Date: 2022-07-15 04:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy
Description: Duncan's time at the Academy of Steel has been cut short by the undead invasion. Still a stranger to the empire, Duncan sets out to explore how the society functions, and to increase his power so that he may face the forces of the outworlders.

The Arnite Empire

Vol 3 of the Hero of the Valley

Gary Spechko

Copyright © 2022 Gary Spechko

All rights reserved

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

ISBN-13: 9781234567890
ISBN-10: 1477123456

Cover design by: MiblArt
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309
Printed in the United States of America

For Annissa

Chapter 1

Duncan flew high over the foothills of the mountain range that defined the Eastern border of the Arnite Empire.  There was a month of winter left and as the elevation increased, so did the chill.  It didn’t bother him nearly as much as it had done a year ago when he flew in the other direction, towards Lanport.  Probably because I gained another fifty levels and my body’s been imbued with a lot more mana since then.

A year at the Academy of Steel had dramatically improved his sword skills and refined his fighting style.  He’d also made a few friends and joined two organizations that should be useful in the years ahead.  He was a Knight Errant of the Church, and an agent of the Skywatchers.  The Church was well-respected everywhere, and the Skywatchers were especially influential in the elven and dwarven courts.

Neither organization was on Duncan’s mind as he flew towards Clermont, though.  He was planning to delve the Eldritch Horror dungeon as a simple member of the Adventurers Guild.  He used a trick Pelleas had taught him to have his soul gem display Level 80 Warrior to anyone who used it to identify him.  His true level of a hundred and twenty-seven would draw too much attention in the hinterlands of the Arnite Empire.

He’d been to Clermont and the Eldritch Horror dungeon before, at level forty.  He’d spent a month delving the first few caverns of the dungeon, trying to raise his Tranquil Mind and Spirit Shield Techniques.  He’d raised them to rank three, and in the fifteen months since, they’d barely budged despite him delving much higher-level dungeons on a regular basis.  He simply didn’t face a lot of monsters with strong mental or spiritual attacks.  But they were more common among adventurers and the like out in the world, and he refused to have a glaring weakness in his defense.

So, he was returning to delve much deeper into the dungeon, to face horrific monsters that most adventurers avoided, for little loot and improved defensive Techniques.  A dungeon no one likes, so I won’t meet anyone else in there.  Guaranteed improvement in Techniques that are hard to advance and yet vital to my wellbeing.  What’s not to like?

Clermont was a little village surrounded by a wooden palisade deep in the wilds of the central Arnite Empire.  There was a dungeon rated level fifteen nearby, plus the Ice Elemental Sanctuary, a level seventy dungeon which was brutally cold, and the Eldritch Horror dungeon, which had a number of regions within it rated between level forty and level one hundred plus.   Duncan had purchased a cloak from the Adventurers Guild that would prevent environmental damage from the blizzards and biting cold in the Ice Elemental Sanctuary, in case he chose to delve it.  Of course I’ll delve it.  It’s right there and almost as unpopular as the Eldritch Horror dungeon.

He’d also purchased a bracelet that reduced damage from Mind-Affinity attacks by a percentage that scaled with his Mind Affinity.  Since his affinity was outstanding, it afforded a lot of protection.  He would only use it if he got in real trouble – he was supposed to be training his mental defenses, not making them unnecessary.  He had a ring that functioned the same way for Spirit-Affinity attacks, with the same rationale.  Really, I could just wear the jewelry all the time and not have to worry about the Techniques, but gear can be taken away, while Techniques cannot.

There was a limit to how much enchanted equipment one could wear, and while Duncan was quite robust in that respect, he was still butting up against the limits.  He had a full set of enchanted armor, enchanted weapons in each hand, a necklace that improved his healing efficiency, an armband that was an advanced storage device, a ring that was an advanced storage device, and a variety of situationally useful items that he equipped on an as-needed basis.  The storage devices were especially heavy in a metaphysical sense, so he was looking forward to ranking his own Personal Space Pocket Technique up high enough that he could discontinue their use.  It needed to be rank eight before he could have it free floating and advanced enough that he could equip items directly from it.  At present, it was attached to his belt buckle, and his armband and ring were more useful.

Clermont was not an easy village to find.  Surrounded by forest for kilometers in every direction, with only a few cart tracks leading from outlying camps to it, it didn’t receive many visitors.  Fortunately for Duncan, the Eldritch Horror dungeon entrance was on an exposed hill, and he happened across it while searching for Clermont.  He knew the route from the dungeon to the village very well after flying it twice a day for a month the last time he was here, so he was soon checking in with the Adventurers Guild representative (only the three nearby dungeons justifying having one at all).

“Duncan!” said Igor Medeleav, the same representative he’d met the year before.  “Nice to see you again.  My, you’ve advanced quickly – level eighty already!  What brings you back to Clermont?”

“Igor!  Still here?” Duncan replied, pleasantly surprised.

“I signed up for another two years’ posting,” the guild representative said.  “It’s a nice village, and well, there’s a woman here who’s playing with my heart.”

Duncan laughed.  “How’re the dungeons?  Unpopular as ever?”

Igor sobered.  “The team that normally comes to cull the Eldritch Horror dungeon every year hasn’t arrived.  It’s probably due to the undead troubles in the cities, but I think you were the last person to come out of that dungeon.  It’s going to be crowded with monsters.  We’re worried about a dungeon break.  If high-level horrors burst out of there and come this direction, Clermont will be destroyed.  It’s gotten so bad that we’ve been sending urgent messages to the guild asking for adventurers to risk it with every courier who comes through.”

Duncan nodded.  “I guess you’ve been safe from the undead incursion that’s plaguing the cities.  It’s pretty bad out there.   I’ll be delving the Eldritch Horror dungeon for the next little while, so hopefully that will take some of the pressure off for you.  I’ll also delve the Ice Elemental Sanctuary a little later.”

“I won’t tell you not to enter, because we’re desperate,” Igor said. “But be very careful.  Even the area rated level forty will have more monsters than normal.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Duncan smiled.  “I’m better prepared than I was last time I was here.  I’ll be in for a week, then I’ll pop out to let you know how things are going.”

There was nothing to do in Clermont, so, having checked in with the guild, Duncan proceeded straight to the dungeon.  Stepping through the silvery portal hanging mid-air, he found himself in a rough tunnel with a trickle of water running down the walls.  A faint greenish light provided a little light, more than enough for his Shadow Sight Technique to let him see clearly.  The high ambient mana in the dungeon felt comfortable.

Duncan was wearing his dragonskin armor and had his Horrorbane sword in his left hand and his Spirit sword in his right.  He wore his healing efficiency necklace, as usual. He wasn’t wearing his mental or spiritual resistance items – those were for emergencies, to be used in the event he met a horror strong enough to overwhelm his defenses.  He planned to advance relatively slowly, giving his Tranquil Mind and Spiritual Shield Techniques the opportunity to advance before he ran into anything too scary.

As he stepped forward into the tunnel leading deeper into the dungeon, several meter-long slugs moved along the ceiling ahead of him, sensing his presence. With Leech Mana active, he filled the tunnel with a Bladestorm and winced as the slugs emitted bursts of mental damage as they were injured.  The slugs died after a few seconds, succumbing to the constant cuts from the whirling blades created by Duncan’s Technique.

Duncan checked his health with his soul gem – he was down only a thousand health and a dozen slugs lay dead.  This seems perfectly viable.  He used Extract Resources on the slugs, and was rewarded with several vials of slime, which he stored in his storage armband.

He advanced confidently through the tunnel, killing more slugs as he went, until it opened into a large cavern that was crawling with tentacled horrors that resembled an octopus, but with little mouths instead of suckers on the tentacles, and pustules all over their bodies.  Above, dozens of little spirits floated, translucent airborne jellyfish without physical form.  Well, that’s a lot more than were around last year, but I have my Horrorbane sword and Bladestorm Technique now.  The Bladestorm won’t affect the spirits, but it should chew through the low-level horrors.  I’ll use the Spirit sword on the spirits, and Mind Spike as needed, and if I get overwhelmed, the exit isn’t far.  I can Blink away.

The cavern extended more than two hundred meters from where Duncan stood.  He cast a Bladestorm on the horrors closest to him and used his Horrorbane sword and Spirit sword on any of them that made it out of the area of effect to attack him.  The little spirits he was able to kill with two swings of his Spirit sword using Blade Echoes.  I use Blade Echoes on every attack I make.  I bet it’s the first Technique to hit rank ten, and it’ll probably be the first to evolve, too.

It turned out that with Leech Mana active, and so many targets, Bladestorm was actually very mana efficient.  Duncan took only an hour to clear the entire cavern – hundreds of horrors and scores of spirits fell before him.  Soon he’d pressed deeper into the dungeon than he’d done in the entire month he’d spent here at lower levels.  Admittedly, he’d retreated every night to sleep in the inn at Clermont last time, and he no longer needed to sleep almost at all whilst in dungeons, so there was no need to continually fight in the same tunnels and caverns.

The horrors were fascinating in their variety.  There were oozes, slimes, tentacled monsters, some with eyes, some that must have used spiritual or mental senses to detect him.  Some flew, most crawled, some used Mind attacks when struck, some actively lashed out at him the moment they sensed him.  Some used only Mind- or Spirit-Affinity attacks, while a distressing number also used Corrosion- or Decay-Affinity attacks as well.  Only a few used physical attacks.  They all yielded a variety of weird liquids to his Extract Resources Technique.

Less than a day into the delve, he finished clearing the area the guild considered appropriate for teams of level forty adventurers.  There were several tunnels leading down from the last few caverns he cleared, all of which were lit by a darker green glow than the area above.  Duncan advanced more cautiously – he wasn’t sure at what point he’d run into creatures that could overwhelm his Tranquil Mind and Spiritual Shield defenses.

The monsters in the next area were mostly larger versions of the horrors he’d already encountered.  They hit a little harder, and took more effort to kill, but Duncan was soon back to using Bladestorm on groups of horrors and finishing them off with his actual swords when they made it out of the area of effect of the Bladestorm.  He did find he had to heal himself more often, and consequently, his mana pool was a greater concern, but he never felt truly threatened.

So, when he found a passageway glowing with a purple light that led down from a cavern, he proceeded down it with more interest than caution.  It eventually opened into another large cavern crisscrossed with shallow streams of water.  Hundreds of tentacles emerged from the ground and waved around randomly.  Smaller tentacled horrors, very similar to the ones Duncan had seen above, scuttled between the large tentacles.  Are the big tentacles individual creatures or is the entire floor a single monster, with the little ones crawling around on it?

Duncan used a Mind Spike to attack the nearest large tentacle, then Assessed it to see if he’d damaged it.  It had definitely taken a little damage, and other nearby large tentacles didn’t show any damage, so he felt fairly confident they weren’t all part of the same creature.  After a moment the tentacle started flailing wildly and Duncan felt a sharp pain in his head.  So, the Mind Spike stunned it, then it counterattacked with a Mind-based attack of its own…

He opened a fold in space and attacked the base of the tentacle through it, using both his Horrorbane sword and his Spirit sword.  The Horrorbane sword did a tremendous amount of damage, almost cutting through the tentacle entirely.  The Spirit sword did far less, but still a worthwhile amount.  The tentacle let out a horrible keening sound and all the small horrors around its base and around the bases of nearby large tentacles rushed to attack Duncan in a frenzy.

Duncan used his Bladestorm Technique to create a killing field directly in front of himself and the small horrors rushed into it, getting themselves chopped to pieces.  He felt more pain in his head as the large tentacles near the one he’d wounded joined in with Mind-Affinity attacks.  He healed himself – the damage wasn’t as bad as he’d feared – and attacked the injured tentacle again.  It died almost immediately.  A second Bladestorm finished off the attacking small horrors and Duncan moved on to attacking the next large tentacle.

After about ten minutes of this, he was down to half his mana, so he retreated into the tunnel to meditate and recover before renewing his assault on the tentacles.   About fifty tentacles and innumerable little horrors later, the ground rumbled and shook, and a massive squid-like creature emerged from the ground and attacked Duncan.  It hovered in the air, lashing out with tentacles and assaulting his mind at the same time.

Duncan backed up to stay out of the tentacles’ grasp and attacked the creature’s eyes with his Horrorbane sword through folds in space, which also served to slow the vast creature down – it couldn’t move forward past the folds in space while they lasted.  The mental pressure felt quite severe – he was forced to heal himself more often than he’d have liked – but it was manageable.   His sword mangled the monster’s eyes, and he hacked deeper into its head with every blow.  It fell after only a minute or so.  Good thing it was weak to physical attacks – it had a very strong Mind attack itself.

Extract Resources earned him another large haul of vials of various slimes and liquids.  He retreated to rest until his mana recovered, then moved on, the fights becoming more familiar as he did.  The squid-like creatures seemed to appear after every fifty tentacles slain, or thereabouts, and each of them was a significant mental strain to deal with.

He eventually cleared the cavern and decided to return to Clermont for a rest.  He barely needed to sleep these days, but he hadn’t accounted for the mental strain the more dangerous monsters caused.  His plan to delve for a week at a time would have to be modified a bit.  Maybe two or three days in here, then two or three days in the Ice Elemental Sanctuary?

Igor was browsing the branch’s guild equipment scroll when Duncan arrived.  I suppose if I were running a branch of the guild where only a few adventurers showed up each year, I’d be desperate for things to do, too.  An always-changing list of enchanted gear is probably the most interesting thing in here.

“Duncan!” Igor seemed quite happy to see him.  “How was the dungeon?”

“More monsters than last time I was in there, but I cleaned out the first three levels, so I don’t think there’s a real risk of the dungeon breaking out any time soon.  I’ll keep going back to clear further in; I just need a mental break – some of those monsters are a real strain on the mind.”   Duncan pulled out hundreds of vials of slime and ooze and stacked them on the counter for appraisal. “Not much variety in loot, I’m afraid.”

“You’ve got five different varieties of Gibberling slime, Friizak bile, Keppic slug slime, Squiddie venom, and fragile spirit essence.”  Igor shook his head.  “I’ve seen most of these before, in much smaller quantities, from some of the specialty groups that used to enter the dungeon.  The guild appraisal says these are useful in inscription, engraving, enchanting, and potion making.  The guild can offer you a hundred and three gold for the lot.  That said, we’d be selling them on to crafting guilds for a significant markup, so they’re worth more than that if you sell them yourself.”

Duncan shrugged.  “I don’t have the contacts with any crafting guilds.  Easier for me to sell to you.  I get a reasonable amount of gold, and you get enough from your markup to actually make a profit at this branch.  If there’s anything really rare or valuable in what I find, let me know, and I’ll hang on to that.  But if I’m going to get hundreds of vials every few days, I’ll run out of storage space if I keep all of this.”

“That works for me,” Igor replied.  “I’ll point out any individual item worth over ten gold, if that’s alright with you?”

“Sure,” said Duncan.  “If you’re looking through that equipment list and you see an entry for a shield that absorbs or nullifies the momentum of the attack, I want it.  I have five hundred gold on account with the guild to cover it.  If it turns out not to be an affinity I can work with, I’ll sell it back and take the loss.” Igor agreed to keep an eye out, and Duncan retired to the inn for the night.

Chapter 2

Feeling refreshed after a good night’s rest, Duncan flew to the Ice Elemental Sanctuary dungeon.  He equipped his new cloak that prevented damage from the environmental conditions in the dungeon and stepped through the entrance.   Inside, a blizzard was raging, reducing visibility to a matter of a few meters.   The cloak kept him nice and warm at least, though Duncan worried it would hamper his swordplay.

The dungeon presented as a massive glacier in a mountain range.  The exit was in a cave in a cliff face that rose above the glacier.  Confident that he’d be able to find it again, Duncan set off into the blizzard.  Minutes later, he was set upon by a trio of furry humanoids a little bigger than Duncan.  They had white fur and wicked claws on their hands.  They had Techniques, too – he was imprisoned in an ice block (Blink worked to let him escape) and struck by ice spears (they were hard to see in the blizzard) that failed to penetrate his armor and skin.  Their thick fur blunted his sword attacks somewhat, so he found his Spirit sword more effective.  Extract Resources yielded claws and fur.  Having them appraised later yielded the name of the monsters – lesser yetis.

He encountered perhaps a dozen groups of the lesser yetis before finding his first elemental.  It floated in the storm, a constantly shifting collection of geometric shapes.  It attacked by freezing his flesh solid in places, and by causing spears of ice to spring up beneath his feet.  Using Remove Affliction to alleviate the frozen state was mana-intensive, so he learned to attack the elementals very aggressively as soon as he encountered them, keeping them stunned with Mind Spike while he attacked with his dragontooth sword and Spirit sword.

As he progressed further out on the exposed glacier, the elementals grew bigger and more varied.  Clouds of ice fog joined the geometric shapes, while others took the shape of various animals.  Being attacked by transparent four-meter-long snakes was a definite highlight for Duncan.  He kept an eye out for Technique stones but didn’t see any the entire delve.  Extract Resources did produce a variety of ice crystals, which he stored in his armband.

Three days later, he left the dungeon and returned to drop off the ice crystals with Igor.  “You’ve got six different kinds of elemental ice here,” said the appraiser.  “The guild can offer you forty gold for all of it – we’ll resell it to enchanters.”   Duncan took the money and headed back to the Eldritch Horror dungeon for another delve.

For three weeks, he rotated between the two dungeons every few days, taking an overnight rest at the inn in Clermont after each delve with the Eldritch Horrors.  As he worked his way deeper into each dungeon, he began running into more interesting and challenging monsters.  The octopus-like Gibberlings were replaced by insects with additional eyes and mouths, which gave way to batlike creatures with just big toothy mouths where their heads should be.  They began inflicting diseases and toxins on him in addition to the mental and spiritual attacks he’d been expecting.  Creatures that resembled shambling mounds of refuse with ten-meter-long tentacles would stun him with a mental attack, then drag him to their mouths whilst he was stunned.  His Blink Technique saved his life countless times.

After three weeks, in the Ice Elemental Sanctuary, Duncan ran into a three-meter-tall humanoid riding a massive wooly mammoth.  The humanoid was essentially an oversized dwarf with a bright red beard and blue armor made of ice.  It used both fire and ice attacks, and the mammoth’s roar was a spiritual attack that induced fear.  The mammoth had difficulty turning, so Duncan continually Blinked behind it to avoid being trampled and attacked the giant dwarf through folds in space.  The dwarf soon leapt off the mammoth to fight Duncan face to face, using a large axe that alternately pulsed with fire and cold effects.  The dwarf exuded an aura of menace that caused frostbite, despite Duncan’s cloak.

Duncan used folds in space defensively, blocking the axe at the head or haft every time the dwarf tried to swing it.  He attacked with his dragontooth sword and his Spirit sword, a strange dance where his left-handed weapon struck with physical force and his right-handed weapon passed straight through the dwarf on every swing.

The mammoth charged him every once in a while, and whenever it did so, Duncan used a Mind Spike to stun it, interrupting the charge.  He tried Cage of Blades on it, but it shattered the Technique without taking any damage from it.  He continued to focus on fighting the increasingly infuriated dwarf.  It seemed the monster only had melee Techniques, and Duncan’s constant blocking with folds of space were preventing it from using any of them.  Still, it was incredibly resilient – its armor was very good and its flesh so dense that Duncan’s cuts left only shallow gashes, and his Spirit sword felt less effective than normal, too.  The one time Duncan missed a block with a fold in space, the dwarf’s axe tore through Duncan’s armor as though it were paper and cut a deep gash across his belly, destroying some organs and cauterizing the wound as it went.  Duncan regenerated it instantly, but the mana cost was significant.  I can’t afford to miss many more blocks, and if I do, I’d better be able to parry in time!

As he slowly wore the dwarf down, it suddenly stepped back and said, “Bah.  Alright, that’s enough.  Put up your swords, lad.”  Wait, what?  Duncan belatedly identified the dwarf and saw he was a Level 85 135 Warrior. He stepped back, pointing his swords at the ground.

“I’m so sorry!  I thought you were a monster!” Duncan said.

The dwarf snorted.  “Do I look like an elemental?”  He began to shrink, and within seconds was a third the size he’d been.  Still big for a dwarf.

“I get a lot of rare monster spawns in dungeons,” Duncan explained.  “It never occurred to me to identify you.”

“That helps explain why you attacked a stranger. At least you stopped when I spoke.  Good thing I’m in human lands enough that I have a soul gem that you could check, too.”  The dwarf stuck out a hand.  “Yannock Firebeard.”  He waved towards the woolly mammoth.  “That’s Winter Orchid.”

Storing his swords, Duncan shook the dwarf’s hand.  “Duncan, of the Valley.  And a giant on a huge mammoth is exactly the sort of rare monster I’d expect in here.”

Yannock chuckled.  “That’s fair enough, I suppose.  I didn’t expect to find a lone human wandering through here, either.”

“I’m delving the Eldritch Horror dungeon nearby to shore up some weak Techniques.  I come here for a break from all the mental and spiritual attacks,” Duncan explained.

“Hah! Nasty place, that,” said Yannock.  “Winter wouldn’t last long in there.   She loves it in here though – we spend a week in here every time we’re in the area.”

“That explains why you’re in such a low-level dungeon,” said Duncan.  “What brings you to this part of the Empire, if I may ask?  There’s not a lot around here.”

Yannock looked at him askance, then said, “See that, do you?  Maybe you’re older and wiser than you look.  I come through here every two or three years, trading with the locals for rare furs and hides.  I’ve been trading around here for over a century – all the locals know to save their best for me.”

“I’m neither old nor wise, I’m afraid,” said Duncan. “I just have the right Affinities and a good teacher.  Also, you hit far harder than I’d expect at eighty-five, or one-thirty-five for that matter.  There’s no way anyone who sees you fight would believe you’re eighty-five.”

“Bah!” exclaimed Yannock. “Most people haven’t a clue.  To a level thirty adventurer, level eighty-five is so far ahead it may as well be one-fifty.  Now, I am old and wise, and you don’t fight like you’re level eighty, either.  You’re far too tough for level eighty.  But you don’t hit like you’re one-thirty-three.”

Duncan sighed and checked his soul gem momentarily.

Name:

Duncan

Class:

Warrior

Level:

133 (+6)

Profession:

Adventurer

Strength:

337 (+12)

Intelligence:

73

Dexterity:

314 (+12)

Wisdom:

61

Agility:

334 (+12)

Endurance:

340 (+11)

Concurrent Active Techniques:

3

Health:

33400 (+1420)

Health Regen:

23940/hour (+1080)

Stamina:

4730 (+170)

Stam Regen:

59850/hour (+2700)

Mana:

29280 (+1200)

Mana Regen:

8000/hour (+240)

Mana Reserved:

356

Cultivation:

Late Earth

Affinities:

Body

Outstanding

Death

Weak

Mind

Outstanding

Lava

Weak

Spirit

Outstanding

Gravity

Weak

Fire

Weak

Poison

Negligible

Air

Weak

Blade

Outstanding

Water

Weak

Ice

Weak

Earth

Moderate

Decay

Weak

Stone

Moderate

Soul

Strong

Lightning

Weak

Corrosion

Negligible

Gemstone

Moderate

Space

Outstanding

Nature

Negligible

Healing

Outstanding

Life

Weak

Shadow

Moderate

Metal

Moderate

Blood

Negligible

Techniques

Active

Rank

Passive

Rank

Blade Echo

8

Tempered Blade

8

Fold Space

7

Regeneration

8

Blink

6

Coagulation

6

Mind Spike

7

Hardened Skin

7

Destrin's Restoration

6

Tranquil Mind

5 (+1)

Flying Sword

6

Spiritual Shield

5 (+2)

Bladestorm

5

Personal Space Pocket

6

Remove Affliction

6 (+1)

Ignore Pain

6

Regenerate Other

4

Shadow Sight

4

Cage of Blades

3

Assessment

5

Extract Resources

3 (+1)

Blade Sense

5

Leech Mana

4 (+1)

Understand Languages

3

Skills

Rank

1H swords

9

Plate armor

5

2H swords

7

Mail armor

5

1H axes

4

Leather armor

5

2H axes

4

Anatomy

2

Shields

6

Survival

2

Spears

5

Skinning

1

Daggers

3

Meditation

4

Bows

3

Swimming

2

Tracking

1

Riding

2

Elven language

3

Knowledge: Monster

2

At least Tranquil Mind and Spiritual Shield have advanced a little.

“I’m very young,” he said.  I just turned nineteen in here, I think. “And I have a lot of low rank Techniques.  It takes time to get them to rank ten.  I’m working on it.  It’s one of the reasons I’m in low-level dungeons – I’m trying to advance the Techniques that could be holding me back, so that I can push my best Techniques.”

“Alright,” Yannock replied.  “It’s none of my business, anyway.  You can hold your own with whatever that nasty block is and your mobility and healing.  You just don’t pack much of a punch.  You’re ridiculously strong – don’t get me wrong – but you lack a high rank Technique to deal with the defenses people and monsters have at our level.  It’s good for you, in a way.  If I’d felt threatened by your attacks, I’d not have held back my best Techniques.  You’d likely have gotten away, but this outcome is much more congenial.”

“I appreciate your restraint,” said Duncan. “I apologize again for treating you as a monster.”

“All’s well that ends well,” the dwarf replied.  “Stay safe, and good luck with your Techniques.”  With that, he stepped back and grew to his larger form, then mounted the mammoth and waved as they disappeared into the blizzard.

That went better than it otherwise might have.  It never even occurred to me that a giant dwarf in a dungeon might actually be a dwarf rather than a monster.  That was foolish.  I’m glad he was more inclined to talk than to fight to the death.  Though I’m a little upset that he didn’t consider me a threat, given how close we are in levels.  My gear and Techniques let me punch above my level for most of the past year, so it feels wrong that I can no longer do so.  My level is so much higher than my individual Techniques.  I was hitting him with rank eight Techniques against probably a rank ten defense.  He was hitting me with rank ten attacks against my rank seven Hardened Skin and dragonskin armor.  I thought the armor would stand up better than it did, honestly.  Maybe he had a Technique or item that let him ignore or mitigate some of my armor.

Chapter 3

Duncan spent another two months alternating between the Eldritch Horror dungeon and the Elemental Sanctuary dungeon.  He managed to fight his way down through another two regions in the Eldritch Horror, but his progress slowed dramatically as he encountered horrors that could overwhelm his Tranquil Mind and Spiritual Shield Techniques.  Eventually, he chose to wear his protective items when fighting the more dangerous monsters – they were challenging enough to progress all his Techniques, and his Tranquil Mind and Spiritual Shield were getting enough strain from the weaker monsters higher up in the dungeon.

He did discover that his Sword of Peace completely prevented both mental and spiritual damage as well as the fear, dread, and despair effects that were pervasive deeper in the dungeon.  He found himself wielding it whenever he needed a break from the constant strain.  He couldn’t attack with it at all, but he could parry with it and attack with his other sword, and he found that worked well in the deeper parts of the dungeon.  Still, he tried to use it sparingly – his Techniques couldn’t advance if there was no pressure on them.

The additional two months were productive – he managed to advance his newer Techniques at a good pace, and his Tranquil Mind and Spiritual Shield advanced to the point where he no longer considered them useless.  Crucially, he could now tell quite easily when he was being attacked by Spirit- or Mind-Affinity attacks.  One of the things that made spiritual attacks so dangerous was that it was hard to tell you were being attacked at all, so the ability to know he was being attacked was a significant benefit.

His Cage of Blades finally advanced, too, once he started to use it to imprison horrors that were a real threat to him.  They continually broke through the cage, but that seemed to trigger something in him, and the Technique advanced twice in quick succession.

His Assessment Technique gained another benefit when it reached rank six, as well.  He could get a vague sense of how dangerous the person or monster he was assessing was compared to him.  It was difficult to tell in the Eldritch Horror dungeon, where he felt a constant sense of unease and foreboding whenever he wasn’t using his Sword of Peace, but in the Ice Elemental Sanctuary, he could clearly tell that most of the monsters weren’t a threat to him, and even the dungeon boss (an ice drake) was only a small threat.

All in all, the two months provided some of the best gains Duncan had experienced.  Only one of his primary Techniques advanced at all, but he was shoring up his weaknesses, and his body was seeing tremendous gains from all the levels that resulted.

Name:

Duncan

Class:

Warrior

Level:

145 (+12)

Profession:

Adventurer

Strength:

358 (+21)

Intelligence:

73

Dexterity:

339 (+25)

Wisdom:

61

Agility:

357 (+23)

Endurance:

362 (+22)

Concurrent Active Techniques:

4 (+1)

Health:

36240 (+2840)

Health Regen:

26100/hour (+2160)

Stamina:

5070 (+340)

Stam Regen:

65250/hour (+5400)

Mana:

31680 (+2400)

Mana Regen:

8480/hour (+480)

Mana Reserved:

456

Cultivation:

Late Earth

Affinities:

Body

Outstanding

Death

Weak

Mind

Outstanding

Lava

Weak

Spirit

Outstanding

Gravity

Weak

Fire

Weak

Poison

Negligible

Air

Weak

Blade

Outstanding

Water

Weak

Ice

Weak

Earth

Moderate

Decay

Weak

Stone

Moderate

Soul

Strong

Lightning

Weak

Corrosion

Negligible

Gemstone

Moderate

Space

Outstanding

Nature

Negligible

Healing

Outstanding

Life

Weak

Shadow

Moderate

Metal

Moderate

Blood

Negligible

Techniques

Active

Rank

Passive

Rank

Blade Echo

8

Tempered Blade

8

Fold Space

7

Regeneration

8

Blink

7 (+1)

Coagulation

6

Mind Spike

7

Hardened Skin

7

Destrin's Restoration

6

Tranquil Mind

7 (+2)

Flying Sword

6

Spiritual Shield

7 (+2)

Bladestorm

6 (+1)

Personal Space Pocket

6

Remove Affliction

6

Ignore Pain

7 (+1)

Regenerate Other

4

Shadow Sight

4

Cage of Blades

5 (+2)

Assessment

6 (+1)

Extract Resources

4 (+1)

Blade Sense

5

Leech Mana

5 (+1)

Understand Languages

3

Skills

Rank

1H swords

9

Plate armor

5

2H swords

7

Mail armor

5

1H axes

4

Leather armor

5

2H axes

4

Anatomy

2

Shields

6

Survival

2

Spears

5

Skinning

1

Daggers

3

Meditation

4

Bows

3

Swimming

2

Tracking

1

Riding

2

Elven language

3

Knowledge: Monster

2

That’s really good.  I’m so much sturdier than I was when I left Lanport, and I was already pretty sturdy then, I thought.  How strong is three hundred and fifty-eight strength?  I think I remember someone saying you can carry two hundred kilos a short distance at one hundred strength.  I don’t know how that scales, though.

Ooh, four concurrent Techniques.  That’s brilliant.  No excuse not to have Leech Mana active all the time in every fight now.  It’s been advancing at an incredible pace since I learned it, too.  Mana issues just don’t crop up unless I’m having to heal a lot now.

Duncan was reflecting on his progress as he flew towards Chorley, having decided he’d had enough of Eldritch Horrors.  He’d turned in so many reagents, trophies, and assorted weird body parts from horrors that Igor was convinced the dungeon wouldn’t overflow for years.   An Adventurers Guild courier had had to make a special trip to Clermont to bring sufficient gold to buy them all, and to carry them back to Merryfield for resale to various crafters.  The courier also left with a surprising amount of elemental ice the guild would be happy to resell.   Duncan, in turn, wound up with thousands of gold coins he didn’t have an immediate use for, but which at least didn’t take up a large portion of his storage devices.

Chorley proved easier to find than Clermont had, being on a well-maintained road – all Duncan had to do was fly North until he encountered the road, then East along the road to his destination.  Chorley was a walled town of perhaps a thousand people, with almost everything constructed of wood taken from the surrounding forest.

Duncan landed about ten meters from the gate and walked up to the guard on duty.  The Level 22 Warrior nodded to him.  “Thanks for landing outside the wall, warrior.  Ten bits entrance fee, the Adventurers Guild hall is on the main square.”  Duncan had modified what his soul gem told people who queried it to show he was a Level 85 Warrior – he’d had to raise it a little so as not to make Igor think he’d spent three months constantly delving with nothing to show for it, and Chorley was close enough to Clermont that he felt he should maintain some continuity.

Duncan paid the entrance fee and received a wooden chit that he could have marked at whichever inn he chose to stay at – it would give him free re-admittance to the town for the duration of his stay.  Moving into the town, Duncan Blinked down the street to the town center.  The guild hall was the only building with a stone facing on it, which made it easy to identify.

Entering the guild hall, he saw the familiar layout hadn’t changed.  There was a lounge area with a bar and a few tables where people could eat, and a registration desk and job board next to stairs up to the private areas of the guild hall and the stairs down to the appraisals area.  A young woman sat at the desk looking a bit bored.   She was a Level 26 Healer.

“Hello Amy,” he said.  “I see you’ve progressed well since I was last here.”  She’d been level twelve, and quite bitter about it, the last time he’d seen her.  A year had seen her lean out some, and she looked more like an adventurer now, though she kept her long blonde hair loose around her face.

“Duncan!” she exclaimed.  “I’ve grown faster than you!”  He’d been level seventy-five when he left Chorley for Lanport the year before.

“So, you have.  Did you find someone to take you through the forest glade dungeon, or did you go elsewhere to delve?” he asked.

“Mom gave me some Technique Stones, and we went West to a couple of beginner dungeons for a month,” Amy explained.  “I joined up with some others and ran the dungeons every day for the whole month.  It was intense!  So now I’m high enough level for the forest glade dungeon, and I go with the guard groups sometimes.  They’re happy to have another healer along.”

“Glad to hear it!” said Duncan. “You seem much happier than when I last saw you.”

Amy nodded. “You here to try the Endless Depths again?”

“I am,” he confirmed.  “I have new gear, new training, and I’m a bit stronger than I was, so I’m going to have another go at it.”

“Okay, as far as I know, there are four groups currently in there, all between forty and sixty, so they’ll probably all be above the fifth floor,” said Amy.

“Perfect.  I’ll start with the Antling queen on the fifth and go lower from there,” Duncan said.  “There are a few things I struggled with last year, and I want to see how I do now.”

Seeing no reason to delay, Duncan headed straight to the Endless Depths dungeon.  He’d spent a lot of time in the dungeon the last time he was in Chorley and knew the layout well.  He flew directly to the stairs down to the second floor, bypassing all the monsters that wouldn’t be a challenge at all.  He did the same on the next three floors.

As he ran down the stairs to the fifth floor where the antmen lived, he heard a deep voice call out from ahead.  “Halt!  Who approaches?”

“A lone adventurer,” Duncan replied.  “I’m just heading down to the Antling floor.”

“Approach slowly so that we can see you,” the voice said.

This is strange.  He sounds scared.  Angry, too.  Duncan walked forward until he could see the group camped in the stairwell.  There were five of them, though three were lying down.  Standing over them was a man in heavy armor with a sword and shield, and in the corner, a woman in an armored robe tried to hide in the shadows but was clearly visible to his Shadow Sight.  The man was a Level 58 Warrior and the woman a Level 57 Mage.  The three lying on the floor were a Level 57 Healer, a Level 56 Warrior, and a Level 59 Mage.  The three lying down all showed as badly injured and diseased, to Duncan’s Assessment.

“My name is Duncan, of the Valley,” Duncan said.  “I see that you have some injured.  How can I help?”  Adventurers Guild rules dictated that if you came across an adventuring party in distress in a dungeon, you did everything you could to help get them to safety.  There was a possibility this was some sort of trap, but Duncan didn’t fear anything a group of low-level (compared to him) adventurers could threaten him with.

“Some humanoid monster has been tormenting us for days,” the warrior replied.  “Attacking us out of the shadows, injuring one of us, then disappearing again.  For all we know, you could be him.”

Ugh.  How do I prove I’m not the scary solo humanoid who’s been attacking them?  “I can understand your caution,” he said, equipping his Monocle of Revealing. If there’s something hiding in the shadows nearby, maybe I can spot it.  He looked around the landing and up the stairs behind him, even checking the ceiling.  “I can see your friend in the corner, but I don’t see anyone else hiding nearby.  I can heal your friends, and possibly remove the disease afflicting them, if you’ll let me.  And then I can escort you out of here.”

“How do we know you won’t kill them instead?” asked the woman in the corner.

Duncan shrugged. “You don’t.  If you want me to leave and inform the local guild officials where you are, I’ll do that.  I can be back in Chorley in less than an hour.  I don’t know how long they’ll take to assemble a team to rescue you though, and, honestly, I’m likely to be the muscle on that team.”  I will refrain from telling them if I wanted them dead, they’d be dead.  That would be counterproductive.  And mean.  They’re already pretty freaked out.

The man sighed.  “I don’t think we have much choice, Paulina.  Duncan, thank you for your offer of assistance – we accept.  Please try to heal our wounded.”

Duncan nodded and stepped forward.  Going past the injured adventurers, he looked down the stairs to make sure there was no one lurking.  Seeing no one there, he leaned over and touched the unconscious healer, removing her affliction (at a cost of four thousand mana) and healing her to full (another five thousand mana).  Four thousand mana for Remove Affliction... that means it was rank nine. If I heal all three, I’ll be out of mana, and that strikes me as a bad idea with an unknown assailant who can inflict rank nine diseases around.  It’s a shame Destrin’s Restoration is a full heal – I can’t just heal a bit with it.  Maybe I should try practicing that sometime…

The healer sat up abruptly.  “Edouard!” she said.

“I’m here, Laurina, I’m here,” the warrior replied, kneeling beside her to embrace her.

“There was a monster…” Laurina said in a bewildered tone.

“Yes, it attacked you, and made you ill.  You’ve been unconscious for five days.” Edouard explained.  “This warrior healed you.”

“Hi,” Duncan said.

“How…” she began.

“I have a couple of low rank healing techniques,” Duncan said.  “You were affected by a disease from a rank nine Technique – it took a huge amount of mana to heal you, so I’m hoping you can heal your friends yourself.”

“My… Francis!  Philippe!” Laurina said, looking at her comatose companions.  “I can remove disease, yes, and heal.  But rank nine… I don’t know.  I’ll try.”  She laid her hands on the unconscious mage and closed her eyes.  “I can’t… it’s too much.  My Technique is only rank seven.  It’s not strong enough.”

Interesting.  My Technique is more general, and extremely expensive, but it can remove afflictions of higher rank if I’m willing to spend the mana.  “Alright,” Duncan said. “I’ll remove the disease; you heal them afterwards.”

“Yes, I can do that,” she agreed.   And so, Duncan spent another eight thousand mana and removed the disease on the two unconscious men.  Laurina healed them with her own Techniques, and Edouard explained to them all what had happened since each of them had been attacked.  Duncan listened quietly whilst recovering his mana.  The monster had attacked them each day for the past five days, incapacitating first the healer, then the mage, then the warrior.  It was preventing them from leaving the dungeon, attacking whenever they moved towards the exit from the fourth floor.  They had taken refuge in the stairway to the fifth floor out of desperation.

“So, you think it’ll be waiting for us when I escort you out?” Duncan asked.

Edouard nodded.  “It’s fast.  Very, very fast.  And strong.  It attacks with claws and teeth but walks like a man.  It has a terrifying aura.”

Hmm.  “Did you identify it to make sure it wasn’t a man?” Duncan asked, thinking back to him mistaking Yannock for a monster in the Ice Elemental Sanctuary.

“It was definitely not human.  But no, I didn’t try to identify it,” Edouard said.  The rest shook their heads.

“Okay,” Duncan tried to sound confident and reassuring. “If it attacks, stay together, protect each other as best you can.  I’ll try to kill it or drive it off.  Dungeon monsters don’t behave like you’ve described – it should be attacking you and trying to kill you instead of playing with you.  So, I’m not sure what we’re dealing with.”

“Can you all fly?” he asked.

It turned out only the two mages could fly.  Not good.  “Okay, we’ll walk out.  I could possibly carry two of you and fly, but that would leave us vulnerable if something attacked.  I’d prefer to have weapons at hand.”

Once they were ready, Duncan led them out into the fourth floor.  The monsters were stronger versions of the humanoid frogmen called mossfoot (mossfeet?  They’re mossfoot warriors and mossfoot chieftains but are they mossfeet when referred to collectively?).  The group was able to fight them – it’s what they were in the dungeon for originally – but the monsters were a difficult fight for them, and the addition of the unknown predator was too much.   The plan was to avoid the monsters as much as they could and get to the stairs to the third floor as fast as they could.

They avoided the first two packs they saw but were forced to engage the third.  Duncan Blinked to the rearmost mossfoot warrior and took its head off with a single swing of his dragontooth sword.  Woah.  I guess I really have grown a lot.  He passed forward with his right foot and swung his Angelic Spirit sword vertically, dropping the second one.  The third had just turned to face him when he thrust his dragontooth sword into its neck and the Blade Echoes almost decapitated it.

“Hera’s grace!” exclaimed one of the adventurers – Francis, Duncan thought.  “What are you?”

“Hopefully someone scarier than whatever’s hunting you,” Duncan replied.  “Speaking of scary, if it shows up with its aura active, I will release mine, too.  Don’t freak out.”

They drew close to the stairs to the third level, and Duncan was just beginning to hope he’d get the adventurers out without a fight when a slender humanoid stepped out to block the exit.  It had pasty white skin, black armor made of some sort of chitin, and long black hair.  It stood almost as tall as Duncan and exuded a significant aura of menace.  Duncan identified it as a Level 140 Warrior.  Woah, that’s a very scary dude.

Duncan released his own aura and stepped forward to place himself between the predator and the adventurers who’d become its prey.  “Praetor save us,” someone whispered behind him.  The warrior in front of him raised his eyebrows at the force of Duncan’s aura.

Duncan said nothing, calmly facing the warrior.  For a long moment, the warrior just stared at him, and then it flashed forward impossibly fast – and slammed its shins into an almost-invisible fold in space Duncan had placed three meters in front of him.   The warrior was far too agile to faceplant, but stumbled, his attack ruined.

Taking advantage of the stumble, Duncan stepped left and swung his dragontooth sword at the warrior’s neck, then reversed his hip motion, stepped forward with his right foot and swept the Spirit sword up through the warrior’s body.  He kneed the off-balance warrior to knock him away and lunged with the dragontooth sword as he passed forward.

The warrior twisted impossibly in mid-air to avoid being impaled by the thrust, instead being struck a glancing blow that skittered off his armor.  He landed on one knee and one foot, looking at Duncan in shock, then sped off into the shadows.  Duncan was still wearing the Monocle of Revealing but didn’t see the warrior anywhere.

“Stairs, now,” he barked, and the adventurers rushed past him and up the staircase.  He followed swiftly behind.  He’d won the first engagement – the enemy had a nasty neck wound, and Duncan’s Spirit sword had been very effective.  Duncan had Assessed him at under three-quarters health.  The Technique also Assessed the warrior as an even match for Duncan.   But he had a group who didn’t stand a chance against a level one-forty warrior to escort out.

The third floor of the Endless Depths was a large, forested area, a hundred square kilometers of dungeon.  Duncan was astounded every time he experienced a dungeon this expansive.  The staircase to the second level was easy to find – it was in a pillar that extended hundreds of meters above the forest.  It was also kilometers away.

Duncan turned to the mages and said, “Can you carry Laurina between you while you fly?”  When they nodded, he said, “Right.  New plan.  You two carry Laurina, I’ll carry the warriors, and we fly to the exit as fast as we can.  If that guy targets one of you when he’s not playing around, he’ll kill you with a single blow.”

He stored his weapons and summoned his largest sword under his feet.  He pulled the two warriors to his side and told them to each put one foot on the sword.  Grasping them by the armor at their necks, he flew up a meter or two to make sure they were secure, then gestured to the mages to follow, and picked up height and speed.  Neither of his passengers made a sound.

Belatedly, he suppressed his aura.  “Sorry,” he muttered.

The two warriors hanging off the side of his sword messed with his aerodynamics – his blade-aspected mana cut the wind in front of him, but they were still buffeted by the wind if he went too fast.  Still, it was all the mages could do to keep up with him as they carried the healer between them.

They reached the pillar with the staircase to the second floor without incident and rushed up it.  The second floor was a massive cavern filled with hills and caves.  It was home to a tribe of Cyclops, and Duncan was content to fly over them on the way to the exit to the first floor, which led to a large swamp biome.  Truly, the scope of this dungeon is spectacular.

Not taking any time to rest, they flew over the swamp to a tunnel leading up to the dungeon exit and the surface.  Once outside and under the stars, Duncan didn’t let up, and the group flew all the way back to the Adventurers Guild hall in Chorley.

Chapter 4

Duncan strode into the guild hall, the adventurers he’d rescued trailing after him like chicks following their mother.  The hall was more crowded than Duncan had ever seen it, the common room filled with people listening to someone singing and playing an instrument on a little stage near the bar.  Heads turned as the fully armed and armored group burst in, but no one seemed alarmed – this was the Adventurers Guild hall, after all, and adventurers were expected to come and go at all hours.

Zach, the local guildmaster hurried over to them, but Duncan was distracted – his Spiritual Shield Technique was registering the music as a spiritual attack.  He identified the musician as a Level 80 Bard Level 110 Warrior.  Yeah, that’s not suspicious at all.  Duncan stopped suppressing his aura and the force of his presence was felt throughout the room.

The audience wasn’t comprised entirely of adventurers – quite a few regular townsfolk had come to hear the bard.  Many of those folks were completely overwhelmed by his aura.  He might be projecting that he was level eighty-five through his soul gem, but his aura was still that of a Level 145 Warrior who’d spent months fighting eldritch horrors and who’d come close to death countless times.  The locals mostly froze in place, but some hid under tables or bolted for an exit if one was close enough.

The musician blurred forward to attack Duncan, but Duncan lunged forward to meet it, and his dragontooth sword impaled the musician, who now looked just like the warrior Duncan had fought in the dungeon, white skin, long black hair, fangs and claws.  The claws raked at Duncan’s armor even as his sword burst out of the musician’s back.  It bared its fangs and hissed at him.

“Vampire!” Zach gasped as his armor and longsword appeared.  Advanced storage device, Duncan noted.

The vampire lunged backwards, pulling itself off Duncan’s sword, and he followed it, sweeping his Spirit sword through its body in a rising strike.  The gaping wound in the vampire’s chest from his dragontooth sword closed before his eyes.  That’s pretty impressive regeneration.  He followed up with a cut at the vampire’s knee with his dragontooth sword, but the vampire blocked it with a clawed hand and struck at his face with its other.

Duncan blocked the claw attack with a fold in space and swept his Spirit sword through the vampire’s chest.

“Immolation or decapitation!” snapped Zach.  “There’s no other way to kill a vampire.”   Really?  The Spirit sword seems to be doing a great job – it’s not healing that damage.

Still, Duncan nodded, and dismissed his swords.  The vampire lunged at him, sinking its claws into his chest.  Ouch!   Duncan grasped the vampire by the shoulders, opened a fold in space above the vampire’s head, and lifted the vampire until its head passed through the fold.  He released the Technique and the vampire’s head was neatly snipped off, falling to the floor and bouncing under a table.

Duncan flung the body away from him and used Destrin’s Restoration to regenerate his wounds.  No disease, that’s a relief.  The vampire’s claws hadn’t breached his ribcage and hadn’t really done a lot of damage to his chest muscles, either.  His flesh had become quite dense with the recent advancements he’d made.  That Fold Space Technique is awesome.  It made this fight trivial.  Feels a little like I cheated, though.  Still, with so many weak bystanders, better to go with the quick victory.

He retrieved the head and checked both it and the body for signs of life.  Finding neither, he suppressed his aura again and turned to Zach.  “Sorry about that.  We came to report trouble in the Endless Depths, but the vampire’s song was a Spirit-based attack.  I identified it and saw that it was a one-ten warrior pretending to be a level eighty bard, so I released my aura to make it focus on me.  You saw the rest.”  He stored the vampire parts in his storage armband.

Zach sighed.  “Let me settle these people down, then we can talk about the dungeon.”  He moved off to address the crowd, trying to reassure everyone that the danger was past.  Duncan noted that the guildmaster had advanced in the time he’d been away and was now a Level 80 Warrior.

Andrea, Zach’s wife and a Level 79 Rogue, sidled up to Duncan.  “That was a neat trick, decapitating it that way.  Pretty strong for level eighty-five.”

Duncan snorted. “I could have done that at level thirty.  Though it would have been harder to lift him back then.”  And those claws would probably have ripped my lungs and heart out.  He gestured to the adventurers he’d rescued, “These people have an official report to make, can you help facilitate that?”

“That’s Zach’s job, I’m just an adventurer,” Andrea replied.  “Hey, Amy!”  Her daughter was still at the desk she normally occupied.  “Take these adventurers up to the guildmaster’s office.  He’ll be up in a minute to interview them.”

Amy gestured to the stairs, “Right this way, please.”  She made a point of not looking at Duncan.  Did I scare her with my aura?  Probably.

“Now that your distraction is taken care of, let’s talk about you,” said Andrea, with a little smirk.  She waved him over to a nearby table and they sat.

“I see you’ve gained a few levels,” said Duncan.  “Congratulations.”

“Thanks.  I see you’ve only gained a few yourself.  Very unlike you,” she replied.

“Lanport has very low ambient mana.  The whole area is a wasteland for dungeons.  And I was a full-time student,” said Duncan.  “If it weren’t for the undead incursion, I might not have advanced any Techniques at all.   Did you find a new group to delve with?  I see Zach is level eighty now, too.”  He nodded towards Zach, who had seemingly resorted to offering free drinks to the locals to settle them down.

“Our new appraiser is a healer,” Andrea said. “We’ve been delving the Endless Depths a little.  Level one hundred feels like it might be within reach if we keep this up.”

“That’s great!” Duncan enthused.  “You’re already past the hard part.  You’ve probably got quite a few open Technique slots you can fill yet, too.  I seem to recall you were working with Pelleas on your builds, so I expect you’ve got a good plan.”

Zach approached them, the locals settled at last.  “The team from the dungeon is waiting for you in your office,” Andrea said.  “Amy is entertaining them.”  The guildmaster sighed and headed up the stairs.

“You took a perverse pleasure in that,” Duncan noted.

Andrea sighed.  “This position was a great opportunity for him, but it’s been holding us back.  And Amy is twenty-three already, she should be out with her own team, but she’s clinging to us.  We won’t drive her away, but I wish she’d show a little more initiative.”

“It’s hard.  My roommates at the Academy were nobles in their mid twenties, level-wise.  They are good people, and we delved the Academy training dungeon together a few times, but it took the undead incursion to light a fire under them and get them progressing.”  Duncan shrugged. “If it were easy, the world would be filled with level one hundred immortals, I guess.”

“Do you worry about risk as you get closer to one hundred?” Andrea asked.  “You start to see noticeable lifespan increases around level eighty, and at level one hundred you can expect to live perhaps a thousand years.  That’s incredible.”

“I think I’ll still be looking for ways to advance my Techniques at level two hundred,” Duncan said.  “I know I’m likely to die a violent death in a dungeon or getting smacked down by a dragon or something.  But for me, I feel most alive when I’m fighting against skilled opponents and any mistake could be my last.  I’ve built up my Techniques to reduce the risk, but it’s always there. Maybe I’ll mellow with age, but for now – there’s so much to do and so much I want to see in the world.  And so many threats to face.  I want to protect those who can’t protect themselves.”

Andrea nodded.  “I think Zach and I will press to a hundred, but then I think we’ll join the overwhelming number of people who stop taking risks at that point.  Zach will probably settle down to run a guild hall like this, and I’ll end up teaching or acting as a guild courier, or something.  We’ll live long lives seeing the world from the safety of guild appointments.”

“And maybe we’ll grow bored and start to advance again,” she continued.  “That’s also a trend – adventurers make it to a hundred, and pause there for a couple of centuries, then start to progress further, though generally not much further.  The nobility and their people do it differently, of course.  A nobleman gets to a hundred and he’ll rule his lands for centuries.  He’ll have many children, most of whom won’t survive to reach a hundred, and mostly with secondary wives, because either his first wife won’t produce many, because we lose the ability to bear children at about level one hundred for the same reason we age more slowly – a critical level of mana in our bodies.  Or because his first wife died of old age because she stayed low level to produce heirs.”

“It’s a pretty shitty life, being nobility, unless you’re the head of a family.  You get used as pawns in politics and wars.”

“Guards in noble service may have it better than the nobles, if they live.  They serve two centuries after reaching level one hundred, then they’re able to retire from service and do as they will.  Many of the active adventurers over one-fifteen are former guardsman.”

This is really interesting, actually.  “What about other places?” Duncan asked.  “I’m told the Empire’s a mana-starved backwater full of weaklings.  And I’ve been told people can advance techniques after they’ve hit rank ten, and that my understanding of affinities is incomplete.  I’m too weak and too young to be told any more than I have been.  Rank ten Techniques take time, and, at age nineteen, I simply haven’t put in the time to get that far.”

“I don’t know about other places.  I’m only twenty years older than you, and I’ve never left the empire.”  Andrea sounded wistful.

Amy approached their table, “Duncan, the guildmaster would like to speak with you in his office, if you have a moment.”  Duncan nodded, thanked Andrea for the chat, and headed up the stairs to Zach’s office.

As he headed up the stairs, he heard Amy ask her mother, “What was with his aura?  I’ve never felt one that strong.”

“That little prick!” Andrea exclaimed.  “He completely distracted me from asking about that.”

Duncan was still smiling as he passed the adventuring team on the stairs.  “Thanks again, Duncan,” said Edouard.  “I don’t think we’d have made it out of there without you.”

“Happy to help.  You guys did well – facing something like that is not a normal dungeon encounter.  If I can offer some advice – meditate on the experience and talk about it amongst yourselves.  You survived and can grow stronger from it.”

He knocked on the door to Zach’s office, and the guildmaster called out from inside for him to enter.  Zach was seated behind his desk, a worried look on his face.  “Thanks for coming up, Duncan.  Have a seat.  Please tell me what happened from your point of view.”

“I was heading down to see if I could find the Antling queen and came across a group of adventurers in distress in the stairwell to the fifth floor.  Three of them were unconscious, injured, and diseased, one of whom was their healer.  I removed the disease from all three and healed their healer, and she healed the other two.”

“They indicated that they were being stalked by a humanoid that attacked them and left, repeatedly, over the course of several days.  That didn’t sound like the actions of a dungeon monster – in my experience, they attack and keep attacking until they win or die.  In any case, I escorted them out of the dungeon.  The humanoid did attack us on the fourth floor, but I was able to drive it off, and we flew through the remaining levels to exit the dungeon before it could return.  I identified it as a level one-hundred-and-forty warrior.  Turns out it was a vampire, but I didn’t know that at the time.”

Zach laughed.  “That has to be the driest possible telling of that story.”

Duncan shrugged. “Just the facts, Zach.”

“Well, according to the others, you were one-shotting monsters on the fourth level, and almost killed a level one hundred and forty vampire in under five seconds.  Also, your aura was more frightening than his.”  Zach looked exasperated.  “Those are not the actions of a level eighty-five warrior.”

“In my defense,” said Duncan, “I wasn’t planning on fighting vampires in public.  I could be a non-descript level eighty-five warrior in town, and just fight on my own in the dungeon.”

“What level are you really, and how are you showing a lie?  The Senior guildmasters will have to be told.  This could undermine all of our society.” Zach sounded really concerned.

“If they’re high level, they already know,” said Duncan.  “Pretty much everyone I’ve met over one-twenty hides their real level so as to not stand out in the empire.  As to how it’s done, some people use an item.  For me, my affinities are good enough I can just tell my soul gem what to display.  I can see through soul gem deceptions for the same reason.  A dwarf I met told me anyone who’s old enough and wise enough can see the real value, as well.”

“I told you when we first met that the level system was stupid as a measure of power.  And I didn’t even know then that you could project a false level.  Since then, I’ve learned you can continue to advance a Technique beyond rank ten under certain circumstances that no one has explained to me.  And I know for a fact that level two hundred is not a hard cap.”  Duncan realized he was ranting, just a little.

“Elves and dwarves measure people by the strength of their aura,” he went on.  “Though even that can be toned down.  I haven’t learned how to do that yet, though.  Back where I came from, everyone just treated everyone else with respect.  That seemed to work pretty well.”

Zach pinched the bridge of his nose, a pained look on his face.  “So, anyone I meet could be a much higher level than they show.  And that’s pretty much an open secret among the powerful.”

“Well, among the powerful people I know, yeah,” said Duncan.  “But not everyone, and it depends on your definition of powerful.  The Duke of Lanport didn’t seem to know, or at least he couldn’t see through a deception, but he’s only a hundred and two.”

“Only.  So, how powerful are you, then?” asked Zach.

“Significantly less powerful than my level would suggest,” Duncan explained. “I’m simply too young to have developed rank ten Techniques, much less what comes after.  I met a level one-forty mage in the Villanovan Confederacy who could kill me with a flick of his finger.  So, while I’m very powerful by your standards, I am quite weak compared to more experienced people around my own level.  I have a wide variety of good Techniques between rank six and eight.  I struggle to hurt things with rank ten or better defenses, and I cannot stand up to the attacks of people with rank ten or better offense.”

Zach grimaced. “The reason, well, one of the reasons, I’m asking is that there’s a level one hundred and forty vampire in the Endless Depths, and at least three more adventurer groups possibly trapped in there with it.  Edouard’s team seems to think you can kill it.  Can you?”

It was Duncan’s turn to grimace.  “Maybe.  My Assessment Technique shows it as an even fight.  I can’t immolate it, but I can decapitate it, if I can maneuver it into a trap, and my Spirit sword seems to do a lot of damage to it.  But I did well against it the first time because it thought I was a level eighty-five warrior with a strong aura.  It completely underestimated me, and I still couldn’t kill it with surprise on my side.  I tend to win battles of attrition, but it has a rank nine disease technique that will devastate my mana if I have to keep removing the effect.”

He went on, “We don’t know that it’s alone in there, either.  There was one pretending to be a bard in the guild hall.  If there were two, there could be more.  I don’t know anything about vampires, but I’m told the Vampire Courts are among the great powers of the world, and that a Vampire Court could field two hundred level two-hundred vampires if it needed to.  I’m not so conceited as to think I can deal with even one level two-hundred vampire.”

“Alright.  I’m going to treat this the way I would normally,” Zach said.  “I’ll send an emergency notification to the guild via a shared scroll.  We actually have a protocol for vampire attacks.  It involves notifying the nearest Vampire Court, which will send a troubleshooter to clean up the problem however they see fit, which is why I was hoping not to invoke it.  I have no idea what that means for us.”

Duncan nodded.  “That makes sense.  And when you get a chance, if you could tell me what you know about vampires, I’d appreciate it.”

“I can do that now, while I write the message,” Zach said.  “Because I don’t know a lot.  They’re a race with a very strong Blood Affinity, and they drink the blood of other races for sustenance.  Some can transform into bats, or other animals, and some can turn into a cloud of vapor when threatened.  Some, especially the ones that become vampire lords, have a strong Mind Affinity, too, and can control people.  Vampires can turn people into blood slaves, completely loyal but mentally compromised followers.”

“There are very few vampires, compared to the other races of Medim, though.  Maybe ten thousand across the world, according to the guild.  So, there’s an uneasy truce.  They’re too powerful both individually and collectively for us as individual nations to wipe them out.  But they know that if they overstep too much, all of the rest of the world will try to wipe them out, and that will make their lives extremely uncomfortable.”

“Vampires have some known weaknesses, too.  They are nocturnal, greatly weakened by the light of the sun.  This doesn’t apply to artificial dungeon suns, just the real thing.  If deprived of blood, they weaken rapidly, as well, eventually being forced into a sleeping state.  And they’re arrogant pricks, probably because they’re so powerful.”

“Finally, vampires belong to a Vampire Court – there are three that we know of, each with their own geographic territory.  The one with authority over vampires in the Arnite Empire is called the Hervati Court, based somewhere East of the Villanovan Confederacy.  When we have a vampire problem, we contact the Court, and they take care of it.”

“Thank you,” Duncan said.  “Here’s the body of the vampire we killed downstairs, in case you need it.”  He deposited the body and head on the floor and Zach stored them in his own storage device.  “While I don’t think I can necessarily kill the vampire or vampires in the dungeon, I do think I can probably escape if I’m attacked.  I’d like to go and look for the other adventurer groups that might be trapped in the dungeon.”

“I’d appreciate that but be careful.  You know your power better than I do, but there’s a reason we have to call vampires in to deal with other vampires.”  Zach finished writing his missive on the scroll he used to communicate with the guild and dropped it into a drawer.  “I expect a response from the guild by morning, and there’ll probably be some insanely powerful vampire here in a few days to take care of the problem.”

Chapter 5

Duncan returned to the Endless Depths feeling a little apprehensive, but also excited.  I wanted to protect people, here’s a good opportunity.  The three remaining adventuring groups that had informed the guild (meaning Amy) that they were in the dungeon were all between levels forty and sixty, so they would be in the top four floors, most likely.

Remembering that there was a section full of traps, Duncan had purchased a long pole to poke things with.  He could Blink and fly and remove afflictions, but he was still a little anxious about the trapped portion of the dungeon.  Hopefully there’s no one in there at all.  I’ll check the other areas first.  He also had his Monocle of Revealing equipped.  The headache it gave him was slowly fading as he got used to wearing it under his helm.  Additionally, he had his Bracelet of Mental Protection and Ring of Spirit Protection equipped.  Beyond that, he had only his usual gear – Armband storage space, necklace of healing efficiency, and his armor and weapons.

He started his search in the mossfoot area.  He flew high enough above the ground that they ignored him, and he had a good view of each cavern’s inhabitants.  As he hunted for signs of adventurers or vampires, he thought over his conversations with Andrea and Zach.  The whole pretending to be a low-level warrior didn’t really work out well, did it?  I suppose if I never fought in front of someone, and never stopped suppressing my aura, I could pass for a strong level one hundred or so.  But when it comes right down to it, I don’t like lying.  Hmm, maybe…  Duncan tried setting his soul gem to just display Warrior when queried… and it worked!  I dunno if this is a good idea or not, but I’ll give it a try.

Not finding anything to indicate the monsters had been disturbed at all, Duncan moved on to the next area on the first floor – a town of creepy animated marionettes.  There, he found a group of six humans fighting the marionettes.  Scanning them, he saw one very finely dressed Level 38 Warrior, four mid-level forty guardsmen (two warriors, two mages), and a Level 65 Healer.  Great, a nobleman and his retinue.  Probably just wandered in without visiting the guild to let them know (not that I do, either, but it’s annoying when others don’t follow protocol).

Duncan landed beside the group and slew the marionettes they were fighting quickly and efficiently.

“I say, who in Bayamat’s name are you, and how dare you interfere with our fight?” The young nobleman sounded quite peeved.

“I’m with the Adventurers Guild.  We’re evacuating the dungeon.  There’s a high-level vampire in here preying on adventurers,” Duncan said.  “I’ll escort you to Chorley, where you’ll be safer than in here.”

The nobleman gaped at him.  The retinue, at least, was professional.  They surrounded the nobleman, two ahead, two behind, and the healer beside him.  “Why can’t I see your level, Warrior?” asked the healer.

“You could if you were strong enough.  Let’s get to the exit,” Duncan replied.

“How strong do you have to be, Warrior?” asked someone behind him.  An aura of dread spread over the area.  “I cannot see your level, either, and I assure you I’m quite strong.”

Duncan turned to see a Level 130 Mage standing before them.  The claws, pasty white skin, and black hair screamed vampire.  He opened a large fold in space at waist height behind the vampire, Blinked to the creature, and shoved it with all his strength.  It slammed into the edge of the fold in space and flipped backwards into it, arms flailing.  As it did, Duncan ended the Technique and the vampire fell to the ground in four pieces.  The upper torso and head remained together, but the lower arms were both severed, as was the lower body, cut at an angle from nipples to tailbone.

Assuming it wasn’t dead, Duncan grabbed the vampire by the shoulders and shoved it headfirst into another fold in space, ending that Technique to decapitate it.   “Not strong enough,” he muttered.  He used Extract Resources on it and was surprised to receive a vial of something, which he stored in his armband.  He quickly looted the body and addressed the adventurers, who were all staring at him like he’d grown a second head.

“That wasn’t the one I was talking about.  Just a minion.  We need to move,” Duncan said, ushering them towards the exit.  Taking them by surprise helps.  I think he was expecting to chat.  He was cut in half before he could react, and I think he was in shock from that damage, so he didn’t turn to vapor or attack or anything before I could lop his head off.  Fold Space is definitely cheating.

The group made it out of the dungeon safely – they were only about a ten-minute walk from the exit, and they covered the distance at a jog.  Once outside, one of their mages summoned horse-like mounts for them to ride, and they travelled to Chorley with no trouble, Duncan flying overhead.  He was pleasantly surprised that no one asked any questions on the way to town.  He led them to the Adventurers Guild hall and told them to tell their story to the guildmaster.  He told Zach, “Killed a one-thirty vampire mage.  So, there’s still at least one more in there.  I’m going back.”

Back in the dungeon, Duncan made for the swamp biome on the first floor.  It was a single massive cavern over a kilometer long.  Flying over it, Duncan spotted a group of three adventurers fighting some of the cat-people that inhabited the swamp.  A vampire was standing with the adventurers, talking to them.  He’s giving them instructions… how strange.  The vampire was a Level 128 Warrior, and the adventurers were all in the mid-fifties.  He Assessed them all.  The technique assessed the vampire as almost an even fight, and the adventurers weren’t a threat at all, though it did show him they all had an affliction called ‘Blood Slave.’

Hmm, I wonder if I can remove that affliction.  First, though, can I surprise the vampire and kill it?  Duncan Blinked behind the vampire, seized it in a bear hug and lifted it so that most of its head entered a fold in space he created above it.  The vampire struggled against the grapple until Duncan ended the Technique and snipped its head off from the jaw up.  This is a ridiculously strong tactic.  I need to train up my grappling skill though.  Ugh, vampire blood everywhere.  Blood fountained out of the vampire’s neck and the skull started to regrow.  What the?  Duncan created another fold in space, thrust the vampire into it and severed the neck.  Then he repeated the process four more times, severing the body at the armpits, sternum, waist, and groin.

The body stopped trying to regrow itself and appeared completely dead.  That was terrifying.  Turning his attention to the adventurers, he saw they had defeated the final monster and were standing around staring off into space.  He used Extract Resources on the vampire body and was rewarded with another vial of something or other, which he stored away.  He didn’t find any other loot.

He approached the first of the adventurers, a Level 49 Healer, and tried to remove the ‘Blood Slave’ affliction.  He felt a portion of his mana fuel the effort, and the healer slumped to the ground, unconscious, but with the affliction gone.  Duncan checked his soul gem and saw the heal had taken four thousand mana.  So, a rank nine Technique, then.   He removed the affliction from the other two adventurers, both Level 50 Warriors, and they, too, slumped to the ground.

Assessment showed nothing wrong with them except for a few minor wounds and the unconscious state.  He shook one of the warriors gently by the shoulders, and the woman groaned.  Then her eyes snapped open, and she looked around in horror.  Sitting up, she saw Duncan, and the pieces of the vampire, and said, “My team?”

“There were three of you when I arrived.  I removed the Blood Slave affliction from all of you.  You’re the first to wake.”  Duncan gestured to the unconscious duo and the woman turned to the other warrior and shook her.

“Esme! Wake up!” she said urgently. The second woman woke the same way the first had, with a groan and then a look of horror as she remembered what had transpired.  The two women embraced for a long moment.  “It’s dead.  This guy saved us,” the first warrior said.

“I’m sorry, but there’s at least one more vampire in the dungeon, stronger than this one was.  If you can wake your healer friend, I’ll escort you to Chorley.”  Duncan was scanning the area to see if there were any more lurking vampires ready to jump them.

The two warriors shook the healer until he woke, then all three of them hugged for a moment.  This lot will need a lot of meditation.  Or a spirit healer of some sort.  “I’m sorry to interrupt, but can any of you fly?”

“None of us, sorry,” said the first warrior.

“Right, well, let’s see if I can carry you all.”  Duncan picked the healer up in a princess carry and summoned his biggest sword from storage under his feet.  “You two stand beside me, one foot on the sword, and hold on to my arms.”  Once they were all in position, Duncan flew straight up a few meters.  “Everyone ok?”  The strain wasn’t too bad.  I think I weigh more than the three of them put together.  It’s insane how dense my flesh has become.

He flew the group to the end of the cavern, depositing them at the entrance to the tunnel that led to the exit.  Before they could proceed, though, a menacing aura inundated the area, and a vampire stepped out of the tunnel.  It was the Level 140 Warrior Duncan had fought before.  The three adventurers backed away slowly.

“Hello, little vampire.  Back to try again?” Duncan asked.  I’m not monologuing.  I’m taunting him.  He stopped suppressing his own aura, and the vampire flinched.  Gasps from behind him let him know where his allies were.

“You will serve me!” the vampire hissed, and Duncan felt the pressure of a mental attack.  Between his Outstanding Mind Affinity, rank seven Tranquil Mind and Bracelet of Mental Protection, the pressure wasn’t significant.

Duncan used a strong Mind Spike, then Blinked behind the vampire to grab its arms, but it blurred away a few meters and turned to face him, only for Duncan to Blink behind it again and sweep his Spirit sword through the vampire’s body.  It spun, claws flashing out to attack.  Duncan met the first claw with the edge of his dragontooth sword and sparks flew.  The second claw was intercepted by a fold in space, not a bar, but a window.  Duncan snapped it shut on the claw, and the vampire hissed in pain as it blurred away and cradled his stump to its chest.  The claw was already regrowing, though.

He has good regeneration, but it’s not instant.  He summoned a Cage of Blades around the vampire then Blinked forward and attacked with his Spirit sword again.  The vampire broke out of the cage with relative ease but suffered some minor cuts from it on its unarmored head and claws.  Duncan used another strong Mind Spike, Blinked forward and cut at the vampire’s neck with his dragontooth sword.  It recovered from the stun far too quickly and blurred away, but the tip of Duncan’s sword landed, and vampire blood flew.

The moment the vampire stopped moving, Duncan Blinked forward again and thrust with both swords – at the face with the dragontooth sword, and at the chest with the Spirit sword.  A double thrust was pretty awkward with normal human strength and agility, but Duncan was well beyond that at this stage.  The vampire leaned to the side to avoid the thrust to the face and tried to parry the Spirit sword with a claw.  The Spirit sword continued through the parry and into the vampire’s chest.

Duncan placed a bar of folded space behind the vampire at ankle level, and when it blurred away again, it tripped.  Duncan placed another fold of space beyond it, and it stumbled through it.  Duncan ended the Technique, and the vampire was cut in twain.  Both halves dissolved into a cloud of gas that began to float away.

Oh no you don’t!  Duncan Blinked to the cloud and swept his Spirit sword through it, noting via his Assessment Technique that his attack was effective – the vampire was critically wounded, and the blow dropped its health still further.  He continued to Blink after it as it moved, attacking with his Spirit sword over and over again, until the cloud suddenly coalesced back into the form of the vampire.

Duncan immediately used another Mind Spike and attacked with both swords again.  Both struck home, the vampire slowed by all the damage it had sustained.  The dragontooth sword pierced its throat, and the Spirit sword pierced its chest.  He stored both his swords, grabbed the vampire, and lifted it into a fold in space, snipping its head off in a great gout of blood.

Heh.  I didn’t even have to heal, and I didn’t wreck its armor.  Extract Resources earned him a large vial of something, and he looted the vampire’s armor and discovered a storage device in the form of an earring.  He couldn’t store that, doubtless because it had things stored in it, so he tucked it inside his armored boot.

“That’s the fourth one,” he said, suppressing his aura once more.  “I don’t suppose you know how many there were to start with?”  The three adventurers shook their heads numbly, and Duncan continued, “Okay, let’s get you back to Chorley where it’s safer.”

They walked out of the dungeon and down the trail to Chorley.  The guard at the gate opened it to let them in without saying a word.  Duncan nodded his thanks and led his group on to the Adventurers Guild hall. Zach rushed over, a Level 85 Healer in his wake.  The adventurers must look worse than I thought.

“Any of that blood yours?” Zach asked.  Oh yeah, I decapitated a couple of vampires.

“Nope.  Killed a one-twenty-eight vampire warrior and the one-forty vampire warrior.  I’m hoping that’s the last of them, but I’ll go have another look around shortly,” said Duncan.  “There are two groups of adventurers unaccounted for, still, right?”

“Yes,” replied Zach.  “How were the fights?”

Duncan grinned.  “My Assessment Technique drastically underestimated me.  The first two weren’t even fights, they were executions.  The one-forty guy was a great fight, but I didn’t even have to heal.  Oh, I have his stuff, if you need it.  He had a storage device.”

“Let’s go down to the appraisal desk and get it sorted out,” Zach said.  “It’ll be a little while before those three are ready to talk, by the look of them.”

“Yeah, they were Blood Slaves.  I removed the affliction, but I think they’ll need a spirit healer,” Duncan sighed.  “Nothing I can do for them there.”

Duncan followed Zach down to the appraisal area, where a Level 48 Mage was on duty.  “Seal the room please, Henri,” said Zach, “This is evidence in an investigation.  I’m here as an official witness.”

Duncan produced the three vials of stuff he’d taken from the vampires with his Extract Resources Technique.  “Uh, Vampiric Essence.  Very rare.  The guild can offer you a hundred gold for each.” Henri said.

Next was the armor he’d taken off the last vampire.  “Armor of the Steadfast Drinker.  Blood and Mind Affinities.  Very rare.  Fear effect, and the protection scales with the wearer’s Blood Affinity.  The guild can offer two hundred gold.”

Finally, Duncan produced the earring storage device.  “I haven’t looked inside,” he said.  “I took it off the one-forty vampire warrior.”

Henri examined the earring.  “Advanced storage device.  Two hundred slots.  The guild can offer six hundred gold for it.  It contains three thousand two hundred and eighty-one gold, and over a hundred items.  This could take a little while.”

Duncan sold the ring and everything in it to the guild.  Every piece was potential evidence, and Duncan wanted nothing to do with anything taken from the vampire, in case the Vampire Court could use it to track him down, just in case they took offense at someone killing four of their own.  In the end he walked away with a little over six thousand gold.

As he left the building to go back to the dungeon, he overheard one of the adventurers he’d rescued earlier talking to someone holding a recording crystal.  “He never said his name, and he was too high a level for any of us to identify.  We’re just calling him the decapitator.”  Duncan Blinked straight up five hundred meters and summoned a sword to fly to the dungeon, chuckling.  What a cognomen.  Well, it should make me hard to track if they’re looking for someone by that name.

Chapter 6

Back in the dungeon, Duncan renewed his search for the final two teams of adventurers thought to be inside.  He found nothing on the first four floors, so he took his normal route to the fifth floor.  As he passed through the third floor, he spotted an anomaly.  A glowing white humanoid wandered through the cavern.  It ignored the monsters, and they ignored it.

Getting closer, Duncan saw that it was a two-meter-tall knight with a closed helm, so he couldn’t tell the monster’s race.  It didn’t identify as anything, so Duncan assumed it was a monster, at least. It wielded a massive two-handed hammer as it stalked the swampy cave system.  That’s worth investigating.

Duncan landed in front of the monster in an area where there were no mossfoot monsters, and it immediately attacked him, leaping ten meters through the air and bringing its hammer down in an overhand strike.   Duncan blocked the blow with a fold in space, and the shockwave from the impact was astounding.  Okay, I do not want to be hit by that.  The impact released a burst of light that left him feeling sunburned.  His Assessment showed he’d taken a not-insignificant amount of damage.  It’s like spirit damage in that I barely felt it.

An aura burst out from the monster, illuminating the area and doing constant low-grade damage to Duncan.  This thing would destroy vampires, with their weakness to light.  Oh.  OH.  The gods don’t like vampires, maybe?  This feels like a tailored response to a vampire presence.  Doesn’t mean it won’t kill me, too, of course, if I slip up.  And if a normal group of level fifty adventurers ran into this, I don’t like their odds.

His Assessment told him the monster was a significant threat, though not on par with the nastiest of the vampires he’d fought earlier.  It was massively strong and had the light burst on hit, and the aura Technique, but its attacks were slow enough for Duncan to track, and therefore easily blocked with folds in space.  The monster did have a couple of surprises up its metal sleeves, though – it lit up incredibly brightly for a moment, blinding Duncan and forcing him to remove the affliction with a technique, and, once Duncan had whittled its health down using mostly his Spirit sword (the monster’s body seemed to be pure armor), it cloned its massive hammer and wielded one in each hand.

Still, in the end, Duncan had an answer for everything the monster tried, and it collapsed in a heap.  Extract Resources produced a vial of glowing white liquid.  The only loot the monster had was the hammer (the second one disappeared once the armored monster died).

He didn’t see any additional rare monsters or adventurers, so he proceeded down to the fifth floor, where tens of thousands of antlings awaited.  With the constant press of the monsters, he didn’t expect to find any trace of the groups, but he’d explore the floor as best he could, then visit the antling queen before moving down to the sixth floor.

He had fond memories of this floor – the constant attacks, the hiss they made when they attacked, the slightly different hiss they made when they were hit, the ever-present sense of danger.  Returning was a little bit of a let down.  He was so much stronger than he’d been the last time he visited.  He killed each antling with one or two thrusts of his dragontooth sword, his dragonskin armor resisted their acid, and the thrusts of their forelimbs, on the rare occasion that he missed a parry or block with his folds in space, didn’t penetrate the combination of his armor and Hardened Skin.

Still, fighting the antlings was fun, even if it was no longer particularly dangerous.  Duncan pressed through the hordes of monsters in the cramped hallways looking for signs of other adventurers but found nothing.  Eventually, he made his way to the chambers of the antling queen.  On his last visit, the queen had almost killed him with a single blow, and he’d been forced to Blink away and flee, so he approached the fight with caution.

He entered the queen’s chamber and she rushed him with her four guards, each of which was larger than a regular antling.  The queen herself was huge, with purple chitin instead of the muddy brown of the regular antlings.  Her forelimbs were longer than Duncan’s arms and had diamond-hard tips.  She stabbed at Duncan with both forelimbs, alternating the attacks, thrusting them at him several times a second, varying her target up and down his torso with each blow.

Duncan parried frantically with his dragontooth sword and interposed folds in space where he could block other attacks, but several of the queen’s blows landed, puncturing his armor and Hardened Skin technique to leave wounds half a dozen centimeters deep in his dense flesh.  He Blinked behind her and attacked with both his swords, one puncturing the chitin on her segmented body, the other sweeping through the entire torso.

Blinking behind the queen exposed his back to the attacks of her bodyguards, though, and it turned out they also hit really hard, though they couldn’t quite match their queen’s power.  Duncan Blinked back to the other side of the queen even as she turned to face him, and attacked again, instantly regenerating with Destrin’s Restoration.  He imprisoned the closest bodyguard in a Cage of Blades, hoping it would restrict the movement of the other bodyguards as well.

He went full out with his attacks, matching the queen’s furious assault with his own.  His dragontooth sword plunged repeatedly into her torso, ichor spurting with each thrust.  His Spirit sword ignored her armor entirely, sweeping through her torso and causing unseen damage.  The queen spat acid in his face, forcing him to regenerate again.  He used Mind Spike to stun her for a brief respite from her attacks but found her immune to the effect.

The bodyguards began to surround him, so he Blinked to the other side of the queen and continued his assault.  It took thirty seconds and almost a hundred strikes to slay the queen, and when she finally collapsed into a heap, the bodyguards all became enraged.  They grew even bigger, and hit much harder, spitting acid almost constantly.  The caged bodyguard broke out of the Cage of Blades, though it did quite a bit of damage to itself in the process.

Fortunately, the bodyguards weren’t as sturdy as the queen, and Duncan was able to kill each with only four or five attacks.  Still, their own attacks forced him to regenerate again a number of times.  The acid spit in his eyes was awful.  Ignoring pain is one thing.  Having your eyes eaten by acid is something else entirely.

Extract Resources earned him more sheets of chitin and more vials of acid, and a quick check of the bodies revealed a pulsing purple gem beneath the mandibles of the antling queen.  That looks interesting.  He searched the chamber, thinking that something as insanely strong as the antling queen was bound to have more loot, and found a chest growing out of the wall.  It contained some very pretty chitinous armor, two small hand axes, a crooked staff with a greenish glow that wasn’t actually crooked – its appearance was distorted in one’s vision, and a pile of gold coins.

Duncan moved back out into the antling tunnels to look for the stairs to the sixth floor and discovered that all the antlings were enraged.  They’d grown about ten percent bigger, used their acid attacks more often, and hit harder than they had earlier.  Instead of hissing when they attacked, they emitted a keening wail instead.  Other antlings were drawn to the sound from a great distance, and soon the tunnels ahead of Duncan were absolutely filled with antlings.

Enraged or not, the antlings were too weak to be a real problem for Duncan – he spent an hour chopping his way through the horde, before the enrage effect suddenly faded.  It took him another thirty minutes to cut his way through to the staircase down to the sixth level, but eventually he reached it and descended.

There was no sign of the missing adventurers in the stairwell, so Duncan entered the sixth floor of the dungeon, which was a giant three-dimensional maze with ramps and cargo nets connecting levels vertically.  The ceilings were about four meters tall, so it was possible to fly past the inhabitants of the floor – Steelfist Apes – but it was challenging, because the apes were well over two meters tall, and had arms long enough to reach him flying near the ceiling.

The last time Duncan had been on this floor, he had leaned heavily on his rose quartz shield, which completely annulled all the momentum of anything that struck it.  With that shield having been broken, he had to rely on new tactics.  He was significantly faster than he used to be, and he made good use of his folds in space to block the powerful attacks of the giant apes with their steel fists.  The apes had strong Body Techniques bolstering them, but no external Techniques, so while they were incredibly strong and durable, they only had their fists to attack with.

Duncan worked his way through the floor methodically.  Extract Resources sometimes yielded a hide, and sometimes provided a jar containing an organ or gland of some sort.  Duncan just stored them all away without looking too closely.  The floor was much bigger than he’d thought.  How much mana must this dungeon be absorbing?  Seriously, this place could be keeping the ambient mana low in the entire Arnite Empire.

After hours of fighting, the steelfist apes he was facing gave way to a tribe of slightly larger apes with darker fur and black metal over their fists instead of shiny steel.  These seemed to have some sort of vibrational- or sound-affinity techniques.  They created resonance by hammering on the floor or walls and that resonance ignored Duncan’s armor and literally shook him to the core.  Duncan had no easy solution to the new attacks – he simply had to heal more often, Blink more often, and be more aggressive in taking the apes out before they could generate the damaging fields of vibrations.

The steelfist apes were less fun than the antlings because they were more spread out.  They hit harder and were sturdier, but the fights lacked the intensity of antling encounters because the apes rarely gathered more than two or three at a time.  Duncan moved quickly through the vast halls looking for the missing adventurers.  If they were under level sixty, I doubt they’d be this far down.  Did I miss them?  Are they dead?  Did they leave?

Ahead of him, the tunnel he was in opened into a gigantic room.  It looked much like the rest of the floor did, with the three-dimensional maze, but there were no ceilings – the entire pyramid-shaped maze was in a room hundreds of meters across and two hundred meters high.   Flying above the maze were two steelfist apes with massive bat wings.  Makes sense to take out the two flyers before checking out the maze.  I don’t want to be fighting apes with those things dropping ranged attacks on me from above.

He summoned a sword to fly on out of his storage, and stepped on it, willing it to fly.  It remained on the ground, completely inert.  Is flying suppressed in this room?  I’ve heard of technique suppression, but this is really large scale, if that’s what this is.  And shouldn’t the flying monsters also be suppressed?  Unless they’re the ones doing the suppressing.  He tried to Assess the two flying apes, but they were too far away.  That’s a really long range on that suppression if it’s them. It could take hours and hours to get up that pyramid, and it’s not what I’m here for.  It’s pretty clear the missing adventurers aren’t in here, and I can’t imagine they’re any deeper than this.  Time to head back out and check in with Zach… I’ll come back for these once the adventurers are safe or we’ve given up on them.

He encountered no vampires and no adventurers on his way out of the dungeon, and he made it back to the Adventurers Guild hall in short order, though it took him a while to cleave his way back through the antlings.  Zach and Andrea were at a table in the common room; Zach waved him over to join them.

“No sign of any adventurers or vampires in the first six levels,” Duncan said.  “I don’t think a group under level sixty are likely to be any deeper than that.”

“I agree.  Thank you again for checking, and for saving those you did,” replied Zach.   “I notified the guild that four vampires have been killed, and they’ve replied that the Vampire Court is sending a vampire lord to investigate.   Rumor has it that they don’t take kindly to humans killing vampires, even rogue ones, which is undoubtedly what they’ll call these.  It has been suggested that the groups of adventurers who killed any of the vampires not be here when the vampire lord arrives.”

“With all the witnesses and testimonies from the rescued adventurers all pointing to one individual, the vampire lord will probably be very interested in you,” added Andrea.  “I don’t know how powerful vampire lords are, and I don’t think you should find out, either.”

Duncan laughed.  “No good deed goes unpunished!  From what little I’ve heard of the Vampire Courts, I agree with you.  I’m not ready for that.”  The unspoken ‘yet’ hung in the air.  He continued, “I know some very powerful people in the Villanovan Confederacy.  Maybe they’ll be able to help me out.”

He got to his feet.  “No point in waiting around.  It was nice seeing you both again.  I’ll come back for the lowest floors of the Endless Depths at some point, but it may be some time.  Good luck to both of you in reaching a hundred.”   He shook hands with them both, then Blinked straight up five hundred meters, summoned a sword, and flew off to the East.

After a short while he Blinked North repeatedly, then West repeatedly, and then flew onwards.  I suggested I’d go East to the Villanovan Confederacy.  So, I’ll head West to the Scholastica Donostia dungeon that Master Guilford was so excited about and check the towns on the way to see how the fight against the undead is going.  With it being over in Lanford, it’s easy to think it’s settled everywhere.  Lydham’s not far to the Northwest, I think.

It felt good being able to help out like that – that’s what I’ve been training for:  to help people weaker than me.  Which is most of the Arnite Empire, I suspect.  But there’s a bigger world out there, and I’ll get there.  Just as soon as I shore up my lack of offense.  Maybe I’ll even meet people I can train and delve with.  That’d be nice…

Chapter 7

There was a trade road connecting Chorley with Lydham.  It had taken Duncan days to traverse it Eastbound on foot.  I was what, level twenty back then?  Hard to believe it was less than two years ago. Flying above the empty road, it took only a few hours for Duncan to see the city walls in the distance.  There was a huge crowd milling around outside the gates.  As he drew closer, he was able to see that it was comprised of undead.  Zombies, for the most part, with some undead warriors and mages mixed in, as far as he could tell.

I guess it’s good that they’re outside the walls rather than inside, but why haven’t the guards and adventurers cleared this out?  The local farmers must have been overrun – I hope the city’s not starving.  Surely, they have flying folks who can resupply them.  Deciding it was a better idea to see what was going on in the city rather than just wading into the undead, Duncan Blinked over the center of the city and descended towards the Adventurers Guild hall.

The city looked like it had seen some fighting, but there were people going about their business, so clearly, they hadn’t been overrun.  Duncan landed in the square which fronted the Adventurers Guild and stepped inside.  It was a larger than normal guildhall, because it had a few floors of guest rooms above it, and a consequently larger than normal common room, with separate areas for eating and meeting and so on.

The common room had half a dozen adventurers in it, sitting together and eating.  Beyond that, the desk was occupied by a young woman in pale yellow robes that made her look slightly jaundiced. She was a Level 12 Mage.  That’s pretty low for a guild representative in a city.  “How can I help you, warrior… why can’t I see your level?” the representative asked.

“You’re not powerful enough,” Duncan replied absently.  “What’s with the horde of undead outside the gates?”

“That’s not a thing!  Everyone can see everyone’s level, that’s how soul gems work,” she said.

“Then clearly you can see my level.  The undead?” Duncan pressed.  I’m just going to run with the ‘you’re not powerful enough thing’ – it’s mostly true – anyone old and wise enough to be able to see through the soul gem obfuscation is going to be more powerful than a typical adventurer.  And I actually enjoy the whole ‘man of mystery’ thing, if I’m being honest with myself.

“One moment, please. The guildmaster will be down to see you shortly.”  Clearly, the woman at the reception desk was having none of his guff.

A very short while later, the guildmaster came down the stairs behind the desk.  Duncan recognized her – she had been the guildmaster the last time he was here, too.  “What’s the matter, Rebekah?” she asked. A tall woman with a narrow face in fine blue robes, she was a Level 84 Mage.

“This guy wants to know about the undead outside the gates.  I can’t see his level.  He claims it’s because I’m not powerful enough.”

The guildmaster sighed.  “Soul mages and a few other people are able to fuck with their soul gems, make them show non-standard stuff.”  She turned to Duncan, “I’m Mallory, I run this place.  As you’ve seen, we’ve got a horde of undead outside the city, so I don’t have the time or the energy to deal with your shit.  Stop fucking with your soul gem and show your proper level so I can figure out how best to use you to protect the city against them.”

It’s funny how some people consider soul gem obfuscation to be common knowledge and others know nothing at all about it.  Duncan called out to the people in the common room, “Heads up, I’m going to stop suppressing my aura.  Don’t freak out.”  The adventurers (all in the level fifty to sixty range) looked at him and snorted or rolled their eyes at each other.  Duncan released his aura, and the looks changed to wide-eyed consternation as the weight of it fell upon everyone nearby.  Mallory looked the same way, and Rebekah just looked terrified.  He suppressed his aura again and said to Mallory, “And that reaction is still better than showing my actual level.”

Rebekah said, “Why don’t you just go and wipe out all the undead?”  Well, she recovered quickly.  I kinda like her.

“That was my original thought, but then I decided I’d better check inside the city first to see why no one else has done that already,” he replied.  “If there’s no reason not to, I’ll wipe them out today.”

Mallory waved him towards the common room, “Let’s have a seat for a minute.”  She sat at a table near the bar.

“Sorry,” said Duncan as he passed the adventurers.

“Thanks for the warning,” said one of the women at the table.  “Emil would have gone into full defensive mode, otherwise, with barriers and auras and a full light show.”

“Better safe than sorry,” said the barrel-chested mage next to her, primly.

Duncan grinned and joined Mallory at her table.  “So, why are there so many undead milling around outside the city?  I’m sure you have enough adventurers to wipe them out.  The group at the table over there should be able to do it.”

Mallory frowned.  “We’ve tried.  They’ve got some strong undead mixed in with them.  Some sort of corpse amalgam, according to the survivors.  Probably unintelligent, because they’re not breaking down the gates, but strong enough to kill the teams we’ve sent out to face them.  And they have some spectral assassins attacking inside the walls, so we have a couple of teams on standby to try to fend them off.  We have people watching the horde from the walls, but we don’t want to attract the attention of anything strong enough to knock the walls down so we’re not attacking them as long as they’re just standing out there.”

“That’s very strange,” Duncan said.  “You’d think if they had anything strong, they’d be inside the walls already.  Okay, I’ll attack them from the side away from the city.  It’ll probably take me a few hours – there are quite a few of them.”

“You seem very confident.  Good luck out there,” Mallory replied.

Duncan Blinked straight up, summoned a sword, and flew over the undead horde to land on the far side.  With this many targets and Leech Mana, his Bladestorm technique was likely to be very mana-efficient.  As long as he didn’t have to heal too often, he was unlikely to run out of mana.  And so, he plunged into the horde.

It was mostly comprised of zombies that were obliterated by his Bladestorm.  The weaker undead mages and undead warriors died quickly under the sustained damage from the storm of whirling swords the technique created.  Some of the stronger ones made it to him, wounded, only to be cut down.  That’s convenient.  The ones worth looting survive the Bladestorm.

About half an hour into the slaughter (is it really a slaughter, if they’re already dead?), Duncan encountered the corpse amalgam Mallory had mentioned.  It looked like someone had tried and failed to create a corpse golem like those he’d fought in Lanport.  Instead, dozens of bodies were jammed together in a shapeless blob, limbs (some wielding weapons, some not) and faces (some casting spells, some just screaming wordlessly) scattered seemingly randomly across the surface.

The amalgam had an aura that ate away at living flesh, necrotizing it.  Duncan backed away, attacking it through folds in space, his Necrobane sword severing limbs with precise draw cuts and leaving deep punctures in the undead flesh while his Spirit sword applied subtle damage with every thrust.  It’s fights like this where I wish I had a massive ranged elemental attack.  Although, really, I don’t.  I just love swordfighting.

The amalgam had more than its aura on offer.  It cast a variety of damaging spells at him – I wonder if it’s using the affinities of its component bodies – at varying degrees of strength, and every once in a while, it produced a large necrotic beam attack.  Fortunately for Duncan, it had to focus power from its constituent bodies on a spot in front of it, and he had a full three-second warning before the actual attack manifested.  Plenty of time for him to ready a fold in space to redirect the attack against itself from above.

While he was fighting the amalgam, the rest of the horde continued to press him, and he had to keep Bladestorm active and also fend off attacks from mid-level undead warriors and mages.  There were even a few archers shooting at him from within the crowd, their attacks largely ineffective due to the ever-shifting horde of undead constantly inadvertently blocking the arrows.  He occasionally healed the slowly accumulating damage, but his mana pool wasn’t threatened at all.  The lower-level monsters couldn’t really harm his dense flesh under his sturdy armor.

When a second amalgam joined in, Duncan was almost relieved.  The additional firepower from the big necrotic beams from the second one that could be redirected against the first one was a big help.  I really do lack offense compared to others of my level.  I know my mobility, healing, and versatility are fantastic, but when I think of that beam of True Fire from Remeliel, I can’t help but be jealous.  He’d have wiped these out by now.

The additional damage the second amalgam unintentionally applied to the first one helped kill the first one in relatively short order.  Which left Duncan back where he’d been before it had arrived – one amalgam, a seemingly unending horde of lower level undead, and a slightly anemic offense.

The vast horde of lesser undead was actually diminishing steadily – anything under about level sixty would be chopped to pieces by Duncan’s Bladestorm technique, and any of the lesser undead who survived that to reach him were cut down with a single blow.  He Blinked around the amalgam to engage more groups of lesser undead whilst staying out of its damaging aura.

The two spectral assassins Mallory had mentioned showed up when the second corpse amalgam was down to about a quarter of its massive health pool.  They were immune to physical damage, being almost entirely insubstantial – only their icy knives seemed to have any physical presence – but Duncan’s Spirit sword worked well against them.  After he killed the first, he had to repeatedly Mind Spike the second one to immobilize it to prevent it from fleeing while he slashed it to death with his Spirit sword.

He had to continue to dodge (and occasionally redirect) attacks from the amalgam whilst killing the spectral assassins, but it didn’t feel especially challenging.  It was more workmanlike than artistic, but he was making good progress at wiping out the undead.  Now would be a good time for the big surprise bad guy to make an appearance.  Sadly, at least in terms of excitement, two corpse amalgams, two spectral assassins, and a horde of lesser undead were all there was.

It took two more hours to finish off the horde, with teams of adventurers and guards helping out at the end after the second amalgam died.  Duncan used Extract Resources on the amalgams and spectral assassins, getting a dark liquid in a vial off each amalgam and nothing off the assassins.  He’d looted a few of the more interesting lesser undead that had made it to him, but he expected most of what had dropped to be claimed by the adventurers and guards.  And that’s fine.  I’m already filthy rich, and anything here that’s dropping loot is likely to have been a local adventurer, guard, or citizen that got swept up by the horde and converted.  Although – where’s the undead animator that would have been raising the dead?

He returned to town and rented a room in the Adventurers Guild hostel so he could clean up, then met with Mallory, who was looking no less stressed than the last time he’d seen her.  “Thanks for clearing out the amalgams,” she said.

“A flying elemental mage would have done it faster and more efficiently,” Duncan replied.  “But it’s done.  I do worry that I found no undead animator or something similar that could raise the people the horde killed.”

“It’s possible they returned to the main body of the army marching on the capital,” Mallory said.  “I think they thought what they’d left here would be ample for a small city like Lydham.  Or maybe they simply didn’t care about a small portion of their army attacking here.  If they can force the empire to divert forces to protect every little community, their main army stands a better chance of sacking Harrish.  Honestly, I have no idea what they want, or where they came from or anything.”

She sounds stressed.  Protecting a city from an undead horde is probably not in her job description.  “Well, Lydham is safe for now, and I’m told the Empire has sufficient forces to defeat the undead now that the initial surprise has passed.  Lanport has been undead-free for a few months, for example.  And I’m sure you know that dragons are wiping out undead armies – it’s quite possible this one won’t even reach Harrish.”

Mallory took a deep breath, visibly calming herself.  “You’re right.  The mayor and regional government can handle mop-up.  But thanks again for your part – we had no one strong enough locally to kill the amalgams in the middle of that horde of undead.  I imagine the empire has some response teams set up for cases like this, but I don’t even know if the mayor contacted the empire.  He’s not very communicative lately.  Or ever, really.  He doesn’t like adventurers.”

“Anyway,” she continued, “as thanks, I thought I’d give you some free advice.  Stop messing with your soul gem display.  It will bring you nothing but trouble.  I don’t know how you’re changing it, and I don’t want to know.  If you can appear as anything you want, appear as a strong warrior that won’t stand out too much – level eighty-five, maybe.”  She blinked as Duncan changed his soul gem to display Level 85 Warrior.  “Well, I guess that answers that.  Having said that, your aura is too strong for level eighty-five, so keep suppressing it at all times if you want your soul gem to be believable.”

Duncan nodded.  “Your advice matches others I’ve had.  It was probably silly of me to pick something that stands out.  I just think the whole concept of levels as an indicator of personal power is foolish and unworkable.”

“On an individual basis, perhaps, but for the population as a whole, it works very well.  It breaks down somewhat at levels over a hundred, I’m told, though no one will say how, or why,” said Mallory.  “I don’t suppose you will?”

“Why not?” Duncan grinned.  “I didn’t make any promises to keep my mouth shut.  Although no one wants to tell me much either, because I grew too powerful too young, and they want me to slow down and grow wise before I become stronger, or some such.  Anyway, rank ten isn’t the end of progress for some techniques.  Some people can evolve some of their techniques into new, stronger techniques that start at rank one again.  I’m told it takes a hundred years or so to develop the necessary experience and trigger the conditions for an evolution, if it happens at all.  So, you can go down in level and up in power.  And you can have more than twenty techniques, too, though I understand that’s pretty rare.  But it’s all just proof that levels don’t mean a thing.  I was soloing level thirty-five dungeons when I was mid-twenties in level.”

“Aha!” Mallory seemed quite excited at his revelations.  A gleam appeared in her eyes, and he could almost see the questions forming in her head.  That didn’t stop her from pressing her point, though.  “But you’re an exception, and so are people with evolved or extra techniques.  And because you’re an exception, you meet other exceptions more often, and start to think of exceptions as being less exceptional.  For the average citizen, the soul gem system does what it should.  It warns people not to provoke those more powerful than them, it lets people know how skilled tradesmen are, it tells the city watch who may be dangerous enough that they need backup when facing them, and so on.  It tells adventurers which dungeons they can visit with an acceptable level of risk.”

“Most of the empire is people under level twenty,” she added. “The difference between a strong level eighty and a weak level fifty is meaningless to them. Both are so far out of reach, they’re beyond comprehension.”

“Maybe you’re right that I meet a lot of exceptions.  And maybe the system functions well for those who don’t actually use it for much of anything.  But being an adventurer is all I’ve known since I got a soul gem, and it doesn’t work particularly well for me,” countered Duncan.  “First, your dungeons are rated incredibly conservatively.  It’s a wonder anyone advances at all, going through them in groups at the level you rate them.  It doesn’t push anyone to grow.  Second, it is the single most important piece of information anyone looks at when assessing someone, and it does an absolute shit job of helping you compare people.  For most of the time I was under level a hundred, I was significantly more powerful than people of my level.  And now, thanks to evolved techniques and other such things, I’m weaker than other people my level, enough so that I feel a need to display a lower level to correct for the problem.  You use it to determine who the best crafters are, who’s best suited for jobs like guardsman, and which dungeons groups should choose, and it doesn’t take anything sensible into account.  It’s just the sum total of the number of technique ranks you have.   It’s a horrible basis for determining strength.   Finally, although you use it for all those things, if you are an anomaly like me, no one believes the level anyway.  The number of weak little level sixty officials who’ve written me off because I look too young for my level is staggering.”

Mallory looked at him for a long moment, then laughed.  “So,” she said.  “Your biggest gripes are that the level system is crap for determining a person’s strength, and that other people don’t use it when determining yours.”

“Well, when you put it like that…” Duncan said. “Okay, but they’re disregarding it for the wrong reasons.  I could kill them without effort, and they’re dismissing me because they have unearned rank and privilege.  It’s infuriating. I think I prefer the old elven and dwarven system of not suppressing your aura.”

“Ignoring that for now, I want to address your other criticism of the system.  We don’t use people’s level to determine who the best crafters are.  We use information from their soul gem, yes – their skill, the rank of their craft-appropriate techniques, and so on.  Their level is effectively meaningless.  Everyone understands they could have ranks of unrelated and unhelpful techniques.  So, most crafters of all varieties are happy to share the pertinent parts of their soul gem information with prospective customers.  It’s the same thing for pretty much every aspect of society.  The soul gem provides an accurate measure of relevant qualifications.”  Mallory gave him a piercing look.  “I can tell you’re not from here, and that you’re new to soul gems, because your understanding of their use is very limited, and comes from a peculiarly adventurer-centric place.”

Huh.  She makes good points.  If levels aren’t all that important in regular life, but the raw information from soul gems is, that makes sense and seems worthwhile for society.  Is my view of how things work really that off-center?  I suppose I haven’t really interacted much with normal folk, other than the orphanage, and that’s not necessarily normal, either.

“Your points are valid,” he said with a grimace.  “I have been focused almost entirely on advancing my techniques since, well, since before I arrived here and was given a soul gem.  I haven’t really interacted much with people in the empire other than the Adventurers Guild and a few innkeepers and merchants.  I don’t have much in common with most people, as a rule, so it’s easier to avoid them.”  I’ve always dreamed of protecting people, but that ‘people’ is a pretty nebulous concept.  It’s not a collection of individuals to me, more of an amorphous whole.

Mallory smirked.  “Perhaps you should spend some time with regular people, then.  You can change what your soul gem shows the world - use it to appear less threatening, hang out with some people, get to know them.  Be a level five farmer or laborer for a while.”  She shook her head, “Man, a trained spy who could do that…”

Duncan snorted. “They probably all can.  It’s way more common than you think.  Half the people I know over one-twenty can do it.  Fewer people can see through it, though.”

“You can see through the deception?” Mallory asked.

“Yes, although I’m the only human I know who can.  A quirk of my affinities, maybe.  All the elves and dwarves I’ve met can.”

“Interesting,” she said.  “Not as useful a tool as I’d thought, then.  What do you see?”

“I see what they’re projecting, and the real value behind it.  I don’t know what others see,” Duncan said.  “But I suspect, from what I’ve heard them say, that most of them see the same thing I do.”

“You’ve given me a lot to think about,” said Mallory, “and I hope I’ve given you at least something to think about in return.  But now I’ve got to go back to work.  If I were you, I’d leave town, having been seen with no soul gem level, and now having one.  And in future, remember that most of us don’t judge people by their level, we judge them first by their civil authority and role in society, by their skills and techniques in appropriate settings, and only then by level within that role.”

Duncan wished her well and took her advice, flying out of the city and heading further North into parts of the Empire he’d never seen.  There are lots of things to do.  I need to develop a perception technique like Blade Sense, but for all threats.  My crown and monocle let me detect unseen things and the crown lets me do so in a sphere around me.  So, there are definitely techniques that work that way, since item powers are essentially copies of techniques trapped in an item.   And I should check on the smaller towns and villages I find to see if they need any help with undead or evacuations.  And explore any dungeons I come across, of course.  Maybe I can hang out in towns where there doesn’t seem to be an imminent undead threat to gain a better understanding of how normal people live in the empire.  I’ve been jumping to conclusions that others don’t share, and that makes me stand out when I don’t want to.  He paused in his thoughts for a moment and snorted.  Maybe, just maybe, I should learn about the people of the empire because the knowledge is important in and of itself, rather than because it’d make me fit in better.

Chapter 8

Pannoc Heath was a town nestled in the foothills of the Eastern edge of the empire on the shore of the White river (named that due to the color it took on from sediment much farther downriver) where a natural widening led to a deep pool adjacent to the faster water of the main current.  Lumber from the surrounding forest was dragged to Pannoc Heath and floated from there downriver to larger centers on the plains where it was used in construction and shipbuilding.

Duncan sat in a tavern wearing battered leather armor and a Level 35 Warrior tag on his soul gem, and his Cloak of the Unseen, which made him blend into the crowd.  People’s eyes just naturally passed over him as they found him uninteresting.  There were a couple of mid-level dungeons in the area, so adventurers weren’t an uncommon sight, but the town’s existence was due to the lumber harvesting and transport.  Dozens of lumberjacks and woodsmen with nature affinities harvested lumber in the forest nearby, carefully monitored by specialized nature mages who identified which trees could safely be removed without harming the forest, and who facilitated the growth of replacement trees.

Once the trees had been dragged into the town’s lumber yards, they were stripped of their limbs, which were taken to other yards where they were processed to become paper and parchment, to be shipped downriver along with the trunks which were the region’s primary export.   The processing was done by a team of mages whose specialties Duncan hadn’t been able to determine.

The trunks themselves were floated in the large calm eddy in the river, then taken in batches of up to fifty at a time downriver, ridden and guided by specialist log riders who kept them from catching on the shore or other hazards.  It was a two-day float to the nearest city downriver, then the log riders had an eight-day trip back up to Pannoc Heath on foot.

What amazed Duncan was that all of this was done by people with weak or negligible affinities.  The techniques used were specialized, as far he could tell.  The nature mages in the forest wouldn’t be creating spikes of wood out of the ground to impale attackers, or fields of thick thorns to entangle foes.  Instead, they monitored the health of the forest, aided in the removal of specific trees, roots included, and in the accelerated growth of replacement trees through some combination of nurturing the land and directly affecting the young trees.

The fallen trees were partly dressed where they fell, then dragged out of the forest by teams of mules and their handlers.  Once in Pannoc Heath’s lumber yards, laborers with no related affinities at all used manual labor to produce the logs that were to be floated downstream.

The processing supported a significant number of auxiliary professions.  Teamsters handled mules, stables housed the livestock, farms at the edge of the forest provided feed for the livestock and residents, hunters provided meat and furs, blacksmiths, coopers, thatchers, carpenters, and other tradesman had work to assist the processing. Still others were employed to support those secondary professions.  Houses had to be built, roads and walls maintained, household and livestock waste processed into fertilizer used on the nearby farms and in the forest to regrow the trees taken.

The entire inter-related process fascinated Duncan.  Butchers, millers, and bakers kept the town fed.  Merchants hired teams of drovers to bring goods up to town along the road the log drivers used to return after escorting their logs downriver.   And everything was done without the use of strong magic.  The majority of people in Pannoc Heath had no affinities beyond negligible at all.  A weak affinity was enough to secure an apprenticeship in a more affluent profession.  The tradesmen who had levels over ten were generally padding their level with high ranked item appraisal techniques.  The craftsmen tended to have a slightly higher level than the tradesmen, because they had crafting techniques on top of the appraisal technique.  The average level of all the citizens of Pannoc Heath was perhaps four.  Level 0 Laborers were not uncommon.

Pannoc Heath was governed by a baronet named Almeric Pontfeuille.  He provided justice and the guard force and maintained a small militia that all adults in the region joined for a year or two around their twentieth birthday.   The tax burden was relatively light, and he was a popular lord.  The town had been mostly unaffected by the undead uprising – no lich had been dispatched to this isolated part of the empire.  The biggest impact the event had in Pannoc Heath was that imported luxury items were harder to find and more expensive due to the disruption in trade in the bigger centers.

With the rest of the customers and the staff ignoring him entirely, Duncan was able to listen in on conversations and learn what issues mattered to the populace.  The conversations revolved around births, deaths, marriages, and employment.  There was no conversation at all about politics, the undead, or magic.  He did hear on several occasions about young Elsie Miller who had displayed a surprising affinity for air magic and had been swept off somewhere to apprentice as a mage.   Much of the gossip was speculation about who her real father might have been, since neither her mother nor her mother’s husband had any air affinity whatsoever.  Everyone seemed to wish Elsie the best, though – it was good to see one of their own rising above the crowd.  No one seemed resentful.

It was a world entirely removed from what Duncan had experienced in Lanport, where all the nobles in the Academy of Steel, all the instructors, and everyone he’d dealt with had been blessed with strong affinities and the resources to develop them.  The people of Pannoc Heath, for the most part, had no strong affinities at all, and they seemed content.  Those citizens who demonstrated a weak or moderate affinity were generally offered positions with the baronet, it seemed.  A few became adventurers and left for parts unknown.  And even fewer returned to retire where they’d grown up.

While he absorbed the culture of Pannoc Heath, Duncan was also working on creating a perception technique based on his Blade Sense and the items that let him see invisible things.  His Blade Sense wasn’t advanced to the point that he could sense the intent of the wielder, as Master deBouteville’s was, but he had the general concept down.  He could sense blades near him, and their movements.  With his crown on (underneath the hood of his cloak), he could sense the spirits of everyone around him.  His goal was to use the blade sense as a base to copy the effect from the crown.

He imagined it felt like opening his eyes for the first time.  It certainly felt overwhelming.  The crown must have had some limiters in place – it showed him the sentient creatures nearby.  His own sense showed him the insects and scavengers, the cats there to control the scavengers, anything with a flicker of spirit.  The awareness lasted barely a second before he lost it, swamped by the information.  Still, he was thrilled.  The possibility was there, and he would work at it with the same dedication he worked on his swordplay and space manipulation.

Looking around the inn, he was relieved to find he hadn’t reacted in a way that would make him stand out to the few other customers and staff present.  With a grin hidden beneath the hood of his cloak, he tried to activate his new sense again.

Hours later, he’d made barely perceptible progress, and he was quite pleased with that.  Any progress at all was good news – it had taken him weeks to develop his first techniques, and those were well-known, common techniques in the valley, and he’d had the benefit of instruction on Blade Echo, Tempered Blade, and Mind Spike.  He’d developed Fold Space on his own, which is what gave him the confidence to even attempt to create this new perception technique.  He fully expected it to take weeks or months before he could use it well enough that it would appear at rank one in the information his soul gem showed him.

There were several inns and taverns in Pannoc Heath, and Duncan picked one at random each day.  He also listened in on shopkeepers, craftsmen, laborers, guards, and low-level adventurers as he hung out near shops and job sites.  His Cloak of the Unseen let him blend in and pass unnoticed.  Sometimes he tried to practice his newborn perception technique, other times he simply immersed himself in the conversations around him, and he began to understand some of the things his economic advisor back at the Academy of Steel had told him.

Less than ten percent of the population had enough of an affinity to practice magic beyond the bare basics.  There were a few techniques that required no affinity, which worked with even a negligible affinity to any element.  One was appraisal – anyone could learn it.  Another was perseverance, which boosted physical and mental endurance in the face of repetition and was the technique of choice for laborers with no viable affinities.

Of the ten percent who had a viable affinity, ninety percent of those had only a weak affinity to a single element.  They were able to aid the growth of crops and prevent blights (to become better farmers or foresters), or detect and extract ore or minerals from the earth (to become better miners), or improve their toughness and strength beyond the norm (to become better guards or soldiers), or cure minor diseases, wounds, and ailments (becoming healers).  This helped demystify the technique-users (cultivators, as they were known through much of the world).  Everyone knew someone with enough affinity to use techniques, and they were just people, too.  Luckier than most, to have a usable affinity, but still just people.

The one percent of the population that had a moderate or better affinity to one or more elements were the adventurers and nobles.  Affinities bred true, more or less – if your parents had strong affinities, chances are you will, too.  So, the people with strong affinities became the ruling class throughout the world.  People who had strong affinities and no noble bloodline became adventurers or elite crafters or filled other financially lucrative roles (healers, elite guards, and soldiers) and became wealthy.  It was not unusual for talented commoners to marry into noble families.

The social structures, then, were set in stone.  The affinity-less peasant class was generally involved in subsistence activities.  They had no means of effecting change in society.  A single mage could wipe out an entire army of peasants.  The peasants grew the food supply, but the nobility could feed itself without the peasants, so they’d only be hurting themselves if they stopped production.   It was fortunate that there was a strong sense of obligation to the people in the culture of the empire, Duncan mused.  If a ruler decided not to maintain roads or security or healthcare among the general populace, the people would live in abject poverty and desperate conditions.  And there would be nothing they could do about it.

Pannoc Heath, then, seemed to be as good as it got for the common folks.  Duncan wondered if the local rulers got their money from dungeon delving, since they didn’t tax the lower classes much.  That made sense to him – delve dungeons and use the proceeds to make life better for everyone around.  But, in general, people were selfish, so he expected there’d be rulers who treated their people poorly.  And if I grow strong enough, perhaps I can do something about that.

Studying the people of the empire, and Pannoc Heath in particular, was enlightening and all, but Duncan wanted to visit the local dungeons.  And to find out about the dungeons, he’d be best advised to check in with the local Adventurers Guild branch.  And to do that, he’d have to assume the guise of a level one-oh-five warrior – it would not do to check in at a much lower level than the last time he’d checked in in Lanport.  That was the sort of thing that got investigations going and drew unwanted attention.

And so, Duncan Blinked out of town and flew back to the gate, where he landed to pay the ten-bit entrance fee travelers were charged.  The guard said, “Welcome to Pannoc Heath.  The baronet requests that adventurers of your level do him the courtesy of visiting him in his manor at their earliest convenience on arrival.  He is home today, and I’m sure he’d be happy to meet you.”

Oh, that’s interesting.  Duncan nodded, paid his fee, and was waved through.  The baronet’s manor was easy to see – it was the largest building in town and would have fit in nicely with the manors in the richer part of Lanport before the undead invasion.  It looked a little out of place in Pannoc Heath, though it wasn’t overly ostentatious.

Curious to see what the baronet wanted from high-level adventurers, Duncan strode up to the mansion’s front door and knocked.  No guards outside.  A moment later, a young man opened the door.  He wore a simple blue livery and had a shock of unruly black hair and a well-trimmed beard.  “Yes sir?” he said.

“The guard at the gate said the baronet asked to meet with high-level adventurers like me,” Duncan stated.

“Oh!”  The servant’s eyes widened as he identified Duncan.  “Please follow me.”  He led Duncan to a pleasant waiting room, with a large window, leather chairs, and quite a few books on a shelf along one wall.  “Make yourself comfortable here – someone will bring you refreshments momentarily, and the baronet will be informed of your presence.  May I have your name?”

Duncan nodded amiably.  “I am Duncan, of the Valley.”  The servant nodded and departed.  I hope this doesn’t take all morning.  He looked out the window, and saw it overlooked the town behind the manor.  The books on the shelf appeared to be histories of various parts of the empire.  Duncan was just about to pull one off the shelf to peruse when there was a soft knock at the door and a handsome young man opened it for a serving girl to enter.  She set a tray with some biscuits, meat, and cheese on a table, along with a carafe of wine and two glasses.  With a quick curtsey, she left without saying a word.

The man who’d opened the door for her greeted Duncan.  “Well met, Duncan.  I am Almeric Pontfeuille, baronet of Pannoc Heath.”  He was tall and fit, though not so tall or broad as Duncan.  Duncan remembered to consult his soul gem and saw Almeric was a Level 81 Warrior.  He looked to be in his early thirties and dressed like a well-off adventurer.   “Thank you for your visit.  Please, sit, let me offer you a drink.”  He poured two glasses of wine from the carafe and offered one to Duncan.

“Pleased to meet you,” said Duncan, unsure of which honorific to use for a baronet.  “The guard at the gate said you wished to meet with high-level adventurers.”  He took the offered glass but didn’t drink.

“Straight to the point,” said Almeric.  “Pannoc Heath doesn’t see many high-level adventurers.  We’re in the middle of nowhere, and the nearby dungeons aren’t well-known.  The undead incursion plaguing much of the empire has passed us by, as well.  So, when a puissant warrior such as yourself visits, I like to meet them and get to know them a little.  It’s my duty to protect the people here and I’ve found that meeting people early can alleviate any concerns.”

Duncan grinned.  “I can assure you I have no intention of tearing your town down around you.  It seems quite a nice place from what little I’ve seen.  I’m exploring the empire and just happened across Pannoc Heath.  I’d like to visit the local dungeons before I move on.”

Almeric nodded, “That’s good to hear – we make a modest income from taxing the wealth adventurers take from the dungeons here.  We take ten percent of the coin from both dungeons and twenty percent of the ore taken from the Depleted Mine dungeon.  We don’t tax items or anything else, and it helps keep taxes low for the people I’m obligated to take care of whilst still making the dungeons profitable for adventurers.  And we use the honor system – you tell us how much you took from the dungeon, and we take our percentage off that.”

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to the Adventurers Guild about the local dungeons yet,” said Duncan.  “One of them is a mine?”  Taxing the take from dungeons seems a pretty clever way of raising funds without being unduly onerous.  I’m surprised it’s not a more widespread practice.

“The first is the Depleted Mine, which is something of a misnomer,” Almeric began.  “It’s divided into two sections – the upper level of the mine is rated as level thirty-five by the Adventurers Guild.  It’s a series of mine tunnels with molemen miners throughout.  They have earth-affinity attacks as well as normal melee.  They often have sacks of ore with them, as well as some coin.  The ore is the more valuable resource – much of it is quite rare, like Truesteel, Mithril, and Samarium, and used in the creation of enchanted armor and such.”

“Below the mine level are tunnels created by giant worms that intersect large caverns.  That part of the dungeon is rated at level ninety by the Adventurers Guild, and few folks dare to try it.  The worms themselves are rare, but their bodies contain large amounts of concentrated rare metals.  Difficult to recover, but well worth the effort. The taxes I take from the loot from one worm can pay the taxes I owe for the entire baronetcy for almost a month.  The caverns often contain fire salamanders, lava monsters, earth elementals, and occasionally even some dragon-kin, such as copper drakes.”

Ooh, that sounds interesting.  Drakes though – I don’t think I’ve advanced enough to take a drake alone.  I couldn’t even scratch the last one I met.   Almeric continued, “I have a team of stalwart retainers – we sometimes try the lower portion ourselves when we’re short on tax revenues, but even the weakest creatures in that area are incredibly dangerous.”

“The second dungeon in the area is called the Noxious Swamp dungeon.  It has wandering groups of frogmen, and lots of snakes, lizards, and even some plant monsters.  The Adventurers Guild rates it at level sixty-five, but the portions closer to the entrance tend to be safe enough for lower level groups, while the regions further away can be significantly more dangerous.   There are herbs with value to alchemists and herbalists in there, but I’m told the same herbs are widely available in other, lower-level dungeons, so we don’t often see herbalists coming here to harvest them.  It’s not a lucrative dungeon to control, sadly.”

“If the ore from the mine dungeon is so valuable, why do you not have miners working it with guards to keep the molemen away?” asked Duncan.

“It’s been tried in the past,” Almeric replied. “Mining draws the attention of the monsters below, or so we assume.  Every time it’s been tried, the miners and guards disappear without a trace.”

“Still,” he continued, “the swamp dungeon should provide a challenge if you’re on your own, and while the upper portion of the mine might not be very challenging, it could be quite lucrative for you.”

“I’ll try them both,” said Duncan.  “There’s almost always something interesting in every dungeon I’ve visited.”

“Glad to hear it!” exclaimed Almeric.  “The mine dungeon is in a cave a five-minute walk upstream – there’s a good path to it.  And the swamp is across the river about a kilometer away.  There’s a rough trail, but it’s well-marked, so you should have no trouble finding it.  Now, what can you tell me about what’s going on in the rest of the empire?  We don’t get much news here, and the undead troubles have made communication even worse.”

Duncan spent a pleasant hour in conversation with Almeric, telling what he knew of the situation with the undead and learning more about Pannoc Heath and the area around it.  Almeric proved to be a good host and a personable conversationalist. Duncan left the manor feeling quite comfortable.   He decided to give the Depleted Mine a try first, then take a look at the Noxious Swamp.

The path to the Depleted Mine dungeon was wide enough for a large wagon, and in good repair.  It was a matter of moments to reach the cave.  There was a little guard shack outside, containing two level twentyish guards and a tax official.  The tax official was an affable man who briefly explained that the Baronet would take a ten percent cut of the coin Duncan declared he’d earned in the dungeon, and a twenty percent cut of the ore by weight, for each type of ore.  Duncan indicated his acceptance of the terms, and the tax official wished him good luck.

Duncan entered the dungeon and smiled as he felt the invigorating mana density that suffused the air.  His smile turned to a frown as he realised that, beyond the entrance chamber, the mine tunnels were under two meters tall, meaning he’d have to walk bent over to fit into them.  With a sigh, he entered the tunnel.  Hopefully the natural tunnels below are taller than this.

The molemen miners were only about a meter tall, and quite weak.  They attacked with pickaxes for the most part but could also cause stone spears to sprout from the ground beneath his feet, or the walls or ceiling, and they could also cause the ground to grip at his feet with stone boots.  The stone spears and pickaxes couldn’t puncture his armor, and he could Blink out of the entrapping stone boots.  Their armor was ineffective against his attacks, and he had no trouble with them at all.  He discovered that Extract Resources, used where he encountered the molemen, yielded far more ore from the rock than the molemen had in their buckets.

He moved swiftly through the mine, seeking a path down to the tunnels below.  The frequent encounters with molemen miners barely slowed him at all, and in under two hours, he found himself standing at the edge of a shaft that dropped into darkness below.  With a grin, he stepped off into space, summoned a sword beneath his feet, and flew down into the dark.

A few hundred meters later, Duncan began to worry that this wasn’t an entrance to the lower part of the dungeon, but shortly thereafter, a faint reddish glow appeared below him and soon he found himself hovering near the roof of a large cavern.  A river of magma flowed through the cavern, and the heat rising off it was noticeable even a hundred meters above it.

There were several creatures cavorting and playing in the lava.  Fire elementals, maybe?  The rest of the cavern appeared barren, though Duncan noted at least half a dozen large tunnels leading out of the cavern at various heights, and two in the floor that led down farther.  The walls were rough, and stalactites and stalagmites decorated a part of the cavern farthest from the lava.

He flew down a short distance to get a better look at the flame creatures.  That drew their attention, though, and they started throwing balls of fire and lava at him.  The monsters were vaguely humanoid in shape, though made entirely of fire.  Duncan kept his distance, not wanting to get too close to the lava, and concerned about the flames flickering out to burn him.  From the maximum displacement distance of his Fold Space technique, he attacked the creatures with his Spirit sword, wincing at the heat that poured forth from the aperture near him.

His dragonskin armor proved resistant to the heat, so, while it was uncomfortable, it wasn’t immediately damaging.  His eyes felt very dry, though, and he had to blink frequently.  He dodged the missiles the creatures threw or opened folds in space to direct them away from him, and when the monsters approached him to try to melee, he drew them further and further from the lava, staying at range and attacking through folds in space.  It was slow going, but he wore them down in turn, and all four fell before him, dissipating as their life force left them, leaving nothing behind.

With a shrug, Duncan picked a tunnel at random, marked the roof as best he could by gouging at it with a sword, then followed it.  He wasn’t particularly worried about getting lost – he could survive off the ambient mana in the dungeon almost indefinitely, and if he kept exploring, he was sure to find other paths to the lower-level portion of the dungeon above.

The tunnel was round for the most part, and Duncan could believe it was created by a giant worm of some sort.  It took sudden turns left, right, up, down, or some combination thereof.  And when it opened into the next cavern it did so well up the wall, leaving a fifty-meter drop to the floor below.  From the lip of the tunnel Duncan observed more of the fire elementals cavorting in a lake of lava along with some salamander-type creatures which he immediately dubbed lava lizards in his head.

The lava lizards were disappointing.  The fire elementals attacked him again on sight, and he was able to draw them far enough away from the lava lake to fight them without the heat from his folds in space becoming oppressive, but the lava lizards dove into the lava the moment they noticed him and didn’t return.  First time I’ve encountered dungeon monsters that weren’t aggressive.  Ambush predators, maybe?  Although who’s going to walk along the edge of a lake made of lava?

Duncan continued flying through the caverns and tunnels for several more hours, marking the tunnels at each cave entrance to hopefully provide him a path to follow back to the mines above if he didn’t find another at random.  He made an effort to work on his nascent perception technique but found he couldn’t make it even begin to work if he was moving at all.   So, he took frequent pauses to try to establish it as he traveled through the tunnels.  Any progress at all is helpful.  There’s not a lot of life here to confuse or overwhelm my new spirit sense, so perhaps I can get it to stay active for a little longer each attempt.

He didn’t encounter any of the worms that supposedly created the tunnels, but he did come across a large mound of rocks and ore.  He used his Extract Resources technique to recover significant amounts of materials – he filled two of his storage devices with all sorts of valuable rocks and ore from a single pile of what he considered worm poop.

Not the most glamorous dungeon.  As he finished storing the ore from the waste heap, half a dozen spider-like creatures burst from concealed tunnels or pits or something around the heap.  Their legs had crystalline tips and their mandibles seemed to be made entirely of the same crystalline material.  They were all around him, and they emitted some sort of pulsing sound that made his teeth (and everything else) hurt.  It felt like they were literally blasting him apart with high-pitched sound waves.

Duncan Blinked fifty meters down the tunnel and healed himself – the sound waves bouncing between the spiders had done a lot of damage in a very short period of time.  Duncan resolved to not let himself get caught between any of the spiders, and Blinked back into the fight, appearing behind the nearest spider and attacking with his Beast bane and Spirit swords.  The Beast bane sword punctured the spider’s carapace and ichor spurted out at him, sizzling where it came into contact with Duncan’s armor.  His Spirit sword passed through the monster as expected, wreaking subtle damage as it did.

The nearest spiders emitted their high-pitched squeals again, and although the force wasn’t nearly as bad as when they’d surrounded him initially, it was still both painful and damaging.  Even with his Leech Mana technique active, Duncan wasn’t confident he’d have sufficient mana to win this fight if he had to keep healing and Blinking.  He resolved to give it a go, reasoning that he could always flee with a couple of longer Blinks when he ran dangerously low on mana.

The spiders proved less robust than he’d feared, and a high-mobility strategy Blinking between his target spider, and others chosen because they were further away and isolated resulted in an easier victory than he’d expected.  The spiders were simply too stupid to realize that he was going back to the same one every second Blink – they’d turn and rush towards him wherever he appeared rather than protecting his target.

Extract Resources netted him the sharpened leg tips and crystalline mandibles from each spider.  The tunnels they’d burst out of were only a meter or two deep – more hidey holes than tunnels – and contained no loot, either.

He continued to select options to go deeper into the dungeon whenever he was able to do so, and hours later, he was probably a thousand meters below the mines, he estimated, following a wider tunnel down at a steep angle.  He began to feel anxious and worried, and paused a moment before realizing that he was at the edge of a very powerful aura.  Tamping his own aura down as far as he could, he crept forward very slowly, fighting an increasing urge to flee in panic.

The tunnel ahead widened into a huge cavern.  Dozens of lava streams flowed through it, creating hundreds of islands as the streams merged and separated around harder rock formations.  In the center of the cave, on a large island, a massive creature lay snoozing.  Is that a dragon?  It was perhaps a hundred meters long, with a tapering tail beyond that.  It had four legs and two huge wings, and it was covered in reddish gold scales.  The head was the size of a wagon, and a sinuous neck with a double ridge running its length connected the head to the massive body.  The eyes were closed, and the huge flanks of the monster rose and fell steadily as it slept.

Duncan flew back up the tunnel as fast as he could, then Blinked repeatedly to get as far away as possible as quickly as possible.  A sense of impending doom followed him for the first minute before beginning to fade.  His interest in exploring the dungeon entirely squashed, he retraced his steps back to the mine level and from there to the entrance and emerged from the dungeon perhaps fifteen hours after entering it.  By the time he reached the mine level he was feeling much more composed.

He noted with a wry grin that the guards who’d casually waved him into the dungeon were far more attentive as he emerged from it.  Gotta get their share!  He turned and entered the little administrative building beside the dungeon entrance.  The tax official at the desk gave him a bright smile.  “I’m glad you made it out of the dungeon whole and hale,” he said.

“Thank you,” Duncan replied.  “Where do we go to sort the ore and separate your share?”

The official gestured to a shallow tray sitting in the corner of the room.  “You can put it in there, and we’ll get right to sorting it for you.”

Oh!  People generally only bring out what they get from the molemen.  This could be amusing.  “You’re going to need a bigger tray.  I ventured deep into the caverns below the mine, and I have enough ore in my storage device to bury this entire hut.”

The tax official blinked at him a few times in confusion, then said. “Ah, right.  High level groups sometimes find more ore.  Please accompany me to a courtyard near the tax office.  We’ll have an earth-affinity mage meet us who can identify, weigh and measure the ore.”

Duncan nodded affably and followed the official, who paused a moment to send one of the guards off to find someone to cover for him at the mine hut. Duncan offered to fly the man to the courtyard to speed things up a little, but the look of horror the official gave him at his suggestion made him withdraw the offer and follow at the official’s pace.

They eventually arrived at the courtyard and the earth mage emerged from the adjacent building.  He was a Level 40 Mage and seemed genuinely happy to have ores to examine.  Duncan’s extraction technique sorted the ores by type already, and he assumed the rarest stuff would be the most valuable.  So, he started by producing several hundred kilograms of the most common ore he’d found.

“Astonishing!” the mage exclaimed.  “Four hundred and fifteen kilograms of mithril!  What a haul!  And so pure.”  He turned to Duncan, “How is it so pure?”

“The technique I used to extract it only extracts the resource from the source material,” Duncan explained.  “It also sorts the various ores into separate piles for me.  So, each pile I produce should contain a single type of ore.”

“Makes my job easy,” said the earth mage.  Duncan produced the rest of his find one pile at a time, and the mage grew more and more excited with each pile, even as they grew smaller.  “I’ve never seen the final five ores before.  One kilogram of this is worth more than a thousand kilograms of mithril!” the mage exulted as he examined the final pile, keeping a safe distance from the glowing ore that radiated a dense cloud of mana.  “Sixteen hundred grams of francium!”

In the end, Duncan separated out twenty percent of each pile and stored the remainder in his storage devices once more.  The earth mage took the baronet’s share into a storage device of his own.  “What will you do now?” he asked Duncan.

Duncan shrugged.  “I’ll take a look at the other dungeon, the swamp one, I guess.  The mine dungeon was boring right up until it was terrifying.  Not very useful for my advancement.”

“But so profitable!” countered the tax official.

“You can only spend so much coin,” Duncan said.  “I don’t actually need a lot to get by.”

“What will you do with all that metal, then?” asked the earth mage.

“Hang on to it until I find a crafter who can use it to make me some armor, maybe?” Duncan pondered.  He was getting to the stage where his skin and flesh were sturdy enough that most armor was redundant.  Truly exceptional armor like his dragonskin set was difficult to make, and he doubted anyone in the empire was up to the task.  That said, he could feel the bulk of the ore in his storage ring, like an itch he couldn’t scratch.  Perhaps it’s not truly weightless, or perhaps I’m overloading it.

Chapter 9

He took his leave from the local officials and flew to the Noxious Swamp dungeon.  The path was easy to follow, though he had to fly just above the ground to be able to see the markings on the trees.  He arrived at the dungeon and found another guard hut nearby with a bored guardsman going through the motions of attacking a pell with a wooden sword.  Duncan paused for a moment to assess the guardsman’s ability and concluded that either he wasn’t putting any effort into the training at all, or he was terrible.

Duncan checked in with the guard, who seemed pleased to be able to put the practice weapon down for a moment.  Then he stepped into the dungeon and took a look around.  The place was teeming with life – insects swarmed him immediately but couldn’t get through his skin.  There were flocks of birds visible overhead, and others were diving and swooping through barely visible clouds of insects.  The air was humid and heavy with ambient mana.

He immediately tried to establish his new perception technique, and, as he expected, the huge proliferation of insect life completely overwhelmed it.  What a great place to work on filtering out insignificant creatures!  The forced enthusiasm felt hollow, but he also grinned at the thought of training.  Right, well, let’s see what lies deeper in this dungeon!

It felt like a more vibrant version of the second level of the Endless Depths dungeon.  The mossfoot frogmen were the same, and the alligators and other ambush predators felt familiar, too.  Duncan used his Extract Resources technique on every plant that looked unique or interesting and soon had quite a collection of vials, powders, and pressed flowers in his storage armband, along with a little coin from the mossfoot tribesmen he encountered.

None of the monsters were remotely challenging at his level, so he practiced his weaker techniques and tested his swordplay against the mossfoot warriors.  Sadly, he was too strong and too fast, so they couldn’t challenge even his non-technique swordplay.  So, he moved on to refining his folds in space, trying to see if he could create small folds that caught the thrusts of his opponents and redirected them back at themselves.  Placing a tiny fold in space precisely and instantly was challenging, and he found himself really enjoying the practice.

At first, he missed his placement or was too late with it about half the time, but his armor and flesh were generally sturdy enough for the errors to be somewhat less than dangerous.  He rarely had to heal himself and was able to focus entirely on his techniques.  It felt like productive practice.  The monsters were doing their best to kill him, and they were good enough that it was a challenge to respond perfectly to their attacks.

The only drawback was that there weren’t enough of the mossfoot warriors to keep the practice going indefinitely.  He flew between camps but ran out of opponents after only a few hours.  So, he moved deeper into the dungeon, looking for a bigger challenge.  It wasn’t a huge dungeon, so “deeper” was a relative term.  He was looking for the dungeon boss, the dominant monster.  And he was hoping for a rare monster or two to show up and give him a real challenge (not a dragon, though!).  It had been a while since he’d encountered one of the rare creatures that he was sure the gods sent to help with his advancement.

Several more hours passed as he wandered around, killing all the monsters he encountered, before he found something interesting.  Or rather, until something interesting found him as he finished off a large alligator.  His earring pinched his ear sharply, and he Blinked up twenty meters.  A metal sphere appeared beside where he’d been and exploded.  Twenty meters up, he was still caught by dozens of small shards of metal, and he was forced to regenerate as the metal chewed his lower body up.

Below him, about thirty meters away, a mossfoot mage was already casting another spell.  Duncan Blinked down to it, figuring that if it had exploding metal orbs, he’d be well advised to stand close enough to it that it would be caught in its own explosions if it targeted him with them.

Another explosion obliterated the area where he’d been hovering a moment earlier.  Appearing behind the mossfoot mage, Duncan stabbed it with his dragontooth sword and swept his Spirit sword through the monster’s body.  Even as he did, a metal sphere formed around the mage, and Duncan Blinked away barely in time to avoid the explosion as metal shards filled the area around the mage, leaving it untouched in the center of the metal maelstrom.  Whee… this chap may only have one trick, but it’s a really good trick!

Duncan Blinked again, appearing twenty meters in front of the mossfoot mage.  He stabbed at it through a fold in space, then Blinked to another spot out of the mage’s line of sight and repeated the process.  And Blinked again.  Explosions shredded the ground and underbrush wherever he paused for more than a second or two, great plumes of water rising from the swamp and showering the surrounding area.

The mossfoot had created what appeared to be a stable sphere of metal around itself, which prevented Duncan’s dragontooth sword from doing it any harm.  His Spirit sword still affected the monster, however, and it was losing health steadily.  Scores of little metal spheres suddenly filled the area around the mage out to a distance of perhaps thirty meters.  Duncan barely had time to Blink away before the entire area became a blizzard of metal shards.  Anyone without an instant teleport would have been shredded by the attack.  There is no way this thing is the dungeon boss of a level sixty-five dungeon.  Must be a rare spawn, and a truly dangerous one at that.  Somehow it can see me through that metal sphere surrounding it, too.

The moment the metal blizzard cleared, Duncan was back at it, Blinking around the monster and striking it through its armor with his Spirit sword.  The mage grew increasingly desperate, creating more and more explosions, trying to guess where he’d appear.  It caught him with one blast, but Duncan was able to regenerate even as the metal was shredding his armor and flesh.  A minute later, the battle was over, the mage dead due to accumulated spirit damage.

Duncan felt elated at having won against such a phenomenal monster, but also a bit of a poignant disappointment that the fight was over, and that the monster hadn’t had something even more special in reserve.  The monster had a belt pouch containing some interesting square coins with a hole drilled through the center and intricate engravings on both sides and the outside edge.  On a thong around its neck, it had a magical gem, which Duncan assumed to be a technique stone, in a simple setting.  Beyond that, it had no loot at all.

Duncan completed his circumnavigation of the dungeon, which ended up just being a large mostly-circular cavern with the swamp occupying the entire space.  The cavern was only perhaps fifty meters tall at its tallest, and was covered in a thick fog, presenting a cloudy overhead to those traipsing through the swamp below.

I wonder if the dungeon boss was with one of the mossfoot groups I fought as I wandered around.  None of the encounters had stood out as more difficult than the others, except the solo mage, which was several magnitudes of difficulty harder than the rest of the dungeon.  With a shrug, Duncan flew to the entrance and exited the dungeon.

He put all the coin he’d looted on the counter of the tax official’s hut for the official to claim the government’s share, then returned to town to find an inn with a good bath that he could clean up in.  The local dungeons weren’t particularly interesting (ridiculous dragon boss in the caverns under the mine notwithstanding) and Duncan felt he’d learned what he could about the local society from observation.  It felt like it was time to move on to another town, with new dungeons to explore and new people to learn from.

A messenger from the Baronet was waiting for him when he exited the baths, bearing an invitation to dinner.  With a shrug, Duncan told the messenger he’d be there (there was no point in alienating local authorities, and he wasn’t in a particular rush).  After the messenger left, Duncan settled down in his Cloak of the Unseen to observe the people working at a lumber mill.

At dinner, the baronet was quite interested in Duncan’s delve into the Depleted Mine dungeon and in how he’d managed to bring out so much metal.  Duncan explained that he had a technique that allowed him to extract resources from animal, plant, and mineral sources.

“You must be fabulously wealthy!” Almeric exclaimed admiringly.

Duncan shrugged. “I don’t actually use it very often.  This was the first time I’ve used it on minerals, I think,” he said.  “Mostly I’ve used it on monster corpses and occasionally herbs, when I remember.  I’m a swordsman – I delve dungeons to improve my skill and challenge myself.  Digging up rocks, no matter how lucrative, just doesn’t appeal to me.”

Almeric deflated a little.  “So, what will you do with the ore you recovered yesterday?”

“Maybe hang on to it until I find an armorer or smith who can use some of it to make me new armor in return for the rest?  I’m not really sure.  It’s heavier and bulkier than the treasure I normally carry in my storage device, and I can feel it sitting there.  Maybe my storage device isn’t as good as I’d thought.  Or maybe it’s just really heavy stuff and not normal for a storage device…”

“Does that mean you won’t be going back into our dungeons?” Almeric asked.

“It does.  Time for me to move on and explore more of the empire,” Duncan replied.

“Would you be willing to take my group into the caverns below the Depleted Mines once to show us where you found the big ore deposits?” Almeric pressed.  “We go down there once a month or so to try to find minerals to offset the tax costs for the region, but we’ve never found anything with nearly that much value.”

“Can you all fly?” Duncan asked.  “I entered through a tall vertical shaft and many of the tunnels I explored required flying to reach.”

“Our earth mage can get us around… he can move through the walls and carry us with a stone platform,” Almeric said.

I wouldn’t go in relying on just one person to be able to get the whole group out of a dungeon, but it’s not my call to make.  “Alright, I can show you where I found the ore.  When can you have your team assembled and ready to go?”

“Let’s meet here at first light tomorrow.  I can introduce you to the team and we can head straight to the dungeon,” said Almeric.

Arrangements made, Duncan spent the time before the meeting observing more townspeople at work and in the taverns.  They seemed generally content with their lot in life, but Duncan thought he’d be bored to tears with a normal life.

The following morning, Duncan showed up at the Baronet’s manor house promptly at sunrise and was shown into a waiting room where Almeric and four adventurers were already assembled.  “Good morning, everyone,” he said.

“Duncan!”  Almeric seemed very happy.  I’d be happy too if I got to visit a dungeon after having to run a city for days on end.  “Allow me to introduce my team.  Estelle is our earth mage and the group’s guardian.”  He gestured at a tall woman who was thick with muscle.  She had dark skin, black hair, and an infectious smile.  She was a Level 88 Warrior, despite Almeric’s description of her as an earth mage.

Almeric pointed at a non-descript man in boring grey robes, his plain face topped by a simple hat that hid whatever hair he may have had.  “That’s Bennip.  He’s a fire mage.  He can shoot fireballs and create shields to protect us from the heat of the lava.”  Bennip was a Level 86 Mage.

“Toqsin is our close-range striker,” Almeric said of a petite woman with startlingly pale skin and fine hair so blond as to be almost white.  She was a Level 92 Rogue.  Not often I see a rogue tag.  Toqsin nodded to him.

“Mustafa,” said a short man with a spectacularly shaped beard and mustache.  “I am responsible for keeping everyone alive and well.”  He was a Level 89 Healer.

“And I am a rather generic armored warrior,” said Almeric, self-deprecatingly.  As a Level 81 Warrior he was the lowest level of the group, but Duncan suspected that was due to more time spent governing than training.  Rich as he doubtless was, Almeric probably had excellent gear.

“It’s nice to meet you all,” said Duncan. “I am Duncan, of the Valley.  Body and Blade.  I’m a swordsman with a few good tricks and fast regeneration.”

“Must be really good tricks to survive alone in the caverns beneath the mines,” said Toqsin.

“I’m careful, and I have very good gear, as well,” replied Duncan.  “It’s been enough so far.   I’m not used to working with a team, so I’ll be very conservative and follow your lead in there.”

“Excellent,” said Almeric.  “We’ll use the mines to get used to each other’s styles before we head into the caverns beneath.”

They trooped out of the mansion and down the road toward the Depleted Mine dungeon.  I can’t believe they can’t fly.  This is so slow.  At the mine entrance, they pulled their armor and weapons from their storage devices and began to armor up.  Their storage devices aren’t advanced, either – they can’t equip their armor directly from storage.  Or maybe they don’t know that they can?  Duncan equipped his truesteel armor directly.  He didn’t want to lord it over the baronet and his men, and the truesteel was good armor all the way to level eighty.  He was still trying not to stand out too much.

“Advanced storage device and fancy armor,” said Toqsin.  “I guess that’s to be expected of an adventurer at your level.”  Bit of a chip on her shoulder, that one.

“Is that Truesteel?” asked Estelle.  At his nod, she said, “Thought so.  It has a distinctive sheen.”  The baronet’s team were all wearing pretty typical adventurer gear, as far as Duncan could tell. Nothing stood out as unusual compared to what he’d seen others wearing.

“Everyone ready?” asked Almeric.  “Let’s head in then.”  He turned to the guard on duty.  “We’re going into the tunnels below the mine so we may be in longer than normal.”  The guarded nodded, and Almeric led them into the dungeon.

The increased mana density washed over Duncan and gave him energy.  He always felt better in dungeons.  He could see the others standing taller and seeming more at ease, too.  By level eighty, most adventurers felt better in mana-rich environments.

“Toqsin scouts.  When we encounter monsters, Estelle gets their attention and the rest of us follow Toqsin’s lead in target selection.  Attack what she attacks, then move on to the next.”  In the crowded tunnels, Duncan would have some difficulty even getting to the target without Blinking.  “If we meet some in a tunnel, we back up to the nearest cave – the monsters will follow.  We fight where the tunnel opens into the cave.”  Ah.  Effective, but completely unnecessary with these low-level monsters.  Still, I suppose it’s supposed to be practice for the tunnels.

Duncan nodded along with the rest of the group and Toqsin led them into the mine, following Duncan’s description of where he’d found the shaft leading down.  Soon enough, they encountered a small group of molemen, and Estelle trapped them a moment with earth magic while the party retreated back to a small cave.  When Estelle released the molemen (her earth magic was clearly stronger than theirs), they rushed forward to attack with their pickaxes.  The ground stirred a little, but no spikes sprouted up from it to impale the adventurers.  Estelle’s earth magic is impressive – she’s suppressing the efforts of the molemen through the whole area.

As the molemen reached the point where the tunnel widened into a cave, Estelle trapped the molemen again with earthen boots, and Toqsin blurred forward and plunged her daggers into the torso of the leading moleman.  Not a teleport, but that’s the fastest I’ve seen anyone move without teleporting!  The moleman’s chest seemed to deflate a little under the attack and it collapsed to the ground.

Almeric advanced and Duncan moved alongside him.  The baronet had a short-handled axe and a shield, so Duncan stayed on his shield-side so as not to interfere with him swinging the axe.  The fight was short-lived – Toqsin did most of the killing while Estelle kept the molemen trapped.  Duncan didn’t attack at all – he just stayed at Almeric’s side.  Bennip didn’t attack either – the mage hung back and had no real opportunity to strike past his group at the molemen.

They looted the molemen and moved forward.  Duncan stopped them where they’d first encountered the monsters and used his Extract Resources technique on the stone wall where they’d been mining.  It resulted in a few kilograms of ore, which Almeric gratefully collected in a storage device. “Remarkable!  One encounter and we’ve got more ore than we’d normally see in an entire run through the dungeon.”

They had several similar encounters before they found the shaft down into the depths that Duncan had used the last time he was in the dungeon.  “It’s a long drop into a large cavern,” he said.  “I’ll fly down and hover near the ceiling of the cave.  There are fire elementals in the lava below, but the tunnel we want is near the ceiling, so we won’t have to fight them.”  He was grateful to be moving down – the mines were boring alone – in a group, the challenge was non-existent.  He’d not had to so much as swing a sword yet.

Toqsin snorted at that, but Almeric said. “Perfect.  Estelle will carry us down the shaft on a platform of stone.”

Duncan nodded and stepped into space, dropping silently into the shaft.  He allowed himself to free-fall for a few seconds, then summoned a blade under his feet from his storage device and used it to slow his fall.  When he entered the cavern, he checked the floor to ensure it was as he’d remembered it.  The lava pools and cavorting elementals were present, and he saw nothing unexpected.  So, he waited near the ceiling for Estelle to bring the rest of the group down.

A rumbling sound from above heralded their arrival.  “This is harder than it looks,” Estelle gritted.  “Where to?”

Duncan pointed to the tunnel, perhaps eighty meters away, and Estelle maneuvered the platform in that direction, connecting it to the ceiling with two pillars of stone.  The strain on her was evident, but she got them to the tunnel entrance safely.  She sat down and leaned against the wall.

“That was quite scary,” commented Bennip.  “If we had fallen…”

“But we did not,” interjected Mustafa.  “Estelle carried us admirably.”

“Indeed,” said Almeric. “And when she has recovered, we’ll move on.”

Estelle got to her feet.  “I’m good.  We can go now.”

Duncan said, “We’ll have to cross a couple more caverns on the way to where I found the ore pile, but it’s possible we’ll run across a different pile in a different tunnel.  I think the ore is likely the droppings of the worms that carved these tunnels.”

He led them onwards, through two more caverns and into two more tunnels.  The marks he’d made in the ceiling on his past visit were gone entirely, so he wasn’t entirely sure he was going the right way.  But they came upon the depleted pile of resources right where he’d hoped it would be.  “This is it.  I extracted all the ore I brought out from this pile,” he told Almeric.  “There were spider-like creatures hiding around it, so be careful moving forward.”

Fortunately for the group, the sound spiders weren’t present – Duncan thought they’d prove a very difficult challenge for the group.  Estelle poked at the pile’s remnants. “No ore in this pile – it’s mostly granite and quartz, with some other harder stone mixed in.”

“Well, that is disappointing,” said Almeric.  “Duncan, are you willing to stay around for a month or so and harvest some more ore for us?  We could really use it to pay our taxes.”

“Sorry,” said Duncan.  “I’m a swordsman, not a miner.  The ore from this node will have to suffice.  I need to move on, to find other challenges.”

“That’s regrettable,” sighed Almeric.

Duncan’s earring pinched his ear, hard, and he Blinked past the group down the hall, but not before Toqsin managed to stab him in the back with both her daggers.  One just managed to nick his liver, and the other was stopped by his ribcage – she’d been aiming for his heart.  Had his flesh been less dense – had he actually been level one hundred and five – he’d have been in significantly more trouble.

A burning sensation spread out from the wounds as he used Destrin’s Restoration to heal his flesh.  He grimaced and used Remove Affliction on the nasty poison her attacks had inflicted.  It took a remarkable eight thousand mana to remove the poisons – they were quite deadly.

He faced the group calmly.  “That was a poor decision.”

Almeric shrugged.  “Regrettable, as I said.  But I am obligated by my oath of fealty to do the best I can for my people, and your wealth will pay the region’s taxes for years to come.  If you won’t provide by mining, then you will provide by dying.”

Duncan looked at the rest of the group.  All but Toqsin showed dismay on their faces, but they stood with Almeric, unflinching.  “Do the rest of you agree with this action?”

“Our apologies,” said Mustafa.  “We are bound in oaths of Fealty to Almeric.  If he says it’s best for the fief, we will support him.”

Toqsin grinned.  “Doesn’t matter, anyway.  You’re already dead.  I’m surprised you’re still upright with all the poison I dumped into you.”

Mustafa frowned.  “He is unharmed,” he said, sounding both surprised and worried.  As he should.

Duncan released his aura. The reactions were telling.  Toqsin looked alarmed, Almeric fearful.  The others seemed more resigned than anything.

Toqsin blurred forward to attack, but Duncan was no longer unaware, and Blink wasn’t fast - it was instant.  Toqsin arrived to find she had nothing to attack, and Duncan, standing on a sword overhead, stunned her with a Mind Spike, then thrust his swords through a fold in space.  His dragontooth sword struck her in the back of the head, while his spirit blade pierced her torso.  Toqsin had a strong Body affinity, and while she’d channeled the effects of that into speed rather than strength or endurance, it gave her better resilience than most adventurers.  Still, Duncan was sixty levels higher than her, and his outstanding Body affinity improved his strength rather dramatically.

His dragontooth sword burst out of Toqsin’s mouth even as his spirit blade passed through her heart.  He withdrew his blades and Toqsin collapsed to the ground, in shock, but fully healed.

Duncan looked at Mustafa.  “Very impressive healing.”  The healer blanched behind his impressive facial hair, knowing full well that the smartest course of action for Duncan would be to kill him first.

With a sigh, Duncan said, “Look, most of you seem pretty nice, and I don’t especially want to kill you.  Attacking visitors for the good of your people is pretty evil, though.  The good of the many cannot justify killing individuals who’ve done no harm…”  Can it?  All of society seems to operate on a might makes right concept – the weak are taken care of because the very strongest deem that it should be so.

“Anyway,” he continued.  This is not the time for a philosophical debate with myself.  “Killing you would be more punishment than self-defence.  I couldn’t honestly tell anyone that you were a threat to me, that I had to kill you in order to survive.  Further, you’re so damned weak that killing you wouldn’t be enough of a challenge to stimulate any improvement in my techniques.  So, I’m just going to leave.  I will report what you’ve done to the Adventurers Guild and will probably have to make a sworn statement on a Rod of Truth or whatever it is they use to determine veracity.  But I’m going to leave your fate in the hands of the Gods. I understand that they can exert their will more freely in dungeons than in the outside world.”

He eyed Almeric.  “If you do make it out, choose another way to ease the tax burden.  If I hear other adventurers have entered a dungeon with you and not returned, I will come back to Pannoc Heath and kill you.”  And I suspect that telling you that will modify whatever equation you use to justify this shit so that it’s no longer worthwhile.

“There are laws regarding the killing of rulers,” Almeric blustered, clearly feeling a little braver now that Duncan had said he wasn’t going to kill him immediately.  “The emperor himself will hunt you down for killing a ruler, if that’s what it takes!”

“That won’t help you, though, will it?  You’ll still be dead.”  Duncan grinned, then focused his killing intent on Almeric, spiritually oppressing him.  The baronet quailed and almost collapsed.

What a disappointing end to my visit.  Duncan flew off the way he’d come, not wanting to reveal any more abilities, in case they surprised him by coming after him, or he encountered them again in the future.

It took him significantly less time to get out than it had to get in.  He saw no monsters on the way, which he found rather annoying, as he’d have liked something to take his frustrations out on.  Exiting the dungeon he told the guard, “I led the baronet and his party to the ore deposit as requested.  When I left them, they were together, unharmed, and able to defend themselves.”

He had no idea if the Adventurers Guild used the same protocol as the Delvers Guild back in the Valley or if anyone would recognize it.  Doesn’t matter – it’s a concise explanation of the situation.

The guard nodded uncertainly, and Duncan flew off on his sword, eager to find another dungeon and lose himself in the simplicity of life-or-death combat.  Just when I was starting to appreciate how people function in the empire, I get a reminder that people are assholes to each other.  If the baronet had been willing to take his little tax windfall and be happy rather than trying to take all the rest of what I’d found…

Chapter 10

Duncan realized he was flying at a ridiculous pace, much faster than he’d ever flown before.  He was heading vaguely northwest and leaving the mountains behind as the land beneath turned to forest.  If I continue in this general direction, I’ll reach the North end of the central plains and Harrish.  May as well make my report to the Adventurers Guild there.

As he flew, he saw more and more indications of an organized civilization.  Rather than isolated villages in the wilderness, he could see villages and towns thirty or forty kilometers apart, each surrounded by farmland.  Many of the smaller towns appeared to be abandoned, though – no smoke arose from hearths, and he could see clear damage to walls and buildings.

There had been a huge undead army advancing on Harrish, he recalled, before a dragon had wiped it out.  I wonder if the remnants of that army are still wandering around, or if the liches have sent more undead to continue the attacks in smaller groups.  It probably wouldn’t take more than a few hundred undead to overrun one of these outlying villages, likely even fewer if they had something to take down a gate or go over the wall.

Each time he came to one of these abandoned villages, Duncan checked for survivors who might need to be rescued, or lingering undead he could kill.  He found none of the former, and very few of the latter.  He did come across a few larger towns that seemed to be teeming with people – the surrounding villages had probably been evacuated to the towns for better security.  These generally had a group of mindless lesser undead milling around outside the walls, with the guards taking pot shots from the walls at the ones that approached close enough.

Duncan didn’t bother intervening – the undead were no real threat, and the guards should be able to wipe them out with a little concerted effort.  And he had no interest in talking to people at the moment.  So, he flew on, until he came to a large town that was truly under siege by undead.

There was clearly an intelligent monster leading the undead forces – they were focused on a single gate, and they had some large amalgamation-style monsters attacking the gate itself whilst several dozen undead mages attacked the defenders on the walls who were trying to hamper the monsters damaging the gate.  A large pile of undead bodies lay against the wall not far away, and Duncan could see some of the larger undead tossing more corpses on the pile.  If they kept it up much longer, it would turn into a ramp the other undead could use to scale the wall.

That’s pretty clever.  Duncan Blinked behind some of the undead mages and started lopping off heads.  These might be a real threat to level twenty guards and low-level adventurers, but they couldn’t hurt him, and, indeed, didn’t even notice he was there before they died.  His Necrobane and dragontooth swords passed through the necks of the lesser undead with barely a tug.

He placed a Bladestorm where the skeletons and zombies were packed the most densely and Blinked to the gate to attack one of the corpse amalgams that were hammering on the doors barring their way.  He’d had some time to strategize since the last time he’d fought an amalgam, so, rather than stabbing at his target through folds in space, gradually whittling down the creature’s animating force, he hacked at the monster’s joints, cutting deep into the bodies that comprised its limbs where they connected to each other.

It was a little riskier than his previous strategy, but he expected it would result in much faster kills.  His folds in space could block physical attacks no matter how much force the amalgam used, and he Blinked around his targets frequently, so he was never in one place for more than a few seconds at a time – he had no intention of letting multiple amalgams attack him at once.

His Bladestorms were chewing up the lesser undead, and he replaced each one as it cleaned out an area with another in the midst of the surviving undead.  Where is the leader of this force?  The amalgams aren’t intelligent enough to lead as far as I can tell.

The first amalgam fell before the undead leader made itself known.  Lightning struck down from the clear sky above, momentarily locking up his muscles.  The amalgam he was fighting tried to take advantage of the surprise attack, but Duncan was able to place a fold in space to block the attack.  It’s hard to stun me with Tranquil Mind protecting me.

Duncan Blinked above the undead horde, standing on a flying sword whilst he scanned the massed creatures for his attacker. He didn’t bother to heal himself – the damage from the lightning attack was negligible thanks to his dragonskin armor. Half a dozen of the remaining undead mages cast spells at him.  Aha!  There’s an animator mixed in with the mages.  He could see the animator’s skeletal knight bodyguards flanking it, which made it easier to detect.

So, two remaining amalgams, two skeletal knights, an animator, and any surprises that crop up.  Animator first, since it’s the only actual thinker I can find.  Without it to guide the rest, the threat to the town goes way down.

He focused his attacks on the animator, striking at it through a fold in space from a few meters away, thrusting the tip of his Necrobane sword through the back of the creature’s head and out through its mouth.  That would have killed a living monster, but to the undead, it was the same as being stabbed in the torso or a limb.  It took accumulated damage to kill undead.  Still, it was good practice in both tactics and point control, and he strove to make every blow a killing one as he Blinked erratically around the monster.  The skeleton knights were having a hard time reaching him, and when they did, he used folds in space to block their blows.

I’m better than I was when I first fought these. Not just stronger and sturdier, but actually better.  I’ve got much faster and more precise control of my folds in space, and I hit harder, and can adjust faster to match the increased speed of the higher-level monsters I’ve been facing.  These simply aren’t a threat to me anymore.  So where are the adventurers for whom these would be an appropriate challenge?

He finished off the animator, then the skeleton knights, all the while keeping Bladestorms chewing up the lesser undead in front of the gate.  There were two corpse amalgams still attacking the gate, and a few dozen lesser undead milling around along the length of the wall, lost without a greater undead to direct them or a nearby enemy to attack.

From the top of the wall, low-level guards and adventurers hurled ineffective attacks at the amalgams.  The gates themselves were holding up surprisingly well – the amalgams had a lot of size and power, yet their blows only rattled the wooden gates.  Those must be magically enhanced gates.  Duncan attacked an amalgam from behind, and both turned to attack him.  He Blinked back and forth to opposite sides of the pair, always keeping one between him and the other.  It would take a little while to wear them down – they were extremely robust – but as long as he didn’t make any foolish mistakes, he expected a comfortable victory.

Ten minutes later, it was over.  The last corpse amalgam fell, and Duncan Blinked five hundred meters straight up, then flew on.  I am not speaking with the local authorities.  I’ll kill the undead I come across threatening towns, but I have no interest in dealing with more people who want to make claims on my time.

Duncan repeated his actions four more times on the way to Harrish, a one-man army wiping out the undead attacking populated towns.  He continued to avoid talking to any of the locals – he killed any intelligent or high-level undead he found and used his Bladestorms to wipe out the lower level undead nearby as he did so.  Then he vanished without a word, or an acknowledgement that the town defenders were even there at all.

As he got closer to Harrish, he saw a large group of perhaps five thousand undead marching across the plains in the direction of the city, with no humans around to impede them (or be killed and raised to join them).  Duncan paused above the throng to think.  None of the zombies or weaker undead warriors and mages matter – they can’t hurt me even in huge quantities.  But how many greater undead will a group that size have?  I can dance around and whittle down maybe up to a dozen if they’re mostly melee types, but more than a couple of high-level caster types will be problematic.  Or will it?  I was, what, level one hundred when the undead invaded Lanport?  I’m a lot sturdier now than I was then, although my primary techniques haven’t really advanced a lot.  I have great mobility and can probably escape almost anything between Blink and flying – I should just attack and see what happens.  If I have to flee, I’ll flee.

He flew around the entire group, trying to pick out the greater undead mixed in.  At the front of the massed undead, he saw three mounted undead warriors in runed armor. Oho – that’s new.  They weren’t skeletons – they had dead skin stretched tight over their skulls and glowing green eyes.  Their armor was metal, with engraved patterns traced across it.  Their mounts appeared to be undead horses, with the same green eyes and tightly stretched skin.

Behind them were perhaps a dozen corpse amalgams, half a dozen bone golems, at least twenty animators, plus dozens of bone guardians and bone knights. That is a strong force.  I’m not taking that on face to face.  There was a commotion among the elite undead as some of them saw him, and a volley of spells from the undead mages came at him.  He was surrounded by a cloud of stinging particles for a moment before he Blinked away, the projectile spells not reaching him in time.

He flew to the back of the massed undead and waited to see how many of the greater undead would follow him.  The horde continued its slow march toward Harrish, and no greater undead chased him.  That’s… disrespectful!  Duncan began using Bladestorm to take out large sections of the weaker undead at the rear of the horde, to see if that sort of interference would draw a response.

A few minutes (and a lot of destroyed lesser undead) later, three animators with their bone guardian bodyguards arrived to investigate the attack.  Duncan switched his attacks to the animators, Blinking back and forth to prevent the bone guardians from reaching him while he attacked the animators through folds in space, occasionally using Mind Spike to stun one or interrupt a spell being cast.  The bone guardians learned early on that they couldn’t just rush his position every time he Blinked and spread themselves out hoping to be near him when he Blinked, but Duncan was happy to accommodate that strategy – it let him practice blocking attacks from single bone guardians in relative safety.  He could have simply flown above the horde on a flying sword, whilst attacking, but that didn’t feel right.  He wanted a fight (however lopsided), not an extermination.

It didn’t take long to wipe out the animators and the bone guardians, and all the while, Duncan continued to use Bladestorm on the lesser undead nearby.  His Leech Mana technique kept his mana levels comfortably topped up with so many targets taking damage from each casting.  He was just finishing off the last bone guardian when a second wave of greater undead arrived, this one led by one of the mounted undead knights.

Ghostly green chains sprouted from the ground around Duncan, binding his legs and wrapping around his waist.  He Blinked out of the chains in time to avoid a beam of inky darkness that the undead knight fired from its lance as it approached.  That looks like the same necrotic energy attack the liches use.

The undead knight raised its lance overhead and the bodies of all the lesser undead Duncan had killed in the area exploded, sending sharp bone shards everywhere.  Duncan was pelted from all sides, and several of the shards managed to penetrate his armor and scratch his skin, though none did him any real harm.  It’ll take a more focused attack than that to hurt me now.

The knight seemed to agree.  Its creepy mount charged forward, the knight’s lance leveled at Duncan.  He Blinked beside it as it charged, his Necrobane sword extended.  The blade caught the horse’s back leg at the joint and severed the lower portion.  In eery silence the horse fell and the knight rolled free, its lance turning to mist and then forming into a sword.  As the horse scrambled to its remaining feet, the knight advanced on Duncan behind its shield.

This could have been fun, without the animators casting at me and the bone guardians joining in.  Duncan engaged the knight, blocking the knight’s sword with a fold in space, cutting at its head with his dragontooth sword, and thrust his Necrobane sword through another fold in space to hit the knight in the back of the head.  The knight blocked the cut at its head but was taken by surprise by the thrust, which struck home.  A cloud of green gas burst from the wound instead of blood and began to surround the knight.

Duncan had to Blink away as the knight’s horse and several bone guardians closed on his position while the newly arrived animators attacked him with spells.  He reverted to his normal plan, Blinking around and taking out the casters with attacks through folds in space so none of the opponents could be sure where he’d be after his next Blink.  He added a Bladestorm on the animators and was pleased to see it was effective enough to make them move.

The undead knight acted like an armored lich – it had all the same necrotic attacks the liches had, plus a couple of others, in addition to the armor and weapons.  Duncan’s extreme mobility and ability to attack through folds in space were a strong counter to the knight’s powers, though, and as long as he played it safe, whittling down his opponents, he was able to do so without undue risk.

More and more of the greater undead began to arrive as his disruption of the army’s progress continued, until he broke off and Blinked to the far edge of the horde and began to attack the lesser undead there.  There’d been so many spells in the air and so many monsters attacking him that it became too slow to take down his targets.

This process repeated itself over and over through the horde for the rest of the day and deep into the night.  Whenever the press of numbers grew too great, Duncan would Blink to a new flank and start over, killing lesser undead until the nearest greater undead arrived, then killing them until too many had gathered.  In the end, the three knights began moving together with a tight cluster of animators around them.  The corpse amalgams continued to lead the army forward rather than trying to engage Duncan – the knight in charge must have realized they had insufficient mobility to be useful in swatting a single attacker that could teleport all over the place.

Duncan found that whittling down the animators took significantly longer when they were all clustered around the knights – the animators had the ability to slowly heal undead, which only mattered when there were enough of them gathered for the healing to keep up with his damage.  But that became the case.  The mounted knights (the animators had re-attached the first horse’s missing leg or grown it a new one, so all three were mounted once more) were strong necrotic mages in addition to having the armor and weapons of a melee monster, and their combined attacks were very threatening.  Duncan was forced to retreat a few hundred meters and heal once when a necrotic beam caught his leg and shriveled it to a blackened stick.

To make matters worse, he’d essentially killed off all the lesser undead that had been refilling his mana pool via Leech Mana.  Without that easy supply of mana, he had to be more sparing with Blinks and folds in space, and any big heals would deplete his mana enough that he’d be forced to retreat and recover.  There were still plenty of corpse amalgams, bone knights, bone guardians, and several bone golems in addition to the mounted knights and a score of remaining animators.

As the sun rose on the battlefield, Duncan retreated to replenish his mana and watched from a distance to see how the undead would react.  At first, they remained tightly clustered, but after an hour or so, the animators began to spread out through the field, raising the dead again.  Many of the lesser undead were in terrible shape after being torn apart by a Bladestorm, but whatever magic the animators used was able to do some reassembly, it seemed.

Do I blitz one while they’re spread out?  Do I want to keep this fight going?  Constant fighting in this low mana zone is tiring – I don’t want to make a fatal mistake.  But I don’t want to let them just go on.  Duncan Blinked to the animator furthest away from the mounted knights and attacked aggressively, choosing to stand and try to block the attacks of the bone guardian bodyguards as he focused on cutting down the animator as fast as he could.

The animator dropped, and none of the other casters had reacted.  I wonder if they can’t easily abort the technique they’re using to raise the lesser undead and that’s affecting their response time.  He turned on the two bone guardians that had accompanied the animator and fought them sword to sword whilst keeping an eye out for responding monsters.  He was just finishing off the second bone guardian when he saw the three mounted knights charging across the field at him.  Wow, really slow response time.  If they stay separated, I should be able to take out all the animators individually while they’re raising the lesser undead again.

Actually, it’s just the three mounted undead coming at me right now. I wonder…  Duncan Blinked beside the charging group and once again cut the leg out from under one of the horses, sending horse and rider both tumbling.  As before, the rider rolled to its feet and its lance turned into a sword.  Duncan attacked as he’d done before, using folds in space to attack from behind whilst also engaging from the front, parrying attacks with his swords and blocking them with his folds in space.

The two other knights turned their mounts and charged again, forcing Duncan to Blink up and then back down after they’d charged through.  They turned their horses again and began casting at him instead, forcing him to move erratically to dodge their attacks, and to use folds in space to redirect their necrotic beams at his target.  He was struck by two of the beams but healed the damage both times while he continued to attack the unhorsed knight.  The additional damage he was able to redirect to the monster was very helpful and he finished it off with an angled cut to its neck after less than a minute.

Several animators were rushing to join the fight along with their bone guardian companions, and Duncan decided discretion was the better part of valor for the moment.  He stored the knight’s body in his personal storage space and Blinked high into the sky and three hundred meters away.  The knight’s horse had vanished when it died.  Duncan didn’t know if it had been a summoned mount or something else, but it was gone.  No using the knight’s body to create more undead.  And I can loot it, too.

The undead seemed to ignore him once he stopped attacking and Blinked more than a couple hundred meters away.  They didn’t forget about him, but they didn’t seem able to notice him at that range.  They remained on guard and clustered up for a while, then they spread back out again – the animators raising the dead, and the mounted knights had returned to the group of what Duncan thought of as siege monsters – the corpse amalgams and bone golems.

Well, that’s something I can exploit.  Duncan waited for the animators to spread back out, then killed the one furthest from the support of the mounted knights.  He Blinked away again and waited for them to give up on waiting for him and repeated the attack.  When he found the mounted knights responding before the remaining animators, he went after them hard, trying to get another one eliminated before their backup and healing arrived.  As his target fell, Duncan exulted.  Aggression pays off.  One mounted knight left, maybe a dozen animators, and the rest of them are essentially mindless.

It took him another full day to wipe out the remaining greater undead.  The final mounted knight grouped the remaining animators up after he killed three more as they tried to raise the dead.  He abandoned the lesser undead and led the remaining greater undead forward at a faster pace.  Duncan changed his strategy to Blinking in behind the group, stunning the trailing animator with a Mind Spike, then overwhelming it and Blinking out to heal as necessary and let the group move on.  After the animators were all dead, he finished off the final mounted knight, and the remaining undead lost their way.  After that, it was simply a matter of picking off the ones that wandered away from the pack.  Corpse Amalgams and Bone Golems were hard to kill, but one on one, they weren’t really a threat to him.  The bone guardians and bone knights he could take four at a time once the larger monsters were taken care of.

In the distance, a military observer who’d been observing the advance of the undead force via a pair of goggles that took advantage of his light affinity shook his head and turned away to write a message on a scroll.  The scroll’s twin back in the Harrish command center recorded the message: ‘Undead force designated 5F eliminated by an adventurer with a pair of swords.’

Chapter 11

Duncan entered one of the Adventurers Guild halls in Harrish – the city was big enough to have three, apparently – and waited in a short line to see the official at the reception desk.  The building was understated compared to many guildhalls he’d seen, which tended to be the biggest buildings in their villages or towns.  In Harrish, adventuring wasn’t a particularly prestigious activity, though the power of adventurers was never ignored.

He reached the front of the line and told the Guild representative, “I need to report being attacked by other adventurers in a dungeon.”   The bored look on the woman’s face was replaced by one of anxiety.  She pointed to an unobtrusive door a few meters away.

“Please wait in there – the branch head will be in to interview you shortly,” she said.

Duncan entered the room to find a table with a comfortable leather chair on either side, and several wooden chairs against the walls.  The entire ceiling glowed softly, illuminating the room with a warm light.  A small side table in a corner held a pitcher of water and several mugs.  The whole place felt comfortable, and Duncan suspected there was an enchantment responsible for that, too.

He took a seat in one of the leather chairs, the door to his left.  Neither chair had its back to the door, he noted with a grin.  He let his mind wander as he waited for the guild representative to show up to take his statement.

A short while later, there was a soft knock at the door, then three people entered.  The woman in the lead was short and stocky enough to appear almost plump.  She was a Level 104 Mage though, and the man and woman who followed her in were similarly impressive, both being Level 101 Mages.

“Hello, young man.  I am Ingrid Hrefnsdottir,” said the woman in the lead.  “With me are Jakob Sanchez and Helene Magomedov.  We will take your statement about the incident.  We take accusations of adventurers assaulting one another very seriously, and so your statement will be taken using a Rod of Truth.  If you object to this, you may withdraw your accusation and leave now.”  She gave Duncan a quizzical look.

“I will remain,” said Duncan.  “Let us proceed.”   Ingrid had an aura of authority.  Duncan admired her aura control – she seemed able to project power without projecting threat.  When he released his aura, people reacted as though he was going to kill and eat them.  Maybe that says something about me beyond me needing to refine my aura control…

Ingrid took a seat opposite him, while the other two pulled up wooden chairs and sat on the other sides of the table. She said, “Please insert your guild ID in the slot in the table in front of you.”  Duncan did so, and she said, “Duncan of the Valley?”  At his nod, she looked down at the table again and said, “Joined us just under three years ago, in good standing.  Very rapid advancement.”

Ingrid summoned a crystal and a rod from a storage device, set the crystal on the table and held the rod out to Duncan.  “Please hold that in both hands.  The crystal will record your statement, and the Rod of Truth will ensure what you tell us is true.”   Duncan grasped the rod, resting his arms on the table.  The rod extended from both ends until it was two meters long.  Jakob and Helene each touched an end and mana surged through the rod and into Duncan.  He felt the pressure on his mind, easily resisted.

“He has a mind affinity.  A strong one,” said Helene, calmly.

“Please don’t resist the effects of the Rod of Truth,” Ingrid said.  Easier said than done!

With an effort of will, Duncan suppressed his Tranquil Mind technique, or, rather, he convinced himself that this particular effect wasn’t an attack and should be allowed through his defenses.  He could feel the mana from the rod circulating through him.

Helene nodded to Ingrid.  “We’re good to proceed.”

“Please state your name and make your case,” said Ingrid.  “We will not interrupt or react until you are done.”

Duncan nodded.  “I am Duncan, of the Valley.  I am a solo delver.  I delved the Depleted Mine dungeon in Pannoc Heath, where I used an Extract Resources technique to remove metals and ore from the dungeon.  The local authorities place a tax on the resources and coin removed from the dungeon – twenty percent by weight for the metals and ore, and ten percent of the value of the coin.  I presented my haul, and the tax official took their share.”

“The local baronet, Almeric, told me my haul was much bigger than adventurers normally retrieved, and their portion of my take would pay a significant portion of the taxes they owed his liege.  He asked me if I would be delving the dungeon for more ore.  I said no – the dungeon wasn’t useful for my progression, and I had enough ore from the first run to get a set of armor or whatever made for me.  He then asked me to escort him and his team to where I’d found the big ore deposit in the dungeon.”

“I agreed to do so, and did.  When we got there, the baronet again asked me if I intended to leave instead of staying around to harvest ore in the dungeon.  When I told him I would be moving on, he said that was regrettable, and one of his team, a rogue called Toqsin, stabbed me in the back with a pair of poisoned daggers.  The attack would have been fatal for most level one hundred adventurers.”

“The baronet told me that he was obligated by his oath of fealty to do what was best for his people, and that my wealth would pay the region’s taxes one way or the other, by mining or by dying.  I asked the other members of his group if they agreed with his actions, and one of them said they were obliged to do so.”

Ingrid’s eyes had grown wide as she heard the baronet implicated, but she said nothing.   Duncan continued, “I released my aura to intimidate the group, and Toqsin attacked me again.  I struck her down, but their healer, Mustafa, healed her of what would have been fatal wounds.  She remained down, though.  The rest of the group didn’t attack – it was clear I could kill them all at will.”

“I told the group I would leave them there and then, that I would report the incident to the Guild as required, and that if I heard of the baronet taking other adventurers into the local dungeons and coming out without them that I’d go back and kill him.  I suspected that if his oath was making him do what he felt was best for the region, he would feel that keeping himself alive was for the best and would therefore cease such actions.”

“Then,” he finished, “I left them there, exited the dungeon, informed the guardsman outside that the group was safe and well when I left them, and flew here, only pausing to kill some undead on the way.”

“What level was the dungeon, and what level were the baronet and his group?” asked Ingrid.

“The mine portion of the dungeon is rated as level thirty-five,” said Duncan.  “Shafts connect it to a cave complex beneath that’s rated as level ninety by the guild.  Almeric is in the low eighties and his team averaged about ninety.”

“I see,” Ingrid said. “I’m trying to understand why they didn’t attack you along with Toqsin either time that she attacked you.”

“The first time, I think they expected her poison to finish me off even if the initial stabbing didn’t.  It was a very strong attack.  The poison was rank ten.   The second time, they were intimidated by my aura.  I think Toqsin’s second attack was a panic response.”

Ingrid raised her eyebrows. “Would you release your aura for us, please?”

“I don’t think that would be wise.  People in the rest of the building will panic if I do,” said Duncan.

A spark of merriment appeared in Ingrid’s eyes.  “It won’t do them any actual harm.  It’s occasionally useful to remind us that we’re not all we think we are.  Please proceed.”

Duncan shrugged. “Brace yourselves,” he said, then released his aura.  Relaxing his iron control over it felt good.  Ingrid blanched and the two mages maintaining the mana flow in the Rod of Truth barely managed to keep it flowing smoothly.   Screams and shouts sounded from all around.   Duncan waited for about three seconds, then suppressed his aura again.

“My fault,” said Ingrid.  “I need to go quell the panic.  Please excuse the interruption.”  Duncan got the impression she was talking to the people who would eventually watch the recording in the crystal.

Ingrid stepped out the door, and Duncan could feel the calm authority of her aura spread throughout the building. Again, he admired her aura control.  Something to work on, more than just on and off, and on at varying degrees of intensity. Being able to shape the emotions it projects would be very useful.  Adjusting the range at which it takes effect would be helpful, too.

A minute passed before she returned.  “For the record,” she said, “that was the most intimidating aura I’ve ever experienced.”  She looked at Duncan, “What level are you?”

Duncan checked his soul gem for the first time in a while.  “One-fifty,” he said.  Nice!  Something of a milestone.

“Did you really just have to check your soul gem to find out your own level?” Ingrid asked.

“The level system is pretty useless,” Duncan replied.  “The information on individual techniques and skills is useful to oneself, but, in my experience, as an indicator of power, one’s level is a useless indicator at best, and terribly misleading at worse.  I try to only look when I’m planning what to work on next.”

“Why do you present as level one-oh-five instead of as your real level?” Ingrid tilted her head and regarded him thoughtfully.

“I don’t like the attention my level attracts,” Duncan answered.

“Then why not present as something even lower?  Like thirty?”

“Two reasons.  One, it’s really hard to pretend to be that weak with my Body affinity and techniques.  And two, I don’t like idiot weaklings acting like they’re better than me.”  Duncan winced a little as he said that.  Damned Rod of Truth.

“Alright, my apologies for going slightly off-topic there.  I accept that your aura was sufficient to intimidate the group into not attacking you.  Do you have anything further to add to your statement?”

“Just that I’d like the guild to investigate whether or not other adventurers have disappeared in Pannoc Heath whilst delving with the baronet and his team.”

“Very well.  Here ends the official interview,” Ingrid said.  With that the two mages channeling through the Rod of Truth relaxed and the rod shrank back to its original size in Duncan’s hands.

“Because your case involves a noble in a governance role, we will have to forward a copy of the recording crystal to the Emperor’s staff for their information.  The palace will act as they see fit, of course, but you’ve done your duty as a guild member, and we thank you for that,” she continued.  “It’s likely that someone there will want to speak with you in person, so please stick around for a few more days.  We can give you access to a local dungeon or two that you might not otherwise be able to delve.”

She knows how to bribe me.  “Thank you,” Duncan said. “I’d like that.  The ambient mana levels are quite low here, and I actually got hungry and tired whilst fighting some of the undead outside the city on the way here.”

“I’m honestly surprised that someone of your level is still traveling the empire,” said Ingrid.  “There are probably no more than a hundred people in the entire empire over level one-fifty outside the royal guard and some elite military units.  All the adventurers of your level I’ve heard of are outside the empire, in regions of higher ambient mana.”

Duncan shrugged.  “I’m young, and I advanced very quickly.  I’m trying to consolidate my gains, so that I don’t get myself killed by the first dangerous thing I encounter in the outside world.  I like your aura, by the way – it feels authoritative without being intimidating.  Mine’s all about the things I’ve fought and killed.”

Ingrid smiled, “Thank you.  Aura control is something that takes time and practice.  Although, my raw aura is mostly authoritative, too.  I’ve been a guildmaster for over two hundred years, and one’s aura is a reflection of one’s experiences.  You’ve evidently seen a lot of death and strife in your career for it to color your aura that much.”

Duncan shrugged again.  “I’ve spent most of my life in dungeons since I turned sixteen.  And I’ve fought the undead a fair bit in the past year.”

Helene was looking at something on the table that Duncan couldn’t see, just as Ingrid had done earlier.  “Wait,” she said.  “You’ve gone from level twelve to level one-fifty in under three years?”

Jakob grinned. “That has to be a record.  Solo delving really pays off if you can survive and thrive at it, I guess.”

“If your aura is any indication, it’s taken a toll, too,” added Ingrid.  “Are you sure you want dungeon access while you wait?  We offer counselling for adventurers who’ve seen too much suffering.”

Duncan smiled.  “I appreciate the thought, but I’m good.  Dungeons are my happy place,” he said.

Helene smiled back, “It’s good to see someone who fights for the love of it do so well.  I’m sure you know most solo adventurers bite off more than they can chew and die an early death.  You’ve clearly found something that works for you.”

“The dungeons in Harrish are a little different from what you’re doubtless used to from around the rest of the empire,” said Ingrid.  “There are half a dozen dungeons here, all in private hands.  And all are quite small – a typical party of an appropriate level can generally clear each one in under three hours.  Access is usually assigned in four-hour windows.”  Like we used to do in the Valley with the goblin dungeon.

Ingrid continued, “There are two that are likely to appeal to you, depending on your risk tolerance.  The first is a level seventy-five dungeon featuring canids – humanoids with doglike influences.  Most are weapon wielders.  The setting is a military base of some sort – a fort or keep.  The dungeon is entirely inside the building, so we can’t be sure.  The other is a level one-hundred dungeon featuring ratlings.  They have warriors, mages, and a disturbing number of rogues, some of whom may use invisibility.  It’s right on the cusp of being rated over one hundred.  It’s a giant refuse dump.  The smell is terrible, and the ratlings scavenge out of three separate bases.  The imperial guard uses it to train against stealthy opponents and ambushes.”

“Both sound interesting,” said Duncan.  “But if I were to choose only one, I’d go with the ratlings.  A level seventy-five dungeon won’t be a challenge.  I’ve tried a one-ten dungeon and it kicked my ass – but I was only about one-fifteen at the time.  I’ve mitigated some weaknesses since then.”

“Alright,” Ingrid said.  “The guild gets two four-hour slots a day.  I’ll bump a team from one slot for each of the next five days for you.  Please don’t hide your level while you’re here – I’ll catch enough grief for bumping a team – if they think I’m doing it for a fresh-faced level one-oh-five solo adventurer, there could be actual violence.”

Duncan grinned, and equipped his dragonskin armor, dragontooth sword, and Spirit sword.  “If I wear my gear and don’t suppress my aura, no one’s going to think I’m a fresh-faced anything.”

“They’ll think you’re a villain,” chuckled Jakob.  “Is that dragonskin?  You’ll have the imperial guard thinking you’re going after the emperor.”

“Hmm.”  Duncan added his Knight Errant’s surcoat.  “Does this temper the effect?”

“You’re with the Church Militant?” Ingrid asked.  Duncan produced his medallion as proof, and she nodded after briefly checking it.  “That will help, but don’t release your aura unless you have to.  For a nice young man, you have the most violent aura.  Just show your level and you should be fine.”

“Do you have something less intimidating than the dragonskin?” Jakob asked.  Duncan swapped to his Truesteel armor.  “Perfect!” Jakob exclaimed.  “Wear that and your surcoat and display your real level and no one will bother you.”

“Jakob will show you to the dungeon tomorrow for your first visit.  That will also help smooth your way,” Ingrid said.  “Meet him here at the tenth bell.”  She stood up.  “In the meantime, we have a lot to do, and this interview has taken the three most senior members of the guild hall away from our normal work.  Time for us to get back to it.”

Duncan nodded.  “Thank you for your time.  Sorry to be the cause of trouble.”

“Not the cause,” Ingrid said.  “That would be the baronet.”   The three guild officers took their leave, and Duncan found himself alone in the interview room.

With no one coming to kick him out, he took a moment to review his soul gem information.

Name:

Duncan

Class:

Warrior

Level:

150 (+5)

Profession:

Adventurer

Strength:

369 (+11)

Intelligence:

73

Dexterity:

350 (+11)

Wisdom:

61

Agility:

367 (+10)

Endurance:

373 (+11)

Concurrent Active Techniques:

4

Health:

37460 (+1220)

Health Regen:

27000/hour (+900)

Stamina:

5230 (+160)

Stam Regen:

67500/hour (+1750)

Mana:

32680 (+1000)

Mana Regen:

8680/hour (+200)

Mana Reserved:

456

Cultivation:

Late Earth

Affinities:

Body

Outstanding

Death

Weak

Mind

Outstanding

Lava

Weak

Spirit

Outstanding

Gravity

Weak

Fire

Weak

Poison

Negligible

Air

Weak

Blade

Outstanding

Water

Weak

Ice

Weak

Earth

Moderate

Decay

Weak

Stone

Moderate

Soul

Strong

Lightning

Weak

Corrosion

Negligible

Gemstone

Moderate

Space

Outstanding

Nature

Negligible

Healing

Outstanding

Life

Weak

Shadow

Moderate

Metal

Moderate

Blood

Negligible

Techniques

Active

Rank

Passive

Rank

Blade Echo

8

Tempered Blade

9 (+1)

Fold Space

8 (+1)

Regeneration

8

Blink

7

Coagulation

7 (+1)

Mind Spike

7

Hardened Skin

7

Destrin's Restoration

6

Tranquil Mind

7

Flying Sword

7 (+1)

Spiritual Shield

7

Bladestorm

7 (+1)

Personal Space Pocket

6

Remove Affliction

6

Ignore Pain

7

Regenerate Other

4

Shadow Sight

4

Cage of Blades

5

Assessment

6

Extract Resources

4

Blade Sense

5

Leech Mana

5

Understand Languages

3

Skills

Rank

1H swords

9

Plate armor

5

2H swords

7

Mail armor

5

1H axes

4

Leather armor

5

2H axes

4

Anatomy

2

Shields

6

Survival

2

Spears

5

Skinning

1

Daggers

3

Meditation

4

Bows

3

Swimming

2

Tracking

1

Riding

2

Elven language

3

Knowledge: Monster

2

Tempered Blade has reached rank nine.  My first rank nine technique!  Bladestorm has ranked up to seven after killing all those undead. Destrin’s Restoration has to be close to seven by now.  Leech Mana has grown very quickly – not surprising considering how new it is and that I use it in every single fight.  Everything else seems to be mostly advancing as well as I can expect.

Chapter 12

The following morning, Duncan returned to the guild hall and met with Jakob.  The guild officer gave him an affable grin.  “It’s a short walk to the compound with the dungeon entrance,” he said.  “I’ll introduce you to the guards and anyone hanging around.  When the team currently in the dungeon leaves, there’ll be a short period where it’s empty so that it can reset.  I’m sure you know dungeons can spawn additional monsters whilst occupied, but things seem to go more smoothly if they’re given a little time whilst empty to do so.”

“Once you’re in, you’ll have four hours to complete your run.  Do not exceed your time limit or you’ll be banned from every dungeon in the capital.” Jakob produced a crystal.  “This is a dungeon timekeeper.  When you enter the dungeon, it will turn green.  After two hours it will turn amber.  After three hours it will turn red.  When you have fifteen minutes remaining in your run, it will flash red.  Ideally, you should leave the dungeon before it starts flashing red to allow enough time for the dungeon to rest and reset before the next team goes in.”

Duncan nodded.  “That’s clever.  I assume they can be set for different durations?”

“They can,” Jakob confirmed. “But each one is inscribed with the runes for the specific circumstances, so you need a different physical crystal for other durations.”  He handed the crystal to Duncan.  “This will reset itself when it feels the increased ambient mana in the dungeon so you can use it on all your runs.  Store it in a pouch, not a storage space, else it won’t detect the ambient mana change and start its countdown properly.”

They reached a doorway in a narrow street and Jakob hammered on the door.  A man-at-arms opened it and allowed them in.  Beyond the door lay a large courtyard with half a dozen large chairs along one side, and a ramp leading underground a few meters.  There was a dungeon entrance visible at the bottom of the ramp.  Opposite the chairs was a small covered area where a Level 85 Healer was talking with a pair of adventurers who were just over level one hundred.  Three more adventurers were lounging in the available chairs.

“The dungeon entrance is in the grounds of the Duke of Sturridge’s estate here in the capital,” Jakob was saying.  “He provides the services of a healer at all hours, and it’s his guards who secure the site.  Oh, hello Diego.”

One of the adventurers who’d been speaking with the healer was approaching them.  A Level 106 Warrior, he wore a full set of scaly armor and carried a wicked-looking two-handed axe, gripping it casually under the blades with his left hand. “Jakob.  Thought we’d see who you bumped us off the schedule to accommodate.”  Fully geared to sit around and wait for me?  Either you don’t have a storage device, or you’re trying and failing to look intimidating.

Duncan himself was wearing his truesteel armor with the face plate on.  He’d chosen not to wear the tabard marking him as a knight-errant of the church, because he wasn’t on church business.  And his weapons were safely stored in his armband, ready to be summoned at a moment’s notice.  He used his Assessment technique on all the adventurers – none of them felt threatening individually.

“Yes, well,” said Jakob.  “Diego, of the Sanguine Depths Delvers, this is Duncan of the Valley.”  Heh – they named their adventuring team. “Duncan, Diego and his team are local adventurers who regularly delve many of the dungeons in and around Harrish.”

Duncan just nodded at Diego, who said, “Aren’t you a little high for this dungeon?” Duncan simply shrugged.

At that moment, a team of eight people in matching armor exited the dungeon portal and walked up the stairs.  The healer approached them, but the Level 112 Warrior in front waved him off.  A small man came out of an unobtrusive doorway tucked away behind the healer’s area and said, “The imperial guard team is out.  Twenty minutes until the Adventurers Guild team slot begins.”  He disappeared back into his office or whatever lay behind the door.

Diego grinned at Jakob, “So if the rest of this guy’s team don’t show up in time, we get the slot back?”

Jakob snorted.  “He is the team.”

“Oh.  Wow.  Okay.”  Diego seemed a little lost for words.  “That’s brave, soloing a level one hundred dungeon.”  When neither Jakob nor Duncan replied, he wandered off back to his groupmates.

“The guild pays for the access slot.  Any loot you find is your own,” Jakob said. “It’s a dangerous dungeon – the ratlings poison their weapons, their bites can cause disease, they are stealthy, and they can teleport through shadows.  Watch your back, and don’t be afraid to retreat if you get in trouble.  The healer out here is good with poisons and disease.”

Duncan nodded.  “Thanks.  It sounds like it’ll be a good challenge.”

“Alright,” said Jakob. “If you’ve no further questions, I’ll head back to the guildhall.  The Duke’s man will let you know when you can enter.”

Duncan bade the guild officer farewell and waited for the little official to come out and let him know when to enter.  This waiting around is frustrating.  I don’t remember being this impatient waiting for the goblin dungeon back in the Valley.

Soon enough, the official popped out of his office to shout, “The Adventurers Guild team can enter.”  Finally!  Duncan walked down the ramp, switched to his dragonskin armor, and entered the dungeon.

The increase in ambient mana felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.  He swapped his helmet out for his Crown of Enlightenment and wore his Monocle of Revealing.  The crown revealed spirits (embodied or otherwise) within thirty meters of him, and the monocle let him see invisible creatures that were in his line of sight.  Without the helmet, he was a little more vulnerable to attacks, but his flesh and bone were dense enough now that the trade off for being able to detect the ratlings was well worth it.

The dungeon had the appearance of a large cave in which a city had been piling its refuse for centuries.  Massive piles of rubble, broken furniture, decayed food, rotten cloth, and the detritus of civilizations lay all around him.  The smell was unpleasant but nowhere near as bad as the sewer dungeon he’d delved so many times with his friends at the Academy.  There was a single path leading off through the mounds.  He didn’t detect any spirits near the entrance.

He checked his timer crystal to make sure it was glowing green, then moved into the dungeon, Blinking to the top of a nearby mound.  The moment he arrived, he felt the presence of two spirits a few meters ahead.  He Blinked to them and attacked with his dragontooth sword and his Spirit sword.  Let’s not give them the opportunity to ambush me.

In the low light in the dungeon, the ratlings looked very much like the wererats he’d fought in the sewer dungeon once.  Barely a meter and a half tall, they wielded a pair of daggers each and wore light armor over their fur.  Their bare tails had a spiked metal cap over the tip.

Duncan thrust both weapons into the torso of the first ratling.  His dragontooth blade slid in smoothly, neither the armor nor the flesh presenting much resistance to the force he applied.  The Spirit sword passed through the armor and body as though they were no more solid than a cloud, of course.  The ratling hissed in pain and Duncan immediately Blinked to the opposite side of it, anticipating the second one would shadow step behind where he’d been.

His Assessment showed his target to be badly wounded after only his initial attacks.  They might be stealthy and mobile, but they’re not sturdy at all.  The second ratling had, in fact, appeared where he’d suspected it would and the first ratling was between them.  He snapped a horizontal cut at the ratling’s neck with the dragontooth sword whilst using a fold in space to prevent its arms from moving forward.  The ratling’s head rolled down the mound of refuse and the body collapsed.

The second ratling disappeared and Duncan Blinked forward two meters, switching his orientation as he did so that he was facing the direction he’d been a moment before.  The second ratling stepped out of the shadows in position to stab someone standing where he’d been when he cut the first one down.

A strong Mind Spike stunned the ratling and Duncan lunged with both weapons advanced.  His dragontooth sword struck the unmoving monster in the throat and the Spirit sword pierced its chest.  He drew the dragontooth sword out with a lot of outward force, slicing the flesh easily.  The blade came out with a torrent of arterial blood.  His Spirit sword was still swirling around in the ratling’s chest.  The damage proved too much for the frail creature, and it collapsed to join its companion.

Duncan noticed two more spirits appear right behind him and desperately opened a fold in space behind his back that came out directly in front of him.  Four daggers and the furry hands that wielded them appeared in front of him half a second later.  He canceled the technique and three of the daggers, hands still attached, dropped to the ground in front of him.  The fourth blade had withdrawn fast enough not to have been caught.

He Blinked backwards three meters, appearing behind the injured new arrivals, and promptly attacked the one on the left with both swords.  Both struck home, but even as they did, both ratlings lashed out with their tails, the metal spike on the end striking his armor, but failing to penetrate.

A smoky cloud appeared around the ratlings, obscuring his natural vision but not his spiritual awareness or his ability to see them through the monocle.  He finished off his badly wounded target even as the fourth ratling spun and leapt at him, attacking with its remaining dagger and with its teeth.  The dagger scraped off his armor, and he managed to interpose a small fold in space in front of its head which emphatically cut off its forward momentum.  It fell back, momentarily dazed, and he took the opportunity to take its head off with his dragontooth sword.

Four down, no injuries.  I don’t like that they can shadow step to me from outside the range of my crown’s detection, but it seems that these particular ones aren’t too strong.  A quick squint through his enchantment-revealing emerald showed nothing, so he stored their pouches, tried Extract Resources but got nothing, and moved on quickly.  Not a lot of time to dally in here.  On a whim, he went back and lopped off their tail spikes and stored them.  Good way of tracking numbers.  And who knows, maybe there’s a bounty on these.

He advanced through the dungeon, Blinking erratically from mound to mound, attacking the ratlings he found waiting to ambush adventurers foolish enough to use the path below.  Twice, he encountered ratling mages who used shadow chains to lock him in place (he simply Blinked out of them) and shadowbolts that were able to injure him, but not badly.  Clouds of smelly gas afflicted him with a disease, easily (though at significant mana cost) removed.  Here, again, my techniques are a good match for the monsters.  Admittedly, this would be a lot harder if I couldn’t detect them by their spirits.

As he advanced further through the refuse wasteland, the groups of ratlings grew larger, their tactics became more effective, and he started taking more damage.  On several occasions, a ratling was able to slip a poisoned dagger through his armor.  The poison spread swiftly – an icy sensation followed by an alarming numbness.  Duncan’s Remove Affliction technique once again showed its value, as he was able to Blink away, remove the effect, and re-engage.  The ratlings were fast, and Duncan had to work hard to block and dodge their attacks, especially as they were constantly trying to surround him.

He had to retreat a couple of times for a few minutes to recover his mana, but in less than three hours, he could see the end of the dungeon and the group of larger than normal ratlings guarding an even larger monster that had to be the ratling leader.  Six bodyguards, a mage, and a king?  That could be a tough fight.

With a grin, he Blinked forward past the group, and stabbed the ratling mage in the chest through a fold in space.  For a swordsman, I’m relying an awful lot on stealth and surprise attacks.  I am consistently outnumbered, though.  I’ll save the king for last, fight him toe to toe.

The ratlings took a few seconds to figure out where Duncan was attacking from, and in that time, he’d stunned the mage and stabbed it several more times.  It dropped to the ground just as the first bodyguard spotted Duncan.  Several of the bodyguards stepped into shadows while the rest rushed at him along with the leader.

Here we go!  Duncan Blinked past the group, stabbed a bodyguard through a fold in space, then Blinked again.  Blink was faster than the ratlings’ shadow step, and he didn’t need to stand next to his target.  The ratlings struggled to close the distance at all, never mind surrounding him.  The leader had some magical ability – he was able to use shadow chains and the same shadow bolt the ratling mages had, but Duncan could Blink out of the former and the latter didn’t really sting all that much.  I expected more.

None of the ratlings could heal, and the bodyguards didn’t seem to have any noticeable regeneration.  One by one, the bodyguards fell, their limited skillset unsuited to Duncan’s style.  He covered the area in a Bladestorm, which provided increased mana regeneration for him, as even the light hits the technique produced stole mana from each of his targets.  The elite ratlings were less fragile than the normal ones he’d encountered earlier in the dungeon, but he certainly didn’t consider them to be sturdy.

As the final bodyguard fell, the leader swelled in size from two and half meters tall to over three meters.  It attacked at a faster pace, and a sooty cloud surrounded it to a range of ten meters.  Oh, this might be a good fight now.  Do I still want to fight toe to toe, in that cloud?

The cloud blocked much of his vision, but Shadow Sight gave him just enough to see in the deep shadows.  The cloud also stung his eyes and lungs, doing just a little ongoing damage.  Duncan blocked with his dragontooth sword and folds in space, and attacked aggressively with his Spirit sword, adding in Mind Spikes at frequent intervals.  He managed to land a good thrust with his dragontooth sword as well, only to see the wound close immediately.

He assessed the ratling, and saw that it was injured, despite appearing fine physically – it could heal physical wounds rapidly but didn’t appear to have a solution for the mental or spiritual damage Duncan was inflicting.  So, we keep up with the non-physical attacks.

Suddenly, the ratling leader exploded into motion, attacking with both daggers, its tail, and its teeth.  The daggers moved so fast they blurred even to Duncan’s perception.  In two seconds, he took more than a dozen wounds.  He Blinked away to a distant mound of refuse, where he could remove the poison and heal up.  Gods damn it!  I lost the toe-to-toe fight.  It forced me to run.  With a grimace, he Blinked right back to the ratling, which had been scanning the area to see where he’d gone.  The fight resumed, Duncan fully healed but at half mana, while the ratling was seriously injured.  Duncan began Blinking around the monster as he attacked, striking through folds in space from a short distance to avoid being caught in a sudden flurry like that again, and using smaller, more frequent Mind Spike attacks to interrupt the creature with short stuns.

Another minute, and the fight was over.  Duncan stored the last of the tail spikes and looked at the monsters through his enchantment-revealing emerald.  Nothing.  He did notice a large chest partially buried under yet more refuse.  I’m not opening that here.  The last ratman monsters I fought had a chest with a void magic trap that almost killed me.  He stored the entire chest in his armband storage device.

He checked the timing crystal and saw it was still yellow.  Ah well, it was a fun little run.  A few Blinks later he was back at the entrance and stepped through the portal.

When Duncan emerged from the dungeon, a liveried page was waiting for him alongside the healer on duty.  “Duncan of the Valley?” she asked.

“Yes, that’s me,” Duncan replied, waving off the healer with a smile.

“I have an invitation here for you from the Count of Montrose, advisor to the Emperor.”  The page proffered a folded piece of parchment, which Duncan took.  The page looked at him expectantly, and he belatedly remembered the concept of tipping messengers and the like, and summoned a silver coin, which he passed to the page.  She nodded her thanks and took off at a run.

Opening the missive, Duncan discovered he’d been invited to dinner at the Green Tree restaurant two hours after sunset (which meant he had a few hours to clean up and find the place).

The little official in charge of access stepped out of his doorway and announced, “The Adventurers Guild team has exited the dungeon.  Imperial Guard squad six, your run begins in thirty minutes.”  He looked around for a moment, not seeing any Imperial guardsmen in the square, then disappeared back into his office with a snort.

Diego and his team were still sitting around, playing some kind of card game.  The warrior approached Duncan, “Out already?  How was it?  How far did you get?”

Duncan shrugged.  “It was alright.  Cleared it.”  He summoned the chest from the end of the dungeon.  “Do you know if the leader’s chest is typically trapped?  Last time I opened one like this, a sphere of void magic almost killed me.”

Diego grinned.  “Cleared it on your first try? Solo?  Damn, that level’s no joke, is it?”  He turned to one of his compatriots.  “Hey Inigo, come work your magic.”  Turning back to Duncan, he said, “He has techniques for that.”

A bear of a man stood up and approached.  “For five gold, I’ll take care of any traps and unlock and open it for you,” he said.

Seems fair, to avoid being partly obliterated. Duncan summoned the coins from storage and dropped them in Inigo’s outstretched hand.  The big man turned and crouched in front of the chest.  A few seconds later, it made a clicking noise and the lid popped open a centimeter.  Inigo stepped back.  “It had a poison gas trap on it.  All clear now.”

Duncan nodded his thanks and stored the chest again.  “I’ll open it at the Adventurers Guild – I don’t have an appraisal technique, so I may as well wait until I can find out what the stuff inside does.”

Inigo just nodded and went back to the card game.  Diego said, “No filler techniques, huh?  I am jealous of your dungeon prowess.  Maybe we can have a sparring match sometime, hey?”

“Yeah, maybe,” Duncan said affably. “I don’t know how long I’ll be in Harrish, but Jakob will know where to find me as long as I’m here.”

They said their goodbyes and Diego returned to the card game as Duncan left the courtyard.  He passed a group of eight imperial guards as he did.  All yours, lads.

Chapter 13

Duncan was ushered into a lavish dining room at the Green Tree restaurant, with perhaps two dozen tables spread out a comfortable distance from each other.  There was some sort of sound magic in effect – he couldn’t hear the conversation from the nearest table, where several dwarves were having an animated discussion.  The waiter led him to a table on a balcony overlooking a river that flowed through the city, where a slender man with a trimmed beard and unusual haircut waited for him.

The man stood as Duncan arrived.  “Well met, Duncan.  I am Dennis Michaels, the Count of Montrose.  Thank you for coming.”  He offered a hand for Duncan to grasp, and shook his hand briefly when he did so, releasing it immediately after.  He gestured to the seat opposite his own and said to the waiter, “Two of the mana-infused venison dishes, please.”

Duncan sat opposite the government official, saying, “Pleased to meet you, sir.”  Dennis wore a tight tunic that skirted his hips, and narrow pants over leather shoes.  He sat down as Duncan did and smiled amiably at him.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, young Duncan,” he said.  “You are a welcome surprise.  Over one-fifty at your age, and so many outstanding affinities.”  Wait, is he reading my soul gem?  He seems to know more about me than even Remelial did.  Dennis was a Level 115 Mage, which, although impressive in the empire, didn’t compare to the level of most of the other diners, who all appeared to be elves, dwarves, or Lipiti, and most of whom were level one-forty or higher.

“Don’t be alarmed,” Dennis said, clearly reading Duncan’s emotions.  “I mean you no harm.  On the contrary, I think you’ll find meeting me to be most beneficial.  Yes, I can read your soul gem.  But even without it, I can sense your affinities and the strengths of your techniques.  I have a team working on an improved version of the soul gem, which will give you a greater understanding of your own abilities, and also help out a bit with information about some of the foes you may face in dungeons and out in the world.”

Oh, so this is the person behind the new soul gems Eric told me about.

“You may or may not have heard that about a hundred years ago, a number of absurdly powerful beings entered your world.  I am one of them, or more truthfully, I am a small fragment of the consciousness of one of them.  I am here to protect humanity (and the other sentient races of Medim) from extermination at the hands of my fellow foreigners.”

“You see – and this is a little bit embarrassing to speak of with a native – we’re here to play a game of conquest.  The rewards for winning are unfathomable to you, but rest assured, they’re very nice.  Each of the foreigners has a specific goal we’re trying to accomplish, most of which involve conquering the world and wiping out or enslaving the native population.  My own win condition is simple – I need to preserve at least one native nation, its borders intact, and its people governed by self-rule, for the entire duration of the game, which is a thousand years.”

Duncan looked askance at the unassuming man in front of him.  What he said loosely matched what Pelleas had told him and didn’t conflict with anything the Church had told him, either.  So, it was possible the man was telling the truth.  “Who are the other foreigners, sir?” he asked.

“A motley crew of unpleasant sorts for the most part.  And a dragon queen.  But you don’t need to know any more than that until and unless you grow a lot more powerful.  I’m only telling you this much, because understanding that I am here to preserve humanity is key to understanding the help I’m willing to offer you.”

An icy aura suffused the room as a gentleman in ruby red attire entered.  He was a Level 200 Vampire Lord, and he strode directly toward Duncan’s table.  “I am Lord Johann of the…” he began as he approached.

“Piss off, you disgusting leech!” Dennis exclaimed, and the vampire lord just disintegrated between one step and the next.  There was no noise, no flash of light, nothing.  One moment there was a very scary vampire lord bearing down on them, the next, the creature had been reduced to a small handful of dust that settled to the floor.

“I can’t stand those creatures,” Dennis muttered.  “Subverting the natural order of things because they’re too chickenshit to advance like normal cultivators.  Feeding on the weak.”

“Er, chickenshit?” Duncan asked.

“Cowardly,” Dennis replied.  “Sorry, colloquialism from my world.   I wonder what it wanted.  It was coming right towards us.”

“I killed some vampires not long ago,” said Duncan.  “It probably wanted to talk to me.  Or intimidate me, or something.  It did seem a bit aggressive.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” Dennis said.  “Well, its maker knows that it’s dead now, and is probably quite unhappy that one of its more powerful underlings has been obliterated.  I suspect you’ll find teams of high-level vampires coming after you now.  Good motivation to get stronger, eh?”

“Er, maker?” asked Duncan.  “And how would it know?”

“Vampires are like a fucked-up pyramid scheme,” Dennis said.  At Duncan’s confused look, he explained, “The boss vampire has, say half a dozen underbosses, who each have half a dozen or more underlings, who each have underlings of their own, and they each have underlings.  That one was level two hundred, which makes it pretty low on the totem pole – its maker is probably effectively a level two-fifty or three hundred vampire, to use the empire’s terminology.”

“Vampires create new vampires through a disgusting blood swapping ritual in the presence of a corrupted blood treasure.  The creatures are bound to one another, and the master will know when the servant dies.  The servant feeds on mortals by drinking their blood, and the blood is converted into mana which sustains the servant.  A portion of the mana is passed up the bond chain to the servant’s master, and part of the mana it receives from all its servants is then passed up its bond chain to its own master.”

“Anyway, suffice it to say that I (but in its mind, you) just cut off maybe a sixth of the energy it receives.  So, it’ll be unhappy with you.  If I were you, I’d make myself scarce for a little while until I evolved into someone capable of taking on a team of vampires.  Hah, caught my little double-entendre, did you?  Someone’s been talking out of school.”  Dennis’s unusual manner of speech was a bit off-putting for Duncan, but he caught the gist of it.

“I, er, what did you do to the vampire lord?” Duncan managed to ask.

“Oh that?  That wasn’t even a technique.  I just have sufficiently good mana control that I was able to pull all the mana fueling the vamp out.  Creatures of that level (and you’re pretty close, yourself) are mostly made of mana, so when I removed the mana, the vamp disintegrated. Neat, huh?”

Duncan nodded, wide-eyed.  He’d been under the impression that the mana inside oneself was pretty much untouchable, bound to oneself.  I guess, with sufficient power, the rules don’t apply the same way.

The other patrons in the restaurant had been preparing for a fight after the vampire lord’s aura had swept over them.  The sudden disintegration of the vampire was even more disconcerting than its aura and presence in the restaurant had been.  There was a lot of staring at Dennis and Duncan, and a lot of loud discussion that Duncan could hear nothing of.  He tried to keep his attention on Dennis.

“Right, where was I?” Dennis mused.  “Oh yes.  Foreign invaders, and our defense against them.  I have a small sliver of my consciousness like this one in every human court, and most of the elven, dwarven, Sawiskin, and Lipiti governments.  I’m doing my best to prop up the locals and have them form an alliance against the invaders.  The undead uprising is actually a blessing in disguise – it gives me an external threat to point to.”

“Now, most people don’t know that, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t spread it around.”  A small fraction of Dennis’s aura rested on Duncan for a moment, and he almost buckled under the weight. “I’m telling you because you have the potential to be useful once you grow into your affinities.  How do you see yourself?  How do you use your affinities in combat?”

“I’m a swordsman,” said Duncan.  Dennis’s eyes almost crossed.  “I use folds in space to strike through, and to block attacks.  My mind and spirit magic are mostly for defense, though I use Mind Spike as a ranged attack and a stun, and I have a Spirit sword that takes advantage of my Spirit affinity.  I use Blink for mobility on the battlefield, and I regenerate instantly from most damage.  Remove Affliction prevents effects that would kill or disable me from doing so.”

Dennis was silent for a moment, then cackled gleefully.  “A master of space magic, and you use it to help you hit things with swords.  I love it.  No, seriously, it’s brilliant.  You hold on to that strong concept of who you are.  It’s what is preventing you from being torn apart by all the possibilities your affinities have opened for you.”   He waved a hand, and a privacy curtain sprang up between them and the rest of the room.  “Show me how these folds in space work.”

Duncan demonstrated how he could strike through the folds, changing the angle and distance the faces of the fold had from each other, and how he could use the folds to block attacks.  “The folds are stationary, sadly, so I can’t adjust the orientation while the fold exists, for example.”

Dennis gave him a long look, then said, “Stationary relative to you.  Medim is hurtling through space at a speed of thousands of kilometers per second, and it’s spinning like a top to boot.  Your folds aren’t stationary at all.  You only perceive them that way.  And if they’re stationary relative to you, what’s preventing you from making them stationary relative to, say, your sword blade?  Could you make the fold encompass the blade, so that whatever the sword strikes is forced apart by the fold in space?  You make it incredibly small at the edge of the blade, and just wider than the thickness of the blade, tapering to a tiny edge on the other side.  You swing the sword, the fold is wrapped around the sword, and moves with the sword.  It cuts through anything it hits.  Voila!  A vorpal sword!”

“A what?”  Duncan was so very confused.  Medim was moving? And spinning?  His folds weren’t really stationary in some sort of absolute sense?

“Just a reference from my world.  A sword that can cut through anything.  Just give it some thought.  Not right now.  Later, when you’ve had some time to process.”  Dennis smiled reassuringly.  “Although, maybe your sword would pass through the target without hurting it if the blade is just inside the two halves of a fold.  A void magic edge on the blade would make a better vorpal sword.  Oh look, the food is arriving!”  He dropped the privacy curtain and Duncan saw the waiter approaching, pushing a cart with plates of food on it.

“Here you go, my lords,” said the waiter.  “The chef wanted me to warn you that this dish is suitable for people over level one-fifty.  The density of the mana in the food could be damaging to lower-level consumers.”

“Yes, yes, he’ll be fine, thank you for your concern, and thank the chef for his,” Dennis said, staring lovingly at the food being served.  The waiter placed the plates in front of them and took his leave.

“Now, I’m sure you’ve learned that food is unnecessary at your level, and that you can survive on the ambient mana in dungeons.  But in other parts of the world, chefs have learned how to serve the meat of spirit beasts, and how to infuse other food with mana, so that it’s delicious and nourishing for people with advanced levels of cultivation.  I think this is the only restaurant in the empire that serves it.  Try it, it’s amazing.”

Duncan took a tentative bite of the meat on his plate and found that it was absolutely full of mana.  It was like drinking a mana potion that tasted like the best steak he’d ever eaten. More, the mana spread through his body, and it felt like he was back in the comforting environs of a mana-rich dungeon.  All that from one bite!

Dennis smiled at him.  “Magnificent, no?  It helps relieve the strain from operating in such a mana-poor environment.  This is the strongest food they serve here – at your level, it may even help your cultivation a little.”  Duncan just nodded, not really paying attention, his mouth full, and his focus on the food. For a while, they didn’t speak at all as they dug into the delicious food.  Duncan began to feel quite full after only a few minutes.

“Tell me a bit about yourself – where are you from? With all those affinities, you’re clearly not local to the Empire,” Dennis said.

With a shrug, Duncan gave a brief summary of his history, growing up in an isolated valley somewhere, training to be a delver, then falling through a portal in a dungeon and appearing in the Empire at level twelve.

“Fascinating!” Dennis actually sounded fascinated.  “And who was in charge of this Valley?”

“Uh, the Delvers Guild, maybe?” Duncan said.  “I never encountered any governments until I reached Lanport.”

Dennis nodded thoughtfully.

Once Duncan began to slow down his eating, Dennis judged it time to speak again.  “What I can offer you is the most valuable thing in existence: information.  You, like almost all residents of the empire, know next to nothing of cultivation, though your personal cultivation level is more advanced than most.”

Duncan said, “I don’t even know what cultivation is.  There’s a line about it in my soul gem information, and changes in it seem to correlate with me getting extra technique slots, but beyond that…”

“It’s simple.  Cultivation is the process of improving yourself through the use and assimilation of Aspects.  Cultivation can be broken down into physical – Body Cultivation – and Mana Cultivation.  They are not mutually exclusive – you can do both, though Body Cultivation is relatively rare, because it’s incredibly painful and quite hard compared to Mana Cultivation, for different (perhaps lesser) gains.

In Body Cultivation, you use an aspect or element to temper your skin, flesh, organs, bones, and blood.  And by temper, I mean you damage yourself with the element thoroughly and repeatedly until your body is remade stronger, more resistant to the element, and more in-tune with the element.  It’s often weeks of torment for each element.  But it can raise your affinity to the element, if it doesn’t kill you.   Some elite alchemists can make pills that help temper your body to specific elements, too, but that comes with its own risks and costs.  The most common aspects to temper with are fire, air, water, earth, metal, wood, poison, and acid.”

“Mana cultivation is much more common.  With it, you improve your interaction with mana (some people call it Qi, but that’s associated with an unnecessary layer of mysticism, in my experience).  There are several aspects.  In other worlds with more rigid systems, there’s a strict progression from one to the next, but that doesn’t appear to be the case on Medim.  The first aspect is called Mana Affinity, but it has nothing to do with your affinities, or rather, it’s like them, but mana is the affinity you’re trying to improve.”

“There are pathways through your body that mana flows through – most people have all or most of them closed.  During the Mana Affinity process, you are unblocking those pathways, or gates or meridians, in the parlance.  Different schools have different ways of opening them, but the end result is the same – when your mana flows easily through your body, you’re more powerful, in body, mind, and spirit.  When you open a meridian, it can cause your body to eject the matter that was blocking it, either through the skin or through the intestines, or both.  The more you open at once, the more noticeable this effect is.”

“A breakthrough!” Duncan exclaimed.  “I had one after I absorbed my Space affinity stone.”

“Ah, yes,” said Dennis. “An affinity stone can be used to blast open one’s meridians.  Affinity stones in general are a bit of a cheat.  They bypass the need for natural treasures, because they are crystallized fragments of natural treasures themselves, or at least of the energy natural treasures emit.”

“The next aspect is Core formation – you take the mana flowing through your body and compress it into a denser ball of mana in your dantian, which is a metaphysical organ in your belly.  Most of us just call it your core or center.  This increases the potency of your mana and the usable amount of it.  You have a loosely packed core yourself and would benefit tremendously from compacting it a few times as you progress through this aspect.”

“Then we have the Nascent Soul aspect, in which your soul separates from the flesh of your body – you build a soul home in your spirit.  During this stage, the body essentially turns into a mana construct – health, mana, and stamina become interchangeable and eventually indistinguishable from each other, and it takes a much greater force to harm you.  Once you have completed this transformation, you are technically able to ascend to a higher realm, if you can meet the power and achievement requirements.”

“Opening all your meridians and forming a strong core will also allow you to improve your affinities beyond Outstanding.  An Exquisite affinity will allow up to rank fifteen techniques, and a Perfect (or Absolute) affinity will allow up to rank twenty techniques.  Of course, to increase your affinity, you’ll need prolonged exposure to a natural treasure that projects that affinity, or to an affinity stone, which is essentially the same thing, only internalized.  I see you’ve already got three affinity stones stored.  You really are quite ridiculous for such a young mortal.”

So… much… new… information.

“Wrapped around all that is your Concept, your definition of who you are and where you stand in the universe.  With a strong enough Concept, your techniques will begin to evolve to more closely adhere to that Concept, and that is what will make you strong faster than anything else.”

Duncan frowned.  “I thought techniques could only evolve after they all reached rank ten and you experience a crisis that pushes you through.”

“Hah!” exclaimed Dennis.  “Correlation, not causation.  You can develop your Concept through understanding or internalizing how you deal with danger or unusual situations.  By the time most people get to that stage, they’ve been stuck at rank ten in their techniques for a while, or maybe even beyond, if they’ve advanced their affinities over time.  But all that’s truly required is the Concept itself.  You’re awfully young to have a Concept that’s solidified enough for you to explain it, so you’re ahead of the curve there, too.”  A curve in what?  The Concept thing makes sense, but I don’t understand the curve.

“One final thing:  You are developing a nascent perception technique that may eventually evolve into a Domain.  You should add your space magic into the mix – you can fold space, therefore you can already sense it, whether you know it or not.  Understanding what’s in your space is a wonderful ability.  Some of us come to it through control, but I think you can come to control through perception.”

“A domain?” Duncan asked.  He’d never heard of a Domain.

“Your area of influence, control, where you can exert your powers with Authority.  For most people, their body is their Domain – they control the mana inside, and other people can’t directly influence their vitals (their mana, life force, memory, etcetera).  Reach a certain level of enlightenment, though, and your Domain extends beyond your physical form.  You rule the space around you as though it were part of your body.  When I dusted that vamp earlier – it entered my Domain, and so I had control over the mana in its body.  That was still in its Domain, yes,” Dennis added, seeing Duncan about to ask.  “But when two Domains overlap, the stronger one takes precedence.  Normally, one’s Domain in one’s own body is stronger than an external domain, but there was such a vast gap in power between me and it that its innate defense was insufficient to resist.  It would be like you stepping on a bug.  Yes, the bug is secure in its own body, but you bring enough mass to the contest to overwhelm it.”

“Yes, you’re inside my Domain now, and yes, I could probably re-arrange your thoughts for you to make you think whatever I want you to.  But that would make you little more than a puppet, and since I really am on your side, it would be counterproductive.”  He is so blasé about this, just expecting me to believe because he’s so much more powerful.  It feels like he fully expects me to believe and sign on based on the strength of his arguments and, well, his strength.  Sign on to what, though?

“Back to your Domain.  Mix in your space magic – understand what’s actually around you – and you’ll have a magnificent basis for a Domain, which could speed up your ascension by centuries.  Keep it very small at first.  When the technique forms, it will likely extend no more than a meter around you, but that will grow rapidly as it ranks up.  Don’t make the mistake of trying to feel everything that’s going on at the same distance as your other senses.  Your human physiology won’t allow for it.  You can’t process that much data yet.  Start out small.  Feel the world around you in the first few centimeters from your body.  With time and effort, you’ll get it to the point it coalesces into a technique.”

Duncan nodded.  “I will try that, sir.   What is it you want me to do, exactly?  You’ve been very helpful to me, but I don’t know what you expect in return.”

Dennis smiled beneficently.  “Just keep on as you’ve been doing.  My fellow contestants and I have been here on Medim for about a century.  In another four hundred years we’ll be able to act directly against each other.  In the short term, we’re building power bases, by which I mean most of the others are conquering the natives they feel best suited to help them, while I try to strengthen the existing societies and foster alliances between them that will help them stand up to what my colleagues are about to throw at them.”

“This empire is very weak, and normally wouldn’t be worth the effort of sending a fragment of my consciousness here.  But because the mana here is so diffuse (a function of the oversized dungeons in the region, I think), none of the other powers will exert any real strength here.  It’s unpleasant here – the mana density is insufficient to support us or our servants.  Even the stronger native races feel it to some degree, which is why this restaurant does so very well with them.   So, this region may become a viable fall-back position for humanity as the rest of the world becomes a battleground.”

“So, you, specifically.  Continue to grow stronger.  Travel beyond this mana-starved empire and meet other natives who want to resist the outworld invaders. Find someone who can teach you a cultivation path.  There are thousands of cultivation schools spread around the world, most focused on a single affinity and located at a natural treasure. You will want something a little more generalized.  Do what you can to be a thorn in the side of your enemies’ servants.  If, in four hundred years, when the kid gloves come off and they start battling each other (and me) in earnest, you are strong enough to face down some of their servants and serve as an example to humanity, that will reward me richly for the little time I’ve spent with you and the information I’ve imparted.”

“I recommend everyone grab one of the improved soul gems that are becoming available.  They do provide you more information than the old ones, and they contain information on your opponents and potential opponents as well.  I worry a bit about gamification, but I’m just building on what’s already there.  Whomever created the original soul gem was clearly an outworlder like me.  I understand some people are concerned that the guild (and therefore me) will have access to their technique builds, but, frankly, with very few exceptions, I don’t care about individuals’ data.  The information is all aggregated and anonymized.”  More strange words with vague meanings.

He produced a small box and pushed it towards Duncan.  “This is a prototype soul gem.  It reserves a hundred times as much mana as the old ones, but it contains all the information I have on native creatures, dungeon creatures, and the servants and minions of my opponents.  Due to some vagaries with the local gods and their implementation of cultivation rules, it’s still a little foggy on that, but I’ve tried to make it respond to what you’ve accomplished rather than which path you’ve taken to do so.  It’s not anonymized like the ones you can get from the guild.  If you use this, whenever you check in with the guild (the soul gem guild, not the Adventurers Guild), I’ll get an update as to what you’ve fought and how you’re progressing.  In a few hundred years, I may reach out to you with additional guidance.  Or not.  It’s up to you whether or not you use it.  If you don’t, please drop it off at a soul gem guild branch – I don’t want some rando equipping it and me getting personal updates on his lack of progress for the rest of his life.”

Duncan took the box and stored it in his armband.  “Thank you.  I’ll think it over,” he said.

“Wonderful!”  Dennis smiled.  “With regard to your issues in Pannoc Heath, rest assured that the Emperor is looking into changes to the landholder code of conduct to prevent such occurrences in the future.  With your strength, I expect you’ll be involved more and more with the nobility, not just of the Empire, but beyond.  And so,” he passed a scroll over to Duncan, “this is a patent of nobility.  Congratulations, you are now the Baron of Snowy Valley, which is a rather desolate chunk of mountainous real estate in the County of Montrose, which is honestly just a much bigger chunk of mountains in the Northern part of the Empire.  Your Barony has no people, being really quite isolated and difficult to reach, but it does have a few high-level dungeons (well, high level for the Empire) due to the increased mana density up there.  And there’s the fact that no one ever clears them out, so they’ve burst and spewed monsters into the region, meaning the whole area is quite dangerous.  You’ll love it.”

“But!” he continued, “your new rank will let you deal with the nobles you meet on more level terms.  That patent,” he gestured to the scroll in Duncan’s hands, “contains the Emperor’s seal, as well as my own.  It’s nigh indestructible, and now it’s bound to you.  It will serve as proof of rank, which you’ll probably need, given that no one’s ever heard of you or your barony before.”

Dennis stood up.  “It’s been a pleasure to meet you, Duncan.  It’s impossible to lie to me, but you didn’t even try, and I really appreciate that honesty.  Now, I have matters to attend to, and you have a great deal to think about.  I look forward to seeing you again in a few centuries.  The meal is on me, of course.”  With that, he dropped a heavy bag of coins on the table and abruptly vanished.

Duncan chewed on the rich mana-infused food and pondered what he’d learned.  So, cultivation is just advancement.  It’s more encompassing than just techniques, though, and more regimented than what I’ve been doing.  I need to learn how to compress my core, and how to improve my affinities – if rank ten is not the real peak for a technique, I have even further to go.  But if I can evolve some techniques at level ten, and then improve my affinity afterwards, the evolved technique could eventually get to twenty, which might let me face down some strong monsters in the invaders’ forces.

I cannot believe how strong the invaders are, though.  That Dennis person was able to eradicate a level two hundred vampire with a thought.  I’ve never even seen anyone as powerful as that vampire before, and he slew it with no effort whatsoever.  If that truly was just a fragment of a greater whole, how does anyone on Medim have a hope of facing that?

And how much of what he said can I believe?  Nothing he said sounded wrong, and it all fits in with what I already knew.  But a game of conquest?  Millions of people will die for their game.  The crucible of combat offers us all a path to swift advancement, but most people are in no position to take advantage of that and will end up worse off or dead.  It’s a harsh world to begin with, and the invaders are making it harsher yet.

The thing is, they’re here and there’s nothing I can do about it.  The best I can do is to get stronger and defend people against the invaders’ minions.  That’s the solution to everything, isn’t it?  Get stronger.  Only the strong can do anything about anything.

Duncan looked up from his food to find a grizzled-looking dwarf approaching him.  “Forgive the interruption, but what happened to the Vampire Lord?   For a moment, we thought there was going to be a battle, then it was reduced to ash without so much as a spell being cast or a weapon drawn.”  The dwarf was a Level 132 Axe Master. Evolved technique and a new soul gem?

Duncan shrugged, “The Count of Montrose really doesn’t like vampires, it seems,” he said.  And if the vampires investigate, hopefully anyone listening reports who actually disintegrated the vampire.

“He’s an odd man, that Count.  Does a better job of hiding his power than you,” the dwarf snorted.  Oh yeah, most of the dwarves and elves seem to be old enough and wise enough to see through my soul gem.  Or there’s some trick to it beyond soul and spirit affinity that doesn’t involve age and wisdom.

“He has more to hide, I’m sure,” Duncan grinned.  The dwarf returned to his table, and no one else seemed inclined to ask about the incident, though Duncan noticed he seemed to have a lot of people looking his way.   With a sigh, he went back to finish his meal, struggling a bit due to the insane mana density of the food.  So, do I trust him about the cultivation information?  Do I trust him about the advice to travel and find cultivation training outside the empire?  And do I trust him enough to equip the fancy soul gem he offered me?

His thoughts were interrupted by the return of the waiter, who struggled to lift the bag of coin Dennis had left.  “Uh, how much did the meals cost?” Duncan asked.

“A hundred gold each,” replied the waiter. “It’s far and away the most expensive meal we offer.  The ingredients and cooking techniques required to prepare them are both very rare.”  He nodded at Duncan’s incredulous reaction.  “Most of our meals are mana-infused, but not to that extent.  Ten gold is a more typical cost.”  That’s still a huge amount for a meal.  It was truly fantastic, though.

After dinner, Duncan Blinked down to the street and made his way to the Adventurers Guild hall, where he turned in seventy-seven ratling tail spikes (no bounty, almost worthless), and the eleven vials of shadow essence he’d recovered using Extract Resources (two gold each).  The large chest he’d taken from the leader contained a hundred and fourteen gold and a variety of magic items that were useless to him but which the guild bought for an additional eighty-four gold.  There was one technique stone as well – Shadow Bolt – which he sold for two gold.  Gold is becoming meaningless to me.  This could support an orphanage for a year.  Or buy a couple of mana-infused meals at a fancy restaurant.

Chapter 14

Duncan spent the next couple of weeks wandering across the plains, killing undead and moving on.  He found two dungeons and explored them both, but they were both low level and the monsters weren’t intelligent, so he moved on after clearing each once.  I much prefer weapon-wielding and spellcasting opponents.  Better fights and more interesting loot.

The plains turned into woodlands, then forests, and the ground began to rise as he continued further West.  The frequency of villages dropped dramatically, and so did the number of undead.  Duncan turned South a bit – the Scholastica Donostia dungeon was near the coast where the Arnite Empire and the Kingdom of Zaragosa had their border, and he was keen to experience the arena trials before leaving the empire.

Eventually, he flew over a roadside inn between towns, and heard lively music coming from within.  He dropped to the ground, equipped his Cloak of the Unseen so that people’s eyes would pass over him as uninteresting, and entered.  Inside, the common room was full of local folks in simple clothing.  It was early in the day for an inn to be busy, but the bard on stage was undoubtedly responsible.  A Level 85 112 Bard, he wore a tartan that matched that worn by a group at a table near the performer.  They were all in the same level range, and were all pretending to be in the mid-80’s.  I swear, everyone in the Empire over level one hundred hides their level.

Most of the patrons glanced over as he entered, but immediately turned their attention back to the bard.  Even without his cloak suggesting to people that there was nothing to see here, the bard was captivating enough to hold their attention.  He strolled over to the bar and took a seat at the end, furthest from the singer.  He slid a couple of coins towards the bartender and received a mug of dark ale in return.

Looking around the room, he saw that everyone other than the clan group was under level ten.  It was an audience of laborers, farmers, and tradesmen.  The bard continued to sing for almost an hour before taking a break and returning to his friends.  Duncan listened in as they chatted amongst themselves for a while and as they chatted with the locals.

It seemed they had answered the emperor’s call to fight the undead – each of the mountain clans had apparently sent soldiers and higher-level adventurers to Harrish when the huge army had marched on the capital the previous year.  When the bard returned to addressing the crowd, he told the story of how his team had been scouting the fringes of the undead horde when the great dragon Gwynneddhothstein had flown overhead and devastated the horde, which had grown to a quarter million undead at the time.

For the past year they had been acting as a quick reaction force to put down gatherings of greater undead for the empire and were now returning home.  “But first,” the bard proclaimed, “we’re going to challenge the group arena at Scholastica Donostia, just down to the coast from here!”  The crowd cheered wildly.   Duncan wasn’t sure if they knew of the dungeon or were just cheering because it sounded like an epic adventure.  Maybe I should ask them about the dungeon – it apparently has a years-long waiting list to enter – I wonder if they have an entry slot already.

As the bard went back to singing, Duncan studied the clan group.  The highest-level among them was a Level 88 122 Mage.  She had flaming red hair, shockingly intense green eyes, and a smattering of freckles.  She looked to be in her late twenties, meaning she’d come to her power relatively early.  She was extremely attractive, too, though when Duncan looked at her, he could feel a slight pressure on his mental defenses.  Is she using a glamour to appear more attractive and Tranquil Mind interprets that as an attack?

There were two big, bearded men who looked to be brothers – both were Level 88 116 Warriors. They had no armor or weapons on, so Duncan couldn’t determine their weapon preferences.  A smaller man with bright red hair and a beard to match was a Level 88 115 Mage.  He was clearly related to the higher-level mage.  Finally, a tiny woman with swarthy features and dark hair presented as a Level 88 116 Healer.

They’d clearly been together a while – they acted like family with each other, affection clear in their verbal sparring and showing comfort in their body language.  We had teams like that back in the valley.  I wonder if I’d have found a consistent team by now, had I stayed.  He grinned to himself.  I’d have been bored silly with the same couple of dungeons all the time.  All in all, I’m not unhappy with how things have been going.

As the day moved into evening, the crowd grew even denser, and Duncan gave some thought to moving on.  The performance had been fantastic, and the crowd had been good natured and enjoyable, too, singing along with some songs, and chatting excitedly during the breaks.  But he’d been sitting still for hours on end, and the crowd was getting quite oppressive.

The door opened, and a vaguely menacing aura spread through the inn.  Four men entered – one in a homespun smock like most of the tavern dwellers, the other three in armor with a sash of tartan cloth – a different tartan than the one worn by the team already in the inn.  The armored man in front was a Level 115 Mage, while the two behind him both Level 114 Warriors.  The fourth man was a Level 6 Farmer.

Conversation died off as people reacted to the hostile aura.  The mage strutted to the table where the clan group sat, his warriors in tow.  One of the warriors passed a pouch to the farmer, who promptly turned and fled the inn.  A steady stream of the other patrons began to follow him out, sensing trouble.

“Marbot scum,” the armored mage greeted the clan group.

“What do you want, Chevrolet?” replied the pretty mage, whom Duncan had pegged as the leader of the clan group due to her higher level.  Oh, this just became more interesting.

“You are under arrest for trespassing on Chevrolet lands, and for being a member of an outlawed group,” the Chevrolet mage smirked.   “I advise you to come quietly.  I have a dozen more centurions surrounding the building.”  The stream of patrons leaving the bar became an outright flood as people sensed the confrontation could turn violent.

“This is Sully land, not Chevrolet!” the Marbot mage exclaimed.

The Chevrolet mage snorted.  “While your strongest forces (and theirs) were away playing with the undead, we were cleaning up problems closer to home.  Almost the entire border is Chevrolet land now.  Including the former Marbot holdings.”  That’s pretty despicable.

“You lie!  The emperor would never allow it!” The Marbot mage was furious.

“Believe what you will.  Once the remaining rabble has fled, leave your storage devices on the table in front of you and come out to be arrested.   Or we will burn the inn down around you and kill you where you stand.  You have a slow count of one hundred to comply.  Personally, I hope you choose the second option.”  With an ugly smile, the Chevrolet mage led his soldiers outside.  The last of the commoners trickled out with them, leaving the six Marbot clan members at their table and Duncan at the bar.  Even the innkeeper and his staff left.

“We’re going to have to break their containment and flee into the hills,” said the Marbot leader.  “If there’s fifteen centurions, we’re not going to win that fight.”

“Gregor and I will break North first, draw them to us.  The rest of you flee South into the hills,” said one of the big, bearded men.  “There’s no way we’re all getting out of this.  If we stick together, they’ll all come for us, and you must live.”

The bard looked directly at Duncan.  “Who are you and why are you still here?” he asked, drawing everyone else’s attention to Duncan.

Duncan stored his cloak and stood.  “Sorry about that.  I’m Duncan, and I’m willing to help you against the Chevrolets.”

“Why?” the Marbot leader was curt.  “There’s fifteen of them – a full hunter squad of centurions.  You’re offering to die with us, is all.”

Duncan shrugged.  “I can see your real levels.”  He dropped the obfuscation of his own level, “and now you can see mine, as well.  The odds aren’t that bad.  As to why, well, I don’t like bullies, and Pierre Chevrolet sent assassins after me on a couple of occasions last year, and I think I should discourage that sort of behavior.”

The bard whistled, and a slight smile appeared on the leader’s face.  There came a series of thumps as arrows struck the building.  Two windows broke as flaming arrows passed through them into the inn.  With a wave of her hand, the leader pulled the fire from the arrows, and from those stuck into the inn, forming it into a ball in her hand.   “Well, that’s torn it.  They’ll know I’m here now.”  At Duncan’s quizzical look she explained, “I’m Moira Marbot.  My fire control’s famous in these parts, and the Chevrolets will go all out to kill me.”

Duncan nodded.  “Understood.  I’m going to go out and shake up their back line a bit.”  He equipped his gear with a thought, and the Marbot clansmen all did the same.  “Send up a ball of fire if you’re getting overrun in here and I’ll teleport back in.”

He Blinked straight up two hundred meters to get a good overview of the Chevrolet positions.  They were indeed spread out in a circle around the inn, with four flying mages in overwatch.  Wasting no time, he Blinked behind one of the flying mages and stabbed up with both his swords into the neck of his target.  Both blades penetrated up into the skull and when he tore them out, his target’s head was almost severed from its body.  Wow, this guy had no physical defense at all.  How did he reach one-fifteen with such a glaring weakness?

Duncan tried to store the body of the dead mage before it could drop, but it must have had a storage item with objects inside it – he couldn’t store it.  So, he let it drop and Blinked to another flying mage, who was channeling a wind effect that was ripping at the roof of the inn.  This one had a shield at least – she was completely surrounded by a screaming wall of wind.  Duncan opened a fold in space to bypass the shield and again stabbed both his swords up through the neck into the mage’s brain.  She died without so much as a scream, never knowing she was being attacked.  Again, he tried to store the corpse before it fell, and again, he was unable to do so, so he let that one drop too.

The attackers on the ground were keeping their distance, mages blasting spells through the windows, a couple of archers shooting arrows in, and the melee fighters standing around waiting for the ranged folks to soften up the defenders.  Suddenly, four of the warriors leapt forward, entering the inn through the windows.  A bright red beam met one of them, burning a hole entirely through the warrior, who collapsed at the base of the inn.  Wow!  Was that an evolved technique?  It burned straight through him!

The falling bodies hadn’t gone unnoticed.  Mages on the ground started attacking Duncan as he stood on his sword in the air.  Almost invisible wind blades struck him, spending most of their force on his armor, barely breaking his hardened skin.  An archer hit him in the chest with an arrow that penetrated his stomach armor and injected a liquid that ate away at his intestines.  Duncan Blinked away to avoid further attacks, ripped the arrow out, removed the acid affliction, healed the wound, and Blinked back into the fight, appearing behind the archer.

He slammed his swords into the man’s neck, but his target was already twisting and ducking, and neither blade bit deeply.  He must have some sort of danger sense. Duncan followed up with a Mind Spike to stun the archer, then took a passing step to his right and brought his dragontooth sword down in an arcing cut that nearly severed the archer’s spine.  This lad is tough!  He reversed the twist of his hips and brought his right-hand sword (his old metal-affinity sword that ignored metal armor) up into the archer’s throat even as he performed a draw cut across the archer’s belly with the dragontooth sword in his left hand.  Then he Blinked up to one of the two remaining flying mages.

I thought these guys would be stronger.  They’re all spread out to watch for a breakout from the inn, and they are not prepared for a highly mobile attacker.  They can’t focus their attacks on me before I switch targets and move.  They also seem relatively frail for their levels.  I don’t fight humans, normally – are they weaker than monsters?  The assassins I killed in Lanport died relatively easily, too.  I wonder if it’s because I’ve been facing mages and rogues.

He thrust his swords at his new target’s neck, only to have them slide off an invisible shield that curved a few inches above the skin.  Hardened air?  Projected force of some kind?  He immediately switched to a hard horizontal cut with his dragontooth sword, but the mage was already dropping, and the blade impacted the mage’s shield at the crown of his head rather than at the neck.  The shield did give somewhat under the force of the blow, and his sword caught the skull above the mage’s ear, peeling the skin and hair off all the way to the top of his head but not penetrating the skull.

The mage spun in the air as he dropped and blasted Duncan with wind blades at very close range.  The blades sliced into his belly, leaving long but shallow cuts, most of the sting taken out by his dragonskin armor, hardened skin, and dense flesh.  An arrow fired from below struck him just above the hip, punching through his armor and angling up into his belly.  The arrowhead burst apart into slivers that tore through his torso, slowed by the density of his flesh, but still doing a lot of damage.  Oh, that really stings.

Duncan Blinked below the dropping mage and stabbed at him through a fold in space, trying to place the fold such that his sword would appear inside the mage’s protective shield.  The mage crashed into the fold as he fell, folding around it as Duncan stabbed through it.  His sword plunged deep into the mage, who flopped off the immovable fold and windmilled towards the ground.

Duncan used Destrin’s Restoration to instantly regenerate his wounds, only to find the splinters of metal from the arrowhead weren’t pushed out by the regeneration the way the arrow was.  Instead, the flesh healed around them.  That’ll be a problem…

He Blinked down to the archer who’d shot him, hit the woman with a Mind Spike to stun her and disrupt any magical defenses she may have, then slammed a reverse cut from his left-hand sword into her neck, followed by a straight cut with his right-hand sword.  Neither sword was able to cut through the spine, but blood fountained from severed arteries and her throat was ruined.  She dropped with a burbled cry.

Duncan Blinked back to the wounded mage, who’d managed to recover his position in the air and was flying away from the fight at a good pace, his arms clutched over the wide wound in his belly.  Duncan hit him with a Mind Spike, then finished him off with his swords before Blinking toward another mage who was trying to target him.

“Form up! On me!” The Chevrolet leader who’d been so smarmy and confident in the inn was now panicking as his elite troops were being picked off by Duncan one at a time.  They were clearly used to being stronger than their foes on an individual level, and the way he could take one of them down whilst remaining mobile enough for the remainder to not be able to successfully attack him was undermining their confidence.

As the Chevrolet elites began to converge on their leader, Duncan used a Mind Spike to stun his target, Blinked beside him, and had his sword attacks blocked by a metal shield that sprang up between him and his target.  This guy is stunned, so there’s a metal mage protecting him.  Duncan stabbed his target in the throat through a fold in space, stepping to put his target and the metal shield between him and the defending mage.  About time they started protecting each other.  Unfortunately for them, I can bypass physical shields like that easily with a fold in space.

A solitary warrior leapt out of the inn through a window and rushed to join the group forming around the Chevrolet leader.  Four attacked, three made it inside, one made it back out.  It seems they didn’t fare very well with their ranged support in disarray.  Duncan flew up a couple of meters and stabbed the mage below him again through another fold in space.  The mage collapsed to the ground, but Duncan’s Assessment technique showed he was critically wounded, not dead, so Duncan followed up with another Mind Spike before Blinking away again to avoid incoming attacks.

“Who in the infernal realms are you?” screamed the Chevrolet leader.  “We’re not here for you!”  His troops were forming up around him, mages creating shields of their elements, the one remaining warrior bracing his shield whilst a healer repaired his burned flesh.

A storm of little metal shards surrounded Duncan moments after he appeared in his new location, tearing at what little exposed flesh he had.  He Blinked directly above the group, then stabbed through a fold in space at the Level 114 Healer who was healing the burned warrior.  Not willing to stay still long enough to take a coordinated attack from the group, he Blinked away immediately in another direction and summoned a Bladestorm around the group.  It probably won’t do much damage, but it might discourage them from grouping up like that.

A massive bar of fire suddenly appeared, extending from the inn’s window passing through the group of Chevrolet elites.  It swung back and forth like the caster in the inn was waving a pole of lava through an image of the troops.  The bar of fire didn’t spray over the Chevrolet troops – it cut right through them.  Their shield spells didn’t matter, nor did their armor.  They were cut to pieces and the smell of roasting flesh filled the air.

That’s… horrifying.  And Terrifying.  That single attack just killed five elite troops who were in a defensive formation.  Duncan looked around and found no living foes.  “All clear out here!” he shouted.

A few moments later, the inn door opened and one of the larger Marbot lads came out behind a tall shield.  Two large dogs made of out lava followed him out.  He saw Duncan standing on his flying sword, and the bodies of the Chevrolet forces scattered around, and came out further.  “Clear,” he called out.   The rest of the Marbot group came out, looking whole and hale.

Duncan gave them a wave, Blinked to the ground, and dismissed his armor, equipping the nondescript clothes he’d been wearing in the inn.  “I’m glad everyone’s safe,” he said, approaching on foot.

Moira shook her head.  “I don’t understand why they grouped up like that.  They had to know it was me after I captured their fire.”

Duncan shrugged.  “I killed six of them while they were spread out.  They bunched up to coordinate against me.  You weren’t actively attacking them out here, so I think they tried to counter me.  Maybe they underestimated you.  Your attack was insanely strong - if I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have believed you could produce that, either.  I’ve rarely seen something stronger.”  He thought of Remelial and his rank ten evolved technique.

“You’ve seen stronger?” The bard sounded doubtful.  “I guess with your level, it’s possible.”

“Oh right,” Duncan changed the level his soul gem presented to say Level 105 Warrior.

“You said you could see our real levels, and you can hide yours at will.  I’ve not heard of an item that can do either of those things.  Ours are always on,” said the red-haired mage with the neatly trimmed beard.

“Whomever sold you those should have told you that anyone old and wise enough can see through the effect.  I’m neither old nor wise, but I can, too.  Every dwarf and elf I know can see through them,” Duncan said.  “Excuse me a moment, I need to gather the bodies of the folks I killed.”  He Blinked to a body, tried to store it, then removed all the jewelry he could see, in case they were storage items and tried again.  All six of the people he’d killed had a storage ring.  He dumped the rings in a pouch and stored the bodies in his bracelet.  I’ll dump the bodies in the next dungeon I find after I loot them, and I’ll check the storage rings when I’ve got some free time.

“Wait, you killed six?  We killed eight.  Where’s the fifteenth?” asked the petite healer.

“Shit,” said Moira.  “One of them probably flew off the moment they saw me take control of the fires.  They’ll know I’m back.”

“You think he was telling the truth about them taking over all the borderlands?” asked one of the big, bearded men.

“I don’t know.  It seems unlikely they’d be able to wipe out all the smaller clans in a year, even with all of us sending our best to answer the Emperor’s call.”  Moira scowled.  “Either way, we need to get to the Scholastica Donostia for our scheduled arena time and use that to get stronger.  Then we can head home and find out.  If he’s not lying, we’ll check the redoubts and see who managed to hide away.  Then we’ll raid them and harry them until they’re weak enough to take on.  And then we will destroy them.”

“Why are you taking the bodies?” the Marbot bard asked Duncan.

“I’ll dump them in the next dungeon I enter,” he replied.  “I’m not leaving high-level bodies for the undead to use.”  And I don’t know if someone could use divination on them to track their killer.

“That makes sense – we’ve been fighting undead for a year.  But it still feels a little disrespectful to the dead,” said Moira.  “I’m not sure we have room for eight bodies.  If we strip the bodies, can you store them until that dungeon?”

Duncan shrugged.  “I can do that.”

The team began stripping the gear from the Chevrolet elites and storing it in their storage devices.  Weird that they don’t have enough room for the bodies – maybe they don’t want any incriminating evidence on them?  Although the gear’s probably incriminating enough.

As they stripped the corpses, they introduced themselves to Duncan.  The bard was Marcus Dubois, the big, bearded lads were Gregor and Yusef Jimenez, the tiny healer was Lupita Juarez, and the smaller red-haired man with the trimmed beard was Dustin Marbot.

“Different family names, but you’re all from the Marbot clan?  You all wear the same patterned clothing…” Duncan said.  The shards of arrowhead inside him were stinging him as he moved around.

“All the clans are thus,” said Marcus.  “When humans settled these lands, those of us who didn’t want to live under the thumb of the nobles moved to the edge of civilized lands and the strongest families formed clans.  Each clan protects and is made up of dozens of lesser families.  I say lesser, but that’s only in terms of numbers, military strength, or magic strength.  There’s nothing lesser about the people.”

Duncan nodded, and Marcus continued, “There are probably somewhere near a hundred clans in the mountains between the Empire and the Kingdom of Zaragosa to the South.  Some larger than others, all comprised of dozens of extended families.  There’s been a lot of marriages between families in each clan, and even between families in different clans, so there’s a big mess of alliances.  Each clan maintains a territory, raising sheep, keeping local dungeons in check, if they have them, farming, and so on.  There’s a lot of raiding of each other’s sheep, if I’m honest, and a lot of feuds – more feuds than alliances, in truth.”

“Each clan has a tartan,” Marcus said, gesturing to the pattern on the fabric he wore across his chest from his left shoulder to right hip.  “It’s a means of declaring our affiliation.  Easy to steal and impersonate, true, but it doesn’t happen all that often, at least amongst other clansfolk.  Too much pride.  And most clans are under ten thousand people, so it’s pretty easy to determine that this fellow doesn’t know anyone you know and is therefore likely an imposter.”

Duncan’s Assessment technique showed he was afflicted with subcutaneous metal fragments, which didn’t sound great.  He tried his Remove Affliction technique, and the metal shards were pushed through his flesh to the surface.  He stored his shirt, and the shards cleared his skin and dropped to the ground.  He used Destrin’s Restoration to heal the minor damage the moving shards had caused.  “Uh, go on,” he said, as the Marbot clansmen looked at him askance.

“That’s all there is,” said Marcus.

Duncan re-equipped his shirt.  “Sorry about that – an arrowhead shattered in my belly and sent little metal splinters everywhere.  They were irritating me when I moved.”  He stored the corpses of the remaining Chevrolet forces.

“Riiight,” said Moira.  “What do you plan on doing after this?  If the one who escaped knows of you, you’ve made a dangerous enemy.”

Duncan shrugged.  “The Chevrolets sent two assassins after me.  I don’t know if that was just Pierre being an idiot, or his family supporting him.  But I was planning on slapping them down a bit if I ran into them, anyway, so I’m not too concerned if they treat me as an enemy.  They have no way of identifying me.  If one got away, they’ll know it was a Marbot clan group, possibly with an outside helper.”

“As to what I’m doing next, I was planning on going to the Scholastica Donostia dungeon to do the solo arena while I’m still able to benefit from it,” he said.  “I don’t have an appointment booked so I’ll just get the next available auctioned slot.  I heard you announce you’re going there, too.  Can you point me in the right direction?  All I know is it’s near the coast and near the border, in a town called San Sebastian.”

“It’s just up this road, a three-day walk, or probably a two-hour flight for you,” said Marcus.  “Our scheduled time is in four days, at first light.  We need to talk to some of our friends in the area to find out what’s going on with the Chevrolets and the other clans.  But perhaps we’ll see you there.  The auctions tend to be fairly expensive because there’s generally only one or two a week, and there’s a lot of people vying for a spot.”

“Do you know how that works?” asked Duncan. “I can probably find out when I’m there…”

“There’s a guild, for lack of a better term, which sells six slots a day to the individual and group arenas,” Marcus continued.  “If someone is particularly successful, they may take extra time, and if someone dies or quits early, they may take less time.  But it averages out pretty well.  You have to show up a full day before your appointment.  If you miss registering, twelve hours before the slot would be used, they hold an auction amongst those waiting for a spot.  I hear spots can cost a hundred gold or more, depending on how long it's been since a spot was last auctioned.  If they’re running behind and no slots are being auctioned for a few weeks, the town can become quite dangerous, too.  Duels between people waiting for an auction are not uncommon.”

Duncan nodded.  “I also need to find a dungeon to put these bodies in…”  He shuddered a little.  “Sorry, I’m not used to killing people.  It should be no different than killing intelligent dungeon monsters, but it feels different.”  Everyone else I’ve killed, I’ve done so because they were about to kill me.  I chose to stay and fight this time – I could have left, but instead I attacked them.  They even said they weren’t here for me.

The Marbot healer – Lupita? – said, “It’s important to understand that you were in the right.  They threatened to burn down the inn, they were trying to kill us just for being Marbots, and you felt the leader’s aura – all spite and malice.” Hah, my aura’s all violence and the promise of death.  But at least it’s not spiteful, as she said.

I’ve killed people before. Those men who tried to kill me at the Axford dungeon, the man in that inn assaulting the barmaid.  The assassins in Lanport. The Sawiskin – I’ve killed dozens of their adventurers in that dungeon.  Is it because they don’t look like humans that I felt okay with that?  Because I couldn’t understand their speech?  I attacked them on sight whenever I met them, to gain a combat advantage, simply because I was told they killed humans on sight in the dungeon.  I love the fighting, and I thought I was desensitized to the killing…

“Let’s pop back into the inn for a bit, have a drink, and talk,” Lupita continued.  At Duncan’s nod, she led the group into the inn, where the innkeeper and his staff had already returned and were checking for damage.  Other than the broken windows and a couple of damaged tables and benches, the place was in good shape.  Moira spoke to the innkeeper while the rest of the group took a large table near the fireplace.

Once they were all settled, Lupita asked Duncan how long he’d been an adventurer.  “Well, I joined the Delvers Guild as a trainee at age fourteen, but I didn’t enter my first dungeon until I was seventeen.  That was, uh, just over three years ago, maybe?  I joined the Adventurers Guild in the empire just under three years ago,” he said.  “At least, I think that’s accurate.  It’s hard to keep track of time in dungeons, sometimes, and I spent months at a time in some dungeons.”

“He’s just a baby!” said Gregor.

“A baby that can kick your ass,” noted Yusef.

“To reach such heights at such a young age… you must have added a lot of techniques very early on,” Moira said.  “And then fought in a high-risk environment for most of your time since.  But that suggests you had wealthy backers and extensive preparation, and a strong team.  That doesn’t fit with what you’ve said, or with you wandering around here without a team.”

Duncan sighed. “I’ve been a solo delver since I joined the Adventurers Guild at level twelve.  I started with good gear and some strong affinities.  I delved dungeons well above my level from the start and was able to get useful technique stones from my delves and the guild.  No gimmicks, no monsters I have a special advantage against.  Just a lot of time in higher level dungeons fighting by myself.”

“Had to explain that a few times, huh?” Marcus grinned at him.  “Loopy is our youngest member – she’s barely eighty.  Most of us are about a hundred – took us twenty-ish years to reach level eighty and the aging slowdown, then another thirty to reach a hundred.  We’re pretty young for our levels, honestly, so seeing you at over one-fifty at age twenty is, well, almost unbelievable.”

“And,” added Lupita, with a frown at Marcus, “we’ve had a lot more time to process the fighting.  We’ve fought in clan feuds and foreign wars.  It’s a harsh world, and people’s lives are cheap.  Soldiers and adventurers have very low life expectancies, and the people in charge don’t care.  It’s the same everywhere.  In the empire, there’s not a whole lot of infighting so life is pretty stable, or it was until the undead attack.  Here in the highlands, there’s a lot of clan strife.  Out East, cultivation schools go to war over natural treasures all the time.  Lipiti tribes are the same way.  The Northern raiders kill for fun.”

“It’s nice to meet someone high level who’s not a jaded killer,” Moira admitted.  “But those centurions have killed hundreds of people – the Chevrolets have had a lot of feuds and battles with other clans over the years.  Do not shed any tears for them.  They would have killed you without a second thought and without remorse.”

Duncan looked at Moira and said, “Every time I look at you, I get a little twitch from my mental defense technique.  It feels like a little attack.”

Moira grimaced.  “I have a glamour from an item disguising me so enemies like the Chevrolets don’t recognize me.  There’s a mental element to it.  I was told it would be unnoticeable.”

“I think the wart is a nice touch,” said Yusef.

“I don’t see a wart,” Duncan replied.  “Green eyes, red hair, striking features, no warts.”

“Shit!” exclaimed Moira.  “So not only do you sense the glamour - you see right through it.  What a waste of gold!”

“In fairness,” Lupita interjected, “no one else has sensed it or seen through it – that we know of, admittedly – but none of us can see through it and we’re high level.  It’s more likely he’s an exception.”  She turned to Duncan, “You said you have a Mind defense technique?  So, you’ve a Mind affinity then?”

Duncan nodded. “I do.  And the technique is relatively high rank.  It may be a perfectly good glamour.  I spent months in a dungeon fighting horrors with mind attacks to raise my defense.”

“So, while we have to look at the mousy woman with the big wart under her eye, you get to see her in her full glory,” said Marcus.

“Such a hard life you live,” Moira replied.  “Duncan, the Sully clan has a dungeon not far from here if you want to deposit those bodies there.  It’s not far from where we’re going to look for our friends, if you want to travel with us.”

“Thank you,” said Duncan.  “I think I will, for now.  I’m not in a hurry to get to San Sebastian, and I’m not comfortable carrying these around with me for long.”

“Excellent,” said Moira.  “We can all fly, but our flying technique is Wings of Flame.  A ten-meter wingspan of flame is not exactly subtle or stealthy, and this is now potentially hostile territory where we can’t afford to draw that much attention to ourselves.  So, we’ll be going on foot.”  Ah well, I did say I wasn’t in a hurry, and… wait a minute.

“Do you all have a fire affinity?” Duncan asked.

Everyone looked to Moira, who puffed her cheeks for a moment, then said, “Yes.  We are the primary Marbot fire team.  We all have strong affinities or better with fire, and the Marbot clan has some family techniques that let us combine our strength to use some very powerful attacks.”

“Like the beam of fire you used to destroy them when they bunched up,” Duncan nodded.  “It seemed a fair bit stronger than rank ten.”

“It makes us a dangerous opponent in skirmishes and large battles – we’re a little stronger than a level two hundred fire mage would be, by Arnite measure.  The stronger cultivators out there have other ways of increasing their power, so comparisons are hard to make beyond the borders,” Moira said.

“Why were you worried about the Chevrolet elites, then?” Duncan asked.  “I’m only one-fifty, and I could take all of them alone.  They seemed really quite weak for their levels.  At least, I don’t remember being nearly that weak at their level.”

“We can’t be moving when the team is boosting me,” said Moira.  “And while they’re boosting me, that’s all they can do.  So, we’re stationary and I’m the only one actually fighting.  That many centurions could overwhelm my fire shield and do some real harm to us.  As long as they stay mobile and spread out, they could take us down before I could kill enough of them.   And if we acted as a team instead of as a single entity, well, it’d be six versus fifteen all at the same level.”

“We didn’t see you fight from inside the inn – how were you able to kill so many so easily?” asked Yusef.

Duncan shrugged.  “I have strong armor, and I can teleport around the battle whilst flying, and although my attacks are weak for my level, I can ignore or bypass a lot of their defenses.  Some of them didn’t even know I was attacking them before they died.  They didn’t have much defense against an unexpected sword through the neck.”

“Few of us do,” agreed Marcus.

“We should move on,” said Moira.  “If one of them did get away to raise the alarm, there’ll be more of them here soon, and we need to find some answers before things escalate.”

Interlude

Pierre Chevrolet was still angry.  After he was so bitterly embarrassed by that high-level freak in class in Lanport, his uncle had pulled him out of school entirely.  He’d been ignominiously dragged home by his guards, who, it turned out, answered to his uncle, not to him.  Home, to the uncivilized highlands on the border with Zaragosa.  Home, to the derision and mockery of his uncle and cousins.

His first attempt to have the freak assassinated had failed, with the assassination team being killed.  He’d used family funds and channels, and that, too, had come back to haunt him.  His uncle had been furious, blathering on about how Pierre was endangering the whole family.  Ridiculous exaggeration.

His second attempt to have Duncan assassinated, using his own money, had also failed.  The assassin had returned half the fee, reported the attempt failed, and refused to make another attempt.  Fortunately, his uncle knew nothing of the attempt.  And he’d had no difficulty having the insulting Lanport teacher killed.

When he returned to his home, his uncle had decided that Pierre needed to toughen up, to earn the rank of clan lord.  He’d been fed half a dozen technique stones and put through a vicious training regimen, treated like a generic soldier from the hills, and forced to enter dungeons with a team of clan guardsmen.  He hadn’t even commanded the teams – he was treated as the lowest-ranking person present.  It was infuriating, but he knew better than to resist his uncle’s commands.

He'd nearly died more times than he could count.  The guards wouldn’t kill any monster he hadn’t injured, so he was forced to fight constantly.  The only saving grace was that after six months, he’d reached level fifty.  That was incredibly fast progress, and he was now stronger than anyone else his age in the clan’s influential families.  That freak at the Academy had to have been killing captured monsters for years to reach his high level.  Or maybe he also went on some dungeon runs with a team of protectors.  Ones less brutal than mine.

Now, to add insult to injury, his uncle had assigned him to command a miserable little keep in what had been Marbot territory. While all the highland clans had sent significant portions of their forces to aid the emperor against the undead, the Chevrolets had sent the bare minimum, and had hired barbaric mercenaries from the far North to assist as they blitzed across the highlands, capturing the ancestral homes of all those clans they’d been feuding with for centuries.

This had resulted in the Chevrolet clan taking most of the highlands, which meant thousands of prisoners, and hundreds of forts and keeps to hold to maintain that control.  Which meant that everyone in the clan was spread out across the highlands, often with only a few clan guardsman and a few dozen mercenaries to hold each area.

And that meant they needed an effective means of controlling large numbers of conquered people with only a few troops.  So, they had taken hostages.  The children and young adults of the most important families in each conquered area were held outside their home territories, in a keep or fort where they could be housed in relative comfort, under the watchful eye of a Chevrolet clan representative.

The thirty-two hostages Pierre was supervising were the only bright spot in his life at present.  He had their lives and health in his hands, and he revelled in the power it gave him over them.  None were higher than level twenty, and none were older than him.  The younger hostages no longer met his gaze, looking at the floor whenever he encountered them.  Two of the young women had gone so far as to offer him personal favors in return for better treatment for themselves and their relatives.

Still, he was stuck in a miserable keep in an isolated mountain valley surrounded by sheep and unwashed peasants.  He had no access to the comforts of a city or the company of his friends and followers.  And at the root of it all was that bloated high-level freak in Lanport.  I will have my revenge.

Chapter 15

Duncan and the Marbot fire team ran down a cart path leading deeper into Sully lands.  Marcus sang a jaunty marching song which magically enhanced their speed and stamina recovery.  Duncan’s stamina recovered faster than running drained it, so he ran comfortably and without strain.

After less than an hour of running, a smaller trail split off to the South.  Moira pointed, and the whole group took the turn.  “The dungeon I told you about is down this path.  The Sullys maintain a little guard shack to enforce their claim.  They’ll charge you a gold for entry, last I heard.  It’s rated at level thirty-five by the guild – damp caves, with froghounds as the predominant monster species.”

The path went steeply uphill after a few minutes, then leveled out as it cut through a copse of trees.  Exiting the tree cover, they came across a grisly sight.  Tall wooden stakes had been driven into the ground ten meters apart along the path and on each stake a body had been impaled.

“Barbaric!” exclaimed Lupita.

“Sully tartan on the bodies,” said Gregor.

The line of stakes extended two hundred meters to a small building next to a dungeon entrance.  Two figures stood beside the hut.  “I’ll block their entrance to the dungeon,” Duncan said, and Blinked directly to the dungeon entrance.  He drew his dragontooth blade and Spirit sword from his storage and assessed the two men standing nearby.

Both were big men, almost as tall and broad as Duncan.  Neither seemed to have a soul gem – they offered no level by which he could judge them.  Both had thick beards and wore hide armor.  They had axes at their belts and shields strapped across their backs, and a sash of Chevrolet tartan incongruously added.  Weird that they don’t carry their weapons in a storage device.  Their armor and shields had depictions of various animals in white paint or dye.

The men were still facing down the path towards the Marbot fire team – Duncan hadn’t made any noise when he appeared.  They weren’t suppressing their auras, and Duncan was unimpressed by the vague sense of violence and cruelty he got from them.   Similarly, his Assessment technique showed them to be significantly weaker than him.

Cage of Blades is only rank five – they can probably break out pretty easily if they’re willing to take a little damage.  But their auras feel pretty weak to me, and they’re guarding a low-level dungeon, so maybe they’re weak enough for it to hold them.  He placed a Cage of Blades around the two guards even as a third man came out of the guard hut.  Duncan hit that one with a Mind Spike to stun him, then Blinked to him and lopped his head off with a reverse cut from his dragontooth blade.  Okay, they’re weak.  No guilt for that killing, though – displaying bodies on stakes is despicable.

Duncan Blinked back to beside the dungeon entrance, positioning himself where he could intercept anyone trying to enter or leave it.  The two men in his Cage of Blades bellowed when it appeared and reached for their weapons.  When he killed their comrade coming out of the guard hut, they bellowed again and tried to charge out through the cage behind their shields.  They made it out with a few nasty cuts in their armor and flesh – and Duncan immediately put a new cage around them.  That’s not going to hold them for long, though.

Duncan hit them both with a Mind Spike to stun them, then dismissed the Cage of Blades, grabbed the pair by the back of their armor, and carried them into the air using his Flying Sword technique.  The stun wore off after only a few seconds, but they were ten meters up and moving at a good clip towards the Marbot fire team, who were sprinting forward to meet him.

He dropped the two men who screamed as they plummeted to the ground.  The Marbot team would grab them.  Duncan Blinked back to the dungeon entrance in case there were more guards in the hut.  If I had attacked and taken over this dungeon, I’d have most of my people inside where the mana density is higher.  Maybe they only have the three guards, but there’s no harm in being cautious.

No other guards came out of the hut, and less than a minute later, the Marbot team arrived, with Yusef and Gregor each carrying one of the guards.  Lupita glared at Duncan.  “You broke their legs when you dropped them.  I hate healing people we’re going to have to kill – it makes me feel like I’m abetting torture.”

Duncan grimaced.  “Sorry, I didn’t think they were that fragile.”  In truth, I didn’t actually think about it at all.  “I wanted to make sure no one could get into the dungeon, in case there were more inside.  And I didn’t want to kill them, so I just dropped them for you to grab and Blinked back here.”

“Clear the hut,” said Moira.  Gregor and Yusef disarmed the men they’d brought, and Lupita summoned a fiery cage around the prisoners.  They flinched away from the heat.  The team assembled outside the hut, then burst through the door, except Dustin, who moved back down the road twenty meters so he could see anyone trying to break out the back and also keep an eye on the prisoners.

Moments later, the team came back out.  “No one in there,” Moira said.  “Your sword cage is pretty useless, yeah?” she asked Duncan.

“It’s low rank,” he replied.  “I don’t often find a use for it in dungeon fights.  Anything I can trap with it, I can kill with the same mana expenditure from another technique, so I just don’t use it.”

Moira nodded. “It’ll come with practice, as I’m sure you know.”  She turned to their prisoners.  “Nursk mercenaries.  Are you familiar with them?”

“Never heard of them,” Duncan confessed.

“The Nursk live far to the North of the Empire and raid the coasts every year.  They use the raids to blood their young warriors and take slaves.  They all have water and ice affinities in addition to their normal affinities – they’ve got some powerful natural treasures they use to develop those affinities in all their warriors.  They’re cruel and barbaric, as you can see from the impaled victims, some of whom were doubtless impaled alive.  They believe a violent death makes you stronger in your next life.”

Duncan shuddered.  Moira continued, “Their clans constantly war amongst themselves, but they unite in the face of outsiders.  And some of the clans hire out their young as mercenaries, again to blood them.  If the Chevrolets have hired Nursk mercenaries, there’ll be a lot of bloodshed in the highlands.  It’ll mostly be their young and untested warriors – under level eighty.  But there’ll be some high-level warriors to lead them and give them backbone.  And the leaders will be very strong indeed, with techniques far beyond what we’re used to in the Empire.”

So, they’ve got some warriors with evolved techniques.  Remelial did warn me not to go North until I was much stronger.

Moira kicked one of the burly Nursk mercenaries’ foot.  “How many more of you are hiding in the dungeon?” she asked.

The mercenary spat at her and said something in the Northern tongue.  Duncan’s translation technique gave him the hostile tone but no actual translation.  Too low-ranked, still.  Seeing that no one understood him, the mercenary said, “Enough to kill you all!”

Duncan snorted.  “The dungeon’s not big enough to hold that many.”

A flurry of ice formed around the Nursk warrior, and a stream of ice particles bounced off Duncan’s chest, doing no damage through his dragonskin armor.  Heh, I guess restraining people who can use non-physical techniques doesn’t work very well.

“What clan do you represent?” Moira asked.

The captive seemed a bit nonplussed that his attack had no effect whatsoever on Duncan but answered with pride.  “The Snow Weasel clan!”

Moira shrugged.  “Never heard of them.”  She turned to Duncan, “The coastal clans are the ones that typically raid the empire – the Ice Wolf clan, the Orca clan, and the Snow Leopard clan are the ones I can think of.”

The Nursk warrior hissed.  “We are as big as any of them!  And we have conquered your weak mountain clans!”

Moira looked grim.  “How many of you did the Chevrolets hire? And for how long?”  Is this guy really just going to tell her everything she wants to know?

“Like snowflakes in a blizzard, we will sweep over your lands!”  The Nursk warrior seemed young to Duncan, with his bluster.  Perhaps childish is the better term – he’s older than me.

Even the other prisoner rolled his eyes at the hyperbole.  “Alright, snowflakes,” Moira said, “Anything else you want to tell us before we kill you?”

The second prisoner spoke first, “I am Hravnir of the Snow Weasels, eleven kills to my name.  Send me to my rest and I shall return stronger in the next life!”

The first prisoner echoed him.  “I am Ravoc of the Snow Weasels, six kills to my name.  Send me to my rest and I shall return stronger in the next life!”

Moira looked at Gregor and Yusef, who moved behind the prisoners, but Duncan’s dragontooth sword flashed, and both prisoners slumped to the ground, headless.   “My captures, my responsibility,” Duncan said.  He then took a few steps and knelt to vomit behind a bush.

The Marbot team gave him time to compose himself, searching the guard hut and surrounding area.  Duncan cleaned his mouth with water from his enchanted flask and joined them at the dungeon entrance.

Moira gave him a sympathetic look.  “It’s never easy.”

Duncan sighed.  “I think it’s too easy.  I’m advancing to protect people from impossible threats, and here I am killing weak humans in cold blood.  It doesn’t sit well with me.”  He swept the bodies into his storage armband.  “I’ll dump these in the dungeon with the others.”  He stood and ran down the path, storing all the bodies from the spikes.

Returning to the group, he said, “Ready to enter?” and at Moira’s nod, he stepped into the dungeon.

Inside, the dungeon looked foreboding. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, and the cavern he found himself in was lit by a faint, eerie green light.  The increased mana density washed over him, and he smiled.  Dungeons feel like home.

The Marbot clan appeared around him even as the seven Nursk warriors who’d been lazing around in the cavern leapt to their feet and attacked.  A blizzard surrounded the new arrivals, cutting visibility to almost nothing, and meter-long shards of ice pelted Duncan and his allies.   The shards failed to penetrate his dragonskin armor and hardened skin but he heard several of the Marbot clansmen grunt in pain.

Duncan Blinked forward and up, appearing not far above the Nursk ice mages.  The Nursk warriors were already charging forward into the blizzard.  A second Blink took Duncan directly behind the rear-most caster and he lopped off the man’s head with a clean cut.  The sword snagged for a moment on the spine, but the bone wasn’t robust enough to stop the dragontooth blade’s movement as the cascade of blade echoes leant their weight to his attack.

Before the head hit the ground, Duncan was on the second caster, sweeping his Spirit sword through his opponent’s body and following up with a thrust from his dragontooth sword that entered at the base of the man’s skull and burst out of his mouth.  These people are weak.  They reacted well to our appearance, but their bodies lack the robustness to stand up to my attacks.

An orange light lit up the inside of the Blizzard as the Marbots reacted to the attack.  Duncan had two remaining opponents – a tall mage with a staff that seemed to be made of ice, and a burly warrior who stood between the casters and the blizzard wielding a pair of axes with blades of ice.  The Nursk were only just realising that someone was behind them as Duncan attacked the mage with the staff.

A block of ice engulfed the mage as Duncan struck, his dragontooth sword sending chips flying before it became stuck in the ice.  His Spirit sword ignored the ice entirely and swept through the mage’s torso, doing considerable yet insidious damage, causing no pain.  He followed up with a Mind Spike and another sweeping attack with his Spirit sword, and the mage fell, the ice block surrounding him sublimating into mist.  Duncan caught his dragontooth sword before it hit the floor.

The axe-wielding Nursk warrior lunged at Duncan, axes flashing.  Duncan placed a fold in space in front of one of the axes and stepped around the fold, staying out of reach of the second axe even as he cut down at his opponent’s knee.  His dragontooth sword severed the tendons behind the knee and the echoes of the attack struck deep into the bone.

The warrior remained upright, transferring his weight to his other foot, and lashing out at Duncan with both axes, going high with the near axe and low with the follow-up from his left hand.  Duncan continued his pivot, leaning back to avoid the axe aimed for his head and withdrawing his right leg from the path of the lower attack, meeting the haft of the weapon with his dragontooth blade, stopping it dead with his greater strength.  Poor technique to brute force the parry like that.

A thick coating of ice spread from the Nursk warrior’s axe to Duncan’s sword, turning it into an unwieldy ice club.  Duncan passed back with his left foot, drawing the dragontooth sword away, and swept his Spirit sword up in a rising cut which the Nursk warrior hopped awkwardly back to avoid.   Duncan Blinked behind him and cut back down with the Spirit sword, the blade passing through the warrior from right shoulder to left hip, echoes of the attack following in a barely noticeable glimmer.

The Nursk Warrior spun, his injured knee encased in ice that braced the joint, both axes whipping around to crash into the tall vertical fold in space Duncan placed to block them.  The warrior stumbled as his axes unexpectedly rebounded from the nigh-invisible fold.  Duncan swept his ice-covered sword up behind him and brought it around in a circular cut at the warrior’s head.  It was heavy and poorly balanced, but Duncan’s ridiculous strength let him treat it as a poorly-weighted mace.   The frozen sword clubbed the warrior in the side of the helmet, but instead of shattering the ice, the blow resulted in the sword adhering to the warrior’s helmet.

Bah!  Even as the Nursk warrior recovered his stance, Duncan hit him with a Mind Spike and followed with a rising cut from his Spirit sword, releasing his grip on his dragontooth sword as he did.  The Nursk Warrior stumbled back, stunned, and Duncan summoned his metal-affinity sword from storage into his left hand.  This fellow is much tougher than the others.  He stepped forward into a lunge which took the warrior in the chest.  The sword passed through the man’s armor as though it wasn’t there and punched through his ribcage and into his heart.  The echoes of the attack shredded the organ, and the warrior collapsed, dead.

A brief glance around showed him the Marbot clansmen had defeated the Nursk warriors who’d engaged them.  With no enemies remaining, Duncan stored his metal-affinity sword and recovered his dragontooth blade, the magical ice already melting away.  The clansmen were checking the bodies of the fallen, so Duncan pulled out his gem that allowed him to see the presence of enchantments and peered through it at the Nursk he’d slain.  The warriors axes were enchanted, as was one of his rings and the mage’s ice staff.  Duncan stored all the gear from the fallen – even the unenchanted stuff could be sold and he had lots of available storage space.

“You went through them like a hot knife through butter,” Marcus commented as he approached.  “What does the gem do?”

“Lets me see which items have an enchantment,” Duncan replied.

“No appraisal technique?” Marcus seemed surprised.

“Nope,” Duncan said. “The Adventurers Guild provides appraisal services, so I don’t have to waste a slot on it.”

Marcus nodded.  “Fair enough.  Most people have a hard time finding twenty techniques for their strongest affinities.  Appraisal is useful and anyone can take it to rank five or six pretty easily.  Free levels.  We all have it,” he gestured to indicate his group.

“Levels are not a concern for me,” Duncan grimaced.  “Finding the right combination of techniques to take the best advantage of my affinities is the challenge.”  And with evolutions, it’s even more important that I get the combination right.

“Still fiddling with techniques at your level?” Lupita asked as she approached.  “I’d have to have all twenty techniques at their maximum rank to reach one-fifty.”

Duncan gave her a wan smile.  “There’s always a path to advance.  And I’m something of a special case.  I’ve still got a lot of room for improvement in my techniques.”

“Interesting,” said Moira.  “Any idea which of these was the leader?”

Duncan pointed at the axe warrior.  “That one was much sturdier than the others and had an enchanted ring – maybe a storage item.”

“Can you check his things for any written orders, please?”  At Moira’s request, Duncan poked through the warrior’s belongings and came up with a couple scrolls.  One, in the common tongue and signed by a Collum Chevrolet, directed Hrothgar and his followers to secure the dungeon and guard the hostages within.  The other was written in Nursk runes, which none of their group could read.  Duncan stared at it for a while, but he had too little experience with the language for his low-ranked translation technique to reveal anything useful.

The Marbots were discussing the other orders in the meantime.  “The only reason I can think of for the Chevrolets to be taking hostages is if they’re spread too thin,” said Moira.  “If they captured the clanholds of some clans but didn’t wipe out the forces of those clans, they could use the family members they captured as hostages.   And if they’re holding them in a dungeon like this, they can probably get away with fewer guards, since the dungeon monsters would likely finish any low-level hostage who managed to escape.”

“Clever,” said Marcus.  “Despicable, but clever.”

Chapter 16

“If they have hostages further into the dungeon, we’re going to have to get to them fast,” said Moira.  “If the guards see us coming, they may try to kill the hostages.”

“It’s a low-level dungeon, you said?” asked Duncan.  “I can teleport to any enemy we find, and I’ve got some good options for protecting any hostages.  I can run through the dungeon very quickly on my own if you’d prefer.”

“We’ll go together,” Moira decided.  “Duncan, you teleport past any we find and prevent them from running away to warn others.  We’ll trap and burn them as best we can, and be the hammer to your anvil.”

Everyone nodded, and the group moved forward into the dungeon.  It seemed to be straightforward, with a wide tunnel meandering through rock barely lit by glowing moss.  There were occasional side passages that ended in dead ends.  “Seems the Nursk have been keeping the dungeon pretty well cleared,” Marcus muttered.

Eventually, they came to a cave that hadn’t been cleared out – several long-bodied froglike creatures lounged near a shallow pool of water against the back wall.  “Froghound spitters.  Corrosive spit, twenty-meter range, corrosive bite, claws inflict disease.  Level thirty-two,” Marcus said.

The froghounds noticed them and moved to attack, but the fire team was faster.  Cages of pure flame appeared around each monster, then firebolts and flaming arrows struck them (Duncan noticed the warriors in the fire team had switched to bows), and a beam of intense flame burst from Moira’s outstretched hand and finished them off.

“That’s a lot of detailed knowledge,” said Duncan.  “Have you been here before?”

“Nah,” Marcus grinned, “We have the new soul gems that provide monster information.  I have the best assessment skill, so I sometimes get a little more information, which is why I’m speaking the details.”  Huh.  Sounds useful.  Duncan was acutely aware of the special soul gem the outworlder had given him sitting in his storage device.

They moved back from the dead end to the main passageway and continued on.  The tunnel opened into a large cavern with several groups of froghounds scattered around.  Each group was gathered about a small pond.  Maybe the Nursk weren’t keeping the dungeon cleared – maybe the froghounds only hang out at the ponds.  The other dead ends didn’t have ponds.

There was another tunnel entrance across the cavern.  Duncan could see no other exits.  “Checking the exit on the far wall,” he said, and Blinked across the cavern to the tunnel.  There were no Nursk in sight – the tunnel continued as it had earlier, curving away to the right after a few meters.

He Blinked back to the group, “The tunnel continues on.  No enemies that I could see.”

“Let’s clear the cavern quickly, then,” said Moira.  “We’ll take the left side, you take the right?”

Duncan nodded and Blinked to the first group of froghounds on the right side of the cavern.  At level thirty-two or thereabouts, they presented no threat or challenge.  Each one died to a single swing of his sword as he moved through them swiftly, avoiding their acidic spittle with relative ease.  He touched each one and used his Extract Resources technique, garnering several vials of what he assumed was corrosive spittle.  He stored the loot and repeated his actions at two more pools, meeting the Marbot fire team at the tunnel leading deeper into the dungeon.

They moved further down the passage to the next side passage.  Light from an unseen source around the corner lit the passageway more brightly than the moss.  The group nodded to each other – this was likely the enemy.  Duncan Blinked to the corner, took in the layout of the room ahead in a glance, and Blinked forward again.

The ‘room’ was another pond cave.  Two Nursk sat playing some sort of dice game on the ground near the pool while a third stood guard at what appeared to be a tunnel exiting the room on the far side of the pool.   Duncan’s Blink took him to the guard at the far side of the room.  He struck first with a Mind Spike to stun the guard, then thrust his dragontooth sword up under the guard’s chin and swept his Spirit sword up through the entire length of the guard’s torso.  The guard died with barely a gurgle.

The two Nursk playing at Dice were taken by surprise as the Marbot fire team launched themselves around the corner and began their attack.  Burning cages appeared around each of the guards and fiery attacks had them screaming.

Duncan moved quickly through the little passage into the next chamber – if there were other guards in here with the hostages, they’d hear the screams for certain.   The passage curved a second time and opened into a twenty-meter-long cave.  There were perhaps two dozen naked people near the back of the cave, ranging in age from perhaps eight to twenty.  A faint odor of human refuse wafted from the back of the cave.

At the front of the cave, only two meters from Duncan, a Nursk warrior with his pants around his ankles was kneeling on the ground pantomiming intercourse.  One of the prisoners, a young woman, stood in front of him, her hand raised, a look of fierce concentration on her face.  Something very odd is going on here.

Duncan stepped forward, sword raised to kill the guard, but decided that might further traumatize the children present.  Instead, he grabbed the oblivious guard by the back of his chest armor and flung him down the passageway to the other cave, bouncing him off a wall.  The guard regained his senses and began to shout, but Duncan cut that off by removing the guard’s head from his shoulders with a vicious cut.

He checked the pond room and found the Marbot fire team had finished off the two guards and were rushing toward him.  “Found the hostages,” he said, and led them back into the prison cave.

As he entered the cave again, he felt a strong pressure against his Tranquil Mind technique.  The girl who’d been enthralling the guard was standing in front of the group, her arm raised at him.  The pressure on his mind increased and the room started to change around him.  With an effort, he summoned the bracelet of mind protection he’d used in the lower levels of the horror dungeon and equipped it.   The pressure immediately faded to something more tolerable, and the room returned to normal before him.   “Stop attacking my mind.  We’re here to rescue you,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm and level.

The Marbot fire team entered the cave behind him, and he saw the look of strain on the young woman’s face turn to despair.   Then a young boy in the group behind her shouted “Moira!” and rushed forward to throw his arms around Moira’s waist.

“Bertram?”  Moira looked confused, then joyful.  “Bertram, I’m so glad you’re safe!”  She knelt to hug the boy.  Duncan felt the pressure on his mind fade entirely.

“Bertram’s her brother,” Marcus said to Duncan, grimly.  “If he’s a hostage, the Chevrolets have overrun the Marbot clan keep.  We’ll all have lost family and friends in that attack.”

Lupita stepped forward and spoke loudly, “Everyone, we’re from the Marbot Clan.  We’re here to rescue you.  You’re safe now – the Nursk in here are all dead.   I am a healer – if anyone is hurt, I can help.   We have food and water and some clothes…” her voice trailed off.

Duncan Assessed the group.  Most of the younger children showed no class or level.  Several of the older children were very low-level mages or warriors.   There were no boys older than about sixteen.  The young woman who’d attacked his mind was the oldest hostage – she looked to be about nineteen or twenty.  She was a Level 11 60 Mage.  No one else was higher than level ten.  There’s bound to be a good story there.

Lupita was organizing the children as best she could.  The fire team members were producing their spare clothing.  Marcus had pulled a stool out of storage and was sitting on it, playing a soft tune on his lute that spread a sensation of calm through the room.

“Got any spare clothes?” Lupita asked him. “You’re a giant, but even a tent of a shirt is better than nothing for these kids.”

Duncan frowned.  “I’ve got a bunch of corpses I was going to dump in here.  We can strip those.  Oh, and the Chevrolet centurions we killed all had storage rings.  I haven’t checked the ones I have – they might have had spare clothes in there.”

“Good point,” Lupita said.  “We’ve got a few of those rings, too – I don’t know if Moira has looked through them yet.”  She moved off to talk to Moira, who was still hugging Bertram.

Duncan followed her.  “Sorry to interrupt,” he said.  “But we need to know if there are other groups of hostages or Nursk in the dungeon.  Someone less intimidating than me needs to ask some questions.”

Lupita clucked at him.  “Disguise your level, lose that dragonskin armor, keep your aura suppressed, and you’re a perfectly nice young man.  Not intimidating at all, other than your size and freaky muscles.”

The level sixty mage had followed him over.  “As far as I know, we’re the only hostages in here.  They kept four guards with us, and some more at the dungeon entrance and the guard hut outside.  They rotated them through so they could all have their turn with us.”  Her face was grim, but her voice was steady.  “None of them said anything about other hostages in my hearing.”

“I’ll go through the rest of the dungeon to be sure,” said Duncan.  “Let me just go through a bunch of storage devices to see if any of them have spare clothes for the hostages, then I’ll clear the dungeon while you’re feeding and organizing them.  They’re probably all pretty traumatized.   Keep an eye on this one though” – he gestured to the woman with them.  “She’s an outstanding mind mage.  Level sixty.  She had the guard in here enthralled or something when I arrived, and she’s almost strong enough to overwhelm my formidable defenses.”

The woman blushed bright red.  “I thought you were hostile.  You didn’t kill the guard – you grabbed him and threw him out of my line of sight.”

Duncan nodded.  “Ah, I can see how that appeared.  I didn’t want to kill him in front of a bunch of already traumatized kids.”

He pulled a few robes out of a storage device belonging to one of the Chevrolet centurions.  “Aha.  Robes.  Nice and generic.”  He passed one to the woman.  “Here.  I’m sorry, I never asked your name.”

“Rose Campbell,” she said, pulling the robe over her head and shrugging into it.  It was a surprisingly good fit.  “I should explain a few things, I think.  I don’t want to exchange one set of guards for another, now that you know I’m a mind mage.”

“You seem quite stable for all the horrors you’ve gone through,” said Lupita.  “All the kids do, really.”

“I have the Soothe Psyche technique at rank nine,” Rose said. “I’ve had a lot of practice with it in here.”

“She’s great,” Bertram interjected.  “She takes care of everyone here.”

“Tell us your story, Rose, then we’ll send Duncan to clear the dungeon while we feed and clothe and take care of everyone,” said Moira.  She, too, was pulling clothes out of the storage devices she’d taken from the Chevrolet centurions.

“They came for us in the middle of the night.  Once we realised there were so many raiders, my uncle (Laird Campbell) sent the non-combatants out through the escape tunnel.   But there were at least three score raiders waiting for us at the exit.  Someone betrayed us and gave away the location.   We were taken to a camp where everyone was identified and recorded.  I was level nine, with a moderate mind affinity and a strong shadow affinity.”

“We were split up and taken to other camps on horseback.  Then, the group of us here,” she gestured to the other hostages, “were brought into this dungeon.  It was only half of us at first – more hostages arrived a few at a time later on.   The Chevrolet asshole in charge assured us that we’d be safe, that we were hostages against our clans’ good behavior.   But the Nursk guards cared about none of that.  They tortured and abused us, and one of them would heal us after, so that we looked unharmed.”

“Given my age and figure, I was targeted more often than most.  After the third time I was raped, I blacked out, and when I recovered, my affinities had changed, and I had new techniques.”

Lupita hugged Rose.  “A stress breakthrough.  Rare, but not unheard of.  Are you okay to keep going?”

Rose nodded.  “My mind affinity became outstanding, and my spirit and soul affinities became strong.  A few other affinities advanced to moderate.”   Moira whistled under her breath and gestured for Rose to go on.  “I learned the Soothe Psyche, Seeming, and Read Intent techniques, along with Spirit Shield and Soul Guard.”

“Seeming is what you saw me doing to the guard,” she said to Duncan.  “I can create a mindscape where the target interacts with illusions that only he can see.  The closer the Seeming is to what the target expects, the more effective it is.”  She shuddered.  “When you entered, the guard thought he was raping one of the older boys.  The Nursk seem to think that the abuse toughens us up and makes us stronger.  They justified their actions as helping us.”

She continued, “It took a long time before I was able to do that so effectively, though.  Everyone here has been raped at least once, most of us several times, some of us a lot more than that.  Soul Guard lets me hide my level,” her eyes flicked to Duncan, “from most people, at least.  I leveled up as my techniques advanced.  I’ve been training Shadow techniques as well, in preparation for an escape attempt, but they’re much harder to level than my mind techniques for some reason.”

Duncan turned to Moira, “How is it that the Nursk survive?  Why haven’t they been wiped out?”

“They’re strong,” Moira grimaced.  “And they’re numerous, and they live in territory that no one else covets.”

“Not strong enough,” Duncan growled.  “I’m going to end them.”  At Moira’s conciliatory look, he said, “I’ve gained a hundred and fifty levels in three years.  In a few more years, I’ll be level three hundred or more.  The shit they teach in the empire about levels and advancement is ridiculously incomplete at best, and outright wrong in many ways.  Twenty techniques is not the limit.  Outstanding affinity is not the maximum.  Rank ten in a technique is not the maximum, either.”

Moira began to say something, but Duncan overrode her.  “I am advancing to be able to face a much more dangerous threat than the Nursk.  Wiping out the Nursk in the empire, and the Chevrolets who brought them will be training for me.  I will advance until I can take on the Nursk in their homeland, and then I will move on to greater threats.”  He took a breath.  “Now, I really feel a need to do some fighting.  I hope there are more Nursk in here somewhere.”

He dropped the last of the spare clothes the Chevrolet centurions had stored in their rings and strode out of the room.   The froghounds at the spawning pool in the next room died as he passed them.  He flicked their blood off his sword before moving deeper into the dungeon.

He stormed through several more caves and caverns, his attacks precise and technically perfect.  His initial rage cooled to an icy edge.  Everything in this world revolves around personal power.  The Nursk get away with atrocities because they’re strong.  The Chevrolets control the highlands in spite of the rules that should protect the clans who sent troops to aid the emperor against the undead because they are the strongest here.   The emperor dictates the rules that protect ordinary citizens from selfish nobles because he’s stronger than them.  Very well.  I shall advance until I have the strength to right the wrongs I see.

He pulled out the fancy soul gem the outworlder had given him.   I shall take full advantage of every benefit I’m given.  He ejected his old gem and pulled the new one in. The sensation was just as weird as absorbing a technique or affinity stone.  How do you inhale through your forehead, anyway? He felt a minor drop in his mana, as though he were equipping another storage device, then a brief tingle.  Right, then.  What does the new soul gem have to offer?

Name:

Duncan

Class:

Warrior

Techniques advanced (level):

152

Evolution Tier:

0

Strength:

375

Intelligence:

73

Dexterity:

356

Wisdom:

61

Agility:

372

Aura:

912

Endurance:

379

Violence

613

Reaction:

370

Puissance

224

Focus:

306

Charisma

24

Willpower:

351

Authority

26

Compassion

25

Concurrent Active Techniques:

4

Health:

37980

Health Regen:

27360/hour

Stamina:

5310

Stam Regen:

68400/hour

Mana:

33080

Mana Regen:

8760/hour

Mana Reserved:

816

Cultivation:

Body Tempering:

None

Meridians Open:

22/24

Core formation:

10% of liquid core

Nascent Soul:

13%

Concept:

Fuzzy

Affinities:

Body

Outstanding

Death

Weak

Mind

Outstanding

Lava

Weak

Spirit

Outstanding

Gravity

Weak

Fire

Weak

Poison

Negligible

Air

Weak

Blade

Outstanding

Water

Weak

Ice

Weak

Earth

Moderate

Decay

Weak

Stone

Moderate

Soul

Strong

Lightning

Weak

Corrosion

Negligible

Gemstone

Moderate

Space

Outstanding

Nature

Negligible

Healing

Outstanding

Life

Weak

Shadow

Moderate

Metal

Moderate

Blood

Negligible

Techniques

Active

Rank

Passive

Rank

Blade Echo

8

Tempered Blade

9

Fold Space

8

Regeneration

8

Blink

7

Coagulation

7

Mind Spike

7

Hardened Skin

7

Destrin's Restoration

7

Tranquil Mind

7

Flying Sword

7

Spiritual Shield

7

Bladestorm

7

Personal Space Pocket

7

Remove Affliction

6

Ignore Pain

7

Regenerate Other

4

Shadow Sight

4

Cage of Blades

5

Assessment

6

Extract Resources

4

Blade Sense

5

Leech Mana

5

Understand Languages

3

Skills

Rank

1H swords

9

Plate armor

5

2H swords

7

Mail armor

5

1H axes

4

Leather armor

5

2H axes

4

Anatomy

2

Shields

6

Survival

2

Spears

5

Skinning

1

Daggers

3

Meditation

4

Bows

3

Swimming

2

Tracking

1

Riding

2

Elven language

3

Knowledge: Monster

2

Not a huge difference.  Levels are recorded as techniques advanced.  I wonder if that means I evolve a technique from rank 10 to a new rank 1, that counts as gaining a level instead of losing nine?  That would make more sense.  I wonder what Remelial’s level would show as with a new soul gem.  All the stats look the same. My physical stats are insane.  I should ask the Marbot warriors what theirs are, once we get to know each other better, maybe. Oh!  New stats! Reaction is in line with my other physical stats, which makes sense.  Hard to be an effective fighter if I can’t react to attacks at the same speed I can launch them.  Focus and Willpower are what let me fight endless waves of monsters in a dungeon like the Endless Depths without making stupid mistakes that get me killed.  I guess it’s good that the new soul gem shows these stats, but without baselines, I don’t know how I compare, and there’s no guidance on how to improve them or even which affinities they’re associated with.  I mean, I can guess that it’s Mind, Spirit and perhaps Soul, but there’s no way to really tell, is there?

The aura stat is new, too.  My aura is very much biased towards violence.  Not surprising, since all I do is fight. Charisma is how likeable someone is – I guess I’m not exactly likeable.  Authority is how used one is to giving orders and having them obeyed. Compassion is empathy and caring – healers tend to have more compassion than others.   Weird that I just know what the stats mean when I look at them in my soul gem.  The information has to be coming from the soul gem, but it feels like I’ve always known it.

Mana reserved – well, I’m wearing too many enchanted items and storage devices.  Speaking of storage, my personal pocket space is now rank seven.  I need to test how close I am to being able to do away with storage devices that reserve so much mana.

Evolution Tier zero.  Because I haven’t evolved any techniques.  Does it increment with every technique evolved?  Or does it count the number of times a given technique evolves?

The whole cultivation section is new.  Body tempering – I have none.  It’s the treatment of the body with an element to break down and rebuild the body stronger.  Dennis said that it’s most often done through alchemy – pills and stuff.  Maybe once I leave the empire, I can find someone who does that.  Meridians open – I have two unopened, and I can’t advance my affinities past outstanding until I have them all open, if I remember what Dennis said.  And I have no idea how to open them except by using affinity stones.  I need to find a cultivation teacher.

Core formation – I need to compact the mana in my core, but I have no real idea how to do that.  My core isn’t even a real place – it’s like a metaphysical organ. It exists in my soulspace, apparently?  Argh.  Nascent Soul – I have no idea what that is.  Oh, I guess I do.  It’s the separation of the soul from the body.  The body becomes a mana construct, for the most part.  Health and mana become interchangeable.  With healing, it already is, sort of.  Healing lets me turn mana into health if you look at it from a numbers perspective.

Concept is fuzzy – what does that mean?  Oh, the scale goes none, glimmers, fuzzy, firm, solid, and there are more states beyond, but I don’t know them.  Concept is my understanding of who I am and the techniques I use.  Achieving a more solid concept will open up the possibility of technique evolutions.  Is this a visualization thing?  I should have worked harder on my meditation skill.

Beyond that, I advanced Destrin’s Restoration.  More mana-efficient healing is nice.  Still nothing at rank ten.  Alright, advantage taken, now I need to fight something.  If you’re listening, gods, this would be a good time for a rare monster to spawn nearby.

Duncan continued deeper into the dungeon, soon coming across another group of froghounds.  Froghound spitters and a froghound guardian. The spitters are as Marcus said. The guardian is a level thirty-four equivalent, strong physical defenses, especially against blunt attacks, but the slime it extrudes is flammable.  This group is no threat to me.  Woah, the soul gem doesn’t tell me things, I just know them.  I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

It took less than a minute to kill all the froghounds and extract two vials of an unpleasant looking yellow liquid.  He moved on, killing twelve more groups of froghounds, finding no more Nursk anywhere.  Eventually he arrived at a cavern with no further exits.  There were no froghounds present.  Instead, four tall insectoid creatures stood chittering at one another.  They had segmented bodies like an ant, with six legs, but instead of a head, they had a humanoid torso growing out of the body, with an ant head on top of the shoulders.  They held poleaxes in humanoid hands.  Creepy fuckers.  Gorroshiv Demons.  Fast.  Sturdy.  Strong teamwork. Corrosive blood.  Area effect darkness spells.  Level one hundred and fifteen equivalent. They pose a significant threat to me.

The cavern’s about thirty meters high, and a hundred meters across.  Lots of room to Blink to if need be.  I have shadow sight.  Let’s see how I do.  Duncan Blinked near the group and attacked one of the demons through a fold in space, striking its humanoid torso.  An inky blackness blotted out his vision completely.  So much for Shadow Sight!  His Blade Sense told him where the poleaxe heads were, and he could extrapolate where the monsters were in relation to that.  Maybe?

The poleaxes moved to surround him, snapping forward at him, to be met by folds in space.  He Blinked past the group and swung his swords at where he thought a monster body should be.   The dragontooth sword skittered off the carapace – if I can’t see them, I can’t orientate the blade properly to crack the armor.  His Spirit sword swung unimpeded, and he hoped he’d hit something.  Can’t see them to Assess their health, even.

He Blinked again, past the poleaxes, and swung his Spirit sword through a wide arc that hopefully included a demon body.  A poleaxe blade moved away from him, and the butt of the poleaxe took his feet out from under him.  He Blinked straight up twenty meters and stood on a flying sword summoned from storage, just in time to avoid more poleaxes smashing into the ground where’d he’d been lying.

From his vantage point, he could see that each demon had summoned a sphere of darkness about five meters in diameter.  He dropped a Bladestorm over the entire group and saw all four spheres move out of the area of effect immediately.  Tendrils of darkness reached up from the two spheres closest to him.  Rather than let them grapple him, Duncan Blinked down to one of the other spheres and struck at the creature within.  Once again, the dragontooth sword skittered off demonic armor and the faintest tug of resistance told him his Spirit sword passed through the monster.

He used a fold in space directly in front of the demon’s poleaxe and a second directly behind it, then thrust his dragontooth sword rather than cutting with it, following up with another sweep of his Spirit sword.  The thrust was no more effective than his earlier cuts had been, striking the creature but not penetrating because he landed his blow at the wrong angle.  The demon flailed its poleaxe back and forth, bouncing off Duncan’s folds in space.

Three more poleaxes converged on his location even as his target managed to free its own poleaxe with a sideways motion.  Duncan Blinked up and to one side and placed another Bladestorm to catch all four demons.  As they split up to move out of the area of effect, Duncan Blinked back down to the one he’d been attacking and attacked again.

Icy cold ropes of darkness grabbed him, completely invisible in the inky blackness surrounding the demon he was attacking.  They learn – trying to prevent me from escaping.  Duncan Blinked up and to the side again, careful not to repeat a pattern, lest they have a ranged attack they hadn’t displayed.  He continued to Blink down to attack and away again.  He was frustrated by an inability to see if he was hurting his target and he imagined the demons were frustrated by their inability to damage him at all.

He had no alternative second weapon – his dragontooth sword was doing no damage to the demons because he couldn’t penetrate their chitinous skin with it without being able to see his target.  A second Spirit sword would have been really beneficial, as would a mind sword, but all he had were swords that were suited for physical damage against specific classes of target.  The dragontooth sword at least gave him an increase to all his blade techniques, so it helped his Spirit sword attacks.

The demons hadn’t been able to hurt him thus far, so he took a chance and swapped his helmet out for his Crown of the Enlightened, which allowed him to detect the spirits of creatures around him.  With it, he could sense the demons in their spheres of darkness, but he was only able to know they were there, not the position of their bodies.  Adding his Monocle of Revealing didn’t help – it let him see invisible creatures, but the demons weren’t invisible – they were simply engulfed in absolute darkness.  Either the ring didn’t penetrate that, or the darkness suppressed magical sight as well.  It was hard to tell how techniques interacted with each other.

He Blinked back down to attack again, using his dragontooth sword to parry the demon’s poleaxe, blocking other attacks from other demons with folds in space and attacking aggressively with his Spirit sword.  Suddenly the demon he was attacking absolutely exploded with blades to Duncan’s Blade Sense technique.  He Blinked up and away, but not before several of the blades pierced him.

The damage was superficial, and he healed it in an instant.  That was new though… did it create blades of darkness?  If it had taken a form other than blades, I’d have had no warning at all and would have taken the entire force of the attack.  Still, it wouldn’t have been enough to kill me, so it changes nothing.

He continued his attacks, and only a few blows later, the first of the demons fell to his Spirit sword.  The sphere of darkness around the body faded, then the remaining three demons closed in, and he was once more engulfed in absolute darkness.   Alright then.  I can kill them, even if it takes a while, and they haven’t been able to really hurt me yet.  Time to be a little less cautious, perhaps.

He began to hold his ground more, refusing to Blink up and away.  When he felt too pressed, he Blinked to the far side of an attacker and continued the fight.  All the while, he was straining his senses, trying to determine where the demons were behind their poleaxes.  Come on, I have Mind, Spirit and Soul affinities.  If I can track their blades with Blade Sense, I should be able to track them with a combination of those three!

He blocked attacks with folds in space, parried with his dragontooth sword, and attacked with his Spirit sword.  He tried a Mind Spike every once in a while, but the information from his Crown of the Enlightened wasn’t enough for him to use it to target the demons with a Mind affinity attack.  Eventually, he slipped up a little with a placement of a fold in space, and the demon was able to use it as a fulcrum to enable an attack from an unexpected direction.  The poleaxe attack barely broke through his armor and hardened skin to leave a superficial wound, but a stinging cold told him something was wrong.

He'd been affected by an affliction called Touch of the Abyss – the stinging cold spread slowly from the wound into the surrounding tissue.  Removing the affliction cost him almost a third of his mana pool.  What does that make that, a rank eleven technique?  I cannot afford to take any more of those attacks.  He redoubled his efforts to place his folds in space and his parries perfectly, and immersed himself in the fight, moving smoothly between invisible opponents revealed only through their use of their blades.

Chapter 17

Duncan returned to the cave where he’d left the Marbot fire team and the hostages, having dumped all the corpses he’d found in the cavern where he’d fought the demons.  He had the demon corpses stored instead – he wouldn’t be able to leave the dungeon with them, but he wanted to show them to the Marbot fire team.  He’d taken far longer than he should have, and he needed them for the explanation.

“Finally!” Moira exclaimed as Duncan entered.  “What took you so long?  Did you find more hostages?”

“Sorry,” said Duncan.  “I cleared the whole place.  No other hostages, but I ran into these fine fellows.”  He dumped the bodies of the demons on the floor.  “Level one-fifteen Gorroshiv demons.  They were extremely hard to kill with my skillset.  I had to fight them whilst blind.  You guys could have filled the cavern with fire.  I had to hit them with a sword.  It took a while.”

“Any good loot?” Marcus asked.   Duncan pulled out the poleaxes, then used his Extract Resources technique on the corpses, yielding a few bottles of inky liquid.  Marcus took the polearm and one bottle.  “Infectious poleaxe of darkness.  Darkness affinity, rare.   Woah, demonic essence of darkness, very rare.  You just made that stuff appear by touching them?”

Duncan grinned. “My only non-combat active technique.  It produces lots of weird stuff like that.”   If alchemists like this stuff and I need alchemy products to temper my body, I should save up this stuff rather than selling it all to the Adventurers Guild.

Rose approached with Moira.  “You seemed pretty upset when you left.  Is it okay if I use my Soothe Psyche technique on you?  It will heal mental damage and help with stress.”

Duncan shrugged.  “Sure. I feel better now, though.”

Rose stepped forward to touch his hand.  As she did, Duncan felt a wave of sensory information.  Rose glowed in his mind.  He could see her with more than just his eyes.  He could feel the fabric of her robe and her skin underneath, and the oil in her hair.  He could smell all too acutely the pungent odors associated with her being imprisoned for three months without a bath.  He held up his hard to ward her off and she stepped back.

“What’s wrong?” Moira asked.

“I think I unlocked a new perception technique fighting the demons.  I got some sensory overload when Rose stepped close.”  He took a deep breath.  “Okay,” he said to Rose, “try again.”

She stepped up to touch his hand again, and the sensory overload returned.  He tried to ignore it, to stop processing it, but he had no idea how to turn the information off.  Rose touched his hand and her technique soothed away the slight panic he felt at the flood of sensations.  It also helped with a couple of other nagging issues.  He felt less guilty about not being here sooner to save the hostages, and the stirrings of self-loathing he felt for killing the helpless Nursk prisoners were soothed away.

Rose stepped back.  “Interesting.  You’re much less damaged than I had expected.  You seemed really affected when you left.”

“Fighting demons is therapeutic,” Duncan replied, recovering from the sensory overload as soon as she stepped away again.  “I always feel better when I’m fighting dangerous monsters in a dungeon.  Also, my mental protection technique is called Tranquil Mind instead of Mind Shield or Mental Barrier or something, so maybe that has an effect, too.”

“You’re showing as level one-fifty-three,” Moira noted.  “What’s the new technique?”

Duncan checked his new soul gem.  “Sphere of Discernment.  I perceive the world around me. Mind, Spirit, and Soul affinities. One meter range.”  He chuckled.  “Very descriptive.  But that’s going to take some getting used to.  It’s like all my senses are working from all around me.  It’s a good thing it’s only a meter range.  When it’s just me, the air, and the stone, it’s barely noticeable.  But when Rose stepped close, all my senses went berserk.”

“As to showing my level, I switched to one of the new soul gems.  I’d been carrying it around, unsure if I should use it or not.  Decided I need to take every advantage I can.   Now I guess I need to figure out how to fudge what it shows others.  It’s not quite the same as the old one.”

It took only a moment to discover how to turn off the display entirely, and a few more moments to determine how to change the output to whatever he wanted.  “A level one hundred farmer, really?” Marcus asked.

“Just testing,” Duncan said, setting the display to his standard one-fifteen warrior.

“I wish I could do that,” Marcus said wistfully.

“I think it’s a soul affinity thing,” Duncan said.  “I just find where it wants to display my information and I change what it says.”

“We need to get the hostages out now that you’re back,” Moira said.  “They’ve been here for too long, and we want to get them to safety before more Nursk arrive.”  She looked at Duncan.  “You’ll go first and clear the path to the entrance, and we’ll follow with the hostages, if you’ve no objections.”

Duncan nodded.  “Ready whenever you are.”

It took only a few minutes to get the hostages moving.   Duncan killed a few froghounds on the way to the entrance, using Bladestorm from a distance to avoid letting them into his new technique’s sphere, and the group assembled in the entrance hall.  “Duncan, Gregor, and Yusef go out first.  If it’s clear, Yusef comes back in and we move the hostages out,” instructed Moira.

Duncan exited the dungeon, and promptly fell to his knees as his senses were overwhelmed.  Gregor and Yusef appeared along with him and checked the area.  Fortunately, there was no one in sight.  “What’s wrong, Duncan?” asked Yusef, but Duncan was too overwhelmed to answer.

“Sensory overload.  I can feel the individual blades of grass, the insects, the worms underground,” he managed to grind out after some time had passed.  “I see their minds, their spirits, their souls.  My normal senses are carried along.”

Someone stepped into his sphere of perception.  “You can see under my robe, can’t you?” Rose whispered in his ear.

Duncan’s senses suddenly focused on Rose.  He could feel her breathing, see her nipples hardening and her vulva swelling.  Her skin flushed with blood, and he could feel her temperature rise.  Her smooth belly rose and fell as she breathed, and her breath tickled his ear.  He could hear her heartrate increase.

He looked at her incredulously.  “You’re sexualizing this?” he asked.

She grinned at him.  “Did it work?  Were you able to focus on just me?”

Huh.  It did.  The grass and insects and worms all faded into background noise.  The moment he thought of the environment, though, he perceived it all again.  Rose.  Think of Rose.  Fuck.  I can feel her skin without touching her.  I can taste her and smell her arousal.  Calm down, she knows what’s going on.  She’s here deliberately.  I’m not forcing myself on her.  She knows at least some of what I can sense, and it seems to be turning her on.

She touched his hand, and her Soothe Psyche effect removed the panic of the sensory overload.  He looked around and saw the hostages and Marbot fire team had moved down the path fifty meters or so.  He turned his back to them, dismissed his groin protection, adjusted himself, and summoned it back.  Rose produced a throaty chuckle that gave him goosebumps.  “You owe me for this, Duncan of the Valley,” she said.

“I do.  Thank you.  It really helps.”  Duncan checked his soul gem.  Sphere of Perception was now rank three.  Two levels just for gaining that little bit of control.  Oh, it says maximum range is now five meters.  If I can adjust the range, can I adjust it down?  It took some effort, but he found he could withdraw his new perception to a range of only about ten centimeters.  The strain on his senses dropped significantly.  He’d need to concentrate to keep the area of effect so small, but for now, it was necessary.

“Okay,” he said.  “I’ve shrunk the area of effect to a few centimeters beyond my skin.  And I think I’m learning how to ignore stuff like grass and insects.  One of the drawbacks of not learning a technique from a technique stone – there’s a lot of trial and error.  On the plus side, it’s ranking up very fast as I learn some control.”

He summoned a flying sword and floated a meter off the ground.  With air all around him, he only had an occasional insect enter his sphere (which wasn’t really a sphere, though it would probably appear to be one once he got the area up high enough), and the insects barely registered as having minds, spirits, or souls, so they were easy to ignore.

Rose watched as he used the sword to fly, then suddenly floated off the ground herself.  “Heh,” she said.  “Telekinetic Flight technique.”

“You taught yourself to fly by watching me do it for ten seconds?” Duncan was impressed.

Rose smirked.  “You lift the sword by telekinesis and balance on it.  I just eliminated the need for the sword and balance by lifting myself with my mind.  Much more efficient.”

Huh.  I wonder if I could use my mind affinity to help with the speed and control of the flying sword. “More efficient, huh?  How do you cut the wind resistance, then?”  Duncan sped off towards the Marbot fire team and the rest of the hostages.

“Slow down, damnit!” Rose called out as she wobbled along at a walking pace a meter above the ground.  “It’s only rank one!”

They soon caught up to the others and Duncan asked Moira, “Where are we taking this lot?   They’re incredibly slow and quite noisy.”

“There’s a Sully compound a few hours’ walk from here.  Well, maybe three days with the kids.  Maybe we can find some wagons on the way,” Moira said.  “How are you handling the new technique?”

“Not well,” replied Duncan.  “I need to practice with it and learn to process the information better.  I can’t collapse from sensory overload every time I approach plants, animals, or people.”

“Hmm, maybe we should get the kids to a hiding spot, then go find transport for them.  Even with Marcus chanting his speed buff, the kids are slow, and they keep wandering off to shit in the woods or something.  It’s like herding cats.”  Moira was a military commander, entirely unused to escorting kids.  “You can work on your technique, and we’ll send Yusef and Gregor out to scout.  Maybe they’ll find some wagons or make contact with the Sully clan.”

“Want me to fly up and look for a spot to stash the kids?” Duncan asked.  “As long as I don’t get close to anything, the new technique isn’t a problem.”

“That’s probably fastest, yeah,” Moira agreed, and Duncan flew up above the treeline and began to scout.  It didn’t take long to find something he considered pretty ideal.  A stream had carved a little canyon with seasonal floodwater, and a small pool had formed under the protection of a bluff.  There wasn’t a lot of undergrowth in the woods adjacent to the stream, and it was out of the wind.  Best of all, it was less than an hour’s walk even for the kids they were escorting.

He flew back to give Moira the good news, and the group headed through the woods, away from the cart path.  Gregor and Yusef did their best to disguise the passage of the group, and a twelve-year-old boy with earth and nature affinities helped them out by encouraging the ground to return to its natural condition behind them.

They eventually reached the pool Duncan had chosen, and many of the older hostages squealed with joy at the sight of the pool.  Robes were shed as the kids made a mad dash for the water, shouts of excitement soon turning into gasps and squeals as they discovered that the water was bitterly cold.  Still, they were highland youths, and they bore the cold well as they frantically scrubbed themselves clean.

Dustin wordlessly produced a diffuse ball of fire that gave off a pleasant warmth, and the freshly cleaned former hostages gathered around it to warm up before returning to the water to clean their robes.  The younger hostages were a lot less willing to take a cold bath in the pond, but a pointed look from Rose had them all dutifully scrubbing themselves in the shallows.

Gregor and Yusef headed out to scout the area for wagons or farmhouses.  A few of the older boys discovered the water under the bluff was deep and began climbing the bluff and leaping off, competing to see who could create the biggest splash.

“Hey Duncan,” said Marcus.  “I don’t mean to be rude, but you’re covered in Demon viscera, and it stinks.”

Duncan looked down at his armor and had to agree.  Oops.  I really need to be more aware of that sort of thing.  Days at a time fighting antman hordes in the Endless Depths has deadened my sensitivity to gore. With a sigh, he stored his gear and strode down to the pool to clean up.  First me, then the gear.

“And that, my friends,” said Marcus, “is an outstanding body affinity refined over a hundred and fifty levels.”

“Want. To touch. The heinie,” said Lupita.

“You know the rules,” Moira said.  “Instead of staring at forbidden fruit, let’s see if we can set up a campsite the kids will find comfortable.”

At Duncan’s level of advancement, the cold water wasn’t uncomfortable in the slightest.  He cleaned himself, then pulled his armor out of storage and scrubbed each piece clean.  The water presented only a little difficulty for his new perception technique – all the activity in the water had scared off most of the aquatic life, and that which remained was feeble enough that he could ignore it with his range reduced to ten centimeters.

He dried himself in the warmth of Dustin’s ball of fire, then equipped his shadowy leather armor and stepped onto a flying sword, swiftly rising above the camp to scout the surrounding area.  The former hostages were not quiet, but no one had the heart to force them to shut up.  If someone hears and shows up, we can defend the kids.

He returned from his patrol at Sundown.  Moira waved him over.  “Do you have any food or bedding or tents you can share?” she asked.

“I don’t really need to eat or sleep any more,” Duncan said, “But let me see what I’ve got in these storage items.”   He dumped out the entire contents of the storage rings he’d taken from the Chevrolet centurions, and had a quick look through his own storage, pulling out his old tent and bedding.

Lupita and some of the older hostages were trying to sort out an equitable distribution of the camping gear and Marcus and Dustin were patrolling the woods outside the camp.   Gregor and Yusef hadn’t returned yet.  Duncan sat on the ground next to Moira and said, “Are you going to make it to San Sebastian in time for your dungeon reservation?”

“I think so.  We’ve given ourselves a few days’ grace, and we can fly there in a few hours if it comes down to it.  I’d really like to get these children somewhere safe before we go in, though.”  Moira seemed unconcerned, so Duncan didn’t push it.

“When I was cleaning off, I heard you say something about the rules to Lupita.  What did you mean?” he asked instead.

“Most adventuring teams end up with a lot of relationship drama.  There are really only three ways to deal with it.  With the first option, the rule is no sex amongst teammates and no sex whilst deployed with the team.  With the second option, everyone in the group pairs off with someone and you try to maintain stable relationships that way.  With the third option, everyone sleeps with everyone else, and you hope that prevents jealousy issues.”

“For us, the only valid option is the first one.  You may have noticed Dustin doesn’t engage much in conversation.  He doesn’t engage in much of anything else either.  The only thing he’s passionate about is his fire magic.   And we’re all old enough that the passions of youth don’t rile us up like these kids.”  She waved at the hostages, who were starting to bed down for the night.

“Makes sense,” Duncan said.  “I’ll work on desensitizing myself to my new technique until Marcus and Dustin return, then I’ll patrol above the camp for the rest of the night.”

“How much sleep do you need, really?” Moira asked.

“Three or four hours a month, depending on how much time I spend in dungeons.  If I’m in a dungeon I don’t really need any sleep at all, but it does help clear the mind from time to time.   The longer I stay outside in the weak ambient mana concentration of the empire, the more I need to sleep a few hours a week,” Duncan said.  “Having just left a dungeon, even a low-level one like that, I should be good for a couple of weeks before I get tired.”

“Okay, then,” Moira said.  “I thought you were exaggerating earlier.  The team has reduced sleep needs, but that just means that we can get by on two to three hours a night.  We still prefer six or more if we can get it.”

“The perks of an outstanding body affinity, maybe,” said Duncan.  “I haven’t needed much sleep since I hit one hundred.”

“Where do you think those demons in the dungeon came from?” Moira asked.  “If you hadn’t produced the bodies, I’d not have believed you about them.”

“Ah,” said Duncan.  “I get a lot of rare high-level monsters even in low-level dungeons.  My mentors think the gods are feeding me challenging fights to push my growth.”

Lupita, Rose, and Bertram had joined them, Bertram cuddling up against his sister.  “You mentioned earlier that what we know about levels and leveling here in the empire is wrong.  Can you elaborate?” Lupita asked.

“Well, I have it on very good authority that a technique which has reached rank ten can evolve into a new, stronger technique that starts at rank one.  I’ve seen an elf demonstrate a rank ten fire technique, and then a rank ten evolved fire technique.  The second one would have killed me in a single shot if he’d been aiming at me,” Duncan explained.  “And I assure you, I’m pretty hard to kill.”

“Beyond that, I’ve spoken with someone I believe to be a demi-god, who explained that the empire, with its weak ambient mana, has lost the knowledge of how to cultivate properly.  He also indicated that it’s done differently in different parts of the world, and in other worlds.  But he told me that techniques can be ranked up to twenty, and they can evolve.  And affinities can be increased beyond outstanding.  And there are other elements of cultivation that resist quantification, but which result in a clear increase in power.”

“All that said, I don’t know how to advance my affinities, other than affinity stones.  Long term exposure to natural treasures, with some meditation mixed in, maybe?   Same with evolved techniques.  The demi-god told me my techniques may evolve when I understand myself better.  I need to go and find a cultivation master who can teach me the knowledge that I’m currently missing.”

“Even in the aspect of cultivation where I am advancing, I don’t know how I’m advancing or what I’m doing to trigger advancements.  I have twelve active techniques and thirteen passive techniques, and I don’t know why.”

“Wow,” said Lupita.

“An extra five techniques helps explain your level, but I know I’d be hard pressed to find twenty five useful techniques I could rank up to ten,” Moira said.  “I have Appraisal, for example, which is useful, but it’s really a filler technique.”

“I have six outstanding affinities,” Duncan said, ignoring the gasps.  “And six more at moderate or higher.   Almost all my techniques are associated with outstanding affinities.  So, I could hit level two-fifty even following the rules we’re taught in the empire.  I have so many choices for techniques that it’s hard to put together a build that makes sense as a cohesive whole.”

“And here I thought I was special with an outstanding and three strong,” laughed Rose.

“Oh, you are, you really are,” said Moira.  “We’re an elite team – we all have an outstanding and a strong affinity.  Duncan’s clearly been touched by the gods.”

“Lots of people have, I’m told,” Duncan said.  “My mentor says hundreds of people of all races have been born with affinities like mine.  The undead invasion is just a small taste of things to come, and people like me are supposed to fight them.”

With a grin, he stood up.  “That’s why taking out the Nursk will be good training for me.  I’m going to patrol above the treetops for the remainder of the night.  Scream if something gets past me into the camp.”  I should let them talk amongst themselves.  That was a lot to drop on them.

The night passed uneventfully.  He spent much of it practicing with his new perception technique, extending it and retracting it.  He was able to extend it enough to notice squirrels and birds sleeping in the treetops.  He could also sense a huge number of bugs in the trees, but rapidly learned to tune them out and let them become background noise, so to speak.  They barely registered in a spiritual, mental or soul sense, and he used that to abate his physical senses within the sphere.

Towards dawn, he saw Yusef and Gregor return to the camp, his shadow sight able to pick them out even in the gloom.  He kept an eye on their back trail for a while, but nothing appeared to have followed them.

Beneath him, the camp was waking.  Gregor and Yusef were talking softly with Moira, Bertram sleeping at her side.  Overnight, Dustin had summoned hundreds of tiny fire creatures which spread out in the woods around the camp.  They provided ground level security to complement Duncan’s aerial surveillance.  Now, he re-summoned the ball of fire he’d used to warm the bathers the day before as more and more of the hostages awoke and took another bath in the cold water.

Duncan dropped to the ground to hear what Gregor and Yusef had discovered.  They’d returned with a barrel of goat’s milk, several loaves of bread, and some dried meat.  The former hostages would have a decent breakfast at least.

It turned out that the Chevrolets had overrun the Sully holdings two months ago.  Many of the locals had escaped into the hills and were living in hidey holes they’d prepared decades or centuries ago in case of just such an event.  The Chevrolets had dozens of hostages, though, and they’d moved them out of the region.  The locals were justifiably worried that if they attacked their former holdings, the Chevrolets would kill hostages.

The local Sully clan members Gregor and Yusef had spoken to were willing to hide the former hostages but beyond the occasional ambushing of a Nursk patrol, they weren’t willing to take any further action against the Chevrolets while their own family members were held hostage.

“So how does this work, then?” asked Duncan.  “What do the Chevrolets gain from this, and what do the other clans plan to do?”

“In some cases, they want to humiliate the other clans.  They will force some of the clans, maybe most of them, to swear fealty to the Chevrolets as overlords.  The Chevrolets will get extra tax revenue and increase the size of their holdings.  The leading families of the other clans may be forced to marry into the Chevrolet clan.   And in some cases, the Chevrolets will want to wipe out some of the smaller clans entirely due to historical feuds.”  Moira sounded worried.

“As to what the other clans are doing about it – they’ll appeal to the emperor to start with.  They had sent their forces to aid the emperor protect Harrish and the eastern empire against the undead, and the Chevrolets took advantage of that.  If the emperor doesn’t intervene, I don’t know what they’ll do.  In the empire, we don’t see the same sort of might through personal power of leaders that you see in the lands to the North and East.  When it comes right down to it, though, might makes right, and if we are not strong enough to defend ourselves, we’ll be lost.  Some clans may flee West into Zaragosa or East into the heart of the empire.”

“And what will your team do?” Duncan pressed.

“We will keep our appointed slot in the Scholastica Donostia dungeon – that place can give rewards that can change the fate of entire clans if we can do well enough.   Then we’ll head home and find out who’s still alive and fighting.  Maybe we can challenge some of the Chevrolets in duels, though they have some duelists who’ve been dominant in the dueling circles in Harrish and other big centers.  And we’ll see who else from our clan is being held hostage, and perhaps we’ll be able to take the fight to the Chevrolets, if we’re willing to accept the likely loss of those hostages.”

“What does beating them in duels do for you?” Duncan asked.

“It hurts their pride, which is not to be underestimated with them – they’re all about pride.  And it removes some of their strongest fighters.  They have several duelists at your level, and it took them at least a century of investment in each of them to get them there,” Moira said.  “There’s a reason they waited for our strongest forces to be away facing the undead before they tried this.  The strongest individuals on the field dictate the winner in almost every battle.  Taking out their strongest forces in a controlled environment would be a significant win.”

“Huh,” mused Duncan.  “So, I could walk around picking fights with various Chevrolets and killing their champions in duels?”

“You’d need to be a noble to instigate a duel,” Moira replied.  “Peasants and merchants don’t get to fight duels, because duels are a right historically reserved for nobility.  They’d likely send guards to beat you or send assassins after you instead of agreeing to a duel.”

Duncan grimaced.  “Yeah, they’ve sent assassins after me twice already.   I do have a fancy scroll that says I’m a baron, though.  Is that all I need to play the dueling game?”

“You do?” Moira was surprised.  “Could I see it?”

Duncan produced the patent of nobility from his storage and passed it to her. “The Barony of Snowy Valley, eh?  Never heard of it.  Your direct liege, the Count of Montrose, though.  He’s the emperor’s most trusted advisor.  You must have done something pretty special to warrant a barony,” Moira said.

Duncan shrugged.  “I’m not actually sure what the reasoning was, honestly.  I’ve done a few pretty special things, but I don’t know that they know about them.  The count just said it’d make dealing with nobles easier.”

Moira handed the scroll back.  “I’m sure it will, especially if your idea of dealing with them is killing them in duels.”

Duncan waved the patent, “Do you have one of these?”

“No – the family members of landed nobility are considered nobles themselves,” Moira explained.  “So, because my father holds the Marbot lands in fealty to the empire, his entire family is considered noble.  We don’t have paperwork for it – it’s just something that’s widely known.”

She stood up and addressed the former hostages.  “Alright, everyone, pay attention.  We will walk for about three kilometers this morning to the road, where some of Clan Sully’s warriors are waiting with wagons to take you to safety.  You’ll be hiding with them until they can get you home to your own families.”

There was some grumbling, but it was sure to be better than the hostage situation in the dungeon, so the kids were soon marching along back to the road.  The walk was entirely uneventful, which was a bit of a surprise to Duncan, who was flying overhead looking for potential trouble.  He saw a group of warriors in Sully tartan and two wagons waiting at the meeting point and flew down to notify Moira, who sent Gregor and Yusef forward to confirm that they were indeed Sully warriors.

Gregor returned with the confirmation and Duncan flew overhead again while the children were loaded into the wagons.  There was a little commotion and he saw Rose furiously waving at him to approach.  He dropped down to the wagons, and she said, “I am not going with the hostages.  I’m not a helpless level ten anymore.  You owe me, Duncan of the Valley.  I’m coming with you.”  She turned to Moira, “And who’s going to look after Bertram when you’re in the dungeon?”

Moira gestured feebly at Duncan, who laughed.  “Oh no.  I am all for helping people, but that means killing threats and sponsoring orphanages.  I am not a minder of children.  You take Bertram with you to San Sebastian while Rose and I escort these wagons as far as the Sully clansmen will allow.  I can fly to San Sebastian in a few hours, even carrying Rose.  We’ll meet you in San Sebastian and Rose can look after Bertram while you’re in the dungeon.  I’ll buy a dungeon slot myself, and we’ll see what happens from there.”

Moira nodded, “Fair enough.”  She turned to one of the Sully clansmen, “Arnaud, this is Duncan.  He will escort you until you dump the wagons, if that’s alright.  He’s much stronger than his level suggests.”  Oh right, I’m showing one-fifteen again.  I’m still not sure if hiding my level is worthwhile anymore.

Arnaud, a Level 83 Warrior, looked askance at Duncan, but after a moment’s consideration, he nodded.  “Alright.  We’re only going as far as Aislinn Connaught’s croft with the wagons, anyway.”

The Marbot fire team gathered a few meters away from the wagons.  “We’re running low on time, so we’re going to fly to San Sebastian.  We’ll be recognized by any Chevrolets we fly over, and any who are in the town itself, but we’ll land in the dungeon preparation area – there’s a strict no-fighting rule there – and will stay there until we can enter the dungeon itself.  Meet us there when you arrive so that you can take Bertram from us, please,” said Moira.

Duncan nodded.  “Stay safe.”

The Marbot team spread out and massive wings of fire appeared on the back of each of them.  A six-meter wingspan was not at all inconspicuous, but it looked very impressive as the team took flight, Bertram safely ensconced in Moira’s arms, and headed North.

“Showy bastards,” Arnaud commented.  “I hope no one who sees them thinks to look to where they came from.”

Duncan shrugged. “If someone shows up, we’ll be able to handle it between all of us.  Rose and I will follow behind the wagons for now, if that suits you.”

Arnaud nodded and turned to the wagons, getting them underway.   Duncan looked at Rose barefoot in her borrowed robe and said, “If you’re going to come along and be useful, we need to get you geared up.”  He passed her a storage ring taken from one of the Chevrolet centurions.  “This ring is a storage device that’ll hold fifty items or stacks of items.  You’ll need to touch it with a drop of your blood to bind it to you, then you’ll be able to sense what’s inside and add and remove items at will.”

“Nice, thanks!” said Rose.  She summoned a dagger made of shadow and used it to slice a small cut in her fingertip.  She touched the ring to the cut and then slid the ring over her finger.  “Huh.  It’s empty.  I can sense it.”

“Not for long.”  Duncan knelt and summoned fifty gold coins and fifty silver coins onto the ground.  “Put that in there to start with.”

“Gods above, Duncan, that’s a ridiculous amount of money,” Rose said as she made the coins disappear into her storage.  “Okay, that was neat.”

“Meh,” Duncan said.  “It’s not a lot for an adventurer, and you’re going to need to buy clothes and a full set of adventuring gear.  Speaking of which, you’ve got a good Shadow affinity, right?”

“It’s strong, yes,” Rose said.

Duncan produced his Shadowy leather armor. “This is dungeon-created so it should adjust to fit you.  It’s shadow affinity, and pretty decent.”  He passed it to Rose, who stored it, and he pulled out his longsword of shadows.  “This sword is also shadow affinity and will sometimes blind the people you hit with it.”

Rose whistled softly.  “It’s gorgeous!” she exclaimed.  “But I don’t know how to use a longsword.”

“Are you willing to learn?” Duncan asked.  “It’s a really nice longsword and the shadow effect is very strong.”

“I am.  Are you going to teach me?” Rose asked.

“I can probably get you to a decent level with it.” Duncan mused.  “But really, you should train under a master like Master Guildford in Lanport to do it justice.”

They continued to traipse along behind the wagons as Duncan rooted through his various storage devices looking for gear that would be appropriate for Rose.  I have a ridiculous number of storage rings now.  I need to start selling some to the Adventurers Guild or something.

Rose stored the sword away, and Duncan said, “You should be able to equip your armor directly from the storage ring… it just takes a bit of practice.  Oh wait, it’s probably not an advanced storage device.  Cheap Chevrolet centurions and their crappy rings.”

Meh, it’s not like I need the money.  He produced his advanced storage bracelet.  “This one has two hundred and fifty slots, and it’s advanced – you can equip directly from it and store equipped gear directly to it.”

“Why, Lord Duncan,” Rose said, a twinkle in her eye.  “Are you trying to turn a simple girl’s head with these extravagant gifts?”

“There’s nothing simple about you,” Duncan replied.  “And with the work you’ve done keeping those kids safe and sane, you deserve a lot more than this.  I expect their families to treat you as a hero.”

“Hah!” Rose snorted.  “That’d be nice.  But I can’t help but wonder how many of our families will survive this.  So many children and non-combatants taken hostage, so many fighters killed.  The Chevrolets brought a concentration of high-level warriors to each fight.  A hundred level fifty warriors can’t stand up to ten centurions.”

“Yeah, well ten centurions can’t stand up to me,” Duncan said.  “I’m going to see how effective I can be taking out their elites and their Nursk protectors.”

“Are you truly so strong?” Rose asked.

“In the empire, yes, as far as I can tell,” Duncan replied.  “There may be a few others hiding their strength as I do, but the low mana density here drives the strong people away.  It just doesn’t feel comfortable here after a while.  Outside the empire, I’m probably strong for my age, but there are much stronger people out there.  But I have no intention of stopping my advancement.  I will get stronger.”

Rose bled on the bracelet and fastened it about her wrist.  “I need to get stronger, too.  How do I catch up to you?”

Duncan winced, “I don’t know that you can.  I have some significant advantages that make me ideally suited to solo delving dungeons.  I spent months on end fighting thousands and thousands of monsters in dungeons to grow stronger.”  He held up a finger to forestall Rose’s comment.  “There are five things you need to prosper as a solo delver.  A strong enough attack to damage your opponents without straining your resources.  Enough defense to withstand being struck several times.  Enough healing to keep you in the fight and fully restore you after each fight.  A way to mitigate special attacks like poisoning, disease, corruption, curses, and more.   And a way to escape if things are going badly.”

“If you’re not solo delving, you’ll progress more slowly than I have.  And that’s fine.  You’re young, and you’re already level sixty-one.  It sounds like you have a strong set of affinities, too.  You can progress quickly.”  He grinned.  “I’ll just be progressing faster, so there’ll be no catching up to me.”

“That’s… fair,” said Rose.  “I’ve only done a low-level dungeon near home, and there were six of us.”  She paused.  “I think I could maybe cover three or four of those things with my affinities.”  She smiled coyly.  “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”

“Heh,” Duncan replied.  “For years I’ve refused to let anyone see my soul gem information for fear that word would get out and someone really strong would consider me a threat to be eliminated.  I’ve been warned about it a fair few times by people who have seen it, so it’s not just my own paranoia.  But I’m at the stage now where I think I can be less careful.   So yeah, I’ll share.  But you go first.”

“Fine,” she said, and shared her information.

Name:

Rose Campbell

Class:

Mage

Level:

61

Profession:

Strength:

70

Intelligence:

75

Dexterity:

112

Wisdom:

80

Agility:

114

Endurance:

101

Concurrent Active Techniques:

2

Health:

10665

Health Regen:

915/hour

Stamina:

1620

Stam Regen:

4575/hour

Mana:

22950

Mana Regen:

4848/hour

Affinities

Body

Moderate

Air

Weak

Shadow

Strong

Fire

Weak

Earth

Weak

Mind

Outstanding

Spirit

Strong

Soul

Strong

Healing

Moderate

Void

Moderate

Techniques

Active

Rank

Passive

Rank

Soothe Psyche

9

Spirit Shield

6

Cloak of Shadow

4

Soul Guard

6

Seeming

7

Mind Shield

7

Telekinetic Flight

1

Shadow Sight

7

Psychic Scream

1

Ignore Pain

5

Shadowblade

3

Read Intentions

4

Skills

Rank

Daggers

3

Riding

3

Bow

2

Sewing / Tailoring

4

light armor

3

Wilderness Survival

4

Swimming

2

Sheep Husbandry

2

“Okay,” said Duncan.  “Let’s start with your affinities.  One outstanding and three strong is very good.  For the empire, it’s exceptional.  Three moderates on top of that is great.   More important than the quantity of good affinities, though, is which ones are good.  And you got really lucky there.  Outstanding Mind is ideal.  There aren’t a lot of mind mages out there, and almost no one has good mental defenses.  Of those who do, most rely on items for it.  So, a good Mind-based attack will put you in good standing.”

“Adding Strong Spirit and Soul affinities gives you really good protection against things like horrors and incorporeal creatures, and lets you use weapons like this Angelic Spirit sword,” Duncan produced his own, “which is a huge advantage when fighting almost anything, since almost nothing has good resistance to spiritual damage.  This sword takes advantage of my Blade, Spirit, and Soul affinities to do crazy good damage.”

“Shadow has decent damage potential and some good utility.  It has potential as an escape option, but if there are no shadows to hide in, it fails.  Body, Healing, and Void at moderate.   Well, better than nothing.  Your health and stamina are decent, but your regeneration is crap.  You need the Regeneration passive technique.  Healing is crucial, and a moderate affinity will let you get a decent healing technique that could save your life over and over.  I would actually recommend the same active self-heal I use – Destrin’s Restoration.  You’ll only be able to get it to rank six, same as Regeneration, but they synergize really well, and you get a surprisingly strong instant heal at a reasonable cost.”

“Void magic – I hear it’s very strong, but if you only have it at moderate, I don’t know if it’ll be worth getting techniques for it.  Maybe if it synergizes well with your Shadow affinity.    All that said, you can raise your affinities, either with affinity stones, which are, admittedly, rare, or, if you leave the empire, with natural treasures or something.  I’m still a little fuzzy on how that works myself.”

“Make sense so far?  Any questions? Comments? Rebuttals?  Am I overexplaining everything?”

Rose smiled.  “No, no.  You’re good.  Keep going.”

“Really?”  Duncan looked at her askance.  “It feels like I’m talking too much.”

“It’s okay if the information is new and interesting.  Keep going,” Rose insisted.

“Alright.  Your stats.  Your intelligence and wisdom are higher than mine.  Your Strength, Dexterity and Agility are decent for your level, given you only have a moderate body affinity.”

“Wait,” Rose interjected.  “Go back to the part where I’m smarter and wiser than you.”

Duncan grinned.  “Yeah, yeah.  To paraphrase my first mentor, the whole quantification thing is bullshit.  Your intelligence score doesn’t reflect how smart you are, it’s a coefficient of the damage you do with a magical technique of a specific rank against a target with known defense values.  I don’t actually know what a coefficient is, but the important part is that intelligence doesn’t equal smarts.”

“Okay, dummy,” Rose grinned back.  “Go on with your simplistic analysis of my greater stats.”

“As I was saying, because you have a weak-ass Body affinity, your physical stats are pretty low, and that means your health is a little low, too, because it is influenced by them.  I don’t remember what my health was at your level, but I’d guess half again what yours is.  Oh, and I should point out that health is an indicator of how resistant your body is to damage.  I don’t actually have more vitality than you – I’m just sturdy enough that I would take less harm than you from an identical physical attack, even before considering defensive techniques and armor, and so on.”

“It also means that I’m rethinking the whole using a longsword thing for you.  While it’s never a bad thing to master a weapon, your relatively low strength, dexterity, and agility mean that even if you were a swordsmaster and reached the same level as me, you would lose to me at least nine times out of ten if we fought without using any techniques at all.  Speed and strength are that important in a physical fight.”

“You just want to keep the pretty longsword,” Rose said.  “No, I understand.  I should focus on the areas where I have the biggest advantage.”

“The new soul gems that are available report other stats, too.  Reaction, Focus, Willpower, and Aura.  I don’t know that those are really useful or necessary, but I guess the same could be said about most of the soul gem information,” Duncan said.  “Next, we come to techniques, and my knowledge is sorely lacking here.  I have some of the same affinities you do, but I don’t use them for offense, or much at all, really.   I’d love to take you to Lanport to talk to Pelleas – he advised me on many of my technique choices.”

“What I can say is that you need a good single target ranged attack, a good in-combat movement power, a secondary attack of a different type than your main attack, a good healing power, and as much defense versus a wide variety of attacks as you can manage.  I’ll use my own build as an example when I show it to you in a moment.”

“Before that, though, we get to skills.   You and I are both young, and don’t have a lot of highly trained skills yet, but skills are something we can and should work on diligently.  You’ll see that I have some high-ranked combat skills but everything else is pretty poor.  There’s simply not enough time in the day to train everything, and I’d rather work on combat than anything else.”

Chapter 18

Duncan and Rose followed the two wagons full of hostages down the road toward safety at a slow walking pace, glad to have something to talk about.

“So, now that you’ve picked my soul apart, let’s have a look at yours,” Rose quipped.

“Alright,” agreed Duncan, and shared his soul gem information with someone for the first time in over a year.

Name:

Duncan

Class:

Warrior

Techniques advanced (level):

155

Evolution Tier:

0

Strength:

384

Intelligence:

73

Dexterity:

364

Wisdom:

61

Agility:

382

Aura:

912

Endurance:

386

Violence

613

Reaction:

377

Puissance

224

Focus:

314

Authority

27

Willpower:

358

Compassion

25

Charisma

24

Concurrent Active Techniques:

4

Health:

38720

Health Regen:

27900/hour

Stamina:

5410

Stam Regen:

1162/minute

Mana:

33680

Mana Regen:

8880/hour

Mana Reserved:

816

Cultivation:

Body Tempering

None

Meridians Open

22/24

Core formation

Gaseous

Nascent Soul

13%

Concept

Fuzzy

Affinities:

Body

Outstanding

Death

Weak

Mind

Outstanding

Lava

Weak

Spirit

Outstanding

Gravity

Weak

Fire

Weak

Poison

Negligible

Air

Weak

Blade

Outstanding

Water

Weak

Ice

Weak

Earth

Moderate

Decay

Weak

Stone

Moderate

Soul

Strong

Lightning

Weak

Corrosion

Negligible

Gemstone

Moderate

Space

Outstanding

Nature

Negligible

Healing

Outstanding

Life

Weak

Shadow

Moderate

Metal

Moderate

Blood

Negligible

Techniques

Active

Rank

Passive

Rank

Blade Echo

8

Tempered Blade

9

Fold Space

8

Regeneration

8

Blink

7

Coagulation

7

Mind Spike

7

Hardened Skin

7

Destrin's Restoration

7

Tranquil Mind

7

Flying Sword

7

Spiritual Shield

7

Bladestorm

7

Personal Space Pocket

7

Remove Affliction

6

Ignore Pain

7

Regenerate Other

4

Shadow Sight

4

Cage of Blades

5

Assessment

6

Extract Resources

4

Blade Sense

5

Leech Mana

5

Understand Languages

3

Sphere of Discernment

3

Skills

Rank

1H swords

9

Plate armor

5

2H swords

7

Mail armor

5

1H axes

4

Leather armor

5

2H axes

4

Anatomy

2

Shields

6

Survival

2

Spears

5

Skinning

1

Daggers

3

Meditation

4

Bows

3

Swimming

2

Tracking

1

Riding

2

Elven language

3

Knowledge: Monster

2

“Okay, wow,” said Rose.  “Your numbers are stupid.  And not just your intelligence.  I get that you’re super strong with all those muscles and whatever it is that leveling does to your body.  But there’s no way you’re three times as agile as I am.”

Duncan shrugged.  “I don’t know how the numbers scale.  Anything else?”

“Your affinities are okay, I guess.”  Rose rolled her eyes.  “Your level is really high but none of your techniques are maxed out yet.  Is that right?  You’ve got a lot of techniques.  Tell me how they work together for adventuring solo.”

“Well, first, I’m a swordsman.  My primary attacks are physical sword attacks,” Duncan began.  “I have a number of different swords with different enchantments that let me deal with different types of opponents.  I don’t have any worthwhile elemental affinities, but my Spirit sword, for example, lets me take advantage of my blade, spirit, and soul affinities, and it bypasses things like physical armor.”

“I use my fold space technique both to let me attack with a sword from range (albeit, a pretty short range) and to block incoming physical attacks.  I have extremely good mobility due to my Blink technique.”  He Blinked around her several times in rapid succession, poking her with a finger each time. “I can Blink whilst flying, too.”  Rose swatted ineffectually at him, trying to block the pokes.

“And if I do get hit, Destrin’s Restoration is an instant heal that brings me back to perfect health.  At low ranks, it’s quite expensive in terms of mana, but as I ranked it and Regeneration up, it became much cheaper.  If I get poisoned, or cursed, or diseased, or any other harmful effect, I use Remove Affliction to get rid of it.  It can be mana-intensive, but it works against almost anything.  Because I’m on my own, I cannot afford to be incapacitated.  Unconscious is dead.”

“I use Mind Spike as a ranged non-physical attack, but mostly because it stuns the target, which is insanely useful,” he continued. “My passive techniques are mostly defensive. Physical, mental, and spiritual defenses, pain tolerance, the ability to see in the dark, assessing my opponent to see how injured they are – it’s hard to tell when I’m using my Spirit sword – and Blade Sense lets me know where all the blades are near me.  Sphere of Discernment is new – it’s the one that overwhelmed my senses – but I think it’s going to be really valuable as I learn to filter out the information it provides so I can focus on only what’s necessary.  It overlaps a bit with Blade Sense, but it’s going to be a better technique in the end.”

“I have some questions.” Rose said.  “You use Mind Spike as your mental attack, but wouldn’t you be better off using something like a Mind Blade technique instead of Mind Spike?  Wouldn’t that take advantage of your blade affinity too?”

“It… would,” Duncan said.  “Mind Spike was one of the first techniques I learned, long before I had access to the Adventurers Guild and their supply of techniques.  I don’t even know if Mind Blade is a technique, but it makes sense.  I learned Mind Spike because that was what my teacher used.”

“My Soothe Psyche technique uses Mind, Spirit, and Soul affinities.  If you could get a Psychic Blade technique, that’d be a huge improvement.  Maybe it’s too late though?  I heard that having a technique removed is excruciating and causes permanent damage.  It takes away the levels you got from it.”  Rose shuddered.

“I wouldn’t remove it,” Duncan replied.  “There’s a way to evolve techniques.  You can’t just pick a technique and say ‘I want this instead of this unrelated one’ but you can say ‘I see myself as a swordsman who can do these things that are related to what I can do now, but more refined.  More specific to me.’”

Dennis told me that my techniques could evolve once I had a better concept of who I am and who I want to be.  I need to spend some time really thinking about the ideal version of myself as a fighter.

“Duncan?  Are you okay?” Rose asked.  “You looked lost for a while, there.”

“Sorry!” he replied.  “Just thinking about how I need to sort out who I want to be.”

“Ah, I thought you were looking under my robe again,” Rose teased.

“Five-meter range on that now,” Duncan mused.  “I should practice that while we walk.  Not the looking under your robe part, specifically, just getting used to the extra information and focusing on the relevant part.  Since we’re going so slowly, you should practice your flight, too.”

“Speaking of my robe, it chafes and makes me itch.  I don’t suppose you have a lady’s chemise in your storage?  Or a shirt I can borrow?  I’d like to try the new armor you gave me, but I need underthings under that, too,” Rose said.

Duncan pulled out the fancy silk shirt he’d worn to the banquet at the Academy of Steel and passed it over.

“Ooh, this is so soft and smooth!”  Rose made it disappear into her bracelet, then summoned it onto her body.  It appeared over top of the robe, and she swore, then made it and the robe disappear and re-equipped the shirt.  It covered her to her knees.

“Well, you’re not getting this back,” she declared.  One piece at a time, she equipped the Shadowy leather armor Duncan had given her.  “I like this, but it bunches the shirt up around my hips.  With proper underthings, it’ll work well.”  She dismissed the armor and summoned the robe back over the shirt.

“Practice your flying,” said Duncan, as he expanded his Sphere of Discernment to its full five-meter radius.  With only one person in the sphere, the information was no longer overwhelming.  He ignored the insects in the sphere, and the multitude of plant life underfoot.  He could sense little rodents underground in tunnels, their spiritual presence not much greater than the insects, but noticeable.

“Can you fly around me and throw shadow blades at me or something?” he asked.

“They disappear when I let go of them,” Rose replied.  “I can throw rocks at you instead.”

Duncan shrugged.  “That’ll work.  It’ll make it harder, actually, since I won’t have the benefit of Blade Sense.”

Rose scooped up rocks from their surroundings as they followed the wagons, and chucked them randomly at Duncan, trying to catch him unaware from behind, beside, or above him.  He was able to catch some, dodge others, and barely flinch away from a few.  It’s hard to notice these without them having a mind or spirit or soul to highlight.  My hyper-extended peripheral vision is so hard to get used to.  The scent of the earth beneath my feet and the plants nearby was distracting at first, but it has faded to background noise, to abuse a metaphor.

The wagons stopped to give the children a chance to relieve themselves in a little patch of trees, and Duncan took the opportunity to ask Arnaud about their progress.  “We’ll turn off the road in another two hours at our current pace,” the Sully warrior said.  “Half an hour more will get us to the croft, and we’ll get the bairns split up and fostered with the families that remain free.”

Having several of the Sully warriors within five meters was a fresh strain on his ability to handle the information load from his Sphere of Discernment, but Duncan managed to stay focused on the conversation and not be overwhelmed.  Progress!

The children started to return from their break, and Duncan returned to his place behind the caravan with Rose.  No need to check out the trees.  There are some things I really don’t want to sense with a ten-meter-wide virtual nostril.

“So, why don’t you have the Read Intentions technique that I have?” asked Rose as the wagons started forward once more.  “It feels like it would be perfect for you.”

“I’ve never heard of it,” Duncan confessed.  “What does it do?”

“I can sense what people are going to do next,” she explained.  “It’s not precognition or anything, but I can tell if they’re going to cast a spell or swing a fist or kick or whatever, and I can sometimes tell what they’re aiming at.  It doesn’t work on you – your mental defense is high enough that it feels like I’m looking at you through a deep pool of water.”

“My swordsmaster said she could feel the intent of blades using her Blade Sense technique, which is much more advanced than mine,” Duncan mused.  “Sense Intent is more general and therefore more useful.  But neither of my mentors mentioned it, so I can only assume they didn’t know about it, either.  Maybe it’s really rare.  How did you get it?”

“All my mind affinity techniques came to me when my mind affinity broke through to outstanding after the rapes,” Rose said.  “A couple appeared right away, and the others appeared over the course of the following week.  They came in already ranked up, as well.  I just knew how to use them, and I was good at them already.  I went from level eleven to sixty in a week.”

“Wow,” said Duncan.  “You’re even more special than I am.   That’s as clear a sign of intervention by the gods as any I’ve seen.”

“That’s… a little unnerving,” Rose said after a moment.

“It is,” Duncan agreed.  “I wanted to be a hero throughout my childhood, long before I knew I had unusual affinities.  Now, I just feel a constant need to get stronger so that I can protect people from outside threats.  And, of course, from more local threats like the Chevrolets and their Nursk enforcers, now that I know about them.”

“I don’t really know what I want to do,” Rose admitted.  “I mean, I wanted to be an adventurer, but all I had was a strong shadow affinity.  I was expecting to be married off in a year or two, pop out a few kids, and die at the ripe old age of seventy.  Now, I have a healthy hatred of the Nursk and the Chevrolets, but I don’t know that I’m strong enough to do anything about them.”

Duncan nodded.  “You’ve got some options now.  With your affinities, you can get the techniques to get to level one hundred pretty easily.  That would give you a vastly improved lifespan.  And your Soothe Psyche technique seems like it could provide you with a very lucrative non-adventurer career.  If you do want to be an adventurer, though, you’re going to need some expert advice on technique choice.”

“Yeah,” Rose sighed.  “I’ll think it over.”  She threw two rocks at Duncan simultaneously, clipping him with the second one.

“Nice!” Duncan exclaimed.  “More of that, please!”

Another half hour of idle conversation and thrown rocks passed before Rose, who was facing behind them as she rotated around Duncan trying to find an opening for a rock, saw a group of armored men trotting up behind them.  “Nursk!” she snapped.

Duncan turned, saw the approaching group, equipped his armor and swords with a thought, and Blinked to meet them.  I’m not letting them get close to the wagons.  Argh, eight people and a horse in my sphere.  Not good.  Duncan reduced the size of his sphere of discernment to its minimum radius even as he thrust his swords through a fold in space into the throat of the rider.

The man on the horse wore full Chevrolet regalia, while the footmen all appeared to be Nursk.  One of them was a good twenty centimeters taller than all the rest, taller even than Duncan.  Taken by surprise, the Chevrolet forces desperately changed direction to avoid smashing into him.  They’d been running in two columns behind the horse, and Duncan’s Blink split the formation.

Surprised they may have been, but the Nursk were experienced fighters.  They unlimbered their axes and shields even as they surrounded Duncan.  For his part, he ignored them entirely for a moment to land two more thrusts to the throat of the rider, who was only just bringing his own weapon in line, trying to parry attacks that were appearing inside his own reach.  He died without understanding what was happening.

Then he Blinked behind the rearmost Nursk and struck at him.  The warrior was still freeing his shield from his back – the Nursk hadn’t been expecting any trouble on the road and were travelling with their axes and shields both strapped to their backs – when Duncan’s Spirit sword passed through his neck followed shortly by his dragontooth sword.  No more than level sixty, I’d guess, from how easily they fall, and from the fact that none seem to have storage devices, carrying their weapons like that.

A wave of cold swept over him as one or more of the Nursk activated a technique that caused the temperature in the area to plummet.  Ice crystals appeared in the air.  Duncan took a graceful step to his left and swept his Spirit sword through the body of another opponent, then sliced at the tendons on the back of his target’s knee.  His blade severed the joint entirely, and the Nursk warrior collapsed to the ground with a scream.

The largest Nursk brandished a massive great axe overhead and bellowed something unintelligible.  I need to listen in on some Nursk for a while before killing them, so I can learn their language.  A three-meter-tall bear with pure white fur and wicked black claws popped into existence beside the warrior and roared along with him.  Well, there’s at least one dangerous foe here.

Duncan assessed the threat – the Nursk foot soldiers were no threat to him, as he’d expected.  But the leader and the bear both appeared as significant threats in his technique’s judgement.  The bear was an ursine ice demon, according to his soul gem.  Equivalent to a level one hundred and sixty warrior, it had strong physical attacks that also froze the flesh of its target, a very thick hide and fat layer to protect it from physical attacks, and the ability to launch ice shards at range.  That just-knowing stuff I shouldn’t know is going to take some getting used to.

The Nursk leader spun and threw his greataxe at Duncan, who had time to see it coming, with the big windup.  Duncan Blinked behind the ice demon and swept his Spirit sword through it, then stabbed through a fold in space at the back of the neck of the leader.  His blade struck flesh that seemed to have turned to ice, chipping it a little but not penetrating.  The blade echoes that followed chipped off more of the frozen flesh.  Damn it!  Again, my physical attacks prove weaker than they need to be against strong opponents.  I bet it’s the same for the ice demon.

He Blinked again, appearing behind another of the Nursk troops, and cut him down.  If I wipe out the little ones, maybe it’ll weaken this zone of cold, and maybe that will weaken the ice demon.

The greataxe materialized in the Nursk leader’s hands, and the leader immediately leapt forward, bringing the axe down in an overhand smash.  Duncan thrust both his swords into the leader’s body, blocking the axe with a fold in space.  The axe stopped dead, and a huge explosion of ice erupted from the point of contact.  Duncan’s Spirit sword entered the Nursk’s chest, and his dragontooth sword impacted with a tremendous amount of force as the entire weight of the Nursk came down upon it.  Duncan didn’t bend his arm or give up any ground.

The matter became a contest between the force applied at the point of Duncan’s sword to the Nursk Leader’s chest and the force applied through Duncan’s feet to the ground below.  The ground was softer than the Nursk’s chest, but the area over which the force was applied was hundreds of times larger between Duncan’s feet and the ground than between the tip of his sword and the Nursk’s chest.

The ice armor covering the chest shattered and Duncan’s blade penetrated deeply into the chest between the ribs, puncturing the lung.

With a grin, Duncan Blinked away and summoned a Bladestorm to afflict the lower level Nursk warriors.  The Nursk leader’s chest heaved and pink froth formed on his lips.  The ice demon charged forward to swipe at Duncan with its daggerlike claws, but Duncan casually pivoted away and swept his Spirit sword through its body once again, then Blinked up ten meters above the leader and stabbed him in the face with both swords through a fold in space.

The leader saw the portal open in front of him and the swords come at him.  He leaned back and swept his axe upwards in a blow that would have eviscerated anyone standing in front of him.  Duncan’s Spirit sword plunged through the leader’s head, and his dragontooth sword struck at the right eye of the leader, puncturing the orb and notching the socket.  The echoes that followed further mangled the eye socket and drove the head back.

The leader’s axe haft smashed into the fold Duncan had struck through and once more stopped dead.  The fold in space was absolutely unmovable, and the haft folded around it.  It didn’t break, but cracks appeared around the point of impact.

Four large shards of ice appeared in Duncan’s improved peripheral vision and slammed into his torso before he could react to them.  Damnit, full range on the sphere would have really helped then.  The ice shards struck his armor and ricocheted off for the most part, leaving small areas of numbed flesh where they’d impacted.

He Blinked again, appearing a few meters behind the Nursk leader, who was roaring in pain and anger, and opened another fold in space to attack through.  He thrust his Spirit sword through the warrior’s head, then followed up a split second later with a thrust from his dragontooth sword, targeting the damaged eye socket.  The Nursk flinched away in time, and Duncan’s blade and its echoes scraped across his brow instead of finding purchase in the eye socket.

Duncan Blinked again, keeping the Nursk between himself and the ice demon.  One of the nearby Nursk warriors was cognizant enough of what was going on to take a swing at Duncan as he appeared, but Duncan swatted the warrior’s blade away with his dragontooth sword and cut through him with the Spirit sword.  The warrior had a puzzled look on his face, not understanding why he hadn’t been cut by the sword, when Duncan stepped forward and followed through with an armored knee to the groin and an overhead cut with his dragontooth sword on the angle as he stepped around his opponent.

The Nursk leader’s skin took on a blue tone and he grew an additional meter in height, with a corresponding increase in girth and mass.  His greataxe grew with him, and the strength of his aura increased dramatically.  Duncan’s Assessment technique showed the monster of a man was still severely wounded, but his threat level had gone up significantly.  What are the odds that improved form doesn’t have some extra regeneration?  Can’t risk letting him heal up, and I really don’t want to be hit by that axe.

Duncan used a Mind Spike, then Blinked to a spot a few meters over the head of the Nursk and struck through a fold in space at the back of the leader’s head.  His Spirit sword and its echoes penetrated smoothly, and he withdrew it and struck again before Blinking away and repeating the process.  He’s got a rage technique to strengthen him, but no ranged attack other than throwing his axe?

The ice demon hunkered down and sent a steady stream of shards of ice at Duncan, who simply Blinked around more frequently, often putting the Nursk leader’s body between him and the demon to hamper its attack.  Several more ice shards struck his armor, but the damage was negligible.

One final attack with the Spirit sword and the Nursk leader collapsed to the ground.  The ice demon howled mournfully as it became transparent and then popped out of existence.  Duncan finished off the remaining Nursk soldiers and looted their weapons, armor, and purses.  The Nursk leader had an enchanted ring that Duncan assumed was a storage device, as did the Chevrolet rider, who’d fallen off his horse about ten meters further up the road.

As he was finishing up looting and storing the corpses, Rose floated up to him.  “Alright.  It’s possible you’re a lot more agile than me.  You move really fast, even when you’re not blinking all over the place.  Why did the big guy take so much longer than the normal Nursk?  He didn’t look much stronger.”

“He had a very strong defensive technique, some sort of ice armor.  And when he enraged and his skin turned blue, I assumed that meant even more physical armor, so I only used my Spirit sword and Mind Spikes after that.  He was very durable, though – my Spirit sword does a lot of damage, though none of it shows on the body.  And I hit him in the eye with my dragontooth sword a couple of times, too.  I’d say he was at least ten times more durable than the regular troops,” Duncan explained.  He looked North along the path.  “Did the wagons keep going?”

“I don’t think they even saw the Nursk,” Rose grinned.  “You teleported all the way back here to engage them.”

“Ah, then we should catch up right away.” Duncan summoned a larger than normal sword beneath his feet.  “Stand on the sword and hold on to my arm.”

Rose stepped onto the sword and wrapped her arms around him, gripping the bottom of his cuirass.  Duncan shrugged mentally and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, then flew them back to the wagons quickly, pausing only to retrieve and store the saddlebags and tack from the Chevrolet horse.  They let the animal run free – someone would find it and claim it, Duncan was sure.  Once they caught up to the oblivious Sully troops, he slowed to a walking pace and Rose floated herself away.  And threw a rock at him, catching him in the side of the head.

Ruefully, he expanded his Sphere of Discernment to its full range again, ignoring her delighted laugh.

Chapter 19

The wagons arrived at the croft with no further incidents and the former hostages were hustled down into a tunnel beneath the croft that led to a valley completely enclosed by high cliffs.  They’d wait there before being moved to various foster families in the area, Arnaud told Duncan.  “Nice work there with the Nursk, too,” he added.  “Ye’re as strong as Moira said.”

“I didn’t know you’d seen that,” a surprised Duncan replied.

“I didn’t, but I had scouts off to both sides in case o’ trouble, an’ they saw ya.” Arnaud smiled.  “Ya didn’t think we’d be walking down the road with no eyes about, did ya?”

“I didn’t see anyone at all – well done,” said Duncan.

“They’re mountain lads and lasses, raised to raid sheep.  They’ve got techniques to hide in this terrain.  Mind you, so do the Chevrolets, if they’re not escorting batches of Northern goons around our lands, so watch you don’t get ambushed yourself.”

“Thanks, I’ll be careful.”  Duncan was completely unconcerned, and it showed.  Arnaud just shook his head, knowing there was nothing further he could say.

Duncan and Rose bid the former hostages and their Sully escort goodbye and began their flight North to San Sebastian.  “Well, I can’t throw rocks at you while we’re flying together.  Tell me about cultivation.”

Duncan shuddered.  “That’s asking a blind man to lead you off the beaten path.  I honestly know next to nothing.”  He paused for a moment.  “The thing that got me started was the notion that your mana should circulate through your body, and pool in your core, which is sort of in your belly.”

“That’s pretty vague,” Rose said.  “So, what, I just imagine my mana moving?  Can I see it or sense it with my affinities?”

“I don’t know.” Duncan shrugged.  “I can sort of sense mine.  It’s easier when I meditate.”  Rose produced a discontented grunt and closed her eyes to focus better.

Duncan flew them North, keeping the road in sight to his left.  The three-hour flight wasn’t taxing in any way.  He could probably have completed the trip in an hour had he been alone and pushing his speed, but it was a lovely day, and there was no pressing need to rush.  Rose was focused on trying to interact with her mana, so Duncan had some time to think about his fighting style and techniques and how he wanted them to evolve.

My biggest problems remain that I don’t hit hard enough with my swords to damage opponents who have very strong physical defenses and that I don’t have enough defenses of any kind to deal with the rank ten and higher attacks I’m starting to see in higher level dungeons.  My mobility is great, my healing is great, my ability to recover from adverse effects is great.  None of those things are directly opposed by an opponent.  At least for now.  It’s possible I’ll run into anti-healing effects, anti-teleportation effects, and so on as I advance.

But can I really complain about my swords not doing physical damage against creatures that have strong physical defenses?  Isn’t that why I have my Spirit sword and Mind Spike in the first place?  I’m lucky that I have more than one outstanding affinity I can use to attack with.  And when it comes to defense, my folds in space are fantastic against many physical attacks, and I can redirect some ranged attacks, even elemental ones, if I’ve got enough time to see them coming.  My armor is sturdy and self-repairing, and when an attack is strong enough to get through it, my hardened skin and dense flesh generally stand up well to the reduced force that makes it through my armor.  And I regenerate.  I can’t expect to defend as well against evolved attacks as I do against normal ones.

So, I need to change the way I’m looking at my technique build.  Not ‘what problems do I have’ but ‘how do I see myself fighting in the future’.  Duncan lost himself in thought for a while, even as he idly kept an eye on the road to stay on course.  Essentially, I will remain a swordsman for the near future.  I eventually want to become a blademaster, or even a weaponsmaster, but that will take decades of training.  I need to find a way to incorporate more of my affinities into my attacks, though.  As Rose pointed out, something like Mind Blade would be more effective than Mind Spike, because it would invoke my Blade affinity.  I can’t believe that never occurred to me on my own.  Being able to add in my spirit and soul affinities would be ideal.

Let’s not get lost in details.  A swordsman, striking through folds in space – I need to work on long narrow folds I can cut through, not just boxes I can thrust through – blinking around the battlefield, shrugging off any blows I do take.  Essentially, what I do now, only more.  More offensive use of my folds in space.  More effective use of my underused affinities.  Heh – my concept of who I want to be is really close to my concept of who I am.  Will that make it easier or harder to evolve my techniques?  If I’m already close to what I want to be, does that mean I won’t actually evolve, or that I’ll have insignificant evolutions?  I don’t want to have to radically change something when I evolve.

As his thoughts chased their own tails in his head, Duncan flew ever closer to San Sebastian.  More crofts and farmhouses could be seen relatively close to the road, and traffic on the road increased markedly as he approached the town.  Once the town was in sight, Duncan slowed to a halt and said, “Rose, we’re here.”

Rose opened her eyes and looked around.  “Nice. That was a smooth flight.”

“You should probably change your displayed level to something around twenty,” Duncan said.  “You don’t want to appear too weak, but you’ve got no viable offensive techniques beyond shadowblade.  Seeming is strong, but, as you know, people freak out about mind mages.”

“Twenty?” Rose asked.  “Alright.  I was thinking fifteen or so – my shadowblade’s only rank four.”

“Fifteen’s fine, too,” said Duncan.  “Whatever you’re comfortable with.  We’ll fly in, find the Marbot team, see if they want us to take Moira’s brother right away or wait until they go into the dungeon.  Hopefully they want to keep him until they go in.  Then we find the Adventurers Guild hall and sign you up so that you can get access to their market.”

“Bertram,” Rose corrected him.  “And we’re shopping for some actual clothes for me.  I’m buying enough underthings to fill this bracelet.”

Duncan laughed.  “Alright.  And yeah, I forgot Bertram’s name.”

“Are you going in with your full level showing for intimidation to protect Bertram?  Or the only slightly less intimidating one-fifteen you’re usually showing?”

“I always hem and haw over that,” Duncan said.  “I’ll go with the usual.  If someone picks a fight, that’s more Chevrolets taken out.”

“Someone’s confident!” Rose grinned, then her tone turned sober.  “I know you took out that team earlier by yourself, but San Sebastian’s full of high-level adventurers, and if the Chevrolets are taking over the whole region, it could be really tense in there.  Getting into a fight could cause problems.”

With a shrug, Duncan said, “The more I see of life in the empire, the more it feels like personal power is everything.  The strong make rules that benefit themselves and those under them, and enforcement really comes down to people being afraid of them.  If someone is strong enough, they can do what they want.  It’s a poor system of government, but it’s a direct result of there being such a huge disparity in power between high-level and low-level people.  And I can’t think of anything that trumps it.  So, I’m going to use my strength to protect people from bullies.”  He grimaced.  “Probably by becoming a bigger bully than them.  But I’ll be trying to bully only bullies.”

“Have you been to San Sebastian before?” he asked.

“No.  My father said it was too rough a place for children.  Adventurers, smugglers, drunks, and high-level vagabonds abound, apparently,” Rose said.  “The dungeon is on the edge of the town, outside the town walls.  There’s a whole guild dedicated to regulating access to it, but they don’t try to exert any authority in the town itself.”

“Okay.”  Duncan began flying forward again.  “Let’s find the dungeon entrance and see if the Marbot team is there.”

San Sebastian was a town of perhaps three thousand inhabitants, surrounded by an earthen bulwark with a wooden palisade on top.  Guards patrolled a walkway suspended inside the palisade.  The path Duncan had been following was blocked by a gate large enough to pass a large wagon with room to spare.  A pair of guards were processing a line of at least twenty people, some with wagons, waiting to enter the town.

Having no desire to wait in line, but not wanting to be rude and fly directly into the town, Duncan circled to his left around the wall, looking for the dungeon entrance.  He spotted it within moments.  A second palisade surrounded a slightly sunken area adjacent to the town.  It was perhaps fifty meters by fifty meters.  The only entrance appeared to be a set of stairs going up the earthen rampart to a small gate in the town wall.  The familiar shimmering grey of a dungeon portal hung in the air at the North end of the square.  Several people wearing gold baldrics stood near the dungeon entrance, and a shimmering field of something separated them and the dungeon from the rest of the square.

There was a small stage and half a dozen rows of benches in the southwest corner of the square and a small building in the southeast corner, with several more people in gold baldrics standing outside.  The Marbot fire team and Bertram were sitting on the benches in the southwest corner, and a woman with a Chevrolet tartan on her robes stood near the gate to San Sebastian.  A few other adventurer types were chatting amongst themselves.

Duncan landed near the Marbot team and Rose stepped away.  Bertram ran up and gave her a hug.  He’d obviously grown attached in the time they were imprisoned together.

“Glad you made it,” Duncan said.  “When do you go in?”

“There are two groups ahead of us,” said Moira.  “So tomorrow morning, probably.  The town is crawling with Chevrolets and their Nursk lackeys, so we’ve been waiting here.  The dungeon keepers don’t allow violence in this compound – they will ban any aggressors and their clan, and no one is willing to risk that.”  She gestured towards the woman in Chevrolet tartan.  “Which is why the Chevrolets are just watching and waiting.”

“I need to find out how to attend the next auction for a solo dungeon spot, and Rose wants to do some shopping.  Do you want us to take Bertram with us into town now, or come and get him in the morning?” Duncan asked.

Moira looked down at Bertram, who was once again clinging to her, and sighed.  “Can you come by at first light?  It’s going to be a long night.”

“You sure you don’t want to stay at an inn overnight?” Duncan asked.  “I’m happy to escort you there.”

“Duncan smashed a Nursk patrol that caught up to the wagons earlier,” Rose said.  “I’m worried he might try to wipe out all the Chevrolets in town.”

“What do you mean, try?” Duncan grinned.  He turned back to Moira, “In fairness, I probably can take all the Chevrolet and Nursk in the town, but perhaps not all at once.  I’d be concerned about property damage and bystanders being killed, too, if it came to that.  But I will not back down if they seek to make trouble.  I expect they’ll come in groups of five or six, at least at first.  I should be able to wipe those out before anyone else joins in.”

“We’ll stay here until we enter the dungeon.  We’re too close to risk something going wrong, and we need the power gains a good run in there offers if we’re to fight back successfully against the Chevrolets.”  Moira shook her head at Duncan.  “If you go around expecting trouble, you’re going to find it.”  Then she shrugged.  “But with the Chevrolets taking over these lands, anyone with a spine is going to attract trouble.”

“Be careful,” Marcus said.  “There are lots of adventurers over level one hundred here – the dungeon offers great benefits at any level if you can survive it, but the rewards are great for the level you do it at, and you only get one chance, so most people wait until after they’re a hundred.  San Sebastian probably has more centurions in it than any place in the empire other than Harrish.  The Chevrolets know this, too, so they’ve got some of their strongest forces here, including some of the best of the Nursk.”

“That’s fair, and good to know.  Thanks,” Duncan said.  He produced his Cloak of the Unseen and passed it to Rose.  “This will leverage your Mind affinity to make people overlook you unless you do something to draw attention.  It’s not invisibility, but people will simply ignore you when you wear it walking down the street, for instance.  Wear that when we’re in the town so you don’t get caught up in my troubles.”

Rose nodded and took the cloak, storing it in her bracelet.  “I’ll wear it when we leave.  I don’t want to put it on with that Chevrolet woman staring at us.”

Duncan glanced at the Chevrolet woman and immediately dismissed her as a threat.  She was a Level 53 Mage.  “Alright, we’ll enter the town proper, find a place to stay, and Rose can buy the gear she needs.  I’ll – we’ll be back at first light to collect Bertram while you’re in the dungeon.”

No one objected so Duncan summoned his flying sword again.  Rose stepped on, and Duncan flew them back over the wall and around the town to the entrance they’d seen earlier.  I doubt the mage will follow us here, with the Marbots to keep an eye on.  He explained his reasoning to Rose as they waited in line to enter.  She indicated her agreement, and so they entered town as adventurers, paying three silver each.

The guards at the gate had Chevrolet tartan on their uniforms, but it looked like an addition – a square of tartan sewn onto the shoulder of the uniform.  So, the Chevrolets took over but still employ the same guards? San Sebastian had been a free town before the Chevrolets had made their push to conquer the region, so the guards weren’t clansmen.  And perhaps they’re forced to rule here with a lighter touch, given how many high-level adventurers pass through here.

Once through the gate, Rose donned the Cloak of the Unseen and people stopped noticing her.  Even Duncan, who knew she was there, found it difficult to keep track of her.  He considered expanding his Sphere of Discernment to test how that interacted with the cloak’s effect, but he worried that the press of people would overwhelm his senses.  I need to go into a low-level dungeon, or a less dangerous town, and just practice that technique until I can manage the information.

Duncan asked several people to direct him to a nice inn, and they all told him the Imperial Arms was far and away the best inn in town.  It was easy to find, too, an impressive three-storey building on the main square.  As they approached, Duncan noticed the distinctive form of a teleportation gate in another square along the way.  I didn’t expect a teleportation gate here.  We can get to Lanport to see Pelleas to get some advice on our builds and cultivation.

Entering the inn, Duncan was immediately approached by a Level 43 Warrior in plain clothes with an apron around his waist.  “Welcome to the Imperial Arms.  How can I help you?” he asked.

“I’m Baron Duncan, of Snowy Valley,” Duncan said, on a whim.  “I’d like your finest available suite, please.”  Realizing he wasn’t exactly dressed as a nobleman, Duncan presented his patent of nobility.  If I’m going to get into some duels, best to establish my bona fides early.

The innkeeper barely blinked.  “Certainly, my lord.  The imperial suite is available for two gold a night.  There are two attached rooms for your servants and a private bath, dining room and receiving room.  How long will you be staying?”

Two gold a night.  This is one retired adventurer doing very well for himself.  Still, I have gold to spare.  “I’m here to enter the Scholastica Donostia.  I’ll have to buy entry in the next auction, so I’m not sure how long I’ll be here.”

“Oh dear.  You may have to wait a while,” the Innkeeper said. “They’re a full day behind schedule on the solo side, my lord.  They had two people in a row run much longer than expected last week and they haven’t caught up yet.  It could be a week or more before the next auction.”

I can use the teleportation gates to run around the empire while I wait. I’d like to consult with Pelleas, and maybe visit Merryfield to pick up some technique stones for Rose.  If Pelleas can’t help me with cultivation, perhaps I can portal out to Tavoli to speak with Remelial (and visit Bente and get some granitas).  Duncan produced fourteen gold and handed it over.  “Here’s the first week in advance, then,” he said.

“Very good, my lord,” the innkeeper replied.  “My name is Lucas.  Please allow me to show you to your suite.”  At Duncan’s acquiescence, he led them up two flights of stairs to the third floor.  “The front half of the third floor is yours, my Lord.  You have a balcony overlooking the square.  There are two suites in the back half of the floor, but neither is occupied at the moment.”  At your prices, I’m not surprised.

Their suite was very nice.  A heavy wooden door opened into a reception area, and further doors led beyond to a sitting room, a bedroom, a dining room, and two servants’ rooms, each containing two beds.  The furniture was solid, and the open parts of the floors were covered in woven rugs.  The bedding was soft and luxurious.  Alright.  Maybe two gold a night isn’t price gouging after all.

Lucas left them, placing a heavy key on the table beside the door.  “Wow,” said Rose.  “He completely ignored me.”

“Oh!” said Duncan.  “I completely forgot you were here.”  Rose swatted him and he laughed.  “He probably assumed you were a servant.  The cloak makes people assume that you’re not worth paying attention to.”

“Oh, I know,” Rose said. “I figured out how it works, and I have a Mental Invisibility technique now.”

“What?”  Duncan checked, and sure enough, Rose was now a Level 15 64 Mage. “That shouldn’t be possible.  Pelleas is going to love you.”

“Who’s Pelleas?”

“The elf who helped me with my technique choices.  He’s in Lanport, or, at least, he was a few months ago.  I think he’s supposed to be there for another two or three years – he works for the Adventurers Guild as an appraiser and advisor.  Unusual affinities and techniques make him happy,” Duncan said.  “I need to talk to him about cultivation again, too. He gives me little bits of information at a time, and every time, he manages to convince me that that’s all he knows.”

“Why does he do that?” Rose asked, confused.  “How is that helpful?”

“Apparently, getting to my level and advancement is supposed to take a hundred years.  He worries that I’m hurting myself by advancing too quickly, and that I’ll run into something really dangerous before I’m ready for it,” Duncan explained.  “He means well, and I understand his point.  I have advanced very quickly.  And there really are some scary monsters out there.  But I’m not going to stop advancing, and I’m going to proceed at whatever pace comes naturally.  So hopefully he’ll cough up a little more information this time.”

“Well, visiting him can wait until after Moira and her team finish the dungeon,” Rose declared.  “And everything can wait until I get some new underthings.  Let’s go ask Lucas to recommend a shop.”  She stored the Cloak of the Unseen.  “I’ll wear the cloak when we’re out – my technique isn’t strong enough to handle crowds on its own yet.  But I think it’s wise for Lucas to be able to recognize me.”

They went downstairs, introduced Rose to Lucas, and got directions to a store where Rose could purchase some clothes.  As they walked through the town, Duncan pointed out that they were going through the teleportation gates to some bigger cities where Rose could find tailors and seamstresses.  “That’s fine,” she said. “But I’m getting some stuff now.”

The trip to the clothier was uneventful.  They stopped at a little restaurant on the way back to the inn.  Duncan picked at his food while Rose ate to her heart’s content.  “It’s hard to believe someone your size eats so little,” Rose said.

“I don’t need to eat at all if I can enter a dungeon regularly.  The ambient mana in there is nourishing enough,” Duncan replied.  “It takes something really special to make me want to eat.  I like not having to shit, too, honestly.  Though there’s a restaurant in Harrish that serves meat from high-level beasts – it’s infused with mana and it’s amazing.  You’re too low level to eat there, but I’ll take you there when you reach a hundred.”

They returned to the inn and Rose made a beeline for the tub in their suite.  “A hot bath is exactly what I need!”

Duncan waved her on – there was only one tub, and it was sized for one.  “I’ll be in the sitting room.  I need to work on my meditation and my Sphere of Discernment in a relatively crowded non-hostile environment.”

He sat on the floor in the sitting room and began meditating.  He felt his mana circling through various parts of his body and swirling around his core.  After a few minutes, he extended his Sphere of Perception slowly.  After three meters, he could see the roof above and the room directly below him and the underside of the main floor ceiling.  The room below him was empty.  He extended his range all the way to five meters.  He could see Rose relaxing in the tub, several of the rooms below him, and a small section of the common room.  He could smell the food and drink, hear several conversations, and see people as they walked through the edges of his sphere.  The minds/spirits/souls of the people around him shone in his mind’s eye.

He controlled his breathing, filtering out background noises, smells, and sensations.  Touch was the hardest sense to control.  He could feel the smooth leather of an adventurer’s armor and the rough homespun cloth of the servers’ clothes.  The splinters on the floor were noticeable to his touch but didn’t poke him.  He could feel Rose’s bathwater cooling over time, and the silky smoothness of her freshly washed hair.  The wooden beams exposed to the weather outside had been worn smooth, which contrasted with the relatively recently applied wattle and daub that coated the outside walls.

The increased volume of information distorted his sense of time.  Can I get rid of the touch and taste senses?  I should be able to control which senses do what?  And if I can’t turn them off, can I change how far out each sense goes? Can I withdraw touch and taste to my own body whilst leaving sight, sound, smell and mindsense at five meters?  Duncan focused fiercely on the technique, trying to force it to obey his will.

He was so focused on controlling his sense of touch and taste that he didn’t even consciously notice Rose get out of the tub and pad into the sitting room.  “Oi!” she said.  “Were you watching me in the tub?”

Without losing control of his sphere, he turned more of his attention to Rose.  Naked, her hands on her hips, she looked magnificent.  And still, he was able to sense the people in the part of his sphere that reached the common room below.  “No, er yes, but not specifically,” he said. “I’m trying to control which senses to extend and which to keep withdrawn.  It’s not going well.”

“Well, enough of that,” Rose decided.  “Get your ass in the tub.  I’m in charge for the rest of the night.”

And so it proved.

Chapter 20

Shortly before dawn, Duncan and Rose strolled through the streets of San Sebastian to the gate that led to the dungeon entrance.  It was guarded by two of the dungeon keepers, with their gold baldrics, and two guards wearing Chevrolet tartan stood nearby.

“Good morning,” Duncan said to the dungeon keepers, ignoring the Chevrolets entirely.  “We have friends about to enter the dungeon.  I’m looking after the child they have with them while they’re inside.  And I need to talk to someone about the next auction for a solo spot.”

One of the guards nodded and opened the door. As Rose and Duncan entered, one of the Chevrolet guards hurried off.   Inside, they saw the Marbot fire team standing near the benches talking with a pair of dungeon keepers.  Bertram lay asleep on a nearby bench.

“Rough night?” Duncan asked as he approached.  “Not very comfortable sleeping conditions here.”

Moira snorted.  “We’ve had worse.  But, admittedly, it’s not the best preparation for a serious attempt at this dungeon.”

“When do you go in?”

“Right after the team that’s in there now comes out.  If they do well, it could be mid-morning.  If they stop early, they could be out any moment.”

There was a flurry of movement behind the barrier around the dungeon entrance as a solo adventurer came out of the dungeon.  He spoke with the guards behind the barrier for a while, then left and hobbled over to the hut where more dungeon keepers waited.  Duncan and his friends watched as one of the dungeon keepers healed the adventurer.

Another adventurer had been waiting for the solo slot in the dungeon to open.  She approached the barrier and displayed a token to the dungeon keepers inside.  They let her in, and she gave the token to one of them, who examined it and nodded.  Without delay, the adventurer stepped through the portal and was gone.

“So, you get a token when you reserve your slot, and just present it when it’s your turn to go in?” Duncan asked.

“Yes – the reserved ones show a date and slot number – we’re number two for today,” Moira said, showing Duncan her token.  “The auctioned ones don’t have dates or times – they are only usable when there’s more time before the next reserved slot than a normal slot would take.  When it looks like that’s going to happen, they hold an auction, and you get to go the next time it actually does happen.  There’s only one auctioned token and it gets re-used for each auction.”

“Are you nervous?” Rose asked.

“Us?  Never!” Marcus said.  “We will set an all-time record for a team.”

“Yeah, we’re nervous,” Lupita said.  “The rewards for doing well in here can be amazing, but if you push too far, you can get wiped out.  One in every five teams lose someone, and one in every eight don’t come out at all.”

A ringing sound came from the dungeon entrance.  Everyone turned to see a dungeon keeper fiercely ringing a bell.  Two adventurers had come out of the dungeon and collapsed.  The dungeon keepers from the hut ran to the dungeon to try to heal the survivors.  Duncan noted they passed through the barrier with no trouble.

“Well, that’s a good omen,” Marcus sighed.  “Get ready folks, we’ll be going in as soon as they get those two out of there.”  The entire team began equipping their armor and double checking everything.

Bertram had been awakened by the bell and came over to hold Rose’s hand as he watched his sister’s team prepare.  “We’ll see you soon,” Moira said to him.  To Duncan, she added, “Keep him safe, please.  The dungeon keepers enforce a no violence rule in here, but I don’t trust the Chevrolets not to try something.”

Duncan nodded.  “I’ll do everything I can to keep him safe.”

“Alright, well, we’re up.”  Moira gave Bertram a hug and the fire team went to the barrier, where they showed their token and passed through.  A few moments later, they were inside the dungeon.

Duncan walked over to the dungeon keeper hut to speak with one of the guards there.  “I’d like to participate in the next auction for a solo delve.  Do you know when it’s going to be?”

The guard shrugged.  “Hard to say.  We’re most of a day behind schedule at the moment, thanks to a couple of overachievers last week.  I wouldn’t expect an auction for another week, honestly.”

“Okay, thanks,” Duncan said.  “What’s the pricing trend lately?  How much should I expect to pay to win?”

“The average is a bit over ten gold.  After a delay like this, it might go as high as twenty, if there are enough folks getting antsy about waiting in town.”

Duncan thanked the man and went to sit on the benches with Rose and Bertram.  He noted the watcher in Chevrolet tartan go over to speak with the guards.  They appeared to be arguing, but after a few moments, the guard held up his hands and approached Duncan.  “I’m sorry, sir, but the rules say you can’t stay here to wait for your friends, even with the child.  If you don’t have a slot in the next day, you can’t stay in here.”

“That statement will probably get a whole lot of Chevrolets killed,” Duncan said.  At the guard’s confused look, he continued.  “The boy’s a Marbot.  The Chevrolets will come for him if I take him into town, and when they do, I will kill them.”

The guard paused for a moment, then shrugged.  “I’m okay with a lot of dead Chevrolets.  I can’t think of anyone who’d object to that, honestly.  I’d let you stay to avoid trouble, but the Chevrolet woman over there is quoting our own rules at us.”

“Alright, we’ll leave immediately,” Duncan said.  He turned to Rose and Bertram and said, “Let’s go for a flight, shall we?”  He scooped Bertram up in one arm and put his other around Rose and flew up on a summoned sword.  He flew North, but went up at a very steep angle, until he was several hundred meters above the ground before swinging around to be right over the town.

“I think they’ll have lost track of us now.  I’m going to fly straight down to the balcony of our room at the inn.  As soon as I land, we go inside and stay out of sight until Moira and her team are out.  I’ll teleport out and check on them from time to time, starting when their slot would normally be up,” Duncan said.  “If any Chevrolets or Nursk come to the inn, I will lead them away and take care of them.”

“We’re going to go down, fast,” he added.  “No screaming or shouting.  Do not draw attention to us.”   Bertram nodded solemnly, and Duncan began to accelerate down towards to the town.   Bertram’s eyes grew wide, but he kept quiet.  Duncan slowed them as fast as he could as they approached the ground, his massive strength absorbing the strain of deceleration and making holding onto his companions easy.

He landed on the balcony to his suite and rushed inside.  Rose looked quite queasy, and Bertram had fallen unconscious from the rapid deceleration.  Duncan hurriedly healed them both and whispered “sorry” to Rose.  He extended his Sphere of Discernment to its maximum range and immediately felt the unrestrained auras of some Nursk from below.  He could hear the innkeeper apologizing to someone.

“I’m sorry, my lord, but as I said, the imperial suite has been rented out for the entire week.  The guest paid in advance, and I cannot throw him out so you can have the suite.”  The innkeeper sounded terrified, but he was holding firm.

“Nursk,” Duncan whispered to Rose.  “Hide Bertram while I deal with them.”  At her nod he Blinked out into the hallway so his Sphere could show him more of what was going on below.  A thin man in Chevrolet tartan and six Nursk were looming over the innkeeper.

Duncan Blinked downstairs, appearing directly behind the group.  He reduced the radius of his Sphere of Discernment to three meters.  “What’s going on here?” he snapped.

“Oh, thank the gods!  Lord Duncan, this gentleman wishes to stay in the imperial suite you’re renting,” the innkeeper said in a rush.

Duncan released his aura and the Nursk all stiffened.  The innkeeper collapsed to his knees, and the Chevrolet, a Level 104 Warrior, blanched.  “And why should I yield my room to this little weakling?” Duncan asked menacingly.

Realizing that he wasn’t about to be slain on the spot, the Chevrolet rallied.  “I am Fernand Chevrolet, and we own this town.  We own the entirety of the highlands.  We have an army of Nursk warriors…”

“You are a pathetic weakling,” Duncan interrupted.  “Get out of my inn or I will throw you out.”  He focused his killing intent on Fernand.

The Chevrolet warrior squeaked and looked at the Nursk beside him. “Do something!”

The Nursk snorted.  “What?  He strong, you weak.”

“Kill him!” Fernand demanded.

The Nursk shrugged.  “Is good day to die.”  He reached for his weapons and Duncan Blinked to Fernand, grabbed him, and hurled him bodily through the door, sending bits and pieces of wood everywhere, then Blinked after him.  It would take the Nursk a few seconds to unlimber their weapons and follow.  Plenty of time.

Fernand had rolled to his feet and summoned some plate armor and a mace and shield.  Duncan opened with a Mind Spike and followed up with a Spirit sword cut from groin to crown and a dragontooth sword cut at the back of Fernand’s right knee.  The armor yielded, the poleyn deeply notched by the sword.  Blood spurted, and Fernand lost his balance momentarily.  The coppery tang of blood floated to Duncan’s nose.  And tongue.  I can taste the blood.  Perception technique needs more work.

Fernand recovered from the stun and caught himself, grunting as his wounded knee wavered under his weight.  His plate armor suddenly increased massively in thickness and weight.  Metal affinity?  Probably not worth attacking that with a physical sword.  He doesn’t look strong enough to support that weight.  Maybe he has a metal manipulation technique too?  If so, that metal mace head could be dangerous.

Another Mind Spike, another sweep of the Spirit sword, and a thrust from the dragontooth sword through the eye slot of Fernand’s helmet followed.  The thrust didn’t go far, so Duncan assumed he’d missed the eye and wiggled the sword around, poking and prodding to find the eye, all the while sweeping his Spirit sword through Fernand’s torso.

His dragontooth sword found the eye socket and sank another ten centimeters into the helm.  Fernand collapsed to the ground just as the first of the Nursk warriors came charging out of the inn.  How did that clown reach level one hundred?  That was pathetic.  I suppose he’d be a decent guardian for a group with that armor.  But he was not at all suited to solo combat.  I wonder if he was here to challenge the dungeon.

Duncan failed to store Fernand’s corpse and gear - must have a storage item – and moved to engage the Nursk.  The northern warriors had activated the same chilling effect their brethren attacking him on the road had done, with the same lack of success.  Yeah, it’s cold.  Very cold, even.  But I have an outstanding Body affinity and am probably double their level.  They’re not going to freeze my flesh.

The Nursk flung themselves at him recklessly, every move an attempt to hit him, with no thought to defense.  They clearly knew they were drastically outclassed, having felt the strength of his aura compared to their own.  It really did seem that death didn’t concern them – their belief that a violent death would make them stronger in the next life was a real advantage in terms of morale.

It took him less than two minutes to finish off the six Nursk warriors.  He suppressed his aura and stored their corpses along with the others, taking the time to find Fernand’s storage ring and remove it before storing his corpse.  Good thing I have so much storage space – these are starting to really add up.

Up and down the street, people who’d ducked into cover when the fight began returned to their activities.  Several gave Duncan encouraging gestures.  No one likes an invading force.

Duncan stepped back into the inn and spoke to the innkeeper.  “Bravely done, Lucas.  I’ll be upstairs for much of the rest of the day.  If anyone comes by to make trouble, send someone up to get me.  And if I’m not around and another Chevrolet fool tries to claim the room, tell them you’ll kick me out and let them have it.  I’ll take care of them when I return.  I don’t want you getting killed for standing up to them.”

“Yes, my lord,” the innkeeper replied.  “I hadn’t realized you were so much stronger than them.  I will do as you ask, of course.”  That ‘my lord’ stuff feels off.  I’m okay with people respecting my strength but respecting me because some other strong person tells them to… it doesn’t feel right.

Duncan returned to his suite, finding Rose and Bertram in the reception room, chatting about something or other.  He let them know there was no threat for now and retreated to the sitting room, taking a seat on the floor near the balcony.  Six hours until I need to check on the Marbots.  I’m starting to get the hang of the Sphere of Discernment technique – in combat, it feels like I can ignore more of the meaningless stimuli.  But I need more control.

Six hours of practice passed uneventfully.  Rose went down to the main floor of the inn to get some food for Bertram and returned safely.  Workers arrived to replace the front door of the inn.  Other guests came and went.  No Chevrolets showed up to look for Bertram or the missing Fernand.  That’s probably a good thing.  Boring, though.  Still, I can deal with Chevrolets when Bertram’s safely returned to Moira.

He told Rose and Bertram he was going to see if Moira’s team were out of the dungeon, then Blinked straight up five hundred meters and flew towards the dungeon entrance, Blinking down low enough to see if the Marbot team was waiting in the compound.  He saw no sign of them, so he Blinked down to the guard shack, startling the guards and the Chevrolet observer.

“Has the Marbot team come out of the dungeon yet?” he asked the dungeon keeper representative.

“Not yet – they must be having a good run,” the man replied.

“Alright, I’ll check back every hour,” Duncan said.  “If they come out before I return, please let them know that I’m checking regularly.”  At the man’s nod, Duncan Blinked up and away, returning to the inn.  He Blinked to his balcony and took a quick look around before stepping inside.

“They’re still in the dungeon,” he told Rose and Bertram, “so they’re probably doing well.”  He paused a moment as a very strong aura swept over him.

Rose looked scared. “That’s a very strong aura,” she managed.

It was.  It felt cold, authoritative and foreboding.  “Stay here,” Duncan said, and Blinked down a floor so that more of the main floor was in his Sphere of Discernment.

A man in Chevrolet tartan entered the inn along with a truly massive Nursk and half a dozen of the usual Nursk foot soldiers.  The Chevrolet, a Level 112 Mage, spoke to the innkeeper, “Good day.  I’m here to see my cousin Fernand.  He told me he’d be staying here.”

“Ah,” replied Lucas.  “The gentleman was here earlier, yes.  He asked me to eject the lord staying in the imperial suite so that he might have it.  Lord Duncan threw him out.  I didn’t see what happened after.  But Lord Duncan is in; I can ask him to speak with you, if you’d like.”

Duncan Blinked down again, appearing at the bottom of the stairs and striding forward.  “Did I hear my name?” he asked.

“Lord Duncan,” Lucas began, but the Chevrolet cut him off.

“Are you the man who threw my cousin out?” he demanded.

“If your cousin was a pathetic bug in a hard shell, yes, I did.”  Duncan smiled amiably.

“And what, pray tell, happened after that?” the Chevrolet asked.

“He and his Nursk pets tried to kill me,” Duncan replied.  “He was the first to die, of course.  I’ve found you Chevaliers to be cowards, so it’s important to kill you first so you don’t have a chance to run away.”

The Chevrolet mage turned to the huge Nursk, then paused.  Duncan could almost see the gears turning in his head.  He turned back to Duncan and said, “It’s Chevrolet, you stupid ox. For besmirching my family’s good name, I, Leon Chevrolet, challenge you to a duel, Lord Duncan.  My champion will meet you or your champion on the field of honor.”

Duncan snorted.  “One hour, in the dueling arena East of the town.  You’re the challenger, bring an adjudicator from the Adventurers Guild.”

Leon harrumphed, “One hour is hardly enough time… Fine!  One hour.”  He turned and stormed out, followed by his Nursk guards.

Duncan grinned at Lucas, “I didn’t even break your door this time.”  He produced a gold coin and put it on the bar.  “This is for the last one.”  He Blinked upstairs to reassure Rose and Bertram that they were safe, and he’d return with Moira and company as soon as he could.

A couple of Blinks later and he was at the dungeon entrance.  There was still no sign of the Marbot group.  The team scheduled for after them was sitting around on the benches chatting amongst themselves.   Duncan approached the same dungeon keeper guard he’d spoken to earlier. “If I’m not back before the Marbot team comes out, tell them I’m delayed a bit.  Some cowardly Chevrolet challenged me to a duel where he’ll not be participating.  I have to kill some huge Nursk fellow who’s his champion.”

The dungeon keeper perked right up, “When is this duel?  It’ll be in the dueling arena, I assume?”

“A little under an hour from now.  I’m going to head over there now – I just wanted to ask you to let the Marbot team know I’d be delayed.”

“We’ll let them know.”

That taken care of, Duncan Blinked away, then made his way to the dueling arena.  It was a shallow bowl perhaps a hundred meters across, situated two hundred meters from the town wall.  There were wooden benches that rose up in tiers around the bowl for an audience to use.  When Duncan arrived, there were a few youths sparring with each other.  Youths... they’re my age, I’d guess.

The Chevrolet group hadn’t arrived yet, nor had the adjudicator from the guild.  Duncan assumed they’d arrive together.  He addressed the youths, who’d stopped sparring when he arrived.  “I’m fighting a duel here in a little under an hour.  You’re welcome to keep practicing in the meantime.”

“Who are you fighting?” asked one of the kids, a lean Level 22 Mage with bushy eyebrows and shaggy hair.

“Leon Chevrolet’s champion.  The man’s too cowardly to fight me himself, even though he issued the challenge.  So probably some big Nursk warrior.”

The kids – Duncan couldn’t think of them as anything else, despite their age, probably because of their low levels – looked at each other, and most of them took off running for the town.  The shaggy-haired kid grinned at Duncan.  “High level duels are fun to watch.  They’re running to tell everyone they know.  Some of the merchants pay us to tip them off so they can have food carts here.”

Duncan grinned back.  “That’s fine.  The more people who witness the Chevrolets getting shamed, the better.”

An hour later, the stands were full of excited townsfolk and adventurers chatting amongst themselves.  Two vendors had arrived with food carts and were doing a brisk business.  Leon Chevrolet, his Nursk guards, and a man Duncan assumed to be the adjudicator from the guild arrived on foot, with at least fifty more people following them.

The adjudicator, Leon Chevrolet, and the huge Nursk radiating the dangerous aura entered the arena where Duncan awaited them.  The adjudicator (a Level 98 Mage) addressed Duncan.  “Lord Duncan?  I am Emil Vesparres, of the Adventurers Guild.  I am here to officiate this duel.  The loser of the duel is to pay my five gold fee, and since this duel may prove fatal, both sides will pay me the five gold now.  I will return the winner’s coin at the conclusion of the duel.”

Duncan produced five gold and handed them over, as did Leon Chevrolet.  “How should I introduce you to the crowd, my lord?” the adjudicator asked.

“Er, I guess as Baron Duncan of Snowy Valley?  I normally just go by Duncan of the Valley, but this seems pretty formal.”

“Right,” said Emil.  He took a step back and addressed the crowd in a booming voice, augmented by an Air affinity technique.  “We are here to settle a matter of honor between Lord Leon Chevrolet and Baron Duncan of Snowy Valley.  Lord Chevrolet is being championed by Underchief Rellnar Bonespear of the Snow Weasel Clan.  Lord Chevrolet, the reason for the challenge?”

Leon shouted, “Lord Duncan has besmirched my family name!”  Emil’s magic projected Leon’s claim for all to hear.

Emil turned to Duncan, “Your position?”

Duncan grinned. “I said the Chevrolets are cowards who hide behind hired muscle.  Leon’s champion is here to prove me wrong.”   There were hoots of laughter from the crowd.

Leon’s face turned a deep red and he snarled at his Champion, “Make him suffer!”

Duncan Assessed the champion.  Rellnar was well over two meters tall, a full head taller than Duncan, and had an impressive physique.  Outstanding Body affinity like me?  I don’t know why, but I don’t think so.  Still, the technique registers him as very dangerous.  He held a pair of battleaxes, one in each hand, making them look light.  His armor looked to be made of some sort of hide, but it had a sheen of ice all over.  Nursk didn’t use soul gems, so there was no indication of his level other than his aura.

When it comes down to it, I believe my techniques give me a huge advantage over most single opponents. Unless he has something that can kill me outright, I should be able to move and heal and continue to fight.  And unless he has strong healing, I’ll wear him down.

The adjudicator shooed Leon out of the arena, then told the combatants, “I will vacate the arena now.  Proceed to your starter marks on the ground. When I shout ‘Fight’ you may commence your duel.”

Duncan’s adrenaline began to spike as he anticipated the start of the fight. The starting positions were about twenty-five meters apart.  He summoned his dragontooth blade and Spirit sword from storage and made himself ready.

“Fight!” came the cry, and Rellnar leapt at him, soaring through the air, both axes raised overhead to smash.  He moved much faster than Duncan expected.  Rather than sidestep, he raised his dragontooth sword horizontally overhead, as though to block the descending axes.  He placed a fold in space horizontally above his sword and just in front of it, extending a full three meters, lest Rellnar try to whip the blades around.  He extended it down in front of his body in case Rellnar had a surprise planned.  It redirected anything that would strike Duncan from the front to instead strike downwards at a forty-five degree angle, hitting anyone standing in front of Duncan from above and behind.  It would look strange to Rellnar, but it appeared only an instant before the Nursk struck.

Rellnar brought his axes down directly at Duncan’s parry, clearly intending to smash through it and Duncan.  The blades impacted on the edge of the fold in space with incredible force – and shattered.  A piece of broken axe-head sheared off Duncan’s left ear and most of the skin from the corner of his eye to the back of his head.  A chunk of skull was ripped away along with it.  Another piece of the broken weapons shattered his right collar bone and ripped through his upper chest.

Duncan Blinked forward fifty meters, spinning to face Rellnar’s back.  Destrin’s Restoration healed him to full, though his helmet and chest piece remained shredded.  He let his folds in space end.  What in all the hells was that?  He hit with so much force.  That was the instant-kill technique I feared.  Fifty meters away, Rellnar roared as he fell forwards onto his face.

Duncan Blinked the distance to Rellnar and stabbed him in the back with both of his swords.  He saw that pieces of the exploding axes had gone through the large fold in space in front of Duncan and pelted Rellnar’s back.  Rellnar’s hands and part of one leg and foot lay in the dirt.  He must have stepped forward or extended his arms or something, and I closed the fold on him.

Duncan stored his Spirit sword, grabbed Rellnar by the chest armor, opened a fold in space beside his head, shoved Rellnar’s body forward enough that his head entered the fold, and brought his sword down on the back of Rellnar’s neck even as he terminated the fold in space.  Rellnar’s head rolled forward, separated from the body.

That didn’t go as planned at all.  The block of his attack was perfect, but he had so much force applied that when they struck the absolutely immovable fold, the force had nowhere to go but back into the axes.  He flipped Rellnar’s body over and saw that shrapnel from the exploding axes had impaled the Nursk warrior in a multitude of places down his front side.  Damn, you got shredded from the front and behind.  I’m lucky I had that fold open in front of me or everything in your back would be in my front.  I just hope that it all happened fast enough that no one in the crowd understood what actually happened.  The pantomime head chop had to look pretty convincing from a distance.

Duncan stored Rellnar’s body after removing a storage item in the form of a brooch from the man’s chest and left the head where it was as proof of victory.  The crowd seemed stunned.  After a few moments, someone who disliked the Nursk and/or the Chevrolets began shouting and cheering.  Others joined in and soon much of the crowd was jeering at Leon and his remaining Nursk.  The fight hadn’t lasted long, and no one was really sure what happened, but the outcome was wildly popular.  The Chevrolets were seen as invaders and conquerors, and the brutality of their Nursk hirelings only reinforced the hatred many had for them.

“Victory to Baron Duncan of Snowy Valley.  This matter is considered settled,” Emil projected.

There were three people in Chevrolet tartan and perhaps twenty Nursk with Leon.  With dark looks, they turned and marched back to the town even as the crowd taunted them.  That’s the entirety of Chevrolet forces in San Sebastian?  I could end their occupation right now, if not for this sanctity of the duel crap.

So, what happens next?  They lick their wounds until some emboldened adventurer causes trouble, then they crush them ruthlessly as an example?  Do they have anyone strong enough to do that?  I suppose not all troublemaking adventurers will be as strong as me.

Rellnar’s head was still lying in the dirt, so Duncan stored it with the rest of the body.  He approached Emil, who returned his five gold coins and said, “I’ve seen a lot of duels between high-level adventurers here in San Sebastian, but none like that.  The amount of force required to shatter his axes like that is more than anyone should be able to generate – or resist.”

Duncan shrugged.  “Is there anything else I need to do before I leave?  I have friends who should be exiting the dungeon any moment and I’d like to be there.”

Emil sighed.  He was probably used to adventurers being unwilling to talk about their builds.  “No, there’s nothing I need.  You conducted yourself admirably.  Hopefully I won’t see you in another duel any time soon.”  He didn’t sound particularly optimistic.  Given the Scholastica Donostia dungeon was a series of arena fights, duels had to be pretty commonplace in San Sebastian.

“The big guy was the only one dangerous enough to fight by himself.  If the rest come at me, I can take them all on at once,” Duncan said.

“Why would they come at you?” asked Emil.  “This duel settled your dispute.”

Duncan laughed.  “They’re playing at being conquerors and they’ve brought in brutal enforcers from outside the empire.  They’re not going to let challenges to their authority go.  I may end up liberating San Sebastian in self-defence.  But for now, I need to get over to the dungeon entrance and see if my friends are out.”

With a jaunty wave, Duncan Blinked away, appearing above San Sebastian, and then down towards the dungeon entrance, where the Marbot team were milling around, chatting amongst themselves.  All of them were present, none looked to be wearing especially battered armor, and they all seemed quite pleased.

Rather than going down to greet them, Duncan Blinked back to the inn and picked up Bertram and Rose.  “Moira and her team are out of the dungeon.  They look healthy and happy,” he said, then flew straight up from his balcony with them, before moving over to the dungeon entrance.  I wish I could carry people with me when I Blink.

The Marbot team saw them coming and greeted them with big smiles.  Bertram rushed forward and flung himself into a hug as Moira knelt to meet him.  “How was the delve?” Duncan asked.

“Good.  Really good.  Interesting, too,” Marcus replied.  “There’s this dungeon spirit who acts as a guide or adjudicator.  He told us we were peak tier zero and could choose peak tier zero or base tier one opponents to start.  We chose peak tier zero, and I’m glad we did, because the fights were challenging right from the start.”

“It was essentially a series of group duels.  There were five opponents in each round, and they were all about as strong as us.  We’d defeat a group, have a couple of minutes to heal and rest, and then fight the next group.  The early groups didn’t have good coordination or teamwork, but the later groups did.  They all just dissipated into smoke when killed, too – no loot.  The only reward was the prize at the end.”

“Anyway, we beat thirty groups and the spirit said we’d reached a major waystone, and that teams after that would have a tier one in them.” Marcus gave Duncan a wide-eyed look, “Tier ones are scary.  They don’t look any different or act any different, but they do more – they can hit much harder, or absorb more damage, or have really rare techniques.   We fought ten groups with a tier one, then decided to stop after a tier one ice mage dropped dozens of ice spears on us from above, almost killing Loopy, Gregor, and myself all at once.  We won in the end, but it was clear that things were getting to the point where we’d lose someone soon.”

“And was it worth it?” Duncan asked.  “I see you each got a few levels.”

Marcus snorted.  “We can’t even see each others’ levels with these stupid brooches.  But yeah, I think it was worth it.  Our teamwork improved, and we each got an item or two that will surely be an upgrade, once we get some time with them.”

“Now, though,” said Moira, “we’ll be heading home to our clanhold to see who’s survived the Chevrolet attacks and to determine what we can do to drive them out.”  She stood up.  “This was an important stop, and a helpful one, but I am terrified that the rest of the family has been killed or taken.”

“Is there a town near your holding?” Duncan asked.  “Rose and I are going to take the teleportation gates back into the core of the empire to visit a mentor of mine, then come back so I can go solo through the dungeon here.  I want to help with the Chevrolet problem, but I don’t know the land or the people, so mostly I’m going to just start wiping out the Chevrolet fighters and their Nursk wherever I find them. But it’d be nice to know where to find you.”

“Castillon is the closest town to our lands.  There’s no teleportation gate, but there’s a well-maintained road that leads North to Toulon and the interior to support the wool trade.  There’s a teleportation gate in Toulon.  We’ll try to leave word at the Golden Leaves Inn in Castillon as to our whereabouts,” Moira said.

“Thanks.  I’m glad you’re out of the dungeon safe and that Bertram is back with you.  Looking after a child is stressful.”

Rose kicked him in the shin.  “What?  You left him with me all day while you killed Chevrolets and Nursk.”

“In fairness, I only killed the ones who came to our Inn looking for trouble,” Duncan protested.  “And it was stressful trying to keep their attention and not let anyone think there might be former hostages or anyone, really, with me.  I’m not suited to defending people.”

Moira checked with her team to make sure they were all ready, then said, “Thanks for your help, Duncan.  Good luck in taking on the Nursk and Chevrolets.  I’m sure whatever you do will help draw eyes and warriors away from us.  Rose, you be careful keeping company with him – he swims in very dangerous waters.”

“No one will ever again be able to treat me as the Nursk did,” Rose replied.  “Duncan is helping me gain the strength I need to stand up for myself.  I’ll take whatever risks I need to take to get that strength.”

“Your choice,” Moira acknowledged.  After a brief round of farewells, the Marbot clan flew off to the East on huge flaming wings.

Duncan smiled at Rose.  “Babysitting over.  Thanks for doing that.  Let’s head to the teleportation gate and see how we can get to Lanport.”

A few minutes later, several kilometers to the East, Marius said, “I don’t remember an inn called the Golden Leaves in Castillon.”

Moira smirked.  “There isn’t one.”

“So, we’re not leaving word on how to find us.”

“That young man is Trouble,” Moira said.  “I wasn’t joking when I said he swims in dangerous waters.  I like him, but we can’t afford the sort of problems he’ll bring.  Our focus has to be our own clan.”

Chapter 21

Duncan and Rose approached the teleportation gate in San Sebastian.  The mage on duty greeted them with a smile.  “Greetings, travellers.  I am Yvette.  Are you heading to Merryfield?”

“Ah,” Duncan said.  “That’s where the gate goes.  Makes sense, with the dungeon here.”

“Indeed,” replied Yvette.  “The vast majority of travellers here are adventurers.  But Merryfield has over a dozen gates of its own, including one to Harrish, which gives access to the network from there.  Do either of you have a weight token?”

Duncan produced his white token and Yvette nodded. “Nice,” she said.

“I don’t have a token,” said Rose.

Yvette produced a blank token, explaining that it would measure Rose’s metaphysical weight for the gate transfer and determine the price of her passage.  It turned Black, and Rose bound it to herself and stored it.

“So that’s ten gold for the lady, and five gold for the gentleman,” Yvette said.

Duncan produced fifteen gold and handed it to Yvette, saying “You’re so heavy…” to Rose.

“You’re five times my weight, you ass!” Rose spluttered.

Yvette sighed.  “Ok, rude man and pretty lady, you and the three lads who’ve been patiently waiting are enough to justify the cost of opening.”  She gestured to three adventurers who’d been sitting at a table at a nearby café, and they came over.  “When the portal opens, go through quickly, please.  You three first, then the lady.  Rude man goes last.”

She focused on the gate, and after a few moments, a portal flickered into existence.  Duncan followed the others through the gate with a quick “Thanks” to Yvette.  I wonder if I could learn to do that, given my space magic affinity.  I wouldn’t want to waste a technique on it, but if it’s just a skill…

Duncan stepped out of the portal into a large courtyard with at least a dozen other teleportation gates, each sitting on a platform with seating nearby.  There was a heavy guard presence, with at least twenty fully armored guards and half a dozen mages standing by.  “Why so many guards?” he asked the mage standing by his platform.

“Lots of undead attacks on Merryfield, including a bunch of flying undead.  Given it’s the headquarters of the Adventurers Guild, they’re providing a lot of security,” the mage replied.

“Understood,” Duncan said.  “Which gate is for Harrish?”  The mage pointed, and Duncan paid another fifteen gold to get to Harrish, and another fifteen after that to get them to Lanport.  The teleports went quickly and uneventfully.

The sun was beginning to set as they arrived in Lanport.  “Let’s go to the Adventurers Guild branch here.  You’ll need to sign up to get access to services, but it’s cheap,” Duncan said.  “And hopefully Pelleas will be at the identification counter.”

At Rose’s nod, he summoned a flying sword and flew both of them over the rooftops to the Adventurers Guild, a matter of only a couple of minutes.  They entered, and Rose went directly to the desk to register as an adventurer.

Moments later a city watchman entered and spoke to the entire room, “Who was flying outside just now?”

Ah right, you need permission here.  I don’t remember the guards ever checking me last year.  Duncan produced the permit he’d received from the Duke and presented it to the guard.  “Very good, sir,” the man said, returning the permit and leaving.

Duncan turned back to the desk and saw that Rose was just receiving her token marking her as an Adventurer.   He approached the desk, wearing his own token, and said, “Congratulations, Rose, on your first step towards independence.”  Then he addressed the clerk, “Is Pelleas working at the moment?”

“No, sir, his shift doesn’t start for another two hours,” the clerk replied.

“Ah, would you send word to him that Duncan of the Valley is here to see him, then, please?”  He’s almost certainly on site somewhere.

The clerk’s eyes widened in recognition, but his reply was very professional.  “Yes sir, please have a seat in that waiting room.”  He pointed to a door not far away.

With a nod, Duncan and Rose left the clerk to call for Pelleas and entered the waiting room, which was richly appointed in comfortable furniture.  They sat in a pair of comfortable chairs and discussed their plans as they waited for Pelleas.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Duncan said.  “Are you going to go home and see which of your family members are free from the Chevaliers?”

“You mean the Chevrolets? No,” Rose replied firmly.  “If I go home, I’ll either be captured again, or my parents will try to hide me away until things are over, or worse, marry me off to try to gain allies.  My family’s pretty divided – I have a cousin who’s a Chevrolet in all but name.  He cozies up with them – part of their little club that likes to be sophisticated and live in Harrish.  My family won’t expect or want me to participate in this fight, and I don’t think there’s anything I can do as I am to influence the outcome, anyway.”

“I worry about my family, but my parents are either dead or in hiding.  I don’t have any brothers or sisters.  I care about the clan in general, and I want to help them, but it doesn’t feel immediate, you know?  We’ve been feuding with other clans for centuries, and we’ve been in decline for most of that time.  The Chevrolets are a new low, with their Nursk hirelings, but this pattern has been repeating for far longer than I’ve been alive.”

“Huh, I wonder why I keep doing that.” said Duncan.  “Okay.  So you want to get strong and be independent in the short term.  That…” he trailed off as the door opened and Pelleas entered.

The old elf smiled at Duncan, “Good to see you, lad, if unexpected.  I didn’t think you’d be back here so soon.”  He turned to Rose, “And you’ve brought a friend.  I’m Pelleas Fenbalar, guild appraiser and advisor to adventurers.”

“Pleased to meet you, sir.  I’m Rose Campbell,” Rose replied.

“Rose has some unusual affinities and techniques, and her progression is unusual,” Duncan explained.  “We’d like your wisdom and advice about her build.  And I need to ask you some questions about cultivation.”

Pelleas sighed.  “I had hoped you would find a cultivation system on your own.  There are many masters out in the world, and many schools.  I will answer some questions, but my path cannot be your path.  I am happy to help with your build, though, lass.”

“Be careful in Lanport while you’re here, especially at night.  There’s been a lot of disappearances in the city at night.  We suspect vampires.  A vampire lord came through a while back looking for you, Duncan.  He questioned your friends at the Academy but didn’t stay long.  They didn’t know where you’d gone – good thinking there.  I’m thinking he decided Lanport was big enough to support a vampire population, and the empire’s been weakened with the undead attacks, so the vampires are testing their boundaries.”

“I don’t know what you did to draw the attention of a vampire lord, but you should be wary of vampires – we’ve discussed them before,” Pelleas said.

Duncan nodded.  “There were some vampires preying on adventurers in the Endless Depths dungeon, and one pretending to be a bard in the common room of the Adventurers Guild in Chorley.  I killed them, and that seems to have drawn some attention.”

“In the dungeon, you say?” Pelleas raised an eyebrow.  “That’s unusual.  The gods dislike vampires – they don’t tend to live long in dungeons.”

“A vampire lord sought me out in Harrish,” Duncan said.  “But I was dining with the Count of Montrose at the time, and the Count obliterated him with a thought.  The count is a demi-god, by the way.  One of the invaders you told me about.  He says they’re playing a game amongst themselves and that his win condition is to preserve at least one local nation throughout the length of the game, which is a thousand years.  Right now, they’re just warming up and establishing power bases.  In four hundred years, they’ll be allowed to attack each other.”

Pelleas was flabbergasted and Rose gaped in astonishment.  “What else did he tell you about this game?  Anything about the other players?” Pelleas asked.

“He said the rest were unpleasant sorts, but that one of them was a dragon queen.  And while his goal was to preserve at least one nation, the rest of them had goals like conquering the world or wiping out the native population.  He also said that he was only a fragment of himself, and that he was present in most of the nations of the world.  Just that little fragment of him was insanely powerful.  He just looked at the Vampire Lord and it turned to dust.”

“Uh, he also said I shouldn’t talk about who he was or what he was doing here.  I’m telling you because I trust you and need your advice, but I need you to, uh…”

“Be circumspect in passing on what you’ve told me?” Pelleas nodded.  “I will, of course, do what I can to protect you.  We already knew about the invaders, but not their purpose or true nature.  A game among demi-gods is about the worst thing I can imagine.  I guess the single saving grace is that they’re opposed to each other, and that one of them might be helping us.”

“Why did he tell you any of this?” Pelleas asked.

“He said I had potential and could possibly help against some of the minions of his opponents if I grew enough.  The possibility was enough for him to spend an hour giving me information to help me grow,” replied Duncan.  “It was mostly about cultivation, but it was very generalized, rather than specific to me.  So, I understand how it works, but not how to make it work, if that makes sense.”

Pelleas nodded and Duncan continued, “He gave me a special soul gem – it’s his guild that’s producing the new ones, by the way – and it shows me a lot about where I am, cultivation-wise, but not how to progress.  I have twenty-two out of twenty-four meridians open, for example, but I don’t know how to open the last two.  I apparently blasted the current ones open when I used my affinity stones.”

Duncan shared his soul gem information with Pelleas and explained what Dennis had told him about cultivation.  When he was done, Pelleas was brimming with excitement.  “That’s more than I knew about how cultivation works as a whole.  Most cultivators don’t have soul gems and therefore probably have no idea how the ranks work in terms of numbers.  It’s fascinating that soul gems have an outworld source, but the system as an integrated whole – you’ve taught me a great deal today.  I cannot confirm that it’s accurate, but it’s internally consistent, and consistent with what I already knew.  And it feels right.”

He beamed at Duncan.  “You’ve more than earned any insight I can provide on your cultivation.  I can teach you how to see your meridians, and possibly how to open them.  I will also share what I know about how you can compress your core.”

“Thank you,” Duncan said.  “Rose, did that make sense to you, too?”

“Mostly,” Rose replied.  “I don’t have a new soul gem yet, so I can’t see any cultivation information.”

“We have several here.  I’ll provide one in the morning, along with some alchemical agents that will hopefully help you both with your advancement.”  Pelleas looked at Duncan.  “It’ll cost several hundred gold – I assume that’s not a problem for you?”

“It’s fine.  I have a bunch of stuff I’ve looted that I should go through with you in your official capacity later, too.  I’ve got over a dozen storage rings I should get rid of, and their contents,” Duncan replied. “In the meantime, though, I’d like you to hear Rose’s story and see what you think.”

Pelleas nodded.  “Do you want Duncan to leave?” he asked.

Rose shook her head, “No, he’s heard it before.”   She explained how she’d been taken by the Chevrolets and held hostage in the dungeon by the Nursk, and how their treatment had resulted in her suddenly gaining new affinities and techniques.  She also explained how she’d learned telekinetic flight by seeing Duncan’s flying sword, and Mental Invisibility by borrowing his Cloak of the Unseen.  Finally, she shared her soul gem information.

When she was done, Pelleas was just as flabbergasted as he’d been by Duncan’s cultivation information.  “My dear, you’ve had some horrible experiences.  I’m glad you’ve come out of them so strong.  To gain techniques at high rank out of traumatic experiences… I’ve never heard of such a thing.  A breakthrough in an affinity from trauma is rare, but the techniques...  And they’re not normal techniques, either.  There’s no technique stone for Soothe Psyche or Seeming or Mental Invisibility or Telekinetic Flight.  Those are all techniques you’d only expect to see after an evolution.”

He frowned.  “You have Telekinetic Flight but not Telekinesis.”  He produced a gold coin. “Make this fly.”

Rose concentrated a moment, then the coin flew up into the air and buzzed around Duncan’s head.  “Got it,” she grinned.

“Absolutely remarkable,” Pelleas said.  “Now imagine that telekinesis pushing away anything that approaches you.”  He summoned a bag of copper coins and began tossing them at her one at a time.  “Use your telekinesis to block these.   Don’t catch them and move them with your telekinesis,” he added, as she did just that.  “Imagine a barrier that pushes them away, bounces them off.”

Less than a minute later, Rose beamed.  “Telekinetic Shield!” she exclaimed.

“Oh, come on!” Duncan said.  “That’s cheating.  It took me months to learn my learned techniques.”

Rose poked her tongue out at him, and Pelleas said, “Rose has a peculiar understanding of her Mind affinity.  I don’t understand what she’s doing, but I can help her exploit it.”  He paused for a moment.  “You don’t have a good mental attack – Psychic Scream damages and stuns everyone who hears it, but you need a targeted attack.  Duncan, can she target you?”  At Duncan’s nod, he continued, “There’s a technique called Mind Flay wherein one lashes at the target’s mind with mental whips.  If you can do the same thing with your combined psychic energy, that will be a formidable attack.”

Rose focused on building her psychic whips, and Duncan waited to see if her ridiculous mental proficiency could result in another advanced technique coming naturally to her.  After a long delay, his Tranquil Mind technique stirred as Rose’s nascent technique brushed across it.  Another delay, another brush.  Then another, and another.  The brushes started to come faster and faster, then suddenly, he felt a deep melancholy.  Both his Tranquil Mind and his Spiritual Shield buckled under immense pressure, and he found tears streaming down his face.

“Aha!” crowed Rose. “Shred Psyche!”

The attack stopped, but the tears continued.  Duncan checked his soul gem and saw he was down almost three thousand health.  He used Destrin’s Restoration to heal to full – and nothing happened.  His health remained down.  “Argh, I can’t heal the damage!” he exclaimed.

“Oh!” Pelleas said.  “Your healing is regeneration… there’s nothing to regenerate with this damage.  Just as you can heal detached limbs that other healing cannot, your healing cannot affect damage to the psyche.”

Duncan frowned.  “But I was able to heal the mental and spiritual damage from the gibbering horrors and such in the Eldritch Horror dungeon.”

“There’s something special about Rose’s attack, then.  The soul component, perhaps?” Pelleas mused.  “Rose, can you heal him with Soothe Psyche?”

Rose asked “Duncan, can I touch you to heal you?”  At his nod, she grasped his hand.  A comforting warmth settled on him, and he was relieved to see his health return to full according to his soul gem.

“That’s a ridiculously strong attack for something you just learned,” he said.  “I have rank seven defensive techniques in Mind and Spirit.  Your rank one attack – it is rank one, right?”  Rose nodded.  “Your rank one attack overpowered my rank seven defenses and did some significant damage, damage I can’t heal, and it made me cry.”

“It’s another evolved technique,” Pelleas said quietly.  “All her active Mind affinity techniques are evolved.  I don’t know how.”  He took a deep breath.  “But now I’m late for my shift at the appraisal counter, and I need some time to think.  Duncan, please hold off on your appraisals until tomorrow.  I will meet you both here at ten bells to continue this discussion.  Rose, it was a sincere pleasure making your acquaintance.”

“Thank you Pelleas,” Rose said.  “You’ve been a huge help to me already.”

Pelleas waved absently as he almost stumbled out the door.

Chapter 22

“I have a manor in Lanport; you can spend the night there, since you still need to sleep,” Duncan said.  “I think I might fly to a nearby dungeon to rejuvenate.”

“You have a manor here?  Does it just sit empty when you’re not around?” Rose asked.

“There’s a staff to keep it in good nick,” Duncan said.  “There’s a cook, a couple of housekeepers, and a couple of guards.  It’s probably pretty easy work when I’m not around.”

“Seems wasteful,” Rose said.

“It does.  I met some young nobles when I was attending the Academy of Steel here last year – they helped me get set up with a management company to handle my finances.  I sponsor a few orphanages, and have a few properties spread around the empire.  I’m not sure what they do with the rest of the coin, honestly – they invest it in some businesses, but I don’t keep track of it.  If I need gold, I delve a dungeon.  But since I have the gold, it behooves me to use it rather than just keep it in a storage device.  At least the orphanages are a good use of it.”

“I have a barony in the wilderness of the Northern part of the empire now,” Duncan added.  “It has some dungeons and pretty much no people.  So, I could spend a lot of gold building roads and a town or villages and hiring guards and what not to make it more civilized.  I’ve thought that maybe I could offer positions to the orphans coming out of my orphanages, but just getting people halfway across the empire and into the wilderness is problematic.  At the very least, though, I should go and look at the dungeons and the land and see what’s there.”

“It’s a short flight to the manor – it’s up the hill in the rich part of the city,” Duncan said, summoning a sword to fly on.

“Can we eat first?” Rose asked.  “I know you don’t eat or sleep much, but us poor mortals do.”

“Poor mortals with evolved techniques,” Duncan muttered.  “If you weren’t such a low level and therefore frail, you’d be scarier than me.”

“I’m already scarier than you!” Rose said.  “I just can’t take a hit.  Yet.”

They continued to argue good naturedly as they found a restaurant and Rose had a good meal.  Duncan asked about mana-infused food, but the staff had never heard of it, so he didn’t bother to eat anything.

After dinner, they flew to Duncan’s manor.  Night had fallen, and the city was lit by glowing orbs mounted on poles every hundred meters or so.  The richer section of the city, atop the hill near the Duke’s keep, was more densely lit than the lower city, but nowhere were the streets truly dark. Civic improvement, or a reaction to the recent disappearances?

Duncan’s manor was on a quiet street.  It wasn’t big enough to have its own grounds – it was more of a townhouse, but it was big enough to impress Rose.  “It’s lovely,” she said.

Duncan opened the door and frowned.  It wasn’t locked, and there was no guard present.  “Something’s not right,” he said.  He extended his sphere of discernment to its maximum range and saw a guard approaching from the servants quarters.  The guard entered the reception room and Duncan identified him as a Level 46 Warrior.

“No visitors, the owner isn’t home,” the guard said woodenly.

Duncan Assessed the man, and saw he’d been afflicted.  “Vampire Blood thrall,” he warned Rose, who immediately activated her Mental Invisibility and stepped off to the side.

I could remove the affliction, but that’s mana intensive and if there are vampires in my house, I can’t afford to spend the mana.  “Do you think Soothe Psyche can cure the thralldom?” he asked, but then sensed another figure coming from further inside the manor.  He raised a hand, “Incoming.”

The door opened and a Level 112 140 Mage entered. “What do we have…” she began.

Duncan Blinked to her, opening a fold in space at a forty-five-degree angle behind her head.  He shoved her with all his strength, and as her upper body entered his fold, he dismissed it.  The vampire’s body was cleaved in twain along a line from the front of the shoulders to the base of the shoulder blades.  Duncan seized the head and shoved the shoulders into another fold in space, precisely separating the head from the shoulders.

He stored the body parts, relieved that he could do so – living creatures couldn’t be stored, so it had to be dead for him to be able to store it.  Two more vampires burst into the room, one racing towards Duncan and the other going after the blood thrall.  Duncan had no time to wonder what the second one was doing, as the first one was almost as fast as him.

Using the vampire’s aggression against it, Duncan opened another fold in space at a forty-five-degree angle just in front of his own waist, angling away from his face.  He made it a meter wide and a meter tall and gave it a tiny displacement of only a centimeter or so in order to prevent visual distortions that could give it away.

The vampire rushed to grapple him, fangs going for his neck.  Duncan bisected it by closing the fold in space.  The vampire’s eyes widened in shock even as Duncan grabbed it and lifted it into another fold in space above its head and decapitated it.  This tactic is almost perfectly suited for vampires.  They’re aggressive, need to close to grapple to get to my blood, and light enough that I can lift them easily.  And the only way to actually kill them (at least that I have access to) is to decapitate them.  I just wish it was as easy with a sword.

He stored the pieces of the corpse and Blinked to the other vampire, which had shredded the neck of the blood thrall but was still ravaging it.  He threw a perfect horizontal reverse cut with his dragontooth sword – and the blade got lodged in the vampire’s spine, not quite able to cut clean through.  Damn it!  What am I doing wrong?

The vampire started, suddenly realizing that it was under attack.  It spun to face Duncan, dropping the corpse, and lashing out with its clawed hands, but Duncan’s sword was still stuck in its spine and its spin was cut short.  Blood burst out of its eyes, ears, and nose.  Duncan swept his Spirit sword up through the vampire’s body and followed up with a Mind Spike.  He pulled hard on his dragontooth sword, dragging the vampire towards him before the sword came loose.

The vampire slumped to the ground, blood pouring out of all its orifices.  Duncan grabbed it and slid it forward so that the head passed through another fold in space, then decapitated it.  He stored the corpse, then checked to make sure the blood thrall was dead.  Can’t heal him or remove the affliction now.

“Sorry,” said Rose, startling him.  “I used a seeming to make the vampire think the thrall was me.  I didn’t want to risk it seeing through my invisibility, since it’s only rank one.”

“Was it you that made him bleed out of his eyes?” Duncan asked.

“Yeah, Shred Psyche - he lacked your defensive techniques,” Rose said. “That was disgusting though.  And that one little fight took two thirds of my mana.”

“Alright, let’s check the rest of the manor, see if there are any more.  I can’t believe we’re treating my manor like a dungeon,” Duncan sighed.

“Ooh, can I loot it?” Rose asked.  Duncan pretended not to have heard.

They prowled through the rest of the house, finding that six of the bedrooms had seen use, but finding no more vampires.  They did find four more blood thralls in the servants quarters.  It turned out that Rose couldn’t heal them with Soothe Psyche – the condition wasn’t mental or psychic damage, but a magical effect.  Duncan used Remove Affliction on one, but it cost him eight thousand mana and he locked the remaining three in the wine cellar rather than spend all his mana on trying to cure them when there were potentially three more vampires that could show up at any time.

The guard he did cure was distraught – his wife had come looking for him after he’d been enthralled, and the vampires had drained and killed her.  Rose’s Soothe Psyche helped somewhat, and they sent him home with a pocket full of gold to check on the remainder of his family.

In the end, they decided to wait in the reception room for the other vampires to return.  Rose was adamant that one night without sleep wouldn’t be a problem, and she would use her Mental Invisibility technique when Duncan nudged her to indicate he picked up someone approaching the door with his Sphere of Discernment.

After a three-hour wait, Duncan poked Rose and opened a fold in space in front of the door, a meter wide and a meter and a half tall, starting at waist height.  The door opened and a gorgeous woman (a Level 81 Mage 154 Warrior) strode in.  The base of the fold in space caught her across her hips and she folded forward.  Duncan ended the technique and her upper body fell to the floor even as her legs collapsed behind her.

Remarkably, she landed on her hands and ran forward on them, flinging herself at Duncan, fangs bared.  Her aura blanketed the area, instilling a sense of dread in Duncan.  Still, he caught her by the shoulders and lifted her into another fold in space, which neatly decapitated her.

Rose laughed.  “Okay, she was scary.  But you have the perfect anti-vampire build.  It’s like they can’t do anything to you before their head is gone.”

“It’s only because they’re so aggressive and they go right for my throat.  They’re taken by surprise, and never get the chance to try a new strategy.  The first time I have to face one of them that has seen me in action against another one, it’s going to be a much more difficult fight.”  Duncan frowned, “And it’s cheating.”

“What?” Rose asked.

“The fold in space beheading them.  It’s cheating,” Duncan said.  “Every time I do it, I expect someone in authority to come and slap me on the back of the head for it.  The only reason I use the technique this way is that vampires are too big a threat to allow one to escape.”  He stored the pieces of the corpse.

“What makes it cheating?” Rose asked.  “You have an outstanding Space affinity, and you developed the technique yourself.  Yes, it’s strong, but so are my Mind techniques.  They’re not cheating.”

“I’m a swordsman, not a Space mage,” Duncan tried to explain.  “It doesn’t feel right that I can cut better with my Space affinity than I can with my Blade affinity.”

Rose started to say that Duncan was a swordsman and a space mage and a healer and a mind mage and a spirit mage but cut herself off before she uttered a word.  She’d heard Duncan’s explanation of the cultivation system, and the part which one’s Concept played, and she didn’t want to do anything to undermine Duncan’s Concept of himself.  So, she just shrugged and tried to look sympathetic.

“And besides,” Duncan added, “your Mind techniques are definitely cheating.”

They bickered good-naturedly for a while, then settled into a comfortable silence to wait for more vampires.

It was almost dawn, when Duncan nudged Rose and whispered, “two.”

The door opened and a short, rotund vampire wearing a fine doublet and hose entered, followed by a tall slender vampire in an even finer gown.  They stopped abruptly when they saw Duncan, and the chubby male said, “What do we have here?”  He smiled broadly and Duncan felt a wave of friendship.  His Tranquil Mind technique squealed at him, and, desperately, he switched out his dragontooth sword for his Sword of Peace.  Immediately, the sensation abated.  While he couldn’t attack with the Sword of Peace, it made him completely immune to mental and spiritual effects when he held it.

The jovial vampire stepped forward casually and bumped into the bottom of Duncan’s fold in space, but he wasn’t moving fast enough to fold over it.  Instead, he stopped, a puzzled look on his face.  Duncan ended the technique, and the fold disappeared.

The shorter vampire was Level 165, and the slender lady vampire was Level 140.  This could get quite rough.  He Blinked behind the lady vampire, seized her by the arms and lifted her head into a fold in space.  Once again, the ridiculous strength provided him by his outstanding body affinity allowed him to overpower the vampire physically.  She kicked him, hard, in the groin with her heel as he decapitated her.

Wincing but not debilitated, thanks to his armor, he stored her body and Blinked to a corner of the room, facing the remaining vampire, who was gaping at him.

“Minerva!” the vampire roared.  Ten tentacles made of blood burst from his chest and reached for Duncan.

Duncan Blinked past the vampire and opened a fold in space between them.  The vampire spun to face him, eyes and ears now bleeding.  The blood tentacles reached for him again, and he cut them off by closing the fold in space.  The separated tentacles hit the floor and burst, spreading blood in a large pool between them.

“How are you resisting my control, mongrel?” the vampire gritted.

Duncan Blinked behind him and tried to grab him by the back of his doublet with the hand not holding the Sword of Peace, but a sphere of blood surrounded the vampire and Duncan’s hand slipped off.  He equipped his Spirit sword in his right hand and swung through the shield at the vampire.  Half a dozen blood tentacles passed through the blood shield and struck him in the chest.  Most of the tentacles glanced off his armor, barbed edges on them digging in but not breaking through.  One managed to penetrate the dragon skin and made contact with his skin.  A burning sensation spread from the spot.

Blinking away, Duncan opened another fold in space between himself and the vampire and used Assessment on himself to see what was wrong.  He’d been afflicted by a condition called Domineering Blood, and he spent eight thousand mana to remove the affliction.  More tentacles reached for him; he cut them apart by closing the fold in space they were reaching through.

“Mind Control doesn’t work; Blood Control doesn’t work.  What are you?”  The vampire, blood pouring from its orifices, suddenly turned to mist.  Duncan hit it with a Mind Spike and swung his Spirit sword through the mist.

The vampire in mist form rose up, heading for the ceiling.  Duncan opened a fold in space above it, and it passed through the fold, coming out at floor level, going up.  Duncan used another Mind Spike, fueling it with as much mana as he dared, and attacked repeatedly with his Spirit sword.  The vampire rose up through the fold in space again, and Duncan cut it as it rose out of the fold at floor level.  It seems to be confused.  It’s just going up and up.

The vampire stopped, mist pooling, then bolted for the front door.  Again, Duncan interposed a fold in space – the mist was fast, but not as fast as the speed of thought.  This time he placed the other side of the fold only ten centimeters or so in front of the first side.  The result was that the vampire essentially teleported back ten centimeters every time it went through the fold in space.  It never got any closer to the door and was effectively almost stationary.

Duncan cut through its misty body repeatedly with his Spirit sword, until it suddenly reverted into its normal form.  The displacement of the fold in space was small enough that its face was pressed into the back of its own head, and its belly was constrained by its back.  Duncan ended the technique the moment he saw the vampire reconstitute its body, and the result was a huge spray of blood as the vampire was split into vertical slices.

All the pieces of vampire fell to the floor, and Duncan scooped up each one and used a fold in space to remove the portion of head on each from the portion of body on each.  When he was done, he was able to store the corpse, to his great relief, though he had to remove a storage ring from one piece first.

“That was exhausting,” said Rose.  “I ran out of mana early in that fight.”

“I was worried he’d get away.  I don’t think he could have hurt me, at least once I got my Sword of Peace out.” At Rose’s inquiring look, he explained, “It completely prevents all mental and spiritual effects, but I can’t attack with it.  His mental attack was really strong.  I should have been wearing my bracelet of mental protection – I knew vampires could have strong mind magic.  When I felt his attack, I panicked a bit and went straight to my strongest defense.  His blood tentacle things were nasty, too.  A rank ten blood affliction, I think.”  I’m rambling a bit.  He was pretty scary.

“As to your mana – your level is far too low for your techniques. Normally you’d have ten ranks in a prior technique to boost your levels, which would boost your mana and mana regeneration.  But that will come as you level up.  For now, maybe try to find an attack that uses less mana while you’re leveling,” Duncan said.  “Thank you for your help with him.  I saw all the blood pouring out of his face, and I think he was confused because of your attacks.”

Rose nodded.  “The combination of mind, spirit, and soul magic is really effective, it seems.  It messed with your mind, and you have some good defensive techniques.  I think it did even more to the vampires.  And I used it more on them, too.”

“That was six vampires killed, and we found six rooms used upstairs.  That’s not definitive by any means, but maybe we’ve killed all the vampires staying here.  They don’t like sunlight, so I wouldn’t expect any to be out and about after dawn.  Let’s check on the servants, and then I’d like to visit a temple,” Duncan said, summoning all the corpses and using Extract Resources to acquire a few vials of black liquid.  Probably more Vampiric essence.  That grisly task done, he stored the corpses again.

“A temple?” Rose asked.

“Vampires are disliked by the gods, I hear,” Duncan explained.  “And the Church represents the gods.  I know a fellow in the Church Militant who might be involved in defending Lanport from the vampires.  I’ve got to report this to someone, and I’d rather not deal with the Duke’s officials.”

They found the servants comatose in the cellar.  They still had the blood thrall affliction, but, Duncan surmised, the death of their master had rendered them unresponsive.  “It takes a third of my mana to cure each of them and I’m still down mana from that fight,” Duncan said.  “I’ll cure one now and carry the other two with me to the temple.”

He cured the cook, and Rose comforted her and used Soothe Psyche to heal her trauma.  Duncan sent her home to her family with a handful of gold.

Then he and Rose flew to the temple of the Church Militant, Duncan carrying the two remaining thralls.  Landing outside, Duncan equipped his Knight Errant’s tabard before approaching the guards.  “Duncan of the Valley to see Archdeacon Josef, about the vampires,” he said.

One of the guards led them inside, where a church official met them.  “The Archdeacon is in a meeting concerning the vampire threat as we speak.  I’ll bring you to them.”

Moments later, they were in a large meeting room where Archdeacon Josef was meeting with several other Church knights and two representatives of the Duke, plus a representative of the city watch.  “Ah, Duncan, my lad,” exclaimed Josef.  “Have you come to shed some light on the issue?”

“I’m happy to see you again, Sir,” Duncan said.  “I returned to Lanport yesterday and found that six vampires were residing in my manor.  They turned the servants into blood thralls and had them turn away visitors.”

“We can have a troop there within the hour!” one of the knights exclaimed. “In the daytime they’ll be trapped!”

“I killed the six vampires,” Duncan said (he and Rose had agreed earlier to keep her out of it), “and have cured two of the servants.  The other two I will cure when my mana recovers sufficiently, unless the Church has a better method.”  He raised a hand to forestall comments.  “I have the remains of the vampires, if you need to see them.”

The Ducal representative who’d been trying to speak sat back.  “Please,” said Josef, “I think that would help answer the questions of those who don’t know you.”

Duncan produced the six vampire corpses on the floor in front of the table.  “Why are they in so many pieces?” one of the knights asked.

“My strongest affinity is Blade.  Cutting them was my best option,” Duncan replied.  It’s true.  And one day soon I’ll be able to do that cutting with my sword.  He turned to Josef.  “I just wanted to let you know that the vampires may be hiding in other empty manors.”

Josef nodded.  “That makes very good sense.  We haven’t searched the wealthier parts of town, and many of those buildings sit empty while the lords are out at their country estates.  How strong were they?  What kind of force do you think we’ll need?”

“These ranged from one-twenty to one-sixty-five.  The little one was a very strong mind mage, and could turn to mist,” Duncan said.  “The rest seemed to be run of the mill vampires – fast and strong, but they need to grapple and bite their targets, so they’re predictable.  A typical team of centurions should be able to handle one or two at a time, but if you run into one of the mind mages, you’ll need very strong defenses.”

“A team of centurions to handle one or two, yet you killed six?” the Ducal representative sneered.  “Does anyone else find that extremely unlikely?”

“I don’t care what you think,” said Duncan.  “But there were only three present when I arrived at my manor.  The others returned later.”

“How do we know this man’s telling the truth?” the Duke’s man asked.  “He could be working with the vampires for all we know.  This could be an ambush to weaken our forces.”

Everyone gaped at him.  “Representative Muldoon,” Josef hissed.  “Duncan is a Knight Errant of the Church Militant and was a member of the team that freed Lanport from the undead threat.  He is as trustworthy as they come.”

Duncan released his aura and the room stilled.  “With all due respect to the forces of Lanport,” he said, “if I were an enemy, I wouldn’t bother weakening your forces.  I would simply clean house.”  He took a deep breath and suppressed his aura again.  “I’m sorry,” he said to Josef.  “I’ve had a lot of annoying fights lately and I haven’t been in a dungeon in far too long.  I’m tired and irritable.”

One of the knights grinned at him.  “You’re not one-fifteen.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Low mana density’s getting to you?”

Duncan nodded.  “There’s a reason high-level folks avoid the empire.  I spend most of my time in dungeons, and a few days out is fine, unless I have to fight a lot and don’t get to recover.”

The Duke’s man spluttered, “You are a bully!  Nothing more!”

Where do they find officials like this?  How do they survive in a world where personal strength is everything?  “Fortunately for you, representative Muldoon, I am a bully who supports the Church and the Duke, and I fight to protect Lanport.”

He turned back to Josef, “Do you have a way to cure the Blood Thrall affliction?” he asked.

“Nothing as fast or effective as your technique, I’m afraid,” Josef replied.

“Alright, I’ll cure them later today.  I have another meeting shortly, then I’m leaving Lanport for another while.  Maybe a century or two, actually.  Good luck with the vampires.  If you need me, leave word with the Adventurers Guild.  I’ll try to check in there or with the Church wherever I end up.”

“Thank you for the information,” Josef replied.  “We’ll examine all the empty properties like yours.  Good fortune on your travels.”

Duncan and Rose exited the room.  The last thing they heard was representative Muldoon saying, “Wait, is he just going to leave those bodies here?”

“Is it always like that?” Rose asked.

“Pretty much,” Duncan replied.  “Most of the people I deal with are perfectly sensible, but there’s always some petty official who thinks he’s important.  The thing is, even if I were to walk around showing level one-fifty or even two hundred, they’d still look down on me.”

Chapter 23

They made their way to the Adventurers Guild with a little time to spare before their meeting with Pelleas.  Duncan removed the Blood Thrall affliction from both his servants and sent them home with a handful of gold each after Rose healed their trauma.  No more manors for me.  I’ll ask Elliot to just sponsor more orphanages instead.  No return on investment, but I have dungeons for that.

Rose grabbed a bite to eat, and then they met Pelleas in a private lounge on the second floor of the Adventurers Guild hall.  The elf passed a soul gem to Rose and said, “First off, let’s see what this shows you.”

Rose absorbed the stone – okay, that looks creepy.  Do I look creepy when I absorb a technique stone or affinity stone? – and after a moment, she grinned and shared the information with them both.

Name:

Rose Campbell

Class:

Mage

Techniques Advanced (Level):

68

Evolution Tier:

1

Str (Body):

76

Int (Static):

75

Dex (Body):

119

Wis (Mind, Spirit):

80

Agi (Body):

120

Aura:

305

End (Body):

106

Violence

Puissance

30

Reaction:

100

150

Focus:

221

Authority

40

Willpower:

229

Compassion

40

Charisma

45

Concurrent Active Techniques:

2

Health:

11790

Health Regen:

164 / hour

Stamina:

1740

Stam Regen:

5100 / hour

Mana:

25050

Mana Regen:

5092 / hour

Cultivation:

Body Tempering

None

Meridians Open

30/30

Core formation

None

Nascent Soul

2%

Concept

Glimmers

Affinities:

Body

Moderate

Air

Weak

Shadow

Strong

Fire

Weak

Earth

Weak

Mind

Perfect

Spirit

Strong

Soul

Strong

Healing

Moderate

Void

Moderate

Techniques

Active

Rank

Passive

Rank

Soothe Psyche

9

Spirit Shield

6

Cloak of Shadow

4

Soul Guard

6

Seeming

7

Mind Shield

7

Telekinetic Flight

3

Shadow Sight

7

Psychic Scream

1

Ignore Pain

5

Shadowblade

3

Read Intentions

4

Mental Invisibility

2

Telekinesis

1

Telekinetic Shield

1

Shred Psyche

2

Skills

Rank

Daggers

3

Riding

3

Bow

2

Sewing / Tailoring

4

light armor

3

Wilderness Survival

4

Swimming

2

Sheep Husbandry

2

“A perfect Mind affinity,” breathed Pelleas.  “Never have I ever…”

“Woah,” agreed Duncan.

“That explains your robust mana well for your level,” Pelleas said.  “With a little cultivation, you should be able to double, or even triple that amount, too.  I will show both of you what I mean by that shortly.”

“She’s evolution tier one!” Duncan exclaimed.  “I’m only zero, and I’m almost a hundred levels above you.”

“Evolution tier clearly has something to do with evolved techniques,” Pelleas said.  “She has eight evolved techniques, or nine, if Read Intentions is also evolved, and it may well be.  I am also tier one, but I only have two evolved techniques. So clearly, it’s not the number of evolved techniques.  Which leaves the number of times a technique has evolved.”

“Two huh?” Duncan said.

“I am a scholar, not a hero,” Pelleas said primly.  “I consider two evolved techniques a good accomplishment.  An accomplishment I note you do not have.”

“You’re like a thousand years old.  You’re bound to get something right after that long.”

“Ahem,” said Rose.  “Eighteen.  Nine evolved techniques.”

“Argh!” Duncan gripped his head.  “I’m a total failure.”

“There, there.” Rose patted his shoulder.  “You can go into a dungeon and hit things with your swords later.  That’ll cheer you up.”

Duncan snorted, “You’re not wrong.”

“I have some recommendations for passive techniques, Rose,” said Pelleas.  “You absolutely need Regeneration, and I would strongly recommend Hardened Skin and Assessment.  If you’re able to use an additional active technique, Destrin’s Restoration is an instant self-heal which synchronizes nicely with regeneration.  Your healing and body affinities are both only moderate, but if you get both techniques to rank six, you should be very pleased with the results.”

“My Destrin’s Restoration is only rank seven, and my Regeneration is rank eight, and my healing is amazing,” Duncan said.

“You have outstanding affinities in both, so you’re getting more benefit than Rose will, but yes, as I said, at rank six in both techniques, it’s a very robust instant heal,” Pelleas went on.  “Rose, I know it feels like we’re riffing on Duncan’s build here, but you have overlapping affinities, and he’s proof that these techniques are viable, better than viable.”

“Do you have any of those technique stones here?” Duncan asked.

“I have Regeneration, but none of the others,” Pelleas replied.

“Rose, do you want the Regeneration technique?” Duncan asked.  “And the others?  I’ll pay for them – I’ve got more gold than I know what to do with, again.”

“You do know how to make a girl feel special,” Rose said.  Huh, is that sarcasm?

“I’m worried that my mana runs out really fast in a fight when I use Shred Psyche,” Rose said.  “Duncan suggested I look for another attack that’s less mana intensive while I level up.”

“How much mana are you putting into each attack?” Pelleas asked, frowning.

“Um, as much as I can?” Rose said.  “I just focus on it hitting as hard as it can.”  She looked at Duncan, “Can I hit you with it?  I’ll heal you afterwards.”

Duncan shuddered.  “That’s a really unpleasant attack.  But yes, if you heal it right away.”

A sudden feeling of soul-crushing loss and despair overcame Duncan, and then Rose was holding his hand, and the feeling was gone.

“Shit!” Duncan exclaimed.  “That was so much worse than last time.  And I lost nine thousand health to that, despite having rank seven defensive techniques.  That’s insane.”

“It cost five thousand mana to attack, and one thousand to heal the damage afterwards,” Rose said.  “Sorry Duncan.  I won’t hit you with it again.”

“I think the biggest attack I’ve ever made with Mind Spike cost twelve hundred mana,” Duncan said.  “I’m pretty sure I couldn’t put five thousand mana into it if I tried.”

“Well, Rose,” Pelleas began, “I think you can probably use less forceful attacks on most of your opponents.  You won’t always be facing vampires more than double your level.  And I hope to be able to help you condense your core, which should lower the mana cost of all your techniques.  The denser your core, the more efficient the mana is.  Beyond that, we can look at items that will help you use some of your other affinities to attack and defend.”

Pelleas produced a technique stone, and said, “This is a Regeneration technique stone.  It costs ten gold, because it’s both common and in-demand.”  He tossed the stone to Rose and accepted ten gold coins from Duncan.  “Whether or not you take my advice about the other techniques, every adventurer with a decent Body affinity should have Regeneration.”

Rose nodded and pressed the stone to her forehead.  She took a deep breath in, and the stone turned into streamers of light and smoke that entered her skin and disappeared.  Duncan watched, fascinated.  Creepy, but better than the whole stone being absorbed, which is what I always thought happened.

“Now, these are mana visualization elixirs,” Pelleas put two vials of white liquid on the counter in front of him. “They’re used to help children see the flow of mana in their bodies.  Most people outside the empire learn to visualize their mana flows through meditation, but that skill isn’t taught here.  The elixirs are for children who struggle with the visualization process.  They’re expensive; I had to source these from an alchemist in Helvetia, my home kingdom.  They’re a hundred gold each.”

Duncan passed over two hundred gold coins eagerly. Being able to view his own mana inside his body was something he’d been striving for since before he left the valley.  He took up one of the vials and looked at Pelleas for instructions.

“Rose, take the second vial,” Pelleas said.  “Drink the elixir, then lie on your back on the floor.  Close your eyes and breathe deeply.  Try to meditate if you can.  Focus inward.  The elixir will, for lack of a better term, dye your mana to make it stand out in your mind.  It may take a few moments for it to take effect, so keep your focus on your own body.”

Following the instructions, Duncan found the elixir to have a pleasant, minty taste.  Turning his focus inward as directed was challenging – there were no cues – but the elixir took effect and he was suddenly looking at a three-dimensional model of his body, as if he were floating above it. His core was a cloudy swirl of lights spinning slowly.  His meridians were bright lines running from his core in loops to every part of his body.

Two of the meridian loops were darker than the others.  “Hey Pelleas,” Duncan said, “I think I’ve found the two unopened meridians.  They’re darker than all the others.”

“Ah, wonderful!” Pelleas exclaimed.  “You must have an excellent visualization.  Can you see where they go?”

“One seems to go up my spine and into my skull,” Duncan said, “and the other… well, actually, it looks like it goes into my skull too, but at the front.”

“Hmm, a brain meridian, or perhaps a senses meridian, or both,” said Pelleas, and Rose snorted.

“Damn it!” she said.  “I lost my visualization because I laughed at your brain meridian being closed.”

“Serves you right,” grumped Duncan.

“Indeed,” agreed Pelleas.  “Rose, keep focusing on viewing your mana inside yourself.  Duncan, you can try to open those meridians, if you like.  Do them one at a time.  To do so, try to take control of your mana and direct it at the entrance to the blocked meridian, like you’re throwing a ball, or aiming a stream of liquid, depending on how you visualize the mana itself.”

“Fuzzy motes of light, mostly,” Duncan replied.

“Right, then seize just one mote and fling it at the blocked meridian.  It may take some time, but keep trying,” Pelleas said.  “Rose, how is your visualization?”

“It’s like a pond?  I mean, I can see the meridians, and the mana is in them, but it’s not moving much, so I don’t want to call it a river,” Rose explained.

“Excellent.  I want you to focus on making the river flow.  Your mana should move through the meridians and return to your core.  In your core, it should swirl into a sphere, with little streams flowing out into each meridian constantly, and other streams flowing back out of the meridians into the core.  Again, it may take some time.  Focus on making it move.”  Pelleas paused.  “If you try activating a technique, you’ll see the mana move, and that may help you move it manually.”

Duncan was trying and failing to grab a mote of light using imaginary hands.  After an indeterminate length of time, he changed tactics and focused on a specific mote and ordered to move towards the blocked meridian.  When that failed to work, he tried pushing on it with his force of will, and to his great joy, it moved!  Not far, and not towards the blockage, but it moved.  He settled down to refine his control and soon (eventually? Time seemed to be flowing strangely in this fugue state) he was bouncing a mote of mana off the blocked opening.

Suddenly the blockage yielded, and the mote of light disappeared into the meridian.  It didn’t take long for it to run into another blockage, but Duncan could see the path ahead and threw all his willpower into forcing motes of mana through the blocked meridian, chipping away at each blockage he came to.  Moments (hours? Days?) later, the meridian was clear and mana was flowing through it the same way it flowed through his other meridians.

Pelleas pressed a damp cloth into Duncan’s hands.  “You have waste products flowing out of your orifices,” he said.  “Wipe them up with that, please, and then store the rag.  The smell is unpleasant.”

Duncan was well aware – he could smell the foul substance himself, and hastily cleaned up his face.  “What is that stuff, anyway?”

“It’s the physical representation of the impurities that were blocking the meridian,” Pelleas explained.  “That was almost certainly a senses meridian.   Were it a brain meridian, the impurities would enter your bloodstream and be cleansed by your liver, and you’d have an unpleasant bowel movement sometime thereafter.”

Duncan shuddered as he looked at the remaining blocked meridian.  What are the odds that’s another senses meridian?  With a mental shrug, he began to attack the blockage of his twenty-fourth meridian, then paused as a thought struck him.  “Why wasn’t Rose tormenting me about the impurities?” he asked, not willing to open his eyes and stop his visualization.

“She’s sleeping in the corner.  It’s taken you most of a day to open that meridian,” Pelleas said.

“Huh.  Well, that’s a relief.  Hopefully this next one’s faster,” Duncan replied, and dove back into the effort.

The last plugged meridian turned out to be another senses meridian, and the impurities were forced out of his ears and into his mouth and nose.  The taste was even worse than the smell, and Pelleas had to rush out to the bar to acquire a bottle of strong spirits to wash the taste away.

Duncan’s gagging and coughing woke Rose, who was predictably horrified at the mess he was producing.  “You are disgusting!” she declared, departing the room to find a toilet.

Once Duncan had recovered from the experience of opening his meridians and Rose had returned, Pelleas said, “Now, on to the hard part!”  He grinned at their groans.  “You must swirl your mana in your core into an ever-shrinking sphere until you’re able to condense a drop of liquid mana in your core.  And then you will do it again, and again, until all the mana in your core has condensed and you have liquid mana running through your meridians instead of that airy excuse for mana you’re using now.”

He smiled broadly at them.  “It may take days or weeks for you to complete the process, but I want you to get three drops condensed before you leave the room.”  He sat back and pulled a large tome out of his storage device and began to read.

“How…” began Duncan.

“Spin it fast, constrict the space it has to spin in.”  Pelleas frowned.  “It’s probably easier in a high-mana environment like a dungeon, honestly.  Especially towards the end of the process – you’ll want to be absorbing the ambient mana to refill the void created by condensing your mana.  It’s an uncomfortable process without sufficient replacement mana – your meridians get squeezed from the inside.  Back home, we have higher ambient mana in the air, and we use a formation to further concentrate the mana.  But a dungeon would do just as well.”

“So.  Three drops before you leave, so I know you’re doing it right, then you go find a dungeon with sufficient mana density to make it easier, but with weak enough monsters that you’re not constantly having to fight for your lives when you should be cultivating.”

Duncan nodded.  That all makes good sense.  We can use the forest dungeon off to the East.  We can clear an area, and if we choose the spot well, we shouldn’t get too much in the way of wandering creatures.  Ooh, or we could go to the gnasher dungeon… if we don’t enter the fortress, there’s no monsters there at all… it’s quite a long way away though.

He settled down to focus on compressing his mana, losing himself in his internal world once more.  Mana proved, predictably, to be difficult to compress.  What eventually worked for him was an image of a series of concentric spheres, each pressing down on the ones below.  He frequently lost control of the mana, and started over countless times, but in the end, he had a single shiny drop of liquid mana in his core.  Creating it cost him fully half his mana, and he’d need over an hour for it to regenerate to full.

Opening his eyes, he looked around and saw Rose meditating in the far corner of the room, and a note on the table saying that Pelleas was taking a shift at the appraisal counter.  “Any progress?” Rose asked.  Huh, maybe she wasn’t meditating after all.

“I managed to condense one drop,” he said.  “I think it should go faster now, but it cost me half my mana to do that, and my mana pool wasn’t full to start with, so I think I’ll go get some stuff identified and sell all the junk I’m carrying around.”

“Can I come with you? I need a break from this meditating,” Rose sighed.  “It took too long to get the mana flowing consistently, and I’m struggling to compress it at all.”

“Yeah, you’re welcome to come along.  If I’m selling anything you need, speak up and I’ll give it to you instead.”

They made their way to the appraisals counter, where they found Pelleas writing in some sort of journal.  The elf smiled at them as he engaged the privacy screen.  “Nice to see someone here.  It’s been a quiet night.  How is your cultivating going?”

“Slowly,” Rose said.  “But I didn’t expect it to be easy.  It’s nice to have a clear goal.”

“I was able to condense one drop,” Duncan added.  “It took half my mana, so I thought I’d sell some junk while I wait for the mana to regenerate.”

“Congratulations!” Pelleas said.  “You’re on your way.  Cultivators with a gaseous core are considered aspirants in most of the world.  A liquid core makes you an initiate, though I wouldn’t claim that title, were I you, until your whole core is liquid.  Now, let’s see what you’ve brought us this time.”

Duncan produced all the storage rings he’d taken from the Chevrolets.  “Well, they’re advanced, but they’re small,” Pelleas said.  “The guild can offer forty gold for each.  Yes, it’s a lower offer than it would have been a year ago, but with the dragon tax, the guild is offering less until it can build up its coin again.”

Duncan shrugged, accepting the price.  “No worries, it’s just junk to me.”  All the material that had been in those storage rings was next, along with the gear the Chevrolet centurions had been using, netting him another two hundred gold.  The Nursk weapons and armor earned him another sixty gold.

The loot from the vampires in his manor was no more interesting.  It seemed strange to Duncan that only one of the vampires had a storage device, and that none of them had used armor or weapons.  The storage ring the short vampire had owned contained six full sets of leather armor with a blood affinity and eight blood-affinity weapons.  There were swords, axes, and daggers, all sharing an aesthetic: bone hilts and ruby pommels on the swords and daggers, bone hafts on the axes.  He sold them all for sixty-two gold.

Next came all the stuff he’d taken from the undead forces he’d faced outside various towns across the empire.  There was a lot of gear that would be useful to lower level adventurers, but nothing at all to interest him.  There was a large pile of items, though, and it netted him another six hundred gold.

Digging deeper into his storage, he came across the items he’d taken from the antling queen in the Endless Depths.  “Oh, this stuff might be better,” he said.  “I killed the antling queen in the Endless Depths, and she had this stone.”  He placed the pulsating purple stone on the counter.

“Void affinity stone,” Pelleas said tonelessly.  “It’s worth over a thousand gold and the guild cannot offer you its full worth.”  He shook his head.  “Honestly, I think this might be a poor fit for you.  Your Concept is already partly formed, and it’s all about your Blade and Space affinities interacting, with the rest of your affinities being used defensively for the most part.”

Duncan looked at Rose, who was watching quietly from her perch on the chair in the corner.  “You have a moderate void affinity, already, right?”

“Yes,” she said, “But I’ve already got ten active techniques even without Destrin’s Restoration.  Even if I could afford that stone, I couldn’t really take advantage of it.”

“A fair comment,” Duncan said.  “I’ll hang on to it for now.”

“When you’re out in the world, you could almost certainly trade that for anything you wanted,” Pelleas said.  “Void is one of the strongest affinities for combat, and one of the rarest to find represented by a natural treasure.”

Duncan stored the affinity stone in his personal storage pocket, then produced the odd staff that distorted the viewer’s vision when one looked at it.  “There was a chest in the antling queen’s chamber that had some interesting stuff.  I’d actually forgotten about these.”  He pulled out the purple chitinous armor and the two hand axes he’d found in the same chest.

Pelleas examined each item in turn.  “Well, these change things.  The staff is called ‘Overlord’s staff of the Void’, and if you channel void-affinity mana through it, it can produce void spheres half a meter in size within twenty meters.  The size of the spheres and the range are affected by the wielder’s void affinity.  Void affinity spells cast through it will do increased damage.”

“The armor is Antling Armor of the Void.  Void affinity, of course, like the staff.  Sometimes, when it is struck, the attacking force, be it a spell or an arrow, or even a melee attack, is sent into the void.  The frequency at which this happens is affected by the wearer’s void affinity.  Even without the void, the armor is very sturdy, and can repair itself over time if you feed it mana.”

“The axes are called the Mandibles of the Ant Queen, and they are also void affinity.  The damage they do is affected by the wielder’s void affinity.  Your blade affinity would also apply, of course,” Pelleas said.  “Each of those items is worth over a thousand gold, and the guild cannot offer you their full value.”

“Combined, they offer you a completely different line of both offense and defense.  You have a ranged and a melee void attack, and a void-based defense, as well.  Without a technique to back the attacks, though, they will become less effective against cultivators and monsters who have strong control over their auras or mana in their bodies.  Void attacks don’t travel – they appear where the attack takes place, and if that place is in the body of a strong opponent, it won’t take effect.”

Duncan nodded, “For most people, their body is their domain, and they rule the mana therein.”

“Exactly!” Pelleas said.

“They’re a great set of items, especially combined with the affinity stone.  But as you said earlier, it doesn’t fit my Concept at all.  I’m a swordsman, and that’s what I want to stay.   I’m sure they’ll be amazing trade items when I leave the empire,” Duncan said.

“But here’s a thought.  Rose, your mind affinity attacks are all subtle – there’s no indication of what you’re doing – you don’t have to gesture, there’s no bolt of energy from you to the target.  So, what if you were to present yourself as a void and shadow mage?  Use the staff and the armor normally, train with the hand axes for a nice surprise element, and mix in your invisible mind affinity stuff?  Your telekinetic barrier is invisible.  The only thing that might give you away is the psychic scream attack.”

Pelleas nodded.  “That would be a clever tactic.  Dungeon monsters wouldn’t care, of course, but the void attacks would be perfectly legitimate even there.  And against sentient opponents, the duplicity would be a huge advantage.”

Rose gave them both a flat look.  “Pelleas, what’s the actual market value of that affinity stone, out in the world?”

“A hundred thousand gold, at least,” the elf replied.

“I will not be indebted to you for over a hundred thousand gold worth of stuff, Duncan of the Valley.  You have already given me more than I’m comfortable with.  This storage bracelet, the gold, the armor, the sword, the elixir.  I will not be permanently indebted!” Rose declared.

“I really need to get back into a dungeon,” Duncan muttered.  “Look, I never said any of that was a loan.  In fact, I made it clear it was all a gift.  You don’t have to pay me back for any of it, and if you want to disappear right now, I won’t try to track you down.  You’ll be free and clear.”

“I like your company.  You’re funny and sarcastic, and I was hoping you’d stick around.  But to do that, you need to be less fragile.  Some of the things I fight could kill you with a single blow.  And so, I offer you things that I think will help you.  There’s no expectation of repayment.  I don’t set a monetary value on this stuff – it all came to me as a bonus while I was getting stronger and advancing my techniques.”

“If you don’t want the help, just turn it down.  There’s no reason to be angry at me for trying to help.”  He turned to Pelleas, “I think that’s it for items I needed to sell.  I’ve got a pile of rare ores and extracts from plants and monsters, but I’m going to save them for when I’m somewhere with higher ambient mana and skillful crafters.  Thank you for your assistance, as always.   I’m going to the Sawiskin dungeon to condense my mana and to enjoy the higher mana density.”

He Blinked up into the sky and flew out over the sea to the small island where the dungeon entrance sat.  The last time he’d been here, there’d been Sawiskin guards everywhere, but the island was completely deserted now.  A few months of me not showing up, and they’re back to normal.  Well, hopefully, there are no Sawiskin inside at the moment – I can find a nice out of the way niche to sit and meditate in.

He entered the dungeon, and the sheer relief of the increased mana density almost buckled his knees.  Wow.  I knew I was tired and irritable and a little hungry from not being in a dungeon for a while, but I didn’t think it was that bad.  Have I hit the point where spending time in the Empire is going to be miserable?  Can I just spend most of my time in dungeons?  No, I want to end the Chevrolet / Nursk threat, and to do that I’ll have to fight outside of dungeons.  Maybe I can just use dungeons to rest and reset whenever I start to feel oppressed by the lack of mana.

The entrance chamber was empty, and if it hadn’t been for the Sawiskin claiming the dungeon and frequently delving it, he’d have sat and meditated right there.  As it was, he moved deeper into the familiar dungeon, seeking out a dead end passage with no monsters.  He encountered a couple of pairs of turtle men – Turtollians.  Thanks, soul gem – and dispatched them quickly.  He also remembered to dump all the corpses of the Nursk and Chevrolet forces he’d been carrying in his storage devices.

He found exactly what he was looking for a few minutes later.  The tunnel had several twists and turns, then straightened out for about ten meters before ending in a little alcove.  He sat with his back to the wall, made sure his danger sense earring was in place, and began to meditate.

The increased ambient mana was a huge boon – Duncan felt much more at home, and better able to concentrate.  The second drop of liquid in his core condensed in half the time the first one had taken, and his mana regeneration rate was noticeably faster than it had been in Lanport.  A third drop condensed, then a fourth and a fifth.  Each took less time than the one before, and soon his progress was limited by his mana regeneration rather than by technique.

Time passed as Duncan meditated, spun his core, condensed his mana, and generally enjoyed the atmosphere in the dungeon.  No monsters wandered down the dead-end passage to his alcove, nor did any adventurers (human or Sawiskin).  At some point, he realized all his gaseous mana had converted into liquid mana.  He felt… lighter, somehow.

He checked his soul gem and was astonished to see his mana total had shot up to over a hundred thousand.  I don’t understand.  My Intelligence and Wisdom values haven’t changed.  I can hold more liquid mana than gaseous mana?  I need to ask Pelleas about this.

The trip out of the dungeon was as uneventful as the trip in – he sliced apart a few turtollians and was out of the dungeon in minutes.  He noticed that he was much better able to deal with the information from his Sphere of Discernment.  Opening those two senses meridians made a massive difference.  The drop in ambient mana as he exited the dungeon was almost painful.  With a grimace, he summoned a sword and flew back to Lanport as the sun set behind him.

He arrived at the Adventurers Guild hall and asked for Pelleas. He was directed to the same sitting room he’d last seen the elf in.  Pelleas looked up from reading a large tome and smiled.  “Initiate Duncan.  I can sense your advancement.”

“Thank you!  Now, can you explain what happened with my mana?” Duncan asked.

“Liquid mana is more dense than gaseous mana.  Your mana pool should be about three times what it was,” Pelleas said, clearly expecting the question.  “That is not a large mana pool, by the way.  Before you move to the adept stage in two or three centuries, you will want to expand your mana well from its current bucket size to an actual well.  Before you ask, I am not a master, and I cannot teach you how to do that.  My master despairs at my own efforts.”

“A general guide? A vague clue?” Duncan grinned.

Pelleas sighed.  “Great internal visualization and a willingness to work through pain.”

“Thank you.  It’s a starting point,” Duncan said.

“You’re in a much better mood after your dungeon stay,” Pelleas commented. “But be warned – the low ambient mana will be even more irritating going forward now that you’ve condensed your core.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Duncan said.  “I shouldn’t have been so tired.  It was less than a week between dungeon visits, but I was tired, hungry, and irritable.”

“That’s because you fought a lot in that time – you depleted your mana pool, and regenerating mana in such a low-mana environment is painful.  The mana is insufficient to replenish your natural energy, as well, resulting in hunger.  As I said, it will be worse now that you’ve condensed your core,” Pelleas explained.

“Well, there’s only a couple of things I want to do in the empire, and then I’ll leave for more mana-rich regions,” Duncan said.  “I should talk with Rose, too.  I was in no mood to talk earlier, but it was rude to leave the way I did.”

“I spoke with her while you were gone, and explained you helped your Academy roommates out in the same way.  I think she understands that you’re not being disrespectful by trying to help her out.  She has a lot of pride, and it hurts that pride to be treated as lesser,” said Pelleas.

Duncan frowned.  “I mean no disrespect, and you know that.  I would like her to be strong enough to be a real partner for me.  She’s got scary potential, but at only level sixty-eight, she can’t afford pride.”

“Now that does sound disrespectful,” Pelleas admonished.  “I have never seen someone for whom the level system was less accurate.  She has eight or nine evolved techniques.  She is fragile, but not remotely weak.  She survived her imprisonment with the Nursk, protected her fellow prisoners, and if she’d been willing to leave them behind, she could have escaped.  I expect she could be one of the best assassins in the world, if she were so inclined.  As an adventurer, if she gets a decent self-heal, she could probably solo dungeons well above her level, even as you did.  Also, she burned through her mana pool in the vampire fights, and given her tier one abilities, she feels the low ambient mana every bit as much as you do.  You were both irritable.”

“Huh,” Duncan mused.  I trust Pelleas with my own build, how can I not trust his opinion on Rose’s?  At the very least I should give her an opportunity to prove herself.  It’s funny how I’ve come to rely on the level system, even knowing that it’s mostly crap.  I should not be judging Rose based on her level, only her build and how well she can perform.

“Where can I find her?” he asked.

“She’s staying at the Copper Kettle, just down the street, while she works on condensing her core,” Pelleas replied.

Duncan thanked Pelleas and took his leave, heading down to the inn.  He flew around the outside, trying to locate her before entering.  This Sphere of Discernment is much more useful now that I can control the intensity of what I experience through it.  I had no idea meridians had specific roles like control of my senses.  Oh, I did not need to see that.  Where are you, Rose?

It turned out Rose was having dinner in the common room.  Duncan entered and found her happily chatting with a small group of low-level adventurers.  She gave him a big smile and waved him over.  “Duncan, meet Terric, Jason, Gwynnedd, Ipolita, and Maisie.  They’re a local adventuring group who are heading out to explore the empire.  Everyone, this is Duncan.  He’s a really powerful solo adventurer who’s helping me get my start.”

Duncan noted that Rose was disguised as a Level 11 Mage again, and that the adventuring team were all between levels twelve and fourteen.  “Nice to meet you all,” he said.

“Sit with us,” Rose said.  “You can tell us of your adventures at our level.”

Ugh, is she inflicting people on me out of spite?  Duncan joined them, and found they were very good company, not especially awed at the level one fifteen he showed in Lanport, but respectful and curious.  He told them about some of the dungeons he’d visited in the heart of the empire, reminiscing in particular about the gem dungeon where he’d gotten his amethyst swords.  In turn, they explained their plan to take a boat West along the coast to a region about a hundred kilometers away that had a cluster of low-level dungeons for them to explore.

After they’d chatted a while, the adventurers announced they had to be up early to catch the morning tide and retired to their rooms.  Rose leaned back in her chair and said, “That was nice.  I was going stir crazy trying to condense my core and needed the break.  It was nice to just sit and chat with people.  Thanks for humoring us.”

“I actually enjoyed talking with them, too,” Duncan said.  “I came here to apologize for leaving so abruptly when we spoke earlier.  I wasn’t in the right mindset to discuss things rationally.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Rose said.  “Everyone I’ve known has always wanted something from me.  My body, my dowry, blackmail material for my parents, something.  Pelleas told me you helped your friends at the Academy the same way you offered to help me.”

“None of them had the potential to be my equal,” Duncan said.  “I helped them get off to a good start, and I expect they’ll all do well in the empire in the coming years.  You, though, I’m pretty sure Pelleas thinks you could surpass me.  That’s clearly wrong, of course, but you’ve got potential, Rose Campbell, and I’d hate to see it wasted.”

“Hah!” Rose exclaimed.  “Pelleas is wise, and I’m sure he’s right.”

“Well, there’s one way to find out.  Fulfill your potential, and we can test that theory.   I’m going to go back to San Sebastian to challenge the Scholastica Donostia.  I don’t know how long that’ll take, given I’ll have to wait for a slot.   There’s a dungeon called the Hidden Forest not far East of here.  The local Adventurers Guild can sell you an item that will point at the entrance.  It’s rated as appropriate for four level sixty adventurers.  You should try it.  It could be a good place to condense your mana, too.  You’ve got some low rank techniques that you should be able to advance in there.  And if it gets to be too boring, ask Pelleas about the Sawiskin dungeon.  It’s rated for four level nineties.”

Rose nodded, “That sounds good.  I’ll take Pelleas’s advice, too, and pick up Destrin’s Restoration and Hardened Skin.  I have enough of your gold left for those.  I didn’t know you could get items that point to dungeons.”

“Neither did I, until I asked for directions to the Hidden Forest.  It’s really hard to find, so the guild has a beacon set up at the entrance.  You should be able to earn some gold in that dungeon – some of the monsters are humanoid weapon users.”

“Perfect.”  Rose took a deep breath.  “Are you still willing to give me the void-related items?”

“Of course,” Duncan replied.  “I think you can put them to good use.”

“Then I will accept your offer.  Thanks Duncan.  You’re a big softie.”

“I keep telling people that,” he agreed, making Rose snort.  “I don’t want to pass the items over in the common room.  Do you want to go back to the Adventurers Guild?”

“No, I have a room upstairs.  Follow me.”  Rose led him up to her room on the second floor and he passed over the affinity stone, staff, axes, and armor.

“I passed out for a full day the first time I used an affinity stone,” Duncan warned her.  “Maybe use that one at the guild hall so Pelleas can watch over you.”

“Oh, wow, okay,” Rose said.  “Thanks again, Duncan.”

“You’re most welcome.  I look forward to your futile efforts to surpass me,” he grinned.  “But now, I’m fresh from a dungeon and want to head back to San Sebastian while I’m still feeling refreshed.”

The pair embraced, and Duncan Blinked out of the inn and flew to the gate to get back to Harrish.

Chapter 24

San Sebastian was a hive of activity.  Armed groups kept wary eyes on one another, and there were far more of them than there’d been the last time Duncan was here.  He Blinked to his inn and greeted Lucas the innkeeper.  “Any trouble while I was away?”

“No, my lord,” Lucas said.  “But I’ve heard the Chevrolets have a bounty on your head and have ordered all the border clans to deliver you to them or they’ll start killing random hostages.”

“Oh,” mused Duncan, “is that why there are so many armed groups wandering around town?”

“I don’t think so, my lord,” Lucas replied.  “There is to be an auction tomorrow morning for an individual and a group slot for the dungeon, and there’s a lot of interest.”

“Good timing for me, then,” Duncan said.  “Who is it that placed the bounty on me?  I think I’d like to meet them.”

“Larissa and Ignatio Chevrolet arrived yesterday.  Larissa is one of the clan leaders, I hear.  The Chevrolets took over the mayor’s manor, so you may be able to find them there.  Or,” Lucas added, “they will likely be at the dungeon slot auction tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Lucas,” Duncan said.  “I’ll be at the slot auction myself – I want the solo slot.”

He went up to his room and spent the night working on his Sphere of Discernment technique.  The two additional senses meridians he’d opened gave him much more control over which senses provided input to the sphere.  He was able to push his mind and spirit detection out to ten meters whilst retracting his taste, smell, and touch to a single meter.  This breakthrough took the technique to rank five.  Now to be able to focus my other senses on something I detect within the sphere…

At dawn, he stood up and stretched, then used his suite’s facilities to clean up before stepping onto his balcony and Blinking over to the dungeon courtyard.  Below him, the yard was starting to fill with adventurers looking to bid on a slot.  He Blinked down to the guards near the gate and asked how he should register.

The guard explained that Duncan needed to pay a five gold fee to get a bidding token, which would get him a seat on the benches for the auction.  That should keep casual bystanders away.  If the bidding went over fifty gold, all bids had to be backed by placing the amount of gold bid on one of the four bidding pedestals. No violence or intimidation of other bidders was allowed.

The terms seemed perfectly reasonable to Duncan, so he bought his token and sat on the front bench.  While he waited for the auction to begin, he practiced with his Sphere of Discernment, examining everyone who approached without looking at them with his eyes.

The crowd grew bigger than Duncan had expected it would, given the five gold buy-in.  Right before it was to start, three people in Chevrolet tartan took seats not far from him.  One of them was Leon, the fellow who’d challenged him to a duel and had the Nursk fight on his behalf.  The other two, Duncan assumed to be Larissa (a Level 140 Mage) and Ignatio (a Level 150 135 Warrior). Hah, that’s the first time I’ve seen someone pretending to be a higher level than they were.

Leon saw Duncan and blanched, whispering fiercely to the other two.  They were well within Duncan’s Sphere of Discernment range, though, and he could clearly hear Leon telling them who Duncan was.  He smiled at them as they all looked at him.

“Thank you for coming,” boomed a voice from the stage, where a Level 101 Mage was at the podium.  A device projected his voice throughout the courtyard.  “We are auctioning a solo slot and a group slot for the dungeon, to be used immediately after the auction ends.  For some unknown reason, several people with reserved slots have failed to turn up in the past two days, and that has left us with immediate openings.”

“There is a ten gold minimum bid, and bids must be in gold coins.  No other tender will be considered.  We will start with the solo slot…”

“Ten gold,” Leon interrupted the man.  Ignatio stood up and flared his aura as he glared at the other bidders.  To Duncan, it felt mildly threatening.  Many of the lower leveled folks in the audience recoiled.  So much for no intimidation of other bidders allowed.

Duncan Blinked to the nearest pedestal and deposited a neat pile of fifty gold coins there.  “Fifty,” he said.

Ignatio focused his killing intent on Duncan, and Duncan broke into laughter.  “I’m sorry,” he said.  “It’s like being threatened by a toddler.”  He turned back to the auctioneer.  “Fifty,” he repeated.

“Fifty-five!” snapped Leon.

After a few moments, the auctioneer said, “Present your bid, sir.”  He gestured to the pedestal near Leon.

After another pause, Larissa waved her hand and fifty-five gold appeared on the pedestal.  To Fernand she whispered fiercely, “Stop wasting coin.  You can take the next slot.  There’ll be lots of opportunities.”

Duncan gestured again and said, “One hundred.”  There were now a hundred coins on his pedestal.

Fernand glared at Duncan and Duncan felt his feeble killing intent.  Larissa sneered and said, “Wasteful.”

“What do I care?” Duncan replied.  “I’m still spending the money I got from selling the stuff I took from your centurions.”  He smirked at the looks of fury and horror on the faces of the Chevrolet trio.

“One hundred gold, going once,” said the auctioneer.

“This man is a wanted criminal!” Larissa declared.  “You cannot let him participate in this auction!”

“Don’t care,” the auctioneer said.  “One hundred gold, going twice.”

Ten seconds passed as Larissa gaped wordlessly at the auctioneer.  “Sold!  For one hundred gold, to the man at pedestal three,” the auctioneer declared.

One of the guards stepped forward and swept up the coins on the pedestal in front of Duncan, giving him a bronze tablet in return.  “Please use that immediately, sir,” the guard said.  “The dungeon is sitting empty.”

Duncan nodded.  Then he turned to the Chevrolets and unleashed his own aura.  He focused his killing intent on Larissa and spoke loudly.  “First, I’m going to use my dungeon slot.  Then, I’m going to hunt down and kill every Chevrolet and Nursk in San Sebastian.   Then, I’m going to fly to whatever hole your clan calls home, and I’m going to kill every Chevrolet and Nursk there.  You thought you could take advantage of the other clans sending their forces to help the Emperor deal with the undead.  You thought no one would punish you for your betrayal if you could present a fait accompli to the empire.  You were wrong.  If you start running now, you might get far enough away that I won’t bother coming for you.”

He suppressed his aura again and apologized to the crowd, “Sorry, everyone, personal squabble.  Enjoy your day.”  He turned and Blinked to the dungeon entrance, presenting his token to the guards inside the shield.  They gestured for him to enter, and he did, passing through the shield effortlessly.

“The token lets you in,” one of the guards told him.  “That was well said, sir.  Good luck in the dungeon.  The representative inside will guide you to your arena.”

Duncan entered the dungeon and found himself in a well-furnished sitting room.  A tall hairless humanoid with small grey scales covering its exposed skin stood waiting for him, wearing a heavy silk robe and carrying a large book.  “Greetings, adventurer,” the komodan (thanks soul gem) said.  “Please follow me to the solo arena.”  A wooden door appeared in the stone wall behind him, and he opened it and walked through.

Duncan followed the komodan into a small, unfurnished chamber with bare stone walls.  A metal gate was open in one wall, leading to a ramp that sloped gently upwards.  “This is a training dungeon.  You are not quite at peak tier zero,” the komodan said, “but your aura, affinities, and cultivation suggest that you are the equivalent of a low tier one combatant.  So, we will start you with opponents at peak tier zero.”

“Do not speak.  Your words do not matter.  Your actions will speak for you.  Most trainees waste their time in here and treat the arena as a gauntlet rather than training.  Note that how you interact with your first three opponents will dictate your path going forward.   No matter your choice, you will face increasingly difficult opposition the longer you remain in the arena.  Your final reward is based on the most difficult opposition you defeat, not the number of fights you have in the arena, and any rewards for milestone difficulty fights are the same – you don’t get more milestone fights for taking the training path.”

“And remember, training dungeon or not, this is still a dungeon, and if you stay in the arena past the point where you can handle the fights, you will die.  The mortality rate in the solo arena is thirteen percent.   After every victory you will have one hundred breaths before the next fight begins.  None of your opponents are lootable – the only rewards you will receive will come from me.  You may exit the arena at any time in the first 90 breaths after a fight and claim your reward.  But once you step out, you may never return.”

The komodan stood to one side and waved Duncan up the ramp.  “You have one hundred breaths before your first bout.”

Well, that seems pretty straightforward.  I will treat the fights as training bouts whilst remembering that my opponents are trying to kill me.  Duncan strode up the ramp to the arena and took a look around.  It was about a hundred meters wide, and forty meters tall.  It was well lit by an overhead dungeon sun, but it was off to one side, allowing for some shadows along one wall of the arena.  Several pillars or plinths were scattered around the sandy floor.  There were bench seats in terraces up beyond the walls, enough to hold thousands of people, but they were eerily empty.  A slight haze indicated a barrier that rose from the top of the arena walls in a dome overhead that matched the forty meter height of the arena.  So, there’s room to fly or Blink, but I can’t go too high or far.  There are shadows to hide in, and the pillars provide some cover or perches for ranged attackers.

A gate opened in the far wall and a warrior walked out, clad in leather armor and wielding a longsword.  Shit, I gave my longsword to Rose.  I’ll have to use my broadswords for everything.  That was dumb.  The warrior strolled up to a position twenty meters from Duncan, then saluted with his sword.  Duncan returned the salute and the warrior charged forward to attack with a downward cut.

Duncan sidestepped, using his right-hand sword (metal affinity) to redirect the attack off-line and thrust at the warrior’s exposed side.  The warrior twisted his body and sword, bringing the blade around to parry the thrust as he cross-stepped his right foot behind his left and pivoted to face Duncan, blade pointed at his face.  Duncan disengaged under the blade with his right-hand sword and thrust across the line whilst stepping forward with his left foot and extending his dragontooth sword in his left hand in another thrust, this one toward his opponent’s face.

The warrior retreated, winding his longsword around Duncan’s right-hand sword and leaning to his own left to avoid Duncan’s left-hand thrust.  Duncan snapped his tip sideways and scored a slight tip cut on his opponent’s helmet, failing to draw blood.   Alright, this fellow is fast and strong and skilled, but he’s displayed no techniques yet.  Maybe he’s just Body and Blade, the way I started.  My two swords are a distinct advantage.  Until he shows another affinity, I’ll fight with just Body and Blade myself.

Duncan fought hard against the longswordsman but deliberately held back killing blows on several occasions, just tapping his opponent’s armor instead.  Once he was thoroughly warmed up and felt he’d seen everything his opponent had to offer, he bound the longsword with his right-hand sword and thrust up under the chin with his dragontooth sword, closing the distance faster than his opponent could retreat.  The swordsman fell without a word or a scream, and the body turned to mist and sank into the floor.

A hundred breaths later, his second opponent entered the arena, wielding a broadsword and carrying a shield.  His third opponent had two broadswords.  The fourth had a rapier and dagger combination.  The fifth had a greatsword.  The sixth had a longsword and a metal affinity – she could extend the length of her blade or quillons at will.

All in all, he fought thirty-six swordsmen in a row before an axeman appeared.  He was followed by foes wielding staves, daggers, polearms, greataxes, maces, and even some morning stars and flails.  The hundred breaths between fights was more than enough time to recover his stamina and the little mana he used.  I am definitely on the training path and not the gauntlet path.

His opponents began using elemental affinities along with their weapons.  An axe-wielder with an ice affinity coated the floor with a layer of slippery ice and the ice coating on his armor caused Duncan’s blades to slide off more than they otherwise would.  A woman with a lightning affinity shocked him every time his metal blades touched hers – he switched to his amethyst swords to fight her.  A mace-wielding earth-affinity warrior used spikes drawn up from the ground under the sand to strike at Duncan and his body turned to stone in the places where Duncan struck him.  A metal-affinity warrior had a rejection field around him much like deBouteville had – Duncan had to switch to amethyst swords to get through the field there, too.  He began practicing slashing through narrow folds in space to strike at the backs of his opponents by slicing the air beside him.  His Sphere of Discernment helped immensely in being able to see and hit places he wouldn’t normally be able to see or hit.

As time passed, the opponents grew ever stronger, and ranged types began to appear.  Archers and mages tried to use the pillars for cover, but Duncan’s Blink made them easier opponents than the melee warriors he’d fought earlier.  Elemental summoners sent various minions after him, but he could Blink past them to kill the summoners.  An ice mage froze Duncan’s eyeballs, but his Sphere of Discernment let him fight on mostly unaffected.  A lightning mage summoned a little thunderstorm that sat over Duncan’s head and zapped him repeatedly, moving with him.  A swordsman with a blade affinity threw cuts from twenty meters away that struck him as though they were standing in melee range.

At some point, a few spectators trickled in to watch his fights.  By the time Duncan noticed, there were perhaps a dozen spectators cheering from the stands.

After another long while, the opponents came two at a time, in various combinations.  They started with two melee fighters, then two ranged, then a ranged and a melee, all with various affinities.  Throughout it all, Duncan was able to Blink around as needed to close or gain distance.  On the rare occasion that he suffered a wound, he healed it easily.  After the paired opponents came trios of opponents, forcing him to show more of his skillset.  Folds in space blocked attacks like a third sword and served to let him cut and thrust at unexpected and unprotected targets.

A single swordsman wielding a rapier and dagger showed up between groups of three and was a much tougher fight than any that had come before.  He moved like a snake, faster even than Duncan, and his sword seemed incredibly sharp, easily piercing Duncan’s armor and skin.  The blows weren’t hard – the opponent wasn’t nearly as strong as Duncan – but they were fast and accurate, and so very sharp. Duncan was struck on the hand repeatedly, dropping sword after sword, having to Blink away and heal, and to pick up swords he’d dropped earlier in the fight.

The rapier fighter’s thrusts couldn’t be easily blocked by folds in space, and they were fast enough that Duncan’s attempts to open a fold, allow the rapier to pass through, and close the fold, breaking the rapier – well, they failed horribly.  But the rapier fighter’s defense didn’t match up to his offense.  He couldn’t parry the thrusts Duncan made through folds in space to the back of his head or his kidneys, and while he was quite sturdy, he eventually fell to the accumulated damage.

A few fights later, whilst fighting a trio comprised of a fire mage, a fire-affinity poleaxe wielder, and a shadow affinity dagger user, Duncan had a sudden epiphany about his Blade techniques.  It’s not that I need to hit harder, it’s that my blades need to be sharper.  Instead of tempering the blades, or perhaps as well as, I need to be sharpening them with my affinity.  Without sufficiently powerful magic, a blade that’s too sharp will notch and be ruined.  But since I have the magic, I don’t have to worry about that, and the sharper the blade, the better it cuts.

Healers and bards began appearing in the trios he was facing, and some of them were extremely efficient, though most were fairly frail themselves, and Duncan’s superior mobility allowed him to kill them first once he realized they were healing or enhancing their compatriots.  Mind Spikes stunned healers and casters to give him time to move and react.  He began attacking through folds in space at greater range, displacing the two sides of the fold more and more to attack opponents who were fast enough to maintain distance or who only stood still when he was engaged with another opponent.

At this point, the stands were full of spectators cheering for him or his opponents.  They generated a sort of background noise with their cheering.  Duncan knew it was there, but the sound didn’t affect him.

A woman in heavy plate armor wielding a sword and shield combination stepped up on her own.  Suddenly Duncan found himself bleeding from a deep belly wound he didn’t remember receiving while she hacked at him with the sword.  He blocked with a fold in space, Blinked away and healed, and attacked through another fold in space, only to find himself impaled on her sword once more.  He Blinked onto a flying sword well above the sand and healed again, then used Mind Spike to stun her and his Spirit sword to cut her through folds in space whilst he flew and Blinked around in the air.  Can’t do whatever it is you’re doing to me if you can’t reach me.

He thrust with his dragontooth sword through a fold in space, targeting the eye slot on her helm while she was stunned.  When the stun wore off a moment later, she screamed and vanished.  Teleport? Invisibility?  Not invisibility, there she is behind that pillar.  Duncan kept the pillar between them and attacked through more folds in space, using his Sphere of Discernment to target his blows.  She vanished several more times, always appearing behind another pillar.  Not the shadowy side, though, so it’s not a shadow teleport.

Eventually, she fell to accumulated spiritual damage.  That was a scary fight.  Cost me more mana than the previous five combined.  I wish I knew what it was she was doing.

More trios followed, then groups of four.  A dagger fighter who could Blink like Duncan gave him fits for a while, but he was able to Blink, then attack through folds in space the position directly behind him, which is where the dagger user inevitably appeared.  He began using folds in space for defense and offense at the same time, cutting or thrusting through a fold that was placed to block an incoming blow. A mage wielding light magic shot him with lasers and when Duncan Blinked to her to kill her, his blows passed right through her.  His Sphere of Discernment revealed that she was a few meters left of where she appeared to be, skulking invisibly whilst her illusionary self attacked him.  He Blinked to her, and she exploded in blinding light.  Fortunately, he was still able to ‘see’ her with his Sphere of Discernment and dispatched her quickly.

A soul-affinity mage scraped his soul bare, and if he hadn’t experienced something similar when Rose demonstrated her attacks on him, he may have died confused and bereft of hope.  The soul mage was lacking in defense, and Duncan gave him no opportunity to do more damage.  Like Rose’s psychic attack, he couldn’t regenerate the soul damage he’d taken.

A mind mage and a spirit mage each popped up on their own during the time he was fighting teams of four, but he was wearing his bracelet of mental protection and his ring of spirit protection, having learned his lesson with Rose, and they were less trouble than the soul mage.

The woman with the sword and shield who’d given him so much trouble before reappeared along with two other opponents, one of whom was a flying fire mage, and the other an archer with a wide variety of elemental arrows.  Duncan stunned the heavily armored woman the moment the fight started and Blinked onto a sword in the air to avoid her attacks.  But he found himself skewered by two arrows he’d never seen fired and burning from an attack from the fire mage.  It’s like she’s stopping time… oh shit, she is.  She has a time affinity.  But it works for her allies too?  Is she pausing my perception of time, maybe?

He Blinked behind a pillar and healed, then Blinked around the arena, always trying to keep pillars between him and the ranged attackers while he attacked the time mage through folds in space.  Several times, his attackers seemed to teleport towards him, and he was hit by an attack or two he didn’t see coming, but the mage didn’t seem able to stop time for more than a second or two.  Still, it was a terrifying fight for him.  I have no resistance to that attack, no way of countering it.  All I can do is position myself so that they can’t get to me in the time I’m frozen.

The groups of four became groups of five.  He used larger folds in space to redirect ranged attacks at his opponents’ allies.  Really, the number of his opponents didn’t matter much.  It was the combination of their affinities he had to watch out for, and the appearance of the opponents with the rare affinities.  The time lady was far and away the most dangerous opponent, though he also dreaded seeing the soul mage.  I wonder why the dungeon repeats the same people with the same affinities.  If they assigned the time affinity to another person, I’d be at a huge disadvantage.  I wonder if the dungeon is copying people who’ve come through before and that’s why I’m seeing the repeats…

A mage with a poison affinity cost him some extra mana to remove the affliction and got added to Duncan’s internal “kill first if I see them again” list.  It’s fascinating how some rare affinities and techniques elevate some opponents.  All of these are at peak tier 0, which, if Pelleas is right, means they don’t have any evolved techniques, but have a rank ten one.  I’m not quite at peak tier 0 because my highest ranked technique is only nine…  Anyway, someone with a fire or earth affinity is less frightening than someone with a mind or soul or time affinity.  Not just less frightening – less capable. There is a hierarchy of affinities.

Time passed unnoticed as Duncan fought a huge variety of opponents, his energy unflagging due to his tremendous regeneration supported by the dense ambient mana in the dungeon.  His cutting technique improved, he gained a better understanding of how to combine his own techniques for more efficient and devastating effect.

A sound mage burst his eardrums and knocked his equilibrium off, then disrupted his organs somehow.  The attack ignored his armor entirely, but Duncan’s body had grown strong, and the effect was lessened.  He stabbed at the mage’s mind to stun him, then sliced at him with well-placed cuts through folds in space, Blinking around the arena rapidly to avoid more attacks.

A Lipiti mage used barriers (space affinity, maybe? Or Air?) to block his movements and attacks, at one point surrounding him in a cube of barriers and squeezing from the sides.  Duncan was unable to Blink out and had a moment of panic before opening a large fold in space in front of him and stepping through to safety.  Is he suppressing my teleport, or is this an added difficulty imposed by the arena?  The mage used the barriers defensively too, and even Duncan’s Spirit sword couldn’t pass through.  Space, then, not air.  Folding space bypassed the barriers nicely, and mind affinity attacks still worked, so Duncan was able to drop the mage in short order.  Everyone’s a puzzle.  Some are just more complex than others.  If this fellow shows up in a group with other dangerous types, though… well, that could be fun.

Duncan’s final fight was against the time mage, the soul mage, the sound mage, a bard, and a healer. What a horrible combination.  Gotta take the healer out first, unless I can kill one of the others in a single blow.  Unlikely with the bard enhancements.  But I’m going to take a real beating if the soul mage or sound mage can see me whilst the time mage has me paused in time.  Duncan Blinked around the arena rapidly as he attacked, always trying to keep a pillar between himself and the most dangerous opponents.  He attacked exclusively with mind spikes and sword blows through small folds in space so that he didn’t have to expose himself to their attacks.

The soul mage and sound mage could both fly, which made things more difficult, and he had to heal himself four times during the fight, but in the end, he was triumphant and elated.  What a magnificent series of fights.  But that’s my limit.  He turned and left the arena, returning to the little waiting area where the komodan had given him his instructions.  The crowd, now packed to the rafters, howled their appreciation as he departed.

Chapter 25

As he entered the waiting room, the komodan bowed deeply.  “Well done, young trainee.  Rarely have I seen someone embrace the true nature of the training arena so completely.  I have two rewards for you.  First, this is a tier one technique stone:  Armored Aura.  You must use it before leaving the dungeon – it cannot exist out in the world.  It will empower your aura to mitigate the damage of incoming attacks.  If your aura is flared, it will slow attacks as they pass through it.  If you hold your aura close to your body, it will act as a shield, dampening the blows you receive, be they physical, elemental, or mystical.”

Duncan took the proffered technique stone with a reverential bow.  The technique sounded amazing.

“Secondly, I present to you the Twinblades of Karanak.  Store them in your personal pocket space, and when you summon them forth, they will take the form of whatever bladed weapons you like, or they can combine into a single two-handed weapon.  The weight, size, shape, and type of weapon is entirely up to you, as are the secondary and tertiary affinities they are attuned to.  You cannot change their properties while they are physically present, but you can store them and summon them in a different form at will, for a minor mana cost.”  The komodan presented Duncan with two swords that closely resembled his dragontooth sword. “In their current form, they weigh the same as your left-hand sword, and have the same balance characteristics.  They are attuned to Blade, Mind, and Spirit, and will deal damage of those types when used.  Although, unlike your Spirit sword, you will need to cause a wound in order to apply the mind and spirit damage – the blade will not pass through armor and flesh the same way.”

“Still,” he added as Duncan accepted the blades, “with your recent advancements, I think that’s unlikely to be a problem.  With your permission, I would like to go over your gains with you.”

Duncan nodded, feeling the weight of his new swords in his hands.  Then he stored them and gave his full attention to the dungeon’s attendant.

“First, you have advanced your one-handed swords skill to rank ten.  You are not yet a true swordsmaster, as your two-handed sword skill remains at rank seven, but you are well on your way.  Your skill in light armor has reached rank seven, as well.

“Next, your Tempered Blade technique has advanced to rank ten and evolved into the Honed Blades technique.  You will find your physical attacks with bladed weapons do significantly more damage than before as you have embraced the concept of sharpness.”  The komodan grinned, displaying a forked tongue and no teeth at all.  “Your Blade Echo technique also advanced to rank ten and evolved into Cascade of Blades, a passive technique that has the same effect – copies of your weapon made from Blade-affinity mana will strike alongside your blades.  If you are using weapon attacks with secondary or tertiary affinities, the Cascade of Blades will convey those affinities, as well.”  Woah.

“Your Coagulation and Hardened Skin passives have combined with your Ignore Pain technique and evolved into Manaforged Flesh.  Your flesh is harder to damage, feels less pain, and responds better to magical healing. Your Fold Space technique advanced to rank nine, primarily due to you learning to cut through the long thin folds you make as blocking constructs.  Blink has reached rank eight.”

“Sphere of Discernment, Shadow Sight, Blade Sense, and Assessment have combined to form Sphere of Cognizance, a more powerful and versatile perception technique.  The gods look forward to seeing how that develops for you.”

“Your Mind Spike technique has evolved into Mind Blade.  It now makes use of your Blade affinity as well as your Mind affinity.  And your Destrin’s Restoration and Leech Mana techniques have each advanced one rank.”  The komodan clapped his hands together. “One of the best outcomes we’ve seen in centuries, as well, as befits a trainee who embraced the program so thoroughly.”

“Now, please absorb that technique stone – your time in the dungeon grows short.”

Duncan nodded, rather overwhelmed by all the advancements he’d made.  He pressed the stone to his forehead and inhaled, drawing the essence of the technique into himself.

“One final thing,” the komodan added.  “You fought over fifteen hundred bouts, and faced more than a dozen tier one foes, some of them in groups.  For putting on such a terrific show for the beings in attendance, you have earned the Title of Champion of Karanak.  A touch of his divinity has been captured by your aura, and those sensitive to such things will know.”  Uh, I hope that’s a good thing.  Wait, the audience was real?

Duncan bowed deeply and spoke the first words he’d uttered since entering the dungeon.  “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.  Now get out – you’ve made a mess of the dungeon’s mana profile, and it could take months to fix it.”  The komodan ushered him toward the exit, and Duncan allowed himself to be herded out.

Name:

Duncan

Class:

Warrior

Techniques advanced (level):

170

Title:

Champion of Karanak

Evolution Tier:

1

Strength:

430

Intelligence:

73

Dexterity:

409

Wisdom:

61

Agility:

429

Aura:

1023

Endurance:

436

Violence

662

Reaction:

420

Puissance

275

Focus:

358

Authority

27

Willpower:

403

Compassion

25

Charisma

24

Divinity

10

Concurrent Active Techniques:

4

Health:

64080

Health Regen:

34000/hour

Stamina:

9090

Stam Regen:

1558/minute

Mana:

110040

Mana Regen:

28440/hour

Mana Reserved:

1124

Cultivation:

Body Tempering

None

Meridians Open

24/24

Core formation

liquid

Nascent Soul

15%

Concept

Firm

Affinities:

Body

Outstanding

Death

Weak

Mind

Outstanding

Lava

Weak

Spirit

Outstanding

Gravity

Weak

Fire

Weak

Poison

Negligible

Air

Weak

Blade

Outstanding

Water

Weak

Ice

Weak

Earth

Moderate

Decay

Weak

Stone

Moderate

Soul

Strong

Lightning

Weak

Corrosion

Negligible

Gemstone

Moderate

Space

Outstanding

Nature

Negligible

Healing

Outstanding

Life

Weak

Shadow

Moderate

Metal

Moderate

Blood

Negligible

Techniques

Active

Rank

Passive

Rank

Fold Space

9

Honed Blades

1

Blink

8

Cascade of Blades

1

Mind Blade

1

Manaforged Flesh

1

Destrin's Restoration

8

Sphere of Cognizance

1

Flying Sword

7

Tranquil Mind

7

Bladestorm

7

Spiritual Shield

7

Remove Affliction

6

Personal Space Pocket

7

Regenerate Other

4

Understand Languages

3

Cage of Blades

5

Regeneration

9

Extract Resources

4

Armored Aura

1

Leech Mana

6

Skills

Rank

1H swords

10

Plate armor

5

2H swords

7

Mail armor

5

1H axes

4

Leather armor

7

2H axes

4

Anatomy

3

Shields

6

Survival

2

Spears

5

Skinning

1

Daggers

3

Meditation

6

Bows

3

Swimming

2

Tracking

1

Riding

2

Elven language

3

Knowledge: Monster

2

Aura Control

1

Duncan stepped out of the dungeon to find the courtyard was a mess.  Inside the barrier with him and the dungeon entrance were two of the dungeon guild’s guards.  Beyond the barrier a dozen Nursk warriors were arrayed, along with a mage wearing Chevrolet tartan.  Seeing Duncan appear, the mage began blowing on a whistle like it was the only thing keeping her alive.

“What’s going on?” Duncan asked the guard.  The mana density feels so much lower than before.  At level one seventy with evolved techniques, there’s no way I’m going to stay in the empire for long.

“Three days after you went into the dungeon, a large Nursk force arrived along with a couple dozen Chevrolet elites,” the guard replied.  “They completely took over the town, imprisoning most of the guild.  We were here inside the barrier when they got here, and we’re not allowed to grant them entry, even if they threaten to kill other guildsmen.  And they have.  They killed the guild leader in front of us two days ago.”

“How long was I in there?”  Duncan asked.

“Eight days and two hours.  Longest delve in living memory,” said the guard.  “Legend has it a team of elves and Lipiti had a twelve-day run, but that would have been well over a thousand years ago.”

“Are you okay?  You don’t seem especially upset at the death of your guild leader,” Duncan noted.

“He was a bit of a prick, to be honest,” the second guard said.  “What we are, is angry.  San Sebastian has been an independent town since its founding.  Never have we bent the knee to any clan.  We pay taxes directly to the empire.  And these Chevrolet thugs come in with their foreign mercenaries and take over the town like it’s their personal fiefdom.”

“Angry and worried,” confirmed the first guard.  “We have family in the area, and while this lot can’t identify us through the barrier, it’s possible they have our families.  We don’t know what they’re doing with the townsfolk.”

Duncan stretched.  “Well, I’ve just had an extremely enjoyable week in the dungeon to rejuvenate myself.  I wish I had some time to practice my new techniques, but I guess I can practice on these evil bastards.”  He summoned his Twinblades from storage in the same form he’d stored them.  I can experiment with different sizes, weights, and affinities later.  For now, I have some invaders to slay.  “No need to drop the barrier, lads.  You stay safe here until the coast is clear, so to speak.”

He opened a fold in space and stepped through, appearing outside the barrier, then immediately Blinked hundreds of meters into the air over the town.  No point in facing them head on when they’re prepared for me.  Let’s see what they’ve done to the townsfolk.  He Blinked again down to the balcony of his suite at the inn, then Blinked downstairs to the common room, where an unfamiliar man wearing Chevrolet tartan was wiping the bar with a rag.

“Where’s Lucas?” he asked.

“Dead,” the man replied.  “This here’s my place now.”

“Nope,” Duncan said, lopping the man’s head off with a perfect draw cut.  “I warned you all that I would kill every Chevrolet and Nursk in San Sebastian when I finished my delve.”  He turned to face the group of Nursk who’d been drinking at their tables and were rising to meet him.  “Your turn.”

None of the Nursk were over level one hundred, Duncan guessed.  They fell like wheat being scythed under his blades.  He stored all their bodies and gear, the innkeeper included.  His Sphere of Cognizance showed that only a couple of the rooms above were occupied.  Not surprising, given it’s mid-morning.  He Blinked to the nearest occupant, confirmed he was a Chevrolet, and cut him down.  He couldn’t store the body until he removed a storage ring from the man’s hand.

After a repeat performance in the other occupied room, Duncan Blinked up to the rooftop and took a look around.  There was a bakery just down the street amidst several other businesses.  Duncan Blinked to the entrance and stepped inside.  The woman at the counter regarded him fearfully.  Not surprising, since I’m in full armor with my weapons dripping blood.

“I hear the Chevrolets are staying at the mayor’s manor.  Can you give me directions there, please? He asked pleasantly.  “Also, if you know where they’re keeping the dungeon guildsmen and other prisoners, I’d appreciate that information, too.”

“Uh, the m-mayor’s manor is two blocks East of the main square,” she stammered.  “And I think they’re keeping most of the prisoners at the dueling arena.  They’ve got some strong guards watching to prevent escape.”

“Thank you,” Duncan bowed and Blinked up.  That’s the main square, which means that big ugly building is the mayor’s manor.  Duncan Blinked to the roof of the manor, then down into the lavishly decorated suite on the top floor.  Sphere of Cognizance is amazing.  I know about everything within ten meters of me, and there’s no information overload at all.

Larissa and Ignatio Chevrolet were sitting at a large table along with half a dozen other folks in Chevrolet tartan.  They didn’t take my warning to heart at all.  Duncan appeared immediately behind Larissa, slamming both swords into her lungs through her back while using Mind Blade to stab at her mind.  The Level 140 Mage died with a soft hiss of escaping air.

The room erupted into pandemonium as the Chevrolets summoned weapons and armor to defend themselves.  Ignatio was Duncan’s next target – he’d summoned a rapier and dagger along with a fine set of leathers.  A Mind Blade stunned him, and Duncan impaled him with a lunge and followed up with a flat cut that took his head clean off.  Do these people have no passive defenses at all?  It’s like I’m back in the valley at level ten, killing goblins without magic.

A blast of wind flung the contents of the table at him, sheafs of parchment swirled around him and splatters of ink stained his armor.  Someone was screaming for the guards, and others were shouting conflicting orders at one another.  Duncan filled the room with a Bladestorm and Blinked to block the door as Leon made a run for it.  A veil fell across Duncan’s vision as someone used a Darkness affinity to blind him, but it made no difference to his Sphere of Cognizance – he still knew where everyone was and what they were doing.

Leon essentially impaled himself on Duncan’s swords as he tried to get out the door.  The Cascade of Blades on top of Honed Edge and the triple affinity damage was overwhelming and he staggered back, clutching at his belly.  Duncan finished him off with a horizontal reverse cut.  He noted that two people had jumped out the window and were flying away, and that at least a dozen Nursk were charging up the stairs just outside the suite.

The remaining Chevrolets were getting themselves in order.  A big man in plate armor with a tower shield and a war axe moved to place himself in front of Duncan. Behind him a fire mage stood with a ball of fire in his hand, hesitant to throw it and risk burning down the manor.  An air mage had no such qualms and blasted wind blades at Duncan, who opened a fold in space to redirect them at the woman next to him, who was very obviously a healer.

Duncan faced the guardian and thrust a sword through a fold in space at the healer’s back.  He used a Mind Blade to attack the air mage, stunning him.  The fire mage stepped to the side and lashed out at Duncan with a fiery whip.  Duncan ignored the attack, and found that even at rank one, his Armored Aura was dense enough to prevent the attack from reaching him.  I would feel bad for these guys if I didn’t know they took children hostages and put them into the tender care of Nursk mercenaries.

The guardian swung at Duncan with his war axe, and Duncan blocked it with a fold in space, thrusting one sword at the guardian’s face, prompting him to raise his shield and block his own vision.  Duncan thrust his second sword through the fold in space he’d used to block the war axe and struck the healer again, even as she tried to heal herself.

Time’s up! Duncan Blinked behind the healer as the door he’d been standing in front of burst open and the first of the Nursk warriors entered the room accompanied by a gust of freezing air and swirling snow.  Duncan kept his Bladestorm going – several of the Nursk felt very weak.  Huh, one of the techniques that combined to form Sphere of Cognizance was Assessment.  I guess I assess everyone who enters the sphere?

A Mind Blade stunned the healer and a diagonal cut down killed her as it shattered her collarbone and cleaved through much of her chest.  Duncan twisted to his right and cut right through the wind shield that the air mage used as defense.  At least this guy has a defense.  The wind shield reduced the force of Duncan’s attack, and consequently, the blow left only a long shallow cut on the mage’s torso.

The air mage blasted out a window and up into the sky as the Nursk warriors threw themselves at Duncan, trying to grapple him to the ground.  Smart tactic.  Won’t work.  Duncan Blinked out of the building after the air mage and struck him with a Mind Blade.  Stunned, the mage plummeted toward the ground.  Duncan Blinked to him and thrust a sword through his torso just before he slammed into the ground.

Still alive, the mage shot back up into the sky.  Duncan Blinked above him, carved him up with another Mind Blade, and let him drop.  A ball of fire entered his Sphere of Cognizance and Duncan Blinked away as it exploded where he’d been.  The fire mage stood in the manor’s window throwing more fireballs into the sky, hoping to catch Duncan in an explosion.

Duncan Blinked to the roof above the mage and thrust his swords through a fold in space, the blades appearing below the mage’s hips angling up and puncturing his belly.  The mage screamed and ducked back into the room where the Nursk were blocking attacks from Duncan’s Bladestorm as best they could.  How did you lot manage to defeat so many clans?

He Blinked into the room, finished off the fire mage, who was clutching his belly and moaning instead of defending himself, and re-engaged the Chevrolet guardian who’d proven unable to protect any of his party.  It took a little longer to defeat him than it had the mages, due to the man’s armor and much sturdier body, but the guardian’s stone and metal affinities weren’t up to the task.  Mind Blade prevented him from reinforcing his armor where Duncan struck, and Duncan was striking where the guardian couldn’t see the blows coming through folds in space.

The Nursk had managed to get a good blizzard going inside the room, but the cold didn’t penetrate Duncan’s aura, and his vision was unimpeded.  The Nursk were competent with their axes but no more than that, and their ice and cold affinities didn’t extend to useful techniques against a warrior like Duncan.

He scooped all the remains he could into his armband storage device, having to remove storage devices from several of the Chevrolets before he could do so.   He remembered to go get the air mage’s remains and storage device, too. The storage devices went into a pouch tucked inside his armor – they made for a slightly uncomfortable lump, but it was only until he had a chance to empty and store them.

He Blinked downstairs in the manor, searching for more opponents, but found only servants, whom he left alone.  Right then, the dueling arena.  And then maybe find another dungeon so I can regenerate my mana more comfortably.

A pair of Blinks took him several hundred meters above the dueling grounds, and he could see a crowd of people huddled in the center of the arena.  There were dozens of Nursk guards around, and the two flying Chevrolets who’d escaped him at the Manor were patrolling just above the arena.  Huh – interesting that I can recognize them so easily.

Alright, there are captives to rescue.  The two flying Chevrolets first, I guess, then I’ll try to draw the guards below away from the captives.  This could go very poorly for the captives, but I really don’t know what else I can do…  Duncan Blinked behind one of the flying mages and very nearly took the man’s head off with a single swing of one of his new swords.  This isn’t a fight – it’s an extermination.  The people below need to be freed, and the Chevrolets need to be stopped and punished, but I’m not an exterminator, I’m a fighter.  He grabbed the corpse, failed to store it, removed the ring that was probably a storage ring, and stored the body.  The ring he tucked into his pouch.

The second flying Chevrolet guard attacked Duncan with wind blades that showed better in his Sphere of Cognizance than they did to his sight.  He Blinked past the incoming attack and killed the mage as easily as he’d done with the first.  Again, he had to remove a storage ring before he could store the body.  Below him, the Nursk warriors guarding the captives were looking up at him, but fortunately none had decided to attack the captives.

Duncan Blinked down to the ground at the edge of the arena.  He stopped hiding his level and released his aura.  He waited to see how the Nursk would react.  Three of the closest guards charged at him, and he cut them down.   Seeing this, the remaining Nursk all formed up in a moderate-sized group and advanced on him, their combined ice storm skill blanketing the area.

The ice storm wasn’t cold enough to harm him, and it did nothing to block his vision in his Sphere of Cognizance.  As the northern warriors charged him en masse, Duncan felt grateful that this at least was a fight they instigated, and not an execution of them one at a time.  It turned out they were weak enough that they couldn’t hurt him, and his every blow felled one of them, but it was a stand-up fight.

Once the one-sided battle was over, Duncan suppressed his aura, but left his level showing one seventy.  No more hiding.  “You’re free to go,” he shouted at the captives.  Most of them just stood there, staring at him, while a few dared to approach.  Duncan stored all the Nursk corpses as they did.

“My lord,” said the first man to arrive, “I am mayor Dubspline.  Thank you for rescuing us, but we are concerned about the rest of the Chevrolets and their Nursk hellhounds.  If we return to the town, will they not kill us, or imprison us again?”

“I killed all the Chevrolets and Nursk I found in the town, including the ones in the mayoral manor,” Duncan replied.  “It feels like there should be a garrison of Nursk somewhere that I may have missed though.  If any of you know where I might find them, I’ll take care of them before you return.”

A second man, wearing the uniform of the guild who managed the dungeon, said, “Amos Firetongue, my lord.  I suspect the Nursk will have taken over the guard barracks.  I can lead you there.”  Amos was a Level 102 Mage.

“I’d appreciate that,” Duncan said.  “I’m surprised they were able to take you and your guildmates.  Most of the Nursk seem to be only about level seventy.”

“They took our families first,” Amos explained bluntly.  “Larissa Chevrolet gave them orders to kill the children if any of us tried to fight back.”

“Fortunately, they seemed to recognize me as an outside threat,” Duncan said.  “It would have gotten messy if they’d attacked the captives when I arrived.”

“The Nursk are right bastards,” Amos said, “but I think they respond to challenges like your aura.  They can’t see levels without having soul gems of their own, which is a blessing – I don’t think they’d have attacked you if they’d seen your level.  I didn’t know there was anyone your level in the empire.”

“So far, it’s been my experience that they value their own lives as little as they value anyone else’s life,” Duncan said.  “They seem to think a good death will help them in their next life.  And I won’t be in the empire for long – the mana density really is problematic.  Can you fly?”

In answer, Amos floated off the ground on a fluffy white cloud.  “Follow me,” he said, and led Duncan back to San Sebastian and over the walls.  He pointed to a cluster of low buildings not far from the entrance to the dungeon’s courtyard.  “Those buildings there are where we house the unmarried city watch and guild members.  There’s a fair bit of overlap, actually.   I believe that’s where the Nursk are encamped.”

Duncan nodded his thanks and Blinked down to a little square in the midst of the barracks.  He let his aura flood the area and waited for a response.   It didn’t take long.  The doors to all the closest barracks opened and a veritable flood of Nursk came out.  There had to be a hundred of them.  Then, a much larger Nursk warrior accompanied by several smaller Nursk with staves instead of axes stepped out of one of the more distant barracks and strode towards Duncan.

The weaker Nursk didn’t attack, clearly expecting a showdown between the new arrival and Duncan.  As the huge man entered Duncan’s Sphere of Cognizance, alarm bells went off in Duncan’s head.  This man was dangerous.  More so than anyone he’d faced before.

“Hero,” the Nursk greeted Duncan.  “I am Warchief Olga SnowWeasel.  It is about time the Southern weakling empire sent a hero to face us.”  Oh, not a man.  It’s not like I’ve been checking under their armor, and there doesn’t appear to be a size difference or a musculature difference.  I wonder how many of the Nursk are women…

“Should you defeat me, the clansmen under my control will abandon the contract with the Chevrolets and return North to our lands for a period of at least five years.”  That seems too reasonable for the Nursk, honestly.  I thought they were all rapists and torturers.  “The other warchiefs on this expedition and their forces are, of course, not bound by this.”

“Should you defeat me, I’ll stop killing all the Chevrolet and Nursk I find,” Duncan said.  “I don’t represent any of the clans or anything, so no one else will change their position.”

The warchief nodded and said, “A lone wolf?  Well, you’ll be a good addition to my hero’s tale, regardless.”  She turned to shout something at her troops in their own language.  Right at the end of her speech, Duncan’s Understand Languages passive finally decided it had heard enough of the tongue to start working.   “Yes, Warchief!” the Nursk mages called out in unison.

“Well, then,” Olga said, summoning a massive axe that appeared to be made entirely from ice, “let’s see how you fare.”  She leapt forward, crossing the twenty meters between them in a single leap, and bringing her axe down at Duncan with incredible force.

I’ve seen this opening before.  Duncan folded space in front of him and knelt to shelter behind the fold in space as the massive ice axe shattered on the edge of the fold.  He dismissed the fold, cutting at Olga’s left knee and thrusting up into her belly with his second sword a moment later.   The exploding axe sent chunks of ice into Olga’s front and back (courtesy of the fold in space).  The chunks of ice embedded themselves in her body but caused no bleeding.  Duncan’s cascade of cuts to the knee easily sliced through her hide armor and into the delicate tendons beneath, and his thrust to her belly similarly tore a ragged hole in her armor and her stomach.

“A” Olga said.  Duncan Blinked to her side and “strong” cut at her other knee, slicing the tendons, “barrier and” before striking up into her armpit “strong attacks!”  Another massive ice axe appeared in her hands, and Olga swung it at him even as she turned to face him.  All the wounds he’d inflicted were filled with ice and she appeared hale and whole.

Duncan blocked the blow with another fold in space and sliced through that same fold to cut an icy gash in the side of Olga’s neck.  A barely detectable rumbling beneath his feet encouraged him to Blink away into the air and onto a flying sword and attack from a distance through a fold in space as an icicle burst out of the ground where he’d been standing a moment earlier.

“Icy Prison!” Olga roared, and a massive ice cube surrounded Duncan, who Blinked out of it and stabbed at Olga’s mind with a Mind Blade, following up with a slice across her throat through a fold in space.  The ice cube hit the ground and shattered, pelting the watching Nursk with sharp shards of ice.

“Gnnng!”   Olga’s voice was momentarily wrecked by Duncan’s cut, but like the others before it, the wound sealed itself with ice.  Olga hurled her axe at Duncan, and rather than dodge it or Blink, he opened a fold in space.  The axe passed through and struck Olga in her back.  She was knocked a step forward, and she glowered at Duncan with real animosity.

The axe disappeared and re-formed in her hands as Duncan sliced at her eyes through another fold in space, Blinking away immediately afterwards, staying airborne to avoid the spikes from the ground.  If she can keep healing like that, this is going to be a long fight of attrition.  Given that I’m stealing her mana with every attack, my money’s on me… eventually.

“Stop running around and fight!” Olga rasped.  Her eyes healed and took on a silvery tone as they were filled in with ice.  A little tiara appeared on her head.  Duncan smirked.  Oh, I am, lady, I am.  He sliced at her ankles and Blinked.  He thrust at her kidneys and Blinked.  He used Mind Blade and failed to stun her, so he Blinked.  Recognized the mind attack, and that’s what the tiara is for, maybe…

Olga had floating shields of ice trying to intercept Duncan’s attacks, but she could never tell where they were coming from or what they were targeting through the folds in space he used.  She threw her axe several more times, but Duncan always had time to put a fold in space up to redirect it back at her.  She even used a technique that duplicated the thrown axe so that four of them homed in on him.  All four struck at the same time and place, though, and all were directed back at Olga.

As the fight dragged on and on, Olga took so many wounds that filled in with ice that she looked to be more ice than flesh.  Well, this is taking forever because she’s also a healer, but I’ve not even been scratched yet.  If she can lead a clan in the outside world, I should be just fine out there.

“I am the Ice Queen!” Olga screamed.  She started growing rapidly, her flesh sloughing off, leaving only the ice below.  At five meters tall, she stopped growing and raised her arms.  “Domain of Ice!”  A howling wind filled the square and a blizzard of ice chips scoured everything within thirty meters of her.  The lesser Nursk who’d been within that area fled as fast as they could.  Duncan Blinked up as his flight technique was suppressed – and found that his Blink was similarly suppressed.  Damnit, a domain?  I thought those came much later.  No, probably not a domain, just a technique named after a domain.  A very strong technique.

Duncan dropped the ten meters to the ground, landing without trouble.  The ice chips were unable to harm him through his armored aura and physical armor, but the cold was numbing.  Well, that changed things quickly.  He rushed toward Olga, swords advanced.

The ice giant slammed a hand down at him, and he blocked it with a fold in space, even as he dodged, just in case the domain suppressed that technique too.  Fortunately for Duncan, the fold in space worked as intended, and Olga’s massive hand was stopped dead by the fold.  Chips of ice flew.

Duncan sliced at the giant’s ankle, cutting deep into the ice.  Olga kicked out and he instinctively tried to Blink out the way.  He was smashed through the air, crashing into a building, damaging the hewn log wall.  That hurt… a lot less than I expected it to.  He ran forward to re-engage the giant.

The giant rushed to meet him, moving far faster than a creature that size had any right to. Duncan put a fold in space in front of her shin and leapt to the side as Olga face-planted, unable to recover her balance at the speed she was moving.  Duncan thrust his swords into her ear and chips flew, disappearing into the ice storm surrounding them.

He tumbled to the side to avoid an ice spike that erupted from the ground beneath his feet, and Olga climbed to her feet as Duncan cut at her again.  Olga summoned an even larger version of her ice axe and smashed it down at Duncan, who blocked with a fold in space and continued his assault on her ankles.

The fight continued in this fashion for several minutes, then, in a cloud of steam, Olga suddenly shrank back to her normal form and the ice storm around them faded.  Duncan’s next attack drew blood instead of ice, and he cheered inwardly.  His own mana was down to less than half of his maximum, and he’d been leeching mana from Olga the entire fight, so she must have been almost out.

The end of the fight was anti-climactic.  Olga was suddenly unable to heal her wounds, and her attacks with her ice axe were straightforward.  Her expression had turned from fury to panic.  She gathered all her energy for one final massive attack – and it was blocked by a fold in space.  Duncan thrust a sword up under her chin and it lodged against the back of her skull.  She collapsed, dead.

Duncan looked around at the Nursk surrounding him.  Olga had said they’d leave if he defeated her, but he had no way of knowing if they actually would.  One of the mages who’d been following Olga approached him and bowed shallowly.  “You win.  We go home. You do not kill us.”  He was clearly struggling with the language.

“Speak in your own tongue,” Duncan said in Nursk, relying on his Understand Languages technique.

The mage raised his eyebrows in surprise.  “You have defeated the warchief.  She commanded us to return to our home in the North should you do so.  We will leave this town immediately and camp on the coast.  Tonight, we will signal for ships to pick us up and return us to our homeland.  It may take some weeks for them to arrive, but we will not harm your people unless attacked.”

Duncan nodded.  “I’m glad I don’t have to kill you all,” he said.  “Your warchief fought well.”

“She will be stronger in her next life.  And we would not break the covenant.  The weak fight the weak, to reveal those with potential.  The strong fight the strong, and the weak are protected.  Even we Nursk, who recognize the value of a valiant death, do not throw away the lives of our young.  There is no strength to be gained in the next life by being swatted like a fly to end this one.”  The mage bowed shallowly again and returned to the other mages.

The mages began shouting at the warriors, who, with much muttering and complaining, entered their lodgings to pack their things.

Duncan looted Olga’s storage ring, then stored her corpse and Blinked up into the sky to where Amos had watched the whole fight.  “The Nursk are leaving,” he said.  “They’ll move up the coast a little and wait for ships to take them home.”

“Great news. And an epic battle,” Amos commented.

“It is,” Duncan agreed.  “I had originally thought to wipe out every Nursk in the empire.  They’re a bunch of murdering, raping, thugs. But me against them is like fighting children.  Murderous little monsters, but absolutely no threat to me.  Even that warchief – she was strong, but I was a poor match for her.  She was weak at range, and I had much better mobility.”

“You’re a bad match for anyone,” Amos grinned.  “And I can see why you’d not want to sully your blades on foes so much weaker than you.  But you’ll forgive me for wishing them all dead.”

“Absolutely.  I still want them dead, too.  I just can’t bring myself to do it.  There’s almost two hundred of them, between level fifty and eighty for the most part, I’d guess.  My scale may be off a bit – I made a huge leap forward in the dungeon earlier.  But even before that, the ones I fought were essentially an instant kill for me.”

“That’s the rub,” Amos said.  “We’ve probably got enough high-level people to beat them, if we were an organized group.  But they’re an army, and we’re dozens of groups with no familiarity with each other.  With them leaving though… the Chevrolets who remain…  I’ve got to go talk to some people.  Thank you for your assistance.  May I have your name before you depart?”

Duncan smiled.  I suspect any Chevrolets who aren’t already fleeing are in for a bad day.  “I’m Duncan of the Valley.   Baron Duncan of Snowy Valley, I guess, if we’re being formal.”

“An absolute pleasure, my lord.  Now, I’m off to see some people about revenge.”  Amos flew off back towards the arena.

Alright then.  I need to find a dungeon to recover my mana in.  And maybe to experiment a bit with these new techniques.

Chapter 26

Having gone through the teleportation gate network back to Lanport, Duncan flew out to the Hidden Forest dungeon where he was expecting to meet Rose.  Entering the dungeon was like slipping into a warm bath – all the tension he didn’t know he had started to release.  Rose wasn’t in sight from the entrance, so he simply sat down and began to meditate, drawing in the ambient mana that simply wasn’t available outside.

Two hours later, feeling much better, his mana fully regenerated, Duncan flew up above tree level and Blinked deeper into the dungeon, looking for signs of Rose.  It took some time, but eventually he heard a trumpeted sound of rage and followed the noise to find her just finishing off a greater forest drake.  I fought one of those at one-fifteen-ish and I couldn’t so much as scratch it.

Rose’s pretty purple armor was pristine – no blood splatter, no damage.  She was holding the void magic staff and standing next to a tree that had been dissolved by the drake’s decay attacks.  She waved at Duncan as he arrived.

“Good timing!” she called.  “I think I’ve gotten all the advances I’m going to get from this dungeon.  How was your run in San Sebastian?”

Duncan used his Extract Resources technique to harvest the drake and was astonished at the amount of material that appeared.  The drake’s hide, teeth, and claws were accompanied by several vials of mysterious liquid, an actual barrel of blood, and four large jars holding organs of some sort.  “Your loot, my lady,” he said.

Rose grinned as she swept it all into her storage bracelet.  “Why thank you, my lord.  So much better than having to try to skin and butcher that by hand.”

“The dungeon was great.  I evolved several techniques, and feel much stronger,” Duncan said.  He noted that Rose was now level eighty-three, a huge leap in only ten days.  “I see you’ve made some progress too.  I fought one of these greater forest drakes at about one-fifteen and I couldn’t even scratch it.  So, you’re stronger than I was when I was thirty levels above you.”

“I have a stronger attack, certainly,” Rose said, “but I’m still fragile.  I can heal now with Destrin’s Restoration, and I needed to against that drake, but it feels like there are a lot of things out there that could kill me before I got the chance to heal.  Regeneration’s still really mana-intensive, too, even with my larger mana pool (and it’s huge now – I can’t believe how effective condensing my core was!).”

Duncan nodded. “I honestly felt that way for a long time, too.  I think that’s changed now – after my evolutions and the reward from the Scholastica Donostia, I feel much sturdier.  But I’ll need to test that in a high-level dungeon.  I’d like you to come, too – we can see if our fighting styles mesh well.”

“Okay,” Rose agreed readily enough.  “With you there to distract monsters, I think I’ll be even more effective.  I can stay invisible and use Rend Psyche on whatever you’re attacking.”

“Let’s head back to Lanport, then take the gates somewhere more interesting.” Duncan said.  They flew at Rose’s speed above the treetops toward the dungeon entrance and Duncan told Rose about his exploits in the Scholastica Donostia.  He shared his soul gem information with her again, and she whistled.

“Your health and stamina are astonishing.  Okay, you’re twice my level, but you’ve got like four times my health,” Rose said.  “Let me show you mine.”

Name:

Rose Campbell

Class:

Mage

Techniques Advanced (Level):

83

Evolution Tier:

1

Str (Body):

94

Int (Static):

75

Dex (Body):

138

Wis (Mind, Spirit):

80

Agi (Body):

139

Aura:

325

End (Body):

125

Violence

40

Reaction:

115

Puissance

160

Focus:

262

Authority

40

Willpower:

261

Compassion

40

Charisma

45

Concurrent Active Techniques:

3

Health:

14325

Health Regen:

2801 / hour

Stamina:

2080

Stam Regen:

9337 / hour

Mana:

88650

Mana Regen:

16852 / hour

Cultivation:

Body Tempering

None

Meridians Open

30/30

Core formation

liquid

Nascent Soul

5%

Concept

Fuzzy

Affinities:

Body

Moderate

Air

Weak

Shadow

Strong

Fire

Weak

Earth

Weak

Mind

Perfect

Spirit

Strong

Soul

Strong

Healing

Moderate

Void

Moderate

Techniques

Active

Rank

Passive

Rank

Soothe Psyche

9

Spirit Shield

6

Cloak of Shadow

5

Soul Guard

6

Seeming

7

Mind Shield

7

Telekinetic Flight

3

Shadow Sight

7

Psychic Scream

2

Ignore Pain

5

Shadowblade

3

Read Intentions

5

Mental Invisibility

4

Regeneration

2

Telekinesis

3

Telekinetic Shield

3

Shred Psyche

4

Destrin's Restoration

2

Skills

Rank

Daggers

3

Riding

3

Bow

2

Sewing / Tailoring

4

light armor

3

Wilderness Survival

4

Swimming

2

Sheep Husbandry

2

“Half my level, and your mana pool is almost as deep as mine.  Your health pool is lower than mine was at your level, but I have an outstanding Body affinity, so that’s to be expected.   It does feel like you’re fragile, but I’m not the best judge of that, honestly.  My experience isn’t the norm,” Duncan said.  “Your aura is getting nice and strong, too.  Pelleas will probably tell you you need to learn to suppress it.  I learned how by thinking of a curtain I could draw around my presence to prevent it from leaving my body, but my understanding of it has changed and now it’s like a light I project into the darkness around me.  I can turn up or reduce the intensity to dictate how far out from me it goes.  Though, honestly, my control is really poor – it’s on or off, usually.  Only rarely can I get it halfway, and finer control will take a lot of aura control practice.”

They came to the dungeon entrance and left, emerging into the cool shade of the woods.  “Gah,” exclaimed Rose.  “The mana density is so weak.  Pelleas warned me this might happen after I condensed my core, but I was not prepared for this.”

“Yeah, it’s rough.  Pelleas said it’s worst when we’re low on mana and trying to regenerate it in the low ambient mana.  So, if we get in any big fights, we’ll want to head to a dungeon right after,” Duncan agreed as they began flying back to Lanport.  “We should leave the empire and explore the wider world, really, but I want to take care of the Chevrolet issue first.”   He went on to explain what had happened in San Sebastian and how the Nursk could be dealt with by taking out their leaders.  “As much as I believe they should be wiped out entirely, I don’t think I can bring myself to massacre that many people so much weaker than myself.”

“I agree with leaving the empire,” Rose said.  “And the Nursk who assaulted me are all dead.  I’m happy to kill others that we confirm are guilty of such abuses, but the world is full of assholes, and we can’t kill them all without losing our own moral compass.  People need to defend themselves and their loved ones.  We can’t do it for them.  But I would like to break the Chevrolet clan and kill the leaders who ordered the taking of child hostages.”

“It won’t be like the Nursk, though.  The leaders of the clans aren’t necessarily the strongest – they’re the most politically astute, the most ruthless.  I suppose the raiding of other clans is a bit like that covenant you mentioned – the centurions generally fight each other if they’re there, but they’ll interfere with fights between lower leveled folks to protect their own clansmen if they’re not engaged.  You’ll never see any clan leaders on raids though – they’re all hiding in their castles.”

“So, if we want to take out the Chevrolet leaders, we should raid their castle?” Duncan asked.

“Maybe?  Probably,” Rose said.  “I will bet that they’ll have some high-value hostages in their castle with them, and all their strongest guards, maybe even some higher-level Nursk bodyguards.”

“And we’ll be doing this in a low-mana environment,” Duncan concluded, “so we’ll want to find a dungeon relatively close to recuperate in.”

“Do you want to go straight to Stormpeak? That’s the Chevrolet castle, by the way – it’s quite a long way East of San Sebastian – actually, it might be closer to Lanport than it is to San Sebastian, although I suppose that doesn’t matter if we’re using teleportation gates.  Or do you want to find a dungeon we can test together first?” Rose asked.

“We can go straight to the Sawiskin dungeon just off the coast of Lanport.  It’s only rated at level ninety, but it’ll give us a chance to test our teamwork, and the monsters in there hit hard enough that I should be able to test my new defenses,” Duncan said.  “Then we can hit the Chevrolet clan hard enough that the rest of the clans should be able to fight back, especially if I’m able to defeat the overall leader of the Nursk.   And then we can go exploring in the wider world.”

“I concur with your plan, good sir,” Rose grinned.  “I’m looking forward to getting out of the empire and seeing what’s out there.  I don’t know anyone who’s left, except for a few folks who trade wool into Zaragosa to the South.”

“What’s Zaragosa like, do you know?” Duncan asked.

“Not too different than the empire, from what I’ve heard.  There are lots of Lipiti living there – in the past, there were waves of invasions from across the southern sea, and even when they were overthrown, some stayed.  For the past couple of centuries, it’s been relatively peaceful.  Sunnier and warmer than the empire, generally, too.”

Lanport came into sight, and they passed beside it on the way to the Sawiskin dungeon.  “There’s a chance that we’ll see some Sawiskin in the dungeon.  They’re an aquatic people who claim the dungeon as their own and generally kill humans who delve it.  I killed a lot of them last year, so I don’t imagine they’ve changed their attitude towards humans.  They’re every bit as dangerous as the monsters in there, and just as likely to attack,” Duncan said.

Rose nodded.  “Understood.  I’ll spend as much time as I can invisible, though it’s harder to do with more enemies around.  It’s like an area-effect Mind attack – the more minds I have to affect, the harder it is.”

They arrived at the island with the dungeon entrance on it and found it empty of Sawiskin.  Duncan entered the dungeon first, followed a few seconds later by Rose.  Inside, they found themselves alone in the entrance chamber.  Duncan smiled, pleased to be back in the familiar dungeon where he’d seen such significant gains the year before.  He led Rose deeper into the dungeon, swiftly reaching the first group of turtollians.

He let his aura flood out for a moment, then gathered it close to his skin as armor, and let the enraged turtollians attack.  Their spears reached his aura and became bogged down in it, striking his armor with significantly less force than they normally would have.  For a rank one technique, this is strong.  It’s going to be amazing when I rank it up.

One of the turtollians wandered off and sat down leaning against a nearby wall.  Duncan thrust a sword into the belly shell of the one in front of him and found that his new sword pierced it easily.   The Turtollian keened plaintively as the cascade of blows that accompanied the thrust did Mind and Spirit damage as well as Blade.

He sparred casually with the last enemy, not using his space magic to attack or defend, trusting to his sword skill to defeat the greater reach the turtollian’s spear afforded it.  The turtollian was skilled with a spear – they all were – but Duncan was faster and stronger and had the better weapon by a wide margin.  He almost lopped its head off, but it ducked into its shell at the last moment to avoid the attack.  That’s brilliant.  Instead, he killed it with a thrust through the shell that found the monster’s heart.

He turned to the one that had wandered off and sat down, but it had expired, not a mark on it.  That is… creepy.  Like it died of a broken heart or grief or something.  Rose killed it without it ever knowing she was there or that she was attacking it.

They progressed through the dungeon at a fast but comfortable pace, trying out their various improved techniques to get a better understanding of them.  Rose used her Seeming to make the monsters think Duncan had a shadowy partner, and they struck at air instead of him part of the time.  She also used her void attack from time to time, doing little damage because she didn’t have a technique to back up the effect from her staff, then using Cloak of Shadow to hide in shadows and Mental Invisibility to disappear and avoid attacks.  It wasn’t necessary against the turtollians – she could have remained invisible and been extremely effective – but she wanted to practice her Shadow techniques, and it would be a useful trick against people outside of dungeons.

The final fight involved thirty or more turtollians, including the chief and its bodyguards.  Rather than trying to split them up, Duncan waded into them, blocking with, and attacking through folds in space, Blinking around the group of monsters, sowing confusion, and avoiding most of their attacks.  Rose stunned the entire group with her Psychic Scream – only for a second, but it served as an excellent interruption – and added to the confusion with a Seeming making one turtollian appear as a human to another one, causing the monsters to attack their brethren.

In only a few minutes, the entire group of turtollians was dead and looted, and they were examining the rather large treasure chest behind the chief’s throne.  “Treasure chests are the bane of my dungeoneering,” Duncan grumped.  “I’ve almost died to one that created a huge void attack when I opened it, and I poisoned all my roommates with another.”

Rose laughed at him.  “Stand back and I’ll open it with my telekinesis from range,” she said.  Oh yeah – that’s convenient.  With them both standing well back, she opened the chest, which turned out to be untrapped.  Inside was a pile of coins and a few items they would have to take back to the Adventurers Guild to have identified.  Every high-level adventurer in the world has the appraisal skill, and I’m partnered with the only other one who doesn’t.

“That went very well,” Duncan said.  “Your techniques are strong, and you didn’t get so much as a scratch in the whole dungeon.”

“You make a good distraction,” Rose said.  “But I’m a little freaked out at how easily I can kill things without them even knowing I’m there.”

“It’s not surprising that Mind mages are so feared,” Duncan agreed.  “Which is why it’s good that you can pretend to be a Shadow and Void mage.”

“It’s not pretending!” Rose objected.  “I am a Shadow and Void mage.  I’m just not only a Shadow and Void mage.  I think I need to pick up a void magic technique, though, if I can learn another active technique.  The little void ball from the staff isn’t very convincing, and Void is a powerful affinity to have.  I don’t want to ignore it entirely.”

“That’s fair,” Duncan admitted.  “I was able to go over ten techniques by futzing with my cultivation.  Maybe you can do the same.”

“I already have eleven,” Rose said.  “I just don’t know if I can stretch it to twelve with my current cultivation.”

“May as well try it – you can look for a good Void technique when we visit the Adventurers Guild.  Worst-case, you use the technique stone and fail to learn the technique.  Losing a little gold is not much of a loss, really,” Duncan pointed out.

They continued to discuss how the delve had gone and which techniques were working well and why as they walked back to the entrance and passed through into the fresh sea breeze on the island.  “Bah,” said Duncan.  “I really hate that I can be here beside this amazing sea and all I feel is the lack of ambient mana.  I was in absolute awe of the sea when I first saw it.”

“I’ll never be able to go home to my clanhold once we leave,” Rose sighed.  “The low mana is already annoying. By the time I surpass you next year, it’ll feel even worse.”

“I mean, you will – you just won’t be able to use your mana because regenerating it will be really uncomfortable.  But you could probably take the teleportation gates to whichever one is closest to your home and visit for a day or two if you don’t get into any fights,” Duncan smirked.  “Of course, by the time you catch up with me in a few centuries, you’ll have forgotten all about the empire and everyone you knew will be gone… er, sorry, that got unexpectedly dark.”

“It’s a good thing I’m not really close to anyone back home,” Rose glowered.  “That was a shitty thing to say.”

Duncan nodded. “It was – sorry.”

“Let’s go to the Adventurers Guild so I can sell my loot from both dungeons, and you can sell your paltry share from this one,” Rose said.

Rose had quite a bit of loot she’d taken from the Hidden Forrest dungeon, and they’d done well in the Sawiskin dungeon too, so it took them almost an hour to have it processed at the Adventurers Guild.  Duncan recommended that Rose not sell the crafting materials to the guild since they were about to leave the empire anyway, and there were accomplished crafters in the elven and dwarven lands in particular.

That done, they headed through the teleportation gate network to Toulon, which was the trade city closest to both the Chevrolet and Marbot lands.

Chapter 27

Toulon was a walled city whose walls had clearly been erected by Earth- and Stone-affinity mages.  They stood an impressive twenty meters tall and were six meters thick.  Many of the buildings in the city were likewise constructed from the stone beneath the city.  It gave the city an air of impregnability, though Duncan was well aware that walls and strong buildings didn’t do anything to protect against foes who could fly and teleport.  Still, I bet those walls have been very effective against the undead outside.  Maybe not so much if they have graveyards inside the walls.

“Castillon is due South of here.  Let’s check in with the Marbots quickly before we head to the Chevrolet castle,” Duncan said.  And so, they flew South, Duncan flying circles around Rose and effortlessly dodging the rocks she threw at him, even the ones where she used her telekinesis to throw them from unexpected directions or make them follow him.  It became an exercise in control of his flying sword (and occasional micro-Blinks when Rose got too good with her telekinesis) for Duncan and in telekinetic control for Rose.

It made the time go by quickly, even traveling at Rose’s slower pace, and before long they reached Castillon, a small town of perhaps two hundred buildings surrounded by a wooden palisade.  “We’re looking for an inn called the Golden Leaves, I think,” said Duncan.

“This town can’t have more than a couple of inns,” Rose said.  “My da used to come here but he always stayed with a relative.”

“There’s an inn,” Duncan indicated a two-storey building with a small courtyard and stables near the town gates.  They flew down to the entrance and stepped in.  A cozy common room with half a dozen tables, all empty, and a wide bar took up the right half of the floor.  With his Sphere of Cognizance, Duncan could see the kitchens behind the remaining wall and the guest rooms above.

A big man, almost certainly an adventurer who’d retired, given he was a Level 43 Warrior, waved at them from behind the bar.  “Welcome to the Painted Rooster,” he boomed.

“That explains the big red cock on the hanging board outside,” Rose murmured.

“Er, yes,” Duncan said.  “I was supposed to meet some friends at the Golden Leaves – can you direct me there by chance?”

“Never heard of it,” the innkeeper replied.  “This is the only inn in town.  What’s your name, lad?”

“Duncan of the Valley,” Duncan replied automatically.

The innkeeper’s eyes widened dramatically.  I wonder if he just noticed my level.  I suspect I’m going to get a lot of that now that I’ve stopped hiding it.  He retrieved a rolled-up piece of parchment from under the bar and passed it to Duncan.  “Marcus dropped this off two days ago in case you came looking.  He didn’t look to be in top form.”

Duncan thanked the man and motioned to Rose to follow him out of the inn.  He flew up a hundred meters and read the note, then passed it to Rose.  In short, it said that the Marbot team were in trouble, and to seek them in a cave nine hundred meters South and two hundred meters East of the Marbot clanhold.

“Do you know where the Marbot clanhold is?” Duncan asked.  “I’d rather not have to ask a stranger, just in case we’re drawing unwanted attention to them.”

“I’ve been there a time or two.  It’s off to the Southeast maybe twenty kilometers,” Rose replied.  “It’ll be better to ask the crofters in the area closer to the clanhold than to ask here.”

Without any further ado, they flew toward the Marbot clanhold.  “Oh, are you doing okay for food and sleep?” Duncan thought to ask about halfway there.

“Yeah, so far so good,” Rose said.  “I’m definitely not at the subsist solely on mana stage like some weirdos, but I don’t feel tired or hungry yet.  I’ll let you know if I need a rest, and I’ve got food stored.”

Twenty kilometers at Rose’s top speed took them just over an hour.  Duncan could have carried her and arrived faster, but the strain of trying to edge faster to keep up with him would help her progress the technique faster.

It turned out that they didn’t need to ask directions – the Marbot clanhold was right where Rose remembered it being.  They detoured around it, staying high in the air where it was unlikely people would spot them.  They flew South nine hundred meters, or their best guess, then dropped to tree level and flew East, scouring the hills for a cave entrance.

It took some effort, but they spotted an opening behind a screen of brush and flew in.  Inside, they found some of the Marbot fire team, all lying injured.  Marcus was in the best shape, with only a bad limp.  He was standing watch just inside the cave entrance.  Behind him, Moira and Gregor were lying on bedrolls, unconscious, great swathes of blackened and swollen skin visible to Duncan beneath the loose cotton underclothes they were wearing.  Their armor and gear were piled next to them.  So, they haven’t been conscious even long enough to store their gear.  Clearly, they’re not healing, and, if not for their high levels and consequently high endurance and health, I suspect they’d have been killed by now.

Yusef sat propped up against the back wall of the cave, missing both legs from the knees down, and all the fingers from his left hand.  He smiled wanly at Duncan.  Dustin and Lupita weren’t in the cave at all.

“Good to see you,” said Marcus, relief clear in his voice and on his face.  “Can you help them?”

“Maybe,” Duncan said, Assessing Moira.  She had a necrotizing flesh condition along with extreme frostbite.  He used Regenerate Other on her, and the blackened flesh sloughed off her as healthy flesh formed underneath.  The blackened flesh absolutely reeked, and Duncan felt his gorge rise.  The necrotizing flesh affliction didn’t disappear with the regeneration, so he was forced to spend over thirty thousand mana to remove it.  The discomfort of trying to regenerate his mana in the low ambient mana in the area immediately made him feel like he was struggling to breathe.

He stepped out of the cave for a breath of fresh air.  It helped only a little, though, as the mana deprivation didn’t let up.  A few moments later he returned to the cave and went through the same process to heal Gregor.  To Yusef, he said, “I will be able to heal you and regenerate your limbs, but I’ll need to be at full mana to do that.  I just spent seventy thousand mana on these two, and I need to find a dungeon to regenerate at a decent rate.  There was a necrotizing affliction on them that’s the equivalent of rank twelve.  The last time you saw me I couldn’t have healed them.”

Yusef nodded, and Marcus whistled. “That’s a lot of mana.  And you’ve grown more powerful.  How does someone at your level gain twenty levels in, what, two weeks?”

Duncan shrugged.  “Eight days in Scholastica Donostia.  I had some techniques evolve.”

“Eight days?” Marcus was incredulous.  “We were in for under eight hours, and I thought we did well.  Hell, we did do well.”

“He’s not normal, don’t compare yourself to him,” Rose said.

“You also gained twenty levels!” Marcus exclaimed.  “Did you do the dungeon too?”

“No, I picked up some new techniques, and they ranked up pretty quickly,” Rose replied.  “I got a good advisor at the Adventurers Guild.”

“What happened to you guys?” Duncan asked.

Marcus deflated a little.  “We heard a rumor that Moira’s parents were being held in a castle in Chevrolet lands.  We tried a rescue, but it turned out that the leader of the Nursk and his captains were staying there.  They crushed us.  Dustin died instantly, and the rest of us took some serious wounds.  I used an emergency talisman that teleported us back here.  Loopy was being grappled by a warrior, and so the teleport didn’t work on her.  I hope she’s alive.  She’s a healer, so I don’t think they’d kill her if they could use her healing.”

“That’s awful,” Duncan said.  “We can go get her and Moira’s parents once I’m done healing all of you.  You folks are welcome to come along if you want, but I can understand if you don’t want to face them again so soon.”

“We can check with Moira when she wakes.  You said she’s healed?” Marcus prompted.

“I’ve removed the afflictions and regenerated their bodies.  I expect they’ll wake naturally – honestly, I sort of expected them to wake up when I healed them.

Rose had been kneeling next to Yusef.  “That was a traumatic fight.  I’ve soothed Yusef.”  He gave her a gentle smile.  “And I’ll soothe you if you’ll allow it, Marcus, then the two sleeping, well, that rotting stuff is nasty, so, er, people.”

Marcus accepted the psychic healing and Duncan could see the weight it lifted from the man’s shoulders.  Rose knelt to lay a hand on each of the sleeping adventurers then stood and asked where they could find a dungeon nearby to recharge in.

Marcus happily gave them directions to a level thirty-five dungeon deeper in the hills.  “I doubt it has anything in it that would entice the Nursk, but our stronghold below is in Nursk hands.  Maybe if their leaders are as sensitive to the mana density as you two are, there could be trouble there.  It’s the only dungeon nearby.”

“We’ll be careful.  I have enough mana for a fight, still, especially in a dungeon.  But to regenerate all of Yusef’s limbs will be more expensive,” Duncan explained. I have forty thousand mana left.  Removing the necrotic affliction will be thirty thousand, and each limb maybe as much as ten thousand.  Better to have a full mana pool than to try and fail to regenerate his limbs.

Marcus didn’t have the necrotizing affliction, so Duncan took a chance and healed him.  It only cost him a few thousand mana, and Marcus thanked him profusely.  “I’ll hold the entrance here until you’re able to come back and heal Yusef.  We really appreciate you helping us.”

“We’ll be back as soon as we can,” Rose said, and she and Duncan left the cave and flew off in the direction Marcus had indicated the dungeon lay.

“Marcus said Lupita didn’t get teleported because she was grappled,” Duncan said as they flew.  “Is that normal?  I’ve always been able to Blink when someone was trying to hold me.”

“No idea,” replied Rose.  “Maybe ask Marcus when we return, and they’re all healed up and less stressed.”

The dungeon was easy to find – there was a dirt path from the Marbot stronghold to it and it was clearly visible in the center of shallow valley.  There were no enemies outside the dungeon or in the entrance chamber, where Duncan and Rose settled to regenerate their mana.  Rose hadn’t had to expend much at all for the psychic healing she’d done, so she started to explore the dungeon while Duncan followed her as he waited for his mana to regenerate.

The dungeon was very low level and consisted of a number of interlinked caverns with tall ceilings and artificial skies.  Each cavern had a variation on a plains theme, with a similar variety of rodents as monsters.  Fluffy bunnies, aggressive hares, and malicious meerkats were the extent of the threats they encountered.  Well, I don’t expect there to be any Nursk running through here for leveling up.  If there’s anyone around who needs the increased ambient mana, they’d probably just camp in the entrance chamber.

Their mana recovered, they left the dungeon and flew back to the cave the Marbots were holed up in.  They found Moira and Gregor awake and cleaned up, in discussion with Marcus.  “Oh good, you’re back,” Marcus said.

“Thank you for healing us,” Moira began.  Duncan nodded as he moved to Yusef and placed his hand on the big warrior’s leg.  After a moment, Yusef’s limbs were restored in an explosion of flesh. Duncan huffed as a large chunk of his mana went into the regeneration and another large chunk was consumed in removing the necrotic affliction.

“…That shouldn’t be possible,” Moira said.  “It’s amazing, but healing doesn’t restore missing limbs like that.”

“Mine does,” Duncan replied.  “But it’s very mana-intensive, as is removing that necrotic curse from a much higher level technique.”

Yusef gave him a crushing hug.  “Thank you so much.  I thought I was crippled for life,” he said.

Duncan turned to Marcus, embarrassed by the gratitude.  “Earlier you said that Lupita wasn’t teleported with you because she was being grappled.  Is that a consequence of the talisman you used?  I Blink out of grapples all the time.”

Marcus shrugged.  “I don’t know – I’ve never heard of anyone being able to teleport while grappled by an enemy.  The effect simply doesn’t manifest.  I don’t know if the spell doesn’t differentiate between bodies when someone’s grappled, but the talisman I used doesn’t bring hostile targets and it doesn’t bring those grappled by them.  I bought the talisman from a Lipiti merchant, so I don’t know if there are other varieties.”

“Hmm,” Duncan mused.  “I have always been able to Blink out of binds.  My equipment comes with me.  I can’t Blink with other people, though, which is frustrating.  Well, actually, I once Blinked with a child I was carrying, but I don’t know how to replicate that.”

“Anyway, I’m back down below half mana again, so I’m going to have to go meditate in a dungeon again to recover.  Can you tell me where the Nursk leader is staying?  I think I can kick all the Nursk out of the empire if I kill their leader.  I killed the warchief leading their forces in San Sebastian and the remainder left.”  Duncan sighed. “It was a better solution than murdering hundreds.”

“The Nursk Warlord is staying where we think my parents are being held,” Moira said.  “I don’t want to risk getting them killed if you attack.”

“You should probably have considered that before you attacked, yourselves,” Rose interjected.  “If they didn’t kill them then, they’re unlikely to do so when we draw the Warlord out to fight.  You can go with us and attempt a rescue while we’re killing their elites outside.”

Moira’s face grew red with anger.  “We didn’t know the Warlord was there, you little…” her voice trailed off as Duncan let a little of his aura out.  Just a little, don’t open the floodgates.  “Now that we know, we’re not going to risk it again.”

“Fine,” said Duncan, curtly.  “We will seek out the Chevrolet leadership and remove them, since we know where they are.  Then we’ll have someone there tell us where the Nursk Warlord is and remove him, too, and as many of his warchiefs as needed, to cut all the heads off the snake… hydra.”

“I can’t let you do that,” Moira said, standing between Duncan and the cave exit.  Her fire team looked anxious.  Marcus started to speak but Duncan cut him off.

“This is the thanks I get for saving you?” he snarled.  He released his aura fully and everyone in the room blanched, even Rose.  “You cannot hope to stop me, or even hinder me.”  Yusef and Gregor had their backs to the cave wall and were sidling around towards Moira.

Marcus grasped handfuls of his own hair and screamed with his mouth closed. “Gnnnng! Moira, show some sense.  Duncan is not the enemy, thank the gods.  If he challenges the warlord and warchiefs, your chances of rescuing your family go up.”

Moira’s hands were engulfed in flames as she stared Duncan down.  Duncan retracted his aura to the surface of his skin and waited casually, wearing his armor but with his weapons still stored.  Seconds passed, then Moira turned away, her flames extinguishing themselves.  “Get out,” she snapped.  “I never want to see you again.”

Duncan turned and strode to the cave entrance, Rose following close behind.  She turned before they exited and said, “Duncan’s down sixty thousand mana in a low-mana region, so I understand why he’s irritable.  You don’t have that excuse.  Your parents were too strong to be imprisoned – chances are they escaped, died in the initial fighting or were executed right afterwards if they were captured.  They only took those of us who were too weak to fight back or escape as hostages.  You are either the Marbot heir or the Marbot clanlord – either way, act like it.”  She followed Duncan out of the cave as Moira gaped at her.

The two of them flew back to the dungeon for him to recharge again.  “Let’s finish this and leave,” Duncan said.  “I can’t function well here anymore, and there’s nothing holding me here.  We can see the world, fight stronger monsters, learn to cultivate better, and grow.”

“I’ve already agreed,” Rose said.  “I’m with you.  The Chevrolets are a big clan with, like, four keeps and the main clanhold.  Chances are their leaders will be in the castle at the clanhold.  It’s only about forty kilometers from here.”

Once Duncan had regenerated his mana, they left the dungeon and flew further East, to Chevrolet territory.  They spotted a keep right on what Rose thought was the border of Marbot territory.  “I’m not sure if that’s a Marbot keep or a Chevrolet one,” Rose said.  “Oh, it might be Bloodsong Keep – it’s famous for continually changing hands between the Marbots and the Chevrolets over the past thousand years.  Want to see if the Chevrolets are holding any hostages there?  We can free them and let them hold the keep.”

Duncan readily agreed – while he wouldn’t go out of his way to seek out all the hostages the Chevrolets had and release them, neither would he walk away from people in need of his help.  They had discussed clearing out the Marbot clanhold, but with Moira and the Marbot fire team right there, they felt it would be better left to them, since it was their home.

There were a pair of Nursk guards walking the outer wall of the keep together.  That’s it?  Two guards, and together?  Duncan Blinked behind the pair, stunned one with a Mind Blade, decapitated the other with his sword, then finished off the stunned one.  Neither made a noise beyond the sound of their bodies hitting the walkway.

Duncan flew to the wall of the keep proper and used his Sphere of Cognizance to examine the interior.  He found two rooms of bunks occupied by a few Nursk warriors lounging around, a dining hall with yet more Nursk, and an entire wing that appeared to be filled with children, three or four to a bedroom.

Duncan Blinked into the hallway connecting the hostage rooms and killed the two Nursk guards the same way he’d killed the pair on the wall, this time storing their bodies.  Rose used her void magic staff to widen a window slot enough for her to fit in.  She entered the first of the bedrooms as Duncan stood watch at the end of the hallway.  His sphere extended far enough into the keep that he could see the goings on on the floors above and below him for several meters.  He had no concerns about anyone approaching unseen.

Rose stepped out of the bedroom accompanied by another young woman.  “This isn’t Bloodsong Keep, it’s Sheepsguard.  We’re still in Marbot lands.  The Chevrolets are using this place to house a bunch more hostages, but they haven’t allowed the Nursk to abuse the hostages.  Instead, the Chevrolet asshole in charge gives better treatment to the girls who are willing to pay with sexual favors.  He’s a petty monster who likes to humiliate his partners, but it’s not as bad as the Nursk in the dungeon.”

“Alright,” said Duncan.  “Where do we find this pillar of virtue?”

“Pierre’s chambers are on the top floor,” the woman accompanying Rose replied.

“Wait, Pierre?  About my age, thinks he’s… well, I guess most Chevrolets think they’re special.”  Duncan grinned.  “Let’s go meet Pierre…”

The young woman, whose name was Greta, led them out into the hallway and to a flight of stairs.  “Two guards at the top of the stairs, two outside Pierre’s chambers.  We have to be nude when we go up there – Pierre says it’s for security, but he just wants us humiliated by the guards seeing us.”  Even in a place with no real nudity taboo, being forced to be naked when everyone else is dressed has to be demeaning.

Duncan could see the guards at the top of the stairs from two flights below.  He Blinked up to them and killed them both, though one got off a gurgled shout before he died.  At the end of the hallway, two more guards started to react, and Duncan Blinked to them and cut them down effortlessly.  They’re so slow.  And fragile.

Through the door that the Nursk had been guarding, he could see Pierre Chevrolet – and it was the same Pierre Chevrolet he’d embarrassed in Lanport, and who, he assumed, had sent assassins after him.  He waited for Rose to join him (Greta stayed on the floor below, returning to the hostage wing to let everyone know rescuers were here, then the two of them entered Pierre’s chambers.  The door wasn’t locked – I guess that’s what the guards were for – and Pierre was lounging in the reception area, reading a gossip sheet of some sort from Harrish.  Heh – I can read over his shoulder from across the room while he's facing me.

Pierre looked up, his face going red as he saw Duncan.  “Guards!” he screamed.

“Oh, hi Pierre!” Duncan said cheerily.  “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Guards!  Help!” Pierre shouted.

“I see you’ve only managed to gain thirty levels since the last time I saw you,” Duncan noted.  Pierre was now a Level 52 Mage.

“Duncan, don’t be so rude to our host,” Rose said.  She’d entered behind him and was standing, completely nude, staring at Pierre.  “We’re supposed to be naked when we visit.”  Where is she going with this?

Duncan stored his armor and clothes but kept his swords out.  Pierre looked very confused.  “We need to talk about why you sent assassins after me, Pierre,” Duncan said.  “They weren’t very good assassins, but I hear they were quite expensive.  The second one barely even made an effort.  One little poison dart and they fled.”

Pierre glowered at him.  “Nothing to say?” Duncan asked.  “Then what about your treatment of the hostages here?  They are supposed to be under your protection, aren’t they?  Isn’t that the polite fiction you’re supposed to maintain?  They’re here to ensure they don’t come to harm in the ongoing conflict?”

Pierre sniffled.  “They have been kept safe.  They are fed well, the younger ones have a tutor, they are treated as guests.”

“Except the ones who look like me, right?” Rose said softly.  “The ones who visit you so that the rest are treated so well.”

Pierre began to cry, “They came to me,” he said softly.  “I didn’t seek them out or have them dragged here.  They came to me of their own free will!” he sobbed.

“They had to walk, naked, past the grasping hands of your guards, if they wanted the hostages fed more than gruel, if they wanted their chamber pots emptied.  They had to submit to your humiliations, your degradations.  You used them and abused them.” Rose said gently, never raising her voice.

Pierre slumped in his chair, face buried in his hands.  “I’m sorry,” he sobbed.

Rose said nothing, and after a short while, the sobs stopped, and Pierre looked to be catatonic.  Moments later he fell forward out of his chair to lie face down on the floor.  Rose dressed herself from her storage bracelet and stripped Pierre of all his goods, pocketing his storage ring and storing the rest of his items, leaving him naked on the floor.

“We should search his quarters,” she said.  “It’d be nice to split his money between the hostages.”

Duncan summoned his armor and wordlessly helped her search Pierre’s rooms – with his Sphere of Cognizance, it was easy to ensure nothing of value was missed.  She killed him, and I don’t think he even noticed he was dying or even under attack.  Her Mind techniques are scary.  I keep saying that.  Maybe I’ll internalize it one of these times.

They left the room, Rose dragging Pierre’s body by a foot.  They went down two flights of stairs to the hostage wing, where many of the hostages were standing in their doorways.  Rose dragged the body all the way to the end of the hall and dumped it at Greta’s feet.   Then she gave the young woman a hug, using her Soothe Psyche technique.  She went down the hallway, healing every single one of the hostages.

“I’m going to find whichever Nursk is in charge and send the rest home,” Duncan said.  He Blinked to the main hall of the keep and released his aura.  The Nursk in their bunks and in their common room came rushing into the hall, slowing to a stop as they saw him.

“Who is in charge here?” Duncan asked in the Nursk language.

One of the Nursk shuffled forward a step and said, “You are.”

Well, that’s a nice surprise.  I guess they can tell from my aura they don’t have anyone capable of facing me.  “You will pack up and head to the coast and call for a ship retrieval.  I’ve already killed a couple of your warchiefs, and their forces are already leaving.  Before you leave, tell me where I can find your warlord.”

“We will leave at once.  You want to challenge the Warlord?  Heh.  Well, it’s a good day to die.  He’s at the keep they call Bloodsong, to the Northeast.  He will feed your remains to his wolves.”

The doors burst open and a group of five Chevrolet guardsmen entered.  “What’s the meaning of this?” demanded the leader, a Level 65 Warrior.  “There are no guards on the wall, and… And who is this?”

“Hi there,” said Duncan.  “I’m the guy who just captured this keep.  Little Pierre is dead.  Throw your weapons down and surrender.”

The Chevrolet lieutenant drew his sword. “Attack!” he commanded the room at large.  His soldiers were all below level fifty, but they drew their weapons dutifully.  The Nursk stood around watching to see what Duncan would do.

He Blinked to the clearly deluded warrior and plucked the sword from his hand, his Armored Aura preventing the blade from doing any harm to his hand.  He stored the confiscated blade and re-summoned his own.  “Did you not even look at my level or are you just suicidal?” he asked.

“It’s a fake,” the lieutenant declared.  “Levels don’t go that high.”

“And my aura?” Duncan was thoroughly amused at this point.

“The combined aura of all these barbarians,” the lieutenant replied.

“I can’t tell if you’re really stupid or really brave, or both,” Duncan said.

“It’s both, sir,” one of the other Chevrolet guards spoke up.  “Please don’t kill us.”

Duncan dismissed his swords back into storage and grabbed the lieutenant by the bottom of his cuirass and hoisted him overhead with one hand.  The man flailed and kicked at Duncan, but the ineffectual attacks never so much as reached his armor, entirely dampened by his aura.  “Right,” Duncan said to the guard who’d spoken up.  “How many more Chevrolets are there here, and where are they?”

“It’s just Lord Pierre and us, sir,” the guard said.  “The Nursk provide all the security.”

Duncan adjusted his grip on the lieutenant and swung him down so that he was carrying him like a duffel bag.  The lieutenant flailed his arms and legs, but it had no effect on Duncan’s grip.  Duncan turned to the Nursk and said, “Thanks for not making me wipe out the future of the Snow Weasel clan.  Leave now, please.”

The Nursk all turned and left the room.  To the remaining Chevrolet guardsmen, Duncan said, “Follow me.  Leave your weapons here, please.”  There was a clatter as swords and daggers hit the floor.  He led them out of the hall and up the stairs to the hostage wing, withdrawing his aura as he got closer so as not to scare the hostages.  He shook the lieutenant to shut him up whenever he tried to make demands.

He led the soldiers past most of the hostages to Greta and asked her how the guards had treated the hostages.  “They were always professional with me,” she replied.  She raised her voice to ask the rest of the hostages the same question, and no one had any complaints.

“Congratulations,” said Duncan.  “You get to live!”

The lieutenant saw Pierre’s body lying in the hall and sagged in Duncan’s grip.  “We failed our duty,” he muttered.

Duncan dropped the lieutenant and told the rest of the guards to escort their leader out of the keep.  “I don’t care where you go but know that all the Nursk will be returning to their homeland soon, and the leaders of the Chevrolet clan won’t survive the week.  Hopefully there’ll be someone in the next generation who isn’t an asshole and can lead your clan down a more honorable path.  Now get lost.”

The guards grabbed the protesting lieutenant and hustled him away.

“Well,” said Duncan, turning to Rose.  “That was a lot less bloody than it might have been.  The Warlord is at Bloodsong Keep, which is to the Northeast.  Ready to travel?”

Rose nodded, and Greta interjected, “What will become of us?”

“Stay here a short while – the Nursk and Chevrolet guards are all leaving.  You’ll have the keep to yourselves.  You can do what you will after that.  Stay here, find your way home, whatever,” Duncan replied.

Several of the hostages cried out in dismay, but Greta merely nodded.  “Alright,” she said.  “Thank you for rescuing us.  The servants are from the Marbot family.  We can lock ourselves in until someone comes to get us.  It sounds like you’re going to take care of the Nursk and Chevrolets both.”

“We are,” Rose confirmed.  “We won’t wipe out either of them, but the Nursk will leave, and the Chevrolets will be leaderless.  We’ve already killed a few of their more powerful individuals, and we’ll take out whomever’s in charge at their stronghold.  After that, it’ll be up to the other clans to fight back.”

“I’m going to make sure the Nursk and Chevrolets are leaving,” Duncan said.  “Meet me at the front gate in an hour?”  At Rose’s nod, he Blinked up above the keep to watch the defeated forces depart.

When Rose exited the keep an hour later, Duncan was confident there were no Nursk or Chevrolets left in the keep.  “You good to fight the warlord and whomever he has with him now, or do you need to visit a dungeon?  I don’t know how much that healing took out of you,” he said.

“I’m fine for now,” Rose replied.  “Let’s kill the warlord and then find a dungeon.”

Chapter 28

Bloodsong Keep was much bigger than Sheepsguard.  It had impressive stone walls that rose twenty meters above the ground, and it was situated at the top of a mountain pass.  To pass beyond, travellers had to enter a killing field of broken rocks and scrub brush, passing along a winding dirt trail under line of sight of several impressive catapults, ballistae, and mangonels.

From their position well above the keep, they could see dozens of Nursk on the walls.  The keep building itself was set into the mountain behind it, suggesting it could be much bigger than it looked if there were caves in use.  “This place looks like it would be hard to siege, for Empire-level forces,” Rose said.

“Yeah,” Duncan agreed.  “If they’ve got wards against teleportation or flying, it would be very tough to get inside.   Fortunately, I think the warlord will come out if I fly down to the gate and challenge him with my aura.  When I fought the warchief in San Sebastian, it was one on one, but that may have been because she had no other tier one people.  It sounds like the warlord brought help when he fought Moira’s team.”

“If he comes out alone, do you want me to stay out of it, treat it like a duel?” Rose asked.

“I don’t know.  I’m not entirely sure how the covenant the Nursk mentioned works.  I guess if he brings extra tier one people but offers single combat, I’ll take it.  If he brings friends and they join in, it’s a group fight.  If he comes out alone, it’s single combat, if you don’t mind.”

“That’s fine,” Rose said.  “I’ll use Cloak of Shadow to hide in the shadow of the wall and then use my invisibility there – I don’t think it will hold up against the scrutiny of a lot of watchers otherwise.  If I need to join in, I’ll do so as subtly as possible.  I know I’m still relatively fragile for now.”

“Thanks, Rose, I appreciate it,” Duncan said.  “One of the Nursk mentioned that the warlord would feed me to his wolves, so he may be a summoner of some sort.  Be wary of the wolves’ senses, if they do appear.  I’ll draw the attention of the guards to the front gate.  The walls cast a huge shadow, so you should be able to hide pretty well.”

“Good luck!” Rose said.

A sense of excitement overcame Duncan as he thought about the fight ahead.  Olga, the Nursk Warchief in San Sebastian, had been a tremendous opponent, so this warlord chap would be even stronger, and perhaps have techniques that Duncan didn’t have an answer to.

He released his aura and Blinked down to fly at the height of the wall, directly in front of the gate.  “Send out your warlord!” he shouted as he descended to the ground in front of the gate.

Minutes passed, and large numbers of Nursk massed on the wall above the entrance, the crowd stretching out in both directions.  There had to be at least a hundred warriors watching.  The gate began to open with much creaking.  Are they winching it open by hand?  Once it had opened wide enough, a warrior who matched Duncan in size stepped through the opening, his violent aura preceding him.  It was every bit as strong as Duncan’s own.  Behind the warrior, two smaller Nursk followed, both wielding staves apparently made of ice.

“Who challenges the Snow Weasel clan?” the leader roared.

“I am Duncan of the Valley,” Duncan replied calmly.  “Baron Duncan, of Snowy Valley.”

“And what gives you standing to challenge me, hero?” the Nursk asked.

“I killed your warchief Olga in San Sebastian.  Her troops are even now on their way home.  Also, a couple of underchiefs and a bunch of other fools who attacked me when the Chevrolets told them to.  If you’d rather I siege your little keep instead, I’ll kill every Nursk here.”

“We honor the covenant.  I am Hrothgar the Skullsplitter,” the warlord said.  “The strong will fight the strong, so that the weak may grow.”  The gate behind him began to close, leaving him and his two cronies outside with Duncan.  I guess it’s a group fight after all.  Two mages and a warrior, by the look of it.

Duncan condensed his aura just outside his body for maximum protection, then Blinked past Hrothgar to a point in the air several meters away and thrust through a small fold in space at the back of the left mage’s head.  We’ll label you mage one. Wait, what?  Hrothgar moved unbelievably fast and knocked Duncan’s sword offline with his axe, making the parry less than a centimeter from the mage’s skull.  “Uncanny Parry!”  Why do they insist on shouting out their technique names?  He completed the technique before he even spoke!

Duncan Blinked again and thrust at Hrothgar’s kidney.  The man parried the blow, stepping aside and twisting to catch Duncan’s sword with his axe.  He swung wildly back at where Duncan’s body would have been had he not been attacking through a fold in space and made contact with nothing but air, missing the fold.  Both mages were flinging shards of ice, so Duncan had to keep moving.

He Blinked to the ground behind one mage and stabbed it in the back whilst thrusting his second sword through a fold in space at the second.  Hrothgar blitzed to him, parrying the sword aimed at mage two’s back.  Duncan’s thrust at mage one through the fold in space struck home.  Hrothgar reversed the swing of his axe and caught Duncan square in the chest with it.  He moved so fast Duncan had no chance to parry, block, dodge, or even brace.  The axe cut a shallow furrow in Duncan’s pectoral muscles.

So very fast! Duncan Blinked away and healed himself for a negligible cost in mana.  No necrotic affliction with the wound.  Maybe it’s one of the others that does that.  Hey, what’s that weird glowing symbol above my head?  There was an image floating in space over his head, two dimensional, but no matter what angle he looked at it from, it looked like it was directly facing him.  Given that he could look at it from all sides at once, that was very strange indeed. He thrust both swords through a fold in space, and Hrothgar parried them both with his axe.  “Haha!” Hrothgar laughed.  “First blood to me.  Your space magic is almost a counter for my time magic.  But almost won’t save you.”

Time magic!  He’s slowing down his perception of time or slowing time’s effects on him.  Something like that.  Whatever the trick, it makes him a lot faster than me.  But he’s just moving fast, not teleporting.  If I can spread his group out, I can Blink to cover more distance than he can, even if he’s moving five times as fast as me.  Failing that…  Duncan Blinked again to avoid the barrage of ice shards the mages were sending at him every time he paused for a moment and use Mind Blade to stun Hrothgar, attacking mage one twice through a fold in space.

Hrothgar recovered from the stun much faster than he should have (an effect of the time magic, no doubt) and sprinted across to protect the mage.  He arrived too late – he’d begun too late – as Duncan had attacked while he was stunned, and Duncan was pretty quick, too.  Half a second was plenty of time to thrust a sword.

Another Mind Blade, another pair of attacks, this time at mage two.  Again, Hrothgar wasn’t able to recover in time to parry Duncan’s blades.  A block of ice formed around Duncan, and he Blinked out of it, appearing behind mage one.  Mind Blade, a big fold in space with just a little divergence between Hrothgar and Duncan.  Hrothgar closed the gap and tripped over the bottom of the aperture of the fold in space.  Duncan immediately canceled the technique, and Hrothgar screamed as he fell.

Damn it, it only caught his trailing foot.  He’s so fast I’m lucky it caught that, I suppose.  Mage one used the big ice block defensively, entombing himself to prevent Duncan from skewering him, but Duncan only had eyes for Hrothgar.  Even as the big Warrior stood, Duncan was blitzing him with attacks, attacking simultaneously with both swords, Blinking behind him to make him turn on the stump of his right ankle, using Mind Blade to stun him to give Duncan more opportunity to attack without Uncanny Parry getting in the way, and using folds in space to block Hrothgar’s axe out of position.

Hrothgar took half a dozen wounds in as many seconds.  Mage one remained entombed in his defensive ice cube, and mage two had decided to sit down and have a good cry.  Duncan noticed another enemy in his Sphere of Cognizance approaching him from behind.  The attacker was invisible, but Duncan could sense his mind, his spirit, and even his position in space.  Argh!  Ten more seconds and I might have finished Hrothgar.

He opened a large fold in space with a small divergence in front of the invisible attacker and waited for him to step into it.  In the meantime, he continued his assault on Hrothgar.  The moment the invisible foe passed through the technique, Duncan ended it, to much greater effect than his attempt on Hrothgar had yielded.

The attacker’s invisibility dropped as he was bisected vertically.  It wasn’t perfectly placed – Duncan had waited a fraction of a second too long – but the man’s spine was severed.  He’d been hunched over as he crept forward, so his head was intact, but the separation removed the lower part of his lungs, most of his abdomen and pelvis, and the tops of his thighs.  He couldn’t even scream due to the lung damage.

If he doesn’t have an instant regeneration like me, he’s done for.  Duncan took another gash, on his shoulder this time, as he lost focus on his battle with Hrothgar.  He regenerated immediately, without Blinking away, not wanting to give Hrothgar a chance to recover.

Mage two had slumped over onto his side and was lying curled up in the fetal position.  That one’s out of the fight.  Mage one had dispelled his ice cube at some point and was blasting tiny ice shards at Duncan.  His Armored Aura was stopping them – individually, they lacked the force to penetrate it – but it was tiring.  Heh, my stamina is starting to flag for the first time since I left the Valley.

“Mellinick, heed my call!” Hrothgar roared.  A massive white owl appeared over his head and two two-meter-tall wolves appeared beside him.  Aha – he is a summoner after all.  Should have summoned his help much earlier though – he’s on his last legs now.  Er, leg.  Hrothgar was still parrying most of Duncan’s attacks, but Duncan’s rapid Blinks and attacks from unusual angles were landing often enough that Hrothgar was a bloody mess.

Duncan Blinked to mage one and sliced at his knee, leaving a deep gash and severing some tendons.  The mage staggered to the side even as Duncan Blinked away and up into the sky to avoid the attacks of Hrothgar and the wolves.  The huge owl approached on silent wings, its talons outstretched.  Duncan snipped its head off with a fold in space.  So much slower than your master.

“Nooo!” The anguish in Hrothgar’s voice was evident.  The wolves howled in unison and Duncan had to Blink away to heal the damage from the howls.  Sound based attack?  This guy has great variation in his toolkit.  But none of it trumps my mobility and healing.

The mage was throwing paper items out at a rapid pace, forming a wide pattern around them.  There has to be some trickery there.  Paper doesn’t fly like that.  Duncan Blinked to him, picked up him, and snipped his head off with another fold in space.  Gah, I’m a one-trick pony.  But I can’t let him complete whatever ritual casting he was trying.

“ICE TITAN!” Hrothgar’s voice was so loud Duncan’s ears rang.  The Nursk Warrior grew in a matter of seconds into a ten-meter-tall behemoth.  His skin turned a pale blue, and his eyes turned white.  The wolves (and Duncan) were now only knee height to the massive warrior.  His missing foot reformed during the transformation, too.

Hrothgar lunged forward at a truly absurd speed and his hand lashed out and grabbed Duncan.  Duncan immediately Blinked out of the crushing grip and hovered fifty meters above Hrothgar, healing the minor damage the momentary squeeze had caused.  Okay, so he’s huge and he’s still sped up by time magic.  But his axe didn’t grow with him, and I don’t think the wolves can fly, so if I attack from above, with a liberal use of Mind Blade to prevent him parrying my attacks, I should be able to wear him down.  And if his titan form is anything like Olga’s ice form, it’ll cost him mana to maintain.  And he doesn’t seem to have any idea Rose is here, killing him with her mind.

“Blizzard!” Hrothgar waved his massive arms, and the area was inundated with howling winds and blowing snow.  That has to be costing him a fortune in mana – I can’t sense the edge of the storm in any direction.  I could Blink out of it and wait for his mana to run out.  Oh, but what if Rose is caught in this too?  She’s fragile.

Duncan continued his attacks, Blinking in close to strike with one sword whilst striking through a fold in space elsewhere on Hrothgar’s huge form with the other, ignoring the tiny ice shards that were being countered by his Armored Aura.  Frustratingly, Hrothgar was still able to use Uncanny Parry using his hands instead of his axe, and he could parry both of Duncan’s attacks at once.  And given the size of his hands, when he parried Duncan’s direct attacks, he was swatting Duncan’s body, too.  On top of that, the force of the parries meant Duncan had to twist the blade so as not to risk damaging it on the edge of the fold in space when parried.  He was only able to land an attack in the half second after he stunned Hrothgar with his Mind Blade attack.

“Ice Lightning!”  Even the annoying technique announcements were sped up dramatically due to Hrothgar’s time technique, and Duncan had no time to react before he was connected to the ground by a massive bolt of lightning.  His flesh sizzled and smoked, and he was stunned by the lightning long enough for Hrothgar to seize him and hurl him into the ground at his feet.  Duncan regained his senses just as Hrothgar’s massive foot stomped on him.

He Blinked above the lightning storm before the wolves reached him and regenerated the damage he’d incurred.  I must avoid more of those lightning strikes – the damage is severe, and the stun lets him do more damage.  No time to waste, though – if Rose is in that blizzard, she’ll have to heal herself and I don’t know if she can stay invisible in there while I’m not around to distract Hrothgar.

Blink – Mind Blade – attack – Blink out.  Repeat.  Hrothgar’s ice titan form was huge, and the attacks did little physical damage, but every strike had a Mind and Spirit element as well, and every strike was echoed by a Cascade of Blades, and every strike leeched a little mana from the giant.  And Rose was certainly using her Shred Psyche ability every chance she got.

In the end, the Ice Titan toppled forward, transforming back into Hrothgar’s human form even as it hit the ground.  The two wolves burst into tiny motes of ice which fell to the ground.  The weird image over Duncan’s head slowly dissipated.  Duncan dismissed his swords, then summoned them back in the form of a massive two-handed axe that weighed at least thirty kilograms, which he used to remove Hrothgar’s head.  Better safe than sorry.  And I need to experiment with weapon weight and balance on my twinblades.  Simply copying my older swords doesn’t make sense given my physical strength and weight.  That symbol overhead needs to be looked into.

He saw Rose step out of the shadows at the base of the wall.  She looked to be in good health, but he called out “Alright?” just in case.

“All good,” she replied.  “The blizzard was unpleasant, but I could regenerate the damage easily enough.  You had a weird glyph over your head for most of the fight – what was that?”

Duncan shrugged.  “No idea.  It didn’t seem to be harmful, and I don’t know who cast it.  Maybe it was to prevent invisibility or something?”

Together they looted the bodies.  Duncan stored Hrothgar’s body – he’d probably need it to prove the man was dead when he was telling other Nursk to leave.  After a moment, he stored the rest of the corpses too.  Better to prove the clean sweep.

He flew up to the height of the top of the wall and addressed the astonished Nursk who’d assembled there.  “I have agreed not to kill all of you, per the covenant.  Who leads you now?”

A small (for a Nursk) woman stepped forward.  She had white hair, white eyes, and pearly skin.  “I am underchief Oksana.  I lead for now.”  Her aura was all cold and death, and Duncan got the impression she’d be as challenging a fight as Olga had been.

“Are there any hostages or prisoners here?” he asked.

“Just one, a healer, plus the servants who maintain the place.” Oksana replied.

“Have the healer brought to me”, he said, “Then take your people home.  Cause no more strife in the empire,” he directed.

“As you will.  We will depart within the hour,” Oksana replied.  She gave him a short bow and turned to the assembled Nursk.  “Prepare to depart!” she ordered before walking away with half a dozen presumably high-ranked Nursk whilst the rest ran for the stairs off the wall.

Duncan Blinked after her.  “One more thing,” he said.  “Where’s the nearest dungeon?”

Oksana laughed.  “I, too, hate this mana-starved empire,” she said.  “There is a weak dungeon about three kilometers to the Northeast.  The entrance is beside a pretty green lake.”

“Thank you.  Have a safe and quiet journey,” Duncan said.  Weird that I just killed all her superiors and we’re having a relatively normal discussion.

“Die well, hero,” Oksana replied, returning to the group of underlings she’d been walking with.

Duncan returned to Rose and the two waited for the prisoner to be brought to them and for the Nursk to leave.   A few minutes later, a Nursk warrior brought Lupita to them, naked but for a metal collar around her neck.  She gave a wan smile when she saw Duncan and Rose.

Duncan managed to restrain himself from killing the warrior (and the remaining Nursk).  He took the chain and the warrior fled as Duncan’s aura escaped his control.  Rose embraced Lupita, Soothing her psyche as she did, then produced a dress for the Marbot healer to wear.

The chain proved problematic.  It was attached to the collar using a metal affinity, and the collar was sealed the same way.  Duncan sighed.  “I have a metal affinity, but I’ve never used it, and have no metal techniques.  I have no way to manipulate the metal.  Sorry.”

With a shrug, Lupita said, “I’ll find someone to remove it eventually.”

Rose explained that they’d found and healed the rest of the Marbot fire team and cleaned out Sheepsguard keep.  She also mentioned that they’d not cleared the Marbot stronghold because Moira had been angry and confrontational.

Lupita frowned.  “She’s been really bitchy since we came out of the dungeon,” she said.  “Thank you for rescuing them (and me) regardless.”

Rose hugged her again.  “Always.”

“Did you happen to find my storage ring by chance?” Lupita asked.  “They made me unbind it and give it to them.”

Duncan produced all the storage devices he’d taken from fallen foes.  “Recognize yours?” he asked.

“This one!” Lupita pointed to a delicate ring.  Duncan handed it over, and she slipped it on a finger, then equipped all her normal gear from it.  With a huge smile, she gave Duncan a hug.  He felt a hand give his butt cheek a firm squeeze.  Lupita stepped back and winked.  “Had to touch the heinie,” she said.   Rose laughed.  Duncan pretended it never happened.  At least she’s okay.  Rose’s ability to magically erase trauma is magnificent.

Once they confirmed the Nursk were on their way, the two of them left Lupita in charge of Bloodsong Keep and flew Northeast, looking for the green lake Oksana had mentioned.  Finding it, they dove into the dungeon, where the mana density was sufficient to let them regenerate their mana more comfortably.

The dungeon mimicked an outdoor area – open skies, and lots of little islands in a wide body of water.  Seeing no one else around, they settled down on the island they’d arrived on and meditated while their mana returned.

Once they’d fully recovered, they exited the dungeon and flew further East.  They knew the Chevrolet stronghold was relatively close, and there should be crofts scattered around where they could ask for directions.

Chapter 29

The Chevrolet stronghold known as Stormpeak was a sprawling series of buildings surrounded by a three-meter-tall wall on an earthen berm.  There were plenty of low-level guards on the walls, and each of the four entrances had a metal gate and a tunnel through the wall that visitors or attackers had to pass through.   From above, the stronghold looked like a prosperous village.

“The Chevrolets are filthy rich,” Rose said.  “They could well have a formation that prevents flying or teleporting.”

“That sounds like it would be expensive to maintain in terms of mana,” Duncan replied.  “Even if they have such formations, I bet they’re not activated unless they know they’re going to be attacked.”

“So, what’s your plan, then?” asked Rose.  “I know you don’t want to kill everyone here.  Most of them are low-level workers and servants.  Even most of the guards are innocent.”

“I wish I could carry you when I Blink,” Duncan sighed.  “I will Blink ahead into the main castle there and find the Chevrolet leaders.  You fly in invisibly and make your way there when you can.  If we can find out if there are hostages here and where they’re being held, that would probably be a good thing.  We can put the hostages someplace safe, then kill every Chevrolet over level one hundred.  That should get all the leaders and willing accomplices.”

“I mean, I guess that could work,” Rose said.  “Can we try to flesh it out a little more?”

“Uh, sure…”

“Why don’t you put on your disguise cloak or whatever it’s called, then hang around near the guard mess hall and listen in on their gossip?  You should be able to discover where some or all of the hostages are, and maybe the names of which Chevrolets are in charge.   I’ll hang out with the servants invisibly and listen in on them.  We meet at… say behind that temple with the tall bell tower at sundown and compare notes.  Then we protect the hostages and hunt down the Chevrolet leadership.”

“Okay,” said Duncan.  “But if anything goes wrong, one of us is seen or something, and they raise the alarm, I’m going straight into the castle after the leaders.”  He sighed.  “You know, for all they’re barbarians with a death wish, I prefer dealing with the Nursk.  They’re led by their strongest fighters, and you can just challenge them directly.”

“Yeah, the Chevrolet clan heads are going to hide behind anyone they can convince to stand in front of them,” Rose agreed.  “Now put your cloak on and meet me behind the temple at sundown.”

Duncan’s afternoon was unproductive.  The guards talked about their families, their hopes for their children, and shared more gossip than he expected.  “I don’t know if they’re specifically ordered not to speak about their jobs, but there was no discussion of the duty roster or anything,” he told Rose when they met.

“The servants were more helpful,” she said.  “There are some cells under the castle where some of the stronger hostages are being kept.  The weaker ones are in those bunkhouses over there.” She pointed at a series of short stone buildings.

“I don’t see any guards,” Duncan said.  “But I can Blink over and take a look inside. Back in a moment.”   He Blinked onto the roof of the closest bunkhouse and looked inside with his Sphere of Cognizance, then immediately Blinked back to Rose.

“Well, I understand why the guards aren’t needed,” he said.  “They’re all kept naked.  If they were to get out, they’d be easily identifiable.”

“Okay, we can probably just leave them there until we’re done, then.” Rose said.  “We can find some clothes for them in the castle or the guards quarters or something.  Their old clothes are probably piled in a bin somewhere, for that matter.”

“There are bound to be a few different entrances to the castle – it’s not built for defense, but as a show of power and wealth, and I bet they have servants’ entrances to keep them out of the way.  Let’s find one of those.”

Sure enough, there was an entrance on the side wall they looked at first.  Duncan could see through the walls and door, so he simply Blinked inside and removed the bar preventing the door from opening.  Rose joined him and they walked into the castle.  They made no attempt to be stealthy – if someone saw them sneaking around, they’d be more likely to raise an immediate alarm than if they saw two people walking as though they belonged there.  And Duncan had the advantage of being able to see through the walls, floor, and ceiling.

It being after sundown, there weren’t a lot of servants moving around.  The kitchens would likely have staff, and the dining hall.  But there’d be no maids or pages or whatnot, Rose told him.

“Found some prisoners below,” Duncan said quietly.  There were three men packed into a cell intended for one, and as he walked on, he saw more cells, similarly overcrowded.  “I think we can leave them until later, too,” he decided.  “They’re probably safer in the cells than out here if a fight breaks out.”

Rose nodded, and they continued on, finding some stairs leading up.   The second floor was more active than the ground floor had been – Duncan saw several servants carrying trays full of food along other hallways.  “There must be another set of stairs up from the kitchen,” he murmured. “I wonder if we can catch most of the family eating.”

They followed the direction the servants were going and came to a plain wooden door.  Beyond it was a large hall set with two rows of tables, and a raised platform on the left with a large table there.  The lower tables had benches on both sides, but the raised platform had eight chairs facing the rest of the diners.  The eight seats were all occupied and there were perhaps twenty other people sitting on the benches at the tables nearest to the platform.  There were two guards with polearms standing against the wall behind the chairs on the platform, and two more at the far end of the room flanking some ornate double doors.

Duncan whispered all this to Rose and added, “I’m going to Blink straight to the platform and take out the leaders.  The guards are level eightyish, and the people at the head table are all between one-oh-five and one-twenty.  The people on the benches are a real mixture – some as low as level forty, and a couple in the one-forties.”

At her nod, he Blinked onto the head table and attacked the man in the biggest, most ornate chair.  During their flight to the Chevrolet stronghold, he had experimented with various changes to the twinblades, and after experimenting with various weights, lengths and changes in the position of the balance points, he’d decided to keep the proportions he was used to but tripled the weight of the swords.  That was as heavy as he could make them without the weight affecting the speed at which he could move them.  Their increased mass would help with the damage he dealt, though possibly not a lot, given that much of the damage came from magical sources – something to experiment with when he had more time – but also with the effectiveness of his parries, blocks, redirects, and even envelopments.

He plunged his right-hand sword into the chest of the man he assumed to be the clan leader and brought his left-hand sword down in a reverse cut that struck him in the side of the neck and cut deep into his torso. He yanked his blades back out and struck again as the gathered diners burst into activity.

“Assassin!” someone (several someones) cried.  Hah!  You people sent actual assassins after me.  At least I’m coming to kill you myself.  All the people at the head table, and a few of the higher level folks at the benches summoned armor and weapons from storage devices.  Many of the other diners fled for the exits, most heading toward the pair of guards at the main exit, but a few heading for the servant passages.

Duncan focused on the people at the head table and the two level one-forty diners who’d geared up.  He Blinked to the end of the head table and attacked the two people seated closest to the end.  Let’s see if we can have the healers identify themselves.  He Blinked to the other end of the table and repeated his attack there.

“He’s one-seventy!” someone cried out in horror.  “Form up on me,” shouted a man in thick metal armor wielding a heavy mace and tower shield.  Duncan Blinked to one of the one-forty fellows and cut at him, only to see him roll forward to avoid the attack.  Ah, here we go.  The second one-forty fellow – let’s call him Daggers – lunged at Duncan from behind, daggers aimed at Duncan’s kidney and heart.  The attack passed through a fold in space with a small divergence.  Duncan canceled the fold when the blades touched his armored aura, and Daggers lost both his hands at the wrist.  The daggers and hands clattered to the floor as Daggers screamed.

Tower Shield began emitting an annoying buzzing noise.  A man in an armored robe standing behind Tower Shield gestured.  Two women in identical mail armor wielding identical swords and shields rushed at Duncan.  A man in a white robe with a tall metal staff was checking on the older man Duncan had attacked first.  Healer, or trying to loot the storage devices?  Dodger rolled to his feet and turned to face Duncan, a sword and a whip in hand.  A wall of fire appeared between Duncan and the head table and the stone floor beneath Duncan’s feet liquified.

Duncan Blinked to White Robe, grabbed him, lifted him so that his head passed through a fold in space, and snipped off the head.  No looting my kills.

“Can’t root him,” someone called out.

“He can teleport through my shield” someone else reported.

“Taunt ineffective,” said Tower Shield.  Wait, that little buzzing noise is a taunt?  Well, maybe my Tranquil Mind is helping with that.

“He took my hands!” Daggers wailed.

“Collum and Andrew are dead.” Someone else reported.

A wave of flame billowed towards Duncan, and he Blinked away, attacking the mage at the far end of the table from himself.  Then he Blinked again, attacking one of the men he suspected might be a healer.  This is chaotic, but it’s essentially like the latter parts of the Scholastica Donostia, with more, but weaker, opponents.

Duncan continued to teleport around the group, attacking targets of opportunity, avoiding attacking through folds in space, or using them to snip off heads.  Head snipping with folds still feels wrong, somehow.  Maybe if my opponent had a big scary tier one technique, I’d feel more comfortable using it.

The Chevrolets, including the guards, were clustered behind the head table, trying to avoid giving him easy targets, making sure that if he teleported close to attack someone, two others would be able to hit him.  Their mages were in the center of the group, with their weapon-users on the edges.  Someone was healing the group steadily, though they gave no indication to give themselves away.

“Why are you doing this?” cried one young man.

“You attacked the other clans when they’d sent their strongest forces to help the empire against the undead.  You took hostages.  You gave some of those hostages into the care of the Nursk, who abused them,” Duncan replied.  Don’t talk to the enemy, idiot.

“That was our right!  We are the rightful rulers of the highlands,” another, older Chevrolet said.  And that right there is why I’m killing you.

“I’ve been wandering around the empire recently, trying to understand how it works,” said Duncan, even as he continued to attack, cutting down a guard.  “The common folk have a society that’s almost unrelated to the ruling class, who have strong affinities.  The Adventurers Guild is what ties the two societies together in the empire.  Commoners with strong affinities become adventurers and get recruited into the ruling society, though almost always as gifted servants or guards.”

“But how do the ruling class interact?  What rules govern your behavior?  It was the Nursk who provided the final piece of the puzzle for me.  The weak fight the weak, so that those with potential may grow.  The strong fight the strong, so that they’re not killing those young folks with potential.  But you have broken that rule.  You wiped out entire clans.  You took children hostage and may have destroyed the potential of a generation.”

“Which brings me to the unbreakable rule that governs everything.  Might makes right.  The strongest do what they want because they can.  You figured that with the other clans weakened by sending away their finest, you could destroy them, and their finest wouldn’t be able to do anything about it when they returned.  Well, I am stronger than you, and I have decided to protect the other clans by cutting the head off the snake that is the Chevrolet clan.”

“Hah!” shouted one of the twins. “The children have made it to safety!”

“BREAK!” roared Tower Shield.  The few remaining Chevrolets ran for different doors, save for a mage who sat down and crawled under the table.

“Idiots,” Duncan muttered as he Blinked to one fleeing opponent and cut them down.  “I was never after your children.”   Without their healer or healers healing the group, the individuals were easily put down. He Blinked through the castle, looking for runners with his Sphere of Cognizance, finishing them off as he found them.  He wasn’t too concerned about getting them all – the idea was to cripple the clan’s ability to wage war on the other clans, and by sending the Nursk home and killing the elites he’d already killed, he’d pretty much done that.  Taking out the clan leaders gathered here was just icing on the cake.

He looted the leaders he killed – every material harm he could pile on the Chevrolets would help – and returned to the dining hall to find Rose waiting for him.  Together, they descended to the lowest floor, where they’d seen the prisoners held.  There were a pair of guards present in a small chamber at the bottom of the stairs.  Duncan disarmed them and sent them running with a warning that he’d killed their leaders and didn’t want to kill everyone else as well.  They’ll probably gather more guards and either come back or wait for us to emerge with the prisoners.  I’ll burn that bridge when I come to it, though.

Using the keys they’d taken from the guards, they opened twelve cells and rescued forty men and eight women.  All were naked and filthy, hungry, and dehydrated.  Duncan spied a pile of clothes in a storage room, which turned out to be what the prisoners had been wearing when they arrived.  Rose reassured each group that they were safe for now and applied her Soothe Psyche as necessary to keep everyone calm.  She further explained that they were going from the castle to the bunkhouses where the remaining hostages in the area were being kept.

Most of the prisoners were between level fifty and one hundred.  None had any teleportation powers – those who’d been known to have Shadow affinities or the like had been either killed or taken elsewhere.  Clothed and fed using food Duncan and Rose had found in the storage items they’d taken from various Chevrolet and Nursk leaders, the prisoners followed them up the stairs.

To Duncan’s surprise, there were no Chevrolet guards waiting for them at the top of the stairs, or anywhere in the castle.  Nor were there any outside the castle itself.  He Blinked to the bunkhouses where the other hostages had been held and found them still present, still naked, still locked in, but with no guards around at all.  I wonder if they have a protocol for evacuating in the face of overwhelming strength.

Duncan opened all the doors through the simple expedient of kicking them down, since he didn’t have any keys.  A veritable flood of hostages flooded the square adjacent to the bunkhouses.  Rose provided food and Psychic healing while Duncan searched for more caches of clothes.  He soon returned with hundreds of items, dumping them in dozens of small piles around the square.

Once everyone had been fed and healed as necessary, Duncan explained that they’d killed most of the Chevrolet leadership, as far as they knew, plus a significant number of their centurions and elite warriors.  He also explained that by killing the Nursk Warlord, he’d forced the rest of the Nursk to leave the empire.  “Now, I can’t guarantee that you’re all safe and able to go home to your keeps which will be empty and waiting for you to move back in.  But we’ve crippled the Chevrolets and given you a fighting chance.  We’ll provide you whatever arms and armor we can find here, and you can make your way to wherever you want to go.  I recommend you do so in a group, but it’s up to you in the end.  Our part in this conflict is over.”

There was some grumbling from a significant minority of the hostages, but most were grateful they’d been rescued at all.  Duncan discovered some gear in the guard barracks and dumped out a fair bit more from the storage devices he’d recently confiscated.  Some of it may have been enchanted, but he wasn’t worried about giving up items he could sell to the Adventurers Guild for a few gold.

With that, he wished the hostages good fortune, and he and Rose flew Northwest, in the general direction of Toulon and the teleportation gate there.  They kept an eye open for dungeon entrances on the way but saw nothing.  So, it was an irritable pair that made it to Toulon and through the teleportation gate to Harrish.

As they arrived, Duncan’s soul gem popped up a message in his vision – something he’d never seen before and hadn’t imagined possible.  Big black letters spelled out a simple message: “What are you still doing here?  Get out of the kiddie pool!  The ocean awaits.”  Thanks, Count Montrose – I take your point.  We’re on our way.  The letters disappeared the moment Duncan read the message.

“Where do we find the international gates?” Duncan asked the gate attendant.  Following the woman’s directions to a square a couple hundred meters away, they approached another gate attendant and asked where the various international portals went.

“So, we have a choice of Zaragosa, Mero, in the Villanovan Confederation, Agda, in the Tuton kingdoms, or Markosh, in the Lipiti lands across the sea to the South.  Any of those will have gates to places I’ve never heard of.  Do you have a preference?” Duncan asked Rose.

“Not Zaragosa – it’s too close to home.  Whichever of the other three has the biggest group waiting and will open soonest,” Rose said, clearly feeling the low ambient mana.

And so, they joined a group of merchants waiting at a gate, paid their coin, and stepped through into a mercifully higher ambient mana, leaving the empire behind.