《John Drake - Integration Glitch》


 The Tanguni Ambush

    Tanguni Ambush


    General Sulmond took a deep breath after hearing the knock on his door. One last look at the picture of his family as he set it down on the desk. They, like all the other civilians, had evacuated off planet. ¡°I hope I see you again.¡±, he thought as he told the person knocking to come in. Their eyes met for a few seconds as the young major who the council gave him as an executive officer now stood before him. ¡°They ready?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. Scouts have cleared the area and have placed our teleporter. The portal from the Drakes is also in position and ready. It¡¯s¡­It¡¯s time.¡± His so-called executive officer seemed to also understand their situation. The Draskari Sect was returning to mine the planet¡¯s essence. It took four million years for the planet to reach its current high C-grade levels of essence after being previously mined. With the interference of the Drake Empire in the uncivilized newly integrated wilderness, the great sects were returning to the outskirts of the inner reaches to mine essence from the planets they had nearly destroyed once before.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go tie ourselves to a stake and see which tiger gets to eat us.¡± The world council had made a tough choice. Let the Draskari scum steal all the essence leaving the planet once again as a nearly dead F-grade or invite in the Drake Empire and their dungeons. The council decided to roll the dice. Officially in the inner reaches, the Drakes were pirating scum, terrorizing the newly integrated sectors forcing entire planet¡¯s populations into slavery in their dungeons. However, quiet whispers on backwood planets away from the strongest influence of the great sects praised the empire for standing up to the multi-verses ruling powers. Whispers of wondrous dungeon built cities and fearless warriors were heard. The general knew he would be one of the first to find out the truth about the empire.


    General¡­he thought with a self-deprecating snort¡­retired lieutenant is the truth. One year ago he had been running his family¡¯s weapons production facility with the remaining members of his old recon platoon before the council recalled him and made him a general. All the real generals were at the headquarters within spitting distance of a teleporter that could evacuate them off planet. Weibati didn¡¯t get promoted to General.


    Stepping out the door he saw his team of bodyguards waitting. Fools every last one. Some of the richest men on his planet were just larping as bodyguards. He decided to give it one last chance. He looked at each of the men and made his decision. ¡°Samso, Raphdi, Tornumb, and Brel. You are relieved of duty and will evacuate immediately. I am entrusting you with the safety of our families and rebuilding the company to provide for our tribe¡¯s future.¡±


    An enchanter, a smith, an administrator and financial wiz, and the engineering guru to rebuild the machines that mass produce their products. That should give them an excellent chance for Sulmond Arms and the Weibati tribe to survive.


    ¡°Sorry sir. We¡¯re civilians. You can¡¯t relieve us. We are currently working on a council approved contract with the Sulmond Arms company.¡± Raphdi replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m canceling your contract.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t sir. We¡­I mean the board approved it. Only the board can cancel it.¡± Brel smirked.


    ¡°Gods dammit. We only need one goat. 8 men aren¡¯t going to make any difference against what we are facing. Think of your families.¡±


    ¡°We are sir. No Weibati woman would allow us to return to our families after abandoning you to your fate. We live or we die, but we will always be Weibati.¡± Samso gave the expected response.


    Shaking his head, the General gave up. He¡¯d tried everything he could think of time and time again to talk some sense into these fools. They had no business here. Hells, he had no business here. ¡°All right. Let¡¯s stop by the situation room on the way.¡± The men turned with both Tornumb and Brel slapping him with their tan and black tails before leading the way. ¡°I guess we deserve our fate if these idiots are some of the smartest this planet has ever produced.¡±


    Lacking in essence, the tribes of Tanguni had united under the world council and turned to developing technology as the ages passed on the essence starved planet. Projectile weapons and communication equipment were their greatest achievements. Both were system enhanced and technologically improved over the millenia. The planet¡¯s primary exports were minerals and Sulmond Arms weapons to the other planets in the area struggling to recover from the lack of essence. After stealing the essence, the great sects had abandoned them.


    Stepping into the command center, a liaison with world command sent a message to his system interface offering to transfer the most current data on troop dispositions and enemy position. Nodding in thanks, the general stepped back out and opened his interface and set it to update in real time as he reviewed the situation. ¡°Looks like the Dreskari will arrive in a few hours and we are beginning to narrow down their expected deployment points.¡±


    ¡°No update on the makeup of the forces we¡¯ll face?¡± the XO asked.


    ¡°Those reports from the pirates saying they were coming in heavy with orbital support and thousands of their ravenous beasts is all we¡¯ve received.¡± Stepping out into the courtyard he saw his ¡°army¡±. 200 of the finest Weibati recon soldiers their tribe had ever produced. Stopping in front of the Sergeant Major with ancient scars crossing his scaled neck and face, the general asked, ¡°Did you remind the men that this is a volunteer only mission, Sergeant Major?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Sir.¡±


    ¡°And all 200 volunteered?¡±


    ¡°We are Weibati, sir.¡±


    ¡°You are idiots.¡± the general replied.


    ¡°Yes, sir. We are Weibati, sir.¡± the sergeant major agreed with a shrug thinking, They don¡¯t make lieutenants like they used to.


    Raising his voice, the General called out, ¡°All right men. We¡¯ve gone over the plan. Secure the area. Report anything relevant you see. Stay within one kilometer of the portal until you receive further guidance. You¡¯ve got 10 minutes to reach your positions. No need for a long drawn out speech you knuckleheads probably wouldn¡¯t understand anyway, but thank you and be ready for anything. Let¡¯s go.¡± the general nodded to his ¡°bodyguards¡± and pulled his scarf up hiding his face and neck before they stepped onto the teleporter as the synchronized shout of ¡°Weibati¡± rang out behind him.


    A Goat, a Lion, and a Monk walk into a Battle Position


    Sulmond looked around the valley they were in and reviewed his men¡¯s positions in his interface. ¡°Let them know we¡¯re staking the goat XO.¡± He told his executive officer as he turned to walk over to the Sergeant Major and the portal. ¡°Fire up the portal. It¡¯s time.¡±


    The technician removed the precious essence crystals from their carriers and placed them in the portal controller. Each crystal represented an enormous fortune. The runes and glyphs on the controls lit up and the portal opened almost immediately. It should have taken a few minutes for the portal to open up to the wilderness territory of the empire, but the largest Lionkin he had ever seen immediately stepped out in heavy armor and quickly moved over to the Sergeant Major before changing his mind and turning to face him.


    ¡°You in charge around here?¡± the lionkin growled as he looked around. After receiving a nod from Sulmond he sent an invitation to be linked into the Dungeon Expedition Force 1 command channel. ¡°Share that with your entire force. It will update in real time.¡± Heavily armored soldiers were pouring out of the portal and taking a knee in a circle around the portal. Each man and woman cast and maintained a narrow essence shield that curved back over their heads and locked into the neighboring shields.


    Knowing he was turning over the positions of all of his men and removing any chance of escape they might have when the Drakes decided they were no longer needed, he started to say something when the lionkin continued. ¡°I¡¯m going to give you only one order and you are going to make sure everybody in your command follows it. No one dies outside of the dungeon. Inside the dungeon we¡¯ll work you into our plans however you think you will be best utilized, but I don¡¯t want a single death outside.¡± And the lionkin strode off leaving the general and sergeant major alone with a.lightly armored ¡­ monk? Where the hells did he come from?


    ¡°Forgive him. The forces we face may be much greater than expected and he must hurry to do everything he can to ensure the dungeon is ready.¡± the monk explained as the shield over their head was completed and an enormous boulder was rolled out of the portal by an ogre wearing a bandolier of pouches that appeared to be dimensional storages. Oddly enough, the ogre seemed to be having an argument with the large rock. Something about him not being able to protect the rock if she was flying around everywhere.


    The ogre stopped in the center of the formation and the rock sank into the ground and the ogre kneeled, casting an enormous shield inside of the already emplaced shield. The ogre began pulling enormous essence crystals out of his bandolier and dropping them on ground where they disappeared, presumably being absorbed by the dungeon core. ¡°Please, Inform your men that our scouts will be passing their positions in a few seconds and then join the command channel so we can begin our coordination. But do not forget. No man dies outside of the dungeon. The Dungeon will be able to revive them no matter what happens to them if they fall inside the dungeon. Everything else we can coordinate based on your wishes and abilities.¡±


    In for a copper, in for a gold. Sulmond thought while he sent out a warning of scouts heading out and sighed before accepting the invitation to the command channel. More monks, elves, beastkin, humans, and dwarves were pouring out of the portal, each one passing by the ogre and emptying a large bag of essence crystals onto the ground close to the ogre who was still maintaining his enormous shield. ¡°Scout snipers¡­lightly armored¡­excellent camouflage. I could only pick out 3 positions from here. What is the range of their weapons?¡± the monk asked while Solmund watched the lionkin give a quick bow to a group of lean lightly armored beastkin, birdmen, elves, humans, and enlightened beasts that quickly disappeared and apparently moved out to begin their recons.


    ¡°They are Weibati scouts armed with the finest Solmund Arms can produce each rated for at least 5-10 kilometers.¡± Solmund replied as he tried to decide what was more amazing: the wealth being casually dumped on the ground or the speed at which the scouts were moving on his interface. More and more soldiers were pouring out of the portal forming additional layers of shields around their position. His train of thought was interrupted as he stared in confusion at a female human in the light cloth robe of a priest or wizard exited the portal with an enormous hammer in her hands.


    ¡°Ah¡­that reminds me. We will need to be put in touch with the owner of Solmund Arms. Apparently the Dragon Queen owes him a very large sum of credits and would like to formalize a deal with him. Oh, where are my manners¡­I¡¯m as bad as that smelly lion. I¡¯m Jafar. I am Crystal Rose¡¯s dungeon master, but she prefers to be called Dungie. She is a big fan of the Battle Master and apparently they have strange naming traditions on his home planet. Birdie, Monkie which I am obviously not a fan of, Little Lionie, etc¡­I suspect he¡¯s just too lazy to remember names. Dungie will provide security forces for your positions, would your men want to work solo or in pairs?¡± Jafar asked while doing something in his interface.


    ¡°Pairs would be best. I¡¯m Solmund by the way, but Tornumb over there is the one to talk to about making deals.¡± Solmund responded while watching the strangely equipped people pouring out of the portal. Who the hell wears heavy armor and carries a wand? Jafar seemed to pause in his work and muttered, ¡°I am so good at my job. I¡±ll let the Dragon Queen¡¯s representatives know who to ask for. And done. Thank you Dungie.¡±


    The lionkin stopped what he was doing for a few seconds before turning and giving Jafar a thumbs up. ¡°I left your men in your current pairings. Each position will have a teleporter for withdrawal and a dungeon provided security force. In about¡­7 minutes I¡¯ll have a position ready for you to approve or make adjustments too. If you approve our initial plan, please have your men move to their designated staging areas, but remind them until the dungeon is established, their survival is the top priority. They should return to our position instead of facing any kind of danger.¡± Jafar said while Solmund¡¯s interface informed him of a battle plan waiting for his approval. Please drop one example of each of your projectiles for Dungie to absorb and she¡¯ll handle resupply if needed.¡±


    ¡°Master Jafar, I have reached the vein.¡± A female voice called out from over his shoulder. Turning Solmund was just barely able to perceive a glowing sphere that the voice had apparently originated from.


    ¡°Excellent work, Dungie. Switch to 25% expansion 75% acquisition. Activate your interface and begin sharing with the other dungeons.¡± Jafar said before turning to Solmund but was interrupted by something in his interface as he mumbled to himself and Dungie. ¡°Hmmm¡­.65% essence remaining for 10 Heavy Guard¡­6 minutes¡­Adjust to 95%...no 90% will do it.¡± Solmund felt the intensity of some of the shields drop slightly only seconds later as Jafar was already talking. ¡°...see if they have any needs and questions. Either I or your liaison will be with you in a few minutes.¡±


    Feeling like he was in a fever dream or had overindulged on hallucinogenic mushrooms, Sulmond had to call out to Jafar who was already striding away, ¡°See if who has any needs or questions, sir?¡±


    Spinning to face him, Jafar sternly said, ¡°Don¡¯t call me sir. I work for a living. My name is Jafar.¡± he said before letting out a little giggle. ¡°Sorry. Battlemaster humor. He¡¯s an odd bloke, but he does have a few catchy phrases. See to your men. Make sure they understand what is going on and get their feedback on the battleplan.¡± He finished with a wink and began rapidly moving once again towards the Lionkin.


    Make sure they understand what is going on? I don¡¯t even understand what is going on! Solmund grumbled to himself as he moved over to the Sergeant Major and his merry band of idiots who all seemed to be looking at something in their interfaces. ¡°Anything to report?¡± He asked the XO.


    ¡°Uhh¡­no sir. We went ahead and issued the orders for the men to move to the designated staging areas and have a countdown to some position we are supposed to approve in a few minutes. It is right over there, sir.¡± He said pointing to an area off to the right.


    Shit. Get it together Solmund. Process. Execu¡­


    ¡°Toddlers playing as Weibati.¡± A disheartened looking Sergeant Major muttered to himself as he approached.


    ¡®What¡¯s that Sergeant Major?¡± Solmund asked, wondering what was wrong and why the sergeant major was so down.


    ¡°We¡¯re just kids playing at being soldiers. Do you see how they move? Smooth. Precise. No hesitancy. No rush. Do you see how they use the interface to plan and communicate? Orders issued and executed. No doubt. No fear. Like they¡¯ve done it a million times. These are real Weibati.¡± the scarred Weibati replied as he looked at the General with a mix of shame and determination on his face.


    ¡°They¡¯ve had everybody maintaining high level shields for 15 minutes. I can understand the casters and maybe the tanks, but what about the dps? Are they all sheep in wolves clothing?¡± the XO asked with the typical Weibati disdain for casters.


    ¡°Hah. If there¡¯s a single sheep among them, I¡¯ll eat my boots. Look at the eyes.¡± the sergeant major corrected as several ¡°baaaaa¡¯s¡± and snickers rang out from the nearest Drake positions. ¡°Got the ears of wolves. That¡¯s for sure.¡± the sergeant major scowled as a few howls rang out from the Drake troops and one even appeared to be hiking his leg in the direction of the trooper beside him.


    ¡°Tighten it up gentlemen. We may be toddlers, but we¡¯re still Weibati.¡± the general whispered as he pulled up the battle plan. He saw a series of triangular fortifications with one tip pointing up the valley, but something was wrong. Looking around the terrain wasn¡¯t right. The valley was too narrow. The approach was too steep. The walls of the canyon were too high. ¡°XO, did you look at these plans? The terrain doesn¡¯t match. Are they moving us?¡±


    Welcome Aboard the Good Ship Crazy Elf


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the terrain. The dungeon will fix it.¡± an elf in heavy armor and twin swords said from the nearest Drake position. She then motioned to the dwarf next to her who doubled the size of his shield as she dropped hers and came over to the Weibati. Her eyes jerked to the lionkin as she walked and Solmund saw him give her a thumbs up. ¡°I am Kangrel. Little Lionie over there says it¡¯s okay for me to be your liaison. Dungie should¡­¡± A message popped up informing them they had entered ¡°The Blades of the Master Dungeon¡±. ¡°Right on time, Dungie. Welcome to immortality gentlemen. In your battle plan, pick one of your positions. Now select the field of fire and choose all.¡±


    Solmund did as told and saw each position covering a 5km section of the valley in green and out to 10km in yellow. There were actually a series of positions for each team covering the length of the valley. ¡°Ahh¡­defense in depth. Bleed them before the real fight even begins¡­¡±


    ¡°Bleed them, Melt them. Strangle them, Cut them into pieces. We¡¯re equal opportunity death dealers in the Battlemasters Playground, but you get the gist of it. Always nice to be working with someone with brains. I¡¯m not tied into the dungeon like Jafar, but as liaison I can estimate your men will be safe in the dungeon within a half hour, well before the Draskari get here.¡±


    ¡°What did you mean the dungeon will fix the terrain?¡± the xo asked as a large ramp rose behind them and four muscular goblins appeared out of nowhere on top holding onto chains attached to stops that were apparently holding a large boulder in place. ¡°And what the hell is that?¡±


    Looking up, Kangrel rolled her eyes. ¡°That is the Indiana or Jones trap. Lunatic battlemaster calls it both. He¡¯s a big fan of the thing and anything he¡¯s a fan of, Dungie does. It¡¯s kind of our calling card. Don¡¯t worry about it. If we use it, we¡¯ll all be underground preparing to defend the dungeon from the inside. As to how the dungeon is going to fix the terrain, she¡¯ll make it whatever she wants. She¡¯s a dungeon.¡± Kangrel finished with a shrug.


    ¡°Jafar said we¡¯d have teleporters?¡± Sulmond asked as crenelated walls rose up and the defenders moved to positions on the walls and adjusted their shields.


    ¡°Yeah. As soon as Dungie reaches the staging areas, she¡¯ll tuck them away until their first set of positions are ready. Their dungeon creature liaison will show them how to modify it to their liking and let them know when a further out position is ready. Do you and your boyfriends here have the same ranged capabilities as your men or do you want to focus on command and control? I noticed your kit is a little different from your snipers, but I can¡¯t see what¡¯s in your storage.¡±


    ¡°We are not Wormkin..¡± Betel started to respond while flaring his hood in anger before Raphdi slapped him in the back of the head. Solmund couldn¡¯t help but smile at the scene that had played out so often centuries before when they were true Weibati and not businessmen. ¡°We are still Weibati. Our field craft may be a little rusty and our bodies softer, but our aim is still true. Two sets of supporting positions with the ability to teleport to any of our other positions would seem a good strategy. I¡¯ll split the idiot volunteers and send four with the XO and Sergeant Major and keep four with me¡±


    Kangrel nodded before looking slyly over at Jafar, ¡°That is an excellent strategy, but would you be interested in maybe having a little more fun?¡±


    ¡°Fun?¡± Solmund asked while the other men around him perked up and leaned forward seemingly thinking the same thing as him. Whatever is about to come out of her mouth is probably going to be the most Weibati thing we¡¯ve ever heard.


    ¡°Welllll¡­Let¡¯s just say someone¡­say a dragon prince that is pretty much a genius at everything¡­got his hands on some of your weapons and built versions of it about 20 times larger, developed the most amazing optics you¡¯ve ever seen, and given them a range of 25-30km¡­would that be something you¡¯d be interested in trying? Assuming a certain monk can be talked into adding 12 of them to the plan?¡± Kangrel explained with a greedy look in her eyes as groans sounded and a couple whispered exclamations of ¡°Cheater.¡± rang out from the nearest groups of troopers.


    Solmund felt 10 sets of pleading eyes boring into his skull as he stared at the elf to see if she was joking. He saw Jafar wave and he pointed over her shoulder in time for her to see him give her a thumbs up. By the time she turned back to face him, he already had an alert that the plan had been updated. Deciding to have some fun he replied, ¡°I don¡¯t know. One should never carry an unfamiliar¡­¡± Before he could finish he felt himself get slapped in the back of his head.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry sir. I don¡¯t know what came over me.¡± His XO said with his head bowed down in shame before his general. All around them the shields suddenly winked out of existence and everybody sat down to start some sort of deep breathing meditation. The portal was shut down and the equipment for it sank into the ground. Six large holes opened up around where the portal previously was and large balls of liquid metal started rolling out.


    Solmund stood there stunned as the mercurial balls each shot out a tentacle that attached to the top of the nearest walls before being flung to the other side of the wall about 20 feet out. Once there, the balls disappeared almost completely leaving only a small outline and a slightly distorted appearance. SNAP¡­Kangrel¡¯s fingers suddenly appeared in front of his face and he took a step back as he was shocked by an unexpectedly strong aura. Hard, dense, and impossibly sharp. She was only a C grade, but that was unlike any C grade aura he had ever felt before. Why did he only feel it when she was inches from him?


    ¡°Hey, wake up. The positions are ready for your inspection and you need to approve the battle plan.¡± Kangrel snapped verbally this time. Solmund instantly opened his interface to see a series of larger positions higher and behind the positions for his men. Uhhhh¡­I guess that makes sense. He thought as he mentally pressed approve.


    ¡°Good. Over here.¡± Kangrel ordered as she motioned to two mounds that had appeared a few meters away. There were steps going down on one side, but Kangrel led them around to the front. ¡°As you can see, each position will be designed to blend into the terrain. There will be dummy positions located a safe distance away to distract enemy ranged attacks and you will have camo arrays hiding the firing portals and shields protecting them. A dungeon assistant will manage most of it for you.¡±


    Walking back towards the stairs in the rear of the smaller mound, Kangrel continued, ¡°This is the position your men will fight from. Everybody inside. Space is manipulated so it¡¯s a lot larger than it looks.¡± She said before stepping down and disappearing. Solmund felt like he had been sucked into a whirlpool and could no longer tell which way was up. The sergeant major gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as he and the others hurried down behind her.


    As he entered, he saw the bunker contained 3 rooms. The side rooms had what looked like several teleporter arrays. The main room had a firing position and what looked like another teleportation array a step away from it. ¡°Do you prefer prone, seated or standing positions?¡± Kangrel asked.


    ¡°Prone.¡± the sergeant major answered as he moved closer to the firing position to take a look at a small glyph below the firing portal.


    ¡°Go ahead and press one of your fingers against the glyph while circulating your essence through your hand.¡± She instructed him. As he was doing so, she nodded to the orc. ¡°Gronk, bring up the displays.¡± The ceiling and surrounding walls all lit up with projections of what was outside.


    ¡°The firing position should be linked to you now. Think of how you would like the position set up and it will adjust. If you switch shooters, make sure they link with the system. It is a legendary piece of equipment and gives significant bonuses to damage and accuracy.¡± The firing position changed to a large elevated bed of sand with a perfectly shaped mound at the front to rest his rifle.


    The sergeant major laid his rifle on the rest and got into position rapidly wiggling from side to side so that he sank in the sand. Once done, he picked up his weapon and sighted in on a small rock outside of the perimeter. The display above him on the front wall changed with part of the vision zooming in to show his sight picture. He then closed his eyes and breathed deeply three times. His sight was now aimed slightly above the rock. The front rest lowered slightly and he repeated the procedure, this time the sight did not move.


    ¡°Save that as your default position and a new position will automatically adjust to that when you log in. Did you catch that on video?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what video?¡± Solmund asked.


    ¡°The video you¡¯ve been transmitting to your troops and command. Your communication equipment is excellent, but not good enough to avoid our detection.¡± She stated with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°Confirm with your men in the staging area that the video was enough for them to understand the procedure and let them know their dungeon assistant will be able to answer any further questions they have. Oh¡­and remind them to drop one copy of all their ammo sets as soon as they get to their first position so that the dungeon can handle resupply for them. Now what do you say, let¡¯s go check out the new toys?¡±


    As she walked to the exit, the XO gave him a thumbs up and Gronk gave them what Solmund hoped was a friendly smile before nodding and solemnly saying, ¡°For Binxie.¡± Solmund looked around to see several shrugs. ¡°Who is Binxie?¡± he asked the orc.


    ¡°Binxie was the first hero of the empire. He saved goblin children from orc horde scouts, but died. It was before Destiny could bring us back. You¡¯ll learn about him at the academy. Check out Professor Ragnel¡¯s presentations if you can. The memory weaver is the son of the Warmaster and is the warrior princesses ancestor.¡± the orc explained...sort of¡­


    ¡°Hurry up down there, we don¡¯t have much time.¡± Kangrel shouted down and the weibati hurried to the door. As Solmund stepped outside, he started to follow the rest of his men over to the larger position. But before he reached them, chaos broke out. Troopers jumped up and began running everywhere but oddly enough, it almost seemed like nothing was really being done. Solmund swore he saw one trooper run into one teleportation station before exiting from another and running back to the first.


    The sergeant major reached out and squeezed his upper arm. All of the bodyguards looked at him with raised eyebrows. The lionkin and Jafar ran up. ¡°The Draskari are almost here. They will be in range in 20 minutes. I¡¯ve requested back up.¡± The lionkin said. Suddenly boo¡¯s and hissing rang out as everybody briefly stopped what they were doing as six humanoids emerged from one of the tunnels.


    ¡°Shit.¡± both the lionkin and Jafar said at once.


    ¡°Six. Is that enough back up?¡± Solmund asked as the group approached. A middle aged man wearing light armor and carrying a combat staff walked towards them followed by an intimidating young woman and a scholarly looking young man who tapped the metallic looking man walking next to him and pointed up to the ¡°Jonas¡± trap or whatever it was Kangrel called it. The metallic man smiled. Behind them was an elven warrior in heavy armor and twin swords crossing her back walking with a monk of a similar age to the leader.


    The elven warrior winked at Kangrel who looked upset about something. ¡°It¡¯s too much back up. The troops will be lucky to get any loot with those monsters here.¡± the lionkin explained before greeting the leader. ¡°Just slow them down a little, John. Leave some loot for the kids or I¡¯ll have a riot on my hands.¡±


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Oh Krap!!!


    ¡°We¡¯ll try Mufasa.¡± the leader replied which caused the metallic man to let out a small laugh before the muscular young woman slapped the back of his head. ¡°But you know how easy it is to get caught up in the moment when fighting.¡±


    The leader then turned to Solmund and held out his hand, ¡°Greetings Solmund. I¡¯ve been looking forward to meeting you. I¡¯m John¡­John Drake.¡± he said with a confident smile.


    John Drake? THE JOHN DRAKE¡­ Solmund thought before he and all his men dropped to their knees and bowed their heads. ¡°Greetings, Emperor. I apologize. I did not expect you.¡± Solmund said as he felt his soul being pulled apart and each tiny piece being weighed and measured by the man in front of him.


    Suddenly all movement stopped. ¡°NEVER SERVE SOMEONE WHO DEMANDS YOU KNEEL. NEVER TRUST SOMEONE THAT KNEELS BEFORE YOU. GET ON YOUR FEET WEIBATI.¡± was shouted at them by all within the compound before the chaos resumed.


    The emperor reached down, gently grasped his shoulder, and effortlessly lifted him to his feet with a smile. The young warrior woman shook her head. The elven warrior winked at him. The monk gave a small bow of his head. The metallic man looked bored and the bookish looking young man seemed to be studying something in his interface.


    Suddenly Solmund felt great danger. A rock the size of his head was flying at the back of the emperor. Hood flaring, he dove to push the emperor out of the way only to bounce off of what felt like a sharp edged brick wall. The emperor flicked one finger in the air and a shield of essence redirected the rock over the wall while a bolt of lightning slammed into the back side of the giant ogre from before that was apparently trying to hide behind two dwarven warriors that dove out of the way just a little to slowly.


    ¡°Dammit Siegemaster, we don¡¯t have the resistance that you do.¡± One dwarf said from the ground while sparks jumped between his wild beard hairs. The ogre stood up rubbing his backside and said, ¡°Train more.¡±


    ¡®Not the time Baby Ogre.¡± the emperor called out. ¡°Get over here. I have a gift for you from your mother.¡±


    ¡°Siegemaster.¡± the ogre roared.


    ¡°You¡¯ll always be Baby Ogre to me, old friend.¡± The emperor replied as he pulled a heavily enchanted bandolier out of his storage. Upon seeing the gift, the ogre jogged over and said, ¡°Thanks, John. Train more later?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Only after you visit your mother. I don¡¯t want her hunting me down¡­. Again.¡± the emperor said earnestly before turning back to Solmund. ¡°We have a World Cracker moving into position overhead. We¡¯re about to put up the shields. You will want to remove your communication gear so that the backlash does not kill you.¡±


    Solmund and his men pulled the chips with the communication array out of their bracers. The Sergeant Major moved to throw his on the ground, but the monk flashed forward and caught it and handed it back, ¡°You¡¯ll want that soon.¡± the monk said. Around them, the chaos immediately stopped and the troopers began heading towards the teleporters in small groups.


    ¡°Your council agreed with the Draskari to set up an ambush for us here. When we are done, I will evaluate each of them, but feel free to replace any of the survivors if you feel it is necessary. We will not stand in your way. I understand it is not the Weibati¡¯s wish to rule, but for the good of your planet, I want you to have a say in who does. I must move out to meet the enemy now. We have three World Crackers moving into position each carrying a full B grade cohort of Draskari with mercenary back up. Little Kangrel can answer your questions after you get in position.¡± the emperor said and placed a recording crystal into his hand before jumping the walls and flashing off into the distance.


    The other members of the group followed the emperor except the elven warrior. She stopped in front of Kangrel. ¡°Matron. What are you doing here? You and Elvin are not immortal like the others.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Kanni. We are just closing the flanks and will not leave the dungeon. We will be fine.¡± She said hugging the young elven warrior.


    ¡°Promise me.¡± Kangrel said and the warrior looked at her and nodded before flashing off.


    ¡°She will be fine, kangrel. I swear for all my Weibati on this.¡± Solmund stepped forward and placed his fist over his heart.


    ¡°There are three A grades, 3,000 B grades, and entire cohorts of C grades on those ships. Rage runs in my family''s blood. She won¡¯t be able to keep her promise. I appreciate the gesture, but it is meaningless.¡± kangrel explained.


    ¡°You called her Matron. I assume she is not young like you?¡± the Sergeant major asked.


    ¡°No. She isn¡¯t. What does that matter?¡± Kangrel replied.


    ¡°The rage of the youth roars. The rage of the old simmers. Not many know this because few battle ragers reach an old age. I know. I have not gained any new scars for 200 years. She will not lose control.¡± the ancient warrior explained. ¡°Now tell us what to do next.¡±


    Taking a deep breath, Kangrel refocused herself. Solmund felt her aura pulling back in and solidifying. All of the troopers had disappeared. The balls of metal continued to pour out of the holes as the first of the triangular defensive positions and the terrain of the valley began changing. ¡°Will the dungeon provide creatures to man the defenses?¡± Solmund asked.


    ¡°Oh. Yes, but the positions are mainly a distraction. We¡¯ll fight from the hills, in the middle of their formations, behind their backs, under their feet, or wherever else someone wants to try something. Follow me, we need to get out of the way.¡± Kangrel explained as she moved towards the tunnels heading down. The Weibati followed.


    Solmund glanced at his interface as he walked. His men had left the staging area and some were already relocated into their 2nd firing positions as the dungeon expanded its influence. As if the cobwebs had finally cleared out of his mind, he began to understand, ¡°Is the Emperor still here or has he already moved on to where the real battle is?¡±


    ¡°Oh he¡¯s still here. We¡¯re going to be in for one hell of a show. He hates the sects. Apparently he has moved from planet to planet for hundreds of years integrating over and over trying to find one that the sects don¡¯t steal all the essence from. You¡¯re right though. This isn¡¯t the real battle. He¡¯s the bait. B34$TR4ND0 and the traveler¡¯s are fighting the real battle. Dammit. You too Dungie? Come on.¡± she said after she stepped onto a teleporter. ¡°Choose Cheater¡¯s Loot Pinata as your destination.¡± She added before disappearing.


    Stepping onto the teleporter, Solmund quickly found Cheater¡¯s Loot Pinata, but he couldn¡¯t help but wonder what Baby Ogre¡¯s Crib was. Arriving at their new location, the air was heavy with essence and Solmund could feel it being sucked into his cells and flowing to his core. Checking his interface he saw they were deep underground. In front of him were the mock up positions he and his men would use to control their weapons. He chose the center one while the xo and the sergeant major settled in beside him.


    While Solmund synced up with his position, Gronk fired up the displays around the room. Everybody settled in and made minor adjustments. ¡°You can reactivate your communicators in a second, the backlash concern was a lie. But before you do, remember to think about what you say. The story is the empire has thrown all their might into securing a foothold here. If we fail, the Draskari will cripple the empire.¡± Kangrel told them.


    ¡°How can being underground protect us from world crackers?¡± Tornumb asked.


    ¡°The world crackers aren¡¯t going to be a factor. The only reason we¡¯re even letting them deploy is so we can draw out the reserve fleets after Dungie destroys the three ships that are here. Dungie is going to destroy them and it will take 6 hrs to recharge her weapon. Remember that. No matter what you think you feel or didn¡¯t feel. Dungie destroyed them and it will take her 6 hrs to recharge. No nonsense about dungeons in space or any other crazy scheme you can come up with. Dungie destroyed them and it will take 6 hrs to recharge. Got it?¡± she asked with a wink.


    ¡°Not really.¡± Raphdi shrugged.


    ¡°Then just keep your mouth shut.¡± the sergeant major replied. Everybody took out their chips, but Solmund stopped them before they reinserted the chips into their bracers.


    ¡°How much of what you''re showing us is real? You keep throwing dung at us then rushing us off to the next task before we have a chance to think if what we¡¯re seeing is real. I don¡¯t see any reason for why you care what we think, but how do we know what¡¯s really going on?¡±


    Kangrel looked at them for a few seconds. ¡°You¡¯re right. You have no idea. However, you¡¯re also right that there would be no reason to continue a charade for you at this point. So, do you want to play with the big guns or not? Your help in the charade will most likely make other things go more smoothly, but it won¡¯t make too much of a difference in the end. Follow your instincts and do what you think is right¡­or at least what you think would be the most fun.¡± she finished and wiggled her eyebrows up and down.


    Solmund looked around, finally turning to Gronk who shrugged and said, ¡°Above my paygrade. I just operate the big guns.¡± With a few seconds thought and long exhalation, Solmund nodded and said, ¡°You¡¯re right. You had me with the big guns.¡± Of course, the idiots cheered and Kangrel winked at him.


    Everybody reinserted their chips into their bracers. The XO immediately began communicating with the units letting them know the goat had been moved back into the barn.


    ¡°So the emperor is going out to buy us more time?¡± Tornumb asked.


    ¡°Yes. We¡¯re throwing everything we have at them. Tanguni will give us a foothold to expand here closer to the inner reaches. We¡¯ll finally have the chance to take the fight to these bastards.¡± Kangrel replied.


    ¡°What if we fail?¡± Raphdi asked, looking very proud of himself.


    ¡°Then the sects will slowly grind us to dust. We have to try though. We can¡¯t keep fighting from our backfoot. We have to secure this foothold.¡± Kangrel replied.


    ¡°Heads up. I see the Draskari.¡± Solmund called out.


    ¡°The emperor is moving out to meet them.¡± The XO added. Suddenly all the projections flashed a brilliant white. ¡°What the hells was that?¡±


    ¡°Relax, it was just Dungie dealing with the ships. It¡¯s all part of the plan.¡± Kangrel replied.


    ¡°What if they send another fleet?¡± Solmund asked


    ¡°They¡¯d have to arrive within six hours. Those Draskari scum will be trying to figure out what happened before they respond. No way will they get their reserve fleets here before Dungie can recharge the weapon and is ready for the next group.¡± Kangrel replied with a predatory grin.


    Step Into my Parlor Said the Fly to the Spider


    ¡°Sir, we have confirmation that all troops have been deployed. They are releasing the hounds and will proceed to the designated target shortly.¡± communications officer Raltune announced.


    ¡°Excellent. These pirating scum will soon learn the folly of engaging in a real battle. Prepare to begin bombardment in 15 minutes.¡± Admiral Thrawn replied.


    ¡°Sir. Those asteroids you asked us to scan. They have extremely high essence signatures. I guarantee there will be valuable natural treasures within them.¡± one of the technicians called out.


    ¡°Should we maneuver to bring them in?¡±


    ¡°Will it take us out of firing position?¡±


    ¡°No sir. We only need to make a minor adjustment.¡±


    ¡°Targeting can you confirm?¡±


    After adjusting his projections for a second, another technician replied, ¡°Yes sir. No problem at all.¡±


    ¡°Bring them in then. Have the other ships bring in the ones close to them.¡± Let¡¯s see what those pricks at command that STILL joke about me losing a world cracker to a fleet of suicide bombers have to say about me returning with a hold full of valuable treasure.


    Minutes later in the hold of Thrawn¡¯s world cracker, 4 dungeons began expanding their territory in hair thin strands following air ducts, maintenance pathways, and power lines throughout the ship. No one noticed a few maintenance workers and technicians here and there disappearing when they suddenly received a notice of entering a dungeon before being viciously stabbed in the back and erased from existence.


    Back on the bridge, alarms began sounding and red lights flashing. ¡°Sir we¡¯ve lost communications¡± ¡°Sir we¡¯ve lost navigation control.¡± ¡°Sir, all weapons are down.¡± On the projection showing Tanguni, an enormous white light flared. Admiral Thrawn received an alert. ¡°You have entered the Dungeon: Star Command 493¡±


    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, you are now prisoners of the Drake Empire. You may surrender or fight. However, I feel it is only fair that I warn you that choosing to fight will delay your release.¡± said a lightly armored man with a bald head standing next to the admiral. ¡°Please follow me to begin your processing.¡±


    Both guards by the door drew energy weapons and fired on the man who raised one eyebrow as the projectiles reversed direction and struck the two guards in the head. The admiral and the other B grade officials in the bridge felt the complicated manipulation of essence that defied their understanding. The bodies fell and crumbled into nothing. ¡°Do not fear for those two. They are low enough level that they can repay their essence debt to the dungeon in a matter of weeks and be released. Our intent is to bash the sects on the head with a big stick before handing you a carrot and pointing the way towards the future. We have plenty of big sticks if you do not choose wisely¡± The bald man said before exiting the secure doors that opened without him presenting any credentials as he waved for the others to follow him.


    Another Boring Day at the Office


    If anybody with extremely high perception on Tanguni had been paying attention, they might have noticed a twinkling of lights as 3 world crackers disappeared and 17 asteroids grew thrusters and moved off into space. Nobody was looking up though. The emperor and his companions were expressing their displeasure with the Draskari sect. Except for the man who looked oddly metallic. He had disappeared.


    ¡°So the emperor is a caster. Does he really expect to be able to just stand there and wipe them all out before he is overrun?¡± Solmund asked as he watched fire, ice, and lightning rain down on the horde of hellish beasts the Draskari had unleashed.


    ¡°Oh he¡¯s a hell of a caster, but he prefers to work in close on tougher opponents. You¡¯ll see. He¡¯s just not wanting to engage them outside of our range. He¡¯ll do something to draw them in closer once the scum start taking him seriously. Take a peek at the ranged attack overlay in your interface. You¡¯ll get the idea.¡± Kangrel answered.


    Solmund pulled up the overlay and saw she was right. The emperor was standing just outside the area designated as the maximum effective range. ¡°You¡¯re right he¡¯s barely out of range now. Should be easy for him to kite them back.¡±


    ¡°Barely outside?¡± Kangrel raised up from her scope as she was obviously flipping through her interface. ¡°And they call me a cheat. That bastard Jafar has given half the expedition force mega solmunds in indirect fire mode.¡± Seeing the confused Weibati faces, Kangrel held her weapon at a 45 degree angle and pantomimed a high arcing shot ending in an explosion.


    ¡°I¡¯d ask for a change, but Jafar is probably coordinating with the other dungeons, running a hundred different scenarios, and eating a late lunch right now. Wouldn¡¯t be right to bother him.¡± Kangrel continued.


    ¡°Mam, the horde is splitting from the back and a B grade force is heading straight for the emperor.¡± Brel called out.


    Looking back through her scope, Kangrel agreed. ¡°Looks like about 200. Tanks, damage, not much range, no support. Standard formation. Moving fast. I doubt if he¡¯ll bother bringing that few back to us, but look sharp just in case.¡±


    ¡°The nerd just took off running.¡± the XO reported.


    ¡°So did the bodybuilder.¡± the sergeant major added.


    ¡°Probably going to help push the flanks back in towards the emperor. He¡¯s hitting the B-grade force hard now. Well at least, he¡¯s making it look like he¡¯s trying to hit them harder.¡± Kangrel said as Solmund tried to locate the B grade element moving forward in the light show the emperor was putting on. The emperor paused in his casting and quickly pulled out a potion.


    ¡°They were shielded.¡± Solmund called out. ¡°One of the A grades must be nearby or they just wasted a hell of a lot of talismans.¡± The emperor dropped his flask and used a movement skill to flash back a few kilometers closer to the dungeon. The force of B grades charged forward as they broke through the splitting horde. The indirect fire began to arrive as small explosions or bursts of lightning started dropping the beasts, and annoying the B grades whose tanks began channeling shields over their heads as they ran.


    The emperor began alternating casting and moving back as he struggled to slow the force down enough to escape. To the far left, a wall of swirling wind blades cut into the flanking horde even reaching into the C-grade Draskari maneuvering behind them pushing the attack towards the nerd who was casually sending waves of lightning balls in front of him. Kangrel swung her weapon controller to the left looking for something then raised her head to check her interface.


    ¡°The Matron is within the dungeon limits and in no danger Kangrel. Dungie is keeping an eye on her.¡± Gronk calmly stated. Kangrel nodded and focused on her sector once more. The right side of the enemy formation was also under pressure as two enormous blades of essence enhanced lightning cut through their ranks.


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty cool.¡± Raphdi said as the projection from his scope shifted to the right to show a monk sitting in a meditative pose casually moving his arms back and forth in a cutting motion. To the left of his attacks, waves of flame,and lava spewing volcanoes squeezed the horde further back towards the center.


    Elvin sat calmly only a couple steps away from his teleporter. He used simple attacks with great power while meditating to maintain his reserves. His specialized core and robust delivery system were perfect for this style of fighting. He did maintain his awareness as he felt a powerful presence within the mercenary brigade positioned not far from the base of his dungeon created mountain.


    Feeling the surge of power as the A grade Draskari rushed toward his position, he calmly stood up, threw a few punches, spun a few kicks, and finished with a powerful double front kick. After pausing to pour essence into his attack, make a few adjustments, and add a trigger , Elvin calmy stepped onto the teleporter and moved back into his second fighting position on top of a mountain further back where he sat down and continued his meditation.


    ¡°What do you mean you are surrendering?¡± the commander of the third Draskari cohort screamed.


    ¡°We have received a system alert that we face overwhelming odds and strongly suggests we should surrender.¡± the mercenary commander replied.


    ¡°I should strike you all down for your cowardice. The sects will know of your treasonous behavior.¡±


    ¡°I cannot stop you if you choose to do so, but you and your superiors will face system judgement for violating a system backed contract.¡± Frustrated, the cohort commander had no reply as he charged off to take out his anger on the annoying monk sitting on the hill.


    ¡°Why haven¡¯t the Drake¡¯s responded?¡± the mercenary commander asked his assistant. Who shrugged and pointed up at the stunned A grade flying off the mountain and over their heads, ¡°I don¡¯t think they are all that worried about us changing our minds.¡±


    Half a universe away at the mercenary commander¡¯s headquarters, the guards put their hands on their weapons and began moving forward as a rather shady looking character brazenly sauntered toward the reception desk. Holding his hands in the air, he continued at a leisurely pace.


    ¡°I am a member of Paul John¡¯s Raiders representing the Drake Empire. I wish to speak with whoever is in charge.¡± He slowly moved his right hand forward offering a small metallic token while pointing with his left hand at a dimensional storage bag hanging off his belt. ¡°I come bearing gifts.¡±


    The receptionist cautiously took the token and saw that it provided both admission and transportation to and from the Drake Academy. All expenses paid. ¡°One moment sir.¡± he replied before he turned to go down the hallway to the acting commander¡¯s office assuming the token was not something that should be discussed over a communicator. Hours later, the entire building appeared to shrink and transform into a fortress in clear violation of the local building codes. The owner of the restaurant next door was not amused in the slightest. Well, at least not until she received a rather generous business proposition the next day.


    The emperor had almost made it back within Solmund¡¯s and the other¡¯s maximum effective range when Solmundi received a fire mission. There was a large X a few hundred meters from the edge of their field of fire and sectors ready to be assigned with arrows pointing in from the outside edge. Quickly figuring out what the emperor wanted he assigned the sectors and called out, ¡°He wants us working outside in. Get ready boys. Rapid Fire. Fire at will.¡±


    The Emperor reached the X not far ahead of the still charging Draskari B grades. He turned and readied his staff, but was breathing heavily and his head was bent down, shoulders slumped in exhaustion. The Weibati opened fire and soon realized that each one was controlling more than one weapon as rounds began breaking shields and penetrating into Draskari flesh. Being B grades, not many went down, but a few did. They continued firing and working their way closer to the emperor.


    As the first Draskari reached the emperor and swung, a reactive shield exploded sending razor sharp shards of essence flying in all directions. Next was an explosion of ice freezing those nearby followed by a blast of lightning stunning those that were still moving. Finally a blast of fire was released and the cycle began repeating itself, shards, ice, lightning, fire. The emperor began swinging his weapon which now had enormous blades on both ends as he casually walked forward cutting down the frozen and stunned Draskari while the Weibati worked their way in from the outside.


    ¡°Five seconds¡­Five seconds and two hundred dead B grades.¡± The Sergeant Major whispered as all the Weibati received loot notifications and another fire mission appeared, this time just showing an approximate point of engagement within the dungeon limits. They quickly adjusted their positions as the emperor turned around and exhaustedly limped back towards the dungeon forces.


    ¡°A grade coming in at the emperor.¡± Gronk called out. With a thought, Solmund created another fire plan, this time including the rest of the Weibati hidden in the hills. ¡°An A grade will be too fast for us to hit reliably and too strong to do much damage to. Disruptive fire 1 meter off center mass.¡± Solmund ordered as everybody settled in ready to squeeze their triggers. The emperor disappeared and reappeared near the new kill zone.


    Seconds later an updated fire plan was received, the emperor had moved the targets for the Weibati firing normal Solmund arms with the question, ¡°Explosive rounds?¡± written underneath. Solmund approved the plan, guessing that the emperor wanted to disrupt the A grades footing as much as possible.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Primalll Hunterrr. Duh, duh dunt, da¡± a metallic voice rang out as everybody looked at a projection Gronk had zoomed in on as metallic tentacles holding bows or punch daggers rose up among one of the Draskari caster formations. Arrows and daggers dripping green with acidic slime.


    As the casters fell, a metallic humanoid formed and rapidly moved backwards towards another formation of casters despite it appearing like his legs were walking forward. The casters opened fire as the metallic voice rang out once again. ¡°You¡¯ve been hit by. You¡¯ve been struck by. A smooth criminal. Dunt dun dunna da dunt dunt tttt. Yeeowww!¡± as the tentacles appeared in a totally different formation of casters as they all fell.


    ¡°What the hells is a Primal Hunter?¡± Solmund asked while watching the strange silver balls being launched from catapults towards the A grade who was nearing the edge of the dungeon proper.


    ¡°I asked once while that maniac was trying to make friends with a sassy little bird who was screeching at him to get away from her nest, but his reply was that ¡®I shouldn¡¯t worry about that because Willy was the main character, but it would be cool to have a cosmic space worm.¡¯ I think his entire world was insane. Apparently they named their planet Dirt.¡± Kangrel explained as she opened fire on the A grade.


    The metallic voice began chanting, ¡°Let the bodies hit the floor¡± as the bows and knives and tentacles had disappeared and a giant mass of whirling blades grew legs and jumped into the next formation. That chant was apparently more than enough to break the spirits of the summoned demonic beasts as the remainder of the horde disappeared leaving behind steaming puddles where they had emptied their bladders before leaving.


    The entirety of the three cohorts of the Draskari charged as they apparently had seen enough and decided the emperor was the safer target.


    The flying silver balls all became masses of blades as they slammed into the A grade. They didn¡¯t appear to do much damage, but the weight definitely slowed him down. The emperor smoothly side stepped an overhead chop from the heavily armored Draskari¡¯s sword. The staff now much thicker on the ends was covered in spikes and slammed into a knee, an elbow, the other elbow, and finally the other knee before the emperor ducked under a wild swing from the Draskari who was struggling to keep his footing as the ground beneath his feet was continuously being torn apart by small explosions and his arms and shoulders were continuously being rocked by rounds coming from the Mega Solmunds.


    The Weibati struggled following their aiming points as the A grade kept moving. Boulders with alternating blasts of fire and ice were now raining down from somewhere with one nearly striking the emperor who stepped back quickly out of the way. ¡°Not the time Baby Ogre.¡±


    ¡°Not my fault you keep moving.¡± the ogre shouted back. Apparently getting frustrated, the A grade released a powerful stunning skill sending the silver orbs flying and stunning the emperor. The weibati fired as quickly as they could, knocking the sword offline but it still managed to cut through the emperor from shoulder to hip as his body crumpled into dust.


    A roar rang out as the ogre came into vision from their left charging towards the A grade rapidly pulling boulders out of his bandolier and throwing them straight at the Draskari. Suddenly he dove to the right as a massive shadow swam across the charging Draskari troops as an enormous blue dragon released a breath of lightning straight at the A grade before sharply turning to the right as an even larger red dragon barreled into the Draskari commander in an explosion of dust and dirt and fire.


    The emperor reappeared armed with vicious looking twin war hammers, but stopped short as the dragon suddenly flew out of the cloud of debris and circled around meeting the blue dragon and landing behind the Draskari troops. The emporer shook his head and summoned a strong wind to clear the air so he could look down into the now empty enormous crater.


    The sergeant major jerked to the left and cursed before saying a quick prayer as Gronk adjusted another of the projections to show the elvin matron battling a large group of Draskari B grades while another of the cohort commanders was casting a spell from the distance behind her.


    ¡°That¡¯s not¡­¡± Kangrel and Gronk both started to say ¡°necessary.¡± However, they were too late as his body turned to ash as he sacrificed his life force to save the matron. A giant black and tan serpent rose from the sand behind the caster and sunk its fangs into his shoulder just before a silver ax wielded by a tentacle cut through him and a sword of condensed air chopped off his head.


    All of the remaining Draskari froze as they found themselves surrounded by gleaming silver snakes. The matron pointed towards the emperor and the Draskari lowered their weapons and shuffled away. Troopers began appearing all around the emperor and Jafar began guiding the enemy fighters towards a seating area that had risen from the ground that included goblins selling snacks and beverages from concession stands. The matron turned and wiggled her fingers in some form of elvin sign language while several silver hands rose from the ground to send a much cruder message with a single finger.


    ¡°The matron says thank you, but your sacrifice was not necessary. The battlemaster says¡­well I think you know what he said.¡± Kangrel said to the sergeant major who was coming from the teleportation room and apparently trying to sneak back to his position before anybody noticed anything.


    At the rear of the main Draskari formation, some soldiers turned to run but changed their mind immediately when a young man dressed in blue transformed his hand into an enormous claw and pointed towards the emperor while a red haired muscular woman animatedly told him a story involving a lot of scratching while smoke leaked out of her mouth and fire danced across her arms.


    Let the Games Begin


    ¡°Hurry up, there is still time to get into the first battle royal.¡± Kangrel excitedly stood up.


    ¡°The what?¡± The Weibati asked but she was already gone and Gronk stood in the doorway to the teleporters waving for them to hurry. They appeared on the battlefield next to a catapult.


    ¡°Sneak attack!!!¡± the monk from the mountain earlier shouted out as he gleefully led a brigade of mercenaries toward the lines of Drake troopers and one of the annoying flashing, ¡°enemy surrenders¡± alerts disappeared from Solmunds interface.


    The ogre ran to the front and began launching boulders at the monk and Kagnel picked up one of the metal balls out of the catapult and jumped in herself. The other catapults were already launching and the air filled with a loud whistling noise as metal balls flew through the air. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Solmund asked Kangrel, but she too was already flying through the air.


    Solmund felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to Gronk who explained, ¡°Elvin is probably just helping them make some extra credits from their death premium.¡± And predictably the other Weibati immediately all rushed to be next onto the catapult.


    Earlier the mercenary commander sat with his men waiting for a representative of the Drake Empire to arrive. Seeing the monk from the mountain rapidly approaching he stood, removed his weapons, and walked forward with his hands in the air.


    The monk slowed as he approached and said, ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Elvin. I understand that you fine soldiers would like to surrender?¡±


    ¡°Yes. We had a system approved contract and it included an overwhelming clause.¡± the commander replied.


    ¡°Great. Great. Did you also happen to include a death penalty?¡± the monk asked.


    ¡°I must remind you that murdering us would be in violation of system approved protocols and you and your superiors would suffer severe punishment.¡± the commander hopefully pointed out as his men began to stand and prepare themselves.


    ¡°Not what I meant at all. Is it significant?¡±


    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s significant. The system does not take violation of its protocols lightly.¡±


    ¡°I meant the penalty. Is it worth a few days of your time?¡± the monk continued. ¡°If it is, this is what I have in mind...¡± The commander could only thank the gods that he always took all his contracts seriously as the insane monk laid out his outrageous plan. But hey, credits are credits. A few days'' time for a few months'' pay is always a good deal.


    BRRRRRRRRRTTT. A fiery streak shot low across the horizon before rising up and turning back the direction it came from. ¡°What was that?¡± the commander asked.


    ¡°The cohort commander I kicked off the mountain was trying to escape.¡± the monk explained as the commander wondered why he ever accepted this job.


    A few hours later, Solmund slowly picked up his rifle as he glanced up at the scoreboard suspended in the sky. The timer had ten seconds remaining before the battle royale began. The scoreboard showed the score of 0¡¯s for all the teams involved. The timer hit zero.


    ¡°Better luck next time new guy.¡± a voice sounded in his ear as he felt heat on the back of his neck and he turned his head to see a few red scales and enormous teeth. A lot of enormous teeth. He was still screaming as he opened his eyes to a still image of his horrified face.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry there will be another one, once this one is over.¡± Jafar said between bites of popcorn as he sat in a comfortable looking chair surrounded by projections of the battleground which had totally transformed into a massive arena including forested areas, open plains, rolling hills, small villages, and the ruins of a city in one corner.


    ¡°Dammit Dungie. Enough. Your master has spoken.¡± Jafar called out as he saw the screen change from Dungie and Jafar to Jafar and Dungie. The Draskari were in last place and the Battlemaster was in first as his numbers rarely stopped scrolling. The Weibati were doing well in second place, but their numbers were barely changing as they ran out of easy targets to pick off. The twins and John were starting to catch up. Solmund chuckled as he saw the name for the Dungeon team change once again.


    Solmund and the rest of the Weibati sat in the stands watching as the Sergeant Major crawled slowly up a ravine looking for a new position higher up in the terrain. The Weibati had been able to hold on to 4th place behind the Battlemaster, John, and the twins. Admittedly it was mostly because they were harder for the Battlemaster to locate, but a win is a win. Suddenly a silver ax cut into the ground next to the sergeant major¡¯s head as a Metallic voice whispered, ¡°There you are, you little sneak.¡±


    ¡°I surrender.¡± The sergeant major called out.


    ¡°Winner and still undefeated multi-versal champion¡­THEEEE BATTLEMASTER!!!¡± rang out as a metallic man in black pants and a black and white shirt raised the champs hand and an extremely feminine looking metallic person wearing just a few small pieces of pink cloth strapped an enormous gold and black belt around his waist.


    The entire crowd in the stands booed and the emperor''s voice rang out, ¡°Hurry up show off. The warmaster is requesting our presence and I have training to do.¡± as the battlemaster continued jumping up and down with both arms raised above his head.


    On a nearby planet, 5 fat scalekin covering their faces with scarves stepped off the teleporter and looked around. A shady looking character leaning against a wall looked away before motioning with his thumb towards a pathway between two buildings. Just before they reached the end of the alley a shadow stepped out behind them. Purple eyes glowed beneath a hood and dark hands flashed holding curved swords. Five heads rolled. Five bodies fell.


    ¡°Judgement is guilty. Sentence is death.¡± The shadow stated before he turned and a lock of long white hair flew out from inside the hood as he disappeared back into the shadows. The shady looking character from before walked down the alley and placed the bodies and heads into a dimensional storage.


    John and the Battlemaster stood in the Tanguni capital with the Battlemaster. He looked around the room at the remaining council members. He stared at each one for a few seconds before moving to the next. He pointed at four of them. ¡°You four are off the council and can never hold a governmental position again. The rest can remain on the council.¡±


    After waiting for the 4 to quickly leave, John continued, ¡°As some of you are aware, we were invited here to be ambushed. I wish to thank you for that. It provided an excellent distraction. Your first order of business will be to form a temporary council to determine how the planet will be governed moving forward. I want positions offered to all the minor tribes, even the Weibati. No tribe can have more than three representatives. The Weibati will hold at least one. Your Imperial liaison will arrive shortly. You¡¯ll have one month to establish a government. That government can work with the dungeon masters and the liaison to rebuild this planet however you want as long as they follow the imperial laws¡±


    John dropped a dimensional storage bag on the floor. ¡°This bag is for the Weibati.¡± He dropped five more. ¡°The rest are to be divided evenly among all the tribes. They contain tokens for transportation to and from the Drake Academy. I recommend you send a few representatives from each of the tribes to learn what is available.¡± John and the Battlemaster walked out.


    ¡°I suggest we do exactly what he says.¡± one council member recommended.


    ¡°You think so. They secured footholds on dozens of planets in the inner reaches, crippled one of the great sects, and reportedly killed a god in three days all while their strongest fighters were supposedly being ambushed here. I amend that we do exactly what he says after confirming with the liaison and dungeon master that we are doing exactly what they want the way they want it done.¡±


    ¡°I second that motion and suggest we move forward immediately.¡± a third council member confirmed.


    ¡°Excellent plan.¡± a feminine voice giggled as the entire council turned to see a curvy young elven maid dusting a bust on the back shelf of the meeting room.


    ¡°Who are you miss?¡± one of the council members asked.


    ¡°Oh, Don¡¯t mind me. I¡¯m just a maid.¡± she responded. ¡°But I¡¯ll tell you, John¡¯s easy to get along with. Let him train and breath a little fire on him when he asks and he¡¯ll make sure you have everything you want.¡± her eyes changed to reptilian slits and her teeth grew sharper and longer as she smiled much too widely and continued, ¡°No, John¡¯s not the one you have to worry about at all if you decide to cross the empire¡±


    She curtsied and gave a little wave over her shoulder as she quickly walked out of the room. One of the council members quickly stood and announced, ¡°I¡¯ll take the Weibati their tokens and inform them of what¡¯s going on. Three of you meet with the dungeon masters. At least one of you wait for the liaison. The rest get the tokens and information to the other tribes.¡±


    ¡°Seconded.¡± Everybody shouted as they stood and quickly began moving.


    The memory weaver leaned back. That was his favorite presentation. He frequently updated it and adjusted it as he interviewed more participants. Looking at his watch, he stood and headed out the door. He was starting a new series today and it was time to go to the presentation hall.

 Gangs All Here....wherever that is?

    Gangs All Here¡­.wherever that is?


    Something wasn¡¯t right.  John could not get his essence under control.  Instead of a smoothly flowing core circulating essence out to his cells and back, the essence was going wild.  It was almost like it was trying to take over his body.  He had heard of cultivators who had turned themselves into essence bombs trying to absorb too powerful of a natural treasure while in a lower grade, but he had only been doing some light stretching and essence control exercises, when he had received a system notification and everything went haywire.


    Lately, when he went all out he had become dizzy.  Sort of.  It didn¡¯t feel like his head was spinning, it felt more like reality was cracking.  John had a plan though.  He had asked Destiny to crank up the essence level of his workout area as high as she could get it and that way his absorption would be maximized.  Elvin was the cultivation expert, but John had studied Elvin¡¯s complex core and distribution network.  He thought he had a good idea of how he could upgrade his own.  Maybe he was at the point where the power needed for his skills and spells exceeded the capabilities of his fairly generic system designed core or his distribution network.  Maybe it was time to narrow his focus and modify a core group of spells and skills designed to function with a more specialized core.  Maybe he needed to redesign his distribution network to prioritize delivering essence where it was needed for those core spells and skills to be optimized.  People always said, ¡°Jack of all trades means the master of none.¡±   Maybe they were right.  But maybe John could still find a way to work around it.


    He had planned on going through a specific list of skills and spells and test to see if he could make them work using the same internal essence pattern to confirm his tentative plan for what he would consider his core skills.  However, he hadn¡¯t even finished warming up and he¡¯s pretty sure Destiny had not even gotten close to reaching the desired essence levels in the room.  The system alert was still flashing at the edge of his vision, and suddenly John received an explanation:


    System Override Protocol:  Forced Ascension


    Planar limits exceeded.  Ascension imminent.


    Would you like to create an avatar to remain on this plane?  (Yes/No)


    Creating this avatar will use 8% of your current celestial essencel.


    The avatar will permanently remain within sustainable planar limits.


    Instead of advancing your avatar, essence gains will be translated into celestial essence gains for your true body.


    John felt his awareness splitting.  He was sitting on the floor of a large white room and he was also back in his workout area having a conversation with Destiny.  He wondered what he was saying to Destiny and suddenly he felt more present in the workout area and not only could he hear their conversation, but he knew what their entire conversation had been about.  Apparently John had explained how he felt like he was going to blow up then suddenly he was fine.  Destiny had ascended before Tanguni while they were still chasing the sects out of the wilderness.  And unfortunately, that damn Battlemaster had ascended shortly after Tanguni.


    Destiny gave John a wave and said, ¡°High real John.  I see you''re getting the hang of the multiple body thing.  It was pretty easy for me since I was used to having bodies all over the planet.  I segmented my awareness of my bodies and sealed them away, but left a real time connection to my main brain.  Might work for you.  I¡¯ll see you in a second on the other side.Oh, and don¡¯t accept an invitation from the butthead or he¡¯ll be able to drag you along into all kinds of trouble.¡±


    John pulled himself back to his real body and tried what Destiny suggested.   It seemed to work.  He wasn¡¯t having to concentrate on both places at once.  He was just kind of aware of what was going on in his avatar.  I wonder what stat I should work on to get more avatars and make this even more efficient.  Actually, I wonder what stats are stats now.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Before he could check, John received system alerts that he had messages from ¡°Maximus Decimus Meridius¡± and ¡°Celestial Dungeon Destiny.¡±  Ignoring the message from the person he assumed was actually the Battlemaster, he opened the message from Destiny.  It was an invitation to form a pantheon with her.  He accepted and he heard a frantic knocking on his door.  ¡°John let me in before Butthead shows up.¡±


    John¡¯s door, which hadn¡¯t even been there before, opened as soon as he thought about letting Destiny in.  She slammed it behind her and frantically began poking around the walls.  ¡°Thank us.  I made it here first.  He¡¯s even more annoying now and he¡¯s a ridiculously fast learner at this whole god thing.  I spend more time trying to figure out how to stop his shenanigans than I actually get to spend on my project for Destiny.  And he¡¯s already completed 5 projects for her, but his projects are simpler.  How hard is it to dance to music by stepping on colored squares or tap buttons in time with falling colored lights.  And don¡¯t get me started on that stupid fruit chopping game.  I have no idea why Destiny was so excited by them.¡±


    ¡°You gave yourself a project?¡±


    ¡°No, silly.  The REAL Destiny gave me the project.  It¡¯s a Dungeon war thing for the travelers.  One of my avatars is the final boss.  Candrel should be here shortly and probably Elvin too.  She¡¯s been hiding her reality problems from everybody besides Elvin.  That freak should have ascended earlier too, but he has so much control that he hasn¡¯t triggered the protocol yet.  Dragons ascend more naturally so the twins and their mom should be here once she senses Candrel ascend.  I think the maids are going to hang around down there for a while. ¡±


    BANG, BANG, BANG.  ¡°Little pig, Little pig.  Let me in.¡±  Without meaning to, John turned his door into a massive sheet of essence enhanced mithril held in place by a bar of mithril and about 20 other locks secured it.


    ¡°I would knock 500 times and I would knock 500 more just to be the god that¡¯s knocking at your dooooorrrrr.¡±


    ¡°Oh god.  He¡¯s still trying to sing.¡± John cringed.  ¡°Maybe we can spend all our time down there in our avatars and just ignore him?¡±


    ¡°Tried it.  He¡¯ll just send his avatar over to bother you.¡±


    ¡°Maaa-Lin-Da.  Maaa-Lin-Da.  Maaaalinda.  Linda Linda Linda-Lou.¡±


    ¡°Step away from the door foul demon.¡±  WHAM¡­a head that looked somewhat similar to one the Battlemaster frequently used was suddenly sticking through the door.  The Battlemaster looked around at the barren white room and said, ¡°Great to see you John.  Love what you¡¯ve done with the place.¡±


    ¡°Remember what the maids taught us, Bill.  Punch first, ask questions later.¡±


    John changed the door back to what it was and opened it to let his three guests in. The Battlemaster fell on his face.   ¡°Mom said we could come ahead.  She¡¯s guiding Elvin and Candrel.¡±  Bill said.


    ¡°They can meet us at Destiny¡¯s.  She¡¯s got something exciting to show us.  She said the Memory Weaver is releasing a big ¡°tell all¡± history of the empire.¡±  Destiny said as she began pushing the others out the door.  John followed.


    Stepping out the door he saw a stone archway across from his and a mirror ball hanging in front of another door lit up with flashing lights underneath a glowing sign that said, ¡°Party Town.¡±  On his side of the hallway a double set of ancient wooden doors were located. At the end of the hallway in the opposite direction was a fancy set of golden doors covered in scenes depicting a farm woman planting seeds that grew into towering trees and beautiful flowers.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you need to join my pantheon before we go?¡± the Battlemaster asked.


    ¡°UGGGGH!!!!  We¡¯ve been over this a thousand times Krapstoomuch.  WE are going to form a pantheon and align it with Destiny¡¯s pantheon.¡±  Destiny explained.  Before Maxie, as he would probably call himself, could respond, three more doors appeared along the hallway.  The dragon queen, Candrel, and Elvin all stepped out and fell in behind Destiny.


    The door at the end of the hall opened and Destiny motioned for John to lead them in.  A serious looking woman stood and said, ¡°Great.  You¡¯re all here.  Hurry up and find a seat.  Your grandson is about to start his show.¡±  John was confused for a second because he had no children or grandchildren until Candrel stepped past him and said, ¡°What is that little trouble maker doing this time?¡±


    ¡°Sit down and we¡¯ll all find out together.¡±  Said a twin to the woman who had greeted them.  John started to sit down, but he paused as he noticed two identical men with their faces covered sitting at a small table in a back corner of the room.  One of the men got up and exited through a shadowy portal at the back of the room.  Three more identical men walked in through the portal and sat down at the now much larger table.


    ¡°John, hurry up.  I saved you a seat.¡±  Candrell said, pointing at a large projection of Professor Rangel, aka The Memory Weaver, aka Candrel¡¯s grandson.

 Et Tu Johnie

    Et Tu Johnie


    Professor Ragnel let the applause die down before he began.  ¡°I¡¯d like to thank you all for coming to tonight''s presentation.  I know we have a large contingent of new enrollees to the Drake Academy here.  I hope you find this experience both educational and entertaining.  And finally before I get started, I¡¯d like to give thanks to my crystalcast subscribers.  Where are you at Weaverines and Weaverettes?  Thank you.  WIthout your support this would not be possible.  Do not forget to pick up your complimentary recording of tonight¡¯s presentation before you leave.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any new information on the Shadow Emperor, Professor?¡±  someone shouted from the balcony.


    ¡°No.  No.  Not tonight.  I thought long and hard about what order I wanted to do this semester''s presentations.  There have been updates made to so many of them.  However, I finally decided to start with one that I¡¯ve never done before from a perspective I¡¯ve never used before.  My own.  Today, we will start with the day I met the emperor and found out who my grandmother really was.¡±


    10 year old Ragnel was excited.  Not only was the 100 year celebration kicking off tonight, but he would finally get to see John Drake.  THE Emperor.  THE Legend.  The founder of the Drake Empire and master of its mighty dungeon.


    ¡°Are you ready Raggy?¡±  His grandmother called as she appeared in his doorway.  She was dressed in the comfortable casual greens and tans many of the elves of Homeworld wore as their day to day garb.  Definitely not what you¡¯d expect to be worn by the mother of one of the most powerful people in the empire.  But Granny never really cared about status or flaunting the wealth that Ragnel had realized his family held.  Of course, not many people knew she was the Warmaster¡¯s mother or that Ragnel was the Warmaster¡¯s son.


    Even at his young age, he knew he didn¡¯t want to be treated like he had seen some of the children of the Senators or other important figures.  Bodyguards, people fawning over you all the time.  Not that Ragnel minded being the center of attention.  But people just seemed to be so¡­fake¡­around the powerful.  Ragnel liked meeting real people.  Hearing their real stories.  Understanding what they were really feeling.


    Ragnel understood his life wasn¡¯t exactly what most would consider normal.  They may not dress fancy or live in a palatial estate, but he knew it was not normal for the training areas of their home to be capable of being flooded with so much essence that it made your skin tingle.  Grandma was always bringing him recordings of personalized lectures made just for him by the Empire''s greatest fighters and craftsmen.  He learned things like essence manipulation, the components of spells, and how your essence delivery and distribution systems were utilized when using skills or freeform fighting.  All taught to him by people of legend.  Ragnel was already able to see the flow of essence and sometimes could even recognize some shapes of the components people used when casting.


    ¡°Yes, granny.  I¡¯m ready.  Have you seen him before?¡±  Ragnel answered as he took his grandmother¡¯s hand and began leading her down the hall and to the teleporter that would take them to the entryway of the building.


    ¡°Who?¡±  his grandmother asked.


    ¡°The emperor.¡±  Ragnel said frustrated because he could tell that his grandmother was teasing him.


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ve met quite a few times.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s he like?¡±  Ragnel asked as they stepped off the teleporter and he waved at Thomas the human that sold recordings and projections of illusions and special events.  When Ragnel wasn¡¯t training, he would often spend time in the man''s small shop.  Thomas would let him watch while he worked.  When he wasn¡¯t busy, Thomas  would entertain Ragnel by weaving amazing animations while he would tell tales.  Ragnel always found it interesting how the essence  would flow into and out of Thomas¡¯s mind as if he was remembering the illusions as he created them.  Ragnel could recognize some of his favorite animations before they even appeared because he had watched Thomas create them so many times.


    ¡°John¡­well¡­John is different.  Somewhat disconnected or at least not fully connected the way normal people are when interacting.  To many, he seems to only be interested in training.  Getting stronger.  But I know his secret.  He loves teaching people.  Helping them achieve their goals or just figure something out.  When the empire was just forming and before he became so famous, it wasn¡¯t unusual to stumble upon him training with some random group of people who had no idea who he was.  He always played it off as if he was learning how other people approached training, but I¡¯m pretty sure those he was working with gained much more from him being there then he did from working with them.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like a greedy person.¡±  Ragnel said, sounding surprised.


    ¡°Why would you think he was greedy?¡±  his grandmother asked, looking confused.


    ¡°He keeps all the essence and won¡¯t let anybody mine it.¡±  Ragnel answered.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t keep all the essence.  He protects the primary essence veins of the planet with his dungeon, but he allows people to mine from the smaller veins.  Our enchanters wouldn¡¯t have anything to work with if he kept all the essence.  What made you think he was being greedy.¡±


    ¡°People say it all the time.  They complain that we could make a fortune if we mined the main veins¡±  Ragnel said as he admired the tall buildings of the city.  Sizes and shapes that would be impossible if the buildings weren¡¯t dungeon made.


    ¡°Sure, we¡¯d make some credits selling the essence, but the world would weaken.  People wouldn¡¯t be able to advance.  We would stagnate and become a target of those stronger.¡±  His grandmother replied as they entered the plaza.  He saw his mother on stage and their eyes met.  It was always like she always knew exactly what was going on around her and would instantly know when he and his grandmother were around.  He would have waved, but he knew his mother wouldn¡¯t wave back.  She had her twin swords on her back and her staff leaning against her armored shoulder and was wearing her warmaster face.  That cold look that seemed to unsettle those who made her angry.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    His mother¡¯s foul mood was probably due to the Senator babbling from behind an array setting within a formation of some sort that projected his voice and was going on and on about fighting for freedom, unleashing the yoke of tyrannical Imperial control of the planet''s resources.  Even to Ragnel this made no sense.  If you wanted credits, the dungeon provided unlimited ways to earn them.  If you wanted to become better at something, the dungeon provided ways to train.  However, Ragnel had seen this man give speeches like this many times.  It always made him uncomfortable.  It felt like the man''s essence wasn¡¯t right.  His whole being was somehow distorted and slimy.


    And then suddenly, HE was there.  He was a  little disappointing to be honest.  He wasn¡¯t short, but wasn¡¯t really tall either.  Just kind of average in every way.  No radiant aura announced his presence. He was just standing there, a few feet away from the Senator who had finally stopped talking after saying, ¡°And finally he is here.  The man we¡¯ve all been waiting so long for.  The emperor.  John Drake.¡±


    The emperor turned to look at the senator who didn¡¯t really seem to be happy that the emperor was there and quickly moved back to join the other members of the senate when his eyes met John¡¯s.  The Emperor went to the podium but paused before he spoke.  When the emperor had turned to face the crowd, Ragnel had seen the slimy senator send a slight amount of essence into one of the glyphs in the formation the Emperor was standing on.  Almost like something one would use to trigger a switch to turn something on.


    The formation suddenly became much more powerful and tentacles of essence began reaching for the emperor.  The tentacles seemed to be trying to burrow their way into the Emperor, but John watched the most incredible display of essence manipulation he had ever seen as the tentacles were dismantled and the glyphs adjusted and the power of the formation returned to what it had been when the Senator had been speaking.


    Ragnel glanced at his mother.  She had definitely noticed also. She still wore the cold hard face of the warmaster, but Ragnel could sense the rage being tightly contained.  Then things got really strange.  He saw the senator¡¯s lips moving like he was whispering, and the emperor began to speak in a calm, clear voice.  No rage burned.  No fiery death was fighting to be unleashed.


    ¡°I thank you for coming to witness this great day in the Drake empire¡¯s history.  A day when the shackles of tyranny are removed from our world¡­¡±  Ragnel realized the senator was saying what the Emperor said just before he said it.  Had that been a puppet curse?  Had the emperor failed to prevent the curse from taking hold?  Ragnel began to look around wondering what to do, but he saw the heads of just about everybody in the plaza wearing armor and quite a few of the people not there as part of the official party moving from between the emperor and the senator with confused looks on their faces.  They had also seen it.


    ¡°A day when the Senate removes itself from under the heel.¡±  Suddenly Ragnel felt the emperor¡¯s rage flair.  ¡°Of a man too ignorant to realize that most of us can hear his whispers and see his lips move.¡±  Ragnel couldn¡¯t help but laugh at the senator¡¯s face when he realized what the emperor had said.  ¡°A man too unskilled to realize that even children within this crowd could feel his pathetic attempt to catch me in a puppet curse.¡±  the emperor said as he turned to look directly at Ragnel.


    On the other side of the planet, a man walked through one of the gathering areas of the dungeon picking an occasional fruit to snack on while he strolled aimlessly.  He found a quiet area and looked around to confirm that no one was watching.  He quickly pulled the complex array he had been given out of storage and placed the essence crystal into its socket.  The array appeared to instantly transmit something before it suddenly broke apart and the man was engulfed by shadows.  Purple eyes burned before him.


    ¡°Who sent you?¡± the eyes asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.  I was at the Redbone Coliseum and was given the token to come to the academy and told to place the array at this time on this day.¡±  the man replied.


    ¡°The charge is espionage.  The sentence is death.¡±  the eyes said as the man sensed movement and his vision quickly dimmed.  ¡°For now.¡±  The shadows disappeared and the man quickly walked away.  ¡°Destiny, I¡¯d recommend using him for training the troops until the emperor can take a look at him.  I doubt he even knew what he was doing.¡±


    Projections appeared above the emperor¡¯s head showing human men placing complicated arrays down but being arrested by dragonkin dungeon guardsmen before they could activate them.  ¡°A man too stupid to know that a dungeon sees all.  A greedy man who would sell the future of this planet and its inhabitants to the Draskari sect.¡±  Ragnel watched as what looked like bands cut from an inverted shield wrapped around the senator binding him before the dungeon teleported him away.   ¡°A man who has breathed his last breath and has seen all of his estates erased from the dungeon and all the wealth and possessions of his family confiscated.¡±


    Suddenly the rage of the emperor flared much greater than before and Ragnel watched as the emperor took two slow breaths and pulled his rage back into his body.  ¡°I am sorry.  I have failed you.  There was a second plot.  There were outsiders who were given academy tokens to come here and expose our location.  One was able to send a single short burst before it was destroyed.¡±


    The emperor looked sad for a second before he looked directly at Rangel¡¯s grandmother and continued, ¡°Originals.  I swore to myself I would never do this, but I apologize.  Those that have retired, I ask that you reveal yourselves.  War has come to the empire and we need you to show the younger generations what it truly means to be Drake.  The senate is disbanded.  The senatorial taxes are revoked.  The senatorial debt will be repaid from my funds.  War will come to the empire¡±


    Rangel felt a flash of essence and¡­and..the Mad Matron was standing where his grandmother had been just before.  Another flash and Thomas stood next to her wearing battle robes and holding a powerful war staff.  Some of the assembled guards and members of the mercenary guild stepped forward.  Ragnel felt flashes of essence as other powerful warriors revealed their true selves throughout the crowd.  Some of them he recognized as the heroes from Thomas¡¯s tales, but one thing shocked him more than anything else.


    My grandmother is THE MAD MATRON.  He knew the mad matron was also named Candrel, but that was just a coincidence¡­oh¡­I am such an idiot.  That makes perfect sense.


    ¡°We are not your slaves.  You cannot just order us to fight the war you have brought upon us.¡±


    John turned and looked at the young and very pretty senator who was rapidly gaining fame for her speeches espousing the rights of the people.  He looked at the globe hanging just over her right shoulder and analyzed it.  A smile came to his face as he realized he had found exactly what he needed at this moment.  The globe held a surprising amount of green and very little red.  She may not like me, but she cares deeply for the people of the empire.  Almost nothing would make this woman turn against the empire.


    As the emperor smiled, the senator froze¡­My gods.  He¡¯s eating my soul.  I can feel him tearing me apart piece by piece.  And the prick is smiling while he does it.


    ¡°I did not bring this war to us.  The man who you stood in support of so many times brought this war to us.  However, you care deeply for the people of the empire.  You will choose a few select members of the senate to help the Dragon Queen rebuild our government and make sure the needs of the people are not forgotten.  You can not choose these four.¡±  The emperor wrapped bands of essence around 4 senators and floated them over to be taken into custody by the assembled military members.   ¡°They were part of the conspiracy to expose our location.¡±


    The emperor continued scanning the senators and over twenty more were lifted and placed on the plaza in front of the crowd as he said, ¡°Nor these.  They care too much for themselves and not enough for the empire.  They may never hold another position in government.  The rest you may choose whoever you wish.¡±


    Ragnel was once again amused by a senator¡¯s expression as the Dragon Queen ¡­OMG the Dragon Queen¡­ appeared and motioned for the young senator to stand beside her.  John stepped forward and once more addressed the crowd, ¡°Whether it be crafting armor or improving your skill with the bow, find the path that will allow you to protect your friends and family.  Work hard.  Train hard.  Live free.¡±


    ¡°Work hard.  Train hard.  Live free.¡±  Ragnel yelled as loud as he could and accidentally weaved an image of the emperor and the Mad Matron in the sky¡­ much to the amusement of the crowd.


    ¡°See¡­Now there¡¯s the spirit.  Candrel, I assume I will get to train with the young Memory Weaver when he¡¯s old enough?¡±  John said as he walked over and shook hands with his grandmother who was blushing¡­the mad matron¡­blushing?  And the emperor looked like he had suddenly forgotten how to speak and that nothing else besides his grandmother existed in this universe.  His grandmother¡¯s essence was raging inside her and John¡¯s reminded him of a surprised cat that had jumped into the air and was now desperately trying to run away on a slippery floor but couldn¡¯t decide which direction to go in.


    Huh¡­that¡¯s interesting.  Young Ragnel thought.

 The Interview

    The Interview


    ¡°That¡¯s it for today.  I¡¯ve got an interview to get to.  Have fun at preschool today, kids.¡±  John said.


    ¡°Going to try to break out of the dementia ward?¡±  ¡°Careful.  Don¡¯t break your hip.¡±  ¡°I¡¯ve seen that look.  He¡¯s fiending and needs to get his metamucil fix.¡±  ¡°Bingo early today?¡±  John chuckled as he saw the usual insults from the peanut gallery stream across before he logged off the stream.  Another 2 hours  of grinding and he still didn¡¯t find the upgrade he needed.  He was determined to make his frog spam shaman build work.  No matter how many times some little shit pops into his stream and says, ¡°Frogs¡­why are you playing frogs?  I can do 9 levels higher with my whirlwind barb.¡±


    John grabbed his keys and headed out.  Blizzard never stopped amazing John.  They were on Diablo XI and since Diablo III it¡¯s followed the same script.  Hire people who never played the original game (or possibly not even any ARPG game) to make the new one and somehow manage to make the same mistakes that were made on the previous 5 versions.  Then they bring in the people who fixed the previous version and by the 2nd expansion the game was pretty good.  John didn¡¯t mind though.  He only thought about it because it constantly dominated his newsfeed. John wasn¡¯t one of those guys who needed perfect gear asap and always used the most efficient method.  He was more of the type of player who thought of a build he wanted to try and then tried to make it work.  He avoided videos and guides like they were the plague.  He didn¡¯t care if some other streamer was able to do double the level of dungeon that he could.  Games were about fun and flooding the entire screen with frogs was fun.   Annoying when he felt he was just one properly rolled piece of equipment away from making it work, but still fun.


    As John reached the diner, he saw the news van setting up and assumed the reporter was inside.  And she was.  She was also exactly what John expected.  Young, beautiful, overconfident, and completely untrained in field craft.  Sitting deep in the booth so there was no quick way to stand and escape.  She also had her back to the door in a booth that could be approached from three directions.  No reflective surfaces to watch her six and probably no idea at least two people were recording or taking pictures of her as she sat there.  Continuing his quick scan, John laughed and added, ¡°probably doesn¡¯t even realize that she might not want to get any food unless she gets a different waitress.¡±  Wonder if there is a story there.  Rude customer or something to do with a guy.  Taking a second glance at the waitress, probably nothing to do with a guy.


    John sat down with his phone underneath the table feeding live to his glasses so he didn¡¯t freak out sitting there with his back exposed.  The reporter looked up, ¡°It really is you.  Or..I guess I mean, you are really REAL.  I had heard from locals you were real, but it seems like most of the country believes it was Justin.¡±


    ¡°Greatest trick the devil ever pulled and all that.¡±  John said.  ¡°So are we shooting in here?¡±


    ¡°No.  We got a permit for shooting in the park, so they''re cordoning off an area around a bench right now.  I just wanted to go over the details once to make sure I¡¯m not making some stupid mistake or missing something important and to give you an idea of what I¡¯ll be asking once we¡¯re streaming.¡±


    ¡°Great.  Ready when you are.¡±


    ¡°Okay,   uphill in the snow both ways, get off my lawn?  How did that happen?¡±


    ¡°I used to stream after work and troll the kids who would come in and start telling me I was playing the game wrong or telling me how much better their toons were.  One day, a kid in there kept telling me I needed some more crit damage or crit chance and I was playing a stupid build like I¡¯m some noob and just would not stop.  So I put on my imaginary cowboy hat, spit some imaginary tobacco on the floor and gave my I¡¯m here for fun not to min/max or optimize efficiency speech with a John Wayne accent.  Kid just kept going while I was being a goof, so I added on the end, ¡®your parents probably weren¡¯t even born yet when Diablo 1 came out.  We didn¡¯t have youtube guides.  We tried things out and had fun.  Uphill in the snow.  Both ways.  Get off my lawn.¡¯  Next thing you know, I get a call from my sister¡¯s and they had dressed one of their friends as a psychiatrist and were calling to see if i was having mental issues.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how you found out you had went viral.  That¡¯s hilarious.  Now how did, ¡®Let the froggies hit the floor¡¯ happen?¡±


    "After I went a little viral, people checked out my VOD¡¯s and started clipping all the stupid stuff i had done over the years.  That was followed by the ¡®strangest thing John said to me¡¯ lists, most of those were just Theo Von quotes I¡¯d throw out.  Nobody watches the classics anymore.  Twitch created their Grandpa Style category and finally we got the Brokehip Mountain South Park episode and The Tonight Show.¡±


    ¡°And the tonight show, tell me what happened there.¡±


    ¡°Well, I got lots of requests for shows and podcasts, but i turned them down knowing I¡¯m best in small doses.  But the tonight show?  I¡¯m not going to turn down a chance to talk to Scarlet Johansen for 7 mins.  Hell yeah.  I was all in for that.¡±


    ¡°So I get there and we do a little back and forth about why I¡¯m the way I am and my live life like I have no one to embarrass and no one whose opinion I cared about attitude and I had an idea.  I went off on the tangent about being isekai¡¯d from an almost identical world into this one.  About the time I started talking about how inconvenient it was not to have suction cups anymore, I felt Scarlet and the audience weren¡¯t feeling it anymore so I reeled it back in and ended the tale.¡±


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    ¡°You¡¯ve probably seen the behind the scenes, but as soon as we went to commercial, I apologized to Scarlet for taking the bit too far and she did the, ¡®that was a bit, my god.  I didn¡¯t know whether to feel sorry for you having dementia or for you having been stolen from another planet.¡¯  and that kid from the men in black remakes came out asking if I would stay out there so he could chase me off the stage and do the eye thing with the crowd.  And as they say, the rest is history¡­at least until we convinced them it wasn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Justin?¡±  the reporter asked.


    ¡°Yeah.  After the tonight show, people started saying I was just an industry plant and everything was scripted.  That¡¯s when Justin had the idea.  It sounded like fun.  I only spent a couple days on set playing games and going crazy doing everything I could think of.  They had all my old clips. Justin did the getting into make up stuff and the behind the scenes shots of him where he was doing some of my bits.  They even got Scarlet to do the interview where she admitted she could tell it was Justin and they had to do all the shots from the side because some of his prosthetic had come loose.  Didn¡¯t really appreciate her describing my look as a disgusting costume by the way.  Justin debuted it on April 1st and for some stupid reason, people believed it.¡±


    ¡°What did you do after the documentary was released?¡±


    ¡°Retired because Justin gave me a sweet deal and quickly realized just how boring retirement was.¡±


    ¡°Okay.  They¡¯re ready for us.  Any questions?¡±


    ¡°Nope.  Lead the way.  I¡¯ve got a lot of being bored to get done.¡±  John stood and bowed to the reporter with his arm extended towards the door.  Following her to the bench John struggled to not start singing Sir Mix a Lot¡¯s lyrics.  She looked back over her shoulder and gave John the, I know you¡¯re looking at my butt smile, so John gave her his best, I¡¯m a dirty old man and don¡¯t care that you know, eyebrow wiggle.  Once there, she was guided to her position facing the street.  John was placed with his back to the street, but that was fine.  He still had his phone in his hand.


    ¡°Many locals swear he¡¯s real, but most of the country believes he¡¯s not.  I¡¯m here today to set the record straight¡­¡±  The reporter started, but John was distracted by the truck coming way too fast and headed straight for them.  He tried diving out of the way, but the reporter had also seen the truck and John was tripped up and he ended up face planting on the front bumper of the out of control truck.


    ¡°I hope that looked like I was trying to push her out of the way.¡±  John thought just before the lights went out.


    When John woke up, he noticed the icon flashing.  When he concentrated on it, a screen popped up.


    Welcome to the System


    Your planet has just finished its integration.


    The time freeze will end in 3¡­2¡­.1.


    And John tried to open his eyes, but he realized he had no eyes.  He could just see everything around him.  However, nothing looked quite right.  Everything was made up of strange glowing bits.  I¡¯m made up of strange glowing bits.  Why do I look like a puddle?  Where is my body?  How do I move.


    After realizing no one was there to answer his questions, John started looking more closely at the glowing bits.  He realized the glowing bits in the air were just randomly floating, but the glowing bits in the wall and floor had structure.  They were organized.


    Essence Sight has reached Level 2.


    Hey, my glowing bits are organized too.  They are constantly flowing from that glob in the center out to the rest of my ¡­ummm¡­puddle.  I wonder if I can move them faster.  After a few seconds of staring intently at his glowing bits, John accidentally moved a large chunk of them to the side.  His puddle flipped over.


    Essence Manipulation has reached level 2.


    Cool.  But not what I was trying to do.  John then spent the next several minutes plucking at his glowing bits and finally succeeded in stretching a line of them out to the side.  When he reached the edge of his puddle, he was able to stretch his puddle out in the direction he was moving his line of glowing bits.


    Tentacles level 1 has been learned.


    Woo hoo.  Glowing bits and tentacles.  Let¡¯s see what else I can do.  John tried to condense the distance between each of the glowing bits he had in a line, but they slipped and moved back into his main body.  After some fiddling around and a few more levels in sight, manipulation, and tentacles, John was able to extend a quadruple line of tentacles out a little bit farther than the length of his puddle, attach it to the floor, and quickly pull his puddle over.


    Kinetic Tentacle Operation level 1 has been learned.


    After spending an extended time in high density essence you have reached Level 2.


    Hell yeah.  Leaderboard here I come.  As John continued practicing moving with his tentacle and pancake flip technique, his sight extended to where he could see a door.  Sensing some yummy glowing bits heading towards the doorway, John decided  he was hungry.   Why am I assuming glowing bits would taste yummy?  They might taste horrible.  But then again, they might taste yummy.  Only one way to find out.


    When John reached the door, he moved out into the hall on his mission to determine the yumminess of glowing bits, John received a surprise.  That looks like a human.  It is a human.  I wonder if human glowing bits taste yummy.  Wait.  He might be cool.  Let¡¯s just say, ¡°Hi.¡±  We can always eat him later if he isn¡¯t cool.


    John extended a tentacle and waved.  The human must have seen him because he took a quick step back then smiled and pointed.  John kept waving.  Yes, human.  I am friendly.  I won¡¯t eat your glowing bits¡­ if you¡¯re cool.  Are you ¡­Oh shit!!!  John saw glowing bits moving out of the center of the human and down his arm towards his finger.  His instincts told him this was not a good thing, so he tried to pull himself back into the room.


    He was too slow.  The man¡¯s glowing bits rapidly shot out of his finger and hit John.  Some of John¡¯s glowing bits disappeared.  Prick.  Don¡¯t kill my glowing bits.  I¡¯m going to eat¡­no¡­I need to hide.  How do I hide.  Maybe if I make my glowing bits look like the wall and floor.


    Camouflage level 1 has been learned.


    The human stepped into the room and looked around then quickly stepped back and looked up.  After looking around again for a few seconds with a finger loaded, the human walked away.  Stupid human.  You will rue the day you killed my glowing bits.

 Muhahaha and the Emperors Origin Story

    Muhahaha and The Emperor¡¯s Origin Story


    I love the smell of confusion in the morning.  Smells like students listening and thinking¡­and ¡­ who am I kidding.  I just like messing with their minds.  Muhahahaha  And 3¡­2¡­1


    ¡°The Emperor was a slime?¡±  ¡°What a strange world?¡±  ¡°What hit him.¡±


    Oh.  The joys of knowing a secret.  Welp.  Back to the presentation.


    ¡°All will be made clear shortly.  Let¡¯s continue with the Emporer¡¯s story.¡±  Ragnel said, choosing his words precisely.


    ¡°Professor.  Your mother is the Warmaster.  Your grandmother is the Mad Matron.  You were trained by  the emperor and the empire''s finest warriors.  You are known to be excellent with the twin sword fighting style as well as having at least two affinities and are very skilled with illusions.  Are you the shadow emperor?¡±   A student in the third row  asked.  The crowd was instantly silent.  All heads turned toward the stage.


    Ragnel let out a long sigh and lowered his head.  ¡°Son.  Do you realize what you have done?¡±  The room darkened and the professor looked up with purple glowing eyes and shadows began crawling out of his skin.  Dragonkin dungeon guard surrounded the auditorium and began moving toward the crowd. ¡°Every person in this room¡¯s life would be forfeit for knowing such a secret.¡±  Ragnel continued.   The dragonkin had almost reached the closest students when suddenly everything went back to normal.


    ¡°But I¡¯m not.  However, I will offer some advice.  If you ever see the Shadow Emperor or suspect you know who he is¡­.keep that information to yourself.  So¡­ shall we continue with the presentation?¡±  Ragnel finished and the crowd chuckled nervously.


    John opened his eyes and saw¡­ an enormous claw smash his head.


    John opened his eyes and was cut in half by an enormous orc.


    John opened his eyes and jumped to the side away from an enormous armored lizard and was cut in half by a laughing orc.


    John opened his eyes and ducked as an armored human redirected his swing to avoid cutting John¡¯s head off.   An orc stabbed him in the back.


    John opened his eyes and stepped behind an armored man who was distracted by John¡¯s appearance and was hit in the shoulder by a glancing blow from the orc¡¯s ax.  John ran around the man to the other side and hit him in the shin with the small staff he was carrying.  He was pretty sure that was the orc that had cut him in half earlier.  The orc slammed the axe down on John¡¯s head while the armored man¡¯s sword cut the orc¡¯s head off.


    John opened his eyes and saw 5 armored men riding away on enormous armored lizards running over the orcs in front of him.  Having learned his lesson, John ducked and spun looking for the next danger coming his way.  A group of 3 orcs had spotted him and rushed towards him only to be met by what looked like a butler who casually swept their weapons to the side with his right hand and sent the orcs flying with a swing from his left hand.


    The king had made a wise decision meeting the orcs where their calvary on their armored drakes could be used to the greatest advantage.  Despite being outnumbered, the fight was already over for the most part.  The orcs could not stand up to the charge of the calvary and the king¡¯s men were all veterans having defended their small kingdom from all kinds of threats over the years.


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    The king had protected the main vein of essence that ran beneath his kingdom.  The surrounding countries had allowed theirs to be mined.  Now they seemed to believe they had some right to mine the kingdom¡¯s essence also.  The king disagreed with them and the king had drakes, so that overruled their contrived claims.


    These orc¡¯s were different.  They weren¡¯t from this planet.  A bigger player had entered the mix.  Drake was worried.  He had found this kingdom living in harmony with a lounge of drakes years ago.  None of the creatures were near his level and none had yet achieved sapience, but they were noble beasts loyal to the people they coexisted with.  But now, he worried for their continued existence.  He still felt the pull of fate as if he had some mission to accomplish here, but he was running out of time.  This orc force was just an inexpensive way to determine how much resistance the kingdom could muster.  More trouble would arrive shortly.


    As the battle was beginning to wind down, Drake felt a disturbance in the essence.  It felt as if a portal had opened and closed, but it felt like there was a hint of divinity mixed into the disturbance.  And each time he felt the disturbance, it felt as if fingers had strummed the strings of fate.  Curious, Drake left his position with the infantry troops protecting the archers and moved towards the king.  As he approached one of the members of the king¡¯s battle staff stepped away.


    ¡°Drake, there have been reports of a small boy on the battlefield.  Would you like to take a look and see if you can get him out of there/¡±  the king asked.


    ¡°Yes, Anthony.  I have felt something unusual occur the last few minutes and was going to investigate.¡±  Drake said as he felt the disturbance again and flashed across the battlefield weaving around cavalry and running over orcs.  As he followed the path of a recent charge, Drake spotted the young boy duck and spin looking for danger and finding it in the form of 3 orcs heading his way.


    Drake dispatched the 3 orcs and turned to remove the boy from the field, but the boy¡¯s appearance stopped him.  His rough spun clothing was in tatters, but there was not a mark on the boy.  The boy stared at him evenly while holding a small staff in front of him as if ready to defend himself if necessary.  And Drake smelled no fear.  Anger, annoyance, confusion, but not a trace of fear.  Something was different about this child.


    Drake moved to intercept another small group of orcs but stopped and turned back to the boy.  Drake pulled a staff from his dimensional storage and said, ¡°Move your hands closer together.  You will have less power, but you will have better control.  And slide one foot back.  It will allow you to move in all four directions.¡±  Drake demonstrated as he watched the approaching group of orcs while the child adjusted his grip and stance.


    ¡°Mimic my movements.¡±  Drake instructed as he used the most basic of parries and attacks to dispatch the orcs.  Turning he saw the young boy copying his movements.  ¡°Good, but keep your weight centered over your feet.  Put your weight behind your blows, but always keep it centered.¡±  The boy went through the movements again.  ¡°Excellent.  You learn quickly.¡±  Looking around for more opponents Drake found some.


    ¡°Follow me and continue practicing what you see me use.¡±  Drake moved to a larger group of orcs and attacked.  Drake drove back all that tried to maneuver around his spinning staff. However, when three orcs charged from one side, another orc got around him and charged the boy, but Drake summoned his tail and used it to swat the orc away.  After Drake finished the last orc, he turned to the boy who was angrily staring at him then looked at his backside and back at Drake as if to say, ¡°How the heck did you expect me to do that?¡±


    Laughing Drake started moving towards the next group of orcs, but paused and looked back at the boy.  ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to be named John would you?¡±  The boy seemed to think about it for a second then nodded.   ¡°Nice to meet you John, I¡¯m Drake.  Are you ready to learn some more?¡±  The boy nodded enthusiastically.  Drake continued towards his next targets.  Shortly after they arrived, the king and 4 of his guard approached, dismounted, and joined Drake in the fight while their Drakes rampaged through the remaining orcs.


    The king motioned with his head at the boy studiously copying Drake¡¯s every move, ¡°Interesting rescue technique you have Drake.  And why are you using a staff?¡±


    ¡°Just stick close to us and you will see.¡±  Drake replied.  A couple minutes later the king seemed distracted for a second and took a heavy blow on his shield before dispatching the offending orc and turning his head to give Drake a wide eyed nod.


    After the fighting died down, Drake turned to the boy and asked, ¡°DId you gain many skills, John?¡±  The boy croaked out, ¡°Yes¡± sounding as if it was the first time he had ever spoken and was trying a new skill.


    ¡°Mind if I have a word with Drake for a second, uh, John?  The king asked as he walked past the pair.  The boy nodded and Drake followed.  The king stopped and looked back at the boy who was watching before leading Drake much further away.  ¡°So is he some sort of godling?¡±  The king asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what he is, but the blessing suggests that the gods are involved.¡±  Drake replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking we do our best to keep him safe and happy just in case anybody comes looking for him.  Keeping him safe may be the easy part.  Several men reported seeing him killed only to reappear shortly afterward.  We¡¯ll offer to help him get wherever he needs to go.  Maybe he¡¯ll enjoy some training.  I''m sure the boys won¡¯t complain about a permanent increase to essence and skill gains.¡±


    ¡°I think that is an excellent plan, Anthony.¡±  Drake replied as he and the king began walking back to where the boy stood talking with the king¡¯s guard.

 To Do Whatever You Tell Me, Drill Sergeant

    To Do Whatever You Tell Me, Drill Sergeant


    ¡°Faster.  You¡¯ll never fight like a Drake if you don¡¯t have the endurance to last.¡±  Drake yelled at the boy while sending another small bolt of lightning at him.  The boy continued running around the courtyard, jumping over obstacles, and failing to avoid bolts of lightning.


    ¡°Taking it a little hard on the boy aren¡¯t you, Drake?¡±  King Anthony asked as he walked over.  Some of the guards had been concerned about Drake''s morning routine, so he had come over to see how it was going.  As the boy passed, he wasn¡¯t concerned.  He was angry.  He had worked with Drake for years.  Never had he known the man to be this ruthless.  The boy was covered in burns.  ¡°Drake, there is no excuse for this.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­just watch for a bit.¡±  Drake said as he came over.  ¡°Do you know why Drakes are so resistant to magical attacks?¡±


    ¡°The scales?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the scales help, but what do you think makes the scales so tough?  It¡¯s not all natural resistance.  Have you seen a nest of young Drakes?  What¡¯s the first thing they do after hatching?¡±


    ¡°They usually display their affinity and release their breath.¡±


    ¡°Yes.  Up to 20 little drakes releasing their breath every 10 minutes inside of a packed nest.  Don¡¯t you think they might accidentally hit one another occasionally?  That is where the majority of their resistance comes from.  The young are much more efficient at developing resistances.  I think it is the system¡¯s way to ensure that there can be life in the high affinity essence zones.¡±


    ¡°Are you out of lightning already old man?¡±  John asked as he ran past.  ¡°This resistance isn¡¯t going to train itself.  Maybe I should go find some of the real drakes.¡±


    Drake looked at the King and raised his eyebrows as if to say, ¡°Told you.¡±  He then released a much larger bolt at the boy who was completely incinerated and turned to dust.


    ¡°Drake¡­¡±  the king started but was interrupted by the boy reappearing in the corner and looking as good as new.


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    ¡°Heck yeah, Drake.  That was a good one.  Got 2% from it and now my stamina is charged back up, bet you can¡¯t hit me again.¡±  John called out as he took off running again.


    The king was speechless.  The boy was crazy.  Drake just sent another bolt straight at the boy while conjuring another one above and behind him.  John dove and rolled away from the first bolt and looked like he was about to taunt Drake again when the other bolt slammed into him.


    ¡°How much resistance has he gained?¡±  the king asked.


    ¡°21% last time I asked, so probably around 25%.  With John¡¯s ¡­ unique ¡­ ability we can drain one of his resources, hit him really hard one time, and he¡¯s ready to go again.¡±  Drake explained.


    The king seemed to think about it for a few seconds, then he stepped away and said, ¡°Hit me with it once.  I want to see how much I gain.¡±


    Drake seemed to think about it for a second, then shrugged and let a small bolt fly.  The king barely remained standing.  ¡°How the hells?  That hurts.  .01%.   The boy is insane.  Sorry John!  But gods¡­that is crazy.   You do this every morning?¡±


    Drake nodded and pulled a small but heavy metal staff out and threw it into the middle of the courtyard.  He then pulled a normal staff out and walked at an angle between John and the staff.  John smiled, dodged in towards the staff then dove right.  When Drake adjusted his swing to hit the rolling John, the boy planted his feet and jumped in a backwards flip over Drake¡¯s weapon and seized his prize.  ¡°My turn.¡±  The boy said with a smile as he turned toward Drake.


    The king was surprised the boy could even lift the staff.    Drake easily blocked the attacks as he explained to the king, ¡°It appears that humans as well as beasts respond well to early physical training.  Well, at least John does.¡±


    The boy kept doing his best to hit Drake with the weighted staff.  When his swings slowed, Drake zapped him with a large bolt of lightning and the boy reappeared ready to go in the corner.  The king walked away shaking his head.  He didn¡¯t know if he should be jealous of the boy or feel sorry for the insane little smart alek.


    John¡¯s FIrst Integration


    Drake and the king stood on a balcony overlooking the training area John was training in.  The boy had grown a few inches and was starting to fill out with muscle.  He was currently engaged in combat against 3 guards with dulled weapons.  John was more than holding his own.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame.  If we had 20 years, I think the boy could hold them off by himself.¡±  Drake said.  ¡°Are you sure you want to stay?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  This kingdom has been in my family for 15 generations.  I¡¯m not going to be the one to give it up and just leave.  We¡¯ll take to the hills.  I don¡¯t think the sect will bother to hunt us down once they have access to the essence vein.  The essence will come back eventually.  Until then, the drakes and my people will survive.  Next time, we¡¯ll prepare ourselves and maybe we¡¯ll hold on.  We leave tomorrow and we¡¯ll collapse the tunnels behind us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the boy out when he¡¯s done training.  We¡¯ll do a little extra work on his field skills.  The integration is in 12 days.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going with him?¡±  the king asked.


    ¡°Yes.  I feel my fate is tied to his for a while.¡± Drake replied.


    ¡°When the two of you take over a planet, come find us.  Maybe we¡¯ll join you.¡±  The king said as he tapped Drake on the shoulder and walked back inside.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he will.¡±  Drake said to himself as he let out a sigh.

 The World Futurely Known as Homeworld

    The World Futurely Known as Homeworld


    The chairwoman sat at her desk in the capital building of the world government.  She was theoretically the most powerful person on the planet.  However, you didn¡¯t get anywhere near her position in government without learning that the real power lay hidden in the shadows with families and organizations that made the big decisions.


    Twelve years, she had been at the pinnacle.  She was young enough she could remain at the pinnacle for another twenty.  However, big changes were coming.  Across from her sat her greatest rival.  The leader of the opposition.  Her greatest rival since university.  Even back then, they both had a good idea what their futures held.  They just weren¡¯t sure who would be picked for which role.  As fate would have it, the powers that be had decided it was time for her party to take control not long after she had risen to prominence.


    ¡°The more things change.¡±  The man toasted her.


    ¡°Things are changing a bit more than usual this time.¡±  the chairwoman replied as she received a notification over her neural link that their guest had arrived.  The key parts of the building had been cleared of non-essential personnel.  She and her rival and the security forces were the only ones present.


    Down in the basement the strange device that the Stutzen techs had installed for them lit up and the lights in the building flickered from the enormous power draw.    A tall man with oversized eyes appeared and pulled a hood up to hide his face and greenish blue skin.


    The man was guided by security personnel up through service hallways to the chairwoman¡¯s office.  Once they had entered, the chairwoman waved for the security to leave.  Only their commander stayed.  The tall man handed the chairwoman and her public rival a device and motioned for them to place it over their ears.


    Once both of them had the device in place, the man spoke.  ¡°Greetings Madam Chairwoman and Caucus Leader.  I am Dreymon.  I represent the Draskari Sect in their negotiations to secure the rights to mine your planet once the integration is complete.  Your lords have made a tentative agreement to give us those rights in exchange for ensuring that they and your government remain in control of this planet.¡±


    ¡°What assurances can you give us that we will remain in power?¡±  the chairwoman asked.


    ¡°We will be funding a mercenary force of at least 10,000 warriors to provide security and train your forces.¡±   The man said.


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    ¡°10,000.  What difference can 10,000 make?¡±  The caucus leader asked.


    ¡°The mercenaries will integrate at level 20 with appropriate levels of weapons and armor.  Compare it to one of your armies or even a group of those airborne fighting vehicles you have going up against forces from 200 years prior.  That is the difference in power between a level 20 and a level 1.¡±


    ¡°What will keep these mercenaries from just deciding to take over and throw us out?¡±  the chairwoman asked.


    ¡°They will have a system enforced contracts binding them to the 18 lords and the 10 chosen members of government.  Nearly a quarter of the force will be assigned to the two of you.¡±


    ¡°What good is a contract against their overwhelming strength?¡±  the caucus leader asked.


    ¡°The system will inflict severe penalties resulting in a loss of levels and most likely death if they violate its terms.¡±


    ¡°What is the mineral that the Draskari will be mining?¡±  the chairwoman asked


    ¡°It is a renewable resource that planets naturally accumulate and will replenish over an insignificant amount of time.¡±  Dreymon carefully answered, understanding that his definition of an insignificant amount of time and even the name essence might make the negotiation more difficult.


    ¡°If it is renewable, why is it so valuable?¡±  the chairwoman asked.


    ¡°It is used as a power supply and for enchanting weapons and armor.  Its crystal form is most easily gathered from newly integrated planets.  However, it will be many decades before your people have reached a level from which they can actually properly use the resource.  I also  feel the need to remind you that your lords have already agreed to the terms of the contract.  We are just here today to assign the system contracts to the two of you and your subordinates.  If you do not wish to sign the contract, I¡¯m sure they could find alternatives to move forward.¡±


    The more things change¡­  the chairwoman thought as her rival took another drink.  Dreymon pulled out a crystal and said, ¡°Just place your hand on the crystal and follow the prompts agreeing to the terms.¡±  Dreymon said as he motioned for the caucus leader to go first.


    Once they had finished, Dreymon handed the chairwoman a folder.  ¡°Inside you will find a training manual and a list of weapons and resources you should begin stockpiling.  You should begin training your key security personnel immediately.  You have only six months until the integration.  Once I confirm with your lords that the contracts have all been assigned, you will receive a redacted file to distribute to your personnel that should work as justification to adapt to the training protocol.  Congratulations on your continued leadership.  You should be contacted by the Draskari sect within 100 years.¡±


    ¡°100 years?¡±  both members of government exclaimed.


    ¡°Ah yes.  Forgive me.  Your world will be greatly expanded upon integration.  The less populated areas will see major geographical changes and new species may be introduced.  The planet will also be moved to a new location within the system.  That location will remain hidden by the system for the first 100 years.  The humans that dominate this planet will be able to achieve much greater longevity as they adapt to the system.  100 years is a minor amount of time for you as long as you follow the guidelines we have laid out for you within the training manuals.¡±


    ¡°Other species?  Will they be integrated at level 20 like the mercenaries?¡±  the caucus leader asked.


    ¡°Doubtful.  Beasts of significant power to be able afford to integrate at that level rarely choose to participate in an integration and the sapient races that choose to will be small in number and placed far from your population centers.¡±  Dreymon said, choosing not to mention option 2 of the Daskari plan.


    The two rivals could only shrug at each other and open the file they had been given as Dreymon was escorted from the office.   "What the hell is a tetsubo?"  They both asked at the same time.

 Be Prepared - For a Shiny New Integration

    Be Prepared - For a Shiny New Integration


    Mufasa walked into his father¡¯s office and dejectedly sat down across from him.  ¡°So, yet another planet¡¯s leaders have decided to throw away any hope for the future in order to stay in control?¡±  The Mapago Coalition were specialized in these integration security jobs, but they were starting to wear on Mufasa.  His father, Simba, normally was head of the detail providing security for the principal leaders while Mufasa was in charge of the training for the local security forces.  He spent more time among the ordinary people and would get to know them while he tried to prepare them for life in the system.  All the while knowing that they had no future unless they found a way off their depleted planet when the sect had taken all that they were allowed and then abandoned them.


    Simba¡¯s role was not as damaging to the soul.  Guarding the principal, he rarely got close to anyone who did not deserve exactly what they got when the sects stole 75% of the planet¡¯s essence stopping just short of the maximum the system enforced contract would allow.  By leaving 25% of the essence, the planet would recover in a few short 10¡¯s of millions of years.  The corrupt powers that led the system integration bureau felt that completely eliminating the future of hundreds or even thousands of generations was fair as long as the planet¡¯s leadership agreed to it.


    What wasn¡¯t made public was that these deals were often made beforehand.  The bureaucrats would leak the info on a planet due to be integrated to the sects.  The sects would bid on it and the winning sect would receive the planet''s coordinates allowing them to infiltrate the planet and hand pick who it wanted to be the leaders when the integration finished.  The sect would then hire a mercenary outfit like the Mapago Coalition to participate in the planet¡¯s integration and ensure the right people were able to take control of the planet.


    The beauty of this was in the contracts.  The initial contract stated the leaders would sign a mining deal with the winning sect upon completion of the integration.  The new contract signed after the integration ended, would be perfectly legal.  Nothing to see here.  The sect merely extended a hand to the planet welcoming them to the system and then negotiated a deal to assist them with mining their resources.  See¡­nothing shady going on.  No manipulation behind the scenes.  Perfectly above board and legal.  How did the sects communicate with and find the location of the planet?  Well, through their outreach programs on the system exchange that offer training materials and supplies for newly integrated planets.  Nope.  Nothing at all suspicious about deals consistently being signed seconds after an integration is complete.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Draskari sect.¡±  Simba said.


    ¡°So, are the orcs the plan A or are we?¡±  Mufasa asked.


    ¡°Apparently we are.  The orcs contract restricts them from entering any area that is under our control.¡±  Simba looked up at Mufasa to ensure that he was understanding what those terms meant.


    ¡°So we are Plan A for now with the potential of being sacrificed to the orcs if one of the scum that has already sold out the future of their planet decides that life would be better without us around.¡±


    ¡°In a nutshell.  Yes.  The orcs will do as they please, rampaging across the planet and ensuring that no other powers arise.¡±  Simba stated.  ¡°This mission has a bit of a twist.  You will take 25% of our forces and work with the government officials that we have been contracted to.  They should integrate together at the planet''s capital.  I will be in charge of the remainder of our forces guarding the true lords behind the curtains at 6 separate locations.  We will need to pay the fee enabling long distance communication and coordination, but the sect has agreed to cover that.¡±  Simba finished as he waited for what he knew was coming next.


    ¡°Oh great.  Kings hiding in the shadows ready to sacrifice someone else¡¯s head when the peasants rise up.  Aren¡¯t you getting sick of these missions?  They are so depressing.  Surely we¡¯ve banked enough credits to begin the coalition¡¯s expansion and will have enough levels back by the time we have finished training to start taking other work.  I¡¯m tired of seeing good people¡¯s future¡¯s thrown away.¡±


    ¡°This is about the friends you made last time.  Mufasa, I have told you that they have a standing invitation to join us once they face the truth that their pride has no future on their planet.  As to expanding and taking on better jobs, we are close, just not quite there.  We would put the coalition at risk.  The customers do not put enough value on our skills.  They pay based off of levels and stats.  We would struggle to find good jobs.¡±  Mufasa conceded.  ¡°And I have some good news.  Look at the expected rating of this planet.¡±  He passed his son the information packet knowing that the planet¡¯s rating wasn¡¯t the real good news.  Simba would discover that news in a few seconds.


    Mufasa picked up the crystal and began reviewing the information.  ¡°C+ to B.  Not bad.  We should be able to get back to  B grade.¡±


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    ¡°And make enough profit while we are there to be able to expand and compete for better opportunities.¡±  Simba finished while he waited for Mufasa to find the gem hidden in the manifest.  Mufasa froze and looked up.  He had seen the first six names listed.


    ¡°I have already contracted for their pride¡¯s transportation to our base.  Makulu, Rasta, Dred, Pretty Boy, Kinky Tail, and T will be joining us.¡±  Simba nodded, taking joy from seeing his son¡¯s reaction.  The six new lionkin recruits had proven themselves to have outstanding potential and their respect for Simba who had beaten them down so thoroughly before putting them back on their feet would make them excellent additions to his core force.


    Mufasa stood and took a step forward then paused and said, ¡°I will get the troops prepared and let them know their assignments.¡±  Mufasa nodded once and quickly moved out the door towards the excursion planning office.


    Mufasa chuckled at his son¡¯s excitement.  ¡°Thought the boy was going to hug me for a second.¡± he mumbled to himself and let out a long sigh.


    A few weeks later Mustafa and some members of the support staff were waiting at the coalition''s teleportation station when he saw a pride of Lionkin step off a set of teleporters and looked around uncertain as to where to go next.  Simba let out a loud chuff and started marching towards them with a stern look on his face.


    Six large males stepped forward to meet him.  Four wore big smiles.  Dred looked as dour as ever and T¡­T looked like he wanted a fight, as usual.  Mustafa stepped right up to Makulu with a snarl.  ¡°What are you smiling at recruit?  Are you sightseeing?  Is this a vacation?  Is this the first time you¡¯ve seen a real Lionkin and are overcome with the desire to be my mistress?¡±  Simba moved down the line keeping his fangs inches from each of the newcomers asserting his dominance.


    ¡°I am Lieutenant Commander Mufasa.  You are assigned to my unit and I have the misfortune of only having four months to whip you kittens into shape.¡±  When he arrived in front of T, the recruit¡¯s hot temper got the better of him and he took a swing.  Mustafa easily caught it and twisted the paw backwards, taking T down to his knees.  Leaning forward, Mustafa whispered, ¡°Sorry little bro.  Got a reputation to uphold.¡±  T lifted his jaw up slightly and Mustafa knocked him unconscious with a ruthless strike.  ¡°Pick up your brother and follow me.¡±


    The women of the pride quickly set their children and belongings down.  Some stayed to protect the younglings while the others began moving out to the flanks, but the Captain in charge of the support element stepped forward and quietly said, ¡°Please ladies.  I will show you to the quarters assigned to your pride.   Allow us to help you with your belongings.  The men will be along shortly.  Lieutenant Commander Mufasa will issue them gear and give them their assignments before bringing them to the residence ¡± The captain motioned her group forward and they began picking up the belongings and children.


    The ladies of the pride relaxed and recovered the children from the assistants.  With one final look at the boys following Mufasa the captain rolled her eyes, and motioned for the group to follow her.  Two of the senior ladies stepped forward and walked beside the captain.  Feeling their unease she said, ¡°Once the boys have finished comparing tail sizes, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find that Mufasa thinks quite highly of your boys.  He has driven me nuts constantly asking for updates to your travels.  He also insisted on personally inspecting your living quarters and made sure you were located in the best we had available.¡±


    When they arrived at the quarters, the women stepped in and froze looking around.  The large communal area was surrounded by residences that were far beyond anything they had ever lived in before.  ¡°Simba takes care of us well.  I and my staff will be available for the remainder of the day to help you settle in, show you around the coalition, and answer any questions you have.  Before we begin, I want to let you know two things.  The coalition is only about 30% Lionkin.  Most of the higher ranking members are lionkin, but that is only because they have been with us the longest.  Simba prides himself in his ability to find talented, trustworthy people no matter what race they are.  Expect others to treat you with respect and we ask that you do the same.  There are no prey or servants in the coalition¡±


    ¡°The other thing you will quickly notice is that women can also volunteer for missions with the coalition.  We operate on a merit based system that will be explained to you tomorrow morning.  However, if you do not wish to be away from your family or prefer another role, we offer training in a variety of crafting and administrative skills that may help you find your path forward.  I recommend being flexible and trying several before settling on a role that fits you best.  I will be your pride¡¯s liaison for the entirety of this first deployment, and these tokens will allow you to contact me at any time.¡±  She handed one of the ladies a dimensional storage bag.  ¡°Now are there any questions?¡±


    ¡°Thank you captain.  We appreciate the opportunity you have given to our pride and wish to serve the coalition.  Which one of these residences is ours?¡±  Lena, the elder lioness asked.


    The captain looked confused for a second before answering, ¡°All of them.¡±


    Mufasa took the boys on a slight detour so they could properly wake T up in a large water fountain.  After the boys gleefully threw him in, T sprang up in shock only to have Mufasa duck him back under the water one more time before saying, ¡°The armory is this way.¡±  He led the boys to a large building near the rear of the compound while T climbed out of the water and jogged to catch up.


    Inside the Armory Mufasa led the group to a quartermaster who quickly pulled out the ready packs Mufasa had put together for the new recruits.  ¡°Inside you will find superior quality level 20 gear that you will start the integration with.  After the briefings tomorrow, you will be able to make any necessary exchanges.  You have been assigned to a special group working directly for me.  We will take a cohort of crafters with us to provide upgrades for our gear as we level.  All loot gained during the integration will be turned in to the quartermaster in exchange for merit.  I will be responsible for ensuring your integration is correctly set up and training you in the meantime.  Do you have any questions before I take you back to your pride¡¯s residence?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, why are you such a jerk?¡±  T asked.


    Mufasa doubled him over with a quick punch to the gut.  ¡°The proper way to ask that question would be, Why are you such a jerk, sir?  Is that understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  Sir.¡±  The boys answered while failing to resist the urge to  smile.


    Mufasa handed each lionkin a token and motioned over an enormous bearkin who had been observing the group.  ¡°Sergeant Boris is your group leader.  He will pick you up in the morning to take you to the briefings.  Use these tokens to reach us and you will answer us if we contact you on them¡±


    Boris shook hands with each of the lionkin in the line until he reached T, whom he punched in the face.  ¡°I like this one.  He will make an excellent soldier.  I will see you boys in the morning.¡±  Boris said before walking out of the armory.


    ¡°Pick up T and we¡¯ll drop him off in the fountain on the way to your new home.¡±  Mufasa said.

 You Get a Back Story and You Get a Back Story....

    Title¡­Ummmm¡­.Meh¡­Short Backstory for the Twins


    ¡°No word from your brother?¡±  The beautiful queen Magdelinazostrum asked as she stared at the distant lights of the enemy''s camp.


    ¡°I fear he has betrayed us.  He and the reinforcements should have arrived hours ago.  Why Maggy?  What could possibly make him betray us?¡±  the king¡¯s breath steamed in the cool night air.  ¡°Bahhh¡­ It does not matter.  We tried to be fair.  We tried to be good.  Now we see where that got us.  We saved the lives of half of those that now march on our kingdom.  Power is the only thing that is respected.  Mercy and kindness are too soon forgotten.  This is a lesson I will not forget.¡±


    One of the maids quietly stepped on to the balcony.   She spoke when the king acknowledged her.  ¡°Only the 1st wing remains, sire.  They are ready for flight on your signal.  Everyone else has departed.¡±


    The king nodded and motioned for the ladies to return back inside.  Following them he saw the other four maids dressed in uniforms of black and grey standing ready to go.  Two were holding the essence heated blankets keeping his children warm.  ¡°Keep my family safe.  I will grow my power and secure a safe home for us.  Remember, stay hidden until you have reached level 40.  The essence of the world may have been practically non-existent, but with science and technology they have developed weapons that are quite dangerous to lower levels.  They have mighty ships to patrol both the sea and the air.  In 100 years, my agents will scour the markets and coliseums of the wilderness until  they find you or your planet.  I expect you will have the entire planet under your wing by then.¡±  He finished with a half-hearted smile and attempted to lighten the mood.  .


    ¡°You can come with us.¡±  The queen replied.


    ¡°The dark ones will hunt me to the edges of the universe.  It is better for all of us if you remain safe within a hidden world for now.  I will gain power while you are safely tucked away.  When we meet again, we can build a new kingdom.  But tonight, I strike so my people can move to safety hidden behind the flames of war.¡±


    Maggy looked her husband in the eyes and then gave him a quick embrace.  He was a stoic man who did not show much emotion, but she knew he was also a good man.  They had worked together to build their kingdom before the dark ones had risen in numbers much greater than previously thought possible.  She hoped they would meet again, but the winds of fate were fickle.


    The queen moved and took the bundles warming her children and opened her interface to enter the pre-integration stasis.  When she opened her eyes again she and her children would be on a new planet with only the maids to protect them.


    After watching his wife depart, the king moved to the balcony and jumped hundreds of feet into the air and grew to his true form.  The entire castle could hide in the shadow of one of his wings.  Other dragons rose from the cliffs to join him.


    In the enemy camp, a man put down his scrying crystal and turned to the man cloaked in shadows sitting on a throne.  ¡°It is as the prince says.  The king comes with his army.  The queen has hidden herself and the children awaiting integration.  The kingdom is evacuating.¡±


    ¡°Good.  Good.¡±  The man turned to his generals.  ¡°Integrate a hunter into each of the next 5 planets scheduled to join the system.  Tell them to track down and  eradicate all dragons on their planet.  Tonight we will put an end to this king.  The hunters will put an end to his line.


    Xenolitha Academy


    Chancellor Xenolitha looked out the window at the academy he had built.  Widely recognized as the finest academy for training and research in elemental magic outside of the great sects, the Xenolitha Academy had students from all over the multi-verse and close working relationships with several of the minor and major sects.  Having high affinities in both earth and fire, the chancellor had literally built most of what he could see.  This would be the last time he would see his academy.  His time was coming to an end and he was passing control of the academy onto the next generation.


    An alert flashed and Xeno knew it was time.  He looked around to see if there was anything he wanted to add to his dimensional storage.  Nothing caught his eye.  He would have no use for equipment or comforts and had chosen to take copies of a variety of manuals from the lower level courses taught at the academy.  He could barter those for whatever he needed easily enough.


    Exiting his office through a side door, he entered the attached meeting hall where the vice-chancellors and department heads were assembled.  He didn¡¯t take his seat, and instead chose to stand at the head of the table.  This was an announcement, not a debate or lengthy meeting, his part would be finished in a couple minutes.  No need to stick around while the wordsmiths argue over the details.


    ¡°Gentlemen and ladies.  I thank you for coming.  I asked you all to join me here so I could announce my retirement.  I am passing full ownership and control of my academy to the vice chancellors who will do with it as they choose.¡±


    No one was too surprised.  The Chancellor had slowed dramatically the last few thousand years as age caught up to him.  One department head was curious though, ¡°What will you do, Chancellor?¡±


    ¡°I plan to integrate onto a new planet and begin a new life.¡±


    ¡°But¡­what if the planet has been targeted by an orc horde or a dragon?  What will you do?¡±  another newer department head asked.


    Pulling up his interface and preparing to enter stasis, Xeno smiled fondly and said, ¡°I expect I will eat the orcs and hope that the dragon is a pretty female.  My time here is done.  I wish you and your academy the best.¡±  And he was gone.


    ¡°Why would he eat orcs?¡±   ¡°Does he really think he could bed a dragon?¡±


    ¡°If the tales he told me over drinks during the early years at the academy are true, I assure you, it will not be the first time Xenolithazostrum has done either.¡±  one of the vice-chancellors assured them.


    The Five Orphans


    Shady looked around nervously.  He and his group were on their way back to the city after spending the last 5 days farming levels, credits, and loot to sell for more credits prior to integrating onto a new planet.  This planet was toast.  The Kesmerton sect had recently begun mining the planet¡¯s essence and essence levels were already dropping fast.    The boys had agreed their best option was finding a new planet and a fresh start.  As lower C grades they did not feel that they were strong enough to head off into the more established parts of the multi-verse on their own and none of them liked the idea of joining one of the mercenary groups.   But something dangerous was coming.  Growing up as orphans, the boys had developed a sixth sense for danger or when situations were about to become dangerous.  Something bad was definitely coming their way


    They had felt it for the first time nearly 15 minutes ago and Asmin suggested they leave the road.  They had been farming in an area that was safe for them, but the road back home brought them within a few kilometers of the edge of a B grade area.  Shortly after passing that area when the road turned away from the higher level area and started the long turn down the side of the mountain was when their premonition started screaming at them.  Most likely it was a group of high level adventurers heading back to the city and moving off the road seemed the safest response.


    But the trouble had evidently followed them.  Doug Doug and Roffler, their dps caster and healer were struggling.  Their stamina was starting to run low.  Shady looked at the spur he was about to move past and decided to take a closer look.  It was time to stop running and prepare for whatever was following them.  He called a halt and the group took positions behind trees while Shady scouted.  The spur was actually higher elevation than the small path they had been following.   At its highest point there was a small clear area in the middle of the hill.  At the end of the spur was a dangerous drop off, but probably not life threatening.  Worst case scenario, they could all go over the edge and hope that whatever was coming wouldn¡¯t follow them.  Roffler could heal bumps, bruises, and a broken bone or two.


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    Faith entered Destiny¡¯s domain and took a seat on the couch next to her sister.  Projected in front of them was a familiar looking middle aged man dressed in mis-matched armor running down the side of a wooded mountain carrying his staff.  Faith rolled her eyes, ¡°I can¡¯t believe you are going to bet it all on this guy¡¯s failed experiment, Destiny.¡±


    ¡°Just because the experiment gave unexpected results does not mean it was a failure.¡±  the man replied.


    ¡°50 integrations and all he does is train and fight.  Congratulations.  You¡¯ve created a murderhobo monk.¡±  Faith snorted.


    ¡°Just watch sister.  He is much more than a murderhobo.¡±  Destiny replied.


    Asmin found a position to conceal himself on the cliff side of the open area.  The rest of the team spread out in the treeline.  Shady backtracked to where they had left the trail and began using one of his skills to remove all traces of their passing.  He had about fifty feet done when he heard a deep sniff of a large beast testing the air for prey.  Not waiting to find out what it was, he silently made his way back to the clearing and took his position behind a large tree on the far right side.  Opening his group chat, he sent, ¡°Very large beast hunting by smell.  Did not get eyes on.¡±


    ¡°If it comes this way, I¡¯ll engage with a taunt.  No way it will miss all of us.  Krop, Doug Doug, and Shady open up as soon as it engages.¡±  Asmin replied.  Less than a minute later they could hear something large moving in their direction.  Soon they could catch glimpses of the enormous scaled beast.  Mottled scales of black, brown, green, and grey showing through the vegetation.


    When it stepped into the clearing, they knew they were in trouble.  It was a lizard bear.  At least mid B grade.  Not even Asmin could take a single shot from that creature.  When it¡¯s six legged frame was entirely in the clearing it turned and started moving rapidly towards Krop¡¯s position.


    ¡°Fire.¡±  Asmin yelled as he used his taunt skill to attempt to give Krop time to run.  As soon as the beast spun around, Asmin began running.  Shady fired two shots.  Doug Doug hit it with a fireball.  Roffler cast a speed buff on Asmin as the beast leapt for him.  Asmin almost made it but was clipped in the shoulder and sent flying into a tree.  Shady¡¯s shots barely penetrated and soon fell out of the beast¡¯s tough hide.  Doug Doug¡¯s fireball seemed to do nothing besides disrupt the beast¡¯s vision for a second.  Krop ran in from behind the beast and hit it with stabs from both of his swords.  They also barely penetrated.  The beast spun again as Krop jumped back towards the trees.  Roffler had Asmin back on his feet and the tank attempted to taunt the creature again.  It ignored him and leapt after Krop.  Its face was met by a boot.  The boot was attached to a middle aged man wearing armor that looked like something you would find in the reject pile of a low grade general store.


    The lizard flew back ten feet and landed on its side.  The man casually stepped forward and broke its rear right hip with a single strike.  The beast rolled and stood.  The man stepped around and broke the other rear hip.  ¡°Tank Engage.¡±  he said as an essence shield formed around Asmin.  Asmin stepped forward and the beast tried to bite him in half, but the shield held.  Asmin began striking at the beast''s head and with his sword.


    A small essence blade appeared on the end of the man¡¯s staff and he rapidly moved around the beast. Long slices through its tough hide exposed the softer flesh underneath.  ¡°Healer buff your mates.¡±  the man called out as he continued along the other side before stepping back.  A shield appeared on Krop and the man called out, ¡°Everyone attack.¡±


    Looking around at the team, the man asked, ¡°Healer, can you buff stamina?¡±  Roffler responded, ¡°No.¡±  The man nodded and suddenly the tiring Asmin seemed to catch a second wind.  ¡°Essence regeneration?¡±  the man asked.  ¡°Single target.¡±  Was Roffler¡¯s response.  Asmin¡¯s shield was broken by a swipe from the beast and the shield was instantly replaced.  The man flashed forward and lightly tapped the beast on top of the head.  It was stunned.  He picked up Asmin with one hand and said, ¡°Continue.¡±


    Shady felt a cooling breeze and saw his stamina and essence regeneration had quadrupled.  He began firing at a faster rate aiming at the cuts the man had opened.  Doug Doug had switched to his other affinity and was sending shards of ice into the cuts on the other side of the beast.  Krop was using all his skills as they came off of cooldown and stabbing into the cuts on the rear of the beast.


    Occasionally the man would stun the beast with a light tap with his staff or reopen some of the cuts that were trying to heal, but other than that he merely watched and continued casting his area buff and refreshing Asmin¡¯s shield.


    Thirty minutes later the beast crumpled and turned to dust.  The group slowly walked forward and took knees near Asmin trying to catch their breaths.  Shady saw the expected loot notification, but beside it was a golden notification he had never seen before.  Opening it up he saw it was a title.  Giant Slayer:  Awarded for being a major contributor to a group that slays a beast 50 levels above the group average without taking any casualties.  +5 to all stats.


    The man looked at them with a smile and asked, ¡°Did you get a title?¡±  They nodded.  ¡°Good, I figured you would.¡±  He then turned and started to walk off.


    ¡°Sir.¡±  Asmin called.  ¡°Do you know why the beast was here?¡±


    ¡°It was hunting.  As the essence levels drop, higher level creatures will expand their hunting territory in an attempt to maintain their levels.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for helping us.¡±  Roffler said.


    ¡°No.  Thank you for distracting the beast.  I was on my way to the city when I came across its trail and I feared it was heading for the city, so I followed it.  You boys made my task easier.¡±  the older man replied and started to walk off again.


    ¡°We are headed to the city also.  We¡¯ve been farming for loot and essence in preparation to integrate into a new world in a couple days.¡±  Doug Doug interjected obviously hoping to travel with the man.


    Looking interested for the first time the man returned and sat down pulling a flask and some dried meat out.  ¡°I assume you are from this planet?¡±  the man asked.


    ¡°Yes, sir.  They said as they sat in a half moon in front of the man and pulled out flasks and food.¡±


    ¡°What level are you integrating at?  What is your plan for integration expenses?¡±


    ¡°We are going to max our levels as best we can and keep the best gear we can afford after paying to keep our most important skills.¡±  Asmin answered.


    ¡°Solid plan.  You¡¯ve done your homework, but would you like some suggestions?¡±  the man asked.


    ¡°Sure.¡±  they all shrugged.


    ¡°For skills.  Only keep the ones you can¡¯t teach yourselves easily.  Striking skills are obvious ones you can quickly pick back up with a little practice.¡±  He said making moves with his hands that simulated various strikes or parries.  The boys nodded.  It made sense.


    ¡°For gear.  Get superior quality gear for the level you are going to integrate at.  Enchanted gear isn¡¯t worth the cost because you will outlevel it soon enough.  Leveling is faster on newly integrated planets.  But be aware.  You may not get the class you expect.  I once integrated as a fisherman because the previous planet I had been on fishing was my primary source of food.¡±


    ¡°Did you stay a fisherman?¡±  Krop asked.


    ¡°Not really.  I taught myself the skills I wanted.  When I had a chance, I picked up other skills and subclasses and pretty much fought the same as I did when I integrated as a spearman or martial artist.  Now here¡¯s something you may find controversial.  Pick up all the skills and sub classes you can and rotate your subclasses for faster stat gains.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to pick sub-classes that align with your build or at least add to your primary stats?¡±  Shady asked.


    ¡°If you are going to be a gladiator fighting short fights in an arena under strict rules, but not if you are going to be an adventurer.¡±  seeing the boys not understanding he continued.  ¡°Would it benefit a tank to be able to heal, buff, and cast shields on himself?  Would a caster be safer if they had enough agility to escape an attacker or enough vitality to take a hit or two?¡±


    ¡°But then you¡¯d be missing out on your primary stats.¡±  Asmin interjected.


    ¡°That¡¯s why you rotate your subclasses.  You get 3-6 active subclasses depending on the quality of your main class.  You only get ? of the stats from each that you would if they were your main class, but that still means ? to ? of your stats can come from your subclasses.  Rotating through a large number of lower level subclasses will provide more overall stats than sticking to a group of high level subclasses.  Plus you gain more flexibility and class skills increasing your potential for more subclasses.  It is a self repeating cycle.  I recommend picking up any skill you can get for the right price and leveling it and its supplementary skills to get as many subclasses to rotate through as possible.  You never know when someone may need to heal the healer or temporarily replace your tank.¡±


    The man thought for a minute, then continued, ¡°Starting level is capped at level 20.  You can then use your excess essence or credits to take extra skills.  What¡¯s leftover can be banked and you will regain it over time.  The closest estimate I¡¯ve seen is that you receive ? the essence it takes to reach the average of the top one thousand natives on the planet.  That regained essence can be used for levels or for skill gains.  As I said before, you want to pay for the skills that would be nearly impossible to learn quickly.  Essence sight and essence manipulation can be easily picked up by closely observing skills and spells.  Your affinities and titles will automatically integrate free of charge.  I tend to pay for basic healing and basic enchanting.  Those are hard to learn until you¡¯ve leveled essence sight and manipulation and are often difficult to find a trainer willing to teach you.  I also tend to keep a movement skill, a shield skill, and a complex finisher that I pay to level.¡±


    The boys were deep in thought.  What the man had said, made sense.  Standing, the man seemed to make a decision and pulled out five dimensional bags and quickly filled them with something.  After tossing a bag to each boy, he nodded and said, ¡°You boys work well together,  I hope to see you in the new world, but not I must be off.  I have a lot of equipment to sell before I integrate.¡±


    ¡°Sir.  May we know your name?¡±  Doug Doug asked.


    ¡°My apologies.  John¡­John Drake.  One last piece of advice.  The town is lava.  Don¡¯t waste time shopping or chasing women.  Work hard.  Train hard.  Live free.¡±  And the man was gone.  Disappearing into the tree line moving faster than their eyes could follow.


    The boys looked at each other with wide eyes.  ¡°Number 5 on the leaderboards.¡±  ¡°And the only non-sect employee or associate in the top 500¡±  ¡°They¡¯ve been hunting him for years.¡±  The chatter continued for a while until one of the boys opened the dimensional bag John had given him.  It contained 500.000 credits easily enough for each of them to integrate at level 15.

 Gods...Dammit, Why did you Screw up my Integration?

    Gods¡­Dammit, Why Did You Screw up My Integration?


    John opened his eyes.  He felt weak.  His skin was tingling.  Must be a pretty high essence location.  That''s good.  He was laying on a raised platform in a rock walled room.  Something was wrong.  He wasn¡¯t wearing the superior quality leather armor he had on when he initialized the integration.  He had the rough spun pajamas of a low leveled villager or farm worker.  He quickly checked his inventory and it was empty.  He didn¡¯t even have the staff he had bought for integration.  Trying to sit up, John realized he was even weaker then he should have been.


    Pulling up his stats, everything was set at 5.  Half of what the average of adults with no training and no levels would have.  What are the meddling gods up to now?  What have I ever done to you?  Finally, after a few tries he was able to sit up.  He swung his legs over the edge of the platform and glanced around.  There was a fountain in the corner with water spilling out of the basin into a drain in the floor.  On the opposite wall was a plaque over top of a pedestal with a small round object.  The room was small.  Maybe two meters wide from the platform to the opposite wall and only about five meters deep.  It was lit by glowing crystals embedded at regular intervals in the ceiling.  He had alerts flashing.  He pulled up the first one.


    System Alert


    Your body has absorbed enough ambient essence to evolve.  Do you wish to improve your:


    Core


    Delivery System


    Distribution System


    Cells


    The first three were greyed out so he chose cells.  Need to survive first and foremost.  John chose to improve his vitality, agility, and awareness.  They each improved by 1.  John¡¯s next alert was a class quest.


    Class Quest


    Raise your Strength and Agility to 20


    Reward:  Emperor¡¯s Armory


    That would have been nice to know a few seconds earlier.  Emperor¡¯s Armory?  What class did I get?  Pulling up his class menu he saw his class was ¡°The One Great Emperor¡±  and it was a tier 7 class.  He had never heard of a tier 7 class.  The mythical classes of the great heroes were only tier 6.  Does that mean¡­yes it does.  I can have 7 active subclasses.  At least there is one small diamond in this lump of coal integration.  John continued reading and discovered his new class gave him +2 to all stats and 4 unassigned stats.  John opened the next alert.


    Celestial Achievement:


    Receive a tier 7 class


    Reward:  100% to all stats


    That was nice.  Merely makes me a normal adult right now, but that will be one heck of a title after I gain some more stats.  John continued to read through his alerts.


    Class Quest


    Raise your Strength and Vitality to 20


    Reward:  Emperors Wardrobe


    Ok.  If I survive long enough, I¡¯ll have a choice of weapons and some fancy clothes to put on at least.  Not that they¡¯ll do me any good.  Every want to be warlord, king, or bandit that sees my class will not hesitate to chop my head off.  And they¡¯ll probably get a title for it.


    Integration Notification:


    This planet has been blessed by the old gods.  Sapient races will be able to train their affinities while on this planet.  Sapient races will also be able to choose to add one of the following affinities when they first arrive on the planet:


    Nature


    Fire


    Earth


    Wind


    Lightning


    Water


    John had never had an affinity before.  He had adapted over the centuries to become quite skilled at using essence for shields, healing, regeneration, and shaping essence blades on weapons that allowed it like his staff on his last planet.  However, he had never cast spells to deal damage or gotten much benefit from imbued spells because of their high cost and low damage without an affinity.  John thought about his choices and went with lightning.  It was useful for both damage and control.


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    After choosing Lightning, he was given the spell ¡°Lightning Bolt¡± and a class quest to raise the spell to level 5 to receive the subclass ¡°Electromancer¡±.  Looking at the room and platform, John noticed it was made out of the dense stone that looked suspiciously like indestructible dungeon stone.  Deciding digging his way out wasn¡¯t in his future, he stood and slowly walked over to the plaque.


    Tired of seeing her seeds destroyed by the corruption of the system, Destiny with a Legion of helpers created a seed that would grow back stronger if destroyed.


    Not sure what that meant, John looked down at the pedestal.  On it was a single perfectly round crystal similar in size to a marble that children would play with.  Picking it up he received another alert:


    Dungeon Completion


    You have conquered ¡°Unnamed Juvenile Dungeon¡± do you wish to:


    Destroy it and absorb its essence.


    Become the dungeon master.


    Do nothing


    John had never become a dungeon master before, so with images of having unlimited hordes of dungeon creatures to fight, he chose to give it a try.  Couldn¡¯t make his odds of survival any worse.  His class alone would probably lead to many resets.  Assuming the gods hadn¡¯t messed up that little trump card of his.  He then received an alert that he would not be able to make changes to the dungeon until it reached level 1 and instructed him to place the dungeon in a high essence location to accelerate its growth.  .


    System Alert


    Your body has absorbed enough ambient essence to evolve.  Do you wish to improve your:


    Core


    Delivery System


    Distribution System


    Cells


    Again.  Just how high is the essence on this planet?  Once again John¡¯s only choice available was to improve his cells.  So he chose Strength, Agility, and Vitality.  This time he was rewarded with 2 points in agility and vitality and 1 point in strength.  Not bad.  Two evolutions in 10 minutes.  These newly integrated planets do have their benefits.  Holding the dungeon core in his left hand, John cautiously walked to the door.  Kneeling, he looked in both directions.  He saw a hallway that appeared to be filled with rooms similar to the one he had awoken in.  To the right the hallway went for about 20 rooms and ended in a heavy metal doorway.  To the left he saw many more rooms and an open door to a room with the green glow of essence crystals.


    Jackpot!  John thought he had found an essence vein that he could hopefully mine before it was claimed by a powerful beast.  He started walking towards the glowing room, but after passing a couple rooms, his skin began to burn.  Essence burn.  This is an even higher essence area than I thought. He had begun to slowly take damage due to the essence levels being higher than his weakened body could handle.  Turning around, John debated rolling the core closer to the essence vein, but he wasn¡¯t sure how fragile a juvenile core was.  He decided to explore in the opposite direction.


    After a few steps, John heard a series of wet splatting sounds like someone beating a slab of meat.  Curious John proceeded forward.  He sensed movement just before he reached the next doorway.  A tentacle reached into the hallway and a slime pulled itself out of the room and began threatening him with waving tentacles.


    John quickly stepped back.  He had never had an affinity before, so slimes were always his most hated foe.  He avoided them if at all possible.  A smile came to John¡¯s face as he realized slimes were no longer a problem.  He pointed his finger at the slime and cast a lightning bolt.  The slime tried to move back into the room it came out of, but John was able to hit it.


    Cautiously John entered the room, but the slime was nowhere to be seen.  Realizing it could only be one place, he jumped back and examined the ceiling.  No slime there, either.  Looking around, John saw no means of escape for the slime, but decided to keep moving in case his lightning bolt had attracted attention.


    John exited the room and continued down the hall towards the door.  He searched the door and could find no evidence of either mechanical or magical booby traps.  No time like the present to find out if I can die this integration.  John took a deep breath and opened the door.  Nothing happened.  Stepping into an enormous room with a ceiling at least 10 meters high lit up and the size of several coliseums.  John received a new alert.


    Legendary Achievement


    Be the first to find a world wonder.


    Reward:  +10% to all stats


    Nice.  I¡¯ll take back some of those thoughts I had about meddling gods.   John looked around the massive room.  The only thing he could see was a glowing crystal in the wall next to the door he had entered.  He placed his hand on the crystal and his interface opened up.


    Welcome to Destiny¡¯s Amphitheater


    What would you like to train today?


    Stats


    Spells


    Skills


    John felt like he had integrated into his dreamworld.  He chose stats and then selected strength, vitality, and agility.  A weighted vest and two moderately heavy metal bars appeared on the floor.  John placed his dungeon core on the ground,  put on the vest, and grabbed the metal bars.  A green arrow appeared on the floor.  The arrow changed from yellow to red and another arrow appeared in front of it.  Getting the idea, John began jogging in the direction the arrow pointed.  After a few steps a bar flew out of the wall causing John to duck.  A few steps later an obstacle appeared that John had to step over.  This continued for several minutes before John received an alert.


    System Alert


    Your body has absorbed enough ambient essence to evolve.  To you wish to improve your:


    Core


    Delivery System


    Distribution System


    Cells


    It had been 30 minutes since his last evolution.  John chose cells and selected strength, vitality, and agility.  This time he received +2 to all three.  John continued training.  When John felt himself running out of stamina, the arrows actually paused and restarted after a few minutes.  After a few rest breaks, he received the notification that his vitality had increased by +1.


    After about an hour John was exhausted, he ended his training session by placing his hand on the crystal on the wall.  The vest and weights disappeared.  He picked up his dungeon core and left the training area. He entered the first room and dipped the tip of his finger just barely into the water.  He felt a tingling of essence from the water, but after a few minutes he felt no side effects.  So he dipped the back of his hand in the water and waited.  He then put some water on his lips and waited.  Next he put a small handful of water into his mouth before spitting it into the drain.  Finally he took a small sip of water and swallowed.  He felt his cells convert the essence enriched water into stamina as he waited a few minutes.  Deciding the water was safe to drink, he drank several handfuls and in another ten minutes, he went back into the training area to continue.

 Sorry Madam Chairwoman, This is a Wendys

    Sorry Madam Chairwoman, This is a Wendy¡¯s


    Simba double checked his interface.  He and 2,000 of his coalition mercs had integrated successfully, but something was wrong.  He should be within a short distance of the principal and 2 others his group were designated to protect and train.  His contract tab was showing only a single protectee and he was nowhere close to any of the 7 coalition groups that integrated.


    If the Draskari sect had changed the deal at the last moment, he would have been notified and if he accepted the changes, the system would have placed all the groups close to their new protectee.  However, over half of his force was on the wrong side of the planet.  Mufasa was the closest, but it would take weeks to get there.


    There was only one explanation.  Powerful gods were involved.   Simba hated when that happened.  Playing in a sandbox that the gods were dipping their fingers into and swirling everything around, was never safe, organized, or predictable.  Three things that Simba particularly hated not being.   But there was a bright side to the situation.  The system enforced contract vaguely outlined what they must do, but the remaining half of their payment was not entirely dependent on successfully keeping the principal alive and ensuring they were in control of the planet at the end of the integration.    Too many variables to predict and no mercenary unit would sign a contract that is that restrictive.  There was a big bonus if they could, but they would not be forfeiting the entire final payment. So all Simba had to do was make sure their force was moving to this previously unknown protectee and do what they could to keep him alive and the system would ensure they were paid by the sect.  If they could keep him alive until the end of the integration, they would get the full amount.


    He opened up his long distance communication app to send a fragmentary order to get everybody moving in the right direction, but he saw he had received one from Mufasa.  ¡°Gods?  Damnit.  Moving towards protectee.  ETA:  9 weeks.¡± Simba typed up a simple order and sent it out instructing to make all haste towards protectee commandeering local transportation if possible.


    Simba then used his interface to plot the first leg of his group¡¯s months-long journey and issued the order of movement.  At least he was happy to see it would all be by land.  The planet had previously been 70% large oceans, but the system had added enough land that there were connections between the continents and close to 70% of the world was now land masses.


    The tricky part was, he couldn¡¯t just move as quickly as possible and still arrive with any advantage in levels.  They needed to hunt while they moved and try to stay ahead of the rapidly leveling beasts, natives, and other newly integrated groups.  So he had to ensure the sections were rotating teams and taking advantage of targets of opportunity.  Luckily, some opportunities may be presenting themselves right now.


    They had integrated on a mountainside just a few kilometers away from a large manor that looked recently fortified.  What looked like a line of possibly military wheeled vehicles were rolling out the gate and coming up the road that led to their mountain.  Simba looked at the path the vehicles were taking and issued a new order moving his group into position to intercept.  When they arrived he stepped into the middle of the road with his security detail and waited.


    The loud vehicles came to a screeching halt and large weapons mounted on top of the vehicles rotated towards him or towards alternating sides of the road.  ¡°Oi.  Chester.  You the mercs?¡±  a voice called from the front passenger seat of the vehicle.


    ¡°I am not Chester, but we are indeed the mercenaries hired for this integration.¡±  Simba replied while watching in his interface the positions of his men that were moving up to the vehicles under stealth.


    ¡°You¡¯ll wanna come with us then, Mate.  Bossman has been expecting you.¡±  the voice called out.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid we can¡¯t do that.  Our contract has been changed.  We need to proceed to our new assignment.¡±   Simba called as he saw each of his men go green as they signalled that they were in position and ready.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid you don¡¯t understand, mate.  Bossman said for us to bring you back.  You¡¯re coming with us.¡±  smaller weapons were brought up by the remainder of the passengers of the vehicles and pointed out the openings on the side of the vehicle.


    Simba gave the execute command and lightning blasts were sent into all the vehicles.  There were loud popping noises as the blast tore through the men and machines, but none of the coalition were harmed.  As the smoke cleared, the men inside the vehicles turned to dust and the assault force began pulling out the loot they had received and passed it to one trooper who stored it in his dimensional storage.  The vehicles were searched and anything that could be grabbed was also placed in the trooper¡¯s dimensional storage.   The armorers and weaponsmiths would evaluate it as they moved.


    The section placed on outside security nearest the manor reported increased movement inside the manor with possible aerial vehicles being loaded in a large open area beside the manor.  Simba adjusted his plan and informed his scout sections that they would be heading directly towards the large forested area on the far side of the ridgeline they had integrated on.


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    After confirming that all of the coalition troops were present and ready to move, the first unit began moving cross country at a fast jog towards the forest.  As the units fell into position with Simba¡¯s command unit in the center, he estimated they could maintain at least 50 kilometers per hour and possibly faster depending on what the forested area was like.


    Mufasa stood at the edge of the woodline looking at the city sprawling in the distance.  At its center were tall towers covered in a crystal-like substance that reflected light.  There were also smaller buildings that appeared to be covered in an attractive high quality decorative stone.  Surrounding that were a mix of mostly metal covered buildings that scouts had estimated were for manufacturing and smaller residences mostly covered in some kind of synthetic material.  There were large roads throughout but were mostly empty except for what was thought to be military vehicles moving about.  All of the roads ended before they entered the woodline that surrounded the city.  However, scouts had also reported seeing metallic aerial vehicles leaving and returning to a large complex on the far side of the city.


    He estimated the city to have a population of between 50 and 100 million with a large military presence primarily housed in what appeared to be recently constructed buildings around the complex the aerial vehicles were leaving from.  These people are no longer my problem unless they choose to make themselves so.  Mufasa thought as he signalled to Boris and the boys to follow him back to the command section.


    Once back within his forces'' perimeter, he finished up the movement plan and sent it to his sub-leaders.  He watched as the scouts started moving on his interface and stood once he saw the lead elements starting to move out.  After a short while, he received a report that his father had engaged a small group and taken them out.  A couple of hours later he received a more thorough report that the armorers and weaponsmiths had gone over the gear and it was pretty much what was expected.  The armor was probably good against light ranged projectiles but offered no protection against elemental attacks.  Crushing weapons were expected to be most effective.  The weapons were mostly explosive powered projectile weapons and a few melee weapons made from reasonably good quality metal, but poorly mass produced.


    The next morning they had left the forested area behind and were moving across a wide open plain with no end in sight.  At level 20, they should be able to go for one more day before they stopped for rest.  Mufasa chuckled as he looked over at T.  The training and good food at the coalition had packed even more muscle on the young lionkin.  He would happily fight all day, but he definitely wasn¡¯t a fan of so much running.  The few beasts they had hunted while they traveled mostly ran and didn¡¯t put up much of a fight when they were caught, as they were still in a relatively low level area.


    T looked up and saw Mufasa looking at him and began to make what was probably a rude gesture, but stopped when Boris let out a low growl.  Meathead is learning.  Who would have thought it possible?  Pretty Boy who was slightly behind and to the side of T seemed relieved that he wasn¡¯t going to have to carry an unconscious lionkin.  Overhead one of the native¡¯s aerial vehicles roared past and seemed to have spotted them and circled a few times before flying off in the direction of the capital.


    A few hours later, 5 more aerial vehicles flashed overhead, slowed to a hover, then landed not far in front of the formation.  Mufasa ordered the pace slowed as he picked up the pace angling towards where the vehicles had landed.  Men exited the rear of the vehicles and formed a perimeter around them.


    Mufasa, signalled for Boris and his shadows to halt as they approached the group.  A human in uniform covered in camouflage that would do a decent job of blending into most terrain walked forward to meet him.  On the man¡¯s shoulder he had a light blue patch with a wreath surrounding what looked like a map of this world before the system had changed it.


    The man held out his hand and said, ¡°Howdy, Lion-o.  I¡¯m Colonel Stevens.  You seemed to be heading in the wrong direction, so the chairwoman asked me and my boys to fly out here and point you in the right direction, partner¡±


    ¡°I am Mufasa.¡±  the colonel looked at him strangely as he continued, ¡°Colonel, I apologize, but our orders have changed.  We¡¯re assigned to a different protectee now.¡±  Mufasa replied as he shook the man¡¯s head.


    ¡°Do you happen to know where your replacements are?¡¯


    ¡°I do not believe there will be a replacement.¡±  Mufasa replied.


    The Colonel looked down and spit a brown liquid on the ground.   ¡°Well that will put me in a bit of a pickle.  The chairwoman is expecting a security force to help us with this new world we find ourselves in.  She¡¯s not going to be too happy when I tell her there won¡¯t be one. Do you happen to know why your orders were changed?¡±


    ¡°Meddling of the gods.  Things always get interesting when they¡¯re cooking something up.¡±  Mufasa answered.


    ¡°Gods¡­there¡¯s more than one now.  Interesting.  Could you tell me why you think it was them?¡±


    ¡°If the organization that contracted us had changed their orders we would have been notified of the changes and if agreed the system would have placed us near our new protectee.  Only the meddling of the gods would result with us being thousands of kilometers away from where we need to be.¡±


    ¡°Seems like sound reasoning.  I¡­¡±  the colonel was interrupted by a man in a dark, shiny outfit who approached them.  ¡°Is there a problem colonel?¡±


    The colonel rolled his eyes and replied, ¡°Seems to be sir.  Apparently the gods, there¡¯s more than one now, have decided to change Mufasa here¡¯s contract.¡±  He said to the gentleman.


    ¡°Colonel, I am ordering you under the authority of the Chairwoman to tell these mercenaries to turn around and return to the capital.¡±  The man said sternly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to go over too well.¡± The colonel said gesturing towards the coalition that had stopped.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care what you or these beasts say, the chairwoman demands...¡±  was all the man got out before T sent his head flying and turned to the Colonel.


    The colonel looked around at all of his men being held off the ground weaponless.  ¡°See that¡¯s why you don¡¯t send a panty sniffing tenderfoot to talk to a soldier.  They always end up stomping their feet and screeching about demanding stuff when they¡¯re outnumbered a hundred to one.¡±  He said while he bent over and threw the body over his shoulder.  ¡°I¡¯ll let the chairwoman know you won¡¯t be coming.  If that will be fine with your gentlemen?¡±


    ¡°Colonel, are the rest of your leaders like that man?¡±  Mufasa asked.


    ¡°Most are worse, I¡¯m afraid.¡± the colonel said.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll give you a piece of advice.  Ignore your politicians.  Rally around the people who build, create, and fight for the good of others.  Those are the people you need to lead if you are going to survive.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like some mighty fine advice, Mufasa.  I¡¯ll have a word with some of the boys when I get back and I hope I see you again.¡±  he said as he motioned towards the vehicles.  Mufasa nodded and when the colonel reached the man¡¯s head, he kicked it into the back of the vehicle.  ¡°Woo.  Boy.  I still got it.  Best leg in the state.¡±


    Boris stepped up and said, ¡°Looks like there is hope for  some of them if they listen to your advice.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s hope this John Drake is one of those.¡±

 Dragons Just Wanna Have Fun鈥?hat鈥檚 All They Really Want

    Dragons Just Wanna Have Fun¡­That¡¯s All They Really Want


    Xeno opened his eyes to a magnificent view from high in the mountains. Exalting in the simple pleasure of being alive, he drew in a deep belly of air and let loose a magnificent spray of lava. He received a few kill notifications and thought, Ooops. Sorry, whoever or whatever that was.  However, when he stopped, he didn¡¯t look happy at all. He looked disappointed. That won¡¯t do at all. I shall have to work on that.


    Taking a second deep breath he stopped just short of using his Dragon Breath skill. He then began tinkering with the different components of the skill and then released it. This time instead of the spray of lava, he released sharp edged shards of obsidian that flew out rapid fire with a much longer range than the lava. He drew in a breath again and this time after tinkering, he released thin shelled balls of obsidian with lava inside. His next skill adjustment produced a wide spray of white hot lava for close in work. Checking his alerts, he had been given credit for learning 3 new skills. He also noticed the integration announcement saying he could add a new affinity and train his current ones. While he was one of the few individuals in the multi-verse that knew that training affinities was possible, he also knew that it was so expensive, that it might as well be impossible.


    He scratched lightning off the list of possibilities. Dragons rarely run into a need to stun an opponent. Water was likewise ruled out. Wind was a possibility. He thought of several ways he could improve his flight skills with it, but that would amount to reinventing the wheel. He had thousands of years working on his flight utilizing the powers of fire and raw essence. Nature really intrigued him however. He enjoyed building and expected to do a lot of it in this new world. Working nature magic into his creations sounded like a fun way of exercising his creative genius.


    With that choice out of the way, he took to the air. Once again, he was not satisfied with plain ordinary dragon flight. He began recreating some of the skills he made so many centuries before. Several hours of flight later, he was nearly satisfied when suddenly he was struck in the side by something heavy and covered in lightning. Pulling out of the dead spin he had been knocked into, he quickly locked eyes with his attacker. A large raptor. Probably a refugee from a planet that had its essence mined out and could no longer sustain the large predator. It had obviously had some luck on this planet and had already devoured some natural treasures, because it was far stronger than any level 21 bird should be.


    ¡°Nice to meet you, good sir. Would you prefer to be student or lunch?¡± Xeno asked, wanting to give the bird a choice at least despite suddenly being quite ravenous. The bird only screeched and dove at him again. ¡°Lunch it is.¡± As the bird approached, Xeno blinded it with a wide spray of lava and snatched its neck in his maw. Having very high natural resistances even for a dragon, the bird''s lightning had almost no effect on Xeno so he cooked it in his mouth as he slowly circled back down to the ground.


    After enjoying his lunch, Xeno stored the remaining bones in his dimensional storage and started working on a skill that all dragons had. Treasure Sense. The system for some unknown reason had blessed dragons with the ability to passively gain leveling essence based on the value of their possessions (not to be confused with cultivation or passive essence gains from absorbing essence neither of which increased levels). So treasure sense was a very crucial skill for dragons to level. However, treasure sense had also led to the demise of many over-enthusiastic young dragons who didn¡¯t quite grasp the concept of some treasures having owners that you absolutely did not want to annoy by attempting to steal their treasure.


    Taking to the air and remaining low, Xeno began his first treasure hunt since before he built his academy. He almost immediately sensed a deposit of ores which he uncovered using his earth magic before putting that into his dimensional storage. He also picked up quite a few nature related items that after eating a few, he was able to increase his nature affinity up to 2%. However, his treasure hunting was cut short when he sensed an unfamiliar energy being bounced off of him and spotted 2 metal projectiles flying in his direction. Remembering a useful spell he had frequently used in air combat, he created a grid of the obsidian encased lava balls that proved to once again be very effective.


    Spotting the silver vehicle that had released the projectiles at him, he felt it was only fair to help its controller train his defensive skills. He released a quick burst of obsidian shards, only to discover he had underestimated the vehicle''s speed. He adjusted his aim and released another quick burst. Oh. My bad. Its controller had no defensive skills at all.


    The vehicle was torn to pieces and began falling rapidly to the ground. Xeno moved to see if he could catch it and save the controller, but he saw the vehicle open up and eject what appeared to be a human. Questioning the sanity of the human who believed he could survive a fall from this height, Xeno quickly understood the questionable maneuver when a large piece of fabric expanded above the human. Curious about this planet''s inhabitants, Xeno flew closer and slowly circled the falling man.


    ¡°Hello, I am Xeno¡± he said and luckily remembered the effect a dragon¡¯s smile had on humans unfamiliar with dragons.


    ¡°Uhhh¡­I¡¯m Josh. Nice to meet you, Xeno?¡± the man hesitantly replied.


    ¡°Rather ingenious safety measure you have. I assume your race has not yet been able to create miniature propulsion systems for situations like this.¡±


    ¡°We have, sir. But we have not been able to make them as reliable as a parachute.¡±


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    ¡°What will you do once you reach the ground?¡± Xeno asked, genuinely curious.


    ¡°Honestly, find some place to hide from you.¡± Josh said with a shrug.


    Xeno laughed. ¡®Understandable. In my defense, I must say, I merely meant to return the favor of allowing you to work on your defense skills. I guess I should have known you wouldn¡¯t have any yet only a couple days after integration. So I do apologize for destroying your vehicle. However, what would you do once you reached the ground if I had already left the area?¡±


    ¡°I would begin my escape and evasion plan hoping that search and rescue would come pick me up.¡± Josh said, and then looked worried he had said something he shouldn¡¯t have.


    ¡°Ahhh¡­a tracking device of some sort. That would make sense. Say, this is awfully slow, would you like a ride to your destination?¡± Xeno asked.


    ¡°I guess. That would be nice. Yes.¡± Josh said thinking, This is stupid, but who would pass up a chance to ride on a dragon?


    ¡°Excellent, give me one second.¡± Xeno flew a small distance away and then flew under Josh. Hovering momentarily, Xeno lowered his head to absorb some of the surprisingly little shock of Josh¡¯s landing on his neck. The man pulled on some straps and the parachute floated away. Xeno created an essence shield to protect the man from the drag of the winds passing over his body.


    ¡°So which way should we go?¡± Xeno asked and the man pointed. Xeno felt a wet drip on his back and smelled a faint whiff of blood. ¡°Are you injured, Josh?¡±


    ¡°Just a few scratches from when you shot me down. I should be fine¡± Josh replied.


    ¡°I¡¯ll fix that up. It may sting a bit, but we¡¯ll have you as good as new in a second.¡± Xeno said and directed essence to the man and identified the injuries. He then washed the wounds with pure essence, flushing out contaminants and foreign essence. Once satisfied, he began the quick knitting pattern criss crossing the wounds and creating the pathways for his patient''s natural recovery to expedite the healing. Josh felt warmth and then what felt like being jabbed with thousands of tiny needles and the pain was gone. He looked at the exposed flesh of his arm and his wound there was completely healed.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Xeno. Can anybody learn to do that?¡±


    ¡°Yes, once they have essence sight and essence manipulation properly leveled.¡±


    ¡°Essence sight and essence manipulation?¡± Josh asked.


    ¡°Ahhh. Yes. Newly integrated. Can you feel the essence in your body?¡±


    ¡°The warm little bits of energy?¡± Josh again asked.


    ¡°Yes. That is essence. You¡¯ll learn much more about it eventually, but for now, pay attention to what it does while using skills and spells. You¡¯ll get essence sight eventually. Once you level essence sight enough, you¡¯ll begin recognizing the components of your skills and spells and begin to be able to manipulate them.¡±


    In the far distance, Xeno could spot what appeared to be a large compound of structures and assumed it was where Josh was wanting to return to. However, he also felt a much stronger energy pass over his body similar to what Josh¡¯s projectiles had used. Xeno dove and landed behind a mountain.


    ¡°Josh, does your base have protections against airbound intruders?¡± Xeno asked.


    ¡°Oh. Krap.¡± Josh turned white as he realized what he had almost led Xeno into. ¡°They¡¯ll be scrambling more jets. You¡¯ll want to get out of here.¡± Josh hopped off the dragon¡¯s neck and stepped away.


    ¡°Probably a wise choice, I would enjoy a good scuffle, but I don¡¯t wish to kill any of your people.¡± Xeno thought for a while. ¡°Spread the word that if your bases would like to communicate with me, they could paint a large sign or something with my name and friend. If I see them, I¡¯ll stop for a chat if I have time.¡±


    ¡°Will do, but I don¡¯t know if any commanders will be wanting to invite a dragon into their bases.¡± Josh said with a shrug.


    ¡°Their loss. Oh, Josh. I may be the only dragon on this planet, but let them know that if there are more, not all will be friendly. Some may try and enslave you. Some will just eat you. Others may just take everything of value you have. So use some caution.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Xeno. And thanks for the ride and not eating me.¡± Josh said with a smile as powerful engines could be heard in the distance.


    Xeno nodded and flew away, staying low to the ground. A few hours later he found a promising looking spot and built a small fortress that blended into the mountainside for him to spend the night in. The next morning he weaved enough traps and triggered spells into the fortress to ensure that his first major ¡°possession¡± continued providing passive leveling essence for a little while at least. Maybe I could hire some of the natives to protect my creations.


    The hunter sniffed the winds. He could sense dragons in two directions. He had been ordered to eliminate all dragons on the planet, so he headed toward the one that felt closest. Flapping his shadowy wings he rose into the night sky. Taking shelter in subterranean hides, it took him several nights to approach his first target.


    From the shelter of a shallow cave the hunter watched. His first target was a few mountains over building a ridiculously elaborate fortress. The fool was even growing trees and flowers around it. The hunter never understood why some dragons wasted their talents on crafting. They had lost touch with their souls and the ravenous desire to kill and conquer. Their cowardly hearts seek comfort instead of power. The red and tan dragon with the tiniest specks of green in his scales wouldn¡¯t even be a challenge.


    As night fell, the hunter made his move. The weak red was outside of his fortress working as the hunter moved from shadow to shadow. Approaching the red from behind, the hunter launched itself and summoned a powerful blade of shadow essence to finish the battle in one blow. However, as his blow struck, it rebounded and his arms were turned to dust by immense flame. His blade was destroyed.


    The red calmly turned and said, ¡°Young hunter, didn''t anyone ever teach you not to carry treasure when your prey is a dragon?¡±


    As he met eyes with his prey, the hunter realized this was not a foe he could vanquish and shadow walked behind a large tree. Starting to expend essence to regrow his arms, he looked for a means of escape. He saw an opening and felt the deep shadows of the underworld in a cave nearby. Roots exploded around him and forced him back to the shadow realm as he made his escape. The opening to the underworld closed just before he got there and shards of obsidian exploded all around him as the dragon took flight behind him.


    The hunter took flight in the night sky, knowing if he could survive long enough, he would easily outrun a red. Looking behind him, his eyes opened wide. The red was engulfed in flame and catching up to him quickly. Desperately he looked for another escape. Diving at a reckless speed he headed towards another opening to the underworld. When it closed, he shadow walked into another entrance on the other side of the ravine and ran for his life. Behind him he heard the ground slam shut then felt it open wide as the monstrous red continued to chase him. He took wing again as he dove into a deep chasm then scrambled into another chasm, running for his life. He changed course frequently and finally hid behind a waterfall dense with shadow essence and waited. But the red had given up pursuit. The hunter sighed in relief and decided to bring an army when he next went after the red¡­if he decided to go after the red again.


    Xeno was annoyed. His prey had escaped, but he knew better than to chase a shadow dragon too deep into the underworld. His essence was low, so he sealed the passages in the area and made his way back to his fortress where he weaved many trigger spells and traps before settling in to recover. One thing bothered him, why would someone send a hunter after him. Who had he angered in the last 100,000 years?

 Go Shawty. Its Your Birthday.

    Go Shawty, It¡¯s Your Birthday


    ¡°Find the Drake.  He is the key.¡±  That voice echoed in Magdelinazostrum¡¯s mind as she opened her eyes.  She still held the bundles wrapping her children.  She looked around and all 5 maids were there.  3 immediately took off and searched the area around them for potential threats.  They were on a large outcrop in the shadow of the peak of the largest mountain.  There was a shallow cave behind them.  They were approximately 400 meters above the tree line.


    Moving into the cave for concealment and shelter, Maggy moved some essence into the blankets renewing their warming and nurturing spells.  As they waited for the 3 scouting maids to return, Maggy asked, ¡°Did you hear anything just prior to integrating?¡±


    ¡°About a drake and a key.¡±  One answered.


    ¡°No.  The drake is the key.  We need to find him.¡±  corrected the other.


    ¡°Any ideas?¡±  Maggie asked while digging into the stone at the back of the cave creating a nook to hide the children in case she needed to fight.  The two maids shrugged.  ¡°We¡¯ll stick to the plan for now.  Find an essence vein we can secure and nurture the children until it¡¯s time.  We¡¯ll need to gather natural resources to speed their growth and maximize their potential.  While searching for treasures, we need to identify hunting grounds.  Once we¡¯ve reached level 40, we can widen our search for this drake.¡±


    ¡°We need to choose a new affinity too.¡±  Joanna pointed out.  The maids each had different affinities and with Maggie¡¯s water, they represented a complete set of the basic affinities.  After a bit of discussion, they decided to keep it simple and just go up one spot in the affinity chart from their current affinity to select their new one.  This would give them two adults with each of the affinities.


    Maggie placed the children in the nook she had created and scratched a basic array around the children to pull in essence for them.  As she finished, the scouts returned.  They gave the all clear signal and shared their maps with the others.  Looking at the area, she saw where one of the scouts had spotted dense essence being released from a nearby mountaintop.  ¡°Let¡¯s take a closer look at this.¡±  She said as she highlighted the area on her map and sent an update to the others.


    The maid that had originally found the area led the way with Maggie and another maid taking her right and left wing.  As they circled down, it felt like the essence concentration was greatest on the east side of the mountain.  Quickly they found a ravine that felt like it led to the source.  Landing they silently proceeded on foot down into the ravine.  A few minutes later, they followed the concentrated essence into a shallow cave.  In the rear right corner, they felt the essence soaking out of the wall.


    Using their claws, the two maids carefully dug into the wall  until they found what they were looking for.  A green light glimmered out from their excavation site.  They had found essence crystals.  A little more digging confirmed it was a vein that continued on deep into the earth.


    Maggie once again used her claws to create an array in the stone floor to keep the essence from seeking out and attracting trouble.  An hour later they had excavated a 3 meter circle around the half meter thick column of stone and crystals.  On each side of the column, they hollowed out a spot for the children.  Maggie finished the arrays that kept the condensed essence from escaping and the three returned to pick up the children.


    When the 6 dragons returned carrying the still tightly wrapped children, one of the maids closed the entrance to be just barely large enough for them to pass through.  One maid stayed outside, concealing herself with her camouflage skill above and behind the entrance.  Two maids began shaping hidden spots for guards to rest on either side of the entrance.


    Maggie carefully placed each of the bundles into the makeshift cradles they had dug in the ground. She then unwrapped the bundles and formed a nest with the blankets and placed an egg on top of each one.  The children were active inside.  She could sense them moving in response to the increased essence.  It would not be long.


    The two maids had fashioned another hidden spot for one of the adult dragons to rest while Maggie placed the eggs.  ¡°We¡¯ll stick with 2 hunting and seeking treasures, 1 on guard outside, and 3 in here.  It will slow our leveling a bit, but we can adjust based on what we find outside.  I doubt anything can threaten one of us here yet, but let¡¯s not take any chances.¡±  Maggie said.


    Two maids immediately exited the hide, while Maggie and the others settled in.  Maggie fashioned an area for cooking meals and eating while one of the others decided to fashion a small pit that should be able to contain newborn dragons.  Maggie chuckled when she saw what the maid had made. She wouldn¡¯t have thought of that, but it would be very useful in the coming weeks.


    As the first hunting groups returned, they pulled out the natural treasures they had found.  Maggie would place the item next to one of the eggs.  If the children responded inside, she would leave the treasure next to the egg.  If they didn¡¯t respond, she would add a glyph to the array and use the treasure to add to the strength of the nurturing essence.  The first maid attempted to give the loot they had gained to Maggie, but she refused and said that they all needed to level.  It was just as important for them to be strong.  She would get to hunt soon.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    As the days passed, their hunting area expanded.  As the treasures piled up around the eggs or added to the array, the maids began taking time from their hunts to construct alternative hides throughout the area.  One of the maids fashioned pots to hold water that was placed in the children¡¯s array to absorb essence.  The water wouldn¡¯t be as good as a potion, but in a pinch could provide the recovery that could mean the difference between life and death.


    After a couple uneventful weeks, the child in the blue tinted egg began scratching the inside of its egg, preparing to escape.  Maggie alerted the maids.  As the last returned from their hunt, the guard outside, followed her in.  No one wanted to miss the birth.  An alarm array was placed on the entrance, in case they missed an intruder during the excitement.


    The child inside the blue egg methodically probed its shell for weakness.  Seeming to have decided on a plan, the child pushed one claw through  and began to slowly cut through the shell.  When the first child was about halfway done cutting through his shell, a loud crack sounded and two sets of claws tore out of the other egg and ripped it apart.  A stocky baby red dragon with oversized feet, claws, and head forced its way into the world and began rapidly eating the nutrient rich shell it had just ripped its way out of.


    ¡°That one¡¯s a fighter.  Look at the size of her claws.  She¡¯ll be a brutal one.¡±  Courtney, the most muscular of the maids said while the others ooo¡¯d and awe¡¯d at the beautiful little creature.  Maggie leaned forward to sniff the baby that hissed at her and gathered the remaining eggshell closer.  ¡°Fire and earth.  Extremely high fire and must have chosen earth.  It¡¯s low.  I suspect her real power will be physical.  This one definitely takes after her father.  I shall call her Donellazostum after her father¡¯s mother.¡±


    ¡°And this one is quite the gentleman.¡±  Tammy said while pointing at a blue and silver baby dragon who was sitting in the bottom half of  the shell and taking neat little bites of the top half he had neatly cut off.


    ¡°Oh my.  I¡¯ve never seen lightning affinity that high and he also has high water and low air affinities.  I¡¯ll name him Billinuszostrum after the legendary lightning dragon.¡±  As the ladies watched him, they became confused.  As he chewed the bites, he would ground them down into dust then form a bubble of water around it and he added a touch of lightning and air essence to the bubble before he swallowed.


    ¡°Why is he doing that?¡±  Kristy asked.  Nobody knew.  They had never seen a baby eat like that.  Glancing back at Donella, she had finished her shell and was greedily devouring the treasures placed there for her.  ¡°Quite the appetite.¡±  Maggie observed.  They sat in awe of the two babies.  One stuffing treasures into her mouth, viciously chewing a few times before swallowing and the other swallowing little bubbles of perfectly ground eggshell while sniffing the treasures around him and placing them in neat rows in front of him.


    The red soon ran out of treasures and charged her brother to take his.  Before anyone could react to stop Donella, Bill released a breath of lightning barely touching his sister but scaring her back.  She looked around and began to move towards the treasures placed in the glyph¡¯s powering the array.  Another breath from Bill stopped her.  He sat down the remaining piece of his shell and casually walked to the unclaimed pile of treasures.  Donella was releasing small puffs of smoke, apparently trying to use her breath on her brother.


    When Bill reached the treasures, he sniffed each one and picked some out that he kicked towards his sister who greedily gathered them up and continued her feast.  Bill then used his snout to carefully roll some of the treasures to the maids and his mother before taking two for himself and returning to his neat rows of treasures and placing the new additions inside the formation.


    The adults looked at each other in shock, not knowing quite what to think of the precocious little dragon and his voracious sister.  Maggie, grabbed the treasure her son had rolled to her and chewed it up and formed a bubble of water around it before swallowing.  Her eyes flew open as the treasure was nearly entirely absorbed in an instant, ¡°It speeds up the absorption.  How¡­I mean it would have only taken me seconds, but how¡­how did he know to do that?¡±


    The maids also tried the treasures Bili had gifted them, and soaked them in their essences before swallowing. They all had the same result.  ¡°He¡¯s got a good eye for affinities.¡±  Kristy said.  As they watched, trouble suddenly arrived.  The red was out of treasures and Bill still had some, so of course, she charged again.


    Bill didn¡¯t react quick enough and took a solid headbut to his face, splitting his lip.  Maggie moved forward to stop Donella, but Billi quickly leveraged his tail and slid out to the side, pulling his sister underneath him.  ¡°How¡­¡±  Courtney started to ask as she leaned in close to observe Bill¡¯s technique.  Bill had Donella perfectly pinned underneath with his legs and tail trapping hers.  He smiled evilly as licked a drop of blood off of his jaw and then slammed his head into Donella¡¯s.  They stared at each other for a second, but Bill seemed slightly stunned and Donella giggled.


    Billi appeared to think about it for a second before viciously slamming his head into Donella again from a different angle with the same result.  Frustrated and confused Billi seemed to have an idea.  He pushed on his sister¡¯s elbow and crossed her forelegs so he could pin them both with one foot.  He then placed his foot on his head and began moving it around.  He then did the same to his sister¡¯s head as she tried snapping at him, but he dropped his elbow on her head to hold it still while he continued.


    ¡°Is he comparing head sizes?¡±  Courtney asked, still leaning in to closely observe.  Bill glanced at her with a gleam in his eye, but he let his balance shift and Donella threw him off.  However, Bill kept her upper body locked, planted his lower body and slammed her head first into Courtney¡¯s much larger head.  Problem solved.


    Bill chuffed once in victory before calmly walking back to his remaining treasures to continue his dainty snack.  Courtney screamed in horror and picked up Donella, stroking her head while repeating over and over that she was so sorry.  Donella just stared at Bill as the ladies gathered around and comforted Donella.


    When Bill finished his treasures, he walked over to the array and began examining it.  Stunned, the ladies watched.  After  a couple minutes, Bill walked back to his nest and inscribed a perfect copy of the array around himself.  At first, he seemed confused as nothing happened, but then he made a minor adjustment.  After putting a small amount of essence into the correct glyph, the array began condensing the essence slightly more inside his nest.


    The ladies moved forward and inspected the array.  ¡°It¡¯s nearly perfect.¡±  Courtney said as Donnella squirmed out of her arms and walked around her brother and then sat and slowly began trying to copy his work.  Bill opened one eye, shifted to the side, and adjusted the blanket before tapping on his sister''s tail and motioning for her to join him.


    Donella settled in next to her brother and covered him with one of her wings as she let out a contented sigh before falling asleep.  The ladies pulled back to the entrance of the cave and looked at each other in shock.


    ¡°Those two definitely aren¡¯t going to be boring.¡±  Tammy said.


    Letting out a chuff, Maggie replied, ¡°You think.  They both have a lot of their father in them and I don¡¯t know what to think of Bill.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re both going to be something special.  Let¡¯s make sure they have a chance, even if it means turning this entire world to ash.¡±  Joanie added as the entire group nodded.

 Hello. I hate you. Let me eat your glowing bits.

    Hello. I Hate You. Let Me Eat Your Glowing Bits


    They will hate me for this. Professor Ragnel thought as he moved on to the next part of the presentation. It¡¯s his memories. Not my fault he¡¯s insane.


    John stayed hidden and watched his glowing bits slowly returning long after the human left. Getting a good idea, John went over to the basin and dipped a tentacle into the water. Nothing happened. Well the tentacle slowly began to absorb essence, but that wasn¡¯t what John had hoped for. So John hollowed out the tentacle and the water filled it. However, the water filled with glowing bits did not enter his body.


    Lifting his puddle/body up to the side of the basin and he attempted a modified pancake maneuver where he hollowed out the middle of his puddle into a makeshift mouth. All that accomplished was splashing the water out of the basin and filling it with his body. Laying there in the basin with water running down onto his puddlehead, John experimented with his glowing bits. He gathered a bunch of them up close to the edge of his puddleskin, then pulled them apart. Didn¡¯t work. Whirlpool, nope. Then John looked at the wall and had an idea. He copied the framework crystalline shape of the wall''s outer essence, then modified it so he could split it into two identical crystals. That didn¡¯t work, but he felt he was getting close.


    Finally after a few minutes of fooling around, he mentally squeezed the two ends of his duplicate crystal framework together and it popped open. Water and the beautiful yummy glowing bits poured in. Yes. I shall drink all the glowing bits in the entire world!!!!


    After a few minutes John began feeling full and frustrated. He had the glowing bits, but they weren¡¯t all his yet. He could tell they were slowly becoming his, but he couldn¡¯t do anything with his newly acquired glowing bits. Also, he began to feel like he might explode, so he mentally pulled on the ends of what he now thought of as his ziploc glowing bits device. The hole in his puddle closed and John reached out a tentacle to pull himself out of the basin.


    However, there was one small problem. He couldn¡¯t budge his bloated body. He gathered up a bunch of glowing bits and rushed them to one side of his puddle, but he didn¡¯t budge. Four tentacles and he still couldn¡¯t move. I guess I should have known better than to eat that much fast food.


    After a little more trial and error, John discovered he could slowly roll his puddle forward by rotating his essence around the inside edge of his puddle skin. Not Ideal. Once John plopped out of the basin and moved to the opposite corner, he began trying to convert the glowing bits faster. Ramming one of his glowing bits into one of the not his glowing bits resulted in the destruction of both glowing bits. Rotating his glowing bits around the not his glowing bits seemed to help but not much. Encasing a not his glowing bit in a shell of his glowing bits helped more. He hit the jackpot when he stretched his glowing bits into threads and weaved a net around a not his glowing bit.


    Annoyed with himself, John double checked his camouflage pattern and settled in to do a lot of stretching and weaving.


    John pushed himself until the essence-enriched water would barely return any stamina, but he finally got his vitality, strength,and agility to 20 with the help of the 110% bonuses from his titles. Sitting down in the room nearest the training area, he mentally opened up his dimensional storage and was surprised to see only two items. One was a dull gray staff. He pulled it out


    Emperor¡¯s Armory


    +5 Damage


    +5 to all stats


    More abilities to unlock.


    Indestructible essence absorbing growth item. Soulbound.


    Essence absorbing could mean a few things. It could mean the weapon passively absorbed essence to be used on the abilities he had not unlocked yet. It could mean it passively absorbed essence to improve itself. Or it could mean both.


    Growth item meant that the weapon would level up with him.


    Soulbound meant if he became separated from his weapon, it would return to his dimensional storage. Overall a very nice weapon. Possibly even a great weapon depending on its abilities. Next John pulled out his other item.


    Emperor¡¯s Wardrobe


    +10 to armor


    +5 to all stats


    +5 to all resists


    More abilities to unlock.


    Self repairing essence absorbing growth item. Soulbound


    Cannot be worn with other armor.


    The black spandex looking outfit was light on the armor stat considering he couldn¡¯t wear any other pieces of armor with it. However, overall, not bad starting equipment. John leaned his head back and started thinking about how he¡­.could¡­zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


    Jerking awake, John realized he had fallen asleep before being able to set up any kind of alarm or anything to protect or hide him from that slime from earlier or any other unfriendly types. Picking up his staff, he went back to the gym and picked up his dungeon from beneath the control crystal.


    He then walked back down the hallway. He noticed one of the rooms had water splashed everywhere. With a lightning bolt at the ready, he moved in and checked to see if the slime was in the basin. It wasn¡¯t. So he continued back down the hallway and grabbed the pedestal from beneath the plaque and made his way down the hall towards the suspected essence vein.


    John was able to make it much closer to the vein this time before he began taking damage from essence burn. Deciding to go for it, he ran the rest of the way down the hall and set the pedestal down as soon as he entered the room, and placed the dungeon core on it. Before he ran out of the room, he was shocked to see that one wall was a single enormous essence crystal.


    John didn¡¯t have time to investigate, he ran back out of the room and down the hall until his health stopped dropping. John walked into one of the rooms and took a couple deep drinks of water to speed his recovery. He headed back down the hallway to the gym and started working on leveling lightning bolt, so he¡¯d have at least one subclass active when he started earning leveling essence.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    It was a slow process. With his intelligence and wisdom so low, he could only go a few minutes before his mana reserve was emptied. Not wanting to sit there and wait for it to refill, John decided to start rebuilding his skill repertoire by working with his staff. He had more stamina (essence reserve designated for physical use) than he did mana (essence reserve designated for spellcasting use), but it was still depressingly low. But John was stubborn. When he was low on both, instead of just sitting there watching his body slowly convert essence into mana and stamina reserves, he¡¯d sit there and trigger lightning bolt without actually casting it. This allowed him to watch the essence move from his mana reserve and form a connection with the target and assemble the components of the spell. He couldn¡¯t really see anything yet, but he knew he would learn essence sight soon enough if he kept watching.


    Once John had relearned a basic set of staff skills, he had already picked up a couple subclasses from those skills. He had only raised lightning bolt to level 3 by the time he felt he needed to sleep again and his mana reserve had grown, so things would only speed up from here.


    John had continued to get evolutions from passive absorption of essence, but he estimated they were more than a day apart now as his cells became more developed. During his next training session John alternated improving his basic staff skills with working on lightning bolt and congratulated himself when he earned his first elemental casting subclass ever. Once he had the electromancer subclass, he found viewing his essence much easier and soon picked up Essence Sight.


    After his third break to sleep, John returned to the Gymnasium to find an odd little obstacle course set up, but no one in the room. John carefully searched the training hall and what he now thought of as the barracks, but found nothing so he returned to his training.


    During his sixth sleep break, John was woken up by an annoying system alert. Sleepily opening it up he saw:


    Unnamed Slime has captured your dungeon core.


    Unnamed slime will become dungeon master in 30 minutes.


    John jumped to his feet and started moving towards the hallway to fry some slime, but stopped when he received another alert:


    Unnamed slime has declined capturing your dungeon core.


    John then scrolled down and saw this had happened several times. Further down he found a prompt for him to name the dungeon and access the dungeon master¡¯s menu, but John felt he could deal with that later after he figured out what was going on with the slime and his core.


    Keeping close to the wall, John moved down the hall towards his dungeon core. When he was a few rooms away from the room, he could see the pedestal his core was on and the slime on the floor a few feet away. In between the pedestal and the slime were small formations of ants. They seemed to be playing a game. The core would either create another ant or move an ant forward. Then John noticed the slime had camouflage tentacles stretching towards the pedestal. On its turn the slime would either create a new tentacle and camouflage it by blending his essence to match the floor or extend one of his tentacles by a small amount then adjust its essence.


    Apparently the tentacles could easily swallow a single ant which would quickly turn to dust inside the slime tentacle before disappearing or become a small piece of ore or ant chitin that would then disappear. However, his core was maneuvering its ants into position around the tentacles so two or more could engage at the same time. If the tentacle attacked an ant and other ants were properly positioned, the other ants would attack and bite off the end of the tentacle.


    The game also seemed to be played in three dimensions as John saw one tentacle grow vertically and the core responded by having the ants form a ladder. After a few minutes, the slime proved to be the victor as it maneuvered a tentacle into a position with too few ants able to block it before the tentacle was able to touch the core and John received another alert.


    Apparently his core didn¡¯t enjoy losing because it immediately sent all its ants over to swarm the slime who then created several tentacles to fight them off. However, in its brief skirmish the slime had moved a couple steps closer to John. As soon as the last ant was defeated, the slime disappeared and John could just barely follow its essence as it rapidly pulled itself up the wall and down the hall past him.


    Puddle John wasn¡¯t sure how long he had spent weaving glowing bits and absorbing glowing bits, but he knew he had leveled up 3 times since he began. Once he had finished weaving his essence around all of the not his essence he had been bored. He began looking closer at the glowing bits formation of the stone. He realized the glowing bits were organized in 3 dimensions, not just the two he used in his camouflage technique. Having an idea of what this meant, he copied the 3 dimensional shape onto the end of one of his tentacles and tapped on the wall. He was rewarded with a sound that he felt with his entire body. Assuming this meant he had successfully physically copied the stone, he began practicing turning larger and larger parts of his body to stone.


    Once John no longer felt bloated, he attempted to move himself by shooting out tentacles and pulling himself. He wasn¡¯t back to full speed, but he was happy to be able to move without relying on the painfully slow rolling technique he had developed. He did suspect if he ever acquired enough glowing bits to swirl around that rolling technique might become reasonably fast.


    Happy to be moving again, Puddle John went exploring. Seeing a warm glow at the end of the hall, John headed that direction while mentally smacking his lips at the idea of a room completely filled with tightly packed glowing bits. However, John soon began to feel a burning sensation and instead of slowly gaining glowing bits, he began losing glowing bits, so John decided to check out the other direction first.


    Before he reached the door at the other end, John felt the human in one of the side rooms. Instinctively knowing he wasn¡¯t strong enough yet to eat the man and his glowing bits, he slowly crept up to the ceiling and bypassed the room the man was in.


    When he entered through the door, puddle John saw the glowing crystal above his head, he reached a tentacle up and touched it. Hey. Give me those back¡­oh¡­ A couple of John¡¯s glowing bits had been stolen, but a screen popped up in John¡¯s vision.


    Welcome to the World Wonder Destiny¡¯s Amphitheatre


    Would you like to train:


    Power


    Control


    Toughness


    Puddle John chose Toughness. Two blocks of stone rose up on each side of him and smashed together. What the heck? John felt like he had been squeezed to the point that his glowing bits were about to shoot out of him. The pressure then released but the blocks then formed blades cutting him to pieces that John quickly pulled back together before getting smashed again. Over time John became convinced the pressure was slightly increasing each time. After what felt like an eternity, the block¡¯s disappeared and John examined himself. His glowing bits seemed larger and after arranging a few shapes he was convinced his glowing bit shapes were stronger. He did a puddle shrug and assumed he was tougher. Mission complete.


    Not wanting to be smashed any more, John decided to work on control. A small scale obstacle course formed in front of him with glowing pieces of stone flying around the obstacles. In his mind, he saw a glowing puddle using its tentacles to maneuver through the obstacle course and capture the flying bits of stone. Now this is what I¡¯m talking about. This should be a lot more fun than being squished between stones.


    And Puddle John was right. It was. Until that stupid human showed up and he had to hide before the jerk decided to steal more of his glowing bits. The one and only person on Puddle John¡¯s Eat all their glowing bits list stayed in there forever shooting lightning or waving his stick around. Puddle John got bored and snuck out of the gym to partake in some delicious glowing bits water.


    After a few more training sessions, sneaking out of the room when that annoying human would show up, Puddle John decided to try reaching the often dreamed about room packed with glowing bits. As he approached it he felt more and more tingly, but he didn¡¯t see any glowing bits disappearing, so he continued.


    Just before he entered the room he received a notification that he had entered a level 1 unnamed dungeon. John Drake was listed as his master. John Drake¡­is he some kind of pirate? Should have known he was a John. John¡¯s are always jerks. I ought to know. Ants suddenly appeared in front of him made up of very yummy looking glowing bits. Puddle John began to snatch the ants and once he wrapped them in weaves of his own glowing bits they would quickly disappear and he¡¯d be rewarded with a lump of ore or a piece of chitin or something called a credit. After a couple minutes, John began examining the ants for a bit before he would absorb them. Their pincers looked like something that might be very useful.


    After about 15 minutes, the ants stopped appearing. Moving into the room, John saw a wall so tightly packed with complicated formations of glowing bits that it was almost painful to look at. Closer to him, he saw a tight little bundle of glowing bits sitting on a stone pedestal. He reached up and touched it. A screen popped up in his mind awarding him 25 essence for conquering the dungeon and asking if he wanted to take control of the dungeon, warning that the current master would have 30 minutes to respond. Afraid that he might not be able to fight any more ants with delicious glowing bits, Puddle John declined.


    John then waited. A few minutes later a couple of ants showed up between him and the core. John extended a tentacle towards them. The core formed a couple more ants, so John created another tentacle. The dungeon responded by moving an ant closer. Cool. A game. Let¡¯s see. I need to get her ants out of position, so I can go up and over and reach the core. This is actually fun. Why do I know she is a her¡­Puddle Shrug¡­ The game continued, but John was only a little disappointed to discover the dungeon was most definitely a sore loser and would swarm him with ants whenever he won, but no big deal. More delicious ants and more ore and chitin and whatever credits are.


    Unfortunately they only got a few games in before that annoying human¡­John Drake¡­showed up and puddle John made a hasty exit.

 Dungeon Time. Excellent!

    Dungeon Time.  Excellent!


    Unnamed Dungeon watched in disappointment as her new friend ran away.  She was enjoying the games even if that slime won every time. When the slime first appeared, she was worried that he might be trouble and totally freaked out when he conquered her the first time.  Gods.  Slimed on my first day on the job.  What will my master think?  Will he leave me for some that dungeon with bigger creatures?  She had seen as soon as she awoke that she already had a master.  She hoped he was fun.   She hadn¡¯t met him yet.  She was sure he was off researching dungeon strategy, or planning what creature templates she could buy off the exchange to add to her dungeon, or doing something super cool like that.


    All she had so far were ants.  They could burrow which could accelerate her absorption rate, but they were small and not very strong.  There was a very high essence source just out of her reach, but she couldn¡¯t start expanding until her master told her his genius plan.  She couldn¡¯t even exchange essence for new templates until she reached level 5, but her genius master had given her a great spot to start.  She¡¯d be at level 5 in no time.  She had 3 dungeon skill slots available and she was certain her master would pick something excellent for her.


    I wonder if he¡¯s going to turn me into an offensive powerhouse and conquer the world or maybe an unconquerable death trap reaping the essence of adventurers as they die miserable deaths.  That didn¡¯t actually sound like much fun.  You can¡¯t play games with dead people.  Games are fun.  Ohhh¡­.maybe I¡¯ll be a puzzle dungeon forcing adventurers to spend years trying to figure out how to get through my traps while I absorb their essence.  I wonder if the slime likes puzzles.  He seemed awfully smart for a slime.  Her ants had cut off enough of the slimes tentacles that she almost had enough slime essence absorbed to be able to make slimes too.  Oh¡­there¡¯s my master now.  Is he why the slime ran away?  I hope he isn¡¯t mean to the slime.  The slime was fun.


    ¡°Hello little Dungeon.  The system says  I need to name you.¡±  John said as he started thinking of names.


    Army Dungeon of Doom¡­or ¡­Unconquerable Royal Dungeon of the Drake Empire¡­or ¡­Ohhh¡­.I got it¡­The Impossible Puzzle Palace¡­


    Her master shrugged and said, ¡°Destiny.  You are her seed after all.  Seems fitting.¡±


    Destiny?  Just Destiny?  I mean Destiny sounds kind of nice, but shouldn''t I be The Unending Dungeon of Destiny.  Or Desty¡¯s Puzzle Palace Dungeon.  Welp¡­.too late now.  Destiny it is.  I bet he¡¯s got something cool planned for me.


    John started flipping through the dungeon tabs and rolled his eyes.  Too much thinking.  He did stop and look at the Dungeon Purpose tab and selected Training as the primary purpose and Defense as the secondary purpose.  He then looked at the expansion and absorption tab and didn¡¯t want to figure it out.  John skipped all the way to the last tab, Dungeon autonomy.  He set it to max.  Destiny can figure out all this stuff by herself.


    ¡°Hey Dungeon.  Can you communicate with me?¡±  John asked.


    Oh¡­.here comes the cool plans¡­.I know he has something great planned.


    ¡°Yes, Master?¡±


    ¡°I set your primary purpose as Training and Defense as the secondary purpose.  You can choose whatever you think is best after that.  As far as Expansion goes, follow that essence vein in the back corner and figure out the best way to defend it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master!¡±  Destiny said.


    And John turned to walk away and go do more training.


    That¡¯s it.  Just add the essence vein to my dungeon?  I mean, that will make me level super fast, but what about traps, what about layout, what about skills?  ¡°Master?  Just follow the vein?  Anything else?¡¯


    John thought about it for a few seconds, ¡°Oh.  Yes.  See if you can pick up some better monsters somehow.  Ants will be very slow for me to level.¡±


    Pick up some better monsters?  Oh this is a test.  He wants to see what I come up with.  Don¡¯t worry master.   I won¡¯t let you down.  I¡¯ll be the best Training and Defense Dungeon in the whole multiverse.  ¡°What skills¡­.?¡±  Krap.  He¡¯s already gone.  Well¡­he told me to follow the vein.  So I¡¯ll get improved visibility.  I¡¯ll also get improved expansion.  Those will make it easier for me to follow the vein and secure it.  He also wants more monsters, but I can¡¯t get to the exchange to buy more¡­but I can get improved template production so if I find any remains of monsters it won¡¯t take as much to be able to create them.


    When John entered the amphitheater, he saw a strange little obstacle course set up, but no slime in sight.  ¡°Hey gumdrop.  I know you¡¯re in here.  You can continue training.  I won¡¯t bother you.  There¡¯s more than enough room for both of us.¡±  John said, but the slime didn¡¯t appear.


    John went to the control crystal and set himself up to train lightning bolt and single target staff skills.   He really wanted to get essence manipulation, so he could begin creating more spells and skills.  Starting with lightning bolt, he paused before he cast it and began reviewing its components.


    Hmmm¡­this looks like the standard power supply component.  If I make this part wider it will charge faster.  John tried thickening the line that he believed was the power input.  He tried many times, but couldn¡¯t grab a hold of it and adjust it, so he moved on to the section of the power supply component that determined how much essence he could put into the spell, but after several failed attempts he gave up on that.  Come on Essence Manipulation.  I know you want to be learned.  John gave up on modifying the power supply component after also failing to change the size of its output.  So he moved on to the next component.


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    All he could see at his current essence sight level was a few squiggly lines with what looked like dots moving through them.  He figured this is the component that assigned the output affinity as lightning, but once again he failed to be able to manipulate the component in any way.   He did gain a point in his lightning affinity as he stared at it.  So he moved on to the thin strand of essence stretching from him to the target and he began attempting to adjust it to follow in a curved path, but didn¡¯t have any luck.  He also tried splitting it into two separate paths so that he would have two smaller bolts instead of one bigger one.


    ¡°Maybe, I just need to level it some more.¡±  John mumbled in frustration as he fired his first bolt at the target.  As he prepared to fire a second bolt he saw the slime appear not too far from his side with one tentacle stretched out from the ledge he was on to the next ledge, like he was going to pull himself up.  Ahhh¡­I see¡­he forms the tentacles by lining up essence and stretching his body.  Interesting¡­wait¡­what is he doing?  Slimes can¡¯t¡­.


    Puddle John saw the evil killer of glowing bits enter and he began his escape, but the human spoke telling him he could train more if he wanted.  Puddle John didn¡¯t know if he could trust the human who shrugged and placed his hand on the control crystal and brought up a training dummy.  He watched this human begin to cast a spell and then sit there for a long time.  Puddle John could tell it was targeting the dummy, but he couldn¡¯t figure out why the human just sat there.


    After a few minutes, Puddle John got bored and thought about leaving, but then he got a great idea.  I could learn that spell and show him just how much not fun it was to have your glowing bits killed.  So he began copying the components of the spell.  It was really pretty easy.  After wiggling his glowing bits around into position and stretching and squashing everything into shape and figuring how to break his glowing bits up into tiny pieces and keep them moving like he saw in the second component,, he only had one component left to make.  The line that ran from the squiggly section to his target.


    That one proved difficult.  No matter how much he tried, he couldn¡¯t get his glowing bits to leave his body.  After a few minutes of trying, he decided to stretch his skin to the target, creating another tentacle and seeing if that would work.  As he was about to test it out, he saw the human turn his head in surprise.  Puddle John went ahead and released the spell.  Before he went unconscious, Puddle John saw the lightning bolt form inside of himself and begin dancing around killing almost all his glowing bits and the remaining few began to slowly fade.


    John couldn¡¯t believe it.  The slime had cast a spell inside himself.  ¡°Oh Krap.¡±  The slime had accidentally killed himself.  John realized, as the last of the slime¡¯s essence began fading away.  Acting on instinct, John willed his essence into the slime and began attempting to re energize it.  He tried to weave the pattern of thin threads of essence that healing spells were based off of, but he just didn¡¯t have any kind of control.  So he did the best he could and moved around the essence he was pouring into the slime and to create a crude copy of a healing spell.


    As John¡¯s essence nearly bottomed out he saw the slime shudder and then slowly began rolling his essence around and its body began crawling towards him.  John gave the slime, one last little bit to bring him back from the point of no return when the dizziness hit and he fell to the floor reduced by essence depletion to that state of barely conscious, kind of aware, but unable to do anything.


    John could tell the slime was still coming towards him.  Great¡­save him¡­eat me¡­some thanks John¡¯s semi-conscious thoughts reeled through his mind.


    Puddle John regained consciousness with a shudder.  My glowing bits¡­They¡¯re back¡­Someone is giving me¡­oh the human is giving me his glowing bits.  So yummy.  Yes¡­give me all your glowing bits.  Puddle John was overcome with hunger for more glowing bits and without even meaning to, he began rotating his glowing bits and slowly moving towards him.  He¡¯s almost out of the glowing bits that he casts with.  Oh¡­he¡¯s pulling glowing bits from the rest of his body.  Oh¡­he¡¯s falling.  Now¡¯s my chance.  I can take all his glowing bits while he lays there.  Yes.  Revenge is mine.


    John couldn¡¯t move.  His essence was recovering, but the slime was moving closer.  He tried to cast a spell, but his mana reserve was empty.  He had even drawn some of his health to try and rescue the slime.  He had saved him and now the little jerk was going to eat him.  If the gods didn¡¯t take away my trump card, I¡¯m going to fry you the second I come back.


    The slime was right next to him.  He felt something hard poke him.  Then he felt the slime wrap around his exposed wrist.  He felt a tentacle grab onto his shoulder and another his hip.  I hate slimes.


    I can¡¯t eat his glowing bits.  He saved me.  He might be cool after all.  But the glowing bits are just sitting there, waiting for me to eat them.  No.  I¡¯m not that kind of puddle.  I help those that help me.  So Puddle John hardened the tip of his tentacle and poked the human who just laid there.  Think John, what do you do to help unconscious people?  Oh¡­I know.  You roll them on their side so they don¡¯t drown if they throw up.


    Puddle John carefully wrapped a tentacle around the wrist of the human and pulled his arm above his head.  He then grabbed him by the hip and shoulder and rolled him up onto his side.  Need to lay off the glowing bits water, mister.  You¡¯re kind of heavy.


    John felt the slime roll him onto his side, then reposition his arm under his head and then let go of him.  He¡¯s trying to help me.  I guess he¡¯s not so bad.  I wonder if he would like to be my companion.  It¡¯s been a few integrations since I had a companion.  John dug through his memories and tried to remember what it was like to use the system to make an animal your companion.  Didn¡¯t it just take a crystal of my essence and place it in their core.  Shouldn¡¯t hurt to try.  Well it won¡¯t hurt to try in a few minutes after I recover.


    Once his head stopped spinning John sat up and took a few deep breaths to clear out the cobwebs.  He then began pulling out essence and forming it into a crystal to offer to the slime.  When he had the roundish shape completed as best as he could remember how to, he reached out to hand it to the slime when something really hard hit him in the back of the head and the lights turned out.


    That will teach you to kill my glowing bits.  Puddle John thought as he started to head back to training.  Before he left though, he reached back and grabbed the glowing bits ball the man had offered him.  He offered it to me.  It would be rude to not take it.  Puddle John thought.  He started to open one of his ziplock mouths so he could bring the ball inside of his body and weave a net to take control of the essence. However, as soon as he touched it,  the ball suddenly came through all on its own and joined the dense swirly mass of growing bits inside of the center of his puddle.


    You are now a companion of John Drake.


    Whoah.  Slow down bud.  You''re not really my type.  Puddle John began weaving his glowing bits around the crystal, but he couldn¡¯t get his net to stick.  The crystal wasn¡¯t being absorbed.  That¡¯s weird.  Puddle shrug.  Back to training.


    Wow, I got good.  Puddle John thought as he flew through the course and caught the glowing targets with ease.

 A Dunce, A Slime, and a Dragon Walk Into a Bar

    A Dunce, a Slime, and a Dragon Walk Into a bar


    Destiny was so proud.  She had a second creature type.  Sure it was only a slime, but it was bigger than an ant.  Progress had been made.  Expanding her dungeon proved to be not very exciting so she had made the slime.  Not knowing what to do next she noticed she had absorbed some elements that could be added to her slime template so she began to experiment.


    The water slimes were fast and agile, but they couldn¡¯t do much damage.  Rock slimes were tougher and packed a serious punch, but they were incredibly slow.  The mud slime was in between the two as one would expect.  Her favorite was the shiny metal slime.  It was pretty and a rainbow of colors reflected off of it.


    Not having anything else to do, she cleared an area around the essence vein she was following and started creating armies of slimes to fight each other.     She set up different formations and different mixes of slime and carefully recorded the results.   Once there was a victor, she would set the remaining slimes to the side and save them for a later round.


    *****


    John had finally done it.  He had split the targeting component and been credited with having learned Essence Manipulation.  He was a little frustrated because he didn¡¯t remember it ever being this hard before.  He assumed it might be because he started this integration with such a low level and low stats.


    He looked over at gumdrop and just shook his head.  The slime was whipping himself through an obstacle course that was actively attacking him with blades, crushing stones, spikes that would shoot out of the ground or ceiling, and still attacking a series of targets that the wonder was moving around with sharpened stone spikes on the end of his tentacles.  The speed and accuracy that the slime could manipulate his essence was amazing.  John¡¯s pride insisted that the slime had to be the avatar of a god slime that had decided to integrate into this planet for some incomprehensible reason.  Nothing new to the system could advance that quickly.


    Maybe I need to train my intelligence, so John walked over to the control crystal and made his selection.  He felt the wonder create something behind him and turned around.  There was a familiar child¡¯s toy that he had seen several times throughout his many integrations sitting there.  A bench with 6 differently shaped holes and 6 differently shaped objects.  John looked back at the control crystal.  Are you making fun of me?


    John walked over to the wonder and picked up the cylinder and placed it in the round hole, and he was rewarded with a red light.  Trying again, he carefully aligned the cylinder and once again got a red light.  Confused, he turned the cylinder around and once again received a red light.  After several more attempts, he thought maybe the wonder was malfunctioning.  Gumdrop came flopping over and stopped to watch John for a few seconds before reaching out a tentacle and picking up the cylinder when John sat it down.  He turned the cylinder and placed it in the rectangular hole and received a green light.  He then patted John on the head before pulling himself over to the control crystal.  John threw the 5 other objects at the slime who caught them with his tentacles and flipped them back to John.


    *****


    Josh had barely made it over the mountain where Xeno had dropped him off before he was picked up and returned to his base and given a quick medical exam before his debriefing.  During the debriefing, he had told of his experience with Xeno and then been asked the same questions in different ways over and over.


    ¡°So, in summation Captain, you would say the Dragon defended himself with ease, shot you down accidentally with just as much ease, and then gave you a ride back to base while healing you and advising you not to assume all Dragons would behave as he did and offering assistance and training if we wanted it.  Is that correct?¡±  the Colonel in charge of intelligence for the base asked.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±  Josh answered.


    ¡°And you believe we have nothing in our conventional arsenal that would pose a threat to Xeno?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±  Josh answered.


    The colonel looked at the base commander who nodded.  ¡°All right, Captain.  That is all we need.  You may return to duty.¡±


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    Josh stood and saluted.  Before he reached the door, he stopped and asked, ¡°Sir.  I would like to volunteer if you need a liaison to work with Xeno or if we decide to seek his cooperation in any way.¡±


    The colonel once again looked at the base commander who spoke, ¡°Captain, we¡¯ve been ordered by the World Council to take out any high level creatures or individuals we locate by any means necessary.¡±  Josh started to interrupt, but the commander continued.  ¡°Relax, I¡¯m not going to send our boys up there against a dragon that you assess to be beyond our capabilities.  I assume you understand, that is not to be repeated?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°Then you are dismissed.  Get back to your unit and we¡¯ll keep you in mind in case anything comes up.¡±


    Josh left headquarters and returned to his unit, but was informed his commander was in the hangar.  Entering the hangar, he saw one of the base¡¯s special forces teams loading sheets of wood and paint onto one of their X-95¡¯s.


    The team''s master sergeant saw Josh stop and jogged over.  ¡°Just a routine recon mission, sir.  Nothing to see or remember seeing here.¡±


    ¡°I understand Master Sergeant.  Sorry for intruding.¡±  Josh said and quickly walked to the other end of the hangar where his commander was waving him over.


    A few weeks later, Josh was called to the base commander''s office.  His commander had no idea why.  Entering the office he reported and the general stood.  ¡°Josh, this gentleman is in charge of the mission you volunteered for.  I will inform my staff to provide any assistance you need. I¡¯m going to take my lunch now.¡±  Josh stood in shock as the General walked past him and out of his own office shutting the door behind him.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re the dragon rider?¡±  a voice asked.  Josh turned back from the door he had watched the General walk out of and there was a man standing in modified camo fatigues with no rank, name, or unit insignia.  How did I not see him?  He¡¯s doing something with essence.  Seems to be sealing us inside a bubble of some sort.


    ¡°Yes sir.


    ¡°Would you like to volunteer for an impossible mission that is probably going to end in your death?¡±


    ¡°Not really sir.¡±


    ¡°Wise man.  Welcome aboard the team.  I¡¯m Colonel Stevens and from this point forward the only thing you are allowed to say is that we are doing a long range reconnaissance mission mapping the changes to our planets.  We are leaving in 10, come with me.  I¡¯ve got gear for you already loaded.¡±


    ¡°Are the satellites not working, sir?¡±


    The colonel smiled, ¡°You flyboys are supposed to be the smart ones.  Make up a story about checking anomalies or some krap like that if somebody questions you.  I¡¯ll fill you in on the details once we get in the air.¡±


    *****


    Xeno felt quite satisfied with his progress over the last few weeks.  He had quite a stash of natural treasures that the system had seeded on the planet as well as a nice stash of loot in his dimensional storage that he had received from various beasts he had hunted.  He had relearned many of the skills and spells he felt would be useful and began leveling them.  Since leaving Josh, he had flown a looping course heading generally north.  Now, he had a decision to make.


    He stood at the edge of a low level area and was watching a small town that appeared to be unlucky enough to be placed by itself in the middle of nowhere, separated from the other natives of the planet.  To make things worse, the area seemed to have a large population of four legged carnivorous mammals.  The town had begun building wooden fortifications around various buildings, but the smell of blood in the air told him they had taken losses.


    Deciding it wasn¡¯t really that hard of a decision to make, Xeno took to the air.  Flying low he picked off some of the creatures  he saw.  Soon the mammals recognized a greater predator had moved into the area.  Circling the town he ignored a few spells cast in his direction as he raised walls around the town.


    Once the primitive wall was finished, he burned the brush and trees down, giving the town a clear field of fire for 200 meters from the walls.  He then landed in a small clearing in the center of the town and killed a small group of the mammals that had tried to hide in some trees.  He then walked towards a group of humans he sensed in a building across the road.


    Sensing a child that had nearly lost its leg to a bite, he immediately healed it.  ¡°Bring me your wounded.  I can heal them¡±  He called, but no one approached him.  Frustrated he began walking around the streets healing the wounded he could sense hidden in the buildings.


    As he walked, he noticed the town had rather ingenious devices that collected light essence and turned it into electrical essence providing power to the homes.  He also noticed the town drew its water from a basin underneath the town.  Hmmm.  Food and protection will probably be their greatest needs.  They have probably been getting meat in drops from the beasts, but humans are omnivores.  I think that is a problem I can solve as well as getting them up to speed with some skills.


    Stopping at a point where the wall crossed a major road that ended only a few meters outside of the wall, he pulled out some steel he had smelted during his travels and began to heat it up and form a gate.  He also formed a pulley system, some cables, and a pulley system to raise and lower it.  Once done, he removed a section of the wall and created a gate house and installed the gate.  Carefully testing the gate he estimated that two humans should be able to operate the crank to raise the gate.


    Turning back towards the town, he said, ¡°You¡¯ll want to test that you can raise the gate on your own before I leave.¡±  He then followed the wall around town creating stairways up to a walkway on top and adding battlements and towers as he went.


    When he returned to where he had installed the gate, he walled in another section with a lower wall and began churning the soil.  He planted a natural treasure in the center of the field and planted some fruit trees and a variety of seeds he had gathered or received as loot that he was planning to use to barter if necessary.  Using his nature affinity he accelerated the growth of the plants.


    Once the plants and trees were nearly matured, he returned to the gate he had made and left a few copies of the manuals he had brought with him.  ¡°My name is Xeno.  I will stay in the area for a few days if you would like some help getting your spells and skills trained or just general advice on the system.  I can also heal your wounded if any remain.¡±


    After flying to the edge of the clearing he had made, Xeno built a small fortification for himself and began forging some weapons, armor, and tools he thought the town could use.

 Pick on someone your own size.

    Pick on someone your own size.


    Destiny was bored out of her mind.  She had not seen either her friend the slime or her master in days and she wanted to show off her slimes.  Now that she had reached level 5, she could begin using the exchange to expand her capabilities.  Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she began expanding down the hallway in search of the two.  Watching her analysis reports as she expanded, she noticed that the dungeon stone was several upgrades above what she could currently produce, so she made a note to ask her master if she could absorb some of it.


    When she reached the end of the hallway, she created a few versions of each of her slimes and began following the dungeon expansion.  Spreading her influence into the large room, she finally spotted the slime and her master fighting.  Her master was swinging a staff around trying to poke the slime while defending against several tentacles while the slime chased him.


    At first Destiny was scared, she didn¡¯t want to lose one of her two friends, but she noticed when the slime would make solid contact, he would pause for a bit and allow her master to recover.  They were just sparring.  Her slimes jiggled with excitement at meeting the great slime and the dungeon master as they lined up to present themselves, but the two combatants didn¡¯t take notice.  So Destiny continued expanding into the room and allowing her slimes to move forward.


    You have discovered a world wonder.  A title will be rewarded once the entire wonder is within the limits of your dungeon.


    Neat.  My first title.  Destiny thought as she continued the expansion.  Deciding she wanted to put on a bigger show, she added more ranks of slimes that moved forward in perfectly spaced rows towards the two combatants.  Suddenly the slime froze and took a hard poke from her master before reaching out a tentacle and pointing at the assembled slimes.


    This is it.  The slime will be so happy to have new friends and my master will be so proud of what I have acompl¡­..wait¡­WHAT¡­NOOOOOOO¡­..


    *****


    Puddle John, aka Gumdrop, saw a row of slimes move into his vision.  He froze and took a poke in his puddle chest from Drake as he pointed at the slimes.  Drake turned his head and looked back at Gumdrop.  You thinking what I¡¯m thinking worthless human?  Drake¡¯s smile and the lightning bolt he began to cast told Gumdrop that he indeed was.


    While Drake was aiming at the far left 3 slimes, Gumdrop headed to the right side and turned himself into tunnel of death lined with rotating ant pincers enforced with the glowing bits pattern he copied from some of the ore he had received as loot while playing the ant tower defense game with the dungeon.  He landed at the same time Drake¡¯s bolts struck and began stuffing slimes into the tunnel of death.  The pincers would cut the slimes into tiny bits as the tunnel convulsed, pushing the slime deeper inside of him making more room for another slime and ziplock mouths were opened to take the tiny bits of slime into his body.


    When he had moved into attack position, Gumdrop had received a message that he had entered Destiny¡¯s Dungeon and realized where the slimes had come from.  Drake must have given her a name.  Kind of boring.


    *****


    ¡°Stop master, they just wanted to meet you!¡±  Destiny screamed in John¡¯s head, but it was too late.  The two finished off her beautiful slimes and the slime held up a tentacle for her master to slap his hand against.


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    ¡°Oh sorry, Destiny.  Didn¡¯t realize they were yours.   Uhhh¡­.Do you have any more for us to fight?¡±  her master asked.


    ¡°More?  More to fight!  You slaughtered my most innocent slimes that were so excited to finally meet you and then ask if I have more for you to kill?¡±  Destiny was beyond angry.  ¡°Oh yeah.  I have more for you two cretins to fight.¡±  Destiny began placing her most powerful slimes all level 15-30 and marched them towards the two heartless jerks.


    *****


    Gumdrop saw the wall of high level slimes forming and immediately tentacle ran to the nearest wall and up to the ceiling.  Seeing the idiot human standing there firing lightning bolts that were doing almost nothing he gave a deep puddle sigh and ran across the ceiling to where he could pick Drake up and drag him to safety.  Drake just kept shooting lightning like he had no idea of the kind of danger they were in.


    A few minutes later, they were pushed back to the corner of the training area with John having to wait for his mana to regen between lightning bolts.  As the dungeon finished absorbing the training area, John received a system notification:


    Your dungeon limits now encapsulates the entirety of a world wonder.  Your dungeon has earned the legendary title Wonder Dungeon.


    Your Dungeon now receives 10% increased essence gains, 10% increased absorption, 10% additional materials from absorption, and gains 5 new skill slots and a 1 time reward of 10,000,000 essence units.


    ¡°Destiny?¡±  John said as the slimes began climbing the walls and moving towards where Gumdrop held him suspended from the ceiling.  ¡°Would you mind calling off your slimes?  They are a bit much for me and Gumdrop to handle.¡±


    ¡°Do you promise to never ruthlessly attack innocent dungeon creatures who are not even aware they are entering a combat scenario?¡±


    ¡°Uhh¡­Yes.  Sorry about that.  I didn¡¯t realize they were yours.¡±  John replied.


    ¡°And make sure that monster that just killed his own children knows the rules too.  No combat with dungeon creatures outside of designated combat zones.¡±  Destiny said as she sent her super slimes back to training and began looking at her rewards for getting the title.


    ¡°Ok.  Wait.  What do you mean by his own children?¡±  John asked.


    ¡°I made the original slime template by absorbing and analyzing the bits of him that my ants cut off while we were playing our game.  Now leave me alone.  I have to resummon those poor slimes and explain it was all a mistake.  The great slime and dungeon master don¡¯t hate them.  You¡¯ve probably traumatized the poor creatures.¡±


    ¡°Hey Gumdrop.  From now on, we can¡¯t attack the dungeon creatures unless we are in a combat zone.  Destiny was just bringing them out to meet the dungeon master and their father.¡±


    Gumdrop raised a puddle head and nodded then froze.  Their father? ¡­I thought those glowing bits tasted familiar.


    John stood there looking at Gumdrop for a few seconds then the slime raised a few miniature slime shapes and attacked them with tiny tentacles.  John quickly realized what Gumdrop was asking, ¡°No.  I think it¡¯s best if we wait a while.  Destiny is a little angry.  She¡¯s afraid the slimes are going to think we hate them.¡±


    Gumdrop gave a nod and a puddle shrug then whipped a tentacle at John slapping him in the face.


    *****


    Destiny absorbed a wall of the high level dungeon stone from between two of the barracks rooms and after a second of thought, she absorbed one of the basins and placed an absorption zone on the floor where the essence imbued water was falling.  She then remembered the two idiots she had wandering around her dungeon and built a wall of the high level dungeon stone completely sealing in her new essence generator.


    Next Destiny did what any reasonable person would do when stressed out.  She went on a shopping spree.  She picked up a few interesting templates for low level creatures, traps, and turrets.  Next she began looking at the various guides that were available for her.


    Dungeon Strategy for Dummies.  She immediately created a copy of this one on the ceiling of the training room and dropped it on John¡¯s head.  In fact, she decided to pick up the entire For Dummies series.  Next she found the one she felt she needed the most.  A Training Dungeon¡¯s Guide to Intelligence Training for Adventurers.  She also added: Defensive Strategies for Dungeons, Creative Gathering and Farming Scenarios for Resource Dungeons, and Dungeon Crafting Scenarios for Gains and Profits.


    Destiny wanted to keep shopping, but felt it imperative that she focus all her attention on A Training Dungeon¡¯s Guide to Intelligence Training for Adventurers before her resident numbskulls caused any more problems.


    *****


    John was ducking under one tentacle and sidestepped another when he felt something heavy hit his head.  Looking down he picked up the book and placed it in his storage as Gumdrop slammed two stone tipped tentacles into his kneecaps, breaking them.  Cool +1 level to Physical Resistance.

 Starting the Empire

    Starting the Empire


    Destiny was browsing the exchange and working on her dungeon plan when the boys came in. They had spent the last month nearly constantly training. She had expanded her catalog for beasts and loot. Neither of the two cared about the loot and just threw everything that Gumdrop didn¡¯t eat into the unused rooms. They did love getting levels and raising their skills. Destiny had nothing to really compare it to, but she found the two of them frightening.


    Gumdrop was totally unpredictable and incredibly creative. John was an utterly fearless, methodical beast that charged into anything set in front of him and had added significantly to his spell repertoire through class spells and creating new variations. She would hate to have to try to defend her dungeon against a party with those two and good support. Even after reading hundreds of the low level guides, she struggled to challenge them.


    ¡°Hey, Destiny. We¡¯ve both reached level 15. We think it¡¯s time to explore this world a little. Can you open a portal to that cave you found?¡± John asked. Destiny didn¡¯t want to have her only two friends leave, but they spent all their time training, so she had to admit, it wouldn¡¯t make that much of a difference.


    ¡°Sure John. Do you know when you will be back?¡± she asked as she opened the portal.


    ¡°We¡¯ll come back in a week. Maybe sooner if there is nothing interesting nearby. Wouldn¡¯t want to waste a lot of training time walking around. You can start looking for a town or village while we¡¯re gone. That way we can sell some of the loot that is too low quality to put on the exchange.¡± John said as Gumdrop formed four tentacles and strapped himself to John¡¯s back like a pack.


    Destiny started up her search pattern expansion plan that she had worked on when she remembered something important. ¡°Watch out for the ¡­¡± But John had already stepped through the portal. ¡°MASTER!!!!¡±


    *****


    John stepped through the portal into the dimly lit cave. He gave his eyes a second to adjust when he noticed a wet animal smell and turned his head to the right just in time to see an enormous paw smash into his chest and face and send him flying into the wall with a sharp crack. He saw a tentacle reach into the bear''s mouth and everything turned to blackness as a scream from Destiny echoed in his mind.


    John opened his eyes and saw the bear¡¯s head fall off in an explosion of gore and the beast turn into dust that Gumdrop kept smashing in anger. ¡°It¡¯s okay buddy. I¡¯m all right.¡± Gumdrop rushed over and poked him with a tentacle. The slime then started bouncing around and stopped in front of John forming a small slime shape and a small human shape. A spear appeared in the head of the human and it fell down. Another human appeared. He then formed a small army and the human and slime charged them.


    ¡°Oh. Yeah. We¡¯re going to have some fun.¡± John said with a smile as he figured out what Gumdrop was saying. Gumdrop immediately began spinning his way around the cave.


    ¡°Master. How?¡± Destiny asked in his mind.


    ¡°Well, you know how I told Gumdrop about the Gods messing up my integration? This isn¡¯t the first time the gods have meddled in my life¡­or lives if you will.¡±


    ¡°John. Being immortal is something you should share with your friends.¡± Destiny scolded.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if it still worked. The gods screwed everything else up with my integration. I figured they might have taken that away too. And friends warn their friends when they are about to step into a bear''s den.¡± John pointed out.


    ¡°Sorry. I forgot. Well, have fun.¡± Destiny said using John¡¯s tactic of ending a conversation by just ending it as she closed the portal. A group of John clones appeared in the training room and lined up to start training. She had secretly been making armies of him since she completed her template. She wanted to get them trained up and surprise him one day.


    Her John clones were different from the real thing. They leveled faster than him, but none showed his diversity in fighting styles. Some became good casters and others were good with weapons, but none were good at both.


    Gumdrop was already at the mouth of the cave waving a tentacle for John to hurry up. ¡°You too, Destiny. We¡¯ll see you in a few days.¡± John joined Gumdrop and paused to look around. They were in a wooded area that gave John the impression that he was pretty high up. The ground dropped away fairly steeply in front of them, but it was still wooded and animal tracks wove between the thin underbrush of the pine forest. Gumdrop pointed along the hill to the right and John nodded before they both took off, one running and one spinning on spiked tentacles.


    A few hours and several uninteresting battles with level 20-30 creatures, John picked up a pinecone and threw it at the slime to get him to stop. John smelled something familiar. Smoke. It seemed to be coming from around the mountain they were on. He put his finger to his lips and pointed in that direction, Then motioned with his hands to go slowly.


    As they rounded the mountain, John knew they were going in the right direction. The smell was getting stronger. The trails also appeared well used with the occasional small humanoid clawed foot print. John pointed up the hill and motioned behind him for Gummy to follow him. Carefully placing each foot step, he moved forward and crouched down before he crested the side of the ridge they were on.


    As soon as he could see over the hill he backed down and moved to the right and crawled back up behind a tree. John couldn¡¯t believe what he saw. A very well built stone tower surrounded by a high crenelated wall. Moving in and out of the tower and roughly built huts in the courtyard were goblins.


    Gummy moved up beside him and pointed at John¡¯s eyes. The slime had excellent vision, but a limited range. John quietly said, ¡°A keep full of goblins.¡± Gummy formed a stone point and jabbed it a few times. ¡°Probably. I¡¯ve met some fairly civilized goblin traders, but they¡¯re usually pretty tribal and not friendly at all to strangers. Let¡¯s go find out. Just watch where you step if we go in. Goblins can be pretty nasty.¡±


    John stood and started walking toward the gate. Gummy disappeared, but John caught a glimpse of his essence as he passed John. When he got within a few hundred feet of the clearing, he saw a pit trap Gummy had uncovered and a line Gummy had made on the ground, probably by dragging a tentacle. John followed the path Gummy had left him weaving between more traps. At one point the line took a sharp turn and John saw the deadfall trap Gummy was leading him around.


    When he got to the clearing, John stepped out and made no attempt to hide his approach. He stopped about 100 feet from the closed gate. ¡°Hello. My name is John. I would like to speak with you.¡± He heard some movement and saw a few goblin heads peak at him. The gate started to open and John felt a tentacle wrap around his waist. Looks like we¡¯re fighting. He thought as he tightened his grip on his staff.


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    Suddenly the gate swung all the way open and crude arrows and javelins rained down from the walls as about twenty muscular goblins rushed out. John was lifted from his feet as Gummy carried him to the wall underneath the projectiles to the right side of the gate too fast for the charging goblins to react to.


    John cast a shield around himself as Gummy drug him up the wall and threw him on top of it. He released a blast of lightning all around him as he landed then started shooting bolts in both directions on the walkway. Goblins were stunned and thrown off the wall. Gummy had knocked the goblins off the wall on the other side of the gatehouse towers. John moved to put his back against the tower next to its door and shouted, ¡°I¡¯m not here to fight. I just wanted to talk.¡± John shouted, deciding to try diplomacy again.


    The gate dropped as Gummy apparently cleared the gatehouse leaving the twenty warriors trapped outside. A very large and very fat Goblin stepped out of the keep with an oversized studded club and a female who looked like a shaman with bones and feathers weaved into the roughspun tunic she wore as a dress. They stopped and the shaman whispered something to the chieftain.


    ¡°What do you want, human?¡± the chieftain asked.


    What do I want? Destiny will grow faster with more people living in her. ¡°Nothing really. I came to offer you weapons, armor, and a safe place to train and get strong.¡± He replied. A goblin that had been sneaking up on John in stealth, got thrown off the wall by an invisible tentacle.


    ¡°The keep is safe. We stay here.¡± the chieftain replied.


    ¡°Yes. You can stay here, but I can offer you help to protect it. I am a dungeon master. My dungeon can expand to here in a day or so.¡±


    ¡°Where is your dungeon now?¡±


    ¡°Around the mountain and a little higher. Just a few hours walk for me.¡± John replied.


    ¡°Take us. Binxie come.¡± He pushed the shaman towards John and a young goblin wearing wooden armor and carrying a small wooden club followed them. John felt Gummy wrap around his back. The chieftain ordered the gate open and goblins ran into the gatehouse.


    When they exited the gate, the chieftain ordered the warriors to come with them. Yep. He¡¯s going to try and steal my dungeon. Good luck with that. I don¡¯t think Gummy and I could defeat Destiny and you clowns sure as heck won¡¯t.


    John took them back to the cave with the help of the map in his interface by the same route they took to get to the keep. Well¡­mostly the same route. John was enjoying watching the fat goblin huff and puff as they walked, so he took a more scenic route heading back. The shaman seemed to be enjoying the show too as she met John¡¯s eyes several times while the chieftain was struggling up the hill. Binxie growled whenever John met his eyes.


    When they reached the cave, John reached up and tapped one of the tentacles wrapped over his shoulder three times. A signal Gummy often used to signal a trap when training in one of Destiny¡¯s combat zones. He felt Gummy slowly move off his back. Once he was in the cave, he turned to the chieftain and said, ¡°Here we are.¡±


    ¡°Who is that John? Is it trouble?¡± Destiny asked in his mind. ¡°Not really.¡± John replied.


    ¡°The chieftain looked up from where he was bent over trying to catch his breath. He looked around, probably searching for the core. ¡°Who are you talking to human?¡± he asked when John replied to Destiny.


    ¡°Sorry. My dungeon core asked if you were going to be any trouble.¡±


    ¡°Where is the core?¡±


    John started to answer, but stopped when vines rose from the ground to wrap around the Chieftain and began stabbing him in the neck and chest. Binxie¡¯s armor grew vines, half of which sunk into the ground and the other half wrapped around the club and arm of the chieftain. John stepped back and cast a shield on himself. Tentacles ripped weapons out of the hands of the goblin troops and then pointed menacingly at them.


    The chieftain struggled for a few seconds before falling face first and crumpling into dust. The shaman and the troops dropped to their knees. Binxie stood staring menacingly at John. ¡°Do not kill us. The chieftain was mean and stupid. He was going to try and take your core. He didn¡¯t believe you could stop him.¡±


    ¡°Never serve someone who demands you kneel. Never trust someone who kneels before you. Stand up.¡± John said as he held out his hand to help the shaman up. She looked at the hand for a second before taking it and looking at John confused after he helped her up. Binxie looked like he wanted to stab John when he put his hand out, but the shaman motioned towards him.


    ¡°You guys get up to.¡± He said to the goblins that were still kneeling. ¡°So are you in charge now?¡± John asked.


    ¡°Yes. I am Sharilla. Binxie is my son. May we go? We can be out of the Keep by tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°No need for that. Destiny. I am giving you a map update. How long will it take for you to reach the Keep?¡±


    ¡°About an hour, I have reached the surface about halfway there.¡± Destiny replied in his mind.


    ¡°Sharilla. My Dungeon will be able to include your keep inside it in about an hour. Would you like to live inside the keep within the Dungeon.¡±


    ¡°If you demand so, we will.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not demanding anything. I¡¯m asking if you would like help with security and have a safe place to train and forage.¡± John explained.


    ¡°What are the rules? Would we be slaves?¡± Sharilla asked as she wrapped Binxie in vines as he obviously did not like the idea of being a slave.


    ¡°No. Slaves never reach their potential. It¡¯s a waste to keep slaves.¡±


    ¡°What will be asked of us? Why would you do this?¡± Sharilla asked.


    ¡°It will help the dungeon¡­Hey, Destiny. I assume you¡¯ve been reading all those books you keep dropping on my head, Is there any way you can work the details out with Sharilla? I¡¯d like to get back to training.¡± John said starting to get annoyed at the time he was wasting.


    ¡°Yes. Give me a second. I have a skill slot available.¡± After a few seconds, a glowing ball appeared and a portal started to open, but closed when John stepped towards it. ¡°Hello, Sharilla. I am Destiny. John would like us to work out the details of you joining the empire.¡±


    ¡°Before you disappear for a month John, I would like to clarify some things.¡± Destiny said.


    John rolled his eyes and said, ¡°Like what?¡±


    ¡°I take it slaves are out. Any other rules? Like can they leave the empire. What do we do if outsiders enter the empire? Can they use the training room? What support can I give Sharilla?¡± Will you demand they fight for the empire?¡±


    Frustrated John said, ¡°Yes they can leave if they choose. Sharilla can decide if she wants visitors in her keep and I don¡¯t care if people wander into the empire. Yes, they can use the training room. Give her anything you think is reasonable. They can fight if they want, but they don¡¯t have to form an army if they don¡¯t want to. And anybody can train on anything they want to. Too many will not reach their potential if somebody is restricting what they can try. Oh. I promised them weapons and armor. That¡¯s about it.¡±


    ¡°Thank you John.¡± Destiny said as she opened a portal. John started to step through, but a tentacle grabbed him and pointed towards the mouth of the cave. John shrugged and followed Gummy out.


    Stone chairs rose out of the ground for Sharilla and Binxie and benches formed near the mouth of the cave for the rest of the goblins. Sharilla sat. Binxie glared at the glowing orb. Slimes came through the portal carrying stone cups filled with essence water from the fountains for the goblins.


    The side of the cave was opened up and tables rose as more slimes came out carrying armor and weapons. Sharilla asked, ¡°Why is your master doing this?¡±


    ¡°If I didn¡¯t know better, I would say it was because as an emperor he gets additional leveling essence as the people of his empire level, but I¡¯m sure John hasn¡¯t really looked through his Emperor skills. He¡¯s a little fixated on training and growing stronger. So, my best guess is because having you live in the dungeon will help me level faster.¡±


    ¡°Why is he fixated on strength?¡± Sharilla asked.


    ¡°He hasn¡¯t out right said it, but I think he wants to be able to protect his home. He has told me and Gummy about going through many integrations and they all end up the same with one of the great sects mining all the essence and nearly killing the planet.¡±


    ¡°He plans on challenging the great sects?¡± Sharilla asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. He may leave them alone if they leave us alone, but we haven¡¯t talked about it.¡±


    ¡°Well. At least he doesn¡¯t seem mean.¡± Sharilla said.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Our last chieftain was mean and stupid.¡± Sharilla clarified.


    ¡°Oh. Yeah. At least John isn¡¯t mean.¡± Destiny chuckled while some of the goblins walked over to look at the weapons and armor. They began to wave excitedly to the others and they all rushed over.


    Binxie went over and grabbed a sword and brought it to Sharilla. ¡°This equipment is essence imbued. He¡¯s just giving it to us?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what he said. Just don¡¯t get too greedy. Only take what you need. You can get more in my combat zones.¡± Destiny said while thinking, ooops. Better figure out how that happened. Must be from the high concentration we keep the essence at down there. That¡¯s quite a fortune we¡¯re sitting on.

 What is a human like you doing in a place like this?

    What¡¯s a Human Like You Doing in a Place Like This?


    Vicki blended perfectly with the rocky cliff edge as she watched the human and his odd companion walking towards her position.  She was about 4 meters above the trail they were walking on.  They were headed straight for the dragon''s hunting ground.  Unfortunately for the strange pair, the children were out today, so there was only one way this would end.


    When they crossed beneath her she turned her head to release her breath.  A tentacle pierced the cliff beneath her and several more metal tipped tentacles were headed straight at her.  Flinching back slightly, she released her breath turning the slime into ash and redirected her breath onto the human who was¡­smiling¡­at her.  What kind of slime could detect her?  What kind of slime would attack a dragon?  Why did the human just stand there smiling?


    ¡°Sorry human.  Wrong place at the wrong time.¡±  she said as she stood to head back to the hunting party to report the incident.


    ¡°Holy crap.  5pts from one breath.  Can you do that again?  Oh wait¡­let me get Gum¡­¡±  The human who was standing a few feet away from where she thought she had killed him was stopped mid-sentence as her tail pierced his chest and cut him in half and he once again turned to dust.


    ¡°I¡¯m John.  And this is¡­.¡±  She spun and released another breath this time killing both the slime and human again.  Spinning back the other direction she saw the human appear and quickly summoned the slime who waved at her.  ¡°Gumdrop.  Although he¡¯s getting a little too shiny from all the metal he¡¯s been eating. Well at least that¡¯s what I assumed.  Maybe he just wants to be shiny.  He might even be a she now that I think about it.¡±  the human continued while looking suspiciously at his friend who slapped him with a tentacle.  ¡°Okay.  Guess, I was right.  He¡¯s a he.¡±


    ¡°What are you?¡±  Vicki asked.


    The human pointed at himself, ¡°Human¡­John.¡±  He then pointed at the slime ¡°Slime¡­Gumdrop or Gummy.¡±  A loud roar rang out and fire shot into the sky a couple kilometers away.   The dragon took to the air leaving John and Gumdrop behind.  In the distance, two more dragons took to the air and flew towards where the fire had lit the sky.


    John turned his head to look at Gummy, but the slime was swinging from the dragon''s tail as she flew away.  The dragon turned her head and killed the slime again.  John started running after the dragon and recalled Gummy who appeared next to him and quickly followed.


    *****


    Maggy, Tammy, and Courtney watched as Bill stalked the large buck that probably outweighed him by 20 kilos.  He crawled up behind the deer and stopped about 5 meters away.  He quickly conjured two balls of lightning and drove them into the deer''s face. It jumped and spun to run from whatever attacked it, but Bill hit it with his lightning flame breath before it landed and his sister plowed into its side catching its neck in her jaws as she tore into it with all 4 sets of claws.  The buck turned to dust within 2 seconds.  Donel pulled the venison she had gotten as loot out of her storage and quickly cooked it with her breath.  She carefully cut a slice of meat and handed it to Bill who screamed in agony.


    The tip of a jagged spear of shadow was sticking out of his chest.   Courtney roared as she shot her breath into the sky and charged.  Maggy created a shield of water around Bill and ran forward  to pull the spear from her son¡¯s back.  Tammy moved forward to grab Donel.


    Shadow creatures with short legs and long arms appeared and attacked Courtney before she reached the children.  Donel tackled one and began ripping it to shreds as her body lit up in flame.  More shadow creatures appeared from behind Maggy and lept at her, but she sent blades of water to cut them down.  When she reached Bill, she ripped out the spear and tried her best to flush the shadow essence out of the wound as she began weaving a healing spell inside him.


    Courtney was calling down a rain of fire on the area as she ripped her way through the shadow creatures surrounding them.  Kristy and Joanna tore through the canopy and shook the earth as they landed on swarms of shadow creatures.  Maggi used her claws to stab and flick away the wormlike shadows she pushed out of her son.  His eyes were wide open and she could sense he was purposely circling his essence to maintain his consciousness and sending pure lightning essence to fight back the shadow essence trying to spread in his body.


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    A mass of shadow creatures rose up and charged at Maggy.  Tammy raised a barrier of solid wood to deter them and Vicki slammed down on top of them with blades of wind whipping around her.  Bill was fading fast.  Everywhere Maggi looked more shadows were coming to life.  They were small and weak, but there were so many of them.  Donel was being swarmed by shadows, but her flames were holding them at bay for now while she tore into them.  And Bill¡­Bill was dying.


    A shield of raw essence appeared around Maggy and Bill and a rough but powerful healing weave pushed into Bill.  A human wielding a staff of lightning ran through the shadows from the direction Vicki had come.   A mass of ¡­something with tentacles and blades flung itself past the human leaving a path of dying shadow creatures as it wove between Donel and Kristy and disappeared as it entered the trees.


    *****


    Gummy had almost caught up when John suddenly cast what looked like a shield followed by a healing spell and his body lit up with lightning essence, that is how John referred to his glowing bits.  Gummy used his own essence to form metallic blade tentacles and angled himself to John¡¯s right.  As he crested the hill, he saw several dragons fighting creatures made of a dark essence that seemed to suck in the light.  As he charged in he saw something else.  A large mass of the dark essence moving towards the most muscular of the dragons.


    Gummy didn¡¯t like the taste of the dark essence, but that big mass looked like trouble, so it became his target.  The large dragon was ripping the smaller shadow creatures to shreds, but Gummy didn¡¯t think she saw the larger one coming.  He went into stealth mode and swung himself up into a tree and then over to intercept the shadow thing.  As he reached his intercept point, he  dropped and spread his body out.  He created a series of long crossing blades as he fell in hopes he could cut the shadow essence apart.


    As Gummy fell, the shadow essence coalesced into a black dragon that lifted up its front two claws to form a massive blade of shadows.  This is gonna hurt.  Yep¡­that stings.  Gummy thought as he impaled himself on the blade and wrapped his body around the dragon cutting off his legs and tail and penetrating its skull.


    The dragon¡¯s essence shifted into its previous form.  Welp¡­I¡¯ve died for worse reasons.


    *****


    Courtney was furiously tearing into the swarm of shadow creatures when suddenly a shadow dragon appeared with a black sword swinging for her neck.  She tried to react, but the shadow creatures jumped onto her.  A mass of blades and¡­metallic slime¡­  appeared out of nowhere and cut deeply into the shadow dragon stopping its swing as the blade pierced it.  The shadow dragon attempted to escape to the shadows when the thing split into long thin blades and Courtney was blown back by an immense blast of lightning.


    All the shadow essence drained out of the creatures as they fell dead.  Before the bodies turned to dust, Courtney saw they were the pale grey typical of subterranean creatures.


    *****


    ¡°We¡¯re not going to be able to save him.¡±  John said.  ¡°The shadow essence is keeping us from healing him.  But I can bring him back.¡±  He quickly began forming a companion crystal like he had done with Gummy.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡±  Maggy asked.


    ¡°If he accepts a companion bond, I¡¯ll be able to bring him back like I do with Gumdrop.¡±


    ¡°You will not make a slave of the prince.¡±  Joanna stepped forward but Maggy stopped her with a wave.


    ¡°He¡¯s right.  Bill is dying.  We are not strong enough to save him.¡±  Donel tried to rush to her brother, but was picked up by Vicki who hugged the sobbing little dragon and walked away whispering to her.  ¡°I¡¯ve got no choice.  Do it human.¡±


    The light was fading from Bill¡¯s eyes as John sat the ball of bonding essence on Bill and it sank into his chest before his body turned to dust.


    *****


    John saw an icon of a young blue dragon appear next to Gummy¡¯s icon right before it greyed out.  ¡°It worked.¡±  He quickly resummoned the dragon who appeared next to him.


    ¡°Thank you¡­¡±  the dragon, who was the little one¡¯s mother said.


    ¡°His name¡¯s John.¡±   the dragon that had killed him a few times spoke up.


    ¡°Thank you.  John.  I will forever be in your debt.¡±  the mother said.  ¡°Do it Courtney.¡±


    John looked down at the two dragon talons that were sticking out of his chest as they ripped him apart.  John opened his eyes and heard.  ¡°...any good.  I killed him several times and he kept coming back.¡±


    A little angry, John spoke up.  ¡°I¡¯ll be around.  Kill me whenever you want.  Dragon breath gives great increases to my resistances.  If I see the boy has died again, I¡¯ll resummon him and head this way to find you.  Come find me if you want a safe place to stay, a place to train the young ones, or anything else.¡±


    He understood why they did it, but he was angry anyway.  John figured the only way to prove he had no ill intentions for bonding with the boy was to leave them alone and let them figure it out.  So he walked away and resummoned Gummy who waved goodbye to the dragons as they went off in search of more fun.


    *****


    As the shock of a typical first meeting with John and Gummy wore off, Maggy sniffed the air.  ¡°Celestial.  The gods have been playing with that one.  Where did you find those two Vicki?¡±

 Baby Ogre, Dwarven Hell, and THE Drake

    Baby Ogre, Dwarven Hell, and THE Drake


    John and Gummy walked back up the hill towards the Keep. John was annoyed. His leveling was slow. In previous integrations, whenever he got killed, he¡¯d be reset to level one, but keep his stats, skills, and such. That didn¡¯t change, but previously he¡¯d always fly through the lower levels quickly as he hunted. This integration seemed like his leveling cost was possibly as much as 5x as expensive. Not that he was complaining. He had picked up another affinity each time he died and now had the full set: Nature, fire, earth, wind, lightning, and water. He wasn¡¯t sure if he should train them simultaneously or concentrate on one at a time.


    He had checked the leaderboards. He was close to moving into the top 10,000 despite the horrible start the gods gave him. He assumed he had probably surpassed the natives because the leaderboard was a composite estimate of true power factoring stats, skills, and no one knew exactly what besides that levels were only a small part of it. He didn¡¯t even want to know where Gummy was. He did check to see that something going by the name Xeno was still #1.


    Gummy tapped him and pointed at the keep. John looked and saw a nice looking brass sign had black lettering saying, ¡°Drake¡¯s Keep¡±. The walls had gained a shine and the place definitely smelled better. ¡°Looks like Sharilla and Destiny run a tight ship.¡± John said.


    WHAM. Something landed in the courtyard splashing rocky shrapnel and a few goblins screamed out. A dome grew from the back and covered about ?¡¯s of the keep. ¡°What¡¯s going on Destiny?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not sure John. Rocks have been falling a few at a time the last couple days.¡± John saw another rock sailing down to crash off the shield Destiny rose. He tapped Gummy and pointed. Destiny opened a portal and Gummy went into backpack mode as John stepped through the portal. When they appeared at the back of the keep John ran to the cliff rising up behind the keep. Once there, Gummy reached up and his tentacles flipped them and started pulling them up the cliff.


    ¡°Gummy. Would you mind flipping me over?¡± John asked as he hung upside down while Gummy was climbing. The slime obliged him and spun with the next couple movements. John looked out over the rolling hillside and thought, I could get used to this. When they reached the top, John heard a deep giggle and felt Gummy freeze. John felt 2 taps as he was released and Gumby spun him so he was facing a 1.5 meter tall heavily muscled humanoid wearing a diaper that was gleefully pulling rocks out of a small dimensional sack and throwing them at the keep.


    ¡°Excuse me, son, could you tell me where your parents are?¡± The baby ogre spun and then smiled and threw a rock at John. Gummy caught it and gently rolled it back to the baby. John looked around and called out louder, ¡°Hello! ¡­ Hello!¡± Gummy disappeared and tapped John 3 times. Loud footsteps echoed out of a cave opening a little ways behind John. A 4 meter tall adult female ogre came out wearing a leather crafting apron with tools that looked entirely too small for her hands. John noticed a spot of essence crystal dust slowly evaporating off of the apron. An ogre enchantress. Interesting.


    ¡°Just who might you be?¡± the ogress asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m John.¡±


    ¡°And just what are ye doing on me mountain, John?¡¯


    ¡°Some friends of mine have a keep at the bottom of the cliff and I came up to see where the rocks were coming from.¡± John turned his head to see the child standing with his hands behind his back and the dimensional bag nowhere in sight.


    ¡°Have you been throwing rocks at the goblins again son?¡± The ogress asked. The child looked down and gave a small nod. ¡°You¡¯re friends with the Goblins? I¡¯ll make sure the boy doesn¡¯t throw any more rocks their way. Isn¡¯t that right boy?¡± The small ogre nodded again and shuffled his feet.


    ¡°Thank you¡­.¡± John said.


    ¡°Harmony.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Harmony. I¡¯ll make sure the Goblins know not to bother you any more.¡± Suddenly Harmony¡¯s eyes widened and she continued, ¡°John put that rock down gently and show yourself.¡±


    John was confused until he heard a deep voice, ¡°Are you sure Harmony?¡± He turned and saw a nearly 5 meter tall male ogre holding a large rock with Gummy on top and about 15 different blades pointing at the ogre¡¯s back.


    ¡°Yes, I am sure. I hired you for your muscles and stealth, John. Not your brains, so gently set the stone down and come join us.¡± Gummy withdrew the blades and waved at the ogre who jumped and screamed, ¡°It¡¯s a squidopus.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a squidopus, John.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Gummy. He¡¯s a slime.¡± human John added helpfully.


    ¡°How did the human climb the cliff, John?¡± Harmony asked once again confusing John.


    ¡°With his tentacles.¡± Ogre John answered.


    ¡°Do humans normally have tentacles, John?¡± Ogre John seemed to think for a second before answering, ¡°No.¡±


    Harmony rolled her eyes and said something about, ¡°Getting what you paid for.¡± She then looked back at human John and said, ¡°So John, I¡¯ll make sure Dummy over there keeps my baby from throwing rocks at your goblins. Take this as an apology.¡± She handed him a small dimensional bag similar to the one the baby had. John looked at it. The enchanting was definitely top notch for this early in an integration.


    ¡°Say Harmony. Would the three of you like a secure place to live, work, and train? I¡¯ve got a dungeon that¡¯s primarily training and defense, but she¡¯s been dabbling in resources also.¡±


    The ogress stiffened and asked, ¡° Are you seriously asking me if I would like to be a slave? Stupidity must run in the Johns.¡±


    ¡°Slaves are a waste. They never reach their maximum potential. I¡¯m just saying, Destiny, my dungeon, hasn¡¯t expanded much above ground because we¡¯ve been securing the main essence veins as she grows, but she could expand up here in a few minutes and set you up however you want.¡±


    ¡°And just why would you do this?¡±


    John looked confused, ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I? I suppose Destiny or Sharilla, the goblin chieftain, will set up some sort of taxation at some point, but I¡¯ll make sure they keep it low. With the loot we get from the dungeon, money should be the least of our problems.¡± John thought about all the training he¡¯d rather be doing and added, ¡°Tell you what, I¡¯ll have Destiny expand up the hill to right over there, and you can talk to her and work something out if you¡¯d like to join us. Let¡¯s go Gummy.¡±


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    Gummy wrapped tentacles around John¡¯s waist and shoulders and threw them off the mountain as his body spread into a thin sheet and filled with air.


    ¡°Not what I meant, Gummy¡­but this is kind of cool.¡± John said.


    *****


    Destiny felt a disturbance near the edge of where she had stopped her dungeon expansion while following a small vein of essence. Moving her dungeon a little closer, she saw short, muscular, hairy humanoids working in a mine shaft. She checked and John wasn¡¯t back yet, so she followed the shaft up, staying a meter or so from its edge. She soon found the main mine shaft and followed it to a small underground dwarven city still being constructed. She poked around and found its entrance from the overworld and the small encampment they were building.


    Checking the keep again, she saw John and Gummy float down into the courtyard. What the heck are they up to now? When they landed, she formed herself in front of John and said, ¡°John. I found a dwarven settlement.¡±


    John liked dwarves. They were greedy buggers, but great craftsmen and excellent drinking partners. ¡°How close can you get us?¡± Gummy tapped his leg and shadowboxed with his tentacles. ¡°Looks like Gummy wants to train, the little bugger probably has some new skill. As if he needs any more.¡± Gummy formed a mouth and stuck his tongue out as he headed towards the entrance the goblins used to get to the training room.


    ¡°How close do you want?¡±


    ¡°Just out of sight.¡± GIve me a sec. Destiny picked a spot and expanded her dungeon then opened a portal for John to step through. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we have a plan just in case?¡± John stopped and turned back, ¡°Yeah sure¡­.here¡¯s what we¡¯ll do.¡± Destiny closed the portal and they came up with a plan over the next five minutes.


    *****


    John stopped about 50 meters from the stone wall and metal gate. Balistas rotated in his direction from the towers. ¡°Hello, Can I speak to whoever is in charge?¡±


    A guard looked at him from a window in the gatehouse and answered, ¡°The boss is busy. What do you want, human?¡±


    ¡°Well. I¡¯m John and we¡¯re neighbors. I¡¯ve got a dungeon not far from your mineshafts. I thought it wise to start off relations on a good foot.¡± John said and felt quite proud at his skillful diplomacy.


    ¡°A dungeon, you say. Not far? Hold on a minute. I¡¯ll get the boss.¡±


    A few minutes later, the gate opened to show two lines of dwarves and a large smiling dwarf standing at the other end. ¡°John. Nice to meet you, sir. Come on in. I¡¯m Angus. You¡¯re a dungeon master, you say?¡±


    John walked in and stuck his hand out to greet Angus. ¡°Yes. I am.¡±


    ¡°Get him, boys.¡± Angus ordered and the dwarves attempted to grab him or jump on him or punch him. John ducked, spun, kicked, punched, and twisted limbs sending dwarves flying until he was reminded of one of the first lessons Drake taught him. Never be the second person to draw a weapon in a fight. John was knocked out cold.


    *****


    John opened his eyes and rubbed the back of his head. He looked around. Stone floors. Bars instead of walls. He was in a dungeon. Angus stood holding a torch and smiling outside of John¡¯s cell. ¡°Where is your dungeon core?¡±


    ¡°And why would I tell you that?¡± John replied.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see what you say in a few days.¡± Angus said and walked away leaving John in the dark. John got up and began stretching looking forward to getting back to training. A few minutes later, a portal opened in front of him. John stepped through and said, ¡°Plan A Destiny. Make it messy. Let me know when they¡¯re ready to surrender.¡±


    *****


    Later that night Angus was awakened by a loud knocking at his door. ¡°Sir. Sir. There is an emergency.¡±


    ¡°Come in. What is it?¡±


    The commander of the night guard entered wide eyed and smelling horrible with brown gunk all over him. ¡°Sir. We¡¯ve been invaded.¡±


    ¡°From where?¡± Angus stood and started putting on his armor.


    ¡°The bathrooms, sir.¡±


    ¡°The what?¡±


    ¡°Poop Slimes coming out of all the bathrooms sir.¡±


    ¡°That sneaky turd. Get the mages and call back the miners.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s more sir. We already called back the miners and the mages are trying to clear the slimes, but the mines have been sealed behind dungeon stone as have the smithy¡¯s. But it¡¯s worse than that sir.¡±


    ¡°You tellin me that we¡¯ve been overrun with slimes and all our resources have been stolen, but there¡¯s something worse? What the hells¡­oh¡­no¡­you don¡¯t mean?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. The ale, the beer , the wine, the spirits, it¡¯s all been locked behind dungeon stone, but it¡¯s worse than that. Goblins are in the tavern locked behind dungeon crystal walls.¡±


    Angus stormed out the door and screamed, ¡°Get me that dungeon master.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s gone sir.¡±


    Angus threw a hammer at the commander and stormed down the hall. Taking the first left, he headed towards the nearest tavern. Pushing his way through the crowd of dwarves he saw a thick wall of clear essence enforced crystal. Inside he saw goblins that identified as dungeon creatures having a party.


    Seeing a slit in the crystal closed with a small wooden slide he went over and banged on the wall. A goblin came over and slid the wood out of the way, ¡°Private Party. We¡¯re closed.¡± And started to walk away, but Angus began pounding again. The goblin turned and opened the slit again. ¡°I said we were closed. Now bugger off.¡± Angus started pounding again until¡­


    *****


    Bang, bang, bang. Faith turned to her sister Destiny, ¡°Someone is certainly trying to get your attention.¡± Destiny checked her interface and saw that it was the triplet dwarven gods of Drinking, Brawling, and Smithing. ¡°I better take this.¡± The dwarven gods weren¡¯t technically Old Gods, but they weren¡¯t someone a wise god ignored. She created an avatar and had it step out of her domain and create a meeting room.


    The three dwarven gods appeared as avatars and Drinking started to say something, but Brawling covered his mouth. Smith stepped forward and said, ¡°Destiny, no disrespect but one of your boys is causing some problems on a recently integrated planet with a clan of ours. We are going to have to do something. We can¡¯t let things stand as they are.¡±


    Destiny smiled. She knew exactly what had happened. She pulled out a crystal that projected John standing in front of the Dwarven gates. The gods sat down and watched. By the time a poop slime dropped down on Angus¡¯s head, the dwarves were rolling on the floor.


    Drinking got to his hands and knees and caught his breath, ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll admit Angus started it, but I still say your boy took it too far. How do we resolve this?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see how my boy resolves this.¡± Destiny smiled.


    A few days later, Smithing looked at Destiny in shock. ¡°He¡¯s really going to buy anything they craft of good quality or better. Where¡¯s he getting the credits?¡± Destiny held up a dagger and handed it to him. ¡°Essence imbued. How¡¯s he doing that so early?¡± Smithing asked.


    ¡°He is the master of a dungeon that controls a good portion of the essence on the planet.¡±


    ¡°That will do it. Boy is going to be rich. Will he really let the dwarves use that wonder?¡± Brawling asked.


    ¡°I think so. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s wanting to rule as much as he¡¯s building a home safe from the sects.¡±


    ¡°Aye, those bastards definitely have it coming. As long as he keeps to his words, we¡¯ll consider this matter resolved.¡± Destiny nodded and the avatars returned to their domains.


    *****


    Tammy was flying a recon mission. With Bill stronger than ever and Donel showing monstrous growth trying to catch up with Bill, the dragons had begun searching for the Drake. As she circled a mountain, she saw a keep. Flying closer, she saw a sign. ¡°Drake¡¯s Keep¡± Thank the gods. I found it. She landed and watched the keep. Goblins and a few orcs were passing in and out of the keep and going down a stone entrance in the side of one of the mountains. She spotted a large ogre watching some goblin children and a baby ogre. No sign of the Drake, but she flew back to report to Maggy.


    Entering their hide, she called out to Maggy. ¡°Your highness, I found the Drake. I mean, I think I found the Drake.¡± Everyone froze and Maggy turned to her. ¡°Explain.¡±


    ¡°I found a keep. It had a sign that said, Drake¡¯s Keep. I didn¡¯t see him, but there were goblins, a few orcs, and a couple ogres.¡±


    ¡°Show me where.¡± Maggy said and Tammy sent everybody a map update. Maggy looked at it and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go. Everyone else, maximum readiness. I don¡¯t know how this will go.¡±


    A few minutes later Maggy and Tammy landed and watched the children trying to climb on the ogre. Tammy pointed to the sign. Maggy nodded and they slowly walked down. Maggy sniffed and said, ¡°There¡¯s a dungeon nearby. A strong one.¡±


    The ogre saw them and quickly pulled out a huge sack and gently but quickly stuffed all the children into it and ran for the entrance to the underground with the ogre baby hanging on his back. A goblin shaman came walking out of the keep with a small goblin wearing wooden armor. The little one glared at them fearlessly while they approached.


    ¡°Welcome dragons, I am Sharilla. This is my keep. How can I help you?¡±


    ¡°The sign says Drake¡¯s Keep?¡± Maggy asked as her heart sank.


    ¡°Aye. He gave it to us, so we named it after the emperor.¡±


    ¡°Is this emperor around?¡± Maggy asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s training, but I expect he¡¯d like to talk with the two of you. Destiny will send him up.¡± the shaman replied and then just stood there. The two dragon looked at each other and Maggy started to speak when a portal opened and the crazy human named John stepped out. ¡°I heard you were looking for Drake?¡±


    ¡°Yes, is he available?¡±


    John looked confused and turned to Sharilla who rolled her eyes, slapped his arm, and pointed over his head where an identification would show his name and occupation. John didn¡¯t appear to understand at first, but then he did something in his interface and Maggy identified him.


    John Drake - Human


    The One Great Emperor - Celestial T7


    ¡°You¡¯re the Drake?¡± both dragons asked.

 For Binxie. For Ogre John.

    For Binxie.  For Ogre John.


    After Maggy explained why she was looking for The Drake, John and Gummy quickly became bored and left to train.  Sharilla and Destiny offered to give Maggy and Tammy a tour of the dungeon.  They started by walking down the entrance that the goblins used to reach the communal gathering, mining, crafting, and agricultural dungeons she had set up.  Destiny then showed them some examples of the instanced dungeons she could create for mixed combat/gathering-mining.  Tammy asked why anyone would use the mixed dungeons instead of the communal ones.


    ¡°Dungeon law.  Everything has to have a difficulty.  If you add in a chance of combat, then the ease of finding a resource can be increased.  The higher the chance of combat or the difficulty of the combat, the easier it is to find valuable resources.  The dwarves often use these to train their lower leveled fighters while their miners work¡±  Destiny explained and then opened a portal to take them to the wonder via her core room.


    When Maggy stepped out of the portal she took a deep breath, basking in the high essence as she placed one of her foreclaws against the essence vein.  When she turned and saw the pedestal holding Destiny¡¯s core, she froze for a second.  ¡°Destiny, is that your core?¡±  Tammy whipped around and looked between Maggy and the core and suddenly seemed very tense.


    ¡°Yes.  That is also the pedestal John found me on.  It gives me a 10% increase to essence absorption.  John says it was a gift from the meddling gods.¡±


    ¡°Destiny.  It is not my place to order you, but I must insist that you seal off all access to this area and never let anyone besides John in here again.  You are risking too much.¡±  Maggy said.  Tammy relaxed and turned back to admiring the essence vein.


    Sharilla laughed.  ¡°You¡¯re much faster than me.  I was so scared of John that I wandered in and out of here for a week before I even thought of how dangerous it was to give me access.  When I finally mentioned it, Destiny showed me what was behind those two walls and let me in on the empire¡¯s biggest secret.¡±


    ¡°The empire?¡±  Maggy asked


    Sharilla laughed again.  ¡°The Drake Empire.  Do you make a habit of challenging the gods?¡±


    ¡°Of course, not.¡±


    ¡°Neither do I, so when Destiny pointed out that the god¡¯s made John an Emperor and that she assumed there must be a reason they did, that¡¯s all I needed to hear to decide that we need to plan on becoming an Empire despite the deficiencies of our leader.¡±


    Destiny continued for her, ¡°John is focused on securing the essence of this planet and protecting it from the sects.  However, we cannot do that by just controlling the dungeon and the main essence veins.¡±


    ¡°Or even just the whole planet.¡±  Tammy added.


    ¡°Yes.  The sects have ships that can destroy entire planets.  Do you think they are going to just leave us alone if John refuses to let them mine our essence?¡±


    ¡°So we need to lay the groundwork.  Expansion, education, training, support, legislation, taxation, commerce, governance, agriculture, transportation, military.  The list is endless.¡±  Maggy said thinking to herself.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you said we, because we definitely need some help.  Have you or any of your ladies had experience with trading?¡±  Sharilla asked.


    ¡°Yes, that was one of the responsibilities I had for my husband¡¯s business.¡±  Maggy replied.


    ¡°And by business, you mean kingdom.¡±  Sharilla interjected and Tammy once again became very still.  ¡°Relax.  Destiny has purchased many upgrades and one of which lets her know details about the people that enter her dungeon.  That¡¯s how she learned John is an emperor and you are a Royal Dragon which is what gave us the hope that you could help us with a little problem we have.¡±


    ¡°What is your problem?¡±


    ¡°Our problem...¡±  Sharilla said.  ¡°It¡¯s easier for you to see it, then it is for us to explain.¡±  Destiny opened another portal.  Maggy followed Tammy through into an enormous room with weapons and armor piled high.  There were goblins that identified as dungeon creatures sorting through and pulling out items to take to other goblins that were sitting at desks with large crystals.


    Maggy quickly realized what was going on.  ¡°You¡¯re selling loot on the exchange?¡±


    ¡°Not just any loot.¡±  Sharilla said as one of the dungeon goblins brought over a shield and held it out for Maggy to examine.


    ¡°Essence imbued.  Even this low level gear would be worth a fortune.¡±


    ¡°And this doesn¡¯t include what the dwarves are selling us.¡±


    ¡°The dwarves?¡±  Maggy asked.


    ¡°John was annoyed by a settlement of dwarves that thought they could take control of me, so he had me conquer them.¡±


    ¡°And John took the survivors as slaves¡­but you said they are selling it to you?¡±


    ¡°John doesn¡¯t like slaves.  He says they never reach their full potential.  And they all survived, he just forced them to join the empire.  Of course, he lets anyone that wants to leave go, but they all decided to stay when he offered to purchase any good quality or higher weapons or armor they produce and showed them around the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­you said you conquered them, but they all survived.  How did you do that?  Wait¡­did you steal their alcohol.¡±


    ¡°That is the empire¡¯s greatest secret.  John is not dumb.  He¡¯s just ¡­ different ¡­ in a really scary way once you realize it.  And yes.  We did steal their alcohol¡±  Destiny answered.  ¡°How much time do you have left?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry?  Time?¡±  Maggy asked


    ¡°2 hours 45 minutes.¡±  Tammy answered.


    ¡°We better hurry then.  I¡¯ll just show you the scenario John and Gummy are running as an example of our combat instances.¡±  A portal opened and the group stepped through into a room overlooking a battlefield.  John stood in the middle of an open field casting spells at a small army of slimes, orcs, goblins, beasts, and masked humans.  In the distance, a mass of bladed tentacles was tearing through the last of a group of ranged units.  John¡¯s staff shortened and grew blades on both ends as he switched to melee and used a dash skill to keep himself out of trouble until Gummy could come from behind and pincer the remaining troops.


    When they finished, John and Gummy seemed to be having a discussion with John talking and Gummy creating small models out of his body.  After the short discussion, John put his hand on a crystal that had risen out of the ground and the pair were surrounded by a large force of melee units.  Gummy used tentacles to strap John to his back and the dove into combat with John seeming to take on the role of crowd control for Gummy¡¯s assault.


    ¡°John has amazing control and coordination with his companion.¡±  Maggy said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if he actually controls him.  I believe they just think similarly.¡±  Destiny replied.  ¡°But you¡¯d better get going.  I¡¯m sure your family is worried.  Think about our offer and we can show you around more when you have more time.¡±  She opened a portal, but quickly closed it before opening a different one.  ¡°I forgot to show you the Wonder.  This will just take a couple minutes.


    Maggy once again followed Sharilla and Tammy through the portal onto a walkway overlooking an immense training facility full of dwarves, goblins, and a few orcs.  Destiny did something and two control crystals appeared behind them.  ¡°This is the world wonder that John discovered and I took from him when he¡­when he annoyed me.  Place your hand on the crystal and you¡¯ll understand.¡±


    Maggy and Tammy placed a claw on the crystal and were greeted with a menu:


    Welcome To Destiny¡¯s Amphitheatre.  Please choose one of the following to train:


    Flight


    Breath


    Stats


    Skills


    Spells


    Another portal opened and the dragons said their goodbyes to Destiny and Sharilla.  As they rose over the mountain, Tammy turned to Maggy and said, ¡°Those two aren¡¯t normal.  John fights like he¡¯s done it for centuries and the slime is a one man army.¡±


    ¡°John just used his first name on the leaderboard and is in 5th place.  2 and 3 are probably lionkin and 4 is an orc.  So I¡¯m assuming the slime listed himself as Xeno.  I think we should follow the god¡¯s guidance and join them, but how do we explain it to the others?¡±


    ¡°Like they did us.  Just show them.  I wouldn¡¯t even try explaining.  Keep Donel on a tight leash, so she doesn¡¯t try to beat up John and force him to bind her also.¡±


    Maggy laughed.  ¡°She does hate being weaker than her little brother.  Having both of them immortal would be nice, but we can¡¯t ask John to give up  that much strength again.¡±


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    Two days later, the eight dragons landed in the clearing in front of the keep.  This time the large ogre just waved, but the small goblin with the wooden armor walked over and glared at them until he noticed Bill and Donel.   Walking up to Bill he pointed at himself and said, ¡°Binxie.¡±


    Bill nodded and said, ¡°Nice to meet you Binxie.  I am Bill and this is my sister Donel.¡±  as he held out his hand as John, Gummy, and Destiny appeared out of a portal as Binxie bent over and grew vines forming a dragon shape.  He held out his hand and Bill¡¯s eyes went wide with excitement.  Donel¡­well¡­Donel did what she always did and attacked.  ¡°No fire Donel.¡±  Courtney called out as the dragon and the vine dragon wrestled.


    Gummy changed his shape to something that looked like a melting chameleon and walked over to Bill and opened his mouth in a silent roar.  Bill studied him closely, but did nothing else.  Gummy put his foreclaws on Bill¡¯s shoulders and silent roared again.  Bill let out a small puff of lightning breath, so Gummy opened his mouth and tried to slap Bill with a tentacle tongue.  Bill flipped Gummy over his shoulder, but Gummy pulled Bill along with him as they went flying.


    ¡°Well.  The kids seem to be adjusting well.¡±  John said as he watched Bill and Gummy squirm around.  Gummy was obviously trying to only match Bill¡¯s strength and speed, but Bill always stayed one step ahead of him squirming out from under Gummy¡¯s attempts to pin him.  Donel and Binxie were still rolling around with Binxie holding his own by matching Donel¡¯s ferocity with shameless cheating of growing extra arms, legs, and tails.


    The maids all did what John assumed was the dragon version of kneeling as he turned to them.  ¡°Never serve someone who demands you kneel.  Never trust someone who kneels before you.  Stand up ladies.¡±  The maids glanced at Maggy who nodded and they rose.


    Bill squeaked as Gummy gave up on his melting chameleon form and coated his body around Bill¡¯s from his neck to his tail.  He then stood up and moved Bill like a puppet doing some sort of weird dance where he moved his hips from side to side and swung his arms back and forth.  Donel apparently didn¡¯t like seeing her brother treated this way and tried to attack only to be met with a flurry of tentacles.  Not wanting to be left out, vine dragon Binxie jumped over and began battling Gummy¡¯s tentacles with vines.


    ¡°I wanted to thank you for letting us join you John¡­¡±  Maggy started to say, but John waved her off.


    ¡°Think nothing of it.  There¡¯s a lot to be done around here and I sure as heck don¡¯t want to do it.¡±  John seemed to think for a second before he continued.  ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you dragons gain leveling essence from your hoard?  Get with Destiny to work out some way for you to be the official owner of our loot and treasury.  Just make sure she has a way to get what she needs.  Gummy and I need to get back to¡­¡±


    John was interrupted by a flash of lightning as Bill had apparently had enough of being Gummy¡¯s puppet.   Gummy turned back into a puddle then formed a tombstone that said, ¡°RIP, Gummy,  1985-2062.¡±   Donel laughed from her back and Binxie smiled.  Holy crap.  Binxie can smile.  Bill seemed to be analyzing Gummy again.


    ¡°Training.  Destiny can get you set up.¡±  John said as he walked off and Gummy followed him.  However, Donel saw him starting to leave and she jumped in front of him and pointed at her chest and said, ¡°Strong.¡±


    ¡°Yes.  You are quite the dragon and growing stronger every day.¡±


    Donel shook her head and said, ¡°No.  Make stronger¡­ please.¡±


    John was confused, but Maggy explained.  ¡°Donel.  We talked about this.  It takes too much of his strength.  We can¡¯t ask this of John.¡±


    Finally figuring out what was going on, John said, ¡°It¡¯s no problem.  I would consider it an honor.¡±  He made a companion crystal and held it out.


    ¡°Are you sure, John?¡±  Maggy asked, but it was pointless.  Maggy jumped and swallowed the crystal from John¡¯s hand.  John laughed, ¡°Yes.  It¡¯s fine.¡±  He said as he saw an icon of a red dragon appear in his interface.


    A few days later, John left a combat scenario to go to the wonder and work on a multi-target lightning spell for close combat.  Binxie walked in a little bit later and headed for the crystal but turned and walked over to Bill who was currently trying to figure out how to get the spell components properly adjusted.  Binxie walked around him looking at the spell John was holding then asked, ¡°multi-target, close range?¡±  John nodded and Binxie took out a stick of charcoal and began writing on some paper he also pulled out.


    A few minutes later he handed the paper to John and said, ¡°single power source.  Targeting.¡±  while pointing at the small circle and larger circle around the elemental component before walking to the control crystal.


    John looked at the sheet of paper and held a cast of lightning bolt.  He adjusted the targeting to match the drawing and released it.  A sheet of lightning erupted around him.  John then did it again, but made globes instead of circles and released it.  This time lightning erupted all around him and he received the notice:


    Spell Learned:  Lightning Nova


    ¡°Thanks Binxie.¡±  John shouted and received a thumbs up.  A dwarf close to John grumbled something about trying to concentrate and John sent a lightning bolt over his head while the dwarf ducked.


    *****


    Simba and his troops were entering a mountainous region about 9 day¡¯s worth of travel from their protectee when he received an alert and everybody stopped and spread out.  Simba continued to the front of the order of movement with his detachment and awaited more info from the scouts.


    ¡°Orc horde.  Estimate 3 days ahead of us.  Heading towards principal.¡±  he also received a map update with an estimation of the horde¡¯s location.


    Simba growled in frustration and adjusted the scouts in his interface ordering them to find the fastest way to the protectee while avoiding contact with the horde.  He also sent an update to his father and his sub-unit commanders.  Boris nodded and T growled until Boris turned his way and he ducked his head.  Dred looked worried as usual.


    *****


    John looked around the wonder and for the first time noticed all the orcs.  ¡°Hey Destiny?¡±


    ¡°Yes, John?¡±


    ¡°Where are these orcs coming from?¡±


    ¡°Apparently a horde integrated onto this planet and some were able to escape.¡±


    ¡°How are they fitting in topside?¡±


    ¡°Not bad. Most live in a settlement not far from where the dragons had their hide.  Some are working on their crafting or hunting, while others are taking a more combat oriented path.  Only problem is the coliseum.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on there?  Wait¡­what coliseum?¡±


    ¡°We built a coliseum two weeks ago, John.¡±


    ¡°And¡±


    ¡°Well, one of the orcs is a bit too strong for fair competition.  Usage is dropping and skill improvement is very low.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll check it out.¡±  John said and Destiny made a portal for him.  When John stepped through, he was surprised.  The keep had expanded a lot.  There was a market and food vendors and ¡­there it is.  John spotted what he assumed was the coliseum.  As he entered the stands, he saw the avatar of a large orc beheading another orc¡¯s avatar.


    ¡°Who is next to challenge the mighty Gorlac?¡±


    ¡°I will.¡±  John said.


    The orc squinted and identified him then laughed.  ¡°Sit down old man. This is no place for farmers.¡±


    John paused but quickly realized one of his empirical skills was still set to show him as a farmer.  ¡°Is the mighty Gorlac scared of an old man and his stick?¡±


    Gorlac laughed again, ¡°Okay, old man, it''s your credits.¡±  And he pointed at the control crystal opposite his.  John placed his hand on his controller and deposited 10 credits.  His consciousness transferred to an avatar standing a few feet away from Gorlac.


    ¡°You ready?¡±  Gorlac asked and John nodded.  Gorlac charged forward with his axe raised high for an overhead strike.  John stepped aside at the last second and removed Gorlac¡¯s head with the glaive he now held.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t get any skill gains from that, did you?¡±  John asked.  ¡°I barely did either.  Let¡¯s go again.¡±  John said as he transferred 10 credits to Gorlac who nodded and placed his hand on his controller.  This time Gorlac put away his heavy axe and selected two smaller axes.  John also switched his armory to twin axes.  Gorlac charged, but feinted this time before attacking.  John sidestepped one swing and parried the next.


    ¡°Now if I was an accomplished gladiator who wanted to continue polishing his skills while making some extra money, what i would do is¡­¡±  John said while ducking beneath a swing and then jumping over the next.  ¡°On defense adjust to be just a little faster than my opponent and just a little stronger.  On offense, I would try to be just a little slower and weaker.  This would allow for multiple exchanges¡±


    They continued fighting as John spoke.  ¡°I would make sure to counter my opponents when they made a mistake, so that they would learn from them.  But do it in a way that would allow them to counter my counter.  I would focus on form and technique.  Let my opponent get a feel for what was working and what wasn¡¯t.¡±  Gorlac was changing the pace and making his feints more elaborate, but John remained a step ahead of him.


    ¡°This way, we could both advance multiple skills.  If I was a true champion, I might even make a business of it.  If I could help people advance their skills by multiple levels, they would gladly pay to spar me.¡±   John said as he dove over Gorlac and swung at his back pacing it perfectly to meet Gorlac¡¯s spinning block.


    Over the next several minutes, John felt Gorlac getting better.  He paid more attention to his balance and began to be able to anticipate John¡¯s moves, so John picked up the pace and took the offensive for a while driving Gorlac around the ring, but never scoring a finishing blow.  After a few minutes of that, he shifted back to defense.


    Finally after a half hour, he blocked and countered Gorlac, making him stumble and beheaded him again.  This time John walked over to Gorlac and said, ¡°I might even give a few weeks free training to prove my worth.¡±  John then transferred 10,000 credits to Gorlac and walked from the coliseum after bowing to the group of young goblins that were cheering for him.  ¡°Destiny.  Make sure Gorlac and any other skilled fighters have what they need if they wish to train others.¡±


    Gorlac just stood there in shock as he now possessed 100 times more wealth then he ever had in his life.


    *****


    Ogre John and Binxie had taken the older goblin children and baby ogre out to the woodline outside of the keep to play for a couple hours.  As the kids explored for a while, they slowly made their way to a patch of fruit producing bushes that they had discovered while on a previous outing.  The goblin children ate berries and tussled around while baby ogre ate berries and threw rocks at anything that moved that wasn¡¯t a goblin.  And yes, that included Ogre John.  Baby Ogre had figured out that high level targets increased his throwing skills faster.


    Ogre John didn¡¯t mind as he casually caught the stones and carefully tossed them back to baby ogre.  Baby Ogre had thrown a stone at Binxie once, but quickly learned not to do that that if he planned on sitting comfortably any time in the next week.


    Ogre John reached down to grab a berry for himself when he felt a punch in his right shoulder.  Confused, he turned and saw a crude dagger sticking out of his shoulder and an orc with a red handprint on his face get his nose smashed by a stone.  Ogre John roared and sent the orc flying with a kick, but another orc nearly cut his arm off with an ax and another knife went into his side.  Stones flew in, striking the ogres away, giving Ogre John a chance to get his balance.


    Binxie sent vines to pull all the children away to safety and sent them running with a finger pointed towards the keep.  Binxie sent a vine to pull himself into a tree, but took an arrow to his armor and swung wildly.  Ogre John pulled out a club and positioned himself between the children and the orcs that were still coming out of the woodline.  Binxie had fallen to the ground, but rose to his feet and was battling two orcs that had gotten around the enormous club somehow.


    Ogre John kept swinging at the orcs around him as he tried to get in position to free Binxie to run when he noticed that the stones were still flying in from behind the goblin.  Ogre John turned to jump towards Binxie as he yelled, ¡°Run¡±, but a spear went deep into his left lung.  Blackness began closing in, but Ogre John didn¡¯t want to let Harmony down.  She would follow him to hell and torment him for all eternity if anything happened to her baby.


    Binxie screamed as another orc appeared and sunk an ax deep into his back.  Baby ogre charged in and smashed the orc¡¯s head with two rocks.  Binxie used his vines to hold up the orc with a sword and shield, long enough for baby ogre to begin pelting him and the other orc with stones.


    Ogre John felt both his hamstrings get cut and more arrows pierce his chest as he fell to the ground swinging, knocking back the orcs closest to him.  His eyes met baby ogre¡¯s as the kid advanced, throwing stones as he came.  Suddenly lightning and tentacles filled the air and ogre John closed his eyes with a final thought.  Damn good kid.


    *****


    Gummy grabbed the last of the orcs and smashed him ruthlessly against a tree.  John spun looking for his next target when he heard Sharilla scream.  He turned to see her holding Binxie¡¯s broken and bloody armor.  Baby ogre was crying in Harmony¡¯s arms as she tried to comfort him.  Five dragons roared overhead scouting for more orcs.  Gorlac and a group of goblin and orc warriors were searching the area.


    My people.  They did this to MY people.  They will all die.  John stormed to where he felt Destiny expanding out the dungeon.  ¡°Destiny.  Find that horde.  I¡¯m going to war.¡±  He then walked over to Sharilla and said, ¡°Sharilla.  I¡¯m sorry.  This is my fault.  I¡­I can¡¯t bring Binxie back, but i can make those that did this pay.¡±


    Sharilla looked up with red rimmed eyes, ¡°He trained so hard.  He wanted to protect us all.  Kill them all, John.  Kill them all.¡±


    *****


    Later that night, John was training in the wonder.  Just mindlessly beating on a dummy with his staff.  Binxie was so smart and brave.  John was so gentle with the children.  My people.


    ¡°Gorlac says they were the Red Hands Horde.  Scouts sent by the chieftain to gather slaves and supplies.¡±  Destiny said to him.


    ¡°Have you warned the dwarves?¡±


    ¡°Yes.  They are preparing in case the horde gets past you.  Gorlac says if you kill the red hands, most of the others might be worth saving.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try, Destiny.  I¡¯ll try.¡±


    ¡®It¡¯s time John.¡±  Destiny said.


    John weaved essence to cleanse himself and his equipment.  He adjusted his armor to maximise charisma and it changed to a black leather with silver bracers and pauldrons.  He then stepped through the portal to stand in front of the crowd assembled by the gatehouse.  Harmony, Sharilla, and Gummy were already there.  The dragons stood to one side.  Even an honor guard of dwarves stood at attention.  John took a deep breath.


    ¡°Today, two brave men gave their lives to protect our children.  Binxie was a genius and fearless.  John was kind and gentle.  They represent the best of what we hope to be.  In there honor, Destiny has created a troop to watch over us¡±


    Two portals opened on top of the gatehouse and a small goblin in wooden armor and a large ogre wielding a huge club stepped out and took positions facing out.  ¡°When you pass through these gates, Give thanks to Binxie and Ogre John.  This¡­This was my fault.  I will see that those who attacked us today are punished, and I will do my best to ensure this doesn¡¯t happen again.  But I need your help.  Train hard in case I cannot be there in time.  Work hard to prepare for what may come so that we may live free.  For Binxie.  For Ogre John.  They were heroes.¡±