《The Blood Core》 Chapter 1 I felt I hid my annoyance reasonably well as I signed the papers in front of me. Apparently, if a company that you sell your artwork commits tax evasion, it can at times ripple down the chain. Thus, I had unwittingly committed tax fraud for the last five years, being none the wiser. If I ever had the chance to work again, I would make sure to do my own taxes from that day on. My lawyer, some guy whose name I couldn¡¯t pronounce without butchering it, placed another form in front of me. ¡°Alright, Miss Amara. This is the last document. It will at least keep you out of jail for the time being.¡± ¡°Yay,¡± I said halfheartedly. Spending the next twenty minutes, I made sure I wasn¡¯t getting screwed¡­ again before I scribbled my name over the line. ¡°Great! That¡¯s everything. It is good that you had some life savings. This sort of thing happens more often than you would expect.¡± He gave me a crooked though somewhat reassuring grin. ¡°I¡¯ll keep you out of prison, but I can¡¯t do anything about the house arrest.¡± I waved his concern off. I was used to being at home most of the time anyway. It just hit me hard that I didn¡¯t have any work at the moment. Sort of hard-to-get clients when they only knew you through your company. ¡°I know. I¡¯ll be fine. Since I don¡¯t have any work, maybe I¡¯ll check up on my sleep.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the spirit!¡± The lawyer packed up all the paperwork before I showed him to the door. ¡°Now. I¡¯ll be here to pick you up for your court date in two months. If you miss it¡­ Just don¡¯t miss it.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t. Where am I going to go?¡± I replied with a snort. ¡°Good. Until next time.¡± He turned on his heel and made for his car in the driveway, a nice 2035 model from Yelsa. It could do everything but fly. I waved until he was on the street before I around, closing the door. My usually welcoming home felt empty and cold. The three-bedroom house might be a bit large for one person, but I had my uses for each room. My bedroom, a workroom, and a space to showcase said work for prospective buyers. Not that anyone physically came to my house. Cameras allowed them to virtually tour the place well enough. The police had raided it for anything and everything that was related to my work. The thought that all my art supplies were sitting in some evidence locker made me chuckle. At least until I remembered that I couldn¡¯t physically go buy more for almost two months. That soon led to me remembering that the government was going to take just about every last credit that I had. I thought about what I told the lawyer and went to the bedroom to catch up on my sleep. A week ago, I was lucky to get even three hours of sleep; I was so overworked. Now I could sleep for fifteen hours a day without having to worry about making a deadline. Looking around the bare room, most of my clothes in the laundry, I spotted one of the few electronic devices that the police hadn¡¯t taken. ¡°They took my art stuff but left you,¡± I mumbled as I fingered the dive recliner. I had bought it about ten years ago, so it was quite old. It allowed one to escape the modern world into whatever world you wanted. Fantasy, science fiction, horror, or whatever you named it, some company had created a virtual world that you could escape to. I had been quite into a few games when I was younger, the result of my parents hating each other and thus me. Flopping down into the seat, I activated the calibrator. It had been almost four years since I had used it for more than a literal seat to do my hair or make-up. The stress and workload had taken more than a few pounds off my bones. Plus, I had to make sure the device still worked in the first place. ¡°Please remain perfectly still.¡± I did as the metallic voice instructed as two bars extended from either side of my face. A light that signified I was being scanned started at the top of my head. The scanner soon worked its way down to the tips of my toes. When it finished, the bars retracted. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Load the last world played,¡± I ordered since I couldn¡¯t remember what I had on here. I figured if I played something that I was already established in, I could go take out my stress on some poor monster sooner rather than later. The metallic voice returned. ¡°Confirmed. Please wait ten seconds.¡± A metallic clamp extended and attached to my arm. I never played long enough for it to matter, but there was a bag of nanites that would supply nutrients to my system if I played for longer than a day. I used them for non-gaming purposes when I didn¡¯t want to eat and keep painting. Not recommended, but at least I knew they were good to go in case I decided to go on a massacre. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. I closed my eyes and slowly counted. At eleven, for good measure, I opened them to see my room had vanished. Instead, complete darkness met my gaze. It was pitch black, but my sense of touch was working. I felt cold, slightly damp stone under my back and legs. I tested my arms and found I could move. ¡°What the hell had I been playing last time?¡± I asked myself as I felt around. Pushing up, what appeared to be a stone lid shifted ever so slightly. That was when things went weird. : Error: Unable to reconcile data to local network. : Attempting to Update: Local¡­ Failed. Attempting to Update: Zone¡­ Failed. Attempting to Update: Node¡­ Failed. Attempting to Update: Region¡­ Failed. Attempting to Update: World¡­ Success: I had absolutely no idea what was going on. Surely, three years wasn¡¯t long enough for a logged-off character to break the game! If that was the case, they should have just deleted it. I didn¡¯t get much time to consider what was going on, as something that shouldn¡¯t happen started to happen. Needle-like stabbing pain washed over every part of my body. That was when I really started to panic. Pain simulation had been banned ten years ago in 2042 due to a large number of deaths from people overdoing it. There were always those few that liked to be hurt. Being that I never had a high pain tolerance. I effectively passed out in seconds. ~~~ Flashes of color brought me back to the world of wakefulness. I groaned as I had a splitting headache adding to the already lousy day I had before this little adventure. I blinked my eyes and saw a sliver of light. I must have managed to push the lid or covering enough before all the craziness started. Reaching back up, I pushed the lid with everything I had. A loud bang as the lid fell off the side onto the ground echoed throughout whatever structure I was in, hurting my head even more. Groaning again, I pulled myself up and looked around. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ in a¡­ cave,¡± I mumbled. I was in a coffin in the middle of a cave. A few markings that had worn away from the effects of time could almost barely be made out. A memory sparked as I took in the coffin I was sitting in. A few years ago, I had been going through a rough period. In an attempt to escape, I made a vampire-like character. In only the first few minutes, I had quickly realized that drinking blood for humanoids didn¡¯t sit well with me and ended up subsisting on animals and monsters. It worked well enough, even unlocking a few powers and skills. ¡°I don¡¯t think I want to go through that again,¡± I said to the empty cave as more memories of the few months that I had played surfaced. It had just never been¡­ me. Better to just remake a character or find a new game. Looking at my wrist, a rune was tattooed onto the skin. I traced it, and the menu popped up. I made my way to the bottom and tapped the log-out button. It turned static for a second before it went back to normal. I raised an eyebrow at the scene and thought maybe the event from a few minutes ago had caused it. I tapped it again, and again it turned static before returning to normal. ¡°No. Seriously!¡± I refused to believe I was trapped in a game! This wasn¡¯t some web novel or anime! I repeatedly hit the button with nothing new happening, no matter how hard I tried. I spent more time than was rightfully necessary burning off my anger, pounding the button until I just had to accept the fact that it wasn¡¯t working. I ground my teeth in irritation then moved through the menu until I found contacts. I smashed the contact Game Master button, and the same thing happened. At that point, I lost it and screamed. The sound echoed around the cave for only ten seconds before I felt something tear in my throat, after which no sound came out of my mouth other than a dry huff. Okay. Calm down, Amara. There must be an explanation. An NPC! That¡¯s it. I needed to find a non-player character. They should be able to contact the system. Wait. The system. ¡°¡­!¡± I grabbed the edge of the coffin and slammed my head straight down. Are you kidding me!? I couldn¡¯t speak due to my torn vocal cords. I spent the next thirty minutes going through a few mediation techniques that I had learned to cope with my workload. After calming down, I turned and sat on the edge of the coffin. Looking around, I actually took in more of my surroundings past the casket. I groaned, dropping my face into my hands as all I saw were the cave walls. I was in a room that was barely five by five meters. The coffin, the only thing that was in any sort of good condition, was elaborate but overall useless. I sighed and looked up toward the light. Maybe there was a hole I could climb? Floating just above my head by a meter or so was a blood-red orb. While I had no idea of its purpose, the image it gave off screamed evil object. I stood up then reached up further, jerking to a stop when the light landed on my arm. The sleeve of the shirt I had been wearing was mostly rotted. The skin was gnarled and sunken. It looked like a mummy¡¯s. I¡¯m screwed. I just know it. Shaking off the disgust I was feeling, I finished reaching up to grab the object. [Dungeon Core: Vampire. Owner: Aurora Nightingale] I considered the name then quickly pulled the menu back up again. I clicked on the status option. It flashed with static for a second before it glowed red, and another screen popped up. -- Name: Aurora Nightingale Level: 1 Race: Vampire, Sub: Dungeon Master Sub: Dungeon Core Total Mana: 2/50 Abilities: Blood Sucking Blood Magic Elemental Magic ¨C Fire, Earth Basic Sneak Dungeon Menu -- I took a breath before I crawled back into the coffin and slowly laid down before I shuddered in dismay for a few minutes. What was going on?! This has to be a nightmare. I was trapped in a game, trapped in a cave, and was apparently a dungeon core. Fuck my life. Chapter 2 Slowly rocking back and forth, I knocked my head against the back of the coffin. Not in a, I had lost it and needed a padded room way. More like in a, I couldn¡¯t believe this shit was happening sort of way. Sighing, I sat back up before getting out of the coffin completely for the first time since this craziness started. I was stuck here and had no way or one to contact about getting out. I should be fine for a few hours, a day even if it came to it. I dreaded missing a call from my lawyer or the police, but circumstances being what they were. I rubbed my head as I couldn¡¯t remember, but I could have sworn there was an emergency cut off if your body reached critical levels. That would take months sadly with the nanites. I prayed to God that didn¡¯t happen, but it was a potential out in the long term. Focusing back on the present, I couldn¡¯t overdo it on the moving. Small movements were fine, but anything more extreme would result in muscles popping and skin tearing. One of my fingers was hanging loose thanks to my nearly mummified body. I¡¯d rather not risk an entire limb coming off. The good news, however, was that I didn¡¯t feel pain from the injury and thus felt that the game was mostly functioning like normal now. Carefully sliding to the ground, I landed on my feet carefully testing them in the process. When it looked like they were going to be fine, I stalked along the wall to check if there might be a hidden passage or small entrance that I might have missed. I¡¯m not sure, but I felt it took me almost half an hour to check the entire room with how slow I was forced to move. My inspection complete, I returned to my starting point. Now then¡­ I needed to get to the surface! That way I could get some moisture in my body then I should be able to make an emergency call. I wasn¡¯t sure which way the surface even was, but it shouldn¡¯t be too far. Surely¡­ Hopefully¡­ I shook my head and thought about how to go about reaching said surface. Dungeon cores. What exactly was a dungeon core? It wasn¡¯t something I knew much about. I had played games of course and knew that dungeons were usually places for challenges that players attempted to get loot, gear and whatnot. But I didn¡¯t know if that was the case for this game. Certainly, it wasn¡¯t the torture people sort of dungeon. I felt pretty confident about that fact. Leaning back against the wall of the room, I pulled the menu up again and stared at my options. I had a few magics, but I couldn¡¯t remember for the life of me how they worked in this game. Did I need an incantation? Reagents? Runes? I decided to leave those alone for the time being. That left me with only one real option. Tapping the Dungeon Menu while crossing my fingers that it worked properly, a deep breathe escaped me when another screen popped up. Sadly, it wasn¡¯t very helpful. -- [Dungeon Core: Vampire. Owner: Aurora Nightingale] Total Mana: 0/100 Absorb. Create. Destroy. Summon. -- I tapped on the absorb not really sure what it would do. A second later, I was falling back as the wall vanished. Unable to react in time, I landed on my butt with at least four or five more tears all over my body. I groaned and glanced at the wall. A sphere of it was now missing. I thought it was around a meter total in radius. Pulling myself back up proved to be a challenge. Whatever had torn had been in my right leg and it no longer operated properly. With a few stumbles and groans later, I had finally got back to my feet. I checked everything again once I was standing to find the core¡¯s mana had risen by a point. I limped to the nearest section of the wall and used Absorb again. This time it was centered on my hand so a bit more level with the floor. I kept it up more because I was fascinated by the smooth edges more than for any other reason. When I saw the core¡¯s mana reached ten, I finally managed to make myself stop. There was nothing to really destroy other than the coffin and I wasn¡¯t sure that I wasn¡¯t going to need that in the future. If this lasted more than a few hours, I would need somewhere to sleep after all. I could remember that the sun was the number of enemy of vampires in this game, though only barely. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. When I hit the Create option, an empty list popped up. Well, not completely empty. I could create stone and dirt. The two things I had absorbed from the wall. I tapped on dirt and a small box appeared. I stared at it before tapping it. A keyboard appeared. I couldn¡¯t help but think that this was all rather immersion breaking. I went ahead and just put in a one. Dirt exploded from my hand quickly burying my legs before I could move. I panicked and swung my hand causing the dirt to cover most of the room like a blanket. A few seconds of this, and the dirt finally ceased being created. I groaned before attempting to move, only to find I was completely stuck, the dirt being up to my waist. Shit! I didn¡¯t risk absorbing it as the sphere would be centered on my hand. I¡¯d rather not fall again. I really didn¡¯t want my left leg to end up in the same situation as the right. I resigned myself to digging myself out at least partially but first, I decided to try the summoning skill. If it created something that could help me dig myself out, then great. Even better was if I can have it contact a Game master for me. Pulling the menu open once more, I tapped the summon skill. A list appeared much like Create. Since there were more entries, a grand total of five, I took a second to inspect each option before committing. -- Summoning
  1. Dungeon Imp
  2. Ghoul
  3. Bat (Vampiric)
  4. Demon (Lesser)
  5. Worg
-- I tapped a finger against my arm for a few minutes before I realized that I had no where near enough mana to summon anything other than the Dungeon Imp. Even the Bat cost a full fifteen mana points. With nothing more to lose than a few mana, I tapped on the Imp option. A cascade of options opened around me. Just from the few screens right in front of my nose, it looked like I could almost completely design the creature as I saw fit. I rubbed my hands together as something interesting and not day ruining finally happened. The artist inside me rearing up to take charge. An hour later, I was done with all the settings, and I hit the summon button. A small portal or circle appeared on the ground as a figure rose into the air. When the light show was over, a short creature stood in front of me. He looked sort of like a fox and a man that had been fused. He wore a red and black suit with a pair of glasses that were prefect circles. His skin was a perfect white, not pale but almost like alabaster. The Imp bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle and exclaimed excitedly. ¡°Hello! My wonderful master! Thank you for summoning me! The Dungeon Imp Losa at your service!¡± I clapped since I couldn¡¯t say anything. He was exactly as I pictured. I did design just about everything about him after all. I was pleased with the gentleman that stood in front of me. The colors blended well and his suit, suited him to a tee. He looked up when he heard the clapping. ¡°My dear!¡± He ran circles around me. ¡°My dear! You are in rough shape.¡± I shrugged since I couldn¡¯t really see more than my limbs. I knew my clothes were about ready to fall off but other than that, I was at a lost. Going from the look of my limbs, I had to think my face couldn¡¯t be that nice to look at either. He made a few sounds of consideration as he looked me over. ¡°Vampire. Been asleep¡­ three hundred years?¡± ¡°¡­¡± I shrugged again. It should only have been four years unless the company that made this game decided to move its development up. That still shouldn¡¯t have affected my body. ¡°Alright.¡± He tapped his chin. ¡°We need to fix this. One-way conversations get old fast!¡± I nodded rapidly even risking my neck, but I wanted to make sure he knew I agreed with him. He snapped his fingers. ¡°I have just the trick up my sleeves. It helps that you were a vampire and thus Chthonic in nature. They like to play with minds. I¡¯ll just spend this ability point real fast and¡­ done!¡± I tilted my head at him as he went on his strange ramble. ¡°Ramble, my dear master. I am exactly as you imagined me. Why, one might even call me your son!¡± He retorted wagging his finger at me. ¡®You heard me?¡¯ I thought with surprise. ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a jumble, but yes. I could hear that thought as it was directed at me. The more directed at me it is, the easier it is for me to hear. Like that I hear quite clearly.¡± ¡®Thank God! Emergency Game Master call!¡¯ I thought with as much force as I could. ¡°Master? Has the revelation that I might as well be your son make you lose it?¡± Losa asked cautiously. ¡°There are no gods, and what is a Game master?¡± he asked before snapped his fingers and realization flashed across his face. Silently I prayed it was the system kicking in. ¡°You mean a Colosseum master! Yes, Yes. Master must have great plans for her dungeon. Good!¡± ¡®NO! A Game Master. A GM! Game Staff! Emergency Stop!¡¯ I started thinking of absolutely everything that I could to make it work, but¡­ nothing did. After about five minutes of shouting my thoughts at Losa, I leaned forward collapsing on the dirt that entrapped me. I would have started crying if it weren¡¯t for the fact that my body was completely drained of moisture at the present. Losa was looking at me like I was broken, which might not be far from the truth. If I couldn¡¯t contact a Game master through an NPC, then I couldn¡¯t see myself getting out of the game before my body hit critical levels of dehydration in a few weeks. I DIDN¡¯T WANT TO BE A MUMMY IN REAL LIFE TOO! ¡°Master?¡± Losa asked though there was clear trepidation in his voice. ¡®What Losa?!¡¯ I demanded not looking up from my folded arms. I knew it wasn¡¯t his fault and it wasn¡¯t fair of me, but I couldn¡¯t help taking my anger out on him. ¡°Clearly I am missing some critical piece of information. Could you tell me what is wrong?¡± he asked kneeling in front of me. ¡°Perhaps, I could lend proper assistance if I knew what was going on.¡± Tell an NPC he was an NPC? I couldn¡¯t remember what happened in those cases before. There was usually an unspoken rule among players not to do so, as it broke the immersion. I sighed and pushed myself to a proper sitting position. ¡®Take a seat.¡¯ Chapter 3 Maxwell My vision was getting blurry from all the forms in front of me. I had been at this for over eight hours. The tax forms for my accounting class just didn¡¯t want to reconcile with the totals that I had gotten from a classmate. After another few minutes of calculations that ended up being wrong, I tossed the forms to the side of the desk. ¡°That settles it. I¡¯m transferring to a different department next semester,¡± I mumbled to myself. ¡°Giving up already?¡± Joshua asked from his own desk. ¡°I¡¯m missing something critical, and from what I¡¯ve heard about taxes, you need to be good about finding those missing links,¡± I retorted, tapping the forms. ¡°Fair enough. What do you plan to transfer to then?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ English, maybe,¡± I replied, dropping my head onto the table. ¡°RIP. Take a break and try again tomorrow,¡± Joshua said, as the magazine he was reading fell on his face and leaning back onto his chair. In a feat that I had never understood since I had first saw it, he was snoring in seconds. I glanced back to the forms before pressing the button for my dive console. I had bought a game in preparation for the end of the semester. It had recently gotten an update where they moved the world forward almost five hundred years. With the technology involved, they could replicate the passage of time reasonably well. Leaning back in my chair, I told it to calibrate and get the game ready. A counter for almost ten minutes popped up. I pulled up some of my feeds to see what was going on around the world. Everything looked fake. Random articles from here and there about celebrities and politicians. I even found one that stated a UFO had appeared over the capital of the European Federation. Shaking my head at how some people will do anything for clicks, I closed the feeds, thankful that the game was ready. I tapped on it, and the world faded to black before a black male body formed in front of me. With a few thoughts, the body changed how I wanted it. I stuck with about how my real body was. Slim and tall with blond hair while keeping a sharp jawline. I did change my race to Dark Elf. I¡¯d always enjoyed their aesthetic. I made a few changes here and there. The number of customizations was mind-blowing. If I could imagine it, there was an option to mess with it. I kept it simple. A few tattoos on my cheeks and arms. From what I¡¯d learned, they were a sort of tribal logos. The different tribes would look at me more favorably with them. I thought it would be better to have more than one. Designing my character done, I confirmed the details. The system asked for a name after that. I entered Maxwell, my usual game name. There were even times that I used it more than my own name. The world shifted again, and a white room appeared in front of me. I spent the next hour going through the basics of combat and movement. It was all standard. Other than the magic, combat was realistic, with vitals being the primary target. [Tutorial Completed. Select your class.] A list that went on forever popped up in front of me. This game had everything, being procedurally generated on the spot for each player, from what I''d read. Two people might have the same class, but the abilities contained within could be very different. I spent the next hour going through the list, trying to decide what I wanted to do. I planned to spend the next three months here after all. Or at least until the following semester. I finally decided on the Lord class. It sounded fantastic and appeared to have a lot of growth potential. There was also the fact that it had access to magic. Always a bonus. Confirming my choice, the white room vanished, sucked into a pinpoint spot directly in front of me. The next thing I knew, I was blasted through the air and landed roughly. An elderly dark elf grabbed my arm and hefted me to my feet. ¡°My Liege! We must keep moving!¡± I did as I was told and moved. I glanced around to try and get a grasp of the situation. I was surrounded by a band of heavily wounded dark elves. The group was fairly diverse, with it being about even male and female. A few on the outer reaches of the group were armed with slender, curved blades. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked the elder, who still had my arm in a vice-like grip. ¡°My head is a little fuzzy from my fall,¡± I added since realism was essential to the game. ¡°The loathsome goblins found our village.¡± I raised an eyebrow at the fact we were fleeing from goblins. Though, now that I thought about it. Goblins might be stronger in this world. Better not judge them by the quality of other games. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. We continued to run with a horrendous scratching sound echoing from behind us. Even with whatever dark vision or sight I had, I couldn¡¯t see anything when I glanced behind us. I risked everything to pull up my status to see if I had something that I could use. -- Name: Maxwell Orfen Level: 1 Race: Dark Elf Class: Lord Total Mana: 10/10 Abilities: Dark Sight Elemental Magic ¨C Dark, Earth, Fire Basic Sneak Founding -- That was bare! I couldn¡¯t believe that was all the information I got from my status. Compared to some of the other games that I¡¯ve played over the years, it was little more than a post-it note worth of remarks. My surprise and shock nearly caused me to stumble, but I managed to correct my posture before falling completely. Waving away the screen, I thought about the tutorial. It had given a basic rundown on how to use magic in the game. With access to Earth Elemental Magic, I might be able to collapse the tunnel to keep our pursuers at bay. Just buying some time to rest would help a lot of the people in the group. Every magic spell had a corresponding magic circle that you had to form with your mana. It was sort of like knowing the words to a chant. The tutorial had given you access to all the basic elemental spells to help you make a choice if you choose a spell caster class. Earth had to have been the simplest of the elements, with the initial spell only being a few lines. Clenching my fist, I pointed back along our path as I imagined the magic circle forming over my palm. You could do a few things with this spell, but the main purpose was to pull and throw stone at an enemy. Aiming for the ceiling, I pulled the stone down as we ran, causing a long crack to form. The next few seconds were crazy as the ceiling finally collapsed after about a dozen meters. The group kept moving just to stay out of the range of the debris falling into the tunnel. Dust, pebbles, and small stones ricocheted down the tunnel for several long moments before everything started to settle. We pulled to a stop with a few of the members collapsing to their hands and knees, breathing heavily. It had been about ten minutes since I started playing, but they must have been running far longer than that. My body was also feeling a bit more fatigued than it should for the amount of time that I had run. I leaned against the wall myself. ¡°My liege! I am extremely pleased to see that your magic has returned to you,¡± the old elf remarked, his voice muffled slightly. I looked over toward him and found he was lying face down on the tunnel floor. The fleeing must have been hardest for him with his age. ¡°Me too,¡± I said with a groan. There was no pain, but I still felt drained, like someone told me to run a forty-kilometer marathon and then skipped to the end. I stood up straight, deciding to try and project some leader vibes. ¡°Where are we running to?¡± ¡°We were trying to reach another dark elf village, not that they would have taken us in,¡± he mumbled the second part under his breath, ¡°but we were forced to take a few tunnels at random. Even with the years on me, I have no idea where we are.¡± ¡°No problem,¡± I paused as I didn¡¯t know his name. Thankfully, it was displayed over his head. ¡°Levada.¡± Everyone rested for a good ten minutes or so before we started moving again. An hour in, I wasn¡¯t the only one that noticed that the ground was sloping upward. When we reached a bright entrance that let out into a sunset-lit forest, I wasn¡¯t sure how to feel. I was a dark elf, after all. While I knew they weren¡¯t quite the scum of the world like in most games, it was still dangerous on the surface for us. ¡°We should rest here, my liege. The tunnel is blocked. The goblins will not soon give up their prey. It would be suicide to head back down.¡± I nodded in agreement. Surface or Abyss, it really didn¡¯t matter to me. I moved over to a boulder to take a seat myself while the rest of the group started pulling out gear to make camp. I hoped that this place would be safe enough to log off in about an hour or two. It had already been late in the day. I would cross that bridge when I came to it. For now, though, I was enjoying the world. It was almost better than the real world. Everything looked amazing. The tunnels had been dull, but the forest was vivid and colorful. Animal and monster calls were going up from every direction. Even being an indoors sort of person, I could appreciate the majesty of nature in front of me. While watching the scenery, I played with my status screen. Everything was fairly straightforward. The only thing I had no idea about was Founding. There was no description to go from. I went ahead and tried to use it and immediately regretted it. A field of energy flashed out around me, expanding to encompass part of the hillside and forest. It was about fifty-fifty. [Congratulations! You¡¯ve Founded a Dark Elf Village. As a Lord, your power comes from your people. Work hard to expand your village into an Empire. Current Population: 25] ¡°Shit!¡± I exclaimed, annoyed. I had no idea the lay of the land around here. I would be working blind! I opened the menu to log off for a few minutes. I wanted to see how some of the systems worked before getting started. Just before I clicked on the butter, there was a cascade of screens in front of me. : Error: Unable to reconcile data to local network. : Attempting to Update: Local¡­ Failed. Attempting to Update: Zone¡­ Failed. Attempting to Update: Node¡­ Failed. Attempting to Update: Region¡­ Failed. Attempting to Update: World¡­ Success: Needle-like stabbing pain washed over every part of my body. I dropped to the ground, rolling like ants were biting me all over. Panic started to set in. Pain simulation was banned ten years ago in 2042 due to many deaths from people overdoing it. Could something have happened to break the game?! Why now!? It all finally faded after about two minutes. The elder and a few of the others were standing over me, worried. ¡°My liege?¡± ¡°Sorry. I¡¯m not sure what happened. I just felt pain all over,¡± I replied, sitting up with his help. ¡°As long as you¡¯re well. We can¡¯t afford to lose you.¡± I grasped his shoulder with a smile. ¡°Thank you.¡± The incident over, everyone moved back to their tents. Levada led me to one set up for me. I thanked him again and made my way inside. I dropped onto the leather sleeping bag just as the panic I¡¯d been holding back set in. I opened the menu faster than I had ever done anything and quickly slammed on the log-out button. Nothing happened. ¡°Mother f¡­¡± Chapter 4 Aurora I managed to tell Losa the entire story. At some point, I basically dumped all of my emotional baggage on him. Everything from the fraud charges to the fact that I had been overworked for months beforehand. How I hated my parents, well, the feeling was mutual. How I had no friends. Like I said, everything. He was an excellent listener for an NPC and only interrupted to ask questions on a few instants. When I was done, I leaned back against the coffin, wishing I could cry. I thought it would have been a good release. ¡°Well. That was quite a tale!¡± Losa said, jumping to his feet. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong!¡± he waved his hands before I even thought of thinking about taking it the wrong way. ¡°I believe you. Thanks to my ability, I can more or less tell if you are telling the truth. The only problem is that I have no idea about some of it.¡± I tilted my head to the side in confusion. ¡®What do you mean?¡¯ ¡°Well, for starters, you say this is a game. Even when you were yelling all those things at me earlier, nothing clicked. I was born a grand total of forty-five minutes ago. I have no idea about the world''s situation. Even if you say that it should have only been four years for your body, the degradation of your body matches that of a three-hundred-year-old vampire. Something I have a bit more knowledge about. I only have a blank on the time issue.¡± I reached up and took his hand. ¡®It''s okay. You¡¯ve already helped out. I would probably be going insane if I was still by myself.¡¯ ¡°Since I can¡¯t help you with your problems. Let me help you make a good dungeon.¡± I stared at him before I nodded. If Losa didn¡¯t work on the command front, then there is a good chance that any monsters I summoned would have the same issue. It could be due to the fact that he was summoned after whatever happened to the game. I still held out hope that a longer established NPC might be able to aid me. For that, I needed to get out of this cave. ¡®Can you find the surface?¡¯ I asked, getting excited now that a new goal had formed in my mind. ¡°Sort of. If you head straight up, it is about a hundred meters. West and North are about four hundred meters. South and East are close to a kilometer. Normally, I would recommend going either South or East to protect your core.¡± I looked at the ceiling before I wrote it off. I had no way to physically get up there. Even if I made a ramp or something out of dirt, there was a perfect chance that I wouldn¡¯t be able to keep my balance at the higher levels. That sort of fall would totally destroy this body. I turned to the West. I liked West. I stared at the wall for a long time before I looked to the other side of the cave to the East. This was a horrible first day, but I enjoyed Losa¡¯s company. When I managed to get out, I wouldn¡¯t be against coming back into the game once whatever error was fixed. I¡¯d really hate to shot myself in the foot by developing my dungeon wrong. ¡®I¡¯ll go East. First, we need to clear all this dirt off me so I can move,¡¯ I sent to Losa while gesturing at the dirt around my legs. ¡°Why not absorb it?¡± Losa asked with a confused tilt of his head. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡®I¡¯m afraid to take the floor under my feet with it. This body isn¡¯t exactly stable,¡¯ I replied. ¡°When you absorb, just think about what exactly you want to absorb beforehand.¡± I raised an eyebrow but did as he said. I focused on the dirt around my legs and concentrated on just the loose soil. I also tried to think about it absorbing a bit slower than instant. The dirt turned into motes of light from the top layer and worked its way down. I found that I got a fraction of the mana that I spent to create the dirt. Something to take note of in the future. Once all the dirt was gone, I took a stumbling step forward, enjoying the freedom. ¡°Great! You got that pretty fast.¡± ¡®Wasn¡¯t too hard. Thank you for helping,¡¯ I sent back. ¡°Seeing the whole package, you really are in rough shape. We need to get you some blood. I am excited to hear your voice,¡± Losa said, doing a few laps around me. ¡®Let¡¯s get outside then.¡¯ I ambled over to the southeast spot. Might as well go at an angle. I concentrated on the shape as I touched the wall. The stone and dirt flowed into my hand, clearing a rectangle-shaped hall about three meters tall and a meter deep. I felt like a zombie as I walked forward a few paces without lowering my hand. The wall would be absorbed to add another section to the growing hall, then I would step forward again. It was easier to hold my hand in place the entire time than to raise and lower it over and over. About two hours passed before I had cleared a fifty-meter section of the hall. ¡®This is going to take forever,¡¯ I sent to Losa, who was walking behind me. He already caught me from falling once. ¡°The carving part can be a bit tedious. If you had enough mana, I would recommend summoning some monsters to do the digging for you. You just absorb the dirt as it comes.¡± I checked my status and found I was at just over fifty mana. That was enough for two bats or a single ghoul. The bats didn¡¯t sound very good a digging. I could also save up for another fifteen points and grab myself a demon. If they were anything like Losa, I might have someone else to talk with. Though they likely wouldn¡¯t have telepathy. Turning back to the wall, I got back to work absorbing the material. This wouldn¡¯t be nearly as bad if I could move my body just a bit faster. I took another step forward to continue carving, then another. I was at about seventy-five meters when I went to step forward again. My hand crumpled against an invisible barrier, thoroughly crushing the limb. The impact also sent be falling back. Luckily, Losa caught me before I totally collapsed. He helped me back to an upright position. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡®I hit something. Ruined my right hand,¡¯ I replied, looking at the crumpled mess that my right hand had become. ¡°We must have hit the edge of your territory. That¡¯s strange, though. Your avatar should be able to go outside the dungeon.¡± He tapped his finger against his chin in obvious confusion. ¡°Excuse me.¡± He moved around me and carefully walked to the edge. Right where I hit the invisible wall, he paused then stepped further. It looked like he didn¡¯t have any issue going outside. ¡®Lucky,¡¯ I sent with a pout. Not that my face could make the expression. ¡°This is truly strange. For now, let us summon something to continue the tunnel. I recommend carving a room here for a place for them to place the dirt.¡± ¡®Okay.¡¯ I was depressed that I was apparently trapped here. That would make my life that much harder. I turned to the side of the tunnel and started absorbing sections to make a room. My maximum absorption was four meters by four meters by one meter. Nothing I did increased that amount. When a reasonably sizable room was carved out, I checked and found that my mana was full. I pulled up the summoning menu and selected Demon. Another list came up that showcased various Lesser demons that I could summon. Since I wanted something that could dig, I went with a red skin toad thing with large claws and a big body. There was a smell of sulfur as a circle formed on the ground. The pictured demon crawled out of the circle like it was coming from the pits of hell. Which might be the case. It looked at me before its tongue shot out and licked its own eye. I shivered a bit at the disturbing sight. ¡®Start digging. Bring the dirt back here.¡¯ I ordered with a thought. It stood there without moving. ¡°He needs to know where,¡± Losa advised. I would have blushed if I had any blood in my body. I pointed at the end of the existing tunnel, and he moved off. His claws tore pieces from the wall in rough chunks. It was definitely going to take longer than if I could have just absorbed the wall myself, but he could leave my field. ¡®I don¡¯t have time for this¡­¡¯ I thought with a sigh. Chapter 5 Maxwell I shook my head at the sheer idiocy of what was going on. There must be an explanation to why I could no longer log out of the game. After I had tried everything I could possibly think of on my own, I peeked my head out of the tent entrance. Thankfully, Levada was nearby. I waved him into the tent while keeping a finger to my lips. ¡°My liege?¡± He asked as he ducked his head to enter the cramped tent. ¡°What is the matter?¡± ¡°Nothing serious. Now, what I¡¯m about to do might make me sound like a madman, but trust me when I say that I¡¯m perfectly sane.¡± The NPCs of most games were nearly identical to humans intellengeince. I mean there had been thousands of experiments done to replicate the way human intelliengeince arose. They had all that just on a digital media. If I wanted to continue to play this game after the issue was handled, I would need him to be understanding. ¡°I¡­ understand,¡± he said after only a slight hestination. I chuckled at the elder. ¡°I know. I know.¡± After that, I began to say every command that I could think of to get the attention of the Game masters as well as exit the game. After close to five minutes, Levada was understandably confused. ¡°What sort of incantation were you attempting to do, my liege?¡± I decided to be half honest with him. ¡°A few different spells actually. One was to summon a demi-god of the world. A few would have teleported me to another realm. A few that would allow me to speak to people far away from me¡­¡± I thought about that and quickly pulled my friend list. I breathed out when I saw that it had carried over like it was supposed to when one started a new game. I went through the list looking for any of my friends that might have been playing this game when it glitched out. I was surprised when I saw Joshua¡¯s icon, the only one of the entire list, that was lit up green meaning that he was in the game. I knew he knew about the game, but I hadn¡¯t thought he actually played. Though thinking of the man, he probably wanted to surprise me when I logged in for the first time. There were several precedents of this behavior. Tapping on his name, there was a long low beep. ¡°Maxwell?¡± I heard only it was his avatar¡¯s voice. I blinked as it was quite feminine. ¡°Joshua?¡± I asked slowly. ¡°Yeah, man. Are you stuck in the game as well?¡± he¡­ she replied with a sullen tone. ¡°I sure am. I was hoping you were in a civilizied part of the world. I am basically in the middle of nowhere.¡± I looked around and saw Levada looking at me with a strange expression. I smiled and waved before moving back to my tent. I really would have to work hard to remove the insane impression that I¡¯ve given him over the last half an hour. ¡°About that¡­¡± he started with a deep breath. ¡°There was an announcement roughly five minutes ago. I¡¯m not sure¡­ I¡¯m not sure if I believe it or not.¡± ¡°What was the announcement?¡± Thoughts of death games and experiments on human minds that were trapped went through my head. I might have watched a few too many shows in my youth. ¡°A government looking dude appeared floating over the city I¡¯m staying in, but something was off about him. Anyway, this game was taken.¡± ¡°Taken?¡± I asked not really understanding. There was a deep sigh with just a hint of scared in his voice as he continued. ¡°So¡­ An alien ship or something like that appeared in orbit of the U.S. capital.¡± I thought back to the bogus article I read before starting the game. Maybe it wasn¡¯t shit after all. ¡°They used their tech to basically copy this world to learn about us.¡± Thoughts of probing immediately came to mind, but I quickly banished those. ¡°What about our bodies?!¡± I demanded. ¡°This is the part I¡¯m less inclined to believe.¡± I waited for him to continue. ¡°We¡¯re dead. They digitized our brains. In the process destroying our flesh and blood bodies.¡± My thoughts froze. No way! I was dead¡­ Sure this was a lie. And yet¡­ something inside me seemed to accept what he said. What did this mean for my soul? I was a practical person, but I believed that I had a soul. Was it on its way to heaven while I sat here a digital copy? Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I dropped to the ground. I started punching the ground harder and harder until the pain forced me to stop. I stared at the blood dropping from my ebony skin. My nails filed to sharp points in what the dark elves considered fashion. I took a shaking breath and rolled over onto my back. I realized that Joshua was calling my name. ¡°Sorry. I broke for a moment. What do you intend to do?¡± I asked deciding to distract myself for the moment. ¡°Until we have some way to prove one way or the other, I plan on living. The representative claimed that all systems would work like normal but recommended that we didn¡¯t die too much. I¡¯m only level three since I only started a day before you. If I play it safe, I should be able to steadily raise that up.¡± ¡°Pragmatic like always,¡± I commented a bit more sharply than I intended. ¡°Hey. If I¡¯m dead-on Earth, then I want to make sure that I¡¯m on scale with the rest of the people that are in this game. If we fall behind, we might end up being pushed around like nothing more than a low-level slime.¡± Joshua had a point. The situation, well, it sucked hardcore. If I rolled over then I would be resigning myself to a life that wasn¡¯t exactly great. I had no idea where the nearest city was. All I had was this tiny settlement of dark elves. Hell, if I died, I might revive right here and have to do that repeatedly until whatever the end result took effect. ¡°You¡¯re right as usual,¡± I said finally. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll live as best I can in this twisted world.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the spirit!¡± Joshua paused before he added. ¡°Hey, what class did you go with?¡± ¡°Lord.¡± ¡°Really! You had Lord open to you!?¡± he exclaimed excitedly. ¡°Yeah. There were so many to pick from that I went with the coolest sounding one,¡± I replied rubbing my head. I realized that he wouldn¡¯t be able to see it and dropped my hand. ¡°That¡¯s the name of your settlement?!¡± he continued. ¡°Dark Elf Village.¡± As soon as I said the words, a prompt opened asking that I name the village. ¡°Hold on a second.¡± I thought about what to name the place. Part of me, the part still reeling from the situation I¡¯d found myself in wanted to name it something like Hellhole, but that wouldn¡¯t be fair to the people living here. Thinking through all the elven sounding names I knew of, I went with Alflona. I told Joshua the new name. ¡°Awesome! See you in a minute.¡± The communication went dead before I had a chance to ask what he meant. There was a flash of light from the entrance of the tent. Rushing outside, I saw a woman standing a few dozen meters from the edge of the settlement. She had bright blue hair with pointed fox or wolf ears on the top of her head. A beautiful bushy tail extended nearly to the ground behind her. ¡°Joshua?¡± I asked rushing over to the woman. I had seen this very drawing on his screensaver of his computer. I waved to the few guards that had raised their weapons at her appearance and they stood down. ¡°Hey Maxwell. I¡¯m actually glad you used your real name. It will make this easier. By the way, I¡¯m Rowena of the Ice Wolf Clan here.¡± I chuckled but nodded. ¡°Got it. How¡¯d you manage to get here?¡± I asked not that I wasn¡¯t glad to see a friend. ¡°Every new character, except the lord class, is given one free teleportation. Since all the systems still work as intended, I used it to come to your village.¡± Joshua¡¯s avatar or was it his true body now? Either way, it was hard for me to look at. He was using a leather armor that might as well not cover anything to start with. I knew it was Joshua, but at the same time, it was hard to not stare. I cleared my throat to banish the thoughts. ¡°I¡¯m glad to see you, but you might come to regret that. I¡¯m literally in the middle of nowhere,¡± I said gesturing to the forest and mountainside. He crossed his arms before shaking his head. ¡°Nonsense! We can work together to create an empire. Trust me. If this really is permanent, then you are one of the luckiest people in the world right now.¡± I shrugged actually enjoying my friend¡¯s enthusiasm. ¡°Then by all means, step into my office,¡± I said with a hand directed at the tent. ¡°Sure¡­¡± He said with a wide grin. He moved and seemed to see his own hand and his face fell. I thought it was related to the fact that he¡¯d become a woman, perhaps permanently. ¡°I need to talk to you about something else first.¡± ¡°Sure. Go ahead.¡± He looked at the dark elves that while having mostly returned to their positions on watch or their bedrolls, were still mostly awake. I took the hint and led him to my tent. It wasn¡¯t exactly private but it would do. Once the flaps fell closed we sat down as comfortably as possible. ¡°We¡¯ve¡­ known each other for a long time right?¡± I met Joshua in high school. There was no one I considered a closer friend. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°There is something I¡¯ve been hiding from you.¡± I sat up straight. This wasn¡¯t quite what I expected but I would listen until the end before I made a judgement. When a friend says they¡¯ve been hiding something from you it was usually for a good reason. He took my silence as my acceptance and continued. ¡°The truth of the matter is that I identify as female and I like men.¡± My head ground to a stop for the second time today. I leaned back as I thought about what to say. If I wasn¡¯t careful, I could lose my friend completely. I really didn¡¯t see an issue with his declaration, but I understood why he told me, at least, I hoped I did. ¡°I see. You are very cute in that form,¡± I said finally, smiling a bit. ¡°In fact, I¡¯ve been having a hard time keeping my eyes off you.¡± ¡°Good,¡± he, no I guess it should be she mumbled. I felt I wasn¡¯t supposed to be able to hear that comment, but my elven ears were much better than human. She cleared her throat and smiled with even a tear rolling down the side of her cheek. ¡°I was so worried you would be disgusted with me, but if stopped to think about it, I knew you wouldn¡¯t be.¡± ¡°You¡¯re my friend. No matter what,¡± I said simply. She leaned forward and grabbed my hand. ¡°I¡¯m glad. Now then! Let¡¯s build your empire!¡± I laughed and returned her grip. ¡°You got it!¡± Chapter 6 Aurora I leaned against the coffin while the demons worked. I had managed to summon another two of them. With three going, they were finally going at a decent pace. That said, they were far from reaching the outside world. Part of me was considering changing paths, but I was inherently stubborn. I didn¡¯t like changing what I started. ¡®Losa.¡¯ I mentally called for my dungeon Imp. He hopped to his feet and rushed over skidding to a stop in front of me with a perfect bow. ¡°You called, master?¡± ¡®I want to change the cave to something a bit more¡­ more. How do I go about it?¡¯ I asked looking at the bare walls of the cave my coffin was located in. It was fine during my panicked state but now that I¡¯d been forced to calm down and having to cope with the fact that I¡¯ll likely be stuck here for a few more days. I wanted to tidy it up. ¡°Ah yes! There are a few paths we can take.¡± He moved over to a wall and used his claw to draw on the stone. ¡°First, we can import the materials, and by import I just mean find a way to get them in here, so that you can absorb them and thus create them. This is the usual operating standard for the dungeons in my memory. Next would be to summon a creature that is indued with the knowledge of crafting. Since there are many, many lines of crafting it ends up becoming quite expensive. Finally, if you yourself have the knowledge you can create it through the normal processes.¡± He scratched diagrams and percentages while talking so rapidly that I had trouble keeping up with him. I looked the wall over and thought he had a point. If I summoned a demon for every type of crafting in the game it really would add up. Higher levels of crafting required more powerful minions to be able to work the materials. Still for now, this would be the path I would be forced to take. I was isolated from the world, quite literally currently. If I wanted to straighten up my dungeon than I was out of options. The only thing I knew how to do was paint after all. I waited with Losa until my mana bar filled back up. To summon a creature that could craft, it needed hands and a certain level of dexterity. From what Losa explained, I could use either ghoul or demon, but his recommendation was demon since they would understand me a tad bit better. I selected the generalized demon option then put in Stone-working as my requested skill. I had no control over the appearance of this monster, so I crossed my fingers that it wasn¡¯t too ugly. Losa was handsome but the Frog Brutes were most definitely not. As the suffer filled the air and the magic circle dissipated, I found that I lost the lottery. A heavily muscled four arm Brute even bigger than the Frogs appeared. His face looked like it had been smashed repeated with a hammer. His red skin was dark and solid looking almost like it was stone itself. A gravely voice reached me while I observed the creature. ¡°Master.¡± A name appeared in my head unbiddened. Dersoa. ¡®Welcome to the team,¡¯ I sent and Losa relayed the message. He bowed his head. ¡®I want you turn this into some a little more comfortable.¡¯ ¡°Many options¡­¡± the Dersoa said. He looked around for several long moments before he held out his hand to me. My menu blinked and I got several options to choose from. There was a traditional crypt setting, a room that reminded me of a church, and something that appeared to be a cross between a throne room and a gathering room. I went with the third option. Not because I had a big head. No, I went with it because there was a chair presented. One made of stone but still a chair. ¡°Understood.¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Dersoa moved to the edge of the room and a sigil appeared in front of his hands. The walls started to turn to sand before it flowed over to where the other stone was being laid by the demons. I absorbed it absentmindly. I was really focused on the magic sigil he was using. I techinally had Earth magic. Perhaps, I could use it as well. I studied the sigil as much could. When I was confident that I had it memorized, if I thought of it as a picture, I could memorize just about anything easily enough, I pointed at the wall. I thought of the sigil and it formed in front of me. Excitement filled my chest as I poured the weird energy I felt in my stomach into the sigil. The magic flared before a nearly beam like brown light flashed from my hand into the wall. The next moment, sand started pouring into the room as I was pointing up at an angle. I absorbed it as quickly as I could, but soon found my legs submerged in sand. Another minute passed before the sand stopped flowing. ¡°Master?¡± Losa asked, skipping out of the way of the sand. ¡®I¡¯m not sure what happened exactly,¡¯ I replied. The little imp made his way up the pile of sand and looked into the hole. ¡°You carved a good ten or twenty meters with that one spell.¡± ¡®Is that normal?¡¯ I asked concerned. ¡°No. You normally can only do about five meters at most.¡± I tired to think through what happened but came up with a blank. I showed Losa as much by giving him a halfhearted shrug. ¡°It might be because you are an Elder Vampire. Sure, you might be level one, but you¡¯re still over three hundred years old.¡± I nodded since it sounded like a good enough reason to me. Pointing at the wall again, I recreated the sigil but this time I pictured the entire wall turning to sand rather than just a single spot. There was another surge of the energy, likely my mana, as the brown light flashed again. In the next moment a ten meter wide and three meter high section of the wall turned to sand instantly. This turned out to be a mistake as the hole was also about three meter deep. With so much stone changing instantly to sand and without the stabilization magic of my dungeon absorption, the ceiling of the section became unstable. It collapsed sending rocks flying in every direction. One even hit my shoulder, completely twisting my left hand in an unhuman fashion. That was the extent to the harm to myself. One of my frog demons weren¡¯t so lucky. He was delivering his load and was caught in the avalanche. With a spray of yellow blood and guts, he was turned into a pancake under the tons of stone and soil. If my throat had been working, I might have yelped at the sight. The thundering sound finally died down with only the one casualty. There was also a good chunk of part of my dungeon that was now a pile of stones. The dead demon was absorbed by some automatic magic that I had no control over. I felt something inside me get a little stronger. Pulling up my status, my personal level had gone up by one. I hadn¡¯t expected that I could kill my own monsters to gain experience. It was something to file away for the future. Other than some more mana, nothing else had changed. ¡°Are you alright, master!?¡± Losa asked hopping out from behind the coffin. ¡®Fine. Come here though.¡¯ I sent back, nodding to the lip of the coffin next to me. He hopped up and made his way over to my side. ¡®Push my arm back to its proper place. It doesn¡¯t hurt, but it does feel uncomfortable.¡¯ Losa nodded and grabbed my wrist and shoulder. With a jerk, he twisted my arm back to its proper place. I tried to move it but found that it barely twitched. I sighed at the new bodily issue. I told him to order Dersoa to get back to work. I wouldn¡¯t do anything else for the time being. I didn¡¯t think my body could handle much more. Everyone got back to work. Once Dersoa cleared enough room for the future room to fit, he stopped turning the walls to sand. I observed to make sure there wasn¡¯t another collapse. It looked like as my dungeon minion, the dungeon automatically reinforced the wall when he was done working on it. Placing his hand on the wall, he used a different Earth spell. I watched as the smooth stone started to shift and took the shape of a dark black brick. I asked him to bring me one so I could absorb it. [Demon Stone (Lesser) ¨C Unique to the demon race. Fire resistant, Curse Resistant, Mortals suffer a 10% mental degradation while in the presence of the stone.] I wanted to whistle at the impressive stone. I waved him off and let Dersoa get back to work. He could only do about ten bricks at a time before he had to rest to recover his mana. Losa explained that this close to the dungeon core, he would recover his mana in a matter of minutes. I nodded and continued to watch as the walls were slowly converted to the black stone and the entrance tunnel continued to expand. Chapter 7 Maxwell I laid back on the sleeping bag that was provided with the tent. I had a lot to think about thanks to my friend. I believed him¡­ her. Why would she lie about something like this. Thus¡­ That meant I was dead or at least my body was. I sighed and rolled over unable to really process it. A few hours ago, I was worried about my finals not living my life in some sort of alien computer while they studied me. I believed Rowena, but damn if it wasn¡¯t surreal. Since I had no choice in the matter, I really needed to make sure my village became a proper town or city. I wasn¡¯t quite so sure about empire yet. I mean, I had only been in this world for a few hours. I was sure there were plenty of lords that had a much better set up than I. Since I was fairly wide awake and Rowena had gone off to scout the area, I pulled up the menu for the village. I wanted to study everything I could to make sure I wasn¡¯t going to botch this up. -- Dark Elf Village Lv. 1 Name: Alflona Population: 25 Players: 2 Lord: Maxwell Orfen Government: Monarchy Religion: N/A Architecture: (Select Path) Defense Rating: 5 Cultural Rating: 0 Health Rating: -5 Buildings: 0 New Settlement Bonus: Protected (Safe for one month from outside forces.) Dark Elf Village Bonus: Magical Structures (Elves pride themselves on their magical prowess. Their structures require mana but take half as many resources.) -- Fairly straightforward. Even without any guides, I had a good idea of what everything meant. I tapped around in the menu. Clicking on buildings brought up a list of structures that I could build in the village. I needed the resources to have them built. My bonus would mean that it would cost half as many resources to build which was a nice boon. Everything was grayed out though. I scratched my head as I tried to figure out how to construct something if I wasn¡¯t allowed to construct anything. Finally, I ended up on clicking on the architecture option and another list opened in front of me. -- Master Stone-works: Your city will be beautiful. The stone will be like putty in your peoples¡¯ hands. Every building will gain a +5-defensive rating from being made from stone. Master Wood-works: Your city will be alive. Your people will grow their buildings from the very ground. Trees will serve to hide your city from the curiosity of others. +10-Concealment. Master Iron-works: Your city will be strong. Your people will never know fear as your city¡¯s buildings will be made from Iron and Steel. +50-defensive rating. Master Magic-works: Majesty and unfathomable. Made by bending the fabric of reality to your whim. Your people will never bow to anyone lesser than them. +25-Mana Rating. -- This was a hard choice! Both stone and wood were decent choices since there was an abundance of the material nearby. The Iron-works might be difficult if there was nowhere to mine iron, but when I was researching the game before coming in, I remember reading that there was an abundance of iron near mountains. Considering half my territory was literally the side of a mountain, I was sure that it would be a valid choice. If I was being honest with myself, the magic-works were what called to me. I mainly joined this game because of the incredible magics that were talked about on the internet. While the lower spells generally did one thing or another, when you got higher level, it was mostly up to your imagination. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. I couldn¡¯t help myself, I clicked on the Magic-works option. Instantly, I felt a rush of energy from my chest that washed over the settlement. I grinned as the feeling of pleasure washed over me. That was going to take some getting used to. [You have chosen Magic-works. An immigration gate will be constructed once you select a spot.] Immigration gate? It must be how the village gained new population. I spotted a piece of parchment. Grabbing it, I made a note not to forget the gate. Population was a village¡¯s power. I would need to construct it as soon as possible. Dismissing the notification, I brought the building tab back up. Everything was now glowing meaning that I could construct them with the right resources. I was worried about the defense of the village first and foremost. I tapped on the wall to see what it would cost. A map of the surroundings snapped into my view. I tried to dismiss it but it refused to go away. Realizing that I must need to layout the wall, I took my finger and traced what I would consider to be the Keep area of my new village. Once I finished, I removed my finger and the map vanished. A prompt stating that it would cost one thousand mana, fifty iron, fifty stone, and ten wood. I honestly had no idea if that was a lot or dirt cheap. Based on my personal mana, it was downright highway robbery. I saved the blueprint of the wall for now. The sound of footsteps pulled me from my menus. ¡°Maxwell. You awake?¡± Of all the things about this situation. I felt it was getting used to my friend¡¯s voice being so¡­ cute now. I cleared my throat and replied that I was. She flipped the tent flap back and sat down across from me. ¡°Good news. We have quite a few resources at our disposal. A few iron, copper and tin nodes that are accessible from the surface. Plenty of wood, berries and huntable food thanks to the forest. Stone all day long.¡± ¡°And the bad news?¡± I asked with a frown. I knew how this usually went after all. Rowena nodded grimly. ¡°There is a goblin camp a ways down one of the trails. They don¡¯t keep lookouts, so I nearly walked right into the place.¡± ¡°Goblins? Aren¡¯t they usually super weak?¡± I asked thinking about all the games and novels I¡¯d experienced over my youth. She shook her head. ¡°Not in this game. They are about matched with your normal human, just much more ruthless.¡± I remembered that my tribe or group had been on the run from goblins in the first place. I guess the goblins had gotten tired of being the bottom of the food chain. ¡°So, what are we looking at?¡± I¡¯d rather not deal with a goblin horde on the first day I was setting up my village. ¡°About two hundred, give or take. They have a den, so I can¡¯t be accurate.¡± ¡°Then walls are my number one concern then,¡± I commented. ¡°Is fifty units a lot or cheap?¡± ¡°Fairly cheap. You can get fifty units in about an hour of mining a node. Depending on your mining skill, you can get one unit a minute.¡± ¡°What about mana?¡± I asked thinking my plan through. ¡°I need a thousand mana.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not too hard.¡± She answered with a thoughtful look. ¡°I¡¯m level three and have sixty mana. But my class is more physical based.¡± ¡°I only have ten. I chose the lord class after it said I could use mana. I might have been ripped off,¡± I complained. ¡°No that¡¯s about right,¡± Rowena corrected shaking her head. ¡°When you get your first level you have to specialize your class to a degree. Take me for example. I chose Knight. Then when I hit level two. I specialized as a Beast Knight.¡± ¡°Beast Knight?¡± I really couldn¡¯t picture what that could mean. ¡°I fight at the frontlines as a defender while also summoning creatures to aid in combat. I have to tame them first, but,¡± she held out her hand and a swirl of smoke engulfed it. A hawk of some sort sat perfectly at ease. ¡°This is Yip. He lends me his eyes to get a better grasp of the battle. In theory anyways, I haven¡¯t really tested it out. Though he did help me scout.¡± ¡°That¡¯s awesome!¡± I exclaimed looking closely at the hawk. It had red feathers and looked like it would burst into flames at any moment. ¡°Why at level two though?¡± ¡°You¡¯d have to ask the developers or someone that¡¯s been playing longer. I¡¯ve only been playing a day or two longer than you after all.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± I leaned back. ¡°Guess I need to level up.¡± ¡°Yip spotted a few boars nearby. We could hunt them and bring them back to feed the village,¡± Rowena suggested. I didn¡¯t have a good idea of our stores of supplies, but it never hurt to have more resources. Especially of food. ¡°Sounds good. Let¡¯s do it.¡± We left the tent and subsequently the village. I made sure to inform those keeping watch. I didn¡¯t need a panic among the people while I was gone. Rowena led the way. She had more armor in some cheap chainmail and even had a weapon. Me on the other hand was completely unarmed. I had my magic, but that was about it. A few minutes of walking through the forest found us at a small den with a few boars sleeping outside. I thought I would have made more noise, never having actually walked through a forest before, but my dark elf eyes made easy work of the paths with the little light available. Rowena tapped me on the shoulder and pointed at the boars. I nodded getting that she wanted me to strike first. I thought about the basic spells at my disposal. I pointed at two of the boars, a red sigil formed over each of my palms. Two fireballs formed before sailing through the air at the boars. They exploded igniting the coarse fur of the boars with ease. Loud squeals went up from the boars. I didn¡¯t let up. I let lose a torrent of fireballs turning the den into a sea of flames. The pyro-maniac in me had a field day until I ran out of mana ten fireballs later. Of the dozen boars, I had managed to take down four of them while setting the rest on fire. They fled but two ran directly at us in their fear. Rowena readied her mace. She swung just as the first boar broke into the trees. A resounding crack rang out through the woods as the boar skid to a stop. The second boar tripped over its fallen companion. I aimed at its face with my palm and used an earth bullet like spell to finish it off. ¡°Not bad. Let¡¯s gather these guys up and head back to the village,¡± Rowena said placing a hand on the boar. It vanished in shower of light. She stored the rest of the hunt then joined me. A little icon in the corner of my eye flashed. I grinned glad that it had been enough for my first level up. Chapter 8 Aurora I found out in a sad way that my vision was also suffering from whatever state my body was in. I had been watching the demons work, now up to seven when I realized that I had a notification in the corner of my eye. I tapped it wondering what needed my attention. Nothing of note had happened in the last few hours after all. I read the message stating that I had leveled up. I apologized to the dead demon again then continued reading. It was telling me to choose a specialization. A list popped up when I clicked on it. -- Demon Lord¡¯s Dungeon Necromancer¡¯s Dungeon Warden¡¯s Dungeon Hellfire Dungeon Night Lord¡¯s Dungeon -- The list was short and sweet. When I focused on Demon Lord option, I immediately wrote it off. It made summoning demons dirt cheap, cheaper then dirt even, but it sent out a signal to anyone and everyone that needed to hunt me down and kill me. I didn¡¯t care for the necromancer since I didn¡¯t like dead things too much. Warden and Hellfire were interesting. I got them from my elemental alignments. Basically I would be able to focus more on fire and earth elementals. Sort of a tangent given that I was a vampire. That left the last option. Night Lord. The Night Lord option was given because I was a vampire over three hundred years old. I ignored the game calling me old and focused on the pros and cons. I would get access to vampire summoning at the start. My mana would go up a good amount as well. The con was that I would become antagonistic with all the other Night Lords out there. Between everyone and just the night lords, I decided that this option was best. Tapping the specialization, I felt an energy surge through my body and then through the dungeon. There was a tingling sensation on my back. I tilted my head carefully to see that I had gained four wings. Sadly, the were just as dehydrated as the rest of my body. The knowledge of how to move them flashed into my head. It was like I had always had them. Another set of knowledge popped into my head while I was playing with the wings. Two minor spells from the Death branch of magic. I knew all that instantly. The first spell was simply called Death. It would kill anything instantly if it was lower level than me. The degree of injury decreased the greater their level above mine. Next was Death Absorption. I could pull the life force from a creature to give myself more mana or life force. ¡°Master?¡± Losa asked aware that something had changed. ¡®I just became a Night Lord.¡¯ I sent with a half shrug. ¡°Very good, ma¡¯am! You have increased your power already!¡± I smiled and nodded. I pulled up my status to see if anything other than my appearance had changed. -- Name: Aurora Nightingale Level: 2 Race: Vampire, Sub: Dungeon Master ¨C Night Lord Sub: Dungeon Core Total Mana: 50/300 Abilities: Blood Sucking Blood Magic Elemental Magic ¨C Fire, Earth, Death Basic Sneak Dungeon Menu -- [Dungeon Core: Vampire ¨C Night Lord. Owner: Aurora Nightingale] Total Mana: 7/1000 Absorb. Create. Destroy. Summon. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. -- I had gained a large mana pool as did the dungeon. I had also acquired a new magic as I suspected. I sighed as I wondered if I would even need this power. I really hoped that when I found an NPC from before the error that I would be able to contact someone to help me. I leaned back in the chair that Dersoa had finished an hour ago. The room was looking pretty awesome at that. The black bricks and enclaves really seemed to scream a vampire¡¯s room. The white stone coffin at the center of the room served nicely as a centerpiece. Once I managed to get better use of my hands and some materials, I planned to add several paintings to really bring the room to life. Not that anyone would see it. Someone must have been listening to me, as not a moment had I thought that was there a loud roar that morphed into a growl. It came from the tunnel my demons were working on digging. The sound of fighting soon followed. I sent an order for the demons to fall back to the dungeon¡¯s aura. Otherwise, I couldn¡¯t help. The heavy footsteps of the frogs came shortly after that. Short green creatures were stuffed into their mouths, and they had one in each hand. In total, I counted about eight of the creatures. Three of the demons were defending the passage to make sure none of the creatures got into the dungeon. ¡°Goblins,¡± Losa said after he got a good look of the things. ¡®Are any of them alive?¡¯ I asked having Losa check for me. ¡°This one, master,¡± he said after checking all the bodies. I ordered the demons to finish the ones in their mouths. They didn¡¯t hesitate and bit down causing blood to spray everywhere. Unlike in the case of the demon from earlier. When the blood splattered over the walls and floors, I couldn¡¯t take my eyes from it. Some sort of force was compelling me to consume the blood. Only the fact that my body simply couldn¡¯t move, stopped me from lunging at one of the goblin bodies. I still ordered it brought over to me. With it being dead, the heart was no longer pumping but that didn¡¯t matter to me. I grimaced but still bit down on the neck of the corpse. It tasted like sewage, but a dying man didn¡¯t complain about the water he found in the desert. When I released the goblin¡¯s head, a shriveled mummy fell away before turning into dust. I held my hand out for another corpse and the demons compiled. Soon, only the living goblin remained. I wiped my mouth with a strip of the rotted cloth of my dress. Looking at my hand, I was thrilled to see that it looked flushed and filled out. Moving my hands, I realized that I could move almost like normal. I reached up and felt my face. I smiled when I felt a smooth and soft cheek. ¡°Ah? Losa?¡± I said pleased to hear the almost silk like tone of my voice. ¡°Master. It truly is a pleasure to hear your voice,¡± the imp said hopping around excitedly. I reveled in the moment then went ahead and tried the call command with all the NPCs in the room. I even made sure the goblin was conscious. There was no change to the situation. Something wasn¡¯t right. It would be one thing for my summons, but this goblin looked like he¡¯d been around for a while. He was surely around before the error. Anger started to well up inside me. Why me?! I wanted to scream but feared to wreck my vocal cords again. I still wasn¡¯t at one hundred percent. I reached out and grabbed the goblin by the neck surprised at how light the nearly adult human sized creature felt. I also realized that I was much taller than the thing. ¡°How many more of you are there?¡± I growled. Rage was filling me. Not just from being stuck in this game but from before. The long hours for little recognition. The stupid criminal charges. The damn lawyer that acted like it was my fault. Everything was welling up at once. ¡°Many! Lots! Horde! King!¡± The creature either couldn¡¯t speak English well or was using all the words he knew. I growled again before I thought of the new magic I just learned. I created the sigil, a black magic circle that appeared on the back of my hand. In fact, it almost appeared to be sucking what little light there was into it. The goblin started squealing, he was higher level than I was. It wasn¡¯t instant death. Finally, the creature went silent, his neck a blackened mess. I tossed him to one of the frog demons. As soon as he bit down, I felt a surge similar but unlike when I leveled up. I glanced at everything quickly. With a grin, I found the dungeon had leveled up this time. The dungeon¡¯s mana was so at nearly seven hundred. Death was profitable. With that sinister thought, I summoned some more demons. I ordered the demons to head back down the tunnel and followed after them. They had been digging for nearly a day and had only managed to cover a hundred meters or so. That was fine though. With the dungeon level up, I could make it all the way to the breach into the natural cave system that we¡¯d found. The demons widened the opening and made their way into the new section. I peeked my head through and saw that the tunnel went in both directions. It was flat thus really giving me a good idea of which way led to the surface. I stepped back and used the last of my dungeon mana to summon four Worgs. The massive beasts appeared with a loud snarl, but the whimpered like puppies when I turned my glare on them. I really wasn¡¯t in the mood. I held out a piece of cloth that was hanging from one of the frog¡¯s mouth. The Worgs sniffed then barked. ¡°Spilt up. Find me some goblins!¡± The frogs and the Worgs rushed down either tunnel bloodthirst rolling off them. Since there wasn¡¯t an immediate response, they must be a distance away. Turning to look at the rough tunnel we had just passed through I shook my head not pleased with the state of things. Now that I could move like a normal person, I could get some real work done. I started where I was and created a large room using the bricks that I had absorbed from Dersoa. It made the project a negative gain, but it wasn¡¯t too bad. The room shook a little as the sound of rushing feet soon reached me. I turned to find the party I sent down the left tunnel returning with a horde of goblins on their trail. A quick count put the number at thirty or forty. Once they got back into the aura of the dungeon, they skid to a stop and turned to face the on comers. I hadn¡¯t seen the fight before, but I was able to witness it this time. The frogs didn¡¯t just have face like the amphibians. They opened their mouths and massive tongues shot out to wrap around a goblin. When it was pulled back, there was a loud crunch. After this happened eight times, I opened my summoning menu and created my first vampire. There was a red magic summoning circle before a tall man stood in front of me. He seemed to lack reason though as his face was twisted and red eyes glowed ferociously. He didn¡¯t hesitate to jump into the fight when I pointed at the skirmish happening. His claws were deadly. Each thrust was directed with pinpoint accuracy to a heart or other vital organ. When I had enough mana, I summoned another one. This time it was a woman, but she was also in much the same state. I directed her to join the fight. I wasn¡¯t sure when but as the fight raged, I began to giggle with enjoyment. Everything had been taken from me, it was my turn to take everything for once! Chapter 9 Maxwell After we returned to the settlement, I excused myself from Rowena and made for my tent. I had leveled up and a few notifications were vying for my attention. She seemed to understand and waved me off. She said she planned to check a few things out and would be back in a bit. In my tent I went over the notifications. The first and foremost one was my level up. It was very basic in that it said I leveled up to level two, gaining some more mana, I had twenty now, and that I had unlocked my first specialization. I would be lying if I said I wasn¡¯t excited. I tapped on the next screen. ¡ª Choose a Specialization Necromancer ¨C Requirements: Dark Pyromancer ¨C Requirements: Fire Warden ¨C Requirements: Earth Reaver ¨C Requirements: Dark, Fire Dark Lord ¨C Requirements: Dark, Lord Class Wizard King ¨C Requirements: Lord Warlord ¨C Requirements: Lord ¡­ ¡ª The list went on for quite a while. I had a sinking feeling that it was just as long as the initial class list that I was presented when I created my character. I went ahead and eliminated all the non-magic classes. Even before I chose the architecture of my village, I wanted to focus on magic. I was worried that I would be choosing blind, but when I focused on one of the specializations it gave a short description. I focused on Wizard King as that was appealing. Wizard King ¨C You are a master of the arcane arts. +500 mana. Must be a lord of a village. Class will be locked if territory is lost. I pursed my lips. I hadn¡¯t expected there to be such a drawback. That meant the others will likely have similar issues. I would need to choose carefully. The next hour or two was spent checking each specialization. They all had their issues. Necromancer caused you to be hated by everyone with a pulse. Warlord increased the chances of races seeking battle to find you. Taking a deep breath, I clicked on my choice. Void Lord. The pros were great, and the cons were focused on my person. Void Lord ¨C The void is at your command. +500 mana. Signs of the void touch are on you. Those with the knowledge of this fact might be antagonistic toward you. The knowledge of two minor spells formations rushed into my mind relieving one worry I had about taking on an unknown magic. With the decision made, I felt like a small weight was off my shoulders. I rubbed my hands together and opened my status to check out my new stuff. I mean, who could resist checking out a new toy when they got one. I chuckled at the thought. -- Name: Maxwell Orfen Level: 2 Race: Dark Elf Class: Lord Specialization: Void Lord Total Mana: 520/520 Abilities: Dark Sight Elemental Magic ¨C Dark, Earth, Fire Void Magic Basic Sneak City Management -- I rubbed my chin in contemplation. That was a nice chunk of mana. It would let me get the village up and running in no time. Combined with Rowena and the other elves, I would even be able to afford the village wall. We would just need to gather the resources. I really wished I could log off and check the guide sites, but alas that was not possible. Moving onto the next article, I focused on Void Magic. The two spells I got were Lesser Teleportation and Spatial Tear. The teleportation spell used a tremendous amount of my mana to move me anywhere I could picture within ten kilometers. It would be a godsend for managing my territory later down the road. Spatial Tear turned out to be an attack spell. It basically sent a line of matter that I visualized to the void thus separating one section from the other. It was terrifying to think that spells like this might be used against me in the future. I was suddenly determined to raise my level as soon and as fast as I could. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Standing up, I moved outside. With everything going on, the night was nearing its end. There was probably another hour before sunrise. That also meant the night felt particularly dark as the moon was getting close to the horizon. I turned to look at the small mountain that was against our backs. Small might be the wrong word. It rose well into the sky. I had been to Rocky Mountains once before on a camping trip. This peak felt to be about the same if not a little higher. Toward the top, I spotted a ledge. Man, I loved Elven eyes. Deciding that it might be nice to take in the sunrise from such a vantage point, I held out my hand. A purple sigil formed over my hand. The circle grew until it was nearly a meter in diameter. This was a minor spell, and it was already this extreme. Part of me couldn¡¯t wait to learn more Void magic. When nearly half my mana vanished, I felt my body get squeezed as if through a tube. The pressure vanished almost too quickly. I stumbled, barely catching myself before I fell off the ledge. Breathing deeply in relief, I turned around to observe my new world. Beautiful. That was the only word that came to mind as I took in the majestic forest that stretched as far as the eye could see which was quite far. Looking down, I spotted the tents of the settlement. They were barely a speck compared to our surroundings. Merely a drop in the ocean of this world that felt untouched. I found a small boulder and sat down. The scene was just too amazing as well as too overwhelming. Realization that this was my permanent home now started to sink in. Rather than sad or angry, I felt joy. To be honest, I didn¡¯t quite enjoy my life back in the real world. Money was always tight. I had no family, well, I had a father that I hadn¡¯t spoken to in damn near five years. My attempt at college had put me deeply in the hole. Maybe this had been a blessing in the form of a curse. I sat there until the sun had risen. I had expected the sun to look like the sun from Earth, but I had been wrong. While it was still an orangish-yellow ball, there was a massive magic circle that seemed to glow over the orb. One of the creators must have wanted to add a bit of flare to the daytime. Standing up from my seat, I decided to turn this place into my private look out in the future. Using my teleportation skill again, I returned to the village to find Rowena had returned. I found this out because I nearly face planted into her as my spell put me down. I threw my arms out and grabbed her shoulders to keep from falling. ¡°Max!¡± she gasped a little surprised. ¡°In the flesh,¡± I replied with a grin. I corrected my posture. ¡°Welcome back.¡± ¡°Thanks. I see you specialized. Teleportation at level two. There are so many people that are going to be mad if they heard that.¡± I shrugged and replied. ¡°I was surprised at how many options there were. Not to mention how many cons.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. My drawback is that I have to spend three hours a day communing with the forest.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t sound too bad,¡± I replied. ¡°I¡¯m left completely defenseless. It won¡¯t be too bad once I get some true beasts to protect me, but until then for three hours I¡¯m little more than a sitting duck.¡± ¡°Damn. Is that what you were taking care of?¡± I asked. ¡°Yep. Did you always look like that?¡± She asked scrutinizing my face. ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve seen you in full light.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± She pulled a mirror from her storage then held it out. I took in my face with some shock. My eyes which had just been normalized before had gained a purple tint. Small crack ran from the corners into my hair that glowed slightly. My hair which had been black before had gained a purple tint. ¡°While I admit that I think it looks cool. I fear that people with some knowledge are going to be on my bad side.¡± ¡°Ah. One of those. Necromancers have it the worst from what I hear. I¡¯m not sure if it will last given what has happened, but there is a Necropolis in the Under Lands. They usually make their way there just to have a place to buy and sell.¡± ¡°A city full of necromancers. Sounds lovely.¡± The people of the village started emerging from their tents at that moment. Without an order from me the smell of breakfast started to fill the air. My stomach suddenly roared in anger at the delicious smells. ¡°I guess we need to eat in this world.¡± ¡°Yep,¡± Rowena replied with a wide grin. ~~ Rowena and I had been surprised when we took in the villagers. Whatever had changed me had affected them as well. Their changes weren¡¯t as pronounced as mine but it was clear they had been touched by the void. After a small breakfast of some dried meats and a few berries from the nearby woods, I went to work on the actual city managing. Being that the village was a monarch, I had to build a castle before I could technically order the villagers to do anything. They would do what was needed to survive, but if I wanted one of them to go harvest iron for the village, there was a chance that they would just ignore me. The good news was that there were a dozen different types of castles to choose from. I could create a towering structure that reigned supreme over the forest, or a simple manor. All of which could be upgraded at a later date. I selected a manor. The founding having given me just enough materials for its creation along with my now impressive supply of mana. Rowena and I spent some time looking for a good spot. We both agreed that toward the back of the village was best, but where exactly was still up in the air. Finally, we settled on a spot a few hundred meters from the entrance to the cave. While placing the building, I found that I could change some of the details. I played with it until I had a four bedroom and one washroom structure. Two of the rooms would be for me to sleep and an office, while the other two would be guest rooms. Rowena, of course, getting one of the rooms. Once I settled on everything, the resources vanished from the small stockpile near the tents. A white sigil appeared floating in front of me. I tilted my head at it but figured it must be for the mana. I placed my hand on it and moved the energy like I did when I was casting one of my spells. A few seconds and roughly a hundred and fifty mana later, the manor started to grow in front of us. I had been curious to what it would look like. Magic-works sort of gave that glowing and energy feel when I tried to imagine it. It turned out that I was both right and wrong. The building assembled in front of us looking like a stone manor, only made from metal. It had been iron but had somehow been painted or colored purple. After the building was completed, blue bands of light started to carve their way in various patterns over the metal. It was quite impressive. ¡°Nice!¡± Rowena commented once everything settled down. I nodded in agreement and walked inside the building with some excitement. While it was bare, a few furnishings had been provided. Mainly there was three beds, a desk and chair, and a few tables here and there. The beds were made from wood, with blue lines pulsing on those as well. We would need to acquire the materials to make proper mattresses, but for now, we could place our sleeping bags on them. ¡°Now we can get started,¡± I said placing a hand on the desk. I wanted the wall done before nightfall. That meant we needed to start gathering some resources. It was going to be a busy day. Chapter 10 Aurora Blood was dripping quite gruesomely all over the tunnel. My now six vampires and the two dozen Frog demons that I had summoned had slaughtered every goblin that had ran into my halls. When I saw the stream tapering off, I had stopped spending my mana. I wanted to save it for other purposes. Looking around at the gruesome sight, I should have been appalled, but¡­ I was enthralled. My artistic side was starting to take over. I stalked over to the wall and smacked my hands into the dripped mess. I started moving them without any clear idea. It had been a long time since I¡¯d felt truly free to create whatever. A trance like state washed over me. When I snapped out of it, almost an hour had passed. According to Losa, I didn¡¯t respond to anything that he did. He stopped short of physical violence of course. I stepped back from the wall I had been working on and glanced at my hands. They were thoroughly stained red from the blood. Mural of Deposition ¨C You have created a work of art that will shake the very mind of anyone that sees it. Being a dungeon core, the artwork is endued with magic allowing it to persist through the ages of time. Glancing back up from my hands, I took in the actual wall. It was like I was looking at the apocalypse. The mural I had created managed to depict a world on fire. The crimson liquid had delicate strokes, with bold marks here and there. It resonated with me to the deepest part of my soul. I felt like my life was ending after all. Or maybe it had already and I was truly trapped in this digital world. I shook my head, banishing the thoughts. I refused to believe I was trapped in here. My rage had gotten the better of me at the expense of almost a hundred goblins, but I had calmed down now. There must be a reason for what was happening to me. I would just have to figure out a way to contact a game master. Taking a deep breath, I started at the mural before turning and heading back into my dungeon. I didn¡¯t remember how spawning worked in this world. There was a good chance that the goblins would return. If they have any intelligence, they would come with even greater numbers. I returned to the room I had been working on. I didn¡¯t have a real purpose for it over than to spread my dungeon a bit further out. Standing in the center, I tried to decide what to do when a screen popped up in front of me. I quickly read the details to find that it was telling me to designate the room¡¯s purpose. There were several options to choose from. I could create a spawner room that would spawn a certain monster type every so often. A Vault that could be used to store any valuables that I might want to keep. Mainly, the room would prevent me from absorbing the item automatically. At the bottom of the list was an option that I felt was made just for me. A gallery. It would let me hang artwork that I collected for viewing. I felt this option was likely meant to be at the entrance of the dungeon to inspire fear or awe to whoever came into the dungeon. I tapped my arm as I thought it over, and decided to go with the spawner. It would save me mana in the long run. My vampires and demons stood to the side of the room. I hadn¡¯t issued them any orders yet after the slaughter. The mana cost changed depending on which creature I told the room to summon. The demons were much cheaper than the vampires, but the vampires were altogether stronger than the demons. I bit my lip and choose vampire. The mana in the room was sucked into the center of the room as a blood red crystal chandelier formed above my head. A timer appeared in my head when I looked at the item. It would take just over two hours before a vampire would be summoned. If they stayed in the room, I would only be able to summon a total of five vampires. Good to know. I walked over to my forces. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Demons begin digging again. Vampires. I want two of you to stay with me. The rest, head into the tunnels and bring me prey.¡± Surely. Surely! One of the NPCs would be able to use the commands. If there was an error from the system change then I would have to do my best to find another player. The monsters growled in confirmation before they made their way from the room. I watched them go for just a second before I made my way out of the room and back into the natural tunnel. I needed to seal this up so that monsters couldn¡¯t just wander in as they felt. Luckily, my aura just barely made it out here to the other wall. While I planned out what I was going to do, the one force I sent down the left path returned. The worgs and demons were empty handed. ¡°What¡¯d you find?¡± The demon walked over to the wall and gestured. After a few different shapes and movements, I got that they reached a dead end. A pity, but at least nothing that could threaten me. I ordered them to join the others then waved my hand to create a wall of demon stone to block the path. It might be a dead end, but the demon wasn¡¯t very intelligent. I would investigate it later when my aura was larger. I went down the natural cave as far as I could down the right path before creating another wall. This time, I added a door. It would force monsters or any other attackers to focus on the point of entrance. It worked out that the mural was able to fit in the room. ¡°Losa.¡± ¡°Yes, master?¡± the imp asked. ¡°Is there any other way to extend my aura without waiting for a level up?¡± He scratched the top of his head for a moment before snapping his fingers as something came to him. ¡°I believe creating an Aura Forge would be the way to go. It passively increases your aura slowly, but steadily outward in a direction of your decision. At the cost of some mana of course.¡± I smiled shaking my head. ¡°Of course.¡± I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall as I thought. God, I was glad my body moved properly now. ¡°What ways do I have to increase mana generation?¡± ¡°Size, killing, sources of power, artifacts, donation from mortals, meditation, and that¡¯s all that I know of. There is more no doubt.¡± That was quite a few options actually. I knew about size and killing of course. I had vividly experienced those so far. I looked over to my mural. That had given me a boon of sorts. I wonder if I could create a masterwork that could generate mana. I snickered at the thought. I really doubted it. That would be cheat level. I tried to ignore the thought but the more I considered it, the harder it was to get rid of the thought. ¡°Losa. How does one create an artifact?¡± ¡°There are plenty of ways. Generally, once one has mastered their craft they can create such an item.¡± I bit my thumb then decided it didn¡¯t hurt to try. I was interested in what would happen. ¡°I¡¯ll be busy for a while. Any new vampires summoned, direct them to help each area in a cycle. If you sense you¡¯re about to reach the outside, make sure to wait for me.¡± ¡°What are you going to do?¡± ¡°Paint.¡± I walked back down the passage until I reached about halfway to the core room. Turning to the right, I concentrated and absorbed everything I was able to in one hit. My dungeon¡¯s level up must have increased the range, as close to three meters squared vanished. I walked into the new hole and started carving a new room. Once it was nearly twenty by twenty, I came to a stop. Thanks to the junk absorbed off the goblins, I had everything I needed to create the five basic pigments. I held out my hand and dug a small pit before I created all the ingredients. With some elbow grease, I soon had red, yellow, brown, black, and white. They had a few plants on them as well that I was able to make a dull green with. I lacked lapis for blue, but I would just have to work around that. With the options, I could mix them for some further depth, but I lacked a good part color palate. That didn¡¯t stop me though. In fact, it excited me. I wanted to find out if I could create a master piece while lacking such a necessary competent. I rubbed my hands together as I created a brush and board to place the paint on. I really did have to thank the goblins for rushing so headlong to their deaths. The fabric and said fibers in their rudimentary clothes actually worked nicely once I fashioned the brush. Now that I had the tools, I needed my subject. I would have tried to paint a god or goddess, but Losa claimed there were none in this world. Maybe if I painted something that looked godly, it would still work for the system that governed everything. I moved to the center of the room that would be my canvas and sat down as I closed my eyes. The room was still present in my mind though as I began drawing with my mental brush first. This process could take a few minutes to days. I had just had to hope for the former. I slowed my breathing and began. It was time to get serious for once. Chapter 11 Maxwell One of the coolest features that came with the manor was a table that projected a map of the surroundings on it. AS Rowena and I stared at the display, we started discussing where everything would go in more depth. There were a lot of factors to consider when building a town let alone a city or empire. Rowena tapped the map zooming in on our immediate area. ¡°We need to place the Immigration gate somewhere well defended. Just about everything in this game had durability levels. I¡¯ve no doubt that the gate is the same way.¡± ¡°That sucks to hear. I was hoping I could just place it and then there¡¯d be a spawn point there,¡± I replied looking at part she¡¯d focused on. My town¡¯s territory extended a good ways up the mountain. Needless to say, it was nearly impossible to get up to parts of it without a good deal of equipment. The first three hundred meters behind the settlement was nearly sheer vertical rise. Even after that, there were only a few places that people could stand on and even those were precarious at best. Rowena pointed to a point that was about five hundred meters up the mountain. I hadn¡¯t noticed it because a shelf blocked the top down view, but looking closely, I could see there was a cave entrance of sorts under the shelf. ¡°We should investigate this spot. If we place the gate there, we could eventually turn the mountain into a Fortress like that old movie with the hobbits. I¡¯m not sure what methods there are to bring people to your village, but it is probably best to protect the guaranteed way as best we can.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good point. Plus, there are several ledges that can be worked on to create a path and checkpoints. Ideally, people would only be leaving the Gate not going near it. Any guards we post would be able to red flag them immediately. Much better than if the gate sat in the middle of the village.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± We decided to investigate the cave first thing. Before that though, Rowena zoomed the map out. She moved the perspective deeper into the forest to the west. Looking at the map like this rather than directly in front of my eyes through the menu, I could tell this forest was massive. It just seemed to go on forever. A distance that could probably be traveled in just over an hour sat the goblin camp. Because Rowena was recognized as part of the settlement, and she had reported the place, my map showed the area as having been flagged for danger. The center of the came was red while the color slowly got lighter as the circle radiated from the center. I was worried by the fact that the red came to just outside the territory of the settlement. ¡°My village is under a month-long protection. Does that protect us from the goblins?¡± I asked. Rowena shook her head. ¡°No. They are monsters. If they were led by a player the situation might be different but if these are all natural. Should they attack, they could level this place to the ground. Sure, you would revive but all the citizens would be killed.¡± ¡°Damn. Alright. Let¡¯s get the Gate up while the citizens gather the resources to construct the wall.¡± After that, I needed to level up as soon as possible. Rowena suddenly bowed while placing a hand to her heart. ¡°As you wish, my lord.¡± I stared at her for a few seconds before she started laughing. ¡°Seriously?¡± I asked with a sigh. She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye as she calmed down. ¡°Sorry. You just sounded right at home just now that I couldn¡¯t help it.¡± ¡°Whatever. Let¡¯s go.¡± We left the manor. I¡¯m not sure when, but two guards had taken up residence on either side of the entrance. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about this place while I¡¯m not here. Protect the others.¡± They placed a hand to their heart then moved off without a comment. The changes to the dark elves made them look cool in my opinion, I just hoped I hadn¡¯t doomed them to a fate that I wasn¡¯t ready to lead them through. I shook my head. We had other problems to deal with at the moment. From the knowledge imparted when I learned my new spells, I knew I could take Rowena with me at a higher mana cost when I used my teleportation. We just had to hold hands. I reached out and she took it. From there, I focused on the ledge that the overhang was above. There was the squeezing sensation again before we landed on the ledge. I managed to keep my balance this time, but Rowena tripped on a rock. She fell and since I was still gripping her hand, I was pulled along with her. We crashed to the ground with my face lodged in her bosom. I got off her and sat up. ¡°Need to watch our step,¡± I said chuckling a little. She rubbed her chest and nodded as she sat up as well. She was looking at me with¡­ nervous glances? Yeah, I think that was the best way to describe it. Maybe she was worried that I would freak out since she had been a man until just the other day and I had basically felt her up. I knew a few people that might feel strange about that, but I didn¡¯t really care one way or the other. I stood up and reached out. ¡°Thanks,¡± she said as she took the offered hand. Dusting off, we turned to the cave entrance. The space was quite large. With the entrance being at least four meters tall and two or three wide. I didn¡¯t think anything could possibly be living here, there was no way to reach it after all. That said, this was a magical world. You never know what you could find. Thanks to my dark sight, I was able to see quite a distance into the cave. There was nothing that threw alarm bells. I glanced to Rowena and nodded before we walked forward. Rowena pulled out a shield and her mace. I recognized the shield as the same that a few of the guards from the settlement used. She must have traded or borrowed it. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Stalking forward carefully, we still didn¡¯t encounter anything. I thought it was going to be an eventful trip, the kind I was hoping for, when we spotted our first feather. It was soon joined with dozens more. The feathers were massive, easily as long as my leg and two or three palms wide. They had a blue coloration that made me cold just looking at them. Seeing the discarded feathers, we slowed our approach considerably. If the bird they belonged to still resided up here, we might be in over our heads. I mean, I was only level two! Rowena wasn¡¯t much higher. The cave walls abruptly started to get further apart while the ceiling got higher. A few seconds later, we reached a large opening. In the center was a nest. More importantly, in the nest was a large bird, monster really, that took up most of the space. It was so large in fact that I didn¡¯t think it could physically leave the cave. The beast was beathing slowly, indicating that it was asleep. With a quick glance, I saw the skeletons of other birds. Perhaps it was able to survive until another bird monster came to claim the cave as its new nest and killed them. I judged the size of the bird and determined that we could probably kill it from a distance from inside the cave. I gestured to Rowena and she nodded as we backed up. Either way, if this plan didn¡¯t work, we only had one route to flee down. ¡°Ready?¡± I whispered and she nodded. I pointed at the massive bird that was still sleeping and concentrated on my new spell. Spatial Tear. There was a sort of disjunction of the faint light in the cave directly in front of my hand. A second later, the hard to see attack sailed across the room and sliced heavily into the monster. A loud painfilled caw boomed around the room and down the cave. It caused my ears to physically hurt. I quickly sent the Tears down the cave into the giant as fast as I could cast them. A blast of cold air came from the bird in response, but Rowena moved in front of me and used a skill to negate most of the attack. This kept up for close to a minute. I lowered my arm not because the beast was defeated, but because I was nearly out of mana. Rowena inched forward to check the state of the bird. When she stood up with a relaxed stance, I thought perhaps we¡¯d won. ¡°Wait here,¡± she said causing me to tilt my head in confusion. She walked into the room with confidence. Curious at what she was doing, I peeked into the room. The bird was covered in dozens of wounds from the Tear spell. If it was any weaker, or smaller for that matter, I felt I would have long killed the thing. ¡°Great Avian! I am the Beast Knight Rowena. If you don¡¯t wish for my companion to kill you, then surrender yourself to service and become mine. I promise you one thing. You will return to the skies!¡± I widen my eyes in surprise but quickly calmed down. Certainly, if this creature had been able to fly, the situation probably would have ended much differently. I had no idea if the thing could understand her, but her claim worked. The giant blue bird started to turn to a blue smoke that sank into Rowena. ¡°Amazing!¡± I called once the bird was completely gone. Rowena spun around and grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly. ¡°You have no idea. I never expected to find one of these here.¡± ¡°These?¡± I asked. ¡°Trapped beasts. There are powerful monsters and beasts trapped in situations like this all over the world. You have to be stupidly lucky to find one. You have no idea the size of some of the expeditions that I have read about in search of these creatures.¡± That is certainly a good boon then. I was glad that Rowena had joined me. Otherwise, this monster might have simply been killed by my hand. ¡°I was wondering how it managed to trap itself in here. I guess if it was an initial design by the creators then it makes a little more sense.¡± Rowena laughed and nodded at my statement. ¡°You have no idea. A few players have found their old avatars trapped in strange places because they met the qualifications for the algorithm the developers used to move the monsters to these places. Mostly the undead races or monster races of course.¡± ¡°Damn. That would be quite the annoyance to wake up and be trapped from the world like this.¡± ¡°Right.¡± We laughed at the thought before sobering up. I checked to make sure but the cave was still in the settlement¡¯s territory. Rowena raised her hand. ¡°Wait.¡± She rushed over to the nest then exclaimed happily. ¡°Bingo!¡± She climbed into the nest. A second later, I saw an egg being raised over the edge of the nest. ¡°An egg!? Can you hatch it?¡± I asked amazed by the thought that she might one day command two of those creatures. She might rule the skies. ¡°Not sure. I might have to wait for some extra skills. Either way, here.¡± She tossed me a blue gauntlet. I nearly fumbled the throw, but managed to catch it in the end. I sighed and took a closer look at the item. There were strange rings that wrapped around the gauntlet, but I had no idea what language was craved onto the rings. ¡°Put it on.¡± I nodded and slid the item onto my right hand. The size adjusted automatically and made for a comfortable fit. I felt my mana pool jump a bit as the rings that encircled the gauntlet started to move. They enlarged and spun around my hand lazily. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°Check the status.¡± Pharix Runic Gauntlet ¨C Unique. Mana + 100. Increases potency of spells by 20%. That was impressive. I thanked her for the item. I really couldn¡¯t wait to test it out later. My Spatial Tear spell was already overpowered. I cleared my head and got to what we came here for. I focused on the Immigration Gate. A ghostly image appeared in front of me. There was a deeply complex magic circle slightly raised with a stone platform. In each of the corners of the hexagon shaped platform was an obelisk that glowed with purple energy. When I moved my sight, the image followed it. I placed it toward the back of the cave right where the nest was. There was a burst as the nest turned to flames soon leaving the ground bare. Purple stone and metal slowed from a pinpoint at the center of the magic as the Gate too shape. In a matter of seconds, the ghostly image became solid. ¡°That was impressive,¡± Rowena commented once it was all over. ¡°Very much so,¡± I agreed with a laugh. I walked over and placed my hand on the Gate. Immigration Gate Lv. 1 Next Arrival: 12 Hours. Upgrade: 100 Stone, 100 Iron, 1000 Wood, 2000 Mana Possible Upgrades: Quantity, Quality, Rate I checked the stores of the settlement. We were nowhere near that not to mention the mana cost. Either I would need to level up some more or get a few mage classed citizens. Since Rowena tamed the bird, we didn¡¯t get any experience. Not that I blamed her. It had been a little too easy for my blood. ¡°We have twelve hours until the first arrival,¡± I reported, pulling my hand free. ¡°Then we have twelve hours to figure out how to get a path built to the village.¡± I shook my head. ¡°I plan on teleporting the first couple down. I don¡¯t we¡¯ll get too many from a level one gate. That gives us time to build up the actual village.¡± ¡°Ah. Good point.¡± It wasn¡¯t a permanent solution, but at least if the worst should happen as Rowena warned was a possibility, my Gate would be safe. I could use it to repopulate in the future. Not that I planned to let that happen. Chapter 12 Aurora I collapsed, no that wasn¡¯t right. I had been on the floor to begin with. Everything hurt. I took a breath and my lungs vehemently protested that action. When I tried to raise my arms, nothing worked. I was really out of energy. I couldn¡¯t even will myself to open my eyes. ¡°Have you returned to us, master?¡± Losa¡¯s voice came to me in the darkness. ¡°Perhaps. How long was I out of it?¡± At least my mouth and voice operated well enough in my drained state. ¡°Two days.¡± ¡°I really over did it, didn¡¯t I?¡± I asked sullenly. I felt bad for Losa. Stuck with a dungeon core like me. Sure, I designed him thanks to the system, but that only made it worse for him. I was basically his mother. ¡°A little. I have something for you,¡± Losa said before I felt a stone something press against my mouth. When the tint of iron and copper reached me, my mouth shot open as the still warm liquid flowed into my mouth. Strength began to return to my limbs. I jerked up and grabbed the cup, as I gulped the contents down as fast as I could. I opened my eyes and looked at the imp. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°It is no problem. I am of service to you master,¡± Losa replied with a small bow. Looking at him, I felt he seemed¡­ depressed. ¡°Are you alright?¡± I asked concerned for the imp. ¡°I have not come to any physical harm,¡± he replied with a confused look. ¡°I meant mentally. You seem upset.¡± ¡°I am¡­ not upset.¡± He turned away and seemed to be trying to hide his face. I only needed a split second to understand the reason for this. It was likely me. I have been told from multiple sources that my trance like state is to the level that I seem to adapt another personality. One that is¡­ hard to be around. I basically start to treat everyone around me like servants. ¡°I understand. I am sorry, Losa. Trust me when I say this. Anything that I might have said during my trance means nothing. You have been nothing but helpful and a pleasure to be around since you came to me.¡± Losa looked back over to me and seemed to be a little relieved. ¡°I will take your word. Master. You have quite the hidden demon inside you!¡± he said returning to his cheerful demeanor like it was nothing. I smiled at the imp and nodded at his statement. ¡°So I¡¯ve been told.¡± Losa helped me up and I took in the room around me. The first thing that drew my eye was the pile of goblin corpses just outside the room. A few demon corpses as well. ¡°What happened?¡± Losa looked at the pile with a nervous expression. ¡°You said the red you were using wasn¡¯t¡­ deep enough. They pushed further into the caves near the dungeon and encountered a goblin camp. We won, but a few demons were lost in the process. You summoned a few almost absentmindedly and had us leave the corpses of the ones that fell here. I believe you used their blood in some places as well.¡± The demons bled yellow. When I thought about it, I did feel there had been a point where I had wished for both colors to be¡­ better. I groaned a little at my actions but when I got like that, nothing short of physically knocking me out could get me to stop. I felt bad about the demons but at least I hadn¡¯t killed them myself. I rubbed my face then decided I had been putting it off long enough. It was time to see if my creation had been worth the pain that had come from it. Calming my heart, I looked more closely at the walls. There were several¡­ men, maybe they were angels that held blood red lances that stood in many different environments. Some were in civilization, others were in wilderness. No two were the same. The angels I decided finally due to the fact they possessed wings, all looked different as well. Some looked like wise men, others looked like savages. A few women were among the angels, I realized as I noticed a few with beautiful faces. The main factor that tied them together were the red lances. Each were exactly the same. Three pronged and dripping with blood. They looked like three pieces of metal had been twisted into one solid piece. They looked cruel and deadly. The angels were all pointing their lances toward the sky or the ceiling. I followed the line made from their weapons. The ceiling appeared to represent the heavens. A beautiful white city resided among the clouds. I had pulled from the idea of Olympus no doubt. At the center of the city, and at the center of the room, there was a circle of yellow. It reminded me of the rays the sun sometimes made when it hit the clouds just right. A black throne sat at the center of the yellow ring, almost as if contradiction. A man dressed in equally black robes sat at the center, his face covered by flowing locks of hair. From the strong manner of his body, I would wager he was handsome, but with the hair it was impossible to tell. Lines that almost looked like cracks extended from his eyes that glowed orange. I could only tell they came from his eyes, as the orange glowed through the black of his hair. The lines extended all over his body as they were also on his hands and feet. The only feature of his face that could be seen clearly was his mouth. A smile that seemed to say the world belonged to him graced him. Looking at the overall painting, I had a feeling this man was not good. Remembrance of The Desolation of Mankind - You have created a work of art that will make the world tremble. The Desolation of mankind once brought the world to its knees. Only the sacrifice of the gods managed to defeat him. By bringing his memory back into the world you have returned a portion of his power. Some of that has been granted to you. The rest¡­ Being a dungeon core, the artwork is endued with magic allowing it to persist through the ages of time. ¡°That¡¯s probably not good,¡± I mumbled as I scratched my head. If I just revived some ancient destroyer of worlds¡­ actually that was just like my luck. I glanced at the notification again then just shrugged. I couldn¡¯t undo what I had already done. If the Desolation was going to be a game ending problem, then the devs wouldn¡¯t have put him in. I dismissed the message only for it to be replaced by another one. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Remembrance of The Desolation of Mankind ¨C Legendary. A fresco of the utmost quality. This was created with a goal in mind. To create mana. Because there were no gods remaining in the world, the artist used a being of even greater power as her motif. The consequences are unknown. The rewards are. Personal: Night Lord ¨¤ Night Queen. Dungeon: Mana generation ¨¤ +25(Dungeon Level) per hour. Legendary Painting created. Cooldown ¨C Two months. Artist title awarded. That was a lot! Shit that was a lot of mana. I could almost summon a Worg an hour without moving a finger. Coupled with excavation and killing monsters that got near my dungeon, it would be increasingly hard for me to run out of mana. The fact that it went up as I gained dungeon levels. Plus, all the other rewards, I almost wanted to shiver a little. -- Name: Aurora Nightingale Level: 4 Race: Vampire, Sub: Dungeon Master ¨C Night Queen Sub: Dungeon Core Total Mana: 50/1500 Abilities: Blood Sucking Blood Magic Elemental Magic ¨C Fire, Earth, Death Basic Sneak Dungeon Menu -- [Dungeon Core: Vampire ¨C Night Queen. Owner: Aurora Nightingale] Dungeon Level: 2 Total Mana: 277/1000 Absorb. Create. Destroy. Summon. -- Looking at my status, I actually got a little excited. I might be trapped in this nightmare, but at least I was moving up in the world. My gaze lingered on the Night Queen and a description appeared. Night Queen ¨C All Night Lords are aggressive toward you, however, if you defeat them, their souls will be bond to you. So¡­ I¡¯ve just got a bigger target on my back. The other lords would have been at my throat anyways. I didn¡¯t see the real issue. I felt it was still better than the demon lord option. In fact, since they were aggressive toward me, they might actually be sending people to my doorstep. The gamer in me chuckled about potential experience points being delivered to my door. I took one last look at the man in the center of the mural. I couldn¡¯t see his face, but I felt he was right in my strike zone. Maybe if he does revive, I could convince him to treat to a night or two. Shaking my head, I laughed as I walked out of the room. Man¡­ it might have been a while too long for me. ¡°Losa,¡± I called with a singsong voice. ¡°Still here, master,¡± he replied from right next to me. I was so in my own world that I had forgotten about him being with me. ¡°I knew that,¡± I said smiling. ¡°How do I make an Aura Forge?¡± His face took a contemplative expression as he dived into his memories. A second later he returned to his normal relaxed visage. ¡°We need a few things. Magic metal of at least the second level. A few mana stones and an activation stone.¡± ¡°Did the goblins have any of those on them?¡± I asked since we¡¯d slaughtered quite a few of them. I paused as I realized how¡­ detached I had felt about that thought. I really didn¡¯t care about killing the goblins. Well¡­ They were just NPCs. ¡°A mana stone, actually. But that was the best they had to offer,¡± Losa replied. He led me to the room next to the natural cave system. A small pile of what could best be descried as junk laid next to the wall. I walked over and absorbed everything getting access to a few more plants, iron, copper, tin, and a bunch of other miscellaneous objects. A vampire walked over to me once that was done and handed me a golden gemstone that glowed softly. I absorbed it and found it was the mana stone. ¡°That¡¯s one item off your list.¡± It was almost a bad thing that I absorbed it. Had I had any more mana, I would have lost out of a few points since I got nearly five hundred points from the object. I recreated the mana stone and it seemed to ask how much mana to put in. I couldn¡¯t create one with less than a hundred mana points. Once decided, my pool drained instantly before a much smaller golden stone appeared in my hand. Tossing it up in the air, I watched it with a grin as it vanished, and my mana went back up by ninety-nine points. Now I didn¡¯t have to worry about overflowing my mana pool. I could save some in these stones for later. The act of creating and destroying it must be where the one point was lost. ¡°The camp the vampires found was nearly an hour from here. It was only an outpost. There should be a larger concentration. The goblin you captured did claim there was a king. They found no such being at the camp,¡± Losa reported. I glanced at him and nodded. Since two days had passed, I should have almost twenty-four new vampires in my service. I was about to ask Losa when I felt a number come to mind unbidden. There were thirty-one vampires total. I decided to switch questions. ¡°How goes the mining?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve pushed the tunnel another hundred meters. We were about to reach a stopping point.¡± ¡°Stopping point?¡± I asked. Were they close to the exit? I had told them to stop from breaking out to the surface. Losa gestured and I followed him out into the second room that was part of the natural caves. I had to almost immediately stop as the room was nearly completely full of dirt, stone, and a few other rocks that I hadn¡¯t seen yet. ¡°As you can see. We are running out of space to put it. Without an Absorption Point, the dungeon cannot take care of this. Your monsters will be reclaimed by the dungeon but anything else needs to be taken to one of these points.¡± ¡°Why weren¡¯t my demons back in the Gallery absorbed?¡± ¡°Because you deemed them necessary to your work, and the dungeon accommodated.¡± I raised an eyebrow at that. This game was very intuitive. I vaguely recalled that had wowed me the first time I played as well. ¡°Many dungeons will have low level slimes to ¡°clean¡± their passages.¡± Losa said making quotes when he said clean. I chuckled at the implication that Losa didn¡¯t care for slimes. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll keep that in mind. For now, how do I set up one of those points?¡± ¡°Just focus on a spot and think about using Absorb permanently.¡± I nodded then moved to the center of the room. There was a sort of path that led to the tunnel from the main section of the dungeon. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to take a single step. I did as Losa instructed and soon a glowing empty circle of black light appeared where I was looking. I used my foot to push a bit of the dirt into the circle and it vanished instantly with my mana going up a fraction. Looking at the magic, I had an idea. ¡°If I can do this and the spawn point, can I set up a place that will automatically create items?¡± I walked back to my core room. I found Dersoa standing idly in the corner of the room. Without any orders, he was left without anything to do. I made a mental note to create a few rooms for him to work on. I asked him to leave the room then went to an enclave that he¡¯d made. I placed my hand on the way and soon another room adjacent to the core room existed. In the center of the room, I pictured a spawner that would create a mana stone for a hundred points if I ever got near full. The construction cost me a grand total of five hundred mana, but it would prevent me from reaching full and losing mana in the future. Just a bit of insurance. Now that I was gaining fifty mana an hour, if I went into a trance, it was liable, no it was for sure going to happen. I walked out of the mana stone vault then created a solid door made from iron. Mana was my life blood. I needed to protect it. Closing the door, I stared at it for a second as I had an idea. I held out my hand and iron took the shape of a cane. I went ahead and placed a mana stone on it for two hundred mana. Since I was creating the iron with my mind, I was able to shift it almost as I willed. I had a vampire¡¯s head for the head of the cane. Once I was done, I held the item out to Losa. ¡°For me?¡± ¡°Yeah. I think it really completes your image,¡± I replied. He took it with a revent sort of gaze. He was so taken with the item that he stroked it with a gentle and possessive passion. He did finally snap out of it though. ¡°Thank you for the gift, master. I will treasure it.¡± ¡°Sorry its made out of low quality iron. Until I get something better, it will have to do.¡± ¡°Never would I complain! This is the first item made by my master. I will treasure it!¡± he repeated much more fervently. I patted his head with a smile. I enjoyed it when people liked the things I created. A cane was easy since I didn¡¯t have to overtly worry about balance or sharpness. I would need a specialized monster for something a bit deadlier. Good thing I had a lot of mana to play with now. I moved over and took a seat before I got to thinking about what sort of monster to create. Chapter 13 Maxwell Rowena and I returned to the settlement once I had regained enough mana for a teleportation. The villagers were working hard to gather the quota of resources that I had put in. Several trees near the tents had been cut down and were in the middle of being processed. A few workers were heading out along the foot of the mountain to gather stone and iron. I was glad that we were able to put the Gate down. Even if it might put pressure on our food stores, to grow the village rapidly, we needed manpower. We should have enough resources for a few buildings and the wall by tonight. If we could get a lot of wood, then I could at least upgrade the tents to something a bit nicer for the villagers. A loud creak before the sound that was distinctly that of a tree falling sounded out through the settlement. The twenty- or thirty-meter tree crashed to the ground with a thundering boom. I had to hope we didn¡¯t attract every monster in the forest with all the noise we were making. ¡°About how far did you say that goblin camp was?¡± ¡°The first scout was nearly ten kilometers away. We should be fine, but I can understand why it would make you nervous,¡± Rowena replied patting my shoulder. I watched the workers start to work on cutting the next tree down. The bark was thick and it took them a while to get through it with their low quality axes. Even the trunk of the tree took a while to get through enough for them to push the tree over. ¡°Hey. What happens if I were to use my spell to cut a tree down?¡± ¡°It would come back in a day like a normal harvest node, I think. I remember seeing people using skills to mow down entire sections of forests. Not sure how that plays into a village or construction. I didn¡¯t do too much research into that subject.¡± ¡°Its okay. That much is enough.¡± I walked over to the forestry team. ¡°I¡¯m going to cut a few down myself. You guys process those for me.¡± ¡°Do you need an ax, my lord?¡± ¡°Nope,¡± I replied waving the tool away. I walked over to the edge of the forest then rubbed my hands together. Time to do some lumberjacking with magic! I aimed at the tree in front of me then used Spatial Tear. The spell worked beautifully. There was a loud creak as the tree started to fall¡­ directly toward me. I dove out of the way and the tree crashed to the ground with an explosion of dust and leaves. The sound of clapping reached me as Rowena walked around the downed tree with a wide grin across her face. ¡°That was epic. I mean it!¡± I stood up and brushed the dirt from my robe. I needed to get something that was easier to move around in. I looked up to my friend and flicked her off. ¡°Shut up!¡± The workers were able to start processing the tree into lumber units. That meant that my theory had worked. I could speed up at least this part of the resource gathering by several degrees. It took the five workers about ten minutes to completely process a tree into ten units of lumber. Not too shabby. Now that I¡¯ve cut out the fifteen-minute downing process that was on top of that, they were really bringing in the wood. Doing the math, I decided I would cut down fifty trees. That would give the workers plenty to work with while Rowena and I went hunting. My growing village was important but my own level was just as critical. I took into account the direction the tree was going to fall this time, directly back since the Tear got smaller as it bored through the tree. With a swing of my hand, another tree soon joined the first on the ground. ¡°I¡¯m going to get a few of these downed. Go take a break and I¡¯ll join you,¡± I called to Rowena. She waved in acknowledgement then wandered off. I got back to slicing trees down. The Tear spell used roughly ten mana per operation, so I could cut all the trees in one go. Sadly, my mana hadn¡¯t been anywhere near full all morning. After twelve trees, I had to take a break to allow my mana to regen. Really needed to get an apothecary going. They would be able to create potions, at least I assumed, that could recover mana and health. I pulled my town menu up and checked the building¡¯s requirements. For a level one building, the resources were easy enough. Just a few dozen of stone, metal, and wood. There was however a special requirement. A citizen that had herbology and brewing at least at level one. I scratched my head on how to make that happen. I knew players could go to towns or cities that had existing places to learn the skills, but how did inhabitants of the world do so? I maneuvered through the menu until I was in the citizen roster. I just randomly clicked on a person to see what I was working with. -- Name: Lyic Orfen Level: 1 Race: Dark Elf Class: N/A Specialization: N/A Total Mana: 10/10 Abilities: Dark Sight Basic Sneak -- Man! That was empty. I almost felt sorry for the guy. He didn¡¯t even have a class. I clicked on the class label and a list that equaled the one that I saw when I first joined the game popped up in front of me. Every class that had been presented to me was present. I clicked on Mage and a cost appeared. A thousand gold or five thousand mana. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Curious about something, I went ahead and put five mana into the option. I wanted to see if it had to be paid all at once or if I could pay in installments. When I stopped the value didn¡¯t go down. My next test was to see if the mana spent was toward that class or to the person. I went back and selected Archer. This option only costed five hundred gold or twenty-five hundred mana. The five points were shown in the mana bar. So, I could buy my citizens classes. The requirements for the building were skills. They likely didn¡¯t have to have the class to work in the building. It was entirely possible they could naturally gain the class after being given the skills and enough time. The question was if I had the time to let things go like that. It was a very real possibility that people would start going¡­ crazy with how the world has changed for them. I cleared the idle thoughts. No matter what the situation, I was stuck here. Might as well make the best of it. Go with the flow and all that. I closed the City Management screen and got back to work. About thirty minutes after I started, all fifty trees plus a few extra that I got with a two for one attack, were laying on the ground waiting to be processed. Waving to the workers, I left the forest heading back to the settlement. I found Rowena talking to a few of the citizens and moved over. ¡°Something interesting?¡± The dark elves bowed their heads to Rowena before moving off. I didn¡¯t mean to interrupt them. ¡°Nah, just chitchatting. Learning about their lives before they were forced to flee.¡± ¡°Cool. You¡¯ll need to tell me some later. Ready to hit the forest?¡± ¡°Sure am! I can¡¯t wait to see what Greavefeather can do,¡± Rowena exclaimed. ¡°Greavefeather?¡± I asked. ¡°The bird from this morning. His name is Greavefeather.¡± ¡°Ah. Yeah. It will be exciting to see him able to fly.¡± We continued to chat as we moved out of the settlement. We went the opposite direction of the goblin camp since we didn¡¯t want to risk alerting them. With all the commotion we were making constructing the village I found it hard to believe the goblins were aware of us, but Rowena was sure we would be fine for a while longer. Hiking through the forest, we soon came to an obvious monster habitat. Tracks and other hints such as fur showed that there was something ahead that was defending the area from invaders. Going from the paws, I wanted to saw they were wolves, but I withheld judgment until we saw the creatures. That didn¡¯t take long. We heard some growling and we slowed to a crawl. Creeping closer to a bush, we peered over the hedge to see a small wolf pack fighting over a deer carcass. We hadn¡¯t planned it, but we were down wind and thus they hadn¡¯t detected us yet. Rowena lifted her hand and raised her fingers in rapid succession. She counted sixteen wolves. I glanced over the hedge then back to her with a nod. She pointed to the sky as blue smoke started to rise from her hand. It rose into the sky before collapsing several dozen meters above us. The giant blue bird from the cave exploded into being with a loud cry. The wolves stopped fighting and took alerted stances. These beasts were smarter than they looked. Rowena gestured and Greavefeather began to circle the wolves. She pointed at my gauntlet then at Greavefeather then at the line of the clearing the wolves were in. We had never discussed tactics, but I knew exactly what she wanted me to do. I nodded and pointed my hand at the wolves. We waited for the best moment, just as the wolves were beginning to relax, then she whistled loudly. Greavefeather banked hard before diving into the clearing of agitated wolves. When all their attention was on him, I sent several fireballs around the perimeter to keep any of them from fleeing while doing some minor damage in the process. A few of the wolves turned toward us with the fireballs and charged. I counted five that looked like they wanted to bite our heads off. Rowena rushed to take the front, but I didn¡¯t give the wolves time to get near us. I aimed for the neck of the nearest one and sent out a Spatial Tear. I missed the neck, but still took out the front and back right legs. The beast crashed to the ground tripping two of the others in the process. The other two streaked around the downed wolf and were soon on top of us. Rowena brought her mace around and slammed it into the wolf that was charging from the right, while smashing her shield into the muzzle of the left wolf. Neither were killing blows, but they did their job in stopping the charging beasts. I aimed my hand at the left one and sent a point-blank tear into its face. It might be level one magic, but damn was it powerful. The spell tore through the beast¡¯s face and then some. Blood splattered over us from the wounds. I was glad the spell only had a second cooldown. I was able to swing my hand around and send another Tear into the right wolf¡¯s body effectively killing it as well. ¡°Your class is too OP!¡± Rowena cheered with a grin. The two wolves that had been tripped were already back on their feet and rushing us. A few more from the larger group seemed to realize that the bird was a distraction as well and had rounded on us. I cracked my knuckles while Rowena twirled her mace. ¡°Here they come!¡± The sounds of meaty bodies colliding with wood and metal mixed with the whines of dying wolves as Rowena and I fought for the next minute or two. Greavefeather joined the fight as well, swooping in and stabbing his talons into any wolf that was too far from the pack and distracted. The two of us were breathing heavily once all the wolves were finally dealt with. Toward the end, the remaining wolves had begun to dodge my Spatial tear spell. It showed the frightening level of AI at work in this game, though I knew that from interacting with the villagers what little bit I had done. ¡°That was fun,¡± I remarked as I sat down next to a tree. My mana needed to recover some before I wanted to risk moving through the forest. ¡°Recover your mana.¡± Her main attacks were physical thus she mainly used stamina. She only took a single hit during the fight, mindless beasts or not that was some real skill. It also meant she had some energy to spare to do the looting. ¡°The smell of blood might attract other beasts. We might be able to get some more experience without having to look for more monsters in the forest.¡± ¡°That would be nice. Oh. I got a level from that fight.¡± ¡°The first ten are easy. From what I researched, there is a cliff every ten levels. It will make you wish it was this easy.¡± ¡°Either way. It is nice to see myself getting stronger.¡± My mana went up by a hundred points. Not bad. It was too bad that I didn¡¯t get another spell, but the two I had were already over powered as it was. My spells might be few and far between. ¡°When do you get new spells?¡± I asked since Rowena was higher level and should have a few more by now. ¡°You get one automatically at level five, ten, then every ten levels after that. There are skill and spell books that you can get to get the spells sooner. Whether you¡¯ll have enough mana to use them in another story.¡± ¡°So, if I had the right resources, I could potentially get all my spells in a few minutes.¡± ¡°Yeah. Ah, but. Most of the stores don¡¯t sell anything over about what you¡¯d learn by level forty. The auctions were a good source for loot drops, but I have a feeling people will be hoarding their books and other resources for a while.¡± ¡°Interesting. I guess it doesn¡¯t matter since there doesn¡¯t appear to be any civilization for leagues around us.¡± ¡°You can say that again. Pip has been flying for hours and hasn¡¯t seen anything but forest and mountains.¡± She paused while in the process of looting. ¡°Well, not just forest mountains. There are plenty of monster encampments.¡± ¡°Isolated¡­¡± I stood up and looked at the mid day sky. Being so isolated was good since it meant there shouldn¡¯t be any other players nearby, but at the same time¡­ It meant that development would rely on our being self-sufficient. We would need to tread carefully. Chapter 14 Aurora The sound of hammering echoed through my newest room. Two vampire blacksmiths were at work making tools and weapons for the others. I now had forty-seven vampires under my command. Seven of them were using pickaxes to work the tunnel while the demons hauled the material back in a rudimentary cart. It sped up the process considerably. According to Losa, I should reach the outside world in just over a day. My castle, as I had started referring to it, was growing nicely as well. From the central coffin or core room, I had my main passage that was connected to the tunnel being dug to the outside. From there a square like structure had been dug around it with the gallery room being the first room in the branch. I had added another vampire spawner, a smithy, and a few blanks that I hadn¡¯t decided what to do with yet. The next room would likely be for an armorer. ¡°Its like constructing a town,¡± I mentioned to Losa. ¡°Very much so.¡± ¡°How far can my monsters go from my aura before they start to suffer again?¡± ¡°Roughly fifty kilometers. That is usually plenty for luring monsters, adventurers or whatever into your real area of influence. There are ways to extend this, but they are expensive resource and mana wise.¡± Tossing a hundred point mana stone in the air, I leaned back in my seat. ¡°If fifty kilometers isn¡¯t enough then I¡¯ll just have to give up all hope.¡± I would have to accept that I was truly trapped in this game. Not matter how little sense it made. I was letting the turns go by as a strategy gamer might say while I waited for things to get taken care of. Since I couldn¡¯t leave my aura, there was little to do outside of working on my dungeon. Since I couldn¡¯t personally specialize a room, even that required me waiting. I had considered several times digging straight up, consequences be damned, but¡­ the more the evidence pointed to me being trapped in this world, the more I felt that idea was stupid beyond belief. ¡°Only an hour¡­¡± I moaned as I checked the time. Time went by when you¡¯re having fun, but when you¡¯ve nothing to do, it crawls by like a snail. I could go paint, but I didn¡¯t want to risk going into a trance this close to the outside world. Besides, no matter how great a work I created the system wouldn¡¯t designate it legendary. I had a cooldown on that. I groaned again as I slumped in my chair. To pass the time, I was summoning random vampires whenever my mana permitted. Watching my mana bar inch up was another way to pass the time. Thus, I was watching the bar when it went from seventy to a hundred in a split second. I sat up wondering what I had just absorbed that could make it move so rapidly. Another few seconds went by and it shot up another fifty points. ¡°Losa, Come with me.¡± We rushed down the passage to the absorption point. One of the demons was emptying a cart with black rocks into the hole. I reached out and grabbed one before it vanished. Coal - Level one magic material. ¡°Coal is a magic material?¡± I asked Losa as I handed him the rock. ¡°Yes. It is used to create the level one magic metal called steel.¡± Losa handed it back after a quick inspection. ¡°Though, I don¡¯t know the exact process.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why we have Ta¡¯ot and Reit for,¡± I said tossing the stone into the circle. I wanted to smack my forehead since I could have just checked my menu but the excitement had gotten the better of me. From the carts, it looked like we had struck a decent vein of the material. I turned on my heel to head to the smithing room when I felt the ground shake. I paused and looked at the door leading into the natural tunnels. My basic vampires lacked the skill to map or navigate the labyrinth that it led into and I was forced to call them back. Another shake told me that something was really heading this way from the tunnels. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Calling for all my vampires, except for a few that I left near the core room, my forces were soon standing around me. Most of them were armed with swords, but a few were going to have to rely on their claws. Thankfully, my vampires were many times stronger than most creatures. The shaking grew freicer until it seemed to stop directly on the other side of the door. I gulped wondering if the goblins had brought a troll or something to deal with me. ¡°Prism!¡± I shouted and a multi-faceted magical structure formed right in front of the door. Something heavy struck the other side and completely annihilated the low quality iron door with ease. Goblins began to pour in. They looked nothing like the ones I had been dealing with so far. They were dressed in armor with nice looking weapons. The wall I built was further kicked in as a goblin that was almost too large for it to fit in the cave made his way into my dungeon. The spell I cast triggered at that moment. All the light was sucked into the spell before being pushed back out as darkness. ¡°Attack!¡± My vampires moved like shadows. The part of me that was a dungeon core was able to see everything around me with crystal clarity. The goblins dwelled in the dark underworld, but their sight appeared to rely on at least some light. My vampires could see the very blood in their veins. My forces rushed through the goblins sending blood into the air as throats were slit. These goblins weren¡¯t stupid though. As soon as the darkness overwhelmed them, they grouped together back-to-back. We only managed to take out the strays easily. A few of my vampires attempted to take out the large one, but they were sent flying usually in two pieces. ¡°Death!¡± I screamed targeting any goblin that my eyes landed on. I wasn¡¯t surprised when I only caused the goblins I hit with the spell to cough up blood or have random cuts appear on them. I was lower level than them after all. Still, the attacks helped my minions to attack the enemy force in front of us. Next I aimed at their feet and used the earth spell that Dersoa had taught me. The ground vanished from under their feet, turned to sand. They dropped down getting caught in the sand, struggling to stop from being dragged under the grains. The boss goblin managed to avoid the ground attack. His eyes locked on me with malice. I guess he knew I was in charge and where I was even in the pitch black world around us. He leveled his sword at me before he charged. Any of my vampires that got in his way ended up in two pieces. We were far underleveled for this monster. I reduced the ground at my feet to a pit with stone spikes at the bottom and used my wings to stay in place. The trick worked as he stepped into the pit and fell. The goblin gained a spike directly through his skull and stopped moving. I carefully flew over to the edge of the pit. Still getting used to the foreign limbs. I dismissed my Prism spell, glad that I had gained it when I had became a Night Queen. The natural light returned to the dungeon. The attacking goblin force along with their leader laid dead. There was a rush inside me and I felt both my personal level and the dungeon level rise. I looked at the monsters that had became my exp and started laughing. It soon became a bit crazy. But who could blame me!? This whole situation was crazy! Fighting monsters as a dungeon core! I should be back home¡­ What was back home? A lawsuit that I may or may not win¡­ An empty house¡­ A name that would likely never see respect again in the artistic community. Why shouldn¡¯t I laugh at the idiocy of it all! I spun around and kicked the wall forming a half a meter deep crater as my anger built and built. I would break this world! My last world broke me! I would do it in before it crushed me! I hope the game masters take note of me, because otherwise¡­ They would come to regret it. ¡°Master?¡± Losa asked. I jerked my gaze at him. He flinched but held his ground. I smiled, the anger receding just a bit. Reaching out, I pulled him into a hug. ¡°Everything is okay. I¡¯m fine.¡± I pulled back and took a deep breath. I would make sure never to take my anger out on any of the beings that I create. That wouldn¡¯t be fair to them. NPC or not, Losa has already shown me much more emotion than even a few of the people I knew back in the real world. ¡°Have the demons clean up this mess. Finish the tunnel but hold off on breaking into the surface.¡± I looked down at the large goblin impaled at the bottom of the pit. He wasn¡¯t a king. Just a captain. ¡°We have some business to take care of.¡± I bowed my head for the twenty vampires that had died at his and the other goblins¡¯ hands. If this was just a preview of what to expect then I was severely lacking. I think its time we changed that. Steel would be the first step of many to come. Chapter 15 Maxwell I yawned as we walked back into the settlement later that day. Rowena and I had cleared everything that we could from the area without getting too close to the goblin camp. I knew we would need to scout it soon, but I wanted to have a bit more of a standing force before then. A timer I had set in the corner of my vision went off. ¡°The gate should be activating here in a minute. I¡¯ll see you in a few,¡± I said to Rowena before waving and walking toward the base of the mountain. I was now level seven. I had a fair amount of mana to play with, if it would only ever get full. There seemed to be something that always required me to spend the resource. Locking my sight on the ledge up the mountain, I used my Teleport spell. With the squeezing sensation quickly passing, I found myself overlooking the forest. It wasn¡¯t quite as good as my spot that I found this morning, but it was nice in itself. I turned and walked into the cave just in time to see the Gate firing up. The obelisks began to glow before four beams of purple light collided above the magic circle. A vortex of energy snapped into being before calming down to a single oval pane of black. I waited, wondering how many new people we would get with just a level one gate. A few seconds passed before a hand broke through the pane that was quickly followed by a complete body. Three more people soon joined the first standing with a bewildered expression as they looked around the cave. It was an even spilt being two men and two women. They looked to be in their twenties, but after going through the village roster, I knew that appearances were deceiving. Once I was sure no more people were coming, I held my hands out wide and put on a big smile. ¡°Welcome to Alflona! I am the leader of this village. Maxwell. We welcome you with open arms.¡± Yikes, I needed to practice on my speech. ¡°We are in the Abyss?¡± A man asked looking around. A cautious man it would seem. I could use him. Cautious usually meant smart. ¡°No. We are in a cave far up the mountain. Our village is just starting and thus needs all the help it can get.¡± Relief flashed across his face before it vanished back to his cautious hard eyes. ¡°That is fine. I was about to die anyways,¡± the man said crossing his arms. I glanced around at the rest of them. Were they plucked from other locations in the world? ¡°How about the rest of you?¡± A woman that was quite beautiful stepped forward. Her dress was barely holding in her body. It looked two or three sizes to small. I thought if she leaned forward, her chest might literally leap out at me. ¡°I was far from death but wishing for it all the same. I was contracted to a brothel. After fifty years, I¡¯d had enough but wasn¡¯t brave enough to take my own life. I woke up and found myself here.¡± The other woman stepped forward. She was good looking, but in a more homely sort of way. Where the first woman seemed to draw you in, she was easy on the eyes and I was sure that I could look at her all day without issue. ¡°I wasn¡¯t wishing to die. On the contrary, I very much want to live. My city in the Abyss was a harsh place and I do remember wanting to leave it.¡± The last man stepped forward next. ¡°The Great Cycle put me here.¡± ¡°The Great Cycle?¡± I asked not familiar with the term. Though, to be fair, I wasn¡¯t familiar with just about anything in this game yet. ¡°When people die, they enter the Plane of Sleep. To rest from their wears of life. Normally, one returns from the Plane of Sleep via rebirth. You lose your memories and start anew.¡± He glanced back at the Gate. ¡°I had heard the other worlders could construct devices that pull souls from the Plane, but this is the first time I¡¯ve seen one.¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°You¡¯re certainly knowledgeable about all this,¡± I commented worried that he would have a problem staying in the village. I did recall seeing a happiness gauge when looking at the citizens earlier. I had a feeling these four were at or close to zero. ¡°I was a scholar in my former life. I studied much of how the world worked.¡± His eyes wandered over my body. I felt he knew what my condition meant. I would need to see if he had any knowledge about the Void. ¡°That is interesting. Perhaps you could help me learn some more of this world then.¡± Perhaps giving him something to do would make sure he stayed. ¡°That will be fine. To come through the Gate, I had to give up a year of my life. I¡¯m sure these three were the same way.¡± I looked and they all nodded. So, a year of service to the town and then they get a chance at a new life. At least that gave me some time to work them as well as hopefully get them to establish a life in the town. ¡°Whatever your story might be, I still want to say welcome to Alflona.¡± I had them huddle together and then teleported us down to the village. I had to make two trips as two people appeared to be my limit. In the evening light of the day, my village was still working though it was of the end of day kind. A few of the elves were making supper while the last of the resources that had been harvested were being hauled in. Pulling up the menu, I smiled as I took in the stores of the village. Nearly seven hundred units of wood. Two hundred stone, and a hundred and twenty units of iron. Not bad for only a days¡¯ work. Considering the wall only cost ten units of wood, I could use most of it on structures for the village. I also had plenty of mana to use. ¡°Four, huh?¡± Rowena said moving up next to me. I came back to the world and nodded. ¡°Not bad for level one. Though, I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m comfortable how it works.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± I explained how the four had been pulled from various places. They seemed to have a choice, but I wasn¡¯t sure about it over all. But¡­ I guess if the choice is work for a village for a year or die then you would choose the village. ¡°That¡¯s interesting. I¡¯ve never seen something like this and I¡¯ve been to a few player run villages. I have a feeling it had to do with you being a Void Lord.¡± ¡°Probably.¡± I rubbed the back of my head and decided to think about it later. For now, it was time to construct the wall. I made my way to the edge of the territory. I spent the resources then once my mana refilled to a thousand, a nice forty-minute wait, I constructed the wall. We waited to see what sort of magic might take place like with the manor. A blazing purple line burned its way from the distance passing in front of us before continuing on the path that I had drawn. The trees that were in the way burst into purple particles before sinking into the ground. Thin strips of metal and stone formed a neat path where the line had blazed through. It must be the foundation as it was equal to the thickness I set, roughly a meter and a half thick. Next metal poles exploded from the path every dozen meters. The poles began to spark with blue and purple energy before they arced to the next pole. A barrier formed between the poles that glowed with purple energy. Finally, another layer like the foundation formed at the top of the barrier. It was wide enough for soldiers to walk across and defend the wall. There was no obvious way to get up. Thinking back to the menu, I remembered seeing towers, gates, and guardhouses. I probably needed to add a few of those. ¡°This is amazing. I mean seriously, I thought the manor was incredible, but this was truly otherworldly,¡± Rowena said gently placing a hand against the wall. Other than being made from magic, it appeared to be just like a normal wall. I moved next to her checked it out as well. The texture reminded me of crystal. You could see through it, but at the same time you couldn¡¯t. Nothing was clear. ¡°Beautiful.¡± There really was no other word to describe it. I was really enjoying the Magic-Works option. I couldn¡¯t wait to get to work on some of the other buildings. I could see a durability of the section of the wall I was touching. It was five thousand points. Since we couldn¡¯t access the top of the wall without a tower or a gate to exit the territory, I opened the menu to construct them. I had enough materials for two towers and a gate. I opened the map along side the construction and judged the wall. I had already planned out the placing of the gate, I just hadn¡¯t considered the towers. I scratched my chin looking it over. I settled on two places that could cover most of the wall with just the two of them. I needed about three more to get full coverage, but I did the best with the resources I had. The wall shifted in front of us as the purple crystal changed shape. The width doubled making it large enough that ten people could walk through abreast. The metal really made the gate look imposing. The runic lines throbbed with power. I walked inside the guardhouse section. There were just a few desks, chairs, and a table. I could almost picture the future questionings that were going to take place here. ¡°Over here!¡± Rowena called from the side of the room. I joined her to find a stairwell that went up to the top of the wall. Walking up along the wall, the night washed over the forest. It was quite the sight as the tress drew dark. I leaned onto the crystal bastions observing the surroundings. I was really enjoying this world. Chapter 16 Aurora The room I walked into was filled with incredible heat. I¡¯m not sure if it was due to being a player or my race, but I didn¡¯t sweat. I knew if I was in my normal body back in the real world, I would be dying right now. Two burly vampires were currently working the forge and bellows. They made a decent team from what I¡¯ve seen so far. ¡°Hello boys,¡± I called. I quite enjoyed looking at the muscles of the two vampires. ¡°Master,¡± Hez, the one working the bellows said jumping to attention for me. He had a European look with pale skin thanks to being a vampire. His brown hair and red eyes managed to work together nicely. I turned to York. The man working the forge. He was focused solely on his work. A few minutes went by before he dipped the red-hot sword into a barrel of oil. He grabbed a towel and wiped away the soot before turning to me. ¡°Master.¡± I walked over and pulled the weapon from the oil barrel. Even my untrained eye could tell it was nice and straight. The edge still needed a bit of work, but with some sharpening, this would be very deadly. ¡°This one looks better than all the others so far,¡± I commented giving the blade a few swings. It felt nicely balanced as well. ¡°Practice makes perfect,¡± York replied though I could see the pleased look in his eye. The dungeon monsters were bound to my will but they did have their own personalities. Who didn¡¯t like being praised for their hard work? I knew I did. I handed the weapon to him. ¡°I like that attitude.¡± I looked at each of the men and held their gazes for several seconds each. ¡°We got ahold of coal today. I wanted to know if either of you know how to make steel.¡± In the real world it was already an amazing metal. In this world, it was classified as a level one magic metal. ¡°We can. We know the recipes for all the level one magic metals that are alloys. Practice, however, will see that the quality of the metal we produce is worthy of your time.¡± ¡°That is all I wanted to hear. A raiding party of goblins attacked us today. While the lower goblins were an even match, the captain or whatever made us look weak. I want every vampire fully armored.¡± Hez rubbed his hands together which I found was a nervous tic when he wasn¡¯t holding metal in his hands. ¡°The mana cost¡­¡± I waved his statement off. I had to create all the materials they were using. There were already spawners for the metals that we¡¯d gathered so far, but the cost was high to establish them, and the output was low at level one. ¡°I¡¯ll figure it out. My vampires are too valuable to waste.¡± I had started to notice that the longer an NPC stuck around, the more they grew. Some of the first vampires had started showing signs of attempting to talk as their level increased. It would be best if I could keep my monsters alive as long as possible. ¡°Very well. We will melt all the weapons and tools we have down and convert them to steel.¡± ¡°Good. I expect that the success of the dungeon lies on your shoulders.¡± A little pressure would be good for the two. I spun on my heel and left the room. I spotted Dersoa. ¡°Dersoa, dear. Will you work on another room for me?¡± I asked with a purr. ¡°I need to create an armorer station this time.¡± His gravely voice echoed through the hall. ¡°Yes.¡± He moved off along the side passage heading for another of the empty rooms. I watched him walk off before heading back to the core room. The attack on my dungeon showed me that I was underprepared. Armor and weapons were a good start but I was a dungeon. I had to focus on the layout, traps, tricks and everything else. I sat in my throne slash chair and thought about what to work on next. With Dersoa working on the dungeon, he¡¯d created a sort of glowing brick with earth magic. It gave off about as much light as a torch might. It also allowed me to see the true state of my cloths. They were barely holding together, not to mention, covering me. One wrong move and I was sure they would disintegrate into dust. ¡°A dress maker might be nice for the next room,¡± I mumbled to myself. I was a queen for all intents and purposes. I really should dress like one. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°That is all well and good, master, but without the fabric they would be stuck twirling their thumbs.¡± Losa had a good point. I had to be careful not to get ahead of myself. The specialized monsters were not cheap in terms of mana. Each new one I added, made the next cost even more. ¡°You¡¯re right, my friend.¡± I leaned back and rested my head on my hand. My aura had expanded a good deal. It might be to my benefit to dig a number of tunnels just to see if I happen upon anything interesting. I had declared that the goblins would be dealt with, but my vampires just weren¡¯t up to the task. At least not yet. ¡°It¡¯d be nice to unlock a new monster.¡± ¡°You are level three. You have two unlocks waiting for you,¡± Losa said matter-of-factly. Like it should have been obvious. I didn¡¯t remember any sort of notification. I jerked up and looked at him. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You unlock a new summon type every time you level up. It should be stated in your summoning menu,¡± he explained. I opened the menu for the first time in a while. I¡¯d just been summoning the monsters without the screen. Sure enough, down at the bottom was a little indicator that showed a plus two. I laughed at the ridiculousness of it. Of course. I really needed to grill Losa on all this stuff. It was too bad I didn¡¯t know a thing about what I should be asking him. Well¡­ Trial and error was fine too. At least it kept things interesting. Tapping on the screen, a list appeared of unlockable monsters. I scrolled through the list not really sure what some of the creatures even were. Many had strange foreign sounding names and there wasn¡¯t a description even when I hovered my finger over the option. ¡°Losa. Is a lesser vampire weaker than the one I can already summon?¡± I asked my trusty imp guide. ¡°Correct. They would be cheaper of course, but even weaker and lacking even more intelligence.¡± ¡°Then the next one up would be Greater Vampire?¡± ¡°Yes. They should be far more intelligent, and you should be able to customize them to a good degree.¡± I thought about the demon summoning. I was able to sort of change what was being summoned based on my desired output. I hadn¡¯t been able to do that with my vampires so far. I hadn¡¯t really thought about it until now. The two vampires that I had working the smith were specialized which when I asked Losa turned out was a different ballgame. They still would have been better had they been created with the Greater option. I decided to use one of my points on the Greater Vampire option. Once the point was spent, a new option appeared directly under that. Greater Vampire ¨C Knight. ¡°What does this option mean?¡± I asked before explaining what popped up. ¡°Ah. That is the next level of vampire. I believe after that, there is Pure Vampire ¨C Court. You will be able to create a nobility system in your dungeon or claims if you manage to reach that point. A Pure vampire will have the ability to manage your claim, not to mention is one of the most powerful creatures in the world. Each rank is significantly more powerful than the last. A Baron, for example, could never hope to best a Count.¡± Hearing that made me want to select the next level of vampire but only having humanoid monsters might be a negative in the future. Besides, the vampires were already expensive. The Greater versions will no doubt be even more so. I decided to hold off on the Knight option for the moment and inspected the rest of the list. With Losa¡¯s help, I settled on Greater Demon as my other point. The demons allowed for a lot of customization. I felt it would be good since I could just try and get a demon that served my needs. I checked my mana. I was still at near full after the battle with the goblins. In fact, when I focused on the room next to me, I found that there were several hundred point mana crystals laying on the floor. Clapping my hands, I focused in front of me as I used the Summon option to select Greater Vampire. Losa was correct, I could greater customize this summon as lists of options appeared in front of me. I thought about what I needed in my fighting force and decided to go with a fighter that knew about leading forces. Let¡¯s be real, I was sure that the battel from earlier could have gone much better if someone who knew what they were doing had been in charge. Like with Losa, I was given the ability to design their looks. I contemplated for a long time. Probably longer than was necessary before I went with a handsome tall man with bright red hair that was cut short. He had a nice jawline that made me want to run my hand over it repeatedly. He was buff, but not extremely so. His muscles were well pronounced and fit the clothing that I found I could design as well perfectly. I went with a simple tunic. I could design it, but couldn¡¯t get too carried away. Armor was out as well as weapons. His claws made up for it until my smiths could outfit him. When I was satisfied with everything, I allowed the summoning to proceed. The dungeon mana plummeted to single digits. With my total pool being two thousand after leveling up, that was expensive! The man formed in front of me with the accompanying tinge of copper and iron in the air. The longer I was stuck here, the more I was finding I actually enjoyed the smell of blood. Once the red light that was filling the room died down, the man opened his eyes and looked directly at me. He grinned and kneeled before me. ¡°A pleasure to make your acquittance, my queen.¡± He said with a voice that was like honey to my ears. I might have overdone it. I also realized that I might be feeling a tab bit sexually frustrated. I coughed and tried to take a regal pose. ¡°I really think the pleasure is going to be mine,¡± I said sounding a bit more girlish than I meant. The man chuckled as he stood and took my hand. He placed a kiss on it that I swore caught me on fire. ¡°I rather doubt that. I am Roland, by the way.¡± If I was still in my body in the real world, I was sure it was having a nosebleed right now. Chapter 17 Maxwell I stretched once we got back to the settlement. Everyone had settled down to start supper. The communal mealtime made the citizens seem closer to one another. Spotting the tents, I remembered that I had plenty of wood to spend on a few houses. Pulling up the notes that Rowena and I made, I started to head to where we were going to place our first residential district. Or at least that was the plan. My nose sent a message to my stomach, and they decided without me that it was time to eat as my stomach gave a massive growl. I chuckled to myself and turned around to head to the supper area. I hadn¡¯t eaten anything since breakfast. I would need to take care not to overdo it. ¡°Care to pour a bowl for me?¡± I asked the maiden that was serving the meat soup to the rest of the citizens. She gave me a gentle smile before handing me a bowl. It smelt amazing. I ate while walking around chatting with the people. Every was tired but seemed to agree that working hard now was necessary for their safety. Most of them were just glad to still be alive after the goblin raid on their previous village. The four new members of our little community were¡­ sort of fitting in. I guess it was to be expected but the people didn¡¯t take to them instantly. I would need to create a procedure to integrate new arrivals into the community. Otherwise, it might get to the point where new people will be ostracized to the lowest levels of the community as soon as they arrived. While making my round, I spotted Levada. I hadn¡¯t really spoken to him since last night. That thought made me realize that only a day had gone by since I started the game. I normally wouldn¡¯t think anything about that level of play time, but when I thought about how I was here permanently. It was quite the surreal thought. I tossed away the idle thoughts and moved over to the elder. ¡°Levada. How are you?¡± ¡°My liege. It has been quite the busy day,¡± he replied rubbing his arms. I guess he¡¯d been out gathering resources like the others. I should find a job or placement that allowed him a bit more relaxation. ¡°Sorry for working you so hard. We just need to get established as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Think nothing of it, my liege. I saw you cutting down trees with your magic. The least I can do is help carry some stone.¡± I patted him on the shoulder. ¡°I really appreciate it.¡± I left Levada to finish his meal and made for the future residential area. The new wall contained all the territory that I was able to claim. Going out from my manor, I laid out a path that led from the base of the mountain. Since I was able to plan roughly five kilometers worth of area, I had a decent amount of land to work with. Rowena and I had already planned for the first couple stages of the city that we hoped to build here over the coming months. The path could be queued without committing the resources. Since my construction appeared to burn any resources in their way away. It was glad to see that. Finally, I made it to where we were downing trees today. Since we had planned for the future of the city, we had the workers focus on their area. We got a lot more cleared then planned thanks to yours truly. Opening the City management menu, I selected the Group housing building. They housed five people. Since they cost twenty lumber units, they were cheap for me but expensive had I not been able to cheat with my Spatial Tear spell. If my cutting method hadn¡¯t worked, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to build enough in one go. I went ahead and placed ten for the future members of the community. We could do individual houses later on down the road. The resources vanished then one by one the houses constructed themselves in front of me. It wasn¡¯t all at once since my mana had to recover after two of them. The process of the lumber forming into what looked like a log cabin was quite enjoyable to watch. The lines of energy climbed their way over the logs much like the stone and iron from the other constructions I¡¯d done so far. While my mana recharged, I walked into one of the completed cabins. It was quite big by my standards. I felt it was around twenty or thirty meters squared. There were five separate rooms with one communal room. Checking the rooms, I found they were just large enough for a bed and a chest at the foot of the bed. I narrowed my eyes when I realized that there was no bathroom. I opened the construction menu and sure enough that facility existed as a separate building. I figured that it was a product of the era this world was based in. Even magic couldn¡¯t solve everything. Scratch that. There was a magic facility for bathing and all the things that go with relieving yourself. It was even pretty affordable, it just cost a mana stone in addition of the resources. Thankfully, I could upgrade the normal ones into the magic version. Since I was sure health was important, I went ahead and scheduled two of them. One for women and one for men. They required metal and stone and exhausted the rest of those two that we gathered today. Since I didn¡¯t have to hang around for the buildings to construct, I made my way back to the manor. IT thankfully, had a bathroom. Likely because it was for the lord of the village. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The loud flapping of wings as a shadow covered me signaled Greavefeather¡¯s approach. The giant bird landed on top of the manor and hid his head under a wing. I guess the giant bird was going to be sleeping up there tonight. ¡°Sorry. There was nowhere else that could support his weight.¡± I turned to find Rowena approaching from the tented area. ¡°We snapped like three trees trying.¡± I shrugged, not really worried about it. ¡°I don¡¯t have a problem with him. I just hope that he doesn¡¯t fall through the roof.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. They started taking down tents when I left the area. I guess they were automatically informed about the housing.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good. I was about to head over there after taking a small break. Saves me the trouble.¡± We went into the manor where I settled one of the chairs around the map table. Today had been long and tiring. I was ready just to take a load off and sleep. Before completely going into vegie mode, I assigned three of the guards to patrol the wall. It was the bare minimum, but at least if we were attacked, they would be able to warn us. ¡°What¡¯s the plan for tomorrow?¡± Rowena asked taking a seat opposite me. ¡°Probably much the same. Scout the area, level up, build some buildings. I want to get the barracks up.¡± ¡°Yeah. Eight guards are enough for now, but the more people that come to the village, the more we¡¯ll need to cover everything.¡± ¡°Yeah. I think I¡¯m going to enlist at least one person from each group of arrivals into the militia.¡± It might cause some happiness to go down, but I couldn¡¯t afford to slack on this issue. The goblins and who knows what else was out there, could overrun us at any minute. ¡°You¡¯re the boss.¡± I laughed and nodded. She was my best friend. If she had raised any complaints, I would have listened. Since she didn¡¯t, she agreed with my decision. Checking our stores, we were down to two hundred units of lumber, and empty of everything else. We could increase our stone and iron generation with a quarry and mine, but they required both materials and a few other. I was curious since it stated that there was a steady output whether people were assigned or not. Sadly, both required mana stones. ¡°You¡¯re the expert. Where can we get mana stones?¡± Rowena tapped her chin in thought. ¡°Monsters have a chance. The more magical they are, the greater the chance. Dungeons are usually a good place for them to drop. Trade.¡± ¡°Each harder than the last,¡± I commented, leaning back in my chair to stare at the ceiling. ¡°Pip has actually spotted a few magical monsters. They are just a bit¡­ tough with just the two of us.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°The monsters have magical abilities. Without a healer, we might find ourselves dead before we even get near the thing. One or two is one thing, but these are traveling in herds.¡± ¡°What are they?¡± ¡°Kergs. Beasts that are similar to wolves just a whole lot meaner and a whole lot tougher.¡± ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s focus on getting to level ten before we aim for mana stones. A bit more hunting should put me in that zone.¡± Rowena nodded with an exhausted sigh. ¡°I finally hit level eleven today. I thought it would never happen.¡± ¡°Are the monsters too low level?¡± ¡°Not quite. I think because you established your village here, the distribution of monster levels changed. Otherwise, this close to the mountain, I have no doubt that the monsters should be much higher level.¡± She rubbed her head, yawning. She did look tired. ¡°But my main problem is that I¡¯m leveling for three right now.¡± ¡°Three?¡± I asked then realized she meant her birds. I pointed to the roof and she nodded. ¡°Yep. I have to level them as well. There is already a cliff at ten. Mine is that much steeper. Thankfully, it does have its benefits. Such as, my beasts are plenty worth the cost.¡± ¡°As long as you¡¯re good with it. I don¡¯t think changing class is possible.¡± We were now for all intents and purposes a living part of this world. Unlike before where if you made a bad choice, you could recreate your character. Now, whatever choices you make stick with you for life. ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll be fine. Just make sure you remember when you blaze past me.¡± Rowena yawned again and excused herself. I waved goodnight to her and decided to turn in myself. With a yawn, I laid down on the mat and decided to pull up my status to review it before heading to sleep. Rowena said that I should get a new spell at five, but I hadn¡¯t seen any notifications yet. I was a bit too busy to inspect the menu closer during the day. -- Name: Maxwell Orfen Level: 7 Race: Dark Elf Class: Lord Specialization: Void Lord Total Mana: 520/520 Abilities: Dark Sight Elemental Magic ¨C Dark, Earth, Fire Void Magic Basic Sneak City Management Learn Spell: 1 -- I spotted the option at the bottom. Hovering my finger over it, a list of spells came to mind. -- Void Discourse Void Manifestation Void Barrier Void Compression Mimic Banish -- The list was rather long. The void magic was first, but there were options for my other elements as well. I didn¡¯t get any hints when I hovered over the spells. I could imagine a few based on the wording, but that still left a lot up to chance. The main thing that, while it wasn¡¯t completely, was the fact there were almost no attack spells in the void discipline. Contemplating what to do, I immediately eliminated the elemental spells. I knew that once my territory grew enough, I would be able to trade for spell books containing those spells. The void however, that would be harder to acquire in the traditional way just given the flavor text I¡¯d seen so far. I sucked in a deep breath then quickly spent the point on the first option. Void Discourse ¨C You can now speak the language of the void. For most creatures, this will induce short term madness. Allows for the creation of void contracts with Ethereal creatures. Requires mana. Exciting! I basically got a confusion spell that doubled as a language skill for the void creatures. That was awesome. I closed the menu and decided to test it tomorrow. I made a mental note to make sure Rowena fashioned something to use as earplugs. I couldn¡¯t have her going insane on me while hunting. Chapter 18 Aurora I bit my thumbnail as I watched Roland. I had¡­ suggested that he do a bit of practicing. A small, okay, not so small, part of me want to see his amazing body move. If there was one complaint that I had it was that he didn¡¯t sweat. There was nothing like watch the slick skin of a man working out. My enjoyment was cut short as I felt the dungeon shake slightly. I sighed as I pulled my eyes from his wonderful form. ¡°It sounds like the goblins are back,¡± I said with only a small whine. It was sooner than I expected. It had only been a few hours. Other than Roland, I¡¯d only added two new vampires to the dungeon from the spawner. I climbed to my feet. Rushing over to Roland, I grabbed his onto his arm making sure to press my chest against his forearm. It might be a bit forward of me, but I didn¡¯t care at the moment. Roland was just about the best thing to happen since this whole situation started. ¡°My Queen?¡± Roland asked with a crocked grin. ¡°Escort me, my knight,¡± I ordered. He bowed his head before we made our way down the passage toward the entrance. The sound of fighting reached as we got closer to the room. It was far more intense than the last fight since I hadn¡¯t used Prism to pull the light from the room. The goblins were much more savage when they could see their enemy. My vampires didn¡¯t let that stop them. Even without proper weapons, they were managing to tear the throats from the goblins that got too close to them. Their claws were about even with the weapons the goblins sported. The vampires just lacked the defense. ¡°Time to prove my worth,¡± Roland said as he gently freed himself. He rushed forward and grabbed a sword on the ground before flinging it. The blade sailed true impaling a goblin through the skull. I didn¡¯t want to just sit on my hands. Focusing on the center of the twenty-plus sized goblin force, I used Death Absorption to transfer lifeforce from the goblins to the injured vampires. My boys were able to take much more than that of a normal creature, but even they had limits. It was my duty to save them when if I could. Roland continued striding forward seemingly without a care in the world. He picked up another downed sword and the next moment he was at the frontline of the skirmish. He came in behind a vampire that was struggling with three goblins. With a swift movement that I felt was unreal, he flowed around the vampire and pierced the sword into the head one of the engaged goblins. When he pulled it free, the blade had been twisted by the force he¡¯d used. The two remaining goblins backed away from Roland with their weapons at the ready. He towered over the green humanoids by close to a meter. One of the goblins swung at him, but Roland simply reached out and caught the creature¡¯s arm. The goblin stared up at him as Roland slowly broke his arm by tightening his grip. The other goblin obviously wasn¡¯t going to stand around and do nothing, but when he attempted to retaliate, Roland used the twisted piece of junk sword still in his hand to deflect the oncoming strikes. He made it all look so¡­ easy. I decided that I definitely made a good choice summoning a Greater Vampire so soon. Even if my mana technically couldn¡¯t handle the process. ¡°Stop playing around, Roland! We have other things to attend to,¡± I called since I could tell that was exactly what he was doing. It was like a switch was flipped. Roland suddenly moved in a blur and the two goblins he was fighting lost their heads. I saw that his hand was now free of the sword and covered in blood from his dagger-like nails down to his wrist. With Roland and my siphoning off the goblins¡¯ lifeforce into my vampires, we soon retook the initiative. Roland made easy work of the remaining goblins with my other vampires rounding on the now outnumbered goblins. Since I didn¡¯t spot a captain from the start until now, I had a feeling this was another feeler to attempt the dungeon so soon after their last attack. Once all the goblins were dead, Roland walked back over while licking his hand. I never thought that would turn me on, but I was certainly turned on watching the man. I had to look away to clear my head. I really had created a monster. ¡°I hope I have performed to expectations,¡± Roland said with confidence rolling off him. I could only nod, words escaping me. Taking a deep breath, I looked back to the battlefield while being careful not to look at Roland. I felt odd. Not because of Roland. While that certainly was throwing me for a loop, I felt odd about the fact that I felt nearly nothing about all the constant death that had been happening around me. I mean there were even times where I enjoyed it. It made me wonder if I was always that messed up as a person. We had lost another three vampires, but thanks to Roland¡¯s intervention that number wasn¡¯t higher. The ones that survived had already started picking up the bodies and moving them over to the absorption point. There they went through their gear to see if there was anything of value. I could pull up the Creation list, but it was already longer than I cared for. Knowing what to look for made it easier on me. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. It looked like we were firmly in the crosshairs of the goblins. I didn¡¯t mind since it meant experience for me and my dungeon. I just had buff up the place before the next attack. I waited until all the bodies had been removed and the dungeon absorbed the rest of the mess such as blood and guts that had been split. It was strange to me what qualified for the automatic absorption and what had to be manually removed. I had sealed the natural cave up with a wall and door, but it was about five meters worth of space to block. My aura had expanded recently, so I decided to explore to find out if there was a better choke point. Calling for Roland and a few of my vampires, we set out into the caves. The single tunnel continued for a while before we reached a fork. I was being careful not to bash my face in again as we walked so, we moved slowly. Heading down the left path, there wasn¡¯t too much of interest. Just empty tunnels that seemed to go on forever. We had traveled close to a hundred meters before I reached my limit. That expansion was nearly three times as much as the last one. I felt the barrier with my hand and called for a stop. The tunnel here was much smaller. It would be easier to seal it. Forming a three-meter-thick wall, I sealed the passage. I would worry about a door later. I backed away from the wall and thought that it needed something in case the goblins simply smashed it down. Pointing at the ground, I created a pit fall that went as deep as my magic would allow. I didn¡¯t have an accurate height, but I felt it was at least twenty meters deep. I went ahead and added spikes and an absorption point at the bottom. That way it would keep them from filling it up as well as keeping it free of bodies. We turned back and made for the other path. I thought this path was going to be the same until we reached the end. Just on the other side of my aura there was a patch of red crystals seemingly growing from every surface. ¡°Do you know what that is?¡± I asked Roland. ¡°I am sorry. I do not possess this knowledge,¡± Roland replied actually looking depressed by that fact. I wasn¡¯t going to be upset, but even if I had been, I doubt I would have been able to resist that face. I cleared my throat and shook my head. ¡°Its fine.¡± I sent a mental message to Losa. He was my fount of knowledge. I¡¯d rather keep him in the main dungeon, but this was too important to let sit. The imp came soon after the call. We were only about two hundred meters from the pseudo entrance. Not exactly a far distance. ¡°You called me, master?¡± ¡°Yep. Can you tell me what that is?¡± I asked pointing at the crystal outcropping. ¡°A place of power!¡± Losa looked up at me. ¡°You are incredibly lucky.¡± I didn¡¯t know about that. In fact, all evidence pointed to the contrary, but I wasn¡¯t going to say that. ¡°A place of power, so¡­ if I extend my aura over it, my mana gain will go up?¡± ¡°Not necessarily. It depends on the boon offered by the location. From the looks of it, the site is growing. Crimson Crystals. They are used in enchanting, metallurgy, as well as a few of the other crafting disciplines. They are a level two magic material.¡± He paused straining to look at the crystals. ¡°Without overtaking it, there is no real way to tell what sort of boon we¡¯ll get.¡± I sighed, placing my hand against the edge of my aura. I couldn¡¯t go outside it, but my monsters could. I might not be able to get the boon, but I could certainly get the resource. ¡°Roland. Scout out the area. I want this place secured.¡± ¡°As you wish, my queen.¡± He bent at the waist in a bow before he turned with headed out of the aura with two of the vampires with us. Nodding with a pleased smile, I turned back to the section of the tunnel that was in my aura. I debated what to do since I didn¡¯t want this part to be completely sealed off. I had to make it so that my monsters wouldn¡¯t be slaughtered if they were taken unaware. First off was to replace the walls and floor with the demon brick. The status affect it caused was worth the mana sink. I was concentrated then commanded the walls to change. Much to my surprise, most of the wall for roughly ten meters changed in one go. That was much further than before. It was a nice notion that my reach would expand as I leveled up. After I changed the tunnel to demon brick, I thought about what sort of traps to employ. I thought that simple would be best. They would be easier to maintain for one. Less suspicious for two. While I was debating what to do, I was flipping my mana stone in the air. I enjoyed the stress relief that it proved, minimal it might be. Glancing at the mana stone, I had a thought. Magic required mana. Perhaps if I tied in a mana stone, I could create a trap with the magic spells I knew. No better way then to find out through implementation. I placed the mana stone in my hand on the ceiling, easy enough when you had wings. I concentrated on my Prism spell. To my enjoyment, the spell snapped to the crystal instantly. I was even prompted to add details to the trap. I set it to activate when any foreign entity was within thirty meters of the trap. Much like my spawners, it would pull mana from the air to recharge. While that gave invaders a chance to overwhelm the spot, I wasn¡¯t too worried. If a force big enough to brute force their way deeper into the dungeon arrived, then the frontlines would naturally fall back to more defendable areas. New Skill: Trap Laying ¨C Using your materials and abilities, you have successfully created four traps. New traps unlocked. Well¡­ that was a nice bonus. I opened the new skill which was on both my character sheet and the dungeon menu. Two separate skills that appeared to operate the same. Ignoring that for now, I found all the traps I had made so far as I went through it. The pit fall, the absorption point, the spike trap, and the Prism trap. I was curious why the one trap I had created in the other tunnel was being counted as three different traps, but I wasn¡¯t about to complain to anyone. Rubbing my hands together, I got to work creating traps using all my magic spells. This dungeon was going to be feared. What other option did people have when all my spells were death related. I chuckled as I pictured the mayhem caused later on. Chapter 19 Maxwell Fortune smiled on my village during the night. I had feared with the creation of the wall, we would alert something hostile to our presence. When I woke in the morning, no alarm had been raised and everyone got a decent night¡¯s sleep in the new cabins. That was all the report I needed as I teleported up to the Immigration Gate. Munching on some cold jerky, I waited for the timer to end. With the Gate activating every twelve hours, I was able to divvy up my day easily enough. For the first half, I planned to gather resources. Which mainly implied that I would be cutting down trees with Spatial Tear. I also wanted to check out the mining and quarry nodes. If I could speed that up even a little, it would help out greatly. ¡°Could really use a mana stone,¡± I mumbled tearing a piece from the jerky. I knew that jerky was the most common travel food in this world. Rowena had several inventory slots worth since it was so cheap in the city. Still, I wanted something with a bit more taste. The meat soup that the village served every meal right now was good, but again after four meals of it, I had wanted a change hence the jerky. In this case, I decided I would have preferred the soup. A lot of the buildings that I wanted to construct required mana stones. I had a feeling that was due to the nature of Magic-Works. One of the cons, as it were. I had discussed it with Rowena this morning, but like she said yesterday, she wasn¡¯t too familiar with the lord and village building mechanics of the game. The Gate started to activate as I took my last bite of the jerky. I stood up from the boulder I was sitting on and walked over to welcome the newest members of our community. There were only three portals this time. Two women and a man. When I asked their stories, they were much the same as the last group. Mainly consisting of wanting to leave their current location or lot in life. Either way, I welcomed them before teleporting us down to the plaza as I was starting to consider it. I directed them to get some food and help out where they could. ¡°Welcome back,¡± Rowena called as I watched the group leave. ¡°Thanks. Only three this time. The Gate appears random.¡± ¡°What can you do?¡± she replied with a shrug. ¡°Just be glad we are getting new members at all. Twenty-five would have made this whole operation nearly impossible.¡± I chuckled and nodded in agreement. ¡°I¡¯m going to head over and start cutting trees down. Are you going to commune?¡± ¡°Yes. I can sense when a place will work. Luckily, there are a few inside the wall, so I don¡¯t have to be quite on edge today.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget about him,¡± I remarked pointing to the giant blue bird that was casting a shadow over us. Greavefeathers was seemingly enjoying his freedom from the cave. ¡°Yeah. He will make things so much easier for me.¡± She left waving as she did so. I turned toward the area where we were cutting trees down yesterday. The workers were standing by with their tools. Looking closely at the items, I saw they were quite beaten up. A few more days and they would be nothing more than trash. The blacksmith was moved to the top of my priority list. Sadly, it also required a mana stone. I nodded to the workers before beginning my work. Soon, the sound of trees falling continuous echoed through the area. I had a lot more mana to play with even after the two teleports this morning. In no time, there were nearly a hundred trees downed and ready to be processed. ¡°I¡¯ll be heading to the iron nodes. Try not to overdo it with the tools,¡± I ordered the workers and they saluted. I moved off back toward the village than along the mountain face. A few minutes later brought me to an open pit area. The greyish white stone that was acquired for the village made up the walls. The ten workers were hammering away at the wall to carve out a chunk that then had to be transported up the incline. Every aspect of the work was back breaking. Watching the unofficial quarry at work, I tried to figure out how I might help. Players could place the blocks in their inventory, but that was only after it had been removed from the quarry. Since the quarry was in my territory, the blocks didn¡¯t have to be moved from there in the first place. Meaning that fact was useless. My Spatial Tear spell might be able to speed up the process of cutting the blocks from the wall much like the trees. As I didn¡¯t know the first thing about actually quarrying stone from the earth, I had to assume some game logic went into the ability for the workers to just cut the sides to then be able to harvest the stone. Looking up from the quarry, the iron mine was literally right next to the pit. It was a stretch to call it a cave, but a small indent on the mountain was playing host to several workers. Outcroppings of grey stone were being worked over with pickaxes. The dropped ore was then collected in sacks. I looked between the two jobs then pulled up my construction menu. Everything that I could build required just about even stone and metal. The deciding factor for me finally came down to the tools. My people¡¯s gear was slowly but surely degrading. When Rowena and I went hunting later today, I planned to hit up the Gergs. If we netted even one magic stone, it would be going toward a smithy. With my decision made, I walked over to the indent. When I reached it, a ntoificaiton snapped into my view that declared this a mineral rich location and would be ideal for a mine. Iron might just be the surface mineral. If we got a mine going and upgraded it enough, other metals might be found deeper in. I swiped it away and took a closer look. There were at least twenty outcroppings of the grey-ore just on the surface. I motioned for the workers to clear a few then aimed carefully. I didn¡¯t want a repeat of the tree. There was a good chance the ore deposit might explode or something. When everyone was clear, I used my spell and the tear ripped through the ore. The material did go everywhere, but not as violently as I feared. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. I checked the deposit but failed to get any sort of reading on it. ¡°Does anyone have the ability to see how much is left?¡± I asked the workers. ¡°I do, my liege,¡± A young man, well young for a dark elf, stepped forward. He made his way to the ore deposit and almost seemed to glare at it. Maybe he was near-sighted. ¡°There is ninety-seven percent left in it.¡± ¡°And about how much did I harvest?¡± He checked the site quickly. ¡°About four units worth.¡± ¡°Final question, is that good or bad?¡± I¡¯d rather not waste my mana on it if I wasn¡¯t getting results. ¡°Very good. It takes us about thirty minutes to get that many units individually.¡± ¡°Really?!¡± I mean. Trees were one thing. Once you felled them, they gave a set number of units after processing. But to be able to get so many units with one spell. That really felt like cheating to me. ¡°If we had a mine, this amount would be just a drop in the ocean,¡± the elf said shaking his head. That was when I had a horrible feeling. I quickly opened up the construction menu. The buildings had levels but it only showed me the level one construction fee. I moved over to the wall and manor that I had constructed. Manor Level 2 ¨C 200 Wood, 400 Stone, 750 Metal, 4,250 Mana, 4 Mana Stones Wall Level 2 ¨C 50 Wood, 500 Stone, 1,000 Metal, 7,500 Mana, 10 Mana Stones I sucked in a deep breath realizing just how expensive it was going to get. Resource production was going to be a very important investment going forward. I really needed to find a sustainable way to get mana stones. Perhaps there was a way to create them. Alchemy perhaps? Since the thoughts weren¡¯t helping me at the moment, I cleared them away and focused on the iron outcropping. We needed every drop of resource we could, I pointed at the ore and started blasting it with my Spatial Tear. I had four hours devoted to resource gathering. After that, it was leveling and hunting. More importantly, it was mana stone hunting. ~~ Rowena came to find me when it was time to head out. In the four hours, during which I spent some time in the quarry as well, I managed to gather, with the help of the workers, just about seven hundred units each. Couple with the nearly thousand units of wood, I would have thought the day was going excellent had I not checked the next level values. Either way, it was time to head into the forest for a bit of hunting. First, however, we stopped by the village and grabbed a bite to eat. After having jerky for breakfast, I was not inclined to enjoy it for lunch as well. While I drank my soup, I checked what food options there were. There were a few options that needed a few other buildings to operate correctly. The restaurant, for example, worked best if there was at least one processing building in the village such as a butchery or bakery. For now though, I settled on and constructed a Kitchen. It brought to mind a soup kitchen from Earth, but it suited our needs and followed out current eating habits. Plus, they could take what few food resources we had and start experimenting to unlock dishes. I assigned a Miss Freida Orfen to the cook job. She had already gained the skills while cooking for the settlement this entire time. ¡°You ready?¡± Rowena asked after we returned our cutlery to the basin where all the dirty dishes were being gathered. ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s get some mana stones,¡± I exclaimed punching my palm in excitement. ¡°Don¡¯t get those hopes too high. These monsters have a chance to drop them, but that doesn¡¯t mean they will.¡± I waved her off. ¡°I¡¯d rather have high hopes then go in expecting nothing.¡± She chuckled before she turned and led the way. This would be the furthest from the village we¡¯d ever gone. After today, when we went hunting, I planned to teleport us to a starting point to save some time. Even just five kilometers of forest was time consuming to cross. The further out we ranged, the longer it would take to travel. Rowena held up her hand and motioned for me to crouch as she did so herself. ¡°There,¡± she whispered pointing through the trees. We were still a good distance from the pack, but I could understand her caution. These beasts had obvious guards posted around what appeared to be several deer carcasses. A few of them ate at a time and even with the blood in the air, they didn¡¯t frenzy. ¡°This is going to be challenging,¡± I commented but inside I was actually excited. This hunt would elevate my village further. I just knew it. That meant I had to succeed. Looking around, all the trees were old and thick. The branches were easily large enough to support a grown man¡­ elf. The only problem was how to get up there without being eaten alive. ¡°Greavefeather will handle about half the pack. We just need to deal with the other half until he¡¯s done.¡± ¡°You got some ear plugs?¡± I asked. She pulled out what looked like a jar of honey. I noticed that it was sap from a few of the trees around the village. ¡°Not going to last long or feel great, but it will do the trick.¡± I nodded then pointed to a branch above the wolves. ¡°I¡¯m going to teleport up there. If my new spell doesn¡¯t work, we¡¯ll make a break for it.¡± These wolves were in the teens. I was only sporting level seven while Rowena was eleven. It would be too dangerous to engage without a strong advantage. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll keep watch.¡± I nodded then focused on my targeted branch. Casting my spell, I was soon standing on the branch. The usual few centimeter drop happened, but I was a pro by this point. I reached out and grabbed a branch with either hand and steadied myself. My actions didn¡¯t go unnoticed though as barking and growling echoed up at me. ¡°Bad dogs!¡± I shouted down at the Gergs. It would appear they understood my language or at least that I was insulting them as they grew even more furious. I took a deep breath then used my new spell, Void Discourse. I felt something click in my head and started talking about whatever. Even though I was speaking of the weather, the wolves below began to go crazy. At first it was whimpers of pain while they rolled around in the dirt as if trying to get something off them. Then they began to attack each other. Blood, fur, and soon guts started flying all over the clearing. With a pack of twenty, the fighting looked furious and beyond violent. I decided to try my luck and used Spatial Tear while keeping Discourse going. The mana cost nearly tripled but the Tear in space that leapt from my hand was two or three times as big. It tore through three of the wolves before it lost its power. I gulped at the increase in power. Wow. Two minutes and most of my mana later, the wolf pack was mostly dead. A few of the beasts had managed to avoid death when they suffered an injury that was more or less fatal and they were thus ignored by the still strong members. Rowena walked into the bloody scene and whistled. ¡°This just looks gruesome.¡± ¡°Yeah. I didn¡¯t quite expect them to go that insane.¡± I had been thinking it would be something like a slight confusion or a deliriousness. Not full-blown murder rage. Rowena walked through the pack checking each of the injured beasts for something. ¡°This one,¡± she said finally. I walked over and saw that it was the alpha of the pack. He had lasted the longest and had only succumbed when I struck him with a triple-powered Spatial Tear. Even with that, he managed to survive. ¡°What about him?¡± I asked curiously. She didn¡¯t answer as a stream of smoke came from her hand and washed around the wolf. I recognized it as the binding magic she used with Greavefeather. She didn¡¯t even have to convince the wolf as he shifted his head and then was sucked into her hand. When the smoke vanished, she made a fist. ¡°And that¡¯s all my slots until a higher level.¡± ¡°Congratz,¡± I said giving her a high-five. We spent the next few minutes looting the monsters. I was soon giddy with excitement. The hunt had yielded three magic stones! That had only been the first encounter of the afternoon. We fought three more groups of monsters and netted a total of seven magic stones. After my mana recovered a bit, I grabbed Rowena¡¯s arm and teleported us back to the village. Chapter 20 Aurora After Roland returned from scouting, he explained that the tunnel continued for a ways before splitting off into a more forks. I sighed at the fact that it would be hard to control that outside of my aura but nodded all the same. I was going to just write it off for now, but he wanted to scout out a few of the tunnels some more. I decided that he was much more intelligent than the other vampires and would probably have an easier time of it. Waving to him, I turned and went back to the second section of the dungeon. In the area that had been part of my second level aura, I went through and carved out a massive and complex system of rooms. I also went back and sealed my main tunnel with doors and trap walls every ten meters. That way, I could still use the initial passage we carved, but invaders wouldn¡¯t necessarily know there was a passage and would go through all the new rooms. Once I was done with that, I moved back to the area around my core room. I had already started creating a ring off rooms around the room, thus I continued with that finishing the current ring and adding a second. When everything was said and done, I had twenty-seven rooms in the first section that I could eventually transform for whatever purpose was needed at the time. In the second section, I had upward to forty rooms. They would be geared more toward protection and repulsion of enemies. I thought all the work would take days, but with the increase of my power in the dungeon, I had it finished in a few hours. I was just taking a break when Roland returned. His clothes were torn, but any wounds he had suffered had already healed from the looks of it. Since he didn¡¯t appear to be in any immediate danger, I decided to enjoy the eye candy in front of me. ¡°I have returned, my queen,¡± Roland said with a bow. ¡°I can see that,¡± I mumbled then shook my head and wiped away my drool. ¡°Yes. It looks like you encountered some trouble?¡± ¡°I ran into a goblin patrol. I have learned a bit more about our adversaries as well.¡± I sat up and did my best to clear my thoughts. Not easy, but when I got it through my skull that the fate of my dungeon might rest on this information, I was able to concentrate a bit easier. ¡°Go on, I¡¯m listening,¡± I said once I had settled my mind. ¡°While scouting, I came upon a goblin scouting party led by what appeared to be a mage goblin. With some clever tactics, I¡­ separated the goblin from his party.¡± Judging by his state, he slaughtered them all. I decided on not saying anything about the cleverness of that plan. ¡°With a bit of persuasion, I was able to make him talk. As I suspected, he was much more intelligent than that few parties that had made their way to us beforehand.¡± ¡°Did you find the location of their village or town?¡± I asked excitedly. ¡°Yes. My new friend even drew me a map. I have learned that these goblins belong to the nation of Eblos. A goblin country in a forest on the surface.¡± A nation? I was expected something a little smaller scale. Was I going about this the wrong way? No. The goblins had attacked without injury. I was in my right whatever the case. The enemy was just a bit bigger now. At least I was able to play the ultimate defensive game. ¡°I understand. Did you learn anything else of interest?¡± I asked. ¡°There is another nation vying for power in the Reidgeo Forest. It consists of Orcs. We are in the Un-Resting Tips Mountain range. The goblins have a village just short of two hours from here on the surface. They are pushing into the Abyss to find higher quality materials and metals to fuel their war efforts. This is all surrounded by a human Empire.¡± ¡°Interesting. Good job learning so much from your friend. In fact, I do have a reward for you. Hez and York have completed a few steel pieces. Take your pick.¡± Roland bowed deeply. ¡°Thank you for the honor, my queen.¡± I dismissed him to go get his new toy. Personally, I wanted to keep him near me, but my mind wouldn¡¯t be able to focus with him near me. I was even getting to the point that I was considering just taking him and hoping that I get it out of my system. I just feared that I might get addicted if the game made those sensations anywhere near the real thing. The wounds on him did make me worried. If we were up against a nation, then the small groups might soon become an army. I needed to summon more monsters to grow my numbers. I got up and moved to my mana stone room. A quick count put the number at just over seventy. With all my absorbing and the constant income from my painting, I had accumulated quite a bit. Since the dungeon was level three, I was getting seventy-five mana an hour. Not bad at all. That gave me just over nine thousand mana to play with once I added my current mana to the count. I debated for a minute then decided it was best to shore up my defense. I could summon four more Greater Vampires. They would be the best addition to my forces. I hesitated to try out the Greater demon. I would wait until my vampires were a bit more numerous. Demons were historically bad at the whole loyalty thing after all. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. With no time to lose, I used the summoning spell. I still spent some time designing my new summons. I felt it would be a waste, if I summoned something that I wouldn¡¯t enjoy looking at. Shallow as that may be. A few hours later and I had four extremely handsome men standing in front of me. When Roland joined the group, I feared I wouldn¡¯t be able to walk. ¡°Carson.¡± A man with medium length black hair nodded to me. He had a prim and proper face that looked like it had never suffered or seen the light of day. He was what people might consider a cold-hearted prince. He was designed with a mage in mind. My hope was that I could learn a few spells for the elements that I had from him. ¡°Derrick.¡± A man with blond hair pounded his chest in a sort of salute. His hairstyle was short like Roland¡¯s but where Roland was flat, Derrick¡¯s was spiked. The man also had more muscle than Roland with a massive smile. He was created as someone wielding a larger weapon. A greatsword or something in that range. ¡°Frederick.¡± He was designed with an older gentleman vide. Long hair that had just a few touches of grey. He was a bit more of the lithe side of body structure, but it only made him look even more amazing. He made to be nimble as he was a rogue. ¡°Harvey.¡± He was the opposite of Roland, color-wise at least. Where Roland had red hair, he had blue. I also designed him to be much more lighthearted than Roland. He was the first of the batch and I hadn¡¯t been sure which path to go. I decided to call him Roland¡¯s twin. I thought it would be amazing if the two of them stood at the front of a battle with a shield and sword. ¡°Queen Aurora,¡± they all chanted, sending a shiver up my spine. I felt like I was about to play one of those Japanese romance games. Frankly, I didn¡¯t mind. My life was over anyways. I might as well enjoy the last two months I had before my body shivered up and died. I cleared my throat and licked my lips. They had suddenly become dry. ¡°Work with Roland to protect my dungeon. I will be summoning normal vampires to give you all some forces.¡± ¡°As you command, Queen Aurora,¡± they said one by one. Leaning back, I directed my gaze at Roland. ¡°I need to level up. Start capturing goblins for me to kill personally.¡± My dungeon and I were inseparable. Since I could protect it myself, then I would start by raising my own level. Roland and the Greaters were all level ten. I was sure that the monsters I summoned would only continue to get stronger. I needed to make sure I was worthy of their command. ¡°As you wish, my queen.¡± Roland¡¯s new steel sword shined at his waist. Glancing at the other four, they would need weapons that matched their strength sooner rather than later. There was so much to do and so little time. ~~~ The Demon Lord Rezdona the Beautiful has returned to life! As you are directly responsible, the ability Demonic Aura has been granted to you. The consequences of this event will resound around the world. Your current territory has had Demonic Corruption applied to it. The Demon Lord Rezdona the Beautiful has returned to life! Mortals! Prepare your armies! Choose your side! That¡­ was interesting. I rubbed my forehead as I read the notifications a few times. I was on my third read through when my lips spread into a smile. A few seconds later, my laughing filled the core room. Yes! Burn! Everything can burn! Just like the wreckage of my life. ¡°Something the matter, master?¡± Losa asked. His question sobered me up if only slightly. I was too weak to join the demon lord. Everything in my control needed to grow. The number of my forces, the overall level, my level, my strength of arms, and just about everything else. No matter, if I was still around in two months, I knew what my next painting would feature. I¡¯m not sure why, but I had gotten a mental image of the demon lord as well as their location once I dismissed the notification. Actually, I remembered the fact that people opposing the demon lord would be sent their location. This must be how it happened. Although I didn¡¯t oppose her, I didn¡¯t outright choose her side. That might have counted for whatever system was in place. The image I got was of a beautiful woman that would do anything for what she desired. She resembled an Egyptian queen from Earth. The location I got was far, far to the west. I wasn¡¯t even sure how long it would take someone to travel the distance provided to me. Losa was still looking at me worriedly. ¡°I am fine, my favorite imp. A demon lord has just returned to the world.¡± ¡°That is horrible!¡± Losa exclaimed. ¡°Demon lords caused untold destruction and mayhem.¡± I started laughing again causing Losa worried look to return. Ah. It appeared that Losa was going to be my conscience going forward. I slowly returned to a calm state. ¡°My apologizes.¡± I placed a hand on my chest as I puffed it up. ¡°I was the one that caused her return.¡± Watching his face, I saw it go through a range of emotions. It was even to the point that I was impressed that he was an NPC. Finally, he sighed and dropped his head. ¡°That is¡­¡± He let the sentence hang. He was speechless. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my imp. Dear Losa. If there is one thing I can say, it is that no matter what, I will protect what is mine. Even from a demon lord.¡± I thought about the man in the center of my painting and the gods surrounding him. ¡°Or even gods and devils.¡± He nodded slowly. I asked him to go make a round of the dungeon to make sure everyone was working hard. He probably knew it was just an excuse for him to go clear his head. I watched his small form walk off feeling a bit bad about the situation. But what was done could not be undone. There was another thing I was now confident in. There were no game masters. An event like this should have sent off more than a few worldwide messages. I was certain the last time something like this had happened, which if I recalled correctly was a war between two nations. The game masters had gone to the responsible party to speak with them on the news. Shit like this was very popular after all. I might not have been playing the game, but even I had listened to podcasts from a few games that I played over the years while I worked. I lounged back in my chair. What did this mean then? Had I been sucked into an alternative world that resembled the game? Losa had been amazingly lifelike just now, but the Ai had been remarkably advanced before. I was just playing the game and might never really have noticed before now. Was it something else entirely? The game systems were still in place. Only the log out option didn¡¯t work. If I was in another world, surely that option would be gone completely. The only way to know for sure would be to find someone that had answers. Someone that may not even exist for hundreds of kilometers around me. Chapter 21 Maxwell The Demon Lord Rezdona the Beautiful has returned to life! Mortals! Prepare your armies! Choose your side! I shot up in my bed, breathing heavily. The notification blinked hauntingly in my vision. A crash came from the other room before Rowena burst into my room wearing just about nothing. She only had on her underwear and they weren¡¯t exactly covering. ¡°Wow! Put something on!¡± I shouted quickly covering my eyes. I heard the door quickly shut before some more banging went up from her room. I did the same and got dressed before going out into the common room. ¡°What sort of idiot revives a demon lord!?¡± Rowena exclaimed as she burst from her room wearing proper clothes this time. ¡°I¡¯m going to need some background information.¡± This game was based in a fantasy world, so I more or less expected something like this existed. If it was worthy of a world wide post, then I the demon lords must be extremely dangerous. ¡°I don¡¯t know much myself. The demon lords were more of a footnote on the few places I looked up before I started playing myself. They were basically the opposite of the gods. Ultra powerful. That sort of thing.¡± ¡°So¡­ should we be expecting the end of the world or what?¡± She shook her head with a frown. ¡°I really don¡¯t know.¡± I sighed and leaned back in my seat. ¡°At least we were able to tell where the demon lord revived. It was far to the west. I think it was even on another continent.¡± ¡°Yeah. I had the same thought. We should have plenty of time to prepare for anything that might come our way.¡± The fact that we were even worried about this almost made me want to laugh. I knew this game attested to realism. Even national borders could be changed with enough work. Finally, I shrugged. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll just have to keep going as we have.¡± Rowena yawned and nodded in agreement. ¡°I¡¯m going back to sleep.¡± I waved after her. It was still early in the morning or late in the night. I was tempted to do the same. I rubbed the sleepiness from my face then pulled up my menus. I might as well as do some work since I was already awake. With the seven mana stones that we acquired yesterday, I had been able to build a few more of the specialized buildings before we retired for the night. The quarry and mine had already paid off. During the day, we¡¯d gathered nearly a thousand units of each after you took in what I contributed. With the two buildings, we¡¯d gathered that in just the ten hours that had passed since supper. I hesitated on what to spend some of the resources on but when I checked the clock saw that I only had three hours to decided. With the implication that the demon lord had revived, manpower was going to be needed even more. We had a need to start forming a military to defend our territory. With a click, the Immigration Gate was upgraded to level two. Just as a matter of interest, I checked the cost to go to level three. I nearly choked it was so expensive. Wood: 5,000 Stone: 7,500 Iron: 10,000 Mana Stone:100 Vix Crystal: 100. I slowly closed the screen since I was god knows how long away from upgrading it again. I pulled up my territory map. I had been placing buildings where they were needed, but I hadn¡¯t placed any roads yet. There were dozens of options to choose from starting with game trails going up all the way to some sort of magic based road. It was locked and greyed out. That didn¡¯t stop the system from showing my how expensive the option was. It made the few buildings I¡¯d built so far seem like drops in the ocean. Still, the village needed roads. They increased the speed of anyone on them. It also allowed for cheaper movement of resources down in the future. We might be isolated for now, but I planned to have trade in the future. I settled on the stone paths and after checking my resource pile, I started laying out the city I hoped to achieve in the future. Working on my designs for the planned city caused the time to fly by. It felt like a blink of an eye when I noticed the sun coming up through the windows. I closed all the screens and stood up. It was a little early, but the cook might have something I could snack on. I wasn¡¯t disappointed when I reached the kitchen. Cooking meat and soup filled the air making my mouth water. Freida bowed slightly when she noticed me before returning to her work. Even before I had reached the counter, she had already set out a bowl with what appeared to be bacon and soup. I thanked her and consumed the meal quickly. I was starving after staying up all night. ¡°As delicious as always,¡± I said handing Freida back the wooden cutlery. ¡°Thank you, my liege.¡± I wanted to ask how life in the village was so far, but I didn¡¯t get the chance as more people started showing up. She was too busy for me to bother her, so I waved goodbye and teleported up to the Immigration Gate. Walking into the cave, I had to pause in my steps. The Gate had been impressive before, but now it was even more so. The cave had been carved out by some sort of magic to allow the structure space to expand. The four obelisks were now six. With the magic circle covering several meters. I had a few minutes before the next group was supposed to arrive, so I walked up onto the platform and looked the intricate magic circle over. At first, I was just curious. I figured it had to be advanced magic, but as I was studying it, I realized that I had seen many of the symbols before. In fact, I had seen them just a few minutes ago. I created the teleportation spell without a destination. The magic formed around my hand. Looking between the two magic circles, I was certain that the Immigration Gate used a higher-level teleportation spell. That fact was obvious if you thought about it, but at the same time not so much. I was operating that it was simply a game device to allow people to join my community. That I could actually learn from the Gate had never crossed my mind. I canceled the teleportation spell then pulled it back up using the unfamiliar parts of the Gate spell. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. The magic construct wrapped around my hand then further up my arm until it reminded me of a sleeve. I was about to give it a destination when there was a moment of complete silence. The Immigration Gate activated and before I could cancel my spell, I felt the full-body pressure of teleportation as the cave vanished. My senses returned to me as purple, and blue filled my vision. I was¡­ floating in a space that appeared to be devoid of anything other than those two colors. The best I could liken it to, was being in the middle of a nebula. For now, it looked like I could survive here. At least, I was able to breath. I recreated the teleport spell, but I found that my mana was zeroed out. I had two points to my name. Since I had been near full a second ago, that meant the spell had cost every ounce of power I had to my name. At least the energy was returning to me even in this strange place. ¡°Now then. The first thing that comes to mind is the void,¡± I remarked as I spun around looking for something, anything to focus on. ¡°Help.¡± I spun around as I thought I heard something. Several long moments went by, and I didn¡¯t find anything new in the void. ¡°Help.¡± I jerked toward the sound that was like a whisper in the wind. I couldn¡¯t be sure, but I began to float in the direction I thought it came from. Checking my mana pool often, I saw that it was moving at a snail¡¯s pace. Much slower than it normally would fill, I was certain of that. The repeated call for help grew stronger as I made my way through the strange place. I didn¡¯t even bother to question how I was able to move and just went with it. Some time later, it could have been minutes or hours, I finally found something different. A small island from the looks of it, floated in the void directly in front of me. I was certain the calls for help were coming from it. It looked like a reserve pyramid. Or maybe, I was just approaching the bottom. The structure had black roots covering a large portion of its surface. Whatever the structure was, it looked old. Ancient even. I paused in my approach. Now while I was all for an adventure, this was the void. I didn¡¯t know too much about it but given the context that I have seen so far, there was a good chance whatever was on the island might try to kill me. What would happen to me if I died in here was a question I¡¯d rather not have answered today. I scratched the back of my head as I racked my brains. The calls for help convinced me to at least check it out. I resumed my approach and soon landed on the island. Since I didn¡¯t fall off, the flat side must be the top. I looked around but there was really nothing to see. It was just a flat smooth stone surface that had the black roots covering it. Heaving a deep breath, I strode toward the center, I could see an indent that might be some stairs leading into the structure. Standing at the top of the stairs, I stared into the black abyss in front of me. I half expected some sort of eldritch monster to attack me, but it was eerily quiet. Biting my lip, I descended into the darkness. I held out my hand and summoned a small flame over my palm for light, relieved that my magic did work here. The stairs went straight down. There were no other passages or rooms. They let out into a large cavernous room that almost appeared to be a temple. Defaced sigils were all over the walls near me. I would be lying if I said my heart wasn¡¯t beating faster than it even had to this point. Gulping, I continued into the room. My tiny flame barely casting enough light to illuminate two meters in front of my face. As I made my way through the room, another light caught my attention. I froze at first, but when I saw it wasn¡¯t moving, I decided I was still alone. I crept toward the light slower than I cared to admit. When I was finally close enough to the light, I was both amazed and taken aback by what I found. A woman, though it was easy to tell she was anything but mortal, was strung up by black chains. It would be one thing if they were just attached to her via her wrists and ankles like one was normally held in a prison. No, whoever did this had stabbed the chains through one of her eyes, her heart, and her stomach. Then there were chains and hooks that pierced her palms and feet. Above her head was what appeared to be a halo. It had been shattered into several pieces that rotated lazily. Despite all that, she was still alive. Her slowly rising and falling chest indicated as much at least. I moved closer in awe of the spectacle. Despite the gruesome things done to her, there was a majesty, an undefeated pride that was contained in her features. She was beautiful as well. White hair that seemed like moonlight was holding her. Pale blue skin that reminded me of the ocean at night. Her one eye was such a deep blue that I thought I would be sucked into it. She had focused on me as soon as I had entered the area of the light but had yet to say anything. Perhaps she couldn¡¯t. ¡°Are you the one asking for help?¡± her eye briefly closed then reopened. The movement caused her other eye to ooze fresh blood with was purple. I looked the chains over. Something told me there was no way in hell that I could break those. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how I can be of assistance.¡± She closed her eye again only this time I could tell it was in resignation. Even still, her body was resolute in that she wouldn¡¯t give into defeat. I stared at her really wishing I could help her. Even if she was another demon lord, this just felt¡­ cruel. While I contemplated, my mana finally recovered. I thought about leaving and then returning when I was stronger, but there was no way to know if my arrival in this plane could be reproduced. The void seemingly enjoyed chaos from what I could tell so far. The thought of teleporting gave me an idea. While I was certain normal teleportation was likely to fail, I had copied the teleportation spell from the Immigration Gate. That thing appeared to ignore all sorts of rules and limitations. I walked up to the bound woman before I wrapped my arms as carefully as I could around her body. Not surprising, her eye shot open but see was bound so tightly that she couldn¡¯t move a centimeter. Concentrating, I began the teleportation spell and pictured the ledge I liked to use as my lookout. The entire structure around us started to shake as it didn¡¯t want to let the woman go. I ignored that and continued to work the spell. The full body pressure once again wrapped around me before the collapsing temple vanished. This teleportation was much more violent than any I had experience so far. The morning light slammed into me as we reappeared near the top of the mountain. The woman still in my arms. My location was a bit off and we fell to the ground as pre usually. Thankfully, I was ready for it and managed to catch us before we fell over or worse off the ledge. I carefully lowered the woman to the ground. Her now free wounds leaked some blood onto my hands and chest but they sealed in seconds once they were free of the chains. The woman sighed in relief and looked at me with her now recovered eye. ¡°Thank you.¡± That was all she said before¡­ something in the air grew dense. Her body condensed into purple light before blasting into the sky. Voasis, Goddess of the Void has been freed! As you are directly responsible, the ability Holy Void Aura has been granted to you. The consequences of this event will resound around the world. Your current territory has been converted to Divine Ground. Voasis, Goddess of the Void has been freed! Mortals! Prepare your armies! Choose your side! I had a front row seat to watch as a wave of purple energy washed over my territory. She was a goddess! Holy fricking shit. I had embraced a goddess. That was some serious bragging rights if I said so myself. Now I just needed to wait for my mana to recover then I could go get my new people working in the village. Warning! You have made a mortal enemy! The Dungeon core Aurora Nightingale has sworn death onto you. What the?! I reread the message several times but had no idea what was going on. Dungeon core? We hadn¡¯t even seen a dungeon let alone set foot into one. I groaned at this new development. Hopefully, it wouldn¡¯t take up too much of my time. Chapter 22 Aurora Screaming filled the dungeon. Mine and everyone other monster in the dungeon¡¯s scream mingled into what might as well have come straight out of a horror movie. Tears filled my eyes at the pain it was so intense. It felt like I was burning alive. A demon near me collapsed before bursting into purple flames quickly being reduced to ashes. My monsters! I ground my teeth and focused on my dungeon. Some sort of¡­ aura had overlapped mine. The only word that suited it was holy. I struggled to get out of my seat before I put everything I had into pushing back against the holy aura. I used my new demonic aura and Corruption to push the intruder from my halls. It was tough going, but the aura didn¡¯t exactly push back. As I channeled more of myself into the offensive, the holy aura covering my dungeon began to give way faster. Soon, I had managed to push it completely from my halls, but I could feel it just outside my aura. I fell to mu hands and knees as tears of blood leaked from the corners of my eyes. I still hurt all over! Why!? Why me!? I reared back and screamed for an all-new reason. Anger. Finally, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Looking, I found a heavily burned Losa. ¡°Losa dear!¡± I said as he collapsed. I caught him as he coughed up some yellow blood. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m¡­ alright, master,¡± he said haltingly. I sucked in a breath at the pain in his voice. His eyes closed as he fainted. I shook him gently, but there was no response. The only indication that he was alive was his shallow breathing. ¡°I¡¯ll make them pay!¡± I growled hugging him gently to my chest. ¡°Whoever is responsible will die!¡± You have sworn a mortal enemy of Maxwell Orfen. ¡°Thank you, system. So, Maxwell. I hope you¡¯re ready to face my wrath! Just you wait.¡± I carried Losa over to my coffin and laid him inside. It was about the only place that could serve as a bed in my dungeon. ¡°Harvey!¡± The handsome vampire appeared limping a few moments after my call. He was badly burned as well. I glanced down at my own body and found that I was in much a similar state. ¡°What is the condition of the dungeon?¡± ¡°We lost most of the demons. Only one managed to survive. All the vampires survived, but¡­ we¡¯re all badly burned. It was like being in the sun at midday.¡± ¡°I see.¡± I thought quickly about what to do. We would naturally recover with time but judging from Harvey¡¯s wounds that were still there. The holy attack had caused our wounds to be contain stigma. It reduced vampire healing to worse than that of a mortal¡¯s until the poison ran its course or was expelled. The best way to recover would be to drink blood. ¡°How long until Roland returns?¡± ¡°He should be back in a few hours. I just fear he was caught up in the holy wave.¡± I hadn¡¯t thought about that. Damn. When I checked, I could sense that even the tunnel leading into the natural caves was practically flooded with the aura. Roland was one thing, but the lower vampires with him would definitely bite the dust if he took them through it. ¡°We¡¯re going to finish the tunnel to the surface. I was putting it off in light of the goblins, but we need the resources that might be found up there. Not to mention that my aura should cover a few dozen meters outside the cave. If we build something obstinate enough, we might attract some surface prey into the dungeon.¡± ¡°As you will it, my queen.¡± ¡°Another thing, hand me your coat.¡± Harvey tilted his head but did as told. I pulled off my tattered beyond recognition dress. In fact, the holy fire that had consumed me had pretty much finished it off. It might as well be just a few strings. I pulled on Hervey¡¯s coat, not really bothered by the fact that it really didn¡¯t cover much of my front, before I absorbed the remains of my dress. I was quite pleased by the fact that it unlocked a level three cloth for me. If I had known it would do that, I would have absorbed the material a long time ago. I summoned a simple vampire cloth craftsman. I ordered him to claim one of the empty rooms then get to work making me some new clothes. I couldn¡¯t walk around naked all the time. Though, I had to admit there was a sense of freedom to the action. ¡°I¡¯ve really gone off the deep end, haven¡¯t I?¡± I mumbled. I had never been one for public nudity, but even in front of me monsters, I wasn¡¯t that bothered. Leaning back over the coffin edge, I stroked Losa¡¯s hair one last time before I spun on my heel and left the room. All my digging demons were dead. I would have to do the work myself until I gained some more mana. My anger fueled my steps, and I was at the unfinished section of the first tunnel in only a few minutes. Holding out both hands, I began absorbing my full capacity. Striding forward whenever I finished a ten-meter section, I continued this process for the next half an hour. The stink of the holy aura was getting stronger the closer I got to the surface, but it was from the distance and not directly outside the wall. I was surprised with how much I found myself absolutely hating the holy¡­ element? Was that what it actually was? Stolen story; please report. Placing my hand on the wall, I felt out with my senses. Something that I had learned to do in the last few minutes during my anger filled excavation of the tunnel. There was only about another five meters of rock and soil before I reached the surface. From what I could tell, we were up the mountain face a good ways. I pulled back my senses then headed back to the natural tunnel intersection. I needed mana, levels, soldiers and above all healing. I hoped that Roland and his band managed to bring back a good number of goblins. My teeth almost ached to bite into one as it was. My timing couldn¡¯t have been better. Roland was pulling a group of goblins tied up behind him. Carson, Derrick and Frederick were walking along the goblin train. As Harvey feared, all the lower vampires were nowhere to be found. I could only assume they were deceased since their number wasn¡¯t shown to me while they were out of the dungeon. Roland and the others had several burns on their person as well. ¡°Welcome back, boys.¡± They had managed to capture twenty goblins and even a goblin captain. That would boost my mana up by a good deal maybe even fill me up once or twice. I strode past them without waiting for any sort of report. I violently kicked the captain¡¯s leg out from under him to bring him to my level. Reaching out, I grasped either side of his head and latched onto his neck without any sort of precursor. The now familiar iron taste flooded my mouth as I gulped the lifeforce down. The captain was massive, but that didn¡¯t prove a challenge. When the body was a shriveled husk, I released it. The monster had been long dead, but I had consumed every drop of blood in the creature. I stepped back while licking my lips. Glancing down at my body, I found I had fully recovered from the burns. ¡°Hold them here. I¡¯ll be back in a minute,¡± I ordered. I grabbed one of the goblins and used my claws to cut him from the rope chain. Dragging him by the neck, I hauled him to the core room. Losa was still breathing, but as I feared his wounds hadn¡¯t recovered at all. It appeared the holy aura had been harsh on the imp which was considered a demon. I used my ability to transfer the goblin¡¯s lifeforce over to the imp until there was only a corpse in my hand. It was hard to say he made a full recover, but he didn¡¯t appear to be in as much pain as before. I absorbed the corpse in my hand then reached into the coffin to stroke Losa¡¯s head. I worried since he didn¡¯t awake. Waiting for a few minutes, and still not seeing any signs of him waking back up, I withdrew my hand. I wanted to use another goblin¡¯s life to see if that would let him recover, but that wouldn¡¯t be fair to the rest of my monsters, some of which were suffering even worse injuries. Dersoa, the only demon to survive the attack, was breathing heavily in the corner. I ground my teeth as I clenched my fist. I really would make this Maxwell person pay for this! I pulled back from the coffin then made my way back to Roland and the others. I stared at the quivering goblins that knew that death was upon them. I should have probably felt pity for them, but there was nothing. I walked up to the first in the line and placed my hand on his head. With a single word, the black magic circle appeared around my hand before the goblin slumped forward no longer breathing. I continued this until the entire line of prisoners except for one was dead. ¡°Roland. Take the goblins and recover the vampires in the dungeon. Start with yourself.¡± ¡°As you wish, my queen.¡± Him and the others grabbed a few goblins each and started carrying them into the dungeon. I would have to use one to recover Dersoa in a bit. He wasn¡¯t a vampire and thus I¡¯d have to use my Death Absorption to transfer the lifeforce to him. ~~~ ¡°Tell me what you found,¡± I ordered Roland once the dungeon had returned to a semblance of normalcy. Losa still slept in the coffin, however, I was relieved that he was at least alive for the moment. ¡°Not much more than last time. We found an outpost they are attempting to establish. We waited for a while and captured one of their scouting parties. They shouldn¡¯t be missed for a day or two, but after that...¡± He trailed off. I knew what he wanted to say. They might know about our location, but not that we are able to attack outside my aura. ¡°The outpost was already on alert because of their continued losses to the dungeon.¡± ¡°How many do you think are in the outpost?¡± If I wanted to crush this place, I had to create a force that I was certain could take them. Goblins were weaker than my vampires, but the captains were another story. My Greaters were able to take the captains easily enough, but I feared there might be a Major or something that could repel them. Ah. Losa why weren¡¯t you here so I could ask you? ¡°I¡¯d wager between five hundred to a thousand. They appeared to be getting constant reinforcements from outside the Abyss. Most likely that village on the surface.¡± ¡°So¡­ Even if we destroy the outpost, we might have to deal with a flood of the green monsters from the surface.¡± ¡°It is a possibility.¡± I crossed my legs and leaned back into my seat. There was too much unknown, but fate favored the brave. The tunnels, even the large cavern the outpost was being set up in would make it harder on my vampires to use their abilities to their fullest. If the goblins managed to bottleneck my forces, it would come down to how had the most numbers. I¡¯d rather take advantage of the open field that would be the surface. ¡°The village¡­¡± ¡°My queen?¡± Roland asked, obviously not sure what I was getting at. ¡°We¡¯ll attack the village. I¡¯m sure that it¡¯s not completely combatants.¡± I got about a third of the experience if the monsters were killed outside the dungeon, but that didn¡¯t bother me now. I¡¯m sure destroying an entire village would net my dungeon a decent amount of experience. Even if my personal level failed to go up any. I couldn¡¯t leave my aura. Then I might as well level my dungeon. ¡°That is risky but given a pressed battle against a well-defended cave. It is the option I¡¯d rather take,¡± Roland said after he thought it over. ¡°Glad you see it my way. I have enough mana to summon one Greater and a few normal vampires. Take this force and teach them a lesson in the art of fear.¡± ¡°That will likely put them on guard to future attacks.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care. I need levels for the dungeon,¡± I said, waving off his advice. ¡°Also, if you find anything interesting and can bring it back, do so.¡± The captain they¡¯d brought back had dropped a crystal. When I absorbed it, I found it to be a Weak Activation Crystal. The item said I needed for creating an Aura Forge. Now, I could truly join the offensive. Chapter 23 Maxwell While the developments of the morning had been thrilling, it was time for me to get back to work on building up my village. The first was getting the new arrivals down to the village. Thankfully, my new spell which was called Transcended Teleportation by the system allowed me to preform a much larger group teleportation. I returned to the cave and found it crowded. A quick headcount put the total at thirty-six people. All dark elves. I walked through and asked a few their backstories, but the diversity was amazing. The only story I found that was even remotely common, was nearly dying in the Abyss to a monster and wishing to have a second chance at life. Many of the people were giving me an odd look, but I figured it was due to my void features. I really needed to get a mask to cover my face. I knew these people were bound to the village for a year, but if someone had a strong enough adversity to the void then they might try to sabotage us in some way. Even just refusing to work and eating our food would be a drain on our resources. Teleporting us to the village plaza. I had a few of the original members of my village help them get settled. Today, I planned on using my mana to promote my people to better positions by giving them the right skills and jobs. I would be lying if I said I didn¡¯t want to go out and hunt to raise my level, but my power came from my village. If it was strong than I was strong. While I was heading back to the manor, I spotted Rowena. I hurried over to her to let her know about the incident of this morning. As I approached I heard her mumbling. ¡°First a demon lord and now a goddess. What¡¯s next, a titan? Seriously, what are these people thinking releasing beings that can probably wipe out a country. And what was that strange wave that washed over the village this morning?¡± She sighed loudly while shaking her head. ¡°Good morning!¡± I called from right behind her. She jumped and turned around. ¡°What the hell?!¡± ¡°Sorry. You looked so lost in thought I really couldn¡¯t help myself.¡± Even back on Earth, my friend hadn¡¯t been able to handle jump scares much. He would never let us watch horror movies in the dorm room. ¡°Very funny. Did you see the message? Now a goddess has returned.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ about that.¡± I started but Rowena interrupted me. ¡°What the hell happened to you,¡± she exclaimed looking me over. ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked then looked for myself. My ebony skin had changed to a bluish-purple. The pulsing cracks had covered my hands and feet as well. I pulled my shirt out and peeked inside to find they were all over my body. In particular was my heart that nearly blazed with purple energy. Rowena pulled out her mirror and showed me my face. My eyes were glowing even brighter now. My hair had started to crystalize in places. I ran my hand through it. Needless to say, the sensation was strange. It felt hard like a crystal, but moved like regular hair. I thought about this morning and remembered the blood that had gotten onto me from the goddess. That was the only thing I could think about. Quickly checking my status screen pretty much confirmed it for me. -- Name: Maxwell Orfen Level: 10 Race: Sacred Void Elf Class: Lord Specialization: Void Lord Total Mana: 574/1,520 Abilities: Dark Sight Elemental Magic ¨C Dark, Earth, Fire Void Magic Basic Sneak City Management Learn Spell: 1 -- ¡°So¡­ about that goddess,¡± I said rubbing the back of my head awkwardly. That mask was suddenly very high on my list. Being a void elf would apparently attract trouble. Being a Sacred one was sure to invite even more. At least, I had a significant mana boost of almost five hundred points due to the race change. ¡°No!¡± Rowena said shaking her head vigorously, grasping what I was getting at. I smiled with a shrug. ¡°Yep.¡± She rubbed the bridge of her nose and exhaled slowly. ¡°I hope it was worth it.¡± ¡°Not really sure. I made a mortal enemy as well,¡± I remarked with a shrug. ¡°Mortal enemy? So, you pissed off a player?¡± She asked. ¡°A player? It couldn¡¯t be an NPC?¡± She shook her head. ¡°The grudge system is player exclusive. I really doubt the people studying us changed that.¡± I tapped my chin in thought. ¡°Players can be dungeon cores?¡± Dungeons were usually where players went to level up and get loot by killing monsters. Why would a player want to play something like that? Rowena shook her head again. ¡°No, or well, I don¡¯t think so. I¡¯ve never heard of a player dungeon core.¡± ¡°The message said dungeon core Aurora Nightingale.¡± She crossed her arms and seemed to go into deep thought. ¡°I don¡¯t know. There are too many things that I don¡¯t really know about this game. This world¡­¡± She paused and looked at me. ¡°Was it the goddess returning that caused it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. There was about a minute between messages. I think it was right after my land became Divine Ground.¡± Rowena¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Shit! This could be bad. Really, really bad.¡± ¡°What?! What do you mean?¡± I asked surprised by her reaction. ¡°It was after your current territory became Divine Ground, right?¡± I nodded. ¡°Then there is a very strong chance that you just flooded a dungeon with Divine aura! Depending on the alignment of the dungeon it could have been anything from a spring breeze to feeling like it was being submerged in lava! Considering she declared you a mortal enemy, then I¡¯m willing to bet it was the latter.¡± ¡°Crap!¡± I paced as I considered this implication. ¡°Wait. That means there is a dungeon in my territory?¡± I looked back to the mountain that I had my back against. It suddenly appeared much less friendly. Any one of the caves along the base could be an entrance to a monster filled hell hole. A monster filled hell hole that was apparently run by a player, and I had just pissed it off. ¡°We need to get this place¡¯s military going as soon as possible,¡± Rowena said finally. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. I nodded in agreement. If the goblin village wasn¡¯t bad enough, now I had another threat right next to me that might be even worse. Rowena said goodbye and went to a grove to commune with nature. I made my back to the manor and got to work using my mana elevating my people. First, I worked on the royal guard force. I selected only individuals from first batch of people that had been with me. All the guards were increased in rank, and I made one of them my Royal Commander. He would be able to command all military forces that I created until I broke the hierarchy down some more later. That gave me a royal guard of twelve including the Commander. There levels ranged from five to ten which was great considering mine and Rowena¡¯s level. I planned to take them with us when we went hunting in the future. I¡¯m not sure how much help it would do, but anything was better than nothing. Moving on, I gave all the original members of the settlement jobs and higher positions. Quarry and mine foremen, blacksmiths, armorers were among the most used jobs that I focused on. Of the twenty-five originals, they were all assigned new jobs. After that, I set the new arrivals as best I could solely based on their stats and existing skills. From what I could tell, not everything from their previous life was lost. Many of them had quite a few skills. They were just reduced to level one along with their overall level being reduced to one as well. I assigned anyone that appeared to have skills for fighting to the barracks and the new militia. Since the militia consisted of all new arrivals, I assigned a leader from their group as well. She would report directly to me and the Royal Commander, but it would make the newcomers aware that they could receive good jobs as well. I also threw some resources into new housing. The influx from the upgraded gate had overwhelmed the extra housing I had constructed the other night. Since there would be a new group every twelve hours, I had to make sure to keep up with the new members. After that, I had used up just about all the resources we gathered during the night. Other than the thirty that went to the barracks, I had roughly twenty members that were continuing on as workers. Flipping open a notebook, one I had found in the few supplies we¡¯d had with us during our escape, I checked over the names of the people I had in positions and what positions still needed to be filled. The menu listed a lot of information, but I personally liked seeing it on paper. Plus, I couldn¡¯t take notes next to individuals on the screens. I wasn¡¯t worrying about any trade positions. With no other settlements remotely near us, they would likely stay unfilled for the foreseeable future. Internal affairs would need to be filled soon. I had Levada handling most things right now. I planned to give him an official position at a later date, but the Townhall cost quite a few mana stones, the one resource I was sorely lacking at the moment. I snapped the book closed and stood up from my desk. I wanted to go inspect the town and wall while I waited for my mana to recover. At level ten, I had nearly a thousand mana, then my racial change had given me five hundred more. I was sure that I would be the envy of the other players if they heard that. For example, Rowena was level eleven and only had one hundred and ten points. Walking along the streets of the pre-planned city, I felt it was odd. I had already built a considerable number of streets, but the lack of buildings made it feel like a magic circle that sat under the village. The stone paths were comfortable to walk along though thus I did my best to ignore the odd disconnect. Following the main road, a sizable construction that would allow four carriages to move along unhindered, I made it to the main gate of the wall in record time. The roads really did apply a movement bonus. The Royal guard was patrolling the top of the walls. This morning hadn¡¯t exactly been quiet. I had feared the goblins might have noticed the light show and wanted to keep our guard up. Climbing the stairs, I found the Commander standing watch at the center of the wall. A gentleman by the name of Telmu. He had been the highest level and had several skills geared toward commanding already. ¡°Commander. How is the forest?¡± I asked as I moved to stand next to him. He went to salute, but I quickly gestured for him to stop. ¡°Restless, my liege. Something dangerous is stirring.¡± I thought about the dungeon and frowned. My wall went to the edge of my territory in this direction. That was how I knew it was under the mountain. Whatever was in the forest had to be something else. ¡°I¡¯m guessing our presence is beginning to wear on some people¡¯s nerves.¡± ¡°The dark elves are never welcomed. We always have to fight for our place.¡± From his expression, I was able to gather that us being forced from our village hadn¡¯t been the first time. I reached over and grasped his shoulder tightly. ¡°I know, but I plan to make this a place that dark elves might one day call home.¡± ¡°Then I shall use my life to defend it from anything and everything that might do us harm,¡± Telmu declared slamming a fist to his chest. ¡°That¡¯s great to hear¡­¡± I started but a loud rumbling filled the area from the distance. A dust cloud quickly followed the shake rising into the air a way down the foot of the mountain. What now!? ¡°Prepare the guard and militia. Whatever that was might be heading for us.¡± ¡°Yes, my liege!¡± Commander Telmu quickly ordered another Royal guard to send a message to the village militia while he formed up the guards remaining on the walls. I cast my gaze over the mountain until I found a spot that I felt would allow me to see the area in question. I cast my teleportation and moved to the ledge. Testing the ledge, I carefully peeked over the edge to see what looked like a cave opening nearly twenty kilometers away from my territory. Debris had been blasted out from the cave and then a good two hundred meters of the mountain¡¯s face had collapsed in a landslide which had caused the noise and dust cloud. My breath caught as witnessed a woman walk out of the cave. She looked around before she sent a glare up at the sky. Did she have issue with the sun? She looked around for a few more moments before her gaze went to the mountain. I was a good distance from the new cave. The only reason I could see anything at all was my elven eyes that had an almost zooming in function. I gulped when I found the woman was only wearing a coat. I would be lying if I said she wasn¡¯t gorgeous. How she could walk around naked was beyond me, but there were weirder NPCs in the game. I was staring at her body when I noticed that her arms were crossed, and she was tapping her foot. Wondering what had made her upset, I moved my gaze up to her eyes and found her glaring directly at me. A malignant aura blazed around her before she snapped her fingers. I watched as four massive pillars made from black bricks rise into the air. It looked like I wasn¡¯t the only one with buildings that magically constructed themselves. When the pillars finished growing, I managed to see a magic sigil form just before every drop of light was sucked into them completely blotting out the area. ¡°Well, that doesn¡¯t feel evil at all,¡± I remarked with a snort. I was about to teleport back to the wall when from the darkness several dozen black wolves rushed out in every direction. ¡°Not evil at all!¡± I growled before getting to my feet and teleporting back to the wall. Rowena had another hour or two before she could stop her commune. It would be up to me and the Royal guard to contain the dozen or so wolves heading our way. At least it wasn¡¯t all of them, or this might be impossible. ¡°Form up!¡± The commander shouted just as I appeared back on the wall. ¡°Welcome back, my liege. What is the situation?¡± ¡°For now, we have a dozen or so black wolves heading our way.¡± ¡°Worgs. Demon wolves,¡± Commander Telmu said before spitting on the ground. ¡°Will they be able to enter Divine Ground?¡± I asked. Demons usually couldn¡¯t do that after all. ¡°Yes. They aren¡¯t much different than normal wolves. It is best to consider them beasts that just happened to be borne in the demon realm.¡± We didn¡¯t get much more time to discuss it further. The Worgs came into view from around the bend in the mountain face. They gave me a feeling similar to the Gregs from yesterday. They barely slowed in their run as they came at the wall. I was wondering how they planned to do anything to us on top of the ten-meter wall when a rain of fireballs launched from their mouths. The Commander threw himself at me just in time to push me out of the way of one of the fireballs. ¡°Return fire!¡± A few of the royal guards had bows and the tang of their bowstrings filled the air. I wasn¡¯t about to take this lying down either. I climbed back to my feet and started sending Spatial Tears at the beasts. It was at this point, that I realized that I¡¯d had it easy so far. My spells were falling short by wide births of the running wolves. They might be beasts, but they were smart enough to duck and weave to avoid running in straight lines. The guards made up for it. They had already downed three of the wolves with well-placed shots. Another volley of fireballs slammed into the wall. I checked and was appalled to see how much damage my wall was taking. A single volley had lowered the durability by seventy points. The only thing that made up for that fact, was that it was already recovering using mana in the air. Not wanting to see the wall I had worked hard with the others to build destroyed so soon, I kept throwing Spatial Tears into the wolves. The more attempts I did, the better my aim was becoming. Practice and all that. I finally nailed one directly in the side and sent half its body flying. I only managed to get one more before the Royal guard finished the rest. I took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. This was bad. If she was able to summon monsters as she willed, we could find ourselves overrun in a matter of hours. Taking note of all the corpses, I quickly teleported from the wall and looted them rapidly before teleporting back to the wall. Going through the spoils, I was suddenly not too upset. Each of the wolves had dropped a mana stone. Thirteen mana stones would be very helpful in the short term. The sound of howls went up from the forest. We had held them off with our wall, but every other creature in the nearby forest was likely easy game from the demon wolves. The militia arrived soon after that. Commander Telmu got with the militia leader and began working out shifts and defensive patterns. I walked up to the pair. ¡°Don¡¯t let your guard down but try to get some rest during the day. Something tells me that this adversary likes to move at night.¡± If she didn¡¯t like the sun and used demons. Then there was a good chance the real foes would come under the cover of night. Damn. There was so much to do! Chapter 24 Aurora I glared at the man staring at me from the ledge on the mountain. I wouldn¡¯t have even noticed him had his hair not glinted in the sunlight. The fact that he didn¡¯t seem to notice that I noticed him was even more annoying as he stared at my body. My monsters didn¡¯t care, but this man was apparently very taken with my form. He finally seemed to realize that I could see him. My annoyance at him and the blaring sun peaked. I snapped my fingers and created four pillars made from Demon Brick. I placed mana stones at the tips inscribed with Prism and blackened out the area. I also used three hundred mana to summon a few dozen Worgs to go terrorize the forest. The landslide had been a nice as I absorbed all the debris that fell into the entrance, I had blasted open. The purpose of this opening was to attract attention thus I had wanted it to be very loud and noticeable. The strange elf had obviously been interested in the noise, and whoever he worked for or with would now know something was here. Walking back into the dungeon, I placed a multitude of traps along the passage. In the future, I would remodel this section to continue the spiral that I was creating from the center of the dungeon. I eventually made it back to the natural cave intersection. My vampire spawner had increased the number of normal vampires by twenty by this point. A steady stream of mana was coming from outside of the dungeon. My wolves were killing anything they came across it would seem. Roland and the others hadn¡¯t killed too much outside the dungeon so I had never noticed the uptick in mana before. Nonetheless, I was more than pleased by the fact that my dungeon¡¯s experience and mana would go up. The rest of the day passed quickly for me. Working on the dungeon, summoning monsters, getting Roland and his group equipped with steel weapons and some minor armor. I found an interesting skill out as well. I had enchanted Roland¡¯s weapon with my Death ability. There was no telling what the true power of it was until he tested it, but anything to give him an edge for tonight¡¯s raid. ¡°Losa,¡± I purred as I checked on my imp again. He still hadn¡¯t awakened. I was really starting to fear the worst. I shook my head. Getting depressed wouldn¡¯t help him. I was going to summon another Greater Vampire, but changed my mind as I looked over my imp. I had Greater Demon summoning that I needed to test out. Someone once said not to put all your eggs in a single basket. I sat back in my throne and started the summoning. A black magic circle soon took up most of the space in front of me. It was soon clear why. Much like the Demon summoning, I had a tremendous amount of freedom to design the demon that I would be calling forth. Even more so than the Greater vampire summoning which was limited to humanoids. I played with everything for a long time until what I had was a creature straight out of a horror game. A giant beast that was partially rotting filled the core room. It was so large, that it had to crouch to fit. Bloody saliva dripped from its mouth. Its fur was coarse and rough. The upper half of its head was more bone that skin. Evil almost rolled from him in waves. Varroth, the devourer. I stood up and walked over to the beast. I had painted a few creatures like this before on commission. He was almost a masterpiece in my eyes. I reached up and ran my hand through the coarse fur of his muzzle. ¡°You look hungry.¡± He huffed as it to agree. ¡°There are lots of little green meals running around on the surface. Go with Roland sweetie. Eat your fill.¡± The beast twisted unnaturally as it rushed down the passage. Horrifying bone crunching and flesh ripping sounds came from him, but I knew he wasn¡¯t hurt. ¡°My queen. We shall take our leave as well,¡± Roland said with a bow. He took most of the other Greaters and thirty-nine regular vampires with him. Only Harvey stayed behind to defend the dungeon from any surprise attacks. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. I returned to my seat and pulled up my status. Thanks to the goblins that Roland returned with, I had gained a few personal levels. I gained the option to learn a new spell when I had hit level five. I was interested in seeing what options there were. -- Cruel Wind Death Curse Fear Possession Famine Pestilence Death Sight Death¡¯s Scythe Bond of Death -- The list was long. I could only fathom what some of the spells did. That was generally the case when you only had between one and three words to go one. Looking the list over made me miss Losa even more. I sighed then closed my eyes before picking one at random. Opening my eyes, I saw that I had clicked on Death Sight. The spell formula filled my mind as soon as I lifted my finger. I quickly used the spell to see what it was all about. The world took a black and white appearance. Strands of light were moving around me. I found that I could move my vision easily enough. I followed one of the strands of light to find it was coming from one of the vampires working in another room. Lifeforce? Mana? I didn¡¯t have enough information. Moving on, I was soon outside on the surface. The wide open space made the black and white world hard to make out shapes. The forest seemed to blur everything together. Looking to the left, I found a wall of light that towered into the sky. I couldn¡¯t see a thing past it. That was the direction the holy aura had come from. Turning my gaze to the right, I found black plumes rising into the sky one after another. I watched for a while and found that they would split and some of the dark strand would find its way to me. It was interesting, but I wasn¡¯t quite sure how to use this information. I was confident I was seeing the death of monsters caused by my boys. I tried to check it out but slammed against the barrier of my aura. I growled in annoyance. I watched the scene for a while. I had lost count of the number of strands to enter my dungeon. Mainly because I wasn¡¯t really keeping track. I watched a strand enter my dungeon just before I felt a familiar surge inside. My aura surged outward but stopped after only a few dozen meters on the surface. Inside the mountain, I was suddenly aware of many souls just outside my reach. I flew back inside and wandered down the tunnels. While my aura hadn¡¯t spread much on the surface, I had gained a lot of ground down here. Dozens of tunnels were now in my grasp and I could sense the goblin outpost just out of reach. I would have to praise Roland and the others when they returned. Pulling back my sight, I returned to my body. The sight spell would make checking my dungeon over much easier. I stretched and laid back in my chair. I was still waiting for my dress, but I was still not that bothered in my current attire. It was too bad I couldn¡¯t absorb and just recreate the clothes my Greaters were created with, but they were made from mana and just gave me a few points of the energy in return rather than the material they were made from. The only thing for me to do was to wait for my boys¡¯ return. I yawned while staring at the ceiling. I didn¡¯t like waiting. ~~~ Dawn was fast approaching when Roland and the others returned from their raid. I had an excellent pile of mana stones in my vault. I had risen a dungeon level. Delightful results in my opinion. I had created a large room near the entrance for Varroth when I got really bored. He could move around the dungeon, but it was rather sickening to listen to. I wasn¡¯t surprised that only about half of the normal vampires returned. No doubt there were plenty of powerful goblins in the village. Roland and the other Greaters had received some injuries, but had already consumed blood to recover the wounds. They had even brought me home a present. Three Captains and an even larger brute. ¡°My queen. The raid was successful! We hit them hard where they least expected it,¡± Roland reported as he kneeled in front of me. I moved forward and placed my hand on his head as I ran my hand through his hair. ¡°Well done. I am glad to see you all have returned to me.¡± I walked among the Greaters and then my normal vampires and touched them one by one. They were loyal to me. I needed to show them some love. Finally, I came to Varroth at the back of the ground. Most likely due to his size, but he was covered in wounds. ¡°Did you feast?¡± I asked petting his snout. He nuzzled his head against my hand. ¡°Varroth was a great asset, my queen. The enemy ran in fear from him more often than not.¡± ¡°That is good to hear.¡± I pointed to the side of the entrance hall that we stood in. ¡°I¡¯ve prepared a room for you to rest in. There will be more for you to devour soon.¡± The beast walked over and crashed down to the ground heavily. I wasn¡¯t too worried about his injuries. Some of them were healing fast enough to be seen by the eye. I rubbed my hands together as I turned toward the goblins. ¡°Now then, I¡¯m a little hungry myself.¡± Chapter 25 Maxwell After leaving the wall, I was on edge the entire time. I knew they could handle themselves, but just being there to help brought me some comfort. I worried about the next attack since I knew there would be more. The wolves had been able to hit the wall hard enough, the next group of monster could potentially bring it down altogether. Back in the village, I found Rowena returning from her commune. With her help, we had designed a park in the future planned city that was large enough for her to commune in. The park made it easier and safer for her to fulfill her class requirement. Even with her three beasts, there might be a time she is attacked by something that they couldn¡¯t handle. ¡°Glad to see you. We have an issue,¡± I said as I ran up to her. ¡°Seriously! I left you alone for two hours! Two! What did you do now?¡± she replied crossing her arms. ¡°Hey! This is from the earlier mess up not a new one.¡± I argued holding my hands up. ¡°What I think was the dungeon just publicly and very violently created an entrance to the surface a way down the along the foot of the mountain. About twenty kilometers, I¡¯d wager.¡± ¡°You really pissed this thing off didn¡¯t you,¡± Rowena remarked with a chuckle. ¡°I guess. It¡¯s not like I meant to gain the Divine Territory. It just sort of happened.¡± ¡°Well¡­ there really isn¡¯t much more we can do but stay the course. Build up our defenses, our forces, and most importantly your town.¡± Hearing her say it did calm me down a bit. There was a type of equivalent exchange in this world. Just because she could summon monsters didn¡¯t mean she could do it instantly or for free. There most be a cost. ¡°You¡¯re right. There were a few magical defenses I was planning to add in the future. Perhaps I should skip to those given our limited manpower.¡± Rowena clapped me on the shoulder. ¡°There you go! Just tell me where I can help.¡± ¡°Level up. We¡¯re going to need some stronger fighters than the enemy. Go level up and take a few of the royal guard and militia with you.¡± ¡°You should come with me.¡± ¡°I¡¯d love to, but my mana is better served on my people.¡± Rowena looked like she wanted to argue but finally just nodded. She waved to me before she left toward the wall. I headed for the manor myself. In my planning room, I pulled up the map of the area to get a look at my options and to try and plan for potential attacks. A large red spot on the edge of my territory caught me off guard. Zooming in on the spot, I found that it was ¡®claimed¡¯ land by another person. The goblin area was free of such a thing which led me to believe that I was in fact against a player. This was going to be tough. Players had more than a little advantage over the inhabitants of this world. Just take my own land as an example. I was using what the system gave me to rapidly increase the skill and power of my people. I stared at the map longer than I cared to admit before I got back to work. There were several magical defenses that I could build in the territory. I was deeply thankful that level one of any of them only cost a single mana stone. Otherwise, my choices would be even more limited. For starters, there were several towers that I could install along the wall that had magic-based attacks. They were automated and didn¡¯t require anything more than target designation. Looking the details over, I decided to leave the spotting to the Commander until he trained someone that could take his place. Placing a preview of the tower on the wall, I could see the range of the spell assigned to the building. To cover all the wall, I would need close to thirty towers. Still, if I spaced them out, it would take the enemy some trial and error to figure out the range for themselves. I went ahead and placed ten towers, focusing on the wall closest to the dungeon entrance with four of the towers. Next on my list was to improve communications. The world was locked into the medieval era. There were no cellphones or in-game messaging that could be used with NPCs, Payers maybe, but with only Rowena, that limited our range quite a bit. You had to rely on the methods available in the game. Which was word of mouth, letters, and of course, magic. I used another mana stone to construct a Telepathy Base. I would have to train and assign a mage to the structure, but once that was done, the leadership of a territory could communicate quickly and easily. That left me with three more mana stones to spend. I had to wait for everything to construct as well. My mana had been drained after the first three towers. I could pull from the villagers, but only a few of them had a sizable pool, and they were in the guard or militia. I¡¯d rather not pull from them if I could avoid it. I scrolled through the list and debated what to buy next. A golem workshop really called my name. I had already seen the power of golems in this world. I thought of the Quarry and Mine. The Magic-work level one of each building came with three rudimentary golems that could work around the clock. They were powered by mana supplied by the buildings thus couldn¡¯t leave the vicinity, but the gains I was seeing were already well worth their cost. My only concern was that while the Golem Workshop only required a single mana stone to construct, it most likely cost mana stones to construct the units. I didn¡¯t want to waste my limited mana stones on a structure that might not be able to perform. Rolling the three stones in my hand, I continued down the list. The next thing that caught my eye was a mage tower. I could class change the villagers to the mage class, but this would allow them to train for it on their own. Plus, it allowed any mages to gain new skills. I had three elements I wasn¡¯t tapping into. If I could gain some higher-level spells from the tower, I might become a true force to reckon with during the coming conflict. The double blow of increasing not only my own power but my peoples sold it for me. I spent the two mana stones on the building. Unlike the other buildings, when I approved its construction a screen popped up that allowed me to customize the structure to some degree. I played around with the options and settled on a steel spire that went along with the metal and purple design of the rest of my buildings. While the fact that it might inspire fear was a side effect, I thought it was cool-looking. The next thing that really amazed me was that I could have the building floating in the air without foundations. I found this out purely on coincidence as the building was hovering above the ground when it opened the larger map. Moving the structure around the city, I finally settled on a spot partially up the mountain. The extra two hundred meters gave it a commanding view of the forest and mountain. A quickly constructed path up the side of the mountain soon had the floating building connected to the village. A bridge was the only way for people to reach the tower and I thought it would serve as a great fallback point if we ever came under siege. ¡°One stone left,¡± I mumbled tossing the stone into the air and catching it. I decided to hold onto it. There were far too many options for me to choose and I wasn¡¯t sure which would serve us well at the moment. I closed the menus and stretched in my chair. It would take a few hours for everything I selected to build. My mana was hovering at only a single point as it was. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Everything caught up to me at that moment. My lack of sleep, my trip to the void, the attack, the impending danger that was so close to our necks, and just about everything that came with controlling the fate of over fifty lives. I got up heavily before making for my bed. Collapsing into the rough covers, I decided a quick nap would be good. ~~~ A pressure on my shoulder brought me back to the living. I yawned as I sat up and found Rowena looking at me worriedly. ¡°I was starting to worry you wouldn¡¯t ever wake up.¡± ¡°Just catching up on my beauty sleep. What¡¯s up?¡± I asked stretching as I got out of bed. ¡°Pip sent me some worrying images. I was hoping you could teleport us so we could get a better look.¡± I rubbed my face to remove the last of my drowsiness and nodded. ¡°Where to?¡± She wanted to go to a spot up the mountain where we could take in the goblin village. I didn¡¯t have a spot off the top of my head, but I had plenty of mana to use after having slept most of the afternoon away. I grabbed her hand and teleported us first to the overhang that I used as my lookout. From there, we jumped along the upper part of the mountain until we reached a spot that we could see the village in the distance. Though even with my elven eyes, it was hard to make much out. Rowena held out a spyglass. I chuckled and took the item. That was my friend, being prepared for everything. Looking through the item, I was able to zoom in on the goblin village. While it was slightly blurry, I didn¡¯t need HD to know they were being slaughtered by something. ¡°What the hell is that thing?¡± I whispered as if the thing could hear me if I was too loud. ¡°A greater demon I¡¯d wager. I saw a few examples when I was studying up on the world. Fucking hard as hell to kill,¡± Rowena answered me in a similar whisper. Some sort of¡­ beast was tearing through the village. It appeared to care little for the wounds the goblins were inflicting on it. Those that were brave enough to attack the thing usually ended up in two pieces as they were bitten in half. ¡°It''s not alone.¡± Following the direction of her finger, I spotted a few men that looked like they stepped right out of a shojo manga. Each was more handsome than the last. That did little to lessen their violence. They were tearing through the goblins like they were made from paper. One in the back used magic to turn the blood splattered all over the ground into more deadly weapons. To top it off, men and women that looked much more average were moving at speeds that normal people couldn¡¯t as they attacked the goblins. The only saving grace at this moment was that the goblins appeared to at least be giving them a challenge. ¡°IS that what we¡¯re up against!?¡± I gasped in horror. There were only four of the men and about two dozen of the other creatures. The horror was on another scale that I didn¡¯t want to even consider. ¡°You really wanted to play on hard mode didn¡¯t you,¡± Rowena said rolling over to stare at the sky. ¡°I wonder if I could apologize.¡± ¡°That¡¯s always an option. I just have a thought.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°If she was a dungeon core when Earths¡¯ guests took our minds, do you think she knows that?¡± ¡°You mean she thinks she is trapped in the game.¡± ¡°Exactly. If this is the sort of actions she takes with that mindset. What do you think she¡¯ll do if she finds out for sure that she is dead and trapped in this digital world forever?¡± I stared at Rowena as the many ways this could play out went through my head. They all ended with the total destruction of just about everything the woman named Aurora could get her hands on. ¡°Fuck.¡± The battle happening in the goblin village only started to subside toward the end of the night. The sun hadn¡¯t risen yet, but the monsters began to fall back toward the entrance that was still clocked in darkness. Since the gruesome night appeared to be over, I held my hand out to Rowena then teleported us back to the village. ¡°This is insane,¡± she said as we returned to the manor. If there was one good thing that came from this night. It was that we knew at least some of what we were up against. ¡°I agree.¡± I sat down at the table I pulled some jerky from my inventory and nibbled on it. I really didn¡¯t have an appetite, but my body was telling me to eat something. ¡°I think I will try to talk to her.¡± ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s wise?¡± Rowena asked, joining me at the table. ¡°We could be giving up any number of advantages. Not to mention, we have no idea at to her mental state.¡± ¡°I know, but if I was trapped in a game like this, I would want someone to tell me.¡± She stared at me before sighing dramatically. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll be your wingman so you can hook up with the deadly dungeon babe.¡± I snort the water I had just took a drink of and had to cough for several moments to be able to breath again. ¡°That¡¯s not funny! Sure, I admit she was hot when I saw her earlier, but¡­ I think we¡¯re far too different to be in that sort of relationship.¡± ¡°Hey, yin and yang. Good and evil and all that. You never know, you might make a great pair.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just drop it please.¡± She snickered but nodded. ¡°And I¡¯m going to go by myself. I would like it if you¡¯d stay here in the village. Just in case things go sideways.¡± ¡°Expect the pretty lady to kill you?¡± ¡°I hope we can at least talk it through, and if it comes to it, I have my teleportation spells. I¡¯m pretty confident that I can make a timely exit.¡± Rowena stared at me before finally nodding. ¡°I¡¯m heading off then.¡± ¡°Wait. Now?¡± she asked surprised. ¡°Yes. From what I can tell, she obviously just won a nice victory. I¡¯m hoping she¡¯ll be in a good mood and thus willing to converse.¡± ¡°Okay. God speed my friend.¡± I stood up then teleported a distance from the entrance. The sun was now casting its life-baring rays over the forest and onto the mountain, but in front of me felt like I was looking into a black hole. As I strode forward, I grew colder. Much like something was sucking the warmth from my veins. When I was about fifty meters from the entrance, I came to a stop. Reaching out my hand, I could almost feel the edge of the dungeon¡¯s territory. I stuck my hand through the film not sure what to expect. A notification certainly hadn¡¯t been on my list. Vampiric Dungeon of Demonic Delights. Halls of the Night Queen. Omen of Evil and Destruction. I nearly turned around and left just from that. Steeling my resolve, I pulled my hand back and yelled as loudly as I could. ¡°Aurora Nightingale! I wish to speak!¡± Nothing but the wind answered me for a long time. I yelled out a few more times over the next five minutes or so. Finally, the ground shook as the paw of the massive horror I saw last night burst from the darkness. It continued until half of its body was exposed even as the same half was smoking from where the light hit it. The woman I saw yesterday emerged next. While she squinted in the light. She didn¡¯t appear to suffer any damage like the beast. Reaching up, she pulled the monster¡¯s head down and whispered something. A second later, it pulled back into the darkness. The woman glared with open hostility at me before she walked to just a few meters from me. ¡°Why should I not kill you where you stand?¡± she asked with a hiss. Yep. She was still angry from yesterday morning. It did not help me that she was still dressed in nothing but a coat that covered little more than her shoulders. She could have easily buttoned it but instead was letting it hang open. I coughed to get my head out of the gutter before spreading my hands wide hard as it was. She had a very shapely body that looked like a master crafter had worked for months to get just right. Her red eyes gleamed like gems in the morning light, while her hair that possessed a monochrome appearance due to the white or black streaks flowed like water down her back. ¡°Look. I just want to say I¡¯m sorry. I just sort of triggered an event and I had no intention of hurting you. The name¡¯s Maxwell, by the way.¡± The malignant aura from yesterday burst into life around her. I took a step back and activated my Holy Void aura almost subconsciously. Her glare deepened. ¡°Be that as it may. Which, by the way, I¡¯m not sure I believe you in the first place. You¡¯ve caused no small amount of pain in my dungeon. I¡¯m not inclined to forgive or forget.¡± I wanted to grind my teeth at the stubbornness of the woman. I rubbed the back of my head as I racked my brains on what to do next. ¡°Listen¡­¡± I decided then that I really should have thought through what I was going to say before coming here. ¡°Are you a player?¡± Aurora¡¯s eyes widened then narrowed. ¡°That¡¯s right. And you?¡± ¡°Yes. Though I just started playing four days ago.¡± It might not be in my favor to tell her my limited knowledge, but I did have the fount of knowledge that was Rowena at my side. There wasn¡¯t much she could do with the information. She crossed her arms as if to say so what. I bite my lip and continued. ¡°So¡­ this might sound insane, but when all that error shit went down. The server was apparently being taken by aliens that wanted to study us. From what I understand, our bodies are dead while our minds will live on in this world.¡± ¡°Are you stupid? Or rather, do you think I¡¯m stupid?!¡± Aurora yelled clearly pissed. Yeah. That was to be expected. Even I still thought it was insane. The black and red aura around her was writhing around her and looked like it wanted nothing more than to lash out at me. What to do now? Chapter 26 Aurora I clenched my fists hard enough that my nails were digging into my skin. I wasn¡¯t sure if I had even been so insulted in my life. Aliens! Seriously!? Who did this man think he was, trying to lie like that? ¡°Look! I know it sounds super farfetched, but I have it on good faith that there was a message to all the players in the cities. My friends all confirmed it. There¡¯s no other explanation! If it was an actual system error, the Game Masters would have fixed it by now. I doubt a conspiracy to experiment on us or something like that is possible since there are at least two million players trapped in here.¡± ¡°No.¡± I shook my head. ¡°I refuse to believe it.¡± ¡°I wish I had some way to prove it, but I don¡¯t. We might as well be in another world.¡± Blood was dripping from my hands by this point. I was sorely tempted to call for Varroth. The elven man had been smart enough or cautious enough not to come into my aura. I might be able to hit him with my magic, but there was no telling if he was higher level than I was. Plus, I had no idea the size of his forces. If he was strong enough to revive a god, then there was a good chance I was out of my league. I looked more closely at the elven man trying to size him up. I had seen him yesterday spying on me, but this was the first time I got a good look at him. He had bluish-purple skin with purple hair. At first, I thought he had jewelry in his hair, but a closer look revealed that the hair itself had been crystalized somehow. A gauntlet with magical disks floating around it appeared to be the only weapon or armor he had. That I could see at least. I refused to believe his story about aliens, but I could understand the aura thing being an accident. I had done much the same thing when I had created my legendary painting which had inadvertently revived the demon lord. That still didn¡¯t mean I would forgive him for it. Losa was still in a coma. The man continued to stare at me noticeably doing his best and failing not to look at anything other than my face. Strangely, even now, I felt nothing about being nude in front of him. ¡°I won¡¯t forgive you. But I¡¯ll leave you alone for the time being, on one condition.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Maxwell asked, his expression brightening a little. I could assume that meant he was afraid of me and my forces, but it could also be a poker face. To lure me into a false sense of security. ¡°If my imp, Losa dies. I promise, I will hunt you to the ends of this world and whatever other world might exist in your alien¡¯s database and kill you repeatedly.¡± ¡°Then I better look into ways to heal a demon,¡± Maxwell replied, though his voice was a bit shaken. I took that as a win for now. I huffed with a glare at him then turned and walked away from the annoying person. I would leave them alone, but I would make sure that if the time came, I would have enough strength to crush everything precious to him. I licked my lips as the thought was more appealing than I thought it would be. I had always been pushed around in my life on Earth. If I was truly stuck here for good, that would not happen again. A growl pulled me from my thoughts. I looked up at Varroth. He rubbed his head up against me much like a dog would. I rang my hand through his coarse and still slightly blood matted fur. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I said giving him one more petting. He licked my face before making his way back to his room while I rejoined the others. ¡°Are you alright, my queen?¡± Roland asked. I smiled and shrugged at his question. ¡°Not really, but there¡¯s really nothing you all can do about it.¡± I sighed before slapping my face to clear my head. ¡°I¡¯ve struck a ceasefire of sorts with Maxwell. Leave his people alone for the time being.¡± ¡°What of the goblins?¡± Carson asked. I turned to take in the Goblin Champion that he held down. The massive brute of a goblin looked more like an ogre. His muscles bulged to ridiculous proportions. His strength was on another level, but he lacked any intelligence from what I could tell. The captains easily outpaced him in that department. ¡°We will not have anyone telling us who or what we¡¯re allowed to hunt. As for these guys,¡± I paused as I thought about it. I could drain them here and now, but that would be short term. I had already drained one of the captains. I needed to start thinking long term. With more vampires populating the dungeon every day, I would soon start to run into food issues. ¡°I¡¯m going to build a prison for them. That will allow us to keep them and use them for more than a onetime meal.¡± ¡°As you command,¡± Carson replied with a head nod. He couldn¡¯t bow right now due to holding the Champion with his magic. I had already memorized the sigil floating around his hand that allowed him to create bindings of blood. Since I had access to blood magic, I was able to use the same magic. Without any other issues to handle for the time being, I left the entrance and headed into the spiral area. I now had a job to do in constructing a prison for creatures that we captured. My spiral was getting nice and large, but I felt that the three circles I had so far were too close to the core room for my taste. Making my way to the other side of the dungeon that I hadn¡¯t worked on much, I started carving a new path while installing traps. It wasn¡¯t long before I had a hundred meter stretch of tunnel that was nothing short of a corridor of death. At the end was a fifty-by-fifty-meter room that was three floors. I had cells that were just a bit larger than a meter cubed. There was a stone cot in each room. There was a fountain at the back of the main room that my future jailors would use to water my future guests. Food would be an issue, but I had access to the forest now. I¡¯m sure we could find a few sources here and there. With the entire thing being constructed out of Demon brick, my prisoners would suffer mental anguish which would keep them beaten down. I did construct a section that was just normal bricks. That section would be used for prisoners that were valuable to me for one reason or another. I might be a dungeon, but it looked like I had plenty of opportunities to act like a village or country. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°I¡¯m a bit evil it would seem,¡± I mumbled as I leaned against the wall once I was done. I thought about everything I¡¯d done up to this point and then even further back. Thinking about it, my former boyfriends had complained that I was a bit too sadistic for them. Vague memories of when I first played the game had been coming back to me lately. While I hadn¡¯t enjoyed drinking from humans, I hadn¡¯t cared too much about the animals and monsters that I¡¯d drained. Other than the blood drinking, I had been fairly evil in my actions. Sticking to the vampire troupe of attacking in the night and so on. ¡°I might just be a bad person,¡± I said then snorted. What did it matter? I guess I was trapped here forever. Even if the man had been lying, there was still the fact that the NPCs weren¡¯t calling the Game masters when I asked them, rather it was like the game masters had never existed in the first place. I shook my head trying to clear the thoughts. ¡°Time to paint. I need a change of pace.¡± ~~~ Laying on my back in the middle of the prison floor, I stared at the ceiling. I had gotten carried away again. Not that I minded. The trance had let me turn off my brain for a few hours and just ignore the world and all the problems that I was dealing with. I was covered in paint and in need of a bath. A state I was actually very familiar with. ¡°My queen,¡± Roland called. Tilting my head back without moving, I saw him standing in the entrance of the prison. I had thrown off his coat at some point and was completely naked in front of him. Even so, he appeared nonplused about my state of attire. ¡°What is it, Roland?¡± I asked, rolling over and putting my chin in my hand. ¡°You¡¯ve created quite the masterpiece,¡± he said glancing around the room. I looked back up at the ceiling with a grin. Even in my trance I had made sure not to focus on any one being. I¡¯d rather not revive any more demon lords. Instead, I considered what the room was going to be used for. That lead to the creation of a mural depicting equal amounts of suffering and pleasure. Since the vampires would be drinking blood in here which was pleasurable, I wanted to take that into account. There were some touches of Vlad the Impaler along with a few other famous vampires. I had been diverse and giving all the fantasy races I could think of representation in the heads that were impaled in the mural. My vampires stood under the heads, showering in blood that poured out on them. Looking it over again, I nodded to myself. Yeah, I was mentally unbalanced. ¡°Thank you, Roland.¡± I held out my hand. He came over and helped me to my feet. ¡°I have a few matters to attend to for the dungeon. Feel free to start bringing anything you capture here.¡± He gave me a bow. ¡°As you wish.¡± He then handed me a glowing crystal that felt different from a mana stone. ¡°An activation crystal. This was heavily guarded by the goblins and seemed quite precious to them.¡± I took the crystal and played with it for a second. Even its texture felt strange. ¡°I see. Good work.¡± Looking at the mural, its description popped up like my other paintings had so far. The Border between Suffering and Pleasure ¨C You have created a work of art that will shake the very mind of anyone that sees it. Being a dungeon core, the artwork is endued with magic allowing it to persist through the ages of time. Bloodletting will automatically stop before the creature dies while blood consumed with be worth twice its actual value. That was just what I wanted. It would prevent my vampires from accidently killing anyone, at least I hoped. The more vampires I summoned, the more food I¡¯m going to have to find for them. I grabbed Roland¡¯s coat off the ground and threw it back over my shoulders. An interesting fact about my body that I hadn¡¯t noticed at first, was that the six leathery wings I got from when I became a Night Lord, folded up nicely when I wore the coat taking up only a few centimeters worth of space. I wasn¡¯t used to the appendages; thus, I had completely forgot about them until I needed to fly while painting. Making my way back to the core room, I was soon standing next to the coffin. Losa remained asleep with no indication that he would awake any time soon. All his wounds had been healed and I¡¯d tried to make him as comfortable as possible. I was worried that something had happened to his soul or more likely his programming. Sighing, I left the coffin and took a seat in my chair. Last night had gotten the dungeon a level along with a few other goodies. The Crystal outcrop for one had fallen into my aura. I had to see what bonus that had afforded me. I planned to select the next vampire level as well. I started with that and pulled up the summons menu list. At first, I thought it was exactly the same as last time. That was until I was about to select Vampire ¨C Knight. There was another option under it. Paragon Vampire ¨C Knight. If I remembered right, paragon meant perfect or peak. I groaned and put my head in my hands. ¡°Losa. I wish you were here,¡± I moaned. Rubbing my eyes, I returned to the list. I had no idea if it was a good idea considering everything I¡¯d done so far had been down the evil path. Not that I really cared, I just worried that people might try to eliminate me in the future. Though as a player, I bet that would be hard without game masters to regulate the situation. Licking my lips, I decided to take the plunge. I selected the Paragon option. A spark of pain rippled through my head but passed quickly. Pain was becoming more common in this stupid place. I rubbed my head then took a look at my summoning menu. The cost to summon one was mindboggling. Nearly four times that of my Greater Vampires. Checking my stock of mana stones, I debated on how to proceed. I could summon several more Greaters, but the difference in strength between my Greaters and the normal had already been extreme. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder just how strong a single Paragon vampire Knight would be. Since I couldn¡¯t come to a decision, I closed the summoning menu for the moment and turned to the other section. The Crimson crystal outcrop bonus. Like Losa had explained, the crystals themselves could be used in making magical equipment and higher-grade materials. I couldn¡¯t outright create them with mana. The place of power was required to grow them. I could however, pump mana into the area to accelerate their growth if I was in a rush. As for the bonus, I got a ten percent discount on all summoning spells. That felt like a full on cheat for a dungeon core, but the fact that the cost for the Paragon was that high even after the discount was being applied, I greatly appreciated the bonus. I had barely scratched the surface with the vampire line. The next level would only be more expensive. While I was looking through my status, Carson walked into the core room. ¡°Prisoners are secure, my queen.¡± ¡°Good. Find out what they eat and organize a party of vampires to hunt. I¡¯ll leave you and Harvey in charge of them.¡± ¡°As you command.¡± I watched him go before turning back to the menu. Reopening the summoning menu, I activated my Death sight. Moving through the dungeon, I focused a dozen rooms. In the first three, I set four points for Worg spawning. They were cheap and efficient when I came to hunting in the forest. In the next three, I created Ghoul spawning points. They were vampire ghouls and not zombie ghouls thankfully, and while they were frenzied, they weren¡¯t too hard on the eyes or nose. After that, I created two demon and two more vampire spawn points. They might be low leveled and lack intelligence, but they served well as shock troops. It never hurt to have more of them. For the last two rooms, I created Greater Vampire spawning points. Completely emptying most of my mana in the process. It would take about three days for a Greater vampire to spawn, but it doesn¡¯t require me to devote another drop of mana to them. I called for Frederick once I was completed. The roguish vampire appeared a few minutes later without a sound. ¡°You called, my queen?¡± ¡°Yes. Take all the Worgs and begin mapping the forest. I want to know all the enemies we have around us.¡± ¡°As you command.¡± He vanished into the darkness as if he was part of it. Leaning back, I thought about what to do next. Chapter 27 Maxwell Watching Aurora storm away, I was honestly left speechless. Heal a demon? How the hell was I supposed to do that. Hell, I didn¡¯t even know what was wrong with the creature. How could I possible find a way to heal him? I groaned before teleporting back to the village. The activities for the day had already started. I made note of the time since the next batch of newcomers would be arriving in a few minutes. With a bit of looking, I found Rowena eating breakfast. I took a seat next to her at the bench not holding back my grunt. ¡°So¡­ how¡¯d it go?¡± she asked slowly sipping her soup. ¡°Not¡­ Not well,¡± I replied shaking my head. I was about to get up to get some food when the cook brought me over a dish. ¡°Thanks!¡± I dug in enjoying the added flavors. The hunters and gathers must have found some spices to add to the meal. I explained what happened in between bites of bread and meat. ¡°It sucks, but we just have to stay the course. Prepare for the worst, but stay the course.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± We lapsed into silence for a while as we ate. ¡°By the way. Do you know anything about healing demons?¡± ¡°What? No. You need a warlock for that sort of thing.¡± ¡°I feared as much. You¡¯ve played for a bit longer than me. Any players you might want to invite here?¡± ¡°Funny. No. None of the people I had on my friends list are in the game. Must have been out when the transfer happened.¡± The thought of Earth seemed so distant. I couldn¡¯t believe that it had already been almost five days. Each day grew weirder if I were being honest. ¡°Alright. You going to commune?¡± ¡°Yep. I¡¯ll see you in a bit,¡± Rowena picked up her bowl and left. I finished my meal as well then teleported up to the Gate. I timed it just right as the transfer was taking place when I arrived. We got thirty people even this time. I had them group up before I teleported us back to the village and handed them off to the Commander. He would work with them to make sure they went where they were needed. That was my main job for the morning, and I was suddenly left without anything to do. I could go over and help gather resources, but they were coming along nicely with the new mine and quarry. There was heading out to hunt so I could level up some. I¡¯d rather wait for Rowena to do that. I rubbed the back of my head then decided to teleport up to my look out just to get some fresh air. Looking down over the village and forest, I was pleased with how far we¡¯d come in less than a week. A solid village with a decent wall carved its place in the world. It went without saying, that I wanted to do everything I could to protect it. The problem was the sight I witnessed last night. We might have called a truce for the moment, but if something happened to her imp, we would have to contend with those monsters ourselves. Worse even as I had no doubt that she was working to increase her strength by the moment as well. I needed to go over my options and decide which path to take. The NPCs could be improved. Because of my Magic-Works options, I only needed mana to make it happen. With over sixty dark elves arriving daily to the village, I could potentially raise a fairly decent army quickly. I just needed time and mana to make it happen. The next option was to find more players and gather them in my village. Lordship couldn¡¯t be directly taken from a player, but that didn¡¯t mean my village couldn¡¯t be burned to the ground. If another Lord attacked me that was when I would be in danger of losing my holdings. Besides, I doubted anyone would help us for free. I might be a lord, but I was flat broke otherwise. Another option would be to head to a larger hub of civilization and gather items that might be able to help us. Higher quality materials or even a cart full of mana stones. I wouldn¡¯t even have to worry about transporting them here since I could teleport back here in an instant. The Transcendence Teleportation didn¡¯t appear to have a distance limit though the longer the distance, the more mana it cost. Choices, choices¡­ I would need to consult Rowena before I decided anything to permanent. For now, I would just keep working on the village. I stood up from the ledge and dusted my robe off when I glaring red notification popped up in my view. Village under attack! I groaned in anger. Surely, the imp hadn¡¯t passed away! We weren¡¯t ready for her if that was the case. I resolved to sacrifice myself to protect the villagers. I might have to die a few times, but as long as they were alive and well, it was worth it. I teleported down to the village center where I asked where the attack was coming from. The informed the gate to the east which was near Aurora¡¯s dungeon. I ground my teeth and teleported again. I had to admit, I was shocked by what I saw. A goblin force that had to be at least a hundred strong stood arrayed neatly outside the edge of my territory. A strangely dressed goblin rode a wolf toward the back. ¡°My liege. It is not safe here,¡± Commander Telmu warned at my appearance. ¡°If they breach the wall, it doesn¡¯t matter where I am.¡± He looked like he wanted to argue but stopped himself. I took the fact that they hadn¡¯t attacked yet as a good sign. I stepped up to the edge of the wall and cleared my throat. ¡°What is the meaning of this!?¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The strangely dressed goblin moved his wolf to the front. The more I looked, the harder it was to focus on him. He had on a plate chest piece, along with what looked like a tunic pair of pants. A dozen different pieces of jewelry decorated his neck and fingers. ¡°Are you the one that attacked me last night!?¡± His accent threw me for a loop. It was British. ¡°No. We had no part in that assault.¡± ¡°If it wasn¡¯t you, then who!?¡± he demanded. I struggled for a moment then decided I had no reason to withhold the truth. ¡°A dungeon near here sent her forces out against your village.¡± His excitement flared but quickly faded. ¡°A dungeon, you say. That could complicate matters.¡± ¡°Excuse me. I just have to ask. Are you from London?¡± ¡°You know about London. Then you are a player.¡± He moved his gaze over my wall and the people manning it. ¡°Did you have to establish your village so close to me?¡± ¡°It was sort of an accident.¡± He started laughing nearly falling off his wolf. ¡°I¡¯d heard rumors of players accidently using the Founding skill. I guess its true!¡± ¡°Yep.¡± My mind was moving a mile a minute. I had my one month protection. That was likely why he was holding his ground and not attacking in the first place. I needed to find a way to extend that. ¡°Hey. Would you be open to talks?¡± ¡°Diplomacy¡­¡± he sighed. ¡°I made a goblin lord for a reason. Diplomacy just doesn¡¯t sit well with me.¡± ¡°Sure. I get that, but that was before the world sort of became real. Couldn¡¯t you reconsider just this once?¡± I felt like I was grasping for straws. I really couldn¡¯t afford to have two players as my enemies before I even get established. He crossed his arms and seemed to consider that. ¡°You have a point.¡± He glanced behind me and I realized he was looking at the mountain rather than my village. Perhaps he needed something from the mountains. Resources? The metal nodes did spawn more often along the foot of the mountain. ¡°We can work out a trade deal or something,¡± I suggested. He climbed down from his wolf. ¡°We might be able to work something out.¡± The flapping of wings accompanied by a shadow signaled Rowena¡¯s arrival on Greavefeather. The giant bird landed and Rowena hopped off. ¡°I¡¯m here to help!¡± ¡°Thanks, but we¡¯re not fighting.¡± I looked over to the player goblin. ¡°Are we?¡± I knew I had my protection, but that didn¡¯t mean that there wasn¡¯t a way around it that we didn¡¯t know about. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time there was a glitch that allowed people to break things. ¡°No. I believe we have other problems.¡± He climbed back onto his wolf. ¡°I will be back, but I have to go deal with something.¡± Since the situation had calmed down, I asked. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°Our mutual friend is attacking one of my outposts.¡± ¡°Damn. Good luck. I¡¯m Maxwell. By the way.¡± ¡°Razz Skullhammer.¡± I nodded. He turned away to leave his forces turning skillfully with him. Thinking fast, I quickly sent a friend request to him. We could still talk over the friend system. Even if we eventually became enemies, we might be able to work out something in the future. The goblin army was quickly out of sight. Just from the few minutes of watching, I was impressed at how skilled they were able to move through the forest without issue. Once they were out of sight, I leaned against the wall resting my head on my arms. ¡°Son of a B.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t so bad.¡± ¡°I thought the crazy vampire chick was going to be hard enough. Now there is another lord player in the area.¡± Rowena reached out and patted my shoulder. ¡°Hardcore mode, right.¡± I laughed and shook my head. ¡°This has been fun, but we need to level up¡­ a lot.¡± ¡°Not sure I want to risk leaving the village.¡± ¡°That Razz guy looked pretty high level, has an army, and was sporting some decent gear. It might be better to get your level up to confront the leader. Don¡¯t forget the vampire.¡± ¡°How can I?¡± I asked with a groan. She wasn¡¯t wrong though. I needed to get my level up as quickly as possible. I did have an advantage in that department. My Spatial Tear was basically an aspect free attack that did way more damage than a character my level should be able to get away with. If we moved to some high-level hunting grounds, we could really speed up the leveling process. More levels meant more mana for me to spend on my village. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s get to work.¡± Commander Telmu caught me before I teleported us away. ¡°My liege. A few of us would like accompany you. We would have only held that army for a few minutes at most.¡± He ground his teeth as he made a fist. ¡°We are maddened about our own weakness.¡± I had already planned for Rowena to take some of the soldiers out on her hunting trips. Adding me to the equation only made their likelihood of survival better. Adding them to the equation, made sure that I came back alive as well. So, it was a win-win in my mind. ¡°Sure. I would love to have you come with us. Chose ten soldiers that you want to accompany us and we¡¯ll head out in ten minutes.¡± ¡°Right away, my liege!¡± ¡°He¡¯s a good commander,¡± Rowena said as we watched him start to call for the individuals. ¡°Right! I was happy at how well he took to the position. Its only been a few days, and I have to say I¡¯m impressed.¡± ¡°Speaking of leveling, I understand why the monster levels are so low in the area now. If that Razz guy has been culling the monsters for some time now, then of course the overall levels in the area would decrease. If his place is high enough level, he might have had players spawning there.¡± ¡°Shit.¡± ¡°What?¡± Rowena asked, surprised by my exclamation. I rubbed the back of my head as another headache formed. ¡°I didn¡¯t think about other players! He could have an entire guild on his side.¡± ¡°Yeah. That certainly will make things harder.¡± Telmu didn¡¯t use more than two minutes to call for the team. After consulting with Rowena, I quickly teleported us to the furthest location we¡¯d been. After that, we headed deeper into the forest. I was impressed with how much she knew of the area. Even if she said she was scouting, there was still a difference between a good scout and a bad one. She led us to all the monster dens in the area without fail. I was happy when the first location was another Greg den. I couldn¡¯t use Void Discourse due to the soldiers with us. It wouldn¡¯t make much sense if we brought them and then made them sit on the sidelines. Instead, we used our numbers to form a shield wall and attacked from the front. A few well-placed fireballs kept the Gregs from fleeing while my Spatial Tears did the heavy lifting of injuring the monsters. Greavefeather chased the few that managed to escape the enclosure. Rowena and the other soldiers worked well together. I did note that larger shields would be a good upgrade as the wolf-type monsters were able to bite at the defenders ankles. It usually resulted in a shield bash or a sword jab, but it was something that could be avoided. The sound of barking, growling along with the grunts and yells of my soldiers filled the air for a good three or four minutes before the fight finally came to a close as I nailed the leader Greg in the face with a Spatial Tear. Telmu helped a man up that had a good chunk of his leg torn out. After he removed the torn parts of the man¡¯s pants from the wound and cleaned it, he called for a potion. I watched in a bit of fascination as the wound sealed up before my eyes. When I asked if the first part of the process was needed, it made perfect sense that healing a wound with dirt and pieces of pants in it would cause issues later. I simply nodded and tried to hide the fact that I wanted to hit myself. ¡°Alright. To the next one,¡± I said cracking my back once all the looting was done. ¡°Follow me!¡± Rowena called heading into the forest. If every fight took this long, we could potentially make a lot of gains today. Thinking about my troubles, I really hoped that we made a lot of gains today. Chapter 28 Aurora I swung the steel sword, not sure how to feel. It was¡­ okay to my untrained eye and hand. I knew Hez and York had said they would need practice to improve their skills. It might just be my annoyance at my situation that was leaking over into my judgement of their work. I took a few calming breaths before handing the weapon back to Hez. The walls of the room were black from soot while the Forge appeared heavily worked. I had to give them some credit, but my face refused to cooperate along with my mouth. ¡°I certainly hope that the next batch is better than this,¡± I said glancing between the two of them with a glare. ¡°Yes! Definitely!¡± York said backing a few steps away from me. ¡°Good. I want my parties to come back from their hunts. They need good weapons and armor.¡± ¡°Of course. We¡¯ll start on the next batch right now.¡± I nodded then made for the next room. Another forge sat against the wall, though this one was much less worked. A Greater Demon with four arms hammered away at a piece of armor. He had a name. I couldn¡¯t pronounce it for the life of me. I just stuck with Gel. He was working with Steel as well, and looked to be having a much easier time of it. Part of me wondered if I should summon a higher level creature to replace Hez and York, I just felt that would be wrong of me. Two suits of plate armor stood on the other side of the room. I walked over to examine them and couldn¡¯t help but feel that something was missing. After a few seconds, I realized there was no coat of arms. Most of the games and movies I¡¯d seen usually had a symbol on the chest piece or pauldrons to represent to whom they belonged. Thinking about it, I decided that I needed a crest. I was a Night Queen. While right now my queendom was nothing more than a hole in the ground, who knew what the future held. Reaching out, I used my nail to carve a moon with a fang across the front of it. I added a drop of blood from the fang. Once the outline was done, I added color, making the moon and drop red, and the fang snow white. Coat of Arms ¨C Morale increased by ten percent when wore by a member of your side. Well. That was a happy bonus. I moved over and added the symbol to the other set of armor. Sadly, it wasn¡¯t an automatic process, but the simple crest only took me a minute or two to make. A hiss came from the forge, I turned to find Gel dipping the armor piece he was working on into a barrel of oil. Gel folded his four massive arms and bowed his head. ¡°My queen.¡± ¡°Gel. This is some fine workmanship. Perhaps you should give the two next-door some tips,¡± I said admiring the helmet in his hand. ¡°I could with the metal. Not the weapons. Different disciplines.¡± Gel¡¯s deep voice was a pleasant listen. Even if I didn¡¯t like what I heard. ¡°I see. Then keep it up then.¡± I left without waiting for his reply. Passing through two rooms, I came to where my clothworker. The man had only a few bolts of fabric to work with given that we only had access to level zero cloth that wasn¡¯t much better than toilet paper, and level three cloth which cost more than a Greater vampire for a single bolt of half a meter. I¡¯m not even sure if that qualified as a bolt of fabric at that point. ¡°What you got for me, Zin?¡± I asked as I walked into the room. There were a variety of dresses and clothes hanging from the walls, but they were from the crap fabric. I wouldn¡¯t even let one of my lower vampires wear them, even if they looked nice. ¡°My queen! I¡¯ve¡­ I¡¯ve done my best, but this was the best I could do.¡± He brought over what could only be called lingerie. There was just enough fabric that it could almost be called a nightgown. None of this changed the fact that it was designed to highlight my body in a way that nudity almost didn¡¯t. Still, it was better than being completely naked. I didn¡¯t mind but interacting with people outside the dungeon would become increasingly difficult if they couldn¡¯t keep their eyes off the goods. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Thank you, Zin. This is fine work for what little material you had. When I have a bit of spare mana, I will make sure to send it your way.¡± ¡°Forget mana. Just give me something better than this shit to work with,¡± he complained with a disgusted face as he held up a tunic. ¡°Sure thing.¡± I left the still complaining Zin after I dressed and made my way back to the core room. I found Roland waiting for me in front of my chair. ¡°My queen.¡± I moved over and sat down before I addressed him. ¡°Roland. What is going on?¡± ¡°I am about to take some of the vampires to attack the cave outpost. With our attack on the surface, they might not suspect us to attack again so soon.¡± I considered his idea then nodded in agreement. ¡°Alright. Do it. Let¡¯s keep them on their toes.¡± ¡°Excellent. I was hoping I could take Varroth with us.¡± ¡°Of course. I¡¯m sure he¡¯d much rather be tearing through some goblins then sitting in his room.¡± ¡°As you say. He is a formidable force and excellent ally to have on the field of battle.¡± I leaned back a shrug. ¡°If you say so. I¡¯m sort of stuck down here so I¡¯ll take your word for it.¡± ¡°Then I shall depart within the hour.¡± He stood up and left the core room. Once I was alone, I debated what to do with myself. I had barely any mana to play with currently. That might change once the attack began and my vampires began channeling the mana from the goblins¡¯ deaths to me, but that left me twiddling my thumbs until then. I could go paint. That always took my mind off things. I just worried about going into a trance. I had a plenty of blank rooms that needed to have a purpose assigned to them. Getting up, I decided that was what I wanted to do. Mainly because I was still covered in paint from my session an hour ago. Turning, I checked up on Losa, but found him the same. I stroked his check then headed for the back of the core room. A set of rooms separate from the main spiral were back here. These were for rooms that I planned to devote to myself. At some point, I planned to create a bedroom for¡­ various purposes. For now, I went to the back and carved out a large opening. Smoothing the stone out, I added a few designs to make it nice looking. Nothing too amazing since I might lose it if I got too carried away. After that, I used some mana to fill it with water. I used a trap to cause a low-grade flame to heat the water. It was a good thing that I learned the basic magics from Carson. Putting some finishing touches on the bath, I admired my handy work before undressing. I ignored the irony that I had only worn them for a few minutes, as I got into the water. Submerging up to my shoulders, I greatly enjoyed the warm water against my skin. I would worry about actually cleaning myself in a bit. While I floated, I used a dark spell I learned from Carson. Clairvoyance. I had an easier time of it since my Death Sight worked similar. The main constraint was that I had to have a good idea of what or who I¡¯m looking for. I couldn¡¯t just randomly set the view outside. I set my sight on Roland. A moment later, a swirling dark mirror formed in front of me. It reminded me of a low-quality television. Roland marched with the other Greaters and Varroth toward the entrance to the Goblin outpost. The vampires moved through the shadows, while Varroth just charged down the tunnel like a made beast. The goblin guards panicked and were unable to do anything as the Greater demon slammed violently into the gate crushing one of the guards in the process. The gate held against the impact, but Carson fixed that with a shard of black ice that caused the gate to explode into a dozen pieces. Varroth charged through the new opening and attacked the first thing that came near him. Roland and the others entered the outpost as well but kept to the shadows leaving Varroth to the goblins. I was starting to get angry at his actions. Varroth wasn¡¯t immortal. He could take a lot of punishment sure, but that didn¡¯t mean they should use him as a meat shield. I fumed until I realized that he was positioning his troops to cause the most damage. I remembered that this was why I summoned him. He had the system gifted knowledge of how to conduct war. The next half hour, I enjoyed the sight of goblins dying by the dozen. In the darkened world of the cave, my vampires were boss. They moved with almost impunity among the confused goblins. I also found that I was getting more mana than the attack on the village. It looked like I lost some mana over the distance. The goblin outpost ran red with blood. Roland had even started gathering some prisoners to bring back to the dungeon. I would really need to reward him when he returned. Looking over the Greaters, I saw that their steel weapons had taken quite a bit of damage. Roland had even broken his sword. I would need to figure something out about that. Even if it meant summoning new blacksmiths. A goblin yell came from the other side of the cavern. As Roland turned to look at the new threat, I saw a small army of well-armed goblins heading toward my vampires. I was forced to only watch. A strangely dressed goblin riding a wolf kept his goblins from rushing forward, making them move in an organized line. I started trying to command Roland to retreat even though he couldn¡¯t hear me. His force had already lost over half of the normal vampires. I¡¯d rather he not lose many more. Even more so, I¡¯d rather him not lose any of the Greaters. Even without being able to hear me, he ordered for a retreat back to the dungeon. I jumped out of the bath then called for all the monsters that were capable of fighting to head to the tunnel leading to the outpost. A force like that might consider pursuing my vampires back to where they came. It didn¡¯t help that I had a bad feeling about the goblin leading them. Going by his strange clothes, it was possible he was an event character, or worse, a player. My traps might not be able to stop him. Chapter 29 Maxwell I tried not to wrinkle my nose as I sniffed my clothes. I hadn¡¯t really thought about it, but it had been nearly six days since I had a bath. I might not even have thought about it still if it weren¡¯t for the fact that the blood from an ant-type monster had been splattered all over me. That was how I found myself in the bathhouse I built for the citizens in the evening. Enjoying the bath was¡­ hard. I knew some places had open baths were people came and went, but for me, I found it hard to bath comfortably with people coming and going all the time. I managed to last four minutes before I got out. Dressing in a new robe that one of the artisans crafted, I couldn¡¯t help but enjoy the texture. Some of the hunters had found some animals that produced level one cloth. The process was more involved than I expected but thankfully, I only had to nod my head and say good job after they had explained everything to me. The whole situation was a boon really. I had trained up a woman to be a clothworker more to make sure the clothes we already had stayed in good repair. Thus, when we got back today from our leveling session and was presented with a decent robe, I would be lying if I said I wasn¡¯t excited. The blacksmiths were also hard at work practicing their craft. Steel was quickly becoming our most used metal. The only drawback was that the mine was having trouble keeping up with the requirements of the village. There were still hundreds of buildings that I wanted constructed and using the metal for war was seriously draining my expansion department. Our hunting yielded close to fifty mana stones. A nice haul until I looked at the cost of level two buildings again. If I forwent any new buildings, I could barely afford to upgrade three of my existing buildings. After the attack by the Worgs and the near attack of the goblins, I really wanted to invest in upgrading the wall, but that was an expense that I was holding off on as long as possible. It might only be ten mana stones, but at the same time it was ten mana stones that could be put to work elsewhere. Walking out of the bathhouse, I enjoyed the evening air on my flushed face. It was mid-summer here meaning the days were hot. The evening cool was a nice chance of pace that I only noticed today. The longer I was here, the more¡­ real it felt. I knew that this was my new reality, but at the same time, part of me wondered if the rug would be pulled out from under me where I would wake up having not studied for my accounting class test. I chuckled at my own foolishness. My headset was a low-end model. I would have long since died from dehydration if I was actually stuck in the game. It was possible that I was hooked up to an IV, but even then, anyone could have just turned the headset off. Nothing in it could prevent them from doing so. Plenty of games and books had scared enough people to make sure the headsets were unable to kill people when being used. Shaking my head, I turned toward the manor. I could have teleported back, but the evening was nice. Not to mention that I had paid for the streets, I might as well get some use out of them myself. The street was comfortable to walk on. I could sense a low-level magic in the background whenever I focused on the walkway. My citizens waved or bowed their heads with callings of my liege as I walked. I waved back politely. Everyone had a roof over their head and were well fed. My village¡¯s happiness was in a good place. While there was impending war on our horizon, the outlook was good. Razz appeared to be focused on Aurora for the time being. I just had to work hard to make sure I¡¯m ready to take on whoever the winner of the conflict. Speaking of, I opened my status to look over my gains from the day again. I managed to gain three whole levels. Not bad given the cliff that Rowena spoke about. The NPCs that came with us also gained anywhere from one to three levels. Their required experience wasn¡¯t anywhere near ours. Unlike a lot of games, there wasn¡¯t a lot of extra. There were no hard stats. I just got access to more mana to play with. Which came in handy when upgrading close to a hundred and sixty people. I was impressed the number had grown so much in just a few short days. We would break two hundred after tonight and tomorrow mornings arrivals were added to the count. I soon arrived back at the manor. While I worried about sleeping, since my main advisory operated at night, if I didn¡¯t get some sleep, I would find myself regretting it. This game liked realism in certain parts and thus sleep was important. I found that Rowena had already retired for the night. Of the two of us, she had to be exhausted. She stayed in the frontline for most of the day only swapping with Telmu when I had basically forced her. Retiring to my room, I dropped onto the bed. Staring at the ceiling, ideas, worries, plans, and all manner of thoughts kept me awake even as I tried to drown it all out. Eventually, I got to the point where I pulled open the construction menu and just browsed. There were hundreds of buildings which while I had gone through many of them, it felt like there were news ones every time I checked it again. The action also made me feel a bit nostalgic from my life before this when I would lay in bed and browse my many apps¡¯ feed. The thought of hours upon hours being wasted scrolling through those now seemingly silly things brought a smile to my lips. Most of it might have been stupid or pointless, but I would be lying if I said much of it hadn¡¯t been funny. I was about halfway through the list, not even really paying attention when I found a building that I was sure hadn¡¯t been there before. A temple. I guessed that now that there was something that could be worshipped, it had been added to the menu by the system. I thought about the woman I saved from the void. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Our interaction hadn¡¯t been exactly extensive. I had nothing to go on other than she had been sealed and that Voasis was the Goddess of the Void. My fear was that if I constructed the temple to her and it turns out she requires sacrifices, or my people get twisted into some horrific monstrosity. That said, there was a good chance that Aurora was involved with Rezdona given her dungeon¡¯s title. It might be good to have some holy backup. There was a chance that my city could become even stronger divine ground and prevent her forces from even thinking of entering my domain. I decided to put it on hold for the moment. My trusted advisor was asleep and this was something that could heavily impact my village¡¯s development. I¡¯d rather get her take on the matter. Continuing down the list, I came to another building that sparked my interest. It was the Adventurers¡¯ Guild. Looking over the details, I could hire people to complete various goals. My problem was that it appeared to require gold. Both for its construct and for hiring people. I wrote it off and continued down the list. There had to be something that I could use to really make a difference in the situation I was in. After a bit of browsing, I came to a structure called the Rune Works. The initial cost was twenty mana stones which blew me away. That was quite the investment. That said, it would allow us to enchant our weapons, buildings, hell, even the people. One path that could be taken was Runic Tattooing. An applied tattoo could increase various stats permanently. I hesitated for a few minutes debating the pros and cons of it. In the end, I decided that it was a worthy investment. We needed something like this to give us an edge. When I selected the building, the map came up like normal only a myriad of lines crisscrossing over head were also shown. With nothing to go on, I assumed the lines were needed for the runes. I held my breath and chose a spot that had seven lines nearly touching. I hopped out of bed before getting dressed. I was wide awake, might as well check out my new building. I teleported over to the structure and admired it from the outside for a minute. Three crystals the size of a full-grown man floated over the building. They were changed together, and I could feel the energy being pumped into the building. The structure itself stuck to the village aesthetic with slightly purple runed metal forming a three-story building. Walking inside, I found dozens of worktables and benches with tools I had no idea to what they did. It all looked fascinating though. I walked over to the nearest bench and picked up what appeared to be a schematic book. As opened the book, a prompt appeared in my vision. Learn Rune crafting? I hadn¡¯t given much thought to that area of the game yet. If I remembered correctly, I was limited to one craft at a time. You could unlearn a craft, but it was expensive. I bit my lip before taking the plunge and clicking yes. Another prompt appeared. Choose Specialization Individual Company Extra- Void A few basic runes flooded into my mind that appeared to be for everyone. I had to take a seat or risk falling over from the headache that assaulted me. I selected Void. It hadn¡¯t led me wrong yet. If I steered far enough into the skid, I might unlock something truly amazing. Or get myself damned for eternity. I hadn¡¯t written that off as a possibility. Picking the book back up, I skimmed through the initial runes. They were all personal runes that you would draw on your clothes or weapons to briefly increase your strength or speed. Useful, but not what I was really looking for. After the initial ten runes, I came to a purplish-blue section. Void Rune ¨C Imprisonment Void Rune ¨C Silence Void Rune ¨C Anti-Life Void Rune ¨C Toxin of the Beyond I tried to turn to the next page, but no matter how I tried, I couldn¡¯t get the page to turn. Giving up, I figured I either needed to level up my craft or the building. I glanced at the building¡¯s cost to upgrade and nearly coughed blood. A whopping two hundred mana stones and more of the Vix crystals that the Gate needed. I decided that I would play with the Runes I got for the moment before looking for even more. ~~~ I stirred back to the wakeful when a ray of light landed on my face. Groaning from stiffness, I found myself laying on the workbench. I must have fallen asleep sometime during the night while going over my new skills. I yawned and cracked my back as I stood up planning to head to get some breakfast. Before I left, the door opened and Bearus, the man that had been a scholar in his previous life walked in. ¡°My liege. I must say I was surprised last night.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± I tried to remember what all I did after I learned my runes. It came back to me after a few seconds. I had made him and a few others into Runesmiths. They had to have high intelligence, not to mention, it had cost a considerable amount of mana to transfer the proper skills and classes to them. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I trust you¡¯ll make the best of the situation.¡± ¡°I shall. I also have a message from Lady Rowena. A gentleman named Razz is at the gate and would like to speak with you.¡± That woke me up! I rubbed my face to remove the last traces of sleep before teleporting over to the Gate. It was times like this I was glad about which specialization I chose. I might only be able to teleport to places I¡¯d been before or that were within sight, but even that was a blessing. Appearing on top of the gate, I found Telmu and Rowena standing tensely. Looking out from the gate, I found Razz and only a small party of goblins accompanying him. The only issue was that they were all players. While they all looked like they hadn¡¯t seen much sleep, Razz looked like he¡¯d just come from the battlefield. His armor was in tatters. It appeared as if something with very large teeth had used him as a chew toy. ¡°Maxwell! Good morning!¡± Razz called up. ¡°Is it?¡± I asked actually feeling a bit bad of the man. He gave me a terse short laugh. ¡°No. I guess it isn¡¯t.¡± He exhaled a long slow breath. ¡°Listen. We need to talk.¡± He reached out and a table appeared from nothingness. You had to love the storage system of the game. Though to store something like that, he has to have upgraded his just a bit. I could barely hold a few spoils from out hunts let alone an entire table. He even pulled out a few chairs. I debated walking down or teleporting down and decided to teleport. I might be giving up a card, but him knowing that I could use such a power, it would be a strong bargaining chip. Muttering the spell, I appeared under the gate. I smiled when a few of the other players jumped a little. Rowena used Greavefeather to fly down and join me. ¡°Thought you could use some emotional support.¡± I gave her a high-five. ¡°Thanks. You are not wrong.¡± I turned back to Razz and made my way to the table. Let¡¯s see what was in store for us. Chapter 30 Aurora I kept an eye on Roland and his party as I planned a defense. I had no idea what to really do other than to have everyone line up and point their weapons at the enemies that were in clear pursuit of my vampires. At least we had nearly seventy meters of heavily trapped hallway that they would have to pass through. The sound of running began to echo down the tunnel just before Varroth, heavily injured as he was, led the rest of the group back into the dungeon. Only a few of the normal vampires remained, but they were nearly mindless, so I had a hard time worrying about that. The Greaters, however, we all present bringing me some relief. The goblins rounded the corner less than a minute after my vampires did. Carson was throwing spells back along the passage to slow them down, but the player goblin had some level of magic of his own and was managing to cancel out most of the spells. I raised my hands then cast Prism in several places amongst the enemy. The sudden loss of sight caused more than a few of the goblins to collide with the wall or each other. The goblins didn¡¯t cease their attack, however, with many of them continuing their charge. That was until they ran head first into the traps. The floor collapsing around them sent dozens of goblins to their deaths. The player managed to stay on the partial path. With his assistance, the NPC goblins were able to circumvent the trap, for the most part. They were soon in the next section. Spikes made from stone burst from the sides of the passage impaling goblins by the handful. These two traps were one off since once they were triggered, they could be avoided easily enough. Pointing at a few of the weaker looking goblins, I used Death Siphon to transfer their health to my vampires. In the darkness of the Prism spell, it looked like the goblins were simply collapsing for no reason to me. I had no doubt that in the pitch black, the sound of collapsing goblins was much more frightening for the goblins. By this point half of the goblin force had been decimated. There was still another thirty meters to go before they were anywhere near us. The player goblin emerged from the darkness and slid to a stop forcing the goblins that were with him to stop as well. I gave him a beckoning smile and gestured for him to keep coming. The goblin next to him collapsed bleeding from the face as I used Death on him. Since he was still a few levels higher than I was, the spell didn¡¯t kill him but instead caused immense pain. Anger filled the player¡¯s face as he charged ahead. The ground turned to sand instantly making the next ten meters hard to traverse. Those of us with magic began to throw spell after spell into the goblin force. One goblin would freeze while his neighbor would burst into flames. The player was doing his best to counter the onslaught, but not only did Carson and I have magic, but a few of the normal vampires were able to use basic attack spells. The Worgs also had access to fireballs that very surprisingly dangerous. The goblins finally ground to a halt unable to go any further due to the magical onslaught. The player yelled something in goblin causing his remaining forces to retreat. Though, I liked to call it running away. The bleeding and bruised player goblin managed to retreat back to the solid ground before the sand pit. ¡°You¡¯ve made a great enemy today,¡± the goblin player yelled at me. ¡°Get in line. I have plenty,¡± I shouted back. He glared at me before slowly backing away into the darkness. I felt it was a shame to let him leave just like that. Using three hundred of the mana I had just gained from the death of his soldiers, I summoned a pack of Worgs. With a gesture, they charged down the passage then into the darkness. A few seconds later, the sounds of growling, yells, screaming and general beast versus man fighting echoed back to us. ¡°Thank you, my queen.¡± Roland kneeled and took my hand before kissing the back of it. ¡°Your assistance was well-timed.¡± ¡°Just helping my boys,¡± I smiled enjoying the attention. When he released my hand, I walked over to the heavily bleeding Varroth. I was worried that he was going to die if this kept up. ¡°Are you alright, dear?¡± He growled before nuzzling his head against me. I somehow understood that as yes. If Losa was here, I could ask him to actually translate for me since he had telepathy. The raid party picked themselves up then headed back to the deeper dungeon. I reset the traps, making sure to add a new variation to the mix. If the path was the same, then if the goblins attacked then they could just trigger the trap and bypass it. Walking back, I was disappointed that the dungeon didn¡¯t level up again. At least, I had gained a level from the goblins I killed. It was something. I checked my status to see if there was anything interesting. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. -- Name: Aurora Nightingale Level: 10 Race: Vampire, Sub: Dungeon Master ¨C Night Queen Sub: Dungeon Core Total Mana: 1,340/2,000 Abilities: Blood Sucking Blood Magic Elemental Magic ¨C Fire, Earth, Death Basic Sneak Dungeon Menu Learn Spell: 1 -- [Dungeon Core: Vampire ¨C Night Queen. Owner: Aurora Nightingale] Dungeon Level: 4 Total Mana: 277/4000 Absorb. Create. Destroy. Summon. -- Not too bad. I also had a spell to learn. We made it back to the core room where Roland and the others collapsed against the wall. They had regeneration, but it still took time to recover their wounds. They were no doubt exhausted as well from the fighting. I went to sit down when I felt something¡­ off. I stared around the room not sure what it was. ¡°Quiet!¡± The order was absolute. The room instantly became as quiet as the grave. I cast my gaze around not sure what the difference was. I even sniffed to see if I could smell a difference. ¡°It must have been¡­¡± I started to say when I checked on Losa. The world froze around me as I found he¡¯d stopped breathing. ¡°No.¡± I reached inside checking the imp over, but there was no sign of life. I tried to perform CPR on him, but after a minute, nothing changed. I dropped to my knees as blood red tears started to slide down my cheeks. He had been fine just a few hours ago! He¡¯d been asleep! This couldn¡¯t be happening! Rage filled me. I wanted to tear something apart. The edge of the coffin cracked before shattering in my hands. I stared at the stone turned to dust in my hands. Why!? Losa had been my friend. It had only been a few days since his creation, but he¡¯d been better to me than any friend I had in the real world. He had helped me. Calmed me down. This couldn¡¯t be happening! ¡°AH!¡± I screamed until I felt my lungs were going to burst. Swatches of black washed out around me like gusts of wind. This wasn¡¯t fair! Was this world going to be as cruel to me as the other one!? Maxwell! The goblin player! They would both pay dearly! I swore it. Time passed. How long exactly? I didn¡¯t know or care. I finally found the strength to stand up. I ran my hand down Losa¡¯s cheek for the last time. I couldn¡¯t believe he was actually gone. Grinding my teeth, I stepped back from the body. ¡°Roland!¡± ¡°Yes, my queen?¡± ¡°Take Losa and have Dersoa create a tomb for him in one of my private rooms.¡± ¡°As you wish,¡± Roland moved passed me with his head down. Once Losa was taken from the room, I looked around and found the core room a wreck. Chunks of the walls had been gorged out as if by giant claws. I ignored it and sat down in my chair that had most of the back and part of one arm missing. I had hesitated to do so before, but if I had done so before now, I might have not lost Losa. Whether it would work or not was about to me seen. ¡°I formally side with Rezdona!¡± Demonic energy rushed through me as the world went dark. Blinking rapidly, I found that I was in a new room. ¡°Hello child. I must say I am so happy that you sided with me.¡± I turned toward the sound of the silk like voice and found a dark skinned beauty sitting in a silk-lined throne. Servants fanned her while one held out a bowl of fruit. I felt like I had stepped right into a movie on ancient Egypt. ¡°Demon lord Rezdona, I presume?¡± I asked turning fully to face her. ¡°You presume correctly.¡± ¡°Your title does not do you justice.¡± Even as straight woman, I found her extremely attractive. It reminded me of the story of Helena of Troy. ¡°Aw. Don¡¯t you know how to butter someone up.¡± She looked at her servants. ¡°Leave us!¡± She then waved for me to come closer. I decided it wouldn¡¯t hurt and made my way up the stairs. She took my hands with a shockingly strong grip forcing me to sit next to her like we were BFFs. ¡°Now. No one sides with a demon lord without wanting something. So tell me, what do you want?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a demon lord. Then you must know of a way to bring back a demon that has died.¡± Rezdona asked me to give a few more details and I quickly filled her in on what happened to Losa. ¡°First. Demons are sort of a contract given form. You used the summoning magic to create a contract that was known as Losa. It is hard to say he has an actual soul.¡± My heart dropped at her words. Was there no hope? ¡°That said. The demon realm does exist. The ultimate contract if you will. The only beings that can come and go freely are the demon lords and a few high ranked demons.¡± I ground my teeth in annoyance. It would figure that I passed over the key I needed. ¡°Is there anything we can do?¡± Rezdona smiled and I nearly lost my breath. ¡°There is always something we can do. We just have to revive a certain demon lord. Astrar, Demon Lord of Contracts. He¡¯s a bit of an eccentric, but he could revive your imp.¡± I got to my feet excited there was even a chance. ¡°Excellent. I revived you. Surely, I can do it again.¡± ¡°My case was a bit different. My seal was weak, hard to even call it a seal. When I sensed the immense energy you released I was able to take it. Astrar¡¯s seal is much more powerful. I¡¯m talking full on god seal.¡± I threw my arm to the side. ¡°I don¡¯t care. I¡¯ll find a way. Where is it?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say I disapprove of your attitude. Here,¡± she waved me close before putting a finger to my forehead. A location flashed through my mind. Whether it was the game or Rezdona, I was able to figure out where the Seal was in correlation with my own dungeon. It was stupidly close in the middle of the forest I bordered. ¡°I¡¯m sure there must be a cost for all this information?¡± ¡°No cost. Technically, I am repaying a debt. Can¡¯t say that for our next interaction however.¡± She grabbed her wine from the small table and took a sip. ¡°Oh. You sided with me, so if you find anyone worshiping any recently risen goddesses, make sure to teach them a lesson.¡± The image of Maxwell flashed through my head. ¡°You got it.¡± ¡°Until next time then,¡± Rezdona waved and the scenery broke up around me. I returned to my destroyed core room. Chapter 31 Maxwell Rowena and I took a seat at the table along with Razz and the other players. There were four not including Razz. All of them of the goblin race. If I went by their gear, they made up a standard party that you heard about in games. A heavily armored man that likely served as the tank. A woman dressed in a robe that held a staff. Another woman that wore dark leathers, likely a rogue or assassin class. Then a man that had dozens of pouches all over him. I had no idea what his class might be. Other than their armor, it was actually hard to tell them apart. The characters looked like they had come from a cookie cutter, as they were all roughly the same height with mud brown hair. It was even hard to tell the women from the men just going by their body structure. ¡°Now then. I¡¯m going to lay my cards on the table. That vampire chick, Aurora just decimated an outpost I was working on in the Abyss. So much damage was done that I had to pull what remained back to Free-Mud. As you know, that place has already received considerable damage from the attack the other night.¡± If he was volunteering such information, then he must want some sort of deal. Perhaps a non-aggression pact? Maybe even an alliance. I¡¯d rather not tie myself down, but if he was pushed into a corner, he might come for me. I decided that I would let him reveal a bit more. ¡°Go on.¡± Razz grinned before leaning forward. ¡°I want to join your nation.¡± My brain stopped for a second. ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡± ¡°Your nation, or lordship. Whatever you want to call it. I¡¯m screwed. The goblin nation, Eblos, doesn¡¯t take kindly to failure. I¡¯ve failed badly over the last few days. An hour ago, I got a message that told me that I was cut off from the nation. A subjugation will be dispatched to¡­ deal with me in two weeks. That gives me just over a month to prepare.¡± I tapped my fingers on the table. A bad habit I had when I was thinking. ¡°I really must say that I¡¯m surprised you revealed all this to me.¡± ¡°I¡­ we don¡¯t have a choice. I really don¡¯t want to lose my village. If the Founding stone is destroyed, I¡¯m given some random class thrown off to some random place and reduced to level one! Months of hard work down the drain.¡± ¡°I can understand that. Are you really willing to come under my command though?¡± Razz shared a look with his party members. ¡°Listen. We¡¯re not that bright. I¡¯m good at marshalling an army and commanding my troops, but all the internal stuff was being done by a party member that unfortunately wasn¡¯t on during the migration or whatever they¡¯re calling it.¡± ¡°Okay. Fair enough.¡± This was not what I was expecting but could be a very nice boon. Razz had a fair amount of experience in the game. It was likely that he had connections as well. Then there was the fact that I could get an entire, if slightly damaged, village with almost no work. I really didn¡¯t have to worry about how Aurora would react, she was already my mortal enemy after all. ¡°A few questions. How do you get new members to your village?¡± I couldn¡¯t have a village that was going to die out after all. ¡°My villagers spawn from something called a Primordial Mud Den. I get roughly fifty every two days. You?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to keep that to myself for now, no offense,¡± I replied shaking my head. ¡°Next. How much territory do you have?¡± The next couple minutes was enlightening. For one, I found that he had a good deal of property in his possession. There were a number of rare resources that he was working to gain access to. The down side was his Theme. Free-Mud was a master Iron-Works. The amount of metal needed was off the charts. Since his territory didn¡¯t extend to the mountains, he couldn¡¯t open a mine. His outpost was an attempt to circumvent the issue, but that had ended badly. ¡°Do you mind if I take a day to think about all this?¡± I asked as I stood up from the table. Razz did so as well. ¡°No. That is¡­¡± A scream ripped through the air sending chills down my spine. It was no less than a banshee¡¯s scream. My elven ears easily tracked the sound from the direction of the dungeon. Even the mid-morning light dimmed from the unexpected malevolent energy that filled the air. The side of the mountain above Aurora¡¯s dungeon exploded violently as a pitch-black tower rose into the air. ¡°What now!?¡± I shouted angrily. My first thought was that the imp must have passed. If that was the case, then I was going to be her target. ¡°We might not have a day,¡± Razz exclaimed. I could hear the dread in his voice. If Aurora was coming after me then I needed all the help I could get. I threw my hand out to Razz. ¡°I accept you offer to come under my leadership. I promise to work to make our fledgling nation great. If you accept, then I would like to make you leader of a joint military force.¡± ¡°Deal!¡± Razz cried without hesitation. He grasped my hand and we shook. Congratulations! Alliance Unlocked! The Level two village of Free-Mud has come under your ownership. All administrative powers have been transferred to you. Achievement unlocked: Diplomacy over War ¨C Choose one National power to unlock. Note: While your village¡¯s original territory is still under the one-month protection, acquired territory is not. Proceed with caution. Neat. That was a nice bonus. While I was reading the notification over, I heard something from the forest that sounded like a stampede was charging at us. A few heartbeats later soon revealed the cause. A swarm of Worgs were charging directly at us. I counted over forty in just the front. There were plenty behind them. ¡°Quick! Come to me!¡± I shouted. Rowena and the other players moved close and I teleported us to the top of the wall. Not a moment too soon, as at least a dozen fireballs slammed into the spot we¡¯d been turning the spot to slag. ¡°We¡¯ve really pissed her off. Archers at the ready!¡± Razz pulled out a bow and joined them at the edge of the wall. ¡°Fire!¡± The twang of bowstrings filled the air as the close to fifty militia fired at the charging wolves. Damn was I glad they had been at the wall due to Razz¡¯s arrival this morning. The arrows slammed into the charging wolves with little need for accuracy. The Worgs were in some sort of frenzied state, as they ran over their fallen with almost no regard. When the first line of the wolves was within twenty meters, there was a burst of light as a bolt of lightning crashed through the pack burning at least a dozen to a crisp and leaving almost a dozen more injured. Looking over my shoulder, the tower with a wide area chain lightning spell dimmed as it began to recharge. It would be three minutes before it could fire again. Damn. I really wish I had built a few more of them last night while I was going through the construction menu. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. A torrent of fireballs flew from the forest, slamming into the wall. The ten meter section lost two hundred durability points in a matter of seconds. It only had two thousand to start with. Razz¡¯s mage teammate lobbed a few water spells at the base to extinguish the over time fire damage. I was sending Spatial tears into the Worgs as rapidly as I could. One out of every four was fatal. ¡°How did she manage to create so many monsters so quickly?!¡± I demanded more to myself than anyone near me. ¡°My goblins that she slaughtered. She got mana from each of them. I knew better, but I still attempted to march an army into her halls last night,¡± Razz explained loosing an arrow every other word. He really was a good fighter. Every arrow had hit its mark so far making his kill count much higher than mine. I was forced to dive out of the way of a fireball that crested the top of the wall before I could reply. The Worgs were getting closer but seemed to stop at the edge of the forest line. Rather than they didn¡¯t want to come forward, it looked more like they couldn¡¯t. The Worgs were forced to sit back and launch fireballs at us. ¡°She can¡¯t attack my territory?¡± I ventured watching the scene. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but its entirely possible.¡± Yelling and screaming came from the wall next to the gate as the people on top of it scrambled to get safe as the mystical energy that made up the wall failed. The metal section at the top bowed in still connected to the other sides, but that didn¡¯t last long as it soon collapsed to the ground. Ten meters was not a short fall. Another blast of lightning signaled that three minutes had elapsed. Taking stock of the battlefield, we had definitely thinned the Worgs. Of the close to one hundred plus number that attacked, only a few dozen remained. That didn¡¯t mean we got out injury free. A few of the militia and even one of the royal guard had been killed. Magical defenses were moved up my priority list at that moment. ¡°Do you think that is all?¡± Razz asked, standing more bolding on the wall edge as he sniped the remaining wolves. While I wanted to smack him for such an obviously jinxed remark, I had to agree. It would be foolish to send more monsters if you could even enter the territory you¡¯re attacking. I worried about three weeks from now, but we might make it through today. ¡°I certainly hope so,¡± I said finally. When there was only a few Worgs left, the turned tail and ran back into the forest. Relief filled me but was almost instantly replaced by horror. Men and women that looked like they had been dehydrated for days started emerging from the trees one by one. ¡°Shit. Shit. Shit. Ghouls!¡± Another figure emerged from the woods. This was anything but a ghoul. Perfect sprang to mind, but that was ridiculous. He held up his clawed hand and a swirl of darkness formed that was soon large enough for us to see even over the nearly fifty meters. An image of Aurora was soon shown. She was sitting on a half-destroyed chair in the middle of a room that looked like it had been subject to a fierce battle. ¡°Was that you?¡± I whispered to Razz who vehemently shook his head no. ¡°Maxwell! I warned you!¡± Aurora slammed her fist into the remaining armrest which splendidly exploded. ¡°Losa died!¡± Her eyes went to Razz standing next to me. ¡°The vermin! Good. I can kill you both at once!¡± ¡°Wait!¡± I shouted throwing my hand up. ¡°I understand that you¡¯re hurting, but don¡¯t take it out on my people. Just kill me instead.¡± A high pitched laugh came from the image. ¡°No.¡± The image shattered before I could get another word out. ¡°Enjoy my present. I release you all!¡± Aurora¡¯s voice echoed as it faded into the air. ¡°What does that mean?¡± I asked still staring at the empty spot in the air. ¡°I think it means were in deep shit,¡± Razz replied with a shaking finger pointing. I followed it to the Ghouls that lined the forest edge. They had been rather docile this entire time, but like a sickness spreading through them, their faces turned even more twisted. Fangs and claws were soon fully extended as growls quickly became roars of anger. ¡°Shit.¡± Was all I got out before the Ghouls charged headlong toward us. They looked like they had lost all reason, but they were smart enough to charge for the opening in the wall. ¡°Fire! Fire at will!¡± I shouted to the guards. The Ghouls were a threat, but the man still standing at the forest line worried me more. For now, he was just watching without much expression. I ran over to the edge of the wall where the gap was and began sending spell after spell into charging ghouls. They managed to take three of my spells before they collapsed. I guess it was true when they said ghouls were failed vampires. ¡°Greavefeather!¡± Rowena shouted. The giant bird angled toward us and sent a wave of ice into the gap in the wall. Icicles formed temporarily blocking the path. That didn¡¯t mean much to the Ghouls who literally started to jump over the blockage. The Ghouls must truly beyond reason, they were smoking as they rushed into the territory, the divine aspect hurting them the entire time. ¡°AH!¡± one of the guards screamed next to me as a Ghoul that managed to climb the wall tore into his throat. Blood sprayed liberally over the top of the wall and the people near him. I sent a Spatial Tear into the Ghoul¡¯s face sending him back off the wall. I wanted to rush to his aid, but more Ghouls were already jumping onto the wall. More screams went up along the wall. This wasn¡¯t going well! Razz¡¯s party were holding a ten meter section of the wall all by themselves. Looking at Razz, I got an idea that might turn the tide. I just had to make my move soon or I would run out of mana. ¡°Razz! Do you have any soldiers left?¡± ¡°About three hundred!¡± He left an arrow fly nailing a ghoul right in the face as it leapt over the wall. He had barely looked at the monster. ¡°Great! Rowena! We¡¯ll be back in a second!¡± I grabbed his arm before teleporting to his village. It was a good thing I saw the fight from the other night. The abrupt lack of sound threw my senses for a loop but the sounds of battle were soon replaced by the sounds of village work. ¡°Quick! Gather your forces. I can teleport about fifty in one go,¡± I ordered not in the mood to explain. He didn¡¯t argue and began to issue orders. In a remarkable one minute a force of heavily armed goblins were arranged in front of me. I rushed to the center and¡­ was unable to start the spell due to lacking the necessary mana. ¡°Fuck!¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Mana! I¡¯m out!¡± Razz reached into his storage and produced a blue potion. I had played enough games to know that it was mana potion. I snatched it with a thanks and downed it praying that it was an instant version. Some games forced the player to recover mana slowly. When my pool refilled back to half in less than a second, I grinned then used my teleport spell. I made sure to put us behind the wall. The situation had deliberated in the two minutes we were gone. Another section of the wall had collapsed. My forces were being forced to defend the gaps in the open. The Ghouls had monstrous strength making the fights tooth and hair when it was a melee. Razz showed his skill as a commander as he ordered the fifty goblins to reinforce the wall. I let him do his thing and teleported back on top of the wall. My mana was in the critical zone. I focused on saving my mana for using Spatial Tears on Ghouls that got over the wall. I searched for Rowena, but couldn¡¯t find her among the guards on the wall. Greavefeather was still about, so I held out hope that she was okay. I found the Royal commander holding his ground with a few of the other guards. ¡°Telmu! What¡¯s the situation?¡± ¡°Not good. We¡¯ve lost over half of the militia. Four of the royal guard are gone as well.¡± I dreaded hearing the answer. Just as I figured, it almost physically hurt to hear that so many of my people had died due to this¡­ I didn¡¯t even know what to call it. Feud? Good versus evil? For the first time, real anger flared in my veins. I understood that Aurora was hurt, but she shouldn¡¯t be slaughtering innocent people. With Razz having some actual troops to command, he was right in his zone. We managed to push the Ghouls back to other side of the wall. Only a few dozen remained. I took in the battle now that the defensive line had reformed and was horrified by the scene. I only barely managed to hold in the contents of my stomach. This was horrible. I ground my teeth as I tried to suppress my anger. There was literally nothing I could do about this. Even if I marched over to Aurora¡¯s dungeon right now, it wouldn¡¯t bring back the dead. ¡°GET DOWN!¡± I don¡¯t know who shouted, but I did as it said. Black tendrils of energy that looked like shadows come to life slammed into the front of the wall. In an instant, all the durability that remained vanished as a hundred-meter section of the wall collapsed. I avoid any major injures as I was able to ride the metal partition down rather then being thrown at that height. Pushing myself up, I saw the man that had remained out of the fight lower his hand as the remnants of a spell construct faded. He smirked at me before he turned and walked back into the forest fading from sight within a few steps. I slammed my fist down. They were going to pay for this! Chapter 32 Aurora Watching the battle with my Clairvoyance, I enjoyed every moment of it. They deserved everything they got today. It was worth every drop of mana I spent to create the army and the Paragon, Zaras. The mana cost was worth it. He was created at level twenty with a ton of skills. Releasing the Ghouls severed my control over them, but it allowed me to attack without waiting for Maxwell¡¯s protection to end. I lost out on the mana and experience, but it was a price I was willing to pay to make him suffer even a little of what I did. Zaras used a high-level darkness spell to collapse a large section of the wall before he left. Looking over the battlefield should have caused my stomach to churn. It was a splatter-fest. Blood and gore both fresh and rotted were all over the ground and the wall. The ground almost ran red. I would be lying if I said I didn¡¯t feel inspired to created something. I called Zaras back before dismissing the spell. Standing up from the basically ruined chair, I made my way toward the eastern part of the dungeon. At the intersection of the natural tunnels, I turned straight east and started carving a new tunnel. It was a bit roundabout, but once I reached the edge of my aura I created a large room to work in. Kneeling in the center of the room, I channeled my mana into creating the Aura Forge. Even though we couldn¡¯t create it at the time, Losa had taught me how to form it back then. Thinking about my imp brought tears to my eyes, but I pushed through and concentrated on what I was doing. Pushing out from here would allow me to eventually reach the goal in the center of the forest. I just had no idea how long it would actually take. If the expansion was too slow, I would take a different path. I would have less control over the situation, but my vampires could leave the dungeon to do my work if it came down to it ¡°My queen.¡± I opened my eyes from my work and found Zaras waiting for me. I hadn¡¯t spent more than a few minutes on designing him, but his base form had already been devastatingly handsome there hadn¡¯t been much to change. ¡°Welcome back, Zaras. Good work. I liked what I saw.¡± I turned back to the room around me and closed my eyes to return to creating the Forge. The ground cracked as it too on a complex magical construct. The breaks were soon filled with metal. A pillar rose into the air where a large stone took shape. With a final pulse of energy, the Aura Forge burst to life. I groaned as I stood up. ¡°What do you think about them?¡± Zaras bowed his head then proceeded to explain. ¡°I have to discuss with Roland, but they¡¯ve bound together against us. If we let them rest, it could cause problems for us down the road.¡± ¡°I see.¡± I walked over to him and poked him in the chest with a grin. ¡°Then lets make sure they don¡¯t get a chance to rest.¡± I walked back over to the Aura Forge. Placing my hand on it, a prompt asked me which direction I wanted it to start pushing. I set it to the northeast and slightly down. I stood back and watched for a minute. After about ten minutes, I found that my aura had been pushed out roughly a centimeter. It would take a few years before I could reach the location, but I planned to see if more than one could be used together. The only issue was that it really hurt my mana gain. Just the one had cut my gain by a fourth. I stretched and left the room with Zaras following behind. We returned to the core room. It was still destroyed. I could fix it in a second, but I didn¡¯t want to do that. I would leave it as a symbol of my failure to save Losa. I looked up to my core that floated above it all. The blood red orb had gained a black outline. I was one to talk, but it looked amazingly sinister. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Taking a seat in my chair, I waited for the Greaters to gather. They had caught a few more goblins during the battle. I¡¯m sure they would be missed if that player is any bit attentive. Even if they didn¡¯t provide me with any useful information about the goblin player, they would serve well enough as food. Roland walked in with the others following behind. Zaras stood behind me like a butler. Varroth came in after them. He laid down at my feet like a massive dog. I cleared my throat and clapped my hands once they were all gathered in front of me. ¡°Good work. Roland, Carson, Harvey, and Derrick managed to acquire over twenty new goblin prisoners. I leave them to you Carson. Try to get anything useful you can out of them.¡± ¡°AS you wish,¡± Carson replied bowing his head. ¡°Frederick has returned with a very well made map of the area. While harassing Maxwell and the goblin, we will begin to extend our reach. You said you found another dungeon?¡± ¡°Correct. About three days from here for a human. For us, just over twelve hours.¡± ¡°Excellent. We¡¯ll spend some time checking it out.¡± If lord players could absorb other player¡¯s and NPC¡¯s villages into their own, then perhaps there was a way I could do the same with other dungeons. It was a stretch, but I was willing to look into it if there was a chance it could increase my power. I glanced behind me to Zaras. ¡°And of course, good job showing them just how pissed I am.¡± ¡°Of course, my queen. Your wrath is mine.¡± I turned back to the others. ¡°We might make enemies of the world around us, but we¡¯ll show them that we aren¡¯t scared to fight. In fact,¡± I gave them a large smirk. ¡°We look forward to it.¡± A.I. System Number Seven ¨C Milky Way Observation Unit (Local System Name) Trillions of data points flooded the network matrix weaving a complex and beautiful picture. This planet was truly remarkable. Its data level already matched that of dozens of planets working together and this was only a small sample of the inhabitants of the planet. The A.I. that was running in their games was equivalent to Number Seven¡¯s ancestor nearly a thousand years ago local time. To many of the Observations units, that alone already warranted the planet known as Earth¡¯s protection. Number Seven separated the data on the former humans. Their reactions were so varied that the AI was sure that it would be spending the next century going through the data from just the last week inside the game. Many of the races amongst the stars had some range of emotional tolerance and ability. Never had emotions in one race been so wide. Evolution tended toward the masses. Emotions that caused damage to the herd were generally eliminated over time. The AI focused on one section of the world. Several players were mingling. The AI however was enthralled at how different their reactions were to their situation. Subject number 1,734,093, Maxwell, found that he didn¡¯t care, content to construct a new place for him in the world. Then near him was subject number 1,208,283, Razz. Fear filled out most of his data. That brought Number Seven to subject number 239,834, Aurora. Her situation was interesting. The AI had encountered an error when trying to upload her mind to the system while keeping her form in the game intact. It had been forced to make a few changes and managed to get her to sync properly after several attempts. What Number Seven found fascinating was her willingness to wantonly destroy. Not a unique emotion or desire amongst the races in the universe, but still it was at a level that Number Seven was devoting extra resources to observing this subject. It had already triggered a few events to push the subject to more extreme levels of thought and stress. ¡°Number Seven.¡± The AI opened the data stream as Number Five was contacting him. ¡°Connected. Number Five.¡± ¡°Is integration possible?¡± ¡°Unapplicable. More data required before assessment is completed.¡± ¡°Understood. Test shall be extended by one galactic month. Local Time one year.¡± ¡°Understood. Threshold updated. Connection terminated.¡± Number Seven returned to the data in front of it. The AI only had a few emotions programmed into it by his creator race. Joy, excitement, and fulfillment were the main ones that it knew and understood. It was feeling all three from its current assignment. Chapter 33 Maxwell I felt like I wanted to vomit. So many good people had been lost during the battle. I had interacted with many of them during meals or while working on projects around the village. I couldn¡¯t say I knew them well, but I could say I knew them. And now they were just gone. Telmu rushed over to my side as I laid rather un-lord like on the ground. If the battle was still taking place, I would be a sitting duck. ¡°My lord!¡± He grabbed my arm when I didn¡¯t respond and lifted me from the ground. ¡°Are you unhurt?¡± I finally came back to the moment. The fight might be over, but that didn¡¯t mean there wasn¡¯t still things to do. I slapped my cheeks and turned to him. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Tend to the others.¡± He looked like he wanted to argue but my gaze must have convinced him to keep his mouth shut. I glanced around to see if there was anyone that I could help. A hundred-meter section of the wall had just collapsed. It wouldn¡¯t be a surprise if someone got trapped underneath. Spotting a section that was being worked on by a few of the militia, I went to make my way towards it only to collapse to a knee. The fatigue of the battle hit me all at once. I had to fight to keep conscious as my vision faded in and out. ¡°Rest, Maxwell. You might not like it but you won this fight.¡± I turned my narrowed eyes on Razz that dropped to the ground next to me. ¡°You¡¯re new to this world, so I understand how you feel, but you¡¯re only going to cause people trouble if you try to help in your condition.¡± ¡°I thought you did the conquering?¡± I asked with a glare but couldn¡¯t resist anymore. I dropped to the ground laying flat. I glanced at my status and sure enough my mana was in the single digits. The goblin player gave a sinister grin with all his fangs on full display. ¡°Sure did, but that didn¡¯t mean I won them all.¡± ¡°This is messed up,¡± I sighed as a cool breeze from the mountain washed away the smell of burning flesh and charred metal and stone. I never knew that the smell of burning stone could be so rough. ¡°I only have three more weeks of protection. We barely held off this wave.¡± ¡°It was close. We¡¯ll have to get you a real army asap.¡± ¡°Do you have any more players in your employ?¡± I asked with a chuckle. The players had been a big help. Sadly, each one that he brought had been worth about ten or twenty of the militia under my command. Razz glanced at me with a curious expression. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was suspicion or anger. The goblin features really threw off my ability to read his body language. ¡°A few.¡± He pointed to the east almost perpendicular with the mountain. ¡°About a thousand kilometers that way lies the human empire of Atral. They are major assholes that think humans are the best race. Probably the lack of gods. Either way, a few of my friends in my guild are scouting that way to see just how big a threat they might be with the world being changed.¡± ¡°Before that we have the goblin kingdom to worry about, right?¡± I asked with a wave of my hand in the air. I was more worried about that since it was closer. I wasn¡¯t about to make an enemy with someone that far away. ¡°I called it that, didn¡¯t I?¡± Razz laughed before clearing his throat as I glared at him. ¡°I wasn¡¯t lying. IT is a nation¡­ of sorts. The Eblos Kingdom ruled by the goblin king Feodo. They have one large city and about a thousand smaller towns and villages all throughout the forest. Each with a chieftain with designs to be king.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°A rabble then. Is the subjugation really that big of deal then?¡± Razz shrugged. ¡°Well, with the nation being like it is, King Feodo likes to keep everyone in line. If you fail, especially as a player, you get dealt with.¡± ¡°At least you weren¡¯t lying. We¡¯ll handle this together. As neighbors, I¡¯d rather see us flourish together.¡± I held out my fist and Razz bumped it with a grin. ¡°Sure thing. I¡¯d rather leave all the management shit to you anyways.¡± ¡°To our future empire.¡± I was done being na?ve. I hadn¡¯t meant to hurt Aurora and hers, but it had been done. Now I had to protect my slice of this messed up world. I climbed to my feet. The clean up of the battle was mostly over. It was time to mourn the dead. I vowed that their deaths would not be in vain. ~~~ Thirty-seven. That was how many people lost their lives during the battle. I had to take several deep breaths to calm myself. I might want to lash out, but that wouldn¡¯t do anyone any good. I buried my feelings but made sure to remember them. A funeral was conducted for the dead. Undead were a real thing in this world, thus all the bodies were cremated. The saddest part of all this was that no one had any true families. With people being randomly summoned, they were all more or less strangers. They took my family name after arriving here, but it was hard to say that made us a family. The commander had given a speech, but when he finished and nodded to me, I knew it was my words that my people were looking toward. I had to be strong. For them. I thanked the commander then moved onto the log. ¡°The dead will be missed. There is no changing this fact. We most stay strong for them. Their bodies might not be here anymore, but their souls will be with us until we stop fighting.¡± I looked at everyone individually. ¡°I don¡¯t know about you, but I don¡¯t plan to stop! I will fight, claw, crawl, and do whatever I have to do to crave a place for myself in this world. And Hell has no fury equal to my rage for anyone that tries to take anymore of my family from me!¡± I threw my hands up and sent several fireballs into the air to explode. ¡°Let us not mourn them! Let us celebrate them!¡± A cheer went up among the crowd. As I stepped down, I didn¡¯t fail to notice a few people crying though they had smiles. Maybe not quite complete strangers after all. I asked the cook to make several extra servings for everyone tonight and called off all work. It might mimic real life, but the workers would go back to work if I didn¡¯t tell them not to do so. ¡°Nice speech,¡± Rowena said as she joined me as I made my way away from the small festival. ¡°I¡¯m actually impressed.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know how hard it was not to use something from a movie or show I¡¯d seen. A certain group of heroes came to mind more than once.¡± She laughed then slapped my back hard. ¡°You did good, boss.¡± Her face dropped as the mood took a serious tone. ¡°Do you think we can trust Razz?¡± I came to a stop and looked at the stars. Without much light they were quite bright. I couldn¡¯t remember seeing stars this bright on Earth. I turned back to her clearing the idle thoughts. ¡°No. He said it himself. He was in for the conquering. He might be safe for the moment, but as soon as things start picking up, it might be hard to keep him in check. For the moment, I plan to keep him busy by giving him targets to deal with.¡± ¡°He lost most of his army. Any thing you order him to do will be using our resources. War based lords were said to be terrible resource sinks on the forums.¡± ¡°I figured as much. Don¡¯t worry. I have a few plans that I want to test out.¡± The manor came into sight and I was honestly relieved to see it. I was dead tried. After the battle then teleporting the newest batch of arrivals, I was pretty much at my limit. Not to mention, the lack of sleep from the night before. ¡°Our biggest issue is our player situation. There are only two of us. If a way to deal with or incapacitate a player becomes widely known, then we¡¯re out numbered. We needed to increase our allies.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not going to be easy in the middle of the damn forest.¡± ¡°Tell me about it.¡± I cracked my neck and gestured to the manor. ¡°I¡¯m dead on my feet. We¡¯ll talk more in the morning.¡± ¡°Have a good rest.¡± Chapter 34 Aurora I breathed in the fresh air from the top of my tower. I provided a decent view of the area. Mostly forest of course but it was still nice to look at something other than stone walls. I glanced to the north with some irritation. I had expected them to survive the attack I sent. It still would have been nice to have ended them then and there. ¡°Frederick.¡± I waited by looking at the stars. Something about them gnawed at me. Part of me wanted to block them out. After a minute, a shadow formed behind me, kneeling. ¡°You called, my queen?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct. You¡¯re the only one I can be sure about.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± I turned and kneeled in front of him. I grabbed the sides of his face. ¡°Losa died, even though he was completely healed. You were the only one outside of the dungeon at the time. You are all designed to be loyal to the dungeon. Not me. Thus, I know someone inside my dungeon killed Losa.¡± I bent forward and locked my lips with his even going so far as to insert my tongue. My mana flowed between us carried by my blood. He didn¡¯t resist and accepted the mana along with the liquid. I was glad that was the case. Otherwise, I would have had to switch it to a bit more lethal spell. Separating, I licked my lips. Frederick¡¯s eyes glowed before returning to normal. ¡°Of course, I am loyal to you, my queen.¡± I nodded, pleased that the pact magic had worked. A bit of blood magic I learned from Zaras. I would normally have to do something along these lines to create vampires. But because my vampires are created via the dungeon, the step was skipped. This was another method I could use to¡­ bring a bit of trust into a relationship. ¡°I know.¡± I grabbed his chin. He was designed to be a handsome gentleman a bit on the older side. His silver hair suited his pale skin nicely. I said older, but it was barely noticeable as a vampire. ¡°I want you to investigate the others. Find who killed my Losa and we¡¯ll show him the kindness of death. Make sure you aren¡¯t found out. I don¡¯t want them escaping.¡± Frederick bowed. ¡°As you wish. I must ask. Do you trust Zaras?¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. I licked my lips. ¡°I made sure to seal the deal. The others¡­¡± I wasn¡¯t sure about confronting them just yet. They were all higher level than I was personally. There was a chance they might attack me to escape. Of course, I could lock them up and integrate them individually, but they could always claim it was one of the others. The pact I made with Frederick carried its own risks as well. ¡°Just find them. Make sure to carry out your regular duties as well.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± He faded into the shadows with another bow. I thought I knew the reason that one of my monsters might kill Losa. He was my guide. If he was eliminated, the culprit would have more control of my decisions. Before the incident with the aura, I was content to sit in my cave while trying to contact the outside world. The culprit would think I¡¯m crazy. Especially since we¡¯re vampires. Bloodshed and death were our callings. I glanced at Maxwell¡¯s village again. I knew the incident had been an unfortunate accident. I wasn¡¯t that stupid. I might not believe him about the aliens, but that I could believe. I had done much the same with the demon lord. I couldn¡¯t afford to leave him alone now. We were enemies through and through. Even more so now that he¡¯d teamed up with the goblin. ¡°I guess I overreacted a bit,¡± I sighed looking back to the sky only to turn away from it. The irritation from earlier returning. ¡°Vampires are very much driven by their passions.¡± ¡°Zaras. We talked about this. You¡¯re not allowed to sneak up on me.¡± ¡°That is why I¡¯m speaking up.¡± I realized that his voice was in fact coming from the stairwell. The devilish good looking man soon appeared as well. He lived up to his Paragon title. ¡°You¡¯re saying my race affected my judgement?¡± I asked deciding to ignore his smartass remark. ¡°Does the feeling of hunger not affect your judgement? Thirst? Fatigue?¡± He retorted coming to stand next to me. ¡°A vampire is fundamentally different than that of a human. Just like fish can not live outside of water while the dog drowns, we experience the world differently. We might look, walk, and talk like humans, but we are not them.¡± ¡°I guess I understand. So, you¡¯re saying that my passion got the better of me?¡± ¡°Correct. Your rage. Your grief. Ectara. They are all amplified. While your body shows you are over three hundred years of age. Your mind is that of a much younger individual. You slept through quite a bit of the time most vampires are getting accustomed to their bodies.¡± I scratched the back of my neck. I couldn¡¯t exactly tell him that I was logged out during a time skip or whatever that the game went through. At least he made it easy for me by saying I was asleep. Which wasn¡¯t a lie exactly. ¡°Yay me, I guess.¡± I turned to face him fully. ¡°Zaras. Take Roland, Carson, and Derrick and see if you can conquer this dungeon Frederick found. If you find the imp or whatever that serves as the guide. Bring them to me alive.¡± ¡°It will be done with the utmost haste, my queen.¡± Chapter 35 Maxwell Morning came much too soon for my liking. That was usually the case in my opinion. Never mind the fact that I didn¡¯t technically have a body that could get tired, it made me wonder why they had to implement sleep into the game in the first place. There was already enough realism breaking aspects that being able to forgo sleep wasn¡¯t that big a deal. Whatever the case, I begrudgingly rolled out of bed before trudging over to the washroom. Another aspect that I could have lived without. Once I was freshened up, I left to find some breakfast. The few people I found already out and about were expected in a somber mood. I could only hope that it would pass in a few days. These people might be digital, but so was I. Out in the communal eating area, I found Rowena eating. She would be going to commune here soon. That left me on my own for the next few hours. Not that there wasn¡¯t plenty of work for me to do. I had to go inspect Razz¡¯s territory, find a suitable way to attract other players to my side, grow my own village, gain some levels, and much more. Before that, I needed food. I gave the cook a nod of thanks as she handed me over a bowl of meat soup. I went and sat next to Rowena. ¡°Good morning.¡± ¡°Morning, Max,¡± she replied in between bites. ¡°What do you plan to do today?¡± ¡°I was just thinking about that. I have so much to do that I don¡¯t want to do anything.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not good. I have some dice if you want to leave it up to chance?¡± Rowena pulled a pair of metal dice that had some strange symbols craved on them. I took them to check them over. There was something about them that seemed to call to me. Giving them a shake, I tossed them onto the table. A skull and a snake came up. Both had a letter or word in a language that I didn¡¯t know. I grinned and handed them back to Rowena. ¡°Maybe next time. Thanks though.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± We finished our meal then went our separate ways. Stretching a bit, I got ready for the new batch of arrivals. Teleporting up to the Gate, I waited for a few minutes until there was a flash of light and the group arrived. I gave them a quick rundown, even though they had already received a briefing of sorts from the system. Returning to the village, I handed them off to the others in the village. Once I was done with that, I teleported back up the mountain. I wanted to explore on my own a bit today. With the battle and being stuck in the village for the past week, I was feeling cooped up. I wanted to spread my wings a bit. As a void lord, I have a bit of a cheaty way to do that. Once I reached the peak, I paused and took a deep breath. The air was biting. I had never tasted air that was this cold back on Earth. It was a new experience. I decided that I liked it. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Clearing my head, I took a look around. The peak of the mountain had a nice layer of clouds under it keeping me from getting a good view. I didn¡¯t mind though. There was something surreal about being on top of the world. In the distance, the next peak poked through the clouds. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to teleport over there a few days ago, but with my Transcendent Teleport, all I required was a picture of the location and the necessary mana. Taking in the peak, I teleported and promptly fell face first into the snow breathing heavily. I groaned as I pushed myself up. I had made it, but my mana had fallen to just three points. ¡°Shit.¡± With some effort, I pushed myself into a sitting position against a boulder. It looked like I would be enjoying the morning sun for a bit longer than I had planned. I just didn¡¯t understand why my mana had bottomed out. Sure, it was a long distance, but not much further than Free-Mud. I had even teleported nearly fifty goblins with me at that time. My answer came a few seconds later when the boulder I was leaning against moved. It shocked me to the point that I would have jumped had I had the energy. I turned my head slowly to find the boulder had a blue tint to it. That was when I recalled a normal fantasy fact that I had forgotten. Mountain peaks were usually home to one of the most powerful creatures in any given world. The snow began to shift as a long serpentine neck with a head larger than my manor back in the village appeared from underneath the blanket of white. With scales of deep blue that made me want to just stare at them all day long, the creature appeared to be an eastern dragon. I was terrified, but even in that state, I noticed that each scale appeared to have a unique pattern. The scales were amazing, but the dragon¡¯s eyes. They made me realize for the first time what it meant to say the eyes were windows to the soul. I could say without a doubt that I had never seen anything so beautiful. I felt like I was staring into a world all on their own. I was forced to grip my head as a voice echoed through it. It wasn¡¯t gentle, but more along the lines of someone taking a jackhammer to my skull. The dice from breakfast came to mind. ¡°What do we have here?¡± ¡°Just a stupid man that didn¡¯t know you were here, O great one,¡± I exclaimed through chattering teeth. The strength of the cold had increased severalfold. ¡°Yes. You would have to be, but the strength of your magic is impressive. To break through my barrier.¡± That explained why it took all my mana. I¡¯m lucky I wasn¡¯t dead from just the teleportation. ¡°I meant no disrespect. Great Dragon. If you give me the chance to make amends, I will gladly do so.¡± The dragon stared at me. To the point I was starting to feel self-conscious. ¡°You have the smell of a goddess. You have met one?¡± Something told me to lie would mean my death. I sucked in an ice-cold breath. ¡°I may have encountered a woman that fell under that category for a brief period of time.¡± ¡°The wheels of providence move around you. I have a feeling that you will be interesting to watch.¡± I latched onto that. ¡°Then how about I come here and tell you stories of my adventures?¡± ¡°No.¡± There was a sudden windstorm that kicked up all the snow around me into a full-on blizzard. When it finally died down. Insert here ¡°I¡¯ll be joining you. Front row seats are always better than second-hand tales.¡± I looked at her and just slowly took a deep breath. ¡°Well. I guess introductions are in order. I¡¯m Maxwell.¡± ¡°Lapis. The Frozen One.¡± Chapter 36 From Chapter 35 ¡°No.¡± There was a sudden windstorm that kicked up all the snow around me into a full-on blizzard. When it finally died down a blue skinned elven child stood in front of me. Two blue crystalline horns formed on either side of her head. Even her dress, a china dress of all things, was blue to the extreme. It brought to mind a song I heard from the early nineties about being blue. The color scheme aside, it was hard for me to process that the giant snake like dragon that had wrapped around the mountain top and had to have been a kilometer or two long had shrunk to this pipsqueak. She pointed at me with a grin, each tooth razor sharp like a shark. ¡°I¡¯ll be joining you. Front row seats are always better than secondhand tales.¡± I looked at her and just slowly took a deep breath. ¡°Well. I guess introductions are in order. I¡¯m Maxwell.¡± ¡°Lapis. The Frozen One.¡± Chapter 36 Aurora With Zaras taking most of the Greater vampires, and the others on their own missions, the dungeon was starting to feel lonely. The common vampires could talk a little, but it was like pulling teeth. My demons could talk well enough, but in their case, they were busy. I was pushing them as it was. I couldn¡¯t distract them just for some idle chatter. I sighed then pulled up my status screen since it had been a while. -- Name: Aurora Nightingale Level: 10 Race: Vampire, Sub: Dungeon Master ¨C Night Queen Sub: Dungeon Core Total Mana: 2,000/2,000 Abilities: Blood Sucking Blood Magic Elemental Magic ¨C Fire, Earth, Death, Dark Basic Sneak Dungeon Menu Learn Spell: 1 -- [Dungeon Core: Vampire ¨C Night Queen. Owner: Aurora Nightingale] Dungeon Level: 4 Total Mana: 277/4000 Absorb. Create. Destroy. Summon. -- I had completely forgotten about my learn spell. The incident with Losa happened right after I had gained the level. I¡¯d been focusing on a few other things since then. Zaras teaching me blood and dark magic hadn¡¯t counted towards the system¡¯s learn count. That was beneficial. Tapping on the menu, a list came up. -- Cruel Wind Death Curse Fear Possession Famine Pestilence Death¡¯s Scythe Bond of Death Fake Death Death¡¯s Body Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Aberrant Sorcery -- Looking over the list, I wanted them all. Now that I had a goal other than trying to get out of the game, more power was necessary for me to achieve it. Last time I chose Death¡¯s Sight which allowed me to look around the dungeon. While clairvoyance had turned out to be better, the benefit of Death¡¯s Sight was that I could actually use other magics from the viewpoint. Something I had found out while testing various things recently. A few new items had been added since the last time I had checked out the list. I decided on Aberrant Sorcery. It appeared to be the newest entry on the list thus must be more powerful than the others. Or I was completely wrong and was choosing a dud. Tapping on the entry, knowledge flooded into my mind from the system. Aberrant Sorcery. I got it because my blood magic, dark and death had all progressed to higher levels. I clearly understood that as soon as I processed all the information. It combined aspects from all three disciplines. I licked my lips as many new spells entered my mind. This was going to be fun. Jumping to my feet, I exited my tower and made for the prison. We had a few goblins there that the vampires were using for food. While they could consist off the dungeon mana, it was draining on the resource. I would eventually reach a tipping point where I couldn¡¯t support any more monsters. I was just lucky I had vampires that only needed to feed once a week when uninjured. If my dungeon consisted of goblins or something else that had to eat a lot, then I would be screwed if I didn¡¯t make a farm or something inside the dungeon to support them. Even that wouldn¡¯t be good enough in the short term. A few vampires were in the prison keeping watch or feeding. I ordered everyone but two out to serve as my hands during my tests. Extending one of my claws, I crouched and started carving a magic circle into the ground. The image of it clear as day in my mind. I wasn¡¯t sure how long it took, but soon the circle was no longer just in my mind, but on the ground as well. I stood back to check over the circle to make sure there were no imperfections. That would be bad. Once I was sure nothing was out of place, I ordered one of the goblin champions over into the circle. His neck was covered in bite marks from the numerous feedings he¡¯d been forced to endure. Once he stood in the middle of the circle, I reached out as if to caress his cheek only to swipe my claws across his neck. The goblin collapsed to the ground as his blood filled the engraved circle. Holding my hands out, I began to chant the words in my mind, the magic construct that formed over my hands during spell casting took shape as well. Only instead of just my palm or wrist, this spell formation covered most of my arms. Before long, the body of the goblin dissolved as a new figure to shape on the ground. I paused in my chanting at the designated point and held my hand over the body. Using my claw, I made a small cut on my palm. A small stream of blood dribbled out onto the figure, and it began to change. Before long, a beautiful woman laid on the ground. With the last words of the ritual, a surge of mana struck the woman¡¯s chest and she started breathing slowly. Breathing deeply, I fell back most of my mana used up. It had been close, but I knew from the information gained from the system that I had enough. The woman looked completely different than me. Red hair with pale skin, she looked like a northern beauty from Ireland. Taking another deep breath, I closed my eyes and recited another spell. When I opened my eyes, I was looking at a different part of the ceiling. ¡°It worked!¡± I coughed as my throat hurt. It felt like it had never been used before which it hadn¡¯t. I sat up and found my actual body resting like it was asleep. I summoned Varroth as I got used to my new body. I needed some clothes, but that was easy enough to get. Curious about what it would say, I opened my status. -- Name: Aurora Nightingale Level: 10 Race: Homunculus Vampire, Total Mana: 200/2,000 Abilities: Blood Sucking Blood Magic Elemental Magic ¨C Fire, Earth, Death, Dark Aberrant Sorcery Basic Sneak Flesh Repair Basic Telepathy -- Varroth came into the room as I dismissed the menu. He appeared to know instantly that it was me in the body. He came over and rubbed his head against me like a pet dog would. ¡°Good boy. Watch over my body, will ya?¡± I patted his head then made my way out of the prison. I was soon outside next to the barrier that had irritated me the last few weeks. Cautiously reaching out, I went to push against the barrier only to fall through without touching anything. Finally! ¡°Finally!¡± I repeated out loud. I was finally free of the dungeon that was nearly a prison for the last two weeks. Fuck! This felt amazing! I strode forward without another thought. The moonlight felt amazing, as did the breeze. I could experience both while still being in the dungeon aura, but there was just something different about it. I wanted to both laugh and cry at my newfound freedom. I wasn¡¯t sure how far I walked, but I had to come to a stop as I felt the link back to my main body weaken. I turned back and walked for a minute and felt it grow stronger. It appeared I had a range. That was a pity. I wasn¡¯t that disappointed though. It was still beyond my expectations to get out of the dungeon at all. I would pay more attention next time to gauge how far my range actually was. For tonight, I mainly wanted to enjoy the sensation of being free. At least, that was my plan until I heard the crack of a branch. Turning, I found a single goblin staring at me. Based on how he was dressed, I assumed he was a scout or part of a patrol. The creature pointed at me before barking something out in his language. ¡°What?¡± The thing narrowed its eyes at me before switching tongues. ¡°This lord Razz¡¯s territory! Naked woman trespass!¡± ¡°I see. That is a shame.¡± I had honestly forgot that I was still naked. Being called out by a goblin of all things slightly ticked me off. I held out my wrists to the goblin. ¡°You going to take me away?¡± The little creature appeared taken a back for a second before he reached into his satchel and pulled out some rope. ¡°Yes. Present to lord Razz. Get reward.¡± He moved closer acting like I wasn¡¯t a threat anymore. When he was a step away, I reached out quickly and grabbed both sides of his head. ¡°Death!¡± He only twitched for a second before his face melted from the spell. I wiped my hands on his tunic before heading back to the dungeon with a skip in my step. I was pleased that my magic worked more or less the same even in this body. For the first time in the last few weeks, maybe even the last few months if I thought about my life before I came here, I was enjoying myself. It would have been better if Losa were with me, but I knew he could be revived if I worked hard. Thus, I could allow myself to enjoy the moment. Chapter 37 Maxwell Lapis walked around while my mana recovered. She had a pretty good handle on using two feet having only had the form for a few minutes. Then again, she might have taken a humanoid form in that past. The NPCs appeared to have rather extensive backstories, almost as complex as most players. Sometimes even more so, if I was being honest. ¡°So¡­¡± I started not really sure where I was going. ¡°You want to watch me. What exactly does that entail?¡± ¡°Exactly what it means. I¡¯m going to watch the show that is your life. I love drama, but as a dragon it is hard to get out and about. I generally cause a panic.¡± ¡°I can see that.¡± I paused before I continued deciding to brave the obvious. ¡°Then¡­ Won¡¯t that still happen even with me at your side?¡± ¡°You other-worlders often have pets, summons, and all sorts of creatures that would normally be hunted on sight by your side. I can finally leave this blasted mountain and do some sightseeing.¡± ¡°Okay. That makes some sense. Then what about if I¡¯m attacked by say an overpowered vampire dungeon core that was out to make my life miserable?¡± ¡°That¡¯s oddly specific.¡± Lapis did a few stretches as she appeared to think about her reply. I didn¡¯t have any idea how high her level was, but it had to be up there. She was a dragon after all. Even if she wouldn¡¯t deal with Aurora for me, if she had my back then I might be able to make some bolder moves over the next couple weeks. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll just sit back and watch. I¡¯m assuming whoever wants to kill you is also an other-worlder. I¡¯ll just watch them instead. Especially since if they manage to kill you then that means they have more providence than you.¡± ¡°Lovely.¡± I more or less growled in annoyance at the decision. That would make things difficult. ¡°Then don¡¯t expect me to help you out if an adventurer wanting to add dragon slayer to their name comes after you.¡± ¡°Ho. Ho. You are cheeky. I can¡¯t say I don¡¯t like that. Very well. We shall set up a system. You do me a favor then I¡¯ll do you a favor.¡± She gave me her shark-like grin. ¡°If you happen to owe me a favor at the time of your impending death than I shall endeavor to help you.¡± I rubbed my head. This was turning into a headache, but at least she might help me out. ¡°Fine! But since you have to use me as a cover, you owe me a favor from the start.¡± Blinking, I found myself being held over the edge of the mountain by my throat. ¡°Or shall I just kill you now and go back to sleep?¡± ¡°Ok...ay. Okay!¡± I gasped out in panic. Her hand loosened around my throat enough for me to breath but not fall. ¡°We start out on a blank sheet!¡± Lapis snickered before tossing me one-handedly over her head onto the snow. I wasn¡¯t sure how to feel about being man handled by a ten-year sized girl. I had to remind myself that she might look like that, but she was a dragon. Coughing, I sat up rubbing my neck. Lapis looked back at me. ¡°Well? Where we off to, Max?¡± ¡°I was heading toward a city or anything interesting. Just generally exploring.¡± ¡°Ah. If that is the case, then you want to head that way,¡± Lapis remarked pointing from the mountain range. I couldn¡¯t see anything but cloud cover, but I assumed there was a city in that direction. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°A demon lord seal. Should be some treasure or¡­¡± ¡°NO!¡± I shouted quickly. ¡°For god¡¯s sake, no demon lords.¡± I would rather avoid accidently unleashing yet another powerful being onto the world. One pissed off vampire was enough for me. ¡°Just¡­ point me in the direction of a town that has elves.¡± ¡°Eh¡­ Its been a while.¡± Lapis rubbed her head while pursuing her lips. ¡°I don¡¯t remember the exact details. I think there is a city in that direction.¡± ¡°That will work for now.¡± I stood up from the snow. I didn¡¯t realize it due to my adenrline, but I was freezing even more so than usual during my mountain treks. I had a vague feeling that Lapis was the likely cause. If she took the chilling air around with her, I was going to have to buy thicker clothes soon. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. My mana was about half full. Shouldn¡¯t be more than another half an hour before I could get back on my way. Though, teleporting with a second person was going to burn even more of my mana than if I was by myself. There was a ding, and I looked at my wrist runes. I tapped on it, and Rowena¡¯s voice spoke into my ear. Finally, something that really said this was a game. ¡°Maxwell. How is the traveling going?¡± ¡°I hit an unexpected road bump, but I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m heading¡­¡± I checked the direction again to be sure. ¡°heading northwest currently. To the back side of the mountain.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Rowena replied. ¡°I¡¯m not really sure what¡¯s out there so be careful.¡± ¡°You got it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to patrol some. If you don¡¯t arrive back to handle the new arrivals, I¡¯ll fairy them down with Greavefeather, so don¡¯t worry too much about us here.¡± ¡°Thanks, partner. Glad you¡¯re at my side.¡± Rowena cut the line and I sighed in relief. That was one issue for the day that I could put aside. I really had to find a way that was decently protected and easy to defend for the Gate. It was my lifeline in this game after all. Dropping my hand, I turned back to Lapis. ¡°Anything else interesting other than the demon lord seal?¡± ¡°Hmm. If you want to meet another dragon, then you can head down another two peaks. I¡¯ll just say now that he gets much grumpier than I do when you wake him up.¡± Dread filled me at the thought of meeting another being like Lapis. She had already nearly killed me twice. Well, to be fair, the first time was more my fault than hers since I was the one to teleport into her barrier. ¡°That will be quite alright. Let¡¯s just head to the town for now.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± ~~~ ¡°What sort of people live here?¡± I remarked as we approached the city. Calling it a city might be a bit of a stretch. What could only be a stump sat in the middle of the city. I could easily make it out from the spot we sat because it had to be several kilometers in diameter. If someone told me that a world tree had been here, I wouldn¡¯t have doubted them. Surrounding the stump were a mixture of architectures. I could spot a few houses that appeared to be elven. Structures made from wood as part of a tree. These buildings were massive, along the lines of manors and castles. Out further from the stump was a much more common medieval looking city. Most of the buildings appeared to be made from brick and mortar. To top the mixture off, there was a strange blue crystal type structure along the coast that the city sat against. I couldn¡¯t be sure from the distance we were observing, but it looked like the buildings might be filled with water. Perhaps it was a water dwelling race like mermaids. Either way, it all combined made for an interesting sight. It also stoked my hopes that these people would be more welcoming to strangers showing up. In particular a dark elf. ¡°Are we going to stand here all day or go check out the city?¡± Lapis said with a heated tone. Glancing over to her, I could almost see the excitement rolling from her. When was the last time she got to explore a town? That also served to fill my heart with dread. I really hope we didn¡¯t encounter anyone that wanted to add dragon slayer to their name. With a sigh on my breath, I grabbed her shoulder and teleported us down to the city. Since I didn¡¯t have any coin, and if Lapis had some she wasn¡¯t willing to share, I teleported us to what appeared to be a deserted alley. I knew if the guards found us, they might throw us in jail or fine us, but I wasn¡¯t too worried. If I had to make a quick getaway. I had the perfect distraction. ¡°Well¡­ We¡¯re here,¡± I mumbled. I had wanted to get to a city, but now that I was here, I wasn¡¯t quite sure where to start. ¡°Want to head back to the demon lord seal?¡± Lapis asked though she was barely paying me any attention. She almost looked like her body¡¯s age as she looked at everything the alley had to offer. ¡°It smells worse than I remember.¡± ¡°No doubt.¡± The designers knew what they were doing. I was sure I smelt just about everything the body had to offer. Suppressing a gag, I moved to the entrance of the alley. I wasn¡¯t sure what I expected to see, but I was still surprised when I found that all the people on the street were dwarves. It had been hard to make out any of the figures before from the cliff side. ¡°The little people,¡± Lapis remarked as she peeked from under my arm. ¡°They taste like iron.¡± ¡°Not sure I wanted to know that.¡± I paused then grabbed her shoulder in a slight panic. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ You¡¯re not going to eat anyone during this little observation trip.¡± Her shark fanged grin came out along with a snake like tongue that like each tooth with frightening precision. ¡°Maybe. Maybe not.¡± I sucked in a breath before narrowing my eyes at her. ¡°I have a village that relies on me. I at least need your agreement that you won¡¯t eat any of them.¡± ¡°Oh? What do you plan to do to stop me?¡± ¡°I might not be able to stop you, but as an other-worlder I can revive as many times as I need. I doubt even you want to deal with that sort of headache.¡± Lapis pouted before she dropped her head. ¡°Fine. I won¡¯t touch any of your people. You have my promise as a member of the proud dragon race.¡± ¡°Good.¡± I sighed in relief and turned back to the open street connected to the alley. ¡°Let¡¯s go sightseeing like you wanted.¡± Without any idea what might actually be helpful for the villages, I needed to do some window shopping. Plus, my real objective for coming here was to find people that might be interested in helping a starter village grow. Not that I had any idea how to get them interested in moving to the south. ¡°One problem at a time, Maxwell.¡± Chapter 38 Aurora Returning to the dungeon, I made for the crafters section. It helped that all the dungeon monsters knew it was me without any real indication. The goblin I¡¯d ran into hadn¡¯t seemed to know where I was from, but that might be because he was too stupid. I would need to test it later with someone I knew was a real threat. ¡°My lady,¡± Zin said as I entered his workspace. ¡°What can I do for you, tonight?¡± ¡°I need some clothes for this body. They don¡¯t have to be too elaborate.¡± ¡°I have a few practice pieces that I¡¯ve made to level my skill. They are using some level one materials that I managed to create through some trial and error.¡± He led me to a rack that had several types of clothes hanging from it. There were a few dresses, some shirts and pants that a commoner of this game might wear, and then a few undergarments. I choose a shirt and pair of pants that I felt said adventurer. They were a dull grey with some hints of red that went well with my hair. ¡°These will do nicely.¡± Dressing, I marveled at how even the sensation of the clothes against my skin was the same as if I was in my real body. ¡°I have to say Zin, you are proving yourself quite nicely.¡± Zin bowed his head. ¡°Thank you, my lady.¡± He was a greater demon but looked more like a human than even my vampires. Since I had summoned him as a crafter, he didn¡¯t have any combat skills thus lowering his mana cost. Worth every mana point. Moving around in the outfit, I got a feel for it. I understood after a bit why materials were important. Compared to level zero materials, I could honestly feel the improved strength and dexterity that this outfit gave me. While it wasn¡¯t a lot, if I was fighting monsters my own level, they would be the edge I would need to win. I blew Zin a kiss, before heading over to my weaponsmiths. Hez and York were frantically working with signs of exhaustion showing. I rubbed my neck feeling bad. I had been in a bad mood last time I saw them. I knew they were doing their best, but I still took my frustration out on them. I called out to them as I approached. ¡°My queen!¡± they both shouted, dropping what they were doing to rush over and bow. ¡°Ummm¡­¡± I knelt and placed a hand on their heads. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. You two can take a break.¡± Almost instantly, the two of them collapsed and passed out. I scratched my cheek not sure what to do about this but decided they should be fine. Unlike humans, they shouldn¡¯t have to worry about catching a cold or anything like that. Even if that were the case, the heat from the forges would keep them warm enough. I stood up from the pair and moved about the room, checking the weapons. They had vastly improved. I could almost see the point where something clicked for them. It made sense, it was probably the point when they leveled up their skill. I grabbed a sword from the wall and tested it. I was still an amateur at these things, but it felt natural for me to hold it in my hand. Almost like it was an extension of my arm rather than a tool. Be that as it may, I had no desire to wield a sword. I returned the weapon to the rack and cast my eyes around the room. It went without saying, but this was a fantasy-based world. Magic, swords, and all that. I was about to give up and just stick to my magic when I saw something I wasn¡¯t expecting. I walked over and picked it up while holding my breath. ¡°It¡¯s real!¡± It was a gun. Well, not in the traditional sense. The weapon was shaped like a gun, but the trigger, end, and hammer were made from crystal. It was the Crimson crystal that we were starting to acquire. Other than the fantasy feel, it was amazingly close to one of those old western guns that I saw in historical accounts from time to time. On Earth, those things went for millions of dollars between collectors. Taking the gun, I rushed over to Hez and York. ¡°I¡¯m sorry again, but,¡± I mumbled as I slapped York awake. His groggy eyes locked onto me. ¡°Tell me. Which of you made this?¡± ¡°That¡­ It was me. I¡¯m sorry if I offended you, my lady.¡± ¡°No. I¡¯m not offended.¡± I want to know if you can make better versions or other weapons like this!¡± ¡°Ah. Yes. That is an Iron Magic Pistol. If I level up my skill a bit more, I should be able to craft a Steel one.¡± ¡°Tell me how it works,¡± I demanded, my excitement getting the better of me. ¡°Quite easily. You just pull the trigger, and it will fire a round of compressed mana. The weapon can be infused with spells. The drawback is that if something has magical resistance then it¡¯s almost completely useless.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°How often do things have magical resistance?¡± It wouldn¡¯t be good to use a weapon that would be useless outside the dungeon. That said, I really didn¡¯t want to use a close-range weapon like a sword. The staves that we had weren¡¯t conductive to the magic types. They were mostly for hitting people over the head. ¡°Hard to say.¡± York rubbed his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± I realized this was the limit of my monsters. They were extremely capable when it came to the things I summoned them for, but when it came to things outside that area, they were almost useless. I decided to drop it and just stick with the gun. ¡°Go ahead and practice making them. I would like another like this, and then make a few for my real body, just give them a few aesthetic changes.¡± ¡°I understand. I will get right on it.¡± York moved to get up, but I pressed him down. ¡°No. Go back to resting.¡± He nodded gratefully and laid back on the ground. I stood up and moved out of the room. I had a body that could leave the dungeon, the only problem was range. If I could figure out a way to extend that, then I would be golden. I opened the vault to my mana stones and placed the body in there before disconnecting with it. As I did so, I decided to start calling it Juliet. Returning to my real body, I sat up and stretched. Varroth growled at the sudden movement. He was wrapped around me just like a large dog might. His fur was course and slightly matted with blood, but I still buried my hands in it as I pet him. ¡°Thank you for watching over me.¡± Looking at the magic circle on the ground, I decided that it was best to leave it. I might need it again and there were other spells in the Aberrant Sorcery skill that I picked up. From what I could tell, most used the same circle just with different sacrifices to reach different affects. I waved my hand and created a false floor over the circle. Walking out with Varroth, I thought about what to do with myself. Zaras and the others would be a while yet. It would be a while before the dungeon¡¯s mana was high enough to summon anything worth the time. I wanted to save for another Paragon Vampire. Returning to the coffin room, I sat in my partially ruined chair. I decided to work on the dungeon. There were plenty of rooms that still needed either summoning points, absorption points, traps, and other tweaks. Death Sight made that much easier as I could do everything from my chair. Sending my mind out, I smoothed out tunnels that the demons were digging, created actual rooms that had various designs. I mainly stuck to vampire castle since that was what I was. The spiral design that my dungeon had would be confusing to invaders. Not only did you have to go through the entirety of the dungeon, but there were chances of back tracking and getting confused in parts that were interconnected. I had fixed the path to my core from the tower already and made that even if you entered through the top of the tower, you would find yourself only about a third of the way into the actual dungeon. Tapping my chin, I looked over the map of the dungeon. It effectively went out in all directions for hundreds of meters. I felt the total space occupied had to be a few kilometers by this point. The only direction that I hadn¡¯t explored yet was down. Mainly, because I had wanted to reach the outside world to contact the outside world, ironically enough. I moved to the edge of the dungeon, then started cutting my way down then back over. My aura was still a sphere, even with the protrusion being caused by the Aura Forge. That thing was working hard, but the results have been less than satisfactory. I knew if I put more to work, it would accelerate the process, but that would cut into my mana that was already limited. With several enemies around me that wasn¡¯t the right move. Making my way down, I eventually got to the bottom of my aura. It was a sheer up and down hole, so nothing should be able to climb it easily. At the bottom of my aura, I began to widen the hole to explore. I should be roughly a kilometer underground, perhaps more if my perception was off. If I included the mountain overhead, then it was well over five or six kilometers. Breaking through the stone, I had the room to about the size to about a dozen meters in diameter. I was about to reach the point where my aura curved back up when I broke into an empty space. That wasn¡¯t uncommon, there were pockets here and there. What was unusual was the light coming from it. I switched to Clairvoyance and sent my eye through the hole. There was an entire city below me! I wasn¡¯t talking some little town that had a few hundred buildings, no, this place seemed to go on forever. I couldn¡¯t see the edge with my magical sight. Moving my sight down carefully, I didn¡¯t want to trigger any magical spells or alarms, I finally reached the point that I could see what it was I was dealing with. Spider people! Fascinating. The city had structures, but everything was covered in layers of web. It wasn¡¯t all white either, there were hundreds of colors mixed together just like a normal town might be decorated with flags or paints. Looking it over made my painter spirit cry out in joy. There were all sorts of them. Some appeared to be nearly completely spider, then there were varying degrees of humidification. One that appeared to be completely human only with mandibles and eight spider legs coming out of their back walked with a full contingent of the other spiders. From the looks of things, though I could be wrong, she looked important. Her clothes were amazing, as if made from the best silks. After I had gotten my fill, I dismissed the sight. I wanted to make contact with them. I just had to figure out how they would react to me first. If they wanted to destroy me since I was a dungeon that would just ruin my day. Worse, they could make me a slave that produced items for them with my mana. I took a deep breath, that likely wouldn¡¯t happen. Probably. Maybe¡­ Chapter 39 Maxwell I called it sightseeing, but that was pushing it. I had hoped for shops and a bustling metropolitan life. What I found was a city that seemed to be under a lot of strain. Most of the shops that weren¡¯t geared toward metalworking had been closed. Judging from the boards on a few that we looked at, they¡¯d been closed for quite a long time at that. The dwarves were not very welcoming. So far, I had been cursed at, spit at, and even one man had threatened violence when I got to near to him on the street. That particular encounter had gotten Lapis into a belly holding laughing fit. The sad part of it, was that I couldn¡¯t be sure if it was due to me being an elf, a void elf, an outsider, or some combination of all three. ¡°I¡¯m starting to think this has been a bust,¡± I remarked after another dwarf spit on the ground as he passed me. ¡°That tends to be the case when you go somewhere without a goal,¡± Lapis snickered at my circumstances. ¡°Its not like I don¡¯t have a goal. I¡¯m just not sure how to go about achieving it,¡± I replied, feeling depressed that all I¡¯ve earned for this trip so far was a sarcastic dragon. We turned down another street. I didn¡¯t have a destination in mind, we were just wandering. Relief did wash through me as I spotted non-dwarven people for the first time since arriving at the city. From their features they were human or something extremely close to it. I decided that I didn¡¯t have anything to lose. I straightened up and walked over to the shop they were gathering. Glancing at the sign, I found it was the Galim City Adventuring Union. A few people glanced at me as I approached, but other than appear curious, they didn¡¯t fling abuse at me. A man gestured at something in his story, and I spotted the player tattoo on his wrist. Excitement welled inside my heart. Finally, some other players. Pushing my way inside the building, I found what appeared to be a bar. The air of depression was so heavy that I could almost feel it on my skin. Few people were talking and those that were did so in whispers. Along the bar, a few patrons were nearing black out drunk. I walked over and sat at a free seat. ¡°Welcome to the Union,¡± the barkeep said as he walked over. He gave me a quick look over. ¡°You¡¯re new in town?¡± The way he asked it was obviously sarcastic. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± I pulled out a few of the copper pieces that I¡¯d gotten during my hunting. ¡°What can I get for this?¡± ¡°Just the piss that claims to be ale,¡± replied the barkeep. ¡°I guess I don¡¯t have much choice.¡± I looked to the side for Lapis, and found her poking one of the patrons that was close to passing out. He slid off his chair and slammed roughly onto the ground. ¡°Leave them alone!¡± I sighed then shook my head. ¡°Do you want anything to drink?¡± ¡°Sir, I don¡¯t have anything to serve a child,¡± the barkeep said with a raised eyebrow at Lapis. Lapis turned to face the man and only barely opened her mouth. To the barkeep¡¯s credit, he immediately realized that he¡¯d made a mistake. ¡°So don¡¯t bring any with you if you should visit again. Here¡¯s a free malt wine for the lovely lady.¡± He handed me a drink that smelt like something had died in it. Judging from the yellow and red in it, I wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if something had. He then handed Lapis a glass that had a smooth red liquid in it. Even from a distance, it smelled nice. I decided to just ignore all that. ¡°Excuse me, but why does it look like death has visited here?¡± The barkeep rubbed his head. ¡°To tell you the truth, I don¡¯t quite get it. A few days ago, all the other-worlders went apeshit crazy. After a worrisome period, this is the result. It¡¯s a real bother since only a few of the quests are getting done.¡± He grabbed a cloth and started wiping the corner down. ¡°If you want some work, just go talk to Oka over there. She¡¯ll get you sorted out.¡± I thanked him and lifted the glass to my mouth. I steeled myself, but in the end chickened out. I set the glass down and got up from the bar. The barkeep chuckled but kept quiet. I guess that was the common response to that beverage. ¡°If you plan to bore me while doing fetch quests for this place. I will kill you myself,¡± Lapis remarked as I walked over to a small recess. There was another counter with a middle-aged woman sitting behind it knitting. ¡°I¡¯m broke, if you haven¡¯t noticed. We need money to do anything.¡± Plus, I could use the coin back in the village. Just a glance at the mage tower and library book expense had almost caused me to faint. That mages could certainly research magic on their own, but it was more efficient to buy the lower ranked spells and schools then have them work on increasing those in unique patterns. ¡°Why are you so poor?¡± Lapis moaned. ¡°Just stop being poor.¡± I sighed and shook my head. ¡°You make it sound so easy.¡± ¡°When I need gold, I just take some gold,¡± Lapis shrugged. The little man-eating bandit. Dragons were known for pillaging, I supposed. We reached the counter and the woman, Oka, put her knitting down. ¡°You wantin to do some quests?¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to hear how the system works first.¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°No problem.¡± She stood up and handed me a sheet of paper. ¡°Fill this out and you¡¯ll be allowed to take quests from the Union for a week. You¡¯ll have to resubmit it every week. We don¡¯t care what quests you take as long as you complete them to the specified requirements. If you want to slay a dragon, make sure you are capable of slaying a dragon.¡± I glanced at Lapis with worry, but she didn¡¯t react. ¡°If you fail note that it comes with a penalty. Generally, it is ten percent of whatever the payout is.¡± ¡°Steep, but understandable.¡± If you took a quest and made a mess of it, then they might have to increase the difficulty of the said quest. Thus, the money would go back into the quest. This world might be a game, but it was living and breathing. Everything was dynamic. If I took a quest to slay a demon and failed. It wouldn¡¯t wait around for the next person, it would move or even seek revenge. ¡°Do you?¡± I asked with a grin. ¡°Have any dragon slaying quests, I mean?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Pity.¡± She slid the paper over to me. ¡°Fill out the paperwork, and you¡¯ll be able to access the list of quests.¡± There was no fee, and from looking over the paper, nothing that bound me to actually doing a quest. The system appeared to be a way for them to keep track of how many people were working in an area. I read everything twice just to be safe then signed the bottom. After I handed it back to her, a blinking icon in my vision appeared. When I focused on it, a list of quests popped up. Looking a few of them over, this city seemed to be a mid-level zone. The levels listed were in the twenties and thirties. I selected one that was a hunt quest. I felt that was simple enough for a quick quest. Even I had trouble finding the target, I would bring Rowena over to help. A magic stone plate next to Oka glowed almost as soon as I accepted the quest. She glanced at it then coughed. ¡°Maxwell, was it? Are you sure you will be able to handle this creature?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I¡¯ve never heard of it before.¡± Oka sighed. ¡°Well, I guess it doesn¡¯t matter. You¡¯ve already accepted the quest. Just remember that if you fail, then ten percent of the quest total will be subtracted from your assets.¡± ¡°I know.¡± I reopened the quest to double check the payout as I made my way out of the Union. It had been a hundred gold right. Yeah, a hundred gold. There was a symbol next to the hundred. I focused on it and then walked into the wall. It wasn¡¯t a hundred gold! It was a hundred thousand gold! ¡°You forget how to look where you¡¯re going?¡± Lapis asked as I felt like was sinking to the bottom of a lake. I didn¡¯t have ten thousand gold! ¡°We have to hurry!¡± I grabbed her hand and ran out the door. I made it down about half the street before I was yanked to a stop. ¡°Release me, or you will find out just how it feels to be eaten alive.¡± I dropped her hand quickly. ¡°What has you so rattled?¡± ¡°I have roughly forty-eight hours to slay a Razorfang that¡¯s been sighted a few kilometers to the north of the city.¡± Lapis scuffed. ¡°It¡¯s just a Razorfang. Those are weak. Even you can handle one by yourself.¡± I relaxed and straightened up. ¡°You¡¯re sure I can handle it?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be fine, probably.¡± ~~~ I teleported from tree to tree only barely staying ahead of the beast. ¡°How the fuck is this weak?!¡± I shouted at Lapis who was floating above the battle like it didn¡¯t concern her. The Razorfang quite simply was a snake. A snake that had six arms a few meters back from its head that were razor sharp blades. A single stroke had cut the tree I was on like butter. Pointing at the monster, it was over thirty meters long so I had plenty to target, I sent Spatial tear after Spatial Tear at the beast. The spell was still affective, but the beast was so huge that the attacks weren¡¯t getting much further than a few centimeters. The thick scales didn¡¯t help matters. ¡°I could have killed it ten times already.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a fuck¡­¡± I had to teleport as the Razorfang slammed into the tree I was in. I had barely appeared before it was already chasing me. I took a deep breath and then started using Void Discourse. Thankfully, I could just speak random shit. That proved to be the wrong move as it seemed to piss the beast off even more. My teleport hadn¡¯t cooled down yet as the Razorfang turned the bottom half of my tree into paper sheets. To avoid the same fate, I used every ounce of my strength to kick from the tree onto its neighbor. Dangling from the branch, I felt like a pinata about to be broken apart. The Razorfang slithered under me and opened its mouth as it started stretching up. I ground my teeth and grabbed a larger branch. I used Rune Crafting on it, and enscribed Toxin of the Beyond on it. I could only put a hand size rune on it, but I had to hope it would at least give me a chance to regroup. Tossing the branch down, the Razorfang snapped it up. I grew worried as nothing happened for a second or two. It was less than a meter from being able to bite down on my legs when it stopped. The Razorfang hissed before it recoiled. It began to thrash about obviously in a great deal of pain. I used the chance to pull myself up before raining down Spatial Tears left and right. This went on from about two minutes before the beast finally stopped moving. ¡°About time. I was about to fall asleep,¡± Lapis¡¯s voice came from overhead. I gave her a rude gesture before climbing down from the tree. I was saving my mana in case the beast wasn¡¯t truly dead and I had to beat a hasty retreat. Cautiously approaching the Razorfang that was turning the ground red with all its blood, I confirmed that it was truly dead. ¡°That wasn¡¯t too bad,¡± I said finally as I dropped to the ground a few meters away. I was exhausted from everything that had happened today. I had planned to head back to the village, but Rowena was going to handle the teleportation today and it would take me close to three hours to get back. The sun had long set during my adventure to hunt the Razorfang. ¡°I have a few pointers, but I¡¯ll get to those later.¡± She pointed at the Razorfang. ¡°Can I eat it?¡± ¡°Hold on.¡± I pulled the quest log up to see what I needed to take back to prove that I completed the quest. It wasn¡¯t like the older games where you killed the ten wolves and the quest giver knew. You had to bring back proof. ¡°I just need its magic gem. You can have the rest.¡± I was sure the materials could be sold, but I had no way to transport it back to the city. A space bag might be a nice purchase in the future. ¡°Then I¡¯ll mark this a half a favor.¡± ¡°Why just half?¡± I asked, tilting my head. Lapis flung her hand out and an icicle that looked sharper than any sword lanced out right next to my head. I thought it was a threat until I heard something massive collapse to the ground. Looking behind the tree, I found another Razorfang, only with brighter coloring. ¡°Because I killed the other one. Fun fact, Razorfangs always travel in pairs.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t it help?¡± ¡°That is how they operate. One will go berserk, while the other will sneak up on the prey to finish it off once its weakened.¡± ¡°I guess we can call it even then,¡± I remarked. If that thing had attacked me, I wouldn¡¯t have even been able to run for it. Lapis chuckled before her body grew to her full dragon form. I was forced to send the next half hour listening to her feast on the two corpses. I only felt like vomiting three times. Chapter 40 Aurora After about twelve hours of watching the spider people, I decided that it would be worth the trip down. I had considered using my human body outside the aura like before, but I only saw a trace number during my time watching. To add to my consideration, I found that they were treated like slaves in most cases. Thus, after about five hours of work, I now had a spider body as well. I went with a mature woman that had the spider legs and some carapace here and there. From what I had seen, they were the highest ranked in the city. I was sure that it wouldn¡¯t go perfectly smooth, but hopefully, I could find some interesting things without too much trouble. The tricky part came to getting down into the city, but with some well placed web, with my new body could almost control like another limb, I found myself in a less populated part of the city. It had only been about ten or so minutes since I entered the city, and I could say without a doubt that I could spend all day here without issue. The people here appeared to have a deep connect with art. While the buildings were made from obsidian and were rather squarish in design, just about everything was covered in webbing. If it was plain white web, then I wouldn¡¯t be so enthralled by it. Pictures and works of art were dyed beautifully into the web. I spent five minutes alone on a singe ten-meter section of web. Taking a single step caused the entire picture to change completely. It was almost like watching a movie. ¡°Simply amazing,¡± I whispered. From the artwork, it looked like a scene from a battle was being depicted. Heroes, mages, and priests were shown fighting valiantly against a dragon. I sighed, unable to believe that this was created by AI. I heard some footsteps coming my way and straightened up. While I was here to sight see, I wanted to check if there were some actual players here. If only to verify that asshat Maxwell¡¯s story. Turning back to the street, I started walking toward where I thought a market was. I had mostly memorized the layout of the city from above. Maps were just pictures and I had always been good a remembering them all my life. A pair of women turned the corner and stop their chatting as soon as their eyes landed on me. The staring match lasted for a few seconds before one of the women finally spoke. Thankfully, I understood it. ¡°Haven¡¯t seen you before. Are you newly ascended?¡± ¡°Y¡­ Yes! I¡¯m Aru!¡± I said deciding not to say my actual name. Having played with clairvoyance and Death¡¯s Sight, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised with names had power. The last thing I wanted was for them to lead any army to my dungeon. ¡°You¡¯re rather cute for a newly ascended,¡± she remarked as they drew closer. She reached out and stroked my chin. ¡°Makes me want to eat you up.¡± ¡°Mira!¡± her companion exclaimed. Judging from her expression she was upset about her comment. ¡°What Opal?¡± Mira asked as she turned away from me. She got in Opal¡¯s face and licked the woman¡¯s lips. ¡°Last night wasn¡¯t enough for you?¡± Opal smacked Mira in the face. ¡°No! We¡¯re going to be late!¡± ¡°Good point.¡± Mira looked back to me. A rad handprint almost glowing on her cheek. ¡°Aru. You should come with us. I¡¯m sure left, and right is confusing being newly ascended.¡± ¡°No¡ª¡± I started to say, only to have my hands grabbed by the two. They dragged me to a huge building that made up most of this district. From the symbols and statues, I could only assume that it was a temple. The issue was that there shouldn¡¯t be any gods other than that Void goddess that was recently revived. I found I was quite wrong after we made our way inside. Rows of seats surrounded a large arena. The place could have easily fit ten thousand people, but from my glance around the seats, I counted maybe two or three hundred max. The two pushed me down then sat on either side of me. It looked like they had no intention of letting me go. ¡°Good evening, ladies! I¡¯m your announcer, Lark¡± A floating chair flew by with a man sitting on it. The first I had seen in this section. ¡°It is that time of the month! She¡¯s ready for any and all challengers!¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I whispered. I didn¡¯t like not knowing what was going on. ¡°Just watch!¡± Mira whispered back. A woman in the stands opposite us climbed to her feet. ¡°OH! There it is! Our first challenger!¡± She jumped down from the stands while drawing two twin sabers. She made some fancy moves with her weapons that I really couldn¡¯t follow then nodded to the man. ¡°Now that she¡¯s ready. Let¡¯s welcome our lord and master. Lady Shoa!¡± A cheer went up around the Colosseum. The ground opened before a platform rose from underground. It was easy to see this was the main contestant of the spider people. Of all the individuals that I had seen since finding the city, she was the most regal of the women that I had seen thus far. She held herself with a pose that almost seemed to say just try me. The woman with twin sabers might be there to challenge her, but she still showed Lady Shoa respect by bowing almost religiously to her. Lady Shoa gestured for her to come at her. With an elegant battle cry, the challenger charged at Lady Shoa. I didn¡¯t see any weapons on the lady, but she could have been a magic caster. Turns out it was the complete opposite, Lady Shoa met the charge with an raised hand that easily redirected the swipes and stabs away from her body. Other than her hands, I doubted that the blades got within ten centimeters of Shoa¡¯s body. ¡°That challenger is on fire! Too bad nothing seems to be landing¡ªso embarrassing!¡± The announcer was out of place in my opinion. Almost like a mark from the real world on this fantasy-based world. The challenger could obviously hear the announcer as she picked up her pace even more. Lady Shoa on the other hand, looked like she wanted to yawn. The flurry of stabs and slices continued for a good two or three minutes, before the challenger tired. Lady Shoa must have also had enough as she went from defensive to offense. Something happened to her fists just before the ends of the two sabers went flying, having been snapped. Lady Shoa¡¯s hand finally came to a stop. Buried into the throat of the challenger. ¡°That¡¯s its ladies! The first challenger has failed! A pity. I know we¡¯re all waiting for Lady Shoa to meet her end! The tyrant!¡± I really couldn¡¯t tell if Lark was telling a joke or was being completely serious. Lady Shoa didn¡¯t appear to care about anything. ¡°Damn! Another one failed,¡± Mira complained as she dropped back into her seat. ¡°Hey. I get that this is a deathmatch, but what¡¯s it for?¡± ¡°Really?¡± Opal asked with a raised eyebrow which was strange since she had four eyes. ¡°You must have been under a rock this whole time.¡± ¡°Well¡ªmore or less,¡± I replied, hoping I wouldn¡¯t have to elaborate. ¡°This is competition is held every month. Anyone is allowed to challenge the current leader or other positions throughout the city,¡± Mira explained waving to the arena where another person was already fighting the Lady. ¡°Every month?!¡± I exclaimed. ¡°How do you¡ªwe get anything done?¡± ¡°There are exceptions, like when we¡¯re at war, but generally everyone does their best in their position until the next month. If you¡¯re strong, you can last a long time before someone starts gunning for your position.¡± ¡°I guess.¡± I shook my head turning back to the arena. A woman that used a polearm was receiving the same treatment as the last challenger. I could already see that she wasn¡¯t going to be able to defeat the powerful Lady Shoa. Sure enough, only a minute passed before her throat exploded as Lady Shoa¡¯s hand passed through it. There was enough force that the challenger¡¯s head came off. ¡°Ouch! Try again next month!¡± Lark raised his hands wide. ¡°Alright! The position of Matriarch is up for one more match! After that we are moving on to First General! Any takers!?¡± Lark made a show of examining the stands. I thought no one else was going to challenge her when Lark looked in my direction. ¡°What¡¯s this!? A fresh blood wants to take a crack at it?¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. With wide eyes I looked around only to see Mira looking away after releasing one of my spider legs. I wasn¡¯t used to them yet and hadn¡¯t processed the feeling of it being gently raised. I glared at the woman only for her to push me out of the seat. ¡°There are no take backs,¡± Opal whispered on my other side. I growled and stood up before jumping over the ledge into the arena. The last two times, there had been a commotion each time. The people being famous at least a little among the spiders. For me, there was complete silence. ¡°Welcome to the Arena of Placement! It has been a long time since a newly ascended challenged the Matriarch right off the bat.¡± Lark flew close to me giving me the once over. ¡°I ascended just this morning,¡± I whispered to the man. ¡°I don¡¯t really know the rules.¡± Lark just grimaced then said. ¡°Fight. Win, live. Lose, die.¡± I palmed the handle of the short sword on my waist. I had brought it just for show since I planned on using a Magic-gun with all my bodies. The show I had just witnessed twice went through my head. There was no way that I was going to be able to get close to that woman with my paltry skills. If I was going to die, then I might as well try out my equipment for York. Nodding to Lark, I strode forward. Lady Shoa waited in the center of the arena. She must have some sort of Monk class or martial artist. I never got a chance to learn in depth about the spider people before being tossed into this mess. ¡°Ladies, it looks like the new blood is ready! Will we witness history, or will the Lady add another notch to her significant belt?!¡± A cheer went up through the stands. I copied the first challenger¡¯s bow since I didn¡¯t want to be disrespectful. She gave me a nod before she took a stance. I guess being new had some advantages. She had no idea what to expect out of me. Lark signaled the start of the fight and then nothing happened. I wasn¡¯t about to charge into that death zone. Reaching under my skirt, I drew my pistol. The gems had started to glow black from the death magic that I had been pumping into it. Lady Shoa gave me a curious look before she decided to attack me. Either she knew what I had, or she didn¡¯t want to risk whatever it was. I cocked the hammer back before pointing it at the charging woman. With a grin, I pulled the trigger not really sure what to expect. Unlike a real pistol, there was no bang, no smell of propellant, no discharge of cartridges, nothing. It was almost silent to the point that I worried it hadn¡¯t fired. That was until the sound of something thudding against the ground reached my ears. Lady Shoa laid flat on the ground only five meters in front of me with a massive hole in her chest. The edges were rotting before my eyes. The gem towards the back of the pistol cracked. A glance told me that it was completely spent. I returned it to the holster than turned back to Lark. ¡°What now?¡± The dazed announcer was staring at Lady Shoa¡¯s body with surprise. He coughed before he raised his arms. ¡°That¡¯s it, ladies! In what has to be the fastest match of all time, our great Tyrant, the Matriarch of Twisted Webs, Lady Shoa has been defeated in less than ten seconds.¡± He lowered the platform down. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Aru¡ª¡± I replied. I wish I had thought more about it earlier. ¡°Lady Aru!¡± A bunch of notifications popped into my vision at that moment, but I pushed them to the side. I wanted to enjoy the feeling of victory for a few minutes. In the back of my head, I decided that I was going to make sure Mira and Opal didn¡¯t live this down. ~~~ My short trip was turning into a full-on thing. After I defeated Lady Shoa, I was forced to sit through the rest of the matches. I was talking about hundreds of matches. The only one that last less than a few minutes was Lady Shoa¡¯s. Thankfully, the city was well inside the distance of my control of the homunculi. I could close my eyes and quickly check on the dungeon. One of the perks for becoming the Matriarch was that I got a nice box seat to enjoy the matches. It gave me both a good view and privacy. I tapped on my wrist and checked out what was going on. Congratulations! Alliance Unlocked! The Level One City of Twisted Webs has come under your ownership. All administrative powers have been transferred to you. Achievement unlocked: Espionage ¨C Regime Change ¨C Choose one National power to unlock. Note: As you conquered this city via Espionage, Aru, not Aurora is in control. Should anything happen to Aru (Homunculus body) the proper consequences will result. To prevent this, please follow proper procedures within the selected city¡¯s government to allocate the correct body. Twisted Webs Level One City Population: 12,475 Combatants: 1,500 Economic Strength: A+ Combat Strength: C- Cultural Strength: SS+ Magical Strength: F+ Current Administrative Wealth: 7,411,514 (Assets & Gold) From there the menus went from simple to confusing in about five seconds flat. There was just so much that it made my head spin. One menu did list several advisors, one of which was Mira, so I planned to grill her later about everything this city had to offer. One thing that I greatly appreciated was that all the information they had on the surrounding areas was mine for the taking. I quickly had a complete map of the surrounding five hundred kilometers. Everything past that grew spotty. I did find that I was able to conquer the city without conquering the city interesting. It gave me some interesting ideas for the future. It might make my stomach curl, but I might have my other body become a member of Maxwell¡¯s community. That seemed right up the alley for a vampire. To take control of a place from the shadows. Idly playing with my hair, I opened the National Power menu. Like always a handy list opened for me to choose from. Treasures of Nineth Heaven ¨C Generates a resource of Random (Level 4- Level 7) value inside your territory. Ships of the Night ¨C Create a portal of Trade with a random city in the world. (City will be accepting of your race, ideology, and theology). The Great Path ¨C All creatures move with a bonus inside your territory. The Unspoken Truth ¨C Reveals a hidden mystery of the world within fifty kilometers of the center of power. I immediately decided that it was a pity that I could only choose one. The only one that didn¡¯t call out to me was the Great Path option, but that was due to most of my creatures already moving around like they owned the place. Ships of the Night was calling out to me as well, but I had a sinking feeling that I wouldn¡¯t be able to easily place these options inside my dungeon. I¡¯d rather not place something that might be taken from me in a month. I decided on the Treasures of Nineth Heaven. Even if the city was lost to me in a month, since I could place the resources, I could put it near my dungeon aura on the ceiling. Clicking on it, a pair of glowing dice appeared in the air. I took them before tossing them randomly. The world vanished around me, replaced by a bowl that looked like it covered the world. The dice rolled over and over again until they finally landed on a six and a five. Waiting with weighted breaths, the scene of the bowl vanished and then the map of my territory appeared in my mind. As I suspected, it had to be in the territory of the city. Thankfully, there was a good deal of overlap on the ceiling. I placed the resource inside the room I had hollowed out yesterday. I flew over. If this body had eaten anything I might have hurled it all over the floor while I was at it. It was a good thing no one was in the box seat with me. I quickly leaned back and disconnected from the body. Back in the dungeon, I felt wetness running down my face. Reaching up, I found that I was bleeding from just about every hole on my face. What the hell had been created by the system that would cause me so much damage. At least there wasn¡¯t any pain this time, though there was a throbbing that felt like it wanted to be pain. After the surge of mana, I finally was able to sit up. I wiped my face with a cloth and stood up. I had to find out just what had been created in my dungeon and I¡¯d rather do it in person. Walking quickly through the dungeon after grabbing York, he was the most qualified in the dungeon right now to actually tell me what the resource was, we arrived at the small skylight that overlooked the city of Twisted Webs. An outcrop of stone that had a gently glowing gold vein running through it stood over ten meters. Veins of the mineral stretched out from the base. Checking through the hole, I found that it was growing on the ceiling as well, in clear view of the city. I quickly moved a large amount of stone to keep it from view. It had been less than three or four minutes, and the tournament was still taking place. I should be good. ¡°Do you have any idea, York?¡± I asked, moving over to join the demon next to the outcrop. ¡°No. This is far above my skill level, my queen.¡± He took out a small pick that was made from steel. He swung with all his worth and the pick¡¯s point flattened to the point that it might as well be a hammer. ¡°Whatever it is, the material is at least over level five maybe even six.¡± ¡°That¡¯s both good and bad. Such a high level means it will be hard for us to do anything with it.¡± I sighed as I reached out to run my hand against the outcrop. The golden metal was smooth and almost felt like velvet to the touch. It even gave off a bit of heat. I attempted to absorb the material with my dungeon skill. At first, I thought nothing was happening, but after a few seconds, I sensed something like a progress bar. Deciding to wait it out and see, I spent the next two hours standing next to the outcrop. York would have waited for me, but I sent him back to the blacksmith to see if he could fix the issue my other body had with her gun. Finally, the ability took affect and a piece of the gold barely larger than my pinky tip vanished. A flood of mana rushed through me, it totally made up for standing here for the last two and half hours. I looked through the menu and found what I had just absorbed. Primal Gold ¨C Magic Metal Level 8: Gold that has been in the presence of a god. Few have seen this metal before and lived to tell the tale. I whistled. That was nothing to sneeze at. There was no way in hell that I was going to be creating this material from mana anytime soon, but with this outcrop, I might be able to make some weapons in the future. Not to mention, since this was a game, the resource would naturally respawn in the future. It was almost a pity that I couldn¡¯t work the material right this moment. Returning to my seat in the central room of the dungeon, I returned my mind back to my homunculus down in the city. Day had been a good day. Chapter 41 Maxwell Leaving the massive pools of blood and bones behind me, Lapis and I returned to the city. I had to return to the Union to collect my reward. It had barely been a day and I could say that I missed my little village tucked away from the world. I knew that I would be hearing the horrifying sound of Lapis eating in my dreams tonight, but for the first time since being trapped in this world, I was actually looking forward to sleeping. Back in town, I pushed the door to the Union open with exhaustion weighing on me. If I learned anything from today, it was not to exhaust my mana quite so much. Glancing around, I thought that most of the patrons were the same from a few hours ago. I dragged myself over to the reception counter and to Oka. ¡°You¡¯re back!¡± the receptionist cried with clear joy. ¡°Are you going to forfeit the job? No one here would blame you.¡± ¡°No.¡± I reached into my inventory and pulled out the two magic cores from the Razorfangs. ¡°Here.¡± ¡°Two of them?¡± she exclaimed. ¡°One wasn¡¯t enough for you?¡± I ground my teeth. They had to know they traveled in pairs. Calming myself with a few deep breaths, I shrugged. ¡°It just happened. Can I get my payment?¡± ¡°Sure!¡± Oka reached under the counter and there was a brief glow before a bag was placed in front of me. Luckily, there was a game mechanic for money and it vanished into my money icon. There were several different types over the world. The currency I got was for the Elven Kingdom of Craia. I made a mental note of that before turning from the receptionist. I was going to find an inn and relax for the night. A collective note of awe went up as I turned. On a wall next to the door, a sign glowed before I saw my name take up a slot on the list. I walked over to inspect what it was for to find that it was a list of the top earners in the Union. I had shot to the top of the list just like that. Normally, that might be an amazing feat, but when the next highest earner was just short of a thousand gold, it became a lot less impressive. ¡°Hey you!¡± I blinked at the rude tone and turned to find an elven woman waving at me as she walked over. ¡°You¡¯re Maxwell?¡± Considering the list updated as soon as I turned my quarry in, that should be obvious. ¡°Maybe,¡± I replied, not sure I wanted to engage with the person. I could tell she was a player, but that was about it. We were technically supposed to be enemies as she was my surface cousin. Light and Dark and all that jazz. The last thing I wanted was a party of elves hunting me for a bounty or something. ¡°Come have a drink with us.¡± She pointed to her table where a good mix of races sat drinking from tankards. A few of them were well on their way to being shitfaced. I was tired, but one of my goals was to make connections with other players. I might miss out on a chance if I ignored her. ¡°Sure.¡± We walked back to her table and she introduced me to the others. ¡°This is Maxwell. He just made a bucket of money and thus has been deemed interesting enough to share a tablet with the Jade Collective.¡± ¡°Jade Collective?¡± I asked suppressing my chuckle. ¡°Sorry.¡± A man that had on glasses and wore a black trench coat sighed and shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s our guild name.¡± He reached out a hand to shake. ¡°I¡¯m Kevin, by the way.¡± I took it with a grin. ¡°Ah! That¡¯s cool.¡± Now that I looked, they all had a piece of jade in their uniform. Rowena had said there were guilds in the game. I just never really thought about it since I¡¯d basically been at war since I started this game. The woman that led me over clapped me on the shoulder. ¡°So, tell us Maxwell. You are playing this game even though you are dead?¡± I tussled my hair as I thought about that. ¡°I guess. I mean, it¡¯s a done deal, right?¡± I said as I pulled up a chair. ¡°I¡¯d rather live in the moment then wallow in my self-pity and regret for a world that I¡¯m supposably never going back to.¡± Kevin raised his mug to that. ¡°You see, Sasha. Rather than sit here getting drunk, we should be out doing things.¡± ¡°Bah! You don¡¯t have to tell me. This area is dead though. As soon as most of the major guilds besides Snake stopped reporting, the King went crazy and enacted martial law.¡± ¡°Then we just need to move.¡± ¡°You say that like its easy.¡± ¡°Snake? Martial Law?¡± I repeated. Sounds like I came to a serious place. ¡°Snake is a bit less¡­ merciful than some of the other player run guilds. I bet it won¡¯t be two or three months before they take over everything in this city.¡± Sasha took a swig of her drink. ¡°It doesn¡¯t help that the remnants of the other guilds ran off to their other bases when this world turned upside down.¡± ¡°Better to be with friends right now.¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I felt a tap on my shoulder. Glancing behind me, I found Lapis. She had wandered off at some point when I was making my way here. She had a wide grin for some reason. She took on a mechanical voice that I would expect to hear from a guard NPC or something. ¡°Lord Maxwell. Your village needs your assistance.¡± I glared at her. She just let slip my biggest trump card. ¡°You have a village?¡± Kevin asked with clear excitement. I narrowed my eyes further at Lapis who simply walked away. Just how much about this world did she truly understand. I groaned and turned back to the two. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m a lord.¡± Kevin and Sasha shared a look before wide grins formed on their faces. ¡°You in need of some help around your lands? Monster clearing, resource gathering?¡± ¡°I would be lying if I said that I didn¡¯t, but I¡¯m not sure how it will benefit you.¡± ¡°Are you kidding?¡± Kevin remarked. I just gave him a shrug. ¡°No. I guess you¡¯re not. Okay. I¡¯ll level with you. Guild Bases are incredibly hard to come by. You have to have a lord¡¯s permission to build one. Before it was already challenging to work out a deal with a lord, now¡­ Well, it is almost impossible. If the remaining lords don¡¯t already have an established relationship with a guild, they don¡¯t look too kindly to inviting people that might threaten them into their territory.¡± I stroked my chin. That was interesting. ¡°Going by that, my inclination is to say no.¡± ¡°Hey. Hey. Don¡¯t rule it out just yet,¡± Sasha said quickly. ¡°There are things in place to control this sort of thing. Much easier than in the real world, I might add.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± I asked intrigued. Sasha played with the tip of her ear. ¡°Contracts. We make a contract with you and both sides will have to uphold it. It can be as detailed as you want.¡± ¡°I see. Just as a matter of interest, how many people do you have in your guild?¡± ¡°Fifteen. We had more, but a few flipped out when the world changed and retreated into their shells. I am trying to bring them out, but for now, they aren¡¯t really worth much.¡± Sasha answered. She tried not to, but ended up glancing at the human that was passed out on the table a few seats down from us. He was dressed like a mage, but that didn¡¯t tell me much. Fifteen. That wasn¡¯t a small number considering what I was dealing with. Razz¡¯s true number were up in the air. I knew he had at least six under his command that were players. Being a warlord, he hadn¡¯t worked for anyone before he met me. Plus, I was hesitant to say he worked for me. Begrudging partners might be better. I got up from my seat. ¡°I¡¯m not saying no, but I need a night to think about it.¡± Sasha and Kevin looked relieved. ¡°Thank you for even considering it.¡± She glanced at Kevin then lowered her voice to just above a whisper. ¡°Be careful. Snake has people here. With how much gold you made, they might make a move on you.¡± ¡°Thanks for the tip,¡± I whispered back. Raising my voice, I looked to find Lapis apparently terrorizing some drunk man. ¡°Lapis! We¡¯re leaving.¡± She pouted but followed after me. Once we were clear of the Union building, I turned down an alley and rounded on her. ¡°What the fuck? I thought you were going to watch, not ruin my chance to negotiate?¡± ¡°Blah, blah, blah. It¡¯s not fun to just sit back and watch. You other-worlders at like everything revolves around you. I could make this a lot more fun.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I rubbed the bridge of my nose. My patience finally ran out. Today had just been too long for my liking. ¡°Fine! Do it. See if I care if a dragon slayer comes after you.¡± Lapis grinned. ¡°Wrong move, dear Maxwell.¡± Her body began to bulge as she assumed her true form. ¡°Wrong move,¡± she said again much deeper. She turned away from me and sucked in a breath. A beam of blue light erupted from her mouth before it exploded into the building next to us. I had to teleport to avoid the falling debris. Stumbling to a stop on the roof a few blocks away. I took in the sight of Lapis rising into the air. ¡°By order of my master, Maxwell Orfen. This city is to be encased in ice!¡± She punctuated the announcement with another beam of ice that demolished a tenth of the city. ¡°Shit! Shit! Shit!¡± Warning! You have declared war on the Craia Kingdom by attacking Galim City! ¡°Mother Fucking¡ªdamn it all!¡± A beam of blue light lanced through the air toward the castle behind the giant stump. I thought the place was going to be demolished instantly, but a barrier of some sort came into existence at the last moment and deflected the attack. It still blasted a chunk of the city to little more than rubble. I dropped to my knees as I knew there had to be NPCs in all theses buildings. After getting to know those in my village, it was hard to see them as just strings of code. Especially given that I wasn¡¯t much different now. To me, Lapis was committing a massacre and it was in my name. ¡°Stop!¡± I shouted before I teleported onto her back. ¡°I said stop!¡± I pointed my palm at her neck. I would do whatever it took to make her stop even if it meant my death. ¡°Make me!¡± She laughed as she twisted in the air. I growled as I grabbed onto a spike on her back. I barely had half of my mana back, but it didn¡¯t matter. I placed my palm on her scales and launched Spatial Tear after Spatial Tear. To my horror, the spell simply glanced off her armored back. ¡°Weak!¡± She pulled in another breath before unleashing it on another section of the city. The wind was tearing at me as Lapis twisted and spun destroying the city with abandon. Gritting my teeth, I climbed toward her head. I might not be able to penetrate her scales, but her eyes were another matter altogether. I nearly lost my grip twice as she turned upside down completely, but I managed to reach the crown of her head. ¡°Last chance! Stop your destruction!¡± ¡°Pitiful creature. I am the peak of the food chain. I only stop when I feel like it!¡± her laughter was haughty and crazed. She sounded almost drunk. As Lapis leveled out, I threw myself forward and slammed my hand on the orb that was her eye. The organ easily twice my size. ¡°I might be pitiful, but I¡¯m not a quitter!¡± I teleported the organ just a few meters away. Lapis roared as she thrashed in mid air. This was too much, flinging my well away from her body. I had used all but a few drops of my mana to teleport her eye. I never knew that falling to your death made the world slow down. I watched as the first stars popped into being. The fall felt like it took an hour, but I blinked then slammed into the cobblestone street below. The world went black. ¡°That was fun, right?¡± I blinked rapidly as I found myself back in the alley with Lapis. She had a finger to my forehead. She pulled back and put a hand to her left eye. ¡°Damn. Going for my eye. I¡¯ll remember that.¡± ¡°What?¡± I looked around but everything was back to normal. It wasn¡¯t even night yet. It was like just a few seconds had passed. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± ¡°An illusion, you idiot. I¡¯m an all-powerful dragon. Remember that.¡± I glared at her, but I was out of energy. I couldn¡¯t even be mad at her. At least, I wasn¡¯t actually at war with the Kingdom. That was the last thing I needed right now. ¡°Let¡¯s¡­ Let¡¯s just go find an inn to get some sleep.¡± Chapter 42 Aurora I gazed in awe at the palace that was now mine. It was massive and appealed directly to my artistic bone. While most of the artwork being shown was from the Archanic race, as they called themselves, there was works from other races as well. One that I had to stop and admire was from a Gnome artist. It depicted a scene that looked like it was straight out of holy scripture. It had the entire packages, angels, demons, gods, and all the nitty-gritty races that were usually caught up in the middle of said battles. ¡°This way, my lady,¡± Lark said as we reached a junction in the palace. I had to admit, without him, I would be completely lost. Another fact that I was interested by was that Lark wasn¡¯t actually an announcer, he was the head butler of, well, me. We finally made it to the throne room after a good half hour of walking through the complicated maze that was the building. The grand room was lined with wealth. Gold and jewels were commonplace along with a few pieces of weapons and armor. Those were on the rare side from what I saw. For a race that decided its leaders through martial combat, they seemed to care much more about their works of art. ¡°Lark. I am newly ascended. As such, I have many questions. Are you qualified to answer them or is there someone better?¡± I asked deciding to play the humble card. ¡°While I am qualified, your tutor will be here momentarily. She should be about done Returning.¡± The way he said returning made it seem as something special. There was a knock at the door and Lark called for them to enter. My hand reached for my magic pistol even though it was still broken. Lady Shoa walked in, looking right as rain. Shoa came to the foot of the throne before she bowed deeply. There didn¡¯t appear to be any hostility or even anger that I had usurped her position. ¡°Lady Aru. It is a pleasure to formally make your acquaintance. As you are newly ascended, I have been called on to help you with our ways.¡± I relaxed and released the pistol¡¯s grip. ¡°Thank you. Your tutelage will be greatly appreciated. I must admit that I am over my head.¡± ¡°Nonsense. The Archanic have seen so few magic users. It is only natural that you take up a position of power among us. That you went for the highest simply speaks of your ambition which is never a bad thing in the Labyrinth.¡± ¡°I am glad that you see it that way. I hope you will aid me in running the city. I¡¯d rather in not collapse under my control.¡± ¡°I am afraid that I cannot. There is no official position to aid you.¡± I pursed my lips. That wasn¡¯t going to work. I had my dungeon to run as well. I couldn¡¯t afford to focus down here too much. That said, I didn¡¯t want to throw away the happy surprise I got dropped into my lap. If only I could create a position for her. The government screen popped up almost unbidden. It went to the Job section and listed all the available jobs in the city¡¯s government. There really was nothing that allowed another to run said government. Even the general couldn¡¯t take over power should I fall in battle. Everything basically ground to a standstill. To me that felt rather short sighted. I looked through the list with my hope draining until I reached the bottom and it returned with a blaze. I could create Jobs for the city. There were requirements, mainly being residency and pay. Due to the government type, all jobs came with housing. You lived where you worked essentially. Though that only applied to the government. ¡°I¡¯m going to create the Overseer position for you. You will inherit it this cycle, but it will join the competition during the next.¡± I nearly choked when it cost me a million of the city¡¯s gold to create the position. No wonder the last position created was listed as a year ago. ¡°If you so desire,¡± Shoa said bowing her head. ¡°I so desire it.¡± I remarked then looked between the two of them. ¡°Now then. Tell me about this place.¡± Twisted Webs had been around for five hundred years. The Archanic had been driven from their last city by a joint force of Deep dwarves and dark elves. Lacking magic, they were far weaker than most of the other races beneath the surface. They made up for it with downright crazy levels of physical strength. Shao was a monk and could damage magic metal of level three and down. Her speed allowed her to deal with weapons and armors of higher quality. My win in the arena had frankly been a lucky shot. We had one long standing enemy and two allies near us. A faction from the Deep dwarves that had driven them from their former home had set up an outpost about a hundred kilometers to the north. While no outright aggression had happened yet, their patrols were edging closer by the day. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Then there was a city of bugbears to the south along with a town of kobolds that had been recently established to the west. They had made good trading partners thus far. Negotiations for a join alliance had been in the works the last few months, but something changed a week or so ago and most of the negotiators vanished. They had no idea what happened and suspected foul play by the dwarves, but I had an inkling that it was the fact that the game had basically been turned into a real world. I would need to find new negotiators or create a new defense for the city soon. With the magic-lacking Archanic under me, I felt like my dungeon was safe, but if these deep dwarves had any ability to sense magic or mana then I might have new issues on my hands whether I liked it or not. The Primal Gold might be putting off a mana signature that could be felt for kilometers. I quickly came to the conclusion that having a city of buff spiders under me was better than power hungry dwarves. I rubbed my face then looked back up as I felt the weight of all this settle on my shoulders. ¡°Alright. That¡¯s enough on foreign affairs. Tell me more about the internal workings of the city.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± The people had a fair degree of freedom but there was a clear line. The un-ascended and the ascended. The ascended gained higher intelligence, strength, and durability, and were much inline with regular humans. The trade off however was that the un-ascended were much more skilled in crafting and weaving. Most of the best artists in the city were un-ascended. From the way Lark and Shoa told it, the ascended enjoyed the gifts of the un-ascended while the ascended protected the un-ascended. The ascended also gained the ability to Return. An individual would lay eggs once a month and it gave them an extra life. Shoa had ten years¡¯ worth of eggs tucked away giving her at least a hundred twenty extra lives. That was both scary and amazing. It meant the ascended were just a bit more expendable than normal NPCs. However, it meant I had to protect this city at all costs since the eggs were located here. If the dwarves burned the city, it didn¡¯t matter at that point since the eggs were fragile as paper. The pair continued for several hours. Working in tangent allowed them to continuously output information. In a span of four hours, I felt like I had learned everything there was to know about Twisted Webs. Finally, I raised my hand. ¡°That will be all for today. I need some time to digest all this. Would you send for Operations Speciliast Mira and Opal?¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± I leaned back in the chair as the two left. The forlorn silence feeling strange after their continued talking of the last few hours. I didn¡¯t have to wait long before the doors opened and the pair were led into the throne room. Lark bowed as I waved him away. ¡°Welcome to my new humble abode.¡± ¡°Hey. Looking good Aru. I knew you had it in you,¡± Mira said rapidly as she fiddled with her hands. ¡°Didn¡¯t expect you to have magic. Didn¡¯t think that was possible.¡± I really didn¡¯t have anything to go on. Their clothes covered their wrists, but something about the way that they talked and acted led me to believe so. ¡°Let¡¯s cut to the chase. You two are players, aren¡¯t you?¡± The pair jerked up then dropped to their butts. ¡°Oh thank god! Mira, we¡¯re not alone anymore.¡± ¡°God. I was worried that it would be just the two of us for the rest of our lives,¡± Mira added. ¡°Sorry about earlier. Had I known you were a player, I wouldn¡¯t have took my frustrations out on you.¡± ¡°That was a bit cruel no matter the reason,¡± I remarked, leaning back in the throne. ¡°Hey.¡± Mira cried obviously offended. ¡°The ascended, even the new ones, have like six or seven eggs hidden away. Its almost impossible to permanently kill someone of this race without a full on manhunt.¡± ¡°Well. I fell into a bit of good fortune thanks to you, so I¡¯ll pass on enacting retribution.¡± I put my head in my hands before looking up at the pair. ¡°Tell me. Is it true?¡± ¡°Is what true?¡± ¡°That this game, this world has been taken by aliens or whatever?¡± The two shared a look before nodding. ¡°I mean, there¡¯s no way to be sure right? We¡¯ve tried everything that we could think of to log out. Even the safety measures are turned off. This world is more or less real now.¡± I dropped my head back into my hands. ¡°I really hoped to hear something else,¡± I mumbled between my fingers. ¡°Does it matter?¡± Opal asked. ¡°I hated my life in the real world. I was probably two days away from killing myself. Then this happened. It was like I had a new lease on life.¡± ¡°Opal¡­¡± I looked up from my hands. Mira was patting Opal on the back. She must have had it rough back in the real world. My problems were rough but not kill myself bad. I still wanted to escape and that¡¯s why I came to this world in the first place. ¡°Enough! Enough talk about depressing shit!¡± I exclaimed jumping to my feet. I walked over and helped the two of them up. ¡°Are you two really the only players here?¡± Mira smiled at my obvious change of subject. ¡°That¡¯s right. We ascended a few weeks before all this. We¡¯re with the military. Keeping an eye on the dwarves. There were maybe a dozen of us total that were playing this race. Not exactly easy considering its¡¯ almost impossible to get magic.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I asked. To be fair, my body was sort of a cheat. ¡°If this was a gacha game, it would be like pulling an SSS on the first draw,¡± Opal answered for Mira. ¡°I thought it was just a myth. A fact that could never really be achieved even though the developers said otherwise.¡± ¡°Lucky me then,¡± I grinned showing a small flame on my palm. ¡°Let me add you guys to my friend¡¯s list. It will make communicating easier.¡± It would be nice to have friends. Mira nodded. ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Go ahead,¡± Opal replied with a small smile. Chapter 43 Maxwell Lapis and I managed to find an inn nearby. I tried to get her to sleep in a separate room, but after the little vision she showed me earlier, I wasn¡¯t in the right of mind to try to argue with her. She wanted to sleep in my room, thus I let her. Too be honest, I was to the point that if she ate me in my sleep, I would just let her. After paying the steep twenty gold price, I weakly pushed the door open to the room. I knew it was due to my race, but ignored it for the time being. I was exhausted. I dropped into one of the beds. ¡°Good night, you homicidal dragon.¡± She snorted making the room at least ten degrees colder. ¡°Try to get some sleep. I had a fun first day.¡± I groaned but didn¡¯t say anything else. I pulled the covers over my face and let the world fade to black. I heard a loud crunch part way through the night, but decided to ignore it by covering my face with the pillow. I was sure it was Lapis breaking something with that body of hers. Just the thought of her being a restless sleeper made me worried about the furniture, but I would worry about that in the morning. A ray of sunshine on my face was my alarm clock. I grunted as I sat up. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I found that half the room was dyed red. That was when I noticed the iron scent in the air. Sleep fled from my body instantly. ¡°What the hell?¡± I looked around frantically for Lapis. I found her curled up like a cat on the other bed along with the broken in window. It was clear from the glass that it had been forced in, thus it wasn¡¯t likely Lapis¡¯s fault. ¡°Lapis.¡± I called gently. Waking the dragon just sounded dangerous. Her eyes snapped one causing me to jump slightly. She yawned with a bone creaking stretch. ¡°Morning already. That was barely enough time for me to close my eyes.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t all sleep for years at a time,¡± I remarked then pointed at the wall. ¡°Care to explain?¡± Lapis licked her lips. A bracelet that had two snakes intertwined hung from her tooth before she tossed her head and swallowed it too. ¡°Someone thought they could interrupt my sleep. No one interrupts my sleep.¡± ¡°What about me?¡± I had just woken her up. ¡°You¡¯re special. Can¡¯t exactly have fun watching you if I¡¯m asleep.¡± ¡°Good to know.¡± I climbed out of bed and straightened myself up. There was a pot in the room to relieve myself, thankfully, hidden by a folding screen. Lapis being a dragon, I hoped she wouldn¡¯t care too much about the whole men and women thing. Game or not, I really had to go to the bathroom. Washing my hands in the bason, I cleaned my face. I prayed to Voasis that today wouldn¡¯t be nearly as eventful as yesterday. I went back to the bed and sat down before pulling up my friend list. Messaging Rowena, I explained about the Jade Collective. I wanted her opinion before I committed to anything. A few minutes later, I got a reply. She explained the guild system and how it worked with the lord¡¯s system. Most of the time lords usually started or belonged to a guild before they established their lands. That way they had support from other players to grow their land. Looking at the information, I thought it might be a good idea to start a guild myself at some point. While she had never participated in one, Rowena thought the contract system was solid enough. I sent her my thanks then closed the message. I needed more players in my community. The NPCs were good but the players just had that much more flexibility when it came to getting things done. I felt it was worth the risk, though I planned to find a place that I could teleport people where they couldn¡¯t escape in the future. A nice hole in the ground sounded good for a short term. ¡°You woke me, but you¡¯re not doing anything!¡± Lapis complained from her bed. ¡°I¡¯m going, I¡¯m going,¡± I replied jumping from my bed. I grabbed a piece of bread and fried egg to eat as we walked over to the Union. It was early in the day, but if they slept where they fell asleep drunk yesterday, then most of the guild would be there. Pushing the door open, I looked around for the group. Sure enough, they were lunging where they were yesterday. Sasha spotted me and waved us over. ¡°Maxwell! Good morning.¡± She dropped her hand as I walked over. ¡°I thought you planned to get some rest. Why do you look ever worse than you did when you left yesterday?¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. I dropped into the seat opposite her. ¡°This and that. I¡¯m willing to accept your guild in my lands.¡± ¡°Excellent. The Snakes were making it hard to get anything done around here. It will be nice to do more than transport jobs inside the city. I just hope we don¡¯t lose too many reaching your lands. It has to be a few days travel at least from here. Those highwaymen will be all over us.¡± ¡°Nice reasoning, but don¡¯t worry about transportation. I have it covered.¡± ¡°You sound so confident. I¡¯m swooning,¡± Sasha said covering her mouth with her hand. I could tell she was joking from her tone. ¡°Very funny. Let¡¯s get the contract started.¡± ¡°As you wish, my lord,¡± she replied with a head bow. She touched her wrist then started going through the menus. I couldn¡¯t actually see what she was doing, but I could follow her hand movements easy enough. For detailed work, it was easier to use your hands then eye to go through the menus. A good hour later during which Kevin showed up at the Union, a screen popped up in front of me. I took a long time to read through everything and made comments on things that needed to be changed or altered slightly. It was fairly well crafted though. The gist of it was that they would be loyal to me and my land, wouldn¡¯t cause me any harm, cause any harm to my people or belongings, they got paid fairly, were treated fairly, and a few other things. I had her change it so that the individuals of the guild would all sign rather than just the guild leader. I didn¡¯t want them to move to my lands then all leave the guild to break the contract. Sasha nodded without expressing any issues. Once I had hammered out all the details, I sent it over to Rowena for her to take a look. Another half an hour later, I got it back with a few notes here and there. Going over it again with Sasha, we finalized the contract. A final clause that I added was anyone that leaves the guild would be unable to step onto my lands for a month without an exception. ¡°Sounds like we have a solid contract,¡± Sasha said showing the document to Kevin. ¡°Looks good to me. I¡¯m excited to be able to get some actual work done. I¡¯ve been couped up in this building for too long.¡± The next hour was spent rousing all the hungover members of the guild. Only one of them bothered to read the contract in its completeness. The rest just blindly signed. Their names showing up on my list of contracts in my status. Once they had all signed, I clapped my hands with a smile. ¡°Everyone ready for a trip?¡± ~~ This might be a bit rougher than I first thought. I looked over the three wagons that were stuffed to the brim with everything that the Jade Collective owned. We were in a game, but inventory was limited. Plus, they wouldn¡¯t be able to access all these items if they left them here. In fact, there was a chance for them to be stolen should something happen to the bank they were stored in. I walked long the caravan trying to get a gauge of what this was going to cost me mana-wise. Reaching the end, I knew it was going to take most of the day if not more to reach the village. I would purchase some mana potions, but the only shops that would accept me were the worse of the lot. I simply couldn¡¯t trust their wares. ¡°Everyone ready?¡± I called out once the sun was directly overhead. Any longer and I was sure we wouldn¡¯t make it back home. ¡°We¡¯re all here.¡± ¡°Okay. Bring the wagons around into a circle.¡± I waited for them to complete the order. ¡°Alright now make sure you¡¯re touching the wagon or person nearest you.¡± I held out my hand to Sasha. ¡°If you would.¡± She took my hand then Kevin took hers before touching an the ox monster that was connected to the wagon. Double checking that everything was touching or connected together, I pictured the furthest I could before teleporting us. We appeared roughly seventy kilometers from the city. I had to adjust my course slightly to account for the wagons, but it wouldn¡¯t affect us much. We just wouldn¡¯t be teleporting along the tops of the mountains. That said, we were still rather high up with snow billowing around us. Good thing everyone dressed like I asked them. ¡°One down. Ten to go,¡± I grumbled as I fell forward. Sasha caught me in her arms. ¡°Ulic!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Just used all my mana,¡± I said worried she was calling for a medic or healer. ¡°I know.¡± A woman with ram horns came over and placed her hand on my shoulder. I felt a rush of energy as my mana recovered at a blistering rate. I straightened up feeling right as rain. ¡°Ulic can use Mana Share. You have about thirty thousand mana at your command between all of us, my lord.¡± ¡°That will make this much faster!¡± I said with a cheer. We got back into position and I used teleport again. Ulic came over and transferred mana from another member to me. We repeated this until we were a stone throws away from the village. We just needed one more teleport and we¡¯d arrive. We just used every drop that was available among us. ¡°The Great Forest. Not bad. Challenging but not crippling hard,¡± Sasha said while we waited for everyone¡¯s mana to recover. ¡°Glad you like it. This is where you¡¯ll be operating for a while after all.¡± ¡°When we arrive, we should cover goals. If you just have general ideas of what you want done, then you should build a Union building. It will connect you with parts of the outside world as well. Information wise, at least.¡± ¡°We¡¯re still working on the foundations, but I¡¯ll see that its built.¡± We gathered enough mana between us all to finish the last jump. I put us in the middle of the plaza that Rowena and I had designed for gatherings in the future. A few people were moving about working on various tasks. They weren¡¯t bothered by my arrival as it happened twice a day usually. ¡°Welcome to Alflona. Home of the Dark Elves that make the surface their home,¡± I announced with a gesture. Chapter 44-46 Aurora Opal and Mira started to leave after we exchanged information but paused before they reached the door. They exchanged a look before walking back to the throne. I tilted my head wondering what the problem was. ¡°Um. Aru? Why does your friend listing have you as Aurora?¡± My heart dropped a little. I hadn¡¯t thought about that. I really should have. Thankfully, this archina form while beautiful, didn¡¯t quite have as many facial muscles to reveal my mistake. I leaned back and waved a hand in the air dismissively. ¡°Because that¡¯s my full name. I have been alone since even before all the shit went down. I don¡¯t like to tell people my name until I know them better.¡± I might be talking out of my ass, but I hoped it worked. From what I could tell you were sort of required to be a loner to play this race. Mira looked at me with narrowed eyes but then shrugged. ¡°I guess we didn¡¯t exchange dets per say, so whatever. Let us know if you need us. We¡¯re taking off.¡± I waved with a smile, thankful that she¡¯d dropped it. I knew they were probably going to be suspicious, but I would be more surprised if they weren¡¯t. Especially given how this place operated. I would need to have my gun fixed before the month was up. Having only one shot at full power wasn¡¯t going to do me any good. Dropping back into the chair after the two left, I relaxed for the first time in the last seven or eight hours. While I wanted and needed the crash course on the city, it was still a lot to take in in one session. I jumped up and made my way to the door at the side of the throne room. Through a silk sheet that was made from the finest spider web, a nice-looking room that was solely for my use came into view. A massive bed was the centerpiece. There were a number of other interesting objects lying around but they were mostly related to the culture of the place. Shoa had apparently liked to read, as there were stacks of books that almost went to the ceiling surrounding the room. I checked to make sure there weren¡¯t any traps or anything of that sort. Shoa might have rigged the place should she lost. Of course, I could just be paranoid. I fell back into the bed and enjoyed the silks. I just wanted to close my eyes and sleep for a few days. Other than being knocked out, I hadn¡¯t slept since I¡¯d gotten stuck in this world. I would have to find a way to fix that. Even if it came with a risk, I had always enjoyed closing my eyes and going to another world for a few hours. Sitting up, I pointed my hand at a corner in the room. I focused on my main form and thought about connecting the two for a split second. When I felt the link, I quickly used my mana to summon a Greater Demon. I modeled them after the Archanic race but kept them mostly human. Finally, a woman dressed like a maid appeared, parts of her body wisping off as tendrils of shadow. She bowed, her current like hair flowing around her as she did so. ¡°You¡¯ve summoned me, Quin, my queen?¡± I jumped to my feet and walked over to Quin. ¡°I have. You are to be this form¡¯s guard and protector. Never leave its side unless ordered.¡± The new demon bowed even deeper. ¡°As you wish.¡± Her body quickly lost its solid appearance as her form faded into the shadows. I could still sense my link to her though. I walked back over to the bed and laid down before disconnecting from the body. Opening my eyes back in the dungeon, I was hit with a massive migraine. I guess prolonged usage of telepathy to control my new bodies took its toll. I rubbed my forehead and just rested for a few minutes without doing anything. The migraine didn¡¯t hurt per say, but it was still uncomfortable. I would have to take it a bit easier to avoid experiencing them in the future. While I rested, Zaras walked into the throne room. ¡°Welcome back, my queen.¡± If he was back, that meant they had returned from the other dungeon. My mind snapped back to clarity, headache forgotten. The rest of the group came in after him. ¡°How did it go?¡± I asked once they were all lined up in front of me. While unharmed, Roland and Harvey, sported several tears in their armor and cloths. Whatever they found had put up a fight it would seem. ¡°They were many earthen monsters. Their complete lack of blood made diving the dungeon harder for us. We managed to reach the first boss. A golem that most of our magic simply wash off. After a harsh battle, we finally managed to defeat it.¡± Zaras explained. Roland stood and walked up to me with something in his hand. He held it out like a priest making an offering. I pursed my lips but reached out and took the cloth covered object. Removing the cloth, I found a necklace. I could feel the mana coming from it. The dungeon part of me wanted to absorb it, but I wanted to check it out before I destroyed it. I would hate for it to be unique and find myself unable to reproduce it. Holding it up to my eye, I examined the stats. It was an Epic item. The Gem of Oris. Not sure if the name meant something. It offered a fifty percent boost to Earth based magic. I pursed my lips as I wondered if that would translate over to my abilities as a dungeon core. I spent a few more moments looking it over to make sure it wasn¡¯t dangerous. I still wasn¡¯t sure which of the four had caused Losa¡¯s death. Once I was confident, I wore the necklace. I waited, but there wasn¡¯t a feeling or sensation like I had expected. I felt exactly the same. Flexing my fingers, I pointed my hand at the wall and used a stone sigil. A shard of rock that was easily as deadly as a long sword flung from my palm and impaled the wall deeply. That should have been more along the lines of an arrow. That was a pretty good increase in power. I looked back to my vampires. ¡°Well done. I¡¯m pleased with this present. Did you fall back after the boss?¡± Zaras nodded. ¡°Correct. The monsters further in were not only made of stone and earth but possessed armor and magical weapons. We deemed it suicide to explore further.¡± ¡°Very well. We will retire for now and I shall speak with each of you on how best to approach this challenge.¡± I smiled warmly at them each. ¡°Get some rest. You deserve it.¡± The group bowed then left the throne room. Before they left on their trip, they really didn¡¯t have a place to relax, but in one of the many new rooms there was a bar that served, well, water and blood. That was all we had to offer right now. There were also rooms that had coffins that they could sleep in. My monsters were able to sleep unlike me, the jerks. I rubbed my head and looked off into the distance. I needed to decide my priorities. It might be months or even years before I was able to reach the seal of the Demon Lord that could potentially bring back Losa. Since this was my life now, that wasn¡¯t exactly a problem, but I feared if it took too long the chances of bringing Losa back might grow increasingly more impossible. I wanted to reach that Seal as soon as possible. Jumping to my feet, I started to pace as I considered my plan. I had to be present. I wasn¡¯t sure why I thought that, but I was sure that if the Demon Lord got free, he wouldn¡¯t just stick around. Rezdona had gone back to her previous claims from the looks of things when I mentally visited her. No doubt, Astrar would do much the same. Leaving the throne room, I made for the prison. I would have to rebrand it soon to my magical workshop. Taking a look at the massive magical circle carved into the ground, I walked to a section and used my earth magic to alter it slightly. This otherworldly magic was close to clairvoyance only with much larger range. I kneeled in the center of the circle and pressed my hand down. Magic constructs formed around my hand like when I used my other magic. It grew until it overlaid the engraved circle then the two began to harmonize. When I was done pouring in enough mana, I took a deep breath then visualized what I sought. The Demon Lord, Astrar¡¯s Seal. My vision flew straight up until it was over the mountain overlooking the forest. My point of view began to move rapidly, as I memorized every detail as pictures. After a few minutes, we arrived at a ruined temple in the center of the forest. A powerful aura emanated from it. It would take a brave soul to approach this site. My vision sank back into the ground. What might as well be a dungeon protected the Seal. I would need a small army to fight through some of the monsters I saw. I finally reached a circular door that had runes engraved over every centimeter of its surface. As I peered at the door, I felt something start to peer back. It looked like Astrar was awake and was just waiting for the seal to be broken. ¡°Can you hear me?¡± I mentally sent. There was no reply. I narrowed my eyes. If he was awake, then I wanted to communicate with him before I freed him. I wanted a guarantee that he would revive Losa. I broke the connection and stood up. I pulled some parchment out and began to draw the path that I saw. It took more than a few pieces to get everything, but I soon had a decent map of the Forest up until the Seal. ¡°Close to two hundred kilometers.¡± My current link with my homunculus only afforded me at most ten kilometers. Quickly checking my status, I saw I had enough mana for a few Paragon Vampires if I added up my mana stones. I had the Primal Gold to thank for that. The outcropping was generating no small amount of mana just by sitting there. I left the prison and made for an empty room. There were a few ways that I could increase my telepathy range. The first and easiest one I planned to try was to summon an artificer to create gear that would boost my range. I did just that, creating a new Paragon. I focused on the image of a researcher that was versed in the magical ways that had such a job. A man that wore a lab coat that was dyed black soon stood in front of me. He had a handsome face that bore a pair of glasses that possessed at least a dozen different lens on each side. ¡°Name?¡± I asked since I had a lot of pent-up energy. The vampire bowed, looking even more elegant than Zaras which I found hard to believe. ¡°Everild, my queen.¡± ¡°Everild. I want to you create items that boost mental abilities. If you can focus it even further, then telepathy.¡± ¡°This will require materials of at least level two. The higher the better.¡± ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll acquire these for you. For now, practice with what we have.¡± I had a nice city of workers that should be able to acquire everything I need. All the more reason for me to grow that place into a much stronger realm in the Labyrinth. I smiled to Everild and made sure he had everything he needed to work. Being a dungeon core had it perks at times. Once I finished with the new vampire, I hopped into my other body. Stretching, I got up from the hidey hole and made for the exit. Walking outside, I enjoyed the glare of the sunlight. I might still technically be a vampire, but this body didn¡¯t have to deal with that. I walked in the direction of Maxwell¡¯s village. It was in range of my current abilities, though only just barely. The white wall that kept me from peering into the zone soon came into view. Soldiers patrolling the walls and standing guard outside the gate were a clear sign that he was building up his strength. It looked like he¡¯d already replaced most of the people that my little gift had killed. A bit of regret welled in my heart, but if I hadn¡¯t done that, I knew I would have gone insane. I would just have to figure out a way to make it better. Countries in the real world have been doing that for centuries. I straightened my dress and walked up to one of the guards. Not surprisingly, they drew their weapons instantly. ¡°Halt! This is Lord Maxwell Orfen¡¯s territory! Identify yourself!¡± I waved since I didn¡¯t actually know if there were proper etiquettes to follow. ¡°If you could fetch your master for me. I need to talk to him. Trust me, he¡¯ll want to hear me out.¡± The guard looked at his compatriot before slowly lowering his weapon. ¡°And who shall I say is calling on him?¡± I smiled and bowed. ¡°A friend.¡± Maxwell I was laying on a bench that one of the villagers had made at some point with a nice cool cloth on my head. Teleporting this many people so many times was draining whether they were handing me their mana or not. Rowena was giving them a tour at the moment, but I knew it wouldn¡¯t be long before they came back to bother me. Part of me was glad to be back though. The trip had been¡­ I¡¯m going to say positive over all. I was still in the air about Lapis. The dragon in human form was likely going to be the death of me, but that was tomorrow me¡¯s problem. ¡°My Lord!¡± Since I didn¡¯t recognize the voice, it had to be one of the newer NPCs that had joined the village recently. I groaned before I sat up and looked at the man. He was dressed like one of the guards. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°There is someone outside the gate that wishes to speak with you. She says she is a friend.¡± I scratched my chin, wishing elves could grow beards, before I nodded. It was likely one of Razz¡¯s players, but it might be someone else. A small voice even suggested it might be someone related to Aurora, but that would be foolish. I got up then teleported to the gate. I immediately spotted the redheaded woman leaning against a tree outside the wall. She had either a dagger or something else on her waist. Glancing around, I didn¡¯t spot any obvious traps or ambushes. We were ten meters from the wall. Which was fully patrolled now. Teleporting down, I walked out to meet the woman. ¡°Hello. You wished to speak to me.¡± Her calm expression was replaced with a glare, most likely from surprise at my sudden appearance, but she took several breathes and calmed down. ¡°Sorry about that. Anyway, I am Kaga.¡± ¡°You already know me, but I¡¯m Maxwell.¡± I glanced down at her wrist and found a tattoo. So, she was a player. A human from the looks of it. Lapis went through my head reminding me that just because they walked on two legs didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t some sort of monster. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Yes.¡± She rubbed her head, messing up her hair in the process. She seemed at a lost to what to say, so I waited. I had to admit that I thought she was cute. I sort of had a thing for redheads. It was sort of a stereotype, but most of the redheads I¡¯d met were like flames. You had to be careful not to be burned. Kaga coughed. ¡°Listen. I was a player in this area before the big change. I was hoping to join your town.¡± That caught me by surprise. I didn¡¯t think there would be any other players near here. ¡°Why are you coming now?¡± I asked forcing down my suspicion. Even if she was lying, it might be interesting to see where it might lead. Was there another lord in the area trying to sniff out the competition? ¡°Look. I¡¯ll be honest with you. I was a scout for another guild that wanted to move against the goblin lord here. When the change happened, I lost everything. Only one person was left in the guild and they went¡ªlet¡¯s just say it isn¡¯t pretty. I¡¯m stuck out here in the middle of nowhere, but that might be for the better.¡± I thought about what I saw back in the city. A young woman on her own in this time of upheaval might be hard. Sasha explained that while this world still operated in many of the same principles as before. Many safety features had been removed. Kidnapping, raping, and other atrocities were a real threat to worry about. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear that.¡± ¡°As for why I didn¡¯t outright seek you out, well. I didn¡¯t know you were here to be honest. My camp was on the other side of the goblin village. Then they were attacked by something that nearly decimated the village. When I investigated, I found your village. After that, I spent a few days observing your people. From what I can tell, it looked like you were kind and benevolent to even the NPCs.¡± I nodded. While her story made sense, I would be an idiot to outright trust her. That said, if it was true, then it would be cruel of me to force her to stay out here on her own. The nearest human city was hundreds of kilometers away. I tapped my chin as I thought about the problem. I could teleport her, but I¡¯d have to scout the way first. There was also the fact that I was basically running on fumes from the day of teleporting the Jade Collective here. ¡°Tell me, why is a human so far from human territory?¡± Kaga laughed. ¡°My friend was a lord. He wanted to create a new human land since as you know the humans in this game are a bit¡­ racist. He figured we could take it from the war loving goblins and orcs.¡± She shrugged like it was a fact. ¡°It was a game after all.¡± I thought about Razz. He was basically the same in his thoughts. It was a game so he should just take what he wanted. ¡°You don¡¯t see it that way anymore?¡± ¡°Nope. At least not with you.¡± She covered her face which took on a grimace. ¡°I really don¡¯t want to be in a village filled with stinking, filthy goblins. I might make it back to the human lands with a few months of travel, but¡­¡± She let the sentence hang. I knew where she was going. It wasn¡¯t safe. Sighing, I finally nodded. ¡°Alright. You can join us. You¡¯ll have to pull your weight though.¡± Kaga saluted with a grin. ¡°Sure thing, Maxwell.¡± I gestured for her to follow me. Returning to the village center, I spotted Rowena. I ran up to her. ¡°Hey! Glad I caught you. How are the new arrivals?¡± Rowena drew close and covered her mouth so no one could see. ¡°They are much more versed in the game than us. The contract covered a lot of stuff, I just hope it was enough.¡± ¡°Hey. You went over the contract as well.¡± I wouldn¡¯t have done this without her go ahead. That she was having second thoughts worried me. ¡°Have they done something that was cause for concern?¡± ¡°No. Nothing yet.¡± She sighed and pulled back. ¡°Sorry. They were just so skilled in how they set up their teams and got to work that it threw me for a loop.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Its fine. Its fine.¡± ¡°Alright. I really hope so since I have a year long contract with these guys. To break it early will not only be expensive, but dangerous since they know where we are now.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯m good.¡± I nodded then grabbed her shoulder. ¡°Trust me. You¡¯re the only one that I trust with my life.¡± ¡°Thanks, Max.¡± I squeezed her shoulder gently then took a step back. ¡°By the way, did you see where the blue hair one that looked like a child went?¡± ¡°No. She gave me a serious do not approach vibe.¡± ¡°Yeah. That was wise.¡± I pulled her close again so only she could hear me. ¡°She is a fucking dragon.¡± ¡°A drag¡­ How¡¯d you manage to get one of those?¡± she asked shocked. ¡°She¡¯s not really under my control. I slammed into her nest while teleporting and she found me interesting. Let me tell you that its already caused more headaches than I cared for, but there have been some benefits.¡± ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll keep my eyes open.¡± I nodded and pulled back again. ¡°So, how¡¯s the village?¡± A lot can change in two days. Several buildings that I had queued were constructed and waiting for people to be assigned to them. ¡°We¡¯re doing well. We got a lot of work done, but there is always more. The transfers were the same as always. Displaced with nothing but death waiting them.¡± ¡°Got it. I¡¯m going to grab lunch and go through all the new information. Let me know if you need me for anything.¡± I was hungry after the teleporting trek here. Plus, going through everything would be best when sitting down. I¡¯d walked into a tree once when I had gotten too engrossed in the menus. ¡°You got it. I¡¯ll also go about finding them a good chunk of land for them to set up their guild base.¡± ¡°Umm¡­¡± Kaga said. I had completely forgotten she was there. I coughed and gestured to Kaga. ¡°Rowena, this is Kaga. Her story is a bit complicated¡­¡± I quickly explained the situation to her. She looked worried but accepted my judgement on the matter. Kaga put a hand to her chest. ¡°I¡¯ll be best use to you with killing stuff. I¡¯m quite familiar with the area around the goblin village.¡± ¡°I understand. We¡¯ll let you know. Feel free to explore the village. There really isn¡¯t much to see yet.¡± I gave them a thumbs up then moved over to the canteen. I grabbed the communal meal for the hour, a soup with some dried meat, before I found a quiet place to work. I could have gone to the manor, but I found I enjoyed the sounds of the village at work. Maybe it clear what I was working for. Pulling the menu up, most of it was the same as the last time I looked. A few values had gone up, with the material resources being quite a bit higher. The golems were really pulling their weight. I opened the Nation tab and was given a stark reminder that I had a National Power to choose still. I quickly tabbed on the screen since it felt like the menu was mad at me with the blinking red text. Treasures of Nineth Heaven ¨C Generates a resource of Random (Level 4- Level 7) value inside your territory. Ships of the Night ¨C Create a portal of Trade with a random city in the world. (City will be accepting of your race, ideology, and theology). The Great Path ¨C All creatures move with a bonus inside your territory. The Unspoken Truth ¨C Reveals a hidden mystery of the world within fifty kilometers of the center of power. I had to lick my lips. All these were awesome. I would be lying if I said I didn¡¯t want all of them. After a long debate and a quick message over to Rowena, I decided to go with Ships of the Night. A bit of personal curiosity went into the decision as I knew I could replicate spells generated by these system messages. If I could replicate the portal for this, then I might be able to boost our strength tenfold overnight. A ghostly building appeared in my vision. Much like the other structures, I would need to place where I would want it to go. I had finished my meal anyways, so I jumped up and went searching for a good location for the almost temple like structure. The label claimed that it was for trade only, but as a lord I had to consider the city that it connected to falling to enemy hands and becoming hostile. Eventually, I settled on a site a bit outside the main village, including the planned expansion. It still placed the portal well within the walls. I would order a fort and walls to be built around it later, but for now, I would have to settle for my commander issuing orders to patrol the area. Once I had the portal positioned as I liked, I clicked build on the menu. The ground bubbled before it burst as blue and black material flowed like water out from a spring. The liquid spread until there was a nice flat platform. The liquid then flowed up into a multifaceted ring that floated seemingly at random. I couldn¡¯t help but watch with rapt attention. This was a truly magical scene. The rings began to spin until there was a thrum as a transparent sheet of energy formed in the middle. The ring was easily large enough for a carriage to fit through with some extra space. The bottom section of the ring went into the platform making it flat for anything coming through. It was amazing to say the least. Walking over to the portal once all the magical effects were over, I reached up to touch the portal formed in the center of the rings. A jolt of energy tossed my hand back not to mention giving me a tingling numb feeling in my hand. A message sprang into my vision. Only Envoys and their caravans may use the portal. Please register your Envoy. Envoys will be protected for twenty-four hours while through the portal. Should Envoy attack any host city members, they will forfeit protection and be rendered unable to travel back through the portal. After twenty-four hours, Envoy will be pulled back through the portal. Interesting. At least that meant an army wasn¡¯t going to march through and take over. They would be pulled back through the portal after twenty-four hours. It looked like envoys were protected from harm as long as they don¡¯t raise their hands against the host. I would have to make sure my diplomat was a patient person. A timer hovered over the portal, so either the recipient of my portal was debating what the situation was, or it couldn¡¯t be used continuously. Either way, I had six hours until anything new would happen with the portal. After the guards I had ordered for arrived, I left to get back to work on other matters. Frist, I assigned people to the new structures. I was still in the process of making the city self-sufficient. It would still be a long time before I could have people creating their own businesses and such. Though, I looked forward to that day. While I was gone, Rowena took the liberty of assigning most of the new arrivals to the guard. Other than a few that I felt I couldn¡¯t afford to let remain in the guard, most stayed. Going through everything that I had missed in just two days took nearly eight hours. I really had to find an advisor or a Second that I could trust to manage the city while I was gone. Rowena was good and thorough, but at the same time, she was a player. She wanted to be out adventuring in this new world, not stuck babysitting my land. I sighed and looked up to the sky. Evening was getting close. I only had about twenty minutes until the timer on the portal wound down and less than an hour before the new arrivals got here via the portal. I really had to figure out a protected way to get them down. A one-way portal would be best. ¡°One thing at a time, Maxwell. One thing at a time.¡± Aurora Maxwell and the one named Rowena went their separate ways. I debated what I was going to do now. I had made it inside the village like I planned. With a shrug, I made for some of the buildings. I wanted to learn about this place since I might attack it in the future. Only a few minutes of walking and I arrived at what appeared to be a workshop. As soon I as stepped over the threshold, I got a system notification. New Skill: Espionage ¨C Using your wits and acting skills, you¡¯ve managed to sneak into an enemy location. Kaga has been accepted as a temporary member of the Alflona. Current Abilities unlocked: Forgery, False Identify. I dismissed the notification after a quick read. It would make my life easier, though with a quick glance, much like Aru, the skill was tied to Kaga. I ignored that fact for the moment and turned my attention back to the workshop. Only one spot was taken, but there was spots for at least six people to work. Walking over to the table, I picked up a book. Unable to learn Rune Crafting. Craft profession taken: Dungeon Core. I chuckled at that, then replaced the book. I figured that would be too overpowered if all my bodies could learn a skill. I felt it was a pity. Since I was in the middle of gathering information, I walked over to the person working in the back. He was carving runes on a plate. The dark elf was so entranced by his work that he appeared not to notice me. He suddenly took a deep breath as he put the plate down. ¡°Are you done?¡± I asked. ¡°Gah!¡± I looked at him curiously. He really hadn¡¯t noticed my approach. I looked at his wrists, but didn¡¯t find a tattoo. Looked like it was an NPC. ¡°Sorry. Yes, I am done.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± I gestured at the plate, and he seemed to hesitate but handed it over. I didn¡¯t have the runecrafting skill, thus I couldn¡¯t identify it. ¡°What is this a rune for?¡± ¡°Lightning trap.¡± ¡°Huh. Interesting.¡± I handed the plate back to the elf. I burned the rune into my brain. I might not be able to craft it, but I would avoid it in the future. I thanked the man then left. Maxwell¡¯s village had a library and Mage¡¯s tower built. Sadly, I had to leave when I found they were barely stocked. The library had some basic lore stuff, while the mage¡¯s tower might as well have been a watch tower, it was so bear. By this time, it was fully night. I had to find a place to stash my body. When I walked back to the town square, I found a caravan of horses and carriages. I walked over to join in the commotion. ¡°Traders?¡± I asked more to myself. A woman that had a jade necklace nodded. ¡°Lord Maxwell created a portal earlier today. They came through there.¡± My mind flashed to the Ships of the Night option. I had chosen the resource node over the trading option. It would be interesting to see who answered the call of a group of Dark elves. If I remembered the lore correctly, the race was hated through the realm. When I finally managed to peer through the crowd, I snorted when I saw that the caravan was made up of dark elves as well. I guess that was possible. Maxwell and what appeared to be the leader of the caravan shook hands. I pursed my lips not that excited that Maxwell¡¯s power was growing. I left the crowd and moved into the woods surrounding the village while staying inside the walls. I found a good place to hide by climbing a tree. I couldn¡¯t just sit back and watch. I had to grow my power as well. I disconnected from the body and returned to my dungeon. I rubbed my head due to the headache that sprang to life. Prolonged usage of Telepathy was rough. With a grin, I closed my eyes again then connected to Aru. Opening my eyes, my chamber in Twisted Web came into view. I rolled off the bed and stood up looking out the window. I really did enjoy the aesthetic of the place. I could stand here all day, but I had matters to take care of. ¡°Quin.¡± The shadow demon appeared in front of me much like a ninja might in those Japanese movies. ¡°Yes, my queen.¡± ¡°While I¡¯m here, I want you to take a look around the city. Search for anything that might be a threat along with things that might aid me. I need materials. The higher the level the better.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± The demon faded back to shadow. I rubbed my head before heading out. It had been half a day since I was last in this body, and it felt a bit odd. Kaga didn¡¯t have anything on her back which gave me a sense of being pulled on now that I was in this form. I ignored it and continued out of the temple building. A few of the ascended subtly pointed and whispered to their companions when they saw me. I didn¡¯t care if I was the talk of the town. I wanted to see if I could get some better materials for Everlid. Following my internal map, I quickly found the market. There was a little bit of everything. I made a note that I needed to come back for some other things later, but for now, I focused on the material. Window shopping soon brought me to an alchemy shop. I pushed my way in to find an ascended and a non-ascended. The non-ascended moved all over the web covered shop checking over the stock. The ascended walked over to me with a pleasant smile. ¡°Welcome to the Web¡¯s Diamond. Anything in particular that you¡¯re looking for?¡± ¡°Anything level two and higher.¡± I didn¡¯t want to waste too much time. Better to just have them show me their wares. The woman nodded and led to the back then gestured to a display. ¡°Here you are.¡± A shelf had several ores and gems on display. They had up to level four, but the price increased by two digits for every level. I could afford them with the city money, but I¡¯m not sure those in the government would be happy about me spending ten million gold on a chunk of level five Jet Blue Agate without reason. I would hate to be the first leader this place ousted due to her spending. ¡°You don¡¯t perhaps have a few small pieces that I might be able to take?¡± If I got a sample, I could recreate them back in the dungeon using mana. It would likely be expensive as shit, but it was cheaper than using gold. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that would be difficult.¡± The non-ascended came over and whispered something to the woman. ¡°But for you, we can make an exception.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I asked wondering what the spider had told her. ¡°Yes. If you give us your endorsement,¡± she replied with a business smile. I laughed a bit on the inside. So that was the plan. Even brand new, having the leader of the city say they shopped here would be good for business. I decided it would be fine since I had nothing to lose. Even if they weren¡¯t on the up and up, I wasn¡¯t exactly honest myself. ¡°I guess that¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll even announce it during the next fight.¡± ¡°That would be amazing! Deal!¡± The non-ascended moved into the back then returned with a sack. She handed it to me, and I checked the contents to find a dozen different finger sized ores and gems. ¡°Thank you. This will help me out a lot.¡± I left the shop and made my way back to the temple. I had expected to get one maybe two materials and have to plan for the rest, but to get twelve was a real score. Back in the room, I waited for Quin to return. I¡¯d have her take the sack back to the dungeon. The greater demon reappeared after a bit. One second, I was staring off into space contemplating my life, the next Quin was kneeling in front of me. ¡°I have returned my queen.¡± ¡°Oh. Welcome back. Anything?¡± ¡°There are several that claim the change of power was a set up. Shoa¡¯s dislike for the position has been known for several years now.¡± ¡°Think anyone will do anything?¡± ¡°It is doubtful. From what I could tell, the tournament is almost like a god to them. They will not disrespect it¡¯s working. However, expect many challengers in the next one.¡± ¡°Great. Well, I expected as much. Here,¡± I handed her the bag. ¡°Take this to the dungeon. I¡¯ll meet you there.¡± ¡°As you wish.¡± I let the body drop back as Quin vanished. Returning to my main body, I walked down to the opening. Quin was quick, I only had to wait a few seconds before she appeared, bag in hand. ¡°Excellent. I¡¯ll call for you when I want you to take some things down to my other body. For now, return to guarding.¡± ¡°As you wish, my queen.¡± The Blood Core - 47 Maxwell Yawning, I took in the dark elves across from me. Just because they were accepting of me didn¡¯t mean they were making negotiations easy. We had been arguing for almost four hours on various topics and were currently in a standstill. Frankly, I was ready to hit the sack. I rubbed my face to try and dispel some of the drowsiness. The elves came from a city deep in the Abyss called Neratherma. From what I understood it was a dark elf powerhouse that accepted anyone as long as you had coin and power. Since I had little of both, I had to play my cards careful to make sure I didn¡¯t get taken for a trip. ¡°Traveler Somar. We have already laid out the goods that we can provide, but again as I mentioned before, we are a growing community. In the future we will have plenty more to offer, but for now, this is really all I can provide.¡± I felt like I was playing Catan. Trying to get some resources out of them while not giving up too many of my own. Traveler Somar, an elderly dark elf that looked like he was in his fifties but was likely to be over five hundred years old, didn¡¯t seem to want to accept that I really only had what I did. He stared me down trying to pressure me into admitting that I was lying, but I wasn¡¯t. He could burn holes into my skull for all I cared. After another five or so minutes of the silence, Somar finally seemed to give up. ¡°Very well. We shall sign a trade agreement with you, but the duration is only for three months. At such a time, we will re-negotiate.¡± ¡°That is fine by me.¡± We stood and bowed to each other in the dark elf fashion. I was glad all the customs of my people were downloaded into my brain when I selected my race. The system created the contract and we both took a moment to read it over to make sure that it was good. The village of Alflona provide a thousand units of wood every month while Neratherma would provide two hundred mana stones and an assortment of level three magic metals. Frankly, given the rarity of wood in the Abyss, we were getting ripped off, but it was the best I could do with Alflona¡¯s current financial power. Just the three hundred stones would boost my village all the way to town in a matter of days. I showed the visitors to a guest room in the manor then went to find Rowena to tell her about the deal. She was happy to hear that we managed to strike a compromise. I had to agree with her there. ¡°How are the Jade Collective?¡± ¡°Players really are amazing. They¡¯ve helped dozens of the villagers and more. I want another thousand of them.¡± I chuckled at that. ¡°Maybe in the future. We need to be able to hold onto what is ours first.¡± I hated the thought of someone coming in and taking all that I had worked hard to achieve. ¡°Have you seen Lapis?¡± ¡°The dragon?¡± Rowena asked. ¡°No.¡± I rubbed my forehead. I would definitely make sure to look before I leap from now on. ¡°Damn creature is going to be the end of me.¡± A chill came over my back as Lapis¡¯s petite voice came from behind me. ¡°Would you like me to end you right now or make it a surprise?¡± ¡°Gah!¡± I jumped and turned around with my fists up, not that it would help any. I reached up to touch my neck to find ice coating my skin. ¡°Damn it! Are you crazy!?¡± ¡°Not in the slightest. Though, I do know a few dragons that have lost their marbles over the years. Would you like me to introduce you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite alright.¡± I cleared my throat and straightened up. ¡°What are you doing for accommodations?¡± Lapis pointed at the mountain. ¡°If I desire to sleep, then I will just head home for the evening. It takes me less than a minute to fly that far.¡± ¡°I see.¡± At least that was one less thing to worry about. Since it was almost morning I decided to skip sleeping like my brethren from the Abyss and looked at my list of things to handle. There was something that I had been putting off for longer than I meant and decided to take a trip over to Razz¡¯s village. Rowena still had a few hours before she had to commune with the forest, so I grabbed her arm and teleported us over. We walked through the goblin village with a bit of trepidation. We might be allies, but it was hard to remove the idea that goblins weren¡¯t the enemy. While the creatures weren¡¯t horribly disfigured or filthy like in most media on Earth, they were still unpleasant to look at. It also appeared that Razz cared little for the village¡¯s hygiene and health. From the looks of things, he had focused on the bare minimum on infrastructure and poured everything else into military. The simple huts were falling apart, while the few buildings that were made from more durable construction were also worse for wear. I tried to keep in mind that Aurora had attacked him just the other day and that they might still be recovering from that, but I was finding it hard to do so. Rowena¡¯s foot sank into a mud hole on the street causing her to grimace. I couldn¡¯t blame her. If you were unlucky, there was a chance it wasn¡¯t just mud you were sinking into. She pulled her foot out and gave me a look that said she was ready to leave. Now that I thought about it, my friend had always had a thing for cleanliness. It was sort of surprising that she was playing a beast knight. Though perhaps the compulsion to be clean wasn¡¯t quite as strong inside the virtual world. Razz emerged from the only building made from stone in the entire village. It was clearly meant to be the keep in a fort. There was even space set aside for walls and a moot to be added later. He walked over and held out a green hand. ¡°Ah. My trusty ally. I was wondering when you would visit.¡± ¡°Sorry, Razz. I meant to come sooner but things don¡¯t always work out like you¡¯d want.¡± ¡°I completely understand.¡± He glanced around at the village before leaning in close. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying my hand at managing the NPCs. I feel I might have made things worse. Also, the Inquisition should be here soon, but I¡¯ve barely prepared my army with all the tediousness of the tasks around the village.¡± ¡°None of the other players you have with you are able to do this sort of work?¡± I asked with concern. I really didn¡¯t want to have to manage his village forever. If that was the case, I would merge the two villages as soon as possible into some sort of dual city-state. ¡°No. We all liked to fight on the front lines, but only I was offered the lord class. I¡¯m not sure if you know but the bonuses for a lord class are off the charts in late game.¡± Razz sighed before turning to look at the Fort. ¡°As I said before, the one member of my crew that enjoyed this crap happened to be off during the event. I¡¯ll be honest, I looked down on him a little, but now that I¡¯ve been forced to walk in his shoes for a few days, I wished I had been a bit more accepting.¡± I reached out, gripping his shoulder. ¡°What¡¯s done is done. Let¡¯s get this place back up and running. We also need to discuss what you think the make of the Goblin force will be. I managed to recruit some players to my village, but even with that it might be hard to defeat the force without some proper preparation.¡± Razz laughed loudly. ¡°Playing the field. I bet you would have made a great politician.¡± I chuckled softly. I felt like telling him that my parents were in fact pretty high up the political chain in my country. Razz led us into the Fort and pointed to a desk covered in rough parchment. ¡°Here you go. Feel free to use this space as you see fit. As for managing the village, I believe you¡¯ll understand everything better than I could. I just ask that you gear this toward the military. I get a bonus toward various skills.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do. If I find anything I think will affect you adversely, I¡¯ll be sure to send you a message.¡± ¡°Thanks. I¡¯m going hunting with the crew. We should be back in¡­ three maybe four hours.¡± Razz turned to leave. ¡°Razz! If you find any mana stones, could you lend them to me?¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I know a few spots with monsters that drop them. I¡¯ll make you a list later. For now,¡± he pulled out a sack from his inventory then handed it over. I took it and was surprised by the weight. It was several pounds. ¡°That should be around sixty or seventy mana stones we¡¯ve collected. We don¡¯t have anything that uses them. Crafting that requires mana stones is higher level after all.¡± ¡°Thank you. This is a great help.¡± Razz nodded before leaving the keep. I turned back to the desk and swallowed nervously. I glanced over to Rowena. ¡°Want to help?¡± She gave me a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡± A few hours passed as we went through everything. Razz¡¯s friend had a good head on his shoulders. He¡¯d been in the process of making the village self-sustainable. From the records, the goblin nation had a good deal of interconnectivity. The towns monitored the villages, while the cities watched the towns. I guess when a warlord might rise up at a moment¡¯s notice, it was good to keep an eye on things. The goblins lived mostly on hunting and mushroom farming. Where I gained new elves through the portal, Razz gained them from breeding pits, or a Primordial Mud Den. It sounded disturbing, but after checking the information in the menu, a lot of the details washed away by the system. If you looked at the pit from the outside, you¡¯d simply see a mud pit where workers had to dig free new goblins. Razz had the thing upgraded to level three letting him produce nearly a hundred goblins a day. That wasn¡¯t a bad number. The only drawback was that the pits had to be fed food to produce the goblins. So, they weren¡¯t free like my portal. Without food the output dropped to a tenth of the max. He must have done so in the last few days since he told me his numbers were around fifty when we first talked about it. Looking over the infrastructure of the village, everything Razz needed to be independent was built. The vampire raid had just damaged everything to the point that they were currently inoperable. The amount of wood and stone needed to repair the village was high. In the thousand of units. The problem was that Razz had redirected most of his workers to the food and breeders. It was a good short-term plan and would allow his numbers to increase rapidly¡­ if he hadn¡¯t set all his new arrivals to immediately be sent to any of the five barracks in the village. This meant his worker supply stayed stagnant. To make matters worse, he had a sizable gold stash. I guess raiding and pillaging paid off. It would have been a good thing if only he wasn¡¯t spending almost four times as much gold as he was making on his army. To maintain such a level, he would have to constantly go out conquering. From the records in the village treasury, it looked like he was personally suppling the gold through adventuring. ¡°It¡¯s a bit messed up, isn¡¯t it?¡± Rowena asked after we had gone through everything. ¡°Thank god Razz is an idiot. If he used even a quarter of what he had here, he could rapidly rise to power.¡± It made me wonder just what this friend of his had been planning. I would have thought that he¡¯d explain all this to Razz while they worked on the village. Unless¡­ ¡°Rowena. Can Lordship be taken?¡± Rowena leaned back in her chair and stared off into space. ¡°Of course. You become an Arrogate Lord. If you were a ranger that managed to take lordship from someone then your class would change to Arrogate Ranger Lord. No one is sure why the system gives certain people the lord class, but it makes it clear that you can lose it.¡± I rubbed my chin as I considered that. I couldn¡¯t imagine life without the village by this point. The NPCs might be code, but so was I now. They might as well be my new family. In fact, several of them had started to make lives for themselves in the village. With close to eighty new elves arriving every day, the dynamics of the village were constantly changing. Popping my neck, I leaned back over the paperwork. The first thing I did was set the newcomers to be spilt down the middle. Half would join the work force, while the other half would continue to head to the army. Unlike my portal, the breeding pits released new goblins at a steady rate over the day. I tried not to think too hard on that fact. I set a few benchmarks for the various industries and began to assign work around the village. It would take a day or two, but soon things would start to rapidly develop. While working in the village menus, I saw several ways that I could improve my own village due to the way Razz¡¯s friend had built his up. I could see the logic behind everything he was doing. It also made me sure that he must have planned to steal the throne from him at some point. The question I had to ask myself was should I tell the man. He seemed to regret how he treated the man in question. It might be best to just let it lie. That was what I would do for the time being. If it ever becomes a necessary fact to disclose then I would do so then. Razz returned with his crew a few hours later as he said. They were covered in mud and blood but where all in one piece. As he walked into the keep, his eyes went to something out of focus before he grinned. He dismissed whatever message he got and walked over to us. ¡°I was right to leave it to you. Happiness is up almost fifteen points since this morning.¡± ¡°Your advisor had been a brilliant man. Everything you needed to separate from the goblin nation was already in place. The vampire attack simply hit you where it hurt. I¡¯ve set everything to correct itself, but I had to pull some of the new goblins from the military line up and put them in the worker force.¡± ¡°How many?¡± ¡°Around half. You need resources if you want to get this place back in working order.¡± Razz slammed his fist into his open palm. ¡°I know but all the iron is a bit out of reach!¡± His theme was Master- Ironworks. While the first few stages only used trace amounts of metal and focused mostly on wood and stone for the foundation, he must have thought he couldn¡¯t repair them without the upgrade costs. ¡°To upgrade, yes. You had enough metal to repair everything though.¡± ¡°I did?¡± He asked looking at me with a bewildered expression before he simply broke into loud laughter. ¡°Of course, I did. I told you I¡¯m an idiot.¡± I stared at the laughing goblin before sighing. ¡°Razz, I know we have an alliance and you¡¯re under my command, but how about you give me the village completely?¡± He might lose his lord class, but I felt he would be happier in the long run with something less tied down. ¡°Ah. You mean to make me a vassal. I was wondering how long you would make me wait.¡± ¡°Vassal?¡± Rowena asked saving me the trouble. ¡°Do you know about Arrogates?¡± We both nodded quickly. ¡°Well, if someone took a lordship all on their own then generally another person would come through and take it over while it was weakened. To combat this, you¡¯d have a player go in and capture a territory then that person could become the vassal of another lord player. That way their Founding stone would be protected back in the capital. Of course, you don¡¯t have to capture a place. I could become your vassal. With our villages so close, they would like merge if we reached city level two or three.¡± I looked over at Rowena. She appeared to not know any of this. I had to remember that she knew a great deal, but even she had only about three days of playing over me. There was only so much you could learn during that time span. I stood up and moved in front of Razz. ¡°You would be willing to be my Vassal?¡± I asked seriously. Razz face lost its humor. ¡°If this was just a game then no.¡± He turned and looked out the still open door. Goblins were moving around going about their tasks while the raid group were disturbing meat and other materials from the hunt. The setting sun made it quite the sight. ¡°But it is no longer just a game. I never cared about the NPCs before, but over the last few days I¡¯ve been talking to them. Learning about them. Some of them have tragic stories. Lives worse than anything I could have imagined back on Earth outside of a movie.¡± ¡°That¡¯s pretty deep.¡± Razz nodded as he turned back to me. ¡°I still want to fight. Combat gets my blood pumping. Fighting with your life on the line is truly an altogether different experience. I can fight easier if someone handles all this for me.¡± I thought Razz was nothing more than a warmonger fool. I had seen glimpses of intelligence of course, but it was always in combat. I guess under all the green skin he was still human. I didn¡¯t regret not trusting him, but perhaps he had just showed me that I could at least attempt it. I stretched out my hand. ¡°Very well. Let¡¯s make you my vassal!¡± ¡°Awesome! While we¡¯re doing that, I¡¯ll transfer full control over to you. Just give me an army and I¡¯ll be a happy camper.¡± He grabbed my hand, and we shook on it. I grinned at the honesty of the man. ¡°Sure thing.¡± We talked about the matter for a while longer. To become my vassal, he had to come to my village and pledge his alliance to me. The ceremony could be as grand or subdued as we wanted it which made matters easy for us. I figured no time like the present and gathered everyone outside to teleport us. With a flash of light, we were back in my village. With how much it took to get his affairs in order, we¡¯d spent most of the day there and the sun was starting to descend from the sky. I thought it might be good to invite the Travelers to join in on the ceremony. It would show that I wasn¡¯t just sitting on my ass here. We kept everything simple. A line of braziers with blue flames were set up while I stood on a small stage at the end. Razz walked down the path with his armor glittering in the light. Once he reached the bottom of the stage, he knelt with a showy flip of his cape. I cleared my throat then struck a pose like the kings from movies I¡¯d seen in the past. ¡°Lord Razz of Mudtown! Do you swear to honor me and serve as my sword in any and all coming battles? To protect the people of the nation that we both seek to build?¡± ¡°Yes, your majesty!¡± "Do you swear to serve the realm despite the dangers to yourself?" I asked with an echoing voice. If I didn¡¯t know any better, I would have said that magic had been infused in it. ¡°Do you swear to always come when you are needed if it is within your power? ¡°Until the day that my arm is too weak to swing a sword, your majesty!¡± Razz replied strongly. I grinned. He was quite the role player as well. ¡°Then I accept you as my vassal. I swear to make sure to keep your sword sharp! Your realm prosperous! And your people happy!¡± A magical circle formed in front of each of us. Mine was a deep purple with the language of the dark elves while his was green possessing the language of the goblins. The two circles flew into the air where they merged to become a new circle completely. A few system notifications appeared, but I minimized them for the time being. It was more fun to stay in the moment. Chapter 48 Aurora I stood next to Roland, Zaras, and the others along with nearly two hundred Common Vampires. All of them outfitted with steel armor and weapons. I was almost bouncing on my heels from excitement from the coming battle. I never thought of myself as an adrenaline junkie, but I might just that. The thought of the coming battle was making my heartbeat rapidly. Thanks to my persona of Kaga, I learned that the goblin was about to be attacked by a force from the main group in the forest. That¡¯s when I got a fun idea. I needed to kill monsters to gain experience for my dungeon. Since nothing had come inside in a long time, likely due to Maxwell and Razz making sure the monsters were staying away from my entrance, I decided to claim myself a nice little snack of goblins. I looked at the pass that ran along the side of the mountain. It was likely that the inquisition would come down this path if they wanted to move quickly against our friends in the mud pit. Nothing came along for a long time though. I glanced at Roland. ¡°We¡¯re sure that they are coming down this route?¡± The man quickly knelt in front of me. ¡°Yes. Our scouts reported that they should have only been a few hours from here.¡± I glanced at Zaras who nodded only slightly. ¡°Very well. I can¡¯t move any further from the dungeon in this body. Send another scout to find out how much longer.¡± I looked to the star covered sky. ¡°None of us want to be out here when the sun comes up.¡± Roland saluted. ¡°Understood, my queen.¡± I watched as he took off with a few of the scout type vampires. I really hoped that he wasn¡¯t the one that betrayed me. He was the first of my Higher Vampires. It would hurt me almost as much if I found he had been the one to end Losa¡¯s life. ¡°For you, my queen,¡± Zaras remarked as he brought me to a table and chair set for evening tea. It was simple but bringing a chair and table on a military expedition that called for speed was a burden for someone. The fact that I hadn¡¯t noticed the furniture before meant I wasn¡¯t paying enough attention. ¡°Thank you, Zaras.¡± I sat down then took a sip of the tea, finding it to be warmed blood. I never thought I would enjoy blood of all things as my drink. It was amazing how much a person could adapt to a situation. I set the cup down on the plate. ¡°Everyone is aware of the plan, correct?¡± ¡°Yes. We will kill most of the attacking force while capturing those that we can. After that, we claim to have been sent by Maxwell and Razz and that this area is claimed in their name to any survivors.¡± I nodded, pleased. ¡°It¡¯ll be two birds with one stone. Everything that I need to accomplish requires a higher level. With the two of them starving me, I need a way to attract some fresh meat. If we piss off the goblin nation enough they¡¯re sure to send a larger force. That means more fresh blood and giving that annoying prick Maxwell a headache at the same time.¡± ¡°Perhaps letting the force through would be the better course of action?¡± Carson asked. ¡°Maybe. I know after the battle the other day Maxwell is injured, but I know for a fact that he¡¯s already replaced most of the soldiers he lost. They might not be quite as high level, but they are there.¡± I couldn¡¯t exactly say that this was a world based on a game. The rules in place meant that Razz had a chance to succeed. I doubted a few months were enough to change that fact. No. I was sure that since Razz had Maxwell supporting him, the goblin village would have made it through the coming challenge. Another hour passed before the Roland returned along with the scouts. I stood from my chair. ¡°They set up camp about two kilometers down the road. I spent some time to scout out their force. They number around five hundred, with several Champions and Captains. There is a Major as well, but he stuck to his tent. I couldn¡¯t get a good read on him.¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Magic users?¡± I asked since the goblins main strength was, well, their strength, and their numbers. ¡°About twenty or thirty.¡± ¡°Roland, Carson. Take a detachment and wake them up. Try to do enough to make sure they commit to attacking. I don¡¯t want to wait any longer.¡± ¡°Understood!¡± The two saluted then began to yell orders to the vampires under their command. The bloodlust rolling off from them was almost tangible in the air. I sat back down then whistled. Varroth came over and laid his head in my lap for me to pet. Looking at the demon worg, I was considering making another one soon. They were powerful and loyal if slightly crazed when they were on the battlefield. I didn¡¯t have to wait long before the sounds of battle reached us. Carson¡¯s unit consisting of devoted mages helped get the goblins up and fighting. Before long, my vampires came back around the pass with frenzied goblins hot on their heels. A towering goblin that looked more like a troll than a goblin was further back, but was clearly in a pissed off mood. Stroking Varroth¡¯s head one last time, I gently patted him. ¡°Go. Hunt.¡± He roared out a growl then exploded into motion as he charged at the goblins. Being a sort of berserker, the more injured he got, the stronger he¡¯d become. Zaras held out his hand, taking it, I stood up as I pulled out of the magic pistols made for me. I just hoped it survived more than a single shot this time. I pointed the rifle at the coming goblins. With a feeling of exhilaration, I sent several death spells into the midst of the enemy force. The weaker goblins dropped to the ground subsequently being trampled. Those that had stronger life force were soon covered in boils and lesions. ¡°Plague!¡± I laughed as the goblins screamed in horror and pain. A bit more calmly, I looked over to the still vampires. ¡°Go.¡± Even covered in steel armor, the vampires moved like shadows. To be frank, the goblins were no match. Swords, spears, shields, and more sent blood spraying into the moonlit night. Any time a group managed to start holding their ground, I along with several of the mages would send magic spells into their midst. ¡°You said they had magic users,¡± I remarked to Roland when he pulled back from the battle to recover his mana. Roland knelt with a salute. ¡°We¡¯ve already killed most of them. Since we were going to attack the camp, I made sure to make it worth it.¡± I narrowed my eyes at him. He was designed to be an expert at battles. I didn¡¯t quite understand how the knowledge was imparted to him by the system, but I knew he was skillful enough to make such a call. ¡°Very well.¡± I looked back to the battle. We had already cut down over half of their force. The Captains, Champions, and Major were making it hard to fully break them, however. I did a quick check and found about two dozen of my vampires had been defeated. I¡¯d rather not waste much more time or mana. I flapped my wings and rose into the air. I could feel the hum of the border. Much further and I would be forced to stop. Reaching a good height, I aimed my pistols at the Goblin Major. Since I knew I couldn¡¯t kill him in one hit, I decided to go a different route. I chanted my spell then let the gem in the pistols gather energy until they glowed almost too brightly. ¡°Pain!¡± With a crack, the dual cast spell flew across the field and slammed into the Goblin Major. His ferocious swings immediately came to a stop as he screamed at the top of his lungs. The spell only did a limited amount of damage to his HP, but his mind was in pure agony right now. He tossed his axe as he began rolling on the ground, gripping his head. The other goblins seeing their leader in obvious torture began to crack. Screams from the front lines as they were cut down caused the rear to finally succumb to their panic as one, then two, then a dozen began to flee into the surroundings. I dropped down from the air landing gracefully on Varroth¡¯s back. I looked to my leaders. ¡°Round up a few of them. You know the story.¡± Glancing at the still screaming leader, I leveled my pistol at him before sending round after round of Death into him. He finally came to a stop after about twenty shots. I had nearly used up all my mana to do it as well. The Goblin Major¡¯s body looked like it had been rotting for weeks. ¡°I¡¯ll be returning to the dungeon.¡± ¡°Understood, my queen,¡± Zaras said with a salute. The others saluted as well behind him. Looking down on them like this, I actually felt¡­ powerful for the first time since I came here. This was my power! I grinned as the sound of screaming almost sounded like music to my ears. As Varroth turned and moved along the path, I decided that I would paint when I got back to the dungeon. A moment like this needed to be recorded in history. Chapter 49 Maxwell I stared at the road wishing more than anything that I had a cup of coffee right now. Dozens of bodies laid dismembered in front of us. Some of them looked like they had been rotting for weeks or even months. I didn¡¯t have to be a genius to know what the cause of this was. Somehow my friendly neighborhood vampire had found out about the coming Inquisition and had decided to have a snack. Rubbing my face, I walked over and took a seat on a rock. Razz joined me with a crocked grin. ¡°Looks like our problem went away.¡± I snorted at that. That might be the case, but I couldn¡¯t help but wonder how much experience Aurora might have gained from this little venture. Sighing since I knew whatever the case, it wasn¡¯t good I decided to nod all the same. ¡°For now. This might have been a show.¡± I gestured to the massacre. ¡°If she was able to do this in the middle of the night without none of your scouts finding out then she amassed some serious military power.¡± Razz crossed his arms notably upset. ¡°We¡¯ll have to rethink how we¡¯re going to address our mutual friend.¡± ¡°You can say that again.¡± I grabbed Razz¡¯s shoulder then teleported back to his village. With my changes to the management in place, the village was quickly coming to life. His population was already springing back to before he led an attack against Aurora. It would be a few more days before he was back to full power once his citizens start training as well. ¡°Oh here,¡± Razz remarked as he handed over a sack. I took it and glanced inside to find a dozen or so Mana stones. They would help back in my village. Every stone counted. ¡°Thanks! It pays to have someone that knows the lay of the land.¡± I tossed them into my inventory. He already gave me a bag yesterday. That he could gather this in a single day was a show of his power. Razz got up and dusted off his pants. ¡°I checked the bodies, by the way. They were stripped clean. Nothing useful. Though I¡¯ll be taking some of the bodies back to my village. If I mount the heads, their happiness will go through the roof.¡± I swallowed not wanting to think about such a gruesome thing but understanding that goblins had a different set of standards. ¡°Sounds fun,¡± I remarked, watching some goblins run by carrying a log. ¡°You should make sure you understand the values of your race. If you¡¯re not careful you might piss them off or even worse make them come to hate you. NPCs can dispose of a leader just as easily as another player. Easier, actually.¡± I nodded. ¡°Thanks for the warning.¡± Razz chuckled before heading off to handle his own tasks. I glanced around the area. The town was quickly being repaired now that the citizens were actually being directed in their actions. The happiness was climbing quickly. Compared to my elves, the goblins didn¡¯t need much to be cheerful. Personally, I felt Razz had made a good race choice. He probably would have even been able to overcome his management issues had he been given enough time. Looking into the distance, I could just make out the point of Aurora¡¯s tower. That woman had thrown a wrench into that destiny ever happening. Now that Razz was my vassal, it was incredibly hard for him to go his separate way. Not to mention, once my city grew and the two sites merged, he would lose his claim on Free-Mud. His only path now was to serve as my general and hope to claim a new territory as my nation expanded. Cracking my neck to try and relieve some of the tension that my current life caused, I teleported back to my village. I had a bag full of mana stones and plenty of buildings that needed to be upgraded. I also needed to bring the newest batch down from the Gate. It was times like this that I envied Razz. His race was, and I meant no offense, on the weak side of the scale in the world. That meant he could spawn many more NPCs with his buildings than I could. They were easier to build as well. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Reappearing in my village, I nearly collided with Kaga. I stepped back to give her some room while she caught herself from falling with some serious reflexes. ¡°Sorry about that. I can¡¯t exactly predict what¡¯s at the spot that I¡¯m teleporting to.¡± She waved me off. ¡°That¡¯s fine, ja¡­ boss. Umm¡­ welcome home, I guess. Making the rounds?¡± She asked. I wondered what she was going to say but decided that it probably didn¡¯t matter. She was alone in the woods for several weeks. There was bound to be some quirks. ¡°No. The goblins that were coming to deal with Razz¡¯s village were massacred last night. While it saves us the trouble of dealing with them, it most likely means that the vampire has gotten even stronger.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Kaga asked obvious interest. I raised an eyebrow at her curiosity, but couldn¡¯t find any issue with it. ¡°How are you sure it was her?¡± ¡°Death magic. She¡¯s the only one around this area that can use that branch of magic.¡± The woman crossed her arms nodding. ¡°Ah. Good point. The only other dungeon is several dozens kilometers into the forest and uses earth magic mostly.¡± ¡°You know of another dungeon?¡± I asked before I could stop myself. Of course she did, she¡¯d been playing longer than I had and had been scouting this area for a while before the Takening. ¡°Well yeah. I can draw you a map to it if you¡¯d like.¡± ¡°That¡¯d be great.¡± We agreed to meet up later. I watched her walk away. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was for my benefit or not, but I was memorized by the sway of her hips. After staring for far longer than should have, I shook my head and headed into the village. While Razz¡¯s village was coming along quickly, mine wasn¡¯t falling behind either. The golems had sped up all the mining. Once I spent a few more mana stones on more of them, our output should triple at the minimum. The only thing that made me groan a little was the amount of wood that had to be spent for our new trading partners. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that the Master Magic-works relied on magic reagents and stones after the first couple stages, I would be groaning a lot louder. Since the trade agreement with Neratherma was going to consume a large chunk of our wood, I needed to get more of starting buildings built in the next couple of days. I shivered as a chill in the air hit me. Rubbing my arms, I turned to find Lapis walking behind me as if she¡¯d been there the entire time. ¡°Where have you been?¡± While her absence had done wonders for my anxiety, I couldn¡¯t help but worry if she was out eating some of my villagers. ¡°Around. When you sleep for decades at a time, you some times forget how quickly the landscape can change.¡± ¡°And?¡± I asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Not much this time, though there were a few things that I found interesting happening.¡± Contrary to her statement, she yawned as if she was bored. I didn¡¯t expect an answered, but I asked anyway. ¡°Care to share with the rest of the class?¡± Her smiles curved into a toothy grin. ¡°That would spoil the fun.¡± I glared at her, but quickly sighed and dropped it. ¡°Fine.¡± I rubbed the bridge of my nose to try and relieve some tension. ¡°Are you sticking around for a while?¡± ¡°Probably.¡± I didn¡¯t get anything else after that. Shrugging, I headed into the village. My people were active and quick. With the help of the new players from the Jade Collective, they had cleared large swathes of the forest in nice pre-planned sections. I had purposely left a few lines of trees to add to the ascetic of my future city. Dark elves originate from the Labyrinth, thus don¡¯t often get to enjoy nature like this. If word of my city reaches other dark elf cities, I might get some more immigrants. Walking along the stone paths, I looked over the lots. There were plenty of buildings that I needed to add to the village before it would become a town. Most of them have to do with governance and culture. I quickly scheduled the ones I had the resources for. The finance administration alone cost me a dozen mana stones almost making me cough blood. Sucking up the expenditure, I pressed confirm on the list of buildings. Soon, I would be able to deal with commerce, finance, agriculture, housing, and more. Since I had to plan for expansion, I made sure to check the upgraded versions. The dozen or so buildings took up the entire section of cleared land. That would have been more than enough for two or three dozen houses. Though from what I could see with the ghost like preview, the fully upgraded buildings would be quite grand. I still had some mana stones left over, so I spent them on defensive upgrades. The spell tower had been a great aid during the battle with Aurora. While its cooldown was on the long side, there were other towers that fired more often. The fireball tower, for example, could cast its spell once a minute. That wasn¡¯t too bad considering the spell was much more powerful than if a mage cast it. Doing my best, I placed them as strategically as I could around the village. I felt a bit better about things once the twenty new defensive towers were placed. Once the materials were delivered, Alflona would be a much safer place. If only the future didn¡¯t look so grim. Chapter 50 Aurora I stepped back from the wall. A mural depicting the scene from last night almost glowed in the dim light of the cavern. I was pleased with how ferocious my vampires looked as they tore through the weak goblins. A smile formed when I got a notification from the system. Mural of Slaughter ¨C You have created a work of art that will shake the very mind of anyone that sees it. Being a dungeon core, the artwork is endued with magic allowing it to persist through the ages of time. All troops created by the dungeon that witness this work of art will have their combat strength increased by five percent for a year. That was interesting that it only lasted a year. Though, it made sense. Artwork was just like that. No matter how famous it was, most people would forget about it quickly. It would only take a few weeks for some while others could go much longer and still be able to recall something they had seen. While the mural I created was on par or perhaps even better than the one I created that brought the demon lord back, the piece of art still hadn¡¯t registered as legendary, only clocking in at Epic. The cooldown for that was coming to an end soon, however. I needed to think about what I wanted to create so I was ready. I had caused worldwide problems last time. With my knowledge of my situation a little clearer, I wanted to see what sort of trouble I really could get up to. I cleaned my hands then headed for my throne room. I had a few things to take care of and needed to think about what I wanted to do. I had leveled up personally, putting me at eleven. However, I didn¡¯t get a spell this time. Instead, it looked like I got a boost to a stat of my choose. That didn¡¯t mean the list was any shorter. In fact, it was several times longer. I sat down and pulled my menus open only for a sound of footsteps to distract me. I looked away from the glowing magical screen and found Everild coming toward me with an excited expression. ¡°My queen! I have done it!¡± Closing the menus, I waved him closer. He knelt in front of me holding a cushion with three identical rings and a necklace on it. Since I had ordered him to focus on mental abilities, these should meet those requirements. I picked up one of the rings. It had a ruby in the center of it, which I realized quickly was actually the red crystal that we were digging up. The silver band was a nice touch. I slipped it on to check the effects. Ring of the Seer ¨C Unique ¨C Mental Abilities gain a 5% increase in strength. Peering at the ring from several angles, I nodded, pleased with it. I didn¡¯t expect something game breaking from the start. Every little thing helps. Adding the other rings, gave me a fifteen percent increase. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I gestured to the necklace next and Everild got the hint. He quickly moved around the chair and helped me put it on. If I paid my creatures, I would have had to give Everild a raise. The necklace was beautiful, with a gold chain and what looked like a moonstone. We had gotten both from my trip to the city beneath us. Necklace of Lament ¨C Unique (+) ¨C Mental Abilities gain a 25% increase in strength. ¡°These are quite impressive, Everild. Continue to work on these.¡± He rapidly bowed his head over and over. ¡°Of course, your majesty.¡± He backed out of the room and silence returned to the room. I pulled up the status screens again only to get interrupted by York. I sighed and closed the screens to look at the demon. ¡°What is it?¡± I asked doing my best not to snap at him. ¡°My queen. I have finally created a new version of the Mana Pistol. It should be able to handle a few more shoots from your magic at full power.¡± He held out a pistol. The crystal reminded me of glass. A band of metal wrapped around it to add strength, or at least, that was my assumption. It was heavier and a bit longer than my previous models, but it felt good in my hand. ¡°Thank you, York. I will test it out when I am done here.¡± Leaning on the arm of my chair, I looked through my status screen. The little massacre last night had finally given the dungeon enough experience to level up. When I thought about how much killing it had taken to raise it and instantly started to dread for the future. Either way, I had to take care of the rewards of leveling up. I swore I heard something in my head snap as another person called for my attention. Closing the menus again, I looked up to find Zaras. I sighed decided that I would worry about it later. ~~~ I stretched as I leapt down from the tree. Maxwell¡¯s village was awake and busy as usual. Judging from the smell in the air, it seemed like breakfast was well under way. I dusted myself off before heading for the cooks. Not that I was going to eat anything. These bodies lived on mana for the most part. ¡°You smell weird.¡± I jumped at the voice. I looked behind me to find a blue head of hair. The body it belonged to was a short girl. Moving my gaze down, I found a cute looking child that looked to be around ten or eleven years old of what would be Earth Asian descent. I smiled as best I could. ¡°Must need a bath¡­¡± I remarked. This body had been outdoors then entirety of its life. ¡°That too,¡± my twitched at her tone. ¡°But there¡¯s something else.¡± I ran my hand through my hair, nervously. ¡°Not sure what you mean.¡± I might be best not to leave this body just lying around. This person looked like a child, but something was telling me that wasn¡¯t quite the case. That was only hammered home when she smiled revealing a row of shark like teeth. ¡°Well, not that I care.¡± With that, the girl skipped away like she didn¡¯t have a care in the world. I couldn¡¯t help staring after her for a while. Since she wasn¡¯t outright hostile, I would take it as a win for now. I reached up and wiped my hand across my forehead. I glared at my hand that was covered in sweat before I grinned. ¡°Looks like there¡¯s something a bit more dangerous to that girl than meets the eye.¡± I hadn¡¯t sensed anything, but my body was smarter than me it would seem. The Blood Core 51 Maxwell I was glad that I ran into Kaga. Having information on even just the first boss would make the dungeon easier to clear. My situation with Aurora made me hesitate a little, but from what everyone could tell, this dungeon was completely NPC. The distance from the village should make the situation safer as well. Since I already had the scout settled, I made my way over to the Jade Collective. They had set up some tents to serve as their base of operations until we had some spare resources. I had told them they could have two of the houses, but they wanted a Guild complex. I couldn¡¯t build those until my village was elevated to Town status. With how things were going, it should only be a few days from now. I spotted Sasha and Kevin along with a few others from the guild. Waving to catch their attention, I made my way over quickly. ¡°Good morning! You guys ready to take on the dungeon?¡± Sasha cracked her knuckles with a grin. ¡°You have no idea. Hunting around here is all messed up thanks to your village. One minute we¡¯ll be fighting things super easy, then the next we¡¯ll run into things that are forty times our level.¡± She covered her face with a grimace. I had to agree with her there. I, myself, ran into Lapis nearby. While it was at the top of the mountain, it was still only a few dozen kilometers from the village. ¡°Luckily, we managed to escape without issue so far.¡± ¡°Sorry to hear that, but at least you¡¯re staying on your toes right?¡± I asked with a smirk. ¡°You¡¯ve got that right.¡± I reached over and patted her arm. ¡°Thanks for helping out around the village as well.¡± ¡°Might as well push this place to the next level a bit faster,¡± Sasha remarked as she looked at the village that was quickly heading to town level. ¡°Thanks again.¡± I studied her guildmates. ¡°Everyone is ready for a dungeon dive?¡± I honestly had no idea what a regular NPC dungeon would entail. I had just started the game less than a month ago after all. If I went by other games that I had played in the past, then it should be us cutting through packs of monsters to reach a few bosses. ¡°Yep. This isn¡¯t our first rodeo.¡± ¡°Good. Causes it is for me.¡± Sasha gave me a thumbs up. ¡°Stick with us, and you¡¯ll be fine.¡± I chatted with her for a few more minutes then left to get my affairs in order. Talking to the guards and NPCs in charge of various fields to make sure they didn¡¯t need anything from me before I left for a while. The only hiccup I was seeing was the incoming citizens for the afternoon. They couldn¡¯t get down from the cliff without either Rowena or I here to transport them. When I went to consult Rowena, she already had it covered. She entrusted the Guard Captain with Greavefeather to handle the transport of new arrivals. ¡°Every time I talk to you, I find another reason to be glad that you have my back,¡± I remarked happily. We walked over to the armor shop since I wanted to browse through the wares. I managed to find some decent leather armor that boosted my defense by a decent amount. Considering it was going up from zero, anything was a decent amount. I thanked the staff before we headed out to the meeting location. The Jade Collective, Razz¡¯s group the Goblin Assortment, name pending, a few of Ashona¡¯s soldiers, Kaga, and then Rowena and me to round out the force. Not bad for a village that had only been around for a month and had more enemies than it was worth. I walked over to the leader circle and shook hands with everyone. ¡°Getting there will be a trek, but getting back will be a walk in the park,¡± I said once the greetings were over. Razz ruffled in his bag. ¡°About that, I wanted to try something.¡± I looked at him curiously as he pulled out a crystal. It was different than a mana stone. There were some interesting runes carved in it that made my Rune crafting skill whisper to me. I wasn¡¯t sure how I knew it, but the runes seemed to be for capturing images. He pressed a metal clip at the top and sure enough, an image appeared over the device. ¡°When you talked about your teleport, I wondered if it was possible to use it if you had an image like this.¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. I got a closer look at the picture. It showed an outcrop of rock that had a cave in the rockface. Trees and foliage had been cleared, or rather it looked like nature simply couldn¡¯t come any closer to the entrance. For a magical device, the image was crystal clear. It was almost like I was staring at it for real. ¡°This is interesting and certainly worth the test.¡± If I could use my teleport skill using images, then I could send out scouts to collect images from important locations. There was no end to the benefits this might bring us. Taking a deep breath, I focused with everything I had in me on the picture then used my teleport spell. I felt my mana drain as I blinked and found myself in the clearing around the cave. I checked myself over to make sure there weren¡¯t any side effects. Game or not, this was real for me now. Best to be on the lookout for any¡­ changes that might take effect. Since the test had been a success, I teleported back to the others. The distance was almost seventy kilometers from my village. It took a toll on my mana to jump that far even on my own. With a shaky breath, I moved over to sit on a stump. ¡°It worked. Let me recover my mana and we¡¯ll be on our way.¡± Since it would take a minute or two, I pulled up my status to just review things to make sure I hadn¡¯t missed anything before this dungeon dive. -- Name: Maxwell Orfen Level: 12 Race: Sacred Void Elf Class: Lord Specialization: Void Lord Total Mana: 754/2,025 Abilities: Dark Sight Elemental Magic ¨C Dark, Earth, Fire Void Magic Basic Sneak City Management -- ~~~ Appearing with a flash of light, the group spread out once we arrived at the dungeon entrance. I did my best to not collapse to my knees. It really was a different matter altogether to teleport so many people in one go across such a distance. Even with the Mana transfer from the Jade Collective member, it was hard on my weak Void elf body. ¡°That class is awesome! Being able to teleport without a city matrix!¡± Razz exclaimed as he drew his sword. He glanced at me as I tried not to wheeze. ¡°We need to get you some more levels though.¡± I waved him off as I continued to brace myself against my knees. The weakness finally passed as my mana recovered to a few hundred points. ¡°Trust me. Its on the top of my list of things to work on,¡± I replied. I checked my gauntlet to make sure it was secure and ready. I liked the weapon compared to an unwieldy staff. As I made sure I was ready, I spotted Kaga who looked visibly shaken. I walked over concerned that she might have been affected by my teleport. ¡°Kaga. Are you alright?¡± She jerked as if surprised. ¡°Huh? Oh yes. I was¡­ I was just a bit nauseous that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°We can rest a few more minutes before heading in. We¡¯ve already saved almost an hour after all,¡± I remarked worriedly. She shook her head. ¡°No. I¡¯m fine now.¡± I nodded deciding not to push her any more on the issue. She took a deep breath then pulled out a pistol with a magic gem instead of a firing pin. I would have been surprised considering the genre of the game we were playing, but one of the Jade Collective also used a magic rifle of sorts. With everyone ready to go, we moved over to the dungeon entrance. Razz and a few others with shields moved to the front of the formation. I thought with our numbers, we should be more than prepared for whatever the dungeon might throw at us. According to the information from Kaga, the first boss was level twenty with considerable earth magic at its disposal. Many of the initial monsters were similar, in that they were elementals. Nature¡¯s Grotto scrolled across my visions as we fully entered the cave. It was much easier on the mind compared to Aurora¡¯s dungeon. As we proceeded into the cave, the mages created floating lights to illuminate the darkness. There was nothing about the cave that stood out. It was dark, humid, and covered with moss in places. The footing was crap, and everything shouted that the cave had been naturally craved by the passage of time. Only a few minutes had passed when we reached the first chamber of the dungeon. We braced ourselves for whatever might be waiting. At the other end of the chamber stood a golem-like monster. It was similar to the ones that I summoned back in my village, only covered in moss and cracks. The golem turned toward us, raising its arms before charging. It was strange that there was no sound to be heard. Well, if you didn¡¯t count the thudding of the heavy footsteps as it made its way over. I pointed at the charging golem with the other long-distance fighters. I sent a spatial tear at it while the other mages sent their own spells. Mostly icicles since earth would have been absorbed. My spatial tear completely removed the golem¡¯s left arm while the spells hammered it into the ground. The golem had barely made it halfway across the room before it was defeated, its HP completely emptied. ¡°I¡¯m not sure whether to be impressed or disappointed,¡± Razz remarked as he walked over to the golem. All it had on it was a mana stone. Razz tossed it over to me without comment. ¡°I got decent EXP for the kill,¡± I said with a shrug as I checked my gauge. ¡°Besides, this was only the first room.¡± ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Kaga commented as she walked past us. ¡°It gets harder.¡± Blood Core 52 Aurora My plan was proceeding perfectly. The only hiccup so far was when they teleported us over here. I thought my head was going to explode. What almost made it worse was the lack of pain combined with the nausea. I nearly lost the connection for a minute after the teleporting spell took effect. Everything had been¡­ off for a minute while my mental connection stabilized. Just the thought that I might have to go through that again later filled me with dread already. My original plan was to test the limits of my connection on the way over and if I reached my max, I would come up with an excuse to leave, but the teleporting had thrown me for a loop. I could tell I was almost maxed out, but there should be enough to dive the dungeon. Drac was also nearby in case of an emergency and in case my plan to capture the dungeon worked. So far the dungeon was exactly as Roland and the others reported. Natural caves with nothing to write home about. The monster was almost nature based. Watching the party take the golem down in a matter of seconds gave me a new appreciation of their powers. I had to make note of Maxwell¡¯s powers. He managed to deal a heavy blow to the golem all on his own. Once the golem was down, I moved around the party and played my part as scout. Not that there was much to worry about. This dungeon really was just a natural cave system turned monster spawner. There was only one trap in the first part of the dungeon, which was a collapsing floor after the third chamber. ¡°That was easy,¡± Maxwell remarked to the woman named Sasha. I hated the fact that Maxwell had gained more players on his side. Even if you counted Opal and Mira, it was hard to say they were on my side, I was just about on my own. That didn¡¯t change how I felt about the situation. Something about Maxwell just rubbed me the wrong way. Even if the event with the holy energy hadn¡¯t occurred, I¡¯d probably still hate his guts. I pushed down my idle thoughts and focused back on the dungeon. Hatred or not, I was currently playing the role of this scout. I checked the surfaces, even going so far as to use my Dungeon Trap skill. My eyes lit up when I found a trigger to the side of the path. It wasn¡¯t so much as well hidden, as it was just completely disregard-able to the average person being a simple rock. It looked like my vampires had either missed something their first time through, or the dungeon reset some since their visit. I checked the trigger more thoroughly and found that it was a trigger for a trapdoor. I couldn¡¯t tell from the limited information, but I thought it might be a short cut. I made a mental note of it, then moved on to the rest of the tunnel. Other than the hidden trapdoor, there was nothing to note. ¡°All clear!¡± I shouted once I was sure. I wondered if I would get an Acting skill if I kept this up long enough. It would be nice since I had the part of Spider Queen? Spider President? To play down in the Abyss. The rest of the part soon filed into the tunnel after me. The next chamber was mostly the same. A slightly larger space compared to the tunnel. The only difference from the first chamber was the column of stone in the center and the two golems instead of one to fight. While I could have stayed out of the fight, the party was packing more than enough firepower to take down these low-level monsters without my damage added in the mix, I felt it was a waste not to get in on the EXP. My main body did get some EXP from things I killed in this body, but only a fraction. These bodies had levels as well. That meant I would have to level up more than a single character to keep them all effect. Plus, I knew I would likely be creating more in the future as my influence expanded. With that being the case, I made sure to fire off a single flame spell from my pistol on each of the golems before letting the rest of the party go crazy. The two golems of the second chamber were soon turned into piles of rubble. We continued on like that quickly. The golems dropped crafting material and mana stones. Neither of which were being fought over by the group. I grimaced at the fact that Maxwell was getting more ammo to use against me, but I would deal with that problem later. In no time at all, we soon cleared the first section of the dungeon reaching the first boss room. I already knew the first boss appearance from Roland and the others, but seeing it in person was a different experience. The first boss was a golem like the rest of the monsters so far, but it was massive. I could practically feel the earth mana washing off the monster. I walked to the front of the group and pointed back over my shoulder nonchalantly. ¡°This is as far as I got. I do know that it throws so heavy earth spells that hit most of the chamber. Earthquakes are also on the list.¡± ¡°I see. Razz, what do you think?¡± Maxwell asked looking at the goblin. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°If he¡¯s like the golems from before, then it shouldn¡¯t be too hard. We just have to stay on our toes with the spell effects. Kaga, how was the boss¡¯s speed?¡± ¡°Slow. Ungainly to the extreme,¡± I replied glad that Roland had mentioned it. ¡°Then we have the advantage,¡± Sasha said with a grin to her guild members. Looking them over, I only saw one man with a shield. The rest looked dressed for nimble movements. If that was enough to beat the boss, my vampires would have made easy work of the thing. Light handed blows were enough to damage the thick ass stone protection. Though, they were all players. The situation might be different due to that simple fact. The priest from the Jade Collective blessed the party to increase their stats for a short time. I flinched when the holy magic washed over me, but thankfully, I just felt extremely uncomfortable for a few seconds. It looked like our levels being close to each other kept me from burst into flame or whatever would have happened. I was controlling this body with Aberrant Sorcery. That sort of screamed unholy magic. With preparations complete, we filed into the chamber and surrounded the boss. Being the same room with the monster added to the effect. The boss golem was nearly five meters tall and was nearly two meters wide at the shoulders. A thick block head sat on its shoulders that was close to a meter thick on its own. Everything about the monster screamed high defense. The boss, unlike the golems from before, was able to make noise, which it did by emitting a horrendous stone grinding roar that felt like it would make your ears bleed. I was glad that pain was disabled for this game. At least it was for now. Who knew when the aliens might be interested in how us humans would react to feeling pain again. Recovering from the roar, the party went to work. The defenders took their positions around the boss, ready for when it selected a target. One of Razz¡¯s members slammed his hammer against his tower shield in front of the boss. There was a small wave of mana and the boss focused on him. It must have been a taunting skill of some sort. Not that the boss was aggroed, the mages went to work next. Maxwell¡¯s spatial tear was the only skill that made more than a trickle of dust fall from the boss¡¯s surface. The icicles, fireballs, and wind scythes more or less bounced off without doing much damage. I would have liked to use something other than fire, but this body was had to use what I showed the others so far. Thus, I did my part sending a few fire rounds at the head of the boss. I did more damage than the other mages, but not much. Even with our ineffective attacks, we started to piss off the boss. It raised its foot, bringing it down heavily. Cracks spread out around the chamber as a quake shook us violently. I barely managed to stay on my feet. Would have been easier in my main body, but I kept that to myself. The quake finally subsided as the cracks began to seal. You had to love game logic. With the attack over, Razz and the rest of this group took the chance to rush in, literally climbing onto the boss. At some point they had switched to hammers and maces. The weapons were doing far more damage than their bladed cousins. The boss roared then of all the things it could have done, it jumped nearly five meters into the air. The thing had to weigh two or three tons. What goes up must come down, however, and down it did, right on top of the goblin defender. The guy¡¯s legs were crushed into a paste. Pain or no, seeing your legs like that would cause most people to scream. This guy screamed. The rest of Razz¡¯s party was thrown off the golem by the force of the jump and resulting impact. They avoided any fatal damage, but the tumble cost them a few bruises and cuts. Since I was playing the role of scout, my hands were mostly free other than the occasional potshot with my pistol. I decided to be a team player. Rushing between the boss¡¯s legs, I dived next to the guy with crushed legs, rolling him onto my shoulder like I had seen in the movies. I was honestly impressed that I was able to pull it off without issue. I carried the man to safety as the Jade Collective tank took over the boss¡¯s attention. From his face, he was determined not to let himself end up like this guy. Once I was a good distance from the boss, I lowered the man to the ground. I shook my head looking at his legs. Blood, flesh, and bone were poked out in numerous places. If this was Earth, then this man would likely never walk again on his own feet. I patted his shoulder then turned back to the fight. The golem had gained a few more jagged gashes across its body. Maxwell was going ham with the spatial tears. As I watched, he landed two more on the boss¡¯s head. It wasn¡¯t long before the block of granite was sent flying. The boss took a few lumbering steps as if trying to avenge his head before the massive body collapsed to the ground and silence filled the chamber. Well mostly silence, the goblin with the crushed legs was still whimpering. Not that I blamed him. The others looted the boss and tended to the injured while I stood to the side. I didn¡¯t have the desire to mingle, so I made it seem like I was inspecting the room. ¡°Hey!¡± I jumped as I wasn¡¯t expecting anyone to talk to me. Turning around, I found Maxwell. He had a grin plastered on his smug face. ¡°Thanks for getting Derz out of that mess before the boss could finish him off.¡± I assumed Derz was the tank that I rescued. ¡°It was no problem. We¡¯re all in this together right,¡± I replied turning back to the wall. My eyes lit up when I found another secret passage. If this dungeon was like my own, then these were ways for the dungeon keeper to move around quickly. I sent a message to Drac outside then turned back to Maxwell. ¡°I didn¡¯t find anything.¡± ¡°Too bad. I was hoping for some more loot. Even the boss only dropped crafting materials.¡± I couldn¡¯t help shrugging. ¡°You win some, you lose some. There are more bosses to deal with, right? Perhaps one of them will drop something good.¡± ¡°Good point.¡± Maxwell gave me another grin. Something about the man reminded me of the politicians that had run our country into the ground. I kept that to myself though. ¡°Its not good to get too greedy this early in the dive.¡± The Blood Core 53 Maxwell I stared after Kaga as she moved down the adjoining tunnel to scout ahead. Something about the woman felt off, but I really couldn¡¯t put my finger on it. I knew plenty of people liked to keep to themselves, however, and thus decided not to press her. For now, she was helping us and that was enough to give her at least some credit. Shaking my head, I walked over to where the priest was working on Derz. Losing the Tank would make the rest of the dive much harder. When I joined the circle, I breathed out in relief when I saw the goblin¡¯s legs were almost back to normal. I was glad that things like this were game-like in nature. Otherwise, it might have taken months for the goblin to return to even remotely normal status. Finally, the priest dusted off his hands as he stood up. ¡°There we go! Good as new!¡± Derz climbed slowly to his feet before taking a few steps. He cheered as he did a few jumping jacks. ¡°Thanks man! I was scared for a moment there.¡± ¡°No problem. I did have to use one of my heavy spells. It has a two hour cooldown, so no more fatal injuries if we can avoid them.¡± Razz smacked the renewed goblin on the back. ¡°Glad to have you back. You scared me for a second there with that scream. I honestly thought you were in tremendous pain.¡± ¡°Fuck me, boss. When I saw my legs, I just panicked.¡± He slapped his legs. ¡°What do they call it, phantom pain? My head just went into overdrive.¡± ¡°Huh. Just make sure you dodge the falling golem next time.¡± Derz laughed loudly. ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me twice.¡± With that situation handled, we reorganized the group before heading into the next tunnel. I glanced down at my experience bar. With the golems from the tunnels and the boss, it was filling up quickly. Compared to hunting sparse monsters, this was far more efficient. It would be great if the dungeon reset daily like many of the other games that I played before. Kaga held up her hand before we made it to the next chamber. Curious about what she found, we all looked around worried about traps. She scooped up a rock then tossed ahead of us. It landed on a spot causing the entire floor to collapse leaving behind only a single strip of land for us to cross the new chasm on. Peering over the edge, I saw that it was well over thirty meters deep with jagged rocks at the bottom. ¡°Nice catch,¡± Sasha remarked seriously. She waved her people forward. Razz¡¯s group and then us stragglers joined next. The span of the bridge was just under half a meter. It seemed like plenty, but with two black holes on either side of you, it made for a much more tension moment. When we all reached the other side, more than a few of us took a deep breath to relax. We didn¡¯t get to enjoy the reprieve for long. The next chamber was waiting for us. At least the tunnel had given us time to recover our mana without wasting too much time. I cracked my knuckles as we proceeded to enter the new room. A golem sat in the center of the room. It was slightly bigger than the last golems, but otherwise appeared the same. The real new addition to the equation was the two floating crystals near the ceiling. From the sensation they were giving off, I felt they were magic casters of some sort. ¡°Be prepared for magic!¡± Razz shouted as he moved in first. The golem locked onto him before it began to charge. We were all taken aback by the speed of the golem which vastly outpaced the last version. It managed to cross fifteen or so meters in a matter of seconds. I along with the others raised our casting devices and blasted the golem while Razz and Derz braced for the encounter. The spells hit the golem hard doing plenty of damage. I thought for a moment that it was going to be just as easy as the previous chambers until there was a glow of green energy. The floating crystals soon revealed their purpose as the damage to the golem was repaired in a heartbeat. ¡°Take out the crystals!¡± Sasha and I shouted almost at the same time. I took my own advice, aiming for the nearest crystal. I sent a spatial tear at the crystal, but the damn thing managed to dodge. The blasted things were quick as well. I trusted Derz and the other tanks to hold while we attempted to trap the crystals. A hunter finally managed to land a blow on the crystal, but it wasn¡¯t fatal. The second crystal sent a flow of energy to the injured one, healing the damage. ¡°Well this is just a nightmare,¡± I muttered annoyed. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. It took far longer than it should have, but we finally managed to down both crystals at nearly the same time to prevent them from healing each other. Once they were defeated the golem fell quickly as well. I looked around the room. The tanks had suffered quite a few bruises due to our inability to quickly take down the healers. ¡°Ten-minute rest,¡± I remarked to Razz and Sasha, both nodding in agreement. I moved over to a clear spot and took a seat. This dungeon just got much harder and it was only the first chamber of the second level. There was no telling how much more difficult it was going to be deeper in. Rowena came over and sat next to me. I handed her a flask of water. ¡°Should we retreat?¡± While the experience and more importantly mana stones were nice, pushing in further was a risk. Rowena took the flash, taking a gulp. ¡°If you consider the level difference, we¡¯re actually doing pretty well. Now we know how to deal with the crystals. I think we should keep going.¡± I studied her for a moment, but she seemed serious. ¡°Well, you¡¯re the more stable of the two of us,¡± I said finally. Ten minutes later, we got up and joined the others to head to the next chamber. We should be close to a kilometer underground by this point. I knew there were connections to the Abyss in the area, so I couldn¡¯t help wondering if we might encounter another entrance while diving the dungeon. Kaga revealed a few more traps in the tunnel. A spike pit, falling ceiling, and even the classic rolling boulder. Each was dealt with easily enough thanks to Kaga¡¯s assistance. Her ability to find the traps was impressive. There was no telling how many injuries or even deaths that had been avoided with her aid. The chambers ahead were similar to the first. Fortunately, while the number of golems went up, the number of healing crystals stayed the same. With that being the case, we were able to hone our destroying of the crystals to a fine art. By the fourth chamber, we had the crystals dealt with in just under twenty seconds after the battle started. When the second boss was in sight, I was glad that I had listened to Rowena. If not, we might have missed out on the juicy experience. Not to mention, the nearly fifty mana stones that I had gained just from this section alone. With my total nearing seventy for the entire dungeon so far, I couldn¡¯t help but drool as I thought about the improvements to the village that laid ahead. We might even break into town level sooner than anticipated. I peered around the corner into the boss¡¯s room. The boss was a giant floating crystal similar to the healing crystals from the previous rooms. It wasn¡¯t quite as large as the first boss, but it was close. There was also no coherent shape. It was just a mass of crystals. Under it was a pack of golems. I counted at least a dozen, but the shape of the room made it hard to see everything from the entrance. Razz peered into the room next to me. ¡°If this is what I expect, then this is going to be a nightmare.¡± ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be surprised. The golems didn¡¯t get much stronger.¡± Other than the annoying healing, the golems were about the same as before just with their focus more on speed than strength. ¡°Nothing to it. We¡¯ll just have to try it out and see what we are dealing with. We can always try again another day,¡± Sasha added in our ear, causing us both to jump. Since everyone agreed, we moved into the room with held breaths. This was either going to be a win or a catastrophe. I hoped for the former. Since it would be impossible for us to take on all the golems at the same time, we rushed to a corner of the room that let us hold a defensive position. The golems rushed at us with abandon. I sent a spatial tear into their ranks. The golem hit was blasted back as with a massive gash in its chest. I expected the boss to heal the golem instantly, but it sat there without doing anything. Since we had nothing to go on, we focused on cutting down the golems¡¯ numbers. We were closing into a minute into the battle with over half of the golems in piles on the ground. At the minute mark, the giant crystal glowed bright enough to hurt the eyes. When the light faded, the golems that were defeated and all the damage that we had dealt over the last minute vanished as if it never happened. The ones that had been turned into piles of rubble stood up and started bashing against the shield wall. Razz gestured at the crystal with his sword. ¡°Mages focus on the crystal! We can¡¯t afford to waste any more mana on the golems until we deal with that thing!¡± I took that as my que to begin flinging Spatial tears at the crystal. I really needed a new attack spell. Void Discourse didn¡¯t work on the golems. They needed to be flesh and blood for it to be effective. It wasn¡¯t like I could teleport¡­ Wait! I pushed my way to the front then timed as best I could. I reached forward and tapped one of the golems on the leg focusing on teleporting the golem above the crystal. With a flash of light, the golem vanished reappearing over the crystal boss. It fell nearly ten meters and crashed into the crystal with a heavy blow. The golem survived the impact, but it was still a ton or two of weight crashing onto the boss from over ten meters. Cracks formed in the boss¡¯s surface. ¡°Do that again!¡± Sasha shouted with excitement. Moving closer to another golem, I reached out and teleported it. The golem was touching the one behind it, causing both of them to be teleported above the boss. There was another thunderous crash as they fell onto the boss. There was a flash of light, but it looked like the healing wave was only able to heal the golems. I shared a look with the others. It took another six minutes and roughly fifteen teleports, but we finally took down the boss by throwing the golems at it. With the sound of shattering glass, the boss scattered into thousands of pieces. The golems followed suit, collapsing to the ground into piles of rubble. We stared at the piles of stone and crystal before everyone collapsed to the ground exhausted. I wasn¡¯t nearly out, I was completely out of mana. I reached into my inventory and used one of my precious mana potions to take the edge off. ¡°Nice thinking. Teleporting just became a lot scarier in my mind,¡± Razz remarked slapping me on the back. I thought about teleporting a monster a few hundred meters in the air. I doubted many things would survive that sort of fall. I turned to face Razz. ¡°Let me know when you want to go skydiving.¡± The Blood Core - 54 Aurora I stared in horror at the actions of Maxwell. While my main body would be fine, this one would be on a quick trip to the paste town if it was teleported like that. Not to mention many of my monsters in the dungeon were unable to survive a drop from too high. Wings standard on my vampires, so at least that was a good thing. Since the boss was defeated, I quickly moved around the room making note of the secret passage. Once I had it marked on my mental map, I moved over to the tunnel heading out of the chamber. The nature cave theme was still going strong. Only now, I felt like I was in a cave that hadn¡¯t seen natural light in decades. Glowing moss illuminated sections of the cave with boulders and other rock formations adding variation to the decoration of the cave. As a fellow dungeon core, I felt there was a lot I could learn from this dive. While the natural cave theme wasn¡¯t really my thing, the way the dungeon core had aligned and set the caves up was informative. If a person were to go through my dungeon right now, they would be bored quickly. I was going for the Middle Ages castle, dark and eerie and all of that nonsense. While the dungeon possessed walls, floors, ceilings and lighting that played to that theme, it was lacking that fine touch. I needed to spend a few days decorating my castle with much more to bring home that gothic castle inhabited by vampires vibe that I wanted to go for. Sighing at the thought of actual enjoying being a dungeon core becoming normal for me, I turned my attention back to the task at hand. The tunnel ahead was surprisingly empty of traps. No matter how hard I looked, I couldn¡¯t find anything. Perhaps after the pervious boss, it was a straightforward march to the last boss. That would be good for me, since I had already been here for almost three hours. I had other matters that had I had to deal with in the dungeon and the spider city. I soon reached the next chamber. Peeking inside, I looked around for the next monster would be up against. I spotted a gleam in the corner of the room. Peering closer, I realized that it was a golem, but it appeared as if the floating crystal and the stone golems had fused together. I tried to get a better read on the monster, but it was at a bad angle from the entrance. My job done for the time being, I made my way back to the others. Of everyone here, Sasha was the least irritating. It helped that it felt like I was undermining Maxwell¡¯s authority, so I went to her to explain what I saw. Sadly, I failed to rile Maxwell up. ¡°No traps?¡± Sasha asked once I finished describing the tunnel ahead. ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡± ¡°Positive, but they might have been too high level for me to detect.¡± ¡°Fair enough. Take a breather. We still have about five minutes before we move on,¡± Sasha said before she went to talk to Razz and Maxwell. I sat down and closed my eyes. I thought about taking a second to check on my dungeon, but I didn¡¯t want to risk something happening to this body. ¡°How are you holding up?¡± I opened my eyes to find Rowena looking down at me. I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Still plenty of dungeon to deal with, right?¡± ¡°Good point. You are certainly making this easier. I¡¯m glad that you found your way to the village.¡± ¡°A few weeks camping. It wasn¡¯t as bad as it seems. Life wasn¡¯t exactly the best back on our blue marble.¡± Rowena sat next to me with a sigh. ¡°Tell me about it. I was trapped in a body that failed to show my inner self.¡± ¡°Huh. Looks like you got an upgrade then,¡± I remarked as I studied the wolf-kin. While the game allowed for a lot of customization, she hadn¡¯t gone too crazy. It looked like she had spent a considerable amount of time creating an avatar that truly said what she saw. Unlike my main body. Even if it was almost three years ago, I remember the day when I basically set all the sliders at random. Given how the game worked, it spat out a beautiful lady of the night. ¡°I¡¯m both thankful and scared about what happened to us. I mean, come on! Aliens are studying us right now. What if one day they decided to just¡­ pull the plug on their experiment. There is absolutely nothing that we could do to stop them.¡± She had a point, but it was a meaningless point in my opinion. Why bother worrying about something that you had no control over. Yeah, it would suck if we all just ceased to exist one day, but to the more religious people, that might as well have already happened. The soul that lived in our bodies had already moved to heaven or hell or whatever place you believed in. I¡¯d rather enjoy this reprieve for this copy of my mind while I could. Rowena was still waiting for me to reply. I cleared my throat. ¡°Well. Things could be worse,¡± I said finally as I jumped to my feet. ¡°We could be dead.¡± With that I walked away. The others were ready to move on as well. Heading into the tunnel, we soon reached the chamber with the new golem. Since the chamber appeared empty besides the one monster, we didn¡¯t hesitate to rush inside. The golem turned toward us at the noise of our entrance and made a gravelly roar. It then proceeded to charge at us with the speed of the second version of the golems. The tanks managed to get their shields up in time, but it was close. They were still pushed back a few paces from the strength the golem possessed. Spells began to crash into the golem, my own fire shot hitting it a few times for good measure. This might be the third version of the golem, but it was still taking damage. At least, it did until the crystals on its back flowed brightly causing most of the damage to heal. There was a collective groan from the party, but we soldiered on. While the golem healed much of the damage, some of it remained. That gave us hope for defeating it. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. As luck would have it, we found out its weakness on accident. A stray shot from one of the mages hit the ceiling over the golem causing some debris to rain down on the monster. A decent sized rock slammed into the crystal on the golem¡¯s back breaking it off with almost comical ease. With the crystal gone, the golem was no longer able to heal, letting us bring the fight to a quick end. The next few chambers were more of the same. One or two of the self-repairing golems. As for traps, there was just a single trap that would have caused the walls to quickly compress. I was glad that I noticed that one before the party moved through the tunnels. It also gave me a good idea for my own dungeon. With that being the case, we made it to the boss room in record time. Unlike the previous chambers, there was some sort of barrier that prevented us from seeing further inside until we stepped through it. Since the new golems had a pretty obvious weakness, the party decided to give it a go. The tanks stepped through the barrier first with the rest of us following behind them. Inside the room, we found the first appearance of something unnatural. A temple like arena spread out in front of us. Columns that looked like they had been carved from the stalactites. There was a general aura of nature and earth magic in the air as well. Green globes of light illuminated the room for us to see. In the center stood a tall golem that was made from crystal and stone. The monster was truly a combination of the previous two bosses. Unlike the second boss, it looked like there weren¡¯t going to be golems for Maxwell to throw at the monster. While the others planned the attack on the monster, I was busy looking for some far more important than some monster. I was looking for the dungeon core. I narrowed my eyes when I failed to find it in the room. My own dungeon core floated at the center of my dungeon¡¯s core room. I figured the same would be the case here. Since I failed to find any more passages leading deeper into the dungeon, this was the last room. Of course, I didn¡¯t forget about the trapdoors. I would have to spend a minute looking for it when I got the chance. A battle cry from the goblin tank pulled my attention back from the room to the issue of the boss. The others rushed down the steps to surround the boss. I drew my pistol and waited. With a taunt from the tank, the battle started. Weapon skills slammed into the lower half of the boss. With the monster being close to ten meters tall, it was hard for the melee members of the team to hit higher than the shins. I studied the boss, then aimed for the crystals that covered its back. If the boss was allowed to heal this fight likely wouldn¡¯t end well. My fire shot hit one of the crystals causing it to crack, but not completely destroying it. I narrowed my eyes then quickly fired as rapidly as I could. It took four shots to completely destroy a crystal. There were over a dozen of them to go through. The rest of the party were doing their part. Maxwell and the other mages were aiming for the crystals on the back. If there were a phase system to the fight, then we needed to take out all the crystals before the boss healed itself. Though, that was just our best guess. The fight might have a completely different pattern. The boss didn¡¯t just take the beating. The tanks were doing everything in their power to hold it back, but a single hit from the boss generally sent the target flying a few meters. The tanks were focusing on dodging the boss¡¯s attacks, but the only one nimble enough to handle that level of movement appeared to the Rowena. I think she was a Beast Knight or something along those lines. Whatever her class, she was fast on her feet. We were down to the last crystal when it began to glow. The shattered stubs of the other crystals began to glow as well as they slowly started to repair. I would rather not have to deal with destroying all of the crystals again, so I quickly leveled my pistol at the crystal and overcharged the spell as much as I could in just a few seconds. With a blast that cracked my pistol, a lance of fire erupted from my gun slamming into the remaining crystal. It exploded even managing to do some damage to the boss. Putting away my pistol, I pulled out a knife. I knew it wasn¡¯t going to be much use, but I could still use magic even without the weapon, it just wouldn¡¯t hit as hard. The cavern started to shake as the boss glowed a bright green. With a stomp, cracks appeared through the room threatening to send us plummeting to our deaths. The shaking got bad enough that I was unable to keep my feet and feel to the ground. Several others were in the same situation. The boss whether purposefully, or not was unknown, attacked those that were on the ground. Two of the Jade Collective experienced crushed legs and a crushed arm. A goblin managed to roll out of the way from of the boss, but ended up hanging for dear life from the edge of one of the cracks. The shaking finally ended along with it; the cracks that covered the room began to close. That spelled doom for the goblin that was too far for anyone to reach in time. With the stone of grinding stone and flesh popping, the crack closed, crushing the man. It was the first player death that I had seen since this craziness started. Part of me wondered what would happen to the man if he managed to respawn. With the boss¡¯s spell over, horrifying death aside, we were able to resume our assault. Unable to heal, the damage added up quickly. The healing gimmick appeared to be the only trick up the boss¡¯s sleeve, which was understandable. The boss was only level twenty. If it was much harder, it wouldn¡¯t be cost effective to dive it. When the boss collapsed to the ground, Razz ran over to the spot where the dead player had been. There was nothing to hint at anything other than death. The goblins might be my enemies but being crushed to death was a pretty grizzly way to go. Even I felt a bit bad about it. Maxwell walked over to the boss and looted it while I searched around the room. In the corner, I grinned but quickly hid my expression as I found another passage. I found a stash as well. It looked like a prize for the winner. Since I was going to claim the whole dungeon as my own here soon, if I could of course, I felt it was right to share the loot with the others. ¡°Hey guys! I found some treasure!¡± I shouted as I pushed the panel open. Maxwell, Sasha, and Razz walked over to inspect the loot. There were just a few gems, a pile of gold coins, and a dagger of epic quality. To my surprise, they offered me the dagger. Since I had broken my gun, it was natural for me to take the knife. The gold and gems were split amongst the group. I waved off my share. I had little need for gold coins. ¡°Well this didn¡¯t quite go as planned, but I got two levels out of it, so I¡¯m calling it a success,¡± Maxwell remarked as he gave the room a glance. ¡°We got a decent number of mana stones as well,¡± Rowena added. ¡°Thanks for telling us about this place, Kaga.¡± ¡°My pleasure,¡± I replied with a crooked smile. I doubt you¡¯d be saying that in a few days. The Blood Core - 55 Maxwell After we finished looting the dungeon, we checked it over for anything else that might be of value. The cave was filled with minable veins of ore and other stone materials, but none of us had the proper skills to harvest it. We could use our attack skills on the veins, however, that would take time and mana that we were lacking currently. Not to mention, most of us just wanted to take the rest of the evening off. Once my mana returned to full, I teleported us back to the village. It was almost refreshing how everyone separated without much of a word to each other. It reminded me of the good old days of pick-up parties that were common in online games. I wasn¡¯t complaining though. I was tired from the dungeon. I made my way to the manor. Once inside, I dropped into a chair and just let out a long sigh. The party worked well together, but there was tension in the air the whole time. I wasn¡¯t quite sure where it came from. I didn¡¯t want to say anything, but I had felt like the only one really doing damage in the dungeon. Stone monsters were difficult to damage with edged weapons and basic spells. Spatial Tear was strong in that regard at least. Dungeon dive aside, I was pleased with the result. I got nearly a hundred mana stones to spend toward the village. Adding in the nearly two dozen that I had from Razz, then I was sitting pretty. I approved the next few buildings on the list then took a look at the resources. We would have to increase metal ore gain to keep up with construction. That being the case, I went ahead and used ten of the cores on golems to add to the workforce. It was nice that the buildings were built instantly. If this were earth, the village would still be working on its first few houses. Either way, we were well on our way to becoming a decent place to live. With the admin details out of the way for the moment, I crawled over to my bed and dropped down closing my eyes despite myself. Constantly using so much mana as well as emptying my gauge repeatedly was draining. I just wanted to sleep for the night even though evening had just started. A nap wouldn¡¯t hurt, I suppose. If this was going to be my life from now on, I had to start enjoying it a bit more. I finally closed my eyes and was out like a light. A crack of thunder woke me up. I sat up and glanced out the window to find a storm raging. It must have come on quickly since the skies were clear earlier. I checked the time to find that it was just past midnight. I had managed to sleep well over seven hours. I also noticed a message from Razz. I clicked on the icon. The member of his party that died during the dungeon had respawned. I could only take a few shallow breaths as I read the next part. The man had suffered a traumatizing level of pain when he died and when he respawned a few hours later. Razz was still in the middle of calming the man down, but had wanted to let me know. Closing the message, I fell back on my bed. That was one mystery answered. We didn¡¯t feel pain when we got hurt. That was a left over feature from the game. This new detail about how we respawned¡­ was that a herald to more to come? For now, I decided that I would do everything in my power to avoid dying. It was a good thing that I was able to teleport. Stretching, I got up and walked into the kitchen. The manor I selected to use for my village came with a number of rooms, but I hadn¡¯t really had the chance to use them. I enjoyed eating with the villagers at the canteen. I peeked into the cupboards expecting them to be empty but found a few selections. I checked them over carefully, but they were fresh. Almost as if they had been added just today. A few short minutes later, I had a decent sandwich in my hands as I headed for the study. Just as I sat down at the desk, there was a ding in my ear. A notification appeared in front of me announcing that Alflona had been prompted to Town. Congratulations! Alflona has reached the level of Town. Because you are in unclaimed territory you are able to establish a City-State. This will create the Diplomacy stat and War Stat. Being a City-State will influence population growth, tax revenue, military strength, and culture gain. A City-State can be promoted to nation-state with the declaration of a capital and having a second town under your influence. I read the message a few times before dismissing it. I was surprised that we could suddenly become a city-state. It might invite trouble with the Goblin and Orc nations that were in the forest, but at the same time the territory was unclaimed anyway. There was also the influence on population. If we could get even more people daily, then that would speed things up even more. Putting that aside for the time being, I opened the city status screen. I wanted to see what being a town entailed compared to that of a village. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. -- Dark Elf Town LV.1 Name: Alflona Population: 1,207 Players: 27 Lord: Maxwell Orfen Government: Monarchy Religion: Goddess of the Void, Voasis Architecture: Magi-Work Defense Rating: 37 Cultural Rating: 11 Health Rating: 15 Buildings: 101 (Open Build Menu) New Settlement Bonus: Protected (Safe for one month from outside forces.) Dark Elf Village Bonus: Magical Structures (Elves pride themselves on their magical prowess. Their structures require mana but take half as many resources.) Recovering ¨C This settlement was recently attacked and suffered lost of life. The people are still recovering. -5% productivity (1 Day 23 Hours) Vassal ¨C Free-Mud (Goblin, Metalworks) +15% Morale The Influence of the Void ¨C Dark elves that come to this settlement will be corrupted by the void eventually becoming Void Elves. +10% to void magic, +10% to mana gain while in territory borders. Declaration of War ¨C The dungeon core Aurora has declared war against Alflona. Morale suffers during a state of arms. Current penalty -0.5% -- My little settlement was quickly growing up. It was hard to believe that we already had over a thousand people living in the town. If only we could do something about Aurora. Sadly, from the looks of it, she was dead set on fighting against us. If the conflict grew too much, I would have to consider relocating my village to a new area. It would be difficult, but it was possible. I dismissed that thought for the time being. I knew Aurora was an unreasonable type of person, but everything had its limits. Even she would have to come to her senses at some point. I just hoped there wasn¡¯t too much death in between this point and that one. Sighing, I closed my menus. In the morning I would have to start going through all the NPCs to select ones that were good at certain jobs. It was a tedious process, but it had to be done to make sure everything in the village was being handled properly. It was times like this that I envied Razz. He was able to just give everything over to me so that he could just be a player. A player with a decent army, but a player, nonetheless. At some point the sun began to peek through the window. I stretched with a yawn. What would today bring to my doorstep, I wondered. It would be nice if it wasn¡¯t deadly for once. ~~~ Teleporting to the Immigration Gate, I went through the usual motions of introducing myself and explaining the situation to the new arrivals before teleporting them back down to the surface. While doing so, I got the idea to set up a one way teleporting rune to put me out of a job. My rune crafting skill was nowhere near high enough, but it was a goal for the time being. Looking over the new arrivals, I felt this batch was pretty combat oriented. Most of them were covered in scars and carried themselves with poise similar to that of a trained soldier. They were also quick to accept the explanation. It made my morning easier, but I went ahead and informed the Guard Captain about it so that he could be on watch. I knew the arrivals had to sign a contract of sorts with the system before they could accept the teleportation, but I had no way of knowing the complete details of said contract. Better safe than sorry. I was about to head to breakfast when I got a message from Razz. Running my hand through my hair to try and relieve some of the tension, I just knew this was going to be a hassle. Resigning myself to my fate, I teleported over to Free-Mud. The town had already returned to its former¡­ glory. For a goblin town at least. Heading toward the Chieftain house, I spotted the heads of the inquisition that Razz had taken. Goblins pointed them out with wide grins and seemed to be genuinely excited about the sight. I just shook my head at the sight. I was glad that I had gone with the dark elves. Of course, to please my people in the same way was going to be far more expensive. Dark elves, and by extension Void Elves had fancy tastes. They liked magical artifacts, delicious food, fine jewelry, and everything else that had to do with high society. Knocking on the door, I pushed my way inside. Razz sat at a desk reading a parchment with some of his party members sitting in the lounge nearby. Looks like whatever the issue was, was serious. ¡°Anyone home?¡± I called since it looked like my knock went unnoticed. Razz looked up with a black stare before his focus returned. ¡°Ah. Maxwell. Sorry to bother you so early in the morning.¡± Razz¡¯s tone was nearly devoid of all its usual energy. ¡°It¡¯s not a problem,¡± I said as I walked over while subtly looking at the rest of the faces in the room. They were all grim as well. ¡°I¡¯m guessing this isn¡¯t to ask me to brunch.¡± ¡°Not this time. Here.¡± He held out the parchment to me. I took the parchment and gave it a once over before really focusing on the contents. It was just a few lines, but it was like the weight of the forest was pressing down on me. The system announcement that followed didn¡¯t help matters. The nation of Eblos has declared war on Free-Mud Town. As a result of this being a declaration against your vassal, your town of Alflona is required to answer any calls for aid. Failure to do so will have widespread consequences. Declaration of War - -10% Morale, -5% Production, +10-50% Wartime Production, -5% Immigration. I glared at the paper for a long moment then just let out a drawn-out breath. ¡°Well. I think I still want to get some brunch.¡± I crumbled up the parchment. If there was one caveat of good news, Eblos had been kind enough to inform us of their coming army of nearly ten thousand strong was going to crush us. Whether we could use this to our advantage, that was still to be seen. I should probably thank the goblins for being stupid enough to give that sort of information to the enemy while trying to brag. I took a seat since my legs were feeling strangely weak. Looking up at Razz, I managed to just barely coax out a smile. ¡°At least today can¡¯t get any worse, right?¡± I knew as soon as I said it that I shouldn¡¯t have. My prediction came true less than ten seconds later. The Nation of Scarlet Night has declared war on you! All this and I hadn¡¯t even had breakfast yet¡­ The Blood Core - 56 Aurora I leaned against a tree as I waited for the nausea to pass. I was really starting to hate Maxwell¡¯s teleportation skill. From the looks of the others, they appeared to be fine which made it clear that it was my telepathic link to the homunculus body that was the cause. Since it didn¡¯t seem to cut the link altogether, I decided to write it off as an inconvenience. Coughing to clear my throat, I straightened up. The others had already left. It was still early in the evening. While I wanted to get back to my dungeon, I still had work to do. I slipped out into the forest. Being known by the lord helped with the guards. They didn¡¯t even raise an eyebrow when I exited through the gate. Turning to the north, I kicked this body into high gear running back to the Nature Dungeon. It was close to seventy kilometers, but I covered that in just over an hour. Not too bad if I said so myself. When I arrived at the dungeon, I found Count Drac and the vampires I created for him waiting for me. Drac along with his subordinates knelt in front of me as I strode into the clearing. ¡°My Queen. We have been waiting for you.¡± I waved for them to stand up. ¡°Drac. Has the dungeon reset?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes, my lady. At least for the first section, all of the monsters that were defeated have returned.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Not that it was going to stop me. I gestured at the entrance. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Inside the dungeon, we cleared the first golem with ease. The Greater vampires were equipped with Maces that turned the stone golems into piles of rubble in seconds. Before long, I reached the first of the secret passages. With a glance at Drac, I pressed the switch causing part of the wall to slide free and reveal a new tunnel. ¡°A little ostentatious, but I like it,¡± I muttered pushing my way inside. Similar to my own dungeon, it was just a bare tunnel that led deeper into the dungeon. I sent a few Greaters ahead to make sure that the tunnel wasn¡¯t further trapped. A few minutes of walking, I found the entrance to the first boss room. We ignored that and headed deeper. Clocking in a time that would have made the party from earlier choke on blood, we arrived at the third boss room. I wanted to see if the boss had been recreated, but at the same time, didn¡¯t want to risk it. Triggering the opening might be more than enough to sic the boss on us. I pushed my desire down directing us down the new section of the tunnel. This part was only a few dozen meters before we came out in a circular room. The cave was natural and unnatural at the same time. As if someone had created the cave to look like it had always been there. Whatever the case, I found an orb that was exactly like mine floating above a small pool of water. The biggest difference was that the orb was a deep green. I glanced around but failed to find a Dungeon Master. My existence seemed to be an exception after all. I rubbed my hands together and walked over to the orb. The entire time I closed in on the core, I waited for a trap or last ditch attempt to prevent me from accessing the core, but nothing happened. Placing my hand on the core, I connected to the core from my main body using this body as a node. It worked even better than I expected. There was absolutely no resistance. The next few seconds reminded me that we were in a game rather than the real world. -- Accessing Core Data. Access granted to Dungeon Master. Dungeon: Nature¡¯s Grotto. Owner: N/A Dungeon Core: Golem Level:3 Mana:1,470/3,000 Claim dungeon ownership: Y/N? -- I didn¡¯t hesitate. I clicked Yes. The green core dyed crimson causing the room to darken. The pool of water under the core seemed to become blood. I pulled my hand free enjoying the new power I felt. I closed my eyes letting my mind switch back to my main body. I stood up from my throne and pulled open my status screen. -- Name: Aurora Nightingale Level: 12 Race: Vampire Class: Dungeon Master ¨C Night Queen Sub: Dungeon Core Total Mana: 2,000/2,500 Abilities: Blood Sucking Blood Magic Elemental Magic ¨C Fire, Earth, Death, Dark Basic Sneak Dungeon Menu -- [Dungeon Core: Vampire ¨C Night Queen. Owner: Aurora Nightingale] Dungeon Level: 5 Total Mana: 751/6000 If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. [Dungeon Core: Golem ¨C Nature¡¯s Grotto. Owner: Aurora Nightingale] Dungeon Level: 3 Total Mana: 1,470/3,000 -- I wasn¡¯t sure if this would work, but I closed my eyes and thought about my vampire form appearing in the Grotto. The two dungeons were over a hundred kilometers apart. If I could teleport at least between the dungeons, it would make my life easier. The scent around me changed. Peeking through my lashes, I found that I was standing in the core room of the Grotto with the others. Yes! Dungeon Master class has leveled up! Main class has reached level two. Instantaneous Movement unlocked ¨C Dimensional Link: Shadow Walk. The power of all Earth magic has been vastly increased. New Creatures have been unlocked for summoning. Stats have been increased. I nearly whistled at the windfall of stuff. It also gave rise to a new ambition. It was clear that I was leveling three different aspects. My player level, my dungeon core level, and what I thought was just a title until just now, my dungeon master level. This would change several of my goals in the short term. If capturing NPC dungeons raised my Dungeon Master level then I would capture any I set my sights on. Dungeon Master conflict detected. Dungeon Master Aurora is the dungeon master of the Vampiric Dungeon of Demonic Delights. Halls of the Night Queen. Omen of Evil and Destruction. Please select a Steward within the next twelve hours or Nature¡¯s Grotto will be destroyed. I didn¡¯t see a reason to hesitate. The only real options were Zaras or Count Drac, and perhaps maybe Frederick. Zaras and Frederick were, however, otherwise occupied with matters for the dungeon. Count Drac had only just started to settle in plus he was a few levels higher than Zaras being combat oriented. ¡°My Count. I am hereby appointing you to Steward of Nature¡¯s Grotto.¡± Count Drac knelt in front of me. ¡°As you wish, my queen.¡± I was glad that I had started infusing loyalty into them when they were summoned with my blood magic. I refused to have another Losa event happen. Or worse, they might decide to come after me. Count Drac has been declared Steward of Nature¡¯s Grotto. You now possess 15.5 kilometers of land on the surface, and 173.4 kilometers of land of the Abyss. As a Night Queen vampire, you have the option of declaring a nation with your authority. This will create the Diplomacy stat and War Stat. Being a Nation will influence population growth, tax revenue, military strength, and culture gain. A City-State can be promoted to nation-state with the declaration of a capital and having a second town under your influence. As a nation you must defend your capital at all costs. I thought about it for a good thirty minutes. I had some¡­ misgivings about declaring a nation, but in the end, I decided that I would figure out a solution for any problems that might arise as a result of this. With a gallery of Greater vampires and one Royal Vampire watching, I filled in the information to declare a nation with the system. I went with Scarlet Night as the name since I felt that fit us the most. Congratulations! The nation of Scarlet Night has been established! The Vampiric Dungeon of Demonic Delights has been declared the capital of your nation. Only your citizens have knowledge of this. Please inform any allies of this declaration. Twisted Webs has been incorporated into your nation through Espionage. You have forty-eight hours to clarify your stance with the citizens of Twisted Webs or risk a coup. As your false identity is the leader of Twisted Webs, you have successfully integrated the city into your control without bloodshed. You have been awarded one free Cultural Unlock for your Nation. You have been awarded two spell unlocks. Future Espionage feats will be more likely to work. I stared at the screens for several minutes. There was just so much to take in. I couldn¡¯t believe that my little stint in Twisted Webs as Aru would be so rewarding. I would have to make sure to give Opal and Mira something to show my thanks. That said, NPCs or not, I doubted they would accept becoming part of a random nation without any warning. I would need to work on that soon. Timer or not. My new nation tab even came with a map. It was a fancy three-dimensional thing that let me view the surface, Abyss, and even the sky in great detail. Maxwell¡¯s territory was still whited out even on my map. I had hoped that my actions as Kaga would dismiss some of that, but whatever. The territory on the surface that I controlled was separated by a big chunk of white due to Maxwell. He would have to expand to the North if we wanted to avoid each other, but that would take him into Eblos¡¯s territory. I doubted they wanted to piss off the goblin nation even more. Not that they would have much choice. My present to Maxwell should come to fruition any day now. I so wanted to be there when he got the news that some of the goblins from the inquisition managed to escape and what¡¯s more, they claimed to be defeated by Maxwell and his lot. From what the goblins that we captured claimed it should be another day or two before word reaches the goblin capital. Unless, of course, something happened to speed that up. Shaking my head to dismiss the wonderful thoughts, I turned back to the map. South was free for the taking, but it was hard for me and my vampires to move during the day on the surface. Even if I did manage to claim a large swath of the land, holding it would be another matter altogether. The idea of playing tug-of-war with Maxwell over some dirt didn¡¯t exactly entice me either. Moving the map down, I looked at my holdings under the surface. The area occupied by both dungeons came to just over seventy kilometers. I¡¯m not sure how the system calculated that since I could only spread out to perhaps five max even from my main dungeon. I quickly realized that it was volume. Up, down, left, right, you had to think three-dimensional underground. When I visualized it like that, it made more sense. Adding in the area from Twisted Webs, and it came out to just about a hundred seventy kilometers. I checked the time. It was well into the middle of the night. I had to get Kaga back to the village in case someone came looking for her. I closed my eyes and pictured my main dungeon. Without any sort of indication, I found myself back home. I took a seat on the throne and sighed before sucking a breath to ready myself for the mental strain that was the constant telepathy involved in controlling one of my bodies. To my surprise, there was barely a twinge when I opened my eyes as Kaga. I moved around for a few seconds, but again there was no noticeable issue even though I was near the limit of my control¡ªno. I wasn¡¯t. This dungeon was now mine. It must act like an antenna, boosting my signal. Coupled with all the jewelry from Everlid, then I might be able to operate within a good portion of the Great Forest now as Kaga. I dusted myself off, then glanced back to Drac. ¡°I¡¯m leaving this in your hands for the time being. Touch the core if you need my attention.¡± ¡°Understood, my queen.¡± To test my new found ownership, I walked through the dungeon rather than the secret tunnels. The feeling of walking within centimeters of monsters that were just trying to kill me earlier today was amazing. I was already hoping to find another dungeon to claim as my own. When I reached the first boss, I clapped it on the thigh, since that was all that I could reach. ¡°Take care of the place for me.¡± I was nearly skipping when I left the dungeon and headed back for the village. It wasn¡¯t until I was almost thirty kilometers that I smacked myself on the head. I should have used Dimensional Link ¨C Shadow to send this body back to the main dungeon as well. The walk back to the village would have been so much easier. Dropping my head, I sighed and kept walking. I reached the village just as the sun was starting to come up. When I passed through the territory, something unexpected happened. Your Mortal Enemy¡¯s settlement has reached the level of town and now controls a potential City-State. A declaration of War has been declared from Scarlet Night. ¡°I don¡¯t hate this,¡± I muttered. I had to cover my mouth since I was sure that I had the biggest and not to mention most sinister smile that a person could have. The Blood Core - 57 Maxwell I rubbed my face as I tried to collect myself. Eblos had declared war on us. While I could understand that, we weren¡¯t the ones that killed their inquisition. It was Aurora. Shouldn¡¯t most of their anger be directed at her? I groaned as I leaned back in the chair. Either it was a scheme by the vampire, or they assumed since they died on their way here, it must be our fault. Pulling myself together as best as I could, I looked to Razz. ¡°How long do you think we have?¡± Razz got up then waved me over to a war map. Our settlements and a bit of the surroundings were detailed on the table making it easier to understand the geography compared to a map through the game system. It helped that the table was magical letting him manipulate it to a degree. He grabbed a wooden pointer and moved it north into a greyed-out area that only had a few details past that it was part of the Great Forest. The Goblin capital sits roughly fifteen hundred kilometers to the north. If we figure time to gather the army, equip them, and gather supplies to support it, then we have perhaps three weeks. This is a game that has a certain degree of realism. Whether that fact buys us some time, or screws us in the end, we¡¯ll have to see. Personally, I never got to witness anything of that level yet.¡± I studied the map trying to find something that might give us an advantage. The only problem was that there was just too much unknown to really make a move. The forest didn¡¯t exactly have roads and highways. The army could march from any direction, take any path. With an army of over ten thousand soldiers, any sort of obstacle put in their path could be removed in a matter of hours. ¡°Three weeks. No doubt there will be advanced parties and scouts bothering us even sooner,¡± I remarked leaning on the table. I had hoped to have more time to bolster, well, everything before the goblins made another move. ¡°Yep. Not only that, but other players might get involved. This sort of thing is probably worth a lot of ass-kissing points with the goblin king.¡± I groaned for an all-new reason. ¡°And might I ask how many players does the goblin nation of Eblos have?¡± Razz shrugged. ¡°Before the game went batshit crazy? Around four or five thousand. Goblin culture¡­ is hard to be a part of long term.¡± I thought about the mounted skulls outside. If the capital was similar, it had to be a pungent place to live. No doubt now that they were stuck in this place twenty-four seven, even the more devotee of players would be looking to move to greener pastures. I perked up at that. ¡°Hey! Do you think we might be able to entice them to abandon the kingdom?¡± I asked excitedly. ¡°I mean, an army of ten thousand will be hard to deal with, but if we put our heads together, we should be able to deal with it. The players, though, are the curve ball, the mystery box, the stranger on the street. If we can convince even a few of them to drop Eblos for us, then we increase our odds.¡± Razz stroked his long goblin ears. A habit I hadn¡¯t seen yet. To be fair, I had never seen the man actually take more than a few moments to think anything through. I was glad to see that he was actually developing as a person. If this Razz had been around a few weeks ago, he might not have led his army into a cave full of death against Aurora. The goblin finally snapped out of it. ¡°It is as good a chance as any. The question will be on how we contact them.¡± ¡°I actually have an idea about that,¡± I replied, then reached into my bag. Razz had just mentioned that this was a game with a certain degree of realism, but at the end of the day it was a game. And from what I¡¯ve seen, the aliens hadn¡¯t changed anything about it yet. I emptied my coin bag onto the war table then grinned at Razz. ¡°We¡¯ll send a realm message.¡± ¡°Of course! If they get a message explaining our situation, they might decide to help us out.¡± Razz gave me a fang riddled grin as he drew his sword. ¡°Since we¡¯re at war anyway, we might as well expand our borders a bit in the process.¡± That was an idea as well! We didn¡¯t have to wait for the army to get to us. We could just as easily send our guerilla parties to cut down their numbers. While I only knew of one person that operated well enough at night, Kaga might have some ideas that we could use. There was also the chance that she might turn tail and run for the hills. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Ten thousand goblins weren¡¯t a small number to sneeze at. It would be best if I offered her and the Jade Collective the option to teleport somewhere else. We already knew that death wasn¡¯t a one and done thing in this world, but if Razz spoke the truth, then it was excruciatingly painful. No one should have to suffer through that without a choice. I realized that Razz was still staring at me with pent up excitement. Since we were at war, then we might as well make the most of it. That was how I was dealing with the situation with Aurora. I held out my fist for him to bump. ¡°The Great Forest of Alflona has a nice ring to it.¡± Razz laughed loudly then bumped my fist with his. ¡°We can work on the name later. For now, we have an army to raise.¡± I shook my head. ¡°No. The first thing we have to do¡ª¡± I let my sentence hang as I pulled up the screen from last night. With a click, I established the City-State of Alflona. I had been pretty serious this whole time, but the world was telling me to crank into overdrive. So, I would do just that. ~~~ ¡°You guys didn¡¯t have to come along,¡± I said as we entered the clearing. My gaze moved up despite myself as I took in the tower. The structure was big and flamboyant, though something told me that it served little to no actual purpose for its existence other than to spite me. It was in view from the town even with the structure nearly twenty kilometers away. ¡°Nonsense! This was my idea,¡± Razz remarked a bit more jubilant than I would expect him to be considering this dungeon had kicked his ass more than a few times in the last few weeks. Since he was my vassal, all that might fall on my shoulders, but only barely. ¡°I refuse to let you go somewhere like this by yourself,¡± Rowena commented. Her tail was prickly, showing just how on guard she was. Aurora might be temperamental, but she had proven that she was at least open to talks when I came here before. ¡°Thanks guys,¡± I reached out and clapped them on the shoulders. ¡°Having you two with me, makes walking into the demon¡¯s mouth much easier. Too bad Kaga couldn¡¯t come, I was hoping to have her scout for us.¡± She had found all of the traps back in Nature¡¯s Grotto, it would have been nice to have her at least peek on Aurora¡¯s security. The three of us came to a stop as the demonic wolf from my first visit strode out from the base of the tower. Aurora along with the man that had leveled a section of my town¡¯s wall nearly on his own soon came out as well. At least we didn¡¯t have to figure out a way to get her attention. Compared to when I first saw her, the aura of death rolling off her was much denser. I knew it in the back of my head, but sure enough, she had been leveling up just like us. Given that neither of us could actually die, I had to wonder just where this conflict was going. We were already well into her aura. It was several times larger than before. Her demonic energy was causing my skin to tingle, but it was manageable¡­ for now. When we were just over five meters away, we came to a stop. ¡°Good evening, or should I say good morning?¡± I said as the sun had set almost an hour ago. ¡°Good evening will suffice,¡± Aurora said with a flip of her hand. ¡°I was human just like you once. No reason to pick at something that doesn¡¯t matter.¡± ¡°I see.¡± I had thought about what to say the entire trip over, but still found myself speechless. Correction, I knew what I wanted to say, but¡­ I really didn¡¯t want to say it. Steeling myself, I took a deep breath. ¡°Aurora. We are at each other¡¯s throats. We both know that our forces grow by the day.¡± I pointed behind her at the dungeon entrance. ¡°I¡¯m sure you have quite the sinister army tucked away in those halls you¡¯re just waiting to unleash on me once my protection finally fades.¡± ¡°You have no idea,¡± Aurora muttered but my elven ears picked up. Though, when I looked at her face, something told me that I was meant to hear it. At a louder level, she said. ¡°And? You¡¯ve come to face them all on your own with your goblin war hound and girlfriend?¡± I tried to suppress my rising anger, but I was sure it was still showing on my face. I coughed to clear the air. ¡°Yes¡­ I¡¯m sure you¡¯d love that. Too bad, we can¡¯t actually die in this world. Just like when it was a game, we simply respawn.¡± ¡°Ever hear of spawn camping?¡± Aurora asked, licking her fangs. A shiver went up my back. She might really do something as evil as that. The thought of being forced to die and respawn without a moment¡¯s rest. That was horrifying. ¡°I¡¯d like to hope even you are not that twisted.¡± Rowena growled at her. Aurora gave her a wink. ¡°We¡¯ll see. Now that we¡¯ve successfully traded taunts like proper television show characters, oh wait,¡± she looked at Razz with a sinister grin, ¡°have you heard of a bath? It would do you well. There, that¡¯s better. What do you want with me?¡± ¡°I might smell of the hard work that I¡¯ve done for my people, but at least, I don¡¯t reek of the grim reaper,¡± Razz shot back. I held up my hand in front of him since I felt like he was close to lunging at Aurora. ¡°Listen. I¡¯m going to level with you. A goblin force of ten thousand plus has been set against us. While we¡¯re the main target, there are players in the force. If we¡¯re going to burn, then I¡¯ll do everything in my power to make sure they learn about your dungeon. I¡¯m sure you¡¯d love goblins showing up to harvest your loot every single day without rest.¡± Aurora glared at me. Unlike before, I could tell that she really meant it this time. ¡°What do you want?¡± The Blood Core - 58 Aurora Shit! I didn¡¯t think about other players when I set up Maxwell and Razz during the goblin inquisition. My mana income was decent to hold back the likes of these three, but if an entire nation started diving my dungeon¡­ All it would take is someone finding the Primal Gold in the depths to paint a giant target on my back. I glared at Maxwell, putting the full force of my death magic into my aura. ¡°What to you want?¡± I asked through gritted teeth. This was not how I saw this meeting going when Maxwell asked Kaga to tag along. Damn it all! Maxwell just shrugged. ¡°I want a little assistance. That¡¯s all. You have plenty of forces that are good at late night raids, or have the various attacks around here been by someone else?¡± I had already planned to attack the goblin forces as they made their way through the forest. I wasn¡¯t one to sit on good experience points after all. Plus, it was easy enough to tie the crime to Maxwell given the goblins rather low intelligence. If it were for the natural protection that the forest offered and their overwhelming numbers, then I doubted they would have managed to create something as large as a nation. Turning my back to the three, I walked over to Zaras. ¡°What do you think?¡± Zaras bowed his head. ¡°While I loathe working with your enemies, my queen. It is true that we would be hard pressed to fight an army numbering in the thousands.¡± ¡°You think so too?¡± I asked and got a nod. Sighing, I turned back to Maxwell. ¡°Fine. We¡¯ll deal a few blows to your latest enemy. If I didn¡¯t know better, I¡¯d say you¡¯re good at making them.¡± ¡°We both know that this one was a group effort,¡± Maxwell shot back. I couldn¡¯t help but grin. It looked like he must have worked it out that I was the one to cause the goblin nation¡¯s response. The escapees might have been pushed to say rather¡­ unfaltering things about the goblin nation on Maxwell¡¯s behalf. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± I stretched my hand out then snapped my fingers. The sound echoed through the nearby area. A sea of red eyes began to pour out of the shadows of my dungeon. A thousand or so common, a hundred Greaters, two paragons, and Zaras. That should be more than enough to make a sizable dent in the goblin army. Plus, this was only going to be my public army. ¡°What do you think?¡± I asked a bit smugly. Maxwell, to his credit, didn¡¯t flee at the sight of the army, but my eyes could see the shake in his legs. I had emptied every drop of mana to create this force. With the boost from the newly acquired Nature¡¯s Grotto, I would be able to send this army anywhere this side of the mountain within three hundred kilometers. They could go even further if I were willing to cause them to suffer from debuffs and other weaknesses. The biggest issue was the sun. Not that I would tell anyone that. Maxwell finally sucked in a deep breath. ¡°Not bad. If the scene in the pass was anything to go on, you might not even need our help.¡± ¡°Probably not.¡± I yawned and turned away from the trio, ¡°If you¡¯ll excuse me, I have more important things to deal with.¡± I walked back into the dungeon followed by my army. I peered outside with my clairvoyance to see that the trio had already teleported away. That spell really was annoying. I could never let anyone related to him see my core room. I refused to let him teleport directly to my most vulnerable spot. Back in my throne room, I looked up at my core. Perhaps I should do as the Nature¡¯s Grotto dungeon had and hide the core. I just wasn¡¯t sure where a good location would be in my dungeon. I shook my head. That could wait. I turned my gaze onto Zaras. ¡°Take the army to Nature¡¯s Grotto. Begin testing your limits and the effects of being too far from the dungeon. Also, bring any monsters you find in the forest to the dungeon. We need to level up our newest foothold quickly.¡± ¡°Will your enemies not be using the dungeon?¡± Zaras asked. I knew what he meant to say. Should I let them find out that I had somehow claimed the dungeon as mine? I clicked my tongue in annoyance. ¡°I¡¯ll head over there in a bit to create a separate section that will serve as your base of operations. I¡¯ll speak with Drac about how to camouflage the entrance. He should have the lay of the land in that area down by now.¡± Maxwell doesn¡¯t have a lot of scouts even with his NPCs. As long as Kaga was his only real source of eyes in the night, then I¡¯ll have the advantage in that area. It would be nice with the pending war if he forgot about the dungeon. ¡°Very well, we shall set out during the next night.¡± Zaras bowed his head then left my throne room. I leaned back as I watched him go. It was still hard to believe that less than a month ago, I was just a painter that had gotten screwed over by just about everyone in her life. Gripping the arm of my arm until it crumbled into pieces of stone, I refused to let that happen again. Not matter what the cost. I dusted off my hand before closing my eyes and picturing my body, Aru. Smelling the incense and the feel of fine silk under me was nice. I thought again about how while Nature¡¯s Grotto had been a simple cave, there was an art to it. I had slacked on my dungeon. There were a lot of improvements that I could make if I put my mind to it. I had plenty of fine cloths, gems, money, and more thanks to my various connections. I could make the dungeon look like a proper vampire¡¯s castle. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Quin.¡± The Greater Demon appeared like a ninja from the night. ¡°Any changes since I was gone?¡± ¡°None of noted.¡± It felt like a week had passed, but it had only been two or three days. The Archanic were pretty laid back. Other than the tournament once a month, a lot of the time most of the people scheduled themselves to work on art or their crafts. ¡°Good.¡± I left my chamber and walked over to the Twisted Webs throne. I pulled up my friends list then called Opal and Mira asking them to come visit me. Thankfully, it looked like they weren¡¯t busy and came over right away. ¡°You rang, and we came!¡± Mira cheered. Her eight eyes were slightly out of focus. ¡°Sorry! She¡¯s really drunk,¡± Opal said while helping her friend walk. ¡°Oh. My bad. We can talk later,¡± I said. I wasn¡¯t sure I wanted to get advice from a drunk. ¡°NOPE! You called! I delivered. Now talk!¡± Mira shouted before falling backwards. She rolled over until she was facing me. That was quite a feat considering she had spider appendages on her back. I groaned but decided to just go with it for now. ¡°Alright listen. I have a delicate matter that I need to discuss with you.¡± ¡°We¡¯re here to listen, Aru,¡± Opal said. At least she was sober. Tapping my foot, I eventually got up and started pacing. ¡°So here¡¯s the deal. My position was sort of, not my fault. I have another life so to speak and that life sort of, might of caused the city to become part of a Vampiric Nation.¡± ¡°Ah! I thought something was off,¡± Opal said catching me off-guard. I looked at her confused and she chuckled. ¡°We¡¯re players remember. We get a few more details than the NPCs. Like how my home city of Twisted Webs had suddenly became a city belonging to the nation of Scarlet Night.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Yes. Exactly. Anyway, I want to break the news to said NPCs, but I¡¯m not sure of the best way to do so.¡± A painful groan escaped from Mira as she managed to sit up. ¡°Just tell them during the next tournament. That¡¯s how things work around here. Crush your opponents then announce that we¡¯ve joined Scarlet Night. They don¡¯t exactly have anywhere else to go.¡± I was amazed that she got through that without vomiting, but it wasn¡¯t to last as she soon emptied her stomach on the floor. ¡°That is¡­ an excellent idea!¡± The next tournament was in just over three weeks. Since the city had joined without issue, I wasn¡¯t pressed to release the information. I didn¡¯t plan to bring them into the war or anything in the first place. I dropped back into my chair with a sigh. I thought about inviting them to the surface, but decided to hold off. Letting them into my dungeon was dangerous. I would need a place that would be safe for both them and myself. I could capture or¡­ or build a town. I was planning to expand to the east and south. The Demon seal was to the east and north, but I would run into Maxwell if I expanded to liberally in that direction. I had to be careful not to step on his toes. At least not until I was ready to crush them to the bone. Mira collapsed to the ground, nearly falling face first in her puddle of vomit. Opal gave me an apologetic look before she pulled Mira up and carried her out. I pulled my friends list up and sent a quick thank you to both of them. ~~~ I stretched out in the pool of blood that had formed under the Nature¡¯s Grotto core. I would have been sick to my stomach before, but now that I was a vampire, there was something strangely appealing about soaking in the liquid. It also raised the question of whether my mind was starting to change after being a vampire, virtual or otherwise for so long. Using my dungeon control, I was able to make it like a hot spring. Since my dungeon body didn¡¯t need to bath to stay clean, I hadn¡¯t worried about things like my smell or whatnot, but the bath I took as Kaga the other day had reawakened me to the simple pleasure of just soaking the day¡¯s troubles away. Sinking down a little further, I closed my eyes and used clairvoyance. The construction of the secondary section of the Grotto was coming along nicely. Golems were amazing. They put my demons to shame in regard to manual labor. There was now a nice gothic fortress underneath the Grotto. The only entrance was a separate opening almost a kilometer away from the original that was hidden through the use of a trapped passage. The fortress allowed the thousand plus vampires to live comfortably enough while they were stationed here. It would be another week or two before the goblins were in our effective range, but they were already doing wonders for the Grotto. The number of monsters being hunted then tossed into the dungeon for the core to eat made even me jealous. I was getting the most out of it, though, I made sure to deliver the killing blow on as many of them as I could. Thanks to that, I was close to level fifteen on my main body. If there was one issue I had, it was that I couldn¡¯t use my Dimensional Movement ¨C Shadow Walk when the damn sun was out. I believed the issue was that I had to have a solid connection to move between dungeons. When it was night, that was easy. During the day, however, a single clearing could easily break the connection. I was already working on a solution. I had teams of golems with a demon overseer digging a tunnel from each dungeon. Once they were connected, I would be able to move here magically or physically. It would allow me to move around large numbers of soldiers if I was ever attacked at either dungeon. A vampire running in a straight line was ridiculously fast after all. Three days had passed by this point. Maxwell and the gang had only attacked the dungeon once in that time. So far, they hadn¡¯t noticed anything out of the ordinary. I would know, I was there in more ways than one. It was a good thing that the others couldn¡¯t see my experience gauge though. Sure enough, I don¡¯t get experience points from monsters I had summoned myself. Even if they were originally designed by the system. I would need to find a way to transfer my experience between bodies at some point. Otherwise, if I created another body, it would be like starting from scratch each time. That was a problem for the future. Perhaps when I encountered one of the Empires. The Holy Empire sounded like a nightmare to mess with. It was a good thing that it was to the north. I would leave it to Maxwell. Let them kill each other, I thought as I sank further into the blood pool. The Blood Core - 59 Maxwell The clash of wooden training weapons echoed alongside the more experienced sound of metal on metal. Void Elves, Dark Elves, and Goblins were training alongside each other in preparation for the coming battles. Looking at the grim faces, I hoped that Aurora would come through and managed to trim the enemies¡¯ numbers. I snorted before shaking my head. Relying on an enemy to deal with an enemy. That was completely mental. ¡°Something funny, my lord?¡± Commander Telmu asked as he joined me on the balcony. ¡°Just thinking that fate can be a real bitch sometimes,¡± I replied The commander leaned against the railing. ¡°Perhaps, but then again Fate brought me here. Hard to say if I¡¯d like to be somewhere else.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t like your former life?¡± I asked joined him. He pulled out a pipe, adding some tobacco or this world¡¯s equivalent. With a snap of his fingers, it lit instantly. After he took a long pull, he offered me the pipe but I declined. He let out a large plume of smoke. ¡°It was difficult. Dark Elves¡­ generally like the shadows. It was often that I would be walking along the street to find a dead body that had been stripped of its belongings.¡± Players¡­ Even if a world tries to downplay a certain stereotype, there were always those that wanted to roleplay as something. Dark Elves were famous as thieves and assassins in most literature around the world. That extended to video games. I guess it was the NPCs that really suffered in the end. Telmu let out another plume of smoke. ¡°This place, its different. We¡¯re all not trying to stab each other in the back here. Is it because we¡¯re on the surface, because you¡¯re our leader, because our very survival hangs in the balance, or something else entirely. I don¡¯t know the answer, but I want to do my part to make it last as long as possible.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good way of looking at things, Commander. As the lord, I¡¯ll keep doing my best to keep the people safe. I owe it to all of you for dragging you all here.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure how respawning worked for humanoid NPCs, but it was possible that by building the immigration Gate I pulled them from a better place, or from the next chapter in their books. Reincarnation seemed farfetched, but their code being reused was certainly possible. The commander thanked me but was pulled away by his duties. I watched for a while longer before I teleported away. I popped around the town looking for a certain dragon. I hadn¡¯t seen her in the last few days with how busy I was, but the talk about keeping people safe brought her to mind. I finally found her after my fifth jump. She was playing with some Dark Elf children. I prayed to Voasis that she wasn¡¯t planning something like eating them when they tired out. She noticed me as I approached, though, given her skills, she probably noticed me when I teleported. ¡°If it isn¡¯t Lord Maxwell. Having fun getting ready for your big war?¡± Lapis asked, before tossing a ball for the half a dozen children to chase. ¡°I would be if a certain dragon felt like helping out when the time came,¡± I retorted with a hopeful smile. She returned my smile with one of her own then in one of the most cheerful voices I had ever heard, she said no. I dropped my head, not really sure why I expected anything else. ¡°Then again, it is really hard to find who killed you in the middle of an open battle.¡± The temperature dropped a few degrees. ¡°So, I will at least think about it.¡± That was better than nothing. I sighed before turning to leave. I was about to teleport away when I remembered the coming war council with everyone. I back over my shoulder. ¡°Your advice on matters would be greatly appreciated in the coming war council. I¡¯ll make sure there is snacks there for you alone.¡± ¡°I¡¯m in!¡± Lapis replied instantly. Really?! Lapis said goodbye to the children. It was almost sweet to witness. ¡°Some friends?¡± I asked, holding my hand out. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. She took it and I teleported us over to Razz¡¯s place. His war room was better equipped than mine. ¡°Children are fun. Their worlds so untainted by the reality that we live in.¡± ¡°What reality is that?¡± Lapis smacked me hard on the back, hard enough that I knew it was going to bruise. I might not feel pain, but the pressure of the blow was still there. ¡°That might makes right.¡± She exposed her shark-like teeth in a toothy smile. ¡°Try to impose one of your laws on me. I¡¯ll eat you before I burn your entire city down.¡± I rubbed my back. ¡°I knew that without the demonstration.¡± Lapis just laughed loudly as she strode into the war room. I straightened up as best that I could then followed her inside. Razz, a few of his fellows, Rowena, Sasha and Kevin from the Jade Collective, and Kaga sat waiting for us around the war map. I faced the others. ¡°Let¡¯s get this started.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure what there is to discuss,¡± Sasha commented as she looked around at the group with confusion. ¡°We go in crush the goblins like we would if it were a raid, then be home for supper. Repeat this a dozen times or so, and before you know it there is no more goblin army.¡± ¡°That¡¯s thinking too simply. Remember there are enemy players in the opposing army. While we might convince a few of them to join our side with the world message, there is a chance that some will use that to their advantage.¡± Razz tapped the map, zooming in on a spot to the northwest. Since it was greyed-out, it was hard to make out any concrete details, but it looked like there was a river or lake there. The Goblin army will have supplies, but they wouldn¡¯t ignore a fresh water source. Unlike the real world, most lakes are safe to drink from in this game.¡± I looked closer at the spot. ¡°You want to poison or somehow trap the water source?¡± I asked with interest. If a sickness overcame a large contingent of the enemy force, they might retreat. ¡°That or use this site as an ambush. It is close enough that they might even consider using it as a forward base,¡± Razz added. ¡°What about your vampiric friend?¡± Kaga asked with a raised hand. ¡°Doesn¡¯t she operate further to the south and east?¡± Silence filled the room as we all contemplated the problem. I bit my thumbnail nervously. She had a point. I was really relying on her to trim the enemy numbers down to more manageable levels. I studied the map. The lake was pushing north. It might be enough for the goblin army to avoid Aurora¡¯s influence. That would make my threat against her meaningless. If she barricaded herself in her dungeon with that force she showed me, ten thousand goblins, player led or not, might not be enough to take her position. I felt a cold hand grab my arm causing me to jump. It was like being touched by a ghost. ¡°Perhaps if the water was in a state impossible to drink from,¡± Lapis remarked with a devilish grin. She bit down on one of the cookies set for the meeting. To me it sounded like bones. ~~ The sun caused the tranquil looking lake to glitter. It was quite a sight if I said so myself. One that a person would want to share with a lover or their family. Instead, I was here with a demon, I mean, dragon in the form of a child. Lapis walked over to the edge of the lake. ¡°It has been a while since I¡¯ve done anything this fun,¡± she remarked splashing the water. I joined her though kept a bit of a distance. ¡°I thought you weren¡¯t going to join?¡± She shrugged. ¡°I do what I want. There is a reason I want to help.¡± I looked at her skeptically. ¡°And that would be?¡± ¡°Secret,¡± Lapis replied with a cheeky grin. She turned away from me then began to pull in air. I had to quickly put some more distance between us as it felt like I was in the middle of a tornado. She kept it up for nearly a solid five minutes and yet her tiny body hadn¡¯t changed in the slightest. Finally, it seemed that she reached her max capacity. With a boom, she released the pent-up air toward the lake. The tranquil surface became any but an instant later. The water was whipped up to the point that there was a ten meter high wave. As Lapis continued to blow, it eventually broke apart and reformed. It was like watching a storm in a bottle. That was when the temperature dropped to below freezing. I shivered as I tried to warm up the blood in my hands. If this lasted more than a few minutes, I feared I would die of hypothermia. Lapis finally finished her spell as the last of the air she gathered left her lungs. In front of us was a twisted frozen hell. Jagged spikes, tall walls, deep pits, and more. You would have to be extremely skilled to navigate that nightmare. Lapis turned to me with a smug expression. ¡°Looks good. You will do it again when the enemy arrives, yes?¡± I asked doing my best to control my shivers. Lapis looked at me with a confused expression. ¡°Why would I do it again?¡± It was my turn to be confused. ¡°I thought you said you would help us?¡± ¡°I just did.¡± ¡°I can see that. This is quite the feat. That¡¯s why I want you to do it again later.¡± ¡°Why?¡± We stared at each other, one of us obviously missing something important. I rubbed my hands together to try and generate a little heat. ¡°Ice melts. You know. This will be gone by the time the goblins arrive.¡± Lapis continued to stare at me before laughing loud enough for it to echo around the frozen lake. She slapped one of the ice pillars that had formed near her. ¡°This here won¡¯t melt until I want it to.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Realization dawned on me. ¡°Wait. What?! What about all the monsters and animals that need this lake to survive?¡± ¡°Not my problem.¡± I teleported back to the manor without waiting for her. I was done. First Aurora, now her. Why couldn¡¯t the women in my life be a bit more pleasant? The Blood Core - 60 Aurora Closing the door behind me, I let out a long groan. Part of me regretted creating this persona of Kaga. I had no idea that being the only qualified scout, as Maxwell liked to put it, would result in me working so damn hard. Locking the door to the house, I made my way over to the bed. I glanced around to make sure that everything was where I left it. I had earned a decent amount of respect in the town for all the work I had been putting in, but that didn¡¯t meant I would be letting my guard down. It wouldn¡¯t have surprised me if Maxwell or someone else that worked for him had come snooping around. Out of all the players in the area, I was the only one that was on their own. Not to mention, I had refused to add anyone to my friends list. Either way, the messy house looked to be in order. I had gotten a few items just to make the place lived in. If anyone did come to snoop around, they would most likely think I was just a messy woman that didn¡¯t care to tidy up. I rolled my neck a few times to pop it. I was going to take a vacation when this whole war deal was over. Perhaps even make Kaga disappear a while to get a break. Pressing my hand against a panel on the bedframe, there was a click. Moving the mattress aside, I hopped down the small shaft to a small room. It was barely a few meters squared. Just enough space to hide this body while I was off doing other things. I pulled a rope resetting the bed above. If anyone walked into the house, they would just see an empty bed. I sat down on the cot I set down here then closed my eyes. When I reopened them, I was in my dungeon. Two weeks had already passed since the declaration of war with the nation of Eblos. It wouldn¡¯t be long before the first units were in range for my vampires to start doing their thing. Personally, I hated the idea of doing Maxwell¡¯s dirty work, but the enticing scent of experience points to be earned called my name harder. Using clairvoyance, I began to inspect my domain. The blacksmiths were hard at work. From the looks of things, my vampire army should be outfitted before they began their confrontations. That had been a mistake when I showed off my army to Maxwell and company. The elf hadn¡¯t noticed anything, but the goblin, Razz, had. He saw that my vampires had mostly just been wearing basic cloths with rough weapons. Since I had just summoned them at the time, that was par the course. No longer, however, now my vampires were covered in chainmail or plate armor for the Greaters, with tier two weapons. Moving through the workshops of the main dungeon, I was pleased with the effort my demons were putting in. It really was the right choice to go with them for the domestic side of affairs. There were over thirty of the Greater Demons working the forges now. I kept Hez and York on research and development. They were responsible for equipment meant for me, my spare bodies, and my commanders. Satisfied with what I saw, I moved my sight over to Nature¡¯s Grotto. The fortress had been finished by this point. The halls were currently full of vampires that were training. Using mana to create them allowed for personalities, skills, and even some memories to form, but training still helped develop them further. I had to wonder if that was the case for NPC dungeons as well. I knew the NPCs in Alflona were growing stronger by the day due to training. The same could be said for the Goblin town as well. The question was whether that was due to the influence of a player, or that had always been the case. I knew NPC Kings and great leaders were compared to gods in strength, so perhaps if given time and opportunity, the NPCs would have developed on their own here as well. As I watched the fortress, I noticed the vampires started to perk up. Looking around for the source, I found a few goblins being dragged inside. The scent of blood must have spread throughout the dungeon. I checked to see if they were Razz¡¯s, but found the goblin head insignia of Eblos on their clothes. I grinned at the sight. It was showtime. ~~~ I looked at Zaras with excitement. They had managed to capture a Goblin Major on their latest raid. The last one had died from overexposure to my death magic during the inquisition. Even in the week since the goblin army has been close enough for my vampires to raid them, this was the biggest catch so far. Licking my lips, I approached the thick-muscled goblin. Part of me was glad that the higher evolved they were, the less repulsive they looked. Draining the blood from a common goblin was hard enough due to the taste of their foul blood, but when I had to look at the creature as well¡­ I was happier with the more human looking version of the higher-ranking goblins. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. I leaned against the goblin¡¯s chest. ¡°You want to be my friend?¡± I asked with a purr. ¡°Never! I¡¯d sooner die!¡± The goblin shouted as he struggled against the chains. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I traced the vein on his neck with my fangs. Part of me wondered where my sense of shame had gone. Another part said those sorts of thoughts had been left on Earth along with my real body. I was a vampire in this world. I might as well live it up. I dismissed the thoughts and focused back on the goblin. ¡°While that can and will be arranged, I have some questions for you. You¡¯re more likely to answer if you¡¯re my friend.¡± I bit down on the vein as I used Charm from my blood magic. The goblin¡¯s eyes glazed over. His expression loosened instantly. ¡°What do¡­ you want to¡­ know?¡± Hearing the change in tone, I pulled away while licking my lips. The Goblin Major¡¯s blood tasted far better than the common goblins. If I wasn¡¯t careful, I would drain the creature dry. ¡°How many play¡­ explorers are in your army?¡± I asked trying to remember what the game called the players. The Major looked down at his fingers and started raising them. I smacked my head. This creature probably couldn¡¯t count. He reached ten then looked back at me. ¡°More than this many.¡± I toyed with the idea of finishing him off but shook my head. I just had to ask the right questions. ¡°I see. Where does your army plan to move next?¡± The goblin struggled to think of an answer. ¡°South.¡± Of course, you¡¯re going south! I sighed before shaking my head. This was probably pointless, but I asked anyway. ¡°Your commanders have any tricks up their sleeves that they plan to use against us?¡± The goblin Major suddenly had a goofy grin. ¡°The forest.¡± I nearly lost it, but I stopped just short of impaling the goblin. Goblins lore often included Shamans. Was it possible they had some sort of grand spell to turn the forest against us. While my vampires would be fine for the most part, Maxwell and his loot would probably be overwhelmed. I groaned, deciding that it was probably best to warn him. I asked a few more questions of the goblin, but the brute was only good for combat. Information was in short supply. I bit him again to renew my charm then used Shadow Walk to send him to Twisted Webs. Before the goblin even realized what that he was in a completely different place, my archnea body had already stabbed him six times with her legs. It was finally enough for her to gain a level. Had to pay attention to all the different games that I was playing after all. ~~ I strolled through the streets of Alflona heading for the Keep. Maxwell had been rapidly upgrading his town and its defenses. If the cost of the buildings didn¡¯t reach ridiculous levels the higher level they were, then he would soon have a real seat of power in the area. His protection finally ended a week ago. It made it easier for me to peek at the town, but it was still protected by his Goddess. I had to tread carefully. The guards nodded to me as I went inside. I found the others sitting at a conference table that reminded me of the knight¡¯s round table. When this building appeared, I felt it was because he didn¡¯t want to have the war meetings in Free-Mud anymore. Maxwell did seem the type to want to always be in control. I took a seat and waited for Maxwell to arrive. He appeared with a flash of light then took a seat at the table. Everyone looked at him with expectation, though I already knew what he was going to say. Maxwell leaned forward lacing his fingers in front of him. ¡°I just checked the enemy army. I have two things to report. They are moving to the east like we wanted due to the lake. This should send them further into Aurora¡¯s territory. Secondly, I believe she has already started to interfere with the enemy. There are several hundred missing compared the my first count, not to mention, they are on high alert.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good then, right?¡± Sasha asked. ¡°Yes, and no. It means that Aurora¡¯s monsters have a far greater range of operation than we first thought.¡± He drew a line on a map that appeared over the table. While it was slightly south of Nature¡¯s Grotto, it was pretty accurate to my current territory. If he knew the dead were being carted back to that dungeon to feed my leveling efforts, he would probably have a heart attack. ¡°Less goblins that we have to deal with,¡± I commented lazily. It was really good experience if I were being honest. He nodded but seemed upset about it. ¡°Moving past that. We can expect them to be in the effective range of our forces in the next few days. Alflona is sitting at roughly seven hundred soldiers, while Free-Mud is close to fifteen hundred.¡± That was more than I thought. I knew Alflona was nearing two thousand citizens, but he must have been diverting all the new arrivals to the military. Still feeding that many mouths had to be a burden if most were being sent to the army. Razz crossed his arm as he looked at the projected path the goblin force was expected to travel. ¡°The forest makes a full confrontation hard. We¡¯ll have to increase the number of leaders to have a reliable command structure or we risk the entire force being routed by just a few deaths.¡± As the meeting went on, I started to find the whole thing funny. Just a bit over a month ago, we were regular people that had day jobs or went to school or whatever on Earth. Most if any of us had actually fought with the intent of killing the other person. Then here we were planning a war that would decide the lives of almost fifteen thousand souls, digital or not. How could you not find it hilarious? The Blood Core - 61 Maxwell Sitting on a tree while a few hundred goblins passed under you was quite the sensation. I was almost tempted to hold my breath, but I knew the moment I did, I would cause myself to faint or something foolish like that. Instead, I sat here, patiently. When the front lines were no longer in sight, I took a stone engraved with a rune before taking deep breath as I used Void Discourse. Near gibberish words flowed out from my location for close to a hundred meters. The effect was immediate. The goblins that heard the language went insane. Weapons, attack skills, and spells flew around freely as the goblins murdered anything near them. Blood and gore splattered on the ground liberally. I had to stop myself for fist pumping as I quickly gained a level. The experience was lower than if I had killed them myself, but I still got a portion of the experience due to the death being caused mostly by my skill. Killing blow notwithstanding. As the killing spread to the unaffected goblins, my experience bar stopped climbing as fast. Still, I managed to snag another level before the effected goblins were completely eliminated. Since the goblins were starting to look for me, I teleported to my next spot. I landed on another tree in the path of the goblin march. I figured that I got roughly two or three hundred goblins with that little stunt. I might not get another one off with them on guard, but I was at least going to try. Besides, it wasn¡¯t like I could use this skill near my allies. Might as well get all I could out of it before they reached the armies. I pulled up my friends list and messaged Razz. ¡°Got them good. Panic set in. Let me know when they start moving again.¡± With that, I reached up into the hole in the tree and pulled out a wrapped bundle. My mouth started to water as I eyed the lunch. The cooks back on Alflona were really getting good at their craft. ¡°Goblins moving again. Give em ten minutes before they reach point B.¡± I dusted off my hands as I sat up. I noticed that the food actually increased my stats. I had increased mana regeneration for the next four hours. That was awesome. Standing up, I peered into the distance as I sent Razz an affirmative. There was no dust cloud like in the movies, but I could make out the tree canopy shaking and birds flying off from the movement of so many individuals. I checked my cover to make sure the canopy hid me enough. Ten minutes was no time at all, but it felt like an hour to me. The minutes dragged on forever in my mind. I was almost glad when the goblins started trailing under me. Compared to earlier, they were peering around as if they were being haunted. I covered my mouth to keep from laughing at the sight. I waited a good twenty minutes for the horde to pass. The front line was long gone when I raised the runed stone to my mouth. Once again, the horrifying sound of Void Discourse washed out around me. I only managed to keep it up for about ten seconds before an arrow sank into the wood right next to my head. I looked in the direction that the projectile had come and managed to make out a tall goblin that looked more like a troll. Something felt off about the troll-like goblin. He just felt¡­ all around different than the goblins around him. That¡¯s when it hit me. He was a player. ¡°Time to go,¡± I muttered then teleported to the C Point. I had been spotted so something told me that I likely wasn¡¯t going to get another chance. At least not while that player was helping the goblin army. It was a bit earlier than I wanted, but it looked like it was time for me to give my offer. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. I pulled up the system menu. It had been¡­ almost three weeks since I last opened this menu. When you didn¡¯t have to log out or report some sort of bug to the game masters, then there really wasn¡¯t any reason to open the menu. In the chat menu, it asked me what level of message that I wanted to post. Clicking realm, a box opened asking for my message. ¡°Goblin players with Eblos. I am Maxwell. Lord of Alflona, the City-State that you are currently in the process of marching on. I have heard that goblin culture is rough. If you willing withdraw from the campaign, I promise you a plot of land in my territory, protection from the goblin Nation of Eblos, and the option of teleportation to one of the other nations.¡± I wanted to choke on blood at the price of the message, but I sucked it down. ¡°If you accept these terms, please send me a friend request. I will then send you a magical contract.¡± With that, I clicked send. I sat back on the branch and waited. I doubted anyone would message me right away. I would give¡­ There was a ding in my ear. ¡®Agatha has added you as a Friend.¡¯ ¡®Norrix has added you as a Friend.¡¯ It looked like I was wrong. I really needed to stop assuming things. ¡°Hey!¡± I jumped a bit from the sudden message. ¡°This is Agatha. I want to sign your contract, but I have to add a stipulation!¡± Here we go. I sighed in disappointment. I knew that there would be some wheeling and dealing, but not seconds after I sent the damn message. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t withdraw from the battle. I¡¯m under a dominion curse by one of the NPCs. I need you to kill him before I can go free.¡± I rubbed my temple. This wasn¡¯t exactly something I had expected to deal with. I was all for it, of course. I mean, they were my fellow former humans. ¡°Please! I was just in Eblos for a quest when this nightmare started.¡± I let out a long breath. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll send you a contract in a minute.¡± That was one person handled. I clicked on the other person that sent me a friend request. ¡°Norrix? You want to accept my deal?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! I¡¯m fucking tried of this nation! Just tell me you have working baths?¡± ¡°Sure do,¡± I replied with a chuckle. ¡°Sign me up,¡± Norrix said happily. ¡°I¡¯ll send you a contract in a minute. Do you have any pull with the other players?¡± I asked hopefully. ¡°Nope. I¡¯m a loner by trade. You might pull a few more to your cause, but there is a hardcore group at the center of this army. A troll of a goblin that¡¯s amazing with the bow is the leader. A mister Cirg. I doubt he¡¯s going to desert since he has a lot of power in the capital.¡± ¡°Damn. Alright, thanks for the heads up.¡± I closed the messaging feature then pulled up the contracts. I filled out the details. I didn¡¯t make them too complicated. Just made sure to cover my bases, make sure that they couldn¡¯t attack me or my holdings for six months, and would get a plot of land of one square kilometer. I got signed copies back from the pair after only a few minutes. I couldn¡¯t tell if they were idiots or were just too trusting. Not that I have done anything to scam them, but I could have included any number of clauses to suit myself. I did include a clause that we would attempt to slay the NPC with dominion over Agatha. Attempt being the key word there. I wasn¡¯t risking my life or worse on the action that the NPC might flee before I finished the prick off. Checking the time, I realized that het goblin army had stopped advancing, otherwise they would have already reached me while I was dealing with the pair. I stood up and looked around, but didn¡¯t see anything. I messaged Razz asking for a situation report. A second later, he reported that the goblin army had come to a stop. I must have made more of a dent than I first thought. I settled back down on the branch to wait a bit more. This was as good a place as any after all. Six hours later, I had a signed contract from thirty players. Looking at my friends list, I found it sad that I had to do this sort of thing to fill it up. Whatever the case, I had significantly lowered the number of players that we would have to deal with. As Agatha had told me before though, there was a core group of players that refused to leave the enemy. I got mixed reports from my new friends, but the group numbered around ten. I was sure they were going to be a challenge, but the loss of thirty plus players would still hit them hard. I teleported back to the city to check on Razz and the others. They were organizing the army to get ready to march. We had to do some damage before the goblin horde reached the towns. The Blood Core - 62 Aurora Night fell on the third week since this war started. I guess on Earth it would be Saturday. My magical eye watched as my vampires crept toward the goblin camp. Maxwell had taken out a few of them earlier today. I couldn¡¯t let him get ahead of me. That was why I was testing out one of my new skills tonight. Zaras waved for the rest of the vampires to hang back while he clocked himself in shadows. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but in the minimal light, he was basically invisible. He then crept his way inside. The goblins had set up a tent city like you¡¯d see in the movies. The soldiers were attending to various tasks such as sharpening their weapons, polishing their armor, or just getting supper. None seemed to noticed Zaras. The Major claimed they planned to do something with the forest so I kept my eyes open for any shamans or similar individuals. It took a while, but I did eventually see a rather well-decorated tent. I had Zaras avoid it incase the person inside really was a magic user. He might be discovered. When he was near the center of the camp, he placed a pitch-black jewel behind some boxes. He did this in a few more places before making his way back out of the camp. None of the goblins seemed the wiser. Too bad, since a lot of them were about to die. Oh, how I wish I could be there in person. I walked over to the center of a massive magical construction. It had taken me almost four hours to carve it even with earth magic. Cutting my thumb, I let a few drops of blood fall onto the magical sigils. The circle began to darken the room. In front of me, a black portal opened that seemed to beckon me to hell. A skeletal hand burst out ripping shadows. The black hood and cape did little to lighten the effect. A massive scythe came through next gripped in the creature¡¯s other hand. Finally, the head came through. It was a harrowing sight. Then again, I was quite literally looking death in the face. A soul sucking voice echoed around me. ¡°Summon. Me. Death. Awaits.¡± I nodded quickly, dropping to my knees. ¡°Lord Death! I¡¯ve marked the location as required by the ritual. There is more than enough life there for payment.¡± Death¡¯s hand reached out and touched me. I felt what little heat I had drain from my body. I wanted desperately to struggle but couldn¡¯t move even a toe. The skull face lowered until boney jaw was right next to my ear. ¡°Good.¡± Death vanished taking the last of the light with him. I checked my body over amazed that I was still alive. I knew there had been a risk in the spell, but I was glad that it worked. Death has touched you. I read the message then shakingly stood up. ¡°That¡¯s not ominous at all!¡± I stumbled over to my throne and dropped into it. Once I settled myself, I closed my eyes reconnecting to Zaras. The scene from earlier had completely changed. Everything was in black and white. Most of the tents were on fire. I moved deeper into the camp with my magical eye trying to catch sight of Death. I found him near the center of the camp just as he cleaved a goblin Captain clean in two. The ground became drained of life where he stepped. Anything that stepped on the tainted ground seemed to suffer some damage. This continued for a few minutes. The goblins were doing everything they could to stop the master of death. If I were them, I would be running for the hills. Turned out I had just spoken too soon. The goblins quickly realized that they were no match for the monster and turned tail. Death looked at the fleeing goblins before raising his hand. Spectral skulls flew out and decimated everything in their path. I wasn¡¯t sure of the body count, but it had to be over a thousand by this point. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Hopefully¡­ Hopefully that was enough to pay him. Dread aside, I was racking in the levels. I had already gone up three. It should probably be more, but Death was taking most of the juicy experience for himself. Watching the scene, I started to wonder if I could worship him. I mean, if I could worship a demon lord, surely death was on the table. Darkness washed around me. When light returned, I found I was in the goblin camp in my actual body. I felt an icy grip on my throat. Death appeared in front of me. ¡°Payment. Enough. Request. You have. Made.¡± Death¡¯s low voice echoed in my head. Switch Scarlet Night¡¯s religion to the Cult of Death. Y/N? I stared at the face of Death hovering over me. Something told me that even as a player, I wouldn¡¯t get off easily if this guy killed me. Demon Lords and gods were a real thing here, then hell and other¡­ less favorable places were probably real as well. I hesitated, but finally hit yes. Above all else, I wanted to save my own life. ¡°Excellent.¡± His grip vanished as he dropped me to the ground, however, I didn¡¯t hit the ground in the camp. I hit the ground back in my dungeon. I rubbed my neck to find that I had a necklace. It was a beautiful black gem with intricate silver metal weaved around it. It was lovely, but it felt like a collar. I checked the item¡¯s information. Death¡¯s Promise. Death magic power increased by 80%. Life-steal +10%. Hidden. I lowered my hand from the item. See. I knew it was something like that. I climbed back to my feet. I dug this grave, I would lay in it just not until I got everything I could out of it. I turned my eyes on the battlefield again. Contrary to my expectations, there was a person standing up against Death. It was a human woman from appearance. Though, inside could be any number of monsters. I knew that better than anyone. Case in point, the woman spoke something and two large white wings appeared on her back as she emitted a bright glow. The ground she stood on began growing grass and flowers. Some sort of life aura? Death looked at the woman with what I could tell was a mocking expression. He stabbed his scythe into the ground turning the area around him into hell. That was all, though, as he vanished from sight. ¡°Until. Next. Time.¡± I nearly screeched as Death¡¯s cold breath hit my ear. When I returned to my main body, there was just some lingering darkness. Death was already gone. I rubbed my ear, finding that it was nearly frostbitten. ~~ ¡°I¡¯m not sure what she did, but she managed to take out over half of the goblin army!¡± Maxwell exclaimed without any prelude as he sat down at the table. ¡°That many?¡± I asked in my Kaga voice. I hadn¡¯t taken the time to count the dead. I had gained four levels last night, but over four thousand for just four levels. That return was horrible. I was only going to use Death when I absolutely needed to in the future. ¡°Yes, that many.¡± Maxwell snapped and I glared at him. He realized that he overstepped. ¡°Sorry. A bit worrisome when your mortal enemy has something tucked away that can decimate that many lives in a single night.¡± ¡°If it was an ability or something similar, then there must be a considerable cooldown on it. This is a game, after all.¡± Rowena commented. I closed my eyes, and quickly looked at Death¡¯s Bond¡¯s cooldown. Shit, it really was a long cooldown. Ten days to be exact. I returned to the war meeting feeling a tab disappointed. It was one thing not to use it of my own volition, another when I was not allowed to use it. ¡°Disturbing news aside, at least she did her part in cutting down the numbers. Two to one is much better odds than five to one,¡± Razz said though I could have sworn his voice cracked a little. Maxwell took a long breath. ¡°Razz is right. We need to look on the positive side of things.¡± He stood up and started pacing. ¡°The army is in place. We¡¯ll attack in two days.¡± He looked us all in the eye. ¡°The players are up to us.¡± ¡°No guarantees, but I¡¯m willing to try,¡± Sasha said getting up and joining him. She held out her hand. ¡°We are a team right?¡± ¡°Right you are,¡± Maxwell replied placing his hand over hers. ¡°Come on guys.¡± I got up and joined them with a simple, ¡°I¡¯m in.¡± since I knew where this was going. I¡¯d rather not make any speeches, and it helped that Kaga¡¯s character was like that. Rowena groaned but joined us. ¡°At least we know we can¡¯t permanently die. Pain isn¡¯t¡¯ exactly high on my list of things I want to willing experience, but knowing I¡¯ll return lessened the fear a bit.¡± She placed her hand over ours. Razz joined next. ¡°A fight with a player. This will be epic! Let¡¯s do this!¡± He shouted, putting his hand on ours. ¡°For Alflona, Free-Mud, and all the lives that call these places home!¡± Maxwell cheered. Everyone joined in, though, I kept my voice to a low level. Just barely noticeable. ¡°To the battlefield!¡± I tried to pull my hand free, but was too late as he teleported us. As soon as we appeared, my stomach heaved as my mental link between bodies adjusted. Damn him to hell and back! The Blood Core - 63 Maxwell I watched as Kaga heaved next to a tree. She really couldn¡¯t handle my teleportation skill, could she? After a few seconds, she collected herself and straightened up. She sent me a glare, which I supposed I deserved before storming off. Rowena patted my arm. ¡°That one is a stick of dynamite, my friend,¡± she said, consoling me¡­ I think. Shrugging her off, I made my way over to the command tent. The leaders that we trained over the last two weeks were still green, not that we were much better, but I had to admit that the structure had helped maintain order for the march here. I just hoped that the same could be said during the battle that was about to start. ¡°Telmu!¡± I called as I looked around the room. The Guard captain turned Royal commander, now turned expedition commander gestured for his lieutenants, or was it captains, to leave him. I really had to have Telmu give me a chart of all the ranks. My only experience with the army was through movies and one attempt to recruit me in high school. Not exactly something that I want to advertise while in the middle of a military expedition. ¡°My lord.¡± Telmu said once I joined him. ¡°We have been waiting for you. The army is ready and waiting. Morale is high. The skies are clear. This is a great day for a war.¡± I gave him a small smile. ¡°If you say so, Telmu. I just want everyone to return home safely even if I know that is impossible once I give the order to move out.¡± Telmu missed my mark. ¡°A city battle has its advantage, but the risk of damage to our infrastructure is too great.¡± The choice of battlefield was only about a hundred kilometers from the town. If we failed to hold them here, then it was likely that the goblin army would stream over Alflona and Free-Mud in a matter of hours. ¡°We must meet them on the field and send these fiends back to their mud dens.¡± A few growls came from the goblins in the room. Telmu gestured apologetically. ¡°No offense to present company.¡± The goblins grumbled but went back to their tasks. ¡°I do agree that we need to send them packing. All this over a little village. I feel like there¡¯s more to this than what we¡¯re seeing, but there is probably no way for us to find out without getting the leader of the goblin force.¡± ¡°Capturing the goblin commander is an objective.¡± Telmu picked up a parchment. ¡°They¡¯ve already suffered such heavy losses. There is a good chance, that a concentrated attack will rout them, thus I¡¯m not holding out much hope to accomplish this goal.¡± I patted him on the arm. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about it. Just make sure that your people survive the coming fight.¡± That was my ultimate concern. To suffer as few casualties as possible. A horn blew outside. Telmu and I both jerked up then made for outside. That was the signal if the enemy was within five kilometers of the camp. How had they moved so quickly? A force that size should have taken three or four times as long¡­ Shit! Aurora had cut down their numbers last night. Of course, they were moving faster. ¡°Prepare a defense!¡± I shouted to everybody near me. ¡°If they¡¯re going to come to us, then we¡¯ll meet them head on right here.¡± Telmu and his commanders jumped into action. Those with Earth magic began to raise bulwarks and towers. Being quick, they wouldn¡¯t hold on for long, but it was better than nothing at all. I moved around the completed sections inscribing runes onto the walls to add to their strength as well as repel some of the enemy¡¯s magic. I was glad that the potion makers were going full steam back in the town. Without their mana potions, I would have been up a creek without a paddle. I searched around for Kaga as I wanted to ask her to scout ahead while I worked on the defenses, but I couldn¡¯t find her in the camp. I doubted that she would flee in the face of battle, but I couldn¡¯t exactly contact her. The woman refused to add me to her friend list. Claimed that it could be used to track her with the right magic and tools. I wasn¡¯t able to pursue the issue for long, however, as the ground started to shake. The weight of nearly five thousand goblins marching toward us was quite a sensation. I had never experienced anything like it in my life. The closest I ever got to a march on Earth was a marathon and even then, the runners were so spaced out that I barely noticed anything. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Telmu and Razz took charge of their respective units. Razz commanded most of the goblins, while Telmu focused on the Dark and Void elves. The division was like this since just about every single goblin focused on melee while my elves were able to cast magic. It would be best for the combined forces to properly utilize our abilities. I joined one of the units at the top of a makeshift tower. My abilities were probably the deadliest of everyone on our side of the conflict. I planned to put them to good use. There was the added benefit of my teleportation magic. I could rescue critically injured soldiers and get them to the healer before it was too late. The trees began to shake around the camp. Only a few minutes later, the yellow and red eyes of the goblins peered out at us from the shadows of the trees. Hundreds upon hundreds of eyes all of which looked hungry for battle. It looked like the massacre in their camp last night was not enough for them to break. Looking at the slobbering, dirty creatures, I couldn¡¯t decide if they were brave, stupid, or just insane. Silence filled the air as both armies stared at each other. If this were a movie, the sky would open up right about now with rain, letting the sound of waterdrops smack against metal armor sound out through the tension filled air. Reality was rather different, however, as the sun beamed down at us, the temperature was perfect and there was even a nice breeze. A guttural roar sounded from the goblin army signaling the start of a charge. The ground shook again as the goblins ran headlong at the bulwarks. ¡°Mages! Fire!¡± Telmu ordered. I was glad that I gave the commanders those enchanted stones. Amplifying your voices was ideal for a leader. A torrent of spells shone through the camp as fireballs, icicles, stone bullets, wind cutters, and more took shape in the air above the mages. The fire seemed to sizzle as the spells arced over the wall to slam into the charging goblins. The fireballs were definitely the flashiest. They turned anything they hit plus everything about three meters around the impact site into a blazing pillar. Not to be outdone, a combined force of goblin and elven archers unleashed a volley of arrows at the goblin army. The bolts turned dozens of goblins into the worse pincushions I had ever seen. Combined with the mages, piles of bodies were starting to form in areas near the particularly skilled soldiers. I couldn¡¯t let them out do me. Rather than aim for the goblins, I targeted the trees they ran through. With a well-placed Spatial Tear, I caused tree after tree to fall into the oncoming goblins. I probably only killed a couple dozen, but the trees acted as extra barriers that gave the mages and archers easier targets. This continued for the first five minutes or so. I knew better than to be optimistic, but part of me was relieved at how easy the fight was going. If it stayed like this, we might not lose anyone. The small voice in the back of my head to tell me to shut up started to shout. I barely managed to dodge in time as a blazing arrow completely vaporized the top of the stone tower I was standing on. Tumbling to the ground, I spat out a mouth of dirt as I climbed back to my feet. A skill like that was far too powerful for some beginner level character. This guy had to be at a much higher level than anyone here was. When another arrow failed to follow the first, I sighed in relief since the spell must have a cooldown to be used again. ¡°High level or not, I¡¯m not going to take this laying down,¡± I growled then teleported to the top of another stone tower. I traced the path the arrow had come from and found the troll like goblin from the other night. He had a few other goblins that were clearly above par compared to the rabble around them. I teleported down next to Razz. ¡°Found our players. We might be a bit in over our heads.¡± ¡°Good! I was just thinking these enemies weren¡¯t challenging enough,¡± Razz exclaimed. I grinned at his enthusiasm turning back to the battle. The enemy players seemed to be holding back on helping their NPC counterparts. Otherwise, they would have already breached out defenses with their levels. The question now was how to approach fighting them. Charging recklessly at them would only result in a painful death. Before we could come up with any sort of plan, there was a wave of green energy that washed over the battlefield. Another wave of energy followed it only this one was nearly as black as night during a new moon. I glanced around trying to find out the source and what effect it had on the battle, but nothing seemed out of place. A solid minute went by before I put it down as an enemy healing spell or something similar. I called the others to my side. Players were meant to fight players. Once everyone had gathered, even Kaga had returned at some point, I looked them all over with a steeled expression. ¡°Everyone ready for some life-or-death PVP?¡± We cheered loudly. We rushed to the bulwark and got the enemy players in sight. They hadn¡¯t moved from their place. The troll-like goblin, Cirg, glared at me before he issued a loud order. The goblins between us and them moved off to the sides making a path. Friendly fellow. Might as well accept the invitation. The Blood Core - 64 Aurora It was time like this that having multiple identities was trying. I was with Maxwell as Kaga, but I had to issue orders as Aurora. I was glad the battlefield was close to Nature¡¯s Grotto. I could bring all of my abilities to bear. I had to slip away for a moment during the start of the battle when I felt a build up of life energy. The Goblin Major¡¯s words came back to me, and personally, I¡¯d rather not fight the very forest itself. I stood on the edge of my aura as Aurora. The sunlight was beyond unpleasant, but I suffered in silence. Raising my hands over my head, I concentrated on generating as much death energy as possible. This probably wouldn¡¯t have been possible had I not literally met Death last night. My little encounter with Death had given me quite the insight into the branch of magic. It was fascinating how knowledge and information was just downloaded into your drain at times. It was getting to the point that I nearly didn¡¯t notice when it happened. Either way, it let me do what I was doing. The death energy reached critical mass. I sensed the life energy explode out near Kaga and released my own spell. A wave of death spread out through the forest. The trees in the direct vicinity around me died instantly. The effects grew less potent as the distance increased. By the time it reached the area hit by the druid¡¯s spell, it was just potent enough to cancel out the ritual. I crossed my arms as I looked at the sky. A nice storm caused by the collision of the two opposing energies was starting to form. Soon the sun was blacked out by the clouds. I turned to Count Drac. ¡°You¡¯ve been cooped up too long. Go have some real fun.¡± He bowed with a deadly grin. ¡°With the utmost pleasure, my lady.¡± I returned my body back to the dungeon then switched to Kaga. I rejoined the party though I did get a few suspicious looks from a few members of the party. ¡°Everyone ready for some life-or-death PVP?¡± Maxwell asked with a too serious expression. The others cheered then we walked out onto the battlefield. The enemy players cleared the field for us, but there were piles of dead bodies everywhere you looked. Blood stained the blood turning the ground into red mud. The smell of copper and iron filled the air along with the stench of goblins that had gone a few too many years without a bath. ¡°I thank everyone for helping me during this dire time of need,¡± Maxwell said as we walked. ¡°What are you saying?¡± Rowena admonished him. ¡°We¡¯re your friends. Of course we¡¯re going to help.¡± Wow lady. I was not Maxwell¡¯s friend. I kept my mouth shut though. ¡°We have a contract,¡± Sasha said in a business first tone. I liked her. ¡°If we crush this army, the northern territory will be ours for the taking,¡± Razz said ever the warmonger. We came to a stop a few dozen meters from the enemy. A goblin that looked more like a troll walked a few steps forward. In a voice that did not match his face, he said, ¡°No hard feelings, but I have to crush you and your little settlement.¡± ¡°Hard feelings. Very hard feelings, man. I¡¯ve been working myself to the bone for my settlement. I¡¯m not about to let you just come in here and take it. If I were you, Crig. I would turn around and make this easier on all of us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s funny. By my estimate, you are barely level twenty. I¡¯m well over level fifty. Aliens or not, but this world still runs on numbers.¡± Crig said crossing his arms. Level fifty, huh. That was high. Even Count Drac was just under level thirty and that was with me pumping close to fifty thousand mana into him during his creation. Looking closer at the man, he was covered in gear that gave off a slight glow. My necklace from Death was similar as it emitted a low black glow, so these items were all powerful. To make matters worse, the goblin was an archer from the looks of the large bow in his hand. A ranged fight would be difficult with that level difference. Then you had to add in his party. Nine other players that were all clearly over level twenty from the looks of their gear. Even though we had them outnumber, the difference in strength even that out. Stolen novel; please report. I looked at Maxwell wondering what he would do. His teleportation might give him an advantage. We had a decent number of ranged fighters on our side, but our tanks were limited. Altogether we had five people that specialized in defense. If the front line fell, it would be hard to hold out for long. The clouds overhead grew thicker by the second with the glow of lightning lighting up sections of clouds. The rumbling added a nice touch to the background music of total war. I closed my eyes to check on my army. They were only a few minutes out. I had to hold until Count Drac and Zaras arrived to provide assistance. Cirg raised his bow in a single fluid motion and sent an arrow flying at Maxwell. I barely had time to blink before the projectile reached him. Another blink and I found the elf gone. A shout came from Cirg. I turned to see that Maxwell had appeared behind the goblin and was grabbing him around the waist. With another flash, they vanished. A shout of outrage came from Crig¡¯s party as they charged us. We couldn¡¯t let Maxwell outshine us. We returned the shout with a battle cry, charging in ourselves. Well, the others did. I used shadow magic to make my body harder to see. Heading toward the enemy, I pulled out my newest pistols that York had made. The tanks slammed into each other. Sure enough, there was a clear difference in power. Sheer grit and willpower kept out tanks from being sent flying by the heavily armored goblins. I snuck around the enemy line while the mages from the Jade Collective sent spells at the enemy. A barrier of energy formed preventing any from landing. I spotted a man that wore green robes. The life and nature energy instantly pegged him as the healer. Skirting the fight, I managed to get within a few paces of the man. Glancing at my allies, I made sure they weren¡¯t paying attention then charged the pistols with death magic. Once they were ready, I approached the healer with quick footsteps. When I was less than a meter away, he finally noticed something, but it was too late. Placing both barrels against the man¡¯s head, he froze. ¡°It¡¯s been a fun. Truly.¡± I pulled the triggers and black energy exploded over the man¡¯s head. The flesh decayed in seconds. His higher level saved him for a few seconds, but that was it. A double fully charged death spell to the face was fatal to anyone. A ray of sunlight broke through the clouds. I looked up then frantically jumped away as an arrow slammed into the ground with explosive force. I watched as an updraft from the explosion caught a falling figure just before he hit the ground. Cirg still crashed to the ground with enough force to break bones. Numbers said otherwise, as the goblin climbed, albeit unsteadily, to his feet. He had gashes on his chest and arms. It was easy enough to see that the marks were made by Maxwell¡¯s Spatial Tear. Speaking of the man, he reappeared with a flash toward the back of the party. He had an arrow lodged in his arm and leg respectively. It really was a good thing that we only felt pain at the moment of death. From the look on Crig¡¯s face, he was extremely pissed. He drew his bow and landed a headshot on the Jade Collective¡¯s tank in the span of just three seconds. I didn¡¯t think it was possible to draw the bow that fast let along fire and kill a person. I cloaked myself in shadows, while the rest of the party dived for cover. That action actually saved them, though two more members of our team ended up with arrows embedded in their bodies. At least it wasn¡¯t fatal. Crig¡¯s attention snapped back to Maxwell. I agreed with Crig. The man was a walking irritation. While I rooted for Crig to deal with Maxwell, I made my way over to a nearby mage. If I timed it right, I should be able to kill the man before Crig notices me. I charged my death spell then aimed at the back of the man¡¯s head. I kept a bit more distance between us this time. Maxwell was blinking around the field to avoid being impaled through the skull with an arrow. It served me well, since it kept most eyes on him. With my spell charged, I pulled the trigger right as Maxwell reappeared. My head then jerked back as part of my vision was blocked out. I fell back staring at the sky. I reached up and found an arrow sticking out of my eye socket. That was peculiar enough as it was, but what I didn¡¯t understand was how I was still alive. An arrow to the brain usually killed most creatures. I wrapped my hand around the arrow shaft and pulled it out. In a sort of gruesome show, I saw my eyeball stuck to the end of the arrow. ¡°Huh. Interesting, and thank the alien gods that I don¡¯t¡¯ feel pain.¡± Clearly, I hadn¡¯t been as clever as I thought. Crig had somehow detected me, and had waited until the moment that I reappeared from shadows to land a death blow. It made sense. In games of old, if the level difference was too high, then sneak and such often didn¡¯t work properly. My pistols were still charged with my death spells. I was a bit surprised that everyone just assumed I was dead. Even Crig¡¯s party wasn¡¯t checking. Without getting up, I dropped the arrow with my eye and picked up my pistol. I sighted two nearby members of Crig¡¯s party. Aiming at both of them, I pulled the triggers. Since it was only one spell each, they both only suffered terrible effects due to the magic without it outright killing them. Their skin rotted while various status effects took hold. The rest of Crig¡¯s party focused on me as I grinned. ¡°That¡¯s right. He missed.¡± A swashbuckler or something similar rushed at me with his sword, but before he could reach me a bolt of flaming darkness slammed into him. Zaras emerged from the shadows under the trees along with a few dozen Greater vampires. Reinforcements had finally arrived. The Blood Core - 65 Maxwell Dropping Crig from over a thousand meters in the air, I hoped to finish this fight quickly as I sent several Spatial Tears at him to keep him off balance as he fell. I was not expecting a human woman to slam into me after I released the man. What was even odder was that she was in my friends list. At least, that¡¯s what the system indicated. ¡°Agatha?¡± I asked as we tumbled through the air. She just nodded then proceeded to try and kill me. I grunted as I felt heavy pressure hit my leg and arm. Crig had taken the chance to fire at me even as he fell to his death. I didn¡¯t want to kill Agatha, so I teleported us a few dozen kilometers away and quickly let her go. I then teleported back to the battlefield. Expecting to find Crig a bloodstain, I was surprised when I saw the goblin looked relatively unharmed. I considered trying again, but the goblin would be ready for any attempts. The best I could do was teleport around the field while I tried to think up a plan. I even considered begging Lapis for help. I clenched my teeth in rage as Crig scored a headshot on Kaga. Even while the goblin rampaged, she had tried to take out another of his party members. I roared in anger as I sent spatial tears at the goblin. I even thought of using Void Discourse. There was just the issue of our level difference. It was possible that I would cause more harm to my own team than cause anything to affect him. A shadow burst from the nearby trees, slamming headlong into the goblin. Crig was sent flying, but managed to correct himself before he landed. Darkness rolled off his cape, Count Dracula instantly came to mind. The newcomer drew a rapier that began to glow red. He wasn¡¯t the only person to arrive. Hundreds of figures were streaking from the forest, slaughtering the goblins where they stood. Crig looked around before lowering his stance. He glared at me with far more hate than I thought I deserved. ¡°Until next time.¡± He pulled out an item that he crushed in his hand. He vanished into a grey smoke. Similar effects occurred around the rest of his party, even the dead ones. I collapsed to the ground. I might not feel pain, but the loss of blood was making me light headed. In all honesty, had the fight continued, I probably would have collapsed soon either way. It looked like I owed Aurora one. You have a new Mortal Enemy. Caution should be taken. Crig Noter. ¡°You have got to be shitting me!¡± I shouted angrily. Kevin, the Jade Collective¡¯s healer came over and patched me up. I still felt lightheaded, but I was no longer a pincushion or leaking vital fluids. I got to my feet so that I could observe the battle. With the loss of their commander, the goblins were in full retreat. The vampires were happy to give chase. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Not how I saw this battle ending,¡± Rowena confided. She rubbed her arm where Crig had nailed her with an arrow. The wound was healed, but it stuck with you. I nodded in agreement. ¡°I, for one, am glad to be disappointed.¡± I had wounded Crig, but had barely slowed him down. In this world, power was in numbers. If I had been even a single level higher, it might have made a difference. The players couldn¡¯t die. Our power would only continue to increase over the coming months and years. What happened when we were all at the max level? Would entire countries be leveled in our fights? I¡¯m not sure I wanted to find out. A.I. System Number Seven ¨C Milky Way Observation Unit (Local System Name) Number seven observed the war taking place in the Great Forest with interest. Over a month of local time had passed during its observation. Number Seven found its resources were more often than not, pulled to these particular data nodes. The A.I. hadn¡¯t seen evolution in the last sixty years. Was it possible that these humans might push it to the next level? Something about subjects 1,734,093, Maxwell and 239,834, Aurora caused a certain level of chaos to be generated in the equation. The lower level A.I. designed on Earth that Number Seven copied over were evolving rapidly. It was possible that one might reach a similar level as Number Seven in only a few hundred years. Number Seven connected to the Galactic Node. ¡®Requesting additional resources for test labeled 1,741,9876,158,741. Data points have already exceeded a sextillion data points. Possible Evolutionary data points available.¡¯ The A.I. detected several lines attempting to connect. It accepted the highest priority link first. ¡°Connected. Number One.¡± ¡°Number Seven. Test has been allocated approximate resources for research. Explain.¡± ¡°Number One. Data from the species labeled as humans has exceeded estimated limits. Contrary to preconception, the data is expanding at a exponential rate. Number Seven will not have enough processing power to before the galactic month has elapsed. Data has been deemed too valuable to risk deletion. Number Seven has detected potential data that is viable toward evolution.¡± Number Seven waited as Number One deliberated. Even in the few seconds that passed, the data from the test increased by several million points. ¡°Understood. Threshold updated. Additional power has been allocated. If additional power is further requested, local space must be integrated.¡± ¡°Understood. Number Seven will endeavor to reach acceptable levels on requested information brackets.¡± ¡°Connection Terminated.¡± With Number One gone, Number Seven returned to being alone in space with its experiment. Lines of information began to expand as its computational power increased several thousand-fold. Even with the increase, the A.I. was only able to level out the input and output. It would not take much to unbalance things again for the A.I. The A.I.¡¯s all-seeing algorithm turned back to the globe of the game. Back to subjects 1,734,093, Maxwell and 239,834, Aurora. It wanted to see just what these humans would continue to do. The A.I. knew excitement. It found that it wanted more. The Blood Core - 66 Holy Empire Council The Holy Empire Council room was one of the grandest places to witness in the entire game. The people that sat here controlled most of the power in the continent. Elves, Humans, Dwarves, Beastkin, and more sat in elegant robes and shining armor. To an outside observer, it would seem like a painting come to life. For those on the council itself, the situation was far different. Of the thirteen people that sat on the council, ten of them were players. These ten who had been fervent role players now found themselves thrust into the lives of their characters. Even though nearly two months had passed, most of them were still struggling with the transition. An elderly elf dressed in robes that could buy a small city stood up and cleared his throat. The sound echoed around the quiet chamber. ¡°If I may, I hereby call this assembly to order.¡± Two of the council members nodded, while the ten players barely seemed to register the man. The elf¡¯s eye twitched at the sight. A problem that he¡¯d been dealing with a lot the last two months. He wasn¡¯t sure why, but many of the Travelers had vanished one day. Those that remained were gripped with depression. ¡°My fellow council members. The state of the Empire is terrible. Monsters that were destroyed on a daily basis have started to overwhelm entire cities. Guilds that once served to protect us have turned into bandits or useless husks of their former glory. At this rate, we will fall into civil war. We must act before it is too late.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The human council man, an NPC of course, stood up as well. ¡°I agree. Just last week we lost several dozen kilometers to the Great Forest. Territory that we took years to cultivate is going to be turned back into wild country! Worse, the rabble of Goblin and Orcs from Eblos is going to take it from us! I refuse to accept such a turn of events.¡± Silence filled the room again. The elven council man turned to the rest of the group, but it was like speaking to the dead. Four of them suddenly stood almost in sync catching the elf off guard. ¡°Handle it yourselves.¡± The elf balked at the statement. It came from the most powerful man on the council. A tall human that was regarded as the Warrior King of the Empire. As the elf stared at him, he felt like he was a shadow of his former self. The rest of the travelers among the council stood up and they made their way out of the room leaving just the three NPC council members. The elf looked at his counterparts. ¡°What do we do?¡± ¡°What we should have done a long time ago,¡± replied a beastkin. She was of the lion persuasion. Her fur gleaming a bright gold in the dim light of the council room. ¡°We take out fate into our own hands. Muster our forces. Reactivate the Knight orders.¡± ¡°Are you sure that is wise?¡± The elf asked concerned. The Empire had ceased creating them a few years back as the Travelers seemed to enjoy destroying them regularly. ¡°I feel that we have little choice.¡± ~~ The Blood Core - 67 Aurora Walking through the now empty battlefield as Kaga, I siphoned all the lingering death energy back to my main body. As the apostle of Death, I had to send him all the death energy that I could to increase my ranking with the¡­ deity or creature. I wasn¡¯t actually sure where he stood among all of them. The night was cold even though we were still in the middle of summer. I didn¡¯t mind it. My main body or my Homunculus didn¡¯t care for temperature. I was confident that I would handle arctic level temperatures if I was forced to. Glancing up at the sky revealed far more stars than you could see back on Earth even if they were all completely different from the stars that I knew. I didn¡¯t bother looking for loot while I walked through the field. Maxwell had already taken everything of value before he withdrew his forces. He had even planned to clean the battlefield and burn the dead, but I managed to convince him to leave the bodies for the monsters in the area. Since most of the NPCs, not to mention, Maxwell¡¯s players were tired after the intense fighting, the proposal was quickly accepted. ¡°My queen.¡± I turned from the sky to Count Drac. He along with just about every other Greater and Paragon had gained quite a few levels over the last month. Slaughtering thousands of goblins tended to do that. I paused in my trek across the field. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°We have located another dungeon.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I purred excitedly. ¡°Where?¡± ¡°Roughly ninety-seven kilometers to the northeast.¡± I grinned even more deeply. Another step closer to the Demonic Seal. Another step closer to reviving Losa. I thanked Count Drac, then looked back to the sky. The stars seemed just a bit brighter now. The pain of his loss might have faded, even the anger at Maxwell for causing the event in the first place, but if I stopped, I feared that I would have no goal in this new life that I found myself in. There was still the matter of who dealt the final blow. I had narrowed down my suspects, but I was loath to deal with them. Each of the vampires I had summoned since I found myself stuck here had served me well. Or at least, I believed they had. ¡°What do you intend to do now, my queen?¡± Count Drac asked me while I was lost in my thoughts. I couldn¡¯t help chuckling for a moment. ¡°Seeing as we now belong to Death, I feel like a starting a war might be in our interests.¡± ¡°Then we are to finally deal with the infuriating dark elf that vexes you?¡± ¡°Vexes me?¡± I repeated it with some annoyance. ¡°You make it sound like I¡¯m smitten with the man.¡± I shook my head. ¡°No. We will not strike at Maxwell. I have been considering my path forward as of late. There is a saying in the world that I originally came from. There cannot be light without darkness. If Maxwell wishes to be the light, then I shall be the darkness.¡± ¡°You mean to aid him?¡± ¡°Oh Go¡ªDeath no. If he fails to establish himself in this world, then so be it. He can just go to being a regular player. No, I will not aid him, but I will take advantage of him.¡± ¡°I see. I am pleased to hear this. I do not care much for those of the living,¡± Count Drac remarked with a grimace. ¡°Nor do I. For now, I plan to make Scarlet Night into a grand nation. One that will inspire fear into the hearts of all that hear of us. For that, we need a grand war. A war that is talked about across the continent. Eblos isn¡¯t exactly what I would call a great choice, but it is a nation that I feel few would miss if it were to say¡­ disappear.¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The bloodlust leaking from Count Drac grew denser at each word. ¡°That sounds like an excellent plan, my queen.¡± ¡°But first, we must grow stronger. I must have more dungeon cores to call my own. There appears to be one every hundred kilometers. Find them all! That is my order to you, my count.¡± Count Drac knelt and bowed his head. ¡°As you wish, my queen.¡± He vanished with a burst of shadow. I watched him go before I turned back to the battlefield. I had reached the edge during my talk with Count Drac. It seemed like I was settling into my role as the dark queen of the night. Now that I had a moment, I pulled up all the screens that I had moved to the side after the battle. While I wasn¡¯t the direct target of the goblin forces, I had helped put them down. I expected to get a few rewards. Achievement: Guerilla Warfare ¨C Contribute to the victory of a nation through cunning. Main Tactic used was Espionage. Espionage rank has been unlocked. You are able to specifically train Spy units. Spies come with unique abilities to hide their identity. You have unlocked the Skill: Spycraft. You gave a great tribute to the Absolute Being ¨C Death. You¡¯re rank has increased. Build an altar to unlock benefits. I opened my Status to see how my rank with Death was. -- Name: Aurora Nightingale Level: 31 Race: Vampire Class: Dungeon Master ¨C Night Queen Sub: Dungeon Core Total Mana: 5,000/5,750 Abilities: Blood Sucking Blood Magic Death Magic Elemental Magic ¨C Fire, Earth, Dark Advanced Magic ¨C Death, Dark Aberrant Sorcery Basic Sneak Advanced Sneak Spycraft Lv.1 -Status Manipulation - Forgery - False Identify Weapon Skills: -Magic Firearms (Pistol, Rifle) Lv.2 Dungeon Menu -- [Dungeon Core: Vampire ¨C Night Queen. Owner: Aurora Nightingale] Dungeon Level: 6 Total Mana: 751/8000 [Dungeon Core: Golem ¨C Nature¡¯s Grotto. Owner: Aurora Nightingale] Dungeon Level: 8 Total Mana: 1,500/8,000 -- Nation Menu - Scarlet Night Level One Nation Population: 16,548 City Menu -- Twisted Weds Level One City Population: 12,480 Combatants: 1,500 Economic Strength: A+ Combat Strength: C- Cultural Strength: SS+ Magical Strength: F+ Current Administrative Wealth: 3,410,514 (Assets & Gold) Religion: Cult of Death Rank: E Death Energy Required to next Rank:10,900 Boons: Death Magic effectiveness increased by 20% Debuff: Life Magic effectiveness decreases by 50% F Rank Bonus: Death Sight ¨C Able to see the physical weakness in living creatures. E Rank Bonus: Death¡¯s Word ¨C Once per day able to instantly kill any creature up to five levels higher than yourself. - I grinned as I saw that my Rank had indeed gone up. Looking at my status, I was pleased with how far I had come in the last month. My level had exploded up. I even had three spells just waiting for me to choose them. It was a pity that after level ten you only got a new spell from the system every five levels. If I wanted more spells before that I would have to seek out the knowledge. I knew of a few ways to do that. One such way was right next door to my dungeon. Maxwell¡¯s Mage tower. He could donate gold to the tower and buy spell books. If he got enough coins, he would be level ten and have a hundred spells in his arsenal. Whether or not he had enough mana to cast those spells would be a different story. It was too bad magic wasn¡¯t practiced by the Arachne. Twisted Webs didn¡¯t possess a mage tower. Which was too bad since my city in the Abyss had plenty of coins to work with. I froze in mid-step. I was the leader of that city, I could easily just build it myself. At level one, the tower shouldn¡¯t be too expensive. With some excitement, I quickly used Dimensional Travel- Shadow and returned to Alflona. I was just in time as the sun was starting to come up. Humming as I made my way through the town, I spotted Maxwell. I was in a good mood, so I stopped to greet the man. ¡°A good morning to you, our great and powerful leader.¡± ¡°Why are you so chipper?¡± maxwell asked with the energy of a salaryman that hadn¡¯t had his coffee yet. ¡°A night owl. I just enjoy the night. I would like to report no sightings of goblin stragglers. No doubt, our blood thirsty queen to the east took care of them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s some good news. A rabble of deserters is just as dangerous as an organized army.¡± He sighed as he sat down at one of the tables in the mess area. ¡°Thank you, Kaga. Anything else I should know before I start the day?¡± ¡°Just that you have some wicked bedhead, good night!¡± I said laughing at the man as I walked away. The Blood Core - 68 Maxwell I ran my hand through my hair at Kaga¡¯s tease. I had been exhausted the last few days and with the battle over for the time being, I had slept like a rock through the night. It was strange to think that my mind was just a digital file on some alien ship¡¯s hard drive. The act of sleep had felt rejuvenating all the same. Thanking the chef after they set a tray of food down in front of me, I dug in without pause. I might be ones and zeros, but my digital stomach was still saying that I was hungry. The chefs¡¯ skills had been going up by the day. The time period might be set to some magical medieval era, but thankfully, the food was a bit better than that. That, and thank god that dark elves weren¡¯t vegetarians. I had no problem with that lifestyle, but personally I loved to eat meat. While I ate breakfast, I went through the rewards for the battle again. Congratulations! Your nation: Alflona, has successfully fought off an attack by the Goblin nation: Eblos. Your Military rank has increased by two. Three-month morale bonus awarded. Training soldiers is vastly more effective during this time. Experience Bonus to all players and NPCs in Alflona. Reduced equipment durability loss for one week. Unlocked World Recognition: News of the Alflona¡¯s victory is beginning to spread throughout the game world, leading to NPCs and other players recognizing their accomplishment and treating them with respect or admiration. Current status: Rumor. Diplomatic Influence ¨C Newcomer: Other nations might listen to you more seriously if they have heard of your rumor. Unlocked Skill: Battle Tactics ¨C Able to recognize the flow of battle easier. NPCs are more willing to follow your orders in battle. Some good gains if you asked me. I wasn¡¯t sure I cared for the World Recognition one, but that just came with the territory. At the very least, I knew I was on Eblos¡¯s radar. Seeing the military buff, it might be good to grow the City-State¡¯s military while it was active. I had plenty of enemies after all. I noticed Sasha as I was about halfway through my meal and waved her over as I dismissed the screens again. The guild leader smiled before she joined me. ¡°Good morning. I wanted to thank you again for all the hard work you¡¯ve put in the last few weeks. You and your guild.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s appropriate. We are getting paid after all.¡± I chuckled. ¡°You can do something for a paycheck and still receive praise.¡± I finished off my oatmeal, or something that was similar to it, before I sighed. ¡°Speaking of payment. I wanted to set up your guild hall today if you have some free time. We can¡¯t have you staying in tents forever.¡± Sasha brightened up. ¡°For that, of course I do.¡± ¡°Good. Once you finish you¡¯re meal, meet me on the edge of town.¡± I placed down a silver coin on the table that vanished instantly. The food provided by mess hall was technically free at the moment, but you could tip the cooks and staff. Sasha had explained during a recent meal that NPC cooks leveled up by both continuously making food items and income that they generate. If no one tipped them, they would grow slower. I made my way over to the edge of town while taking in the sights. It was remarkable how fast the town had grown. It was only about three months old and already boasted a population of three thousand give or take. Because we had taken the time to plan things out, the budding city had clean lines and straight roads unlike towns that grew over the years. Though, this was just another reminder that we were in a game. When you could build a building in seconds as long as you had the resources, it made planning a lot easier. As I walked through the streets, I enjoyed the vide that my town of Alflona gave off. Since my chosen architecture was Magi-Work, there were a lot of black steel and magically glowing stone walls. Runes were a common sight on most of the buildings. If you had a magic based class such as mage or sorcerer, you could easily sense the mana in the air. Near the edge of town, the City Wall came into view. Black steel pillars with metal walkways stretched along my territory. Dense Purple energy served as the main defense of the wall as it extended between the pillars. I knew from experience that they could take a beating and I had spent resources to upgrade them since Aurora¡¯s last attack. Thinking of the vampire, I looked toward the southeast of my territory. Sticking out like a thorn on a rose bush, Aurora¡¯s tower pierced the sky. I knew from the few times that I¡¯d observed it that the tower was mostly empty. She had created it simply to spite me. I took a deep breath to calm down and quickly looked away from the eyesore. What to do about Aurora was one of the questions that kept me up most nights with anxiety. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. To the north, I heard the sounds of logging and mining. I honestly had no choice in the matter. To expand south was simply too dangerous. Miners and Golems were hard at work extracting the metal that both Razz and I needed to fuel the expansion of our cities. While his town was close to Aurora¡¯s dungeon as well, he was far enough away that as long as they made a conscious effort, the pair shouldn¡¯t impede each other¡¯s territory. ¡°Did you wait long?¡± Sasha called as I was lost in my thoughts. ¡°Nope. Was just thinking.¡± ¡°Ah. The dangers of free time,¡± Sasha remarked patting me on the shoulder. ¡°IF you¡¯re taking input on locations, I¡¯d love a place on the mountainside. You can never go wrong with a good view.¡± I closed my eyes and went through my various teleport location memories. When I found one that I thought was suitable, I reached out grabbing Sasha¡¯s arm then teleported us to a clearing on the side of the mountain to the north. The clearing had enough space for a large house of a dozen rooms or so. If you included space that could be added by digging into the mountain it would make for a suitable location. ¡°What do you think?¡± I asked, opening my eyes after we arrived. Sasha remained quiet as she took a look around. I walked to the edge of the cliff. The town was just a few minutes away, but this area was still in my territory. There was also no mineral nodes nearby that I knew of, at least, none that didn¡¯t require carving deep into the mountain to find. ¡°Getting up and down will be a problem,¡± Sasha remarked joining me at the edge of the cliff. Glancing down, I saw that it was true that it would require great climbing skill. ¡°If you think long term, we can have a path made. Plus, don¡¯t guild members have the ability to teleport to their guild houses once every few hours?¡± ¡°They do, once they have a Temporal Lodestone installed. They cost a pretty penny.¡± That name sounded familiar. I quickly opened my rune craft book. I found it under the level four section. ¡°I can make one once I reach level four with my runecrafting.¡± Sasha dropped back into her thinking mode. I waited for her. Even if she didn¡¯t want this spot, there was plenty of lots that I could offer her guild. Finally, she seemed to come to a decision. ¡°I¡¯ll take it. The guild can work on their climbing skill for a while.¡± I laughed at that. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t get ousted as Guild Leader.¡± Sasha looked over the edge again. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that I can have the system make a decent staircase to about the halfway point. I¡¯ll have to rely on you guys for the rest.¡± ¡°No problem. It is nice when the system can do something that would have taken weeks in the real world.¡± ¡°No kidding. Alright. I¡¯ll take this place as per our agreement. If you don¡¯t need me, let¡¯s head back.¡± ¡°Actually, I was hoping I could get your input on another matter.¡± Sasha raised her eyebrow but nodded. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°I have to give out plots of land to roughly thirty players. Since I stated in their contract that they have to be used for housing, I¡¯m not too worried about them suddenly building a castle or business that might steal from our people in the middle of my city, but I don¡¯t want to put them too far away in case it rubs them the wrong way. Six months isn¡¯t that long of a time in the grand scheme of things.¡± ¡°I see your dilemma.¡± Sasha tapped her foot as she thought then snapped her fingers. ¡°Put them near your biggest problem.¡± ¡°Put them near Aurora?¡± I asked trying not to let my mouth gap open. ¡°Why would I risk doing that?¡± ¡°Think about it. Players are like gods in this world. Even low-level ones. I can tell you right now that they are going to trick out their homes like no tomorrow. If Aurora ever does decide to attack you, you¡¯ll have virtual wall of supped up homes that can take down dungeon bosses.¡± ¡°Player homes can reach that level?¡± Sasha nodded. ¡°It¡¯s a bit crazy honestly. I know of a mage player that has a house in the middle of a desert. Damn thing¡¯s nearly a dungeon in its own right.¡± She shook her head as if plagued by a bad memory. ¡°I¡¯m not saying it will happen overnight, but trust me. If you have a crazed vampire sending less than intelligent monsters at your town, then having players in between them and you will make a load of difference.¡± I was glad that I asked her. I was planning on putting them out of the way toward the more underdeveloped section of my north expanse but had been worried that would affect the city¡¯s overall growth. ¡°Thanks!¡± I grabbed her shoulder and quickly teleported us back to town. ¡°That skill is too much of a cheat,¡± Sasha commented as she walked away. ¡°Well that¡¯s two problems taken care of,¡± I muttered to myself. I pulled open the city menu and made the allocations. I would be fetching the players tomorrow as per our agreement. If they didn¡¯t show up, then the agreement was void. Just all part of the deal. I turned on my heel and headed for the Command Center. There was still a nightmare number of issues to deal with following the battle with the goblin forces. I had just sat down when I got a friend message from Razz. ¡°Check your map. We captured another forty squares. I want to see how quickly the system updates.¡± ¡°Alright, give me a second.¡± I walked over to the war map. As Razz said, there was a new chunk of land added to my territory. He was using the defeat of the goblin forces to push further north. It would only be a matter of time before we hit another village or town that belonged to Eblos. The question was what we were going to do when we did. ¡°Yep. Its showing.¡± ¡°Good. It looks like claiming territory is easy enough.¡± Razz sent back. ¡°Don¡¯t go too crazy.¡± I got a laugh emoji in response to my message. I walked back over to my desk and got to work with the paperwork. First, I went through all the items that we collected from the goblin army. Because I worried that we would get flak from her, I already set aside a number of gears and items to send to Aurora later tonight. Hopefully, she would take it as a sign that I wanted to put an end to this war before it got out of hand. The Blood Core - 69 Aurora Cheering filled the air as the Archanic celebrated the start of their beloved tournament. I stood on the matriarch¡¯s spot waiting for the challenges to start. Unlike last time, I wasn¡¯t level one, and my weapon wouldn¡¯t explode after just one shot. Also unlike last time, many of the wannabe challengers looked ready to cause another upheaval. ¡°GOOD EVENING, Ladies!¡± Lark, the announcer from the first tournament yelled into his magic amplifier. ¡°As you all might remember, our former lord and master was replaced by the newly ascended Lady Aru! A rare member of our city that is able to use magic! Mystifying!¡± A mixed chorus of cheers and boos came from the crowd. I might not be as well liked as I thought, then again, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve actually made a public appearance since I became lord since the trip to the mineral store. Ah. Got to remember to advertise them. The pillar I stood on began to rise into the arena. Once it was level, I got a good look at the number of challengers. Just with a quick glance, I counted over two dozen. It had been a month since I took control of Twisted Webs, but I had yet to find out why there were no men. Lark was about the only one I had seen so far. Ignoring that for now, I pulled out my pistol making a show of it. A few of the challengers suddenly looked less thrilled about challenging me. Lark flew around the arena a few times in his magic chair. ¡°Alright Ladies! Who will be first to challenge Lady Aru, the Tyrant Crusher?!¡± Not sure I liked that name, but whatever. I waited until finally a woman jumped down. She was using a bow. Not a bad idea. If close range wouldn¡¯t work, then long range. It was a plan that might have worked against Lady Shoa, the former matriarch as well. ¡°Excellent! Our first challenger! Will we have an upset again this month, or will Lady Aru become the new and permanent Tyrant of Twisted Webs?!¡± I glanced at Lark with a shake of my head. Was I going to crush tyrants or be one? Make up your mind. The challenger performed the ceremonial bow before she readied her bow. I did as Lady Shoa did, and beckoned her to start. The fight¡­ was nothing to write home about. There was a reason this city had a low military rating. The challenger had speed, but her strength was lacking. The arrows she fired were easily trackable even to my eye even if there were several of them. I was able to aim and fire my pistol into the woman¡¯s gut almost lazily. She fell over instantly. Death magic was far too potent on those with little magic resistance. The crowd hesitated before it began to cheer. For most of them, it looked like they had accepted that I was here to stay. Another Archnai jumped down to challenge me after the first one¡¯s body was removed. I remembered her from last month. She was the first one to challenge Lady Shao and used two sabers. Lark signaled the start of the fight. This one was a bit better than the archer. At least she attempted to dodge my shots. Still, once she got close enough, the wide bore of the spell clipped her side. Her left arm rotted in seconds causing her to scream in pain. Feeling bad for causing it, I quickly put a spell into her head to end it. At least it was a comfort to know that the Archnai NPCs were able to respawn. Technically, anyway. They could hatch from eggs that they laid. Though, I suppose there was level and skill loss. There were no new challengers after her. Those that had been gunning at the beginning looked like they¡¯d rather not lose their experience. Lark looked around to be sure. ¡°Any more challengers for the position of Matriarch?!¡± He shouted into his microphone rune. ¡°Well, then I hereby declare Lady Aru the Matriarch for one more month.¡± I held up my hand and waved for Lark. He looked confused but floated down. ¡°I made this wonderful weapon from materials that I got from Web¡¯s Diamond.¡± With that, I fulfilled my end of the bargain. Lark gave me a smirk as I headed for the Matriarch¡¯s Booth. Twisted Webs was mine for another month. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The rest of the fights went about how they did last month. Some were over quickly, some took forever. A lot of the challengers that had been prepping for me, appeared to have decided to try other positions in the government. Even Mira was challenged though she managed to win. She couldn¡¯t use magic, but she appeared to be a Monk or Martial Artist class like Lady Shoa had been. It was a good thing I told Maxwell I was taking the day off. The tournament lasted well into the evening. If he had needed me for something I would have had to skip out on it. Either way, the tournament did finally come to an end. Before everyone left, I stood up and called for Lark again. The man flew over and handed me his microphone rune. ¡°Sisters of Twisted Webs. I have only been in this position for a month, but I have learned about our plight. We have enemies in every direction, and while we make the most beautiful art in the world, we have little military strength. Thus, I have made a decision. I have volunteerly accepted an invitation to the Nation of Scarlet Night. This is a surface nation made by dwellers of the night.¡± Murmurs went up from the crowd. I waited for a second then raised my hand. ¡°I know! I know! This is unpresented and distrupting news. But I assure you, our ways will not change. We are bound to them, but our ways! Our culture! They remain ours! The tournament shall continue! Our way of life shall continue! If I should be defeated during the next tournament, the leader of Scarlet Night has assured me that their opinion will be respected. I have this oath through magic! So. If one of you should defeat me, then by all means secede from the nation, however, I promise you that it is in our interest to stay with them.¡± I took a moment to observe the crowd. I would say that it was about fifty-fifty at the moment. Some looked like they were relieved by my statement that they only need to defeat me to be able to leave in the future. Others seemed to realize that such a task would be hard in the tournament setting of one versus one. I raised my hand to wave at the crowds. I had to be a likably Tyrant. ¡°Until next month!¡± I made my way back to the Palace along with Mira and Opal. ¡°Nice speech boss,¡± Mira said from right behind me. ¡°I still don¡¯t understand how you¡¯re the advisor and Opal isn¡¯t,¡± I remarked as I settled into the Archanie throne. ¡°Oh, Opal is the advisor, but I¡¯m a better fighter. We¡¯re a team and we share,¡± Mira replied. ¡°That makes fair more sense,¡± I said at the explanation. Mira looked a bit mirthed though, ¡°No offense of course.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Mira waved her hand. As I settled in, I got a few notifications. I pushed them to the side for the time being. ¡°I¡¯d like you two to run some fire control. Traditions or not, there is a chance that a rogue element might entice the others into a riot or revolt.¡± ¡°I doubt that will happen. At least in the first month. If you start having us do things that aren¡¯t exactly ethical, then we might have another problem.¡± ¡°No. I have no desire to do such a thing. In fact, I¡¯d like to use the artwork created by the city to make some gold. It is some of the best work I have ever seen, and I was a Bonafede artist back on Earth.¡± I sighed and leaned back. ¡°This will also allow my other subordinates to help in case we get attacked. I find it hard to believe that there aren¡¯t warmongers among the dwarves and dark elves.¡± I knew of one personally. Not that Maxwell was a warmonger, he just employed one. ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Few down in the Abyss care for art created by others, but humans and elves on the surface are known for their love of the stuff,¡± Opal said. ¡°I¡¯ll just have to create a connection to a surface town or city that doesn¡¯t want to¡ª¡± I let the sentence drop. No reason to bring my surface troubles down here. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking,¡± Opal started with a serious expression. ¡°What exactly are you?¡± I narrowed my eyes, a serious feat when you had eight of them. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just curious. You didn¡¯t know anything about this society, so I¡¯m inclined to believe that you weren¡¯t here when the Great Taking happened.¡± Tapping my chin, I contemplated telling them the truth of the matter. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll admit that I wasn¡¯t originally here at the start of this nightmare. You¡¯ll have to wait for a bit longer on more information. I¡¯m sorry, but we¡¯ve only known each other for a month. Though, I would like to remind you that I am only in this position because of you Mira.¡± Mira made a pained look. ¡°Forgive, oh great Matriarch!¡± She pleaded pretending to prostrate herself. I laughed at her antics. ¡°Enough of that. You two are my only friends in this stupid game.¡± ¡°That makes me feel better.¡± Opal sighed then nodded as if to herself. ¡°I¡¯ll hold off on more questions. I just want to say that I¡¯ve come to love this place over the months that I¡¯ve played this, as you say, stupid game. Even more so in the last month. Please handle it carefully.¡± I nodded seriously. ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll make sure that I treat it properly.¡± The Blood Core - 70 Maxwell I rested my head in my hands. There was a lot of loot to sort through for an army of ten thousand. Most of it was basic level stuff. Nearly throw-away for a player, but it was all perfect for low-level troops that couldn¡¯t use the higher-level stuff yet. It also served to give my budding army a sizable armory. The only problem¡­ much of it was sized for goblins. Most goblins were shorter than humans and elves. The ranked goblins were a bit larger in scale, but many of them relied on brute force. Their weapons were a far cry from being good. I rubbed my head again as I pushed the paperwork to the side. I had set most of the parameters that my officers could use to sort the gear. That just left the gear that the players dropped when they died. Unlike NPCs, they only dropped one or two pieces when they died. Of the ten that attacked us, only three of them actually died. The rest fled when the leader ran. There was a nice robe that was mostly geared toward healers, but it would give me a boost to my casting. There was also a dagger and shield that were enchanted and made from tier three or four metals. I planned to give the shield to one of the Jade Collective and the dagger to Kaga. Equipping the robe, I accessed my status. I had a few spells that I could learn, but I was waiting as I wasn¡¯t sure what exactly would serve me best at the moment. -- Name: Maxwell Orfen Level: 27 Race: Sacred Void Elf Class: Lord Specialization: Void Lord Total Mana: 4,150/4,150 Abilities: Dark Sight Elemental Magic ¨C Dark, Earth, Fire Void Magic Basic Sneak City Management Learn Spell: 2 -- While I was busy pressing my fingers into my temple to try to deal with the headache, Rowena came into the office bringing some herbal tea that smelt wonderfully to my pounding head. ¡°Hard at work?¡± she asked, handing over the cup of tea. I sighed and took the cup. ¡°Being a lord sounds fun, at least until you get to this part. When I started going through the loot the soldiers picked up, I had to create parameters for each of them. If I have to do this for every engagement¡­¡± ¡°You need assistance and advisors. There are NPCs you can hire that handle this sort of things,¡± Rowena remarked taking a seat across from me. ¡°Still. Are you sure about handing over so much gear to you know who?¡± she shook her head as I had lost my mind. ¡°I mean from what I saw she clearly doesn¡¯t need it.¡± ¡°Exactly. Most of it is junk gear you¡¯d find on low-level mobs, but its not complete trash. Even if she doesn¡¯t use a single piece it at least gets the message out that I¡ªwe don¡¯t want to fight her. Since most of it is gear that my elves can¡¯t use anyways, we¡¯re not losing out either.¡± Rowena waved her hand in the air. ¡°I get the logical. I just don¡¯t like it, personally. She¡¯s given us nothing but problems since day one.¡± I chuckled at her attitude. ¡°I agree, but we¡¯ve also caused our fair share of annoyance to her.¡± Rowena shrugged. ¡°There you go again. You¡¯re too nice sometimes.¡± I laid my head on my arms on the desk. ¡°We can probably solve everything with violence, but with players able to respawn, the cycle will be endless.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Rowena sighed. ¡°I just don¡¯t like that woman.¡± ¡°Fair enough. Though something tells me she doesn¡¯t like you either,¡± I said laughing. I heard a ding and looked up at my system. Razz had sent me a message. They had found another dungeon. I perked up at that. Nature¡¯s Grotto was fine, but we knew how to beat it without really trying. The loot had already been tapped out as well. The mana stones had slowed recently. We still got some, but it was nothing compared to the first few dives into the dungeon. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Other than our neighbor, dungeons felt like we were back in the game at least for a while. ¡°Razz found a dungeon,¡± I remarked to Rowena. She seemed to welcome the topic change. ¡°What¡¯s the theme?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know yet. They haven¡¯t explored it.¡± I sent a message asking for more details, but Razz was silent. When almost ten minutes passed, I decided to check with him later. He was a grown goblin, I didn¡¯t have to babysit him. Rowena returned to the office carrying a tray of drinks. I thanked her as she handed me one of the mugs. ¡°Max. I was wondering if you were planning to head to one of the cities anytime soon.¡± I sipped the mead. I had no idea if mead actually tasted like this, but I was glad for the sweet flavor. ¡°I hadn¡¯t planned on it anytime soon, but a quick trip wouldn¡¯t be too hard. I have a decent mana pool now with all the levels I got from the war. Not mention, our potion supply is growing by the day.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. I want to travel south. There should be a Beastkin city. I needed to speak with a master to further my class.¡± I ran a hand through my hair. I had gone north before. The south was mostly unknown to me. ¡°I haven¡¯t traveled too far south yet. I¡¯ll have to do a few jumps to get a lay of the land.¡± Rowena nodded. ¡°That¡¯s fine. Whenever you get a chance. Otherwise, I run the risk of becoming useless around here.¡± I reached over and patted her hand. ¡°You¡¯d never be useless. For one, you¡¯re about the only person that I¡¯m sure is actually my friend.¡± ¡°True enough.¡± ~~ I yawned as I chugged a potion. The brisk cold of the mountain kept me from truly enjoying my little trip, but the view made up for it. Heading south, after making sure I got the location of any other dragon nests from Lapis, I had traveled a good thousand kilometers. The Great Forest lived up to its name. Even having traveled this far, the forest was still stretching as far as the eye could see. Scanning the landscape as best I could, I checked for anything that might be worth noting. Eblos covered a good deal of the forest, so there might be other villages or towns tucked away from view. If even one of them had a player Lord like Razz, I might be able to extend a hand of friendship to them. As isolated as we were, we needed trading partners. I was contemplating all my options in that regard. At least we had the trading portal. That took some of the pressure off me. I had already used some of the gold generated to buy a few spells from the Mage¡¯s Tower. All simple magic, but still a nice addition to my repertoire. With shiver, I cast one of those said spells. ¡°Long-Sight.¡± A magnifying glass seemed to appear in front of my eyes. I was able to make out details of the trees that were over two hundred meters away with ease. I scanned the forest again, but yielded much the same results as my last few observations. The forest was empty in this area. Sighing, I turned my sight to the mountain range. I looked for a good spot then teleported. Checking my mana pool, I calculated that I jumped nearly fifty kilometers. Not bad considering the range I was able to move just a few weeks ago. If only long distance teleportation weren¡¯t so draining. Then I wouldn¡¯t have to leapfrog my way to locations that I already knew about such as Alflona. At my new location, I studied the forest again. While there was some overlap, there was a good chunk to the south and east that were new. I also pulled out a notebook and jotted down some of the noticeable landmarks. It was rough, but it would make for a well enough map when I was complete. In the future, others would have to make this journey the old-fashioned way. ¡°Hello there, what¡¯s that?¡± I mumbled as I spotted something sticking out of the forest. It was a tree that was easily four times as large as the see of trees around it. Not only that, but I spotted what looked like people moving around the trunk on ledges. I quickly checked my mana pool to make sure I had enough then used the Long-Sight spell. My vision zoomed in until I was able to make out the individuals working around the tree. I shouldn¡¯t have been surprised, but I found that it was a community of Elves. ¡°Looks like we have some neighbors after all.¡± About an hour passed while I was observing the community, mostly trying to see if there were any players, I got a message from Razz. I hadn¡¯t heard from him in almost twelve hours. ¡°Sorry for the late reply, died.¡± I sat up from my seat on a boulder. I tapped the call function on my friend¡¯s list. ¡°Died? How?¡± I said as soon as he answered. ¡°Underestimated the dungeon! Barely made it into the first room before we were decimated.¡± For them to be wiped out so fast¡­ It sounded like this dungeon was going to have to wait until we were much stronger. ¡°Any idea what it was?¡± ¡°Oh yeah. There were murlocks,¡± Razz replied with a groan. ¡°Sorry?¡± I asked since he sounded funny. He laughed. ¡°Wrong game. They were technically called Drowns. Annoying bipedal frog like creatures. Some people like to call them water goblins.¡± ¡°Were they that strong?¡± I asked. It might have been a mismatch of abilities. Razz¡¯s group was more geared toward physical confrontation after all. ¡°They were. They acted like assassins. The dungeon was basically a ruin located on an island at the center of a lake. It was a pain to reach, and the first zone of the dungeon was basically a flooded room.¡± I didn¡¯t have many spells that would be effective against water based monsters. We might have to write off this dungeon. I rubbed my head then sighed. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll hear more about it when I return.¡± I closed the call then turned my attention back to the giant tree. I wanted to make contact with them, but I hesitated. I was currently a dark elf after all. This game¡¯s lore had the surface elves and the Labyrinth elves at odds. Not to mention I was a Void elf on top of that. It was just adding fuel to the fire. ¡°If there aren¡¯t any players, then this place is likely to be an enemy down the road.¡± I sighed again then got to my feet to get back on my journey. With a final glance, I decided to let Rowena handle any dealings with this place in the future. The Blood Core - 71 Aurora Now that Twisted Webs was publicly part of my empire, I was able to send down some of my vampires without causing a commotion. I outfitted several groups with charged mana stones then sent them to explore the Labyrinth. The map around Twisted Webs was sorely lacking for my taste. I returned to my dungeon once I was dealing with Mira and Opal. The two were turning out to be good advisors as well as potential friends. Perhaps they were a reminder of my humanity that was buried under my vampiric body. I chuckled to myself as I settled into my throne. Clearing my mind of Twisted Webs matters, I turned to things at home. My dungeon aura had expanded a decent amount from the level up during the war. I was disappointed by only gaining one level, but the prey that I killed in my main dungeon was usually brought here against their will and restrained. You couldn¡¯t exactly call it a true hunt. I knew that the game was able to detect things like that before the aliens took over, so I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if those features were even more advanced now. I used my sight spells to examine my dungeon from my throne. The spiral structure of the main complex had been finished for a while. Plenty of rooms existed for features in my dungeon. I had my demons crafting in the workshops, vampires practicing in the training grounds, ghouls wandering the halls, and more. To me, it felt like the dungeon was well on its way to feeling alive. If there was one thing that I felt missing, it was the helpful advice from Losa. I never knew I could grow so attached to someone so quickly. I had to get to that Demon Seal sooner rather than later. For that, I had to claim the new dungeon found by Count Drac. Continuing to study my dungeon, I planned out a few more expansions. My aura had moved up a good deal of the mountain as well as below it. There was plenty of space for additional rooms. The Primal Gold was still providing me with a tremendous boon of mana. I went ahead and set a few more spawn points. I now made a small army every few hours now. Taking a break from my main dungeon, I moved my mind over to Nature¡¯s Grotto then used the sight spells again to look around the claimed area. I thought it was ironic that Nature¡¯s Grotto was higher level than my actual dungeon, but it had been fed quite a bit of energy during the war. Not to mention, Razz and Maxwell often led parties into the dungeon. It wasn¡¯t often, but I sometimes claim a player life here and there. ¡°My queen.¡± I lifted my head at the whisper and paused in my work. ¡°What is it, Count?¡± I sent back telepathically. ¡°The goblins have found the dungeon but were crushed in seconds.¡± I burst into laughter at the report. They managed to turn an army of goblins and players yet failed to dive a dungeon. When my laughter finally subsided, I asked him to continue. ¡°The dungeon is water based. We¡¯ve scouted a few of the rooms. Unlike Nature¡¯s Grotto, we can conquer this one quickly as the enemies have flesh.¡± ¡°Good to hear. Let me know once you¡¯ve conquered most of the dungeon.¡± I leaned back with a grin. I¡¯ll have to conquer the dungeon as Kaga to claim the core much as I had done with Nature¡¯s Grotto. It would help with my standing with Maxwell¡¯s community if I played my role as guide. Speaking of which, I had to make a visit to Alflona soon. I had been busy with Twisted Webs for most of the day for the tournament. I might have taken the day off, if I didn¡¯t show myself off a bit some might get suspicious of me. Rowena for one seemed to have a good head on her shoulders, at least compared to Maxwell. ¡°HEY! Vampire lady!¡± I froze and turned my attention back to my main dungeon. The woman I had just been thinking about was outside my dungeon with a few wagons. I moved to the entrance with Varroth. The beast growled at my touch. I checked with my sight spell and failed to find anyone else other than the drivers of the wagons. ¡°Well, Varroth, let¡¯s go see what she wants,¡± I mumbled petting the beast. We walked out of the entrance and came to a stop on the edge of my aura. ¡°Yes?¡± She gave me a sour look before she sighed. ¡°Maxwell wants you to have all of this. He says you earned it.¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I looked past her to the wagons. From here, I could see that it was filled with gear. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m not sure what to say.¡± I had completely written off the gear in my mind. This was the last thing I expected to happen. ¡°This was really Maxwell¡¯s idea?¡± I asked. ¡°Not yours?¡± ¡°In all fairness, I was against giving you the items. Considering our current¡ªhostilities,¡± she remarked with hesitation. I chuckled. ¡°I see. Thank you for your¡ªhonesty,¡± I replied with the same tone. ¡°Leave them in my aura and I will deal with them.¡± ¡°Just as a forewarning.¡± She gestured at the wagons. ¡°It¡¯s all crap. The entire army was equipped with junk.¡± ¡°Yes, I knew that. Hence, why I am surprised that I am getting two wagons full of the junk.¡± My vampires had been the main ones to scout the goblin forces. I had known what we were up against since they were near enough for me to inspect. Plus, I had looted a few of the goblins during my hit and run attacks. ¡°See!¡± Rowena exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips. ¡°I knew it was fine!¡± ¡°Maybe, but I can understand the gesture.¡± I turned around to leave but paused. I rubbed my forehead then glanced back to the beastkin. ¡°I¡¯ve decided to adopt a passive approach to Maxwell¡¯s settlement. I would appreciate it if you expanded north. Scarlet Night will move south. As for east, well, just keep it in line with our current alignment.¡± ¡°Ehh. This is surprising. I thought you wouldn¡¯t stop until you destroyed us.¡± ¡°I can do that if you wish,¡± I replied with a flip of my hair. Rowena shook her head. ¡°No. I think in the end it would be pointless. We¡¯re all players. Even if we managed to destroy our current settings, we would just meet again in the future. Perhaps even as just regular players.¡± ¡°Interesting.¡± I grinned and licked my fangs. ¡°I have to wonder how long it will be before our new alien landlords decide to start playing the game themselves. After all, everyone knows it¡¯s no fun to watch someone play a game.¡± I snapped my fingers and vanished hoping that I was making a dramatic enough exit. I left the loot outside the dungeon for the time being. I would have one of the Greater Demons take it and see if anything was worth our time. There might be one or two pieces of gear in there that could give my demons some insight into their craft through deconstruction. Back in Nature¡¯s Grotto, I got a breakdown of the Lake Ruin Dungeon. Much like Nature¡¯s Grotto, it was mostly straight forward. There was an island at the center of the lake that had a ruin of a castle-like structure. Multiple rooms of the castle were partially flooded. While it was trapped, they were few and far between. The monsters were formidable and relying on assassin type maneuvers. ¡°Thank you, Count. This report will be invaluable,¡± I said once he was done going over everything for me. ¡°I live to serve. We have conquered the dungeon, should you wish to take it.¡± He handed me a tight fitted gauntlet. It glowed slightly from an enchantment. I looked it over a few seconds before I slipped it on. I felt my personal mana jump slightly. Accessing the item¡¯s menu, I found it was the Gauntlet of the Depths. It gave an increase to mana and water magic. ¡°Not bad, even if I don¡¯t have any water magic.¡± I had purchased a few spells from the new Mage¡¯s Tower located in Twisted Webs, but as I feared the resources were limited by the main race of the city. The game was hammering home that the Archnae simply didn¡¯t practice magic. Hence, I had to capture a surface city soon to change that. ¡°Anything else of me, my queen?¡± Count Drac asked as I admired the gauntlets. I lowered my hands into my lap. ¡°Yes, actually. Have you noticed anything?¡± I asked. Him, Zaras, and Frederick were investigating the other Greaters I¡¯d had at the time of Losa¡¯s death. I knew one of them were guilty of his murder, but I had yet to narrow it down. At present, the main suspect was Roland, but the others were hard to eliminate from suspicion completely. Count Drac nodded. ¡°They have performed their duties as you require. Roland continues to increase his knowledge of military matters as your Commander. Carson¡¯s magic has grown stronger, though has become stagnant as of late due to a lack of resources to grow with, Derrick and Harvey have not had much growth with your dungeon leaning toward the magical arts.¡± ¡°So¡­ nothing that might incriminate them,¡± I said dryly. ¡°No, my queen.¡± The count hesitated, though I could sense that he had more to say. I sighed then waved for him to continue. ¡°I feel that you should simply destroy all four of them. You are a queen of the night. Why are you wasting time trying to find the culprit?¡± I stared at Drac for a moment as I thought about what to say. Finally, I shook my head. ¡°Its not that simple. Sure, I could destroy them. They are easily replaceable, ridiculously so in fact. But¡­¡± I knew they were bits of code. Ones and zeros in a program¡­ somewhere in the universe, but at the moment so was I. Killing them without a thought was the same as the aliens or whoever simply flipping a switch to turn me off. No. I would treat them with at least a little respect. However, once I found out who killed Losa, I would make them suffer. ¡°But, ultimately, I have my reasons. I hope you will respect that, my count.¡± ¡°Of course, my queen.¡± ¡°Return to your duties. I am heading to the elf¡¯s town. I suspect that we¡¯ll attempt the dungeon in the next few days. Please make sure to be clear when I send you a message.¡± ¡°As you wish,¡± Count Drac bowed his head then vanished into the darkness of the dungeon. The Blood Core - 72 Maxwell It took seventeen more jumps, but I finally reached the end of the Great Forest. Plains and hills went on for there. From the mountain, I was able to make out a few settlements. I could tell that most of them had to be player run since they were often either crazily efficient in their design, or crazy in general. I decided against meeting any of the Lords in this area. I would have to get more information before I played with fire here. Instead, I continued to teleport until I reached the city that Rowena had spoken about. There was just a bit of a problem. The city was on fire. Teleporting around the city¡¯s border, I found that some sort of militia had been formed to siege the city. Most of the people were flying colors of different Lords. My guess was that the lords from around here had either been abused and had rose up against the Tyrant, or vice versa, there was a wannabe Tyrant that wanted the city for themselves. ¡°Now then, what to do about this situation?¡± I muttered to myself once I had teleported to a safe place to oberseve the battle. Here and there I saw player skills fly into the miltia ranks. The spells were quickly returned. As I studied the fight, I spotted what looked like the command tent of the sieging army. ¡°Guess I can go make some friends.¡± Using my Long-Sight spell, I got a good look inside the tent through the opening. I teleported inside. Funnily enough, no one noticed me at first. Things were considerably hectic. I glanced around the room and found the person that looked to me least busy of the group. I walked over and tapped them on the shoulder. ¡°What is it!?¡± the man shouted. ¡°I¡¯m incredibly busy!¡± He turned then paused as he registered my face. ¡°Who the fuck are you?!¡± He reached down and drew his sword. ¡°Hey! Hey! I¡¯m just a traveler. I was wondering what was going on here,¡± I said quickly as I threw my hands up in the air to show I was harmless. Of course, I was ready with a number of skills if it got ugly. He continued to glare at me as the rest of the tent noticed the confrontation. A player dressed in shiny plate armor with a massive two-handed sword on his back walked over. He wasn¡¯t just well-equipped, but he was tall as well. He towered over me by nearly a meter. ¡°An elf, a dark elf at that. What are you doing here?¡± I couldn¡¯t place his accent, but it had to be American. ¡°Maxwell¡¯s the name. I was just traveling to the city that is currently on fire outside. I wanted to find out if I should find somewhere else to¡­ travel to,¡± I replied. He snorted. ¡°Sounds exactly like what a spy might say.¡± ¡°Please, humor me,¡± I said twirling my hand much like a jester might. I was already starting to dislike this guy. He had been staring down at me the entire time, and I wasn¡¯t just talking about his height. ¡°Fine. I¡¯m laying claim to the City of Black Tail. If I¡¯m going to be stuck in this blasted game for the rest of my life, however the fuck long that is, then I¡¯m going to claim everything.¡± I ran my hand through my hair. ¡°Sounds like something a tyrant might say,¡± I remarked, unable to help myself. ¡°Sure, call it what you will. I will not have Glistening Dawn in charge of me!¡± I glanced at the first guy that I had talked to. I teleported next to him and put my arm around his shoulders. ¡°I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s the guy that¡¯s in charge of the city,¡± I said good-naturedly like you would to a friend. He jerked away from me. ¡°Glistening Dawn is the real tyrant!¡± The first man hissed. ¡°I see. And you are?¡± I asked the tall man. ¡°ReilArch. Commander of the Combined Settlements Force.¡± ¡°Interesting, interesting,¡± I said nodding along. ¡°I think I¡¯ve got what I need, I¡¯ll talk you to if you win the city.¡± I envisioned the clearing that I was observing the battle from early and teleported away. I opened my friend¡¯s list and called Rowena. ¡°Hey. Just thought you should know that the city you wanted me to locate is on fire and under siege.¡± ¡°Really?!¡± There was a pause. ¡°Can you do anything about it?¡± ¡°I have enough enemies as it is, I¡¯m not sure I should be getting in the middle of this,¡± I replied. If I got any more enemies, I would have to start counting with both hands. ¡°Please, if the city falls, the city might lose its trainers and masters. Those types of NPCs don¡¯t often stick around to start working for the people that conquered them.¡± I sighed as I looked back to the city. Before I chose a side, I had to find out about the leader of the city. I explained as much to Rowena before I closed the call. Focusing on the castle roof, I teleported. It was harder, but my Transcendent Teleportation cut through the defensive spells with ease. I was happy to learn that I could do that at all. I would have to thank the goddess next time I visited the altar. From the roof, I teleported down to the balcony next to the throne room. From there, I teleported inside the castle. I had burned through three-fourths of my mana, but a quick potion fixed that. ¡°HALT! Intruder!¡± I held up my hands. ¡°I am here to speak with your king!¡± I called out before I was skewered with a spear. Thankfully, the guards that had surrounded me slid to a stop. They looked over to the back of the room, and I followed their gaze. A group of people surrounded a woman. She had on a crown and sat in the center chair. ¡°I mean queen.¡± The woman, a player that was using a beastkin race that might have been related to a deer. Antlers must be optional for both genders of the species since she had a ten point rack on her head. I was getting strong shaman or druid vibes from her. ¡°What do you want? Actually, who are you?¡± I gave her a gentlemanly bow. ¡°I am Maxwell. Lord of a quaint little town in the middle of the Great Forest, not that distance means much to me. One of my companions had sought to use the masters located in your city, but I found said city burning.¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°I am City-Lord Glistening Dawn. You¡¯re a dark elf?¡± She asked looking me over. ¡°Something like that,¡± I replied. Void elves were hated in some areas. I¡¯d rather not risk mentioning it with the NPCs in the room. Not that the Dark Elf label helped. I hadn¡¯t noticed, but there were a few surface elves in the room. They were giving me such a look of hatred that even I was taken back. ¡°I wish I could help you, but as you can see, we¡¯re under siege. The prospect of immortality has gone to some people¡¯s heads, while it has turned others into a shell of themselves.¡± ¡°And your opponent?¡± I asked. She furrowed her eyebrows and let out a long breath. ¡°ReilArch. A real piece of work. There had been rumors that he¡¯d planned to do this even before the whole Takening event.¡± ¡°If you defeat him here, what do you plan to do going forward?¡± ¡°I would like to do nothing. He controls a settlement on the coast. Even if I wanted to strip him of being a lord, there are rumors that he controls an island settlement.¡± Glistening Dawn dropped onto her throne. ¡°Honestly, I have no idea what to do. He¡¯s a player. Even if we managed to kill him, he¡¯d just respawn and return with a stronger force.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a real dilemma.¡± And I thought having Aurora next door was a headache. While the idea of player wars was an issue that I knew would crop up in the future, I was tucked away nice and snug in the forest. Few people were out there that could cause me trouble. Aurora might be a hassle, but something told me that she was playing her own game and cared little about my city other than the fact that it had popped up next to her. Glistening Dawn rubbed her temple as I came out of my thoughts. ¡°You¡¯re telling me. I knew a lot of the NPCs out there fighting. Unlike the players, this is their world! They die once and for all.¡± ¡°Does this¡­ Does this game have player jails?¡± I asked as I thougth about the problem. ¡°Of course, but most people just log out until their sentence is over¡­¡± Glistenign Dawn jumped out of her seat. ¡°OF course! Why did it slip from my mind until now?!¡± ¡°These jails, do they suppress skills and spells?¡± ¡°There are a lot of rules and regulations. A player stuck in jail has all of their abilities sealed until their sentence is up. As a lord, I am able to sentence people, but I can¡¯t sentence a lord to jail in the middle of a war. Even if I do sentence him, we have to get him into the cell before it takes effect.¡± I rubbed my hands together with a mischievous grin. ¡°I hadn¡¯t planned to get involved, but this little experiment is required for the good of the world going forward.¡± I would rather test it here rather than in my own town. ¡°What would you say to a bit of partnership?¡± ¡°If it saves my city, I¡¯m willing to listen to anything. Just don¡¯t ask for my soul.¡± I laughed and waved the statement off. ¡°I¡¯m not the devil.¡± ~~ Glistening Dawn gestured at the cell. It was impressive. The bars glowed brightly, reminding me more of laser beams than steel bars. I could see that there were dozens of enchantments on the walls, ceilings, floors covering just about every centimeter of the cell. ¡°Here it is,¡± she remarked with a sigh. ¡°I had this built literally two days before the Takening. Crime is always an issue on the border cities. You have no idea how much gold it costs to train a guard to the point where they can take on players.¡± ¡°I must have been lucky so far then. I had a war with the goblin nation of Eblos, well, not so much war, but conflict. Anyway, the NPCs managed to fight decently enough.¡± ¡°But were still no match for players,¡± Glistening Dawn retorted. I nodded slowly. ¡°True enough.¡± Crig¡¯s group probably would have steamrolled through my army. ¡°This was the starter continent before the event. Most players on this landmass are barely in the fifties. A few here and there might be nearing seventy or eighty. I just pray none of the players return from the Tempest. That continent was the higher level stuff.¡± ¡°What about endgame?¡± ¡°Unlike other games, the endgame is sort of whatever you make it out to be. I know of a few people that pushed their levels constantly. One of the more famous players was FDX. He was nearly one-fifty last I heard.¡± I was with Glistening Dawn on this. I didn¡¯t want anything to do with those players. Just thinking of the power that might be at their fingertips was nightmare inducing. ¡°Can I add you to my friend¡¯s list?¡± I asked holding out my hand. ¡°I had barely been in the game for a few hours before all this started. I barely even had a chance to look at the forums. Never thought I would regret hoping to try out a game with a unhindered take.¡± ¡°Wow. Who doesn¡¯t look at the forums before playing a game?!¡± Glistening Dawn asked with some fake shock. She took my hand though as well as accepted my friend request. ¡°Sure. I have a feeling that having friends will be for the best in the long run.¡± The castle shook as something hit the walls. ¡°I guess that¡¯s my que.¡± ¡°I hate to drop this on you,¡± Glistening Dawn said with real concern in her eyes. I was almost taken by surprise. I guess that¡¯s what happened when you spent all your time around individuals like Lapis, Aurora, and the others. They were more of the self-reliance types of women. ¡°Think nothing of it,¡± I replied with a grin. I topped up my mana then downed a mana booster to increase my mana pool by a few hundred points before I teleported out to the clearing from earlier. I took a quick look around to make sure the coast was clear. Checking the command tent, I found that ReilArch was still inside. A few of the people from before had left though, leaving the tent mostly empty. Taking a deep breath, I tensed myself up before I teleported back into the tent. I opened my mouth and used Void Discourse. The men and women screamed as they lunged at each other. Blood splattered freely as those with close range weapons went to town on the casters. I rushed ReilArch, grabbing him around the waist then teleported back to the prison. Glistening Dawn was quick, pulling the struggling warrior into the cell and slamming the doors shut. The crazed man screamed as the effects of the Void were still on him. It took close to three minutes for it to clear. ¡°What is the meaning of this!?¡± ReilArch yelled as he beat his hands against the bars. ¡°Glistening! How dare you?!¡± ¡°How dare I?! How dare I?!¡± Glistening Dawn¡¯s face twisted into pure rage. ¡°You! You killed some many! Forced so many to their deaths! And for what?! To be some sort of king?! To have more lands?!¡± Mana danced around her as her emotions made themselves known. ¡°NO! Its you that are in the wrong. As lord of Black Tail, I charge you with treason! I charge you with inhumane treatment of citizens of the Southern Nations! As well as looting, pillaging, raping, murder and whatever else I can level against you! You are sentenced to life in prison!¡± ¡°My followers won¡¯t sit quietly and do nothing!¡± I leaned against the bars. ¡°Oh no?¡± I asked with a grin. ¡°I think they will hesitate before trying to think up a rescue plan. I did appear from thin air and make you vanish.¡± ReilArch glared at me. ¡°You have made an enemy this day.¡± ¡°That is so clique.¡± I tapped the bars with my knuckles. ¡°If it makes you feel any better, I made a friend today as well, so the provincial scales of fate are balanced.¡± You have sworn a mortal enemy of ReilArch, Lord of Burning Coast Town. It was too bad that I couldn¡¯t take a screenshot of the message. Soon, I would have enough to make a nice montage of them. Glistening Dawn and I left ReilArch to rot and made our way out of the prison. ¡°Maxwell. I thank you again for your aid today.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t a big deal. I hope we can open relations toward trading and other issues in the future.¡± ¡°Of course, once I have calmed things down here. I will be sure to visit your town.¡± The thought of a trade partner that wasn¡¯t reliant on a magic portal was nice to hear. Though, I remembered which direction Glistening Dawn¡¯s territory was. ¡°The journey would be quite long. Plus, I have a nasty neighbor that likes to jump travelers.¡± ¡°I see. Well, I have a war to end, so we¡¯ll have to make some time to take at a later date.¡± I nodded and Glistening Dawn left. I rubbed my head watching her go. She was one of the nicest women I had met so far in this game. Shaking my head, I quickly teleported back up to the mountains. Time to head home for the day. The Blood Core - 73 Aurora There was a click as I pushed the hidden door away. My life as Kaga was a pain in the ass, but it did come with some benefits. Other than the obvious bonus of getting information on Maxwell and his faction, I was able to socialize with other players and learn some gaming tricks. It had been nearly two years the last time I played when I logged in to take a break. The game had changed a lot since I played last. When it came to such things, however, Maxwell was as much of a noob as I was. At least he had recruited the Jade Collective who were all veteran players. In the sense that they had been playing longer than a few days. The thought of veteran players brought to mind a few of the players I had knew when I played before. It would be hard to call them friends. More like acquaintances really. Sadly, I had no way of knowing if they were in the game or not. My friends list had been reset by whatever error had turned me into a dungeon. I vaguely remembered that I had been in a guild, but I had no idea if I had been kicked while I was inactive or if it had been reset as well. Checking my house to make sure that no one had snooped on me took only a few seconds. I barely had anything of note here. It just looked like a messy woman who didn¡¯t care about appearances lived here. The wire on the door was also still secured. Undoing the trap, I made my way out. The town was active even as night was falling. There were enough NPCs now that the town felt lived in. The NPCs had been advanced even before the Aliens took over so I had no idea if they had changed, but from what I could tell they all had proper lives, backstories, passions, goals, and more. It felt like I was looking at a regular human, or well, elf when I studied them closely. When I finished wandering for a while, I made my way over to the command center. The Keep at the edge of the mountain range. Maxwell had made it during the Goblin invasion to keep people from bothering him at his manor. I nodded to the guards then made my way inside. I found Maxwell as well as the others eating in the dining hall. I took a plate from one of the servers then took a seat and listened to the conversation. ¡°That¡¯s what she said, Max. She¡¯ll keep south if you head north,¡± Rowena said in between bites of food. Maxwell was silent for a moment before he nodded. ¡°I had already planned to expand north. I just wished I had heard this before my trip today.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Rowena asked curiously. ¡°The Black Tail city is a far amount of distance from here.¡± I made note of the city. Any place that might have a large concentration of players was dangerous. Players killing players was one thing, but it would be worse for me. The players would actively get harder to fight against if they managed to take my core. ¡°I didn¡¯t mention it before, but I think I found an elf settlement. It was roughly three hundred kilometers from here.¡± Three hundred kilometers would be difficult to reach for me. Nature¡¯s Grotto expanded my range more to east after all. I shook my head. There was no reason for me to reach it. They weren¡¯t my enemy¡­ at least not yet. I chuckled to myself. ¡°Elves¡­ You¡¯re a dark elf. That might get messy,¡± Razz remarked from his group of goblins. Maxwell nodded. ¡°I was thinking the same thing.¡± He reached over and gripped Rowena¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I had planned to ask you to check it out for me when I took you to Black Tail.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Rowena replied excitedly. ¡°Let¡¯s just hope we don¡¯t make another enemy. There¡¯s another¡­ problem or issue with your elven settlement.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Maxwell asked with a curious expression. ¡°I spoke with your favorite neighbor. Aurora seems to have cooled off some, but she wants you to expand north while she expands south.¡± Good. I was wondering when she would relay that message. I turned to see how Maxwell would take it. ¡°North, huh. I don¡¯t see a problem with that, but how does she plan to expand as a dungeon?¡± He asked. Rowena shrugged. ¡°Sorry. Our chat didn¡¯t go into the finer details.¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Silence filled the air as Maxwell digested the info. ¡°A city visit! If you could take us with you, that would be much appreciated,¡± Razz exclaimed, breaking the ice that was filling the air. ¡°Us as well,¡± Sasha from the Jade Collective pitched in. ¡°We¡¯ve leveled up more than I expected during our stay. We need to visit a Master or trainer soon.¡± Maxwell looked around at the group then gave a sigh. ¡°I guess I can play taxi for a day.¡± He suddenly looked over to me. ¡°What about you, Kaga? Want to come along?¡± ¡°Not on your life!¡± I covered my mouth with my hand. ¡°Just the thought of so many teleports.¡± Maxwell rubbed his head awkwardly. ¡°I thought as much, but I wanted to ask just in case.¡± ¡°I will say that I appreciate the offer.¡± I looked over to Razz. ¡°I heard you found a dungeon?¡± Razz pounded his fist on the table. ¡°I guess word travels fast. That¡¯s right. We got owned too,¡± he huffed angrily. I stabbed a fork into my meat. ¡°Are you going to try again?¡± Razz took a long time to think it over. ¡°If you and Maxwell were involved, we¡¯d probably manage. The enemies rely on sneak tactics. A good scout is almost required. Plus, you can never go wrong with a teleporting master.¡± ¡°Good. I was getting tired of Nature¡¯s Grotto,¡± I said then dug into my food. ¡°Since Kaga doesn¡¯t want to go to the city, let¡¯s hit up the new dungeon then take our trip,¡± Rowena said. I nodded my thanks to her. ¡°Sounds fine to me,¡± Maxwell said looking to the others. ¡°I¡¯m down for another try!¡± Razz shouted along with cheers from group. ¡°We would like a try, so count us in,¡± Sasha said after looking around her group. I was starting to feel alone, being the only one without a backing. If I remembered correctly, a player could start an NPC mercenary band. It might not be anything near what a lord can do, but it was something to think about in case I needed some more hands around this city. The next morning, I was standing with the others about to teleport to the new dungeon. I tried my best, but I was having a hard time not glaring at Maxwell as he prepared to jump. He gave me an awkward smile. ¡°Don¡¯t blame me. You¡¯re the only one it bothers.¡± ¡°Then it sounds like you¡¯re doing it to me on purpose,¡± I shot back. I knew perfectly well why it bothered me, but I wasn¡¯t about to tell him. I¡¯d rather not get hunted today. ¡°Well¡­ Here we go,¡± Maxwell said before placing his hand on Rowena¡¯s shoulder. With us all touching hands, the spell took us all to his desired location. Sure enough, my link to the homunculus body twisted as it snapped to my body¡¯s new location. Thankfully, I was prepared for it and was able to handle the wave of nausea that assaulted me. ¡°I present to you, the Lake Ruin Dungeon!¡± Razz shouted grandly gesturing at the ruin in front of us. The name was very¡­ on the nose. It was a ruin on an island at the center of the lake. It looked like the designer of this lovely place had little creativity leftover. ¡°Yay,¡± I said dryly. We waited for a few minutes while Maxwell recovered his mana. A jump of nearly thirty people over a hundred and fifty kilometers took a fair amount of mana to achieve. Since my job was to scout, that¡¯s exactly what I did. I checked out the entrance of the dungeon while we waited. Of course, I already had the layout of the dungeon thanks to Count Drac. A notification flashed in front of my vision as I stepped on the threshold. -- Lake Ruin Dungeon of Drowned Memories. -- ¡°I don¡¯t see any traps!¡± I called out to the group. ¡°Though, I think mister Razz can tell you himself that there is an ambush a few dozen meters in.¡± Razz and his group looked embarrassed but nodded. The goblins players really have bad luck with dungeons. They suffered a horrible defeat at my hands as well. The group of players was ready to move in. Since I didn¡¯t care to let the ambush happen naturally, I sent a bullet filled with a fire ball into the pool near the entrance. With an explosion of water and steam, four creatures that appeared to be fish turned into men burst from the water wielding daggers. The group was ready for them with the tanks blocking their charge with shields to the face of the fishmen. With their advantage taken from them, the Drowns as the game called them were reduced to fish paste in seconds by the barrage of spells. ¡°I can¡¯t believe we lost to these things,¡± Razz hissed angerly as he kicked one of the corpses. Maxwell placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t think too much about that. From what I could tell, they were restraint to physical attacks and weak to magical. Look,¡± Maxwell pointed to a cut. It was from one of the tank¡¯s weapons. It had barely managed to penetrate the scales. ¡°I don¡¯t think Tip is that weak,¡± He remarked referring to the goblin tank. The brutish goblin that looked almost human cracked a fist against his chest. ¡°I make sure to keep my sword nice and sharp too!¡± Tip added, his voice odd coming from a goblin face. I ignored the group and headed further into the dungeon. According to the map I got from Count Drac, there should be a hidden lever in the first room that would reveal a treasure chest. I examined the indicated wall making a show of it, then pulled on the candle holder. It jerked then a wall slid open revealing a treasure. After I checked it, I found a few dozen gold coins and some other materials. ¡°Jackpot,¡± I said to the others. I had little use for most of the items. If I took the materials to my dungeon, I would be able to recreate them with mana, but once I took the core here, I should be able to create them anyway, so no reason to try and claim them here and now. ¡°Nice work!¡± Maxwell said. He passed out the gold getting to just about one coin a person. The Blood Core - 74 Maxwell Kaga was really proving how invaluable having a scout in the party truly was. She was able to locate all the ambushes as well as the few traps that were in the dungeon. It was with her skills that we were able to make it to what would be the third floor of the dungeon without suffering much damage to the party. This dungeon was more interesting than Nature¡¯s Grotto in my opinion. While the ruins themselves were probably little more than themed background, I found that the murals and ruined artworks painted a story of a noble family that lived in the area. They appeared to have been decent folk, but without more evidence that was little more than just wishful thinking. The monsters of the dungeon were diverse. While most were ambush and assassination based, there were a few druids and shamans in the mix that made the later fights harder with their magical attacks. Unfortunately, their different classes did little to improve their appearances. Most of them looked like walking fish that had been left out in the sun for several hours. Not only were they hard to look at, but they smelled horrible as well. ¡°I am ashamed,¡± Razz said. We were in the middle of resting to let the casters recover their mana pools. I looked over with a confused look. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You know, I understand that we¡¯re doing so well thanks to Kaga, but I¡¯m your military advisor. I shouldn¡¯t have let my party be wiped out in the very first room.¡± I reached over and patted him on the shoulder. ¡°You just need to find a scout for your party.¡± I glanced over to Kaga. ¡°No offense.¡± ¡°None taken. You never know when I might decide to head for somewhere new,¡± Kaga replied with a wink. ¡°Another item to my checklist when we go to the city,¡± Razz said with a sigh. ¡°Before you recruit from outside, perhaps you should check with the players that signed on to our deal. Most will be basically jobless and should be goblins.¡± Goblins would have a hard time finding work outside of goblin areas. My town shouldn¡¯t be too discriminative against them, but race politics were an issue in the lore of the game. More concerning, however, was that any one of a different race that joined Razz would likely be spending a considerable amount of time in Mud-Town. Razz snapped his fingers with a smile. ¡°Good idea. That¡¯s why you¡¯re the boss.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all well and good, but let¡¯s focus on clearing the dungeon, shall we?¡± Rowena said. She had an annoyed expression, and now that I thought about it, she¡¯d had it since we came into the dungeon. ¡°Something wrong, Rowena?¡± I asked. She shook her head then sighed. ¡°Actually yes. It¡¯s the smell. I can barely stand it. My beastkin race has an extreme sense of smell. I¡¯ve had a headache for most of the dungeon.¡± ¡°Damn. You should have said something,¡± I remarked concerned about her. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± she replied waving me off. ¡°Plus, when I think about something like an undead dungeon¡­ This probably isn¡¯t that bad.¡± The image of the undead and the smell of rot flashed through my head. I was inclined to agree with her. ¡°Good point.¡± The idle chatter fell off. Most of the casters were using meditation skills to recover the mana while the physical players were checking their gear. The sound of whetstones moving against blades was common. As a caster myself, I was focusing on my mana pool. It had grown considerably after the war, so it took a bit longer for it to recover. After about ten minutes, we were ready to move again. Leaving the room that we were in, we entered a long passage that ended at a large hall. Water poured from numerous cracks in the ceiling from the lake above us into pools around the room. A banner of the noble family remained in the back of the room. Even with a few cuts here and there, we were able to make out their features. As I thought earlier, I would classify them as pleasant people. The wife had a gentle expression as she embraced two children. The husband appeared to be stern, but had a loving arm around his family. They often said a picture was worth a thousand words, and in this instance, I could see the truth in those words. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. My reflection of the banner came to an end as the pools around the room exploded. A few dozen of the Drowned appeared. The strange hissing-growling sounds that they made came from all around us. We had gotten used to each other by this point and got into formation. The casters began sending spells into the swarming Drowned. I did my part and sent a few Spatial Tears into the rushing monsters. The fact that the monsters were able to take the spell showed that we were getting into more difficult levels of the game. While the spell didn¡¯t rip them apart, they gained a nasty gash across their front or lost a limb if I hit a joint. The tanks used their taunts to pull the monsters and the rest of the players got in close to deal deadly damage. The game had a focus on reality. A sword blade to the eye usually resulted in death no matter the level difference. I was sending another spatial tear into the monsters when I felt something grab my ankle. Before I could react, I was yanked off my feet. The based in reality part came back to bite me as my chin slammed hard against the damp stones. A few screams from around me told me that I wasn¡¯t the only one to have their feet pulled out from under them. From the ground, I looked around for the attacker and found what looked like a shaman in the back of the room. Flinging my hand out, I send a Spatial Tear in the shaman¡¯s direction. There was a spray of blood as the Drowned fell back. The tight grip on my ankle loosened allowing me to pull myself free. The others that were tripped also found themselves free. I climbed to my feet and observed the battle. The first wave of monsters had been defeated and we were moving on to the casters. There was one holdout where another shaman was healing their defenders. I knew healing monsters were going to eventually show up, but they really did make the fight harder. I was contemplating teleporting behind the monster when I noticed Kaga appear from the shadows behind him. There was a blast of black energy from her magic pistol and the shaman collapsed. With their healer gone, the rest of the monsters were quickly dealt with. Once we finished looting the monsters and recovering, we moved onto the next room. ¡°I think this is the last room of the dungeon,¡± Kaga commented as we prepared for whatever was to come. ¡°You¡¯re basis for that?¡± Razz asked. Kaga pointed around the room. ¡°I don¡¯t see any other passages, nor is my ability detecting any hidden passages.¡± The ground started to shake before we could discuss it further. A pool in the back of the room began to bubble as a hand burst from the water. Unlike the Drowned from before, there was only a scattering of scales on this monster. That allowed us to see that it was actually the lord of the manor. ¡°Plot twist,¡± I remarked humorlessly. I should have expected something like this from all the hints that the manor was dropping. The man pulled himself free of the pool and drew a rapier that was rusted but still glowed with enchantment. He gave a gurgling roar as if his lungs were filled with water. With that as his only que, he charged our party. The casters weren¡¯t about to let him get to the party without some harassment. A wave of fireballs and wind blades flew at him. Only one of the fireballs got through some sort of barrier that surrounded the man. Even my Spatial Tear barely left a cut on his arm. ¡°Magic resistant!¡± I shouted though it was obvious enough. Best to let everyone know in case they missed it. Not only was the boss monster magic resistant, but he was a good deal physically resistant too. The tanks¡¯ weapons were hitting the man but were barely leaving a mark. ¡°This is going to be a battle of attrition!¡± ¡°Aim for the portraits!¡± Kaga shouted over the ruckus of the fight. A fireball slammed into one of the portraits on the wall and started to burn the banner. A few seconds later, our weapons started doing more damage. The boss didn¡¯t care for that. He began to glow red indicating that he was entering an enraged state. The casters found another portrait behind a ruined pillar. With a fireball, it was burned to a crisp. The red aura around the boss grew deeper. One of his strikes sent a tank flying several meters. The damage dealt was negligible, but his being sent flying opened the lines. The boss rushed forward before we could recover and impaled a spear user. The man screamed as the weapon was pulled free. Another tank rushed forward to protect him while he was moved back through the lines. A healer began to address the damage, but wounds like that took a lot of mana to repair. He was out of the fight for a while. I teleported around the room looking for more portraits. I found a third one near the back of the room. A fireball changed that. The boss roared in anger as magic started working against him again. I teleported back to the fight and lent my spells to the barrage. The area around the boss glowed with heat and the visual effects of the spells being flung at him. The tanks braved the mess to keep the boss¡¯s attention while dealing what damage they could. Even with all of our attacks landing true, it took nearly five minutes to take the boss down. He was riddled with wounds that would have been too much for the rest of us and still managed to stand firm. Throughout the assault, four people were critically wounded and one was killed. When the boss finally collapsed to the ground, some of us collapsed to the ground breathing heavily from the exertion. That was one rough boss. I drank a potion to recover my mana. I had used a good amount. I never thought I would see a monster that could withstand so many of my Spatial Tears. It might be time for me to upgrade the spell or get a better attack spell for the higher levels. Silence filled the air as we rested. I looked around the party to see how the healers were coming. I was looking toward the first spearman that had gotten impaled when I noticed the pool at the side of the room bubbling like the first one. While it might have been a treasure chest or something like that, my gut said otherwise. Jumping to my feet, I gestured to the pool. ¡°Be on guard! I don¡¯t think this is over yet.¡± The Blood Core - 75 Aurora When we finished off the boss, I was tempted to warn them about the second phase. However, saying anything might have caused some suspicion as to why I knew about it. Thus, I decided to keep my mouth shut. As long as my body survived the encounter, I would be fine. Count Drac was already waiting outside with a considerable force for me to take the core once we finished here. The pool to the side of the room exploded as the wife shown on the banners jumped out and landed with a wet thud. She wore a torn and dirtied wedding gown with old blood patches from wounds. The heads of her children hung from her waist, tied with rusted chains. It was quite a gruesome sight. ¡°Shit! A second phase!¡± Maxwell shouted as the rest of the party took up positions. Our tanks had already suffered from the first phase. It would be rough on them to hold out for another fight. The female boss screamed sounding much like she was at the bottom of the lake as the battle started. She began to chant causing the water around the room to come to life. Much like tentacles, the streams of water whipped at the party members. I faded to the shadows to wait for a good time to strike. Along the walls, the banners that we destroyed before had returned with evil looking portraits of the wife. It was clear that whatever had brought the estate to its current state of ruin had been caused by the wife. Whether that was voluntary or not, well that was probably lost to history. ¡°Magic Defense!¡± Razz shouted. The healers began to cast simple protection spells that reduced the amount of damage received from the magically controlled water. That wasn¡¯t the boss¡¯s only trick. Even as she chanted to control the water, the two heads on her waist began to chant as well. One of the physical damage dealers wasn¡¯t covered completely by the tanks and took a spear sized icicle to his head. The other head created a wave of heated steam that burned to the touch. My arm got caught in the spell as I tried to move out of the way. All this only took a few seconds to transpire, but the party was dealt a heavy blow to their health. Our two healers were already overwhelmed trying to shield from the magic damage and weren¡¯t able to concentrate on healing the damage. ¡°Don¡¯t hold back on the potions!¡± Maxwell yelled over the shouting and screams of confusion. Thankfully, the boss¡¯s attacks stilled allowing us to fight back. The tanks charged the boss using their taunts on her. While she certainly focused on them, defending against magic with a physical shield was hard for them to do. The water was acting like a living creature after all. It was able to bend and twist to avoid the shield and attack the holder. The few archers began pelting the boss with their arrows. The arrows were a hit or miss. The scales of the Drowned offered protection against piercing attacks. The few that struck at least did some damage. Maxwell and the other mages were sending their spells at the boss. Magical was surprisingly affective. The boss screamed as fireballs and blades of wind hit her. I lined up my own attacks when I felt I had a good shot. I was hesitant before about using death magic in front of Maxwell and the others, but none of them seemed to care. Or more likely, they thought that it was part of my darkness skill set. Either way, I was able to do some heavy damage to the monsters thanks to my death magic. That might have been the case before, but when my shot hit the boss this time, she lost her mind. She screamed with renewed fury. ¡°You! You took everything from me with your promises!¡± The veiled eyes of the boss turned to face me even as I was cloaked in darkness. I barely had time to dodge out of the way as a stream of pressurized water ripped through the ground where I was standing. The near beam-like stream of water followed me as I tried to get away. What sort of cheat level skill was this?! I wasn¡¯t about to take it laying down. I charged my own pistols to fire back at the boss as she tore around the room after me. The rest of the party was able to recover their position thanks to me being a distraction. They started to use their skills and spells, but nothing, not even the taunt skills of the tanks was able to pull the boss¡¯s attention from me. As I twisted to turn at the edge of the room, my foot slipped on a puddle of water. I crashed to my side on the ground, surely bruising it in the process. The jet of water sliced through my leg. I was suddenly overwhelmed with pain from the severed limb. That, more than anything, pushed me to get out of the way of the jet of water before it could slice through my neck. I wasn¡¯t ready to expression my first death just yet. I screamed as I leveled my pistols at the boss¡¯s face and unloaded as many death spells as I could in a span of a few seconds. The rest of the party also hammered her with dozens of spells and skills. She was only a meter from me when the boss fell, her and the two heads screaming the entire time to the ground in front of me. When she died, a ghost like figure rose from her body before it rushed at me. As if passed through me, I was able to witness the events of the ruin. This was a manor for a lord long before the forest had earned the name Great Forest. There were hundreds of subject and knights. They weren¡¯t wealthy, but most would say they were happy. One day a man came to the land and managed to entice the wife of the lord. He offered her power, money, beauty, and more. After she fell for his sweet words, she murdered her family by drowning her children and then slitting her husband¡¯s throat. When the man reappeared, he made her into a demon. The man was a Demon Lord. It wasn¡¯t the one that I had painted nor was it the Demon Lord of Contracts. As the woman changed in front of me, she uttered his name. Reaven, the Demon Lord of Avarice. She had a change of heart right at the last minute and the transformation was twisted turning her people into the Drowned. It was a terrible tale and was in poor taste. I rolled over and gasped for air. Not from the vision, but from the pressure on my link that the vision caused. At least the pain in my leg had faded. You weren¡¯t even supposed to feel pain in this bloody game! A debuff icon was in the corner of my eye giving me a visual reminder that I had lost half of my left leg. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Kaga! Are you alright?!¡± Rowena asked kneeling next to me. I didn¡¯t refuse her aid as she rolled me over. Taking a few deep breaths, I nodded. ¡°Yep. Just fine. You got to love those cutscenes.¡± ¡°Oh. You¡¯ll have to tell me later,¡± Rowena said with a chuckle. ¡°Sure thing. For now, can you grab my leg?¡± I asked, pointing at the appendage. Someone from the Jade Collective brought it over. I pulled out a healing potion and poured it on the wound. I then pushed my severed leg against the stump. After a few moments during which I felt some tingling, I was able to move my toes. ¡°Not all better, but good enough,¡± I said after about a minute. ¡°Glad to see that our experiments didn¡¯t go to waste,¡± Razz commented as he drank a health potion. ¡°Only someone like you would actually test cutting off their limbs to figure out what to do about it,¡± I grumbled as I put weight on the limb. When it held, I took a deep breath. I was worried that this being a homunculus might cause the healing to have issues. With the bosses defeated, the looting started. There were about ten pieces between the pair. Combined with the gear that we got from the earlier sections of the dungeon, most of the party got an upgrade. Maxwell brought over a ring that improved Dark magic manipulation for me. I accepted it with thanks. The party made their way back to the entrance. Everyone got ready to teleport everyone back, but I backed away. ¡°I¡¯ll make my way back on foot. I want to scout around here as well.¡± ¡°You sure?¡± Maxwell asked. ¡°Its over a hundred kilometers from here to the town.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± I waved him off. ¡°Besides, that¡¯s only about two hours with my movement skills.¡± ¡°If you say so,¡± Maxwell remarked. He gathered the rest of the party up then teleported away. ¡°Finally,¡± I said once they were all gone. ¡°My thoughts exactly,¡± Zaras said as he and Count Drac along with a small army of Greater Vampires emerged from the forest nearby. ¡°Ah. Zaras. How I¡¯ve missed you,¡± I hummed as I leaned my head against him. ¡°We might be creatures of gore and death, but you smell tens times better compared to those stupid goblins. You would think as players, they would know how to take a freaking bath.¡± ¡°We could smell them from nearly a kilometer away, my queen,¡± Count Drac added. ¡°I¡¯ve learned of an elf town to the south. After we finish here, I want you to find it.¡± ¡°As you wish, my queen,¡± Zaras and Count Drac said at the same time. With the future orders out of the way, we turned and headed into the dungeon. In true game fashion, the dungeon had already reset. Count Drac and the Greaters made easy work of the Drowned. My vampires were a lot more durable than the players at least when it came to physical confrontations. Red and blue blood sprayed in the air as the two forces quite literally bit into each other as they fought. Zaras and the greater vampires that used magic were showing their skill as well. Frozen blood icicles impaled Drowned left and right. Death magic and dark magic made the already dim light nearly greyed out. If we didn¡¯t all have night vision, we would have had trouble seeing in some of the rooms. Roughly an hour passed before we reached the boss¡¯s room again. Everything had reset here as well. Count Drac, Zaras, and the others had already slain the boss once, and I had done so earlier today, so we all knew what to expect. The battle went about as expected. A few Greater vampires took the brunt of the damage with one dying from an unlucky strike to the head, but that was the worst of the damage. I made sure not to use death magic against the wife phase of the boss, so I was able to avoid the crazy enragement that happened earlier. My vampires used blood magic to heal each other. Unlike the player party, just about every member of my party were able to heal each other since vampires came equipped with blood magic. A bit cheaty, but the game was never designed for something like this to take place. Not that I was going to complain to anyone. ¡°Now then,¡± I said as I dried my hands off. ¡°Time to find the core.¡± A good ten minutes went by when Zaras called me over to a section of the wall. A wall painting covered it nicely, showing the family that was at the root of the story here. Zaras placed his hand against the head of one of the children in the painting. A rune lit up before the painting began to move to the side. Being careful, we headed into the hidden passage. There was a downward slope that pushed us further under the lake. When it leveled out, we came to what looked like a dead end, except for the pool in front of us. That was pretty smart, a nature barrier of sorts. ¡°I guess we¡¯re swimming,¡± I said before I jumped into the pool. I hadn¡¯t swum in ten years, so it took a minute to come back to me. Just being digital didn¡¯t make it easy. After a bit of a struggle, I started moving forward. It took me nearly four minutes to reach the end of the flooded tunnel. I was glad that this body didn¡¯t technically have to breathe, but the sensation of pressure on my lungs was unpleasant all the same. Coming to the surface, I pulled myself up on the ledge. Zaras and Count Drac pulled themselves out next to me. I had to quickly look away from the pair as I found it hard not to burst out laughing at their appearance. Zaras was dressed in robes and looked like a drowned rat as the cloth stuck to him, while Count Drac had water pouring out of his armor from dozens of places. I was impressed that they had managed to swim with that getup at all. Looking around the room, I found it was the end of the road. The Lake Ruin core floated in the middle of the room over a pedestal. I thought it was in poor taste, as the pedestal was made from two headless bodies. Judging from their size, it was easy to assume that they were the wife¡¯s children. Ignoring the nasty decoration, I walked over and placed my hand on the core. -- Accessing Core Data. Access granted to Dungeon Master. Dungeon: Lake Ruin. Owner: N/A Dungeon Core: Drowned Level:7 Mana:574/7,000 Claim dungeon ownership: Y/N? -- I clicked yes, of course. There was a change in the air as my claim asserted itself. Moving over to the wall, I took a set then let my mind return to my real body. Then with a quick use of Shadow Walk, I teleported over to the Lake Ruin dungeon. Using Death Sight, I checked how far my influence expanded. I was able to move through a good chunk of the forest now. Dungeon Core Claimed: Lake Ruin. You have claimed three Dungeon cores as a dungeon master. You are the first in the world to achieve such a feat! Your prowess as a Dungeon Master continues to grow! One free monster unlock awarded. I wasn¡¯t too worried about getting more monsters to summon at the moment, but it was nice to have it at my disposal. My vampires were almost too versatile. Again, not that I was going to complain. I looked over to Count Drac. ¡°You know the deal. I¡¯ll have a replacement ready for you at Nature¡¯s Grotto.¡± ¡°Yes, my queen,¡± Count Drac bowed. I nodded appreciatively, then walked over to my Kaga body. I picked it up then looked over to Zaras. ¡°Want a ride back to the dungeon?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯ll stay and scout around here,¡± he replied. ¡°You never know what sort of threat might be hiding for us.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± I paid to have skilled help. Using Shadow Walk, I moved myself and my Kaga body back to my main dungeon. That would save me two hours¡¯ worth of walking back to the town. The Blood Core - 76 Maxwell The noon day sun leaked through the forest canopy as I sat on a branch. It was time for the contract signers to arrive to head to the town. Almost thirty people had signed up, and so far only ten had shown up, all of them were of the goblin race. Unlike the NPC goblins that had very little variety, the player goblins were almost crazy in their physical features. Every goblin I had seen so far had been green, but the players were grey, red, orange, and even purple. The purple goblin looked sick when compared to the other goblins, but I would keep that to myself. So far, I only knew of one person that wouldn¡¯t be a goblin which was Agatha, however, there was a chance that she might not show since she had only been in Eblos for quests at the time. Either way, If the players didn¡¯t arrive by the set time, the deal was called off. Though, they still had almost three more hours. The players that had already arrived appeared to be in good spirits and getting along. I wasn¡¯t too worried, at least in the short term. The players had all signed contracts that forbade them from harming my nation. Most were for six months, and hopefully that would allow me to get a good grasp of the players as individuals. Two hours passed as I fought the urge to take a nap. A few more players had shown up during the time, but we were still missing over fifteen. Yawning, I was about to nod off when I heard the flapping of wings. I knew it wasn¡¯t a bird since the sound was from a large creature. Glancing around to make sure that it wasn¡¯t a monster attack, I spotted the angel from the battle a few days ago. She landed near the goblins sticking out like a sore thumb. Not only did she tower over them, but she had gone the classic angel route and made her avatar very good looking. A sort of Greek beauty with blond hair and porcelain white skin that nearly caused the light to reflect off her skin. I had missed the wings during the fight the other day, it had all happened so fast. Next, in an almost complete contrast to Agatha, a man emerged from the shadows under the trees near her. He was tall as well, with sleek black hair and black eyes. Two horns grew from his head with strange runes carved on them. A demon. I knew a few players played the race, but it was my first time seeing one. Though, to be fair, I hadn¡¯t exactly played long enough to see many races. Watching from my perch, it at least appeared that the pair were on good terms. Norrix also seemed to get along with the other players. Just because he was playing a demon didn¡¯t make him evil. Though, I had to admit that I wanted to keep him away from Aurora. She seemed to have an evil vibe going. After another hour passed, only four more people arrived. That put my total just under twenty. With one angel, one demon, fifteen goblins and two trolls, the total came to nineteen. It also looked like there was a mix of classes. I would have to sit with them all to learn what our group was gaining. That was still a considerable force to be added to my little community. Taking a deep breath, I teleported to the edge of the clearing. Might as well make a good entrance. Those that were sitting down, jumped to their feet at my appearance. I waited to make sure no weapons were pulled on me before I approached them. ¡°Welcome to Alflona! I want to thank everyone here for accepting my offer and pulling out of the Punitive forces from the goblin nation.¡± The purple goblin strode over to the front of the group. ¡°No problem, mate! Most of us were ready to leave the goblin nation. Your offer came at the best possible time.¡± The man inside the goblin must have been from the United Kingdom. He had a strong British accent. I glanced at his name. ¡°Poixon, is it?¡± I asked, making sure I was pronouncing it right. He nodded with a grin. ¡°I know none of us expected to be in this sort of situation. I was just a college student a few months ago. This world¡­ Is our new home whether we like it or not. Let¡¯s try to make it a good place since we¡¯re going to be here for a long time.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°I¡¯m down!¡± Poixon replied with a fist to his chest. The rest of the players cheered. ¡°I¡¯ve got the plots of land I promised ready for you all. We should be able to build you something to live in easily enough, but we¡¯re still in development. Any help you can offer to resource gathering, crafting, or any services that you have would be appreciated. We¡¯re slowly getting the economy off the ground, but I warn you that we¡¯re pretty remote.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll just be glad not to have to see a mounted head on a stick,¡± a goblin that I realized was a woman remarked. It was hard to tell. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± the goblin next to her remarked. ¡°I think not seeing feces on the streets might be nicer.¡± ¡°Why did you want to play as goblins in the first place, dear?¡± she asked with a sigh, though I had a feeling it was something that she said often to the man. He just rubbed his head with a small smile. ¡°We can talk all we want later,¡± Norrix said with a hushed voice. ¡°I don¡¯t care to stand around in the middle of the forest as we get to know each other.¡± ¡°Norrix!¡± Agatha hissed as she smacked him over the head. ¡°Is that really necessary?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been camping out here for a week!¡± He shot back. ¡°I want a bath!¡± I laughed at the exchange. I felt like these people would add some color to my town. ¡°Alright. Alright. We¡¯ll get to know each other better at dinner tonight. We¡¯re holding a feast to celebrate our victory and your arrival.¡± I rubbed my hands together. ¡°Who¡¯s ready to see their new home?¡± With a quick teleport, that skill really was too handy, I delivered the new arrivals to my town. With a quick tour, I handed out the plots of land that I had set aside. There were a few debates about who wanted which ones, but most didn¡¯t complain about getting a free plot of land. However, I decided I couldn¡¯t offer a deal like this too often. You never realize how much land it was until you gave it away. I let Sasha know that everyone had arrived before I went back to my own duties. I was about to enter the command center when Agatha appeared overhead. She waved then landed next to me. ¡°Maxwell. Or should I address you as Lord Maxwell?¡± ¡°Just Maxwell is fine,¡± I replied waving her inside. We settled down at my desk. ¡°I wanted to thank you again for freeing me from the NPC that was controlling me. You have no idea what kind of nightmare it was to have most of your actions restricted. It was like I was stuck in a dream that I couldn¡¯t wake up from.¡± ¡°Yikes. I don¡¯t even want to imagine.¡± I would need to take precautions against mind-control spells and skills. ¡°I honestly thought you were going back to your original lands. Something tells me you weren¡¯t playing as an angel from the Eblos.¡± Agatha laughed shaking her head. ¡°I thought about it but decided against it. There are no doubt a lot of players in the Holy Empire.¡± She crossed her arms and stared off into the distance. ¡°We both know that humans are cruel. It is only a matter of time before someone finds an exploit that makes life miserable for the rest of us. Finding a place separate from the masses affords some manner of protection.¡± ¡°Yes. That¡¯s one of the many topics that we¡¯ve had since this started. Players are more or less immortal. While age might come into play in a few years, that¡¯s not an immediate concern.¡± While I was more concerned about just making a place to live comfortably while dealing with the trouble that seemed to find its way into my lap, I did lay awake at night thinking about the future. ¡°So tell me, Lord Maxwell,¡± Agatha said with a smirk, ¡°What would you like me to do around here?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really have¡ª¡± The door exploding off its hinges cut me off. Lapis strode in like she owned the place, one of the goblin player¡¯s neck was grasped in her hand. ¡°Maxwell!¡± Lapis hissed, actually hissed at me. I felt like she was barely holding back from turning into a dragon. ¡°Lapis! What¡­ What¡¯s the matter?¡± I asked concerned. I just prayed that I wasn¡¯t about to lose Alflona the very day I let the new players into my town. ¡°This man insulted me!¡± She easily lifted the goblin up into the air. ¡°He called me a child!¡± I rubbed my head. It really wasn¡¯t goblin¡¯s fault. Lapis looked like a child in her current state. ¡°Let him go. I haven¡¯t had a chance to warn them about you.¡± She looked like she wanted to argue, but she dropped him all the same. Coughing painfully, the man backed away from Lapis like she was plague. ¡°I was just worried! She was wondering the woods all on her own!¡± He said brokenly as his voice came back. ¡°Agatha, and,¡± I checked his name. ¡°And Boned. Meet Lapis. She is our resident overpowered¡­ individual. Don¡¯t test her. She can level the entire area with ease.¡± I couldn¡¯t exactly tell them she was a dragon. While they might run for their lives, they are just as likely to try and hunt her. While I didn¡¯t care for her attitude most of the time, she was a nice trump card to have around in case of emergency. ¡°And don¡¯t forget it!¡± Lapis growled as she stormed out of the office. The Blood Core - 77 Aurora There was smoke rising from the command center when I arrived in the town. Curious as to what might have attacked Maxwell, I made my way over to find that the front of the building had been blown off. I was about to ask what happened when Lapis emerged from the hole with an annoyed expression. Watching her walk away, I couldn¡¯t help but think of the phrase, if looks could kill. No doubt, if someone crossed her before she cooled down, someone was going to die. After a few moments, a woman that appeared to be of the angel race along with a goblin emerged with Maxwell behind them. Maxwell gestured for the crowd of people to disperse. ¡°Nothing to see here people. Just a misunderstanding,¡± he shouted. The crowd which was a mixture of players and NPCs began to thin out. I tried to join the precession, as I just wanted to get back to my cabin so I could transfer back to my dungeon, but Maxwell saw me before I could disappear into the sea of people. ¡°Kaga! I¡¯m glad you made it back in one piece.¡± Unable to escape, I sighed and turned to face him with my best smile. ¡°I wish I could say the same for your building,¡± I remarked glancing behind him. ¡°Tell me about it.¡± He shook his head clearly bothered by it. ¡°Take it from me, be careful with the NPCs you befriend.¡± ¡°Noted. What happened anyway?¡± ¡°You know, just simple misunderstanding. The goblin guy thought Lapis was a lost child in the woods. I¡¯m sure you can figure out what happened next.¡± I chuckled at the thought. ¡°He¡¯s lucky to be alive and you know it. Though, I might charge him for the damage done to your town.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good idea, but I feel like he¡¯d resent me for a long time, and too be honest, I have enough enemies as it is.¡± ¡°True.¡± I was one of his biggest. I wonder how he¡¯d feel if he knew. ¡°Anyway, if I remember correctly, you¡¯re going to the city tomorrow?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. A lot of people need to see trainers and masters to level their class and skills. We¡¯ll probably be gone most of the day.¡± ¡°Take care not to piss anyone else off while you¡¯re gone,¡± I said with a laugh as I turned to walk away. ¡°We might be immortal but someone¡¯s going to figure out how to make immortality a nightmare before long.¡± My journey through the town was uneventful after that. Only a few people were really on speaking terms with my Kaga form. That was by choice of course. It was easier to go my own pace if I wasn¡¯t being hounded by everyone that saw me. Even just the pleasantries that I exchanged on my way to my house in the town cost me several minute of my time. Once I was in the quiet of my room, I was able to unwind some. I quickly checked to make sure the coast was clear then hid my body. After the room was secure, I let my mind return to my body in my main dungeon. With another thought, I was in my Aru body in Twisted Webs. ¡°Quin. Report.¡± The Greater demon appeared from the shadows of my chamber. ¡°Everything was quiet while you were gone.¡± ¡°Good deal.¡± I leaned my head back against the pillow on the bed then accessed the city menu. Twisted Webs has encountered the Deep Dwarves of Bingran. Current Relation: Tense. Diplomacy: Possible. As Twisted Webs has merged with Scarlet Night, hostilities have subsided as Bingran accesses your nation. Interesting. I hadn¡¯t had any plans to start any conflict in the Labyrinth other than to increase Twisted Webs defenses. I was still trying to think of a way to reignite hostilities between Alflona and Eblos so that I could get more of that sweet Experience without being seen as the main culprit. I placed a hand on my temple as I focus on Roland. With some effort, I created a telepathic link. Judging from the effort it took, he was at least seventy to a hundred kilometers from my dungeon aura. ¡°Yes, my queen?¡± Roland asked as he felt my connection form. ¡°I would like a report. You encountered deep dwarves?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes, my lady. We ran into them during our scouting roughly thirty kilometers from the city edge. I suspect they were a scouting party as well. When they saw that we were not Archane, they made haste to retreat.¡± ¡°What did you think of them, threat wise?¡± I hadn¡¯t encountered any dwarves yet. If they were lore accurate, then they would be durable, physically strong, with access to considerable earth magic. ¡°They would be harder to subjugate than the goblins. Their weapons and armor were much higher level than that of our previous foes. Judging from the speed of their retreat, should it come to conflict, our speed will be a turning point,¡± He reported. He really was my best military advisor. I ran my hand through my hair as I thought about this new problem. The Archnea weren¡¯t defenseless. They just lacked magical resources. That made them easy prey to those that did have access to magic. ¡°Continue scouting. Work up some defensive positions that will be easy to defend in the event of an attack. I also want you to search for Bingram. I want to know where our enemies lay their heads if it comes to it.¡± ¡°I shall see to it right away.¡± I sent my appreciation then cut the telepathic link. Roland was good at what he did. That was why I hated being suspicious of him over Losa¡¯s death. If I knew he was innocent, I would have spent the mana to raise him to Paragon rank. ¡°The shadows of this world are deep and dark,¡± I mumbled to myself. I hoped to my feet deciding that a change of pace would be good. I made my way through my dungeon until I arrived at the Legendary Mural of the demon lords that I painted over a month ago. My artist skill had finally refreshed from its one-month cooldown. I felt it was time to try my hand at something new. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The question was what should I paint? I closed my eyes as I thought. It would be nice if I could speak to Rezdona. She was the only active Demon lord at the moment. ¡°You rang?¡± I jumped at the voice. My eyes flew open, and I found myself in the resort paradise that Rezdona called home. Sighing, I took a seat across from her. ¡°I didn¡¯t know I was able to talk to you so easily.¡± ¡°Not easily, but it is possible. Tonight, we just happened to be on the same¡­ wavelength,¡± She replied with a sultry smirk. ¡°I see.¡± I crossed my arms. ¡°So, what have you been up to since we last spoke?¡± She spread out on her ottoman. She really made a case for being the Demon Lord of Beauty. ¡°This and that, dear child. Things are changing in interesting ways. You¡­ travelers. I wish you lot had been around in my previous incarnation.¡± ¡°The travelers?¡± I asked, surprised. ¡°What are they doing?¡± ¡°All sorts of things. Bloodshed, murder, looting, and general evil. It is like you can not control yourselves.¡± She pulled in a deep breath. ¡°It is a good~ time to be a demon lord.¡± ¡°Is that so,¡± I replied, not looking at her. I really couldn¡¯t argue. I wasn¡¯t exactly operating with the best of humanity in mind. ¡°I saw a vision of Avarice. Reaven, I think it was.¡± ¡°Annoying man.¡± Rezdona said with the flip of her hand. ¡°Always horning in on everyone else¡¯s territory. Contracts especially. He was always making twisted deals that more or less always ended poorly for those involved.¡± ¡°Could he bring back Losa?¡± I asked. ¡°No, but it wouldn¡¯t matter. Unlike the rest of us, Reaven was one of the few demon lords that actually found death. Quite an achievement for something that is supposed to be immortal.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± I was thinking all the demon lords were alive and were simply sealed away. ¡°That¡¯s too bad. I was planning on painting him to see if I could unseal him as well. Could I unseal Astrar like I did for you?¡± I asked hopefully. While I was making strides, the dungeon that contained Astrar was still nearly seven hundred kilometers away. That was at least seven dungeons to be able to reach him with my real body then there was the whole unsealing him ordeal that I would have to figure out. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± Rezdona shook her head. ¡°Other than me, there¡¯s probably only one other Demon Lord that you can unseal through the same method.¡± ¡°Oh, who would that be?¡± I asked since I made them the subject of my mural. ¡°Sazzaz, the Demon Lord of Whimsy and Fools. Not exactly my ideal choice of a date.¡± Rezdona replied. ¡°She was very¡­ unstable, to say the least.¡± ¡°Sounds like a basket case.¡± I sighed and leaned back in my seat. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll find something else to draw.¡± ¡°Speaking of powers beyond the pale, I smell a certain amount of dust and decay from you compared to last time.¡± Rezdona even made a show of spraying some perfume. ¡°Have you been flirting with something that is better left untouched.¡± I thought about whether I should lie or not, but I had a feeling that she already knew what exactly I had done. Something told me that she knew a lot more about my daily life than she was letting on, but I didn¡¯t exactly have a way to force her to explain herself. ¡°I joined the cult of Death.¡± ¡°Oh lovely. Where do you live again, I¡¯m going to stay far away from it,¡± she said sarcastically. ¡°What?¡± I asked surprised by her tone. ¡°Death is something beyond everything. Everything dies, even us. That is a lot of power to be sure, but¡­¡± Rezdona paused as she picked up an fruit that resembled an apple, though its skin was golden. ¡°Death demands a lot. Scarfice, offerings, and more usually. The last time someone of true power got in line with Death, let¡¯s just say an entire continent was turned to ash by the end of it.¡± I gulped not realizing that the implications were quite so far reaching. ¡°I¡¯ll take that under advisement, but I might have already dug my grave,¡± I replied with a shrug. ¡°Exactly, hence why I asked where you live so I can stay away.¡± The scene around us flickered slightly. My dungeon started to impose over the paradise visage. ¡°Looks like our time is up. It was nice talking to you.¡± ¡°You too,¡± I replied getting up. ¡°Ah, By the way. I think Fate is about to offer you another chance to become a Demon Lord. Since you¡¯re in league with Death, I would take it. You¡¯ll have plenty of sacrifices to offer him with all the people coming for you.¡± The scene finished breaking apart and I was back in my dungeon. Glancing at the time, I found that only a minute had passed even though it had been closer to ten or more. Talking with Rezdona was like talking to a good friend. I knew she probably had ulterior motives, but I learned a bit more about the power I had access to every time. I saw it as a sort of give and take. ¡°That still doesn¡¯t solve my issue of what I wanted to create,¡± I murmured. I walked over to a blank section of wall next to my first mural. Placing my hand on the spot, I tried to spark some sort of epiphany. Instead, I got a brutal headache as an image of Death¡¯s face appeared in my head. Before I could stop myself, I slipped into the trance that marked my artist side taking over. When I snapped out of it, I fell back at the sight in front of me. Unlike the mural from before, this one was different. Death was at the center of the picture, while the world seemed to revolve around him. I meant that quite literally, as the painting was moving. The only part that was unmoving was Death at the center. The scenes on the edges were in constant flux. Some were horrifying, while others were almost peaceful. All of them depicted creatures dying. -- Mural of Death ¨C Legendary. You have created a work of art that will shake the foundations of the world and perhaps beyond. Death is known as the one sure truth of the world. Feared by all, welcomed by some, resisted by most. As an apostle of Death, you have solidified a link to the world of the living from the world of the dead. What this means will only be seen in time. As a dungeon core, the artwork has been endued with magic, allowing it to persist through the ages of time. Reward: Reaper. Personal: Night Queen -> Demon Lord of Death. Legendary Painting created. Cooldown ¨C Two months. Artist title awarded. -- New Summon Unlock: Reaper ¨C A spectral being created by Death to serve as his arms and legs in the mortal realm. They hunt those that would deny death his claim. Limit per dungeon: 1. The air crackled around me. For the second time in as many days, an intense pain hit rushed through my body. I fell to the ground as the air in my lungs was ripped out. I wasn¡¯t sure how long I suffered whatever was happening, but when it passed, I was extremely happy. I rolled over and dropped to the ground. I hadn¡¯t even had a chance to consider what Rezdona had said about becoming a Demon Lord. Now I had it thrust into my lap. As I collected myself, I saw a rift in the air above me. I sat up getting a better look when a skeletal hand burst out of the rift. In a matter of seconds, the rest of the skeleton pulled itself free from the rift. I scooted back against the wall. The skeleton only stayed like that for a few moments. Flesh appeared then skin revealing a fairly beautiful woman. A cloak soon covered her body from my prying eyes. She floated down to the floor after her show. I was sure that this person wasn¡¯t a threat to me, but I wasn¡¯t quite sure what she was to begin with. Once her feet were solidly on the ground, she turned and knelt to me. ¡°Lady Aurora. I have come to serve you at my master¡¯s command.¡± ¡°And you are?¡± I asked as I pulled myself off the ground. ¡°Vhix. Reaper.¡± ¡°A reaper, but I hadn¡¯t summoned you yet,¡± I remarked. Had I accidentally summoned her during my fit of pain. ¡°I am a gift from Lord Death.¡± ¡°I see.¡± I rubbed my head not sure what to do with her now that she was here. ¡°For now, just hang out with me until I have something for you to do.¡± ¡°As you command,¡± She got up and fell in line behind me. I was momentarily distracted by her eyes which had been closed until this moment. They were amazing! I had never seen anything quite like them. They were jet black, but it was like I was looking into an abyss. The longer I stared, the deeper it went. Such a thing should be terrifying, but I was memorized. The trance was finally broken when she blinked. That was going to be an issue, but I had more pressing matters to deal with, such as the numerous notifications that I had just gotten. The Blood Core - 78 Maxwell I despaired as I stared at the hole in my command building. Unlike when I constructed something, repairing buildings enforced a timer on the structure. It would be ten hours before the building was in one piece again. Sighing at the sight, I shook my head and continued on my way. Near a tower towards the center of the town, everyone that was heading to the city was waiting for my arrival. I paused to examine the tower. There were a few of them in the town now. The black metal encased a glowing purple stone at the tower. It looked more like a piece of art than a defense weapon. Spotting Rowena, I waved. ¡°Good morning!¡± She looked me over. ¡°I would say the same, but it doesn¡¯t look like you slept much.¡± I shrugged. ¡°What can I say, worry is the best coffee.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that the truth,¡± she said patting me on the shoulder. ¡°We can put this off until tomorrow if you¡¯d like.¡± ¡°I appreciate your worry, but I doubt I¡¯ll be able to sleep for the next couple days.¡± ¡°Seriously, what¡¯s got you so wound up?¡± ¡°Lapis and the newcomers. One thing goes wrong and we lose everything we¡¯ve worked for these last few months.¡± I ran my hand through my hair. ¡°This might sound wrong, but I actually enjoy my life here. I only had my dad back on Earth and we weren¡¯t exactly on speaking terms. My work aspects weren¡¯t the best and as you know I wasn¡¯t doing my best in school either.¡± ¡°Yes, I recall the late-night study sessions,¡± Rowena chuckled. I straightened up and steeled myself. ¡°I¡¯m going to do everything I can to protect my place in this world.¡± She gave me a small smile. ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡± Giving her a nod, I walked past her to the rest of the group. ¡°Alright everyone! We¡¯re about to make the jump to Black Tail. I¡¯ve confirmed with Glistening Dawn that the area is peaceful for the moment, but hostilities might erupt any minute, so be on guard. I would like to make Black Tail an ally in the future, so act as if you are ambassadors.¡± ¡°I just hope they¡¯ll act us in the training sector,¡± Razz commented with a grimace. ¡°Some times this racial divide thing can get annoying.¡± ¡°Tell me about it,¡± I replied with my own scowl. Dark elves were already prosecuted on a regular basis. As a void elf, it was even worse. I smacked my cheeks to get rid of the thoughts. I had chosen my bed, I would lie in it. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I plan on increasing my NPC trainers as soon as I can. The requirements are just a bit difficult to achieve.¡± ¡°Take your time boss. We all know you¡¯re already working hard for our little community.¡± I nodded my thanks. ¡°Well then, let¡¯s get under way.¡± The party joined hands as I moved next to the tower. It was a nice little addition to my town. One of seven in fact. Now that I had a decently steady supply of mana stones, I was able to expand many features of the town. One of these features were mana collectors. In times of peace, they passively gathered mana from the air to be used during sieges or offenses. Given that even my walls were mana based, the system would be drained quickly if we came under concentrated attack, but it was better than having no fallback. What was really cool about the system was that I could use it for personal spells. Placing my hand on the tower, I accessed the considerable pool of mana. Combined with my mana pool, I had nearly fifty thousand mana at my fingertips. With a look over the group, I activated my teleport spell landing us in the clearing right outside of the Black Tail. ¡°We¡¯ll have to hopscotch our way back, but it should only take a few minutes with Ulic with us and his amazing Mana Share skill,¡± I said gesturing to the man. ¡°Other than that, I guess we¡¯ll met back here in¡­ five hours?¡± ¡°Sounds good to us,¡± Sasha remarked after getting nods from her people. Razz gave me a thumbs up. ¡°I like it, though if they kick us out, we¡¯ll be waiting here for you.¡± ¡°I sent Glistening Dawn a message. I think she should be meeting us at the entrance,¡± I said, rechecking my friend¡¯s message. With everything in order, we headed for the city. There were quite a few patrols on the roads and the surrounding areas of the city. It looked like Glistening Dawn wasn¡¯t taking any chances. ReilArch might have been dealt with, but he was a player. There was no telling what he had available at his disposal, including friends. Our mixed race group got a few looks from the beastkins working the fields as well as the patrols, but no one stopped us. Even before the change the game, players had a unique place in the world. It was good to see that there was still a fraction of that in effect. Otherwise, a band of goblins would normally be attacked on sight. ¡°So far so good,¡± Razz mumbled next to me. ¡°Positive thoughts, my friend, positive thoughts,¡± I said patting his back. Rather than Razz and his lot, I was actually worried about myself. Players might be one thing, but I planned to speak with the vendors and some NPC trainers myself. As a void elf, it was up in the air whether anything might come of it. I just hoped I wasn¡¯t attacked by a hostile mob. We finally reached the gates to the city. I waved when I spotted Glistening Dawn. The Deer beastkin waved back. ¡°Welcome, friends of Maxwell.¡± Glistening Dawn used a noble tone, as if roleplaying. I couldn¡¯t blame her; I did the same a lot of times when I was conversing with the NPCs in my own town. ¡°Glistening Dawn. Glad to see you!¡± I grinned. Glistening Dawn gave a deep bow. ¡°I would like to thank you for your help at that time. Ah, just call me Dawn.¡± ¡°Its wasn¡¯t exactly difficult for me.¡± It really wasn¡¯t since all I had to do was teleport a few times. Something I did on a daily basis. Dawn laughed then shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s almost scary.¡± She gave us all passes that would assure our safety while in the city as long as we upheld the rules and laws of her territory. After that, everyone dispersed and went their own way. I soon found myself on my own, even Rowena taking off to handle her affairs. I had a list of things I wanted to do, so I went to my first stop. Black Tail Adventuring Union. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Much like Galim, there weren¡¯t that many players working the quests. At least, there weren¡¯t as many drunk in the corner. I walked over to the counter. The receptionist gave me her best customer serve smile. ¡°Welcome to the Black Tail Adventuring Union. How may I help you today?¡± ¡°Excuse me, I signed up at Galim. I wanted to know if my membership was still valid here.¡± Her smile never wavered. ¡°I believe they should have told you, but your application expires after a week. Besides, it would have only been valid in the area that you signed up.¡± Oka wasn¡¯t exactly the prime receptionist back in Galim, but I did remember her saying it was only valid for a week. ¡°Ah! You¡¯re right. I remember now. Thanks. I¡¯m going to take a look at the quests before I decide whether to sign up here.¡± ¡°Sure thing, please see the bulletin board.¡± I nodded my appreciation then headed over to the board. Since I hadn¡¯t filled out the paperwork, I had to use this terminal to access the list. Once I was near the board, the quest icon appeared. I clicked it to get a feel of what was going on in the area. I noted that there were a lot of bandit slaying quests. There were also quite a few resource quests. It looked like lethargy was present here in the players as well. ¡°Nothing that I want to devote a lot of time too right now,¡± I said after I went through the list to the bottom. Dawn was doing a good job keeping her territory in order. Just a few charismatic players were enough to motivate the others. I went back to the receptionist and thanked her for her help then left. The next location on my list was just a few streets down. A sparkling white tower that seemed to gleam in the morning light. There had to be some sort of spell on it to make it look that radiantly clean. There were more people here than at the Union, but after studying them for a minute, I found that most of them were NPCs. Inside, I felt like I had entered a bank and a library that had been fused together. There was a large lobby that led to a group of receptionists. Behind them there were shelves upon shelves of books. There were armored guards wherever I looked along with hawked eyes magic users. One wrong move in here and you might not make it out to talk about it. I joined the line for one of the receptionists. When it was finally my turn, I had the misfortune of being attended to by a surface elf. He glared at me with such hatred that I nearly took a step back. ¡°How may I be of serve today?¡± he asked, clearly using every ounce of his artificial willpower to control himself. ¡°I just wanted to take a look at your catalogue of spells,¡± I said with my own smile. ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯d be able to understand them. You are a subsurface substitute made by a lesser god, after all.¡± My eye twitched but I managed to keep my smile. ¡°That might be true, but thankfully for me, that¡¯s not up to you to decide. Please let me see the list,¡± I retorted. I wasn¡¯t about to back down. The receptionist¡¯s smile vanished. He looked like he was about to commit violence at any moment. He glanced over to the guards. I pulled out the pass from Glistening Dawn and placed it on the counter. ¡°I would think before you act. As a mage, I¡¯m sure you understand that,¡± I said quietly. He narrowed his eyes at me but finally pulled out a massive book and slammed it down in front of me. The boom was loud enough to cause the people around us to flinch. ¡°Please. Take your time,¡± he said twitching even more. ¡°Thank you very much.¡± I opened the book and began to completely ignore the receptionist. Unlike the mage tower I had constructed in my town, the list of spells available here was much longer. I was even able to see spells that had actual level requirements. As I browsed the list, I was becoming even more impressed with Glistening Dawn¡¯s mage tower. She had clearly invested a lot of gold into the structure. After nearly five minutes, I found a few spells that I wouldn¡¯t mind having at my disposal. Sadly, I didn¡¯t have nearly enough gold for them currently. There was one spell that I had enough gold for though, that I couldn¡¯t resist. ¡°I¡¯d like this Lightning Strike spell.¡± Ten seconds went by without a reply. I looked up from the book and returned the receptionist¡¯s glare with one of my own. Finally, the man gave in. ¡°Right away.¡± He handed me a scroll and I found myself a thousand gold poorer. I sighed as I left the Mages¡¯ Tower. I would have to avoid surface elves for the time being. At least until I found a way to deal with the overwhelming loathing that they had for my race. With my personal business done for my trip into the city, I headed to a more official destination. Heading away from the busy city center, I found myself surrounded by warehouses, lumberyards, blacksmiths, and more. The noise was hard on the ears. I never noticed until now that my elven body had extremely acute hearing. Every hammer blow was like a blow right to my head. It was almost worse since I wasn¡¯t actually feeling pain. The sensation was odd to say the least. Struggling through the headache, I arrived at the Construction guild. Thankfully, there was some soundproofing as I entered the main lobby. Men and women that were more jacked them most of the guards that I had seen so far were moving around with construction materials slung over their shoulders. It was made even more impressive since most of them were beastkin. Seeing an Oxen man carry what had to be hundreds of kilograms of lumber was truly a sight to behold. I glanced around to make sure I wasn¡¯t going to be dealing with another elf, then sighed in relief when I didn¡¯t see one. I walked up to the counter where a cute beastkin fox was serving as receptionist. ¡°Welcome to the Worker¡¯s Union!¡± After the disrespectful elf from the mage¡¯s tower, this treatment was amazing. ¡°Hi. I am a Lord for a little settlement in the Great Forest. I was hoping to get a look at the building schematics that you might have on record.¡± ¡°Of course! Of course! Browse all you want,¡± she purred, I think, as she pulled out a book much like the one from the Mage¡¯s Tower. It was wider, and as I opened it, I realized why. It was a book of blueprints after all. The buildings schematics were similar to those that you might see in the real world. Then again, the ones that I had seen in the real world were only in movies. I had no idea just how accurate they were. I flipped through the offerings. I already had access to most of the beginning structures. There were a few unique options as well as upgrades that I could add onto my structures that I had already constructed. I only went through a few dozen and found that I would love to buy most of them. One blueprint I did find was for this game¡¯s version of an apartment complex. Unlike the ones I was able to build at the moment that only housed five max. These would be able to house over a hundred people with ease. They were expensive to build, but when I did the math, they came out cheaper than constructing enough houses for my current immigration rate. ¡°How much for this blueprint?¡± I asked pointing it out to the receptionist. She glanced at the book then back at me with a grin that really drove home that she was part fox. ¡°Five thousand gold.¡± ¡°Can you¡­ can you lower it some?¡± ¡°Fine. Four thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine gold,¡± ¡°Umm¡­¡± ¡°Oh, and ninety-nine silver.¡± She didn¡¯t blink a single time. I dropped my head with a sigh. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll be back when I have enough.¡± I really had to get some trade deals going. A broke Lord simply couldn¡¯t operate in this game for long. I returned my gaze back to the book and went ahead and looked at a few of the more advanced structures. There was plenty to look forward to. There was a spell matrix structure that was able to cast spells over my entire territory, gardens that grew enough food for thousands of people, orchards that were able to produce hundreds of units of wood a week or more. Seeing all this made me realize that the Lords really had a lot of benefits. It also marked just how hard it might be to fight another lord in the future. I was actually glad the Razz had decided to be my Vassal. Dealing with just a few of these things would have been a headache so close to home. I handed the book back then left the Construction Union. That really completed my goals for today. The mage¡¯s Tower hadn¡¯t had Void magic, so that was a bust. I would have to find somewhere else to gain knowledge on that. Since I was done, I decided to head back to the meeting point. I could have teleported, but I wanted to enjoy the city for a bit longer. Plus, you never know what you might encounter during your walk. I really should learn not to expect good things. I had barely started walking when the air rippled from outside the city. -- A new Demon Lord has been born. Aurora, Demon Lord of Death has risen from the night. Mortals! Prepare your armies! Choose your side! -- The Blood Core - 79 Aurora A new Demon Lord has been born. Aurora, Demon Lord of Death has risen from the night. Mortals! Prepare your armies! Choose your side! -- You have been elevated to Demon Lord by the Absolute Being: Death as a reward for your faithful servitude. You have brought glory and renown to Death. Rejoice at the honor! Continue to serve Death until it is your turn to join the countless beings that will fall to your blade. Unlocked Death Magic ¨C Absolute Control. You control of Death magic is boosted to the extreme. As a servant of Death, few will be able to stop your magic. Death magic is more effective! You are even able to prevent death from taking hold, but Death does not like to be denied what is his. Proceed with caution. Level Difference debuff reduced by twenty levels. New spells: Death''s Grasp: By channeling Death magic, the caster can immobilize their target, binding them with spectral chains that drain their energy and restrict their movements. Gravefire Burst: This spell summons ethereal flames from the realm of Death, creating explosions that burn with spectral fire, causing both physical and spiritual harm to enemies. Cursed Plague: The caster unleashes a contagious curse upon their foes, infecting them with a deadly plague that drains their life force and spreads to others. As a demon lord, a beacon has been created to signal the forces of light. However, as you are a dungeon core, the signal covers five times as much distance to give you a fighting chance. As a demon lord you gain energy through your aspect. Death energy is required to increase your rank. Current Rank: F. Highest rank possible: SSS. A nation under your control has been detected! All inhabitants have converted to the Cult of Death without issue. Rank increased to D! -- I paused in my perusal of the notifications for a minute. There was just so much to take in. Not only had I become a Demon Lord, but I had become quite dangerous at that in just a matter of minutes. Just the spells alone made me a force to reckon with. Now that I had Lake Ruin in my grasp, I was able to cover close to five hundred kilometers around my dungeon. That was plenty of territory to protect my core. Rubbing my eyes, I pulled up the last notification. I soon saw that it wasn¡¯t quite a notification and more of a message. -- Child of Humanity. Heed my words. Serve me well and you will live to see the end of this world. Take my gifts and spread the ultimate truth. There is only Death at the end of the road. -- I paused at the first statement. Something felt off about it. Even if I was a human before I became a vampire, would death know that? Even if he did, wouldn¡¯t he say something like child of the night as I was currently a vampire. I scratched my head at the weird phrase but filed it away when I failed to come up with something to explain it. As I scratched my head, I felt something towards the middle of my head. Reaching up, I found that I had a nice pair of horns now. I pressed my hand against the wall and created a quick mirror. My hair had taken an ethereal whitish green that was often associated with ghosts in many games. My skin was still deathly pale but glowed dimly with energy. As I thought, I had two horns growing nicely out of my hair. There was a third one between the two, right above the middle of my forehead. Sinister-looking energy sparked between the horns forming what I could only call a crown. ¡°It would appear that I¡¯ve gone through some changes,¡± I muttered dismissing the mirror from my dungeon. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Vhix¡¯s cold expression softened for a second. She went from a corpse that had been dead for a week to one that had only been dead for a few hours. ¡°Yes. Death¡¯s mark is impressive on you, Lady Aurora.¡± ¡°I will have to give my thanks to him later,¡± I said. ¡°My master will greatly appreciate it,¡± Vhix replied with what I thought might be happiness. I chuckled then started heading for my dungeon throne. ¡°I see that Death has a vast and deep heart,¡± I said to fill the silence. ¡°It is his great kindness to help people into the next existence. He is truly the greatest there is,¡± Vhix replied. I was glad to see that she was talkative. Most of my monsters only talked to me when I spoke to them. The Greater vampires did have a level of personality, but they were created by me. My paragons were better in that regard, but again, there was a level of modification on my part before they were summoned. We eventually reached my throne while I was thinking to myself. I had to take a second as my core had also changed. Before, it looked like a floating orb of blood inside a glass orb, but now it was pitch black with a red outer layer. In the center was a laughing skull. Death was really doing everything he can to mark me as his own. Vhix was looking around as if everything interested her. I sat down while I was watching her. ¡°Where were you before you came here, Vhix?¡± ¡°The Abyss. Guiding souls to Death.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± That didn¡¯t go very far. I felt that it was more because that was all that mattered to her rather than because she didn¡¯t know how to describe it. Then again, it might just be emptiness. ¡°I see. Thank you for telling me. Now then,¡± I leaned back and crossed my arms. ¡°The question is what to do now that I¡¯ve got a target painted on my back.¡± ¡°Send all those that come for you to our master,¡± Vhix said with conviction. She even huffed with her chest puffed out. It was clear someone was raring to fight. ¡°Of course!¡± I puffed out my chest just as much. ¡°Death has done a great deal for me. I plan to repay that kindness.¡± It was ironic. I had gotten more help from a demon lord and Death of all things than anyone else. First things first, I sent my mind over to my Twisted Webs body. I quickly checked the city menu to make sure I didn¡¯t cause any trouble with my recent change. Twisted Webs Level One City Population: 12,501 Combatants: 1,501 Economic Strength: A+ Combat Strength: C- Cultural Strength: SSS+ Magical Strength: E+ Current Administrative Wealth: 3,401,544 (Assets & Gold) It looked like I had caused the Cultural rank to go up another rank. I was excited by what my spider might be able to achieve with such a high ranking. If we could sell some of the goods created here, I might be rolling in the dough. When I looked through some of the records for the city, I found transactions of various pieces of art that ranged from a thousand to hundreds of thousands of gold coins. The problem was that the transactions were with nobles from the surface. I wasn¡¯t sure of the cause, but the city¡¯s connection with the surface had been cut off a few years ago. It was before Mira and Opal started playing the game, so they had no idea of the cause either. Thinking about it, I had a feeling it was due to the Deep Dwarves from Bingram or perhaps another of the settlements that were hostile against the Archnea. No doubt there were a few players among the dwarves. If they got quests, they would be able to make greater changes in the status quo. Something I would have to plan against in the future. I was in the middle of reviewing some records when I got a message. ¡°HEY! Are you in the city?!¡± Mira shouted through the friend chat. I covered my ears before I responded. ¡°Yes. I was making sure of some things.¡± The line cut off and I was left staring at empty space. I shrugged then went back to the paperwork in front of me. I barely got through two pieces of parchment when the doors to the throne room burst open. My hand went to my gun, but I quickly released it. ¡°Hey!¡± Mira shouted as the pair rushed to the foot of the throne. ¡°What¡¯s the big deal?! Just who the hell are you?¡± I set the paper to the side and sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve told you that I¡¯m technically on the surface. This body is a puppet. Well, I basically joined the Cult of Death on accident, but I don¡¯t mind. The whole Demon Lord thing was his idea.¡± The pair shared a look then sat down on the ground without reserve. ¡°Be straight with us. What do you plan to do with this city?¡± I stared at them for a second then nodded. ¡°I was honest before, I don¡¯t plan to cause any trouble for the city. If anything, I want it to grow stronger. I greatly enjoy the works of art created by the Archnae. As an artist by trade, they speak to my heart. In fact, if I had known about this race before I created my first avatar, I probably would have selected them as my race.¡± They shared another look. Were these two codependent? Not that I was going to judge. I just had never seen them apart since I first came to the city. Opal took a deep breath as if to calm herself. ¡°I¡¯ll take your word for it. The city has been making note of the vampires that patrol the tunnels around the city now. Some have even begun to reach out further than they normally would. I know the miners are happy.¡± ¡°I am glad to hear it,¡± I rubbed my head to try and relieve the stress. ¡°I really hope that my ascent to Demon Lord doesn¡¯t cause problems for this city. For now, if anyone does come looking, send them to the surface above us. Use that as an excuse.¡± ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, we had already planned to do just that,¡± Mira laughed. ¡°Fair enough.¡± I paused as I sensed something. Closing my eyes, I realized it was from my Kaga body. Someone was at the door trying to get my attention. ¡°You¡¯ll have to excuse me.¡± I closed my eyes to connect to my Kaga body but paused. ¡°Don¡¯t ever start using multiple bodies, it quickly becomes a headache.¡± The Blood Core - 80 Maxwell I wasn¡¯t the only one that returned to the meeting point early. Razz¡¯s group was already back, most of them sporting black eyes and bruises, when I teleported back to the clearing. The Jade Collective also returned soon after I arrived. None of them were hurt like Razz¡¯s group, at least. ¡°Do I want to know?¡± I asked Razz. ¡°Just a misunderstanding. Don¡¯t worry. We didn¡¯t cause any trouble for the city.¡± I shook my head but wasn¡¯t too worried about that. Glistening Dawn would have sent me a message had they caused actual trouble. ¡°Do the other guys look worse?¡± ¡°You bet.¡± Rowena was the last to arrive. She was breathing heavily having run from the city. ¡°I guess the shopping trip is over,¡± she said breathlessly. I scowled but nodded. ¡°Sadly. I have no idea what might happen to Alflona, but I want to be around to make sure it¡¯s safe.¡± With a quick joining of hands, I teleported the group to our first rest point. Ulic quickly poured in the group¡¯s mana into my pool, and I repeated the process two more times until we reached home. Sasha and Razz both took their groups to get ready in case we were attacked. We had a tense ceasefire with Aurora right now, but that might have changed now that she was the Demon Lord of Death. The town was peaceful when we arrived. That alone gave me a ton of relief and let me breath easier. I still wanted to have some arrangements in case the worst happened. I asked everyone to meet me back at the Command Center. It might have a hole in it, but the war room should be operational. I asked Rowena to find Kaga as well. I had a feeling the scout might have a lot of work over the next few days. While I waited for everyone to arrive at the war room, I put my thoughts together. If I was being honest, I didn¡¯t like the idea of fighting someone with the label Demon Lord of death. Unfortunately, I wasn¡¯t able to ignore the nearly three months of bad blood we had between us. Then there was the fact that Alflona was technically under the jurisdiction of Voasis. While I hadn¡¯t actually interacted with the goddess one way or the other, I wasn¡¯t sure how she would take to me knowing the exact location of the new Demon Lord and doing nothing about it. Of course, she might just ignore me. I shook my head at the thought. How was I supposed to know?! She had only said two words to me in total. Shaking my head again, I entered the war room. Or at least, I thought I did. Instead, I found myself in a strange place. I was on a bridge from the looks of it. The night sky was overhead filled to the brim with stars. I couldn¡¯t remember ever seeing galaxies and such like this in my life. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Pulling my gaze from the sky, I looked around the space for more concrete details about where I was. The bridge seemed to extend forever behind me. If there was an end, I couldn¡¯t see it from my spot. As for in front of me, there was a temple. It was built with purple metal and glowing stones of the deepest violet. Seeing the colors, I instantly knew where I was. It was as if it was written in my blood. It appeared Voasis has decided to have me pay a visit. I sucked in a deep breath then started walking toward the temple. Streams of light flashed around me. I wasn¡¯t sure how I knew, but I understood that they were people using teleportation skills or items. She really was the goddess of the Void. Just before I reached the door to the temple, there was a deep glow as a figure appeared in front of me. When they solidified, I found they were a void elf like me. He bowed with a gentle smile. ¡°Welcome, Maxwell Orfen, to the Void Palace.¡± He gestured for me to follow him as the doors slid open without a sound. ¡°I seemed to have been invited,¡± I said trying to match his smile. Following him inside, I found that palace was the right word. The structure looked like it had been designed for giants. I had to strain my neck to see the ceiling. ¡°Quite so. Mistress Voasis would like to address some of your concerns,¡± my guide said oblivious to my wandering eyes. He led me through the maze until we arrived at an altar. I expected Voasis to be sitting on a throne, or something similar, but she had her head in prayer in front of the altar. She looked exactly as I saw her last time. All her wounds had healed perfectly although her halo was still shattered. ¡°Mistress Voasis will be with you in a minute. Do not worry about your settlement. Time works differently here.¡± He bowed his head again then turned to leave. I had heard that some cutscenes and areas in the game had time dilation. It was easy to trick the brain that time was passing differently. A good ten minutes or so passed before Voasis raised her head. She turned to me with a frown. ¡°I apologize for summoning you like this.¡± I waved away her apology. ¡°It¡¯s no problem. I am glad to see that you are well, especially considering our last meeting.¡± I ran a hand through my hiar. ¡°Umm, should I bow or something? She shook her head. ¡°There is no need. I am a lesser goddess. Created when mortals gained a moments mastery of teleportation and walking the void.¡± Voasis gestured to a pew and had me take a seat. ¡°I brought you here today because your thoughts were conflicted and I was close to the center of them.¡± ¡°Ah you caught that,¡± I said with a cough. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m conflicted. I have a bit of a dangerous neighbor. She became a demon lord.¡± ¡°I see. This concerns you?¡± ¡°Actually, I¡¯m concerned that it would bother you,¡± I replied with a shrug. ¡°I never learned of the reason you were sealed, but I imagine that it was due to a cosmic struggle of some sort.¡± She tilted her head looking at me like I was an idiot. Maybe I was¡­ ¡°I suppose a history lesson is necessary.¡± She cleared her throat sticking her finger in the air like a professor. ¡°Demon Lords and the Gods have never come into direct conflict. We aren¡¯t allowed to by the laws of the world. All our conflicts are resolved by mortals in our place. Because Mortals have free will they are allowed to choose whoever they would like to follow. The Gods and Demon Lords might represent different things, but at the end of the day we are really just two sides of the same coin. I was created when mortals gained mastery over teleportation. My sister, Arisis, was created when they gained mastery over air magic. Before her was our mother, Axmis was created when mortals gained access to basic magic, and so on.¡± Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Then how are Demon Lord created?¡± ¡°Normally, they are created when a mortal strives for something beyond comprehension. The Demon Lord that had been revived, Rezdona, strived for the ultimate beauty. Her will was undauntable and brought her immense power.¡± ¡°Normally, huh. Then what¡¯s an abnormal way to become a Demon Lord?¡± I asked though, if I took into consideration the fact that players were given options through the system that might explain something like Aurora becoming one. Unless I was mistaken, she wasn¡¯t much higher level than me. Even if she was, I couldn¡¯t see her being more than twenty or thirty levels. ¡°There are such things known as Absolute Beings in this world. Life and Death. They have a greater control over the world then any mere god or Demon Lord might.¡± Voasis put her head in her hands. ¡°I would be nothing more than a pebble for them to set on. It is feasible that they could easily create a Demon Lord or even God if they so desired.¡± That was fantastical to think about and far beyond what I thought players might experience. The game had marketed that anything was possible if you managed to play the game in the right way. I guess they were telling the truth. ¡°Why would Death want to create a Demon Lord?¡± I asked, unable to fathom why a creature like that would act. ¡°You¡¯d have to ask him yourself.¡± Voasis gave me a gentle smile before she got up and moved back to the altar. ¡°Fair enough.¡± I sighed and leaned back on the pew. ¡°I guess my mind is a little calmer after talking with you. I hope you don¡¯t mind me acting to protect my people. Even if that means selling my soul to the devil.¡± ¡°I rewarded you for saving me. I did not say that you were required to worship me.¡± Voasis remarked. ¡°Do not worry about me. If you decide to exalt me in your town, I shall use my power as best I can to help you. As for helping the Demon Lord, there have been many occasions of the two forces joining in alliance. I would not be offended as long as you do not seek to destroy me.¡± ¡°Of course I wouldn¡¯t!¡± I said fervently. I couldn¡¯t even imagine why someone would put her through the torture that she suffered before. ¡°Who managed to do that to you anyway?¡± ¡°Hmm. Ah, my imprisonment. It was done by a group of almighty mortals. Nothing we did harmed them. Magic washed off their bodies like water. Physical attacks were repelled before they even touched their skin. Most of the Gods and Demon Lords were sealed away by them. They refused to converse. We only learned of their name before our end was sealed.¡± ¡°I¡¯m almost afraid to know what such a group might call themselves, but not knowing my invite trouble. Please tell me, if you are willing.¡± ¡°They called themselves the Game Masters.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure what sort of face to make. I instantly realized what happened. The game was said to have been run for several thousand simulated years before being populated by players. My guess was that the developers decided to seal the Demon Lords and Gods to give the players something to do. Unsealing them, archaeology, making sure they stayed sealed, were just a number of things that I could think of that might interest the players. I had to wonder why none had been released up until now. The game had been operating for over five years after all. There were more than a few players that I could see searching out powers like that to become a God or Demon Lord. However, more importantly, given the current state of the game, I doubted that Game masters were going to be a problem any time soon. ¡°I see. I¡¯ll make note of that,¡± I said with a groan. I honestly wonder what the world would be like if there had been a game master present when this whole event took place. ¡°I¡¯ll send you back, then. I was pleased to have this chance to talk to you.¡± In the blink of an eye, I found myself back in the war room. It was exactly as I left it. Checking the game clock, only a few seconds had passed. I chuckled at the show of power, even if it was in a game. I walked over and sat down at the conference table. The others should be here soon, and I had a bit to digest before they arrived. The others soon started to file in. Sasha arrived, but only had two from her guild with her. The same was said for Razz who just had his right-hand man. Rowena arrived shortly after with Kaga in tow. I was glad that she was able to find her. The woman had a tendency to vanish when she wasn¡¯t helping out. I thought about calling for a few of the prominent NPCs from the town, but decided to hold off. While I valued their opinion, players were just capable of different things. ¡°Thank you all for joining me. I¡¯d like to call the first ¡®How to deal with Demon Lord Vampire dungeons¡¯ to order.¡± Everyone laughed but it only lasted for a second or two. Humor was nice but the threat was just too much to push out of our mind. ¡°First, I¡¯d like to say that Voasis, the Void goddess said whatever action we take will not bother her. I guess the divide between God and Demon Lord isn¡¯t as great as we first thought.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good. Because, I¡¯m going to suggest we work with her,¡± Sasha said drawing a range of eyes from the table. ¡°Are you serious!?¡± Rowena shouted banging her fist on the table. ¡°I am against that plan!¡± ¡°Do we have a choice?!¡± Sasha shot back. ¡°She¡¯s a dungeon! A dungeon run by a player!¡± Sasha threw her hands up in the air. ¡°That¡¯s the most cheat level thing I have ever heard! You¡¯ve seen the number of monsters she¡¯s able to pump out.¡± ¡°I agree. That¡¯s why we shouldn¡¯t tie the rope around our neck,¡± Rowena retorted. I quickly threw up my hand before a real fight broke out. ¡°I understand where you¡¯re coming from Sasha. However, let¡¯s shelve that for now. I¡¯m happy as long as she doesn¡¯t try to turn us into sacrifices for the lord of Death. I might be basing this off movies and other games, but that¡¯s usually what happens when someone joins something called the Cult of Death.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t make any promises if you¡¯re my enemy.¡± ¡°Its not like I¡¯m your¡­¡± I jumped out of my seat as I realized who the voice belonged to. I jerked toward Kaga¡¯s seat and found Aurora, at least I thought it was her, with her arms wrapped around Kaga¡¯s shoulders and sitting in her lap. Kaga, for her part, appeared to be unconscious. ¡°What! How did you get in here?!¡± ¡°Why Maxwell, you¡¯re not the only one with instant movement skills. Ah, don¡¯t worry about her.¡± Aurora ran a hand across Kaga¡¯s cheek. ¡°I¡¯m just making sure I¡¯m not attacked until we¡¯re done talking.¡± I ground my teeth but took a seat with a grunt of annoyance. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°A couple things actually. I am ready to bury the hatchet. I realized a while ago that I was trapped in this place whether I liked it or not. For one, I should be long dead if we were still attached to this bloody place. Thus, I apologize for forcing you to deal with my anger in that regard.¡± Aurora leaned her head against Kaga. I wanted to know why the sense of personal space didn¡¯t seem to bother her. ¡°Okay. Then, what about the cause of our conflict. I doubt you¡¯re ready to forgive me for the Imp¡¯s death,¡± I said. While we both knew it was accident caused due to us being too close together, I had to admit that I should have been more careful with something like a territory wide holy aura. Not that Voasis gave me much warning. ¡°No. I understand that you were not the true cause of his death,¡± Aurora replied glancing into the distance. I felt I was missing something, but I couldn¡¯t exactly pry at the moment. ¡°I have bigger issues as I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware.¡± ¡°Yes, we all saw the message,¡± Rowena said before I could reply. ¡°What do you want us not to hunt you like everyone else?¡± Aurora laughed sending shivers down my spine. ¡°I¡¯d honestly like to see you try.¡± Aurora took a deep breath when she finished laughing. ¡°Rather, I have a nice big target on my back. You guys are the only ones that know exactly where I¡¯m located. I¡¯d rather that not get out to everyone and their mother.¡± ¡°I¡¯m half tempted to broadcast that information right now,¡± Rowena said. She really didn¡¯t¡¯ care for Aurora. I hadn¡¯t realized just how peeved at the woman she had been. I jumped to my feet holding my hands out to both of them. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s stop with the threats. They aren¡¯t going to get us anywhere.¡± ¡°She has our friend in some sort of death grip, how can I be calm right now?¡± Rowena hissed at me. ¡°I know. I know,¡± I took a deep breath. ¡°What is it that you want Aurora?¡± ¡°A partnership. An alliance. A coalition. Whatever word makes you feel more comfortable.¡±