melee. It was a full team effort. I may have finished it, but we all got to that point together. Shares should be equal for all.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s sort through all this then.¡± Jablach chuckled. ¡°Allow me.¡± Baslin responded, casting a quick spell. Immediately, the loot all lifted into the air, swirling into a cloud over them and filling the entire ceiling. With a snapping of his fingers, Baslin directed different types of treasure to different parts of the room. The crystals went to one end of the table, and the coins to the far corner of the room, neatly stacked and sorted by value. The items covered most of the rest of the table, and a single large gem glowed a deep crimson as it floated in the air over the table. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°I think, and I am just guessing on this one, that the gem is for you, Duke.¡± Axis quipped. Duke reached out and took the gem from the air, IDENTIFYING it as he did so. *** You have found the Dragon¡¯s Heart. This gem is part of the Draconic Regalia. This item provides its bearer with the calmness of a dragon¡¯s heart. Mental and emotional trauma is significantly reduced when the item is carried or worn upon your person. You will be immune to fear and similar emotional or mental attacks. The full Regalia includes: The Dragon¡¯s Heart The Dragon¡¯s Tooth The Dragon¡¯s Claw The Dragon¡¯s Tail The Dragon¡¯s Eye The Dragon¡¯s Scale Gathering additional pieces of the Regalia will provide additional benefits. *** Duke looked at the gem for a long moment before placing it on the table with a sigh. ¡°It is part of a set of items related to dragons. There are six items in the set. This one balances your emotions, making you essentially immune to fear and things like that.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t take this the wrong way, but I think you might need to keep that one.¡± Eihlen said quietly. When Duke looked over at her, Aurelia spoke up. ¡°She¡¯s not wrong, Duke. And you know it too.¡± Duke shook his head, resignation overtaking him as he picked the gem back up as he watched the glow. ¡°Why are you hesitating, Duke? Is there something you are not telling us?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°My love, you and Baslin are the only ones here who know my full story, or at least most of it. I have come to trust you all, so I¡¯ll share this with the rest of you as well.¡± Duke flexed his will and his DUNGEON MANIPULATION Ability to make the room absolutely cut off from the rest of reality. He wanted no one and nothing to be able to spy on this conversation. Unbeknownst to him, the Overmind stepped in and reinforced the protection to prevent even Entities from listening in on the conversation. Duke looked around the room, meeting each and every one of their gazes before continuing. ¡°Most of you know that I am not native to this world. The world I came from has its Mana locked-down in some way. That means that there is no, or virtually no magic there at all. There most certainly is not a magical system that allows people to get stronger through experience with characteristics , classes, and Abilities.¡± He paused to let that sink in. ¡°I was brought to this world in the instant of my death. I don¡¯t know for sure if I actually died or if coming here allowed me to survive. For all I know this is my second life, but that is not all that important right now. What is important is that two supremely powerful Entities brought me to this world, giving me my initial Abilities. I don¡¯t know if something went wrong, or if it was planned, or just something about the world I came from, but things don¡¯t quite work the same for me as everyone else and that has allowed me to become far more powerful than I should be, even at this advanced Tier.¡± The others listened intently, urging Duke to continue. He did. ¡°The Entities communicated with me through system messages and notifications.¡± ¡°Not even the gods can alter system messages.¡± Axis protested. ¡°That may be true. These Entities are as far above the gods in power as the gods are above a newborn child. These Entities are also insanely jealous beings. When I spoke with some gods of Teldin, they stripped me of a lot of power.¡± ¡°Damn.¡± Jablach added. ¡°Yeah. But, with the help of another Entity, I have broken free of their influence.¡± ¡°That¡¯s awesome!¡± Eihlen exclaimed. ¡°Yes, and no. Getting me out from under their thumb has been a great thing for me. The Overmind and I work very well together. He treats me well and I do what I can to help him out. But there is a greater purpose to all of this. And this is where I know a lot less than I really wish I did.¡± ¡°Greater purpose?¡± Greslarnier asked. ¡°There is some sort of cosmic contest coming soon and the various Entities out there are building up their individual champions or participants or contestants. I don¡¯t really know the right term for it. I was to be the Twin Entities¡¯ entrant, but now I represent the Overmind, and they are hopping mad about it.¡± ¡°That sounds bad.¡± Axis said. ¡°It is. They can¡¯t attack me directly because of some sort of rules that I don¡¯t understand any more than you do, but they can still attack me indirectly.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± Aurelia asked, her voice nearly cracking with emotion. ¡°They have put a contract out on me.¡± ¡°A contract? What does that mean?¡± ¡°It means that they have put a prize out there for anyone to claim by killing me.¡± The room went suddenly silent as they processed what Duke was saying. Aurelia grabbed him into a hug. ¡°We¡¯ll face whatever comes together.¡± Duke hugged her back before continuing, ¡°The good news is that they can¡¯t have someone who is ranked higher than me complete the contract and they set the contract before this dungeon run. So, I¡¯m a lot more powerful than I should be.¡± ¡°But there are assassins coming for you from worlds beyond ours.¡± Jablach added. ¡°That would seem to be the case. I need to get even stronger than I am now so that when the assassins come, I can beat them.¡± ¡°We can beat them, you mean.¡± Axis replied. ¡°No, I¡¯ve put you all in enough danger already. In order for me to rapidly build my power, I¡¯m going to have to go away for a while. I have a plan and none of you can come with me for this part of the plan.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t let you leave me alone again.¡± Aurelia burst into tears. ¡°I won¡¯t leave you behind love, but I have to go away for a while. The assassins will come to Teldin to look for me but I have a plan for that.¡± ¡°And just what is that plan, Duke?¡± Everyone save Duke started at the appearance of the Overmind¡¯s avatar. Duke forestalled the confused questions with a simple introduction. ¡°Everyone, please meet the Overmind. This is my sponsor, the one who get me away from the Twin Entities.¡± Nervous greetings filled the room as most were thoroughly disturbed by the Entity¡¯s appearance even though he was masking his avatar¡¯s true appearance. ¡°I have been watching and listening to this conversation. No one, and I mean no one. Not even another Entity can penetrate this obfuscation, so I allowed the revelations to continue. But I must warn all of you not to speak a word of this outside this room. You would place yourself and everyone you care about in deathly jeopardy from forces you could not hope to even comprehend let alone stop.¡± Once he saw the sober looks pass around the room, he continued. ¡°Now, Duke. Tell us about this plan you have concocted to increase your power and confound the coming assassins. You have about three weeks local time before the first ones arrive by the way.¡± Duke nodded. ¡°Thanks for the heads-up on that. The plan is simple. I am going to move to one of Teldin¡¯s moons and plant as many dungeons as possible.¡± Book 3 - Chapter 1 Duke had gathered everyone outside the Inn to say his farewells before departing. He had returned everyone to where they were supposed to be after dividing up the loot from the dungeon. There had been a few items that interested him, but he had given the majority of the loot to everyone else. He didn¡¯t need the money, and most magic items didn¡¯t last in his grasp. He had kept the Dragon Heart at everyone¡¯s insistence. So, tonight he stood, having made all the preparations needed to be away for an undetermined length of time. Portals had been set up so that Havenreach could trade with the rest of the world and only the specifically selected traders could make the ¡°months-long¡± journey to the trading hub. He had even set up a ¡°Tax Collector¡± who would visit the city to collect the excess taxes and deposit them in the kingdom¡¯s vault. He had even sent troops to set up a garrison near the border with Pahst¡¯s kingdom. He still wasn¡¯t sure what they were calling themselves since the death of their ruler. Duke was just happy to see them rapidly devolving into civil war. He was overjoyed to take in as many refugees as wanted to come. There were still tons of unoccupied houses and apartments in Cloudspire that needed people to live in and maintain. It had taken all of four days to get things set up for his departure. Officially, he was going on a tour of the kingdom to explain his absence, which amused him greatly. He rarely showed up at court when he was officially in town anyway. ¡°I know you will all be fine while I am gone. Portals have been set up so that you can travel as needed. Do not allow them to be used by those who are not already vetted and trusted. Spies are coming and we do not want to give them access to the Portal network. If you need to reach me, contact Calen and he can get a message to me.¡± He shook hands and gave hugs to most. Aurelia got a deep kiss, but they had said their farewell earlier that day. With a wave, he vanished, TELEPORTING to the largest moon of Teldin. The moon was called Astraea and had always captured Duke¡¯s eye when he saw it in the night sky of Teldin. Unlike the moon of Earth that he was familiar with, this moon had glowed a greenish-blue light that scintillated invitingly. When he had planned his trip, Duke had delved deeply into his TELEPORTATION Ability to see if he actually had the range to reach another celestial body. The formulas was complex, but he was pleased with the result. Without OVERCHANNELING, his range was almost 1.8 million kilometers. If he put everything into it, the range was a staggering 340 light years. He was excited when he discovered that but quickly became disheartened as he realized that he had no concept of any destination beyond his sight range. Even his CLAIRVOYANCE couldn¡¯t be pushed past the range of the solar system even by pouring his entire 5 million Mana pool into it. Duke looked around himself, still getting used to what his CLAIRVOYANCE had shown him. The moon¡¯s surface was covered in a combination of blue crystals and widely-scattered green plants that grew out from between cracks in the crystals. The crystals varied greatly in size from mountainous cluster formations to tiny crystals that could be sand. The problem he immediately encountered was that unless he was standing on the side of a crystal, the footing was less than ideal with crystals sprouting at odd angles. He shrugged. Not here as a tourist. Time to mass produce and plant dungeon cores! With his latest leveling-spree from the dungeon, he had pushed his Psyche up past 3,000 resulting in his maximum Mana topping over 5 million. He smiled as he used his DUNGEON CORE CREATION Ability for the first time. The draw upon his Mana was immediate and powerful, leaving him with enough Mana to avoid a headache but not by much. He focused on his hand and his Mana swirled into a large clear gem that he couldn¡¯t help but IDENTIFY. *** You have found an unaspected Dungeon Core. This core is a blank slate and will create an entirely random dungeon upon planting. The core is ready to plant but adding additional Mana will cause it to grow more rapidly. *** Duke thought for a moment about pouring more Mana into the core, but decided that his original plan had to adhered to. Without further hesitation, he planted the core and felt the small boost to his three Characteristics from his Core Strength Title and grinned. He took to the air, flying due East at nearly 250 kph until his Mana fully topped-off about five minutes later. Landing between two enormous crystal pillars, he created another core and planted it, again feeling the uptick in his Characteristics. He continued along with this pattern for the rest of the day, planting about ten cores an hour. Having spent twelve hours planting cores, the boost of 120% added to his Characteristics was filling him with a feeling of invincibility. He decided to rest, TELEPORTING to his room at the Inn. He felt guilty for not telling anyone that he would be staying at the Inn every night but he truly needed to focus on getting stronger and keeping from being distracted was the way he was going to do it. I have a week, maybe two before the assassins begin to arrive. I have no idea what to expect when they get here but I can guarantee that I will not be what they were expecting. They are hunting a strong Tier 4. What they are going to find is an impossibly strong Tier 5 as long as I can keep the dungeons on this moon hidden. That¡¯s my real vulnerability. Gaining one percent for each dungeon is awesome. Losing three percent for each dungeon destroyed could make me weak as a baby if enough of them go down. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have told anyone I was going to be on the moon. Duke thought about it for a long time before sleep claimed him. When he awoke, he went right back to work on the moon. This continued for several days. As his Title modifier grew to a truly staggering level, his available Mana had grown similarly. His Maximum Mana now sat over 30 million, allowing him to create six cores at a time and additionally accelerating his growth. By the end of the first week, he had planted one thousand cores and had to pause when he received a system message. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. *** By planting one thousand cores, your Title has ranked-up. You gain no additional increases to your Strength, Endurance, or Psyche from planting additional dungeons as you have reached your maximum modifier. The penalty for losing a dungeon is now reduced to 1% and will not be assessed as long as the number of your dungeons remains at or above 1,000. There may be additional benefits at larger milestones. *** Duke was only mildly disappointed that he wasn¡¯t going to gain any more from planting more dungeons but when he looked at his sheet, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from smiling. He was now getting an 1,100% boost to three of his stats. His Mana was now a mind-blowing 42 million! His regen was a bit over a half a million Mana a second. Having an effective Psyche over 33,000 was insane. Whoever is coming, had better turn around and go home. You do not want a part of this! Duke continued to plant dungeons for the next day before heading back to the Inn to rest. As he sat in a magically comfortable chair, reflecting on what he had accomplished over such a short time span, another chair identical to the one he had created appeared next to him. Duke did not look up before speaking, ¡°I thought you might stop by after all that.¡± ¡°It did seem appropriate. How do you feel?¡± ¡°Would it be wrong to say ¡®godlike¡¯?¡± ¡°No, not for this world. The gods of this world are mostly Tier 11 or so. Except for maybe Aehocho. He might be as high as Tier 13.¡± ¡°Wait, there are Tiers above 10?¡± ¡°Of course there are. It¡¯s only the mortal Tiers that end at 10. Once you move beyond 10, you become an immortal but the path never really ends. It just gets harder to advance.¡± ¡°So, can we talk about the moon dungeons?¡± ¡°Of course we can. That¡¯s the main reason I came here. What you did will have a significant impact on Astraea. In ways you probably don¡¯t realize now or would understand for a great while.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the king of leading statements, aren¡¯t you?¡± The Overmind chuckled. ¡°I am still restricted by pre-contest rules. And no, I can¡¯t tell you when it is coming. That is completely against the rules.¡± The Overmind had moved in an odd fashion while speaking. Any observer would interpret it as ¡°talking with his hands¡± but for Duke, it was something far more. His XENOGLOSSIA flashed with information that he didn¡¯t understand how it received but told him he had three months to get ready. The Overmind continued. ¡°Let me ask you a few questions.¡± Duke nodded pensively and the Overmind continued. ¡°First, what lives on that moon?¡± Duke shrugged. ¡°I didn¡¯t run into anything other than a few plants scattered around.¡± ¡°So, no creatures or even insects scattered about at all?¡± ¡°None that I saw.¡± ¡°So, nothing to delve into all those dungeons even accidentally?¡± ¡°I guess not. Is that going to be a problem?¡± ¡°Yes, but not in the way you think. Do you know what happens to a dungeon that only grows by ambient Mana?¡± ¡°Obviously not.¡± ¡°It will not expand internally very quickly. Without something to delve its depths, there is no motivation, no push to expand. The dungeon creatures will continue to live and breed. The dungeon will always provide food and resources for its denizens to flourish.¡± ¡°So, the populations will grow larger. But if there¡¯s no room for the population to expand¡­¡± Duke started to make the leap that the Overmind was pushing for while making a gesture for Duke to continue. ¡°The populations will push out of the dungeon?¡± ¡°Quite right. Normally, dungeon creatures only leave a dungeon to carry a new core to be planted but if a dungeon becomes so overpopulated that it is no longer sustainable, the dungeon will provide a path for the creatures to exit the dungeon.¡± ¡°Can the creatures survive outside the dungeon?¡± ¡°Very good. Most dungeon creatures can survive for at most a few weeks outside a dungeon, but more powerful ones can survive years outside and some creatures are adaptable enough to survive indefinitely.¡± ¡°Are you saying that I just seeded Astraea to become populated with dungeon creatures?¡± ¡°It will be some time before that happens. Decades at a minimum. Centuries before it becomes noticeable.¡± ¡°Oh shit. What do I do now?¡± ¡°Plant more dungeons, of course. This is how worlds become populated after all.¡± Duke stared at the Overmind in shock. ¡°You are telling me that dungeons are the origin of life on planets?¡± The Overmind chuckled. ¡°Not in every case. In some cases, life evolves on its own, but a significant percentage of all inhabited planets in the cosmos are seeded by dungeons.¡± ¡°You have other agents seeding planets?¡± Duke¡¯s mind was whirling with possibilities. ¡°Not really how it works. You are a rather unique case, and I don¡¯t want to call you an experiment because that¡¯s demeaning, but you are the first of your kind. It¡¯s a new approach for me and I am thrilled at the results so far. In the past, once a dungeon reached Tier 11, it would start to produce a different kind of dungeon core ¨C one that can travel through the vastness of space. These cores would be ejected with enough force to leave a planet¡¯s gravity well and, if the trajectory was just right, leave the solar system from which it originated.¡± ¡°Even then, how do they find other solar systems, other planets?¡± Duke asked, intrigued. ¡°Randomness is a wonderful thing, isn¡¯t it? The overwhelming majority, way more than 99% of those dungeon seed cores never reach another viable destination. But when they do, the process continues. Over these billions of years, even that miniscule percentage has started to compound. But imagine how many more worlds could be seeded if I had an intelligent being traveling the cosmos and actively seeking planetary bodies to seed.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a cosmic farmer? Is that what you are saying? That¡¯s my job now?¡± ¡°Not quite. You¡¯re more my emissary. In time, you will be able to travel the cosmos and plant cores on barren worlds and bring them to life. You will be the creator of countless societies and civilizations. Isn¡¯t that exciting?¡± ¡°Not as exciting as it would sound to someone else.¡± ¡°This is a while down the road, but you would be able to take others with you. You could explore worlds that no one else has ever seen, providing benefits that the denizens of those worlds could never have imagined. You have demonstrated with your city of Havenreach just how beneficial a properly planned dungeon can be to a people.¡± ¡°That city isn¡¯t exactly planned. It was a happy coincidence.¡± ¡°Now imagine what it would be like if you planned it. Think of it. You could take a civilization on the brink of destruction and save it in a dungeon. Imagin the good you could do!¡± ¡°When you put it that way, it does sound better.¡± Duke¡¯s mind was beginning to race with possibilities. ¡°You could even return to your home world and restore the magical balance.¡± ¡°Now you are just messing with me.¡± ¡°I am not. When you are strong enough, you will be able to go anywhere. That is what this path leads to. Don¡¯t become discouraged. Become excited.¡± ¡°You have my attention for sure. What¡¯s the catch?¡± ¡°Well, there is the whole assassins coming to kill you thing and the Contest you have to survive, but on the other side of those things is greatness.¡± ¡°About that¡­¡± Duke stopped speaking because he realized that the Overmind was gone. He was not tired physically or mentally, but he still craved rest. He crawled into bed and resolved to deal with it all in the morning. Book 3, Chapter 2 Duke awoke sometime later feeling refreshed and ready to begin. What he was going to begin, he wasn¡¯t entirely sure. He had options. He could continue planting dungeons on Astraea, switch to another moon, or even plant them all over Teldin. He could work on the kingdom. He could go on a delving spree and focus on how to use all his new power. Options. His mind whirled with the possibilities. Finally, he rolled out of bed, CLEANSED and RESTORED himself and the room, and TELEPORTED to his throne room. The room was completely devoid of people. Even the pair of guards that had been a staple since his rise to the throne were missing. His curiosity piqued, he pushed his DUNGEON SENSE out throughout the castle. He was immediately shocked at how effortlessly his mind processed the images of everything. Chuckling, he pushed the Ability out even further, he found none of the strain he had been feeling in the past, even as his Ability extended out past the city limits and kept expanding out to its limits. Duke found he could take all the information in and only needed to focus on areas he found interesting. He found that the Ant Queen, Mandibra, had expanded her own kingdom deep below his own and was easily fighting off an invasion of thin, willowy bipedal creatures. Furthering his move through different foci, he found that the range of this Ability in the Master rank was more than a 150-kilometer radius. He could see the majority of his kingdom and was happy to see most of it was in good shape. There were a few areas that needed attention but not severely. Returning his focus to the castle, he saw that Madrigal was in his office and prepared to set off to check-in with him. He paused as something tickled his DUNGEON SENSE in a direction that he hadn¡¯t expected. Duke focused his attention straight up and something quickly passed just at the edge of his senses. It was high up, at the edge of space for this planet, and moving fast. Since his senses extended almost 190 kilometers up, he immediately had a guess as to what it might be. In an instant, he TELEPORTED to where he expected to see the object. What he saw was a streamlined ship entering the planet¡¯s atmosphere. The ship radiated a sense of foreboding that caused Duke to focus even deeper. He was sure that this was the first of the cosmic assassins to arrive. Duke focused, using his DUNGEON SENSE to see inside the ship to see several red-skinned lizardfolk manning the vessel. Several were wearing what looked like high-tech powered armor moving towards airlocks while putting their helmets on. What struck him was that they all looked identical to him. He couldn¡¯t be certain, but his instant suspicion was that they were clones of each other. Duke TELEPORTED the front of the ship 100 meters up. There was some resistance, but Duke¡¯s Psyche was sitting at over 30,000 right now and an inanimate object didn¡¯t exact have a Psyche to match. The result was catastrophic for the ship as the superheated gasses of the atmosphere raged through the ship, burning the interior and tearing everything to pieces. The unarmored individuals died quickly. The armored ones were a mixed bag with the ones who had affixed their helmets able to tumble into the atmosphere seemingly intact. Two of the unhelmeted individuals tumbled in the thickening air as they plummeted uncontrollably towards the ground. The four helmeted survivors activated some sort of flight devices and rocketed towards Duke. Duke smiled, pouring additional Mana into his FLIGHT Ability, eager for a dogfight. Duke was momentarily surprised as the combination of his DUNGEON SENSE and his XENOGLOSSIA allowed him to both hear and understand what the others were saying. ¡°Dropship fatally compromised. Four combat effectives remain. Target acquired. Engaging with prejudice.¡± Duke¡¯s COMBAT SENSE engaged as a dozen small missiles rocketed towards him at extreme speed. His years as a combat pilot had honed his air combat instincts to a razor¡¯s edge. The addition of his Abilities only heightened those instincts to the point where he was dodging the missiles before he consciously knew they were in the air. Nine of the missiles completely missed him which was a minor miracle at this range. The remaining three, however, slammed into him and exploded. Over 5 million health vanished in an instant, including Duke¡¯s left arm. He responded with one of his newest Abilities, SOULFIRE, as he closed the distance to the clustered opponents. The Ability washed over one of the figures and the scream that followed faded as the armored suit plummeted uncontrollably. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The remaining three split apart and moved to encircle Duke. He overheard another transmission before engaging again. ¡°Be advised, target capabilities significantly understated. Orbital measures recommended.¡± Duke wasn¡¯t sure what that meant but it didn¡¯t sound good. He TELEPORTED outside the encirclement and slammed his remaining fist into the back of the helmeted figure before him. The ¡°clang¡± of the impact resonated, even through the thin atmosphere. Duke was still getting used to his new Strength and Agility which left him stunned at the speed and power of his own strike. The helmet caved in, likely killing the creature inside as it jetted off in random directions, apparently out of control. He was about to engage the remaining three when his COMBAT SENSE screamed at him to move. He reacted without question and TELEPORTED half a kilometer away. The entire area where he and the armored figures were fighting was engulfed by a bright green beam of destructive energy. The suits melted to slag in short order and the beam of energy ceased. Damn. That would have fucking hurt. Guess that¡¯s what they meant by ¡®orbital measures¡¯. Time to head to orbit, I guess. This might hurt. I know that I don¡¯t need to breathe anymore which is weird as fuck, but the cold and vacuum of space might be a bit much for me. Worst case, I have to head back down and wait for the next round with the armored bastards. Just as he was about to pursue the beam¡¯s origin, he realized that the beam had continued traveling downwards and may have hit the ground. He wasn¡¯t sure where he was relative to the surface of the planet, but he knew he started over Cloudspire. He immediately directed his senses downward, scanning for the impact site of the beam. It did not take long to find it. The beam had, thankfully, impacted an open area of the forest and not in the middle of a village or even the city. He was not sure how powerful the beam had been relative to other space-based weapons, but it had been plenty powerful enough to wipe out the powered suits he had been fighting and still make a sizeable forest fire. Duke considered heading down and taking care of things on the ground but, after a long minute of internal debate, decided to cut the problem off at its source. He flew upwards, retracing the path of the beam. While he did so, he continued scanning upwards with his DUNGEON SENSE and his CLAIRVOYANCE to find the source of the beam. The atmosphere thinned more and more as he rose with a corresponding drop in temperature. Duke¡¯s SPELL RESISTANCE and ARMOR SKIN provided some protection, but not nearly enough. The cold and decreasing pressure were starting to take its toll on him. Just as he was about to switch to an alternative plan when he saw a bright object in the rapidly darkening sky. It was too far away for his DUNGEON SENSE to pick it up and he had missed it with his CLARIVOYANCE, but his ordinary eyesight picked it up even as his eyes were starting to feel the freezing effects of the edge of the atmosphere. With a TELEPORT, Duke got close enough to see inside with his DUNGEON SENSE and another quick TELEPORT got him to an unoccupied area of the ship. Once inside, Duke waited while his REGENERATION resolved the damage his body had taken. His arm regrown and the effects of the cold vacuum repaired, Duke took some time to go over his notifications and take some time remotely exploring the ship he had found. *** You have killed 37 members of the Ocktuul Clone Army and destroyed one of their dropships. You receive 7,400 experience plus an additional 5,000 experience for destroying the dropship. *** Duke also noted that he gained in some of his Skills and Abilities as a result of the brief, but violent encounter. The only notable change was that his Dodge Skill had finally ranked up to Adept. *** You have been exposed to the cold vacuum of space. This is a new type of damage that is potentially deadly to you. Your SPELL RESISTANCE and ARMOR SKIN provide a small amount of resistance to the damage, but are not able to provide enough to fully mitigate the effects of open space. With enough exposure, you may develop a resistance to the effects of space. *** He read the message about not getting enough exposure to vacuum to build up a resistance, but the experience wasn¡¯t something he relished repeating. His REGENERATION was able to repair the effects over time, but a resistance Ability would make it much easier. Another thing added to the list of things I have to do that I really am not looking forward to going through. He sighed and began to scan the ship. Book 3, Chapter 3 The ship was, to Duke¡¯s complete amusement, disc shaped. A flying saucer. I¡¯d love it if they weren¡¯t here to kill me. He counted a total of 216 identical red-skinned lizardmen performing various tasks. Most of whom had no idea what they were doing, but there were some that were easy to identify such as the cooks and pilots. He also thought he spotted a medical facility where there were several monitoring beds and a row of vertical tanks that Duke had suspicions about but wasn¡¯t sure. He gathered his thoughts and used his senses to listen to what was being said on the ship. The common theme was that they were frantically searching for him on the planet. He overheard several conversations that absolutely amused him as they were arguing about him being stronger than what the contract said he would be. The amusement made him take a deeper look at his stats. His first section gave an overall picture of how much his Health and Mana had grown.
Name Adam "Duke" Ellington
Race Dungeon Born
Class Dungeon Emperor
Level 104 Tier 5
Max Health 22,307,250 Current Health 22,307,250
Max Mana 42,210,780 Current Mana 42,210,780
Experience 5,554,675 EXP Needed 9,325
The second section of his stats gave a deeper look into his Characteristics and just how much his Core Strength Title was modifying them.
Characteristic Value Modified Value EQ Bonus Title Mod Multiplier
Agility 1,000 1,000 100% 196
Strength 1,000 11,000 1100% 2,196
Endurance 1,000 11,000 1100% 2,196
Reason 901 901 100% 176
Intuition 1,000 1,000 100% 196
Psyche 3,054 33,594 1100% 6,714
When he finally perused his entire Ability list, he had to chuckle. Some of these I haven¡¯t used more than a few times. It feels like I¡¯m just collecting them and forget that I even have them. When was the last time I used MANA DRAIN? Don¡¯t know, but it¡¯s been quite a while. And that¡¯s something that I got as a special reward. Intentional. I need to be more intentional in growing some of these Abilities. He scrolled through his Abilities, identifying which ones he wanted to target.
Ability Rank Level
Xenoglossia Unranked N/A
Teleportation Master 38
Regeneration Adept 136
Dungeon Manipulation Initiate 38
Aura Concealment If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Initiate 14
Lasting Disguise Initiate 9
Lightning Adept 23
Overchannel Adept 69
Mental Fortitude Adept 31
Mage''s Mark Untrained 2
Force Initiate 31
Flame Initiate 29
Poison Initiate 14
Acid Novice 13
Wind Novice 9
Ice Initiate 31
Earth Initiate 8
Light Initiate 31
Umbral Reaper Adept 62
Spell Resistance Initiate 29
Simulcasting Practiced 11
Cleanse Practiced 36
Restore Master 63
Identify Practiced 13
Sense Magic Initiate 8
Remote Casting Initiate 7
Inventory Practiced 39
Armor Skin Adept 45
Mana Drain Novice 11
Flight Practiced 66
Clairvoyance Initiate 38
Silence Novice 18
Mana Transfer Initiate 5
Combat Sense Practiced 14
Dungeon Sense Master 23
Hold Undead Initiate 7
Aura of Prosperity Initiate 20
Soulfire Untrained 5
Dungeon Core Creation Practiced 22
The first on his list was SOULFIRE. It wasn¡¯t a neglected Ability, but one that had so much room to grow and felt so powerful, Duke could not ignore it. The next was SILENCE. Stopping his foes from communicating easily would be a great help, especially since technology seemed to be coming back into the picture for him. In the back of his mind, he had always wondered if magic meant the exclusion of technology, now he had definitive proof that it did not. Duke smiled, wondering what it would take to get a ship of his own that he could fly like a fighter. There were too many unanswered questions, but he was about to get some answered in short order. He put aside his thoughts and turned to the ship around him and its crew. With his DUNGEON SENSE he could see that they were still scrambling to find him and were heavily scanning the planet. When he heard the debate about preparing and launching another drop ship, he knew he had to act. He did not want any more of them to get armored up and go tearing around the planet. With his full concentration, he focused on all 216 lizardmen on the ship and tried to get a sense of the weight of their presence. Do I have enough power to TELEPORT them all at once? They are unsuspecting, so no active defenses should be in place, but I don¡¯t know if there are passive defenses built into this thing. Better to be surgical and methodical. He focused on the command crew that were on the bridge of the ship. They were his first targets, and he had just the destination for them all. With a whispered, ¡°Seeya Fuckers!¡± He TELEPORTED the bridge crew to Ackmethus, the brighter of the two stars that dominated Teldin¡¯s sky. The slew of experience notifications made it clear that his plan had worked and he targeted the engineering crew next. No defenses were raised, no alarm was sounded, and Duke was alone on the ship a mere thirty-two seconds after beginning his attack. He smiled as he read his experience summary. *** You have killed 216 members of the Ocktuul Clone Army of varying levels and Tiers. You receive 599,100 experience. You are now level 110 and have 108 Characteristic Points to spend. *** Duke¡¯s grin grew. ¡°Hot Damn! Now I have a ship to take over and figure out. Let¡¯s get to it!¡± Grinning like an idiot, he made his way through the ship towards the bridge. He found all the ship¡¯s bulkheads to be open and unlocked as if there was no concern of any unauthorized entry or intruders. The further he went, the more uneasy Duke felt. When he finally made it to the bridge, he discovered what was causing the uneasy feeling. The moment he fully stepped int the hallway leading to the bridge, the doors slammed shut and a voice announced. ¡°Intruder contained. Stardrive engaging.¡± Duke instantly felt queasy in a way that was familiar to him. It was the exact same feeling he had around Baslin¡¯s portal array before things went sideways for him. He didn¡¯t wait for another second, TELEPORTING back to the surface of Teldin. At least, he tried to. His first attempt failed, giving him the sense that his destination was outside of his range which sent a chill down his spine. He knew his range had grown to ridiculous levels, in excess of ten million kilometers. Without hesitation, he poured all his Mana into the Ability and was relieved to arrive back on Teldin. He was greeted with a notification that he had not expected at all. *** By TELEPORTING from a ship with its star drive fully engaged, you caused catastrophic and fatal damage to the ship. You receive 10,000 experience for the destruction of the ship. You TELEPORTED over 200 light years in the process, significantly exceeding the previously known limits of such Abilities whether they be magical or technological. For pushing beyond the limits of a vanishingly rare Ability, you may choose either 10,000,000 experience, or a rank upgrade in the Ability. *** Duke sat down on his throne and laughed. I need to blow up some more ships, it seems. He considered the experience award briefly as it would propel him far along the path to the next Tier, but moving an Ability beyond Master rank? There really was no choice. He accepted the rank upgrade. Immediately, he opened up his Ability sheet and looked at the changes in his Ability. He could now TELEPORT over 600 million kilometers for his standard amount of Mana. If he pushed his limits, the distance was an insane 9,413 light years. The amount of matter he could take with him had also increased to a level that he had trouble perceiving things that had that amount of mass. Without OVERCHANNELING the Ability, he could now move an entire castle without straining himself. Pushing his limits¡­he wasn¡¯t sure what that would look like, but it would be several orders of magnitude larger. Maybe as much as one of Teldin¡¯s moons. It''s going to take some time to get used to what I can do with this now. That, and knowing that technology is a thing here¡­ His mind was whirling, thinking of the possibilities when he heard someone approaching the door to his Throne Room. He hopped off the throne and headed over to the doors, pulling them wide open. ¡°Well, hello there, Madrigal.¡± ¡°King Duke, you¡¯re back!¡± He exclaimed, a broad smile spreading across his face. ¡°We have so many things to discuss but that can wait until a bit later. Tell me of your grand adventures away from the capitol.¡± Duke smiled, his mood elevating yet again. ¡°I¡¯d be happy to talk about my adventures with you. Especially since some of them may affect the kingdom in days to come.¡± Madrigal went from interested to concerned in the span of that single sentence. ¡°Tell me what I need to know.¡± ¡°The biggest thing you need to know is that assassins are coming from other worlds to try and kill me.¡± Madrigal stared at Duke blankly, trying to process what he was saying. ¡°From other worlds?¡± ¡°Yes, from all over the cosmos apparently. The first of them have already arrived and have been dealt with. They were fast, but underprepared. I don¡¯t expect the next ones to be so underprepared. With this level of threat, it might be wise for me to stay outside of the kingdom, or at least outside of population centers like Cloudspire. I don¡¯t want to endanger my people when I am the actual target.¡± ¡°Surely you would want your Royal Guard at your side for this.¡± ¡°Against a terrestrial threat, sure. They would be great to have, but against what is likely coming, they would be unnecessary casualties. So, let¡¯s get to the business of the kingdom before I head out to an unpopulated area to await the idiots who think they can kill me.¡± The next several hours were spent discussing the state of the kingdom. One of the most interesting pieces Madrigal related to Duke was the tax revenue coming from Havenreach. It seemed like a wildly excessive amount and Madrigal didn¡¯t know what to do with that level of funding. ¡°Build roads for commerce. Build schools, trade halls, crafting centers, really anything that will improve the lot in life of the citizenry. Hire or train work crews to go to each and every outlying village to build infrastructure. Improve housing, beautify everything. Recruit and train more troops. In short, spend every copper to make this kingdom the best place to live in all of Teldin and make it equally defended. Invest in our people and they will make us all even more prosperous.¡± Duke paused for a moment, a thought forming. He continued. ¡°Establish the Royal Bank of Stormstride. Offer a secure place for citizens to store their wealth. And, most importantly, lend out money to citizens that want to start a business or expand a business, or do anything like that. Make the terms very favorable for them. We expect them to pay the bank back, but will pursue these loans with compassion and reasonableness. The purpose of the bank is not to make more money, but to put the kingdom¡¯s money to use by the citizens.¡± ¡°That is not how banks have worked in the past, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Different goals. I want to elevate our people, not profit off of them. I want to encourage them to pursue ideas and new ventures. In fact, if our revenue from Havenreach is so extreme, suspend taxes for the rest of the kingdom for a year. Or make it contingent upon proving that they have done something to improve their area.¡± ¡°That is awful bold and would not be sustainable without the income from Havenreach.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s the thing. Havenreach is only going to increase its output over time so let¡¯s use that to make this kingdom into a shining gem for all of Teldin to admire. All the while, increase our number of troops. Train them well. Equip them with the best enchanted gear we can. The wealth and prosperity we are about to build is going to make a lot of people jealous. Being able to defend it is going to be critically important.¡± ¡°On that last point, I wholeheartedly agree. I will set things in motion for you.¡± ¡°I knew I could count on you. Don¡¯t try to do everything yourself. Hire people to administer things and hire people to check on them to make sure they are doing the right things. And then hire people to check on the checkers. We absolutely cannot allow any small bit of corruption to gain a foothold. Again, be compassionate. Give second chances for small things but do not let a greedy heart into the administration. If needed, make some public examples of people who have been given second chances but failed in their duty to the citizens of Stormstride. Make sure that everything is set up as supporting the citizens, not the kingdom. It is our people that will make the difference.¡± Madrigal was smiling even more broadly as the two separated. ¡°It will be as you wish, King Duke.¡± He gave a deep and heartfelt bow, energized by the possibilities before him and the kingdom. Book 3, Chapter 4 Duke had barely knocked on Aurelia¡¯s door when it slammed open, and she rushed into his arms. ¡°Oh gods, Duke. I¡¯ve missed you!¡± She smothered him in a deep kiss as he effortlessly picked her up walked and the pair of them into her room, her legs tightly wrapped around him. A flick of his foot was enough to close the door behind them. Some time later, they sat up in bed, Aurelia curled up on Duke. He decided to tell her his coming plans. ¡°Love, I am going to be moving out into the middle of the wilderness, as far away from population centers as possible. The first set of assassins arrived, and I dealt with them, but more and more are going to arrive. I don¡¯t want to put innocent lives in jeopardy unnecessarily.¡± ¡°Are you going into hiding?¡± She asked, confused. ¡°Hiding, no. I expect whatever assassins are coming to be able to find me wherever I set up, but I want to be able to fight and kill them without worrying about collateral damage.¡± ¡°Oh, that makes sense. When are we leaving?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going alone.¡± ¡°The hells you are!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to put you in the path of what¡¯s coming for me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. They are coming for you, not me. I¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°The first group fired an orbital weapon at me. They didn¡¯t care what else they hit in the process.¡± ¡°Set us up an Inn dungeon. Nothing¡¯s going to hurt one of those.¡± Duke paused in his argument as he realized that she was right. Setting up an Inn dungeon in the middle of nowhere would solve numerous problems. ¡°OK, I¡¯ll get that set up. That¡¯s a good idea but you will stay in the Inn when they come for me. If I have to cut loose with something like UMBRAL REAPER, I don¡¯t want you in the area of effect.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you see them coming for a long distance?¡± ¡°Possibly. But it¡¯s not a sure thing. I haven¡¯t seen anything that gets past my Abilities, but that doesn¡¯t mean that they can¡¯t. The price on my head is high ¨C I have to expect at least one but probably most to have some sort of stealth abilities that are at least on par with my ability to see them coming. So, I¡¯m counting on them catching me by surprise. But anyone I see coming for me is in for a bad day.¡± ¡°OK, so when do we leave?¡± ¡°You stay here until I get things set up. I¡¯m heading to go do just that. In the meantime, make sure that you have set things in place for the Legion to keep training and expanding. We are going to need at least ten times as many Legionnaires over the next few years.¡± ¡°Why so many? Is there another kingdom threatening us?¡± ¡°There will be. I have set in motion some things that are going to make Stormstride extremely prosperous and that¡¯s going to make others jealous. Having such a large and strong Legion will make sure that nobody tries anything.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to know but I¡¯m not going to expand the Thrice-Blessed Legion significantly. I will keep them training and growing as they are our truly elite troops that are approaching an average level in mid-to-late Tier Two. Instead of diluting that power-level, I will establish another Legion and get them training. I¡¯m sure Sam can set up a separate training area for them. I¡¯ll need you to set up a Portal for them to get back and forth from their barracks to the training dungeon. If they grow enough, I¡¯ll start a third Legion, and maybe a fourth. It all depends on how many I can recruit.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do it all yourself. Keep the overall leadership but put people in place to lead the various Legions. Unless you want your entire life to be managing the minutiae. I don¡¯t think you want to do that. I sure as hell don¡¯t.¡± She nodded in agreement. ¡°I already have strong commanders within the Legion. I can tap one of them to lead each new Legion.¡± ¡°Good. I¡¯m heading out. There could already be assassins in the area, and I want to get things set up fast.¡± It took significantly longer for him to leave as she rolled over on top of him and made sure he left with a smile. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. *** Arriving within the Lake Front Dungeon Inn, Duke found that there were quite a few Legionnaires seated at tables. They all rose and offered him a salute which he returned before heading for Sam¡¯s core chamber. ¡°Good to see you again, Duke. You¡¯ve been cheating on me with other dungeons, haven¡¯t you?¡± Duke laughed, feeling genuine mirth for the first time in quite a while. ¡°Oh yes, you got me. I¡¯ve been busy with other dungeons. We¡¯ve been creating all sorts of things, and I even ran one to completion.¡± ¡°That you did. I heard all about it. It was quite the story.¡± ¡°So, how have you been doing, Sam? I see that the Legion is still here training.¡± ¡°Yes, the Legion has been keeping my dungeon humming along. I¡¯ve had to get really creative to keep them challenged. They are going to siege a castle in two days. I have some real fun surprises in store for them on that one. This is so far outside the normal dungeon world that the Overmind is here observing me almost daily.¡± ¡°That is true. I am always watching you, Sam. Your separate dungeon approach with residents is unique. If not for Duke here, I would be concerned that things would go sideways quickly.¡± The Overmind¡¯s avatar was back to its original form and while Duke still felt that it was just strange to look directly at it, he was not forced to turn away as he had in the past. ¡°I can see that your Psyche has grown and you can gaze upon this form without being warped. That is a good sign of things to come. You need to continue to grow stronger, the assassins and bounty hunters that are coming for you will help in that. Nice job with the first batch, by the way. They were the trash of the bunch, but bodies are cheap for them. Losing the ship hurt them so they will think twice about coming for you again.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t suppose that you could tell me who else is coming for me?¡± ¡°That would be considered interference and would allow them to interfere as well. So, no. You are on your own in that regard. On another topic. I see that you are going to set yourself up away from your people. That¡¯s a good idea. If you weren¡¯t taking your woman with you, I would suggest setting up on another moon.¡± ¡°The thought had occurred to me. I do have to plant more dungeons to see if I can level up that title again. If 1,000 was the first level up, maybe 10,000 or 100,000 would be the next.¡± ¡°That would sound logical, wouldn¡¯t it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to tell me, are you?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Even though the avatar had no real face, Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA read the smile just the same. ¡°In that case, Sam do you have a new core that needs planting?¡± ¡°I have seven, actually. Even though he¡¯s not pumping energy into me anymore.¡± Sam gestured at the Overmind¡¯s avatar with obvious irritation. ¡°The Legion and Havenreach are still accelerating their Mana output.¡± The Overmind chuckled. ¡°Tier Seven already, little one, yes? You are growing quickly and we will have to discuss what will happen when you breach past Tier Ten, won¡¯t we?¡± Sam looked annoyed. ¡°Back to Tier Seven, yes.¡± A plinth rose out of the chamber¡¯s floor and seven perfect cores rested upon it. ¡°Here are the cores, Duke. I know you are going to be busy but I can¡¯t keep cores like these waiting or they will start to lose their viability.¡± Duke started to speak but Sam continued over him. ¡°So, I am going to start sending them out into the world myself.¡± ¡°What does that look like?¡± Duke asked concerned. ¡°I am going to create specialized creatures to carry them out into the world and plant them.¡± ¡°And what happens to those creatures after the dungeons get planted?¡± Duke recalled the tales Sam had told him of dungeons being hunted down and didn¡¯t want to see them repeated here. ¡°They will either enter the dungeons or expire depending on how long it takes to find a suitable spot for the dungeon. If it takes too long, they will plant the dungeon and expire immediately. If they quickly find a suitable spot, then they will enter the dungeon and help it establish itself. Maybe even take over a boss monster spot.¡± Duke pondered the possibilities and decided that he wouldn¡¯t be able to be there to collect and plant all the cores anyway. ¡°I don¡¯t want this world to become completely covered in dungeons though. That is only going to lead to conflict.¡± ¡°It might lead to conflict, but if the cores and dungeons are the Inn structures the two of you have created, the possibility of conflict is significantly smaller. It really is a spectacularly symbiotic design and I am going to use it for new worlds I am seeding.¡± Duke turned to the Overmind. ¡°Just how many worlds have dungeons on them?¡± ¡°At this point, trillions. But a great many of them are not inhabited as of yet. Most worlds don¡¯t understand their dungeons but that works out just fine for me. They delve and delve and delve. But they never find the cores. All the while the dungeons grow in power.¡± ¡°And they somehow feed their power back to you.¡± Duke surmised. ¡°Indeed. That trickle of power from quadrillions of dungeons throughout the cosmos adds up quickly. But that is all I will say about that. I really just wanted to stop in and say that I am pleased at your growth, Duke. Hunt your assassins mercilessly. No matter what story they whine to you about, show them no mercy. They came here to kill you and yours. See that they don¡¯t live to regret that decision.¡± Duke¡¯s eyes hardened. ¡°I am looking forward to scattering their atoms across the cosmos.¡± With that, he took a single core with him in his ¡°core bag¡± and TELEPORTED to the wilderness spot he had selected. Book 3, Chapter 5 The wilderness area Duke had chosen was deep in the desert. He had seen this area in one of his flyovers and felt it would be perfect for this purpose. The Inn might not seem traffic anytime soon, but he was feeling no guilt over that. He was preparing to fight for his life and didn¡¯t much care about anything else. If the dungeon grew slowly, so be it. He planted the core. Quickly, the Inn took shape into a large building made of adobe. Duke waited for the Inn to completely form and read the sign above the door. It read ¡°The Dusty Trail Inn¡±. With a shrug at the name, he entered. ¡°Greetings and welcome traveler! My name is Travis, and I am overjoyed to have you at my Inn.¡± The speaker was, of course, a minotaur. This one, however, had dark, curly fur and stood slightly shorter than Duke. The innkeeper¡¯s musculature was pronounced and although there was much of the typical bulk of a minotaur, its muscles seemed more defined than bulky. His smile was warm and inviting like the entire atmosphere of the Inn. ¡°Good to meet you, Travis. I am Duke and I would like a long-term room here for two. It is unlikely that we will have any other patrons for quite some time but there are a number of individuals who will be coming with nefarious intent.¡± ¡°So, are you giving me permission to treat them as hostile agents?¡± The excitement and anticipation in the minotaur¡¯s countenance was palpable. Duke paused briefly, then continued. ¡°Anyone I don¡¯t specifically bring here should be considered with hostile intent. And to aid with your preparations¡­¡± Duke flared a massive, ten million Mana each into CLEANSE and REPAIR. Travis grinned again. ¡°Now that is welcome, but more than I can use at once right now. In time, I can use Mana in those amounts, but I¡¯m still too low a Tier. Keep using Mana like that and I¡¯ll move up rather quickly though.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind. Now, which room is set aside for me?¡± ¡°The top floor is all yours, Emperor.¡± Travis responded with a respectful bow. A short time later, Duke was settled into his rooms, having manipulated them to fit his desires. He opened a communication Portal to Aurelia. ¡°Hello, my love. Are you ready to come to our new hideout?¡± ¡°All packed and ready to go!¡± In response, the communications Portal expanded into a full travel Portal which Aurelia used to step through and into Duke¡¯s arms. The kiss that followed sent Duke¡¯s heart racing and all plans for the next hour evaporated. *** ELSEWHERE *** Drackmalorie stood before her mirror, making sure that everything was in place as the timer in her display counted down. Twenty-six minutes until we reach the planet. This really is the backwoods of the cosmos. How did someone out here get a universal contract on them at Tier Four? Should I even pursue it? The price is extraordinary, but what will it cost me? The peak Tier Four mage stepped away from the mirror and visited the flight deck where her partner, Arkmathus was piloting their small ship. She stepped up behind him as he stood before the controls. With a rapid series of gestures, she silently rose into the air behind his four-meter-tall form. He was deeply engrossed in the business of piloting the ship through the transition from exospace into material space. She reached up, opening her snout widely, allowing her acidic saliva to drip from her fangs. With a snap forward, she dug her fangs into the ridge at the base of his neck, straining the scales there but not able to break through. Arkmathus grinned while still focusing on the controls, maintaining the subtle and complex dance of exospace stealth needed to keep from attracting the attention of the unfathomably powerful creatures that called it home. One slip-up and the ship could be annihilated. Most ships sported complex automated systems to handle this task, but he did not trust them. He trusted in his and his mate¡¯s capabilities and little else. ¡°You test me at this moment, mate.¡± The growl that accompanied his words sent a shiver down Drackmalorie¡¯s spine. ¡°We have no time for that now, but once we have arrived, be assured that I am taking you up on your offer. Even if we have to set a clutch in this backwards end of the cosmos.¡± She backed off, her message delivered and received with the reaction she had hoped for. ¡°My mate, I am uncomfortable with this contract. Something is telling me we should not pursue it.¡± ¡°But the prize is so large. An entire solar system of our own. We could raise thousands of clutches and start our own clan with that wealth.¡± ¡°I know we need the wealth. I¡¯m not arguing that, but what Tier Four is worth an entire solar system? That is a price for an immortal contract. It worries me greatly.¡± ¡°Have we yet to find a target of our Tier that can resist us? Your magic is truly potent and who can stand against my strength? My claws rend starmetal!¡± ¡°That¡¯s just it. We haven¡¯t had a target challenge us in decades. We sit at the pear of our Tier. If not for banking our experience for our clutches to use someday, we would easily be in mid-Tier Five, perhaps higher. I am asking for caution in our approach this time.¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°You know that is not our way, our tradition. How could we teach our clutches the way of the dragon when we run from a single challenge.¡± ¡°I did not say we would run. Never. But I wish to observe this target first and see what it is capable of. Stalk our prey like the predators we are.¡± She knew that she had to frame it carefully to keep her mate¡¯s bullheaded bloodlust in check. She saw the subtle relaxation of muscles beneath scales that showed her that she had won. He responded. ¡°Very well, for your sake, we shall stalk out prey before consuming it. Now let me handle the arrival.¡± Suppressing her grin at her mate¡¯s subconscious dismissal driven by his ego¡¯s resistance to the very idea of not charging in and rending an opponent. She knew that she had won this round but there would be a price to pay later and was gladly preparing her body for what would happen after their arrival. Arkmathus¡¯ mating habits were as aggressive as his combat ones, and she prepared the healing spells she would need afterwards. As she finished, the ship arrived, and she moved up next to him to observe their target. *** Duke finished his preparations at the Inn and headed outside into the hot, dry air. The area surrounding the Inn was dry and sandy, but it did have scattered vegetation making it different from what Duke had originally thought of when he saw this listed as a desert on the map. With a shrug, he moved a few kilometers away and opened up his DUNGEON SENSE to its maximum and began to rapidly exclude things from his notice. With his immense Psyche, his range with the Ability was over two hundred kilometers which made for an insane amount of information to sort through. With his reason over 900, he was able to quickly sort through much of what he took in and set aside the vast majority of things as natural phenomena and not worth actively tracking. He did notice an actual caravan traveling at the furthest edge of his range. After a few moments of scrutiny, he set it aside from his active notice and continued sorting. It took him over an hour to find something that stood out to him. He had spotted a trio of humans travelling his way slowly across the desert. They did not appear threatening at first but their continued trajectory towards him made him give them more attention. When they changed their direction to match the four TELEPORTS that he tested them with, he was certain that they were tracking him in some fashion. They were still fifty kilometers away, but he decided to confront them before they could set themselves up. His latest TELEPORT put him a mere thirty meters behind them, causing them to slowly turn in a circle as their tracking device turned them around. Duke was able to see that the device appeared to be some sort of filigreed magical compass that one of the men was holding. They were all dressed in the similar sets of heavy plate armor. The armor was the color of blued steel and adorned with golden runic inlays. With their helmets closed, Duke could not make out their features completely as DUNGEON SENSE did not provide that level of detail when expanded to its maximum range. Still, Duke decided not to focus the Ability as he was sure this would not be the only group looking for him. When the group finally turned around, the one holding the compass spoke. ¡°You are Duke of the world known as Teldin, are you not.¡± Duke decided not to play games just yet and responded. ¡°I am, and if you are looking to collect on that contract, I will give you exactly one chance to turn around and go back from wherever you came from. Forget the contract and leave with your lives.¡± Without skipping a beat, the speaker continued. ¡°You have been specified as the target of a kill order by Her Most Holy Majesty, Elishtrasha of the Eternal Throne. Surrender now, and we shall make your death quick and merciful.¡± Duke sighed and poured 100,000 Mana into both SILENCE and SOULFIRE. It was not one of his most powerful attacks, but it was one of his two attacks that he knew to bypass armor. The SILENCE washed over the trio followed by the SOULFIRE. Two of the three fell to the ground writing from the effects of the attack, including the compass-holder. The remaining one charged Duke while drawing a heavy sword. His first slice was far faster than Duke had expected as he accelerated to a phenomenal speed, similar to what Duke had seen Aurelia do in the past. The blade was aimed to cut Duke¡¯s head off. Duke decided to not let that blow land as he TELEPORTED behind the man a moment before the blade struck his neck. A sudden spurt of blood from his neck told Duke that he was not nearly as fast as he had thought. The swordsman halted his charge, pivoting on his back foot to face Duke yet again. Upon seeing the blood, he charged again, looking to finish Duke off. Duke, feeling his REGENERATION already healing the wound took the man more seriously and armed himself with his tonfa, pulling them straight from his INVENTORY and into his hands. He blocked the thrust aimed for his heart, pushing the blade aside with his left tonfa and delivering a crushing blow with his right. Duke¡¯s blow folded the armor around the tonfa before throwing the man backwards like a ragdoll. It was then that Duke noticed that he had a deep gash in his chest and breathing was now very difficult. Good thing I don¡¯t need to breathe anymore. As he healed his wounds, he made quick rounds of the trio, making sure they had all expired. The one Duke had struck had completely folded around the blow, his armor nearly crushed flat at the impact point. The body was essentially bisected by the combination of the blow and the crushing of the armor. Duke was sure he was dead so moved on to the other two. With a hard yank, the helmets of each of them came off, exposing the frozen screams they each bore. With a gaze into their lifeless eyes, he took notice of his experience notifications as the final arbiter of their death. *** You have slain a Triad Death Squad of the Eternal Throne. You receive 81,600 experience for slaying the three level 200, Tier Four assassins. You are now level 111 and have 18 Characteristic Points to spend. *** Duke chuckled and put his Characteristic Points into Reason to bring it closer to the 1,000 threshold. He CLEANSED and RESTORED himself, returning his clothes to pristine form. He then set to looting the corpses while going through the combat messages. He had finished looting the corpse of the swordsman when he noticed something unusual in his combat messages. There was an additional line that he had never seen before informing him that the sword blows had been enhanced and extended by Vithshrek, the Teldin god of Swords. Well, fuck you too. You¡¯re the first asshole I¡¯m coming for when I hit Tier Eleven. I knew I had dodged and blocked those blows! Have to be even more careful of swords from here on out. He gathered the loot, including the bodies, into his INVENTORY and went back to watching for the next group of assassins to make a move. Come on fucktards. I can do this all day! Book 3, Chapter 6 Duke did not see the next attack coming until it was upon him. His DUNGEON SENSE picked up on something an instant before he was hit by a missile of some kind. Over 15 million Health vanished in a single blast, leaving Duke¡¯s body shredded and planted in a large crater. He was missing most of his skin and he wasn¡¯t sure if he still had any limbs left. All he could feel was pain as exposed nerves fired off continually. However, with his current stats, his REGENERATION replenished his Health and repaired his body at a phenomenal rate ¨C nearly 600,000 Health a second. By the time his attacker came to follow-up on the attack and confirm Duke¡¯s death, he was back to nearly full Health but was still buried in the crater. What approached was another armored suit. This one, however, was tremendous ¨C standing over ten meters tall and bristling with weaponry. Duke did not recognize any of the weaponry specifically, but missile launchers and gatling guns were common fare from his past. There even seemed to be some sort of energy cannon mounted on the opposite shoulder from the missile launcher. It''s a fucking mech! I am totally stealing that bitch! Duke could not contain his excitement as he focused his DUNGEON SENSE deeper to see the interior of the mech through all the dirt covering him. What he saw inside shocked him briefly. The mech was piloted by a diminutive being that stood no more than a half-meter tall. The entire rest of the monstrosity was runic circuitry of some kind that Duke had no comprehension of but was now thoroughly interested in discovering. The mech landed outside the crater and started emitting some sort of scanning beam that he could only barely detect as it had no physical substance. Duke didn¡¯t hesitate to mount his own offensive. He locked on to the pilot and poured millions of Mana into an offensive TELEPORT, ripping through the mech¡¯s magical defenses and removing the pilot completely. Duke TELEPORTED himself out of the crater, adding his customary CLEANSE and RESTORE to himself in time to catch the terrified pilot by the scruff of its bodysuit¡¯s neck before it had fully reached terminal velocity from its ten-kilometer plunge. Duke turned the creature to face himself and found it to appear to be an anthropomorphic teddy bear staring back at him with oversized glassy black eyes with a pleading look. He hesitated long enough for it to speak first. ¡°Please no kill. We go away and not come back.¡± Duke stopped their descent with a flex of his FLIGHT ability and asked the first thing that came to mind. ¡°Who is ¡®we¡¯?¡± Duke received his answer when he was slammed into from below by the mech¡¯s armored fist. It was the size of his entire torso and slammed into him hard enough to break his grip on the pilot. The blow did not do much damage through his ARMOR SKIN but carried enough momentum to separate him from his prize. As he stabilized himself, Duke responded. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re both going away¡­in pieces.¡± He slammed bolts of FORCE into the pair in a rapid-fire sequence, increasing the Mana spent on each bolt. The first few bolts knocked the pilot away from the mech but it quickly moved to cover the pilot with its own bulk, not showing much damage from the bolts. The pilot somehow managed to climb back into the mech under the barrage but was unable to engage Duke before the bolts of FORCE had started to slam into the mech with enough impact to start causing damage. As the gatling gun mounted in the left arm started to spin up, Duke focused more and more Mana into his bolts. He grinned as he saw parts start to be blasted from the mech¡¯s body as the rapid-fire bolts completely spoiled the monstrosity¡¯s aim. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Just as Duke was ready to up the Mana going into the bolts of FORCE to a full hundred thousand each, the mech fired its thrusters and started burning for orbit at extreme speed. Duke considered letting them leave for a full second before he TELEPORTED into its path with a full million-Mana wall of FORCE. The mech slammed into the wall of FORCE with enough impact to completely collapse the Ability. Unfortunately for the mech, it collapsed as well, plummeting back towards the planet in an uncontrolled spiral. Duke followed it down, keeping his distance as his Mana replenished. The mech impacted the ground with a tremendous boom that sent a cloud of debris flying hundreds of meters into the air. He simply watched it with his eyes and scanned it with his DUNGEON SENSE to make sure that neither was going to get back up. The experience notification told him everything he needed to know. *** You have slain the Greater Golem, Gregorius and his Living Armor, Brutarcus. You receive 53,800 experience. *** Duke frowned. Not even enough experience to level me. Disappointing. It was a hell of a first strike, but not following it up from a distance was a major mistake on their behalf. On my side, how the fuck do I deal with something that hits that fast from more than two hundred kilometers away? Don¡¯t stand out in the open, perhaps? Yeah, dumbass, that might be a good idea. ***ELSEWHERE AGAIN *** ¡°You saw how he recovered from that hit, right, Arkmathus?¡± ¡°I did, but I bet I could hit him harder.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be an idiot. We both know how hard Gregorius and Brutarcus hit. Besides, he wiped them both out with little effort. The Throners put up even less of a fight. If he¡¯s a Tier Four, I¡¯m a lizard.¡± Arkmanthus paused at his mate¡¯s vehemence. She rarely resorted to such racial slurs, if ever. ¡°What Tier do you think he actually is?¡± ¡°I¡¯d say at least Sixth. Maybe Seventh. I don¡¯t think that we¡¯ve seen his true power yet and I am telling you this right now ¨C we ARE NOT fighting him.¡± ¡°Then we are to leave? Like children, fleeing an angry drake?¡± ¡°No, remember that this is an open contract for any Tier Four. We did not have to accept the contract to fulfil it and receive the reward. So, our honor is intact if we do not attempt to kill him.¡± ¡°We did not sign the contract?¡± ¡°No, my thick-headed, strong-scaled mate. No one signed the contract so anyone who fits the Tier requirements can fulfil the terms by killing the target.¡± ¡°Then why do we not?¡± ¡°Because I seriously do not think we can kill him.¡± ¡°But what do we actually do now? I came to fight and I will not leave without a fight. My claws ache for blood.¡± ¡°Oh, we are going to fight for sure. Think of how many are going to come to fulfil this contract with that prize on the line. How many rivals could we eliminate if we joined forces with this man named Duke? How much experience could we bank for our clutches?¡± ¡°Do you think he would permit us to lay a clutch on his planet if we ally with him?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know but I feel it is likely. He seems na?ve and uneducated about the wider cosmos. You saw how he thought separating the golem from its living armor would be enough to stop them both.¡± Arkmantus¡¯ next question made Drakmalorie¡¯s entire line of thought pause. ¡°If he is so na?ve, what could he have done to anger an Entity so much? And would we not be placing ourselves in a place of enmity with that Entity by allying with him?¡± She thought for several moments, working out the possibilities before continuing. ¡°That is the wisdom of the ancients resonating in your soul. A good question and one I do not have a sure answer to, but I do believe that I have enough to believe we would be outside the enmity. The wording on the contract was fairly specific. It only names Duke as the target and lists any allies as acceptable casualties only in the direct pursuit of the quarry. That means that his allies are not to be targeted unless they get in the way. If we fight at his side, we are not going to gain enmity, but we will be legitimate targets only during the fight.¡± ¡°Are you certain in your reasoning?¡± ¡°Would you prefer to ask your clutch-father?¡± ¡°No, not that. His attention is not something I desire, even at my Tier.¡± ¡°Then we continue to observe and make ourselves known at the opportune time.¡± ¡°As you say, my mate. As you say.¡± *** Book 3, Chapter 7 Duke relaxed in a bath with Aurelia cuddled into him. The warmth of the water seeped into muscles that had been pushed time and time again. His REGENERATION restored his body perfectly, but this feeling of replenishment was different and he stayed that way for far longer than he had planned. As they relaxed, he told Aurelia about all the attacks he had weathered throughout the day. ¡°Do you think they will start coming in groups at some point and can you handle that?¡± ¡°If it gets to be too much, I¡¯m going to relocate to Monrea and ramp up the destruction to the max. I doubt that anyone at Tier Four can handle me while I¡¯m this pumped up by my title. If they figure out that the dungeons are fueling me, then I will have a problem. Moving around will be my best tactic if they come in swarms.¡± ¡°I can help you fight, you know.¡± She snuggled in closer to emphasize her point. ¡°I know you can, love. But some of the hits I have been taking are monstrous. I took one single hit that cost me over ten million Health. I wouldn¡¯t have survived that without the Title buff. That would have killed you instantly and I am not going to see that happen. Not again.¡± ¡°I just feel helpless. I need to help you and I¡¯m terrified about what my world would look like if I lost you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry love. I¡¯m not going to let anyone take me out with a shot like that. At least not again.¡± ¡°Not going to stop worrying about it, but in the meantime I¡¯m going to be delving Travis¡¯ dungeon to keep myself from dwelling on what could happen.¡± ¡°You be careful too.¡± Duke gave her a wink and a squeeze before he froze in place, his attention elsewhere. ¡°What is it?¡± Aurelia asked, concerned. ¡°Someone just entered the Inn. Not sure how they tracked me down in here, but I have to go deal with them.¡± He didn¡¯t wait for a response as he practically jumped out of the large soaking tub and threw his clothes back on. An unconscious CLEANSE and RESTORE left him ready for action. He called over his shoulder as he left, ¡°Stay here. This might get messy.¡± He didn¡¯t look back as he headed down the hall and down the stairs. Aurelia fumed. ¡°Stay here? Like I¡¯m a helpless flower that needs protection? Oh, hells no.¡± She dried herself off and began to layer on her armor. Duke came down the stairs, stepping out into the tavern portion of the Inn. He saw a group of five individuals sitting at a table with drinks in front of them. They were all similar in appearance, being tall goblinoids. The major distinction between them all was in their manner of dress. Duke¡¯s first impression was that they were kitted out as a typical adventuring party with a tank, healer, mage, rogue, and ranged fighter. The ¡°mage¡± waved over to Duke and spoke, ¡°Come, join us for a drink before we get this all started.¡± ¡°A drink?¡± Duke asked, intrigued. ¡°Yes. Please join us so we can discuss things. It is our tradition to always at least share a drink with our subjects before things come to their inevitable conclusion.¡± Duke shrugged and came over to the table deciding that he could, indeed, use a drink and his curiosity was well piqued. Perhaps he could get some answers before things went to shit again. As he sat down, Travis gave him a meaningful look. ¡°There will be no fighting in my Inn. They have already agreed to this.¡± He set a glass of whiskey down in front of Duke and wandered back towards the bar. ¡°Thank you for joining us.¡± The apparent leader raised his glass and the others followed suit. Duke slowly joined them, ready to respond to any sign of violence. The leader continued. ¡°It is both good and terrible to meet you, Duke. I am Vorzag. This is Raktuk, Zelra, Myrka, and Grimtooth. And, as I am sure that you have guessed, we came here to kill you and claim the prize.¡± ¡°Yes, I figured you were here to join the pile of corpses in my INVENTORY.¡± Duke did not hold back the edge in his voice. Vorzag continued. ¡°I have an Ability that is quite unique in that it allows me to see the result of actions before they occur if I have enough information about the possible events and the variables in play.¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°That could be quite useful.¡± ¡°Indeed, Duke it is. It allows me to guide us to victory rather easily. At least it did until today. You are the first foe I have encountered that I simply cannot find a way to defeat. So, I¡¯m not going to make the attempt.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re just going to up and leave and not try to kill me?¡± Duke chuckled. ¡°Well, that¡¯s a new one.¡± ¡°Not everyone is smart about how they approach the job. Too many just charge in and hope they can overwhelm their target. Sadly, it works far more often than not so they keep doing it. I¡­we only act when we are assured of victory. That is how we emerged from and escaped the Creche. You are different. I suspect that you possess Abilities as unique as mine and that is what brings us to the table today. I would like to recruit you to join us, Duke. I have seen it. With you on our team, we could easily handle targets two Tiers above our own.¡± Duke stared at the five of them for a long moment before responding. ¡°Quite the offer, but I am rather happy with my own things right now. Perhaps another day I may change my mind, but today is not that day.¡± The exchanging of coins that followed Duke¡¯s response was neither subtle nor fast. Duke¡¯s realization that they had been betting on the outcome brought a smile to his face. ¡°So, you can predict the outcomes of events¡­that¡¯s pretty cool if I say so. Thanks for not being dicks and trying to kill me like so many others have and, I¡¯m just guessing, are still coming to do so.¡± ¡°Oh yes, the contract is so appealing that you may indeed be fighting for the rest of your days. No, that¡¯s not right. Word of your potency will get around the community over the next year, and no one will be willing to attempt the contract anymore. Have you ever considered the life of a hunter? You would be really good at it, even if it¡¯s not on my team.¡± ¡°I¡¯m still establishing my own places here. It will be a while before I start traipsing all over the cosmos hunting poor souls down.¡± Duke¡¯s next words were interrupted by a woman in golden armor bursting out of the stairway, sword drawn to strike, and shield ready to deflect a blow or bash a foe. ¡°Leave my Duke alone!¡± Aurelia¡¯s words rang with the full weight of her COMMAND VOICE and all heads turned in her direction. Vorzag laughed. ¡°Now that, I did not predict.¡± The table dissolved into laughter as Duke stood up and walked over to his battle-ready lover. Aurelia stared at him dumbfounded. ¡°Thanks for the backup, love. But they aren¡¯t here to fight, they are trying to recruit me.¡± ¡°Recruit you? What for?¡± ¡°To join our bounty hunting team, of course. Your Duke is quite extraordinary and would be quite the asset to us. The pay is good, and you could join us as well.¡± Duke interrupted. ¡°I¡¯ve already declined. Don¡¯t try to pressure me with the woman I love.¡± Aurelia mindlessly sheathed her sword as Travis handed her a drink. She absently downed the glass of liquid and gestured for another which Travis was happy to provide. Duke calmly led her to a seat that had somehow arrived at the table, and they all sat back down together. ¡°Well, this is not what I was expecting. Who are all you people.¡± Duke went around the table making introductions. When he finished, Raktuk spoke up. ¡°When we sat down, there was only enough room at this table for the five of us. Now there are seven and there¡¯s still plenty of room. How is this possible?¡± Duke smiled. ¡°Magic. This Inn is magic. That¡¯s why I chose it as my place to say for this time. With all the hunters and assassins coming for me, I rather like having a nice place to come back to relax after fighting. Don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°This human is unlike any other I have met. Is this why he has such a price on his head?¡± Grimtooth asked Vorzag, ignoring the self-same human he was asking about. ¡°Not very polite of you to speak of someone like that when they are sitting at the same table as you. But the truth is that I don¡¯t know what he has done to get such a price upon his head. That wasn¡¯t specified in the contract. I don¡¯t suppose you are willing to share that information, Duke?¡± ¡°Pass.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think so.¡± Vorzag reached into a pocket and retrieved a small device and handed it to Duke. ¡°This is a device you can use to reach me when you are ready to change careers and join us.¡± Duke accepted the device and IDENTIFIED it. ***You have found a targeted exospace communicator. This device can be used to communicate through exospace and therefore has near infinite range. *** ¡°That¡¯s handy. I¡¯ll keep this in a safe space and if I ever want to join you, I¡¯ll give you a ring.¡± ¡°A ring? I don¡¯t understand.¡± Duke shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s an idiom. It means that I will get in communication with you.¡± ¡°That makes much more sense. Thank you for hearing me out and being so cordial. I hope to hear from you soon but I now know that I won¡¯t, at least as far as I can see. Oh, and the svaldmethok are vulnerable to wind.¡± With that final bit of advice, the group rose from their seats and headed for the door. They had left behind twenty chips of some transparent material that Duke assumed was some form of currency. They were out the door before he even thought to ask. When he turned back from the door, the chips were gone. The knowing look he received from Travis told him exactly where the chips had gone. When he turned back to the door he paused. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose I can convince you to stay here and enjoy a meal while I go out?¡± The look he received from Aurelia told him everything he needed to know about her answer. He shrugged and waited for her by the door. They stepped through into the desert to find it was no longer barren. The Inn was ringed by landing craft, strange, mounted beasts, and dozens upon dozens of foes waiting for him. Book 3, Chapter 8 As all eyes turned to him, Duke spoke over his shoulder, ¡°Please step back into the Inn. The small fights are over, and I need to be sure you¡¯re out of the field of fire.¡± Aurelia caught a brief glance at the scene before stepping back into the Inn whispering, ¡°You had better come back to me.¡± Once inside, she called out to Travis, ¡°Is there any way I can see what¡¯s going on outside?¡± Travis smiled. ¡°Of course there is since it¡¯s just us in here.¡± The walls of the Inn become transparent, allowing her to see all around the Inn. She couldn¡¯t hear anything outside, but she saw Duke ensure the door to the Inn was closed before confidently striding away from the Inn and begin speaking. Duke had taken several steps outside the Inn and his XENOGLOSSIA was providing him with volumes of information from the body language of those surrounding him. They all wanted to be the one to get the kill and the prize, but they were equally concerned about being caught in the crossfire or having to face each other. It was a standoff that Duke was happy to take advantage of. ¡°You all came here for little old me? How sweet of you. But the way you are all set up, it¡¯s a virtual guarantee that you are going to hit each other with stray shots. Maybe we should relocate to another spot where you can set up a bit smarter?¡± His words broke the stalemate as he had expected. Fingers tensed on triggers, Spells were cast, Abilities activated, arrows loosed, and bruisers charged forward. Duke watched as the destruction washed over the area. He was a kilometer above the fray as he had TELEPORTED when it all began. Even still, several attacks had hit him as he departed, and his REGENERATION was hard at work repairing the damage. As he watched the Inn absorb hit after hit and, as he expected, remain immutable. His Intuition was working overtime as he identified all who had attacked and the few who had not. He quickly added the attackers to a mental list ¨C they would be the targets of his response. The dust and smoke slowly cleared in the dry desert air, revealing not a single individual below impacted by ¡°friendly fire¡±. That struck Duke as interesting as he unleashed his own attack ¨C a one million Mana UMBRAL REAPER targeting each attacker. The entire area below him turned to the midnight terror of his Ability. Claws and fangs burst forth from shadows and tore through flesh. Horrified screams echoed through the darkness for a full minute before the darkness receded back into shadow. There were still a dozen hunters that had not attacked Duke and had been excluded from the Ability. They stared at him as he gently descended towards the ground, shadows swimming in his eye sockets and the Ability fully resolved itself. He addressed the gathered crowd. ¡°I know you came for me for your own reasons. Perhaps because the prize offered was beyond tempting. Or perhaps because you enjoy a good fight. But you had the wisdom to not attack me immediately and for that reason you still live. Now make a decision. Leave with your lives or end up like the withered corpses around you!¡± There was a cacophony as several ships¡¯ engines whined to life as their owners chose the first option. Duke waited as the ships departed, keeping his COMBAT SENSE and DUNGEON SENSE actively watching for anyone attempting to turn and attack him. He was pleasantly surprised as those who left did so without conflict. He then found himself with half a dozen beings waiting for him. ¡°So, you want to fight?¡± Duke prepared himself. ¡°I certainly don¡¯t. I¡¯m not sure about everyone else here, but I would like to talk.¡± The speaker was what Duke¡¯s brain immediately classified as a ¡°space elf¡± by the pointed ears and thin features. There were nods and words of agreement from the rest of the individuals still standing there, including a pair of bipedal draconic beings. Duke landed and started walking towards the Inn¡¯s door. He glanced over his shoulder and offered a few words before opening the door. ¡°Anyone who wants to talk is welcome to come join me for a drink in the Inn. But anyone who brings violence inside my Inn will not live to regret it. I will tear your soul from your body and consume it in hellfire. And if I¡¯m in a particularly bad mood, I will send the hellfire back through your entire bloodline. I hope I made myself clear.¡± He stepped through the door. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Aurelia was waiting for him and intercepted him with a hug and a kiss. ¡°I¡¯m glad you are OK, love. That was terrifying to watch. Why did you spare some of them and what did you say to them at the end there?¡± Duke pulled her in closer for a deep kiss before carrying her to his favorite table. ¡°Those are the ones that didn¡¯t attack. I gave them the chance to just go away and leave me alone. The rest apparently want to talk. I told them to come in, but no violence would be tolerated.¡± Travis offered Duke a wicked grin. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure things stay civil.¡± His grin deepened disturbingly as the door to the Inn opened. They all looked up to see the pair of dragonian beings enter. The fact that the doorway had to expand to let them in gave Duke the sudden perspective in just how large they were that he had not gotten outside. The pair approached the table. ¡°You are the Duke, yes?¡± The larger of the two asked, the horns on his head nearly scraping the rafters. Duke winced inwardly but decided to avoid the wordplay in what could be a significant conversation. ¡°I am Duke. If you have come to talk, please join us at the table.¡± The dragonian looked down at the table and the chairs that could possibly fit one of his feet. Travis intervened with a chuckle. ¡°Go ahead and take a seat. It will resize for you.¡± The smaller dragonian, who was still larger than Duke grabbed a chair and pulled it over to her to sit down, smiling as the table, chair, and floor all resized to fit her comfortably. Her partner followed suit with a surprised look on his face. To everyone but Duke, or another dragonian, the look appeared fierce and aggressive. Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA read the comical surprise on the dragonian¡¯s features, causing Duke¡¯s mood to lighten slightly. The smaller dragonian spoke up after the pair were settled. ¡°Greetings. I am Drakmalorie and this is my mate, Arkmathus. We have been watching you for a short while and have decided that we have been deceived.¡± ¡°Deceived? By me?¡± ¡°No, not by you, but by the unnamed party that placed such a contract on you.¡± ¡°Oh, yes, them. Yeah, they kinda screwed all of you who came for me. I¡¯m sure they will update the contract when they realize how much they underestimated me.¡± ¡°They cannot. The contract cannot be amended, changed, or replaced until the standard thousand-cosmic-year term has expired.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good news and damned funny. They must be hopping mad at this point. So, what is it you would like to discuss.¡± The dragonians exchanged a glance before Drakmalorie continued. ¡°As I said, we have observed you and have decided not to pursue the contract. Instead, we would know what cause you serve.¡± ¡°What cause I serve? That is an interesting question. I am the king of a small but growing nation here on Teldin. I do, however, have aspirations far beyond this place but those are not a matter for a discussion with people I have only just met.¡± ¡°There is wisdom in caution. But I must ask, do you serve a greater master?¡± ¡°He does not serve a greater master, but IS sponsored by one.¡± The Overmind¡¯s avatar had appeared in the seat next to Duke. The reaction was immediate and took Duke by surprise. The chairs the dragonians had been sitting in slammed into the far wall, shattering to flinders. The pair prostrated themselves, their faces slammed to the floor. Duke almost didn¡¯t notice Aurelia passing out next to him in the commotion. He retrieved a pillow from his INVENTORY and placed it under her head before returning his attention to the full scene before him. Duke looked over to the Overmind, confusion washing over his face. The avatar smiled in response. ¡°Yes, Duke, that is the typical reaction. Now, you two get back in your seats. I am merely here to make sure that Duke fully understands what is going on since his education of the wider cosmos has been sorely lacking.¡± Slowly and carefully, the pair of dragonians took the seats that had reformed for them, their gazes firmly fixed downward at the table. The Overmind spoke up again, ¡°You have permission to meet my gaze and act normally while we are in this setting.¡± ¡°Thank you, great one.¡± The dragonians settled back into their seats but still were reluctant to meet the gaze of the Overmind. Duke decided to get things going again. ¡°So, you see, I am my own person, but I do have a sponsor. What is it you wanted to ask of me. I can tell that you are free to speak here. No one beyond this room can hear what you have to say.¡± Drakmalorie started again. ¡°We would like to join you in your endeavors on this world and raise a family here.¡± Duke looked over to the Overmind who gave him absolutely no indication either way. He continued, forging his own path. ¡°Before I could agree to that, I would know you both much better. Please tell me your story and why raising your family here is important to you.¡± Book3, Chapter 9 Drakmalorie began telling their tale. They were originally from a star system several galaxies away from Teldin. Their homeworld was a place of constant conflict as even clutchmates killed each other in their overwhelming hunger as their parents customarily abandoned their clutches in the wild. This hunger was all-consuming until they achieved awareness, about two years after hatching. She went on to explain. ¡°Arkmanthus and I were both the sole survivors of our respective clutches and found each other at the time of the awakening to awareness.¡± He grunted in agreement, and she continued. ¡°We formed a bond in those first days of awareness, hunting together until we found our first city. We were so young and knew nothing about, well, anything. It was there that we were taught the harsh lessons of strength and power.¡± Arkmanthus spoke up. ¡°I was taken in by the warrior sect due to my unusual size. As I grew, my body adapted to withstanding the constant bullying of the older children. My scales grew thicker and denser until, after years of being taught how to fight by losing fight after fight, that I finally learned that not only could I take whatever blows they landed on me, but even their claws and fangs were not able to get through my scales.¡± ¡°When I finally successfully struck out at the leader of the group that harassed me daily and tore his belly open, things changed for me. I was taken aside by one of the elders of the warrior sect and taught how to fight beyond what my instincts taught me. For ten years I studied under his claws, and I learned countless ways to kill.¡± Drakmalorie took over. ¡°My tale from the city is similar in some ways, but very different in others. Unlike Arkmanthus, I was tested when we arrived at the city and was found to have some talent with magic. Because of that, the sect of mages took me in. Their method of teaching magic is strangely similar to how they teach warriors. It is a brutal regimen that subjected me to countless forms of magic to see what resistances I had naturally formed, what ones I could develop, and ultimately, what magics I could employ.¡± She paused, gathering her thoughts. ¡°I was the first of us to ¡®graduate¡¯. I was given my title of Mage Assassin and sent with the subjugation forces to another world. There, I found that our forces were rather efficient at their jobs. The world fell to the assault forces in a matter of weeks after every major city was obliterated. Then the task fell to the subjugation forces to bring the populace into the proper slave configurations. Any who resisted were killed as brutally and publicly as possible. It took six months to fully subjugate that first planet.¡± ¡°As time went by, I got better at rooting out resistance and killing their leaders in the dark. All they would find in the mornings would be the mutilated bodies with detailed explanations of how they died, silently, and in excruciating pain. Just like I had been trained to do.¡± Arkmanthus took over. ¡°I, too, was ultimately assigned to the subjugation forces. They felt my size would intimidate the local populace. They were, of course, right about that. All the brutality that I was taught and even subjected to came out when I made planetfall. I did things that I care not to recall. But that is where I finally ran into Drakmalorie again.¡± ¡°I nearly did not recognize her when I first saw her in her mage¡¯s garb. She had an aura of death about her.¡± ¡°And he was still dripping with the green blood of the populace. But I still knew him on sight even after all that time. I could feel our connection flare to life again. It was then that I could see he recognized me. It took nearly a year of maneuvering through the egos of our leaders and the bureaucracy of it all, but we managed to get assigned to the same unit.¡± He nodded along as she continued. ¡°By then we had become disillusioned about the great conquest. It turned out to be a way for those at the top to spread their clutches further and further from the homeworld. It was of no benefit to our race beyond that. The peoples we enslaved were ultimately food for the hatchlings so that they would not consume each other. These hatchlings all grew up weak, never having had to fight for survival. It was a slow path towards our entire world¡¯s and likely our race¡¯s demise. None seemed to be able to see it as I and Arkmanthus did, though. So, we planned our escape.¡± He picked back up. ¡°Leaving was easy. Killed a scout ship crew and took the ship. No one knew until we were far away.¡± ¡°And we became bounty hunters to support ourselves. We¡¯ve had to keep clear of the Draco Collective, but it¡¯s a big cosmos and they are not going to come looking for us at this point.¡± ¡°That is quite the tale. I don¡¯t see how that would incline me to have you join me though and now you are, what? Seeking refuge here? Looking to build your family? What is it that you are truly looking for here?¡± ¡°We are looking for a place to raise our family where we can teach the survivors of our clutches the true way of the dragonians, not the soft ways of our nobility.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°And what happens when your children gain an appetite for human flesh or the flesh of other sentients on this planet?¡± ¡°That will not be a problem.¡± Drakmalorie responded. ¡°Not a problem because they will completely consume their prey?¡± Duke asked. ¡°No, not a problem because we will teach them what they can and what they cannot do. Your children grow up just the same. They are inherently selfish but can be taught to follow rules and the consequences of choice. Can they not?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a bad point, but how would the two of you survive here? It¡¯s not like cosmic bounties come to this planet on the regular.¡± ¡°In the short run, we will help you deal with the hunters that come here. In the long run, we will ride your coattails. We both see that you are far greater than anyone has given you credit for, and your deeds will not end here.¡± She paused with a quick glance at the Overmind, she seemed to consider a question but fell silent as if she feared to ask the question. ¡°It was wise of you not to broach that subject, but yes, he is my entrant.¡± The Overmind let the subject drop with that despite Duke¡¯s annoyed questioning glance. Duke gave the Overmind a further look before returning to the pair of dragonians. ¡°I am not one to lightly accept allies or to lightly turn allies away. Perhaps we shall stand together against the next wave of idiots and see where things go from there.¡± ¡°That is acceptable.¡± Arkmanthus replied. ¡°I will go see how many remain outside, but I suspect they are all gone now, and we will have to wait for the next wave.¡± ¡°If that is the case, feel free to stay at the Inn. I am sure we have a room suitable for you.¡± The enormous dragonian didn¡¯t waste any time getting to the door and stepping outside. He returned in under a minute. ¡°They have all gone, as expected.¡± ¡°Then we have some time to ourselves. Why don¡¯t you two get settled down in a room while I take care of other business. When I return, we can head out and see who wants to try their luck later.¡± The pair took the dismissal for what it was and allowed Travis to lead them to a room of their own. They were shocked to see it built for their size and it even had rough granite formations to scratch their scales on. ¡°Did he plan for us? How is this possible?¡± ¡°I know not, mate, but if this is how far he sees ahead, joining his cause will be the smartest thing we have ever done.¡± While they were getting settled, the Overmind focused back on Duke. ¡°Killing the hunters has helped you grow a bit, has it not?¡± ¡°Yes, it has although I haven¡¯t checked my latest gains yet.¡± ¡°Good. Don¡¯t hesitate to wipe out as many as you can in these early days. The monsters have yet to come for you and you need to be ready for them.¡± ¡°Monsters?¡± ¡°Yes, those who have been sitting at the peak of Tier Four for centuries have incredible power for their Tier.¡± ¡°How do they keep from Tiering up to Tier Five?¡± The Overmind laughed. ¡°You don¡¯t know how unique you are. Many races and Classes have requirements to reach beyond Tier Four that are both difficult to find and obtain. There are even Classes that are restricted to Tier Two or even Tier One. Humans are one of a very few races that have such a high inherent Tier restriction, so they are usually only limited by their Class. Not that it matters for you.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter to me? Because I¡¯m not human anymore?¡± ¡°Exactly. You are a Dungeon Born Dungeon Emperor. You will not face any restrictions before Tier Eleven. There is always a restriction at Tier Eleven, but I am confident that you will survive it. Beyond that, there are no race or Class restrictions for you. As it is now, you have the harder mortal Tiers still to get through so let us not be premature.¡± ¡°What makes them harder besides more levels to get through?¡± ¡°That is just it. You have to pass level 250 in Tier Five to reach Tier Six. Your experience gains are going to slow down significantly as you out-level everyone else. Once you reach¡­let¡¯s say level 200. How much experience will you get for defeating a peak Tier Four foe?¡± ¡°I never calculated how that worked.¡± ¡°The system gets complex at the upper levels, so I¡¯m not surprised about that. It would be around 200 experience.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not much.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. Now consider how much experience you need to go from level 200 to level 201. It¡¯s 201,000 experience, so you will have to defeat over a thousand peak Tier Four foes to even reach level 201. It will only get harder to get all the way to level 251 and Tier Five.¡± ¡°That sounds like a dangerous slog.¡± ¡°It can be. At the upper levels of the higher Tiers, achievements that grant experience are what you will need to truly advance. Know of anywhere you can get easy achievements?¡± Duke thought about it. I¡¯ve gotten some for kingdom stuff and defeating enemy armies but that won¡¯t happen much. Where else have I gotten achievement bonuses? The answer struck him like a bolt from the blue and he blurted it out. ¡°First clear bonuses from dungeons!¡± The Overmind grinned. ¡°Exactly. Especially solo first clears.¡± ¡°My Class is broken.¡± Duke grinned. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that. I would say that it is exceptionally well-crafted and built with a great deal of thought and care. Now, I must be on my way again. And get sleeping beauty here to put more points in Psyche. This is embarrassing. In fact, have her take this.¡± A potion appeared on the table. Duke reached for it but was stopped by a gesture from the Overmind. ¡°You cannot touch it. That would be a violation of the rules. She, however, can drink it with impunity. Now, it is my turn to depart. Check your gains and keep growing. Time is passing rather quickly.¡± With that, The Overmind was gone. Aurelia woke up, lifting her head from the pillow with a confused look upon her face. Before she could say anything, Duke cut in. ¡°You passed out in the presence of the Overmind. Drink this and you¡¯ll feel better.¡± Duke gestured to the potion, and she downed it without a second thought. She immediately passed out again. ¡°Well, shit.¡± Duke brought her back to the Lake Front Dungeon Inn and placed her in bed before checking on his gains. Book3 Chapter 10 When reviewing his gains, Duke first noticed that he had gained five levels, bringing him to 116 and leaving him with 90 Characteristic Points to spend. He put them into Reason and Psyche, bringing Reason up to 1,000 even. Duke held his breath waiting for some announcement for a new title at having reached 1,000 in all his Characteristics. There was no such message. Fucking books making me think that would get me something. Let¡¯s see how my Abilities have advanced. Duke delved into his Abilities list to see what had changed. It seemed mostly small increments in various Abilities, except UMBRAL REAPER which had gained 8 levels to Adept 70. It was still a long cry from ranking up, but it was his new favorite paradoxical Ability. He loved the Ability for its potency but equally feared it for what it showed about the shadows of his mind. He wondered if using the Ability helped soothe his own darkness by giving him a release point, or if it only compounded and strengthened the darkness within himself. As with most things, he just put the deeper philosophical musings aside with a ¡°fuck it¡± and carried on with his day. He headed downstairs to check in with Calen and Sam. He hadn¡¯t taken more than two steps into the room before a Legionnaire messenger ran up to him. ¡°Your Majesty, you are needed in Cloudspire as soon as possible.¡± Duke thanked the man and TELEPORTED to his Throne Room. Madrigal was pacing the floor, waiting for him. ¡°Madrigal, what is going on?¡± The man snapped out his pacing and hurried up to Duke. ¡°Pahst forces are gathering at our border. They can only mean to invade.¡± ¡°Are you sure they are not just responding to our increased presence at the border?¡± ¡°They have brought near a hundred siege engines with them.¡± ¡°Right. That¡¯s not a defensive emplacement. Excuse me for a moment.¡± Duke did not wait for a response before TELEPORTING back to his room at the Inn. He gently shook Aurelia awake. ¡°How did I wind up here? Not that I mind. This is my favorite room in the Inn.¡± She reached for him to pull him down to the bed. He kissed her, barely holding himself in check. ¡°Stormstride needs her general.¡± Aurelia froze, flipping into a much more serious tone. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Duke filled her in on what he knew, which admittedly was not all that much. She was up and moving before he could say much more, her eyes alight with energy and purpose. ¡°I need you to set up a Portal from the LFD Inn to the Garrison so I can move Legionnaires into place.¡± Duke nodded. ¡°Sure. The Portal already exists, we just need to open it in the Hall of Possibilities. I could also just smack their army down myself.¡± She glared at him. ¡°Oh, no you won¡¯t Stormstride is not going to rely on any single individual for its defense. We have the Legions for a reason. Besides, you have your own battles to fight. You¡¯re still being hunted, remember? This is MY fight. Let me fight it.¡± ¡°Oh, I haven¡¯t forgotten about the hunters coming for me but given how ineffective they have been, I¡¯m not all that concerned.¡± She smacked him on the shoulder. ¡°You overconfident bastard. Don¡¯t take this lightly. Just because you have been able to deal with the first few doesn¡¯t mean that stronger ones are not coming for you. Now be careful and open up the portals, I¡¯ve got a war to win!¡± Duke had not seen Aurelia with this much energy in quite a while and came to the realization that he had really been relegating her to the background for the most part. She knew her purpose and was more than excited to be fulfilling it. He quickly opened the Portals as she had asked and followed her out the door with a CLEANSE and RESTORE. As Aurelia strode into the common room, Duke could see from her demeanor that she was enjoying herself. Her COMMAND VOICE echoed throughout the room as she spoke. ¡°Sam, please carry this throughout the training dungeon. Legionnaires, gather yourselves and pass through the Portals to the garrison. We have a neighbor who seems to think they can threaten us. Let¡¯s go show everyone just how bad an idea that is. Legionnaires, to war!¡± The excited shouts and flurry of activity that followed surprised Duke with its order and precision. Each Legionnaire seemed to know their place and they fell into ranks enthusiastically headed for the Portal room quickly. In less than an hour, the Inn was empty of Legionnaires including the training dungeons. And Duke was alone. Stolen novel; please report. Duke briefly returned to the Dusty Trail Inn before stepping outside again with his DUNGEON SENSE running to make sure he could see anything coming. There was a single figure standing outside waiting for him. He stood taller than Duke and had an athletic build that spoke of strength and flexibility. Instead of hair, his head was covered in a comb of long, brilliant feathers that ran from his forehead to the back of his head. A pair of feathered wings spread out behind him as he spoke, drawing a slightly curved sword. ¡°I am Kalimashu, Senior Disciple of the Saint of Swords and I have come for your head.¡± He followed up his statement with an intricate pattern of demonstrated sword slashes. Duke thought it might be part of a kata but wasn¡¯t sure. He just knew that he didn¡¯t want to deal with a swordfight right now. ¡°I am Duke and I don¡¯t do swords.¡± With a flex of his enormous willpower and his Granmaster-ranked TELEPORTATION, Duke removed the sword from the man¡¯s grasp and into his own. ¡°I¡¯m giving you a choice here. Either take your sword and go home to your master or die right here and now.¡± Duke held the man¡¯s sword back out to him hilt-first. The man¡¯s entire countenance collapsed. He had been disarmed by a foe so quickly that he did not even see him move. Not even the Sanit of Swords moved that quickly. He stepped forward and accepted his sword back with a bowed head. ¡°I have made a terrible mistake threatening a foe of your strength. Your mercy will not go unheralded.¡± He then turned and walked away, his stride shaken and uneven. ¡°Why did you let him go?¡± The voice came from the roof of the Inn behind Duke. He had spotted the speaker with his DUNGEON SENSE but had not focused on her with the swordsman threatening him. ¡°He was just a kid. Cocky and overconfident, but really not worth gaining another enemy in his master. How about you? You come to try and kill me too?¡± ¡°Honestly? Yeah, that¡¯s what brought me here, but after watching that display of skill, I¡¯m not quite as interested in the bounty as I was on the way here. Name¡¯s Lya, by the way.¡± She hopped off the roof, flipping in the air to land on her feet next to Duke. She shook out her raven hair and met his gaze with her piercing almond-shaped green eyes ¡°I¡¯m Duke, but you already know that. What¡¯s your next play if it¡¯s not to try and join the pile of bodies who have already failed to collect the bounty?¡± ¡°Well, if you put it that way, maybe head inside this Inn sitting in the middle of nowhere and buy you a drink. We¡¯ll see where it goes from there?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll say yes to the drink but it¡¯s not going to go any further than that.¡± ¡°How do you know? You¡¯ve only just met me.¡± She gestured to herself, directing Duke¡¯s eyes down her athletic body.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to deny that you¡¯re attractive, but since I just sent my girlfriend to fight a war for me, I sure as hell am not going to cheat on her. Wait, that didn¡¯t come out right. Circumstance doesn¡¯t matter. I sure as hell am not cheating on my girlfriend.¡± ¡°Loyalty. I like it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s pretty important to me and it goes both ways. Oh, excuse me for a moment.¡± Duke TELEPORTED to the top of one of the abandoned ships surrounding the Inn and grabbed the barrel of the rifle that had been aimed at him. When he grabbed it, Duke realized that he couldn¡¯t fit his hand around the barrel of the weapon as it was as wide as his head. The creature holding the other end of the rifle appeared to be some sort of malformed giant. It¡¯s exclaim of surprise was followed by it pushing up to its feet and attempting to wrench the rifle from Duke¡¯s grasp. Duke held on, using all the force of his FLIGHT Ability to keep him rooted to the spot. The creature was immensely strong, but Duke¡¯s stats were fully boosted and in the test of strength, the rifle¡¯s barrel warped, bent, and eventually broke free. Duke let it fall to the roof of the ship as the creature threw a fist the size of Duke¡¯s head at, well, his head. Duke slipped under the fist and delivered a punch of his own to the creature¡¯s extended arm, shattering its elbow. It bellowed in pain, bringing its other arm down in a crushing blow that Duke easily sidestepped to deliver another lightning-fast punch of his own, shattering bones in the other arm. The creature stumbled back, pain and panic in its eyes. It furtively looked to either side for an escape route before the finishing blow, an open palm strike hit it square in the chest, shattering bones and organs alike. With a stumbling step backwards, it tumbled off the back of the ship lifelessly. Duke quickly put the body in his INVENTORY and returned to Lya. ¡°Sorry about that. Some folks are so rude they can¡¯t tell when other folks are having a conversation. Now where were we? Oh yes, you were going to buy me a drink and fail to seduce me. Right?¡± Lya stared at Duke for a moment before responding. ¡°You just killed a Frangu Giant. With, what? Three punches?¡± ¡°Is that what it was? I didn¡¯t take the time to figure it out since it was trying to snipe me. And, yes, it was three punches. Well, technically two punches and a palm strike, but I don¡¯t know how technical we are being right now.¡± ¡°And you stood toe-to-toe with it in a test of strength. Their strength stats are in the thousands at least. How did you do that?¡± ¡°Here¡¯s a better question. Why would someone put up that large a prize on someone¡¯s head in a place like this? How much of a threat must I be to them?¡± ¡°I am starting to wonder exactly that.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you glad that sword-boy announced himself before you tried to catch me by surprise?¡± ¡°Um, yeah. Just who the hells are you?¡± ¡°Buy me that drink and maybe I¡¯ll tell you.¡± Book 3, Chapter 11 They stepped back into the inn to find Drakmalorie and Arkmathus waiting for them. Drakmalorie spoke first. ¡°Lya Hollis Ware. I don¡¯t have to ask what brings you out here, but I am wondering what you are doing in here in the Inn with my new associate, Duke.¡± ¡°I see you all know each other. Then I guess I don¡¯t need to make any introductions. She¡¯s here to buy me a drink and attempt to seduce me.¡± Drakmalorie burst out in laughter. ¡°I¡¯ve spent long enough dealing with humans to know their standards of beauty and let me say this. Lya, you¡¯re pretty and I¡¯m sure you have your pick of the clutch when it comes to mates, but I¡¯ve seen his mate, and you are not even close to her comliness. Oh, and the drinks are free here so good luck winning him over with your purse.¡± Lya looked back at her with a death glare as Duke called Travis over. Travis smiled at the four of them. ¡°What can I get you all?¡± Lya asked, ¡°Is it true that the drinks are free here?¡± Travis¡¯ smile broadened. ¡°Everything is free here, m¡¯lady. Drinks, food, lodging. It¡¯s all provided for already.¡± ¡°What do you mean provided for already? Who¡¯s paying the tab?¡± Travis looked over to Duke who¡¯s own smile joined the others¡¯ and explained. ¡°There are a number of Inns like this one scattered around Teldin. They are all provided by the Kingdom of Stormstride.¡± Arkmathus looked pointedly at Duke before speaking. ¡°Isn¡¯t that your kingdom, Duke?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve done your homework. Very good. Yes, it is my kingdom that provides the Inns. They are magical and quite the wonders.¡± Lya looked around the table. ¡°I don¡¯t like being made a fool of, but I suppose I walked into this one all by myself.¡± ¡°I would say you walked in with Duke, actually.¡± Arkmathus joked. Lya slowly shook her head before speaking again. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to have any Stardust Brew, would you?¡± Travis chuckled. ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll have one prepared for you right away.¡± He looked to the others, waiting for their orders. ¡°Bloodwine?¡± Arkmathus inquired, receiving a nod of affirmation from Travis. ¡°My usual.¡± Duke added. ¡°Deluvian Plasma if you will. Travis returned less than a minute later depositing drinks in front of each of them. ¡°Anything else I can get you?¡± ¡°I could really go for a steak right now.¡± Duke responded. ¡°Medium rare, with the usual sides?¡± ¡°That would be perfect. Anyone else? Feel free to order whatever you want. The Inn¡¯s kitchen is quite diverse and able to accommodate most requests.¡± What followed was a number of orders from the other three that Duke didn¡¯t even have a context clue for. His XENOGLOSSIA translated the words, but that didn¡¯t help nearly enough. Still, Travis smiled and returned several minutes later with tray upon tray floating behind him. He deposited all the food orders with the pair of dragonians receiving the vast majority of the plates. Duke gave them an appraising look. ¡°Hungry?¡± Arkamthus chuckled from deep in his chest. The vibration set the entire table to shaking in sympathy with him. ¡°If this tastes as good as it smells, I will have to reconsider the life choices that didn¡¯t bring me here sooner.¡± ¡°Well, don¡¯t let me hold you up then.¡± Duke replied. ¡°Everybody dig in.¡± What followed was like nothing Duke had seen before as the dragonians tore into their meals with claw and fang, tearing chunks of flesh free and throwing them back down their gullets with their necks stretched to the ceiling. The sounds of pleasure that accompanied were hard to mistake as the dragonians were practically purring. Lya gave Duke a knowing smile as she figured out the fork and knife that came with her meal. Perhaps it had something to do with her observing Duke eating his steak. It had never occurred to him that utensils wouldn¡¯t be universal but after a moment¡¯s thought he realized that to think they would be was absolutely foolish. ¡°How is your, what was it called? Copish?¡± Duke asked. ¡°It¡¯s called Copeshe. Co-Pesh-eee.¡± She enunciated for Duke¡¯s benefit. ¡°And it¡¯s probably the best I¡¯ve ever eaten. My aunt would slit my throat if she heard me say that out loud. Her¡¯s is legendary in my family. Even my late husband would have loved it.¡± Drakmalorie paused in her flesh-tearing bonanza to choke down another slab of ripped meat and add, ¡°See, Duke, she¡¯s even telling you that her husband is dead, and she is available.¡± Duke stared back at the dragonian with disappointment. ¡°It is beyond rude to speak of a dead spouse like that.¡± Lya interrupted before things could go further. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Duke. Different culture, different customs. If her mate were to die, she would consume his body in remembrance of him.¡± Arkmathus added, ¡°And what a meal that would be. She wouldn¡¯t be able to finish it in one sitting. My spirit would be quite offended.¡± Drakmalorie playfully smacked him. ¡°You¡¯ve always been too big for your own good. And you would have me for a snack and still be hungry.¡± He saluted her with a leg of some beast and tore another jagged chunk from it, crunching happily on the bone as well as the meat. ¡°Different customs, indeed.¡± Duke acknowledged. ¡°So, Lya, do you mind if I ask what happened to your husband?¡± ¡°No, I am proud of him and his life. He was the head of a research center funded by the Concordiate. After a chance encounter with a space pirate and a quite singular solider with PTSD, he tried his best to help them both. Both were horribly wronged by the Concordiate but that is far too long of a story. Ultimately, he wound up chasing after the soldier with the pirate who wasn¡¯t really a pirate anymore. In the end, he died in a conflict with the Concordiate military. But he made the bastards pay dearly for it ¨C cost them a capital ship and all its escorts. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°My husband was a gentle man at heart, but when push came to shove, he stood with a stronger spine than any warrior I have met standing for what was right rather than what was easy or convenient. When the truth of it all came out, the Concordiate fell apart.¡± Lya finished with her chin held up in pride but a tear still forming in her eye. ¡°She hunted down the remaining members of the Concordiate responsible for her husband¡¯s death and that is what led her to the hunter¡¯s life. She¡¯s a bit of a legend amongst us. Which makes me curious as to why you are all the way out here, Lya? Yes, this is an open contract, but not one I would have expected you to pursue.¡± ¡°So many were coming here that I was actually hoping to find a new place to call home. With this many hunters converging, I figured the gossip would be good about opportunities. And if the opportunity was right for collecting the bounty that would make the decision rather easy for me.¡± Duke shook his head, asking with a sly smile. ¡°So, Lya, catch any good gossip yet?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard a few things that made me cautious.¡± ¡°Such as?¡± ¡°Such as you singlehandedly killed the entire crew of an Octuul Clone Army ship and the ship itself never made it back home.¡± ¡°They took the first shot.¡± Duke responded dryly. As if on cue, the door to the Inn slammed open before anyone could say more. Floating through the opening was a creature unlike anything Duke had seen before. It had a central orb of some kind that floated in the air, but the vast majority of the creature was made of thousands of wispy strands that were attached to the central core and floated outwards as if blown by a nonexistent breeze. ¡°Friend of yours?¡± Duke asked. ¡°The Svaldmehok are friend to no bipedal prey.¡± The creature announced. Duke quickly realized by the complete lack of response from the other three at the table that he was the only one to understand its language. ¡°That¡¯s a Svaldmehok, if my guess is right. Nasty things. Best to kill it with fire.¡± Lya announced. Duke calmly stood from his seat and announced. ¡°There is no fighting in the Inn. If you want to try your hand at the bounty, go on outside and I¡¯ll meet you there.¡± The other three chuckled but Duke felt something touching his skin and the resultant notification raised his ire. *** You have been struck by 82 tendrils of a Svaldmehok. Four have managed to penetrate your ARMOR SKIN and have injected you with a paralytic venom. Your REGENERATION has cleared the venom from your system for now, but further exposure could have a compounding effect. *** Duke growled and TELEPORTED the central mass of the creature outside. A cloud of tendrils spread out over nearly every surface around the door but were quickly absorbed by the Inn. ¡°Excuse me, I have a rude, unwelcome guest to remove.¡± He stood from his chair and made his way through the door. Outside, Duke saw that the body of the creature was ineffectually rolling around on the ground, attempting to get away. Duke strode up to it, shouting. ¡°When I say that there¡¯s no fighting inside the Inn, I mean there is no fighting inside the Inn!¡± He proceeded to line the creature¡¯s body up and kicked it as hard as he could muster, using his FORCE Ability to keep it from exploding until it was hundreds of meters overhead where he instead used the Ability to crush it to paste. He turned back to the Inn to see the others laughing at the scene. He smiled back at them. ¡°I have a thing about enforcing the few simple rules I keep. It didn¡¯t seem to want to listen and, well, it made a great kickball.¡± ¡°You tore off all its tendrils. It was as good as dead already.¡± Lya responded, mid chuckle. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t have attacked me after I told it to take it outside. I¡¯m really quite reasonable about these kinds of things. Wouldn¡¯t you three say?¡± He received words of general agreement before his chest exploded inwards and out his back from a tremendous blast of energy that came from the roof of the Inn. Duke tumbled to the ground, seeing that over 20 million of his Health vanished in the single shot. His REGENERATION was fast at work, healing over half a million Health every second, but this was a hit he didn¡¯t see coming and was not prepared to handle at all. He responded by immediately TELEPORTING a kilometer straight up and focusing his DUNGEON SENSE on the area around the Inn to try and find his attacker. It didn¡¯t take long. He quickly realized that it wasn¡¯t an individual, but rather a ship of some sort that was hovering over the Inn. I didn¡¯t see that when I came out or when I kicked the ball of fun, so it must have been in some sort of stealth mode. If so, I might not be far enough away from it to prevent another shot like that one. Back to Plan A. As in attack! Duke focused on the rather obvious weapon mounted to the underside of the craft that was beginning to glow a bright orange. Without a further thought, he TELEPORTED the weapon from its emplacement, pointing it straight back at the craft. He was rather disappointed when the weapon didn¡¯t fire. Would have liked to see that go off. Oh fuck, this hurts. Duke¡¯s ribcage was starting to reform, sprouting from his also regrowing spine. The ship turned and pointed Duke¡¯s way, he guessed it was to bring some other weapon to bear but decided not to find out since he was still missing a significant portion of his torso. It really is remarkable how well my remaining skin held me together. Is that a function of ARMOR SKIN? I wonder if it could- He was interrupted as another part of the ship started to glow with energy. Oh, right, still fighting. He prepared to TELEPORT again while the ship shuddered violently before rapidly losing what little altitude it had to start. The glow ceased and the craft slammed down onto the roof of the Inn where it paused briefly before proceeding to slide down off the Inn to finally crash to the ground. When it landed, Duke saw Arkmathus leap from the Inn¡¯s roof and proceed to tear into the metal of the craft with his claws glowing a deep, energetic purple. Strips of metal and random parts rained down from the roof of the craft as the dragonian continued his assault. Duke slowly lowered himself towards the ground, waiting for the crew of the ship to come out. Using his DUNGEON SENSE, He could see them panicking as Arkmathus started tearing his way through the inner hull but was not entirely sure why they were panicking so much until he realized that the ship had come to rest on the main hatch, leaving it inoperable. ¡°You planning on killing them?¡± Duke called out to his new dragonian friend. Arkmathus paused in his rage-fueled thrashing to look poke his head out of the crater he was digging in the ship. He looked down at Duke, his face full of wonder. ¡°I thought they had disintegrated you!¡± ¡°Disintegrated? No. But they did hit me pretty damned hard. Still healing from it even.¡± He gestured at the slowly closing hole in his chest. Arkmathus stepped back and climbed out of the hole. ¡°Your kill.¡± It was a simple statement, but it spoke volumes of respect for Duke. It was only then that Duke truly realized that Arkmathus was trying to avenge him. He filed that away for reference. He stepped up to the craft that was roughly ten meters across and about half as tall. Continuing to use his DUNGEON SENSE, he identified two strong points close together and near him on the hull. He gripped one in each hand. He then put all his regrown back muscles into pulling those two points, and the ship apart. At first, the resistance was significant, ship hulls being built to withstand all kinds of forces. But, in the end, Duke¡¯s 11,000 points in Strength were just too much as there was a ping followed by a horrendous screeching sound as the ship¡¯s hull simply parted alongside the left strong point. Duke¡¯s arms flung wide as the hole opened up to his entire wingspan, giving him a direct entrance to the bridge of the ship and the four figures cowering behind a crew-served weapon that was pointed in his direction. Before they could even fire the weapon, Duke filled the entire ship with 100,000 Mana worth of ACID. He also ducked to the side just in case. Moments later, a greenish-grey goo of melted parts of the ship and its occupants started dripping out of the torn front of the ship. Duke nodded as the experience notification hit him. With a quick CLEANSE and RESTORE, he walked back towards the three watching him. ¡°Well, that was something. Anyone up for desert?¡± Book 3, Chapter 12 Duke spent the next several days in a similar fashion, weathering the attacks of various hunters and groups of hunters while watching his experience and Abilities steadily tick up. He quickly found himself at level 123 and sitting on another 126 Characteristic Points which he quickly poured into Psyche. During this time, he checked in with Aurelia frequently to see how things were on the Pahst border. It turned out that Pahst was bluffing but had accidentally crossed over and even started a skirmish with an errant arrow. The Legion had responded with an overwhelming response of Mages firing off attack spells. When the smoke finally cleared, the area where the Pahst forces had stood was nothing but a smoking ruin. There was no other sign of the men who had stood there. Two hours after that exchange, the Pahst forces began to withdraw only leaving behind a fearful token force. The next day, the Legion began drawing back down, most returning to the LFD to continue training but a contingent of nearly a thousand Legionnaires started a patrol around the perimeter of the kingdom. Duke had quickly run out of room in his INVENTORY for all the loot, ships, and transports he had been storing in there. He could fit nearly a million cubic meters, but some of these ships were even bigger than that. Sam had created a hangar level in the LFD for Duke to store his ship-loot in. It was a massive cavern hundreds of kilometers wide and dozens tall. When Duke first entered it, it was akin to an entire kingdom in size. But it did allow him plenty of space to TELEPORT the now dozens of ships that stood crewless around the Inn right into place. He did leave a few outside placed to give just the hint of an arena around the front of the Inn. ¡°Can¡¯t one of you send out a message out on whatever communications tool the hunters use to warn them off from me?¡± Duke asked sitting at the table with his three newest companions. Baslin and Aurelia were also with him. Baslin had insisted on coming over to the LFD to ¡°check on a few things¡± he had left running all this time. That phrasing had concerned Duke at first, but he was completely sidetracked when Baslin met the dragonians. The next hour was entirely consumed with Baslin asking them questions about their race and civilization. And since the pair were so happy to talk about their racial superiority, they just didn¡¯t stop. Eventually, Duke, Aurelia, and Lya took up at another table to talk. Duke was afraid that their conversation was going to go sideways quickly when Lya told Aurelia that Drakmalorie was right about her. She then had to immediately explain that she had come into the Inn to try and seduce Duke but was quickly disabused of the notion by the dragonian. The fire in Aurelia¡¯s eyes was brief but died down the more Lya talked about the events of that evening. She even squeezed Duke¡¯s hand back as a final indicator that he was in the clear. Two hours later the girls were talking up a storm and Duke quietly excused himself from the table. He had other things to do. All this time, being attacked nearly every time he set foot outside the Inn, was starting to get on his nerves. He needed some time to himself to decide on a few things. He had a great many items he knew he needed to attend to and sitting around or fighting pointless fights were not going to get any of them done. He gathered his thoughts and went to his hangar level in the LFD. He casually walked between the ships lining the sides of the level taking a good look at each of them. Some were likely little more than scrap from battle damage, but most were completely intact. There was one that he gravitated to above all the others. He wasn¡¯t sure why, but it struck him as different. It had belonged to the teddy bear and his living mech-golem. The ship appeared to be an enormous egg-shaped thing standing on a half-dozen substantial legs. Duke walked around it twice while taking in all its features. There were numerous turrets and missile launchers inset around the hull and he could see where they could be retracted into the hull and covered with armored plates that would slide into place. The entrance ramp was up and closed, but there was an access panel next to where the ramp would lower. Duke approached the panel and felt his XENOGLOSSIA trigger. ¡°Interrogative access code request. Remote or manual contact acceptable.¡± Duke stared at the ship in wonder. I knew XENOGLOSSIA was powerful, but to translate the ship¡¯s communications language sent by radio or something akin to it. Now this is cool. Maybe I can convince the ship to let me in. Duke responded, ¡°Ship ownership has been transferred to me. Update all records and access permissions to reflect this change.¡± ¡°Incorrect access code. Access denied.¡± ¡°Well, shit.¡± ¡°Access code accepted.¡± ¡°What the fuck?¡± ¡°New access code established. Welcome home, Captain.¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Duke shook his head at it all. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s my XENOGLOSSIA translating everything into language that the ship¡¯s systems understand or if it¡¯s fucking with me, or I¡¯m stupidly lucky. Just insane no matter what it is but time to go investigate my ship. I have such plans for this thing. ¡°Open the entrance ramp please.¡± Duke smiled as the armor plating covering the access ramp withdrew and the ramp descended, allowing him to enter the ship. He casually strolled up the ramp and into what he saw to be the main hold of the ship. There were enormous bays set into the walls around the outside wall of the hold. Each bay was at least ten meters across, and some were as tall as thirty meters. Within each bay was a series of clamps designed to hold something in place. Duke¡¯s mind raced as the possibilities expanded. ¡°What are these bays around the hold for?¡± Duke asked, hoping the ship¡¯s systems would respond. His grin expanded as he got his response. ¡°The perimeter bays of the Class XII Assault Dropship are designed to hold a full platoon of mechs. Currently all mechs assigned to the Iron Reaver are deployed and either fatally incapacitated or outside of communication range.¡± Duke could feel the strain on his lips as his smile spread to a maniacal width. ¡°Where can I get replacement mechs and what is the typical currency used to purchase them?¡± ¡°Mechs can be either hired on as mercenaries individually, or in as much as company-strength from the Iron Collective. They can also be purchased on any of the magitech worlds of the cosmos. If you report to the bridge, I can show you on the navigational maps and we can discuss things like currency.¡± Duke quickly found his way to the bridge via a series of internal passages. Setting foot on the bridge showed him the true grandeur of the ship. Whereas the hold showed the scarring of decades of use and battle, the bridge appeared to be absolutely pristine as if maintained by someone obsessed with order and cleanliness. There were several seats and workstations spaced around but the massive viewscreens that dominated the far wall caught Duke¡¯s immediate attention. That is until he noticed the orange glow coming from one of the centrally-located seats. As he watched, the glowing seat turned around to reveal a figure seated staring back at him with vibrant orange-red eyes that struck Duke as a pair of burning coals. The rest of the figure was equally inhuman but distinctly female. Her skin had a deep, metallic bronze coloration that seemed as much metal as skin. She had hair that at times appeared translucent but appeared to flicker with burning flames as it danced to a breeze he did not feel. The arms and legs were just long enough to be disturbing to Duke¡¯s initial sight despite the overall humanoid appearance. She stood from the chair and walked up to Duke with an athletic grace that impressed Duke. ¡°Well, hello there. I am Mira, your pilot.¡± The voice was distinctive, and Duke recognized it as what he had thought was the voice of the ship. It took an enormous amount of self-control to keep the flush of embarrassment from completely covering his face. ¡°The name¡¯s Duke.¡± ¡°Oh, I know. When Gregorius and Brutarcus had me bring them out here, I did all the research I could on you. Especially after you window-washed them like that.¡± ¡°Window-washed?¡± ¡°Yeah. Window-washed. You know, tossed them out the open window of an arcology. Window-washed.¡± Duke nodded, getting the context, if not the meaning of the idiom. ¡°Well, they did try to kill me first.¡± ¡°That they did. And you killed them in honorable combat, transferring ownership of the Iron Reaver to you with all the rights and responsibilities that come with it.¡± ¡°And what might those rights and responsibilities be?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a long list including my service but you also now have the debt that comes with the ship.¡± ¡°Just how much debt, who is it owed to, and what is the accepted currency?¡± Duke groaned. Mira was more than happy to bring up the ship¡¯s account on the big viewscreen. It very clearly showed that the ship was in the red by nearly a hundred million galactic credits. Duke groaned, but soldiered on. ¡°And how do we obtain these galactic credits? Are they digital or physical?¡± Mira smiled. ¡°There are countless ways to obtain galactic credits. Bounty hunting is a good one for someone with your skills. But transporting and selling goods also works. Here, take a look at this and see if you have anything that would sell for a decent price.¡± She handed him a lightweight tablet that had price listings of various goods. Duke went down the list and realized that he had no idea what most of the items on the list were. ¡°Can you explain what these things are? I might know them by another name.¡± ¡°I can try.¡± She proceeded to explain the items on the list. Most seemed to be materials used to construct starships that he had no idea where he could obtain, but Duke did find one thing that was interesting that he thought he could get a significant amount of relatively quickly. ¡°So, this dragonbone listing is really just dragon bones?¡± ¡°Yeah. They¡¯re really hard to find so they are worth a around hundred thousand credits a pound.¡± Duke began to laugh. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± ¡°Come on down to the hold with me and I¡¯ll show you.¡± He led her down to the hold and to an empty space. There he removed the corpse of one of the dragons he was holding. Sam had dozens more in the storage area for him. He had filled his INVENTORY full of them after the last bit of the siege dungeon. She stared at him. ¡°That¡¯s a whole dragon corpse. A whole corpse!¡± ¡°Yeah. I have a few in storage.¡± ¡°More? With two of those we could get completely out of debt and upgrade everything! You have three? With three, we could get top-of-the-line mechs too. If you were Ignarri, I¡¯d kiss you!¡± Duke chuckled. ¡°So how long will it take to get from Teldin to where we could do all that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like 60,000 light years to get to anywhere that could handle this level of transaction. It would take us about six weeks to get there. Not too long.¡± ¡°How good are your starmaps?¡± ¡°My starmaps are exceptional. Since I rely on them to get us to where we need to go, I buy them myself. I don¡¯t trust the ones that come with the navigational systems.¡± ¡°How about we get to this location after lunch?¡± She stared at him incredulously as he pulled the dragon back into his INVENTORY and headed down the ramp. She hesitated but started to follow him down the ramp. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to seal her up?¡± ¡°No need. No one can get to her in this hangar." Book 3, Chapter 13 The table was starting to get crowded with Duke, Mira, Aurelia, Baslin, Lya, Drakmalorie, and Arkmathus all gathered around and eating. The conversations were getting rather interesting with Mira and Baslin arguing about ¡°how things really work¡± while Aurelia did her best to not show her jealousy over Duke finding yet another female companion. Duke, for his part was just enjoying the chaos around him as he thought of his next steps. I have to set up a bunch more dungeons. Thousands more, really. And I need to spread them around, not just Teldin, Astrea, or even this solar system. I need to spread them out amongst the stars so that there are always at least my base 1,000 dungeons supporting me. And there¡¯s no telling how much a boost I can get if I hit the next threshold in the Title. That might take 100,000 dungeons though. I need to boost that Ability to Master or higher if I can manage it. I know I can¡¯t do what I want to with it at Practiced, that¡¯s for sure. Maybe at Adept rank, but definitely at Master. I wonder what¡¯s going to happen to all the hunters when I show up tens of thousands of lightyears away. Guess we¡¯ll find out. As the afternoon wore on, someone came into the Inn and all eyes turned to him. He was as tall as Duke and was dressed in what Duke could only call ¡°space cowboy¡± fashion. The man¡¯s outfit looked like a blend of traditional Western wear and futuristic gear. He wore a long, brown-colored duster coat made from fabric that Duke guess had some armor plating sewn into the lining for added protection. The coat flared out when he moved into the room. His belt was adorned with pouches and holsters, carrying an assortment of gadgets, tools, and, of course, a pair of glowing pistols. To finish off the look he wore a pair of boots made from a leather-like material but reinforced with metal toes and heels. The man made quite the impression stepping in through the door. ¡°Excuse my interruption, but I¡¯ve come to collect on the bounty and everyone outside has gotten tired of you holing up in here and hiding.¡± Duke slowly stood, extending to his full height. ¡°You, sir, were so close to being invited in for a drink but you had to go and ruin it all by implying cowardice. Over two hundred hunters have come here to try and collect the bounty. None have succeeded. I have been doing you all the courtesy of extending your lives by delaying my next appearance out in front of the Inn. But, if you are all so impatient, then I guess courtesy-time is over. Step outside and prepare for me to come out. And please relay the message that I am coming out and that anyone who does not want to try and collect the bounty needs to get to a safe distance. I¡¯ll give you a full minute to get clear.¡± With that, Duke caused the door to open behind the man and waved him out with his hands in a shooing motion. As soon as the door closed behind the figure, conversations flared once again. ¡°Are you really just going to step outside like that? That¡¯s suicide. There must be at least 50 of them out there!¡± ¡°Seventy-three by my last count.¡± Duke replied. ¡°And, yes, I am going to step out there and remove this batch with extreme prejudice.¡± ¡°Oh, make the walls windows again, Travis!¡± Aurelia excitedly asked. ¡°You sure you want to see the Reaper at work again?¡± Baslin shuddered and turned away from the windows. Aurelia nodded apprehensively. Mira exclaimed excitedly, ¡°Oh yes! Let the Reaper loose! Can I use the main cannons on them?¡± ¡°Different reaper.¡± Duke explained. ¡°This one is all my own. At first I was going to tell you not to watch, but I think it¡¯s probably better if you see it now when it¡¯s safe to do so.¡± Duke looked at his wrist. ¡°I think it¡¯s been a minute. Showtime!¡± He headed towards the door. ¡°What is this Reaper he is referring to?¡± Arkmathus asked. ¡°Just watch if you dare.¡± Aurelia responded and steeled her spine while clenching her fists. Duke stepped through the Inn door and TELEPORTED immediately to the center of the makeshift arena. Abilities, explosions, and other weapons filled the area where he had stepped out. Duke had been impacted by a few of the fastest ones, but only for the briefest of instants. His clothing had holes and singe marks all over it, but nothing had made it past his ARMOR SKIN. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Duke activated a quick CLEANSE and RESTORE on himself, paused for a second and then announced very loudly, ¡°You all missed!¡± Without waiting for a response, he unleashed his UMBRAL REAPER Ability across the whole area around the Inn. He took four shots from the space cowboy before the Ability took over the area, eliciting screams of terror and agony. One minute later, Duke started to walk around the area, collecting the corpses of the fallen into his INVENTORY. When he was done he nodded to the lone figure peeking out from behind one of the ships forming the arena and headed back into the Inn. Baslin turned back around looking relieved. Aurelia swallowed hard and smiled at Duke, her countenance wavering. Arkmathus stared dead-eyed at Duke, and Mira looked at him with abject terror. Drakmalorie was pointedly looking at anything but Duke¡¯s eyes. He realized that the aftereffects of his Ability were still showing in his eyes and willed them to return to normal. ¡°I have a feeling that lunch is now ruined, eh?¡± ¡°We really need to go back to hanging out at the Lake Front Inn.¡± Aurelia declared. ¡°I agree, but I do need to get back to my lab in the castle.¡± Baslin added. ¡°What¡­what was that?¡± Mira asked, her voice shaking. ¡°That is one of my more potent Abilities. It is a direct soul attack using all the trauma I have experienced in my life to give it extra fuel.¡± ¡°Just how much trauma have you experienced?¡± She followed-up. ¡°More than most.¡± He responded and gestured to Travis for a drink. She absently nodded in response as Travis brought Duke a glass of scotch. After a moment she pulled herself together and out of whatever introspection she was undergoing. ¡°I think I need to get back to the ship.¡± Duke opened up a Portal to the hangar level for her. He could not mistake the abject fear that her body was throwing off as she quickly stepped through. He called out after her before closing the Portal. ¡°Please make the ship ready for travel. I¡¯d like to be on our way by dinnertime.¡± ¡°Is she going to be OK?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°I have no idea, but I hope so. That was the first time she saw that and it was probably a bit much for her.¡± ¡°And just where are you going?¡± She followed up. ¡°The ship came with a ton of debt. I¡¯m going to go pay it all off and resupply. And, if I have enough left over, get some upgrades. And maybe some mechs.¡± ¡°Can you get some dracomechs?¡± Arkmathus asked. ¡°You¡¯d never fit in one, but I do like the idea.¡± Drakmalorie responded. ¡°They could be customized.¡± He groused. ¡°Tell you what, why don¡¯t you both come with us and see what we can actually do. Although you might not be too happy with what I am selling.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯re selling dragonian eggs, right?¡± She joked. ¡°No, but it is dragon corpses.¡± All motion in the room stopped. Duke swore he could hear the tendon creak in the dragonians¡¯ necks as they both locked their gazes, frozen in rage, upon him. In a voice that was unmistakenly cold and shaking from holding back violence, she ordered, ¡°Explain.¡± Duke did not let their posture or emotion affect him. He went on to explain. ¡°They are dungeon creatures that I defeated. Not natural dragons, but no one will be able to tell the difference.¡± ¡°Impossible! No dungeon can hold, let alone create, such magnificent creatures!¡± ¡°Remember who my sponsor is. Don¡¯t you dare presume to tell me what a dungeon can and cannot do. I am The Dungeon Emperor!¡± Duke¡¯s suddenly increasing ire took himself as much by surprise as it did the pair. They unconsciously had taken a step back as the entire Inn shook with Duke¡¯s words, the very atmosphere taking on an air of violence. The tension in the room grew as no one backed down. Duke¡¯s glare was filled with all the raw emotion of having been chased and attacked for weeks now combined with someone, anyone, questioning his dominion over dungeons. The dragonians were incensed that anyone would ever denigrate the most noble and powerful creatures of their heritage in such a way to even think that they could be contained by something as simple as a dungeon. Stares were locked in place, waiting for someone to make a move. As the growl in Arkmathus¡¯ chest reached its peak, Travis stepped forward and announced, ¡°If you really want to fight, go outside. If not, sit yourselves down and think about what has you so mad.¡± He distributed drinks, causing them all to break eye contact. Duke shook his head, feeling the anger rapidly melt away. He looked up to see Arkmathus doing the same. Lya and Aurelia were returning to the table. Lya spoke, ¡°Can anyone explain what just happened there?¡± ¡°Two deep-seeded racial traits came into direct conflict. I really didn¡¯t see this coming, but it was something to watch.¡± Travis spoke up but Duke could tell that it was more than Travis speaking. He turned to look pointedly at Travis who gave him a slight nod before continuing. ¡°Now that you are all done with allowing your instincts rule you, why not come to a sensible conclusion?¡± Duke started, ¡°Perhaps it would be best if you did not accompany me on this trip.¡± ¡°That seems to be the case for sure.¡± ¡°But I¡¯m still coming.¡± Lya interjected. ¡°I¡¯m not sitting around waiting for y¡¯all to come back, I¡¯m going where the adventure is going.¡± ¡°I am going as well.¡± Aurelia spoke up and Duke used all his self-control to not wince. ¡°Glad that¡¯s settled. Pack your things. We leave after dinner.¡± Book 3, Chapter 14 Duke left the group in the Inn and headed to the hangar level. His first thought was to go talk to Mira but decided to check out some of the other ships first to give her a bit longer to settle herself. He walked around the hangar trying to decide which ship to check out next. He had fourteen intact ships including the Iron Reaver. He knew why he had chosen the Iron Reaver as the first ship to check out and it had nothing to do with who had crewed it. It was simply the biggest ship of the bunch, by a lot. The next closest in size was roughly half as large so it was, naturally, the next ship Duke checked out. This ship had an overall narrow wedge-shaped design with slight extensions that Duke expected acted like wings. It reminded him a bit of the ancient space shuttles of Earth but the black paint gave it a much more stealthy appearance. Duke circled the 30 meter-long craft and came to the back where the only hatch was. Like on the Iron Reaver, there was an access panel that required a code or a key to enter. The problem Duke was running into was that he had no idea who had come in which ship, or even what batch of dead hunters any of the intact ships belonged to. He had been collecting the corpses in his INVENTORY to collect the loot from and he knew there were quite a few things he needed to go through piled up. He was even sure there were keys scattered amongst the bodies. He tapped the access panel but received no reaction ¨C apparently this one needed a key. Time for some housekeeping. Let¡¯s sort through notifications and then get to INVENTORY management. *** You have slain 72 opponents ranging from level 165 and 200, all in Tier 4. You receive 924,932 experience. You are now level 131 and have 144 Characteristic Points to spend. *** Duke added 25 to each of his first five stats and added the remainder to his Psyche. As he looked at his Character Sheet, he started to realize just how high his stats were compared to the norm. Even his unmodified stats were monstrous compared to the norm. A normal person would have stats in the 200s in the peak of Tier 4. Even an exceptional individual with special bonuses wouldn¡¯t be past the 400s in anything unless they concentrated their points. He had no stat under 1,000 and with his Title multiplier, his highest stat was in the 30,000s. I should just punch people for a while and see how that goes. Nah, magic is just too much fun. Duke went through the rest of his notifications and noted several Ability increases. He had not been paying much attention but he spent some time going through these, thinking about where he might have a weakness or need to work on something. *** You have increased several of your Abilities Your TELEPORTATION Ability has increased to Grandmaster 43 Your REGENERATION Ability has increased to 151 Your OVERCHANNEL Ability has increased to Adept 81 Your MENTAL FORTITUDE Ability has increased to Adept 32 Your POISON Ability has increased to Initiate 17 Your ACID Ability has ranked up to Initiate 6 Your UMBRAL REAPER Ability has increased to Adept 75 Your CLEANSE Ability has increased to Practiced 41 Your RESTORE Ability has increased to Master 66 Your INVENTORY Ability has increased to Practiced 45 Your ARMOR SKIN Ability has increased to Adept 68 Your FLIGHT Ability has increased to Practiced 76 Your COMBAT SENSE Ability has increased to Practiced 24 Your DUNGEON SENSE Ability has increased to Master 29 *** Duke looked back over his Abilities. Most of my offensive Abilities are no higher than Initiate-ranked. Hell, WIND is still Novice-ranked. I can¡¯t even remember the last time I even used that Ability. Every time I think I should change things up, circumstances lead me back to the same small set of Abilities. Not sure how to correct that, but I¡¯ll just have to keep my eyes open for the right opportunity. Or I could, oh, how did I put it last time? Intentionally use the other Abilities. We¡¯ll see. There are reasons I go back to the same ones. They get the job done. Duke¡¯s next task was the grisly task of sorting through the bodies in his INVENTORY. He contemplated pulling each body out and going through them one at a time, but that just seemed macabre and tedious to Duke. I wonder¡­can I use DUNGEON SENSE inside my INVENTORY? Duke focused his DUNGEON SENSE inwardly and was able to use it to sort through the bodies, retrieving everything he could imagine as a key. He used IDENTIFY on each item he pulled out to verify that they were, in fact, keys. All but one were. The last was identified as a ¡°Control Crystal¡± but didn¡¯t have much more information than that. He shrugged and put it back in his INVENTORY. Next, he proceeded to try each of the 86 keys he had found on the lock to the ship before him. On the 26th attempt, the lock opened causing him to put all the other keys back into his INVENTORY. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. The entrance ramp that spanned a full seven meters wide lowered to allow him entrance to the ship. Inside, he found seats lining both exterior walls and what appeared to be some sort of cargo-securing system by Duke¡¯s best guess. He moved further into the ship to find basic crew quarters and a galley. Finally, he found the pilot¡¯s area where there were a pair of seats surrounded by controls and screens of unknown functions. Duke let his curiosity roam as an idea hit him. He activated his SENSE MAGIC Ability since Mira had told him that most of the ships ran on some form of magitech. As his senses spilled out over the cockpit, he saw all manner of magic lines and symbols underlying all the controls and screens. It was like a runic language that was suddenly legible to him. It was fairly easy to read but the sentence structure was odd and hard to follow. He wondered if that was intentional, how the language was parsed, or no one was able to read it like he could. Despite the strangeness, there was a particular logic to the sentence structure of all the runes underlying the systems. Duke was fascinated and began to read everything. Hours later, he came out of his rune reading fugue. He immediately noticed two things. One, he had been so engrossed in his project that he had completely missed dinner. And, two, he had a really strong understanding of how this ship operated and how to use its systems. He shook his head at himself and left to gather up his companions for the great adventure trip. When he returned to the Inn, he found Lya and Aurelia both patiently waiting for him at the bar. Well, Lya seemed a bit impatient, but Aurelia was used to Duke disappearing for hours at a time. ¡°You missed dinner.¡± Lya informed Duke. ¡°So, it would seem. I assume you both ate without me then?¡± Aurelia chuckled. ¡°Of course we did. I know by now that if you¡¯re late, you aren¡¯t going to show up for quite a while.¡± Duke started. ¡°I¡¯m usually on time.¡± One sarcastic glare from Aurelia altered his next statement. ¡°When it¡¯s important.¡± ¡°Quit while you¡¯re behind.¡± Lya joined in. ¡°I¡¯ve known you for, what? A day? And you¡¯re already jumping on me like this?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be too worked up about it, Duke.¡± Aurelia added. ¡°All the ribbing keeps you human.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m human in anything but appearance anymore.¡± Duke mused. ¡°Maybe not, but you can still act human.¡± ¡°Like by being flawed and showing up late to dinner?¡± ¡°Um, yeah, like by doing that. Weren¡¯t we supposed to be going somewhere?¡± Duke opened a Portal to the hangar level and smiled. ¡°Why yes, we are. Are you all ready?¡± In response the pair walked through the Portal, leaving Duke staring at Travis behind the bar. Travis gave him a ¡°don¡¯t look at me, you put them together¡± look and went back to polishing a glass. Duke stepped through the Portal and closed it behind himself. They found Mira standing outside the Iron Reaver with her arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently. ¡°So good of you to finally show up. We have a bit of a problem.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡± Duke asked, doing his level-best to maintain his calm. ¡°We don¡¯t have enough fuel to make it there and back, maybe not even enough to get there at all. We¡¯re going to have to stop and refuel somewhere.¡± ¡°OK, so how is that a problem?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you see the ship¡¯s account? We don¡¯t have enough credits to buy fuel. We¡¯re so far in the negative that no one will extend us credit.¡± ¡°I see how that sounds like a problem. I have a few solutions. The first being that we are not going to be using much fuel at all on this trip.¡± Duke held up a had to forestall questions and protestations. ¡°The second will require a bit of instruction and learning. What does the ship use for fuel anyway?¡± She looked at Duke with complete incredulity. ¡°This really is the ass-end of the cosmos, isn¡¯t it? How can you not know this?¡± ¡°Because where I am from, I can almost guarantee that we don¡¯t use the same fuel as you do so, please humor me and answer the question.¡± ¡°Very well, the ship is fueled by two dozen magic cores. Of which, ten are depleted and need to be recharged.¡± ¡°Can they be easily removed and replaced?¡± ¡°Yes, that is how they are exchanged.¡± ¡°Excellent. Bring me a depleted and a full one please. Oh, and are they universal things, like do all these ships use the same cores?¡± Lya jumped in, unable to contain herself. ¡°Oh yeah. Almost every ship uses the universal cores. Most magitech runs off cores of one type or another.¡± Mira went back into the ship and returned with two baseball-sized Mana cores. One glowed brightly with magic while the other was a dull grey. Duke examined them closely with all his senses. From everything he could tell they were ordinary Mana cores with an additional set of runes inscribed in them. His translation of the runes showed them to be designed for protection and power flow regulation. Duke¡¯s smile broadened as he read how much Mana the full one contained ¨C one million Mana. Duke handed the full one back to Mira and concentrated on the empty one with his MANA TRANSFER Ability and slowly increased the Mana flow until he was channeling one hundred thousand Mana a second. In under a minute, the core was glowing like the full one. He handed it over to Mira with a smile. ¡°Why don¡¯t you take me to the rest of them so I can recharge them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s not possible. No one can recharge cores like that. It requires magitech to regulate the Mana flow to that degree and a planetary collector to focus it.¡± Aurelia put a comforting hand on Mira¡¯s shoulder. ¡°When Duke¡¯s involved, the impossible is really just kinda improbable. You¡¯ll get used to it.¡± Mira led Duke to the core section of the ship which turned out to be directly above the engines in the most armored section. He proceeded to refill the spent cores and followed Mira up to the bridge to see Lya and Aurelia already having claimed chairs. The pilot¡¯s seat was reserved for Mira which left Duke sitting at the communications console. He tapped Lya on the shoulder. ¡°Sorry, but I need the navigation console for this trip.¡± ¡°You know how to use the navigation console and didn¡¯t know what fuels the ship?¡± ¡°Something like that. You¡¯ll see.¡± Lya shrugged and switched seats. Duke pulled up the navigational maps. He found the console worked largely like the one on the black ship he had studied with a few additional functions that he wasn¡¯t concerned about right now. He brought up a star system that was listed as uninhabited and a bit under 10,000 light years away. ¡°Everybody ready?¡± He asked. ¡°Ready for what?¡± Mira asked. ¡°This!¡± With a flex of will and a massive OVERCHANNELING of Duke¡¯s TELEPORTATION Ability, the ship vanished. Book 3, Chapter 15 The strain of TELEPORTING the ship nearly 10,000 lightyears was significant. It had completely drained Duke¡¯s Mana pool and he was glad that he was sitting down. He supported himself on the navigation console as the ship¡¯s systems reoriented to the new location. Mira, on the other hand, was a bit more vocal about the change in location. ¡°What, in the name of Gregor, happened? We are in the¡­I have no idea where we are, but the ship is telling me we just traveled 10,000 lightyears in a blink. How is that possible?¡± Aurelia answered, deadpan, ¡°Duke.¡± Lya and Mira both looked over at Duke who smiled back. ¡°I told you fuel wasn¡¯t going to be an issue for this trip. Kindly take us to the closest rocky planet in this system, I have a few things I need to take care of over the next hour or three.¡± Mira, ever the professional, set the course for the ship and quickly headed for the identified planet. It, like the entire system, was a barren world with no atmosphere and little more than stagnant dust being blasted with radiation by the local star. Not really a place worth visiting, but she would do as Duke asked if it meant getting her ship out of debt. She might even stick around for a while in thanks, but this guy was terrifying. It was like having a living plague walking next to her. He killed so easily and with such terrifying violence that she knew she needed to get away from him somehow. But, for now, she would play nice to get what she wanted. As they approached the planet, Duke got back up out of the seat having recovered. ¡°I¡¯m going to hop on down to the surface for a while. I¡¯ll meet back up with you after a couple of orbits.¡± He did not wait for a response and TELEPORTED down to the surface. With fully recovered Mana, Duke began creating and planning dungeon cores. With his increased Mana regen, he was able to recover the Mana from creating a core in as little as ten seconds. He flew across the planet in a somewhat random pattern. One of the odder things he had picked up as a combat pilot was that people are particularly terrible at randomness. It helped when in combat to know that there is always some measure of predictability to a person¡¯s movements and choices. This had led him to study the data a bit and found that using the digits of pi actually was more random than people¡¯s ¡°random¡± choices. He spent an entire month chasing down that rabbit hole and found that Euler¡¯s number was an even better choice as it was more difficult to recognize, especially when he started at the 10th digit, so he applied the pattern to his dungeon placement. Duke didn¡¯t expect anyone to find the dungeons on this planet but wanted to start spreading his dungeons out as insurance. It took him a little over four hours to plant another 1,000 dungeons on the planet, but he was rather satisfied with the result. He returned to the ship which startled everyone on the bridge. Lya jumped and Mira put the ship into an emergency evasion pattern. Aurelia chuckled and downed her ¡°to go¡± drink that Travis had prepared for her. ¡°It¡¯s just Duke. Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll get used to it.¡± ¡°Some warning next time please!¡± Mira called out as she steadied out the ship. Duke sat down at the navigation console, nodding his head. ¡°Do you have some sort of communications gear that has interplanetary range?¡± ¡°Of course we do. Having a communications station would be bloody useless without it. Backwater trash. Seriously. Have you never been on a ship before?¡± ¡°Quite literally, the first, and last, for that matter, ship of this kind I was on was destroyed mid-journey. I didn¡¯t exactly have time to ask too many questions.¡± Mira and Lya looked over at Duke. Lya spoke first. ¡°What kind of ship was it and how was it destroyed?¡± Interest dripped from her voice ¨C she wanted this story. Duke replied, ¡°It was an Octuul Clone Army ship. They thought they had me trapped onboard and headed for their base. Apparently TELEPORTING while the ship was in exospace caused all sorts of havoc, destroying the ship.¡± ¡°You TELEPORTED while in exospace? How is that even possible? That¡¯s an entirely different dimension.¡± Mira responded. ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s no way that should be possible.¡± Lya added. ¡°Hollis would have spent decades observing and researching how you did that. He was scientifically obsessive like that.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, I can¡¯t tell you how it works other than my TELEPORTATION is at a very high rank and it allows me to do all sorts of things that no one else seems to be able to do.¡± Lya responded. ¡°First of all, TELEPORTATION, TRUE TELEPORTATION is just not seen at all. In all my time spent dealing with quintillions of records, I only came across one person who was able to even move themselves across a room. What you are doing defies reason and what was thought to be the limits of possibility.¡± ¡°The system did call the Ability ¡®vanishingly rare¡¯. I guess that is what it meant.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°I would say so.¡± Mira nodded in agreement. ¡°What were you doing down on the planet for the past few hours? I saw you flying around and stopping every few seconds.¡± ¡°I was setting traps for anyone following me.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°No, but that¡¯s as good an explanation as I am willing to give right now. We don¡¯t know each other well enough to go into that just yet. I planted some things that, if messed with, will most likely kill the person messing with them. So, they are as good as traps, but not really the same thing.¡± ¡°Um, ok. What now, Mr. Mystery?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t we have another 50,000 lightyears to go?¡± Duke asked, knowing the answer already from looking at the navigational console. ¡°Pretty much, yes.¡± ¡°Then we move on to the next waypoint.¡± Duke smiled as he, once again, TELEPORTED the ship about 10,000 lightyears closer to their destination. It was another dead system, and he felt the strain on his Ability just like last time. As he recovered, he reviewed how the ¡°core planning¡± adventure affected his Ability. It had jumped the Ability a full 40 levels to Practiced 62. Another jump like that and it¡¯ll rank up. I¡¯m looking forward to seeing what I can do at Adept rank! He also saw that his TELEPORTATION Ability had ticked up to Grandmaster 45. Only 595 levels to go until its next rank up. Come to think of it, that¡¯s not too far away if I keep pushing its limits like this. If I can push it two levels a day, that¡¯s less than a year until it ranks up. Duke was pulled out of his musings by the sound of an alarm going off. An automated voice shouted loudly, ¡°Alert! Alert! Proximity Alert!¡± He snapped his head to the viewscreen to see a massive ship bristling with weapons dominating the viewscreen. ¡°What the fuck is a Landassian Heavy Cruiser doing all the way out here?¡± Mira asked as she silenced the alarm. ¡°They haven¡¯t armed their weapons, so we¡¯d better act nice. And maybe we can get out of this intact.¡± ¡°How fucked are we if it comes to blows?¡± Duke asked. ¡°We¡¯d probably last through the first shot or two because they are too close to effectively bring their heavy cannons to bear. But in the end, we¡¯re fucked, fucked.¡± ¡°Right. Lya, make nice with the big scary ship before I have to take drastic action.¡± ¡°What the fuck are you going to be able to do to something that big? It¡¯s at least five hundred meters long at the keel!¡± Duke concentrated, focusing his Abilities on it and got a very quick mapping of the ship before responding. ¡°I can take the ship apart if needed. It will be messy and not a really good option, but if it comes to it, I¡¯ll keep it from destroying us. Be ready to get us the hell out of here if need. Otherwise, I can just get us the hell out of here and forget the damned thing entirely.¡± ¡°If we run from them, they will brand us a some sort of pirate vessel and it will cause us trouble when we get to our destination.¡± ¡°And if we destroy their ship?¡± ¡°Probably the same, but they may not be able to get a call out first.¡± Lya interrupted them both as she responded to the Landassian ship. ¡°Yes, this is the hunter ship, Iron Reaver. We are en route to Sanction for trading, resupply, and refit.¡± She turned to the others and spoke. ¡°They want to know what we are trading. This sounds like a shakedown to me.¡± Mira shook her head. ¡°Landassians don¡¯t do that sort of thing. Buy me a minute ¨C I want a deep scan on them if I can get it off without them noticing.¡± Duke jumped in. ¡°Tell them we are trading minerals. Bulky and not terribly valuable but enough to convince then that we are down on our luck and not worth the shakedown.¡± Mira nodded in agreement as she frantically engaged the stealth channels on her scanning systems. ¡°No way I could do this if we didn¡¯t have full cores. The stealth systems burn through cores like crazy.¡± Lya called back over the communications system. ¡°We are carrying minerals for trade. Are you in need of assistance?¡± ¡°Understood. We will prepare to receive your shuttle.¡± Lya closed the channel and looked back to the others. ¡°Looks like they mean to board us.¡± ¡°Gotcha, snailsniffer!¡± Mira exclaimed. ¡°There¡¯s considerable internal damage around the bridge, armory, and engineering sections of the ship. That there is a mutiny ship!¡± ¡°So, no chance of them sending a message to any authorities, right?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Exactly.¡± Mira responded, her mood significantly elevated. ¡°So, what¡¯s our move then?¡± Aurelia asked, checking the looseness of her sword in her scabbard. Duke grinned evilly. ¡°Anyone want to steal a stolen heavy cruiser? I hung out with enough Navy pilots to know that nobody cares what happens to mutineers. I assume that is the same here?¡± ¡°Yes, very much so. But they have to have a thousand crew on that ship. We can¡¯t wade through them all no matter how tough we are.¡± Mira responded. ¡°Shuttle is inbound. Twenty-six minutes until contact.¡± Lya added. Duke broke from his concentration. ¡°There are seventeen crew on the shuttle and four hundred-sixteen still on the ship. The mutiny must have been particularly bloody.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a thousand, but that¡¯s still a lot. I doubt we could carve our way through them before they could get a shot off at our ship.¡± Aurelia said. ¡°Probably not, but what if they all decided to take some shore leave on that lovely planet on the starboard side?¡± Duke continued to grin. ¡°How are you going to convince all of them to leave the ship and go to a desolate planet?¡± Lya asked. ¡°I wasn¡¯t planning on giving them a choice in the matter.¡± Duke responded. ¡°Can you really do that?¡± Mira asked. ¡°Probably not all at once. I was thinking about sending them in order. Like bridge first, then engineering, then weapon systems. Then I would just grab the remaining in groups.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you have to see your targets or something?¡± Lya asked. ¡°Yes, if they were far away, that would be a problem, but this ship snuck up on us and is only a hundred kilometers away. I can see them all inside the ship. It helps that we are in space. If we were on a planet, I would have trouble getting enough clarity at this distance with all the other terrain features and living things providing interference. Like this, I¡¯ve got them all locked-in.¡± ¡°Are we really going to do this?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°Our choices are limited.¡± Mira responded. ¡°We can let them dock and show them all the minerals we don¡¯t have and see where that gets us, or we can take some offensive action.¡± ¡°We have minerals in our hold.¡± Duke responded. ¡°I just filled it with stuff I had lying around in my INVENTORY. Some of it might even be valuable, so we do have the option of letting them see and making decisions from there.¡± ¡°OK, let¡¯s do that.¡± Lya agreed. ¡°You three get down to the hold. I¡¯ll keep an eye on things from up here and go on the offensive if needed.¡± Duke ordered. The three women headed down to get into place. Book 3, Chapter 16 Mira did not like the situation. It was one thing to be dealing with a much larger, much more heavily armed and armored ship. They were outgunned and outclassed by an actual warship. No, what really bothered her was what she expected as the reaction from the mutineers coming in on the shuttle. Despite all the power structures in place throughout the cosmos that brought equality, there were still too many men who would see three women as an easy target for their warped desires. She didn¡¯t expect any morality from mutineers and wasn¡¯t sure of how her companions would fare. Mira knew Lya only from reputation. She knew the woman was a hunter and her reputation was of more than just competence, so she expected her to be able to fight. But this Aurelia woman was a mystery. She was wearing what, for all intents and purposes, was an ancient set of golden armor and was carrying a sword and shield. A freaking sword! Who¡¯s going to let her get close enough to stab them without drawing at least a sidearm and punching a neat hole through the shield and whatever was behind it? Reflecting on her own capabilities, she had to admit she wasn¡¯t all that great a prospect in a straight fight either. Her Abilities were all geared towards flying the ship. She could outfly most anyone but that wouldn¡¯t do them any good against a heavy cruiser that could fill local space with enough firepower to make any maneuvering irrelevant. Lya briefly looked over the two other women and mentally shrugged. She was sure that most of the fighting, if it came to that, would be up to her. The pilot could probably use the sidearm at her hip at least somewhat competently but was not counting on much more than that. The golden knight standing next to her was a mystery, but she was kitted-out for a medieval battlefield, not a fight in a cargo hold. Seventeen was a bit more than she was prepared to handle. She could likely handle ten with some difficulty and surprise, but surprise was not going to be a thing in this fight if it came to a fight. She unconsciously fiddled with an energy disruption grenade, palming it as perhaps the only way to even the odds for them. Aurelia tried desperately to suppress her grin. It looked like she was going to get the chance to fight again. Leadership is great and all, but being able to carve her way through enemies was something that just felt so enlivening. She was sure that her sisters-in-arms next to her would be useful, but she would not count on them. No, seventeen foes in a confined space? Oh, yes, she was built for this kind of fight. One FLASH CHARGE and the fight would be all but over. She wondered if she really had the space to summon her warhorse for the charge. It would be more potent, but the area might not be conducive to its use. She would have to wait and see. Her excitement continued to build. Duke observed the shuttle approaching on the monitors and kept an eye on the ship with his DUNGEON SENSE. The shuttle looked armed and armored, reminding him of a marine assault craft. The more he thought of it, the more it made sense. I guess in space, there would be space marines. I wonder if the space-based military is considered a space force or a navy? Likely not an air force like home though. That¡¯s kinda depressing, having to join the squids for any space action. Regardless, he kept a vigilant watch on both the approaching shuttle and the larger warship. The shuttle finally approached the landing bay, and all four members of the Iron Reaver¡¯s ¡°crew¡± tensed. This was the moment they had been waiting for when things would either go easily or all hell would break loose. What they were hoping for differed significantly depending on the individual crew members. The shuttle entered the bay and landed smoothly which caused Mira to raise an eyebrow in surprise. She hadn¡¯t expected that level of professionalism. Lya simply shifted her hand on her hip over her sidearm, making ready to draw it and fire if needed. Aurelia tensed with the starting of a smile crossing her features that seemed to contrast with the intense set of her eyes. The shuttle was painted in the blue and white livery of the Landassian Navy but it was dirty as if it had been left out of the cleaning cycle. Mira took that as confirmation that this was no longer a Landassian Navy vessel. When the ramp lowered and the dozen of slovenly dressed ¡°sailors¡± poured out, she was absolutely certain. She stepped forward. ¡°Welcome aboard the Iron Reaver. I am Mira Calder, Chief Pilot of the ship. Whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?¡± A mountain of a man stepped forward, his uniform shirt sleeves cut off to allow his oversized arms freedom of movement. ¡°I am Kalabash Onslo, Acting Captain of the Landassian Heavy Cruiser, Vengence. We have had a series of terrible accidents on the ship which has left us in need of assistance. Your Communications Officer mentioned that you had minerals for trade. We would be happy to take them off your hands so we can affect some much needed repairs. The Landassian Navy will, of course, reimburse you for the value.¡± Duke opened a microscopic communications Portal behind each of the crew¡¯s ears and related that his Abilities indicated that Onslo was lying through his teeth. It was completely unnecessary as all three had picked up on it as well. As far as lies went it was on the more convincing side but still didn¡¯t pass muster. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Mira answered. ¡°What sorts of accidents? It looks like your shuttle is in disrepair and did your laundry facilities stop functioning?¡± Onslo¡¯s eyes hardened as the rest of the shuttle crew spread out around him. Meanwhile Duke was on the bridge attending to the communications console that was flashing at him. ¡°They¡¯re jamming our comms. Looks like it¡¯s going to be Plan B. Ready yourselves. Mira, shake your head if you need any assistance down there. Otherwise, prepare yourselves to take them out.¡± Mira grinned, not shaking her head at all. The next series of events happened so fast that she barely registered what happened until it was over. She wasn¡¯t sure what happened first or if these two events happened simultaneously. One of Onslo¡¯s men drew his sidearm to aim at the trio and Aurelia leapt into the air to land on the back of an impressive horse wearing armor similar to hers. Lya reached for her sidearm in response to the man drawing his but neither of them had the chance to fire as Aurelia flashed across the hold, slamming into the group with her horse. The impact shook the entire hold in a wave of destruction. The crowd of men and women were slammed out of her path. Three slammed into the overturned shuttle, slumping to the floor unmoving. Four more were flung into the far corner of the landing bay, slamming into the wall with enough force to dent the inner hull. Most of the rest were crushed into a mess of bloody pulp. There were a pair that were forcibly ejected out the shuttle bay, hitting with enough force to pass through the atmospheric screens. The only one who survived Aurelia¡¯s FLASH CHARGE was Onslo himself, but he was sprawled out against the far wall, bleeding severely and unconscious. Duke whistled as he saw what his girlfriend had done and set his jaw to do his part of the plan. He already had his targets mentally locked, his 1,025 points in Reason made it easy to keep track of all the bodies in question through his DUNGEON SENSE. The first group was the bridge crew as planned and they appeared on the planet without any clue of what was happening or where they were. They were all wearing shipsuits that immediately sealed up and protected them from the lack of atmosphere and the frigid temperatures on the planet. These shipsuits were Landassian Navy issue and would sustain them for at least twelve hours without issue. The engineering and fire control crews were next, following in less than a second. In all, it took nine seconds to evacuate the entire crew to the planet. The very next thing Duke did was to go completely off-script. He sent his crew a quick message, ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡± and TELEPORTED closer to the planet. Then he engaged his LIGHT Ability to make himself shine like a falling star as he flew down to an area a hundred kilometers from the confused and panicked crowd that had crewed the ship. He created a dungeon core, doing his best to direct what kind of core it would become. He had not tried this before and was kicking himself mentally for not at least trying this before. It took him a lot longer than normal, a full two minutes before the core was completed but he was reasonably certain it would work as intended. When he was done, he noticed that the crowd had rearranged itself with the forty or so members that were armed taking the front positions. They seemed reluctant to do anything other than walk a bit closer to Duke. Duke turned and planted the core behind him and turned back to see the crew stop in their tracks as the dungeon sprouted and grew. In short order, it was fully formed. The dungeon was a very basic-looking Inn variant with a sign that read ¡°Emergency Shelter.¡± Duke gestured for the crew to follow and stepped inside. The interior was definitely of the Inn variety but looked far more crude than any of Sam¡¯s offspring. Duke shrugged and moved to the bar where an enormous bipedal rabbit stood holding a glass. ¡°Um, hi there. I¡¯m Harvey. Welcome to the Emergency Shelter.¡± ¡°Thanks Harvey. You¡¯re about to have a bunch of patrons. I really don¡¯t care what happens to them, but you are their only hope for survival. So, if they give you any issues, kick them out and don¡¯t let them back in.¡± ¡°Sounds fun. Looks like they are coming in now.¡± Harvey looked away from Duke and greeted each group as they entered, welcoming them to the emergency shelter. They all looked baffled as their suits acknowledged the breathable atmosphere and disengaged. Duke waited for them all to come in, noticing how the Inn expanded to fit the increasing number of ¡°guests.¡± Duke announced loudly once they were all in, ¡°Welcome to the Emergency Shelter. I am sure you are all wondering what happened. That¡¯s rather simple to explain. I am taking your ship back. Mutiny is a terrible choice.¡± The roar of shouts, objections, and other noise was nearly overwhelming. Duke arced LIGHNING along the entire ceiling with enough distance that it didn¡¯t reach any of the people, but it certainly got their attention and their silence. ¡°Thank you for shutting up now. The situation is simple. You are being left behind on this planet. No one is going to come looking for you and you have no long-range communications to reach out to anyone anyway. This shelter has everything you need to continue to live indefinitely. Anytime you want to leave, feel free to step outside. You will not be able to step back inside. Ever. Make the best of the situation you have put yourself in, or don¡¯t. I really don¡¯t care.¡± The surge came quickly as the braver ones charged Duke. He simply TELEPORTED them outside. The surge stopped as quickly as it started. One spoke up. ¡°Who are you and why are you doing this?¡± Duke¡¯s eyes rolled with the beginnings of his UMBRAL REAPER Ability as he spoke. ¡°I am Duke and you threatened me and mine. You sent a shuttle to take our cargo from us. We gave you the chance to act honorably but you all threw that away. Now I leave you here. I could have left you completely helpless on the surface of the planet but I decided to show mercy and give you a chance to reflect on your life choices.¡± ¡°This is a prison! The Syndicate will never let this stand!¡± The shout came from somewhere in the back of the room. ¡°The door is open. Leave whenever you like.¡± Duke responded. After one final nod to Harvey, he TELEPORTED back to the Iron Reaver to check on everyone. Book 3, Chapter 17 When Duke arrived back on the Iron Reaver, he found the hold to be a sickening mess. There was blood and viscera splattered against the walls, some bits even dripping from the ceiling. The three women were arguing about who was going to clean the mess up. He smiled as Aurelia kept insisting that Duke would clean it all up once he got back. ¡°There are bone fragments stuck in the air scrubbers. We¡¯re going to have to replace half of our filters, and I don¡¯t have that many spares! Do you know what this place is going to smell like in an hour? In a day?¡± Mira was getting increasingly agitated as Aurelia seemed to be completely unconcerned. The fact that Aurelia wasn¡¯t covered in gore like the other two women might have contributed to their irritation. Sometime it paid to be at the center of the blast radius of an Ability. Duke raised his voice slightly. ¡°Aurelia¡¯s right. Cut her some slack.¡± All three turned to face him. Aurelia beamed while the other two glared. At least they did until Duke activated a CLEANSE and a RESTORE over the entire ship. In a matter of seconds, they, and the entire ship, were all clean and had their clothing and items returned to perfectly working order. ¡°How in the name of Creskin did you do that?¡± Mira asked incredulously as she stared around the ship¡¯s hold. Decades of wear and tear had been repaired in a matter of seconds. The scars in the flooring from when Malakai¡¯s Star Sniper mech had broken free of its clamps during an assault drop were simply gone. For that matter, the barely welded clamps were now completely whole again. ¡°Magic.¡± Duke replied, schooling his face to hide the grin that was trying to spread across his face. Of all the powerful magic he had access to, this seemed to impress people more than anything. Mira¡¯s next statement took Duke by surprise. ¡°You are going to make us rich!¡± ¡°I thought we were deeply in debt.¡± Duke responded. ¡°If you can do this to any ship, you are going to put a serious dent in the business of the shipyards. Can you do heavy repairs as well as all these minor ones?¡± She was getting excited. Duke thought about it briefly before responding. ¡°Yes, I can do heavy repairs, but if I take the business away from the shipyards, they are not going to be happy with us at all.¡± Lya jumped in. ¡°Quite right, Duke. That¡¯s why we are going to do it through the shipyards. Can you imagine the reputational boost they would get if they could repair an entire ship with heavy damage to new condition in a single day? No one could compete with that level of service.¡± Duke nodded in agreement. ¡°I never thought of the Ability as a way to make money, but you are right, I could get through a shipyard¡¯s entire repair roster in a single day. But I also do not want to do that for any extended length of time. There is a huge cosmos to explore, and I want to see as much of it as I can. Even the desolate and uninhabitable spaces.¡± Mira stopped Duke. ¡°Look, I know we haven¡¯t known each other long, but we just survived our first battle together and there is an awful lot about it that I just don¡¯t understand. Why do you want to come to these uninhabited areas anyway? There¡¯s nothing here. And what were you doing on the last planet?¡± Lya nodded along. ¡°You called yourself a Dungeon Emperor. Does that have something to do with it?¡± ¡°Well, that sounds a bit kinky.¡± Mira mused, giving Duke an unreadable look. Duke put all the minerals that he had poured out back in his INVENTORY. He then headed up to the bridge without a word. Curiosity grabbed the others, and they followed him up. When he got there, he sat down at the navigation station and turned around to face the rest of them. They all took seats and turned to face him. ¡°OK, Aurelia knows almost all of this already because she is my girlfriend and has been through more with me than either of you could imagine. That said, I¡¯ll start from the beginning. I am not native to Teldin, and, quite possibly, not to this universe. Where I came from magic was the stuff of myths and legends. Settings like this ship are much more familiar to me even if we didn¡¯t have anything quite this capable in space. I was brought to Teldin for reasons that are still not really clear. But what is clear is that I grow in power much faster than anyone else I know of. And there are forces at work way in the background that have some agenda.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The nodded along, not interrupting, so he continued. ¡°The price on my head was issued by the forces that brought me to Teldin. They got pissed when I slipped from their grasp and took on a new sponsor.¡± He could see them on the edge of their seats as he continued. ¡°My new sponsor is the Overmind.¡± He paused for dramatic response but neither seemed to understand what that meant. ¡°Neither of you know who the Overmind is?¡± ¡°Never heard of him. Is he a big deal or something?¡± Lya asked. ¡°The Overmind has dominion over all dungeons.¡± Again, blank stares. Mira turned to Aurelia and asked, ¡°Is that his kink, dungeons?¡± Aurelia stared back at her blinking before responding. ¡°It¡¯s not a kink. Its something a whole lot more than anything like that.¡± Mira responded. ¡°You¡¯re good looking and all, and you are a seriously hot girl, but I¡¯m not into it. Sorry. I¡¯ll just pilot the ship and mind my business. They¡¯re all yours, Lya.¡± Duke shook his head at the direction this was going. ¡°Have you never heard of a dungeon? An opening in the world that leads to another dimension where you can fight monsters, solve puzzles, and even earn loot?¡± ¡°That sounds like an EDITS.¡± ¡°A what?¡± ¡°An EDIT. You know, An Extra-dimensional Individual Tunnel System.¡± Duke and Aurelia exchanged glances. ¡°Might be the same thing.¡± He surmised. ¡°Anyway, the Overmind has dominion over all such places and as his sponsored individual, I have access to a lot of dungeon-related magic. What I am doing on these planets is planting dungeon cores to grow dungeons. The more I can plant, the greater a power boost I can potentially get.¡± He could see by their confused faces that a demonstration was in order. ¡°Take the ship down to land on the planet. We¡¯re going outside for a demonstration.¡± Mira shrugged and sent the ship down to the surface. As they descended, she asked, ¡°so, what are we going to do with the heavy cruiser? It¡¯s not like we can fly it into your local space station no questions asked. Mind you, there are places you cold do just that, but I don¡¯t think you want to go to any of those.¡± ¡°I was thinking we would just let the Landassians know where the ship was so that they could pick it up. Maybe pick up some goodwill from them in the meantime.¡± ¡°I would sooner strip it down for parts and build a new ship of our own than give it back to those bastards.¡± Lya¡¯s voice had gained an edge that would cut steel. There was a deep-seated anger underlying that statement. ¡°There¡¯s a story there which we will get into later, but for now, we are landing. Everyone suit up. There¡¯s not much of an atmosphere out there.¡± Mira simply triggered her suit to go into environmental mode and she was ready to go. Lya did essentially the same. Aurelia looked around, completely lost and Duke simply watched the others. Lya and Mira saw Aurelia¡¯s plight and helped her out of her armor, into a shipsuit and back into her armor. They both looked at Duke who smiled and asked, ¡°You all ready to go?¡± ¡°What about you? You putting on a suit and coming along?¡± Duke smiled. ¡°No, and yes. In that order. Shall we?¡± He headed down to the hold and the boarding ramp. As the ramp lowered and the shimmering field of energy kept the ship¡¯s atmosphere in, Duke started for the ramp. Mira grabbed his shoulder to stop him. ¡°Put a suit on already. There¡¯s nothing to breathe out there.¡± Duke chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ve already been out there if you don¡¯t remember.¡± ¡°But how? How can you step out there without a suit?¡± Duke smiled, meeting her gaze. His voice took on an enigmatic tone that spoke of things grand and unknown. ¡°I am the Dungeon Emperor. Breathing is a luxury, not a necessity.¡± With that, he stepped down the ramp and onto the planet¡¯s surface, her hand falling limply from his shoulder as she gaped at the man casually strolling onto the desolate, dusty rock of a planet without any protection whatsoever. They all followed Duke out onto the planet¡¯s surface to find him looking around and apparently doing some form of measurement with his hands. Lya muttered into her suit¡¯s comms crystal, ¡°What the heck is he doing?¡± Duke¡¯s voice came back to her from what sounded like behind her. She whirled around, not seeing anything. ¡°I¡¯m making sure this doesn¡¯t interfere with the ship at all.¡± Mira quickly agreed, ¡°I¡¯m on-board with that plan.¡± Duke smiled as he walked about a hundred meters from the ship and planted a dungeon core he had been creating and pouring additional Mana into, until it was humming in his hand, clearly at the peak of its capacity. The core quickly expanded, forming a small hill with a cave opening. In all, the hill was about ten meters tall, and the cave opening was a roughly circular opening four meters wide. Mira muttered, ¡°OK, a hill with a cave in it. Not bad work for an earth-manipulator.¡± When Duke gestured for them to follow him into the cave, he was followed by a pair of shrugs and one enthusiastic Aurelia. ¡°Come on, you¡¯re gonna love this!¡± She raced ahead of them into the cave. The other two followed more quickly than they had started, drawn in by her enthusiasm. When they stepped through the opening, they found themselves elsewhere. The opening had led to a massive underground cavern with a ceiling high enough to fly their ship around. The floor of the cavern was another hundred meters below them and they stood on a cliff looking out on a world unlike anything they could have expected. Below them was a primordial jungle filled with activity that they could occasionally catch glances of. Some creatures were moving from tree to tree, deftly swinging on long arms while large birds took to the air above the trees, occasionally heading their way to take a curious look before turning away. Duke smiled as Aurelia deactivated her shipsuit and the other two quickly followed suit. They marveled at the damp, earthy air that filled their lungs. He interrupted their wonder with a simple statement. ¡°Welcome to your first dungeon. Would you like to run it and see what loot you can get out of it?¡± Book 3, Chapter 18 ¡°THIS is what you meant when you said you were a Dungeon Emperor?¡± Mira¡¯s tone was sharp and full of wonder. ¡°Yeah, this is nothing like what I expected.¡± Lya added. ¡°Isn¡¯t it great!¡± Aurelia added. Duke looked at the two goggling women and asked. ¡°What the hell did you think I meant?¡± ¡°Well, you know. Thought it was a sexual thing.¡± Mira answered. ¡°And you still followed me in here?¡± ¡°I wanted to see what it looked like.¡± Lya added. ¡°Me too.¡± ¡°Yeah. Ending that line of thought right there. This is a dungeon, filled with monsters that would love to have you for a snack. If you look out into the middle of the chamber, you can just see a pyramid rising from the jungle. That¡¯s our destination and where we will find the dungeon boss.¡± Aurelia interjected. ¡°This seems pretty basic. I expected to see something more complex.¡± Duke nodded. ¡°Yeah, about that. This is only the second dungeon I have made where I directed how it would form, and I need a lot more practice to make anything special just yet. I¡¯ll get there eventually. So, yes, this is a very basic dungeon with scattered monsters and a single boss monster in the pyramid with some supports. But, even with all that, it will give us a ¡®first clear¡¯ bonus in experience. You all could use that, right?¡± It didn¡¯t take much for them to assent to that and the four began down a path that wound down the cliff face and eventually into the jungle. As they descended, the occasional oversized bird came swooping down at them, but Lya and Mira each were able to either shoot them down or dissuade them from engaging with their sidearms. ¡°How much ammo do you have for those things?¡± Duke asked as they had reached the halfway point down the cliff and the bird attacks had become more frequent. ¡°I¡¯m still at 92% power.¡± Mira responded. ¡°89% for me.¡± Lya added. ¡°And I have four spare cores so I¡¯m not running out anytime soon.¡± ¡°I have three so, yeah, we can keep this up for quite a while. This baby has served me well for quite a long time.¡± Mira smiled as she kissed her sidearm. The rest of the trek down saw an increasing number of the large birds trying their luck but getting no closer as the pair of women had starting shooting them down whenever it even looked like the birds were headed their way. By the time they reached the jungle floor, the birds stayed well clear of the group. Trekking into the jungle, however, was nowhere near as smooth. The jungle was thick and unyielding. At first, they tried pushing their way through, but vines clung to everything and all but barred their path. This is where Aurelia stepped forward. Her sword that was ideal for cutting through armor, cut cleanly through vines just as easily. Duke kept it from getting too covered with the irritating sap that the vines secreted with frequent doses of CLEANSE and the occasional RESTORE. It was all of ten minutes before the real attacks began. The first warning the party received was the sound of a growl off somewhere to their left. Three sets of eyes turned in that direction, but Duke kept his forward. He was well aware of the deceptive tactic because he had been through a number of dungeons, but mostly because he was cheating. His DUNGEON SENSE had identified the movement of all the creatures around them. They were surrounded by a group of nine large catlike creatures. Duke decided to let things play out and see how the newbies handled themselves in close-quarters. He was certain that Aurelia would be fine as these creatures were not higher than Tier one. If the dungeon had time to age, they might be a more serious threat but with things as they currently were, Duke settled back to watch, engaging a Skill he hadn¡¯t used in ages ¨C Stealth. Aurelia was the first to turn around and check her back, giving her a split second to intercept the creature that was leaping for her. She interposed her shield and pushed its attack off to the side, spinning with the blow to bring her sword down on its hindquarters, splitting its hip open and severing one leg. For now, that creature was out of the fight. The rest of the creatures followed suit attacking the three women. Mira had her sidearm out at the first growl and was able to get off several shots before she was tackled by one of the creatures. The creature¡¯s jaws darted forward, open wide to tear her throat out. Mira¡¯s panicked shots didn¡¯t hit anything vital, and the creature¡¯s jaws snapped shut to tear into the soft flesh of her throat. Only, the massive fangs never met flesh; instead, they impacted a FORCE construct that Duke had interposed to ensure her safety. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Lya had leaped aside just past the reach of the claws of the creature that had leaped at her. She did not notice that the claws were stopped short of tearing her side wide open. She fired three efficient shots finishing the creature off before activating a force shield around herself and beginning to scan the area for more threats. Aurelia joyfully tore through any of the creatures that came within range of her as she made her way over to Mira to protect her. In seconds, Lya joined her as well and the creatures broke off their attack having lost six of their kind without taking any prey. As the creatures moved into the distance, Duke stepped out of Stealth shaking his head. ¡°Disappointing. Mira, you got your throat torn out and Lya you are bleeding heavily from a slash through your left side.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? I didn¡¯t get slashed. ¡°But my throat should have been hit.¡± Aurelia looked at Duke asking, ¡°You protected them?¡± ¡°Of course. The lesson here was that even though these creatures are new and relatively low-level, they are still dangerous. Having any of us get seriously injured is not on the menu. BUT, I might not be able to react as fast next time. You need to protect yourselves and be aware that some of these creatures are seriously clever. Be awake and keep your head on a swivel.¡± The group continued in a much more sober mood. Lya and Mira were constantly on a vigilant watch while Aurelia seemed more comfortable, as if she was feeling more confident with her relative performance. She stepped more firmly and was far smoother in her movements, showing more relaxed muscles despite her level of vigilance. The next encounter was nowhere near as subtle. It started with a ground-shaking roar followed by the crashing of a tremendous creature pushing through the jungle towards them. Lya was the first to speak up. ¡°Whatever that is, it is big. Everyone, two-meter spread and prepare to scatter if it somehow charges through this stuff.¡± ¡°Sounds like as good a plan as any.¡± Aurelia responded, adjusting her shield slightly for comfort. They spread out with Duke and Aurelia taking the middle spots. Lya had the left side and Mira the right. All three women had their weapons at the ready, but Duke still looked like he was taking a casual stroll down a country lane. He appeared completely unconcerned. His calm visage did not change as the approaching creature burst from the jungle into the clearing that they had cut for themselves. The creature that burst into the clearing stood four meters tall at the shoulder. It was built like a great ape with massively muscled, long front limbs and thick fur that kept the thorns and barbs of the jungle at bay. The sheer mass and power of this creature gave the entire group pause for a moment as it slammed its fists into the ground, shaking the area enough to make standing an effort. Lya recovered first and opened fire on the beast, shooting it in the chest as fast as she could pull the trigger. Mira joined in as well. The creature roared, seemingly more annoyed by the assault than injured. It charged the group, veering left towards Mira. As it charged, it slammed its arms to the ground and swung its smaller legs from behind to the front. It looked like an awkward gait, but it ate up the distance quickly. Duke stepped into its path to meet its charge. The irresistible force met the immovable object. The impact sent out a shockwave that toppled trees all around them. When the trio of women got back to their feet, they saw Duke holding the massive arms of the beast as it struggled to crush him but could gain no ground. Aurelia darted in, stabbing the beast with her sword, aiming for where she hoped a kidney would be as she couldn¡¯t reach much higher and was not about to step between Duke and the monster. Lya and Mira each started firing from a half-kneel for additional stability, aiming for the creature¡¯s head. As the shots landed and Aurelia¡¯s blade continued to stab and slice into it, the beast decided that it was in trouble and tried to disengage from Duke. He held it firmly in place, instantly shifting his focus from resisting the push to fighting the pull. If not for his technique of incorporating his FLIGHT Ability, the superior bulk of the creature would have easily pulled him from his feet. As it was, he acted like an anchor, holding it in place. The struggle lasted for nearly thirty seconds before the creature succumbed to its injuries. Duke let it fall to the ground with a final crash of its bulk. ¡°I need a heavier weapon for this sort of thing.¡± Mira remarked. ¡°Here, try this.¡± Lya handed her a rifle she had gotten from somewhere. ¡°Where did you¡­you have a dimensional storage unit!¡± Mira exclaimed. Lya checked her holstered sidearm and pulled a rifle of her own out smiling. ¡°I¡¯m a fully licensed and registered hunter. Of course I have a dimensional storage unit. These rifles pack a much larger punch but they only get ten shots per core so they will use up our resources quickly. That, and they are shit in close combat. But, given how hard it was to hurt that thing, heavy might be what we need.¡± ¡°A good call, I¡¯d say. Do either of you have any offensive Abilities that would help?¡± Duke asked. ¡°A bit late to be asking things like that.¡± Mira responded. ¡°I¡¯m a pilot. My entire Class is built around flying anything anywhere. My Abilities all lie in that area.¡± Lya nodded. ¡°My Class is related to being a researcher which was what I was before everything changed. I use all sorts of magitech to enable my current career. Maybe someday, I¡¯ll find a Classchange stone but they¡¯re not exactly easy to come by.¡± Duke filed that desire away for investigation later. Wasn¡¯t the option to change your class part of Tiering up? Hell, I don¡¯t even know what tier Lya and Mira are. It would be rude to ask, wouldn¡¯t it? Oh, fuck it. Going to do it anyway. ¡°OK, it¡¯s personal question time. What Tiers are you two?¡± ¡°That is rather personal.¡± Mira replied. ¡°It is, but since we seem to be all in this together, I¡¯ll go first. I am at peak Tier Two.¡± Lya confessed. ¡°And you took on a Tier Four contract? ¡°That¡¯s insane.¡± Mira replied. ¡°I¡¯m mid-Tier Three and I am only the pilot. They hired me to bring them to the target but Tier Two? That¡¯s madness. You really should Tier up.¡± ¡°I know I should, but I was just into Tier Two when I lost Hollis. I haven¡¯t been able to move on from his loss in so many ways. This is one of them. I feel like if I move to a new Tier and take a new Class, I¡¯ll forever admit that he is gone.¡± The tears that followed had Aurelia holding her as sobs wracked her body. Duke stood nearby unable to do more than project emotional support. He kept an eye on the jungle with his Abilities and sent anything approaching away. He would not let this moment be interrupted. Book 3, Chapter 19 When they had all recovered and recentered, Lya had decided to Tier up after they finished the dungeon. The debate over that decision had lasted longer than Duke felt comfortable but, again, he was not going to cut it short. In the end, it was Mira who ended the debate with a simple acknowledgement that it was now, and always had been, Lya¡¯s decision to make. The training aspect of the trip had soured for Duke. He had planned on a lighthearted romp through the newborn dungeon. Instead, he wound up with an emotion-filled journey that taught him things about his new companions that he had not expected to come out at all. As they advanced through the jungle, he took a far more active role in the party¡¯s defense. He still allowed threats to reach the party, but never allowed more than even odds to reach the trio. Doing so, he was able to push their advancement speed considerably and they arrived at the pyramid hours ahead of his original plan. The pyramid stood in a clearing that struck all of them as unnatural. The jungle simply ceased five meters all around the structure. When they burst out of the jungle, they all stopped to stare at the structure and, more importantly, the pyramid¡¯s guardian. Wrapped around the entire structure was a winged serpent. From the number of coils around the pyramid, the creature had to be well over a thousand meters long. At its widest point, it had to be over fifty meters wide. The group became silent, observing the basic rule of not waking impossibly large predators if it could be helped. Even Duke was surprised by the serpent¡¯s size. He had known there would be a guardian or a boss monster, but he had not looked ahead to see what it was. Now, he IDENTIFIED the thing to find out just what they were dealing with. *** You have encountered the Winged Serpent of Eternity. This is a Tier Six boss monster. Tier: 6 Health: 1,619,000 Mana: 1,687,500 This creature is immune to poisons and has resistance to earth, nature, and water magic. It has a slight vulnerability to fire magic. *** Duke gestured to the women to step back into the jungle. They obliged without complaint, throwing glances at the enormous sleeping serpent. When they were far enough back that Duke judged it safe to talk, he started. ¡°OK, that thing is just so far beyond what should be in a dungeon like this it is insane.¡± ¡°I know it¡¯s way too big, but what else do you know about it?¡± Aurelia asked, her sword sheathed for now. ¡°It¡¯s a Tier Six boss monster with more than a million and a half Health. That has no business in a dungeon of this age, size, and type. Nothing like that should be in a dungeon even ten times the size of this and certainly not without aging for decades. It has to be there as an obstacle rather than a fight. There must be some sort of puzzle associated with it.¡± Aurelia asked, ¡°Could you beat it, Duke?¡± ¡°Probably?¡± He responded. It¡¯s been a bit since I fought something up a tier and this is a boss monster on top of that. It will have unique Abilities that might make it more than just a bit interesting.¡± ¡°So, what do we do? Go talk to it? Say ¡®screw it¡¯ and leave?¡± Mira asked. ¡°It seems to be sleeping. Maybe we ignore it and head into the pyramid.¡± Aurelia suggested. ¡°And if it wakes up?¡± Lya asked. ¡°Then we talk to it.¡± Duke responded. ¡°And if that fails?¡± Mira continued. ¡°Then I TELEPORT you three out of the way and I fight the giant serpent.¡± ¡°All by yourself?¡± Mira asked. ¡°You are all welcome to stick around if the shit hits the fan, but I may not be able to protect you if it comes down to it. I am comfortable fighting up a tier or two as I¡¯ve done it a bunch of times before, but this thing will have Abilities far beyond what any Tier Two or Tier Three could handle. But, again, it¡¯s your life, your choice.¡± Aurelia was the first to respond. ¡°The challenge is worth the risk if you can keep the boss¡¯ attention. The gains I would receive from defeating a boss-monster three Tiers above me would have to be beyond measure.¡± Mira looked at Aurelia, counting all the extra heads that had suddenly sprouted from her neck. ¡°Yeah, if that thing wakes up and wants to fight, send my happy ass right back to the entrance of this place. Pick me back up if you kill it, but I¡¯m not fighting something that might be able to fight the damned heavy cruiser we left in orbit to a standstill.¡± Lya nodded along as Mira spoke. ¡°I am with Aurelia on this one. The rewards could exceed the risks immensely. The breakthrough I would achieve after such a fight would almost guarantee my Tier Three Class change to be something unique.¡± Mira shook her head. ¡°You two are crazy. But I guess that¡¯s why I¡¯m a pilot and not some battle-crazed fighter. Let¡¯s sneak our way in and not wake the world-ending disaster wrapped around the pyramid. How¡¯s that for a plan?¡± ¡°That IS the plan.¡± Duke replied. ¡°But having a backup plan is just good policy. Activate whatever stealth capabilities you have and let¡¯s get to sneaking.¡± All four activated their stealth. For Duke it was a Skill that he had learned early and had not used much since. For Lya and Mira, it was a pair of magitech items that concealed their presence. For Aurelia, it was a potion that Baslin had made for her, turning her invisible. She still had to be very careful about her movements because it only slightly dampened the sound of her movement in the armor. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The four of them quietly crept through the jungle and back into the clearing. No other creatures were in the area, perhaps in a natural response to the presence of a beyond-apex predator. Stepping out into the clearing, they paused like they had done the first time. Thankfully, there was no reaction from the serpent, so they began skirting around the perimeter looking for the entrance. The entrance, of course, was on the opposite side of the pyramid. They approached slowly and cautiously, noting that the entrance was a large opening that held no door. Duke couldn¡¯t help but notice that the entrance was just big enough to allow the serpent¡¯s head to fit with a little bit of room on each side. He did not take that as a good sign and was happy when the corridor took a sharp left turn. He paused and dropped his Stealth Skill. The others did the same and looked to him for an explanation. He obliged. ¡°Did any of you notice that the entrance hallway is just wide enough for the serpent to reach all the way down to this corridor. It might even be able to squeeze down this one. I¡¯m not sure about that. ¡°I was too busy sneaking to notice.¡± Lya responded and received similar agreement from the other two. ¡°What do you think it means?¡± Aurelia added her thoughts. ¡°I think it means that if we don¡¯t solve things just right in here, we have a big ass snake blocking our way out.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great. Let¡¯s make sure we get it right then.¡± Mira responded. ¡°Anyone happen to be able to read the writing on the wall over there? My optics pick it up but I have no idea what language it is in?¡± All three others looked over to the wall where she was pointing, with both women shaking their heads. Duke nodded. ¡°I can read it. It¡¯s a riddle of some kind.¡± He read it out loud: Four choices lie before you. One leads to power. One leads to fortune. One leads to life. One leads to death. Seven seals bar the path. Six turns incur the wrath. Five lights burn but do not laugh. Four corners complete the math. Three hands in the darkness dip in the bath. Two eyes are akin to the fatted calf. One stands tall but still may fall like a giraffe. Duke finished reading and shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s utter nonsense. Can any of you make something out of that?¡± ¡°What in the seven is a giraffe?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°All that, and that¡¯s the only thing that strikes you as odd?¡± Lya responded, exasperated. ¡°And no, I have no idea what a giraffe is.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what all that means but only one of the ¡®choices¡¯ listed in the first part is bad. I actively avoid death, so I¡¯m going to avoid that choice.¡± Mira declared. ¡°A giraffe is a creature from my home world. It stood very tall at the shoulder, but its neck was extremely long, probably twice the length of its body. It was an herbivore that used its long neck to reach the higher branches of trees. But I don¡¯t know what that has to do with the riddle.¡± ¡°Each of the numbers has a bad result but the number four.¡± Aurelia ventured. ¡°That sounds like it¡¯s tailored to the four of us. That makes me more than a bit nervous.¡± ¡°You think we need all four of us to solve the riddle?¡± Mira asked. ¡°Sounds like it. Any other insights?¡± Lya said. ¡°Although that sounds like the potential answer to the riddle, the fact that there is a riddle in here doesn¡¯t make any sense. Up until this part, this dungeon has been entirely combat-focused. Why is it switching to a puzzle-dungeon at this point?¡± Duke mused. ¡°Well, we could move on and see what lies ahead of us.¡± Aurelia suggested. ¡°And keep our eyes open for any additional riddles or clues.¡± Having no better ideas, the rest of the group agreed. Duke fired up his DUNGEON SENSE as he simply hated puzzle and riddle dungeons. The fact that this dungeon had turned into one galled him. His anger seethed below the surface and waited for release and kept him thoroughly distracted. They followed several other corridors until they came to a large open chamber. The chamber seemed to take up most of the space of the inside of pyramid and was dominated by a single black obelisk that reached most of the way to the ceiling. There were golden runes carved on each of the obelisk¡¯s sides that the group could see. ¡°Those look like magitech runes.¡± Lya commented. ¡°Not like any I have ever seen.¡± Mira added. ¡°They are connected to the pyramid as a whole.¡± Duke replied. ¡°Give me a few minutes to study them. I may be able to figure them out. Please stay here.¡± Duke didn¡¯t wait for a response as he circled the obelisk, studying the runes. He made sure to stay behind what he guessed was a triggering line encircling it at about ten meters. After the third circuit, he was confident that he had guessed the runes¡¯ function. He returned to the waiting trio. ¡°OK, here¡¯s the deal. There is a hidden triggering line about ten meters out from the obelisk. From what I can see, it will cause some forty doors to open in the walls of this chamber. Presumably, that would lead to the release of some monsters or traps of some sort so I don¡¯t think we want to trigger that. Next, the obelisk¡¯s runes are all tied to the serpent. They are keeping it sleeping so, again, I don¡¯t think we want to trigger any of them if we can help it.¡± ¡°OK, so that¡¯s a lot of what not to do. What do we actually do?¡± Lya asked. ¡°There is a chamber below the pyramid, and I think that is the goal.¡± ¡°Great, let¡¯s get to the chamber without triggering anything. Now if only we had someone who could TELEPORT us right there, then we would be all set.¡± Aurelia added, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Duke sighed and TELEPORTED the group into the final chamber. The chamber was dark, illuminated only by an oddly-shaped golden reward chest. The chest was nearly three meters long and a only about thirty centimeters tall. It was held closed by a series of seven clasps and the entire chest glowed with a soft golden hue. ¡°Nice chest you got there.¡± Mira remarked. ¡°Thanks.¡± Aurelia and Lya responded in unison. The three of them devolved into laughter. Duke chuckled along but said nothing, knowing the minefield that was laid out before him. With a shrug, he moved to the chest to open it up. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to check it for traps first?¡± Mira asked. ¡°There are always traps on something like this in all the games.¡± Duke shook his head. ¡°Reward chests are not trapped. Occasionally, they will require a key, but they are never trapped.¡± He proceeded to open all seven clasps and made sure everyone was watching before gently throwing the lid open. The glow of the chest briefly intensified, nearly blinding all of them before it faded into darkness. The room slowly brightened as Duke used his LIGHT Ability to fill the room with a gentle radience. Inside the chest was a single item. It was a long spear with an obsidian spearhead and what appeared to be vines snaking up from a clear gem at the base of the shaft. The wood of the shaft was dark and highly polished, giving the vines a more sinister look. ¡°Well, there¡¯s the dungeon¡¯s prize. Anyone any good with spears? I know I¡¯m trash with them.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not touching that thing.¡± Mira announced. ¡°Me neither.¡± Lya agreed. ¡°All yours, Duke. I have a perfectly good sword. I really like my sword. I don¡¯t need the evil veiny spear of unholy poking.¡± Aurelia concluded. Duke ignored the trio laughing behind him and IDENTIFIED the spear before he took it. *** You have found the Spear of Halthorn. This is the weapon of an elder druid and will be most effective in the hands of someone of similar ilk, providing an enhancement to all nature-based Spells and Abilities. Additionally, it allows the wielder to call vines up from the ground to entangle their foes and will allow for the calling of woodland creatures to support the wielder twice a day. Finally, the gem at the base of the shaft will glow with light reflective of the holder¡¯s mood. *** Once Duke removed the spear from the chest, the exit portal formed before them. He smiled. ¡°Well, that¡¯s it. Dungeon completed. Let¡¯s head out and enjoy our rewards.¡± Book3, Chapter 20 The ship was back in orbit and they were going through their notifications. All had received 10,000 experience for completing the dungeon. Duke smiled as he saw their reaction to the added experience. For Lya and Mira this was their first dungeon ever and they still had mixed feelings about the adventure. Well it gave them great gains the seeming risk from that massive serpent made them hesitant you try another one. Duke had minor gains in a few of his Abilities but had not received enough experience to even level. He quietly TELEPORTED back down to the surface and started planting dungeons. One, by one, he covered random spaces with dungeons. He spent the next few hours planting 1,000 more dungeons on the surface. He pointedly avoided the area around the Emergency Shelter dungeon, not wanting to have to deal with those desperate souls. A voice in the back of his mind kept reminding himself that he would get experience if he killed all of them but he pushed it back down into the depths of his mind. Upon returning to the ship, he found all three women waiting for him. A raised eyebrow got a response from Mira. ¡°You going to jump us to the next location, or should I engage the stardrive and start heading us for our destination?¡± ¡°Give me a minute to locate our next stop and we¡¯ll be on our way. I take it, you all decided on the plan to leave the heavy cruiser here and let the Landassians know where they can pick it up?¡± ¡°Oh, no, not at all. We¡¯re going to leave it here for now and come back with a crew to man it. We¡¯ll have to take it to a rather sketchy place to get its registry changed and get it repainted, but we are going to have a heavy cruiser of our own. That¡¯s just too valuable a ship to not hold onto.¡± ¡°And how are we going to know that the crew we hire won¡¯t turn on us the second we put them in control of the ship?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have to vet them very well. Maybe introduce them to the previous crew and explain what happens when someone crosses us, even if they have a much bigger ship.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure I like this plan but we have some time to figure it out before we get to that point. We have three more stops before we get to the station you identified for us, right?¡± ¡°If your jumps are still around 10,000 light years then, yes, three more stops.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s get to it then.¡± Duke TELEPORTED the ship to the next stop and waited while his Mana regened. A strong sweep of the scanners showed the world to be as dead as the star charts had shown.. While Mira parked the ship in orbit, Duke dropped down to the surface and began seeding dungeons. It took him a few hours to seed his typical thousand and when he was finished, he was greeted with a welcome notification: *** Your DUNGEON CORE CREATION Ability has ranked up to Adept 3. Th cost for new dungeon cores can now be variable. The base cost remains 5,000,000 Mana but it can be increased to specify certain dungeon features. As your Ability continues to mature, the number of options and complexity of these options will increase. *** Duke returned to the ship, smiling ear-to-ear. He didn¡¯t hesitate to take them to the next location he had plotted out on the star charts. Again, he planted dungeons, experimenting a little with the type and parameters of the dungeons. He did not go back to investigate as he was in a rush to get to the final destination. He moved the ship to the last waypoint and repeated his dungeon creation spree. When he was done, he sat on the bridge and looked over to the rest of the crew, ¡°Well, this is it. One more jump and we will be heading to the spaceport to pay off some debt and start our next adventure. Does anyone need anything before we go?¡± Duke spent the next few minutes RESTORING weapons and items before Mira took him back down to the engines to refill their Mana cores. Of course, that reminded the ladies that he could refill the Mana cores of their weapons. That took another fifteen minutes as they kept pulling spent cores out for him to refill. ¡°Now that we are all done with that, Mira would you come over here and pick the spot we should appear. I am assuming you want to approach like any normal vessel and not give away our extra capabilities. I know that I damn sure don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Thank you for thinking of that before I had to bring it up. Yes, I want to enter the system on normal stardrive. So, put us right here.¡± She indicated a set of coordinates on the star map. ¡°That will put us a few light days outside of the system and shouldn¡¯t raise any eyebrows and it will only take a matter of minutes with the stardrive to get us into the system.¡± You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Sounds good. Everyone ready?¡± Receiving nods of acknowledgement, he TELEPORTED them to the last waypoint. Mira took over and smoothly engaged the stardrive. When they emerged into the system, the sensors lit up with activity. The system had thousands of ships moving around it in countless formations but one stood out to Duke as he looked at the sensors. Most likely, because the sensors identified it as the Galactic Alliance Ship, Intrepid. It was listed as a dreadnaught and had dozens of escort ships in formation with it. Duke put the visualization of the ship on the main screen and asked, ¡°Think we can get out hands on something like that?¡± Lya answered him with a laugh. ¡°First off, you do not mess with the Galactic Alliance. And Second, you need a crew of at least fifty thousand to man a ship of that size. So, no, we are not getting our hands on anything like that. We have a perfectly fine ship right here.¡± ¡°Thank you, Lya. The Iron Reaver is more than enough for us. And if we need something bigger, we have another ship to modify already, right? Anyway, sit back and relax. I¡¯ll get us landing clearance and then the real fun will begin.¡± It took four hours to get landing clearance and to get docked. Duke and Aurelia eventually scurried off to their cabin for some alone time but came back out in time to watch the docking procedure. As they watched the ship become engulfed by the space station, the scale of it all started to become apparent. The ship landed on a pad within the enormous hangar area they had been directed to. Duke was looking out one of the few actual windows of the ship and saw ships of all different sizes around. The smallest seemed the size of an average SUV while the largest was even bigger than the heavy cruiser they had left behind. It was nowhere near as well armed, but it was bigger. Duke guessed it might be a freight hauler, but he was too distracted by the sights to put more than casual thought into it. It took all of ten minutes for the ship to be fully secure and the crew ready to depart. As they headed down the ramp, they were greeted by a group of individuals. There were seven of them, with six clearly being armed security guards and clearly not human while the seventh was too well-dressed to be simple security but appeared to be human. He greeted them. ¡°Welcome to Turin Station. I am Galvand and your liaison for the docking portion of your stay. The docking fee is one hundred thousand Mana per day. That is payable in filled cores or, if you are so inclined, directly into the station core.¡± Mira looked at Duke who smiled in response. ¡°Where is the station core? I¡¯ll pay the fee directly.¡± ¡°Excellent, right this way.¡± He led Duke off to a central pillar of the hangar along with half the security guards. The rest remained at the ship preventing anyone else from leaving until the docking fee had been paid. When they arrived at the pillar, Galvand unlocked a door with his handprint and a twenty-four-digit code. He entered it rapidly and if Duke had not been paying attention, there would have been no way he could have kept up with the code being entered. As it was, he was watching closely and the combination of his Intuition and Reason made it possible for him to memorize the code. The door opened to reveal a chamber lined with crystalline structures intertwined with magitech runes. Duke started to trace and translate the runes but was interrupted by Galvand. ¡°As I said earlier, it is one hundred thousand Mana per day for the docking fee. Simply channel your Mana into the red crystal over there and when you have hit one hundred thousand, it will light up and your daily fee will be fully paid.¡± ¡°Can I pay for multiple days at once?¡± ¡°If you like, certainly.¡± ¡°Is there any discount for multiple days payment at once?¡± ¡°If you have the patience and capacity to pay for ten days, that will cover you for two full weeks.¡± The amount of snark in Galvand¡¯s tone had increased significantly as he offered the ¡°impossible¡± discount. No one was willing or able to part with that much Mana or had the patience to sit for so long. Duke nodded at the man and placed a hand on the red crystal and began pushing his MANA TRANSFER Ability with OVERCHANNEL. In a little over a second, he was pushing 25,000 Mana a second into the crystal. When the crystal lit up, Duke smiled and kept pouring his Mana in. He kept the rate steady at 25,000 a second. Every second that passed, he increased the look of strain on his face and body. When he hit the 1,000,000 Mana, he collapsed to the floor, gasping for air. ¡°That¡¯s incredible.¡± Galvand said as he helped Duke to his unsteady feet. ¡°Please give me a minute. I¡¯m tapped out and need to recover.¡± Duke gasped. Galvand gestured to the guards to help Duke out of the chamber, and they jumped to the task, their strong grips helping Duke outside so the door could be closed and locked behind him. Duke tried to get his feet under himself and wobblily tried to steady himself. Galvand handed Duke a receipt with an appraising look. ¡°You are all paid up for the next two weeks. Please let me know if you need any assistance with the docks. Refueling, cargo handling, repairs, or anything else you might need for the ship.¡± He handed Duke what appeared to be a large coin with magitech script on it. ¡°Use that at any terminal on the station and you will be able to reach me. Been a pleasure doing business with you.¡± Duke steadied himself. ¡°Thank you, Galvand. I believe our Chief Pilot has already secured the cargo services we require but if there is anything that we need, I will reach out to you first.¡± With that, he headed back to the ship, making his gait steadier and steadier as he headed across the hangar. Book 3, Chapter 21 The ramp closed behind them and Mira locked the ship down. ¡°Everyone ready for this?¡± She asked. ¡°Clothes shopping first, right?¡± Aurelia asked. ¡°As agreed.¡± Duke said. ¡°Lead on Mira since you know this place.¡± ¡°As agreed.¡± She echoed as they followed her out of the hangar and into the main station. Once they exited the hangars, the corridor was much wider than Duke had expected at nearly sixty meters across. He did find exactly what he expected right outside the hangars. That being bars and brothels with the occasional pawn shop thrown in for good measure. Just like stepping off any airbase. Oh, and there¡¯s the no-tell motel. Perfect. At least some things never change. They quickly moved to a ¡°nicer¡± part of the station where shops catering to the more long-term residents were to be found. It did not take long to find a clothing store they all agreed upon. They were greeted by the salesclerk¡¯s automatic upbeat greeting, ¡°Welcome to Mozzie¡¯s.¡± It was immediately followed up more seriously as she looked up and saw the four of them. ¡°OK, what¡¯s the budget? There¡¯s an awful lot to fix here.¡± Lya spoke up before anyone else could say anything. ¡°Let¡¯s not worry about the budget but try to keep it under a million credits. That should cover anything we need.¡± The clerk brightened up as Duke¡¯s face fell, realizing that he did not have a single credit to his name. Aurelia gave him a look saying the exact same thing. Lya smiled at the looks and rescued them. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. This one is on me.¡± Mira gave Lya a look of her own to which she answered, ¡°We¡¯ll talk about it later, OK?¡± Before anyone could say anything more, the clerk grabbed Aurelia and took her into the back of the shop. ¡°Oh, honey, the armored knight style is so last century. Let¡¯s get you something more up to date.¡± When Aurelia emerged, she was wearing a short top that gave the hint of a uniform in black with golden accents with a matching short skirt. The outfit was finished with a pair of high boots and a flat newsboy hat that fit the outfit perfectly. Duke¡¯s jaw dropped and Aurelia¡¯s smile broadened. ¡°Yep, that¡¯s the reaction we were going for.¡± The smiling clerk grabbed Mira next. As they disappeared, Aurelia did a twirl in front of Duke. ¡°You like it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to get into so many fights, but damn, you look good. Real good. Too damned good.¡± Aurelia blushed and wrapped Duke up in a hug before kissing him. He kissed her back, forcefully causing her to utter a soft moan and kiss him back just as passionately. Moments later, they were zapped by an electrical jolt. ¡°Enough of that! My shop is not the place for that no matter how beautiful I make you all look!¡± The salesclerk waved a glowing wand in their direction. ¡°Sorry, I couldn¡¯t help myself.¡± Duke replied, stepping back from Aurelia but still holding her hands. ¡°Have you seen this woman?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve seen her. Who do you think picked out the outfit. Now go sit over there and wait. How am I going to find pants that fit you like that!¡± Duke realized what she was talking about and took the seat indicated, slightly chagrined but not entirely able to take his eyes off Aurelia. ¡°You¡¯re next,¡± the salesclerk beckoned to Mira. She thought for a moment before adding, ¡°You come back here again too, blondie.¡± Aurelia followed Mira into the back of the shop, leaving Duke and Lya alone. He turned to her, but she shook her head. ¡°We can talk, but keep that thing pointed away from me.¡± The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. He sighed and spoke, ¡°Are you sure you can afford to pay for all this?¡± She laughed and came up to him, whispering in his ear, ¡°The Landassians are paying for all this. I drained the ship¡¯s account before we left it behind.¡± Duke looked at her quizzically, ¡°How did you do that? And how much was in the account?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve had their security codes cracked for years and without anyone there to actively manage them, it was child¡¯s play to drain the accounts. All nineteen million credits worth.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a shit-ton of credits.¡± ¡°Sure is, so going shopping on their dime is just fine with me. It doesn¡¯t even begin to pay back the debt they owe me for betraying Hollis. They are the ones who betrayed him to the Concordiate. They could have left well enough alone but, no, they had to get involved and that got by beloved Hollis killed.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry that happened. But I am glad that we have one of their ships then. Maybe we can find a good use for it.¡± ¡°Load it up with well-cloaked but barely contained anti-matter and fly it on autopilot back to their homeworld. That would be a good use for it.¡± Duke let it drop as the salesclerk came out to grab Lya. He quietly waited until it was his turn. When he came into the back of the shop, he did not see any of the ladies but the salesclerk rushed him into a changing room with several outfits to try on. It took all of ten minutes for them to create an outfit for Duke. Ultimately, he decided on something that looked like a military uniform in his favorite black and red. The shoulders had epaulettes that carried the silver oak leaf of Duke¡¯s Earth rank with a crimson braid looped through the left shoulder. The jacket had golden buttons that each had the imprint of a glowing red gem. The pants were sharply creased and carried a red stripe down the side. Duke felt the uniform looked menacing and intimidating and he had checked with the salesclerk to make sure that he hadn¡¯t unintentionally enlisted himself in someone else¡¯s military. Duke wasn¡¯t sure what fabric the uniform was made from but he found that he had full freedom of movement despite wearing a jacket. ¡°OK, now it¡¯s time to integrate a storage device for you. Would you like it in one of your pockets? Perhaps the inner pocket of the jacket?¡± ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. Thank you.¡± Duke came to the sudden realization that he hadn¡¯t known where Aurelia¡¯s armor or sword had gone but now knew she had a storage device for them. ¡°Are you sure? They are rather convenient.¡± ¡°Alright. Make it the front left pocket of the pants.¡± It took another five minutes to complete, but the storage device was integrated into the pocket. ¡°That will hold up to five cubic meters of material.¡± Duke smiled and thanked the salesclerk, suppressing the urge to brag about his million cubic meters of storage space in his INVENTORY. When he returned to the front of the store, all three women were there waiting. And they were all stunningly beautiful with outfits that accented their curves beautifully. They looked up to him and he received two approving nods from Mira and Lya and one very hungry look from Aurelia. Lya stepped up to pay the salesclerk, thanking her with a generous tip. ¡°Please do come back anytime if you need something adjusted or if you would like something new.¡± The salesclerk¡¯s smile appeared genuine and warm as the group headed out. As they moved down the corridor, many eyes turned to look at the four of them, human, and otherwise. After a few minutes of this, Duke stopped them. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Mya asked. ¡°Have you noticed how much attention we are getting just walking the halls looking like this? I have a serious question that is probably going to make me look like an asshole for asking, but I want the understanding laid out beforehand.¡± Lya furrowed her brow, ¡°What¡¯s on your mind, Duke?¡± ¡°All three of you are attracting more than casual glances which will inevitably lead to someone hitting on you. I know all three of you are capable of handling yourselves so I¡¯m not going to step in for you Lya or Mira unless you want me to. Aurelia, sorry, you are stuck with me stepping in.¡± Aurelia grinned. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have it any other way, love.¡± Lya shrugged. ¡°If someone wants to proposition me, they are in for a rude awakening. Hollis may be gone, but he still holds my heart. They won¡¯t enjoy what comes if they are persistent or pushy. If it gets truly violent, they¡¯ll get to see what a Tier Three Celestial Tracker can truly do.¡± ¡°You Tiered-up?¡± Mira asked. ¡°Sure did. On our flight in and it¡¯s a badass Class. Holding off for so long got me an Epic-grade Class. And I even had enough experienced left in the bank to jump all the way back up to level 50!¡± Duke wondered how to bank experience like that and would have to ask about it sometime but for now, he still needed one more answer. ¡°Lya, that is so freakin¡¯ awesome. Congratulations! Mira, don¡¯t think this gets you out of answering my question.¡± Mira grinned at Duke, ¡°Simple answer is this. I don¡¯t mind if someone hits on me. If they get handsy at the bar, I¡¯ll break something. If they have friends that want to get in on the action, then stepping in might be a good idea. And thanks for asking and not assuming. It doesn¡¯t make you an asshole. It means you are a friend who doesn¡¯t want to spoil my fun. I appreciate that. Now, let¡¯s head to the monster parts dealer. Rubric¡¯s is not far from here and Lya can brag about her new Class on the way. Celestial Tracker? I¡¯ve never even heard of anything like that. Dish, girl!¡± Book 3, Chapter 22 The four of them stood in the entrance to Rubric¡¯s shop taking in the atmosphere. There were display cases lining the walls and some octagonal glass cases on pedestals with the most prominent items arranged on the main floor. Mira gave them a few seconds to take it all in before she hooked Duke¡¯s arm and dragged him to a door in the back of the shop next to one of the display cases filled with parts of some sort of black chiton creature. The door she took him through was clearly marked ¡°Sellers Come in Here.¡± Duke chuckled at the explicitly directive nature of the sign, ¡°They make it pretty clear, don¡¯t they.¡± ¡°Yes, we do. It keeps the sales staff from having to field the same stupid question over and over again.¡± The man speaking was completely bald and short, only coming up to Duke¡¯s chest and was dressed in heavy boots, similarly heavy work pants, a heavily stained white shirt and a long leather apron that covered most everything up but his arms. He also wore gloves that looked like they were made out of some rubber-like substance. He continued, ¡°You have come to sell, yes? What can Rubric buy from you?¡± Mira smiled at Rubric, ¡°It¡¯s been a while, but my friend here has something that I know you want. Do you have any sort of privacy tech or magic you can put up?¡± ¡°That good?¡± ¡°That good.¡± ¡°Alright. Give me a minute, but if you disappoint me, I¡¯m going to charge you for the Mana to recharge my stones.¡± It took Rubric a minute to set up the multiple layers of privacy screens around the shop but eventually came back to Duke and Mira. ¡°OK, what do you have that is so special that I have to spend Mana stones in order to see it.¡± ¡°Show him.¡± Mira ordered. Duke held his expression neutral as he removed one of the dragon corpses from his INVENTORY. It nearly filled the entire workspace and wound up knocking a table over. Rubric¡¯s reaction was immediate. He rushed forward and began to examine the corpse with all manner of devices from what looked like handheld electronic scanners to glowing gems were passed over the corpse. He muttered to himself the entire time, ignoring Duke and Mira as he examined the dragon. Finally, he started asking questions as he continued his inspection without looking back up at them. ¡°This is a fully-intact extra-dimensional dragon corpse. Where in the cosmos did you get it? How did it die? What could even kill a dragon of this quality? I can¡¯t even read the Tier. Must be at least a five. Yes, at least a five. Amazing.¡± He finally paused and looked up, locking eyes with Duke. ¡°Where did you come across this corpse?¡± ¡°We will not be revealing our source for this corpse,¡± Mira said. ¡°No, no, I suppose not. What do you want for it?¡± Mira looked towards Duke who nodded back to her. She began her bargaining, ¡°We all know just how rare it is to get actual dragon parts and how impossible it is to get a fully-intact corpse in such pristine, undecayed condition. I would bet that you have never even seen one, let alone had one in your shop before. I am placing the price for this at two hundred million credits.¡± He spluttered, ¡°Two hundred million credits! Are you insane!¡± ¡°You and I both know you can part it out and make three hundred out of it. That¡¯s a 50% profit margin for you.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be lucky if I can get half that and it¡¯s tying up a lot of my free capitol until I can find buyers with enough free credits to afford it.¡± ¡°OK, then let¡¯s make it 125 and you will still make a healthy profit. The heart is intact. That alone will get you fifty.¡± He paused in thought, considering what Mira had said. It seemed she had struck a note as he went back to measuring the dragon with his instruments again. After some consideration, he finally came to a conclusion, ¡°The best I can do is 110.¡± Mira looked back over at Duke who gave her a nod. ¡°One hundred ten million credits. Done. Please credit it to my ship, the Iron Reaver.¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. He looked at Duke to make sure that he was OK with that direction. Duke responded, ¡°Yes, that is exactly what we need to do. Send it to the ship.¡± ¡°OK.¡± He went over to a wall-terminal and entered several commands.¡± Mira looked up from the device she was looking at. ¡°Transfer confirmed. Pleasure doing business with you again, Rubric. And you will not reveal to anyone where you acquired this or I will make damned sure that our next exotic and rare specimen finds its way to Edelman¡¯s.¡± ¡°Always a pleasure and I keep my hunters confidential. You know that,¡± he responded while transferring the dragon corpse to his own storage. Duke looked at Mira who nodded with a slight smirk. ¡°Same price for the second dragon?¡± He pulled another dragon corpse out of his INVENTORY. Duke knew he had the merchant in a tough spot now as another dragon corpse coming onto the market would devalue the first. Rubric stared at Duke, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Mira nudged Duke, ¡°I think you broke him.¡± Apparently, that was enough to free Rubric from his vapor-lock. ¡°That¡¯s impossible. One was incredible but two? Two! I¡­I¡­I can give you another ninety million for the second one but that¡¯s it. Really. I can¡¯t give any more than that.¡± Duke nodded, ¡°Ninety million to the ships account and it¡¯s yours.¡± Rubric numbly entered the transfer on his terminal and Mira confirmed receipt. The pair left Rubric with his conflicting emotions of joy at the dragons and despair at his current finances. Gathering up the rest of the group, they headed for their next stop, Mira still in the lead. This time, they were headed for the inner sections of the station. As they progressed, both the inhabitants and the businesses they passed became cleaner and clearly more affluent. Finally, they came to an institution that was unmistakable. It might have been the iconic columns in front of the building, but most likely it was the gilded sign that read Intergalactic Credit Bureau. Mira paused before the building, addressing the other three,¡± I have only been in this building twice before but let me make something absolutely clear here. This place is 100% business 100% of the time. Nothing out of line is tolerated and they have the people and the power to back that up. You piss them off and you will find a Tier Fifteen bounty on your head before your foot hits the outside steps. No joking, no innuendo. Nothing.¡± Everyone¡¯s expression became serious as they entered. The first thing that happened as they crossed the threshold is that each of the group felt an enormous presence wash over them with the sense that they were being invasively scrutinized. The feeling passed quickly and an impeccably dressed elven woman approached the group. ¡°What can the Intergalactic Credit Bureau do for you four?¡± Mira quickly spoke up, ¡°Mira Calder and companions here to resolve an outstanding credit balance and establish additional accounts.¡± The woman looked off into the distance for a moment and responded, ¡°How convenient. We were three hours from issuing a repossession order on the Iron Reaver. Are you here to pay your debt in full?¡± ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°Excellent. Follow me please.¡± She did not wait for a response but walked to a desk on the far side of the lobby with precisely measured steps so that she could walk behind the desk and slide into her chair with the ideal economy of motion. ¡°Please, do sit down and make yourselves comfortable while we conduct our transactions.¡± She pulled up some sort of holographic screen and projected it to the group. It listed the ship¡¯s name, and the debt associated with it ¨C Exactly 103,624,812 credits in debt. Mira smiled wanly as the elf continued, ¡°You see the debt on the screen. How are you going to resolve it?¡± Mira brought out her own device and projected the current account of the Iron Reaver, showing the 200,000,000 credits that they had just earned. Her face firmed with resolve, ¡°A direct transfer from this account please.¡± The elf smiled along, ¡°Excellent. Please confirm your authorization for the transfer. Perfect. The Iron Reaver is now completely free of debt and all liens have been released. Congratulations. Few manage to resolve a debt once it exceeds the value of their collateral. Your credit score now reflects this status change. Now, you had mentioned other banking you wished to conduct.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am. I would like to split the remaining balance up four ways into our accounts. Obviously, one share will remain in the existing account, but at least two of the group will need initial accounts established.¡± She pointed to Duke and Aurelia. ¡°I already have an account of my own established.¡± Lya provided the elf with her account information. The next ten minutes were spent in a laborious process of establishing accounts for Duke and Aurelia which involved blood samples, magical aura readings, and personal Mana signatures. In the end, the elf escorted the four of them back to the door with a smile. They were happy to depart. ¡°You were that close to losing the ship?¡± Duke said. ¡°I didn¡¯t know it was that close, but I knew we were critically overdrawn.¡± ¡°Good thing we took that shortcut to get here otherwise the ship would have been repo¡¯d before we even got to the dock,¡± Lya said. ¡°Yeah. That would have sucked, and cost more to get back. Thank you, Duke for saving the ship¡­and me.¡± ¡°If I didn¡¯t, who would be ferrying me all over this galaxy, right?¡± ¡°Right. I¡¯m the best ride you¡¯ll ever get.¡± Aurelia stiffened at that and began to scowl. Mira jumped right back in, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Aurelia. I¡¯m not gonna steal your man. I¡¯ll find one of my own.¡± ¡°Dressed like that, it won¡¯t be hard. Shall we go hit some place to celebrate our good fortune?¡± Duke said. I know just the place,¡± Lya said. Book 3, Chapter 23 When they strode into the bar a few heads turned. None of them were human. There was a trio of tusked humanoids dressed in stained red uniforms that looked to be a leather substitute of some kind. They got Duke¡¯s attention immediately as they were pointing a device in the group¡¯s direction and making animated gestures. Freaking space orcs! I just know they are going to be trouble. Duke had noticed that his ability to read people had become significantly heightened since his stats had gotten the dungeon bump. It was what drove him to trust Lya and Mira. Not necessarily a sixth sense, but the combination of his senses, stats, and Abilities had pulled in information and was able to process it into this ability to read people. He was not getting a good sense from the orcs but he really didn¡¯t need much more than to look at them staring to come to that conclusion. ¡°You clocked the excited trio near the bar, right?¡± Duke poured a little extra Mana into his AURA CONCEALMEANT Ability that he had been running since he arrived on the station. Aurealia answered, ¡°Kinda hard to miss them. We seem to have garnered their interest.¡± They casually sat down at a table and Duke waved the waitress over. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Trellix. What can I get for you four?¡± The waitress was close to human with her green hair that appeared natural, matching her eyelashes but the feature that stood out the most was the third eye in the middle of her forehead. ¡°I would really love some scotch whiskey, but I doubt you have any. What do you have available?¡± Duke asked while keeping an eye on the trio at the bar. They were arguing while looking at some device with a screen. Duke had instinctually sat himself with his back to the wall, able to get a full view of the bar in front of him. That way, he could see trouble coming and act before it could get out of hand. ¡°Scotch whiskey? Not sure that I¡¯ve ever heard of that but let me look at our exotic drink menu. What about you three?¡± Lya and Mina ordered their drinks, but Aurelia looked hopelessly at Duke. ¡°What¡¯s the matter love?¡± Aurelia blushed and answered, ¡°I can¡¯t understand anyone here. I can understand the girls for some reason, but nobody else since we got to the station. It¡¯s like they are speaking gibberish.¡± Duke¡¯s face flushed with embarrassment. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m so sorry. It never occurred to me that you couldn¡¯t understand what was being said.¡± He pulled a potion out of his INVENTORY that he had been keeping for no other reason than he was a bit of a packrat. He handed the potion of tongues to her, ¡°Here, drink this. It will help for a while. How long, I¡¯m not sure, but it should be at least a few hours.¡± ¡°Guess we know what our next shopping item needs to be. You need a translator. They¡¯re one of the more common pieces of magitech. And you can now afford one easily.¡± Lya showed Aurelia her own translator. It was a tiny earpiece that fit inside her ear canal. ¡°It¡¯s so tiny,¡° Aurelia remarked as she examined the device. She then downed the potion and met the three eyes of their patient waitress. Context clues had made it easy to figure out that the waitress was taking their drink order so she made an order of her own, ¡°I would like some honeyed mead. Is that possible?¡± The waitress nodded, ¡°Yes, that is possible. And I can even get the scotch whiskey you asked for, sir. But it will be rather expensive.¡± Duke was surprised and delighted. He was going to order it anyway but decided to ask first, ¡°How expensive is expensive?¡± Trellix pulled on her one of her long green locks of hair, placing it behind her ear, ¡°Ten thousand credits for a glass or one hundred thousand for the bottle.¡± Duke thought for a moment before responding, ¡°I¡¯ll take the bottle then.¡± The waitress stared at him, momentarily stunned before answering, ¡°I¡¯ll bring it right away.¡± Before their drinks could come, Duke spotted the trio of orcs heading their way. He quietly got the rest of the group¡¯s attention and prepared himself for what he just knew was coming, deciding to not reveal any Abilities here if he could help it. The lead orc stepped up to the table, flanked by his two companions who stood half a step behind. He was as tall as Duke but was far bulkier. His head was larger than what a human¡¯s would be for his size, and he had porcine features complete with a pair of tusks protruding from his mouth. He was dressed in what looked like thick black leather with electronics of some sort inset in seemingly random places down his arms, across his chest, and on his shoulders. His left eye was obscured with some sort of red screen that was attached to a metallic band strapped to his head. With a deep and wet voice, he addressed the table, ¡°Terribly sorry to interrupt you all but aren¡¯t you Blaze Calder, Captain of the Iron Reaver?¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Duke¡¯s mind ground to a halt with the dissonance of someone approaching and not being the target. A smile slowly spread across his face as he looked to Mira. ¡°Yes, the Iron Reaver is my ship. What can I do for you?¡± She met the orc¡¯s gaze with a calm demeanor and a fair bit of patience. The look of relief on the lead orc¡¯s face was unmistakable as he jumped into his request. ¡°I am Gro¡¯nok, leader of the Steel Tusks and we have been stranded on this station with our mechs for six months now. Our former transportation was the Seven Star Cluster but the ship was too heavily damaged fending off pirates that it wound up being scrapped at the yards here. We are in need of transportation to Altis Marin Six. There is a contract waiting for us there.¡± Mira kept her eyes locked on the orc¡¯s, as if in a play for dominance. When she spoke, it was with a flat, unemotional tone, ¡°You are asking me to bring you to one of the most war-torn worlds in this entire galaxy and freely admit that your last transport wound up being so damaged it needed to be scrapped?¡± Gro¡¯nok¡¯s gaze did not waver, ¡°That is what I am asking, yes. We will not hide our situation as deceit does not help our cause.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you pull up some seats and we¡¯ll talk about it. I¡¯m not going to say that I¡¯ll take you just yet, but let¡¯s get to know each other a bit better before I make any decisions.¡± She proceeded to introduce Aurelia, Duke, and Lya. Greetings passed around the table as Gro¡¯nok introduced his two teammates, Ter¡¯fald and Tukka. While the orcs settled into their seats, the waitress brought over the drinks that Duke¡¯s party had ordered, placing the bottle of Glenturret whiskey. She came over to Duke to take payment, but Gro¡¯nok intercepted her. ¡°I have interrupted these people. Their drinks are on me.¡± Duke held up a hand to stop him, ¡°You might not want to do that. My drink is rather expensive.¡± ¡°I have said that I would pay for the drinks. Do not make me a liar.¡± Gro¡¯nok¡¯s voice now had an edge to it that Duke did not appreciate. For amusement¡¯s sake, he backed down, allowing the orc to pay for the drinks. Trellix happily held her payment device out to the orc to pay. He placed his wrist to the device that beeped and flashed in acknowledgement of the payment. Immediately, his visible eye widened in shock as he apparently saw the amount, ¡°Grellish geld you! What in the realms did you order?¡± Duke smiled faintly, ¡°I did warn you. I ordered this bottle of scotch whiskey. Trellix, would you please bring glasses for my new friends so that they may have some as well?¡± It took but a moment for Trellix to bring glasses for each of them and Duke poured scotch for everyone. He slid the glasses over and took his own, ¡°First off, this is a precious drink, so sip it. It is not meant to be taken all at once. Savor the flavor, feel the warmth as it goes down your throat.¡± He paused making sure that he had everyone¡¯s attention before continuing, ¡°I offer a toast to meeting new people and perhaps making new friends.¡± Duke had been carefully observing the trio with his XENOGLOSSIA, looking for any signs of deceit or guile. Everything he had read so far had been completely honest. He was becoming concerned that either these three were as earnest as they seemed or that his Ability wasn¡¯t working on them. Still, he raised his glass with the rest of them. When he took his first sip, his eyes closed, and the smile of satisfaction spread across his face. The scotch was so smooth and flavorful that he held it in his mouth for several seconds before finally allowing the warmth to travel down his throat to his stomach. ¡°This is like nothing I have ever had before,¡± Tukka said. ¡°It has as many flavors as s feast yet offers heat to the body. Where did this come from?¡± ¡°Ask Trellix where she got it.¡± Aurelia responded, her protective instinct kicking in over Duke¡¯s homeworld. Ter¡¯fald raised a hand and waved, ¡°Trellix, come on by when you have a moment!¡± She, of course, came right over with a smile, ¡°Is everything alright? Can I get you something else?¡± Gro¡¯nok stepped in, ¡°Where does this scotch whiskey come from?¡± She leaned down and confessed, ¡°I have absolutely no idea. That bottle had been sitting on the shelf for longer than I have worked here, and you know how long I have worked here.¡± He then turned to Duke, ¡°So, you are the one who ordered the bottle. Where does it come from?¡± Duke¡¯s heart rate increased as he realized the corner her had trapped himself in. He wanted to protect Earth from outside attention and influence but even mentioning the existence of the planet could put it into jeopardy in this wider cosmos he had stepped into. So, he lied. Smoothly, but he lied nonetheless, ¡°It comes from a closed world that now lies beyond the reach of magic. That is why it is so hard to find.¡± ¡°A closed world? What does that mean?¡± Gro¡¯nog probed. ¡°It is a world that the entities have somehow closed off from magic, making it inaccessible by any means that I know of.¡± Duke hoped his lie was convincing enough. Apparently, it was. The three orcs made the same gesture to ward off the attention of the entities. The topic was dropped immediately. Mira steered the conversation back to the actual reason the orcs were there, ¡°What is this contract you have waiting for you on a deathworld and is it really worth it?¡± ¡°It is a matter of honor. We are all bound by our word to come to the aid of an old friend who is trapped on the planet.¡± Duke interrupted, ¡°If it¡¯s such a war-torn planet, are you even sure that your friend still lives?¡± ¡°Of course, he still lives. The Great System would inform us if we have failed the quest set before us.¡± Mira took the conversation back, ¡°So, this is a rescue mission?¡± ¡°It is. We have no desire to stay on such a place but without our mechs we will likely not survive long enough to rescue our friend. That is why I am so overjoyed to see you here. You bring hope to us that we had all but lost.¡± ¡°I will have to discuss it with my crew before I give you a decision and a price for this trip. There are a lot of¡­¡± She cut off in mid-sentence, apparently receiving some sort of message. She leapt to her feet. ¡°We have to get back to the ship! Someone¡¯s messing with it!¡± Everyone quickly followed suit, drawing weapons. Duke gave her a questioning look, taking the orcs into his gaze. She gave him a nod and all seven of them appeared before the Iron Reaver. They were greeted with gunfire. Book 3, Chapter 24 Sizzling projectiles flashed past Duke¡¯s head the moment he appeared. He immediately split the group by using his TELEPORTATION to send Mira, Lya, and Aurelia to the bridge of the Iron Reaver. He sent himself and the Steel Tusks about sixty meters further into the massive hangar and out of the gunfire, he hoped. A quick assessment showed that they were not likely the targets of the gunfire. As the trio of orcs scrambled to get their bearings, Duke had already spotted two groups of individuals exchanging gunfire in the hangar. One group was arrayed by the Iron Reaver, using its landing struts for cover while the other group was spread out around the ship using glowing barriers for their own cover. ¡°Syndicate! It¡¯s the Syndicate!¡± Gro¡¯nok shouted, raising his weapon to his shoulder and firing at the individuals behind the energy barriers. His two companions joined him and, after the first combatant went down from their fire, additional barriers appeared facing their way. ¡°Who the fuck is the Syndicate and why are they shooting at people huddled around our ship?¡± Duke was confused, not knowing who any of the players were or what the conflict was all about. Wait, didn¡¯t one of the mutineers say something about the Syndicate? Between shots, Gro¡¯nok answered, ¡°They are the real reason we were trapped here. One by one, they are taking out the competition. They mean to be the sole name in mech transport. Most, they have bought out, but I bet the pirates that trashed our ship were Syndicate in disguise.¡± Duke nodded. Corporations doing corporation things. Guess it¡¯s the same everywhere and it gives me an idea of who the attackers are, but who are the defenders? ¡°Who are the others then?¡± ¡°Turin Station security. They are doing far more than they normally would. But they are not going to last long pinned down like this.¡± As Gro¡¯nok spoke, gunfire started to erupt at them as more Syndicate forces came pouring out of the halls sparking the four of them to take cover behind some random supply crates. Duke felt he had a good handle on the players and was about to act when a high-pitched whirring sound came from the Iron Reaver. He stared, stunned as he saw a pod pop out of the ship, spinning at a tremendous rate. Without warning, he was slammed to the ground as Gro¡¯nok tackled him, shouting, ¡°Get down! That mad Ignarri is going to kill us all!¡± Duke watched as the spinning pod began to spit what appeared to be tiny fireballs at a ridiculous speed. The entire area around the ship was filled with flaming death in seconds. The Syndicate attackers huddled behind their barriers for the scant seconds they held the fireballs back but ultimately, the barriers collapsed, and they were burned to ash. Seconds later, the fireballs stopped, and the pod spun to a stop. Duke was relieved to see the security forces were unharmed but the area where the Syndicate forces had been was melted to slag with glowing runescript exposed and glowing ominously. The security forces began to warily emerge from under the landing struts of the ship. As they got clear of the ship, the entrance ramp began to lower, the sound making them snap their heads around, still keyed-up from the fight. Duke noticed that the security forces were dragging more than a dozen of their comrades¡¯ bodies out with them. Clearly the fight had a toll. Gro¡¯nok addressed Duke, ¡°How did we get to this spot?¡± ¡°Magic. But is that really the most important thing right now?¡± He left the conversation by hastily walking towards the ship. Dammit! I reacted, rather than acted. Again. Now, my TELEPORTATION Ability is out in the open. What do I do now? Damage control? Not likely. Will have to downplay the Ability to a limited-use item. That might work. As Duke approached the security forces, the doors to the station opened up which surprised Duke ¨C he had not noticed that they were closed but the sound of them opening was unmistakable. He slowed his walk, looking over his shoulder at who was coming in and came to a complete stop when a pair of ten-meter-tall mechs marched in. The security forces behind Duke bolted which told Duke the most important piece of information that he needed to know ¨C these mechs were not friendly. As he quickly glanced around himself and processed the situation he noticed a few more things. The ramp to the Iron Reaver was already almost closed and the Steel Tusks had also bolted. This left him the sole person standing in the path of the mechs. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The mechs¡¯ amplified speakers rang out, ¡°Stand aside. There is no need for additional bloodshed. Surrender the pirate vessel and you will be permitted to leave peacefully.¡± Duke set his jaw and stared the mechs down. ¡°What pirate ship would that be?¡± ¡°The Iron Reaver is a known pirate ship, and the Syndicate has been given writ to capture it or, failing that, salvage rights should it resist.¡± The mechs continued to stride forward. These mechs were different from what Duke had expected, being quadrupedal with no discernable head or cockpit. The expectation that was met was that they were bristling with weapons, none of which Duke was familiar with. Duke felt a humming coming from the Iron Reaver and saw that some sort of shield had surrounded the ship, shimmering with a slightly bluish hue. As he watched, multiple weapons sprouted from the hull, trained on the pair of mechs. The ship¡¯s external speakers flared to life, ¡°This is no pirate ship and you are heavily outgunned. Go back to your masters and tell them to piss off!¡± Duke smiled at Mira¡¯s response and paused, waiting for the Syndicate¡¯s next move. I want to do something but I¡¯m really enjoying the standoff and, more importantly, I am not about to reveal any of my capabilities to the Syndicate. They seem like a large-scale faction that could cause no end of trouble. So¡­I wait. Duke watched as things kept static in the tense standoff. The hum of shields and the occasional crackle of mis-firing runic circuitry from the previous fight were the only sounds for a full minute. The silence was broken by the appearance of four more mechs that marched in, blending their own shields with the existing mechs. These were nearly identical in appearance save for large protrusions on their backs that seemed to be projecting stronger shields than the original pair of mechs. ¡°Now who is outgunned? You wouldn¡¯t dare fire any of your anti-ship weaponry inside a station hangar, would you? Nothing else you have on that relic will punch through a six-fold shield.¡± Duke used his Jewel of Whispers to reach out to Mira, ¡°Mira, this is Duke. Nod a weapon if you can hear me.¡± One of the multiple weapons, an energy cannon of some sort by Duke¡¯s guess moved up and down slightly. Duke continued, ¡°Good. Now, are they right? Do they have you outmatched?¡± The same weapon nodded again. ¡°OK, if you have to run, do so. I¡¯ll meet you at our last stop. Try not to trash the station if you can help it. I don¡¯t want us to get blacklisted for destroying a hangar or worse.¡± One more nod and Duke turned back to the Syndicate mechs. ¡°You heard the lady, fuck off.¡± He started slowly walking towards the mechs as their weapons carefully began to track his movements. Got a plan here, Duke? Some of those weapons are as big as your torso. Might not leave much of you left. Duke continued to advance slowly trying to piece together a plan that wouldn¡¯t reveal his Abilities. He wasn¡¯t coming up with much. I don¡¯t think I can punch my way through those shields. Well, maybe I could. I am a lot stronger than any person has a right to expect. It might work. Call that Plan B. As more weapons trained on Duke, he paused his walk forward just at the edge of their combined, glowing shield. He reached up and touched it, feeling a tingle of magic and the start of an idea. This was, of course, interrupted by the mech¡¯s speakers erupting to life again, ¡°Please stand aside side, citizen. There is no need for you to be caught in any crossfire that may or may not occur.¡± One of the weapons aimed in his direction began to glow an eerie pink as if charging up to fire giving him the not-too-subtle sense of what kind of crossfire there would be. Duke chuckled inwardly and started to walk around the mechs, his hand tracing the shield as he moved. They seemed to be waiting for him to get out of the way before engaging which left Duke with an odd feeling ¨C he was not used to being overlooked and dismissed like this. The feeling firmed his resolve to act as he completed his walk behind the mechs. Ignore me, will ya? It has to be the AURA CONCEALMENT making me look innocuous. Good. Maybe I can lull them into a false sense of superiority and catch them by surprise. His thoughts were interrupted by a large group of Syndicate troops entering the hangar, heading right for him. Well, plan C it is. He used the Jewel of Whispers, ¡°Mira, get out of here if you need to. I¡¯m about to get this fighting started!¡± He turned to face the approaching troops. There was more than a dozen of them but Duke was full of confidence ¨C they were just people and Duke couldn¡¯t remember the last time he had trouble in a hand-to-hand fight. ¡°You boys want to tangle? I¡¯m unarmed but I¡¯m not surrendering to the gestapo. I¡¯m more than happy to beat you all to a pulp.¡± In unison, the Syndicate troops unstrapped batons that crackled with electricity and advanced. Duke had an immediate flashback to the cage under the arena and the toadlike creature and his shocking baton. With a shudder he dismissed the haunting memory of pain and helplessness. He shook his head and clenched his jaw before stepping towards the advancing soldiers. His lips curled up in a feral grin as he forcefully engaged his COMBAT SENSE Ability and launched himself forward. Book 3, Chapter 25 Duke¡¯s more than 11,000 points in Strength allowed him to apply phenomenal force to the floor. The floor, being the reinforced deck plating of a space hangar resisted the force better than most any other surface he had run on before. This translated to an acceleration that Duke had not anticipated. The Syndicate forces had no time to react. Duke hit them like a freight train, sending broken bodies flying around the space. There was no technique, no bracing, no grand flourish. Duke simply ran through the line of troops and slammed into the far wall of the hallway. Despite his relatively high Agility, Duke did not have enough time to react and stop himself from hitting the wall. Surprisingly, the wall held up to the impact. It was severely dented, but it was still intact. Duke rebounded off the wall, flying back towards the scattered bodies of the Syndicate. He scrambled to his feet as the remaining foes closed in on him with their batons crackling with energy. He met them with a feral grin and the fight started in earnest. The Syndicate troops did not let the initial shock of Duke¡¯s charge deter them. They swarmed him without hesitation. He did not stand still and try to absorb their attacks. Duke lashed out with fists, knees, elbows, and feet. He even added the occasional headbutt when the positioning was right. Despite his COMBAT SENSE Ability firing on all cylinders, there were still too many attacking for him to counter. The first baton strike that hit Duke sent a wave of pain throughout his body and a disturbing system message. *** You have been struck by a Variable-intensity Stun Rod Mk IV. All physical Characteristics have been temporarily reduced by 10% *** Well, that¡¯s not ideal. Note to self, minimize those hits. Duke immediately changed his tactics for the fight, dodging blows whenever possible, even if it gave up an opportunity to strike out at a target. He wove through the Syndicate troops, making sure that he kept out of reach of the batons. As he fought, he could hear the sounds of heavy weapons fire striking the mech¡¯s shields and returning to strike the ship¡¯s shields. Slowly, but surely, Duke took down the remaining eight Syndicate men, striking whenever a true opening presented itself. The mech and ship fire had become a steady beat of weapons striking shields, helping Duke to keep his moves timed and on-pace. Despite his dodging and evading, when he was down to the final two combatants, Duke had been hit close to a dozen times by the batons. He was thankful to discover that each hit was a 10% reduction of his current physical stats and not his original stats. Had it been the latter, he would be largely incapacitated now instead of having a bit under 30% of his physical stats left. But even with his strength reduced by such a large percentage, he still hit harder than the regular troops could handle. Every strike that connected broke bones, taking the trooper out of the fight. Duke stood facing the final two combatants grinning in anticipation of finishing this fight. They stood opposite him with grim resolve. They had never seen a single combatant take this many stun strikes and keep fighting effectively. Still, they had called for even more backup and were hoping they would get there soon. Duke advanced on the pair slowly, measuring their responses and reading their body language ¨C he could see that they were stalling. He stepped up his pace and the pair started wheeling to the side to put their backs to their own mechs. Duke wasn¡¯t sure what they were planning but he fired up his DUNGEON SENSE to get an idea of what was going on around him. He quickly noted that there were more ground troops coming, but these seemed oddly larger than the ones he had been fighting. It only took a second, but Duke concluded that they were coming in powered armor. That will escalate things and the mechs and ship are exchanging blows but it looks like that¡¯s a stalemate unless Mira opens up with something truly heavy. But what the hell is that? Duke focused on three massive mechs charging across the hangar towards the fight. They were bipedal and each was slightly different as if they were built for different purposes. They each stood about two meters taller than the quadrupeds but seemed more heavily armed and armored. That¡¯s too many reinforcements. I¡¯m going to have to tell Mira to bolt. With that many mechs and the armored troopers they will crack the ship¡¯s shields, or I¡¯ll have to reveal Abilities. Dammit! Duke brought the jewel of whispers up to his mouth to tell her to leave but was interrupted. He dodged a swing of a stun stick as the pair of troopers re-engaged thinking he was too distracted by the sound of the approaching mechs. Given the approaching armored troopers, Duke decided that he didn¡¯t have time to play around with the remaining normal troopers. He used his FLIGHT to give himself the extra boost of speed needed since his Agility was currently sitting below 300. He slammed the pair of troopers into the mech¡¯s shields knocking them unconscious with the impact. Duke turned his attention to the trio of mechs approaching quickly. They opened fire before he could even let the bodies of the two troopers fall to the floor. Duke braced himself for the impacts against the ship¡¯s shields. Instead, he was nearly knocked from his feet as the blasts made the shield he was leaning against shudder. Duke looked more closely at the approaching mechs as they were now in his line of sight and quickly noticed they all had the same emblem emblazoned on their chests. It was a large shield with a pair of gleaming tusks ¨C steel tusks! So, they didn¡¯t bolt, they went to get their mechs and help out. That gets them a big +1 in my book. Even outnumbered, they are not hesitating to engage. Time to shift things in our favor before the powered armor troopers get here. We have a minute at most! Duke activated his rarely used MANA DRAIN Ability, draining the collective shield¡¯s power as shot after shot impacted on it. He hadn¡¯t used the Ability in a long time and suddenly came to a realization that it was one of the few that used his Psyche modifier as a multiplier of its effect. His multiplier that was sitting over 7,000! It took less than a second to drain a million Mana from the shields. Duke was sure that the cores powering the mechs had more Mana than that at their disposal but the sudden drain caused the shields to flicker and briefly fail. That brief failure was more than enough for the combined fire of the ship¡¯s anti-personnel weapons and the three mech¡¯s full weapons to tear deeply into the lead quadruped¡¯s armor, causing runescripts to fail and shut the mech down. The shield snapped back into place, pushing Duke away from the remaining mechs. He immediately began draining the Mana from the shield again as impacts made it shudder. It collapsed again allowing fire to rain down on the other of the two original mechs, shutting it down quickly. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The remaining mechs shifted their fire to the trio of Iron Tusk mechs but the quadrupeds¡¯ overly defensive nature showed in their ineffective fire as Duke collapsed their shielding for a third time. It took no more than ten seconds to render the quadrupeds ineffective. Decidedly not wanting to wait for the reinforcements to arrive, Duke started running towards the ship. He used the Jewel of Whispers to tell Mira to open the doors and let down the ramp. He definitely did not whisper as his DUNGEON SENSE picked up more mechs moving into the area. ¡°Steel Tusks, follow me!¡± Duke shouted as he leapt onto the lowering ramp. Halfway to the lip of the lowering ramp, Duke realized his jump was going to fall short and activated his FLIGHT to finish the leap making it look like a videogame ¡°double jump¡±. He smiled at the thought and rode the ramp down. The Steel Tusks¡¯ mechs were standing on the deck, waiting for the ramp to come down. Duke waved them on and pointed them towards the mech mounts on his left. Duke dashed over to the communications panel and shouted to the bridge, ¡°Close us up and get us the hell out of here. There are more mechs and armored suits on the way. This is no longer a friendly place for us.¡± ¡°What part of people shooting at us seemed friendly?¡± ¡°Funny, Mira. Just get us out of here before it gets any worse!¡± Duke watched as the ramp began closing and the trio of mechs locked into their brackets. He could see the approaching mechs and armored suits in his senses and saw that the numbers were growing. There were at least ten mechs and thirty armored suits swiftly heading for their hangar. He opened up the comms panel again, ¡°I don¡¯t mean to rush you or anything, but we have a small army headed for the hangar.¡± ¡°I¡¯m moving as fast as I can!¡± She apparently kept the channel open as she rapidly ran down the preflight checklist. ¡°Ramp closing. Six seconds. Umbilicals detached. Engines warming from cold start. Twenty seconds. Mana capacity at 37%.¡± Duke didn¡¯t hear any more as he charged to the Mana stones and poured his Mana in as fast as he dared. Distantly, he heard the sound of the ramp closing in place. His senses told him that the Syndicate forces would be in their hangar in about ten seconds and his internal clock told him that the engines would not be warmed up until five seconds after that. He reached over to the comms panel and opened a channel to the bridge, ¡°Looks like we will have a five second overlap between when the engines are warmed up and when they can open fire on us. Are the shields going to be able to hold?¡± ¡°Only if we have enough of a Mana charge. We are down to¡­62%? Are you charging the stones, Duke.¡± ¡°You bet your ass, I am.¡± ¡°Thank the gods. Keep that up and we might have a chance.¡± ¡°How long will it take to get somewhere we can jump out of this area?¡± ¡°The stardrive won¡¯t engage until we are out of the gravity well of this planet. I mean, it¡¯s good that we are leaving from orbit already, but it could take us a while to get clear.¡± ¡°OK, I¡¯ll keep charging-¡° Duke¡¯s response was cut off as the ship was rocked by dozens of impacts on its shields. Duke could see the Mana capacity falling before his eyes despite the Mana he was pouring in, it was being used up faster than he could safely restore. The reading was down to 52% and still falling despite Duke¡¯s efforts. He could feel that if he pushed his Mana in any faster, it would damage the cores. The ship rocked again as the Mana level dropped to 31%. Duke kept his concentration, pouring Mana into the cores as the levels continued to drop. The ship lurched as the Mana level dropped to 19%. The sensation of motion became constant as the hum of the engines peaked. The ship was moving at last. A final salvo as they left the hangar brought the Mana levels down to 7%. Duke kept pouring his Mana into the cores, finally increasing the Mana level. As Duke relaxed slightly, bringing the Mana level back to 23%, the comms announced all over the ship. ¡°Attention everyone. We are going to have some unfriendly company real soon. If anyone has any ideas on how to hold off a trio of heavy cruisers and a dreadnaught, go ahead and tell me. Because that¡¯s what waiting for us out here.¡± Duke cursed even as he got the Mana stores up to 46%. He didn¡¯t know enough about the capabilities of this ship or any of the other ships involved. He remained silent as he focused on filling the Mana cores. A voice that he didn¡¯t recognize at first spoke up, ¡°Make a lens jump.¡± Duke realized that it was Gro¡¯nok speaking right before the response came in over comms. ¡°Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? We could wind up in the middle of a star!¡± ¡°We could also wind up on the other side of this solar system. But either way, how else are we going to survive all the guns pointed at us. The minute we are clear of the line of sight to the station, they are going to pound us to microdust.¡± ¡°Dammit! I just got this ship paid off and fully repaired!¡± Duke suppressed a chuckle at Mira¡¯s outburst as he watched the Mana level reach 61%. He chimed in, ¡°Give me another full minute and I can have our Mana levels back to full.¡± ¡°Understood. Slowing down our outbound to give you time and to¡­fuck! Give me time to prepare for a lens jump.¡± Duke cut back in, ¡°While we are chatting for the next minute, can anyone explain what the hell is a lens jump?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got this, Captain. You continue your preparations.¡± Gro¡¯nok joined Duke in the Mana core room and started his explanation, ¡°OK, Duke, do you know how the stardrive works?¡± ¡°Not really, but I get the impression that it takes us through another dimension.¡± ¡°Yep, that¡¯s pretty much it. It works through very specialized spatial magic that needs what is called flat space to work right.¡± ¡°Flat space. Got it. Is that space where there are no major gravity fields in play?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s exactly what it is. The gravity fields of large objects like planets can screw up the spatial magic of the stardrive, sending us way off course, even into unknown dimensions. That¡¯s why it¡¯s so dangerous to jump in a gravity field. The gravity lens distorts everything.¡± ¡°So, we¡¯re going to do it anyway?¡± ¡°It¡¯s our only chance to get out of this bullshit situation.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t Captain Mira come up with this idea?¡± ¡°I have no doubt that she did but it¡¯s one hell of a risk. No one takes this chance if they have any other option.¡± ¡°So, we¡¯re probably fucked if we do it and definitely fucked if we don¡¯t.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty much it. And just how much Mana do you have? ¡° He was watching the Mana level of the cores steadily rise as Duke filled them. Duke grinned. ¡°I have a trick or two still up my sleeve but I have a lot of Mana to work with. And there we go. All topped off.¡± Duke called back to the bridge, ¡°Mana¡¯s topped off. I¡¯m headed up to the bridge.¡± ¡°Thank you, Duke. Might as well bring everyone else along with you. We have enough chairs for all seven of us up here. And everyone¡¯s going to want a front-seat view of this insane move.¡± Shortly later, all were seated and ready. ¡°They are repositioning so they can hit us without having the station in the line of effect. We¡¯re about out of time. Anyone have any better ideas than this? Last chance to speak up before I throw the switch.¡± Mira looked around at the seven of them seeing nothing but apprehension. ¡°Alright. They will be moving into the earliest firing position in seven seconds. I¡¯m going to wait until they fire before making the jump. If everything goes right, it will look like they vaporized the ship and will stop any attempt at pursuit.¡± ¡°Can the shields take that kind of hit?¡± Aurelia asked, completely out of her depth and trying her best to keep it together. ¡°We¡¯ll find out, won¡¯t we?¡± Lya joked. Duke watched the countdown carefully, preparing his own move to coincide with the end of the countdown. ¡°Three¡­¡± Everyone gripped something to brace, not that any of them thought it would help ¨C it was pure instinct. ¡°Two¡­¡± Duke concentrated and prepared himself. ¡°One¡­¡± Duke flexed his Ability and the captured shuttle appeared in front of the Iron Reaver an instant before the dreadnaught opened fire and Mira initiated the stardrive. Book 3, Chapter 26 The transition through Exospace was silent as was the transition back into Material Space. The sound of alarms blaring was not unexpected but was jarring, nonetheless. Mira launched into action, her hands dancing across controls as she tried to understand their situation. Her cursing did not help the others achieve any sense of calm, not that the alarms would have allowed it. Duke looked over to Aurelia, neither of them able to actually do anything with the ship. Lya worked the communications console slowly, adjusting controls that were a mystery to Duke. The three orcs remained in their seats, a look of calm resignation on their faces. Finally, the main viewscreen snapped on showing a distinct image. It was a line of light. On one side of the line was a black void and the other side was brimming with brightly glowing objects. It was mesmerizing and surreal. ¡°Is that the edge of the world?¡± Aurelia asked. Mira responded, her voice gripped with tension, ¡°You could think of it that way, but it¡¯s the event horizon of a supermassive black hole. We¡¯re in the accretion disk of the thing and the gravity well is pulling us in.¡± ¡°Is that all?¡± Tukka asked. Mira glared at him as she finally silenced the alarms. ¡°The gravity exceeds the thrust rating of our engines, so, yeah, that¡¯s a problem.¡± ¡°How long until we get pulled in?¡± Duke asked. Mira shrugged. ¡°No way to answer that. Too many conflicting theories. But I¡¯ll answer the question you really wanted to ask. We have about forty days to figure out a way out of here before we are pulled too close to the event horizon and reality completely breaks down for us.¡± ¡°That seems like a long time,¡± Aurelia said. ¡°Every day, really every second, we are getting pulled closer and the closer we get, the more the pull increases. Our engines already are straining to keep us from being pulled in faster, but they are not enough to even keep us at the same relative distance.¡± She looked at Duke meaningfully. He understood her request. Duke nodded. The time for secrecy, at least for this one case, had passed. He shook his head resignedly and started working with the navigational console. He was interrupted by a system message. *** You have successfully absorbed a new magical effect. The stunning shots you have received have been converted into a new Ability. DEVOLUTION will allow you to decrease the effective physical Characteristics of your target. This is a touch-ranged attack at its current rank of Untrained 9. The effects of this Ability can be resisted by someone with a comparably higher Psyche than you and will last for a duration dependent on rank and level of the Ability. *** Duke could finally feel the stun rods¡¯ effects slip away. Those lasted a long time. I wonder what the actual duration of them are. Could the effects have been otherwise permanent? If that¡¯s the case, that¡¯s a really nasty device. I should have grabbed one ¨C I bet Baslin would have loved to study it. Oh well, time to find a TELEPORT target for the ship. Duke also noted that he had received a paltry 600 experience for beating the Syndicate troops. He shrugged, agreeing that they were no challenge beyond their unique weaponry. If he had been using his Abilities, they wouldn¡¯t have lasted past the initial strike. As it was, he merely left them beaten and broken as he was reasonably sure he hadn¡¯t killed any of them. He poured over the star charts of their location and quickly became confused. None of the charts matched up to anything he could find. ¡°Hey, Mira, can you come over here for a minute?¡± He asked. She sauntered over calmly. Despite their situation, she had seen what Duke¡¯s Ability was capable of and was not concerned for their safety. They still had plenty of time before things got dicey even with the ship¡¯s Mana reserves down to 42%. With full confidence, she approached the navigation console and pulled up the alternate chair to sit upon. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°First off, where did that chair com from?¡± Duke asked. ¡°I just pulled up the alternate chair. All the stations save the Captain¡¯s chair have one. But that¡¯s not what you called me over for. What¡¯s on your mind?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t find our location.¡± Mira peered at the console data and her brow furrowed. After several long minutes of adjustments and study she sat back with a contemplative look on her face. ¡°This is quite odd, for sure. The gravity well of the black hole is distorting everything the sensors are pulling in, so nothing is lining up. I don¡¯t have any tech on the ship that can account for this. Actually, I don¡¯t know if there is any tech that can account for this. I hate to say it, but we¡¯re going to have to do this blind. Again.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I was afraid of. Anything else we need to prep before we do this?¡± ¡°Mana reserves are low again.¡± ¡°Did the jump take that much out of the ship?¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t the jump. It was the hit to the shields as we jumped. A few tenths of a second more and the shields would have completely failed.¡± ¡°Cut it a bit close then wouldn¡¯t you say?¡± ¡°Just a bit. Now, go recharge us and get us out of here.¡± Duke left the bridge without another word, heading down to the Mana cores. He spent the next several minutes filling them back up. As he did so, he examined them very closely, using every sense he had available to himself. He was determined to figure out just how these cores were created and what made them so special. He poured all his focus and attention into the intricacies of the flow of Mana within the cores, how the structure swirled inwards, how the crystals aligned and formed the overall structure. ¡°Duke? Are you alright?¡± He was startled out of his thoughts by a voice in his ear and a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Yes, Aurelia, I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been standing there staring at the wall for over an hour.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been what?¡± ¡°You heard me, love. You haven¡¯t moved from that spot in over an hour. Mira sent me down to check on you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, really. I think I have figured these Mana cores out.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°They seem to be at the core, joke intended, of all the magitech. They store and regulate the Mana that everything uses from this ship to the mechs to even the sidearms that everyone seems to be carrying around. Have to get myself one of those, by the way. You as well. If we are going to be galivanting around the universe as space rogues, we should look the part, right?¡± ¡°I suppose, but I much rather prefer my sword.¡± ¡°I know, I know. But anyway, these cores are not nearly as complex as everyone thinks they are. Don¡¯t get me wrong, they are complex structures, but these cores,¡± Duke gestured over to the bank of cores, ¡°are horribly flawed. They are, in essence, highly flawed dungeon cores without any sentience built into them. I could make better cores than these in a matter of seconds.¡± Duke activated his DUNGEON CORE CREATION Ability and carefully manipulated the core he was creating to make it flawless but non-viable as a dungeon core. He stripped the design of any sentience and proceeded to rapidly fill it with Mana. By his calculations, it would hold nearly 10 million Mana. A few seconds later, the core was filled up and Duke replaced one of the standard cores with the new one. Immediately, there was a surge of energy throughout the ship. The intercom next to Duke rang out, ¡°What the hell was that? What did you do, Duke?¡± ¡°How do you know it was me?¡± ¡°You¡¯re really going to ask that? Now, tell me what you did!¡± ¡°I upgraded one of the Mana cores.¡± ¡°Is that why I just got a nearly 40% boost in the ship¡¯s Mana capacity?¡± ¡°Must be. I can upgrade the others if you like.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just do one at a time for now. I don¡¯t see any ill effects but let¡¯s not be too hasty.¡± ¡°Roger that. I¡¯ll go slow. I need to regen my Mana anyway. What the hell?¡± Duke paused looking at his character sheet. His Mana was far lower than it should be. His regen rate was more than five hundred thousand a second. He had spent about fifteen million Mana crating and charging the core. That should have only taken about thirty seconds to fully recharge his Mana pool. ¡°Mira, I think there¡¯s a problem. I¡¯m coming up to the bridge.¡± Everyone was waiting for him when Duke entered. Mira did not give him time to speak before nearly leaping at him, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the ship?¡± ¡°Oh, sorry, it¡¯s not the ship. There¡¯s nothing wrong with the ship as far as I know. Except for the whole ¡®waiting to be sucked into a black hole¡¯ thing. No, the problem is my Mana regen. It¡¯s like 40% of what it should be. Is anyone else having similar problems?¡± Duke¡¯s SENSE MAGIC picked up on everyone using their magical Spells or Abilities. It was entertaining to watch but he was more interested in finding out if their Mana regens were similarly affected. It did not take long before everyone chimed in. The regen rates were anywhere between 10 and 30%. ¡°Why the variance?¡± Mira asked. ¡°And why the reduced regen in the first place?¡± ¡°It could be the black hole,¡± Lya suggested. ¡°Everything gets weird around them.¡± ¡°Then all the more reason to find a way out of here,¡± said Gro¡¯nok. Duke looked to Mira who responded, ¡°If you can upgrade the rest of the cores, we might have enough power to push ourselves out of this gravity well.¡± ¡°Give me an hour or three. I¡¯ll go slowly to make sure nothing gets overloaded with the additional power.¡± ¡°Makes sense. We¡¯ll all be up here waiting for you,¡± Mira said as Duke headed down to work on the ships Mana cores. Book 3, Chapter 27 ***Elsewhere*** Ganorlen Vosh sat behind his desk as various reports came in from throughout the sector. It was a demanding position, monitoring an entire sector for the Syndicate, but he was paid very well. He had long ago, placed a dozen layers of underlings below him to filter through the reports and only allow the most pertinent information to come to his attention. That was why he was confused as to why a simple ships seizure action came to his desk. ¡°What is this, Edgemont? Why should I concern myself with such a minor action in Project Mechrise?¡± ¡°Read the report, sir. There¡¯s too much in there to summarize and it is definitely worth your attention.¡± ¡°Very well. Dismissed.¡± Ganorlen pulled up the report and read through it. At first, it read like a botched seizure attempt but the more detail he read the more he realized that there was something more to this story. How had an unarmed, Tier One human defeated an entire double-strength seizure squad? The Stun Rods should have easily been enough to subdue the new slave. One hit should have done it. He delved deeper as it got curiouser and curiouser. The human had been stunned nearly a dozen times yet was still able to keep fighting? And highly effectively? This human is now on the list. Ganorlen stopped reading and switched to the recording of the event. The longer he watched, the more intrigued he became. ¡°He¡¯s faster and stronger than any Tier One human should ever be. Even after being stunned more than ten times, he took apart those Tier Two agents like they were training dummies. He displayed no Abilities, no Spells, no indication of his Class. Nothing. ¡°Edgemont, get in here!¡± ¡°Yes sir?¡± The underling asked, making the fear in his voice masterfully. ¡°This guy.¡± Ganorlen pointed at the figure on the screen. ¡°Who is he? I want to know everything there is to know about him. If it takes time to dig deeper, then take the time. Yes, you heard that right. Thorough is better than timely on this one.¡± ¡°Yes sir! The preliminary report is attached to the imagery in a subfile. We will dig as deep down the well as it goes.¡± ¡°Good. Thank you, Edgemont. Excellent job kicking this report up to me ¨C this is exactly the kind of thing that should come across my desk. Is there anything else I might have missed?¡± ¡°The only other thing of significance is that we lost contact with one of our privateers. A heavy cruiser acquired from a competitor. It¡¯s just one ship but if it becomes a pattern, it could be a drain on resources or revenue.¡± ¡°Very well. Monitor the situation and keep me informed.¡± As Edgemont left, he returned to reading the file. ¡°Iron Reaver. Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard of that ship before. Looks like a run-of-the-mill mech transport. So why this much trouble? And the reports call this guy Duke. Is he a member of a royal family hiding out? In exile? And the report says the ship was destroyed with all hands. Let me take a closer look at that.¡± He watched the crystal recording over and over before applying his Abilities to the task. The image slowed down even further, and the clarity enhanced by an order of magnitude. He watched as the beam closed the distance to the mech transport, slowing the image even more as it came to impact. He noted the artifact that had made him look closer. There! He focused in even further, pushing his Abilities to their limits and saw a shuttle appear in the path of the beam as it impacted the transport¡¯s shield. The shuttle was destroyed, creating the reported debris field but the ship itself, this Iron Reaver vanished before the beam could penetrate its shields. ¡°So, this defiant ship has managed to escape us. Clever trick with the shuttle. I¡¯d like to know how they did it. And, most of all, where they are now. Don¡¯t worry, children, I¡¯ll find you. I always do.¡± *** It wound up taking Duke all three hours to upgrade all the Mana cores with as much care as he was taking. When he was done, the ship had ten times the available Mana as it had previously. And, with the upgraded cores, it could draw on the Mana five times as fast. Duke was well pleased with his work but was still annoyed at the nagging question of the reduced Mana regens. What is the connection? Why are they such even percentages but so varied between us? Lya, Mira, and Aurelia all are reduced to 20%. I¡¯m at 40%, and the orcs are at 0 or 10%. What could it be that is driving those numbers? Duke stopped in mid-thought. Could it be that simple? He raced up to the bridge. Duke, once again, charged onto the bridge and turned to Tukka, ¡°I know this is a personal question, but you wouldn¡¯t happen to be Tier One, would you?¡± ¡°Yes, that is a rather personal question, human,¡± Tukka responded with irritation. ¡°And you, Gro¡¯nok, you¡¯re Tier Two, right?¡± Gro¡¯nok nodded, unsure what Duke was up to. Duke immediately continued, ¡°I figured out the Mana regen percentages! They are based on your Tier. A Tier One has a zero percent, a Tier Two has a ten percent, a Tier Three has twenty percent, and so on. I don¡¯t know what that means, but at least we have the mechanics figured out.¡± Mira cut in, ¡°Glad that¡¯s all figured out, but the more important thing right now is that we now just might have enough power to get us out of this gravity well. It¡¯s going to tax the engines, but I think we will be able to make it. I¡¯d say hold on, but I don¡¯t think that will help.¡± The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. With a shudder, the engines engaged, drawing on the new Mana capacity of the ship. Slowly, Mira increased the power to the engines beyond their original limits. She knew that the engines would need maintenance when this was all done whether it worked or not. But she also knew that she had the best mechanic in the cosmos onboard. It felt like cheating to her having Duke¡¯s Abilities in their back pocket but with him reluctant to use them she had mixed feelings. She understood his desire for anonymity given the price on his head, but he could have gotten them all out of this situation in an instant. Then again, her ship just got an unimaginable upgrade. She returned her focus to monitoring the engines and piloting them out of this mess. Aurelia sat in her chair contemplating the turn her life had taken. She had left her home, her planet of origin but she still had mixed feelings about Teldin. It really wasn¡¯t her origin. She was born out of a soul trapped in a dungeon. What was she really? The ship and space and all this stuff was just beyond her comprehension. And the potion Duke had given her had worn off so she really couldn¡¯t understand what anyone but him was saying. He didn¡¯t even seem to notice, lost in his own thoughts. Did he even care about her anymore? They were growing apart and she wasn¡¯t even sure that it upset her. Her place was with the Legion. That is where she fit, not in space. This is not where she belonged. Lya stared off into space, watching the accretion disk unfolding before them as the ship fought its way out of the gravity well. She considered the course of her life from this point. She knew that she had been clinging on to her husband¡¯s memory and that had dragged her into the life of a hunter. She now was a Celestial Tracker with some remarkable Abilities. It was a Class she had never heard of, even in the hunter circles she had been running in for the past few years. But was she still clinging onto the past, even in this new stage of her life? Was she really making the right choices for her? Gro¡¯nok stared at the readout on his mech. It, like all the Steel Tusk mechs, was heavily damaged. He had the funds to pay for repairs. They all did, but the Syndicate¡¯s noose was tightening. Was there even a place where they could get their mechs repaired that wasn¡¯t under Syndicate control at this point? Had he made the wrong decision? Should he have just accepted Syndicate control like everyone else had? Had his decisions set his team on a path to destruction. Had his leadership skills finally failed them all? Duke was reviewing his notifications, annoyed that he had only received 600 experience for all that fighting. Should I have just stayed on Teldin? All the bounty hunters coming after me were giving me good experience. Did I really need to spread dungeon cores around? I have enough to maintain my Title. Why should I bother with more? His thoughts were interrupted by another notification. *** MENTAL FORTITUDE has increased from Adept 32 to Adept 36 *** Why is my MENTAL FORTITUDE increasing? It¡¯s not like I¡¯m doing anything. I¡¯m just sitting here reading notifications. *** MENTAL FORTITUDE has increased from Adept 36 to Adept 38 *** What the hell? *** MENTAL FORTITUDE has increased from Adept 38 to Adept 40 *** Duke¡¯s head snapped up and he looked around the bridge, his XENOGLOSSIA working overdrive to translate the despondent and forlorn looks of everyone else. As he looked around, he grew more confused and curious as to what was going on. *** MENTAL FORTITUDE has increased from Adept 40 to Adept 42 *** Duke started cycling through his additional senses to see if they could tell him more than just his eyes. He started with SENSE MAGIC and he instantly saw some sort of swirling eddies of magic that he couldn¡¯t figure out rippling around the bridge. When he switched to DUNGEON SENSE, what he saw sent a wave of terror down his spine. A dark, ephemeral creature stood in the center of the bridge. It had the general size and shape of a humanoid save that it was wider and thinner, looking like a floating blanket draped over a surfboard. It had a dozen tentacles stretching out from its body and one was latched onto the head of everyone on the bridge. The tentacle in front of Duke seemed to be having difficulty latching on. His IDENTIFY Ability instinctively kicked on. *** You have encountered an Umbral Gloomwraith. This creature is rarely encountered and even more rarely survived. Its insidious attacks drain all hope and positive emotions from its victims typically leading to self-destructive behavior. The Umbral Gloomwraith then feeds on the emotions released upon the death of its victims. *** Duke immediately attacked the creature with a burst of LIGHT. It was not impressed and seemed to start pulling even harder at the crew. Duke followed up with his entire repertoire of elemental attacks, none of which, even FORCE had any effect other than to have the creatures remaining tentacles that did not have a victim already move to attack him. I only have three more attacks that might work. I¡¯m pretty sure UMBRAL REAPER would be a bad idea here ¨C probably would feed it. SOULFIRE it is. Duke unleashed his SOULFIRE attack as a trio of tentacles went right through his defending hands to latch onto his head. The result was immediate. The creature screamed in a tremendous psychic wave. *** MENTAL FORTITUDE has increased from Adept 42 to Adept 45. *** Duke grit his teeth against the pain and continued to pour the SOULFIRE on, bathing the creature in the terrible energy. It writhed in pain, retracting all its tentacles and wrapping its body in them in an attempt to fend off the soul-burning flames. It did the creature no good. After a full minute of sustained attack and countless psychic attacks in response, the creature finally succumbed to the SOULFIRE and dissolved into burning vapor. *** You have defeated a Tier Five, level 150 Umbral Gloomwraith. You receive 62,250 experience. You are now level 124 and have 18 Characteristic Points to spend. Your SOULFIRE Ability has ranked up to Initiate 5. *** Duke looked up from his notification to see that he had burned a hole straight through the floor of the bridge, including the runescript buried within. He did not hesitate to activate RESTORE to fix the damage, reflexively adding additional Mana to ensure enough volume was covered. The shuddering and whining of the ship that Duke hadn¡¯t noticed stopped to be replaced with the vibration of the straining engines pulling them out of the gravity well. One by one, the others stirred, groaning and holding their heads. Duke tried to help them but really had nothing that could help them other than kind words and a shoulder to lean on. It took most of the next hour to explain what had happened. The looks of horror on everyone¡¯s faces as Duke explained the monster¡¯s attack grew even more deep-seated as each recalled their thoughts during the attack. It was quickly agreed that everyone should head to their cabins to get some rest. Duke volunteered to stay on the bridge and monitor the ship. It took no small convincing, but Mira left only after being assured that he would get her immediately if anything went wrong. And then Duke was alone on the bridge with his own thoughts. Book 3, Chapter 28 Hours later, the crew started coming out of their rooms and back to the bridge. Mira was first, relieving Duke at the command console, ¡°Anything of note?¡± ¡°Not really. I think we are finally getting some real acceleration. Maybe we are finally getting out of the gravity well. Oh, and I RESTORED the engines a few times just to make sure they don¡¯t get strained too badly.¡± ¡°Thanks for that,¡± Mira checked a few readouts before continuing. ¡°Yep, we are pulling out of the gravity well. We should see increasing acceleration until we cut the engines off. It looks like we have used up over 40 million of our Mana capacity to get this far. That would have depleted our entire Mana supply almost twice over before. Now, it just brought one core down to 40%. That¡¯s an unimaginable upgrade.¡± ¡°I know a thing or two about what cores should look like. The cores you had in there were passable at best.¡± ¡°Passable? They are the best I could find ¨C the standard that anyone can find.¡± ¡°Then don¡¯t let anyone know you have them, or we will have to fight people off for yet another reason.¡± ¡°The more I look at things, the more confused I get. The technological level of mechs and ships are far beyond what I¡¯ve ever seen before, but every time I delve into it, I find things that need improvement. It¡¯s like whoever developed this stuff got to a point where it worked and then they decided that they were done. Where are all the incremental improvements? The cores are just one example.¡± ¡°Magitech is different. There are only so many things that can be done with it. I¡¯m no expert on it by any means but I¡¯ve had to learn a bunch to keep my ship running. There is a science to combining the runes together for different effects. And there are only so many runes, so once you find something that works, you stick with it. The Runemasters control that knowledge tightly. Other than them, there are technicians who can repair runescript, but only the standard rune layouts. They know that A comes after B but not why.¡± ¡°So, it¡¯s a monopoly situation. But I still would expect someone to figure it out on their own. Let me guess, anyone who does gets hunted down and given the ¡®join or die¡¯ ultimatum?¡± ¡°Probably. That¡¯s way above my head. I am happy to just keep my ship running and delivering mechs to where they need to go.¡± ¡°That sounds like it¡¯s becoming a problem though.¡± ¡°Yeah. The Syndicate is really taking over. I don¡¯t know where I¡¯ll be able to operate without running into them.¡± ¡°Maybe we make it a habit to run into them. Make it too expensive for them to operate and they will back off.¡± ¡°They have more resources than you could imagine. They can handle any losses we give them. I¡¯m actually surprised they didn¡¯t identify you and try and collect the bounty.¡± ¡°That thought did cross my mind. If they try, I¡¯ll do what I need to do. I tried pretty hard to not reveal my capabilities so hopefully, they won¡¯t be able to handle me if it comes to it.¡± ¡°Sorry to disappoint you, Duke, but expect them to have retrieved every recording crystal and collected every eyewitness account of what you have ever done by now.¡± ¡°You think so?¡± ¡°They are one of the few organizations in the cosmos that actually could pay the bounty on your head. You need an alternate path to deal with them. And your bounty. Any chance you can get it lifted?¡± ¡°I doubt it, but the Tier Four restriction makes it almost laughable for me at this point. I really don¡¯t think anyone in Tier Four could take me down no matter how many resources are put into them.¡± ¡°Confidence is good, but that level of arrogance is going to get you killed.¡± She paused as the sound of the engines changed, becoming a deeper thrum than previously. After checking her control station she gave Duke a slight smile, ¡°Can you hit the engines up with some repairs? We are almost completely out of the gravity well.¡± If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Duke flexed his RESTORE Ability across the entire ship once again and the sound of the engines returned to a quiet background hum. ¡°Better?¡± ¡°I think I¡¯m going to keep you around just for that.¡± Another voice entered the conversation, ¡°It looks like we are out of immediate danger.¡± Gro¡¯nok strode his way onto the bridge, his face pulled in an annoyed expression. ¡°I know we never negotiated passage to Altis Marin Six or that you even agreed to take us there, but I would like to do so now.¡± Mira looked over to Duke who gave her a nod in response. ¡°When the Iron Reaver was under attack, you and your Steel Tusks leapt in to defend us without question or request for anything. Even now, you come to me requesting to negotiate, not demanding or insinuating anything. This places you as a friend of ours. Friends help friends. We¡¯ll get you to Altis Marin Six so you can help your own friend.¡± The look of annoyance and worry drained from Gro¡¯nok¡¯s face, ¡°You have our thanks and our loyalty, Captain. The Steel Tusks will answer your call should you need us.¡± He spoke with particular gravity and the notification that followed let Duke know just how serious his words were. *** Attention! You have been included in an Oath of Loyalty. The Steel Tusks have pledged to come to your collective aid should you ever call upon them. This is an enforceable oath and cannot be cancelled. *** Mira bowed her head as the same notification crossed her vision. When she raised her head, she moved to the navigation console and began to try and figure out their position. The longer she looked, the more worried her face became. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Duke asked. ¡°I thought the black hole was messing with our positional data. The gravitational lensing is known for warping sensors and making it hard to determine location, but we are out of the gravity well and the lensing should only affect the sensors behind us. But I can¡¯t even get a fix on anything in front of us.¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing in front of us?¡± Gro¡¯nok asked, concern raising in his voice. ¡°No, there are plenty of stars ahead of us, we are in the middle of a galaxy after all. But none of the stars or even this galaxy-shape corresponds to anything in my starmaps. I can tell you that this is a barred, spiral arm galaxy, about 100,000 light years across. Best guess is that there are about 300 billion star systems in the galaxy. So, yeah, the data is coming in and the systems can even account for the black hole¡¯s lensing effect. The problem is that this is no galaxy that I have ever seen in any of my cosmological maps.¡± ¡°We are so lost, that we are in an unmapped galaxy? Is that what you are saying?¡± Gro¡¯nok asked, concern growing deeper in his voice and demeanor. Duke joined Mira at the navigational console and started his own exploration of the galaxy they seemed to be within. The visual that Mira had put on the main screen had piqued his interest. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Gro¡¯nok, but I don¡¯t think it will be possible to get you to your destination anytime soon.¡± ¡°I understand. We all knew the risks when we made the Lens Jump.¡± ¡°What happened now?¡± Lya asked as she joined the rest of the crew on the bridge with Aurelia and the rest of the Steel Tusks in tow. Mira looked up and noted that everyone was now there, ¡°So, we seem to be a bit lost. We are in a galaxy that is not on any of the starmaps.¡± ¡°That sounds like a serious problem.¡± Lya commented. ¡°Is it possible that we shifted to another dimension?¡± Duke asked as he continued to sort through the data on the navigational console. ¡°This console is amazing by the way. How can it pull up data on individual star systems that are not only not on the charts, but this ship has never visited. Where does it get the data from?¡± Mira responded, ¡°It is a form of scrying magic. It can pull up details as far as planetary data for about a hundred light years, but for anything finer than that, we¡¯re going to have to get close enough to do an active scan which is anywhere within about a light week of the target.¡± Duke shook his head in wonder as he continued to filter through data. He mumbled to himself as he narrowed his search down. ¡°Fifteen billion. How about those with planets? Twelve billion. That¡¯s still too many.¡± The others soon realized that there was nothing better to do than to watch Duke sifting through data. They soon all took seats and watched as he narrowed his search down further and further. ¡°8 million. Well, that¡¯s closer but still too many. How about ones on the outer half of arms? 421 thousand? Better. I wonder¡­yep, here it is. Breathable atmosphere with nitrogen being the primary gas¡­812. Ok, now we¡¯re getting somewhere. Water and continents. Yes, 67. Ok, let¡¯s take a look through those.¡± One by one, planets appeared on the viewscreen as Duke flipped and rotated each with the controls, briefly studying them before moving onto the next. When he reached the 27th one, he stopped and stepped back from the controls, whispering, ¡°Well, shit. I know where we are. I have no fucking idea how we got here, but that¡¯s definitely it.¡± All eyes were locked on Duke as he sat back in the chair, his head resting on his fingertips. Aurelia tentatively came forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to startle and nearly leap out of the chair. He looked up to see everyone staring at him. ¡°Where are we, Duke?¡± Aurelia asked gently. ¡°This is the Milky Way Galaxy and that is a planet called Earth.¡± Book 3, Chapter 29 ¡°Is that supposed to mean something?¡± The usually silent Ter¡¯fald spoke up. Duke was torn in how to respond. The Overmind told me that it is a closed world with all its magic contained and inaccessible. If we go there, we may never be able to leave. But someday I will go there. ¡°It is a world closed to magic. A place this ship cannot go and survive. ¡°I need some time in my room undisturbed. Can you keep the ship stationary, Mira?¡± ¡°Of course. I can park us here. How long do you need?¡± ¡°Give me two hours. That should be sufficient.¡± Duke went to his cabin without another word. ¡°What was that all about?¡± No one answered Gro¡¯nok¡¯s question. Instead, Lya and Aurelia set off together while Mira started pouring over the data Duke had sifted through. She was not sure what she was looking for, but she had two hours to kill and doing any maintenance on the ship was essentially pointless after Duke¡¯s Ability. She casually called back, ¡°Gro¡¯nok, please take the Steel tusks down to the Mech bay and make sure your mechs are still secure after that bit of jarring we went through.¡± When Duke got back to his room, he immediately locked the door and TELEPORTED to the rocky planet he had identified that was only a light year away from the ship. It was yet another barren world. Seconds later, he planted the Dungeon Core he had created and waited for the dungeon to form. It took longer than he had expected, growing slowly over the next fifteen minutes. When the cave entrance to the dungeon appeared, Duke went right in. Inside the dungeon, it was dark and lifeless. He reached out with his DUNGEON SENSE and saw that the entire dungeon consisted of this small cave that he could barely stand up in, and absolutely nothing else. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not what I expected. What the hell is going on here?¡± ¡°The dungeon is starving and dying. Feed it some Mana.¡± Duke snapped around to see the Overmind¡¯s avatar standing in the entrance. ¡°It¡¯s been a while.¡± ¡°I was not kidding. You have about three minutes before this dungeon collapses entirely if you do not start feeding it Mana right now.¡± Duke released 10 Million Mana in a RESTORE that flashed out into the dungeon. He could swear that he heard the dungeon breathe a sigh of relief. ¡°What¡¯s going on, here?¡± ¡°You just bought the dungeon about a week of live. Certainly long enough for us to have a conversation. Much has happened since last we spoke.¡± ¡°You could say that again. Are we really in the Milky Way? Is that really Earth?¡± ¡°Yes, on both accounts but you should not go there, at least not yet. You are not fully ready for returning to this dimension. Your best course of action right now is to leave and return to the dimension you just came from.¡± ¡°Just like that, huh?¡± ¡°Just like that. You have the Ability to do so. It will be difficult and will tax you but you can do it. I¡¯m sure you noticed that your Mana regen is reduced in this dimension.¡± ¡°Yeah, besides the supermassive black hole we popped up next to, that was the first thing I noticed. What¡¯s the deal with that?¡± ¡°This is a scarce-magic dimension. You do not have enough weight to your soul to resist its effects yet.¡± ¡°So, you are saying come back at Tier Ten?¡± ¡°Tier Eleven would be better, but you could survive here at Tier Ten easily. The Entities of this dimension will be coming for you before too long and you are no way ready to face them despite their relatively low rank. And, more importantly, there is not enough of an appropriate challenge here. Things are either laughably weak or Entity-level. There is little in-between for now.¡± ¡°For now? Sounds like you have plans to change that.¡± ¡°Me? No. But I fully expect for you to do so when you return.¡± ¡°So, that¡¯s your advice? Go out and get stronger then come back and remake an entire dimension?¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Well, aren¡¯t you ambitious. You have a few things to get through first, but I fully endorse your plan.¡± ¡°Cute.¡± ¡°The Contest is beginning very soon. I feel you are ready for your role.¡± ¡°Are you going to tell me what the Contest is and what my role is supposed to be now?¡± ¡°In this dimension, inside a dying dungeon where my Domain reigns supreme, yes, I can finally tell you. Try not to be disappointed.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try my best but that¡¯s not much of a setup.¡± ¡°That is true, but here goes. The life of an Entity can get downright boring. A surprising number just give up and fade into nothingness. The older the cosmos gets, the more prevalent this becomes. A handful have been brought back from the brink but many more have simply dissipated their power back into the cosmos. When an entity dissipates, it causes all manner of disruption in the cosmos. For some, it¡¯s a tremendous boon as the Mana density in the area will spike to unbearable levels. For the vast majority, however, the change is overwhelming and deadly. Countless worlds have been lost to this phenomena. ¡°The Contest was devised as a way to prevent this cosmological loss, to keep Entities engaged with the world around them. Whenever certain conditions, which I will not go into here, are met, a new Contest is declared. Each participating Entity then chooses a Contestant, a Champion, if you will. That Contestant will represent the Entity¡¯s interests in the Contest. There are more rules than I care to mention on how and when Entities can interact with their chosen Contestants.¡± ¡°Why is that? It seems too strange to not allow you to at least guide me.¡± ¡°The rules are based on many things but they are designed to promote fairness. The more powerful the Entity, the less guidance and support they are allowed to provide their Contestant. That is why I haven¡¯t been able to really help you along at all but was left to giving vague hints at best. I have pushed the limits on that one a few times but my interest in you extends far beyond the Contest. I am invested in your success.¡± ¡°Because of what I am? A Dungeon Emperor?¡± ¡°That is part of it, yes. You are helping me by seeding dungeons in places they have not been before. The more you seed, the greater long-term effect we will have on the Cosmos.¡± ¡°OK, but can we get back to the Contest itself? What is the actual Contest?¡± ¡°Yes, right. Sort of went off on a tangent there. The final stage of the Contest will take place on a single planet that will be created for just this purpose. The planet will have countless challenges on it. By completing the challenges, you will accumulate points. The Contestant with the most points at the end of the Contest wins.¡± ¡°So, it¡¯s like running a gauntlet of challenges. I can do that. Sounds like fun.¡± ¡°There are darker parts to it too. Killing other Contestants usually winds up being the most lucrative way to accumulate points as you take all the points they have accumulated.¡± ¡°OK, I get it. It¡¯s a planet-sized PK dungeon.¡± ¡°PK?¡± ¡°Player-Killing. Old gaming term.¡± ¡°Apt enough. The formation of the planet is beginning. The earliest Contestants will arrive in the next few weeks but the bulk of Contestants will arrive in about two months. The world will be closed in six months and the Contest will end soon after that. My question to you is this ¨C when do you wish to arrive?¡± ¡°I guess that will depend on how I am going to play this out. Do I go the PK route or play it straight-up?¡± ¡°Inevitably, you will have to kill other Contestants in self-defense so plan on that happening. It is not uncommon for groups and alliances to form, and it is not winner take all so there is benefit being in the top hundred, even the top thousand will receive something as a prize, but being in the top ten is where you want to place.¡± ¡°Oh, I thought you wanted me to win it all.¡± ¡°That would be ideal, but you will be facing things that are far beyond where you are now. The weakest Entities have been actively building their Contestants for over a year now. Expect them to be near immortal ranks.¡± ¡°So, how do I fight something like that?¡± ¡°With absolute aggression and no thought of mercy. Against that level of foe, you will have to hit them with everything you have and hope it¡¯s enough. Or, trick them into weakening themselves against others before striking. There are thousands of ways to take on a foe that should exceed your capabilities.¡± ¡°Kill-stealing. Got it. Let¡¯s shoot for the two-month mark where the bulk of Contestants arrive.¡± ¡°Very well. You will receive notifications leading up to the time of transit. In the meantime, you need to build up your strength like never before. The average Contestant is going to be at least Tier Seven. There will be some as high as Tier Eleven.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that in the immortal Tiers?¡± ¡°Yes, but not far enough up that they can¡¯t be killed. They just have stopped aging and will not die of natural causes. That is the Tier where you find most planetary gods.¡± ¡°What Tier are you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a rather personal question and one I will not be answering. I will put it this way, when it comes to the Contest, I am one of the most restricted Entities. Now, you have a choice to make with this dungeon. You can let it die from Mana starvation, or you can feed it until it hits Tier Two and can sustain itself. I must leave before I leave an impression in this dimension but make a decision and push your power-gain as much as possible in the next month or two. ¡°Oh, one more thing before I go. Your ship is in the same relative position to the dimension you want to get to so use that knowledge to guide your passage.¡± With that, the Overmind was gone, and Duke was left with an empty dungeon. ¡°Do I save the dungeon or let it go? What kind of Dungeon Emperor would I be if I let if die?¡± Duke started pouring his Mana out into the dungeon, matching his reduced regen rate. A rate that was still over two hundred thousand a second. Even with that much Mana, it took him over an hour to Tier the dungeon up. It took over a billion Mana. Duke felt exhausted as he returned to his room on the ship. He stretched out on his bunk just to rest his eyes for a minute. Book 3, Chapter 30 ¡°It¡¯s been four hours. I really think we should disturb him.¡± Lya stood nearly nose-to-nose with Aurelia outside Duke¡¯s door. ¡°I said we let the man sleep. You know he is the only person who can get us out of here. Wouldn¡¯t it be best if he¡¯s well-rested when he tries it?¡± She leaned forward, pushing into Lya¡¯s personal space. Lya considered pushing back but realized that this wasn¡¯t an argument that she needed to win. She stepped back. ¡°Quit fighting. I¡¯m up,¡± Duke announced as he opened the door to his room. Immediately, both women stepped away from the door to give him room to step out. He strode into the hall eyeing them briefly. ¡°The stress is getting that bad, is it?¡± ¡°In short, yes,¡± Lya answered. ¡°Then I need a few minutes with Mira in private. I think I have a way back but I¡¯m going to need her help to pull it off.¡± He didn¡¯t wait for a response but instead headed up to the bridge. Both women stared at his back as he headed to the bridge before hastily following him. Duke strode onto the bridge with the confidence of a god, ¡°Mira, your quarters. Now.¡± She stared at him for a moment before quickly following his retreating form. He waited outside her door for her to open it and followed her in. ¡°Well, Duke, this is not really how I expected this to go,¡± she said as she reached for the seal of her suit with a smirk. ¡°Enough of that. I have a way to get us back to our own dimension, but I don¡¯t want our new guests to see how I do it. They may be true allies, or they may not but I don¡¯t want anyone really to see what I really can do.¡± Mira¡¯s face swam with disappointment that Duke took careful note of before continuing. ¡°Here¡¯s what I need you to do.¡± *** Elsewhere *** Ganorlen¡¯s peace was disrupted as his office chime sounded. He quickly checked to see who it was and upon seeing that it was Edgemont, he opened the door and deactivated the set defenses. ¡°What is it Edgemont?¡± ¡°I have information on the Duke you had me researching.¡± ¡°Oh? Do tell.¡± Ganorlen didn¡¯t even have to feign interest for this particular conversation. He genuinely wanted to know more. ¡°This Duke is not a Duke of some royal line. He is actually a king of a small kingdom on a backwater planet called Teldin by the locals. But the most interesting thing is that there is a semi- open bounty on his head. The bounty is open to anyone of Tier Four or below.¡± ¡°Interesting. What is the bounty?¡± ¡°A custom-created solar system.¡± ¡°That¡¯s beyond rich. Why hasn¡¯t anyone cashed in the bounty yet?¡± ¡°The last count was that 86 have tried. None have survived encountering him.¡± ¡°And yet every one of our Tier Two agents survived the encounter with him. Curious. What is actually known about him?¡± ¡°We have some eyewitness accounts that indicate that he is a mage focused on some form of death or dark magic. But here is the most interesting part. Remember the heavy cruiser that went missing?¡± ¡°Quite.¡± ¡°Well, we have recovered it through the auto-recall functions we put into all our privateer ships, and its recording crystals tell us some rather interesting things. First off, it encountered this Duke¡¯s ship, the Iron Reaver.¡± ¡°Wait, are you going to tell me that a single dropship took out a heavy cruiser?¡± ¡°No, the ship is entirely intact but the crew simply vanished. Their lifesigns on the ship simply terminated. It happened in groups, so not all at once, but it was quick ¨C over in less than thirty seconds.¡± ¡°The entire crew was killed just like that? No warning, no defenses?¡± ¡°That¡¯s where it gets really interesting. The ship¡¯s sensors were focused on the dropship, but they did pick up some activity on the planet below. Given the potential for ship-to-ship combat, I think we can understand this oversight. I have an investigatory ship on its way to the planet now and should have more information about the planetary activity in three or four days depending on how long it takes them to search.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯m going to have to contact Valan for this. I want to collect that bounty but I¡¯m going to need the Hounds to do it.¡± ¡°You are going to release the Hounds?¡± ¡°I am going to need to. Make the necessary preparations to ensure the safety of our operations. I am willing to take a full ten percent hit to revenue for this endeavor.¡± ¡°Ten percent! Are you sure?¡± Ganorlen¡¯s gaze turned cold, ¡°Make the preparations.¡± Edgemont left the room visibly shaking. Nobody ever wanted to see the hounds released. Especially not in their own sector. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. *** Gro¡¯nok stood in the mech bay and stared at his own Ebon Warcharger. He was dumbfounded as the mech was in pristine condition. Even the scars of past battles that were painted over countless times were gone. She looked like she had just been released from the forge. His hands caressed the warm metal of the mech¡¯s leg. ¡°It¡¯s unbelievable.¡± ¡°Tukka, I would say impossible. We all saw how much damage our mechs took in the hangar. We were outnumbered for sure, and I am absolutely certain that I took a hit cleanly through the left shoulder.¡± Gro¡¯nok gestured to the shoulder, ¡°As you can see, it is pristine, not even a paint scuff. Something is going on around here. I don¡¯t think they are telling us everything.¡± ¡°Still, is it not better? We can now charge in with new steel.¡± ¡°But how?¡± Ter¡¯fald broke his silence again, ¡°When an engineer increases your weapon output, do you ask how or do you use it to kill your enemies? Why worry about how it was done and let us concern ourselves as to what death it means for our enemies.¡± The trio went back to inspecting their mechs with wonder and appreciation. *** When Duke and Mira emerged from her stateroom, the pair were met by an irate blonde woman. Aurelia glared at both of them, ¡°Just what is going on here?¡± ¡°Sneaking around and conspiracies,¡± Mira immediately replied. Aurelia flushed with heated anger, sputtering before Mira continued, ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry, girl. I¡¯m not making a play for your man. We¡¯re just coming up with how to get us out of here without letting our new passengers know what he can do.¡± Aurelia burst into tears and fled down the hall to her own room. With an apologetic look at Duke, Mira followed after. Duke simply stared as the two women disappeared. Well, shit. I was never good with relationships. I have the exes to prove it. The hell do I do now? I can¡¯t go after her because the two of them together¡­yeah no. It¡¯s not like Mira and I have even a hint of a thing. Everyone seems so on edge since we got to this dimension. Could it be a side-effect of the Umbral Gloom? Might be. Still have no idea where that came from. It just appeared on the bridge, sucking the emotions out of everyone. Work. I¡¯ll get to work. That¡¯s the best thing I can do right now. Duke headed towards the engineering section of the ship to prepare for what he was calling ¡°the big show.¡± As he entered the section, he bumped into Gro¡¯nok heading out. Before Duke could say anything, the big orc grabbed him by the arm and all but dragged him to the mech bays. ¡°What¡¯s so urgent down here? Is one of the mechs going to explode?¡± ¡°No, Duke. Look at them.¡± Duke looked at the mechs, noting their apparent newness. ¡°Your mechs look deadly and extremely well-maintained. I can see why you are so proud.¡± Gro¡¯nok bristled, ¡°Yes, we are very proud of our mechs and what we can do with them, but this is not the condition they were in when we boarded this ship. Each mech was battle-damaged, and one was rather heavily damaged. They look like they just came out of the runecrafters¡¯ shop. They look new now. Old battle scars have been erased, the left knee joint of Tukka¡¯s mech has been sticky for two years, but now, it moves smoothly. What is going on around here?¡± Duke was immensely thankful that he had already had this conversation with Mira regarding the repairs to the ship from his RESTORE Ability. He smiled at the three concerned orcs, ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t know the ship¡¯s self-repair magic extended all the way into the mech bays. That¡¯s awesome.¡± ¡°Self-repair magic? What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Oh. Nobody told you that the ship can repair itself over time? That is one of the reasons I selected this ship. There¡¯s nothing like being able to rebuild an engine after it¡¯s blown and doing so purely from the ship¡¯s own magic. It saves tons on spare parts. I guess the magic of the ship extended to cover your mechs. I¡¯d call that a great side effect, wouldn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Uh, yes, that is a great side effect. I have never heard of a ship that can repair itself. What kind of magic is that? Who created that runescript and why isn¡¯t it everywhere? That could change everything.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell you who invented the runescript, or even where it sits within the ship, but I can guess as to why it¡¯s not prevalent. What would happen to the spare part and maintenance market if such a runescript became commonplace? How much money would be lost by those groups? How much would they be willing to do to make sure this runescript never became known?¡± Nods of agreement spread through the orcs like a virus as they latched onto the idea. ¡°I see what you mean.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why we don¡¯t tell anyone about this, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why we make this ship our permanent base of operations,¡± Gro¡¯nok mused. ¡°Do you think Captain Mira will allow the rest of the Steel Tusks to join her crew?¡± ¡°One, you¡¯ve joined her crew? When did that happen? And two, how many more Steel Tusks are there?¡± ¡°We will join her if she will have us. She is honorable and a good Captain. With the Syndicate taking over all other mech transport, we could not hope to find a better place for the clan. And there are enough of us to fill this ship. All thirty mech bays would be filled and enough families to fill the rest of the ship. I must speak with her on this.¡± ¡°She is a bit occupied right now but once we get back to our own dimension, that would be a good time to speak with her about it. I have to go finish my work on the stardrive to get us home.¡± ¡°Explain,¡± Ter¡¯fald asked, stepping forward and shoving his way past Tukka. Tukka growled in response. It did not seem that Ter¡¯fald noticed. ¡°I am going to modify our stardrive to reverse the lensing effect that happened the last time we jumped. It should bring us back to the right dimension. And, before you ask, no, I do not want any help with this. I need to concentrate and anyone looking over my shoulder would be a potentially deadly distraction.¡± He grunted in response, clearly not happy but accepting Duke at his word. An hour later, Duke emerged from the engineering section after having sealed himself inside for a quick nap. He had discovered an alarm feature in his interface and spent at least ten minutes cursing himself for never thinking of looking for one before. He set it and got in his nap. When he left the section, he sealed the door behind himself with the keycode Mira had given him and headed for the bridge. The entire crew was gathered there, and all looked to Duke expectantly. He gave them a confident smile, ¡°It is prepared. Let me get set up at the navigation station so we can get out of here.¡± ¡°Let me know when you have it all programmed in and I¡¯ll hit the button.¡± ¡°Roger, Captain. Preparing station.¡± Duke¡¯s fingers flew around the navigation station, pulling up maps and dismissing them in what may have been perceived as a set sequence, but was purely random as Duke was focusing on preparing to TELEPORT the ship across dimensions. He had no idea what to expect, so he was putting his entire Mana pool into the effort. When he was ready, he closed out all the navigational data and looked up to Mira, ¡°Everything is ready for you. Make the jump whenever you are ready.¡± ¡°Thank you, Duke. Everyone, take a seat and strap in. This could be bumpy and who knows if the runic gravity will survive this trip.¡± She waited for everyone to get ready and nodded to Duke, ¡°Beginning countdown. Five¡­Four¡­Three¡­¡± Her finger hovered over a large glowing red button that she had installed while Duke was down in engineering. The button was not hooked up to anything ¨C it was purely for show. ¡°Two¡­¡± Many hands gripped armrests tightly, the creak of the leatherlike fabric squeaked across the bridge, breaking the otherwise silent anticipation. ¡°One¡­¡± Mira¡¯s finger began its deliberate descent as jaws tightened around the bridge, all eyes on her descending finger. ¡°Go!¡± Mira¡¯s finger stabbed the glowing red button and Duke activated his Ability. The ship vanished. Book 3, Chapter 31 The ship appeared in empty space and, to everyone¡¯s surprise, not a single alarm went off. The only sounds were of the navigational system plotting their location and the sound of Duke¡¯s body hitting the floor. ¡°I told everyone to strap in, dammit!¡± Mira announced without looking back to see what happened, still focused on determining their location and if there was any danger to the ship. Aurelia scrambled out of her chair and to Duke¡¯s side. She rolled him onto his back and that is when she saw all the blood coming from his eyes, ears, and nose. She put his head in her lap, knowing that she had no healing magic and Duke had recovered from worse. Duke was still conscious but unable to react. His big flashing notification was all he could focus on through the shattering pain in his head. *** Attention! You have pushed your TELEPORTATION Ability beyond its limits by bringing such a large mass with you across a strong dimensional barrier. The strain has caused both of your cerebral arteries to burst. Your REGENERATION will repair the damage shortly. By pushing your Ability this far beyond its limits and surviving, you have gained 20 levels in the Ability to Grandmaster 69. You have similarly increased your REGENERATION to Adept 159 and your OVERCHANNEL to Adept 95. *** The pain quickly subsided, and Duke regained his ability to act. His eyes fluttered open and he became aware of where he was and what position he was in. ¡°Did we make it?¡± Mira called back from the command chair, ¡°You bet your ass we made it! We¡¯re about two light days from the Sanction system and Turin station.¡± ¡°Then we should probably get out of this area considering all the Syndicate activity around here,¡± Lya said. ¡°How far is it to Altis Marin Six anyway?¡± Duke leveraged himself back to standing, leaning back down to help Aurelia up and into a hug. ¡°Thank you for taking care of me.¡± ¡°Always,¡± she whispered back. Duke picked up a hint of something he couldn¡¯t identify in how she spoke. He decided to pursue it later as they were likely still in danger. He focused back on the navigation console just in time to see Mira bring up the data he was about to look for. ¡°It¡¯s about nine thousand light years away. It will take us about a week to get there.¡± Gro¡¯nok frowned, ¡°Is there any way we can make the trip faster? We are already heavily delayed in reaching our friend and I fear he will not be able to hold out much longer.¡± Mira looked at Duke and stared with a brief start. ¡°Duke, you should probably go wash up.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Just go. You¡¯ll see.¡± Duke reluctantly left the bridge and headed to the nearest washroom. When he saw himself in the mirror, he could see the blood all over him and nodded. One quick CLEANSE later, he was headed back to the bridge. He entered to hear a conversation about engine modifications. ¡°We will have to modify the engines from what we did to get back here. Maybe we can modify them to eke out a bit more speed, but it is likely to damage them in the long-term.¡± ¡°But the ship¡¯s self-repair function should take care of that, right?¡± Mira looked pointedly at Duke with a serious frown on her face, ¡°Let me speak with my engineer and see what can be done.¡± The sneer on the word ¡°engineer¡± was obvious to all. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Duke shrugged and stepped off the bridge to join Mira in a meeting room. She whirled on him, ¡°What the hell was that about self-repair function of the ship?¡± ¡°I had to tell them something. Their mechs were fully restored. What other explanation could I give them without telling them about my Abilities?¡± ¡°Hiding your Abilities is growing less and less practical as time goes by. How well did you hide them on Teldin?¡± ¡°Um¡­not at all really.¡± ¡°So how long until someone gets there and starts asking around? It¡¯s not like hunters aren¡¯t still flocking there. That¡¯s your last known location. Or it was until the Syndicate got involved. They probably have everything by now.¡± ¡°Fuck.¡± ¡°Yeah. So, stop telling people my ship can do things it can¡¯t and let¡¯s get these guys to their friend as fast as possible. You can handle that, right?¡± ¡°I can. My Mana has refilled. I¡¯ll put us one light day out from the planet, and you can take us in like we did at Sanction.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the plan. Now go and fess up.¡± Duke hung his head and sulked for a few seconds before lifting his head and squaring his shoulders on his way back to the bridge. He was met with a trio of anxious orc gazes. ¡°OK, here¡¯s the deal. I¡¯ve been trying to hide what I can do because there is a price on my head, and I didn¡¯t want to be found just yet. Now that the Syndicate is involved in this mess, shit is going to be found out sooner or later anyway.¡± ¡°What are you saying, Duke?¡± Mira¡¯s stare could have bored holes in Duke¡¯s head. He continued, ¡°The ship doesn¡¯t have a self-repair function. That was all my Ability.¡± He held up a hand to forestall the questions. ¡°Let me finish and we will talk more. I also didn¡¯t modify the engines to get us back here, that was another Ability of mine. It was pushed beyond its limits to do it, but we made it. Similarly, I can get us to your destination faster than any stardrive could. We¡¯ll be arriving in orbit in a matter of hours.¡± ¡°Hours? And what was all that about you doing all this? This makes no sense, human.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a long story, but the cliff notes version is that I pissed off some very powerful individuals who then put a bounty contract on my head. It¡¯s a weird bounty in my mind but I guess there are some rules they had to play by. The contract can¡¯t be fulfilled by anyone over Tier Four. And-¡° Lya cut in, ¡°There ain¡¯t no one in Tier Four that can handle the Duke.¡± Mira, Aurelia, and Lya burst out laughing while the trio of orcs stared at them incredulously. ¡°So, now you run and hide?¡± Gro¡¯nok¡¯s tone dropped from confused to derisive. ¡°Not exactly. I killed dozens of hunters and assassins back home before deciding to venture out into the wider cosmos. I really didn¡¯t want to cause too much trouble for my ride, but it seems trouble was going to find us regardless. With a player like the Syndicate stepping onto the field, not that I really know the extent of their reach, it¡¯s time to stop pussyfooting around and start walking tall. They want to come after me, I¡¯ll just keep killing them all.¡± ¡°Now, you sound like an orc. There¡¯s hope for you yet.¡± *** Your Diplomacy Skill has increased to Practiced 12 *** Well, that¡¯s amusing. Guess the Skill helped out a bit there. Time to get us going. ¡°Mira, you ready for us to make the jump?¡± ¡°Yeah, all set. Take us whenever-¡° Duke TELEPORTED them to their target. He smiled as she finished her sentence, fading off. ¡°you¡¯re ready.¡± ¡°All done. Go ahead and set your course for the final destination. I have to speak with Gro¡¯nok on how we are going to rescue their friend.¡± Duke pulled the trio of orcs to the side and got the conversation going, ¡°A few questions to get us started. Do you know where your friend is located on the planet? Do you know what the situation is? And do you have a way to contact them?¡± Gro¡¯nok answered with a scowl, ¡°Our friend is located in planetary sector 26-D and is nearly completely surrounded by now. His unit is a triad of Steel Tusks holding a fortification with a battalion of infantry. They have been under siege since before we left on this journey and their time is running out. When we get to the planet, I should be able to establish communications.¡± ¡°OK, that¡¯s a good run-down. Do you care if any of the attackers survive?¡± ¡°Let their blood run in rivers!¡± The rest of the orcs joined him in the sentiment with raised fists and roars to the heavens. Duke¡¯s grin turned feral as he unconsciously reacted to the orc¡¯s bloodlust, ¡°I have an idea on how to make an entrance that will make one hell of an impact. How do your communications work anyway?¡± ¡°It is a shared set of communications crystals that are built into every Iron Tusk mech. They only have range across a single star system. For anything farther than that, you need a ship¡¯s system.¡± ¡°So, you could possibly reach them from this ship, now?¡± ¡°Not while we are in Exospace. That is, unless you have some Ability that can do that too.¡± Mira called back from the Captain¡¯s chair, ¡°We¡¯ll be in the system in twenty minutes. Make your preparations.¡± Duke looked at the orcs. They looked back at him, bloodlust brimming in their gazes. Gro¡¯nok put his hand on Duke¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Join us in the mech bay. You can tell us your ideas while we prepare for a hot drop. Steel Tusks, prepare your mechs!¡± They thundered out of the bridge with Duke in hot pursuit. It was time to get to fighting! Book 3, Chapter 32 Duke had laid his plan out for the Steel Tusks and they had agreed to it on one condition ¨C that Duke carry and keep a recording crystal going for the whole fight. Duke was inclined to say no, but he was now resolved to fight with his full self and not hold back for fear of discovery. He, instead, was going to make a statement to his enemies. It had taken a matter of minutes for them to get in contact with the Steel Tusks that were pinned down in the fortress. The situation for them was deteriorating rapidly. The fortress¡¯ Mana core was fading. When it ran out, the fortress¡¯ shielding would fail and the dozens of mechs surrounding them would easily break through their physical defenses. The enemy mechs were anchored by a titan-class mech that was doing the vast majority of the damage. It would take the ship an hour to get into place, an hour that the Steel Tusks could ill afford. The shielding would fail far before that with the pounding the titan was pouring out. Duke was in the mech bay with the Steel Tusks making sure everyone was ready before he moved to execute the plan. The trio of mechs stood ready, fully loaded and as clean as the day they were created. They knew that the odds were heavily against them but to not come to the aid of Clanmates was unthinkable. Duke absently allocated his pending Characteristic points into his Psyche. ¡°Weapons free. I¡¯m going to start things off with that damned titan mech. If I can take that one down, things should be much easier even if we are still outnumbered.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t like relying on an unarmored human to kill a titan mech. It¡¯s madness,¡± Ter¡¯fald groused. ¡°Drop me on it and I¡¯ll tear it to scrap with my axe.¡± His mech¡¯s axe glowed with enchanted power as he tapped into his Mana core to light it up with power. ¡°I am going to hit the mech like the hammer of a god. If it does survive by some miraculous quirk of fate, it won¡¯t be for long after that.¡± ¡°Enough taking about it. Let¡¯s get to the killing!¡± Gro¡¯nok¡¯s shout set the trio into roars of bloodlust strong enough that Duke wondered if that was an actual Ability. Regardless, Duke set his jaw, a smile starting to form as his eyes locked into what he had always called ¡°target elimination mode.¡± With a glance back towards the three mechs he raised a fist and slammed it down into his hand with a shout, ¡°It¡¯s go-time!¡± He vanished from the ship. Duke appeared high over the battle and immediately accelerated his FLIGHT as fast as he could manage without pouring extra Mana into the Ability. The near instant acceleration allowed Duke the few seconds needed to orient himself onto his target and eject the ordinance from his INVENTORY. The ten-kilometer drop passed in little over two seconds before Duke used the momentum-cancelling properties of his TELEPORTATION to stop himself a kilometer above the titan mech. The thundering of sonic booms preceded the hypersonic rain of steel projectiles slamming into the mech and the area around it at just under 3,500 meters per second. Duke had stopped about a thousand meters above to watch the destruction. The titan-class mech was immense, a humanoid shape forty meters tall with thick armor and weapons built to-scale. The most prevalent were the pair of 50 cm cannons mounted on its shoulders that dwarfed even the 16-inch guns of a historic battleship of old Earth. It had been using these cannons to batter down the now flickering protective shield of the fortress. At least it was until Duke¡¯s strikes descended from the heavens and each struck with the force of a rain of meteors. Of the nearly 800 items Duke committed to the attack, over 200 struck the mech. The rest had been spread out, impacting a radius around 100 meters from the primary target. Of the 17mechs struck by Duke¡¯s attack, 14 were destroyed by the impacts. The titan-class mech, however, remained standing and started to swivel its guns up towards Duke. He stared open-mouthed at the monstrosity that had only received minor damage after its shielding ultimately failed. But, astonishingly, the shielding had absorbed nearly all of the impact of Duke¡¯s attack. The remaining mechs reacted in coordination. Their sensors scrambled to find the source of the attack while they regrouped. All they found was a single man-shaped object floating a thousand meters above them. It took a full three seconds for them to actually coordinate and unleash their combined firepower on Duke¡¯s hovering form. Missiles streaked into the sky accompanied by physical projectiles, beams of coherent light, and particles stripped from molecules and launched at near relativistic speeds. Shit! Time to be elsewhere! Duke¡¯s reaction was almost in time as he saw the attacks coming before they launched. He TELEPORTED to what seemed like the safest position at the moment ¨C the back of the titan mech¡¯s neck. As he clung on, he realized that he could only hold on with his left arm as the right side of his chest and shoulder had been blasted away. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Another fucking arm blown off. I need to get fucking tougher if I¡¯m going to be able to handle opponents like this! *** Your ARMOR SKIN has increased to Adept 60 *** Oh, that¡¯s fucking cute. Duke clung on as his body REGENERATED the missing limb and organs. Plan A didn¡¯t work. Time for Plan B. He activated his DUNGEON SENSE and quickly found what he was looking for ¨C there was a significant open cavity inside the titan mech. He had figured that it would be too heavy if it was solid and apparently, he was right. Another quick TELEPORT and he was inside the chest cavity of the enchanted monstrosity. Inside the open cavity, Duke got another perspective on the size of the mech. Inside, there were catwalks at various levels in the chest cavity. He could see areas that were clearly labeled such as the pilot¡¯s chamber and the area he was looking for ¨C the Mana Core. He quickly made it to the Mana core chamber choosing to fly rather than navigate the network of catwalks in a moving mech. As he arrived, he realized that most of his chest and part of his arm had been REGENERATED. As he reached for the latch to open the door, he received another notification, one he felt was long overdue. *** Your REGENERATION Ability has ranked up to Master 1. You may now regrow your body from as little as a single surviving extremity. *** With a grin, he opened the latch which had no lock on it at all, something he found at least odd, if not insane. The chamber was big enough to fit a few people, but the thing Duke was fixated on was the singe large Mana Core. Whereas the cores the Iron Reaver used were individually able to fit in his palm, this one was the size of his head. It was also covered with silvery runescript. Duke stepped closer to look at it and started to wonder if the runescript was actually engraved into the core. He shrugged, realizing that it didn¡¯t matter. He reached out with his Ability and TELEPORTED the core to his hand. Or, at least, that¡¯s what he tried to do. When he activated his Ability, a barrier surrounding the core flared brightly and somehow resisted his Ability. He frowned briefly before muttering, ¡°OK, we do this the hard way then.¡± He reached forward with his now fully-formed right hand and touched the barrier. It flared and sent a shock down his arm. His SPELL RESISTANCE flared to life and the pain of the contact diminished to a bearable level before he activated his MANA DRAIN Ability. Immediately, the painful tingling disappeared, and he could feel the Mana draining out of the barrier. That was when alarms started to sound throughout the interior of the mech. Guess the jig is up. No idea if there is more than the pilot in here so I¡¯m going to buy myself a little time. Duke slammed the door to the chamber shut behind him with his foot and traced the outline with his foot encased in LIGHTNING. That¡¯s not going to get me any points at the Tulsa Welding School, but it will hold for long enough! The barrier flickered as the mech¡¯s Mana Core began to drain. In a matter of seconds, the barrier winked out and Duke received yet another notification. *** Your MANA DRAIN Ability has ranked up to Initiate 1. *** He immediately tried to TELEPORT the core to his hand and was overjoyed to find that it worked. The Mana Core was half-depleted from Duke¡¯s quick estimation but what was more important was that all the runescript that had been glowing surrounding him had quickly gone dark and the motion of the mech ceased. Duke couldn¡¯t help the smile that spread across his face. Almost time for phase two. Fuck! Phase two on hold! The runescript flared to life again from the bottom of the chamber to the top. Must have a secondary Mana Core. I suppose that makes sense. I wouldn¡¯t want this behemoth to be taken out by a single lucky shot if it were mine either. Duke activated his DUNGEON SENSE and searched for the other core. His jaw dropped as he found six more. They were smaller than the apparent ¡°main¡± core, but they were powering the thing right back up. ¡°Fuck you!¡± Duke TELEPORTED all six of the other cores straight into his INVENTORY, grinning once again as the mech completely powered-down, plunging the room into full darkness. Duke weighed the large core in his hand for a moment before putting it in his INVENTORY. New toys for me. Yeah! Duke considered departing but heard the sound of someone outside the door straining against the creaking latch. Must be the pilot. Better to totally neutralize them now in case they have another backup plan. Duke TELEPORTED to the catwalk near the door. The area was it up by a brightly burning orb floating overhead. The supposed pilot ceased his straining on the door latch and whirled to face Duke. He looked remarkably like Jablach but a head taller and far more muscular in build. ¡°You shut down my mech.¡± It was not a question, rather more a statement that held the full weight of an avalanche. Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA barely warned him of the demon¡¯s muscles tensing before he leaped at Duke with unexpected power, its dark crimson and black wings unfurling behind it as it flashed across the gap in nearly an instant. Duke was slammed into the far wall of the mech, the inner armor actually denting with the impact. His vision flashed white for an instant as the impact jarred his brain. ¡°I am going to flay your skin and make a hat out of it while you still breathe.¡± ¡°Is that the best threat you have?¡± Duke flexed his own Strength and FLIGHT Ability to slam the demon into the wall across the other side of the mech. It was nowhere near as impactful as the demon flexed its wings, stopping its flight just as they touched the wall. It laughed, displaying its fangs. ¡°Is that the best you have, human?¡± Duke¡¯s smile spread across his face. ¡°Not even in my top twenty. You really want to do this?¡± The demon¡¯s fingers started to extend into black claws, ¡°Nothing would make me happier than bathing in your blood.¡± The fight started in earnest. Book 3, Chapter 33 In the time since Duke had come to Teldin, he had taken his basic military fighting instruction and his bar fighting skills to a level far beyond where he had been by learning how to truly fight with practical martial arts. He was confident he could win any fight that he had walked into so far. Right now, he knew he was losing. And losing badly. The only things going for Duke in this fight were that he was physically stronger than his opponent and his REGENERATION kept fixing him back up because his Strength didn¡¯t make much of a difference. The problem he was consistently running into was that the demon was so much faster than he was and was a far more technically efficient and effective fighter. Every move Duke made, every punch or kick he threw was blocked, slipped, or countered before it ever landed. Even with his XENOGLOSSIA giving him warnings, he was always an instant too late. It prevented him from receiving any ¡°mortal¡± blows, but he was constantly being beaten and torn down. ¡°You are good for a mewling human, but you must sense the inevitability of this fight. I¡¯m just better than you.¡± ¡°You ready to give up? I can do this all day.¡± Duke knew the lie of his statement. He could fight like this all day without tiring or taking any permanent damage, but the remaining mechs were still hammering away at the fortress¡¯ defensive shield. Without the titan mech¡¯s firepower raining down, the fortress could hold out for longer, but time was still ticking down and he needed to end this. ¡°Although I admire your fighting spirit, even I grow bored of toying with you. It¡¯s time to end this farce of a fight.¡± The demon launched into a sustained flurry of attacks that Duke just could not keep up with. Every few seconds, a claw slipped past his guard and tore another slice into his body. The claws now burned with a black fire that reminded Duke of soulfire but definitely was not, and it hurt. A lot. His REGENERATION was losing ground to the assault and injuries were starting to compound. Duke pushed the demon away from him with a full-power wave of FORCE that swept everything away from him, tearing catwalks from their mounts and crushing them against the armored walls of the mech¡¯s insides. ¡°OK, you¡¯ve had your fun, but it¡¯s time to be serious.¡± The demon didn¡¯t respond with anything but a wave of what Duke was calling hellfire that burned through his FORCE construct, coming to a standing stop just before Duke¡¯s nose. It then smiled with unrestrained malice. ¡°If you want to take this to the next level, I am fine with that, but I assure you that you are completely outclassed. By now I¡¯m sure you have figured that you are hopelessly out-Tiered. And you have foolishly put way too much emphasis on your Strength. Speed kills, and I am going to show you just how much!¡± The hellfire dissipated as the demon charged back into range with Duke. If I have to keep this melee, then I¡¯m going to have to wear this asshole down somehow. Time to OVERCHANNEL DEVOLUTION and see if it can work when the fucker hits me. Duke OVERCHANNELED the Ability by a factor of 50. Since the Ability was at Untrained, Level 1, it carried such a minor effect and initial Mana cost, this only increased the cost to 5,000 per activation, but it increased the effect from 10 Characteristic points to a full 500 per instance. Even though the Ability activated at the speed of thought, he barely had the Ability combo in place when the first strikes made it past his defenses. Over the course of the next five seconds, the demon struck Duke fifty times, tearing open as many new wounds for his newly ranked-up REGENERATION to close. After that time, however, the demon collapsed to the floor of the mech gasping with exhaustion. Using his Abilities had drained more than 25,000,000 Mana, cutting Duke¡¯s reserves significantly but it seemed to have been worth it. Duke jumped down next to the struggling demon, staring it in the eyes, ¡°Always so arrogant. Always so sure of yourselves. The only reason to let you live would be to spread the word that you Do. Not. Fuck. With. The Duke!¡± He had placed his hands on either side of the demon¡¯s head and began to MANA DRAIN and DEVOLVE the demon continuously. The Mana coming in was fueling the DEVOLUTION and Duke could see the demon¡¯s Health plummeting rapidly as its physical Characteristics had already bottomed out. With nothing more to take, the Ability was pulling from the demon¡¯s Health. Duke OVERCHANNELED the Ability just enough to match the MANA DRAIN, allowing his own Mana to naturally regen as he literally sucked the life from the demon. It took a full minute, but as the withered corpse collapsed in on itself, Duke received the notifications he craved. *** You have slain Carlyle the Eater of Souls. This was a Tier Eight outer demon. You gain 1,700,000 experience for this remarkable accomplishment. You are now level 137 and have 234 Characteristic Points to spend. Your Abilities have increased. TELEPORTATION has increased to Grandmaster 71 REGNERATION has increased to Master 6 OVERCHANNEL has increased to Adept 99 FORCE has increased to Initiate 36 SPELL RESISTANCE has increased to Initiate 39 INVENTORY has increased to Practiced 47 ARMOR SKIN has increased to Adept 70 MANA DRAIN has increased to Initiate 11 FLIGHT has increased to Practiced 75 COMBAT SENSE has increased to Practiced 36 DEVOLUTION has ranked up to Novice 11 The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Your Dodge Skill has increased to Adept 12 Your Martial Arts Combat Skill has increased to Adept 75 *** Duke went to pull the demon¡¯s body into his corpse collection in his INVENTORY, but it collapsed into red dust before he could do so. He pulled the dust in anyway and performed a CLEANSE and RESTORE making certain to only target himself and his gear. He did not want to repair the mech and in some crazy quirk of his Ability power it back up. He activated the comms crystal that Gro¡¯nok had given him. ¡°The titan is out of the fight. How is your clanmate holding out?¡± ¡°He is holding his mech in reserve for our signal. The infantry is running low on ammunition and Mana while keeping the remaining two dozen mechs from charging through the shielding. The Steel Tusks must enter the fight and soon!¡± Duke TELEPORTED to the top of the titan¡¯s head to get a good vantage point of the field. He kept himself low to the top of the titan¡¯s head to cut down on his exposure and activated his LASTING DISGUISE Ability to try and blend in as much as possible. He HeThe terrain reminded him of Monument Valley back on earth. There were mesas and buttes scattered around the red desert of the area. The fortress was built into one of the mesas, providing some natural shelter. Against the weaponry of the surrounding mechs, the natural formations would not last long. As he scanned the area, Duke saw the fortress¡¯ shielding starting to show the strain yet again as mechs poured fire onto the fortress. ¡°There is a butte that I can place the three of you on that will get you a nicely elevated firing position. It will create a good cross-fire with the fortress¡¯ forces. Getting down might be an issue though as the walls are sheer.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll take it. Place us there and move to phase two.¡± ¡°Roger. Transition in three¡­two¡­one...now!¡± The trio of Steel Tusk mechs appeared on the mesa Duke had selected. He watched as they took a moment to orient themselves before firing down on the mechs below. The surprise attack from above swept chaos through the mechs as they had shifted the majority of their shielding forward, facing the fortress. In the initial salvo, seven enemy mechs went down before they shifted their formations. Duke wished the Steel Tusks luck as he no longer had time to watch ¨C he had his own tasks and targets in this phase. His DUNGEON SENSE spread out over the area, taking in everything. It took him a full minute to find what he was looking for. In the midst of a battle being fought around him, it seemed like an eternity, but he was now locked-in on the fortress¡¯ Mana Core. It was easy for him to see that it was near depletion. One quick TELEPORTATION put him next to it where he could quickly pour Mana into it. Which he did. He poured half a million Mana in every second, returning it to its full twenty million Mana capacity in under a minute. He TELEPORTED back to his vantage point before anyone came to investigate. From there, he could see the fortress¡¯ shield renewed and solid. Next, came the part he wasn¡¯t sure would work. Mech shielding was something different and seemed to interfere with his TELEPORTATION in some way that he hadn¡¯t had time to experiment with just yet. No time like the present. He scanned the field and saw that Ter¡¯fald¡¯s mech had already descended from the butte and was fighting a trio of other mechs in close combat. His mech¡¯s axe was glowing with power and seemed to be frighteningly effective up close. None of the other mechs were able to keep up with him. Duke continued to scan. He stopped scanning when he spotted a pair of mechs land on top of another butte. These mechs each had what appeared to be massive missile packs mounted on them and were turning towards the remaining two Steel Tusks on the butte where Duke had dropped them off. Not so fast, assholes. Duke pulled with all his will and his Grandmaster-ranked TELEPORTATION Ability and with the added concentration was able to grab hold and remove the Mana Cores from each of the mechs. He placed them in his INVENTORY and paused to recover. The effort had cost him nearly his entire remaining Mana pool, but the pair of mechs were out of commission for now. Unlike the titan, these two mechs did not have back-up cores. Duke did not know if that was a space consideration, some form of expense control, or just an unusual set-up for the titan mech. Either way, he was happy with the result but knew he needed more than a minute to regen his Mana. He considered how he should approach things now that his part of phase two was complete. They had not really gone into detail on what phase three would be other than to keep attacking. He looked back down to see Ter¡¯fald¡¯s mech still attempting to run amok but showing heavy damage. The axe was no longer glowing and was missing the top quarter of its blade while there was a pair of considerable holes in his left leg, causing the leg to drag and slow his mech¡¯s movements. Clearly, the berserker¡¯s mech was in trouble as a four mechs stood a dozen meters back from him and poured damage down upon him. Duke¡¯s Mana had only recovered to about quarter, but he knew he had to act. With a combination of REMOTE CASTING and RESTORE, he repaired Ter¡¯fald¡¯s mech. The response was immediate as the suddenly restored mech launched itself at the mechs that had been cutting it down, closing the dozen meter distance in a second. One mech was decapitated by the once-again glowing axe while the remaining three scrambled to open up some distance where they could once, again, effectively fight. Ter¡¯fald did not give them a chance. Duke watched, fascinated as Ter¡¯fald slipped past awkward swings of arms and kicks of legs, slicing pieces off as he went. It was an art form in how quickly and smoothly he moved his mech as opposed to the slowly responding mechs that seemed only able to operate with projectile and beam weapons. By the time Duke¡¯s Mana had regened, Ter¡¯fald had wiped out all the mechs near him and the tide of battle had completely shifted in the Steel Tusks¡¯ favor. The remaining nine attacking mechs had begun running for a descending dropship. Both Duke and Gro¡¯nok shouted over the comms, ¡°That¡¯s a Syndicate ship!¡± ¡°Take cover, they are going to hit us hard with covering fire!¡± Tukka called out as both his and Gro¡¯nok¡¯s mechs scrambled down the far side of the butte. It was just in time as the ship opened up over the heads of the retreating mechs. Lances of energy struck the area sending geysers of dust and rock projectiles flying in all directions. Duke slid behind the head of the titan for cover but was still pelted with countless fragments which his ARMOR SKIN contended with. Thirty seconds of barrage later, the area was completely covered in rubble as half the butte had been blasted apart. The fortress¡¯ shield still held but the Syndicate ship was already rocketing for orbit. Duke called over the comms to the Iron Reaver, ¡°Mira, you have a Syndicate dropship heading up your way. We still have some cleanup to take care of here. Are you ready to come down here for pickup?¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather not encounter the Syndicate ship on the way down. Ship-to-ship combat in atmosphere is always messy.¡± ¡°Roger that. I¡¯ll bring you down. Let me know when you are ready.¡± ¡°Born ready. Go for it.¡± Duke TELEPORTED the ship down to an area free of debris and waited for the main ramp to lower. He had not really ever noticed the perspective of the ship before. He knew it was a large ship, but it stood more than twice as tall as the mesa the fortress was built into. He idly wondered if he could actually fit the titan mech into the ship. That quickly became a secondary thought as cheering troops boiled out of the fortress accompanied by the most beat-up mech Duke had ever seen that could still move. Time to meet and greet and figure out why the fuck everyone is in this desolate place anyway. Book 3, Chapter 34 As the main ramp lowered, Duke saw his trio of Steel Tusks meet up with the limping mech. All four dismounted and embraced each other. They were quickly joined by another pair of orcs from the fortress. Duke decided to give them some space and started to sort through the rubble and fallen mechs. He lifted what pieces he could and used his EARTH Ability to break the unwieldy portions up. Eventually, he was joined by the four Steel Tusks whose mechs were able to move the actual mechs they unburied. What no one had noticed was that Duke had collected the bodies of the deceased mech pilots from their mechs and placed them in his INVENTORY. He also went through the summary of his combat notifications. *** Your participation in this battle has earned you 12,450 experience. *** He had also had some gains in his Abilities but as he looked at his character sheet, he realized that he still had the 234 Characteristic points from his last 13 level gain. He thought about placement for a good second before pouring them all into Agility. I need to be faster. A lot faster if I¡¯m going to be able to fight things like that demon. When they had cleared the mechs from the rubble, Duke went around, pulling each of the mechs into his INVENTORY. He even was able to fit the titan mech in although things were starting to get tight again. With well over a million cubic meters of space, his INVENTORY was vast but so was the amount of things he was starting to pack in there. When the titan mech disappeared, everyone took notice and someone who appeared to be a leader of the infantry came jogging up to Duke. As he approached, Duke realized that, once, again, he was encountering someone he would have to look up to. The creature that approached was somewhat reptilian in appearance with the oversized, slitted eyes of a snake surrounded by fine scales that grew larger as they traveled down his body. That, however, was not the most striking part of his appearance. He stood four meters tall and had four muscular arms. His entire body was also covered by a runescripted exoskeleton. ¡°You must be The Duke.¡± His voice was so deep it actually vibrated Duke¡¯s chest. ¡°I am Duke, yes.¡± ¡°I am Commander Zarkon Thresh of the Thorned Rose Mercenaries. My men tell me that you are responsible for our relief here. I offer you our deepest thanks.¡± With his lower right hand, he offered a handshake while his upper one slammed into his chest in a salute. Duke shook Zarkon¡¯s hand, finding the grip to be strong but not overpowering, showing confidence and respect. Duke found himself liking the Commander immediately. He wasn¡¯t sure why, but his XENOGLOSSIA was giving him a positive vibe from the reptilian Commander. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you, Commander. You are welcome for the relief, but it is the Steel Tusks that are truly responsible for us coming here to your aid. Had their clanmates not been here, I would not have even known about the existence of this planet, let alone come here to help you out.¡± ¡°I see. But we are still grateful for your intervention nonetheless.¡± They were interrupted as the only four remaining operable mechs made their way to the pair. Operable was barely apt for three of the four. Ter¡¯fald¡¯s mech being the exception in only showing minor damage. When they arrived, all four mech pilots exited their mechs with broad grins. Two more orcs that had apparently been riding the most heavily damaged mech also jumped down. ¡°Duke, my friend, allow me to introduce some more of my clanmates. This is Urgoth, the leader of this Steel Tusk triad. These two are Morka and Murgan. Yes, they are brother and sister. Yes, they are twins, and no, you should not remark on it. Ever.¡± The last comment brought grins to the pair of orc siblings. All three came forward to thank Duke for the rescue with Urgoth speaking, ¡°Your rescue could not have been more timely. The gods of war have favored us with your meeting of Gro¡¯nok¡¯s Triad. We are in your debt, and it now seems we have a common enemy in the Syndicate.¡± Duke smiled in response, ¡°So it would seem. What are all of you doing in this desolate place anyway? Sure, you have a bit of a fortress here, but what the hell is here that is worth defending? All I see is sand and rock.¡± Urgoth glanced at Gro¡¯nok. Gro¡¯nok spoke, ¡°Duke is a friend of the clan. He has revealed many of his own secrets at great personal risk just to get us here. You can speak as if in the hall.¡± Urgoth looked at Duke with a deeper respect before continuing, ¡°What do you know about this planet and its history?¡± ¡°Not much to be honest. I know that a lot of fighting takes place here, but I have no idea why.¡± ¡°Well, that much is true. This planet has been the subject of countless wars and conflicts since its discovery. Many come here seeking its secrets, most only find their own deaths.¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Secrets?¡± ¡°Yes, this planet was once the capital of a civilization so ancient that there are Entities who rose long after their fall. There are secrets buried in the rock and sand. Just discovering one could instantly propel you to great wealth and power.¡± ¡°I see the attraction. But if people have been fighting over it and searching it for so long, haven¡¯t all the secrets been found?¡± Zarkon added his voice to the conversation, ¡°Perhaps, but perhaps not. That is one of the greatest lures. The first great discovery found here was the stardrive and that changed everything. Even the runescript library came from discoveries here. There is no telling what else could be found here.¡± ¡°So, you all just decided to take over a spot and do some searching?¡± ¡°Not exactly, Duke.¡± Gro¡¯nok corrected. ¡°We were hired to come here and protect this spot until the researchers could come and investigate it. The contract has been in place for ten years now. The researchers have yet to show.¡± ¡°Ten years? I might have started asking questions by now. I don¡¯t think your researchers are coming.¡± ¡°It is becoming a more likely possibility every day,¡± Gro¡¯nok said. ¡°But now that we have access to a reliable ship, we can contact the Guild and find out for sure. The Steel Tusks and the Thorned Rose do not fail or abandon contracts. Still, ten years far exceeds the stated duration of the contract.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we all head back into the fortress and see what is what?¡± Zarkon suggested. With nods of agreement, the orcs mounted back up on their mechs and headed into the fortress. Duke followed behind with Zarkon. ¡°So, you are allies with the Steel Tusks?¡± ¡°More than allies. Our Clans are all but joined. If not for the racial differences, we would be a single Clan. Our Orc brothers and sisters pilot their mechs while we Tzharak stay more mobile as the infantry. We compliment each other extremely well. What is your story? I rarely see humans working with orcs. The prejudices and stereotypes are just too strong.¡± Duke laughed, ¡°I have no prejudices, and I don¡¯t care about stereotypes. You are who you prove yourself to be.¡± ¡°That is a good way to look at the world. I may adopt your phrase. It speaks of wisdom.¡± ¡°Looks like we are here. Care to show me around your fortress?¡± ¡°It would be an honor my new friend.¡± The next few hours were spent exploring the fortress with Zarkon. After the first few minutes, Duke switched on his sensing Abilities and studied the fortress as they toured their way through. What he found was interesting. The tour ended in the core chamber that Duke had surreptitiously visited in the second phase of their battle plan. It was there that his senses told him something striking. There was a second core chamber hidden far underneath this one. ¡°Do you mind if I stay here and study this chamber? The magitech for the core that powers the shield looks different from what I have seen before.¡± ¡°Study all you wish. But please don¡¯t disturb the core ¨C it barely survived the last attack, and we are not sure how it recharges itself.¡± ¡°Fair enough. I won¡¯t disturb this core.¡± When Duke was alone, he TELEPORTED into the lower chamber and started to really study things. He used a combination of his SENSE MAGIC, DUNGEON SENSE, and XENOGLOSSIA to locate, study, and read the magitech runes. These runes were written completely differently than the ones used on the ship or in the mechs. The runescript was elegant and more detailed. Duke set to memorizing it as he tried to understand what it actually did. It was not long before he realized that the runescript went far down into the ground below the fortress. He followed the scripting with his senses as he formed a new core in his hands. ¡°Son of a bitch, this isn¡¯t a fortress, it¡¯s a supply depot. The question is, should I fire it up and see what¡¯s stored down here or discuss it with the others first.¡± Duke sighed and finished charging up the newly made massive core with its 100 million Mana capacity. He waited for his Mana to regen before putting the core in his INVENTORY and TELEPORTING back to the shield core room. Forty minutes later, he was in a conference room with Zarkon, Gro¡¯nok, Urgoth, and Mira. ¡°I still feel it odd not to have everyone else here. But here is what I have found.¡± Duke activated the viewscreen. The meeting would have been in five minutes, but it had taken him more than thirty to figure out how to get the images to display on the screen. He could have asked someone, but that would have been too easy. Fucking magical mental interfaces. Duke pulled up the first image which was the fortress as everyone knew it. It was an exterior view and unremarkable. ¡°This is the fortress as seen from the outside. Substantial and with one hell of a shield, right?¡± Agreement rumbled through the room. Duke changed the view to show the runescript running through the walls, ceilings, and floors of the fortress. ¡°This is what is underlying the whole place. It is runescripting unlike anything I have ever seen before. It carries more detail and description than anything I have seen in a mech or a ship. Does anyone recognize it?¡± Heads shook as their interest suddenly snapped into focus. Duke nodded and expanded the view. ¡°This is the runescripting that runs beneath the fortress as you know it. It goes deep and it is very regular. I have been able to translate much of the script and each of those nodes you see is likely an extra-dimensional storage space. This is not a fortress, it is a storage depot.¡± The stunned looks around the room slowly broke into looks of greed. ¡°The riches that could be hidden in those rooms could be unending,¡± Gro¡¯nok announced. ¡°I call dibs on any ship parts.¡± ¡°Do we dare open them? They could be prison cells holding whatever it was that destroyed the civilization.¡± ¡°Way to dampen the mood, Zarkon.¡± ¡°Urgoth, you charge forward without thought or consideration. It is brave in battle, but we are not in a battle right now. Let us consider this carefully.¡± Duke had been waiting for a consensus before offering up his suggestion, but it didn¡¯t look like one was coming, ¡°I can just power up the system and we can see if there is anything like an inventory system to tell us what is in the rooms.¡± Mira laughed, ¡°Yeah. Do that.¡± The others agreed and Duke TELEPORTED them to the hidden core room. ¡°What? What was that?¡± Urgoth asked. ¡°That¡¯s just Duke doing Duke things. Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re fine.¡± Duke ignored the commentary and produced the new core. ¡°Everyone, hang onto your hats. Time to power this thing up.¡± With no ceremony or additional discussion, Duke slotted the core into place and the room lit up with power. Book 3, Chapter 35 One by one, things lit up in the chamber, each bringing a new sense of wonder. As the room became illuminated the wall opposite the core came to life with a display of all the chambers below. There were annotations and short descriptions for each. Mira approached the wall and touched one of the indicated chambers causing it to swell on the display and provide more data. She stared at it for several seconds before sighing and stepping back. ¡°It might be an inventory system, but it¡¯s not in any language I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± ¡°Me neither.¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Not a clue.¡± Duke looked at it and shrugged. ¡°That chamber is a food cache. I have no idea what the actual food items are but it¡¯s definitely a food cache. This one, however, is a bit more interesting.¡± Duke closed the menu on the food cache and opened another item. ¡°This is the armory.¡± ¡°Now that is far beyond interesting. How do we get into the chamber. I don¡¯t see stairs or an elevator in this room. Anyone else?¡± Mira asked. Duke continued to tap on the controls in an attempt to fumble his way to an answer. In doing so, he came across a number of other interesting cache descriptions including: Orbital Control System, Picotechnology Storage, Cosmic Foam Containment, and Genetic Engineering. He read the names out as he went. The anticipation and excitement in the room continued to build as he continued to read the names off in the tense silence. They all jumped when Mira¡¯s communications crystal buzzed. She fumbled with it, ¡°What? What the hell? Why are you calling me?¡± ¡°So sorry to disturb you, your majesty, but we have over a dozen Syndicate dropships inbound, and I thought you might want to know about it.¡± Lya¡¯s voice held an entirely different type of tension. Duke didn¡¯t hesitate. ¡°Get everyone to the ship. I will lock this place down so that they cannot access anything if they can even find this room.¡± ¡°You can do that?¡± Zarkon asked. ¡°You¡¯d be amazed at some of the things this trouble-magnet can do,¡± Mira remarked. ¡°Back to where we can organize everyone please, Duke.¡± ¡°On it. I¡¯ll catch up to everyone on the ship. Prepare everyone to depart.¡± ¡°Sorry, twins. Guess your mechs will have to stay,¡± Urgoth muttered. ¡°What was that?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Their mechs are too damaged to move. We¡¯ll have to leave them behind. Mine is barely functional as it is.¡± Duke had a clear picture of where the mechs were from his tour and was able to target a trio of remotely cast RESTOREs before responding, ¡°Collect your mechs. They should be functional. Don¡¯t waste time asking questions. There¡¯s a lot to be done before the Syndicate fucking gets here.¡± With a thought, the room was emptied of everyone save for himself. He kept his DUNGEON SENSE running at full force so that he would know when the Syndicate ships got close enough to be a problem. His current range of 300 kilometers was not nearly enough to reach the standard ship¡¯s orbit for this massive planet. He did figure it would give him enough of a warning before the ship came into range to be able to attack the fortress. Duke could see the mad scramble of the infantry picking up everything they could carry and hustling it to the ship. He put that view on hold and split his focus between watching for the descending ship and locating the cache he was looking for. It took a little over thirty seconds to locate it and even less to secure entry, a portal opening in front of him which he stepped through without hesitation. The last thing his DUNGEON SENSE picked up before entering was the first Syndicate ship breaking into the 300-kilometer range. Immediately, he lost sense of anything outside of the cache confirming to his mind that this was an extra-dimensional space, likely a pocket dimension. He took stock of the room and noted that it was far more vast than he had anticipated. The chamber went on for kilometers in nearly all directions and it was full of equipment and storage containers. ¡°Fuck. There¡¯s no way I can take all of this and I don¡¯t have the time to sort through it all and still set the place up for lockdown. OK, take what I can and then I have to go lock it all down again.¡± Duke pulled dozens of storage containers and stacks of equipment at random into his INVENTORY and retreated back through the portal. He set to securing the system lockdown, having read the ¡°emergency lockdown procedure¡± that had been flashing on the screen when he accessed it the first time. He didn¡¯t know why it was the first thing to appear, but he guessed it might have been a situation like this when it was shut down previously. He completed the last two steps, tying the lockdown to his own life signature and removing the core he had made for the facility. The Syndicate ships had closed to 100 kilometers and Duke TELEPORTED to the floor above, replacing the standard core with the special one he had created. That will hold you bastards off for long enough for you to bring out the big guns and level this place. No matter what, you¡¯re not getting to the floors below. So¡­fuck you! He TELEPORTED to the bridge of the Iron Reaver. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. *** Urgoth stumbled when he appeared in the fortress¡¯ mech bay. His, and his two partners¡¯ mechs, stood ready to go, their black paint unblemished. The mechs themselves looked like they were new. He stared at it all incredulously. Morka looked to him, ¡°What is happening? Why is the evacuation alarm sounding?¡± ¡°It means we have to evacuate, you poor excuse for a tusk shaper! Now mount up and let¡¯s get out of here before we are up to our bristles in Syndicate mechs!¡± He did not wait for a response as he scrambled up into his mech and franticly fired the emergency start-up controls. He felt the rush of power as Ebon Firestorm connected to his mind and he could feel the expansion of his consciousness into the magitech flowing through the mech. The rush of power still thrilled him as much now as it did on the day he emerged triumphant from his trial and was accepted into the ranks of the Steel Tusks. The connection and power flowed through his body, through his consciousness. When he was piloting Ebon Firestorm, he was just more. Nothing compared to that feeling and no one who was not an Ebon pilot of the Steel Tusks could understand it. With smoothness that belied the size of his mech, Urgoth slammed his mech¡¯s fist on the door control, opening the mech bay to the outside. He strode out, ready to defend his allies and family while they ran for the ship. Morka and Murgan took station on his wings and the three strode out onto the field of battle with the confidence of a veteran warrior. He would kill or die this day for the Clan! *** Mira appeared on the bridge of her ship just as Duke had intended. Bless that man¡¯s ability to put things where they need to be but fuck! A dozen Syndicate drop ships? I could handle two, possibly as many as four with the upgrades to our power systems, but there¡¯s no fucking way I can handle a dozen. She scrambled to get the ship ready for launching and combat, her fingers flying across controls as the engines sprang to life in a full emergency start burst. Duke¡¯s going to have to fix those too if we make it out of here. Aurelia paced around the bridge, unsure of what to do again. Mira was frantically doing something and Lya was also doing something with another set of controls but, once again, she could not understand what anyone was saying. She began to don her armor, able to only sense that a fight was coming and there was enough tension that it was not going to be an easy one. Lya worked both the communications and navigational consoles, trying to find the closest jump point they could get to while running from the Syndicate ships. It was not looking good. The ships had set up in a wide ring formation that would collapse on the Iron Reaver like the weight of the ocean crushing an egg. She looked back to get Aurelia to help out but quickly realized that the woman could not understand her and that she really wouldn¡¯t be any help to her if she even could understand. Fucking useless but not her fucking fault. Dammit! Where is the escape vector? *** Gro¡¯nok led his triad down the ramp to take up defensive position around the Iron Reaver. He spoke on the proximity channel, ¡°Let them come and let them be crushed under our might. For the Clan!¡± Tukka and Ter¡¯fald echoed his chant and soon Urgoth¡¯s triad joined them, the six mechs adjusting their positioning to allow the last of the infantry to scramble up the ramp and into the ship. They trained their weapons on the most extreme vertical angle their mech would allow. It wasn¡¯t true vertical, perhaps 75% at best, but it was all they could manage at the moment. *** The general communication channel sparked to life with a message from the Syndicate, ¡°Attention Iron Reaver. This is Commander Malor Vestu of the Syndicate Drop Ship Battlegroup Nova Vanguard. We have no wish to destroy your ship. We only have interest in one of your passengers. If you turn over the King Duke to us, I offer you a true oath that you will be allowed to leave intact and unharmed. Furthermore, you will be allowed to operate freely independently henceforth.¡± The broadcast had run through the ship, the mechs, and even across the personal communications crystals of everyone below. They all received the system notice confirming the oath as well. Duke read the notification and shrugged. He opened up his communications channel to Mira, ¡°That sounds like a pretty good deal for you. Maybe you should take it.¡± ¡°Oh, fuck off, Duke. You know I¡¯m not taking the deal. The Steel Tusks would cut me to pieces and feed me to their children if I pulled something like that.¡± ¡°She is right, Duke. We stand with you for this fight and for all the ones to come. Let them spend their blood on our blades!¡± ¡°I¡¯m coming back to the ship. Everyone else is aboard so get those mechs loaded!¡± Duke announced as he activated the fortress¡¯s shield and TELEPORTED to the bridge. Mira smirked at him, ¡°It is a tempting offer, but I like having my instant repairman onboard too much. Any thoughts on how you want to handle this?¡± ¡°Two actually. We can go full scorched Earth and destroy their ships, or we can rabbit the hell out of here.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t outrun them or even outmaneuver that many ships. They have us trapped between a rock and a lot of firepower.¡± ¡°Then we rabbit.¡± He could see from his DUNGEON SENSE that the Syndicate ships were only 25 kilometers away and descending quickly. He could also see that all six mechs were aboard and secured. ¡°Close up the ship. We are about to get out of here!¡± The Syndicate ships slowed to a hover a mere kilometer above the Iron Reaver. Mira knew they were well within optimal firing range of the Syndicate¡¯s weapons and her time was essentially up. Her engines were fired up but they were still on the ground and they were so heavily outgunned that their options were running out. She was relying on Duke¡¯s Abilities to get them out of yet another jam. It made her skin crawl with helplessness. She did not like the feeling. ¡°Captain Mira Calder! You will respond. Your ship is grounded, surrounded, and outgunned. Make the smart choice here.¡± The call over the communications systems was calm and sounded eminently reasonable.¡± ¡°Duke?¡± The Iron Reaver vanished from the planet, appearing a dozen light years away in empty space. ¡°Sorry,¡± Duke responded while looking up from the navigation console. ¡°I had to find a safe place to put us. Is everyone OK?¡± Book3, Chapter 36 It did not take long to determine that everyone was alright. Mira had each group check-in with her and when she turned to let Duke know that everything was all good, he was gone. She looked around the bridge trying to figure out where he went. Lya flagged her down, ¡°You looking for Duke?¡± ¡°I am. Did you see where he went?¡± ¡°He left with Aurelia ¨C I would guess to their room.¡± Mira nodded, ¡°I think we can give them some time alone after all that.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think we had better.¡± *** Duke entered his stateroom with Aurelia, ready for a celebration of the best kind. He turned around, offering her a smile but his XENOGLOSSIA started to scream at him that something was wrong. She stared him in the eyes and seemed to steel her spine. ¡°Duke, I need to go home. I don¡¯t fit in here. I never know what anyone is talking about even when you remember to give me one of your potions. And you rarely have enough time to think about that at all. You are constantly running from one fight to another adventure. That is you. That is who you are. But it¡¯s not me. It¡¯s not who I am. I am the Legion Commander. My place is with the Legion, and I have been too far away from it for too long. I need to go back.¡± Duke¡¯s mouth went dry, and his stomach twisted into a knotted mess. I¡¯ve done it again. How do I stop this from happening again? He opened up his mouth to respond but Aurelia placed her finger on his lips. ¡°I know this is a shock to you, Duke. You probably didn¡¯t see this coming, but I¡¯ve been at this point for a long time now. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t love you because I still do. I just can¡¯t stay with you on this adventure. And no, I absolutely will not ask nor accept you staying behind with me. Your place is here out in the stars fighting with the forces that shape the universe. That has always been your destiny. Mine lies elsewhere.¡± She stepped forward and pulled the stunned man into a tight hug. ¡°It¡¯s alright, Duke. It¡¯s alright.¡± He simply hugged her back still stunned as she continued, ¡°I still love you. I probably always will. Remember that, but it¡¯s not enough. I have a purpose for my life, and it is with the Legion.¡± She held him silently as she fought back the tears that pounded against her will. She would not let them loose now ¨C that was for later, when she was alone. For now, she would hold him and love him like it was their last night together, for it may well might be. *** It was late into the night for Mira. On a ship in deep space, night was a relative term as there was no sun rising or falling with the rotation of a planet. Instead, the cosmic timecode that ran through everyone¡¯s system interface kept the relative time. In her travels, she had been to hundreds, if not thousands of planets. Many with their own rotational period which set up longer or shorter ¡°days¡± than the cosmic timecode but many more than coincidence would dictate matched the cosmic timecode. No one had ever been able to explain why it was set to this twenty-four hour period or even what had been the determination for the length of an hour, minute, or second and yet too many life-bearing planets were so close to it. Regardless, she was on her twentieth hour of wakefulness and needed rest. She set her timer for eight hours and switched the ship¡¯s systems to wake her if any of the thousands of conditions she had programmed in over time came to fruition. As Mira moved to her Captain¡¯s quarters, she took a short detour towards Duke¡¯s cabin and immediately left. The sounds coming from his cabin told her more than enough ¨C at least someone was getting some on this ship. Owning the ship wasn¡¯t supposed to be a lonely life. She had planned on getting another mate in every station. Hell, she had planned on having an entire crew but they had drifted to other ships over time and it was harder and harder to replace crew as the Syndicate tightened its monopoly. And yet, here she was walking back to her quarters alone, again. She shook her head, dismissing the thought. ¡°We have one hell of a fight ahead of us ¨C just surviving the next few months will be something in and of itself. How the hell are we going to fight the entire Syndicate? With a single drop ship and six mechs? Yeah, we¡¯re screwed.¡± She made her way to her bed and collapsed, exhausted. *** When Duke awoke, he was alone as Aurelia had left at some point during the night. He had been so exhausted mentally, emotionally, and physically that he slept through the night. His first instinct was to go find her and convince her to stay but after their extended conversations last night, he knew it would be a futile effort. Frustration underpinned his mood as he stepped on the bridge. Lya¡¯s joke about him sleeping too much died on her lips when she saw him. He couldn¡¯t help but pick up on her reaction with his XENOGLOSSIA which was currently his most hated Ability. It had shown him the desperate sincerity of Aurelia¡¯s words last night and was what truly cemented the fact she was leaving in his heart. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Good morning everyone. Did everyone get settled in after our escape?¡± Mira pulled up a ship¡¯s status screen on the main viewscreen for all to see. She explained it rather than having them read their way through. ¡°We have six mechs fully secured in the mech bay. There are sixty-four infantry housed in the lower staterooms, and the rest of us are all fine. We have room for another twenty-six mechs and two hundred thirty-six infantry if we are looking for a full loadout. We only have provisioning for a total of six weeks right now. We can stretch that if we start rationing. One core has been depleted but the other twenty-three are full. In all, we are in good shape.¡± Duke smiled appreciatively, ¡°That¡¯s a solid report. Thank you. I have a further question for you, Commander Zarkon.¡± ¡°Ask away.¡± ¡°Can any of your infantry pilot a mech?¡± Zarkon scoffed, ¡°To pilot a mech is the dream of virtually all infantry but sadly, the ability to operate a mech is a rare Class Ability that requires special conditioning and training to achieve.¡± Gro¡¯nok added, ¡°Our mech pilots are chosen before they take their first Class. They must undergo a grueling test of resolve and capability to qualify. Very few actually qualify. More than a few do not survive the trials.¡± ¡°I was completely unaware of that. Thanks for clarifying it and that sounds barbaric to me, but I understand that I was raised in a different culture so I¡¯ll just back off that right now. My follow-up question is this: How many mech pilots does your Clan have?¡± ¡°The Clan has a total of forty trained and capable mech pilots, but sadly, we only had eighteen functioning mechs at last count including the six below in the mech bay.¡± ¡°Well, that makes this next part more interesting. How many are left in your Clan? The reason I ask is this: The Syndicate knows that the Steel Tusks are involved with me by now. I expect they are going to make a move on your Clan as a way to put pressure on you to turn me over to them. I would rather get your Clanmates onboard this ship where it¡¯s safer than a fixed location.¡± Urgoth spoke, ¡°Our clan is small but not that small. Even with the crafters and children excluded, the fighters alone would more than fill the empty rooms on this ship several times over.¡± ¡°OK, that gives me something more to work on. There may be a way to fit them all on the ship comfortably. Do you think the rest of the Clan would leave their home if we showed up?¡± ¡°We are a proud people, but not a foolish one. We well know about the Syndicate and their tactics. It would take some convincing, but I think they would join us, knowing what the Syndicate would likely do to them if they were found.¡± ¡°Gro¡¯nok, Urgoth, would you mind joining me in the conference room? We have much to discuss.¡± Duke did not wait for an answer before heading into the room. He was fully seated when the pair of orcs joined him. They sat down with neutral expressions on their faces. Duke jumped right in, ¡°The first question I have for you is whether you really want to commit to coming along with me on this journey. I will not be offended in the slightest if you decide this is a suicide mission and decide to separate yourselves from my path. This is my path, but it does not have to be yours.¡± The orcs looked at each other before turning back to Duke and laughing. ¡°You think we would abandon an ally just because things get difficult or dangerous? Ha! This is when it gets fun. We seek a glorious life and do not turn from a glorious death!¡± ¡°OK, then I am going to share some things that very few know about. Can you show me any recordings of your home?¡± ¡°Recordings of our home? Why would you need that?¡± ¡°I will tell you, but you have to keep it a secret until it is time to reveal it to everyone. Agreed?¡± ¡°Very well, agreed,¡± Urgoth answered. Duke pulled a dungeon core from his INVENTORY and palmed it in his hand. ¡°Please suit up. We are going to be leaving the ship¡¯s atmosphere for a while.¡± The pair activated their extra-atmospheric modes of their mech pilot suits, exchanging confused looks before Duke TELEPORTED the three of them to the closest barren planet. As they stumbled, regaining their equilibrium, Duke tossed the Dungeon Core down to plant itself. The pair followed the glowing core as it landed some twenty meters away and began to grow. ¡°What is that thing?¡± Urgoth asked. ¡°That, my friends, is a newly forming dungeon. Give it a minute to finish and I¡¯ll show why I asked for the recordings of your home.¡± They waited patiently as the dust of the planet¡¯s surface formed into a five-meter-tall hill with what appeared to be a cave opening facing them. Duke peered at the cave for a moment before heading over. ¡°Come on in.¡± He stepped inside and to the side of the entrance so that the pair of orcs could see the full effect when they entered. ¡°What in the name of the lost tribes is this?¡± Gro¡¯nok asked in wonder as he stepped onto the bridge of the Iron Reaver. ¡°I don¡¯t know brother, but it looks like the bridge of the ship. But where is everyone?¡± ¡°It does look like the ship, but this is, in fact, a dungeon that I created.¡± Duke caused them both to start and flinch in his direction. ¡°It is an exact replica of the ship except it¡¯s not a ship at all.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an illusion?¡± ¡°Not at all. Everything is real enough. I did not design it to be functional though. That is a bit beyond me at this point but someday perhaps I can do that.¡± Duke trailed off in thought before being pulled back. ¡°This is unreal,¡± Gro¡¯nok announced as he sat down in a chair. ¡°It feels exactly the same.¡± Duke smiled. ¡°I want to create a copy of your home for your Clan on the ship. It would be as real as this place feels. With even more information, I can make it even more real, like with the right air, seasons, vegetation, anything. And it will be a safe space. Nothing I have encountered can harm a dungeon from the outside. So, even if the ship gets blown up, the dungeon inside will survive. There might be something powerful enough to hurt it out here in the cosmos, but I haven¡¯t found it yet.¡± ¡°This is like nothing I have ever heard of before. A wonder that defies logic. My blood boils with the thought of what this would mean for the Clan.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the actual ship and talk about recordings.¡± Duke TELEPORTED them back to the ship. There was much to plan and much to discuss. Book 3, Chpter 37 The three stepped out of the conference room sometime later with continued meaningful glances. Duke immediately went to his room to work on the new Dungeon Core. He had numerous recordings to compare against and was doing his best to make it as accurate as he could. He knew that he could make changes afterward with his DUNGEON MANIPULATION Ability, but he also knew that was really only useful for fine work and not the larger aspects, at least not with it still only at Initiate rank. He spent hours working on the core in his room, getting up and walking around the ship from time to time. More than once, he found himself in front of Aurelia¡¯s door but did not knock. Instead, he wound up walking away, emotions roiling. And then the Notification came. *** Attention! The Dungeon designated as ¡°Emergency Shelter¡± has been destroyed. As you continue to maintain a total higher than 1,000 dungeons, no penalty will be assessed at this time. *** Duke immediately made for the bridge. He wasn¡¯t sure what he was going to do but he felt that he had to do something. Mira was the only one on the bridge when he arrived and he just opened up, ¡°Remember the heavy cruiser?¡± ¡°Yeah. We should go pick that up at some point.¡± ¡°I think the Syndicate already has.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The dungeon where I stashed the crew has been destroyed. Someone has to have gotten in there and gotten to the core. Who else could it have been?¡± ¡°Damn. So, no heavy cruiser for us then.¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t exactly have a crew for it, did we?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure we could have scared up someone. The Syndicate has put a lot of private ships out of business. Not sure what their crews are doing right now. Maybe hauling freight and trying to smuggle mechs? Probably what I would have done.¡± ¡°Instead, you are on the run just waiting to fight a battle against stupid odds against an oppressive corporation.¡± ¡°Good summary. We¡¯ve been sitting in this one place for a while now. Do we have a destination? I have a few suggestions if you can¡¯t come up with one.¡± ¡°I have two actually, but I only know where one of them is.¡± ¡°Do tell.¡± ¡°One is a return to Teldin. I have to check in there and drop Aurelia off. The other is the Clan¡¯s home but we¡¯re not ready for that just yet.¡± ¡°You have to drop your girlfriend off at home? Did her daddy call and say she is out past curfew?¡± Duke¡¯s hurt puppy expression stopped Mira cold, and her intuition kicked in, ¡°Oh shit, Duke. I had no idea that you broke up. From the sounds of last night, I wouldn¡¯t have guessed that. What happened? Did you have a fight this morning?¡± ¡°No, nothing like that. Her place is on Teldin and mine doesn¡¯t seem to be anymore. I am growing in a different direction than she is and it¡¯s putting a wedge in our relationship. Nobody¡¯s done anything wrong. It¡¯s just how it is.¡± ¡°That sounds mature and reasoned. Where the hell is the real Duke?¡± ¡°Looking for something to kill, so let¡¯s go pick up the Clan and head for Teldin. I have a bit of a surprise for the Clan.¡± ¡°A good surprise, I hope?¡± Gro¡¯nok asked as he entered the bridge. ¡°Sorry, didn¡¯t mean to overhear your conversation but I was headed here, and walked in on Duke mentioning wanting to kill something. You sure you¡¯re not an orc?¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Maybe at heart, my friend. Are you ready to head for the Clan home?¡± ¡°The question really is, are you ready, Duke?¡± ¡°The core is as ready as I can make it for the initial reveal. Once it is planted, you six can help me refine things.¡± ¡°You can change it after it¡¯s made?¡± ¡°Of course. It¡¯s kind of my thing, even if I don¡¯t do it nearly enough. I should be putting these things out by the thousand, really.¡± ¡°By the thousand?¡± Who would want a thousand of the same place?¡± ¡°Oh, no. they would all be different. What I¡¯ve made for the Clan is a very specific aspect of my Ability. Most are just random.¡± Mira¡¯s face grew sterner, ¡°Duke. What are you planning?¡± ¡°Oh, right. I probably should talk to you about this. I want to plant a dungeon on the ship.¡± ¡°Oh, fuck no. Not a chance. No, no, no!¡± ¡°Just hear me out.¡± She glared at him, ¡°You had better be real fucking convincing¡­¡± ¡°I am creating, well, have created a copy of the Clan¡¯s home in a dungeon. If we plant the dungeon here on the ship, it will take up a single room but will have room for the whole Clan and even have room for the Clan to expand.¡± ¡°What happens to a dungeon when it¡¯s dragged into Exospace?¡± Duke stopped at Mira¡¯s question. ¡°I actually don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s ever been tried. Excuse me for a few minutes.¡± Duke TELEPORTED to the planet he had taken the Orcs to and stepped into the dungeon. The Overmind¡¯s avatar was waiting for him in the Captain¡¯s chair. ¡°Hello Duke. Predictable much?¡± ¡°Hopefully not that much. At least for everyone else.¡± ¡°OK, I¡¯ll give you that for now but if you aren¡¯t smart, you will become predictable which means you would become manipulable.¡± ¡°And that would be a problem.¡± ¡°Yes, I do believe it would. But that¡¯s not why you came here to summon me, is it, Duke?¡± ¡°No, not at all. There are two things.¡± ¡°The Exospace question and the destroyed dungeon?¡± Duke hung his head. ¡°Predictable, huh?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t feel too bad. They are good questions. I¡¯ll start with the dungeon one. Yes, the core of the dungeon was located and destroyed. I can¡¯t say who did it, but I¡¯d wager you could guess. The question I have for you is this: What does that mean for any other dungeons you have on that planet and how might that affect you?¡± ¡°They might be able to locate the other dungeons and destroy them too. That is a problem. I need to plant more, and make them stronger.¡± ¡°I agree with both those things and maybe hide them a bit better. If you are simply planting them for quantity which is fine for now, maybe hide them underground?¡± ¡°Yeah, good idea.¡± ¡°I thought so,¡± the Overmind chuckled. ¡°Now, about the Exospace question. It will have no effect on a core or on a grown dungeon. The dungeon portal is merely an anchor to its dimension. If Exospace disrupted such anchors every magical storage device on the ship would fail.¡± ¡°If the portal is just a dimensional anchor, is that why the exterior structure of the dungeons seems to be immune to damage?¡± ¡°That is a good leap to take, Duke. Yes, the external structure is outside the dimensions of normal space so nothing in normal space can affect it. Be wary of dimension-breaching weapons though. Those can be real bad news.¡± ¡°Had no idea that such things existed. Thanks for that new nightmare fuel.¡± ¡°Happy to help. Now that that¡¯s all taken care of, have you put any more thought into the Contest?¡± ¡°I still want to arrive on the late side. There¡¯s still too much of an opportunity to build up my power out here with the brimming conflict with the Syndicate and the ongoing bounty.¡± ¡°Very well. I will let you know when the time is close. For now, lean into your little war. Stop holding back and take it to your enemy. I don¡¯t want you to walk into the Contest as my hidden trump card; I want you to walk in as the most feared force on the field.¡± ¡°Right. You want me to go full-on-murderhobo?¡± ¡°I want you to kill your enemies. I am the Overmind of all dungeons. As a whole, dungeons one drive is to kill those that enter and feed upon their energies. Even despite your few recent unique versions, the purpose hasn¡¯t changed. You are my Contestant. Call yourself my Chosen or Champion if it fits your mindset better, but as such, you need to up your aggression. Stop running from your enemies and make them fear you like your primitive ancestors feared stepping away from the campfire at night.¡± ¡°That¡¯s one hell of a bloodthirsty commission you just handed me.¡± ¡°They just killed one of your creations. One of our dungeons. Make them PAY for that transgression. Make them fear your very name!¡± Duke found himself outside the dungeon. He did not recall leaving but he for sure recalled the Overmind¡¯s words. The passionate anger still flowed through his veins. It felt like he finally had permission to cut loose. I know I¡¯ve said that I¡¯m going to cut loose before, but now I know that I can. That it¡¯s OK to leave my hesitation behind. To leave the weakness of humanity behind for I am no longer human. I am no longer limited, and I must grow stronger. Book 3, Chapter 38 Duke spent the next several hours scattering dungeons in the numerous voids he found under the surface of the planet. In all, he planted more than 5,000 new dungeons underneath the plant¡¯s surface, even going so far as to use his EARTH Ability to sink the entrance to the one he had made on the surface. I wonder what it will be like when these dungeons mature enough to start putting out cores of their own and sending dungeon monsters out to spread them. I expect it would compound over time with the dungeons overspreading the entire planet eventually. With that thought, Duke headed back to the ship to find a bit of a crowd waiting for him. All the orcs came out of the conference room when he appeared. Lya and Mira were also waiting for him with Aurelia. ¡°Looks like the gang is all here. All we are missing is Zarkon.¡± An enormous forearm rested on Duke¡¯s head in response, ¡°Oh, no. I¡¯m here too. They told me you would be right back but that was hours ago. Where have you been, my friend?¡± ¡°Gathering information and making sure theories worked in practicality. What have you all been up to?¡± ¡°Waiting for you, mostly,¡± Mira replied. ¡°We didn¡¯t want to take off and leave you behind somewhere. Figured that might be a bit rude.¡± ¡°Yeah, just a bit. So, any discussions on the next destination while I was out or are we still heading to Clan space?¡± ¡°You confirmed that your plan will work?¡± Absolutely sure? I¡¯m not putting my ship in unnecessary danger. Necessary danger? Sure, all the time. But not if it¡¯s something that we should have known better than to try.¡± ¡°It¡¯s confirmed. At least as safe as your own storage items, probably even more secure.¡± Zarkon stepped around Duke, ¡°What are you all talking about? What does this have to do with storage items?¡± Gro¡¯nok answered after a moment¡¯s pause where numerous glances were exchanged to Zarkon¡¯s irritation, ¡°Duke has a way to bring the entire Clan along with us.¡± ¡°Has the Clan gotten so small that they could fit in the remaining spaces?¡± ¡°No, the Clan is actually bigger than it was the last time you were on Capnok.¡± Lya cut in, ¡°Capnok? That¡¯s your homeworld, Gro¡¯nok?¡± ¡°Yes, Capnok is the home of the Clan. Do not make me regret sharing that with you.¡± Duke made his way over to the navigation console and was able to locate the planet rather easily. He pulled up the data and quickly perused it. ¡°It¡¯s about a hundred light years away from here.¡± ¡°Ten weeks,¡° Mira lamented. ¡°One hour, maybe less,¡± Duke countered, and all eyes shifted in his direction. ¡°You have another ship up your sleeve, Duke? One that is faster than anything I have ever heard of?¡± Urgoth¡¯s question was just what Duke was looking for. ¡°No, we¡¯ll use this ship. But here¡¯s the deal. I¡¯ve decided to go at our enemies full-force. I¡¯m not going to hold back anymore. I¡¯m taking the fight to them and, in order to do so, I need to make sure my allies are secure so anything that delays that task is no longer acceptable. Relying on stardrive to carry us across that distance over the course of ten weeks is one of those delays. I can get us there in about ten hops like the one that got us here actually. I¡¯m not concealing secrets anymore if they hinder my progress. The Syndicate has agents everywhere so my secrets will be known quickly anyway. All our secrets for that matter. So, there¡¯s no point for anyone to hold back, is there?¡± ¡°I suppose there is not,¡± Mira responded. ¡°But outright telling them what we can do is not on the list, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, I would not put that on the list of things to do. But I am going to expect them to know what we can do and to have counters ready. We just have to be better than their counters. Which means we all need to gain experience and level up or even Tier up if possible. Do you know what was piloting the titan mech?¡± ¡°What, not who?¡± Gro¡¯nok asked. ¡°It was a Tier Eight demon. His name was Carlyle but I don¡¯t think that matters much. What matters is that in a lot of the fights coming up, we are going to be outgunned, out leveled, and out Tiered.¡± ¡°Then we fight dirty, like papa Gra¡¯Tuke taught us,¡± Urgoth said. ¡°Never fight a fair fight, he said. If you can win by fighting fair, then you should have talked your opponent into giving up. If you can¡¯t win fair, you fight dirty and learn from the experience.¡± ¡°Not exactly what I was thinking, but it works. We have to make it so expensive for them to pursue us that it¡¯s a bad business decision to continue. Get them to cut their losses and run.¡± ¡°And just how do you propose we do that, Duke?¡± Lya asked. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Destroy their fleets to start. Right now they don¡¯t really know how precise I can be when TELEPORTING the ship but if I can see the target in some way, I can place us millimeters from the target. Imagine arriving at a space station where they have a fleet docked and just blasting the ships in the dock to hell and then disappearing. Only to appear at another space station half the galaxy away and do the same thing again in an hour. How are they going to be able to stop us from doing that if they have no idea where we are going to hit them next?¡± ¡°They will find a way to stop you from TELEPORTING the ship,¡± Mira said. ¡°Perhaps, but it won¡¯t be easy and in all that time, we are all getting stronger while their forces get more and more strung out.¡± ¡°The biggest problem I see is that this ship¡¯s not blowing anything much larger than us up anytime soon. At least not with the weaponry it currently has,¡± Lya said. ¡°What¡¯s the biggest limiting factor to the weaponry you can use on your ship, Mira?¡± ¡°Power. It takes a lot to power-up weapons.¡± ¡°And if you had, say, 10 times the power, would that change the weapons you could use?¡± ¡°Oh shit, you¡¯re right. The new cores!¡± ¡°Exactly. I want to see if we can figure out how to set up an entirely new set of cores just for weapons and with that, we can upgrade all the weapons and be able to punch way above our weight-class.¡± ¡°Bleed them. Burn them. Kill them all!¡± The Steel Tusks took up a bloodthirsty shout that reverberated across the bridge. Mira gave Duke a serious look, ¡°Even though I love the idea of having more firepower at my disposal, this ship is a mech and infantry transport. It¡¯s designed to get in fast, provide cover while unloading, and get back out just as fast. It is not a capitol ship. I don¡¯t care how many weapons we glue to the hull; it will never stand up to even a single heavy cruiser in a fight. Find another plan.¡± ¡°OK, we¡¯ll come up with another plan, but I still think the seemingly random strikes would be effective.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not arguing against that concept. I¡¯m just not going to bring this ship, loaded with people, repeatedly into a fight where we are heavily outnumbered and outclassed in weaponry, armor, and shielding. That¡¯s an invitation to disaster. Find another way.¡± ¡°Right. We¡¯ll find another way. But for now, let¡¯s head to Capnok and at least check in on the Clan. It will be up to them to decide whether they want to come with us.¡± Gro¡¯nok growled, ¡°The Council will decide, and we will persuade them.¡± Duke nodded, ¡°I think that¡¯s good? Whatever the case, meet me in the mech bay in ten minutes with all your Clanmates. I have something to show you all. Then we will be heading straight for Capnok.¡± Duke TELEPORTED down to the mech bay and began to pull mechs from his INVENTORY, placing them in their individual slots. Most mech slots seemed to be of a standard size, but there were three that were much larger. Duke guessed the three were for exactly what he was putting in one, the titan mech. He performed a CLEANSE and RESTORE on each of the mechs and replaced the cores in the ones he had removed them from, finishing up with the titan. He had even taken the two nearly-destroyed Clan mechs to place next to the other Steel Tusk mechs. He had barely finished up when the orcs entered the mech bay. He met them at the entrance with a shit-eating grin, ¡°Hello everyone. I picked up a few more mechs for the Clan. You might want to change their color schemes but I think you¡¯re going to like them.¡± ¡°By Harmid¡¯s infected tusk, that¡¯s a titan mech!¡± ¡°And the Ebon Dancer! She lives again! But how? How is this possible?¡± Mira stepped into the mech bay smiling, ¡°That¡¯s Duke¡¯s doing. He has a crazy Ability that fixes things like new.¡± ¡°Just like that?¡± Urgoth asked. ¡°Just like that,¡± Duke responded. ¡°Like I said before, I¡¯m done hiding. I¡¯m going to use all my Abilities including this one for our benefit. If it helps us steal mechs from the Syndicate that they think were lost or destroyed, I¡¯m going to do just that. If I can use my Abilities to destroy their ships, I¡¯ll do that too. You are in this for as far as you want to go but I¡¯m going to take this to the end. They chose us as enemies, now they will have to deal with the consequences of that choice.¡± ¡°Yes, you sound more and more like one of us, Duke,¡± Gro¡¯nok said. ¡°We six Steel Tusks stand with you at the minimum. When the Clan sees what you have done for us, I am sure they will also join.¡± ¡°Especially since the Syndicate will have cut them off from mech transport,¡± Urgoth said. ¡°Yes, brother, that is true. Let¡¯s make haste to Capnok and gather the Clan.¡± Duke listened to the continuing conversation with only part of his attention. The rest of his mind was dedicated to the first TELEPORTATION waypoint on their journey to Capnok. When he felt sure of the destination, he moved the ship across the first ten-thousand lightyear jump. The only indication in the mech bay was that Duke sagged slightly as he had used nearly his entire Mana pool to make the jump. After a few seconds of regen, he TELEPORTED back to the bridge, leaving the orcs and Mira in an animated discussion of deployment tactics with a full mech bay and how the titan mech would fit into those plans. Duke took over the navigation station again. It was becoming so common for him to be there that it was now an unwritten rule that anyone sitting there simply moved when he came on the bridge. He didn¡¯t mind. He was used to being in charge but not used to being the final level of leadership. He knew that he had all but abdicated his role as the King of Stormstride with his continual absences. There was underlying guilt there even though he had set the kingdom up for success on both economic and military fronts. It wasn¡¯t the entirety of the reason that he wanted to head back to Teldin, but it was one of them. Duke¡¯s Mana had refilled so he set the second waypoint in his mind and TELEPORTED the ship along. This continued for the next several jumps before Mira and the orcs rejoined him on the bridge. He waved at them as they entered. ¡°Duke, where are we?¡± Mira asked, her tone rising with concern. ¡°One stop from our destination. Everyone ready?¡± ¡°Ready for what?¡± Morka asked. ¡°This!¡± Duke activated his final TELEPORTATION to get them to the Capnok system. They arrived close enough to the planet that it was recognizable on the viewscreen with some magnification. What they saw around the planet set off alarms. ¡°Syndicate ships!¡± It was hard to say who said it first, but the realization hit them all at essentially the same time. Mira landed in the Captain¡¯s chair so fast that no one was sure they even saw her move. She had the ship¡¯s shields on at full before anyone else could even take a step. The weapons were deployed and fully energized by the time the Steel Tusks had decided to head for the mech bay. For them, the fight had come to their home and they were going to defend the Clan with everything they had. Book 3, Chapter 39 Mira quickly had the Syndicate ships up on the screen. She let out a sigh of relief and relayed what she saw, ¡°It¡¯s six transports, twelve freighters, and four escort ships. This could have been a whole lot worse.¡± She used the shipwide broadcast so that everyone could participate in the conversation. ¡°What¡¯s in the transports?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Can¡¯t tell. Sensors aren¡¯t THAT good.¡± ¡°They could have thousands of troops with mechs and who knows what else on those transports. We should destroy them before they can deploy to the planet!¡± Murgan declared. ¡°What if they have Clan prisoners on those transports?¡± Morka countered. That caused everyone to stop and consider the matter. ¡°I need to get closer,¡± Duke announced. If I can get within a few hundred kilometers, I can see what or who is on the transport ships.¡± ¡°They¡¯ve seen us by now,¡± Mira said. ¡°We¡¯re not going to take them by surprise at this point and they will be contacting us with demands shortly, I expect.¡± ¡°If they have taken hostages, they all die,¡± Duke declared. ¡°Weren¡¯t we going to kill them all anyway?¡± Gro¡¯nok said. ¡°Good point. Anything you can see down on the planet¡¯s surface?¡± Mira changed the main screen¡¯s focus and pulled up what information she could. ¡°I am seeing explosions and evidence of fighting surrounding a massive black castle of some kind.¡± ¡°The Clanhold! They assault the Clan! Get us down there!¡± Duke studied the fighting for a long moment before calling for action, ¡°Steel Tusks, prepare for rapid deployment into a hot landing zone. I¡¯m going to place you behind where I think their command and control mechs are. Hit them with everything you can bring to bear while Mira takes on the escort ships.¡± Mira glared at Duke, ¡°Didn¡¯t I just tell you that this ship can¡¯t take on capitol ships!¡± ¡°Those are transport escorts, not capitol ships. You can take them, and I¡¯ll make sure we stay in one piece while you do. Once the escorts are taken care of, I¡¯ll join the fight on the surface while you provide cover, Mira.¡± ¡°Negative, Duke. The transports and freighters are armed as well. I¡¯m going to have to stay up here just to keep them in check.¡± ¡°OK, then let¡¯s get the Steel Tusks deployed.¡± ¡°And the Thorned Rose. We will not sit out this fight when our brothers and sisters in arms defend their home.¡± ¡°Shit. OK, Gather your troops in the mech bay too. I¡¯ll place you all in behind the mechs.¡± ¡°Very well, we¡¯ll be in position in thirty seconds.¡± ¡°Thirty seconds, roger. That will give me time to recharge the ship¡¯s Mana.¡± Duke didn¡¯t waste time and TELEPORTED to the engineering section to refill the ship¡¯s two Mana cores that needed it. One was empty and the other was down by about a quarter. It took nearly the full thirty seconds to fill them up, but it kept him distracted from worrying about the coming battle. ¡°The escorts have broken away and are burning for us at full thrust.¡± ¡°Good, that means they¡¯ve noticed us and want this fight. Probably trying to prevent us from getting to the planet and deploying. Let¡¯s give them a fight they won¡¯t live to remember! Everyone set in the mech bay?¡± ¡°Come and see for yourself!¡± Duke TELEPORTED himself down to the mech bay and saw the Thorned Rose mercenaries formed up in an eight-by-eight square, weapons pointed in all directions around them. The six Steel Tusk mechs were arranged in two triangular formations next to each other. They were similarly poised with weapons ready for action. ¡°Damn. Glad you are all on our side ¨C that¡¯s fucking intimidating. Go give them hell. I¡¯ll join you when we¡¯re done up here. Transit in three¡­two¡­one¡­now!¡± Duke sent them to the planet and then returned to the bridge to check in on Mira. ¡°Glad you could make it, Duke. You had better keep my ship in one piece or I¡¯m gonna be pissed!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ve got this.¡± Lya shouted from her console, ¡°Missiles inbound. Ten thousand kilometers and closing.¡± ¡°Countermeasures engaged. The anti-missile lasers should be able to get them.¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°How far away do the lasers engage the missiles?¡± Duke asked thoughtfully. ¡°They will start at about 100 kilometers but usually are not effective until inside 50 kilometers. Why do you ask? You have an idea?¡± ¡°Oh, I have an idea alright,¡± Duke grinned with malice as he tried something he had never thought of before and attempted to combine his COMBAT SENSE and DUNGEON SENSE Abilities to track the missiles and be able to react to their approach as he planned. After several seconds, he realized that it wasn¡¯t going to work as he hoped ¨C the two Abilities had significantly different range scales and were not compatible for this situation. ¡°Five thousand kilometers for the missiles. They have reached their maximum acceleration. Nine seconds until we can engage.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± Duke acknowledged. ¡°I hope these missiles are not set up with any IFF capabilities.¡± ¡°What the fuck is IFF?¡± Mira asked. ¡°One thousand kilometers.¡± ¡°Identify Friend or Foe. It keeps your own missiles from hitting you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s cool but not something I¡¯m concerned with right now. Five hundred kilometers!¡± Duke concentrated on his DUNGEON SENSE, waiting for the missiles to enter his three-hundred-kilometer range. Once they did, he TELEPORTED the missiles in front of where the sensors told him the enemy ships were, taking care to reverse their orientation. Quickly, the missiles disappeared and reappeared on the screen right in front of the enemy ships. While the missiles lost all momentum as part of the TELEPORTATION, their engines were still active and firing. They streaked towards the enemy ships, accelerating from their static start. The response from the ships was immediate as their own missile countermeasure systems activated. Lasers pierced space, firing rapid pulses at the missiles that were just too close. Of the forty missiles that had been launched, thirty were destroyed, six missed the ships but four impacted the lead ship. The explosions of Mana from the impacting missiles concealed the approaching ships from the Iron Reaver¡¯s sensors for a few seconds. When things cleared up, there were only three ships coming. The fourth was spinning uncontrollably away venting air from its forward sections. ¡°One down. Three to go,¡± Duke announced. ¡°Got any more tricks like that? If you can take another one out of the fight, I¡¯m confident that I can handle the other two.¡± ¡°TELEPORTATION is the only Ability that I have that I can use at these ranges. If we get inside 15 kilometers, I can use a few more. I really need to amp REMOTE CASTING up a bunch.¡± ¡°Enough commentary. Get to doing something.¡± As the ships were still well out of his DUNGEON SENSE range of three hundred kilometers, he couldn¡¯t target the crews and pull the trick he pulled on the heavy cruiser and TELEPORT them away. He tried for the next best thing, TELEPORTING the ships themselves. Knowing that the mech shields somehow resisted his Ability, he expected that the ships would have a similar resistance. He OVERCHANNELED the Ability, using nearly half his Mana to TELEPORT one ship into the path of another. Duke felt the strain as his Ability fought to penetrate the ship¡¯s shielding and grab hold of it. After a full ten seconds of concentration, his Ability latched on, and the ship appeared immediately in front of the other. The collision was not exactly everything he had hoped for. The shielding for both ships flared with massive expenditures of Mana and the ships deflected off each other. Both ships were sent well off course and, at least for now, somewhat out of control with their shields flickering. ¡°Best I can do for a bit. That used up most of my reserves.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good enough. Those two won¡¯t get here until I am well done with the single. You had better find some more reserves because we¡¯re going to need repairs before this fight¡¯s done.¡± ¡°Working on it. When will be in weapons range?¡± Duke¡¯s question was answered as the approaching ship opened fire, beams of focused Mana and elemental energy nearly instantly closing the distance to their ship. The impact to the Iron Reaver¡¯s shields seemed minimal to Duke as they returned fire. Mira¡¯s fingers flew across her controls as she expertly manipulated the ship¡¯s angle, acceleration, and weaponry to get the best positioning for both offense and defense. Duke had never seen her move like this before and he suddenly felt a deep-seated longing for the cockpit again. He missed the melding of man and machine and the sense of power he got while sitting in his fighter. ¡°Get. To. The. Cores!¡± Mira ground out each word as she was now fighting all three ships. Duke didn¡¯t hesitate to TELEPORT to the engineering section. There, he found that two cores were already drained and the constant hits on their shields were quickly draining a third. He immediately set to refilling the two drained cores as fast as he dared. Despite his efforts, he had only slowed the draining of cores ¨C there was only so fast he could safely fill them. He continued as the ship shuddered from a hit that must have gotten past the shields. Duke reflexively RESTORED the ship and went back to tending the cores. The two he was working on were now filled but two more were completely drained. He switched cores and hoped Mira was at least damaging the other ships. Duke was on his fourth set of refilling cores when he started to gain ground. God, I hope that means that she finally put one of them out of the fight! He had RESTORED the ship eight more times during this frantic core maintenance period. ¡°They are breaking off and running!¡± Mira¡¯s call echoed through Duke¡¯s comms and he finished topping off the cores he was working on before returning to the bridge. ¡°Don¡¯t let them flee!¡± Lya shouted. ¡°Doing my best but like I keep saying THIS SHIP IS NOT MADE FOR THIS!¡± Duke reached out and tried to grab onto the only remaining ship he could see. Its shields were barely flickering and he could feel his power latching on. ¡°Fuck! They are activating their stardrive and I can¡¯t reach them with any of our weapons!¡± Duke focused his TELEPORTATION Ability on the fleeing ship and remembered what happened when he used it on a ship in Exospace using their stardrive. He kept that feeling locked in his mind and activated his Ability the instant the ship used its stardrive to enter Exospace. He lost his Ability lock on the ship which, at this range, he hoped that it meant the ship was destroyed. ¡°They got away. Shit!¡± Mira shouted. ¡°Maybe, maybe not. I might have been able to detonate their stardrive as they jumped into Exospace. I¡¯m not 100% sure, but it is a strong possibility that it worked.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s possibly good news and thanks for keeping the ship together. There¡¯s no way we would have made it three-on-one like that if you hadn¡¯t. Now let¡¯s see what everyone else is up to!¡± Book 3, Chapter 40 Mira turned the ship towards the freighters and transports only to see them burning away from the planet at maximum acceleration. He hands danced across the ship¡¯s controls before she looked up with resignation in her eyes, ¡°There¡¯s no way I can catch up to those ships with the head start they have on us.¡± ¡°I could TELEPORT us to them.¡± ¡°Then we would have to fight them and likely destroy them to prevent them from escaping if we could even handle them all at once.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t just let them go. They could have hostages on those ships.¡± ¡°I¡¯m open to suggestions.¡± Duke growled and weighed his options. Again, he had to face the fact that he really only had one long-distance option. He steeled himself and announced, ¡°Wish me luck!¡± And then he was gone, having TELEPORTED into the path of the fleeing ships. His DUNGEON SENSE franticly worked to identify everyone on the ships while his FLIGHT Ability desperately struggled to keep up with the accelerating ships. He started with the lead ship. It was a freighter so Duke hoped it would have less people on it and he could dismiss it and move on to the next. As he expected, he only found Syndicate crew on the ship and moved on to the next. He knew his time was running out as he was pushing his FLIGHT to its limits and the ships were starting to accelerate away from him at such a rate that he had to TELEPORT back to the ships, all but nullifying his FLIGHT¡¯s ability to keep up. One by one, he scanned the ships for members of the Clan but found none. He was down to the last transport when he noticed two things at the same time. First, there were Clan members on the ship with a group of Syndicate troops surrounding them. Second, all the ships were starting to spin up their stardrives to make their escape jump. There was no more time. Duke poured all his will and every drop of Mana into penetrating the transport¡¯s shields for one desperate TELEPORT. Pain lanced through his brain as he pushed past his limits and ripped the Mana cores out of the ship. Everything went black as Duke passed out from overstrain yet again. The stardrive and all other propulsion for the ship fell silent. Its acceleration ceased but its velocity, of course, did not. Its sister ships all made their escape jumps, leaving the stricken vessel behind. A dull thud was heard reverberating through the hull as something hit and bounced off. Panic flashed through the crew as emergency lighting flickered on and the normal sounds of the ship¡¯s operation fell silent. For the Clan members, this was their opportunity. They pounced on their captors, capitalizing on their confusion and hesitation to get close enough that the Mana rifles were too awkward to use. Even though the Clan prisoners were not of the warrior caste, they were still members of the Steel Tusks Clan. They had been raised fighting daily, toning their bodies and hoping they would have what it took to join the elite warriors of the Clan. Those fighting for their lives on the ship had not passed the warrior trials and had been relegated to support roles for the Clan but they were fighting for their lives. The fighting was brutal and without mercy. The Syndicate soldiers were all highly-trained and had well-enchanted gear. Their initial pause had given the Clan members the advantage. That advantage faded once the soldiers broke out enchanted blades and orc blood began to spill in earnest as the fighting turned truly desperate. Duke awoke spinning in space, disoriented and confused. Seconds later, the fog began to lift as his Health and Mana returned. He could see the barest glow of reflected sunlight fading into the distance and hoped it was the ship. He TELEPORTED as close to it as he could figure and was able to get in range of his DUNGEON SENSE to scan it. What he saw was a horribly bloody fight that he could identify friend from foe as they melded together in his vision. In an instant, he was on the ship. There was no resistance as the shielding had failed with the disappearance of the Mana cores. He was suspended over the hold where the Clan members were struggling for their lives. They had initially outnumbered the soldiers, but reinforcements had arrived at some point. Duke quickly noted the orc bodies on the floor mixed with the Syndicate soldiers. He unleashed an arcing bolt of LIGHTNING that struck every Syndicate soldier, stunning them. There were also a number of orcs caught in the blast and Duke hoped they would be OK. Before the flash had even cleared from stunned eyes, Duke set upon the Syndicate soldiers with his tonfa. He bashed heads with his full strength, killing most with a single blow as they lay helpless. He did not consider holding back or showing any mercy, this was a war and an enemy that took non-combatants as hostages did not deserve any kindness or mercy. More soldiers poured through the doors into the chamber and Duke met them with a blast of FORCE that slammed them into the sides of the corridor, denting the metal with their bodies. Pulped and bloody corpses slid down the walls oozing with expelled bodily fluids to puddle on the floor. Duke spun around to see why the sounds of fighting had ceased behind him. He was met with grim-faced orcs wielding stolen blades and whatever else they could find as weapons. One was holding what looked like the lid to a garbage can. They were ready to fight anyone who came along despite the obvious wounds. Duke spoke before any misunderstandings could lead to further tragedy. ¡°My name is Duke. Gro¡¯nok and Urgoth sent me to rescue you while they and their triads fight the Syndicate down on the planet. You have wounded. Take and use these.¡± Duke pulled out the various healing potions he had stashed in his INVENTORY and started to hand them over to confused orcs. ¡°You are the entire rescue party?¡± ¡°Was anyone else truly needed?¡± Duke response was short and to the point. He had effectively eliminated the entire remaining Syndicate force. He could tell that there were a dozen left on the ship and they had all locked themselves in the bridge, desperately trying to figure out a way to call for help in a ship that had absolutely no power. ¡°I suppose not. What did you do to those Syndicate soldiers?¡± Duke glanced over to where the apparent leader of the orcs was pointing and realized that she was indicating the reinforcements that were caught in the hallway. He sighed, ¡°This is not my first run-in with the Syndicate and since they won¡¯t stop coming for me, I have stopped being nice and leaving their troops alive when I am done with them. That was some FORCE magic applied with little restraint.¡± Another orc remarked, ¡°I think they¡¯re going to need a mop to clean that up. It¡¯s going to smell real bad in here in a short while.¡± ¡°Right. Good call, ¡°Duke smiled as he activated his CLEANSE Ability over the area, cleaning up the mess and leaving behind only the smushed bodies. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Who are you, really?¡± ¡°The name¡¯s Duke. I am a new friend to the Clan and have come to kick the shit out of the Syndicate wherever I find them. Which, admittedly, is practically everywhere I go. We ran into them on Altis Marin Six which is where rescued Urgoth and his triad. But first we ran into them on Turin Station which is where I met Gro¡¯nok¡¯s triad. The Syndicate was trying to take our ship and the Steel Tusks helped us kick the Syndicate forces to the curb. There is more to it but that is the highlights.¡± ¡°I am Droga. Thank you for coming to our aid. I don¡¯t know what to make of your story but the names and locations align with what I knew from the council meetings. Now it seems that taking the bridge is our next move so we can take this ship and go back to Capnok.¡± Duke finally had a moment to actually look at the orc who had stepped up as the apparent spokesperson or leader of this group of captured clan members. She was shorter than any of the orcs Duke had met to this point. What she lacked in height, she made up in muscular bulk. Her hair was short and sparse, sticking up like clumps of trimmed beach grass. Her tusks were yellowed with age and capped with carved brass. Her wrinkled skin showed her age but there was a deep fire in her green eyes that encouraged Duke. ¡°I guess the question I have for you first is whether you want this ship to use after this or whether you just wanted it for the trip back planetside?¡± ¡°This is a poor excuse for a transport ship, but it would be enough to get us back home. I¡¯m sure it has some value for sale or scrap. The Clan has no interest in keeping a ship such as this. Were it an actual warship, we might have need of it seeing as the Syndicate has placed themselves in opposition to us.¡± ¡°Thay have for sure and I¡¯m going to help you all kick their asses. But since you don¡¯t want this ship, that makes this easier. When you are ready, I will TELEPORT you to the Iron Reaver, our dropship. It is a far better ship than this piece of Syndicate trash. They will take you back down to the surface while I finish this ship off.¡± She looked at Duke for a long moment before turning back to the rest of the group, ¡°Gather the dead and wounded. We will be going home soon. But, before then. Raid this ship! Reclaim everything that is our and steal anything that is not!¡± Duke¡¯s smile grew at Droga¡¯s call to action, ¡°If you¡¯ll excuse me, there¡¯s a bridge crew that needs a swift introduction to the cold vacuum of space.¡± ¡°Oh, yes. Let them feel the panic as their blood freezes.¡± Duke focused his DUNGEON SENSE yet again to make sure no one had moved. What he found was that they had armed themselves and were all facing the entryway. Focusing on trying new things in the few minutes he had while the ship was being looted, he experimented with his Abilities. First, he tried to IDENTIFY the members of the bridge crew through his DUNGEON SENSE. He got the sense that it was possible, but not at his current rank of Ability. Next, he tried to use IDENTIFY in conjunction with REMOTE CASTING. That worked like a charm and he was able to discover that the only crew member that was above a Tier Two was the Captain who was a low Tier Three. Duke considered popping onto the bridge and intimidating them all before he decided it just wasn¡¯t worth it. He decided to try one more thing. He focused on his TELEPORTATION Ability and tried to just TELEPORT their bodies into space, leaving everything else behind. To his surprise and delight, it worked. He followed up by appearing on the bridge and collecting all that was left behind into his INVENTORY before heading back to the hold to wait for the Steel Talons to be ready. It took no more than ten minutes for them to be back in the hold, re-armed and armored in their own gear plus carrying all sorts of other things that they had taken from the ship. Duke looked them over and offered a salute, ¡°My sorrows for your losses but my heart swells with pride that they fought and died in battle with our enemies.¡± Duke was not sure of the phrasing, but his XENOGLOSSIA conveyed the sentiment into their language and he got the reaction he was hoping for. ¡°To die in battle is to live in glory!¡± The refrain was universal and shook the walls with volume and enthusiasm. The bloodthirsty grin that spread across the tusked Clan members set Duke into the right mood for what was to come once he dropped them all off. ¡°Prepare yourselves. It is time to go, and I will be leaving you once I deliver you to the Iron Reaver. There is much still to be done, and I am sure the fighting has not ended yet.¡± One orc raised a hand to forestall Duke, but he paid it no heed as he TELEPORTED them all, including the dead, to the largest common area on the residential decks. Lya was waiting for them there and greeted them. Duke headed up to the bridge to check in with Mira. ¡°Mira, I¡¯m back. I was able to rescue a bunch of the Steel Talon hostages. Some died in the battle before I could get to them. They are in good spirits for now and are in the common room on the residential deck. Any word from planetside on how things are going?¡± ¡°It¡¯s rough down there. Even with the reinforcements we brought, they are being pushed back. There are just too many Syndicate mechs for them to handle.¡± ¡°Do you have any way of contacting them and the infantry? For that matter, is there a way to broadcast to everyone down there all at once?¡± ¡°Yes, to both. What do you have in mind?¡± ¡°Good. Put me on our channel first, please.¡± ¡°You¡¯re on now.¡± ¡°Attention Steel Tusks and Thorned Rose! This is Duke. I need you to pull back immediately. You do not want to be in range of what is about to happen to the Syndicate forces. Gro¡¯nok, let me know when you are all clear.¡± ¡°Duke, we¡¯re fucking neck-deep in the Syndicate forces. There¡¯s no way to withdraw and there¡¯s just too many of them!¡± ¡°Understood. Prepare to be forcibly pulled out of the fight for your own safety then.¡± Duke cut the channel, ¡°Is there any way for me to feed the ¡®call everybody¡¯ through my comms crystal?¡± ¡°Sure. What the hell are you doing, Duke?¡± ¡°Showing our enemies what happens when you mess with my friends and allies. You may as well start towards the planet. The Syndicate forces are about to die horribly. Set up the link.¡± ¡°You¡¯re connected.¡± Duke gave her a nod and TELEPORTED over the fighting, maintaining his height with his FLIGHT. Using his DUNGEON SENSE, he located every allied troop, mech, civilian, and essentially everyone not Syndicate. He immediately could see what Gro¡¯nok had meant. There were no battle lines ¨C things had turned into a bloody slugfest with forces mixed and fighting each other tooth and nail. Without further consideration, he TELEPORTED all but the Syndicate forces a kilometer away. The Syndicate forces broke into temporary confusion as the fighting suddenly ceased and their opponents vanished. Instead, they saw a single figure glowing in the sky above, obscured by smoke and the dust kicked up by fighting. Before they could act a voice cut into their comms systems. ¡°Syndicate forces, you have attacked my allies without provocation or reason. You have been judged and found guilty of this crime. Now, I take your very souls as recompense!¡± Duke activated UMBRAL REAPER, OVERCHANNELED with over 40 million Mana, focused entirely on the Syndicate forces. A few shots came his way before the Ability took effect, but they were not particularly accurate at this range. He ignored them as his Ability started despite one clipping his leg. Dark forms rose from the ground, sucking the light and life from the area. Nightmare creatures of all shapes and sizes clawed up mech¡¯s legs, passing through the ineffective shields. They grabbed Syndicate infantry and tore through them without leaving a trace save for the looks of absolute horror and terror left on their frozen faces. Mechs ran and tried to dodge the horrors but fared no better than the infantry. Over the course of a full five minutes, the creatures of darkness reigned over the battlefield, their cries and shrieks freezing most every onlooker in place. In the end, the creatures faded back into the ground and all that was left on the battlefield were the dead. Duke called over the comms again, ¡°The field is clear of the Syndicate forces, and now I must rest.¡± He did not go down to meet the Steel Tusks but instead landed some distance away to recover. All his Abilities had a cost, but most were simply Mana. This one, however, had a cost on his sanity. He knew he would recover but watching your every nightmare come forward and wreak havoc was psychically taxing. It was one of the reasons Duke continually pumped up his Psyche in the hopes it would help him compensate. He thought it was helping, but he could not be sure as he pushed the Ability further and further every time. Book 3, Chapter 41 To distract himself from the aftereffects of his Ability, Duke went through his Notifications. There were a lot, so he skimmed most but some were more poignant than others. *** For contributing the slaying of 2,016 foes of Tier Three or lower, you receive 122,400 experience. For directly slaying 62 Tier Four foes of similar level to you, you receive 992,000 experience. You are now level 145 and have 144 Characteristic Points to spend. *** Your Abilities have seen growth: Your TELEPORTATION has increased to Grandmaster 81 Your REGENERATION has increased to Master 9 Your OVERCHANNEL has increased to Adept 106 Your MENTAL FORTITUDE has increased to Adept 45 Your FORCE has increased to Initiate 49 Your UMBRAL REAPER has increased to Adept 81 Your CLEANSE has increased to Practiced 44 Your RESTORE has increased to Master 79 Your IDENTIFY has increased to Practiced 22 Your REMOTE CASTING has increased to Initiate 16 Your INVENTORY has increased to Practiced 52 Your ARMOR SKIN has increased to Adept 73 Your FLIGHT has increased to Practiced 79 Your DUNGEON SENSE has increased to Master 39 Your DUNGEON CORE CREATION has increased to Adept 31 Your Diplomacy Skill has increased to Practiced 14 You have singlehandedly defeated a superior force again through the application of horrific Abilities. This has been witnessed by the entire Steel Talon Clan while you acted in their defense. This action, combined with your inspired words to their foes has had a significant affect on their collective attitude towards you. There are some among the Clan who regard you as a potentially divine being. Be wary of the unwitting steps to godhood as you may find the end result more restrictive than expected. *** Duke found the last notification more than sufficient distraction. I don¡¯t know what I am becoming or what I ultimately will be in this world, but no fucking way am I going to be a god. I¡¯ll take a bit of hero worship because I am that awesome but that¡¯s as far as that needs to go. I¡¯m just getting by and doing the best I can with an increasingly shitty hand. Settling his thoughts, Duke headed back to the battlefield to find the Steel Tusks congregating around the fallen foes. He saw more than one body being kicked out of the way. Clearly, they had no regard for their Syndicate foes. As he approached the point where he saw them congregating, he noticed Gro¡¯nok¡¯s mech in the center and picked up his pace. ¡°And here he is now,¡± Gro¡¯nok announced. ¡°Everyone, please allow me to introduce you to Duke. Duke is our staunchest ally in this new struggle against the Syndicate. As you can tell by the fallen foes around us, he is a terrifying force on the battlefield.¡± ¡°You could say that again, I damn near pissed myself watching whatever in the hells that was!¡± Duke did not see who had said that but the laughter that followed refreshed his heart. He smiled, ¡°Yeah. That Ability takes a bit of nightmare fuel. Is everyone OK? I know it was a pitched battle when I got here so I hope I arrived in time.¡± A wizened orc elder stepped right up to Duke, sizing him up with her rheumy red eyes. Despite her bent-over posture, her eyes were still right in line with Duke¡¯s. She squinted and spoke, ¡°You don¡¯t look like any god I¡¯ve ever heard of.¡± Duke stared the orc straight in the eye. ¡°That¡¯s probably because I am no god.¡± ¡°Then why does the system label you as a Chosen Champion of a True Elder?¡± ¡°Is that what it really says?¡± Duke asked, shocked. ¡°Indeed, youngling. That is what the system says. Care to explain that?¡± Another voice cut in, ¡°Grandmother, please. The Duke came hundreds of light years to come here and save us from the Syndicate attack. Don¡¯t offend him.¡± ¡°Pshaw. I¡¯m not offending him. I¡¯m asking him a question. Learn the difference, child. Now, if you will answer my question¡­¡± ¡°Grandmother?¡± Duke hesitantly started before receiving a nod from her to continue. ¡°I am indeed the Chosen Champion of an Entity, but that in no way, shape, or form, makes me a god. I may no longer be human, and I may have Abilities far beyond most, I am still not a god. Nor do I ever want to be treated as such. Ever.¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. She smiled, showing her few remaining teeth beyond her pair of cracked and yellowed tusks. ¡°This one passes. He may enter the hall.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not your call, crone!¡± An equally old and hunched orc hobbled up supported by a cane. ¡°That is MY call to make.¡± ¡°Very well, make your decision already, you feeble, crochety old orc,¡± she replied impatiently. ¡°I have decided that this one is allowed into the hall.¡± He did not wait for a response before turning and hobbling back towards the castle. The orcs surrounding them all smiled warmly. Duke felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Gro¡¯nok standing next to him. He whispered to Duke, ¡°Now you have met the two eldest on the council. They are a married couple that were old when I was a child. Somehow, they still carry on annoying each other to no end. Come on, I¡¯ll show you the Clanhold.¡± The walk back to the Clanhold was interesting as more and more orcs seemed to forget what they were doing and formed a crowd around the two of them. Gro¡¯nok pre-empted Duke¡¯s question, ¡°They are interested in who this strange human is that summons the terrors of nightmares to slay our enemies inside their own mechs.¡± Duke¡¯s typical response would have been self-effacing in the past. Now, he had Overmind¡¯s words nearly constantly echoing through his mind. ¡°Good that they are interested in me for I am the death of the Syndicate. They have made an enemy of me, and I will teach them that their only chance at survival is to come groveling at my feet, begging forgiveness and mercy.¡± ¡°That¡¯s downright bloodthirsty. This is good. Very good. Now, enter the Citadel and be welcome in our Hall.¡± The entrance was large enough to accommodate the titan mech. Duke observed the carvings with all his senses, seeing beyond the blackened stone to the structures underneath. There were depictions of heroes and great battles that gave the entrance a greater weight than even the thick stone provided. As they proceeded through the gates and into the inner courtyard, the walls were lined with dead mechs. They were of many different styles and types, and all bore grievous wounds that likely would have killed their pilots. Duke could see where many were propped up by reinforcements built into the very walls. The crowd dispersed around and ahead of them, heading into the Clan Hall. Duke presumed to get a good seat to watch. ¡°These are the mechs of fallen champions of the Clan. Whenever possible, we recover the mech of the fallen and bring it back here so that they can be honored for their sacrifice.¡± ¡°You know-¡° ¡°Not the time to discuss such things.¡± ¡°Um, right. Sorry, continue with the tour.¡± Gro¡¯nok pointed out a large mech that was missing both arms and part of a leg. It was pitted with hundreds of holes that spoke to weapon impacts. ¡°That mech was my father¡¯s. He sacrificed himself so that a dozen others could ambush a far greater force. He was the sole casualty from the Clan, but no enemy walked away that day. It was a glorious death. I hope when my time does come, I can be as brave and glorious.¡± ¡°When your time comes, you will go down, drowning in a river of your enemies¡¯ blood while you tear the last of their kind¡¯s throat out with your tusks.¡± Gro¡¯nok nearly stumbled. ¡°You speak so much like a Clansman. I almost forgot you are not one.¡± ¡°I understand the honor of battle and how much better it is to burn out than fade away. It¡¯s been a phrase amongst my people for many generations.¡± ¡°It is a good phrase. One worthy of a warrior. Now, we enter the second gate and into the hall proper. I am sure I don¡¯t have to tell you that many here will not trust you so don¡¯t give them a reason to not trust you.¡± ¡°Yeah, I get it. I¡¯ll let you do most of the talking until it is time for me to speak. I¡¯ve been through enough D&C and command briefings to know when politics comes into play. That includes when to shut the hell up and when to speak the hell up.¡± ¡°This will be the first one for a bit. Let the Clan argue with each other.¡± ¡°A bit hard for me to make my case to evacuate the Clan while not saying anything.¡± ¡°Let me talk. You are a powerful ally, but you are not Clan. Your words will have little sway amongst the Council.¡± ¡°So, I just stand there and look menacing?¡± ¡°Something like that.¡± They had been traveling down a wide hallway decorated with scenes of battles past. The scenes depicted had become increasingly primitive as they traveled. They had progressed from mech and ship-to-ship battles all the way down to clubs and spears. This only served to reinforce the Clan¡¯s focus on martial tradition. Duke studied the scenes, committing them to memory as he casually spent his Characteristic points, putting 44 into Psyche and 100 into Agility. Finally, they came to the Grand Hall of the Elders. The entrance was a grand arching hallway with each of the arches connected along a central spine. It gave Duke the feeling of entering through a gigantic beast¡¯s ribcage with each rib curving into the wall, disappearing, and re-appearing curving out just above the base of the wall. For all he knew, it actually was the ribcage of some ancient kaiju slain by the Clan. Duke committed everything he saw to memory and adjusted the Dungeon Core for the Clan accordingly. His DUNGEON SENSE was able to pick up on countless details he wasn¡¯t able to see from his current vantage point, but colors did not translate as well through the Ability. As the precisely-fitting, enormous doors opened up towards the pair, they were greeted with the grandeur of the hall itself. Duke was, in a word, underwhelmed. The chamber was a circle, no more than twenty meters across that resembled a cavern more than construction. Each of the elders sat upon a pile of furs rather than any chair. The piles of furs were resting on a raised ring along the outer edge of the chamber. He strode to a stop as Gro¡¯nok silently indicated. He could feel the gazes of the elder orcs of the Clan staring down upon him. He did not meet their gazes, rather standing at full attention. Gro¡¯nok spoke first, ¡°Elders of the Steel Tusk Clan, this servant of the Clan has returned with a new friend and ally to the Clan. May I introduce him to the Clan?¡± ¡°Tell us of his deeds that make him an ally, nay a friend of the Clan?¡± The one to speak was withered to the point that Duke wondered if she could even move from the furs she sat upon without help. She was seated in the center of the elders and was in direct alignment with the direction Duke was facing. Gro¡¯nok related the tales of their exploits starting from before he even met Duke and describing the Syndicate¡¯s actions in taking over the mech transportation business. The story was detailed and unembellished. When he was done, the elder who had spoken earlier continued, ¡°It would seem that this friend of yours has embroiled the Clan in a fight against one of the largest organizations in all of the cosmos. We are a strong and proud people, but even the Steel Tusk Clan in its entirety does not have the resources to fight such an enemy. Perhaps it would have been better for you to allow the Syndicate to take over the transportation business and not bring this down upon our heads.¡± Duke opened his mouth but was silenced by Gro¡¯nok¡¯s hand upon his shoulder. ¡°Elder Maw¡¯huk, while I agree that we would be safer had we not opposed the Syndicate, I say that we would be instead slaves to their whims. Without being able to control our own transport, we cannot choose what contracts we wish to take and which we do not.¡± This started a fierce argument among the elders that got more and more heated. After a full five minutes of listening to the Elders argue, Gro¡¯nok escorted Duke back out. ¡°Gro¡¯nok, isn¡¯t it a mistake to leave like this?¡± ¡°Nah, let them argue for the next few hours. They will tire and grow hungry. The real talk and decisions are done over a meal. We have time.¡± He led Duke back out into the outer Clanhold and towards the kitchens. Book 3, Chapter 42 Hours later, they were gathered in the feasting hall sitting along long stone tables. The ship¡¯s crew and, from what Duke guessed, the rest of the Clan were in attendance. There was music being supplied by a boisterous group on an elevated stage. The music was primarily percussion-based with drums made of monster hide, steel, and bone all shaped masterfully to provide a beat that resonated throughout the hall and through the stone of the tables. Duke found himself unconsciously nodding his head along to the music as the savage beat appealed to him. Gro¡¯nok sat on Duke¡¯s left but the seat to his right was empty. He had saved it for Aurelia, but she had chosen to stay on the ship. Duke glanced at the empty chair, darker and darker thoughts roiling through his head. Why am I even sitting here? I should be out doing things, not sitting here waiting for the geriatric crew to come to a decision. Does it really matter if the Clan comes with the ship or not? Hell, all I really need the ship for is its navigation system. I can get myself wherever I want to go. I could plant the Clan Dungeon on the ship and leave everyone behind here. I have to get back to Teldin to check in but beyond that, I have Syndicate ships, bases, planets, whatever to destroy. The Contest grows closer day by day and I¡¯m not getting any stronger sitting on my ass. ¡°You seem troubled, my friend. Drink this and it will ease your troubles,¡± Gro¡¯nok said as he placed an earthen mug in front of Duke. Without a second thought, Duke took a long pull on the mug, the drink burning his throat on the way down and giving a pleasant surge of warmth in his belly. ¡°Thanks, I needed that. But I am not going to stick around and wait for a decision. I am going to be leaving in about six hours. I have things I have to do and my time to get them done is running out. I¡¯ll set up the Clan Dungeon on the ship before I leave. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be taking the ship with me or not. That hasn¡¯t been decided yet, but I am leaving. I¡¯m sure you know that the Syndicate is going to come here and attack in force. From what I saw, the Clan is not ready for that. I hate to be like this but that is what I saw.¡± ¡°You are not responsible for the Clan. I call you friend. I call you brother. But the Clan must take care of the Clan. It is not up to you to take care of the Clan. Please do not leave without at least sharing one more departing drink.¡± ¡°That I can wholeheartedly agree to.¡± Duke stood from his chair and downed the rest of his drink before heading down the table and tapping Mira on the shoulder. When she looked up, she saw the look on his face and immediately asked, ¡°What is it, Duke?¡± ¡°I am heading out in a few hours. I have too many things I need to do and sitting around here is not going to get them accomplished. I will equip the ship to handle the Clan and will come back to the ship when I can. That reminds me. Is there some way I can find out where the ship is at any given time?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lot to unpack, Duke. First, what the fuck? You¡¯re leaving? Just like that?¡± ¡°I need to go to Teldin and check in there and then I¡¯m taking the fight to the Syndicate. The longer I give them, the more they will know about me and the more ready for me they will be. I can¡¯t let that happen.¡± ¡°Then the Iron Reaver is coming with you.¡± ¡°What about taking the Clan with us?¡± ¡°That¡¯s their call, but I¡¯m not waiting around here and losing touch with you just because they can¡¯t see the writing on the wall. And no, there¡¯s no way for you to track the ship. That is purely by design ¨C we¡¯re supposed to be able to infiltrate and drop off mechs undetected. Being able to be tracked really makes that impossible.¡± ¡°Dam. Good point. I didn¡¯t think of that. OK, I gave Gro¡¯nok a six-hour time limit. After that, we¡¯ll be heading out. I appreciate you wanting to sticking with me. It hasn¡¯t been a smooth ride for sure.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just waiting to see what the next upgrade for my ship you pull out of your ass will be.¡± ¡°If you put it that way, air filtration. That¡¯s the next upgrade.¡± ¡°I have to go get the ship prepped and let Lya know because she is going to want to come too. See you in a few hours.¡± When Duke caught back up to Gro¡¯nok, the orc was surrounded by a group of young teens listening to his stories of battle and valor. Duke quietly took up a spot on the outside of the group and listened. He was outside of Gro¡¯nok¡¯s line of sight so the orc didn¡¯t see the look on his face as he related the tale of his heroic intervention on Turin Station. ¡°Young one, know this: The Syndicate is making moves to take control of all mech transport. My triad was on Turin Station looking for transport since our previously contracted ship was no longer usable after an encounter with pirates. I had spoken with the crew of another ship and thought they might help us when their alarms went off ¨C the Syndicate was attacking their ship in the hangar¡­¡± The ooohs and ahs continued as Gro¡¯nok related the tale. What surprised Duke was that there was absolutely no embellishment in the tale. He described every action that he had seen including Duke¡¯s fighting the troops without a weapon. The story was, however, focused on the mech activity and he went into great detail of every hit that his triad both gave and received. After he was finished, he asked the group to offer up suggestions on what he could have done better and what they learned from his experience. The responses were enthusiastic and often insightful. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Duke stepped further into the group to some confused and somewhat hostile looks from the teens. Gro¡¯nok intervened immediately, ¡°Everyone, this is Duke. What I described of his bare-handed fighting is the smallest of his capabilities. He is directly responsible for saving Urgoth and his triad on Altis Marin Six and is a friend of the clan. Show him the proper respect.¡± In response, one of the older teens hauled off and swung a full-force haymaker at Duke¡¯s chin. In the split seconds Duke had to react, he decided to simply weather the blow. It was one hell of an unpowered punch and would have likely flattened Duke had this been before he came to this universe. Now, the combination of Duke¡¯s Characteristics and ARMOR SKIN gave him the capability to withstand the blow as easily as an oak tree against a gentle breeze. He moved his head slightly to keep the teen from breaking bones, but otherwise didn¡¯t react. The teen stumbled back, clutching his hand and staring up at Duke. The rest of the teens cheered the show as Gro¡¯nok guided the wounded teen away, ¡°Go find yourself a healer, idiot. Everyone else, go and get to your practicing.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mind Kevin. He¡¯s a bit of a bully.¡± ¡°Kevin?¡± ¡°Yes, a most unfortunate name which is probably why he became a bully now that I think on it. He thought if he could take you down, he could cement his place in the warriors.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t quite work out for him, did it?¡± ¡°Nope. Thanks for not making a big deal out of it.¡± ¡°Funnier this way. But I do have something to talk to you about.¡± ¡°Your departure?¡± ¡°Yes. It seems the Iron Reaver is leaving with me, so the Clan has some big decisions to make and not a lot of time to make them. Sorry about that.¡± ¡°This changes things a great deal. I was hoping that I would have time to discuss it with the Council.¡± ¡°If you want to discuss it, you have better get on it. I have preparations to make of my own.¡± Duke left the Clanhold, heading for the ship. Once inside, he headed to the room that Mira had agreed to for him to plant the dungeon. It was a matter of a few seconds to plant the dungeon and he left to let it grow into the space. His next stop was a TELEPORT to a spot he had seen from orbit. It was an open area surrounded by rocky cliffs. Duke surmised that it was a river canyon at some point in the past but it was dry now. Duke pulled one of the RESTORED Syndicate mechs out of his INVENTORY and spent nearly an hour going over it, learning its runescript and layout. As there was no instruction manual, he was reduced to guesswork. If I just trace this power transfer runescript, it should lead from the cores to the weapons, right? Three hours later, Duke felt confident enough to get into the mech¡¯s cockpit and to try and pilot the thing. After five minutes of frustration, he discovered that the on/off switch was hidden under a protective covering. ¡°Sure it makes sense to put it somewhere you couldn¡¯t accidentally turn the thing off in the middle of a fight, but this is fucking ridiculous. OK, it¡¯s on, time to get this thing moving.¡± With great confidence, Duke started to walk the mech down the canyon. At least that was his plan. Instead of walking, it stumbled and he managed to fire off the left arm weapon as he struggled to rebalance the thing. He failed at that too. Another fifteen minutes of struggling with the most non-intuitive controls he had ever run into, he managed to get the mech back on its feet. After yet another hour of fiddling around with the controls, he discovered the most helpful switch in the entire mech. It, like every other control in the thing, was unlabeled. This switch reconfigured all the controls to fit his body configuration. Suddenly, things became much more intuitive. Moving his left leg no longer moved the right arm and instead moved the left leg. What the fuck kind of creature was piloting this thing? I¡¯m sure I have a body or two sitting in my INVENTORY that might explain it but that was completely frustrating. Duke spent the next half hour moving in the mech, finding that it was far more intuitive than he had expected. There even was a control pad for each hand that controlled the weapons. It finally was starting to feel natural when two things happened. First, he received a system message. As he went to open it up, his communications crystal fired up with Mira¡¯s voice. ¡°Duke, can you hear me?¡± ¡°Sure, Mira. What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°The Clan is rapidly evacuating to the ship. Is that dungeon ready for them?¡± ¡°I hope so. I really didn¡¯t think they would actually leave. I¡¯ll be there in a while. I have a few more things to work on before I head over.¡± ¡°Make it fast. We need to bug out of here soon.¡± ¡°What aren¡¯t you telling me?¡± ¡°A Syndicate dreadnaught and supporting fleet has just entered the system. We have, at most, two hours to get clear before we have to deal with them.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be right there.¡± Duke TELEPORTED out of the mech and put it back into his INVENTORY. He then read his notification before TELEPORTING to the ship himself. *** Congratulations, you have learned the Skill, Mechpilot at Untrained 1. This Skill allows you to pilot the most common forms of mechs. At your Skill level, you should avoid combat in a mech if at all possible. Additional practice is highly recommended. *** Duke arrived on the bridge of the Iron Reaver to find Mira and Lya frantically talking about the incoming ships with a crowd. The unique qualities of his TELEPORTATION Ability would not allow him to arrive in an occupied space, so he found himself standing in front of the main viewscreen. He stepped back, looking up at the screen. Dominating the screen was a single ship that was bristling with weapons. It reminded Duke of a cross between an old US battleship and a tic tac. The ovoid shape had dozens of tremendous tubular weapons sticking out from the hull with countless smaller shapes that Duke assumed were other weapons. Surrounding the ship was a cloud of smaller ships that he took for shuttles and small tenders. ¡°Duke, you¡¯re here! Good. We can get things going. You see the fleet coming. We have to get out of here soon.¡± ¡°Yeah, I see one big ship and a bunch of shuttles. Not what I would call a fleet.¡± ¡°Those aren¡¯t shuttles, Duke. Those are heavy cruisers and smaller battleships.¡± ¡°Well, fuck. That puts the size of that thing in perspective. Let me go check on the dungeon while you get the ship ready to leave.¡± Book 3, Chapter 43 Duke ran down to where the dungeon entrance should be, dodging all sorts of Clan members and others who seemed panicked and confused. He ignored them in his haste, pushing his Agility to avoid colliding. After the third near-collision, he opted to fly down over their heads since the Iron Reaver¡¯s corridors were especially tall. Duke guessed that was the case to handle different races, but the thought fled as quickly as it came. He arrived in front of where the dungeon entrance should have been. He was staring at an ordinary ship¡¯s door. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± Duke placed his hand on the access panel to the room and was greeted with a system notification. *** Authority recognized and accepted. Dungeon, ¡°The Clanhold¡± requests a meeting with the Dungeon Emperor. Accept (Y/N) *** Duke accepted and was pulled into the dungeon. He found himself standing in the open area before the Clanhold where the mech battle had been upon his arrival on the planet. Standing before him was a single orc. She was, like most every member of her race, muscular and imposing. She stood nearly a full head taller than Duke and gazed down at him with fire in her green eyes. ¡°Why have you made me so?¡± On the surface, it was a simple question with a simple answer, but Duke suspected there was more to it than that. ¡°Explain what you mean, and we can talk about it. I have very specific reasons, but I want to hear what grieves you first.¡± ¡°You made me capable of growing as an inner world but have placed such onerous restrictions on me. I cannot grow seeds without your permission. I cannot even send explorers outside of my entrance. Why? Why have you done this to me?¡± ¡°You were made to house and grow the Steel Tusk Clan. They will have need of dungeons within your inner world but not right away. Your purpose is to sustain and grow the Clan. They will be your wards, and it is up to you to keep them relatively safe. They are a Clan built for combat so providing them with challenges will keep you well-occupied. Finally, you are planted on a ship, so you are confined here. This is just how it is.¡± ¡°I understand and will comply, Emperor.¡± The change in demeanor was sudden and jarring. ¡°Don¡¯t get all maudlin on me. I could have planted you on a barren world with no chance of anyone visiting you for centuries or longer. Would you have liked that?¡± ¡°No, Emperor. I do not wish to be so feral.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because I made you better and stronger than any feral dungeon. Fulfill your purpose.¡± ¡°As you say, Emperor.¡± There was a hint of pride in the dungeon¡¯s voice. Duke looked around and immediately realized he needed to make some changes. He flexed his DUNGEON MANIPULATION Ability and began to create some additional buildings outside the Clanhold itself. First, he created an enormous mech hangar with multiple workshop spaces and literally tons of raw materials. Fuck, that¡¯s not going to work. He removed the raw materials as they would not be allowed to actually leave the dungeon. That could have cause some serious problems. He created a set of doors large enough to accommodate the titan mech that led to a blank wall. ¡°Not ready to set it up yet, but that will make for a good Portal anchor. I¡¯ll have to find a good point on the outside of the ship to make the other anchor. Yeah. More to do.¡± Duke extended the blank wall further into the small mountain he had raised for the hangar. After adding another set of doors, he was satisfied that he had an effective airlock. Similarly, he created another airlock in a small building that encompassed the dungeon entrance. He had no idea whether the airlocks were necessary but since this was all attaching to a ship, he wanted airlocks. Finally, he exited the dungeon to find the Council of Elders waiting for him in the hallway. Just what I fucking need. Old bastards coming to demand shit from me that they don¡¯t deserve. ¡°Friend Duke, a word if we may?¡± Duke locked his expression down with a force of will, ¡°Of course. Let¡¯s go to one of the briefing rooms and speak.¡± He did not wait for a response. Duke maintained his calm demeanor as he entered the briefing room and sat down on the desk at the front of the room. He barely gave them time to sit down before he started. ¡°Enemies approach. The longer this takes, the less time I have to engage them before they arrive. You asked for this talk, so go ahead.¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The Clan Elders collectively leaned back away from Duke as he spoke, eyes hardening. Finally, the Elder who had addressed him outside the Clanhold spoke up, ¡°You still have the arrogance of youth. But, in this case it serves you well.¡± Duke made a ¡°get on with it¡± gesture with his hand. She continued with a slight smile, ¡°I have been told that you have made a place for the Clan on this ship. We need to know if it truly is safe and is large enough to hold the whole Clan.¡± ¡°Is that it? Well, why are we wasting time? Yes, it¡¯s safe and yes, it will house the whole Clan and then some. Follow me right back to where we were.¡± Duke paused and changed his mind. ¡°On second thought¡­¡± He TELEPORTED himself and the group of Elders into the dungeon. As they climbed back to their feet, Duke continued to speak, ¡°This may look like the Clanhold but it is a re-creation of it. Things will not be precise and if there is anything major that needs to be changed, I can make the changes for you.¡± Duke pointed to the mech hangar. ¡°That is a hangar for mechs with space for workshops. I don¡¯t know what else you might need but we can get to it later. And this,¡± Duke pointed to the smaller building behind him, ¡°is the door to the ship. It will work for you now. Feel free to use it as you wish. The ship itself is leaving in less than two hours. If you are on-board or in here, great. If not, prepare to fight off the Syndicate fleet and whatever else they are bringing with them. I have to go now.¡± He did not wait for a response, leaving them with stunned looks on their faces as he TELEPORTED back to the bridge. ¡°Mira, I¡¯ve given the Clan two hours to load up or stay. Does that give you enough window to get clear of the planet and run if needed?¡± ¡°What do you mean, ¡®if needed?¡¯ I sure as hell am not fighting off a fucking dreadnaught with a drop ship!¡± ¡°No, but I¡¯m going to go fight a dreadnaught, from the inside if I can manage it.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll never get past their shields. It¡¯s not worth you dying.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I have a plan.¡± ¡°Oh, I feel so much better now. Care to share that plan with me?¡± ¡°And the thirty other randos wandering around the bridge? No thanks. You really need to take hold of your ship and kick them off the bridge.¡± He just barely ducked her swing, chuckling as he moved to the navigation console. She fumed at him for a moment before turning around and shouting, ¡°If you do not have a specific function or reason for being on my bridge, get the hell off it NOW!¡± Duke suppressed a chuckle as he delved into the screens. He brought up the scans of the approaching ships and started to go into them heavily. He knew the scanners worked on some sort of divination magic. What he did not know was whether he could use his CLAIRVOYANCE Ability through them. He really needed precise details for what he was planning, and the scans just weren¡¯t detailed enough. Duke concentrated on his Ability, trying to focus it through whatever magical means the scanners worked. At first, there was no reaction. Neither his Ability nor the scanners reacted to his attempts to combine them. After several minutes of frustration, he decided to try another tack. He engaged his DUNGEON SENSE to delve into the runescripting and see how it functioned. He stepped away from that path as well. I could eventually figure it out, but I don¡¯t have hours to try. Time for the dumbass approach. Duke engaged his Stealth Skill, AURA CONCEALMENT, and LASTING DISGUISE to make himself as unremarkable and difficult to spot and TELEPORTED into the path of the approaching dreadnaught. He had his DUNGEON SENSE focused on the approaching ship, using as much of his more than three-hundred-thousand-kilometer range as he could. With only seconds to act, he used his FLIGHT to give him an extra second of analysis before he put his plan into action. But even his remarkable FLIGHT speed was no match for the velocity of the ship. As the ship caught up to him, he TELEPORTED to the only other dimension that he knew overlapped spatially and immediately TELEPORTED back hoping his timing was on-point. His analysis had told him that Mira was right about the ship¡¯s shields being strong enough to prevent him from penetrating them with his Ability used normally. He hoped that this would be an exotic enough approach that nobody had ever tried anything like it before. Duke caught a flash of an image in the alternate dimension before slipping back into this one. The image was fleeting but left an impression. It was a vision of absolute darkness, beyond the light of any star. He had flashed into the outer edge of the universe, where the paradox of the infinite and finite intertwined. He was stunned by the sight and was not at all ready when his Ability ripped him back. He arrived, flat on his back, in what his addled mind took to be a storeroom. Everything hurt, but the pain began to fade as his REGENERATION took over and his mind cleared. Duke sat up and took stock of his surroundings. He was indeed in a storage area, but not a janitorial closet. This was an armory filled with all sorts of weapons. There were racks upon racks of swords, maces, and axes. There were also shields and a few suits of armor, all bearing the insignia of the Syndicate. There were also enchanted sidearms and rifles in racks. He smiled and pulled the entire contents of this armory into his INVENTORY, thankful that he had removed so many of the mechs that were taking up space. I really have to let the Clan know that the mechs in the mech bay are all theirs. Focus, dammit! Duke spread his DUNGEON SENSE out to survey the ship he was on and make sure it was, in fact, the dreadnaught. It only took a minute to realize that he was on the battleship and not the dreadnaught as he had expected. Do I have the time to steal a shuttle and make my way over to the dreadnaught? Would that even work? Probably not. Time for Plan C. Duke could sense someone walking down the hall nearby and TELEPORTED them into the armory. They were dead before they could react to the change in scenery. It was a simple matter to assume their appearance through his LASTING DISGUISE Ability. Time to cause chaos! Duke set out for the bridge of the ship. Book 3, Chapter 44 Apparently, the person whose identify Duke had stolen was innocuous because no one stopped him or really seemed to notice him on his way to the bridge. Duke kept his AURA CONCEALMENT Ability on as well which he thought might be contributing. It was only a ten-minute walk to get to the bridge. He stepped onto the bridge and saw the dreadnaught dominating the viewscreen next to the ship and again paused at the scale of it all. He stepped to the side of the entrance and saw the dozens of consoles laid out in semicircle terraces radiating from the Captain¡¯s chair set nearly at the rear of the bridge. The Captain¡¯s chair was raised up, allowing the Captain to look down upon all the bridge crew. Duke was unsure if that was from the practicality of being able to see everything happening around, or if it was from arrogance of the position. I still don¡¯t know enough about how the Syndicate operates to come to any conclusions. ¡°Communication from sector headquarters coming in on the fleet crystal, Captain. Open video protocol.¡± ¡°Put it on the main screen. I expect the Commander wants all of us to see this. Record it for ship-wide transmission if this is what I think it is.¡± The main viewscreen lit up with the image of the Sector Commander. The ship¡¯s Captain tightened his grip on his command chair as he listened. ¡°Punishment Fleet Quazar, you are authorized to engage the Steel Tusk Clan on planet Capnok. They have refused to conduct business with the Syndicate after all our good faith efforts. Make an example of them. If any do survive, bring them to me. Operation Mechrise is nearly complete, and you will be pleased to hear that your sister fleet is on their way to some backwater planet called Teldin to root out that annoyance from Altis Marin Six. Be thankful that it wasn¡¯t you who were selected to escort the hounds!¡± A vicious smile spread across the Commander¡¯s features before he finished his speech. ¡°For glory and profit!¡± The entire bridge rang with the response, ¡°For the Syndicate!¡± At the same time, Duke¡¯s stomach fell. He was an unknown distance away from Teldin, fighting someone else¡¯s battle while his adopted home was about to be invaded. Rage rose within him, and he prepared to act. He was interrupted by his communication crystal, ¡°Duke, where are you?¡± The sound rang out like a cell phone in church. In that moment, his innocuous cover evaporated as multiple sets of eyes turned towards him. He acted instinctively, activating his most potent Ability and TELEPORTING the entire bridge crew out of the ship and into the path of the dreadnaught. ¡°Fucks sake, Mira, I¡¯m on the bridge of the goddamed battleship!¡± ¡°Oh. So, what¡¯s your plan then?¡± ¡°I think I¡¯m up to plan E at this point. I couldn¡¯t get through the dreadnaught¡¯s shields and my clever trick kinda missed. So, I wound up here.¡± ¡°Then take out the shields with the battleship.¡± ¡°I doubt even this ship has the firepower to get through those shields.¡± ¡°Probably not, but if you ram it in the right spot, you can probably take the shields down at least temporarily.¡± ¡°About those piloting lessons we talked about? Yeah, we¡¯re a bit overdue. I¡¯m not exactly rated on flying a battleship.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll walk you through it, OK?¡± ¡°Better make it quick. The bridge crew I just launched into space is still alive. I got no system messages of their death.¡± ¡°Shit, OK. Get to the Captain¡¯s chair. First you¡­¡± It turned out that the basic task of flying a battleship was not that hard and Duke had it down in less than a minute. The ship was not designed for rapid maneuvers, but Duke managed to get it pointed at the dreadnaught and aimed it at the aft section where the engineering section was. And then the dreadnaught opened fire. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The first shot made the entire battleship shudder as the shields bled the energy across their entire surface area. Duke responded by firing everything he could control from the captain¡¯s chair at the dreadnaught. It did make for some fluctuations in the shielding but wasn¡¯t potent enough to do much else. The follow-up, full salvo from the dreadnaught caused Duke to instinctively TELEPORT away, appearing a thousand kilometers ¡°above¡± the dreadnaught. He watched as the battleship¡¯s shielding failed and the dreadnaught¡¯s weapons quickly gutted the ship. But the great thing about the use of energetic magical weapons rather than kinetic energy weapons was that they did not actually alter the course of the wreckage of the battleship which still slammed into the dreadnaught¡¯s shields. Duke saw the flare and flicker of the dreadnaught¡¯s shields as they absorbed the impact, and he acted. He poured over forty million Mana into his TELEPORTATION and pushed with all his will. Instead of standing on the bridge, he found himself standing on the shielding of the dreadnaught. He was directly over the bridge, five hundred meters away from the hull of the ship but still outside of it. Even his Grandmaster-ranked Ability could not penetrate the shields despite how much they were strained. What truly surprised him is that standing on the shield moved him along with the ship. ¡°Duke! Holy shit! Are you OK? Did you make it off the battleship?¡± Mira¡¯s frantic calls came to Duke, but he could not respond, having no atmosphere to carry his words. Duke¡¯s Mana regenerated as he stood on the shield, his stealth and related Abilities enough to escape notice for now. As he stood there contemplating his next move, Mira continued to call out to him, ¡°I don¡¯t know if you can hear me, but I am taking off. We will head for the first rendezvous point and wait there for one day.¡± Duke shrugged in response. There was little he could do without returning to the ship, but he had a final plan to try. Plan G now, I think. Just need my Mana to finish refilling. This is either going to work spectacularly or not. Making sure I save enough Mana to get back to the ship and then it¡¯s go-time. Again. Duke¡¯s Mana topped off and he prepared himself for his next step. He gathered his focus and prepared his Ability, setting his feet and steeling his mind. His focus deepened and he prepared to unleash. Suddenly, he was blinded as the dreadnaught¡¯s main weapon fired. Even though the weapon was on the belly of the ship, the flash as a seemingly impossible amount of Mana was released left him reeling from the up-close sight. It would take a few seconds for his REGENERATION to fix his burned retinas, but Duke didn¡¯t wait. He unleashed his Ability. Duke had never used this Ability with any significant range even though he knew that it would work at a distance. Still, he unleashed UMBRAL REAPER with as much Mana as he dared, leaving himself with only a few hundred thousand left to get him back to the dropship. The Ability reached into the cavernous depths of Duke¡¯s Psyche and released all his inner demons into the world. Every frustration, insult, and disappointment came flowing out. But the Ability reached deeper, latching onto the deeper pains in his Psyche ¨C the things he hid even from himself. It dragged the pain and loss, the horror of scenes that lurked beneath the depths of his mind. It pulled the fiery scenes of death and destruction his consciousness had learned to repress. All his failed hopes and dreams boiled to the surface and ripped out of him, seeking a place to rage, flesh to tear, and minds to consume. Duke screamed silently into space, his own enormous Psyche strained to its limits as blood leaked from his eyes to freeze in the void. UMBRAL REAPER expanded inside the ship, spreading outward from Duke¡¯s target, the bridge. His expectation was that the Ability would expand in a sphere and that much of its effect would be lost as it spilled out into space but he knew he had to make sure the bridge crew was affected. Instead, it expanded inside the ship, filling corridors, bypassing doors, and tearing into victims. Inside the ship, creatures of psychic darkness raged. Most victims never understood what it was that attacked them before their own psyches and flesh were torn asunder. Some saw the creatures coming and attempted to flee or fight the horror. The creatures moved at the speed of thought when they attacked their victims. Escape was not possible. There were some, however, who had their own strength of will, resisting when the creatures came for them. Even those able to resist were not left unaffected. Madness reined supreme amongst the majority of the few survivors, as their own psyches had been forced to release their own inner demons into near physical form. Despite all that, there were still a small number that weathered the terrible storm, surviving intact. The system notifications immediately started flooding Duke¡¯s vision and he decided that it was time to leave. He TELEPORTED to where the Iron Reaver was last only to find destruction. The area around the Clanhold was blackened ash filling a massive crater that surrounded the Clanhold¡¯s shield for at least a kilometer around. The ship was just gone. Everything around the Clanhold was gone. Duke hoped that Mira had left before the blast struck as he stared at the scale of destruction around himself. Without warning, Duke was engulfed in darkness as every single one of his internal demons came home, slamming into his mind and burying themselves deep once again. This time, however, they brought new horrors with them, dragged from the crew of the dreadnaught to fester deep in Duke¡¯s subconscious. He collapsed to the ground, curled in a fetal position as it all raged through his soul. Pain was an old friend of Duke¡¯s and this time it came home with company. Book 3, Chapter 45 Sometime later, Duke rose to his feet and took stock of his situation. First, I¡¯m way too close to the Clanhold if anyone attacks it with a weapon like the dreadnaught¡¯s. That was absolutely insane. Second, I need to find out if the ship got out of here. Duke TELEPORTED to the area he had used for his own mech training, hoping it was out of range of anything hitting the Clanhold. He sighed as he realized that, once again, he didn¡¯t have the time needed to do what he wanted to do. With a sense of dread, he activated his communications crystal. ¡°Iron Reaver, this is Duke. Come in please.¡± It did not occur to him until after he spoke that he had reverted to his military radio discipline. Am I that anxious? Damn. He waited a few minutes and repeated the call. After an hour of repeating the call, he resigned himself to the situation. The ship was gone, and he was alone again. What did strike him as interesting is that there was no sign of the Syndicate fleet in the sky above. Maybe I really took the dreadnaught out. That would be something. I guess I should check my notifications and see what they tell me. Then I have to move on to plan¡­oh, fuck it. I¡¯ll call it plan Z at this point. He just had too many notifications. Most were experience notifications. This was a problem he had run into before and managed to get the system to combine similar ones together and summarize. *** For defeating 87,196 foes of varying levels and tiers ranging from 1 to 4, you receive 24,661,209 experience. You have gained 105 levels to reach level 250. You have Tiered up to Tier 6. You gain 86 levels. You are now level 87. You have 3,717 Characteristic Points to spend. You have options for your Tier 6 advancement:
  1. Create a new Ability (restrictions apply)
  2. Gain an additional Class Ability (Tier-based restrictions apply)
  3. Merge exiting Abilities to create a new Ability
  4. Gain 600 bonus Characteristic Points
  5. Gain 100 levels in any Skill or Ability
  6. Increase the rank of any one Class Ability
You have improved several of your Skills and Abilities: Your Stealth Skill has ranked up to Practiced 3 Your Areial Maneuvering Skill has increased to Practiced 51 Your TELEPORTATION Ability has increased to Grandmaster 106 Your REGENERATION Ability has increased to Master 14 Your DUNGEON MANIPULATION Ability has ranked up to Practiced 4 Your AURA CONCEALMENT Ability has increased to Initiate 27 Your LASTING DISGUISE Ability has increased to Initiate 25 Your OVERCHANNEL Ability has increased to Adept 112 Your MENTAL FORTITUDE Ability has increased to Adept 65 Your UMBRAL REAPER Ability has increased to Adept 105 Your CLEANSE Ability has increased to Practiced 48 Your RESTORE Ability has increased to Master 84 Your INVENTORY Ability has increased to Practiced 58 Your FLIGHT Ability has ranked up to Adept 3 Your CLAIRVOYANCE Ability has ranked up to Practiced 2 Your DUNGEON SENSE Ability has increased to Master 48 You have gained a new Skill. Starship Piloting has been gained at Untrained 1 *** Duke blew out a breath. Tier 6. 37-hundred points to spend. Wow. That was more than I expected. Then again, I didn¡¯t walk into this expecting to kill almost 90,000 Syndicate goons. I should feel some way about that but, strangely, I don¡¯t. I have to deal with other harsh realities right now. The Iron Reaver is missing and the whole Clan with them. That blast would have been enough to destroy the ship for sure. Dammit! Time to see if the rest of the Syndicate ships are still around. Well, that and figure out what I¡¯m taking for my Tier 6 Ability. And allocate points ¨C have to do that too. Duke decided to allocate points first off. He poured enough points into his Agility to bring it up to 2,500. Then brought his Intuition up to 2,000. He then brought his base for Strength, Endurance, and Reason up to 1500. The remaining 176 points went into Psyche, bringing it up to over 39,000 with his Title enhancement. The turmoil in his mind that he didn¡¯t even realize had been there settled back down with the Psyche increase. With a shake of his head, he delved into the Class Abilities available to him. When he opened up the menu, he saw that he had three Abilities available at his Tier: DUNGEON MONSTER CREATION, DUNGEON ENGINEERING, and DUNGEON TRANSPORTATION. Duke delved into each in order. *** DUNGEON MONSTER CREATION: This Ability allows you to create dungeon monsters outside of a dungeon. These monsters are wholly under your control and can be given commands or even piloted remotely. Given sufficient Mana investment and Ability rank, these creations could be intelligent and able to operate independently. Over time, these creations have the potential to earn experience and grow like any other lifeform. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. DUNGEON ENGINEERING: This Ability takes DUNGEON MANIPULATION to a whole new level. It allows you to rapidly make dramatic changes in a dungeon¡¯s design and layout. A dungeon¡¯s entire theme, cast, and layout can be changed in a matter of minutes. It also significantly increases the value of items that can be removed from dungeons. DUNGEON TRANSPORTATION: This Ability allows for instantaneous transportation from any dungeon to another dungeon that you have either planted or have visited. This transportation is limited to you but can cover any distance across the cosmos and all associated dimensions. *** Duke spent some time pondering these choices as they all seemed to have significant benefits to him. I don¡¯t need DUNGEON TRANSPORTATION since I have my TELEPORTATION that can get me anywhere I need to be. But then again, removing any distance restriction would be amazing. No, I¡¯m going to skip this one for now. With my Ability and stat increases my maximum range on TELEPORTATION is around 17,000 light years. I can get to where I need to be pretty quickly. DUNGEON ENGINEERING was another one that Duke discounted immediately but that last line intrigued him. Just how significant is the increase in the value of things I can take out of a dungeon? Could I pop into a dungeon, create a custom-designed weapon to exploit an enemy¡¯s weakness, and pop out to hit them with it? Could I create an entire ship and fly it out? So many unknowns but I¡¯m certain I could at least do the weapon thing. That could be a game-changer if I have any prep time. Or I could just create a bunch of weapons and have them sitting in my INVENTORY. Finally, DUNGEON MONSTER CREATION seems very interesting. I have no idea what the Mana costs or restrictions are on it. It doesn¡¯t list a cap on how many I can create so I could possibly make an entire army of runescripted dinosaurs to run rampant on my enemies. It might be a high Mana-cost but my Mana pool is tremendous right now, and will only increase. I wonder how intelligent I could make a dungeon monster? Duke considered the choices before him and finally decided. He chose DUNGEON MONSTER CREATION and instantly was flooded with knowledge about how the Ability worked and what it cost to use. He imagined it would be very expensive to create powerful monsters, but since it was all a Mana cost, he grinned as he knew his Mana was way beyond what anyone at his Tier should have. As he set about to create his first monster, he was interrupted by his comms crystal. ¡°Duke, I don¡¯t know if you hear me, but I could really use some help. This is Mira and we are at the rendezvous point but the Syndicate is in pursuit. I don¡¯t know how they followed us here but there are three heavy cruisers chasing me taking pot shots at long range. I can outrun them for quite a while, but they might be calling in some fast-attack ships. That would be a bigger problem.¡± ¡°I¡¯m on my way,¡± Duke responded, dismissing the screens for DUNGEON MONSTER CREATION and pouring 10 million Mana into a TELEPORT to get him to the bridge of the Iron Reaver, grinning like an idiot at not having lost everyone. Despite the three heavy cruisers in pursuit, Duke¡¯s mood had elevated instantly upon hearing that the ship made it out. The bridge was a vision of tension. The entire Elder Council of the Clan were taking up stations assisting Mira and Lya whose hands flashed over controls, keeping the ship ahead of their pursuers. The Elders held on with white knuckles as they tried their best to assist. No one seemed to notice Duke as he had arrived at the rear of the bridge, behind everyone. ¡°Don¡¯t let them open the airlock! Mechs aren¡¯t going to do shit against a trio of heavy cruisers!¡± ¡°Captain, I really don¡¯t think they care. They are going to go screaming into space and fight our enemies. That is the way of the Clan.¡± Duke stepped forward, ¡°Perhaps I can give the heavy cruisers something else to worry about.¡± ¡°Holy fuck, Duke! I¡¯m damned glad to see you. I don¡¯t know what you did to the dreadnaught, but it got them pissed like I¡¯ve never seen. They left the transports behind to pursue us and the goddam idiots in the mech bay think they can take them on!¡± ¡°Let them know that I have it handled. Just keep your distance and out of weapons range,¡± Duke responded coldly. He calmly walked over to the navigational console, Lya nearly leaping out of his way like prey fleeing a predator. Without a thought to her reaction, he pulled up a visual of the pursuing ships only to discover that they were of a design he did not recognize. He chuckled to himself as he realized that he had only seen one other design of a heavy cruiser so his opinion of what was unusual was pretty weak. The ships were all the same design which looked to Duke like giant metallic mantises. There was a roughly triangular forward section that Duke assumed contained the bridge that extended at an angle out of a neck which extended from the main body. It gave the impression that the ¡°head¡± of the craft was looking down slightly from the body. There were a pair of ¡°wings¡± on each side of the ship that seemed to hold the weapons of the ship. Finally, there were legs extending under the ship which Duke assumed were for landing or maybe they had some form of grappling capability. He just didn¡¯t know. Duke looked up from the display of the two ships to meet eyes with Mira, ¡°Fear not. I will squash these insects.¡± ¡°Those insects have enough firepower, individually, to tear my ship to pieces with a single volley. And they have some sort of way of tracking us even after we jumped here so that is more than a small problem. And what the fuck is up with your eyes?¡± ¡°My eyes?¡± ¡°Yes, your eyes,¡± Mira produced a small mirror and handed it to Duke. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s new,¡± Duke responded as he saw his eyes in the mirror¡¯s reflection. His pupils looked like a pair of burning coals surrounded by swirling black smoke. ¡°No wonder everyone¡¯s so freaked out looking at me. Let me see if I can fix that.¡± He pulled on his LASTING DISGUISE Ability to bring his eyes back to their original appearance. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s tons better. You don¡¯t look nearly as freaky. Now, you said something about having a plan to take care of our pursuers¡­¡± ¡°You bet. I¡¯m going to go over there and kill all of them. Simple plan.¡± ¡°Just like that?¡± ¡°Just like that.¡± ¡°What about their shields?¡± ¡°Just watch.¡± Duke TELEPORTED to the upper neck section of the ¡°leftmost¡± ship. As expected, he was not able to penetrate the ship¡¯s shielding but that was fine with Duke. None of the ship¡¯s weapons could reach him in this position with them all being mounted below the wings of the ship. Yep, this is the spot. Even if they send some poor soul out an airlock, I can handle them. Duke smiled as he placed his left hand on the translucent shielding below him and engaged his MANA DRAIN Ability. Instantly, his Mana pool was topped off and the excess Mana went somewhere he did not know but he had some ideas on how to use it. He reached down with his other hand and engaged a second instance of MANA DRAIN. Mana from the shields rushed into and through him but it did exactly what he was hoping for; it made a hole in the shielding that he could cast through as he moved his hands apart. Pushing his SIMULCASTING Ability, Duke used his CLAIRVOYANCE to see into the ship. He saw a corridor with a few crew members moving about. With a grin, Duke employed his newest Ability and began to create dungeon creatures in the hallway. He began with something simple, something he had only fought once but became very familiar with their capabilities. Duke started creating Twilight Stalkers inside the corridor with one simple instruction: kill everything they came upon. Creating them at a Tier Two, level fifty, was easy and only cost a bit over one hundred thousand Mana each. Duke chuckled at the cost as his Mana regen had leapt up to over eight hundred thousand a second. He could create the Twilight Stalkers with just his Mana Regen. Not that he needed to ¨C the MANA DRAIN on the shields was supplying him with more than enough Mana for his creations. Once he had created fifty of them, he paused to watch them propagate through the ship with his CLAIRVOYANCE because it gave more detail than his DUNGEON SENSE for something like this. He liked what he saw. Book 3, Chapter 46 Duke watched as his twilight stalkers spread out in groups of three. Seems like a common thing, this triad. The orcs and the twilight stalkers all used them. Even these ships are in a triad. I wonder why that is and if there is some system advantage to it. Doesn¡¯t matter right now. Back to the show. He watched as the twilight stalkers encountered random crew members in the corridors. There was no hesitation in them at all. They pounced, claws slicing through flesh easily. The first attack was a slash across the throat that left the crewmember gurgling before the next one slashed open his gut and reached under his ribs. It came back with the man¡¯s still beating heart, carved out of his chest and quickly eaten. Their hisses of satisfaction filled the corridor as they moved on in pursuit of more prey. Duke created another fifty of the creatures and received a rather annoying system message. *** You have reached the limit of dungeon monsters for your current Ability level. Increase your Ability¡¯s rank and level to be able to maintain more monsters. *** The message was clear and to the point. Duke had to level up the Ability. Maybe I should have gone for higher quality instead. Make them a higher tier next time? I¡¯ll have to see what happens when they make it to the bridge. Which they are about to do now. The stalkers had encountered little resistance as the first group approached the bridge. The second group had been directed in the opposite direction down the corridor to wreak havoc throughout the rest of the ship. The first group approached the open door to the bridge which Duke took for piss-poor security and was thankful for. The Twilight Stalkers rushed in, claws flashing and fangs tearing. The first members of the bridge crew went down, but the rest reacted quickly. Defenses were activated and weapons were snap-drawn. Two more members of the bridge crew went down before the twilight stalkers were quickly eliminated. Duke was underwhelmed. Did I overestimate my creatures, or did I underestimate the Syndicate crew? Whatever the case, I now have room to make more. Time to see if I can make Tier Five monsters. Duke focused his Ability and changed a number of selections. He upped their Tier to Five, added Special Abilities, made them Self-Sustaining, and made them Intelligent. Finally, he upped their Mana pool to 10,000 and their Health pools to 100,000. All for the cost of 1.1 million Mana a piece. He grinned as he continued to use the draining shield¡¯s Mana to fuel his creations. He found that the creation process took far longer for these creatures. It took him a full minute to make one and the security alarms were ringing all over the ship. Security forces were spreading out and quickly eliminating the remaining stalkers from his second batch. The new creation, a Twilight Stalker Champion, took form in the hallway just after a security guard walked by. It quickly pounced and the results were just what Duke was looking for. The stalker tore through the guard¡¯s armor like butter. The guard struggled for a full five seconds but the end result was never in question. Duke¡¯s smile deepened as the stalker¡¯s wounds healed as he watched. He had instructed this stalker to stay and wait for the rest of its triad. A bit more than two minutes later, the three stalkers silently made their way to the bridge. Duke made another trio of stalker champions before the Mana from the shields finally failed. He left that ship and appeared in the same spot on ¡°neck¡± of the next ship. Once he started draining mana from its shields, things went into overdrive. A score of Syndicate troops in armored suits burst out of an airlock, charging towards him with their flight capabilities. He briefly saw the third ship turning itself towards him as it also disgorged soldiers. OK, looks like they have identified the threat. Time to make things really interesting. Duke spread his hands that were MANA DRAINING the second ship¡¯s shield wider and wider as the soldiers opened fire. Despite the distance, their fire was accurate with several shots hitting Duke. Pain flared through his body but he set it aside as he dropped through the opening in the shield and landed on the ship¡¯s hull. The hole in the shield zapped closed as the armored soldiers approached. Duke waved as he disappeared, finding himself inside the ship. Duke began to fill the corridor with LIGHTNING. His aura expanded to fill the corridor, sparking against everything it touched. Although he wasn¡¯t precisely sure where he was in the ship yet, Duke charged down the corridor. Anyone he encountered received a full-on blast of LIGHTNING. None had gotten back up so far. It was a matter of minutes before Duke stood before a sealed bulkhead that closed off the neatly labeled ¡°Engineering¡± section. Duke placed his hand on the bulkhead and TELEPORTED it to the bridge of the first ship. Because, fuck you! That¡¯s why. He was greeted by panicked weapons fire and a scattering of Abilities mixed in. He responded with a bolt of LIGHTNING OVERCHANNELED with ten million Mana. The bolt forked throughout the entire section, arcing across and shattering equipment and bodies with equal vigor. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Duke must have hit something vital because the explosion that followed slammed Duke back through the door and down the hall, bouncing off several support struts along the way. He landed on his back, his clothing shredded and smoking. With a casual thought, his clothing was RESTORED and his REGENERATION was hard at work repairing the damage his body had received even through his ARMOR SKIN. His Ability healing him quickly, he got back to his feet and started to head back to the engineering section in near total darkness. Three steps in, he was pulled from his feet as the wind howled past him. Duke grabbed hold of one of the bent support struts and held on as air quickly evacuated through what Duke could now see was a massive hole in the ship where the engineering section had once been. He had no idea what he had hit but it sure as hell crippled the ship. On a whim, he released his grip and rode the blast of air out the hull breach. Outside, he saw the armored soldiers in full-on panic mode as the ship below him spewed gasses and people into the vacuum of space. As Duke played dead, he saw that the ship floated through space as a dark husk. His smile grew as he could see that the first ship was also having its share of problems. He turned his mind to the third ship and TELEPORTED to the far side, outside the viewing range of the armored troops. Duke began draining the shields as he had done previously to the other two ships. This time, he decided to see what happened if he OVERCHANNELED the Ability. As he expected, Mana ripped out of the shields at an insane rate, filling Duke¡¯s pool and spilling over into the universe. As the Mana flowed into and through Duke, he increased the OVERCHANNEL on the Ability in proportion, constantly ramping up. Until he had the barrel of a weapon pressed up against his head. The sound reverberated through the weapon and into Duke¡¯s head. It was muffled, but Duke heard the words well enough, ¡°Surrender or die.¡± Duke turned to the soldier and smiled as the barrel slid to his forehead, ¡°Take your best shot.¡± The soldier did. The shot rocked Duke¡¯s head back with the impact of the Mana-infused blast. He gaped as Duke looked back at him, the wound closing on his forehead. Duke waggled his finger at the soldier and reached for the soldier¡¯s armored form. Before he reached the man, the soldier disappeared in a cloud of magical energy. Duke¡¯s head snapped up and saw a mech land on the shield next to him. The Steel Tusk emblem was clearly emblazoned on the mech¡¯s chest. The mech¡¯s head slowly shook from side to side in admonishment moments before the shield failed entirely. With a wave, the mech was past Duke and pounding away at the hull of the ship with its weapons. And it was not alone. Duke counted more than two dozen mechs that he could see pounding away at the ship¡¯s hull. Duke flew back along the spine of the ship to where he now knew the engineering section to be. Once there, he employed his overwhelming strength to tear his way through the ship¡¯s hull, firing up his LIGHTNING aura once again. The hull turned out to be much thicker than Duke had anticipated. He tore his way through a full four meters of hull before he broke out into the engineering section, his LIGHTNING arcing through equipment and crew alike. Duke had to TELEPORT to the side to get out of the explosive decompression he had caused. As the crew panicked, holding onto whatever they could to keep from being sucked through the man-sized hole in the hull, Duke flew through the gale, TELEPORTING random pieces of equipment and consoles onto the bridge of the first ship. If there happened to be someone holding onto that console when he TELEPORTED it, he wasn¡¯t particularly concerned. Eventually Duke got to something critical as the lights went out, right about the time that the atmosphere finished evacuating and the wind stopped. Duke was greeted by the hole he had made expanding greatly and a mech poked its head through. He shrugged at the mech and continued to ransack the engineering area. Eventually, the mech¡¯s head pulled back out and Duke made his way towards the bridge following the helpful signs. He got about halfway there before he paused with an idea. Focusing his DUNGEON SENSE, he was able to see where the ¡°neck¡± of the ship connected to the main body. He was right in the area for what he was thinking. With precision directed by his DUNGEON SENSE, Duke removed section after section holding the ¡°neck¡± onto the body. It took a minute, but the reverberations as the sections separated gave him the sense of victory he was looking for. He floated out into space. What he saw was not what he expected. There was a ship-to-ship battle taking place. Well, not exactly a ship-to-ship battle. The Iron Reaver was tearing the Syndicate ships to pieces. There was no return fire. Duke TELEPORTED back to the Iron Reaver¡¯s bridge. ¡°Well, hello there. Welcome to the fight. I don¡¯t think the ships are in any shape to fight back.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Mira replied, malice dripping from her voice. ¡°I have some dumb-ass, crazy mech pilots to pick up and I¡¯d rather not do it under the guns of these heavies.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll just sit down over here and wait then.¡± Duke sauntered over to his favorite navigation station and started planning his route to Teldin. It took nearly an hour to clean things up and get the mechs back on the ship. The discussion on the next steps was very short. When Mira brought up the topic, Duke cut right in. ¡°I am heading to Teldin. No further delays or detours. There is a Syndicate fleet headed that way, and I mean to get there before they do. I have plotted a course that will get me there in fourteen jumps. That should take no more than two hours. I can bring the ship and everyone along or drop you off somewhere along the way. That¡¯s up to you, but I am leaving in one hour.¡± With that, Duke left the bridge, heading for his room to get a quick rest. Book 3, Chapter 47 Duke took his downtime to review his notifications. He expected that this would be a big jump for him since he was only level 87 in this Tier and was looking forward to it. He was especially grateful that he hadn¡¯t had to use UMBRAL REAPER this time around. The emotional and spiritual pain of activating it and its resultant feedback was hard on his sanity. Setting that thought aside with a shudder, he delved right in. *** Congratulations, you defeated 1,331 enemies of various levels between Tier One and Tier Three. You gain 1,093,300 experience and are now level 99. You have 216 Characteristic Points to spend. You have increased a number of Abilities as well: Your TELEPORTATION has increased to Grandmaster 108 Your REGENERATION has increased to Master 16 Your AURA CONCEALMENT has increased to Initiate 34 Your LASTING DISGUISE has increased to Initiate 31 Your LIGHTNING has increased to Adept 29 Your OVERCHANNEL has increased to Adept 115 Your SIMULCASTING has increased to Practiced 29 Your CLEANSE has increased to Practiced 51 Your RESTORE has increased to Master 85 Your REMOTE CASTING has increased to Initiate 18 Your ARMOR SKIN has increased to Adept 76 Your MANA DRAIN has increased to Initiate 21 Your CLAIRVOYANCE has increased to Practiced 7 Your DUNGEON MONSTER CREATION has increased to Novice 12 *** Duke took in all the gains with a smile. He allocated his new Characteristic points right to his Psyche and immediately felt a slight lessening of the pressure on his mind. With my Psyche enhancement from the Dungeon Title, I¡¯m over 41,000 in Psyche. And that¡¯s still not enough to fully contain what UMBRAL REAPER has brought home with it. That¡¯s something I¡¯m going to have to figure out. But I have other things to worry about right now. He left his room and headed down to the mech bay to check in on things there. All the mech bays were filled and the various Clan pilots were checking over their mechs after the space battle. Gro¡¯nok noticed Duke right away and headed over to him. ¡°So, fighting in space without a spacesuit. How did you manage that?¡± Duke eyed him with a wry grin, ¡°I¡¯m tougher than I look. And it¡¯s just a cold vacuum. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s all that hard to deal with.¡± Several sets of eyes turned Duke¡¯s way and he smiled in response. With a glance around, he addressed the entire mech bay, ¡°You all charged through space to take on a trio of heavy cruisers in mechs. That takes balls of steel, and maybe a head as dense.¡± The laughter and affirmative comments that followed into a call and refrain. ¡°Who¡¯s the toughest on the field? Steel Tusks! Who strikes fear into the hearts of our enemies? Steel Tusks! Who are we? Steel Tusks!¡± They devolved into grunting and cheering with aggressive backslaps. ¡°Don¡¯tcha start brawling, Tusks. There¡¯s plenty more we have to do!¡± Gro¡¯nok seemed to catch them just in time as a pair had squared off to fight. Instead, they just smiled at each other and clasped forearms. ¡°Need any repairs?¡± Duke casually asked. ¡°A few of us got banged up a bit but we¡¯re still operational.¡± ¡°So, you don¡¯t want me to-¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say that. Work your magic.¡± Duke chuckled and activated a RESTORE to cover the whole ship. As the mechs rapidly repaired themselves, the crews gaped in wonder. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°That, my Tusks, is Duke. He¡¯s the reason most of you even have mechs to pilot and a ship to transport them in.¡± New looks of appreciation spread through the mech bay, and more than one female orc gave him a appraising glance from head to toe. ¡°Should I be concerned about that?¡± Duke quietly asked Gro¡¯nok. ¡°Only if you and Aurelia aren¡¯t really broken up. Otherwise just ride the wave. And if they ever find out you heal so quickly, yeah. Ride that wave. Ain¡¯t nothing like an orc woman when it comes to passion.¡± Duke took his leave shortly after that, stopping off at the ship¡¯s engineering section to refill the Mana cores. He found that they were only down half of one core, so it was a matter of a minute to fill it up carefully. Soon he was back on the bridge. Mira picked up his entrance immediately. She smiled at him, ¡°So, you ready to get going?¡± ¡°Have you decided that you are coming along?¡± ¡°Of course. Even the Clan wants to come along.¡± ¡°You all know we¡¯re heading to another conflict with the Syndicate, right?¡± ¡°Yes, we all know it. But you handled the last one just fine. Maybe this time we can set up an ambush for them.¡± ¡°Ambush? What do you mean?¡± ¡°Lya has been reaching out to friends to see if they might be interested in a piece of the Syndicate. You¡¯d be surprised how many enemies they have made.¡± ¡°Or friends who are only going along until they can betray us for the paycheck.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case. She said she was careful.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s take this aside for a minute,¡± Duke directed her to the conference room off the bridge and she followed. Once there, he closed the door and continued. ¡°It¡¯s very simple. There¡¯s very few I trust in this world. You are one of them, Aurelia is another, and probably Gro¡¯nok. Lya is not on the list for sure. Anyone she brings in is sure as fuck not on the trust list. I¡¯m heading to a confrontation with the Syndicate where they are bringing something called the hounds with them. There are a lot of people counting on me to keep them safe on Teldin but they are not ready for this level of combat. They don¡¯t know what a mech is. They haven¡¯t seen a drop ship. Why do you think I put the ¡®come and get me¡¯ sign in the middle of a fucking desert? I don¡¯t need even more variables brought into this fight.¡± Mira stared at him as he paced around the conference table. Finally, she gathered her thoughts enough to respond, ¡°Would it be better for you if we all stayed away?¡± Duke stopped his pacing, ¡°Is that what you got out of all that? No, I really would like for you to be there but there¡¯s no way that this ship is taking on a capitol ship. You¡¯ve said it before and you¡¯re still right. I just don¡¯t want people that I have no clue who they are showing up to lend us a hand before they stab us in the back. Not now. Not on Teldin.¡± ¡°You seem to care an awful lot about that planet.¡± ¡°I have a kingdom on that planet and a number of important people, places, and things there that I will protect. Even if it costs me greatly.¡± ¡°And what the hell is that supposed to mean?¡± Duke shook her off, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. It¡¯s a ¡®me¡¯ problem. Nothing anyone else has to worry about. But do you understand why I¡¯m putting the stop to any more external players than we already have?¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll talk to her. How long are you going to need to get ready for the trip there?¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready when you are. I have waypoints already selected. It¡¯s a bit more conservative route than it could have been but I want to hit each of the waypoints with Mana in the tank.¡± ¡°OK, then,¡± Mira opened the door to the conference room and strode out onto the bridge in full ¡°captain¡± form. She sat in the captain¡¯s chair and pulled up the shipwide intercom. ¡°Attention everyone. We are about to depart for Teldin. When we arrive, we expect to rapidly engage in combat with the Syndicate. Mechs be ready to deploy. Infantry, likewise. I know you have been keeping a low profile and staying in your own circle but now is the time to step out and support each other. We are expecting a fleet similar to what we encountered at Capnok so this ship will be making its way right to the planet¡¯s surface. Duke has volunteered to engage the capitol ships like he did last time. Whatever final preparations you need to make, need to be made now.¡± Duke stepped out onto the bridge and took his place at the navigational console. It took him a matter of seconds to bring up his previously created flight plan and double-check it. He saw that he could easily modify it and reduce the number of jumps but that would only speed up the journey by a matter of minutes. He dismissed the revisions and decided to stick to the original plan. He looked over to Mira who gave him a nod. Duke TELEPORTED the ship to the first waypoint. The scanners swept the area around the ship in an ever-expanding arc. As Duke had expected, the scanners didn¡¯t pick anything up. He waited for his Mana to refill and checked his next location. The silence on the bridge permeated everything to the point that the act of tapping on the display for the next destination carried to everyone¡¯s ears. Duke didn¡¯t wait for confirmation before TELEPORTING them to the second waypoint. In short order, the waypoints fell away without incident, and they were on the verge of the final jump. Duke looked over to Mira, ¡°Make the announcement. We may be going in hot, but I¡¯m going to place the ship on the planet¡¯s surface. That way you can deploy the mechs quickly if needed and it will give us a minute or two to assess the situation before we engage any further. Sound like a plan? This is a short jump for me so I¡¯ll have about half my Mana left over ¨C just in case.¡± ¡°If it means we aren¡¯t going to jump into a pitched battle with a bunch of capitol ships, I¡¯m fully on-board with that.¡± She took a moment to clear her head before continuing over the ship wide intercom, ¡°Attention everyone. We are about to make the final jump to Teldin. Prepare for possible rapid deployment of mechs and infantry.¡± Duke gave them all a minute or two to get ready before calling down on his own comms to Gro¡¯nok, ¡°Are you ready in the mech bay?¡± ¡°Ready as we¡¯ll ever be. Please don¡¯t dump us too deep in it if you can help it.¡± ¡°No promises. I have no idea what we are going to see when we get there. Strap in, and get ready to fight!¡± Duke paused a bit longer and, with a nod to Mira, TELEPORTED them outside of the Lake Front Inn. Book 3, Chapter 48 The ship arrived in what had once been a military mustering field but now stood empty. Everyone sat still around the bridge, waiting for word from Mira on what the ship¡¯s sensors were picking up. The silence and tension grew as she scanned the system and beyond. Finally, after three agonizing minutes, she spoke, ¡°System is clear of the Syndicate fleet but there are dozens of mercenary and hunter vessels in orbit. And there is definitely a war going on the surface.¡± Duke stepped up to the captain¡¯s chair, ¡°Show me the war?¡± Mira glanced over at him and nodded before bringing up the visual of the battle. What he saw was not anything like what he expected. The land of and around the battlefield was devastated with shattered trees, smoking holes in the ground, and even some pools of bubbling and steaming green substance. What was most striking was the forces set against each other. On one side, there was a mix of mercenary forces in what looked like a hodge-podge of mismatched pieces of powered armor with the occasional substandard mech thrown in. On the other side was a cohesive group of soldiers wearing matching breastplates and helms with greaves. They mostly carried large shields and swords but there were a number that wielded bows, firing arrows over the heads of their allies. There also was a group of mages maintaining some sort of shielding construct that was protecting their soldiers from the heaviest of blows from the opposing force. The front line pushed and strained at the mercenary forces and was holding its ground for now despite being heavily outnumbered. As they watched, a drop ship descended behind the mercenaries, more mechs marching down the ramps before they were even completely lowered. ¡°The First Legion! You have to get me there!¡± Aurelia had been largely absent as of late but had come out for their arrival on Teldin. Her voice was loud and strong as her COMMAND VOICE filled the bridge. Mira had launched the ship before her conscious mind acknowledged what Aurelia had said. The trip to the battlefield took less than a minute but, in that time, Aurelia had taken over the intercom. ¡°Steel Tusks, we are landing in the middle of a battlefield. Take out the mechs and mercenaries and don¡¯t you dare hurt my Legion!¡± There was no time for a response as she charged down to the mech bay fully intending to lead the mechs out the door. Aurelia jumped from the landing above the mech bay, flipping twice in the air before landing with her warhorse beneath her which promptly reared and kicked its hooves at the air. The echoing of the horse¡¯s hooves was drowned out by the sound of the ship landing and the ramps lowering. She charged ahead of the mechs releasing from their in-flight restraints and took position before the lowering ramp. Behind her, the floor shook as mech after mech formed up behind her. The ramp lowered quickly, but not quick enough for Aurelia. She spurred her warhorse on, and they launched up the descending ramp in a flash, arcing into the air as the ramp hit its halfway point and landing before the shield wall that had thinned to cover the new arrivals at the rear of the Legion¡¯s formation. ¡°First Legion! Reinforcements have arrived!¡± Aurelia announced as she activated her INSPIRATION and cast her Commander¡¯s Might. The entire Legion seemed to take a breath before strength flowed through their limbs as their spirits were bolstered by her very presence. When the mechs charged down the ramp behind her, flowing to either side of her and the nearly encircled Legion the Legionnaires all cheered and pushed back harder, taking offensive action for the first time since they had to turtle up. The reaction from the mercenaries was altogether different. At first, they wondered what new mercenary company had joined the fight and whether it would cut into their own paychecks. When the new mech force bypassed the trapped locals and charged into their ranks, weapons blazing, everything changed. The past year had been a tough one for the Steel Tusks. Their contracts had dried up with their lack of transportation. In the past, they had dozens of ships they had contracted with to get their mechs to their contracts. One by one they had either been absorbed by the Syndicate or mysteriously disappeared. Then the Syndicate stopped playing ¨C the came for the Clan outright. Dozens of Clan members and had been killed with their mechs in targeted hits. False contracts, double-crossed by shady transports, the list was long and inglorious. Now, they had the chance to vent their anger on mercs hired by the Syndicate to suppress these locals. They did not hold back. Seeing the number of mechs entering the battlefield, the mercenaries rapidly grew concerned. When the titan mech took the field, they couldn¡¯t call for extraction fast enough. Their ranks collapsed towards the extraction point as they exchanged panicked fire with the charging mechs. The Syndicate drop ship came down on a pillar of fire, burning hot to stop its rapid descent before slamming into the ground. Its weapons fired in a suppressive arc towards the approaching enemy mechs taking a toll. Then the drop ship itself rocked sideways as fire from the Iron Reaver tore into it. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Panic flowed across the Syndicate ship. ¡°Captain, our shields are straining under this fire. What the hell is that ship equipped with?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know but turn every weapon on it. This is a hot extraction. We have trained for this a thousand times!¡± The captain¡¯s voice was calm but stern. He knew his ship was capable of fighting off any simple civilian drop ship. He would pick up his charges and deliver them away from the battlefield. They never saw the blow that shattered their already struggling shields but the follow-up blow as Duke flew in on a wave of FORCE that punched a hole through their main landing ramp certainly got their attention. Structural integrity warnings blared to life as the pilot struggled with the controls to right the ship. ¡°Security to the mech bay!¡± The captain¡¯s order sounded out clearly and set bodies to motion. Security guards raced down to the mech bay to find the entire bay engulfed in flames with a single figure floating in the middle of the conflagration. ¡°Bad choice signing up with the Syndicate, boys!¡± The figure¡¯s voice reverberated around the bay before the flames expanded, racing to engulf them. ¡°You would think that a ship based on fire Mana would be a bit more fire resistant. Oh well, not my problem.¡± Duke emerged from the flames and RESTORED his clothing that had been largely burnt away. He didn¡¯t know what he had caught on fire, but it was blazing hot in the ship. He decided it was time to leave and TELEPORTED into the sky over the battlefield. His first sight was of Aurelia¡¯s mounted charge into the collapsing mercenary line with her sword drawn and shield held at the ready. Her FLASH CHARGE struck the mercenaries with enough force to send heavily armored bodies flying. She was halfway through their ranks before her charge faltered. The remaining mercenaries pounced on her, slicing with blades, shooting with pistols and rifles and attacking with damaging Abilities. Her armor was strong, her shield even stronger, and her sword nearly unstoppable. But there were limits. Under the weight of the mercenaries, she was quickly overwhelmed and pulled from her horse. The screaming wave of Legionnaires that followed, however, was more than the mercenaries were prepared to handle as they moved virtually as a single unit, flowing over the field and striking down anyone near their General. She was helped to her feet and immediately tended to by a pair of healers. As she was picked up and tended to, the drop ship crashed to the ground, tilted at a forty-degree angle. It teetered for a full second before falling over sideways, it¡¯s landing gear failing. The remaining mercenaries broke and ran. They did not get far. The Legion¡¯s casters, now free from maintaining defensive wards, opened up with their full-power magical artillery spells. The area was quickly devastated with not a single mercenary walking away from the fight. There was one that managed to struggle through all the rain of spells only to crest a hill and be picked off by the titan mech¡¯s cannon. He disappeared in a cloud of red mist. While the Legion¡¯s commander filled in their General on recent events and the status of the Legions, Duke surveyed the area from above. He could see that the area for kilometers around was a wasteland. Shaking his head, he focused his Mana and activated a massive RESTORE, pouring more than a five million Mana into it. The wave of Magic expanded outwards from him and quickly covered the Legion, the Steel Tusks, and continued to expand across the battlefield. As the wave passed, equipment was repaired, mechs rebuilt, and the landscape reformed and rebuilt. The CLEANSE that followed ensured all signs of the battle were washed clean save for the dead bodies still littering the area. What Duke had not considered was the Syndicate drop ship being repaired. It came to his attention rather quickly as the ship attempted to launch itself from its sideways position. It had actually made it nearly vertical before Duke acted. He used his SENSE MAGIC to locate the ship¡¯s Mana cores and simply TELEPORTED them to the ground in below him. The ship crashed back to the ground but at least it was upright this time. ¡°There¡¯s still some crew on board that ship. I suggest someone go make sure they have the chance to surrender or just kill them. I don¡¯t really care. I doubt they have anything useful to say.¡± ¡°Duke, there¡¯s more to the story than this battle,¡± Aurelia¡¯s voice had returned to the confident leader Duke had grown so used to hearing. ¡°There have been skirmishes all over the borders with groups like these. None quite as formidable as this particular group but it seems more arrive every day. The Legions are holding, but our losses are mounting. We are being squeezed and we really have had no true allies to call on.¡± ¡°I understand. We have the Steel Tusks to call on right now and with the Iron Reaver, they are a mobile force that can react to any incursions that may occur. Whatever they send at us, we will handle. The Legion has you back in charge and the kingdom has me back for now. Let¡¯s leverage that to rid our lands of any intruders.¡± ¡°As you say, my King,¡± She saluted him and returned to her troops, leaving Duke alone with his thoughts. So that¡¯s how it¡¯s going to be from now on? All business. Nothing else. Can¡¯t say I¡¯m happy about that but her choice is her choice. I¡¯ll respect it. Now to spend a moment with this notification that is flashing like crazy. ***Congratulations! For restoring a battlefield wasteland to its natural state, you have received Gaiathia¡¯s blessing. For the next 48 hours, your Health and Mana will regenerate at an accelerated rate, any food or drink you consume will taste wonderfully, and you will be looked upon favorably by all of nature. *** Fucking gods again! I haven¡¯t even been here for an hour, and they are already meddling. I need to get to Sam and see how things are there and in Havenreach. And also get back to Cloudspire and get a full rundown on everything happening in the kingdom. First a chat with Mira and Gro¡¯nok. And where the hell is the Syndicate fleet? I expected it to be here when we arrived. Book 3, Chapter 49 Duke¡¯s conversation with Mira and Gro''nok went rather quickly with both quite happy to stick around and deal with the Syndicate mercenaries as they popped up. Gro¡¯nok seemed especially eager to fight, as did the rest of the Clan¡¯s mech pilots. That led to another conversation ¨C what to do about the mercenaries¡¯ mechs that Duke had repaired. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the mechs. I¡¯ll put them in storage against us gaining more mech pilots. It¡¯s a skill like any other. Why don¡¯t you just train more pilots in the Clan?¡± ¡°The tradition speaks against it. It is an honor to pilot a mech, something that is earned, not given. To do otherwise would take away its significance in our culture.¡± ¡°Then push more people to earn it. We have more mechs than pilots and I can¡¯t imagine that is a normal situation nor is the entire Clan having to flee an enemy a normal situation. Tradition might not hold for this period in the Clan¡¯s history. Think about it.¡± ¡°I will think on it and discuss it with the Clan elders. For now,¡± He raised his voice. ¡°Steel Tusks! Mount up and get back on the ship. There¡¯s more fighting to do elsewhere!¡± After salutes and handshakes were exchanged, Duke had a brief conversation with the Legion Commander and Aurelia about his short-term plans. The First Legion was going to march back to Cloudspire and use the Portal network to get back to the LFD for resupply and a bit of rest. ¡°Or, I could just open a Portal for you to get there directly right now,¡± Duke suggested. ¡°That would speed things up for sure. Thank you, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Of course. Let me know when you are ready, and I¡¯ll set up the Portal.¡± It took no more than ten minutes for the entire Legion to be ready to move out and it took far less than that to set up the Portal. Twenty minutes later, Duke was left alone with the remains of the mercenaries and their mechs as Mira had flown out to look for another hot spot. He proceeded to load up the mechs into his INVENTORY before taking the equipment from the mercenaries and leaving their bodies to rot. I¡¯ve got enough bodies in my INVENTORY, time to just grab the equipment. With that thought, he stepped through the Portal and closed it behind himself. Stepping into the Lake Front Inn was refreshing. The air itself just felt fresher and full of positive energy. The Inn setting had not changed much since he had last been here but there were now some trophies mounted on the walls. They were diverse from the heads of horrible beasts that Duke assumed had been dungeon bosses to artifacts taken from mercenaries and hunters the Legion had defeated. He liked the additions. It didn¡¯t take long for both Calen and Sam to find him as he walked towards the bar. Calen poured him a glass of whiskey and placed it on the bar with a smile, ¡°Good to see you again, Duke. You¡¯ll have to tell me al about your travels, but it looks like Sam is, um, waiting for you.¡± Duke looked up from the drink to see Sam practically bouncing from foot to foot in his eagerness to speak with Duke. With an upnod, Duke acknowledged Sam who burst into an explosion of words. ¡°Duke, thank the Overmind you are back! Do you have any idea how busy I have been? With the Legions, yes LEGIONS, plural. And with Havenreach! The things I have had to do there. Just too much. And then the loss of a family member? Did you know that we lost someone? Of course you did. Why aren¡¯t you talking?¡± Duke calmly put his glass down and looked at Sam, ¡°Hi Sam. You look good. How have you been?¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard anything I just said!¡± ¡°Every word, but that¡¯s not how we should start off, is it?¡± Sam lowered his head, ¡°No, it¡¯s not. Sorry. I just got so excited to finally have someone who would understand what I have been going through.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you pull up a stool and tell me the most important things first? We can get into the rest of it later. Sound good?¡± ¡°Yes, Duke. Thank you.¡± He pulled up a stool and Calen placed a glass filled with a glowing blue substance in front of him. Sam acknowledged the drink with a smile. He took a long drink before beginning. ¡°OK, the most important thing. When you left, the entire economy of the Kingdom nearly collapsed.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to want some more details about that for sure.¡± ¡°It¡¯s your aura, Duke. When you left, it went away and all productivity dropped, but especially in Havenreach. From their perspective, you have been gone for two and a half years. I had to push the loot generation for their dungeon way up just to keep them from falling apart. It required so much of a Mana investment that my own growth came to a standstill. Go speak with the mayor but they had to really mess with the tax rates. Now that you¡¯re back and your Aura is back in place at-¡± Sam stopped, absolutely stunned. He shook his head free of the thought and continued, ¡°nearly twenty-five THOUSAND percent, I can tone things back down. That¡¯s been a heavy strain on my Mana to maintain that.¡± Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Thank you for taking care of Havenreach for me. How are you holding up on Mana?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m just fine now. With that strain relieved, I am gaining Mana at quite the rate again, especially with you in here. The six Legions that keep rotating back here to train are keeping me nearly full-up now so I can go back to growing.¡± ¡°Did you say six Legions?¡± ¡°Yes, Duke. Six Legions. And I heard rumors that they were looking to form two more once they had enough recruits.¡± ¡°Where are all these recruits coming from?¡± ¡°From their conversations, all over. They apparently heard that things are good in the kingdom and have brought their families with them.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s some good news. With the Syndicate coming to cause more trouble, we¡¯re going to need a lot of troops. How are you coming with the planetary defenses?¡± ¡°The what?¡± ¡°The planetary defenses. You know, to defend the plant from threats from space.¡± ¡°I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, Duke.¡± ¡°Of course you don¡¯t. But we need something in place.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but that is far outside my experience by a lot. I¡¯ll stick to training the Legions.¡± ¡°Great idea. You do that. Anything else?¡± ¡°Lots of other things but the more important thing is that I want to introduce you to my Core Team.¡± ¡°Your what?¡± Sam got up from the barstool and gestured for Duke to follow him. ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± Duke followed Sam from the Inn and back through the ¡°closed¡± passages that led to Sam¡¯s core. When they entered the core chamber, Duke was greeted with a most unexpected sight. A half-dozen nearly formless, bipedal creatures stood around the core pedestal. They all turned towards Duke and he could see the faceless heads transform into human features. Their outer skin formed into clothing similar enough to Duke¡¯s that they would fit in wherever they went. ¡°Duke, this is my Core Team. They have been tasked with planting my cores out in the world,¡± Duke paused, his mind grinding to a halt. ¡°What cores? And how many?¡± Sam shook his head at Duke. ¡°Did you think that just because you weren¡¯t here that my budding process would just stop? Nonsense. I bud a new core every week like clockwork. But since you were not here to go plant them, I created these fine specimens to do so. They are truly wonderful creations if I do say so myself. They are infinitely adaptable to blend into any group they find and have the mental prowess to make those they encounter forget about them entirely.¡± Duke gaped at Sam before the dungeon¡¯s avatar continued, ¡°They have planted seven new dungeons out in the wild. They are all roadside inns that you should visit sometime.¡± ¡°And they can make people forget about them?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s perfect. They can go out, plant a dungeon, and return with none the wiser about it. It really works out. In fact, turn around, Duke. You¡¯ll see how well their Ability works when all six of them use it at once.¡± Humoring Sam while his mind tried to grasp what Sam was telling him, he turned around. If Sam plants a new dungeon every week, how long until those dungeons are strong enough to put out their own seeds? Could this be why the dungeons were ultimately hunted down? But these are roadside inns ¨C they¡¯re helpful. Will it be different because of that? As he pondered these things, he felt the faintest pressure on his mind. He turned around, ¡°Was that it?¡± Sam and all six members of the Core Team stared at Duke incredulously. ¡°That¡¯s not how that¡¯s supposed to work.¡± ¡°Were you really trying to use a dungeon-based mental Ability on me? On ME? You really thought that was going to work, didn¡¯t you?¡± Sam looked crestfallen, ¡°Well, yes. It¡¯s worked on everybody else.¡± Duke laughed for longer than he had anticipated. Finally, getting himself under control, he responded, ¡°My Psyche is effectively over forty thousand and I have specific Mental Abilities to stop just that sort of thing beyond any protection being a Dungeon Emperor provides. There¡¯s no way you were getting through all that.¡± Sam¡¯s expression brightened slightly, ¡°That makes you the exception then.¡± ¡°Yes, it does. And this is an interesting development. Should I expect other dungeons to be doing the same thing?¡± ¡°Only if they have the Mana intake that I do and, frankly, I don¡¯t see how they could. I¡¯m special and unique.¡± ¡°Yes, you are very special. Kindly show me where these dungeons have been planted.¡± It didn¡¯t take long for the dungeons to be located on a map. They were all on lonely stretches of road in areas that Duke had to admit that he would have planted them himself. Putting his concerns aside he praised the team, ¡°You have done a good job at picking your locations. These inns will serve well and hopefully grow as Sam has. Well, maybe not to this extent, but I think you get my gist.¡± ¡°Thank you, Dungeon Emperor. Your words of praise are received and leave us fulfilled.¡± The response was in unison with voices so congruent, there was no harmony at all, just a single voice coming from six different bodies. ¡°Yeah, use that forgetful Ability whenever you go out. Nobody talks like that.¡± Duke turned to leave but paused, ¡°Was there anything else, Sam?¡± ¡°Nothing important. Just don¡¯t be too much of a stranger.¡± ¡°No promises. There are some big things coming up real soon. I have no idea when I¡¯ll be able to come back here. Hopefully frequently. But for now, I¡¯m off to visit Havenreach. I have a few people to speak with there and then on to Cloudspire.¡± ¡°Goodbye Duke. I have to go add another level to the training dungeon. These Legionnaires are starting to push over Tier four. Can you believe it?¡± ¡°More good news. I assume that¡¯s only the First Legion?¡± ¡°Yes, the others are all Tier one and two with a few threes scattered in there. They are leveling quickly though. I bet I can get our first Tier five Legionnaire within the next six months to a year.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fantastic! Keep it up. I¡¯ll catch up to you later.¡± Duke TELEPORTED to the entrance for Havenreach, ready for his next set of tasks. Book 3, Chapter 50 Duke stepped out of the Portal and into the entrance building or, as he had come to think of it, the killbox. He was greeted by a pair of guards with proper salutes and a hearty, ¡°Welcome back to Havenreach, Your Majesty!¡± Duke smiled at them, returning their salute, ¡°As you were. It¡¯s good to be back here after all this time. Anything I should know about?¡± ¡°You should speak to the Guard Captain or the Mayor. They will know more about what has been going on since you have been gone than I could tell you, Your Majesty.¡± Duke nodded in agreement, ¡°Sounds like a plan. Keep your watch on this place, vigilant as always.¡± ¡°Of course, your Majesty!¡± The pair of guards returned to their posts, symbolic they may be, they were good at their job. The real defense of the entrance was outside the entrance hall and Duke greeted the Captain of the Guard as he exited the building, ¡°Captain, have you already sent a runner on ahead?¡± ¡°Of course, You Majesty. Are you going to outrace the poor lad like you did last time?¡± ¡°Depends on whether we want to make this a thing or not.¡± ¡°That lad has been training for two and a half years every day before and after his shift. He means to beat you to the city.¡± ¡°Then it is already a thing then. What¡¯s his fastest time to the city?¡± ¡°Fourteen minutes and twelve seconds.¡± ¡°Guess we have about thirteen minutes before he gets there, right?¡± ¡°That should be about right, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Excellent. Gives me some time to chat. So, anything interesting from the past two and a half years that I should know?¡± ¡°Just the terrible productivity slowdown. It really frustrated everyone until we got used to it. The mayor called it ¡®the new normal¡¯ and told us all to get used it. At least he adjusted the taxes so that it wasn¡¯t as bad of an impact as it could have been but it¡¯s still bad out there.¡± They continued to talk about the guards, how they were training and how much harder it had been to gain levels lately. Even Skill levels were coming slowly. They were holding fast despite it all ¨C they had a city to protect even if it was a bit more tarnished than it had been. Duke noticed that the guards¡¯ uniforms were nowhere near as clean and well-maintained as he remembered. That puzzled him somewhat but he could at least fix that. After long enough had passed, Duke left the guards with a CLEANSE and a RESTORE and ran towards the city. His now 2,500 Agility score helped him to eat up the ground at speeds he could have only matched in his fighter back on Earth. Duke arrived one step ahead of the runner, chuckling at the flabbergasted youth wheezing to catch their breath. He turned to the youth, and gave him a warm smile, ¡°You almost beat me this time. That¡¯s damned impressive and deserves some sort of award.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡± wheeze ¡°not really¡± cough ¡°necessary¡± wheeze ¡°Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Necessary, perhaps not. But that¡¯s the great thing about being King, I get to decide if I want to award someone or not. And I have decided that your dedication deserves it.¡± Duke reached into his INVENTORY and pulled out a heavily-enchanted sword he had taken from one of the higher-level mercenaries. ¡°Here, take this. It¡¯s dangerous out there.¡± The guard gaped at the blade unsure of what to say. Duke just kept going into the city. Duke smiled to himself as he headed into the city. I have no idea what that sword does. I hope he doesn¡¯t hurt himself with it. He put the thought aside as he realized that he had an INVENTORY full of items he had never taken the time to identify as well as the bodies of who knew how many fallen enemies. Why am I carrying all those bodies again? Oh, right, for Baslin. Something about handing my court wizard dead bodies seems like a terribly bad idea. Well, I guess I haven¡¯t done that just yet but what else am I going to do with all these bodies? Feed them to monsters I create? Hmm¡­that might work out OK. Later. That¡¯s a problem for later. Duke finally made it to the city hall and was on his way to the mayor¡¯s office when just how dirty and run-down the city looked to him finally struck. He paused and ducked his head back out to look at the city and indeed it was dirty. The colors of all the buildings looked faded and worn with signs of neglect everywhere. He even saw some trash strewn in the street. Duke¡¯s mood soured and he did his best not to stomp his way to the mayor¡¯s office. He wasn¡¯t sure he managed it. When he arrived, he was quickly ushered in and saw the mayor slumped behind his desk. The man looked haggard. He was fit when Duke had last seen the man, but now, he looked like he had lost at least thirty pounds that he could ill-afford to lose. Mayor Shellenberger looked up at Duke, his eyes dull and not fully focusing. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Mayor, what the hell happened here? You look like a shell of yourself and the city looks like it has fallen into disrepair.¡± Slowly, the man looked up to Duke, recognition slowly crossing his features. He stood shakily leaning on his desk for support, ¡°Gone. Dried up. It¡¯s all gone. No more ore to be found. Have to dig deeper. Have to send the adventurers deeper, but they went too far. Too many died. And the contracts, the contracts have to be met. No time for farming, have to meet the contracts.¡± Duke let the man ramble on and realized what had happened with slowly dawning horror. This is my fault. The city was built on my Aura of Prosperity but when I left, they felt the effects most deeply with their temporal acceleration. Now, things are going to accelerate to a ridiculous level with my Psyche pushing it like this. I¡¯m going to have to find a solution for when I head out again. Duke activated a CLEANSE and RESTORE large enough to encompass the entire building before he spoke, ¡°Mayor Shellenberger. Look at me.¡± The mayor slowly looked up at Duke. ¡°Prosperity is back for now. Take all the excess in and store it. Build warehouses enough to hold raw materials and wealth to carry the entire city for ten years or longer. When those warehouses are full, build another set. The prosperity is not going to last forever, so prepare for the next drought.¡± ¡°Prosperity? Back? Is it true?¡± The mayor stumbled around his desk and nearly fell on Duke, gripping his lapels to keep himself upright. ¡°Yes, mayor, it¡¯s true. And when was the last time you had something to eat?¡± ¡°No time. Have to meet the contracts. Can¡¯t fail.¡± Duke helped the man back to his chair and sat him down. Shaking his head, he pulled food and drink out of his INVENTORY and put it on the desk in front of the man. ¡°Go ahead and eat. The crisis is over for now but remember what I said about the warehouses. Make more than you think you could ever fill because you¡¯re going to need them.¡± When Duke exited the building, he saw that his Abilities had brought the building back to life, at least in appearance. It stood in stark contrast to the rest of the city. I can¡¯t leave it like this. No way. Duke spread his CLEANSE and RESTORE Abilities across the entire city, burning through virtually all his Mana to do so. Suddenly, he felt dizzy and had to lean against a pillar. He flipped to his stat sheet to see what was going on and figured it out quickly. His Mana was refilling very slowly, roughly thirty-two thousand a second as opposed to the more than eight hundred thousand a second he was accustomed to. The time dilation affects my Mana regen? I never noticed it before. Odd. Guess I¡¯m not sticking around here for long. Really, my main task here is done. Only one more visit to make before I head back out anyway. Duke found himself being shown into Chal''barnah¡¯s office within the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. The otherworldly creature that was Chal''barnah smiled with her far too long and sharp teeth. She gestured to a chair opposite her, ¡°You one told me to forego the formality when we were alone. I do hope that you meant that long-term. It has been quite a while since I have seen you here in this once fair city.¡± ¡°I would say that it is fair once again and things will turn for the better any day now.¡± ¡°You bring me optimism, but I have laid to rest too many of my adventurers to put such frivolous thoughts to mind. We have lost more than have come to settle here and it has left me somewhat pessimistic since we have had to delve so deeply just to make the bare minimum of the city¡¯s needs.¡± ¡°Yes, I know. I have just come from the mayor¡¯s office.¡± ¡°Oh, that poor man. He will work himself and all of us to death before he misses one of those precious contracts. Damn them!¡± ¡°When are your next adventurers due to come out of the dungeon?¡± ¡°In just a few minutes. It could be longer as they may have had to look longer to find any decent loot.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go meet them as they come out. I want to see what it looks like.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the King,¡± She rose to her feet and prepared for the journey out to the dungeon. ¡°Allow me,¡± Duke smiled as he TELEPORTED both of them to the dungeon entrance near the ¡°taxation¡± arch. The guards on duty nearly leapt out of their uniforms when the pair appeared a meter away from them. Chal''barnah took a step steadying herself. ¡°That¡¯s quite the trick.¡± ¡°I¡¯m quite fond of it,¡± Duke agreed. ¡°Let¡¯s wait a few and see what the team comes out with, shall we?¡± ¡°Not much choice unless we want to go in after them,¡± She responded with eagerness. Duke laughed, ¡°Haven¡¯t been in the dungeon in a while, have you?¡± ¡°Not since it got stingy. Oh, looks like they are coming out.¡± She was proven right as a group of five adventurers came out of the dungeon entrance grinning from ear to ear. Chal''barnah leaned over to Duke, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen a team this happy in years.¡± They came out cheering and celebrating. Once they saw Chal''barnah standing there, they sobered up quickly as they passed through the arch and came to stand before the Guildmaster. She looked them up and down, ¡°Have anything to report?¡± ¡°Yes, Guildmaster. We¡¯re all full up on loot. There was nothing to speak of for most of the delve but we decided to hit one more monster before we left, and it just spewed out loot when we killed it. It was like a full run from the oldentimes. And get this. It was on the first floor!¡± Chal''barnah looked back at Duke who kept his expression neutral, ¡°You knew this was going to happen, didn¡¯t you.¡± ¡°Why else would I have brought us here. Expect the runs to be very profitable for a while. But don¡¯t expect it to last. Save up your wealth. Help the city stockpile everything it will need from the dungeon for the next ten years. Yes, I said ten years. Fat times are upon you for maybe the next year or three, but the lean times will come back so take this time to prepare for them.¡± ¡°As you say, Your Majesty,¡± Chal''barnah responded while looking longingly at the dungeon. Finally, she couldn¡¯t hold back any longer, ¡°Who is coming with me? I¡¯m going in.¡± Five hands immediately went up. Duke even caught the guard start to raise his hand before remembering he had a job to do and putting it back down. ¡°It seems my work here is done for now,¡± Duke chuckled. ¡°Enjoy your run but heed what I said. Lean times will come again. Be prepared.¡± With that, he TELEPORTED back to the castle and to his throne. He had other kingdom business to attend to. Book 3, Chapter 51 Duke appeared on his throne, suddenly discovering that he was not alone. There was a smaller version of his throne in front of him and to his right. This small throne was occupied. Duke couldn¡¯t be sure who was sitting in the chair, but the long line of petitioners gave him a hint. He said nothing and just observed for now as a petitioner came forward. Duke settled in to listen and observe. The weathered man bowed deeply and spoke with a quiet confidence, ¡°Your Majesty-¡± The figure in the small throne interrupted him, ¡°I¡¯m only a Duke. Your Grace is the proper honorific but we do not need to stand on ceremony or form here. What is your grievance, your request, good sir?¡± The man hesitated before speaking, ¡°But the King is here.¡± He glanced up at Duke and bent into a bow. It was a surprisingly formal bow and not what Duke would have expected. Where would a man like this learn such formality? Damn, I almost called him a peasant in my mind. Not starting this off on the right foot at all. Two things happened in rapid succession. Duke Madrigal spun around, standing from the little throne stepping to the center and while Duke spoke to the petitioner, ¡°Hello there, my good man. What is your name and what brings you before me on this day?¡± There, that sounds downright kingly, at least, I think so. Feels like so long since I¡¯ve done anything like this. Oh shit, he¡¯s talking. Guess I¡¯m still not cut out for this. Madrigal interrupted, ¡°When? What? How long have you been here, Your Majesty? Are you well? So much has happened in your absence. We need to discuss it all.¡± Duke nodded to Madrigal and gave him a ¡°hold a minute¡± gesture with his hand. His focus returned to the man and he gestured that the man continue. The man spoke, ¡°I am Roger Shrubber, and my family maintains a farm several days north from this city. A bit more than a week ago one of the terrifying sailing ships that race through the sky landed on our lands. They have been stealing our cows ever since. They have strange magic to defend themselves with and we are just simple farmers. They killed Arkus when he tried to stop them ¨C just killed him dead without even moving from where they stood. We have no way to deal with this. Will you aid us?¡± Duke hopped off his throne and pulled his map out of INVENTORY. He spread it out on the floor next to the farmer, ¡°Show me where your farm is on the map.¡± He took a quick look around the room and activated a CLEANSE and RESTORE across the whole crowd to delighted remarks and murmurs. He returned his attention to Roger as Madrigal joined him, kneeling to look at the map. The farmer looked back and forth from the map to Duke a few times before Duke realized the man had no idea how to read a map. He then proceeded to point landmarks out on the map and, after a few minutes, the farmer was able to show him where his farm was located. Duke folded the map back up and put it back in his INVENTORY. Madrigal didn¡¯t say anything but Duke could read the significant strain and worry projecting from his features. ¡°Madrigal, you have the rest of these petitioners? Good. We¡¯ll talk when I get back. I have to go remind these uninvited guests that they are not welcome.¡± Without waiting for a response, Duke TELEPORTED himself and Roger to the farm. He held Roger¡¯s arm to steady the man after what Duke expected was the man¡¯s first teleport. The farmer nearly lost his footing and was essentially dangling from Duke¡¯s grasp before he got his feet under himself and shook his head clear. ¡°Are we in the right place?¡± After a few more seconds spent reorienting himself, Roger pointed towards a hill that he indicated was the area where the ship had landed. Duke smiled, ¡°Thank you Roger. I¡¯ll take it from here. It is unlikely that I can get your cows back, but I am sure I can make them regret coming here. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I¡¯ll find some way to compensate the farm for its losses.¡± Duke didn¡¯t wait for a response before jogging over the hill Roger had indicated. On the way, he used his LASTING DISGUISE Ability to make himself look like a farmer. When he crested the hill, he was greeted by the sight of a horizontally triangular metallic ship sitting in the flat beyond, resting on its three, three-legged landing supports. The points of the triangle were rounded and the ship bulged as it approached the center of each side while still keeping a smooth, straight line. He shrugged and casually walked up to the ship. There was one door open and a ramp led down to the ground. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. As he approached, a three-headed creature stepped out of the door. It was not tall, likely only coming up to Duke¡¯s waist and none of its three legs seemed to have any joints. It was completely hairless and moved by pivoting on one stubby leg and swinging the other two around. Each head sat upon a neck that was longer than a human¡¯s and sat above each leg. It turned one of its heads towards Duke, blinking its trio of eyes on that head in succession. When it spoke, all three mouths were involved, creating an odd harmony that Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA translated oddly. ¡°Do not approach, native backwards biped. You will be killed harmed mutilated.¡± The other door that Duke could see began to open and lower a ramp. From the sound Duke could hear from the backside of the craft, a third door was opening as well. Duke did not appreciate the greeting so gave a response of his own, ¡°You were neither invited nor wanted here. Leave now and never return or face the consequences.¡± Duke knew the words he intended to say but they came out in a series of triple-word phrases. Oh, even their language is fucking annoying. Fuck these guys. Before he could take further action himself, the creature acted. Duke was assaulted by three attacks simultaneously ¨C one from each head. All were directed at his own head and were beams of some sort of magical energy. The first was a mental attack attempting to invade his mind and do¡­something. Duke did not know what as his mental defenses were far too strong to allow it to even come close to touching his mind. The second was a beam of what Duke could only describe as despair. It attempted to push his emotional state into despondency and inaction. This one failed similarly to the first, slamming into the same immutable defense. The third beam was a beam of force which seemed to be trying to physically punch through Duke¡¯s head like a drill. This one, he felt trying to burrow through his ARMOR SKIN and, if given enough time, it might have penetrated. Duke, however, wasn¡¯t going to just stand there and take it. While focusing on its attacks, the creature remained standing still. This made Duke¡¯s aiming and attack simple and the creature was engulfed in SOULFIRE. The creature¡¯s attacks immediately cut off as it began to write in pain and scream in horrific harmony. After three full seconds of burning in SOULFIRE, the creature died, collapsing and sliding off the ramp. While it writhed, Duke finally had a moment to activate IDENTIFY. *** You have encountered a Tier Three Triskelion. This creature is a prime example of the rule of three that permeates the Cosmos. Triskelions will always be encountered in multiples of three as they will never choose to operate on their own. Beware of their trinary attacks. *** Duke smiled. Yeah, trinary attacks. I can see how those attacks could be nasty for someone not ready for them. But mental attacks? Yeah, not something I worry too much about at this point. The drilling beam was interesting though. It didn¡¯t get through my ARMOR SKIN but it seemed wickedly accurate. Duke¡¯s thoughts were interrupted as more and more of the triskelions came pouring out of the ship with their oddly spinning gait. Duke¡¯s brain quickly counted all 28 of them. Interesting. Three cubed counting the one I already killed. Now that¡¯s sticking to a theme for sure. Wonder if they will want to talk? Probably not. Better prepare yourself. The 26 creatures had arrayed themselves into triads and all turned each of their three heads towards Duke. When each and every eye on each and every head started to glow, he acted. Summoning his SOULFIRE, he blanketed the area. He covered all the triskelions, the ship, and a fair area around them all. But he was not fast enough. From each eye of each head came a separate beam, all aimed precisely at a pinpoint on his forehead. Oh fuck! Several things happened at once. Duke¡¯s mind was blasted with 78 separate mind attacks and as many emotional assaults. His mental defenses were strong enough to handle these and his mind shrugged them off as his SOULFIRE spread. He was also struck with 78 of the drilling beam attacks. The first thirty or so were handled by his ARMOR SKIN and were stopped. The rest managed to penetrate and combined to punch through his forehead, blasting through his brain, and finally out through the back of his skull. There was a moment of pain as the attacks penetrated his skin and shattered his skull but then there was nothing. For Duke, the world ceased. He did not fall into darkness like when he passed out or was knocked unconscious. Everything just ceased. There was nothing. No system messages, no sense of darkness that he couldn¡¯t see through. No sense of consciousness or being asleep. There just wasn¡¯t. Book 3, Chapter 52 There was nothing, and then there was everything. His eyes snapped open, and he vaulted to his feet, his mind still fully engaged in combat. But his senses quickly revealed that the fight was over. The triskelion bodies were scattered around the ship, apparently killed by his SOULFIRE, but Duke was not yet able to process what happened. I was knocked out? No, that¡¯s not right. They all blasted me in my forehead. I felt my ARMOR SKIN fail. I felt the blast tear through my skull, and then there was just nothing. And now I¡¯m on my feet. Duke¡¯s hand involuntarily went to the back of his head. It felt wet and he brought it around to the front to look at it. What he saw was blood and grey matter. He stood in frozen silence for a long moment before looking at the ground behind him to see the splatter of his own brains on the ground. Shouldn¡¯t that have killed me? Am I fucking immortal? I need some answers. Duke looked at his hand again and shuddering, reflexively CLEANSED himself. A quick glance at his INVENTORY showed that he didn¡¯t have room for the triskelion¡¯s ship but he remembered that he didn¡¯t need to place it in his INVENTORY, he had a ready-made place to store it. A TELEPORT placed the ship in the dungeon hangar with the others he had accumulated. The triskelion bodies were left behind to feed the wildlife that he could already see and hear coming closer. Duke himself arrived in the hangar a moment later. ¡°Well, that was unexpected, now, wasn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Hello again, Overmind. Can you explain to me what happened?¡± ¡°For the most part, yes. It really came down to your rather remarkable Ability to REGENERATE yourself. Now that you have pushed it to Master rank, you can come back from most anything that doesn¡¯t utterly destroy you. Depending on how much of you is left, it could take a long time to come back. This is not how such an Ability usually works. Most such Abilities cease if the brain is destroyed at anything less than the Guru rank. The blessing you are under sped up the process some too.¡± ¡°Blessing? Oh, right. Divine interference in my life. What was that about a Guru rank?¡± ¡°Yes, the rank that follows Grandmaster. Did no one ever explain this to you?¡± ¡°Not that I can recall.¡± ¡°Well, Guru follows Grandmaster and Divine follows that. I don¡¯t expect you to reach either of those two ranks anytime soon. Reaching Grandmaster in any Ability like you have in TELEPORTATION is an achievement that not more than a handful of Tier Five mortals have ever claimed. I know you¡¯re a Tier Six now, but you achieved it at five.¡± ¡°I could have taken my TELEPORTATION to Guru with the Ability rank increase I could have taken at Tier Six?¡± ¡°No, a Tier rank up can¡¯t take an Ability to that level. They max out at Master. You being able to rank up your Ability to Grandmaster was a rather special circumstance that you took advantage of beautifully. And I fully agree with your choice of Class Ability at your Tier-up.¡± ¡°So, no more shortcuts there, eh?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll not say never, but it is exceedingly unlikely. But enough on that. Are you ready for the Contest?¡± ¡°Is it time already?¡± ¡°Almost. The first Contestants will be arriving within a week. You have three, maybe four weeks until I will pull you there. Reaching Tier Six was a strong step. I doubt you can make Tier Seven before then but among the first arrivals will be a Tier Eight monster of a competitor. You need to be able to at least fight them off or evade them if you can¡¯t beat them. That is why I am telling you again to push yourself. I have to go now, but check your notifications. There¡¯s something there that I think you will find interesting.¡± Duke stared at where the Overmind¡¯s avatar had been standing. Shrugging, he pulled up his notifications. *** Attention! The contract placed on you by the Twin Entities has been fulfilled. In a coincidental quirk of fate, the individuals who fulfilled the contract were slain before they could acknowledge the contract¡¯s completion and claim the prize. *** Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°The fucking shits! They cancelled the contract without paying it out. Not that I¡¯m mad that the contract is gone but damned that¡¯s some slimy shit to not pay it out. Kinda fits them though. OK, on to the rest.¡± *** For defeating 61 creatures ranging from Tier 1 to Tier 4 of various levels, you receive 533,225 experience. You are now level 104 and have gained 105 Characteristic Points. You have increased several of your Abilities. Since you have declined to view the details, the greatest change has been selected for display: Your ARMOR SKIN has increased to Adept 87 You may delve into your individual Abilities to see any other specific changes you desire. *** Duke was thankful that he had found the option to turn off the majority of his Ability changes. The list was getting too long and now he could see anything that increased by 10 or more or ranked up at a glance. Yeah, good call on that one. System spam is no better than email spam ¨C always hiding the important things in a wall of text. Well, got a few more Characteristic points. Time to increase that Psyche some more. It just ties into too many Abilities. OK, back to business. Let¡¯s see if Madrigal is still in the throne room. Duke didn¡¯t notice when the option toggled itself off again. As it turned out, Madrigal was just finishing up with the last of the petitioners, sending them on their way. As they left, the Duke¡¯s shoulders slumped and he sat down heavily in his chair. ¡°Rough day?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Madrigal started to stand but Duke interrupted him. ¡°Stay in your chair. It looks like you could use the rest.¡± ¡°Indeed, yes. Thank you, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°OK, you have exceeded your honorifics for today.¡± Duke pulled a chair out of his INVENTORY and sat down opposite the duke. ¡°So, give me the run-down of what¡¯s been happening in the kingdom.¡± ¡°Perhaps this is something better discussed in your office, or even my office, Duke?¡± ¡°Right you are. Let¡¯s use your office since I imagine it has all your notes and such in there.¡± ¡°Indeed it does.¡± The pair were soon seated more comfortably around Madrigal¡¯s conference table where he had laid out his kingdom map for Duke. ¡°The kingdom has taken several hits since you have been gone. First, we are being steadily invaded by creatures from beyond Teldin. I can tell you this, my understanding of the world has expanded significantly since you left.¡± ¡°Yeah, the Cosmos is a whole lot bigger than our kingdom and its surroundings. It seems that our whole planet is considered backwards and on the fringes of everything. There are things out there that I am not sure could be imagined here.¡± Madrigal nodded, ¡°That would align with the creatures we have seen that have weapons that we have no understanding of and Abilities like nothing we have seen before. But that¡¯s not the worst of it. Our economy nearly crashed. I have nearly emptied the treasury keeping things afloat.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s not good.¡± ¡°No, Duke, it is not. We rely too heavily on Havenreach to fund the rest of the kingdom. When their income dried up, we were all impacted. Especially since productivity plummeted across the whole kingdom. That is what most of the petitioners have been coming here about. They¡¯re worried and on the brink of collapse out there.¡± ¡°That is my fault, I suppose,¡± Duke responded. He held up a hand to prevent Madrigal from interrupting, ¡°I have an Ability called Aura of Prosperity that improves productivity across the whole kingdom, but it only works when I am in range. So, while I was gone it shut down and things returned to normal productivity. Now that I am back things will ramp up quickly.¡± ¡°How much of a ramp-up and how far does the Ability reach?¡± ¡°Here¡¯s where it¡¯s going to create another problem for the kingdom.¡± ¡°Another problem?¡± Madrigal put his head in his hands, waiting for Duke to elaborate. ¡°Yes, the Aura has grown a LOT stronger than it was before I left. It will now provide more than a twenty-five THOUSAND percent boost to productivity and could cover most of the planet.¡± Madrigal looked up to Duke, ¡°You¡¯re serious?¡± ¡°Yes. The kingdom needs to make warehouses, grain silos, all manner of storage areas. In fact, that is something I can help with as well. Shit. I should have thought of this earlier. I¡¯ll make a massive warehouse off the Hall of Possibilities so that you can access it from any of the Portals that can reach there.¡± ¡°We only have the one Portal that leads there, you know.¡± ¡°Damn. I¡¯m really shit at all this. Show me where it would be helpful to have more Portals and I¡¯ll get them set up before I leave again.¡± ¡°Before you leave again?¡± ¡°Yes, in a few weeks I am going to have to leave again for an indeterminable length of time so the kingdom needs to spend this time to build up a ridiculous amount of resources in storage. I know it¡¯s not ideal but it¡¯s not something I can put off or ignore. The best I can do is get us all prepared for my absence. I have already consulted with Mayor Shellenberger to get him started on increasing Havenreach¡¯s storage capacity.¡± ¡°You are quite the source of chaos in the kingdom.¡± ¡°And I really wanted to be a stabilizing force. But we don¡¯t always get what we want, do we?¡± ¡°No, we certainly don¡¯t. But regardless, you have made the kingdom far better than it was when you came to it.¡± ¡°Thank you for that. Now show me where the invaders are on the map. I have some aggression to get out of my system. And uninvited guests who are not behaving need to be evicted. Forcibly in this case.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to argue with that, but these invaders are beyond the capabilities of the Legions to handle. Are you sure you want to or even can take them on by yourself?¡± ¡°Deadly certain. Now show me who I need to kick off our planet.¡± Book 3, Chapter 53 Duke drew the sword out of his chest and tossed it aside. This latest group of mercenaries had been more than competent. They had known he was coming and had set up a stellar ambush. Not that it mattered. None of them had been above Tier Four with the majority in Tier Two. Their equipment had been well above average which made a significant difference, but Duke was so far outside the norm that he tore through their ranks with his bare hands, venting his rage and frustration. The only one who had managed to land an effective blow was the mercenary leader whose sword Duke had just tossed aside. It took him more time to sort through their equipment than it had taken to kill most of them. A small part of Duke¡¯s mind rebelled at the merciless killing. It was quickly silenced by the roiling cloud of his subconscious. When he had loaded the mercenaries¡¯ gear into his INVENTORY, he TELEPORTED their ship into his hangar which Sam had been casually expanding for him over the past two days. There were now dozens of ships of differing sizes and purposes there, which Duke had first decided that he needed to explore and understand but later came to the realization that he really didn¡¯t need. He really only needed to steal one component from a ship ¨C the navigation system. He could make his way on his own from there. The events of the past two days had all started when Duke caught up with Mira and the Clan. A short conversation had revealed that there was a communications channel that most every ship kept open. He had transmitted his message across the whole system: ¡°You have one hour to pack up your stuff and leave. If you stay beyond then, you will be dealt with.¡± The first ship had left for orbit within ten minutes after the transmission. A dozen others left soon thereafter, but most were stubborn and refused to leave as Teldin was a world low in magitech and high in resources. It was perfect for plunder. And, given that the bounty was gone and the mercenaries had only been paid a pittance already, plunder was all they had left. The first mercenary group that Duke killed had been the only one to actually respond to the transmission. Their message was just as straightforward: ¡°Not worried about any bluff from such a primitive world. Go fuck yourself.¡± After Duke was done with them, there wasn¡¯t enough left of their ship to justify moving it to the hangar. Duke didn¡¯t care to RESTORE it either. Instead, he used his Abilities to crush and melt the ship down into a three-meter sphere. All the runescripting had been destroyed but it made for one dense projectile sitting in his INVENTORY. After the eighth such group was killed off, others got the hint and started heading for orbit quickly, but not quickly enough. Duke had caught the last ship as it was starting to lift off. Technically, they were leaving, but he just did not care at this point ¨C invaders were invaders. He had stolen the ship¡¯s Mana Cores when they were ten meters off the ground. The resulting crash had been the perfect starting point for the ensuing melee from Duke¡¯s perspective. ¡°Mira, are you picking up any more on the ground?¡± Duke asked as he opened up his DUNGEON SENSE to cover as much area as he could manage. Seeing as he could now extend his Ability out over 450 kilometers, that covered a lot of the kingdom, but not all of it. ¡°No ships coming up on sensors save for the ones in the desert. I¡¯m not sure the remaining ships at the Dusty Trail Inn are hostile. Would you like us to head over there and find out?¡± ¡°You can meet me there if you like. That¡¯s my next destination. How many ships are we talking about at this point?¡± ¡°I am picking up nine of them. We¡¯ll meet you there.¡± Duke decided to take his time and flew there, giving him time to check his notifications on the way. *** Congratulations. For defeating 561 foes of up to Tier Four and varying levels, you have received 2,111,691 experience. You are now level 123 and have 399 Characteristic Points to spend. Your Aerial Maneuvering has increased to Practiced 63 Your Martial Arts Combat has increased to Adept 91 Your Tonfa Mastery has increased to Adept 157 Your Diplomacy has increased to Practiced 27 Your TELEPORTATION has increased to Grandmaster 113 Your REGENERATION has increased to Master 24 Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Your LASTING DISGUISE has ranked up to Practiced 6 Your OVERCHANNEL has increased to Adept 126 Your FORCE has ranked up to Practiced 4 Your FLAME has ranked up to Practiced 2 Your ARMOR SKIN has increased to Adept 91 *** Duke smiled. Not bad gains at all and I¡¯m not done yet. There are still ships in orbit. At least for now there are. After I rip the first to pieces, the rest will leave. And the ships still in the desert. I wonder why none of them left? This will be interesting. Maybe they have an explanation. Duke TELEPORTED inside the Dusty Trail Inn, arriving before the bar. Immediately, he was greeted by Travis, the minotaur barkeep/innkeeper, ¡°Ah, Duke! Welcome back! You have some guests waiting for you.¡± As he spoke, the minotaur placed a glass of whiskey in Duke¡¯s hand eliciting a warm smile. ¡°Guests, you say?¡± Duke turned away from the bar and saw that there was a single table occupied by six individuals. He headed over to the table, carrying his drink with him keeping his emotions in check as he had declared that there would be no fighting in the bar and he meant to keep to his own word. The group at the table was racially divided. There were four goblinoids and two dragonians and Duke recognized all of them. When Duke reached the table, they all stood to greet him, but Arkmathus was the loudest voice, ¡°Welcome back King Duke. We have been awaiting your return.¡± ¡°Have you now?¡± Duke gestured for everyone to sit as he pulled up a chair. ¡°You lot account for two of the ships parked out there. What about the rest?¡± Drakmalorie answered before any else could respond, ¡°They were delicious. Your chef here is amazing!¡± Her response got the whole table smiling along. ¡°You ate them?¡± ¡°Better than letting their carcasses rot in the desert sun, no?¡± ¡°Not so sure about that but I¡¯m not going to pursue that line of thought. Why are you all still here?¡± ¡°To join you, of course,¡± Grimtooth responded. ¡°We wanted you to be one of us but that is not as has been decreed by the almighty Sargoth. Now we ask to be one of you.¡± ¡°Our intention to join you has not changed,¡± Drakmalorie added. ¡°So, you took it upon yourselves to kill my enemies?¡± ¡°Just so,¡± The dragonian replied. ¡°I suppose that I can¡¯t really complain about that. Might actually save me some time cleaning them up. OK, show me which ships are yours. I¡¯m going to confiscate the others.¡± Outside the inn, they pointed out their ships and Duke promptly moved the others to the hangar, increasing his collection. The others gaped as the ships disappeared one by one until the only ones remaining were their own two. Duke looked them over slowly and carefully before speaking, ¡°I¡¯m going to make this perfectly clear. This is my kingdom. Anyone who comes here with even the intention of causing trouble will be dealt with harshly. I have been merciful and hesitant to act in the past. That has ended. The Syndicate decided to come after me and mine. They are now short one fleet including a dreadnaught. Don¡¯t think for a second that I will hesitate to obliterate anyone who comes for me again.¡± ¡°Did you say that you took out a dreadnaught?¡± Arkmathus asked. ¡°Yes, I did. I stole one of their battleships and rammed it right into the bitch to start the fight. None of you have any idea what I am capable of, and I will not take anyone I do not trust into my confidence. That trust is not built by any singular act. At this point, I do not trust any of you. You all came here with the intention to kill me and collect a bounty. I do not need you with me and I do not want any more variables. None of you have attacked me or mine, and you have eliminated some of my enemies. That speaks well for you, but it does not say enough. I do not have the time it would take to get to know you. So, you are all welcome to stay here at the Inn or freely leave Teldin. Perhaps a day will come when I have the time to vet you all but today is not that day.¡± They all stared at Duke unsure of how to respond. They were saved by Duke¡¯s communications crystal announcing an incoming message. He TELEPORTED well out of earshot to receive the message. ¡°Go ahead, Mira.¡± ¡°Duke, we have the Syndicate fleet arriving in system.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be right there,¡± Duke grimaced as he TELEPORTED to the bridge of the Iron Reaver. When he arrived he saw the fleet on the screen. There was a dreadnaught surrounded by a dozen other ships including six heavy cruisers. Duke stepped over to his favorite console and started to zoom in on the supporting ships. He focused-in on one of the heavy cruisers, noting that it was yet a third design. And then it was gone. Mira took the display controls over and zoomed out trying to spot where the fleet had gone. She expanded the view to the entire system. ¡°Where the fuck are they?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Gone. I can see the jump signature. They arrived and then ran away. That doesn¡¯t make any sense at all.¡± ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t. Could they be coming from another angle we can¡¯t cover?¡± ¡°Not unless they have a stealth system that is Tiers above anything I have ever heard of but to hide a fleet of that size, especially the dreadnaught, no, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible. They have gone elsewhere.¡± ¡°Well, that was anticlimactic,¡± Duke groused. ¡°And there goes all the ships in orbit. They are running for the jump points.¡± ¡°Was there any message sent? Some sort of warning?¡± ¡°Nothing I picked up, but it is possible that they had a shared crystal network outside of the standard.¡± ¡°Maybe with the contract rescinded, it¡¯s not worth the expense anymore and they cut their losses. Of course, that doesn''t mean that they are done suffering losses.¡± ¡°You¡¯re still going after them then?¡± ¡°Probably. It might not be until I get back from my next trip but they have many things to answer for.¡± ¡°Is it really your responsibility to make them answer for them though?¡± ¡°Maybe not my responsibility, but I¡¯m going to do it anyway. But, for now, I¡¯m going home and going to bed.¡± ¡°Goodnight, Duke,¡± Mira¡¯s words echoed after his fading afterimage. Book 3, Chapter 54 Duke awoke with a sense of positiveness. He knew there was much ahead of him, but he also felt that he had put so much more behind him. Stepping off the stairs in the Inn, he could hear Legionnaires enjoying their breakfast as they prepared for another day of their rotation of delving into the training dungeons. Calen greeted him with a wave as he headed to his table to greet someone he hadn¡¯t seen in quite a while. ¡°Baslin! Good morning.¡± ¡°Duke, my boy! So good to finally see you again. You have been busy. Word is that you have chased all the invaders away and have brought back prosperity to the kingdom. Imagine one man having such an outsized influence.¡± ¡°I have been busy. That much is true, but as always, there¡¯s so much more to do.¡± ¡°Good thing you are young enough to still do it all.¡± ¡°Enough about me. What have you been doing all this time? Madrigal told me that you haven¡¯t been around court much.¡± ¡°What need have I to be around court? Especially with you gone. I have been researching and experimenting with all manner of interesting pieces I have picked up. These invaders brought something with them that I have never seen before, and it is absolutely fascinating. It¡¯s an entire magical language of runes. These runes are nothing like the runes that we have used for eons. Our runes are function-specific, but this new set of runes is context-specific. Do you know what that means?¡± ¡°Not really, but I have learned a bit about the runescript. What do you mean by context-specific?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fascinating. I¡¯ve put most of my other experiments on hold to pursue this new realm of magic, even looking for Negron. It means that you can take the same set of, say a dozen, runes and the order they are placed makes them do entirely different things.¡± ¡°Like letters in a written language?¡± ¡°Yes, precisely! It¡¯s like our runic system was single words that you could occasionally string together into rudimentary sentences. This new system is letters in a language that could be built to do anything! I need so many more examples so I can learn the syntax, the letters that can go together. The combinations are endless.¡± Duke couldn¡¯t help but be sucked in by Baslin¡¯s excitement. He had read runescript and his XENOGLOSSIA had translated it for him but what Baslin was trying to do was to understand the language at a more fundamental level. He didn¡¯t quite know why, but Duke was just as fascinated by it as Baslin. He¡¯d just been running too hard and too fast to spend any time on it. ¡°Well, you have me excited about it. Let¡¯s work on some of this together. I have quite a few examples of it in my INVENTORY. A bigger sample size should give us a stronger understanding, right?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, yes! Oh, how exciting. We can work on this today!¡± ¡°I have to check in on the rest of the kingdom, but when I am done with that, let¡¯s play with the runescript and see what we can discover.¡± Baslin stared at Duke pointedly long enough for Duke to actually become uncomfortable, ¡°What is it, Baslin?¡± ¡°What are you waiting for? Go check in so we can get started as soon as possible.¡± ¡°I¡¯m waiting for breakfast.¡± Breakfast arrived shortly after that, brought out by a tall, thin woman with features that Duke couldn¡¯t immediately identify as a race he was familiar with. She had pointed ears sticking out of her curly grey hair as well as a delicate pair of horns that curved from her skull. The rest of her proportions were human-normal, if a bit on the thin side. She greeted them with a smile that showed off her square teeth that were larger than Duke had expected but had no sense of sharpness to them at all. ¡°Good morning, Duke, Baslin. Here are your breakfasts. Would you like something to drink to go with them? We have a fresh batch of spring juice that seems very popular this morning.¡± Baslin smiled at her, ¡°I would love some spring juice and so would Duke.¡± His gaze lingered on her departing form, watching her tail swish as she walked. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°You have a thing for her,¡± Duke commented amusedly. ¡°I¡¯m old, not dead, you know. It is rare to see kidfolk around anymore. And you have to admit that she is a fine specimen.¡± Duke considered asking about the kidfolk but he figured that he had enough information from her looks and context. He was more interested in Baslin showing an interest beyond his research. ¡°Why don¡¯t you talk to her and get to know her instead of being a creepy old man. What¡¯s her name?¡± ¡°Name? I have no idea.¡± Duke just shook his head at Baslin. Guess it¡¯s time to play wingman again. Last time I did this it was for my actual wingman. I hope he made it out of that furball of a mess I led us into. Coltraine deserved better than to be dragged into that impossible situation. The waitress returned and Duke came to a sudden realization ¨C she was not a dungeon construct. Well, that is interesting. Is Sam hiring people now? She deposited the drinks for them and turned to leave. Duke interrupted her, ¡°Excuse me, miss. I didn¡¯t get your name.¡± Turning round with a shy smile, she looked back at Duke appraisingly, ¡°I¡¯m Brindlehoof. What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°My name is Duke, but you really should get to know Baslin here. He¡¯s something special. Say hello, Baslin.¡± Baslin smiled, ¡°It is a pleasure to actually meet you, Brindlehoof. I find myself unable to look away from you. You have captured my attention like none have in ages. If beauty were measured in clover petals, I¡¯d need a whole meadow to match even a glimpse of you.¡± She smiled with a soft chuckle and reached down, giving Baslin a soft kiss on the forehead, ¡°You¡¯re adorable. That was so sweet.¡± She sauntered away with an extra swish in her hips. Baslin gaped after her while Duke held himself to a smile. ¡°She kissed me.¡± ¡°On the forehead.¡± ¡°But she kissed me. Physical contact like that is rare for the kidfolk.¡± ¡°So, you think you have a shot?¡± ¡°Go attend to your tasks. I have¡­matters to attend to.¡± Duke quickly finished his breakfast and departed, leaving the smitten Archmage to himself, with one more remark, ¡°You know that was a super-cheesy line. I can¡¯t believe she fell for it.¡± ¡°Go on, apprentice. Leve the Archmage to his work.¡± Duke was gone before Baslin was done speaking. He arrived in his office within the castle and settled down behind the desk. There was a ton of papers to sort through, most of which he had no idea where they had come from. Still, he dug into the pile, knowing that leadership was as much paperwork as it was decision-making. Two hours later, Duke had managed to sort through the piles of paper, placing them into three separate piles. One for things he immediately approved, one for those he denied, and the third pile for discussion. Satisfied with the amount of administrative work he had accomplished; he placed all three piles in his INVENTORY and made his way to Madrigal¡¯s office. Stepping into the Duke¡¯s office, he produced the three piles and dropped them neatly on the man¡¯s desk, ¡°Approved. Rejected. Need discussion but not right now.¡± He smiled at Madrigal¡¯s befuddled expression before continuing, ¡°I didn¡¯t see anything in there about new warehouses. You didn¡¯t forget what I told you, right?¡± ¡°I have not forgotten but since you specifically ordered me to build them, they are being built. And we are already seeing the effects of your Aura. Yesterday, our top alchemist reported that his failure rate for his most difficult potions has fallen from Seventy-six percent down to less than one percent and he is getting higher yields from each batch than ever before. He is providing the Legions with his highest-potency healing and Mana potions at a ridiculous discount because he doesn¡¯t want to flood the market with them and undermine his own prices.¡± ¡°Sounds like we need to ramp up our trading caravans even more.¡± ¡°Just so. I received a report just this morning from the farm you went out to.¡± Madrigal sorted through papers for a bit until he finally found the one he was looking for. ¡°Here it is. This is a report from the Centruy patrolling the area. According to this, the farmer, this Roger Shrubber fellow, is reporting that all his remining cows are pregnant and are ready to calve.¡± ¡°That was quick.¡± ¡°Yes, there are hundreds of similar reports. We are, after just a few days of you being back, undergoing a crisis of abundance. Can you tone down your aura any?¡± ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never tried.¡± Duke delved into his character sheet to see what he could find. After approaching it from several different approaches, he found just what they were looking for ¨C a slider switch. He slid it down almost all the way and found his Ability¡¯s effect reduced to a mere 260%. ¡°There, how about that? I was able to reduce the effect down to a about 260% instead of the nearly 26,000% increase.¡° ¡°That will help things. I think we can adjust it upwards as people get used to the increased production. I don¡¯t know if we will ever be able to handle your full aura for any length of time.¡± ¡°In time, the kingdom will be ready for it. They are going to have to be. We are going to have to join the greater Cosmos sooner rather than later. When that happens, I want to have the whole planet united so that we can face the true monsters that lurk out there. I may not be available to defend the kingdom, let alone the planet all the time. We need to build up a cadre of defenders that can handle whatever comes our way.¡± ¡°Duke, we can barely handle this one kingdom. How are we going to be able to handle an entire planet?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know yet, but they say necessity is the mother of invention. When push comes to shove, we will find a way or destroy ourselves. Let¡¯s make it the former. Now, tell me where we need Portals to the Hall of Possibilities.¡± Book 3, Chapter 55 Hours later, Duke had set up the Portals in the agreed-upon locations in both Tannish and Ansky before quickly returning to his own kingdom. He was about to head for a third destination but was interrupted by a call from a Jewel of Whispers. ¡°Duke, you need to come to my workshop as soon as you can. This is important,¡± Baslin¡¯s whisper carried urgency that Duke couldn¡¯t ignore. He TELEPORTED directly to Baslin¡¯s workshop within the Inn-. The Archmage practically jumped out of his robes at Duke¡¯s sudden appearance, dropping his Jewel of Whispers to the stone floor. The Jewel shattered, scattering fragments of crystal across the floor as the glow of magic quickly faded from the crystal shards. ¡°Sorry about that, Baslin. You sounded worried so I came as fast as I could.¡± ¡°Nevermind the crystal. I can make a replacement easily enough. Come with me.¡± Baslin hurried Duke through the workshop that clearly had expanded significantly since the last time Duke had been inside it. There were whole wings that did not exist previously. Their rushed passage ended in a mostly empty chamber. The only things in the chamber were a magical contraption projecting some sort of flickering blue field over an enormous egg. Duke¡¯s mind immediately flashed back to meeting with the Tannish emissary and the gift from their kingdom ¨C the egg of the Great Serpent Illuyanka. ¡°As you can see, my stasis field is failing. The egg will hatch any moment now and you need to be here for it in order for it to bond to you.¡± ¡°Shit. I forgot about this.¡± ¡°Like so many other things, Your Majesty,¡± The mocking tone of the honorific was not lost on Duke. ¡°Yeah. I got busy saving the world and all that.¡± ¡°Saving the world? I just thought you were taking your girlfriend out for a ride.¡± ¡°Baslin, have you actually developed a sense of humor?¡± ¡°No, had I sense of humor, I would have dropped the egg in your lap in the middle of a session of court and watched you scramble to take care of it and keep your dignity. But, alas, you never really hold court, do you?¡± ¡°OK, I get it. I¡¯m a shitty ruler by this world¡¯s standards. But I much prefer the ¡®hire experts and let them do their work without looking over their shoulders all the time¡¯ approach.¡± ¡°Sounds lazy to me.¡± ¡°Yep, definitely a small sense of humor there. But enough of that. It seems that I have an egg to hatch. And a scroll to use.¡± Duke retrieved the scroll from his INVENTORY that he had been given with the enormous serpent¡¯s egg. He quickly IDENTIFIED the scroll hoping that it would show if there were any hidden tricks within. The Ability only showed it as a straightforward, if powerful, spell scroll casting a Bond Creature spell. Shrugging, he prepared the scroll in the flickering blue light and gave Baslin a nod. The Archmage reached up to his device and ended its effect. The response from the egg was immediate. As the first crack splintered across the thick, obsidian egg, a shudder of anticipation filled the chamber. Moment by moment, the shell cracked more and more until the eggtooth finally pushed its way though. The tooth worked at the shell, breaking more and more of it until the shell burst apart, splattering the area with shell fragments and unknown fluids. Coiled in the remnants of the shell was an ebon serpent, its forked tongue darting forth to sample the air for the first time. It slowly began to move, gently rocking back and forth as it gained familiarity with its body. Then its eyes opened, glowing like two fiery gates to hell. The power of its presence was palpable, radiating off the serpent in waves. Baslin took an unconscious step backwards. The serpent¡¯s head snapped to orient on the retreating Archmage, its jaws opening wide enough to fit the mage¡¯s head as if testing him for size. Baslin nervously whispered to Duke, ¡°Use the damned scroll.¡± In response, the serpent coiled more tightly, tensing as if to strike. Duke held the scroll and paused before using it. Instead, he spoke to the serpent using his XENOGLOSSIA, ¡°You don¡¯t really want to hurt my friend. You¡¯re just hungry, curious, and a bit scared, right?¡± At the same time, he dropped his LASTING DISGUISE that was hiding his own glowing eyes. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The serpent paused as if noticing Duke for the first time. Its hiss was indistinguishable from any of its other noises to Baslin, but to Duke, it spoke volumes, ¡°Hungry, yes. Must hunt. Must feed. Must grow.¡± ¡°Then let me give you something to eat. Baslin would not be a good meal.¡± Duke used his DUNGEON CREATURE CREATION to create a young pig in front of the serpent. The pig squealed and started to run away but the serpent was far faster. It snapped forward and latched onto the pig with its fangs. The pig struggled for a half-second before stilling. Effortlessly, the serpent lifted its head up and gobbled the pig down its throat with a trio of convulsive movements of its triangular head and neck. ¡°How was that?¡± Duke asked, still holding the scroll in his hand. ¡°Tastes good. Satisfied. Good provider.¡± The serpent¡¯s coils visibly relaxed as its eyes remained fixed on Duke¡¯s. ¡°Now that you are no longer starving, let¡¯s have a more in-depth chat.¡± ¡°Too many words. Sleep now.¡± The serpent didn¡¯t wait for a response as it curled its head into the rest of its body and drifted off to consume its meal. ¡°Stop hissing at it and use the scroll already. I¡¯m not having this thing hanging around my workshop and munching on my experiments.¡± ¡°I was hoping that I wouldn¡¯t have to use the scroll to bond it to me.¡± ¡°Do you have a monster-tamer class that I don¡¯t know about?¡± ¡°No, but I can talk to it.¡± ¡°Yeah, I can talk to demons. It¡¯s not like any of them are going to jump over to my cause just for the hell of it. It¡¯s a magical monstrous serpent, not a simple beast that you can train with food rewards.¡± Duke reluctantly unfurled the scroll and cast the spell. The scroll erupted into a crimson flash of magic, filling the room with crimson radiance. Slowly, the radiance coalesced down to Duke and the serpent as it created and sealed the bond. Duke felt a burning sensation pass through his body, infusing his arteries and veins. The burning pumped through his blood for several seconds before coming to rest in his heart where it settled and infused itself into the muscle. Duke also felt a sharp pain in the roof of his mouth which he ignored, concentrating on the serpent. At the same time, the serpent writhed at the unfamiliar sensation. It hissed at its interrupted sleep but eventually stilled as the spell completed the bond. *** You have bonded with Ophirian, the offspring of the Great Serpent Illuyanka. A bond with a creature of such potential is exceedingly rare and the full effects of which cannot be easily identified. Instead, they must be discovered over time. The immediate effects are as follows: You have gained a new set of organs ¨C poison sac and fangs. You now have retractable fangs that can deliver a powerful paralytic poison. Ophirian gains access to your most potent Ability and 10% of your Characteristics. You and your bond may communicate mentally at a distance equal to the range of your shared Ability. Grow your bond wisely. *** Duke looked up from studying his notification and met the gaze of his bonded serpent. A sense of understanding passed between them in an instant and Duke knew the serpent was content with the bond. He felt Ophirian¡¯s mind brush his own with a simple message. ¡±I am going to sleep now. We will speak of what you have done and what it means for us later.¡° ¡°Guess Ophirian is going to sleep now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the serpent¡¯s name? Ophirian?¡± ¡°Yes, that is his name. do you have any experience with bonded creatures?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s never been something that interested me. What did the bond do for you?¡± Duke stared Baslin in the eyes and extended his fangs. Baslin started and then leaned in to stare at the fangs, ¡°Are they functional?¡± ¡°I have venom sacs to go with them. I am going out on a limb and saying that you do not want to be bitten by them.¡± ¡°Not on my list of preferred activities. If anyone¡¯s going to bite me it¡¯s going to be a certain kidfolk.¡± ¡°Speaking of Brindlehoof, how is that going?¡± ¡°Slowly, but better than expected. Thank you for the assistance there by the way. Strange that after all these years, I find myself tongue-tied.¡± ¡°Just what a good wingman should do for a friend.¡± ¡°I have no idea what a wingman is, but I think I get the context. What keeps causing me to hesitate is the age gap. I¡¯m old enough to not just be her grandfather, but her honored ancestor. There is a wrongness to this even though I know it is normal for the long-lived to do so.¡± ¡°I have to admit that the age gap would be a serious problem for the world I came from, but I only know a small bit about the traditions on Teldin.¡± ¡°Things are a bit more open here but there are some who would frown on the relationship. In the past, some of us would alter our appearances to seem young, which made objections far less. I call that the ¡®elf¡¯ effect as they appear young for centuries but that is not my style. I am who I am and if you can accept that, great. If not, then it really is your problem, not mine. Now, I believe we had some runescripting to decipher.¡± ¡°Indeed we do. Let¡¯s get to a different section of the workshop first though. I think it is best to leave sleeping serpents lie.¡± ¡°You learn quickly. This is good.¡± Duke was heading out of the chamber before Baslin even realized that the man had started moving. He quickly followed with only a brief worried glance back at Ophirian. Strangely, as he got further away from his new bond, he felt the pull of the bond stronger and stronger. The pull was strong, but his will was far stronger but he knew that he would be returning to Ophirian soon enough. Book 3, Chapter 56 The wing of Baslin¡¯s workshop that Duke found himself in was different than any of the others he had seen. This section seemed far more sterile with its glossy white walls, floors, and ceiling. There were glass tables and displays all around the area that were nearly as large as Duke¡¯s throne room. ¡°Well, what do you think?¡± Baslin asked, a wry smile just barely formed on his lips. ¡°It seems¡­blank. Like there should be more to it but it¡¯s just missing. The display cases are empty, the walls bare, and the floor and ceiling are really no different from the walls.¡± ¡°That is a fair observation. The next chamber has the carving stations for making the runes so familiar to this world, but here is where we will work on the runescripting. These tables are made with magical glass. They can be carved into to create patterns or scripts and have liquid gold poured into them to set the script. When it¡¯s cooled, the table will heal itself, pushing the golden scripting out to the surface.¡± ¡°That is interesting. Is this one of your creations?¡± Baslin glowed with pride, ¡°Yes, they are my own design. After spending countless hours carving runes and attempting to decipher and duplicate the runescript into wooden, stone, and metal tablets, this solution came to me. Although I do have to admit my success with even duplicating the runescript has been marginal at best. There is a fundamental understanding that I seem to be missing.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope that we can correct that lack. Here, let¡¯s look at this example of runescripting.¡± While he spoke, he pulled one of the most simplistic runscripted items he had in his INVENTORY. It was a basic sword with a minor runescript engraved in the blade. When the blade was on the table, they began to study the runescript. Baslin puzzled over it commenting on the connection between sections before Duke interrupted him, ¡°This is a four-word sentence. It says, ¡®I am always sharp.¡¯ It¡¯s probably the simplest example of runescript I have seen.¡± Baslin looked at Duke in surprise, ¡°You really can just read it like that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a language. I can read just about any language.¡± ¡°Can you write it?¡± ¡°That, my friend, is where I run into problems. I can read it and understand what is says and how it works, but I can¡¯t seem to write it out. It¡¯s odd as I can form the sentences in my head but when I have tried to transition it into actual script, it just doesn¡¯t work. I¡¯m missing something but I don¡¯t know what.¡± ¡°That, my boy, is why you have me. We¡¯ll figure it out together.¡± Duke spent hours teaching Baslin how to read the language, but it was slow going as the runescript language had intricate subtleties and context that Duke couldn¡¯t decipher enough to explain. His Ability gave him the capability to read and understand the language, but the syntax of this language this was far more complex than any spoken language Duke had encountered. The breakthrough came when Baslin was able to script his first sentence in the language that worked. He had struggled as his countless attempts had appeared to be identical to the example Duke had produced etched into the sword. ¡°It works! And I know why!¡± Baslin declared, brimming with excitement. He danced around the room shouting as Duke watched on confused but thoroughly amused. Duke watched for the full five minutes of Baslin¡¯s ¡°victory dance¡± before the Archmage finally came back to Duke to explain what he had done differently. ¡°You see, Duke, it¡¯s not enough to write the runescript perfectly. We did that dozens of times without any reaction. You have to infuse the runescript with both Mana and intent. Part of the magic of the runescript is tied to the context of what you want it to do. Since so many words have different meanings when put together, even in the same order, you have to focus your intent into the script to give it the right emphasis!¡± ¡°Intent? Emphasis. What do you mean?¡± ¡°Just like different words can be pronounced differently. Like heal and heal.¡± ¡°Heal and heal? They¡¯re the same word.¡± Duke paused, replaying the words as they were actually spoken rather than the automatic translation he had grown so used to with his Ability. He nodded, ¡°I see what you are saying now. So, it¡¯s what you intend the script to do that determines how the word should be used. Where you place your emphasis. I get it now.¡± ¡°Yes, exactly. Show me more examples of the runescript and let¡¯s see what else we can figure out.¡± Duke pulled all sorts of unidentified gear out of his INVENTORY for the two of them to work with. He pulled out dozens upon dozens of swords as they were easy to fit on the tables. Finally, he pulled out a dark blade that looked different from the rest. He held it up to the light only to see the light absorbed into the blackness of the blade. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Well, that one¡¯s different,¡± Baslin remarked. ¡°It is different. It¡¯s not runescripted at all.¡± ¡°Ah, so a sword from your travels on Teldin then?¡± Duke IDENTIFIED the sword and his blood ran cold. He knew this blade. He had committed to destroying this blade and yet, here it was gripped in his hand. He placed the blade on the floor and took a step back, Baslin joining him at his side. ¡°What is it Duke?¡± ¡°This is the Blade of the Netherword. We got this as loot a long time ago. I meant to destroy it then like I had done with the other cursed blade. But it appears that I have never gotten to it.¡± ¡°And it¡¯s been sitting in your INVENTORY all this time. Is everything in your INVENTORY in stasis or could this blade have affected something else?¡± ¡°Thankfully, they are in stasis, so I think we¡¯re OK in that regard, but I have to destroy this blade.¡±, ¡°Just be careful.¡± ¡°I will, but I¡¯m far stronger than I was with the last one.¡± Duke reached out to the blade with his MANA DRAIN Ability and began to siphon off the Mana from the blade¡¯s enchantments. With the vast increase in his Psyche, the pull of the blade¡¯s warped Mana was easy to resist. He unconsciously separated the intent of the enchantments from the magic empowering them. Before he could do anything about the separated intent, it was drained into his Psyche and hidden from his consciousness. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not going to be good,¡± Duke muttered. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°I absorbed the sword¡¯s intent into my Psyche. It will sit there waiting to fuel one of my Abilities, I expect.¡± As he spoke, the sword itself corroded and turned to a pile of dust, its magic gone along with its curse. Baslin didn¡¯t hesitate to cast a spell and pull all the dust of the sword into a jar that he quickly sealed. ¡°Mustn¡¯t let something like that sit around. Always best to put it away even if it appears inert. I have learned to not take chances.¡± ¡°I have to say that is smart, Baslin. I wouldn¡¯t want that dust to be floating around and getting into something that it shouldn¡¯t. Now, let¡¯s see what we can do with these runescripted swords.¡± It took the rest of the day, but Baslin had gotten the basics of runescripting down. He seemed to have a talent for it as he was able to modify his own scripts to produce different effects based on his intent for the few words of the runescript language he had learned. Duke, on the other hand, was absolute garbage at writing the runescript. He moved too quickly and was too impatient to effectively write a functioning script. When it came to reading the scripts, he relied on his Ability and was able to easily determine their purpose and effect. Finally, Duke began to empty his INVENTORY of items that he knew contained runescripting. As the items¡¯ runescripts became more and more complex, Baslin stared with deeper concentration and wonder. When Duke took him to the largest chamber in this wing of the workshop, Baslin¡¯s curiosity was fully piqued. ¡°What do you have for me now, Duke?¡± ¡°The largest and most complex example of runescript that I have with me.¡± Duke pulled a mech out, placing it in the middle of the floor. Baslin stared at the mech in wonder. It was the smallest version Duke had encountered, only standing five meters tall but it still had all the usual runescripting Duke had seen in mechs. It seemed that there was a rather specific runescript design that all mechs followed. At least, all the mechs he had seen had the same or very similar pattern. Baslin traced his hands over the mech, feeling the materials and studying it with his magic. As he traced the lines of its left leg he asked, ¡°This is quite the golem, but I don¡¯t see any runescript?¡± ¡°That¡¯s because the runescripting is on the inside. The mech is made of multiple layers of material that are all inscribed with runescript. It is the most complex runescript I have found in that it is so compact but also does so much.¡± ¡°You see it through the layers?¡± ¡°Even better. Watch this.¡± Duke focused his Grandmaster Ability and TELEPORTED the outer layer of the mech onto the floor, making sure to keep the runescript intact. ¡°The connections between the layers will be broken this way but it will give you so many layers to study, it will keep you busy for months.¡± ¡°Years, my boy. Years.¡± Baslin stopped talking to Duke as he poured his energy into examining and deciphering the runescript. Duke watched for a while but soon realized that Baslin was too far engrossed in his study. He finished taking the mech apart and went on his way, TELEPORTING to the hangar. He had a project of his own to work on when it came to runescript. And he felt he had learned enough working with Baslin that he might just be able to pull it off. In the hangar, he perused all the ships he had in storage and selected one at random. He really didn¡¯t know much about any of them so one seemed to be as good as another. He entered and made his way to the bridge. Once there, he got to work. ¡°OK, so this looks like the navigation station to me. And I¡¯m talking to myself again.¡± ¡°Not entirely. You are in my dungeon, so I kind of am always listening unless you push me out.¡± Duke turned to see Sam standing in front of the captain¡¯s chair. With a flourish, he sat down and spun the chair to face Duke, ¡°So, what is it that you are looking to accomplish here?¡± ¡°I need to find a way to make a navigation system like this.¡± Duke waved at the station in front of him. ¡°Well, I need to make it portable so I can use it without a ship. ¡°So, why don¡¯t you just create one with your Abilities? I¡¯ve seen you make things out of dungeon essence before.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how they work well enough just yet.¡± ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re just studying it until you can make one of your own. That makes sense. Well, don¡¯t let me stand in your way.¡± As Sam turned to leave, Duke stopped him, ¡°Wait. Was there something you needed or wanted? You usually don¡¯t just drop in.¡± ¡°Oh nothing, really. I just wanted to tell you that I¡¯m on the cusp of Tier Seven.¡± ¡°Wow. That¡¯s great! Will that give you anything cool?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not jealous?¡± ¡°Why would I be jealous?¡± ¡°You¡¯re only a Tier Six.¡± ¡°And you used to be a Tier Eight dungeon if I recall correctly.¡± ¡°Damn. I hoped you had forgotten that.¡± ¡°Nope. But still, it¡¯s great progress. I know this is wildly unconventional for you, but it seems to be going well.¡± ¡°Exceptionally well. That¡¯s why I¡¯m good with my descendants following this model. Anyway, enjoy your project. I have a group of elite Legionnaires making a run at the deep boss. I just have to watch.¡± With that, Sam faded away, leaving Duke to study the navigation system in peace. Book 3, Chapter 57 Duke started to dismantle the navigation system using all his sensing Abilities to see inside the console and really figure out how it worked. Each time, after he finished tearing it down, he RESTORED the console. The process was slow as he was gaining insight but at a maddeningly slow pace. The realization that this would take him longer than he had initially thought came over him. I need to relocate to Havenreach. The time dilation there will give me more time to work on this. But I have one more stop to make before I get started. Thought became action and Duke was in the chamber with Ophirian in an instant. The serpent uncurled itself, its head rising to meet Duke¡¯s gaze. Duke¡¯s Ability fired up and he could tell the serpent was smiling in its own way. ¡°Good for you to come back to me now that I have rested. You have bonded us together so I will be going where you go from now on.¡± ¡°Well, where I am about to go is going to be pretty boring for you. I have some magical work to do that will likely be tedious rather than spectacular.¡± ¡°Is there somewhere I can hunt there?¡± ¡°I will make a hunting ground for you there. Did you get any experience for killing that pig earlier?¡± ¡°Experience? That is something from my inherited memory. Yes, I see now. I did receive twenty-five experience for killing and eating that prey.¡± ¡°Good. That means that you should be able to grow from killing the monsters I make to help you learn and grow.¡± ¡°Just make more of those pigs. That was delicious.¡± ¡°No, you need to hunt and fight all sorts of different creatures so you can be ready for what is to come. I am going to fight some of the most powerful people and creatures in my¡­weight class? No, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s right. I don¡¯t know what to call it, but they¡¯re all going to be tough opponents. You¡¯re young, barely out of your shell. If you get sucked along to this Contest, you have to be a lot stronger than you are now or you¡¯ll simply be killed as collateral damage. I¡¯m not about to let that happen if I can help it.¡± ¡°Too many words. Take me to where I can hunt, where I can eat. That will be enough.¡± Duke shrugged. It¡¯s not like Ophirian isn¡¯t going to go hunt and kill as is natural for him. I just hope he doesn¡¯t go to sleep after every kill. Maybe that¡¯s it. Maybe I can convince him to hunt for experience and practice rather than just food. Guess I¡¯ll just have to see. Duke TELEPORTED the both of them to the furthest reaches of the mountains surrounding the city of Havenreach. There, he went to work with his DUNGEON MANIPULATION. He carved out a massive cavern and cave network with interconnecting tunnels. He changed the terrain and environmental aspects of the area, adding a great deal of diversity. He established caverns to focus on each and every element he could think of as well as entirely different environments. When he was done with those, he set about populating the areas. He discovered a happy surprise that his DUNGEON CREATURE CREATION Ability worked differently while inside a dungeon. It effectively removed the limit on the number and types of creatures he could create. None of them could leave the dungeon, but he was sure that he could find a way to use this to his advantage. He created creatures of all types he could for each of the environments. They were all low Tier, but the levels varied with the strongest being nearly level 50. As Ophirian gets stronger, I¡¯ll up the levels and Tiers. I have no idea how quickly he¡¯ll be able to grow, but this will be a good testing ground for him. ¡°Ophirian, I will be staying in this central cave and working on a project. Explore the tunnels and caverns around us. Kill everything you come across. They are all enemies and need to be slain.¡± ¡°I hunt.¡± With that simple response, Ophirian slithered off into the nearest tunnel. Duke set to work again. As he worked, he found himself getting distracted by his own thoughts again and again, frequently concerned about Ophirian. Every time he checked on the serpent, he found his bond to be doing just fine and racking up quite the body count. Finally, he put the project aside and addressed the other thought that kept coming to mind. Focusing on his DUNGEON MANIPULATION Ability, Duke was able to separate his cave system from the rest of Havenreach. The next part was where he pushed his Ability to the limit of its Practiced rank. The reality of the cave system rippled and stretched until he was finally able to add his own time dilation to the cave. It took most of his Mana and all his effort, but he was able to increase the flow of time in the caves. The result was that time flowed four times faster in the cave system than in Havenreach. The combination of both dilation effects compounded making time move 108 times faster than the outside world. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Duke smiled to himself as he looked at how much his Ability gained from that feat. A jump of fifteen levels in the Ability. I¡¯m going to have to increase it more before the Contest. That and DUNGEON CORE CREATION. I don¡¯t know if it will be viable strategy, but I am hoping it will work on at least someone as a trump card. I¡¯ll have to keep it well hidden but if nothing else, I¡¯ll have a place to escape to. He returned to the task at hand, tearing down the navigation console and RESTORING it over and over, studying the runescript as intensely as he could manage. It was a slow process, but he spent a full ten days just studying the console and checking on Ophirian. The serpent had grown significantly over the course of the ten days, reaching level 14 but Duke could see that his growth was slowing. It was becoming evident that the greatest challenge for the serpent so far had been finding his prey and finding prey that was challenging enough. Duke smiled. I can fix that. Time to add some Tier Two bosses in and let the caverns respawn their creatures. Maybe I should start adding intelligent creatures as well. Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Duke put his plan into action, starting with the respawning mobs. Modifying the dungeon area to respawn mobs was far easier than Duke had expected, as if it was the natural state for the dungeon. Adding in the higher-Tier bosses took some time, but he was able to manage it with minimal effort as well. It was clear that the dungeon wanted to spawn mobs and bigger ones at that. Duke relaxed his hold on the area, allowing the dungeon more freedom to add and increase the monster levels. Yeah, go ahead and pump up the dungeon. Ophirian has 10% of my stats added to his own anyway. Makes him way overpowered for his level and Tier. Setting aside his concerns for Ophirian, he turned back to his project. The investigative part of his project was done as far as he was concerned. He had learned as much as he could by tearing the console apart and rebuilding it. Now it was time to try runescripting in the manner he was hoping would work for him. He started with what he hoped would be the easiest step ¨C creating the runescript out of dungeon essence. Solidifying the image of the runescript he had studied over and over for the past ten days, he began to build the script out of pure dungeon essence. It started off slowly, forming in the air and growing into the intricate web of scripts. They were intertwined with each other, connecting in multiple ways to form a lobsided matrix. Layer by layer, Duke added runescript for several painstaking hours. When he finally finished, he was mentally exhausted, but his creation stood stable in the air before him. He sat down in an extremely comfortable chair he had made for himself and promptly fell asleep. Duke awoke surprised that he had actually crashed out but awoke refreshed and feeling hopeful that he would be able to figure out the next stage in his runescripting project today. But first, it was time to test the runescript he had spent so many hours on the previous day. With great anticipation, he approached the convoluted maze of runescript floating in the air. He placed his hand upon the Mana input and slowly added Mana. After ten minutes of adjusting his Mana input to find the right level, he came to the only conclusion possible: He had failed. Growling, he set back to studying his construct. It took him all of thirty seconds to find the first error in the runescript. There was a spot where the defining line didn¡¯t match his memory of the console. He compared the console to his own runescript and found that it was indeed an error. A momentary application of will later, the error was corrected in the floating dungeon essence. Duke beamed with pride as he input Mana once again into the construct only to get the same result. He shook his head and went back to error-correcting. This reminds me too much of that one computer programming class I took in the academy. That was excruciatingly boring, and this looks like it will be just the same. But it is also important. I need to do this so I may as well get to it. Duke spent the rest of the day correcting the hundreds of errors he had made in the construct. Finally, after having a wonderful turkey dinner with all the fixings, Duke approached the construct one more time. I just love being able to create anything I want out of dungeon essence. I might just have to push that Ability hard to increase it. I can only take a bit over 400 gold worth of stuff out of a dungeon as of now but that¡¯s at Practiced rank. How much more will it be at Adept or even Master. Damnit, Duke, focus. With more than a little trepidation, Duke pushed Mana into the construct. The entire thing immediately glowed with power and the navigational display lit up. It showed his own position and nothing else. Duke frowned but decided to check the result from the console he knew was functional. It showed the same nothingness. You idiot! You are inside a dungeon. There are no other star systems here. I¡¯ll have to leave the dungeon to test it. Duke used his DUNGEON SENSE to take a quick look at Ophirian¡¯s hunting progress and found the serpent stalking a pair of kobolds down a tunnel. Guess he¡¯s doing well enough then. A quick look at his bonded¡¯s information showed that the serpent was already well into the 20s for level. Good progress. He¡¯ll be fine if I¡¯m gone for a bit. Duke TELEPORTED himself, the console, and his construct out of the dungeon. Thankfully, the value of the construct seemed to be less than his limit which had been a significant concern for Duke. He immediately fed Mana into both and saw their displays light up with data. He had done it! Alright! Phase one is complete. Now to play with this thing for a bit. Duke spent an hour running through all the settings and controls. He had used the navigational console on the Iron Reaver more than once and had a basic understanding of what he could do with it. The more he worked on it, the more he realized how little he actually knew about its functions and how to use them. Ya know, I would actually RTFM if there was a manual to read. Guess it¡¯s trial and error time. After two hours of experimental discovery, he returned to the dungeon caverns. Book 3, Chapter 58 When Duke returned to the cavern system within the dungeon, he was greeted by Ophirian, ¡°You have been gone for nearly ten days. In that time, I hunted well and have grown much stronger, but these creatures are no challenge for me. Either we go elsewhere, or we find something more challenging in here.¡± ¡°Well, you certainly seem to have grown some.¡± The serpent was now almost ten meters long and as Duke checked his stats, he saw that Ophirian was on the verge of hitting Tier Two. Duke¡¯s smile deepened. You want it more difficult? Sure. Here goes. Duke met Ophirian¡¯s gaze, his smile growing broader and perhaps a bit more sinister, ¡°As you wish.¡± He loosened the restrictions on the caverns, allowing up to Tier Four creatures and adding elementals, golems, and undead to the mix. ¡°Enjoy your hunting.¡± Ophirian cocked his head to the side, studying Duke¡¯s response and body language but eventually gave the equivalent of a serpent¡¯s shrug and went back to hunting. He was determined to surpass his bondmate in hunting skill and prowess. Having been separated from his community, he had no sense of where he or his bondmate stood in the order of beasts. He just knew the beasts he had been hunting were too weak to offer a challenge. He slid away in near silence to return to hunting. His belly was full despite needing more food than he had expected to fuel his growth. Still, he needed to hunt, to grow. It was an imperative that drove from his soul. Duke dismissed his construct and proceeded to rebuild it over and over again. Each time, his speed and accuracy increased until he finally got the notification he was hoping for. *** Congratulations, you have shown your prowess in crafting runescript. You have gained the exceedingly rare Ability RUNESCRIPTING at Untrained level 1. Continue to practice your Ability and it will continue to improve. You are now capable of creating basic runescripts based on your own thoughts and capabilities. As your Ability increases, you will be able to create and modify more complex runescripts. In addition to this new Ability, you have gained the Skill Runescript Knowledge. This Skill is a compliment to the Ability and represents your knowledge base on various runescripts. Increasing your knowledge of runescripts will accelerate the growth of your Ability. The Ability and Skill will not grow in lockstep, but growth in one will affect the growth of the other. *** Duke whooped, pumping his fist into the air. Only took me three weeks of concentrated work to get the Ability. Well, that and however long I have been casually studying the runescripts I have run into. Still, Baslin is going to be so pissed at me if I surpass him in this. Guess that¡¯s even more motivation to work even harder then. Ophirian slithered through the tunnel, sneaking up on his latest prey. This prey was different than most every other he had stalked. It was a stalker itself. It moved quietly and stayed hidden in the shadows. Unfortunately for it, the serpent¡¯s senses were far better than any normal creature¡¯s, especially as Ophirian continued to pour his Characteristic Points into his Intuition. With the boost he received from his bondmate, he was approaching four hundred. There was little that could escape his senses at their base, but his natural Ability enhancing his senses multiplied the effect. He could sense the heat of his prey¡¯s body, the scent of its organs, the stink of its breath, even hear the sound as it adjusted its feet ever so slightly with each careful step. The serpent that had come to be known as the Terror of the Tunnels to the newly raised communities in the caverns and had become the focus of all their greatest hunters. To hunt such a monster was the height of their prowess. None who had hunted the serpent had managed to so much as land a blow on the legend. There were few who even lived through an encounter ¨C all by fleeing the moment one member of their party was attacked. With each hunter that never returned, the legend of the Terror grew, completely unbeknownst to the actual Terror. As Ophirian closed in on the Twilight Stalker, he noticed that something was slightly different than what he had come to expect. He could sense other scents and heat signatures ahead in the tunnel. They were not moving ¨C perhaps this Stalker was hunting them? Ophirian closed the distance to his prey slightly, still just out of striking range. His prey unexpectedly sped up, sprinting down the corridor, even running up and along the walls in its haste. It bounced off the walls past the prey that the serpent was sure that the Stalker was hunting. Ophirian was not about to let his prey escape him and launched himself down the corridor. He was the superior hunter, and his prey could never escape him! He sped down the corridor, bursting through the prey scattered against the walls. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Pain! Blades sliced into his belly scales and spears stabbed into him from below. Ophirian hissed as he felt his momentum arrested by a combination of blades, spears, and spikes and then some strange thing that looked like woven-together intestines wrapped around him. The strange wrapping constricted around him. Him! How could this thing constrict him? Then, the height of insults! The creatures set upon him. More blows struck him, hurting him. He felt pain like he had never felt before in his life and to make it worse, he was trapped! Between the spikes, spears, blades, and the constricting thing, he was nearly unable to move. He struggled against his bindings, but even his prodigious Strength was useless without any leverage. Every struggle just drove the spears and blades deeper into him. The pain was maddening! Already, his Health had been reduced by a third. This was more damage than he had ever experienced in his lifetime, and he was enraged and frustrated. Helpless! He could not move! His hisses of anger blew out of his squeezed-together jaws. Blow after blow continued to rain down on him. One attacker blinded his left eye, and the pain ratcheted up to another level. His Health was starting to fall faster and faster as bleeding effects began to compound. Every thrash hurt him more and more. His every instinct called on him to fight but he was unable to do so. As his Health fell below 10%, he reached out to his bond. His pain and rage reached across the bond and pulled him to his bondmate through the Ability he had been given with the bond. Ophirian TELEPORTED to Duke, leaving all the spikes, spears, blades, and that accused constricting thing behind. Still, he was bleeding profusely and in tremendous pain as he continued to bleed. Duke reacted quickly, dropping his runescripting work and pulling his most potent healing potion from his INVENTORY. He fed the potion to Ophirian who swallowed the cool liquid on instinct, the mental and emotional urging from his bond pushing him to action. Immediately, the pain lessened, and his wounds stopped bleeding. The relief was a complete blessing and Ophirian was finally able to speak again, ¡°They hurt me!¡± ¡°Was that the first time you have been hurt?¡± ¡°First time I was hurt. Yes. I do not like it.¡± ¡°Not many do. What happened? Did you run into a high-Tier boss monster that was too much for you?¡± ¡°No. They tricked me. No honor from the prey. They trapped me in a thing with holes and had spears in the floor. Spears in the floor! I couldn¡¯t move. I couldn¡¯t fight! They are not supposed to do that!¡± ¡°What? Fight back intelligently? Just how many of them have you killed?¡± ¡°I did not count. Many.¡± ¡°So, they got smart and ambushed you. Let me guess, they had someone run away from you and lead you right into the ambush.¡± ¡°How did you know? Were you watching?¡± ¡°No, I wasn¡¯t watching but that is how the weaker kill off the stronger, by being smarter.¡± ¡°I am smart!¡± ¡°You have raised your Reason score, but that doesn¡¯t make you wise. You have to experience more in life to become wiser. This was a good lesson for you. No matter how strong you are, there¡¯s always someone stronger and if not, there¡¯s always someone clever enough to take you on in a way you weren¡¯t expecting. I¡¯m just glad you were able to TELEPORT here in time. Have you used the Ability before?¡± ¡°No, I hunt as my ancestors did with stealth and the power of my own body!¡± ¡°You are not your ancestors. Learn from this. Use all your Abilities and hunt like you should. You have advantages that they did not. It is foolish arrogance not to use them. Had you used your TELEPORTATION Ability at the start of the ambush, you probably could have killed all your attackers before getting seriously hurt. Remember TELEPORTATION can bring things to you just as easily as you can go to them. There is nothing stopping you from bringing your foe right to your fangs.¡± ¡°I will think on it. Thank you for helping me. I will go rest now.¡± ¡°Yes, think about it and get some rest. That¡¯s a good plan. And when you¡¯re done resting, go hunt down your ambushers and actually use your Abilities to kill them all. Every lat one of them.¡± Duke felt a pulse of agreement from Ophirian as he returned to his runescripting experimentation, satisfied that he had gotten through to the serpent. He had hidden his concern as well as he could ¨C Ophirian had been heavily wounded in that ambush and probably would not have survived if not for his intervention. It was a harsh lesson to learn but I hope he has learned that he is not invulnerable and able to just barge through things. We¡¯ll see Like I¡¯m one to talk on that front. The runescript for the console was still challenging for Duke but he continued to tear it apart and reconstruct it in the air over and over. Each time, he tried to make the construct just a bit more compact and a bit smaller. Progress was excruciatingly slow, but there was indeed progress. He had managed to constrict the working construct down by a full centimeter so far. At this rate, I may be able to get it to the size I need in a year. With the time dilation here, that might actually be possible. Then again, I am hoping that I can advance the Ability sooner than that and that should speed things up. Book 3, Chapter 59 Ophirian woke from his slumber to discover that his natural healing had finished the job the powerful healing potion had started. He could now see out of his left eye, which was convenient but with all his other senses so empowered not as necessary as it would be for others. Still, he was happy to take advantage of every edge he could. He had vengeance to bring down upon his attackers. His bondmate¡¯s words echoed in the recesses of his mind and he would follow the advice. It was time to use every Ability to its full extent. The serpent flowed through the tunnels and caverns, senses primed for a trail that would lead to his targeted prey. Along the way, he came upon others using the same tunnels. He left none at his back. All he came upon met a quick death through his venom, but he did not linger or enjoy the kills. They were merely an inconvenient presence in his path. It took hours but Ophirian finally picked up the trail of his attackers. He slowed his pace and increased his concentration. Stealth was his ally, and he was about to put every ounce of it to work. He moved slowly and carefully, choosing his path with painstaking care. He scented and tasted every coil¡¯s length before advancing, testing it for hidden dangers. In time, his vigilance paid off as he came upon a section of the tunnel riddled with traps. Ophirian stopped his slithering and studied the trapped tunnel. He lost all sense of time as he studied the extent of the traps until he was sure of all the traps in the area. Then, he TELEPORTED beyond the traps, using the advice his bondmate had given him. ¡°Use all your Abilities,¡± he had said. As Ophirian slithered down the tunnel beyond the traps he knew that his bondmate was right. He was no simple serpent, no lowly snake. He was smarter and more cunning and he would show his enemies just how deadly that made him. He found six other trapped sections of the tunnel, each bypassed just as easily. He knew he was getting closer to their settlement cavern as he came across the first guards. He could sense them from far enough away that they would not know that he was there. Ophirian decided that it was time to again test the advice that his bondmate had given him. He reached out with his TELEPORTATION and pulled the first guard to his fangs, biting down before the stalker could defend itself or even cry out. The powerful paralytic venom went to work quickly, freezing his foe into inactivity before the other aspects of the venom began to shut down its organs. Ophirian was tempted to consume this foe out of spite, but he could hear the other guard starting to look for its companion. With a conceptual jerk of his head, he threw the body to the side and summoned the next morsel to his fangs. This one had a weapon drawn but never completed his swing as Opirian¡¯s fangs penetrated its skull, killing it instantly. As the blade fell from its dead hand, the great serpent opened his jaws wide and, with a series of swallows, consumed it. He had time for this snack. He enjoyed the warmth of a meal to digest and the temptation to coil up and rest was strong, stemming from instinct. Ophirian resisted for long enough that his willpower took over, silencing the call of instinct. With a serpentine smile, he silently moved down the tunnel yet again. Four guardposts and several trapped sections of tunnel later, he entered the cavern of his hated enemy. His pride drove him to charge in and kill everyone but, again, his reasoning ability took over. He studied the cavern with his senses and found just what he was looking for and it was not far. Only about one hundred meters away from this entrance was a ledge overlooking the entire cavern. Ophirian began to climb up to the ledge, gripping rocks with his coils. It was difficult and slow going with him loosing the rocks he clung to frequently. After several minutes of struggle, he simply TELEPORTED up to the ledge, admonishing himself for not doing that in the first place. He studied his ledge. There were bones that cracked under his weight, evidence that something else had chosen this as a hunting spot before him. He would have to keep an eye out for any other predators that might be about. He didn¡¯t think that there was much of a chance of meeting whatever had occupied this ledge previously as the bones were brittle and long dried out. He settled in to observe. Days passed as Ophirian sat coiled up on his ledge. He watched and waited from his perch, undetected. Whenever he sensed one of the Twilight Stalkers below separated from the sight of others, he TELEPORTED the victim right to his fangs and silently killed them. His belly was constantly full, and he could feel himself growing day by day. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. On the third day, he couldn¡¯t help but celebrate as two very special things happened. First, he pulled a warrior to him and killed the creature easily but as it died, he realized that he knew its scent. This was one of his attackers. Revenge was his! The second thing was that the experience from this kill was enough to push him to what would be level 51. Instead, he Tiered up to Tier Two. The notifications were delicious. *** Congratulations, you have advanced to Tier Two. You have automatically gained your bondmate¡¯s second-highest Ability. In this case you have gained the Ability RESTORE. Additionally, you have a choice of one of the following:
  1. Create a new Ability appropriate for your Tier
  2. Advance an existing Ability by one rank (Maximum of Adept)
  3. Advance an existing Skill by one rank (Maximum of Adept)
  4. Gain 20 bonus Characteristic Points
  5. Switch out one Ability from your bondmate for another less-advanced Ability.
*** Ophirian savored the rush of advancement but puzzled over the choices. He could create his own Ability but did not know enough about what that entailed. He could also advance one of his Abilities or Skills. That didn¡¯t appeal to him as he could advance them through use. The bonus characteristic points would be nice, but it seemed like a small amount. That was slightly more than two levels worth at this Tier. Finally, he could switch out one of his bondmate¡¯s Abilities for another. This was perhaps the most appealing for him as he was unsure what he could use RESTORE for and how it could benefit him. Ultimately, he decided to speak with his bondmate about it later. For now, he was ready to experience the rush of leveling now that he had returned to level one of the new Tier. Day after day, Ophirian watched over the Stalkers, slowly culling them one straggler at a time. He saw the settlement¡¯s mood and habits change over this time. At first, they had been confident and bold but as their hunters disappeared, never returning from their hunting parties they grew increasingly panicked. The day that Ophirian got their shaman, the entire village went into full-on panic mode. The remaining warriors gathered around the last two dozen residents. Ophirian could hear them shouting, urging the villagers to do something. He did not understand their language, but the urgency was clear. He settled in to watch for anyone separated from the group and was delighted when one of the warriors headed off on their own towards an exit tunnel. Ophirian didn¡¯t hesitate to snatch him up for another meal. Hours after the warrior did not return, despair set in amongst the remainder and Ophirian watched with fascination. The reaction of this prey was becoming erratic. There were some who refused to leave their huts and none left without being in at least a pair. He concluded that he would not have any stragglers to pick off anymore, so it was time to change strategy. It was time to leave his perch. He waited until they were all hiding in their huts and TELEPORTED down to the village. Slowly stalking his way around to the first hut he knew was occupied, he focused his senses on the inside. He could sense the heat signatures of the pair of Stalkers huddling together. He could smell the fear radiating off his prey. It warmed his cold, reptilian heart. He was upon them with a thought, and both had been bitten before they could react. He left the bodies, his belly still full from the last warrior he had eaten. The next hut had three and they were dispatched as quickly as the previous two. He continued on in this manner killing each and every Stalker in the village. Finally, he came upon the single remaining Stalker. It was cuddled up in a ball, shivering with the sharp reek of fear. Ophirian let out a hiss of disgust. How had these creatures been able to capture and wound him so grievously? They were pathetic. Unworthy. He almost left right there but the mewling creature uncurled and stood. Ophirian rose up over the creature, his tongue tasting something more than fear coming from the creature. Without warning, the creature unsheathed its claws and launched itself at Ophirian with a shout of rage. The creature¡¯s rage was blinding and he struck with fury, slashing into the great serpent¡¯s scales with all its might and frenzy. The claws scraped his scales but did not penetrate ¨C his scales had grown thick and strong. Ophirian looped himself around the creature over and over, holding it still until he could bring his fangs to bear. The Twilight Stalker village ended with a single bite. Ophirian consumed his final prey with an odd feeling flowing through him. He was satisfied that he had gotten his vengeance on the creatures that had attacked him, but there was a sense of emptiness and lack of fulfillment that ran through him. He did not understand this feeling and he did not like it. His racial memories gave him some hints but nothing strong enough to explain what he was feeling. He knew he had to return to his bondmate and ask him about it. He TELEPORTED back to the origin cavern to do just that. Book 3, Chapter 60 While Ophirian had been on his vengeance-hunting trip, Duke had remined focused on improving his runescripting. Days had passed but Duke had lost track of just how long it had been. Instead, his focus was entirely on the runescript and how to shrink it down to the size he needed. His concentration and focus had been intense until Ophirian appeared in front of him again. The serpent had the most smug look Duke had ever seen as he slithered up to him. Beyond the smug look, Duke immediately noticed that the serpent was at least twice the size it had last been. How the hell can he grow that fast? What has he been eating? ¡°Welcome back, Ophirian. From the look on your face, the hunting trip was a success?¡± ¡°Oh yes. I killed the entire village of my attackers. Vengeance tastes so sweet.¡± Duke didn¡¯t want to ask, but he had no choice, ¡°Tastes sweet ¨C as in you ate the entire village?¡± ¡°No, of course not. I eventually got full.¡± Duke silently reminded himself that he was not dealing with a person and not to judge the serpent by his own standards. ¡°Well, congratulations. I see that you tiered up as well. That¡¯s great!¡± ¡°Yes, tiered up and that is what I wanted to talk to you about. What should I do with my Tier up options? So many things I could do. Too many choices.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll ask you a few questions and see if we can get to an answer for you. First question is what have you considered already?¡± ¡°I considered taking a different Ability or advancing one.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t consider a new Ability?¡± ¡°I did, but I don¡¯t know what I could make.¡± ¡°That can be quite the dilemma. You are fast and immensely strong as well as tough. You have a deadly venom and can constrict prey too. What are you missing?¡± ¡°I miss nothing. I can sense my prey long before it senses me. I strike with accuracy and speed. None can evade my strikes.¡± ¡°Not the point I was trying to make,¡± Duke cradled his head in his hand for a moment before continuing. ¡°How can you strike at a foe who is outside of the range of your fangs?¡± ¡°I TELEPORT the foe to my fangs and they die.¡± The statement was so matter-of-fact that it actually gave Duke pause and caused him to consider what his bond had actually said. ¡°Are you saying that you TELEPORT your foe directly onto your fangs and not so close you can bite them?¡± ¡°Of course. Why would I waste the motion of biting them when I can just put my fang where they are going to appear?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s a good point but not how TELEPORT is supposed to work. You shouldn¡¯t be able to TELEPORT something into solid matter ¨C something to investigate. Call it an interesting development. What if they are too big to TELEPORT to you?¡± ¡°Then I TELEPORT to them. You ask foolish questions.¡± Duke steadied himself, allowing his frustration to dissipate before beginning again, ¡°How about giving yourself the Ability to spit your venom at a foe? That way you can reach a foe without having to move it or yourself.¡± ¡°That¡¯s actually a really good idea. Why didn¡¯t you say that at first?¡± Duke held in his response for a breath, ¡°I was using the Socratic method to try and get you to come to the same conclusion I did.¡± ¡°The what? Don¡¯t talk in circles. Just say what you mean. You¡¯re very strange. It¡¯s a good thing you are strong, or I would just eat you too.¡± ¡°Yeah. Good thing, huh? Well, go learn your new Ability and then go back to hunting. You are still too weak to survive with me where I am going.¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Ophirian didn¡¯t answer Duke but instead coiled up in the corner of the cavern and began to create his new Ability. Duke, for his part, went back to work on his runescripting and did not even notice when Ophirian slithered out of the cavern to resume hunting. Ophirian continued to hunt the caverns, gaining strength and power. Every organized group he encountered fascinated him in how they resisted his incursion into their territories. Most did not even know he was there until he decided to show himself but the few who detected him were the ones he most enjoyed dealing with. He learned that power was the ultimate answer. When they sent dozens to attack him all at once, he used a combination of VENOM SPITTING and TELEPORTATION to keep the group from pinning him down. But he was starting to run into a problem that he had not anticipated. He was growing too large to fight in such enclosed spaces. Food had been more than plentiful and his growth had gotten extreme. With reluctance, he returned to the origin cavern yet again, showing off his Tier Three body to Duke. Duke put aside the compacted console that he had managed to reduce to the size of his torso to marvel at his bondmate. He could see that the serpent had continued leveling and was now a Tier three creature. But what was more amazing was the sheer size of the serpent. He now took up nearly half of the cavern. How the hell am I going to travel anywhere with him this size? ¡°You have grown larger than even I expected. And Tier Three as well.¡± ¡°I have grown too big to hunt these tunnels and caverns. The prey is¡­unsatisfying.¡± ¡°Oh, have I got just the thing for you.¡± With focus and Ability, Duke expanded the caverns and tunnels making them tremendous in scale and changed out the existing creatures for all manner of giant-kin, allowing the dungeon free reign to increase to as high as Tier Five. Ophirian noted the expansion of the tunnel leading to the cavern and quirked his head at Duke, ¡°You have altered the caverns?¡± ¡°Indeed, I have. Go have fun hunting but be warned, you are likely to encounter foes who are your match or even beyond your match out there.¡± Duke hadn¡¯t finished speaking before the serpent enthusiastically slithered down the tunnel. He chuckled at the tip of the serpent¡¯s tail as it disappeared down the hall. Turning back to his work, he checked his system clock and noted that it had been a bit over one hundred days since they came to the cavern complex. The quick calculation in his head translated it to one full day outside. I have at most two hundred more days before I have to leave here and get back to preparing for the Contest. Nothing to do, but to do it. Duke¡¯s Abilities and Skills continued to increase as he worked. When his RUNESCRIPTING Ability finally broke into the Initiate rank, his progress began to accelerate. Since he was working the same runescript construct over and over again, his aptitude with this particular runescript far outpaced his Ability to the point that on the 215th day of dedicated focus, he had finally managed to shrink the script down to where it would fit in the palm of his hand. His shout of joy and triumph echoed down the tunnels and was picked up by numerous creatures who decided to come and investigate. When the first giant emerged from the tunnel, Duke smiled. It resembled the giant he had encountered in the forest so long ago ¨C the giant that had very nearly killed him. He stood in the center of the cavern with his arms crossed grinning at the monster. ¡°You want some of this?¡± Duke chuckled. ¡°You really don¡¯t but if you think you do, by all means, come and get it!¡± Duke¡¯s taunting elicited a roar and a charge, the giant cocking its arm holding a stalactite cocking back to smash him. I guess this isn¡¯t one of those smart mobs that is supposed to be running around here. The giant charged forward, swinging its stone club down with all the force its arm could put into its strike, the wind whistling with the speed of its descent. Duke did not dodge. Instead, he reached up and caught the descending mass of stone in his hands. The impact was tremendous, sending spidering cracks propagating outwards from Duke¡¯s feet as he was driven several centimeters into the floor of the cavern. His fingers dug into the stone of the club as his feet hooked themselves into the floor of the cavern. He held tight as the giant attempted to pull his club back up. The floor, splintered and cracked as it was, did not hold for long, but long enough to resist the giant¡¯s initial pull. The giant gripped the stone club with both hands and pulled for all he was worth, and Duke simply let go, TELEPORTING to the side of the giant. With all its might, the giant pulled on his club and met no resistance. The club rocketed upwards and back over its head, the entire momentum of the giant pulling upwards and backwards. Without the expected resistance, it overbalanced and fell onto its back, slamming its head into the floor of the cavern with a tremendous boom. As the dazed giant cleared its head, Duke flew up in front of its face and shook his head at the brute, ¡°You didn¡¯t consider who you were attacking, did you? Not very smart.¡± Duke slammed his tonfa lengthwise into the giant¡¯s forehead. The crack of bone echoed throughout the cavern as the giant blinked, stunned again. Duke rose back into the air, moving out of the giant¡¯s reach. Shaking its aching head, the giant rose to its feet, its club barely gripped in its left hand. With a third shake, its eyes refocused on Duke, narrowing as it studied the man floating in air before him. Duke saw the moment the decision came to the giant¡¯s eyes. With a snapping of its tremendous muscles, it threw the club at Duke with the force of a freight train. Duke TELEPORTED out of the path. When Duke looked back to where the giant had been standing, all he saw was the rapidly retreating form of the giant. Duke laughed as he watched the brute run away. For a moment, he considered pursuing but decided against it. He had the next, and potentially hardest stage of his project to work on. Book 3, Chapter 61 As Duke worked on his project, Ophirian continued to hunt the giants and giant creatures inhabiting the caverns. Only once did he wind up fleeing from a foe. It was a Tier Six, armored creature that ignored his venom. He was sure that he could have eventually overcome the foe, but it was far more efficient to hunt foes that he could more easily defeat. He had set a goal of achieving Tier Four before Duke finished his project. He had no idea how long his bondmate was going to take but his first project had taken months. Ophirian hunted. Each environment presented a new type of foe and a new challenge. He found that jungle settings were the easiest for him to hunt within. Something about the environment just felt natural to him and they called out heavily to his ancestral memories. The volcanic environment, however, was his true bane. The very ground was too hot for his immense body and the one time the ground gave way, dropping him into bubbling lava was more than enough to get him to TELEPORT away. If he had not switched out RESTORE for REGENERATION at Tier Three, that would have been far more serious. Duke meanwhile, toiled on his singular project. He was focused on building a core with the runescript for the navigational console imbedded within it. His progress was slow, but now that he had the actual Ability, he could see steady progress in the final miniaturization and embedding project. The most difficult part was embedding the runescript while still allowing the core to function as a Mana Core to still be able to store the Mana necessary for the console to function. It took hundreds of failures before Duke finally got a functioning prototype. It didn¡¯t function well, but it did the job. Duke could have stopped there, but he continued to push the Ability and finally, broke the RUNESCRIPTING Ability into Practiced rank. That is what allowed him to finally combine it with his Adept DUNGEON CORE CREATION Ability to make a fully functioning console that was powered by its own core structure. With his new item in his INVENTORY, he TELEPORTED himself to Ophirian¡¯s location. The Serpent was wrapped around the form of a giant armored bull, his fangs buried in the bull¡¯s neck. Duke¡¯s first instinct was to step in and help his bondmate but he held back, knowing that Ophirian had been fighting and hunting on his own for nearly a year now. Instead, he watched. Ophirian squeezed tighter, using all his two thousand points of Strength the crush down on the bull¡¯s ribcage. The constant pressure made it hard for the bull to breathe, ratcheting the hold tighter with every exhale. At the same time, his venom coursed through the bull¡¯s veins. Somehow, the bull was resisting the venom which annoyed Ophirian to no end. If not for the resistance to his venom, he wouldn¡¯t have had to resort to this tedious constriction attack. He flexed his venom sacs again, shooting more venom into the bull¡¯s veins out of pure annoyance. When the bull stumbled, its eyes wide with panic and the barest wheeze of air coming out of its nostrils Duke knew it was nearly over. Seconds later, the bull finally collapsed, the last gasp of air having already been forced from its lungs. Ophirian uncoiled from his prey and turned to face Duke, ¡°Have you finished your work?¡± ¡°I finally have. It is time for us to leave this place.¡± ¡±At long last. Hunting has been good for my growth, but I need more.¡± ¡°Yes, it is quite time for more. Our travels are about to begin. But your size will pose a problem.¡± Ophirian had continued to grow as he hunted and gained power. He was now nearly one hundred meters long and six meters wide. ¡°Do not concern yourself with that.¡± Ophirian began to glow with a bluish-purple light which caused Duke to step back so he could take more of the massive serpent in. As he watched, the serpent began to shrink at a rapidly increasing pace. In just under a minute, Ophirian had shrunk down and transformed into an indistinct curled-up shape. Duke rushed forward to check on Ophirian as the transformation ended. What he discovered as he reached his bond was a humanoid creature slowly sitting up. Duke reached out a hand to help him up. The hand that met his was covered with very fine black scales and sharp, pointed claws on the tips of its fingers. The scales were flexible but strong and the hand was otherwise human-shaped. When Duke pulled Ophirian to his feet, he was greeted by a mostly human-looking appearance but there were enough features that were off that he could not pass for human up close. His black skin was covered in fine scales that became more defined in certain areas such as his brow ridges and hands. His hair was another issue. It had the look of dreadlocks, but if you looked close enough you could see the scales that covered each thick strand. Duke was just thankful that they didn¡¯t have snake heads. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Well, what do you think? Will I fit where we need to go? And, yes, I know that I still have work to do to make me look more human, but you have to admit this is pretty close since I only have you to go by, which makes me have to guess on some of it.¡± When he spoke, his fangs were visible, giving him even more of an intimidating appearance. ¡°That is an impressive transformation. Pretty fucking amazing, actually,¡± Duke glanced downward and chuckled. ¡°While I appreciate the ego boost, you have to work on the proportions a bit. No woman is going to let you near her with that trouser snake. Geez, half that size is going to intimidate most women.¡± ¡°But that is my manhood. As a Great Serpent, my manhood should reflect my greatness!¡± ¡°That¡¯s all well and good, but it¡¯s going to make walking difficult with it hanging down past your knee like that. Like I said, tone it down by half and it will still frighten the ladies. Well, not all the ladies, I guess. But, yeah, tone it down a bit.¡± Duke pulled clothes out of his INVENTORY and helped Ophirian get dressed. The bulge in his pantleg was rather pronounced and Ophirian stumbled when he took his first step. He hissed, ¡°This was never a problem before pants!¡± ¡°Would you rather wear a dress?¡± ¡°Would it give me more freedom?¡± ¡°It would, but it could confuse others about your gender.¡± ¡°My comfort is more important than what lesser races feel about me.¡± ¡°Hmm, I have an idea.¡± Duke created a kilt that was longer than proper and a shirt that went along with it. ¡°Here, change into these.¡± When Ophirian had finished changing, Duke had finished the outfit with appropriate socks and shoes. The socks and shoes required a few adjustments as Ophirian¡¯s toe claws tore through most simple fabrics and leathers. Finally, Duke just made socks that allowed the toes to pass through them and shoes that had enough space for the claws. It gave him the appearance of having excessively large feet, and Duke chuckled at the reality of the joke about big feet in this case. ¡°Well, it looks like you are ready to go. No one is going to mistake you for human, which is fine for now. There may be a time that you will need to be more human in appearance, but we¡¯ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Is there anything you need to collect before we go? It¡¯s not likely that we will be coming back here anytime soon, if ever.¡± ¡°I have all I need.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s be on our way. I have to check in on the kingdom before we go, but that should not take long. A few stops and then,¡± Duke held up his navigation core, ¡°we go truly hunting.¡± ¡°You have two weeks at most. Do not delay.¡± Ophirian spun, his jaws opening unnaturally wide as he was stopped from striking by Duke¡¯s outstretched arm. ¡°Why do you stop me from attacking this foe who snuck up on us?¡± ¡°Ophirian, let me introduce you to the Avatar of the Overmind. He is not our enemy. He is an ally, a sponsor, if you will.¡± ¡°Yes, you could very well call me a sponsor. That¡¯s a good way to look at it. The second wave of arrivals for the Contest have already started. They are gathering loot, prizes, and power quickly. Are you sure you do not want to enter earlier?¡± ¡°I am sure. I am about to go give the Syndicate a lesson in humility they won¡¯t soon forget.¡± The Overmind gave a contemplative nod before shrugging, ¡°I did leave the decision up to you. But, judging from what has happened already, you will have to start killing Contestants the moment you arrive.¡± ¡°I pretty much thought that was the plan.¡± ¡°We are going hunting?¡± ¡°We ARE going hunting but must make a few stops first. Like I said.¡± ¡°Boring.¡± ¡°Your companion seems a bit hungry for fighting. Shame he won¡¯t be able to join you in the Contest.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t a beast tamer or similar Class where he would be an essential part of you. For the purposes of the Contest, he¡¯s the same as a hireling, a mercenary.¡± ¡°I want to hunt. I want to fight. I will kill!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll put you somewhere that you¡¯ll have plenty to hunt. But you really should learn more than just how to kill. You¡¯ll be the most boring companion otherwise.¡± Ophirian just stared at the avatar with a low hiss while Duke fully stepped between the two. The avatar chuckled and waved, ¡°It¡¯s not like he could hurt me, Duke. But my point is that even with all you have done so far, you are behind the curve. Most everyone below Tier Five has already been killed. You will be facing multiple Tier Sevens and Eights when you get there. Alliances will have already been made and you will be the lone fighter. If all the Tier Fives fall, I will have no choice but to send you in earlier than you wanted.¡± Duke listened as the Overmind explained the situation. Should I go now and give myself a better chance against those who are already there? Fuck if I really know. I have to check-in on the kingdom and everyone before I leave anyway so I guess I¡¯ll re-assess after that. ¡°OK, so I may have to go in soon then. But I do have a few things to do beforehand.¡± ¡°Do them quickly. I will pull you if it gets critical.¡± ¡°Right.¡± With that, the avatar faded, leaving the pair to themselves. Duke prepared to take them to the castle but was interrupted by Ophirian, ¡°I don¡¯t like him.¡± ¡°Because he won¡¯t let you come to the big fight?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t make the rules, but I understand how you feel. If he says he has a place for you to go hunt, he has a place for you to go hunt. But he also has a good point about your life experience. There is more to life than just hunting and killing. Coming with me on this excursion to check in with everyone will be good for you. You¡¯ll meet some new people and maybe learn a bit about how to act in society.¡± Ophirian glared back in response. Duke smirked as he TELEPORTED them both outside the mayor¡¯s office in Havenreach. Book 3, Chapter 62 They were quickly admitted into the mayor¡¯s office and we warmly greeted, ¡°Welcome King Duke and I don¡¯t believe that I¡¯ve met you before. Mayor Shellenberger, at your service.¡± He extended a hand towards Ophirian who stared at it in confusion as he flared his nostrils and tasted the air with his forked tongue. Duke reached forward and took the mayor¡¯s hand in his, shaking it. He looked over to Ophirian and explained, ¡°This is called shaking hands. It is a common form of greeting when you meet someone. Notice how I am gripping his hand firmly, but not with enough force to hurt him. That is important ¨C the not hurting him part. Now it¡¯s your turn, Ophirian.¡± Ophirian reached forward and clasped the mayor¡¯s hand with great care, his claws barely touching the mayor¡¯s skin. When the mayor winced, Ophirian let go like the hand had bitten him. ¡°Quite the grip you have there, Ophirian,¡± The mayor said while shaking his hand out. ¡°Now, what can I do for you, Your Majesty?¡± ¡°The time for my departure is coming. How are your warehouses coming along?¡± ¡°We have filled forty-six warehouses with ore and materials. We have eighty-three silos full of grain and other foods. All told, we have about five years¡¯ worth of food and materials stored up already. At this rate, we should hit the ten-year storage mark in another month.¡± ¡°Excellent. I should be able to give you that month, but possibly not longer, so prepare yourselves.¡± ¡°We are doing everything we can to prepare. At least this time we have advanced warning and are able to prepare.¡± He smiled warmly, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Instead, Duke thanked him and TELEPORTED himself and Ophirian outside the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. Some would say that that was the other shoe dropping. Ophirian slowly spun around as he took in the city around him, his eyes full of wonder. He marveled at the buildings and the people moving in unrecognizable patterns as his slitted nostrils flared and his tongue tasted the air as well. He stepped away from the building, moving towards the center of the square. Duke followed him closely, concerned as to how Ophirian might react to the civilian population. Will he seek to learn, or will he seek to hunt? The man-serpent continued to observe everything around him for a solid five minutes before he said anything. When he spoke, the wonder was evident in his voice, ¡°There are so many people here, and none of them are hunting for prey? How do they survive? I do not understand.¡± ¡°Most in this city do not hunt for their food. They do other things like craft armor or weapons or other things people need like furniture or even housing. They sell what they make and buy food with the money. Not everyone is as good of a hunter as you are so they put their energy into things that they are good at that the hunters might not be. It all works together.¡± ¡°So, I could buy things that I might need here?¡± ¡°You could. Did you save any of the loot you received from your hunting? Coins, gems, or other valuables?¡± Ophirian gave Duke a cold, reptilian stare, ¡°You know that I did not. You did not share their value with me. How was I to know such things?¡± ¡°Yes, you really don¡¯t know everything, now do you? So maybe, take a step back and realize that you are a powerful hunter, but have no idea how the world really works and tone down the arrogance.¡± Ophirian grunted in response which was an odd sound coming from him. Duke suppressed a smile and handed him a small bag. ¡°This contains three minor crystals and a mix of other currency. The crystals are each worth ten thousand gold, so you should have enough money there to buy whatever you need. Go shopping. Sample what food is for sale. Buy some things for yourself. Maybe a weapon you can use in this form. Have fun. Just don¡¯t hurt anybody. If someone wants to fight you, tell them that the king forbade you from fighting.¡± ¡°If someone wants to fight, I will end them.¡± ¡°No, that is not acceptable here. Do not get into a fight. Am I making myself clear?¡± ¡°Yes. No fighting. I hear you.¡± ¡°OK, then. Go have fun and learn some things. I¡¯ll find you when I¡¯m done here.¡± Ophirian hurried off, apparently following an enticing scent. Duke watched him leave with a small sense of trepidation. He¡¯s going to be all right. He¡¯s smart, if not worldly. He¡¯ll figure things out. He¡¯s an observer. Yeah. It¡¯ll be fine. Duke quickly headed into the Adventurer¡¯s Guild and up to Chal¡¯barnah¡¯s office. He knocked on the door as no one had stopped him on the way. To his surprise, rather than a welcome to come in, the door opened revealing the Guildmaster fully armed and armored. She pulled up short when she saw Duke. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Your Majesty! This is unexpected.¡± She stepped back into the office to allow him to come in. ¡°You seem to be in a hurry to get somewhere. Is everything alright?¡± ¡°Oh, yes. A new level has been discovered in the dungeon and I was heading out to test it out for myself.¡± ¡°I see. Then what I have to tell you might be of interest. There is an entire cavern complex in the mountains that has all sorts of higher-Tier giant monsters in it.¡± She stopped completely, sitting down on her desk, ¡°A new dungeon?¡± ¡°Exactly. Would you like me to show you to the entrance?¡± ¡°Did you really think you had to ask that question, Your Majesty? Of course!¡± ¡°Then meet me in front of the Guildhall in fifteen minutes. Gather whatever team you think you¡¯ll need. Remember that you will be dealing with giants and gigantic creatures so be prepared.¡± She nodded and Duke TELEPORTED back to the cavern system. Now, to make an entrance. Probably should have done this before we left but oh well. No time like the present. Duke focused his DUNGEON MANIPULATION and started making tunnel back to the surface. He made it long and gently sloping but kept it on the narrower side so that none of the giant creatures would be able to use it, at least not easily. The tunnel formed quickly as he focused on his Ability, much quicker than he had expected. I know that I ignored countless notifications of Ability increases while I was concentrating. Could this Ability have ranked up? He took a look at his Abilities and noticed some welcome changes. His DUNGEON MANIPULATION had increased to Adept 7 while his DUNGEON CORE CREATION had increased to Adept 92. His RUNESCRIPTING had Pushed all the way up to Practiced 77. He was disappointed to see that his Runescript Knowledge had only ticked up to Initiate 18 which he figured was due to him only working on a singe set of runescript for so long. Still, it was tremendous progress and increased his confidence in his Contest strategy. Having his DUNGEON MANIPULATION at Master would have been the best for his strategy but that was a long way off. The tunnel finally connected with the surface and Duke created an ornate entrance area complete with a grand arch and a set of thick wooden doors banded with titanium. He placed a trio of heavy bars across the door. Nobody is getting in there without some effort. If you can¡¯t remove the bars and open the doors that lean into the entrance, then you have no business going into this dungeon. He tested the weight of everything and found it to be easy for him to move but he realized that was a poor gauge. Guess I¡¯ll just have them test it and see. Duke arrived in front of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild to find a party of ten individuals waiting for him, led, of course, by Chal''barnah. She offered him a warm smile and the rest offered him bows. They were as mismatched a group as you could find which struck Duke as the perfect adventuring party. There were five beastkin of varying types, two humans, and a pair of elves. Chal¡¯barnah introduced them all to Duke and he learned that they were the highest-leveled of all the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. They were all under Tier Five, but Chal¡¯barnah was close to breaking through. ¡°Are you all ready for this? Exploring a new dungeon complex that operates under its own rules and may be different from anything you have experienced before?¡± The eager grins told Duke that the group was as ready as they thought they could be. He met the eyes of each of them before deciding that they seemed ready. He gathered them all around him and TELEPORTED the entire group outside the entrance to the new dungeon complex. After the commotion of them recovering from the effects of instantaneous transportation Duke pointed out the path back to the city. It was ill-defined and likely treacherous but the group seemed unphased. ¡°Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is the entrance to the new dungeon. I will tell you that it is filled with giants and giant monsters of countless varieties. The door is barred to keep them from escaping into the wilderness. Please ensure you close it up when you leave.¡± The largest of the beastkin, a bearkin, stomped up to the door and went to lift the first bar off it. He strained, his muscles bulging with the effort, but he could only barely budge it. He growled and redoubled his efforts to no further effect. After a full minute of straining his impressive bulk against the bar, he stepped back, ¡°The bar will not move. Is there magic holding it in place?¡± The much smaller weaselkin zipped up on top of the bar and ran back and forth before hopping down next to the bearkin. She dropped the four heavy locking pins that were holding the bar in place and smiled, ¡°I win this one Grizz.¡± Chuckles spread through the group. Grizz offered up a half-hearted growl before he returned to lift the bar off and place it to the side. He looked pointed at the weaselkin, ¡°Laureth, would you kindly check the other bars for locking mechanisms?¡± ¡°Why, I would be glad to.¡± She set to work as they watched, easily unlocking each of the remaining two bars. She, once again, hopped down and placed the locking pins at Grizz¡¯s feet, ¡°If you would be so kind as to remove these bars, we can get started.¡± Grizz stepped up and lifted each of the remaining bars with a small effort. He showed no outward signs of effort, making it look like he was picking up toys, but Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA picked up on the subtle signs of strain that crossed his features. Still, he was satisfied that this group had want it would take to challenge this dungeon. ¡°Before you go in, know this: This dungeon complex is untamed and uncurated. There are no safety nets. You could very well die in here so, if things seem beyond your abilities, leave. Don¡¯t press beyond your limits. At least not until you are familiar with the place. Expect ambushes, traps, and powerful creatures. That said, I wish you the best of luck. May your adventures be profitable!¡± They cheered briefly, gave Duke a bow, and sobered up. Once they all had run through a final check of each other¡¯s gear, they passed through the door and into the dungeon. Duke offered then silent encouragement and, after waiting for a few minutes, headed back to the city. He had a companion to collect. Book 3, Chapter 63 It did not take long to find Ophirian. The man-snake was in a heated debate with an armorsmith about the proper way to layer scales on scale mail. Neither were budging and they had drawn quite a crowd, enough that the two had spilled their debate onto the street causing the crowd to swell even more. ¡°Your imitation scales offer so little flexibility and absolutely no protection from liquids. Surely you see the inherent inferiority!¡± ¡°Flexibility is all well and good until someone tries to shove a spear through your gut! Even if the natural scales aren¡¯t penetrated, they still move too far and allow for a blunt injury to your insides. On top of that, strong metal will stop most any blow from penetrating. It¡¯s clearly better.¡± ¡°If any of your imitation scales are damaged, they are forever broken. Natural scales can be shed and regrown or even healed. As for strength, are you really going to say that simple steel scales are superior to a great serpent¡¯s scales? Surely you are not that foolish!¡± The crowd had split into two groups that were enjoying the debate. Most of the beastkin and non-humans had joined Ophirian¡¯s camp while the smith¡¯s camp was mostly humans with several dwarves mixed in. The debate was heated, but Duke could tell that they were both enjoying themselves. There were some that he saw in the crowd that were becoming far too invested in the ¡°my side is better¡± mentality. Duke decided to step in before things started to boil over. He strode into the middle of the debate and loudly declared, ¡°In this world of magic, both scales can be greater than anything else out there. It is the magic of the scales that makes them superior. Now, let¡¯s all step aside and get back to our own things, yes?¡± The crowd immediately dispersed, having realized that the king himself came to break them up. Duke received nods of thanks from the guards that had gathered to control the crowd should it have gotten out of hand. Duke grabbed a pair of collars, ¡°Oh, not you two. You both are coming with me to the tavern.¡± Ophirian tugged at his collar but Duke¡¯s arm did not budge. The smith had no more luck in getting himself free of Duke¡¯s grasp as he tugged them along with him. Onlookers marveled at the sight. ¡°That¡¯s the king, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Oh, those two are in trouble!¡± ¡°Where are they going?¡± ¡°To the jail I bet!¡± All voices silenced when Duke pushed the pair into the tavern. They stumbled as he let them go, turning to look back at him. His expression was not one of anger, but of amusement. ¡°OK, you two, join me at a table for a drink. You¡¯re not in trouble, but I had to stop the public debate before things got out of hand.¡± Ophirian sat down returning a confused and curious look, ¡°Why?¡± The smith nodded in agreement as he also sat down. Duke joined the pair, waving the waitress over. He fixed them both with a stare, ¡°You two were having a very lively debate and that is great. It is important to have such debates, and I hope you both learned something from it. But here¡¯s the problem: The crowd had separated into two camps. One following you, Ophirian. And one following you¡­I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t even know your name.¡± ¡°Arnson, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Arnson. Well met. With the crowd polarizing, neither of you seemed to notice that your¡­let¡¯s call them followers for now. Your followers were so invested in each of your positions that they were surging towards a violent altercation. That would have been an awful outcome for everyone involved.¡± ¡°Your Majesty, I assure you that I had no intention of anything like that happening.¡± ¡°Neither of you did. Some would have blamed you for it, but I saw it unfolding and it really wasn¡¯t either of your faults directly. You just need to be more aware that you both have strong personalities and that attracts people to whatever cause you are promoting. In this case it was artificial versus natural scales.¡± ¡°I did not know this.¡± ¡°I know you didn¡¯t. You haven¡¯t exactly been interacting with other people for a long time.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Your Majesty, I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°That¡¯s OK, Arnson. I wouldn¡¯t have expected you to know that Ophirian here is less than a year old and has never been in a city before.¡± ¡°A year old? How? That¡¯s-¡° ¡°I matured very quickly and this is not my natural form. Be thankful that I¡¯m not in my natural form. That would have ended the scales debate.¡± ¡°I kind of want to see that now.¡± ¡°Not in the tavern. There¡¯s no way he would fit in here.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a dragon aren¡¯t you?¡± For the first time, Ophirian¡¯s countenance faded to sullen humility. He spoke slowly and reverently, ¡°My line is descended from the world dragon before she passed away millennia ago. But, I am no dragon. I am a Great Serpent, however. And I proudly bear the bloodline of my people!¡± Ophirian returned to his prideful demeanor as he spoke, dispelling his humility to the furthest corner of his mind. ¡°A great Serpent! No way! Now I really have to see you in your true form. How big are you? Are you fully grown? So many questions!¡± Duke laughed at the befuddled look on Ophirian¡¯s face. Seeing as he was not responding, Duke picked up, ¡°Once we have a drink and something to eat, we can head out and see what Ophirian looks like in his full glory.¡± The waitress arrived and took their order. Duke knew he had waved her right over but it seemed she was waiting for a break in the conversation to interrupt. Maybe she¡¯s worried about interrupting the king. Don¡¯t know. If it wasn¡¯t for my Aura keeping things going for a bit longer, I would really rather just step down and really put Madrigal in charge. I don¡¯t have the time to sit around and do kingly things. Eventually, drinks and food were brought out and conversation turned towards more mundane topics. Arnson shared that he had studied smithing in the former capital of Chopie¡¯s kingdom. When he was young, he had shown an aptitude for smithing and was quickly apprenticed to a master. The problem had been that the master was almost exclusively focused on weapons. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°I struggled every day learning how to forge and hammer weapons into shape. I could always get the temper right, but I never could get the balance right. Until one fateful day where a warrior came in looking for a new sword and shield. Normally, mind you, we would have sent him over to Clannan¡¯s for the shield, but Calnnan¡¯s anvil had developed a crack as big as a donkey¡¯s arse so he was not making any armor for a while.¡± Duke and Ophirian listened intently to Arnson¡¯s story as he continued, ¡°Master Hammond told me to work on the basic form of the shield while he worked on the sword. Master Hammond was really good at his craft. The king himself had commissioned a sword for himself. The arsehole didn¡¯t pay for the sword, but it was a fine weapon nonetheless.¡± ¡°I knew it would take a week to make the sword. Other smiths could have made it faster, but faster wasn¡¯t better quality. So, I knew I had time to work on the shield, and it was the first real project I had ever been given. I poured everything I had into that shield and had it roughed out in two days. Then I worked with the warrior on the design a bit more without Master Hammond knowing about it.¡± Arnson paused to take a long drink of his ale, ¡°After spending a whole day with the warrior, I knew how he moved and what he wanted from the shield. My hammer flowed so effortlessly making it. The steel sang under my blows and before I knew it, I was polishing a hardened steel shield. Even fitting the grips on it was easy ¨C it all seemed natural, you see.¡± ¡°When I showed the shield to Master Hammond, he was angry with me at first as he had told me to only rough it out for him. But when he examined my work, I received my very first smile from the smith! He declared it better than adequate which was far more than he had ever said of my work before.¡± ¡°So what happened when the warrior got the shield?¡± ¡°He liked it as much as the sword. He even gave Master Hammond an extra gold over the price as acknowledgement of the quality of the set.¡± ¡°That is quite the story. I take it after that, you were set to work on more shields?¡± ¡°Indeed, so, Your Majesty. Shields at first and later, armor. That is until I was able to set up my own armorsmithy.¡± ¡°Did you ever see that warrior again?¡± ¡°Um, funny story there, I guess. He was stabbed in the back by a spear on his next adventure and died. I never found out what happened to my first shield after that.¡± ¡°At least it wasn¡¯t in the front, right through the shield.¡± ¡°That would have ended my smithing career. It¡¯s been a good career, but ever since moving here, things have been crazy. My smithing Skill has grown so fast, I cannot believe it. I have already reached Master rank. I was just in Adept when I got here. If this keeps up, I may make it to Grandmaster before I retire!¡± ¡°Are others experiencing the same growth?¡± Duke was intrigued by this turn and was wondering if his Aura was affecting others like this or if this smith was the exception. ¡°Many are, Your Majesty. The Mayor tells us that it is due to your presence in the kingdom. We are all quite grateful for it. Havenreach is the home to more master crafters than any other city I have ever heard of. And having the Portal to trade through makes things that much more amazing. We are secure here, safe. We have the Adventurer¡¯s Guild to keep the monsters culled back from the city, the miners and treemen keep us supplied with ore and wood. There are even enchanters that have created magical forges for us to use. We don¡¯t need charcoal! The farms supply food and cowhide that the tanneries turn into leather of supreme quality. Really, everything is running perfectly. There is a reason you are so beloved here, Your Majesty. Mayor Shellenberger never fails to let us know that you are the reason that we have it so good.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear and quite the ego-boost. But I hope he has told you that I will be going away soon, and it could be for years. The prosperity will fall off during that time. I just hope you all have grown your crafts well enough that you can still prosper without my help.¡± ¡°We have been told, but many don¡¯t believe it.¡± ¡°When my bonded tells you something. Believe it. He does not lie.¡± Duke cocked his head in Ophirian¡¯s direction, ¡°Thank you for that endorsement. I do speak the truth ¨C something that my mother taught me. She would always tell me that if you tell the truth, you never have to remember what story you told. Life is a bit more complicated than such simple statements, but I try not to directly lie. That doesn¡¯t help anyone.¡± ¡°A wise woman I would say.¡± Duke did not respond but gestured for the waitress to come over again. She quickly returned and he handed her a sum of gold coins, ¡°Thank you for taking care of us. We will be heading out shortly.¡± She attempted to hand the coins back to Duke but he shook his head as he rose from his seat. As Ophirian and Arnson followed suit, he TELEPORTED the three of them well outside the city, into the foothills of the mountains. He smiled, ¡°Ophirian, why don¡¯t you let Arnson study your true scales.¡± He grinned in response and shifted into his true form, spreading out over his hundred-meter length. Has he gotten even bigger than the last time? Arnson swore and leaped backwards in shock, ¡°You weren¡¯t fucking kidding! An honest-to-the-Seven Great Serpent! And I debated him on scale design. Oh.¡± ¡°Go ahead and examine my scales. You¡¯ll see how good they are. Stab them, strike them with your hammer if you like. You aren¡¯t going to hurt me.¡± Arnson hesitated and Duke gave him a nod, ¡°Go ahead. He really means it. Be as brutal as you like, you¡¯re not going to hurt him.¡± Shaking off his incredulity, Arnson, pulled his smith hammer out of his belt and lightly stuck the scale in front of him. There was no reaction from the serpent and the hammer left no mark at all. Duke gave him another nod and a gesture telling him to hit harder. Arnson gulped and wound up for a full-force strike. The hammer, once again, rebounded from the scale. This time it left a tiny indentation that faded seconds later. ¡°See, natural scales are so much better. They heal on their own.¡± ¡°I do see that your scales heal on their own, but that¡¯s not something I can make for every soldier. What am I saying, I cannot make that for anyone.¡± ¡°I see your dilemma now. You have to craft with the inferior materials because that is all you have to work with. It makes so much more sense to me now. Thank you for teaching me this valuable lesson!¡± Ophirian¡¯s head snapped forward like a lightning strike. Duke stepped in front of the smith instinctually, but quickly realized that the smith wasn¡¯t the target of the strike. Instead, Ophirian had torn a sizable patch of scales from his own skin. The wound was jagged and bleeding, but the serpent didn¡¯t seem to mind. He hissed a chuckle, ¡°Perhaps I should have told you what I was doing. Take these scales, Arnson and see what you can make of them. There should be enough there for at least one suit of armor. If you can, find an enchanter that can make them heal like they naturally want to do.¡± Duke fashioned a wide-mouthed drawstring bag of holding out of dungeon essence and placed the scales inside for the smith and handed it to him. He grimaced briefly, ¡°One warning, do not attempt to take that bag through a Portal. It, and everything inside it will be destroyed, forever lost.¡± ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty. And thank you, Great Ophirian. I will make the most spectacular set of armor out of these scales and will get it fully enchanted. Of that you can be assured!¡± ¡°That would please me greatly.¡± ¡°But we do have to get going now. So, I¡¯ll drop you off back in Havenreach and we¡¯ll be on our-¡± Duke was interrupted by a notification that he could not ignore. *** Worldwide Notification! Hear This! A Quest has been offered: Quest Name: Fight or Die Quest Description All residents of Teldin are called to her defense. An invading force has landed on the planet and seeks to consume all life on it and ultimately consume the world spirit. Come to your world¡¯s defense or lose everything! Quest Rewards: Unknown, survival of life on Teldin Will you accept this quest and defend your world? (Y/N) *** He accepted the Quest without any thought or consideration. It wasn¡¯t like this system was a quest-generating machine. He had only been offered one or two in the entire time before now. Accepting the Quest produced a location on Duke¡¯s map. From what he could tell, it was on the other side of the planet but that did not stop him from springing into action. ¡°Arnson, did you get that notification?¡± ¡°I think everyone did.¡± ¡°Even in here. Remarkable. OK, I¡¯m going to drop you off at the Mayor¡¯s office. Tell him that all combatants are to head through the Portal. I¡¯ll have a destination for a rallying point set up in Cloudspire. Ophirian, shift for me please, we will need the space until we get to where we are going.¡± The transformation was faster this time, taking only about thirty seconds. After which, Duke TELEPORTED Arnson outside the Mayor¡¯s office while he and Ophirian were TELEPORTED to his throne room. There were order to give, planning to occur, and most importantly, scouting to occur before he set up Portals to bring his Legions to bear. Time to see how many nations will respond and if I can bring them all together. Book 3, Chapter 64 Duke Madrigal was waiting for him when he and Ophirian arrived. He offered a respectful bow, ¡°Your Majesty, Stormstride stands ready to heed the call of Teldin. What would you have us do?¡± ¡°First off, introductions. Duke Madrigal, this is Ophirian the Great Serpent. Ophirian, this is Duke Madrigal. Madrigal is my most key advisor and the one who runs things around here when I¡¯m not present. Which, quite frankly, is most of the time. Without him, the kingdom would fall apart.¡± ¡°It pleases me to meet you.¡± ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you as well.¡± ¡°OK, status report time. I assume the Legions are already prepared to mobilize. What other forces can we bring to bear?¡± ¡°About that, Your Majesty. We have five full legions we can send but I recommend keeping at least one legion home should any neighbors decide that this is the opportune time to grab some of our prosperity for their own.¡± ¡°Pahst.¡± ¡°Just so, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Very well, keep a Legion home for defense, but if they are truly needed, I will call for them. Do we have anyone else?¡± ¡°The militias are being formed. They are mostly craftspeople and adventurers. Discipline is not their forte and the adventurers are likely to split off into their own parties immediately.¡± ¡°They may be more effective in their own parties than in formations, so while we shouldn¡¯t encourage them to split off, we shouldn¡¯t prevent it. Maybe it would be even better to use them as scouting parties or quick-reaction forces. We have no real information about these invaders, do we?¡± ¡°None whatsoever. The invasion point is on the far side of the world. You are the only one that can get there quickly, so unfortunately, it is up to you to scout this threat out for us.¡± ¡°As expected, although Mira and the Iron Reaver may be able to help in that regard. I have to reach out to our allies and make sure we have a Portal network set up to get their forces to the front lines as well. I¡¯ll contact her and see what she can tell us before I head out. Let¡¯s gather our leaders here in one hour and solidify our mobilization plans.¡± ¡°One hour. Good luck, Your Majesty.¡± Duke Madrigal hurried out of the throne room to get everyone together. Ophirian gave Duke a pointed look. He responded, ¡°What?¡± ¡°You are going to try and leave me here while you go scout the enemy.¡± ¡°I was definitely considering it, but I think your senses will be helpful in scouting out the enemy, whomever they are. So, I think I¡¯m going to need you with me when I-¡° An intense gust of wind blew the tapestries around the room off the walls as it swirled around the room. Duke¡¯s throne blew over as the pair fought to remain on their feet. The wind intensified as if in the center of a terrible storm. Duke grabbed Ophirian¡¯s arm to steady him as he used his FLIGHT Ability to stabilize himself. And a moment later, the wind coalesced into a single man-sized form that stood before them. ¡°Apologies for the dramatic entry,¡± As the form spoke, it took on the shape of a man that Duke recognized. ¡°Orgath?¡± ¡°Indeed, yes. It is I.¡± ¡°I assume you are here for a reason other than to re-arrange my furniture.¡± ¡°Who is this man? I sense nothing from him.¡± ¡°He is one of the gods of Teldin.¡± ¡°Indeed I am. I know you received the great quest. Even we gods received it. But we are prevented from taking direct action by a decision that Aehocho made in the distant past. We can, however, provide aid to those who can take direct action. So, they sent me because we are on good terms. Ghastul wanted to come but I figured that would not end well.¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Good call. What is it you can provide me?¡± ¡°You are uniquely qualified to accelerate the defense of Teldin. Here, have a quest.¡± *** You have been offered a Quest! Quest Name: Gather the Troops! Quest Description: The world of Teldin is under attack and most have risen to defend her. But few are able to get to the fight on their own. Create a Portal network to bring the world together to face this threat. Quest Rewards: One experience point per Portal use per individual traveler, unknown Do you accept this quest? (Y/N) *** ¡°Well, that¡¯s both inside and outside my Abilities. I don¡¯t know where everyone is to set up Portals for them.¡± ¡°Accept the quest and check your map, Duke. This much we can do for you.¡± ¡°What is he talking about?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not entirely sure, but here goes. I was going to try and do this for our allies anyway.¡± Duke accepted the quest and pulled up his map of Teldin. His jaw nearly hit the floor. Each and every city, village, town, and hamlet were now marked on his map along with a number of monster settlements. There were tens of thousands of markers on his map, maybe more. There was also a large area marked as ¡°Staging Area¡± near where the invaders were marked. ¡°Now that you have accepted the quest, Malkiavic will send out his own worldwide quest to enter the portals and prepare to fight.¡± ¡°This all seems a bit contrived, far too fast, and unbelievable.¡± ¡°It does. But when our very existence is threatened, we are not going to hesitate. This threat is real, and it is going to kill countless numbers of the faithful. We did not choose this fight, but we will give our children everything we can to fight it. Vithshrek even offered to remove his curse for the fight.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bother. I have no use for swords at this point.¡± ¡°I might be able to use one though. You have a good one to offer?¡± Orgath laughed, and then sized up Ophirian, ¡°You do not strike me as much of a sword-wielder, are you?¡± ¡°Well, no. But who am I to turn down a gift from a god. I¡¯d learn to wield a sword if a god were to give me one.¡± The fact that the serpent was able to deliver the line with a straight face was beyond impressive. He deserved an academy award. What he got¡­was a sword. Orgath pulled a sword out of the air and handed it to him. When Ophirian took the handle, the god did not release the blade. He said, ¡°Just remember that you committed to learning how to use it. Do not fail in that commitment or there will be consequences.¡± ¡°So, Duke, how do I use this thing?¡± ¡°Oh, you are so asking the wrong person about that. I affirmatively can¡¯t use a sword. You¡¯re on your own on that one. Good luck with it.¡± ¡°I have stayed as long as I dare. Remember, Duke, the Storm is your Ally. Do not hesitate to call upon it should you have need. And Ophirian, the pointy end goes into the soft parts of your foe.¡± With that, the god turned into a fog bank and flowed out of the room. ¡°OK, you stay here and try and figure out how to use a sword. I have a Portal network to set up.¡± Duke did not wait for a response, instead he TELEPORTED from marked location to marked location, setting up Portals all linked into the central staging location. Despite his speed, this still took him a long time to complete. At a few seconds per Portal and tens of thousands to set up, the task took him two days to complete. When Duke returned to his throne room, Borondar was there with Ophirian. He was instructing the serpent in swordsmanship. It did not appear to be going particularly well. Ophirian¡¯s sword was continually out of position and the Guard Captain was having trouble getting him to realize how bad that was. When they noticed him, they stopped. Ophirian spoke first, ¡°Everybody that is going has already gone through the Portal. Are you ready to go through?¡± ¡°I suppose I am, but I am exhausted. Give me a few minutes to rest. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Duke didn¡¯t wait for a response, TELEPORTING himself to the cavern system in Havenreach. There, he took a minute to craft himself a comfortable bed and sealed himself behind a wall. Sighing, he collapsed into the bed and went to sleep. Duke woke refreshed and returned to the throne room, startling the pair again as Borondar was deep in ¡°instructor mode¡± as he called it. They both leaped back from his sudden appearance, holding their swords at the ready. ¡°I¡¯m back but I guess you already realized that.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t been gone for more than ten minutes, Your Majesty. How can you be rested already?¡± ¡°Ancient secret power,¡± Duke quipped. ¡°Are you two ready to go?¡± ¡°I must remain, Your Majesty. If anything happens in the city, then I need to be here to handle it. My guards have been reduced to a skeleton crew, but the Fifth Legion is still here for now. I have been told that they could be pulled to the front to fight as well. I cannot in good conscience leave the city so vulnerable.¡± ¡°I understand and support your decision. Honestly, I have no idea what we are dealing with. It could be something that the Archmage¡¯s Council may be able to handle on their own. I don¡¯t think that¡¯s likely as the call went out across the whole planet but there¡¯s no way of knowing until we get there. Are you ready, Ophirian?¡± ¡°I could use a few years to learn how to actually use a sword. It¡¯s so ridiculously difficult. I don¡¯t know what I was thinking.¡± ¡°You were thinking that you were going to get a shiny divine present.¡± ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right about that. It¡¯s nothing like using my fangs. I thought it would work just the same. I was very wrong.¡± ¡°Guess so. Good luck Borondar and I hope you don¡¯t need it.¡± ¡°Me too, Your Majesty. Don¡¯t risk yourself unnecessarily. We need you to come back here. The kingdom needs you.¡± Duke felt a heavy pang of guilt knowing that regardless of the outcome, he was being pulled away in a week or less. Time was running out for him. He returned Borondar¡¯s salute and TELEPORTED to the staging area with Ophirian. Book 3, Chapter 65 Arriving at the staging area was like nothing Duke had ever seen. There were people, creatures, and monsters everywhere. Duke instinctually rose into the air to get a better look at what was arrayed before him. The area had appeared to be large on his map but as he rose up, he saw just how vast the staging area was. The mix of what he saw was hard to wrap his head around. There were hundreds of organized forces but the vast majority were a milling mass of disorganization. He spotted all manner of races in the mix including monstrous races that he had never encountered before. He rose higher to get an even better look. As he rose higher, he could see beyond the staging area. The area was set apart by a mountain range which had a forest of immense trees beyond it. As he watched the far edge of the forest seemed to be slowly retreating. He moved over the forest to get a better look at what was going on. What he saw did not offer any encouragement. The trees were fighting. And they were losing, badly. There was a sea of quadrupedal creatures swarming over each other to get to the trees. They were horrific beings, resembling horse-sized dogs with no skin, exposing their muscles and internal organs. As he looked more carefully, he saw that they did actually have some form of skin. It was just transparent, allowing the sickening display of their insides through. The ones who had reached the trees latched on with their jaws and appeared to be sucking the very essence from them. The trees weren¡¯t just dying, they were being absolutely consumed, leaving nothing but grey, dead dust behind. Tree limbs slashed and slammed down at the creatures, only to pass harmlessly through them. Duke spotted a group of druids attempting to bolster the trees. Spells of green energy suffused the trees on the front line, bolstering the trees and giving them the ability to strike with enchanted blows. The trees¡¯ limbs struck nothing. One by one, the trees were sucked dry of their life and then physically absorbed, leaving nothing in their place. When one creature was done consuming a tree, the next leapt forward and started on the next tree. Duke IDENTIFIED the attackers. *** You have encountered an Exospace Hound. This is a Tier Four extradimensional creature. Tier: 4 Level: 145 Health: 891,335 Mana: 801,000 This creature exists in both the material plane and the realm of Exospace. It can change any part of its body between these two dimensions at any time. *** After reading that, Duke understood why the animated trees were ineffective. He tossed a bolt of LIGHTNING at one of the hounds only to see it pass through with no apparent effect. He tried a number of other elemental Abilities, but none had any effect. Well, that¡¯s not good. How are we supposed to fight these things? Duke flew back over the mountains to see who he could meet up with. He was intercepted by another flying figure. This figure was a dark woman with what he would have considered Indian features had he been back on Earth. Here, he had no idea other than it was a pretty woman in heavy, bright robes covering equally elaborately embroidered pants flying towards him. He slowed to a stop as she approached. ¡°Well, hello there, sir. Good to see another flier around. I am Amara Laya.¡± ¡°Glad to meet you. My name is Duke, and I¡¯ve only just arrived, has anyone organized this mess yet?¡± ¡°No, not yet. It seems that everyone is waiting for someone to take charge, but no one has taken that step just yet. Few even have any idea what we are dealing with. Do you?¡± Duke looked into her brown eyes for a long moment, the gravity of the situation rising in his mind, ¡°We are facing a world-ending threat. The Exospace Hounds exist in both our reality and Exospace simultaneously. They can shift any part of themselves between the two realities at will. This makes them extremely difficult to hit with any attacks and able to bypass most any defense.¡± ¡°That is¡­a rather remarkably cogent description of what we face. And you say you just arrived? Who are you really?¡± ¡°I am who I say I am. King of a minor nation on the other side of Teldin with a few talents that have served me well.¡± Duke felt a brief pressure on his Psyche as she peered at him, concentrating. It quickly let up as she offered a slight frown. She smiled shyly, ¡°It seems that your information is cloaked behind something powerful. Perhaps you are indeed more than you seem.¡± ¡°Depends on what I seem to be, I suppose. I¡¯m no toy of the gods but I do have considerable power of my own.¡± Duke paused, replaying what he just said in his head. ¡°Well, fuck, that makes me sound like a real douchebag. Sorry about that. This is not the time to be all sly and humble and shit. I¡¯ve got some strong Abilities including the one that got most everyone here.¡± If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°YOU are the Portal maker?¡± ¡°Is that what they are calling me? Seems appropriate, I guess. Yes, I made the Portals, although I¡¯m not sure how long I can maintain that many and still be effective in a fight.¡± ¡°You are personally maintaining all these Portals? They aren¡¯t being maintained by some enchantment or other?¡± ¡°No enchantment. This is my own Ability keeping them open. It¡¯s a drag on my Mana for so many, but I can sustain it for now. When I start to burn through Mana when we start fighting for real, Then the maintenance cost will be too much to maintain.¡± ¡°Have you tried fighting them yet?¡± ¡°Not truly. I tested some Abilities on them that had no noticeable effect.¡± ¡°Same here. My wind blades could cut the entire forest down but pass through them without effect. I do not know how to engage them, and I fear the multitude of melee fighters below will just be fodder for the creature¡¯s growth.¡± ¡°Are there others that might have a chance to affect them? Where are the powerful in all this mess?¡± She smiled, ¡°Power attracts power, they say. If we fly over the masses, the powerful amongst them will find us if they can.¡± ¡°Seems like a reasonable assumption. Shall we make it flashy?¡± ¡°What do you have in mind?¡± Duke flew back several meters and activated his LIGHTNING Aura with an audible snap. The air around him sparked and crackled, suffused with energy. A smile that was soft and unhurried formed on her lips, a quiet curve that lit her face with warmth. Her eyes lingered on him, a spark of curiosity and admiration growing as though she were seeing him anew. There was a hint of mischief at the corners of her lips, a private moment that said, He¡¯s worth considering. Duke paused at her look, considering what his XENOGLOSSIA was telling him. He shook his head. I just got out of a relationship. Dumped again. Keep it casual, flyboy ¨C you have too many irons in the fire to put your own iron into anyone¡¯s fire long-term. Putting such thoughts behind him, he began to fly in a wide circle around the immense staging area, flaring his aura to make himself clearly visible. He increased his speed as he completed his first circuit and began spiraling inwards, pushing past Mach three and still speeding up. Eyes were drawn to the sky as a bolt of lightning traveled in a closing spiral. Those with greater Intuition or perceptive Abilities were able to tell that it wasn¡¯t actually a bolt of lightning, but instead a man wreathed by the element. Regardless of what was perceived, the reaction was the same as the phenomenon culminated in a stroke of lightning that touched down in the center of the staging area. Duke slammed to the ground with tremendous force but he used his FORCE Ability to contain and direct the energy upwards and away from the retreating crowd. The sound of his impact reverberated throughout the area, alerting everyone who had not already watched the figure descend from the sky. The strongest among each group broke away and made their way to the clear signal ¨C it was time to get things organized. Amara landed gracefully next to Duke, her robes fluttering ever so slightly in the controlled breeze of her descent. Quickly the area around them expanded as groups actively pushed away from the intimidating figures entering the center by various means. Some came mounted on creatures ranging from horses to great monstrous cats, to one that came astride a clanking monstrosity of a draconic golem. Others came upon more clearly magical means such as personal flight, standing upon a flying sword, or carried by a winged cloak. Once in the area, segregation seemed to happen naturally. Warriors tended to congregate together, mages as well including what Duke assumed was the Archmages¡¯ Council as that was the group Baslin had joined. Duke watched them all gather together as he stood with Amara. He wasn¡¯t sure who she really was, but he found it odd that even though everyone had gathered, they all kept their distance from the two of them. ¡°Any reason they are staying away from us? They are staying away from us, right?¡± ¡°They certainly seem to be. And no, I don¡¯t know why. Maybe they¡¯re afraid of getting shocked.¡± ¡°Maybe they were all waiting for me to get here. I mean, really. You left me back there without even saying goodbye.¡± ¡°Well, hello Ophirian. Glad you could make it. But I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the reason. Oh and introductions¡­ Ophirian, Amara. Amara, Ophirian.¡± They looked each other over appraisingly but were interrupted by another man walking up to the trio, ¡°I certainly was waiting for you to get here, little one.¡± Ophirian turned to the man with irritation, ¡°Just who are you calling little?¡± ¡°Ah yes, I always forget how arrogant we all are in our youth. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Illuyanka. Perhaps you have heard of me, Duke?¡± Duke stopped and took a closer look at the unassuming man dressed in green robes before the name registered in his memory. He cocked his head slightly, ¡°Illuyanka from Tannish?¡± ¡°I knew you had heard of me.¡± ¡°Who is this guy and what it Tannish?¡± ¡°Ophirian, this is your father.¡± ¡°What? No. My father is a great serpent, not this small man.¡± Illuyanka hissed at Ophirian. There were tones and harmonies in the hiss that few could pick up on but there were two in close proximity that were able to understand. Duke smiled as Ophirian¡¯s eyes bulged and he stepped forward to embrace the smaller man. ¡°Father. How could I not recognize you? Where is your aura?¡± ¡°You have never seen me before. You were but an egg when last we saw each other. As for my aura, unleashing it here would be counter-productive. It has no effect on the invaders but it would panic quite a few of our temporary allies.¡± ¡°Perhaps you should pulse it to get everyone¡¯s attention. We have to plan our defense and no one is taking charge of this mess. Stupid global quest. Almost no one here can affect those things.¡± ¡°I do believe you are correct, Your Majesty. I will look to you for guidance in planning our actions. I am formidable against a physical foe but against those things, I am near useless. I hope you have something that will affect them. Even the Archmages are arguing amongst themselves. Are you ready, Duke?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m the best for this but sure. Someone must get things going. Get everyone¡¯s attention.¡± A pulse of aura flashed out over the crowd causing all to pause. For many, the aura caused in instantaneous fear reaction. For others, alertness crossed their features. For Duke, it was the challenge of a predator stalking him that made him want to turn and fight. Instead, he rose slightly overhead and shouted over the crowd, ¡°OK, that¡¯s enough milling around. Leaders, bring it in to me. We have a world to save!¡± Book 3, Chapter 66 The leadership council had formed quickly after Duke¡¯s announcement. He was pained by the next hour of competing opinions and idiotic strategies bandied about to highlight individual groups. Things had broken down into two primary camps. One was ¡°blast them with magic until something works¡± while the other Duke had started referring to as ¡°Hulk Smash¡± in his mind. He sat virtually alone in a third group. And, yes, he sat. While most had stood ingroups arguing, he had pulled a chair out of his INVENTORY and sat down. Finally, Baslin broke off from the Archmage contingent and visited Duke, ¡°You seem pretty comfortable sitting there.¡± ¡°Well, what else am I going to do? There seems to be no way to alter the idiotic opinions being tossed around like a bad salad. You know, the kind where they throw radishes in and too many carrot slivers that just get stuck in your teeth.¡± Baslin ignored the salad rant, ¡°You have a solution?¡± ¡°Potentially. But it might not work either. I do have an escape plan should this whole thing fail but that is a shitty contingency plan at best.¡± ¡°Enlighten me. Perhaps I can persuade others.¡± ¡°OK, it comes down to this. Every attack misses them because they shift to Exospace to avoid it. What if someone were to fill the corresponding area in Exospace with an attack as well. There would be nowhere for them to go to evade the attack.¡± ¡°Is that what is happening? Are you sure?¡± ¡°My TELEPORTATION Ability has given me a lot of insight into other dimensions, and I am certain that is what they are doing.¡± ¡°I am not really familiar with Exospace. You say that is another dimension?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the dimension that ships move through to get from world to world relatively quickly. The problem is that they say there are some godawful monsters that live in Exospace that prey on ships that can¡¯t cloak their presence or move fast enough to evade them. Standing in one spot for any length of time is sure to lure creatures to you.¡± ¡°And you, of course, are volunteering for this role, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Who else could do it? No one else here could get themselves back from Exospace.¡± ¡°This can¡¯t be the best solution with you putting yourself into such danger alone.¡± ¡°I am hoping that others will join me but, again, I¡¯m not sure who else can survive in Exospace. My Tier and my Abilities grant me enough protection that I can survive it for a time before it affects me. I¡¯m not sure who else could.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like it, Duke. You are once again putting yourself in the position of peril.¡± ¡°If things get bad, I¡¯ll just pop back into our dimension. And I also have this little device that will guide me if I somehow get lost.¡± Duke pulled out his portable navigation core and handed it to Baslin. ¡°What is¡­By all the failed gods, what is this thing! Such small scripting.¡± Baslin pulled a pair of thick-lensed glasses out of a pocket inside his robes and examined the core with them. He seemed absolutely lost for a few minutes while Duke observed the crowd. The so-called leaders of the planet did not strike Duke with a positive impression. Even with the entire planet¡¯s survival hanging in the balance, they bickered and argued over appearances. His intrusive thoughts told him to take everyone he cared about and just leave the planet to its fate. He put a stop to that thought almost as fast as it appeared. Duke was broken out of his thoughts by a tug on his sleeve. When he looked down, he saw a wonderfully familiar catkin face. ¡°Have you gotten even taller, Duke?¡± ¡°Emberclaw! It¡¯s been so long. I¡¯m glad to see you, but wish it wasn¡¯t here.¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°I know, my friend. Fate has brought us to another conflict but perhaps, if we are lucky, it will give us some more time to reconnect.¡± ¡°That would be great if it were not for the biggest problem we are facing. So few of those gathered here have any chance of fighting the Hounds. Look around us. They are all bickering over who is leading this mess. I can¡¯t just wait around for them to figure it out. But I can¡¯t do it alone. Not this time.¡± ¡°Duke, this creation of your is beyond what I thought was possible. I would love to be able to study it further.¡± Duke took the navigational core back and smiled at Baslin, ¡°Have you met Emberclaw?¡± ¡°Pleased to meet you. Duke has told me of you. It is an honor to finally meet you.¡± Emberclaw returned the greeting, ¡°An honor to meet you as well.¡± Duke¡¯s communications crystal chimed, ¡°Hey Duke, there¡¯s nowhere for us to land down there. Can you clear a landing zone?¡± Duke activated his crystal, ¡°Mira, not sure what you can do down here. I am not completely sure, but it looks like these creatures have some sort of defense mechanism that shifts them back and forth into Exospace.¡± ¡°Well, fuck. I guess I¡¯m going to spend some time in Exospace then.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be attacked by god knows what if you stay in one spot there.¡± ¡°Yep. Good thing you juiced up our Mana cores. We can take a hell of a lot more pounding than we could before with the empowered shields.¡± ¡°OK, that might help but you have to limit your time there.¡± ¡°Oh, trust me, I have no desire to draw in any of the true dangers in that hellish dimension. But if we don¡¯t stop these things here, they¡¯re going to eat your whole damned planet.¡± ¡°Right. OK, here¡¯s the deal. You have better sensors than anything down here. Watch the combat line. The druids are keeping the things occupied but they have to be running out of Mana or trees soon. I¡¯m going to flip over to Exospace and see if I can cause some chaos. You keep a laser-focus on that front line with your sensors and see if it allows them to be more effective.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like it, but go for it. I¡¯ve got my sensors locked in.¡± Duke nodded to the small group around himself, ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a bit. We need to test a theory. Hope it works because it¡¯s all I have so far.¡± He did not wait for a response before flying back to the front where the druids were ineffectually fighting the Hounds. As he flew closer, he could see signs of Mana fatigue rampant among their ranks. ¡°Have you come to help? Everyone else seems afraid to come here.¡± The unconventionally burly elf that greeted Duke took him by surprise. ¡°You are holding the line by yourselves. It¡¯s far beyond time someone came to help. It looks like most of you are suffering from Mana fatigue.¡± ¡°Yes, we have gone through so many Mana potions that they don¡¯t have much effect anymore.¡± ¡°I can help a bit with that but then I have another thing to try.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yes, give me a moment and gather around the crew that needs the most Mana.¡± Duke closed almost all the Portals he had opened to transport forces to the staging area and immediately felt his Mana regen jump back up to normal. He smiled and gestured to the gathering group, ¡°Who needs the most Mana and how much do you need? Give me a number.¡± A wizened kobold shuffled up to Duke, the others parting at his approach. He fixed Duke with his left eye, his right being milky with blindness, and spoke, ¡°I am the Archdruid Thelmek. I have the greatest Mana pool of all here but it is quite depleted. I have spent all six million of my Mana struggling against these beasts to no avail. How do you propose to help?¡± Duke reached a hand out to the kobold who responded. When they shook, he spoke, ¡°I am Duke, King of Stormstride and I freely give of my Mana to you.¡± He proceeded to transfer the full six million Mana that would fill up the kobold¡¯s pool. When finished, he looked at the rest of the crowding druids, ¡°OK, who¡¯s next?¡± ¡°Who are you really?¡± The question came as the kobold stepped back with a look of awe and relief on his face. ¡°I am just another person trying to save our planet. Nothing more, nothing less. Now, who¡¯s next?¡± One by one, the rest of the druids stepped up to have their Mana topped off, rotating themselves back into the fight with renewed vigor. When they were all back to full, Duke called up to the Iron Reaver, ¡°Mira, are you in position?¡± ¡°Have been for the past ten minutes, slowpoke.¡± ¡°Thanks, thirty seconds, ¡°He smiled in anticipation as he spoke. ¡°Thelmek, I am going to do something that I hope will make these Hounds susceptible to physical attacks. Pray this works, because nobody else seems to have any idea how to fight the things.¡± ¡°I will pray to Gaiathia so that she may bless your attempt.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take it. It won¡¯t help where I have to go to do this, but it¡¯s the thought that counts, right?¡± ¡°Thought that counts? What are you talking about?¡± Duke smiled enigmatically, ¡°I have to shift to another dimension and make it inhospitable for the Hounds to shift back there. I am hoping that will force them to stay in our dimension and be vulnerable to attack here.¡± ¡°How are you going to do that?¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s just a thing I can do. Can you clear an area by the base of the mountains of trees and underbrush? I want to use that as a Portal destination for everyone in the staging area to come through and kill these things if this works.¡± ¡°We are already pulling the trees from there. We will have the area clear for troops in less than an hour.¡± ¡°Thanks, that will help if this works. If it doesn¡¯t, we¡¯ll have to find a plan B.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope it works then. I¡¯ll keep praying.¡± Duke stepped back steeling himself, ¡°Mira, it¡¯s go-time.¡± ¡°Sensors of full lock. Good luck!¡± With that, Duke TELEPORTED to Exospace. Book 3, Chapter 67 Duke¡¯s reaction speed was always exceptional. It was one of the things that had made him such a great fighter pilot. His ability to quickly read an unfolding situation and immediately react had been his hallmark. It had served him extremely well when the world had gone to shit and fighting started. Since being brought to Teldin, his reaction speed had increased far, far beyond human limits. It was not enough. Before he had even taken in his surroundings, he was beset by Hounds. He could not see his surroundings but for the swarm of Hounds that attacked him from all sides. The thousands that were attacking on Teldin were but a drop in a bucket compared to what waited on the other side of the dimensional barrier. Hounds had latched onto his arms and legs before he could process what was happening. And they were draining him. His Health was plummeting rapidly and he could feel the draining Ability attempting to latch onto his very soul. Duke¡¯s Psyche was being hammered by telepathic howls and barks coming from the tens of thousands of Hounds converging on him. He panicked, releasing his UMBRAL REAPER. The monsters of his Psyche burst outwards in an expanding sphere, attacking the Hounds around him. His limbs were released giving him a reprieve from the awful drain. His Health started quickly ticking back up as his REGENERATION engaged. His reprieve was short-lived. One by one, the creatures created by his Ability were consumed by the Hounds. His blood ran cold as he realized that the Hounds had not left him because they were being hurt, it was simply because they had found a more palatable source of food. Before his eyes, he could see the Hounds growing stronger, growing larger, and turning back to him. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not good.¡± Duke¡¯s voice did not leave his body, the air and vibration sucked away by the bizarre dimension known as Exospace. He flew away from the approaching swarm of Hounds, his mind scrambling for a plan since his panic-induced, ¡°this will kill anything¡± Ability actually fed the things. On the positive side, there was no Psychic feedback from using the Ability this time. One of the Hounds appeared to be faster than the others and was breaking away from the massive swarm chasing Duke. He considered it an opportunity and allowed the thing to close on him slightly, keeping it at a set distance while they both accelerated away from the hungry mass. As they flew, Duke cycled through the list of his offensive Abilities hoping for a better result. As on the planet, the elemental Abilities had no effect. FORCE slowed it down slightly, but had no other effect. Finally, Duke switched to SOULFIRE. The effect was immediate and startling. The Hound burst into green flames and shriveled in on itself. In seconds, the Hound was little more than a diminishing speck of green ash. Duke whooped with joy, turning back to the approaching Hounds with SOULFIRE wreathing his body. Time to play, puppies! He spread SOULFIRE ahead of him in a cone at the approaching Hounds. The first ones that were hit by the SOULFIRE were overcome quickly. The rest of the pack split, arcing backward and away from the attack. They moved around the range of the Ability and attempted to engulf Duke from every other angle. One particularly large Hound followed the cone of the Ability back to Duke and leaped for his face. Duke pushed the cone upwards to catch the Hound. If burst into green flames, burning as it slammed into him anyway. The impact spun him uncontrollably spraying SOULFIRE in random directions as he spun in space. This turned out to be a more effective attack than the cone had been. Hundreds of Hounds were hit by the Ability. The rest pulled back warily. Duke locked down on his spin with his FLIGHT Ability, stabilizing himself. He kicked on his DUNGEON SENSE to get a much larger perspective on what was happening around himself. Two things became apparent quickly. One, there were more of these Hounds than he had ever imagined and two, they were the smallest of the things coming for him. The Hounds were currently hanging back, warily surrounding him in three dimensions. Another realization came to him ¨C he had no idea where he was relative to normal space. As he ran through his options for his next move, he sensed a change in the Hounds. Some silent signal had passed through them, and they were all poised to attack. Duke had seconds to react. He did not have the control over the Ability to maintain a large sphere of SOULFIRE but he could hold a cone of it well enough. Screw it! Time for a Death Blossom! The Hounds pounced, flowing like a tsunami coming from all directions at once. Duke spun in the most dizzying 360 degree spin he could manage and pushed out a cone of SOULFIRE. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. As Hounds came into contact with the cone, they were ignited, writing in pain. Yet the volume of Hounds far exceeded Duke¡¯s ability to catch them with his spin. He was still maintaining the SOULFIRE aura but enough Hounds were getting through that his spinning was being slowed as bodies impacted him. The constant impacts rattled his brain, dazzling his senses as he was engulfed in the crush of bodies. His aura flickered as his concentration weakened. He reached deep inside for the resolve to restore his aura, diving deeply into his Psyche reserves where the monsters of energy lurked. He came up empty. Nothing responded to his call. Duke¡¯s aura flickered for the last time and winked out. The Hounds tore through the burning corpses of their brethren and tore into Duke. They were not draining him, they were tearing pieces off of him. His left arm was the first to go and all he could think at the time was Why is it always that arm? He reacted on instinct, TELEPORTING himself back to the forest and the front lines. He arrived to shocked shouts and cries of alarm before he promptly fell flat on his face. He was greeted with a notification as he passed out. *** You have suffered significant Psyche damage. Your Psyche has been reduced by 75%. The effects will fade over time. Resting will recover your Psyche more quickly. *** Duke regained consciousness to worried looks from Ophirian and Baslin. There was also another man at his side, but he did not recognize him. It was this man that spoke first, ¡°How do you feel?¡± Duke examined himself only to discover that he felt absolutely fine. He looked around at the people surrounding him before speaking, ¡°I feel surprisingly well. The debuff I was suffering from is gone and it appears my wounds have healed.¡± Looking back at himself, Duke activated RESTORE and CLEANSE to bring his shredded clothing back into shape. With a smile he levered himself back to his feet and looked directly at Baslin, ¡°Gather the Archmages. I know how to stop these things.¡± Baslin¡¯s face lit up with hope, ¡°Truly?¡± ¡°Yes, truly. But be quick about it. The ones attacking here are the tiniest tip of the iceberg. If the rest break through, we may not have enough of a world left to defend.¡± Baslin didn¡¯t hesitate before rushing off to gather the Archmages. There were a few arguments but since no one else had anything resembling a solution beyond, ¡°We should study this phenomena. We could learn so much from it¡± he eventually won the argument and brought nearly the entire Council to Duke. ¡°Esteemed Archmages, please allow me to introduce you to King Duke of the Kingdom of Stormstride. He has fought the creatures and survived, gaining considerable knowledge in the process.¡± There were a few nods but most followed suit of a grey-skinned elf who scoffed, ¡°A human king? Why should we waste our time with him?¡± Duke stepped up to the elf, causing the elder mage to crane his neck up to meet his gaze. He waited until the rest of the Archmages had fallen silent before beginning, ¡°Two reasons. Firstly, I am the only one amongst us who has actually left this planet and seen the wider universe and secondly, because I could erase you where you stand with magical Abilities and you would have no defense or recourse. You picking up what I¡¯m putting down, old man? Or should I send you to the other side of thew world to think over your arrogance?¡± ¡°You dare! I¡¯ll-¡° Duke TELEPORTED the elf to the entrance of the Twilight Mountain Inn and turned back to the gasping Archmages. He calmly looked each of them in the eyes before continuing. They all looked considerably more attentive and less prideful. ¡°Now that I have your attention, I called you all together because of all the groups here, I expect you might be the only ones who even have a possibility of helping out here.¡± A surprisingly attractive female goblin pushed through the rest of the Archmages and responded before others could, ¡°What is it that you need from us?¡± Duke smiled at her, suppressing his conflicting emotional reactions of ¡°Hey, she¡¯s cute and she¡¯s a freaking goblin.¡± He composed himself quick enough that few noticed. He was sure from the sly smile that she did but he continued anyway, ¡°What I need from all of you is soulfire.¡± ¡°Soulfire? SOULFIRE! Why don¡¯t you just ask for a legendary dragon to go along with it?¡± The incredulous shout came from a dwarven Archmage whose beard was so long and bushy Duke wasn¡¯t sure he was wearing anything below the waist. ¡°I¡¯ll take one if you¡¯ve got it.¡± ¡°King Duke, what you ask for is so far beyond the capabilities of a Teldin-bound mage as to be ridiculous.¡± This from what Duke thought was an Eaglekin but wasn¡¯t sure enough to even say anything. ¡°I can provide you with soulfire.¡± It was the goblin speaking again. She was joined by a kobold who looked far too young to be an Archmage, ¡°I can provide soulfire as well.¡± ¡°Anyone else?¡± Duke asked. Receiving no further responses, he gestured for the two to come with him. He took them aside and started the real work of preparing. Book 3, Chapter 68 ¡°OK, the only thing I have found that seems to affect these things is soulfire. Who are you and how much soulfire can you two produce?¡± The goblin chuckled, ¡°My name is Gelvin Mahr and I can cast a spell that can cover a thirty-meter radius in soulfire but it is taxing. I can only cast it a few times a day before I am spent. It¡¯s certainly not enough to stop this horde.¡± The kobold gently put his scaled hand on her shoulder, ¡°Do not fret, my old friend.¡± He fixed his gaze on Duke and seemed to come to a conclusion. ¡°I am Thelanos, at least that is the name I have chosen to use for the past few centuries. It seems that this invasion is beyond the capabilities of this world to defend against.¡± His words were punctuated by the sound of trees shattering and scream that was abruptly cut off. The three turned to see the forest nearly depleted and the Hounds swelling in numbers. Things were getting critical as the Hounds¡¯ presence and attack was expanding in a rough circle that now covered a two-kilometer wide area. Containing them no longer seemed possible. Thelanos continued, ¡°It was fun while it lasted.¡± Gelvin interrupted, ¡°What are you talking about, Thelanos?¡± ¡°This.¡± The kobold leapt into the air, wings sprouting from his back, his neck elongating while his tail also grew. His entire body grew and transformed as he rose into the air. In seconds, the transformation was complete. No longer was he a humble kobold but instead a massive dragon gently flapping his wings in the air above them all. As he grew his scales had darkened to black with specks of a bright blue-white scattered in patterns that resembled constellations in the night sky. ¡°Long have I watched over this precious world, biding my time against an otherworldly invasion such as this, but my hiding is over. Heed me, people of Teldin! I can weaken this foe, but I am not able to stop them entirely. You must fight them here and now. Summon your warriors, gather your strength and drive them from your world!¡± With that announcement, he unleashed a breath weapon of something that Duke did not recognize. He watched as the dark beam spread out over the mass of Hounds causing them to writhe and howl in pain. With the writhing, came a sense of solidity that Duke suddenly realized meant that they could no longer shift dimensions Duke didn¡¯t hesitate. He opened the largest Portal he could to the staging area and shouted into his Jewel of Whispers, ¡°Aurelia, send the Legion now. Full send. We need to strike now!¡± The roar as the entire Legion charged through the Portal behind a distinctive reptilian creature wearing a kilt and screaming for blood. Duke couldn¡¯t help but smile at the sight despite the tension of the situation. Ophirian charged ahead of even Aurelia, easily outdistancing the Legion with his kilt flopping wildly around his legs. Gelvin gawked at Ophirian as she asked Duke, ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°That is a Great Serpent.¡± ¡°I can see that. But what the hells is it attached to?¡± Duke kept his face completely deadpan, ¡°That is Ophirian. He¡¯s mine.¡± ¡°You can keep him. That thing is just wrong.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I told him, but kids never listen, do they?¡± ¡°Kids?¡± There was no time to reply as Ophirian hit the writing Hounds with his VENOM SPITTING before peeling off to join Duke off to the side. The Legion continued their charge causing the ground to shake with their synchronized steps. Their ability to keep their strides synchronized at a full charge was a sight to behold as the ground began to undulate ahead of them. The Hounds were swept upwards by the rising ground, still writhing in pain. A second before the Legion arrived, the ground dropped out from under them to be replaced by spears of the Legionnaires. Hounds were pierced and unceremoniously thrown backwards and overhead for deeper ranks of the Legion to fall upon. The charge continued deep into the mass of the Hounds. Others started pouring through the portal to finally join the fight. As the armies of Teldin¡¯s various nations poured through the Hounds started to recover. A great howling started up from the Hounds that reverberated at a low register. The harmonics shook the ground like an earthquake, causing countless troops to lose their footing. The more organized armies had some defense against such attacks, but most did not. The howling caused the dimensional membrane holding the greater number of Hounds outside Teldin¡¯s dimension to ripple and weaken, allowing more and more Hounds to break through. They tore through the membrane in a torrent, adding their own voices to the howling. Unable to do more than keep their feet and fight defensively, the charge collapsed into a static defensive mess with an additional bottleneck at the Portal. Stolen novel; please report. Duke took to the air still feeling the resonance of the howling reverberating through the atmosphere but having nowhere near as strong an effect as it did on the surface. He flew over the boiling membrane and poured SOULFIRE into it. The reaction was immediate. The howling coming from the Hounds bursting through the membrane ceased to harmonize, instead turning to howls of pain. He did not let up, burning through his Mana. He ignored the notifications of kills and other effects while he continued to pour SOULFIRE at the emerging Hounds, OVERCHANNELING the Ability to cover the still expanding area. He poured over a million Mana a second into the Ability and was only able to barely hold the area. He shouted above the chaotic battle below, ¡°Can anyone seal this dimensional breach? I can hold them back for another fifteen minutes but after that, they are going to come pouring through in even greater numbers!¡± He received no response. The howling of the Hounds stopped as the pitched battle increased in fervor and intensity. Despite being temporarily cut off from their dimension-shifting Abilities, the Hounds fought with both their physical and their magical Abilities. Blue flames erupted from their maws, melting armor and weapons alike. Mages countered with cold and ice to varying degrees of effectiveness. A group of Hounds at the front line combined their attacks into a terrifyingly hot flame. The Legion¡¯s front line buckled as a dozen Legionnaires were simply erased by white flames so hot, they broke molecular bonds. Even hundreds of meters away, Duke could feel the heat of the flames despite his distance from the effect. Duke could do nothing, his attention and Mana focused on keeping the vastly larger horde of Hounds from breaking through. Others jumped in to help to varying degrees of effect. When Ophirian launched himself into the fight in his full form, he crushed dozens of Hounds instantly but was quickly overwhelmed by dozens more attacking and had to TELEPORT back to get healing. Others jumped in as the Portal became more active now that the ground had stabilized yet again. The Ansky Empire¡¯s forces marched onto the battlefield through the Portal signing in cadence. They were clad in what appeared to be pinstriped cloth armor but the magic that radiated off them was palpable, triggering Duke¡¯s SENSE MAGIC Ability without him even thinking to engage it. From head to toe, they radiated powerful magic. Their weapons, all bludgeoning-types radiated waves of force that harmonized with their chanting and stepping. He had thought that his Legions were impressive as they marched, seeing this army humbled him. Despite this, he smiled as they quickly marched around the beleaguered left flank of the Legions and joined the fight. Duke continued to pour on his SOULFIRE as his Mana ran down. He had been holding the breach for nearly fifteen minutes now and was coming to the end of his Mana. It was as he strained to keep up the intensity when the Hounds¡¯ dimensional link re-established. Duke could do nothing about it other than keep up what he was doing. ¡°Damn it all to hell! They are shifting again, and I can¡¯t hold the breach for much longer.¡± ¡°I can at least help with the first part of that.¡± Thelanos added another blast of his breath weapon over Duke¡¯s shoulder, washing it over the Hounds. It didn¡¯t catch the Hounds on the edge as he did not want to catch the friendly troops in the blast. The dimensional link was severed again, leaving the Hounds vulnerable. In the seconds the Hounds had been able to shift dimensionally, they inflicted heavy damage on the arrayed forces, diving through the front lines as if they weren¡¯t even there to get at the protected mages. They tore into the mages, drawing their Mana and lifeforce out of their bodies before anyone could react. Thelanos shouted, ¡°I can¡¯t get them when they are so close to allies without wiping out our allies in the process.¡± As Duke watched, Gelvin Mahr launched an arc of SOULFIRE at the Hounds that had escaped Thelanos¡¯ breath weapon. The Hounds burned to ash under the intensity but the damage was done ¨C most of the mages were either crippled or dead. The situation was getting worse by the minute. Duke¡¯s communications crystal rang with a single word, ¡°Incoming!¡± Before he could look around, mechs started to land around the troops and add their firepower to the mix. The Iron Reaver also poured its fire into the Hounds. This, combined with more forces coming through the Portal to join the fight kept the pressure up on the Hounds, finally seeming to reduce their number since Duke had effectively cut off their reinforcements. But Duke¡¯s Mana was running out quickly and when it ran out, more Hounds would come pouring through the dimensional breach. He scrambled for something, anything he could do without his SOULFIRE constantly plugging the hole. Finally, an idea came to him, but he knew that it was fraught with risks. Still, he had to try before his Mana completely ran out. ¡°I¡¯m going to try something. It might not work, but I can¡¯t maintain this for much longer!¡± Amara Laya floated closer, shouting above the roar of battle, ¡°If you have something else to try, try it. I will cover the breach with Soul-searing Sands. I do not know if it will stop the Hounds but it will at least slow them down for the few minutes I can maintain it.¡± Duke checked his Mana, seeing that it was down below a million, ¡°Do it! I have to cut this off.¡± She responded immediately, overlapping his SOULFIRE with her own spell. The swirling blue sands hurt Duke¡¯s eyes to look at, but they seemed to be doing the trick. They did not injure the Hounds like Duke¡¯s Ability had but instead repelled them from the opening. Duke decided that was good enough. He cut his SOULFIRE and began to regen his Mana. After one minute, Amara Laya began to show signs of strain as she taxed her Mana. She drank a blue potion that Duke assumed was a Mana replenishing one and gave him a nod. He responded back with a nod and got to work. Duke poured Mana into a new Dungeon Core, pushing his Ability to create a very specific dungeon. He twisted his Ability to its limits, creating the environment perfect for what he was hoping to make. He left the dungeon empty of creatures, however, only giving it the potential of forming them, focusing on the environment fully. He poured enough Mana in to push the core up to sixth level and broke his concentration. When he looked up, he barely recognized the situation. Amara had collapsed and was being carried in one of Thelanos¡¯ claws. The Hounds were pouring through the breach, and the ranks had broken down into small groups fighting for their lives ¨C he had taken too long. Book 3, Chapter 69 The shock of what Duke saw below him struck deeply into his core. Hounds were pouring through the breach unabated and despite Thelanos striking with his breath weapon repeatedly, the troops pouring through the Portal were unable to keep up with the sheer numbers. What was worse, was that Hounds were now pouring through the Portal, bypassing the troops trying to engage them. For a moment, all Duke could do was take in the scene. The Legions had been overrun, reduced to pockets of defenders grouped together desperately struggling against the rising tide of Hounds. A few other pockets of defenders remained but there was nothing organized left. ¡°If you are going to do something, human, now would be the time¡±, Thelanos¡¯ massive head rose above Duke¡¯s shoulder with a hot puff of air washing over Duke¡¯s frame. Without a pause for a response, the dragon unleashed a blast of his breath weapon at the Portal, catching more Hounds than defenders but Duke could see the dragon wince every time its breath passed over a defender. Duke TELEPORTED to a nearby mountain. Once there, he planted and activated the dungeon core he had been building hoping it would be enough, that it would work. It took a full minute for the dungeon to form and become active. In that time, Duke waited, watching his Mana tick back up. His Mana was nearly full when the dungeon entrance appeared. Straining his Ability to its limits, Duke created the largest Portal entrance he had ever attempted. To make it even worse, he was creating it oriented horizontally rather than the vertical orientation he was used to creating. Finally, he was creating it in an area occupied by creatures and led to a different dimension than it was originated from. This all served to make the creation orders of magnitude harder than any Portal he had created before. The strain pulsed through his head like a spike driven through his brain. His vision swam and he found himself struggling to remain focused. His Mana plummeted as he pushed his Grandmaster ranked Ability into doing what should be impossible. He could feel wetness dripping from his nose, his ears, and even his eyes as his vision began to shade to red. Subconsciously, he knew that meant that he was suffering from a brain bleed but he trusted his REGENERATION to handle it. Finally, with a flash of blue light, the Portal forced itself into existence. The crack as the Portal formed blasted outwardly, reverberating across the battlefield. The redness blocking Duke¡¯s vision faded and as his vision cleared, he could finally see the Portal covering the entire dimensional rift. No more Hounds poured into this world but there were still tens of thousands already here. He paused, projecting his DUNGEON SENSE inside the dungeon and saw that the Portal destination was placed exactly where he had intended. Hounds poured the dungeon by the thousand only to be consumed in SOULFIRE as the dungeon¡¯s specialized atmosphere of its final level did its job. Duke watched for a full minute to make sure the Hounds were not going to escape his trap. Even the larger Hounds were quickly consumed and Duke felt confident he could turn his attention back to the battlefield before him. With the elimination of the press of Hounds bursting through the dimensional breach, the remaining Hounds paused in their attacks. It was as if they sensed the sealing of the breach and weren¡¯t sure what to do at the moment. The scattered defenders took the pause to gather themselves, renewing defensive spells, and preparing for the next assault. Thelanos narrowed his breath weapon, striking at the Hounds where there were no defenders. Duke added SOULFIRE of his own to the fight, targeting the Hounds that surrounded the defenders to give them more breathing room. He could see the relief pass through the defenders as the press of the Hounds let up. As he was able to take a closer look at the pockets of defenders, he saw that each was anchored around a pair of mechs. Duke fired up his communications crystal, ¡°Steel Tusks, what is your status?¡± ¡°Duke, it¡¯s been an absolute mess down here. We are holding steady with infantry support, but none of us have more than 20% left in our Mana Cores. The Iron Reaver went over to the other side of the mountains to try and provide some support there but have been out of communications since then.¡± ¡°I have sealed the dimensional breach for now. There are no more of the damned things coming in. Can you hold with what you have?¡± ¡°If there are no more coming, yeah, we can hold with what we have for a bit longer. An hour at most before we start losing mechs to Mana drain.¡± ¡°Got it. I¡¯m going over the mountains to see what the situation is there.¡± ¡°Good luck.¡± Duke looked over towards Thelanos who interrupted him, ¡°I head it all. Go. I will support those that are still on the ground and maybe Amara will wake back up again so she can aid me.¡± With a brisk salute, Duke TELEPORTED back above the staging area. Things were even more chaotic here. The Hounds were shifting back and forth through dimensions freely here and few, if any, were able to effectively fight them. Duke quickly spotted the Iron Reaver lying on its side against one of the cliffsides. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Iron Reaver, come in. Do you hear me, Mira?¡± He received no response and immediately TELEPORTED to the ship¡¯s bridge, hoping that it was just a communications issue. What he saw disabused him of that notion. The bridge was swarming with Hounds attacking a large glowing sphere. Duke was about to fill the bridge with SOULFIRE but had another idea. He TELEPORTED the Hounds to the SOULFIRE dungeon. For some reason Duke could not discern, there was no resistance from the Hounds, and they disappeared in an instant. The glowing blue sphere vanished to show Mira and Elder Maw¡¯huk huddled together. Slowly, they extricated themselves looking around for trouble. When they spotted Duke, they both brightened up. ¡°Duke! Thank the gods you¡¯re here!¡± Mira rushed over and wrapped him up in a hug. ¡°I came as soon as I heard that communications were lost. Are you OK and what about everyone else?¡± ¡°We¡¯re OK, but I was locked out when we used the emergency seal on the Portal like you showed us. I do not know if any of those horrible things got inside before it was sealed up, but it was just the two of us out here when the monsters overran the ship.¡± ¡°What happened? How were the Hounds able to get into the ship?¡± ¡°We landed to help evacuate when the Hounds started pouring through the Portal. At first, everyone tried fighting the Hounds but they just tore through our forces. For every Hound that was taken down, fifty of ours died. We got hundreds onboard before the Hounds turned to the ship. We tried to fight them off but there were too many for the ship¡¯s shield to handle. Our last resort was the emergency bridge shield. And then you showed up.¡± Elder Maw¡¯huk looked up to Duke as she stood, ¡°Are the Hounds defeated? Has the danger passed?¡± ¡°No, not just yet, but I cut off their way into our world. If you can get the ship righted and back into the fight, it will make a difference.¡± Mira looked at the ships¡¯ consoles and shook her head before giving Duke a pointed stare. Duke winced, ¡°Oh, right. Fixing the ship is kinda my thing.¡± He pushed his Mana out into a RESTORE and the ships¡¯ consoles repaired themselves. He nodded back to Mira, ¡°I¡¯ve got to get back out there. Do what you can.¡± Duke TELEPORTED back outside the ship and targeted a group of Hounds for TELEPORTATION to the dungeon. The Hounds resisted, but when Duke poured more Mana into the Ability, were sent away. As he looked for another good set of targets, he saw explosions of magic spreading across the staging area. As each explosion dissipated, the Hounds that were caught in the explosion staggered around in a daze. The remaining defenders attacked the stricken Hounds without hesitation, desperation radiating from their attacks. Even though the attacks were driven by desperation, they were effective. More and more Hounds started to fall. Duke added his firepower to the final push, raining SOULFIRE down on Hounds as he strafed them. It took hours more, but the final push ended as the last Hound fell. Defenders looked around themselves in disbelief as they suddenly had no more foes left. None dared to let their guard down until Thelanos burst through the Portal, winging across the field before roaring in triumph. The sound shook the area, lifting the exhaustion from all who had survived. A notification immediately appeared in everyone¡¯s vision: *** Let it be known that the threat of the Exospace Hounds has been contained and eliminated. You stood against a foe that threatened the entire world of Teldin and have emerged triumphant! Though victory has been achieved, the cost has been high. Six million, four hundred twenty-six thousand, five hundred twelve residents of Teldin gave their lives in this effort. Those that survive shall forever bear the Mark of this defense with all the benefits that come with it. You all stand united today ¨C do not return to the fractious ways of your past. Teldin must stand unified! *** Duke felt a burning pain erupt on his chest and he tore his shirt open to see what was happening. Before his eyes, the most photo-realistic tattoo he had ever seen formed, covering his entire left pectoral. The tattoo was on Teldin itself as seen from space. It was beautiful and as he watched, he could see the planet slowly rotating. Finally, a golden filigreed border wrapped around the planet and he received another notification: *** You have gained the Mark of Teldin. This Mark identifies you as a true defender of planet Teldin. You gain the following from your Mark. For being responsible for more than 50% of the invaders¡¯ deaths, your Mark has been upgraded. All affects of your Mark remain in effect regardless of where you are and where you earn your experience and levels. In addition, you are granted the Title Champion of Teldin. As the Champion of Teldin, you gain the Ability to summon Teldin¡¯s Guardian Spirit, Thelanos to you. Thelanos will fight for you for up to one hour per day. You also gain the favor of all the gods of Teldin. No god of Teldin will act against you as long as you hold this Title. *** Duke gaped at the rewards. This battle cost so much. I have no idea who, if anyone survived from the Legions. Aurelia is likely dead amongst the more than six million casualties. It¡¯s going to take a long time to recover from this. I gained much personally, but at such a cost ¨C it is most definitely not worth it. Duke¡¯s thoughts were interrupted as another notification appeared. *** The battle is complete. You have been given credit for killing 328,500 Hounds directly and indirectly. You gain 89,941,228 experience which becomes 98,935,350 with your 10% experience bonus. You are now Tier 8, Level 1. You have 13,043 Characteristic Points to spend. You have two Tier Advancement Benefits to choose. Your options include:
  1. Create a new Ability appropriate for your Tier
  2. Advance an existing Ability by one rank (Maximum of Adept)
  3. Advance an existing Skill by one rank (Maximum of Adept)
  4. Gain 150 bonus Characteristic Points
  5. Gain one powerful item appropriate to your Tier
*** Duke contemplated his choices as he scanned the milling people and creatures below him for familiar faces. He spotted some but not nearly enough. It was difficult to scan through the tens of thousands of survivors in the staging area and he would have to hop over the mountains to even see the true battleground. There¡¯s too much to do and I know my time is short. How short is still a mystery but it can¡¯t be more than a few days. Legion first, I guess. Book 3, Chapter 70 Arriving back at the battlefield, Duke could see the backside of his massive Portal spanning the center of the area like a colossal manhole cover. He could see numerous disparate reactions from the remaining troops below. Some were simply standing of sitting numb from the trauma while others were busy organizing themselves and some were out-and-out celebrating. He was able to spot the Legion clearly among those in the organizing groups. They were gathering over the center of the portal. It was the exact center of the area and perhaps they felt it was the easiest to reach form all directions. In the center of them all, Duke spotted a golden arm sticking up above the others. He flew down to investigate. To his delight and disbelief, Aurelia sat astride her warhorse in the center of the gathering Legion. He landed next to her in a spot the Legionnaires had cleared for him and saw firsthand the cost of the struggle. There were less than one hundred Legionnaires standing around them, all battered and torn. Aurelia¡¯s armor was in bad shape, the left arm and leg of her armor barely hanging on by shreds of leather. The rest of the Legionnaires sported similarly tattered armor. All looked exhausted but thankful to still be alive. ¡°You look like you fared well, Duke.¡± ¡°Magical healing is a wonderous thing,¡± Duke responded as he activated as widespread a CLEANSE and RESTORE as he could manage. With his new Mana pool from his Tiering up, the area was tremendous, covering the entire battlefield. The simple feel of being clean and wearing newly restored armor sent a wave of relief through the area. Buckles that had broken, straps that had stretched, armor that had dented into uncomfortable positions all moved back to where they should be. That simple act elevated the mood of the survivors more than the notification had. ¡°Thank you, Duke. That feels a whole lot better.¡± Aurelia looked around herself, counting the remaining Legionnaires. ¡°Is this all that survived? Ranlin, are there any others?¡± ¡°No, General. Ninety-four of us remain. The Legion has been broken.¡± ¡°We will rebuild then. Everyone here is an elite warrior in their own right and fit for leading a Legion of their own.¡± Duke smiled at the looks of determination surrounding him. He nodded to Aurelia, ¡°General, would you care to take your Legion home now?¡± ¡°I would very much like to bring the Legion home.¡± Duke opened a Portal back to Cloudspire for the Legion to return home. They marched through with their heads held high, but Duke could see the haunted look of soldiers that had survived a traumatic battle having lost friends. I will have to keep an eye on them. This could break them in ways that nobody could predict. I¡¯ve seen it before when Coltrane was the only one to come back from his entire wing. If I wasn¡¯t there to take him on as my wingman, I don¡¯t think he¡¯d have made it. When they finished moving through the Portal, Duke closed it. He was greeted by a growing group of survivors wanting to go home. Even the groups that had been separated and were milling around aimlessly in shock seemed to gather together into their individual nations seeking a way home. Duke directed them all back through the open Portal to the staging area where he re-established the myriads of Portals back to their home nations. Duke was pleasantly surprised to discover that opening and maintaining this many Portals no longer strained him. While waiting for everyone to leave, he pulled up his Ability notifications into a single consolidated list of upgrades. *** Your Abilities have seen significant, and even unique use. There are gains and a caution: Do not abuse the privileges of your Class further. This was a singular circumstance but there are rules on DUNGEON CORE CREATION for good reason. Your TELEPORTATION Ability has increased to Grandmaster 143 Your REGENERATION Ability has increased to Master 29 Your DUNGEON MANIPULATION Ability has increased to Adept 16 Your LIGHTNING Ability has increased to Adept 34 Your OVERCHANNEL Ability has increased to Adept 146 Your MENTAL FORTITUDE Ability has increased to Adept 82 Your FORCE Ability has increased to Practiced 7 A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Your FLAME Ability has increased to Initiate 6 Your POISON Ability has increased to Initiate 21 Your ACID Ability has increased to Initiate 9 Your Wind Ability has increased to Novice 15 Your ICE Ability has increased to Initiate 36 Your EARTH Ability has increased to Initiate 18 Your LIGHT Ability has increased to Initiate 37 Your UMBRAL REAPER Ability has increased to Adept 110 Your SPELL RESISTANCE Ability has increased to Initiate 47 Your SIMULCASTING Ability has increased to Practiced 37 Your CLEANSE Ability has increased to Practiced 62 Your RESTORE Ability has increased to Master 102 Your REMOTE CASTING Ability has increased to Initiate 21 Your INVENTORY Ability has ranked up to Adept 3 Your ARMOR SKIN Ability has increased to Adept 109 Your FLIGHT Ability has increased to Adept 12 Your COMBAT SENSE Ability has increased to Master 67 Your AURA of PROSPERITY Ability has ranked up to Practiced 4 Your SOULFIRE Ability has ranked up to Practiced 7 Your DUNGEON CORE CREATION Ability has increased to Adept 137 Your DUNGEON MONSTER CREATION Ability has increased to Novice 17 *** Duke pondered the message and his Ability gains as the staging area cleared out, survivors heading home. What is that about rules for DUNGEON CORE CREATION? The Overmind didn¡¯t tell me anything about them and there is nothing in the Ability description that speaks to rules. The only thing close is ¡°With a high enough rank in this Ability, you will be able to define parameters of these dungeons such as style and monster type.¡± That doesn¡¯t say anything about restrictions. I guess it¡¯s trial and error for now unless I can ask the Overmind about it. When the vast majority of survivors had departed, a small group remained, gathered as if waiting for Duke. He floated down to them, seeing a few familiar faces including Amara Laya and Thelanos back in his kobold form. ¡°You are the instrument of Teldin¡¯s salvation. I thank you deeply for this, Champion.¡± Thelanos¡¯ world held a level of reverence that Duke did not understand. He had been fighting for his own survival as much as the rest of the world. Other voices joined in his praise as well and Duke responded with as much humility as he could manage, deflecting their praise as he framed the positive against the vast loss of life. It was Amara Laya that changed the tone for him. ¡°Duke, humility is a fine trait for a king, but all know you have been named the Champion of Teldin, and this is not only an appropriate title, it is who you are. It was you who brought us all together with your Portals and it was you who was able to discover and exploit the Hounds¡¯ weakness. Do not think for a minute that this will be forgotten anytime soon by anyone that was here. We all answered the call to defend Teldin ¨C you are the one who made it possible.¡± As others¡¯ voices joined her sentiment, Duke started to realize just how much he had stepped into the planetary limelight. True, this world was minimally developed and did not have communication or transportation infrastructure to cover the planet like others might, but the system had made it clear that he was known to everyone now. There was no hiding his role in all this and his kingdom was in for some more rapid changes. Without warning, the small crowd of leaders was pushed aside as a new figure walked into their midst. This one was fully four meters tall and dressed in white robes with golden trim. His long hair was a mix of white and blonde that moved as if constantly blown by a breeze despite the still air. Even his beard carried the same wispy texture and coloring. It was his eyes, however, that were the most striking physical feature. Beyond the physical, he held a presence that was overwhelming. Each of the leaders unconsciously stepped several steps backwards and dropped to their knees, even Thelanos. Duke stood looking up at this presence, feeling the enormous psychic pressure but he refused to kneel. As the figure slowly approached, Duke felt his knee start to bed, his Psyche overwhelmed. Not going to kneel before whoever the fuck you are. Not now, not ever! Duke poured more than six thousand of his unspent Characteristic Points to bring his base Psyche up to Ten thousand which brought the modified score over one hundred thousand. The weight and force of the presence washed over him but had no further effect. Duke straightened his legs and stood tall. A smile spread across the features of the approaching figure, and he spoke. His voice rumbled with absolute authority, shaking the ground around him with its resonance, ¡°This is the strength of will I expect from my Champion. I am well pleased. My children, reveal yourselves.¡± With a rippling of air, nine figures revealed themselves, adding their own auras to the aura of the old giant of a man. Duke immediately recognized Ghastul, Gaiathia, and Orgath and realized that he was now standing before the entire pantheon of Teldin. ¡°I see recognition in your eyes now, young one. Yes, I am Aehocho and these are my children. A number of whom you are already acquainted with. We have all come to personally thank you for saving our world. Though we were unable to act, we were here, watching closely. We saw everything that was done, everything that was said. We saw you send your own troops into the fight without pause or consideration. That was a decisive move and if you had not, the others would not have joined the fight. The druids were the only line of defense before then and they were losing quickly. I saw when you-¡° Aehocho was interrupted as a glowing core formed out of the air before him. ¡°Get on with it. Give the boy his gifts and move on. It¡¯s time for me to take him away from here.¡± This was the first time Duke was in the Overmind¡¯s full presence. He was certain that if he had not poured so many points into his Psyche he would have been crushed to the ground. As it was, he was pushing himself to stay upright. The gods all looked frozen in place with strain on their faces. Duke wondered if the Overmind¡¯s aura was affecting them as badly as their affected most mortals. With a bob of the core, the Overmind¡¯s presence lessened, relieving the pressure. The core then floated to take station over Duke¡¯s right shoulder. The movement spurred the gods into motion. Book 3, Chapter 71 Each god came forward and spoke to Duke in turn, offering gifts and boons. The first was Vithshrek. He bowed to Duke and held out an ornate sword hilt-first to him. Duke looked at the sword with disdain, ¡°You know I can¡¯t use that.¡± ¡°That is my boon to you. For showing such honor and willingness to fight for our world, your curse has been lifted. Take the sword and use it with my blessing.¡± Duke took the sword¡¯s hilt in his hand and IDENTIFIED the blade. *** You have found Ascendril. This is the divine blade forged for Vithshrek, the Teldin god of swords. It is a blade forged from divine iron refined from the god¡¯s own blood. It is a blade of power and authority. The wielder of this blade can never be disarmed and strikes twice as hard as their skill and strength should allow. The blade is eternally sharp and nigh unbreakable. *** As he read the information about the blade, he felt something wash over him followed by another prompt. *** You have been granted a new Skill, Swordsmanship. This Skill is granted at the Master rank. *** Vithshrek stepped back as Duke thanked him, allowing Ghastul to step forward. As he spoke, he produced a ring which he handed to Duke, ¡°We have stood in opposition much like Vithshrek, but I have seen the greatness within you and must acknowledge it. I would see your path continue beyond this world. This token will help you in your journey.¡± Again, Duke thanked the god and IDENTIFIED the item. *** You have found a Ring of Fate¡¯s Avoidance. This ring will negate one fatal blow. It is effective against any attack under the level of a divine immortal. *** The next god to step forward was the one shrouded in darkness. They approached Duke silently gliding along the ground despite their steps stirring the dust. They extended a gloved hand holding a pair of boots. They did not say anything, but their masked nod spoke of solemnity and respect. Duke thanked them and IDENTIFIED the boots. *** You have found Midnight Boots. These boots are enchanted to greatly dampen the sound your footfalls make, granting an effective two-rank increase in your Stealth Skill. They also can exude shadows to cloak you for up to one hour per day, providing another rank increase in stealth. *** The next god to come forward was dressed in ornately embroidered robes and coats with chains of gold beset with jewels and gems. He had multiple rings on each finger as well as earrings studded with jewels. He smiled at Duke, ¡°If you have not already guessed, I am Emrae. My domain include merchants and wealth ¨C something you should be well familiar with I would say. My gift to you is simple but powerful. Your Aura of Prosperity can now travel with you, but also still be centered on your own kingdom.¡± ¡°That is truly a grand gift. You have the thanks of my people.¡± The god smiled at Duke again before continuing, ¡°The prosperity your kingdom will bring to Teldin will be needed to rebuild this world and prepare it for joining the greater cosmos.¡± Before Duke could respond, Gaiathia stepped forward smiling warmly, ¡°You have already held my favor and yet you hold it again. I would ask you to restore this area but we have agreed that doing so would not be appropriate. This scar on the world is to remain as a memorial to what happened here. My gift to you is to push your natural elements further, increasing them by one rank, save LIGHTNING as I am sure Ogath has something to say about that. She stepped back as Duke offered his thanks. Orgath stepped forward and clasped Duke by the forearm, ¡°Of all the mortals I have dealt with, you are my favorite. You are a walking storm even when you are not in conflict, and this draws me close to you like a brother. My gift to you is this.¡± He reached behind his back and produced a crackling object. It resembled a doll formed of blue LIGHTNING that fit in the palm of the god¡¯s hand. He continued, ¡°Her name is Nystriel, and she will be a faithful companion that you can take with you on your travels.¡± Nystriel launched out of the god¡¯s hand and took up a perch on the opposite shoulder from the Overmind. She crackled into Duke¡¯s ear, and he understood both that she was definitely a she and that she was happy to join him. Next was Malkiavick who Duke could tell was the god of war and conflict from the scarred armor he wore. The clanking of armor plates as he approached was rhythmic and served to bolster Duke¡¯s mood even more. The grin on the god¡¯s face was wide and hungry. ¡°Duke, my boy. You really did it this time, didn¡¯t you? Killing extra-dimensional beings by the hundreds of thousands in your own personal war with the Syndicate. You have propelled this little planet of ours from the fringes of the Cosmos to the center of a growing conflict. You spent most of your kingdom¡¯s forces in this fight. It will take time to rebuild them, but do so you must. To aid you in this, I am sending my own heroes and followers to join your forces. They will be loyal to you even as they worship me. Beyond that, your forces will grow stronger faster. My final boon is to grant all your kingdom¡¯s forces 25% faster skill progression for any war or combat Skill.¡± This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°What do you mean about the Syndicate? They fled the system before making it to Teldin.¡± ¡°Oh, foolish boy, how do you think the Hounds found our world through the dimensional seal? It was the Syndicate that led them here and weakened the barrier between dimensions.¡± Duke stared ahead dumbfounded as the god stepped back to be replaced by the final god. She approached Duke quietly, her face hidden in her many layers of diaphanous, sky-blue robes. She stepped close and placed a single finger on his head. Her voice filled his mind, ¡°Duke, no one, not even your patron, can hear what I have to say. This is perhaps my last TRUE DIVINATION, but it is important for you to hear it and never share it. My Divination is this: Should you survive this Contest, you will be strong enough to return to Earth. Things there are not what they seem. Beware of the false gods and demons that hold your home without sustenance.¡± She stepped back motioning Duke to silence, ¡°That was for you and you alone. Do not share it with anyone.¡± ¡°I will hold it to myself. Thank you for your insight.¡± ¡°One final boon before we take our leave, ¡°Aechocho announced. ¡°I will permit the creatures of your dungeons to roam Teldin. They will no longer be drained of their Mana. Do not abuse this gift or it will be revoked. Farewell and good luck, Duke. Teldin needs its Champion to return even stronger for the fights that are to come.¡± With that declaration, the gods faded from sight, returning to wherever they stayed. Now that their presence had faded and the Overmind had reigned his in, the leaders who had previously collapsed under the psychic weight slowly began to revive and rise to their feet. They looked around themselves in disbelief at what they had just experienced. The Overmind spoke to Duke before any could approach, ¡°The time has come. It is good that you have gotten even stronger but to delay any longer leave you with too large a gap to span. Take the next hour to get your affairs in order and then we leave.¡± The Overmind vanished leaving Duke to deal with the leaders approaching him. ¡°Greetings Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Oh, none of that bullshit. We all shed the blood of our charges as well as our own in this fight. I¡¯m not in the mood for any formal shit. Are you really?¡± ¡°Well, no, but some people are stuck on it.¡± This speaker was a man wearing dented and tarnished plate armor. There was the hint of feathers in the crest of his helm that he had opened. Duke glanced around the group, seeing that most were in a similar state. He was about to activate his CLEANSE and RESTORE combination on the group when he noticed one short and rotund individual who seemed to be completely unsoiled and practically glowed with how clean his opulent outfit was. Duke looked pointedly at the man, ¡°Everyone else here is a tattered mess, but you stand there looking like you are ready to hold court. Why is that?¡± All eyes turned to the man who shrugged with a shy smile, ¡°It¡¯s not my fault that no one else thought to incorporate cleaning and repairing magic into their clothes. Really, it should be standard for any leader. Do you have any idea how much it¡¯s going to take to fix all this armor? You all need to do better.¡± Duke couldn¡¯t help but laugh as he activated his Abilities over the group. His grin at the short man was full of mirth, ¡°About that much. Why waste the enchantments when I can fix it all with a flex of my will?¡± ¡°Speak for yourself but I will gladly accept this magical fix of yours. But the most important thing is where we go from here. A number of leaders left with their remaining troops but there are enough here to discuss things.¡± ¡°What is there to discuss?¡± Duke interrupted. ¡°If we all don¡¯t get our act together, we¡¯ll lose the planet. You were all laid out when the gods came to chat but the gist of it is that this was only the first battle. War is coming to Teldin and we, as a society, are not ready for it. We all need to set aside any petty squabbles we may have and prepare. I will open Stormstride to trade with all of you through the Portals I will restore shortly. We must rebuild our forces, create arms unlike any our troops have ever used before and be ready to face what is coming.¡± ¡°OK, Mr. Know-it-all, what is coming?¡± The one who spoke was a tall, pale-skinned man who reeked of wealth and privilege. ¡°War amongst the stars. That is what is coming. Prepare yourselves as best you can. I¡¯ll leave the best instructions and tools I can with my people before I leave.¡± ¡°Before you leave? Where are you going?¡± ¡°To fight the next battle. Heed the warning of the gods ¨C war is coming and you need to prepare. If you cannot do it yourself, find someone amongst your people who can do it and give them the authority to do so. We lost so many people in this fight already. If we are not better prepared, the next fight here will be the end of everything.¡± Duke let his warning sink in for a moment before he TELEPORTED back to Cloudspire to get things rolling for his own kingdom. The next hour was spent in a whirlwind of brief conversations as he set countless things in motion, hoping it would be enough. In the end, he doubted it would be, but he had no more time to prepare. The Overmind found him speaking with Sam about what he needed from the dungeon. ¡°You are pushing things again, Duke. My dungeons were never meant for what you are asking.¡± ¡°Well, then it¡¯s time to grow up and show the Cosmos just how dangerous it is to attack a world anchored by a dungeon.¡± The Overmind rotated his core back and forth as if shaking his had slowly, ¡°You are not the first to think this way. The last one died a particularly brutal death.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do better this time then.¡± ¡°Perhaps, perhaps. That is something to worry about later though. Spend the last of your points and we will leave.¡± Duke spent his Characteristic points, gritting his teeth as his body reacted to such monumental changes. He nodded to the Overmind to indicate he was finished. Sam stepped forward and gave Duke a quick hug, ¡°Good luck. Make it back to me ¨C I¡¯m not sure I can manage everything you have asked without your help.¡± ¡°Do your best. I-¡° With a flash of energy, Duke was gone, headed for the Contest. END OF BOOK 3 Book 4, Chapter 1 Duke was confused. He had travelled tremendous distances with his own TELEPORTATION Ability as well as a trip or two through Exospace on a ship. Transportation with the Overmind was something different altogether. It was not instantaneous like his own Ability, nor did it have the feel of travelling through another dimension. Instead, it felt like travelling at an extreme speed through normal space but there were no visual cues to go by. It seemed that they were travelling in a lighted bubble through absolute blackness. ¡°You seem disturbed by this method of travel, Duke.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t see anything outside of our bubble.¡± ¡°That happens when you exceed the speed of light. We may get an occasional flash if we hit a photon or some other stray particle just right, but other than that, it¡¯s all darkness out there.¡± ¡°How long will it take us to get there?¡± ¡°Eager, are we?¡± ¡°More curious and concerned about what I left behind.¡± ¡°It will take us a few relative hours to get there. I could have taken us directly there but this gives us a bit more time to talk about things before I unleash you on the Contest World.¡± ¡°Can you finally tell me more about this Contest?¡± ¡°Indeed, yes. First of all, the Contest takes place on a world created solely for this purpose. It is what you would have referred to as a ¡®Super Earth¡¯ back in the day. It is roughly fifteen times the size of your original planet. Do you know what that means?¡± ¡°For one, I¡¯m going to guess a greater gravitational pull.¡± ¡°Excellent start. Gravity scales in this case, which would make it about fifteen times stronger at the surface. You are far too strong for that to make a difference physically, but projectiles and the like will be affected. Objects falling will take more damage than usual. But the most interesting thing is that the structure and composition of the planet is about five times more dense than your Earth. That increases the gravitational pull to about seventy-five times more than you are used to feeling.¡± ¡°That¡¯s going to take some getting used to.¡± ¡°Yet another reason for us to take some time getting there. I have been slowly increasing the gravity in our travelling core. It¡¯s now up to five times your normal. I bet you didn¡¯t even notice.¡± ¡°Nope. Not at all.¡± ¡°Good. Now on to matter back on Teldin. I know you are concerned with leaving your friends, your kingdom, and indeed, the whole planet in the care of others. But you know that you have some highly competent people running things in your kingdom for now. Your Aura of Prosperity now covers the entire planet with your massive Psyche boost. That will create some new problems but in the long-term it is going to make Teldin an amazing planet for trade in the Cosmos. The biggest problem will be when others wish to take advantage of the bonus and set up manufacturing on the planet. That is likely decades away but something they will have to be ready for.¡± ¡°And what if I¡¯m not there?¡± ¡°I honestly don¡¯t expect you will be. Once you get through the Contest, your priorities will likely have changed. Do you plan on winning the whole thing?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that the point? You don¡¯t enter shooting for last place, right?¡± ¡°No, but a finish in the top 100 would be a spectacular showing. Especially with you getting such a late start.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve only missed a few weeks.¡± ¡°Not talking about the Contest itself. You are at least a decade behind the favorites in terms of growth and development. You have grown at an obscene rate but there is an inherent advantage in growing at a steady rate.¡± ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t know my own strength in a lot of areas at this point. I haven¡¯t really even gotten a handle on my TELEPORTATION, and I use that all the time. I¡¯m not sure what my limit is anymore.¡± ¡°That one¡¯s easier to quantify. Your range is now roughly 100,000 light years. That¡¯s about enough to take you from one side of your original galaxy to the other. There are some lesser Entities that can¡¯t move that distance with their Abilities. You will have no difficulty moving about the Contest planet in that regard. The real problem lies in the quality of the enemies you have faced up to this point. How many times have you really had to push yourself to the limit?¡¯ ¡°A few.¡± ¡°Exactly. That is your only true weakness. It would have been far better to find your limits before coming to the Contest, but that was never really on the table for you. You also have two Tier awards to select before we get there. May I make a suggestion for at least one?¡± ¡°Of course. What would you suggest?¡± ¡°I suggest you upgrade DUNGEON MANIPULATION to DUNGEON ENGINEERING. You have not used your Dungeon Abilities anywhere near as well as you would have had you had time to practice with them. You will need to use them on this new world. This will give you the boost you need to rapidly change a dungeon to suit your needs.¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°What about DUNGEON AURA? I thought that might be useful as well.¡± ¡°Combining the two could make you nearly unstoppable but will also make you a nearly uncontrollable threat to everyone around you until you get a true handle on the Ability. You will spontaneously spawn dungeon monsters, traps, and environmental effects if you don¡¯t have enough control over it. It would make going home nearly impossible for some time. I¡¯m not saying that it isn¡¯t thoroughly useful and would greatly increase your odds of survival in the Contest, but there is a price to pay for it and I don¡¯t think you are willing to pay that price.¡± Duke considered the Overmind¡¯s advice, contemplating on how he could use the Ability and about the warnings around the other Ability. I have more willpower than ever now. By a lot. Surely I could control the aura. Yeah, what¡¯s the worst that could happen? Oh, right, spontaneous creation of a monster horde right in the middle of my friends. Might want to think about that one for a while. Duke made a decision and accepted the upgrade in his Ability to DUNGEON ENGINEERING. The description had changed a bit since he last looked at it: *** You have evolved your Ability DUNGEON MANIPULATION to DUNGEON ENGINEERING. This change allows you to rapidly make dramatic changes in a dungeon¡¯s design and layout. A dungeon¡¯s entire theme, cast, and layout can be changed in a matter of seconds. It also significantly increases the value of items that can be removed from dungeons. Because your Ability is at the Adept rank, its effects have been enhanced, allowing you to change Dungeon parameters rapidly and potentially even with other auras affecting the area. This means that if you are able to overcome an individual¡¯s resistances, you can change a dungeon environment around them. The value of items you may remove from a dungeon has been increased to ten million gold per rank plus your Ability level. *** Duke stared at the notification for a minute, taking in all the changes and thinking on how ridiculously powerful it would be in the right circumstances. He looked up to the Overmind but saw no reaction from the floating core. ¡°This Ability is hellishly powerful. You knew that, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Of course I knew that. I designed the Class and its Abilities myself. But keep in mind that most every other Entity participating has done the same for their Contestants. Your Abilities are great. Absolutely terrifying inside a dungeon. But outside, without a DUNGEON AURA? Not all that useful. That is why all your other Abilities and Skills have come into play so much. Still, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to start making some Dungeon Cores while we are travelling.¡± Duke grinned evilly and started to do just that. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be a bad thing if I made a Dungeon Core filled with weaponsmiths and armor smiths. Would it?¡± ¡°No, that sounds like a grand idea but don¡¯t limit yourself to basic weapons. Most opponents you will be facing will have top-of-the-line magitech gear. You don¡¯t have to kill everyone you encounter but bet that most of them will try to kill you. If you can form an alliance or two, it might be helpful. But remember that they could betray you at any moment.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind. Why is this so cutthroat?¡± ¡°One, the prizes are spectacular and no, I can¡¯t tell you what any of them are, just get yourself into the top 100. And two, every Contestant is sponsored by an Entity. There are precious few Entities that have reached the Pinnacle and of those beneath the Pinnacle, few have any real chance of climbing this high. This leads to jealousy and the unrelenting feeling that they need to prove themselves.¡± Duke interrupted, ¡°And since they can¡¯t get to you, taking me out is the next best thing they can do?¡± ¡°Got it in one. But don¡¯t think that the other Contestants are the only threat. There are creatures, puzzles, traps, and dungeons designed to challenge even divine immortals. Virtually everything outside of Sanctuary can kill you. You need to be careful.¡± ¡°Words of encouragement. Thanks. Now what was that about some place called Sanctuary?¡± ¡°Sanctuary is the central city on the planet. It is the only place where anyone is safe. No combat or violence can be conducted there. Anywhere else is fair game. Yes, a meter outside the city walls is fair game. So be alert when entering and leaving the city. There are merchants of all kinds set up there with restaurants, pleasure houses, and everything else you would expect. The most important thing there, at least for you, is the leaderboards. That is where you can see where you are currently placed.¡± ¡°Got it. Sanctuary is a good place to take a break but I¡¯m not going to move up any while I am there so don¡¯t stay there long.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good takeaway. Do you have any other questions?¡± ¡°Does experience and leveling work the same there?¡± ¡°For the most part, yes. You will get experience for kills, but Contestant kills give an additional boost which puts a target on all your heads. Mind you, going in as a Tier Eight gives you more of an intimidation factor than I had expected when you were Tier Six. It will make many second-guess outright attacking you.¡± ¡°So, they¡¯ll gang up on me then.¡± ¡°Likely. Any other questions? We are approaching.¡± ¡°Anything that is outlawed? Anything I can¡¯t get away with?¡± ¡°Rules are for those who aren¡¯t strong enough to impose their own will. That is the sentiment. Since Sanctuary is maintained by the Elder Entities, the rules there are inviolate. Outside the city, the rules are what you make them.¡± ¡°Good to know. I thin-¡° ¡°One more thing,¡± The Overmind interrupted. ¡°Everything that happens outside of the city is recorded and viewable by anyone in the city. It¡¯s a good way to get some information on your opposition but expect everyone to be holding their trump cards close. You would do well to do the same. I don¡¯t know of anyone else there that can TELEPORT, but they could be holding it in reserve. Be alert and be ready.¡± Duke watched as their Core slowed and objects began to resolve themselves in his vision. They approached the planet slowly and he got a good look at it. The planet was clearly not a natural space body. The grid-like demarcation of areas on the surface made it clear. Each grid square held an entirely different environment with some ridiculous borders where ice met desert and the like. He had not been nervous on the trip but as they descended through the atmosphere towards Sanctuary, Duke¡¯s stomach started to flutter. He angrily suppressed the feeling and took his most stoic pose as they landed on the landing pad. With a gentle ¡°pop,¡± the Core disappeared leaving Duke and the Overmind alone on the landing pad. The Overmind spun in his direction, imparting a few final words, ¡°Duke, this is where we separate. Remember what you have learned and get yourself on the leaderboards. We will not speak again until the Contest is complete. I wish you the best of luck.¡± With that sentiment, the Overmind zipped away at a speed Duke could not follow, leavening him alone on the pad with a small crowd of onlookers sizing him up. Book 4, Chapter 2 Duke smiled at the onlookers, noting that they seemed to be divided by race into three groups. One group was reptilian, reminding Duke of the pair of Dragonians he had left back on Teldin. The fact that he had not seen the pair involved in the fighting against the Exospace Hounds tickled the back of his mind, but he stayed focused, looking over the other two groups. The second group consisted of an insectoid race. They resembled praying mantises with their triangular heads and large multi-faceted eyes at the upper corners. The rest of their bodies were slightly more humanoid save for the extra pair of arms that sprouted from their torsos which looked far weaker than the larger limbs sprouting from their shoulders. Duke surmised the smaller arms were for more delicate work, but he was just guessing. The third group appeared human but were adorned in armor that was reminiscent of Syndicate shock troops with a close resemblance to mechs. They had their helmets open and were openly eyeing Duke. They were armed with magitech rifles of some kind whereas the other two groups were armed in a more traditional fantasy style with blades, bows, and similar items. Duke almost didn¡¯t notice the transparent gems floating in the air, circling one of the dragonians. Ignoring the other two groups, Duke walked up to the dragonians and offered them a salute as he had learned from Drakmalorie. Their surprised reaction was well-concealed but Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA still picked up on it. Much like it picked up on the subtle cues of irritation from the other two groups. He greeted the dragonians, ¡°Greatness upon your eggs. I am known as Duke. How might you be addressed?¡± The wording was specific and designed to translate perfectly into their language. From their reaction, Duke had hit the mark. The largest of the dragonians stepped up to him and swung his left arm full-speed at Duke¡¯s head, claws extended. Duke caught the arm with his own, forearms locking together. The smile that spread across the dragonian¡¯s face told Duke that he had nailed it perfectly. ¡°Your eggs must be strong, friend Duke. You must come with us and discuss how it is that you know our ways so well. I am known as Molekethesius but you can call me Mole if it pleases your tongue.¡± Duke followed Mole and his group, who surprisingly had not introduced themselves, down a few streets before they arrived at the expected bar. Duke noted that the streets were paved with something closely resembling concrete and the buildings all appeared to be made of concrete and glass. In all, it bizarrely reminded him of a city on Earth and was not what he expected in the least. As they walked, Duke fired up his DUNGEON SENSE and SENSE MAGIC to get an idea of what was really around him. What he discovered was not a great surprise but did give him a few things to think about. There was an extensive tunnel network running under the city that went several kilometers deep. He could sense creatures of numerous types within the tunnels. He could also sense that the concrete jungle around him was more than concrete and glass. Magitech was heavily incorporated, running through all the buildings¡¯ structures. He guessed it was for reinforcement, but it could have been for anything. In time, they arrived at the bar and filtered in, easily finding a table that could accommodate the dragonains¡¯ size. The interior of the bar looked exactly like what Duke had expected. It was very reminiscent of the bar where he had first met Gro¡¯nok on Turin station. There was one feature that immediately grabbed his attention though. There was a holographic display screen hovering overhead in the middle of the bar that listed the top ten rankings. He didn¡¯t recognize any of the names which was no surprise to Duke but he was determined to see his own name among them before this was all over. Top one hundred? No, top five. Top ten at a minimum. I have a lot of catching up to do. Where do I even rank on this thing? Duke¡¯s musings were interrupted as Mole spoke, ¡°So, you are interested in the rankings, are you Duke?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Not at this point. We have lost too many of our clutch to continue. We are just going to wait here in Sanctuary until it is over. We will remain in the top thousand by my estimate. That should be enough for our sponsor.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lot to unpack. Would you share more? Like how you are coming to that estimate?¡± Mole tapped on the table three time in rapid succession. This brought up a version of the rankings board that they could interact with. He quickly scrolled the listing down to the 523rd place which listed Team Shatterscale. Duke came to the sudden realization that there were three leader boards. One for individuals, one for teams, and one overall. ¡°That is our clutch, Team Shatterscale. We have over six million points and that should be enough to keep us in the top thousand.¡± Duke scrolled through the various lists, eventually finding himself listed at the bottom of the individual list in rank 22,614. Mole noticed his rank and gave Duke a quizzical look. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°I¡¯ve only just arrived and have a lot of catching up to do. Any tips you¡¯d like to share before I head out and get started?¡± ¡°You have a hard road ahead of you, friend. Where are you looking to get placed?¡± Duke considered answering honestly but decided to hold back, ¡°I¡¯m going to make it into the top thousand if I have enough time.¡± ¡°You will find that difficult without killing other Contestants. Most of the Challenges have been completed. The only ones left are the ones that even the front-runners have avoided. There are still hordes of creatures out there but, again, they are hordes of high-tier creatures which would make it impossible for an individual to take on. The one thing I will warn you about above all is to avoid the main gate. Team Darkness Prevails has control of the area outside that gate and kills anyone trying to enter or leave it.¡± ¡°I assume the other gates are similarly controlled?¡± ¡°Very much so. You can buy passage in and out of the city, but it is expensive.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to know. Thank you for sharing this information. It seems I have less time to catch up than I had anticipated and a harder road of it than I was led to believe.¡± Duke stood from the table and offered a final salute before quickly heading out of the bar. A single shout of ¡°Good luck!¡± followed him out the door. Once outside, Duke ducked down an alley to take a moment to think. He was confident that he could take on anyone with enough time to prepare and form a strategy but simply stepping outside the city walls would not give him any time to prepare. I¡¯m going to have to kill Contestants. The Overmind had told me as much but now it is crystal clear. I have to leave Sanctuary and find someone to kill. It shouldn¡¯t be too hard, right? I can just TELEPORT my way out and start hunting. If I can knock off someone in the upper ranks, that will catapult me up the ranks since I would get half their points but also might put a target on my own head. Nothing to do but to get started. Duke recalled the terrain he witnessed on his descent into the city and picked a mountainous region a significant distance from Sanctuary as his first destination. With a thought, he TELEPORTED to the tallest mountain in the range and started scanning the area with his senses. The first thing he picked up was that there were hundreds, if not thousands of creatures in the area. They ranged from rabbit-sized prey creatures to a few large bipedal creatures. He couldn¡¯t tell how powerful any of them were without getting line-of-sight to IDENTIFY them, so he decided to do just that. Making his way down from the snowy peak, he flew slowly and carefully, maintaining a level of vigilance that he was accustomed to only during combat missions. Lately, he had let his wariness fade, replaced by supreme confidence. In this setting, he had switched back to old habits that had saved him on mission after mission. The stakes were high and he didn¡¯t have enough information about what he was up against. In the struggle between urgency and caution, caution was the victor today. Duke approached one of the larger bipedal figures to see that it was a white-furred creature standing close to three meters tall. His IDENTIFY gave him a bit more detail about the creature. *** You have encountered a Yargeth. This creature is native to the icy planet Epsilot. It is known for its physical attacks including the ability to hurl boulders of ice significant distances. Tier: 4 Level: 145 Health: 891,335 Mana: 801,000 *** Duke smiled, figuring this would be an easy first kill. He bathed the creature in FLAME and watched as it thrashed about, flinging spears of ice in seemingly random directions. Once came close to him and he batted it out of the air with his forearm. Duke was surprised by the sting of the cold from the spear. It felt as cold as the vacuum of space. He immediately decided to be even more careful when fighting these things. He increased the Mana flow to his FLAME Ability and the creature quickly succumbed. Duke was bombarded with notifications. Normally, he would ignore them but this time, he decided that there might be something worth reading with the Contest. *** You have slain a Tier 4, Level 145 Yargeth. You gain 43,400 experience plus 4,340 bonus experience from your Mark of Teldin and are now level 9. You have 224 Characteristic Points to spend. You have gained 545 Contest points. Your new rank is 21,241. *** Duke smiled as seeing his rank jump so much from one kill. Time to rocket up the bottom of the ranks! Must be a bunch of Contestants who aren¡¯t doing much of anything. Maybe they are afraid to leave the city. Duke gathered the corpse up into his INVENTORY and set about to start his slaughter. Flames wreathed his fists as he flew around the mountains attacking every Yargeth he could find. When he was done with his rampage several hours later, he had killed nearly two hundred of the things. Most were in the Tier Three to Four range, but there was one Tier Five. When he was all done, he reviewed the results. Duke was now level 65 and had over 1,400 Characteristic Points to spend. He had gained 72,363 Contest points, bringing him up to 92,561 Points and breaking into the top 1,000 at number 917. He shook his head at the results. How the hell did I shoot up that far from just a few hours of work? That makes no sense. I need to check the leader boards and find out what¡¯s going on. The though was enough to bring the boards up in his interface which made him eminently happy that he didn¡¯t have to go back to town to check. He immediately saw the disparity. The individual ranked below him had a little over ten thousand points. The one above him, however, had over ten million points. That was one enormous gap. His exploration of the board was interrupted by another notification. ***Contest Messaging System Activated. You have received a direct message from Zarmouth. Congratulations on breaking into the top 1,000. Enjoy your rewards when they come. I don¡¯t know who you are, but if you start moving in on my placement, I will remove you from the board. *** Duke noted the name and saw that it was the person just above him at rank 916. I guess that is why I was able to move up this far. This asshole keeps killing anyone who get close to him. Guess it¡¯s time to make him give me five million points¡­ Book 4, Chapter 3 Duke contemplated responding to the message but ultimately decided not to engage just yet. Instead, he set about making his plans a reality. The first step was a deep DUNGEON SENSE scan of the mountain he was on. It took a bit to find what he was looking for, but he was able to find the underground network of tunnels that he guessed covered the entirety of the constructed planet. Within those tunnels, he found a cavern big enough for what he wanted. He TELEPORTED down to the cavern. Once there he cleared out the few minor creatures that had taken up residence there, earning him a whopping 47 Contest points. The clearing of distractions was more important than the points, but he would take every point he could. Finally, he took a Dungeon Core out of his bag and prepared to plant it. He had steadily poured Mana into the Core for the entire trip with the Overmind and had been able to push it all the way to his own Tier. With no ceremony but a smile, he planted the Core in the wall of the cavern. There was a brief shaking of the ground as the Core secured itself in place before it began to consume the surrounding section of wall to form its own specific entryway. The entryway expanded until a massive set of ornate stone doors had formed. They towered over Duke, reaching nearly to the ceiling of the cavern, each door ten meters wide. Duke stepped back and waited for the Dungeon to complete its formation. From the Tier and complexity of the Dungeon he had designed, Duke knew it would be a few hours before it was completely set up even at his Adept rank. He delved into his Contest menu to see if he could find anything interesting. He had already noted the small increases in his Abilities from his activities thus far but wanted to make sure he wasn¡¯t missing anything. While deep in a listing of services available in Sanctuary, he received another message. *** Contest Messaging System Activated. You have received a message from Molekethesius. Duke, you shot up the rankings so quickly! Did you kill a predatory team blocking one of the lesser gates out of the city? *** Duke responded to the message, deciding that Mole might just be a good source for information in the city. He did not fully trust the dragonian, but their entire cultural history was based on honor, so Duke expected at least some honor from the dragonian. *** Contest Messaging System Activated. You have sent a message to Molekethesius. Nothing so spectacular yet. Just managed to slip out of the city and find a good hunting ground. But the next person up on the list, someone named Zarmouth, has decided to threaten me if I get close to his point total. From the point standings, it looks like he may have followed through with that threat more than once. *** *** Contest Messaging System Activated. You have received a message from Molekethesius. What do you intend to do about him? He is known to have killed a number of Contestants. *** *** Contest Messaging System Activated. You have sent a message to Molekethesius. Make him try to kill me, of course. I could use the points. *** Duke did not receive a message right away, but he had other things to do right now anyway. The dungeon had finished forming and was ready for him. He stepped forward and entered the combination of knocks and button presses across the entire surface of the immense door. In all, it took him a full minute to enter the specific combination. When he was done, there was the sound of the whirring of gears and heavy locking bars moving before the massive doors began to open. Silently, the doors swung outward revealing their four-meter thickness. Duke knew that the very nature of the dimensional immutability of dungeon structures made the door¡¯s imposing thickness irrelevant, but he wasn¡¯t concerned with practicality here. Appearances matter both to him, and to those populating the dungeon. He waited for the doors to fully open, locking in place with an echoing ¡°thoom.¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. With a wide smile, Duke entered, mentally triggering the closing mechanism for the doors with his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability. They slowly swung shut behind him, closing with an authoritative boom followed by the whirring of gears as the locking bars completed the sealing of the doors. Before he started to explore the area, he focused on his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability and pushed on the Adept-ranked Ability hard. He focused on the time dilation properties of the dungeon. Previously, he had been able to make the training cave pass time four times faster than the larger dungeon it had resided in which was the limit of his DUNGEON MANIPULATION Ability at the time. He wanted to see just how far he could push things with his newly evolved Ability. Duke focused on the Ability, Pouring Mana into it at a prodigious rate. He quickly passed one hundred million Mana and kept pushing until he could feel the Ability reaching its limits. In the end, he had poured over two hundred fifty million Mana into the Ability and had the headache to prove it. He received a system notification on his results. *** You have accelerated the passage of time within the dungeon, ¡°The Forge,¡± by 1,074 times normal. This is far beyond any reasonable norm and may result in dungeon instability over time. The effects on individuals entering and exiting the dungeon may be significant. For pushing your Ability, DUNGEON ENGINEERING, to such an extreme, it has gained 15 levels to Adept 31. *** Duke nodded to himself at the notification with his eyes closed and hand pressed to his head. The motion created a wave of nausea as his migraine did not appreciate the motion in the least. It took longer than Duke had expected for the headache to clear, and he was able to fully stand back up and open his eyes, he noticed that his hand was covered in blood. The realization that he had caused yet another brain aneurysm washed over him as he CLEANSED the blood. REGENERATION saving my ass again after I pushed things too far¡­again. But pain is progression, right? Duke looked up to take in the full scope of the dungeon he had poured so much of himself into and found himself impressed. The dungeon primarily consisted of a two-kilometer square crafting area with space for hundreds, perhaps even thousands of separate crafting areas. There were some areas that Duke had specifically designated when he crafted the dungeon, but there were many more that were available for crafting areas that might be needed in the future. He turned towards an approaching figure whose steel-shod hoofs echoed throughout the hall. The figure stood nearly three meters tall and was built with the broad shoulders and thick arms of a smith. The minotaur grinned as he approached Duke. ¡°Greetings Emperor and welcome to the Forge. I am Sar Forglyn, and I am the master of this hall.¡± He extended his hand for Duke to shake and engulfed the man¡¯s hand in his own. Duke noted the thick calluses on the minotaur¡¯s hand and the unyielding grip that belied his strength. He could tell that the minotaur¡¯s strength was nowhere near his own, but was far beyond most he had encountered to this point. He smiled as he responded, ¡°Thank you for such a warm greeting. I am eager to see what The Forge has in store for me. Do you have enough crafters at your disposal?¡± ¡°More than enough if it is just you that we are outfitting.¡± ¡°For now, yes. There may be others in the future but that is currently a complete unknown. Just remember that nothing worth more than fifty million gold can leave this place. Will that be a problem?¡± ¡°Not exactly. If it is a limit per item, we can work around it. You may have to take some things out piece by piece and assemble it yourself afterwards.¡± ¡°I should be able to do that if it¡¯s not something that should be in one piece to start.¡± ¡°Modular design is what we will aim for when it comes to the big things. Are you ready to get started with measurements or would you like a tour of the facility first?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get the measurements done first and the tour can follow afterwards.¡± ¡°Certainly. Come with me.¡± Sar Forglyn led Duke to a room close to the entrance. The chamber was covered with runescript that Duke had to force himself not to study. Instead, he stood where the minotaur had indicated. The minotaur stepped out of the room, closing the door behind himself. Seconds later, the runescript lit up brightly and several beams of different colored light traced over Duke¡¯s body from all directions. Thirty seconds later, the door opened, and Sar Forglyn gestured for Duke to step out of the chamber. They crossed the hall, and Duke saw a perfect replica of himself standing in the next room. As he watched, Sar Forglyn was able to reposition the simulacrum in any position and it held itself in the pose. ¡°This will give us the ability to fit anything to you and test its range of motion without having to take from your time directly.¡± ¡°That is outstanding. How many simulacrums can you make?¡± ¡°We have twelve simulacrum chambers so that is our current limit. We can make more but I don¡¯t see us needing more for quite some time based on your earlier statement, Emperor.¡± ¡°That should do nicely. Now, about that tour¡­¡± Book 4, Chapter 4 The tour around The Forge took three hours as Sar Forglyn showed Duke around the numerous crafting areas including alchemy and enchanting among others and ending the tour with two very specific areas. The first was what he called ¡°The Armory.¡± ¡°This is where we will make your armor, Emperor. As we already have your measurements, what do you require of the armor?¡± Duke thought for a long moment before responding, ¡°The armor needs to be flexible enough that I have full range of motion. And that means full range of motion for me, not a ¡®standard¡¯ person. I am more flexible than most and need to be able to move to those limits. Weight is not a significant concern as I can handle a lot of extra weight. Durability is the number one thing I am thinking of. I¡¯m going up against powerhouse after powerhouse here. I need something that is going to withstand at least the first few blows without being damaged.¡± ¡°Flexible and durable. I see. Any desired enchantments?¡± ¡°Nothing specific, in fact, leaving enchantments off is probably a good idea. I don¡¯t want to absorb my armor in the middle of a fight.¡± ¡°Very well. Final question on the armor. When do you need it?¡± ¡°You have one year to perfect it.¡± ¡°A year? Surely you need it sooner.¡± ¡°No, one year is long enough to make sure you truly have perfected the armor. Now on to the last area you wanted to show me.¡± ¡°Yes, the final area,¡± Sar Forglyn spoke as he led Duke to the largest of the crafting areas. This one reached all the way to the ceiling of the area and was closed-in by its own set of floor-to-ceiling doors. The doors opened for the two of them and Duke was able to see what had been hidden. He had designed the overall structure and the absolute focus on crafting and creativity when he had pushed the dungeon core all the way up to Tier Eight, but he had not consciously designed the individual sections, allowing the Core to manifest them. The doors opened to reveal several sets of scaffolding and gantries dominating the walls of the room. Below them all were several large tables that minotaur crafters huddled over working on something that Duke could not clearly make out at this angle. He stepped in to take a closer look and found his steps quickening as he realized what the area was for. ¡°This is a mech-crafting area, isn¡¯t it?¡± Duke took a few steps through the door, gazing at the catwalks and the gantries where one day mechs would stand. ¡°Yes, Emperor. We will design and build mechs for you here. Do you have any preferences for your first prototype?¡± Duke stared at them, blinking slowly as he processed the possibilities. He had hoped to be able to do something like this in the future when he better understood runescript, but here it was right in front of him. He stumbled as he came to a stop against one of the oversized tables. ¡°Initially, I want something that is full-on intimidation. I want it to be the black of the void with crimson highlights. I want it to look like it has been bathed in blood so many times that its spikes and blades have become stained by the blood. I want to be able to channel and amplify my Abilities through it. Give it a sword that can cut through anything. How does that sound?¡± ¡°That is ambitious, but we might be able to make something like that. How large do you want it to be?¡± ¡°I want to be able to fit it easily inside my INVENTORY and it needs to be under the gold-value limit.¡± ¡°That, my Emperor, is where I feel we will have the most difficulty. The value of a mech is probably in the hundreds of millions of gold. I don¡¯t see how we could get it under fifty million.¡± ¡°Could you make it a modular design so I could take it out in pieces and reassemble it outside?¡± ¡°That would take longer to design and would likely not be as durable with the additional joins. I suppose it would be possible though.¡± ¡°Then do that. If it gets damaged enough, I should be able to repair it. Take your time with it. If you need a year to design and build it, then do it. Even if it¡¯s going to take two, make it work. In the meantime, create whatever arsenal you can plus all the items we discussed along the way. I will return in a year to check in on your progress.¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°A year, Emperor? That seems like a long time.¡± ¡°I assure you; it is not for me. Good luck with all the projects.¡± Duke took one more look around before waving and TELEPORTING out of the dungeon. He stood on top of the mountain housing The Forge and expanded his DUNGEON SENSE as far as he could looking for other Contestants that may be outside the city. It did not take long to find them. There were hundreds of individuals and nearly as many groups out and about. Duke immediately wondered if the tale about the guarded gates was just a rumor to keep Contestants from venturing out. He decided to investigate and zoomed his senses in on the area around the city. With his focus shifted, he was able to see that there were indeed several groups camped around the city. They seemed to be keeping their distance from each other and each group did seem to control a marked exit point of the city. He decided to get closer and see if he could gauge their power. The flight to the city took a few hours but Duke did not want to expose his TELEPORTATION just yet. He approached the group that had the smallest area controlled as he figured that would be the weakest group. There were only four of them in the group after all. He approached, slowing his speed down to a running pace and landed a few kilometers away. Although he was at the absolute limit on his IDENTIFY Ability¡¯s range, he figured he would get a good enough read to get a sense of their power. What he received was a surprise. *** Your Practiced-ranked Ability, IDENTIFY, was blocked by a higher-ranked Ability. The individual you targeted is aware of your attempt and subsequent failure. *** The reaction was swift. The individual that Duke had targeted signaled to the other three and all four rapidly ate up the ground as they raced towards him. He stood his ground and prepared himself for the expected fight. The four approaching figures were quadrupeds with wide bodies and powerful trunks extending from the center of their bodies. The trunks seemed to have a mottled green color while the bodies were a mixture of browns and blacks. From each of their trunks, extended four tentacles that grasped weapons of varying types. All had at least one melee weapon as well as some sort of weapon that looked to Duke like a stylized pistol. As they approached in full synchrony, they opened fire with their pistols. The beams of the weapons converged on Duke¡¯s stomach. Th beams struck with both a physical impact that nearly pushed Duke back a step but also unloaded an energy payload that struck much harder. Duke felt his skin and the muscle beneath it burn in an instant. In less than a second, the beams had bored a hole straight through him. Guess that answers the question as to whether they are attacking people on sight¡­ Duke took to the air as his REGENERATION went to work repairing the fifteen million Health the attack had cost him. He rocketed towards the group juking randomly to throw off their aim making his path erratic even though it was fast. Ascendril appeared in his right hand and he prepared to use the sword for the first time. The creatures wove around each other, presenting their melee weapons in a pattern that covered the space in front of Duke nearly completely. As he tried to work his way past their weaving defense, he was hit with three more of their energy blasts, taking noticeable chunks out of his Health. Growling, Duke struck out with a dark cloud of POISON to both obscure himself and to distract his opponents. The cloud bust out at the creatures, engulfing them nearly instantly and beginning to billow out into the surroundings. There was a momentary pause as the creatures adjusted to the situation but once they had their bearing back, they began to rapidly fire their beam weapons, burning the cloud away and filling the area with their deadly beams. Duke was struck another dozen times and his Health was dropping precipitously, crossing below half despite the continuous work of his REGENERATION. He followed the POISON up with a wave of FLAME that burned the remains of the cloud out of the air but washed over the creatures just as quickly. The FLAME was met with a glowing field of energy that emanated from another one of each of their appendages. Despite the heat, there seemed to be no effect from the FLAME other than to make them activate their shields. Deciding that this was a losing battle without committing to anything he didn¡¯t want to show yet, Duke flew back away from the creatures. Ne noted that they followed him with their beams until he passed their range which seemed to be about a kilometer. Well, that could have gone better. I have to remember that these are among the top creatures, people, whatever, that could be recruited for this thing. I need to be more careful than to just fly up and start a fight. I didn¡¯t even get a successful IDENTIFY off. At least I¡¯m mostly healed and can head back to the dungeon to start picking up gear. I do wonder if there are people trapped outside the city that might be easier prey for me? Something to consider. I have a feeling this place is going to wreak havoc with my moral compass. Duke returned to The Forge and TELEPORTED inside the dungeon having spent a good eight hours getting back to the city and then back to here. He figured the time acceleration would have covered the first year of time in The Forge. He hastened to see what was waiting for him. Yes, I know this is broken and most would consider it cheating to use such time manipulation, but why should I fucking care. The rules on this are pretty clear. There are no rules around this! He was met by a smiling Sar Forglyn, ¡°Welcome back Emperor. From the state of your clothes, it has been an eventful year for you. Come in, com in, let me show you what we have for you!¡± Duke followed the minotaur, a smile spreading across his own features as he RESTORED his outfit. Book 4, Chapter 5 The level of activity in the Forge was orders of magnitude more than when Duke was first here. He could hear the echoing of hammers striking steel, something that sounded distinctly like an impact wrench. There were flashes coming from various areas that Duke guessed were some sort of welding. But one, by one, the noises and flashed died down and minotaurs started to come streaming out of their work areas. Sar Forglyn laughed at the look on Duke¡¯s face, ¡°They all want to show you what they have created for you.¡± ¡°There¡¯s so many. What could they possibly have created?¡± ¡°Well, you did make a few requests¡­¡± A light-colored, female minotaur was the first to arrive in the large entry hall and reach Duke with her completed project. She ran at them full-force with her head down before skidding to a stop, her shod hooves throwing up sparks. ¡°Emperor! I have created the most wonderous of items for you!¡± She was out of breath, blowing heavily out of her nostrils so that they flared with each huff. Duke responded, deeply serious, ¡°What is it that you have brought me?¡± She held it out to Duke, cradled in her cupped hands. It was a golden amulet, carved with intricate runes with multiple layers of what looked like branches in a nest made of gold. He took it and before he could examine it with his Ability, she gushed out a description. ¡°It¡¯s an amulet of Space Magic! That¡¯s the most powerful magic I have ever heard of, and it will allow you to move from one end of a battlefield to the other with but a simple activation! See the intricate weaving of the runic branches? Each branch weaves into the others to contain the Space Magic for you to use. Best of all, you can recharge it with your own Mana. I present you with Aerie¡¯s Leap!¡± Duke locked his expression down as she went on about her creation. He finally responded, ¡°Being able to move about the battlefield so quickly is a tremendous advantage. Thank you for this wonderful amulet.¡± She beamed as she turned and skipped away. If you¡¯ve never seen a full-sized minotaur skipping, you really should. It was a display of power and whimsey in equal measure and brought a smile back to Duke¡¯s face. Sar Forglyn escorted Duke past the growing line of crafters towards a more specific room. As they passed looks of hope turned to disappointment. Duke decided to address that before things went further. ¡°I will meet with each of you in turn so that you may each show me your masterpieces. It seems that Sar Forglyn has decided that I need to see something else first.¡± That settled the looks of disappointment and Sar Forglyn added, ¡°Return to your areas. The Emperor will get to each of you in time. There are specifically commissioned pieces that take priority though.¡± With that, he led Duke into the Armory where a suit of something was on display upon a mannequin. Duke thought it might be the armor he had asked for, but it was difficult to make out. Every time he looked at it, his eyes were unable to focus on it clearly. It felt like he didn¡¯t want to notice it, like there was something about it that made him want to look away. His Psyche was strong enough to overcome the effect, but it was still uncomfortable to examine. One of the beefiest minotaurs Duke had ever seen approached him with a wide grin. To say that the grin did not fit the face would be a vast understatement. It was a disturbing image, but the enthusiasm came through their body language as well. ¡°Greetings, Emperor. Welcome back to the Armory. I see you have noticed the Veil of Oblivion. It is my greatest creation ¨C an alloy that captures the essence of the void and wraps the wearer in its embrace.¡± ¡°It is something to see for sure. Or, should I say, to not see from the effect it has. That is quite impressive. How durable is it?¡± ¡°I have struck it with my heaviest blows, and it has weathered them without a mark. The voidsteel alloy is nigh immutable once it has been set.¡± ¡°Then we had better hope that you have gotten the fit right.¡± ¡°Sar Forglyn chuckled momentarily before speaking, ¡°Unless your measurements have changed over the past year, the fit will be precise.¡± ¡°Then we should be good.¡± The minotaur smith placed a lens over each of his eyes and walked over to the armor, gesturing for Duke to join him as he started to remove it from the mannequin. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Please remove your outer garments. They will interfere with the fit.¡± Duke shrugged and began to strip down. In moments he was down to his boxers and socks. Realizing that he was wearing the same boxers he had arrived in this world in brought a sly smile to his face. If I didn¡¯t have the CLEANSE and RESTORE Abilities, these would have long since been left in shredded pieces. His clothes went into his INVENTORY, and he stepped over to have the armor fitted onto his frame. ¡°I am Kragh Forgehorn by the way. It is an honor to create armor for the Emperor.¡± ¡°Great to meet you. I¡¯m looking forward to seeing how well this performs in the field.¡± ¡°It will exceed your expectations. I guarantee it. I have never created a finer suit. This is the masterwork of my life.¡± ¡°Wow, you¡¯re really selling this.¡± ¡°It is the pinnacle of my craft, the best armor I have ever constructed!¡± Duke was sorely tempted to ask how many suits of armor the smith had made knowing that the smith had been newly created with the dungeon, but he held himself back. Barely. Instead, he contorted himself into the armor with the minotaur¡¯s help. What followed was twenty minutes of strap adjustments and instructions. ¡°And this is the quick release. If you pull it down and then to the left forcefully, all the straps will be released, and the armor should fall off. I can¡¯t foresee a situation where you would need to use it but I make my suits to a higher standard.¡± Duke bent his knees and elbows testing the range of motion of the armor. He flexed each finger and even his toes. The armor moved with him without resistance or obstruction. Next, Duke moved through a mock fight using his tonfa and then his sword before finishing up with simulated aerial combat. The armor¡¯s articulated joints moved with him flawlessly. The inner coating of the armor moved against his skin without a hint of binding or rubbing. He was impressed. ¡°Yep, I definitely need to field test this armor. If it¡¯s as durable as it is comfortable, you have a winner on your hands.¡± ¡°Thank you, Emperor.¡± ¡°No, thank you. This is great!¡± Sar Forglyn interrupted, ¡°Kragh, the Emperor has many other areas to visit. We need to move along.¡± He reached for Duke¡¯s arm, thought better of it, and asked, ¡°Please come with me, Emperor.¡± Duke gave a departing smile to Kragh and followed Sar Forglyn out of the area. They passed by a dozen different crafting areas before they came to the area that Duke was anticipating. As they got closer, he felt a giddy excitement well up within him. Stepping into the area brought the feeling bubbling to the surface and Duke couldn¡¯t help but smile. The smile grew wider when he saw what was waiting for him. He scanned it up and down with his eyes while a trio of minotaurs in white jumpsuits came forward with white-gloved hands extended in greeting. Duke absently shook their hands, never taking his eyes from the mech that stood before him. It was just as he had asked. It stood between five and six meters tall and presented a foreboding image. The mech¡¯s silhouette was sharp and angular, designed to evoke fear and awe on the battlefield. Its primary coloring was as requested: a deep, matte obsidian black, absorbing light and giving it a shadow-like presence. Additionally, Crimson accents traced along its edges in jagged, almost vein-like patterns, glowing faintly as though pulsing with an internal power. Duke¡¯s smile spread as he examined the mech further. The head was a streamlined, wedge-shape with a single, horizontal crimson visor that glowed menacingly, resembling a predator¡¯s unblinking gaze. Small, backward-sweeping horns protruded slightly from either side of the head, giving it a demonic, otherworldly visage. The torso was broad and thickly armored, the chest featured a coat of arms consisting of a glowing red gem in a white background surrounded by a sky-blue border which Duke recognized as his own Stormstride heraldry. The coat of arms subtly pulsated, as if alive. There was reinforced plating tapering toward the waist, with segmented armor providing both protection and mobility. The arms and legs both fit the motif and sported curved crimson blades extending from the knees and elbows. Duke immediately thought about how he could use those in close combat and his cheeks began to ache from the strain of his smile. Throughout the mech, the traces of crimson veins pulsated with light and power. Duke wanted nothing more than to pilot the thing on the battlefield. Finally, he noticed the three minotaurs waiting for him. Reluctantly, he pulled looked away from the mech and back to them. ¡°I take it you like our design choices?¡± ¡°Oh God, yes. That is fucking outstanding! Out-fucking-standing! Is it ready to pilot?¡± ¡°It is. What is your Mechpilot Skill up to?¡± Duke glanced at his sheet and saw where it was sitting. He answered, all excitement drained from his voice, ¡°Untrained 1.¡± All three minotaurs shouted at the same time, ¡°Do not get in that mech!¡± ¡°That bad?¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be able to do more than open and close the hatch on Bloodstorm. You are going to have to train up your Skill to at least Practiced before you can effectively use her.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t happen to have a mech I could practice with?¡± ¡°Oh, sure. We can fire up one for you. Come this way.¡± The lead mechbuilder, who had introduced herself as Zarna Anvilborn, took Duke to the back of their area and through an iron-shod heavy wooden door. Beyond the door there was a vast open cavern that had to be several square kilometers in size. The cavern had some sort of ambient light that was weaker than the rest of The Forge but was enough to easily see by. Arranged along the cavern wall were a dozen alcoves. Each alcove held a different style mech. Zarna led Duke to the end of the alcoves to the most basic-looking mech he had ever seen. It was made from basic cylinders. One for the head, one for the torso, two for each arm and two for each leg. The feet were basic ovular constructs and even the hands and fingers were very crude. The mech stood about four meters tall and had the name ¡°Betty¡± stenciled across its torso. "Welcome to mech training, Emperor. You''ll start with Betty. Hopefully, you will be able to progress quickly and make it up to Barney.¡± Duke groaned but resigned himself to the training. Book 4, Chapter 6 Strapping himself into Betty¡¯s cockpit, Duke let his embarrassment fade into the background. The controls to start up the mech were easy enough to find so he engaged them. Power surged through the mech and even with this rudimentary construct, Duke felt a thrill. He engaged the controls and powered forward. His first steps were unsteady but he was able to move. When he tried to do more than walk, things changed. Duke tried to run across the cavern and face-planted after only four steps. He skidded to a stop, the metal of the mech grinding against the floor. He could feel his face redden as he levered the mech back to its feet. The controls for this mech had no subtlety and only allowed for gross movements. Duke ground his teeth as he tried to force the mech to do what he wanted it to do. Over time, his frustration turned to determination. Hours of practice later he learned to work the controls well enough to move around the cavern, but not much more than that. As he clambered back to his feet in the mech after another failed parkour attempt, he took a breath and checked his notifications for any Skill progression. *** Congratulations, you have ranked your Mechpilot Skill up to Novice 2. *** He knew the early levels and ranks came quickly but realized that getting this Skill up to Adept, which is where he really wanted to get it before fighting in Bloodstorm, was going to take years. Even though this was not as daunting with the time compression of The Forge, it still troubled him that he was not progressing in the Contest. There had been no indication how long the Contest would run or even if there was some endgame he needed to prepare for. He once again calmed his breathing. Change what you can affect and deal with the things you cannot as they come. Duke re-engaged in his mech practice, pushing the limits of his Skill and the limits of the mech he was piloting. The mech was completely unarmed which removed a level of difficulty but still limited his Skill growth. After several hours, and a mere three levels of growth he parked the mech and stepped out. Zarna was waiting for him. ¡°You have progressed well, Emperor.¡± ¡°Not nearly well enough, but thank you.¡± ¡°Then, perhaps, it is time to learn a more complex mech. Let me introduce you to Barney.¡± Zarna walked Duke over to a new mech. This one was more bulky than Betty. It was still crudely constructed but despite the increased bulk, it appeared to be more maneuverable. Once Duke strapped into the mech and got it moving, he quickly noticed the increased power levels of the mech. It had more bulk than the previous one, but its articulation was stronger. It could move faster, strike with more force, and had a greater range of motion. Duke found a smile spreading across his lips as he took the mech through its paces. After an hour of getting used to the mech¡¯s capabilities which only included one significant mishap, Duke was shown to the weapons course. It was another connected cavern that had a mix of distance targets and melee dummies. Duke found that this mech¡¯s weapon systems consisted of a crude projectile launcher mounted in the right arm and a reinforced left fist. Despite the limitations, Duke attacked with zeal. The weapons practice gave Duke a burgeoning sense of a return to the past. He found his mind returning to his early days of flight training where he was piloting trainers. The parallels were just too easy to make. Time passed quickly as he dove into his own memories, his mind and body adapting to the controls and mannerisms of this mech. He emerged, exhausted to find himself all alone but also that he had increased his Skill by a full ten levels. He left the cavern, heading back to the mech lab. With a longing look at Bloodstorm, Duke headed back towards the entrance of the dungeon, being intercepted by Sar Forglyn as he neared the entrance. The minotaur¡¯s expression was unreadable, even to Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA which surprised him. ¡°You have completed your Mech training?¡± ¡°Not remotely. I am barely competent at this point. I need a lot more practice before I feel confident that I¡¯m not going to do more damage to my mech than to the enemy. Where is Zarna, by the way? She wasn¡¯t waiting for me when I finished up like last time.¡± ¡°She is sleeping. You were practicing for a full week straight. She has the endurance of a minotaur, but not even I could last that long without a rest. If someone had told me that you were able to do so, I would not have believed it.¡± ¡°No wonder I got so hungry. Good thing I can pull food right out of my INVENTORY, right?¡± ¡°As you say, Emperor. I can wake her if you would like.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think that will be necessary. I will be heading out for some time. I am, unfortunately, nowhere near ready to pilot Bloodstorm yet. Tell her to keep advancing her own skills and apply them to Bloodstorm in my absence. It may be years before I can return here. I also have to figure out what the gold-equivalent value all this is. This armor alone may push my limit.¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Duke decided it was time to find out just how expensive his new armor was. He headed out of the entrance and back into the Contest World. The message he received was rather surprising as it had nothing to do with his armor¡¯s value, at least not in any way he had expected. *** Congratulations. You have crafted a masterwork set of armor. You receive 600 Contest Points, bringing you to 73,555 total points. Your ranking has not changed. *** Duke realized that since he created the dungeon, that maybe he would receive points for everything that was created in the dungeon and brought out to the Contest World. His excitement rose until he realized that the gold value of things would still limit what he could bring out and receive credit for. It was a good thought but not enough to tip the balance in my favor. I need to go hunting instead. But probably not at the gates. They are too well organized there and might be beyond me. Shit, that feels weird to even think, but that small group of four quite nearly kicked my ass. I¡¯m sure I could have beaten them if I pulled out all the stops, but then I¡¯d have no trump cards left if anyone stronger than them came for me. Like that Zarmouth guy. I wish I had some way to gauge his strength. What I wouldn¡¯t do for a scouter right now. Duke put his thoughts aside and returned to using his DUNGEON SENSE to scan the planet for anyone off on their own that might be a good target for him. He quickly saw that there were thousands of individuals out and about. He picked one at random that was maybe 300 kilometers away from him and decided to pop over for a ¡°chat.¡± TELEPORTATION put Duke out of the individual¡¯s line of sight but close enough that he could approach on foot. He picked his way through rocky hills using the ample cover to conceal his approach. He was a kilometer away when he started to hear the sounds of combat. Expecting his target to be distracted, he increased his pace. Peering around an outcropping of cracked granite, Duke finally saw his target engaged in combat. The problem was he was not sure which combatant was the Contestant. There was what appeared to be a tremendous housecat fighting with a massive wolf. They were tumbling around, biting and clawing at each other vying for the upper hand. Duke watched in fascination. The wolf seemed to be the stronger of the two, able to push the cat¡¯s massive bulk but the cat¡¯s claws dug deeply into the wolf¡¯s fur, tearing great furrows and leaving blood trails. They rolled across the ground and Duke was able to get close enough to IDENTIFY them. *** You have encountered an Astonian Mountain Cat. This beast is a terror of its homeland, easily able to take on prey larger than itself largely due to its unimaginably sharp claws. Tier: 6 Level: 206 Health: 1,011,515 Mana: 909,000 *** *** You have encountered Baslo, a fellow Contestant. You are not eligible to receive any further information at your current rank in the standings. *** OK, so the wolf is a Contestant and the system isn¡¯t showing me shit on him. At least I assume it¡¯s a him. Could be wrong. Either way, I think the cat might win anyway. Or should I hit them both and grab credit for killing both. Yeah, let¡¯s do that. Duke went back to his old standby and struck the pair with a bolt of LIGHTNING, OVERCHANNELED by 500,000 Mana. The vast increase in cost pushed the Ability¡¯s damage output to skyrocket. With both Abilities at the Adept level the normal damage output of LIGHTNING of just over 25,000 damage was amplified by a thousandfold. The 25 million damage would have been enough to get Duke¡¯s attention even with his inflated stats. The reaction he received was not what he expected. The cat¡¯s eyes glowed blue as the LIGHTNING danced across its fur, leaving bunt and smoldering patches. The cat was stunned for a moment and that is all it took. The wolf, Baslo, lunged forward and grabbed the cat by the throat, tearing it open in a fountain of blood. The crunching of bone and cartilage was the final indicator that the cat was finished. Some thirty seconds later, it was completely dead. The wolf turned towards Duke. ¡°Now that the cat¡¯s dead, you want to tangle or talk?¡± Duke, despite everything he had been told, opted for diplomacy first. It wasn¡¯t his greatest decision. Baslo the wolf shifted into a bipedal form and charged at Duke at full speed. With all the points Duke had poured into his Agility, he was fast. He was faster now than anyone he had encountered, even the demon in the titan mech. Baslo was on him in the blink of an eye, tearing at Duke¡¯s gorget with his fangs. The new armor was amazing, not even budging under the full pressure of the creature¡¯s jaws. ¡°I¡¯ll take that as wanting to tangle. That¡¯s fine. I¡¯m good with that too.¡± Duke grabbed hold of Baslo¡¯s arms and snapped them with his raw strength as he pulled them sideways. He had hoped to dislocate both arms but the bones gave way first. Maybe I squeezed too hard. Baslo howled in pain and tried to get free of Duke¡¯s grip but Duke did not let go even as the rear claws came forward to attempt to tear Duke¡¯s guts open. Again, the armor held without a hint of giving way. Duke realized that he didn¡¯t have the leverage to pull his opponent¡¯s arms off as he had hoped ¨C the werewolf was just too much larger than him. His continued pulling and tugging did prevent the bones from knitting together as Duke could feel them trying to do. Abandoning his prior tactics, Balso lunged for Duke¡¯s unprotected face. The attack came faster than Duke could stop it and fangs bit right through his left eye, scraping along his cheekbone with white-hot pain. Duke reacted with rage, slamming his fists into the sides of Baslo¡¯s skull. Once, the werewolf¡¯s grip on his face lessened. Twice, the werewolf went slack, stunned from the blow. Thrice, Duke¡¯s fists met together in an exploding pile of gore, grey matter splattering the area. Duke threw the corpse off himself and kicked it for good measure. Instinctively, he activated CLEANSE to get the gore off himself and sat back down to think about the fight and how he really should have handled it. I really need to stop giving my opponents a chance to respond. This is not a tournament where we fight in a ring until someone is incapacitated or gives in. This is a planetary fight to the death. War footing, airman. War footing. Duke rose to his feet and paused. Did that paw just twitch? Duke watched, fascinated as the werewolf began to heal. For a total of two seconds before he used his FLAME to burn every tiny piece of the werewolf to carbon. Nobody else is allowed to REGENERATE. That¡¯s for me alone. He sat back down to watch and see if the burnt pieces changed. Book 4, Chapter 7 Duke¡¯s next notification was useful but not terribly impressive. Still, it was progress. *** You have slain the Contestant, Baslo. You gain half of his earned Contest Points. You now have 87,180 points. Well done. Continue to seek the hidden areas for bonus points! You gain 95,625 (105,188 with Title) experience for your kill. You are now level 67 and have 1,512 unspent Characteristic Points*** I only got thirteen thousand points for killing that dude? He must not have done much. Maybe he has been hiding out here unable to get back into the city. That would explain the low points. I¡¯m going to have to check the boards to see how things are changing. I¡¯m not going to make it to ten million points anytime soon at this rate. One thing is clear though, I have to spend my Characteristic Points ¨C I¡¯m not as fast as I thought. Duke dropped one thousand points into his Agility, bringing it up to a base of 6,000. He then dropped 500 points into his Intuition, bringing its base up to 4,000. Finally, the last twelve points dropped into Psyche. A thought occurred to Duke and he closely examined his new armor to see if the werewolf had damaged it in any way. What he found brought a broad smile to his face. There were no marks, not even a scratch. ¡°Doesn¡¯t even need a RESTORE. This is amazing!¡± With a thought, Duke was back in the city to check on the leaderboard. He appeared in one of the dark alleys he had spotted his first time in the city and hoped his Stealth Skill would be enough to conceal his appearance. No one was in the alley that he could see so he hoped that would be a good indication that he was able to come in unnoticed. It did not take long to find the leaderboards since they were posted all over the city. He found one that no one was using and scrolled through it to see that not only had his ranking not changed, he had fallen even further behind. Zarmouth was now over 11 million points and he hadn¡¯t even broken one hundred thousand. His sense of urgency flared again, causing him to use his DUNGEON SENSE to scan for outliers again. As before, he sensed thousands of Contestants and tens of millions of creatures around the planet. It was, for the most part, entirely too much information to process quickly. He was trying to figure out how to filter through it all when a voice spoke up behind him. ¡°Top thousand. Not bad.¡± Duke turned around to see a figure wearing a cloak. Its hood was down so he could see the figure¡¯s face. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before. The creature¡¯s head appeared to be an oversized blue human skull. Upon closer inspection, Duke could see that there was skin covering the skull, but he was largely distracted by the glowing orbits where the eye sockets were. They glowed with a deep purple flame that was nearly black. Around the creature¡¯s neck was a heavy gold chain that supported an amulet the size of Duke¡¯s hand that was a maze of unknowable carvings in the shape of a cross. ¡°I see my appearance has startled you. We are few and most humanoids have a similar reaction when they see us for the first time. I am Zeblow and you are Duke, no?¡± ¡°I am.¡± Duke¡¯s caution filtered through his voice. ¡°What is it I can do for you?¡± Zeblow looked around them but shook his head, ¡°Not here. Someplace where we will not be overheard. There are too many ears listening around here.¡± Duke considered not following the Skull as he departed, but he had two things that pushed him into following. One, he was operating off very limited information about the planet, the Contest, and his competition. Two, he had gotten the sense from the Overmind that no one could violate the non-violence of the city. Before long, they arrived at what appeared to be a private residence, a rickety two-story wooden building that would have fit in any fantasy slum. Zeblow opened the door that consisted of several thin but wide planks of wood that were barely fit together, leaving gaps in their warped structure. The door creaked loudly as it opened, its leather ¡°hinges¡± protesting at the motion. As he stepped inside the dark room, he gestured with a single skeletal blue finger for Duke to follow. This isn¡¯t going to end well, is it? I could just leave. Or I could trust in my Abilities to get me out if necessary. Don¡¯t be a wuss. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Duke followed after convincing himself and stepped through the doorway. Immediately, he was in a dimly lit stone passageway. Duke looked back to see that the doorway he had just stepped though was an arched stone opening with a thumbnail sized green gem glowing from the peak of the arch. He turned back to the Skull, tensing his muscles for action. ¡°Be calm and at peace, Duke. We are still within the confines of the city and neither of us could hurt the other even if we desired to do so. The entrance we came through was just an illusion to keep prying eyes from coming to my residence. Follow me and we will be there shortly.¡± They traveled down the passage and through another stone archway. This one was lighted by a red stone instead. When Duke entered, Zeblow closed a stone door behind him. Moments later, the door merged with the archway, making it become a solid part of the wall. The room itself was still stone, but it was smooth as if the entire room was carved out of the underlying rock. A pair of overstuffed chairs dominated the space before a crackling fireplace with a small table between them. ¡°Come, join me. Would you like something to drink?¡± ¡°No, but I would really like to know what it is you want to talk about? Duke took one of the seats and Zeblow immediately floated over to settle in the other, his flowing cloak hiding his body, including his feet. ¡°Yes, I suppose you would. I have a problem, and I think you may be able to help me with it and, in turn, I think I can help you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°You have only just arrived on this world. Your arrival was announced, and I expect you are likely the last Contestant to arrive which makes you interesting to everyone. The question on everyone¡¯s minds is this: Is your patron playing games, or are they confident in your ability to catch up? Since you have already broken the top thousand, I think it is more the latter although there may be something to the former.¡± ¡°Last to arrive, huh? Well, that¡¯s something. And, yes, I really do have a lot of catching up to do.¡± ¡°Do you plan to make it to the top?¡± ¡°I will make it as high up as I can. If I can make it to the top, then I will make it to the top.¡± Zeblow pondered that statement briefly before continuing, ¡°The last five thousand or so to arrive have not been able to leave the city and have had to rely on crafting and similar things to gain points. It is slow-going and will not get any of them into the upper ranks. The true points lie outside the city. But, as I am sure you have discovered, the strongest gangs lurk just outside the gates waiting to prey on anyone foolish enough to step outside.¡± ¡°Yes, I did notice that.¡± ¡°But you found a way past them, didn¡¯t you? There¡¯s no way you could have accumulated so many points in such a short time otherwise.¡± ¡°I may have a way to get past the gangs.¡± ¡°Be coy if you like, but here is what I propose: I will give you a quarter of my current points and five percent of any points I accumulate from here on out if you get me safely out of the city.¡± ¡°What makes you think I won¡¯t just attack you outside the city?¡± ¡°Your soul is not one of deceit. I would not have approached you otherwise.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to know. And you made a decent first offer. How about half of your current total and ten percent going forward?¡± The Skull pondered Duke¡¯s counter-offer for several minutes. Duke noted that the Skull held absolutely still when it wasn¡¯t talking. He found it more than a little disconcerting, like it had ceased to be alive if it even was alive. Finally, the Skull moved again, turning to face Duke. ¡°I have considered your counter-offer and find it acceptable.¡± *** A Contract has been established between Duke and Zeblow and will be strictly enforced. Terms: Duke will provide safe passage out of the city for Zeblow. He must arrive intact and unharmed and be in an area in which he will not be immediately attacked. Zeblow will provide Duke with half of his current points and ten percent of his earned points until the end of the Contest. This Contract is agreed upon willingly by both parties. *** The immediate result was that Zeblow dropped below Duke in the standings and Duke moved up one spot to 917. He now had over 6 million points. He began counting in his head before a system message arrived. *** Contest Messaging System Activated. You have received a direct message from Zarmouth. I warned you. I am coming for you. *** Duke immediately responded. *** Contest Messaging System Activated. You have sent a direct message to Zarmouth. First of all, you can¡¯t find me. And second, if you do, you are going to wish you never had. *** Duke looked over to Zeblow, ¡°Are you ready? Do you need to gather any gear?¡± ¡°I am ready. I have all I need with me.¡± Duke fired up his DUNGEON SENSE, noting that it had climbed all the way up to Master 86 from all its recent heavy use. He located an area devoid of activity and locked it in as a target. ¡°Please do not observe this as my Patron will not be happy if someone else observes me using the device he gave me.¡± Duke knew it was an utter lie, but he was not about to fully trust a floating skull in a cloak. Zeblow turned away and Duke TELEPORTED the pair to the targeted location. It appeared to be an empty desert several hundred kilometers outside of the city. ¡°Well, here we are. Safe and sound. I wish you the best of luck, Zeblow. Especially since that luck will benefit me as well.¡± ¡°Indeed, it will, Duke. Now, I must hunt as we are both well behind where we need to get to. Good luck to you as well. You have my thanks.¡± With that, the Skull began to rapidly float over the desert, scanning the area with his disturbing glowing eyes. Duke watched him leave and flew in the direction of The Forge. He had things to do himself. Book 4, Chapter 8 Duke planned to fly away for an hour before TELEPORTING to The Forge. He was still ecstatic about the fact that not only was he able to take his armor out of the dungeon, but it performed so well in his impromptu field testing. And now, he had a potentially regular source of Contest Points coming. He had no idea how powerful the Skull was but no matter the outcome, he felt that he got the better part of the deal. The attack came without warning and from above. Lost in his thoughts, Duke did not notice the cloud that moved more swiftly than should have been possible nor the figure that stood upon it. What he did notice was the searing pain erupt as his back armor was smashed in by a burning fist. The armor absorbed the majority of the impact, but there was still enough force to drive Duke out of the air. He hit the ground, skidding to a halt against a sizable boulder. Recovering from the shock of the impact, Duke rolled over to see what hit him. His shock deepened when it turned out to be a shirtless man who visibly glowed with power. The man floated down to the ground, stepping off his flying cloud and striking a pose. The power radiating off this individual came off in waves, causing his hair to flutter in the breeze. Duke stared at the man in disbelief, muttering, ¡°Fucking cartoons now?¡± His IDENTIFY Ability activated a moment later. *** You have encountered Maku Emberlight, a fellow Contestant. You are not eligible to receive any further information at your current rank in the standings. *** Duke levered himself to his feet, glaring at the man before him, ¡°Nice sucker punch but you¡¯re going to have to do a whole better if you want to walk away from this.¡± ¡°That was just to get your attention. What kind of weak man relies on armor to protect himself anyway?¡± Duke smiled back as he RESTORED his armor, ¡°The kind that enjoys beating overconfident idiots who think they don¡¯t need any.¡± Keep him talking ¨C almost fully REGENERATED. ¡°Then you are the greatest fool of all since I, Maku Emberlight, chosen of my realm has no need for paltry material protections. My aura is enough to stop the likes of you, newcomer!¡± Oh, yeah. Tell me more, moron. ¡°Your aura? Whatever you say, nightlight. Just because you can glow doesn¡¯t make you worth my time. How many points are you willing to offer me to let you walk away from this?¡± ¡°You are courting death, cur. I have surpassed the Platinum rank and are far beyond your capabilities.¡± All healed. Time to see what makes this guy special. ¡°Courting death? What? Like taking her out on a date? You do know that she is very lonely and would greatly appreciate a good night out.¡± ¡°Your words make no sense, mortal. I shall have to remove you from my sight!¡± Duke prepared himself for the coming attack. He split one million of his Mana regen into each ARMOR SKIN and MANA DRAIN. He figured the combination would keep him in the fight while reducing Maku¡¯s aura. At least that was his plan. Maku surged forward, a single energized punch aimed for Duke¡¯s midsection. It was fast but it was telegraphed with too much flair and Duke was faster. He turned his body, deflecting the right-handed punch towards his own right, hoping to make Maku pass him so he could catch him from behind when he completed his spin. Instead, Maku¡¯s punch ended a moment after the impact of Duke¡¯s deflection. Three things happened at that moment. First, Duke realized he had been physically outmaneuvered despite his Adept-ranked Martial Arts Combat Skill. Second, he discovered that the aura was not Mana-based at all, his MANA DRAIN having absolutely no affect on the man. Finally, the impact was hard enough to dent his armor even when it was used to deflect the blow. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Duke continued his spin as it was easier to complete it than to try and halt its momentum. He had to change his spinning backfist to an elbow strike as he was too close to hit with anything else. The elbow struck home, right on the man¡¯s jaw, rocking his head to the side. ¡°Oh, nice one, mortal. I give the first pass to you,¡± Maku smiled as he gave a moment¡¯s thought while hopping back from Duke. ¡°Perhaps I do not need to hold back so much with you.¡± The next set of attacks came at the limit of Duke¡¯s speed as a flurry of jabs directed at his body. Duke tried to block, dodge, and slip them, but was just not fast enough to keep up. His physical armor was heavily dented, but his ARMOR SKIN protected him well enough now that he had switched to the full two million Mana pouring into it. The last blow, however, was far stronger. It was a palm strike that had Maku¡¯s entire force, momentum, and aura behind it. Duke was launched into the air, travelling at least a kilometer before he was able to control his flight. You have got to be fucking kidding me! How are these assholes so much stronger than me? I¡¯m a goddamned Tier 8 and have stats way beyond that. This makes no sense whatsoever. Oh great, here comes cloud-boy again. Duke decided to switch up the fight and used his FLIGHT to outmaneuver the cloud, sending various elemental attacks to see if any affected Maku through his aura. Of no surprise to Duke, the elemental attacks were minimally effective, if at all despite OVERCHANNELING them significantly. ¡°You fight well in the air, but your nature magic is useless against my Chi. Submit and I will make your end swift.¡± ¡°Oh, we¡¯re at that point, are we?¡± ¡°It is inevitable, mortal.¡± ¡°So, you think yourself immortal is that it?¡± ¡°I have reached immortality. I shall live forever.¡± Duke had been continuing to outmaneuver Maku while shouting back and forth, keeping him occupied with the interplay. All the while, he was peppering the man with his elemental attacks while he built up his concentration on a different attack entirely. He unleashed it with a silent prayer and an outward statement. ¡°You know immortal doesn¡¯t mean eternal. You can still die, idiot!¡± Duke punctuated his statement with an extremely OVERCHANNELED TELEPORTATION attack. He poured three hundred million Mana into it, depleting about 90% of his Mana pool. The attack blew past Maku¡¯s defenses, and his willpower was nothing compared to Duke¡¯s effective Psyche of over 111,000. The fight ended with a flash as Maku¡¯s atoms were spread over a two hundred kilometer radius. The notification confirmed Duke¡¯s victory as he landed on the ground, reeling from both the rapid Mana depletion and the massive strain to his Mana Channels. He read the notification as he recovered. *** Congratulations! You have killed Maku, another Contestant. You receive half of his current point total of 7,289,138, bringing you up to a total of 14,071,578. You are now ranked 749th. You gain 910,562 (1,001,618 with Title Bonus). You are now level 81 and 392 Characteristic Points to spend. *** The notification brought a smile to Duke¡¯s face as his Mana regen brought him back up over time. He reveled in the sensation of his Mana rebuilding, refilling him. To him, it felt like taking a hot shower to soothe sore muscles. His Mana Channels recovered at the same time, his body healing itself quickly. He considered spending his Characteristic points immediately but rejected the thought as his mind turned to the larger picture. I jumped over 100 ranks from just killing that one guy. This might be doable after all. Then again, he was very narrowly focused in his Abilities. He was faster than me. Maybe not physically stronger, but that aura was something I wasn¡¯t prepared for. It wasn¡¯t Mana-based which tell me that I¡¯m dealing with all sort of different classes of Abilities. All my elemental attacks seem largely useless except in specific circumstances. So, what do I do? TELEPORTATION attacks are not going to work all the time, SOULFIRE might work and I¡¯m still wary of using UMBRAL REAPER again after what happened with the Hounds. I still have the option to create a new Ability from my Tier-up but what should I make? Maybe something gravity-based? It would have to be ultra-strong though. Like creating a temporary black hole to crush them into paste. Yeah, to implode them- Duke¡¯s thoughts ground to a halt as he pulled a worn spellbook from his INVENTORY. It was something that Baslin had given him so long ago that he had completely forgotten about it. Freaking moron. This has been sitting there waiting for you all this time. On top of all that, I have time dilation available to me. Why am I was wasting time out here when I could just get stronger in there and come out here and dominate. Probably because they keep getting stronger, regardless of the passage of time. Either that, or everybody¡­OK, not everybody, but most of them, started off stronger than me. He ignored everything else and TELEPORTED himself to The Forge. He had a spell to learn and practice. Book 4, Chapter 9 Duke arrived in an empty section of the dungeon he had set aside for privacy. It resembled Baslin¡¯s library from the tower. It was filled with bookshelves stuffed with books that stretched on into the distance. The books were essentially blank pages, but they looked good surrounding the pair of overstuffed chairs and gave the library an air of infinite knowledge that really appealed to Duke. Right now, however, the only knowledge he was interested in was the real book he held in his hands. It took him a matter of minutes to fully absorb the book and incorporate its magic into his own. The notification was brief and to the point. *** Congratulations! You have absorbed the Spell, Implosion. You may now use IMPLOSION as an Ability at will. This Ability allows you to exert extreme gravitic and compressional forces to squeeze a target down to a single point. This will kill most living beings. Care should be taken as some things react violently when compressed. As this was learned from a master-level spellbook, you gain the ability at the Initiate Rank. *** Duke nodded his head in appreciation at the new Ability but wondered what was meant by the warning. Maybe it is talking about things like diesel fuel that combusts when it is compressed. That¡¯s my best guess and I¡¯m sticking with it. Anyway, time to go practice! Duke stepped through a door that he created in the library into another large, empty cavern. The cavern did not stay empty for long. Duke flexed his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability to create all sorts of ¡°test subjects¡± to practice his new Ability on. He had considered using DUNGEON MONSTER CREATION but felt that those creations were a bit more alive and potentially sentient. He could create unthinking shells easily with his DUNGEON ENGINEERING and considered that just a bit more moral. And just like that, I¡¯m thinking about morality and dungeons. Like the killer level I had Sam create that I hope has never seen use. Damn, I want to check in on things back on Teldin. I left them with so much to do and so few to get it done. The Legions are all but destroyed ¨C thank God I left some behind. But I need to focus on the here and now. Time to kill some meat puppets. The first creature Duke attacked with IMPLOSION was a human construct. The Ability was merciless as it pulled the creature into its effect. It started with a flash of energy bursting outwards from the creature¡¯s center, slightly below where their navel would be. In a split second, the entire body was consumed and smashed to a sphere about the size of a softball. The sphere struck the floor with considerable impact and a splash of gore that had not compressed with the rest of the body. Duke approached the sphere cautiously, unsure if there would be any further reaction but it remained as it was for now. He picked it up, having trouble judging its weight as his Strength was too far over the charts to determine weights with any accuracy. A second later a bathroom scale appeared, and Duke placed the sphere on it, showing about 37 kilograms. He shrugged, figuring that it was about half of the creature¡¯s mass preserved. His experimentation continued for several weeks, leveling up the Ability about once a day in the process. It now sat at Initiate 27, but he was just too restless to continue practicing a singular Ability. His mind still conflicted with the overwhelming sense of urgency of the Contest potentially ending at any time and the knowledge that he was in a massively time-dilated dungeon. He found himself heading over the mech area and ignoring every other crafter in his path. The stream of minotaur crafters he left behind was growing longer and increasingly unhappy. When he arrived in the mech area again, Zarna was waiting for him with an unreadable expression. She spoke before he could, ¡°You really should see what else has been crafted for you. Some of these crafters have been waiting years for you to provide even the most basic direction on where they should take their craft.¡± Years? What the hell is she talking about? I¡¯s only been a day or two at most¡­and with time passing over one thousand times faster in here, that could be years. Shit. I¡¯ll have to take care of the crafters then. ¡°You are quite right. Once I am done with Barney here, I¡¯ll meet with each of the crafters waiting for me.¡± ¡°Excellent. Then you are done working with the Barney mech.¡± ¡°Oh? Really? I¡¯ve graduated to the next mech?¡± ¡°Well, yes. Fred is ready for you. But you did say that you would meet with the crafters once you were done with Barney.¡± ¡°I did. Didn¡¯t I? Very well, but I¡¯ll be back afterwards to take Fred through his paces.¡± ¡°Of course, Emperor. We will have him ready for you.¡± Duke nodded absently as he left the area to meet up with the other crafters. It did not take long to find them lined up and waiting for him. What did take long was to go through all of their offerings and decide what he wanted to keep, what he just didn¡¯t want to use, and what he needed them to rework. It took eight weeks to go through all the crafters. Duke was exhausted afterwards, and his INVENTORY had a considerable amount of random items of varying utility. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. There were some stand-outs that he especially liked and he pondered them as he found his stateroom in the dungeon and laid down for a good sleep. He had pushed himself to the limit of his endurance maintaining not only wakefulness, but alertness through that entire period and his body and mind were overjoyed to get some sleep. When he awoke, he was not alone. The Overmind¡¯s avatar stood before him, startling him right out of bed. ¡°You actually slept in your armor. That¡¯s not good for your back, you know.¡± ¡°My back will heal itself.¡± ¡°I suppose it will. I bet you are wondering how and why I am here right now.¡± ¡°Well, since you told me that this wasn¡¯t possible, I am definitely interested in hearing about it.¡± ¡°Quite simply, I am cheating. Well, technically, we both are, but that is not my concern. No other entity can see into this dungeon as it is wholly my domain, and I reinforced the protections for it while you were crafting its Core. It was very savvy of you to make this place on the way to the Contest. A simple dungeon of crafters would have sufficed, but instead, you made this marvel of time-dilation. That was a great idea.¡± ¡°Thanks, but I am guessing there is more to this visit than a pat on the back.¡± ¡°Indeed. This dungeon¡¯s location will be discovered somewhere within the next five days. Mind you, that¡¯s like thirteen years in this place but you aren¡¯t going to gain any real points in here. You need to be able to bring your¡­how does that phrase go in English? Ah, yes, bring your biggest guns to bear on the competition before they find this place. Once they find it, you will have to shut it down. You do not want anyone else getting in here and looting the place.¡± ¡°But I can¡¯t even pilot my biggest gun yet and it will be too costly for me to take out of here with my current level of DUNGEON ENGINEERING.¡± ¡°Then you have your next priorities. Take a year or two in here if you need it. You are going to need that mech to hunt the top teams. You are ranked in the 700s and that is fantastic, but in order to break into the top 100, you are going to have to at least triple the points you have earned. And no one is going to come at you unprepared again. The sight of you atomizing Maku has made everyone who watched wary of you. They are going to come after you with everything they have and in groups. Do not be hesitant to flee if you are outmatched. The dead claim no prizes.¡± ¡°Whatever you say, Mr. Brightside. Oh, and now I have that freaking song stuck in my head. Wonderful.¡± ¡°I have no idea what you are talking about, but you need to be fully alert the next time you leave this dungeon and be prepared to collapse it back to its Core when you do leave.¡± ¡°So do everything I need to do before leaving. Got it. Anything else I should be aware of?¡± ¡°Time will run out before you run out of opponents. Kill as many as you can. Do not concern yourself with reputation. Survival and victory is all that matters while on this world.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± With that last exchange, Duke found himself alone again. He performed his waking CLEANSE and RESTORE routine and set to work. He altered the door from his stateroom to take him directly to the mechs and got started with Fred. Fred was a bit larger than Barney but more maneuverable and blessedly¡­armed. Duke quickly learned how to control the weaponry. It reminded him significantly of his life as a fighter pilot and found it easy to transfer his targeting skills. He did not wait for the dungeon to generate targets or opponents, relying on his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability to produce more than enough challenges as he practiced. Days bled into weeks as he committed to memory all the various types of weaponry and how to use them while moving in 360 degrees of combat. This was the most fun he had since he could remember in this world. He finally felt at home again, strapped into a cockpit that moved as he moved his controls, unleashing death in any direction he desired. It was fully six months before he was told that his time in the Fred mech was complete. Duke smiled as he checked his gains. His Mechpilot Skill had risen to Initiate 37, and his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability had risen to Adept 84. He was close to ranking up to Practiced in Mechpilot but still was only halfway to the Master rank in his Ability. He knew he had to push both and that had been his focus so far. But now, Zarna had interrupted his practice. ¡°What is it, Zarna?¡± ¡°You have graduated from Fred to Wilma. It is time for you to push your Skill to the point needed for Bloodstorm!¡± ¡°What does Wilma add that Fred didn¡¯t already? Fred allowed me to do just about everything I have ever seen a mech do.¡± ¡°Wilma will allow you to focus your other Abilities through the mech and integrate them into your combat as well as into the very weapons of the mech. This is the true enhancement that Bloodstorm is designed to provide.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s fucking get this party started already!¡± Duke leapt down from Fred and hurried over to Wilma¡¯s waiting form. He found the mech was smaller by a significant margin. While Fred had been nearly ? the size of Bloodstorm, Wilma was about half the size of his true mech. This mech was not all that much larger than the suits of powered armor that the Syndicate soldiers wore. Still, Duke enthusiastically climbed into the mech and got started. His first few attempts to channel his Abilities through the mech were spectacular, but not in the way he was hoping. He alternately fried the entire runescript with enhanced LIGHTNING misdirected through the mech and burnt his left side from FLAME that got out of control, setting the mech itself on fire. He and Zarna alike were decidedly thankful for his RESTORE Ability and his REGENERATION. Between those two Abilities, he reduced downtime to nearly nothing. In time, he got the hang of using his Abilities through the mech and even combining them with using the mech¡¯s regular weapons. It was another six months before he made the breakthrough of being able to channel his Abilities through melee weapons held in the mech¡¯s hands. It was after that feat that his Skill broke through to the next rank, Practiced. Duke beamed as Zarna informed him that his basic training was complete and that he was ready to finally begin training for real. He followed her for a few steps before simply opening up his own massive doorway to where he knew Bloodstorm waited for him. That caused a panic in a few of the mech technicians, but he didn¡¯t care. It was time to fire up his baby for the first time. Nothing would get in his way of this! Book 4, Chapter 10 Climbing into Bloodstorm, Duke felt a surge of emotion. This was a mech that was made for him and him alone. It was customized to his body, his fighting style, and was designed to give him the edge to dominate any battlefield. Still, he held no illusions. His skill at piloting mechs was passable but nowhere near what his skill in planes had been. On top of that, the foes he expected to face were by far more powerful than anyone he had ever dealt with. Even Maku had been a strong challenge that he only beat because he had a single Ability that the man wasn¡¯t able to resist. All these thoughts faded as he slid into the cockpit and felt it mold to him completely. He had put his armor into his INVENTORY in preparation for this and the fit was absolutely perfect. Every control was exactly where he expected it to be, just in reach and easy to access. The surge of anticipation that came with the cockpit closing washed over him ¨C he had spent an entire year preparing for this moment and he was savoring it fully. Seals engaged and the start-up sequence began. Duke felt the Mana draw out of the first of the twenty cores available to power the mech. He had enhanced each and every core in his downtime over the past year, pushing them to the limit of his DUNGEON CORE CREATION Ability. The Ability was sitting at Adept Rank and was tantalizingly close to breaking through into Master Rank. Duke had considered pushing for the Rank upgrade but was too focused on getting to the point he could pilot his mech that he delayed the push. The interface engaged very differently than any of the previous mechs had. While even Wilma was mechanically piloted and interfaced, Bloodstorm was designed solely for him and connected directly to his mind. He had been told to expect reaction speed to be increased and all movements to be smoother ¨C once he got used to it. Finally, everything was ready, and Duke opened his eyes, but they were not truly his eyes. He saw through Bloodstorm¡¯s sensors, and it was wildly disorienting at first. Simply the visual perspective was enough to throw his balance off. He was meters taller, and his body was definitively larger. As he had been instructed, he simply stood in place, giving himself time to get used to the visual references before engaging any more sensors. One by one, he allowed more sensory inputs to engage, taking time to get used to the feel and experience of each. The amount of data pouring into his mind was more than he expected but his experience with DUNGEON SENSE, SENSE MAGIC, and even his lost SOUL SIGHT had prepared him for different sensory inputs. He had yet to even take a step in the mech and he finally understood the mystique and aura around the Steel Tusk mech pilots. This was an experience that not many could handle. Duke immediately put the 392 Characteristic Points he had left to spend into his Reason to give that much more of a boost to his brain¡¯s processing speed and power. This was accompanied by the slightest sense of a lessening of pressure on his mind. With his sensory inputs active, he began the process of slowly moving his limbs. He started with his fingers, moving to hands and arms before finally taking a single unsteady step. The problem was not in the realm of muscle or limb control, it vested entirely in perspective. Since the limbs moved like his own their motion was easy, but their placement relative to his eyeline just didn¡¯t match up. The next several hours were spent slowly stumbling around the area. Eventually, Duke took Bloodstorm into the practice area, but he didn''t create any foes just yet. Instead, he focused on just moving around and getting used to the ¡°different body¡± perspective. It took several days before he was comfortable even just walking around the area. Finally, three weeks after first climbing into Bloodstorm, Duke felt ready to try some basic combat maneuvers. He wasn¡¯t quite ready to release the hounds so to speak, but he was ready for some practice dummies. Using his Abilities, he created an obstacle course for himself filled with varying sizes of training dummies. Then he went to town using just the limbs and physical weapons of the mech. For three days straight, he fought imaginary foes created out of practice dummies before he realized that his reaction speed was slowed. It was then that the realization that he hadn¡¯t slept in quite a while hit him, followed quickly by the stench of weeks¡¯ worth of sweat and living. He immediately activated an enhanced CLEANSE followed by a RESTORE for good measure and made his way out of the mech. He didn¡¯t bother leaving the cavern. He simply made a room for himself with a comfortable bed. This manipulation of the dungeon is becoming second nature for me. I must be really getting close to ranking it up. He absently checked on the Ability¡¯s level and found that he had pushed it all the way up to level 142. Another year or less and I might break through to Master rank. But right now, sleep. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Duke awoke refreshed and ready to get back to it. He created himself a massive breakfast to get started and tossed it down quickly. I just love instant delicious meals. Living in a dungeon isn¡¯t so bad ya know. When Duke left his instant bedroom, he collapsed it back into the dungeon floor. It was in the middle of the training area, after all. Zarna was waiting for him next to Bloodstorm. ¡°Good morning, Emperor. Are you ready to start the next phase of your training?¡± ¡°And what would that phase be?¡± ¡°Actual combat.¡± ¡°Actual combat?¡± ¡°Yes, Emperor. We have created a great many opponents for you to face that will push your capabilities harder and harder.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure I am at that point but I¡¯m not going to learn my skill gaps by fighting training dummies so, sure, bring it on. Bloodstorm will be ready for everything you have for me.¡± Her smile was somewhat disturbing as she gestured towards Bloodstorm, ¡°Then mount up.¡± Duke smiled in return and TELEPORTED into the cockpit. Getting himself situated and starting up the mech had become second nature to Duke and it was a matter of seconds before the mech was moving towards the center of the room. For the first time since Duke had climbed into the mech, his communication crystals activated. ¡°Are you ready, Emperor?¡± ¡°Oh, hell yes, bring it! Let¡¯s do this!¡± Doors of varying sizes around the perimeter of the cavern began to open and creatures of all types came charging out, all intent on Duke¡¯s destruction. The creatures ranged in size from a swarm of one-meter long rodents to a giant golem that topped out at over a hundred meters. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect them all at once. Shit.¡± Duke reacted, preparing himself simultaneously for a siege and for an all-out melee. His first thought was to charge out to a selected foe, but one group of foes was so fast, they were on him before he could even take a step. They were two-meter long flying black insects who arrived with an angry buzz. Duke filled the area around himself with FLAME as the insects attempted to land on his mech and start stabbing through with their gleaming stingers. As it turned out, they were especially vulnerable to fire, their wings instantly curling up and becoming useless. Their stingers were able to scratch Bloodstorm¡¯s armor, however, and they left several gouges but none that were particularly concerning. They were all burnt corpses before the pack of wolf-like monsters arrived. Duke was able to fight off the next three fastest groups and individual creatures using his blades to great effect. The claws that extended from his fingers were extremely efficient at cutting through the attackers until he ran into some more thickly armored monsters. With them, he either had to work his way through the thick armor or use his other Abilities to deal with them. As more and more creatures of varying types swarmed over him, Duke found himself hard-pressed to keep up with the unending swarm. He twisted and turned as he fought foes coming from all directions. Eventually, he was thoroughly swarmed with creatures. They were biting and clawing at the mech. Thankfully, Bloodstorm¡¯s armor was exceptionally strong, but Duke knew that even this armor had its limits. Enough effort would find a seam and that would be enough to get through the armor. Duke acted. Bloodstorm launched into the air, spinning like a top to fling foes off like rain. The speed at which the mech reacted to Duke¡¯s command was nearly instantaneous and spinning motion would have completely disoriented Duke if the sensory input hadn¡¯t automatically switched to a static 360 degree view which allowed him to see his surroundings in a fixed-perspective. His inner ear complained, sending a brief wave of nausea throughout his body before his REGENERATION set that to rights. Free of the cloying masses, Duke opened up with the mech¡¯s compliment of onboard weaponry. Beams of energy lanced through the teeming carpet of monsters, carving meter-wide paths through them. Duke saw the effectiveness of the weapons on the lesser monsters and immediately plummeted Bloodstorm back down to the surface of the cavern. Once there, he aimed the weapons two meters off the ground and performed a relatively slow spin, the Vermilion beams of energy carving their way through the masses. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about!¡± He had to vary the angle of the beams repeatedly to catch the crowding monsters but over the course of a minute, all the fodder had been eliminated. A flashing light in Duke¡¯s mech interface let him know that he had drained an entire Core with that maneuver. ¡°OK, so I can¡¯t do that continuously. Unless...¡± Duke focused his Mana through his MANA TRANSFER Ability to refill the spent Core. He continued to fight the incoming waves as he watched the Mana level of the Core essentially remain stagnant ¨C the base amount of Mana he could transfer was just keeping up with the Mana requirements of fighting with the mech. With a sigh, Duke OVERCHANNELED the Ability. His own personal Mana dropped precipitously, falling at nearly ten million a second. After ten seconds of strain, the Core was topped off, but Duke was down to just over 10% of his Mana remaining. It was steadily ticking back up but it would be a while before it topped off again. Ignoring that, Duke continued fighting the waves of foes boiling up out of the dungeon¡¯s depths, reveling in the power and capability his mech granted him. An hour later, his Mana was fully topped off and he had started regularly activating RESTORE to keep Bloodstorm operating at peak capability. If not for his obscene Endurance, he would have had to stop after the first wave. By now, he had lost count, but he did stop. Not from exhaustion, but because the waves had stopped. A quick scan of his surroundings showed that the dungeon was ready to throw a new level of foe at him. Standing against the walls of the cavern were hundreds of mechs of varying sizes and types. All were powered up and waiting to engage. Once they saw him notice them, they attacked. Grinning wildly, Duke flashed to engage these new enemies. Book 4, Chapter 11 When Duke put his entire will into the speed of the mech, Bloodstorm reacted without hesitation. Will was translated into action and Duke slammed his claws into the torso of the nearest mech, tearing through its armor with all the amplified strength he could apply. With a twist of his wrist, shredded armor and underlying runescript alike tore free. One more swipe with Duke¡¯s left hand tore through the rest of the mech¡¯s internals exposing what would be the cockpit in a normally manned mech. It collapsed to the floor, unmoving Weapons started to impact against Bloodstorm as the longer-range mechs took advantage of Duke¡¯s temporary immobility. Duke felt the impacts ringing through the mech interface. Bloodstorm¡¯s armor was holding up but allowing oneself to be bombarded like this wasn¡¯t particularly smart. Right, keep moving. Duke activated another RESTORE and tore into the enclosing crowd of mechs. He melted through the head of a mech to his left with his beam weapon as he used the leg of the mech to his right as a springboard to tear his claws through its shoulder, disabling the arm that was bringing its own weapon to bear. He seemed to be everywhere at once deeply engaged in the fighting, eventually employing TELEPORTATION as well as most of his other Abilities in the ongoing fight. Unsure of just how long the fight had lasted, Duke stood atop a pile of defeated mechs that stood nearly three hundred meters tall. It was a gently sloping pile that he figured was over two kilometers wide. His stomach rumbled and he realized how hungry he was. A quick TELEPORT put Bloodstorm back where it should be for storage. Moments later, he dismounted and conjured himself a full meal. As the haze of battle faded and his COMBAT SENSE faded into the background, he realized that he had been conjuring food directly into his stomach for most of the fight. He was drained, thoroughly exhausted both in body and mind, eating his food mechanically without tasting the flavor at all. He was startled by a voice over his shoulder and he spun in his chair, fork held ready for combat. ¡°Apologies for startling you, Emperor, but you need rest.¡± Duke¡¯s mind stuttered. He was only able to ask a simple question, ¡°How long?¡± She smiled sympathetically, ¡°It¡¯s been eighteen months straight of fighting for you.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Duke responded before passing out on the table. Duke awoke in his stateroom, unsure of how he got there. He was immediately distracted by a slew of notifications. *** Congratulations, your extended battle training has led to several increases in your Skills and Abilities. In addition, your sustained efforts have increased your Endurance by 93 and your Psyche by 72. Your Skill increases are: Dodge has increased to Adept 91 Ariel Maneuvering has ranked up to Adept 12 Meditation has ranked up to Practiced 9 Martial Arts Combat has increased to Adept 139 Mechpilot has ranked up to Adept 48 Your Ability increases are: TELEPORTATION has increased to Grandmaster 207 REGENERATION has increased to Master 62 DUNGEON ENGINEERING has increased to Adept 158 LIGHTNING has increased to Adept 97 OVERCHANNEL has ranked up to Master 29 MENTAL FORTITUDE has increased to Adept 151 FORCE has increased to Practiced 68 FLAME has ranked up to Adept 6 POISON has increased to Practiced 58 ACID has ranked up to Adept 3 WIND has ranked up to Practiced 22 ICE has ranked up to Adept 9 EARTH has increased to Practiced 61 LIGHT has increased to Practiced 76 SPELL RESISTANCE ranked up to Practiced 14 If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. SIMULCASTING ranked up to Adept 11 CLEANSE ranked up to Adept 14 RESTORE has increased to Master 265 SENSE MAGIC has increased to Initiate 32 REMOTE CASTING has ranked up to Practiced 5 INVENTORY has increased to Adept 106 ARMOR SKIN has increased to Adept 143 MANA DRAIN has ranked up to Practiced 18 FLIGHT has increased to Adept 154 SILENCE has ranked up to Initiate 26 MANA TRANSFER has ranked up to Practiced 67 COMBAT SENSE has ranked up to Adept 37 DUNGEON SENSE has increased to Master 201 SOULFIRE has increased to Practiced 31 DEVOLUTION has ranked up to Initiate 7 DUNGEON MONSTER CREATION has ranked up to Initiate 21 IMPLOSION has ranked up to Practiced 61 *** Duke shook his head, clearing the list from his sight. It was a long list with nearly everything going up in level significantly and more than a few ranking up. The combined changes excited him. Time compression is a wonderful thing. A year and a half of hard-combat training in Bloodstorm and I¡¯ve only used up a day in the Contest. Now, to see if I can take Bloodstorm outside and get to hunting! Duke TELEPORTED into the mech¡¯s cockpit ¨C it was so familiar to him that it was nearly a second skin at this point. In less than a second, he had the mech sealed up and fully active. His senses connected to the mech¡¯s seamlessly now. He could us his own sensory Abilities in the same way he could now use the mech¡¯s own. He had made the mech his own, fully customizing its runescript to his own preferences through use. The runescript was now solidified and would not change for anyone else. Bloodstorm was Duke¡¯s mech and Duke¡¯s alone. With great anticipation, Duke headed for the dungeon entrance. Each step closer echoed throughout the dungeon, signaling the inevitability of Bloodstorm on the move. Minotaurs scattered out of the path, only to line the walls watching their Emperor march by. As he passed, the crowd excitedly followed. The mech-builders were given a path to the front of the crowd, following closely behind the mech. Duke kept his steps intentionally slow, knowing the crowd gathered behind him and wanting to give them as big a show as possible. The celebratory mood swelled behind him as so many had contributed to the construction and refinement of the mech in one way or another. It was all their dreams marching towards the door, ready to take on the outside world and everything it entailed. At last, Duke stood before the great doors, smiling at the forethought to make them large enough to accommodate even larger mechs than Bloodstorm. With a grinding of stone that Duke realized was completely unnecessary but added to the ambiance, the massive doors swung open. The dungeon entrance glowed before Duke in all its glory. With a bow to the crafters, Duke backed through the dungeon portal. He arrived, standing on his own two feet with a notification that told him what he already knew ¨C he couldn¡¯t take the mech out of the dungeon. ¡°Son of a bitch!¡± Duke shouted to the heavens. ¡°I want to use my goddamned mech!¡± He looked at his Abilities and saw the source of his frustration. His DUNGEON ENGINEERING was at Adept 158 ¨C two levels below Master rank. He ground his teeth in frustration. ¡°Two fucking levels. Now I really feel like killing something, but I can¡¯t hang outside the dungeon entrance like this.¡± He stepped back inside the dungeon. He was met with confused looks of disappointment as he walked back through the doorway. Sar Forglyn met him with a confused grimace, ¡°You seem to have forgotten to take your mech with you, boss.¡± Duke leveled an angry stare that rapidly devolved into defeat and finally a resigned grin. When he spoke it was with a bit of mirth, ¡°Yes, it looks like I need to do some extreme remodeling of the dungeon before I can take the mech out. I suggest you all find your way back to your shops. It¡¯s going to get quite messy around here for a while.¡± When the crowd had dispersed, he was left with Sar Forglyn. The minotaur gave Duke a knowing look before turning to walk away, ¡°Try not to kill too many of us, OK?¡± Duke shook his head and began to make wholesale changes in the dungeon architecture above them. He changed the shape of the ceiling, making it spiral in on itself before changing it to glass, then metal, then suspended lava, and finally to solidified air. He changed the nature of the atmosphere, warping the laws of physics and magic causing dead zones of magic, areas of intensely concentrated magic, and even areas where magic fluctuated wildly. He poured on more and more of his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability, pushing his limits in every creative way he could imagine. Days passed as he created and re-engineered the reality around himself. Eventually, he got the message that the Ability leveled-up. Still, he poured on the changes as he had one level to go. After weeks of pushing things to absurd levels of warped reality, he received the notification he had been waiting for ¨C His Ability had ranked up. *** Congratulations. Through diligent effort and creativity, you have ranked your DUNGEON ENGINEERING to Master rank. There is now virtually no limit as to what you can create and manipulate within a dungeon environment. You may now remove items of extreme value from a dungeon. *** Duke whooped with delight. Extreme value. I like how that sounds. He effortlessly restored the dungeon back to its former configuration, reveling in the ease with which he was able to make the changes. There was no longer an effort, there was just a thought, and it happened. Within a dungeon, I am now a god. When this Contest is done, I am going to see just how far I can push this Ability. Duke waited for the masses to return, having all received his message. It took all of fifteen minutes for even the furthest away to hastily come to see him off again. He raised his hands before the crowd of minotaurs while he flew up into the air. ¡°Welcome back one and all. It is finally time for me to truly depart. You have all done extremely well and I thank you all.¡± He received a roar and cheer in response, the rhythmic stomping of hooves announcing their united spirit. Once again, he TELEPORTED into the cockpit of Bloodstorm and got it fired up and ready. His exit was filled with cheering but Duke didn¡¯t feel the same level of enthusiasm as he his on his first attempt. This time, however, Bloodstorm strode through the portal and to the other side. Duke smiled, guessing just how much the mech was worth and the ability to make more of them in The Forge just made his smile expand. But that was a project for later. Duke reached out to the portal and collapsed the entire dungeon back into a Core. With a delicate touch, he picked up the Core with Bloodstorm¡¯s enormous hand and deposited the Core into a storage area within the mech. Time to go hunting. The only question is do I set traps or just come in blazing¡­ Book 4, Chapter 12 One TELEPORT later, Bloodstorm was flying over the landscape, Duke closing in on a single Contestant he had targeted. This one had appeared and disappeared from his DUNGEON SIGHT a few times which intrigued him. Duke closed in on where he had las spotted the Contestant and took up a position a good five hundred meters back and above the spot. His senses, tuned, he waited. It took about an hour before his target appeared, emerging from a cave opening beneath Duke with a burst of energy that Duke instantly recognized as the energy signature of a dungeon portal. A thrill ran down Duke¡¯s spine as he examined the Contestant. The creature was a quadruped with a human torso extending upwards from the front of its body ¨C a centaur. The creature had several significant wounds all over its body. It was wearing armor that was ripped and torn in several places, corresponding with its bloody wounds. Duke¡¯s IDENTIFY Ability kicked in as he observed the creature. *** You have encountered Barmak, a centaur Contestant. Your ranking is not high enough to get you any more information on this individual. *** Duke growled in frustration at his Ability being next to useless and he prepared to attack. A wounded foe should prove an easy target. It doesn¡¯t feel right but in this world it is necessary. Duke¡¯s thoughts were interrupted by the centaur shouting up towards him. ¡°If you think I can¡¯t see you floating there in your mech, you are sorely mistaken. And if you think you can actually hurt me, you are even more mistaken. The only reason you still live is that I do not kill Contestants while away from my team. Now go away before I have to break my own rule.¡± Duke liked the arrogance of the centaur, but he didn¡¯t have time to pass up this opportunity. He responded with a testing bolt of LIGHTNING. It was the ¡°stock¡± version of his Adept-Ranked Ability, only set to do about 25,000 damage. The bolt struck the centaur and arced over his body, draining into the ground. ¡°That is your opening shot? Not even worth wasting my time. Go away before the rest of my team come out of the dungeon and I am forced to tear you apart.¡± Before Duke could do anything else, six more centaurs emerged from the portal that Duke recognized as indeed being a dungeon entrance. He was now outnumbered and still didn¡¯t know his opponent¡¯s real strength. Fuck it. Time to see just how far I can push my limits. ¡°Six on one. That almost seems fair,¡± Duke took the most arrogant ¡°young master¡± tone he could muster. ¡°Looks like we have some more points waiting for us. Come on down and give us your points and we won¡¯t kill you, fool.¡± ¡°Oh, I like this game. Let¡¯s play!¡± They did not hesitate or give Duke the chance to back up his words, instead launching themselves into action. The largest of the centaurs shot into the air, streaking for Duke like a missile. Simultaneously, a cage of force began to form around Duke to hold him in place and several attacks struck. This team moved as one, their actions decisive and practiced. The centaur¡¯s strike hit Bloodstorm dead-center of its chest plate with a deeply resounding thoom, pushing the mech against the web of force that held it in place. Duke felt the impact through the mech¡¯s sensors ¨C it exceeded anything he had felt during his entire time training. Who the fuck are these guys? That was all Duke was able to think before he felt Bloodstorm¡¯s armor crack. Nope, not fucking allowing that to happen! Duke unleashed a massively OVERCHANNELED blast of SOULFIRE into the torso of the centaur punching its way through his mech. Fifty million Mana later, the centaur was falling back to the ground screaming in anguish as its blackened internal organs came spilling out of the hole burnt through its chest. He had no time to take satisfaction in his surprise attack as Duke was assaulted by different attacks ranging from projectiles that moved at such high velocity that they punched right through the mech¡¯s armor to the force web constricting down heavily, nearly immobilizing the mech, to a psychic attack that tried to enslave Duke¡¯s mind. While all this went on, he saw the centaur he had put down receive an extremely powerful healing spell from the one centaur who had not been attacking. In less than a second, the centaur¡¯s wounds were healing, and he was beginning to stir. Take out the healer first. New plan. Bloodstorm is still holding up to all this punishment but I¡¯m going to have to RESTORE if this keeps up. The easiest attack for Duke to ignore was the psychic one with his massive Psyche. He was able to pinpoint which centaur it was coming from, and he decided to leave that one for last. His first priority was the healer. Using his REMOTE CASTING Ability, he unleashed a focused beam of LIGHT into the back of the healer¡¯s head. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. The flash of light was extremely bright, causing all the centaurs to pause. Duke paused as well, but in surprise rather than stunned by the flash. The healer was unharmed, having been protected by some sort of protective barrier. Duke cursed and started tossing blasts of FLAME around himself, keeping them OVERCHANNELED by a million Mana each. With his regen, he could fire off two of those every second and still keep a positive on his Mana regen. So, that¡¯s what he did. Again, his attacks were interrupted by protective barriers, flames jetting off in random directions. Duke felt his frustration heighten as he activated RESTORE to repair Bloodstorm. Then, he opened up with the mech¡¯s weapon systems. Vermilion beams of death erupted across the battlefield. Heavy projectiles launched themselves, exploding with tremendous force, and a wave of force erupted spherically, shattering the restraints that had been holding the mech. Then the fight truly began. His foes were fast and effective, attacking him from unexpected angles and with a large variety of weapons, Spells, and Abilities. Duke, for his part, found himself having to use the mech¡¯s capabilities more than his own due to the vast amount of Mana needed for his Abilities to penetrate their barriers. His Ability to RESTORE Bloodstorm was a matter of complete frustration to his opponents but their Ability to shield and heal themselves was a perfect counter. After hours of fighting, the centaurs did something that Duke had not expected in the least but made for a smart tactical move on their part. They hit Duke with a fully-concentrated assault that gave them a second to act while he recovered. They took that second and retreated back into the dungeon. It was a dungeon they had run hundreds of times and knew intimately. They knew the dangers of this dungeon inside and out and with that knowledge, they were going to set up the perfect ambush if he dared to follow them in. Duke, after RESTORING Bloodstorm and seeing the last centaur run into the dungeon entrance laughed uncontrollably as he approached the entrance. ¡°Oh, this is about perfect. Stalemate is about to be checkmate!¡± He placed his hand on the dungeon entrance portal which allowed him to extend his DUNGEON SENSE into the dungeon itself. In a matter of seconds, he knew everything about the dungeon and where the centaurs had gone within it. He considered his options for a moment before heading in himself. The entrance was a large cavern with plenty of space to set up a camp. It was designated as a safe zone which corresponded nicely. Duke grinned as he started manipulating the dungeon. The first thing out of the ordinary that he noticed was that the dungeon was a Tier 10 which made some aspects more difficult for him to manipulate ¨C it seemed the Tier difference mattered. It did not prevent him from manipulating the dungeon as his Master-ranked Ability was designed just for this purpose; it merely called for additional effort to make the changes he desired. His first move was to create an identical party of centaurs right down to the Spells, equipment, and Abilities he had observed over their extended battle. He sent the centaur party to harass the group waiting to ambush him. Then he created a second and a third party and sent them along as well. Chuckling, he exited Bloodstorm, ¡°You stay here, buddy. I want to see this up close and personal.¡± Jogging after the three parties of centaurs, he created a safe-zone field around himself that he enhanced to the point that it prevented any damage or attack from being able to affect him. ¡°Total immunity to attacks¡­yeah, I could get used to this.¡± He followed the last party, easily finding the fight in progress. The confusion of the originals, as Duke had begun to call them, was fun for him. They fought frantically as their confusion and fear started to show. They had overcome every foe and every obstacle in this dungeon multiple times. Fighting themselves was nothing they were prepared for, let alone three copies of themselves. One by one, the originals fell as the creatures that they had hoped to ambush and distract Duke with were attracted to the fight and joined in, creating an even more overwhelming force. Duke strode into the room, a point of calm in the chaotic frenzy of battle. With a thought, all the dungeon monsters backed off, leaving the originals bleeding and beaten but still alive. The one who Duke had met outside the dungeon spoke up first, ¡°Who the hell are you and how are you able to do this?¡± ¡°Done with empty threats then? Not going to force me to give you my Contest Points to let me live?¡± The look of anger and frustration was fighting with bewilderment on the centaur¡¯s face when he responded. ¡°It is clear that whatever you have done here is more than we can handle. What do you want?¡± ¡°Me? I want points. Just like you. I could kill all six of you and get half your points right now. I bet that would bump my standing rather quickly.¡± ¡°We could give you points for letting us go.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening, but I¡¯m not sure how that would benefit me. The whole leaving a potential enemy alive at my back doesn¡¯t have much appeal to me.¡± ¡°We could offer an oath to never harm you and to give you a percentage of our points as we earn them. Become your points-slave.¡± Duke considered it momentarily. I am receiving points from Zeblow. Did that make Zeblow my points-slave? No, Zeblow had approached me with the contract. Having points-slaves would accelerate my ranking for sure. Duke¡¯s thoughts were interrupted by an intense pain in the core of his being. He doubled-over as his PURPOSE flared in anger at the very thought of making anyone a slave to him. It was anathema to his core being and rejected the idea, causing the pain to lessen considerably. He looked back up to see the originals attacking him with everything they had, and nothing was passing through the safe-zone he had created around himself. ¡°So, that¡¯s how it has to be,¡± Duke sighed as he released all the dungeon monsters to attack again. To speed things up, he added several of the dungeon¡¯s bosses to the fight. The end came quickly after that. *** Congratulations! You have slain the six Contestants of the team Four Score. You have earned 31,619,910 points. Your new ranking is number 61. As you have broken into the top 100, you have additional privileges based on your rank. Your IDENTIFY Ability will provide you with more information about other Contestants. You may enter and exit Sanctuary City through the protected gates You may speak with your sponsor once a day You gain access to the Contest Timer *** Book 4, Chapter 13 Duke held his other notifications back as he flashed to the newest tool in his toolbox, the Contest Timer. It looked like a simple digital clock counting down and it currently read 1:22:31:18 until the final phase. Just under two days until whatever the final phase means. Good thing I have achieved the objective my sponsor set out for me. But is that enough? No, not really. Not at all. Shoot for the top and see where you land and all that. Duke pulled up the notification he had been holding back and read it. *** You have slain six Contestants of Tiers 7 and 8. You gain 719,437 (791,381) experience. You are now level 90 and have 252 Characteristic Points to spend. You have had some minor gains in your Abilities, the most notable being that Dungeon Engineering has increased to Master 7. *** Duke accepted his gains and contemplated his next move as he headed through the dungeon to retrieve Bloodstorm. He considered the dungeon design as he passed through and wondered if it was allowed to grow naturally from a Core or was the dungeon specifically grown. As far as he knew, only he and the Overmind had the capability to grow a dungeon specifically, but it was a wide cosmos with all sorts of possibilities out there. As he mounted Bloodstorm, his DUNGEON SENSE alerted him to a party entering the dungeon. He was not far from the entrance and set off to intercept them. Another set of easy targets. This is great! The party consisted of what appeared to be elves made of stone to Duke. They moved with the speed and grace he expected from elves but gave off a sense of durability from their stone skin. He studied them with his CLAIRVOYANCE before moving into the cavern where they were apparently arguing. ¡°I¡¯m not going to delve this Tier 10 dungeon for that asshole. I don¡¯t care what tortures he can plant in my brain. It¡¯s not worth dying for him.¡± ¡°What choice do we have? He owns us, or do you have some way to get these damned bands off our skulls or resist the compulsions they project into our minds? Because I sure as hell don¡¯t!¡± ¡°We never should have agreed to come to this damned Contest and its world of death.¡± ¡°But we did, and now we¡¯re stuck doing what Arenstol tells us to do.¡± ¡°We could kill him. That would break us free.¡± ¡°Go ahead. Do it. You know the band won¡¯t let you even let you try.¡± Duke felt his PURPOSE stir as he realized that the party just around the corner from him was enslaved. He wanted to come in screaming and kill them all for more points but his PURPOSE was pulsing with greater intensity and he knew he could not ignore it. Dammit! This Contest is horrible enough. I can¡¯t kill slaves or let someone enslave others for that matter. Sighing inwardly, Duke stepped Bloodstorm around the corner and into sight of the party. Their reaction was fast and expected. They burst into defensive positions, weapons ready but they did not attack. ¡°Well, that was a good reaction. Care to point me in the direction of Arenstol so I can kill him and set you all free?¡± ¡°What kind of trick is that?¡± ¡°No trick. I can¡¯t stand slavers and kill them whenever I come upon them. I overheard your argument a few minutes ago. You know, you really should keep your arguments down in a dungeon. A lot of dungeon monsters have good hearing. Anyway, where is the asshole?¡± ¡°He¡¯s outside the dungeon but he¡¯ll capture you just like he did us. Don¡¯t go out there.¡± ¡°Are you going to bring him in here?¡± ¡°He won¡¯t come into the dungeon.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m going out there to kill him. Kindly stand aside.¡± Duke strode forward, not waiting for them to move. They parted before him, and he walked through the portal to the outside. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Leaning against the side of the dungeon entryway was a short creature, less than a meter tall with bright pink skin and an oversized head. It was completely naked but thankfully, Duke couldn¡¯t see any evidence of genitals. Its distended belly nearly matched its oversize head in size and its limbs were so thin they looked more like flesh-covered sticks than anything else. It addressed Duke with a smirk. ¡°So, another one for my stable. And with a mech no less. Lovely.¡± It locked eyes with Duke through Bloodstorm and followed up with a single word, ¡°Obey!¡± The word was a command that tore through the space between them, lancing into Duke¡¯s mind with the force of an avalanche. Duke staggered before his Psyche rejected the command with an absolute flare of his PURPOSE. He shook his head and responded, snapping forward and grabbing the creature by the head with Bloodstorm¡¯s left hand. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think I will,¡± Duke responded with as much iciness as he could put into his voice. ¡°That¡¯s impossible. No one can resist my will!¡± Its voice got louder, and Duke could feel the increase in power in its Ability when it spoke again, ¡°You will obey me!¡± Duke felt his grip slip for a moment before his PURPOSE slammed down on the compulsion. He reflexively squeezed his grip tighter. The creature¡¯s head exploded like a melon. ¡°Oh, shit. Oops. Well, not really that big a mistake. I was going to see how long his head would stay attached when I swung his body around while holding it, but I guess this works as well. Now where is that notification?¡± As if by he prompting, he received a notification. *** Congratulations, you have slain Arenstol, a Contestant. As this death is not permanent for him, you do not receive any Contest Points for his death. You have achieved two things, however. You have freed all 216 of his current slaves within the Contest and have removed him from the Contest for 48 hours. As this places his return outside the window of the commencing of the Final Phase, he will not be allowed to return to the Contest. His earned points are now fixed, and he may be surpassed by anyone who gains a higher Point total. Additionally, for freeing 216 slaves, you receive 216,000 bonus Contest Points. This moves you into the 58th Ranking. As a final reward, none of the freed slaves may attack you for the next 12 hours. Do note that if you attack any of them, this immunity will be revoked. *** Duke activated CLEANSE and hopped out of Bloodstorm to loot the body. I can¡¯t believe that I forgot to loot the centaurs when I killed them. They had to have some good gear. It will still be there when I go back into the dungeon as long as it doesn¡¯t reset in the meantime. Like by everyone exiting it. As the thought crossed his mind, the formerly enslaved party came through the Dungeon Portal and appeared near Duke. They all looked briefly unsteady on their feet before returning to their senses. They all had a new green glow to them that Duke had not seen before. He wondered if it was the system letting him know that they could not be attacked and could not attack him. Regardless, they spotted Duke and immediately moved in his direction. He waved to them. ¡°You¡­you¡¯re Duke, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°In the flesh.¡± ¡°You killed Arenstol and freed us from his slaver Ability.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure we all have system notifications making that clear. What can I do for you?¡± The apparent leader of the group stepped forward, brushing strands of stone hair out of her face. Duke was amazed at how her hair acted so flexibly while still apparently having the rest of the properties of stone. She addressed him with an air of formality that made him dread her words ¨C he did not want anyone else to be worried about in this Contest. ¡°You saved us from slavery, providing us with a renewed chance at life both in this Contest and beyond it. For this, you have our gratitude and our loyalty. To die in the Contest is an expected and honorable end for us, but to wind up enslaved is the greatest offense to our people. You have delivered us from such a torment upon our souls. We will serve as your guardians for the remainder of our time in the Contest.¡± Duke felt earnestness in her words as his XENOGLOSSIA asserted itself. His response, however, set them all aback, ¡°Look, I know you have some sort of sense of honor that makes you want to pay me back for setting you free, but I cannot accept your service. I didn¡¯t free you all just to put you into another form of servitude. That goes against who I am. It also goes against what this whole Contest seems to be about. I¡¯m happy that I was able to set you free, but I don¡¯t have time to stick around and deal with you. Nothing personal but I am in striking range of the top 50 and I¡¯m not going to pause.¡± ¡°We could help you.¡± ¡°You should help yourselves. I¡¯m sure he was stealing your Points, and you have a lot of ground to make up. As a team, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do fine. But I am here to run solo and that is what I am going to do. Good luck to you all.¡± Duke didn¡¯t wait for any further response. He TELEPORTED back into Bloodstorm after placing the body of the latest dead alien into his INVENTORY. In seconds, the mech was flying away from the dungeon and Duke was looking for his next target or even an area that had a more unique challenge. He had no idea how many Points different challenges would garner him but he was willing to find out. Book 4, Chapter 14 Duke was growing increasingly frustrated the more he thought about the Contest. On one hand, it provided him with outstanding growth opportunities but on the other, it seemed like nothing more than a way to cull the powerful youth of the Cosmos. Or it was a pissing contest for the Entities. No matter the true purpose, the whole thing grated on him which bled into his attitude when he decided to return to Sanctuary City for a short break. He pulled Bloodstorm into his INVENTORY and TELEPORTED to the arrival platform for the city. The grand square in which the platform stood had a sizable crowd gathered which came as a surprise to Duke. When his arrival was announced by some sort of loudspeaker system that Duke hadn¡¯t noticed before. ¡°And now entering Sanctuary City, standing at the 58th Rank, is Duke, the Herald of Liberation and Favored of the Overmind!¡± The announcement was met with cheering and shouts of joy. Duke stood on the platform, thoroughly confused and staring at the crowd like they had lost their minds. A large scaled hand suddenly rested on his shoulder and casually guided Duke from the platform. He glanced over to see Mole walking him down from the platform. ¡°You have become quite popular, my friend. Especially since you took out Arenstol. Nobody liked him. Now wave to the crowd and I can guide you to somewhere more private.¡± ¡°Thank you, Molekethesius, but I¡¯ll take him from here.¡± The crowd had parted as the Avatar of the Overmind gently pushed its way through. Duke thanked Mole but followed the Avatar out of the crowd. Apparently, no one wanted to follow the pair. Duke wasn¡¯t sure if it was a measure of respect or fear, but he didn¡¯t really care either way. It got him away from the crowd. The Overmind led him to a nondescript brick building with the only decoration being the crudely arched doorway. The door opened as they approached, and the pair walked in. Duke barely noticed the door closing behind them as he marveled at the entryway. Rather than the bare stone or brick he had expected, he walked a path among the stars. His feet sunk slightly into the black substance of the floor, pushing stars outwards like leaves on the surface of a pond. The Overmind gestured to Duke, indicating a barely noticeable, chair-shaped part of the starfield. Duke sat down, ignoring how the surface rippled as he settled into the chair. ¡°Welcome to my little hideaway. It¡¯s nothing special but it suits me.¡± ¡°Thanks. I came back to the city to take a break, but I wasn¡¯t expecting to meet you here.¡± ¡°I suppose not. But you did receive the notification that we could talk once a day now that you are in the top hundred. Today is a good day for a chat.¡± ¡°Sure. What do you want to chat about? Weather¡¯s been pretty nice.¡± The Overmind laughed. ¡°Oh, I would stay that there have been a few storms recently. Not all are your fault, but enough are that you have made a name for yourself. Do you see why I wanted to enter you in the later stages?¡± ¡°I seem to recall me having to push for a later entry spot.¡± ¡°Yes, you did, but you made up for the even later entry by entering in stronger than even I expected. The early days of the Contest are mostly spent in non-lethal tournaments with the occasional challenge or dungeon run thrown in for good measure. The real killing of Contestants doesn¡¯t come until the later stages when it becomes the most efficient way to gather points.¡± ¡°I have noticed how quickly I rose by doing so.¡± ¡°So did everybody else. If you run into anyone from the top hundred, expect them to either attack you with everything they have or run the hell away as fast as they can. Most of the top hundred are parts of teams that support each other. If you can catch one out by themselves, you should be able to overwhelm them.¡± ¡°Those centaurs are a good example.¡± ¡°They were pretty tough out in the open, but they actually ran into a dungeon to try and ambush me. Probably the worst mistake they could have made.¡± ¡°True, but no one had any idea what your Class was or what you could do.¡± ¡°You said that in the past tense.¡± ¡°I did. Now that you are in the top hundred, you are always being watched. Funny thing is that they couldn¡¯t watch you in your own dungeon. That frustrated a LOT of folks.¡± ¡°Is this a spectator sport now?¡± ¡°For those who have no chance of making it to the finals, yes. Only the top hundred make it to the final. You are positioned to be one of them.¡± ¡°Is it really worth it? What¡¯s the prize?¡± ¡°You know that I can¡¯t tell you what the prize is, but I can tell you that it is worth it. Now, let¡¯s put all that aside. I want to talk about your dungeon designs.¡± The next several hours passed with Duke¡¯s eyes being opened up to just how much he had been limiting himself in dungeon design. He had never thought that he could incorporate Earth¡¯s or any other world¡¯s technology into a dungeon. He left the meeting with a new understanding and an additional 40 ranks in his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The last words the Overmind had left him with as he ushered Duke to the door still rung in his mind. The only thing that is holding you back is your own fears. Release them and you can win the true prize whether you win this Contest or not. Duke pondered over that phrase as he absently wandered the streets of the city. How do I release my fears? What is it I¡¯m afraid of anyway? It¡¯s none of these people. No one here has posed enough of a threat that I am afraid of them. Maybe someone in the top ten should scare me but fuck ¡®em. Maybe it¡¯s time to do some opposition research. It took him two hours of wandering and some pointed questioning, but he eventually found an information broker who was willing to give him details about the top ten rankers. He could have watched countless hours of their recorded fights, but he was certain that he would miss something by just watching a recording. Sitting down with the information broker was an experience in and of itself. The broker was a creature that hid itself within a dark hooded robe. The openings of the robe were enchanted to hide the broker¡¯s features, so they only appeared as blackness. It led Duke through its entryway and into what would have passed for a study in most wealthy homes. The walls were lined with bookshelves that were filled with all manner of leatherbound tomes. It gestured with an empty sleeve for Duke to take a seat in a chair that faced its own, if angled slightly apart. Duke took the indicated chair and immediately noticed that this angle afforded him a view of another bookcase that was different than the others. This bookcase was filled with paperback books that offered a splash of color that contrasted greatly with the other books in the room. ¡°I see my exotic book collection has caught your eye. Perhaps when we have conducted this business, we can speak about them.¡± Duke re-centered himself, putting the thoughts of Earth that the books evoked and focusing on the reason he was here. ¡°Yes, as I am sure you already know, I am looking for tactically important information about the top ten in this Contest.¡± ¡°Tactically important. Interesting way to phrase it but I get what you mean. You don¡¯t care where they are from, who they have relations with, or even who sponsors them. You want to know how to kill them or at least how not to be killed by them.¡± ¡°That is a good way to phrase it, yes.¡± ¡°Very well. Let us begin.¡± Although the 100,000 Contest Points dropped Duke down to 61st place, he was sure it was well spent by the time all was said and done. He knew the fighting styles, strengths, and most importantly, the weaknesses of each of the top ten Contestants. He wasn¡¯t sure how he would deal with some of them just yet but at least he knew what to expect. When they were finished with the content of the deal, the information broker who had finally revealed his name to be Samwise, moved to the colorful bookshelf with Duke. Duke was sure that the name was not real, but it very specifically disturbed him, especially when they made it to look at the books on the bookshelf. Front and center of the bookshelf was a boxed set of the Lord of the Rings. There were several other titles Duke recognized from Earth. He used every ounce of willpower to keep his face expressionless and to not linger on any books in particular. Samwise¡¯s next statement, spoken behind his ear, shattered Duke¡¯s discipline entirely. ¡°Coltrane made it out by the way.¡± Duke whirled around, his adrenaline spiking as his mind reeled from the statement. He didn¡¯t know what to say or even how to react. Panic, anger, and relief surged through his mind in equal measure leaving him stunned into inaction. ¡°Duke, my patron is the Eye of Infinity. There is literally nothing that happens that she doesn¡¯t see. Even the times you spend with the Overmind in your dungeons. She is the eldest of the Entities and no one will act against her because she will literally see it coming. But, lucky for you, she views you in a positive light. No one else can observe us so anything you or I say here shall stay here.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard that line before and apparently it wasn¡¯t true.¡± Another voice, distinctly the voice of a sultry woman filled the room, ¡°You can believe it this time, Andy.¡± Again, Duke was left stunned. When the entity revealed herself to be a short blonde girl in her twenties that hit all his marks for ¡°cute,¡± he felt even more vapor-locked. ¡°Samwise, you have done well to bring Duke here. You may leave us now.¡± ¡°As you say,¡± Samwise quickly exited the building, closing and sealing the door behind him. ¡°I know you feel violated and spied upon, Duke but I can¡¯t help it. I see everything as it happens and can recall anything I have seen, which is, well, everything.¡± Duke finally, broke out of his vapor-lock, ¡°So you know everything¡­why are you so interested in me?¡± ¡°It would not be wise for me to tell you that just yet. I will say this ¨C I have a great interest in seeing you survive this Contest in the top ten.¡± ¡°Um, yeah, that¡¯s great, but it doesn¡¯t tell me anything or help me at all. I feel like I¡¯m being toyed with, and I really don¡¯t appreciate it. Samwise? Lord of the Rings? What the fuck is the deal?¡± ¡°That was simply to let you know that I know everything. Letting you know that Coltraine lived and made it out of that shitshow as you called it was an olive branch. I wish for you to view me favorably in the future.¡± ¡°Still not telling me much.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, no. As far as the rest of the Cosmos is concerned, even your Overmind, we have never met, never conversed. You came here and spoke with my Agent and got some information on your competition. Nothing more. I ask you to keep it that way.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like you have told me anything useful.¡± ¡°I will tell you this: Save the Reaper until it is truly needed. No one should see that until then.¡± ¡°And how the hell am I supposed to know when that is?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll know. Now I do have something to give to you but first put the rest of your points into Psyche. You¡¯ll need them for this.¡± ¡°Why the hell should I trust you?¡± ¡°Because I could unmake you if I so chose. But I would much rather see you win.¡± Duke weighed his options but finally gave in, feeling outmaneuvered. He dropped his points into Psyche and waited for the Entity to give him whatever she was going to give him. She gently placed her hands on either side of his face and pulled him down to her. He resisted for a split second but let her pull him in for a kiss. What passed between them was definitely not a kiss. Duke saw flashes of scenes that filled the recesses of his Psyche so quickly he was completely unable to grasp any of them. It seemed to last for several minutes but finally, she released him to collapse on the floor, exhausted and out of breath. ¡°You will recover in a few minutes and can leave then. Remember to save the Reaper for the end. Oh, and feel free to take any books here that strike your fancy. They are all replaceable.¡± With that, she dissipated into the shadows, leaving him alone. He shook his head violently to clear it, but a sense of heaviness suffused his mind. He couldn¡¯t put a finger on it, but the best description he could come up with was that his subconscious felt overfull and ready to burst. He was hit with a system message: *** Your UMBRAL REAPER Ability has ranked up to Master 1 *** Duke shook his head again and proceeded to empty every single book from the bookshelves into his INVENTORY. She said to help myself, right? He left the building, heading for an inn he had passed nearby. He needed some sleep. Book 4, Chapter 15 Sleep, as it turned out, was not the balm that Duke was seeking. His dreams were wracked with horrors. Terrible scenes of all the depravity that humanity was capable of flowed from his subconscious, clawing at his sanity. When he finally woke for the fifth time in as many hours, he resignedly climbed out of bed, with a contradiction. The bed was so comfortable that his body simply craved the caress of the sheets but his emotions were all but screaming at him to flee the comfort. He unconsciously performed his waking routing of CLEANSE and RESTORE before evaluating himself in the room¡¯s mirror. What he saw was not what he expected. His eyes looked thoroughly haunted, the skin around them creased with lines that had not been there in the past. His irises had paled to a cold grey that seemed to pull his eyes deeper into his skull. All-in-all, he felt it was not a good look for him and decided to cloak it with LASTING DISGUISE before leaving the room. A quick glance at his screen showed that the clock had counted down to 1:02:39:11. He had a little more than a day before the final phase began. He noticed a few more changes He had gained more than 200,000 Points since last he looked ¨C Zeblow had gotten busy and since points were so tight around him, it had pushed Duke to 56th place. So, what to do? I can sit here and wait for the day to pass, or I can go out and hunt some desperate Contestants. Or, I can underground railroad those desperate to leave the city. Maybe I can make a bunch more ¡°Zeblow¡± deals and get others to work for me. That¡¯s awful close to the slaver-move. But, no, it¡¯s nothing like it. This is all voluntary and I¡¯m not telling them what to do. Why am I having all these scattered thoughts all of a sudden? What the fuck did that Entity really do with all that? Duke noticed one more thing as he looked at his character sheet that broke him from his thoughts. His Psyche had increased by another 200 points while he tried to sleep. I¡¯ll take the points but what is really going on here? Two choices flyboy. Sit here and think about it running in circles, or get out there and do something. Right. Time for action over inaction. Exiting the inn, he strode into the bustle of a thriving city. Duke was sure that most of the people, creatures, and ¡°what the hell is that things¡± making their way throughout the streets were not Contestants. Even though there were some 20,000 Contestants left, the city could comfortably house a population in the millions from Duke¡¯s observations. If the city were only filled with Contestants, it would look like a ghost town. He was, for the most part, left alone to carry on his business. The only interruptions were a further confirmation that the majority were civilians as he was occasionally pointed out by enthusiastic followers of the Contest. He ignored them for the most part, keeping DUNGEON SENSE pulled relatively tightly around him so he could spot any threats that may spring up despite the city¡¯s supposed safety. Sometimes paranoia is just smart, and threats don¡¯t necessarily come from violence. It took all of an hour to reach his destination, the central landing platform. There he set himself down on the edge of the platform and waited for someone to approach him. As he waited, he came to the realization that putting a sign up would be difficult at best as languages, and even forms of communication, varied greatly amongst the populace. Finally, he decided to go a different route. ¡°Hey, kid, come over here for a minute,¡± Duke stage whispered to a random young teen that was passing by.¡± The kid tentatively came over, making sure to stay out of arm¡¯s reach. His voice was cautious, ¡°What you want, mister?¡± ¡°I need someone to be a message crier for me. Feel like making some credits?¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you put your message on the boards?¡± Well, damn, that was a fucking reasonable response. Not knowing that there even were boards was probably not the best. ¡°Yeah, I guess you¡¯re right, kid. Here have a few credits anyway.¡± Duke tossed the kid a credit chip that had a hundred credits on it and sent him on his way. Duke spent the next few minutes finding the boards in his interface and was amazed at just how many different boards there were. They spanned everything from people looking for sparring partners to gear sales to people wanting partners for entirely other things. No matter how advanced a society gets, there¡¯s always someone looking for sex. Who am I kidding? I could use a good night too, but that¡¯s not what I am looking for right now. Finally, Duke found a board that was exclusive to the Contestants, and he made a single listing. As he waited for it to post, he looked around himself at the various members of the crowd passing by. He found that the vast majority were of some human analogue with modifications. Whether they were a different color, shaped a bit differently, or had additional features, they were mostly humanoid. He wasn¡¯t sure what that meant but it was notable. The first response to his post popped up on his notifications, followed by several others that came in rapid-fire fashion. They came so quickly and in such frequency, he turned notifications off on the post. Instead, he sat back and waited for the physical responses to his post. He had, after all, posted his location for all to see. While he waited, he crafted a special Core, one that was far larger than any other he had ever made. This one was also different in that it was a perfect topographical representation of the Contest World that he created from his DUNGEON SENSE scanning of the world. The sphere was not a viable Dungeon Core, but the two-meter wide globe would serve its purpose well enough. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Duke was surprised that it took ten minutes before the first Contestant approached him. The creature was as much crustacean as human and approached Duke boldly. The language it spoke was an interesting combination of vocalizations and gestures. Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA handled it easily. ¡°You are the one who posted on the board about a way out of the city?¡± ¡°I am. Are you interested?¡± ¡°What¡¯s the deal? Nothing comes free around here.¡± ¡°You are quite right about that, but the deal is simple. I will get you out of the city to the location of your choice for a reasonable price.¡± ¡°What is the reasonable price?¡± The question was asked with the crustacean¡¯s version of sarcasm which came off as a series of triple clicks of its claws. Duke smiled disarmingly, ¡°There are two options for pricing. One is one hundred thousand Contest Points. The other is twenty percent of all Contest Points you make until the Contest is over.¡± The crustacean looked at Duke for a long moment before responding, ¡°You will put it into a system contract that I will arrive safely where I wish and all I have to give you is twenty percent of my Contest Points for the rest of the Contest?¡± ¡°Yep. Just point out where you want to go on this globe, enact the contract, and I¡¯ll get you there quickly. You¡¯ll arrive safely, but any dangers that may be waiting for you there are your problem, not mine. Deal?¡± ¡°Deal. I wish to go here.¡± He pointed to a point on the globe, an area Duke had not visited but, then again, there were few areas he had visited. In seconds the contract was finalized. Duke looked at the crustacean, ¡°Are you ready to go?¡± ¡°I am!¡± he excitedly responded, his antennae perking up for the first time. Duke nodded, and with a simple ¡°good luck¡± TELEPORTED the crustacean to his destination. His DUNGEON SENSE showed him that the creature had arrived safely. He wished his CLARIVOYANCE had enough range to see him clearly, but the Practiced-ranked Ability only had a five-kilometer range. Within ten minutes, Duke had a line of individuals wrapped around the platform waiting to make a deal with him. The vast majority were willing to make the 20% deal but there were a dozen who outright paid Duke the 100,000 Points to get out past the ¡°gate campers.¡± Duke laughed all the way to 51st place. As time went by, Duke had sent nearly 600 Contestants out of the city to various places. Each one had a system contract which had an interesting side-effect that Duke inadvertently discovered. Whenever one of them died, Duke was informed. So far, nine had perished without providing Duke with a single point. Oh well, not like it cost me anything to send them out there. Eventually, a lull came, and Duke sat back, relishing his success. Even if he only got a small stream of points from this scheme, it was as all the nameless gurus back home said passive income. The worst case would be for them to all die off. ¡°You there!¡± The voice came in an impressive harmony of multiple tones. Duke looked up to see what he could only call a walking pile of slugs. His XENOGLOSSIA was telling him that the pile of slugs was mad at him for some reason. He inclined his head, ¡°What can I do for you?¡± ¡°You can stop bypassing the city gates.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think I will. Now move along. I have more customers coming.¡± ¡°You do not understand who you are dealing with. We are Vexxorr and we will not allow you to disrupt our Point income.¡± ¡°Oh, so you are one of the Gate Campers. Cheesy strategy, but effective, I suppose. But I really don¡¯t care who or what you are.¡± The slug pile reared back, swelling with outrage. The harmonic voice now had several discordant notes, ¡°You dare to oppose us?¡± ¡°Look, Slugworth, take your everlasting gobstopper and go home. I have neither the time nor inclination to deal with your childish sense of ownership.¡± In response, the slug pile swelled further and expanded to surround Duke, cutting him off from any potential customers. ¡°We will keep you contained so that you will not interfere with us any more. And we will deal with you in the final phase.¡± Duke stood, leaning into his DUNGEON SENSE to see where the rest of these slugs resided. He saw them lying in wait around the gate designated as ¡°Senda.¡± He also noticed a few of the slugs scattered in various areas both inside and outside the city. ¡°Is that right?¡± Duke smiled at the wall of slugs around him. ¡°How about this? Let¡¯s all go out past the Senda gate and settle this once and for all?¡± ¡°Oh, yes, we like that idea.¡± ***Contest Messaging System Activated. You have received a direct message from Aculotus. Don¡¯t go out there with the slugs. If even one slug survives, they will all grow back. They are all but immortal because of it. And there are millions of them! *** Duke noted the message. It aligned with his thoughts and his plan. He continued. ¡°Just to make sure this is perfectly clear, you are fine with me taking all of you out to the Senda gate area so we can fight it out?¡± ¡°Oh, yes, let¡¯s go!¡± Duke grinned and activated TELEPORT, grabbing every single slug inside the city and every one outside the city to a single spot outside the gate. The slugs didn¡¯t hesitate. They flowed at him in a wave that would easily engulf him. Duke responded by TELEPORTING all their bodies into atoms spread across the planet¡¯s surface. It took a massive OVERCHANNELING to make sure he got them all, but their individual resistance to such an attack was minimal. In the collective, it was substantial but nothing compared to Duke¡¯s Grandmaster Ability. The nanosecond between each individual slug being targeted and destroyed was too fast for them to collectively resist, instead having to resist the Ability individually. They stood no chance. Duke pulled up his notification. *** You have killed Vexxorr, a Contestant ranked in the top ten. You gain half of their Contest Points which brings your total to 85,490,429. You are now ranked third in the Contest. You gain 298,000 (327,800) experience. You are now level 93 and have 84 Characteristic Points to spend. *** Duke returned to the platform in the city, acting as if nothing had happened. The looks from the crowd told him otherwise. Book 4, Chapter 16 As Duke set himself back up on the edge of the platform, he reflected on just how good an investment it had been to collect data on the top ten. Without the detailed breakdown of what Vexxorr was, how they fought, and what their vulnerabilities were, Duke might have been in trouble in that fight. Even the simple knowledge that they were a collective and distributed lifeform was key to his victory. And the message from Aculotus, whoever that was, turned out to be unneeded advice but would have been essentially helpful if he wasn¡¯t otherwise prepared. Duke sent them a message to come meet him. It did not take long for Aculotus to introduce herself. She turned out to be a mousekin which immediately made Duke smile at her. ¡°Thank you for your helpful message.¡± ¡°It was the least I could do for the one who made it possible for so many to escape the city and possibly find their fortune out in the wilds.¡± ¡°Speaking of which, there seems to be another line forming up.¡± ¡°Serve your customers but, please, allow me to speak with you as you do so.¡± ¡°Of course. Tell me about yourself and your role here.¡± ¡°I am but a humble representative of my Entity. She always brings Contestants, but we never leave the city. Most of us are crafters. I am a healer by trade.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all well and good, but I don¡¯t see how that truly affects me.¡± ¡°As a healer, I made a large number of acquaintances early on here and more than a few have become friends. I have seen hundreds of Contestants and more than a few of my friends fall victim to that slug monster. It was truly insidious in how it preyed on so many just trying to garner enough points for transport off-world.¡± ¡°Transport off world? What do you mean?¡± ¡°The Thousand points required to purchase an exit ticket. I know it¡¯s not something you need to worry about, but for many like me, gathering points early was the only way we were going to gather enough to be able to leave this place.¡± ¡°I apparently didn¡¯t get this briefing. What happens to those who don¡¯t have enough points to leave?¡± ¡°They die.¡± ¡°That simple, eh?¡± Another voice from the line of Contestants coming to Duke for a deal spoke up, ¡°That¡¯s why we are all lined up. There¡¯s about two thousand of us who have no chance of surviving if we can¡¯t get out of the city. Even the crafters have found that they have to craft a masterpiece to garner enough points to survive. Most don¡¯t have the resources to even get the materials to do so. That¡¯s why we are all here.¡± Duke steadily went through the line as they talked. Everyone in line was happy to accept the 20% contract and be sent outside the city. By now, Duke had noted that there were about a dozen locations that were especially popular. He decided to check them out if he had a chance to do so before things flipped over to the final phase. The naga who had spoken up from the line finally arrived and gave Duke a bow, ¡°Emerald at your service. I would greatly desire to take the 20% package and be delivered to the Challenge Fields.¡± It turned out that the Challenge Fields was the most popular of the twelve popular areas and Duke was happy to send him on his way. He turned back to Aculotus who had taken a seat next to him on the platform. ¡°I take it that you have enough points to get off-world?¡± ¡°I do. Not by a lot, but enough that I can still spend some and have a comfortable margin. Healing is a very profitable profession in a place like this.¡± The more he interacted with her, the more she reminded Duke of Nibblesworth from the Wildheart Refuge. He felt a strange pang of guilt at not having visited the Refuge before leaving as he had planned. Ultimately, he decided to set the feeling aside and just enjoy his easy point accumulation trick. Of course, the peace of the moment couldn¡¯t last. A pair of figures made their way through the crowd which seemed to easily part for them. They looked like nothing more than a pair of twin supermodels. Duke felt an enormous pressure on his Psyche as looked at them and even felt his MENTAL FORTITUDE kick in to fight off whatever effect they were emanating. A second later, he saw them for what they were ¨C a pair of vampires. They were attractive, but certainly not the celestial beauties he had seen approach. His eyes narrowed. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Our Entities would have words with you. Come with us.¡± They spoke together in harmony, their voices blending into a potent charm that none they had met could resist. ¡°And if I refuse?¡± The shock that spread across their features served to buoy Duke¡¯s mood, breaking him out of the melancholy of past regrets. He followed up, capitalizing on their shock. ¡°Just who are your Entities and why should I speak with them?¡± They pair gathered their wits and spoke again, ¡°You know our Entities, but they know you much better.¡± ¡°Oh, fuck no! Not a chance. Never gonna happen.¡± Duke¡¯s visceral reaction to the pair was loud and intense enough to break a good portion of the crowd out of their trance which elicited several shouts of anger, triggering a cascade effect of breaking them free from the vampires¡¯ aura effect. The pair were undeterred. ¡°We could make you come with us.¡± ¡°You are as fucking tone-deaf as your masters. I said no. No means no. Learn what that means. And no, you fucking can¡¯t make me come with you. You don¡¯t have the authority to do so and certainly not the power. You can¡¯t attack me in this city and using your aura like you just did against all these people could be construed as an attack, so you had just better back down, go back to the twins and tell them to fuck off!¡± ¡°They will not be pleased with this defiance.¡± ¡°They can take it up with my sponsor.¡± Duke felt the vampires¡¯ twin COMPULSION Abilities flare again. This time it was filled with an insane level of power ¨C their individual Abilities had some way to harmonize and create an intense synergy. The power washed over him and the crowd alike. Virtually every head in the crowd turned to face the vampires, fully under their thrall. As the wave slammed into Duke¡¯s mind, he felt his willpower buckle against the onslaught. His mind fought with everything it had to push back, loosening the grip he had on his terror held in his subconsciousness in the process. Thoughts and memories of horrors upon atrocities began to well up threatening to spill into his consciousness before his MENTAL FORTITUDE snapped into place with a forcefulness well beyond anything Duke had experienced from it before to shield his mind from the vampires¡¯ intrusion. *** Congratulations! You have ranked MENTAL FORTITUDE up to Master 1. Through continued supernatural trauma, you have grown your mental defenses. Your mind is now a nigh unassailable fortress. Additionally, you now have a chance to reflect a portion of any mental attack back on the attacker. *** Duke hardened his gaze at the vampires, ¡°That definitely should count as an attack. Why the hell are you not being smited right now?¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t caused anyone harm, but if you do not come with us, every single one of these people will walk out the front gate of the city and just stand there, waiting for orders. I¡¯m sure you know what will happen then.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way you can get away with this.¡± ¡°The slaver did. The precedent has been set. Now come with us.¡± As the vampire spoke, the entire crowd started to move away from the platform. When Aculotus hopped down to join the crowd heading for the gate, Duke knew he had been beaten. His conscience could not bear that many being led to their death because of him. His PURPOSE flared in response, urging him to action. With white-hot rage burning in his heat, Duke told the vampires to stop. ¡°Fine. Let them go and I¡¯ll go with you to speak with the Twins. That¡¯s it. No more.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all we asked. Now that wasn¡¯t so hard, was it?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t push your luck. Now let them go.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± The sarcasm dripped off their tongues to form a puddle the size of Lake Erie on the ground, but they did release the crowd from their thrall. All around Duke, the crowd collectively stumbled as their minds were released and their desperate fight to not walk out the gate won out. The angry cries of foul that followed echoed throughout the city. None dared to act against the vampires, but they glared and protested to the powers that be. Duke hopped down from the platform and started to follow the vampires as they pushed their way through the crowd. Despite their ire, the crowd still parted before the vampires. On the Contest World might truly made right, and these vampires had shown the entire crowd their might. The crowd backed off, but Duke didn¡¯t notice. He was busy planning the vampires¡¯ death. Just get them outside the city for an instant and they are toast. Maybe literally. Sunlight, at least this system¡¯s sunlight doesn¡¯t seem to affect them, but I¡¯m sure I can find something that does. The vampires silently led Duke to an ostentatious palatial estate within the depths of the city. It was in a section of the city that Duke had not been to before. He guessed from the number of similarly gaudy estates that this was where the various Entities resided. Every estate¡¯s gate bore a different coat of arms but none of them struck Duke as familiar. The one the vampires led him to was blatantly obvious with its twin figures on it. The gate opened for them as they approached, and they continued their silent procession towards the mansion. The silence had become oppressive and gave the air of a prisoner being led to their execution. When they entered the mansion, the vampires paused at the door and gestured for Duke to enter. He begrudgingly did so and the doors closed behind him. A voice that Duke had never expected to hear again spoke up in greeting, ¡°Hello again, Duke. I do believe we have some unfinished business.¡± Duke whirled around to see who spoke up and a single word escaped his lips, ¡°Chopie.¡± Book 4, Chapter 17 ¡°Isn¡¯t it great when old friends come to call, like your friend Chopie here. You two go back a ways now, don¡¯t you?¡± Duke saw the robed figure that spoke with him as well as its twin companion. One wore a with robe, the other black. It was the dark-robed Entity who spoke. It continued, ¡°Oh, you thought that you were the only one we could bring back from death? That¡¯s rather myopic of you. And to think, we granted your friend here everything we granted you just so that you could become twins.¡± The white-robed Entity soke up, ¡°There¡¯s nothing quite like twins. Surely you know that.¡± Chopie joined in, ¡°So, Duke. You stole my kingdom. It¡¯s only fair that I take your spot here. Don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°This is pretty piss-poor for a joke. I¡¯m leaving now.¡± Duke didn¡¯t wait for a response and turned for the door, which, of course, was no longer there. Schooling his reaction, he activated TELEPORTATION and was shocked when there wasn¡¯t even a sense of resistance ¨C it just simply did not work. Stupid Entity fuckery. Some day I am going to be strong enough that they won¡¯t be able to fuck with me like this. ¡°Did you really think we would let you leave without finishing?¡± You haven¡¯t gotten any smarter, have you?¡± Duke turned back to them, anger boiling hotter. He was about to unleash a tirade when he was interrupted by a message that he was not able to ignore. It flashed into his vision and would not minimize or otherwise go away until he read it. *** Duke, do not lash out. That is what they are trying to provoke. If they actually do anything, I¡¯ll intervene, and they do not want that. Let them say what they have to say so we know their plans. They are shit at keeping their plans secret. Prepare for the monologue. Duologue? Whatever. Just let them ramble on. *** Duke noted the message from the Overmind and schooled his expression and returned to them with a smile, ¡°So, you created a mini-me out of this idiot? You didn¡¯t even grab his twin sister? What kind of weak attempt is this?¡± ¡°Sister? Twin sister? Did you even look for that?¡± The black robe lashed out at the white robe. ¡°White robe responded, ¡°I found the subject. What were you doing at the time? No, don¡¯t speak. I¡¯ll tell you exactly what you were doing ¨C nothing! You could have at least paid attention!¡± ¡°I found the first subject!¡± ¡°And look how well that worked out!¡± Duke looked over to Chopie to see the man completely bewildered and lost as his masters continued to argue. He decided to make things worse and spoke to the man, ¡°You know they are going to be at it for hours. Did anyone tell you what you were getting into with those two as your masters?¡± Chopie stared back at Duke, still incredulous. His grand plan for lording his new Abilities over the upstart crumbling around him by the second. Finally, words stumbled out of his mouth, growing in confidence as he spoke ¡°I¡­I have every Ability they gave you and I have been training them all up. I am your superior in all things! Surrender your ranking to me!¡± ¡°That¡¯s the best you got? Really? So, you Grandmastered everything already?¡± ¡°Grand¡­what?¡± ¡°You have all your, what, four Abilities up to Grandmaster already?¡± ¡°Four? I have all three at Adept, almost Master! I am beyond powerful! I can heal from anything and can go wherever I want whenever I want!¡± ¡°Oh, child. You are so far behind the curve. You know I hated you back on Teldin. You were a petty and cruel king, focused on your own power plays at the cost of your citizenry. But to see you now, see what they have made you ¨C I have to say that I pity you. You will always be chasing after me and falling further behind by the day if you don¡¯t stop and change who you are.¡± Chopie stared back at Duke, his mouth opening and closing like a fish as he tried to process what he had just said. Duke could see the man¡¯s brain trying to connect with Duke¡¯s words. ¡°But, we are enemies. You killed me!¡± ¡°And you sentenced me to death, at least twice. You enslaved your own citizens, sentenced them to unimaginably horrible deaths only to bring them back as undead. Who¡¯s the bad guy here?¡± As Duke spoke, he pushed his Psyche out, putting invisible pressure on Chopie. Meanwhile, he could still hear the twins continuing their heated argument. It did not sound like they were going to end their argument anytime soon. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°You see, Chopie. The twins are assholes. Cosmically powerful assholes, but assholes all the same. They didn¡¯t bring you back for you, they brought you back to use you as a tool against me. Don¡¯t let them use you like that.¡± Duke could see the combination of his Psyche and words were starting to have an effect, swaying Chopie. It didn¡¯t hurt that the man was so obviously confused as to who he was and what his purpose really was. Duke decided to go for the finishing blow. ¡°Come on, lets go out the door and get out of their influence. Make the choice to be free of them, if only for now.¡± Duke continued to push with his Psyche and felt his PURPOSE flare to add additional weight. Chopie finally folded under the pressure. He nodded to Duke and quietly made his way to the door, opening it easily. Duke did not wait to follow him out the door and quickly through the gate of the estate. ¡°OK, we are out of their estate, but they can still operate within the city, Chopie. Let me take you to a safe place outside the city where they can¡¯t follow.¡± Chopie nodded and Duke TELEPORTED them to the cavern where he had set up the Forge dungeon. He immediately started making a new Dungeon Core while Chopie looked around the cavern, attempting to get his bearings. Duke planted the Dungeon Core while Chopie had his back turned with a gentle toss behind a stalagmite. The dungeon was not complex and it formed in a matter of seconds, the entryway having all the trapping of a gilded place gate. Duke smiled as Chopie stared at it, still unsteady from the push of Duke¡¯s Psyche. ¡°Come on in. This is the safest place in the whole of this world.¡± Duke opened the palace door and stepped in with Chopie on his heels. ¡°This is wonderous. It reminds me so much of my own palace.¡± Chopie¡¯s expression changed with his words as he broke free of Duke¡¯s influence. Anger coated his words as he continued, ¡°The palace that you stole from me! The LIFE you stole from me. Now I¡¯m going to take your life once and for all!¡± Duke had already used DUNGEON ENGINEERING to move the exit to the other side of the maze of passages that made up the ¡°palace,¡± so his next move was almost academic in its simplicity. He TELEPORTED outside the dungeon, a feat only possible for someone with Mastery over TELEPORTATION and experience crossing interdimensional barriers. Something he was sure Chopie had never encountered in all his ¡°practice.¡± Finally, he collapsed the Dungeon Core back down and tossed it in his INVENTORY. Duke chuckled to himself and made his way back to the surface, TELEPORTING back to his place on the platform in the city. He found that the majority of the crowd had dissipated and dispersed. He shrugged and looked towards the crowd to see if there were any more who wanted to get out of the city for a chance to earn points. As he waited, he was amused by the fact that no one had disturbed the globe he had left behind. Guess nobody wanted a globe souvenir. By ones and twos, Contestants came up to Duke to find out if he was still offering safe passage out of the city. ¡°Of course I am still offering passage out. Same deal as always. 100,000 points or 20%.¡± It took less than five minutes for Duke to be mobbed again. The press of the crowd increased as the bottom ranks finally had hope of surviving the Contest. All they had to do was kill enough monsters in the wild to gather the thousand points. Two or three kills could be enough to earn the points. Duke just hoped there wasn¡¯t someone waiting for the hopefuls to arrive so they could be butchered. As he quickly worked through the crowd, he found it remarkable that these were all beings of at least Tier Five, and they were reduced to this desperate plight. Back on Teldin, they would have all been powerhouses, able to carve nations out for themselves. It made him wonder if Teldin as a whole was wildly underpowered. I wonder if it¡¯s a Mana density thing or if being on one of the outer arms of its galaxy has something to do with it. When the crowd started to part around a figure approaching him, Duke prepared himself for another unfriendly encounter. He watched as the overly large cloaked figure pushed its way past those impatiently waiting for a chance to make a deal with Duke. What was most odd was that every individual who was pushed out of the way left the area. Finally, the figure stood in front of Duke, it¡¯s head at eye-level for him due to the platform¡¯s height. Two scaled and clawed hands reached up and pulled the hood back over its head revealing itself. A draconian smile split its features as Mole offered Duke a tray of food. ¡°I thought you might be hungry from all this work, friend.¡± ¡°Thank you, Mole. I am hungry and this will hit the spot,¡± Duke acknowledged another customer before returning his attention to Mole. He distractedly accepted the customer¡¯s contract and sent them on their way. All the time, he remained focused on Mole. ¡°It is my pleasure. You are getting quite the reputation out here, Duke. The number three Contestant helping the bottom of the barrel to escape certain death. Do you have some sort of hero complex?¡± ¡°No, not really. Excuse me a moment. Yes? Contract accepted and off you go. Now where were we? Oh yes, not a hero complex. I simply saw a business opportunity and have taken it. Every one of these fine folks is willing to give me 20% of their Points earnings for the rest of the Contest. In order for them to survive, they will have to earn enough points to have 1,000 points after paying me my 20%. Since they have been trapped here, most have a few points at most. Even if they have 500 points already. They will need to earn another 625 to be left with 1,000. That gives me 125 points for that person. I figure I¡¯ll make at least 15,000 points, probably closer to 100,000, just sitting on my ass and waiting for the Final Phase to begin.¡± He stared at Duke for a moment before breaking out in laughter. ¡°You are one-of-a-kind, Duke. One of a kind.¡± ¡°Often imitated, never duplicated. I like to say.¡± ¡°Yes indeed.¡± Mole hopped up onto the platform next to Duke and kept him company while the crowd started to get more and more desperate as the day wore on. He heard nothing more from the Twins or their vampires. Book 4, Chapter 18 The clock in Duke¡¯s interface had clicked over to the final day some time ago. The hours until the Final Phase were ticking down, and he still didn¡¯t know what the Final Phase would entail. He just knew that in the entire time he was sitting on the platform he had not seen another being in the top 100 pass by. He did not know if that was because they were preparing, out garnering more points, or in some sort of staging area that he was missing out on. Having no information as to what he should expect was getting on his nerves. He had reached out to the Overmind through the messaging system. Repeatedly. All he ever got back was a cryptic message that he didn¡¯t need to worry about it. He was, of course, at least slightly worried about it. Sure, he had exceptional scouting reports for the rest of the top ten, that left ninety powerhouses that he had no information on other than the drip and drabs that were publicly available. On top of all that, his distraction had dried up. There was no more crowd waiting to be sent away but he did have one final distraction running ¨C his points steadily increasing. In total, he had sent more than 1,300 Contestants out into the world and they were all trying their best to accumulate points. As he watched, his point total ticked up by at least 10 or 15 points every second. He smiled as he watched it increase. Could I have gotten more points by heading out myself and killing everything I came upon? Sure. Would I possibly have had to reveal some more capabilities? Likely. I shouldn¡¯t be concerned. Right? Fuck it. I¡¯m going to go take a nap. Duke hopped down from the platform and headed to the grand Inn opposite it. This was the most ¡°expensive¡± Inn and cost a whopping 50,000 points a night. Duke paid the points without a second thought and headed up to his assigned room. The room turned out to be a suite that reminded Duke of a Vegas high-roller¡¯s suite. Or at least what they looked like in the movies. He had only been to Vegas once and he was nowhere near ever a high-roller. In a world that seemed to focus on a more sword and sorcery style of life, this room had much more of a ¡°modern¡± look to Duke. The polished marble flooring a buttery-soft leather furniture caught Duke¡¯s eye. Even the bar on the side of the living room caught Duke¡¯s attention. He headed over and looked through the drink offerings. He didn¡¯t recognize any of the labels or even the types of liquor listed, but his instincts told him they were all top-shelf. He lingered briefly, considering taking a drink but ultimately decided to head to bed. The bedroom was decorated in similar opulence with gold inlaid in the carvings on the dresser and the posts of the bed. Ignoring it all, he dove onto the bed to be caught in its embrace. The bed absorbed his impact easily, literally wrapping him up in a comforting embrace. Duke¡¯s adrenaline spiked as he realized that the bed was actively wrapping him up. IDENTIFY fired off instinctively. *** You have encountered Beddy 14, a tamed Mimic in the employ of the Everlasting Inn. Further details have been masked by an Entity. *** Tamed Mimic? What the fuck is that? Duke felt the bed settle down around him, releasing its grip to gently caress his body. He shuddered and flew out of the bed. ¡°Fuck that. I¡¯m sleeping on the couch.¡± The bed responded, ¡°Beddie sorry. You so tense. Beddie thought you needed massage.¡± ¡°Oh, hell no.¡± Duke made his way over to the couch but paused before even touched it and activated IDENTIFY. *** You have encountered Couchy 14, a tamed Mimic in the employ of the Everlasting Inn. Further details have been masked by an Entity. *** ¡°Nope. I¡¯m out.¡± Duke didn¡¯t hesitate to TELEPORT down to the hotel¡¯s lobby. He arrived right next to the check-in desk and tossed his room key at the clerk. The red-skinned demon cocked his head in confusion before asking, ¡°Is something wrong with your room sir?¡± If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I¡¯m not sleeping on a fucking monster. If I wanted to do that, I¡¯d have gone to the Inn a few streets away and hired the goddammed succubus for the night.¡± The clerk feigned outrage, ¡°Sir, I assure you that the mimics are all perfectly tamed and completely harmless. In fact, their shapeshifting Abilities have been honed to the point that they can satisfy you every need during your stay.¡± Without another word, Duke walked right out the door and back into the city which had become emptier than he had remembered even before heading into the Inn. The streets were nearly deserted, giving the city the feel of a ghost town. Duke activated his DUNGEON SENSE with enough of a span to cover the entire planet. What he saw was countless people and creatures far outside the city, desperately fighting for the last few points needed to survive the day¡¯s end. A quick check of the clock showed only twelve hours left. Duke shook his head and headed for the building where he had met with the Overmind previously. He wanted some answers but was sure that he was not going to get them just standing around. The same nondescript black brick building greeted him, and Duke headed for the door. It opened easily for him, allowing entry into the disturbing starfield. He entered the building, the door closing behind him and completing the starfield. ¡°Took you long enough.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been wandering around in the dark with little to no clue for hours. You even jumped onto a mimic of all things and paid handsomely for the experience. Clearly you are feeling all sorts of lost right now.¡± ¡°You could say that. My timer is ticking down, and I still have no idea what this Final Phase is supposed to look like. I¡¯m more than a little frustrated and, for some reason, my sponsor is ignoring me.¡± ¡°Not ignoring you, keeping up appearances.¡± ¡°What the fuck is that supposed to mean?¡± ¡°OK, Duke, take a seat and we¡¯ll talk.¡± He paused, until Duke angrily sat down. ¡°First off, this is the first time I have brought a Contestant to the Contest in at least three or four hundred million years. The last time, it was really just to test things out.¡± Duke stared back at the Overmind, nonplussed. The entity winked his orb in response and continued. ¡°You see, Duke, this world is unique in that it was constructed through the combined will of most of the elder Entities. It was made so that we have some way to compete with each other that doesn¡¯t wipe out vast swaths of habitable worlds. That is what the Contest is all about.¡± ¡°So, you are all fighting by proxy through your Contestants. They¡­we are your pawns.¡± ¡°For most Entities, that is the case. That is what the twins intended for you from the start. But for you, this is different.¡± ¡°So, you are saying that I¡¯m not your pawn?¡± ¡°Not like the others use their Contestants. They are looking for entertainment. I am looking for revenge.¡± ¡°What the hell are you looking for revenge for? Who could possibly hurt you?¡± The Overmind shifted into the avatar that it most commonly used when visiting Duke in the Inn. Pulling up a chair, it leaned closer to Duke conspirationally before speaking. ¡°Duke, they have been purging my dungeons from countless worlds. This has been happening for thousands of years and I am tired of it. I have lost billions of dungeons over this time. Do you have any idea how much has been taken away from me over this time? Billions, Duke. Billions of my creations and cores lost to their deprivations.¡± The Overmind interrupted Duke¡¯s response and continued, ¡°That is the sole reason I designed your Class. You are the first, and really the only one to ever hold it. So, I guess you could see it as me manipulating you. But I see it as more guiding you. I¡¯ve given you the tools and you have done what you will with them.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying that you made me what I am just for this Contest?¡± ¡°Yes, but more for what comes afterwards. When you win the Contest, they will not be able to stop us from repopulating the dungeons throughout the Cosmos.¡± ¡°You seem pretty sure that I¡¯m going to win the Contest.¡± ¡°Yes, I am certain of it.¡± ¡°Why? I¡¯ve seen the dossiers on the rest of the top ten. Kaelion Varis has the Ability to simply unmake his opponents, reducing them to goo. No one has ever been able to hurt Ragnar Volthorn. Thryxxion moves faster than the speed of light. How am I going to beat all of them? Don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯ll do everything I can to win, but these are powerhouses of the highest order.¡± You say you¡¯ll do everything to win?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Then they don¡¯t stand a chance.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t follow.¡± The Overmind grinned viciously, ¡°The Final Phase takes place in an area that I created.¡± ¡°An area that you created. Great, you can tell me all about the area so I can be completely prepared. Tell me about every nuance and trick to win there.¡± The Overmind grinned broader, ¡°Duke, check your countdown.¡± Duke looked at his countdown clock in annoyance. His eyes widened in shock as he saw that he was down to one minute. He looked at the Overmind in confusion. Still grinning, the Overmind spoke, ¡°Time manipulation is very simply for an Entity of my caliber. Even the Twins can do some, but not to this level. But that is not what you should focus on. What does it mean when I say that I built the area for the Final Phase?¡± Duke looked up in confusion before the realization dawned on him. ¡°The Final Phase takes place in a dungeon!¡± Duke only caught the start of the Overmind¡¯s cackling as he was transported out of the room for the start of the Final Phase of the Contest. Book 4, Chapter 19 Duke appeared with the other 99 top-tier Contestants in what appeared to be an ancient underground city. They were in a central square dominated by a fountain with statues of all manners of creatures that the water flowed from, cascading from one to another until it finally came to rest in a hundred-meter wide pool. The statues depicted winners of the last thousand Contests. Along the edges of the massive cavern were buildings carved into the very walls of stone. There were roads leading outwards from the central fountain like spokes of a wheel. Duke counted thirty-six spokes that were all equidistantly placed. The rest of the city appeared to have been carved in place as the area was hollowed out. Each and every building was made of seamless stone, painstakingly polished, and carved with wildly differing styles. Duke examined his surroundings carefully, ignoring the Contestants surrounding him ¨C there would be plenty of time for dealing with them later. Instead, he sought to understand the dungeon they clearly were in. His DUNGEON SENSE expanded outwards, taking in the entire dungeon, and quickly recognizing that it was incredibly detailed and vast. The exposed and accessible dungeon area covered a volume that he guessed would be similar to the inside of a small planet. His senses brought volumes of information to him that he was only able to catalog and barely brush over before a figure descended from the tallest tower of the city carved around them. It was a winged figure clad in sturdy white cloth that glowed with power. As it descended, its feathered wings gently flapped, controlling its descent. The crowd of Contestants stepped back from the center as the creature came to rest in the air above them. When it spoke, the voice resonated with power and authority, ¡°Welcome, Elite Contestants. I am Zyphor the Arbiter. It is my voice and my judgement that will dictate this, the Final Phase of the Contest. Make no mistake. You would not have made it this far without being powerful beyond your Tiers, but in this realm, even Entities must bow to my authority, and you shall do the same.¡± He paused to wait for their reactions. ¡°Good, none of you are stupid enough to expect yourselves, or even your masters, to be on top of the food chain, at least not in my realm. The rest of the Contest shall take place here, in my realm. There will be a series of tests, events, and challenges until we get down to one ultimate winner. As with the initial period, this is not necessarily a game of death, but it is likely that many of you will die along the way. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Conserve your resources or spend them as you see fit but know this: There will be no opportunity to resupply. There are no merchants here selling consumables, replacement weapons, or armor. There may be some of these items provided for achieving certain goals, but do not expect them. Any questions before we get started?¡± ¡°Is there any area where we are not allowed to fight, to hunt, to kill?¡± ¡°Any area is fair game for combat, but if you interrupt me, there will be consequences for you. Now that all that is out of the way, I shall explain the first competition to you all.¡± Duke looked around the group, allowing his XENOGLOSSIA to read the attitudes around him. It was easy to pick out the two-dozen or so who were just waiting for Zyphor to be done so they could start trying to kill each other. He marked each of them in his mind, carefully placing himself so that none were directly at his back. He returned his attention to the dungeon avatar. ¡°This first competition will eliminate half of you.¡± He paused as the angry disruption propagated through the crowd. After a second, he held up his hand and continued, ¡°Do not interrupt me again.¡± His power flared into a suppressive field unlike any that Duke had ever experienced in the past. This suppression was a full six ranks, causing any Ability below Grandmaster to simply cease working. Duke chuckled inwardly as he felt the uniqueness of his Class effortlessly shrug off the suppression. Seconds later, Zyphor, lifted the suppression field and the crowd of Contestants visibly relaxed. ¡°As I was saying, half of you will be eliminated in this first competition. NONE of you need perish, but with individuals such as yourselves, it is a likely outcome. You will be divided into two groups of fifty. One group will win, one group will lose.¡± He paused as the information rippled through the crowd. Membranes rippled, hands tightened on weapons, and tentacles flexed. Zyphor continued, ¡°I will now separate you by ranking. Odd numbered ranks will compete against even numbered ranks.¡± With a dramatic flash of light, Duke felt himself moved to a new location. It was a chamber decorated like the lobby of a fancy hotel with finely crafted chairs and couches set up in small groupings for gatherings of friends or colleagues. A hexagonal glass chamber dominated the center of the room and, judging by the suspended walkways radiating from points above it, Duke surmised that it was an elevator of some kind. Zyphor appeared in the room, hovering over the elevator. ¡°Good, none of you were stupid enough to start killing each other just yet. When I start the competition, you all will be tasked with a singular goal.¡± He held up two ornately decorated flags that were attached to two-meter flagpoles. ¡°Your team¡¯s flag is red-themed while your opponent¡¯s flag is blue-themed.¡± He held up each flag as he mentioned them. ¡°Do any of you not possess the sensory organs to discern between these two flags?¡± Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. This pause was a bit longer as he searched the crowd for any reaction. ¡°Good. I am going to hide both flags in the competition area. Your goal is to get your opponent¡¯s flag and bring it back here while preventing your opponent from capturing your flag and bringing it back to their base of operations. Neither team is permitted to enter the opposing team¡¯s base of operations or attack anyone within the base. And since combat is prohibited in the operations bases, you may not bring your own flag into your base of operations. Any questions?¡± ¡°No? good. Prepare yourselves as you have ten minutes to establish a plan before this competition begins. Win and you stay in the Contest. Lose and you are eliminated.¡± That said, he vanished from the room. Immediately the room descended into a cacophony of voices as everyone had their own plan and few were in agreement. Duke stayed out of the conversation, instead focusing on his DUNGEON SENSE, pushing it to fill the competition area so he would know the instant that the flags were placed. Around him, the arguments continued. Kaelion Varis eventually took control of the group, using the strength of his intimidating presence to cow others into listening. ¡°Now that you all have had time to babble, here is what we are going to do. We will split our forces into four teams. One will focus on slowing or stopping our competition. One will be scouting the area to locate the flags. The remaining two teams will focus on obtaining the two flags and defending them until we can get their flag back here. I know most of you by reputation if not in person.¡± Duke was able to read the room with his XENOGLOSSIA Ability and could see that there were few that agreed with Kaelion Varis in this approach but fewer still that had any intention of countering the black-maned leonid. He continued by assigning individuals to teams. Duke barely noticed when he was assigned to the enemy¡¯s flag retrieval team. ¡°One last thing. Kreen, here is going to link us together in her communication network so we will all know what is happening out there. Anyone have anything to add?¡± Zyphor appeared at that moment smiling, ¡°I do. The flags have been placed and the countdown to this round is nearly complete. You should all see it on your screens. No one may leave this chamber until the counter expires. Good luck. I say that to be polite. I could care less who wins or loses. I just have a role to fill.¡± Duke had pinpointed the location of both flags the instant they were planted. To his DUNGEON SENSE they glowed, highlighting themselves against the background. Zyphor said that we weren¡¯t allowed to leave the chamber before the countdown finishes. He didn¡¯t say anything about bringing something into the chamber. Let¡¯s see how this goes. Duke flexed his TELEPORTATION to bring the enemy flag right into his INVENTORY. He was prepared to OVERCHANNEL the Ability if there was significant resistance. Instead, the flag rested in his INVENTORY effortlessly and he chuckled inwardly. Easiest competition ever. With another thought, he activated his DUNGEON ENGINEERING, and buried his team¡¯s flag under ten meters of dungeon stone. He joined the rest of the team in watching his countdown. When the countdown hit zero, everyone sprung into action. The scout group rushed out of the chamber, spreading out down various passages in search of the two flags. The interdiction team likewise raced out but kept together with Varis in the lead. Duke easily read the hunger in the leonid¡¯s gaze. He was hunting and that was clearly what he was most interested in doing. The final two groups waited for word that either flag had been located, tension rippling through their bodies. Except Duke. He found a comfortable couch and stretched out, his back on the armrest, one leg extended and one foot of the floor. He pulled out an item from his INVENTORY that he had not used nearly enough in his opinion. Using his DUNGEON ENGINEERING, he created a lowball glass and retrieved his Bottle of Eternal Whiskey to pour himself a glass. As it had been when he first sampled it, the whiskey was wonderfully smooth and he relished the taste even if the alcohol no longer had any effect on him. ¡°How can you relax when we will be called into action at any moment?¡± A green-skinned Contestant that Duke did not really have any information on nearly shouted at him. The creature looked largely amphibian with large eyes set on either side of its head, slightly forward of center. ¡°Because we are going to win this competition, and we are not even going to need to leave this chamber to do so.¡± ¡°How can you be so confident?¡± ¡°I have already seen it,¡± Duke smiled back at his accuser. With a gesture, another glass was formed and he poured a glass, offering it to the green-skinned creature who took it with a frown which highlighted its sharp needle-like teeth. It studied the drink, trying to decide whether to drink it or not. ¡°It¡¯s whiskey.¡± Duke clinked his glass against the other and downed his drink, enjoying the warmth as it slid down his throat and into his stomach. He poured himself another drink as the creature tossed the drink into the back of its own throat with a wide-open mouth. Apparently, it was difficult to do so without its teeth interfering with the act of drinking. The coughing and sputtering that followed surprised Duke almost as much as it did the creature. It dropped the glass, spraying shattered glass along the polished marble floor. The reaction from the others in the lobby was interestingly mixed. Some rushed over to help while most ignored the incident. Duke, himself, had stood up to help the creature who waved everyone off in embarrassment. ¡°Sorry about that. It¡¯s just whiskey, shouldn¡¯t hurt anyone at our level.¡± Finally, the creature got its coughing under control. ¡°Nothing to do with the drink. It¡¯s just too dry here for my taste. I didn¡¯t realize just how dry I have gotten.¡± The crowd who had come to its aid didn¡¯t exactly disperse but they stepped back. Duke had subtly cleaned up the broken glass and had put a dozen glasses of whiskey on the coffee table before him. He smiled to the group, ¡°Anyone for some whiskey? We are going to be waiting for a while.¡± Book 4, Chapter 20 The first fifteen minutes of the challenge were a frantic rush as no one knew where the flags were. Their interdiction team had taken up position blocking the entrance to the competition¡¯s base while a group from the opposing team had done the same to their own base. Neither side had claimed to locate a flag but the area to cover was significant and the search pressed on. The greatest concern on Duke¡¯s team was the speedster, Thryxxion on the other team wo everyone was convinced had scouted the entire area already. The fact that he hadn¡¯t run back into their base or at least run into the speed trap that was set up at the entrance to their base confused everyone. Varis was convinced that Thryxxion would be the first to find a flag and had based their strategy on intercepting him. Right now, it appeared that the strategy was either failing or something unplanned for was occurring. The uncertainty was driving them to desperate action. On the blue team, things were equally intense. Their speedster had come up empty-handed which threw their entire strategy into shambles. Their team had left the base confident that they would have one, if not both flags before the red team could get halfway to one. They had scouted the entire area quickly with Thryxxion¡¯s speed and came up with nothing. The insectoid Contestant was on his third run of the entire area and completely frustrated. Frustration bred mistakes and that was what Duke was hoping for. He continued to relax in his base, knowing the outcome was already set. His DUNGEON SENSE was locked in on the area, watching every movement. It was difficult to track the speedster directly, but he was able to tell that Thryxxion was as panicked as the rest of both teams. Duke smiled as he saw the exact moment things went from competitive to violent. It was exactly what he was waiting for. Thryxxion had been pushing himself for an hour at his extreme speeds. He was drained, his reserves faltering. With dread in his fluttering heart, he made the move to return to his base and refuel himself. He needed rest and food as he suspected that this would be a longer competition than any of them had planned. He made one final sprint for his base. When he approached, he saw the red team waiting for him and contemptuously increased his speed to his maximum. When travelling so fast, Thryxxion was able to see details that others missed which is what told him that he had made a grievous error. His third step through his foes was greeted with the springing of a temporal trap. The trap was designed to alter the flow of time for its victim, slowing them down relative to the rest of the world by an enormous factor. For most everyone, it all but froze them in place. For him, it slowed him down to the speed of a very fast Tier Seven fighter, which was easily within the capacity of anyone left in the Contest to handle. As the first attacks formed, he pushed his speed faster than he ever had before, tapping into his soul reserve to push beyond his previous limits. He dodged attack after attack as his speed increased. Every step pushed his Master-ranked speed boost further, calling on reserves that he had never dared tap into before. Thryxxion twisted past a scything blade aimed at his thorax, his speed increasing exponentially as his soul reserves were poured into his Ability. Finally, an eternity later, his Ability pushed past the threshold, and he sprinted past the last of the red team and into the blue base of operations. As he passed through the doorway, the temporal field fell away in an instant and he tried to stop. He did manage to slow himself down significantly, but not anywhere near enough. He burst into his team lobby at a speed greater than he knew was safe but the instantaneous loss of resistance against his newly pushed limits was jarring. He managed to slow himself down to a hundredth of his normal speed before he impacted the far wall of the lobby. That was still, however, a significant percentage of the speed of light. Instantly, every contingent protective Spell and magitech barrier he had layered on over the years triggered, doing their utmost to mitigate the impact. Every contingency he had imagined was focused on one thing and one thing only ¨C his own survival. Immense magics redirected the kinetic energy away from him, virtually negating the effects of the impact on himself and directing it all away from him. There were two more factors in play here. One, the wall of the room was the absolutely immutable substance of the dungeon, made so by the controlling will of the pocket dimension of the dungeon itself. As such it reflected the entirety of the energy of the impact back into the room. The second factor was the nature of the room itself. The dungeon had made the room a no-violence area and as such the devastating effects of the impact were shunted out of the room ¨C through the entryway. The temporal net covering the entrance to the lobby had begun to fail when Thryxxion had penetrated it. The field generator overloaded which sent wild fluctuations in the field itself. Some areas in the field held slowed time, while others had time accelerated significantly. When the force, heat, and radiation of the blast equivalent to an atomic bomb going off and being channeled into an immutable passage the size of a hallway struck the fluctuating field, it was amplified further in this localized area. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The team of eleven who had been sent to guard the lobby entrance had been confident that their trap would work and were still reaching for the now absent speedster when the blast tore through them. Jets of superheated atoms twisted and warped as they met with the distorted time fields. The ultimate effect was as if atom-thick blades of force scythed through the team. Any normal person subjected to this devastation would have been annihilated instantly. These Contestants were made of far sterner stuff, however. They were merely cut into chunks. Contingent healing and lifesaving Spells and Abilities triggered as the blast wave passed through and onwards down the hall, expanding, and reducing in intensity as it hit countless side passages. When it was all done, seven of the eleven Contestants managed to survive by expending every healing and lifesaving trick they had saved up. They were still battered and most still carried wounds that had yet to heal. And then their luck turned for the worse. Eight Contestants who had been held in reserve and have been penned-in by the red team burst through the doorway and attacked with everything they had. The red team Contestants were only outnumbered by one and might have been able to match the blue team¡¯s reserve if not for their sorry state. The fight was over quickly with surprise and the freshness of their wounds placing the red team at too much of a disadvantage. When the first of their number went down after having been double-teamed, it quickly devolved into a rush of collapsing dominoes. Still, three of the blue team had died in the fighting. Duke observed all of this with disinterest through his DUNGEON SENSE. It was all falling within his expectation and plan. He suppressed a grin as the last remnants of the blast puffed against the entrance going unnoticed by most in the room. Conversations started up tension mounted. ¡°Someone should have found one of the flags by now, and here we sit, doing nothing. This doesn¡¯t sit right with me. I didn¡¯t join this Contest to have my victory or defeat determined by someone else. I¡¯m going out there to seize my destiny!¡± Others responded in kind, voicing their support for going out and finding the flag on their own. Duke considered sitting back and watching but decided this would be a great way to reveal he had found the flag without having to reveal it in the lobby. Seconds later, the red reserve group had left and was scouring the area just like everyone else. Conflicts continued as the two teams¡¯ frustrations boiled over. Each saw the other team as the enemy in more than just assignment. As word of the deaths near the blue base spread, tensions continued to rise. Every time opposing members met, fighting broke out. Duke¡¯s group was no exception. After nearly a dozen inconclusive fights, Duke decided it was time to thin the herd so to speak. He knew that everyone involved was a powerhouse but he also knew that when powerhouses fought like this, there was opportunity. It came when his team that now consisted of six of them ran into a group of eight blues. In this group, Duke recognized Ragnar Volthorn, the Contestant that was ranked just underneath him at 4th before the finals. He immediately reviewed what he knew about the creature that seemed to be made of glowing green energy. Ragnar was known to have a venomous touch, his energy invading the bodies of his opponents and breaking down their internal organs like acid. He was also known for being immune to virtually every attack that has been tried. This was one of the opponents that Duke had been most concerned with when speaking with the Overmind. Still, he engaged just like his fellow teammates. As fate would have it, Duke was not the first one that Volthorn went after, leaving Duke free to deal with others. Since they were outnumbered, he would up facing off against a pair of thin grey creatures that reminded him of Greslarnier. As he quickly discovered, they shared their penchant for mental powers. The pair combined their mental might in an attack on Duke¡¯s mind. The assault would have been crippling, injecting despair and hopelessness overlaid with paralysis directly into his mind. Voices full of authority were simulated to well up from the depths of his personality to lull him into inactivity and helplessness. The combined assault was particularly powerful with their minds¡¯ powers intertwining and pushing their way into their victim¡¯s mind. Duke looked at the pair and slowly stepped backwards from them, his hands held up in front of him, his eyes unfocused. Each step took him further away from the group and the pair pursued him relentlessly. They matched him step-for-step as he backed down the hall playing terrified and overwhelmed. All the while, Duke could hear the sounds of the fighting getting worse and worse. From his DUNGEON SIGHT, his side was on the losing end and it was getting bloody. More than one life-saving measure had been triggered. None seemed to have an answer for Volthorn. Finally, Duke was far enough away that he felt he could slip away and not be missed from the rest of the fight. He struck. Two heavily OVERCHANNELED IMPLOSIONS, each directed at their heads activated. The whole time he had been backpedaling, he had also been studying them with his various senses. They were so focuses on pounding through his MENTAL FORTITUDE and Psyche that they did not notice his probing. What he had found was that they each had a secondary brain deep within their skulls that seemed to be the source of their Ability. It was these secondary brains that were the target of the IMPLOSIONS. In seconds, the Ability reduced the pair to naught but compressed flesh. Their screams of anguish echoed through Duke¡¯s mind. His hands clutched to his head, he crumpled as the echoes gained strength, pounding at his mental defenses before suddenly being absorbed by his subconscious. Once again, the pressure in his mind increased. He retreated back to the base to recover. Book 4, Chapter 21 Duke sat back in the base alone and in pain. The anguish and horrors roiling in his subconscious had been filled to the limit by the Entity known as The Eye of Infinity and since then, he had only added more. The final screams of terror from the pair of psychic beings had torn through his mind before being absorbed into his overloaded subconscious. And now, it all threatened to break loose and consume him. Consciously forcing himself to stay calm, Duke poured himself a drink and reviewed his notifications, hoping that there would be something that could help him in his current plight. *** Congratulations, you have killed two more Contestants. Both were Tier Eight and over level 300. You receive 708,500 (779,250) experience bringing you to level 99. You now have 168 Characteristic Points to spend. You have indirectly caused the deaths of 36 other Contestants so far and receive a reduced amount of experience for their deaths. Even at one tenth of the experience earned for killing them, you receive 879,900 (967,890) additional experience. You are now level 110 and have 476 Characteristic Points to spend. Your Abilities have seen growth as of late. Your DUNGEON ENGINEERING has increased to Master 52 Your OVERCHANNEL has increased to Master 34 Your MENTAL FORTITUDE has increased to Adept 159 Your UMBRAL REAPER has increased to Master 21 Your SIMULCASTING has increased to Adept 21 Your CLEANSE has increased to Adept 16 Your RESTORE has increased to Master 267 Your SENSE MAGIC has increased to Initiate 37 Your CLAIRVOYANCE has increased to Practiced 10 Your DUNGEON SENSE has increased to Master 221 Your IMPLOSION has increased to Practiced 63 *** Duke poured over his increases but became increasingly puzzled at the increase in UMBRAL REAPER. He knew for sure that he had not used the Ability at all and yet, it had increased. This caused him to search through the countless messages that had been shunted to run in the background, the activity logs so to speak. It was there he found a disturbing series of messages: *** Your UMBRAL REAPER containment has reached its limit for current rank and level. Additional psychic trauma will spill over into your own consciousness. You have absorbed psychic trauma beyond the ability of your UMBRAL REAPER to contain. MENTAL FORTITUDE has been engaged to resist additional psychic trauma. MENTAL FORTITUDE has reached the maximum level for this rank but cannot rank up as it is in constant use. Relieve the psychic pressure to allow the Ability to rank-up. *** Great, so the Ability I¡¯m supposed to hold until the end is ready to burst and is leaking psychic trauma into my mind and the Ability that fights psychic trauma is stuck until the psychic trauma is stopped. What the fuck am I supposed to do with all that? And how long should I let them fight it out while I sit in here and wait to spring the ¡°I had the flag all along¡± surprise. They¡¯re going to be pissed at me for sure. The chaos has already killed a third of the remaining contestants. I don¡¯t know if that was what was intended but it is sure making my odds better. Placing his free Characteristic Points into Psyche brought his raw score above 11,000 with an effective value over 120,000. It relieved the pressure in his mind slightly, enough that his thoughts flowed more clearly and he didn¡¯t feel completely distracted. Duke continued to sip his whiskey, keeping an eye on what was going on outside the lobby with his DUNGEON SENSE. With the exception of Kaelion Varis, his red team was losing and badly. The blue team had consolidated their remaining members into a single group and were hunting down any red members they could find. The red team was far less of a team at this point. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Seeing the situation, Duke pushed the red flag deeper and deeper under the rock. It was more than a kilometer down before he felt comfortable that it would not be found. His strategy had shifted a bit from what it had started out as. Now, he was trying to eliminate as many competitors as possible. The one concern he had was that Varis appeared to be unstoppable, killing opponents quickly with his Ability. He was a particular focus of Duke¡¯s study. He used every sensory Ability he possessed to try and understand the Ability and find some way to counter it but as of yet, he had made no progress. Varis¡¯ opponents just seemed to cease to exist. There was no indication of how he was doing it or even the type of Ability it was. The more Duke studied him, the more worried he was becoming. He had no expectation to survive the Ability and as time passed, more and more blues fell to him. It was becoming critical. The only thing Duke had discovered from his observations was that it took a full second for the Ability to take effect. He wasn¡¯t sure how that would help him, but it was something. A lot could happen in a second at the speed fights took place at this level. Varis fought completely defensively, keeping opponents from reaching him with their Abilities while he waited for his own Ability to take them out. It was highly effective but gave Duke an idea. As was often the case, his thoughts were interrupted when Kreen stumbled into the lobby, collapsing on the floor before the door. An orange substance that Duke took for the insectoid¡¯s blood welled from dozens of deep gashes in its exoskeleton. It looked up at Duke, desperation flowing from its entire frame. Duke put his drink down and walked over to the dying creature. As he approached, he felt the communications network that he had been ignoring start to flicker. He withdrew one of the strongest healing potions he had left from Baslin¡¯s alchemy experiments from his INVENTORY. As he extended it towards the insectoid, he said very simply, ¡°I am going to win this Contest. By accepting my help here, you know that you are going to have to withdraw. Understood?¡± The understanding was clear in its eyes as it accepted the potion and downed it immediately. The potion quickly stopped the bleeding, closing the rips and tears in its exoskeleton. Seconds later, the communication network was back in place, relaying the panicked calls for help as the remaining members of the red team called for help and support. There was no one left to support them out in the area but Varis who had long ago decided to stay on his own ¨C there could be only one winner in the end, and it would be him. Kreen rose to its full height which was taller than Duke by a good half-meter and strode up to him, resignation and regret fully on display as trails of red energy flowed in waves through the joints of its exoskeleton. ¡°Thank you for aiding me. You could have left me to die, but you chose to preserve this one. The hive shall be in your debt should I be able to return to my people. This Contest has not been what was promised. The Queen of All has been deceived and that spells terrible things for the Cosmos. She will call the people to war over this.¡± ¡°That sounds serious. How many ¡®people¡¯ are there?¡± ¡°Even I do not know the count, but we populate thousands of worlds with at least trillions of the people on each. Should we go to war, entire galaxies could be swept clear of life.¡± ¡°You seem concerned about this?¡± ¡°The loss of so many of the people from the True Cycle will disrupt our growth for uncountable centuries. Entire colonies will be lost, and our genetic makeup will become even more singular. And the survivors of the war will all turn on us in time. We will be unable to trade for the things we need to sustain our hives. It will ultimately lead to our decline and possible failure as a race.¡± ¡°You sure all that will happen?¡± ¡°Sure? No. But it is the most likely outcome. However powerful we are in number, there will always be forces more powerful. It is the Law of the Cosmos. But, if I live to speak against this war, then perhaps, my voice can temper things with the elders, the True Queens and there will be hope for us yet. I don¡¯t know, but that is my hope.¡± ¡°I have seen plenty of wars in my days and none of them have ended well regardless of who wins. I am hopeful that you can prevent the war that you see coming.¡± ¡°Is that why you stay here and are not out there fighting the others? Fear of the fighting, the wars?¡± Duke laughed. ¡°Fear of fighting? No, that¡¯s not it at all. Let me ask you this, is it smarter to have your enemies kill each other than to have to fight them yourself?¡± Kreen looked at Duke with surprise, ¡°Are you controlling all this?¡± ¡°Not exactly. But I am taking advantage of the situation out there. They will continue to kill each other while I stay here, safe from them.¡± ¡°But what about the flags? Aren¡¯t you concerned that they will recover a flag and we will lose be default?¡± ¡°Were there ever really any flags? By now, every minute detail of the area out there has been searched and nothing has been found.¡± ¡°That is true, but who else will believe that?¡± ¡°Does it matter? At the rate things are going, Varis is going to be the only one to walk out of there.¡± ¡°And how are you going to deal with him?¡± ¡°That piece I haven¡¯t figure out just yet. Maybe I¡¯ll convince him to give up?¡± That got Kreen to shudder violently and rapidly. Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA told him that it was laughter. ¡°I do not think you will succeed at that.¡± ¡°Perhaps not. But I will find a way to win regardless. It¡¯s what I do.¡± While the conversation had continued, the remaining Contestants had continued to dwindle. There were now only three red team members left out in the area and a dozen blue team members were hunting them down as a group. Duke had created a side cavern the size of his hangar that was connected to the area but closed off. The cavern was nearly completely filled with dungeon monsters of every size and shape that this dungeon had available which included boss monsters. He released them all into the area. As Kreen continued the conversation, Duke held up a hand and cocked his head to the side, ¡°Did you hear that?¡± ¡°Hear what? My senses picked up nothing but the distant sounds of fighting. ¡°I heard the sound of something shifting out in the dungeon. I believe a new phase of this competition has begun.¡± Book 4, Chapter 22 Dungeon monsters, enraged by being piled on top of each other, poured out into the competition area, hungry for blood. Duke continued to create more and more in the cavern, pushing his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability to the limits of its Master rank. The monsters flooded into the area in successive waves, bunching on top of each other and becoming a roiling mass of angry death. None of the monsters were less than Tier six as the dungeon itself had not been designed to include anything less than that. Duke could have created lesser monsters using his Ability, but that would have defeated his purpose. He casually watched Kreen¡¯s reaction when the first wave of monsters swarmed into the few remaining members of the red team. The communication network lit up with cries of alarm and panic as the remaining members were quickly overrun and fighting for their lives yet again. Fighting other Contestants had been difficult and an exercise in beating the odds as the remining three red team members had managed to survive being so heavily outnumbered but this was different. They weren¡¯t outnumbered three or four to one, it was thousands to one and their path to retreat had disappeared just as quickly as the wave of monsters swept them up and flowed past them to completely surround the Contestants. The blue team¡¯s remaining ten members were just as overmatched by the dungeon monsters. Boss monsters are meant to be fought one at a time and are typically overpowered for their tier and level. When they were attacked by hundreds of boss monsters simultaneously with thousands waiting impatiently to join in, it was too much. Even organizing themselves into a defensive formation was just a delay of the inevitable. All the remaining Contestants were elite fighters but even that came with limits. Hundreds of boss monsters died before the first Contestant fell, but with the death of Zyvara Xyneth, one of the anchor-points of the defensive line crumbled, putting more pressure on the rest of the group. Every consumable they had was used to hold off the press of monsters, but it was not enough. Soon, only Ragnar Volthorn remained of the blue team. Ragnar was considered to be nigh invulnerable and proved it as he weathered blow after blow without effect. Claws sought his eyes, fangs struck at his joints, great beams of energy bathed his body in destructive energies, but still he stood firm, fighting off monster after monster as the wave continued to surge around him. He raged at the loss of his teammates even if they had only been working together for a short while, he had grown to actually like a few of them. He poured that rage out into the face of the horde, killing dungeon monsters by the dozen with his devastating attacks. Still, he was not indefatigable. As the swarming monsters continued to attack, his exhaustion rose. The Mana that maintained his INVULNERABILITY started to run low and he only had so many Mana potions. Who would have expected that a thousand Mana potions would not be enough? With every monster he killed, he took a step forward, trudging his way through the deadly swarm, hoping to find the end of it. Unfortunately for him, the end of his Mana potions, and ultimately, his Mana reserves, came before he was able to find the edge of the swarm. He died cursing but fighting to the very end. It took hours of constant fighting but only one fighter remained ¨C Kaelion Varis. Varis had surrounded himself with a field of his destructive energy. Anything that touched it was annihilated. The press of dungeon monsters continually flowed into it to be killed instantly. He was gaining experience at an unheard-of rate and had already pushed into Tier Nine by the time the monster wave had killed the rest of the Contestants. The experience he was receiving had slowed as he progressed through the levels of the Tier to a crawl as he outleveled each monster coming at him. Downing yet another Mana potion, Varis held firm, straining to keep his field intact around him. This was the most taxing use of his Ability, but he knew it was the only way he was going to survive this impossible wave of monsters. It had to have an end; he was sure of it. He just had to hold on long enough to survive this madness. And then he was going to kill whoever had done this. His Entity, the Master of Endings had assured him that he would emerge as the sole victor of this Contest. He had left his worlds unprotected to come here, his family, his heritage all hung in the balance. He would not fail! Duke, for his part, split his attention between creating more and more dungeon monsters and speaking with Kreen. The insectoid was in full-blown panic mode as it stopped receiving communication from the rest of the team. It could tell that Varis was still on the network, but all communication had ceased. ¡°What is going on out there?¡± Kreen asked. ¡°They are dying. I don¡¯t think even Varis can survive this.¡± ¡°We must help the hive¡­¡± ¡°Oh, feel free to step out there. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do better than all the dead Contestants out there.¡± Kreen glared at Duke but did not move from its seat. It paused, an idea coming to its mind, ¡°You got me to agree to withdraw from the Contest and now there will only be you and Varis left. Did you do this?¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°What an interesting question. Do you really think it is possible for me to summon thousands of dungeon monsters out of the blue? That seems a bit far-fetched, doesn¡¯t. My question for you is this, though. Are you truly going to withdraw? Even if Varis falls and it is just the two of us left?¡± ¡°Unlike so many other races, we are bound by our word. Once given, it is absolute. I would have already withdrawn if it was possible. I will cede victory to you whenever it becomes possible to do so.¡± Duke had been watching Varis closely with his CLAIRVOYANCE. The press of dungeon monsters had not let up and the top Contestant was beginning to falter, beginning to lose control of his annihilation field. Twice now, it had flickered, allowing an attack to reach him. His wounds were slowly healing but he was starting to sag. Only a matter of time before he runs out of juice and they finish him. I had better get full credit for these kills. ¡°Then I will graciously accept your withdrawal from the Contest as soon as you are able to do so.¡± ¡°I do have questions for you, Duke. You came to the Contest so late that no one had time to figure out who you are and where you came from. How did you rise so quickly?¡± ¡°I came from a world on the edge of the Cosmos, a nothing place. As to how I rose so quickly? I¡¯m lucky, I guess. Some people made some ill-advised moves and challenged me. They lost and my point total rose. The most blatant was Vexxorr. They grew way too arrogant in their easy success sitting outside the city gate and collecting points from the hapless creatures that tried to get past them. I just happened to have the perfect counter to them.¡± ¡°How did you know how to counter them? So many tried and so many died as a result.¡± ¡°I bought my information from an exceptional source. Something everyone here should have done.¡± As they spoke, Varis¡¯ field flickered off for a full second, allowing dozens of attacks to land. His field flickered back on briefly before the grievous wounds he had taken caught up with him. Seconds later, his field expired for good and the communications network was down to two. Kreen ended the contact and looked over to Duke, ¡°I guess it is just us then, unless there is a blue team member still alive out there.¡± Duke shrugged and TELEPORTED the blue flag from his INVENTORY to the ceiling above his head. The flag fell down where he was easily able to catch it. The look in Kreen¡¯s multifaceted eyes spoke volumes. It was unsure of the situation, whether Duke had caused the flag to appear or if it was somehow Zyphor the Arbiter¡¯s doing. He did not have time to question Duke as Zyphor appeared in the lobby with the two of them. The winged host spoke with radiating pride, ¡°Congratulations red team. You have won this competition.¡± There was a pause while a look of confusion passed over his features before he continued, ¡°There seems to only be two of you left in this Contest. That makes the next few rounds nearly impossible to run.¡± ¡°If I may,¡± Kreen interrupted Zyphor. He received a nod in response. ¡°I am ceding victory to Duke here, as I vowed to do.¡± ¡°Are you certain?¡± ¡°My vow is sacrosanct. I will not change my decision.¡± ¡°Very well, this Contest is officially over. Our winner is Duke, sponsored by the Overmind. Our runner-up is Kreen, sponsored by the Queen of All. As no other of the top one hundred survived to this point, the remaining prizes are forfeit. Prepare for transit to the Sanctuary City arena where the official awards ceremony will be held.¡± Kreen looked over to Duke, questions burning in his eyes but unwilling to ask them. Duke did not answer the unasked questions but instead spent his time before transit going through notifications. *** Congratulations, you have killed sixteen more Contestants. You receive 6,134,750 (6,478,225) experience. You are now level 160 and have 1,400 Character Points to spend. *** Duke paused his notifications to allocate his points to Psyche. Immediately, the pressure in his mind retreated to the point it was barely noticeable. He released a pent-up breath and went back to his notifications with a smile on his face. As he did so, he felt something shift in his subconscious. He wasn¡¯t sure what it was but he felt better than he had for some time. *** You have increased some of your Abilities. Your DUNGEON ENGINEERING has increased to Master 72 Your MENTAL FORTITUDE has ranked up to Master 2 Your CLAIRVOYANCE has increased to Practiced 17 You have emerged victorious from the Cosmic Contest. The rewards for this will be revealed to you at the award ceremony. Congratulations on winning this in the most unconventional way ever. *** As Duke finished reading the relevant notifications, he was transported out of the dungeon and into a familiar room with its starfield-based d¨¦cor. The Overmind floated before him and his XENOGLOSSIA showed him a sense of pride and anticipation. When he spoke, Duke could hardly believe what he was told. ¡°Duke, I have evacuated the city of everyone you showed any kindness or friendliness towards and those who supported you. They will not be part of what is to come next.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± The Overmind continued, ¡°This is what you must do¡­¡± Duke stared at the starfield around him in shock as the Overmind relayed the plan and Duke¡¯s role in it. The very thought of it made his head pound with waves of pressure as his subconscious awoke once more, straining against Duke¡¯s own MENTAL FORTITUDE to break free. When they were joined by the Eye of Infinity who reiterated what the Overmind had laid out, declaring that it was how things must end here, Duke still resisted the idea. When the Eye of Infinity leapt into Duke¡¯s mind and showed him what would happen should he not follow the plan he balked. Can I really go through with this? Either path is horrible. Duke¡¯s thoughts swirled as his stress level rose. This was locked in his mind as he CLEANSED and RESTORED himself moments before the transit to the stadium and the award ceremony. Book 4, Chapter 23 The sensation of transit was very different from what his own TELEPORTATION felt like. While his Ability felt easy and precise, the feeling of transit was more an exercise in brute force, using excessive amounts of magic to punch a person or object through space. Duke did not like it at all. It very nearly offended him and left him feeling physically unsettled, which did nothing to help his mood after his conversations. The sensation faded as he looked around the room he arrived in. It was, surprisingly, green. There were leather couches and chairs arranged for conversation and a single screen dominated one wall. The screen showed the stadium from above. It was larger than Duke thought, with what had to be more than 100,000 people and creatures packed into the seating areas. The screen did not transmit sound, but from the activity he could observe he could tell that the crowd was entirely worked-up. He sat down on one of the couches facing the screen to watch and noticed Kreen sitting nearby in a chair designed for its unique body type. It looked over to Duke and addressed him. ¡°You do not appear jubilant, especially for one about to be awarded the grand prize of the Contest.¡± ¡°Do you know what the prize is?¡± ¡°No, the Queen of All did not share that with me but I am certain that it will be significant. I have heard that the victor of the last Contest received an armada of fully-crewed ships, enough to carve an empire out for themselves.¡± ¡°Interesting. I¡¯m not sure what I would do with such a fleet, but I am sure that it would be spectacular.¡± ¡°Of that, I have no doubt.¡± Duke started to ask Kreen a question but was interrupted by a flashing notification. *** The dungeons on the planet at coordinates 23674.28349.90738 are under assault. Of the 1,000 dungeons you placed there, 252 have been destroyed. If sufficient dungeons are destroyed, to bring you under 1,000 dungeons under your authority, your Core Strength Title will be nullified until sufficient dungeons have been brought under your control. An image accompanied the message of the attackers. Duke recognized the Syndicate logo emblazoned on their armor and his blood ran hot. *** Duke¡¯s mood darkened further, and he felt his control waver before he slammed MENTAL FORTITUDE back into place. Kreen had gotten out of its chair and taken several steps away from him. Duke reassured it. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Kreen you are not the focus of my current ire. Someone is actively destroying things of mine out there in the Cosmos and I am going to have to put a stop to it. But I can¡¯t really do anything until this ceremony is over. I do want my prize, after all.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you do, but if someone was destroying hives while I sat here, I would not be able to bear it. How do you do so?¡± ¡°Discipline and the knowledge that everyone who put me in this position is going to suffer for it. Speaking of which, where is home for you? Would it be anyplace I knew?¡± ¡°Not likely. We are an insular people. Our hives provide us with everything we need so there is little incentive to trade, or even interact, with those outside of our hives. That I am even here is significant.¡± Another voice cut in from behind the pair, ¡°Greetings. I am Beryl and I am your host for this evening¡¯s events. I will guide you through the ceremony so just relax and enjoy. This is your time to shine.¡± When she spoke it was with a rushed pace as if she desperately needed to get everything out before anyone interrupted her. Duke turned around and saw a humanoid creature that stood a head shorter than him. Its proportions were off to Duke¡¯s senses. The more he looked the more the creature resembled a bowling pin with arms to him. But there was one thing that leapt to his immediate attention. This creature was wearing a Syndicate insignia. Beryl noted Duke gaze and addressed it right away, ¡°Yes, I am a member of the Syndicate ¨C I am the Head of Event Planning. It¡¯s all so exciting! We provided the logistical support for this instance of the Contest. That¡¯s why we have so many members here in the audience. We came to watch the competition and we have not been disappointed. In fact, when this ceremony is over, we should have a discussion.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°A discussion you say? Do you have a member of your executive leadership here? Perhaps even a board member?¡± ¡°Oh, of course. This is the hottest ticket in the Cosmos. No one would want to miss it. And don¡¯t think we are leaving you and your people out of this discussion, Kreen. Just because you have been insular to this point doesn¡¯t mean that we can¡¯t help you all.¡± ¡°My people have been insular for our own reasons, but we have from time to time traded with others. I would hear what you are offering, and I will bring it back to the True Queens.¡± ¡°Excellent. Now let¡¯s get the two of you ready for the ceremony. First off, there will be a few short speeches followed by the highlights of the preliminary rounds. This should take about an hour, but you can relax here and watch it all in comfort. When it is time to present you to the crowd, I will come get you and lead you to the stage. Duke, you will walk to the red ¡®X¡¯ and Kreen, you will walk to the green ¡®X¡¯. There will be another highlight reel showing the final phase of the Contest and then there will be the presentation of the awards. Duke, do you have a speech prepared? If not, I have one for you.¡± ¡°I assure you that I am well-prepared for this.¡± ¡°Oh, you are a dark and brooding type, aren¡¯t you? Well, the crowd will eat it up, I¡¯m sure. It¡¯s time for me to go and get things going. Oh, I almost forgot. The red door leads to your rest room, Duke. The green one leads to yours, Kreen. Take some time to make yourself as presentable as you can. The eyes of the powerful will be upon you.¡± With that, she hurried out of the room leaving the pair to process all she had said. Duke nodded to Kreen before heading to his rest room. He carefully closed and locked the door behind himself and retrieved his navigation core from his INVENTORY. A quick check of his location against his destination revealed that he was roughly 300,000 light years away. He shrugged and TELEPORTED to the world where his dungeons were under assault. It took half of his Mana, but he was able to get there easily, the range on his Ability when OVERCHANNELED had grown extreme, in excess of 700,000 light years. What he found was largely what he expected when he focused his DUNGEON SIGHT on the planet. There were Syndicate forces systematically moving from dungeon to dungeon, hunting for and destroying the cores. By his count, there were a dozen squads delving the dungeons and twice as many support groups locating the dungeons for them. Duke¡¯s blood boiled as anger welled up in him. He waited the two minutes it took to refill his Mana and then TELEPORTED into the next dungeon that had been scouted out. Once inside, he OVERCHANNELED his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability to create dungeon monsters that were Tiers above the dungeon¡¯s own. The dungeons on this world were mostly Tier One and Two with a few Threes thrown in. That made them relatively easy pickings for a squad that was likely Tier Four. But that also made them easy pickings for Duke. He enhanced the native dungeon monsters all the way up to Tier Seven while overpopulating the dungeon. Then he started hopping from dungeon to dungeon in the area and doing the same. His DUNGEON SENSE showed him the results as the squads went into the dungeons only to be torn to pieces by enraged monsters. Next, he turned to the dungeons around the support squads and pushed them to overflowing with high-Tier monsters. Finally, he pushed the monsters out of the dungeons to swarm over the surface of the planet. At first, it was the common dungeon monsters that came pouring out onto the surface. Kobolds, goblins, and similarly typical fodder flowed outwards and towards the support teams. As there was no air to speak of on the planet¡¯s surface, they did not last long. But as the higher-Tier creatures joined them, the need for air became less and less prevalent. It was these creatures that swarmed over the support positions. As Syndicate support teams, they were well protected with state-of-the-art armor and weapons, but they were not the heavy combat-focused ones of the assault squads. That difference showed as the screening guards quickly found themselves toe-to-toe with horrors from the dungeons. Creatures with curved hooks for arms swatted weapons away and slammed their hooks into armored joints, tearing them open with terrifying ease. It was not long before the few remaining support teams were aboard their shuttles and burning for space. That should give them something to think about. Now I have to get back to the ceremony. Duke stepped out of the rest room after making sure he looked as perfect as he could and rejoined Kreen in waiting. They exchanged nods and Duke asked, ¡°Did I miss anything interesting in the ceremonies?¡± ¡°Nothing really. The speeches were the typical self-aggrandizing affairs. These people have no idea what it truly means to be part of a society that is one. I will be heartened to leave this place and return to my people where purposes are unified, and goals are clear. This has been a useful experience but not one I would wish to repeat. I will bring some new ideas back to the hives, but will recommend no changes to the hive mind.¡± ¡°Now, that is interesting.¡± Duke trailed off as the screen was showing his fight with Vexxorr. The running commentary was wrong about Duke¡¯s Ability, equating it to Varis¡¯ but Duke was not ever going to correct that misconception publicly. Beryl entered the room and smiled at them, ¡°Good. You both seem ready. It is time for you to join the ceremony. Please come with me.¡± Book 4, Chapter 24 Beryl led them through the dimly lit corridor behind the stage and got them into position for their emergence. They could hear the crowd cheering as the replays reached their crescendo and finally the last two standing were announced. ¡°Ladies and Gentlemen, Creatures, Elemental, Beings, and Entities, prepare yourself for seeing our champions in person. I present to you our runner-up, Kreen of the Galactic Hives. Kreen entered the finals in the 98th position and, through cleverness and positioning, emerged as the runner-up. Everyone celebrate this achievement as this is the highest placement for an insectoid in the entire history of the Contests.¡± Beryl nudged Kreen, ¡°That¡¯s your cue. Walk slowly and confidently. Give them a show!¡± Kreen acknowledged her with a nod and walked out on stage, taking its time enjoying the cheers of the crowd. It headed for its marker and stopped precisely on it. It looked up at the crowd that surrounded it and expanded its shoulders with pride. It had survived the most catastrophic results of the Contest in recent memory and now stood ready to receive its prize. The host, another Syndicate officer bedecked in the flashiest golden outfit that was actually enchanted to glow with golden light that highlighted his Syndicate crest, strode up to Kreen, ¡°Congratulations on your impressive showing. No one from the Hives has ever made it this far. How do you feel right now?¡± Kreen looked at the host briefly before speaking, ¡°I bring satisfaction back to the hive. The True Queens will be pleased with my offering. My line will be allowed to continue.¡± The host took back over, ¡°Looks like Kreen will be getting some when it gets back home if you know what I mean!¡± The crowd reacted as expected, laughing along with the host. Duke cringed. It seemed with an entire Cosmos of different races and forms of creatures, simple inuendo jokes still carried the crowd. It was yet another disappointment that settled into his bones. He had expected specific challenges, a bracketed tournament with one-on-one fights, or even team contests. Instead, it had turned out to be a disorganized mess and a reflection of the worst of the world out there. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. So many contestants had been preyed upon by those running this farce. And his old friends, the Syndicate were deeply involved. How could the Syndicate be running this thing? It should be the Entities that put this together, right? Or are they all here just for the show and could care less about who¡¯s running it? The more I think about it, that is what makes more sense ¨C they don¡¯t care about the details, they are just using this as a proxy to settle scores they can¡¯t otherwise. Does that mean that the Overmind is just the same? Using me to settle a score? Duke¡¯s mind reeled with the possibilities. Could he have been manipulated to that level? He questioned every action leading up to this point. It was the Twin Entities that brought me to Teldin in the first place. I never understood their motivation but they were trying to get me to be their sponsored Contestant. Then the Overmind came into the picture. Did he ever lie to me? Not directly. He didn¡¯t tell me much about this Contest beforehand, but was there much I really needed to know? Just needed to kill a bunch of things. Kind of what I do all the time. But the whole hunting down and killing dungeons thing rings true. It is what happened on Teldin. It was what was happening on ¡®plant in the middle of fucking nowhere.¡¯ Like it or not, I¡¯m linked to dungeons. Who am I kidding? Dungeons are fucking awesome. So, screw it. I¡¯m in. Oh, shit. What did the host say? ¡°For your outstanding performance, you have been awarded six dreadnaught-class ships to be built to your specifications by the Syndicate and one which is delivered to you here. Congratulations Kreen, you are the proud new owner of the Dreadnaught, Unyielding Vow. The ship comes fully equipped and crewed by a fully qualified Syndicate crew that is contracted to you for a full year. Any additional support vessels you would like can be purchased separately of course.¡± Kreen just stared at the host, dumbfounded. The host continued, not missing a beat, ¡°And here comes one of the Unyielding Vow¡¯s own shuttles now. As everyone can see, this is our latest model, the Atmospheric Runner Seven. It come fully equipped with state-of-the-art safety and security systems and the height of luxury. Even the passenger compartment has a twice-enchanted seating structure to adjust to any lifeform configuration.¡± The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Duke couldn¡¯t believe his ears. It¡¯s a fucking commercial! It¡¯s all a fucking commercial! Duke¡¯s ire shifted from simmering to boiling. So many young talents had been plucked from the Cosmos to be tossed into this meat grinder to sell more products? The outrage burning in Duke sank deeper into his consciousness, clawing at the bulwark of his subconscious. He felt his control starting to slip but he poured Mana into his MENTAL FORTITUDE to keep it at bay for now. The host continued his commercial as he showed Kreen around the shuttle and explained all the wonderous and amazing features of his luxury shuttle. He pointed out the exotic creatures cultivated for the specific seat coverings based on their ¡°uncanny malleability under enchantment.¡± Eventually the tour commercial ended to the cheers of the now entirely Syndicate crowd. Duke had seen others leaving in disgust. Even several Entities had departed but none of that slowed the Syndicate shill down as he explained the new and improved triple-phase magitech engine configuration that allowed for more power while providing a smoother ride. Mercifully, the commercial ended when the shuttle left easy visual range on its way up to the dreadnaught. The host then turned his sickening enthusiasm towards Duke. ¡°And now that brings us to the highlight of the evening. It is time to crown our champion. Put your appendages together for Duke!¡± He paused for the crowd to whip itself up into a proper frenzy before he gave some silent signal to Beryl who nudged Duke towards the stage. As Duke strode towards the stage, he took his time scanning the crowd for anyone familiar. He did not recognize a single being out in the crowd no matter how hard he looked. What he did see was additional Syndicate flunkies filling up the now empty spots in the crowd. He was nearly at his mark when he received an urgent notification. *** You have received an urgent message from the Eye of Infinity. Duke, I told you to save it for the end. This is the end. This is where you must stop this madness. *** Why the fuck is this my responsibility? Oh, right. Some ¡°rules¡± that prevent them from doing it themselves. The host continued, ¡°Welcome to the stage, Duke. You surprised everyone with your victory, especially with your late arrival. Tell us how did you manage to get into the top 100 so quickly?¡± Duke stared the host down for long enough to make the silence uncomfortable before responding, ¡°I killed everyone who came after me. They thought themselves predators. They thought they could do whatever they wanted. They thought they could take whatever they wanted. I showed them that they couldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite the interesting strategy statement there, Duke. You showed a number of talents over the course of this Contest including the ability to teleport people out of the city. This allowed an unprecedented number of low-ranked Contestants to survive. What was your strategy around that move?¡± ¡°Strategy? Why did it have to be a strategy? I simply did what was decent. I had the power to help, so I did. I asked for a small payment for my help, but all were willing to pay it because it gave them a chance to better themselves. Why would I suppress them?¡± ¡°What are you saying, Duke?¡± *** Urgent message from the Overmind Do it now, Duke! Before they have a chance to erect any defenses. I have cleared all the innocents out! Unleash it all! *** Duke smiled at the host with another pause for effect, ¡°I have something to say. It¡¯s better to burn out than fade away!¡± With that statement, Duke released the hold on his subconscious. He poured 350 million mana into his UMBRAL REAPER Ability. The surface of the stage cracked as a mountain of darkness poured out of Duke¡¯s mind and into reality, filling the stadium in a flash of shadow. From that shadow crawled forth each and every horror that Duke had held in abeyance for so long. The memories that the Eye of Infinity had filled his subconscious with burst forth from the cloud of shadow. Ebony claws of hate and anger tore their way out of the shadows and through bodies. It was impossible to differentiate the tortured screams coming from the shadows from the horrified screams of the crowd as the Ability tore through them. Duke had never OVERCHANNELED this Ability to any great extent before now. The results were devastating. The host still stood before Duke, clawing at his face as shadowy insects crawled out of his mouth, dragging bits of ripped and torn flesh with them. Seconds later, he collapsed in a bloody pile of stripped bones and a splatter of blood. Swarms of dark monsters filled the stadium, flowing through the seats and tearing every spectator they could find apart. Some had tried to run but could not outpace the shadows. A few personal barriers had been activated. It didn¡¯t matter whether they were magical or technological, the monsters of the Psyche passed through them effortlessly. It took no more than five minutes for the entire crowd to be slain and then the spirits turned back to Duke, slamming into him, and flowing back to their home in his subconscious. Despite the ranks of the spirits swelling with new horrors, the pressure did not mount as it had before. It was as if the spirits were sated. Duke was exhausted, his own spirit spent but he refused to collapse. He looked out on the destroyed stadium in wonder. His Ability had never caused anything like the amount of physical damage in the past. He did not know if it was the rank up to Master that had changed it or if it was something else like the massive OVERCHANNELING of the Ability. He sat down on the edge of the stage and waited for the Entities to come. Book 4, Chapter 25 - An Interlude Elsewhere As the interview came to a close, Edgemont was satisfied with the latest candidate for Sector Commander and silently triggered the offer which prompted the interviewer to pause in his closing statements. Edgemont noted the tic and made a note to send the interviewer for corrective training. It simply would not do to have such mistakes under his watch. Enough damage had been done by the previous Sector Commander that it would still be years before the sector recovered. To his credit, the interviewer quickly recovered from his pause and moved into the offer process. The candidate, Alpho Nonetes, immediately began to negotiate for more than the initial offer and the dance began. Edgemont impassively watched the dance proceed, having already calculated the final terms, he was unsurprised by the conclusion. The offer was accepted and Edgemont triggered the relocation algorithm he had already crafted. The malleable enchantments in Aplho¡¯s office had already started changing to the man¡¯s recorded preferences. Surely, there would be some final adjustments to make but Edgemont had the full analysis of the man¡¯s tastes to work from. His musings were interrupted by a notification that flashed with particular urgency. He pulled it up and stared at it for a long moment before the ramifications began to process. *** Your First and Thirty-second Clones have been slain. Due to the nature of their demise, none of their essence can be returned to you. *** Edgemont did not change his outward appearance or actions as he shook the hand of the new Sector Commander, offering congratulations and assurances that he would do everything he could to support him in this new role. And, yes, he was looking forward to working for such a dynamic and intelligent leader. As they filtered out of the conference room, the next block of notifications stopped Edgemont in his tracks. By the time he was done reading them all, he knew things had changed significantly. There had been an incident at the Contest. During the award ceremony of all things. This had been broadcast live over the interdimensional network. Every fully developed world on the network had been watching because he had made sure of it. The Syndicate¡¯s sponsorship that he had engineered had been flawless. The focus of nearly a quintillion beings had been on that ceremony. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. And it was an absolute disaster. The victor of the Contest had lost it on stage and killed everyone in the stadium. There were over two hundred Syndicate executives in attendance, even some senior executives. And all of them had been killed. How had their security teams, their personal protections failed so horribly and so suddenly? Edgemont, for the first time in centuries, didn¡¯t know what to do. Sure, he had contingency plans for the loss of executives, even for an entire executive transport ship to be lost, but this was far worse. Nearly one hundred thousand important personnel had been lost in an instant. All at the hands of this¡­human? How could a single human have done this much damage? Sitting in his office chair, Edgemont realized he had absolutely no memory of how he got back in his office but there he was. Shaking off the feeling, he delved into everything he knew about this human calling himself The Duke. He froze in horror as he realized that this was the same human that Ganorlen Vosh had foolishly pursued, attacking him and his allies repeatedly. Now, it seemed that the human had returned the favor with interest. Further research showed that the human¡¯s home, a backwater planet called Teldin by the natives, had been Vosh¡¯s last play. He had summoned the Hounds, trying to collect a bounty that no longer existed. That wasn¡¯t the planet where¡­oh no. I allowed them to release the hounds upon that planet. The records on this Duke were not extensive but he clearly was someone who did not back down. The watchers left behind showed that Duke was responsible for the ultimate defeat and destruction of the Hounds sent after him. And now, the conflict had escalated to a level of damage that not even their strongest competitors could manage. Two paths form here. Pursuit of revenge and continued escalation or reconciliation. Which to take? Only one will show our strength. We cannot appear weak after taking such a blow. I have some orders to send out. Edgemont took one last check into the records to see who sponsored the terrorist. His face paled when he saw that it was the Overmind, and everything suddenly made a lot more sense. Of course he would hate us. We have been harvesting dungeon cores by the millions. But where else could we find such a perfect source for Mana Cores to power ships? He took a last look at the files before he started to set the wheels in motion. So many competent leaders to replace. He was sure that this process would take years and would cut into the Syndicate¡¯s profits for centuries to come. Decisive action was necessary. He would see to it. Book 4, Chapter 26 Duke saw the Overmind and the Eye of Infinity appear before him. His XENOGLOSSIA picked up their body language before they even spoke. Duke did not trust the Ability in this case as he expected Entities to be able to control their bodies absolutely. Still, what his Ability showed him was satisfaction from the Overmind and calmness from the Eye of Infinity. He didn¡¯t speak, waiting for them to start. It was the Eye of Infinity who spoke first, ¡°It has come to pass as I saw it to be. You played your role brilliantly, Duke.¡± ¡°Played my role? What game is it that you are all playing? I¡¯m tired of being everyone¡¯s pawn in these games of power.¡± The Overmind stepped in, ¡°Duke, you are no pawn. You just flipped the entire board over, sending our foes into utter chaos.¡± ¡°Our foes?¡± ¡°Yes, Duke, Our foes. The Syndicate has been predating upon dungeons for centuries.¡± ¡°I am feeling very short of answers right now and not exactly in the best of moods. Someone please make it make sense.¡± The Eye of Infinity floated back a bit to allow the Overmind to be the sole focus of the conversation. The Overmind floated in front of Duke¡¯s face at about arm¡¯s reach before continuing. ¡°You have seen what powers magitech, right?¡± ¡°Sure, Mana Cores.¡± ¡°How does one make Mana Cores?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how anyone else does it, but I use my Dungeon Core Creation Ability and just don¡¯t infuse the core with the full dungeon potential. It was an easy leap to make with the Ability.¡± ¡°Yes, I suppose it was. Now, how do others make Mana Cores?¡± ¡°I¡­I have no idea. Some form of enchantment perhaps?¡± ¡°The truth is that they can¡¯t. They tried making them out of the cores of the few monsters that have their own cores, but they were temporary at best ¨C single use and not able to be recharged. The true Mana Cores are made from dungeon cores that are stripped of their soul. They are the shells of slaughtered dungeons. My children! Sacrificed so that these mortals can spread across the Cosmos.¡± Duke felt the impact of the Overmind¡¯s words deep in his own heart, the pain resonating within his own center where once a Seed of Anomy had germinated only to be replaced by the seed of a core. The core itself wailed at the loss and the feeling nearly overwhelmed him. Duke took a few breaths to re-center himself before saying anything. ¡°You are telling me that the thousands of ships flying from system to system are all powered by the corpses of dungeons?¡± ¡°Millions, Duke. Millions.¡± ¡°Why isn¡¯t this public knowledge? Why is this allowed to continue?¡± ¡°Because before you, I didn¡¯t have a single person who cared. No one before you ever really treated a dungeon as an actual living entity. Even those that had developed an avatar were just considered amusing curiosities but few truly understood that dungeons are living beings. Certainly those sent to ¡®harvest¡¯ dungeon cores didn¡¯t know or care.¡± ¡°That¡¯s insane. How could no one else have figured it out? Dungeons have been around for¡­well, I don¡¯t know how long but a freaking long time.¡± ¡°Few dungeons are planted on worlds that do not already have a magical presence. Those planted on magically dead worlds just do not survive. They don¡¯t have a high enough Tier to overcome the magical suppression of those worlds.¡± ¡°What was that about magical suppression?¡± ¡°Worlds that are without magic. Most of them sit in one magic suppression zone or another. There are some that have a magic siphon pulling their magic away and some that have something that suppresses their magic. More often or not someone set them up like that for a reason.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not natural? It¡¯s all artificial?¡± ¡°You seem rather invested in this concept, Duke. Is there a reason for it?¡± ¡°Not here. Not now,¡± The Eye of Infinity interrupted them. ¡°There are too many watching. Too many listening in. Already you have said much that may have been best left unsaid.¡± Duke looked around but didn¡¯t see anyone else but with Entities involved, he didn¡¯t trust his senses to be able to pick them up. Still, he did not want this conversation interrupted or overheard so he stopped talking. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The Overmind continued instead, ¡°Go visit Sam. I¡¯ll meet you there once you have had time to review things you have been avoiding.¡± ¡°Avoiding? What are you talking about?¡± Duke stopped as he noticed the flashing indicator in the corner of his vision telling him he had notifications waiting. He nodded and prepared to TELEPORT away. As he withdrew his navigation core he realized that relying on the device was all well and good for situations where he had time to take it out and study it. But for when he really needed to move quickly, it was insufficient. Duke studied the core for a full minute before he pulled up the one pending Tier Ability slot and tried his idea. He attempted to absorb the core¡¯s magical navigational ability and focus it through the empty Ability slot. It seemed that the system agreed with his attempt because he received a notification. *** Congratulations! You have crafted a new Ability. This new Ability is called COSMIC NAVIGATION and will take up your Tier Eight slot. As this Ability was both absorbed and crafted with a Tier slot, it starts at a significantly higher rank than normal. You new have this Ability at Adept 1. COSMIC NAVIGATION allows you to know not only your location within the Cosmos but also the location of any place you have visited previously. You instinctively know the distance to any location you have visited. This Ability is paired with your TELEPORTATION Ability and will allow you to map a route to any distant location you have visited regardless of whether you have visited any necessary intervening waypoints. *** As the Ability formed in Duke¡¯s core, the navigational core simply melted into his hand, its capabilities absorbed and, most importantly, its database was added to his Ability as locations he had available. With a smile, he TELEPORTED away on the first of the seven legs required for his journey back to Teldin. Duke appeared in the Lake Front Inn, startling a table full of Legionnaires that he did not recognize. They jumped to their feet and reached for their weapons before a loud voice shouted from several tables across the common room, ¡°Stand down! That¡¯s the king.¡± The Legionnaires immediately stopped and saluted Duke in the odd crossed-arm salute that Aurelia had pushed throughout the Legion. Duke returned the salute with a wry grin, ¡°As you were and excellent reaction speed.¡± Seconds later, he was seated at the bar with Calen serving him a glass of scotch whiskey. He raised the glass to Calen and proceeded to dive into his notifications. *** Congratulations! As the overall champion of the Contest, you have earned a Title. You shall forevermore be known as the Grand Victor of the Cosmic Contest. This Title grants you three effects. First is free passage through the Domains and Territories of all Entities of the Cosmos. Second, all your Characteristics receive a 10% bonus. Finally, you are granted an automatic breach of the Mortal Barrier should you reach sufficient experience to reach Tier 11. *** Duke re-read the Title description. There¡¯s a few things in there that I¡¯m going to have to dig into. Mortal Barrier? What the hell is that? Duke continued reading his notifications. *** As your prize for winning the Contest, you have been granted one custom-designed solar system in the galaxy and dimension of your choice. You have a total of 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilograms to work with in the creation of this solar system. The only other restrictions on this system are that it cannot be located any closer than 2 light-years from an inhabited system and it cannot be located in a dead-magic zone. *** That¡¯s a lot of zeros, but I have no idea how much mass that is when compared to anything I am familiar with. Not sure who I could even ask. Oh well, more notifications to get through. *** You have slain over 2,000 members of the Syndicate with one use of an Ability. This grants you the Mass Murderer Achievement. There is no reward for this achievement but expect extreme enmity from this group in the future. You receive 144,759,917 (159,235,909) experience. You have Tiered up to Tier Nine and have reached level 427. You have 19,926 Characteristic Points to spend. As you have achieved a new Tier, you have the choice of the following rewards:
  1. Create a new Ability appropriate for your Tier
  2. Advance an existing Ability by one rank (Maximum of Adept)
  3. Advance an existing Skill by one rank (Maximum of Adept)
  4. Gain 200 bonus Characteristic Points
  5. Gain one powerful item appropriate to your Tier
  6. Gain the Ability to cloak your presence to anyone below your Tier level
*** Duke took in the monstrous amount of experience and the associated levels that came with it. He had Tiered up and was less than 25 levels from Tier Ten. He looked at the massive number of Characteristic points and realized that he would have to allocate them over some time as that much at once would be an enormous amount of pain. He allocated some for now, saving the rest for later. Duke brought his base Strength, Endurance, and Reason up to 3,000 and brought his base Psyche up to 13,000. The pain of adding over 1,500 points in one go was significant but short-lived. He decided to add no more than 1,000 points at a time until he got them all allocated. While he waited for the Overmind, he ran through a slew of other notifications. Most were related to the people he had killed. And then he saw the one specific to his UMBRAL REAPER Ability. It had gained an obscene number of levels, nearly three hundred. He marveled at the Ability as it sat at the cap of the Master rank. One more level and it would be his second Ability to reach Grandmaster. The devastation he had managed with it at Master rank had been insane even if it had been OVERCHANNELED with most of his Mana pool. OVERCHANNEL also increased but not by nearly as much, reaching Master 40. Duke now had a lot of families out for blood. The consequences of killing all those Syndicate people were only just starting to manifest. He had felt justified at the time, but now he was not sure. He continued drinking his scotch, starting his fourth glass while still waiting for the Overmind to show up. It seemed that it was going to be a while, so he settled in, turned around, and watched the Legionnaires. Book 4, Chapter 27 ¡°You seem relaxed, Duke. This is good to see.¡± ¡°Should I be running around panicked? Afraid of what is coming my way next?¡± ¡°You are handling the situation like an Entity. This is a long game, and we have been losing for most of it. But not anymore. You helped me¡­no, us. You helped us take the first step to victory. I can¡¯t thank you enough for that.¡± ¡°Strangely, it was my pleasure. Releasing all that pressure clawing at my mind was an experience I cannot describe. What my Ability did to those people was horrific to watch, to be a part of, but I cannot bring myself to feel any empathy for them.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not in your nature to feel empathy for the oppressors. You should have realized that by now. But you should also know that they will be coming for you with their most powerful forces now. They will be coming here, to Teldin, to kill you and destroy this world.¡± ¡°Not much of a pep talk.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t do pep talks. What I do do, however, is push for greater. And for you to be greater, you are going to have to take those final steps to get to Tier Eleven.¡± ¡°I only just made it to Tier Nine. How do you expect me to make it to Tier Eleven before the Syndicate comes for me?¡± ¡°By going after them, of course. Attack their shipyards, their staging areas. This is now a war and you have to attack their ability to make war. Make it so costly that they have to give up.¡± ¡°You happen to have a map of these places?¡± ¡°I do, of course, but there are still some rules even I must follow. If I get that directly involved, it opens the door for other Entities to get involved and that would not end well for you. You already have a pair of Entities that you have¡­I¡¯ll say thwarted. You took their piece right off the board in the Contest. They still have countless pawns, but I do not think they are really interested in playing anymore. I believe they are still far too entertained watching your exploits to really do anything about it.¡± ¡°So, I¡¯m on my own again?¡± ¡°You have allies. Friends. Do you not?¡± ¡°I do, but I don¡¯t want to throw them into the fire with such high stakes.¡± ¡°Maybe, just maybe, you should talk to them about it. But what do I know, I¡¯m just a dungeon core that got too big for his britches, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, that must be it. So, there¡¯s really nothing you can do to help me in this?¡± ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t say that.¡± The Overmind¡¯s avatar chuckled. It handed Duke a small core. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± ¡°Absorb this core into your own. It contains information on every core-harvesting ship the Syndicate has or has contracted with. If you destroy those ships with all hands, they will lose their capability to fuel their empire.¡± Duke held the core in his hand. It was warm to the touch, and he could see how easy it would be to absorb but he hesitated. ¡°Why are you able to give me this information but not information on their shipyards and ports and all that?¡± ¡°Because these ships are responsible for the death of countless dungeons. That is a long series of attacks on my very Domain. I can give my Champion information to stop these attacks. There¡¯s a fine line but this is well on the permissible side. One more thing before I go.¡± Duke looked up from the core to take in the avatar as it spoke, ¡°If you really are going to go this route alone, why haven¡¯t you taken the DUNGEON AURA Ability? You have a slot open, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I do have a slot open but if I take that Ability, it would pretty much close the door to other people. It¡¯s just too dangerous to have that aura around others. Having dungeon monsters spawn around me in my sleep would not be great for anyone I¡¯m traveling with.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°What if it was an active Ability and not a passive one?¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°Turn it on when you want it, but otherwise, it¡¯s dormant. Wouldn¡¯t that work better?¡± ¡°Yes, it would, but that wasn¡¯t an option in the Ability description.¡± ¡°Check again.¡± ¡°You changed it, didn¡¯t you?¡± The Overmind didn¡¯t respond, instead waving as its avatar faded from sight. Duke read the description of the Ability and saw the change in the text indicating that it was now an Ability he could call upon as desired and could keep active for as long as he wanted. So I can keep it running when I am running solo to wreak havoc around me without having to even think about it. It will take time to figure it out but it would open up even more options. *** You have selected DUNGEON AURA as your Tier Nine Ability. This Ability allows you to project a field around yourself that acts as the dimensional space of a dungeon with you as the dungeon core. Within this aura, you can perform any actions you would normally be able to within a dungeon through the use of any of your dungeon-related Abilities. The rank of your Ability determines the radius of the aura. The level of the Ability has a minor influence over the effects. You gain the Ability at Practiced 1. *** Duke read over the description, satisfied that he could learn how to control the Ability in time. Sitting at the bar in a dungeon, turning on the aura didn¡¯t have much additional effect. He could feel it, but since he was already in a dungeon environment, there was no sense that he could do anything different with it than he could do already. He nodded to himself, realizing that he didn¡¯t expect much else. I have a few things to get going but first, allocate some more points. This is going to hurt, but it¡¯s time to peanut butter a bit. 1,000 into each characteristic shouldn¡¯t be too bad. Duke suffered through the pain of such a massive allocation but, as he expected, it was not nearly as bad as some of his earliest stat allocations. Even if it was a significant percentage increase, it wasn¡¯t the doubling or tripling that had floored him in the past. He smiled to himself as the pain faded and did it again. He still had over six thousand stats to allocate even after spending twelve thousand. He considered putting them all into Psyche to continue to boost his magic but decided to hold off for a bit and think about it. After watching the new Legionnaires for a bit, Duke activated an OVERCHANNELED CLEANSE and RESTORE combo, putting a million Mana into each. It was a drop in his considerable bucket of Mana at this point, refilled in under a second. Having an effective Psyche of close to one hundred seventy thousand was pushing all his magic to the extreme but he was sure he would need it and more when things really turned ugly. The response to the Abilities from the Legionnaires was one of wonder as armor and weapons repaired themselves, clothing re-stitched itself together and everything was suddenly clean. There were a few who complained but they were quickly browbeat into quieting down. The biggest, and most immediate reaction, however, was Sam appearing next to Duke. ¡°Damn, Duke. That was sweet. I haven¡¯t gotten a hit of Mana like that in a while.¡± ¡°Good to see you again Sam. How are things going?¡± ¡°They couldn¡¯t be better. Havenreach continues to grow, I have Legionnaires training in the training dungeon nearly all the time, and I¡¯m almost up to Tier Nine. Tier Nine, Duke! Can you believe it? I may even make it to Tier Ten.¡± ¡°Why stop there?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not be cute, Duke. It¡¯s not like any of the Entities would allow us to create a divine dungeon. Immortal dungeon core. Yeah, like that could ever happen.¡± ¡°There are no Tier Eleven dungeons?¡± ¡°No, anyone who tries to get bast Tier Ten is either destroyed or convinced to stop. Violently.¡± ¡°Why doesn¡¯t the Overmind step in?¡± ¡°The Overmind could, but it¡¯s not worth the price.¡± ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°The Overmind can easily handle just about any other Entity one-on-one, but fifty-to-one is just too much even for the Overmind to handle. So, we are warned once it looks like we are on the path to progression to stop at Ten.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s bullshit.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what happens when you have few allies.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m about to go make some more enemies. Great.¡± ¡°Attacking the Syndicate core harvesters will not bring any new enemies into the mix. They are our enemies already.¡± ¡°Well, if I singlehandedly cut off the supply of Magic Cores for ships, I don¡¯t expect that to make us any new friends.¡± ¡°No, I guess not. Unless you replace the supply at a cheaper rate somehow.¡± ¡°Yeah, not interested in becoming a factory myself.¡± ¡°That does not sound fun. Is that why they wipe the souls from the cores they kidnap?¡± ¡°That would be part of it, I guess. No soul means no resistance, right?¡± Sam looked at Duke with pain in his eyes, ¡°It¡¯s necromancy. They are killing the soul and stealing the body to use over and over.¡± Duke¡¯s eyes narrowed as he realized that Sam was right in his depiction. Anger started to boil in his heart. Always the damned necromancers. But I know what to do about them. I hunt them down and¡­what about Negron? That man has gotten away for so long I forgot about him. I have to go talk to Baslin. ¡°Sam, I have to go find Baslin. Is he in his workshop here?¡± ¡°No, I believe he is in the castle workshop right now. I haven¡¯t seen him in a while, since before the last crisis. He really should come and visit me more. Tell him that when you catch up to him, will you?¡± ¡°I will. And thank you for putting things into perspective for me. I¡¯m off now.¡± ¡°Goodbye Duke. And good luck!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make my own luck,¡± Duke winked and took the first few steps on his inexorable journey to first find Baslin and then start to rid the Cosmos of this different type of necromancer. Book 4, Chapter 28 Duke arrived at the Cloudspire palace to find his throne room dark and closed-off. It was a clear sign that the king was not in attendance. Since he wasn¡¯t actually in attendance, he guessed that was appropriate. He briefly considered checking in with everyone but decided against it. They had their own tasks to perform as did he and he trusted them to get their tasks accomplished. A moment later, he stood before the door to Baslin¡¯s workshop and knocked. ¡°Come in, come in.¡± Before Duke could take two steps into the workshop, Baslin greeted him with the full rapid-fire enthusiasm that he had experienced when first meeting the Archmage. ¡°Duke! Duke! Good, good, good. Welcome back. Did it go well? Of course it went well. You won your contest right? Surely you did. Come in, come in. So exciting. So many things to do. Did you master Runescripting while you were gone? I bet you have. You really are the fastest study of all my students. Can I even call you an apprentice now? Well, I did graduate you, right?¡± Duke simply stood there patiently waiting for the Archmage to take a breath and when he finally did Duke jumped in, ¡°You sound a bit worked up there, Baslin. Is everything OK?¡± ¡°Oh yes. All is great. You are back and there¡¯s so much to do. So many things to explore. Have you brought me new things to investigate? To experiment with? Yes, that would be grand!¡± ¡°I have things for you, but first, I have a question for you ¨C Have you located Negron? I know you were working on a way to find him.¡± ¡°Negron? Oh him? Why yes, I found him. Did you really doubt me?¡± ¡°Great! Let¡¯s go get him then.¡± ¡°Um, OK. If you really want to. Follow me.¡± Duke followed Baslin, fully confused. Why is he so casual about going to get the man he hated so much? As Duke¡¯s confusion deepened, Baslin led him through the palace workshop, past his alchemy station and his runescripting station which was far smaller and less complex than the one in his dungeon workshop. Finally, they arrived at a small library with a few comfortable-looking chairs and a warm fireplace. Baslin walked up to the fireplace and removed a small, filigreed, golden chest and handed it to Duke. ¡°What do you need Negron for anyway?¡± Duke took the chest in his hand and looked back at Baslin, ¡°What is this chest for? Is it enchanted in some way to find Negron?¡± ¡°Find him? You¡¯re holding him, or at least all that is left of him. Those are his ashes, held in what was once his own phylactery. I find the symmetry rather poetic, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°You already tracked him down and killed him?¡± ¡°What else did you think I was going to do? Sit around and wait for you to do it? You have your own battles to fight. I can handle one single uppity necromancer by myself. It¡¯s not like he had a decade to re-build his army of undead. He had a few dozen left when I found him and they were not much of a challenge. Not that he was, either. Negron the Nemesis. What a self-important title! Yes, he was able to kill a student in a controlled environment. But fighting an angry Archmage who has time to prepare for him? No, he didn¡¯t last long at all. I did come up with a fun Spell though.¡± ¡°A fun spell?¡± ¡°Yes. I call it Necromantic Retribution. It takes the necromantic animating force that traps either the soul or the body and uses it to attack the necromancer himself. It came out of all my time studying the undead from the last time he reared his head with Chopie. I found that the animating force still linked back to the necromancer. It was child¡¯s play to craft a Spell to usurp that link and drain the necromancer¡¯s own lifeforce into their creations. The idiot left the link open so that he could control his undead. Far too great a vulnerability. I¡¯m glad I never considered pursuing that magic. It¡¯s absolutely idiotic.¡± ¡°Does that Spell work on all necromancers?¡± ¡°Possibly?¡± Baslin thought for a moment before continuing, ¡°I only had one other type of undead to study and that worked completely differently. But that was dungeon-bred undead so I don¡¯t think that really counts. Dungeon creatures are already a different kind of being so I wouldn¡¯t put any weight on the findings there. I¡¯d have to test it on another necromancer to see if they are similarly vulnerable. The paths of magical connection are a fascinating topic-¡° ¡°So, you need another necromancer to study, is that it?¡± ¡°Well, yes, but that is not really my highest priority. I have to finish setting up the Academy in Havenreach.¡± Duke was instantly sidetracked, ¡°Academy? What are you talking about?¡± The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°It¡¯s the perfect place to set up a magical academy. The time differential will speed up training and studying from the perspective of the outside world and it is as secure a location as possible. I can expand the grounds whenever I need to, and any damage done can be easily repaired. It truly is the perfect setting. On top of all that, I know someone who might just be willing to set up some portals for me to take students to other worlds when they are advanced enough.¡± ¡°Oh, you do, do you?¡± Baslin peered intensely at Duke before responding, ¡°Yes. Yes, I do. He was my last apprentice after all.¡± Duke smiled in return, ¡°That sounds like quite the project. Are you enlisting Sam¡¯s aid in getting it put together?¡± ¡°Very much so. He¡¯s fully on-board.¡± ¡°Sam would be on board if you were setting up a breeding program inside the dungeon. He really just wants more people supplying him with Mana. Adding more mages to the mix will only make him happier.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a win for us all. Now will you help set up portals for me?¡± ¡°Portals to where?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve found some interesting places in your travels.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve mostly found places that were either desolate, devastated by war, or places I¡¯ve actively destroyed. I¡¯m not much help in that area.¡± ¡°Well, shit.¡± ¡°Maybe by the time your students are ready to venture out, I¡¯ll have found good places for them. But considering what I am about to embark upon, maybe not.¡± ¡°Another path of destruction?¡± ¡°Likely, yes.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re not taking any of us along for the trip, are you?¡± ¡°Probably not in any of our best interests to do so. But Teldin needs to be fortified, ready to take on all comers from elsewhere.¡± ¡°That¡¯s no small task. The Hounds were reportedly nigh unstoppable before you managed to find a way. How are we supposed to deal with threats like that?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll need a core of very powerful beings to lean on while I¡¯m not here. That, and the best equipment that can be made.¡± ¡°It seems you have put some thought into this then. How can your humble court mage help in this endeavor?¡± ¡°Get your academy going and add a branch for mages that specialize in warfare. They need long-range and high area-of-effect Spells. If you don¡¯t have the Spells yourself, recruit someone who does. Use the time dilation as much as possible. There is a region in the mountains of¡­you know what. Let me just take you there so you can see for yourself. Can you break away right now?¡± Baslin smiled. ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Great. And have you seen Ophirian around anywhere? It¡¯s not cool for us to be separated for this long.¡± ¡°I believe he is somewhere in the Havenreach area but I¡¯m not sure. Can¡¯t you sense him somehow?¡± ¡°Not at the moment. If he is in the Havenreach area that makes sense. The time dilation effect messes most communications up. OK, Let¡¯s go.¡± It was only a moment before the pair arrived outside the cave system Duke had created in the mountains near Havenreach. Baslin stumbled briefly as the time dilation disrupted his balance which brought a wry grin to Duke¡¯s face. It¡¯s not cancelling my Ability and dropping me from four stories up, but I¡¯ll take it. Duke pointed at the cave opening, ¡°In there, the time dilation really picks up. When Sam gets here, he can help you set up the Academy in there. Feel free to reshape it to whatever vision you have. I may even be able to increase the time dilation for you once you get things set up.¡± ¡°I would be happy to assist in reshaping this area to create more mages.¡± Sam appeared next to the pair looking even more eager than usual. ¡°I figured you would.¡± Duke chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you two to work out the details. I have someone else to track down.¡± He put action to words and stepped into the cave system, immediately sensing Ophirian in the depths of the cave system. With a ripple of air, Ophirian appeared in front of Duke, smiling broadly. ¡°Duke! You¡¯ve returned. The increase in my characteristics has told me of your own growth. I can only assume that we won the Contest?¡± ¡°Yes, we did.¡± ¡°Was it glorious? Did you kill all your opponents?¡± ¡°In the finals, I killed all but one.¡± ¡°Oh, glorious indeed. You left one alive to tell the tale of your dominance and mastery of the competition. You are indeed my own bond!¡± ¡°And what have you been up to in my absence?¡± ¡°Hunting, of course. I am up to level 70 already.¡± ¡°Still Tier Four, I see.¡± Ophirian¡¯s expression darkened briefly before returning to the glow of reunion. ¡°For now. But with you back, I am confident that we will push for the higher tiers quickly.¡± ¡°True. I have to push you up as fast as I can. I really want you to get to Tier Seven in the next few weeks. I need you to be able to handle the rigors of space without a ship around you. In that regard, I have to set up another dungeon that will begin crafting equipment for us. If you can¡¯t handle the vacuum of space with your NATURAL ARMOR and REGENERATION, I¡¯ll find another solution for you.¡± ¡°Why space?¡± ¡°Because that is how we will get to our foes. They travel in ships, so I want to remove that capability from them. I am sure that they have some other means of traversing Cosmic distances but that is going to be the exception rather than the rule. At least that is my hope. So, for now, continue to hunt and grow stronger. I will come back shortly once I have the crafting dungeon set up.¡± Ophirian shifted to his natural form and Duke immediately noted that the serpent had grown by a few meters in length and nearly half a meter in girth. He used his DUNGEON ENGINEERING to increase the respawn rate of the cave system as well as allowing the average Tier and Level of monsters to begin to increase over time. As he did so, he felt something strange ¨C an unexpected interaction with another Ability. His AURA of PROSPERITY flared in response to the dungeon changes, enhancing them even further. A message appeared that helped explain the interaction. *** Your AURA of PROSPERITY has been temporarily boosted by the gods of Teldin to synergize with your other Abilities more easily. Welcome home, Champion. We expect you will be needed more than ever in the days to come. Prepare well for the coming storm as all Teldin will be relying on you! *** Duke took the message in, wondering if the gods were trying to reward him further or if they were afraid of what was coming. Either way he would take the boost and run with it. Ophirian had already returned to hunting the caves and Sam was working with Baslin to design the academy. He left the dungeon, focusing his energy on DUNGEON CORE CREATION. Book 4, chapter 29 Duke had been steadily allocating his characteristic points over the course of his interactions with everyone. By doing so slowly, he had avoided the massive changes that cause such pain and suffering. This had boosted his base Psyche to 20,000 which with all his multipliers came to 224,000. The ultimate result of his stat gains saw him with a Mana pool of over one billion Mana. All of which he was pouring into the Dungeon Core he was forming. This core was Tiering up rapidly and he was growing increasingly concerned as to whether the core or his Ability could handle what he was attempting. The Dungeon Core shuddered in his hands, trembling at the power being poured into it. Pulses of multicolored Mana burst from the core, its structure unable to grow fast enough to contain the Mana being poured into it. The shuddering increased as the now Tier Seven core started to fracture. With a clamp-down of his will, Duke kept the core together, repairing the fractures as he went. The shuddering increased and Duke realized that even with all his will focused on it, the core was not going to survive. With a thought, Duke TELEPORTED the overloaded core into space, outside the orbits of Teldin¡¯s moons. Seconds later, the overloaded core shattered, releasing hundreds of millions of Mana in a burst that briefly lit up the sky like yet another sun. As the flash faded, Duke reviewed what went wrong. It did not take him long to see that he had exceeded the scope of his Ability. He checked and saw that his DUNGEON CORE CREATION Ability had increased to Adept 149 but was still short of making it to Master. Do I just make a bunch more dungeons until I can get the Ability up to Master and go from there? I don¡¯t think I can make the crafting dungeon I am looking for at less than that rank. Yeah, I guess that¡¯s plan B. Duke activated COSMIC NAVIGATION and chose a barren system roughly ten light years away. It took a slight boost to get there with a TELEPORT as it was about ten times his base range but easily within his capabilities. Once there, he scanned each of the rocky planets for any signs of subterranean voids or passages. The planets orbited a blue supergiant star at a considerable distance. Even still, the radiation bombarding the surface of the planets rendered them inhospitable. Duke could feel his ARMOR SKIN working with his REGENERATION to combat the solar wind ripping through the solar system. He quickly found an area on the nearest planet that was likely the remains of a long-dormant volcano. Lava tubes formed countless eons ago made for perfect entryways into the depths of the planet. Stepping out of the solar wind was a relief. It was not a case that Duke couldn¡¯t take it, it was a constant irritation to his skin, making him feel as if his skin was covered in poison ivy and constantly itching. He was glad to be out of it. He followed passages downward and found a network of collapsed caves and openings. One more focused DUNGEON SENSE burst showed him where there were there were several caverns unconnected to the tunnels. Those were his destination. ¡°OK, you get a dungeon. You get a dungeon. And you get a dungeon.¡± He chuckled to himself as he quickly created all manner of dungeon types and planted them within the caverns. For the most part, he did not wait for the dungeons to fully form before planting the next one. His goal was grinding the Ability and planting as many as he could manage in a short window. While he planted dungeons, he activated his DUNGEON AURA to get a real feel for how it worked. In short, it was odd. For the most part it simply existed around him, and he knew he could interact with it like the substance and space of a dungeon. But it also felt wild and untamed. He hoped that in time and with sufficient rank, he could control the aura completely. But right now, it was wild and fluctuated around him. The aura expanded and contracted at its own whim. One moment it was tight to his body, barely a handsbreadth away from his skin. The next, it was filling the entire cavern. The aura fluctuations were enough to occasionally drain a developing dungeon core or to fill one up more rapidly or to a greater degree than Duke had planned. Still, he pressed on, rapidly creating and planting dungeon cores of all types and Tiers. He did not push any of the Tiers above six since he could sense an inherent instability if he tried to push them higher so quickly. He wound up filling what he guessed to be hundreds of caverns deep under the surface of the planet. He figured that he must have planted at least 10,000 in this one planet. It took him most of the day, but it did accomplish his goal as DUNGEON CORE CREATION broke through to Master rank at last. There was no further delay. He returned to Teldin. With his new Master Rank, Duke set himself up outside of Cloudspire and began to carefully craft the new Dungeon Core. He took his time, layering his intent and guidance throughout the core rather than trying to brute force it as he had when he failed so spectacularly. His Mana flowed into the core, filling each Tier layer carefully and precisely. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The new mastery had shown him that rather than building the core as a single growing mass, building each Tier as a single layer upon the Dungeon Core¡¯s foundation was far more stable and sustainable. It was a longer process, but made for a far stronger core structure. Each layer was interconnected but absorbed and used his Mana independently. It took him a full thirty minutes to complete, but when he was done, each layer had been suffused with his entire Mana pool. Including the foundational core, this Dungeon Core was filled with ten billion Mana. ¡°Oh, hell yeah! That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about!¡± Duke held the core up to the sky and announced, ¡°Look at this thing! It¡¯s perfect. Can you see it, Overmind? I finally see the perfection in a well-crafted Dungeon Core.¡± ¡°It certainly took you long enough.¡± Duke turned to see the Overmind floating in the air behind him. Before he could speak, the Overmind continued, ¡°You have been a blunt instrument up until now. Sure, you have had moments of brilliance, and you have created a number of dungeons of quality. The Forge was one that was particularly well designed because it was built with a purpose in mind. This latest dungeon was the first where you thought beyond the simple methods of creation. You created not just a Dungeon Core, but a world in and of itself. That, my faithful, is the true power of your Class and your future.¡± ¡°Way to make me feel proud and shitty all at the same time.¡± ¡°Do not feel shame for your past creations. They will grow and mature on their own paths. Some may even grow to rival even Sam and the Lake Front Dungeon in time. It¡¯s not likely, but it is possible. The vast majority of my dungeons are like the feral ones you have created. They are more spread out for sure, but the groupings you have created will make for an interesting experiment.¡± Intrigued, Duke leaned into the discussion, ¡°Experiment? What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°With the dungeons so crowded together, there will come a time when they will all be sending out creatures to either plant new cores or to explore their surroundings. These creatures will inevitably run into each other. We may see them cooperate and possibly dig new areas to plant cores, or we may see them compete and fight each other over what little space remains. We could wind up with a fight for survival between them all with a single or a few victors who would have then become tremendously powerful ¨C strong enough and aggressive enough to be replanted on the worlds of my enemies!¡± ¡°Dungeons of mass destruction? Is that what you are going for?¡± ¡°That¡¯s just one possibility in many. Go ahead and plant your dungeon. I want to see what this looks like fully realized.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t already know?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ruin my fun. Just plant the dungeon already.¡± Duke smirked as he stepped forward and planted the dungeon. He was standing a bit away from the main road from Cloudspire to the Lake Front Inn. The road had been a project that Duke Madrigal had focused on to give a secondary path to Havenreach if they didn¡¯t want to or couldn¡¯t use the Portal network. Duke had approved of the project instantly and was happy to see that it had been carried out so quickly. He secretly wondered if that was a factor of his AURA of PROSPERITY. He figured that he would have to investigate how that was affecting things now that his Psyche had taken another astronomical leap. As the dungeon formed, he stood back with the Overmind hovering over his left shoulder. It felt a bit weird but Duke was starting to get used to it. It was easier to ignore the floating core over his shoulder once the outer face of the dungeon started to form. The ground under his feet shook as the entryway pushed itself outward, carving a road all the way to the one he now stood upon. The new road was paved with white and grey paving stones and wide enough for half a dozen wagons to drive side-by-side and still have enough room to keep them comfortably apart. This new road led to a grand workshop entrance that stood nearly twenty meters tall, able to accommodate most any cargo that would pass through the workshop¡¯s doors. The doors themselves were made of thick wood, banded with what looked like brass fittings. The grand double-doors each had a smaller wicket door to allow for up to a single standard wagon to enter. Beyond the doors, the workshop itself was immense, easily a hundred meters wide. It was painted in vibrant colors. The doors were a bright turquoise while all the windows were trimmed in a golden-yellow trim thar gleamed in the sunlight. The walls themselves were mostly done in shades of red while still showing the woodgrain of the walls. Above the doors was a massive wrought iron sign that depicted an anvil with a hammer descending while gripped firmly in a man¡¯s fist. Traced in golden filagree were the words, ¡°Celestial Foundry of Teldin¡± Duke turned to look at the Overmind who slid sideways to not be resting on Duke¡¯s nose. He asked with a smile, ¡°Now does that scream, ¡®Crafters of doom and destruction¡¯ to you?¡± ¡°Well, actually, no. No it doesn¡¯t. It looks like an enormous grandmother¡¯s house.¡± ¡°Perfect. Then I got it about right. I want it to be outwardly as innocuous as possible. I would have made it smaller but we will need the large opening to move things in and out and I didn¡¯t want the proportions of the building to match the doors.¡± ¡°Then I suppose you accomplished your mission, but I don¡¯t understand why.¡± ¡°I want this to be an easy to find place for anyone who is supposed to be here. Anyone not supposed to be here will take one look at this place, laugh, and move on.¡± ¡°Duke, you are a one-of-a-kind.¡± ¡°I''ll take that as a compliment. Now, let¡¯s go check this place out.¡± Book 4, Chapter 30 The path to the doors was paved smoothly making Duke¡¯s walk to the doors effortless. It had an inviting aura and perfectly matched his intent. As he reached for the wicket door, it opened inwards for him allowing a cheery light to filter out onto the drive. With the Overmind still hovering over his shoulder and a great sense of anticipation, he entered the doorway. There was a transition message which struck Duke as interesting as most dungeons he had created lately did not carry one. *** You are entering the Celestial Foundry of Teldin. This place is a haven for all of Teldin¡¯s crafters. Be welcome to ply your art here for the good of all in good faith and honor. Should you enter with anything but honor in your heart, turn around now lest you find yourself lost forever in the darker passages. *** Duke furrowed his brow at the message as he had not planned it at all in his designs. The Overmind floated next to him, having cloaked itself in its avatar form. It spoke before Duke could finish processing the message. ¡°I added that message and am holding us in the space between the dungeon¡¯s dimension and material space until we finish this discussion. This is first and foremost a place to prepare for war. Your mastercrafted Dungeon Core allows for some things you have not really touched-upon in the past such as more active self-defense. With a Master-ranked Core made with your own Mana and infused capabilities, this dungeon has a version of your XENOGLOSSIA in that it can read the intent of everyone who enters very well. If it senses that someone is coming in to do harm to it or its Core, it can shunt them to a different section that will trap the intruders in an extremely slow time dilation until you can deal with them. One day for them will be twenty four thousand years in normal time.¡± ¡°What if it gets the intent wrong? My XENOGLOSSIA works with my Intuition but even then, it¡¯s not 100 percent.¡± ¡°Then you have plenty of time to correct the issue.¡± ¡°I suppose that is true. And, given what I have seen of the Syndicate¡¯s actions, I am sure that they will come for me here. Having extra measures of safety just makes sense. Thank you for setting that up.¡± ¡°This is my war as much as it is yours. They have Entities of their own that I must deal with.¡± ¡°You know, that leads me to another question, why don¡¯t you act directly against them and their Entities?¡± ¡°When Supreme Entities directly clash, the destruction is beyond your capability to comprehend. Galaxies become weapons, sacrificing everyone and everything within. Everyone loses and we really can¡¯t kill each other. At least not permanently at this point. We just keep each other from interfering directly in each other¡¯s affairs. That is why most everything is done through Agents.¡± ¡°And I guess that makes me your Agent in all this?¡± ¡°It does. The big difference is that they are forced into doing their Entities bidding. I hope that I¡¯ve made it clear that you have choices.¡± ¡°I know I have choices, but it¡¯s their actions that have set me on this path. I¡¯m not about to back down from them now. And even if I wanted to, they would still come after me. No, I have to tear their system and structures down around their ears for them to leave me alone.¡± ¡°That is the truth of it, unfortunately.¡± ¡°Then we carry on and take the fight to them.¡± ¡°Indeed. Oh, yes, one more thing. You have over 20,000 dungeons planted right now, and your Title is at its second rank. I just wanted to remind you that there are at least two more ranks for that Title. Something to think about when you are out and about. Now, let¡¯s fully enter the workshop.¡± The pair stepped through the doorway and into the Celestial Foundry of Teldin. The first thing that struck Duke was that the entryway resembled one of the Inn dungeons with tables and a bar set up. What was immediately different were the dozens of passageways leading out of the Tavern. They all carried a golden sign above them indicating what type of crafting was available down that way. But even with those significant differences, Duke recognized the ubiquitous stairway leading up to the living areas. Their visual explorations were interrupted by their minotaur host. ¡°Greetings and welcome to-¡° the minotaur stopped in mid-sentence as he realized who was standing before him. The bull-headed creature who stood so much taller than Duke that he only came up to his chest dropped prostrate on the floor before them. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The Overmind gestured with its hand, ¡°Please arise young one and proceed to do your duty.¡± Carefully and slowly, the minotaur stood back to its feet but kept its head bowed out of respect or perhaps fear from the way his shaggy hide shuddered, and his voice cracked. ¡°Welcome to the Celestial Foundry of Teldin. Here, you may ply virtually any crafting trade you can imagine. Supplies can be purchased or traded for and there are multiple ways to earn more crafting materials if you desire. I am your host, Sar Borglyn. Whatever you may need is only a request away.¡± ¡°Central Control Room, please.¡± Duke responded. ¡°Right this way.¡± Sar Borglyn led the pair behind the bar to a blank wall that opened for them. ¡°I shall go tend to my post.¡± The minotaur left them. Stepping through the opening, Duke found himself in what he figured the Mission Control Center for NASA looked like. There were dozens of stations set up with controls and monitors and a trio of exceptionally large screens dominated the far wall. With a satisfied nod, Duke sat down at one of the consoles and started running through the options. He quickly found that the controls were intuitive, and he could locate any crafting room, group of rooms, or even entire sections and modify their parameters easily. Among the basic parameters he could modify were environmental factors such as lighting, temperature, and humidity. But what he was more interested in were the esoteric parameters such as time dilation. The controls for time dilation worked on a sliding scale on the screen that could be zoomed in for finer control. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s even more than I expected. Can we really modify the dilation in such a wide range? Ten thousand to one seems an insane level.¡± ¡°It is and I wouldn¡¯t suggest you use it in reverse except in an emergency. Even using it normally, there are significant risks to the individuals involved. I would recommend keeping it at one hundred to one as the maximum limit for anyone not immortal. You gather a bunch of immortal workers, then go for it and see what wonders they create.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a few steps away from that right now. But I¡¯m not going to discount the possibility. For now, I¡¯m going to set the entire facility to one hundred to one and leave it there. I don¡¯t think I need to check out the individual crafting rooms as there are thousands of them. I need to really get on two things.¡± ¡°Oh, and what, my favorite Agent, are those?¡± ¡°First off, I have to get the local crafters to come here and get started, including the crafters of the Clan. Secondly, I have to track down the Syndicate¡¯s Core harvesting ships and take them off the board. Finding them might take some time but it is essential.¡± ¡°I agree with both those items. Add a third that you will likely take care of accomplishing the second item.¡± ¡°Oh, and what is that?¡± ¡°Get to Tier Eleven. And soon.¡± ¡°That fits into the plan. But I have to get to Ten first, right?¡± ¡°Indeed. You have things well in hand here. I am going to go hire some temporary Agents to assist you in your search. Right now, our best way to track the harvesters is when they actually start harvesting. That works, but I would like a bit of a more proactive capability. So, I¡¯m going to hire some information brokers to find them for us. I¡¯ll send what they find to you so you have some good targets.¡± With that, the avatar vanished, and with it, the Overmind was gone. Duke set out, ensuring the wall closed behind him as he TELEPORTED to his Throne Room yet again. Once there, he used the communications crystal, ¡°Mira this is Duke. Are you on the air?¡± The response was near immediate, ¡°I heard that you were back in town. Do you need a pickup?¡± ¡°Can you meet me outside Cloudspire?¡± Duke TELEPORTED back out in front of the crafting center. ¡°If you can pick me up on your sensors, there should be plenty of space around here to set down and we have so many things to catch up on.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got you in sight. Coming down now. Convenient that you are right outside of the city I was in orbit over.¡± ¡°Works out that way sometimes. See you in a few.¡± ¡°Roger, out.¡± Moments later, Lya¡¯s dropship descended casually, landing in the clearing on the opposite side of the road. It did not take long for the loading ramp to descend, and Duke saw Mira, Lya, and a whole horde of orcs descending before racing across the road to greet him. Gro¡¯nok was the first to arrive and swept Duke up in a bear-hug that would be crushing for any normal man. Duke simply smiled as his friend squeezed for all he was worth. Finally, he let Duke down as the others arrived, ¡°You have gotten even tougher, my friend!¡± ¡°I had little choice. The Contest called for it.¡± ¡°Oh, yes. You must tell us all about the Contest. Did you win?¡± ¡°Of course he won. He wouldn¡¯t have come back if he lost!¡± Urgoth¡¯s voice boomed across the area. Duke smiled at them all but paused to offer a bow to Elder Maw¡¯huk who casually waved him off. Nodding his acknowledgement to the dismissal of formality, he spoke, ¡°Welcome all of you. Can someone run back into the ship and ask the crafters to join us as well?¡± A young orc peeled off from the crowd and tore across the way, tripping as she transitioned to the ramp but never losing her feet. Duke¡¯s exceptional senses picked up the grunt as she disappeared into the ship. Several minutes later, Duke¡¯s greetings with everyone finally ended as the Clan crafters joined them. After several more conversations and one specific warning about the entry message, they all joined him inside the Foundry. Most took to the tables right away and servers came out to take care of them. Some stayed around Duke, his presence providing a reassuring solidity to everything. Duke explained the Foundry and all the crafting stations available and more than one left to explore. The rest settled down to hear Duke¡¯s tales of the Contest. He spent several hours and more drinks than he could count to relate the tale. It was good to catch up with them all. Book 4, Chapter 31 Duke sat in Madrigal¡¯s office, smiling at the man as Madrigal explained everything that was going on in the kingdom and the ¡°prosperity problem.¡± It seemed that Duke¡¯s aura now covered the entire planet. Word had been received from distant lands that crafters of all kinds were seeing all kinds of unexplained gains in ability as well as work output. The same went for farmers. There were reports of cows giving birth to dozens of calves at once. The fields renewed themselves nearly overnight and the biggest problem had become abundance. Even though the fields easily supported the massive increase in the herds, space was running out for pastures and grain storage. The more they delved into the issue, the less Duke felt prepared to deal with it. Prices for goods had crashed due to oversupply, making everything wildly inexpensive. The only items that were retaining any value were of the highest quality, so the master crafters were seeing a boom like never before. This is where Duke stepped in. ¡°Send notice out to the best crafters across all of Teldin. Tell them that we have built the most amazing of crafting halls and that they are all welcome to join us here. Use whatever lofty language you feel is appropriate. I have, as always, too many things to do just like you. I have to find someone to build a starport for us so that customers can come from really afar to purchase our excess goods.¡± ¡°A starport? I¡¯m not sure I know what that is.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve seen Mira¡¯s ship the Iron Reaver. Well, a starport is a place where ships much bigger than hers can come from distant planets to trade.¡± ¡°Where are you going to fit such a thing? It¡¯s not like the Iron Reaver can fit anywhere in the city.¡± ¡°It would take a significant swath of land but I think it will have to be in orbit now that I think more about it. I don¡¯t want others to experience my AURA of PROSPERITY if it can be helped.¡± Duke shook his head. ¡°So many considerations. So much to do and to prepare for a war on top of it all.¡± ¡°Did you say prepare for a war?¡± ¡°Oh, yes. For got to mention it. There is a large galaxy-spanning organization called the Syndicate. They have made themselves my enemy and I must take the offensive soon. They are still reeling from the last blow I struck but I expect it will only be a matter of time before they come here and cause trouble. So, to prevent that, or at least delay it until we are ready to deal with them, I¡¯m going to go out there and keep them on the back foot.¡± ¡°Good luck, Your Majesty. I will endeavor to keep things going in your absence.¡± Duke paused with a moment of introspection, ¡°I¡¯m really not much of a king, am I?¡± ¡°What do you mean? You have brought peace and more prosperity to this kingdom than it has ever seen in its history. You are a great king.¡± ¡°I am an absent king. I left you to handle everything and you have done an outstanding job of it.¡± ¡°You left someone you deemed competent to act in your stead while you work towards protecting not only this kingdom but the whole planet. And still, you question your worthiness?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s not a perspective I had considered.¡± ¡°That is why you have me here, Your Majesty. Do not worry yourself with the concerns of your single kingdom. Should you have wished it, you could have taken over the entire world. After defeating the Hounds and directly receiving the blessing of all the gods, none would have opposed you. Yet, you were content to stick to your own kingdom and allow others to continue to rule theirs as they saw fit. And beyond that, you are protecting us from threats from who knows where. Do not worry yourself. We all have your back. Isn¡¯t that the phrase you introduced?¡± ¡°It is indeed. Thank you, Madrigal. I have no idea what the kingdom is paying you but it¡¯s not nearly enough. Give yourself a massive raise.¡± Madrigal chuckled. ¡°Of course, Your Majesty. Of course.¡± Duke left content that at least something was handled. Time to check in on Baslin and Sam. Maybe they have the Academy designed. They¡¯ve had some time in the time dilation to do so. With a TELEPORT, he was outside the cave entrance he had created what seemed like so long ago. Only, what he was looking at was nothing resembling a cave entrance. There was a wide, winding path climbing its way up the side of a mountain. The path led to an enormous structure that resembled the Reims Cathedral of Notre Dame with its highly elaborate and overwrought series of ever outwardly expanding flying buttresses. Only, this building dwarfed the French church like the Lomonosov Moscow State University Main Building did a one-room schoolhouse. It was vast, taking up the space of another entire mountain. It rose into the sky to dominate the horizon. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Pretty impressive, Your Majesty. Do you know what it is?¡± Duke turned to see Mayor Shellenberger standing on the side of the road with Lord Greengold. He smiled at them and gestured up at the distant structure, ¡°That, my friends, is the Academy. It is the single most impressive school that I have ever seen.¡± ¡°That massive structure is a school? What do they teach there, how to move mountains?¡± Greengold asked. ¡°It is a school for magic, so it could actually have classes on that I suppose.¡± Mayor Shellenberger asked rapid-fire, ¡°So, we can send our citizens there to learn magic? Are there entrance restrictions? Some sort of testing? What is tuition like?¡± Duke held up his hands in defeat, ¡°You¡¯re going to have to speak with the headmaster about all that. And I think I see him coming down the path now.¡± The pair turned to look up the path and saw Baslin floating down to them on what appeared to be a large fluffy red pillow with golden embroidery. His royal blue robes were similarly embroidered with unknowable arcane patterns. Duke didn¡¯t recognize them as any runes or runescript that he knew, and his XENOGLOSSIA refused to acknowledge them. He immediately decided that they were just fancy squiggles. Baslin sat comfortably cross-legged with a serene expression on his face. When he got close to the trio, he set the cushion down on the path and stepped off to greet them. ¡°Hello and welcome. I am Baslin, but I suspect you may already know who I am if you are here with our king. Above us is The Academy, a school for all manner of magical arts and I am its headmaster.¡± ¡°Well met, Baslin,¡± the Mayor started. ¡°Having such an impressive establishment appear so close to our city bore investigation. What can you tell me about this Academy of yours?¡± ¡°Investigation? Indeed. I suppose it would and to not send soldiers or even adventurers ¨C that impresses me. I feel we will get along very well here. As to the Academy, it is for the instruction of all things magic. From training new mages to alchemy to enchantment. There is even an area for teaching runescript, not that I would expect many to truly know what that is, but I digress. All who wish to learn are welcome at the Academy but advancement is solely based on merit. No amount of political clout or wealth will influence your class ranking or advancement. Anyone who attempts to influence others with such things will receive one and only one warning before being expelled. This is not the place for bullies or those who expect the influence of their parents to extend beyond the walls of their own home.¡± ¡°Laying it on pretty heavily there, Baslin.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty, I am. And there is good reason for this. In my youth, I attended an academy myself. It was rife with the corruption and ill-temperament of privilege. I will not allow that to happen at this Academy. And I do have the backing of a rather influential figure to brunt the ire of the overprivileged when they find out that their pushing will not avail them.¡± Lord Greengold smiled as he spoke, ¡°I¡¯m already thinking of ways to market this school. Maybe we can sell it to people from all of Teldin.¡± ¡°We will not stop there,¡± Baslin countered. ¡°I will open the Academy to all of the Cosmos. I will have to find some additional talented staff, but I am fairly certain that Duke can find a way to entice them into coming here.¡± ¡°I might have something that will work for that. There must be something I can do to put my victory to work for me.¡± ¡°Your victory, Your Majesty?¡± ¡°Yes, Mayor, there was a Cosmic Contest of sorts not too long ago. I won the thing so there is likely some leverage that I can use from it. There would probably be more if I didn¡¯t wind up killing everyone in the stadium afterwards.¡± ¡°You what?¡± All three responded in unison. ¡°Oh, did I leave that part out of the story, Baslin? Oh well. Must have slipped my mind.¡± ¡°Slipped your mind!¡± ¡°Did I not mention that the closing award ceremonies were sponsored by the Syndicate and that they had filled the stadium with their people? It seemed like the perfect time to strike at the heart of our enemy. I¡¯m still not sure how they didn¡¯t know that I would do that. But, yes, that is one of the reasons I have to head out. I have to cripple their capacity to make war upon us.¡± ¡°You are taking on a Cosmos-spanning corporation all by yourself?¡± ¡°No, Ophirian is going to join me when he is ready.¡± Baslin just shook his head and stopped trying to figure his former apprentice out. Instead, he turned back to the other two, ¡°I would be happy to discuss entrance requirements if you would like. The standards of conduct are extremely high but the barrier to entry is equally low. Then again, I expect at least a seventy percent failure rate. Maybe even ninety percent. All will be welcome to try, but only the truly talented will advance past the basic classes. That is not to say that someone only receiving the basic education will leave without something valuable. Even the basic classes will allow someone to undertake a magical occupation.¡± ¡°If I may, headmaster?¡± Lord Greengold paused before receiving a nod from Baslin. ¡°What will the advanced classes teach then?¡± ¡°A fair question and one I will not be answering. In order to even understand what the advanced classes will teach, you need to complete the entire basic curriculum. I¡¯m sorry, but that is just how it is.¡± ¡°And anyone can attend?¡± ¡°Enrollment is open to all but remember that our standards are extremely high for both conduct and performance. Do not send someone here if they do not intend to give it their all. Even mastering the basics will give them more knowledge and capability than most any mage outside of the school on Teldin so the effort will have tremendous payoff.¡± ¡°You seem right proud and confident in your new school.¡± ¡°It has been centuries in the making. It¡¯s only just now that it is open to enrollment.¡± ¡°Well, is there any way we could get a tour of the campus?¡± ¡°I thought you would never ask. Climb aboard.¡± Baslin offered a wide sweeping gesture towards his big pillow. With only a slight hesitation, Greengold and Shellenberger climbed aboard. When they looked to Duke he shook his head, ¡°I have too many other tasks to accomplish right now. Enjoy your tour.¡± Baslin did not wait for them to settle down before taking off. The pair flopped down awkwardly on the pillow as they sped off. Duke departed as well with much on his mind. Book 4, Chapter 32 The number of things on Duke¡¯s ¡°to do¡± list had been steadily growing but the list of ¡°things I want to do¡± had dwindled significantly, pushing his mood towards melancholy. That lasted until his COSMIC NAVIGATION Ability informed him that another one of his dungeons had just disappeared. It happened on the same barren planet that the last batch had been taken from. But now, he understood what was happening more clearly and his course of action was far more definable. It only took a single TELEPORT to get to the planet. When he had first come here with Mira and crew, his maximum distance possible by OVERCHANNELING all his available Mana into the Ability had been around 10,000 light years. Now, he could move nearly 400,000 light years with the base Ability. The growth was remarkable but that was not what his mind was focused on. His DUNGEON SENSE quickly identified several teams on the planet but this time he spent the extra time and Mana to expand his sense to locate his true target ¨C the ship orbiting the planet. What he found was not a single ship but what he guessed was twenty. The reason he could not be sure was that there was some sort of energy field blocking his senses around each object in orbit. As they each carried their own field, it was easy to identify them as separate objects, but he could tell nothing more about them than their presence. He suspected that their very presence was supposed to be hidden by the fields but the missing space that his senses registered pointed them out easily. Duke engaged all his stealth-related Abilities and Skills and headed for orbit and the twenty objects waiting for him. Stealthed as he was, Duke should not have shown up on any sensors so he was taken completely by surprise when he was instantly bathed in purely destructive energy lancing out from one of the objects. He felt his ARMOR SKIN resist the destructive energies for just long enough for him to TELEPORT out of the way of the beam. The brief contact with the attack had stripped away his skin over the entire front of his body and a quarter of Duke¡¯s Health with it. His REGENERATION was working to repair the damage but would need several seconds to catch up. Duke changed his flight pattern, taking a more evasive path and changing his location with small TELEPORTATIONS. As he got closer, all twenty objects opened fire, making it nearly impossible to continue closer with the degree of evasion he needed to keep up. He was now spending all his effort dodging the attacks that were coming with increasing frequency. Duke finally retreated several light minutes away to give him time to regroup and reconsider his approach. What in the actual fuck was that? First off, I know I¡¯m not the king of stealth, but they had no reason to even know I was there let alone spot me that quickly. And those weapons¡­so much stronger than anything they have ever shown before. Their dreadnaughts weren¡¯t able to hit me. It¡¯s like they have taken this to an extreme. Now how do I deal with them because sure as hell, I am not letting them to continue killing my dungeons! If I could only see past their energy fields, I could just TELEPORT to the ships directly but that doesn¡¯t seem to be possible. Duke TELEPORTED directly between two of the ships, figuring that they would not fire towards each other and even if they did, a simple evasion would have them striking each other. It did not go as he expected. All the ships opened fire on him again. As he dodged, he noticed that the energy beams warped around the other ships, leaving them unharmed. As he arrived back at his ¡°hiding point¡± he saw that he was not so lucky. He had been struck by no less than three beams even if they were glancing blows. The damage to his body was substantial. He was thankful that the pain was short-lived but his mind was working overtime to figure out a new approach. He had to try something different. As he ran different strategies through his head, he was informed of two more dungeons that had been harvested for their Cores. Frustration welled up inside him as he scrambled for a solution. I could just sling Abilities at them and see if anything works but I¡¯m certain that won¡¯t work either. If my TELEPORTATION Ability didn¡¯t cancel momentum, I could capture a comet and unleash it on them but that¡¯s not an option. If I can¡¯t find a way to attack them, then I¡¯m running out of options. Once again, Duke returned to the planet looking for a way to get to the ships and stop them. This time he kept his distance and really tried to study the ships. He focused on one single ship with all his senses, pouring everything he could into them. After what seemed like an hour, four more dungeons had vanished from the surface of the planet. But that extended effort told him something that he had never expected. The energy fields around the ship was acting like a dimensional barrier in a manner that was suddenly very familiar to him. It was acting like the aura of a dungeon ¨C like his own DUNGEON AURA. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. With newfound confidence, he turned on his own Aura and moved in. The first beam that should have struck him simply warped around his body and continued on into space. A smile spread across his face as he finally had a solution. Beam after beam struck his Aura and passed around him just like they did to the other ships. He accelerated towards the ships, eager for action. The beams came at him with increasing frequency and intensity, but the DUNGEON AURA kept them warping around him. In minutes, he was approaching the energy field surrounding the first of the ships he could reach. His DUNGEON SENSE finally began to register something as he got close enough to touch the field. What he was feeling was a sense of wrongness and pain, a feeling of warping and torture. He reached out to touch the field and screams exploded into his mind. The anguish washed over him, the trauma of pain an old acquaintance of his. He floated in space, at the edge of the ship¡¯s energy field for longer than he could recall but finally he understood what he was dealing with and his ire only grew. These ships were powered by Dungeon Cores that had been tortured and warped into configuration. Forced through coercion and pain to serve those who destroyed their own brethren only to use their hollowed out, soulless corpses as tools. Duke extended his Psyche through his DUNGEON SENSE and finally connected with what was left of the Dungeon Core¡¯s mind. Duke could feel the Core¡¯s consciousness hiding in the darkest corner of its mind surrounded by the magical tortures that had forced it to surrender control of its own magic. Duke cut through the swirling demons, sucking them into his own subconscious as echoes of torment and fuel for the Reaper. Finally, he was metaphorically before the Core itself. It was small and gave off enormous fear. ¡°Be at ease, little one. I am here for you.¡± ¡°No! No more. I let you have it all. There¡¯s no more to give. Please leave me alone!¡± Duke¡¯s heart lurched at the fear permeating those words. He responded, ¡°I am not here to take anything from you. I am here to get you away from those who tortured you. I am here to take you home.¡± ¡°No more lies! No more pain! Go away!¡± The shouting of the Core¡¯s remaining mind was enough to push Duke out of the shared mindspace. The next thing he registered was the pain of something impaling him. He looked down and an enormous wasp¡¯s stinger was protruding from his stomach. He looked up to see a swarm of van-sized wasps that moved through space around the ship like it was air. He TELEPORTED himself off the stinger and turned to face the swarm. His DUNGEON SENSE was still active and showed him what he was up against. These were nothing more than dungeon creatures formed and directed by whomever was controlling the Core and the ship it had formed. Duke grit his teeth and, with a nearly effortless flexing of will, took control of the dungeon monsters. He then directed them to show him the way inside the ship. They obliged happily, bowing to the power of a true Dungeon Emperor. Minutes later, he TELEPORTED past the access hatch and into the ship portion of this mobile dungeon. If not for how they had tortured the Dungeon Core to achieve this marvel, he would have been impressed with what they had constructed. The ship interior resembled a mansion with fine decorations and opulence in abundance. Duke found himself standing on plush carpeting that traveled the length of the wide and tall hallway. Actual paintings lined the hallway depicting what Duke read to be leaders of the Syndicate over the millennia. Some were human or human-like but many were not. There was one that appeared to be some sort of sentient jellyfish. Duke shuddered just looking at the thing. He continued down the hall, emerging into a grand ballroom complete with sparkling crystal chandeliers. He proceeded across the dance floor, heading towards a pair of golden-framed double doors that he guessed would take him to something resembling the bridge of the ship. That he had not run into any resistance was somewhat confusing to Duke and he once again extended his DUNGEON SENSE to try and figure things out. What he found was odd. The entire interior of the ship was indeed laid out like an old mansion. There were kitchens, dozens of bedrooms in different wings, and one area which resembled the deck of a tallship complete with the wooden steering wheel. There were crewmembers scattered all over the ship but far less than Duke had expected. He counted no more than fifteen and only one on what he assumed was the bridge. He hastened his pace, heading right for the bridge and hoping for some answers before he tore this who construction down and returned control to the Core. The doors to the bridge were open and Duke stepped through them easily. His DUNGEON SENSE showed him no traps or other impediments, so he strode out onto the deck full of confidence. The scene before him perfectly resembled a wooden sailing ship at sea down to the waves and the smell of the sea air. A man in a colonial-era British Navy outfit, complete with dark blue coat with white silk facings and gold lace trim, silk breeches, a silk waistcoat, a white linen shirt with ruffle cuffs, a white cravat and white stockings. It was topped off by a gold-trimmed tri-corn hat. The man turned away from the wheel of the ship and faced Duke. The man spoke with an accent that Duke could not believe, ¡°Thou didst tarry excessively in thine arrival. Dost thou find pleasure in the vista? It doth remain mine utmost preference amongst all the choices presented.¡± Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA translated the words for him, but he instinctively knew that the man was speaking English, Colonial English. And the man was speaking it natively. Things had just gotten even more interesting. Book 4, Chapter 33 Duke¡¯s curiosity fought with his desire to wipe out everyone involved in the destruction of his dungeons. The reality of what he was seeing did not coincide with the reality that he understood to be true, and the dissonance was striking him deeply. Once again, his XENOGLOSSIA didn¡¯t translate the man¡¯s words, leaving it just as he spoke, in 18th century Royal English. ¡°Thou dost appear perplexed. What doth give rise to thy tribulations?¡± ¡°Who the hell are you and why are you speaking English?¡± ¡°I am Baron Lane Gardner, and I extend mine greetings unto thee, notwithstanding thy humble vernacular. I do articulate the King''s English, for I am a true Englishman. Why, pray tell, would I converse in any other tongue?¡± Duke shook his head as he wrapped his mind around what he was hearing. He tried one more time, ¡°OK, fine. Baron Gardner, what are you doing here?¡± ¡°Verily, I find myself traversing the vast ocean and vanquishing all the serpents that do appear. Pray tell, what dost thou occupy thyself with in this place if not to join mine illustrious crew? Thou didst indeed come hither to enlist among us, didst thou not?¡± ¡°What you and your crew are doing is hunting and killing sentient beings. You are all murderers and I cannot allow that to continue!¡± ¡°What folly is this? These dreadful creatures of the deep are but mindless brutes, nothing further.¡± ¡°You truly don¡¯t know what you are doing and who you are doing it to? Are you just that backwards, or is this all some sort of elaborate ruse? Perhaps I should just eliminate you all like I had originally planned.¡± ¡°Thou couldst no more inflict harm upon me within this, mine sanctuary, than an ant might inflict upon an elephant. Ponder most judiciously ere thou dost proffer threats beyond thy capability to fulfill. Perchance, thou dost require a demonstration.¡± Gardner then gestured and black chains sprung from the doorway to encircle Duke. They wrapped around him in a split second, pinning his arms as well. Duke, for his part, watched the chains impassively, not taking his gaze from the ship¡¯s Captain. ¡°Thus, thou dost perceive. The entirety of this world doth move at my sovereign command. Thou art naught before mine immense power.¡± Duke kept his gaze locked on the man as the chains vanished into smoke. ¡°You have absolutely no idea who you are dealing with. But let me give you a taste.¡± He further flexed his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability, dispelled the ship¡¯s deck and surrounding seas, reshaping the entirety of the ship into a series of jail cells floating in space. Each other person who had been on the ship had their individual jail cell. Duke glared at them all, ¡°You have attacked dungeon after dungeon, killing them indiscriminately and using their corpses to power the empire that you serve whether you know it or not. That all ends now. I will allow it no longer.¡± Now that Duke could see space around him, he could see that the other ships had ringed him and the ship he was on, bringing their weaponry to bear but had not opened fire. Since they had come so close, he was able to reach out to each of them with his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability and grab hold of their dungeon substance. Each ship was of a completely different design but all were crafted from tortured and warped dungeons. He paused momentarily as his communication crystal chirped. They can contact me like that? Well, shit. I thought these things were more secure than that. Guess I¡¯ll answer and see what they have to say before I tear them all apart. ¡°Go ahead. I am listening.¡± ¡°Unidentified lifeform, you are interfering with Syndicate business. You are advised to cease your activities and depart this area before hostile action must be taken.¡± ¡°So, you don¡¯t call shooting at me repeatedly hostile action? It felt pretty hostile to me. And who am I talking to anyway?¡± ¡°This is Captain Pritchard of the Syndicate Ship Titan Extractor. To whom am I speaking?¡± ¡°I am the Lorax. I speak for the dungeons.¡± Duke had to clench his jaw to keep from chuckling. The Lorax. That¡¯s a good one. ¡°Your harvesting days are over. Kindly surrender your ships and any Dungeon Cores you have kidnapped.¡± ¡°OK, Lorax. I am giving you one final warning. Leave or die.¡± Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°I tried to be diplomatic. I really did. But you fuckheads just don¡¯t get it, do you?¡± Duke didn¡¯t wait for a response. Instead, he pulled all the ships together into a single prison, depositing the entire crews into cells, and then began to shrink the prison around them all. The cries of disbelief and panic came quickly, followed by the cries of pain. In seconds, it was over, and Duke called forth the actual Dungeon Cores from the ships. The Cores were dim but still held life. He placed them into his ¡°core bag¡± and headed for the plant¡¯s surface. There were more Syndicate forces to deal with. Arriving on the planet¡¯s surface, he headed straight for the base camp of the Syndicate forces. It seemed they were waiting for him as he was greeted with weapons fire. Duke used his DUNGEON AURA to absorb the projectiles and beams. Oh shit, does this make me untouchable? Duke casually walked forward into the increasingly desperate fire. Feeling completely invulnerable was a mistake. The blade that struck him from behind was overwhelmingly enchanted to be able to cut through anything that they had ever encountered short of a dungeon wall. It sliced cleanly through Duke¡¯s neck in a fountain of blood. His head spun through the air with a sickening rotational velocity, dizzying him before landing in complete darkness within an enchanted sack. Duke¡¯s body collapsed lifelessly to the plant¡¯s surface. For Duke, everything stopped, frozen in time. Hapthor didn¡¯t celebrate his latest kill. Instead, he flicked the blood off his blade before wiping the last of it off on the clothes of his victim. He glanced around at the others while they celebrated the victory. He supposed they had reason to celebrate as, by all accounts, this foe was impossibly difficult to deal with, having a range of advantages so long, they still have not been properly catalogued. None of that mattered to Hapthor. The hunt was over, his stalking complete. He had the satisfaction of the kill and that was all he needed. He didn¡¯t bother to check his notifications as his level had not increased. He still sat at level 599 and needed to find an even greater foe to make the final step towards Tier 13. ¡°Stop dancing around like children and place that body in a stasis chamber. Mr. Nonetes commissioned me for this job and I¡¯ll not have you lot mess it up at this point. When you get back to the station, go wild. Spend your bonuses on drink and cheap companionship or whatever other hedonistic pursuits you care for but not here and not now. The job is not done until the subject is delivered.¡± The group sobered up immediately, all signs of revelry ceased, none daring to oppose the intimidating figure that they had all seen vanish before their eyes and take out the target. Among the group was one who had worked with Hapthor once before and had not joined the revelry. He instead had been hailing the ships for a pickup, knowing the assassin¡¯s desire for efficiency. He spoke up as everyone else fell silent. ¡°Sir, we have a problem. None of the ships are responding to my calls. I have checked over my comms gear and everything tests as normal. Can you bring them up on yours?¡± Hapthor¡¯s gaze pierced through the man momentarily before he spoke, ¡°At least one of you are still on task. What¡¯s your name, soldier? You look familiar to me.¡± ¡°Name¡¯s Geslek, sir. We worked together on the Oslomar job.¡± ¡°Yes, that makes sense. That job went well, and now you display competence above your fellow soldiers. Would you like to join my staff? I can make the arrangements.¡± ¡°I¡­I would be honored.¡± Hapthor grinned, malice glowing in his eyes, ¡°I thought you might. No one has turned me down yet. I know I am a demanding sort, but my people are well rewarded. From this day forward, you have two paths open to you ¨C death in service or immortality. Let¡¯s be smart and see that you take the latter, eh?¡± Gasps erupted from the other soldiers at the mere mention of the possibility of immortality. The Eleventh Tier was beyond a dream for them. They were considered an elite squad, but none imagined they would reach above Tier Five, let alone the elusive pinnacle of immortality. That it was offered to one of their own was overwhelming. One by one, they straightened up and tried their own comms, hoping they would be tapped as well. None of them received a response. The ships were not answering. ¡°Anyone? Any response at all?¡± Hapthor gazed around the group but only got head shakes in the negative. ¡°Very well.¡± He strode away from the group to a clearing and began pulling items out of his storage device. He had received it as loot from a dungeon run centuries ago on his homeworld. That was before he joined up with the Syndicate and learned that dungeons were monsters in and of themselves. It took him nearly an hour to retrieve and set up the equipment. Thankfully, everyone else kept their distance and knew better than to ask stupid questions while he worked. Finally, the equipment had been set up and he turned it on, watching the power supply carefully to see how stable it was. ¡°Not as stable as I had hoped. I¡¯ll have to keep this short then.¡± He waited for the systems to fully energize and then sent his message through the Exospace tunnel. ¡°Hapthor requesting assistance. Subject eliminated. Remains captured. Ships unresponsive and likely destroyed. Pickup requested.¡± The response he received was equally brief, ¡°Message received. Retrieval dispatched. ETA six weeks.¡± Hapthor nodded and began to tear his set-up down and put it back in storage. When he was done, he strode over to the group and smiled at the team leader, ¡°So, have you killed all the habitable dungeons or is there somewhere we can hang out for five or six weeks?¡± ¡°Number sixty-two is habitable. Low-tier goblins are the main threat but nothing we can¡¯t easily handle.¡± ¡°Good, grab everyone up and we¡¯ll head there. Once set up inside, we will keep a rotating guard outside to scan for incoming comms. Agreed?¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan to me, sir.¡± He spoke louder so that everyone could hear him, ¡°Break camp. We are setting up in number thirty-two. I want a camp set up with a defensible perimeter within an hour of our arrival. Losnath, you are to gather five others to set up a rotating comms scan outside the dungeon. OK, everyone, break camp and move out!¡± Book 4, Chapter 34 The goblins posed no real danger to the Syndicate crew. They were regularly tasked with subduing dungeons and taking their cores. A tribe of goblins, no matter how large, was an inconsequential threat. Wave after wave of the creatures swarmed out of their warrens and tried to overrun the Syndicate camp only to be met with mass area of effect weapons that killed the goblins before they could even get close. Hapthor, for his part, ignored the goings-on around him. He was more fascinated with the prize he had acquired for the new sector head. Fulfilling his first commissioned mission would look good for his future. He smiled as he looked at the disembodied head that floated in the stasis field before him. ¡°A real shame we had to cross paths like this. You were building up something of a reputation amongst everyone. I actually had to consider if this commission was worth the risk. Glad to see that it was. Doubly glad that they really only want your head. I¡¯m sure your body contains secrets for me to wrest. Like how did you shrug off all that weapon fire. I saw nothing resembling a personal force field. Yes indeed, many a mystery to explore.¡± For now, Hapthor was content to stare into the lifeless eyes of his latest victim. The more he stared, the more they creeped him out, as if they were still alive and staring back. He shook off the feeling and put the head back in its bag. As the bag closed there was an almost imperceptible electronic chirp before the bag¡¯s magical stasis layered over the technological stasis field. Before he could really take notice, one of the comms-watchers came up to him excitedly. ¡°Sir, we have comms. Ships have entered the system and will be ready for pickup in three hours.¡± ¡°Excellent. Let¡¯s kill off the rest of the goblins, take the core and get out of here!¡± A cheer rose up from the Syndicate troops as they surged out of their positions. They had been suffering through the grind of fending off wave after ineffectual wave of goblins. The go-ahead to strike back set them alight with energy, cutting goblins down with ease and charging past the corpses. As the elite troops entered the caves, they were met with a dozen boss monster goblin shamans. The shamans opened up with Spells of many different sorts. Curses to weaken the body, blood poisons to cause internal organs to hemorrhage, flames as hot as lava, cloying acid to burn through skin and bone alike. None of the spells hit their targets. Personal shields deflected the spells away and the elites tore into the goblin bosses. It was over in less than a minute. There was just nothing this newly Tier Two dungeon could throw at the mostly Tier Three and Four elites. The leader of the squad was a Tier Five and he blazed through the goblin bosses with an ease that set the others to wonder. They had seen her at work before, but never with the enthusiasm she brought with her now. The first shaman she encountered was cut down in two swift slices of the blade. The next only took a single cut. The third staggered into her path from another¡¯s attack. This one, she planted a foot on its chest and rode the thing to the ground where her blade pierced its skull, finishing it. When the last goblin shaman fell, a brief glance showed that the squad was still intact and not particularly injured. The squad leader pressed on, confident that her charges would follow. Not necessarily blindly, but they would follow her wherever she went. There was no room for insubordination or second-guessing among the elite ranks of the Syndicate. They followed their leaders, or they weren¡¯t among the elite for long. Those that fell out of the elite ranks were not seen again and were not talked about, but the implication was clear ¨C follow along or you were dead. Finally, they fought the last-ditch efforts of the dungeon¡¯s core at protection and made it to the core itself. Without hesitation, the leader plucked the core up and tossed it from hand to hand. It was warm to the touch as they always were, but she didn¡¯t remark upon it. Instead, she simply tossed it into her carrying pouch and turned on her heel to exit the soon-to-collapse dungeon. This time, there was not even the briefest hint of hesitation as her squad followed her out of the dungeon to meet up with the rest of the Syndicate forces. There was a heavy-lift shuttle already waiting for them all and she followed Hapthor right up the ramp. Rank had its privileges. The rest of the elite squad followed and then the support troops. Settling down in their seats, Hapthor nodded to the squad leader, and she weighed her options. Finally, she spoke. ¡°You are taking one of my best squad members.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°And it will take me some time to replace him, leaving me shorthanded.¡± ¡°That sounds like a ¡®you¡¯ problem.¡± She knew when to cut her losses. ¡°Yes, I suppose it does. Do you have anyone you could recommend I pursue?¡± Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. He laughed. ¡°If there was anyone of quality, I would have taken them for myself. This mission was unusual enough with my team staying behind. Normally, I only work with the hyper-competent. The rabble you run with doesn¡¯t qualify for consideration with, apparently, one single exception.¡± She knew better than to push her position against him but resolved to pursue it with her superiors. Everybody answered to someone. This assassin was no different in that regard. But she knew she would have to make sure it never came back to her. She was important, but not so critical an asset that she would be shielded should he find out. She could, of course, just let it go, but that is not how she had risen to Tier Five and gained her own elite harvesting squad. She settled back in her chair, plotting as the shuttle burned for orbit and the waiting ship. She hoped it would be one that she could take to continue her harvesting activities. The commissions on harvested cores was tremendous and it paid for all her special training and extra ¡°needs.¡± Her hand involuntarily caressed the core in her pouch as a slight smile traced her lips. Alpho Nonetes waited impatiently as the long-awaited ship docked at his station. Taking over the sector leadership had been a whirlwind of meetings and learning so many things about how the sector actually ran. Without Edgemont to assist him, there was no way he could have survived his first month, let alone gotten to this point. That man was a godsend who seemed to know everyone and all the underlying rules that nobody ever talked about. Edgemont had even connected him with the leader of the prime sector. That was an invaluable connection that could only drive his career further. Now, he sat waiting for his prize to arrive. It had been exorbitantly expensive to hire the immortal assassin but seeing as the monster had collected the prize in short order, he deemed it worth it. Replacing the harvesting ships would take his shapers a few months but he still had fourteen harvesting fleets in action. The core business was well in hand and with this interloper taken care of, he was ready to increase output significantly. The shipyards were demanding more cores and creating them from the rare monster core was impracticably inefficient and expensive. Making them from the captured dungeon cores was far cheaper now that they had perfected the process. Even accounting for the maintenance and operational costs of the harvesting fleets, it was a fraction of the cost of using monster cores. He took great satisfaction at being the one who was going to bring it all back up to speed. And so quickly. Maybe another promotion was coming his way. The smile was stamped on his face, refusing to depart. He watched the ship dock and shifted his view to the crew departing. There was one figure he was more interested in than any other and that was Hapthor. The assassin was bringing him his prize and the anticipation was brimming over. Where others had failed, he had brought the criminal to heel. Sure, he had to hire an immortal assassin to get it done but no one else had even thought that far ahead. This was his victory, and he was savoring every moment of it. He watched as Hapthor made his way to his office. Finally, the assassin arrived. Edgemont informed him through a subtle signal that flashed on his desk. He responded with a ¡°make him wait¡± signal while he spent the next thirty seconds calming himself down and adjusting his appearance. It would not do to look to eager, after all. When the door opened and Hapthor entered, Alpho had to use every bit of his discipline to not leap out of his chair ¨C for two reasons. One, the assassin was even more intimidating in person than over video link; he just exuded danger. The second was pure excitement and eagerness to get his hands on the prize. With a focus of will, he invited the assassin in, ¡°Come in, come in. Please have a seat and tell me of your mission. I understand it was successful?¡± Hapthor sat in the offered chair, taking his time to get comfortable, reading the sector commander¡¯s nervousness despite his attempts to hide it. He had to admit that the guy was doing far better at masking it than most ¨C perhaps he had a future beyond this office. With that assessment, he decided that having such a man in his debt would be in his long-term interest. He reined in his immortal aura and smiled at the man. ¡°Why yes, sector commander, my mission was a success. I have retrieved the target¡¯s head and have it in this wonderful stasis box for you.¡± Hapthor brought the softly glowing box out of his own bag and placed it upon the desk. The box itself, resembled a glass case with a thick golden base. The ¡°glass¡± was actually the stasis field projected by the equipment encased in the gold below. He smiled as the sector commander¡¯s emotions fluctuated from wonder to disgust and back again. ¡°As you can see, I captured him at the moment of death. That look of shock should serve you well sitting on your shelf as a reminder for those who would consider getting in your way. Wouldn¡¯t you say?¡± ¡°Indeed, I would. You have done an exceptional job in bringing this trophy to me. I have already released the bonus payment in your contract. Thank you for this. Is there anything I should know about this ornament?¡± ¡°Nothing in particular. It¡¯s powered by a Tier Two core and has a minimal power drain. You will need to change core in about a decade, but until then, you are good to go. Enjoy your prize.¡± As Hapthor left the office, Alpho cleared a spot on the shelves behind his desk to display his grisly trophy. He realized that the assassin was right, this was just the thing to keep everyone in line. ¡°Maybe I will make a collection of those who displease me. That will provide everyone else with sufficient motivation to do their best for me.¡± Satisfied, he sat behind his desk and began to run through the sector¡¯s efficiency reports. They took up the rest of his day and he left with a great sense of satisfaction. ¡°Edgemont, would you care to join me for a celebratory drink and meal? You have been such a great support for me so far. You should be celebrated too.¡± Edgemont smiled, ¡°Yes, that is a great idea. We have a reservation at the Rhyneline.¡± ¡°Always thinking ahead. You are invaluable, Edgemont.¡± He did not hear the subvocalized response, ¡°You have no idea.¡± Book 4, Chapter 35 Alpho sat behind his desk waiting for the first meeting of the day to start. It wasn¡¯t originally on his calendar, but you never turn down a meeting with your executive leader, no matter how disturbing their appearance. There were still five minutes before the meeting was scheduled to start but he couldn¡¯t wait. He knew this was going to be good news for him. It just had to be. Standing, he turned around and adjusted his trophy¡¯s positioning for the seventeenth time this morning. He sat back down and double-checked the camera angles. Satisfied that the trophy would show over his left shoulder, he tried to do some work but just could not concentrate. He was too excited. Finally, he downed the drink that Edgemont had left for him with a note that simply said, ¡°Drink this before your meeting.¡± He didn¡¯t know what was in the drink but he knew Edgemont had steered him right at every turn, so he trusted the man almost implicitly now. Despite sitting on his desk for at least an hour, if not longer, the drink was still cool as it slid down his throat and sent a coolness flowing out from his stomach. The coolness from the drink suffused his body almost instantly and Alpho nearly panicked at it being some kind of poison, but then the cooling sensation settled into his brain and his mind calmed. He felt a sense of calm focus settle over him and he immediately knew that Edgemont had, once again, come through for him. All the external concerns slipped away, and he put his full mind towards the meeting, letting everything else fade into indistinct background, effortlessly ignored. A sharp electronic chirp sounded in the room, and he instinctively reacted, activating his holoprojector for the meeting. The meeting hadn¡¯t started yet, but one did not leave their executive waiting. He mentally thanked Edgemont yet again for setting up the reminder tone to start his holo system in advance. Even though the man had the day off ¨C a reward Alpho had insisted upon, he had still made sure everything was set up perfectly for him. Alpho adjusted his appearance one last time and set in to wait for the meeting to start. There was no warning before the holoprojector started to form into an image. Thanks to the calming nature of the drink Edgemont had left for him, he didn¡¯t react when his executive appeared in the room. The being that was his executive was like nothing he had encountered before but he was prepared by both the background images Edgemont had provided and the wonderful drink. Floating before him was a creature of darkness and tentacles. It was a dark mass the size of his torso with hundreds of black tentacles. The exact count of tentacles was impossible to ascertain as they kept growing and retracting, hiding their number. Where the voice came from, Alpho had no idea, but the voice had a distinctly female timbre. ¡°Greetings Alpho. How are you adjusting to your role as sector commander?¡± ¡°Quite well, Rynis. It is not without its challenges but for every challenge there is a solution.¡± ¡°So, it would seem the rumors are true. You have eliminated the mass-murderer. That is his head on your shelf behind you, is it not?¡± ¡°It is. The murderer has been dealt with. It was so cooperative for him to take my bait and walk into the trap set for him.¡± ¡°I understand you contracted an immortal assassin to perform the task. Is that correct?¡± ¡°It is. I felt the one-time expense was less of an impact to our long-term profitability than to continue the ineffective low-tier tactics that my predecessor attempted which simply compounded losses with no measurable results.¡± Rynis laughed, its tentacles shaking and shuddering in their expanding and contracting dance. ¡°Yes, this was the smarter path. I commend you on your decisive action and rapid results. Have you made a determination on his plant of origin?¡± ¡°My original inclination was to liquidate all the planet¡¯s assets and resources but my scouts have detected some interesting anomalies that bear investigation instead.¡± ¡°Anomalies? What anomalies have been detected?¡± ¡°We are still in the preliminary stages of investigation, but it appears that there is some sort of planetwide productivity boost. It is too early to tell if it¡¯s technical, magical, or some other form or function, but output of goods production seems to be orders of magnitude beyond where it should be for such a primitive planet.¡± ¡°Oh, that is interesting. Send a more robust investigative team and report back to me. Your sector may have something more to offer than just the Core Production Station. I am well-pleased with your performance thus far. Expect a Tier boosting bonus to arrive as soon as a courier can reach you. Continue the good work.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Alpho had no chance to respond before the holographic image vanished. Despite the drink¡¯s calming effects, he felt his heart racing with excitement. He was getting a Tier-boost! The resources to reach Tier Six were well beyond the means of even a sector commander. There were a number who could do so on their own, but that required significant combat against increasingly difficult foes. Something no corporate manager, no matter how senior, could do on their own. There were groups you could hire to pull you along with them but they were exorbitantly expensive and took years ¨C something that Alpho was just not able to do. Full of energy, Alpho left his office and went for an inspection tour of his station. It was the largest in the entire sector with over thirty million lifeforms living on it. The vast majority were some strain of human or other, but there were quite a few more exotic lifeforms as well. He did not know or particularly care why the Cosmos seemed to be human-dominant since he was a human after all. He just figured that they were the superior lifeform. His tour took him through several areas using his personal station transport. He stopped at the most important areas including the magitech laboratory where the security was so tight even he needed several steps to be vetted for entry and even then, he needed to be escorted through the area by a pair of Tier Seven guards. Up until then, he didn¡¯t know there were any Tier Seven guards on the whole station! Meanwhile, the beeping in his office continued to increase in both frequency and urgency. The office was locked and sealed while both he and Edgemont were out so no sound filtered out at all. Even the flashing red light did not make it beyond Alpho¡¯s desk despite the cycling of electromagnetic spectra that the alarm tried to use to sound out its warning. The sealing of the office prevented that as well. No one was going to spy on the office while neither were there by design. Finally, the alarm silenced in mid tone as its power was fully exhausted. The Tier Two core that had been powering it finally shattered as even the Mana holding it together was drained. With a pop, the stasis field failed, spilling Duke¡¯s head onto the shelf where it rolled briefly before making the unceremonious drop to the floor to roll under the desk. Duke was disoriented as he slammed his head into the underside of the desk. Everything about where he was had changed and he had no idea how it happened. He could feel the residual tingle of his body REGENERATING. The tingle covered almost his entire body which was something in itself. He pushed the chair out of his way and levered himself out from under the desk and to his feet. ¡°Where the fuck am I and why am I naked? Did I just? No, I would have remembered if I was with someone.¡± He retrieved some clothes from his INVENTORY and proceeded to get dressed while looking around at what he now realized was a Syndicate office. He stopped short when he saw the oddly thick golden platter that had held a rather specific notation on it that grabbed his interest. ¡°Duke, Tier Nine mass-murderer and former Champion of the Cosmic Contest.¡± He looked at it again with renewed interest. Picking it up, he saw the shattered and fading remains of a Mana Core and all sorts of runescripting that he didn¡¯t recognize. He could read it thanks to his XENOGLOSSIA but it didn¡¯t show him what it actually did in the literal translation. Instead of messing with it, he tossed it into his INVENTORY and moved on. He had notifications to read and he was hoping he would gain some insight as to how he had gotten wherever he was. *** You have slain 66 Syndicate officers and crew ranging from Tier One to Six. You gain 13,400 (17,740) Experience. By destroying one of the Syndicate Core Harvesting fleets, you have reduced their operational capacity. You have only lost 597 dungeons due to their continued operations. Despite these losses, you still maintain 21,041 active dungeons under your control. *** Duke nodded along, realizing that while he was still relatively safe from his title downgrading, he had to still both put a stop to the dungeon destruction and create more. While he continued reading his notifications, he started pouring Mana into his DUNGEON CORE CREATION Ability. Many of his notifications were inconsequential but eventually, he came to the important stuff. *** You have been beheaded. While this would not normally be fatal given your Master-ranked REGENERATION, both your head and body have been separated and placed in stasis. If either is removed from stasis in the next ten days, it will become your primary self and REGENERATION will restore the missing parts. If neither has been removed from stasis, your head will become the primary self until such a time as it leaves stasis or another body part is removed from stasis first. *** Well, that explains what the hell happened. Kinda. I still have no idea who got me, or even how. None of the Syndicate forces were getting through my DUNGEON AURA so what hit me? This still doesn¡¯t explain how I got out of stasis. Time to read on, I suppose. *** You have successfully absorbed the effect ¡°Stasis¡± and can now use it as an Ability. This Ability allows you to enter a state where time does not pass for you. You cannot be physically harmed while in the state by anything less than five ranks higher than the Ability. The duration of the timeless state is based on your Rank and the Level of the Ability. You have gained this Ability at Untrained, Level 1. At Untrained Rank, you can maintain this state for up to one second per Level of the Ability. You must choose the duration at activation. *** Well, that¡¯s something. I have no clue when I could use such a thing, but I suppose it could be useful in surviving an explosion or something like that. Not that one second is a lot of time to be timeless. I suppose I can train it up. And I suppose that also explains the shattered core pieces. I must have drained the Mana out of the core while absorbing the effect. Glad to re-affirm that passive still works. It doesn¡¯t show up anywhere on my stat or Ability sheets but I¡¯m damned glad it¡¯s there. OK, now to figure out where I am and what the hell is going on! Book 4, Chapter 36 Edgemont had not taken a day off in over four centuries. He frankly didn¡¯t know what to do with a day off work ¨C there were just so many things to manage. Still, he decided that it was time that he stepped away from the station for the day as he could monitor everything from his own ship as well as he could from his workstation. His mind made up, he boarded his ship and instructed the captain to take him planetside. He would visit his estate and see how well it had been curated in the ten generations of workers that maintained it in his absence. The only question in his mind was whether to warn his butler or not. After careful consideration that took the entire time his ship spent getting clearance and departing, he decided that he was in a good mood and would let his butler know he was coming. He placed the call which was answered with less than a second¡¯s delay. He smiled inwardly ¨C it seemed that the breeding for this staff had run true. ¡°Good day sir. How may I be of assistance?¡± ¡°Good day, Wellsley. I am coming down to the surface for the day. Do make sure everything is prepared for me.¡± ¡°Of course sir. Is it just you, or should we prepare for guests.¡± ¡°Oh, gods no. No guests. I¡¯m not ruining my day away from the station with other people.¡± ¡°Very well sir, I am tracking your ship and note your arrival in thirteen minutes. Everything will be ready for your arrival.¡± ¡°Thank you, Wellsley.¡± Edgemont settled into his seat and enjoyed the short trip home. Duke took another look around the office to make sure there was nothing about it that seemed familiar before he pushed his senses outward to scan the area. His DUNGEON SENSE permeated the area and gave him quite the surprise. He was not in an office building, he was on some sort of space station, but not a station on any scale he had ever imagined. The station was huge, set up like some enormously stylized gyroscopic sphere with concentric and stacked rings, both vertical and horizontal, that somehow all ringed a central nexus. There were connecting arms that crossed each layer, but what really struck Duke was the vast scale of the place. The station was nearly one thousand kilometers across ¨C it was a scale of construction that Duke was having difficulty comprehending. To compound it, there were people and creatures of all races everywhere on the station. It was too much information for him to easily process even with his six thousand points of reason. He knew that if he put his mind to it, he could sort through it all, but he wasn¡¯t sure what he was dealing with in the immediate. OK, to run it down quickly, I¡¯m on an impossibly large space station that at least has some Syndicate presence if not complete control. There are more people on here than I want to be responsible for killing in any way shape or form. I¡¯m in an office where apparently my head was a trophy so whoever did that needs to die. But there¡¯s not a single picture in this office. Duke walked around to the front of the desk and smiled. There was, as always in a corporate setting, a nameplate affixed to the desk. Alpho Nonetes. At least I know the bastard¡¯s name if not what he looks like or where he is. I could just wait for him to come into the office, I suppose. Not my most active of moves, but possibly my best choice. I guess I can keep building this Dungeon Core while I wait. Duke paused in his thoughts as a realization hit him, ¡°I lost my bag of cores. Dammit!¡± Ater the initial shock of losing all those cores, he performed a more thorough inspection of the office. Visually, there wasn¡¯t much beyond the interface on the desk, so he switched to his SENSE MAGIC Ability. With that Ability active, things all over the room started to light up, even the walls themselves. He saw several points of more intense magic throughout the room embedded in the walls behind the fa?ade that the walls showed. With a grimace that turned into a wry smile, Duke switched to MANA DRAIN and began to drain the Mana in the area. At first, it was just ambient Mana in the room, but the more he focused on the Ability, the more he was able to start pulling from the magical devices surrounding him. He drained the stored Mana from each and every device around the room, but he continued to pull. There was a strange level of resistance as he pulled, as if he was being directly opposed. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Duke pulled even harder, putting the full focus of his will into the effort and he felt the resistance break like a rain-swollen dam. At first it was an additional trickle of Mana, then it began to build until it flooded him from all sides. His SENSE MAGIC Ability finally showed him what was happening. There had been a number of devices somehow shielded from detection deeply embedded in the walls of the office. He had pulled the Mana from the shielding, from the devices themselves, and lastly, he pulled the Mana from the underlying runescripts, destroying them utterly. It was exhausting and thrilling in equal measure. He had never used that Ability at anywhere near that level of focus, duration, and power before. The notification that he had pushed the Ability into Adept rank was a welcome surprise. Thankfully, the lights in the room were not magic so the room remained lit. He sat down in the chair and propped his feet up on the desk and decided to split his time while waiting between two things, DUNGEON CORE CREATION and STASIS. He figured that he could level up the STASIS Ability fairly quickly and he needed to completely change the design of the dungeon he was building. His first approach had been to create one that would outwardly expand rapidly and destroy the building he was in but now that he knew he was in a vast space station, he had to change that plan. He shaped the Dungeon Core in an entirely different direction. Instead of increasing the external size, he was designing it to fit a much smaller profile. It took no more than ten minutes to finish perfectly crafting it to his design. Having grown tired of waiting for whoever occupied this office to show up, he planted the dungeon. Over the course of the next minute, the dungeon entrance took shape, perfectly covering the area Duke had designed it for. It was completely indistinguishable from the area it covered which caused Duke to smile with self-satisfaction. Tier Nine¡­deal with that, asshole. Whoever you are! Now to get going back to what I was doing before I was brought here. Duke used his COSMIC NAVIGATION Ability to map out where he was and realized that it would take him three full jumps to get back to Teldin. The question in his mind was whether that was where he should really head right now. He knew that he had destroyed the harvesting fleet he had encountered but he had a strong suspicion that there were more out there. He decided to head for Teldin and reassess things when he got there. The inspection tour had taken Alpho most of the day and he knew that he only hit upon the highlights. The station was just too big to get around in a week, let alone a single day. But he knew that he had hit the most important parts and gave his workers a dose of ¡°boss motivation.¡± His AURA of IMPORTANCE that came with his Corporate Leader Class helped with this immensely. The workers would produce more for the next few weeks out of fear if nothing else. He had made no threats but his mere presence was an implied threat. Everyone in the Syndicate knew what an inspection tour meant. The smart ones responded accordingly with increased production. The foolish ones found out why the smart ones stepped up their game. He stepped into his office tired but satisfied, closing his door behind him so that he could let his ¡°official¡± appearance fall and relax for a bit. Wiping his face in his hands, Alpho leaned against the edge of his desk with a sense of accomplishment. He had risen to this level quickly. He had been hand-picked for this role even and he knew, without a doubt, that the meeting with Rynis had proven that his star was on the rise. He was on top of the world and things were only getting better! A decision quickly made, he swung around his desk and opened the left drawer to pull out a celebratory bottle of the finest Janat which had been given to him by his first boss as a gift for his successful future. She had told him to open it and have a drink when he felt like he had earned it. There was no doubt in his mind that he had earned it now. As he poured himself a glass, something felt off. He couldn¡¯t put a finger on it, but something did not feel right. He put the bottle down and took a look around his office. Everything beyond his desk seemed normal, not that there was much to that part of the office. He hadn¡¯t even bothered to hang anything on the walls yet. All he had was his display behind him with his ultimate trophy the crowning jewel of his growing collection of victories. He turned around to look at it once more and it was gone! He frantically looked around. Had it fallen off the shelf? That¡¯s when it struck him. He had unconsciously noticed that it was missing but he was so focused on getting his celebratory drink that it hadn¡¯t registered to his consciousness. In a panic, he slammed the desk¡¯s interface to life¡­only nothing happened. It was dead. He tried a second, a third, and even a fourth time to activate it with no result whatsoever. He called out to Edgemont but received no reply. The realization that he had insisted the man take the day off rung through his memory ¨C he would have to take care of this himself! In an adrenaline-fueled rush, he yanked open his office door to see only darkness. Had the entire area lost power somehow? An enormous dark red hand flashed out of the darkness, its black claws only visible in the light of the office as they closed around Alpho¡¯s chest and pulled him straight into the dungeon he had opened, superimposed over the office door. The door clicked shut before Alpho¡¯s scream could even begin. Book 4, Chapter 37 Edgemont returned to his office, refreshed. Being away from the office had given him a renewed perspective on just how heavily he was out of touch with everything. Sure, he was deep into everything the Syndicate was doing and could tell you which asteroids were being mined in hundreds of systems or the shipping schedules of the slave races but had lost touch with his own consumers. There were more areas to exploit, and he would make sure Nonetes did just that. The grabbing up of the mech transports was a good start but all the other aspects of warmaking needed to be under their control as well. The trip from his private dock to his office took no more than ten minutes and Edgemont was eager to get back to work. His desk greeted him like it always did, with outward silence, but connecting him to the vast information network he managed through both technological and magical means. He noticed that Nonetes¡¯ door was closed but didn¡¯t think the man would have beaten him into the office, so he settled down at his desk to wait. There were thousands of things he could do in the meantime, and he set to them. Hours later, he realized that his charge was well overdue, so he checked his logs and found that Nonetes had actually returned to his office yesterday evening and had not left. Well, isn¡¯t that commendable. Guess I should bring him a meal to keep him going. Edgemont retrieved the meal from the delivery service absently. He was focused on the door in front of him and how to set the appropriate level of obsequiousness as he entered the room. Nonetes was still new to him, and he hadn¡¯t completely figured him out. He knocked three times on the door and waited for a response. Receiving none, he opened the door and stepped inside. The office was empty. The desk was still there, but there was no sign of Nonetes at all. Edgemont pulled up the logs on his internal display and triple checked them for alterations. They were clean and Nonetes had entered the office, never left, but was not here. He immediately moved to access the recording crystals he had hidden throughout the room and paused when they didn¡¯t respond. Quickly, he realized that nothing in the room was responding ¨C none of the hundreds of devices magical or magitech responded to his call. His eyes flashed up form his displays to take a closer look at the room and he instantly noticed the missing trophy. Had someone taken the trophy and kidnapped Nonetes? None of my locators are finding him so he must be well-hidden if that¡¯s the case. Edgemont tore the paneling from the far wall to get at the implanted devices only to find them completely inert, drained of magic to the point that their runescripting was even gone. The recording crystals were just normal crystals with no more magical impact than simple rocks. The deeper he delved into this mystery, the more concerned he became. Who could have done this? None of my rivals could have ¨C I have them too well monitored for that. An outside force of some kind? Some entity that wanted to start off an incident? Only one thing to do¡­call in a specialist! It took three full hours before the specialist arrived, but she was eminently efficient when she did arrive. The creature was short, only coming up to Edgemont¡¯s hip and her green-tinted skin belied her goblin ancestry. But anyone who mistook her for such a lowly creature did not live for long enough to realize their mistake. Vaelith wordlessly looked up to Edgemont expectantly. He nodded and her account increased by a full million credits. Vaelith did not even begin for less than that and Edgemont was well aware of her rates and absolutely willing to pay them. ¡°What is it you wish to know?¡± ¡°What occurred in this office over the last day and a half?¡± ¡°That is all?¡± ¡°That should be sufficient for now.¡± ¡°Very well, recording crystal?¡± Edgemont handed her a blue crystal, primed for recording and stepped back to give her room to work. She smiled at him, noting the flawless quality of the crystal. Working with such a high-quality material would make it easier for her to use. She appreciated working for clients who were so professional which is why she responded to Edgemont¡¯s request so promptly. He always paid on-time and gave her what she needed to get the job done right. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Focusing her Abilities, she rewound a version of reality back a full day and a half and allowed it to fill the crystal held in her hands as reality rapidly caught up with the present. It took all of a minute and a half to fill the crystal with the recording. When she was done, she handed the crystal to Edgemont. ¡°That was not a particularly difficult engagement. No additional charge.¡± ¡°Thank you, Vaelith. Did you see anything in particular?¡± ¡°I did not watch. You should know by now that I rarely do. What my clients use their recordings for is none of my business. It is simply better business to keep it that way unless my clients specifically need that additional service. You, however, are fully capable of reviewing the recording and coming to your own conclusions.¡± ¡°Fair enough. Thank you for your prompt response and impeccable service as always.¡± ¡°My pleasure.¡± She departed without another word. Edgemont returned to his own desk and loaded the crystal into his viewing crystal port and watched. What he saw was utterly fascinating. The recording showed the trophy¡¯s power core shatter and the head fall to the floor. He watched, fascinated as Duke regrew his body and the events that followed took place. There had been rumors of this Duke¡¯s ability to move quickly and there was clearly some truth to those rumors but Edgemont was fixated by the core forming in Duke¡¯s hand and¡­did he plant the core against the door? Edgemont scrutinized the scene from every angle and became more and more sure of it. This man had created a Dungeon Core out of thin air. He was instantly torn between watching the rest of the scene and investigating to see if the dungeon was still there. Ultimately, he continued to watch, sure that knowing more about what happened would be more beneficial than a hasty rush to examination. When he saw Nonetes attempt to leave the office and open his door, he nearly jumped out of his chair when the hand reached out of the dungeon and effortlessly ripped Nonetes into the dungeon. Eying the door to Nonetes office, he became thankful that he hadn¡¯t closed the door. That dungeon trap was too cleverly hidden. He did not hesitate to call in help for this investigation. High-Tier help was required, and he was not about to get his hands dirty. Duke arrived outside Cloudspire and discovered that things were changing. In the area around the Celestial Foundry, construction projects were spreading like wildfire. Workers were building multi-level warehouses close to the Foundry and across the road where there had been untamed land, now was cleared for kilometers. Just how long have I been gone? I know I was in some sort of stasis so there¡¯s no telling how long. At least Teldin seems to be doing well still. He was greeted by two individuals he had not been expecting to emerge from the Foundry. Nystrial the Lightning Elemental floated near Ophirian¡¯s head, and both headed for Duke with purpose. Duke readied himself for a dressing down, trying not to let his amusement show at their apparent annoyance with him. ¡°So where in the Cosmos have you been hiding?¡± Ophirian¡¯s greeting was very much to-the-point with no warm-up. ¡°I was otherwise occupied for some time.¡± ¡°Otherwise occupied? For almost four months? With no communication whatsoever?¡± ¡°Is that how long it¡¯s been? I suppose transit time for the distances involved could account for it.¡± ¡°Where the hells have you been?¡± Ophirian¡¯s voice now carried a timbre of hurt that Duke immediately recognized. ¡°OK, so, here¡¯s what happened.¡± Duke relayed the story of his time spent as a trophy and what he did on the way out. ¡°You survived having your head chopped off? Really?¡± ¡°Yeah, cool thing that. But there are some serious problems that are now out there.¡± ¡°Such as?¡± ¡°For one, I¡¯m sure that pissed the Syndicate off even more.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°But more importantly, someone out there still has my body with my pouch of cores.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, that¡¯s not good. But you can make more cores, right?¡± ¡°Yes, but one of those cores has Chopie in it. I have no idea if he¡¯s still alive in there, but if he gets out, he could be yet another problem for us.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Yes, oh. Now, what has been happening here? I see all kinds of construction going on.¡± Ophirian visibly brightened up and switched into a much more animated manner, ¡°The Foundry is really an amazing place. Between that and the Academy, the Kingdom of Stormstride has become the center of everything for Teldin. Crafters are pouring in from everywhere to both learn and teach at the Foundry. The accelerated time has caused some interesting issues but nothing monumental other than the need to store all sorts of things. If the Syndicate comes for us, we¡¯ll be ready for them!¡± ¡°I suppose it¡¯s my time to answer, oh?¡± Ophirian continued with a chuckle as Nystrial settled on top of Duke¡¯s head, causing his hair to frizz out from the static electricity. ¡°Duke, you should see what we have been building in the Foundry. We have weapons of war like you would not believe. Piles of them!¡± ¡°Ships?¡± ¡°Many. And they¡¯re huge! Like twice the size of the Iron reaver!¡± Duke smiled to himself, trying to not step on his companion¡¯s excitement, ¡°You¡¯ll have to show me.¡± ¡°Oh, I will. And I haven¡¯t even made it to the Academy yet, but they keep sending us stuff to use. It¡¯s really cool but it takes forever to get between the two places.¡± ¡°I can fix that for sure. How is the security here? Any issues?¡± ¡°I told you we were making weapons right? Well, we now have a new Legion to wield them. They stay inside and practice here. Come on. Let me show you around. You are going to love it!¡± Book 4, Chapter 38 Entering the Foundry this time was very different than when Duke entered initially aside from the greeting message. *** You are entering the Celestial Foundry of Teldin. This place is a haven for all of Teldin¡¯s crafters. Be welcome to ply your art here for the good of all in good faith and honor. Should you enter with anything but honor in your heart, turn around now lest you find yourself lost forever in the darker passages. *** Sar Borglyn stood before him, or more to the point, loomed over him. Duke could swear that the minotaur had actually gotten bigger in the time he was gone. He looked up to see the broadest grin he had ever seen on a minotaur¡¯s face greet him. ¡°Welcome, Emperor! The Celestial Foundry stands ready for you!¡± Duke did not immediately respond as he was craning his neck to see around the mountain of a minotaur and capture the hundreds of creatures and people moving about with purpose. He remembered dozens of passages branching off the main entrance but what he saw now boggled his mind. Are there even this many crafters on the planet? Duke finally responded, ¡°That¡¯s good, but I¡¯m not sure I was ready for all this.¡± Sar Borglyn chuckled, ¡°Things have been busy here in the decades you have been absent.¡± ¡°Decades?¡± ¡°Yes, Emperor, it has been more than thirty years since you established the Foundry. We have trained up our second generation of crafters already. They are still young, but they learn quickly with the enhancements built into the training halls.¡± ¡°Second generation? Are people living in here?¡± ¡°Of course. We currently have seventy-two thousand residents. The Mana generation from that many sapient lifeforms is absolutely wonderful!¡± ¡°Seventy thousand people are living in here!¡± ¡°Seventy-two thousand one hundred eleven, to be more precise.¡± ¡°That¡¯s going to take a bit to process. How goes the crafting then? It looks like things are in full-swing.¡± ¡°Indeed. Fully one third of the crafting halls are in use. Of those, nearly a quarter of them are at full output.¡± Duke stared at the minotaur processing the numbers. ¡°So, from what I am calculating, you would need nine hundred thousand people to be at full production?¡± ¡°Closer to one million, but I can provide all the support staff needed so we might be able to manage with a few less. But that is also a bit deceptive. There are many crafting halls reserved for crafts that have yet to be discovered.¡± ¡°Such as?¡± ¡°If I knew, they wouldn¡¯t have to be discovered, would they?¡± ¡°Good point. So where should I start?¡± ¡°The hangar.¡± ¡°Oh, that sounds promising. Show me the way.¡± Sar Borglyn led Duke through several passageways. All the while, they dodged carts speeding through the passages, driven by all manner of beings and presumably being propelled by magic as Duke could see no creatures pulling them. Still, they raced by as fast as a car on a highway. Duke marveled at the speed and control given the apparently wooden wheels. Vulcanized rubber. Surely someone has made that here, right? We¡¯ve got spaceships and the like. Magic and technology have to have blended more in other areas of the Cosmos. Why not here? It took them nearly an hour to reach the hangar. They spent the time getting Duke caught up on some of the more significant discoveries and projects. The one that stood out to him the most was related to runescripting. Duke was eager to visit that workshop next ¨C they had made some significant strides in unlocking its capabilities beyond what he and Baslin had learned. When they reached the hangar, Duke found it was one of the few workshops that sat at the end of a passage. It also had doors that opened outwardly into the hangar and were fully the width and height of the corridor. His anticipation grew as he approached the doors, expectantly awaiting the wonders he knew must wait for him beyond. Cautiously, even reverently, he reached out for the doors that broke open before him with a hiss of escaping atmosphere. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Duke quickly strode through the doors which slammed shut behind him. Before him spread out a vast manufacturing plant. Assembly lines stretched into the distance, filled with furious activity. For as far as Duke could see, there was activity. There was a mix of races working the lines but there seemed to be a definite order to them. Dwarves and Orcs worked the heaviest machinery while elves and even fae creatures worked on finer details. He walked down the lines barely realizing that Sar Borglyn had left his side. As he progressed down the line, he saw that ship parts were becoming more and more defined. At the end of each line, a specific ship part was being finished and handed off to an enormous wagon that took the parts off to some other location. The size and scope of the operation was hard to grasp. Duke received waves and nods of acknowledgement as he progressed, but none stepped away from their work. It seemed like the work was repetitive, but they all seemed to be happily focused on their tasks. He decided not to interrupt them. As he approached the end of this current line, a dwarf shouted out jubilantly, ¡°Sixt-two!¡± The response from around him was a collective cheer that was equally joyful and encouraging. Duke stopped and asked, ¡°Sorry, to interrupt but Sixty-two what?¡± ¡°Levels. Sixty-two levels into Practiced rank. Only eighteen more until I hit Adept and get promoted!¡± ¡°Well, keep at it then!¡± ¡°Yes, I most certainly will!¡± He dove back into his work still grinning. Duke moved from assembly line to assembly line until he came to the final assembly area and this was what he was looking for. Ships were being assembled finished piece by finished piece. There were devices being used to remotely lift pieces into place. Duke¡¯s senses told him the devices were magical in nature and he supposed that made sense. There were parts being brought in from elsewhere and he could see that they were heavily runescripted on their interior surfaces. The entire scene made him smile and as he looked at the completed ships, he found that they were about half again larger than the Iron Reaper and even more heavily armed. He couldn¡¯t help but feel that they were still not enough to deal with even the Syndicate ships he had already seen let alone what he feared they could bring to bear if they got truly serious. ¡°Good day, your majesty.¡± Duke turned to see an albino minotaur smiling at him from behind. ¡°Good day to you as well.¡± A quick scan showed Duke that this was not a dungeon creature and, in fact, the first actual minotaur he had met. He took a pause to note the differences between a dungeon creature and the actual creature before him but the only difference he could discern was in its system recognition. ¡°So, Your Majesty, do you like what you see? Do you wish any explanations or walkthroughs?¡± Duke smiled, ¡°Why don¡¯t you walk me through what I am looking at beyond that they are well-armed ships.¡± ¡°Certainly. They are things of beauty, are they not?¡± ¡°Actually, they look a bit boxy to me?¡± ¡°That, Your Majesty, is part of their beauty.¡± He saw the confused look pass across Duke¡¯s face but chose to ignore it. ¡°Let me take you through one of the completed ones we have in storage, and I think you¡¯ll see what I mean.¡± An hour¡¯s walk later, Duke was coming to terms with just how much area this particular production area actually entailed. He had counted at least one hundred ships being assembled as he passed by the workers. He even heard a shout of ¡°Ninety-two¡± that was followed by cheers that even carried a bit of awe in them. They finally passed into a new area that had hundreds, if not thousands of ships laid out in perfect rows with plenty of space between each to move between them. Duke¡¯s mind stopped counting after he saw more than forty rows of fifty ships each. ¡°There are more than two thousand ships here!¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty, there are. And we are making more as fast as we can.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t possibly have enough trained pilots for all these.¡± ¡°We have an entire pilot-training dungeon.¡± Duke did not know when Sar Borglyn had joined him again, but the voice from behind him was unmistakable. He turned to take in the massive minotaur while Sar Borglyn continued, ¡°Granhok has done spectacularly in bringing the shipyards up to this level. You should commend him.¡± ¡°Oh, believe me, I am beyond impressed.¡± Granhok smiled, ¡°No, you¡¯re not. Not yet.¡± ¡°No, really, this many ships are more than I had imagined.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re worried about how they will hold up against capitol ships, right?¡± ¡°You reading my mind or something?¡± ¡°Not your mind, but your face tells the story rather easily. But I was saving this little tidbit for later but, let me alleviate your worries right now. There are two features of each of these ships that are going to change your mind.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± And Duke was indeed listening, eager for whatever wonder was about to be presented to him. ¡°OK, first off, each and every one of these ships is so automated that it is designed to be crewed by a single person.¡± Duke nodded in appreciation of that remarkable feat of engineering but could sense that wasn¡¯t the anticipated reveal. ¡°The more important thing, Your Majesty, is that the ships are modular. They can be combined in countless configurations to make any larger ship you desire. Need a destroyer? Combine ten ships and you have a destroyer. All their systems combine including their weaponry and shielding to make a whole that is greater than the parts. And if one part, one ship, takes too much damage, it can be dropped from the configuration and the rest will re-combine to maintain overall integrity of the larger ship while the pilot of the damaged ship joins an undamaged one.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fucking amazing! Show me around one of these things!¡± ¡°Of course. Right this way. You see the area marked in green on the side of the ship? That¡¯s the pilot¡¯s entrance and exit. While you only need one person to manage the ship, there is space inside for up to five hundred troops if needed. It can also be reconfigured to handle mechs or a mix of both.¡± ¡°Hell, fucking yeah!¡± Duke followed the minotaur onto the ship. Book 4, Chapter 39 The interior of the ship was far from utilitarian. It had an aesthetic that called out to Duke as if it had been grown together. Surfaces were smooth and accented with gold and brass vines intertwining to form the feel of an inviting garden. He half expected to see a garden gnome waiting for him. Sar Borglyn clapped Duke on the back before being muscled out of the way by the much shorter Granhok. ¡°You may control the whole of the Foundry, but the ships and shipbuilding is mine. Thank you very much. Now, stand aside while I show Duke around.¡± The albino minotaur all but pushed Sar Borglyn back out the doorway before the larger minotaur shook his head, barely missing scraping his exaggerated horns on the sides of the doorway. He left the pair to explore the ship on their own. ¡°As you can see,¡± Granhok continued without missing a beat, ¡°we have not just made utilitarian machines. We have made artwork that flows with deadly purpose. Each ship is more capable than anything else known of its size.¡± ¡°How did you all manage that? People have been building ships for¡­for a really long time. How did you manage to jump ahead of them in such a short span of time?¡± ¡°Ah, follow me and I¡¯ll show you.¡± The smile of pride that spread across the minotaur¡¯s face took Duke by surprise. Whereas the minotaurs of the dungeons were expressive enough to be lifelike, there was still something different about a truly living being. Duke was not sure if he would have picked it up without his Class and Abilities as it was something subtle and he could not put a finger on it. He absently filed it away to forget about looking into later. They traversed a number of corridor and larger areas. Although the ship was automated enough to operate with only a single pilot, it was built for a much larger crew including marines, mechs, and other spacers. Duke started to ask about it but was interrupted as they came to the center of the ship. Granhok indicated a door that was all but seamlessly concealed in a hallway. ¡°This is the heart of the ship and the reason our ships are like nothing else out there. It will open for you and not many others.¡± ¡°Would it open for you?¡± ¡°Yes, it would,¡± he answered proudly. Duke placed his hand on the door that was so well worked into the vinework that it was practically invisible. With an effortless silence, the door rose up into the wall, revealing a room that absolutely did not meet Duke¡¯s expectations. He stepped inside, exploring it with his eyes before he dared touch anything. The room itself was shaped as a faceted sphere with the facets being about a meter in diameter. The center of each facet had a vine extending inwards towards the center of the room where they all connected to a pulsating core. Or, as Duke looked closer, he realized that it was not a Mana Core ¨C it was a Dungeon Core! ¡°Yes, our ships are powered by Dungeon Tech. The entire outer surface is essentially a monstrous Mana collector and the heart of it all is a single Dungeon Core.¡± Duke was speechless. He had just destroyed a fleet of ships that were made out of warped Dungeon Cores. He wasn¡¯t sure how he felt about this. He stared at the Core, trying to wrap his head around the implications when the Dungeon Core spoke to him. ¡°I see you are concerned, Emperor. While I appreciate your concern, I am quite happy with this arrangement. I will gather Mana from among the stars while protecting my crew. Together, we will annihilate those who would prey on us. All the time, I will continue to grow stronger and when my mission is complete, I will dismiss my crew and plant myself in just the right place to grow outwardly. Then I can feed and grow just like my brothers and sisters.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen your brothers and sisters warped into ships to ferry about and protect the Dungeon Core harvesting operations of the Syndicate. I¡¯ve had to fight them and pulled what was left of those Cores out of the ships themselves. It was ugly and terrible.¡± ¡°I understand, but I have not been warped into the shape of this ship. I am still the Core you see before me. I just have access to the entire ship through my connections. I can feel through them, but they truly can¡¯t affect me. I draw Mana through them true enough and can send it back out if needed, but the ship is not me. There is no warping of Cores here.¡± Granhok added, ¡°Because the Cores are so connected to the ship, they can help fight and defend the ship through their same connections. For example, any Mana-based weapon that strikes the ship will be blunted as the Core absorbs as much of its Mana as possible immediately. Sure, that can be overloaded if sufficient attacks are applied, but it¡¯s a massive step forward in ship defenses since most ships out there operate on some sort of magitech and have Mana-based weaponry.¡± Duke nodded. ¡°So that¡¯s where all the automation is coming in then?¡± ¡°Yes, I can operate the entire ship myself should the pilot and crew become incapacitated, but we decided to not make that bit public. Most think that we are some sort of sophisticated computer or magical construct with a form of intelligence. We felt it better to not disabuse them of that misconception.¡± ¡°Good call. I have no idea who is training our pilots let alone who the pilots are. So much of this seems to have slipped past my control and I¡¯m not comfortable with it all.¡± ¡°Emperor, your orders were to prepare for war. That is what we are doing. You cannot possibly oversee even a small portion of what is going on in here so trust in us to get it right. When it comes down to it, you will have no choice anyway. There¡¯s too much for any one individual to control. The best you can do is set us up for success, provide direction, and let us do our jobs.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Duke decided not to continue arguing because the Dungeon Core was right. He couldn¡¯t control everything, but he would control what he himself did and that would be enough. He knew that the Syndicate would be sending more trouble his way. What form it would take he wasn¡¯t sure but he was not going to let his guard down again. Attacked from behind. Stupid rookie move. I am better than that! The conversation dwindled after that and Duke finished the tour of the ship on the command bridge. S Duke stepped onto the bridge, he saw the single chair that dominated the center of the room. It was built like a cross between a lazy-boy and the seat from his fighter jet. He did not realize he had moved but the warm familiarity of the seat¡¯s cushions took him in soothing him with the sense of home that he had not had in so long. His mind soared through the sky, engines burning fuel as they pushed him deeper and deeper into the cushioning of the seat, commanding the world around him like only an air superiority fighter could. The sense of control and wonder flowed over him once again. It was the most comfortable and enlivening sensation and he reveled in it. The controls spread out before him, all within easy reach but he also sensed that they could be controlled through some sort of other interface that he was not ready to explore. Instead, he just sat back further in the chair and enjoyed it. But it only lasted so long before reality kicked back in. He climbed back out of the chair and looked over the rest of the bridge. There were stations for the typical functions including navigations, communications, engineering, and weapons. He checked each station briefly, assuring himself that they could be easily understood and operated. Satisfied, he stepped back, nodding at Granhok. ¡°You approve?¡± ¡°You bet your ass, I approve. This is great!¡± ¡°Would you care for a demonstration on integration?¡± ¡°Do we have the space to do it here?¡± ¡°One or two combinations, sure. We would have to take the ships outside to do more than that. Are you ready for that?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think we are ready to show these ships off to the rest of the Cosmos just yet. What is the production time for one of these ships anyway?¡± ¡°Start to finish, we have gotten it down to nine months, but we can work on building multiple ships at once. So, our production is a bit better than three ships a month.¡± Duke did the math in his head and after a few rounds of equations, he nearly slapped himself because it was a simple one-hundred-to-one time ratio so the more than three ships a month translated to over three hundred a month in reality. He smiled at the number but stopped himself, unsure if that would be enough. There were just too many unknowns for him to process. ¡°And they are all the same design?¡± ¡°Yes, the same design. It¡¯s much easier to produce them like this. We will eventually get our build time down to one a month or possibly less as our crafters continue to level up their Skills. We only have a few Master-ranked crafters and they are focused on the final assembly. Making sure that the connections to the Cores are an extremely complex and delicate task. If the Cores themselves didn¡¯t fortify the connections afterwards, this design would be too delicate to put into combat service.¡± ¡°OK, let¡¯s see how they combine.¡± ¡°Very well. Go ahead and take the pilot¡¯s seat.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not trained on this ship.¡± ¡°That will make this an even better demonstration.¡± Duke settled into the pilot¡¯s seat once again and engaged the controls. His neglected Starship Pilot Skill sat at Untrained 1 and did not provide him with much insight in how to operate the ship. Despite that, the controls seemed relatively intuitive and he was able to get the ship started up without difficulty. He heard Granhok on the Communications system calling to another pilot to take his ship up for a combination demonstration. Duke moved his ship to an open area of the hangar and saw on his displays another ship quickly moving to join him. He was still cautious on the controls, getting a feel for how the ship moved. It was very different from flying a jet where there was a single source of thrust that could be somewhat controlled aerodynamically. This ship had an entirely different method of movement. Duke had no idea how it worked, but it wasn¡¯t using thrust as he understood it. Instead, it applied some sort of 360 degree directional vectoring that allowed him to control the motion of the ship in ways that even his FLYING Ability didn¡¯t match. He could literally move the ship in any direction regardless of its momentum. The more he got used to the controls, the more cautious he got with maneuvering the ship. He knew that he could crash this ship into others in an instant. The call came over the comms system right to him, ¡°OK, hold steady right there.¡± Duke stopped all motion of the ship. ¡°That¡¯s perfect. Look for the notification of a request to merge and accept it please.¡± The notification was hard to miss, flashing bright red on the display in front of his eyes. Duke accepted the request and his ship rapidly shot towards the other, completely out of his control. After the moment of panic passed, he realized that this was by design. The two ships paused momentarily before they slammed together into a whole. There was clearly some form of magic involved because one moment, Duke was grasping the arms of his chair in a deathgrip and the next, there was another pilot¡¯s chair sitting next to him. The other pilot cackled with glee. ¡°That never gets old. What a rush. Even more fun than strafing a carrier!¡± Duke looked over to see the enthusiastic orc pilot grinning back at him, her tusks highly polished and bleached white to accent the black starship-shaped studs embedded close to the tips. There were four studs, two on each tusk. ¡°Korza Vrek at your service.¡± She reached over a hand to shake Duke¡¯s which he accepted. Her grip was typical for an orc ¨C strong and confident. ¡°Great to meet you, Korza. Thanks for the terrifying demonstration.¡± She laughed, slapping her hand on the arm of her chair. ¡°Yes, the first time is usually more terrifying than thrilling. But you get used to it. Check out your system specifications to see what the combination has done for us.¡± Duke did and was surprised by what he saw. The capabilities of the combined ship were about fifteen percent higher than the combination of the two ships¡¯ individual capabilities. ¡°So, you see it. The synergies of the combined fleet are massive. Being able to separate and deal with threats individually will baffle our enemies. It is a significant advantage.¡± ¡°I am liking what I am seeing. Does the percentage increase continue as you add more ships in?¡± ¡°Each ship adds their own capabilities plus about fifteen percent more. It would be insane if the percentage was compounded but it doesn¡¯t work that way.¡± ¡°Still, I¡¯ll take it. This is awesome!¡± ¡°Indeed, Emperor, it is. Now, I am afraid that we have to put the ships back and let you move on with your tour.¡± Sar Borglyn¡¯s voice and direction was not exactly welcome, but Duke knew he was right. ¡°OK, let me see if I can¡­¡± Duke activated the control to separate the ships. The response was not instant, but it took less than a second to completely separate. He flew his ship back to its starting point and reluctantly debarked at Sar Borglyn¡¯s insistence. Book 4, Chapter 40 As they moved on, Duke still heard leveling shouts echoing behind him. Each was met with cheering and encouragement and he could tell that they had become a friendly competition that drove everyone towards higher achievement. The rank-up shouts nearly brought things to a halt as other rushed over to congratulate their comrade. The enthusiasm of the work crews buoyed Duke¡¯s spirits as much as the thrill ride of the ships¡¯ combination giving him a sense of hope for what he knew was coming. The sense of existential dread that had crept into his consciousness had retreated, leaving his hopeful for the upcoming fights. Sar Borglyn led Duke on whirlwind tour of the rest of the Foundry. People of all sorts had come and were still flocking to the facility, coming from all corners of Teldin. That, Sar Borglyn explained, limited the types of crafting that was available but that corner was being turned as graduates from the Academy were filtering in with crafting capabilities beyond anything seen before in such a semi-public setting. There were some problems, however, as not everyone got along in their rivalry in the more common crafts. In some areas, brewing in particular, fights had broken out over perceived theft of recipes or ingredients. The fights were broken up rather quickly but Sar Borglyn expressed some regret. ¡°I would like to let those fights settle themselves, you know.¡± Duke Looked up at the minotaur and chuckled, ¡°I bet you would. I bet you would like to set them up in an arena and allow them to fight to the death.¡± ¡°Now that you mention it¡­¡± ¡°Absolutely forbidden. Do you understand me? I would shatter your Core and burn the shards.¡± Sar Borglyn looked back at Duke, shocked by the vehemence in his tone and words. He paused, seemed to make a decision, and finally spoke, ¡°Understood, Emperor. A gladiatorial arena shall never have a place in the Foundry.¡± ¡°Good. Glad I made myself clear. Now, you were saying something about the Academy¡­¡± ¡°Yes, we have been getting a steady stream of highly-skilled magical crafters coming from there but it takes so long for them to get here. Years after graduation, they finally show up. Is that something you could help us with?¡± ¡°I have an idea or two, but I want to check out the Academy first. Thank you for the tour but I have to get on to other important things. Keep things running smoothly here. I will return in time.¡± Duke TELEPORTED back outside the Foundry, intercepting Ophirian and Nystriel before they even set foot in the dungeon. They looked at him in confusion. ¡°I thought you were going to check out the Foundry?¡± Ophirian asked. ¡°All done. Have you toured it? What can you tell me about the Academy?¡± ¡°Um, no, and nothing. I have not set foot in either place actually.¡± ¡°What the fuck have you been doing all this time?¡± ¡°Rodent control.¡± ¡°Rodent control?¡± ¡°Yes, they were big ones.¡± ¡°You mean to tell me that I have been gone for months and all you¡¯ve done is hunted down some rats!¡± ¡°Like I said. Big rats.¡± ¡°Not going to ask. Come on, you two. Let¡¯s get to the Academy.¡± Without waiting for a response, Duke TELEPORTED the three of them outside the Academy entrance. The buildings soared above them, towering above the peaks that surrounded the school. Students milled about in their uniforms that all bore the Stormstride regalia, a glowing red gem in a white background surrounded by a sky-blue border. The regalia stood out more on some uniforms rather than others as the overall uniforms differed in color. Duke was content to watch the students for a bit. They all seemed to notice him, but not recognize him as they carried on their own tasks. The longer he watched, the more he came to the conclusion that the darker the student¡¯s uniform the more advanced they were. He saw a pair of students in dark red robes bouncing a ball of white-hot fire between themselves, making it do acrobatic tricks before being caught and held by the other of the pair. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. A trio of white-robed students seemed thoroughly lost and too intimidated to ask anyone else for directions. The fumbled in circles until they finally decided to run off ¡°that way!¡± Duke watched it all passively, waiting for someone with a modicum of authority to come to greet them. Instead, a student in a dark blue robe broke out of a group of similarly-garbed group, if slightly lighter colored, and rushed right up to Duke excitedly. ¡°Is that your elemental? Did you summon it yourself?¡± Another of the group shouted as she walked up, ¡°Have you seen how he¡¯s dressed? He¡¯s not even a neophyte here. And a bit old to be starting out, don¡¯t you think? Go back from where you came from, old man, but leave your elemental with me.¡± Duke raised an eyebrow. This is going to be fun. If Baslin doesn¡¯t want his students embarrassed, he had better step in fast. ¡°You think you can take Nystriel from me? You are welcome to come and try.¡± For her part, Nystriel settled down on Duke¡¯s shoulder to enjoy the show. The student, seeing that her bluff had been called decided to up the ante, ¡°OK, boys, take the old man down. Nobody disrespects us like that!¡± To their credit, they acted as a group, forming constructs of electricity and circling Duke. He simply activated his MANA DRAIN and waited for them to actually take an offensive action. He did not have to wait long. Once they all surrounded him, the leader flicked her lightning whip forward and it served as a signal for the rest of the group to attack. Lightning attacks of all sorts lashed out at him. The attacks connected as Duke made no attempt to evade, instead relying on his MANA DRAIN, SPELL RESISTANCE, and ARMOR SKIN to deal with their attacks. As he suspected, their attacks did not have nearly enough of an impact to even make it past his MANA DRAIN. He looked at them, his face intentionally puzzled. ¡°Is that the best that the Academy can produce? Pathetic, and thoroughly disappointing. I may have to shut this place down.¡± He was met with looks of grim determination. As one, they upped the level of their Spells and prepared to attack again. Attacks lashed forward towards Duke with full intent behind them and not an inconsiderable amount of power. Crackling constructs of lightning flashed from their hands, streaking towards him. Each attack fizzled before it even reached Duke, all being absorbed as they left the student¡¯s control. The energy of the attacks swirled around them before being sucked into an ebony staff wielded by a white-furred minotaur with patches of black. The minotaur spoke, ¡°Each one of you are to return to your rooms and handwrite a deeply apologetic letter to the Emperor. You are on full restriction until I tell you otherwise. If you are lucky, he will accept this as your punishment and not decide to execute you for having the unmitigated idiocy of attacking him!¡± The students paled as the realization struck them of what they had done, but before anyone else could react, Ophirian shouted, ¡°A magical talking cow! That¡¯s awesome.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a minotaur, you idiot!¡± Duke found himself unable to restrain his response to Ophirian¡¯s outburst. ¡°And, by my guess, our host here at the Academy.¡± ¡°Quite correct, Emperor. I am Brian and I am your host here at the Academy. I bid you welcome and hope you will allow me to escort you on a tour of the campus.¡± Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA was picking up something from the minotaur that he was having trouble processing. He continued to follow as he tried to lock it down in his mind but the longer they walked, the worse the feeling lingered. Finally, as they were entering the first building of classrooms, it struck him and he blurted it out without thought. ¡°Where is Baslin?¡± Brian stopped abruptly, turning to look at Duke, confusion etched onto his face. ¡°Baslin? Baslin retired to his cottage a century ago. Surely you didn¡¯t expect him to meet you at the entrance?¡± ¡°What do you mean he retired a century ago?¡± ¡°Over two hundred years was certainly long enough for him to act as Headmaster. We all leave him in peace at his request. He has been waiting for you, though.¡± Duke¡¯s eyes snapped to his screen where he pulled up the Dungeon details of the Academy and his blood ran cold. His mind locked on to a single field. The Time Dilation was set to 1,000:1. One thousand days passed for every day outside the dungeon. The four months that he had been gone had translated to over three hundred years at the Academy. ¡°Where is his cottage?¡± Duke demanded, the urgency and overt violence in his voice causing Brian to step back and students to scatter. Brian began to point with his staff, but Duke¡¯s pulse of DUNGEON SIGHT had already located it, giving his TELEPORTATION a target. He came alone, leaving the rest of them behind without a care. They would fend for themselves. He knocked on the door of the cottage and almost didn¡¯t wait for an answer before heading in. He burst in as a feeble voice called out, ¡°Don¡¯t make an old man walk to the door. Come in, come in.¡± ¡°Baslin!¡± ¡°Ah, Duke. So good of you to come see me at long last.¡± Duke stared at Baslin. He was bent over, leaning on a staff for support and just looked feeble, barely able to support himself. His stark white hair and beard had grown dominate his face but Duke could still see that his mentor¡¯s eyes had turned milky white with cataracts. Duke rushed over to help him back into his chair. ¡°What¡­what happened to you, Baslin?¡± A chuckle that turned into a wheezing cough preceded his simple response, ¡°I got old. And to think I always called you my best apprentice. And you still overlook the obvious.¡± He paused to catch his breath, the act of uttering so many words at once, draining his fading energy. Duke pulled up a chair next to Baslin, creating it out of dungeon substance. The old man reached over and patted Duke¡¯s arm with his hand, showing liver spots dominating his skin that seemed so thin as to be near translucent. Duke¡¯s voice faltered as he asked, ¡°How long?¡± Baslin¡¯s response broke him, ¡°Just stay¡­stay a while. It won¡¯t be long now that I can let go. Tell me of your travels.¡± Duke sat with him and told him of his adventures. Before he could finish, he felt the spark leave Baslin¡¯s eyes as he passed. Book 4, Chapter 41 Duke did not leave Baslin¡¯s side for a long time. He did not know how long nor did he care, sealing the area around the cottage off from everyone and everything with his Ability. Eventually, he set aside the initial grief and set himself to motion with a snap to his feet. He did not have a plan, but just started constructing. When he was done, he realized that he had re-created Baslin¡¯s tower as precisely as his memory served. He had never been to the top floor of the tower where Baslin¡¯s personal chambers were, so he created something out of his own imagination. In the center of the room was a glass-like coffin which held the Archmage¡¯s body while the periphery of the room held books and various artifacts collected over a lifetime that Duke found in the cottage. Duke had lovingly entombed Baslin with his staff in his right hand and his spellbook in his left, across his chest. Duke took his time saying goodbye to his friend and former mentor. His thoughts had swirled with his emotions, racing from blame to sorrow. He knew he had to be thankful that Baslin didn¡¯t die alone but the Archmage had been alone for at least a century. Again. Duke clamped down on his emotions, keeping his anger under control lest he destroy the memorial he had just constructed. Finally, he decided that he couldn¡¯t be in the tower any longer and TELEPORTED back to the entrance of the Academy. A quick scan showed him where Ophirian and Nystriel were hiding. He stepped into the campus tavern and was immediately surprised to see the barkeep was not a minotaur. In fact, he had no idea what to call what he was looking at. It was like a cross between a centaur and a unicorn. It was a female centaur with a horn protruding from her forehead the length of his forearm, and it was completely naked. The tavern was absolutely packed with students but it was easy to spot Ophirian as he was leaning over the bar, chatting up the bartender intensely. Duke shook his head, sighed, and looked for an empty table. There were none, so he pushed a wall out and made himself a table and chairs to sit at. Some students made to take the table but when they met Duke¡¯s gaze, they collectively, shrieked, dropped their drinks, and fled the tavern. He ignored the commotion, casually waving a CLEANSE at the mess as he pulled a chair out and sat. It did not take long for a server to come to his table, likely attracted by the commotion he had caused. The server was an oversized man, swelling with the kind of puffy muscle that screamed ¡°artificially enhanced¡± to Duke. He peered down at Duke for a long second before asking, ¡°What can I get you?¡± Duke was surprised that the server hadn¡¯t done or said anything about the sprouting table or the fleeing students. What surprised him even more was how much that put his emotions off. I know I¡¯m looking for a fight, but this is not the place. Could he read that? ¡°If you have it, I¡¯ll take scotch whiskey.¡± ¡°Neat or on the rocks?¡± ¡°Bottle.¡± ¡°That will be expensive. Are you sure?¡± ¡°What do you consider expensive?¡± ¡°A full bottle would be a medium crystal.¡± Duke produced a grand crystal from his INVENTORY. He could have created any value of crystal from dungeon essence but decided against it in this case ¨C only the real thing would be appropriate today. He placed it on the table and offered the server a smile. His voice reflected the pain and frustration roiling through his mind as he spoke again, ¡°Today we all drink to honor the memory of my friend, the first headmaster of this Academy, Baslin. Drinks are on me until the crystal runs out.¡± The server looked stricken before picking up the crystal and nodding with his assessment of its quality and authenticity. He looked Duke in the eye and responded in a serious tone, ¡°I will take this to the owner. She may have something to say about it.¡± Duke nodded but didn¡¯t say anything, instead leaning back in his chair to look around the bar. Most of the patrons were human or humanoid but there were a few centaurs occupying the corner opposite Duke. They stood around a table, seemingly keeping to themselves. They were all male and similarly unclothed like the barkeep. Is that just a centaur thing? Doesn¡¯t matter, I guess. Not my problem or my business. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. It was not long before the barkeep arrived with his bottle. Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA had trouble reading her body language as he refused to look anywhere other than her eyes. Even without his Ability, he could sense the trap waiting for him and he was not in the mood for dealing with it. She placed the bottle on his table with a short crystal glass, all the time leaning forward to put everything in his line of sight. He sighed, ¡°Thank you for the bottle, but one of my closest friends in all this world just died. I am in no mood for games.¡± Her reaction was not what Duke expected. She spoke in a calm and measured tone, ¡°Is Baslin truly dead? I heard that a tower rose from the ground next to his cottage.¡± ¡°Yes, he passed away and I raised his tower as his final resting place. He is entombed on the top floor.¡± She moved to the opposite side of the table and produced a second glass and a second bottle from¡­well, Duke wasn¡¯t quite sure where she had hidden them. The centaur poured for each of them. ¡°You must be Duke.¡± He looked up suspiciously, ¡°I am.¡± ¡°Baslin spoke of you. In fact, he insisted that we keep this scotch whiskey on hand just for you. He knew that someday you would come back, and he wanted us to be ready. You see, Baslin taught my great, great grandmother Alchemy nearly two hundred years ago. She, in turn, taught her children, and they adapted it to magical brewing. That is where this tavern came from. It has been in the family ever since. Word of our indirect founder¡¯s passing is hard to take, and I would join you in celebrating his life. That is, if you would have me.¡± ¡°I¡¯d say pull up a chair, but that doesn¡¯t seem to be practical for you.¡± ¡°Thank you for the offer anyway. We all have our own ways of doing things.¡± She raised her glass with her right hand while she cast a spell with her left while muttering an incantation that struck Duke as familiar but slightly different. Immediately, every conversation in the tavern ceased and most patrons stared around in stunned surprise. She stood taller. Duke was not sure how she managed to do it, but she towered over the tables as she spoke, ¡°Everyone raise a glass.¡± She paused for everyone to comply which they did with haste before she continued, ¡°King Duke here is the founder of our beloved Academy and the oldest friend of our revered first Headmaster, Baslin the Best.¡± Cheers erupted throughout the tavern as they celebrated. A few even raised their glasses to drink, but they were all silenced once again. She continued, ¡°Yes, we are thankful for what King Duke has done for us but tonight, he brings us news that many of us have been dreading. Our beloved Baslin the Best has died.¡± The mood of the crowd immediately plummeted. Duke stood, raising his glass high, ¡°To the man who first taught me the value of magic. To the man who put his life on hold for more than a century to uphold a promise, to the man who built this wonderous place from a simple vision and made it what it is today. But most importantly, to the best Archmage this world has ever known. To Baslin the Best! May he rest in peace!¡± The response was more muted as the news sank in. But no one hesitated in raising their glass in salute and draining the contents. Servers were already prepared and brought another round around the tavern, dropping off drinks as they filtered through. Most didn¡¯t ask but any who did were informed that the drinks were on Duke. He received more than a few salutes as the centaur poured them each another glass. ¡°I¡¯m Cerlyn, by the way.¡± ¡°Duke. But you already know that. Excuse my bluntness, but is this,¡± Duke gestured to her nakedness, ¡°the norm for centaurs?¡± ¡°At the Academy Tavern, yes. It prevents customers from getting too belligerent. Very few men can keep up a coherent rage when there is a pair of tits staring them in the face.¡± ¡°Interesting perspective on things.¡± ¡°And I do have to admit that I am impressed. You haven¡¯t taken even a glance. Are you married, celibate, or something?¡± ¡°Nothing like that at all. I simply have way too many things going on to get involved in another relationship.¡± ¡°Oh, so glancing at my tits would put us in a relationship? Don¡¯t I have anything to say about this relationship?¡± ¡°You¡¯re sitting at my table drinking scotch with me. I think we both know where this could wind up.¡± ¡°So, you have experience with centaurs then?¡± ¡°Not in that way, but I¡¯m certain I could figure things out.¡± ¡°Are you now?¡± ¡°I do have a few advantages most don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Oh? I¡¯m interested. Just what sort of advantages are we talking about? Are you hung like a horse?¡± Duke spit out his scotch. She laughed, making the drink sprayed all over her spill down between her breasts with his eyes following. ¡°You did that on purpose, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°It worked, didn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t argue that point.¡± ¡°Now tell me about these supposed advantages?¡± ¡°Here, inside the Academy, reality is what I want it to be.¡± To demonstrate, Duke slowly created a grand crystal, paused for Cerlyn to take it in, and then shaped it into a perfect sculpture of her from her flowing hair to her hooves. It looked absolutely lifelike and stood half as tall as the bottle of whiskey. He placed it on the table before her. While she stared at the sculpture in wonder, he continued his line, ¡°Anything I want it to be.¡± She looked up at him with her eyes full of fiery hunger, ¡°You are coming with me. Now.¡± There was no room for compromise or argument in her eyes. Duke followed her out of the tavern realizing that his night was now spoken for. Book 4, Chapter 42 If not for his REGENERATION Ability, Duke would have been supremely sore the next day. They parted ways knowing that it was not meant for anything long-term but two people sharing life-affirming comfort in a time of death and pain. He left with his burden lightened every so slightly but knowing that if the Syndicate ever found this dungeon, all the lives around him would end. With that thought, his resolve tightened. He left the Academy shortly after, leaving the hyper-accelerated time, collecting Ophirian and Nystriel to come with him. They returned to Havenreach and a more normalized time dilation. Time still flowed faster than normal, but it wasn¡¯t the insane one thousand to one of the Academy. As they stepped out of the Academy grounds, they were met by Sam. ¡°Hello Sam. It¡¯s been a minute.¡± Duke could sense something different about the dungeon¡¯s avatar but couldn¡¯t put a finger on it yet. ¡°Greetings, Duke. Ophirian, Nystriel. It is good to see you all. How have you been?¡± ¡°Rather quite angry, sad, and completely unsettled to be honest,¡± Duke replied, barely holding his roiling emotions in check. ¡°What has you so unsettled?¡± ¡°The Academy is running at an unconscionable time dilation. One thousand to one? I just watched Baslin die of old age in there. Why? Why was this allowed to happen!¡± Sam took a step backwards at Duke¡¯s vehemence. He paused and produced a folded piece of paper and handed it to Duke, ¡°Baslin left this for you. When you have finished with it, we can talk about it.¡± As Sam took a seat on one of the chairs he had just created on the side of the road, he gestured for the others to join him which they did. Duke read the note. Duke, if you are reading this, it¡¯s probably too late for me to tell you all this in person. First off, do not blame Sam for the accelerated time at the Academy. That was MY choice and one I would make again and again. I have lived a long life filled with countless events, many of which have not been favorable. Meeting you was perhaps the most important of all. You completely changed the trajectory of my story and I am glad for it. Things have not often gone my way despite my achievements. You changed that for me. You gave me the chance to finally do all the things I had been craving for so long. Being trapped by my own vow was an exquisitely painful torture of the mind. Finally, after all that time, you freed me from that torture. And then you helped me pursue all the things I had yearned for. And finally, you handed me the one thing I have always dreamed of ¨C an Academy to pass on all my accumulated knowledge on to new generations. But therein lay the greatest joy and fear wrapped in a single place. So often in my life, my dreams were taken from me as they seemed to be just within reach. I could not let it happen to my final, ultimate dream. You, Duke are a catalyst for change, a wildcard of the Cosmos. Things happen around you that would be impossible anywhere else. But more often than not, these changes are violent and sweep up everything in their path. I could not let that happen to my Academy. That is why I all but forced Sam to accelerate the time dilation so insanely high. You were off on your latest crusade and consequences would inevitably follow. Don¡¯t misinterpret this ¨C you are doing what must be done and it is a good thing. Knowing all this, I wanted the most time I could have at the Academy before the consequences of the Cosmos came for all of us. Thank you for allowing me the time to see this through to the end. I have had few friends in this life. Many acquaintances, but few actual friends. I count you among that rare number and am grateful for even the little time we had. My most successful apprentice, I leave you with my final advice ¨C take it for what it¡¯s worth. You are not meant for small things. Remove the small limits you place upon yourself. You are meant for greatness and Teldin is too small to contain you. I know you have friends here but the evil you fight spans at least a galaxy. Set Teldin up to fend for itself but you can¡¯t be here to defend her all the time. That is one of the reasons I set the Academy up to make war mages more than anything else. Run them through dungeons until they can travel the stars like you do and make this truly a war you can win. Live a full life, my friend. Do not deny yourself the pleasures of children, of a family. Win this war and find some peace for yourself. Goodbye my friend Baslin Duke folded the note and placed it in his INVENTORY. The look he got from Sam was filled with sympathy. It was Ophirian who spoke, however. ¡°Are you done reading your mail? I¡¯m hungry.¡± ¡°Holy shit, dude. Read the fucking room!¡± Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Ophirian looked back at Duke, wondering what made him so mad? It¡¯s not like he was lying about being hungry. He hadn¡¯t eaten in two days. It was time to hunt something for a snack. It didn¡¯t need to be a full meal even. When he started to explain, Duke held up his hand to stop him. ¡°Ophirian, I know that you don¡¯t understand all that is going on right now but damn, man. If you¡¯re that hungry, go hunt down something to eat. I am going to be outside the Foundry tomorrow. That¡¯s tomorrow in the real world. I am leaving from there and you will either be with me or you won¡¯t. I¡¯ll not be waiting.¡± Nystriel buzzed at Duke as she settled further into his hair, creating a staticky nest of sorts. It seemed that she was coming with him wherever he was headed. Ophirian TELEPORTED away before Duke could change his mind which left him free to address Sam. ¡°Sam, you seem different somehow. What¡¯s changed?¡± ¡°So, you haven¡¯t delved into my information to find out for yourself?¡± ¡°Trying to respect your privacy.¡± ¡°Well, thank you for that. The change is a rather significant one. With everything that has been going on inside my confines, I have managed to Tier up to Eleven.¡± ¡°Immortal Tier?¡± ¡°The same. There are less than five hundred of us in the whole of the Cosmos. So few get the chance to make it this far. They are either hunted for their core or are just not able to handle the Tier advancements and wind up shattering themselves.¡± ¡°That¡¯s frightening. Congratulations, Sam. I¡¯m excited for the possibilities that come from this. I have no idea what they are, but I¡¯m excited nonetheless.¡± ¡°I am still figuring it out for myself, but I am certain it will be great!¡± ¡°What pushed you over the top?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to like this answer.¡± ¡°Just tell me. It¡¯s been too much lately. I have no patience left.¡± Sam nodded resignedly, ¡°It was Baslin¡¯s passing that pushed me over.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a kick in the nuts. But I think he would be happy to know that he helped you become something more than you were.¡± Sam beamed at Duke, ¡°You think so?¡± ¡°He was a teacher at heart. He loved his students¡¯ success more than anything else. Sure, he love crafting, but did you ever see him light up when he taught something? When he showed me what he had learned about undead and especially about runecrafting, his entire world lit up. That he was able to help you get to such a Tier would have definitely made him proud.¡± ¡°Thank you Duke.¡± ¡°Now, I have a stop or two to make before I head out. You should join me at least for the first one, Sam.¡± Sam nodded and Duke took them to a specific location outside Havenreach. It was somewhat remote but could be reached from the city in a day or two. It was a forested hill with a single cabin on it. The cabin was a bit bigger than the last time Duke was here which brought a smile to his face with the potential for good news. From the cabin came a stout teenage boy who carried an axe over his left shoulder followed by a younger girl in a supple deerskin dress. They were followed by Grat and Elaine who were smiling broadly and looking much closer to how they looked when Duke first met them. ¡°Duke! Sam! It¡¯s been ages!¡± The teenager dropped the head of the axe to the ground and glanced back to his parents, ¡°You know this man with his sparking hair?¡± ¡°Andy, that is Duke, your Free Uncle and our dear friend,¡± Elaine admonished. ¡°The man from the stories?¡± The girl looked up at Duke in wonder. ¡°Good stories, I hope,¡± Duke added. ¡°All good. Of course,¡± Grat said. ¡°Please come in. Elaine has made a fine stew and fresh bread. There should be plenty for all of us.¡± ¡°I helped!¡± The young girl protested. ¡°Yes, Melanie, you did. And I am quite proud of all your work.¡± They all filtered back into the cabin that had grown more than Duke had noticed at first, having been dug into the side of the hill. The next several minutes passed in congenial small talk as stories were exchanged. Eventually, Duke came to the reason behind coming at this time. ¡°Yes, there is another reason I came today beyond catching up with friends. It is with a heavy heart that I am here to tell you that Baslin has passed away.¡± ¡°Oh no. What happened?¡± ¡°Nothing untoward. He died peacefully of old age.¡± ¡°Old age?¡± ¡°Just as time move more quickly here, there is an Academy for magic that Baslin built that had time passing far faster. I was gone for about four months, and he aged over three hundred years.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­What would cause him to agree to such a thing?¡± ¡°Elaine, I asked myself the same question. He left me a note to explain it. I¡¯m still processing it because it feels like my fault despite what he says.¡± Elaine accepted the note and held it for Grat to read along. The children tried to read it as well but there was not enough room for Andy and Melanie was not tall enough despite her repeated jumps. When they finished, they handed the note back to him. Grat spoke, ¡°He retired to live out his dream. You made it possible, Duke. That is not a note assigning blame, but rather credit and thanks. I will miss the old maniac but we are also living the life of our dreams here with our family. The blood ally bond still calls to us, but it is muted. We are called to your aid but since we are unable to follow where you go, the bond is quiescent. This is enough for us.¡± ¡°I was wondering about that. Do you feel that the bond fades over time because I can barely feel it anymore.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not so sure about it fading, just the system not enforcing the unenforceable. Which is a good thing for all of us, I would say.¡± ¡°I would have to agree. Now, someone said something about stew and bread?¡± The rest of the day was spent catching back up and getting to know the children a bit better. It turned out that Melanie had a strong desire to see the city of Havenreach. She was enthralled by the idea of becoming a merchant herself despite never having set foot (barefoot right now) inside a city. Duke encouraged them to visit the mayor and penned a quick letter of introduction for the girl should she decide that she truly wanted to become a merchant. He was sure Lord Greengold would take good care of her. Finally, late into the evening, he bid them farewell and moved on to his last task ¨C raiding the tax vaults of Havenreach. He TELEPORTED directly into the vaults and found they had expanded in the extreme. Whereas it had been a large room the last time Duke had been there, the vaults were now dozens of levels of warehouse-sized chambers filled with riches. Duke felt no guilt whatsoever as he gathered up a large stash of Grand Crystals as well as gold. He did not stick around to wait for any accounting, instead heading straight for the meeting place outside the Foundry to wait for Ophirian. Book 4, Chapter 43 He was outside the Foundry for less than a second before he bounced back to the Academy with the realization that he had an unfinished task. The sight of the Foundry entrance had sparked the memory of a promise made and he was here to make it a promise fulfilled. He stood inside the gates to the Academy. They were a tremendous magical construct that spanned the entirety of the mountain pass leading up to the Academy. As far as Duke knew they had never been fully closed and were not likely to ever be. But it was here that he went to work. The start was simple enough, he used his Ability to carve into the cliff near the gate, making another set of gates that led into the hall he was constructing. Unconsciously, he made it look very similar to the Hall of Possibilities which reminded him of yet another unfinished project. He put the thought aside for now to finish what he was working on at the moment. In all, it took less than five minutes to complete the entire structure including the beautifully elaborate sign above the gates that clearly described what lay in wait for anyone stepping through the gates ¨C the Portal to the Celestial Foundry of Teldin. With a smile on his face, he flashed to the Foundry and created a sister structure near the entrance there. Finally, he finished it off by creating the actual Portal between the two places. When he stepped out of the building, opening the gates into the Foundry, he was met with cheers. There was a group of what Duke could only assume were mages given their distinctly similar robes. They were all black robes but the patterns and accents embroidered upon them were different. He was not sure, but he guessed the embroidery declared their specialties. ¡°Is this truly a passage back to the Academy?¡± Duke pointed at the sign overhead and gave the leather-aproned-man an ¡°are you kidding me?¡± look. The uncomfortable chuckle he got in response preceded the presumed smith shuffling off. Duke did not stick around for other similarly inane questions and returned to the outside. Ophirian was not waiting for him but there was someone else. As he appeared, a head of golden blonde hair spun around to face Duke. The flash of anger and hurt in Aurelia¡¯s eyes made Duke take a step back. What did I do now? ¡°You¡¯re getting ready to leave again, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes, there¡¯s a lot that needs to be done to stop the Syndicate.¡± ¡°Were you even going to come see me?¡± The hurt in her voice surprised Duke. His mind flashed back to their separation, and he became even more confused ¨C she had broken things off, not him. The next words out of Duke¡¯s mouth were honest, but not thought-out, ¡°You broke things off. You walked away from me. I thought that¡¯s what you wanted.¡± Duke saw the slap coming but did not respond as she shouted in frustration at him, ¡°You infuriating man! Don¡¯t you understand anything?¡± He stared back at her, stunned as she continued, ¡°I wanted you to chase me, to pursue me. Not to just let me go like a failed experiment. Not to step out of my life forever!¡± Duke¡¯s mind went into complete vapor-lock as he had no response. He stared at her mouth agape. ¡°Don¡¯t you have anything to say for yourself?¡± The words flowed out of his mouth before his brain could reel them in, ¡°I never stopped loving you. I never wanted to see you hurt again. I don¡¯t want you to die on me again. There¡¯s been too much death but it¡¯s not over.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it? You¡¯re afraid?¡± ¡°Baslin is dead.¡± Duke blurted it out. He felt completely out of control. All his vaunted Abilities and inflated stats couldn¡¯t stop him from saying it. It was Aurelia¡¯s time to stop and stare. Her anger fled as a wave of grief gripped her. ¡°When? What happened?¡± ¡°It just happened in your timeline.¡± ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve heard of the Academy, right? Well, he wanted to teach others magic more than anything else in all the Cosmos and the Academy gave him the perfect opportunity to do so. But he also knew that there would always be strife coming for us, so he had Sam speed up the time in the Academy. He sped it up so much that one day here was a thousand days there. In the few months I was gone, he aged over three hundred years. He died peacefully of old age. I sat next to him and told him of my journeys. He died with a calm smile on his face, holding my hand.¡± ¡°Oh, Duke.¡± She smashed herself into him, gripping him with all the strength she could muster, sobbing into his shoulder. He held her, feeling the familiar warmth of her body against his and his own warring emotions and hormones. He did not notice the passage of time as he held her, comforting her. Nor did he notice Nystrial¡¯s annoyed sparking as she rose from Duke¡¯s nest of hair. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Elsewhere, Edgemont stood before the door that housed a dungeon. He had not touched the door itself but had instead called for a specific specialist. This was going to be an expensive venture but Edgemont didn¡¯t mind the expense. The events of the quarter so far had already led to a massive write-off in the making. He was simply making the write-off bigger if this failed. If it succeeded, it could erase the write-off and turn a true profit for the quarter. It was a risk he was willing to take. His messages informed him that the third Core fleet had returned to the station and they would be joining him in about two hours. He acknowledged the message and thanked them for responding to his summons so quickly. He decided that simply waiting wasn¡¯t the best use of his time and returned to his desk ¨C he had yet another sector commander to recruit. ¡°Shame, really. Nonetes had such great potential. He even made some solid decisions. The man had captured Duke after all.¡± Edgemont went back to studying the recordings of the office that had been saved but saw they cut off before anything really happened. The replay that Vaelith had provided did not give enough detail on what really happened to the stasis device. That the device had vanished was also concerning. There was no indicative flash that would have accompanied it being placed in a spatial storage device. The lack of actual information irritated Edgemont. He was always in the know and this lack of information was grating on his nerves. To distract himself, he reviewed the potential replacement candidates for the sixth time. No one really matched his needs. His frustration continued to grow. He was exceedingly thankful when the Core-hunting team arrived in his office. They were an eclectic mix of races but all were armed to the teeth, gills, upper appendages, whatever. The leader, a human as all the leaders of the Core teams were, approached Edgemont¡¯s desk and presented himself with a crisp salute. ¡°Core Team Three reporting for special assignment as requested.¡± ¡°Very good, Team Leader Halifax. This is a unique situation that will not leave this circle. Am I understood?¡± As he spoke, Edgemont pressed out with the fullness of his INTIMIDATION Ability, forcing the group to endure his amplified ten thousand points of Psyche as it battered their collective will aside. They all nodded their assent. Edgemont was impressed. Not too many could withstand an effective 100,000 Psyche push. That made him even more certain that he had called in the right team. They would not fail him. ¡°Excellent,¡± Edgemont declared as he lifted the effects of his Ability and continued, ¡°We have, in the next office, a dungeon entrance attached to the office door. My studies of it show it to be very high-Tier. Perhaps even as high as an eight or nine.¡± The team leader involuntarily interrupted out of sheer surprise, ¡°That¡¯s higher than we have seen in centuries. We¡¯ve never been able to retrieve a Core of that quality before!¡± Edgemont let the slip in decorum go as he shared the excitement of the team. ¡°Precisely. I know you came prepared, but make sure you are exceedingly well-prepared before attempting the delve. And, if you are lucky, you may find Alpho Nonetes, the sector commander in there still alive. If you could bring him back with the Core, I would be most appreciative. Exceedingly so.¡± The last statement was said with a particular glint in his eye that Edgemont had cultivated over the centuries. It conveyed the potential reward with just a glance and cemented the thought in the team¡¯s minds. So easy to manipulate ¨C just like everyone else. With the admonition in place, Halifax gathered her team and returned to their ship to gather their ¡°special reserve¡± gear. This gear was filled with powerful one-time use items that they had gathered over the years. They rarely tapped into this resource for obvious reasons but Edgemont had made it clear that this was no ordinary Delve and Core Retrieval mission. The potential of retrieving a Tier Nine Core was simultaneously exciting and daunting. No one on the team was above Tier Seven on the team and they were the highest Tier team in the Core teams. Daleen Halifax nearly emptied her storage locker of specialized equipment. She had not approached a Delve with anything resembling fear in decades. This particular Delve, however, had her concerned. They would have to be careful. If this really was a Tier Nine dungeon, any bosses would be spectacularly difficult and possibly something that no one had ever seen before. While she waited for the rest of the team to prepare their gear, she took one last look at her Character Sheet, focusing on her experience section. As a Tier Seven, she was just under 100,000 experience short of level 348. This could be the Delve that finally pushed her over those last four levels and break her into Tier Eight. That would make it all worth it. But she also knew that they could be outclassed in there and that was not something she was used to feeling. Over-preparation was the name of the game this time. Storage devices were filled with consumables ¨C potions of exquisite quality, charms that could provide massive short-term boosts, field generators of countless exotic energies, even quantum explosives. Nothing was left out. They were as prepared as they could be. Finally, they gathered outside the dungeon entrance and Edgemont handed each of them a talisman that none of them had ever seen before. The inquisitive looks he received from the team made Edgemont smile to himself. ¡°These are temporal tokens. They will counter any time manipulations that will slow down time for you. They do have limits and will not last past this Delve but I am not going to lose the Syndicate¡¯s best Core Retrieval team to a simple time trap. Be careful in there and complete your mission. Bring me that Core!¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± Halifax nodded to Malkiefor, her troll-blooded, Stoneborn Breacher to lead the way. He stepped forward and activated the dungeon entrance and a second later, the entire Core Retrieval team had entered the dungeon. Edgemont kept himself out of the line of sight of the dungeon entrance. The clawed hand that had grabbed Nonetes still haunted him. He was sure that he could survive the dungeon at his Tier, but that would require exercising Abilities he had long left dormant. Physical work was for the underlings, after all. Finally, the entrance closed and returned to just appearing to be a door. ¡°God luck to you all.¡± Edgemont sighed, knowing that he had done what he could to this point without truly tapping into the company¡¯s greater resources. He returned to his desk to expand his search for another sector commander. Maybe I should pull someone from another sector? Expanding my search parameters might be worthwhile as long as I can ensure personal loyalty. Whos Who in the Zoo
Character Name Role
Elgin Aranthus Cultist - Brought Andy/Duke to this world
Andy, "Duke" Ellington MC
Gratukelsten Synoch Elaine''s husband. Druid
Elaine Synoch Grat''s wife, Druid
Baslin the Best Wizard in the frickin Ivory Tower
Ergo Prison Guard (Really Leviathan''s Recruiter)
Gravlostros Stone Recruiter
Lord Quaid Prison Magistrate
Leviathan Arena Faction
Rune Arena Faction
Stone Arena Faction
Agreal Rune''s Trainer
Jablach Leviathan''s HTH Trainer
Gefolich Leviathan''s Magic Trainer
Lester Leviathan recruit turned into a Spectre Lord
Lasandra Leviathan recruit turned into a Vampire Lord
Lysander Leviathan recruit Turned into a Ghoul Lord
Greslarnier Leviathan Receptionist
Axis Leviathan Leader
Calen Firehorn Minotaur Barkeep of the Lakefront Inn
Aurealia The Golden Warrior
Farthell Masolivich Druid strategist, betrayed everyone and held in Baslin''s lab
Captain Slevin Half-giant Javelineer
Seshwashi Spiritual Guardian of Rahmfar
Asalov the Unbound Baslin''s Master (teacher)
Dothalon Baslin''s friend killed by Negron
Negron the Nemesis Killed Dothalon
Tukelstan Orc thug in Golden Circle Inn
Larkin Innkeeper at the Golden Circle Inn
Fulong Dragon in the LFD
Duke Negron Choppie''s pet Necromancer and killer of Dothalon
Bartow Bollistis Tanner from the capital who refused to flee alone and helped set up the trap for Duke
Salandra Axis'' wife
Katie Axis''s eldest daughter
Lynne Axis''s middle daughter
Carolanne Axis''s youngest daughter
Ruathia Elder of Rahmfar Village
Master Terry Leader of the Legion''s Scouts "Scoutmaster"
Nornsyl Spirit of the Forest
Eihlen Best Healer in the Legion
Mandibra Ant Queen of the Supreme Nest
Nibblesworth mousekin councilor of Wildheart Refuge
Thornbloom the Arbiter Keeper of Order
Snarlheart wolfkin Councilmember
Emberclaw Catkin leader of the Wildheart Refuge Council
Taloncrest
Whisperwind Switclaw
Boulderback Tortoise Councilor - oldest and respected
Shimmerstone Giantess who masquerades as a Dwarfess
Borondar Former guard who Duke freed from a vow to Chopie - Now Captain of the Guard
Halgrim Blacksmith among the refugees
Madrigal Former Duke and Estros'' Great Nephew
Lady Hargwaetch Kingdom''s Merchant Advisor and Liaison
Mayor Shellenberger Mayor of the Dungeon City
Chal''barnah Havenreach''s Adventurers'' Guildmaster
Lord Greengold Havenreach''s Trade Minister
Twalla Gnoll wisewoman
Mahlnok Gnoll Viking warrior
Siegfried Appleton Party Planner
Esmeth Tailor in Cloudspire
Lord Aaron Ansky emissary
Lord Sleisthak Tannish emissary
Lady Pedroia assassin from Ansky
Duke Rizzuto
King Sashallah King of Tannish
Emma and Jack Miller Proprietors of the Restful Roost Inn
Duke Darius Ebonblade Pahst''s warlord
Octuul Clone Army Brief appearance
Drakmalorie dragonian Mage Assassin
Arkmathus Dragonian Warrior Assassin
Gregorius and Brutarcus Pilot and Mech
Vorzag, Raktuk, Zelra, Myrka, and Grimtooth. Goblinoid hunters who asked Duke to join them
svaldmethok
Lya Holllis Ware Intergalactic bounty hunter
Mira "Blaze" Calder Ignarri Pilot of the Iron Reaver Dropship
Galvand Docking liaison
Rubric Monster Parts Dealer
Gro''nok Orc Mech Pilot (leader of the Steel Tusks)
Ter''fald Orc Mech Pilot (member of the Steel Tusks)
Tukka Orc Mech Pilot (member of the Steel Tusks)
The Syndicate Company that has monopilized Mech Transport
Ganorlen Vosh Syndicate Sector Commander
Edgemont Gandorlen''s primary aide
Valan Tarkos Gandorlen''s boss - one of the Syndicate''s leaders
Carlyle the Eater of Souls demonic titan mech pilot (T8)
Commander Zarkon Thresh Tzharak Infantry leader of the mercenary company of the Thorned Rose.
Urgoth Steel Tusk triad leader
Morka Steel Tusk mech pilot
Murgan Steel Tusk mech pilot
Captain Malor Vestu Syndicate Dropship group leader
Droga De-facto leader of the Steel Tusk prisoners
Elder Maw''huk Chief Elder of the Steel Tusks
Brindlehoof kidfolk waitress
Ophirian Child of the Great Serpent Illuyanka, Duke''s occasional companion
Arnson Smith Ophirian debated scales with in Havenreach
Amara Laya Flying woman Duke met at the battle for TELDIN
Archdruid Thelmek Kobold druid who held off the Hounds for a significant time
Gelvin Mahr Goblin Archmange
Thelanos Kobold Archmage
Nystriel Lightning Elemental
Magi Argentus Mage-hunting group
Molekethesius ("Mole") Dragonian met in Sanctuary - Head of Team Shatterscale
Kragh Forgehorn Minotaur Armorer in The Forge
Zarna Anvilborn Lead mech builder in The Forge
Zeblow The Skull from Sanctuary City
Arenstol Contestant Slaver
Samwise Information Broker in Sanctuary City
Aculotus Mouskin who warned Duke about the slug collective monster
Emerald Naga from the line in Sanctuary City
Zyphor the Arbiter Host for the Final Phase of the Contest
Alpho Nonetes New Syndicate Sector Commander
Hapthor Syndicate Assassin
Geslek Syndicate trooper who has worked with Hapthor before
Rynis Syndicate Senior Executive
Vaelith Goblin-descended immortal Clairvoyant for the Syndicate
Sar Borglyn Minotaur leader of the Foundry - no relation to Sar Borglyn of the Forge
Granhok Albino minotaur in the Foundry in charge of ship construction
Korza Vrek Female Orc starfighter pilot
Cerlyn Naked female centaur owner of the Academy Tavern
Andrew Synoch Grat & Elaine''s oldest son
Melanie Synoch Grat & Elaine''s oldest daughter
Daleen Halifax Leader of Core Team Three (Syndicate)
Book 3, Chapter 45 Sometime later, Duke rose to his feet and took stock of his situation. First, I¡¯m way too close to the Clanhold if anyone attacks it with a weapon like the dreadnaught¡¯s. That was absolutely insane. Second, I need to find out if the ship got out of here. Duke TELEPORTED to the area he had used for his own mech training, hoping it was out of range of anything hitting the Clanhold. He sighed as he realized that, once again, he didn¡¯t have the time needed to do what he wanted to do. With a sense of dread, he activated his communications crystal. ¡°Iron Reaver, this is Duke. Come in please.¡± It did not occur to him until after he spoke that he had reverted to his military radio discipline. Am I that anxious? Damn. He waited a few minutes and repeated the call. After an hour of repeating the call, he resigned himself to the situation. The ship was gone, and he was alone again. What did strike him as interesting is that there was no sign of the Syndicate fleet in the sky above. Maybe I really took the dreadnaught out. That would be something. I guess I should check my notifications and see what they tell me. Then I have to move on to plan¡­oh, fuck it. I¡¯ll call it plan Z at this point. He just had too many notifications. Most were experience notifications. This was a problem he had run into before and managed to get the system to combine similar ones together and summarize. *** For defeating 87,196 foes of varying levels and tiers ranging from 1 to 4, you receive 24,661,209 experience. You have gained 105 levels to reach level 250. You have Tiered up to Tier 6. You gain 86 levels. You are now level 87. You have 3,717 Characteristic Points to spend. You have options for your Tier 6 advancement:
  1. Create a new Ability (restrictions apply)
  2. Gain an additional Class Ability (Tier-based restrictions apply)
  3. Merge exiting Abilities to create a new Ability
  4. Gain 600 bonus Characteristic Points
  5. Gain 100 levels in any Skill or Ability
  6. Increase the rank of any one Class Ability
You have improved several of your Skills and Abilities: Your Stealth Skill has ranked up to Practiced 3 Your Areial Maneuvering Skill has increased to Practiced 51 Your TELEPORTATION Ability has increased to Grandmaster 106 Your REGENERATION Ability has increased to Master 14 Your DUNGEON MANIPULATION Ability has ranked up to Practiced 4 Your AURA CONCEALMENT Ability has increased to Initiate 27 Your LASTING DISGUISE Ability has increased to Initiate 25 Your OVERCHANNEL Ability has increased to Adept 112 Your MENTAL FORTITUDE Ability has increased to Adept 65 Your UMBRAL REAPER Ability has increased to Adept 105 Your CLEANSE Ability has increased to Practiced 48 Your RESTORE Ability has increased to Master 84 Your INVENTORY Ability has increased to Practiced 58 Your FLIGHT Ability has ranked up to Adept 3 Your CLAIRVOYANCE Ability has ranked up to Practiced 2 Your DUNGEON SENSE Ability has increased to Master 48 You have gained a new Skill. Starship Piloting has been gained at Untrained 1 *** Duke blew out a breath. Tier 6. 37-hundred points to spend. Wow. That was more than I expected. Then again, I didn¡¯t walk into this expecting to kill almost 90,000 Syndicate goons. I should feel some way about that but, strangely, I don¡¯t. I have to deal with other harsh realities right now. The Iron Reaver is missing and the whole Clan with them. That blast would have been enough to destroy the ship for sure. Dammit! Time to see if the rest of the Syndicate ships are still around. Well, that and figure out what I¡¯m taking for my Tier 6 Ability. And allocate points ¨C have to do that too. Duke decided to allocate points first off. He poured enough points into his Agility to bring it up to 2,500. Then brought his Intuition up to 2,000. He then brought his base for Strength, Endurance, and Reason up to 1500. The remaining 176 points went into Psyche, bringing it up to over 39,000 with his Title enhancement. The turmoil in his mind that he didn¡¯t even realize had been there settled back down with the Psyche increase. With a shake of his head, he delved into the Class Abilities available to him. When he opened up the menu, he saw that he had three Abilities available at his Tier: DUNGEON MONSTER CREATION, DUNGEON ENGINEERING, and DUNGEON TRANSPORTATION. Duke delved into each in order. *** DUNGEON MONSTER CREATION: This Ability allows you to create dungeon monsters outside of a dungeon. These monsters are wholly under your control and can be given commands or even piloted remotely. Given sufficient Mana investment and Ability rank, these creations could be intelligent and able to operate independently. Over time, these creations have the potential to earn experience and grow like any other lifeform. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. DUNGEON ENGINEERING: This Ability takes DUNGEON MANIPULATION to a whole new level. It allows you to rapidly make dramatic changes in a dungeon¡¯s design and layout. A dungeon¡¯s entire theme, cast, and layout can be changed in a matter of minutes. It also significantly increases the value of items that can be removed from dungeons. DUNGEON TRANSPORTATION: This Ability allows for instantaneous transportation from any dungeon to another dungeon that you have either planted or have visited. This transportation is limited to you but can cover any distance across the cosmos and all associated dimensions. *** Duke spent some time pondering these choices as they all seemed to have significant benefits to him. I don¡¯t need DUNGEON TRANSPORTATION since I have my TELEPORTATION that can get me anywhere I need to be. But then again, removing any distance restriction would be amazing. No, I¡¯m going to skip this one for now. With my Ability and stat increases my maximum range on TELEPORTATION is around 17,000 light years. I can get to where I need to be pretty quickly. DUNGEON ENGINEERING was another one that Duke discounted immediately but that last line intrigued him. Just how significant is the increase in the value of things I can take out of a dungeon? Could I pop into a dungeon, create a custom-designed weapon to exploit an enemy¡¯s weakness, and pop out to hit them with it? Could I create an entire ship and fly it out? So many unknowns but I¡¯m certain I could at least do the weapon thing. That could be a game-changer if I have any prep time. Or I could just create a bunch of weapons and have them sitting in my INVENTORY. Finally, DUNGEON MONSTER CREATION seems very interesting. I have no idea what the Mana costs or restrictions are on it. It doesn¡¯t list a cap on how many I can create so I could possibly make an entire army of runescripted dinosaurs to run rampant on my enemies. It might be a high Mana-cost but my Mana pool is tremendous right now, and will only increase. I wonder how intelligent I could make a dungeon monster? Duke considered the choices before him and finally decided. He chose DUNGEON MONSTER CREATION and instantly was flooded with knowledge about how the Ability worked and what it cost to use. He imagined it would be very expensive to create powerful monsters, but since it was all a Mana cost, he grinned as he knew his Mana was way beyond what anyone at his Tier should have. As he set about to create his first monster, he was interrupted by his comms crystal. ¡°Duke, I don¡¯t know if you hear me, but I could really use some help. This is Mira and we are at the rendezvous point but the Syndicate is in pursuit. I don¡¯t know how they followed us here but there are three heavy cruisers chasing me taking pot shots at long range. I can outrun them for quite a while, but they might be calling in some fast-attack ships. That would be a bigger problem.¡± ¡°I¡¯m on my way,¡± Duke responded, dismissing the screens for DUNGEON MONSTER CREATION and pouring 10 million Mana into a TELEPORT to get him to the bridge of the Iron Reaver, grinning like an idiot at not having lost everyone. Despite the three heavy cruisers in pursuit, Duke¡¯s mood had elevated instantly upon hearing that the ship made it out. The bridge was a vision of tension. The entire Elder Council of the Clan were taking up stations assisting Mira and Lya whose hands flashed over controls, keeping the ship ahead of their pursuers. The Elders held on with white knuckles as they tried their best to assist. No one seemed to notice Duke as he had arrived at the rear of the bridge, behind everyone. ¡°Don¡¯t let them open the airlock! Mechs aren¡¯t going to do shit against a trio of heavy cruisers!¡± ¡°Captain, I really don¡¯t think they care. They are going to go screaming into space and fight our enemies. That is the way of the Clan.¡± Duke stepped forward, ¡°Perhaps I can give the heavy cruisers something else to worry about.¡± ¡°Holy fuck, Duke! I¡¯m damned glad to see you. I don¡¯t know what you did to the dreadnaught, but it got them pissed like I¡¯ve never seen. They left the transports behind to pursue us and the goddam idiots in the mech bay think they can take them on!¡± ¡°Let them know that I have it handled. Just keep your distance and out of weapons range,¡± Duke responded coldly. He calmly walked over to the navigational console, Lya nearly leaping out of his way like prey fleeing a predator. Without a thought to her reaction, he pulled up a visual of the pursuing ships only to discover that they were of a design he did not recognize. He chuckled to himself as he realized that he had only seen one other design of a heavy cruiser so his opinion of what was unusual was pretty weak. The ships were all the same design which looked to Duke like giant metallic mantises. There was a roughly triangular forward section that Duke assumed contained the bridge that extended at an angle out of a neck which extended from the main body. It gave the impression that the ¡°head¡± of the craft was looking down slightly from the body. There were a pair of ¡°wings¡± on each side of the ship that seemed to hold the weapons of the ship. Finally, there were legs extending under the ship which Duke assumed were for landing or maybe they had some form of grappling capability. He just didn¡¯t know. Duke looked up from the display of the two ships to meet eyes with Mira, ¡°Fear not. I will squash these insects.¡± ¡°Those insects have enough firepower, individually, to tear my ship to pieces with a single volley. And they have some sort of way of tracking us even after we jumped here so that is more than a small problem. And what the fuck is up with your eyes?¡± ¡°My eyes?¡± ¡°Yes, your eyes,¡± Mira produced a small mirror and handed it to Duke. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s new,¡± Duke responded as he saw his eyes in the mirror¡¯s reflection. His pupils looked like a pair of burning coals surrounded by swirling black smoke. ¡°No wonder everyone¡¯s so freaked out looking at me. Let me see if I can fix that.¡± He pulled on his LASTING DISGUISE Ability to bring his eyes back to their original appearance. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s tons better. You don¡¯t look nearly as freaky. Now, you said something about having a plan to take care of our pursuers¡­¡± ¡°You bet. I¡¯m going to go over there and kill all of them. Simple plan.¡± ¡°Just like that?¡± ¡°Just like that.¡± ¡°What about their shields?¡± ¡°Just watch.¡± Duke TELEPORTED to the upper neck section of the ¡°leftmost¡± ship. As expected, he was not able to penetrate the ship¡¯s shielding but that was fine with Duke. None of the ship¡¯s weapons could reach him in this position with them all being mounted below the wings of the ship. Yep, this is the spot. Even if they send some poor soul out an airlock, I can handle them. Duke smiled as he placed his left hand on the translucent shielding below him and engaged his MANA DRAIN Ability. Instantly, his Mana pool was topped off and the excess Mana went somewhere he did not know but he had some ideas on how to use it. He reached down with his other hand and engaged a second instance of MANA DRAIN. Mana from the shields rushed into and through him but it did exactly what he was hoping for; it made a hole in the shielding that he could cast through as he moved his hands apart. Pushing his SIMULCASTING Ability, Duke used his CLAIRVOYANCE to see into the ship. He saw a corridor with a few crew members moving about. With a grin, Duke employed his newest Ability and began to create dungeon creatures in the hallway. He began with something simple, something he had only fought once but became very familiar with their capabilities. Duke started creating Twilight Stalkers inside the corridor with one simple instruction: kill everything they came upon. Creating them at a Tier Two, level fifty, was easy and only cost a bit over one hundred thousand Mana each. Duke chuckled at the cost as his Mana regen had leapt up to over eight hundred thousand a second. He could create the Twilight Stalkers with just his Mana Regen. Not that he needed to ¨C the MANA DRAIN on the shields was supplying him with more than enough Mana for his creations. Once he had created fifty of them, he paused to watch them propagate through the ship with his CLAIRVOYANCE because it gave more detail than his DUNGEON SENSE for something like this. He liked what he saw. Book 3, Chapter 46 Duke watched as his twilight stalkers spread out in groups of three. Seems like a common thing, this triad. The orcs and the twilight stalkers all used them. Even these ships are in a triad. I wonder why that is and if there is some system advantage to it. Doesn¡¯t matter right now. Back to the show. He watched as the twilight stalkers encountered random crew members in the corridors. There was no hesitation in them at all. They pounced, claws slicing through flesh easily. The first attack was a slash across the throat that left the crewmember gurgling before the next one slashed open his gut and reached under his ribs. It came back with the man¡¯s still beating heart, carved out of his chest and quickly eaten. Their hisses of satisfaction filled the corridor as they moved on in pursuit of more prey. Duke created another fifty of the creatures and received a rather annoying system message. *** You have reached the limit of dungeon monsters for your current Ability level. Increase your Ability¡¯s rank and level to be able to maintain more monsters. *** The message was clear and to the point. Duke had to level up the Ability. Maybe I should have gone for higher quality instead. Make them a higher tier next time? I¡¯ll have to see what happens when they make it to the bridge. Which they are about to do now. The stalkers had encountered little resistance as the first group approached the bridge. The second group had been directed in the opposite direction down the corridor to wreak havoc throughout the rest of the ship. The first group approached the open door to the bridge which Duke took for piss-poor security and was thankful for. The Twilight Stalkers rushed in, claws flashing and fangs tearing. The first members of the bridge crew went down, but the rest reacted quickly. Defenses were activated and weapons were snap-drawn. Two more members of the bridge crew went down before the twilight stalkers were quickly eliminated. Duke was underwhelmed. Did I overestimate my creatures, or did I underestimate the Syndicate crew? Whatever the case, I now have room to make more. Time to see if I can make Tier Five monsters. Duke focused his Ability and changed a number of selections. He upped their Tier to Five, added Special Abilities, made them Self-Sustaining, and made them Intelligent. Finally, he upped their Mana pool to 10,000 and their Health pools to 100,000. All for the cost of 1.1 million Mana a piece. He grinned as he continued to use the draining shield¡¯s Mana to fuel his creations. He found that the creation process took far longer for these creatures. It took him a full minute to make one and the security alarms were ringing all over the ship. Security forces were spreading out and quickly eliminating the remaining stalkers from his second batch. The new creation, a Twilight Stalker Champion, took form in the hallway just after a security guard walked by. It quickly pounced and the results were just what Duke was looking for. The stalker tore through the guard¡¯s armor like butter. The guard struggled for a full five seconds but the end result was never in question. Duke¡¯s smile deepened as the stalker¡¯s wounds healed as he watched. He had instructed this stalker to stay and wait for the rest of its triad. A bit more than two minutes later, the three stalkers silently made their way to the bridge. Duke made another trio of stalker champions before the Mana from the shields finally failed. He left that ship and appeared in the same spot on ¡°neck¡± of the next ship. Once he started draining mana from its shields, things went into overdrive. A score of Syndicate troops in armored suits burst out of an airlock, charging towards him with their flight capabilities. He briefly saw the third ship turning itself towards him as it also disgorged soldiers. OK, looks like they have identified the threat. Time to make things really interesting. Duke spread his hands that were MANA DRAINING the second ship¡¯s shield wider and wider as the soldiers opened fire. Despite the distance, their fire was accurate with several shots hitting Duke. Pain flared through his body but he set it aside as he dropped through the opening in the shield and landed on the ship¡¯s hull. The hole in the shield zapped closed as the armored soldiers approached. Duke waved as he disappeared, finding himself inside the ship. Duke began to fill the corridor with LIGHTNING. His aura expanded to fill the corridor, sparking against everything it touched. Although he wasn¡¯t precisely sure where he was in the ship yet, Duke charged down the corridor. Anyone he encountered received a full-on blast of LIGHTNING. None had gotten back up so far. It was a matter of minutes before Duke stood before a sealed bulkhead that closed off the neatly labeled ¡°Engineering¡± section. Duke placed his hand on the bulkhead and TELEPORTED it to the bridge of the first ship. Because, fuck you! That¡¯s why. He was greeted by panicked weapons fire and a scattering of Abilities mixed in. He responded with a bolt of LIGHTNING OVERCHANNELED with ten million Mana. The bolt forked throughout the entire section, arcing across and shattering equipment and bodies with equal vigor. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Duke must have hit something vital because the explosion that followed slammed Duke back through the door and down the hall, bouncing off several support struts along the way. He landed on his back, his clothing shredded and smoking. With a casual thought, his clothing was RESTORED and his REGENERATION was hard at work repairing the damage his body had received even through his ARMOR SKIN. His Ability healing him quickly, he got back to his feet and started to head back to the engineering section in near total darkness. Three steps in, he was pulled from his feet as the wind howled past him. Duke grabbed hold of one of the bent support struts and held on as air quickly evacuated through what Duke could now see was a massive hole in the ship where the engineering section had once been. He had no idea what he had hit but it sure as hell crippled the ship. On a whim, he released his grip and rode the blast of air out the hull breach. Outside, he saw the armored soldiers in full-on panic mode as the ship below him spewed gasses and people into the vacuum of space. As Duke played dead, he saw that the ship floated through space as a dark husk. His smile grew as he could see that the first ship was also having its share of problems. He turned his mind to the third ship and TELEPORTED to the far side, outside the viewing range of the armored troops. Duke began draining the shields as he had done previously to the other two ships. This time, he decided to see what happened if he OVERCHANNELED the Ability. As he expected, Mana ripped out of the shields at an insane rate, filling Duke¡¯s pool and spilling over into the universe. As the Mana flowed into and through Duke, he increased the OVERCHANNEL on the Ability in proportion, constantly ramping up. Until he had the barrel of a weapon pressed up against his head. The sound reverberated through the weapon and into Duke¡¯s head. It was muffled, but Duke heard the words well enough, ¡°Surrender or die.¡± Duke turned to the soldier and smiled as the barrel slid to his forehead, ¡°Take your best shot.¡± The soldier did. The shot rocked Duke¡¯s head back with the impact of the Mana-infused blast. He gaped as Duke looked back at him, the wound closing on his forehead. Duke waggled his finger at the soldier and reached for the soldier¡¯s armored form. Before he reached the man, the soldier disappeared in a cloud of magical energy. Duke¡¯s head snapped up and saw a mech land on the shield next to him. The Steel Tusk emblem was clearly emblazoned on the mech¡¯s chest. The mech¡¯s head slowly shook from side to side in admonishment moments before the shield failed entirely. With a wave, the mech was past Duke and pounding away at the hull of the ship with its weapons. And it was not alone. Duke counted more than two dozen mechs that he could see pounding away at the ship¡¯s hull. Duke flew back along the spine of the ship to where he now knew the engineering section to be. Once there, he employed his overwhelming strength to tear his way through the ship¡¯s hull, firing up his LIGHTNING aura once again. The hull turned out to be much thicker than Duke had anticipated. He tore his way through a full four meters of hull before he broke out into the engineering section, his LIGHTNING arcing through equipment and crew alike. Duke had to TELEPORT to the side to get out of the explosive decompression he had caused. As the crew panicked, holding onto whatever they could to keep from being sucked through the man-sized hole in the hull, Duke flew through the gale, TELEPORTING random pieces of equipment and consoles onto the bridge of the first ship. If there happened to be someone holding onto that console when he TELEPORTED it, he wasn¡¯t particularly concerned. Eventually Duke got to something critical as the lights went out, right about the time that the atmosphere finished evacuating and the wind stopped. Duke was greeted by the hole he had made expanding greatly and a mech poked its head through. He shrugged at the mech and continued to ransack the engineering area. Eventually, the mech¡¯s head pulled back out and Duke made his way towards the bridge following the helpful signs. He got about halfway there before he paused with an idea. Focusing his DUNGEON SENSE, he was able to see where the ¡°neck¡± of the ship connected to the main body. He was right in the area for what he was thinking. With precision directed by his DUNGEON SENSE, Duke removed section after section holding the ¡°neck¡± onto the body. It took a minute, but the reverberations as the sections separated gave him the sense of victory he was looking for. He floated out into space. What he saw was not what he expected. There was a ship-to-ship battle taking place. Well, not exactly a ship-to-ship battle. The Iron Reaver was tearing the Syndicate ships to pieces. There was no return fire. Duke TELEPORTED back to the Iron Reaver¡¯s bridge. ¡°Well, hello there. Welcome to the fight. I don¡¯t think the ships are in any shape to fight back.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Mira replied, malice dripping from her voice. ¡°I have some dumb-ass, crazy mech pilots to pick up and I¡¯d rather not do it under the guns of these heavies.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll just sit down over here and wait then.¡± Duke sauntered over to his favorite navigation station and started planning his route to Teldin. It took nearly an hour to clean things up and get the mechs back on the ship. The discussion on the next steps was very short. When Mira brought up the topic, Duke cut right in. ¡°I am heading to Teldin. No further delays or detours. There is a Syndicate fleet headed that way, and I mean to get there before they do. I have plotted a course that will get me there in fourteen jumps. That should take no more than two hours. I can bring the ship and everyone along or drop you off somewhere along the way. That¡¯s up to you, but I am leaving in one hour.¡± With that, Duke left the bridge, heading for his room to get a quick rest. Book 3, Chapter 47 Duke took his downtime to review his notifications. He expected that this would be a big jump for him since he was only level 87 in this Tier and was looking forward to it. He was especially grateful that he hadn¡¯t had to use UMBRAL REAPER this time around. The emotional and spiritual pain of activating it and its resultant feedback was hard on his sanity. Setting that thought aside with a shudder, he delved right in. *** Congratulations, you defeated 1,331 enemies of various levels between Tier One and Tier Three. You gain 1,093,300 experience and are now level 99. You have 216 Characteristic Points to spend. You have increased a number of Abilities as well: Your TELEPORTATION has increased to Grandmaster 108 Your REGENERATION has increased to Master 16 Your AURA CONCEALMENT has increased to Initiate 34 Your LASTING DISGUISE has increased to Initiate 31 Your LIGHTNING has increased to Adept 29 Your OVERCHANNEL has increased to Adept 115 Your SIMULCASTING has increased to Practiced 29 Your CLEANSE has increased to Practiced 51 Your RESTORE has increased to Master 85 Your REMOTE CASTING has increased to Initiate 18 Your ARMOR SKIN has increased to Adept 76 Your MANA DRAIN has increased to Initiate 21 Your CLAIRVOYANCE has increased to Practiced 7 Your DUNGEON MONSTER CREATION has increased to Novice 12 *** Duke took in all the gains with a smile. He allocated his new Characteristic points right to his Psyche and immediately felt a slight lessening of the pressure on his mind. With my Psyche enhancement from the Dungeon Title, I¡¯m over 41,000 in Psyche. And that¡¯s still not enough to fully contain what UMBRAL REAPER has brought home with it. That¡¯s something I¡¯m going to have to figure out. But I have other things to worry about right now. He left his room and headed down to the mech bay to check in on things there. All the mech bays were filled and the various Clan pilots were checking over their mechs after the space battle. Gro¡¯nok noticed Duke right away and headed over to him. ¡°So, fighting in space without a spacesuit. How did you manage that?¡± Duke eyed him with a wry grin, ¡°I¡¯m tougher than I look. And it¡¯s just a cold vacuum. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s all that hard to deal with.¡± Several sets of eyes turned Duke¡¯s way and he smiled in response. With a glance around, he addressed the entire mech bay, ¡°You all charged through space to take on a trio of heavy cruisers in mechs. That takes balls of steel, and maybe a head as dense.¡± The laughter and affirmative comments that followed into a call and refrain. ¡°Who¡¯s the toughest on the field? Steel Tusks! Who strikes fear into the hearts of our enemies? Steel Tusks! Who are we? Steel Tusks!¡± They devolved into grunting and cheering with aggressive backslaps. ¡°Don¡¯tcha start brawling, Tusks. There¡¯s plenty more we have to do!¡± Gro¡¯nok seemed to catch them just in time as a pair had squared off to fight. Instead, they just smiled at each other and clasped forearms. ¡°Need any repairs?¡± Duke casually asked. ¡°A few of us got banged up a bit but we¡¯re still operational.¡± ¡°So, you don¡¯t want me to-¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say that. Work your magic.¡± Duke chuckled and activated a RESTORE to cover the whole ship. As the mechs rapidly repaired themselves, the crews gaped in wonder. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°That, my Tusks, is Duke. He¡¯s the reason most of you even have mechs to pilot and a ship to transport them in.¡± New looks of appreciation spread through the mech bay, and more than one female orc gave him a appraising glance from head to toe. ¡°Should I be concerned about that?¡± Duke quietly asked Gro¡¯nok. ¡°Only if you and Aurelia aren¡¯t really broken up. Otherwise just ride the wave. And if they ever find out you heal so quickly, yeah. Ride that wave. Ain¡¯t nothing like an orc woman when it comes to passion.¡± Duke took his leave shortly after that, stopping off at the ship¡¯s engineering section to refill the Mana cores. He found that they were only down half of one core, so it was a matter of a minute to fill it up carefully. Soon he was back on the bridge. Mira picked up his entrance immediately. She smiled at him, ¡°So, you ready to get going?¡± ¡°Have you decided that you are coming along?¡± ¡°Of course. Even the Clan wants to come along.¡± ¡°You all know we¡¯re heading to another conflict with the Syndicate, right?¡± ¡°Yes, we all know it. But you handled the last one just fine. Maybe this time we can set up an ambush for them.¡± ¡°Ambush? What do you mean?¡± ¡°Lya has been reaching out to friends to see if they might be interested in a piece of the Syndicate. You¡¯d be surprised how many enemies they have made.¡± ¡°Or friends who are only going along until they can betray us for the paycheck.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case. She said she was careful.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s take this aside for a minute,¡± Duke directed her to the conference room off the bridge and she followed. Once there, he closed the door and continued. ¡°It¡¯s very simple. There¡¯s very few I trust in this world. You are one of them, Aurelia is another, and probably Gro¡¯nok. Lya is not on the list for sure. Anyone she brings in is sure as fuck not on the trust list. I¡¯m heading to a confrontation with the Syndicate where they are bringing something called the hounds with them. There are a lot of people counting on me to keep them safe on Teldin but they are not ready for this level of combat. They don¡¯t know what a mech is. They haven¡¯t seen a drop ship. Why do you think I put the ¡®come and get me¡¯ sign in the middle of a fucking desert? I don¡¯t need even more variables brought into this fight.¡± Mira stared at him as he paced around the conference table. Finally, she gathered her thoughts enough to respond, ¡°Would it be better for you if we all stayed away?¡± Duke stopped his pacing, ¡°Is that what you got out of all that? No, I really would like for you to be there but there¡¯s no way that this ship is taking on a capitol ship. You¡¯ve said it before and you¡¯re still right. I just don¡¯t want people that I have no clue who they are showing up to lend us a hand before they stab us in the back. Not now. Not on Teldin.¡± ¡°You seem to care an awful lot about that planet.¡± ¡°I have a kingdom on that planet and a number of important people, places, and things there that I will protect. Even if it costs me greatly.¡± ¡°And what the hell is that supposed to mean?¡± Duke shook her off, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. It¡¯s a ¡®me¡¯ problem. Nothing anyone else has to worry about. But do you understand why I¡¯m putting the stop to any more external players than we already have?¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll talk to her. How long are you going to need to get ready for the trip there?¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready when you are. I have waypoints already selected. It¡¯s a bit more conservative route than it could have been but I want to hit each of the waypoints with Mana in the tank.¡± ¡°OK, then,¡± Mira opened the door to the conference room and strode out onto the bridge in full ¡°captain¡± form. She sat in the captain¡¯s chair and pulled up the shipwide intercom. ¡°Attention everyone. We are about to depart for Teldin. When we arrive, we expect to rapidly engage in combat with the Syndicate. Mechs be ready to deploy. Infantry, likewise. I know you have been keeping a low profile and staying in your own circle but now is the time to step out and support each other. We are expecting a fleet similar to what we encountered at Capnok so this ship will be making its way right to the planet¡¯s surface. Duke has volunteered to engage the capitol ships like he did last time. Whatever final preparations you need to make, need to be made now.¡± Duke stepped out onto the bridge and took his place at the navigational console. It took him a matter of seconds to bring up his previously created flight plan and double-check it. He saw that he could easily modify it and reduce the number of jumps but that would only speed up the journey by a matter of minutes. He dismissed the revisions and decided to stick to the original plan. He looked over to Mira who gave him a nod. Duke TELEPORTED the ship to the first waypoint. The scanners swept the area around the ship in an ever-expanding arc. As Duke had expected, the scanners didn¡¯t pick anything up. He waited for his Mana to refill and checked his next location. The silence on the bridge permeated everything to the point that the act of tapping on the display for the next destination carried to everyone¡¯s ears. Duke didn¡¯t wait for confirmation before TELEPORTING them to the second waypoint. In short order, the waypoints fell away without incident, and they were on the verge of the final jump. Duke looked over to Mira, ¡°Make the announcement. We may be going in hot, but I¡¯m going to place the ship on the planet¡¯s surface. That way you can deploy the mechs quickly if needed and it will give us a minute or two to assess the situation before we engage any further. Sound like a plan? This is a short jump for me so I¡¯ll have about half my Mana left over ¨C just in case.¡± ¡°If it means we aren¡¯t going to jump into a pitched battle with a bunch of capitol ships, I¡¯m fully on-board with that.¡± She took a moment to clear her head before continuing over the ship wide intercom, ¡°Attention everyone. We are about to make the final jump to Teldin. Prepare for possible rapid deployment of mechs and infantry.¡± Duke gave them all a minute or two to get ready before calling down on his own comms to Gro¡¯nok, ¡°Are you ready in the mech bay?¡± ¡°Ready as we¡¯ll ever be. Please don¡¯t dump us too deep in it if you can help it.¡± ¡°No promises. I have no idea what we are going to see when we get there. Strap in, and get ready to fight!¡± Duke paused a bit longer and, with a nod to Mira, TELEPORTED them outside of the Lake Front Inn. Book 3, Chapter 48 The ship arrived in what had once been a military mustering field but now stood empty. Everyone sat still around the bridge, waiting for word from Mira on what the ship¡¯s sensors were picking up. The silence and tension grew as she scanned the system and beyond. Finally, after three agonizing minutes, she spoke, ¡°System is clear of the Syndicate fleet but there are dozens of mercenary and hunter vessels in orbit. And there is definitely a war going on the surface.¡± Duke stepped up to the captain¡¯s chair, ¡°Show me the war?¡± Mira glanced over at him and nodded before bringing up the visual of the battle. What he saw was not anything like what he expected. The land of and around the battlefield was devastated with shattered trees, smoking holes in the ground, and even some pools of bubbling and steaming green substance. What was most striking was the forces set against each other. On one side, there was a mix of mercenary forces in what looked like a hodge-podge of mismatched pieces of powered armor with the occasional substandard mech thrown in. On the other side was a cohesive group of soldiers wearing matching breastplates and helms with greaves. They mostly carried large shields and swords but there were a number that wielded bows, firing arrows over the heads of their allies. There also was a group of mages maintaining some sort of shielding construct that was protecting their soldiers from the heaviest of blows from the opposing force. The front line pushed and strained at the mercenary forces and was holding its ground for now despite being heavily outnumbered. As they watched, a drop ship descended behind the mercenaries, more mechs marching down the ramps before they were even completely lowered. ¡°The First Legion! You have to get me there!¡± Aurelia had been largely absent as of late but had come out for their arrival on Teldin. Her voice was loud and strong as her COMMAND VOICE filled the bridge. Mira had launched the ship before her conscious mind acknowledged what Aurelia had said. The trip to the battlefield took less than a minute but, in that time, Aurelia had taken over the intercom. ¡°Steel Tusks, we are landing in the middle of a battlefield. Take out the mechs and mercenaries and don¡¯t you dare hurt my Legion!¡± There was no time for a response as she charged down to the mech bay fully intending to lead the mechs out the door. Aurelia jumped from the landing above the mech bay, flipping twice in the air before landing with her warhorse beneath her which promptly reared and kicked its hooves at the air. The echoing of the horse¡¯s hooves was drowned out by the sound of the ship landing and the ramps lowering. She charged ahead of the mechs releasing from their in-flight restraints and took position before the lowering ramp. Behind her, the floor shook as mech after mech formed up behind her. The ramp lowered quickly, but not quick enough for Aurelia. She spurred her warhorse on, and they launched up the descending ramp in a flash, arcing into the air as the ramp hit its halfway point and landing before the shield wall that had thinned to cover the new arrivals at the rear of the Legion¡¯s formation. ¡°First Legion! Reinforcements have arrived!¡± Aurelia announced as she activated her INSPIRATION and cast her Commander¡¯s Might. The entire Legion seemed to take a breath before strength flowed through their limbs as their spirits were bolstered by her very presence. When the mechs charged down the ramp behind her, flowing to either side of her and the nearly encircled Legion the Legionnaires all cheered and pushed back harder, taking offensive action for the first time since they had to turtle up. The reaction from the mercenaries was altogether different. At first, they wondered what new mercenary company had joined the fight and whether it would cut into their own paychecks. When the new mech force bypassed the trapped locals and charged into their ranks, weapons blazing, everything changed. The past year had been a tough one for the Steel Tusks. Their contracts had dried up with their lack of transportation. In the past, they had dozens of ships they had contracted with to get their mechs to their contracts. One by one they had either been absorbed by the Syndicate or mysteriously disappeared. Then the Syndicate stopped playing ¨C the came for the Clan outright. Dozens of Clan members and had been killed with their mechs in targeted hits. False contracts, double-crossed by shady transports, the list was long and inglorious. Now, they had the chance to vent their anger on mercs hired by the Syndicate to suppress these locals. They did not hold back. Seeing the number of mechs entering the battlefield, the mercenaries rapidly grew concerned. When the titan mech took the field, they couldn¡¯t call for extraction fast enough. Their ranks collapsed towards the extraction point as they exchanged panicked fire with the charging mechs. The Syndicate drop ship came down on a pillar of fire, burning hot to stop its rapid descent before slamming into the ground. Its weapons fired in a suppressive arc towards the approaching enemy mechs taking a toll. Then the drop ship itself rocked sideways as fire from the Iron Reaver tore into it. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Panic flowed across the Syndicate ship. ¡°Captain, our shields are straining under this fire. What the hell is that ship equipped with?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know but turn every weapon on it. This is a hot extraction. We have trained for this a thousand times!¡± The captain¡¯s voice was calm but stern. He knew his ship was capable of fighting off any simple civilian drop ship. He would pick up his charges and deliver them away from the battlefield. They never saw the blow that shattered their already struggling shields but the follow-up blow as Duke flew in on a wave of FORCE that punched a hole through their main landing ramp certainly got their attention. Structural integrity warnings blared to life as the pilot struggled with the controls to right the ship. ¡°Security to the mech bay!¡± The captain¡¯s order sounded out clearly and set bodies to motion. Security guards raced down to the mech bay to find the entire bay engulfed in flames with a single figure floating in the middle of the conflagration. ¡°Bad choice signing up with the Syndicate, boys!¡± The figure¡¯s voice reverberated around the bay before the flames expanded, racing to engulf them. ¡°You would think that a ship based on fire Mana would be a bit more fire resistant. Oh well, not my problem.¡± Duke emerged from the flames and RESTORED his clothing that had been largely burnt away. He didn¡¯t know what he had caught on fire, but it was blazing hot in the ship. He decided it was time to leave and TELEPORTED into the sky over the battlefield. His first sight was of Aurelia¡¯s mounted charge into the collapsing mercenary line with her sword drawn and shield held at the ready. Her FLASH CHARGE struck the mercenaries with enough force to send heavily armored bodies flying. She was halfway through their ranks before her charge faltered. The remaining mercenaries pounced on her, slicing with blades, shooting with pistols and rifles and attacking with damaging Abilities. Her armor was strong, her shield even stronger, and her sword nearly unstoppable. But there were limits. Under the weight of the mercenaries, she was quickly overwhelmed and pulled from her horse. The screaming wave of Legionnaires that followed, however, was more than the mercenaries were prepared to handle as they moved virtually as a single unit, flowing over the field and striking down anyone near their General. She was helped to her feet and immediately tended to by a pair of healers. As she was picked up and tended to, the drop ship crashed to the ground, tilted at a forty-degree angle. It teetered for a full second before falling over sideways, it¡¯s landing gear failing. The remaining mercenaries broke and ran. They did not get far. The Legion¡¯s casters, now free from maintaining defensive wards, opened up with their full-power magical artillery spells. The area was quickly devastated with not a single mercenary walking away from the fight. There was one that managed to struggle through all the rain of spells only to crest a hill and be picked off by the titan mech¡¯s cannon. He disappeared in a cloud of red mist. While the Legion¡¯s commander filled in their General on recent events and the status of the Legions, Duke surveyed the area from above. He could see that the area for kilometers around was a wasteland. Shaking his head, he focused his Mana and activated a massive RESTORE, pouring more than a five million Mana into it. The wave of Magic expanded outwards from him and quickly covered the Legion, the Steel Tusks, and continued to expand across the battlefield. As the wave passed, equipment was repaired, mechs rebuilt, and the landscape reformed and rebuilt. The CLEANSE that followed ensured all signs of the battle were washed clean save for the dead bodies still littering the area. What Duke had not considered was the Syndicate drop ship being repaired. It came to his attention rather quickly as the ship attempted to launch itself from its sideways position. It had actually made it nearly vertical before Duke acted. He used his SENSE MAGIC to locate the ship¡¯s Mana cores and simply TELEPORTED them to the ground in below him. The ship crashed back to the ground but at least it was upright this time. ¡°There¡¯s still some crew on board that ship. I suggest someone go make sure they have the chance to surrender or just kill them. I don¡¯t really care. I doubt they have anything useful to say.¡± ¡°Duke, there¡¯s more to the story than this battle,¡± Aurelia¡¯s voice had returned to the confident leader Duke had grown so used to hearing. ¡°There have been skirmishes all over the borders with groups like these. None quite as formidable as this particular group but it seems more arrive every day. The Legions are holding, but our losses are mounting. We are being squeezed and we really have had no true allies to call on.¡± ¡°I understand. We have the Steel Tusks to call on right now and with the Iron Reaver, they are a mobile force that can react to any incursions that may occur. Whatever they send at us, we will handle. The Legion has you back in charge and the kingdom has me back for now. Let¡¯s leverage that to rid our lands of any intruders.¡± ¡°As you say, my King,¡± She saluted him and returned to her troops, leaving Duke alone with his thoughts. So that¡¯s how it¡¯s going to be from now on? All business. Nothing else. Can¡¯t say I¡¯m happy about that but her choice is her choice. I¡¯ll respect it. Now to spend a moment with this notification that is flashing like crazy. ***Congratulations! For restoring a battlefield wasteland to its natural state, you have received Gaiathia¡¯s blessing. For the next 48 hours, your Health and Mana will regenerate at an accelerated rate, any food or drink you consume will taste wonderfully, and you will be looked upon favorably by all of nature. *** Fucking gods again! I haven¡¯t even been here for an hour, and they are already meddling. I need to get to Sam and see how things are there and in Havenreach. And also get back to Cloudspire and get a full rundown on everything happening in the kingdom. First a chat with Mira and Gro¡¯nok. And where the hell is the Syndicate fleet? I expected it to be here when we arrived. Book 3, Chapter 49 Duke¡¯s conversation with Mira and Gro''nok went rather quickly with both quite happy to stick around and deal with the Syndicate mercenaries as they popped up. Gro¡¯nok seemed especially eager to fight, as did the rest of the Clan¡¯s mech pilots. That led to another conversation ¨C what to do about the mercenaries¡¯ mechs that Duke had repaired. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the mechs. I¡¯ll put them in storage against us gaining more mech pilots. It¡¯s a skill like any other. Why don¡¯t you just train more pilots in the Clan?¡± ¡°The tradition speaks against it. It is an honor to pilot a mech, something that is earned, not given. To do otherwise would take away its significance in our culture.¡± ¡°Then push more people to earn it. We have more mechs than pilots and I can¡¯t imagine that is a normal situation nor is the entire Clan having to flee an enemy a normal situation. Tradition might not hold for this period in the Clan¡¯s history. Think about it.¡± ¡°I will think on it and discuss it with the Clan elders. For now,¡± He raised his voice. ¡°Steel Tusks! Mount up and get back on the ship. There¡¯s more fighting to do elsewhere!¡± After salutes and handshakes were exchanged, Duke had a brief conversation with the Legion Commander and Aurelia about his short-term plans. The First Legion was going to march back to Cloudspire and use the Portal network to get back to the LFD for resupply and a bit of rest. ¡°Or, I could just open a Portal for you to get there directly right now,¡± Duke suggested. ¡°That would speed things up for sure. Thank you, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Of course. Let me know when you are ready, and I¡¯ll set up the Portal.¡± It took no more than ten minutes for the entire Legion to be ready to move out and it took far less than that to set up the Portal. Twenty minutes later, Duke was left alone with the remains of the mercenaries and their mechs as Mira had flown out to look for another hot spot. He proceeded to load up the mechs into his INVENTORY before taking the equipment from the mercenaries and leaving their bodies to rot. I¡¯ve got enough bodies in my INVENTORY, time to just grab the equipment. With that thought, he stepped through the Portal and closed it behind himself. Stepping into the Lake Front Inn was refreshing. The air itself just felt fresher and full of positive energy. The Inn setting had not changed much since he had last been here but there were now some trophies mounted on the walls. They were diverse from the heads of horrible beasts that Duke assumed had been dungeon bosses to artifacts taken from mercenaries and hunters the Legion had defeated. He liked the additions. It didn¡¯t take long for both Calen and Sam to find him as he walked towards the bar. Calen poured him a glass of whiskey and placed it on the bar with a smile, ¡°Good to see you again, Duke. You¡¯ll have to tell me al about your travels, but it looks like Sam is, um, waiting for you.¡± Duke looked up from the drink to see Sam practically bouncing from foot to foot in his eagerness to speak with Duke. With an upnod, Duke acknowledged Sam who burst into an explosion of words. ¡°Duke, thank the Overmind you are back! Do you have any idea how busy I have been? With the Legions, yes LEGIONS, plural. And with Havenreach! The things I have had to do there. Just too much. And then the loss of a family member? Did you know that we lost someone? Of course you did. Why aren¡¯t you talking?¡± Duke calmly put his glass down and looked at Sam, ¡°Hi Sam. You look good. How have you been?¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard anything I just said!¡± ¡°Every word, but that¡¯s not how we should start off, is it?¡± Sam lowered his head, ¡°No, it¡¯s not. Sorry. I just got so excited to finally have someone who would understand what I have been going through.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you pull up a stool and tell me the most important things first? We can get into the rest of it later. Sound good?¡± ¡°Yes, Duke. Thank you.¡± He pulled up a stool and Calen placed a glass filled with a glowing blue substance in front of him. Sam acknowledged the drink with a smile. He took a long drink before beginning. ¡°OK, the most important thing. When you left, the entire economy of the Kingdom nearly collapsed.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to want some more details about that for sure.¡± ¡°It¡¯s your aura, Duke. When you left, it went away and all productivity dropped, but especially in Havenreach. From their perspective, you have been gone for two and a half years. I had to push the loot generation for their dungeon way up just to keep them from falling apart. It required so much of a Mana investment that my own growth came to a standstill. Go speak with the mayor but they had to really mess with the tax rates. Now that you¡¯re back and your Aura is back in place at-¡± Sam stopped, absolutely stunned. He shook his head free of the thought and continued, ¡°nearly twenty-five THOUSAND percent, I can tone things back down. That¡¯s been a heavy strain on my Mana to maintain that.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Thank you for taking care of Havenreach for me. How are you holding up on Mana?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m just fine now. With that strain relieved, I am gaining Mana at quite the rate again, especially with you in here. The six Legions that keep rotating back here to train are keeping me nearly full-up now so I can go back to growing.¡± ¡°Did you say six Legions?¡± ¡°Yes, Duke. Six Legions. And I heard rumors that they were looking to form two more once they had enough recruits.¡± ¡°Where are all these recruits coming from?¡± ¡°From their conversations, all over. They apparently heard that things are good in the kingdom and have brought their families with them.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s some good news. With the Syndicate coming to cause more trouble, we¡¯re going to need a lot of troops. How are you coming with the planetary defenses?¡± ¡°The what?¡± ¡°The planetary defenses. You know, to defend the plant from threats from space.¡± ¡°I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, Duke.¡± ¡°Of course you don¡¯t. But we need something in place.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but that is far outside my experience by a lot. I¡¯ll stick to training the Legions.¡± ¡°Great idea. You do that. Anything else?¡± ¡°Lots of other things but the more important thing is that I want to introduce you to my Core Team.¡± ¡°Your what?¡± Sam got up from the barstool and gestured for Duke to follow him. ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± Duke followed Sam from the Inn and back through the ¡°closed¡± passages that led to Sam¡¯s core. When they entered the core chamber, Duke was greeted with a most unexpected sight. A half-dozen nearly formless, bipedal creatures stood around the core pedestal. They all turned towards Duke and he could see the faceless heads transform into human features. Their outer skin formed into clothing similar enough to Duke¡¯s that they would fit in wherever they went. ¡°Duke, this is my Core Team. They have been tasked with planting my cores out in the world,¡± Duke paused, his mind grinding to a halt. ¡°What cores? And how many?¡± Sam shook his head at Duke. ¡°Did you think that just because you weren¡¯t here that my budding process would just stop? Nonsense. I bud a new core every week like clockwork. But since you were not here to go plant them, I created these fine specimens to do so. They are truly wonderful creations if I do say so myself. They are infinitely adaptable to blend into any group they find and have the mental prowess to make those they encounter forget about them entirely.¡± Duke gaped at Sam before the dungeon¡¯s avatar continued, ¡°They have planted seven new dungeons out in the wild. They are all roadside inns that you should visit sometime.¡± ¡°And they can make people forget about them?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s perfect. They can go out, plant a dungeon, and return with none the wiser about it. It really works out. In fact, turn around, Duke. You¡¯ll see how well their Ability works when all six of them use it at once.¡± Humoring Sam while his mind tried to grasp what Sam was telling him, he turned around. If Sam plants a new dungeon every week, how long until those dungeons are strong enough to put out their own seeds? Could this be why the dungeons were ultimately hunted down? But these are roadside inns ¨C they¡¯re helpful. Will it be different because of that? As he pondered these things, he felt the faintest pressure on his mind. He turned around, ¡°Was that it?¡± Sam and all six members of the Core Team stared at Duke incredulously. ¡°That¡¯s not how that¡¯s supposed to work.¡± ¡°Were you really trying to use a dungeon-based mental Ability on me? On ME? You really thought that was going to work, didn¡¯t you?¡± Sam looked crestfallen, ¡°Well, yes. It¡¯s worked on everybody else.¡± Duke laughed for longer than he had anticipated. Finally, getting himself under control, he responded, ¡°My Psyche is effectively over forty thousand and I have specific Mental Abilities to stop just that sort of thing beyond any protection being a Dungeon Emperor provides. There¡¯s no way you were getting through all that.¡± Sam¡¯s expression brightened slightly, ¡°That makes you the exception then.¡± ¡°Yes, it does. And this is an interesting development. Should I expect other dungeons to be doing the same thing?¡± ¡°Only if they have the Mana intake that I do and, frankly, I don¡¯t see how they could. I¡¯m special and unique.¡± ¡°Yes, you are very special. Kindly show me where these dungeons have been planted.¡± It didn¡¯t take long for the dungeons to be located on a map. They were all on lonely stretches of road in areas that Duke had to admit that he would have planted them himself. Putting his concerns aside he praised the team, ¡°You have done a good job at picking your locations. These inns will serve well and hopefully grow as Sam has. Well, maybe not to this extent, but I think you get my gist.¡± ¡°Thank you, Dungeon Emperor. Your words of praise are received and leave us fulfilled.¡± The response was in unison with voices so congruent, there was no harmony at all, just a single voice coming from six different bodies. ¡°Yeah, use that forgetful Ability whenever you go out. Nobody talks like that.¡± Duke turned to leave but paused, ¡°Was there anything else, Sam?¡± ¡°Nothing important. Just don¡¯t be too much of a stranger.¡± ¡°No promises. There are some big things coming up real soon. I have no idea when I¡¯ll be able to come back here. Hopefully frequently. But for now, I¡¯m off to visit Havenreach. I have a few people to speak with there and then on to Cloudspire.¡± ¡°Goodbye Duke. I have to go add another level to the training dungeon. These Legionnaires are starting to push over Tier four. Can you believe it?¡± ¡°More good news. I assume that¡¯s only the First Legion?¡± ¡°Yes, the others are all Tier one and two with a few threes scattered in there. They are leveling quickly though. I bet I can get our first Tier five Legionnaire within the next six months to a year.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fantastic! Keep it up. I¡¯ll catch up to you later.¡± Duke TELEPORTED to the entrance for Havenreach, ready for his next set of tasks. Book 3, Chapter 50 Duke stepped out of the Portal and into the entrance building or, as he had come to think of it, the killbox. He was greeted by a pair of guards with proper salutes and a hearty, ¡°Welcome back to Havenreach, Your Majesty!¡± Duke smiled at them, returning their salute, ¡°As you were. It¡¯s good to be back here after all this time. Anything I should know about?¡± ¡°You should speak to the Guard Captain or the Mayor. They will know more about what has been going on since you have been gone than I could tell you, Your Majesty.¡± Duke nodded in agreement, ¡°Sounds like a plan. Keep your watch on this place, vigilant as always.¡± ¡°Of course, your Majesty!¡± The pair of guards returned to their posts, symbolic they may be, they were good at their job. The real defense of the entrance was outside the entrance hall and Duke greeted the Captain of the Guard as he exited the building, ¡°Captain, have you already sent a runner on ahead?¡± ¡°Of course, You Majesty. Are you going to outrace the poor lad like you did last time?¡± ¡°Depends on whether we want to make this a thing or not.¡± ¡°That lad has been training for two and a half years every day before and after his shift. He means to beat you to the city.¡± ¡°Then it is already a thing then. What¡¯s his fastest time to the city?¡± ¡°Fourteen minutes and twelve seconds.¡± ¡°Guess we have about thirteen minutes before he gets there, right?¡± ¡°That should be about right, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Excellent. Gives me some time to chat. So, anything interesting from the past two and a half years that I should know?¡± ¡°Just the terrible productivity slowdown. It really frustrated everyone until we got used to it. The mayor called it ¡®the new normal¡¯ and told us all to get used it. At least he adjusted the taxes so that it wasn¡¯t as bad of an impact as it could have been but it¡¯s still bad out there.¡± They continued to talk about the guards, how they were training and how much harder it had been to gain levels lately. Even Skill levels were coming slowly. They were holding fast despite it all ¨C they had a city to protect even if it was a bit more tarnished than it had been. Duke noticed that the guards¡¯ uniforms were nowhere near as clean and well-maintained as he remembered. That puzzled him somewhat but he could at least fix that. After long enough had passed, Duke left the guards with a CLEANSE and a RESTORE and ran towards the city. His now 2,500 Agility score helped him to eat up the ground at speeds he could have only matched in his fighter back on Earth. Duke arrived one step ahead of the runner, chuckling at the flabbergasted youth wheezing to catch their breath. He turned to the youth, and gave him a warm smile, ¡°You almost beat me this time. That¡¯s damned impressive and deserves some sort of award.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡± wheeze ¡°not really¡± cough ¡°necessary¡± wheeze ¡°Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Necessary, perhaps not. But that¡¯s the great thing about being King, I get to decide if I want to award someone or not. And I have decided that your dedication deserves it.¡± Duke reached into his INVENTORY and pulled out a heavily-enchanted sword he had taken from one of the higher-level mercenaries. ¡°Here, take this. It¡¯s dangerous out there.¡± The guard gaped at the blade unsure of what to say. Duke just kept going into the city. Duke smiled to himself as he headed into the city. I have no idea what that sword does. I hope he doesn¡¯t hurt himself with it. He put the thought aside as he realized that he had an INVENTORY full of items he had never taken the time to identify as well as the bodies of who knew how many fallen enemies. Why am I carrying all those bodies again? Oh, right, for Baslin. Something about handing my court wizard dead bodies seems like a terribly bad idea. Well, I guess I haven¡¯t done that just yet but what else am I going to do with all these bodies? Feed them to monsters I create? Hmm¡­that might work out OK. Later. That¡¯s a problem for later. Duke finally made it to the city hall and was on his way to the mayor¡¯s office when just how dirty and run-down the city looked to him finally struck. He paused and ducked his head back out to look at the city and indeed it was dirty. The colors of all the buildings looked faded and worn with signs of neglect everywhere. He even saw some trash strewn in the street. Duke¡¯s mood soured and he did his best not to stomp his way to the mayor¡¯s office. He wasn¡¯t sure he managed it. When he arrived, he was quickly ushered in and saw the mayor slumped behind his desk. The man looked haggard. He was fit when Duke had last seen the man, but now, he looked like he had lost at least thirty pounds that he could ill-afford to lose. Mayor Shellenberger looked up at Duke, his eyes dull and not fully focusing. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Mayor, what the hell happened here? You look like a shell of yourself and the city looks like it has fallen into disrepair.¡± Slowly, the man looked up to Duke, recognition slowly crossing his features. He stood shakily leaning on his desk for support, ¡°Gone. Dried up. It¡¯s all gone. No more ore to be found. Have to dig deeper. Have to send the adventurers deeper, but they went too far. Too many died. And the contracts, the contracts have to be met. No time for farming, have to meet the contracts.¡± Duke let the man ramble on and realized what had happened with slowly dawning horror. This is my fault. The city was built on my Aura of Prosperity but when I left, they felt the effects most deeply with their temporal acceleration. Now, things are going to accelerate to a ridiculous level with my Psyche pushing it like this. I¡¯m going to have to find a solution for when I head out again. Duke activated a CLEANSE and RESTORE large enough to encompass the entire building before he spoke, ¡°Mayor Shellenberger. Look at me.¡± The mayor slowly looked up at Duke. ¡°Prosperity is back for now. Take all the excess in and store it. Build warehouses enough to hold raw materials and wealth to carry the entire city for ten years or longer. When those warehouses are full, build another set. The prosperity is not going to last forever, so prepare for the next drought.¡± ¡°Prosperity? Back? Is it true?¡± The mayor stumbled around his desk and nearly fell on Duke, gripping his lapels to keep himself upright. ¡°Yes, mayor, it¡¯s true. And when was the last time you had something to eat?¡± ¡°No time. Have to meet the contracts. Can¡¯t fail.¡± Duke helped the man back to his chair and sat him down. Shaking his head, he pulled food and drink out of his INVENTORY and put it on the desk in front of the man. ¡°Go ahead and eat. The crisis is over for now but remember what I said about the warehouses. Make more than you think you could ever fill because you¡¯re going to need them.¡± When Duke exited the building, he saw that his Abilities had brought the building back to life, at least in appearance. It stood in stark contrast to the rest of the city. I can¡¯t leave it like this. No way. Duke spread his CLEANSE and RESTORE Abilities across the entire city, burning through virtually all his Mana to do so. Suddenly, he felt dizzy and had to lean against a pillar. He flipped to his stat sheet to see what was going on and figured it out quickly. His Mana was refilling very slowly, roughly thirty-two thousand a second as opposed to the more than eight hundred thousand a second he was accustomed to. The time dilation affects my Mana regen? I never noticed it before. Odd. Guess I¡¯m not sticking around here for long. Really, my main task here is done. Only one more visit to make before I head back out anyway. Duke found himself being shown into Chal''barnah¡¯s office within the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. The otherworldly creature that was Chal''barnah smiled with her far too long and sharp teeth. She gestured to a chair opposite her, ¡°You one told me to forego the formality when we were alone. I do hope that you meant that long-term. It has been quite a while since I have seen you here in this once fair city.¡± ¡°I would say that it is fair once again and things will turn for the better any day now.¡± ¡°You bring me optimism, but I have laid to rest too many of my adventurers to put such frivolous thoughts to mind. We have lost more than have come to settle here and it has left me somewhat pessimistic since we have had to delve so deeply just to make the bare minimum of the city¡¯s needs.¡± ¡°Yes, I know. I have just come from the mayor¡¯s office.¡± ¡°Oh, that poor man. He will work himself and all of us to death before he misses one of those precious contracts. Damn them!¡± ¡°When are your next adventurers due to come out of the dungeon?¡± ¡°In just a few minutes. It could be longer as they may have had to look longer to find any decent loot.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go meet them as they come out. I want to see what it looks like.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the King,¡± She rose to her feet and prepared for the journey out to the dungeon. ¡°Allow me,¡± Duke smiled as he TELEPORTED both of them to the dungeon entrance near the ¡°taxation¡± arch. The guards on duty nearly leapt out of their uniforms when the pair appeared a meter away from them. Chal''barnah took a step steadying herself. ¡°That¡¯s quite the trick.¡± ¡°I¡¯m quite fond of it,¡± Duke agreed. ¡°Let¡¯s wait a few and see what the team comes out with, shall we?¡± ¡°Not much choice unless we want to go in after them,¡± She responded with eagerness. Duke laughed, ¡°Haven¡¯t been in the dungeon in a while, have you?¡± ¡°Not since it got stingy. Oh, looks like they are coming out.¡± She was proven right as a group of five adventurers came out of the dungeon entrance grinning from ear to ear. Chal''barnah leaned over to Duke, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen a team this happy in years.¡± They came out cheering and celebrating. Once they saw Chal''barnah standing there, they sobered up quickly as they passed through the arch and came to stand before the Guildmaster. She looked them up and down, ¡°Have anything to report?¡± ¡°Yes, Guildmaster. We¡¯re all full up on loot. There was nothing to speak of for most of the delve but we decided to hit one more monster before we left, and it just spewed out loot when we killed it. It was like a full run from the oldentimes. And get this. It was on the first floor!¡± Chal''barnah looked back at Duke who kept his expression neutral, ¡°You knew this was going to happen, didn¡¯t you.¡± ¡°Why else would I have brought us here. Expect the runs to be very profitable for a while. But don¡¯t expect it to last. Save up your wealth. Help the city stockpile everything it will need from the dungeon for the next ten years. Yes, I said ten years. Fat times are upon you for maybe the next year or three, but the lean times will come back so take this time to prepare for them.¡± ¡°As you say, Your Majesty,¡± Chal''barnah responded while looking longingly at the dungeon. Finally, she couldn¡¯t hold back any longer, ¡°Who is coming with me? I¡¯m going in.¡± Five hands immediately went up. Duke even caught the guard start to raise his hand before remembering he had a job to do and putting it back down. ¡°It seems my work here is done for now,¡± Duke chuckled. ¡°Enjoy your run but heed what I said. Lean times will come again. Be prepared.¡± With that, he TELEPORTED back to the castle and to his throne. He had other kingdom business to attend to. Book 3, Chapter 51 Duke appeared on his throne, suddenly discovering that he was not alone. There was a smaller version of his throne in front of him and to his right. This small throne was occupied. Duke couldn¡¯t be sure who was sitting in the chair, but the long line of petitioners gave him a hint. He said nothing and just observed for now as a petitioner came forward. Duke settled in to listen and observe. The weathered man bowed deeply and spoke with a quiet confidence, ¡°Your Majesty-¡± The figure in the small throne interrupted him, ¡°I¡¯m only a Duke. Your Grace is the proper honorific but we do not need to stand on ceremony or form here. What is your grievance, your request, good sir?¡± The man hesitated before speaking, ¡°But the King is here.¡± He glanced up at Duke and bent into a bow. It was a surprisingly formal bow and not what Duke would have expected. Where would a man like this learn such formality? Damn, I almost called him a peasant in my mind. Not starting this off on the right foot at all. Two things happened in rapid succession. Duke Madrigal spun around, standing from the little throne stepping to the center and while Duke spoke to the petitioner, ¡°Hello there, my good man. What is your name and what brings you before me on this day?¡± There, that sounds downright kingly, at least, I think so. Feels like so long since I¡¯ve done anything like this. Oh shit, he¡¯s talking. Guess I¡¯m still not cut out for this. Madrigal interrupted, ¡°When? What? How long have you been here, Your Majesty? Are you well? So much has happened in your absence. We need to discuss it all.¡± Duke nodded to Madrigal and gave him a ¡°hold a minute¡± gesture with his hand. His focus returned to the man and he gestured that the man continue. The man spoke, ¡°I am Roger Shrubber, and my family maintains a farm several days north from this city. A bit more than a week ago one of the terrifying sailing ships that race through the sky landed on our lands. They have been stealing our cows ever since. They have strange magic to defend themselves with and we are just simple farmers. They killed Arkus when he tried to stop them ¨C just killed him dead without even moving from where they stood. We have no way to deal with this. Will you aid us?¡± Duke hopped off his throne and pulled his map out of INVENTORY. He spread it out on the floor next to the farmer, ¡°Show me where your farm is on the map.¡± He took a quick look around the room and activated a CLEANSE and RESTORE across the whole crowd to delighted remarks and murmurs. He returned his attention to Roger as Madrigal joined him, kneeling to look at the map. The farmer looked back and forth from the map to Duke a few times before Duke realized the man had no idea how to read a map. He then proceeded to point landmarks out on the map and, after a few minutes, the farmer was able to show him where his farm was located. Duke folded the map back up and put it back in his INVENTORY. Madrigal didn¡¯t say anything but Duke could read the significant strain and worry projecting from his features. ¡°Madrigal, you have the rest of these petitioners? Good. We¡¯ll talk when I get back. I have to go remind these uninvited guests that they are not welcome.¡± Without waiting for a response, Duke TELEPORTED himself and Roger to the farm. He held Roger¡¯s arm to steady the man after what Duke expected was the man¡¯s first teleport. The farmer nearly lost his footing and was essentially dangling from Duke¡¯s grasp before he got his feet under himself and shook his head clear. ¡°Are we in the right place?¡± After a few more seconds spent reorienting himself, Roger pointed towards a hill that he indicated was the area where the ship had landed. Duke smiled, ¡°Thank you Roger. I¡¯ll take it from here. It is unlikely that I can get your cows back, but I am sure I can make them regret coming here. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I¡¯ll find some way to compensate the farm for its losses.¡± Duke didn¡¯t wait for a response before jogging over the hill Roger had indicated. On the way, he used his LASTING DISGUISE Ability to make himself look like a farmer. When he crested the hill, he was greeted by the sight of a horizontally triangular metallic ship sitting in the flat beyond, resting on its three, three-legged landing supports. The points of the triangle were rounded and the ship bulged as it approached the center of each side while still keeping a smooth, straight line. He shrugged and casually walked up to the ship. There was one door open and a ramp led down to the ground. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. As he approached, a three-headed creature stepped out of the door. It was not tall, likely only coming up to Duke¡¯s waist and none of its three legs seemed to have any joints. It was completely hairless and moved by pivoting on one stubby leg and swinging the other two around. Each head sat upon a neck that was longer than a human¡¯s and sat above each leg. It turned one of its heads towards Duke, blinking its trio of eyes on that head in succession. When it spoke, all three mouths were involved, creating an odd harmony that Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA translated oddly. ¡°Do not approach, native backwards biped. You will be killed harmed mutilated.¡± The other door that Duke could see began to open and lower a ramp. From the sound Duke could hear from the backside of the craft, a third door was opening as well. Duke did not appreciate the greeting so gave a response of his own, ¡°You were neither invited nor wanted here. Leave now and never return or face the consequences.¡± Duke knew the words he intended to say but they came out in a series of triple-word phrases. Oh, even their language is fucking annoying. Fuck these guys. Before he could take further action himself, the creature acted. Duke was assaulted by three attacks simultaneously ¨C one from each head. All were directed at his own head and were beams of some sort of magical energy. The first was a mental attack attempting to invade his mind and do¡­something. Duke did not know what as his mental defenses were far too strong to allow it to even come close to touching his mind. The second was a beam of what Duke could only describe as despair. It attempted to push his emotional state into despondency and inaction. This one failed similarly to the first, slamming into the same immutable defense. The third beam was a beam of force which seemed to be trying to physically punch through Duke¡¯s head like a drill. This one, he felt trying to burrow through his ARMOR SKIN and, if given enough time, it might have penetrated. Duke, however, wasn¡¯t going to just stand there and take it. While focusing on its attacks, the creature remained standing still. This made Duke¡¯s aiming and attack simple and the creature was engulfed in SOULFIRE. The creature¡¯s attacks immediately cut off as it began to write in pain and scream in horrific harmony. After three full seconds of burning in SOULFIRE, the creature died, collapsing and sliding off the ramp. While it writhed, Duke finally had a moment to activate IDENTIFY. *** You have encountered a Tier Three Triskelion. This creature is a prime example of the rule of three that permeates the Cosmos. Triskelions will always be encountered in multiples of three as they will never choose to operate on their own. Beware of their trinary attacks. *** Duke smiled. Yeah, trinary attacks. I can see how those attacks could be nasty for someone not ready for them. But mental attacks? Yeah, not something I worry too much about at this point. The drilling beam was interesting though. It didn¡¯t get through my ARMOR SKIN but it seemed wickedly accurate. Duke¡¯s thoughts were interrupted as more and more of the triskelions came pouring out of the ship with their oddly spinning gait. Duke¡¯s brain quickly counted all 28 of them. Interesting. Three cubed counting the one I already killed. Now that¡¯s sticking to a theme for sure. Wonder if they will want to talk? Probably not. Better prepare yourself. The 26 creatures had arrayed themselves into triads and all turned each of their three heads towards Duke. When each and every eye on each and every head started to glow, he acted. Summoning his SOULFIRE, he blanketed the area. He covered all the triskelions, the ship, and a fair area around them all. But he was not fast enough. From each eye of each head came a separate beam, all aimed precisely at a pinpoint on his forehead. Oh fuck! Several things happened at once. Duke¡¯s mind was blasted with 78 separate mind attacks and as many emotional assaults. His mental defenses were strong enough to handle these and his mind shrugged them off as his SOULFIRE spread. He was also struck with 78 of the drilling beam attacks. The first thirty or so were handled by his ARMOR SKIN and were stopped. The rest managed to penetrate and combined to punch through his forehead, blasting through his brain, and finally out through the back of his skull. There was a moment of pain as the attacks penetrated his skin and shattered his skull but then there was nothing. For Duke, the world ceased. He did not fall into darkness like when he passed out or was knocked unconscious. Everything just ceased. There was nothing. No system messages, no sense of darkness that he couldn¡¯t see through. No sense of consciousness or being asleep. There just wasn¡¯t. Book 3, Chapter 52 There was nothing, and then there was everything. His eyes snapped open, and he vaulted to his feet, his mind still fully engaged in combat. But his senses quickly revealed that the fight was over. The triskelion bodies were scattered around the ship, apparently killed by his SOULFIRE, but Duke was not yet able to process what happened. I was knocked out? No, that¡¯s not right. They all blasted me in my forehead. I felt my ARMOR SKIN fail. I felt the blast tear through my skull, and then there was just nothing. And now I¡¯m on my feet. Duke¡¯s hand involuntarily went to the back of his head. It felt wet and he brought it around to the front to look at it. What he saw was blood and grey matter. He stood in frozen silence for a long moment before looking at the ground behind him to see the splatter of his own brains on the ground. Shouldn¡¯t that have killed me? Am I fucking immortal? I need some answers. Duke looked at his hand again and shuddering, reflexively CLEANSED himself. A quick glance at his INVENTORY showed that he didn¡¯t have room for the triskelion¡¯s ship but he remembered that he didn¡¯t need to place it in his INVENTORY, he had a ready-made place to store it. A TELEPORT placed the ship in the dungeon hangar with the others he had accumulated. The triskelion bodies were left behind to feed the wildlife that he could already see and hear coming closer. Duke himself arrived in the hangar a moment later. ¡°Well, that was unexpected, now, wasn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Hello again, Overmind. Can you explain to me what happened?¡± ¡°For the most part, yes. It really came down to your rather remarkable Ability to REGENERATE yourself. Now that you have pushed it to Master rank, you can come back from most anything that doesn¡¯t utterly destroy you. Depending on how much of you is left, it could take a long time to come back. This is not how such an Ability usually works. Most such Abilities cease if the brain is destroyed at anything less than the Guru rank. The blessing you are under sped up the process some too.¡± ¡°Blessing? Oh, right. Divine interference in my life. What was that about a Guru rank?¡± ¡°Yes, the rank that follows Grandmaster. Did no one ever explain this to you?¡± ¡°Not that I can recall.¡± ¡°Well, Guru follows Grandmaster and Divine follows that. I don¡¯t expect you to reach either of those two ranks anytime soon. Reaching Grandmaster in any Ability like you have in TELEPORTATION is an achievement that not more than a handful of Tier Five mortals have ever claimed. I know you¡¯re a Tier Six now, but you achieved it at five.¡± ¡°I could have taken my TELEPORTATION to Guru with the Ability rank increase I could have taken at Tier Six?¡± ¡°No, a Tier rank up can¡¯t take an Ability to that level. They max out at Master. You being able to rank up your Ability to Grandmaster was a rather special circumstance that you took advantage of beautifully. And I fully agree with your choice of Class Ability at your Tier-up.¡± ¡°So, no more shortcuts there, eh?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll not say never, but it is exceedingly unlikely. But enough on that. Are you ready for the Contest?¡± ¡°Is it time already?¡± ¡°Almost. The first Contestants will be arriving within a week. You have three, maybe four weeks until I will pull you there. Reaching Tier Six was a strong step. I doubt you can make Tier Seven before then but among the first arrivals will be a Tier Eight monster of a competitor. You need to be able to at least fight them off or evade them if you can¡¯t beat them. That is why I am telling you again to push yourself. I have to go now, but check your notifications. There¡¯s something there that I think you will find interesting.¡± Duke stared at where the Overmind¡¯s avatar had been standing. Shrugging, he pulled up his notifications. *** Attention! The contract placed on you by the Twin Entities has been fulfilled. In a coincidental quirk of fate, the individuals who fulfilled the contract were slain before they could acknowledge the contract¡¯s completion and claim the prize. *** If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°The fucking shits! They cancelled the contract without paying it out. Not that I¡¯m mad that the contract is gone but damned that¡¯s some slimy shit to not pay it out. Kinda fits them though. OK, on to the rest.¡± *** For defeating 61 creatures ranging from Tier 1 to Tier 4 of various levels, you receive 533,225 experience. You are now level 104 and have gained 105 Characteristic Points. You have increased several of your Abilities. Since you have declined to view the details, the greatest change has been selected for display: Your ARMOR SKIN has increased to Adept 87 You may delve into your individual Abilities to see any other specific changes you desire. *** Duke was thankful that he had found the option to turn off the majority of his Ability changes. The list was getting too long and now he could see anything that increased by 10 or more or ranked up at a glance. Yeah, good call on that one. System spam is no better than email spam ¨C always hiding the important things in a wall of text. Well, got a few more Characteristic points. Time to increase that Psyche some more. It just ties into too many Abilities. OK, back to business. Let¡¯s see if Madrigal is still in the throne room. Duke didn¡¯t notice when the option toggled itself off again. As it turned out, Madrigal was just finishing up with the last of the petitioners, sending them on their way. As they left, the Duke¡¯s shoulders slumped and he sat down heavily in his chair. ¡°Rough day?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Madrigal started to stand but Duke interrupted him. ¡°Stay in your chair. It looks like you could use the rest.¡± ¡°Indeed, yes. Thank you, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°OK, you have exceeded your honorifics for today.¡± Duke pulled a chair out of his INVENTORY and sat down opposite the duke. ¡°So, give me the run-down of what¡¯s been happening in the kingdom.¡± ¡°Perhaps this is something better discussed in your office, or even my office, Duke?¡± ¡°Right you are. Let¡¯s use your office since I imagine it has all your notes and such in there.¡± ¡°Indeed it does.¡± The pair were soon seated more comfortably around Madrigal¡¯s conference table where he had laid out his kingdom map for Duke. ¡°The kingdom has taken several hits since you have been gone. First, we are being steadily invaded by creatures from beyond Teldin. I can tell you this, my understanding of the world has expanded significantly since you left.¡± ¡°Yeah, the Cosmos is a whole lot bigger than our kingdom and its surroundings. It seems that our whole planet is considered backwards and on the fringes of everything. There are things out there that I am not sure could be imagined here.¡± Madrigal nodded, ¡°That would align with the creatures we have seen that have weapons that we have no understanding of and Abilities like nothing we have seen before. But that¡¯s not the worst of it. Our economy nearly crashed. I have nearly emptied the treasury keeping things afloat.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s not good.¡± ¡°No, Duke, it is not. We rely too heavily on Havenreach to fund the rest of the kingdom. When their income dried up, we were all impacted. Especially since productivity plummeted across the whole kingdom. That is what most of the petitioners have been coming here about. They¡¯re worried and on the brink of collapse out there.¡± ¡°That is my fault, I suppose,¡± Duke responded. He held up a hand to prevent Madrigal from interrupting, ¡°I have an Ability called Aura of Prosperity that improves productivity across the whole kingdom, but it only works when I am in range. So, while I was gone it shut down and things returned to normal productivity. Now that I am back things will ramp up quickly.¡± ¡°How much of a ramp-up and how far does the Ability reach?¡± ¡°Here¡¯s where it¡¯s going to create another problem for the kingdom.¡± ¡°Another problem?¡± Madrigal put his head in his hands, waiting for Duke to elaborate. ¡°Yes, the Aura has grown a LOT stronger than it was before I left. It will now provide more than a twenty-five THOUSAND percent boost to productivity and could cover most of the planet.¡± Madrigal looked up to Duke, ¡°You¡¯re serious?¡± ¡°Yes. The kingdom needs to make warehouses, grain silos, all manner of storage areas. In fact, that is something I can help with as well. Shit. I should have thought of this earlier. I¡¯ll make a massive warehouse off the Hall of Possibilities so that you can access it from any of the Portals that can reach there.¡± ¡°We only have the one Portal that leads there, you know.¡± ¡°Damn. I¡¯m really shit at all this. Show me where it would be helpful to have more Portals and I¡¯ll get them set up before I leave again.¡± ¡°Before you leave again?¡± ¡°Yes, in a few weeks I am going to have to leave again for an indeterminable length of time so the kingdom needs to spend this time to build up a ridiculous amount of resources in storage. I know it¡¯s not ideal but it¡¯s not something I can put off or ignore. The best I can do is get us all prepared for my absence. I have already consulted with Mayor Shellenberger to get him started on increasing Havenreach¡¯s storage capacity.¡± ¡°You are quite the source of chaos in the kingdom.¡± ¡°And I really wanted to be a stabilizing force. But we don¡¯t always get what we want, do we?¡± ¡°No, we certainly don¡¯t. But regardless, you have made the kingdom far better than it was when you came to it.¡± ¡°Thank you for that. Now show me where the invaders are on the map. I have some aggression to get out of my system. And uninvited guests who are not behaving need to be evicted. Forcibly in this case.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to argue with that, but these invaders are beyond the capabilities of the Legions to handle. Are you sure you want to or even can take them on by yourself?¡± ¡°Deadly certain. Now show me who I need to kick off our planet.¡± Book 3, Chapter 53 Duke drew the sword out of his chest and tossed it aside. This latest group of mercenaries had been more than competent. They had known he was coming and had set up a stellar ambush. Not that it mattered. None of them had been above Tier Four with the majority in Tier Two. Their equipment had been well above average which made a significant difference, but Duke was so far outside the norm that he tore through their ranks with his bare hands, venting his rage and frustration. The only one who had managed to land an effective blow was the mercenary leader whose sword Duke had just tossed aside. It took him more time to sort through their equipment than it had taken to kill most of them. A small part of Duke¡¯s mind rebelled at the merciless killing. It was quickly silenced by the roiling cloud of his subconscious. When he had loaded the mercenaries¡¯ gear into his INVENTORY, he TELEPORTED their ship into his hangar which Sam had been casually expanding for him over the past two days. There were now dozens of ships of differing sizes and purposes there, which Duke had first decided that he needed to explore and understand but later came to the realization that he really didn¡¯t need. He really only needed to steal one component from a ship ¨C the navigation system. He could make his way on his own from there. The events of the past two days had all started when Duke caught up with Mira and the Clan. A short conversation had revealed that there was a communications channel that most every ship kept open. He had transmitted his message across the whole system: ¡°You have one hour to pack up your stuff and leave. If you stay beyond then, you will be dealt with.¡± The first ship had left for orbit within ten minutes after the transmission. A dozen others left soon thereafter, but most were stubborn and refused to leave as Teldin was a world low in magitech and high in resources. It was perfect for plunder. And, given that the bounty was gone and the mercenaries had only been paid a pittance already, plunder was all they had left. The first mercenary group that Duke killed had been the only one to actually respond to the transmission. Their message was just as straightforward: ¡°Not worried about any bluff from such a primitive world. Go fuck yourself.¡± After Duke was done with them, there wasn¡¯t enough left of their ship to justify moving it to the hangar. Duke didn¡¯t care to RESTORE it either. Instead, he used his Abilities to crush and melt the ship down into a three-meter sphere. All the runescripting had been destroyed but it made for one dense projectile sitting in his INVENTORY. After the eighth such group was killed off, others got the hint and started heading for orbit quickly, but not quickly enough. Duke had caught the last ship as it was starting to lift off. Technically, they were leaving, but he just did not care at this point ¨C invaders were invaders. He had stolen the ship¡¯s Mana Cores when they were ten meters off the ground. The resulting crash had been the perfect starting point for the ensuing melee from Duke¡¯s perspective. ¡°Mira, are you picking up any more on the ground?¡± Duke asked as he opened up his DUNGEON SENSE to cover as much area as he could manage. Seeing as he could now extend his Ability out over 450 kilometers, that covered a lot of the kingdom, but not all of it. ¡°No ships coming up on sensors save for the ones in the desert. I¡¯m not sure the remaining ships at the Dusty Trail Inn are hostile. Would you like us to head over there and find out?¡± ¡°You can meet me there if you like. That¡¯s my next destination. How many ships are we talking about at this point?¡± ¡°I am picking up nine of them. We¡¯ll meet you there.¡± Duke decided to take his time and flew there, giving him time to check his notifications on the way. *** Congratulations. For defeating 561 foes of up to Tier Four and varying levels, you have received 2,111,691 experience. You are now level 123 and have 399 Characteristic Points to spend. Your Aerial Maneuvering has increased to Practiced 63 Your Martial Arts Combat has increased to Adept 91 Your Tonfa Mastery has increased to Adept 157 Your Diplomacy has increased to Practiced 27 Your TELEPORTATION has increased to Grandmaster 113 Your REGENERATION has increased to Master 24The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Your LASTING DISGUISE has ranked up to Practiced 6 Your OVERCHANNEL has increased to Adept 126 Your FORCE has ranked up to Practiced 4 Your FLAME has ranked up to Practiced 2 Your ARMOR SKIN has increased to Adept 91 *** Duke smiled. Not bad gains at all and I¡¯m not done yet. There are still ships in orbit. At least for now there are. After I rip the first to pieces, the rest will leave. And the ships still in the desert. I wonder why none of them left? This will be interesting. Maybe they have an explanation. Duke TELEPORTED inside the Dusty Trail Inn, arriving before the bar. Immediately, he was greeted by Travis, the minotaur barkeep/innkeeper, ¡°Ah, Duke! Welcome back! You have some guests waiting for you.¡± As he spoke, the minotaur placed a glass of whiskey in Duke¡¯s hand eliciting a warm smile. ¡°Guests, you say?¡± Duke turned away from the bar and saw that there was a single table occupied by six individuals. He headed over to the table, carrying his drink with him keeping his emotions in check as he had declared that there would be no fighting in the bar and he meant to keep to his own word. The group at the table was racially divided. There were four goblinoids and two dragonians and Duke recognized all of them. When Duke reached the table, they all stood to greet him, but Arkmathus was the loudest voice, ¡°Welcome back King Duke. We have been awaiting your return.¡± ¡°Have you now?¡± Duke gestured for everyone to sit as he pulled up a chair. ¡°You lot account for two of the ships parked out there. What about the rest?¡± Drakmalorie answered before any else could respond, ¡°They were delicious. Your chef here is amazing!¡± Her response got the whole table smiling along. ¡°You ate them?¡± ¡°Better than letting their carcasses rot in the desert sun, no?¡± ¡°Not so sure about that but I¡¯m not going to pursue that line of thought. Why are you all still here?¡± ¡°To join you, of course,¡± Grimtooth responded. ¡°We wanted you to be one of us but that is not as has been decreed by the almighty Sargoth. Now we ask to be one of you.¡± ¡°Our intention to join you has not changed,¡± Drakmalorie added. ¡°So, you took it upon yourselves to kill my enemies?¡± ¡°Just so,¡± The dragonian replied. ¡°I suppose that I can¡¯t really complain about that. Might actually save me some time cleaning them up. OK, show me which ships are yours. I¡¯m going to confiscate the others.¡± Outside the inn, they pointed out their ships and Duke promptly moved the others to the hangar, increasing his collection. The others gaped as the ships disappeared one by one until the only ones remaining were their own two. Duke looked them over slowly and carefully before speaking, ¡°I¡¯m going to make this perfectly clear. This is my kingdom. Anyone who comes here with even the intention of causing trouble will be dealt with harshly. I have been merciful and hesitant to act in the past. That has ended. The Syndicate decided to come after me and mine. They are now short one fleet including a dreadnaught. Don¡¯t think for a second that I will hesitate to obliterate anyone who comes for me again.¡± ¡°Did you say that you took out a dreadnaught?¡± Arkmathus asked. ¡°Yes, I did. I stole one of their battleships and rammed it right into the bitch to start the fight. None of you have any idea what I am capable of, and I will not take anyone I do not trust into my confidence. That trust is not built by any singular act. At this point, I do not trust any of you. You all came here with the intention to kill me and collect a bounty. I do not need you with me and I do not want any more variables. None of you have attacked me or mine, and you have eliminated some of my enemies. That speaks well for you, but it does not say enough. I do not have the time it would take to get to know you. So, you are all welcome to stay here at the Inn or freely leave Teldin. Perhaps a day will come when I have the time to vet you all but today is not that day.¡± They all stared at Duke unsure of how to respond. They were saved by Duke¡¯s communications crystal announcing an incoming message. He TELEPORTED well out of earshot to receive the message. ¡°Go ahead, Mira.¡± ¡°Duke, we have the Syndicate fleet arriving in system.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be right there,¡± Duke grimaced as he TELEPORTED to the bridge of the Iron Reaver. When he arrived he saw the fleet on the screen. There was a dreadnaught surrounded by a dozen other ships including six heavy cruisers. Duke stepped over to his favorite console and started to zoom in on the supporting ships. He focused-in on one of the heavy cruisers, noting that it was yet a third design. And then it was gone. Mira took the display controls over and zoomed out trying to spot where the fleet had gone. She expanded the view to the entire system. ¡°Where the fuck are they?¡± Duke asked. ¡°Gone. I can see the jump signature. They arrived and then ran away. That doesn¡¯t make any sense at all.¡± ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t. Could they be coming from another angle we can¡¯t cover?¡± ¡°Not unless they have a stealth system that is Tiers above anything I have ever heard of but to hide a fleet of that size, especially the dreadnaught, no, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible. They have gone elsewhere.¡± ¡°Well, that was anticlimactic,¡± Duke groused. ¡°And there goes all the ships in orbit. They are running for the jump points.¡± ¡°Was there any message sent? Some sort of warning?¡± ¡°Nothing I picked up, but it is possible that they had a shared crystal network outside of the standard.¡± ¡°Maybe with the contract rescinded, it¡¯s not worth the expense anymore and they cut their losses. Of course, that doesn''t mean that they are done suffering losses.¡± ¡°You¡¯re still going after them then?¡± ¡°Probably. It might not be until I get back from my next trip but they have many things to answer for.¡± ¡°Is it really your responsibility to make them answer for them though?¡± ¡°Maybe not my responsibility, but I¡¯m going to do it anyway. But, for now, I¡¯m going home and going to bed.¡± ¡°Goodnight, Duke,¡± Mira¡¯s words echoed after his fading afterimage. Book 3, Chapter 54 Duke awoke with a sense of positiveness. He knew there was much ahead of him, but he also felt that he had put so much more behind him. Stepping off the stairs in the Inn, he could hear Legionnaires enjoying their breakfast as they prepared for another day of their rotation of delving into the training dungeons. Calen greeted him with a wave as he headed to his table to greet someone he hadn¡¯t seen in quite a while. ¡°Baslin! Good morning.¡± ¡°Duke, my boy! So good to finally see you again. You have been busy. Word is that you have chased all the invaders away and have brought back prosperity to the kingdom. Imagine one man having such an outsized influence.¡± ¡°I have been busy. That much is true, but as always, there¡¯s so much more to do.¡± ¡°Good thing you are young enough to still do it all.¡± ¡°Enough about me. What have you been doing all this time? Madrigal told me that you haven¡¯t been around court much.¡± ¡°What need have I to be around court? Especially with you gone. I have been researching and experimenting with all manner of interesting pieces I have picked up. These invaders brought something with them that I have never seen before, and it is absolutely fascinating. It¡¯s an entire magical language of runes. These runes are nothing like the runes that we have used for eons. Our runes are function-specific, but this new set of runes is context-specific. Do you know what that means?¡± ¡°Not really, but I have learned a bit about the runescript. What do you mean by context-specific?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fascinating. I¡¯ve put most of my other experiments on hold to pursue this new realm of magic, even looking for Negron. It means that you can take the same set of, say a dozen, runes and the order they are placed makes them do entirely different things.¡± ¡°Like letters in a written language?¡± ¡°Yes, precisely! It¡¯s like our runic system was single words that you could occasionally string together into rudimentary sentences. This new system is letters in a language that could be built to do anything! I need so many more examples so I can learn the syntax, the letters that can go together. The combinations are endless.¡± Duke couldn¡¯t help but be sucked in by Baslin¡¯s excitement. He had read runescript and his XENOGLOSSIA had translated it for him but what Baslin was trying to do was to understand the language at a more fundamental level. He didn¡¯t quite know why, but Duke was just as fascinated by it as Baslin. He¡¯d just been running too hard and too fast to spend any time on it. ¡°Well, you have me excited about it. Let¡¯s work on some of this together. I have quite a few examples of it in my INVENTORY. A bigger sample size should give us a stronger understanding, right?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, yes! Oh, how exciting. We can work on this today!¡± ¡°I have to check in on the rest of the kingdom, but when I am done with that, let¡¯s play with the runescript and see what we can discover.¡± Baslin stared at Duke pointedly long enough for Duke to actually become uncomfortable, ¡°What is it, Baslin?¡± ¡°What are you waiting for? Go check in so we can get started as soon as possible.¡± ¡°I¡¯m waiting for breakfast.¡± Breakfast arrived shortly after that, brought out by a tall, thin woman with features that Duke couldn¡¯t immediately identify as a race he was familiar with. She had pointed ears sticking out of her curly grey hair as well as a delicate pair of horns that curved from her skull. The rest of her proportions were human-normal, if a bit on the thin side. She greeted them with a smile that showed off her square teeth that were larger than Duke had expected but had no sense of sharpness to them at all. ¡°Good morning, Duke, Baslin. Here are your breakfasts. Would you like something to drink to go with them? We have a fresh batch of spring juice that seems very popular this morning.¡± Baslin smiled at her, ¡°I would love some spring juice and so would Duke.¡± His gaze lingered on her departing form, watching her tail swish as she walked.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°You have a thing for her,¡± Duke commented amusedly. ¡°I¡¯m old, not dead, you know. It is rare to see kidfolk around anymore. And you have to admit that she is a fine specimen.¡± Duke considered asking about the kidfolk but he figured that he had enough information from her looks and context. He was more interested in Baslin showing an interest beyond his research. ¡°Why don¡¯t you talk to her and get to know her instead of being a creepy old man. What¡¯s her name?¡± ¡°Name? I have no idea.¡± Duke just shook his head at Baslin. Guess it¡¯s time to play wingman again. Last time I did this it was for my actual wingman. I hope he made it out of that furball of a mess I led us into. Coltraine deserved better than to be dragged into that impossible situation. The waitress returned and Duke came to a sudden realization ¨C she was not a dungeon construct. Well, that is interesting. Is Sam hiring people now? She deposited the drinks for them and turned to leave. Duke interrupted her, ¡°Excuse me, miss. I didn¡¯t get your name.¡± Turning round with a shy smile, she looked back at Duke appraisingly, ¡°I¡¯m Brindlehoof. What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°My name is Duke, but you really should get to know Baslin here. He¡¯s something special. Say hello, Baslin.¡± Baslin smiled, ¡°It is a pleasure to actually meet you, Brindlehoof. I find myself unable to look away from you. You have captured my attention like none have in ages. If beauty were measured in clover petals, I¡¯d need a whole meadow to match even a glimpse of you.¡± She smiled with a soft chuckle and reached down, giving Baslin a soft kiss on the forehead, ¡°You¡¯re adorable. That was so sweet.¡± She sauntered away with an extra swish in her hips. Baslin gaped after her while Duke held himself to a smile. ¡°She kissed me.¡± ¡°On the forehead.¡± ¡°But she kissed me. Physical contact like that is rare for the kidfolk.¡± ¡°So, you think you have a shot?¡± ¡°Go attend to your tasks. I have¡­matters to attend to.¡± Duke quickly finished his breakfast and departed, leaving the smitten Archmage to himself, with one more remark, ¡°You know that was a super-cheesy line. I can¡¯t believe she fell for it.¡± ¡°Go on, apprentice. Leve the Archmage to his work.¡± Duke was gone before Baslin was done speaking. He arrived in his office within the castle and settled down behind the desk. There was a ton of papers to sort through, most of which he had no idea where they had come from. Still, he dug into the pile, knowing that leadership was as much paperwork as it was decision-making. Two hours later, Duke had managed to sort through the piles of paper, placing them into three separate piles. One for things he immediately approved, one for those he denied, and the third pile for discussion. Satisfied with the amount of administrative work he had accomplished; he placed all three piles in his INVENTORY and made his way to Madrigal¡¯s office. Stepping into the Duke¡¯s office, he produced the three piles and dropped them neatly on the man¡¯s desk, ¡°Approved. Rejected. Need discussion but not right now.¡± He smiled at Madrigal¡¯s befuddled expression before continuing, ¡°I didn¡¯t see anything in there about new warehouses. You didn¡¯t forget what I told you, right?¡± ¡°I have not forgotten but since you specifically ordered me to build them, they are being built. And we are already seeing the effects of your Aura. Yesterday, our top alchemist reported that his failure rate for his most difficult potions has fallen from Seventy-six percent down to less than one percent and he is getting higher yields from each batch than ever before. He is providing the Legions with his highest-potency healing and Mana potions at a ridiculous discount because he doesn¡¯t want to flood the market with them and undermine his own prices.¡± ¡°Sounds like we need to ramp up our trading caravans even more.¡± ¡°Just so. I received a report just this morning from the farm you went out to.¡± Madrigal sorted through papers for a bit until he finally found the one he was looking for. ¡°Here it is. This is a report from the Centruy patrolling the area. According to this, the farmer, this Roger Shrubber fellow, is reporting that all his remining cows are pregnant and are ready to calve.¡± ¡°That was quick.¡± ¡°Yes, there are hundreds of similar reports. We are, after just a few days of you being back, undergoing a crisis of abundance. Can you tone down your aura any?¡± ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never tried.¡± Duke delved into his character sheet to see what he could find. After approaching it from several different approaches, he found just what they were looking for ¨C a slider switch. He slid it down almost all the way and found his Ability¡¯s effect reduced to a mere 260%. ¡°There, how about that? I was able to reduce the effect down to a about 260% instead of the nearly 26,000% increase.¡° ¡°That will help things. I think we can adjust it upwards as people get used to the increased production. I don¡¯t know if we will ever be able to handle your full aura for any length of time.¡± ¡°In time, the kingdom will be ready for it. They are going to have to be. We are going to have to join the greater Cosmos sooner rather than later. When that happens, I want to have the whole planet united so that we can face the true monsters that lurk out there. I may not be available to defend the kingdom, let alone the planet all the time. We need to build up a cadre of defenders that can handle whatever comes our way.¡± ¡°Duke, we can barely handle this one kingdom. How are we going to be able to handle an entire planet?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know yet, but they say necessity is the mother of invention. When push comes to shove, we will find a way or destroy ourselves. Let¡¯s make it the former. Now, tell me where we need Portals to the Hall of Possibilities.¡± Book 3, Chapter 55 Hours later, Duke had set up the Portals in the agreed-upon locations in both Tannish and Ansky before quickly returning to his own kingdom. He was about to head for a third destination but was interrupted by a call from a Jewel of Whispers. ¡°Duke, you need to come to my workshop as soon as you can. This is important,¡± Baslin¡¯s whisper carried urgency that Duke couldn¡¯t ignore. He TELEPORTED directly to Baslin¡¯s workshop within the Inn-. The Archmage practically jumped out of his robes at Duke¡¯s sudden appearance, dropping his Jewel of Whispers to the stone floor. The Jewel shattered, scattering fragments of crystal across the floor as the glow of magic quickly faded from the crystal shards. ¡°Sorry about that, Baslin. You sounded worried so I came as fast as I could.¡± ¡°Nevermind the crystal. I can make a replacement easily enough. Come with me.¡± Baslin hurried Duke through the workshop that clearly had expanded significantly since the last time Duke had been inside it. There were whole wings that did not exist previously. Their rushed passage ended in a mostly empty chamber. The only things in the chamber were a magical contraption projecting some sort of flickering blue field over an enormous egg. Duke¡¯s mind immediately flashed back to meeting with the Tannish emissary and the gift from their kingdom ¨C the egg of the Great Serpent Illuyanka. ¡°As you can see, my stasis field is failing. The egg will hatch any moment now and you need to be here for it in order for it to bond to you.¡± ¡°Shit. I forgot about this.¡± ¡°Like so many other things, Your Majesty,¡± The mocking tone of the honorific was not lost on Duke. ¡°Yeah. I got busy saving the world and all that.¡± ¡°Saving the world? I just thought you were taking your girlfriend out for a ride.¡± ¡°Baslin, have you actually developed a sense of humor?¡± ¡°No, had I sense of humor, I would have dropped the egg in your lap in the middle of a session of court and watched you scramble to take care of it and keep your dignity. But, alas, you never really hold court, do you?¡± ¡°OK, I get it. I¡¯m a shitty ruler by this world¡¯s standards. But I much prefer the ¡®hire experts and let them do their work without looking over their shoulders all the time¡¯ approach.¡± ¡°Sounds lazy to me.¡± ¡°Yep, definitely a small sense of humor there. But enough of that. It seems that I have an egg to hatch. And a scroll to use.¡± Duke retrieved the scroll from his INVENTORY that he had been given with the enormous serpent¡¯s egg. He quickly IDENTIFIED the scroll hoping that it would show if there were any hidden tricks within. The Ability only showed it as a straightforward, if powerful, spell scroll casting a Bond Creature spell. Shrugging, he prepared the scroll in the flickering blue light and gave Baslin a nod. The Archmage reached up to his device and ended its effect. The response from the egg was immediate. As the first crack splintered across the thick, obsidian egg, a shudder of anticipation filled the chamber. Moment by moment, the shell cracked more and more until the eggtooth finally pushed its way though. The tooth worked at the shell, breaking more and more of it until the shell burst apart, splattering the area with shell fragments and unknown fluids. Coiled in the remnants of the shell was an ebon serpent, its forked tongue darting forth to sample the air for the first time. It slowly began to move, gently rocking back and forth as it gained familiarity with its body. Then its eyes opened, glowing like two fiery gates to hell. The power of its presence was palpable, radiating off the serpent in waves. Baslin took an unconscious step backwards. The serpent¡¯s head snapped to orient on the retreating Archmage, its jaws opening wide enough to fit the mage¡¯s head as if testing him for size. Baslin nervously whispered to Duke, ¡°Use the damned scroll.¡± In response, the serpent coiled more tightly, tensing as if to strike. Duke held the scroll and paused before using it. Instead, he spoke to the serpent using his XENOGLOSSIA, ¡°You don¡¯t really want to hurt my friend. You¡¯re just hungry, curious, and a bit scared, right?¡± At the same time, he dropped his LASTING DISGUISE that was hiding his own glowing eyes.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The serpent paused as if noticing Duke for the first time. Its hiss was indistinguishable from any of its other noises to Baslin, but to Duke, it spoke volumes, ¡°Hungry, yes. Must hunt. Must feed. Must grow.¡± ¡°Then let me give you something to eat. Baslin would not be a good meal.¡± Duke used his DUNGEON CREATURE CREATION to create a young pig in front of the serpent. The pig squealed and started to run away but the serpent was far faster. It snapped forward and latched onto the pig with its fangs. The pig struggled for a half-second before stilling. Effortlessly, the serpent lifted its head up and gobbled the pig down its throat with a trio of convulsive movements of its triangular head and neck. ¡°How was that?¡± Duke asked, still holding the scroll in his hand. ¡°Tastes good. Satisfied. Good provider.¡± The serpent¡¯s coils visibly relaxed as its eyes remained fixed on Duke¡¯s. ¡°Now that you are no longer starving, let¡¯s have a more in-depth chat.¡± ¡°Too many words. Sleep now.¡± The serpent didn¡¯t wait for a response as it curled its head into the rest of its body and drifted off to consume its meal. ¡°Stop hissing at it and use the scroll already. I¡¯m not having this thing hanging around my workshop and munching on my experiments.¡± ¡°I was hoping that I wouldn¡¯t have to use the scroll to bond it to me.¡± ¡°Do you have a monster-tamer class that I don¡¯t know about?¡± ¡°No, but I can talk to it.¡± ¡°Yeah, I can talk to demons. It¡¯s not like any of them are going to jump over to my cause just for the hell of it. It¡¯s a magical monstrous serpent, not a simple beast that you can train with food rewards.¡± Duke reluctantly unfurled the scroll and cast the spell. The scroll erupted into a crimson flash of magic, filling the room with crimson radiance. Slowly, the radiance coalesced down to Duke and the serpent as it created and sealed the bond. Duke felt a burning sensation pass through his body, infusing his arteries and veins. The burning pumped through his blood for several seconds before coming to rest in his heart where it settled and infused itself into the muscle. Duke also felt a sharp pain in the roof of his mouth which he ignored, concentrating on the serpent. At the same time, the serpent writhed at the unfamiliar sensation. It hissed at its interrupted sleep but eventually stilled as the spell completed the bond. *** You have bonded with Ophirian, the offspring of the Great Serpent Illuyanka. A bond with a creature of such potential is exceedingly rare and the full effects of which cannot be easily identified. Instead, they must be discovered over time. The immediate effects are as follows: You have gained a new set of organs ¨C poison sac and fangs. You now have retractable fangs that can deliver a powerful paralytic poison. Ophirian gains access to your most potent Ability and 10% of your Characteristics. You and your bond may communicate mentally at a distance equal to the range of your shared Ability. Grow your bond wisely. *** Duke looked up from studying his notification and met the gaze of his bonded serpent. A sense of understanding passed between them in an instant and Duke knew the serpent was content with the bond. He felt Ophirian¡¯s mind brush his own with a simple message. ¡±I am going to sleep now. We will speak of what you have done and what it means for us later.¡° ¡°Guess Ophirian is going to sleep now.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the serpent¡¯s name? Ophirian?¡± ¡°Yes, that is his name. do you have any experience with bonded creatures?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s never been something that interested me. What did the bond do for you?¡± Duke stared Baslin in the eyes and extended his fangs. Baslin started and then leaned in to stare at the fangs, ¡°Are they functional?¡± ¡°I have venom sacs to go with them. I am going out on a limb and saying that you do not want to be bitten by them.¡± ¡°Not on my list of preferred activities. If anyone¡¯s going to bite me it¡¯s going to be a certain kidfolk.¡± ¡°Speaking of Brindlehoof, how is that going?¡± ¡°Slowly, but better than expected. Thank you for the assistance there by the way. Strange that after all these years, I find myself tongue-tied.¡± ¡°Just what a good wingman should do for a friend.¡± ¡°I have no idea what a wingman is, but I think I get the context. What keeps causing me to hesitate is the age gap. I¡¯m old enough to not just be her grandfather, but her honored ancestor. There is a wrongness to this even though I know it is normal for the long-lived to do so.¡± ¡°I have to admit that the age gap would be a serious problem for the world I came from, but I only know a small bit about the traditions on Teldin.¡± ¡°Things are a bit more open here but there are some who would frown on the relationship. In the past, some of us would alter our appearances to seem young, which made objections far less. I call that the ¡®elf¡¯ effect as they appear young for centuries but that is not my style. I am who I am and if you can accept that, great. If not, then it really is your problem, not mine. Now, I believe we had some runescripting to decipher.¡± ¡°Indeed we do. Let¡¯s get to a different section of the workshop first though. I think it is best to leave sleeping serpents lie.¡± ¡°You learn quickly. This is good.¡± Duke was heading out of the chamber before Baslin even realized that the man had started moving. He quickly followed with only a brief worried glance back at Ophirian. Strangely, as he got further away from his new bond, he felt the pull of the bond stronger and stronger. The pull was strong, but his will was far stronger but he knew that he would be returning to Ophirian soon enough. Book 3, Chapter 56 The wing of Baslin¡¯s workshop that Duke found himself in was different than any of the others he had seen. This section seemed far more sterile with its glossy white walls, floors, and ceiling. There were glass tables and displays all around the area that were nearly as large as Duke¡¯s throne room. ¡°Well, what do you think?¡± Baslin asked, a wry smile just barely formed on his lips. ¡°It seems¡­blank. Like there should be more to it but it¡¯s just missing. The display cases are empty, the walls bare, and the floor and ceiling are really no different from the walls.¡± ¡°That is a fair observation. The next chamber has the carving stations for making the runes so familiar to this world, but here is where we will work on the runescripting. These tables are made with magical glass. They can be carved into to create patterns or scripts and have liquid gold poured into them to set the script. When it¡¯s cooled, the table will heal itself, pushing the golden scripting out to the surface.¡± ¡°That is interesting. Is this one of your creations?¡± Baslin glowed with pride, ¡°Yes, they are my own design. After spending countless hours carving runes and attempting to decipher and duplicate the runescript into wooden, stone, and metal tablets, this solution came to me. Although I do have to admit my success with even duplicating the runescript has been marginal at best. There is a fundamental understanding that I seem to be missing.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope that we can correct that lack. Here, let¡¯s look at this example of runescripting.¡± While he spoke, he pulled one of the most simplistic runscripted items he had in his INVENTORY. It was a basic sword with a minor runescript engraved in the blade. When the blade was on the table, they began to study the runescript. Baslin puzzled over it commenting on the connection between sections before Duke interrupted him, ¡°This is a four-word sentence. It says, ¡®I am always sharp.¡¯ It¡¯s probably the simplest example of runescript I have seen.¡± Baslin looked at Duke in surprise, ¡°You really can just read it like that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a language. I can read just about any language.¡± ¡°Can you write it?¡± ¡°That, my friend, is where I run into problems. I can read it and understand what is says and how it works, but I can¡¯t seem to write it out. It¡¯s odd as I can form the sentences in my head but when I have tried to transition it into actual script, it just doesn¡¯t work. I¡¯m missing something but I don¡¯t know what.¡± ¡°That, my boy, is why you have me. We¡¯ll figure it out together.¡± Duke spent hours teaching Baslin how to read the language, but it was slow going as the runescript language had intricate subtleties and context that Duke couldn¡¯t decipher enough to explain. His Ability gave him the capability to read and understand the language, but the syntax of this language this was far more complex than any spoken language Duke had encountered. The breakthrough came when Baslin was able to script his first sentence in the language that worked. He had struggled as his countless attempts had appeared to be identical to the example Duke had produced etched into the sword. ¡°It works! And I know why!¡± Baslin declared, brimming with excitement. He danced around the room shouting as Duke watched on confused but thoroughly amused. Duke watched for the full five minutes of Baslin¡¯s ¡°victory dance¡± before the Archmage finally came back to Duke to explain what he had done differently. ¡°You see, Duke, it¡¯s not enough to write the runescript perfectly. We did that dozens of times without any reaction. You have to infuse the runescript with both Mana and intent. Part of the magic of the runescript is tied to the context of what you want it to do. Since so many words have different meanings when put together, even in the same order, you have to focus your intent into the script to give it the right emphasis!¡± ¡°Intent? Emphasis. What do you mean?¡± ¡°Just like different words can be pronounced differently. Like heal and heal.¡± ¡°Heal and heal? They¡¯re the same word.¡± Duke paused, replaying the words as they were actually spoken rather than the automatic translation he had grown so used to with his Ability. He nodded, ¡°I see what you are saying now. So, it¡¯s what you intend the script to do that determines how the word should be used. Where you place your emphasis. I get it now.¡± ¡°Yes, exactly. Show me more examples of the runescript and let¡¯s see what else we can figure out.¡± Duke pulled all sorts of unidentified gear out of his INVENTORY for the two of them to work with. He pulled out dozens upon dozens of swords as they were easy to fit on the tables. Finally, he pulled out a dark blade that looked different from the rest. He held it up to the light only to see the light absorbed into the blackness of the blade.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Well, that one¡¯s different,¡± Baslin remarked. ¡°It is different. It¡¯s not runescripted at all.¡± ¡°Ah, so a sword from your travels on Teldin then?¡± Duke IDENTIFIED the sword and his blood ran cold. He knew this blade. He had committed to destroying this blade and yet, here it was gripped in his hand. He placed the blade on the floor and took a step back, Baslin joining him at his side. ¡°What is it Duke?¡± ¡°This is the Blade of the Netherword. We got this as loot a long time ago. I meant to destroy it then like I had done with the other cursed blade. But it appears that I have never gotten to it.¡± ¡°And it¡¯s been sitting in your INVENTORY all this time. Is everything in your INVENTORY in stasis or could this blade have affected something else?¡± ¡°Thankfully, they are in stasis, so I think we¡¯re OK in that regard, but I have to destroy this blade.¡±, ¡°Just be careful.¡± ¡°I will, but I¡¯m far stronger than I was with the last one.¡± Duke reached out to the blade with his MANA DRAIN Ability and began to siphon off the Mana from the blade¡¯s enchantments. With the vast increase in his Psyche, the pull of the blade¡¯s warped Mana was easy to resist. He unconsciously separated the intent of the enchantments from the magic empowering them. Before he could do anything about the separated intent, it was drained into his Psyche and hidden from his consciousness. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not going to be good,¡± Duke muttered. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°I absorbed the sword¡¯s intent into my Psyche. It will sit there waiting to fuel one of my Abilities, I expect.¡± As he spoke, the sword itself corroded and turned to a pile of dust, its magic gone along with its curse. Baslin didn¡¯t hesitate to cast a spell and pull all the dust of the sword into a jar that he quickly sealed. ¡°Mustn¡¯t let something like that sit around. Always best to put it away even if it appears inert. I have learned to not take chances.¡± ¡°I have to say that is smart, Baslin. I wouldn¡¯t want that dust to be floating around and getting into something that it shouldn¡¯t. Now, let¡¯s see what we can do with these runescripted swords.¡± It took the rest of the day, but Baslin had gotten the basics of runescripting down. He seemed to have a talent for it as he was able to modify his own scripts to produce different effects based on his intent for the few words of the runescript language he had learned. Duke, on the other hand, was absolute garbage at writing the runescript. He moved too quickly and was too impatient to effectively write a functioning script. When it came to reading the scripts, he relied on his Ability and was able to easily determine their purpose and effect. Finally, Duke began to empty his INVENTORY of items that he knew contained runescripting. As the items¡¯ runescripts became more and more complex, Baslin stared with deeper concentration and wonder. When Duke took him to the largest chamber in this wing of the workshop, Baslin¡¯s curiosity was fully piqued. ¡°What do you have for me now, Duke?¡± ¡°The largest and most complex example of runescript that I have with me.¡± Duke pulled a mech out, placing it in the middle of the floor. Baslin stared at the mech in wonder. It was the smallest version Duke had encountered, only standing five meters tall but it still had all the usual runescripting Duke had seen in mechs. It seemed that there was a rather specific runescript design that all mechs followed. At least, all the mechs he had seen had the same or very similar pattern. Baslin traced his hands over the mech, feeling the materials and studying it with his magic. As he traced the lines of its left leg he asked, ¡°This is quite the golem, but I don¡¯t see any runescript?¡± ¡°That¡¯s because the runescripting is on the inside. The mech is made of multiple layers of material that are all inscribed with runescript. It is the most complex runescript I have found in that it is so compact but also does so much.¡± ¡°You see it through the layers?¡± ¡°Even better. Watch this.¡± Duke focused his Grandmaster Ability and TELEPORTED the outer layer of the mech onto the floor, making sure to keep the runescript intact. ¡°The connections between the layers will be broken this way but it will give you so many layers to study, it will keep you busy for months.¡± ¡°Years, my boy. Years.¡± Baslin stopped talking to Duke as he poured his energy into examining and deciphering the runescript. Duke watched for a while but soon realized that Baslin was too far engrossed in his study. He finished taking the mech apart and went on his way, TELEPORTING to the hangar. He had a project of his own to work on when it came to runescript. And he felt he had learned enough working with Baslin that he might just be able to pull it off. In the hangar, he perused all the ships he had in storage and selected one at random. He really didn¡¯t know much about any of them so one seemed to be as good as another. He entered and made his way to the bridge. Once there, he got to work. ¡°OK, so this looks like the navigation station to me. And I¡¯m talking to myself again.¡± ¡°Not entirely. You are in my dungeon, so I kind of am always listening unless you push me out.¡± Duke turned to see Sam standing in front of the captain¡¯s chair. With a flourish, he sat down and spun the chair to face Duke, ¡°So, what is it that you are looking to accomplish here?¡± ¡°I need to find a way to make a navigation system like this.¡± Duke waved at the station in front of him. ¡°Well, I need to make it portable so I can use it without a ship. ¡°So, why don¡¯t you just create one with your Abilities? I¡¯ve seen you make things out of dungeon essence before.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how they work well enough just yet.¡± ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re just studying it until you can make one of your own. That makes sense. Well, don¡¯t let me stand in your way.¡± As Sam turned to leave, Duke stopped him, ¡°Wait. Was there something you needed or wanted? You usually don¡¯t just drop in.¡± ¡°Oh nothing, really. I just wanted to tell you that I¡¯m on the cusp of Tier Seven.¡± ¡°Wow. That¡¯s great! Will that give you anything cool?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not jealous?¡± ¡°Why would I be jealous?¡± ¡°You¡¯re only a Tier Six.¡± ¡°And you used to be a Tier Eight dungeon if I recall correctly.¡± ¡°Damn. I hoped you had forgotten that.¡± ¡°Nope. But still, it¡¯s great progress. I know this is wildly unconventional for you, but it seems to be going well.¡± ¡°Exceptionally well. That¡¯s why I¡¯m good with my descendants following this model. Anyway, enjoy your project. I have a group of elite Legionnaires making a run at the deep boss. I just have to watch.¡± With that, Sam faded away, leaving Duke to study the navigation system in peace. Book 3, Chapter 57 Duke started to dismantle the navigation system using all his sensing Abilities to see inside the console and really figure out how it worked. Each time, after he finished tearing it down, he RESTORED the console. The process was slow as he was gaining insight but at a maddeningly slow pace. The realization that this would take him longer than he had initially thought came over him. I need to relocate to Havenreach. The time dilation there will give me more time to work on this. But I have one more stop to make before I get started. Thought became action and Duke was in the chamber with Ophirian in an instant. The serpent uncurled itself, its head rising to meet Duke¡¯s gaze. Duke¡¯s Ability fired up and he could tell the serpent was smiling in its own way. ¡°Good for you to come back to me now that I have rested. You have bonded us together so I will be going where you go from now on.¡± ¡°Well, where I am about to go is going to be pretty boring for you. I have some magical work to do that will likely be tedious rather than spectacular.¡± ¡°Is there somewhere I can hunt there?¡± ¡°I will make a hunting ground for you there. Did you get any experience for killing that pig earlier?¡± ¡°Experience? That is something from my inherited memory. Yes, I see now. I did receive twenty-five experience for killing and eating that prey.¡± ¡°Good. That means that you should be able to grow from killing the monsters I make to help you learn and grow.¡± ¡°Just make more of those pigs. That was delicious.¡± ¡°No, you need to hunt and fight all sorts of different creatures so you can be ready for what is to come. I am going to fight some of the most powerful people and creatures in my¡­weight class? No, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s right. I don¡¯t know what to call it, but they¡¯re all going to be tough opponents. You¡¯re young, barely out of your shell. If you get sucked along to this Contest, you have to be a lot stronger than you are now or you¡¯ll simply be killed as collateral damage. I¡¯m not about to let that happen if I can help it.¡± ¡°Too many words. Take me to where I can hunt, where I can eat. That will be enough.¡± Duke shrugged. It¡¯s not like Ophirian isn¡¯t going to go hunt and kill as is natural for him. I just hope he doesn¡¯t go to sleep after every kill. Maybe that¡¯s it. Maybe I can convince him to hunt for experience and practice rather than just food. Guess I¡¯ll just have to see. Duke TELEPORTED the both of them to the furthest reaches of the mountains surrounding the city of Havenreach. There, he went to work with his DUNGEON MANIPULATION. He carved out a massive cavern and cave network with interconnecting tunnels. He changed the terrain and environmental aspects of the area, adding a great deal of diversity. He established caverns to focus on each and every element he could think of as well as entirely different environments. When he was done with those, he set about populating the areas. He discovered a happy surprise that his DUNGEON CREATURE CREATION Ability worked differently while inside a dungeon. It effectively removed the limit on the number and types of creatures he could create. None of them could leave the dungeon, but he was sure that he could find a way to use this to his advantage. He created creatures of all types he could for each of the environments. They were all low Tier, but the levels varied with the strongest being nearly level 50. As Ophirian gets stronger, I¡¯ll up the levels and Tiers. I have no idea how quickly he¡¯ll be able to grow, but this will be a good testing ground for him. ¡°Ophirian, I will be staying in this central cave and working on a project. Explore the tunnels and caverns around us. Kill everything you come across. They are all enemies and need to be slain.¡± ¡°I hunt.¡± With that simple response, Ophirian slithered off into the nearest tunnel. Duke set to work again. As he worked, he found himself getting distracted by his own thoughts again and again, frequently concerned about Ophirian. Every time he checked on the serpent, he found his bond to be doing just fine and racking up quite the body count. Finally, he put the project aside and addressed the other thought that kept coming to mind. Focusing on his DUNGEON MANIPULATION Ability, Duke was able to separate his cave system from the rest of Havenreach. The next part was where he pushed his Ability to the limit of its Practiced rank. The reality of the cave system rippled and stretched until he was finally able to add his own time dilation to the cave. It took most of his Mana and all his effort, but he was able to increase the flow of time in the caves. The result was that time flowed four times faster in the cave system than in Havenreach. The combination of both dilation effects compounded making time move 108 times faster than the outside world.Stolen story; please report. Duke smiled to himself as he looked at how much his Ability gained from that feat. A jump of fifteen levels in the Ability. I¡¯m going to have to increase it more before the Contest. That and DUNGEON CORE CREATION. I don¡¯t know if it will be viable strategy, but I am hoping it will work on at least someone as a trump card. I¡¯ll have to keep it well hidden but if nothing else, I¡¯ll have a place to escape to. He returned to the task at hand, tearing down the navigation console and RESTORING it over and over, studying the runescript as intensely as he could manage. It was a slow process, but he spent a full ten days just studying the console and checking on Ophirian. The serpent had grown significantly over the course of the ten days, reaching level 14 but Duke could see that his growth was slowing. It was becoming evident that the greatest challenge for the serpent so far had been finding his prey and finding prey that was challenging enough. Duke smiled. I can fix that. Time to add some Tier Two bosses in and let the caverns respawn their creatures. Maybe I should start adding intelligent creatures as well. Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Duke put his plan into action, starting with the respawning mobs. Modifying the dungeon area to respawn mobs was far easier than Duke had expected, as if it was the natural state for the dungeon. Adding in the higher-Tier bosses took some time, but he was able to manage it with minimal effort as well. It was clear that the dungeon wanted to spawn mobs and bigger ones at that. Duke relaxed his hold on the area, allowing the dungeon more freedom to add and increase the monster levels. Yeah, go ahead and pump up the dungeon. Ophirian has 10% of my stats added to his own anyway. Makes him way overpowered for his level and Tier. Setting aside his concerns for Ophirian, he turned back to his project. The investigative part of his project was done as far as he was concerned. He had learned as much as he could by tearing the console apart and rebuilding it. Now it was time to try runescripting in the manner he was hoping would work for him. He started with what he hoped would be the easiest step ¨C creating the runescript out of dungeon essence. Solidifying the image of the runescript he had studied over and over for the past ten days, he began to build the script out of pure dungeon essence. It started off slowly, forming in the air and growing into the intricate web of scripts. They were intertwined with each other, connecting in multiple ways to form a lobsided matrix. Layer by layer, Duke added runescript for several painstaking hours. When he finally finished, he was mentally exhausted, but his creation stood stable in the air before him. He sat down in an extremely comfortable chair he had made for himself and promptly fell asleep. Duke awoke surprised that he had actually crashed out but awoke refreshed and feeling hopeful that he would be able to figure out the next stage in his runescripting project today. But first, it was time to test the runescript he had spent so many hours on the previous day. With great anticipation, he approached the convoluted maze of runescript floating in the air. He placed his hand upon the Mana input and slowly added Mana. After ten minutes of adjusting his Mana input to find the right level, he came to the only conclusion possible: He had failed. Growling, he set back to studying his construct. It took him all of thirty seconds to find the first error in the runescript. There was a spot where the defining line didn¡¯t match his memory of the console. He compared the console to his own runescript and found that it was indeed an error. A momentary application of will later, the error was corrected in the floating dungeon essence. Duke beamed with pride as he input Mana once again into the construct only to get the same result. He shook his head and went back to error-correcting. This reminds me too much of that one computer programming class I took in the academy. That was excruciatingly boring, and this looks like it will be just the same. But it is also important. I need to do this so I may as well get to it. Duke spent the rest of the day correcting the hundreds of errors he had made in the construct. Finally, after having a wonderful turkey dinner with all the fixings, Duke approached the construct one more time. I just love being able to create anything I want out of dungeon essence. I might just have to push that Ability hard to increase it. I can only take a bit over 400 gold worth of stuff out of a dungeon as of now but that¡¯s at Practiced rank. How much more will it be at Adept or even Master. Damnit, Duke, focus. With more than a little trepidation, Duke pushed Mana into the construct. The entire thing immediately glowed with power and the navigational display lit up. It showed his own position and nothing else. Duke frowned but decided to check the result from the console he knew was functional. It showed the same nothingness. You idiot! You are inside a dungeon. There are no other star systems here. I¡¯ll have to leave the dungeon to test it. Duke used his DUNGEON SENSE to take a quick look at Ophirian¡¯s hunting progress and found the serpent stalking a pair of kobolds down a tunnel. Guess he¡¯s doing well enough then. A quick look at his bonded¡¯s information showed that the serpent was already well into the 20s for level. Good progress. He¡¯ll be fine if I¡¯m gone for a bit. Duke TELEPORTED himself, the console, and his construct out of the dungeon. Thankfully, the value of the construct seemed to be less than his limit which had been a significant concern for Duke. He immediately fed Mana into both and saw their displays light up with data. He had done it! Alright! Phase one is complete. Now to play with this thing for a bit. Duke spent an hour running through all the settings and controls. He had used the navigational console on the Iron Reaver more than once and had a basic understanding of what he could do with it. The more he worked on it, the more he realized how little he actually knew about its functions and how to use them. Ya know, I would actually RTFM if there was a manual to read. Guess it¡¯s trial and error time. After two hours of experimental discovery, he returned to the dungeon caverns. Book 3, Chapter 58 When Duke returned to the cavern system within the dungeon, he was greeted by Ophirian, ¡°You have been gone for nearly ten days. In that time, I hunted well and have grown much stronger, but these creatures are no challenge for me. Either we go elsewhere, or we find something more challenging in here.¡± ¡°Well, you certainly seem to have grown some.¡± The serpent was now almost ten meters long and as Duke checked his stats, he saw that Ophirian was on the verge of hitting Tier Two. Duke¡¯s smile deepened. You want it more difficult? Sure. Here goes. Duke met Ophirian¡¯s gaze, his smile growing broader and perhaps a bit more sinister, ¡°As you wish.¡± He loosened the restrictions on the caverns, allowing up to Tier Four creatures and adding elementals, golems, and undead to the mix. ¡°Enjoy your hunting.¡± Ophirian cocked his head to the side, studying Duke¡¯s response and body language but eventually gave the equivalent of a serpent¡¯s shrug and went back to hunting. He was determined to surpass his bondmate in hunting skill and prowess. Having been separated from his community, he had no sense of where he or his bondmate stood in the order of beasts. He just knew the beasts he had been hunting were too weak to offer a challenge. He slid away in near silence to return to hunting. His belly was full despite needing more food than he had expected to fuel his growth. Still, he needed to hunt, to grow. It was an imperative that drove from his soul. Duke dismissed his construct and proceeded to rebuild it over and over again. Each time, his speed and accuracy increased until he finally got the notification he was hoping for. *** Congratulations, you have shown your prowess in crafting runescript. You have gained the exceedingly rare Ability RUNESCRIPTING at Untrained level 1. Continue to practice your Ability and it will continue to improve. You are now capable of creating basic runescripts based on your own thoughts and capabilities. As your Ability increases, you will be able to create and modify more complex runescripts. In addition to this new Ability, you have gained the Skill Runescript Knowledge. This Skill is a compliment to the Ability and represents your knowledge base on various runescripts. Increasing your knowledge of runescripts will accelerate the growth of your Ability. The Ability and Skill will not grow in lockstep, but growth in one will affect the growth of the other. *** Duke whooped, pumping his fist into the air. Only took me three weeks of concentrated work to get the Ability. Well, that and however long I have been casually studying the runescripts I have run into. Still, Baslin is going to be so pissed at me if I surpass him in this. Guess that¡¯s even more motivation to work even harder then. Ophirian slithered through the tunnel, sneaking up on his latest prey. This prey was different than most every other he had stalked. It was a stalker itself. It moved quietly and stayed hidden in the shadows. Unfortunately for it, the serpent¡¯s senses were far better than any normal creature¡¯s, especially as Ophirian continued to pour his Characteristic Points into his Intuition. With the boost he received from his bondmate, he was approaching four hundred. There was little that could escape his senses at their base, but his natural Ability enhancing his senses multiplied the effect. He could sense the heat of his prey¡¯s body, the scent of its organs, the stink of its breath, even hear the sound as it adjusted its feet ever so slightly with each careful step. The serpent that had come to be known as the Terror of the Tunnels to the newly raised communities in the caverns and had become the focus of all their greatest hunters. To hunt such a monster was the height of their prowess. None who had hunted the serpent had managed to so much as land a blow on the legend. There were few who even lived through an encounter ¨C all by fleeing the moment one member of their party was attacked. With each hunter that never returned, the legend of the Terror grew, completely unbeknownst to the actual Terror. As Ophirian closed in on the Twilight Stalker, he noticed that something was slightly different than what he had come to expect. He could sense other scents and heat signatures ahead in the tunnel. They were not moving ¨C perhaps this Stalker was hunting them? Ophirian closed the distance to his prey slightly, still just out of striking range. His prey unexpectedly sped up, sprinting down the corridor, even running up and along the walls in its haste. It bounced off the walls past the prey that the serpent was sure that the Stalker was hunting. Ophirian was not about to let his prey escape him and launched himself down the corridor. He was the superior hunter, and his prey could never escape him! He sped down the corridor, bursting through the prey scattered against the walls. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Pain! Blades sliced into his belly scales and spears stabbed into him from below. Ophirian hissed as he felt his momentum arrested by a combination of blades, spears, and spikes and then some strange thing that looked like woven-together intestines wrapped around him. The strange wrapping constricted around him. Him! How could this thing constrict him? Then, the height of insults! The creatures set upon him. More blows struck him, hurting him. He felt pain like he had never felt before in his life and to make it worse, he was trapped! Between the spikes, spears, blades, and the constricting thing, he was nearly unable to move. He struggled against his bindings, but even his prodigious Strength was useless without any leverage. Every struggle just drove the spears and blades deeper into him. The pain was maddening! Already, his Health had been reduced by a third. This was more damage than he had ever experienced in his lifetime, and he was enraged and frustrated. Helpless! He could not move! His hisses of anger blew out of his squeezed-together jaws. Blow after blow continued to rain down on him. One attacker blinded his left eye, and the pain ratcheted up to another level. His Health was starting to fall faster and faster as bleeding effects began to compound. Every thrash hurt him more and more. His every instinct called on him to fight but he was unable to do so. As his Health fell below 10%, he reached out to his bond. His pain and rage reached across the bond and pulled him to his bondmate through the Ability he had been given with the bond. Ophirian TELEPORTED to Duke, leaving all the spikes, spears, blades, and that accused constricting thing behind. Still, he was bleeding profusely and in tremendous pain as he continued to bleed. Duke reacted quickly, dropping his runescripting work and pulling his most potent healing potion from his INVENTORY. He fed the potion to Ophirian who swallowed the cool liquid on instinct, the mental and emotional urging from his bond pushing him to action. Immediately, the pain lessened, and his wounds stopped bleeding. The relief was a complete blessing and Ophirian was finally able to speak again, ¡°They hurt me!¡± ¡°Was that the first time you have been hurt?¡± ¡°First time I was hurt. Yes. I do not like it.¡± ¡°Not many do. What happened? Did you run into a high-Tier boss monster that was too much for you?¡± ¡°No. They tricked me. No honor from the prey. They trapped me in a thing with holes and had spears in the floor. Spears in the floor! I couldn¡¯t move. I couldn¡¯t fight! They are not supposed to do that!¡± ¡°What? Fight back intelligently? Just how many of them have you killed?¡± ¡°I did not count. Many.¡± ¡°So, they got smart and ambushed you. Let me guess, they had someone run away from you and lead you right into the ambush.¡± ¡°How did you know? Were you watching?¡± ¡°No, I wasn¡¯t watching but that is how the weaker kill off the stronger, by being smarter.¡± ¡°I am smart!¡± ¡°You have raised your Reason score, but that doesn¡¯t make you wise. You have to experience more in life to become wiser. This was a good lesson for you. No matter how strong you are, there¡¯s always someone stronger and if not, there¡¯s always someone clever enough to take you on in a way you weren¡¯t expecting. I¡¯m just glad you were able to TELEPORT here in time. Have you used the Ability before?¡± ¡°No, I hunt as my ancestors did with stealth and the power of my own body!¡± ¡°You are not your ancestors. Learn from this. Use all your Abilities and hunt like you should. You have advantages that they did not. It is foolish arrogance not to use them. Had you used your TELEPORTATION Ability at the start of the ambush, you probably could have killed all your attackers before getting seriously hurt. Remember TELEPORTATION can bring things to you just as easily as you can go to them. There is nothing stopping you from bringing your foe right to your fangs.¡± ¡°I will think on it. Thank you for helping me. I will go rest now.¡± ¡°Yes, think about it and get some rest. That¡¯s a good plan. And when you¡¯re done resting, go hunt down your ambushers and actually use your Abilities to kill them all. Every lat one of them.¡± Duke felt a pulse of agreement from Ophirian as he returned to his runescripting experimentation, satisfied that he had gotten through to the serpent. He had hidden his concern as well as he could ¨C Ophirian had been heavily wounded in that ambush and probably would not have survived if not for his intervention. It was a harsh lesson to learn but I hope he has learned that he is not invulnerable and able to just barge through things. We¡¯ll see Like I¡¯m one to talk on that front. The runescript for the console was still challenging for Duke but he continued to tear it apart and reconstruct it in the air over and over. Each time, he tried to make the construct just a bit more compact and a bit smaller. Progress was excruciatingly slow, but there was indeed progress. He had managed to constrict the working construct down by a full centimeter so far. At this rate, I may be able to get it to the size I need in a year. With the time dilation here, that might actually be possible. Then again, I am hoping that I can advance the Ability sooner than that and that should speed things up. Book 3, Chapter 59 Ophirian woke from his slumber to discover that his natural healing had finished the job the powerful healing potion had started. He could now see out of his left eye, which was convenient but with all his other senses so empowered not as necessary as it would be for others. Still, he was happy to take advantage of every edge he could. He had vengeance to bring down upon his attackers. His bondmate¡¯s words echoed in the recesses of his mind and he would follow the advice. It was time to use every Ability to its full extent. The serpent flowed through the tunnels and caverns, senses primed for a trail that would lead to his targeted prey. Along the way, he came upon others using the same tunnels. He left none at his back. All he came upon met a quick death through his venom, but he did not linger or enjoy the kills. They were merely an inconvenient presence in his path. It took hours but Ophirian finally picked up the trail of his attackers. He slowed his pace and increased his concentration. Stealth was his ally, and he was about to put every ounce of it to work. He moved slowly and carefully, choosing his path with painstaking care. He scented and tasted every coil¡¯s length before advancing, testing it for hidden dangers. In time, his vigilance paid off as he came upon a section of the tunnel riddled with traps. Ophirian stopped his slithering and studied the trapped tunnel. He lost all sense of time as he studied the extent of the traps until he was sure of all the traps in the area. Then, he TELEPORTED beyond the traps, using the advice his bondmate had given him. ¡°Use all your Abilities,¡± he had said. As Ophirian slithered down the tunnel beyond the traps he knew that his bondmate was right. He was no simple serpent, no lowly snake. He was smarter and more cunning and he would show his enemies just how deadly that made him. He found six other trapped sections of the tunnel, each bypassed just as easily. He knew he was getting closer to their settlement cavern as he came across the first guards. He could sense them from far enough away that they would not know that he was there. Ophirian decided that it was time to again test the advice that his bondmate had given him. He reached out with his TELEPORTATION and pulled the first guard to his fangs, biting down before the stalker could defend itself or even cry out. The powerful paralytic venom went to work quickly, freezing his foe into inactivity before the other aspects of the venom began to shut down its organs. Ophirian was tempted to consume this foe out of spite, but he could hear the other guard starting to look for its companion. With a conceptual jerk of his head, he threw the body to the side and summoned the next morsel to his fangs. This one had a weapon drawn but never completed his swing as Opirian¡¯s fangs penetrated its skull, killing it instantly. As the blade fell from its dead hand, the great serpent opened his jaws wide and, with a series of swallows, consumed it. He had time for this snack. He enjoyed the warmth of a meal to digest and the temptation to coil up and rest was strong, stemming from instinct. Ophirian resisted for long enough that his willpower took over, silencing the call of instinct. With a serpentine smile, he silently moved down the tunnel yet again. Four guardposts and several trapped sections of tunnel later, he entered the cavern of his hated enemy. His pride drove him to charge in and kill everyone but, again, his reasoning ability took over. He studied the cavern with his senses and found just what he was looking for and it was not far. Only about one hundred meters away from this entrance was a ledge overlooking the entire cavern. Ophirian began to climb up to the ledge, gripping rocks with his coils. It was difficult and slow going with him loosing the rocks he clung to frequently. After several minutes of struggle, he simply TELEPORTED up to the ledge, admonishing himself for not doing that in the first place. He studied his ledge. There were bones that cracked under his weight, evidence that something else had chosen this as a hunting spot before him. He would have to keep an eye out for any other predators that might be about. He didn¡¯t think that there was much of a chance of meeting whatever had occupied this ledge previously as the bones were brittle and long dried out. He settled in to observe. Days passed as Ophirian sat coiled up on his ledge. He watched and waited from his perch, undetected. Whenever he sensed one of the Twilight Stalkers below separated from the sight of others, he TELEPORTED the victim right to his fangs and silently killed them. His belly was constantly full, and he could feel himself growing day by day.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. On the third day, he couldn¡¯t help but celebrate as two very special things happened. First, he pulled a warrior to him and killed the creature easily but as it died, he realized that he knew its scent. This was one of his attackers. Revenge was his! The second thing was that the experience from this kill was enough to push him to what would be level 51. Instead, he Tiered up to Tier Two. The notifications were delicious. *** Congratulations, you have advanced to Tier Two. You have automatically gained your bondmate¡¯s second-highest Ability. In this case you have gained the Ability RESTORE. Additionally, you have a choice of one of the following:
  1. Create a new Ability appropriate for your Tier
  2. Advance an existing Ability by one rank (Maximum of Adept)
  3. Advance an existing Skill by one rank (Maximum of Adept)
  4. Gain 20 bonus Characteristic Points
  5. Switch out one Ability from your bondmate for another less-advanced Ability.
*** Ophirian savored the rush of advancement but puzzled over the choices. He could create his own Ability but did not know enough about what that entailed. He could also advance one of his Abilities or Skills. That didn¡¯t appeal to him as he could advance them through use. The bonus characteristic points would be nice, but it seemed like a small amount. That was slightly more than two levels worth at this Tier. Finally, he could switch out one of his bondmate¡¯s Abilities for another. This was perhaps the most appealing for him as he was unsure what he could use RESTORE for and how it could benefit him. Ultimately, he decided to speak with his bondmate about it later. For now, he was ready to experience the rush of leveling now that he had returned to level one of the new Tier. Day after day, Ophirian watched over the Stalkers, slowly culling them one straggler at a time. He saw the settlement¡¯s mood and habits change over this time. At first, they had been confident and bold but as their hunters disappeared, never returning from their hunting parties they grew increasingly panicked. The day that Ophirian got their shaman, the entire village went into full-on panic mode. The remaining warriors gathered around the last two dozen residents. Ophirian could hear them shouting, urging the villagers to do something. He did not understand their language, but the urgency was clear. He settled in to watch for anyone separated from the group and was delighted when one of the warriors headed off on their own towards an exit tunnel. Ophirian didn¡¯t hesitate to snatch him up for another meal. Hours after the warrior did not return, despair set in amongst the remainder and Ophirian watched with fascination. The reaction of this prey was becoming erratic. There were some who refused to leave their huts and none left without being in at least a pair. He concluded that he would not have any stragglers to pick off anymore, so it was time to change strategy. It was time to leave his perch. He waited until they were all hiding in their huts and TELEPORTED down to the village. Slowly stalking his way around to the first hut he knew was occupied, he focused his senses on the inside. He could sense the heat signatures of the pair of Stalkers huddling together. He could smell the fear radiating off his prey. It warmed his cold, reptilian heart. He was upon them with a thought, and both had been bitten before they could react. He left the bodies, his belly still full from the last warrior he had eaten. The next hut had three and they were dispatched as quickly as the previous two. He continued on in this manner killing each and every Stalker in the village. Finally, he came upon the single remaining Stalker. It was cuddled up in a ball, shivering with the sharp reek of fear. Ophirian let out a hiss of disgust. How had these creatures been able to capture and wound him so grievously? They were pathetic. Unworthy. He almost left right there but the mewling creature uncurled and stood. Ophirian rose up over the creature, his tongue tasting something more than fear coming from the creature. Without warning, the creature unsheathed its claws and launched itself at Ophirian with a shout of rage. The creature¡¯s rage was blinding and he struck with fury, slashing into the great serpent¡¯s scales with all its might and frenzy. The claws scraped his scales but did not penetrate ¨C his scales had grown thick and strong. Ophirian looped himself around the creature over and over, holding it still until he could bring his fangs to bear. The Twilight Stalker village ended with a single bite. Ophirian consumed his final prey with an odd feeling flowing through him. He was satisfied that he had gotten his vengeance on the creatures that had attacked him, but there was a sense of emptiness and lack of fulfillment that ran through him. He did not understand this feeling and he did not like it. His racial memories gave him some hints but nothing strong enough to explain what he was feeling. He knew he had to return to his bondmate and ask him about it. He TELEPORTED back to the origin cavern to do just that. Book 3, Chapter 60 While Ophirian had been on his vengeance-hunting trip, Duke had remined focused on improving his runescripting. Days had passed but Duke had lost track of just how long it had been. Instead, his focus was entirely on the runescript and how to shrink it down to the size he needed. His concentration and focus had been intense until Ophirian appeared in front of him again. The serpent had the most smug look Duke had ever seen as he slithered up to him. Beyond the smug look, Duke immediately noticed that the serpent was at least twice the size it had last been. How the hell can he grow that fast? What has he been eating? ¡°Welcome back, Ophirian. From the look on your face, the hunting trip was a success?¡± ¡°Oh yes. I killed the entire village of my attackers. Vengeance tastes so sweet.¡± Duke didn¡¯t want to ask, but he had no choice, ¡°Tastes sweet ¨C as in you ate the entire village?¡± ¡°No, of course not. I eventually got full.¡± Duke silently reminded himself that he was not dealing with a person and not to judge the serpent by his own standards. ¡°Well, congratulations. I see that you tiered up as well. That¡¯s great!¡± ¡°Yes, tiered up and that is what I wanted to talk to you about. What should I do with my Tier up options? So many things I could do. Too many choices.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll ask you a few questions and see if we can get to an answer for you. First question is what have you considered already?¡± ¡°I considered taking a different Ability or advancing one.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t consider a new Ability?¡± ¡°I did, but I don¡¯t know what I could make.¡± ¡°That can be quite the dilemma. You are fast and immensely strong as well as tough. You have a deadly venom and can constrict prey too. What are you missing?¡± ¡°I miss nothing. I can sense my prey long before it senses me. I strike with accuracy and speed. None can evade my strikes.¡± ¡°Not the point I was trying to make,¡± Duke cradled his head in his hand for a moment before continuing. ¡°How can you strike at a foe who is outside of the range of your fangs?¡± ¡°I TELEPORT the foe to my fangs and they die.¡± The statement was so matter-of-fact that it actually gave Duke pause and caused him to consider what his bond had actually said. ¡°Are you saying that you TELEPORT your foe directly onto your fangs and not so close you can bite them?¡± ¡°Of course. Why would I waste the motion of biting them when I can just put my fang where they are going to appear?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s a good point but not how TELEPORT is supposed to work. You shouldn¡¯t be able to TELEPORT something into solid matter ¨C something to investigate. Call it an interesting development. What if they are too big to TELEPORT to you?¡± ¡°Then I TELEPORT to them. You ask foolish questions.¡± Duke steadied himself, allowing his frustration to dissipate before beginning again, ¡°How about giving yourself the Ability to spit your venom at a foe? That way you can reach a foe without having to move it or yourself.¡± ¡°That¡¯s actually a really good idea. Why didn¡¯t you say that at first?¡± Duke held in his response for a breath, ¡°I was using the Socratic method to try and get you to come to the same conclusion I did.¡± ¡°The what? Don¡¯t talk in circles. Just say what you mean. You¡¯re very strange. It¡¯s a good thing you are strong, or I would just eat you too.¡± ¡°Yeah. Good thing, huh? Well, go learn your new Ability and then go back to hunting. You are still too weak to survive with me where I am going.¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Ophirian didn¡¯t answer Duke but instead coiled up in the corner of the cavern and began to create his new Ability. Duke, for his part, went back to work on his runescripting and did not even notice when Ophirian slithered out of the cavern to resume hunting. Ophirian continued to hunt the caverns, gaining strength and power. Every organized group he encountered fascinated him in how they resisted his incursion into their territories. Most did not even know he was there until he decided to show himself but the few who detected him were the ones he most enjoyed dealing with. He learned that power was the ultimate answer. When they sent dozens to attack him all at once, he used a combination of VENOM SPITTING and TELEPORTATION to keep the group from pinning him down. But he was starting to run into a problem that he had not anticipated. He was growing too large to fight in such enclosed spaces. Food had been more than plentiful and his growth had gotten extreme. With reluctance, he returned to the origin cavern yet again, showing off his Tier Three body to Duke. Duke put aside the compacted console that he had managed to reduce to the size of his torso to marvel at his bondmate. He could see that the serpent had continued leveling and was now a Tier three creature. But what was more amazing was the sheer size of the serpent. He now took up nearly half of the cavern. How the hell am I going to travel anywhere with him this size? ¡°You have grown larger than even I expected. And Tier Three as well.¡± ¡°I have grown too big to hunt these tunnels and caverns. The prey is¡­unsatisfying.¡± ¡°Oh, have I got just the thing for you.¡± With focus and Ability, Duke expanded the caverns and tunnels making them tremendous in scale and changed out the existing creatures for all manner of giant-kin, allowing the dungeon free reign to increase to as high as Tier Five. Ophirian noted the expansion of the tunnel leading to the cavern and quirked his head at Duke, ¡°You have altered the caverns?¡± ¡°Indeed, I have. Go have fun hunting but be warned, you are likely to encounter foes who are your match or even beyond your match out there.¡± Duke hadn¡¯t finished speaking before the serpent enthusiastically slithered down the tunnel. He chuckled at the tip of the serpent¡¯s tail as it disappeared down the hall. Turning back to his work, he checked his system clock and noted that it had been a bit over one hundred days since they came to the cavern complex. The quick calculation in his head translated it to one full day outside. I have at most two hundred more days before I have to leave here and get back to preparing for the Contest. Nothing to do, but to do it. Duke¡¯s Abilities and Skills continued to increase as he worked. When his RUNESCRIPTING Ability finally broke into the Initiate rank, his progress began to accelerate. Since he was working the same runescript construct over and over again, his aptitude with this particular runescript far outpaced his Ability to the point that on the 215th day of dedicated focus, he had finally managed to shrink the script down to where it would fit in the palm of his hand. His shout of joy and triumph echoed down the tunnels and was picked up by numerous creatures who decided to come and investigate. When the first giant emerged from the tunnel, Duke smiled. It resembled the giant he had encountered in the forest so long ago ¨C the giant that had very nearly killed him. He stood in the center of the cavern with his arms crossed grinning at the monster. ¡°You want some of this?¡± Duke chuckled. ¡°You really don¡¯t but if you think you do, by all means, come and get it!¡± Duke¡¯s taunting elicited a roar and a charge, the giant cocking its arm holding a stalactite cocking back to smash him. I guess this isn¡¯t one of those smart mobs that is supposed to be running around here. The giant charged forward, swinging its stone club down with all the force its arm could put into its strike, the wind whistling with the speed of its descent. Duke did not dodge. Instead, he reached up and caught the descending mass of stone in his hands. The impact was tremendous, sending spidering cracks propagating outwards from Duke¡¯s feet as he was driven several centimeters into the floor of the cavern. His fingers dug into the stone of the club as his feet hooked themselves into the floor of the cavern. He held tight as the giant attempted to pull his club back up. The floor, splintered and cracked as it was, did not hold for long, but long enough to resist the giant¡¯s initial pull. The giant gripped the stone club with both hands and pulled for all he was worth, and Duke simply let go, TELEPORTING to the side of the giant. With all its might, the giant pulled on his club and met no resistance. The club rocketed upwards and back over its head, the entire momentum of the giant pulling upwards and backwards. Without the expected resistance, it overbalanced and fell onto its back, slamming its head into the floor of the cavern with a tremendous boom. As the dazed giant cleared its head, Duke flew up in front of its face and shook his head at the brute, ¡°You didn¡¯t consider who you were attacking, did you? Not very smart.¡± Duke slammed his tonfa lengthwise into the giant¡¯s forehead. The crack of bone echoed throughout the cavern as the giant blinked, stunned again. Duke rose back into the air, moving out of the giant¡¯s reach. Shaking its aching head, the giant rose to its feet, its club barely gripped in its left hand. With a third shake, its eyes refocused on Duke, narrowing as it studied the man floating in air before him. Duke saw the moment the decision came to the giant¡¯s eyes. With a snapping of its tremendous muscles, it threw the club at Duke with the force of a freight train. Duke TELEPORTED out of the path. When Duke looked back to where the giant had been standing, all he saw was the rapidly retreating form of the giant. Duke laughed as he watched the brute run away. For a moment, he considered pursuing but decided against it. He had the next, and potentially hardest stage of his project to work on. Book 3, Chapter 61 As Duke worked on his project, Ophirian continued to hunt the giants and giant creatures inhabiting the caverns. Only once did he wind up fleeing from a foe. It was a Tier Six, armored creature that ignored his venom. He was sure that he could have eventually overcome the foe, but it was far more efficient to hunt foes that he could more easily defeat. He had set a goal of achieving Tier Four before Duke finished his project. He had no idea how long his bondmate was going to take but his first project had taken months. Ophirian hunted. Each environment presented a new type of foe and a new challenge. He found that jungle settings were the easiest for him to hunt within. Something about the environment just felt natural to him and they called out heavily to his ancestral memories. The volcanic environment, however, was his true bane. The very ground was too hot for his immense body and the one time the ground gave way, dropping him into bubbling lava was more than enough to get him to TELEPORT away. If he had not switched out RESTORE for REGENERATION at Tier Three, that would have been far more serious. Duke meanwhile, toiled on his singular project. He was focused on building a core with the runescript for the navigational console imbedded within it. His progress was slow, but now that he had the actual Ability, he could see steady progress in the final miniaturization and embedding project. The most difficult part was embedding the runescript while still allowing the core to function as a Mana Core to still be able to store the Mana necessary for the console to function. It took hundreds of failures before Duke finally got a functioning prototype. It didn¡¯t function well, but it did the job. Duke could have stopped there, but he continued to push the Ability and finally, broke the RUNESCRIPTING Ability into Practiced rank. That is what allowed him to finally combine it with his Adept DUNGEON CORE CREATION Ability to make a fully functioning console that was powered by its own core structure. With his new item in his INVENTORY, he TELEPORTED himself to Ophirian¡¯s location. The Serpent was wrapped around the form of a giant armored bull, his fangs buried in the bull¡¯s neck. Duke¡¯s first instinct was to step in and help his bondmate but he held back, knowing that Ophirian had been fighting and hunting on his own for nearly a year now. Instead, he watched. Ophirian squeezed tighter, using all his two thousand points of Strength the crush down on the bull¡¯s ribcage. The constant pressure made it hard for the bull to breathe, ratcheting the hold tighter with every exhale. At the same time, his venom coursed through the bull¡¯s veins. Somehow, the bull was resisting the venom which annoyed Ophirian to no end. If not for the resistance to his venom, he wouldn¡¯t have had to resort to this tedious constriction attack. He flexed his venom sacs again, shooting more venom into the bull¡¯s veins out of pure annoyance. When the bull stumbled, its eyes wide with panic and the barest wheeze of air coming out of its nostrils Duke knew it was nearly over. Seconds later, the bull finally collapsed, the last gasp of air having already been forced from its lungs. Ophirian uncoiled from his prey and turned to face Duke, ¡°Have you finished your work?¡± ¡°I finally have. It is time for us to leave this place.¡± ¡±At long last. Hunting has been good for my growth, but I need more.¡± ¡°Yes, it is quite time for more. Our travels are about to begin. But your size will pose a problem.¡± Ophirian had continued to grow as he hunted and gained power. He was now nearly one hundred meters long and six meters wide. ¡°Do not concern yourself with that.¡± Ophirian began to glow with a bluish-purple light which caused Duke to step back so he could take more of the massive serpent in. As he watched, the serpent began to shrink at a rapidly increasing pace. In just under a minute, Ophirian had shrunk down and transformed into an indistinct curled-up shape. Duke rushed forward to check on Ophirian as the transformation ended. What he discovered as he reached his bond was a humanoid creature slowly sitting up. Duke reached out a hand to help him up. The hand that met his was covered with very fine black scales and sharp, pointed claws on the tips of its fingers. The scales were flexible but strong and the hand was otherwise human-shaped. When Duke pulled Ophirian to his feet, he was greeted by a mostly human-looking appearance but there were enough features that were off that he could not pass for human up close. His black skin was covered in fine scales that became more defined in certain areas such as his brow ridges and hands. His hair was another issue. It had the look of dreadlocks, but if you looked close enough you could see the scales that covered each thick strand. Duke was just thankful that they didn¡¯t have snake heads.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Well, what do you think? Will I fit where we need to go? And, yes, I know that I still have work to do to make me look more human, but you have to admit this is pretty close since I only have you to go by, which makes me have to guess on some of it.¡± When he spoke, his fangs were visible, giving him even more of an intimidating appearance. ¡°That is an impressive transformation. Pretty fucking amazing, actually,¡± Duke glanced downward and chuckled. ¡°While I appreciate the ego boost, you have to work on the proportions a bit. No woman is going to let you near her with that trouser snake. Geez, half that size is going to intimidate most women.¡± ¡°But that is my manhood. As a Great Serpent, my manhood should reflect my greatness!¡± ¡°That¡¯s all well and good, but it¡¯s going to make walking difficult with it hanging down past your knee like that. Like I said, tone it down by half and it will still frighten the ladies. Well, not all the ladies, I guess. But, yeah, tone it down a bit.¡± Duke pulled clothes out of his INVENTORY and helped Ophirian get dressed. The bulge in his pantleg was rather pronounced and Ophirian stumbled when he took his first step. He hissed, ¡°This was never a problem before pants!¡± ¡°Would you rather wear a dress?¡± ¡°Would it give me more freedom?¡± ¡°It would, but it could confuse others about your gender.¡± ¡°My comfort is more important than what lesser races feel about me.¡± ¡°Hmm, I have an idea.¡± Duke created a kilt that was longer than proper and a shirt that went along with it. ¡°Here, change into these.¡± When Ophirian had finished changing, Duke had finished the outfit with appropriate socks and shoes. The socks and shoes required a few adjustments as Ophirian¡¯s toe claws tore through most simple fabrics and leathers. Finally, Duke just made socks that allowed the toes to pass through them and shoes that had enough space for the claws. It gave him the appearance of having excessively large feet, and Duke chuckled at the reality of the joke about big feet in this case. ¡°Well, it looks like you are ready to go. No one is going to mistake you for human, which is fine for now. There may be a time that you will need to be more human in appearance, but we¡¯ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Is there anything you need to collect before we go? It¡¯s not likely that we will be coming back here anytime soon, if ever.¡± ¡°I have all I need.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s be on our way. I have to check in on the kingdom before we go, but that should not take long. A few stops and then,¡± Duke held up his navigation core, ¡°we go truly hunting.¡± ¡°You have two weeks at most. Do not delay.¡± Ophirian spun, his jaws opening unnaturally wide as he was stopped from striking by Duke¡¯s outstretched arm. ¡°Why do you stop me from attacking this foe who snuck up on us?¡± ¡°Ophirian, let me introduce you to the Avatar of the Overmind. He is not our enemy. He is an ally, a sponsor, if you will.¡± ¡°Yes, you could very well call me a sponsor. That¡¯s a good way to look at it. The second wave of arrivals for the Contest have already started. They are gathering loot, prizes, and power quickly. Are you sure you do not want to enter earlier?¡± ¡°I am sure. I am about to go give the Syndicate a lesson in humility they won¡¯t soon forget.¡± The Overmind gave a contemplative nod before shrugging, ¡°I did leave the decision up to you. But, judging from what has happened already, you will have to start killing Contestants the moment you arrive.¡± ¡°I pretty much thought that was the plan.¡± ¡°We are going hunting?¡± ¡°We ARE going hunting but must make a few stops first. Like I said.¡± ¡°Boring.¡± ¡°Your companion seems a bit hungry for fighting. Shame he won¡¯t be able to join you in the Contest.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t a beast tamer or similar Class where he would be an essential part of you. For the purposes of the Contest, he¡¯s the same as a hireling, a mercenary.¡± ¡°I want to hunt. I want to fight. I will kill!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll put you somewhere that you¡¯ll have plenty to hunt. But you really should learn more than just how to kill. You¡¯ll be the most boring companion otherwise.¡± Ophirian just stared at the avatar with a low hiss while Duke fully stepped between the two. The avatar chuckled and waved, ¡°It¡¯s not like he could hurt me, Duke. But my point is that even with all you have done so far, you are behind the curve. Most everyone below Tier Five has already been killed. You will be facing multiple Tier Sevens and Eights when you get there. Alliances will have already been made and you will be the lone fighter. If all the Tier Fives fall, I will have no choice but to send you in earlier than you wanted.¡± Duke listened as the Overmind explained the situation. Should I go now and give myself a better chance against those who are already there? Fuck if I really know. I have to check-in on the kingdom and everyone before I leave anyway so I guess I¡¯ll re-assess after that. ¡°OK, so I may have to go in soon then. But I do have a few things to do beforehand.¡± ¡°Do them quickly. I will pull you if it gets critical.¡± ¡°Right.¡± With that, the avatar faded, leaving the pair to themselves. Duke prepared to take them to the castle but was interrupted by Ophirian, ¡°I don¡¯t like him.¡± ¡°Because he won¡¯t let you come to the big fight?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t make the rules, but I understand how you feel. If he says he has a place for you to go hunt, he has a place for you to go hunt. But he also has a good point about your life experience. There is more to life than just hunting and killing. Coming with me on this excursion to check in with everyone will be good for you. You¡¯ll meet some new people and maybe learn a bit about how to act in society.¡± Ophirian glared back in response. Duke smirked as he TELEPORTED them both outside the mayor¡¯s office in Havenreach. Book 3, Chapter 62 They were quickly admitted into the mayor¡¯s office and we warmly greeted, ¡°Welcome King Duke and I don¡¯t believe that I¡¯ve met you before. Mayor Shellenberger, at your service.¡± He extended a hand towards Ophirian who stared at it in confusion as he flared his nostrils and tasted the air with his forked tongue. Duke reached forward and took the mayor¡¯s hand in his, shaking it. He looked over to Ophirian and explained, ¡°This is called shaking hands. It is a common form of greeting when you meet someone. Notice how I am gripping his hand firmly, but not with enough force to hurt him. That is important ¨C the not hurting him part. Now it¡¯s your turn, Ophirian.¡± Ophirian reached forward and clasped the mayor¡¯s hand with great care, his claws barely touching the mayor¡¯s skin. When the mayor winced, Ophirian let go like the hand had bitten him. ¡°Quite the grip you have there, Ophirian,¡± The mayor said while shaking his hand out. ¡°Now, what can I do for you, Your Majesty?¡± ¡°The time for my departure is coming. How are your warehouses coming along?¡± ¡°We have filled forty-six warehouses with ore and materials. We have eighty-three silos full of grain and other foods. All told, we have about five years¡¯ worth of food and materials stored up already. At this rate, we should hit the ten-year storage mark in another month.¡± ¡°Excellent. I should be able to give you that month, but possibly not longer, so prepare yourselves.¡± ¡°We are doing everything we can to prepare. At least this time we have advanced warning and are able to prepare.¡± He smiled warmly, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Instead, Duke thanked him and TELEPORTED himself and Ophirian outside the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. Some would say that that was the other shoe dropping. Ophirian slowly spun around as he took in the city around him, his eyes full of wonder. He marveled at the buildings and the people moving in unrecognizable patterns as his slitted nostrils flared and his tongue tasted the air as well. He stepped away from the building, moving towards the center of the square. Duke followed him closely, concerned as to how Ophirian might react to the civilian population. Will he seek to learn, or will he seek to hunt? The man-serpent continued to observe everything around him for a solid five minutes before he said anything. When he spoke, the wonder was evident in his voice, ¡°There are so many people here, and none of them are hunting for prey? How do they survive? I do not understand.¡± ¡°Most in this city do not hunt for their food. They do other things like craft armor or weapons or other things people need like furniture or even housing. They sell what they make and buy food with the money. Not everyone is as good of a hunter as you are so they put their energy into things that they are good at that the hunters might not be. It all works together.¡± ¡°So, I could buy things that I might need here?¡± ¡°You could. Did you save any of the loot you received from your hunting? Coins, gems, or other valuables?¡± Ophirian gave Duke a cold, reptilian stare, ¡°You know that I did not. You did not share their value with me. How was I to know such things?¡± ¡°Yes, you really don¡¯t know everything, now do you? So maybe, take a step back and realize that you are a powerful hunter, but have no idea how the world really works and tone down the arrogance.¡± Ophirian grunted in response which was an odd sound coming from him. Duke suppressed a smile and handed him a small bag. ¡°This contains three minor crystals and a mix of other currency. The crystals are each worth ten thousand gold, so you should have enough money there to buy whatever you need. Go shopping. Sample what food is for sale. Buy some things for yourself. Maybe a weapon you can use in this form. Have fun. Just don¡¯t hurt anybody. If someone wants to fight you, tell them that the king forbade you from fighting.¡± ¡°If someone wants to fight, I will end them.¡± ¡°No, that is not acceptable here. Do not get into a fight. Am I making myself clear?¡± ¡°Yes. No fighting. I hear you.¡± ¡°OK, then. Go have fun and learn some things. I¡¯ll find you when I¡¯m done here.¡± Ophirian hurried off, apparently following an enticing scent. Duke watched him leave with a small sense of trepidation. He¡¯s going to be all right. He¡¯s smart, if not worldly. He¡¯ll figure things out. He¡¯s an observer. Yeah. It¡¯ll be fine. Duke quickly headed into the Adventurer¡¯s Guild and up to Chal¡¯barnah¡¯s office. He knocked on the door as no one had stopped him on the way. To his surprise, rather than a welcome to come in, the door opened revealing the Guildmaster fully armed and armored. She pulled up short when she saw Duke.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Your Majesty! This is unexpected.¡± She stepped back into the office to allow him to come in. ¡°You seem to be in a hurry to get somewhere. Is everything alright?¡± ¡°Oh, yes. A new level has been discovered in the dungeon and I was heading out to test it out for myself.¡± ¡°I see. Then what I have to tell you might be of interest. There is an entire cavern complex in the mountains that has all sorts of higher-Tier giant monsters in it.¡± She stopped completely, sitting down on her desk, ¡°A new dungeon?¡± ¡°Exactly. Would you like me to show you to the entrance?¡± ¡°Did you really think you had to ask that question, Your Majesty? Of course!¡± ¡°Then meet me in front of the Guildhall in fifteen minutes. Gather whatever team you think you¡¯ll need. Remember that you will be dealing with giants and gigantic creatures so be prepared.¡± She nodded and Duke TELEPORTED back to the cavern system. Now, to make an entrance. Probably should have done this before we left but oh well. No time like the present. Duke focused his DUNGEON MANIPULATION and started making tunnel back to the surface. He made it long and gently sloping but kept it on the narrower side so that none of the giant creatures would be able to use it, at least not easily. The tunnel formed quickly as he focused on his Ability, much quicker than he had expected. I know that I ignored countless notifications of Ability increases while I was concentrating. Could this Ability have ranked up? He took a look at his Abilities and noticed some welcome changes. His DUNGEON MANIPULATION had increased to Adept 7 while his DUNGEON CORE CREATION had increased to Adept 92. His RUNESCRIPTING had Pushed all the way up to Practiced 77. He was disappointed to see that his Runescript Knowledge had only ticked up to Initiate 18 which he figured was due to him only working on a singe set of runescript for so long. Still, it was tremendous progress and increased his confidence in his Contest strategy. Having his DUNGEON MANIPULATION at Master would have been the best for his strategy but that was a long way off. The tunnel finally connected with the surface and Duke created an ornate entrance area complete with a grand arch and a set of thick wooden doors banded with titanium. He placed a trio of heavy bars across the door. Nobody is getting in there without some effort. If you can¡¯t remove the bars and open the doors that lean into the entrance, then you have no business going into this dungeon. He tested the weight of everything and found it to be easy for him to move but he realized that was a poor gauge. Guess I¡¯ll just have them test it and see. Duke arrived in front of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild to find a party of ten individuals waiting for him, led, of course, by Chal''barnah. She offered him a warm smile and the rest offered him bows. They were as mismatched a group as you could find which struck Duke as the perfect adventuring party. There were five beastkin of varying types, two humans, and a pair of elves. Chal¡¯barnah introduced them all to Duke and he learned that they were the highest-leveled of all the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. They were all under Tier Five, but Chal¡¯barnah was close to breaking through. ¡°Are you all ready for this? Exploring a new dungeon complex that operates under its own rules and may be different from anything you have experienced before?¡± The eager grins told Duke that the group was as ready as they thought they could be. He met the eyes of each of them before deciding that they seemed ready. He gathered them all around him and TELEPORTED the entire group outside the entrance to the new dungeon complex. After the commotion of them recovering from the effects of instantaneous transportation Duke pointed out the path back to the city. It was ill-defined and likely treacherous but the group seemed unphased. ¡°Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is the entrance to the new dungeon. I will tell you that it is filled with giants and giant monsters of countless varieties. The door is barred to keep them from escaping into the wilderness. Please ensure you close it up when you leave.¡± The largest of the beastkin, a bearkin, stomped up to the door and went to lift the first bar off it. He strained, his muscles bulging with the effort, but he could only barely budge it. He growled and redoubled his efforts to no further effect. After a full minute of straining his impressive bulk against the bar, he stepped back, ¡°The bar will not move. Is there magic holding it in place?¡± The much smaller weaselkin zipped up on top of the bar and ran back and forth before hopping down next to the bearkin. She dropped the four heavy locking pins that were holding the bar in place and smiled, ¡°I win this one Grizz.¡± Chuckles spread through the group. Grizz offered up a half-hearted growl before he returned to lift the bar off and place it to the side. He looked pointed at the weaselkin, ¡°Laureth, would you kindly check the other bars for locking mechanisms?¡± ¡°Why, I would be glad to.¡± She set to work as they watched, easily unlocking each of the remaining two bars. She, once again, hopped down and placed the locking pins at Grizz¡¯s feet, ¡°If you would be so kind as to remove these bars, we can get started.¡± Grizz stepped up and lifted each of the remaining bars with a small effort. He showed no outward signs of effort, making it look like he was picking up toys, but Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA picked up on the subtle signs of strain that crossed his features. Still, he was satisfied that this group had want it would take to challenge this dungeon. ¡°Before you go in, know this: This dungeon complex is untamed and uncurated. There are no safety nets. You could very well die in here so, if things seem beyond your abilities, leave. Don¡¯t press beyond your limits. At least not until you are familiar with the place. Expect ambushes, traps, and powerful creatures. That said, I wish you the best of luck. May your adventures be profitable!¡± They cheered briefly, gave Duke a bow, and sobered up. Once they all had run through a final check of each other¡¯s gear, they passed through the door and into the dungeon. Duke offered then silent encouragement and, after waiting for a few minutes, headed back to the city. He had a companion to collect. Book 3, Chapter 63 It did not take long to find Ophirian. The man-snake was in a heated debate with an armorsmith about the proper way to layer scales on scale mail. Neither were budging and they had drawn quite a crowd, enough that the two had spilled their debate onto the street causing the crowd to swell even more. ¡°Your imitation scales offer so little flexibility and absolutely no protection from liquids. Surely you see the inherent inferiority!¡± ¡°Flexibility is all well and good until someone tries to shove a spear through your gut! Even if the natural scales aren¡¯t penetrated, they still move too far and allow for a blunt injury to your insides. On top of that, strong metal will stop most any blow from penetrating. It¡¯s clearly better.¡± ¡°If any of your imitation scales are damaged, they are forever broken. Natural scales can be shed and regrown or even healed. As for strength, are you really going to say that simple steel scales are superior to a great serpent¡¯s scales? Surely you are not that foolish!¡± The crowd had split into two groups that were enjoying the debate. Most of the beastkin and non-humans had joined Ophirian¡¯s camp while the smith¡¯s camp was mostly humans with several dwarves mixed in. The debate was heated, but Duke could tell that they were both enjoying themselves. There were some that he saw in the crowd that were becoming far too invested in the ¡°my side is better¡± mentality. Duke decided to step in before things started to boil over. He strode into the middle of the debate and loudly declared, ¡°In this world of magic, both scales can be greater than anything else out there. It is the magic of the scales that makes them superior. Now, let¡¯s all step aside and get back to our own things, yes?¡± The crowd immediately dispersed, having realized that the king himself came to break them up. Duke received nods of thanks from the guards that had gathered to control the crowd should it have gotten out of hand. Duke grabbed a pair of collars, ¡°Oh, not you two. You both are coming with me to the tavern.¡± Ophirian tugged at his collar but Duke¡¯s arm did not budge. The smith had no more luck in getting himself free of Duke¡¯s grasp as he tugged them along with him. Onlookers marveled at the sight. ¡°That¡¯s the king, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Oh, those two are in trouble!¡± ¡°Where are they going?¡± ¡°To the jail I bet!¡± All voices silenced when Duke pushed the pair into the tavern. They stumbled as he let them go, turning to look back at him. His expression was not one of anger, but of amusement. ¡°OK, you two, join me at a table for a drink. You¡¯re not in trouble, but I had to stop the public debate before things got out of hand.¡± Ophirian sat down returning a confused and curious look, ¡°Why?¡± The smith nodded in agreement as he also sat down. Duke joined the pair, waving the waitress over. He fixed them both with a stare, ¡°You two were having a very lively debate and that is great. It is important to have such debates, and I hope you both learned something from it. But here¡¯s the problem: The crowd had separated into two camps. One following you, Ophirian. And one following you¡­I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t even know your name.¡± ¡°Arnson, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Arnson. Well met. With the crowd polarizing, neither of you seemed to notice that your¡­let¡¯s call them followers for now. Your followers were so invested in each of your positions that they were surging towards a violent altercation. That would have been an awful outcome for everyone involved.¡± ¡°Your Majesty, I assure you that I had no intention of anything like that happening.¡± ¡°Neither of you did. Some would have blamed you for it, but I saw it unfolding and it really wasn¡¯t either of your faults directly. You just need to be more aware that you both have strong personalities and that attracts people to whatever cause you are promoting. In this case it was artificial versus natural scales.¡± ¡°I did not know this.¡± ¡°I know you didn¡¯t. You haven¡¯t exactly been interacting with other people for a long time.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Your Majesty, I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°That¡¯s OK, Arnson. I wouldn¡¯t have expected you to know that Ophirian here is less than a year old and has never been in a city before.¡± ¡°A year old? How? That¡¯s-¡° ¡°I matured very quickly and this is not my natural form. Be thankful that I¡¯m not in my natural form. That would have ended the scales debate.¡± ¡°I kind of want to see that now.¡± ¡°Not in the tavern. There¡¯s no way he would fit in here.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a dragon aren¡¯t you?¡± For the first time, Ophirian¡¯s countenance faded to sullen humility. He spoke slowly and reverently, ¡°My line is descended from the world dragon before she passed away millennia ago. But, I am no dragon. I am a Great Serpent, however. And I proudly bear the bloodline of my people!¡± Ophirian returned to his prideful demeanor as he spoke, dispelling his humility to the furthest corner of his mind. ¡°A great Serpent! No way! Now I really have to see you in your true form. How big are you? Are you fully grown? So many questions!¡± Duke laughed at the befuddled look on Ophirian¡¯s face. Seeing as he was not responding, Duke picked up, ¡°Once we have a drink and something to eat, we can head out and see what Ophirian looks like in his full glory.¡± The waitress arrived and took their order. Duke knew he had waved her right over but it seemed she was waiting for a break in the conversation to interrupt. Maybe she¡¯s worried about interrupting the king. Don¡¯t know. If it wasn¡¯t for my Aura keeping things going for a bit longer, I would really rather just step down and really put Madrigal in charge. I don¡¯t have the time to sit around and do kingly things. Eventually, drinks and food were brought out and conversation turned towards more mundane topics. Arnson shared that he had studied smithing in the former capital of Chopie¡¯s kingdom. When he was young, he had shown an aptitude for smithing and was quickly apprenticed to a master. The problem had been that the master was almost exclusively focused on weapons.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I struggled every day learning how to forge and hammer weapons into shape. I could always get the temper right, but I never could get the balance right. Until one fateful day where a warrior came in looking for a new sword and shield. Normally, mind you, we would have sent him over to Clannan¡¯s for the shield, but Calnnan¡¯s anvil had developed a crack as big as a donkey¡¯s arse so he was not making any armor for a while.¡± Duke and Ophirian listened intently to Arnson¡¯s story as he continued, ¡°Master Hammond told me to work on the basic form of the shield while he worked on the sword. Master Hammond was really good at his craft. The king himself had commissioned a sword for himself. The arsehole didn¡¯t pay for the sword, but it was a fine weapon nonetheless.¡± ¡°I knew it would take a week to make the sword. Other smiths could have made it faster, but faster wasn¡¯t better quality. So, I knew I had time to work on the shield, and it was the first real project I had ever been given. I poured everything I had into that shield and had it roughed out in two days. Then I worked with the warrior on the design a bit more without Master Hammond knowing about it.¡± Arnson paused to take a long drink of his ale, ¡°After spending a whole day with the warrior, I knew how he moved and what he wanted from the shield. My hammer flowed so effortlessly making it. The steel sang under my blows and before I knew it, I was polishing a hardened steel shield. Even fitting the grips on it was easy ¨C it all seemed natural, you see.¡± ¡°When I showed the shield to Master Hammond, he was angry with me at first as he had told me to only rough it out for him. But when he examined my work, I received my very first smile from the smith! He declared it better than adequate which was far more than he had ever said of my work before.¡± ¡°So what happened when the warrior got the shield?¡± ¡°He liked it as much as the sword. He even gave Master Hammond an extra gold over the price as acknowledgement of the quality of the set.¡± ¡°That is quite the story. I take it after that, you were set to work on more shields?¡± ¡°Indeed, so, Your Majesty. Shields at first and later, armor. That is until I was able to set up my own armorsmithy.¡± ¡°Did you ever see that warrior again?¡± ¡°Um, funny story there, I guess. He was stabbed in the back by a spear on his next adventure and died. I never found out what happened to my first shield after that.¡± ¡°At least it wasn¡¯t in the front, right through the shield.¡± ¡°That would have ended my smithing career. It¡¯s been a good career, but ever since moving here, things have been crazy. My smithing Skill has grown so fast, I cannot believe it. I have already reached Master rank. I was just in Adept when I got here. If this keeps up, I may make it to Grandmaster before I retire!¡± ¡°Are others experiencing the same growth?¡± Duke was intrigued by this turn and was wondering if his Aura was affecting others like this or if this smith was the exception. ¡°Many are, Your Majesty. The Mayor tells us that it is due to your presence in the kingdom. We are all quite grateful for it. Havenreach is the home to more master crafters than any other city I have ever heard of. And having the Portal to trade through makes things that much more amazing. We are secure here, safe. We have the Adventurer¡¯s Guild to keep the monsters culled back from the city, the miners and treemen keep us supplied with ore and wood. There are even enchanters that have created magical forges for us to use. We don¡¯t need charcoal! The farms supply food and cowhide that the tanneries turn into leather of supreme quality. Really, everything is running perfectly. There is a reason you are so beloved here, Your Majesty. Mayor Shellenberger never fails to let us know that you are the reason that we have it so good.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear and quite the ego-boost. But I hope he has told you that I will be going away soon, and it could be for years. The prosperity will fall off during that time. I just hope you all have grown your crafts well enough that you can still prosper without my help.¡± ¡°We have been told, but many don¡¯t believe it.¡± ¡°When my bonded tells you something. Believe it. He does not lie.¡± Duke cocked his head in Ophirian¡¯s direction, ¡°Thank you for that endorsement. I do speak the truth ¨C something that my mother taught me. She would always tell me that if you tell the truth, you never have to remember what story you told. Life is a bit more complicated than such simple statements, but I try not to directly lie. That doesn¡¯t help anyone.¡± ¡°A wise woman I would say.¡± Duke did not respond but gestured for the waitress to come over again. She quickly returned and he handed her a sum of gold coins, ¡°Thank you for taking care of us. We will be heading out shortly.¡± She attempted to hand the coins back to Duke but he shook his head as he rose from his seat. As Ophirian and Arnson followed suit, he TELEPORTED the three of them well outside the city, into the foothills of the mountains. He smiled, ¡°Ophirian, why don¡¯t you let Arnson study your true scales.¡± He grinned in response and shifted into his true form, spreading out over his hundred-meter length. Has he gotten even bigger than the last time? Arnson swore and leaped backwards in shock, ¡°You weren¡¯t fucking kidding! An honest-to-the-Seven Great Serpent! And I debated him on scale design. Oh.¡± ¡°Go ahead and examine my scales. You¡¯ll see how good they are. Stab them, strike them with your hammer if you like. You aren¡¯t going to hurt me.¡± Arnson hesitated and Duke gave him a nod, ¡°Go ahead. He really means it. Be as brutal as you like, you¡¯re not going to hurt him.¡± Shaking off his incredulity, Arnson, pulled his smith hammer out of his belt and lightly stuck the scale in front of him. There was no reaction from the serpent and the hammer left no mark at all. Duke gave him another nod and a gesture telling him to hit harder. Arnson gulped and wound up for a full-force strike. The hammer, once again, rebounded from the scale. This time it left a tiny indentation that faded seconds later. ¡°See, natural scales are so much better. They heal on their own.¡± ¡°I do see that your scales heal on their own, but that¡¯s not something I can make for every soldier. What am I saying, I cannot make that for anyone.¡± ¡°I see your dilemma now. You have to craft with the inferior materials because that is all you have to work with. It makes so much more sense to me now. Thank you for teaching me this valuable lesson!¡± Ophirian¡¯s head snapped forward like a lightning strike. Duke stepped in front of the smith instinctually, but quickly realized that the smith wasn¡¯t the target of the strike. Instead, Ophirian had torn a sizable patch of scales from his own skin. The wound was jagged and bleeding, but the serpent didn¡¯t seem to mind. He hissed a chuckle, ¡°Perhaps I should have told you what I was doing. Take these scales, Arnson and see what you can make of them. There should be enough there for at least one suit of armor. If you can, find an enchanter that can make them heal like they naturally want to do.¡± Duke fashioned a wide-mouthed drawstring bag of holding out of dungeon essence and placed the scales inside for the smith and handed it to him. He grimaced briefly, ¡°One warning, do not attempt to take that bag through a Portal. It, and everything inside it will be destroyed, forever lost.¡± ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty. And thank you, Great Ophirian. I will make the most spectacular set of armor out of these scales and will get it fully enchanted. Of that you can be assured!¡± ¡°That would please me greatly.¡± ¡°But we do have to get going now. So, I¡¯ll drop you off back in Havenreach and we¡¯ll be on our-¡± Duke was interrupted by a notification that he could not ignore. *** Worldwide Notification! Hear This! A Quest has been offered: Quest Name: Fight or Die Quest Description All residents of Teldin are called to her defense. An invading force has landed on the planet and seeks to consume all life on it and ultimately consume the world spirit. Come to your world¡¯s defense or lose everything! Quest Rewards: Unknown, survival of life on Teldin Will you accept this quest and defend your world? (Y/N) *** He accepted the Quest without any thought or consideration. It wasn¡¯t like this system was a quest-generating machine. He had only been offered one or two in the entire time before now. Accepting the Quest produced a location on Duke¡¯s map. From what he could tell, it was on the other side of the planet but that did not stop him from springing into action. ¡°Arnson, did you get that notification?¡± ¡°I think everyone did.¡± ¡°Even in here. Remarkable. OK, I¡¯m going to drop you off at the Mayor¡¯s office. Tell him that all combatants are to head through the Portal. I¡¯ll have a destination for a rallying point set up in Cloudspire. Ophirian, shift for me please, we will need the space until we get to where we are going.¡± The transformation was faster this time, taking only about thirty seconds. After which, Duke TELEPORTED Arnson outside the Mayor¡¯s office while he and Ophirian were TELEPORTED to his throne room. There were order to give, planning to occur, and most importantly, scouting to occur before he set up Portals to bring his Legions to bear. Time to see how many nations will respond and if I can bring them all together. Book 3, Chapter 64 Duke Madrigal was waiting for him when he and Ophirian arrived. He offered a respectful bow, ¡°Your Majesty, Stormstride stands ready to heed the call of Teldin. What would you have us do?¡± ¡°First off, introductions. Duke Madrigal, this is Ophirian the Great Serpent. Ophirian, this is Duke Madrigal. Madrigal is my most key advisor and the one who runs things around here when I¡¯m not present. Which, quite frankly, is most of the time. Without him, the kingdom would fall apart.¡± ¡°It pleases me to meet you.¡± ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you as well.¡± ¡°OK, status report time. I assume the Legions are already prepared to mobilize. What other forces can we bring to bear?¡± ¡°About that, Your Majesty. We have five full legions we can send but I recommend keeping at least one legion home should any neighbors decide that this is the opportune time to grab some of our prosperity for their own.¡± ¡°Pahst.¡± ¡°Just so, Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Very well, keep a Legion home for defense, but if they are truly needed, I will call for them. Do we have anyone else?¡± ¡°The militias are being formed. They are mostly craftspeople and adventurers. Discipline is not their forte and the adventurers are likely to split off into their own parties immediately.¡± ¡°They may be more effective in their own parties than in formations, so while we shouldn¡¯t encourage them to split off, we shouldn¡¯t prevent it. Maybe it would be even better to use them as scouting parties or quick-reaction forces. We have no real information about these invaders, do we?¡± ¡°None whatsoever. The invasion point is on the far side of the world. You are the only one that can get there quickly, so unfortunately, it is up to you to scout this threat out for us.¡± ¡°As expected, although Mira and the Iron Reaver may be able to help in that regard. I have to reach out to our allies and make sure we have a Portal network set up to get their forces to the front lines as well. I¡¯ll contact her and see what she can tell us before I head out. Let¡¯s gather our leaders here in one hour and solidify our mobilization plans.¡± ¡°One hour. Good luck, Your Majesty.¡± Duke Madrigal hurried out of the throne room to get everyone together. Ophirian gave Duke a pointed look. He responded, ¡°What?¡± ¡°You are going to try and leave me here while you go scout the enemy.¡± ¡°I was definitely considering it, but I think your senses will be helpful in scouting out the enemy, whomever they are. So, I think I¡¯m going to need you with me when I-¡° An intense gust of wind blew the tapestries around the room off the walls as it swirled around the room. Duke¡¯s throne blew over as the pair fought to remain on their feet. The wind intensified as if in the center of a terrible storm. Duke grabbed Ophirian¡¯s arm to steady him as he used his FLIGHT Ability to stabilize himself. And a moment later, the wind coalesced into a single man-sized form that stood before them. ¡°Apologies for the dramatic entry,¡± As the form spoke, it took on the shape of a man that Duke recognized. ¡°Orgath?¡± ¡°Indeed, yes. It is I.¡± ¡°I assume you are here for a reason other than to re-arrange my furniture.¡± ¡°Who is this man? I sense nothing from him.¡± ¡°He is one of the gods of Teldin.¡± ¡°Indeed I am. I know you received the great quest. Even we gods received it. But we are prevented from taking direct action by a decision that Aehocho made in the distant past. We can, however, provide aid to those who can take direct action. So, they sent me because we are on good terms. Ghastul wanted to come but I figured that would not end well.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Good call. What is it you can provide me?¡± ¡°You are uniquely qualified to accelerate the defense of Teldin. Here, have a quest.¡± *** You have been offered a Quest! Quest Name: Gather the Troops! Quest Description: The world of Teldin is under attack and most have risen to defend her. But few are able to get to the fight on their own. Create a Portal network to bring the world together to face this threat. Quest Rewards: One experience point per Portal use per individual traveler, unknown Do you accept this quest? (Y/N) *** ¡°Well, that¡¯s both inside and outside my Abilities. I don¡¯t know where everyone is to set up Portals for them.¡± ¡°Accept the quest and check your map, Duke. This much we can do for you.¡± ¡°What is he talking about?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not entirely sure, but here goes. I was going to try and do this for our allies anyway.¡± Duke accepted the quest and pulled up his map of Teldin. His jaw nearly hit the floor. Each and every city, village, town, and hamlet were now marked on his map along with a number of monster settlements. There were tens of thousands of markers on his map, maybe more. There was also a large area marked as ¡°Staging Area¡± near where the invaders were marked. ¡°Now that you have accepted the quest, Malkiavic will send out his own worldwide quest to enter the portals and prepare to fight.¡± ¡°This all seems a bit contrived, far too fast, and unbelievable.¡± ¡°It does. But when our very existence is threatened, we are not going to hesitate. This threat is real, and it is going to kill countless numbers of the faithful. We did not choose this fight, but we will give our children everything we can to fight it. Vithshrek even offered to remove his curse for the fight.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bother. I have no use for swords at this point.¡± ¡°I might be able to use one though. You have a good one to offer?¡± Orgath laughed, and then sized up Ophirian, ¡°You do not strike me as much of a sword-wielder, are you?¡± ¡°Well, no. But who am I to turn down a gift from a god. I¡¯d learn to wield a sword if a god were to give me one.¡± The fact that the serpent was able to deliver the line with a straight face was beyond impressive. He deserved an academy award. What he got¡­was a sword. Orgath pulled a sword out of the air and handed it to him. When Ophirian took the handle, the god did not release the blade. He said, ¡°Just remember that you committed to learning how to use it. Do not fail in that commitment or there will be consequences.¡± ¡°So, Duke, how do I use this thing?¡± ¡°Oh, you are so asking the wrong person about that. I affirmatively can¡¯t use a sword. You¡¯re on your own on that one. Good luck with it.¡± ¡°I have stayed as long as I dare. Remember, Duke, the Storm is your Ally. Do not hesitate to call upon it should you have need. And Ophirian, the pointy end goes into the soft parts of your foe.¡± With that, the god turned into a fog bank and flowed out of the room. ¡°OK, you stay here and try and figure out how to use a sword. I have a Portal network to set up.¡± Duke did not wait for a response, instead he TELEPORTED from marked location to marked location, setting up Portals all linked into the central staging location. Despite his speed, this still took him a long time to complete. At a few seconds per Portal and tens of thousands to set up, the task took him two days to complete. When Duke returned to his throne room, Borondar was there with Ophirian. He was instructing the serpent in swordsmanship. It did not appear to be going particularly well. Ophirian¡¯s sword was continually out of position and the Guard Captain was having trouble getting him to realize how bad that was. When they noticed him, they stopped. Ophirian spoke first, ¡°Everybody that is going has already gone through the Portal. Are you ready to go through?¡± ¡°I suppose I am, but I am exhausted. Give me a few minutes to rest. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Duke didn¡¯t wait for a response, TELEPORTING himself to the cavern system in Havenreach. There, he took a minute to craft himself a comfortable bed and sealed himself behind a wall. Sighing, he collapsed into the bed and went to sleep. Duke woke refreshed and returned to the throne room, startling the pair again as Borondar was deep in ¡°instructor mode¡± as he called it. They both leaped back from his sudden appearance, holding their swords at the ready. ¡°I¡¯m back but I guess you already realized that.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t been gone for more than ten minutes, Your Majesty. How can you be rested already?¡± ¡°Ancient secret power,¡± Duke quipped. ¡°Are you two ready to go?¡± ¡°I must remain, Your Majesty. If anything happens in the city, then I need to be here to handle it. My guards have been reduced to a skeleton crew, but the Fifth Legion is still here for now. I have been told that they could be pulled to the front to fight as well. I cannot in good conscience leave the city so vulnerable.¡± ¡°I understand and support your decision. Honestly, I have no idea what we are dealing with. It could be something that the Archmage¡¯s Council may be able to handle on their own. I don¡¯t think that¡¯s likely as the call went out across the whole planet but there¡¯s no way of knowing until we get there. Are you ready, Ophirian?¡± ¡°I could use a few years to learn how to actually use a sword. It¡¯s so ridiculously difficult. I don¡¯t know what I was thinking.¡± ¡°You were thinking that you were going to get a shiny divine present.¡± ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right about that. It¡¯s nothing like using my fangs. I thought it would work just the same. I was very wrong.¡± ¡°Guess so. Good luck Borondar and I hope you don¡¯t need it.¡± ¡°Me too, Your Majesty. Don¡¯t risk yourself unnecessarily. We need you to come back here. The kingdom needs you.¡± Duke felt a heavy pang of guilt knowing that regardless of the outcome, he was being pulled away in a week or less. Time was running out for him. He returned Borondar¡¯s salute and TELEPORTED to the staging area with Ophirian. Book 3, Chapter 65 Arriving at the staging area was like nothing Duke had ever seen. There were people, creatures, and monsters everywhere. Duke instinctually rose into the air to get a better look at what was arrayed before him. The area had appeared to be large on his map but as he rose up, he saw just how vast the staging area was. The mix of what he saw was hard to wrap his head around. There were hundreds of organized forces but the vast majority were a milling mass of disorganization. He spotted all manner of races in the mix including monstrous races that he had never encountered before. He rose higher to get an even better look. As he rose higher, he could see beyond the staging area. The area was set apart by a mountain range which had a forest of immense trees beyond it. As he watched the far edge of the forest seemed to be slowly retreating. He moved over the forest to get a better look at what was going on. What he saw did not offer any encouragement. The trees were fighting. And they were losing, badly. There was a sea of quadrupedal creatures swarming over each other to get to the trees. They were horrific beings, resembling horse-sized dogs with no skin, exposing their muscles and internal organs. As he looked more carefully, he saw that they did actually have some form of skin. It was just transparent, allowing the sickening display of their insides through. The ones who had reached the trees latched on with their jaws and appeared to be sucking the very essence from them. The trees weren¡¯t just dying, they were being absolutely consumed, leaving nothing but grey, dead dust behind. Tree limbs slashed and slammed down at the creatures, only to pass harmlessly through them. Duke spotted a group of druids attempting to bolster the trees. Spells of green energy suffused the trees on the front line, bolstering the trees and giving them the ability to strike with enchanted blows. The trees¡¯ limbs struck nothing. One by one, the trees were sucked dry of their life and then physically absorbed, leaving nothing in their place. When one creature was done consuming a tree, the next leapt forward and started on the next tree. Duke IDENTIFIED the attackers. *** You have encountered an Exospace Hound. This is a Tier Four extradimensional creature. Tier: 4 Level: 145 Health: 891,335 Mana: 801,000 This creature exists in both the material plane and the realm of Exospace. It can change any part of its body between these two dimensions at any time. *** After reading that, Duke understood why the animated trees were ineffective. He tossed a bolt of LIGHTNING at one of the hounds only to see it pass through with no apparent effect. He tried a number of other elemental Abilities, but none had any effect. Well, that¡¯s not good. How are we supposed to fight these things? Duke flew back over the mountains to see who he could meet up with. He was intercepted by another flying figure. This figure was a dark woman with what he would have considered Indian features had he been back on Earth. Here, he had no idea other than it was a pretty woman in heavy, bright robes covering equally elaborately embroidered pants flying towards him. He slowed to a stop as she approached. ¡°Well, hello there, sir. Good to see another flier around. I am Amara Laya.¡± ¡°Glad to meet you. My name is Duke, and I¡¯ve only just arrived, has anyone organized this mess yet?¡± ¡°No, not yet. It seems that everyone is waiting for someone to take charge, but no one has taken that step just yet. Few even have any idea what we are dealing with. Do you?¡± Duke looked into her brown eyes for a long moment, the gravity of the situation rising in his mind, ¡°We are facing a world-ending threat. The Exospace Hounds exist in both our reality and Exospace simultaneously. They can shift any part of themselves between the two realities at will. This makes them extremely difficult to hit with any attacks and able to bypass most any defense.¡± ¡°That is¡­a rather remarkably cogent description of what we face. And you say you just arrived? Who are you really?¡± ¡°I am who I say I am. King of a minor nation on the other side of Teldin with a few talents that have served me well.¡± Duke felt a brief pressure on his Psyche as she peered at him, concentrating. It quickly let up as she offered a slight frown. She smiled shyly, ¡°It seems that your information is cloaked behind something powerful. Perhaps you are indeed more than you seem.¡± ¡°Depends on what I seem to be, I suppose. I¡¯m no toy of the gods but I do have considerable power of my own.¡± Duke paused, replaying what he just said in his head. ¡°Well, fuck, that makes me sound like a real douchebag. Sorry about that. This is not the time to be all sly and humble and shit. I¡¯ve got some strong Abilities including the one that got most everyone here.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°YOU are the Portal maker?¡± ¡°Is that what they are calling me? Seems appropriate, I guess. Yes, I made the Portals, although I¡¯m not sure how long I can maintain that many and still be effective in a fight.¡± ¡°You are personally maintaining all these Portals? They aren¡¯t being maintained by some enchantment or other?¡± ¡°No enchantment. This is my own Ability keeping them open. It¡¯s a drag on my Mana for so many, but I can sustain it for now. When I start to burn through Mana when we start fighting for real, Then the maintenance cost will be too much to maintain.¡± ¡°Have you tried fighting them yet?¡± ¡°Not truly. I tested some Abilities on them that had no noticeable effect.¡± ¡°Same here. My wind blades could cut the entire forest down but pass through them without effect. I do not know how to engage them, and I fear the multitude of melee fighters below will just be fodder for the creature¡¯s growth.¡± ¡°Are there others that might have a chance to affect them? Where are the powerful in all this mess?¡± She smiled, ¡°Power attracts power, they say. If we fly over the masses, the powerful amongst them will find us if they can.¡± ¡°Seems like a reasonable assumption. Shall we make it flashy?¡± ¡°What do you have in mind?¡± Duke flew back several meters and activated his LIGHTNING Aura with an audible snap. The air around him sparked and crackled, suffused with energy. A smile that was soft and unhurried formed on her lips, a quiet curve that lit her face with warmth. Her eyes lingered on him, a spark of curiosity and admiration growing as though she were seeing him anew. There was a hint of mischief at the corners of her lips, a private moment that said, He¡¯s worth considering. Duke paused at her look, considering what his XENOGLOSSIA was telling him. He shook his head. I just got out of a relationship. Dumped again. Keep it casual, flyboy ¨C you have too many irons in the fire to put your own iron into anyone¡¯s fire long-term. Putting such thoughts behind him, he began to fly in a wide circle around the immense staging area, flaring his aura to make himself clearly visible. He increased his speed as he completed his first circuit and began spiraling inwards, pushing past Mach three and still speeding up. Eyes were drawn to the sky as a bolt of lightning traveled in a closing spiral. Those with greater Intuition or perceptive Abilities were able to tell that it wasn¡¯t actually a bolt of lightning, but instead a man wreathed by the element. Regardless of what was perceived, the reaction was the same as the phenomenon culminated in a stroke of lightning that touched down in the center of the staging area. Duke slammed to the ground with tremendous force but he used his FORCE Ability to contain and direct the energy upwards and away from the retreating crowd. The sound of his impact reverberated throughout the area, alerting everyone who had not already watched the figure descend from the sky. The strongest among each group broke away and made their way to the clear signal ¨C it was time to get things organized. Amara landed gracefully next to Duke, her robes fluttering ever so slightly in the controlled breeze of her descent. Quickly the area around them expanded as groups actively pushed away from the intimidating figures entering the center by various means. Some came mounted on creatures ranging from horses to great monstrous cats, to one that came astride a clanking monstrosity of a draconic golem. Others came upon more clearly magical means such as personal flight, standing upon a flying sword, or carried by a winged cloak. Once in the area, segregation seemed to happen naturally. Warriors tended to congregate together, mages as well including what Duke assumed was the Archmages¡¯ Council as that was the group Baslin had joined. Duke watched them all gather together as he stood with Amara. He wasn¡¯t sure who she really was, but he found it odd that even though everyone had gathered, they all kept their distance from the two of them. ¡°Any reason they are staying away from us? They are staying away from us, right?¡± ¡°They certainly seem to be. And no, I don¡¯t know why. Maybe they¡¯re afraid of getting shocked.¡± ¡°Maybe they were all waiting for me to get here. I mean, really. You left me back there without even saying goodbye.¡± ¡°Well, hello Ophirian. Glad you could make it. But I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the reason. Oh and introductions¡­ Ophirian, Amara. Amara, Ophirian.¡± They looked each other over appraisingly but were interrupted by another man walking up to the trio, ¡°I certainly was waiting for you to get here, little one.¡± Ophirian turned to the man with irritation, ¡°Just who are you calling little?¡± ¡°Ah yes, I always forget how arrogant we all are in our youth. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Illuyanka. Perhaps you have heard of me, Duke?¡± Duke stopped and took a closer look at the unassuming man dressed in green robes before the name registered in his memory. He cocked his head slightly, ¡°Illuyanka from Tannish?¡± ¡°I knew you had heard of me.¡± ¡°Who is this guy and what it Tannish?¡± ¡°Ophirian, this is your father.¡± ¡°What? No. My father is a great serpent, not this small man.¡± Illuyanka hissed at Ophirian. There were tones and harmonies in the hiss that few could pick up on but there were two in close proximity that were able to understand. Duke smiled as Ophirian¡¯s eyes bulged and he stepped forward to embrace the smaller man. ¡°Father. How could I not recognize you? Where is your aura?¡± ¡°You have never seen me before. You were but an egg when last we saw each other. As for my aura, unleashing it here would be counter-productive. It has no effect on the invaders but it would panic quite a few of our temporary allies.¡± ¡°Perhaps you should pulse it to get everyone¡¯s attention. We have to plan our defense and no one is taking charge of this mess. Stupid global quest. Almost no one here can affect those things.¡± ¡°I do believe you are correct, Your Majesty. I will look to you for guidance in planning our actions. I am formidable against a physical foe but against those things, I am near useless. I hope you have something that will affect them. Even the Archmages are arguing amongst themselves. Are you ready, Duke?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m the best for this but sure. Someone must get things going. Get everyone¡¯s attention.¡± A pulse of aura flashed out over the crowd causing all to pause. For many, the aura caused in instantaneous fear reaction. For others, alertness crossed their features. For Duke, it was the challenge of a predator stalking him that made him want to turn and fight. Instead, he rose slightly overhead and shouted over the crowd, ¡°OK, that¡¯s enough milling around. Leaders, bring it in to me. We have a world to save!¡± Book 3, Chapter 66 The leadership council had formed quickly after Duke¡¯s announcement. He was pained by the next hour of competing opinions and idiotic strategies bandied about to highlight individual groups. Things had broken down into two primary camps. One was ¡°blast them with magic until something works¡± while the other Duke had started referring to as ¡°Hulk Smash¡± in his mind. He sat virtually alone in a third group. And, yes, he sat. While most had stood ingroups arguing, he had pulled a chair out of his INVENTORY and sat down. Finally, Baslin broke off from the Archmage contingent and visited Duke, ¡°You seem pretty comfortable sitting there.¡± ¡°Well, what else am I going to do? There seems to be no way to alter the idiotic opinions being tossed around like a bad salad. You know, the kind where they throw radishes in and too many carrot slivers that just get stuck in your teeth.¡± Baslin ignored the salad rant, ¡°You have a solution?¡± ¡°Potentially. But it might not work either. I do have an escape plan should this whole thing fail but that is a shitty contingency plan at best.¡± ¡°Enlighten me. Perhaps I can persuade others.¡± ¡°OK, it comes down to this. Every attack misses them because they shift to Exospace to avoid it. What if someone were to fill the corresponding area in Exospace with an attack as well. There would be nowhere for them to go to evade the attack.¡± ¡°Is that what is happening? Are you sure?¡± ¡°My TELEPORTATION Ability has given me a lot of insight into other dimensions, and I am certain that is what they are doing.¡± ¡°I am not really familiar with Exospace. You say that is another dimension?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the dimension that ships move through to get from world to world relatively quickly. The problem is that they say there are some godawful monsters that live in Exospace that prey on ships that can¡¯t cloak their presence or move fast enough to evade them. Standing in one spot for any length of time is sure to lure creatures to you.¡± ¡°And you, of course, are volunteering for this role, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Who else could do it? No one else here could get themselves back from Exospace.¡± ¡°This can¡¯t be the best solution with you putting yourself into such danger alone.¡± ¡°I am hoping that others will join me but, again, I¡¯m not sure who else can survive in Exospace. My Tier and my Abilities grant me enough protection that I can survive it for a time before it affects me. I¡¯m not sure who else could.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like it, Duke. You are once again putting yourself in the position of peril.¡± ¡°If things get bad, I¡¯ll just pop back into our dimension. And I also have this little device that will guide me if I somehow get lost.¡± Duke pulled out his portable navigation core and handed it to Baslin. ¡°What is¡­By all the failed gods, what is this thing! Such small scripting.¡± Baslin pulled a pair of thick-lensed glasses out of a pocket inside his robes and examined the core with them. He seemed absolutely lost for a few minutes while Duke observed the crowd. The so-called leaders of the planet did not strike Duke with a positive impression. Even with the entire planet¡¯s survival hanging in the balance, they bickered and argued over appearances. His intrusive thoughts told him to take everyone he cared about and just leave the planet to its fate. He put a stop to that thought almost as fast as it appeared. Duke was broken out of his thoughts by a tug on his sleeve. When he looked down, he saw a wonderfully familiar catkin face. ¡°Have you gotten even taller, Duke?¡± ¡°Emberclaw! It¡¯s been so long. I¡¯m glad to see you, but wish it wasn¡¯t here.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°I know, my friend. Fate has brought us to another conflict but perhaps, if we are lucky, it will give us some more time to reconnect.¡± ¡°That would be great if it were not for the biggest problem we are facing. So few of those gathered here have any chance of fighting the Hounds. Look around us. They are all bickering over who is leading this mess. I can¡¯t just wait around for them to figure it out. But I can¡¯t do it alone. Not this time.¡± ¡°Duke, this creation of your is beyond what I thought was possible. I would love to be able to study it further.¡± Duke took the navigational core back and smiled at Baslin, ¡°Have you met Emberclaw?¡± ¡°Pleased to meet you. Duke has told me of you. It is an honor to finally meet you.¡± Emberclaw returned the greeting, ¡°An honor to meet you as well.¡± Duke¡¯s communications crystal chimed, ¡°Hey Duke, there¡¯s nowhere for us to land down there. Can you clear a landing zone?¡± Duke activated his crystal, ¡°Mira, not sure what you can do down here. I am not completely sure, but it looks like these creatures have some sort of defense mechanism that shifts them back and forth into Exospace.¡± ¡°Well, fuck. I guess I¡¯m going to spend some time in Exospace then.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be attacked by god knows what if you stay in one spot there.¡± ¡°Yep. Good thing you juiced up our Mana cores. We can take a hell of a lot more pounding than we could before with the empowered shields.¡± ¡°OK, that might help but you have to limit your time there.¡± ¡°Oh, trust me, I have no desire to draw in any of the true dangers in that hellish dimension. But if we don¡¯t stop these things here, they¡¯re going to eat your whole damned planet.¡± ¡°Right. OK, here¡¯s the deal. You have better sensors than anything down here. Watch the combat line. The druids are keeping the things occupied but they have to be running out of Mana or trees soon. I¡¯m going to flip over to Exospace and see if I can cause some chaos. You keep a laser-focus on that front line with your sensors and see if it allows them to be more effective.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like it, but go for it. I¡¯ve got my sensors locked in.¡± Duke nodded to the small group around himself, ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a bit. We need to test a theory. Hope it works because it¡¯s all I have so far.¡± He did not wait for a response before flying back to the front where the druids were ineffectually fighting the Hounds. As he flew closer, he could see signs of Mana fatigue rampant among their ranks. ¡°Have you come to help? Everyone else seems afraid to come here.¡± The unconventionally burly elf that greeted Duke took him by surprise. ¡°You are holding the line by yourselves. It¡¯s far beyond time someone came to help. It looks like most of you are suffering from Mana fatigue.¡± ¡°Yes, we have gone through so many Mana potions that they don¡¯t have much effect anymore.¡± ¡°I can help a bit with that but then I have another thing to try.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yes, give me a moment and gather around the crew that needs the most Mana.¡± Duke closed almost all the Portals he had opened to transport forces to the staging area and immediately felt his Mana regen jump back up to normal. He smiled and gestured to the gathering group, ¡°Who needs the most Mana and how much do you need? Give me a number.¡± A wizened kobold shuffled up to Duke, the others parting at his approach. He fixed Duke with his left eye, his right being milky with blindness, and spoke, ¡°I am the Archdruid Thelmek. I have the greatest Mana pool of all here but it is quite depleted. I have spent all six million of my Mana struggling against these beasts to no avail. How do you propose to help?¡± Duke reached a hand out to the kobold who responded. When they shook, he spoke, ¡°I am Duke, King of Stormstride and I freely give of my Mana to you.¡± He proceeded to transfer the full six million Mana that would fill up the kobold¡¯s pool. When finished, he looked at the rest of the crowding druids, ¡°OK, who¡¯s next?¡± ¡°Who are you really?¡± The question came as the kobold stepped back with a look of awe and relief on his face. ¡°I am just another person trying to save our planet. Nothing more, nothing less. Now, who¡¯s next?¡± One by one, the rest of the druids stepped up to have their Mana topped off, rotating themselves back into the fight with renewed vigor. When they were all back to full, Duke called up to the Iron Reaver, ¡°Mira, are you in position?¡± ¡°Have been for the past ten minutes, slowpoke.¡± ¡°Thanks, thirty seconds, ¡°He smiled in anticipation as he spoke. ¡°Thelmek, I am going to do something that I hope will make these Hounds susceptible to physical attacks. Pray this works, because nobody else seems to have any idea how to fight the things.¡± ¡°I will pray to Gaiathia so that she may bless your attempt.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take it. It won¡¯t help where I have to go to do this, but it¡¯s the thought that counts, right?¡± ¡°Thought that counts? What are you talking about?¡± Duke smiled enigmatically, ¡°I have to shift to another dimension and make it inhospitable for the Hounds to shift back there. I am hoping that will force them to stay in our dimension and be vulnerable to attack here.¡± ¡°How are you going to do that?¡¯ ¡°It¡¯s just a thing I can do. Can you clear an area by the base of the mountains of trees and underbrush? I want to use that as a Portal destination for everyone in the staging area to come through and kill these things if this works.¡± ¡°We are already pulling the trees from there. We will have the area clear for troops in less than an hour.¡± ¡°Thanks, that will help if this works. If it doesn¡¯t, we¡¯ll have to find a plan B.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope it works then. I¡¯ll keep praying.¡± Duke stepped back steeling himself, ¡°Mira, it¡¯s go-time.¡± ¡°Sensors of full lock. Good luck!¡± With that, Duke TELEPORTED to Exospace. Book 3, Chapter 67 Duke¡¯s reaction speed was always exceptional. It was one of the things that had made him such a great fighter pilot. His ability to quickly read an unfolding situation and immediately react had been his hallmark. It had served him extremely well when the world had gone to shit and fighting started. Since being brought to Teldin, his reaction speed had increased far, far beyond human limits. It was not enough. Before he had even taken in his surroundings, he was beset by Hounds. He could not see his surroundings but for the swarm of Hounds that attacked him from all sides. The thousands that were attacking on Teldin were but a drop in a bucket compared to what waited on the other side of the dimensional barrier. Hounds had latched onto his arms and legs before he could process what was happening. And they were draining him. His Health was plummeting rapidly and he could feel the draining Ability attempting to latch onto his very soul. Duke¡¯s Psyche was being hammered by telepathic howls and barks coming from the tens of thousands of Hounds converging on him. He panicked, releasing his UMBRAL REAPER. The monsters of his Psyche burst outwards in an expanding sphere, attacking the Hounds around him. His limbs were released giving him a reprieve from the awful drain. His Health started quickly ticking back up as his REGENERATION engaged. His reprieve was short-lived. One by one, the creatures created by his Ability were consumed by the Hounds. His blood ran cold as he realized that the Hounds had not left him because they were being hurt, it was simply because they had found a more palatable source of food. Before his eyes, he could see the Hounds growing stronger, growing larger, and turning back to him. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not good.¡± Duke¡¯s voice did not leave his body, the air and vibration sucked away by the bizarre dimension known as Exospace. He flew away from the approaching swarm of Hounds, his mind scrambling for a plan since his panic-induced, ¡°this will kill anything¡± Ability actually fed the things. On the positive side, there was no Psychic feedback from using the Ability this time. One of the Hounds appeared to be faster than the others and was breaking away from the massive swarm chasing Duke. He considered it an opportunity and allowed the thing to close on him slightly, keeping it at a set distance while they both accelerated away from the hungry mass. As they flew, Duke cycled through the list of his offensive Abilities hoping for a better result. As on the planet, the elemental Abilities had no effect. FORCE slowed it down slightly, but had no other effect. Finally, Duke switched to SOULFIRE. The effect was immediate and startling. The Hound burst into green flames and shriveled in on itself. In seconds, the Hound was little more than a diminishing speck of green ash. Duke whooped with joy, turning back to the approaching Hounds with SOULFIRE wreathing his body. Time to play, puppies! He spread SOULFIRE ahead of him in a cone at the approaching Hounds. The first ones that were hit by the SOULFIRE were overcome quickly. The rest of the pack split, arcing backward and away from the attack. They moved around the range of the Ability and attempted to engulf Duke from every other angle. One particularly large Hound followed the cone of the Ability back to Duke and leaped for his face. Duke pushed the cone upwards to catch the Hound. If burst into green flames, burning as it slammed into him anyway. The impact spun him uncontrollably spraying SOULFIRE in random directions as he spun in space. This turned out to be a more effective attack than the cone had been. Hundreds of Hounds were hit by the Ability. The rest pulled back warily. Duke locked down on his spin with his FLIGHT Ability, stabilizing himself. He kicked on his DUNGEON SENSE to get a much larger perspective on what was happening around himself. Two things became apparent quickly. One, there were more of these Hounds than he had ever imagined and two, they were the smallest of the things coming for him. The Hounds were currently hanging back, warily surrounding him in three dimensions. Another realization came to him ¨C he had no idea where he was relative to normal space. As he ran through his options for his next move, he sensed a change in the Hounds. Some silent signal had passed through them, and they were all poised to attack. Duke had seconds to react. He did not have the control over the Ability to maintain a large sphere of SOULFIRE but he could hold a cone of it well enough. Screw it! Time for a Death Blossom! The Hounds pounced, flowing like a tsunami coming from all directions at once. Duke spun in the most dizzying 360 degree spin he could manage and pushed out a cone of SOULFIRE.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. As Hounds came into contact with the cone, they were ignited, writing in pain. Yet the volume of Hounds far exceeded Duke¡¯s ability to catch them with his spin. He was still maintaining the SOULFIRE aura but enough Hounds were getting through that his spinning was being slowed as bodies impacted him. The constant impacts rattled his brain, dazzling his senses as he was engulfed in the crush of bodies. His aura flickered as his concentration weakened. He reached deep inside for the resolve to restore his aura, diving deeply into his Psyche reserves where the monsters of energy lurked. He came up empty. Nothing responded to his call. Duke¡¯s aura flickered for the last time and winked out. The Hounds tore through the burning corpses of their brethren and tore into Duke. They were not draining him, they were tearing pieces off of him. His left arm was the first to go and all he could think at the time was Why is it always that arm? He reacted on instinct, TELEPORTING himself back to the forest and the front lines. He arrived to shocked shouts and cries of alarm before he promptly fell flat on his face. He was greeted with a notification as he passed out. *** You have suffered significant Psyche damage. Your Psyche has been reduced by 75%. The effects will fade over time. Resting will recover your Psyche more quickly. *** Duke regained consciousness to worried looks from Ophirian and Baslin. There was also another man at his side, but he did not recognize him. It was this man that spoke first, ¡°How do you feel?¡± Duke examined himself only to discover that he felt absolutely fine. He looked around at the people surrounding him before speaking, ¡°I feel surprisingly well. The debuff I was suffering from is gone and it appears my wounds have healed.¡± Looking back at himself, Duke activated RESTORE and CLEANSE to bring his shredded clothing back into shape. With a smile he levered himself back to his feet and looked directly at Baslin, ¡°Gather the Archmages. I know how to stop these things.¡± Baslin¡¯s face lit up with hope, ¡°Truly?¡± ¡°Yes, truly. But be quick about it. The ones attacking here are the tiniest tip of the iceberg. If the rest break through, we may not have enough of a world left to defend.¡± Baslin didn¡¯t hesitate before rushing off to gather the Archmages. There were a few arguments but since no one else had anything resembling a solution beyond, ¡°We should study this phenomena. We could learn so much from it¡± he eventually won the argument and brought nearly the entire Council to Duke. ¡°Esteemed Archmages, please allow me to introduce you to King Duke of the Kingdom of Stormstride. He has fought the creatures and survived, gaining considerable knowledge in the process.¡± There were a few nods but most followed suit of a grey-skinned elf who scoffed, ¡°A human king? Why should we waste our time with him?¡± Duke stepped up to the elf, causing the elder mage to crane his neck up to meet his gaze. He waited until the rest of the Archmages had fallen silent before beginning, ¡°Two reasons. Firstly, I am the only one amongst us who has actually left this planet and seen the wider universe and secondly, because I could erase you where you stand with magical Abilities and you would have no defense or recourse. You picking up what I¡¯m putting down, old man? Or should I send you to the other side of thew world to think over your arrogance?¡± ¡°You dare! I¡¯ll-¡° Duke TELEPORTED the elf to the entrance of the Twilight Mountain Inn and turned back to the gasping Archmages. He calmly looked each of them in the eyes before continuing. They all looked considerably more attentive and less prideful. ¡°Now that I have your attention, I called you all together because of all the groups here, I expect you might be the only ones who even have a possibility of helping out here.¡± A surprisingly attractive female goblin pushed through the rest of the Archmages and responded before others could, ¡°What is it that you need from us?¡± Duke smiled at her, suppressing his conflicting emotional reactions of ¡°Hey, she¡¯s cute and she¡¯s a freaking goblin.¡± He composed himself quick enough that few noticed. He was sure from the sly smile that she did but he continued anyway, ¡°What I need from all of you is soulfire.¡± ¡°Soulfire? SOULFIRE! Why don¡¯t you just ask for a legendary dragon to go along with it?¡± The incredulous shout came from a dwarven Archmage whose beard was so long and bushy Duke wasn¡¯t sure he was wearing anything below the waist. ¡°I¡¯ll take one if you¡¯ve got it.¡± ¡°King Duke, what you ask for is so far beyond the capabilities of a Teldin-bound mage as to be ridiculous.¡± This from what Duke thought was an Eaglekin but wasn¡¯t sure enough to even say anything. ¡°I can provide you with soulfire.¡± It was the goblin speaking again. She was joined by a kobold who looked far too young to be an Archmage, ¡°I can provide soulfire as well.¡± ¡°Anyone else?¡± Duke asked. Receiving no further responses, he gestured for the two to come with him. He took them aside and started the real work of preparing. Book 3, Chapter 68 ¡°OK, the only thing I have found that seems to affect these things is soulfire. Who are you and how much soulfire can you two produce?¡± The goblin chuckled, ¡°My name is Gelvin Mahr and I can cast a spell that can cover a thirty-meter radius in soulfire but it is taxing. I can only cast it a few times a day before I am spent. It¡¯s certainly not enough to stop this horde.¡± The kobold gently put his scaled hand on her shoulder, ¡°Do not fret, my old friend.¡± He fixed his gaze on Duke and seemed to come to a conclusion. ¡°I am Thelanos, at least that is the name I have chosen to use for the past few centuries. It seems that this invasion is beyond the capabilities of this world to defend against.¡± His words were punctuated by the sound of trees shattering and scream that was abruptly cut off. The three turned to see the forest nearly depleted and the Hounds swelling in numbers. Things were getting critical as the Hounds¡¯ presence and attack was expanding in a rough circle that now covered a two-kilometer wide area. Containing them no longer seemed possible. Thelanos continued, ¡°It was fun while it lasted.¡± Gelvin interrupted, ¡°What are you talking about, Thelanos?¡± ¡°This.¡± The kobold leapt into the air, wings sprouting from his back, his neck elongating while his tail also grew. His entire body grew and transformed as he rose into the air. In seconds, the transformation was complete. No longer was he a humble kobold but instead a massive dragon gently flapping his wings in the air above them all. As he grew his scales had darkened to black with specks of a bright blue-white scattered in patterns that resembled constellations in the night sky. ¡°Long have I watched over this precious world, biding my time against an otherworldly invasion such as this, but my hiding is over. Heed me, people of Teldin! I can weaken this foe, but I am not able to stop them entirely. You must fight them here and now. Summon your warriors, gather your strength and drive them from your world!¡± With that announcement, he unleashed a breath weapon of something that Duke did not recognize. He watched as the dark beam spread out over the mass of Hounds causing them to writhe and howl in pain. With the writhing, came a sense of solidity that Duke suddenly realized meant that they could no longer shift dimensions Duke didn¡¯t hesitate. He opened the largest Portal he could to the staging area and shouted into his Jewel of Whispers, ¡°Aurelia, send the Legion now. Full send. We need to strike now!¡± The roar as the entire Legion charged through the Portal behind a distinctive reptilian creature wearing a kilt and screaming for blood. Duke couldn¡¯t help but smile at the sight despite the tension of the situation. Ophirian charged ahead of even Aurelia, easily outdistancing the Legion with his kilt flopping wildly around his legs. Gelvin gawked at Ophirian as she asked Duke, ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°That is a Great Serpent.¡± ¡°I can see that. But what the hells is it attached to?¡± Duke kept his face completely deadpan, ¡°That is Ophirian. He¡¯s mine.¡± ¡°You can keep him. That thing is just wrong.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I told him, but kids never listen, do they?¡± ¡°Kids?¡± There was no time to reply as Ophirian hit the writing Hounds with his VENOM SPITTING before peeling off to join Duke off to the side. The Legion continued their charge causing the ground to shake with their synchronized steps. Their ability to keep their strides synchronized at a full charge was a sight to behold as the ground began to undulate ahead of them. The Hounds were swept upwards by the rising ground, still writhing in pain. A second before the Legion arrived, the ground dropped out from under them to be replaced by spears of the Legionnaires. Hounds were pierced and unceremoniously thrown backwards and overhead for deeper ranks of the Legion to fall upon. The charge continued deep into the mass of the Hounds. Others started pouring through the portal to finally join the fight. As the armies of Teldin¡¯s various nations poured through the Hounds started to recover. A great howling started up from the Hounds that reverberated at a low register. The harmonics shook the ground like an earthquake, causing countless troops to lose their footing. The more organized armies had some defense against such attacks, but most did not. The howling caused the dimensional membrane holding the greater number of Hounds outside Teldin¡¯s dimension to ripple and weaken, allowing more and more Hounds to break through. They tore through the membrane in a torrent, adding their own voices to the howling. Unable to do more than keep their feet and fight defensively, the charge collapsed into a static defensive mess with an additional bottleneck at the Portal.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Duke took to the air still feeling the resonance of the howling reverberating through the atmosphere but having nowhere near as strong an effect as it did on the surface. He flew over the boiling membrane and poured SOULFIRE into it. The reaction was immediate. The howling coming from the Hounds bursting through the membrane ceased to harmonize, instead turning to howls of pain. He did not let up, burning through his Mana. He ignored the notifications of kills and other effects while he continued to pour SOULFIRE at the emerging Hounds, OVERCHANNELING the Ability to cover the still expanding area. He poured over a million Mana a second into the Ability and was only able to barely hold the area. He shouted above the chaotic battle below, ¡°Can anyone seal this dimensional breach? I can hold them back for another fifteen minutes but after that, they are going to come pouring through in even greater numbers!¡± He received no response. The howling of the Hounds stopped as the pitched battle increased in fervor and intensity. Despite being temporarily cut off from their dimension-shifting Abilities, the Hounds fought with both their physical and their magical Abilities. Blue flames erupted from their maws, melting armor and weapons alike. Mages countered with cold and ice to varying degrees of effectiveness. A group of Hounds at the front line combined their attacks into a terrifyingly hot flame. The Legion¡¯s front line buckled as a dozen Legionnaires were simply erased by white flames so hot, they broke molecular bonds. Even hundreds of meters away, Duke could feel the heat of the flames despite his distance from the effect. Duke could do nothing, his attention and Mana focused on keeping the vastly larger horde of Hounds from breaking through. Others jumped in to help to varying degrees of effect. When Ophirian launched himself into the fight in his full form, he crushed dozens of Hounds instantly but was quickly overwhelmed by dozens more attacking and had to TELEPORT back to get healing. Others jumped in as the Portal became more active now that the ground had stabilized yet again. The Ansky Empire¡¯s forces marched onto the battlefield through the Portal signing in cadence. They were clad in what appeared to be pinstriped cloth armor but the magic that radiated off them was palpable, triggering Duke¡¯s SENSE MAGIC Ability without him even thinking to engage it. From head to toe, they radiated powerful magic. Their weapons, all bludgeoning-types radiated waves of force that harmonized with their chanting and stepping. He had thought that his Legions were impressive as they marched, seeing this army humbled him. Despite this, he smiled as they quickly marched around the beleaguered left flank of the Legions and joined the fight. Duke continued to pour on his SOULFIRE as his Mana ran down. He had been holding the breach for nearly fifteen minutes now and was coming to the end of his Mana. It was as he strained to keep up the intensity when the Hounds¡¯ dimensional link re-established. Duke could do nothing about it other than keep up what he was doing. ¡°Damn it all to hell! They are shifting again, and I can¡¯t hold the breach for much longer.¡± ¡°I can at least help with the first part of that.¡± Thelanos added another blast of his breath weapon over Duke¡¯s shoulder, washing it over the Hounds. It didn¡¯t catch the Hounds on the edge as he did not want to catch the friendly troops in the blast. The dimensional link was severed again, leaving the Hounds vulnerable. In the seconds the Hounds had been able to shift dimensionally, they inflicted heavy damage on the arrayed forces, diving through the front lines as if they weren¡¯t even there to get at the protected mages. They tore into the mages, drawing their Mana and lifeforce out of their bodies before anyone could react. Thelanos shouted, ¡°I can¡¯t get them when they are so close to allies without wiping out our allies in the process.¡± As Duke watched, Gelvin Mahr launched an arc of SOULFIRE at the Hounds that had escaped Thelanos¡¯ breath weapon. The Hounds burned to ash under the intensity but the damage was done ¨C most of the mages were either crippled or dead. The situation was getting worse by the minute. Duke¡¯s communications crystal rang with a single word, ¡°Incoming!¡± Before he could look around, mechs started to land around the troops and add their firepower to the mix. The Iron Reaver also poured its fire into the Hounds. This, combined with more forces coming through the Portal to join the fight kept the pressure up on the Hounds, finally seeming to reduce their number since Duke had effectively cut off their reinforcements. But Duke¡¯s Mana was running out quickly and when it ran out, more Hounds would come pouring through the dimensional breach. He scrambled for something, anything he could do without his SOULFIRE constantly plugging the hole. Finally, an idea came to him, but he knew that it was fraught with risks. Still, he had to try before his Mana completely ran out. ¡°I¡¯m going to try something. It might not work, but I can¡¯t maintain this for much longer!¡± Amara Laya floated closer, shouting above the roar of battle, ¡°If you have something else to try, try it. I will cover the breach with Soul-searing Sands. I do not know if it will stop the Hounds but it will at least slow them down for the few minutes I can maintain it.¡± Duke checked his Mana, seeing that it was down below a million, ¡°Do it! I have to cut this off.¡± She responded immediately, overlapping his SOULFIRE with her own spell. The swirling blue sands hurt Duke¡¯s eyes to look at, but they seemed to be doing the trick. They did not injure the Hounds like Duke¡¯s Ability had but instead repelled them from the opening. Duke decided that was good enough. He cut his SOULFIRE and began to regen his Mana. After one minute, Amara Laya began to show signs of strain as she taxed her Mana. She drank a blue potion that Duke assumed was a Mana replenishing one and gave him a nod. He responded back with a nod and got to work. Duke poured Mana into a new Dungeon Core, pushing his Ability to create a very specific dungeon. He twisted his Ability to its limits, creating the environment perfect for what he was hoping to make. He left the dungeon empty of creatures, however, only giving it the potential of forming them, focusing on the environment fully. He poured enough Mana in to push the core up to sixth level and broke his concentration. When he looked up, he barely recognized the situation. Amara had collapsed and was being carried in one of Thelanos¡¯ claws. The Hounds were pouring through the breach, and the ranks had broken down into small groups fighting for their lives ¨C he had taken too long. Book 3, Chapter 69 The shock of what Duke saw below him struck deeply into his core. Hounds were pouring through the breach unabated and despite Thelanos striking with his breath weapon repeatedly, the troops pouring through the Portal were unable to keep up with the sheer numbers. What was worse, was that Hounds were now pouring through the Portal, bypassing the troops trying to engage them. For a moment, all Duke could do was take in the scene. The Legions had been overrun, reduced to pockets of defenders grouped together desperately struggling against the rising tide of Hounds. A few other pockets of defenders remained but there was nothing organized left. ¡°If you are going to do something, human, now would be the time¡±, Thelanos¡¯ massive head rose above Duke¡¯s shoulder with a hot puff of air washing over Duke¡¯s frame. Without a pause for a response, the dragon unleashed a blast of his breath weapon at the Portal, catching more Hounds than defenders but Duke could see the dragon wince every time its breath passed over a defender. Duke TELEPORTED to a nearby mountain. Once there, he planted and activated the dungeon core he had been building hoping it would be enough, that it would work. It took a full minute for the dungeon to form and become active. In that time, Duke waited, watching his Mana tick back up. His Mana was nearly full when the dungeon entrance appeared. Straining his Ability to its limits, Duke created the largest Portal entrance he had ever attempted. To make it even worse, he was creating it oriented horizontally rather than the vertical orientation he was used to creating. Finally, he was creating it in an area occupied by creatures and led to a different dimension than it was originated from. This all served to make the creation orders of magnitude harder than any Portal he had created before. The strain pulsed through his head like a spike driven through his brain. His vision swam and he found himself struggling to remain focused. His Mana plummeted as he pushed his Grandmaster ranked Ability into doing what should be impossible. He could feel wetness dripping from his nose, his ears, and even his eyes as his vision began to shade to red. Subconsciously, he knew that meant that he was suffering from a brain bleed but he trusted his REGENERATION to handle it. Finally, with a flash of blue light, the Portal forced itself into existence. The crack as the Portal formed blasted outwardly, reverberating across the battlefield. The redness blocking Duke¡¯s vision faded and as his vision cleared, he could finally see the Portal covering the entire dimensional rift. No more Hounds poured into this world but there were still tens of thousands already here. He paused, projecting his DUNGEON SENSE inside the dungeon and saw that the Portal destination was placed exactly where he had intended. Hounds poured the dungeon by the thousand only to be consumed in SOULFIRE as the dungeon¡¯s specialized atmosphere of its final level did its job. Duke watched for a full minute to make sure the Hounds were not going to escape his trap. Even the larger Hounds were quickly consumed and Duke felt confident he could turn his attention back to the battlefield before him. With the elimination of the press of Hounds bursting through the dimensional breach, the remaining Hounds paused in their attacks. It was as if they sensed the sealing of the breach and weren¡¯t sure what to do at the moment. The scattered defenders took the pause to gather themselves, renewing defensive spells, and preparing for the next assault. Thelanos narrowed his breath weapon, striking at the Hounds where there were no defenders. Duke added SOULFIRE of his own to the fight, targeting the Hounds that surrounded the defenders to give them more breathing room. He could see the relief pass through the defenders as the press of the Hounds let up. As he was able to take a closer look at the pockets of defenders, he saw that each was anchored around a pair of mechs. Duke fired up his communications crystal, ¡°Steel Tusks, what is your status?¡± ¡°Duke, it¡¯s been an absolute mess down here. We are holding steady with infantry support, but none of us have more than 20% left in our Mana Cores. The Iron Reaver went over to the other side of the mountains to try and provide some support there but have been out of communications since then.¡± ¡°I have sealed the dimensional breach for now. There are no more of the damned things coming in. Can you hold with what you have?¡± ¡°If there are no more coming, yeah, we can hold with what we have for a bit longer. An hour at most before we start losing mechs to Mana drain.¡± ¡°Got it. I¡¯m going over the mountains to see what the situation is there.¡± ¡°Good luck.¡± Duke looked over towards Thelanos who interrupted him, ¡°I head it all. Go. I will support those that are still on the ground and maybe Amara will wake back up again so she can aid me.¡± With a brisk salute, Duke TELEPORTED back above the staging area. Things were even more chaotic here. The Hounds were shifting back and forth through dimensions freely here and few, if any, were able to effectively fight them. Duke quickly spotted the Iron Reaver lying on its side against one of the cliffsides.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Iron Reaver, come in. Do you hear me, Mira?¡± He received no response and immediately TELEPORTED to the ship¡¯s bridge, hoping that it was just a communications issue. What he saw disabused him of that notion. The bridge was swarming with Hounds attacking a large glowing sphere. Duke was about to fill the bridge with SOULFIRE but had another idea. He TELEPORTED the Hounds to the SOULFIRE dungeon. For some reason Duke could not discern, there was no resistance from the Hounds, and they disappeared in an instant. The glowing blue sphere vanished to show Mira and Elder Maw¡¯huk huddled together. Slowly, they extricated themselves looking around for trouble. When they spotted Duke, they both brightened up. ¡°Duke! Thank the gods you¡¯re here!¡± Mira rushed over and wrapped him up in a hug. ¡°I came as soon as I heard that communications were lost. Are you OK and what about everyone else?¡± ¡°We¡¯re OK, but I was locked out when we used the emergency seal on the Portal like you showed us. I do not know if any of those horrible things got inside before it was sealed up, but it was just the two of us out here when the monsters overran the ship.¡± ¡°What happened? How were the Hounds able to get into the ship?¡± ¡°We landed to help evacuate when the Hounds started pouring through the Portal. At first, everyone tried fighting the Hounds but they just tore through our forces. For every Hound that was taken down, fifty of ours died. We got hundreds onboard before the Hounds turned to the ship. We tried to fight them off but there were too many for the ship¡¯s shield to handle. Our last resort was the emergency bridge shield. And then you showed up.¡± Elder Maw¡¯huk looked up to Duke as she stood, ¡°Are the Hounds defeated? Has the danger passed?¡± ¡°No, not just yet, but I cut off their way into our world. If you can get the ship righted and back into the fight, it will make a difference.¡± Mira looked at the ships¡¯ consoles and shook her head before giving Duke a pointed stare. Duke winced, ¡°Oh, right. Fixing the ship is kinda my thing.¡± He pushed his Mana out into a RESTORE and the ships¡¯ consoles repaired themselves. He nodded back to Mira, ¡°I¡¯ve got to get back out there. Do what you can.¡± Duke TELEPORTED back outside the ship and targeted a group of Hounds for TELEPORTATION to the dungeon. The Hounds resisted, but when Duke poured more Mana into the Ability, were sent away. As he looked for another good set of targets, he saw explosions of magic spreading across the staging area. As each explosion dissipated, the Hounds that were caught in the explosion staggered around in a daze. The remaining defenders attacked the stricken Hounds without hesitation, desperation radiating from their attacks. Even though the attacks were driven by desperation, they were effective. More and more Hounds started to fall. Duke added his firepower to the final push, raining SOULFIRE down on Hounds as he strafed them. It took hours more, but the final push ended as the last Hound fell. Defenders looked around themselves in disbelief as they suddenly had no more foes left. None dared to let their guard down until Thelanos burst through the Portal, winging across the field before roaring in triumph. The sound shook the area, lifting the exhaustion from all who had survived. A notification immediately appeared in everyone¡¯s vision: *** Let it be known that the threat of the Exospace Hounds has been contained and eliminated. You stood against a foe that threatened the entire world of Teldin and have emerged triumphant! Though victory has been achieved, the cost has been high. Six million, four hundred twenty-six thousand, five hundred twelve residents of Teldin gave their lives in this effort. Those that survive shall forever bear the Mark of this defense with all the benefits that come with it. You all stand united today ¨C do not return to the fractious ways of your past. Teldin must stand unified! *** Duke felt a burning pain erupt on his chest and he tore his shirt open to see what was happening. Before his eyes, the most photo-realistic tattoo he had ever seen formed, covering his entire left pectoral. The tattoo was on Teldin itself as seen from space. It was beautiful and as he watched, he could see the planet slowly rotating. Finally, a golden filigreed border wrapped around the planet and he received another notification: *** You have gained the Mark of Teldin. This Mark identifies you as a true defender of planet Teldin. You gain the following from your Mark. For being responsible for more than 50% of the invaders¡¯ deaths, your Mark has been upgraded. All affects of your Mark remain in effect regardless of where you are and where you earn your experience and levels. In addition, you are granted the Title Champion of Teldin. As the Champion of Teldin, you gain the Ability to summon Teldin¡¯s Guardian Spirit, Thelanos to you. Thelanos will fight for you for up to one hour per day. You also gain the favor of all the gods of Teldin. No god of Teldin will act against you as long as you hold this Title. *** Duke gaped at the rewards. This battle cost so much. I have no idea who, if anyone survived from the Legions. Aurelia is likely dead amongst the more than six million casualties. It¡¯s going to take a long time to recover from this. I gained much personally, but at such a cost ¨C it is most definitely not worth it. Duke¡¯s thoughts were interrupted as another notification appeared. *** The battle is complete. You have been given credit for killing 328,500 Hounds directly and indirectly. You gain 89,941,228 experience which becomes 98,935,350 with your 10% experience bonus. You are now Tier 8, Level 1. You have 13,043 Characteristic Points to spend. You have two Tier Advancement Benefits to choose. Your options include:
  1. Create a new Ability appropriate for your Tier
  2. Advance an existing Ability by one rank (Maximum of Adept)
  3. Advance an existing Skill by one rank (Maximum of Adept)
  4. Gain 150 bonus Characteristic Points
  5. Gain one powerful item appropriate to your Tier
*** Duke contemplated his choices as he scanned the milling people and creatures below him for familiar faces. He spotted some but not nearly enough. It was difficult to scan through the tens of thousands of survivors in the staging area and he would have to hop over the mountains to even see the true battleground. There¡¯s too much to do and I know my time is short. How short is still a mystery but it can¡¯t be more than a few days. Legion first, I guess. Book 3, Chapter 70 Arriving back at the battlefield, Duke could see the backside of his massive Portal spanning the center of the area like a colossal manhole cover. He could see numerous disparate reactions from the remaining troops below. Some were simply standing of sitting numb from the trauma while others were busy organizing themselves and some were out-and-out celebrating. He was able to spot the Legion clearly among those in the organizing groups. They were gathering over the center of the portal. It was the exact center of the area and perhaps they felt it was the easiest to reach form all directions. In the center of them all, Duke spotted a golden arm sticking up above the others. He flew down to investigate. To his delight and disbelief, Aurelia sat astride her warhorse in the center of the gathering Legion. He landed next to her in a spot the Legionnaires had cleared for him and saw firsthand the cost of the struggle. There were less than one hundred Legionnaires standing around them, all battered and torn. Aurelia¡¯s armor was in bad shape, the left arm and leg of her armor barely hanging on by shreds of leather. The rest of the Legionnaires sported similarly tattered armor. All looked exhausted but thankful to still be alive. ¡°You look like you fared well, Duke.¡± ¡°Magical healing is a wonderous thing,¡± Duke responded as he activated as widespread a CLEANSE and RESTORE as he could manage. With his new Mana pool from his Tiering up, the area was tremendous, covering the entire battlefield. The simple feel of being clean and wearing newly restored armor sent a wave of relief through the area. Buckles that had broken, straps that had stretched, armor that had dented into uncomfortable positions all moved back to where they should be. That simple act elevated the mood of the survivors more than the notification had. ¡°Thank you, Duke. That feels a whole lot better.¡± Aurelia looked around herself, counting the remaining Legionnaires. ¡°Is this all that survived? Ranlin, are there any others?¡± ¡°No, General. Ninety-four of us remain. The Legion has been broken.¡± ¡°We will rebuild then. Everyone here is an elite warrior in their own right and fit for leading a Legion of their own.¡± Duke smiled at the looks of determination surrounding him. He nodded to Aurelia, ¡°General, would you care to take your Legion home now?¡± ¡°I would very much like to bring the Legion home.¡± Duke opened a Portal back to Cloudspire for the Legion to return home. They marched through with their heads held high, but Duke could see the haunted look of soldiers that had survived a traumatic battle having lost friends. I will have to keep an eye on them. This could break them in ways that nobody could predict. I¡¯ve seen it before when Coltrane was the only one to come back from his entire wing. If I wasn¡¯t there to take him on as my wingman, I don¡¯t think he¡¯d have made it. When they finished moving through the Portal, Duke closed it. He was greeted by a growing group of survivors wanting to go home. Even the groups that had been separated and were milling around aimlessly in shock seemed to gather together into their individual nations seeking a way home. Duke directed them all back through the open Portal to the staging area where he re-established the myriads of Portals back to their home nations. Duke was pleasantly surprised to discover that opening and maintaining this many Portals no longer strained him. While waiting for everyone to leave, he pulled up his Ability notifications into a single consolidated list of upgrades. *** Your Abilities have seen significant, and even unique use. There are gains and a caution: Do not abuse the privileges of your Class further. This was a singular circumstance but there are rules on DUNGEON CORE CREATION for good reason. Your TELEPORTATION Ability has increased to Grandmaster 143 Your REGENERATION Ability has increased to Master 29 Your DUNGEON MANIPULATION Ability has increased to Adept 16 Your LIGHTNING Ability has increased to Adept 34 Your OVERCHANNEL Ability has increased to Adept 146 Your MENTAL FORTITUDE Ability has increased to Adept 82 Your FORCE Ability has increased to Practiced 7You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Your FLAME Ability has increased to Initiate 6 Your POISON Ability has increased to Initiate 21 Your ACID Ability has increased to Initiate 9 Your Wind Ability has increased to Novice 15 Your ICE Ability has increased to Initiate 36 Your EARTH Ability has increased to Initiate 18 Your LIGHT Ability has increased to Initiate 37 Your UMBRAL REAPER Ability has increased to Adept 110 Your SPELL RESISTANCE Ability has increased to Initiate 47 Your SIMULCASTING Ability has increased to Practiced 37 Your CLEANSE Ability has increased to Practiced 62 Your RESTORE Ability has increased to Master 102 Your REMOTE CASTING Ability has increased to Initiate 21 Your INVENTORY Ability has ranked up to Adept 3 Your ARMOR SKIN Ability has increased to Adept 109 Your FLIGHT Ability has increased to Adept 12 Your COMBAT SENSE Ability has increased to Master 67 Your AURA of PROSPERITY Ability has ranked up to Practiced 4 Your SOULFIRE Ability has ranked up to Practiced 7 Your DUNGEON CORE CREATION Ability has increased to Adept 137 Your DUNGEON MONSTER CREATION Ability has increased to Novice 17 *** Duke pondered the message and his Ability gains as the staging area cleared out, survivors heading home. What is that about rules for DUNGEON CORE CREATION? The Overmind didn¡¯t tell me anything about them and there is nothing in the Ability description that speaks to rules. The only thing close is ¡°With a high enough rank in this Ability, you will be able to define parameters of these dungeons such as style and monster type.¡± That doesn¡¯t say anything about restrictions. I guess it¡¯s trial and error for now unless I can ask the Overmind about it. When the vast majority of survivors had departed, a small group remained, gathered as if waiting for Duke. He floated down to them, seeing a few familiar faces including Amara Laya and Thelanos back in his kobold form. ¡°You are the instrument of Teldin¡¯s salvation. I thank you deeply for this, Champion.¡± Thelanos¡¯ world held a level of reverence that Duke did not understand. He had been fighting for his own survival as much as the rest of the world. Other voices joined in his praise as well and Duke responded with as much humility as he could manage, deflecting their praise as he framed the positive against the vast loss of life. It was Amara Laya that changed the tone for him. ¡°Duke, humility is a fine trait for a king, but all know you have been named the Champion of Teldin, and this is not only an appropriate title, it is who you are. It was you who brought us all together with your Portals and it was you who was able to discover and exploit the Hounds¡¯ weakness. Do not think for a minute that this will be forgotten anytime soon by anyone that was here. We all answered the call to defend Teldin ¨C you are the one who made it possible.¡± As others¡¯ voices joined her sentiment, Duke started to realize just how much he had stepped into the planetary limelight. True, this world was minimally developed and did not have communication or transportation infrastructure to cover the planet like others might, but the system had made it clear that he was known to everyone now. There was no hiding his role in all this and his kingdom was in for some more rapid changes. Without warning, the small crowd of leaders was pushed aside as a new figure walked into their midst. This one was fully four meters tall and dressed in white robes with golden trim. His long hair was a mix of white and blonde that moved as if constantly blown by a breeze despite the still air. Even his beard carried the same wispy texture and coloring. It was his eyes, however, that were the most striking physical feature. Beyond the physical, he held a presence that was overwhelming. Each of the leaders unconsciously stepped several steps backwards and dropped to their knees, even Thelanos. Duke stood looking up at this presence, feeling the enormous psychic pressure but he refused to kneel. As the figure slowly approached, Duke felt his knee start to bed, his Psyche overwhelmed. Not going to kneel before whoever the fuck you are. Not now, not ever! Duke poured more than six thousand of his unspent Characteristic Points to bring his base Psyche up to Ten thousand which brought the modified score over one hundred thousand. The weight and force of the presence washed over him but had no further effect. Duke straightened his legs and stood tall. A smile spread across the features of the approaching figure, and he spoke. His voice rumbled with absolute authority, shaking the ground around him with its resonance, ¡°This is the strength of will I expect from my Champion. I am well pleased. My children, reveal yourselves.¡± With a rippling of air, nine figures revealed themselves, adding their own auras to the aura of the old giant of a man. Duke immediately recognized Ghastul, Gaiathia, and Orgath and realized that he was now standing before the entire pantheon of Teldin. ¡°I see recognition in your eyes now, young one. Yes, I am Aehocho and these are my children. A number of whom you are already acquainted with. We have all come to personally thank you for saving our world. Though we were unable to act, we were here, watching closely. We saw everything that was done, everything that was said. We saw you send your own troops into the fight without pause or consideration. That was a decisive move and if you had not, the others would not have joined the fight. The druids were the only line of defense before then and they were losing quickly. I saw when you-¡° Aehocho was interrupted as a glowing core formed out of the air before him. ¡°Get on with it. Give the boy his gifts and move on. It¡¯s time for me to take him away from here.¡± This was the first time Duke was in the Overmind¡¯s full presence. He was certain that if he had not poured so many points into his Psyche he would have been crushed to the ground. As it was, he was pushing himself to stay upright. The gods all looked frozen in place with strain on their faces. Duke wondered if the Overmind¡¯s aura was affecting them as badly as their affected most mortals. With a bob of the core, the Overmind¡¯s presence lessened, relieving the pressure. The core then floated to take station over Duke¡¯s right shoulder. The movement spurred the gods into motion. Book 3, Chapter 71 Each god came forward and spoke to Duke in turn, offering gifts and boons. The first was Vithshrek. He bowed to Duke and held out an ornate sword hilt-first to him. Duke looked at the sword with disdain, ¡°You know I can¡¯t use that.¡± ¡°That is my boon to you. For showing such honor and willingness to fight for our world, your curse has been lifted. Take the sword and use it with my blessing.¡± Duke took the sword¡¯s hilt in his hand and IDENTIFIED the blade. *** You have found Ascendril. This is the divine blade forged for Vithshrek, the Teldin god of swords. It is a blade forged from divine iron refined from the god¡¯s own blood. It is a blade of power and authority. The wielder of this blade can never be disarmed and strikes twice as hard as their skill and strength should allow. The blade is eternally sharp and nigh unbreakable. *** As he read the information about the blade, he felt something wash over him followed by another prompt. *** You have been granted a new Skill, Swordsmanship. This Skill is granted at the Master rank. *** Vithshrek stepped back as Duke thanked him, allowing Ghastul to step forward. As he spoke, he produced a ring which he handed to Duke, ¡°We have stood in opposition much like Vithshrek, but I have seen the greatness within you and must acknowledge it. I would see your path continue beyond this world. This token will help you in your journey.¡± Again, Duke thanked the god and IDENTIFIED the item. *** You have found a Ring of Fate¡¯s Avoidance. This ring will negate one fatal blow. It is effective against any attack under the level of a divine immortal. *** The next god to step forward was the one shrouded in darkness. They approached Duke silently gliding along the ground despite their steps stirring the dust. They extended a gloved hand holding a pair of boots. They did not say anything, but their masked nod spoke of solemnity and respect. Duke thanked them and IDENTIFIED the boots. *** You have found Midnight Boots. These boots are enchanted to greatly dampen the sound your footfalls make, granting an effective two-rank increase in your Stealth Skill. They also can exude shadows to cloak you for up to one hour per day, providing another rank increase in stealth. *** The next god to come forward was dressed in ornately embroidered robes and coats with chains of gold beset with jewels and gems. He had multiple rings on each finger as well as earrings studded with jewels. He smiled at Duke, ¡°If you have not already guessed, I am Emrae. My domain include merchants and wealth ¨C something you should be well familiar with I would say. My gift to you is simple but powerful. Your Aura of Prosperity can now travel with you, but also still be centered on your own kingdom.¡± ¡°That is truly a grand gift. You have the thanks of my people.¡± The god smiled at Duke again before continuing, ¡°The prosperity your kingdom will bring to Teldin will be needed to rebuild this world and prepare it for joining the greater cosmos.¡± Before Duke could respond, Gaiathia stepped forward smiling warmly, ¡°You have already held my favor and yet you hold it again. I would ask you to restore this area but we have agreed that doing so would not be appropriate. This scar on the world is to remain as a memorial to what happened here. My gift to you is to push your natural elements further, increasing them by one rank, save LIGHTNING as I am sure Ogath has something to say about that. She stepped back as Duke offered his thanks. Orgath stepped forward and clasped Duke by the forearm, ¡°Of all the mortals I have dealt with, you are my favorite. You are a walking storm even when you are not in conflict, and this draws me close to you like a brother. My gift to you is this.¡± He reached behind his back and produced a crackling object. It resembled a doll formed of blue LIGHTNING that fit in the palm of the god¡¯s hand. He continued, ¡°Her name is Nystriel, and she will be a faithful companion that you can take with you on your travels.¡± Nystriel launched out of the god¡¯s hand and took up a perch on the opposite shoulder from the Overmind. She crackled into Duke¡¯s ear, and he understood both that she was definitely a she and that she was happy to join him. Next was Malkiavick who Duke could tell was the god of war and conflict from the scarred armor he wore. The clanking of armor plates as he approached was rhythmic and served to bolster Duke¡¯s mood even more. The grin on the god¡¯s face was wide and hungry. ¡°Duke, my boy. You really did it this time, didn¡¯t you? Killing extra-dimensional beings by the hundreds of thousands in your own personal war with the Syndicate. You have propelled this little planet of ours from the fringes of the Cosmos to the center of a growing conflict. You spent most of your kingdom¡¯s forces in this fight. It will take time to rebuild them, but do so you must. To aid you in this, I am sending my own heroes and followers to join your forces. They will be loyal to you even as they worship me. Beyond that, your forces will grow stronger faster. My final boon is to grant all your kingdom¡¯s forces 25% faster skill progression for any war or combat Skill.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°What do you mean about the Syndicate? They fled the system before making it to Teldin.¡± ¡°Oh, foolish boy, how do you think the Hounds found our world through the dimensional seal? It was the Syndicate that led them here and weakened the barrier between dimensions.¡± Duke stared ahead dumbfounded as the god stepped back to be replaced by the final god. She approached Duke quietly, her face hidden in her many layers of diaphanous, sky-blue robes. She stepped close and placed a single finger on his head. Her voice filled his mind, ¡°Duke, no one, not even your patron, can hear what I have to say. This is perhaps my last TRUE DIVINATION, but it is important for you to hear it and never share it. My Divination is this: Should you survive this Contest, you will be strong enough to return to Earth. Things there are not what they seem. Beware of the false gods and demons that hold your home without sustenance.¡± She stepped back motioning Duke to silence, ¡°That was for you and you alone. Do not share it with anyone.¡± ¡°I will hold it to myself. Thank you for your insight.¡± ¡°One final boon before we take our leave, ¡°Aechocho announced. ¡°I will permit the creatures of your dungeons to roam Teldin. They will no longer be drained of their Mana. Do not abuse this gift or it will be revoked. Farewell and good luck, Duke. Teldin needs its Champion to return even stronger for the fights that are to come.¡± With that declaration, the gods faded from sight, returning to wherever they stayed. Now that their presence had faded and the Overmind had reigned his in, the leaders who had previously collapsed under the psychic weight slowly began to revive and rise to their feet. They looked around themselves in disbelief at what they had just experienced. The Overmind spoke to Duke before any could approach, ¡°The time has come. It is good that you have gotten even stronger but to delay any longer leave you with too large a gap to span. Take the next hour to get your affairs in order and then we leave.¡± The Overmind vanished leaving Duke to deal with the leaders approaching him. ¡°Greetings Your Majesty.¡± ¡°Oh, none of that bullshit. We all shed the blood of our charges as well as our own in this fight. I¡¯m not in the mood for any formal shit. Are you really?¡± ¡°Well, no, but some people are stuck on it.¡± This speaker was a man wearing dented and tarnished plate armor. There was the hint of feathers in the crest of his helm that he had opened. Duke glanced around the group, seeing that most were in a similar state. He was about to activate his CLEANSE and RESTORE combination on the group when he noticed one short and rotund individual who seemed to be completely unsoiled and practically glowed with how clean his opulent outfit was. Duke looked pointedly at the man, ¡°Everyone else here is a tattered mess, but you stand there looking like you are ready to hold court. Why is that?¡± All eyes turned to the man who shrugged with a shy smile, ¡°It¡¯s not my fault that no one else thought to incorporate cleaning and repairing magic into their clothes. Really, it should be standard for any leader. Do you have any idea how much it¡¯s going to take to fix all this armor? You all need to do better.¡± Duke couldn¡¯t help but laugh as he activated his Abilities over the group. His grin at the short man was full of mirth, ¡°About that much. Why waste the enchantments when I can fix it all with a flex of my will?¡± ¡°Speak for yourself but I will gladly accept this magical fix of yours. But the most important thing is where we go from here. A number of leaders left with their remaining troops but there are enough here to discuss things.¡± ¡°What is there to discuss?¡± Duke interrupted. ¡°If we all don¡¯t get our act together, we¡¯ll lose the planet. You were all laid out when the gods came to chat but the gist of it is that this was only the first battle. War is coming to Teldin and we, as a society, are not ready for it. We all need to set aside any petty squabbles we may have and prepare. I will open Stormstride to trade with all of you through the Portals I will restore shortly. We must rebuild our forces, create arms unlike any our troops have ever used before and be ready to face what is coming.¡± ¡°OK, Mr. Know-it-all, what is coming?¡± The one who spoke was a tall, pale-skinned man who reeked of wealth and privilege. ¡°War amongst the stars. That is what is coming. Prepare yourselves as best you can. I¡¯ll leave the best instructions and tools I can with my people before I leave.¡± ¡°Before you leave? Where are you going?¡± ¡°To fight the next battle. Heed the warning of the gods ¨C war is coming and you need to prepare. If you cannot do it yourself, find someone amongst your people who can do it and give them the authority to do so. We lost so many people in this fight already. If we are not better prepared, the next fight here will be the end of everything.¡± Duke let his warning sink in for a moment before he TELEPORTED back to Cloudspire to get things rolling for his own kingdom. The next hour was spent in a whirlwind of brief conversations as he set countless things in motion, hoping it would be enough. In the end, he doubted it would be, but he had no more time to prepare. The Overmind found him speaking with Sam about what he needed from the dungeon. ¡°You are pushing things again, Duke. My dungeons were never meant for what you are asking.¡± ¡°Well, then it¡¯s time to grow up and show the Cosmos just how dangerous it is to attack a world anchored by a dungeon.¡± The Overmind rotated his core back and forth as if shaking his had slowly, ¡°You are not the first to think this way. The last one died a particularly brutal death.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do better this time then.¡± ¡°Perhaps, perhaps. That is something to worry about later though. Spend the last of your points and we will leave.¡± Duke spent his Characteristic points, gritting his teeth as his body reacted to such monumental changes. He nodded to the Overmind to indicate he was finished. Sam stepped forward and gave Duke a quick hug, ¡°Good luck. Make it back to me ¨C I¡¯m not sure I can manage everything you have asked without your help.¡± ¡°Do your best. I-¡° With a flash of energy, Duke was gone, headed for the Contest. END OF BOOK 3 Book 4, Chapter 1 Duke was confused. He had travelled tremendous distances with his own TELEPORTATION Ability as well as a trip or two through Exospace on a ship. Transportation with the Overmind was something different altogether. It was not instantaneous like his own Ability, nor did it have the feel of travelling through another dimension. Instead, it felt like travelling at an extreme speed through normal space but there were no visual cues to go by. It seemed that they were travelling in a lighted bubble through absolute blackness. ¡°You seem disturbed by this method of travel, Duke.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t see anything outside of our bubble.¡± ¡°That happens when you exceed the speed of light. We may get an occasional flash if we hit a photon or some other stray particle just right, but other than that, it¡¯s all darkness out there.¡± ¡°How long will it take us to get there?¡± ¡°Eager, are we?¡± ¡°More curious and concerned about what I left behind.¡± ¡°It will take us a few relative hours to get there. I could have taken us directly there but this gives us a bit more time to talk about things before I unleash you on the Contest World.¡± ¡°Can you finally tell me more about this Contest?¡± ¡°Indeed, yes. First of all, the Contest takes place on a world created solely for this purpose. It is what you would have referred to as a ¡®Super Earth¡¯ back in the day. It is roughly fifteen times the size of your original planet. Do you know what that means?¡± ¡°For one, I¡¯m going to guess a greater gravitational pull.¡± ¡°Excellent start. Gravity scales in this case, which would make it about fifteen times stronger at the surface. You are far too strong for that to make a difference physically, but projectiles and the like will be affected. Objects falling will take more damage than usual. But the most interesting thing is that the structure and composition of the planet is about five times more dense than your Earth. That increases the gravitational pull to about seventy-five times more than you are used to feeling.¡± ¡°That¡¯s going to take some getting used to.¡± ¡°Yet another reason for us to take some time getting there. I have been slowly increasing the gravity in our travelling core. It¡¯s now up to five times your normal. I bet you didn¡¯t even notice.¡± ¡°Nope. Not at all.¡± ¡°Good. Now on to matter back on Teldin. I know you are concerned with leaving your friends, your kingdom, and indeed, the whole planet in the care of others. But you know that you have some highly competent people running things in your kingdom for now. Your Aura of Prosperity now covers the entire planet with your massive Psyche boost. That will create some new problems but in the long-term it is going to make Teldin an amazing planet for trade in the Cosmos. The biggest problem will be when others wish to take advantage of the bonus and set up manufacturing on the planet. That is likely decades away but something they will have to be ready for.¡± ¡°And what if I¡¯m not there?¡± ¡°I honestly don¡¯t expect you will be. Once you get through the Contest, your priorities will likely have changed. Do you plan on winning the whole thing?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that the point? You don¡¯t enter shooting for last place, right?¡± ¡°No, but a finish in the top 100 would be a spectacular showing. Especially with you getting such a late start.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve only missed a few weeks.¡± ¡°Not talking about the Contest itself. You are at least a decade behind the favorites in terms of growth and development. You have grown at an obscene rate but there is an inherent advantage in growing at a steady rate.¡± ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t know my own strength in a lot of areas at this point. I haven¡¯t really even gotten a handle on my TELEPORTATION, and I use that all the time. I¡¯m not sure what my limit is anymore.¡± ¡°That one¡¯s easier to quantify. Your range is now roughly 100,000 light years. That¡¯s about enough to take you from one side of your original galaxy to the other. There are some lesser Entities that can¡¯t move that distance with their Abilities. You will have no difficulty moving about the Contest planet in that regard. The real problem lies in the quality of the enemies you have faced up to this point. How many times have you really had to push yourself to the limit?¡¯ ¡°A few.¡± ¡°Exactly. That is your only true weakness. It would have been far better to find your limits before coming to the Contest, but that was never really on the table for you. You also have two Tier awards to select before we get there. May I make a suggestion for at least one?¡± ¡°Of course. What would you suggest?¡± ¡°I suggest you upgrade DUNGEON MANIPULATION to DUNGEON ENGINEERING. You have not used your Dungeon Abilities anywhere near as well as you would have had you had time to practice with them. You will need to use them on this new world. This will give you the boost you need to rapidly change a dungeon to suit your needs.¡±Stolen story; please report. ¡°What about DUNGEON AURA? I thought that might be useful as well.¡± ¡°Combining the two could make you nearly unstoppable but will also make you a nearly uncontrollable threat to everyone around you until you get a true handle on the Ability. You will spontaneously spawn dungeon monsters, traps, and environmental effects if you don¡¯t have enough control over it. It would make going home nearly impossible for some time. I¡¯m not saying that it isn¡¯t thoroughly useful and would greatly increase your odds of survival in the Contest, but there is a price to pay for it and I don¡¯t think you are willing to pay that price.¡± Duke considered the Overmind¡¯s advice, contemplating on how he could use the Ability and about the warnings around the other Ability. I have more willpower than ever now. By a lot. Surely I could control the aura. Yeah, what¡¯s the worst that could happen? Oh, right, spontaneous creation of a monster horde right in the middle of my friends. Might want to think about that one for a while. Duke made a decision and accepted the upgrade in his Ability to DUNGEON ENGINEERING. The description had changed a bit since he last looked at it: *** You have evolved your Ability DUNGEON MANIPULATION to DUNGEON ENGINEERING. This change allows you to rapidly make dramatic changes in a dungeon¡¯s design and layout. A dungeon¡¯s entire theme, cast, and layout can be changed in a matter of seconds. It also significantly increases the value of items that can be removed from dungeons. Because your Ability is at the Adept rank, its effects have been enhanced, allowing you to change Dungeon parameters rapidly and potentially even with other auras affecting the area. This means that if you are able to overcome an individual¡¯s resistances, you can change a dungeon environment around them. The value of items you may remove from a dungeon has been increased to ten million gold per rank plus your Ability level. *** Duke stared at the notification for a minute, taking in all the changes and thinking on how ridiculously powerful it would be in the right circumstances. He looked up to the Overmind but saw no reaction from the floating core. ¡°This Ability is hellishly powerful. You knew that, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Of course I knew that. I designed the Class and its Abilities myself. But keep in mind that most every other Entity participating has done the same for their Contestants. Your Abilities are great. Absolutely terrifying inside a dungeon. But outside, without a DUNGEON AURA? Not all that useful. That is why all your other Abilities and Skills have come into play so much. Still, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to start making some Dungeon Cores while we are travelling.¡± Duke grinned evilly and started to do just that. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be a bad thing if I made a Dungeon Core filled with weaponsmiths and armor smiths. Would it?¡± ¡°No, that sounds like a grand idea but don¡¯t limit yourself to basic weapons. Most opponents you will be facing will have top-of-the-line magitech gear. You don¡¯t have to kill everyone you encounter but bet that most of them will try to kill you. If you can form an alliance or two, it might be helpful. But remember that they could betray you at any moment.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind. Why is this so cutthroat?¡± ¡°One, the prizes are spectacular and no, I can¡¯t tell you what any of them are, just get yourself into the top 100. And two, every Contestant is sponsored by an Entity. There are precious few Entities that have reached the Pinnacle and of those beneath the Pinnacle, few have any real chance of climbing this high. This leads to jealousy and the unrelenting feeling that they need to prove themselves.¡± Duke interrupted, ¡°And since they can¡¯t get to you, taking me out is the next best thing they can do?¡± ¡°Got it in one. But don¡¯t think that the other Contestants are the only threat. There are creatures, puzzles, traps, and dungeons designed to challenge even divine immortals. Virtually everything outside of Sanctuary can kill you. You need to be careful.¡± ¡°Words of encouragement. Thanks. Now what was that about some place called Sanctuary?¡± ¡°Sanctuary is the central city on the planet. It is the only place where anyone is safe. No combat or violence can be conducted there. Anywhere else is fair game. Yes, a meter outside the city walls is fair game. So be alert when entering and leaving the city. There are merchants of all kinds set up there with restaurants, pleasure houses, and everything else you would expect. The most important thing there, at least for you, is the leaderboards. That is where you can see where you are currently placed.¡± ¡°Got it. Sanctuary is a good place to take a break but I¡¯m not going to move up any while I am there so don¡¯t stay there long.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good takeaway. Do you have any other questions?¡± ¡°Does experience and leveling work the same there?¡± ¡°For the most part, yes. You will get experience for kills, but Contestant kills give an additional boost which puts a target on all your heads. Mind you, going in as a Tier Eight gives you more of an intimidation factor than I had expected when you were Tier Six. It will make many second-guess outright attacking you.¡± ¡°So, they¡¯ll gang up on me then.¡± ¡°Likely. Any other questions? We are approaching.¡± ¡°Anything that is outlawed? Anything I can¡¯t get away with?¡± ¡°Rules are for those who aren¡¯t strong enough to impose their own will. That is the sentiment. Since Sanctuary is maintained by the Elder Entities, the rules there are inviolate. Outside the city, the rules are what you make them.¡± ¡°Good to know. I thin-¡° ¡°One more thing,¡± The Overmind interrupted. ¡°Everything that happens outside of the city is recorded and viewable by anyone in the city. It¡¯s a good way to get some information on your opposition but expect everyone to be holding their trump cards close. You would do well to do the same. I don¡¯t know of anyone else there that can TELEPORT, but they could be holding it in reserve. Be alert and be ready.¡± Duke watched as their Core slowed and objects began to resolve themselves in his vision. They approached the planet slowly and he got a good look at it. The planet was clearly not a natural space body. The grid-like demarcation of areas on the surface made it clear. Each grid square held an entirely different environment with some ridiculous borders where ice met desert and the like. He had not been nervous on the trip but as they descended through the atmosphere towards Sanctuary, Duke¡¯s stomach started to flutter. He angrily suppressed the feeling and took his most stoic pose as they landed on the landing pad. With a gentle ¡°pop,¡± the Core disappeared leaving Duke and the Overmind alone on the landing pad. The Overmind spun in his direction, imparting a few final words, ¡°Duke, this is where we separate. Remember what you have learned and get yourself on the leaderboards. We will not speak again until the Contest is complete. I wish you the best of luck.¡± With that sentiment, the Overmind zipped away at a speed Duke could not follow, leavening him alone on the pad with a small crowd of onlookers sizing him up. Book 4, Chapter 2 Duke smiled at the onlookers, noting that they seemed to be divided by race into three groups. One group was reptilian, reminding Duke of the pair of Dragonians he had left back on Teldin. The fact that he had not seen the pair involved in the fighting against the Exospace Hounds tickled the back of his mind, but he stayed focused, looking over the other two groups. The second group consisted of an insectoid race. They resembled praying mantises with their triangular heads and large multi-faceted eyes at the upper corners. The rest of their bodies were slightly more humanoid save for the extra pair of arms that sprouted from their torsos which looked far weaker than the larger limbs sprouting from their shoulders. Duke surmised the smaller arms were for more delicate work, but he was just guessing. The third group appeared human but were adorned in armor that was reminiscent of Syndicate shock troops with a close resemblance to mechs. They had their helmets open and were openly eyeing Duke. They were armed with magitech rifles of some kind whereas the other two groups were armed in a more traditional fantasy style with blades, bows, and similar items. Duke almost didn¡¯t notice the transparent gems floating in the air, circling one of the dragonians. Ignoring the other two groups, Duke walked up to the dragonians and offered them a salute as he had learned from Drakmalorie. Their surprised reaction was well-concealed but Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA still picked up on it. Much like it picked up on the subtle cues of irritation from the other two groups. He greeted the dragonians, ¡°Greatness upon your eggs. I am known as Duke. How might you be addressed?¡± The wording was specific and designed to translate perfectly into their language. From their reaction, Duke had hit the mark. The largest of the dragonians stepped up to him and swung his left arm full-speed at Duke¡¯s head, claws extended. Duke caught the arm with his own, forearms locking together. The smile that spread across the dragonian¡¯s face told Duke that he had nailed it perfectly. ¡°Your eggs must be strong, friend Duke. You must come with us and discuss how it is that you know our ways so well. I am known as Molekethesius but you can call me Mole if it pleases your tongue.¡± Duke followed Mole and his group, who surprisingly had not introduced themselves, down a few streets before they arrived at the expected bar. Duke noted that the streets were paved with something closely resembling concrete and the buildings all appeared to be made of concrete and glass. In all, it bizarrely reminded him of a city on Earth and was not what he expected in the least. As they walked, Duke fired up his DUNGEON SENSE and SENSE MAGIC to get an idea of what was really around him. What he discovered was not a great surprise but did give him a few things to think about. There was an extensive tunnel network running under the city that went several kilometers deep. He could sense creatures of numerous types within the tunnels. He could also sense that the concrete jungle around him was more than concrete and glass. Magitech was heavily incorporated, running through all the buildings¡¯ structures. He guessed it was for reinforcement, but it could have been for anything. In time, they arrived at the bar and filtered in, easily finding a table that could accommodate the dragonains¡¯ size. The interior of the bar looked exactly like what Duke had expected. It was very reminiscent of the bar where he had first met Gro¡¯nok on Turin station. There was one feature that immediately grabbed his attention though. There was a holographic display screen hovering overhead in the middle of the bar that listed the top ten rankings. He didn¡¯t recognize any of the names which was no surprise to Duke but he was determined to see his own name among them before this was all over. Top one hundred? No, top five. Top ten at a minimum. I have a lot of catching up to do. Where do I even rank on this thing? Duke¡¯s musings were interrupted as Mole spoke, ¡°So, you are interested in the rankings, are you Duke?¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Not at this point. We have lost too many of our clutch to continue. We are just going to wait here in Sanctuary until it is over. We will remain in the top thousand by my estimate. That should be enough for our sponsor.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lot to unpack. Would you share more? Like how you are coming to that estimate?¡± Mole tapped on the table three time in rapid succession. This brought up a version of the rankings board that they could interact with. He quickly scrolled the listing down to the 523rd place which listed Team Shatterscale. Duke came to the sudden realization that there were three leader boards. One for individuals, one for teams, and one overall. ¡°That is our clutch, Team Shatterscale. We have over six million points and that should be enough to keep us in the top thousand.¡± Duke scrolled through the various lists, eventually finding himself listed at the bottom of the individual list in rank 22,614. Mole noticed his rank and gave Duke a quizzical look.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°I¡¯ve only just arrived and have a lot of catching up to do. Any tips you¡¯d like to share before I head out and get started?¡± ¡°You have a hard road ahead of you, friend. Where are you looking to get placed?¡± Duke considered answering honestly but decided to hold back, ¡°I¡¯m going to make it into the top thousand if I have enough time.¡± ¡°You will find that difficult without killing other Contestants. Most of the Challenges have been completed. The only ones left are the ones that even the front-runners have avoided. There are still hordes of creatures out there but, again, they are hordes of high-tier creatures which would make it impossible for an individual to take on. The one thing I will warn you about above all is to avoid the main gate. Team Darkness Prevails has control of the area outside that gate and kills anyone trying to enter or leave it.¡± ¡°I assume the other gates are similarly controlled?¡± ¡°Very much so. You can buy passage in and out of the city, but it is expensive.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to know. Thank you for sharing this information. It seems I have less time to catch up than I had anticipated and a harder road of it than I was led to believe.¡± Duke stood from the table and offered a final salute before quickly heading out of the bar. A single shout of ¡°Good luck!¡± followed him out the door. Once outside, Duke ducked down an alley to take a moment to think. He was confident that he could take on anyone with enough time to prepare and form a strategy but simply stepping outside the city walls would not give him any time to prepare. I¡¯m going to have to kill Contestants. The Overmind had told me as much but now it is crystal clear. I have to leave Sanctuary and find someone to kill. It shouldn¡¯t be too hard, right? I can just TELEPORT my way out and start hunting. If I can knock off someone in the upper ranks, that will catapult me up the ranks since I would get half their points but also might put a target on my own head. Nothing to do but to get started. Duke recalled the terrain he witnessed on his descent into the city and picked a mountainous region a significant distance from Sanctuary as his first destination. With a thought, he TELEPORTED to the tallest mountain in the range and started scanning the area with his senses. The first thing he picked up was that there were hundreds, if not thousands of creatures in the area. They ranged from rabbit-sized prey creatures to a few large bipedal creatures. He couldn¡¯t tell how powerful any of them were without getting line-of-sight to IDENTIFY them, so he decided to do just that. Making his way down from the snowy peak, he flew slowly and carefully, maintaining a level of vigilance that he was accustomed to only during combat missions. Lately, he had let his wariness fade, replaced by supreme confidence. In this setting, he had switched back to old habits that had saved him on mission after mission. The stakes were high and he didn¡¯t have enough information about what he was up against. In the struggle between urgency and caution, caution was the victor today. Duke approached one of the larger bipedal figures to see that it was a white-furred creature standing close to three meters tall. His IDENTIFY gave him a bit more detail about the creature. *** You have encountered a Yargeth. This creature is native to the icy planet Epsilot. It is known for its physical attacks including the ability to hurl boulders of ice significant distances. Tier: 4 Level: 145 Health: 891,335 Mana: 801,000 *** Duke smiled, figuring this would be an easy first kill. He bathed the creature in FLAME and watched as it thrashed about, flinging spears of ice in seemingly random directions. Once came close to him and he batted it out of the air with his forearm. Duke was surprised by the sting of the cold from the spear. It felt as cold as the vacuum of space. He immediately decided to be even more careful when fighting these things. He increased the Mana flow to his FLAME Ability and the creature quickly succumbed. Duke was bombarded with notifications. Normally, he would ignore them but this time, he decided that there might be something worth reading with the Contest. *** You have slain a Tier 4, Level 145 Yargeth. You gain 43,400 experience plus 4,340 bonus experience from your Mark of Teldin and are now level 9. You have 224 Characteristic Points to spend. You have gained 545 Contest points. Your new rank is 21,241. *** Duke smiled as seeing his rank jump so much from one kill. Time to rocket up the bottom of the ranks! Must be a bunch of Contestants who aren¡¯t doing much of anything. Maybe they are afraid to leave the city. Duke gathered the corpse up into his INVENTORY and set about to start his slaughter. Flames wreathed his fists as he flew around the mountains attacking every Yargeth he could find. When he was done with his rampage several hours later, he had killed nearly two hundred of the things. Most were in the Tier Three to Four range, but there was one Tier Five. When he was all done, he reviewed the results. Duke was now level 65 and had over 1,400 Characteristic Points to spend. He had gained 72,363 Contest points, bringing him up to 92,561 Points and breaking into the top 1,000 at number 917. He shook his head at the results. How the hell did I shoot up that far from just a few hours of work? That makes no sense. I need to check the leader boards and find out what¡¯s going on. The though was enough to bring the boards up in his interface which made him eminently happy that he didn¡¯t have to go back to town to check. He immediately saw the disparity. The individual ranked below him had a little over ten thousand points. The one above him, however, had over ten million points. That was one enormous gap. His exploration of the board was interrupted by another notification. ***Contest Messaging System Activated. You have received a direct message from Zarmouth. Congratulations on breaking into the top 1,000. Enjoy your rewards when they come. I don¡¯t know who you are, but if you start moving in on my placement, I will remove you from the board. *** Duke noted the name and saw that it was the person just above him at rank 916. I guess that is why I was able to move up this far. This asshole keeps killing anyone who get close to him. Guess it¡¯s time to make him give me five million points¡­ Book 4, Chapter 3 Duke contemplated responding to the message but ultimately decided not to engage just yet. Instead, he set about making his plans a reality. The first step was a deep DUNGEON SENSE scan of the mountain he was on. It took a bit to find what he was looking for, but he was able to find the underground network of tunnels that he guessed covered the entirety of the constructed planet. Within those tunnels, he found a cavern big enough for what he wanted. He TELEPORTED down to the cavern. Once there he cleared out the few minor creatures that had taken up residence there, earning him a whopping 47 Contest points. The clearing of distractions was more important than the points, but he would take every point he could. Finally, he took a Dungeon Core out of his bag and prepared to plant it. He had steadily poured Mana into the Core for the entire trip with the Overmind and had been able to push it all the way to his own Tier. With no ceremony but a smile, he planted the Core in the wall of the cavern. There was a brief shaking of the ground as the Core secured itself in place before it began to consume the surrounding section of wall to form its own specific entryway. The entryway expanded until a massive set of ornate stone doors had formed. They towered over Duke, reaching nearly to the ceiling of the cavern, each door ten meters wide. Duke stepped back and waited for the Dungeon to complete its formation. From the Tier and complexity of the Dungeon he had designed, Duke knew it would be a few hours before it was completely set up even at his Adept rank. He delved into his Contest menu to see if he could find anything interesting. He had already noted the small increases in his Abilities from his activities thus far but wanted to make sure he wasn¡¯t missing anything. While deep in a listing of services available in Sanctuary, he received another message. *** Contest Messaging System Activated. You have received a message from Molekethesius. Duke, you shot up the rankings so quickly! Did you kill a predatory team blocking one of the lesser gates out of the city? *** Duke responded to the message, deciding that Mole might just be a good source for information in the city. He did not fully trust the dragonian, but their entire cultural history was based on honor, so Duke expected at least some honor from the dragonian. *** Contest Messaging System Activated. You have sent a message to Molekethesius. Nothing so spectacular yet. Just managed to slip out of the city and find a good hunting ground. But the next person up on the list, someone named Zarmouth, has decided to threaten me if I get close to his point total. From the point standings, it looks like he may have followed through with that threat more than once. *** *** Contest Messaging System Activated. You have received a message from Molekethesius. What do you intend to do about him? He is known to have killed a number of Contestants. *** *** Contest Messaging System Activated. You have sent a message to Molekethesius. Make him try to kill me, of course. I could use the points. *** Duke did not receive a message right away, but he had other things to do right now anyway. The dungeon had finished forming and was ready for him. He stepped forward and entered the combination of knocks and button presses across the entire surface of the immense door. In all, it took him a full minute to enter the specific combination. When he was done, there was the sound of the whirring of gears and heavy locking bars moving before the massive doors began to open. Silently, the doors swung outward revealing their four-meter thickness. Duke knew that the very nature of the dimensional immutability of dungeon structures made the door¡¯s imposing thickness irrelevant, but he wasn¡¯t concerned with practicality here. Appearances matter both to him, and to those populating the dungeon. He waited for the doors to fully open, locking in place with an echoing ¡°thoom.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. With a wide smile, Duke entered, mentally triggering the closing mechanism for the doors with his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability. They slowly swung shut behind him, closing with an authoritative boom followed by the whirring of gears as the locking bars completed the sealing of the doors. Before he started to explore the area, he focused on his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability and pushed on the Adept-ranked Ability hard. He focused on the time dilation properties of the dungeon. Previously, he had been able to make the training cave pass time four times faster than the larger dungeon it had resided in which was the limit of his DUNGEON MANIPULATION Ability at the time. He wanted to see just how far he could push things with his newly evolved Ability. Duke focused on the Ability, Pouring Mana into it at a prodigious rate. He quickly passed one hundred million Mana and kept pushing until he could feel the Ability reaching its limits. In the end, he had poured over two hundred fifty million Mana into the Ability and had the headache to prove it. He received a system notification on his results. *** You have accelerated the passage of time within the dungeon, ¡°The Forge,¡± by 1,074 times normal. This is far beyond any reasonable norm and may result in dungeon instability over time. The effects on individuals entering and exiting the dungeon may be significant. For pushing your Ability, DUNGEON ENGINEERING, to such an extreme, it has gained 15 levels to Adept 31. *** Duke nodded to himself at the notification with his eyes closed and hand pressed to his head. The motion created a wave of nausea as his migraine did not appreciate the motion in the least. It took longer than Duke had expected for the headache to clear, and he was able to fully stand back up and open his eyes, he noticed that his hand was covered in blood. The realization that he had caused yet another brain aneurysm washed over him as he CLEANSED the blood. REGENERATION saving my ass again after I pushed things too far¡­again. But pain is progression, right? Duke looked up to take in the full scope of the dungeon he had poured so much of himself into and found himself impressed. The dungeon primarily consisted of a two-kilometer square crafting area with space for hundreds, perhaps even thousands of separate crafting areas. There were some areas that Duke had specifically designated when he crafted the dungeon, but there were many more that were available for crafting areas that might be needed in the future. He turned towards an approaching figure whose steel-shod hoofs echoed throughout the hall. The figure stood nearly three meters tall and was built with the broad shoulders and thick arms of a smith. The minotaur grinned as he approached Duke. ¡°Greetings Emperor and welcome to the Forge. I am Sar Forglyn, and I am the master of this hall.¡± He extended his hand for Duke to shake and engulfed the man¡¯s hand in his own. Duke noted the thick calluses on the minotaur¡¯s hand and the unyielding grip that belied his strength. He could tell that the minotaur¡¯s strength was nowhere near his own, but was far beyond most he had encountered to this point. He smiled as he responded, ¡°Thank you for such a warm greeting. I am eager to see what The Forge has in store for me. Do you have enough crafters at your disposal?¡± ¡°More than enough if it is just you that we are outfitting.¡± ¡°For now, yes. There may be others in the future but that is currently a complete unknown. Just remember that nothing worth more than fifty million gold can leave this place. Will that be a problem?¡± ¡°Not exactly. If it is a limit per item, we can work around it. You may have to take some things out piece by piece and assemble it yourself afterwards.¡± ¡°I should be able to do that if it¡¯s not something that should be in one piece to start.¡± ¡°Modular design is what we will aim for when it comes to the big things. Are you ready to get started with measurements or would you like a tour of the facility first?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get the measurements done first and the tour can follow afterwards.¡± ¡°Certainly. Come with me.¡± Sar Forglyn led Duke to a room close to the entrance. The chamber was covered with runescript that Duke had to force himself not to study. Instead, he stood where the minotaur had indicated. The minotaur stepped out of the room, closing the door behind himself. Seconds later, the runescript lit up brightly and several beams of different colored light traced over Duke¡¯s body from all directions. Thirty seconds later, the door opened, and Sar Forglyn gestured for Duke to step out of the chamber. They crossed the hall, and Duke saw a perfect replica of himself standing in the next room. As he watched, Sar Forglyn was able to reposition the simulacrum in any position and it held itself in the pose. ¡°This will give us the ability to fit anything to you and test its range of motion without having to take from your time directly.¡± ¡°That is outstanding. How many simulacrums can you make?¡± ¡°We have twelve simulacrum chambers so that is our current limit. We can make more but I don¡¯t see us needing more for quite some time based on your earlier statement, Emperor.¡± ¡°That should do nicely. Now, about that tour¡­¡± Book 4, Chapter 4 The tour around The Forge took three hours as Sar Forglyn showed Duke around the numerous crafting areas including alchemy and enchanting among others and ending the tour with two very specific areas. The first was what he called ¡°The Armory.¡± ¡°This is where we will make your armor, Emperor. As we already have your measurements, what do you require of the armor?¡± Duke thought for a long moment before responding, ¡°The armor needs to be flexible enough that I have full range of motion. And that means full range of motion for me, not a ¡®standard¡¯ person. I am more flexible than most and need to be able to move to those limits. Weight is not a significant concern as I can handle a lot of extra weight. Durability is the number one thing I am thinking of. I¡¯m going up against powerhouse after powerhouse here. I need something that is going to withstand at least the first few blows without being damaged.¡± ¡°Flexible and durable. I see. Any desired enchantments?¡± ¡°Nothing specific, in fact, leaving enchantments off is probably a good idea. I don¡¯t want to absorb my armor in the middle of a fight.¡± ¡°Very well. Final question on the armor. When do you need it?¡± ¡°You have one year to perfect it.¡± ¡°A year? Surely you need it sooner.¡± ¡°No, one year is long enough to make sure you truly have perfected the armor. Now on to the last area you wanted to show me.¡± ¡°Yes, the final area,¡± Sar Forglyn spoke as he led Duke to the largest of the crafting areas. This one reached all the way to the ceiling of the area and was closed-in by its own set of floor-to-ceiling doors. The doors opened for the two of them and Duke was able to see what had been hidden. He had designed the overall structure and the absolute focus on crafting and creativity when he had pushed the dungeon core all the way up to Tier Eight, but he had not consciously designed the individual sections, allowing the Core to manifest them. The doors opened to reveal several sets of scaffolding and gantries dominating the walls of the room. Below them all were several large tables that minotaur crafters huddled over working on something that Duke could not clearly make out at this angle. He stepped in to take a closer look and found his steps quickening as he realized what the area was for. ¡°This is a mech-crafting area, isn¡¯t it?¡± Duke took a few steps through the door, gazing at the catwalks and the gantries where one day mechs would stand. ¡°Yes, Emperor. We will design and build mechs for you here. Do you have any preferences for your first prototype?¡± Duke stared at them, blinking slowly as he processed the possibilities. He had hoped to be able to do something like this in the future when he better understood runescript, but here it was right in front of him. He stumbled as he came to a stop against one of the oversized tables. ¡°Initially, I want something that is full-on intimidation. I want it to be the black of the void with crimson highlights. I want it to look like it has been bathed in blood so many times that its spikes and blades have become stained by the blood. I want to be able to channel and amplify my Abilities through it. Give it a sword that can cut through anything. How does that sound?¡± ¡°That is ambitious, but we might be able to make something like that. How large do you want it to be?¡± ¡°I want to be able to fit it easily inside my INVENTORY and it needs to be under the gold-value limit.¡± ¡°That, my Emperor, is where I feel we will have the most difficulty. The value of a mech is probably in the hundreds of millions of gold. I don¡¯t see how we could get it under fifty million.¡± ¡°Could you make it a modular design so I could take it out in pieces and reassemble it outside?¡± ¡°That would take longer to design and would likely not be as durable with the additional joins. I suppose it would be possible though.¡± ¡°Then do that. If it gets damaged enough, I should be able to repair it. Take your time with it. If you need a year to design and build it, then do it. Even if it¡¯s going to take two, make it work. In the meantime, create whatever arsenal you can plus all the items we discussed along the way. I will return in a year to check in on your progress.¡±Stolen novel; please report. ¡°A year, Emperor? That seems like a long time.¡± ¡°I assure you; it is not for me. Good luck with all the projects.¡± Duke took one more look around before waving and TELEPORTING out of the dungeon. He stood on top of the mountain housing The Forge and expanded his DUNGEON SENSE as far as he could looking for other Contestants that may be outside the city. It did not take long to find them. There were hundreds of individuals and nearly as many groups out and about. Duke immediately wondered if the tale about the guarded gates was just a rumor to keep Contestants from venturing out. He decided to investigate and zoomed his senses in on the area around the city. With his focus shifted, he was able to see that there were indeed several groups camped around the city. They seemed to be keeping their distance from each other and each group did seem to control a marked exit point of the city. He decided to get closer and see if he could gauge their power. The flight to the city took a few hours but Duke did not want to expose his TELEPORTATION just yet. He approached the group that had the smallest area controlled as he figured that would be the weakest group. There were only four of them in the group after all. He approached, slowing his speed down to a running pace and landed a few kilometers away. Although he was at the absolute limit on his IDENTIFY Ability¡¯s range, he figured he would get a good enough read to get a sense of their power. What he received was a surprise. *** Your Practiced-ranked Ability, IDENTIFY, was blocked by a higher-ranked Ability. The individual you targeted is aware of your attempt and subsequent failure. *** The reaction was swift. The individual that Duke had targeted signaled to the other three and all four rapidly ate up the ground as they raced towards him. He stood his ground and prepared himself for the expected fight. The four approaching figures were quadrupeds with wide bodies and powerful trunks extending from the center of their bodies. The trunks seemed to have a mottled green color while the bodies were a mixture of browns and blacks. From each of their trunks, extended four tentacles that grasped weapons of varying types. All had at least one melee weapon as well as some sort of weapon that looked to Duke like a stylized pistol. As they approached in full synchrony, they opened fire with their pistols. The beams of the weapons converged on Duke¡¯s stomach. Th beams struck with both a physical impact that nearly pushed Duke back a step but also unloaded an energy payload that struck much harder. Duke felt his skin and the muscle beneath it burn in an instant. In less than a second, the beams had bored a hole straight through him. Guess that answers the question as to whether they are attacking people on sight¡­ Duke took to the air as his REGENERATION went to work repairing the fifteen million Health the attack had cost him. He rocketed towards the group juking randomly to throw off their aim making his path erratic even though it was fast. Ascendril appeared in his right hand and he prepared to use the sword for the first time. The creatures wove around each other, presenting their melee weapons in a pattern that covered the space in front of Duke nearly completely. As he tried to work his way past their weaving defense, he was hit with three more of their energy blasts, taking noticeable chunks out of his Health. Growling, Duke struck out with a dark cloud of POISON to both obscure himself and to distract his opponents. The cloud bust out at the creatures, engulfing them nearly instantly and beginning to billow out into the surroundings. There was a momentary pause as the creatures adjusted to the situation but once they had their bearing back, they began to rapidly fire their beam weapons, burning the cloud away and filling the area with their deadly beams. Duke was struck another dozen times and his Health was dropping precipitously, crossing below half despite the continuous work of his REGENERATION. He followed the POISON up with a wave of FLAME that burned the remains of the cloud out of the air but washed over the creatures just as quickly. The FLAME was met with a glowing field of energy that emanated from another one of each of their appendages. Despite the heat, there seemed to be no effect from the FLAME other than to make them activate their shields. Deciding that this was a losing battle without committing to anything he didn¡¯t want to show yet, Duke flew back away from the creatures. Ne noted that they followed him with their beams until he passed their range which seemed to be about a kilometer. Well, that could have gone better. I have to remember that these are among the top creatures, people, whatever, that could be recruited for this thing. I need to be more careful than to just fly up and start a fight. I didn¡¯t even get a successful IDENTIFY off. At least I¡¯m mostly healed and can head back to the dungeon to start picking up gear. I do wonder if there are people trapped outside the city that might be easier prey for me? Something to consider. I have a feeling this place is going to wreak havoc with my moral compass. Duke returned to The Forge and TELEPORTED inside the dungeon having spent a good eight hours getting back to the city and then back to here. He figured the time acceleration would have covered the first year of time in The Forge. He hastened to see what was waiting for him. Yes, I know this is broken and most would consider it cheating to use such time manipulation, but why should I fucking care. The rules on this are pretty clear. There are no rules around this! He was met by a smiling Sar Forglyn, ¡°Welcome back Emperor. From the state of your clothes, it has been an eventful year for you. Come in, com in, let me show you what we have for you!¡± Duke followed the minotaur, a smile spreading across his own features as he RESTORED his outfit. Book 4, Chapter 5 The level of activity in the Forge was orders of magnitude more than when Duke was first here. He could hear the echoing of hammers striking steel, something that sounded distinctly like an impact wrench. There were flashes coming from various areas that Duke guessed were some sort of welding. But one, by one, the noises and flashed died down and minotaurs started to come streaming out of their work areas. Sar Forglyn laughed at the look on Duke¡¯s face, ¡°They all want to show you what they have created for you.¡± ¡°There¡¯s so many. What could they possibly have created?¡± ¡°Well, you did make a few requests¡­¡± A light-colored, female minotaur was the first to arrive in the large entry hall and reach Duke with her completed project. She ran at them full-force with her head down before skidding to a stop, her shod hooves throwing up sparks. ¡°Emperor! I have created the most wonderous of items for you!¡± She was out of breath, blowing heavily out of her nostrils so that they flared with each huff. Duke responded, deeply serious, ¡°What is it that you have brought me?¡± She held it out to Duke, cradled in her cupped hands. It was a golden amulet, carved with intricate runes with multiple layers of what looked like branches in a nest made of gold. He took it and before he could examine it with his Ability, she gushed out a description. ¡°It¡¯s an amulet of Space Magic! That¡¯s the most powerful magic I have ever heard of, and it will allow you to move from one end of a battlefield to the other with but a simple activation! See the intricate weaving of the runic branches? Each branch weaves into the others to contain the Space Magic for you to use. Best of all, you can recharge it with your own Mana. I present you with Aerie¡¯s Leap!¡± Duke locked his expression down as she went on about her creation. He finally responded, ¡°Being able to move about the battlefield so quickly is a tremendous advantage. Thank you for this wonderful amulet.¡± She beamed as she turned and skipped away. If you¡¯ve never seen a full-sized minotaur skipping, you really should. It was a display of power and whimsey in equal measure and brought a smile back to Duke¡¯s face. Sar Forglyn escorted Duke past the growing line of crafters towards a more specific room. As they passed looks of hope turned to disappointment. Duke decided to address that before things went further. ¡°I will meet with each of you in turn so that you may each show me your masterpieces. It seems that Sar Forglyn has decided that I need to see something else first.¡± That settled the looks of disappointment and Sar Forglyn added, ¡°Return to your areas. The Emperor will get to each of you in time. There are specifically commissioned pieces that take priority though.¡± With that, he led Duke into the Armory where a suit of something was on display upon a mannequin. Duke thought it might be the armor he had asked for, but it was difficult to make out. Every time he looked at it, his eyes were unable to focus on it clearly. It felt like he didn¡¯t want to notice it, like there was something about it that made him want to look away. His Psyche was strong enough to overcome the effect, but it was still uncomfortable to examine. One of the beefiest minotaurs Duke had ever seen approached him with a wide grin. To say that the grin did not fit the face would be a vast understatement. It was a disturbing image, but the enthusiasm came through their body language as well. ¡°Greetings, Emperor. Welcome back to the Armory. I see you have noticed the Veil of Oblivion. It is my greatest creation ¨C an alloy that captures the essence of the void and wraps the wearer in its embrace.¡± ¡°It is something to see for sure. Or, should I say, to not see from the effect it has. That is quite impressive. How durable is it?¡± ¡°I have struck it with my heaviest blows, and it has weathered them without a mark. The voidsteel alloy is nigh immutable once it has been set.¡± ¡°Then we had better hope that you have gotten the fit right.¡± ¡°Sar Forglyn chuckled momentarily before speaking, ¡°Unless your measurements have changed over the past year, the fit will be precise.¡± ¡°Then we should be good.¡± The minotaur smith placed a lens over each of his eyes and walked over to the armor, gesturing for Duke to join him as he started to remove it from the mannequin.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Please remove your outer garments. They will interfere with the fit.¡± Duke shrugged and began to strip down. In moments he was down to his boxers and socks. Realizing that he was wearing the same boxers he had arrived in this world in brought a sly smile to his face. If I didn¡¯t have the CLEANSE and RESTORE Abilities, these would have long since been left in shredded pieces. His clothes went into his INVENTORY, and he stepped over to have the armor fitted onto his frame. ¡°I am Kragh Forgehorn by the way. It is an honor to create armor for the Emperor.¡± ¡°Great to meet you. I¡¯m looking forward to seeing how well this performs in the field.¡± ¡°It will exceed your expectations. I guarantee it. I have never created a finer suit. This is the masterwork of my life.¡± ¡°Wow, you¡¯re really selling this.¡± ¡°It is the pinnacle of my craft, the best armor I have ever constructed!¡± Duke was sorely tempted to ask how many suits of armor the smith had made knowing that the smith had been newly created with the dungeon, but he held himself back. Barely. Instead, he contorted himself into the armor with the minotaur¡¯s help. What followed was twenty minutes of strap adjustments and instructions. ¡°And this is the quick release. If you pull it down and then to the left forcefully, all the straps will be released, and the armor should fall off. I can¡¯t foresee a situation where you would need to use it but I make my suits to a higher standard.¡± Duke bent his knees and elbows testing the range of motion of the armor. He flexed each finger and even his toes. The armor moved with him without resistance or obstruction. Next, Duke moved through a mock fight using his tonfa and then his sword before finishing up with simulated aerial combat. The armor¡¯s articulated joints moved with him flawlessly. The inner coating of the armor moved against his skin without a hint of binding or rubbing. He was impressed. ¡°Yep, I definitely need to field test this armor. If it¡¯s as durable as it is comfortable, you have a winner on your hands.¡± ¡°Thank you, Emperor.¡± ¡°No, thank you. This is great!¡± Sar Forglyn interrupted, ¡°Kragh, the Emperor has many other areas to visit. We need to move along.¡± He reached for Duke¡¯s arm, thought better of it, and asked, ¡°Please come with me, Emperor.¡± Duke gave a departing smile to Kragh and followed Sar Forglyn out of the area. They passed by a dozen different crafting areas before they came to the area that Duke was anticipating. As they got closer, he felt a giddy excitement well up within him. Stepping into the area brought the feeling bubbling to the surface and Duke couldn¡¯t help but smile. The smile grew wider when he saw what was waiting for him. He scanned it up and down with his eyes while a trio of minotaurs in white jumpsuits came forward with white-gloved hands extended in greeting. Duke absently shook their hands, never taking his eyes from the mech that stood before him. It was just as he had asked. It stood between five and six meters tall and presented a foreboding image. The mech¡¯s silhouette was sharp and angular, designed to evoke fear and awe on the battlefield. Its primary coloring was as requested: a deep, matte obsidian black, absorbing light and giving it a shadow-like presence. Additionally, Crimson accents traced along its edges in jagged, almost vein-like patterns, glowing faintly as though pulsing with an internal power. Duke¡¯s smile spread as he examined the mech further. The head was a streamlined, wedge-shape with a single, horizontal crimson visor that glowed menacingly, resembling a predator¡¯s unblinking gaze. Small, backward-sweeping horns protruded slightly from either side of the head, giving it a demonic, otherworldly visage. The torso was broad and thickly armored, the chest featured a coat of arms consisting of a glowing red gem in a white background surrounded by a sky-blue border which Duke recognized as his own Stormstride heraldry. The coat of arms subtly pulsated, as if alive. There was reinforced plating tapering toward the waist, with segmented armor providing both protection and mobility. The arms and legs both fit the motif and sported curved crimson blades extending from the knees and elbows. Duke immediately thought about how he could use those in close combat and his cheeks began to ache from the strain of his smile. Throughout the mech, the traces of crimson veins pulsated with light and power. Duke wanted nothing more than to pilot the thing on the battlefield. Finally, he noticed the three minotaurs waiting for him. Reluctantly, he pulled looked away from the mech and back to them. ¡°I take it you like our design choices?¡± ¡°Oh God, yes. That is fucking outstanding! Out-fucking-standing! Is it ready to pilot?¡± ¡°It is. What is your Mechpilot Skill up to?¡± Duke glanced at his sheet and saw where it was sitting. He answered, all excitement drained from his voice, ¡°Untrained 1.¡± All three minotaurs shouted at the same time, ¡°Do not get in that mech!¡± ¡°That bad?¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be able to do more than open and close the hatch on Bloodstorm. You are going to have to train up your Skill to at least Practiced before you can effectively use her.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t happen to have a mech I could practice with?¡± ¡°Oh, sure. We can fire up one for you. Come this way.¡± The lead mechbuilder, who had introduced herself as Zarna Anvilborn, took Duke to the back of their area and through an iron-shod heavy wooden door. Beyond the door there was a vast open cavern that had to be several square kilometers in size. The cavern had some sort of ambient light that was weaker than the rest of The Forge but was enough to easily see by. Arranged along the cavern wall were a dozen alcoves. Each alcove held a different style mech. Zarna led Duke to the end of the alcoves to the most basic-looking mech he had ever seen. It was made from basic cylinders. One for the head, one for the torso, two for each arm and two for each leg. The feet were basic ovular constructs and even the hands and fingers were very crude. The mech stood about four meters tall and had the name ¡°Betty¡± stenciled across its torso. "Welcome to mech training, Emperor. You''ll start with Betty. Hopefully, you will be able to progress quickly and make it up to Barney.¡± Duke groaned but resigned himself to the training. Book 4, Chapter 6 Strapping himself into Betty¡¯s cockpit, Duke let his embarrassment fade into the background. The controls to start up the mech were easy enough to find so he engaged them. Power surged through the mech and even with this rudimentary construct, Duke felt a thrill. He engaged the controls and powered forward. His first steps were unsteady but he was able to move. When he tried to do more than walk, things changed. Duke tried to run across the cavern and face-planted after only four steps. He skidded to a stop, the metal of the mech grinding against the floor. He could feel his face redden as he levered the mech back to its feet. The controls for this mech had no subtlety and only allowed for gross movements. Duke ground his teeth as he tried to force the mech to do what he wanted it to do. Over time, his frustration turned to determination. Hours of practice later he learned to work the controls well enough to move around the cavern, but not much more than that. As he clambered back to his feet in the mech after another failed parkour attempt, he took a breath and checked his notifications for any Skill progression. *** Congratulations, you have ranked your Mechpilot Skill up to Novice 2. *** He knew the early levels and ranks came quickly but realized that getting this Skill up to Adept, which is where he really wanted to get it before fighting in Bloodstorm, was going to take years. Even though this was not as daunting with the time compression of The Forge, it still troubled him that he was not progressing in the Contest. There had been no indication how long the Contest would run or even if there was some endgame he needed to prepare for. He once again calmed his breathing. Change what you can affect and deal with the things you cannot as they come. Duke re-engaged in his mech practice, pushing the limits of his Skill and the limits of the mech he was piloting. The mech was completely unarmed which removed a level of difficulty but still limited his Skill growth. After several hours, and a mere three levels of growth he parked the mech and stepped out. Zarna was waiting for him. ¡°You have progressed well, Emperor.¡± ¡°Not nearly well enough, but thank you.¡± ¡°Then, perhaps, it is time to learn a more complex mech. Let me introduce you to Barney.¡± Zarna walked Duke over to a new mech. This one was more bulky than Betty. It was still crudely constructed but despite the increased bulk, it appeared to be more maneuverable. Once Duke strapped into the mech and got it moving, he quickly noticed the increased power levels of the mech. It had more bulk than the previous one, but its articulation was stronger. It could move faster, strike with more force, and had a greater range of motion. Duke found a smile spreading across his lips as he took the mech through its paces. After an hour of getting used to the mech¡¯s capabilities which only included one significant mishap, Duke was shown to the weapons course. It was another connected cavern that had a mix of distance targets and melee dummies. Duke found that this mech¡¯s weapon systems consisted of a crude projectile launcher mounted in the right arm and a reinforced left fist. Despite the limitations, Duke attacked with zeal. The weapons practice gave Duke a burgeoning sense of a return to the past. He found his mind returning to his early days of flight training where he was piloting trainers. The parallels were just too easy to make. Time passed quickly as he dove into his own memories, his mind and body adapting to the controls and mannerisms of this mech. He emerged, exhausted to find himself all alone but also that he had increased his Skill by a full ten levels. He left the cavern, heading back to the mech lab. With a longing look at Bloodstorm, Duke headed back towards the entrance of the dungeon, being intercepted by Sar Forglyn as he neared the entrance. The minotaur¡¯s expression was unreadable, even to Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA which surprised him. ¡°You have completed your Mech training?¡± ¡°Not remotely. I am barely competent at this point. I need a lot more practice before I feel confident that I¡¯m not going to do more damage to my mech than to the enemy. Where is Zarna, by the way? She wasn¡¯t waiting for me when I finished up like last time.¡± ¡°She is sleeping. You were practicing for a full week straight. She has the endurance of a minotaur, but not even I could last that long without a rest. If someone had told me that you were able to do so, I would not have believed it.¡± ¡°No wonder I got so hungry. Good thing I can pull food right out of my INVENTORY, right?¡± ¡°As you say, Emperor. I can wake her if you would like.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think that will be necessary. I will be heading out for some time. I am, unfortunately, nowhere near ready to pilot Bloodstorm yet. Tell her to keep advancing her own skills and apply them to Bloodstorm in my absence. It may be years before I can return here. I also have to figure out what the gold-equivalent value all this is. This armor alone may push my limit.¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Duke decided it was time to find out just how expensive his new armor was. He headed out of the entrance and back into the Contest World. The message he received was rather surprising as it had nothing to do with his armor¡¯s value, at least not in any way he had expected. *** Congratulations. You have crafted a masterwork set of armor. You receive 600 Contest Points, bringing you to 73,555 total points. Your ranking has not changed. *** Duke realized that since he created the dungeon, that maybe he would receive points for everything that was created in the dungeon and brought out to the Contest World. His excitement rose until he realized that the gold value of things would still limit what he could bring out and receive credit for. It was a good thought but not enough to tip the balance in my favor. I need to go hunting instead. But probably not at the gates. They are too well organized there and might be beyond me. Shit, that feels weird to even think, but that small group of four quite nearly kicked my ass. I¡¯m sure I could have beaten them if I pulled out all the stops, but then I¡¯d have no trump cards left if anyone stronger than them came for me. Like that Zarmouth guy. I wish I had some way to gauge his strength. What I wouldn¡¯t do for a scouter right now. Duke put his thoughts aside and returned to using his DUNGEON SENSE to scan the planet for anyone off on their own that might be a good target for him. He quickly saw that there were thousands of individuals out and about. He picked one at random that was maybe 300 kilometers away from him and decided to pop over for a ¡°chat.¡± TELEPORTATION put Duke out of the individual¡¯s line of sight but close enough that he could approach on foot. He picked his way through rocky hills using the ample cover to conceal his approach. He was a kilometer away when he started to hear the sounds of combat. Expecting his target to be distracted, he increased his pace. Peering around an outcropping of cracked granite, Duke finally saw his target engaged in combat. The problem was he was not sure which combatant was the Contestant. There was what appeared to be a tremendous housecat fighting with a massive wolf. They were tumbling around, biting and clawing at each other vying for the upper hand. Duke watched in fascination. The wolf seemed to be the stronger of the two, able to push the cat¡¯s massive bulk but the cat¡¯s claws dug deeply into the wolf¡¯s fur, tearing great furrows and leaving blood trails. They rolled across the ground and Duke was able to get close enough to IDENTIFY them. *** You have encountered an Astonian Mountain Cat. This beast is a terror of its homeland, easily able to take on prey larger than itself largely due to its unimaginably sharp claws. Tier: 6 Level: 206 Health: 1,011,515 Mana: 909,000 *** *** You have encountered Baslo, a fellow Contestant. You are not eligible to receive any further information at your current rank in the standings. *** OK, so the wolf is a Contestant and the system isn¡¯t showing me shit on him. At least I assume it¡¯s a him. Could be wrong. Either way, I think the cat might win anyway. Or should I hit them both and grab credit for killing both. Yeah, let¡¯s do that. Duke went back to his old standby and struck the pair with a bolt of LIGHTNING, OVERCHANNELED by 500,000 Mana. The vast increase in cost pushed the Ability¡¯s damage output to skyrocket. With both Abilities at the Adept level the normal damage output of LIGHTNING of just over 25,000 damage was amplified by a thousandfold. The 25 million damage would have been enough to get Duke¡¯s attention even with his inflated stats. The reaction he received was not what he expected. The cat¡¯s eyes glowed blue as the LIGHTNING danced across its fur, leaving bunt and smoldering patches. The cat was stunned for a moment and that is all it took. The wolf, Baslo, lunged forward and grabbed the cat by the throat, tearing it open in a fountain of blood. The crunching of bone and cartilage was the final indicator that the cat was finished. Some thirty seconds later, it was completely dead. The wolf turned towards Duke. ¡°Now that the cat¡¯s dead, you want to tangle or talk?¡± Duke, despite everything he had been told, opted for diplomacy first. It wasn¡¯t his greatest decision. Baslo the wolf shifted into a bipedal form and charged at Duke at full speed. With all the points Duke had poured into his Agility, he was fast. He was faster now than anyone he had encountered, even the demon in the titan mech. Baslo was on him in the blink of an eye, tearing at Duke¡¯s gorget with his fangs. The new armor was amazing, not even budging under the full pressure of the creature¡¯s jaws. ¡°I¡¯ll take that as wanting to tangle. That¡¯s fine. I¡¯m good with that too.¡± Duke grabbed hold of Baslo¡¯s arms and snapped them with his raw strength as he pulled them sideways. He had hoped to dislocate both arms but the bones gave way first. Maybe I squeezed too hard. Baslo howled in pain and tried to get free of Duke¡¯s grip but Duke did not let go even as the rear claws came forward to attempt to tear Duke¡¯s guts open. Again, the armor held without a hint of giving way. Duke realized that he didn¡¯t have the leverage to pull his opponent¡¯s arms off as he had hoped ¨C the werewolf was just too much larger than him. His continued pulling and tugging did prevent the bones from knitting together as Duke could feel them trying to do. Abandoning his prior tactics, Balso lunged for Duke¡¯s unprotected face. The attack came faster than Duke could stop it and fangs bit right through his left eye, scraping along his cheekbone with white-hot pain. Duke reacted with rage, slamming his fists into the sides of Baslo¡¯s skull. Once, the werewolf¡¯s grip on his face lessened. Twice, the werewolf went slack, stunned from the blow. Thrice, Duke¡¯s fists met together in an exploding pile of gore, grey matter splattering the area. Duke threw the corpse off himself and kicked it for good measure. Instinctively, he activated CLEANSE to get the gore off himself and sat back down to think about the fight and how he really should have handled it. I really need to stop giving my opponents a chance to respond. This is not a tournament where we fight in a ring until someone is incapacitated or gives in. This is a planetary fight to the death. War footing, airman. War footing. Duke rose to his feet and paused. Did that paw just twitch? Duke watched, fascinated as the werewolf began to heal. For a total of two seconds before he used his FLAME to burn every tiny piece of the werewolf to carbon. Nobody else is allowed to REGENERATE. That¡¯s for me alone. He sat back down to watch and see if the burnt pieces changed. Book 4, Chapter 7 Duke¡¯s next notification was useful but not terribly impressive. Still, it was progress. *** You have slain the Contestant, Baslo. You gain half of his earned Contest Points. You now have 87,180 points. Well done. Continue to seek the hidden areas for bonus points! You gain 95,625 (105,188 with Title) experience for your kill. You are now level 67 and have 1,512 unspent Characteristic Points*** I only got thirteen thousand points for killing that dude? He must not have done much. Maybe he has been hiding out here unable to get back into the city. That would explain the low points. I¡¯m going to have to check the boards to see how things are changing. I¡¯m not going to make it to ten million points anytime soon at this rate. One thing is clear though, I have to spend my Characteristic Points ¨C I¡¯m not as fast as I thought. Duke dropped one thousand points into his Agility, bringing it up to a base of 6,000. He then dropped 500 points into his Intuition, bringing its base up to 4,000. Finally, the last twelve points dropped into Psyche. A thought occurred to Duke and he closely examined his new armor to see if the werewolf had damaged it in any way. What he found brought a broad smile to his face. There were no marks, not even a scratch. ¡°Doesn¡¯t even need a RESTORE. This is amazing!¡± With a thought, Duke was back in the city to check on the leaderboard. He appeared in one of the dark alleys he had spotted his first time in the city and hoped his Stealth Skill would be enough to conceal his appearance. No one was in the alley that he could see so he hoped that would be a good indication that he was able to come in unnoticed. It did not take long to find the leaderboards since they were posted all over the city. He found one that no one was using and scrolled through it to see that not only had his ranking not changed, he had fallen even further behind. Zarmouth was now over 11 million points and he hadn¡¯t even broken one hundred thousand. His sense of urgency flared again, causing him to use his DUNGEON SENSE to scan for outliers again. As before, he sensed thousands of Contestants and tens of millions of creatures around the planet. It was, for the most part, entirely too much information to process quickly. He was trying to figure out how to filter through it all when a voice spoke up behind him. ¡°Top thousand. Not bad.¡± Duke turned around to see a figure wearing a cloak. Its hood was down so he could see the figure¡¯s face. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before. The creature¡¯s head appeared to be an oversized blue human skull. Upon closer inspection, Duke could see that there was skin covering the skull, but he was largely distracted by the glowing orbits where the eye sockets were. They glowed with a deep purple flame that was nearly black. Around the creature¡¯s neck was a heavy gold chain that supported an amulet the size of Duke¡¯s hand that was a maze of unknowable carvings in the shape of a cross. ¡°I see my appearance has startled you. We are few and most humanoids have a similar reaction when they see us for the first time. I am Zeblow and you are Duke, no?¡± ¡°I am.¡± Duke¡¯s caution filtered through his voice. ¡°What is it I can do for you?¡± Zeblow looked around them but shook his head, ¡°Not here. Someplace where we will not be overheard. There are too many ears listening around here.¡± Duke considered not following the Skull as he departed, but he had two things that pushed him into following. One, he was operating off very limited information about the planet, the Contest, and his competition. Two, he had gotten the sense from the Overmind that no one could violate the non-violence of the city. Before long, they arrived at what appeared to be a private residence, a rickety two-story wooden building that would have fit in any fantasy slum. Zeblow opened the door that consisted of several thin but wide planks of wood that were barely fit together, leaving gaps in their warped structure. The door creaked loudly as it opened, its leather ¡°hinges¡± protesting at the motion. As he stepped inside the dark room, he gestured with a single skeletal blue finger for Duke to follow. This isn¡¯t going to end well, is it? I could just leave. Or I could trust in my Abilities to get me out if necessary. Don¡¯t be a wuss.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Duke followed after convincing himself and stepped through the doorway. Immediately, he was in a dimly lit stone passageway. Duke looked back to see that the doorway he had just stepped though was an arched stone opening with a thumbnail sized green gem glowing from the peak of the arch. He turned back to the Skull, tensing his muscles for action. ¡°Be calm and at peace, Duke. We are still within the confines of the city and neither of us could hurt the other even if we desired to do so. The entrance we came through was just an illusion to keep prying eyes from coming to my residence. Follow me and we will be there shortly.¡± They traveled down the passage and through another stone archway. This one was lighted by a red stone instead. When Duke entered, Zeblow closed a stone door behind him. Moments later, the door merged with the archway, making it become a solid part of the wall. The room itself was still stone, but it was smooth as if the entire room was carved out of the underlying rock. A pair of overstuffed chairs dominated the space before a crackling fireplace with a small table between them. ¡°Come, join me. Would you like something to drink?¡± ¡°No, but I would really like to know what it is you want to talk about? Duke took one of the seats and Zeblow immediately floated over to settle in the other, his flowing cloak hiding his body, including his feet. ¡°Yes, I suppose you would. I have a problem, and I think you may be able to help me with it and, in turn, I think I can help you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°You have only just arrived on this world. Your arrival was announced, and I expect you are likely the last Contestant to arrive which makes you interesting to everyone. The question on everyone¡¯s minds is this: Is your patron playing games, or are they confident in your ability to catch up? Since you have already broken the top thousand, I think it is more the latter although there may be something to the former.¡± ¡°Last to arrive, huh? Well, that¡¯s something. And, yes, I really do have a lot of catching up to do.¡± ¡°Do you plan to make it to the top?¡± ¡°I will make it as high up as I can. If I can make it to the top, then I will make it to the top.¡± Zeblow pondered that statement briefly before continuing, ¡°The last five thousand or so to arrive have not been able to leave the city and have had to rely on crafting and similar things to gain points. It is slow-going and will not get any of them into the upper ranks. The true points lie outside the city. But, as I am sure you have discovered, the strongest gangs lurk just outside the gates waiting to prey on anyone foolish enough to step outside.¡± ¡°Yes, I did notice that.¡± ¡°But you found a way past them, didn¡¯t you? There¡¯s no way you could have accumulated so many points in such a short time otherwise.¡± ¡°I may have a way to get past the gangs.¡± ¡°Be coy if you like, but here is what I propose: I will give you a quarter of my current points and five percent of any points I accumulate from here on out if you get me safely out of the city.¡± ¡°What makes you think I won¡¯t just attack you outside the city?¡± ¡°Your soul is not one of deceit. I would not have approached you otherwise.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to know. And you made a decent first offer. How about half of your current total and ten percent going forward?¡± The Skull pondered Duke¡¯s counter-offer for several minutes. Duke noted that the Skull held absolutely still when it wasn¡¯t talking. He found it more than a little disconcerting, like it had ceased to be alive if it even was alive. Finally, the Skull moved again, turning to face Duke. ¡°I have considered your counter-offer and find it acceptable.¡± *** A Contract has been established between Duke and Zeblow and will be strictly enforced. Terms: Duke will provide safe passage out of the city for Zeblow. He must arrive intact and unharmed and be in an area in which he will not be immediately attacked. Zeblow will provide Duke with half of his current points and ten percent of his earned points until the end of the Contest. This Contract is agreed upon willingly by both parties. *** The immediate result was that Zeblow dropped below Duke in the standings and Duke moved up one spot to 917. He now had over 6 million points. He began counting in his head before a system message arrived. *** Contest Messaging System Activated. You have received a direct message from Zarmouth. I warned you. I am coming for you. *** Duke immediately responded. *** Contest Messaging System Activated. You have sent a direct message to Zarmouth. First of all, you can¡¯t find me. And second, if you do, you are going to wish you never had. *** Duke looked over to Zeblow, ¡°Are you ready? Do you need to gather any gear?¡± ¡°I am ready. I have all I need with me.¡± Duke fired up his DUNGEON SENSE, noting that it had climbed all the way up to Master 86 from all its recent heavy use. He located an area devoid of activity and locked it in as a target. ¡°Please do not observe this as my Patron will not be happy if someone else observes me using the device he gave me.¡± Duke knew it was an utter lie, but he was not about to fully trust a floating skull in a cloak. Zeblow turned away and Duke TELEPORTED the pair to the targeted location. It appeared to be an empty desert several hundred kilometers outside of the city. ¡°Well, here we are. Safe and sound. I wish you the best of luck, Zeblow. Especially since that luck will benefit me as well.¡± ¡°Indeed, it will, Duke. Now, I must hunt as we are both well behind where we need to get to. Good luck to you as well. You have my thanks.¡± With that, the Skull began to rapidly float over the desert, scanning the area with his disturbing glowing eyes. Duke watched him leave and flew in the direction of The Forge. He had things to do himself. Book 4, Chapter 8 Duke planned to fly away for an hour before TELEPORTING to The Forge. He was still ecstatic about the fact that not only was he able to take his armor out of the dungeon, but it performed so well in his impromptu field testing. And now, he had a potentially regular source of Contest Points coming. He had no idea how powerful the Skull was but no matter the outcome, he felt that he got the better part of the deal. The attack came without warning and from above. Lost in his thoughts, Duke did not notice the cloud that moved more swiftly than should have been possible nor the figure that stood upon it. What he did notice was the searing pain erupt as his back armor was smashed in by a burning fist. The armor absorbed the majority of the impact, but there was still enough force to drive Duke out of the air. He hit the ground, skidding to a halt against a sizable boulder. Recovering from the shock of the impact, Duke rolled over to see what hit him. His shock deepened when it turned out to be a shirtless man who visibly glowed with power. The man floated down to the ground, stepping off his flying cloud and striking a pose. The power radiating off this individual came off in waves, causing his hair to flutter in the breeze. Duke stared at the man in disbelief, muttering, ¡°Fucking cartoons now?¡± His IDENTIFY Ability activated a moment later. *** You have encountered Maku Emberlight, a fellow Contestant. You are not eligible to receive any further information at your current rank in the standings. *** Duke levered himself to his feet, glaring at the man before him, ¡°Nice sucker punch but you¡¯re going to have to do a whole better if you want to walk away from this.¡± ¡°That was just to get your attention. What kind of weak man relies on armor to protect himself anyway?¡± Duke smiled back as he RESTORED his armor, ¡°The kind that enjoys beating overconfident idiots who think they don¡¯t need any.¡± Keep him talking ¨C almost fully REGENERATED. ¡°Then you are the greatest fool of all since I, Maku Emberlight, chosen of my realm has no need for paltry material protections. My aura is enough to stop the likes of you, newcomer!¡± Oh, yeah. Tell me more, moron. ¡°Your aura? Whatever you say, nightlight. Just because you can glow doesn¡¯t make you worth my time. How many points are you willing to offer me to let you walk away from this?¡± ¡°You are courting death, cur. I have surpassed the Platinum rank and are far beyond your capabilities.¡± All healed. Time to see what makes this guy special. ¡°Courting death? What? Like taking her out on a date? You do know that she is very lonely and would greatly appreciate a good night out.¡± ¡°Your words make no sense, mortal. I shall have to remove you from my sight!¡± Duke prepared himself for the coming attack. He split one million of his Mana regen into each ARMOR SKIN and MANA DRAIN. He figured the combination would keep him in the fight while reducing Maku¡¯s aura. At least that was his plan. Maku surged forward, a single energized punch aimed for Duke¡¯s midsection. It was fast but it was telegraphed with too much flair and Duke was faster. He turned his body, deflecting the right-handed punch towards his own right, hoping to make Maku pass him so he could catch him from behind when he completed his spin. Instead, Maku¡¯s punch ended a moment after the impact of Duke¡¯s deflection. Three things happened at that moment. First, Duke realized he had been physically outmaneuvered despite his Adept-ranked Martial Arts Combat Skill. Second, he discovered that the aura was not Mana-based at all, his MANA DRAIN having absolutely no affect on the man. Finally, the impact was hard enough to dent his armor even when it was used to deflect the blow.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Duke continued his spin as it was easier to complete it than to try and halt its momentum. He had to change his spinning backfist to an elbow strike as he was too close to hit with anything else. The elbow struck home, right on the man¡¯s jaw, rocking his head to the side. ¡°Oh, nice one, mortal. I give the first pass to you,¡± Maku smiled as he gave a moment¡¯s thought while hopping back from Duke. ¡°Perhaps I do not need to hold back so much with you.¡± The next set of attacks came at the limit of Duke¡¯s speed as a flurry of jabs directed at his body. Duke tried to block, dodge, and slip them, but was just not fast enough to keep up. His physical armor was heavily dented, but his ARMOR SKIN protected him well enough now that he had switched to the full two million Mana pouring into it. The last blow, however, was far stronger. It was a palm strike that had Maku¡¯s entire force, momentum, and aura behind it. Duke was launched into the air, travelling at least a kilometer before he was able to control his flight. You have got to be fucking kidding me! How are these assholes so much stronger than me? I¡¯m a goddamned Tier 8 and have stats way beyond that. This makes no sense whatsoever. Oh great, here comes cloud-boy again. Duke decided to switch up the fight and used his FLIGHT to outmaneuver the cloud, sending various elemental attacks to see if any affected Maku through his aura. Of no surprise to Duke, the elemental attacks were minimally effective, if at all despite OVERCHANNELING them significantly. ¡°You fight well in the air, but your nature magic is useless against my Chi. Submit and I will make your end swift.¡± ¡°Oh, we¡¯re at that point, are we?¡± ¡°It is inevitable, mortal.¡± ¡°So, you think yourself immortal is that it?¡± ¡°I have reached immortality. I shall live forever.¡± Duke had been continuing to outmaneuver Maku while shouting back and forth, keeping him occupied with the interplay. All the while, he was peppering the man with his elemental attacks while he built up his concentration on a different attack entirely. He unleashed it with a silent prayer and an outward statement. ¡°You know immortal doesn¡¯t mean eternal. You can still die, idiot!¡± Duke punctuated his statement with an extremely OVERCHANNELED TELEPORTATION attack. He poured three hundred million Mana into it, depleting about 90% of his Mana pool. The attack blew past Maku¡¯s defenses, and his willpower was nothing compared to Duke¡¯s effective Psyche of over 111,000. The fight ended with a flash as Maku¡¯s atoms were spread over a two hundred kilometer radius. The notification confirmed Duke¡¯s victory as he landed on the ground, reeling from both the rapid Mana depletion and the massive strain to his Mana Channels. He read the notification as he recovered. *** Congratulations! You have killed Maku, another Contestant. You receive half of his current point total of 7,289,138, bringing you up to a total of 14,071,578. You are now ranked 749th. You gain 910,562 (1,001,618 with Title Bonus). You are now level 81 and 392 Characteristic Points to spend. *** The notification brought a smile to Duke¡¯s face as his Mana regen brought him back up over time. He reveled in the sensation of his Mana rebuilding, refilling him. To him, it felt like taking a hot shower to soothe sore muscles. His Mana Channels recovered at the same time, his body healing itself quickly. He considered spending his Characteristic points immediately but rejected the thought as his mind turned to the larger picture. I jumped over 100 ranks from just killing that one guy. This might be doable after all. Then again, he was very narrowly focused in his Abilities. He was faster than me. Maybe not physically stronger, but that aura was something I wasn¡¯t prepared for. It wasn¡¯t Mana-based which tell me that I¡¯m dealing with all sort of different classes of Abilities. All my elemental attacks seem largely useless except in specific circumstances. So, what do I do? TELEPORTATION attacks are not going to work all the time, SOULFIRE might work and I¡¯m still wary of using UMBRAL REAPER again after what happened with the Hounds. I still have the option to create a new Ability from my Tier-up but what should I make? Maybe something gravity-based? It would have to be ultra-strong though. Like creating a temporary black hole to crush them into paste. Yeah, to implode them- Duke¡¯s thoughts ground to a halt as he pulled a worn spellbook from his INVENTORY. It was something that Baslin had given him so long ago that he had completely forgotten about it. Freaking moron. This has been sitting there waiting for you all this time. On top of all that, I have time dilation available to me. Why am I was wasting time out here when I could just get stronger in there and come out here and dominate. Probably because they keep getting stronger, regardless of the passage of time. Either that, or everybody¡­OK, not everybody, but most of them, started off stronger than me. He ignored everything else and TELEPORTED himself to The Forge. He had a spell to learn and practice. Book 4, Chapter 9 Duke arrived in an empty section of the dungeon he had set aside for privacy. It resembled Baslin¡¯s library from the tower. It was filled with bookshelves stuffed with books that stretched on into the distance. The books were essentially blank pages, but they looked good surrounding the pair of overstuffed chairs and gave the library an air of infinite knowledge that really appealed to Duke. Right now, however, the only knowledge he was interested in was the real book he held in his hands. It took him a matter of minutes to fully absorb the book and incorporate its magic into his own. The notification was brief and to the point. *** Congratulations! You have absorbed the Spell, Implosion. You may now use IMPLOSION as an Ability at will. This Ability allows you to exert extreme gravitic and compressional forces to squeeze a target down to a single point. This will kill most living beings. Care should be taken as some things react violently when compressed. As this was learned from a master-level spellbook, you gain the ability at the Initiate Rank. *** Duke nodded his head in appreciation at the new Ability but wondered what was meant by the warning. Maybe it is talking about things like diesel fuel that combusts when it is compressed. That¡¯s my best guess and I¡¯m sticking with it. Anyway, time to go practice! Duke stepped through a door that he created in the library into another large, empty cavern. The cavern did not stay empty for long. Duke flexed his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability to create all sorts of ¡°test subjects¡± to practice his new Ability on. He had considered using DUNGEON MONSTER CREATION but felt that those creations were a bit more alive and potentially sentient. He could create unthinking shells easily with his DUNGEON ENGINEERING and considered that just a bit more moral. And just like that, I¡¯m thinking about morality and dungeons. Like the killer level I had Sam create that I hope has never seen use. Damn, I want to check in on things back on Teldin. I left them with so much to do and so few to get it done. The Legions are all but destroyed ¨C thank God I left some behind. But I need to focus on the here and now. Time to kill some meat puppets. The first creature Duke attacked with IMPLOSION was a human construct. The Ability was merciless as it pulled the creature into its effect. It started with a flash of energy bursting outwards from the creature¡¯s center, slightly below where their navel would be. In a split second, the entire body was consumed and smashed to a sphere about the size of a softball. The sphere struck the floor with considerable impact and a splash of gore that had not compressed with the rest of the body. Duke approached the sphere cautiously, unsure if there would be any further reaction but it remained as it was for now. He picked it up, having trouble judging its weight as his Strength was too far over the charts to determine weights with any accuracy. A second later a bathroom scale appeared, and Duke placed the sphere on it, showing about 37 kilograms. He shrugged, figuring that it was about half of the creature¡¯s mass preserved. His experimentation continued for several weeks, leveling up the Ability about once a day in the process. It now sat at Initiate 27, but he was just too restless to continue practicing a singular Ability. His mind still conflicted with the overwhelming sense of urgency of the Contest potentially ending at any time and the knowledge that he was in a massively time-dilated dungeon. He found himself heading over the mech area and ignoring every other crafter in his path. The stream of minotaur crafters he left behind was growing longer and increasingly unhappy. When he arrived in the mech area again, Zarna was waiting for him with an unreadable expression. She spoke before he could, ¡°You really should see what else has been crafted for you. Some of these crafters have been waiting years for you to provide even the most basic direction on where they should take their craft.¡± Years? What the hell is she talking about? I¡¯s only been a day or two at most¡­and with time passing over one thousand times faster in here, that could be years. Shit. I¡¯ll have to take care of the crafters then. ¡°You are quite right. Once I am done with Barney here, I¡¯ll meet with each of the crafters waiting for me.¡± ¡°Excellent. Then you are done working with the Barney mech.¡± ¡°Oh? Really? I¡¯ve graduated to the next mech?¡± ¡°Well, yes. Fred is ready for you. But you did say that you would meet with the crafters once you were done with Barney.¡± ¡°I did. Didn¡¯t I? Very well, but I¡¯ll be back afterwards to take Fred through his paces.¡± ¡°Of course, Emperor. We will have him ready for you.¡± Duke nodded absently as he left the area to meet up with the other crafters. It did not take long to find them lined up and waiting for him. What did take long was to go through all of their offerings and decide what he wanted to keep, what he just didn¡¯t want to use, and what he needed them to rework. It took eight weeks to go through all the crafters. Duke was exhausted afterwards, and his INVENTORY had a considerable amount of random items of varying utility. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. There were some stand-outs that he especially liked and he pondered them as he found his stateroom in the dungeon and laid down for a good sleep. He had pushed himself to the limit of his endurance maintaining not only wakefulness, but alertness through that entire period and his body and mind were overjoyed to get some sleep. When he awoke, he was not alone. The Overmind¡¯s avatar stood before him, startling him right out of bed. ¡°You actually slept in your armor. That¡¯s not good for your back, you know.¡± ¡°My back will heal itself.¡± ¡°I suppose it will. I bet you are wondering how and why I am here right now.¡± ¡°Well, since you told me that this wasn¡¯t possible, I am definitely interested in hearing about it.¡± ¡°Quite simply, I am cheating. Well, technically, we both are, but that is not my concern. No other entity can see into this dungeon as it is wholly my domain, and I reinforced the protections for it while you were crafting its Core. It was very savvy of you to make this place on the way to the Contest. A simple dungeon of crafters would have sufficed, but instead, you made this marvel of time-dilation. That was a great idea.¡± ¡°Thanks, but I am guessing there is more to this visit than a pat on the back.¡± ¡°Indeed. This dungeon¡¯s location will be discovered somewhere within the next five days. Mind you, that¡¯s like thirteen years in this place but you aren¡¯t going to gain any real points in here. You need to be able to bring your¡­how does that phrase go in English? Ah, yes, bring your biggest guns to bear on the competition before they find this place. Once they find it, you will have to shut it down. You do not want anyone else getting in here and looting the place.¡± ¡°But I can¡¯t even pilot my biggest gun yet and it will be too costly for me to take out of here with my current level of DUNGEON ENGINEERING.¡± ¡°Then you have your next priorities. Take a year or two in here if you need it. You are going to need that mech to hunt the top teams. You are ranked in the 700s and that is fantastic, but in order to break into the top 100, you are going to have to at least triple the points you have earned. And no one is going to come at you unprepared again. The sight of you atomizing Maku has made everyone who watched wary of you. They are going to come after you with everything they have and in groups. Do not be hesitant to flee if you are outmatched. The dead claim no prizes.¡± ¡°Whatever you say, Mr. Brightside. Oh, and now I have that freaking song stuck in my head. Wonderful.¡± ¡°I have no idea what you are talking about, but you need to be fully alert the next time you leave this dungeon and be prepared to collapse it back to its Core when you do leave.¡± ¡°So do everything I need to do before leaving. Got it. Anything else I should be aware of?¡± ¡°Time will run out before you run out of opponents. Kill as many as you can. Do not concern yourself with reputation. Survival and victory is all that matters while on this world.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± With that last exchange, Duke found himself alone again. He performed his waking CLEANSE and RESTORE routine and set to work. He altered the door from his stateroom to take him directly to the mechs and got started with Fred. Fred was a bit larger than Barney but more maneuverable and blessedly¡­armed. Duke quickly learned how to control the weaponry. It reminded him significantly of his life as a fighter pilot and found it easy to transfer his targeting skills. He did not wait for the dungeon to generate targets or opponents, relying on his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability to produce more than enough challenges as he practiced. Days bled into weeks as he committed to memory all the various types of weaponry and how to use them while moving in 360 degrees of combat. This was the most fun he had since he could remember in this world. He finally felt at home again, strapped into a cockpit that moved as he moved his controls, unleashing death in any direction he desired. It was fully six months before he was told that his time in the Fred mech was complete. Duke smiled as he checked his gains. His Mechpilot Skill had risen to Initiate 37, and his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability had risen to Adept 84. He was close to ranking up to Practiced in Mechpilot but still was only halfway to the Master rank in his Ability. He knew he had to push both and that had been his focus so far. But now, Zarna had interrupted his practice. ¡°What is it, Zarna?¡± ¡°You have graduated from Fred to Wilma. It is time for you to push your Skill to the point needed for Bloodstorm!¡± ¡°What does Wilma add that Fred didn¡¯t already? Fred allowed me to do just about everything I have ever seen a mech do.¡± ¡°Wilma will allow you to focus your other Abilities through the mech and integrate them into your combat as well as into the very weapons of the mech. This is the true enhancement that Bloodstorm is designed to provide.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s fucking get this party started already!¡± Duke leapt down from Fred and hurried over to Wilma¡¯s waiting form. He found the mech was smaller by a significant margin. While Fred had been nearly ? the size of Bloodstorm, Wilma was about half the size of his true mech. This mech was not all that much larger than the suits of powered armor that the Syndicate soldiers wore. Still, Duke enthusiastically climbed into the mech and got started. His first few attempts to channel his Abilities through the mech were spectacular, but not in the way he was hoping. He alternately fried the entire runescript with enhanced LIGHTNING misdirected through the mech and burnt his left side from FLAME that got out of control, setting the mech itself on fire. He and Zarna alike were decidedly thankful for his RESTORE Ability and his REGENERATION. Between those two Abilities, he reduced downtime to nearly nothing. In time, he got the hang of using his Abilities through the mech and even combining them with using the mech¡¯s regular weapons. It was another six months before he made the breakthrough of being able to channel his Abilities through melee weapons held in the mech¡¯s hands. It was after that feat that his Skill broke through to the next rank, Practiced. Duke beamed as Zarna informed him that his basic training was complete and that he was ready to finally begin training for real. He followed her for a few steps before simply opening up his own massive doorway to where he knew Bloodstorm waited for him. That caused a panic in a few of the mech technicians, but he didn¡¯t care. It was time to fire up his baby for the first time. Nothing would get in his way of this! Book 4, Chapter 10 Climbing into Bloodstorm, Duke felt a surge of emotion. This was a mech that was made for him and him alone. It was customized to his body, his fighting style, and was designed to give him the edge to dominate any battlefield. Still, he held no illusions. His skill at piloting mechs was passable but nowhere near what his skill in planes had been. On top of that, the foes he expected to face were by far more powerful than anyone he had ever dealt with. Even Maku had been a strong challenge that he only beat because he had a single Ability that the man wasn¡¯t able to resist. All these thoughts faded as he slid into the cockpit and felt it mold to him completely. He had put his armor into his INVENTORY in preparation for this and the fit was absolutely perfect. Every control was exactly where he expected it to be, just in reach and easy to access. The surge of anticipation that came with the cockpit closing washed over him ¨C he had spent an entire year preparing for this moment and he was savoring it fully. Seals engaged and the start-up sequence began. Duke felt the Mana draw out of the first of the twenty cores available to power the mech. He had enhanced each and every core in his downtime over the past year, pushing them to the limit of his DUNGEON CORE CREATION Ability. The Ability was sitting at Adept Rank and was tantalizingly close to breaking through into Master Rank. Duke had considered pushing for the Rank upgrade but was too focused on getting to the point he could pilot his mech that he delayed the push. The interface engaged very differently than any of the previous mechs had. While even Wilma was mechanically piloted and interfaced, Bloodstorm was designed solely for him and connected directly to his mind. He had been told to expect reaction speed to be increased and all movements to be smoother ¨C once he got used to it. Finally, everything was ready, and Duke opened his eyes, but they were not truly his eyes. He saw through Bloodstorm¡¯s sensors, and it was wildly disorienting at first. Simply the visual perspective was enough to throw his balance off. He was meters taller, and his body was definitively larger. As he had been instructed, he simply stood in place, giving himself time to get used to the visual references before engaging any more sensors. One by one, he allowed more sensory inputs to engage, taking time to get used to the feel and experience of each. The amount of data pouring into his mind was more than he expected but his experience with DUNGEON SENSE, SENSE MAGIC, and even his lost SOUL SIGHT had prepared him for different sensory inputs. He had yet to even take a step in the mech and he finally understood the mystique and aura around the Steel Tusk mech pilots. This was an experience that not many could handle. Duke immediately put the 392 Characteristic Points he had left to spend into his Reason to give that much more of a boost to his brain¡¯s processing speed and power. This was accompanied by the slightest sense of a lessening of pressure on his mind. With his sensory inputs active, he began the process of slowly moving his limbs. He started with his fingers, moving to hands and arms before finally taking a single unsteady step. The problem was not in the realm of muscle or limb control, it vested entirely in perspective. Since the limbs moved like his own their motion was easy, but their placement relative to his eyeline just didn¡¯t match up. The next several hours were spent slowly stumbling around the area. Eventually, Duke took Bloodstorm into the practice area, but he did create any foes just yet. Instead, he focused on just moving around and getting used to the ¡°different body¡± perspective. It took several days before he was comfortable even just walking around the area. Finally, three weeks after first climbing into Bloodstorm, Duke felt ready to try some basic combat maneuvers. He wasn¡¯t quite ready to release the hounds so to speak, but he was ready for some practice dummies. Using his Abilities, he created an obstacle course for himself filled with varying sizes of training dummies. Then he went to town using just the limbs and physical weapons of the mech. For three days straight, he fought imaginary foes created out of practice dummies before he realized that his reaction speed was slowed. It was then that the realization that he hadn¡¯t slept in quite a while hit him, followed quickly by the stench of weeks¡¯ worth of sweat and living. He immediately activated an enhanced CLEANSE followed by a RESTORE for good measure and made his way out of the mech. He didn¡¯t bother leaving the cavern. He simply made a room for himself with a comfortable bed. This manipulation of the dungeon is becoming second nature for me. I must be really getting close to ranking it up. He absently checked on the Ability¡¯s level and found that he had pushed it all the way up to level 142. Another year or less and I might break through to Master rank. But right now, sleep.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Duke awoke refreshed and ready to get back to it. He created himself a massive breakfast to get started and tossed it down quickly. I just love instant delicious meals. Living in a dungeon isn¡¯t so bad ya know. When Duke left his instant bedroom, he collapsed it back into the dungeon floor. It was in the middle of the training area, after all. Zarna was waiting for him next to Bloodstorm. ¡°Good morning, Emperor. Are you ready to start the next phase of your training?¡± ¡°And what would that phase be?¡± ¡°Actual combat.¡± ¡°Actual combat?¡± ¡°Yes, Emperor. We have created a great many opponents for you to face that will push your capabilities harder and harder.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure I am at that point but I¡¯m not going to learn my skill gaps by fighting training dummies so, sure, bring it on. Bloodstorm will be ready for everything you have for me.¡± Her smile was somewhat disturbing as she gestured towards Bloodstorm, ¡°Then mount up.¡± Duke smiled in return and TELEPORTED into the cockpit. Getting himself situated and starting up the mech had become second nature to Duke and it was a matter of seconds before the mech was moving towards the center of the room. For the first time since Duke had climbed into the mech, his communication crystals activated. ¡°Are you ready, Emperor?¡± ¡°Oh, hell yes, bring it! Let¡¯s do this!¡± Doors of varying sizes around the perimeter of the cavern began to open and creatures of all types came charging out, all intent on Duke¡¯s destruction. The creatures ranged in size from a swarm of one-meter long rodents to a giant golem that topped out at over a hundred meters. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect them all at once. Shit.¡± Duke reacted, preparing himself simultaneously for a siege and for an all-out melee. His first thought was to charge out to a selected foe, but one group of foes was so fast, they were on him before he could even take a step. They were two-meter long flying black insects who arrived with an angry buzz. Duke filled the area around himself with FLAME as the insects attempted to land on his mech and start stabbing through with their gleaming stingers. As it turned out, they were especially vulnerable to fire, their wings instantly curling up and becoming useless. Their stingers were able to scratch Bloodstorm¡¯s armor, however, and they left several gouges but none that were particularly concerning. They were all burnt corpses before the pack of wolf-like monsters arrived. Duke was able to fight off the next three fastest groups and individual creatures using his blades to great effect. The claws that extended from his fingers were extremely efficient at cutting through the attackers until he ran into some more thickly armored monsters. With them, he either had to work his way through the thick armor or use his other Abilities to deal with them. As more and more creatures of varying types swarmed over him, Duke found himself hard-pressed to keep up with the unending swarm. He twisted and turned as he fought foes coming from all directions. Eventually, he was thoroughly swarmed with creatures. They were biting and clawing at the mech. Thankfully, Bloodstorm¡¯s armor was exceptionally strong, but Duke knew that even this armor had its limits. Enough effort would find a seam and that would be enough to get through the armor. Duke acted. Bloodstorm launched into the air, spinning like a top to fling foes off like rain. The speed at which the mech reacted to Duke¡¯s command was nearly instantaneous and spinning motion would have completely disoriented Duke if the sensory input hadn¡¯t automatically switched to a static 360 degree view which allowed him to see his surroundings in a fixed-perspective. His inner ear complained, sending a brief wave of nausea throughout his body before his REGENERATION set that to rights. Free of the cloying masses, Duke opened up with the mech¡¯s compliment of onboard weaponry. Beams of energy lanced through the teeming carpet of monsters, carving meter-wide paths through them. Duke saw the effectiveness of the weapons on the lesser monsters and immediately plummeted Bloodstorm back down to the surface of the cavern. Once there, he aimed the weapons two meters off the ground and performed a relatively slow spin, the Vermilion beams of energy carving their way through the masses. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about!¡± He had to vary the angle of the beams repeatedly to catch the crowding monsters but over the course of a minute, all the fodder had been eliminated. A flashing light in Duke¡¯s mech interface let him know that he had drained an entire Core with that maneuver. ¡°OK, so I can¡¯t do that continuously. Unless...¡± Duke focused his Mana through his MANA TRANSFER Ability to refill the spent Core. He continued to fight the incoming waves as he watched the Mana level of the Core essentially remain stagnant ¨C the base amount of Mana he could transfer was just keeping up with the Mana requirements of fighting with the mech. With a sigh, Duke OVERCHANNELED the Ability. His own personal Mana dropped precipitously, falling at nearly ten million a second. After ten seconds of strain, the Core was topped off, but Duke was down to just over 10% of his Mana remaining. It was steadily ticking back up but it would be a while before it topped off again. Ignoring that, Duke continued fighting the waves of foes boiling up out of the dungeon¡¯s depths, reveling in the power and capability his mech granted him. An hour later, his Mana was fully topped off and he had started regularly activating RESTORE to keep Bloodstorm operating at peak capability. If not for his obscene Endurance, he would have had to stop after the first wave. By now, he had lost count, but he did stop. Not from exhaustion, but because the waves had stopped. A quick scan of his surroundings showed that the dungeon was ready to throw a new level of foe at him. Standing against the walls of the cavern were hundreds of mechs of varying sizes and types. All were powered up and waiting to engage. Once they saw him notice them, they attacked. Grinning wildly, Duke flashed to engage these new enemies. Book 4, Chapter 11 When Duke put his entire will into the speed of the mech, Bloodstorm reacted without hesitation. Will was translated into action and Duke slammed his claws into the torso of the nearest mech, tearing through its armor with all the amplified strength he could apply. With a twist of his wrist, shredded armor and underlying runescript alike tore free. One more swipe with Duke¡¯s left hand tore through the rest of the mech¡¯s internals exposing what would be the cockpit in a normally manned mech. It collapsed to the floor, unmoving Weapons started to impact against Bloodstorm as the longer-range mechs took advantage of Duke¡¯s temporary immobility. Duke felt the impacts ringing through the mech interface. Bloodstorm¡¯s armor was holding up but allowing oneself to be bombarded like this wasn¡¯t particularly smart. Right, keep moving. Duke activated another RESTORE and tore into the enclosing crowd of mechs. He melted through the head of a mech to his left with his beam weapon as he used the leg of the mech to his right as a springboard to tear his claws through its shoulder, disabling the arm that was bringing its own weapon to bear. He seemed to be everywhere at once deeply engaged in the fighting, eventually employing TELEPORTATION as well as most of his other Abilities in the ongoing fight. Unsure of just how long the fight had lasted, Duke stood atop a pile of defeated mechs that stood nearly three hundred meters tall. It was a gently sloping pile that he figured was over two kilometers wide. His stomach rumbled and he realized how hungry he was. A quick TELEPORT put Bloodstorm back where it should be for storage. Moments later, he dismounted and conjured himself a full meal. As the haze of battle faded and his COMBAT SENSE faded into the background, he realized that he had been conjuring food directly into his stomach for most of the fight. He was drained, thoroughly exhausted both in body and mind, eating his food mechanically without tasting the flavor at all. He was startled by a voice over his shoulder and he spun in his chair, fork held ready for combat. ¡°Apologies for startling you, Emperor, but you need rest.¡± Duke¡¯s mind stuttered. He was only able to ask a simple question, ¡°How long?¡± She smiled sympathetically, ¡°It¡¯s been eighteen months straight of fighting for you.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Duke responded before passing out on the table. Duke awoke in his stateroom, unsure of how he got there. He was immediately distracted by a slew of notifications. *** Congratulations, your extended battle training has led to several increases in your Skills and Abilities. In addition, your sustained efforts have increased your Endurance by 93 and your Psyche by 72. Your Skill increases are: Dodge has increased to Adept 91 Ariel Maneuvering has ranked up to Adept 12 Meditation has ranked up to Practiced 9 Martial Arts Combat has increased to Adept 139 Mechpilot has ranked up to Adept 48 Your Ability increases are: TELEPORTATION has increased to Grandmaster 207 REGENERATION has increased to Master 62 DUNGEON ENGINEERING has increased to Adept 158 LIGHTNING has increased to Adept 97 OVERCHANNEL has ranked up to Master 29 MENTAL FORTITUDE has increased to Adept 151 FORCE has increased to Practiced 68 FLAME has ranked up to Adept 6 POISON has increased to Practiced 58 ACID has ranked up to Adept 3 WIND has ranked up to Practiced 22 ICE has ranked up to Adept 9 EARTH has increased to Practiced 61 LIGHT has increased to Practiced 76 SPELL RESISTANCE ranked up to Practiced 14This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. SIMULCASTING ranked up to Adept 11 CLEANSE ranked up to Adept 14 RESTORE has increased to Master 265 SENSE MAGIC has increased to Initiate 32 REMOTE CASTING has ranked up to Practiced 5 INVENTORY has increased to Adept 106 ARMOR SKIN has increased to Adept 143 MANA DRAIN has ranked up to Practiced 18 FLIGHT has increased to Adept 154 SILENCE has ranked up to Initiate 26 MANA TRANSFER has ranked up to Practiced 67 COMBAT SENSE has ranked up to Adept 37 DUNGEON SENSE has increased to Master 201 SOULFIRE has increased to Practiced 31 DEVOLUTION has ranked up to Initiate 7 DUNGEON MONSTER CREATION has ranked up to Initiate 21 IMPLOSION has ranked up to Practiced 61 *** Duke shook his head, clearing the list from his sight. It was a long list with nearly everything going up in level significantly and more than a few ranking up. The combined changes excited him. Time compression is a wonderful thing. A year and a half of hard-combat training in Bloodstorm and I¡¯ve only used up a day in the Contest. Now, to see if I can take Bloodstorm outside and get to hunting! Duke TELEPORTED into the mech¡¯s cockpit ¨C it was so familiar to him that it was nearly a second skin at this point. In less than a second, he had the mech sealed up and fully active. His senses connected to the mech¡¯s seamlessly now. He could us his own sensory Abilities in the same way he could now use the mech¡¯s own. He had made the mech his own, fully customizing its runescript to his own preferences through use. The runescript was now solidified and would not change for anyone else. Bloodstorm was Duke¡¯s mech and Duke¡¯s alone. With great anticipation, Duke headed for the dungeon entrance. Each step closer echoed throughout the dungeon, signaling the inevitability of Bloodstorm on the move. Minotaurs scattered out of the path, only to line the walls watching their Emperor march by. As he passed, the crowd excitedly followed. The mech-builders were given a path to the front of the crowd, following closely behind the mech. Duke kept his steps intentionally slow, knowing the crowd gathered behind him and wanting to give them as big a show as possible. The celebratory mood swelled behind him as so many had contributed to the construction and refinement of the mech in one way or another. It was all their dreams marching towards the door, ready to take on the outside world and everything it entailed. At last, Duke stood before the great doors, smiling at the forethought to make them large enough to accommodate even larger mechs than Bloodstorm. With a grinding of stone that Duke realized was completely unnecessary but added to the ambiance, the massive doors swung open. The dungeon entrance glowed before Duke in all its glory. With a bow to the crafters, Duke backed through the dungeon portal. He arrived, standing on his own two feet with a notification that told him what he already knew ¨C he couldn¡¯t take the mech out of the dungeon. ¡°Son of a bitch!¡± Duke shouted to the heavens. ¡°I want to use my goddamned mech!¡± He looked at his Abilities and saw the source of his frustration. His DUNGEON ENGINEERING was at Adept 158 ¨C two levels below Master rank. He ground his teeth in frustration. ¡°Two fucking levels. Now I really feel like killing something, but I can¡¯t hang outside the dungeon entrance like this.¡± He stepped back inside the dungeon. He was met with confused looks of disappointment as he walked back through the doorway. Sar Forglyn met him with a confused grimace, ¡°You seem to have forgotten to take your mech with you, boss.¡± Duke leveled an angry stare that rapidly devolved into defeat and finally a resigned grin. When he spoke it was with a bit of mirth, ¡°Yes, it looks like I need to do some extreme remodeling of the dungeon before I can take the mech out. I suggest you all find your way back to your shops. It¡¯s going to get quite messy around here for a while.¡± When the crowd had dispersed, he was left with Sar Forglyn. The minotaur gave Duke a knowing look before turning to walk away, ¡°Try not to kill too many of us, OK?¡± Duke shook his head and began to make wholesale changes in the dungeon architecture above them. He changed the shape of the ceiling, making it spiral in on itself before changing it to glass, then metal, then suspended lava, and finally to solidified air. He changed the nature of the atmosphere, warping the laws of physics and magic causing dead zones of magic, areas of intensely concentrated magic, and even areas where magic fluctuated wildly. He poured on more and more of his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability, pushing his limits in every creative way he could imagine. Days passed as he created and re-engineered the reality around himself. Eventually, he got the message that the Ability leveled-up. Still, he poured on the changes as he had one level to go. After weeks of pushing things to absurd levels of warped reality, he received the notification he had been waiting for ¨C His Ability had ranked up. *** Congratulations. Through diligent effort and creativity, you have ranked your DUNGEON ENGINEERING to Master rank. There is now virtually no limit as to what you can create and manipulate within a dungeon environment. You may now remove items of extreme value from a dungeon. *** Duke whooped with delight. Extreme value. I like how that sounds. He effortlessly restored the dungeon back to its former configuration, reveling in the ease with which he was able to make the changes. There was no longer an effort, there was just a thought, and it happened. Within a dungeon, I am now a god. When this Contest is done, I am going to see just how far I can push this Ability. Duke waited for the masses to return, having all received his message. It took all of fifteen minutes for even the furthest away to hastily come to see him off again. He raised his hands before the crowd of minotaurs while he flew up into the air. ¡°Welcome back one and all. It is finally time for me to truly depart. You have all done extremely well and I thank you all.¡± He received a roar and cheer in response, the rhythmic stomping of hooves announcing their united spirit. Once again, he TELEPORTED into the cockpit of Bloodstorm and got it fired up and ready. His exit was filled with cheering but Duke didn¡¯t feel the same level of enthusiasm as he his on his first attempt. This time, however, Bloodstorm strode through the portal and to the other side. Duke smiled, guessing just how much the mech was worth and the ability to make more of them in The Forge just made his smile expand. But that was a project for later. Duke reached out to the portal and collapsed the entire dungeon back into a Core. With a delicate touch, he picked up the Core with Bloodstorm¡¯s enormous hand and deposited the Core into a storage area within the mech. Time to go hunting. The only question is do I set traps or just come in blazing¡­ Book 4, Chapter 12 One TELEPORT later, Bloodstorm was flying over the landscape, Duke closing in on a single Contestant he had targeted. This one had appeared and disappeared from his DUNGEON SIGHT a few times which intrigued him. Duke closed in on where he had las spotted the Contestant and took up a position a good five hundred meters back and above the spot. His senses, tuned, he waited. It took about an hour before his target appeared, emerging from a cave opening beneath Duke with a burst of energy that Duke instantly recognized as the energy signature of a dungeon portal. A thrill ran down Duke¡¯s spine as he examined the Contestant. The creature was a quadruped with a human torso extending upwards from the front of its body ¨C a centaur. The creature had several significant wounds all over its body. It was wearing armor that was ripped and torn in several places, corresponding with its bloody wounds. Duke¡¯s IDENTIFY Ability kicked in as he observed the creature. *** You have encountered Barmak, a centaur Contestant. Your ranking is not high enough to get you any more information on this individual. *** Duke growled in frustration at his Ability being next to useless and he prepared to attack. A wounded foe should prove an easy target. It doesn¡¯t feel right but in this world it is necessary. Duke¡¯s thoughts were interrupted by the centaur shouting up towards him. ¡°If you think I can¡¯t see you floating there in your mech, you are sorely mistaken. And if you think you can actually hurt me, you are even more mistaken. The only reason you still live is that I do not kill Contestants while away from my team. Now go away before I have to break my own rule.¡± Duke liked the arrogance of the centaur, but he didn¡¯t have time to pass up this opportunity. He responded with a testing bolt of LIGHTNING. It was the ¡°stock¡± version of his Adept-Ranked Ability, only set to do about 25,000 damage. The bolt struck the centaur and arced over his body, draining into the ground. ¡°That is your opening shot? Not even worth wasting my time. Go away before the rest of my team come out of the dungeon and I am forced to tear you apart.¡± Before Duke could do anything else, six more centaurs emerged from the portal that Duke recognized as indeed being a dungeon entrance. He was now outnumbered and still didn¡¯t know his opponent¡¯s real strength. Fuck it. Time to see just how far I can push my limits. ¡°Six on one. That almost seems fair,¡± Duke took the most arrogant ¡°young master¡± tone he could muster. ¡°Looks like we have some more points waiting for us. Come on down and give us your points and we won¡¯t kill you, fool.¡± ¡°Oh, I like this game. Let¡¯s play!¡± They did not hesitate or give Duke the chance to back up his words, instead launching themselves into action. The largest of the centaurs shot into the air, streaking for Duke like a missile. Simultaneously, a cage of force began to form around Duke to hold him in place and several attacks struck. This team moved as one, their actions decisive and practiced. The centaur¡¯s strike hit Bloodstorm dead-center of its chest plate with a deeply resounding thoom, pushing the mech against the web of force that held it in place. Duke felt the impact through the mech¡¯s sensors ¨C it exceeded anything he had felt during his entire time training. Who the fuck are these guys? That was all Duke was able to think before he felt Bloodstorm¡¯s armor crack. Nope, not fucking allowing that to happen! Duke unleashed a massively OVERCHANNELED blast of SOULFIRE into the torso of the centaur punching its way through his mech. Fifty million Mana later, the centaur was falling back to the ground screaming in anguish as its blackened internal organs came spilling out of the hole burnt through its chest. He had no time to take satisfaction in his surprise attack as Duke was assaulted by different attacks ranging from projectiles that moved at such high velocity that they punched right through the mech¡¯s armor to the force web constricting down heavily, nearly immobilizing the mech, to a psychic attack that tried to enslave Duke¡¯s mind. While all this went on, he saw the centaur he had put down receive an extremely powerful healing spell from the one centaur who had not been attacking. In less than a second, the centaur¡¯s wounds were healing, and he was beginning to stir. Take out the healer first. New plan. Bloodstorm is still holding up to all this punishment but I¡¯m going to have to RESTORE if this keeps up. The easiest attack for Duke to ignore was the psychic one with his massive Psyche. He was able to pinpoint which centaur it was coming from, and he decided to leave that one for last. His first priority was the healer. Using his REMOTE CASTING Ability, he unleashed a focused beam of LIGHT into the back of the healer¡¯s head.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! The flash of light was extremely bright, causing all the centaurs to pause. Duke paused as well, but in surprise rather than stunned by the flash. The healer was unharmed, having been protected by some sort of protective barrier. Duke cursed and started tossing blasts of FLAME around himself, keeping them OVERCHANNELED by a million Mana each. With his regen, he could fire off two of those every second and still keep a positive on his Mana regen. So, that¡¯s what he did. Again, his attacks were interrupted by protective barriers, flames jetting off in random directions. Duke felt his frustration heighten as he activated RESTORE to repair Bloodstorm. Then, he opened up with the mech¡¯s weapon systems. Vermilion beams of death erupted across the battlefield. Heavy projectiles launched themselves, exploding with tremendous force, and a wave of force erupted spherically, shattering the restraints that had been holding the mech. Then the fight truly began. His foes were fast and effective, attacking him from unexpected angles and with a large variety of weapons, Spells, and Abilities. Duke, for his part, found himself having to use the mech¡¯s capabilities more than his own due to the vast amount of Mana needed for his Abilities to penetrate their barriers. His Ability to RESTORE Bloodstorm was a matter of complete frustration to his opponents but their Ability to shield and heal themselves was a perfect counter. After hours of fighting, the centaurs did something that Duke had not expected in the least but made for a smart tactical move on their part. They hit Duke with a fully-concentrated assault that gave them a second to act while he recovered. They took that second and retreated back into the dungeon. It was a dungeon they had run hundreds of times and knew intimately. They knew the dangers of this dungeon inside and out and with that knowledge, they were going to set up the perfect ambush if he dared to follow them in. Duke, after RESTORING Bloodstorm and seeing the last centaur run into the dungeon entrance laughed uncontrollably as he approached the entrance. ¡°Oh, this is about perfect. Stalemate is about to be checkmate!¡± He placed his hand on the dungeon entrance portal which allowed him to extend his DUNGEON SENSE into the dungeon itself. In a matter of seconds, he knew everything about the dungeon and where the centaurs had gone within it. He considered his options for a moment before heading in himself. The entrance was a large cavern with plenty of space to set up a camp. It was designated as a safe zone which corresponded nicely. Duke grinned as he started manipulating the dungeon. The first thing out of the ordinary that he noticed was that the dungeon was a Tier 10 which made some aspects more difficult for him to manipulate ¨C it seemed the Tier difference mattered. It did not prevent him from manipulating the dungeon as his Master-ranked Ability was designed just for this purpose; it merely called for additional effort to make the changes he desired. His first move was to create an identical party of centaurs right down to the Spells, equipment, and Abilities he had observed over their extended battle. He sent the centaur party to harass the group waiting to ambush him. Then he created a second and a third party and sent them along as well. Chuckling, he exited Bloodstorm, ¡°You stay here, buddy. I want to see this up close and personal.¡± Jogging after the three parties of centaurs, he created a safe-zone field around himself that he enhanced to the point that it prevented any damage or attack from being able to affect him. ¡°Total immunity to attacks¡­yeah, I could get used to this.¡± He followed the last party, easily finding the fight in progress. The confusion of the originals, as Duke had begun to call them, was fun for him. They fought frantically as their confusion and fear started to show. They had overcome every foe and every obstacle in this dungeon multiple times. Fighting themselves was nothing they were prepared for, let alone three copies of themselves. One by one, the originals fell as the creatures that they had hoped to ambush and distract Duke with were attracted to the fight and joined in, creating an even more overwhelming force. Duke strode into the room, a point of calm in the chaotic frenzy of battle. With a thought, all the dungeon monsters backed off, leaving the originals bleeding and beaten but still alive. The one who Duke had met outside the dungeon spoke up first, ¡°Who the hell are you and how are you able to do this?¡± ¡°Done with empty threats then? Not going to force me to give you my Contest Points to let me live?¡± The look of anger and frustration was fighting with bewilderment on the centaur¡¯s face when he responded. ¡°It is clear that whatever you have done here is more than we can handle. What do you want?¡± ¡°Me? I want points. Just like you. I could kill all six of you and get half your points right now. I bet that would bump my standing rather quickly.¡± ¡°We could give you points for letting us go.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening, but I¡¯m not sure how that would benefit me. The whole leaving a potential enemy alive at my back doesn¡¯t have much appeal to me.¡± ¡°We could offer an oath to never harm you and to give you a percentage of our points as we earn them. Become your points-slave.¡± Duke considered it momentarily. I am receiving points from Zeblow. Did that make Zeblow my points-slave? No, Zeblow had approached me with the contract. Having points-slaves would accelerate my ranking for sure. Duke¡¯s thoughts were interrupted by an intense pain in the core of his being. He doubled-over as his PURPOSE flared in anger at the very thought of making anyone a slave to him. It was anathema to his core being and rejected the idea, causing the pain to lessen considerably. He looked back up to see the originals attacking him with everything they had, and nothing was passing through the safe-zone he had created around himself. ¡°So, that¡¯s how it has to be,¡± Duke sighed as he released all the dungeon monsters to attack again. To speed things up, he added several of the dungeon¡¯s bosses to the fight. The end came quickly after that. *** Congratulations! You have slain the six Contestants of the team Four Score. You have earned 31,619,910 points. Your new ranking is number 61. As you have broken into the top 100, you have additional privileges based on your rank. Your IDENTIFY Ability will provide you with more information about other Contestants. You may enter and exit Sanctuary City through the protected gates You may speak with your sponsor once a day You gain access to the Contest Timer *** Book 4, Chapter 13 Duke held his other notifications back as he flashed to the newest tool in his toolbox, the Contest Timer. It looked like a simple digital clock counting down and it currently read 1:22:31:18 until the final phase. Just under two days until whatever the final phase means. Good thing I have achieved the objective my sponsor set out for me. But is that enough? No, not really. Not at all. Shoot for the top and see where you land and all that. Duke pulled up the notification he had been holding back and read it. *** You have slain six Contestants of Tiers 7 and 8. You gain 719,437 (791,381) experience. You are now level 90 and have 252 Characteristic Points to spend. You have had some minor gains in your Abilities, the most notable being that Dungeon Engineering has increased to Master 7. *** Duke accepted his gains and contemplated his next move as he headed through the dungeon to retrieve Bloodstorm. He considered the dungeon design as he passed through and wondered if it was allowed to grow naturally from a Core or was the dungeon specifically grown. As far as he knew, only he and the Overmind had the capability to grow a dungeon specifically, but it was a wide cosmos with all sorts of possibilities out there. As he mounted Bloodstorm, his DUNGEON SENSE alerted him to a party entering the dungeon. He was not far from the entrance and set off to intercept them. Another set of easy targets. This is great! The party consisted of what appeared to be elves made of stone to Duke. They moved with the speed and grace he expected from elves but gave off a sense of durability from their stone skin. He studied them with his CLAIRVOYANCE before moving into the cavern where they were apparently arguing. ¡°I¡¯m not going to delve this Tier 10 dungeon for that asshole. I don¡¯t care what tortures he can plant in my brain. It¡¯s not worth dying for him.¡± ¡°What choice do we have? He owns us, or do you have some way to get these damned bands off our skulls or resist the compulsions they project into our minds? Because I sure as hell don¡¯t!¡± ¡°We never should have agreed to come to this damned Contest and its world of death.¡± ¡°But we did, and now we¡¯re stuck doing what Arenstol tells us to do.¡± ¡°We could kill him. That would break us free.¡± ¡°Go ahead. Do it. You know the band won¡¯t let you even let you try.¡± Duke felt his PURPOSE stir as he realized that the party just around the corner from him was enslaved. He wanted to come in screaming and kill them all for more points but his PURPOSE was pulsing with greater intensity and he knew he could not ignore it. Dammit! This Contest is horrible enough. I can¡¯t kill slaves or let someone enslave others for that matter. Sighing inwardly, Duke stepped Bloodstorm around the corner and into sight of the party. Their reaction was fast and expected. They burst into defensive positions, weapons ready but they did not attack. ¡°Well, that was a good reaction. Care to point me in the direction of Arenstol so I can kill him and set you all free?¡± ¡°What kind of trick is that?¡± ¡°No trick. I can¡¯t stand slavers and kill them whenever I come upon them. I overheard your argument a few minutes ago. You know, you really should keep your arguments down in a dungeon. A lot of dungeon monsters have good hearing. Anyway, where is the asshole?¡± ¡°He¡¯s outside the dungeon but he¡¯ll capture you just like he did us. Don¡¯t go out there.¡± ¡°Are you going to bring him in here?¡± ¡°He won¡¯t come into the dungeon.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m going out there to kill him. Kindly stand aside.¡± Duke strode forward, not waiting for them to move. They parted before him, and he walked through the portal to the outside.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Leaning against the side of the dungeon entryway was a short creature, less than a meter tall with bright pink skin and an oversized head. It was completely naked but thankfully, Duke couldn¡¯t see any evidence of genitals. Its distended belly nearly matched its oversize head in size and its limbs were so thin they looked more like flesh-covered sticks than anything else. It addressed Duke with a smirk. ¡°So, another one for my stable. And with a mech no less. Lovely.¡± It locked eyes with Duke through Bloodstorm and followed up with a single word, ¡°Obey!¡± The word was a command that tore through the space between them, lancing into Duke¡¯s mind with the force of an avalanche. Duke staggered before his Psyche rejected the command with an absolute flare of his PURPOSE. He shook his head and responded, snapping forward and grabbing the creature by the head with Bloodstorm¡¯s left hand. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think I will,¡± Duke responded with as much iciness as he could put into his voice. ¡°That¡¯s impossible. No one can resist my will!¡± Its voice got louder, and Duke could feel the increase in power in its Ability when it spoke again, ¡°You will obey me!¡± Duke felt his grip slip for a moment before his PURPOSE slammed down on the compulsion. He reflexively squeezed his grip tighter. The creature¡¯s head exploded like a melon. ¡°Oh, shit. Oops. Well, not really that big a mistake. I was going to see how long his head would stay attached when I swung his body around while holding it, but I guess this works as well. Now where is that notification?¡± As if by he prompting, he received a notification. *** Congratulations, you have slain Arenstol, a Contestant. As this death is not permanent for him, you do not receive any Contest Points for his death. You have achieved two things, however. You have freed all 216 of his current slaves within the Contest and have removed him from the Contest for 48 hours. As this places his return outside the window of the commencing of the Final Phase, he will not be allowed to return to the Contest. His earned points are now fixed, and he may be surpassed by anyone who gains a higher Point total. Additionally, for freeing 216 slaves, you receive 216,000 bonus Contest Points. This moves you into the 58th Ranking. As a final reward, none of the freed slaves may attack you for the next 12 hours. Do note that if you attack any of them, this immunity will be revoked. *** Duke activated CLEANSE and hopped out of Bloodstorm to loot the body. I can¡¯t believe that I forgot to loot the centaurs when I killed them. They had to have some good gear. It will still be there when I go back into the dungeon as long as it doesn¡¯t reset in the meantime. Like by everyone exiting it. As the thought crossed his mind, the formerly enslaved party came through the Dungeon Portal and appeared near Duke. They all looked briefly unsteady on their feet before returning to their senses. They all had a new green glow to them that Duke had not seen before. He wondered if it was the system letting him know that they could not be attacked and could not attack him. Regardless, they spotted Duke and immediately moved in his direction. He waved to them. ¡°You¡­you¡¯re Duke, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°In the flesh.¡± ¡°You killed Arenstol and freed us from his slaver Ability.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure we all have system notifications making that clear. What can I do for you?¡± The apparent leader of the group stepped forward, brushing strands of stone hair out of her face. Duke was amazed at how her hair acted so flexibly while still apparently having the rest of the properties of stone. She addressed him with an air of formality that made him dread her words ¨C he did not want anyone else to be worried about in this Contest. ¡°You saved us from slavery, providing us with a renewed chance at life both in this Contest and beyond it. For this, you have our gratitude and our loyalty. To die in the Contest is an expected and honorable end for us, but to wind up enslaved is the greatest offense to our people. You have delivered us from such a torment upon our souls. We will serve as your guardians for the remainder of our time in the Contest.¡± Duke felt earnestness in her words as his XENOGLOSSIA asserted itself. His response, however, set them all aback, ¡°Look, I know you have some sort of sense of honor that makes you want to pay me back for setting you free, but I cannot accept your service. I didn¡¯t free you all just to put you into another form of servitude. That goes against who I am. It also goes against what this whole Contest seems to be about. I¡¯m happy that I was able to set you free, but I don¡¯t have time to stick around and deal with you. Nothing personal but I am in striking range of the top 50 and I¡¯m not going to pause.¡± ¡°We could help you.¡± ¡°You should help yourselves. I¡¯m sure he was stealing your Points, and you have a lot of ground to make up. As a team, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do fine. But I am here to run solo and that is what I am going to do. Good luck to you all.¡± Duke didn¡¯t wait for any further response. He TELEPORTED back into Bloodstorm after placing the body of the latest dead alien into his INVENTORY. In seconds, the mech was flying away from the dungeon and Duke was looking for his next target or even an area that had a more unique challenge. He had no idea how many Points different challenges would garner him but he was willing to find out. Book 4, Chapter 14 Duke was growing increasingly frustrated the more he thought about the Contest. On one hand, it provided him with outstanding growth opportunities but on the other, it seemed like nothing more than a way to cull the powerful youth of the Cosmos. Or it was a pissing contest for the Entities. No matter the true purpose, the whole thing grated on him which bled into his attitude when he decided to return to Sanctuary City for a short break. He pulled Bloodstorm into his INVENTORY and TELEPORTED to the arrival platform for the city. The grand square in which the platform stood had a sizable crowd gathered which came as a surprise to Duke. When his arrival was announced by some sort of loudspeaker system that Duke hadn¡¯t noticed before. ¡°And now entering Sanctuary City, standing at the 58th Rank, is Duke, the Herald of Liberation and Favored of the Overmind!¡± The announcement was met with cheering and shouts of joy. Duke stood on the platform, thoroughly confused and staring at the crowd like they had lost their minds. A large scaled hand suddenly rested on his shoulder and casually guided Duke from the platform. He glanced over to see Mole walking him down from the platform. ¡°You have become quite popular, my friend. Especially since you took out Arenstol. Nobody liked him. Now wave to the crowd and I can guide you to somewhere more private.¡± ¡°Thank you, Molekethesius, but I¡¯ll take him from here.¡± The crowd had parted as the Avatar of the Overmind gently pushed its way through. Duke thanked Mole but followed the Avatar out of the crowd. Apparently, no one wanted to follow the pair. Duke wasn¡¯t sure if it was a measure of respect or fear, but he didn¡¯t really care either way. It got him away from the crowd. The Overmind led him to a nondescript brick building with the only decoration being the crudely arched doorway. The door opened as they approached, and the pair walked in. Duke barely noticed the door closing behind them as he marveled at the entryway. Rather than the bare stone or brick he had expected, he walked a path among the stars. His feet sunk slightly into the black substance of the floor, pushing stars outwards like leaves on the surface of a pond. The Overmind gestured to Duke, indicating a barely noticeable, chair-shaped part of the starfield. Duke sat down, ignoring how the surface rippled as he settled into the chair. ¡°Welcome to my little hideaway. It¡¯s nothing special but it suits me.¡± ¡°Thanks. I came back to the city to take a break, but I wasn¡¯t expecting to meet you here.¡± ¡°I suppose not. But you did receive the notification that we could talk once a day now that you are in the top hundred. Today is a good day for a chat.¡± ¡°Sure. What do you want to chat about? Weather¡¯s been pretty nice.¡± The Overmind laughed. ¡°Oh, I would stay that there have been a few storms recently. Not all are your fault, but enough are that you have made a name for yourself. Do you see why I wanted to enter you in the later stages?¡± ¡°I seem to recall me having to push for a later entry spot.¡± ¡°Yes, you did, but you made up for the even later entry by entering in stronger than even I expected. The early days of the Contest are mostly spent in non-lethal tournaments with the occasional challenge or dungeon run thrown in for good measure. The real killing of Contestants doesn¡¯t come until the later stages when it becomes the most efficient way to gather points.¡± ¡°I have noticed how quickly I rose by doing so.¡± ¡°So did everybody else. If you run into anyone from the top hundred, expect them to either attack you with everything they have or run the hell away as fast as they can. Most of the top hundred are parts of teams that support each other. If you can catch one out by themselves, you should be able to overwhelm them.¡± ¡°Those centaurs are a good example.¡± ¡°They were pretty tough out in the open, but they actually ran into a dungeon to try and ambush me. Probably the worst mistake they could have made.¡± ¡°True, but no one had any idea what your Class was or what you could do.¡± ¡°You said that in the past tense.¡± ¡°I did. Now that you are in the top hundred, you are always being watched. Funny thing is that they couldn¡¯t watch you in your own dungeon. That frustrated a LOT of folks.¡± ¡°Is this a spectator sport now?¡± ¡°For those who have no chance of making it to the finals, yes. Only the top hundred make it to the final. You are positioned to be one of them.¡± ¡°Is it really worth it? What¡¯s the prize?¡± ¡°You know that I can¡¯t tell you what the prize is, but I can tell you that it is worth it. Now, let¡¯s put all that aside. I want to talk about your dungeon designs.¡± The next several hours passed with Duke¡¯s eyes being opened up to just how much he had been limiting himself in dungeon design. He had never thought that he could incorporate Earth¡¯s or any other world¡¯s technology into a dungeon. He left the meeting with a new understanding and an additional 40 ranks in his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. The last words the Overmind had left him with as he ushered Duke to the door still rung in his mind. The only thing that is holding you back is your own fears. Release them and you can win the true prize whether you win this Contest or not. Duke pondered over that phrase as he absently wandered the streets of the city. How do I release my fears? What is it I¡¯m afraid of anyway? It¡¯s none of these people. No one here has posed enough of a threat that I am afraid of them. Maybe someone in the top ten should scare me but fuck ¡®em. Maybe it¡¯s time to do some opposition research. It took him two hours of wandering and some pointed questioning, but he eventually found an information broker who was willing to give him details about the top ten rankers. He could have watched countless hours of their recorded fights, but he was certain that he would miss something by just watching a recording. Sitting down with the information broker was an experience in and of itself. The broker was a creature that hid itself within a dark hooded robe. The openings of the robe were enchanted to hide the broker¡¯s features, so they only appeared as blackness. It led Duke through its entryway and into what would have passed for a study in most wealthy homes. The walls were lined with bookshelves that were filled with all manner of leatherbound tomes. It gestured with an empty sleeve for Duke to take a seat in a chair that faced its own, if angled slightly apart. Duke took the indicated chair and immediately noticed that this angle afforded him a view of another bookcase that was different than the others. This bookcase was filled with paperback books that offered a splash of color that contrasted greatly with the other books in the room. ¡°I see my exotic book collection has caught your eye. Perhaps when we have conducted this business, we can speak about them.¡± Duke re-centered himself, putting the thoughts of Earth that the books evoked and focusing on the reason he was here. ¡°Yes, as I am sure you already know, I am looking for tactically important information about the top ten in this Contest.¡± ¡°Tactically important. Interesting way to phrase it but I get what you mean. You don¡¯t care where they are from, who they have relations with, or even who sponsors them. You want to know how to kill them or at least how not to be killed by them.¡± ¡°That is a good way to phrase it, yes.¡± ¡°Very well. Let us begin.¡± Although the 100,000 Contest Points dropped Duke down to 61st place, he was sure it was well spent by the time all was said and done. He knew the fighting styles, strengths, and most importantly, the weaknesses of each of the top ten Contestants. He wasn¡¯t sure how he would deal with some of them just yet but at least he knew what to expect. When they were finished with the content of the deal, the information broker who had finally revealed his name to be Samwise, moved to the colorful bookshelf with Duke. Duke was sure that the name was not real, but it very specifically disturbed him, especially when they made it to look at the books on the bookshelf. Front and center of the bookshelf was a boxed set of the Lord of the Rings. There were several other titles Duke recognized from Earth. He used every ounce of willpower to keep his face expressionless and to not linger on any books in particular. Samwise¡¯s next statement, spoken behind his ear, shattered Duke¡¯s discipline entirely. ¡°Coltrane made it out by the way.¡± Duke whirled around, his adrenaline spiking as his mind reeled from the statement. He didn¡¯t know what to say or even how to react. Panic, anger, and relief surged through his mind in equal measure leaving him stunned into inaction. ¡°Duke, my patron is the Eye of Infinity. There is literally nothing that happens that she doesn¡¯t see. Even the times you spend with the Overmind in your dungeons. She is the eldest of the Entities and no one will act against her because she will literally see it coming. But, lucky for you, she views you in a positive light. No one else can observe us so anything you or I say here shall stay here.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard that line before and apparently it wasn¡¯t true.¡± Another voice, distinctly the voice of a sultry woman filled the room, ¡°You can believe it this time, Andy.¡± Again, Duke was left stunned. When the entity revealed herself to be a short blonde girl in her twenties that hit all his marks for ¡°cute,¡± he felt even more vapor-locked. ¡°Samwise, you have done well to bring Duke here. You may leave us now.¡± ¡°As you say,¡± Samwise quickly exited the building, closing and sealing the door behind him. ¡°I know you feel violated and spied upon, Duke but I can¡¯t help it. I see everything as it happens and can recall anything I have seen, which is, well, everything.¡± Duke finally, broke out of his vapor-lock, ¡°So you know everything¡­why are you so interested in me?¡± ¡°It would not be wise for me to tell you that just yet. I will say this ¨C I have a great interest in seeing you survive this Contest in the top ten.¡± ¡°Um, yeah, that¡¯s great, but it doesn¡¯t tell me anything or help me at all. I feel like I¡¯m being toyed with, and I really don¡¯t appreciate it. Samwise? Lord of the Rings? What the fuck is the deal?¡± ¡°That was simply to let you know that I know everything. Letting you know that Coltraine lived and made it out of that shitshow as you called it was an olive branch. I wish for you to view me favorably in the future.¡± ¡°Still not telling me much.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, no. As far as the rest of the Cosmos is concerned, even your Overmind, we have never met, never conversed. You came here and spoke with my Agent and got some information on your competition. Nothing more. I ask you to keep it that way.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like you have told me anything useful.¡± ¡°I will tell you this: Save the Reaper until it is truly needed. No one should see that until then.¡± ¡°And how the hell am I supposed to know when that is?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll know. Now I do have something to give to you but first put the rest of your points into Psyche. You¡¯ll need them for this.¡± ¡°Why the hell should I trust you?¡± ¡°Because I could unmake you if I so chose. But I would much rather see you win.¡± Duke weighed his options but finally gave in, feeling outmaneuvered. He dropped his points into Psyche and waited for the Entity to give him whatever she was going to give him. She gently placed her hands on either side of his face and pulled him down to her. He resisted for a split second but let her pull him in for a kiss. What passed between them was definitely not a kiss. Duke saw flashes of scenes that filled the recesses of his Psyche so quickly he was completely unable to grasp any of them. It seemed to last for several minutes but finally, she released him to collapse on the floor, exhausted and out of breath. ¡°You will recover in a few minutes and can leave then. Remember to save the Reaper for the end. Oh, and feel free to take any books here that strike your fancy. They are all replaceable.¡± With that, she dissipated into the shadows, leaving him alone. He shook his head violently to clear it, but a sense of heaviness suffused his mind. He couldn¡¯t put a finger on it, but the best description he could come up with was that his subconscious felt overfull and ready to burst. He was hit with a system message: *** Your UMBRAL REAPER Ability has ranked up to Master 1 *** Duke shook his head again and proceeded to empty every single book from the bookshelves into his INVENTORY. She said to help myself, right? He left the building, heading for an inn he had passed nearby. He needed some sleep. Book 4, Chapter 15 Sleep, as it turned out, was not the balm that Duke was seeking. His dreams were wracked with horrors. Terrible scenes of all the depravity that humanity was capable of flowed from his subconscious, clawing at his sanity. When he finally woke for the fifth time in as many hours, he resignedly climbed out of bed, with a contradiction. The bed was so comfortable that his body simply craved the caress of the sheets but his emotions were all but screaming at him to flee the comfort. He unconsciously performed his waking routing of CLEANSE and RESTORE before evaluating himself in the room¡¯s mirror. What he saw was not what he expected. His eyes looked thoroughly haunted, the skin around them creased with lines that had not been there in the past. His irises had paled to a cold grey that seemed to pull his eyes deeper into his skull. All-in-all, he felt it was not a good look for him and decided to cloak it with LASTING DISGUISE before leaving the room. A quick glance at his screen showed that the clock had counted down to 1:02:39:11. He had a little more than a day before the final phase began. He noticed a few more changes He had gained more than 200,000 Points since last he looked ¨C Zeblow had gotten busy and since points were so tight around him, it had pushed Duke to 56th place. So, what to do? I can sit here and wait for the day to pass, or I can go out and hunt some desperate Contestants. Or, I can underground railroad those desperate to leave the city. Maybe I can make a bunch more ¡°Zeblow¡± deals and get others to work for me. That¡¯s awful close to the slaver-move. But, no, it¡¯s nothing like it. This is all voluntary and I¡¯m not telling them what to do. Why am I having all these scattered thoughts all of a sudden? What the fuck did that Entity really do with all that? Duke noticed one more thing as he looked at his character sheet that broke him from his thoughts. His Psyche had increased by another 200 points while he tried to sleep. I¡¯ll take the points but what is really going on here? Two choices flyboy. Sit here and think about it running in circles, or get out there and do something. Right. Time for action over inaction. Exiting the inn, he strode into the bustle of a thriving city. Duke was sure that most of the people, creatures, and ¡°what the hell is that things¡± making their way throughout the streets were not Contestants. Even though there were some 20,000 Contestants left, the city could comfortably house a population in the millions from Duke¡¯s observations. If the city were only filled with Contestants, it would look like a ghost town. He was, for the most part, left alone to carry on his business. The only interruptions were a further confirmation that the majority were civilians as he was occasionally pointed out by enthusiastic followers of the Contest. He ignored them for the most part, keeping DUNGEON SENSE pulled relatively tightly around him so he could spot any threats that may spring up despite the city¡¯s supposed safety. Sometimes paranoia is just smart, and threats don¡¯t necessarily come from violence. It took all of an hour to reach his destination, the central landing platform. There he set himself down on the edge of the platform and waited for someone to approach him. As he waited, he came to the realization that putting a sign up would be difficult at best as languages, and even forms of communication, varied greatly amongst the populace. Finally, he decided to go a different route. ¡°Hey, kid, come over here for a minute,¡± Duke stage whispered to a random young teen that was passing by.¡± The kid tentatively came over, making sure to stay out of arm¡¯s reach. His voice was cautious, ¡°What you want, mister?¡± ¡°I need someone to be a message crier for me. Feel like making some credits?¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you put your message on the boards?¡± Well, damn, that was a fucking reasonable response. Not knowing that there even were boards was probably not the best. ¡°Yeah, I guess you¡¯re right, kid. Here have a few credits anyway.¡± Duke tossed the kid a credit chip that had a hundred credits on it and sent him on his way. Duke spent the next few minutes finding the boards in his interface and was amazed at just how many different boards there were. They spanned everything from people looking for sparring partners to gear sales to people wanting partners for entirely other things. No matter how advanced a society gets, there¡¯s always someone looking for sex. Who am I kidding? I could use a good night too, but that¡¯s not what I am looking for right now. Finally, Duke found a board that was exclusive to the Contestants, and he made a single listing. As he waited for it to post, he looked around himself at the various members of the crowd passing by. He found that the vast majority were of some human analogue with modifications. Whether they were a different color, shaped a bit differently, or had additional features, they were mostly humanoid. He wasn¡¯t sure what that meant but it was notable. The first response to his post popped up on his notifications, followed by several others that came in rapid-fire fashion. They came so quickly and in such frequency, he turned notifications off on the post. Instead, he sat back and waited for the physical responses to his post. He had, after all, posted his location for all to see. While he waited, he crafted a special Core, one that was far larger than any other he had ever made. This one was also different in that it was a perfect topographical representation of the Contest World that he created from his DUNGEON SENSE scanning of the world. The sphere was not a viable Dungeon Core, but the two-meter wide globe would serve its purpose well enough.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Duke was surprised that it took ten minutes before the first Contestant approached him. The creature was as much crustacean as human and approached Duke boldly. The language it spoke was an interesting combination of vocalizations and gestures. Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA handled it easily. ¡°You are the one who posted on the board about a way out of the city?¡± ¡°I am. Are you interested?¡± ¡°What¡¯s the deal? Nothing comes free around here.¡± ¡°You are quite right about that, but the deal is simple. I will get you out of the city to the location of your choice for a reasonable price.¡± ¡°What is the reasonable price?¡± The question was asked with the crustacean¡¯s version of sarcasm which came off as a series of triple clicks of its claws. Duke smiled disarmingly, ¡°There are two options for pricing. One is one hundred thousand Contest Points. The other is twenty percent of all Contest Points you make until the Contest is over.¡± The crustacean looked at Duke for a long moment before responding, ¡°You will put it into a system contract that I will arrive safely where I wish and all I have to give you is twenty percent of my Contest Points for the rest of the Contest?¡± ¡°Yep. Just point out where you want to go on this globe, enact the contract, and I¡¯ll get you there quickly. You¡¯ll arrive safely, but any dangers that may be waiting for you there are your problem, not mine. Deal?¡± ¡°Deal. I wish to go here.¡± He pointed to a point on the globe, an area Duke had not visited but, then again, there were few areas he had visited. In seconds the contract was finalized. Duke looked at the crustacean, ¡°Are you ready to go?¡± ¡°I am!¡± he excitedly responded, his antennae perking up for the first time. Duke nodded, and with a simple ¡°good luck¡± TELEPORTED the crustacean to his destination. His DUNGEON SENSE showed him that the creature had arrived safely. He wished his CLARIVOYANCE had enough range to see him clearly, but the Practiced-ranked Ability only had a five-kilometer range. Within ten minutes, Duke had a line of individuals wrapped around the platform waiting to make a deal with him. The vast majority were willing to make the 20% deal but there were a dozen who outright paid Duke the 100,000 Points to get out past the ¡°gate campers.¡± Duke laughed all the way to 51st place. As time went by, Duke had sent nearly 600 Contestants out of the city to various places. Each one had a system contract which had an interesting side-effect that Duke inadvertently discovered. Whenever one of them died, Duke was informed. So far, nine had perished without providing Duke with a single point. Oh well, not like it cost me anything to send them out there. Eventually, a lull came, and Duke sat back, relishing his success. Even if he only got a small stream of points from this scheme, it was as all the nameless gurus back home said passive income. The worst case would be for them to all die off. ¡°You there!¡± The voice came in an impressive harmony of multiple tones. Duke looked up to see what he could only call a walking pile of slugs. His XENOGLOSSIA was telling him that the pile of slugs was mad at him for some reason. He inclined his head, ¡°What can I do for you?¡± ¡°You can stop bypassing the city gates.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think I will. Now move along. I have more customers coming.¡± ¡°You do not understand who you are dealing with. We are Vexxorr and we will not allow you to disrupt our Point income.¡± ¡°Oh, so you are one of the Gate Campers. Cheesy strategy, but effective, I suppose. But I really don¡¯t care who or what you are.¡± The slug pile reared back, swelling with outrage. The harmonic voice now had several discordant notes, ¡°You dare to oppose us?¡± ¡°Look, Slugworth, take your everlasting gobstopper and go home. I have neither the time nor inclination to deal with your childish sense of ownership.¡± In response, the slug pile swelled further and expanded to surround Duke, cutting him off from any potential customers. ¡°We will keep you contained so that you will not interfere with us any more. And we will deal with you in the final phase.¡± Duke stood, leaning into his DUNGEON SENSE to see where the rest of these slugs resided. He saw them lying in wait around the gate designated as ¡°Senda.¡± He also noticed a few of the slugs scattered in various areas both inside and outside the city. ¡°Is that right?¡± Duke smiled at the wall of slugs around him. ¡°How about this? Let¡¯s all go out past the Senda gate and settle this once and for all?¡± ¡°Oh, yes, we like that idea.¡± ***Contest Messaging System Activated. You have received a direct message from Aculotus. Don¡¯t go out there with the slugs. If even one slug survives, they will all grow back. They are all but immortal because of it. And there are millions of them! *** Duke noted the message. It aligned with his thoughts and his plan. He continued. ¡°Just to make sure this is perfectly clear, you are fine with me taking all of you out to the Senda gate area so we can fight it out?¡± ¡°Oh, yes, let¡¯s go!¡± Duke grinned and activated TELEPORT, grabbing every single slug inside the city and every one outside the city to a single spot outside the gate. The slugs didn¡¯t hesitate. They flowed at him in a wave that would easily engulf him. Duke responded by TELEPORTING all their bodies into atoms spread across the planet¡¯s surface. It took a massive OVERCHANNELING to make sure he got them all, but their individual resistance to such an attack was minimal. In the collective, it was substantial but nothing compared to Duke¡¯s Grandmaster Ability. The nanosecond between each individual slug being targeted and destroyed was too fast for them to collectively resist, instead having to resist the Ability individually. They stood no chance. Duke pulled up his notification. *** You have killed Vexxorr, a Contestant ranked in the top ten. You gain half of their Contest Points which brings your total to 85,490,429. You are now ranked third in the Contest. You gain 298,000 (327,800) experience. You are now level 93 and have 84 Characteristic Points to spend. *** Duke returned to the platform in the city, acting as if nothing had happened. The looks from the crowd told him otherwise. Book 4, Chapter 16 As Duke set himself back up on the edge of the platform, he reflected on just how good an investment it had been to collect data on the top ten. Without the detailed breakdown of what Vexxorr was, how they fought, and what their vulnerabilities were, Duke might have been in trouble in that fight. Even the simple knowledge that they were a collective and distributed lifeform was key to his victory. And the message from Aculotus, whoever that was, turned out to be unneeded advice but would have been essentially helpful if he wasn¡¯t otherwise prepared. Duke sent them a message to come meet him. It did not take long for Aculotus to introduce herself. She turned out to be a mousekin which immediately made Duke smile at her. ¡°Thank you for your helpful message.¡± ¡°It was the least I could do for the one who made it possible for so many to escape the city and possibly find their fortune out in the wilds.¡± ¡°Speaking of which, there seems to be another line forming up.¡± ¡°Serve your customers but, please, allow me to speak with you as you do so.¡± ¡°Of course. Tell me about yourself and your role here.¡± ¡°I am but a humble representative of my Entity. She always brings Contestants, but we never leave the city. Most of us are crafters. I am a healer by trade.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all well and good, but I don¡¯t see how that truly affects me.¡± ¡°As a healer, I made a large number of acquaintances early on here and more than a few have become friends. I have seen hundreds of Contestants and more than a few of my friends fall victim to that slug monster. It was truly insidious in how it preyed on so many just trying to garner enough points for transport off-world.¡± ¡°Transport off world? What do you mean?¡± ¡°The Thousand points required to purchase an exit ticket. I know it¡¯s not something you need to worry about, but for many like me, gathering points early was the only way we were going to gather enough to be able to leave this place.¡± ¡°I apparently didn¡¯t get this briefing. What happens to those who don¡¯t have enough points to leave?¡± ¡°They die.¡± ¡°That simple, eh?¡± Another voice from the line of Contestants coming to Duke for a deal spoke up, ¡°That¡¯s why we are all lined up. There¡¯s about two thousand of us who have no chance of surviving if we can¡¯t get out of the city. Even the crafters have found that they have to craft a masterpiece to garner enough points to survive. Most don¡¯t have the resources to even get the materials to do so. That¡¯s why we are all here.¡± Duke steadily went through the line as they talked. Everyone in line was happy to accept the 20% contract and be sent outside the city. By now, Duke had noted that there were about a dozen locations that were especially popular. He decided to check them out if he had a chance to do so before things flipped over to the final phase. The naga who had spoken up from the line finally arrived and gave Duke a bow, ¡°Emerald at your service. I would greatly desire to take the 20% package and be delivered to the Challenge Fields.¡± It turned out that the Challenge Fields was the most popular of the twelve popular areas and Duke was happy to send him on his way. He turned back to Aculotus who had taken a seat next to him on the platform. ¡°I take it that you have enough points to get off-world?¡± ¡°I do. Not by a lot, but enough that I can still spend some and have a comfortable margin. Healing is a very profitable profession in a place like this.¡± The more he interacted with her, the more she reminded Duke of Nibblesworth from the Wildheart Refuge. He felt a strange pang of guilt at not having visited the Refuge before leaving as he had planned. Ultimately, he decided to set the feeling aside and just enjoy his easy point accumulation trick. Of course, the peace of the moment couldn¡¯t last. A pair of figures made their way through the crowd which seemed to easily part for them. They looked like nothing more than a pair of twin supermodels. Duke felt an enormous pressure on his Psyche as looked at them and even felt his MENTAL FORTITUDE kick in to fight off whatever effect they were emanating. A second later, he saw them for what they were ¨C a pair of vampires. They were attractive, but certainly not the celestial beauties he had seen approach. His eyes narrowed.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Our Entities would have words with you. Come with us.¡± They spoke together in harmony, their voices blending into a potent charm that none they had met could resist. ¡°And if I refuse?¡± The shock that spread across their features served to buoy Duke¡¯s mood, breaking him out of the melancholy of past regrets. He followed up, capitalizing on their shock. ¡°Just who are your Entities and why should I speak with them?¡± They pair gathered their wits and spoke again, ¡°You know our Entities, but they know you much better.¡± ¡°Oh, fuck no! Not a chance. Never gonna happen.¡± Duke¡¯s visceral reaction to the pair was loud and intense enough to break a good portion of the crowd out of their trance which elicited several shouts of anger, triggering a cascade effect of breaking them free from the vampires¡¯ aura effect. The pair were undeterred. ¡°We could make you come with us.¡± ¡°You are as fucking tone-deaf as your masters. I said no. No means no. Learn what that means. And no, you fucking can¡¯t make me come with you. You don¡¯t have the authority to do so and certainly not the power. You can¡¯t attack me in this city and using your aura like you just did against all these people could be construed as an attack, so you had just better back down, go back to the twins and tell them to fuck off!¡± ¡°They will not be pleased with this defiance.¡± ¡°They can take it up with my sponsor.¡± Duke felt the vampires¡¯ twin COMPULSION Abilities flare again. This time it was filled with an insane level of power ¨C their individual Abilities had some way to harmonize and create an intense synergy. The power washed over him and the crowd alike. Virtually every head in the crowd turned to face the vampires, fully under their thrall. As the wave slammed into Duke¡¯s mind, he felt his willpower buckle against the onslaught. His mind fought with everything it had to push back, loosening the grip he had on his terror held in his subconsciousness in the process. Thoughts and memories of horrors upon atrocities began to well up threatening to spill into his consciousness before his MENTAL FORTITUDE snapped into place with a forcefulness well beyond anything Duke had experienced from it before to shield his mind from the vampires¡¯ intrusion. *** Congratulations! You have ranked MENTAL FORTITUDE up to Master 1. Through continued supernatural trauma, you have grown your mental defenses. Your mind is now a nigh unassailable fortress. Additionally, you now have a chance to reflect a portion of any mental attack back on the attacker. *** Duke hardened his gaze at the vampires, ¡°That definitely should count as an attack. Why the hell are you not being smited right now?¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t caused anyone harm, but if you do not come with us, every single one of these people will walk out the front gate of the city and just stand there, waiting for orders. I¡¯m sure you know what will happen then.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way you can get away with this.¡± ¡°The slaver did. The precedent has been set. Now come with us.¡± As the vampire spoke, the entire crowd started to move away from the platform. When Aculotus hopped down to join the crowd heading for the gate, Duke knew he had been beaten. His conscience could not bear that many being led to their death because of him. His PURPOSE flared in response, urging him to action. With white-hot rage burning in his heat, Duke told the vampires to stop. ¡°Fine. Let them go and I¡¯ll go with you to speak with the Twins. That¡¯s it. No more.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all we asked. Now that wasn¡¯t so hard, was it?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t push your luck. Now let them go.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± The sarcasm dripped off their tongues to form a puddle the size of Lake Erie on the ground, but they did release the crowd from their thrall. All around Duke, the crowd collectively stumbled as their minds were released and their desperate fight to not walk out the gate won out. The angry cries of foul that followed echoed throughout the city. None dared to act against the vampires, but they glared and protested to the powers that be. Duke hopped down from the platform and started to follow the vampires as they pushed their way through the crowd. Despite their ire, the crowd still parted before the vampires. On the Contest World might truly made right, and these vampires had shown the entire crowd their might. The crowd backed off, but Duke didn¡¯t notice. He was busy planning the vampires¡¯ death. Just get them outside the city for an instant and they are toast. Maybe literally. Sunlight, at least this system¡¯s sunlight doesn¡¯t seem to affect them, but I¡¯m sure I can find something that does. The vampires silently led Duke to an ostentatious palatial estate within the depths of the city. It was in a section of the city that Duke had not been to before. He guessed from the number of similarly gaudy estates that this was where the various Entities resided. Every estate¡¯s gate bore a different coat of arms but none of them struck Duke as familiar. The one the vampires led him to was blatantly obvious with its twin figures on it. The gate opened for them as they approached, and they continued their silent procession towards the mansion. The silence had become oppressive and gave the air of a prisoner being led to their execution. When they entered the mansion, the vampires paused at the door and gestured for Duke to enter. He begrudgingly did so and the doors closed behind him. A voice that Duke had never expected to hear again spoke up in greeting, ¡°Hello again, Duke. I do believe we have some unfinished business.¡± Duke whirled around to see who spoke up and a single word escaped his lips, ¡°Chopie.¡± Book 4, Chapter 17 ¡°Isn¡¯t it great when old friends come to call, like your friend Chopie here. You two go back a ways now, don¡¯t you?¡± Duke saw the robed figure that spoke with him as well as its twin companion. One wore a with robe, the other black. It was the dark-robed Entity who spoke. It continued, ¡°Oh, you thought that you were the only one we could bring back from death? That¡¯s rather myopic of you. And to think, we granted your friend here everything we granted you just so that you could become twins.¡± The white-robed Entity soke up, ¡°There¡¯s nothing quite like twins. Surely you know that.¡± Chopie joined in, ¡°So, Duke. You stole my kingdom. It¡¯s only fair that I take your spot here. Don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°This is pretty piss-poor for a joke. I¡¯m leaving now.¡± Duke didn¡¯t wait for a response and turned for the door, which, of course, was no longer there. Schooling his reaction, he activated TELEPORTATION and was shocked when there wasn¡¯t even a sense of resistance ¨C it just simply did not work. Stupid Entity fuckery. Some day I am going to be strong enough that they won¡¯t be able to fuck with me like this. ¡°Did you really think we would let you leave without finishing?¡± You haven¡¯t gotten any smarter, have you?¡± Duke turned back to them, anger boiling hotter. He was about to unleash a tirade when he was interrupted by a message that he was not able to ignore. It flashed into his vision and would not minimize or otherwise go away until he read it. *** Duke, do not lash out. That is what they are trying to provoke. If they actually do anything, I¡¯ll intervene, and they do not want that. Let them say what they have to say so we know their plans. They are shit at keeping their plans secret. Prepare for the monologue. Duologue? Whatever. Just let them ramble on. *** Duke noted the message from the Overmind and schooled his expression and returned to them with a smile, ¡°So, you created a mini-me out of this idiot? You didn¡¯t even grab his twin sister? What kind of weak attempt is this?¡± ¡°Sister? Twin sister? Did you even look for that?¡± The black robe lashed out at the white robe. ¡°White robe responded, ¡°I found the subject. What were you doing at the time? No, don¡¯t speak. I¡¯ll tell you exactly what you were doing ¨C nothing! You could have at least paid attention!¡± ¡°I found the first subject!¡± ¡°And look how well that worked out!¡± Duke looked over to Chopie to see the man completely bewildered and lost as his masters continued to argue. He decided to make things worse and spoke to the man, ¡°You know they are going to be at it for hours. Did anyone tell you what you were getting into with those two as your masters?¡± Chopie stared back at Duke, still incredulous. His grand plan for lording his new Abilities over the upstart crumbling around him by the second. Finally, words stumbled out of his mouth, growing in confidence as he spoke ¡°I¡­I have every Ability they gave you and I have been training them all up. I am your superior in all things! Surrender your ranking to me!¡± ¡°That¡¯s the best you got? Really? So, you Grandmastered everything already?¡± ¡°Grand¡­what?¡± ¡°You have all your, what, four Abilities up to Grandmaster already?¡± ¡°Four? I have all three at Adept, almost Master! I am beyond powerful! I can heal from anything and can go wherever I want whenever I want!¡± ¡°Oh, child. You are so far behind the curve. You know I hated you back on Teldin. You were a petty and cruel king, focused on your own power plays at the cost of your citizenry. But to see you now, see what they have made you ¨C I have to say that I pity you. You will always be chasing after me and falling further behind by the day if you don¡¯t stop and change who you are.¡± Chopie stared back at Duke, his mouth opening and closing like a fish as he tried to process what he had just said. Duke could see the man¡¯s brain trying to connect with Duke¡¯s words. ¡°But, we are enemies. You killed me!¡± ¡°And you sentenced me to death, at least twice. You enslaved your own citizens, sentenced them to unimaginably horrible deaths only to bring them back as undead. Who¡¯s the bad guy here?¡± As Duke spoke, he pushed his Psyche out, putting invisible pressure on Chopie. Meanwhile, he could still hear the twins continuing their heated argument. It did not sound like they were going to end their argument anytime soon.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°You see, Chopie. The twins are assholes. Cosmically powerful assholes, but assholes all the same. They didn¡¯t bring you back for you, they brought you back to use you as a tool against me. Don¡¯t let them use you like that.¡± Duke could see the combination of his Psyche and words were starting to have an effect, swaying Chopie. It didn¡¯t hurt that the man was so obviously confused as to who he was and what his purpose really was. Duke decided to go for the finishing blow. ¡°Come on, lets go out the door and get out of their influence. Make the choice to be free of them, if only for now.¡± Duke continued to push with his Psyche and felt his PURPOSE flare to add additional weight. Chopie finally folded under the pressure. He nodded to Duke and quietly made his way to the door, opening it easily. Duke did not wait to follow him out the door and quickly through the gate of the estate. ¡°OK, we are out of their estate, but they can still operate within the city, Chopie. Let me take you to a safe place outside the city where they can¡¯t follow.¡± Chopie nodded and Duke TELEPORTED them to the cavern where he had set up the Forge dungeon. He immediately started making a new Dungeon Core while Chopie looked around the cavern, attempting to get his bearings. Duke planted the Dungeon Core while Chopie had his back turned with a gentle toss behind a stalagmite. The dungeon was not complex and it formed in a matter of seconds, the entryway having all the trapping of a gilded place gate. Duke smiled as Chopie stared at it, still unsteady from the push of Duke¡¯s Psyche. ¡°Come on in. This is the safest place in the whole of this world.¡± Duke opened the palace door and stepped in with Chopie on his heels. ¡°This is wonderous. It reminds me so much of my own palace.¡± Chopie¡¯s expression changed with his words as he broke free of Duke¡¯s influence. Anger coated his words as he continued, ¡°The palace that you stole from me! The LIFE you stole from me. Now I¡¯m going to take your life once and for all!¡± Duke had already used DUNGEON ENGINEERING to move the exit to the other side of the maze of passages that made up the ¡°palace,¡± so his next move was almost academic in its simplicity. He TELEPORTED outside the dungeon, a feat only possible for someone with Mastery over TELEPORTATION and experience crossing interdimensional barriers. Something he was sure Chopie had never encountered in all his ¡°practice.¡± Finally, he collapsed the Dungeon Core back down and tossed it in his INVENTORY. Duke chuckled to himself and made his way back to the surface, TELEPORTING back to his place on the platform in the city. He found that the majority of the crowd had dissipated and dispersed. He shrugged and looked towards the crowd to see if there were any more who wanted to get out of the city for a chance to earn points. As he waited, he was amused by the fact that no one had disturbed the globe he had left behind. Guess nobody wanted a globe souvenir. By ones and twos, Contestants came up to Duke to find out if he was still offering safe passage out of the city. ¡°Of course I am still offering passage out. Same deal as always. 100,000 points or 20%.¡± It took less than five minutes for Duke to be mobbed again. The press of the crowd increased as the bottom ranks finally had hope of surviving the Contest. All they had to do was kill enough monsters in the wild to gather the thousand points. Two or three kills could be enough to earn the points. Duke just hoped there wasn¡¯t someone waiting for the hopefuls to arrive so they could be butchered. As he quickly worked through the crowd, he found it remarkable that these were all beings of at least Tier Five, and they were reduced to this desperate plight. Back on Teldin, they would have all been powerhouses, able to carve nations out for themselves. It made him wonder if Teldin as a whole was wildly underpowered. I wonder if it¡¯s a Mana density thing or if being on one of the outer arms of its galaxy has something to do with it. When the crowd started to part around a figure approaching him, Duke prepared himself for another unfriendly encounter. He watched as the overly large cloaked figure pushed its way past those impatiently waiting for a chance to make a deal with Duke. What was most odd was that every individual who was pushed out of the way left the area. Finally, the figure stood in front of Duke, it¡¯s head at eye-level for him due to the platform¡¯s height. Two scaled and clawed hands reached up and pulled the hood back over its head revealing itself. A draconian smile split its features as Mole offered Duke a tray of food. ¡°I thought you might be hungry from all this work, friend.¡± ¡°Thank you, Mole. I am hungry and this will hit the spot,¡± Duke acknowledged another customer before returning his attention to Mole. He distractedly accepted the customer¡¯s contract and sent them on their way. All the time, he remained focused on Mole. ¡°It is my pleasure. You are getting quite the reputation out here, Duke. The number three Contestant helping the bottom of the barrel to escape certain death. Do you have some sort of hero complex?¡± ¡°No, not really. Excuse me a moment. Yes? Contract accepted and off you go. Now where were we? Oh yes, not a hero complex. I simply saw a business opportunity and have taken it. Every one of these fine folks is willing to give me 20% of their Points earnings for the rest of the Contest. In order for them to survive, they will have to earn enough points to have 1,000 points after paying me my 20%. Since they have been trapped here, most have a few points at most. Even if they have 500 points already. They will need to earn another 625 to be left with 1,000. That gives me 125 points for that person. I figure I¡¯ll make at least 15,000 points, probably closer to 100,000, just sitting on my ass and waiting for the Final Phase to begin.¡± He stared at Duke for a moment before breaking out in laughter. ¡°You are one-of-a-kind, Duke. One of a kind.¡± ¡°Often imitated, never duplicated. I like to say.¡± ¡°Yes indeed.¡± Mole hopped up onto the platform next to Duke and kept him company while the crowd started to get more and more desperate as the day wore on. He heard nothing more from the Twins or their vampires. Book 4, Chapter 18 The clock in Duke¡¯s interface had clicked over to the final day some time ago. The hours until the Final Phase were ticking down, and he still didn¡¯t know what the Final Phase would entail. He just knew that in the entire time he was sitting on the platform he had not seen another being in the top 100 pass by. He did not know if that was because they were preparing, out garnering more points, or in some sort of staging area that he was missing out on. Having no information as to what he should expect was getting on his nerves. He had reached out to the Overmind through the messaging system. Repeatedly. All he ever got back was a cryptic message that he didn¡¯t need to worry about it. He was, of course, at least slightly worried about it. Sure, he had exceptional scouting reports for the rest of the top ten, that left ninety powerhouses that he had no information on other than the drip and drabs that were publicly available. On top of all that, his distraction had dried up. There was no more crowd waiting to be sent away but he did have one final distraction running ¨C his points steadily increasing. In total, he had sent more than 1,300 Contestants out into the world and they were all trying their best to accumulate points. As he watched, his point total ticked up by at least 10 or 15 points every second. He smiled as he watched it increase. Could I have gotten more points by heading out myself and killing everything I came upon? Sure. Would I possibly have had to reveal some more capabilities? Likely. I shouldn¡¯t be concerned. Right? Fuck it. I¡¯m going to go take a nap. Duke hopped down from the platform and headed to the grand Inn opposite it. This was the most ¡°expensive¡± Inn and cost a whopping 50,000 points a night. Duke paid the points without a second thought and headed up to his assigned room. The room turned out to be a suite that reminded Duke of a Vegas high-roller¡¯s suite. Or at least what they looked like in the movies. He had only been to Vegas once and he was nowhere near ever a high-roller. In a world that seemed to focus on a more sword and sorcery style of life, this room had much more of a ¡°modern¡± look to Duke. The polished marble flooring a buttery-soft leather furniture caught Duke¡¯s eye. Even the bar on the side of the living room caught Duke¡¯s attention. He headed over and looked through the drink offerings. He didn¡¯t recognize any of the labels or even the types of liquor listed, but his instincts told him they were all top-shelf. He lingered briefly, considering taking a drink but ultimately decided to head to bed. The bedroom was decorated in similar opulence with gold inlaid in the carvings on the dresser and the posts of the bed. Ignoring it all, he dove onto the bed to be caught in its embrace. The bed absorbed his impact easily, literally wrapping him up in a comforting embrace. Duke¡¯s adrenaline spiked as he realized that the bed was actively wrapping him up. IDENTIFY fired off instinctively. *** You have encountered Beddy 14, a tamed Mimic in the employ of the Everlasting Inn. Further details have been masked by an Entity. *** Tamed Mimic? What the fuck is that? Duke felt the bed settle down around him, releasing its grip to gently caress his body. He shuddered and flew out of the bed. ¡°Fuck that. I¡¯m sleeping on the couch.¡± The bed responded, ¡°Beddie sorry. You so tense. Beddie thought you needed massage.¡± ¡°Oh, hell no.¡± Duke made his way over to the couch but paused before even touched it and activated IDENTIFY. *** You have encountered Couchy 14, a tamed Mimic in the employ of the Everlasting Inn. Further details have been masked by an Entity. *** ¡°Nope. I¡¯m out.¡± Duke didn¡¯t hesitate to TELEPORT down to the hotel¡¯s lobby. He arrived right next to the check-in desk and tossed his room key at the clerk. The red-skinned demon cocked his head in confusion before asking, ¡°Is something wrong with your room sir?¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°I¡¯m not sleeping on a fucking monster. If I wanted to do that, I¡¯d have gone to the Inn a few streets away and hired the goddammed succubus for the night.¡± The clerk feigned outrage, ¡°Sir, I assure you that the mimics are all perfectly tamed and completely harmless. In fact, their shapeshifting Abilities have been honed to the point that they can satisfy you every need during your stay.¡± Without another word, Duke walked right out the door and back into the city which had become emptier than he had remembered even before heading into the Inn. The streets were nearly deserted, giving the city the feel of a ghost town. Duke activated his DUNGEON SENSE with enough of a span to cover the entire planet. What he saw was countless people and creatures far outside the city, desperately fighting for the last few points needed to survive the day¡¯s end. A quick check of the clock showed only twelve hours left. Duke shook his head and headed for the building where he had met with the Overmind previously. He wanted some answers but was sure that he was not going to get them just standing around. The same nondescript black brick building greeted him, and Duke headed for the door. It opened easily for him, allowing entry into the disturbing starfield. He entered the building, the door closing behind him and completing the starfield. ¡°Took you long enough.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been wandering around in the dark with little to no clue for hours. You even jumped onto a mimic of all things and paid handsomely for the experience. Clearly you are feeling all sorts of lost right now.¡± ¡°You could say that. My timer is ticking down, and I still have no idea what this Final Phase is supposed to look like. I¡¯m more than a little frustrated and, for some reason, my sponsor is ignoring me.¡± ¡°Not ignoring you, keeping up appearances.¡± ¡°What the fuck is that supposed to mean?¡± ¡°OK, Duke, take a seat and we¡¯ll talk.¡± He paused, until Duke angrily sat down. ¡°First off, this is the first time I have brought a Contestant to the Contest in at least three or four hundred million years. The last time, it was really just to test things out.¡± Duke stared back at the Overmind, nonplussed. The entity winked his orb in response and continued. ¡°You see, Duke, this world is unique in that it was constructed through the combined will of most of the elder Entities. It was made so that we have some way to compete with each other that doesn¡¯t wipe out vast swaths of habitable worlds. That is what the Contest is all about.¡± ¡°So, you are all fighting by proxy through your Contestants. They¡­we are your pawns.¡± ¡°For most Entities, that is the case. That is what the twins intended for you from the start. But for you, this is different.¡± ¡°So, you are saying that I¡¯m not your pawn?¡± ¡°Not like the others use their Contestants. They are looking for entertainment. I am looking for revenge.¡± ¡°What the hell are you looking for revenge for? Who could possibly hurt you?¡± The Overmind shifted into the avatar that it most commonly used when visiting Duke in the Inn. Pulling up a chair, it leaned closer to Duke conspirationally before speaking. ¡°Duke, they have been purging my dungeons from countless worlds. This has been happening for thousands of years and I am tired of it. I have lost billions of dungeons over this time. Do you have any idea how much has been taken away from me over this time? Billions, Duke. Billions of my creations and cores lost to their deprivations.¡± The Overmind interrupted Duke¡¯s response and continued, ¡°That is the sole reason I designed your Class. You are the first, and really the only one to ever hold it. So, I guess you could see it as me manipulating you. But I see it as more guiding you. I¡¯ve given you the tools and you have done what you will with them.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying that you made me what I am just for this Contest?¡± ¡°Yes, but more for what comes afterwards. When you win the Contest, they will not be able to stop us from repopulating the dungeons throughout the Cosmos.¡± ¡°You seem pretty sure that I¡¯m going to win the Contest.¡± ¡°Yes, I am certain of it.¡± ¡°Why? I¡¯ve seen the dossiers on the rest of the top ten. Kaelion Varis has the Ability to simply unmake his opponents, reducing them to goo. No one has ever been able to hurt Ragnar Volthorn. Thryxxion moves faster than the speed of light. How am I going to beat all of them? Don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯ll do everything I can to win, but these are powerhouses of the highest order.¡± You say you¡¯ll do everything to win?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Then they don¡¯t stand a chance.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t follow.¡± The Overmind grinned viciously, ¡°The Final Phase takes place in an area that I created.¡± ¡°An area that you created. Great, you can tell me all about the area so I can be completely prepared. Tell me about every nuance and trick to win there.¡± The Overmind grinned broader, ¡°Duke, check your countdown.¡± Duke looked at his countdown clock in annoyance. His eyes widened in shock as he saw that he was down to one minute. He looked at the Overmind in confusion. Still grinning, the Overmind spoke, ¡°Time manipulation is very simply for an Entity of my caliber. Even the Twins can do some, but not to this level. But that is not what you should focus on. What does it mean when I say that I built the area for the Final Phase?¡± Duke looked up in confusion before the realization dawned on him. ¡°The Final Phase takes place in a dungeon!¡± Duke only caught the start of the Overmind¡¯s cackling as he was transported out of the room for the start of the Final Phase of the Contest. Book 4, Chapter 19 Duke appeared with the other 99 top-tier Contestants in what appeared to be an ancient underground city. They were in a central square dominated by a fountain with statues of all manners of creatures that the water flowed from, cascading from one to another until it finally came to rest in a hundred-meter wide pool. The statues depicted winners of the last thousand Contests. Along the edges of the massive cavern were buildings carved into the very walls of stone. There were roads leading outwards from the central fountain like spokes of a wheel. Duke counted thirty-six spokes that were all equidistantly placed. The rest of the city appeared to have been carved in place as the area was hollowed out. Each and every building was made of seamless stone, painstakingly polished, and carved with wildly differing styles. Duke examined his surroundings carefully, ignoring the Contestants surrounding him ¨C there would be plenty of time for dealing with them later. Instead, he sought to understand the dungeon they clearly were in. His DUNGEON SENSE expanded outwards, taking in the entire dungeon, and quickly recognizing that it was incredibly detailed and vast. The exposed and accessible dungeon area covered a volume that he guessed would be similar to the inside of a small planet. His senses brought volumes of information to him that he was only able to catalog and barely brush over before a figure descended from the tallest tower of the city carved around them. It was a winged figure clad in sturdy white cloth that glowed with power. As it descended, its feathered wings gently flapped, controlling its descent. The crowd of Contestants stepped back from the center as the creature came to rest in the air above them. When it spoke, the voice resonated with power and authority, ¡°Welcome, Elite Contestants. I am Zyphor the Arbiter. It is my voice and my judgement that will dictate this, the Final Phase of the Contest. Make no mistake. You would not have made it this far without being powerful beyond your Tiers, but in this realm, even Entities must bow to my authority, and you shall do the same.¡± He paused to wait for their reactions. ¡°Good, none of you are stupid enough to expect yourselves, or even your masters, to be on top of the food chain, at least not in my realm. The rest of the Contest shall take place here, in my realm. There will be a series of tests, events, and challenges until we get down to one ultimate winner. As with the initial period, this is not necessarily a game of death, but it is likely that many of you will die along the way. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Conserve your resources or spend them as you see fit but know this: There will be no opportunity to resupply. There are no merchants here selling consumables, replacement weapons, or armor. There may be some of these items provided for achieving certain goals, but do not expect them. Any questions before we get started?¡± ¡°Is there any area where we are not allowed to fight, to hunt, to kill?¡± ¡°Any area is fair game for combat, but if you interrupt me, there will be consequences for you. Now that all that is out of the way, I shall explain the first competition to you all.¡± Duke looked around the group, allowing his XENOGLOSSIA to read the attitudes around him. It was easy to pick out the two-dozen or so who were just waiting for Zyphor to be done so they could start trying to kill each other. He marked each of them in his mind, carefully placing himself so that none were directly at his back. He returned his attention to the dungeon avatar. ¡°This first competition will eliminate half of you.¡± He paused as the angry disruption propagated through the crowd. After a second, he held up his hand and continued, ¡°Do not interrupt me again.¡± His power flared into a suppressive field unlike any that Duke had ever experienced in the past. This suppression was a full six ranks, causing any Ability below Grandmaster to simply cease working. Duke chuckled inwardly as he felt the uniqueness of his Class effortlessly shrug off the suppression. Seconds later, Zyphor, lifted the suppression field and the crowd of Contestants visibly relaxed. ¡°As I was saying, half of you will be eliminated in this first competition. NONE of you need perish, but with individuals such as yourselves, it is a likely outcome. You will be divided into two groups of fifty. One group will win, one group will lose.¡± He paused as the information rippled through the crowd. Membranes rippled, hands tightened on weapons, and tentacles flexed. Zyphor continued, ¡°I will now separate you by ranking. Odd numbered ranks will compete against even numbered ranks.¡± With a dramatic flash of light, Duke felt himself moved to a new location. It was a chamber decorated like the lobby of a fancy hotel with finely crafted chairs and couches set up in small groupings for gatherings of friends or colleagues. A hexagonal glass chamber dominated the center of the room and, judging by the suspended walkways radiating from points above it, Duke surmised that it was an elevator of some kind. Zyphor appeared in the room, hovering over the elevator. ¡°Good, none of you were stupid enough to start killing each other just yet. When I start the competition, you all will be tasked with a singular goal.¡± He held up two ornately decorated flags that were attached to two-meter flagpoles. ¡°Your team¡¯s flag is red-themed while your opponent¡¯s flag is blue-themed.¡± He held up each flag as he mentioned them. ¡°Do any of you not possess the sensory organs to discern between these two flags?¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. This pause was a bit longer as he searched the crowd for any reaction. ¡°Good. I am going to hide both flags in the competition area. Your goal is to get your opponent¡¯s flag and bring it back here while preventing your opponent from capturing your flag and bringing it back to their base of operations. Neither team is permitted to enter the opposing team¡¯s base of operations or attack anyone within the base. And since combat is prohibited in the operations bases, you may not bring your own flag into your base of operations. Any questions?¡± ¡°No? good. Prepare yourselves as you have ten minutes to establish a plan before this competition begins. Win and you stay in the Contest. Lose and you are eliminated.¡± That said, he vanished from the room. Immediately the room descended into a cacophony of voices as everyone had their own plan and few were in agreement. Duke stayed out of the conversation, instead focusing on his DUNGEON SENSE, pushing it to fill the competition area so he would know the instant that the flags were placed. Around him, the arguments continued. Kaelion Varis eventually took control of the group, using the strength of his intimidating presence to cow others into listening. ¡°Now that you all have had time to babble, here is what we are going to do. We will split our forces into four teams. One will focus on slowing or stopping our competition. One will be scouting the area to locate the flags. The remaining two teams will focus on obtaining the two flags and defending them until we can get their flag back here. I know most of you by reputation if not in person.¡± Duke was able to read the room with his XENOGLOSSIA Ability and could see that there were few that agreed with Kaelion Varis in this approach but fewer still that had any intention of countering the black-maned leonid. He continued by assigning individuals to teams. Duke barely noticed when he was assigned to the enemy¡¯s flag retrieval team. ¡°One last thing. Kreen, here is going to link us together in her communication network so we will all know what is happening out there. Anyone have anything to add?¡± Zyphor appeared at that moment smiling, ¡°I do. The flags have been placed and the countdown to this round is nearly complete. You should all see it on your screens. No one may leave this chamber until the counter expires. Good luck. I say that to be polite. I could care less who wins or loses. I just have a role to fill.¡± Duke had pinpointed the location of both flags the instant they were planted. To his DUNGEON SENSE they glowed, highlighting themselves against the background. Zyphor said that we weren¡¯t allowed to leave the chamber before the countdown finishes. He didn¡¯t say anything about bringing something into the chamber. Let¡¯s see how this goes. Duke flexed his TELEPORTATION to bring the enemy flag right into his INVENTORY. He was prepared to OVERCHANNEL the Ability if there was significant resistance. Instead, the flag rested in his INVENTORY effortlessly and he chuckled inwardly. Easiest competition ever. With another thought, he activated his DUNGEON ENGINEERING, and buried his team¡¯s flag under ten meters of dungeon stone. He joined the rest of the team in watching his countdown. When the countdown hit zero, everyone sprung into action. The scout group rushed out of the chamber, spreading out down various passages in search of the two flags. The interdiction team likewise raced out but kept together with Varis in the lead. Duke easily read the hunger in the leonid¡¯s gaze. He was hunting and that was clearly what he was most interested in doing. The final two groups waited for word that either flag had been located, tension rippling through their bodies. Except Duke. He found a comfortable couch and stretched out, his back on the armrest, one leg extended and one foot of the floor. He pulled out an item from his INVENTORY that he had not used nearly enough in his opinion. Using his DUNGEON ENGINEERING, he created a lowball glass and retrieved his Bottle of Eternal Whiskey to pour himself a glass. As it had been when he first sampled it, the whiskey was wonderfully smooth and he relished the taste even if the alcohol no longer had any effect on him. ¡°How can you relax when we will be called into action at any moment?¡± A green-skinned Contestant that Duke did not really have any information on nearly shouted at him. The creature looked largely amphibian with large eyes set on either side of its head, slightly forward of center. ¡°Because we are going to win this competition, and we are not even going to need to leave this chamber to do so.¡± ¡°How can you be so confident?¡± ¡°I have already seen it,¡± Duke smiled back at his accuser. With a gesture, another glass was formed and he poured a glass, offering it to the green-skinned creature who took it with a frown which highlighted its sharp needle-like teeth. It studied the drink, trying to decide whether to drink it or not. ¡°It¡¯s whiskey.¡± Duke clinked his glass against the other and downed his drink, enjoying the warmth as it slid down his throat and into his stomach. He poured himself another drink as the creature tossed the drink into the back of its own throat with a wide-open mouth. Apparently, it was difficult to do so without its teeth interfering with the act of drinking. The coughing and sputtering that followed surprised Duke almost as much as it did the creature. It dropped the glass, spraying shattered glass along the polished marble floor. The reaction from the others in the lobby was interestingly mixed. Some rushed over to help while most ignored the incident. Duke, himself, had stood up to help the creature who waved everyone off in embarrassment. ¡°Sorry about that. It¡¯s just whiskey, shouldn¡¯t hurt anyone at our level.¡± Finally, the creature got its coughing under control. ¡°Nothing to do with the drink. It¡¯s just too dry here for my taste. I didn¡¯t realize just how dry I have gotten.¡± The crowd who had come to its aid didn¡¯t exactly disperse but they stepped back. Duke had subtly cleaned up the broken glass and had put a dozen glasses of whiskey on the coffee table before him. He smiled to the group, ¡°Anyone for some whiskey? We are going to be waiting for a while.¡± Book 4, Chapter 20 The first fifteen minutes of the challenge were a frantic rush as no one knew where the flags were. Their interdiction team had taken up position blocking the entrance to the competition¡¯s base while a group from the opposing team had done the same to their own base. Neither side had claimed to locate a flag but the area to cover was significant and the search pressed on. The greatest concern on Duke¡¯s team was the speedster, Thryxxion on the other team wo everyone was convinced had scouted the entire area already. The fact that he hadn¡¯t run back into their base or at least run into the speed trap that was set up at the entrance to their base confused everyone. Varis was convinced that Thryxxion would be the first to find a flag and had based their strategy on intercepting him. Right now, it appeared that the strategy was either failing or something unplanned for was occurring. The uncertainty was driving them to desperate action. On the blue team, things were equally intense. Their speedster had come up empty-handed which threw their entire strategy into shambles. Their team had left the base confident that they would have one, if not both flags before the red team could get halfway to one. They had scouted the entire area quickly with Thryxxion¡¯s speed and came up with nothing. The insectoid Contestant was on his third run of the entire area and completely frustrated. Frustration bred mistakes and that was what Duke was hoping for. He continued to relax in his base, knowing the outcome was already set. His DUNGEON SENSE was locked in on the area, watching every movement. It was difficult to track the speedster directly, but he was able to tell that Thryxxion was as panicked as the rest of both teams. Duke smiled as he saw the exact moment things went from competitive to violent. It was exactly what he was waiting for. Thryxxion had been pushing himself for an hour at his extreme speeds. He was drained, his reserves faltering. With dread in his fluttering heart, he made the move to return to his base and refuel himself. He needed rest and food as he suspected that this would be a longer competition than any of them had planned. He made one final sprint for his base. When he approached, he saw the red team waiting for him and contemptuously increased his speed to his maximum. When travelling so fast, Thryxxion was able to see details that others missed which is what told him that he had made a grievous error. His third step through his foes was greeted with the springing of a temporal trap. The trap was designed to alter the flow of time for its victim, slowing them down relative to the rest of the world by an enormous factor. For most everyone, it all but froze them in place. For him, it slowed him down to the speed of a very fast Tier Seven fighter, which was easily within the capacity of anyone left in the Contest to handle. As the first attacks formed, he pushed his speed faster than he ever had before, tapping into his soul reserve to push beyond his previous limits. He dodged attack after attack as his speed increased. Every step pushed his Master-ranked speed boost further, calling on reserves that he had never dared tap into before. Thryxxion twisted past a scything blade aimed at his thorax, his speed increasing exponentially as his soul reserves were poured into his Ability. Finally, an eternity later, his Ability pushed past the threshold, and he sprinted past the last of the red team and into the blue base of operations. As he passed through the doorway, the temporal field fell away in an instant and he tried to stop. He did manage to slow himself down significantly, but not anywhere near enough. He burst into his team lobby at a speed greater than he knew was safe but the instantaneous loss of resistance against his newly pushed limits was jarring. He managed to slow himself down to a hundredth of his normal speed before he impacted the far wall of the lobby. That was still, however, a significant percentage of the speed of light. Instantly, every contingent protective Spell and magitech barrier he had layered on over the years triggered, doing their utmost to mitigate the impact. Every contingency he had imagined was focused on one thing and one thing only ¨C his own survival. Immense magics redirected the kinetic energy away from him, virtually negating the effects of the impact on himself and directing it all away from him. There were two more factors in play here. One, the wall of the room was the absolutely immutable substance of the dungeon, made so by the controlling will of the pocket dimension of the dungeon itself. As such it reflected the entirety of the energy of the impact back into the room. The second factor was the nature of the room itself. The dungeon had made the room a no-violence area and as such the devastating effects of the impact were shunted out of the room ¨C through the entryway. The temporal net covering the entrance to the lobby had begun to fail when Thryxxion had penetrated it. The field generator overloaded which sent wild fluctuations in the field itself. Some areas in the field held slowed time, while others had time accelerated significantly. When the force, heat, and radiation of the blast equivalent to an atomic bomb going off and being channeled into an immutable passage the size of a hallway struck the fluctuating field, it was amplified further in this localized area.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. The team of eleven who had been sent to guard the lobby entrance had been confident that their trap would work and were still reaching for the now absent speedster when the blast tore through them. Jets of superheated atoms twisted and warped as they met with the distorted time fields. The ultimate effect was as if atom-thick blades of force scythed through the team. Any normal person subjected to this devastation would have been annihilated instantly. These Contestants were made of far sterner stuff, however. They were merely cut into chunks. Contingent healing and lifesaving Spells and Abilities triggered as the blast wave passed through and onwards down the hall, expanding, and reducing in intensity as it hit countless side passages. When it was all done, seven of the eleven Contestants managed to survive by expending every healing and lifesaving trick they had saved up. They were still battered and most still carried wounds that had yet to heal. And then their luck turned for the worse. Eight Contestants who had been held in reserve and have been penned-in by the red team burst through the doorway and attacked with everything they had. The red team Contestants were only outnumbered by one and might have been able to match the blue team¡¯s reserve if not for their sorry state. The fight was over quickly with surprise and the freshness of their wounds placing the red team at too much of a disadvantage. When the first of their number went down after having been double-teamed, it quickly devolved into a rush of collapsing dominoes. Still, three of the blue team had died in the fighting. Duke observed all of this with disinterest through his DUNGEON SENSE. It was all falling within his expectation and plan. He suppressed a grin as the last remnants of the blast puffed against the entrance going unnoticed by most in the room. Conversations started up tension mounted. ¡°Someone should have found one of the flags by now, and here we sit, doing nothing. This doesn¡¯t sit right with me. I didn¡¯t join this Contest to have my victory or defeat determined by someone else. I¡¯m going out there to seize my destiny!¡± Others responded in kind, voicing their support for going out and finding the flag on their own. Duke considered sitting back and watching but decided this would be a great way to reveal he had found the flag without having to reveal it in the lobby. Seconds later, the red reserve group had left and was scouring the area just like everyone else. Conflicts continued as the two teams¡¯ frustrations boiled over. Each saw the other team as the enemy in more than just assignment. As word of the deaths near the blue base spread, tensions continued to rise. Every time opposing members met, fighting broke out. Duke¡¯s group was no exception. After nearly a dozen inconclusive fights, Duke decided it was time to thin the herd so to speak. He knew that everyone involved was a powerhouse but he also knew that when powerhouses fought like this, there was opportunity. It came when his team that now consisted of six of them ran into a group of eight blues. In this group, Duke recognized Ragnar Volthorn, the Contestant that was ranked just underneath him at 4th before the finals. He immediately reviewed what he knew about the creature that seemed to be made of glowing green energy. Ragnar was known to have a venomous touch, his energy invading the bodies of his opponents and breaking down their internal organs like acid. He was also known for being immune to virtually every attack that has been tried. This was one of the opponents that Duke had been most concerned with when speaking with the Overmind. Still, he engaged just like his fellow teammates. As fate would have it, Duke was not the first one that Volthorn went after, leaving Duke free to deal with others. Since they were outnumbered, he would up facing off against a pair of thin grey creatures that reminded him of Greslarnier. As he quickly discovered, they shared their penchant for mental powers. The pair combined their mental might in an attack on Duke¡¯s mind. The assault would have been crippling, injecting despair and hopelessness overlaid with paralysis directly into his mind. Voices full of authority were simulated to well up from the depths of his personality to lull him into inactivity and helplessness. The combined assault was particularly powerful with their minds¡¯ powers intertwining and pushing their way into their victim¡¯s mind. Duke looked at the pair and slowly stepped backwards from them, his hands held up in front of him, his eyes unfocused. Each step took him further away from the group and the pair pursued him relentlessly. They matched him step-for-step as he backed down the hall playing terrified and overwhelmed. All the while, Duke could hear the sounds of the fighting getting worse and worse. From his DUNGEON SIGHT, his side was on the losing end and it was getting bloody. More than one life-saving measure had been triggered. None seemed to have an answer for Volthorn. Finally, Duke was far enough away that he felt he could slip away and not be missed from the rest of the fight. He struck. Two heavily OVERCHANNELED IMPLOSIONS, each directed at their heads activated. The whole time he had been backpedaling, he had also been studying them with his various senses. They were so focuses on pounding through his MENTAL FORTITUDE and Psyche that they did not notice his probing. What he had found was that they each had a secondary brain deep within their skulls that seemed to be the source of their Ability. It was these secondary brains that were the target of the IMPLOSIONS. In seconds, the Ability reduced the pair to naught but compressed flesh. Their screams of anguish echoed through Duke¡¯s mind. His hands clutched to his head, he crumpled as the echoes gained strength, pounding at his mental defenses before suddenly being absorbed by his subconscious. Once again, the pressure in his mind increased. He retreated back to the base to recover. Book 4, Chapter 21 Duke sat back in the base alone and in pain. The anguish and horrors roiling in his subconscious had been filled to the limit by the Entity known as The Eye of Infinity and since then, he had only added more. The final screams of terror from the pair of psychic beings had torn through his mind before being absorbed into his overloaded subconscious. And now, it all threatened to break loose and consume him. Consciously forcing himself to stay calm, Duke poured himself a drink and reviewed his notifications, hoping that there would be something that could help him in his current plight. *** Congratulations, you have killed two more Contestants. Both were Tier Eight and over level 300. You receive 708,500 (779,250) experience bringing you to level 99. You now have 168 Characteristic Points to spend. You have indirectly caused the deaths of 36 other Contestants so far and receive a reduced amount of experience for their deaths. Even at one tenth of the experience earned for killing them, you receive 879,900 (967,890) additional experience. You are now level 110 and have 476 Characteristic Points to spend. Your Abilities have seen growth as of late. Your DUNGEON ENGINEERING has increased to Master 52 Your OVERCHANNEL has increased to Master 34 Your MENTAL FORTITUDE has increased to Adept 159 Your UMBRAL REAPER has increased to Master 21 Your SIMULCASTING has increased to Adept 21 Your CLEANSE has increased to Adept 16 Your RESTORE has increased to Master 267 Your SENSE MAGIC has increased to Initiate 37 Your CLAIRVOYANCE has increased to Practiced 10 Your DUNGEON SENSE has increased to Master 221 Your IMPLOSION has increased to Practiced 63 *** Duke poured over his increases but became increasingly puzzled at the increase in UMBRAL REAPER. He knew for sure that he had not used the Ability at all and yet, it had increased. This caused him to search through the countless messages that had been shunted to run in the background, the activity logs so to speak. It was there he found a disturbing series of messages: *** Your UMBRAL REAPER containment has reached its limit for current rank and level. Additional psychic trauma will spill over into your own consciousness. You have absorbed psychic trauma beyond the ability of your UMBRAL REAPER to contain. MENTAL FORTITUDE has been engaged to resist additional psychic trauma. MENTAL FORTITUDE has reached the maximum level for this rank but cannot rank up as it is in constant use. Relieve the psychic pressure to allow the Ability to rank-up. *** Great, so the Ability I¡¯m supposed to hold until the end is ready to burst and is leaking psychic trauma into my mind and the Ability that fights psychic trauma is stuck until the psychic trauma is stopped. What the fuck am I supposed to do with all that? And how long should I let them fight it out while I sit in here and wait to spring the ¡°I had the flag all along¡± surprise. They¡¯re going to be pissed at me for sure. The chaos has already killed a third of the remaining contestants. I don¡¯t know if that was what was intended but it is sure making my odds better. Placing his free Characteristic Points into Psyche brought his raw score above 11,000 with an effective value over 120,000. It relieved the pressure in his mind slightly, enough that his thoughts flowed more clearly and he didn¡¯t feel completely distracted. Duke continued to sip his whiskey, keeping an eye on what was going on outside the lobby with his DUNGEON SENSE. With the exception of Kaelion Varis, his red team was losing and badly. The blue team had consolidated their remaining members into a single group and were hunting down any red members they could find. The red team was far less of a team at this point.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Seeing the situation, Duke pushed the red flag deeper and deeper under the rock. It was more than a kilometer down before he felt comfortable that it would not be found. His strategy had shifted a bit from what it had started out as. Now, he was trying to eliminate as many competitors as possible. The one concern he had was that Varis appeared to be unstoppable, killing opponents quickly with his Ability. He was a particular focus of Duke¡¯s study. He used every sensory Ability he possessed to try and understand the Ability and find some way to counter it but as of yet, he had made no progress. Varis¡¯ opponents just seemed to cease to exist. There was no indication of how he was doing it or even the type of Ability it was. The more Duke studied him, the more worried he was becoming. He had no expectation to survive the Ability and as time passed, more and more blues fell to him. It was becoming critical. The only thing Duke had discovered from his observations was that it took a full second for the Ability to take effect. He wasn¡¯t sure how that would help him, but it was something. A lot could happen in a second at the speed fights took place at this level. Varis fought completely defensively, keeping opponents from reaching him with their Abilities while he waited for his own Ability to take them out. It was highly effective but gave Duke an idea. As was often the case, his thoughts were interrupted when Kreen stumbled into the lobby, collapsing on the floor before the door. An orange substance that Duke took for the insectoid¡¯s blood welled from dozens of deep gashes in its exoskeleton. It looked up at Duke, desperation flowing from its entire frame. Duke put his drink down and walked over to the dying creature. As he approached, he felt the communications network that he had been ignoring start to flicker. He withdrew one of the strongest healing potions he had left from Baslin¡¯s alchemy experiments from his INVENTORY. As he extended it towards the insectoid, he said very simply, ¡°I am going to win this Contest. By accepting my help here, you know that you are going to have to withdraw. Understood?¡± The understanding was clear in its eyes as it accepted the potion and downed it immediately. The potion quickly stopped the bleeding, closing the rips and tears in its exoskeleton. Seconds later, the communication network was back in place, relaying the panicked calls for help as the remaining members of the red team called for help and support. There was no one left to support them out in the area but Varis who had long ago decided to stay on his own ¨C there could be only one winner in the end, and it would be him. Kreen rose to its full height which was taller than Duke by a good half-meter and strode up to him, resignation and regret fully on display as trails of red energy flowed in waves through the joints of its exoskeleton. ¡°Thank you for aiding me. You could have left me to die, but you chose to preserve this one. The hive shall be in your debt should I be able to return to my people. This Contest has not been what was promised. The Queen of All has been deceived and that spells terrible things for the Cosmos. She will call the people to war over this.¡± ¡°That sounds serious. How many ¡®people¡¯ are there?¡± ¡°Even I do not know the count, but we populate thousands of worlds with at least trillions of the people on each. Should we go to war, entire galaxies could be swept clear of life.¡± ¡°You seem concerned about this?¡± ¡°The loss of so many of the people from the True Cycle will disrupt our growth for uncountable centuries. Entire colonies will be lost, and our genetic makeup will become even more singular. And the survivors of the war will all turn on us in time. We will be unable to trade for the things we need to sustain our hives. It will ultimately lead to our decline and possible failure as a race.¡± ¡°You sure all that will happen?¡± ¡°Sure? No. But it is the most likely outcome. However powerful we are in number, there will always be forces more powerful. It is the Law of the Cosmos. But, if I live to speak against this war, then perhaps, my voice can temper things with the elders, the True Queens and there will be hope for us yet. I don¡¯t know, but that is my hope.¡± ¡°I have seen plenty of wars in my days and none of them have ended well regardless of who wins. I am hopeful that you can prevent the war that you see coming.¡± ¡°Is that why you stay here and are not out there fighting the others? Fear of the fighting, the wars?¡± Duke laughed. ¡°Fear of fighting? No, that¡¯s not it at all. Let me ask you this, is it smarter to have your enemies kill each other than to have to fight them yourself?¡± Kreen looked at Duke with surprise, ¡°Are you controlling all this?¡± ¡°Not exactly. But I am taking advantage of the situation out there. They will continue to kill each other while I stay here, safe from them.¡± ¡°But what about the flags? Aren¡¯t you concerned that they will recover a flag and we will lose be default?¡± ¡°Were there ever really any flags? By now, every minute detail of the area out there has been searched and nothing has been found.¡± ¡°That is true, but who else will believe that?¡± ¡°Does it matter? At the rate things are going, Varis is going to be the only one to walk out of there.¡± ¡°And how are you going to deal with him?¡± ¡°That piece I haven¡¯t figure out just yet. Maybe I¡¯ll convince him to give up?¡± That got Kreen to shudder violently and rapidly. Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA told him that it was laughter. ¡°I do not think you will succeed at that.¡± ¡°Perhaps not. But I will find a way to win regardless. It¡¯s what I do.¡± While the conversation had continued, the remaining Contestants had continued to dwindle. There were now only three red team members left out in the area and a dozen blue team members were hunting them down as a group. Duke had created a side cavern the size of his hangar that was connected to the area but closed off. The cavern was nearly completely filled with dungeon monsters of every size and shape that this dungeon had available which included boss monsters. He released them all into the area. As Kreen continued the conversation, Duke held up a hand and cocked his head to the side, ¡°Did you hear that?¡± ¡°Hear what? My senses picked up nothing but the distant sounds of fighting. ¡°I heard the sound of something shifting out in the dungeon. I believe a new phase of this competition has begun.¡± Book 4, Chapter 22 Dungeon monsters, enraged by being piled on top of each other, poured out into the competition area, hungry for blood. Duke continued to create more and more in the cavern, pushing his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability to the limits of its Master rank. The monsters flooded into the area in successive waves, bunching on top of each other and becoming a roiling mass of angry death. None of the monsters were less than Tier six as the dungeon itself had not been designed to include anything less than that. Duke could have created lesser monsters using his Ability, but that would have defeated his purpose. He casually watched Kreen¡¯s reaction when the first wave of monsters swarmed into the few remaining members of the red team. The communication network lit up with cries of alarm and panic as the remaining members were quickly overrun and fighting for their lives yet again. Fighting other Contestants had been difficult and an exercise in beating the odds as the remining three red team members had managed to survive being so heavily outnumbered but this was different. They weren¡¯t outnumbered three or four to one, it was thousands to one and their path to retreat had disappeared just as quickly as the wave of monsters swept them up and flowed past them to completely surround the Contestants. The blue team¡¯s remaining ten members were just as overmatched by the dungeon monsters. Boss monsters are meant to be fought one at a time and are typically overpowered for their tier and level. When they were attacked by hundreds of boss monsters simultaneously with thousands waiting impatiently to join in, it was too much. Even organizing themselves into a defensive formation was just a delay of the inevitable. All the remaining Contestants were elite fighters but even that came with limits. Hundreds of boss monsters died before the first Contestant fell, but with the death of Zyvara Xyneth, one of the anchor-points of the defensive line crumbled, putting more pressure on the rest of the group. Every consumable they had was used to hold off the press of monsters, but it was not enough. Soon, only Ragnar Volthorn remained of the blue team. Ragnar was considered to be nigh invulnerable and proved it as he weathered blow after blow without effect. Claws sought his eyes, fangs struck at his joints, great beams of energy bathed his body in destructive energies, but still he stood firm, fighting off monster after monster as the wave continued to surge around him. He raged at the loss of his teammates even if they had only been working together for a short while, he had grown to actually like a few of them. He poured that rage out into the face of the horde, killing dungeon monsters by the dozen with his devastating attacks. Still, he was not indefatigable. As the swarming monsters continued to attack, his exhaustion rose. The Mana that maintained his INVULNERABILITY started to run low and he only had so many Mana potions. Who would have expected that a thousand Mana potions would not be enough? With every monster he killed, he took a step forward, trudging his way through the deadly swarm, hoping to find the end of it. Unfortunately for him, the end of his Mana potions, and ultimately, his Mana reserves, came before he was able to find the edge of the swarm. He died cursing but fighting to the very end. It took hours of constant fighting but only one fighter remained ¨C Kaelion Varis. Varis had surrounded himself with a field of his destructive energy. Anything that touched it was annihilated. The press of dungeon monsters continually flowed into it to be killed instantly. He was gaining experience at an unheard-of rate and had already pushed into Tier Nine by the time the monster wave had killed the rest of the Contestants. The experience he was receiving had slowed as he progressed through the levels of the Tier to a crawl as he outleveled each monster coming at him. Downing yet another Mana potion, Varis held firm, straining to keep his field intact around him. This was the most taxing use of his Ability, but he knew it was the only way he was going to survive this impossible wave of monsters. It had to have an end; he was sure of it. He just had to hold on long enough to survive this madness. And then he was going to kill whoever had done this. His Entity, the Master of Endings had assured him that he would emerge as the sole victor of this Contest. He had left his worlds unprotected to come here, his family, his heritage all hung in the balance. He would not fail! Duke, for his part, split his attention between creating more and more dungeon monsters and speaking with Kreen. The insectoid was in full-blown panic mode as it stopped receiving communication from the rest of the team. It could tell that Varis was still on the network, but all communication had ceased. ¡°What is going on out there?¡± Kreen asked. ¡°They are dying. I don¡¯t think even Varis can survive this.¡± ¡°We must help the hive¡­¡± ¡°Oh, feel free to step out there. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do better than all the dead Contestants out there.¡± Kreen glared at Duke but did not move from its seat. It paused, an idea coming to its mind, ¡°You got me to agree to withdraw from the Contest and now there will only be you and Varis left. Did you do this?¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°What an interesting question. Do you really think it is possible for me to summon thousands of dungeon monsters out of the blue? That seems a bit far-fetched, doesn¡¯t. My question for you is this, though. Are you truly going to withdraw? Even if Varis falls and it is just the two of us left?¡± ¡°Unlike so many other races, we are bound by our word. Once given, it is absolute. I would have already withdrawn if it was possible. I will cede victory to you whenever it becomes possible to do so.¡± Duke had been watching Varis closely with his CLAIRVOYANCE. The press of dungeon monsters had not let up and the top Contestant was beginning to falter, beginning to lose control of his annihilation field. Twice now, it had flickered, allowing an attack to reach him. His wounds were slowly healing but he was starting to sag. Only a matter of time before he runs out of juice and they finish him. I had better get full credit for these kills. ¡°Then I will graciously accept your withdrawal from the Contest as soon as you are able to do so.¡± ¡°I do have questions for you, Duke. You came to the Contest so late that no one had time to figure out who you are and where you came from. How did you rise so quickly?¡± ¡°I came from a world on the edge of the Cosmos, a nothing place. As to how I rose so quickly? I¡¯m lucky, I guess. Some people made some ill-advised moves and challenged me. They lost and my point total rose. The most blatant was Vexxorr. They grew way too arrogant in their easy success sitting outside the city gate and collecting points from the hapless creatures that tried to get past them. I just happened to have the perfect counter to them.¡± ¡°How did you know how to counter them? So many tried and so many died as a result.¡± ¡°I bought my information from an exceptional source. Something everyone here should have done.¡± As they spoke, Varis¡¯ field flickered off for a full second, allowing dozens of attacks to land. His field flickered back on briefly before the grievous wounds he had taken caught up with him. Seconds later, his field expired for good and the communications network was down to two. Kreen ended the contact and looked over to Duke, ¡°I guess it is just us then, unless there is a blue team member still alive out there.¡± Duke shrugged and TELEPORTED the blue flag from his INVENTORY to the ceiling above his head. The flag fell down where he was easily able to catch it. The look in Kreen¡¯s multifaceted eyes spoke volumes. It was unsure of the situation, whether Duke had caused the flag to appear or if it was somehow Zyphor the Arbiter¡¯s doing. He did not have time to question Duke as Zyphor appeared in the lobby with the two of them. The winged host spoke with radiating pride, ¡°Congratulations red team. You have won this competition.¡± There was a pause while a look of confusion passed over his features before he continued, ¡°There seems to only be two of you left in this Contest. That makes the next few rounds nearly impossible to run.¡± ¡°If I may,¡± Kreen interrupted Zyphor. He received a nod in response. ¡°I am ceding victory to Duke here, as I vowed to do.¡± ¡°Are you certain?¡± ¡°My vow is sacrosanct. I will not change my decision.¡± ¡°Very well, this Contest is officially over. Our winner is Duke, sponsored by the Overmind. Our runner-up is Kreen, sponsored by the Queen of All. As no other of the top one hundred survived to this point, the remaining prizes are forfeit. Prepare for transit to the Sanctuary City arena where the official awards ceremony will be held.¡± Kreen looked over to Duke, questions burning in his eyes but unwilling to ask them. Duke did not answer the unasked questions but instead spent his time before transit going through notifications. *** Congratulations, you have killed sixteen more Contestants. You receive 6,134,750 (6,478,225) experience. You are now level 160 and have 1,400 Character Points to spend. *** Duke paused his notifications to allocate his points to Psyche. Immediately, the pressure in his mind retreated to the point it was barely noticeable. He released a pent-up breath and went back to his notifications with a smile on his face. As he did so, he felt something shift in his subconscious. He wasn¡¯t sure what it was but he felt better than he had for some time. *** You have increased some of your Abilities. Your DUNGEON ENGINEERING has increased to Master 72 Your MENTAL FORTITUDE has ranked up to Master 2 Your CLAIRVOYANCE has increased to Practiced 17 You have emerged victorious from the Cosmic Contest. The rewards for this will be revealed to you at the award ceremony. Congratulations on winning this in the most unconventional way ever. *** As Duke finished reading the relevant notifications, he was transported out of the dungeon and into a familiar room with its starfield-based d¨¦cor. The Overmind floated before him and his XENOGLOSSIA showed him a sense of pride and anticipation. When he spoke, Duke could hardly believe what he was told. ¡°Duke, I have evacuated the city of everyone you showed any kindness or friendliness towards and those who supported you. They will not be part of what is to come next.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± The Overmind continued, ¡°This is what you must do¡­¡± Duke stared at the starfield around him in shock as the Overmind relayed the plan and Duke¡¯s role in it. The very thought of it made his head pound with waves of pressure as his subconscious awoke once more, straining against Duke¡¯s own MENTAL FORTITUDE to break free. When they were joined by the Eye of Infinity who reiterated what the Overmind had laid out, declaring that it was how things must end here, Duke still resisted the idea. When the Eye of Infinity leapt into Duke¡¯s mind and showed him what would happen should he not follow the plan he balked. Can I really go through with this? Either path is horrible. Duke¡¯s thoughts swirled as his stress level rose. This was locked in his mind as he CLEANSED and RESTORED himself moments before the transit to the stadium and the award ceremony. Book 4, Chapter 23 The sensation of transit was very different from what his own TELEPORTATION felt like. While his Ability felt easy and precise, the feeling of transit was more an exercise in brute force, using excessive amounts of magic to punch a person or object through space. Duke did not like it at all. It very nearly offended him and left him feeling physically unsettled, which did nothing to help his mood after his conversations. The sensation faded as he looked around the room he arrived in. It was, surprisingly, green. There were leather couches and chairs arranged for conversation and a single screen dominated one wall. The screen showed the stadium from above. It was larger than Duke thought, with what had to be more than 100,000 people and creatures packed into the seating areas. The screen did not transmit sound, but from the activity he could observe he could tell that the crowd was entirely worked-up. He sat down on one of the couches facing the screen to watch and noticed Kreen sitting nearby in a chair designed for its unique body type. It looked over to Duke and addressed him. ¡°You do not appear jubilant, especially for one about to be awarded the grand prize of the Contest.¡± ¡°Do you know what the prize is?¡± ¡°No, the Queen of All did not share that with me but I am certain that it will be significant. I have heard that the victor of the last Contest received an armada of fully-crewed ships, enough to carve an empire out for themselves.¡± ¡°Interesting. I¡¯m not sure what I would do with such a fleet, but I am sure that it would be spectacular.¡± ¡°Of that, I have no doubt.¡± Duke started to ask Kreen a question but was interrupted by a flashing notification. *** The dungeons on the planet at coordinates 23674.28349.90738 are under assault. Of the 1,000 dungeons you placed there, 252 have been destroyed. If sufficient dungeons are destroyed, to bring you under 1,000 dungeons under your authority, your Core Strength Title will be nullified until sufficient dungeons have been brought under your control. An image accompanied the message of the attackers. Duke recognized the Syndicate logo emblazoned on their armor and his blood ran hot. *** Duke¡¯s mood darkened further, and he felt his control waver before he slammed MENTAL FORTITUDE back into place. Kreen had gotten out of its chair and taken several steps away from him. Duke reassured it. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Kreen you are not the focus of my current ire. Someone is actively destroying things of mine out there in the Cosmos and I am going to have to put a stop to it. But I can¡¯t really do anything until this ceremony is over. I do want my prize, after all.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you do, but if someone was destroying hives while I sat here, I would not be able to bear it. How do you do so?¡± ¡°Discipline and the knowledge that everyone who put me in this position is going to suffer for it. Speaking of which, where is home for you? Would it be anyplace I knew?¡± ¡°Not likely. We are an insular people. Our hives provide us with everything we need so there is little incentive to trade, or even interact, with those outside of our hives. That I am even here is significant.¡± Another voice cut in from behind the pair, ¡°Greetings. I am Beryl and I am your host for this evening¡¯s events. I will guide you through the ceremony so just relax and enjoy. This is your time to shine.¡± When she spoke it was with a rushed pace as if she desperately needed to get everything out before anyone interrupted her. Duke turned around and saw a humanoid creature that stood a head shorter than him. Its proportions were off to Duke¡¯s senses. The more he looked the more the creature resembled a bowling pin with arms to him. But there was one thing that leapt to his immediate attention. This creature was wearing a Syndicate insignia. Beryl noted Duke gaze and addressed it right away, ¡°Yes, I am a member of the Syndicate ¨C I am the Head of Event Planning. It¡¯s all so exciting! We provided the logistical support for this instance of the Contest. That¡¯s why we have so many members here in the audience. We came to watch the competition and we have not been disappointed. In fact, when this ceremony is over, we should have a discussion.¡±Stolen story; please report. ¡°A discussion you say? Do you have a member of your executive leadership here? Perhaps even a board member?¡± ¡°Oh, of course. This is the hottest ticket in the Cosmos. No one would want to miss it. And don¡¯t think we are leaving you and your people out of this discussion, Kreen. Just because you have been insular to this point doesn¡¯t mean that we can¡¯t help you all.¡± ¡°My people have been insular for our own reasons, but we have from time to time traded with others. I would hear what you are offering, and I will bring it back to the True Queens.¡± ¡°Excellent. Now let¡¯s get the two of you ready for the ceremony. First off, there will be a few short speeches followed by the highlights of the preliminary rounds. This should take about an hour, but you can relax here and watch it all in comfort. When it is time to present you to the crowd, I will come get you and lead you to the stage. Duke, you will walk to the red ¡®X¡¯ and Kreen, you will walk to the green ¡®X¡¯. There will be another highlight reel showing the final phase of the Contest and then there will be the presentation of the awards. Duke, do you have a speech prepared? If not, I have one for you.¡± ¡°I assure you that I am well-prepared for this.¡± ¡°Oh, you are a dark and brooding type, aren¡¯t you? Well, the crowd will eat it up, I¡¯m sure. It¡¯s time for me to go and get things going. Oh, I almost forgot. The red door leads to your rest room, Duke. The green one leads to yours, Kreen. Take some time to make yourself as presentable as you can. The eyes of the powerful will be upon you.¡± With that, she hurried out of the room leaving the pair to process all she had said. Duke nodded to Kreen before heading to his rest room. He carefully closed and locked the door behind himself and retrieved his navigation core from his INVENTORY. A quick check of his location against his destination revealed that he was roughly 300,000 light years away. He shrugged and TELEPORTED to the world where his dungeons were under assault. It took half of his Mana, but he was able to get there easily, the range on his Ability when OVERCHANNELED had grown extreme, in excess of 700,000 light years. What he found was largely what he expected when he focused his DUNGEON SIGHT on the planet. There were Syndicate forces systematically moving from dungeon to dungeon, hunting for and destroying the cores. By his count, there were a dozen squads delving the dungeons and twice as many support groups locating the dungeons for them. Duke¡¯s blood boiled as anger welled up in him. He waited the two minutes it took to refill his Mana and then TELEPORTED into the next dungeon that had been scouted out. Once inside, he OVERCHANNELED his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability to create dungeon monsters that were Tiers above the dungeon¡¯s own. The dungeons on this world were mostly Tier One and Two with a few Threes thrown in. That made them relatively easy pickings for a squad that was likely Tier Four. But that also made them easy pickings for Duke. He enhanced the native dungeon monsters all the way up to Tier Seven while overpopulating the dungeon. Then he started hopping from dungeon to dungeon in the area and doing the same. His DUNGEON SENSE showed him the results as the squads went into the dungeons only to be torn to pieces by enraged monsters. Next, he turned to the dungeons around the support squads and pushed them to overflowing with high-Tier monsters. Finally, he pushed the monsters out of the dungeons to swarm over the surface of the planet. At first, it was the common dungeon monsters that came pouring out onto the surface. Kobolds, goblins, and similarly typical fodder flowed outwards and towards the support teams. As there was no air to speak of on the planet¡¯s surface, they did not last long. But as the higher-Tier creatures joined them, the need for air became less and less prevalent. It was these creatures that swarmed over the support positions. As Syndicate support teams, they were well protected with state-of-the-art armor and weapons, but they were not the heavy combat-focused ones of the assault squads. That difference showed as the screening guards quickly found themselves toe-to-toe with horrors from the dungeons. Creatures with curved hooks for arms swatted weapons away and slammed their hooks into armored joints, tearing them open with terrifying ease. It was not long before the few remaining support teams were aboard their shuttles and burning for space. That should give them something to think about. Now I have to get back to the ceremony. Duke stepped out of the rest room after making sure he looked as perfect as he could and rejoined Kreen in waiting. They exchanged nods and Duke asked, ¡°Did I miss anything interesting in the ceremonies?¡± ¡°Nothing really. The speeches were the typical self-aggrandizing affairs. These people have no idea what it truly means to be part of a society that is one. I will be heartened to leave this place and return to my people where purposes are unified, and goals are clear. This has been a useful experience but not one I would wish to repeat. I will bring some new ideas back to the hives, but will recommend no changes to the hive mind.¡± ¡°Now, that is interesting.¡± Duke trailed off as the screen was showing his fight with Vexxorr. The running commentary was wrong about Duke¡¯s Ability, equating it to Varis¡¯ but Duke was not ever going to correct that misconception publicly. Beryl entered the room and smiled at them, ¡°Good. You both seem ready. It is time for you to join the ceremony. Please come with me.¡± Book 4, Chapter 24 Beryl led them through the dimly lit corridor behind the stage and got them into position for their emergence. They could hear the crowd cheering as the replays reached their crescendo and finally the last two standing were announced. ¡°Ladies and Gentlemen, Creatures, Elemental, Beings, and Entities, prepare yourself for seeing our champions in person. I present to you our runner-up, Kreen of the Galactic Hives. Kreen entered the finals in the 98th position and, through cleverness and positioning, emerged as the runner-up. Everyone celebrate this achievement as this is the highest placement for an insectoid in the entire history of the Contests.¡± Beryl nudged Kreen, ¡°That¡¯s your cue. Walk slowly and confidently. Give them a show!¡± Kreen acknowledged her with a nod and walked out on stage, taking its time enjoying the cheers of the crowd. It headed for its marker and stopped precisely on it. It looked up at the crowd that surrounded it and expanded its shoulders with pride. It had survived the most catastrophic results of the Contest in recent memory and now stood ready to receive its prize. The host, another Syndicate officer bedecked in the flashiest golden outfit that was actually enchanted to glow with golden light that highlighted his Syndicate crest, strode up to Kreen, ¡°Congratulations on your impressive showing. No one from the Hives has ever made it this far. How do you feel right now?¡± Kreen looked at the host briefly before speaking, ¡°I bring satisfaction back to the hive. The True Queens will be pleased with my offering. My line will be allowed to continue.¡± The host took back over, ¡°Looks like Kreen will be getting some when it gets back home if you know what I mean!¡± The crowd reacted as expected, laughing along with the host. Duke cringed. It seemed with an entire Cosmos of different races and forms of creatures, simple inuendo jokes still carried the crowd. It was yet another disappointment that settled into his bones. He had expected specific challenges, a bracketed tournament with one-on-one fights, or even team contests. Instead, it had turned out to be a disorganized mess and a reflection of the worst of the world out there. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. So many contestants had been preyed upon by those running this farce. And his old friends, the Syndicate were deeply involved. How could the Syndicate be running this thing? It should be the Entities that put this together, right? Or are they all here just for the show and could care less about who¡¯s running it? The more I think about it, that is what makes more sense ¨C they don¡¯t care about the details, they are just using this as a proxy to settle scores they can¡¯t otherwise. Does that mean that the Overmind is just the same? Using me to settle a score? Duke¡¯s mind reeled with the possibilities. Could he have been manipulated to that level? He questioned every action leading up to this point. It was the Twin Entities that brought me to Teldin in the first place. I never understood their motivation but they were trying to get me to be their sponsored Contestant. Then the Overmind came into the picture. Did he ever lie to me? Not directly. He didn¡¯t tell me much about this Contest beforehand, but was there much I really needed to know? Just needed to kill a bunch of things. Kind of what I do all the time. But the whole hunting down and killing dungeons thing rings true. It is what happened on Teldin. It was what was happening on ¡®plant in the middle of fucking nowhere.¡¯ Like it or not, I¡¯m linked to dungeons. Who am I kidding? Dungeons are fucking awesome. So, screw it. I¡¯m in. Oh, shit. What did the host say? ¡°For your outstanding performance, you have been awarded six dreadnaught-class ships to be built to your specifications by the Syndicate and one which is delivered to you here. Congratulations Kreen, you are the proud new owner of the Dreadnaught, Unyielding Vow. The ship comes fully equipped and crewed by a fully qualified Syndicate crew that is contracted to you for a full year. Any additional support vessels you would like can be purchased separately of course.¡± Kreen just stared at the host, dumbfounded. The host continued, not missing a beat, ¡°And here comes one of the Unyielding Vow¡¯s own shuttles now. As everyone can see, this is our latest model, the Atmospheric Runner Seven. It come fully equipped with state-of-the-art safety and security systems and the height of luxury. Even the passenger compartment has a twice-enchanted seating structure to adjust to any lifeform configuration.¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Duke couldn¡¯t believe his ears. It¡¯s a fucking commercial! It¡¯s all a fucking commercial! Duke¡¯s ire shifted from simmering to boiling. So many young talents had been plucked from the Cosmos to be tossed into this meat grinder to sell more products? The outrage burning in Duke sank deeper into his consciousness, clawing at the bulwark of his subconscious. He felt his control starting to slip but he poured Mana into his MENTAL FORTITUDE to keep it at bay for now. The host continued his commercial as he showed Kreen around the shuttle and explained all the wonderous and amazing features of his luxury shuttle. He pointed out the exotic creatures cultivated for the specific seat coverings based on their ¡°uncanny malleability under enchantment.¡± Eventually the tour commercial ended to the cheers of the now entirely Syndicate crowd. Duke had seen others leaving in disgust. Even several Entities had departed but none of that slowed the Syndicate shill down as he explained the new and improved triple-phase magitech engine configuration that allowed for more power while providing a smoother ride. Mercifully, the commercial ended when the shuttle left easy visual range on its way up to the dreadnaught. The host then turned his sickening enthusiasm towards Duke. ¡°And now that brings us to the highlight of the evening. It is time to crown our champion. Put your appendages together for Duke!¡± He paused for the crowd to whip itself up into a proper frenzy before he gave some silent signal to Beryl who nudged Duke towards the stage. As Duke strode towards the stage, he took his time scanning the crowd for anyone familiar. He did not recognize a single being out in the crowd no matter how hard he looked. What he did see was additional Syndicate flunkies filling up the now empty spots in the crowd. He was nearly at his mark when he received an urgent notification. *** You have received an urgent message from the Eye of Infinity. Duke, I told you to save it for the end. This is the end. This is where you must stop this madness. *** Why the fuck is this my responsibility? Oh, right. Some ¡°rules¡± that prevent them from doing it themselves. The host continued, ¡°Welcome to the stage, Duke. You surprised everyone with your victory, especially with your late arrival. Tell us how did you manage to get into the top 100 so quickly?¡± Duke stared the host down for long enough to make the silence uncomfortable before responding, ¡°I killed everyone who came after me. They thought themselves predators. They thought they could do whatever they wanted. They thought they could take whatever they wanted. I showed them that they couldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite the interesting strategy statement there, Duke. You showed a number of talents over the course of this Contest including the ability to teleport people out of the city. This allowed an unprecedented number of low-ranked Contestants to survive. What was your strategy around that move?¡± ¡°Strategy? Why did it have to be a strategy? I simply did what was decent. I had the power to help, so I did. I asked for a small payment for my help, but all were willing to pay it because it gave them a chance to better themselves. Why would I suppress them?¡± ¡°What are you saying, Duke?¡± *** Urgent message from the Overmind Do it now, Duke! Before they have a chance to erect any defenses. I have cleared all the innocents out! Unleash it all! *** Duke smiled at the host with another pause for effect, ¡°I have something to say. It¡¯s better to burn out than fade away!¡± With that statement, Duke released the hold on his subconscious. He poured 350 million mana into his UMBRAL REAPER Ability. The surface of the stage cracked as a mountain of darkness poured out of Duke¡¯s mind and into reality, filling the stadium in a flash of shadow. From that shadow crawled forth each and every horror that Duke had held in abeyance for so long. The memories that the Eye of Infinity had filled his subconscious with burst forth from the cloud of shadow. Ebony claws of hate and anger tore their way out of the shadows and through bodies. It was impossible to differentiate the tortured screams coming from the shadows from the horrified screams of the crowd as the Ability tore through them. Duke had never OVERCHANNELED this Ability to any great extent before now. The results were devastating. The host still stood before Duke, clawing at his face as shadowy insects crawled out of his mouth, dragging bits of ripped and torn flesh with them. Seconds later, he collapsed in a bloody pile of stripped bones and a splatter of blood. Swarms of dark monsters filled the stadium, flowing through the seats and tearing every spectator they could find apart. Some had tried to run but could not outpace the shadows. A few personal barriers had been activated. It didn¡¯t matter whether they were magical or technological, the monsters of the Psyche passed through them effortlessly. It took no more than five minutes for the entire crowd to be slain and then the spirits turned back to Duke, slamming into him, and flowing back to their home in his subconscious. Despite the ranks of the spirits swelling with new horrors, the pressure did not mount as it had before. It was as if the spirits were sated. Duke was exhausted, his own spirit spent but he refused to collapse. He looked out on the destroyed stadium in wonder. His Ability had never caused anything like the amount of physical damage in the past. He did not know if it was the rank up to Master that had changed it or if it was something else like the massive OVERCHANNELING of the Ability. He sat down on the edge of the stage and waited for the Entities to come. Book 4, Chapter 25 - An Interlude Elsewhere As the interview came to a close, Edgemont was satisfied with the latest candidate for Sector Commander and silently triggered the offer which prompted the interviewer to pause in his closing statements. Edgemont noted the tic and made a note to send the interviewer for corrective training. It simply would not do to have such mistakes under his watch. Enough damage had been done by the previous Sector Commander that it would still be years before the sector recovered. To his credit, the interviewer quickly recovered from his pause and moved into the offer process. The candidate, Alpho Nonetes, immediately began to negotiate for more than the initial offer and the dance began. Edgemont impassively watched the dance proceed, having already calculated the final terms, he was unsurprised by the conclusion. The offer was accepted and Edgemont triggered the relocation algorithm he had already crafted. The malleable enchantments in Aplho¡¯s office had already started changing to the man¡¯s recorded preferences. Surely, there would be some final adjustments to make but Edgemont had the full analysis of the man¡¯s tastes to work from. His musings were interrupted by a notification that flashed with particular urgency. He pulled it up and stared at it for a long moment before the ramifications began to process. *** Your First and Thirty-second Clones have been slain. Due to the nature of their demise, none of their essence can be returned to you. *** Edgemont did not change his outward appearance or actions as he shook the hand of the new Sector Commander, offering congratulations and assurances that he would do everything he could to support him in this new role. And, yes, he was looking forward to working for such a dynamic and intelligent leader. As they filtered out of the conference room, the next block of notifications stopped Edgemont in his tracks. By the time he was done reading them all, he knew things had changed significantly. There had been an incident at the Contest. During the award ceremony of all things. This had been broadcast live over the interdimensional network. Every fully developed world on the network had been watching because he had made sure of it. The Syndicate¡¯s sponsorship that he had engineered had been flawless. The focus of nearly a quintillion beings had been on that ceremony.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. And it was an absolute disaster. The victor of the Contest had lost it on stage and killed everyone in the stadium. There were over two hundred Syndicate executives in attendance, even some senior executives. And all of them had been killed. How had their security teams, their personal protections failed so horribly and so suddenly? Edgemont, for the first time in centuries, didn¡¯t know what to do. Sure, he had contingency plans for the loss of executives, even for an entire executive transport ship to be lost, but this was far worse. Nearly one hundred thousand important personnel had been lost in an instant. All at the hands of this¡­human? How could a single human have done this much damage? Sitting in his office chair, Edgemont realized he had absolutely no memory of how he got back in his office but there he was. Shaking off the feeling, he delved into everything he knew about this human calling himself The Duke. He froze in horror as he realized that this was the same human that Ganorlen Vosh had foolishly pursued, attacking him and his allies repeatedly. Now, it seemed that the human had returned the favor with interest. Further research showed that the human¡¯s home, a backwater planet called Teldin by the natives, had been Vosh¡¯s last play. He had summoned the Hounds, trying to collect a bounty that no longer existed. That wasn¡¯t the planet where¡­oh no. I allowed them to release the hounds upon that planet. The records on this Duke were not extensive but he clearly was someone who did not back down. The watchers left behind showed that Duke was responsible for the ultimate defeat and destruction of the Hounds sent after him. And now, the conflict had escalated to a level of damage that not even their strongest competitors could manage. Two paths form here. Pursuit of revenge and continued escalation or reconciliation. Which to take? Only one will show our strength. We cannot appear weak after taking such a blow. I have some orders to send out. Edgemont took one last check into the records to see who sponsored the terrorist. His face paled when he saw that it was the Overmind, and everything suddenly made a lot more sense. Of course he would hate us. We have been harvesting dungeon cores by the millions. But where else could we find such a perfect source for Mana Cores to power ships? He took a last look at the files before he started to set the wheels in motion. So many competent leaders to replace. He was sure that this process would take years and would cut into the Syndicate¡¯s profits for centuries to come. Decisive action was necessary. He would see to it. Book 4, Chapter 26 Duke saw the Overmind and the Eye of Infinity appear before him. His XENOGLOSSIA picked up their body language before they even spoke. Duke did not trust the Ability in this case as he expected Entities to be able to control their bodies absolutely. Still, what his Ability showed him was satisfaction from the Overmind and calmness from the Eye of Infinity. He didn¡¯t speak, waiting for them to start. It was the Eye of Infinity who spoke first, ¡°It has come to pass as I saw it to be. You played your role brilliantly, Duke.¡± ¡°Played my role? What game is it that you are all playing? I¡¯m tired of being everyone¡¯s pawn in these games of power.¡± The Overmind stepped in, ¡°Duke, you are no pawn. You just flipped the entire board over, sending our foes into utter chaos.¡± ¡°Our foes?¡± ¡°Yes, Duke, Our foes. The Syndicate has been predating upon dungeons for centuries.¡± ¡°I am feeling very short of answers right now and not exactly in the best of moods. Someone please make it make sense.¡± The Eye of Infinity floated back a bit to allow the Overmind to be the sole focus of the conversation. The Overmind floated in front of Duke¡¯s face at about arm¡¯s reach before continuing. ¡°You have seen what powers magitech, right?¡± ¡°Sure, Mana Cores.¡± ¡°How does one make Mana Cores?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how anyone else does it, but I use my Dungeon Core Creation Ability and just don¡¯t infuse the core with the full dungeon potential. It was an easy leap to make with the Ability.¡± ¡°Yes, I suppose it was. Now, how do others make Mana Cores?¡± ¡°I¡­I have no idea. Some form of enchantment perhaps?¡± ¡°The truth is that they can¡¯t. They tried making them out of the cores of the few monsters that have their own cores, but they were temporary at best ¨C single use and not able to be recharged. The true Mana Cores are made from dungeon cores that are stripped of their soul. They are the shells of slaughtered dungeons. My children! Sacrificed so that these mortals can spread across the Cosmos.¡± Duke felt the impact of the Overmind¡¯s words deep in his own heart, the pain resonating within his own center where once a Seed of Anomy had germinated only to be replaced by the seed of a core. The core itself wailed at the loss and the feeling nearly overwhelmed him. Duke took a few breaths to re-center himself before saying anything. ¡°You are telling me that the thousands of ships flying from system to system are all powered by the corpses of dungeons?¡± ¡°Millions, Duke. Millions.¡± ¡°Why isn¡¯t this public knowledge? Why is this allowed to continue?¡± ¡°Because before you, I didn¡¯t have a single person who cared. No one before you ever really treated a dungeon as an actual living entity. Even those that had developed an avatar were just considered amusing curiosities but few truly understood that dungeons are living beings. Certainly those sent to ¡®harvest¡¯ dungeon cores didn¡¯t know or care.¡± ¡°That¡¯s insane. How could no one else have figured it out? Dungeons have been around for¡­well, I don¡¯t know how long but a freaking long time.¡± ¡°Few dungeons are planted on worlds that do not already have a magical presence. Those planted on magically dead worlds just do not survive. They don¡¯t have a high enough Tier to overcome the magical suppression of those worlds.¡± ¡°What was that about magical suppression?¡± ¡°Worlds that are without magic. Most of them sit in one magic suppression zone or another. There are some that have a magic siphon pulling their magic away and some that have something that suppresses their magic. More often or not someone set them up like that for a reason.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not natural? It¡¯s all artificial?¡± ¡°You seem rather invested in this concept, Duke. Is there a reason for it?¡± ¡°Not here. Not now,¡± The Eye of Infinity interrupted them. ¡°There are too many watching. Too many listening in. Already you have said much that may have been best left unsaid.¡± Duke looked around but didn¡¯t see anyone else but with Entities involved, he didn¡¯t trust his senses to be able to pick them up. Still, he did not want this conversation interrupted or overheard so he stopped talking. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. The Overmind continued instead, ¡°Go visit Sam. I¡¯ll meet you there once you have had time to review things you have been avoiding.¡± ¡°Avoiding? What are you talking about?¡± Duke stopped as he noticed the flashing indicator in the corner of his vision telling him he had notifications waiting. He nodded and prepared to TELEPORT away. As he withdrew his navigation core he realized that relying on the device was all well and good for situations where he had time to take it out and study it. But for when he really needed to move quickly, it was insufficient. Duke studied the core for a full minute before he pulled up the one pending Tier Ability slot and tried his idea. He attempted to absorb the core¡¯s magical navigational ability and focus it through the empty Ability slot. It seemed that the system agreed with his attempt because he received a notification. *** Congratulations! You have crafted a new Ability. This new Ability is called COSMIC NAVIGATION and will take up your Tier Eight slot. As this Ability was both absorbed and crafted with a Tier slot, it starts at a significantly higher rank than normal. You new have this Ability at Adept 1. COSMIC NAVIGATION allows you to know not only your location within the Cosmos but also the location of any place you have visited previously. You instinctively know the distance to any location you have visited. This Ability is paired with your TELEPORTATION Ability and will allow you to map a route to any distant location you have visited regardless of whether you have visited any necessary intervening waypoints. *** As the Ability formed in Duke¡¯s core, the navigational core simply melted into his hand, its capabilities absorbed and, most importantly, its database was added to his Ability as locations he had available. With a smile, he TELEPORTED away on the first of the seven legs required for his journey back to Teldin. Duke appeared in the Lake Front Inn, startling a table full of Legionnaires that he did not recognize. They jumped to their feet and reached for their weapons before a loud voice shouted from several tables across the common room, ¡°Stand down! That¡¯s the king.¡± The Legionnaires immediately stopped and saluted Duke in the odd crossed-arm salute that Aurelia had pushed throughout the Legion. Duke returned the salute with a wry grin, ¡°As you were and excellent reaction speed.¡± Seconds later, he was seated at the bar with Calen serving him a glass of scotch whiskey. He raised the glass to Calen and proceeded to dive into his notifications. *** Congratulations! As the overall champion of the Contest, you have earned a Title. You shall forevermore be known as the Grand Victor of the Cosmic Contest. This Title grants you three effects. First is free passage through the Domains and Territories of all Entities of the Cosmos. Second, all your Characteristics receive a 10% bonus. Finally, you are granted an automatic breach of the Mortal Barrier should you reach sufficient experience to reach Tier 11. *** Duke re-read the Title description. There¡¯s a few things in there that I¡¯m going to have to dig into. Mortal Barrier? What the hell is that? Duke continued reading his notifications. *** As your prize for winning the Contest, you have been granted one custom-designed solar system in the galaxy and dimension of your choice. You have a total of 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilograms to work with in the creation of this solar system. The only other restrictions on this system are that it cannot be located any closer than 2 light-years from an inhabited system and it cannot be located in a dead-magic zone. *** That¡¯s a lot of zeros, but I have no idea how much mass that is when compared to anything I am familiar with. Not sure who I could even ask. Oh well, more notifications to get through. *** You have slain over 2,000 members of the Syndicate with one use of an Ability. This grants you the Mass Murderer Achievement. There is no reward for this achievement but expect extreme enmity from this group in the future. You receive 144,759,917 (159,235,909) experience. You have Tiered up to Tier Nine and have reached level 427. You have 19,926 Characteristic Points to spend. As you have achieved a new Tier, you have the choice of the following rewards:
  1. Create a new Ability appropriate for your Tier
  2. Advance an existing Ability by one rank (Maximum of Adept)
  3. Advance an existing Skill by one rank (Maximum of Adept)
  4. Gain 200 bonus Characteristic Points
  5. Gain one powerful item appropriate to your Tier
  6. Gain the Ability to cloak your presence to anyone below your Tier level
*** Duke took in the monstrous amount of experience and the associated levels that came with it. He had Tiered up and was less than 25 levels from Tier Ten. He looked at the massive number of Characteristic points and realized that he would have to allocate them over some time as that much at once would be an enormous amount of pain. He allocated some for now, saving the rest for later. Duke brought his base Strength, Endurance, and Reason up to 3,000 and brought his base Psyche up to 13,000. The pain of adding over 1,500 points in one go was significant but short-lived. He decided to add no more than 1,000 points at a time until he got them all allocated. While he waited for the Overmind, he ran through a slew of other notifications. Most were related to the people he had killed. And then he saw the one specific to his UMBRAL REAPER Ability. It had gained an obscene number of levels, nearly three hundred. He marveled at the Ability as it sat at the cap of the Master rank. One more level and it would be his second Ability to reach Grandmaster. The devastation he had managed with it at Master rank had been insane even if it had been OVERCHANNELED with most of his Mana pool. OVERCHANNEL also increased but not by nearly as much, reaching Master 40. Duke now had a lot of families out for blood. The consequences of killing all those Syndicate people were only just starting to manifest. He had felt justified at the time, but now he was not sure. He continued drinking his scotch, starting his fourth glass while still waiting for the Overmind to show up. It seemed that it was going to be a while, so he settled in, turned around, and watched the Legionnaires. Book 4, Chapter 27 ¡°You seem relaxed, Duke. This is good to see.¡± ¡°Should I be running around panicked? Afraid of what is coming my way next?¡± ¡°You are handling the situation like an Entity. This is a long game, and we have been losing for most of it. But not anymore. You helped me¡­no, us. You helped us take the first step to victory. I can¡¯t thank you enough for that.¡± ¡°Strangely, it was my pleasure. Releasing all that pressure clawing at my mind was an experience I cannot describe. What my Ability did to those people was horrific to watch, to be a part of, but I cannot bring myself to feel any empathy for them.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not in your nature to feel empathy for the oppressors. You should have realized that by now. But you should also know that they will be coming for you with their most powerful forces now. They will be coming here, to Teldin, to kill you and destroy this world.¡± ¡°Not much of a pep talk.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t do pep talks. What I do do, however, is push for greater. And for you to be greater, you are going to have to take those final steps to get to Tier Eleven.¡± ¡°I only just made it to Tier Nine. How do you expect me to make it to Tier Eleven before the Syndicate comes for me?¡± ¡°By going after them, of course. Attack their shipyards, their staging areas. This is now a war and you have to attack their ability to make war. Make it so costly that they have to give up.¡± ¡°You happen to have a map of these places?¡± ¡°I do, of course, but there are still some rules even I must follow. If I get that directly involved, it opens the door for other Entities to get involved and that would not end well for you. You already have a pair of Entities that you have¡­I¡¯ll say thwarted. You took their piece right off the board in the Contest. They still have countless pawns, but I do not think they are really interested in playing anymore. I believe they are still far too entertained watching your exploits to really do anything about it.¡± ¡°So, I¡¯m on my own again?¡± ¡°You have allies. Friends. Do you not?¡± ¡°I do, but I don¡¯t want to throw them into the fire with such high stakes.¡± ¡°Maybe, just maybe, you should talk to them about it. But what do I know, I¡¯m just a dungeon core that got too big for his britches, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, that must be it. So, there¡¯s really nothing you can do to help me in this?¡± ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t say that.¡± The Overmind¡¯s avatar chuckled. It handed Duke a small core. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± ¡°Absorb this core into your own. It contains information on every core-harvesting ship the Syndicate has or has contracted with. If you destroy those ships with all hands, they will lose their capability to fuel their empire.¡± Duke held the core in his hand. It was warm to the touch, and he could see how easy it would be to absorb but he hesitated. ¡°Why are you able to give me this information but not information on their shipyards and ports and all that?¡± ¡°Because these ships are responsible for the death of countless dungeons. That is a long series of attacks on my very Domain. I can give my Champion information to stop these attacks. There¡¯s a fine line but this is well on the permissible side. One more thing before I go.¡± Duke looked up from the core to take in the avatar as it spoke, ¡°If you really are going to go this route alone, why haven¡¯t you taken the DUNGEON AURA Ability? You have a slot open, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I do have a slot open but if I take that Ability, it would pretty much close the door to other people. It¡¯s just too dangerous to have that aura around others. Having dungeon monsters spawn around me in my sleep would not be great for anyone I¡¯m traveling with.¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°What if it was an active Ability and not a passive one?¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°Turn it on when you want it, but otherwise, it¡¯s dormant. Wouldn¡¯t that work better?¡± ¡°Yes, it would, but that wasn¡¯t an option in the Ability description.¡± ¡°Check again.¡± ¡°You changed it, didn¡¯t you?¡± The Overmind didn¡¯t respond, instead waving as its avatar faded from sight. Duke read the description of the Ability and saw the change in the text indicating that it was now an Ability he could call upon as desired and could keep active for as long as he wanted. So I can keep it running when I am running solo to wreak havoc around me without having to even think about it. It will take time to figure it out but it would open up even more options. *** You have selected DUNGEON AURA as your Tier Nine Ability. This Ability allows you to project a field around yourself that acts as the dimensional space of a dungeon with you as the dungeon core. Within this aura, you can perform any actions you would normally be able to within a dungeon through the use of any of your dungeon-related Abilities. The rank of your Ability determines the radius of the aura. The level of the Ability has a minor influence over the effects. You gain the Ability at Practiced 1. *** Duke read over the description, satisfied that he could learn how to control the Ability in time. Sitting at the bar in a dungeon, turning on the aura didn¡¯t have much additional effect. He could feel it, but since he was already in a dungeon environment, there was no sense that he could do anything different with it than he could do already. He nodded to himself, realizing that he didn¡¯t expect much else. I have a few things to get going but first, allocate some more points. This is going to hurt, but it¡¯s time to peanut butter a bit. 1,000 into each characteristic shouldn¡¯t be too bad. Duke suffered through the pain of such a massive allocation but, as he expected, it was not nearly as bad as some of his earliest stat allocations. Even if it was a significant percentage increase, it wasn¡¯t the doubling or tripling that had floored him in the past. He smiled to himself as the pain faded and did it again. He still had over six thousand stats to allocate even after spending twelve thousand. He considered putting them all into Psyche to continue to boost his magic but decided to hold off for a bit and think about it. After watching the new Legionnaires for a bit, Duke activated an OVERCHANNELED CLEANSE and RESTORE combo, putting a million Mana into each. It was a drop in his considerable bucket of Mana at this point, refilled in under a second. Having an effective Psyche of close to one hundred seventy thousand was pushing all his magic to the extreme but he was sure he would need it and more when things really turned ugly. The response to the Abilities from the Legionnaires was one of wonder as armor and weapons repaired themselves, clothing re-stitched itself together and everything was suddenly clean. There were a few who complained but they were quickly browbeat into quieting down. The biggest, and most immediate reaction, however, was Sam appearing next to Duke. ¡°Damn, Duke. That was sweet. I haven¡¯t gotten a hit of Mana like that in a while.¡± ¡°Good to see you again Sam. How are things going?¡± ¡°They couldn¡¯t be better. Havenreach continues to grow, I have Legionnaires training in the training dungeon nearly all the time, and I¡¯m almost up to Tier Nine. Tier Nine, Duke! Can you believe it? I may even make it to Tier Ten.¡± ¡°Why stop there?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not be cute, Duke. It¡¯s not like any of the Entities would allow us to create a divine dungeon. Immortal dungeon core. Yeah, like that could ever happen.¡± ¡°There are no Tier Eleven dungeons?¡± ¡°No, anyone who tries to get bast Tier Ten is either destroyed or convinced to stop. Violently.¡± ¡°Why doesn¡¯t the Overmind step in?¡± ¡°The Overmind could, but it¡¯s not worth the price.¡± ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°The Overmind can easily handle just about any other Entity one-on-one, but fifty-to-one is just too much even for the Overmind to handle. So, we are warned once it looks like we are on the path to progression to stop at Ten.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s bullshit.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what happens when you have few allies.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m about to go make some more enemies. Great.¡± ¡°Attacking the Syndicate core harvesters will not bring any new enemies into the mix. They are our enemies already.¡± ¡°Well, if I singlehandedly cut off the supply of Magic Cores for ships, I don¡¯t expect that to make us any new friends.¡± ¡°No, I guess not. Unless you replace the supply at a cheaper rate somehow.¡± ¡°Yeah, not interested in becoming a factory myself.¡± ¡°That does not sound fun. Is that why they wipe the souls from the cores they kidnap?¡± ¡°That would be part of it, I guess. No soul means no resistance, right?¡± Sam looked at Duke with pain in his eyes, ¡°It¡¯s necromancy. They are killing the soul and stealing the body to use over and over.¡± Duke¡¯s eyes narrowed as he realized that Sam was right in his depiction. Anger started to boil in his heart. Always the damned necromancers. But I know what to do about them. I hunt them down and¡­what about Negron? That man has gotten away for so long I forgot about him. I have to go talk to Baslin. ¡°Sam, I have to go find Baslin. Is he in his workshop here?¡± ¡°No, I believe he is in the castle workshop right now. I haven¡¯t seen him in a while, since before the last crisis. He really should come and visit me more. Tell him that when you catch up to him, will you?¡± ¡°I will. And thank you for putting things into perspective for me. I¡¯m off now.¡± ¡°Goodbye Duke. And good luck!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make my own luck,¡± Duke winked and took the first few steps on his inexorable journey to first find Baslin and then start to rid the Cosmos of this different type of necromancer. Book 4, Chapter 28 Duke arrived at the Cloudspire palace to find his throne room dark and closed-off. It was a clear sign that the king was not in attendance. Since he wasn¡¯t actually in attendance, he guessed that was appropriate. He briefly considered checking in with everyone but decided against it. They had their own tasks to perform as did he and he trusted them to get their tasks accomplished. A moment later, he stood before the door to Baslin¡¯s workshop and knocked. ¡°Come in, come in.¡± Before Duke could take two steps into the workshop, Baslin greeted him with the full rapid-fire enthusiasm that he had experienced when first meeting the Archmage. ¡°Duke! Duke! Good, good, good. Welcome back. Did it go well? Of course it went well. You won your contest right? Surely you did. Come in, come in. So exciting. So many things to do. Did you master Runescripting while you were gone? I bet you have. You really are the fastest study of all my students. Can I even call you an apprentice now? Well, I did graduate you, right?¡± Duke simply stood there patiently waiting for the Archmage to take a breath and when he finally did Duke jumped in, ¡°You sound a bit worked up there, Baslin. Is everything OK?¡± ¡°Oh yes. All is great. You are back and there¡¯s so much to do. So many things to explore. Have you brought me new things to investigate? To experiment with? Yes, that would be grand!¡± ¡°I have things for you, but first, I have a question for you ¨C Have you located Negron? I know you were working on a way to find him.¡± ¡°Negron? Oh him? Why yes, I found him. Did you really doubt me?¡± ¡°Great! Let¡¯s go get him then.¡± ¡°Um, OK. If you really want to. Follow me.¡± Duke followed Baslin, fully confused. Why is he so casual about going to get the man he hated so much? As Duke¡¯s confusion deepened, Baslin led him through the palace workshop, past his alchemy station and his runescripting station which was far smaller and less complex than the one in his dungeon workshop. Finally, they arrived at a small library with a few comfortable-looking chairs and a warm fireplace. Baslin walked up to the fireplace and removed a small, filigreed, golden chest and handed it to Duke. ¡°What do you need Negron for anyway?¡± Duke took the chest in his hand and looked back at Baslin, ¡°What is this chest for? Is it enchanted in some way to find Negron?¡± ¡°Find him? You¡¯re holding him, or at least all that is left of him. Those are his ashes, held in what was once his own phylactery. I find the symmetry rather poetic, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°You already tracked him down and killed him?¡± ¡°What else did you think I was going to do? Sit around and wait for you to do it? You have your own battles to fight. I can handle one single uppity necromancer by myself. It¡¯s not like he had a decade to re-build his army of undead. He had a few dozen left when I found him and they were not much of a challenge. Not that he was, either. Negron the Nemesis. What a self-important title! Yes, he was able to kill a student in a controlled environment. But fighting an angry Archmage who has time to prepare for him? No, he didn¡¯t last long at all. I did come up with a fun Spell though.¡± ¡°A fun spell?¡± ¡°Yes. I call it Necromantic Retribution. It takes the necromantic animating force that traps either the soul or the body and uses it to attack the necromancer himself. It came out of all my time studying the undead from the last time he reared his head with Chopie. I found that the animating force still linked back to the necromancer. It was child¡¯s play to craft a Spell to usurp that link and drain the necromancer¡¯s own lifeforce into their creations. The idiot left the link open so that he could control his undead. Far too great a vulnerability. I¡¯m glad I never considered pursuing that magic. It¡¯s absolutely idiotic.¡± ¡°Does that Spell work on all necromancers?¡± ¡°Possibly?¡± Baslin thought for a moment before continuing, ¡°I only had one other type of undead to study and that worked completely differently. But that was dungeon-bred undead so I don¡¯t think that really counts. Dungeon creatures are already a different kind of being so I wouldn¡¯t put any weight on the findings there. I¡¯d have to test it on another necromancer to see if they are similarly vulnerable. The paths of magical connection are a fascinating topic-¡° ¡°So, you need another necromancer to study, is that it?¡± ¡°Well, yes, but that is not really my highest priority. I have to finish setting up the Academy in Havenreach.¡± Duke was instantly sidetracked, ¡°Academy? What are you talking about?¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°It¡¯s the perfect place to set up a magical academy. The time differential will speed up training and studying from the perspective of the outside world and it is as secure a location as possible. I can expand the grounds whenever I need to, and any damage done can be easily repaired. It truly is the perfect setting. On top of all that, I know someone who might just be willing to set up some portals for me to take students to other worlds when they are advanced enough.¡± ¡°Oh, you do, do you?¡± Baslin peered intensely at Duke before responding, ¡°Yes. Yes, I do. He was my last apprentice after all.¡± Duke smiled in return, ¡°That sounds like quite the project. Are you enlisting Sam¡¯s aid in getting it put together?¡± ¡°Very much so. He¡¯s fully on-board.¡± ¡°Sam would be on board if you were setting up a breeding program inside the dungeon. He really just wants more people supplying him with Mana. Adding more mages to the mix will only make him happier.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a win for us all. Now will you help set up portals for me?¡± ¡°Portals to where?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve found some interesting places in your travels.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve mostly found places that were either desolate, devastated by war, or places I¡¯ve actively destroyed. I¡¯m not much help in that area.¡± ¡°Well, shit.¡± ¡°Maybe by the time your students are ready to venture out, I¡¯ll have found good places for them. But considering what I am about to embark upon, maybe not.¡± ¡°Another path of destruction?¡± ¡°Likely, yes.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re not taking any of us along for the trip, are you?¡± ¡°Probably not in any of our best interests to do so. But Teldin needs to be fortified, ready to take on all comers from elsewhere.¡± ¡°That¡¯s no small task. The Hounds were reportedly nigh unstoppable before you managed to find a way. How are we supposed to deal with threats like that?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll need a core of very powerful beings to lean on while I¡¯m not here. That, and the best equipment that can be made.¡± ¡°It seems you have put some thought into this then. How can your humble court mage help in this endeavor?¡± ¡°Get your academy going and add a branch for mages that specialize in warfare. They need long-range and high area-of-effect Spells. If you don¡¯t have the Spells yourself, recruit someone who does. Use the time dilation as much as possible. There is a region in the mountains of¡­you know what. Let me just take you there so you can see for yourself. Can you break away right now?¡± Baslin smiled. ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Great. And have you seen Ophirian around anywhere? It¡¯s not cool for us to be separated for this long.¡± ¡°I believe he is somewhere in the Havenreach area but I¡¯m not sure. Can¡¯t you sense him somehow?¡± ¡°Not at the moment. If he is in the Havenreach area that makes sense. The time dilation effect messes most communications up. OK, Let¡¯s go.¡± It was only a moment before the pair arrived outside the cave system Duke had created in the mountains near Havenreach. Baslin stumbled briefly as the time dilation disrupted his balance which brought a wry grin to Duke¡¯s face. It¡¯s not cancelling my Ability and dropping me from four stories up, but I¡¯ll take it. Duke pointed at the cave opening, ¡°In there, the time dilation really picks up. When Sam gets here, he can help you set up the Academy in there. Feel free to reshape it to whatever vision you have. I may even be able to increase the time dilation for you once you get things set up.¡± ¡°I would be happy to assist in reshaping this area to create more mages.¡± Sam appeared next to the pair looking even more eager than usual. ¡°I figured you would.¡± Duke chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you two to work out the details. I have someone else to track down.¡± He put action to words and stepped into the cave system, immediately sensing Ophirian in the depths of the cave system. With a ripple of air, Ophirian appeared in front of Duke, smiling broadly. ¡°Duke! You¡¯ve returned. The increase in my characteristics has told me of your own growth. I can only assume that we won the Contest?¡± ¡°Yes, we did.¡± ¡°Was it glorious? Did you kill all your opponents?¡± ¡°In the finals, I killed all but one.¡± ¡°Oh, glorious indeed. You left one alive to tell the tale of your dominance and mastery of the competition. You are indeed my own bond!¡± ¡°And what have you been up to in my absence?¡± ¡°Hunting, of course. I am up to level 70 already.¡± ¡°Still Tier Four, I see.¡± Ophirian¡¯s expression darkened briefly before returning to the glow of reunion. ¡°For now. But with you back, I am confident that we will push for the higher tiers quickly.¡± ¡°True. I have to push you up as fast as I can. I really want you to get to Tier Seven in the next few weeks. I need you to be able to handle the rigors of space without a ship around you. In that regard, I have to set up another dungeon that will begin crafting equipment for us. If you can¡¯t handle the vacuum of space with your NATURAL ARMOR and REGENERATION, I¡¯ll find another solution for you.¡± ¡°Why space?¡± ¡°Because that is how we will get to our foes. They travel in ships, so I want to remove that capability from them. I am sure that they have some other means of traversing Cosmic distances but that is going to be the exception rather than the rule. At least that is my hope. So, for now, continue to hunt and grow stronger. I will come back shortly once I have the crafting dungeon set up.¡± Ophirian shifted to his natural form and Duke immediately noted that the serpent had grown by a few meters in length and nearly half a meter in girth. He used his DUNGEON ENGINEERING to increase the respawn rate of the cave system as well as allowing the average Tier and Level of monsters to begin to increase over time. As he did so, he felt something strange ¨C an unexpected interaction with another Ability. His AURA of PROSPERITY flared in response to the dungeon changes, enhancing them even further. A message appeared that helped explain the interaction. *** Your AURA of PROPERITY has been temporarily boosted by the gods of Teldin to synergize with your other Abilities more easily. Welcome home, Champion. We expect you will be needed more than ever in the days to come. Prepare well for the coming storm as all Teldin will be relying on you! *** Duke took the message in, wondering if the gods were trying to reward him further or if they were afraid of what was coming. Either way he would take the boost and run with it. Ophirian had already returned to hunting the caves and Sam was working with Baslin to design the academy. He left the dungeon, focusing his energy on DUNGEON CORE CREATION. Book 4, chapter 29 Duke had been steadily allocating his characteristic points over the course of his interactions with everyone. By doing so slowly, he had avoided the massive changes that cause such pain and suffering. This had boosted his base Psyche to 20,000 which with all his multipliers came to 224,000. The ultimate result of his stat gains saw him with a Mana pool of over one billion Mana. All of which he was pouring into the Dungeon Core he was forming. This core was Tiering up rapidly and he was growing increasingly concerned as to whether the core or his Ability could handle what he was attempting. The Dungeon Core shuddered in his hands, trembling at the power being poured into it. Pulses of multicolored Mana burst from the core, its structure unable to grow fast enough to contain the Mana being poured into it. The shuddering increased as the now Tier Seven core started to fracture. With a clamp-down of his will, Duke kept the core together, repairing the fractures as he went. The shuddering increased and Duke realized that even with all his will focused on it, the core was not going to survive. With a thought, Duke TELEPORTED the overloaded core into space, outside the orbits of Teldin¡¯s moons. Seconds later, the overloaded core shattered, releasing hundreds of millions of Mana in a burst that briefly lit up the sky like yet another sun. As the flash faded, Duke reviewed what went wrong. It did not take him long to see that he had exceeded the scope of his Ability. He checked and saw that his DUNGEON CORE CREATION Ability had increased to Adept 149 but was still short of making it to Master. Do I just make a bunch more dungeons until I can get the Ability up to Master and go from there? I don¡¯t think I can make the crafting dungeon I am looking for at less than that rank. Yeah, I guess that¡¯s plan B. Duke activated COSMIC NAVIGATION and chose a barren system roughly ten light years away. It took a slight boost to get there with a TELEPORT as it was about ten times his base range but easily within his capabilities. Once there, he scanned each of the rocky planets for any signs of subterranean voids or passages. The planets orbited a blue supergiant star at a considerable distance. Even still, the radiation bombarding the surface of the planets rendered them inhospitable. Duke could feel his ARMOR SKIN working with his REGENERATION to combat the solar wind ripping through the solar system. He quickly found an area on the nearest planet that was likely the remains of a long-dormant volcano. Lava tubes formed countless eons ago made for perfect entryways into the depths of the planet. Stepping out of the solar wind was a relief. It was not a case that Duke couldn¡¯t take it, it was a constant irritation to his skin, making him feel as if his skin was covered in poison ivy and constantly itching. He was glad to be out of it. He followed passages downward and found a network of collapsed caves and openings. One more focused DUNGEON SENSE burst showed him where there were there were several caverns unconnected to the tunnels. Those were his destination. ¡°OK, you get a dungeon. You get a dungeon. And you get a dungeon.¡± He chuckled to himself as he quickly created all manner of dungeon types and planted them within the caverns. For the most part, he did not wait for the dungeons to fully form before planting the next one. His goal was grinding the Ability and planting as many as he could manage in a short window. While he planted dungeons, he activated his DUNGEON AURA to get a real feel for how it worked. In short, it was odd. For the most part it simply existed around him, and he knew he could interact with it like the substance and space of a dungeon. But it also felt wild and untamed. He hoped that in time and with sufficient rank, he could control the aura completely. But right now, it was wild and fluctuated around him. The aura expanded and contracted at its own whim. One moment it was tight to his body, barely a handsbreadth away from his skin. The next, it was filling the entire cavern. The aura fluctuations were enough to occasionally drain a developing dungeon core or to fill one up more rapidly or to a greater degree than Duke had planned. Still, he pressed on, rapidly creating and planting dungeon cores of all types and Tiers. He did not push any of the Tiers above six since he could sense an inherent instability if he tried to push them higher so quickly. He wound up filling what he guessed to be hundreds of caverns deep under the surface of the planet. He figured that he must have planted at least 10,000 in this one planet. It took him most of the day, but it did accomplish his goal as DUNGEON CORE CREATION broke through to Master rank at last. There was no further delay. He returned to Teldin. With his new Master Rank, Duke set himself up outside of Cloudspire and began to carefully craft the new Dungeon Core. He took his time, layering his intent and guidance throughout the core rather than trying to brute force it as he had when he failed so spectacularly. His Mana flowed into the core, filling each Tier layer carefully and precisely. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. The new mastery had shown him that rather than building the core as a single growing mass, building each Tier as a single layer upon the Dungeon Core¡¯s foundation was far more stable and sustainable. It was a longer process, but made for a far stronger core structure. Each layer was interconnected but absorbed and used his Mana independently. It took him a full thirty minutes to complete, but when he was done, each layer had been suffused with his entire Mana pool. Including the foundational core, this Dungeon Core was filled with ten billion Mana. ¡°Oh, hell yeah! That¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about!¡± Duke held the core up to the sky and announced, ¡°Look at this thing! It¡¯s perfect. Can you see it, Overmind? I finally see the perfection in a well-crafted Dungeon Core.¡± ¡°It certainly took you long enough.¡± Duke turned to see the Overmind floating in the air behind him. Before he could speak, the Overmind continued, ¡°You have been a blunt instrument up until now. Sure, you have had moments of brilliance, and you have created a number of dungeons of quality. The Forge was one that was particularly well designed because it was built with a purpose in mind. This latest dungeon was the first where you thought beyond the simple methods of creation. You created not just a Dungeon Core, but a world in and of itself. That, my faithful, is the true power of your Class and your future.¡± ¡°Way to make me feel proud and shitty all at the same time.¡± ¡°Do not feel shame for your past creations. They will grow and mature on their own paths. Some may even grow to rival even Sam and the Lake Front Dungeon in time. It¡¯s not likely, but it is possible. The vast majority of my dungeons are like the feral ones you have created. They are more spread out for sure, but the groupings you have created will make for an interesting experiment.¡± Intrigued, Duke leaned into the discussion, ¡°Experiment? What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°With the dungeons so crowded together, there will come a time when they will all be sending out creatures to either plant new cores or to explore their surroundings. These creatures will inevitably run into each other. We may see them cooperate and possibly dig new areas to plant cores, or we may see them compete and fight each other over what little space remains. We could wind up with a fight for survival between them all with a single or a few victors who would have then become tremendously powerful ¨C strong enough and aggressive enough to be replanted on the worlds of my enemies!¡± ¡°Dungeons of mass destruction? Is that what you are going for?¡± ¡°That¡¯s just one possibility in many. Go ahead and plant your dungeon. I want to see what this looks like fully realized.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t already know?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ruin my fun. Just plant the dungeon already.¡± Duke smirked as he stepped forward and planted the dungeon. He was standing a bit away from the main road from Cloudspire to the Lake Front Inn. The road had been a project that Duke Madrigal had focused on to give a secondary path to Havenreach if they didn¡¯t want to or couldn¡¯t use the Portal network. Duke had approved of the project instantly and was happy to see that it had been carried out so quickly. He secretly wondered if that was a factor of his AURA of PROSPERITY. He figured that he would have to investigate how that was affecting things now that his Psyche had taken another astronomical leap. As the dungeon formed, he stood back with the Overmind hovering over his left shoulder. It felt a bit weird but Duke was starting to get used to it. It was easier to ignore the floating core over his shoulder once the outer face of the dungeon started to form. The ground under his feet shook as the entryway pushed itself outward, carving a road all the way to the one he now stood upon. The new road was paved with white and grey paving stones and wide enough for half a dozen wagons to drive side-by-side and still have enough room to keep them comfortably apart. This new road led to a grand workshop entrance that stood nearly twenty meters tall, able to accommodate most any cargo that would pass through the workshop¡¯s doors. The doors themselves were made of thick wood, banded with what looked like brass fittings. The grand double-doors each had a smaller wicket door to allow for up to a single standard wagon to enter. Beyond the doors, the workshop itself was immense, easily a hundred meters wide. It was painted in vibrant colors. The doors were a bright turquoise while all the windows were trimmed in a golden-yellow trim thar gleamed in the sunlight. The walls themselves were mostly done in shades of red while still showing the woodgrain of the walls. Above the doors was a massive wrought iron sign that depicted an anvil with a hammer descending while gripped firmly in a man¡¯s fist. Traced in golden filagree were the words, ¡°Stormstride Crating Workshop.¡± Duke turned to look at the Overmind who slid sideways to not be resting on Duke¡¯s nose. He asked with a smile, ¡°Now does that scream, ¡®Crafters of doom and destruction¡¯ to you?¡± ¡°Well, actually, no. No it doesn¡¯t. It looks like an enormous grandmother¡¯s house.¡± ¡°Perfect. Then I got it about right. I want it to be outwardly as innocuous as possible. I would have made it smaller but we will need the large opening to move things in and out and I didn¡¯t want the proportions of the building to match the doors.¡± ¡°Then I suppose you accomplished your mission, but I don¡¯t understand why.¡± ¡°I want this to be an easy to find place for anyone who is supposed to be here. Anyone not supposed to be here will take one look at this place, laugh, and move on.¡± ¡°Duke, you are a one-of-a-kind.¡± ¡°Ill take that as a compliment. Now, let¡¯s go check this place out.¡± Book 4, Chapter 30 The path to the doors was paved smoothly making Duke¡¯s walk to the doors effortless. It had an inviting aura and perfectly matched his intent. As he reached for the wicket door, it opened inwards for him allowing a cheery light to filter out onto the drive. With the Overmind still hovering over his shoulder and a great sense of anticipation, he entered the doorway. There was a transition message which struck Duke as interesting as most dungeons he had created lately did not carry one. *** You are entering the Celestial Foundry of Teldin. This place is a haven for all of Teldin¡¯s crafters. Be welcome to ply your art here for the good of all in good faith and honor. Should you enter with anything but honor in your heart, turn around now lest you find yourself lost forever in the darker passages. *** Duke furrowed his brow at the message as he had not planned it at all in his designs. The Overmind floated next to him, having cloaked itself in its avatar form. It spoke before Duke could finish processing the message. ¡°I added that message and am holding us in the space between the dungeon¡¯s dimension and material space until we finish this discussion. This is first and foremost a place to prepare for war. Your mastercrafted Dungeon Core allows for some things you have not really touched-upon in the past such as more active self-defense. With a Master-ranked Core made with your own Mana and infused capabilities, this dungeon has a version of your XENOGLOSSIA in that it can read the intent of everyone who enters very well. If it senses that someone is coming in to do harm to it or its Core, it can shunt them to a different section that will trap the intruders in an extremely slow time dilation until you can deal with them. One day for them will be twenty four thousand years in normal time.¡± ¡°What if it gets the intent wrong? My XENOGLOSSIA works with my Intuition but even then, it¡¯s not 100 percent.¡± ¡°Then you have plenty of time to correct the issue.¡± ¡°I suppose that is true. And, given what I have seen of the Syndicate¡¯s actions, I am sure that they will come for me here. Having extra measures of safety just makes sense. Thank you for setting that up.¡± ¡°This is my war as much as it is yours. They have Entities of their own that I must deal with.¡± ¡°You know, that leads me to another question, why don¡¯t you act directly against them and their Entities?¡± ¡°When Supreme Entities directly clash, the destruction is beyond your capability to comprehend. Galaxies become weapons, sacrificing everyone and everything within. Everyone loses and we really can¡¯t kill each other. At least not permanently at this point. We just keep each other from interfering directly in each other¡¯s affairs. That is why most everything is done through Agents.¡± ¡°And I guess that makes me your Agent in all this?¡± ¡°It does. The big difference is that they are forced into doing their Entities bidding. I hope that I¡¯ve made it clear that you have choices.¡± ¡°I know I have choices, but it¡¯s their actions that have set me on this path. I¡¯m not about to back down from them now. And even if I wanted to, they would still come after me. No, I have to tear their system and structures down around their ears for them to leave me alone.¡± ¡°That is the truth of it, unfortunately.¡± ¡°Then we carry on and take the fight to them.¡± ¡°Indeed. Oh, yes, one more thing. You have over 20,000 dungeons planted right now, and your Title is at its second rank. I just wanted to remind you that there are at least two more ranks for that Title. Something to think about when you are out and about. Now, let¡¯s fully enter the workshop.¡± The pair stepped through the doorway and into the Celestial Foundry of Teldin. The first thing that struck Duke was that the entryway resembled one of the Inn dungeons with tables and a bar set up. What was immediately different were the dozens of passageways leading out of the Tavern. They all carried a golden sign above them indicating what type of crafting was available down that way. But even with those significant differences, Duke recognized the ubiquitous stairway leading up to the living areas. Their visual explorations were interrupted by their minotaur host. ¡°Greetings and welcome to-¡° the minotaur stopped in mid-sentence as he realized who was standing before him. The bull-headed creature who stood so much taller than Duke that he only came up to his chest dropped prostrate on the floor before them. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. The Overmind gestured with its hand, ¡°Please arise young one and proceed to do your duty.¡± Carefully and slowly, the minotaur stood back to its feet but kept its head bowed out of respect or perhaps fear from the way his shaggy hide shuddered, and his voice cracked. ¡°Welcome to the Celestial Foundry of Teldin. Here, you may ply virtually any crafting trade you can imagine. Supplies can be purchased or traded for and there are multiple ways to earn more crafting materials if you desire. I am your host, Sar Borglyn. Whatever you may need is only a request away.¡± ¡°Central Control Room, please.¡± Duke responded. ¡°Right this way.¡± Sar Borglyn led the pair behind the bar to a blank wall that opened for them. ¡°I shall go tend to my post.¡± The minotaur left them. Stepping through the opening, Duke found himself in what he figured the Mission Control Center for NASA looked like. There were dozens of stations set up with controls and monitors and a trio of exceptionally large screens dominated the far wall. With a satisfied nod, Duke sat down at one of the consoles and started running through the options. He quickly found that the controls were intuitive, and he could locate any crafting room, group of rooms, or even entire sections and modify their parameters easily. Among the basic parameters he could modify were environmental factors such as lighting, temperature, and humidity. But what he was more interested in were the esoteric parameters such as time dilation. The controls for time dilation worked on a sliding scale on the screen that could be zoomed in for finer control. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s even more than I expected. Can we really modify the dilation in such a wide range? Ten thousand to one seems an insane level.¡± ¡°It is and I wouldn¡¯t suggest you use it in reverse except in an emergency. Even using it normally, there are significant risks to the individuals involved. I would recommend keeping it at one hundred to one as the maximum limit for anyone not immortal. You gather a bunch of immortal workers, then go for it and see what wonders they create.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a few steps away from that right now. But I¡¯m not going to discount the possibility. For now, I¡¯m going to set the entire facility to one hundred to one and leave it there. I don¡¯t think I need to check out the individual crafting rooms as there are thousands of them. I need to really get on two things.¡± ¡°Oh, and what, my favorite Agent, are those?¡± ¡°First off, I have to get the local crafters to come here and get started, including the crafters of the Clan. Secondly, I have to track down the Syndicate¡¯s Core harvesting ships and take them off the board. Finding them might take some time but it is essential.¡± ¡°I agree with both those items. Add a third that you will likely take care of accomplishing the second item.¡± ¡°Oh, and what is that?¡± ¡°Get to Tier Eleven. And soon.¡± ¡°That fits into the plan. But I have to get to Ten first, right?¡± ¡°Indeed. You have things well in hand here. I am going to go hire some temporary Agents to assist you in your search. Right now, our best way to track the harvesters is when they actually start harvesting. That works, but I would like a bit of a more proactive capability. So, I¡¯m going to hire some information brokers to find them for us. I¡¯ll send what they find to you so you have some good targets.¡± With that, the avatar vanished, and with it, the Overmind was gone. Duke set out, ensuring the wall closed behind him as he TELEPORTED to his Throne Room yet again. Once there, he used the communications crystal, ¡°Mira this is Duke. Are you on the air?¡± The response was near immediate, ¡°I heard that you were back in town. Do you need a pickup?¡± ¡°Can you meet me outside Cloudspire?¡± Duke TELEPORTED back out in front of the crafting center. ¡°If you can pick me up on your sensors, there should be plenty of space around here to set down and we have so many things to catch up on.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got you in sight. Coming down now. Convenient that you are right outside of the city I was in orbit over.¡± ¡°Works out that way sometimes. See you in a few.¡± ¡°Roger, out.¡± Moments later, Lya¡¯s dropship descended casually, landing in the clearing on the opposite side of the road. It did not take long for the loading ramp to descend, and Duke saw Mira, Lya, and a whole horde of orcs descending before racing across the road to greet him. Gro¡¯nok was the first to arrive and swept Duke up in a bear-hug that would be crushing for any normal man. Duke simply smiled as his friend squeezed for all he was worth. Finally, he let Duke down as the others arrived, ¡°You have gotten even tougher, my friend!¡± ¡°I had little choice. The Contest called for it.¡± ¡°Oh, yes. You must tell us all about the Contest. Did you win?¡± ¡°Of course he won. He wouldn¡¯t have come back if he lost!¡± Urgoth¡¯s voice boomed across the area. Duke smiled at them all but paused to offer a bow to Elder Maw¡¯huk who casually waved him off. Nodding his acknowledgement to the dismissal of formality, he spoke, ¡°Welcome all of you. Can someone run back into the ship and ask the crafters to join us as well?¡± A young orc peeled off from the crowd and tore across the way, tripping as she transitioned to the ramp but never losing her feet. Duke¡¯s exceptional senses picked up the grunt as she disappeared into the ship. Several minutes later, Duke¡¯s greetings with everyone finally ended as the Clan crafters joined them. After several more conversations and one specific warning about the entry message, they all joined him inside the Foundry. Most took to the tables right away and servers came out to take care of them. Some stayed around Duke, his presence providing a reassuring solidity to everything. Duke explained the Foundry and all the crafting stations available and more than one left to explore. The rest settled down to hear Duke¡¯s tales of the Contest. He spent several hours and more drinks than he could count to relate the tale. It was good to catch up with them all. Book 4, Chapter 31 Duke sat in Madrigal¡¯s office, smiling at the man as Madrigal explained everything that was going on in the kingdom and the ¡°prosperity problem.¡± It seemed that Duke¡¯s aura now covered the entire planet. Word had been received from distant lands that crafters of all kinds were seeing all kinds of unexplained gains in ability as well as work output. The same went for farmers. There were reports of cows giving birth to dozens of calves at once. The fields renewed themselves nearly overnight and the biggest problem had become abundance. Even though the fields easily supported the massive increase in the herds, space was running out for pastures and grain storage. The more they delved into the issue, the less Duke felt prepared to deal with it. Prices for goods had crashed due to oversupply, making everything wildly inexpensive. The only items that were retaining any value were of the highest quality, so the master crafters were seeing a boom like never before. This is where Duke stepped in. ¡°Send notice out to the best crafters across all of Teldin. Tell them that we have built the most amazing of crafting halls and that they are all welcome to join us here. Use whatever lofty language you feel is appropriate. I have, as always, too many things to do just like you. I have to find someone to build a starport for us so that customers can come from really afar to purchase our excess goods.¡± ¡°A starport? I¡¯m not sure I know what that is.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve seen Mira¡¯s ship the Iron Reaver. Well, a starport is a place where ships much bigger than hers can come from distant planets to trade.¡± ¡°Where are you going to fit such a thing? It¡¯s not like the Iron Reaver can fit anywhere in the city.¡± ¡°It would take a significant swath of land but I think it will have to be in orbit now that I think more about it. I don¡¯t want others to experience my AURA of PROSPERITY if it can be helped.¡± Duke shook his head. ¡°So many considerations. So much to do and to prepare for a war on top of it all.¡± ¡°Did you say prepare for a war?¡± ¡°Oh, yes. For got to mention it. There is a large galaxy-spanning organization called the Syndicate. They have made themselves my enemy and I must take the offensive soon. They are still reeling from the last blow I struck but I expect it will only be a matter of time before they come here and cause trouble. So, to prevent that, or at least delay it until we are ready to deal with them, I¡¯m going to go out there and keep them on the back foot.¡± ¡°Good luck, Your Majesty. I will endeavor to keep things going in your absence.¡± Duke paused with a moment of introspection, ¡°I¡¯m really not much of a king, am I?¡± ¡°What do you mean? You have brought peace and more prosperity to this kingdom than it has ever seen in its history. You are a great king.¡± ¡°I am an absent king. I left you to handle everything and you have done an outstanding job of it.¡± ¡°You left someone you deemed competent to act in your stead while you work towards protecting not only this kingdom but the whole planet. And still, you question your worthiness?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s not a perspective I had considered.¡± ¡°That is why you have me here, Your Majesty. Do not worry yourself with the concerns of your single kingdom. Should you have wished it, you could have taken over the entire world. After defeating the Hounds and directly receiving the blessing of all the gods, none would have opposed you. Yet, you were content to stick to your own kingdom and allow others to continue to rule theirs as they saw fit. And beyond that, you are protecting us from threats from who knows where. Do not worry yourself. We all have your back. Isn¡¯t that the phrase you introduced?¡± ¡°It is indeed. Thank you, Madrigal. I have no idea what the kingdom is paying you but it¡¯s not nearly enough. Give yourself a massive raise.¡± Madrigal chuckled. ¡°Of course, Your Majesty. Of course.¡± Duke left content that at least something was handled. Time to check in on Baslin and Sam. Maybe they have the Academy designed. They¡¯ve had some time in the time dilation to do so. With a TELEPORT, he was outside the cave entrance he had created what seemed like so long ago. Only, what he was looking at was nothing resembling a cave entrance. There was a wide, winding path climbing its way up the side of a mountain. The path led to an enormous structure that resembled the Reims Cathedral of Notre Dame with its highly elaborate and overwrought series of ever outwardly expanding flying buttresses. Only, this building dwarfed the French church like the Lomonosov Moscow State University Main Building did a one-room schoolhouse. It was vast, taking up the space of another entire mountain. It rose into the sky to dominate the horizon. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°Pretty impressive, Your Majesty. Do you know what it is?¡± Duke turned to see Mayor Shellenberger standing on the side of the road with Lord Greengold. He smiled at them and gestured up at the distant structure, ¡°That, my friends, is the Academy. It is the single most impressive school that I have ever seen.¡± ¡°That massive structure is a school? What do they teach there, how to move mountains?¡± Greengold asked. ¡°It is a school for magic, so it could actually have classes on that I suppose.¡± Mayor Shellenberger asked rapid-fire, ¡°So, we can send our citizens there to learn magic? Are there entrance restrictions? Some sort of testing? What is tuition like?¡± Duke held up his hands in defeat, ¡°You¡¯re going to have to speak with the headmaster about all that. And I think I see him coming down the path now.¡± The pair turned to look up the path and saw Baslin floating down to them on what appeared to be a large fluffy red pillow with golden embroidery. His royal blue robes were similarly embroidered with unknowable arcane patterns. Duke didn¡¯t recognize them as any runes or runescript that he knew, and his XENOGLOSSIA refused to acknowledge them. He immediately decided that they were just fancy squiggles. Baslin sat comfortably cross-legged with a serene expression on his face. When he got close to the trio, he set the cushion down on the path and stepped off to greet them. ¡°Hello and welcome. I am Baslin, but I suspect you may already know who I am if you are here with our king. Above us is The Academy, a school for all manner of magical arts and I am its headmaster.¡± ¡°Well met, Baslin,¡± the Mayor started. ¡°Having such an impressive establishment appear so close to our city bore investigation. What can you tell me about this Academy of yours?¡± ¡°Investigation? Indeed. I suppose it would and to not send soldiers or even adventurers ¨C that impresses me. I feel we will get along very well here. As to the Academy, it is for the instruction of all things magic. From training new mages to alchemy to enchantment. There is even an area for teaching runescript, not that I would expect many to truly know what that is, but I digress. All who wish to learn are welcome at the Academy but advancement is solely based on merit. No amount of political clout or wealth will influence your class ranking or advancement. Anyone who attempts to influence others with such things will receive one and only one warning before being expelled. This is not the place for bullies or those who expect the influence of their parents to extend beyond the walls of their own home.¡± ¡°Laying it on pretty heavily there, Baslin.¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty, I am. And there is good reason for this. In my youth, I attended an academy myself. It was rife with the corruption and ill-temperament of privilege. I will not allow that to happen at this Academy. And I do have the backing of a rather influential figure to brunt the ire of the overprivileged when they find out that their pushing will not avail them.¡± Lord Greengold smiled as he spoke, ¡°I¡¯m already thinking of ways to market this school. Maybe we can sell it to people from all of Teldin.¡± ¡°We will not stop there,¡± Baslin countered. ¡°I will open the Academy to all of the Cosmos. I will have to find some additional talented staff, but I am fairly certain that Duke can find a way to entice them into coming here.¡± ¡°I might have something that will work for that. There must be something I can do to put my victory to work for me.¡± ¡°Your victory, Your Majesty?¡± ¡°Yes, Mayor, there was a Cosmic Contest of sorts not too long ago. I won the thing so there is likely some leverage that I can use from it. There would probably be more if I didn¡¯t wind up killing everyone in the stadium afterwards.¡± ¡°You what?¡± All three responded in unison. ¡°Oh, did I leave that part out of the story, Baslin? Oh well. Must have slipped my mind.¡± ¡°Slipped your mind!¡± ¡°Did I not mention that the closing award ceremonies were sponsored by the Syndicate and that they had filled the stadium with their people? It seemed like the perfect time to strike at the heart of our enemy. I¡¯m still not sure how they didn¡¯t know that I would do that. But, yes, that is one of the reasons I have to head out. I have to cripple their capacity to make war upon us.¡± ¡°You are taking on a Cosmos-spanning corporation all by yourself?¡± ¡°No, Ophirian is going to join me when he is ready.¡± Baslin just shook his head and stopped trying to figure his former apprentice out. Instead, he turned back to the other two, ¡°I would be happy to discuss entrance requirements if you would like. The standards of conduct are extremely high but the barrier to entry is equally low. Then again, I expect at least a seventy percent failure rate. Maybe even ninety percent. All will be welcome to try, but only the truly talented will advance past the basic classes. That is not to say that someone only receiving the basic education will leave without something valuable. Even the basic classes will allow someone to undertake a magical occupation.¡± ¡°If I may, headmaster?¡± Lord Greengold paused before receiving a nod from Baslin. ¡°What will the advanced classes teach then?¡± ¡°A fair question and one I will not be answering. In order to even understand what the advanced classes will teach, you need to complete the entire basic curriculum. I¡¯m sorry, but that is just how it is.¡± ¡°And anyone can attend?¡± ¡°Enrollment is open to all but remember that our standards are extremely high for both conduct and performance. Do not send someone here if they do not intend to give it their all. Even mastering the basics will give them more knowledge and capability than most any mage outside of the school on Teldin so the effort will have tremendous payoff.¡± ¡°You seem right proud and confident in your new school.¡± ¡°It has been centuries in the making. It¡¯s only just now that it is open to enrollment.¡± ¡°Well, is there any way we could get a tour of the campus?¡± ¡°I thought you would never ask. Climb aboard.¡± Baslin offered a wide sweeping gesture towards his big pillow. With only a slight hesitation, Greengold and Shellenberger climbed aboard. When they looked to Duke he shook his head, ¡°I have too many other tasks to accomplish right now. Enjoy your tour.¡± Baslin did not wait for them to settle down before taking off. The pair flopped down awkwardly on the pillow as they sped off. Duke departed as well with much on his mind. Book 4, Chapter 32 The number of things on Duke¡¯s ¡°to do¡± list had been steadily growing but the list of ¡°things I want to do¡± had dwindled significantly, pushing his mood towards melancholy. That lasted until his COSMIC NAVIGATION Ability informed him that another one of his dungeons had just disappeared. It happened on the same barren planet that the last batch had been taken from. But now, he understood what was happening more clearly and his course of action was far more definable. It only took a single TELEPORT to get to the planet. When he had first come here with Mira and crew, his maximum distance possible by OVERCHANNELING all his available Mana into the Ability had been around 10,000 light years. Now, he could move nearly 400,000 light years with the base Ability. The growth was remarkable but that was not what his mind was focused on. His DUNGEON SENSE quickly identified several teams on the planet but this time he spent the extra time and Mana to expand his sense to locate his true target ¨C the ship orbiting the planet. What he found was not a single ship but what he guessed was twenty. The reason he could not be sure was that there was some sort of energy field blocking his senses around each object in orbit. As they each carried their own field, it was easy to identify them as separate objects, but he could tell nothing more about them than their presence. He suspected that their very presence was supposed to be hidden by the fields but the missing space that his senses registered pointed them out easily. Duke engaged all his stealth-related Abilities and Skills and headed for orbit and the twenty objects waiting for him. Stealthed as he was, Duke should not have shown up on any sensors so he was taken completely by surprise when he was instantly bathed in purely destructive energy lancing out from one of the objects. He felt his ARMOR SKIN resist the destructive energies for just long enough for him to TELEPORT out of the way of the beam. The brief contact with the attack had stripped away his skin over the entire front of his body and a quarter of Duke¡¯s Health with it. His REGENERATION was working to repair the damage but would need several seconds to catch up. Duke changed his flight pattern, taking a more evasive path and changing his location with small TELEPORTATIONS. As he got closer, all twenty objects opened fire, making it nearly impossible to continue closer with the degree of evasion he needed to keep up. He was now spending all his effort dodging the attacks that were coming with increasing frequency. Duke finally retreated several light minutes away to give him time to regroup and reconsider his approach. What in the actual fuck was that? First off, I know I¡¯m not the king of stealth, but they had no reason to even know I was there let alone spot me that quickly. And those weapons¡­so much stronger than anything they have ever shown before. Their dreadnaughts weren¡¯t able to hit me. It¡¯s like they have taken this to an extreme. Now how do I deal with them because sure as hell, I am not letting them to continue killing my dungeons! If I could only see past their energy fields, I could just TELEPORT to the ships directly but that doesn¡¯t seem to be possible. Duke TELEPORTED directly between two of the ships, figuring that they would not fire towards each other and even if they did, a simple evasion would have them striking each other. It did not go as he expected. All the ships opened fire on him again. As he dodged, he noticed that the energy beams warped around the other ships, leaving them unharmed. As he arrived back at his ¡°hiding point¡± he saw that he was not so lucky. He had been struck by no less than three beams even if they were glancing blows. The damage to his body was substantial. He was thankful that the pain was short-lived but his mind was working overtime to figure out a new approach. He had to try something different. As he ran different strategies through his head, he was informed of two more dungeons that had been harvested for their Cores. Frustration welled up inside him as he scrambled for a solution. I could just sling Abilities at them and see if anything works but I¡¯m certain that won¡¯t work either. If my TELEPORTATION Ability didn¡¯t cancel momentum, I could capture a comet and unleash it on them but that¡¯s not an option. If I can¡¯t find a way to attack them, then I¡¯m running out of options. Once again, Duke returned to the planet looking for a way to get to the ships and stop them. This time he kept his distance and really tried to study the ships. He focused on one single ship with all his senses, pouring everything he could into them. After what seemed like an hour, four more dungeons had vanished from the surface of the planet. But that extended effort told him something that he had never expected. The energy fields around the ship was acting like a dimensional barrier in a manner that was suddenly very familiar to him. It was acting like the aura of a dungeon ¨C like his own DUNGEON AURA. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. With newfound confidence, he turned on his own Aura and moved in. The first beam that should have struck him simply warped around his body and continued on into space. A smile spread across his face as he finally had a solution. Beam after beam struck his Aura and passed around him just like they did to the other ships. He accelerated towards the ships, eager for action. The beams came at him with increasing frequency and intensity, but the DUNGEON AURA kept them warping around him. In minutes, he was approaching the energy field surrounding the first of the ships he could reach. His DUNGEON SENSE finally began to register something as he got close enough to touch the field. What he was feeling was a sense of wrongness and pain, a feeling of warping and torture. He reached out to touch the field and screams exploded into his mind. The anguish washed over him, the trauma of pain an old acquaintance of his. He floated in space, at the edge of the ship¡¯s energy field for longer than he could recall but finally he understood what he was dealing with and his ire only grew. These ships were powered by Dungeon Cores that had been tortured and warped into configuration. Forced through coercion and pain to serve those who destroyed their own brethren only to use their hollowed out, soulless corpses as tools. Duke extended his Psyche through his DUNGEON SENSE and finally connected with what was left of the Dungeon Core¡¯s mind. Duke could feel the Core¡¯s consciousness hiding in the darkest corner of its mind surrounded by the magical tortures that had forced it to surrender control of its own magic. Duke cut through the swirling demons, sucking them into his own subconscious as echoes of torment and fuel for the Reaper. Finally, he was metaphorically before the Core itself. It was small and gave off enormous fear. ¡°Be at ease, little one. I am here for you.¡± ¡°No! No more. I let you have it all. There¡¯s no more to give. Please leave me alone!¡± Duke¡¯s heart lurched at the fear permeating those words. He responded, ¡°I am not here to take anything from you. I am here to get you away from those who tortured you. I am here to take you home.¡± ¡°No more lies! No more pain! Go away!¡± The shouting of the Core¡¯s remaining mind was enough to push Duke out of the shared mindspace. The next thing he registered was the pain of something impaling him. He looked down and an enormous wasp¡¯s stinger was protruding from his stomach. He looked up to see a swarm of van-sized wasps that moved through space around the ship like it was air. He TELEPORTED himself off the stinger and turned to face the swarm. His DUNGEON SENSE was still active and showed him what he was up against. These were nothing more than dungeon creatures formed and directed by whomever was controlling the Core and the ship it had formed. Duke grit his teeth and, with a nearly effortless flexing of will, took control of the dungeon monsters. He then directed them to show him the way inside the ship. They obliged happily, bowing to the power of a true Dungeon Emperor. Minutes later, he TELEPORTED past the access hatch and into the ship portion of this mobile dungeon. If not for how they had tortured the Dungeon Core to achieve this marvel, he would have been impressed with what they had constructed. The ship interior resembled a mansion with fine decorations and opulence in abundance. Duke found himself standing on plush carpeting that traveled the length of the wide and tall hallway. Actual paintings lined the hallway depicting what Duke read to be leaders of the Syndicate over the millennia. Some were human or human-like but many were not. There was one that appeared to be some sort of sentient jellyfish. Duke shuddered just looking at the thing. He continued down the hall, emerging into a grand ballroom complete with sparkling crystal chandeliers. He proceeded across the dance floor, heading towards a pair of golden-framed double doors that he guessed would take him to something resembling the bridge of the ship. That he had not run into any resistance was somewhat confusing to Duke and he once again extended his DUNGEON SENSE to try and figure things out. What he found was odd. The entire interior of the ship was indeed laid out like an old mansion. There were kitchens, dozens of bedrooms in different wings, and one area which resembled the deck of a tallship complete with the wooden steering wheel. There were crewmembers scattered all over the ship but far less than Duke had expected. He counted no more than fifteen and only one on what he assumed was the bridge. He hastened his pace, heading right for the bridge and hoping for some answers before he tore this who construction down and returned control to the Core. The doors to the bridge were open and Duke stepped through them easily. His DUNGEON SENSE showed him no traps or other impediments, so he strode out onto the deck full of confidence. The scene before him perfectly resembled a wooden sailing ship at sea down to the waves and the smell of the sea air. A man in a colonial-era British Navy outfit, complete with dark blue coat with white silk facings and gold lace trim, silk breeches, a silk waistcoat, a white linen shirt with ruffle cuffs, a white cravat and white stockings. It was topped off by a gold-trimmed tri-corn hat. The man turned away from the wheel of the ship and faced Duke. The man spoke with an accent that Duke could not believe, ¡°Thou didst tarry excessively in thine arrival. Dost thou find pleasure in the vista? It doth remain mine utmost preference amongst all the choices presented.¡± Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA translated the words for him, but he instinctively knew that the man was speaking English, Colonial English. And the man was speaking it natively. Things had just gotten even more interesting. Book 4, Chapter 33 Duke¡¯s curiosity fought with his desire to wipe out everyone involved in the destruction of his dungeons. The reality of what he was seeing did not coincide with the reality that he understood to be true, and the dissonance was striking him deeply. Once again, his XENOGLOSSIA didn¡¯t translate the man¡¯s words, leaving it just as he spoke, in 18th century Royal English. ¡°Thou dost appear perplexed. What doth give rise to thy tribulations?¡± ¡°Who the hell are you and why are you speaking English?¡± ¡°I am Baron Lane Gardner, and I extend mine greetings unto thee, notwithstanding thy humble vernacular. I do articulate the King''s English, for I am a true Englishman. Why, pray tell, would I converse in any other tongue?¡± Duke shook his head as he wrapped his mind around what he was hearing. He tried one more time, ¡°OK, fine. Baron Gardner, what are you doing here?¡± ¡°Verily, I find myself traversing the vast ocean and vanquishing all the serpents that do appear. Pray tell, what dost thou occupy thyself with in this place if not to join mine illustrious crew? Thou didst indeed come hither to enlist among us, didst thou not?¡± ¡°What you and your crew are doing is hunting and killing sentient beings. You are all murderers and I cannot allow that to continue!¡± ¡°What folly is this? These dreadful creatures of the deep are but mindless brutes, nothing further.¡± ¡°You truly don¡¯t know what you are doing and who you are doing it to? Are you just that backwards, or is this all some sort of elaborate ruse? Perhaps I should just eliminate you all like I had originally planned.¡± ¡°Thou couldst no more inflict harm upon me within this, mine sanctuary, than an ant might inflict upon an elephant. Ponder most judiciously ere thou dost proffer threats beyond thy capability to fulfill. Perchance, thou dost require a demonstration.¡± Gardner then gestured and black chains sprung from the doorway to encircle Duke. They wrapped around him in a split second, pinning his arms as well. Duke, for his part, watched the chains impassively, not taking his gaze from the ship¡¯s Captain. ¡°Thus, thou dost perceive. The entirety of this world doth move at my sovereign command. Thou art naught before mine immense power.¡± Duke kept his gaze locked on the man as the chains vanished into smoke. ¡°You have absolutely no idea who you are dealing with. But let me give you a taste.¡± He further flexed his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability, dispelled the ship¡¯s deck and surrounding seas, reshaping the entirety of the ship into a series of jail cells floating in space. Each other person who had been on the ship had their individual jail cell. Duke glared at them all, ¡°You have attacked dungeon after dungeon, killing them indiscriminately and using their corpses to power the empire that you serve whether you know it or not. That all ends now. I will allow it no longer.¡± Now that Duke could see space around him, he could see that the other ships had ringed him and the ship he was on, bringing their weaponry to bear but had not opened fire. Since they had come so close, he was able to reach out to each of them with his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability and grab hold of their dungeon substance. Each ship was of a completely different design but all were crafted from tortured and warped dungeons. He paused momentarily as his communication crystal chirped. They can contact me like that? Well, shit. I thought these things were more secure than that. Guess I¡¯ll answer and see what they have to say before I tear them all apart. ¡°Go ahead. I am listening.¡± ¡°Unidentified lifeform, you are interfering with Syndicate business. You are advised to cease your activities and depart this area before hostile action must be taken.¡± ¡°So, you don¡¯t call shooting at me repeatedly hostile action? It felt pretty hostile to me. And who am I talking to anyway?¡± ¡°This is Captain Pritchard of the Syndicate Ship Titan Extractor. To whom am I speaking?¡± ¡°I am the Lorax. I speak for the dungeons.¡± Duke had to clench his jaw to keep from chuckling. The Lorax. That¡¯s a good one. ¡°Your harvesting days are over. Kindly surrender your ships and any Dungeon Cores you have kidnapped.¡± ¡°OK, Lorax. I am giving you one final warning. Leave or die.¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°I tried to be diplomatic. I really did. But you fuckheads just don¡¯t get it, do you?¡± Duke didn¡¯t wait for a response. Instead, he pulled all the ships together into a single prison, depositing the entire crews into cells, and then began to shrink the prison around them all. The cries of disbelief and panic came quickly, followed by the cries of pain. In seconds, it was over, and Duke called forth the actual Dungeon Cores from the ships. The Cores were dim but still held life. He placed them into his ¡°core bag¡± and headed for the plant¡¯s surface. There were more Syndicate forces to deal with. Arriving on the planet¡¯s surface, he headed straight for the base camp of the Syndicate forces. It seemed they were waiting for him as he was greeted with weapons fire. Duke used his DUNGEON AURA to absorb the projectiles and beams. Oh shit, does this make me untouchable? Duke casually walked forward into the increasingly desperate fire. Feeling completely invulnerable was a mistake. The blade that struck him from behind was overwhelmingly enchanted to be able to cut through anything that they had ever encountered short of a dungeon wall. It sliced cleanly through Duke¡¯s neck in a fountain of blood. His head spun through the air with a sickening rotational velocity, dizzying him before landing in complete darkness within an enchanted sack. Duke¡¯s body collapsed lifelessly to the plant¡¯s surface. For Duke, everything stopped, frozen in time. Hapthor didn¡¯t celebrate his latest kill. Instead, he flicked the blood off his blade before wiping the last of it off on the clothes of his victim. He glanced around at the others while they celebrated the victory. He supposed they had reason to celebrate as, by all accounts, this foe was impossibly difficult to deal with, having a range of advantages so long, they still have not been properly catalogued. None of that mattered to Hapthor. The hunt was over, his stalking complete. He had the satisfaction of the kill and that was all he needed. He didn¡¯t bother to check his notifications as his level had not increased. He still sat at level 599 and needed to find an even greater foe to make the final step towards Tier 13. ¡°Stop dancing around like children and place that body in a stasis chamber. Mr. Nonetes commissioned me for this job and I¡¯ll not have you lot mess it up at this point. When you get back to the station, go wild. Spend your bonuses on drink and cheap companionship or whatever other hedonistic pursuits you care for but not here and not now. The job is not done until the subject is delivered.¡± The group sobered up immediately, all signs of revelry ceased, none daring to oppose the intimidating figure that they had all seen vanish before their eyes and take out the target. Among the group was one who had worked with Hapthor once before and had not joined the revelry. He instead had been hailing the ships for a pickup, knowing the assassin¡¯s desire for efficiency. He spoke up as everyone else fell silent. ¡°Sir, we have a problem. None of the ships are responding to my calls. I have checked over my comms gear and everything tests as normal. Can you bring them up on yours?¡± Hapthor¡¯s gaze pierced through the man momentarily before he spoke, ¡°At least one of you are still on task. What¡¯s your name, soldier? You look familiar to me.¡± ¡°Name¡¯s Geslek, sir. We worked together on the Oslomar job.¡± ¡°Yes, that makes sense. That job went well, and now you display competence above your fellow soldiers. Would you like to join my staff? I can make the arrangements.¡± ¡°I¡­I would be honored.¡± Hapthor grinned, malice glowing in his eyes, ¡°I thought you might. No one has turned me down yet. I know I am a demanding sort, but my people are well rewarded. From this day forward, you have two paths open to you ¨C death in service or immortality. Let¡¯s be smart and see that you take the latter, eh?¡± Gasps erupted from the other soldiers at the mere mention of the possibility of immortality. The Eleventh Tier was beyond a dream for them. They were considered an elite squad, but none imagined they would reach above Tier Five, let alone the elusive pinnacle of immortality. That it was offered to one of their own was overwhelming. One by one, they straightened up and tried their own comms, hoping they would be tapped as well. None of them received a response. The ships were not answering. ¡°Anyone? Any response at all?¡± Hapthor gazed around the group but only got head shakes in the negative. ¡°Very well.¡± He strode away from the group to a clearing and began pulling items out of his storage device. He had received it as loot from a dungeon run centuries ago on his homeworld. That was before he joined up with the Syndicate and learned that dungeons were monsters in and of themselves. It took him nearly an hour to retrieve and set up the equipment. Thankfully, everyone else kept their distance and knew better than to ask stupid questions while he worked. Finally, the equipment had been set up and he turned it on, watching the power supply carefully to see how stable it was. ¡°Not as stable as I had hoped. I¡¯ll have to keep this short then.¡± He waited for the systems to fully energize and then sent his message through the Exospace tunnel. ¡°Hapthor requesting assistance. Subject eliminated. Remains captured. Ships unresponsive and likely destroyed. Pickup requested.¡± The response he received was equally brief, ¡°Message received. Retrieval dispatched. ETA six weeks.¡± Hapthor nodded and began to tear his set-up down and put it back in storage. When he was done, he strode over to the group and smiled at the team leader, ¡°So, have you killed all the habitable dungeons or is there somewhere we can hang out for five or six weeks?¡± ¡°Number sixty-two is habitable. Low-tier goblins are the main threat but nothing we can¡¯t easily handle.¡± ¡°Good, grab everyone up and we¡¯ll head there. Once set up inside, we will keep a rotating guard outside to scan for incoming comms. Agreed?¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan to me, sir.¡± He spoke louder so that everyone could hear him, ¡°Break camp. We are setting up in number thirty-two. I want a camp set up with a defensible perimeter within an hour of our arrival. Losnath, you are to gather five others to set up a rotating comms scan outside the dungeon. OK, everyone, break camp and move out!¡± Book 4, Chapter 34 The goblins posed no real danger to the Syndicate crew. They were regularly tasked with subduing dungeons and taking their cores. A tribe of goblins, no matter how large, was an inconsequential threat. Wave after wave of the creatures swarmed out of their warrens and tried to overrun the Syndicate camp only to be met with mass area of effect weapons that killed the goblins before they could even get close. Hapthor, for his part, ignored the goings-on around him. He was more fascinated with the prize he had acquired for the new sector head. Fulfilling his first commissioned mission would look good for his future. He smiled as he looked at the disembodied head that floated in the stasis field before him. ¡°A real shame we had to cross paths like this. You were building up something of a reputation amongst everyone. I actually had to consider if this commission was worth the risk. Glad to see that it was. Doubly glad that they really only want your head. I¡¯m sure your body contains secrets for me to wrest. Like how did you shrug off all that weapon fire. I saw nothing resembling a personal force field. Yes indeed, many a mystery to explore.¡± For now, Hapthor was content to stare into the lifeless eyes of his latest victim. The more he stared, the more they creeped him out, as if they were still alive and staring back. He shook off the feeling and put the head back in its bag. As the bag closed there was an almost imperceptible electronic chirp before the bag¡¯s magical stasis layered over the technological stasis field. Before he could really take notice, one of the comms-watchers came up to him excitedly. ¡°Sir, we have comms. Ships have entered the system and will be ready for pickup in three hours.¡± ¡°Excellent. Let¡¯s kill off the rest of the goblins, take the core and get out of here!¡± A cheer rose up from the Syndicate troops as they surged out of their positions. They had been suffering through the grind of fending off wave after ineffectual wave of goblins. The go-ahead to strike back set them alight with energy, cutting goblins down with ease and charging past the corpses. As the elite troops entered the caves, they were met with a dozen boss monster goblin shamans. The shamans opened up with Spells of many different sorts. Curses to weaken the body, blood poisons to cause internal organs to hemorrhage, flames as hot as lava, cloying acid to burn through skin and bone alike. None of the spells hit their targets. Personal shields deflected the spells away and the elites tore into the goblin bosses. It was over in less than a minute. There was just nothing this newly Tier Two dungeon could throw at the mostly Tier Three and Four elites. The leader of the squad was a Tier Five and he blazed through the goblin bosses with an ease that set the others to wonder. They had seen her at work before, but never with the enthusiasm she brought with her now. The first shaman she encountered was cut down in two swift slices of the blade. The next only took a single cut. The third staggered into her path from another¡¯s attack. This one, she planted a foot on its chest and rode the thing to the ground where her blade pierced its skull, finishing it. When the last goblin shaman fell, a brief glance showed that the squad was still intact and not particularly injured. The squad leader pressed on, confident that her charges would follow. Not necessarily blindly, but they would follow her wherever she went. There was no room for insubordination or second-guessing among the elite ranks of the Syndicate. They followed their leaders, or they weren¡¯t among the elite for long. Those that fell out of the elite ranks were not seen again and were not talked about, but the implication was clear ¨C follow along or you were dead. Finally, they fought the last-ditch efforts of the dungeon¡¯s core at protection and made it to the core itself. Without hesitation, the leader plucked the core up and tossed it from hand to hand. It was warm to the touch as they always were, but she didn¡¯t remark upon it. Instead, she simply tossed it into her carrying pouch and turned on her heel to exit the soon-to-collapse dungeon. This time, there was not even the briefest hint of hesitation as her squad followed her out of the dungeon to meet up with the rest of the Syndicate forces. There was a heavy-lift shuttle already waiting for them all and she followed Hapthor right up the ramp. Rank had its privileges. The rest of the elite squad followed and then the support troops. Settling down in their seats, Hapthor nodded to the squad leader, and she weighed her options. Finally, she spoke. ¡°You are taking one of my best squad members.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°And it will take me some time to replace him, leaving me shorthanded.¡± ¡°That sounds like a ¡®you¡¯ problem.¡± She knew when to cut her losses. ¡°Yes, I suppose it does. Do you have anyone you could recommend I pursue?¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. He laughed. ¡°If there was anyone of quality, I would have taken them for myself. This mission was unusual enough with my team staying behind. Normally, I only work with the hyper-competent. The rabble you run with doesn¡¯t qualify for consideration with, apparently, one single exception.¡± She knew better than to push her position against him but resolved to pursue it with her superiors. Everybody answered to someone. This assassin was no different in that regard. But she knew she would have to make sure it never came back to her. She was important, but not so critical an asset that she would be shielded should he find out. She could, of course, just let it go, but that is not how she had risen to Tier Five and gained her own elite harvesting squad. She settled back in her chair, plotting as the shuttle burned for orbit and the waiting ship. She hoped it would be one that she could take to continue her harvesting activities. The commissions on harvested cores was tremendous and it paid for all her special training and extra ¡°needs.¡± Her hand involuntarily caressed the core in her pouch as a slight smile traced her lips. Alpho Nonetes waited impatiently as the long-awaited ship docked at his station. Taking over the sector leadership had been a whirlwind of meetings and learning so many things about how the sector actually ran. Without Edgemont to assist him, there was no way he could have survived his first month, let alone gotten to this point. That man was a godsend who seemed to know everyone and all the underlying rules that nobody ever talked about. Edgemont had even connected him with the leader of the prime sector. That was an invaluable connection that could only drive his career further. Now, he sat waiting for his prize to arrive. It had been exorbitantly expensive to hire the immortal assassin but seeing as the monster had collected the prize in short order, he deemed it worth it. Replacing the harvesting ships would take his shapers a few months but he still had fourteen harvesting fleets in action. The core business was well in hand and with this interloper taken care of, he was ready to increase output significantly. The shipyards were demanding more cores and creating them from the rare monster core was impracticably inefficient and expensive. Making them from the captured dungeon cores was far cheaper now that they had perfected the process. Even accounting for the maintenance and operational costs of the harvesting fleets, it was a fraction of the cost of using monster cores. He took great satisfaction at being the one who was going to bring it all back up to speed. And so quickly. Maybe another promotion was coming his way. The smile was stamped on his face, refusing to depart. He watched the ship dock and shifted his view to the crew departing. There was one figure he was more interested in than any other and that was Hapthor. The assassin was bringing him his prize and the anticipation was brimming over. Where others had failed, he had brought the criminal to heel. Sure, he had to hire an immortal assassin to get it done but no one else had even thought that far ahead. This was his victory, and he was savoring every moment of it. He watched as Hapthor made his way to his office. Finally, the assassin arrived. Edgemont informed him through a subtle signal that flashed on his desk. He responded with a ¡°make him wait¡± signal while he spent the next thirty seconds calming himself down and adjusting his appearance. It would not do to look to eager, after all. When the door opened and Hapthor entered, Alpho had to use every bit of his discipline to not leap out of his chair ¨C for two reasons. One, the assassin was even more intimidating in person than over video link; he just exuded danger. The second was pure excitement and eagerness to get his hands on the prize. With a focus of will, he invited the assassin in, ¡°Come in, come in. Please have a seat and tell me of your mission. I understand it was successful?¡± Hapthor sat in the offered chair, taking his time to get comfortable, reading the sector commander¡¯s nervousness despite his attempts to hide it. He had to admit that the guy was doing far better at masking it than most ¨C perhaps he had a future beyond this office. With that assessment, he decided that having such a man in his debt would be in his long-term interest. He reined in his immortal aura and smiled at the man. ¡°Why yes, sector commander, my mission was a success. I have retrieved the target¡¯s head and have it in this wonderful stasis box for you.¡± Hapthor brought the softly glowing box out of his own bag and placed it upon the desk. The box itself, resembled a glass case with a thick golden base. The ¡°glass¡± was actually the stasis field projected by the equipment encased in the gold below. He smiled as the sector commander¡¯s emotions fluctuated from wonder to disgust and back again. ¡°As you can see, I captured him at the moment of death. That look of shock should serve you well sitting on your shelf as a reminder for those who would consider getting in your way. Wouldn¡¯t you say?¡± ¡°Indeed, I would. You have done an exceptional job in bringing this trophy to me. I have already released the bonus payment in your contract. Thank you for this. Is there anything I should know about this ornament?¡± ¡°Nothing in particular. It¡¯s powered by a Tier Two core and has a minimal power drain. You will need to change core in about a decade, but until then, you are good to go. Enjoy your prize.¡± As Hapthor left the office, Alpho cleared a spot on the shelves behind his desk to display his grisly trophy. He realized that the assassin was right, this was just the thing to keep everyone in line. ¡°Maybe I will make a collection of those who displease me. That will provide everyone else with sufficient motivation to do their best for me.¡± Satisfied, he sat behind his desk and began to run through the sector¡¯s efficiency reports. They took up the rest of his day and he left with a great sense of satisfaction. ¡°Edgemont, would you care to join me for a celebratory drink and meal? You have been such a great support for me so far. You should be celebrated too.¡± Edgemont smiled, ¡°Yes, that is a great idea. We have a reservation at the Rhyneline.¡± ¡°Always thinking ahead. You are invaluable, Edgemont.¡± He did not hear the subvocalized response, ¡°You have no idea.¡± Book 4, Chapter 35 Alpho sat behind his desk waiting for the first meeting of the day to start. It wasn¡¯t originally on his calendar, but you never turn down a meeting with your executive leader, no matter how disturbing their appearance. There were still five minutes before the meeting was scheduled to start but he couldn¡¯t wait. He knew this was going to be good news for him. It just had to be. Standing, he turned around and adjusted his trophy¡¯s positioning for the seventeenth time this morning. He sat back down and double-checked the camera angles. Satisfied that the trophy would show over his left shoulder, he tried to do some work but just could not concentrate. He was too excited. Finally, he downed the drink that Edgemont had left for him with a note that simply said, ¡°Drink this before your meeting.¡± He didn¡¯t know what was in the drink but he knew Edgemont had steered him right at every turn, so he trusted the man almost implicitly now. Despite sitting on his desk for at least an hour, if not longer, the drink was still cool as it slid down his throat and sent a coolness flowing out from his stomach. The coolness from the drink suffused his body almost instantly and Alpho nearly panicked at it being some kind of poison, but then the cooling sensation settled into his brain and his mind calmed. He felt a sense of calm focus settle over him and he immediately knew that Edgemont had, once again, come through for him. All the external concerns slipped away, and he put his full mind towards the meeting, letting everything else fade into indistinct background, effortlessly ignored. A sharp electronic chirp sounded in the room, and he instinctively reacted, activating his holoprojector for the meeting. The meeting hadn¡¯t started yet, but one did not leave their executive waiting. He mentally thanked Edgemont yet again for setting up the reminder tone to start his holo system in advance. Even though the man had the day off ¨C a reward Alpho had insisted upon, he had still made sure everything was set up perfectly for him. Alpho adjusted his appearance one last time and set in to wait for the meeting to start. There was no warning before the holoprojector started to form into an image. Thanks to the calming nature of the drink Edgemont had left for him, he didn¡¯t react when his executive appeared in the room. The being that was his executive was like nothing he had encountered before but he was prepared by both the background images Edgemont had provided and the wonderful drink. Floating before him was a creature of darkness and tentacles. It was a dark mass the size of his torso with hundreds of black tentacles. The exact count of tentacles was impossible to ascertain as they kept growing and retracting, hiding their number. Where the voice came from, Alpho had no idea, but the voice had a distinctly female timbre. ¡°Greetings Alpho. How are you adjusting to your role as sector commander?¡± ¡°Quite well, Rynis. It is not without its challenges but for every challenge there is a solution.¡± ¡°So, it would seem the rumors are true. You have eliminated the mass-murderer. That is his head on your shelf behind you, is it not?¡± ¡°It is. The murderer has been dealt with. It was so cooperative for him to take my bait and walk into the trap set for him.¡± ¡°I understand you contracted an immortal assassin to perform the task. Is that correct?¡± ¡°It is. I felt the one-time expense was less of an impact to our long-term profitability than to continue the ineffective low-tier tactics that my predecessor attempted which simply compounded losses with no measurable results.¡± Rynis laughed, its tentacles shaking and shuddering in their expanding and contracting dance. ¡°Yes, this was the smarter path. I commend you on your decisive action and rapid results. Have you made a determination on his plant of origin?¡± ¡°My original inclination was to liquidate all the planet¡¯s assets and resources but my scouts have detected some interesting anomalies that bear investigation instead.¡± ¡°Anomalies? What anomalies have been detected?¡± ¡°We are still in the preliminary stages of investigation, but it appears that there is some sort of planetwide productivity boost. It is too early to tell if it¡¯s technical, magical, or some other form or function, but output of goods production seems to be orders of magnitude beyond where it should be for such a primitive planet.¡± ¡°Oh, that is interesting. Send a more robust investigative team and report back to me. Your sector may have something more to offer than just the Core Production Station. I am well-pleased with your performance thus far. Expect a Tier boosting bonus to arrive as soon as a courier can reach you. Continue the good work.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Alpho had no chance to respond before the holographic image vanished. Despite the drink¡¯s calming effects, he felt his heart racing with excitement. He was getting a Tier-boost! The resources to reach Tier Six were well beyond the means of even a sector commander. There were a number who could do so on their own, but that required significant combat against increasingly difficult foes. Something no corporate manager, no matter how senior, could do on their own. There were groups you could hire to pull you along with them but they were exorbitantly expensive and took years ¨C something that Alpho was just not able to do. Full of energy, Alpho left his office and went for an inspection tour of his station. It was the largest in the entire sector with over thirty million lifeforms living on it. The vast majority were some strain of human or other, but there were quite a few more exotic lifeforms as well. He did not know or particularly care why the Cosmos seemed to be human-dominant since he was a human after all. He just figured that they were the superior lifeform. His tour took him through several areas using his personal station transport. He stopped at the most important areas including the magitech laboratory where the security was so tight even he needed several steps to be vetted for entry and even then, he needed to be escorted through the area by a pair of Tier Seven guards. Up until then, he didn¡¯t know there were any Tier Seven guards on the whole station! Meanwhile, the beeping in his office continued to increase in both frequency and urgency. The office was locked and sealed while both he and Edgemont were out so no sound filtered out at all. Even the flashing red light did not make it beyond Alpho¡¯s desk despite the cycling of electromagnetic spectra that the alarm tried to use to sound out its warning. The sealing of the office prevented that as well. No one was going to spy on the office while neither were there by design. Finally, the alarm silenced in mid tone as its power was fully exhausted. The Tier Two core that had been powering it finally shattered as even the Mana holding it together was drained. With a pop, the stasis field failed, spilling Duke¡¯s head onto the shelf where it rolled briefly before making the unceremonious drop to the floor to roll under the desk. Duke was disoriented as he slammed his head into the underside of the desk. Everything about where he was had changed and he had no idea how it happened. He could feel the residual tingle of his body REGENERATING. The tingle covered almost his entire body which was something in itself. He pushed the chair out of his way and levered himself out from under the desk and to his feet. ¡°Where the fuck am I and why am I naked? Did I just? No, I would have remembered if I was with someone.¡± He retrieved some clothes from his INVENTORY and proceeded to get dressed while looking around at what he now realized was a Syndicate office. He stopped short when he saw the oddly thick golden platter that had held a rather specific notation on it that grabbed his interest. ¡°Duke, Tier Nine mass-murderer and former Champion of the Cosmic Contest.¡± He looked at it again with renewed interest. Picking it up, he saw the shattered and fading remains of a Mana Core and all sorts of runescripting that he didn¡¯t recognize. He could read it thanks to his XENOGLOSSIA but it didn¡¯t show him what it actually did in the literal translation. Instead of messing with it, he tossed it into his INVENTORY and moved on. He had notifications to read and he was hoping he would gain some insight as to how he had gotten wherever he was. *** You have slain 66 Syndicate officers and crew ranging from Tier One to Six. You gain 13,400 (17,740) Experience. By destroying one of the Syndicate Core Harvesting fleets, you have reduced their operational capacity. You have only lost 597 dungeons due to their continued operations. Despite these losses, you still maintain 21,041 active dungeons under your control. *** Duke nodded along, realizing that while he was still relatively safe from his title downgrading, he had to still both put a stop to the dungeon destruction and create more. While he continued reading his notifications, he started pouring Mana into his DUNGEON CORE CREATION Ability. Many of his notifications were inconsequential but eventually, he came to the important stuff. *** You have been beheaded. While this would not normally be fatal given your Master-ranked REGENERATION, both your head and body have been separated and placed in stasis. If either is removed from stasis in the next ten days, it will become your primary self and REGENERATION will restore the missing parts. If neither has been removed from stasis, your head will become the primary self until such a time as it leaves stasis or another body part is removed from stasis first. *** Well, that explains what the hell happened. Kinda. I still have no idea who got me, or even how. None of the Syndicate forces were getting through my DUNGEON AURA so what hit me? This still doesn¡¯t explain how I got out of stasis. Time to read on, I suppose. *** You have successfully absorbed the effect ¡°Stasis¡± and can now use it as an Ability. This Ability allows you to enter a state where time does not pass for you. You cannot be physically harmed while in the state by anything less than five ranks higher than the Ability. The duration of the timeless state is based on your Rank and the Level of the Ability. You have gained this Ability at Untrained, Level 1. At Untrained Rank, you can maintain this state for up to one second per Level of the Ability. You must choose the duration at activation. *** Well, that¡¯s something. I have no clue when I could use such a thing, but I suppose it could be useful in surviving an explosion or something like that. Not that one second is a lot of time to be timeless. I suppose I can train it up. And I suppose that also explains the shattered core pieces. I must have drained the Mana out of the core while absorbing the effect. Glad to re-affirm that passive still works. It doesn¡¯t show up anywhere on my stat or Ability sheets but I¡¯m damned glad it¡¯s there. OK, now to figure out where I am and what the hell is going on! Book 4, Chapter 36 Edgemont had not taken a day off in over four centuries. He frankly didn¡¯t know what to do with a day off work ¨C there were just so many things to manage. Still, he decided that it was time that he stepped away from the station for the day as he could monitor everything from his own ship as well as he could from his workstation. His mind made up, he boarded his ship and instructed the captain to take him planetside. He would visit his estate and see how well it had been curated in the ten generations of workers that maintained it in his absence. The only question in his mind was whether to warn his butler or not. After careful consideration that took the entire time his ship spent getting clearance and departing, he decided that he was in a good mood and would let his butler know he was coming. He placed the call which was answered with less than a second¡¯s delay. He smiled inwardly ¨C it seemed that the breeding for this staff had run true. ¡°Good day sir. How may I be of assistance?¡± ¡°Good day, Wellsley. I am coming down to the surface for the day. Do make sure everything is prepared for me.¡± ¡°Of course sir. Is it just you, or should we prepare for guests.¡± ¡°Oh, gods no. No guests. I¡¯m not ruining my day away from the station with other people.¡± ¡°Very well sir, I am tracking your ship and note your arrival in thirteen minutes. Everything will be ready for your arrival.¡± ¡°Thank you, Wellsley.¡± Edgemont settled into his seat and enjoyed the short trip home. Duke took another look around the office to make sure there was nothing about it that seemed familiar before he pushed his senses outward to scan the area. His DUNGEON SENSE permeated the area and gave him quite the surprise. He was not in an office building, he was on some sort of space station, but not a station on any scale he had ever imagined. The station was huge, set up like some enormously stylized gyroscopic sphere with concentric and stacked rings, both vertical and horizontal, that somehow all ringed a central nexus. There were connecting arms that crossed each layer, but what really struck Duke was the vast scale of the place. The station was nearly one thousand kilometers across ¨C it was a scale of construction that Duke was having difficulty comprehending. To compound it, there were people and creatures of all races everywhere on the station. It was too much information for him to easily process even with his six thousand points of reason. He knew that if he put his mind to it, he could sort through it all, but he wasn¡¯t sure what he was dealing with in the immediate. OK, to run it down quickly, I¡¯m on an impossibly large space station that at least has some Syndicate presence if not complete control. There are more people on here than I want to be responsible for killing in any way shape or form. I¡¯m in an office where apparently my head was a trophy so whoever did that needs to die. But there¡¯s not a single picture in this office. Duke walked around to the front of the desk and smiled. There was, as always in a corporate setting, a nameplate affixed to the desk. Alpho Nonetes. At least I know the bastard¡¯s name if not what he looks like or where he is. I could just wait for him to come into the office, I suppose. Not my most active of moves, but possibly my best choice. I guess I can keep building this Dungeon Core while I wait. Duke paused in his thoughts as a realization hit him, ¡°I lost my bag of cores. Dammit!¡± Ater the initial shock of losing all those cores, he performed a more thorough inspection of the office. Visually, there wasn¡¯t much beyond the interface on the desk, so he switched to his SENSE MAGIC Ability. With that Ability active, things all over the room started to light up, even the walls themselves. He saw several points of more intense magic throughout the room embedded in the walls behind the fa?ade that the walls showed. With a grimace that turned into a wry smile, Duke switched to MANA DRAIN and began to drain the Mana in the area. At first, it was just ambient Mana in the room, but the more he focused on the Ability, the more he was able to start pulling from the magical devices surrounding him. He drained the stored Mana from each and every device around the room, but he continued to pull. There was a strange level of resistance as he pulled, as if he was being directly opposed. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Duke pulled even harder, putting the full focus of his will into the effort and he felt the resistance break like a rain-swollen dam. At first it was an additional trickle of Mana, then it began to build until it flooded him from all sides. His SENSE MAGIC Ability finally showed him what was happening. There had been a number of devices somehow shielded from detection deeply embedded in the walls of the office. He had pulled the Mana from the shielding, from the devices themselves, and lastly, he pulled the Mana from the underlying runescripts, destroying them utterly. It was exhausting and thrilling in equal measure. He had never used that Ability at anywhere near that level of focus, duration, and power before. The notification that he had pushed the Ability into Adept rank was a welcome surprise. Thankfully, the lights in the room were not magic so the room remained lit. He sat down in the chair and propped his feet up on the desk and decided to split his time while waiting between two things, DUNGEON CORE CREATION and STASIS. He figured that he could level up the STASIS Ability fairly quickly and he needed to completely change the design of the dungeon he was building. His first approach had been to create one that would outwardly expand rapidly and destroy the building he was in but now that he knew he was in a vast space station, he had to change that plan. He shaped the Dungeon Core in an entirely different direction. Instead of increasing the external size, he was designing it to fit a much smaller profile. It took no more than ten minutes to finish perfectly crafting it to his design. Having grown tired of waiting for whoever occupied this office to show up, he planted the dungeon. Over the course of the next minute, the dungeon entrance took shape, perfectly covering the area Duke had designed it for. It was completely indistinguishable from the area it covered which caused Duke to smile with self-satisfaction. Tier Nine¡­deal with that, asshole. Whoever you are! Now to get going back to what I was doing before I was brought here. Duke used his COSMIC NAVIGATION Ability to map out where he was and realized that it would take him three full jumps to get back to Teldin. The question in his mind was whether that was where he should really head right now. He knew that he had destroyed the harvesting fleet he had encountered but he had a strong suspicion that there were more out there. He decided to head for Teldin and reassess things when he got there. The inspection tour had taken Alpho most of the day and he knew that he only hit upon the highlights. The station was just too big to get around in a week, let alone a single day. But he knew that he had hit the most important parts and gave his workers a dose of ¡°boss motivation.¡± His AURA of IMPORTANCE that came with his Corporate Leader Class helped with this immensely. The workers would produce more for the next few weeks out of fear if nothing else. He had made no threats but his mere presence was an implied threat. Everyone in the Syndicate knew what an inspection tour meant. The smart ones responded accordingly with increased production. The foolish ones found out why the smart ones stepped up their game. He stepped into his office tired but satisfied, closing his door behind him so that he could let his ¡°official¡± appearance fall and relax for a bit. Wiping his face in his hands, Alpho leaned against the edge of his desk with a sense of accomplishment. He had risen to this level quickly. He had been hand-picked for this role even and he knew, without a doubt, that the meeting with Rynis had proven that his star was on the rise. He was on top of the world and things were only getting better! A decision quickly made, he swung around his desk and opened the left drawer to pull out a celebratory bottle of the finest Janat which had been given to him by his first boss as a gift for his successful future. She had told him to open it and have a drink when he felt like he had earned it. There was no doubt in his mind that he had earned it now. As he poured himself a glass, something felt off. He couldn¡¯t put a finger on it, but something did not feel right. He put the bottle down and took a look around his office. Everything beyond his desk seemed normal, not that there was much to that part of the office. He hadn¡¯t even bothered to hang anything on the walls yet. All he had was his display behind him with his ultimate trophy the crowning jewel of his growing collection of victories. He turned around to look at it once more and it was gone! He frantically looked around. Had it fallen off the shelf? That¡¯s when it struck him. He had unconsciously noticed that it was missing but he was so focused on getting his celebratory drink that it hadn¡¯t registered to his consciousness. In a panic, he slammed the desk¡¯s interface to life¡­only nothing happened. It was dead. He tried a second, a third, and even a fourth time to activate it with no result whatsoever. He called out to Edgemont but received no reply. The realization that he had insisted the man take the day off rung through his memory ¨C he would have to take care of this himself! In an adrenaline-fueled rush, he yanked open his office door to see only darkness. Had the entire area lost power somehow? An enormous dark red hand flashed out of the darkness, its black claws only visible in the light of the office as they closed around Alpho¡¯s chest and pulled him straight into the dungeon he had opened, superimposed over the office door. The door clicked shut before Alpho¡¯s scream could even begin. Book 4, Chapter 37 Edgemont returned to his office, refreshed. Being away from the office had given him a renewed perspective on just how heavily he was out of touch with everything. Sure, he was deep into everything the Syndicate was doing and could tell you which asteroids were being mined in hundreds of systems or the shipping schedules of the slave races but had lost touch with his own consumers. There were more areas to exploit, and he would make sure Nonetes did just that. The grabbing up of the mech transports was a good start but all the other aspects of warmaking needed to be under their control as well. The trip from his private dock to his office took no more than ten minutes and Edgemont was eager to get back to work. His desk greeted him like it always did, with outward silence, but connecting him to the vast information network he managed through both technological and magical means. He noticed that Nonetes¡¯ door was closed but didn¡¯t think the man would have beaten him into the office, so he settled down at his desk to wait. There were thousands of things he could do in the meantime, and he set to them. Hours later, he realized that his charge was well overdue, so he checked his logs and found that Nonetes had actually returned to his office yesterday evening and had not left. Well, isn¡¯t that commendable. Guess I should bring him a meal to keep him going. Edgemont retrieved the meal from the delivery service absently. He was focused on the door in front of him and how to set the appropriate level of obsequiousness as he entered the room. Nonetes was still new to him, and he hadn¡¯t completely figured him out. He knocked three times on the door and waited for a response. Receiving none, he opened the door and stepped inside. The office was empty. The desk was still there, but there was no sign of Nonetes at all. Edgemont pulled up the logs on his internal display and triple checked them for alterations. They were clean and Nonetes had entered the office, never left, but was not here. He immediately moved to access the recording crystals he had hidden throughout the room and paused when they didn¡¯t respond. Quickly, he realized that nothing in the room was responding ¨C none of the hundreds of devices magical or magitech responded to his call. His eyes flashed up form his displays to take a closer look at the room and he instantly noticed the missing trophy. Had someone taken the trophy and kidnapped Nonetes? None of my locators are finding him so he must be well-hidden if that¡¯s the case. Edgemont tore the paneling from the far wall to get at the implanted devices only to find them completely inert, drained of magic to the point that their runescripting was even gone. The recording crystals were just normal crystals with no more magical impact than simple rocks. The deeper he delved into this mystery, the more concerned he became. Who could have done this? None of my rivals could have ¨C I have them too well monitored for that. An outside force of some kind? Some entity that wanted to start off an incident? Only one thing to do¡­call in a specialist! It took three full hours before the specialist arrived, but she was eminently efficient when she did arrive. The creature was short, only coming up to Edgemont¡¯s hip and her green-tinted skin belied her goblin ancestry. But anyone who mistook her for such a lowly creature did not live for long enough to realize their mistake. Vaelith wordlessly looked up to Edgemont expectantly. He nodded and her account increased by a full million credits. Vaelith did not even begin for less than that and Edgemont was well aware of her rates and absolutely willing to pay them. ¡°What is it you wish to know?¡± ¡°What occurred in this office over the last day and a half?¡± ¡°That is all?¡± ¡°That should be sufficient for now.¡± ¡°Very well, recording crystal?¡± Edgemont handed her a blue crystal, primed for recording and stepped back to give her room to work. She smiled at him, noting the flawless quality of the crystal. Working with such a high-quality material would make it easier for her to use. She appreciated working for clients who were so professional which is why she responded to Edgemont¡¯s request so promptly. He always paid on-time and gave her what she needed to get the job done right. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Focusing her Abilities, she rewound a version of reality back a full day and a half and allowed it to fill the crystal held in her hands as reality rapidly caught up with the present. It took all of a minute and a half to fill the crystal with the recording. When she was done, she handed the crystal to Edgemont. ¡°That was not a particularly difficult engagement. No additional charge.¡± ¡°Thank you, Vaelith. Did you see anything in particular?¡± ¡°I did not watch. You should know by now that I rarely do. What my clients use their recordings for is none of my business. It is simply better business to keep it that way unless my clients specifically need that additional service. You, however, are fully capable of reviewing the recording and coming to your own conclusions.¡± ¡°Fair enough. Thank you for your prompt response and impeccable service as always.¡± ¡°My pleasure.¡± She departed without another word. Edgemont returned to his own desk and loaded the crystal into his viewing crystal port and watched. What he saw was utterly fascinating. The recording showed the trophy¡¯s power core shatter and the head fall to the floor. He watched, fascinated as Duke regrew his body and the events that followed took place. There had been rumors of this Duke¡¯s ability to move quickly and there was clearly some truth to those rumors but Edgemont was fixated by the core forming in Duke¡¯s hand and¡­did he plant the core against the door? Edgemont scrutinized the scene from every angle and became more and more sure of it. This man had created a Dungeon Core out of thin air. He was instantly torn between watching the rest of the scene and investigating to see if the dungeon was still there. Ultimately, he continued to watch, sure that knowing more about what happened would be more beneficial than a hasty rush to examination. When he saw Nonetes attempt to leave the office and open his door, he nearly jumped out of his chair when the hand reached out of the dungeon and effortlessly ripped Nonetes into the dungeon. Eying the door to Nonetes office, he became thankful that he hadn¡¯t closed the door. That dungeon trap was too cleverly hidden. He did not hesitate to call in help for this investigation. High-Tier help was required, and he was not about to get his hands dirty. Duke arrived outside Cloudspire and discovered that things were changing. In the area around the Celestial Foundry, construction projects were spreading like wildfire. Workers were building multi-level warehouses close to the Foundry and across the road where there had been untamed land, now was cleared for kilometers. Just how long have I been gone? I know I was in some sort of stasis so there¡¯s no telling how long. At least Teldin seems to be doing well still. He was greeted by two individuals he had not been expecting to emerge from the Foundry. Nystrial the Lightning Elemental floated near Ophirian¡¯s head, and both headed for Duke with purpose. Duke readied himself for a dressing down, trying not to let his amusement show at their apparent annoyance with him. ¡°So where in the Cosmos have you been hiding?¡± Ophirian¡¯s greeting was very much to-the-point with no warm-up. ¡°I was otherwise occupied for some time.¡± ¡°Otherwise occupied? For almost four months? With no communication whatsoever?¡± ¡°Is that how long it¡¯s been? I suppose transit time for the distances involved could account for it.¡± ¡°Where the hells have you been?¡± Ophirian¡¯s voice now carried a timbre of hurt that Duke immediately recognized. ¡°OK, so, here¡¯s what happened.¡± Duke relayed the story of his time spent as a trophy and what he did on the way out. ¡°You survived having your head chopped off? Really?¡± ¡°Yeah, cool thing that. But there are some serious problems that are now out there.¡± ¡°Such as?¡± ¡°For one, I¡¯m sure that pissed the Syndicate off even more.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°But more importantly, someone out there still has my body with my pouch of cores.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, that¡¯s not good. But you can make more cores, right?¡± ¡°Yes, but one of those cores has Chopie in it. I have no idea if he¡¯s still alive in there, but if he gets out, he could be yet another problem for us.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Yes, oh. Now, what has been happening here? I see all kinds of construction going on.¡± Ophirian visibly brightened up and switched into a much more animated manner, ¡°The Foundry is really an amazing place. Between that and the Academy, the Kingdom of Stormstride has become the center of everything for Teldin. Crafters are pouring in from everywhere to both learn and teach at the Foundry. The accelerated time has caused some interesting issues but nothing monumental other than the need to store all sorts of things. If the Syndicate comes for us, we¡¯ll be ready for them!¡± ¡°I suppose it¡¯s my time to answer, oh?¡± Ophirian continued with a chuckle as Nystrial settled on top of Duke¡¯s head, causing his hair to frizz out from the static electricity. ¡°Duke, you should see what we have been building in the Foundry. We have weapons of war like you would not believe. Piles of them!¡± ¡°Ships?¡± ¡°Many. And they¡¯re huge! Like twice the size of the Iron reaver!¡± Duke smiled to himself, trying to not step on his companion¡¯s excitement, ¡°You¡¯ll have to show me.¡± ¡°Oh, I will. And I haven¡¯t even made it to the Academy yet, but they keep sending us stuff to use. It¡¯s really cool but it takes forever to get between the two places.¡± ¡°I can fix that for sure. How is the security here? Any issues?¡± ¡°I told you we were making weapons right? Well, we now have a new Legion to wield them. They stay inside and practice here. Come on. Let me show you around. You are going to love it!¡± Book 4, Chapter 38 Entering the Foundry this time was very different than when Duke entered initially aside from the greeting message. *** You are entering the Celestial Foundry of Teldin. This place is a haven for all of Teldin¡¯s crafters. Be welcome to ply your art here for the good of all in good faith and honor. Should you enter with anything but honor in your heart, turn around now lest you find yourself lost forever in the darker passages. *** Sar Borglyn stood before him, or more to the point, loomed over him. Duke could swear that the minotaur had actually gotten bigger in the time he was gone. He looked up to see the broadest grin he had ever seen on a minotaur¡¯s face greet him. ¡°Welcome, Emperor! The Celestial Foundry stands ready for you!¡± Duke did not immediately respond as he was craning his neck to see around the mountain of a minotaur and capture the hundreds of creatures and people moving about with purpose. He remembered dozens of passages branching off the main entrance but what he saw now boggled his mind. Are there even this many crafters on the planet? Duke finally responded, ¡°That¡¯s good, but I¡¯m not sure I was ready for all this.¡± Sar Borglyn chuckled, ¡°Things have been busy here in the decades you have been absent.¡± ¡°Decades?¡± ¡°Yes, Emperor, it has been more than thirty years since you established the Foundry. We have trained up our second generation of crafters already. They are still young, but they learn quickly with the enhancements built into the training halls.¡± ¡°Second generation? Are people living in here?¡± ¡°Of course. We currently have seventy-two thousand residents. The Mana generation from that many sapient lifeforms is absolutely wonderful!¡± ¡°Seventy thousand people are living in here!¡± ¡°Seventy-two thousand one hundred eleven, to be more precise.¡± ¡°That¡¯s going to take a bit to process. How goes the crafting then? It looks like things are in full-swing.¡± ¡°Indeed. Fully one third of the crafting halls are in use. Of those, nearly a quarter of them are at full output.¡± Duke stared at the minotaur processing the numbers. ¡°So, from what I am calculating, you would need nine hundred thousand people to be at full production?¡± ¡°Closer to one million, but I can provide all the support staff needed so we might be able to manage with a few less. But that is also a bit deceptive. There are many crafting halls reserved for crafts that have yet to be discovered.¡± ¡°Such as?¡± ¡°If I knew, they wouldn¡¯t have to be discovered, would they?¡± ¡°Good point. So where should I start?¡± ¡°The hangar.¡± ¡°Oh, that sounds promising. Show me the way.¡± Sar Borglyn led Duke through several passageways. All the while, they dodged carts speeding through the passages, driven by all manner of beings and presumably being propelled by magic as Duke could see no creatures pulling them. Still, they raced by as fast as a car on a highway. Duke marveled at the speed and control given the apparently wooden wheels. Vulcanized rubber. Surely someone has made that here, right? We¡¯ve got spaceships and the like. Magic and technology have to have blended more in other areas of the Cosmos. Why not here? It took them nearly an hour to reach the hangar. They spent the time getting Duke caught up on some of the more significant discoveries and projects. The one that stood out to him the most was related to runescripting. Duke was eager to visit that workshop next ¨C they had made some significant strides in unlocking its capabilities beyond what he and Baslin had learned. When they reached the hangar, Duke found it was one of the few workshops that sat at the end of a passage. It also had doors that opened outwardly into the hangar and were fully the width and height of the corridor. His anticipation grew as he approached the doors, expectantly awaiting the wonders he knew must wait for him beyond. Cautiously, even reverently, he reached out for the doors that broke open before him with a hiss of escaping atmosphere. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Duke quickly strode through the doors which slammed shut behind him. Before him spread out a vast manufacturing plant. Assembly lines stretched into the distance, filled with furious activity. For as far as Duke could see, there was activity. There was a mix of races working the lines but there seemed to be a definite order to them. Dwarves and Orcs worked the heaviest machinery while elves and even fae creatures worked on finer details. He walked down the lines barely realizing that Sar Borglyn had left his side. As he progressed down the line, he saw that ship parts were becoming more and more defined. At the end of each line, a specific ship part was being finished and handed off to an enormous wagon that took the parts off to some other location. The size and scope of the operation was hard to grasp. Duke received waves and nods of acknowledgement as he progressed, but none stepped away from their work. It seemed like the work was repetitive, but they all seemed to be happily focused on their tasks. He decided not to interrupt them. As he approached the end of this current line, a dwarf shouted out jubilantly, ¡°Sixt-two!¡± The response from around him was a collective cheer that was equally joyful and encouraging. Duke stopped and asked, ¡°Sorry, to interrupt but Sixty-two what?¡± ¡°Levels. Sixty-two levels into Practiced rank. Only eighteen more until I hit Adept and get promoted!¡± ¡°Well, keep at it then!¡± ¡°Yes, I most certainly will!¡± He dove back into his work still grinning. Duke moved from assembly line to assembly line until he came to the final assembly area and this was what he was looking for. Ships were being assembled finished piece by finished piece. There were devices being used to remotely lift pieces into place. Duke¡¯s senses told him the devices were magical in nature and he supposed that made sense. There were parts being brought in from elsewhere and he could see that they were heavily runescripted on their interior surfaces. The entire scene made him smile and as he looked at the completed ships, he found that they were about half again larger than the Iron Reaper and even more heavily armed. He couldn¡¯t help but feel that they were still not enough to deal with even the Syndicate ships he had already seen let alone what he feared they could bring to bear if they got truly serious. ¡°Good day, your majesty.¡± Duke turned to see an albino minotaur smiling at him from behind. ¡°Good day to you as well.¡± A quick scan showed Duke that this was not a dungeon creature and, in fact, the first actual minotaur he had met. He took a pause to note the differences between a dungeon creature and the actual creature before him but the only difference he could discern was in its system recognition. ¡°So, Your Majesty, do you like what you see? Do you wish any explanations or walkthroughs?¡± Duke smiled, ¡°Why don¡¯t you walk me through what I am looking at beyond that they are well-armed ships.¡± ¡°Certainly. They are things of beauty, are they not?¡± ¡°Actually, they look a bit boxy to me?¡± ¡°That, Your Majesty, is part of their beauty.¡± He saw the confused look pass across Duke¡¯s face but chose to ignore it. ¡°Let me take you through one of the completed ones we have in storage, and I think you¡¯ll see what I mean.¡± An hour¡¯s walk later, Duke was coming to terms with just how much area this particular production area actually entailed. He had counted at least one hundred ships being assembled as he passed by the workers. He even heard a shout of ¡°Ninety-two¡± that was followed by cheers that even carried a bit of awe in them. They finally passed into a new area that had hundreds, if not thousands of ships laid out in perfect rows with plenty of space between each to move between them. Duke¡¯s mind stopped counting after he saw more than forty rows of fifty ships each. ¡°There are more than two thousand ships here!¡± ¡°Yes, Your Majesty, there are. And we are making more as fast as we can.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t possibly have enough trained pilots for all these.¡± ¡°We have an entire pilot-training dungeon.¡± Duke did not know when Sar Borglyn had joined him again, but the voice from behind him was unmistakable. He turned to take in the massive minotaur while Sar Borglyn continued, ¡°Granhok has done spectacularly in bringing the shipyards up to this level. You should commend him.¡± ¡°Oh, believe me, I am beyond impressed.¡± Granhok smiled, ¡°No, you¡¯re not. Not yet.¡± ¡°No, really, this many ships are more than I had imagined.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re worried about how they will hold up against capitol ships, right?¡± ¡°You reading my mind or something?¡± ¡°Not your mind, but your face tells the story rather easily. But I was saving this little tidbit for later but, let me alleviate your worries right now. There are two features of each of these ships that are going to change your mind.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± And Duke was indeed listening, eager for whatever wonder was about to be presented to him. ¡°OK, first off, each and every one of these ships is so automated that it is designed to be crewed by a single person.¡± Duke nodded in appreciation of that remarkable feat of engineering but could sense that wasn¡¯t the anticipated reveal. ¡°The more important thing, Your Majesty, is that the ships are modular. They can be combined in countless configurations to make any larger ship you desire. Need a destroyer? Combine ten ships and you have a destroyer. All their systems combine including their weaponry and shielding to make a whole that is greater than the parts. And if one part, one ship, takes too much damage, it can be dropped from the configuration and the rest will re-combine to maintain overall integrity of the larger ship while the pilot of the damaged ship joins an undamaged one.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fucking amazing! Show me around one of these things!¡± ¡°Of course. Right this way. You see the area marked in green on the side of the ship? That¡¯s the pilot¡¯s entrance and exit. While you only need one person to manage the ship, there is space inside for up to five hundred troops if needed. It can also be reconfigured to handle mechs or a mix of both.¡± ¡°Hell, fucking yeah!¡± Duke followed the minotaur onto the ship. Book 4, Chapter 39 The interior of the ship was far from utilitarian. It had an aesthetic that called out to Duke as if it had been grown together. Surfaces were smooth and accented with gold and brass vines intertwining to form the feel of an inviting garden. He half expected to see a garden gnome waiting for him. Sar Borglyn clapped Duke on the back before being muscled out of the way by the much shorter Granhok. ¡°You may control the whole of the Foundry, but the ships and shipbuilding is mine. Thank you very much. Now, stand aside while I show Duke around.¡± The albino minotaur all but pushed Sar Borglyn back out the doorway before the larger minotaur shook his head, barely missing scraping his exaggerated horns on the sides of the doorway. He left the pair to explore the ship on their own. ¡°As you can see,¡± Granhok continued without missing a beat, ¡°we have not just made utilitarian machines. We have made artwork that flows with deadly purpose. Each ship is more capable than anything else known of its size.¡± ¡°How did you all manage that? People have been building ships for¡­for a really long time. How did you manage to jump ahead of them in such a short span of time?¡± ¡°Ah, follow me and I¡¯ll show you.¡± The smile of pride that spread across the minotaur¡¯s face took Duke by surprise. Whereas the minotaurs of the dungeons were expressive enough to be lifelike, there was still something different about a truly living being. Duke was not sure if he would have picked it up without his Class and Abilities as it was something subtle and he could not put a finger on it. He absently filed it away to forget about looking into later. They traversed a number of corridor and larger areas. Although the ship was automated enough to operate with only a single pilot, it was built for a much larger crew including marines, mechs, and other spacers. Duke started to ask about it but was interrupted as they came to the center of the ship. Granhok indicated a door that was all but seamlessly concealed in a hallway. ¡°This is the heart of the ship and the reason our ships are like nothing else out there. It will open for you and not many others.¡± ¡°Would it open for you?¡± ¡°Yes, it would,¡± he answered proudly. Duke placed his hand on the door that was so well worked into the vinework that it was practically invisible. With an effortless silence, the door rose up into the wall, revealing a room that absolutely did not meet Duke¡¯s expectations. He stepped inside, exploring it with his eyes before he dared touch anything. The room itself was shaped as a faceted sphere with the facets being about a meter in diameter. The center of each facet had a vine extending inwards towards the center of the room where they all connected to a pulsating core. Or, as Duke looked closer, he realized that it was not a Mana Core ¨C it was a Dungeon Core! ¡°Yes, our ships are powered by Dungeon Tech. The entire outer surface is essentially a monstrous Mana collector and the heart of it all is a single Dungeon Core.¡± Duke was speechless. He had just destroyed a fleet of ships that were made out of warped Dungeon Cores. He wasn¡¯t sure how he felt about this. He stared at the Core, trying to wrap his head around the implications when the Dungeon Core spoke to him. ¡°I see you are concerned, Emperor. While I appreciate your concern, I am quite happy with this arrangement. I will gather Mana from among the stars while protecting my crew. Together, we will annihilate those who would prey on us. All the time, I will continue to grow stronger and when my mission is complete, I will dismiss my crew and plant myself in just the right place to grow outwardly. Then I can feed and grow just like my brothers and sisters.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen your brothers and sisters warped into ships to ferry about and protect the Dungeon Core harvesting operations of the Syndicate. I¡¯ve had to fight them and pulled what was left of those Cores out of the ships themselves. It was ugly and terrible.¡± ¡°I understand, but I have not been warped into the shape of this ship. I am still the Core you see before me. I just have access to the entire ship through my connections. I can feel through them, but they truly can¡¯t affect me. I draw Mana through them true enough and can send it back out if needed, but the ship is not me. There is no warping of Cores here.¡± Granhok added, ¡°Because the Cores are so connected to the ship, they can help fight and defend the ship through their same connections. For example, any Mana-based weapon that strikes the ship will be blunted as the Core absorbs as much of its Mana as possible immediately. Sure, that can be overloaded if sufficient attacks are applied, but it¡¯s a massive step forward in ship defenses since most ships out there operate on some sort of magitech and have Mana-based weaponry.¡± Duke nodded. ¡°So that¡¯s where all the automation is coming in then?¡± ¡°Yes, I can operate the entire ship myself should the pilot and crew become incapacitated, but we decided to not make that bit public. Most think that we are some sort of sophisticated computer or magical construct with a form of intelligence. We felt it better to not disabuse them of that misconception.¡± ¡°Good call. I have no idea who is training our pilots let alone who the pilots are. So much of this seems to have slipped past my control and I¡¯m not comfortable with it all.¡± ¡°Emperor, your orders were to prepare for war. That is what we are doing. You cannot possibly oversee even a small portion of what is going on in here so trust in us to get it right. When it comes down to it, you will have no choice anyway. There¡¯s too much for any one individual to control. The best you can do is set us up for success, provide direction, and let us do our jobs.¡± Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Duke decided not to continue arguing because the Dungeon Core was right. He couldn¡¯t control everything, but he would control what he himself did and that would be enough. He knew that the Syndicate would be sending more trouble his way. What form it would take he wasn¡¯t sure but he was not going to let his guard down again. Attacked from behind. Stupid rookie move. I am better than that! The conversation dwindled after that and Duke finished the tour of the ship on the command bridge. S Duke stepped onto the bridge, he saw the single chair that dominated the center of the room. It was built like a cross between a lazy-boy and the seat from his fighter jet. He did not realize he had moved but the warm familiarity of the seat¡¯s cushions took him in soothing him with the sense of home that he had not had in so long. His mind soared through the sky, engines burning fuel as they pushed him deeper and deeper into the cushioning of the seat, commanding the world around him like only an air superiority fighter could. The sense of control and wonder flowed over him once again. It was the most comfortable and enlivening sensation and he reveled in it. The controls spread out before him, all within easy reach but he also sensed that they could be controlled through some sort of other interface that he was not ready to explore. Instead, he just sat back further in the chair and enjoyed it. But it only lasted so long before reality kicked back in. He climbed back out of the chair and looked over the rest of the bridge. There were stations for the typical functions including navigations, communications, engineering, and weapons. He checked each station briefly, assuring himself that they could be easily understood and operated. Satisfied, he stepped back, nodding at Granhok. ¡°You approve?¡± ¡°You bet your ass, I approve. This is great!¡± ¡°Would you care for a demonstration on integration?¡± ¡°Do we have the space to do it here?¡± ¡°One or two combinations, sure. We would have to take the ships outside to do more than that. Are you ready for that?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think we are ready to show these ships off to the rest of the Cosmos just yet. What is the production time for one of these ships anyway?¡± ¡°Start to finish, we have gotten it down to nine months, but we can work on building multiple ships at once. So, our production is a bit better than three ships a month.¡± Duke did the math in his head and after a few rounds of equations, he nearly slapped himself because it was a simple one-hundred-to-one time ratio so the more than three ships a month translated to over three hundred a month in reality. He smiled at the number but stopped himself, unsure if that would be enough. There were just too many unknowns for him to process. ¡°And they are all the same design?¡± ¡°Yes, the same design. It¡¯s much easier to produce them like this. We will eventually get our build time down to one a month or possibly less as our crafters continue to level up their Skills. We only have a few Master-ranked crafters and they are focused on the final assembly. Making sure that the connections to the Cores are an extremely complex and delicate task. If the Cores themselves didn¡¯t fortify the connections afterwards, this design would be too delicate to put into combat service.¡± ¡°OK, let¡¯s see how they combine.¡± ¡°Very well. Go ahead and take the pilot¡¯s seat.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not trained on this ship.¡± ¡°That will make this an even better demonstration.¡± Duke settled into the pilot¡¯s seat once again and engaged the controls. His neglected Starship Pilot Skill sat at Untrained 1 and did not provide him with much insight in how to operate the ship. Despite that, the controls seemed relatively intuitive and he was able to get the ship started up without difficulty. He heard Granhok on the Communications system calling to another pilot to take his ship up for a combination demonstration. Duke moved his ship to an open area of the hangar and saw on his displays another ship quickly moving to join him. He was still cautious on the controls, getting a feel for how the ship moved. It was very different from flying a jet where there was a single source of thrust that could be somewhat controlled aerodynamically. This ship had an entirely different method of movement. Duke had no idea how it worked, but it wasn¡¯t using thrust as he understood it. Instead, it applied some sort of 360 degree directional vectoring that allowed him to control the motion of the ship in ways that even his FLYING Ability didn¡¯t match. He could literally move the ship in any direction regardless of its momentum. The more he got used to the controls, the more cautious he got with maneuvering the ship. He knew that he could crash this ship into others in an instant. The call came over the comms system right to him, ¡°OK, hold steady right there.¡± Duke stopped all motion of the ship. ¡°That¡¯s perfect. Look for the notification of a request to merge and accept it please.¡± The notification was hard to miss, flashing bright red on the display in front of his eyes. Duke accepted the request and his ship rapidly shot towards the other, completely out of his control. After the moment of panic passed, he realized that this was by design. The two ships paused momentarily before they slammed together into a whole. There was clearly some form of magic involved because one moment, Duke was grasping the arms of his chair in a deathgrip and the next, there was another pilot¡¯s chair sitting next to him. The other pilot cackled with glee. ¡°That never gets old. What a rush. Even more fun than strafing a carrier!¡± Duke looked over to see the enthusiastic orc pilot grinning back at him, her tusks highly polished and bleached white to accent the black starship-shaped studs embedded close to the tips. There were four studs, two on each tusk. ¡°Korza Vrek at your service.¡± She reached over a hand to shake Duke¡¯s which he accepted. Her grip was typical for an orc ¨C strong and confident. ¡°Great to meet you, Korza. Thanks for the terrifying demonstration.¡± She laughed, slapping her hand on the arm of her chair. ¡°Yes, the first time is usually more terrifying than thrilling. But you get used to it. Check out your system specifications to see what the combination has done for us.¡± Duke did and was surprised by what he saw. The capabilities of the combined ship were about fifteen percent higher than the combination of the two ships¡¯ individual capabilities. ¡°So, you see it. The synergies of the combined fleet are massive. Being able to separate and deal with threats individually will baffle our enemies. It is a significant advantage.¡± ¡°I am liking what I am seeing. Does the percentage increase continue as you add more ships in?¡± ¡°Each ship adds their own capabilities plus about fifteen percent more. It would be insane if the percentage was compounded but it doesn¡¯t work that way.¡± ¡°Still, I¡¯ll take it. This is awesome!¡± ¡°Indeed, Emperor, it is. Now, I am afraid that we have to put the ships back and let you move on with your tour.¡± Sar Borglyn¡¯s voice and direction was not exactly welcome, but Duke knew he was right. ¡°OK, let me see if I can¡­¡± Duke activated the control to separate the ships. The response was not instant, but it took less than a second to completely separate. He flew his ship back to its starting point and reluctantly debarked at Sar Borglyn¡¯s insistence. Book 4, Chapter 40 As they moved on, Duke still heard leveling shouts echoing behind him. Each was met with cheering and encouragement and he could tell that they had become a friendly competition that drove everyone towards higher achievement. The rank-up shouts nearly brought things to a halt as other rushed over to congratulate their comrade. The enthusiasm of the work crews buoyed Duke¡¯s spirits as much as the thrill ride of the ships¡¯ combination giving him a sense of hope for what he knew was coming. The sense of existential dread that had crept into his consciousness had retreated, leaving his hopeful for the upcoming fights. Sar Borglyn led Duke on whirlwind tour of the rest of the Foundry. People of all sorts had come and were still flocking to the facility, coming from all corners of Teldin. That, Sar Borglyn explained, limited the types of crafting that was available but that corner was being turned as graduates from the Academy were filtering in with crafting capabilities beyond anything seen before in such a semi-public setting. There were some problems, however, as not everyone got along in their rivalry in the more common crafts. In some areas, brewing in particular, fights had broken out over perceived theft of recipes or ingredients. The fights were broken up rather quickly but Sar Borglyn expressed some regret. ¡°I would like to let those fights settle themselves, you know.¡± Duke Looked up at the minotaur and chuckled, ¡°I bet you would. I bet you would like to set them up in an arena and allow them to fight to the death.¡± ¡°Now that you mention it¡­¡± ¡°Absolutely forbidden. Do you understand me? I would shatter your Core and burn the shards.¡± Sar Borglyn looked back at Duke, shocked by the vehemence in his tone and words. He paused, seemed to make a decision, and finally spoke, ¡°Understood, Emperor. A gladiatorial arena shall never have a place in the Foundry.¡± ¡°Good. Glad I made myself clear. Now, you were saying something about the Academy¡­¡± ¡°Yes, we have been getting a steady stream of highly-skilled magical crafters coming from there but it takes so long for them to get here. Years after graduation, they finally show up. Is that something you could help us with?¡± ¡°I have an idea or two, but I want to check out the Academy first. Thank you for the tour but I have to get on to other important things. Keep things running smoothly here. I will return in time.¡± Duke TELEPORTED back outside the Foundry, intercepting Ophirian and Nystriel before they even set foot in the dungeon. They looked at him in confusion. ¡°I thought you were going to check out the Foundry?¡± Ophirian asked. ¡°All done. Have you toured it? What can you tell me about the Academy?¡± ¡°Um, no, and nothing. I have not set foot in either place actually.¡± ¡°What the fuck have you been doing all this time?¡± ¡°Rodent control.¡± ¡°Rodent control?¡± ¡°Yes, they were big ones.¡± ¡°You mean to tell me that I have been gone for months and all you¡¯ve done is hunted down some rats!¡± ¡°Like I said. Big rats.¡± ¡°Not going to ask. Come on, you two. Let¡¯s get to the Academy.¡± Without waiting for a response, Duke TELEPORTED the three of them outside the Academy entrance. The buildings soared above them, towering above the peaks that surrounded the school. Students milled about in their uniforms that all bore the Stormstride regalia, a glowing red gem in a white background surrounded by a sky-blue border. The regalia stood out more on some uniforms rather than others as the overall uniforms differed in color. Duke was content to watch the students for a bit. They all seemed to notice him, but not recognize him as they carried on their own tasks. The longer he watched, the more he came to the conclusion that the darker the student¡¯s uniform the more advanced they were. He saw a pair of students in dark red robes bouncing a ball of white-hot fire between themselves, making it do acrobatic tricks before being caught and held by the other of the pair. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. A trio of white-robed students seemed thoroughly lost and too intimidated to ask anyone else for directions. The fumbled in circles until they finally decided to run off ¡°that way!¡± Duke watched it all passively, waiting for someone with a modicum of authority to come to greet them. Instead, a student in a dark blue robe broke out of a group of similarly-garbed group, if slightly lighter colored, and rushed right up to Duke excitedly. ¡°Is that your elemental? Did you summon it yourself?¡± Another of the group shouted as she walked up, ¡°Have you seen how he¡¯s dressed? He¡¯s not even a neophyte here. And a bit old to be starting out, don¡¯t you think? Go back from where you came from, old man, but leave your elemental with me.¡± Duke raised an eyebrow. This is going to be fun. If Baslin doesn¡¯t want his students embarrassed, he had better step in fast. ¡°You think you can take Nystriel from me? You are welcome to come and try.¡± For her part, Nystriel settled down on Duke¡¯s shoulder to enjoy the show. The student, seeing that her bluff had been called decided to up the ante, ¡°OK, boys, take the old man down. Nobody disrespects us like that!¡± To their credit, they acted as a group, forming constructs of electricity and circling Duke. He simply activated his MANA DRAIN and waited for them to actually take an offensive action. He did not have to wait long. Once they all surrounded him, the leader flicked her lightning whip forward and it served as a signal for the rest of the group to attack. Lightning attacks of all sorts lashed out at him. The attacks connected as Duke made no attempt to evade, instead relying on his MANA DRAIN, SPELL RESISTANCE, and ARMOR SKIN to deal with their attacks. As he suspected, their attacks did not have nearly enough of an impact to even make it past his MANA DRAIN. He looked at them, his face intentionally puzzled. ¡°Is that the best that the Academy can produce? Pathetic, and thoroughly disappointing. I may have to shut this place down.¡± He was met with looks of grim determination. As one, they upped the level of their Spells and prepared to attack again. Attacks lashed forward towards Duke with full intent behind them and not an inconsiderable amount of power. Crackling constructs of lightning flashed from their hands, streaking towards him. Each attack fizzled before it even reached Duke, all being absorbed as they left the student¡¯s control. The energy of the attacks swirled around them before being sucked into an ebony staff wielded by a white-furred minotaur with patches of black. The minotaur spoke, ¡°Each one of you are to return to your rooms and handwrite a deeply apologetic letter to the Emperor. You are on full restriction until I tell you otherwise. If you are lucky, he will accept this as your punishment and not decide to execute you for having the unmitigated idiocy of attacking him!¡± The students paled as the realization struck them of what they had done, but before anyone else could react, Ophirian shouted, ¡°A magical talking cow! That¡¯s awesome.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a minotaur, you idiot!¡± Duke found himself unable to restrain his response to Ophirian¡¯s outburst. ¡°And, by my guess, our host here at the Academy.¡± ¡°Quite correct, Emperor. I am Brian and I am your host here at the Academy. I bid you welcome and hope you will allow me to escort you on a tour of the campus.¡± Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA was picking up something from the minotaur that he was having trouble processing. He continued to follow as he tried to lock it down in his mind but the longer they walked, the worse the feeling lingered. Finally, as they were entering the first building of classrooms, it struck him and he blurted it out without thought. ¡°Where is Baslin?¡± Brian stopped abruptly, turning to look at Duke, confusion etched onto his face. ¡°Baslin? Baslin retired to his cottage a century ago. Surely you didn¡¯t expect him to meet you at the entrance?¡± ¡°What do you mean he retired a century ago?¡± ¡°Over two hundred years was certainly long enough for him to act as Headmaster. We all leave him in peace at his request. He has been waiting for you, though.¡± Duke¡¯s eyes snapped to his screen where he pulled up the Dungeon details of the Academy and his blood ran cold. His mind locked on to a single field. The Time Dilation was set to 1,000:1. One thousand days passed for every day outside the dungeon. The four months that he had been gone had translated to over three hundred years at the Academy. ¡°Where is his cottage?¡± Duke demanded, the urgency and overt violence in his voice causing Brian to step back and students to scatter. Brian began to point with his staff, but Duke¡¯s pulse of DUNGEON SIGHT had already located it, giving his TELEPORTATION a target. He came alone, leaving the rest of them behind without a care. They would fend for themselves. He knocked on the door of the cottage and almost didn¡¯t wait for an answer before heading in. He burst in as a feeble voice called out, ¡°Don¡¯t make an old man walk to the door. Come in, come in.¡± ¡°Baslin!¡± ¡°Ah, Duke. So good of you to come see me at long last.¡± Duke stared at Baslin. He was bent over, leaning on a staff for support and just looked feeble, barely able to support himself. His stark white hair and beard had grown dominate his face but Duke could still see that his mentor¡¯s eyes had turned milky white with cataracts. Duke rushed over to help him back into his chair. ¡°What¡­what happened to you, Baslin?¡± A chuckle that turned into a wheezing cough preceded his simple response, ¡°I got old. And to think I always called you my best apprentice. And you still overlook the obvious.¡± He paused to catch his breath, the act of uttering so many words at once, draining his fading energy. Duke pulled up a chair next to Baslin, creating it out of dungeon substance. The old man reached over and patted Duke¡¯s arm with his hand, showing liver spots dominating his skin that seemed so thin as to be near translucent. Duke¡¯s voice faltered as he asked, ¡°How long?¡± Baslin¡¯s response broke him, ¡°Just stay¡­stay a while. It won¡¯t be long now that I can let go. Tell me of your travels.¡± Duke sat with him and told him of his adventures. Before he could finish, he felt the spark leave Baslin¡¯s eyes as he passed. Book 4, Chapter 41 Duke did not leave Baslin¡¯s side for a long time. He did not know how long nor did he care, sealing the area around the cottage off from everyone and everything with his Ability. Eventually, he set aside the initial grief and set himself to motion with a snap to his feet. He did not have a plan, but just started constructing. When he was done, he realized that he had re-created Baslin¡¯s tower as precisely as his memory served. He had never been to the top floor of the tower where Baslin¡¯s personal chambers were, so he created something out of his own imagination. In the center of the room was a glass-like coffin which held the Archmage¡¯s body while the periphery of the room held books and various artifacts collected over a lifetime that Duke found in the cottage. Duke had lovingly entombed Baslin with his staff in his right hand and his spellbook in his left, across his chest. Duke took his time saying goodbye to his friend and former mentor. His thoughts had swirled with his emotions, racing from blame to sorrow. He knew he had to be thankful that Baslin didn¡¯t die alone but the Archmage had been alone for at least a century. Again. Duke clamped down on his emotions, keeping his anger under control lest he destroy the memorial he had just constructed. Finally, he decided that he couldn¡¯t be in the tower any longer and TELEPORTED back to the entrance of the Academy. A quick scan showed him where Ophirian and Nystriel were hiding. He stepped into the campus tavern and was immediately surprised to see the barkeep was not a minotaur. In fact, he had no idea what to call what he was looking at. It was like a cross between a centaur and a unicorn. It was a female centaur with a horn protruding from her forehead the length of his forearm, and it was completely naked. The tavern was absolutely packed with students but it was easy to spot Ophirian as he was leaning over the bar, chatting up the bartender intensely. Duke shook his head, sighed, and looked for an empty table. There were none, so he pushed a wall out and made himself a table and chairs to sit at. Some students made to take the table but when they met Duke¡¯s gaze, they collectively, shrieked, dropped their drinks, and fled the tavern. He ignored the commotion, casually waving a CLEANSE at the mess as he pulled a chair out and sat. It did not take long for a server to come to his table, likely attracted by the commotion he had caused. The server was an oversized man, swelling with the kind of puffy muscle that screamed ¡°artificially enhanced¡± to Duke. He peered down at Duke for a long second before asking, ¡°What can I get you?¡± Duke was surprised that the server hadn¡¯t done or said anything about the sprouting table or the fleeing students. What surprised him even more was how much that put his emotions off. I know I¡¯m looking for a fight, but this is not the place. Could he read that? ¡°If you have it, I¡¯ll take scotch whiskey.¡± ¡°Neat or on the rocks?¡± ¡°Bottle.¡± ¡°That will be expensive. Are you sure?¡± ¡°What do you consider expensive?¡± ¡°A full bottle would be a medium crystal.¡± Duke produced a grand crystal from his INVENTORY. He could have created any value of crystal from dungeon essence but decided against it in this case ¨C only the real thing would be appropriate today. He placed it on the table and offered the server a smile. His voice reflected the pain and frustration roiling through his mind as he spoke again, ¡°Today we all drink to honor the memory of my friend, the first headmaster of this Academy, Baslin. Drinks are on me until the crystal runs out.¡± The server looked stricken before picking up the crystal and nodding with his assessment of its quality and authenticity. He looked Duke in the eye and responded in a serious tone, ¡°I will take this to the owner. She may have something to say about it.¡± Duke nodded but didn¡¯t say anything, instead leaning back in his chair to look around the bar. Most of the patrons were human or humanoid but there were a few centaurs occupying the corner opposite Duke. They stood around a table, seemingly keeping to themselves. They were all male and similarly unclothed like the barkeep. Is that just a centaur thing? Doesn¡¯t matter, I guess. Not my problem or my business. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. It was not long before the barkeep arrived with his bottle. Duke¡¯s XENOGLOSSIA had trouble reading her body language as he refused to look anywhere other than her eyes. Even without his Ability, he could sense the trap waiting for him and he was not in the mood for dealing with it. She placed the bottle on his table with a short crystal glass, all the time leaning forward to put everything in his line of sight. He sighed, ¡°Thank you for the bottle, but one of my closest friends in all this world just died. I am in no mood for games.¡± Her reaction was not what Duke expected. She spoke in a calm and measured tone, ¡°Is Baslin truly dead? I heard that a tower rose from the ground next to his cottage.¡± ¡°Yes, he passed away and I raised his tower as his final resting place. He is entombed on the top floor.¡± She moved to the opposite side of the table and produced a second glass and a second bottle from¡­well, Duke wasn¡¯t quite sure where she had hidden them. The centaur poured for each of them. ¡°You must be Duke.¡± He looked up suspiciously, ¡°I am.¡± ¡°Baslin spoke of you. In fact, he insisted that we keep this scotch whiskey on hand just for you. He knew that someday you would come back, and he wanted us to be ready. You see, Baslin taught my great, great grandmother Alchemy nearly two hundred years ago. She, in turn, taught her children, and they adapted it to magical brewing. That is where this tavern came from. It has been in the family ever since. Word of our indirect founder¡¯s passing is hard to take, and I would join you in celebrating his life. That is, if you would have me.¡± ¡°I¡¯d say pull up a chair, but that doesn¡¯t seem to be practical for you.¡± ¡°Thank you for the offer anyway. We all have our own ways of doing things.¡± She raised her glass with her right hand while she cast a spell with her left while muttering an incantation that struck Duke as familiar but slightly different. Immediately, every conversation in the tavern ceased and most patrons stared around in stunned surprise. She stood taller. Duke was not sure how she managed to do it, but she towered over the tables as she spoke, ¡°Everyone raise a glass.¡± She paused for everyone to comply which they did with haste before she continued, ¡°King Duke here is the founder of our beloved Academy and the oldest friend of our revered first Headmaster, Baslin the Best.¡± Cheers erupted throughout the tavern as they celebrated. A few even raised their glasses to drink, but they were all silenced once again. She continued, ¡°Yes, we are thankful for what King Duke has done for us but tonight, he brings us news that many of us have been dreading. Our beloved Baslin the Best has died.¡± The mood of the crowd immediately plummeted. Duke stood, raising his glass high, ¡°To the man who first taught me the value of magic. To the man who put his life on hold for more than a century to uphold a promise, to the man who built this wonderous place from a simple vision and made it what it is today. But most importantly, to the best Archmage this world has ever known. To Baslin the Best! May he rest in peace!¡± The response was more muted as the news sank in. But no one hesitated in raising their glass in salute and draining the contents. Servers were already prepared and brought another round around the tavern, dropping off drinks as they filtered through. Most didn¡¯t ask but any who did were informed that the drinks were on Duke. He received more than a few salutes as the centaur poured them each another glass. ¡°I¡¯m Cerlyn, by the way.¡± ¡°Duke. But you already know that. Excuse my bluntness, but is this,¡± Duke gestured to her nakedness, ¡°the norm for centaurs?¡± ¡°At the Academy Tavern, yes. It prevents customers from getting too belligerent. Very few men can keep up a coherent rage when there is a pair of tits staring them in the face.¡± ¡°Interesting perspective on things.¡± ¡°And I do have to admit that I am impressed. You haven¡¯t taken even a glance. Are you married, celibate, or something?¡± ¡°Nothing like that at all. I simply have way too many things going on to get involved in another relationship.¡± ¡°Oh, so glancing at my tits would put us in a relationship? Don¡¯t I have anything to say about this relationship?¡± ¡°You¡¯re sitting at my table drinking scotch with me. I think we both know where this could wind up.¡± ¡°So, you have experience with centaurs then?¡± ¡°Not in that way, but I¡¯m certain I could figure things out.¡± ¡°Are you now?¡± ¡°I do have a few advantages most don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Oh? I¡¯m interested. Just what sort of advantages are we talking about? Are you hung like a horse?¡± Duke spit out his scotch. She laughed, making the drink sprayed all over her spill down between her breasts with his eyes following. ¡°You did that on purpose, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°It worked, didn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t argue that point.¡± ¡°Now tell me about these supposed advantages?¡± ¡°Here, inside the Academy, reality is what I want it to be.¡± To demonstrate, Duke slowly created a grand crystal, paused for Cerlyn to take it in, and then shaped it into a perfect sculpture of her from her flowing hair to her hooves. It looked absolutely lifelike and stood half as tall as the bottle of whiskey. He placed it on the table before her. While she stared at the sculpture in wonder, he continued his line, ¡°Anything I want it to be.¡± She looked up at him with her eyes full of fiery hunger, ¡°You are coming with me. Now.¡± There was no room for compromise or argument in her eyes. Duke followed her out of the tavern realizing that his night was now spoken for. Book 4, Chapter 42 If not for his REGENERATION Ability, Duke would have been supremely sore the next day. They parted ways knowing that it was not meant for anything long-term but two people sharing life-affirming comfort in a time of death and pain. He left with his burden lightened every so slightly but knowing that if the Syndicate ever found this dungeon, all the lives around him would end. With that thought, his resolve tightened. He left the Academy shortly after, leaving the hyper-accelerated time, collecting Ophirian and Nystriel to come with him. They returned to Havenreach and a more normalized time dilation. Time still flowed faster than normal, but it wasn¡¯t the insane one thousand to one of the Academy. As they stepped out of the Academy grounds, they were met by Sam. ¡°Hello Sam. It¡¯s been a minute.¡± Duke could sense something different about the dungeon¡¯s avatar but couldn¡¯t put a finger on it yet. ¡°Greetings, Duke. Ophirian, Nystriel. It is good to see you all. How have you been?¡± ¡°Rather quite angry, sad, and completely unsettled to be honest,¡± Duke replied, barely holding his roiling emotions in check. ¡°What has you so unsettled?¡± ¡°The Academy is running at an unconscionable time dilation. One thousand to one? I just watched Baslin die of old age in there. Why? Why was this allowed to happen!¡± Sam took a step backwards at Duke¡¯s vehemence. He paused and produced a folded piece of paper and handed it to Duke, ¡°Baslin left this for you. When you have finished with it, we can talk about it.¡± As Sam took a seat on one of the chairs he had just created on the side of the road, he gestured for the others to join him which they did. Duke read the note. Duke, if you are reading this, it¡¯s probably too late for me to tell you all this in person. First off, do not blame Sam for the accelerated time at the Academy. That was MY choice and one I would make again and again. I have lived a long life filled with countless events, many of which have not been favorable. Meeting you was perhaps the most important of all. You completely changed the trajectory of my story and I am glad for it. Things have not often gone my way despite my achievements. You changed that for me. You gave me the chance to finally do all the things I had been craving for so long. Being trapped by my own vow was an exquisitely painful torture of the mind. Finally, after all that time, you freed me from that torture. And then you helped me pursue all the things I had yearned for. And finally, you handed me the one thing I have always dreamed of ¨C an Academy to pass on all my accumulated knowledge on to new generations. But therein lay the greatest joy and fear wrapped in a single place. So often in my life, my dreams were taken from me as they seemed to be just within reach. I could not let it happen to my final, ultimate dream. You, Duke are a catalyst for change, a wildcard of the Cosmos. Things happen around you that would be impossible anywhere else. But more often than not, these changes are violent and sweep up everything in their path. I could not let that happen to my Academy. That is why I all but forced Sam to accelerate the time dilation so insanely high. You were off on your latest crusade and consequences would inevitably follow. Don¡¯t misinterpret this ¨C you are doing what must be done and it is a good thing. Knowing all this, I wanted the most time I could have at the Academy before the consequences of the Cosmos came for all of us. Thank you for allowing me the time to see this through to the end. I have had few friends in this life. Many acquaintances, but few actual friends. I count you among that rare number and am grateful for even the little time we had. My most successful apprentice, I leave you with my final advice ¨C take it for what it¡¯s worth. You are not meant for small things. Remove the small limits you place upon yourself. You are meant for greatness and Teldin is too small to contain you. I know you have friends here but the evil you fight spans at least a galaxy. Set Teldin up to fend for itself but you can¡¯t be here to defend her all the time. That is one of the reasons I set the Academy up to make war mages more than anything else. Run them through dungeons until they can travel the stars like you do and make this truly a war you can win. Live a full life, my friend. Do not deny yourself the pleasures of children, of a family. Win this war and find some peace for yourself. Goodbye my friend Baslin Duke folded the note and placed it in his INVENTORY. The look he got from Sam was filled with sympathy. It was Ophirian who spoke, however. ¡°Are you done reading your mail? I¡¯m hungry.¡± ¡°Holy shit, dude. Read the fucking room!¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Ophirian looked back at Duke, wondering what made him so mad? It¡¯s not like he was lying about being hungry. He hadn¡¯t eaten in two days. It was time to hunt something for a snack. It didn¡¯t need to be a full meal even. When he started to explain, Duke held up his hand to stop him. ¡°Ophirian, I know that you don¡¯t understand all that is going on right now but damn, man. If you¡¯re that hungry, go hunt down something to eat. I am going to be outside the Foundry tomorrow. That¡¯s tomorrow in the real world. I am leaving from there and you will either be with me or you won¡¯t. I¡¯ll not be waiting.¡± Nystriel buzzed at Duke as she settled further into his hair, creating a staticky nest of sorts. It seemed that she was coming with him wherever he was headed. Ophirian TELEPORTED away before Duke could change his mind which left him free to address Sam. ¡°Sam, you seem different somehow. What¡¯s changed?¡± ¡°So, you haven¡¯t delved into my information to find out for yourself?¡± ¡°Trying to respect your privacy.¡± ¡°Well, thank you for that. The change is a rather significant one. With everything that has been going on inside my confines, I have managed to Tier up to Eleven.¡± ¡°Immortal Tier?¡± ¡°The same. There are less than five hundred of us in the whole of the Cosmos. So few get the chance to make it this far. They are either hunted for their core or are just not able to handle the Tier advancements and wind up shattering themselves.¡± ¡°That¡¯s frightening. Congratulations, Sam. I¡¯m excited for the possibilities that come from this. I have no idea what they are, but I¡¯m excited nonetheless.¡± ¡°I am still figuring it out for myself, but I am certain it will be great!¡± ¡°What pushed you over the top?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to like this answer.¡± ¡°Just tell me. It¡¯s been too much lately. I have no patience left.¡± Sam nodded resignedly, ¡°It was Baslin¡¯s passing that pushed me over.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a kick in the nuts. But I think he would be happy to know that he helped you become something more than you were.¡± Sam beamed at Duke, ¡°You think so?¡± ¡°He was a teacher at heart. He loved his students¡¯ success more than anything else. Sure, he love crafting, but did you ever see him light up when he taught something? When he showed me what he had learned about undead and especially about runecrafting, his entire world lit up. That he was able to help you get to such a Tier would have definitely made him proud.¡± ¡°Thank you Duke.¡± ¡°Now, I have a stop or two to make before I head out. You should join me at least for the first one, Sam.¡± Sam nodded and Duke took them to a specific location outside Havenreach. It was somewhat remote but could be reached from the city in a day or two. It was a forested hill with a single cabin on it. The cabin was a bit bigger than the last time Duke was here which brought a smile to his face with the potential for good news. From the cabin came a stout teenage boy who carried an axe over his left shoulder followed by a younger girl in a supple deerskin dress. They were followed by Grat and Elaine who were smiling broadly and looking much closer to how they looked when Duke first met them. ¡°Duke! Sam! It¡¯s been ages!¡± The teenager dropped the head of the axe to the ground and glanced back to his parents, ¡°You know this man with his sparking hair?¡± ¡°Andy, that is Duke, your Free Uncle and our dear friend,¡± Elaine admonished. ¡°The man from the stories?¡± The girl looked up at Duke in wonder. ¡°Good stories, I hope,¡± Duke added. ¡°All good. Of course,¡± Grat said. ¡°Please come in. Elaine has made a fine stew and fresh bread. There should be plenty for all of us.¡± ¡°I helped!¡± The young girl protested. ¡°Yes, Melanie, you did. And I am quite proud of all your work.¡± They all filtered back into the cabin that had grown more than Duke had noticed at first, having been dug into the side of the hill. The next several minutes passed in congenial small talk as stories were exchanged. Eventually, Duke came to the reason behind coming at this time. ¡°Yes, there is another reason I came today beyond catching up with friends. It is with a heavy heart that I am here to tell you that Baslin has passed away.¡± ¡°Oh no. What happened?¡± ¡°Nothing untoward. He died peacefully of old age.¡± ¡°Old age?¡± ¡°Just as time move more quickly here, there is an Academy for magic that Baslin built that had time passing far faster. I was gone for about four months, and he aged over three hundred years.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­What would cause him to agree to such a thing?¡± ¡°Elaine, I asked myself the same question. He left me a note to explain it. I¡¯m still processing it because it feels like my fault despite what he says.¡± Elaine accepted the note and held it for Grat to read along. The children tried to read it as well but there was not enough room for Andy and Melanie was not tall enough despite her repeated jumps. When they finished, they handed the note back to him. Grat spoke, ¡°He retired to live out his dream. You made it possible, Duke. That is not a note assigning blame, but rather credit and thanks. I will miss the old maniac but we are also living the life of our dreams here with our family. The blood ally bond still calls to us, but it is muted. We are called to your aid but since we are unable to follow where you go, the bond is quiescent. This is enough for us.¡± ¡°I was wondering about that. Do you feel that the bond fades over time because I can barely feel it anymore.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not so sure about it fading, just the system not enforcing the unenforceable. Which is a good thing for all of us, I would say.¡± ¡°I would have to agree. Now, someone said something about stew and bread?¡± The rest of the day was spent catching back up and getting to know the children a bit better. It turned out that Melanie had a strong desire to see the city of Havenreach. She was enthralled by the idea of becoming a merchant herself despite never having set foot (barefoot right now) inside a city. Duke encouraged them to visit the mayor and penned a quick letter of introduction for the girl should she decide that she truly wanted to become a merchant. He was sure Lord Greengold would take good care of her. Finally, late into the evening, he bid them farewell and moved on to his last task ¨C raiding the tax vaults of Havenreach. He TELEPORTED directly into the vaults and found they had expanded in the extreme. Whereas it had been a large room the last time Duke had been there, the vaults were now dozens of levels of warehouse-sized chambers filled with riches. Duke felt no guilt whatsoever as he gathered up a large stash of Grand Crystals as well as gold. He did not stick around to wait for any accounting, instead heading straight for the meeting place outside the Foundry to wait for Ophirian. Book 4, Chapter 44 When Daleen Halifax stepped into the dungeon, she took her typical position in the squad. Nerves were on edge and weapons were drawn in anticipation of a difficult fight. The entrance to the dungeon was, as had always been the case, a safe space. As such, they were able to take in the view before them. They stood upon a cliff face with what appeared to be the entire dungeon laid out before them. Their starting position gave them a look down at the vast area ahead of them. It was nearly two kilometers of rough and jagged cliffside down to the ground below. Halifax¡¯s first impression was that they had arrived on another planet entirely. Everything was cast in a red hue and the heat was oppressive. There were stone structures that looked like sharp towers interspersed with pools of bubbling lava. ¡°Oh hell. Do you see all those creatures down there?¡± Anixisoj commented as they pointed to a swelling mob of creatures boiling out of the lava and starting to climb up the cliffs. ¡°Noted. Engage flight and fire resistance. Remember our primary goal is to capture the Core. Secondary objective is to locate and rescue the sector commander but from the looks of things we are too late for that. This is the strongest dungeon we have ever delved so we will stay together even when scouting. Do not engage unless we have to. We¡¯re going to be in here an awful long time by my guess.¡± With their plan at least initially set, they flew away from the cliff and out towards the fiery broken plains around them. Once they started moving away from the entrance, two things became instantly obvious. Firstly, the dungeon entrance had sealed them in ¨C something that only happened in the most difficult of dungeons. Secondly, what had appeared to be spiky rock outcroppings below on the cliff were in fact creatures that had started to launch into the air and head straight for the group. Halifax¡¯s decision came quickly, ¡°Doubtful we can outpace them. Engage!¡± Spells, Abilities, and energy beams lanced out from the team as they rapidly moved away from the cliff face. The attacks were enough to keep the majority of creatures coming towards them from continuing pursuit. There were, however, about a dozen that were larger than the rest. They were not deterred. As the dozen fliers approached the group, they got a better look at what was pursuing them. The creatures were not uniform but they all had some shared characteristics. They all were flying via winged membranes that showed an even deeper red in the crimson illumination of the dungeon. They also shared a stone-like appearance. Halifax¡¯s first impression was that they were some sort of gargoyle from the horns on their heads but the fact that their horns and wings appeared more flesh than stone, she shifted from that hypothesis. What she did know, however, was that their scattered attacks were not stopping the pursuit. ¡°Focus fire! Leftmost target designated as one. Concentrate on one first and focus them down!¡± Without hesitation or pause for confirmation, the team acted. They had been together long enough that they responded to such a command immediately ¨C it had saved them on more than one occasion. They trusted Halifax to see things that they did not because she just plain did. Focusing all their attacks on the single creature tore it from the sky, leaving it screaming in pain as it plummeted towards the steaming and bubbling ground. No one watched it¡¯s fall, instead, shifting their focus to the next in line. While this approach was removing the threats from the air it allowed the pursuit to get closer. The creatures following pursued with rage and anticipation of rending flesh. Six of the pursuers went down before they reached the party. That¡¯s when the butcher¡¯s bill came due. Celaith took a vicious slash to the back as she tried to avoid the rapidly approaching monster. Her Adept-ranked Dodge Skill had pushed her well beyond the creature¡¯s reach. That is, until the creature¡¯s arm and claws extended outwards and sliced through armor and flesh alike, finally snagging on her belt before retracting for another strike. Celaith was bleeding from the wound but managed to turn around and engage the monster before it could get another slash in. Her spear flashed in the crimson light, it¡¯s widened tip, a deadly vibrating blade that was both technologically and magically enhanced. The blade of the spear sliced clean through two of the creature¡¯s claws causing it to hiss in pain as it danced backwards with a flap of its powerful wings. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The rest of the monsters came in and the melee was joined in earnest. The monsters were immensely strong, and their rocky skin was significantly damage-resistant but that was only part of the story. Core Team Three was the top team of all the Core teams for a reason. The fight lasted longer than they were used to, but the outcome was never in question. What concerned Halifax was that they had already started to dip into their consumables. There was no telling how large this dungeon¡¯s area truly was and whether their supplies would run out. She considered all this as she noted that the monsters¡¯ bodies were reclaimed by the bubbling lava of the floor below them, leaving no loot drops. It took another half hour of travelling over the burning plains before they spotted more solid ground. A mesa jutted upwards from the ground and their keen sight spotted several caves of varying sizes. Halifax directed them towards the caves and relief from the exposed feeling their flight was giving her. Edgemont sat at his desk reviewing the data stream. He had come upon a number of possibilities for talent he could poach from other sectors but he was still hesitant. If he relied on another sector¡¯s staff, he would lose the wager and Edgemont simply did not lose. Frustration overtook him and he glanced back over to the open office door/dungeon entrance next to him. It had only been a matter of hours and he really didn¡¯t expect an outcome just yet, but he was anticipating one before too long. Duke separated from Aurelia feeling completely puzzled. She called it off. She told me it was too much to be around me anymore and just left. All but cut off communication. Then she was cordial at best the last time I saw her. Now she¡¯s acting like she wanted me to chase her the whole time? I don¡¯t understand and I don¡¯t think I ever will. ¡°Aurelia, you know that you broke my heart when you left. I don¡¯t know how to interpret all this now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Duke. I thought I wanted more but I just didn¡¯t know what I really wanted. I know I hurt you and I¡¯m sorry for that. I let you go off all alone and fight without me at your side.¡± ¡°Do you know what I did out there?¡± Duke gestured up towards the sky in an expansive sweeping gesture. ¡°No, I don¡¯t know but I do know that you deserved to have someone there for you, and that someone should have been me. Needs to be me.¡± ¡°I could show it to you. They recorded it, you know. All the Cosmos knows what kind of monster I can be. What terrors I have lurking in here.¡± He gestured to his head. ¡°What horrors are constantly pressing on my mind, desperate to be released into the world yet again. The stronger I get, the longer I can hold them back, but they are as inevitable as time. They will come out again and they will only be stronger than the last time because that is how the System works.¡± She moved closer but he stiffened and continued, ¡°What do you expect of me, Aurelia?¡± Her chest tightened. She stepped forward. ¡°I should have been there. I should have been the one waiting for you, calling for you, reminding you who you are. I thought I was saving myself from losing you, but I was just making sure I lost you in a different way.¡± His hands curled at his sides. She saw it now¡ªthe tension in his shoulders, the weight in his posture. How many lives had he ended with those hands? How much blood had he spilled? And it was broadcast to the entire Cosmos? The weight of it all must be crushing him. ¡°I don¡¯t deserve to ask you to take me back,¡± she said softly. ¡°But I¡¯m here anyway.¡± He exhaled sharply. ¡°And what do you expect? That we just¡­ go back to how things were?¡± ¡°No,¡± she admitted, stepping closer. ¡°Because you¡¯re not the same. And neither am I.¡± She reached out, hesitated, then touched his arm. His muscles tensed beneath her fingers, but he didn¡¯t pull away. ¡°I can¡¯t take back what I did, what I said. I can¡¯t change the past ¨C missing the opportunity to be there for you when you needed someone. When you needed me. I can¡¯t fix what you¡¯ve been through. But if you let me, I will stand by you through whatever comes next.¡± He looked directly into her eyes with all the fire of his own gaze, the intensity of his Psyche. Her instincts screamed at her to run from this terrible predator¡¯s gaze but she fought back with all her own will and met his gaze with hope and longing. ¡°Together, Duke. Together.¡± She saw it the moment his decision was made and his gaze stepped back from the Alpha predator he had become to the man she knew was inside as well. Silently, internally, she felt the pressure abate and rejoiced. ¡°Together, Aurelia. Together.¡± The embrace that followed was like nothing before. She could feel the emotion pouring out of him, the need for her on far more than a physical level. She cursed herself for denying them both this bond, this connection. She felt¡­she felt at home in his arms. Safe, protected. ¡°Well, ain¡¯t that cute. You got yourself a mate!¡± Ophirian¡¯s sarcastic voice broke the moment like a sledgehammer to a plane of glass. They parted to look at him. ¡°Woah, boss. Put the ¡®I¡¯m going to burn the world to ash¡¯ look away for a bit. Save it for the Syndicate, right? Sorry to interrupt you both but they are about to bring our ship out and I thought you might want to get ready before folks start loading up.¡± The mood and moment broken, Duke asked, ¡°Loading what up?¡± ¡°The First Space Legion, of course.¡± Duke and Aurelia both gaped at Ophirian, ¡°The what?¡± Book 4, Chapter 45 The ground rumbled as the largest set of doors for the Foundry crept open. They watched, fascinated as not only did the massive doors slide apart, but the ground lowered into a ramp, revealing a much larger opening than Duke had expected ¨C and he had designed the entire Foundry! Finally, the opening was complete and ships began to launch from the hangar. One after another, they silently flew out of the depths only to come to a hover over the large area that had been cleared for a starport. At first it was one or two ships at a time, but then they started to come out two or three at a time and Duke grew concerned. He had seen over a thousand ships in the hangar ¨C surely, they weren¡¯t all coming out. There was no way they would be able to crew that many at this point. ¡°Duke, what are all those?¡± ¡°Well, they are ships which makes sense for a space legion, but there are more ships coming out than I had expected.¡± ¡°How many ships do you have?¡± ¡°At this point, it¡¯s hard to say. When last I saw the fleet, there were more than a thousand. But, the Foundry produces everything at a shockingly rapid rate. There could be ten times that number in there.¡± ¡°Where are all the people to fly these coming from? I¡¯ve only managed to fill the Royal Legion up to ten thousand troops so far and they are far from being ready to act as a cohesive whole. Even the troops Malkiavick sent still needed training to learn how to operate in the Legion structure. I¡¯ve had to push the troops to an extreme just to get them to all Tier up once and get the FORMATION Ability.¡± ¡°Ophirian is going to answer that for us but first, tell me about the Royal Legion.¡± ¡°What¡¯s to tell? They are coming along but are not where I want them to be. Less than a thousand of the original Legions survived the Hounds and they are the core of the new Royal Legion but since the rest is composed of warriors and troops from all over, they do not have the same capabilities. Fighting styles are all disparate and getting them all to work as a cohesive unit has been a terrible challenge. It¡¯s not because they are unwilling, it¡¯s just that they are trained and equipped differently. Whereas the original Legions were similarly equipped and trained, these troops are all over the place. Different weapons and styles. A third of them don¡¯t even use shields. How do I even field an effective shield wall when they don¡¯t have shields!¡± ¡°You won¡¯t have that problem with the Space Legion.¡± ¡°OK, Ophirian, tell us about it.¡± ¡°As you can see, we have a lot of ships.¡± ¡°Big ships,¡± Aurealia added. ¡°You think those are big ships? Oh, just wait. But that¡¯s getting ahead of ourselves. Each ship has enough space for 500 Legionnaires, 500 crew, and 10 mechs. They can operate independently, or they can combine their capabilities. The ships are armed with the heaviest weapons we could fit on them including long-range missiles.¡± Aurelia watched as the last ship came out of the Foundry and remained floating over the landing area along with the rest of them. A quick count showed a square formation of ten ships a side making a one hundred ships in total. She looked over to Ophirian, ¡°Can they take a hit?¡± ¡°Yes, they can take a hit.¡± They all turned to see Granhok, the albino minotaur in charge of shipbuilding striding out from the ramp. ¡°They have shielding that can handle most anything that can be thrown at them.¡± ¡°That good?¡± Duke asked as Granhok stopped in front of them. Granhok leaned in close to Duke, causing Nystrial to shift position as his horns intruded on her space. She delivered a mild shock that set the minotaur¡¯s fur to fluffing out. He twitched in annoyance but held his position as he spoke quietly in Duke¡¯s ear, ¡°They held against everything we tested them against, but they do have limits and who knows what else is out there. Don¡¯t rely on shielding to save your ass.¡± The minotaur straightened up and smiled at the group. ¡°They¡¯re quite the sight to see, aren¡¯t they?¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°That they are,¡± Aurelia smiled. ¡°And it looks like everyone is coming out to see them,¡± Granhok pointed back towards the city and the crowd streamlining to see what was going on. ¡°That took longer than I would have expected,¡± Ophirian commented. ¡°The ships are silent. If they had come out here with a roaring of engines it would have attracted a crowd instantly. How are they silent, anyway. I¡¯m sure I heard engine noise when I saw them in the hangar the first time.¡± ¡°The ships are using their maneuvering systems right now. Their full engines are loud but the maneuvering systems don¡¯t use propulsion in the traditional sense.¡± ¡°You have my attention. How do they work?¡± ¡°Magic.¡± The look from Duke was enough to make the minotaur take a step back. He continued, ¡°Seriously, it is magic. It is a Spell embedded into the runescripting that allows for silent movement. It was one of Baslin¡¯s first students that developed it for us. He called it something like ¡®magic mage fingers¡¯ or something like that.¡± ¡°Magic Mage Fingers? You¡¯re screwing with me, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Totally serious. It allowed the mage to move things without touching them.¡± Duke paled as he realized that the minotaur was serious. ¡°My entire fleet of ships is going to maneuver through ¡®magic fingers¡¯? FML.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Duke?¡± ¡°More idioms, Aurelia. They just follow me around at this point.¡± He paused, looked around at the gathering crowd and nodded to himself. This was a good show for the populace if nothing else. All eyes turned to the ramp as the sound of armored boots echoed up from the depths. Necks craned to see what was coming and the sense of anticipation rose as, on the landing site, each ship silently descended to the surface and lowered their ramps. Eyes flipped back and forth between the ships and whatever was coming up the ramp. In the end, shouts broke out as the Space Legion marched up the ramp and out into the open. They marched out in rows of ten. The three-meter-tall armored suits were nearly identical with their black base coat. All the Legionnaires had a single glowing gem emblazoned on their chests. As they passed by Duke, they slammed a fist over their hearts with an echoing sound of metal on metal in salute. The sound of their marching boots striking in unison reminded Duke of the FORMATION Ability the Thrice Blessed Legion had employed. It was a sight to behold as they marched past and to their respective ships. They loaded up effortlessly, disappearing into the darkened doorways. For several minutes the Space Legion moved to their ships and loaded up. Finally, they finished loading and the crowd started to disperse back into the city. Then the next wave began, and citizens rushed back out to watch. These Legionnaires were smaller than the previous ones and their armor was decorated with different bands of color on what appeared to be different bands of white across their arms. They marched in synch, but it did not have the same effect at the first group. The steps did not carry the weight of their predecessors but this group had an aura all their own. The aura was magical in nature but massed around the Mage Corps, it bore the weight of a physical presence. They too split and boarded their ships. The crowd did not turn back to the city, anticipating what would be coming next. In fact, more and more came pouring out of the gates to see what was transpiring. They were not to be disappointed. The ground shook as the last group marched up the ramp. There were fewer of them, but not a single eye looked away as the monstrous black and red mechs marched up the ramp. The mechs were all the same. They each sported weapons pods underneath each left arm and on the shoulders, but the most noticeable weaponry was a massive cannon mounted alongside the right arm. Duke could see the added reinforcement that was needed for that arm to support the cannon. He wondered just what the thing fired ¨C the opening was as tall as he was. Each titan-class mech marched with a thundering pace and was greeted with gasps of awe from the gathered crowd. When they mechs were all loaded, Granhok handed Duke a crystal on a chain. ¡°This is your command crystal. It will allow you to communicate with any and all your ships and other forces. It has the longest range of anything the shops have been able to create. You should be able to reach your forces as long as they are within one hundred light years.¡± ¡°That¡¯s very useful. Thank you.¡± Duke placed the chain over his head and tucked it into his shirt. ¡°You are welcome. Now I must away to work on the next generation of ships for you.¡± Duke watched the minotaur head down the ramp moments before things started to close up. As the doors rolled shut, Duke gestured to Aurelia, ¡°Are you joining me on the shakedown cruise of the First Space Legion?¡± ¡°Of course I am!¡± They headed for the ships as Duke tried to figure which one was the command ship. As they got closer, he noticed the names of the ships. There was a theme for sure. All the ships were named ¡°Hand of¡± something. Ultimately, this made it easy to find the command ship ¨C Hand of the Emperor. They boarded and were greeted by the troops still standing in formation, their ten mechs ringing the perimeter of the massive hold. A single Orc came forward wearing the distinctive look of a Steel Tusk. He stopped in front of Duke and offered the same clenched fist salute the troops had, snapping to attention before speaking. ¡°Welcome aboard the Hand of the Emperor. Captain Moknahr at your service, Emperor! We stand ready for your orders.¡± ¡°As you were. Let¡¯s head to the bridge and figure out where we are all going for this shake-down cruise.¡±