Eternal Dominion Book 10

Lorafir

Bern Dean

Bern's Books LLC

Copyright © 2022 Bern's Books LLC

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.

Cover design by: ebooklaunch.com

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

In Review

Morning February 1, 2267.

ED year 2 day 234.

Evening February 1, 2267 & ED year 2 days 235-236.

Morning February 2, 2267 & ED year 2 day 237.

Evening February 2, to Morning February 4, 2267 & ED year 2 days 238-243.

Evening February 4, 2267.

ED year 2 days 244-245.

Morning February 5, 2267 & ED year 2 day 246.

Evening February 5, 2267 & ED year 2 days 247-248.

Morning February 6, to Morning February 10, 2267 & ED year 2 days 249-261.

Evening February 10, 2267 & ED year 2 days 262-263.

Morning February 11, 2267 & ED year 2 day 264.

February 11, 2267 & ED year 2 days 265-266.

February 12, 2267 & ED year 2 days 267-269.

February 13, 2267 & ED year 2 days 270-272.

Morning February 14, to Evening February 25, 2267 & ED year 2 days 273-308.

February 26, 2267 & ED year 2 days 309-311.

Morning February 27, 2267 & ED year 2 day 312.

Thanks!

Preview

Afterword

In Review

The following is simply meant to help refresh readers on some of the key points from the previous books in the series. Many important details will be left out and to get them you should read the full story. I like to do this every time three books can be added, so 4, 7, 10 and so on.

Book 1: Restart

Alex/Xeal finds himself waking up 20 years in the past after logging into Eternal Dominion (ED) to delete his character. As he looks at his 18-year-old self just hours from the launch of Eternal Dominion in his new life, he decided to make sure things are different this time around.

He is joined by his friends in Eternal Dominion as they fight to earn their place in a world that will represent much of the world’s economy in the near future. His friends are as follows:

Dan, Ignis in Eternal Dominion, a mage who wants nothing more than to enjoy throwing fireballs;

Fred, Amet in Eternal Dominion, a warrior that wants to be in the thick of things;

Amanda, Clara in Eternal Dominion, a holy champion who refuses to just sit back and heal;

Samantha, Gale in Eternal Dominion, a cleric who is just looking to have fun;

Nicole, Aalin in Eternal Dominion, an arcane caster who prefers a good mix of offense and defense and is just happy to be with her friends.

The six of them work together as Alex/Xeal uses his knowledge from his last life to ensure that they have the best start possible. This included acquiring the “first guild” bonus for his guild Free Art Expo (FAE) that is coveted by many as it gives his guild 1.5 times the normal member cap at each level.

Book 2: Traction

After reaching tier 3, Alex/Xeal continues to build up the foundations that will ensure his guild’s long-term success as complications come into play. Through the meddling of his younger sister, Alex ends up in a complicated relationship with Sam and Nicole, who have been best friends since early childhood, as they attempt to share him rather than fight over him, or wait for him to decide between them.

In Eternal Dominion, the Abysses End guild, who were the top dogs from Alex’s/Xeal’s last life, have decided to take action to seize the first guild bonus from FAE by force. FAE is faced with a battle on four fronts at once and must resolve each at the same time, or risk a prolonged engagement that could see his guild’s growth stagnate. Outnumbered but with the level advantage, FAE weathers the storm as they remove the roots of the issue while sending a message to Abysses End and every other major workshop that FAE will not go down without a fight.

Book 3: Concessions:

With the storm caused by Abysses End weathered, a quiet few weeks in ED has passed and Alex/Xeal is ready to challenge his tier 4 challenge and reach the capital of Nium. There he has a meeting with Prince Victor. However, somehow along the way Xeal found himself unofficially courting two noble ladies, Lady Dyllis, the daughter of the local viscount of the city Xeal took his tier 4 challenge in, and Prince Victor’s younger sister, Princess Enye. Sam/Gale and Nicole/Aalin are accepting of it due to the political nature of the situation so long as they are not pushed to the side and a budding friendship is formed between the four of them.

In reality, Alex finds himself dealing with a surprise visit from Abysses End (Nantan) and decided to play up the philanderer angle that having two girlfriends naturally causes. His hope is to manipulate how Abysses End targets him assuming that Sam and Nicole will keep the worst at bay while he buys time with the act. This of course leads to the plan almost completely backfiring when one of his sister’s best friends, Jessica, ambushes him at Nantan’s encouragement. Alex finds himself torn on how to handle the situation and in the end decides to have her seek out help from a psychologist. The catch is he has to promise her a date if she still wants one after she completes her last year of school in June. Alex hopes that with help she can move past him as he tries to flip her to help him work against Abysses End. Even so, Alex knows his plan has failed as neither Nicole or Sam could play the hypocrite he needed for it and with a visit from Abysses End’s junior members upcoming, he knows he needs a new plan yesterday.

Book 4: Assertions:

Book 4 opens with Alex and Sam on a date in a nice car that ends with him accepting his feelings for her and fully embracing the fact that there is no turning back. This is followed by Alex officially moving in with Sam and Nicole as Amanda moves out to avoid another Jessica (who is now in therapy) from happening. Alex’s father officially retires from his job to pursue a life in ED as a crafter. Meanwhile in ED, Xeal completes the first quest that Prince Victor had given him and with it officially becomes a noble as his courtship of Dyllis becomes official at a party held by Prince Victor. At the same time it seems that his unofficial courtship of Princess Enye has been deduced by the single house that she wishes to avoid, the Mercer House. Xeal dances with one lady after another as he works to avoid adding any more ladies to his arm. Xeal finds himself having to turn one rather pushy lady away and another gives him a quest.

After dealing with the nobles at the party, it is time to deal with the guild leaders of the other guilds in Nium as he hosts a gathering for them as they reach tier-4. There friendships and rivalries begin to form as various lines are drawn. Once the party is done, it is time for a major guild expedition to unlock the city of Autumndale to be undertaken. Along the way it is time to face off with a few boss-level monsters while Abysses End comes knocking for a supposedly friendly visit. With them come Ava and Mia Quinn, with their red hair and forward approach as they work to add themselves to his love life. Alex calls Nantan out over it as Sam and Nicole make a deal with them. As things close, the city is unlocked and a pair of flirtatious identical twins decides to stay behind.

Book 5: Interference:

After an awkward run where Alex had to explain why Ava and Mia are still there, he gets them settled in a hotel for the time being. However, when he goes to pick them up from said hotel, he finds them being harassed by four men. Things happen and Alex restrains one of the four men when they attack him as police arrive. Meanwhile in ED, Xeal is focused on completing the second task that Prince Victor has set for him, but is called away when his guild’s weaker members find themselves being targeted. Seeing these attacks for what they are, Xeal decides to turn an assault into a chance to do some recruitment. After cleaning up that mess, Xeal completes the second task, picking up a dark elf follower along the way before returning to dealing with the other guilds who wish to cause his to stagnate. They hoped to cause FAE to end up isolated and alone. To do this they are targeting any guild that is on friendly terms with them. This includes Rising Oblivion and their guild leader, Friva Doomcutter, who knows that she has no path forward and decides to deal Red Crushers and Templar Fall a major blow on her way out.

Meanwhile, FAE completes their guild’s headquarters in ED and Xeal is made a viscount while Aalin and Gale become baronesses and their relations with Xeal are allowed to be public once more. While in reality an attack on the group while exercising prompts Alex to shift their morning routine to indoor activities. They take up kendo, aikido and swing dancing while the police move forward with their investigation. Back in ED, Xeal toys with his opponents as he leads them by the nose and they find themselves trapped. All of them but Hugo Mercer see the writing on the wall as he forces them to proceed. In the end, a deal is struck and Hugo Mercer takes the fall as Red Crushers and Templar Fall swallow a bitter lesson. Sam and Nicole learn that they are indeed pregnant.

Book 6: Resolve:

After Hugo Mercer’s fate is sealed at a trial where his own father refused to defend him, it is time to handle the rest of the aftermath of the plan Xeal and Friva came up with as she joins FAE. With that taken care of, it is time for Xeal to return to completing the tasks that Prince Victor has for him as he continues to focus on increasing his leveling pace as he races for tier-5. Along the way, his courtship with Princess Enye becomes official and it is announced that Prince Victor will assume the throne in a year’s time.

In reality, the trial for the four idiots who tried to assault Alex takes place and he attempts to end things with the twins, but only partially succeeds as they agree to take a step back upon learning that Sam and Nicole are pregnant.

Back in ED, Xeal travels to an orc village where he finds himself forced to prove himself before having to confront his own past in its entirety, stirring up feelings he had been suppressing. After meeting with the orc seer and the chief, he finds himself with another follower, Bula who is both the chief’s daughter, and the apprentice to the seer. After mediating a summit between Chief Xuk and Prince Victor successfully, Xeal undertook and completed his tier-5 trial.

Closing on Alex, Sam and Nicole informing their families that both girls are pregnant, only for Alex’s mom to have a bit of news of her own.

Book 7: Ententes

After sorting out the drama surrounding announcing both Sam’s and Nicole’s pregnancies to all of their family and coming to terms with his mom being pregnant as well, Alex returns to ED. With Xeal having reached tier-5, it is time to expand his range of operation and make his first trip outside of Nium’s borders to acquire a few things he is in need of. First is to obtain phoenix blood to protect the lives of the NPC ladies he holds dear and the second is the funds to ensure stable operations through a deal with the failing super guild, Jingong. Xeal is successful in his quest to secure funding and granted access to the caves where the ice phoenix Bīng resides. However, he also picks up two princesses along the way.

With Princess Lingxin of the Huáng empire and Princess Mari of the Muthia empire safely in Nium and getting acquainted with his other ladies, Xeal heads off to the beast-man lands. His goal is simple, secure the border for the coming war by gaining the aid of some of the beast-man tribes. Eventually he finds some tiger-men who may be willing to help, but he needs to save one of their own before they will agree to anything. After completing the rescue and meeting Eira for the first time, it is time to make sure that the politics of Nium don’t interfere with what Xeal has in mind. To accomplish this, a trap is set and possibly problematic nobles are drawn in and once it is all done, Xeal is set to return Eira to her people, as well as the fox-girl teenage sisters Daisy and Violet, who found themselves rescued as a byproduct of the trap that was sprung.

Book 8: Crossroads

Having restarted after accepting Alex’s offer, Ava’s and Mia’s new characters, Selene and Luna have reached tier-3 and are ready to start adventuring with Princess Enye and Lady Dyllis at Xeal’s request. After taking the time to gather the others who were set to join them in the task of ensuring that both women safely reach tier-4 and tier-5, it is time for Xeal to set off to return Eira and both fox-girls to their tribes. This, however, ends up leading to Xeal agreeing to watch over all three, after meeting with their parents and discovering the truths of the situations. Still, Eira’s mother, Noriko, is more than grateful and offers to help Xeal reach out to all of the tribes of the beast-man lands. As they travel together, Xeal is able to meet representatives from each major tribe and extend an invitation to the talks to them. After that, Xeal returned to make preparations as Noriko went off to deliver invitations to the minor powers of the beast-man lands.

Meanwhile in reality, Nantan has returned for what will be Abysses End’s last visit with Alex and his friends, as he introduces four models in an attempt to lure Alex into a trap, only to fall in one himself. With that taken care of, it is time to focus back on Christmas and it is a full schedule in the buildup. On Christmas, Alex surprises Ava and Mia with a visit from their grandmother who raised the pair, in hopes that they will listen to her and stop chasing him. Only they refuse and renew their vow to look for an opening, as Sam and Nicole admit that they expect them to succeed. The following day is Christmas and besides the rings that he gives Sam and Nicole, it is a rather relaxed day as they spend it with their families, to include Nicole’s who are making an attempt to come to terms with the situation.

Back in ED, the summit of the beast-man tribes has been going well and a tentative deal is reached, as the representatives head back to get it approved and Xeal starts the real construction on his own city. With that taken care of, Gale and Aalin encourage him to go after another of the phoenixes, where they meet Holly Ciderplum of Festive Spirit. Her guild is currently occupying the location where the phoenix is hidden and after some negotiations Xeal is able to gain entry, so long as she is allowed to come along. This, however, leads to the phoenix selecting her to mark, creating a major wrinkle in Xeal’s plans. Still, he is quick to adapt and is able to bring Holly into his sphere of influence and returns to Nium to handle other matters, including the merging of Geitir’s branch of Eternal Valhalla into FAE.

Book 9: Acceptance.

The time has come for Alex and his friends to leave California and fly to Colorado, where they meet up with Tara (Taya) and Henry (Casmir), before visiting FAE’s headquarters in reality for the first time. After a quick lunch, it is time to move on to their new home and Alex has not skimped on their accommodations in the mansion he has acquired. Nor has he forgotten to staff it, as they meet the two couples who will be taking care of the background work while acting as live-in staff. After a tour of the house, Alex is surprised by a visit from Kate Astor in the flesh, as she offers to purchase a five percent stake in FAE and leave Fire Oath to take up a leadership role in FAE, which would deal with interfacing with other guilds in ED. After a discussion, it is decided with approval from most of the other leaders in FAE to allow her to join, despite the possibility of her trying to become Alex’s legal wife. With that settled, Kate, Xeal and the others decide for the time being to allow her to stay in the mansion with her three bodyguards. With that taken care of, all but Alex, Sam, Nicole, Ava, Mia and now Kate, leave to visit the satellite locations around the world, leaving Alex alone in a house of women.

Meanwhile, things have been moving along like normal in ED, as Eira reaches Tier-5 and Luna, Selene, Enye and Dyllis all reach tier-4 with the rest of their party. This leads to Mari and Lingxin joining them in their leveling to reach tier-5 before the weddings. Xeal continues to court all four noble ladies while also celebrating all four of their birthdays over the span of 81 days, moving his relationship with each forward while doing so. He is also working to secure two more phoenix marks for FAE, with several women being considered for them.

Back in reality, Alex has been dealing with constant temptation as Sam and Nicole give Ava and Mia the green light to wear what they feel like, so long as they aren’t naked. This finally comes to a head on the twins’ birthday, when Alex takes them for a walk in the snow near their house to get them to put on something more modest. The walk turns into a snowball fight and an honest conversation follows, as the three learn more about one another and Alex decides to just stop fighting them while still making it clear that he needed to know them better before getting physical.

This is followed by a few visits from Kate’s family. First is her elderly father, Jasper, who seems to want to make sure everything is fine, and second is from her much older sister, who seems bent on ruining Kate’s plans. Alex handles both in a way that earns Kate’s gratitude and lowers her own walls slightly.

Finally, in ED, Kate has reached tier-5 and they venture off to secure the fourth phoenix mark with Lily Iglis having already secured Belladonna’s (the poison phoenix) mark already. This time, however, Watcher tries to warn Xeal off, but Xeal ignores it, knowing that he will eventually have to come back regardless. When they reach the phoenix and find it to be the electrical phoenix, Levina, she makes some demands that Xeal refuses, before Kate finds herself captured and held hostage. Xeal sighs as he accepts his fate and trades places with Kate, after Levina marks her. This is followed by Xeal being killed while resisting Levina’s advances and his fruit of life activating, granting him a power boost while reviving him, and allowing him to escape from Levina’s grasp as the situation is resolved.

However, when he returns to reality, he is met with Kate telling him that she has decided that she will be pursuing marrying him after all, in response to his actions in ED. This leads to Alex trying to figure out how to explain how he went from two girlfriends in reality to five, while vowing to add no more in reality for his own sake.

(*****)

Morning February 1, 2267.

Alex stepped out of his VR pod after his latest session in Eternal Dominion, ready to get to his daily routine that, as always, started with giving Sam and Nicole kisses and letting them know that he loved them. Both were around 20 weeks and while still light, both thought they could feel movements on occasion and had started using the special features of their maternity VR pods more. This allowed them to have a preset playlist of sounds and music playing while in ED and even let them record messages that would be played through the speakers while in game. The smiles they both had on their faces as they shared these moments were the greatest sight in the world to Alex. Still, he knew that they couldn’t simply stay like this too long, so with some reluctance, the three of them moved to the dining room where Ava, Mia and Kate all awaited them. As Alex stepped out, he was greeted with kisses that made his head spin slightly from Ava and Mia, before they shifted to giving Sam and Nicole hugs and Kate snuggled into Alex’s embrace. Kate’s level of affection had been a surprise for Alex as he figured when she had first put forward the almost-political marriage idea, she had meant that it would be just that. However, after a few events occurred and Alex had stood his ground against her eldest sister, who needed to grow up, and rescued her from a phoenix who needed to take a chill pill, that had changed. Now she seemed to have shifted to wanting to actually fall in love, if she hadn’t already. Alex was just happy that she and the twins had accepted that he wasn’t going to move beyond hugging and kissing with them before New Year’s Eve, as he wanted time to ensure that it would work long term before he took any risks. While he was happy to see Sam and Nicole carrying his children, he didn’t think he was ready to even chance three more with women who he hadn’t known for at least a full year in reality.

“Alex, we have decided on how we want our area to be set up,” stated Nicole, once Kate had let Alex go.

“Oh? I assume you mean our private quarters meant for our family.”

“Yes.”

“We have been talking and have all agreed that we are going to add a third story with four bedrooms and a private bath for us,” interjected Sam.

“The lower area will turn into five bedrooms and two baths for our kids,” added Kate with a smile, as she rubbed her belly suggestively.

“Yep. We will share one room,” supplied Mia as she gestured to her and Ava.

“We are also going to get that nice bed you bought,” cooed Ava.

“What about my room?” asked Alex.

“You don’t get one,” responded Kate.

“What Kate means is, we all will be playing ED from a small room set up with our VR pods in it and you will have some room in each of ours,” explained Nicole.

“Think of it as we each get to have an area that is just for us to spend time with you,” teased Sam, as she gestured suggestively.

“At the same time, none of us will have to wait for our kisses after we log off,” added Mia.

“Though we will all need to wait until it can be completed for us to enjoy it,” lamented Ava.

Alex could tell the five of them had thought this through and he smiled as he responded.

“Alright. I look forward to seeing what you five come up with, as I am going to give you full control over that area. Just make sure that there is more than one toilet.”

With that, the six of them skipped their workout and sat down to enjoy breakfast as they continued to discuss how they would set up the new area, while Alex just smiled as he let them brainstorm. About an hour after they had logged out, Gido entered the room.

“Alex, I thought you would like to know that everyone is ten minutes out from arriving.”

“Thank you, Gido. Alright everyone, let’s wrap things up as I am sure that everyone is looking forward to telling us all about their trip.”

“Alex, they are probably going to want to just log straight into ED,” replied Nicole.

“Nah, Fred and Dan aren’t going to pass up a chance to give me grief.”

“Ha. Oh man, wait till they find out Kate has already officially joined us,” teased Sam.

“You’re right, they have all been ghosts in ED,” added Mia.

“Oh, I think we should have a bit of fun,” cooed Ava.

“Just remember you are the one who said yes,” quipped Kate, looking like she was enjoying herself. “Oh, and before I forget, everything went through last night after we logged in and I am officially a minority owner of FAE. Though once I marry you, it will all be a moot point I suppose.”

As Alex looked around, he could only smile as he just looked forward to figuring out how he was going to balance five women in reality. Though he had noticed that Nicole had started to take on the role of moderator, and even Kate seemed to accept that it was time to relent when she cut in as she did now.

“Alright, we all know that it is going to be fun to see Alex deal with Dan and Fred and I am sure Amanda and the others may have something to say as well. However, if we aren’t there to receive them, we may miss out on the chance to enjoy it to the fullest.”

Alex just watched as they all smiled and he felt like an unspoken agreement passed between all five of them that he had no say in. Sighing, Alex just joined them as they all made their way outside when Gido informed them that the shuttle was coming up the driveway. Alex just watched with a smile as Dan and Henry were the first ones out, looking like they were headed to Antarctica. When Dan saw Alex between him and the door, he didn’t hesitate to voice his thoughts.

“Dude, who thought it was a good idea to make the Australian Outback our last stop? It was in the 100’s there! Now it can’t be above 40 degrees right now and I’m freezing, not to mention all of the other quick transitions we had to deal with over the last month.”

“What Dan means to say is, while it was fun to see the world, it would have been nice to actually see it,” added Fred, who had just stepped out wearing a smile and a light jacket, as he tried not to shiver.

Alex smiled as Amanda and Tara stepped off next, followed by Rose and Elizabeth, who were both smiling. Sam and Nicole had told the two teenage flight attendants that they could come hang out till their parents needed them back. Which was going to be a few weeks at least as they had decided to take a break after the month of flying every other day. It didn’t take long for Amanda to notice how Alex had five women crowding him as Sam and Nicole leaned back on him as Ava and Mia claimed an arm each and Kate stood just in front of them all.

“Really, Alex? We leave for a month and you can’t avoid adding all three of them to your bed?” Amanda scoffed.

“None of us have been added to his bed,” retorted Mia.

“Yet, that is,” added Ava with a smile.

“Look, things just kind of happened,” offered Alex helplessly.

“What he means is, Sam and Nicole basically made him, at least with those two,” chuckled Kate.

“Oh, but not you?” inquired Amanda, sounding like she was ready to chase Kate away.

“No, they just invited me in and Alex here had to play the hero like he always does.”

The look Kate gave Alex as she said that elicited a gagging noise from Dan, as he finally had enough of the cold and pushed his way inside. Amanda looked like she wasn’t ready to drop it, but figured Dan had the right idea as did the rest of them, as they made their way into the downstairs living room after dropping off their outerwear in the entryway, where Gido and a very pregnant Julie went about taking care of them. Alex had told the seven-months-pregnant Julie she was good to relax until after Sam and Nicole had their kids, but she had insisted that she needed to stay productive. So, Alex had compromised and simply said she could do anything that didn’t require bending, or harsh chemicals. This had led to her doing a lot of vacuuming and dusting around the house, all while smiling as she hummed to herself.

As everyone got comfortable, Sofie brought in tea and snacks for everyone to enjoy. Once they were settled in a bit, they started to talk about their trip that had taken them from one country to the next, as they made an appearance at all 16 of FAE’s locations outside the United States. They had started in Central America with Honduras, before moving on to Suriname and Bolivia in South America. Next, they traveled to Africa and stopped in the rural areas of Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Kenya, Nigeria, Algeria and Tunisia, before meeting up with Frida (Friva) in Stockholm, as they enjoyed the first break from long drives, of the trip. After spending some time being shown around by Frida and enjoying themselves, it was back on the plane and off to Asia. There they stopped in Nepal, Myanmar, South China and Japan, where they met up with Sato (Takeshi), who let them enjoy a few local customs and foods before they had to leave for the last three stops. These stops had them on two different islands in Indonesia and finally in the Australian Outback, where Gaute (Geitir) and his family had moved to. Dan’s comments confirmed that Jinx was the same outside ED as she was in ED.

Once they had finished going over a summary of their trip, they all turned to Alex as they demanded to know what had happened while they were gone that had Kate snuggling in his lap the whole time they had been talking. Alex just chuckled as he, Sam and Nicole gave them the story about the latest phoenixes’ raids. By the time they were done retelling about how he had almost been raped by the electrical phoenix, Levina, and in the process played the hero for Kate the second time, the room was full of complicated looks. As they sat there in thought for a good bit, Tara broke the silence.

“Um, we don’t have to go after the nature Phoenix for me.”

“Tara, we are still going to go after all of them. I will just stay back if I get another rape warning, unless absolutely necessary.”

“What Alex is trying to say, is that we have already secured four out of ten of them and found four more. Now that we have members approaching level 100, we are good to go after any of the four that we know where they are. He has assured us that the last one was the most demanding of the ten. Though his source has been quiet on if any of the others may pose an issue,” elaborated Nicole.

“Still, you all said he doesn’t have the same escape route any longer and at best can expect an instant revival with a burst attack that will give you a momentary opening,” interjected Amanda. “Shouldn’t Alex’s focus be on getting another one of those fruits?”

“If it was only that easy,” replied Alex. “I would be surprised if I ever see another one of them as they are likely one of the top ten rarest items that are not unique. To put it into perspective, the system only puts around 100 phoenix feathers into the game at the start and each year ten more are added. Phoenix blood is twice as rare and I would suspect that the fruit of life is at least twice as rare again, meaning that only 25 were available at launch and only another two or three are added each year in ED time.”

“That’s insane!” interjected Dan. “They aren’t that useful to any player without the mark you have, or NPCs that they need to guard.”

“Ah, but you will notice that I got my fruit right after I was marked, and each Phoenix ensures that the one they mark receives a drop of their blood. If I didn’t have Watcher’s mark, I doubt they would freely part with the rest of their blood and feathers without demanding a high price. Also, I doubt the system ever thought one group of players would be far enough ahead to secure so many of the marks and revival items that come with them for their guild.”

“Still, Alex, I know you have a drop of phoenix blood in you, but what happens if you fall into a river of lava or something?” inquired Fred.

“I hope that the second of invulnerability that I will get is enough to find a foothold.”

After a bit more of a back and forth and catching up, they all decided that they could catch up more later, either in ED, or during their next logoff. So, after giving Kate, Ava and Mia kisses as they headed off to their own rooms, Alex made his way to his own room, holding hands with Sam and Nicole, and logged in.

(*****)

ED year 2 day 234.

Upon logging in, Xeal wasted no time in meeting up with Aalin and Gale, who were in the Nuya Empire where both Ava and Mia had originally started to play from. As Xeal made the trip to the meeting location where the team for this raid was assembling, he noticed a player whose face rang a bell pass by. It took Xeal a moment, but his name came to mind just as he passed by, as Lodovico Michelangelo had been famous at the start of ED and infamous by the time Xeal had found himself back in his old body. Lodovico’s real name was David and he had been an insufferable idiot who just happened to be the first player to start a guild. Obviously, Abysses End had succeeded in getting him to sell it to them and he had ended up as one of their middle of the road team leaders who lacked any real leadership, but was still a pain to go toe to toe with in a fight. His team had been made up completely of players like himself who thought that they were god’s gift to women, despite the fact that even NPC prostitutes would hide once it was known that they were in town. As Xeal was thinking about this, he had a thought that he would need to confirm before he could be sure, but from Abysses End’s actions in this life, he could see Ava and Mia being used to seduce the bastard into selling. Xeal found that the thought made his blood boil and head to a dark place that went deeper than his general hate for Abysses End did. Taking a deep breath, Xeal filed it away and worked to calm down before joining with the rest of the expedition force, all of whom were at, or above, level 95 at this point, which would hopefully be enough.

As Xeal arrived, he quickly found Aalin and Gale who were with Taya, Jinx and Ihyi, as they went over the needed preparations for what was expected to be a three-day trip into the depths of the desert. The report Xeal had gotten from them when they scouted this area with Amser had been slightly infuriating as they had almost died along the way a few times, as they had been under leveled for the maps that they had to cross. It didn’t help that the phoenix was located in an ancient ruin with a level 100 area as its first level. Luckily, from what Gale could see, whatever divine influence there was in the ruins was not too deep underground. Still, crossing the deserts of the Nuya Empire required preparations that were more intense than anything that they had to do so far, as they would need to carry enough water for all four days, or have the whole team use advanced return scrolls.

At 300 members and the fact that a single scroll was now going for 30 silvers each time they used them, it would cost 90 gold. When compared to the normal return scrolls that would cost only three silvers for the whole team, it was obvious which option made sense. Add the fact that water was free, but annoying, as you needed to have a container that quickly used up a player’s carry weight limit before movement penalties hit, and it was just annoying. Each of these containers would hold around eight hours’ worth of water, meaning they would need 12 per player, or add a water wagon that they would need to protect and return with. Xeal wished that magically conjured water wasn’t unusable due to it needing magic to be constantly supplied to not disappear once a spell ran its course. This also meant that if drunken in large quantities that it would start to sap the magic from the person who drank it, causing all kinds of issues until it worked its way out of their system.

For players like Xeal that had decent strength and didn’t need to carry various items for different skills that required different mediums, it wasn’t that big of a deal. However, when you got to the magic-based classes that had next to no strength, it was an absolute nightmare. In the end, they had to balance the load by limiting the extra gear that could be carried and having frontliners carry some of the water for the rear guard. This had allowed them to avoid anyone being above a medium load at the start of the journey, and once they started to drink that would quickly become light loads.

“Xeal, are you listening?!” exclaimed Gale.

“Sorry, I was lost in thought there. What were you saying?”

“We were saying that everything should be good for us to set out now. Where were you? I don’t think I have ever seen you space out like that before,” commented Aalin.

“It was nothing. I was just going over the situation and what we will need, in my head.”

“Perhaps we should do this one without you to see how it goes,” offered Taya.

“No. While I would like to do so as well after the last encounter, I doubt the phoenix will be that cooperative if Xeal doesn’t come with us,” replied Aalin.

“We are still going to try and have him wait outside the area with the phoenix to confirm this though,” added Gale.

“Alright, let’s set off,” directed Xeal.

The group gave him a few more looks before disseminating the order to begin the march across the sand that was sure to be a pain. Xeal worried about how everyone would handle themselves on the unfamiliar terrain as they fought the inevitable monsters that would be along the way. The desert they were crossing lacked any definable features, other than the rolling dunes that they found themselves climbing constantly as they moved. The heat of the day was brutal and even with the water keeping the debuffs it would start giving them at bay, it still was uncomfortable. It didn’t take long for them to encounter their first fight as the sand all around and under them shifted, causing more than one of them to lose their footing. Xeal knew this would be how most fights would begin for them, while they walked on the sand and waited to see which monster they would need to face first.

When a swarm of beetles numbering in the tens of thousands all the size of his palm appeared, Xeal wanted to curse his luck as it was the worst draw they could get. These beetles were based off of a movie from the distant past that had popularized a twist on the real scarab, making them into flesh-eating swarm monsters, and had been copied ever since. Xeal knew that each of the beetles would die in a single hit, but they were also hard to attack on an individual level now that they had started to emerge in the middle of the whole team. Still, Xeal had a counter thanks to his last encounter, and he ordered every magic caster to fire their strongest electrical attack at him, while everyone else flailed about trying to kill the ones attacking them. 50 spells hit Xeal the next instant and after taking a single breath, he started to redirect it like a shock wave as it weakened the farther it spread out from him, while hitting every single beetle and player in its range.

While this did not clear the swarm completely, it took care of the few thousand that had been mixed in with the team as a whole and gave them the needed time to heal and regroup, as the casters who lacked electrical spells unleashed their biggest area-of-effect spells on the swarm that was closing in from all around them. As they did this, a full perimeter was established as barrier spells went up to block the swarm and melee players moved to deal with the few that slipped through the cracks, or burrowed beneath the shields to attack. Xeal stood in the center of the rough circle that had formed, with everyone giving him a ten-foot gap between them as the closer they were when he used his ability, the more damage they would suffer. Plus, as much as Xeal would like to simply spam the ability, it was a terrible idea as the amount of damage it dealt and the chance of causing paralysis to allies was too much. Even just doing it once had put more of a strain on the team’s healers than was sustainable. No, it was only worth using on the first attack, and after that it was best to simply hold it in reserve in case they were overwhelmed once more. In the end, the rest of the fight passed with Xeal simply watching as everyone struggled to move about in the sand, though he could tell that they were adapting quickly even if it was still lowering their effectiveness.

As the dust finally settled, Xeal took stock of the results and smiled as they had not lost any players, though from the report there were a few close calls during the initial phase. This was due to several of the players who fell finding themselves covered in the beetles quickly, and while Xeal’s attack had saved them, it had also almost finished them off as they had been too close to him when Xeal unleashed it. Still, as each beetle had dropped a single carapace upon death, it could be considered a profitable encounter as they were valuable to crafters and each was worth around five silver and weighed next to nothing. When the final tally came in, Xeal smiled as there were over 25,000 carapaces, grossing them over 1,250 gold from the fight. Most of this would be paid to the members of the expedition in the form of guild coins, which would be used to buy the gear that was currently being produced by the crafters. Xeal was smiling, as with gold-ranked crafters emerging each day and a few closing in on platinum ranked, they could officially be seen as able to keep up with what NPCs could offer on the market.

The massive boost from Fire Oath signing the deal that Kate had put together, basically setting them up to almost be dependent on FAE for anything crafted, had accelerated things drastically as well. Xeal had laughed when he read it, as it required FAE to assist all of the crafters who Fire Oath transferred over with passing at least the hard mode tier-5 trial unless the crafter opted out. In return, FAE became the sole market for their raw materials. It had caveats for rare materials being allowed to be withheld, or being used for goods that could only be sold back to them at a modest markup in it as well, but that was to be expected. Xeal was just happy as the deal could be summed up as Fire Oath would be reliant on FAE, but FAE couldn’t take advantage of them either. In the case of FAE’s dissolution, all crafters who had joined from Fire Oath contracts would return to them, alleviating the issue of them no longer developing them. This made it a balanced exchange that tilted in FAE’s favor over the long run, due to the fact that Fire Oath also had an incentive to intervene should the other major players make a move on FAE. In fact, if Xeal was reading the move correctly, Kate was setting the contract up as a framework to lure in more major players who had no interest in Nium’s continent.

After the battlefield had been cleared, the expedition team pressed forward as they continued to spend the rest of that session closing in on their target. Xeal was grateful for the map feature that allowed them to at least keep their bearing as they moved, as without it they would have been hopelessly lost after the first few fights disoriented them. After the beetle swarm, they found themselves fighting with various other monsters, from giant scorpions and worms, to more undersized creatures that focused on speed. Though those encounters were fewer due to the party size. Xeal knew that it was likely that they would pass over one of these monsters, only for it to trail them until enough of them had gathered to pose a threat and they would attack. Finally, they reached the safe zone that would act as their rest area, while the expedition force refreshed their logout timer. While they did this, Xeal and the others who couldn’t perform a safe logout that were present, used advanced return scrolls to return to the town that they had set out from to perform their logouts.

(*****)

Evening February 1, 2267 & ED year 2 days 235-236.

When Alex sat down at dinner, he found that it was Ava and Mia’s turn to sit next to him, based on a schedule that he had no clear idea of that the girls had worked out. As they all enjoyed chatting more about the recent trip while Sofie served them dinner, Alex couldn’t help but remember seeing Lodovico in ED and thought he would see about something, so he quietly spoke to the twins.

“Out of curiosity, did you two ever run into a player named Lodovico while you were in Nuya?”

“Ugh, that guy,” groaned Mia.

“Why are you asking about him?” inquired Ava with her voice laced with disgust.

“I just passed him by on the street and felt like his name was overly idiotic, though he looked like he was decently geared. He just stuck out to me and I heard one of his party members call out to him, so I figured I’d ask if you two knew anything about him.”

“Yeah, we know him,” tutted Mia.

“But, only in a way that we were happy to escape him once we could leave the starting areas,” added Ava.

“The creep seemed to follow us around as he tried to get us to join his guild.”

“Even telling him we were part of Abysses End didn’t stop him.”

“No, he just tried to tell us we could leave once we reached level 80 if Abysses End didn’t want to have his whole guild by then.”

“He was actually who we used as a reference to mentally prepare when Nantan told us to seduce you before we met you.”

“Let’s just say we are very happy with what we got instead.”

“I see, thank you. I will ensure he never has a chance to bother either of you again.”

“Oh, Alex, you don’t need to do that.”

“Yeah, it might be fun to make him watch us showing you affection.”

“I would rather not need to publicly destroy someone for trying to attack me.”

“Fine, but I doubt it will be an issue.”

“It’s not like he is likely to show up in Nium.”

“True, and even if he did, he would find it difficult to find you as you two are almost always in the mine or palace.”

“That’s going to change once you marry Enye, right?”

“Yeah, you’re going to let us go off and explore the world then, right?”

“Once I marry Enye, you two will likely have a year in ED to go off and power level where and how you would like, within reason. That said, I do hope you won’t disappear from her side completely.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” cooed Mia.

“We intend to spend most of our down time in your house with her,” supplied Ava with a grin.

“And your other wives who should all be having babies.”

“After all, we intend to be like mothers to all of your kids.”

“Even if we have to wait for our own.”

Alex just shook his head while smiling, as he enjoyed the shift in topics as he looked over at Sam and Nicole who were chatting with Amanda happily as dinner continued. None of them knew the decision that Alex had just come to.

In ED, Xeal and the rest of the expedition team continued their advance to the location of the phoenix as they crossed the desert, facing more and more resistance as they did so. After dealing with their third swarm battle, it was clear to Xeal why so few had come this way and he wondered how Aalin and Gale had managed to avoid them. When he learned that they had only been swarmed by around 100 to 200 at most and Aalin was able to easily deal with them using ice spells, he wanted to curse the fact that they would need the full 300 to face the likely guardian. If it was anything like the rock elemental that guarded Levina, Xeal knew that anything less than throwing everything at it would be a mistake. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder why reaching Jewel had been so easy, as other than a massive swarm of slimes, she had been easy enough to reach. While it was true that he had used methods that were still a few years from being perfected to overcome the swarm, he was sure that any guild could have reached her at this point, if they threw enough bodies at the problem. With Bīng, anyone else likely would have become a popsicle. Belladonna had a tier-7 NPC acting as a guard and the rock elemental swarm was beyond most conventional means, though it too could be handled with enough bodies. The only thing Xeal could think of was the system was increasing the challenge each time they reached a phoenix, as reaching Bīng had been doable by himself, but after that, it had required a team effort. As he had this thought, Xeal worried about what they were headed to and he had a bad feeling as he returned to Nium after the second day of travel for his date with Dyllis, as the rest took care of their logoffs.

After a nice dinner with Dyllis, followed by Xeal resting in his mansion, it was time to return to the journey to the location of the nature phoenix. For the whole day, Xeal couldn’t shake the feeling that they were heading into a trap and he needed to do something, or things would turn out terribly. When he, Aalin, Gale and Kate returned to the town before it was time for them to log off, he spoke.

“Everyone, I have a theory and please hear me out…”

Xeal explained how he felt they were walking into a trap due to how each phoenix had required a stronger force so far. The three of them were quiet before Aalin responded.

“Wouldn’t the rock elementals be a step down from Hura?”

“No, a few hundred tier-5 players would have been enough to pull him away from his courtyard and keep the guards busy once I located the entrance I needed and there was a negotiation path available. Yah, it would have ended with almost a full party wipe, but if I knew where the entrance was ahead of time, the plan would have around a 90% chance of success,” replied Xeal.

“I see, and you think we are about to really step in it when we return,” confirmed Kate.

“Even if we are, what are we supposed to do about it?” asked Gale.

Xeal smiled as he answered them. They went about following his instructions. They spent an extra hour online as they returned to Nium and sent out an order for the items Xeal had requested to be secured during their logoff. They all hoped that they wouldn’t be needed as it was essentially just throwing a ton of money at the problem and they would rather use the items over time, instead of all at once, but it was what it was. All they could do was hope that Xeal was wrong, though they doubted he was with his track record. If anything, they were surprised that he had only just thought about this as it would have been cheaper to add another 100 or so players to the expedition.

(*****)

Morning February 2, 2267 & ED year 2 day 237.

Saturday morning, Alex enjoyed himself as they played a light game of five-on-five basketball, while Kate played referee and Sam and Nicole kept to their pregnancy exercises. The game stayed low energy for the most part, due to the fact that he and the twins were the only ones acclimated to the point of not being winded after a few minutes of exercise. Still, Alex knew that he needed to reestablish their routine of martial arts and dancing that he had ensured to have everything they needed in house for. While it was not perfect, the basketball court would work as all they would need to do was have Gido set up the mats that were stored inside ahead of time. The trick was finding a suitable sensei who was willing to come to them, as Alex didn’t wish to waste the time it took for each trip to a dojo every morning. Background Inc. was once more being contracted to take care of these details as Quentin had been tasked to set everything up for things to start in March, once everyone was mostly acclimated. After a light breakfast and shower, it was time to return to ED for the day.

As the expedition arrived at the hill overlooking the ruins that should contain the nature phoenix, Xeal wore a grim look as he ordered the advance. Inside, the corridors were tight and they had to walk single file. He had overruled the rest of the planning team by placing himself at the front, as he had the best chance of surviving first contact. It hadn’t taken long before Xeal found himself confronted with monsters that were far beyond what any normal player could hope to withstand. He felt like he was in a crappy movie as he found himself dealing with a never-ending horde of mummies and swarms of beetles. However, he stood his ground as he used dragon’s breath and the endless amount of lightning spells that were being channeled through him, to keep both groups at bay as they advanced. His support team had to constantly rotate through to preserve their MP and SP, while he just burnt through his. Step by step, they advanced until they finally came to an open area that was full of the undead, and a full-scale battle broke out, while Xeal hung back to take a turn to recover. As he did so. Gale came up to him to heal him and speak.

“I think it is safe to say that this is building into a complete mess, if this continues on the lower floors until we reach her.”

“Nah, I feel like there isn’t a lower floor, or if there is, she will be all that is there,” interjected Aalin.

“Let’s hope you’re right, or there are wider corridors down there, as this feels like an absolute mess right now. If I hadn’t taken point, we would have likely lost a quarter of the team to get this far.”

“Xeal, how will they grow if you keep putting the majority of the burden on yourself?” asked Kate.

“True, but there is a time and place for them to push themselves and this is not it for them. Still, I feel like this boss is going to be an absolute pain to deal with. Gale, I am going to need you to soul bond me right from the start.”

“Alright, just be careful.”

“I will. The plan is to do a single suicide run as everyone unleashes everything all at once on whatever it is.”

“You can say that all you like, but we need to reach it first. Xeal, you need to get in there before we start suffering heavy losses,” expressed a breathless Taya, who had just fallen back to get them as the situation was starting to look bad.

Xeal just frowned, before issuing orders as he stepped out just far enough that a packed formation could fit behind him and he prepped for another electrical attack, as 30 magic casters readied their spells. Once they were ready, the team executed a full tactical retreat to just behind Xeal, as 30 spells hit him and he sent it out in a half circle, hitting all of the undead and killing the annoying beetles. This was followed by all of the players who had just hidden behind Xeal turning and charging, as they finally were able to secure a complete advantage in the fight. It took another 20 minutes, but they were finally able to clear the area of enemies and work on recovering their stats. While they avoided taking any casualties in the fight, it had just about cleaned out all of their SP and MP pools, as no one had over five percent of any of them left, when they heard it. It was a laugh full of mirth as a single mummy came into the area like it had nothing to fear and Xeal wanted to groan when he saw it, before instantly grabbing Gale and activating her soul bond skill. In that short moment, the mummy spoke.

“I see my lesser brethren fell to you. Such a shame, though all I need to do is command them to rise!”

These words were followed by more laughter from the mummy, that Xeal could tell was actually a level 150 tier-6 lich. As he interrupted the lich’s spell with a dragon’s breath, it brought the stunned expedition back to their senses as Aalin gave the next order.

“Do it.”

Suddenly, 299 spell grenades flew into the air just as Xeal arrived at the lich and found himself being lifted in the air like he was nothing, by one of its hands as it looked at him in disdain.

“A lowly tier-5 pest dares attack me?”

It was as it finished speaking that it noticed the grenades and dropped Xeal as it cast a shield around itself, just as they all went off and another 50 spells landed on Xeal. As the electricity dissipated, the lich dropped its shield without taking note of the fact that Xeal was still alive.

“Fools, I will give you credit for try-”

Before it could finish its words, Xeal unleashed all of the built-up lightning from the grenades and spells at point-blank range, in a single bolt of lightning that lasted for a full 30 seconds. If Xeal was to compare the power of the bolt, he would put it on par with a tier-8 spell, which he knew was overkill, but he knew when he made this plan, he would only have a single shot and didn’t want to be stingy with it. Still, he knew it was a lich and the fight was still not over with just that, as he turned to Gale.

“Gale, end the bond and look for his phylactery before he revives.”

You could have heard a pin drop at Xeal’s words for a second, before his screams replaced it when the soul bond’s effects ended. While he had only been choked slightly by the lich, the shockwaves from the detonation of all of the grenades had still done a number on him. While he could have easily survived them, the pain that it would have caused him in the moment would have likely caused him to miss the opening that he used to attack. Now he just needed to hope that Gale’s ability to see divine energy would include a lich’s life force and he worked to catch his breath as everyone else jumped into action. They had an hour at most to find the phylactery before the lich would reconstitute and attack them, and clerics had the best shot to discover it. It took 20 minutes, but finally Xeal received a message from Gale for him, Aalin, Kate and Taya to come down. Ten minutes later, they found Gale in a staring contest with a tan and curvy woman with brown hair with only a few rags on. When they arrived, surprise lit up the woman’s face as she looked at Xeal, Kate and Aalin. Gale was the first to speak as the woman recovered from her surprise.

“Xeal, she is protecting the phylactery.”

“Hmph, what the hell are my mate’s and sister’s marked doing with one of the deity’s marked?”

Xeal sighed as he started to speak.

“That is a long story. The short version is Freya feels some guilt over your fates and is willing to turn a blind eye to you having a marked and I am working to locate and make contact with each of you. Now why are you guarding that phylactery?”

“Hah, do you know how lonely it gets down here? I decided that I wanted a friend, so I used one of my feathers on a mummy ages ago. While he may be a jerk, he at least is someone to talk to and as long as I have this, he won’t abandon me, unlike a certain bastard. Tell me, did he send you, or did you stumble upon our existence by chance?”

“Neither and both.”

Xeal smiled at the confused look that he was getting and took advantage of the momentary loss of hostility to continue.

“Watcher, as he is currently going by, sent me to Ice, or Bīng as she goes by now, and part of the deal for Aalin to receive her mark was that we needed to work towards finding all of you.”

“Why did he send you to her and not me?”

“If I had to guess, accessibility and temperament. I needed a way to guard those that I love and he has been only slightly helpful in locating the rest of you.”

“How many have you found?”

“You are the fifth that we have made contact with and we think we know where three more are.”

“And all of them just did as you asked?”

“No. Bīng required we look for you, Jewel subverted my plans a bit, Belladonna had her own conditions for her marked that are between them and Levina was, let’s say interesting.”

“Hmm, I see and if I said my condition was to leave my conversation partner alone?”

“How much control do you have over him?”

“Only enough that he has to talk with me daily.”

“Then it is not ideal as he is likely to cause issues when Taya here comes to visit you, as she is the one I hope to receive your mark.”

“Wait, you’ll visit? I won’t be stuck here all alone?”

“That’s right, though with the issues in reaching this area, it may not be as often as you or she would like.”

“Hmm.”

Xeal could tell the phoenix was thinking through her options, yet time was short, so he pressed.

“I’ll make you a deal. If you agree, I will make adding a teleportation point here a priority so she can visit more easily. Though you would have to accept this area becoming a way station of sorts at that point.”

“You mean I would get more visitors?”

Xeal sighed at the excitement that the phoenix was showing and he responded.

“Yes, but in a controlled manner. Once your existence becomes common knowledge, the powers that be would come to attempt to monopolize you. That would likely include Taya if they can get their hands on her, which would lead to her being unable to visit. Also, do you perhaps have a name that you would like to go by?”

“Alright, but you have to kill him and call me Eba.”

With that, Eba tossed the brown crystal she was holding to Xeal and the moment he caught it, he could feel it start to damage him greatly as a necrotic effect took hold, as he started to bang it against the ground as if nothing was wrong. This made Eba look at him in curiosity as she had figured that he would have dropped it and sacrificed a tool to destroy it, as she doubted he could survive for longer than a minute while holding it. Five minutes later, Xeal finally destroyed the crystal, revealing the brown feather inside, which he pocketed, having relied on his “skin of your teeth” title that stopped all status damage at one percent to survive. Next, he received another notification due to his “savior of souls” title.

(Savior of souls effect activated. Unique undead has been killed. Awarding one free skill point)

Xeal smiled as he watched his experience bar fill by over ten percent from the kill, as he stood back up and looked at a surprised Eba, who was able to see the soul as it was purified completely. Xeal just waited for her to speak, now that he didn’t have to worry about the lich reviving. Finally, after accepting that Xeal wasn’t going to volunteer anything, she spoke.

“Just what are you?”

“I am an adventurer who happened to get lucky a few times, more than most could ask for.”

“Fine, be that way. So how many of my sisters have you planted your seed in of the four you found before me?”

“None, nor do I intend to. As I have said before, Watcher can have you all back once the world and gods are no more and you all are the only things still left.”

“Wait, how did you…? Never mind, I’m not sure I want to know. Now, Taya was it, you have been awfully quiet since you have arrived. If you want my mark, you will need to convince me that you are the one I wish to talk with.”

“Um, I have just been waiting for you to finish talking to my guild leader.”

“Ah, so he is your boss…”

After an hour of talking while the rest of them simply waited to the side, Eba and Taya finally finished and Eba agreed to mark her. During their conversation, they had covered a vast range of subjects, to include the nature of Eba’s powers. While considered the phoenix of nature, she could also be considered the cycle of life phoenix, as her power had more to do with life itself, than plants or any other part of nature. This of course included the decay of death that nature used to establish new life, or the cycle of growth and destruction as she called it. Once the mark was complete and ten more feathers and four drops of blood were secured, everyone but Taya returned to the rest of the expedition team to begin the withdraw protocol.

Xeal returned to Nium as he sent a message, before heading to the royal forging room with the intent to spend the rest of the session working on his smithing. It was late at night, just before Xeal was ready to call it a night, when his guest arrived and he let her in. Once inside, his guest removed her cloak revealing her silver hair as she looked around for a moment before speaking.

“I must say that you have access to a rather nice setup here, guild leader Bluefire.”

“Lori, I didn’t reach out for a casual exchange. I have a job for your guild.”

“Oh, and here I thought you disliked our methods and morals.”

“I still don’t appreciate the fact that you would gladly take part on both sides of a conflict if they both paid you and it wasn’t suicide. That doesn’t mean that I am above hiring you for other services.”

“Oh, and what did you have in mind?”

“First sign this.”

Xeal passed Lori a contract that simply stated that she would never reveal, and had not already revealed, that she was meeting with Xeal, and that any contracts he offered her guild Night Oath would be kept anonymous, so long as he paid the agreed-on amount. Lori paused before looking at Xeal and speaking.

“It says here that once I sign, I accept responsibility for any job that you hire me for that is exposed to the public at any point as originating from you.”

“Lori, the jobs that I intend to hire you for are ones that not even my own vice guild leaders, or wives, will know about. You will be paid from my personal funds that are completely off the books from the guild and will likely confuse you on why. I will not be giving you reasons and it will be doubtful that you will even be able to find any connections between the job and my own goals. All I will promise is that they will be good grinding stones for your members if you set them up right.”

Xeal smiled as Lori signed the contract and responded.

“Alright, now what job do you have for us?”

“Today I only have one target, but you should look at it like a trial run for what I hope to make a regular type of job.”

Xeal handed Lori a contract with Lodovico Michelangelo’s name at the top and a description of what Xeal was after. As Lori read it, she found herself frowning at the details, before she looked up at Xeal and spoke.

“What the hell did he do to warrant you wanting him ruined to the point that you will even pay us to find out if he creates a new character, and what makes you even think we have those type of resources?”

“Lori, or should I call you Ms. Saville, I am well aware of what you are capable of and just how far you will go to uphold your contracts. If I didn’t think you were up to the task, I wouldn’t be hiring you.”

Xeal smiled as for the first time Lori looked uncomfortable as he said her last name, as he knew that she had gone to great lengths to hide it. The only reason Xeal knew it was due to Abysses End outing her when her guild targeted them after receiving a massive contract to do so. At that point, she had made more enemies than was healthy and it didn’t take long for the rest of her core members to be outed as well. Once they were, there were many instances of retaliation in reality for years and had almost crippled her guild, but they had managed to recover once they reached an agreement with Fire Oath that had been brokered by Kate. They ended up agreeing to never take a contract against Fire Oath, or their allies, and in return, they moved into their guild city in reality.

“How do you know that name?”

“Lori, know that I only used it to let you know that I am well aware of who I am dealing with and that you need to worry about just who else can find it. I will admit it was not easy to find as you hid your tracks well and I will not reveal my sources, but you need to be ready for the day that you find yourself outed publicly by one of your targets.”

“Is this your way of saying that if we target you, you will out me?”

“Lori, I am well aware that you are angry to find out that I know, but you need to take a step back.”

“Take a step back you say!”

“Yes, I have no intent to do that to you and I rarely mix ED and reality, at least when the other side doesn’t do so first. Here, this should calm you.”

Xeal took out a contract and signed it before handing it to Lori who read it over, before looking at Xeal in confusion.

“Why would you sign this?”

Xeal just smiled as Lori held a contract that stated that as long as Night Oath never targeted FAE’s crafting or under-leveled members, he would never leak her identity, or allow it to be leaked by FAE.

“Lori, I wish to establish a working relationship with you. While I won’t forgive you for targeting my members who are more or less helpless, I know that you may decide that a contract to hit me, or my core, is worthwhile. Also, if you were to target my crafters, you would be digging your own grave at this point with how many guilds you would piss off.”

“I still don’t get it. You could have gotten me to agree to never target FAE at all. Heck, you could have gotten me to take care of these targets of yours at cost. Yet you threw that chance away. Why?”

“Lori, you are not part of FAE and if you refused all contracts against us, it would be obvious that there is a connection. Though I am sure that you have refused a few already, as you are self-aware enough to know that now is not the time to end up in my sights. Although, if you wanted to sign a crafting deal with us that banned any aggression against Nium, or guilds aligned with Nium, I would be ready to happily sign it and even offer you shelter should you ever be outed. That said, I don’t believe today is that day. Now, are you going to accept the contract?”

“Sure. One permanent level 0 Lodovico Michelangelo coming right up.”

“Thanks.”

“No, thank you. I will think on the crafting and Nium alliance deals. You are truly an enigma at times, Alex. You’re only 18 and you are already playing these games better than those with twice your experience.”

Xeal just smiled as she left him with his copy of the signed contract, before heading back to his mansion and logging off.

(*****)

Evening February 2, to Morning February 4, 2267 & ED year 2 days 238-243.

The next few days were relaxed in reality as everyone quickly fell into their routines whenever they were offline. Alex continued to split his time between the five women in his life, as each of them enjoyed teasing him and showing him affection. This also meant that they were receiving several awkward looks as everyone got used to seeing Alex being openly affectionate with Ava, Mia and Kate. Amanda had stopped glaring after Sam and Nicole had sat her down and explained the why behind their willingness to share. That hadn’t saved Fred from the “don’t even think about it” lecture from Amanda, that Dan had overheard and given Alex an earful about. There was also the fact that Amanda had told Alex’s parents about the situation and his mom had booked a flight right away. As Alex returned to ED after the morning of the 4th, he knew that that afternoon and evening would be hectic, as not only was his mom due in, but he would likely be learning the genders of both his kids.

Xeal spent days 238 to 243 splitting his time between the forge and guild work, as he prepared to head to the elven lands for his quest on day 245. He did this with the expectation that he might find himself as their guest for up to 18 days in ED, with the day of travel that would be needed on each end. He was happy when Prince Victor had sent him a message that Queen Aila Lorafir had sent a reply and a vessel was awaiting his, Eira and Bula’s arrival, to ferry them to her majesty. Xeal had read Queen Aila Lorafir’s reply several times, as he pondered how to proceed.

Viscount Xeal Bluefire,

I look forward to yours and ladies Eira and Bula’s arrival. I must say your letter was a most welcome surprise as it shows that you truly understand what must be done in these unprecedented times. While there are many avenues of concern that must be illuminated properly, still I trust that an arrangement that meets both of our needs can be made.

Queen Aila Lorafir

The fact that she made a point to include Eira and Bula by name surprised him, and also put him on guard as he felt she was attempting to do the opposite. The fact that the reply to a two-page letter was only a few lines also concerned him, as he had expected her to have words on a few of the points he had brought up in it. Yet it felt like she had only heard that he wished to come to speak with her directly with emissaries from the orcs and beast-men, and had accepted. Still, Xeal didn’t have the time to truly dwell on it as he had to ensure that everything was fine before he left. This included taking the time to take each of his NPC ladies out for extra dates each night, to make up for the date each of them would miss. By the night of day 243, only Mari had yet to get her early date and he knew it would be a significant one as they would be meeting with her mother once Xeal returned. With it scheduled for directly before the normal one with Lingxin on day 244, though he was sure it would be fine, if the other dates were anything to go off of, it would be a lot of reassuring that he wasn’t going to be trapped in the elf kingdom.

Xeal had also been happy when the last group of noble teenagers all made it out of their trials by day 243, even if none of them had given him over a B-ranked result on the quest. The fact that they all made it through had made Victor confident in Xeal’s ability to get Enye and the others through as well. It had also raised his acceptance rate with the nobility that was now sitting at 82%, and pushed Xeal to level 98. Once more he found himself front loading his charisma stat before an important negotiation, raising it to 131 base, and 163 once all of his gear and modifiers were applied. Even so, he worried if it would be enough to secure the favorable result he needed.

(*****)

Evening February 4, 2267.

As Alex stepped out of his VR pod, he was instantly met by the sight of his mother sitting on his bed with her arms crossed, as Sam and Nicole stepped out of theirs. Both of them froze at the look that Mrs. Bell was giving them as they looked at Alex, who just sighed before speaking.

“Mom, I get it. You’re pissed as not only did I add Ava and Mia to my life, but another woman who you know nothing about has joined as well.”

“Yes, and your father isn’t here to stop the lecture this time and what are you going to do to your pregnant mother? Kick me out after you extended an open invitation to me?”

“No, I am going to give you a hug and tell you I love you, before you tell me how incredibly stupid I am being, until you’re satisfied over the next few months when your grandkids will distract you.”

Alex had a smile on his face as he hugged his mom, causing her to blink in confusion before returning the hug with an exasperated sigh.

“Alright, yes, I still love you, but seriously, what is wrong with that head of yours? I had accepted that you would end up with a massive harem in ED, but come on! When are you going to find time in reality to raise the two you have on the way, let alone any more than that?”

“That is the riddle I am still working out myself, but we will figure something out, even if it means reducing our time in ED as time goes on. The only reason that I need to be online as much as I am now, is due to the race to the peak of tier 7 that is currently still ongoing.”

“Oh, and when do you think that race will end?”

Alex scratched his cheek as he thought about when players had started to hit the wall that was tier-8, that would hold them there for close to two years in game. Players would spend that long to figure out how to reach tier-8 and find the first few legacy paths. Alex still remembered how for a long time the most popular theory had been that tier-8 just hadn’t been programed in for players. That all changed after around four and a half years after launch. The first player hitting it was announced. No update preceded it and no details on the how had been released, yet after the first, several more managed to replicate the feat and it wasn’t long before the how was common knowledge. However, even once it was known, it was clear that it was impossible for anyone but the absolute peak players to even think about attempting it. Alex wasn’t sure if he would be able to cross that threshold in this life, even with all of the advantages he had this time around.

“Honestly, it will likely be another four years.”

“So, you will have a pair of three-year-olds before you all start actually being parents.”

“Mom, we are aware of the issue and intend to mitigate it. It’s part of why I made sure we switched to VR pods.”

“If I may, it is also part of why Sam and I pushed Alex towards the others. We are already working on a staggered schedule where we take one logout as a group and the other in pairs,” supplied Nicole.

“Yah, as weird as it is to say, thinking about how it was going to work in ED, once Alex helps all his noble brides fulfill their duty, was part of what softened us to Ava, Mia and Kate,” added Sam.

Mrs. Bell just looked at the three of them, before she sighed and they watched the tension physically leave her as she said her next words.

“I have already talked about caring for your children with your parents, Sam, and between us and her and Julie, who seems like an absolute joy, we figure that it will be fine. Still, the six of you need to take a few days off at a time together to go and do stuff with your kids. Now introduce me to Kate, as I need to have a long conversation with her as you three head off to your appointment. Don’t think that I am done. I just want to get all of my facts straight before I continue and in case it’s not clear, I do still love each of you. You are just frustrating to watch.”

“I love you too, Mom.”

“All three of us do,” added Nicole.

“Yah, we love you too, and as much as we don’t like it, we get why you’re mad,” closed Sam.

Alex could tell his mom was biting her tongue at the bit of sass Sam had in her words, and he quickly helped his mom up and led her out of the room. As they stepped out in the dining area, they were met by three surprised ladies as Mrs. Bell took the lead, and instead of kisses from Alex like they had expected, they got her glare. Alex had to hold in his laugh as Ava and Mia shouted “Mom!” excitedly as they smothered Mrs. Bell in a hug, and Kate just blinked having expected her to be waiting for them in the living room. Alex didn’t even try to keep up with Ava and Mia as they started to chat with a stunned Mrs. Bell excitedly, as they talked about how Alex had finally let them in. They even went straight into Kate’s story for her as they sat down in the den off of the dining room, while dragging Kate along and shooting Alex a wink as they did so. Clearly they were more than ready to handle Alex’s mom, and Kate was adding in a response here, or there, when needed, as Alex looked at Sam and Nicole. The three of them smiled as they shouted out a quick goodbye, before they left to meet Gido at the garage, so they could head to their OB-GYN appointment.

The drive into town was uneventful as the three of them enjoyed sitting on the bench seat in the middle of the SUV as they drove. Alex had to admit the simple joy of sitting between the two, as they were allowed to simply relax for the 25 minutes it took to arrive at their destination was nice. Once there, Gido stayed in the car as the three of them made their way into the clinic to be seen. Inside, they were led into their private waiting area that adjoined to the examination room as they awaited Dr. Edelle Avery. It wasn’t long before a blonde who was in her early 50’s arrived, giving them each a smile before greeting the group.

“It’s good to see you all again. I trust that nothing has changed over the last month, unless you are already feeling a bit of movement.”

“We both think we have felt a few movements each day, but we are not sure,” responded Nicole.

“Yah, it’s hard to tell,” added Sam.

“That’s normal for first-time moms…”

Alex just smiled as the three women chatted about everything they should expect at this point until their next visit, before they moved on to the ultrasound portion of the exam. Alex watched as Dr. Avery operated the equipment to give them a full 3D image of their little ones, while taking notes and recording. Both Sam and Nicole had said they wanted to know the gender at the same time, so Dr. Avery had stayed quiet on that detail as she described everything else that they were seeing, cheerfully. She reassured them that they had two healthy-looking babies growing inside them and that they were doing great. Finally she was done and she smiled as she handed both Sam and Nicole a folded piece of paper.

“Alright, the gender of your baby is on the paper in your hand, so whenever you’re ready to tell the father, feel free.”

Sam and Nicole looked at each other and nodded as they both opened their paper and said in unison, “Girl.” Alex blinked as he processed the fact that he was having two daughters, while Sam and Nicole started to giggle and chat about how the pair were going to be the best of friends. They even mentioned that Julie was having a little girl as well and how great it was going to be to have all three of them grow up together. They had been going at it for a few minutes before they realized that Alex had yet to chime in.

“Earth to Alex. Hello? Are you in there?” called out Sam.

Alex shook his head as he looked at the pair of women who were waiting for him to respond and smiled.

“Sorry, got lost in thought there for a second. Two girls, huh. Looks like I am going to need to start practicing with a shotgun.”

“Alex! Really, how would you have liked it if our parents were like that?” chided Sam.

“Um, not too sure my dad isn’t regretting not being like that,” quipped Nicole.

“What? I’ll only write names on rock salt shells,” joked Alex.

“Honestly, what’s going on in that head of yours, Alex?” asked Sam.

“Pure joy, mixed with pure terror. No offence to you two, but I feel like raising girls is going to be so much harder than boys.”

“None taken. You’re a guy after all, but don’t worry, you have us to be lost with,” responded Nicole with a smile that made Alex’s heart warm, as he pulled both ladies into a hug.

After a few minutes of the three of them being lost in their own world, the moment had passed and Dr. Avery cleared her throat and brought them back to reality as she informed them that the well woman portion was still not done. They shared a smile as they returned to the appointment and after they were done, they enjoyed another Alex sandwich on the way home.

The whole way home, all Alex could think about was how lucky he was and how life was going to change moving forward. It was only after he made his way to dinner that everyone else was in the middle of, that he remembered that his mom was still waiting to lecture him. Though from the smile she had on as Ava and Mia sat to either side of her, he felt that perhaps it wouldn’t be too harsh. Even so, when Kate came up and hugged him before claiming a kiss, followed by Ava and Mia doing the same, he could see his mom purse her lips as she watched the interaction. Still, she held her tongue as Alex took a seat between Sam and Nicole once the twins had finished fussing about wanting to know the genders. They had given up when they said it would be revealed with dessert and the room seemed to return to life as it seemed everyone had been listening in to catch that bit of information. The three of them enjoyed a light meal as they didn’t want to keep everyone waiting too long, and before long Sofie was bringing in a sheet cake that was covered in white frosting and topped with mixed berries and kiwi.

“Alright, at Alex’s and the ladies’ request, we have an uncut Tres Leches cake here. Now I have dyed the milk to match Sam’s baby and the cake matches Nicole’s baby. If Mrs. Bell would do the honors.”

It took a second for Mrs. Bell to realize that she had been called on as she blinked, before standing with a surprised smile. Alex could tell that she was excited as she responded.

“Wait, shouldn’t Alex, Sam and Nicole be the ones cutting this?”

“Mom, we figured we would let you as we already know what it is and you are probably the most anxious to know,” Alex chuckled.

“Okay, if you’re sure.”

Alex just smiled as his mom took the knife and cut into the cake while the room watched in anticipation. With a smile, Mrs. Bell lifted the first piece just enough for her to see the color and let it fall back down, teasing the whole room as she spoke.

“Really now, you two are really having the same gender?”

Sam and Nicole just smiled as they nodded and Mrs. Bell lifted the cake to show the room the pink slice of cake and pink milk that was dripping off of it as Sofie held out a plate for the slice. Once Mrs. Bell placed the slice on the plate and Sofie had set it down, the room erupted in conversation as Mrs. Bell sat back down with a smile as Sofie finished dishing the cake. After everyone had taken their turn congratulating them, or in Fred and Dan’s case, teasing Alex about reaping what he sowed when they grew up to go after the same guy. This had earned them several glares as they chuckled nervously and decided that it was time to log back into ED. As things wound down and the room slowly cleared, Alex sent Sam, Nicole, Ava, Mia and Kate away with kisses as he sat down next to his mom as they were the last two in the room. In Sam’s and Nicole’s case, they were off to let their parents know to avoid any secondhand revelations.

“Well, Mom, go ahead let me have it.”

“Alex, I love you and you better be ready to take care of all five of those ladies before you take things any further than you have.”

“Ah, I see they let you know that kissing and cuddling is as far as I will go with them right now.”

“Yes, though I still think you are overreaching. I at least know the reasons they each are willing to put up with my philanderer of a son.”

“Trust me, my own head spins as I try to figure out how I am going to handle the situation. It’s why I am taking things slowly with the other three. Before you even say anything, I have no intention of adding any more, and they are all clear on that at this point as well.”

“I know. The three of them were very firm on that point as well and they admitted that they still needed to work out the kinks of how things were going to work once things progressed. Alex, just don’t lose what you have by making things too complicated. You have two little girls on the way and they are going to need their father.”

“Yah, it’s going to be a challenge, but I think that the five of them at least have one major issue solved.”

“Oh, and what is that?”

“They are talking when I am not present and deciding how things will work. They know that if it is going to work, it is going to take work from all of us. I still don’t understand why Sam and Nicole want to share me beyond just them, but they seem determined to make sure it works out and the rest seem just as invested.”

“You really do intend to let them run your life, don’t you?”

“Not quite. I have laid down the guardrails for them to stay between. They know what I will and will not agree to, for the most part. Past that, it is just a balancing act as trust is built and maintained between all of us.”

“Alright, then I will just sit back and enjoy seeing all of the grandkids you are going to give me grow up. To think you are going to give me at least 10 in reality, and who knows how many in ED. I must say it is strange though.”

“What is?”

“The fact that I am upset at you adding more ladies in reality, but I am kind of hoping you add a few more in ED.”

“Agreed. Why would you wish that upon me?”

“I have accepted it there and I will always want more grandkids. You also spend so much more time there that I feel like they will get to see more of you.”

“Ha, not likely. You have to remember I don’t expect to be able to slow down for another 12 years and I will likely have at least one child per wife in the next few years there.”

“True. Still, I just find it easier to accept and I kind of am looking forward to seeing what a child between you and Eira, was it, the tiger-woman that is always with you, looks like.”

Alex just gave his mom a hug, before telling her that he loved her and that he would see her in the morning. He made his way back to his room, where he found Sam and Nicole waiting for him. After a few more hugs and Alex reassuring them that everything was fine, the three of them returned to ED.

(*****)

ED year 2 days 244-245.

As Xeal made his way to the palace for a final meeting with Prince Victor before heading off to meet with the elves, he let his mind wander. He knew that he had much to complete as the beast-man tribes were still in the midst of ratifying the agreement and this trip would affect it greatly. From the last word Xeal had received from Noriko on the matter, they had enough of their lands on board that it was effectively the new law of the land. However, when it was learned that he was heading to meet with the elves, she had paused the process as there were concerns. Basically, Xeal had to ensure that the elves would agree to the deal as well and release any beast-men currently being held by them. Xeal was unsure of just how large of an issue this was as he had only been to the elven lands a few times in his last life and hadn’t taken note of the beast-man population there. Still, he didn’t doubt that the elves would use them as servants as to many, such roles were beneath them unless they were serving the queen, or other exalted figures. With these thoughts on his mind, he found himself entering Prince Victor’s study to have breakfast with him as they talked.

“Xeal, it is good to see you, and I must say that I am impressed that you went 30 for 30 on the young nobles in your care. However, that is not why we are here today. Are you sure it is a good idea to meet with Queen Aila Lorafir without an escape route?”

“None of the quests you gave me are good ideas to be the one to undertake them, but they are essential to ensure Nium survives.”

“Still, you could take my teleportation device and leave a bead in your home.”

“Victor, I wouldn’t have a chance to use it if I needed it. I fully expect they will confiscate everything I have on me when I arrive and to be stuck with a shadow, or two, while I am there. I am putting myself at their mercy while giving the clear message that you are ready to act should they decide to take advantage of me. Oh, and Noriko says if they try anything, that she has 30 tier-7, and a few thousand tier-6 combatants, that want in on the raid. Chief Xuk has pledged double that should they cause Bula any harm.”

“I see. With their support, we would only need to worry about Queen Aila Lorafir herself, and while they hate to be bothered, I believe I know just the pair to handle her.”

Xeal knew that Nium had around five hidden tier-8 NPCs that pledged loyalty to the crown in return for being left alone, unless absolutely necessary. Even during the wars from his last life, only rumors circulated about them when something happened that was clearly their work. The only reason he even knew that there were around five was due to the bits of information that was gathered from the battlefields. He also knew Habia and Paidhia were the same. To add to the confusion, it had been unclear how many escaped the war with their lives intact.

“Victor, I would prefer if she was not killed, even if things go poorly.”

“Yes, I know. She is a symbol to the elves to the point she is almost deified by them. Killing her would only add to the bloodshed, but what am I supposed to do if she gives me no other option?”

“There is always another option. If she can be subdued, just give me a chance to exploit it.”

“Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“Agreed.”

“Still, you are truly walking into the unknown. I don’t believe Queen Aila Lorafir has agreed to meet with any non-elf in over 300 years. Just what was in that letter that you sent her?”

“Just the basics of my reasons that I needed the meeting to be with her and a heavy dose of reality.”

“I see. What do you see as your odds of success without a war?”

“75% without war, but it’s 50-50 on whether I will need you to step in.”

“I see.”

“Let’s just hope that simply gathering forces at her borders will send the needed message if I do require your assistance.”

Xeal and Prince Victor continued to speak about various topics related to Xeal’s visit to the elves, until finally Victor informed Xeal that once he returned successfully, he would be made an earl. Xeal smiled as this generated a notification that altered the quest in his log.

(Quest updated: bring elven lands into a formal alliance with Nium. You have already accepted this quest. Rewards: promotion to the rank of earl and unknown. Warning, failing the quest will have negative repercussions on your account.)

“Alright, I think it is time for me to finish my preparations.”

“Yes, and Xeal.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll forgive you if you come home with a few extra brides on this one.”

“Excuse me?”

“Just saying I told you I wouldn’t send you off on another diplomatic mission if I wasn’t willing to let you pick up a few more brides.”

“Ha-ha, very funny. Last I checked, elves don’t typically like humans as mates. Something about us smelling. Only dark elves will use us to breed an army. Other than that, they are usually disgusted by even the thought.”

“True, but I don’t know how they will react to your kind, yet.”

Xeal held his tongue as he realized that while the elves on this continent had always lumped players in with whichever race they played as, it had not been the case on all continents. It could very well be that it had depended on the first player that they made contact with, or it may be a preset. This thought once more brought all of Xeal’s preparations into question as there had been no way to confirm which it was. Almost no details about the first player to make contact with any race had ever been known to the public. However, if the same idiot had undertaken all three quests in Xeal’s last life, he wouldn’t be surprised if it was based on the results of this quest.

With this new question, Xeal made his way out of the palace and back to his guild headquarters to take care of the last few pieces of work that needed his attention. As he did so, he had to smile at Kate who was still being shadowed by Ivy, even after she complained that it wasn’t necessary. Xeal had just smiled and told her that it was just his way of making sure she was thinking about him when he wasn’t around. Ivy for her part looked like she was ready to run away and return to recruiting duty as Kate was making full use of having a personal aide, despite her complaint on being followed. Though Xeal did give Ivy a break whenever Kate and he were addressing the same issue, or discussing how to proceed. The current issue was the fact that Abysses End was demanding that Xeal accept their request for a meeting and were even putting pressure on Fire Oath to force Kate into allowing it. Still, Fire Oath had simply stated that Kate was no longer associated with them and FAE was its own entity. From what Kate was saying, she felt that had been their goal all along as it put a clear separation between the two and left FAE exposed to any plans they wished to execute to acquire the guild. Of all the issues that concerned Xeal, Abysses End making a move while he was away was at the top of it. Still, he had no choice but to proceed.

Once Xeal had ensured everything was in order for his departure, he met up with Mari for a casual walk as they chatted. They had already scheduled their next visit to the Muthia Empire and her mother was aware that it would take place a week after her deadline for deciding if the pair would marry. It also happened to be the next scheduled date between the pair. Once he had finished enjoying walking with her, it was time for him to spend time with Lingxin again. When Xeal arrived at the palace, Lingxin had simply smiled as he said farewell to Mari, before leaving with her. It didn’t take long for the pair to find themselves seated under a tree as Lingxin simply enjoyed hearing about Xeal’s life and she shared her own stories. Xeal smiled as they just enjoyed the moment and let the evening turn into night, before they returned and Xeal made his way home, where he found Gale awaiting him with a smile.

The next morning, Xeal found himself in Eboro, with Bula and Eira standing next to him looking nervous as they made their way to the docks. As the approached the docks, they were met by Marquess Frances Rais, who had officially taken over for his father, and several guards who were guarding what Xeal could only describe as an elegant vessel. The ship looked like it had been made from a single piece of wood that was over 60 feet long and 20 foot wide. Xeal could see the runes that glowed on the vessel that he knew reduced the resistance as it glided through the water. He could see the crew all standing at attention as they awaited their arrival and he couldn’t help but second guess his plan as he walked forward and greeted Marquess Rais.

“Marquess Rais, thank you for seeing me off.”

“Think nothing of it, Viscount Bluefire. You are off to perform necessary work for our kingdom. It would be discourteous for me not to.”

Xeal just smiled and kept the truth of the fact that Marquess Frances Rais was likely terrified of even appearing to have an issue with him, after what happened with his father. Still, they were saved any further exchange when Ailluin walked up looking like he just wanted to leave, as he spoke.

“Viscount Bluefire, I have been charged with safely delivering you to her majesty, Queen Aila Lorafir. I do hope that my presence is acceptable.”

“Ailluin, nothing that was done was personal. Reality is what it is and it is best to just smile and move on. Who knows, in 100 years we might sit back and laugh about all of this as we watch a new world develop around us.”

“Yes, I am aware of your kind’s claim to being able to live for up to 300 years. Not quite as long as my own kind, but much closer than is normal for a human.”

“You shouldn’t look at my kind based on what our race is, but as something entirely different and a mixed bag at best.”

“I see. So you would say that your kind are nothing but pretenders when they choose to change their race, and are also not quite human?”

“Ailluin, you would do well not to twist my words to fit your own views. My kind are my kind, nothing more, nothing less. We do not fit the mold of this world and are a catalyst for the ushering in of a new age, where the molds of this world are destroyed and new ones take their place.”

“Very well. I will sit back and watch how things shift moving forward.”

Xeal sighed as Ailluin turned to lead him, Bula and Eira onto the vessel. They passed the crew, who were still standing at attention, as Xeal passed them following Ailluin. It wasn’t until just before Xeal was brought below deck that they began to go through the needed preparations to depart. The three of them were led to a single room that contained four bunks, a table and a small room to relieve oneself in. After they had paused to look around for a second, Ailluin informed them that they would be arriving in the late morning of the following day, before they were left to themselves.

“I would say that he hasn’t forgiven you for turning him into an errand boy,” quipped Eira as she stretched out while looking a tad nervous.

“It will be fine. His queen has assured us safe passage and is watching us as we approach,” reassured Bula.

“Are you sure she isn’t making sure that the whole ship disappearing is done such that she can’t be blamed?” retorted Eira.

“Eira, I get it. You don’t like being on a ship after your last experience and elves are even worse than humans in some respects. However, you need to calm yourself down and remember that you are safe, regardless of what happens,” chided Xeal.

“I know, I just don’t like it.”

“Eira, there is plenty about the situation that stinks, but look at the bright side. You are stuck with Bula and I for the time being.”

“I would prefer it if it was just us,” muttered Eira.

Xeal just smiled as he returned the stare Eira had directed at him, before claiming one of the lower bunks for himself as Eira instantly took the one above him. The rest of that login was spent talking as they glided smoothly through the water on the vessel that Xeal knew was a few steps below an airship, as far as speed. He also knew that they would likely be smuggled into the palace once they arrived, by the fact that the ship was likely the personal vessel of a member of the royal family and would be docked in their private littoral cave. With the cave being adjacent to the palace and having passageways between the two, Xeal knew it was the easiest way to avoid the fuss that their presence would cause. Still, part of him wanted to cause that fuss, only he worried about the reaction causing Bula, or Eira, to die, so he would need to have a bit more patience. If he played his cards right, he should be able to have a much more effective public entrance than causing a panic at the fact that an orc was in elven lands. It was with these thoughts that Xeal logged off while the ship continued to move closer to their destination.

(*****)

Morning February 5, 2267 & ED year 2 day 246.

Alex enjoyed a relaxed morning of swimming with everyone. He couldn’t help but smile as he noticed that at the insistence of his mom, Julie had joined them. At that point, it hadn’t taken long for the four pregnant women to form their own group as they chatted while enjoying the water. The rest of the group was focused on lap swimming until it was time to dry off and enjoy breakfast. As the morning came to an end, Alex sighed as he knew that the next login would be a pivotal one.

When Xeal awoke, they were still around six hours from their destination and that other than when Ailluin had brought them meals, the door to their room had stayed closed. Bula and Eira both looked bored as they lounged about and Xeal could tell that with his return, Eira had smiled as Bula shifted such that her back was to Xeal. It only took a second for him to realize why when Eira joined him in his bunk, pushing him against the wall as she pressed her body to his and spoke.

“Before you say anything, know that I won’t cross the line until you allow me in, but I am hunting you and will take full advantage of times like now.”

“I take it Bula consented to ignoring us while you made your move.”

“Yes, though I know that it is mean of me, but if I don’t act when there is an opening, I would be a terrible hunter.”

“You know I could overpower you and escape.”

“But you won’t, at least not by the end of this trip when you are starved for the affection you receive from your other ladies.”

“You know I still receive that in my world, right?”

“Yes, and I know that you know how to go a day in ours without, but you always seem happiest after spending time with one of them. Besides, I could play the same angle that landed you with your four noble ladies and tell you that once you give me a kitten, you will find that the beast-man tribes are happy to sign, regardless of the elves. However, that is not what you or I want, so all I will do is lure you in until you’re willing to let me capture you.”

“Eira, until the continent is united, I can’t afford to let you become a mother. You are right in that I have no intent to push you away, but neither will I rush things with you. My plan for you is for you to stand by my side when the others cannot. Even Aalin and Gale will likely fall behind you for a time. Stand next to me when the world is at its darkest and you will have me in a way I doubt the others will ever.”

As Xeal finished talking, Eira kissed him on the lips before leaving the bed and speaking.

“Slow is fine, but sap on a cold morning slow isn’t. Oh, and I would prefer a blade, or something useful, over a shiny trinket.”

Alex couldn’t help but smile back at the grin Eira was giving him when Bula spoke.

“Alright, now that you accomplished your goal, please return to being considerate of me.”

“I will and thanks for letting me have a moment with him. I know your own situation sucks.”

“It is the fate of a seer. I have long accepted that intimacy with a man is something that I will never know. Were I to do otherwise, it would lead to much bloodshed among my people and that is the last thing that is needed in these times.”

Xeal just sighed as he stayed quiet on the matter, as the three of them passed the time until they felt the ship stop and Ailluin arrived with three cloaks for them to put on a moment later. After a short exchange, the three of them put on the cloaks as they followed Ailluin into a vast cave that was large enough to fit a dozen or so soccer pitches in. Still, Xeal didn’t have time to take in the vast area that was packed with ships, as Ailluin hurried them along into a tunnel system that took a full half hour of walking to exit. Once they did, they found themselves in a room full of weapon racks holding everything from basic swords, to exquisite masterpieces that were clearly crafted by orichalcum-level smiths, at the very least.

“Welcome to her majesty’s palace. You are in one of her armories. This one has the role of being where all weapons are left before proceeding further, for those who arrive by boat. If you would be so kind as to leave all your weapons in that cupboard over there and lock them away, rest assured that we will not touch them and the key will stay with you should you need to access them later.”

Xeal smiled as he made his way over, placing his swords, armor and the dozens of single-use items that had any effects which could be considered offensive. He was followed by both Bula and Eira, before turning to Ailluin and speaking.

“Alright, we have disarmed as much as we can without dying.”

“Ha, funny. Yes, we are aware that you can be considered weapons yourselves. Now, if you will follow me, her majesty should be waiting to welcome you.”

Ailluin didn’t give Xeal a chance to speak before they were led away from the armory and through several more halls, until 20 minutes later they arrived at a room that was at least 15 floors up the main tower, which was around 25 floors tall. Here Ailluin paused for a second before knocking. It only took a moment for an entrancing female voice to respond.

“Enter.”

Ailluin opened the door and led them all in what was a room that was scarcely furnished, with a simple table set for four and had as many chairs. In one of these chairs sat a beautiful woman with long wavy blond hair, who looked like she was only in her mid-twenties, but Xeal knew that she was one of the oldest individuals in all of Eternal Dominion. Queen Aila Lorafir looked over the three of them with her golden eyes as she measured each of them in her sight. As she did this, Ailluin knelt before her and spoke, as Xeal, Eira and Bula all gave a courteous bow just inside the doorway.

“Mother, as you have asked, I have brought them. If you have no further need of me, I will return to my room.”

Queen Aila Lorafir shifted her sight to Ailluin, before speaking her next words in a disarming voice full of gentleness.

“Thank you and please stay near, as they will need a guide once our initial talks are over.”

“As you wish, Mother.”

As Ailluin rose and left, Queen Aila Lorafir’s attention shifted back to the three of them as she spoke once more.

“I welcome you, Viscount Xeal Bluefire, and Ladies Eira and Bula, to my home. If you would please join me at the table, I believe there are a fair few things we can accomplish during this first meeting.”

“Thank you for meeting with us, your majesty,” greeted Xeal, as he took the seat directly across from Queen Aila Lorafir, while Eira sat on his right and Bula to his left.

“It is a hopeful moment for you to not remove me. I do apologize if I find it difficult to stay civil though,” added Bula as she removed her cloak.

“I will second Bula’s words, though I hope to move past the issues of the past and move towards a better future,” echoed Eira as she also removed the cloak, followed by Xeal doing the same.

Queen Aila Lorafir smiled brightly as she responded, “Yes, there are definitely issues that must be put aside if we are to move forward and I do believe Xeal here is our best hope to do so.”

As she finished speaking, she placed Xeal’s letter unopened on the table before them and continued to speak.

“You may ask why I didn’t read this, so allow me to enlighten you. It is likely a well-worded explanation of the reasons that we need to meet, meant to sway me to break tradition and meet with you. However, the joy I had when I heard you refused to sign a deal with any elf but me was enough to secure this meeting. After all, I have been struggling to find a way to set this exact situation up without causing any issues from inviting an orc and beast-woman into our lands. Now I have only accepted a request from an individual who has been creating waves so large, that they have likely been felt by those far beyond what should be possible. If you are asking if I wish to formally join the coalition you are building, it would be a yes. However, things are never that simple, are they? So now, what issues stand in the way from your point of view, Viscount Bluefire.”

It took Xeal a long time to process how this meeting had started and even longer to recover from the look he was getting from Queen Aila Lorafir as she patiently waited for his reply. With a sigh, Xeal responded.

“I would appreciate it if you would not use your abilities to distort our reasoning, Queen Aila Lorafir.”

Xeal watched as Queen Aila Lorafir smiled and with a breath, it was like a spell was broken. She went from looking like a young woman in her prime of life, to a tired woman who, while her body retained her youth, it had done so in a diminished form as her hair had lost its luster and her eyes dimmed.

“I must say I am impressed as you saw through it far too easily, especially as one of your level should have no hope of doing so.”

“I saw through nothing. I just knew that everything was wrong as nothing was fitting and I was feeling too comfortable. So, now where do you truly stand, your majesty?”

“What I have said has not been a lie. I would like to join your coalition, but there are fundamental issues.”

“Such as?”

“The hatred of orcs runs deep in our hearts. While as a ruler I am able to see the need to move past it and it is easy to do so for a single individual like Bula here, it is not so for the common elf. We live long lives and find change harder to accept than other races due to it. It is why I am placing my hope in you to accomplish what I cannot. Had you come to me before you made peace with the orcs and beast-men, I would have tried to convince you to abandon your marriage to Princess Enye and Lady Dyllis and become a high elf. My goal would have been to use you to show that a high elf can make peace with both races and made you our symbol for this new age as my next spouse. Alas, that is now impossible in every way, so the question becomes how would you suggest to bring us into your influence, short of the army that has already begun to prepare to strike should I refuse you.”

“You really don’t miss much. I’ll admit that I placed them being necessary at 50% when I left to meet with you. That was mainly due to the number of unknowns that exist around you, as you have acted through intermediaries for centuries now. Is that due to the pain of watching all those around you grow old and die, or just the disinterest that comes from living so long, your majesty?”

“Intriguing. I will admit you made the right call as their presence has removed a few options that I may have used otherwise. As for my detachment, it is a mix of both, as outside my children and whoever my current mate is, it has been 250 years since I talked to another. Hearing you use my title, or address me as your majesty, brings me back to a time that has long since passed. I have shifted to nothing but a symbol for my people, as if I were to leave this tower, I would likely not live a day. Yes, I am a prisoner here as a condition of my continued survival. As evidence, my hair fading was the price I paid when I left for an hour many years ago. I tell you this not for your pity, but to illustrate what you are working with, and against, to find the answer of how to move past our pride.”

Xeal frowned as he worried on how to proceed when Bula spoke.

“You wish for death, but fear what losing you would cause your people to suffer. You keep hoping that one of your children can rise to fill your role one day, but none have come close.”

“How I wish all orcs valued intellect as your line does. If they did, our shared history may not have been as bloody.”

“Hmph, the answer is obvious, but Xeal will never suggest it and you will never push it,” Eira scoffed.

“Indeed, but is that really a wise decision?” asked Bula.

“Why is it that the answers always turn to political marriages?” grumbled Xeal. “No, not leaving here with a bride. One of your children who is about to undertake their tier-5 trial, on the other hand, could work.”

Queen Aila Lorafir let out a soft laugh, before she responded to the group.

“You are right, Xeal, a political marriage would be a bad solution. However, one born of love would work wonderfully, especially if it came from one who despises humans.”

“No marriage. I intend to train your replacement by having them fight alongside Eira, Bula and myself, as part of my personal team.”

“Ah, and you wish them to have walked the nightmare, thus the need for them to have not yet reached tier-5. However, I do have a daughter that has walked the nightmare and is only level 95 currently, though she might be a bit much for you to handle. Also, you would need to welcome her friend that also walked the nightmare at the same time.”

“Did they walk the path of sorceress and knight?” asked Xeal.

“Ah, you are aware of our traditions, and yes they did, though it is sorceress and dame in this case.”

Xeal frowned as he responded, “And I am sure that you are hoping that I will woo both of them.”

“Not at all. I want you to groom her to sit on my throne one day, though if it happens, I won’t complain about it.”

“You’re all terrible, though I expect that you will sign a treaty that is based on my swaying them to accept the integration between the races as at least an acceptable thing.”

“Yes, though my lands will stay closed to other races outside economic and diplomatic reasons.”

“While we are on the subject of economic reasons, I need to ask just how widespread is slavery of other races in your lands.”

A frown crossed Queen Aila Lorafir’s face as she looked at Xeal for a long moment before answering.

“Slavery is the wrong word, though I see what you are saying as we do employ a large number of servants in our lands.”

“Are these servants permitted to choose who employs them, or leave your lands at their own choosing?” interjected Eira.

“Ah, I see the issue. No, they don’t have the ability to leave our lands as doing so would have placed them in Nium and they would just be captured and enslaved there. However, that is coming to an end. As for choosing employers, it depends on the contract they sign and if it is violated.”

“I see. So if we were to demand that any beast-man who wished to leave be released from their contracts, you would have no issue with it?” pressed Eira.

“No, as some of them hold sensitive positions in the homes they serve and know things that are vital secrets to the families they serve. That said, I have no issue with the conditions of their treatment to undergo a full inspection once the treaty comes into effect, and offer any who are not in vital roles to be released from their contracts. However, it will take some time as we search for others who wish to work in our homes to replace them.”

“Not good enough. I can okay the slower transition, but all must be given the option. For those who know secrets that should never be uttered, I will be fine with them having to sign a contract to take them to the grave, or die upon uttering them.”

“You would have them sign a contract that would cost them their lives should they go against it? You are aware that such contracts are outlawed in my lands, correct?”

“I was not, nor do I care. If they wish to regain control of their life, then they need to be willing to risk it. Of course, this is assuming that the secrets they know are that serious of a matter. If it is just who is sleeping with who, you can forget about binding any of them with more than a massive fine.”

“Hmm, I will think on this. For now, I believe we should call it a day. If the three of you will please follow me to the balcony, I need you all to be seen with me for the rumor of your presence to become common knowledge by the morning. If you all hope to be able to move about safely during your stay, my people must see that you are here with my blessing.”

“Thank you, your majesty. Bula, make sure you are right next to her majesty as the perception of tolerance between you two will need to be the strongest.”

“Very well, Xeal.”

With that, the four of them stepped out onto the balcony, as Queen Aila Lorafir restored her illusion and went about pointing out different features of her city. Xeal could see a sadness and longing in her eyes as she talked about things that she had been unable to visit in centuries. After they had been there for a half hour, they returned to the room and Xeal spoke before Queen Aila Lorafir could call for Ailluin.

“Your majesty, may I have a moment of your time in private?”

“Hmm, very well. If you two will wait just outside.”

Xeal gave Eira and Bula a reassuring look as they stepped out and Xeal pulled out a standard contract that stated that neither of them would share what was said from the time they signed to when the door next opened. Queen Aila Lorafir hesitated for a moment before signing, and once she had, Xeal spoke.

“I may be overstepping my bounds, but you speak of how you are trapped in your palace due to the nature of your immortality. May I ask for the details of it as I may have a solution to it, depending on the exact state you are in.”

“A feather would do me no good. Yes, I know you have a few phoenix feathers. If you had a drop of blood, it would work. However, if you were able to attain that, I doubt you would be willing to part with it for me when you have so many others who need to be protected.”

Xeal smiled as he pulled out one of Levina’s drops of blood and handed it to Queen Aila Lorafir, who looked at him in shock.

“Consider that a gift for allowing us to meet with you like this, and my belief that you truly wish for a prosperous future where all races can coexist. Fair warning, your clothes and the room may not survive its use.”

“Are you sure you don’t wish to give me my next child?”

“Positive. There are only four women in this world I intend to make mothers before the continent is united as a single nation.”

With those words, Xeal joined Bula and Eira in the hall where Ailluin awaited him. A few hours later, Xeal was in a room by himself after the three of them had been split up, much to Eira’s annoyance, when he received a notification.

(Congratulations. Hidden quest complete: free Queen Aila Lorafir from her fate. Quest difficulty: unfathomable. Calculating completion rate… 100% completion, rank S. Rewards: 1,944,364,825,010 XP, 50,000 renown, increased favorability with Queen Aila Lorafir to max. Guild F.A.E. is now exempt from all city taxes in Anelqua Kingdom and granted special access permits, 200,000 gold)

Xeal smiled at his level increase to just shy of level 100 and he confirmed that hidden quests like these were definitely profitable, as the 200,000 gold would ensure that he could pay Lori to handle all of the players he had in mind for a bit of growth stunting. With these thoughts, Xeal made his way to the lavish bed in his room to log out until it was time for him to be called in the morning.

(*****)

Evening February 5, 2267 & ED year 2 days 247-248.

Dinner on the 5th was largely uneventful as they enjoyed beef stroganoff with a sour cream sauce over rice, that Alex’s mother had worked with Sofie to make the way Alex had always enjoyed it. As they ate, Mrs. Bell informed everyone that they were going to sell their house in California in the summer and Anna and Mr. Bell would spend the summer out here, before Anna moved into Alex and his fiancées’ apartment with Lauren and Jessica, with Lauren’s parents checking in on them regularly. Mrs. Bell also confirmed that until they knew what Anna’s plans after high school were for sure, that there was no plan for his parents to move out of Alex’s house.

Next, Kate informed everyone that the contractors had finished drawing up the designs based on what her, Sam, Nicole, Ava and Mia had decided on. They had also assured her that they would be ready to start on the 18th, as they had an in at the permitting office that would make sure to get its review and approval expedited. This started a bunch of chatter, while the five ladies insisted that the finer details were going to be a surprise for Alex and would only affect their private area that would be meant for their family. They also had a promise that everything would be finished before Sam’s and Nicole’s due dates in June. Alex had ignored the looks Ava and Mia had given him when Kate mentioned their family, as he knew that they couldn’t help it. The rest of the conversation was dominated by theories on just what the five had planned for Alex, some of which made him sweat, until it was time to return to ED.

When Xeal awoke, he instantly could tell that he was not alone as he looked over to find Queen Aila Lorafir sitting in a chair with a smile on as she saw him stir. Xeal could tell that her vitality had increased as her hair had regained its luster, but her eyes still showed a trace of the weariness from the years of isolation.

“I must say thank you again for that drop of phoenix blood. I had long given up hope of being able to leave these walls. If I did not know that the last thing you wish was for me to become your bride, that is what I would be now. That said, should you ever find yourself needing a place to escape to, you will always be welcome in my home. Also, while I can’t simply allow any member of your guild to walk about my lands, I can allow a group of them access to trade freely with us. Once you return to your guild, simply hand these to representatives of your guild and they will be able to operate as a trade company would. They will even have access to markets that would normally be closed to any but my kin. Though I must emphasize that should they cause an issue, I may have to revoke this privilege.”

“I understand, though I would hope you would at least hear their side of the story, as I would not send anyone who I could not trust to be in the right should a commotion occur, your majesty.”

“Very good, and for you I will. Now I believe I should leave before Eira jumps to any conclusions. Oh, and address me as Lady Aila, or Lady Lorafir, or even just Aila, but never as her majesty, or Queen again. I do not care who is present. You are my savior and by the end of the week, every elf in my lands will know it.”

Before Xeal could even respond, Queen Aila Lorafir was gone, and a knock could be heard on his door, as he moved to open it while pocketing the ten trade passes. When he found Eira on the other side, he couldn’t help but smile as she slipped into his room silently and closed the door.

“We should still have a few hours before they come to get us this morning and I was hoping that you would like to spend some time talking.”

“Alright, let’s talk.”

Xeal made his way over to the chair that Queen Aila Lorafir had just been sitting in as Eira froze as she glanced at the bed, before sighing and taking a seat across from Xeal in another chair.

“You’re no fun.”

“I am not going to just do what you want. That would be too easy. Now, what did you want to talk about?”

“About how you are going to handle the tagalongs that you are about to be saddled with?”

“I intend to spend the next few weeks learning if they will work out, or if I will need to take a different approach.”

“Are you going to accept it when they fall for you, or will you shut them out as you intend to do with Daisy and Violet?”

“Daisy and Violet are still just discovering what it means to be in love. They may have a crush on me, but they do not see who I am beneath the surface and are projecting their ideal upon me.”

“Oh, so if they are able to truly see you for who you are, you would accept them?”

“I did not say that, nor will I say that I will just let anyone in, beyond who I currently have. I even intend to make you play a very long game to secure me, despite the fact that I am almost sure you will succeed.”

“Hmph. I wish you would just be good prey and lie down for me, if that is the case.”

“You misunderstand. You are attracted to my strength and potential, and I am attracted to the same in you. Make no mistake, you are a beauty, but when one already has a bouquet of flowers, it makes the one standing on its own less noticeable, even if it is exceptional. As such, attraction is not enough to move my heart anymore, as it is already held by so many. Aalin and Gale are my rocks, Dyllis is my peace, Enye is my drive, Lingxin is my care, Mari my reality, Luna and Selene guard my heart and Kate challenges me. As I have said before, I see you as my companion when the others are unable to stand next to me. It is a role that is beyond hard to fill, and it will be a long road to walk that may be lonely and frustrating at times. However, it is likely that you will hold more of my heart than most from walking it, as you will be the one who is there for me when the world around me is dyed in blood and I need love the most.”

“You speak of the war that will ravage the lands once your kind begins to reach tier-7 and nations disappear, taking countless lives with them.”

“Indeed. It will be a time when my heart will break as unlike most of my kind, I do not see any of you as anything but people who desire to live normal, boring lives.”

“Hmph, I would hate a boring life.”

“And that is why you are my companion until it is time for me to step out of the spotlight. If you want to hold me, just hold me. Just respect that for now that is the line.”

At Xeal’s words, Eira wasted no time in sitting in his lap as she snuggled into him and just enjoyed being there, until another knock came at the door. Reluctantly, Eira allowed Xeal to stand and when they opened the door, they were greeted by Ailluin, with Bula standing off to the side. Xeal ignored the frown on Ailluin’s face as he spoke.

“I take it we have been summoned.”

“Yes. Mother has said that you and Alea will be spending the day together. If you will follow me, they are waiting for you.”

Xeal could hear the disapproval in Ailluin’s voice as he responded, before turning around and leading the three of them to the lower levels of the palace. Xeal still hadn’t had a chance to investigate just what Ailluin’s status among his siblings was. All he knew was the elf still viewed Xeal with disdain and wasn’t interested in a prolonged conversation at this point. When they finally arrived in a massive room that had to be the entrance hall, they were met by Queen Aila Lorafir, who was smiling brightly and what Xeal could only describe as her body double, except she wore a frown and her eyes did not show the wear of time in them. Beyond her hair being a half foot shorter, there was little to distinguish between them in their features, leading Xeal to frown as well, while Queen Aila Lorafir greeted him.

“Xeal, it is good to see you. I trust the rooms were to your liking. I must thank you once again for the gift you have bestowed me. This is my daughter Alea. I have high hopes for her as she is one of the few who have walked the nightmare and returned to me.”

“Thank you, Lady Lorafir, and it is nice to meet you, Lady Alea,” replied Xeal.

“Mother, are you going to allow him to address you as such?” interjected Ailluin.

“It is at my insistence. I am aware that you have your issues with Xeal, but it would be for the best if you forgot them,” chided Queen Aila Lorafir.

Xeal watched as Ailluin locked up and retreated several steps, before turning and leaving as Alea spoke.

“You may have moved my mother who has grown disconnected from reality in her isolation, but if you wish me to be swayed into trusting you and these two, you are delusional. Our worlds are only meant to brush against one another as time ravages everything differently.”

“Lady Alea, trust is something rarely gained in first meeting, nor is understanding. I expect nothing, save for you to approach us with an open mind.”

“Fine. I leave my mind open to being enlightened to just how much of a plague your kind truly is.”

“Oh, that one is easy. We are by far the worst plague you can imagine. The amount of death that will be caused directly, and indirectly by us is beyond comprehension. I will not claim otherwise, but the same can be said of the monsters we happily face in the never-ending battle that rages on.”

Xeal smiled at the stumped face that Alea had on, as Queen Aila Lorafir smiled before speaking.

“Alea, whether you judge Xeal’s kind to be a plague is for you to do. However, you will at least keep your mind open to him. Now, let us be off to pick up Rina as I wish for both of you to see if you can coexist.”

“Very well. I will return later, Mother.”

“Oh, I am coming along, as I would love to chat with Rina and her mother. After all, I am asking her to potentially leave our lands.”

“Mother, you mustn’t. Even if your illusion masks it, you will wither if you leave the palace.”

“Alea, I am not using an illusion right now and I will be just fine.”

Alea just blinked as Queen Aila Lorafir walked out of the palace before her own eyes, before turning to the four of them and speaking.

“Do you intend to make me wait all day?”

Xeal smiled as he walked past Alea, followed by a confused Eira and Bula as Alea finally came to her senses and started shouting.

“Mother, I don’t care if these outsiders learn of your condition, you mustn’t take the risk!”

“Alea, I have already said I will be fine. If you are wondering why, all I will say is that Xeal here has reset the clock, so to speak, for me.”

Alea looked at Xeal like she was seeing him for the first time, before turning to her mother.

“Mother, you set me up to look the fool, didn’t you?”

“Why would I do such a thing?”

Xeal just held his tongue as he watched Alea’s reaction to her mother’s teasing. He felt like Queen Aila Lorafir was manipulating Alea such that she would accept him easier. However, as he watched Alea mull things over in her head, he decided that he could not simply stay silent.

“Lady Lorafir, I wish you would not pull strings to sway Alea’s view of me, or do you have so little faith in my ability to persuade her that all the races can coexist to a certain extent?”

“Xeal, you misunderstand. This is just me having a bit of fun with my daughter, for whom I hold high hopes for her replacing me one day. Though thanks to you, I feel as if I will be able to persist a few hundred more years before the weight of the throne is too much once more. By then, it may be Alea’s daughter who is looking to replace me.”

Xeal just gave Queen Aila Lorafir a look that said he didn’t believe her, but wasn’t going to push it either. At this exchange, Alea finally came to a realization and responded.

“Mother, you are too presumptuous if you are planning what I think you are.”

“Oh, I am well aware of your thoughts on the subject and I know better than to force anything, but I believe you and Rina will come to your own decisions before long.”

With those words, Queen Aila Lorafir turned and began walking towards the city streets, as Alea finally followed and Xeal, Bula and Eira did as well. Xeal took in the eclectic yet elegant city that was built among nature, yet you could tell its growth had been guided and mixed with stone structures. The palace was likely the only building that had been made completely of stone and reinforced with powerful magic.

As they walked in the early morning when few would be out, they didn’t find it too difficult to walk as they traveled. However, the few elves who were out and about froze when they saw the sight in front of them, as not only was there an orc walking around without a care, but she was with their queen. It was the presence of Queen Aila Lorafir that shook the audience the most, as all they could think was, “how long had it been?” as they passed. For some, it took them a second to realize who she was as they had only viewed her from afar in their lives before today. Still, there was not a single elf who failed to recognize her, especially as Alea was with her and had long been praised for how closely she resembled her mother. This had caused Alea no shortage of headaches, as with her exceptional talent added in, it had caused many to declare that she was destined to become the land’s next pillar. Despite the fact that her mother never seemed to age and how many viewed her as almost a demi-god, they knew that her time was waning as she had removed herself from society. There had been a heavy weight on many elves’ hearts as they believed that she was all that kept the ever-greedy humans from targeting them. Yet, there she was, their queen walking the streets looking like one would expect a prisoner to look after being freed from a dark cell after years.

Xeal had to hold in his laughter as he watched Queen Aila Lorafir stop every 50 feet or so to take note of how something had changed since she had last seen it. To him, she almost seemed like a young woman returning to a place that she had last been when she was a child, and remarking on how it no longer fit with what they remembered. Next to him was Alea, who seemed to be determined not to speak with him for some reason, though he could see the joy she was getting from watching her mother enjoy herself. From what little Xeal had been able to see, Queen Aila Lorafir was at the very least a loving mother who cared for her children. They walked like this for over an hour until they reached an area with almost no stone present and seemed to be a residential area where the trees had been grown into multi-leveled structures, with small gaps for doors and windows. They stopped at one of these and Queen Aila Lorafir spoke.

“Alea, please go invite Rina and her mother out to speak with us as we continue walking.”

“Mother, would it not be better to speak indoors?”

“It may be, but I don’t wish to be inside right now and I believe some good may come from talking while walking.”

“Very well, Mother.”

With that, Alea climbed to a second level and Xeal took the moment to speak.

“You wish to publicize your intent to send the pair with me and just how much you trust me.”

“Yes, though many may see it as staged, I believe it will have a positive effect on your success chances.”

Xeal just sighed as he decided to play along, as he knew that she wouldn’t do anything that she believed would cause him harm. He just worried that her method would be too effective and cause his status in the eyes of elves to rise too high, making it difficult to move about in the future. Still, even if he lost the ability to move about the elven lands personally, it wouldn’t be too much of a loss for him as there were always other places to accomplish his goals in. While he was thinking over the continually shifting situation, Alea returned with two elves that could have been sisters, even though he knew that they were mother and daughter. Both looked like one would expect a model to look, though in a different way from Alea and her mother. Where Queen Aila Lorafir and Alea both had fair skin, these two were slightly tan and instead of blond hair, they had beautiful auburn hair. Finally, besides their hazel eyes, there was the difference in their ears that was the surest way to tell the two races apart, as high elves had pointed ears that only rose an inch beyond what was normal, while wood elves’ ears were an extra half inch and sat at a different angle on the head. If you were to use humans as a reference, then the high elves’ ears were oriented the same, while wood elves were tilted about 30 degrees towards the back of the head. Xeal couldn’t help but also think about how after an elf reached 100 years of age and were fully mature, they changed little before they turned 300, making scenes like this far too common.

Xeal also wondered just how old Alea and Rina were, as he figured they had been together since they first received their classes. He also knew that due to the long lifespans of elves, they rarely rushed to level up as they preferred to perfect their skills and always challenge at least the hard mode of any tier-up. To them, there was no race to reach the next tier in times of peace, as they would be better served to be able to reach a higher tier in the future. That said, only a quarter ever attempted to reach tier-7 and few ever attempted to reach tier-8, as doing so was highly likely to result in death. For a human, this risk was only losing a few decades, while to elves, it could cost them centuries. Xeal knew that there was no easy mode for tier-6, and no normal mode for tier-7. No, the system didn’t hold any hands after tier-5. Knowing all of this, Xeal was surprised as the fact that Rina still lived with her mother meant she was under 100, but it was typical for an elf to challenge their tier-5 challenge at the age of 120. As Xeal had these thoughts, Queen Aila Lorafir spoke.

“Ah, Rania, it is nice to see you after so long. I trust that your daughter Rina and you have been doing well?”

“Yes, my queen. I must say that your visit is a wonderful surprise. I was still living with my mother when you last were seen outside the palace,” responded Rania.

“Indeed, I have been neglectful on making bonds with my people the past few centuries, even when they are my children’s closest friends. Though both our daughters will likely seek their independence in a few more years.”

“About that. Alea says that you are speaking of having us leave our lands, your majesty,” interjected Rina, looking like she was reluctant to do so.

“Ah, yes, let us walk as we discuss this,” eluded Queen Aila Lorafir, as she started walking once more and when they all were keeping pace with her, she continued to speak.

“Rina, you and Alea may only be 98 and have a few years before it would be time for you to experience the world on your own, normally. However, I would like you both to do so early and in the care of Xeal here, to see if we can exist with the world at large.”

“My queen, that is highly irregular. I am not sure if I am ready for my Rina to leave me.”

“Rania, our daughters truly brought this upon themselves when they rose to tier-5 five years ago. Honestly, they could have left home at that time if they had wanted to and none of us could have said much, but they stayed. For that I am grateful, as it means that they have the ability to stand next to Xeal on his adventures that are not of an overly dangerous nature.”

They had reached a busier area, though Xeal could tell that word of Queen Aila Lorafir walking around the city had also spread, from the amount of elves who were not even trying to hide the fact that they were there simply to lay eyes upon her. As she waited for the next response, Queen Aila Lorafir took time to wave and wish her people well. Finally, Rina spoke.

“My queen, may I ask why you would trust this man with Alea and I, as well as just what your hope is?”

“Yes. As for why I trust him, it would be from reading the reports of his actions and the fact that with no promises of benefits, he returned to me the ability to walk among my people once more. While I will not share the why, or the how, of what he did to restore this to me, I have high hopes for him. Were you and Alea to become mothers to his children, I wouldn’t blame you, or oppose a more permanent union.”

“Mother!”

Xeal sighed as he could clearly tell that Queen Aila Lorafir had said those lines more for the crowd that had gathered, than them. Before Queen Aila Lorafir could respond, Xeal did.

“What Lady Lorafir means to say is, that she is grateful for a service I performed for her and she knows that life happens. She is also aware of just how full my bed is already and will not push the idea any further than she has already, out of respect for my wishes.”

“True, Xeal is extremely popular and will likely have many that wish they had not hesitated to act, once he stops even entertaining the idea of adding another woman to his life.”

Xeal wanted to facepalm at just how Queen Aila Lorafir was spinning his words to create a sense of urgency, though he could only smile and hope that Alea and Rina had no interest. He knew that he wasn’t at a point that he could completely avoid these kinds of plays. Still, he was also at the point where they were getting harder to thrust upon him as well. Even so, the whispers of the gathered crowd were hard to ignore, as most of them revolved around the awe of Queen Aila Lorafir appearing. However, there were more than a few comments on if Xeal and Alea would be marrying, and what it would mean if they did. As he focused on these, Xeal had to admit Queen Aila Lorafir was doing a great job selling him to her people. The only hostility that Xeal was picking up were a few comments about how he didn’t think Alea was good enough for him when she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Then there were the comments of envy from many elven men who wished they were worthy to pursue Alea. Xeal could tell that Alea could hear a few of these as well, but unlike himself who could pinpoint them, she just had to do her best to ignore them as Rina comforted her as they all continued to walk.

Xeal was happy when they left the crowded areas and reached the royal gardens, as the conversation shifted away from singing his praises to what exactly Alea’s and Rina’s lives would be like if they left. Xeal allowed Eira and Bula to handle this subject as they explained about what their daily life was like. Xeal could tell that despite their words, Rania was still concerned about her daughter leaving, though Rina and Alea both seemed indifferent about it. As he observed them, he had a thought and decided to voice it.

“Alea, Rina, you both don’t seem to care either way. Is that due to being resigned to doing as you are told, or the fact that you will face it together?”

Xeal watched as both ladies turned to face Xeal as they both smiled fearlessly at him, while both mothers looked worried and Rina spoke.

“Xeal, we already know how this will all play out in the end and we are fine with it.”

“My mother has already spoken,” added Alea. “Rania is simply doing what is expected of any good mother and ensuring that Rina will be cared for. We will leave here and follow you until your days end, or you retire from adventuring, depending on just how things turn out.”

“And neither of you care to voice how you feel?” asked Eira.

“Ha, they already know,” replied Rina. “We have been asking to leave the capital for a few years now and it has only been out of the respect of Alea’s duties that we haven’t. Now, not only are we being allowed to leave, but we will get to have far more of an adventure than we had dreamed of. That said, I will warn you that I fully intend to see about experiencing all that the world has to offer and may decide to take full advantage of Xeal.”

“Oh, and what about you, Alea? Are you going to try and take advantage of Xeal?”

Alea just gave Eira a look of annoyance without responding and Eira smiled as she continued.

“I see. You may be the princess, but you are the follower and will likely follow Rina’s lead in everything.”

“Is there anything wrong with that? She places herself between me and danger and I trust her with my life. Do you not follow Xeal in all you do?”

“No…” Eira just frowned as she stopped her response as she realized that other than her physical advances she pushed on him, she did. While she fought alongside him and no longer hid behind him, she knew that he was always protecting her with the mark he had placed upon her. In the end, she just stayed quiet as Alea continued to speak.

“I suspect that before long, Rina and I will be the same as you, or Bula, as the four of us will be the ones next to him at all times.”

At these words, Eira couldn’t help but feel dread. If they came along and developed the same emotions she had for Xeal, what would happen to her place in his heart? As she was about to retort, Eira felt a hand on her shoulder as Bula spoke.

“Some places in one’s heart have more room than others and can be the hardest to fill by one person. Do not concern yourself with any moves others may make. Only failure awaits you if you lose sight of your own growth.”

Xeal sighed as he couldn’t ignore the exchange any longer. “Eira, Bula is correct and I have already made my feelings clear to you. Rina and Alea, you will be you, not Bula, or Eira. What the future holds is as of yet unknown, for the most part. Also, one thing needs to be made clear. I will not allow either of you to die while in my service, but I will also expect more than you could likely imagine from each of you. If you are not ready to experience what it feels like to face death in all of its forms, it is best if you refuse to come with me.”

“We do not fear death, as it is only in the moments when one’s life is unsure that you can really get to know oneself,” responded Rina, as she looked into Xeal’s eyes daring him to not return her gaze.

Seeing this, Xeal smiled as he responded, “Good. I am expecting great things from you two, with the way Lady Lorafir speaks of you.”

“Just try to keep up once I reach the same level as you,” retorted Rina in a playful manner.

Xeal just smiled, as Eira couldn’t hold in her laughter and Bula gave Rina a look one would give a child who didn’t understand something fundamental.

“I do not see what is so funny,” interjected Rania. “My daughter is one of the most talented of her generation.”

“Rania, Rina, it is best if you view Xeal on a plane of his own,” cautioned Queen Aila Lorafir. “I doubt any in the same tier could face him in single combat and win in a life and death struggle. This is not me trying to sell him as more than he is, and if you wish to understand, I am sure he would be willing to give you a simple demonstration.”

Xeal sighed as Queen Aila Lorafir looked at him expectantly as he spoke. “Take us to somewhere that you all can watch without worry of the damage I might cause.”

Queen Aila Lorafir smiled as she wordlessly led them all to another part of the palace that led underground, where a large open area filled with a few hundred elves training in various ways, were. Like everywhere else they had gone that day, Queen Aila Lorafir’s presence caused everyone present to take notice and she wasted no time in asking them all to please clear the field for a demonstration, before turning to Xeal. Xeal smiled as he turned to Rina and Alea and spoke.

“If you would both gear up, and when you’re ready, place a little blood on these and face what comes out as a team, so you can understand what I do.”

Both ladies looked at the mirror shards Xeal had handed them in confusion, before doing as Xeal had said and grabbing weapons that were available for use while training. While he watched the pair of them gear up, he took note that Alea only grabbed a staff while Rina took a bow and a few quivers of arrows, several knives and two short swords. Once they both were ready, they moved to the center of the open area and activated the mirror shards. Xeal watched the fight that took place with a look of satisfaction, as Rina and Alea showed their flawless coordination as they opened distance perfectly at the start of the exchange. Rina proceeded to exchange arrows with her shadow clone, as Alea and her clone both prepared spells that Alea finished a split second faster, costing her clone the advantage as the two spells collided, creating a shockwave. This caused both Rina and her clone to lose their balance, though once more Rina recovered a split second faster as her arrow found its mark. The exchange lasted a full 25 minutes as the two ladies systematically overwhelmed their clones. Once both Rina and her clone were out of arrows and had exchanged a few throwing knives, they had locked swords as Rina slowly overpowered her clone. Alea and her clone continued to try and give their Rina the advantage, but Alea was just slightly better. If Xeal had to put a number on it, he would say Alea and Rina were able to show around 92% of their potential and were clearly well adapted to each other. When the pair came over, Xeal smiled as Rina spoke.

“That was a wonderful warm-up. When do we face the real challenge?”

“That was just so you could understand what you are about to see and appreciate it,” teased Eira smugly, as Xeal borrowed some gear from what was available.

Xeal stood in the center of the open area wearing some light armor and holding two swords, as he debated on whether he wanted to do two shards or three. Finally, he decided that it would be best not to overdo it and only activated two of the shards. He proceeded to display a one-sided beat down, as he was able to display around 98% of his potential. The sheer ferocity that was on display, as Xeal and his clones exchanged blows, as he was quickly overpowering the two clones that couldn’t replicate the boost the elder dragon mark gave him, making this a relatively easy fight to him. Still, the dragon’s breath attacks that he had to deal with caused issues as he only had one shot to their two, and it had been easier to cause the clones to hit one another when there were three. Even so, it took Xeal only ten minutes to completely defeat the two clones. When he turned, he found the area was full of shocked faces, with only Eira and Bula seemingly unaffected. Even Queen Aila Lorafir looked shocked, while Rina and Alea looked utterly dumbfounded, though Rina recovered quickly and wasted no time in approaching Xeal and bowing.

“I retract my arrogance and humbly ask that you allow me to train beside you to better my own skills.”

“Rina, stop bowing. I am not your lord, or your master. If you and Alea travel with me, it will be as friends and I will treat you the same as I do Bula and Eira when it comes to training and protection. While what you just witnessed is not something I would expect any others to be able to replicate, it will be a feat that you two will strive for.”

Rina stood with some reluctance as Alea came over and spoke. “Xeal, please forgive us for our attitudes that we have shown you. I now see what my mother’s true goal was when she humbled me this morning, I will never make the mistake of looking down on you again. Please ignore the attitude I held this morning towards you as you are not part of a plague. You are the harbinger of the plague.”

“Alea!” cried Queen Aila Lorafir in an outraged tone at her daughter’s words, and was about to continue when Xeal stopped her with his own words.

“Alea, you are not wrong. I am a perfect example of just how dangerous my kind can be. It is why my goals are important for not only this continent, but the rest of the world as well. While the path I intend to walk will flow with far more blood than I like, it will be far less than would occur were I to avoid the conflict as I could have.”

“Just how far are you willing to go? Would you abandon the ones you love to achieve it? Would you marry someone you hate to accomplish your goals?”

“Alea, were I to abandon those I love, I would have already failed and while hate can be turned to love and love turned to hate, I would not marry someone while I hated them, or they hated me. Even if doing so would bring me the power that I needed, I would still not do so, as in doing so I would be assured to lose what I already have. If you ask just how far I can go, it would be as far as I have to, so long as I do not become what I am not. I seek power not to rule, but to avoid being ruled by those who know not how to rule.”

Alea expected Xeal to hesitate to answer her question, so when he just smiled and responded without missing a beat, she was shaken, then moved. While she processed his answer, she only had a single question left.

“Does my mother know how to rule?”

Xeal smiled as he answered.

“Only elves. She would be seen as an enigma by other races that only live short lives, the same way I would. The death of a ruler is needed to allow new hope to be born when a new ruler rises, or minor discontent would fester into revolutions, as no other end could be seen.”

“Yet you wish for the short-sighted to rule us?”

“No, I wish for all races to move freely in human lands. I am well aware that anything beyond a few orcish diplomats being here would cause issues, and the same can be said of any elves in orc lands. The mixing I wish to see is at a limited basis, as those who are willing to try venture out and those who will be called to bleed and die together, once the war starts. I know not of a greater force to end hatred than placing your life in the hands of those who you hate, while they do the same.”

“You would have orcs fight next to elves?” inquired Rania in disbelief.

“Yes, as well as beast-men and humans, perhaps even dwarves, if possible. We are stronger together than apart. While wood elves may be great fighters, would you wish to fight hand to hand with an orc at the same level as you?”

“No, I would avoid him while using my arrows.”

“Exactly, and no orc would wish to face your arrows, or Alea’s magic. Beast-men make the best special forces as they cover the widest set of specialties, but are too few in numbers. Meanwhile, humans, while not the best at anything, are able to adapt and fill any needs that arise. Our versatility is what has made us the most widespread race. Had all the other races banded together from the start, humans would have never stood a chance, but the tribal mentality took over and humans proved to be the best at standing on their own.”

“Xeal is not wrong. It was why I worked so hard to forge the bond between our people when I first ascended to the throne,” interjected Queen Aila Lorafir. “He is also correct in that my rule would cause issues in anything but a society that is dominated by elves, as would a human’s rule be unacceptable to us in most cases.”

“I understand, my queen. I will try to see things from a new perspective and I hope our daughters grow under his care as well.”

With those words, Queen Aila Lorafir decided to call it a day as she claimed that she was beginning to feel overstimulated. She implored Rina to spend the next few weeks in the palace with Xeal and for Alea to relocate her quarters to ones closer to Xeal’s. Both ladies agreed and it was set that the next few weeks would be spent ensuring that they would be able to coexist. The rest of that day, Xeal found himself back in his room with Bula and Eira, as they enjoyed the view from his attached balcony while discussing the day’s events among themselves.

It wasn’t until dinner that they were summoned and found themselves being introduced to several of Queen Aila Lorafir’s children. Xeal could only smile as there were high elves across the spectrum present, though none of her mates were present. Xeal knew this was due to the fact that she had never grown close with any of them, according to what he had learned from his last life. He knew that she would have at most two children with each, before she would assign them to a duty far from the capital. Still, it was also a fact that these men often enjoyed a comfortable life after performing what was seen as a great honor among the elves. Xeal just found it pitiable, as they essentially would have no contact with their children, and Queen Aila Lorafir remained unmarried and alone when she wasn’t looking to bear a child. Xeal knew that she carried on this way due to the eternal nature of her life and once more found himself wondering just what her method for everlasting youth was.

After dinner, which had made Xeal feel like an oddity, he was asked one question after another about his world and humans in general. Most of these questions came from Alea’s six younger siblings, the youngest of which was only 12 and looked closer to an eight-year-old human. With that out of the way, Xeal fell into his bed before sighing as he looked over to see Queen Aila Lorafir sitting in the same chair she had been in the morning.

“So, what are your thoughts on my family? I could tell you had something that was bugging you through dinner.”

“Are you sure you wish to know my thoughts?”

“No, but I will anyways.”

“My thoughts are that I want to beat some sense into the idiots who agreed to remove themselves from their children’s lives. At the same time, I feel pity for you having accepted such a life and wonder why you continue to have children when most of your kind would only have a few at most.”

“Ah, you mustn’t blame the men I use, as it is simply a fate I accepted a long time ago. Each time I have intercourse, I steal a part of the man’s vitality. I am also guaranteed to conceive. If you were going to lose a few decades each time you mated, how long would you stay with that woman?”

“Yet you spoke of marrying me and making me king when we first met, had I come to you first?”

“I believe your kind may be a loophole, though it may also simply fail to work at all and I would start to age and die eventually if I didn’t find a new partner.”

“Unlikely. While it is slow, this vessel I use in this world does age. I would say it does so at around a sixth of what would be considered normal for a human. While I am unsure if you could truly drain us to death, I have no doubt it would have a massive negative effect on us.”

“What a pity and I had hoped to find a worthy match besides you one day, among your kind.”

“Is your situation something you accepted of your own free will, or was it thrust upon you?”

“It is the consequence I received from a certain demon as their parting gift, before they escaped back to their own plane. Until they die, I am cursed to never be able to truly love someone with all my heart and at the same time, I must feed off their vitality to stay alive.”

“Then why did leaving the palace cause you issues before?”

“That is due to my own work as I have enchanted these halls to reduce just how often I need to feed, as I would need to do so the moment I recovered from bearing each child. The cost is that once I leave these walls, it rapidly catches up with me until I return to them. However, the true victims are my children as they have all received a lesser version of the curse.”

“Oh, and what would that be?”

“They are fine until they lose their virginity, but once they do, my daughters are guaranteed to conceive while taking a few days of vitality from their partner, and my sons lose a small part of their vitality and are sure to impregnate their partners. To make matters worse, they find themselves addicted to the feeling of it. I have lost more than one son early due to the issue and had to end more than one daughter’s life due to it. Most of my children have chosen solitary lives due to the issue and others have sought out less traditional forms of companionship.”

“What about your grandchildren? Do they carry the curse?”

“No, though it is likely only due to my own spells that exist here, limiting how much of the curse is passed onto them in the first place.”

(Quest: remove curse from Queen Aila Lorafir’s descendants. Do you wish to accept this quest? Rewards unknown. Warning, failing quest will have negative repercussions on your account. Yes or No)

Xeal smiled as he accepted the quest and spoke.

“You should see if the drop of phoenix blood freed you from your curse and I will have to see what I can do about freeing your children as well. I suspect that I will need to remove the demon responsible, though to accomplish that I will likely need to grow much stronger.”

Queen Aila Lorafir blinked for a second as she thought about Xeal’s words, before she responded.

“I see. There is some merit to that thought, though until I next mate, I will not know. Would you perhaps like to find out right now?”

“Absolutely not. The number of issues that could cause are astronomical and whatever we have between us, is not that kind of love.”

“Such a shame. I suppose I will need to find my next mate a few years early. Perhaps I will actually choose one that I feel could work out as a long-term partner. As for killing the demon, I will not help you find it until you are strong enough to actually face it without becoming its meal.”

“That is fine. I doubt I could handle it before I reached at least tier-7 anyways, though why would you encourage your daughter to chase me knowing what it will do to her?”

“Again, other than getting her pregnant, you will only lose a few days each time and she should be able to last at least a few weeks before needing your touch once more, to function normally. Though I would ask you to wait until after you have united the continent to entangle yourself with her in such a way.”

“I see. Is there anything else you need from me, or am I allowed to sleep now?”

“Just for you to have patience when it comes to Alea. She has always been a bit of a reserved individual. She has long since decided that she will not allow anyone but Rina into her world fully, to include me and her siblings.”

“It will be what it will be. Either I will find that she can integrate with us, or I will not accept her joining us on my adventures. Though from what I saw today it should be fine, so long as she doesn’t refuse to make the adjustments that will be needed.”

With that, Xeal watched Queen Aila Lorafir leave as he lay down and let his body and mind rest. The following morning, Xeal once more found Eira joining him to cuddle and talk, until Alea arrived to bring them to breakfast in a room not far from the one he was staying in. He found that it was only Rina, Alea, Eira, Bula and himself. The five of them enjoyed some light chatter before the meal ended and Xeal suggested that they do some sparring to better understand each of their fighting styles. This sparring was obviously the five of them working together against more clones made from mirror shards, as Xeal made sure that none of them found themselves in danger. While there had been a few missteps at the start, Xeal was extremely satisfied with how quickly Alea and Rina were able to adjust. Now they just needed to break past what was conventional and they would be stepping onto the true path of power. However, Xeal knew that even Eira and Bula had only barely started to do so themselves, so he wasn’t in a major hurry as he knew that it would happen as they spent time around him. After training, they enjoyed a meal and went for an afternoon walk with Queen Aila Lorafir, though it was to a specific crafting family that she had fond memories of. After dinner, Xeal once more found himself alone in his room and let his mind wander as he went over the day’s events before logging off.

(*****)

Morning February 6, to Morning February 10, 2267 & ED year 2 days 249-261.

The next 9 logouts for Alex were full of simply enjoying his time with friends and family as he shared his experiences in the elven capital, and they shared theirs. Sam and Nicole had located the last of the phoenixes, but were unsure if they should move forward after running into a tier-6 monster on their last expedition. In the end, Alex just had them go into full preparation mode as he had made the decision that they would do all five in one marathon when they had completed preparations. Alex hoped that they would be attempting to reach each at least a few months before Sam and Nicole gave birth in June. Alex worried that waiting any longer would cause them to miss out on a few marks. Even though he knew that with half of the marks already secured, it wouldn’t be a disaster if they failed to secure the remaining ones, Xeal still wanted to secure them all, especially before Abysses End got any. Though from the reports that Sam and Nicole had given, it seemed that two more were guarded by tier-7 NPCs and the other three were in dungeons that were gaining a reputation as a forbidden zone. From the reports, it seemed that players would start to die without even knowing what happened, like with the rock elementals for the most part. Alex also knew that the undead horde that he had faced last time was beyond what normal players would be able to handle, and from the sounds of it, each one would become increasingly difficult.

Kate had also shared a bit of fun she had been having leading Abysses End by the nose after their latest move. They had attempted to suffocate FAE by flooding Nium with players as Alex and Kate had been expecting for a while now. The fact that they did so when Alex was going to be tied up for a few weeks in ED was enough to confirm that despite all of their work to avoid it, there was a leak in FAE. Alex knew it was inevitable as you could only restrict what was said so much and the movements of the kingdom were telling as well. Still, Alex could tell that Kate had been ecstatic when they had finally made their move as she had long since drawn her plan up and she had proceeded to make Abysses End look like utter fools. At first, she had made it appear like they were succeeding, only for them to make the mistake of storming the Vault of Ucnuc with a full third of their forces that were in Nium. She had made it seem as though FAE had been caught unprepared and like the crafting players, had fled in a hurry leaving a mess and a fair bit of materials behind. Only to spring the trap once they reached the ninth floor as Ceclie appeared and went on a killing spree. This was the first time anyone outside leadership learned of her presence there, as the room with the well in it was off limits.

As the members of Abysses End attempted to flee, they were pincered by the forces that were training for the phoenix expeditions. The result had been a complete victory as the area had long since been set up with anti-teleportation runes and arrays by Ceclie. It didn’t help when the players had found themselves on the wanted list of Nium for attacking a recognized production area of the kingdom and had to flee across the border into either Paidhia, or Habia. Plus, this was only once they had managed to escape the net that the cities had put out for them. Alex knew only a few hundred would be caught out of the few thousand or so that attacked, as the kingdom wasn’t bending over backward to locate them, unless they attempted to use a teleportation hall. Even so, the time that they would lose, as well as the difficulties in coordinating, as if they did group up too much they would likely be rounded up, made sure that they were once again humiliated. Yet, Alex knew that this had been a probing attack as they saw how FAE handled itself while he was away. The losses had been acceptable to them and the information on Ceclie would likely be accounted for in their next move. In the end, the episode had only confirmed the fact that he needed to ensure FAE won the race to tier-7.

With another advance by Abysses End taken care of and the last of the phoenixes located, Alex knew that it had been a busy week as everyone was involved with those two events, one way or another. Alex had also laughed when he had learned that Henry, Fred and Dan had been stuck on front desk duty, as Tara had been training her skills. All of them had started to beg Alex to hire an NPC to work the desk after the first day as they couldn’t stand all of the idiots that came in. Amanda had been spending her time helping Rose and Elizabeth level, as the others popped in when they had the opportunity to do so. Mrs. Bell was the only one who hadn’t been spending all of her time logged in as she was enjoying spending time with Sofie in the kitchen as they experimented and chatted with Julie while they relaxed. Part of the reason she had stayed offline more was due to the annoyance caused by Abysses End for normal players. This was also the sole aspect that Alex found worrying about Abysses End’s moves, as it could stall his second wave of players who were catching up to the pros.

In ED, Xeal spent his time relatively the same way each day, as he would be awoken by Eira coming in to cuddle with him before breakfast, which would be just Eira, Bula, Alea, Rina and himself. Each morning, they would do some training, or team-building exercises, to include a few battles with local monsters. Their afternoons were always claimed by Queen Aila Lorafir as she took them to walk in different areas of the city, before they would find themselves at dinner with Alea’s family, and Rina’s mother Rania would attend on and off as well. As the week progressed like this, Xeal almost felt disappointed in how he had thought this was going to be a difficult quest. While he was annoyed that he was leaving with two more women, he was at least happy that any relationship would need to occur naturally, for the most part. While Xeal loved Enye and Dyllis and cared deeply for Lingxin and Mari, he still wished that they had been able to take their time before marrying and having children.

(*****)

Evening February 10, 2267 & ED year 2 days 262-263.

Alex sat down to eat with everyone else after taking a moment to kiss each of his ladies. As he did, the conversation once again revolved around current events. As it was, Alex’s visit to elven lands was coming to a close, with his next session in ED being the last one before he was headed back, much of it focused on his plans for once he returned. They discussed the fact that the team training for the phoenix expedition were all approaching level 100 like himself, and the first challenge-run dungeons would open at that point. Challenge-run dungeons were also by far more rewarding than any other area and would double what the average player could obtain each day. Even with only being able to run a dungeon once a day, a good crew could clear one every four to eight hours and earn the same as most players would earn in a full 16 hours. This was largely due to the fact that these dungeons were never more than a half hour away from a teleportation point and players never had to worry about being ambushed by other players while inside.

Alex also knew that these dungeons were essentially player-only areas and NPCs would be crazy to enter them as they were essentially death traps. This was due to the fact that it was rarer to not die a few times when first challenging a new dungeon, even for the top pro players. Alex remembered how over 90% of all his deaths had occurred in these dungeons in his last life, and couldn’t help but put on a wry smile thinking about whether or not the marks would be lost if they died in a challenge-run dungeon. He suspected that they wouldn’t, as if a full party wipe occurred, the whole team would revive at the entrance, but he had no intention of testing it if he could avoid it. Yet, NPCs would appear as bodies at this point as revival items, like all limited-use items, didn’t work in the dungeon and only spells could be used. Though, if the NPC had one on them, it would activate at that point if it was an auto-use item. However, if they didn’t have an auto-use item, it was impossible to revive them at that point. Players would also not suffer the same penalties from dying in a dungeon, as they wouldn’t be locked out for a day and would only lose a third of the experience that they normally would. This still often knocked them down a level, but made challenge-run dungeons the preferred grinding locations for players. Additionally, if a full party wipe occurred, all players in that party would be unable to challenge that dungeon for three days.

As they discussed the various types of challenge-run dungeons that would open, built for different size groups, ranging from six to 500, from what had been released by ED’s marketing team, Alex’s mind wandered again. 500-man dungeons were the absolute worst, as they were almost designed to be meat grinders where survival was as much about luck, as skill. These included a subclass called competition dungeons, where all 500 players would be racing one another and most of the time were part of special events. A simple rule of thumb was that the more players allowed into a dungeon per party, the higher the chances of suffering a death were. This was also why many players’ leveling speed slowed way down after level 100, as they would suffer far more deaths. Another point of annoyance for Alex was the level restrictions, as each dungeon would only allow players in a five-level range to enter them, and the enemies could be set to the same five levels. This meant that once he reached level 105, he would be unable to challenge level 100 dungeons, and titles like Behemoth Slayer were useless as the strongest monster would only be four levels above any player. Still, Alex smiled as he planned his move to chain-clear all of the ones he was familiar with from his last life, to get as many first-clear bonuses as possible. All level 100 dungeons were only set up for parties of six, and Alex knew just who he wanted to do them with.

“Dan, Fred, Amanda, Sam, Nicole, are you all ready to have some fun?”

“Always, man,” replied Fred.

“If it gets me away from that damn desk, I’m game,” added Dan.

“Are you talking about the six of us entering a dungeon together?” asked Amanda.

“No, I am talking about us clearing out 78 over 39 days in ED.”

“78, what the hell?” stammered Dan.

“That is two a day and with Sam, Nicole and myself in the group, we should be way overpowered for any dungeon we enter. Honestly, it might feel like cheating, but still, the advantage will diminish as the party size for each dungeon increases.”

“Still, there will always be small-party dungeons. Will we be hitting all of them like this when we level up?” inquired Nicole.

“No, but we will be doing at least a few of each level group, as well as some of the larger-scale ones as they will have much greater rewards.”

“Still, won’t this draw too much attention to us? Every first clear will send out a system announcement to the region at the very least,” cautioned Amanda.

“And knowing you, we won’t be challenging normal mode,” added Sam teasingly.

“No, we will be challenging hell, nightmare, or hellish nightmare mode, depending on which the dungeon offers,” confirmed Alex, while thinking about how hell mode would increase the strength of enemies and nightmare mode made the environment harsher. If they challenged hell mode, they could expect to face twice as many boss monsters, all of whom would be stronger. While nightmare would make any environmental effects harsher. This meant that if the normal effect caused light cold damage every second, it would double, or triple it, and if a dungeon had a light mist it would become heavy fog that cut visibility drastically. Either way, it could make life far more miserable for the whole party as they cleared the dungeon, and the only real benefits came if you cleared the dungeon as a whole. Then there was the rare dungeon that offered both modes separately, or at the same time, creating hellish nightmare mode that only parties with inflated stats like Alex’s, or top pros, would have a chance in.

“Why can’t we just have a fun time for once,” grumbled Dan.

“Because to Alex, watching all of us struggle to survive is fun,” quipped Fred.

“Nah, he just wants to see the two of you, who don’t have any massive stat boosts that make it almost unfair, struggle while the four of us sit back and watch,” teased Sam.

“What, when did Amanda get a phoenix mark?” asked Dan.

“Dude, she got Sam’s blessing skill used on her, remember?” reminded Fred.

“Wait, why don’t you give us one as well, then,” Dan almost begged.

“Sam’s skill can only be used on clerics and champions of Freya,” supplied Amanda. “Unless the two of you want to restart and go through a bunch of awkward rituals, just smile and accept your lot in life.”

“Oh, um, yah, Alex, you know of a way to boost our power too, don’t you?” pleaded Dan.

“Nope, not unless the fire phoenix wants to follow a guy around, but something tells me that isn’t going to happen.”

Alex could tell that Dan and Fred felt left out, but he couldn’t think of anything to help them out as he thought about any options that were available, until Mia interjected.

“Just be happy that you get to spend time in a dungeon at all.”

“Yeah, Mia and I will likely have to party up with random other members when we are ready to go in,” added Ava.

“By then, all of the first clears will likely already be claimed.”

“Exactly. We will likely never get to have our names next to Alex’s.”

“Not necessarily. If you two hold to the pace I intend to set you on, you could catch up to me by around level 160. After all, I have you two on the priority track and as long as you don’t stumble at reaching tier-6, or have to deal with the need for extra experience like Sam, Nicole and I do, you should be fine.”

“Wait, you have to gain extra experience each level? How are you still at the top of everyone else right now, then?” interjected Mrs. Bell, having not been paying too close of attention before the twins started talking.

“That is because your son doesn’t know what it is to take on a monster less than five levels higher than himself, and is always getting extra experience by bleeding money in the royal forge, or completing a quest,” grumbled Tara. “Trust me, I have been keeping a close eye on his progress. As for Sam and Nicole, they have been hanging out with Amser, whose team is one of the few groups who are slightly out-leveling him.”

“Add the fact that they all are on par with monsters that are more than five levels higher, and it more than makes up for the need for extra experience,” added Henry.

“Still, didn’t you say it is best to take our time to level up to get used to each tier, Alex?” asked Mrs. Bell.

“Mom, that is mainly for tier-1 through tier-3, as they are easy to speed through if you have someone to carry you. Tier-4 and on takes months, and I suspect it will take around a year here in reality to go from tier-6 to tier-7, and who knows how long it will take to reach the peak of tier-7.”

Alex could tell his mom still had questions, but it was time for them all to return to ED. So, he bid everyone goodnight, and after giving the twins and Kate a few more kisses, Alex, Sam and Nicole made their way back to the massive room. There he gave Sam and Nicole their kisses and logged back in.

When Xeal opened his eyes on day 262, he wasted no time in standing up as he knew that today was going to be a busy day. For once, Eira didn’t come in and spend the morning with him, as he met the other four in the hallway outside his room a few minutes later. The five of them all nodded as they wasted no time in heading to the same cave that they first arrived through. Along the way, they stopped at the armory that they had left their gear in when they first arrived and retrieved it, before heading to the ship that Alea had ordered to be ready. Today they were going to go further out than they had done so before, to truly see how well they worked together. For this they had a specific target that they expected would take a full day and possibly more to track, find and kill. While not an aggressive monster, the white stag would switch between attacking and attempting to escape when confronted. Xeal knew that it was among the most difficult monsters to hunt successfully. When they arrived on board their vessel, they wasted no time in heading below deck and settling in for breakfast as they talked while traveling.

“Do you really believe we will be able to slay a white stag?” asked Rina.

“If we work together and are able to find one, then yes, though it should be a challenge,” responded Xeal.

“I still don’t get why you think a deer will give us trouble,” commented Eira.

“The white stag isn’t just a deer,” chided Alea.

“Oh, and just what makes it so special that you worry about Xeal being able to take it down on his own? If anything, we are all just going to be dead weight in a fight against a single opponent.”

“Eira, calm down and Alea, it is just a deer. The only thing that makes it special is its speed and intelligence. Also, Eira, I will be too focused on ensuring that it doesn’t escape to be of any help to you four. On that note, Alea, Rina, take these for now. They will ensure you survive, at least one death that is.”

Alex handed both ladies one of the pendants that he had made when he was training the teenage nobles and explained how to fasten them. After that, Rina returned the topic to the white stag.

“The white stag is a favored creature of the forest. As such, you can expect it to aid it in escaping us and it will help conceal it from us as well. Our best plan is to go where the forest seems to not want us to go, and hope our luck is good and we don’t fall into a trap before we find one.

“That is why I have given you each something to guard your lives with. On that note, you all must remember to get away from any of you who are killed, or the elemental burst will cause us major problems.”

They continued talking until they felt the vessel stop and the captain informed them that they had arrived at the area that the most recent sighting of the white stag had taken place. After thanking the captain, the five of them set off and Xeal couldn’t help but think he was only missing a dwarf and he would have a representative from each group on the continent. He could also use a third frontliner as Rina was more of a rearguard type who would use her bow until an enemy made it past Xeal and Eira, at which point she would shift to her swords. She was also an excellent tracker and scout, though not at the same level as Saima, but that was an almost impossible standard. Alea was an excellent damage-focused build, and Bula was getting more and more geared towards healing and other support, with each new skill she picked up.

With a clear goal in mind, the five of them set off as they worked to track the white stag, based on what they hoped was its trail. Still, they had no idea just how long it would take, but they knew that they needed to use their return scrolls around noon the next day if they failed to finish by then. For Xeal, this hunt was less about actually securing their prey and more about seeing how well they worked together outside the controls of a morning training session. It didn’t take long for the first monsters to make themselves known, as a group of four level 100 wolf-type monsters charged straight at them. Xeal was easily able to keep two of the wolves busy as Eira and Rina engaged the other two, and Alea focused on the one Rina was fighting. In a few more months, Xeal would find the fact that she always aided Rina first as an issue, but for now it was fine as it was who she was the most familiar with, decreasing the odds of a mistake. Had there been a fifth wolf, they may have been in a bit of trouble, but with only four, it was almost too easy for them as it didn’t take long for Alea to kill the first one. Rina then pulled out her arrows as she and Alea took care of Eira’s, while Xeal continued to overwhelm his pair. Once Eira’s was handled, they moved onto the two that Xeal had almost killed on his own, that looked ready to run. From the start to the end, less than five minutes had passed and none of them had lost much in the way of health, so without resting, they continued.

Ten hours and a string of battles later, Xeal had reached level 100 and had to smile at reaching the triple digits. Xeal had focused on his stats once more as he placed a single point in charisma, to bring its base even with his MP stat at 132. The rest had been used to bring his constitution up to 55, strength up to 120 and dexterity to 155. His SP stat was still at 65, and it and constitution were the two stats that he was currently neglecting, while compensating with gear to boost them as a stopgap. Still, with the plan of raiding dungeons when he returned, Xeal knew that he would need to do a complete overhaul on his gear. He also wondered just how high he needed to increase his charisma to satisfy Watcher, as he would love to shift the two points he was placing there each level, into his SP and constitution instead. Still, with the five percent boost from the elder dragon mark to all his stats, and the ten percent to strength from his Belt of the Mountain, Xeal’s stats were closer to what could be expected from an early tier-6 player. However, due to making charisma one of his focuses, his battle ability was still below tier-6 level, and closer to ten or so levels above his own. Though with his dragon’s breath, Xeal felt like he could handle most level 129 NPCs in a one on one, especially since charisma could be used against intelligent beings. Anything higher than that and luck would need to play a major role for him to win.

It was while Xeal was thinking over how to focus his gear for dungeon raids, when a flash of white was seen and instantly the whole party reacted and the chase was on. It didn’t take them long to see the white stag and Rina wasted no time in readying an arrow, as Alea and Bula prepped spells. Xeal smiled as he inhaled and let out a dragon’s breath attack that aimed just in front of the white stag, causing it to falter just long enough for Bula to hit it with a spell that slowed its movements. A second later, Alea unleashed a wind spell that knocked the white stag into a tree and Rina loosed an arrow with a thread of steel spider silk attached to it. The arrow landed just below the neck of the white stag, on the tree that it had been pushed into, and before it could react, a second arrow flew and Xeal watched that arrow sail high and passed the tree, before turning and circling the tree like a tether ball. This was caused by the other end of the steel spider silk being attached to it, and the result was the white stag finding its neck caught in the thread. Still, they all knew that this would only hold it for a second, but that was enough for Eira to arrive before it and grab onto its antlers as it struggled.

Xeal took up position to act the moment anything occurred that would allow the white stag to escape, as Bula continued to hit it with debuff spells and Alea focused on killing it. Rina continued to add more restraints as Eira ensured it couldn’t break through them in a short time, as the white stag grew more enraged and struggled more each second. Part of the trick with a white stag was killing it without harming its pelt as much as possible, as it would increase the amount of rewards that they would get from it. When the stag fell below half health, the forest showed its favoritism as a pack of wolf monsters arrived, and Xeal wasted no time in engaging all four while holding nothing back. Next came a few bird monsters, that seemed to want to remove the arrows Rina had been using as stakes, from the trees they were planted in. Luckily, these birds were weak monsters and a single arrow from Rina was enough to ground them as Eira, Bula and Alea kept the assault up on the white stag. This continued for five minutes, until the white stag was at a quarter health and finally was able to throw Eira off it and break out of the restraints that Rina had placed on it. Still, Xeal smiled as Bula had crippled its speed so much, that it was far too slow to escape or dodge, as Bula and Alea kept up their assault, and Eira joined Xeal in dealing with the wolves. Ten minutes later and it was all done and they were looting the monsters while they recovered. Xeal was ecstatic as they had barely damaged the pelt in the process, making it a very high-quality crafting item alongside its antlers, and several other parts of it that had all dropped when it died.

However, the forest still seemed to have one more trick to play as a group of ten NPCs came into view. This annoyed Xeal immensely as they had yet to recover, and he sighed seeing that they were all level 100 humans, with a single robed individual at tier-6 and level 130, whose race was undetermined. They didn’t have the time to react as they were already surrounded, and the robed man stepped forward as he held a charged lightning spell at the ready and spoke.

“How unfortunate that you all should run into us. Any last words before I send you all on your way to the next life?”

“Ha, you are a fool if you believe you can kill the unkillable,” retorted Eira without hesitation.

“Ah, I see one of you is a pesky adventurer, though three days will be long enough for us to have moved on.”

“Yah, but that won’t help you when Queen Aila Lorafir’s daughter fails to return,” responded Xeal in a provocative tone.

“I see. She must be the high elf. I must say, your group is a strange one. Still, I will simply avoid killing her and ransom her instead.”

As the man finished talking, he let his spell loose and Xeal smiled as it hit him. At the same time, he set off an electrical spell mine and Alea hit him with her own lightning spell. Xeal knew that the spell the man just used was meant to kill him before hopping to the next target, but Xeal had fully absorbed it, along with the other two sources of electricity, and wasted no time in returning the spell. Rather than focus on the man in the robes, Xeal split the attack between the other nine foes who were surrounding them. The look of shock on their faces, mixed with the fury on the robed man’s face, were priceless to Xeal. While the attack had failed to kill any of the other men, it had caused their movements to become erratic as they were heavily damaged. However, Xeal didn’t even hesitate for a second as he rushed the robed man, letting out a dragon’s breath at him. He dodged it, only for it to land on one of the other men behind him. The rest of Xeal’s party didn’t miss a beat either as they sprang into action, taking advantage of the fact that the nine men were incapacitated.

After dodging, the robed man lost his chance to create some room between himself and Xeal, as Xeal attacked with a double downward slash charged with elemental blades. All the man could manage to do was erect a force barrier to block with and try to recover, as Xeal continued his assault and the scene around them turned to chaos. Xeal knew that the robed man was intending to hold his defense while trying to understand how Xeal reflected his first attack, as he wasn’t a fool. The man was worried about what he would do if Xeal reflected another of his attacks from such a close distance. Still, Xeal just smiled fearlessly as the man’s caution was going to be his own undoing, as any spell that wasn’t an electrical attack would cause Xeal a major issue. All around the pair, the other nine men fell one by one, as they were slaughtered by the four ladies without any hesitation. Finally, the robed man looked dispirited when the fifth one of his allies fell, causing the others to start to flee and Xeal saw him charging a fire spell of some sort. If Xeal’s guess was right, the man would use this attack and flee himself right after, though he would need to drop his shield to attack. Even though it would only be for a second, Xeal knew this would be his chance. He had one chance to strike a decisive blow and defeat the enemy in front of him. So it was that when the robed man lowered his shield to attack, Xeal did as well, unleashing another dragon’s breath aimed right at the staff that was releasing the attack spell. The resulting explosion caused Xeal and the robed man to be flung apart as they both slammed into nearby trees. Xeal felt a healing spell from Bula land on him and saw arrows and attack spells from Rina and Alea target the robed man, who looked to be in worse shape than Xeal after the blast.

Despite the fact that Xeal was under a quarter health and could feel that he was suffering from an internal bleeding debuff that would slowly drain his health, he charged right back in. The robed man’s hood had been blown off in the prior exchange, and Xeal could clearly see that he was a high elf and wondered why he was out here leading nine humans in what was clearly an illegal activity, by the fact that they planned to kill them for simply seeing them. By the time Xeal reached the man, he had already put up a force barrier as he struggled to breathe as he slumped next to the tree, looking indignant at the whole situation, as one attack after another landed. It took Xeal an hour to force the man to his limit, as he lost consciousness and his shield failed. Xeal hesitated to finish him off, and instead took out one of the restraining chain items that he had used before to deal with both the rogue players and Abysses End’s leaders, and used it on the high elf. Once that was over, Xeal turned to find the other four were there and nine bodies lined up, and Xeal went to inspect the bodies after telling Bula to stabilize the prisoner and Alea to inform her mother by returning ahead of them. After taking a good look at them, Xeal spoke.

“I can’t tell if these men are from Nium, or one of the other kingdoms, though with our location it wouldn’t be surprising if they came from Paidhia by the sea and traveled upstream. They may even be part of a crew that travels between continents, working out of a hidden port somewhere downriver.”

“Either way, the queen will get some answers from that one over there,” commented an irate Rina.

“I am sure it will be quite the show to watch, if only we were going to be around to see it,” sighed Eira.

“Doubtful. It is likely that the ones behind this man are far stronger if he dared to ransom Alea. They are also probably aware of the fact the queen wasn’t able to leave her palace and haven’t learned of her recent freedom,” commented Bula.

“Either way, I suspect we will soon find out,” commented Xeal with a smirk, as he looked up to see Queen Aila Lorafir hovering above their heads with Alea in her arms, as she descended from the sky.

Xeal knew that flight magic was one of the biggest advantages any player could get, as it could be used for both travel, and on a battlefield it could be an extreme advantage if the opponent lacked any counters to it. That said, it was costly to use and even the players who had it would be strategic about it, until they were able to unlock the fourth level of it. At that point, it would pretty much only prevent a player from recovering MP when they used it outside of combat, and in combat it was only a slight inconvenience to their MP pools. Still, Xeal could care less about that at the current moment, as he could tell Queen Aila Lorafir was ready to go on the warpath from the look on her face. When she landed and released Alea, she turned to Xeal and asked him to share what had happened. Other than a bit of surprise at Xeal’s ability to control electricity, Queen Aila Lorafir seemed to be focused on the fact that they didn’t run the moment they learned of Alea’s identity. Once she had finished hearing the group’s account, she turned to the bound high elf and frowned as she woke him up with a spell. The man looked around trying to figure out where he was, until he saw Queen Aila Lorafir and froze.

“I bet you are wondering how I am here and why you are still alive, correct?”

The man stayed silent as Queen Aila Lorafir closed in on him and lifted him up as she took to the sky, and rose so high that the pair were nothing but a simple dot. Xeal sighed as even his heightened senses couldn’t make anything out and he turned to Alea and spoke.

“Do you know if your mother wants us to stay here and wait for her, or head back to the palace for the night?”

“She didn’t say, but I would stay, unless you want to deal with her with how she is right now. Honestly, I would say she was more upset about you being threatened by a high elf than she was about anything else.”

Xeal just frowned as he thought for a second before speaking.

“There is a fair chance that he is not from these lands, if my hunch is correct. It is likely that they would have tried to smuggle you onto another continent before ransoming you, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I was the only one they actually planned to kill.”

“Oh, and why is that?” asked Alea.

“Four exotic women can fetch a decent price,” interjected Eira. “Especially a high elf princess and white tiger woman like myself. Not sure what the market for an orc woman, or wood elf, would be, but if they learned that Bula was a seer, I am sure her value would skyrocket if they didn’t keep her themselves.”

“I would have killed myself before they could have used me,” responded Bula.

“Easy to say when you know it would allow you to escape at the same time,” retorted Eira.

“Escape, what do you mean? The items Xeal handed us just cause a blast of elemental energy as they revive you. Did he give you something else?” inquired Rina.

“What they have is the same thing I will offer you once we return to Nium. It is a bit more involved and I need to return there before providing it to both of you. That said, yes, they both would revive back in Nium should they die,” replied Xeal.

“Just how many ways do you have to ensure that we survive?”

“Rina, from what my mother has already told me, Xeal should have access to things that we can only dream of. It is best not to ask questions we don’t need to know about,” interjected Alea.

“Alea, it’s fine. I don’t intend to hide it from you. I just need you both to sign a contract to not discuss it with others first. I know that neither of you would, but I even made my own parents sign contracts that cover this kind of thing.”

“None of your future wives had any issues with that?” asked Queen Aila Lorafir, who had just landed and looked a fair bit calmer.

“No, they all accept that it is part of who I am in this world, and a few actually appreciate it as I sign the same contracts in regard to their secrets. Also, when you have as many women who intend to marry you as I do, it helps reassure that none of them are planning to cause issues for the whole group once they work their way in.”

“But that only speaks to this world. How can you be sure about the ones you love that are the same as you?” continued Queen Aila Lorafir.

“I can’t be as sure, but I feel that they each have true feelings for me that will develop over time, before I am sure that everything is a fit. That said, I would rather take the risk with each of them than not, at this point, even when I find myself permanently outnumbered. Now, what happened to the idiot?”

“Oh, he should be meeting with his friends about now and be waiting for the rest to arrive. It seems that my seclusion has allowed something unsightly to grow in my lands and I need to do a bit of surgery.”

(Notification: Quest: remove pirates from elven lands has been discovered and accepted by Queen Aila Lorafir. Your party will be included in the rewards due to starting the quest line, but no further action need be taken so long as Queen Aila Lorafir is successful. Rewards unknown.)

Xeal frowned at this notification, as he had only seen ones like them a few times in his last life and knew that the rewards were never as good as doing the quest yourself. Even so, he doubted that he would be of much use if there were more tier-6 and possible tier-7 NPCs there, but he knew that he should tag along anyways.

“Now, you all should return to the palace while I go take care of that.”

“Wait, take me with you, Lady Lorafir.”

“Xeal, why do you wish to come when you know that you will only get in my way?”

“I won’t. You have a lightning spell that takes a bit to charge, correct?”

“Yes. Ah, I see. You wish to be my opening move. Can you really handle that much power, though?”

“If it is pure electricity, then there shouldn’t be a limit. Besides, I can take a single-target spell and turn it into multiple attacks. There is also a chance that there may be a few individuals that need to be rescued, and it is always good to have an extra hand to handle that while you remove the cancer.”

“And what happens if you die while we are in there?”

“They would need to kill me more than once for it to be an issue.”

“Very well.”

Xeal could tell that the other four wanted to come as well, but none of them could think of a way that they wouldn’t be a burden. Unfortunately, even if they could, it would be too much for Queen Aila Lorafir to carry them all, as Xeal could see them being useful to loot the cleared areas. Still, he knew that they couldn’t come, so he decided to reassure them.

“I know you all want to come along and I wish you could, but I doubt that Lady Lorafir wishes to delay that long, or ferry us over one, or two, at a time. Don’t worry, I will be fine and I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.”

After a few looks, Eira spoke up with a smug look. “If you die once in there, I am not going to let you go until you give me a kitten. Just think what Enye, Lingxin or Mari would say about that.”

“Ha, I better not die in that case.”

“Xeal, don’t trust what is presented as reality in there,” cautioned Bula, and Xeal knew her sight was giving her a vague warning for him.

“Thanks. I’ll be sure to keep my senses on full alert.”

“Stay out of my mother’s way.” Alea pouted.

“I will do my best.”

“Gut them like they deserve,” was all Rina said when Xeal looked her way.

“Don’t worry. They will not be walking away freely from tonight.”

“Alright, all of you should leave now so Xeal and I can go in peace.”

After Queen Aila Lorafir’s words, the four ladies all activated a return scroll and vanished, leaving Xeal alone with the queen. Without any warning, Xeal found himself held tightly to her chest like he was hugging her in an awkward position. Xeal would have complained about this position, but didn’t for two reasons. The first was due to the fact that he knew that at the speed she was moving, he was better off with his face guarded by her body, and the second was due to the fact that he couldn’t even think with how loud the wind was in his ears as they traveled. When they landed about an hour later, Xeal needed a good moment to recover before he could hear again. When he finally could hear, he let Queen Aila Lorafir know and they began their approach to what Xeal found was a cave that had a stream flowing out of it. The stream was just wide and tall enough for the boats used to load and unload a larger ship, to easily fit in it, though he expected they would need to use a rope to pull any boat up the stream, from its speed. There was currently a massive ship anchored in the river, though no boats could be seen loading, or unloading, the ship. After they watched in the dark for a good hour, it felt like nothing was moving. Xeal frowned as he doubted his own eyes due to Bula’s warning, so he turned to the queen.

“Do you see anything I am not?”

“No. It looks like the ship has been abandoned, but seeing through illusions has never been my strong suit. A skilled tier-7 mage could fool my eyes. Though if I am honest, my thought is to simply erase the ship completely, but I know that would doom any captives they have as well.”

“Is that what you would do if I wasn’t here?”

“Yes.”

“I understand. You don’t reach tier-8 by taking chances, so let me do just that. Just keep an eye on me, and if I disappear, don’t overreact. By the way, do you have any cloaking spells that you can use on me that won’t cause you to lose me as well?”

“Yes, I can exclude myself from any of my spells’ effects here.”

Just like that, Xeal found himself invisible to all but Queen Aila Lorafir, and he wasted no time in moving out of their hiding spot, as he carefully approached the ship. When he was around 100 feet from it and around 15 from the cave entrance, the scene shifted in front of him as he almost walked into a man relieving himself. Xeal was quick to side step to avoid the issue, and a scene of a full crew loading and unloading the ship was in full swing. Additionally, the ship was a full length forward from where Xeal had seen it before. Xeal estimated that around 600 men were working hurriedly, all of whom were at least level 100, but more than a few were tier-6 as well. Xeal was sure that there was at least one tier-7 hiding as well. After Xeal had confirmed his targets and was about to signal Queen Aila Lorafir to attack, he heard a voice from atop the ship call out to the man who was relieving himself.

“Bart, you idiot, mind the barrier, you bastard. Captain felt something pass through it, but it looks like it was just your piss.”

“Keep your panties on, you worrywart. We will be long gone before that queen decides to look closer at what has been going on in her lands over the last few years. Pity too. It would have been nice to spend a few more years here inspecting the merchandise before shipping it out with you lot.”

“No point in crying over our losses. In a few days our last expedition will return. I just hope that-”

Xeal had heard enough and gave the signal when the first man had said the captain felt something pass through the barrier. He didn’t have time to worry about them checking closer and the next moment, more lightning entered Xeal’s body than ever before. Xeal could tell that he could easily reduce the entire ship before him to a smoldering ruin, but instead he focused on holding onto it while splitting it into ten separate bolts of electricity at a time. Xeal used his fingers to aim each bolt at the strongest targets he could see in one burst after another, and smiled as the first two waves were caught unaware. Needless to say, none of them survived and the rest of the men started to panic as a second bolt of electricity hit Xeal. This bolt was weaker, but Xeal wasn’t worried as he let it loose, along with what was left from the first, in the chaos the remaining men were causing all around him. Before he could move forward, Queen Aila Lorafir appeared next to him without any of the men taking note, as she used a few spells and killed all of the remaining men that were still in the open like it was nothing.

“You can wait here while I clear the ship.”

“Sure, though you should expect to find their captain on board, and it is likely that the illusions are his doing.”

“Ah, you are worried that they may attempt to hide from me?”

“No, I know they will. Heck, they may even try to pass themselves off as a captive while they do so. Just don’t let your guard down and don’t start killing with reckless abandon.”

“I will do what must be done.”

“Lady Lorafir, if you can’t figure which one is the captain, just bring them here and let me have a go at it.”

“Are you saying you will be able to see through what I can’t?”

“No, I just have an idea that might work if you let me try it.”

“Very well.”

Xeal sat and watched the entrance to the cave and secured the now-unmanned boat that had been about to float away, while waiting for Queen Aila Lorafir to return. While doing so, Xeal could see the occasional flash of light, followed by a cry of pain, until the queen returned with several dozen elven women behind her, all of whom looked frightened and confused. When asked, none of them seemed to have ever seen the captain, and no tier-7 foe had been found. Xeal smiled as he spoke.

“Alright, it looks like the captain escaped. If you all will follow me, I will take you to safety while Lady Lorafir does a quick sweep of the cave there.”

As Xeal finished, he walked out of the barrier as most of the women followed behind. A few were hesitant, while the rest of them were overeager to leave this place. Xeal stopped just at the edge of the barrier, such that his head was halfway out of it as he took note of each of the women as they passed through, looking for the ripple of the two spells interacting with each other. However, when the seventh woman passed through, the barrier fell, but Xeal still pointed at one whom he had noticed making a movement and said “her.” The next thing Xeal knew, Queen Aila Lorafir had the struggling woman in her grasp, pleading that she didn’t know what was going on, while Xeal kept his eyes on the rest he spoke.

“You underestimated me due to my tier, but I can tell what it sounds like when someone releases a spell. That said, I am only about 80% sure it is you. Honestly, your mistake was not releasing the barrier when the first wave of attacks occurred. While trying to slip out while pinning your identity on another isn’t the worst plan, it also wasn’t the best, and I am sure that you would have used a return scroll if you could have. In all likelihood, you only have naval return scrolls that will let you get back to your ship if you fall into the water, like most of your kind. Now, time to confirm that you are the captain with certainty.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I just want to go home and see my family. Why are you doing this to me?”

“Alright, just sign this contract that says you aren’t lying. However, if you are, you will be forced to serve me in whatever way I see fit for the rest of your life, or your own power will revolt inside you.”

Xeal watched as the woman looked over the contract and smiled as she read it, and quickly signed it before laughing.

“Ha, you are too soft. You promised to protect me from your allies and never torture me so long as I signed. Becoming your bed warmer is a small price to pay to avoid death. You should have just killed me when you had the chance.”

“Xeal, what have you done?” questioned Queen Aila Lorafir.

“I made a deal with the devil. Unfortunately, I do have a use for her. That said, if she thinks she will ever warm a bed, or have her bed warmed, she is very mistaken. Now drop the illusion and tell me about this whole operation, to include any other locations.”

The next moment, Xeal watched as the woman went from looking like a tan elf in simple clothing, to a paler, yet still tan high elf, wearing an elaborate outfit that was optimized for life at sea and magic casting. Her bleached blond hair was cut short so that it was only a few inches long, and her eyes were an orangish hue and she wasted no time in speaking in a grandiose and exaggerated manner.

“Odelia Neriven, I suppose I am now the ex-captain of the Siren's Song, at your service. As for others involved in this, I would rather not get my friends killed, if possible.”

“You dare try and bargain?” interjected a furious Queen Aila Lorafir.

“Lady Lorafir, calm down. Would you not do the same if you were where she is and I was trying to get you to sell out your children?”

“Exactly. I am not refusing, just hoping I can save a few of their lives, even if they find themselves forced into service as I am. Nor will I lie and deny that my hope is to serve next to them.”

“Odelia, you would do well not to speak unnecessarily. Lady Lorafir is already upset with you and wants to kill you. My contract only states that I will do what I can to protect you, not that I will succeed. If Lady Lorafir wasn’t willing to see what I have planned, you would already be dead. She is also right, you have no room to bargain, so tell me about the other crews that operate in this area and who it is you are hoping to save, and why I should care.”

Xeal watched Queen Aila Lorafir smile at his rebuking of Odelia and could tell she was debating using the wiggle room Xeal just exposed to kill Odelia. At the same time, Xeal could tell Odelia was thinking about her response before she spilled it all. She was one of five high elf illusionists that captained ships that used the current cave as a port to smuggle out goods and slaves to be sold. All five of the illusionists shared a master and had been raised together, before they had found themselves forced into service on a pirate ship. Their ability had kept them from a much worse fate, but before they realized it, they had become wanted themselves. Thus, they had embraced the life and eventually become captains of their own ships. Xeal had been annoyed by the sob story as he couldn’t have cared less, but he understood that each of them could become a valuable asset, if it wasn’t for the issue with them being wanted criminals on every continent. If he replaced their crews with his guild members, he could have five trading ships as soon as the naval players he was developing reached tier-6.

“Alright, do you have a way to contact the other four?”

“Only if I go to the island that we use as our base of operation and hideout.”

“And I am sure that only the five of you know how to navigate the illusions you have set up there, right?”

“Yes, and until I return, none of them will come this way either.”

“I see. You wish to get them the same deal I gave you, and in return, you won’t kill yourself to avoid condemning them.”

“It’s nice to work with someone with a brain for once.”

Xeal pondered the situation for a long time before turning to Queen Aila Lorafir and speaking.

“What are your thoughts?”

“My thoughts are to just sit and wait. I am sure the other four will come to investigate what happened to Odelia here, from how much she is trying to save them. All I will need to do is set a watch and when they arrive, I can come and solve the issue once and for all.”

Odelia kept her face neutral at those words and Xeal figured that it was likely Queen Aila Lorafir was right, but at the same time, there was a chance that they wouldn’t and this was a golden opportunity for Xeal if he played it right.

“Odelia, I will be deciding your fate once I receive Prince Victor’s approval for my plan, but if I have my way, you will be going from pirate to merchant.”

“You make that sound so simple. What port would allow me to dock, and what captain wouldn’t seek me out for vengeance?”

“You are thinking too much. Just do as I say and accept your lot in life. Besides, you will be spending a fair bit of time training your new crew going between the elven lands and Nium first. Now, get the idiots who are still hiding in the cave over there to come out and sail your ship to the elven capital tonight. If that is alright with you, Lady Lorafir.”

“So long as they all know that they will be imprisoned upon arrival. I will spare the rest of their lives for now.”

“Thank you. I assume you will return with them?”

“Yes, though you should return now and inform the others to expect the ship, as there may be a bit of trouble otherwise.”

“I will leave once you are ready to set sail and I have looked through the caves here with Odelia here.”

“Very well. I will wait on the ship with the rest of those who were wronged, as I decide the fates of these pirates.”

With that, Xeal spent the next four hours looting the cave of anything that he found valuable, and in the process, a few dozen survivors were discovered, all of whom were scared for their lives and didn’t hesitate to surrender. They had also found another couple dozen captives, though they were mostly male and Xeal felt like they might have simply been left behind due to space issues and the inability to feed them, and the speed at which they were leaving. Xeal also found a fair bit of goods that were common outside of elven lands, but would be valuable in them and figured that they had been destined for a black market, and had them all loaded onto the ship. This had taken the survivors of Odelia’s crew a lot of hard work, but the captives had helped out after Xeal promised them that they were assisting Queen Aila Lorafir, who was on the ship. Honestly, the captives all seemed to act like they were in a dream and all it took was a single word from Queen Aila Lorafir and they were all too happy to work next to their prior oppressors. Once everything was loaded, Xeal watched the ship sail away and smiled as the quest didn’t complete, as he was sure it would have if he didn’t tag along, missing out on capturing, or killing, the other four captains. Then there was the island that they occupied and Xeal was ecstatic at just what he could do with such a piece of land, though that was still a ways off.

When Xeal arrived back at the palace in the early hours of the morning, he was instantly surrounded by the rest of his party who had stayed awake waiting for his return. Xeal explained everything that occurred and after he had finished, Alea wasted no time in informing the guards to expect Queen Aila Lorafir to return. Xeal made his way to get some rest before what he knew would be a busy last day in the elven lands due to tonight’s events.

When Xeal awoke, it was around midday and he found that Eira had snuggled right up to him to sleep and he had pulled her in close. With a sigh, he shook her awake before giving her a kiss on the cheek and telling her they should meet up with the others to see if Queen Aila Lorafir had returned. When they checked the other rooms, they found that only Rina was awake as she watched over Alea. From what Xeal could tell, it looked like Rina had only just awoken and she was quick to wake Alea as Eira made her way to get Bula out of bed. Finally, when they were all awake, they made their way to check if the queen had returned yet. Once they found the captain of the guard, they were informed that she had returned, but was still handling things regarding those who had been held captive, and the remnants of Odelia’s crew were being held separately.

With information in hand, the five of them headed for the area where the queen should be and when they arrived, they found a tired Queen Aila Lorafir walking in with Ailluin following behind her. Ailluin still seemed determined to give Xeal the cold shoulder, regardless of how much favor the queen showed him. Still, Xeal wasn’t concerned as he couldn’t get everyone to like him and he wasn’t going to bend over backwards to change every opinion. As Queen Aila Lorafir approached their group, she smiled tiredly, though she was still far from being completely exhausted as she greeted them.

“I am glad to see you all up and about. If you would join me for a discussion over lunch, I would appreciate it.”

“Of course, Mother,” replied Alea without hesitation.

“If you would lead the way, Lady Lorafir,” added Xeal with an understanding smile.

A half hour later, they were seated at lunch, with it being the six of them and Odelia, who was sitting by herself with magically reinforced shackles on her arms, looking bored. Alea, Rina, Eira and Bula all were looking at her with intrigue as they knew who she was, but wondered why she was here. Queen Aila Lorafir was the first to speak as she addressed them all.

“Xeal, I am aware that you intend to use this brigand to act as the muscle for your own naval ambitions, but I am still unsure about your exact plans.”

“Ah, well, that is quite simple. I am going to work with Prince Victor to have her classification shifted from at large, to subdued by myself and Nium. I will be spinning the tale that she made a deal to save her life in return for her assistance in capturing her associates. The deal will be such that she and her associates must serve as my guild’s ship captains for our trading network.”

“You expect the other sea captains and countries to simply accept that?” interjected Alea.

“If they wish to do business with us, then they will. While I am not a major power outside of Nium, I have already built extensive networks for resource procurement that are active on all 13 continents. Almost every country is gearing up for war right now, and few of them will wish to cut off the fastest-growing source of weapons over something this small.”

“You plan to use the fear of their neighbors securing your goods and being left out against them,” commented the queen.

“It is the same reason my kind gets away with destabilizing everything the way we do, considering I have made my stance clear as far as my business goes. I will only deal with Nium in this continent, but the rest is fair play as far as I am concerned.”

“What about the countries where two of your wives-to-be came from?”

“Lady Lorafir, they are both aware of the situation, and while I will step in to try and save both of their families, I will not save their nations. That said, should a nation fail to accept their families living in exile under my care, then I will have no issue sending a message.”

“Alright, now back to the issue at hand. How do you plan to capture the other four?”

“I will have to discuss that with Prince Victor, as I will need to borrow the kingdom’s might to succeed. Though I could see if any beast-men would be interested as well, but the plan will be to have a force that would overwhelm them and hope they surrender before it turns into a fight.”

“And their crews?”

“Lady Lorafir, it will depend on just what they have done, as I am still not clear on what I will do with the ones who are unneeded. It is likely that they will be turned into criminal slaves in Nium. In a way, that is what is happening to Odelia here.”

“True. Very well, if you would hand this treaty to Prince Victor, he will have our support and I will allow for a slight relaxing on the rules of my lands.”

Xeal took the 20-page document and wasted no time in reading it over, as the rest of the room shifted topics for the remainder of lunch. When Xeal was done giving the document a thorough onceover, he was pleased with most of it as he had no doubt it would satisfy both Nium and the beast-man tribes. The only issue was it didn’t require Alea to give the final approval, but instead it was effective so long as Alea remained in his care. Xeal looked at Queen Aila Lorafir as he questioned it.

“Lady Lorafir, I thought that Alea just had to agree to the treaty after the war was over, but this would have us back to square one upon her death, or if she were to return to your court.”

“Xeal, yes, and I did that on purpose. I am going to name Alea as my heir upon her ascension to tier-7. That means you will be negotiating any lasting treaty with her, though I expect the two of you to spend at least the next 30 years together. That said, this also ensures that you place her survival as an absolute must, while not allowing Nium to restrain her growth.”

“And what if I were to marry Xeal, as you seem to hope, Mother? What then?” interjected Alea, looking at her mother like she was rushing things.

“I never had a king rule beside me, but by the time you ascend to the throne, I believe none would oppose Xeal’s presence as king in our lands. Though you may have to adopt a niece, or pick a younger sibling to succeed you, as I am unsure if a half-elf would be accepted.”

“Lady Lorafir, if Alea is your heir, I cannot even entertain marrying her, as those I marry and myself will seclude ourselves from the world once we reach the peak of our abilities.”

“Really, why not seclude yourselves here?”

“Because if anyone knows how to find us, we will likely never know peace.”

“Ah, so I must either forbid Alea from marrying you, or give up on her succeeding me.”

Queen Aila Lorafir looked torn as she pondered the issue, before looking to her daughter and continuing.

“Alea, if you wish to pursue Xeal’s heart, feel free to do so. I will just have to hand the title over to one of your siblings. Though I expect you to keep tabs on these lands and ensure that they stay safe, once you reach the same height as I have. If you do not wish to do so, then I will not question it any further.”

“Thank you, Mother. I will choose my path as I see fit. As for the treaty, leave it as is. Only add a caveat that it is voided once your successor has been ruling for a year.”

“Very well. Will that work for you, Xeal?”

“Not quite. While I know you have no intent to step down in the next decade, the treaty needs to last for at least that long, unless Alea leaves my care sooner.”

“Yes, I can see your logic there. Very well, and you believe that Nium will sign this?”

“I believe that I have enough sway with the royal family to get such a favorable deal for the kingdom signed. Just ensure your people know that they will be subject to the laws of Nium once they cross the border. They need to accept that, while a diplomatic solution may be able to be reached once they’re detained, before that point, resistance could lead to complications, including death.”

“I understand and I will have copies of this spread far and wide. Now, however, I would like to rest, though I will ensure that I see you again before you depart, in case you think of any other issues.”

With that, they bid Queen Aila Lorafir and Odelia farewell for the day, as the rest of them simply spent the remainder of the day talking on one of the larger balconies that overlooked the lake. Xeal could tell that Rina and Alea were in their own world as the pair talked quietly and he did his best to ignore their conversations, but he could tell they were speaking about their future and him. From what he had picked up, he could tell both were interested, but resistant to entangling themselves with him for a variety of reasons. Xeal also found himself wondering if he could handle them if they did make an advance. He knew that like Ava and Mia, they were a package deal. He also wondered where they would fit in if he did entertain a relationship, and felt that as things were now, more than a few issues would need to be resolved first. Xeal was still pondering the situation when he logged off ED after going to bed.

(*****)

Morning February 11, 2267 & ED year 2 day 264.

Alex stretched out as he stepped out of his VR pod on Monday morning and took in a breath of air, as Sam and Nicole both joined him in reality a second later. The three of them enjoyed a moment before making their way downstairs to the gym, that was set up for swimming, currently. This had become more common since Mrs. Bell had insisted that swimming was the best exercise for expecting mothers. It hadn’t taken too much to sway the rest of the group. For those who were still acclimating, it allowed them to go at their own pace while Ava, Mia and even Kate, simply enjoyed having Alex pay attention to them in their swimwear. When they arrived, it didn’t take long for Kate, Ava and Mia to come up to Alex for their good morning kisses before they all got into the pool. Alex joined them a moment later as everyone else started to arrive. Alex smiled as he watched Dan and Fred both cannonball into the pool, as Amanda shook her head before getting in and swimming over to Sam and Nicole, and the rest enjoyed doing their own thing. Between one of Alex’s laps, he swam over to Tara, who was catching her breath, to talk.

“Tara, you got a moment?”

“Sure. What’s up, Alex?”

“We need to move our naval development forward and up its priority.”

“Hold on, what? I thought you said that as long as they weren’t too far behind our core force, they would be good?”

“Yah, that was before…”

Alex gave Tara a shortened version of the events of his last session, which a few others had swum over to listen to as well. This had included his mother, Sam and Nicole, all of whom looked like they wanted to hit him over putting himself at risk like that, but kept quiet. Tara, on the other hand, just started to ramble as she asked herself questions.

“Five ships, all with tier-7 captains, could they work as an escort force? Still, the other four need to be secured, but once we have tier-6 players, we’re set. Hmm, how fast can it be ramped up and would it be better to just have five separate forces…”

“Tara, calm down. For now, just worry about increasing the focus on our naval force. Until we have a strong enough group to survive the challenges that the sea will throw at them, they will just be going back and forth to the elven capital.”

“Oh, sorry. Just went into planning mode there for a second. Still, I don’t think we have enough players focused on the naval progression. That said, we should hit guild level 39 by the 21st, if we maintain pace. That will give us about another 145,000 slots for members. If we plan on building a fleet around each of the captured ships and treat them like a flagship, we would want around 10,000 players per fleet. Right now, we only have around ten percent of what we would need in naval-focused players, as the plan was to recruit players once we discovered our captains from that group and expand from there before.”

“Tara, you are overthinking this. Each ship is only designed for a max crew of around 1,000. Just split the 5,000 we have between them once they are ready to enter service, and recruit an additional 5,000 players who will rotate each time the ships return to port. Also, recruit from across all of ED, not just Nium. Set the requirements as they must be at least tier-5 and have passed the hard-mode trial. Keep the fact that we might have the five ships quiet, as we could still lose the one we have when we try to get the other four. Also, keep our naval force around two percent, so that would mean it should be around 14,400 at level 39. So, let’s go with two recruitment drives. One on the 21st when we reach level 39, and one a month later as it will give players time to prepare better and we should get a better-quality group of recruits at that point.”

“Sorry. I just thought you would be looking to put together a full fleet to increase the amount of goods we can transport at once.”

“If that was feasible, I would, but it’s not, as we need a tier-7 player, or NPC, on each vessel regardless of size, if we want to do anything other than hugging the coastline of any continent. The sea is not meant for the weak to cross, as between pirates and sea monsters, all a larger group provides is an easier target.”

“Okay, got it.”

Alex smiled as he could see Tara start to think again as she mumbled softly and he turned to Sam.

“Sam, can I have a moment of your time as well?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Just need to make sure you’re okay with something.”

With that, the pair left the pool and took towels from Gido, before drying off and moving to the empty weight room where Alex spoke.

“Sam, I know that tonight is normally your night, but I want to take Ava and Mia out on our first real date. I have been too busy lately and as much as using the bowling alley, or the hot tub downstairs is great, they deserve something a bit more special and I have already put it off too long. Besides, I need to do the same for Kate as well, before too much longer.”

“At least you aren’t ignoring it. Day 266 is still mine in ED though.”

“Completely. Day 264 is just going to be leaving Anelqua and traveling back and day 265 is going to be reporting and spending Eira’s birthday with her.”

“I still can’t believe she didn’t tell you and her mom had to rat her out.”

“Yah, she is probably going to be annoyed by that, but it will let me give her a nice surprise.”

“Cool. So, other question, what is the final verdict on the pair of elves?”

“Still inconclusive and complicated on several levels. I think leaving them with the nine of you while I spend the evening with Eira for her birthday is necessary, just in case.”

“Yah, we’ll make sure that they can fit in, or tell them don’t even think about it for you.”

“Sam, you know it won’t be that simple.”

“Yah, yah, I know. Still, just how many NPCs are going to work their way in before you say that’s too many?”

“I’m not even sure I can handle the two elves. Add to it that I have a whole slew of weddings quickly approaching and yah, let’s just say that I would rather not need to think about it for a good while.”

“Got it. Put them on the same timetable as Kate, Ava, Mia and Eira, of at least three years, in ED time, away from committing to them.”

Alex just shook his head at the teasing grin Sam was wearing.

“What? They’re elves, so they don’t really add to your waters of youth need and they aren’t likely to want kids ASAP, like four certain someones will.”

“Sam, you’re having too much fun with this.”

“Oh, I just think it is going to be fun when you go from no kids, to two in reality and four in ED. Should I talk to Nicole about having you getting our characters pregnant as well?”

“Sam, please, not before the continent is united as a single nation.”

“Alex, I need you to do that so I can complete the Odr path and get rid of the requirements to spend a night with you every three weeks. Don’t get me wrong, I will still spend every night I can with you, but just like how we are cutting this one close, it could create a major issue later.”

“You really want to have a kid in both reality and ED at the same time?”

“No, but I am figuring that if we can take care of the last phoenixes, it would be a good time for a break. I wouldn’t mind picking up a craft and focusing on that and guild business while carrying our digital baby, and I don’t think Nicole wants to be left out.”

“You do realize that you will be drastically reducing the combat capabilities of the strike team I intend to lead during the war, right?”

“Nope. You will just have to help us speed level after we give birth in ED.”

“What about the newborn babies? Sam, the answer is, not yet. I will be happy to give you and Nicole as many kids in ED as you want when the war is over, but until then, I need both of you ready to fight.”

“What about Enye, Dyllis, Mari and Lingxin once they give birth? Are you just going to have them do nothing for a few years in ED?”

“No, I expect them to craft and keep their training up in a reduced manner, and by doing so they should be able to just barely reach the late levels of tier-6 before the war, if my estimates are right. That also assumes that they only have a single child and that they don’t need one and a half times the experience like we do. I get that you would like to have the whole Odr path completed before the war, to avoid needing to use the temporary options you have.”

“Three times, that is all I have and after the third time, it is either you give me a kid, or I restart.”

“Sam, have you needed to use one of them yet?”

“No, but if something delays you right now, I will have to use the first and we aren’t even tier-6 yet.”

“If you have to use the second one, I will give in early, but for now, please just accept that now is not the time.”

“I know. I just worry as if I restart, I lose everything I have at this point. I’m sorry, but something tells me that even getting nobles to accept me as part of your life in game would be impossible.”

Alex just gave Sam a hug as he reassured her that she would be fine, before they made their way to breakfast where they were the first to arrive and found Sofie and Jacob just finishing setting up. Seeing this, Alex smiled as he led Sam to a seat after greeting both of them. It wasn’t long before everyone else joined them and Alex informed Ava and Mia that they should make the following session a short one as he was taking them out. When they pressed to know what he had planned, Alex just told them to bring their coats and smiled. After breakfast, it was time to return to ED once more and Alex simply handed Gido a note with instructions on it, before logging in to ED.

When Xeal awoke, he found that he was alone in his bed and he wasted no time in making his way out of his room and almost ran into Eira, who looked like she was about to come in for snuggling. Instead, he hugged her quickly before ensuring everyone else was awake. As he did so, Eira questioned him.

“Xeal, why are you in such a hurry?”

“Eira, I am eager to set off as I will be traveling back while I am in my own world, as I have something that I need to do there today.”

“I see. So, you will not return until just before we are due to arrive back, I presume?”

“That would be correct, and that day will be rather busy as well.”

“I see. Okay, let’s get going then.”

Xeal could tell that Eira was a bit sad and he wondered if she wanted to let him know that it was her birthday. However, he didn’t ask, or let her know that part of why the next day was going to be busy was due to what he had planned for her. Two hours later, Xeal found himself sitting with Queen Aila Lorafir one last time, as they talked over the treaty once more, as Odelia’s ship and an escort were prepared to return Xeal to Nium.

“I must say, I do wish that you could visit easier as I am going to miss our chats.”

“Lady Lorafir, until you are ready to allow teleportation gates in your lands, that will not be easy.”

“I am aware, but I am not ready to allow humans such easy access to my kingdom as even if I set up a two-way set and gave you the other end, it wouldn’t take long for Prince Victor to want to use it. Perhaps one day after the slight loosening that this treaty will bring has started to take effect.”

“I will look forward to that day, Lady Lorafir, and hope it is a matter of months, not years.”

“Xeal, we are elves. Years to us are almost like months to you. It will take patience, but I hope to have it occur before war consumes the continent.”

Xeal smiled as they continued to talk for another hour, before Xeal found himself on board Odelia’s ship, which was now FAE’s prize and hopefully ticket to a rapid increase in revenue from trade. After doing a quick inspection to ensure that everything was in good shape, as the crew of elves on loan from Queen Aila Lorafir sailed towards Nium, Xeal stepped into what used to be Odelia’s room. It was now serving as his resting place as Eira, Bula, Alea and Rina were already relaxing and talking in there when he entered, and said a few words before he lay down and logged off.

(*****)

February 11, 2267 & ED year 2 days 265-266.

Alex stepped out of his VR chamber just before 11:00 in the morning after the very short session in ED. Stretching, he looked at Sam and Nicole in their chambers and smiled at hearing the contrasting music that they were each playing for his children. For Nicole, she had classical playing that had been done by a full orchestra, and Sam had dance music that had a steady beat to it. Taking one last look at the pair, Alex made his way downstairs to find Ava and Mia waiting for him, wearing warm clothes as they stood next to Gido.

“Alex, I will bring the car around for you three and drive you to the drop-off point.”

“Thank you, Gido. I trust you were able to arrange everything?”

“Yes. They assured me that you would have a wonderful time.”

“Alex,” cooed Mia.

“You still haven’t told us what you have planned,” commented Ava.

Alex just smiled, as he took them both out front as Gido came around in one of the SUVs, and helped Ava in, before sitting next to her as Mia took his other side, and Alex let himself enjoy the moment. Ava and Mia were also more than happy to snuggle with Alex as Gido drove and they continued to ask him what the plan was, to no avail. Though Alex didn’t have to hold out for long as five minutes after they left, they were at a helipad where their ride awaited them. Both Ava and Mia looked at the helicopter and smiled, before turning to Alex and giving him a kiss on each cheek.

“A helicopter ride!” exclaimed Mia excitedly.

“You certainly do know how to show a pair of ladies a good time,” cooed Ava.

“I’m glad you are both happy, though that is just our ride,” responded Alex as Gido opened the door next to Ava.

Alex took this chance to hurry both of them into the helicopter as they greeted their pilot, Mark. Mark was a private contractor that worked in the area doing mainly mountain tours of the Colorado Rockies, but also played taxi when paid to. Today he would be doing a bit of both, as Alex had a planned destination in mind, but had asked to take a slightly scenic route on the way there. Thus, they spent a good hour in the sky, instead of just under an hour, to arrive at another helipad that was only ten minutes from their final destination. The flight over had been great as Alex once more sat between Ava and Mia in the back as they enjoyed the picturesque views on the way over, while chatting happily through the headsets that they had been given. Mark had told them that he would be ready to fly them back at 4:00 pm per Alex’s request and to enjoy themselves until then, as they got into a waiting car that had been arranged for them. Ava and Mia pouted a bit at Alex no longer sitting between them, but didn’t say much when he assured them that it was only for a ten-minute drive.

Alex smiled as he drove the just under five miles to their destination as he headed west on US highway 50 for a half mile, before turning left onto Colorado road 3A and followed it until they arrived at the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park. As Alex parked, both Ava and Mia looked around like they were slightly confused at what they were doing. Before Alex could get out, Mia spoke.

“Alex, what are we doing here?”

“Yah, I’m sure there are some good views, but I doubt they will be better than the helicopter’s were,” added Ava.

“You’re right, there are some great views here. As for if they are better or worse than the ones we just enjoyed, that is something that we can decide later. For now, we have a reservation to get to.”

“Wait, we are going straight to getting food?” asked Mia.

“Alex, we aren’t hungry right now,” added Ava.

“No, not food. We are going on what they call a sky coaster.”

“Wait, what?”

“Alex, what is that?”

“The three of us are going to be swung out over the gorge like a pendulum while strapped together. After that, I am just going to follow you two around wherever you want to go here.”

The twins looked at Alex for a second before they put on a devious look and happily walked with him to the ticket area of the sky coaster. When they arrived, they watched a father and his two preteen kids be released from the 100-foot tower as they swung forward between the two towers that the cables that were still attached to them, were attached to. The three of them let out screams from the time they were released, to when they reached the point where they were vertical above the gorge. Alex smiled as he pulled the twins to the side of the line where a single park worker stood with a sign labeled VIP on it and spoke.

“Are you waiting for Alex, party of three?”

“Yes, sir. Would that be you?”

“Yes. Here is my ID and my confirmation number is B551.”

“Very good. Right this way we will get you set up for the next ride.”

“Thank you.”

Ava and Mia just smiled, while a few who were in line commented on how it wasn’t fair for them to skip the line like this. Alex just kept quiet as they didn’t need to know that he had essentially paid a few thousand credits to arrange things, such that all he needed to do was show ID and give his confirmation number, and they would move to the front of any line. Still, most seemed to assume that he had paid extra as several commented at the fact that the park worker had been holding a VIP sign. This caused others to wonder who they were and Alex might have been irritated had he been able to hear the theories they were talking about, due to him walking with a lady on each arm. Once they were pulled aside, it didn’t take long for the three of them to be suited up and once the prior group was done and cleared the area, Alex found himself between Ava and Mia as they were secured. Next, they were slowly pulled backwards and up as the twins giggled into his ear before the pulling stopped, and after a short pause they were released. The pair of screams that the twins gleefully unleashed on Alex made his ears ring as he enjoyed the sensation of flying. When they reached the point where they were vertical and weightless above the gorge, the screams of the twins had turned into giggles as they kissed Alex just as they paused for a split second, before falling backwards again. The rest of the ride was full of the twins demanding kisses and enjoying the feeling of the wind against their skin, even though it was winter.

After they were back on the ground, they spent the rest of their time wandering around as they enjoyed the various other attractions. This included ziplining, riding the gondola and walking across the bridge slowly, while enjoying the view at their own pace while they did so. They even checked out the water clock and other historical attractions in between, while enjoying a snack from the onsite restaurant. Finally, they closed out their time there by riding the sky coaster once more, before Alex drove them back to the helipad, where Mark was awaiting them ready to return home. Once they were airborne again, Ava and Mia enjoyed the view once more, though this was a shorter flight as Mark didn’t take as scenic of a route. When they landed, Gido was already waiting for them and they all got into the SUV as Ava and Mia snuggled into Alex.

“Thanks for the adventure,” sighed Mia.

“Yeah, it was great,” added Ava.

“We just wish it wasn’t such a short break.”

“Yeah, when are you going to take us on your adventures in ED?”

“We know we are under leveled.”

“But we are a bit envious of Sam and Nicole.”

“We aren’t alone either.”

“All of your ladies that we are with want you to spend some time leveling with us.”

“I am aware and it is unfortunate that it is not in the cards, at least not until they are ready to make a real push for tier-6 after taking care of the obligations of nobility.”

“We know. Soon you are going to be marrying all of them.”

“Yep, and then you will have to give them babies.”

“It is making Kate and us feel left out.”

“Though Kate is in no rush.”

“Ava, Mia, not happening for at least the next year.”

“We know.”

“It’s just hard at times.”

“Especially after such a great date.”

“Honestly, are you worried that things won’t work out between us, or what?”

“Truthfully, yes. With Sam and Nicole I can believe that they can get along just fine together as they have been doing so since before they could talk. I know you two by yourself are the same and everything is working well so far, but it hasn’t even been a year. Then you add in Kate, who has been used to being self-sufficient her whole life, as she was continually alone as she figured out how to get what she wanted. The last thing I want is to force the adjustments due to my own desires and cause the relationship to become strained.”

“Alex, you worry too much.”

“Yeah, Mia and I already feel like everything will be fine.”

“Say that to me after Sam and Nicole give birth.”

“Do you think we are going to get scared off?”

“Or are you expecting something to change in how we get along?”

“I have no clue what to expect. For all I know, everything will change,” sighed Alex, as he leaned back and stared at the ceiling of the SUV.

“You’re just feeling what it’s like to be an expecting father.”

“Relax. It is one of the reasons we know that everything will be fine.”

“Besides, we know that it is too soon for you.”

“Yeah. As frustrating as it can be, it is also refreshing.”

“At the very least, we know that isn’t all you want.”

“Besides, you only have three maternity pods.”

Alex just chuckled as Ava and Mia teased him lightly as they pulled into their driveway at around 4:45. The three of them smiled as they went straight to the dining room where everyone else was and enjoyed a quick meal, while Ava and Mia told everyone who asked to wait until breakfast for details on the date. Alex made sure to give Kate, Sam and Nicole hugs and kisses, before sitting down and worked quickly on his food before everyone left to return to playing ED.

When Xeal awoke, he found that only Eira was still in the room as she slept in an armchair. Xeal frowned when he saw this as he knew that she had a thing about sleeping in bed with him when he wasn’t logged in. He wasn’t sure if it was her not trusting herself not to take advantage of it, or the off feeling his body must give off when it was empty. Xeal also wished he could have his body fade from existence like most players could, as it would only become more inconvenient as time continued. As it was, he was already having to spend the ever-rising cost of advanced return scrolls as more players discovered their existence. It made him lament when he could use one to fool almost every player when they thought that they had him cornered. As he thought about this, Xeal had a thought and decided to check something.

“Watcher, are you there?”

Xeal waited for a good minute before he could hear Watcher respond in his head.

“I am not helping you pick your next target among the phoenixes, Xeal.”

“Ha, not what I am after and I’ll admit that Levina was a bit much for me to handle and I got lucky. No, my question is if there is any way you can act as an emergency pilot for my body when I am not in this world?”

“I could, but it would kill you in about five seconds, as you are now. Each level you gain brings you closer to being able to handle such an arrangement.”

“You’re not planning to take my body out for a spin while I am offline, are you?”

“Ha, I doubt you will ever be able to withstand more than an hour, unless you ascend to godhood somehow.”

“You could still mess a lot of things up in an hour.”

“And you would know if I did as you would be in agony for days after, as your body recovered from trying to contain what I am without being destroyed.”

“Still, that may be better than dying would be. I’m sure you could take care of any issues in less than five seconds.”

“Not with what you would be giving me to work with. I can’t use my power and would have to rely on yours. Escape might be possible if I had 45 seconds, but that is the best I could see and only if the attackers weren’t far stronger than you are.”

“So, I am at the mercy of how guarded I am when I am helpless then.”

“Indeed, as are all of the vessels of the phoenixes, and any other primordial entity’s mark bearer. Not to mention the lesser versions of such marks, but you are quickly attaining the best guards you could ever want. Though it is a shame that you didn’t accept the elf queen’s affection.”

“You’re hopeless, you know that. Anyhow, I am just about out of MP, so this is goodbye for now.”

“At least I don’t let my worries about how my wives will get along dissuade me from enjoying what is freely offered.”

Xeal was tempted to use the last of his MP to respond to Watcher about that was why the gods had decided to imprison them all, but held his tongue. Instead, he stretched as his movement caused Eira to stir, and when she saw Xeal looking at her, she smiled and quickly joined him in the bed, where they stayed for the last several hours of the trip. They simply enjoyed being there as Xeal held Eira close and she wrapped her tail around his waist as they chatted idly. It wasn’t until Bula came and knocked on the room’s door to let them know that the port was coming into view, that they left the bed just before midday. When they stepped out onto deck, they were joined by Alea and Rina, both of whom looked nervous as they watched the shoreline approach.

“What are you worried about, you two? It’s not like you are headed in to a monster’s den,” asked Eira, while looking smug.

“Ha, easy for you to say,” replied Alea. “No Lorafir has openly stepped foot outside elven lands in several centuries. When they do, it has always been under an assumed identity. It is why elder brother dislikes Xeal so much, as it will be a century before he can venture out again, unless Mother lifts that restriction.”

“Alea, your mother intends for you to usher in a new era. You need to be ready for what that means,” commented Xeal.

“Yeah, either sitting on her throne, or your lap.”

“No, forging your own path. You may be here beside me and I may even overshadow you to most, but I expect you to far surpass your mother and do what you want. If that means you rule the elves, so be it. If it means you become one of my wives, well, that is a fair bit more complicated, but if you want neither of those, then when you are ready, let me know and I will assist you in escaping to where no one knows you. Just please stick around until after I destroy a certain demon.”

“Only you would say that marrying you is more complicated than sitting on a throne. Still, you’re not exactly wrong,” interjected Bula.

“Indeed. Ruling my people would be far more straightforward, especially with the partners you are entangled with. We are not even sure that Alea and I would even be welcomed,” added Rina.

“You two will be just fine. Trust me, the only comment that Gale is likely to make is that only seven more slots are available,” quipped Eira.

“Wait, what?” asked Alea.

“How much have they all been sharing with you, Eira, and when do you have time to chat with them this much?” interjected Xeal.

“Where do you think I go whenever you are working at your guild? I share what you have been up to and they talk about their fondest memories with you. Honestly, I don’t know why you would think that I wouldn’t know how you got Enye to shut down recruiting you a noble daughter from half the houses in Nium.”

Xeal just shook his head as they arrived in port and one of the elves that were currently sailing the Siren's Song, brought a chained Odelia to him. This instantly ended the conversation and as Xeal walked down the ramp to the dock, he found the young Marquess Rais, with Taya and several other FAE members, waiting for him. Xeal smiled as he greeted them both, as Taya ordered the players to give the Siren's Song a full once-over as they prepared to become its crew, for the time being. Marquess Rais was quick to greet Xeal and after the normal etiquette was observed, Xeal assured him that he shouldn’t need to worry about trade issues, other than an increase in supply for the time being. It didn’t take long for Xeal to escape with Odelia and the rest of his party, as it was clear that he was in a hurry to meet with Prince Victor, who was expecting him. Marquess Rais was also accompanying them as he, along with every other marquess, had been summoned as well to ensure that they could get to work right away on ratifying the treaty, or sending back their revisions. Either way, Xeal’s role was all but over as he wouldn’t be the one who would tell Queen Aila Lorafir to accept any changes.

Two hours later, Xeal sat alone with Prince Victor after he had finished looking over the treaty and having Xeal explain the conditions and situation around Alea. This included a summary of events, though he was sure that Enye had been sharing what the twins told her with him, for the most part. Finally, after finishing what Xeal felt was an internal debate, Prince Victor spoke.

“Xeal, why did you have to make things harder on me?”

“What do you mean?”

“This would have been almost perfect had you not made it clear that Alea must choose you, or her mother’s throne.”

“I would have thought that the power that would have placed on me would have only caused more issues. Besides, it is not a lie. I will not sit on any throne once mine and Enye’s child is old enough to do so.”

“Yeah, I know. Enye has told me about your goal to hide away with your wives as you just enjoy life once you have everything settled on this end. Still, I could sell the possibility of a true merging of our lands if you were positioned to marry the future elven queen.”

“I wouldn’t have supported such a merge as it would be a mistake. Yes, I wish for travel between both to become simple, but becoming one kingdom would lead to a revolt eventually, as things are currently.”

“I am aware, but the possibility would still be tempting to any who are on the fence.”

“And I once more gain power, putting those who worry about my rise more on edge. Now, do you think you can get it signed as is, or are you going to waste all the work I put in and insult Lady Lorafir as well?”

“I can get this signed as it is much better than what I had hoped for, though it will take a bit of work. The real issue is your little surprise. How the hell did you end up with Odelia Neriven, or one of the Sirens, as she is known to our navy, as your prisoner?”

“I saw an opportunity and took it. Do I think she deserves the mercy she and her associates are going to receive? Absolutely not. However, there is no denying that the five of them are among the most useful when it comes to sailing the seas and they will make excellent assets for my guild.”

“How are you going to keep them under control when you’re not around to ensure that they are living up to the spirit of their contracts?”

“Each of them will have an overseer who would be the captain of their ships as well, not to mention that they will be forbidden to leave their ships unless it is sinking…”

Xeal and Prince Victor continued to go back and forth on how FAE would manage the five illusionists, before Prince Victor was satisfied. He agreed to send the kingdom’s forces to capture the other four and the island that they were using as a base. Xeal was sad that he would likely not be allowed to use the island for his own designs, if it could be of use to Nium. Still, the fact that he would be walking away with five ships and their captains was enough to make Xeal celebrate, as it would put him way ahead of anything he could have hoped for at this point. The meeting ended at that point and Xeal bid Victor farewell as they parted ways, with Victor headed to meet with the waiting nobles and Xeal walking into his mansion, where a bunch of women and a cat were awaiting him. When Xeal arrived, Maxwell was already awaiting him out front.

“Sir, I would hold off a bit longer before interrupting them.”

“Oh, is it getting heated?”

“Not exactly. I would call it more of a bonding moment than anything else.”

“Oh, then why are you out here?”

“That’s, well, sir, it is currently not advised that any males enter your home. If you would like, I can fetch a maid to inform them that you are home.”

Xeal just blinked as he started and then stopped almost immediately to think of what they could be doing in there.

“Sir, I assure you that whatever you just thought of is not the case. The ladies just wished to exchange some information that is rather sensitive.”

“Right, I have my own way to let them know I am here.”

Xeal sent Aalin and Gale a quick message and around ten minutes later, Eira came out with Midnight riding on her shoulders, looking slightly confused.

“Xeal, you called for me?”

“Yes, the rest of my day is yours. Happy birthday, by the way.”

“Wait, what? How do you know it’s my birthday?”

“Your mother likes to talk. Now, let the rest of them figure out how to handle Rina and Alea. I am already sure that you know how to coexist with them, for the most part.”

“But you have been gone for weeks. Shouldn’t you at least greet them before leaving?”

“No, though Midnight should stay here as this is meant to be your time. I will see them when we return and find out how whatever is going on in there turns out.”

“Oh, um, yes.”

Xeal smiled as Eira turned red and a disgruntled Midnight sauntered off to wherever he pleased. With that taken care of, Xeal extended his hand to Eira and she took it with her own and he took her to the teleportation hall. From there, Xeal transferred to the Dragon’s Eye outpost and smiled as Eira continued to be confused.

“Xeal, why have you brought me to such a remote area?”

“I thought it would be fun to just enjoy a fun game of cat and mouse. Of course, you will be the cat and I the mouse and if you catch me, you get a kiss.”

“What if I want something else?”

“Sorry, but a kiss is the most I can do today.”

“No, I don’t want you to hold back. Two hours. Give me two hours. If I can catch you in that time, you will accept that I have caught my prey and accept my embrace completely.”

“Eira, you know that I will not allow you to catch me if that is the case.”

“Just as I know that I will never catch you without rigging the situation in my favor. However, I want to try and who knows, perhaps you will make a mistake, or a monster will get in the way just long enough.”

“I see. You truly wish to catch me completely and want nothing held back.”

“Yes.”

“Fine, but when you fail to catch me, you have to let me kiss you however I like.”

Eira just smiled as she said, “Deal, and time starts now.”

Xeal wasn’t caught off guard and moved quickly, avoiding Eira as he headed out of the outpost as they caught the eyes of many of the sub level-20 players who were around. Many of them wondered who they were, as others that took the time to pay attention to Xeal and his exploits, realized who he was and started to spread the word. Directly after the pair disappeared, the Dragon’s Eye outpost started to see a flood of players coming in from the surrounding area, hoping to catch Xeal’s attention when he returned.

Meanwhile, Xeal was putting his all into keeping out of Eira’s grasp. Needless to say, he wasn’t having too much difficulty, but Eira wasn’t making it easy. Any time Xeal would come across a monster, he would need to maneuver in an awkward motion to avoid it, only for Eira to be able to take advantage of the extra time to react to move more efficiently. Due to this, Xeal was never able to create a meaningful amount of separation and was constantly running for the full two hours, and his stamina kept dropping. Luckily for him, Eira was dealing with the same issue and just after the two hours were up, Xeal turned and Eira ran right into his arms, as he let the impact take him to the ground as the pair worked to catch their breath.

“Well, I failed to catch you.”

“Yah. Still, you didn’t make it too easy on me. You weren’t wrong to say that you could’ve gotten lucky.”

“Ha, I would have had to get a fair bit more than a little lucky. Still, it was fun to see you taking me seriously.”

“Now, for my prize.”

Xeal smiled as he rolled such that Eira was under him and looked into her eyes as she got slightly bashful under his gaze.

“It’s just a kiss. You don’t need to be so intense.”

“Who said anything about a kiss? No, I just won the right to kiss you however I want. I never said anything about a limit.”

“Wait, what? You’re going to drive me crazy, aren’t you?”

“No, I’m just never going to ask if you want a kiss, or not, when I feel like giving you one.”

As Eira went to answer, Xeal sealed her lips with his own as he enjoyed a long kiss before breaking it and speaking.

“Happy birthday, Eira. While today is not the day you become mine fully, or that you can say that you hold a piece of my heart firmly, you can say I have no intention of leaving you behind.”

“I know, it is just hard to wait. Especially when I know you will soon marry others. Then you add in those elves who are likely to move into the same space that I am carving out for myself in your heart, and it just gets harder.”

“Eira, I am unsure if I can even handle letting Alea and Rina into my heart as I don’t know if there is room for them. If you think your road is a long one, theirs would be even longer, though they have the time to walk it if they choose to and I open myself to them.”

Eira just smiled for another moment, before their moment was interrupted by a monster charging onto the scene and Xeal using his dragon’s breath attack to deal with it. After that, the pair smiled and laughed, before standing up and making their way back to the outpost, which was an hour away due to the zig-zag pattern Xeal had used when running. Along the way, they enjoyed killing any monsters that got in their way with only a few moves as they drew closer to Dragon’s Eye. When they arrived, Xeal had to frown at the crowds that he saw filling the outpost and he wondered what it was about as nothing special should have been happening here. Still, he just started to make his way to the teleportation gate so they could make their way home when the first player noticed them and called out, “It’s Xeal!” The next thing Xeal knew, he was being flooded by players who were full of questions as they shouted things like “is FAE recruiting more players?” and “can you show me your sword technique?” Xeal was actually worried about escaping these players who were enthusiastically surrounding him without causing any issues. Just as he was about to call out to try and get them to clear the way, he heard a familiar voice.

“Clear the way! Have you all no shame? Blocking a renowned nobleman’s path!” shouted Sheriff Aldway Adaire.

Xeal smiled as the crowd quieted, but still failed to clear out and Aldway spoke once more.

“Do I need to start having my men round you all up and sentence you all to a day or two in the mines?”

“If I can ask my question and get an answer, a day in the mine will be worth it,” shouted one of the players in the crowd.

Xeal frowned as he knew that almost all of these players were likely ones that had chosen Nium as their starting location due to FAE being based here. This was part of the cost of success, as with it came many who wished to grab a piece of yours for themselves. Still, he knew that it was also to his benefit to have such a large group of raw talent to pull from in the long run. So, he took a bit of pity on the crowd and spoke.

“Sheriff, thank you for your assistance. I will say a few words and if they don’t clear out after that, I will ask that you step in, if that is alright.”

“Very well, Viscount Bluefire.”

“Alright, now I know many of you are here in hopes that it will provide you with a chance to catch my eye and others are simply curious. All I will say is that FAE is always looking for talented players who have what it takes to rise above their peers. This includes those who have only recently started their journey as I am sure that you all have seen a recruiter from my guild moving about. Now, as I am sure you all know, luck has a role to play as we are almost completely full and only those who truly stand out are targeted.

“I know that this leaves many hidden gems undiscovered, but worry not as you all are in luck as in around 30 days in ED time, we will be doing another mass recruitment and you all have an advantage due to being in Dragon’s Eye already. As many of you know, this is where I started my journey from and along the way I made a few friends, to include Sheriff Aldway Adaire here. If you all want to increase your odds, impress him enough to give his recommendation, though none of you should approach him directly. Instead, befriend a guard under his command and assist in the quests that they are always offering that so few take. If you make it to Dragon’s Heart City, do the same there and while it will not guarantee your acceptance, it will give you a major advantage over the rest of the field.

“Lastly, as always, a third of the players we recruit will be crafters, so it never hurts to see if you have the skills to excel in a craft, even if you only wish to be a part-time crafter. In fact, players who have high combat and crafting skills are our main targets as they have the chance to become truly something special. Now if you would all allow me to pass, I have places I need to be.”

With Xeal’s last words, it was like the crowd had woken back up as they reluctantly parted to let him through as they started to chat excitedly, while a few still shouted questions that Xeal ignored. Aldway followed behind them, ensuring that the path remained clear until they reached the teleportation gate. As they were preparing to leave, Xeal looked to Aldway and spoke.

“Thanks for the assistance.”

“No problem, but next time you show up, please wait until you are out of the outpost to start showing off. You even caught the eye of my guards with your antics on the way out. It’s why I knew what was going on the moment the crowd started to move.”

“Ah, yah, I will keep that in mind. Let Sanford and Baron Ulric know that I say hi and hope they are doing well.”

“Will do.”

Xeal smiled as he took Eira’s hand and left Dragon’s Eye behind. A short while later, they were back in front of Xeal’s mansion where they found that Maxwell was no longer standing guard. Before he could ask Eira to see if they were done in there, Midnight appeared and leapt onto Eira’s shoulder and started to bug her for affection. Eira just sighed helplessly as she started to scratch under his chin and smile at him before speaking.

“I’ll check and see if the coast is clear.”

Xeal found himself waiting only for around thirty seconds, before he heard a loud shout of “surprise!” be called out by multiple voices from inside his mansion. A minute later, Gale and Aalin appeared and told him to come in already. Once inside, Xeal found that beyond his ladies and the two elves, many of the beast-men that were important figures in the negotiations were present as well. This included Eira’s mother Noriko, Sceca, Taro and his two wives, Asagao and Himawari, as well as several others. Daisy and Violet both looked annoyed at the attention they were getting from their mothers, as well as the 30 teenage nobles that were being trained by Xeal that had all reached tier-5 through walking the nightmare. Xeal had to laugh at the first party to be held in his home since he had occupied it, as it was a mess and a mishmash of different groups that would have never mixed before his meddling. He even saw his parents as they chatted with Eira’s father, and finally he caught sight of Eira as she looked like a drowned cat, as even Midnight had abandoned her to the massive hug she was getting from her mother currently. Sighing, Xeal made his way to rescue Eira, only for Noriko to take notice of him and waste no time in pulling him into her arms next to Eira as she spoke.

“Xeal, it is good to see you again. I hear that my daughter has gotten you to accept her.”

“More or less yes, though it is still early in things.”

“Good, so when will you give her a kitten?”

“Skipping to the end, are we?”

Noriko released both Xeal and Eira before responding.

“What? She is at the age where she should be looking to have her first, especially as she has reached tier-5.”

“Mom, you really need to learn to back off. I am only 19 today. I still have plenty of time before it becomes a real issue.”

“Eira-”

“Noriko, Eira and I know what the timetable is and you shouldn’t expect anything before the war is over. I am already reluctant to have the children that will be expected when I marry Enye, Dyllis, Mari and Lingxin, as the chaos of war may leave them vulnerable.”

Noriko locked eyes with Xeal at his words as she engaged him in an intense staring contest, before sighing and responding.

“This is the worst. Everyone knows that the war is coming and from talking to your prince, it is not just here, but the whole of the world. From the sounds of things, survival is not assured for anyone besides your kind. Are you sure that we will win?”

“No, nothing is ever sure, but we should have the advantage in the fight, thanks to securing the support of you and the other beast-men, plus the orcs and elves. Now I just need to sneak into the dwarven lands between Habia and Paidhia, to hopefully convince them to not aid either of them, or perhaps even get them to ally themselves with us when the war starts.”

“You succeeded in getting orcs and elves to attempt to work together, I don’t see why they wouldn’t as well.”

“Location. They would have to hold out by themselves for most of the war. If it was just against the residents of this world it would be easy, but my kind will be involved.”

“Why not reinforce them with your kind as well?”

“That is easier said than done. Most of us hate being on the sieged side of the equation as we prefer assaulting, despite the disadvantages inherent in it and that would be the situation with the dwarves. There is also the high probability of them being pressured to join one side or the other, or face a pincer attack, as both try to remove them before the-”

Xeal blinked as he smiled at the realization he just had and couldn’t help but laugh at how well it could work.

“Xeal, are you alright?” questioned Eira.

“Sorry, I just realized something that may work out perfectly. I just need to talk with Prince Victor about it. Anyway, Noriko, we should both greet the others that have come out. I am sure that I will see you tomorrow when the treaties are all finalized.”

Noriko smiled as she agreed and Xeal took Eira’s hand and spent the rest of the evening moving about with her as they greeted most of the guests. Xeal knew that a fair bit of the beast-men present were only here out of courtesy, since they were present for the treaty signing and it was convenient. The rest of the evening was spent simply talking and greeting the various guests until it was time to call the evening to a close and almost everyone left. The only ones remaining were those in a relationship with Xeal, plus Bula, Alea and Rina, as all of them looked at Xeal while Enye spoke.

“After considering several factors and discussing things amongst ourselves, it is inconclusive as to whether getting involved with Alea and Rina is sustainable. So, we have decided on a wait and see approach as the pair adjust to life outside elven lands. That said, they still need to be marked to protect their lives. Aalin and Gale have already obtained their signature on the contracts and they have been told what is involved.”

Xeal nodded and they took care of marking both elves, using a drop of blood from Eba, the phoenix of nature. Once that was taken care of, Maxwell was let into the room and he showed Alea and Rina to a room the pair had elected to share as Bula left as well, leaving Xeal with the ten women whom he was currently in a relationship with. Gale was the first to speak as she looked at Xeal.

“Honestly, Xeal, do you think that they are going to join us?”

“I have no clue. It will depend on what they decide they want once the war is over. I wouldn’t be surprised if they took the opportunity to simply disappear together at that point.”

“Do you want them to join?” asked Kate.

“I didn’t want you to join until I did,” quipped Xeal.

“I wasn’t asking you, I was asking Gale.”

“Wait, what?” responded Gale.

“Gale, you were the most supportive of the idea this afternoon,” interjected Aalin. “Honestly, knowing what I know about you I can understand as most of us only want one-on-one time with Xeal.”

“Alright, before we get derailed, let’s just agree that everything is in a wait and see state and agree that you all will get to know them better and call it a night,” cut in Xeal.

Xeal could see a few faces go red and he just smiled as he took the time to hug and kiss each of them, before sending them off. Gale reminded Xeal that she would be by first thing in the morning to take care of things, before leaving him and Eira alone once more. The rest of the night was spent with the two of them cuddling before drifting off to sleep. When the morning arrived, Xeal gave Eira a kiss before she left to get breakfast, as Gale entered and the pair enjoyed an intimate moment. After that, they got some breakfast, during which Maxwell informed Xeal that he was expected at the palace in a few hours with Eira, Bula and Alea, for the final meeting on the treaty. Xeal smiled as he finished his breakfast and took the bit of free time he had to get started on the pile of guild leader work that had accumulated in his absence. He was pleased as he could tell that Kate had handled most of it with Ivy’s assistance. Despite the fact that Xeal didn’t think it was still necessary, he had left Ivy as Kate’s shadow and assistant, as a way to work on developing Ivy and giving Kate someone to talk to, other than those she lived with.

A few hours later, Xeal found himself sitting with Eira, Bula and Alea as they listened to Earl George Beckett read out the treaties and explain how the kingdom interpreted them to interact with each other. Once he was done with this, he turned to the beast-men representatives who were present as well, as they nodded in agreement to everything and Bula was next to nod, followed lastly by Alea, and Xeal wanted to jump for joy as he watched everything be signed and he received a notification that told him he could escape the boredom that all of these negotiations had become, at least for a bit.

(Quest: bring elven lands into a formal alliance with Nium: Complete; calculating completion rate… 100% completion, rank S. Rewards: 10,000,000,000 XP, 20,000 guild renown points, improved acceptance by kingdom of Nium nobility…current acceptance rate 85%. Promotion to earl pending ceremony and 1,000 gold)

Prince Victor had summoned Xeal to his study after the signing of the treaty was complete, so he bid Eira, Bula and Alea farewell for the time being. He also let them know that he planned to spend the rest of the day in the forge, working on his smithing that had been ignored since he had traveled to the elven lands. With that taken care of, they each left and Xeal found himself sitting across from Prince Victor enjoying a glass of wine.

“I must say, Xeal, when I first assigned you the 12 tasks, I figured that I would be lucky if you could succeed at a few of them before war broke out. Now you have completed five of them in a manner that has exceeded anything that I could have hoped for and have earned the rank of earl. It is only a matter of holding a ceremony at an appropriate time in the next few months now. Now tell me, which of the tasks will you take on next?”

“About that. I would like to alter the dwarven diplomacy one slightly. You wish for me to secure their neutrality, or get them to commit to attacking once the time is right, correct?”

“Yes. If we can get them to act from so deep in Habia and Paidhia, it would cause major disorder in their movements.”

“I fear that they may be targeted the same way you would have the orcs, if they hadn’t come to the table to make a deal. As such, I would like to alter it such that if they are attacked, Nium will launch an attack of our own, declaring that we had a secret alliance with them from the start. That way, we have our excuse to start the war to unite the continent without being the aggressor.”

“Interesting, but troubling. It is likely that the assault on the dwarves would come before your kind was ready to play a vital role, and the result could be far more bloody for our native forces.”

“It could also be far less bloody, as my kind are less likely to run from battle and aren’t as worried about death, leading to more permanent deaths. Still, the simple act of readying for an attack when they make ready to assault the dwarves, will likely cause them to halt and reassess…”

The pair continued to discuss the pros and cons of Xeal’s idea, before Prince Victor shifted the discussion.

“Alright, Xeal. I will need to discuss this with my father and a few of his advisors. In the meantime, I need to inform you that we are going to go forward with your plan to capture Odelia’s associates. As for the island, if it is truly as well hidden as it sounds, then it will be set up as an evacuation point for those who could be used against us during the war. This will include your wives and children that will not be fighting in the war itself.”

“Thank you, and I suspect that it may be hard to convince them all to go.”

“Say that after they become mothers.”

“Fair. Is that all for the day, Victor?”

“Yes. I suppose that I need to get the force that will subjugate your pirates ready now.”

“See if Noriko, or Taro, can get any beast-men to join the force and send a request to Chief Xuk and Lady Lorafir for a few peak tier-7 reinforcements. This may be a great chance to work together and offer them some evacuation slots as well, as payment.”

“Hmm, I will have to see about that. Now go. I am sure you have many things that need your attention.”

Xeal smiled as he left and made his way to the royal forging room to work on his smithing. A few hours later, he had a visitor who entered dressed in all black that he had been expecting.

“I must say, you gave us one heck of a target this time,” commented Lori Lunaflower smugly.

“I take it he wasn’t too much for Night Oath.”

“Not after we got a good read on him, though we did have one of our own die in the first attempt. Still, we have already killed him three times and he has started to run, making things a bit more difficult.”

“That’s good. Here’s the first part of your payment, and here are more names. These ones just need to be hampered severely, not ruined.”

Xeal handed Lori a list with 20 names on it that Xeal remembered from his last life as being part of Abysses End’s main force. Xeal had known each of the names on the list as allies in the struggle against Abysses End, before they merged into them in acts of betrayal. They also were all leaders of upstart guilds that should just be starting to show results at this point of the game. If they were targeted now and lost the momentum they were building, it would likely hamper their aspirations greatly.

“These are all guild leaders of new guilds. I thought you had a soft spot for those like yourself?”

“I do. That’s why they aren’t to be killed until they quit. If you just cause them to lose a level every time they gain two, after killing them twice to kick things off, it will be enough.”

“Their guilds will stagnate and likely fail if we do that.”

“And another will rise in their place. The main hindrances to upstart guilds making it are each other, not major workshops. There are only so many resources to go around and FAE is the rare exception when it comes to contending with the major powers for said resources. The rest try and survive off the scraps.”

“So, you are pruning the plant to allow a healthier harvest when the time comes, but why?”

Xeal just smiled at Lori without giving her an answer, as he was just giving her an excuse to make it seem like his motives were anything other than petty revenge for something that hadn’t even happened yet. He even doubted if it would happen this time, but regardless, he would never trust them and would rather different powers rose this time around, and perhaps a trustworthy ally would be found among them.

“Fine, keep your motives to yourself, just as long as you pay us and accept it when I turn down a contract if it seems too difficult to be feasible. We aren’t an assassination service like you seem to want to use us as.”

“I never said you couldn’t let the world know that Night Oath was responsible for the attacks. All I said is that you can’t reveal that I am the one paying. Heck, find a guild that wants them taken care of and offer them a deal at a discounted rate, under the guise of wanting to advertise your services. Target their whole guild and make them crumble in a matter of days to show the world just how effective you are and attract more experts to join your guild.”

“And how does that help you?”

“It brings more power into Nium in a concentrated way, unlike the mass of new players who are way behind the curve and will take years to catch up to the pros.”

“Yet you still recruit them happily.”

“Investments can never be ignored. Besides, the players who are just starting now have a slight advantage over those of us who started on day one.”

“You’re talking about how they can look up information on how to focus their growth to best achieve their desired build.”

“As well as being seen as inconsequential to all of the top-tier players.”

“Alright, it’s time for me to leave. I will let you know how my research goes on these 20 and if I am turning down any of them.”

“Very well. Take care and let me know when you come to a decision on the crafting deal and Nium alliance.”

“I will.”

With that, Lori left and Xeal returned to his crafting until it was time to log off, when he returned to his mansion to rest.

(*****)

February 12, 2267 & ED year 2 days 267-269.

The morning of the 12th was uneventful as they enjoyed another day of swimming in the pool and eating breakfast, where Ava and Mia told everyone about their date before returning to ED. That evening, however, was another story. Alex had frowned the moment he stepped out to find Julie sitting in a chair waiting for him. When she had told him that he had a few guests that had arrived around an hour ago wishing to discuss business that Gido was entertaining in the conference room, his frown deepened. Still, after kissing Sam and Nicole, he told them to notify Kate and to have her join him in the meeting when she was ready. The pair sighed, but nodded, as they made their way to alert Kate if she wasn’t already waiting outside the room. For Alex’s part, he took the time to make himself look presentable before leaving his room. When he exited, he found Ava and Mia waiting for their kisses next to Sam and Nicole, who told him that Kate wanted him to wait for her before heading down. After giving each lady hugs and kisses, Alex waited for another ten minutes before Kate arrived, looking ready to take whoever was downstairs for all that they were worth, or send them on their way, as she spoke.

“Honestly, don’t people know how to make appointments?”

“You’re one to talk. I don’t remember you giving me any warning.”

“Yes, but I have you wrapped around my finger. For all we know, this could be Salty Dogs or Dragon Legion finally making their move.”

“I doubt either of the remaining two super workshops would show up at my home at this point. They have already seen how I have handled Abysses End, Fire Oath and Jingong. I expect them to wait until an opportunity that is mutually beneficial presents itself, or they are ready to go all out to remove me. Either way, now is not the time.”

“Hmm, fair. It is better to be neutral with FAE currently as we are relatively secure in Nium right now, though I could see them laying the foundation for our fall as we speak.”

Alex just smiled as Kate gave him one right back and they entered the conference room and found Gido standing to the side, as two men and one woman dressed in suits turned to look at them. Alex frowned as he took note of the woman and her short salt and pepper bob cut and recognized her. Her name escaped him, but he had remembered her speaking at a conference he attended at one point, as she worked to buy workshops and rip them apart, adding the parts she wanted to her own and selling the rest in pieces. Before any of the three could speak, Kate beat them all to it.

“Alex, it’s not anyone I recognize, meaning they aren’t of any real consequence to us.”

“Excuse you,” started the woman with a stern voice. “You may be an Astor, but you are just lucky and from what I know, mostly unwanted in your family. I take it you ran here to escape whatever partner they were preparing for you?”

“You know, you really should think before you speak. This isn’t somewhere you can act like you are the one in control. Now, you can either apologize, or leave, as I highly doubt we will be interested in whatever reason you have come here today,” stated Alex in a warning tone. He was annoyed at both this woman and Kate, as Kate had clearly set the trap and the woman had jumped right into it.

“Ha, do you even know who we are?”

“Not exactly, but if I have to guess, you are from a hedge fund and want to buy my workshop as a base to start building the Frankenstein monster of a workshop you have in your head. All while not caring about anything but the profits you make by ruining the work of so many others who you view as a poor investment. Now apologize, or leave.”

“Is that any way to treat your elders!”

“If you want to know just how much I care, you should call Olivette Astor and ask her. Now I will count to three.”

“You-”

“One.”

“I never-”

“Two.”

“Let’s go.”

“Paige, sit down and cool your head. Alex here doesn’t know that we already have him over a barrel. You can call me Mr. Wood by the way.”

“Three, now you two can stay, but Paige needs to leave or I will have her trespassed.”

Alex watched as the woman fought her rage and started to speak.

“I am sorry-”

“I said leave, you had your chance, now leave, and Gido, please make sure she finds her way out without taking any detours.”

“Yes, sir. If you would please follow me, miss.”

Alex could see the absolute disbelief on Paige’s face as she tried to process the fact that this was actually happening. Before she could respond, Mr. Wood spoke again.

“Paige, just go. We all knew that Alex here doesn’t concern himself with the consequences of his actions.”

“I think that can be more aptly said of those who see an 18-year-old and think that I am an easy target. Now, you can either call me Mr. Bell, or give your own first names as if you wish to be placed on a level higher than me, you can leave as well.”

As Mr. Wood and Paige looked at Alex like he was insane, the third man started to laugh.

“Hahahah, he pinned you both good. Max, Paige, sit down and shut up. Alex, I am Erik Chaney and you can look at me like the lead for this team. I ask that you let them off with a warning this time.”

“No. Paige has worn out her welcome and Max is on thin ice.”

“Alex, calm down. I am fine with Paige staying, provided she keeps her mouth shut,” interjected Kate.

“Paige, don’t speak. See, we can work on something. Now let’s try and forget the past few minutes and get to business.”

“If you are looking to buy, or invest in FAE, then you are wasting your breath.”

“Really, even if we happen to have acquired a large part of the land that you have been having Background Inc. acquire for you? I must say that while I am unsure on just what you are planning to use all of it for, you certainly have something big in mind. That is where we come in. We don’t want to sell to you, but would be interested in a partnership, say for example, you hand over 25% of your shares to us and we hand over the land and help you establish your board of directors.”

“Erik, if that is all, then you can leave.”

“Excuse me?” interjected Max. “Didn’t you hear Erik? You can’t do whatever it is you are trying to do unless you work with us.”

“Oh, I heard, I just don’t care. See, I can do whatever I like with my money as it is mine. You, on the other hand, have to answer to your investors. I am in no real hurry in regard to what I have planned for that land and can easily change locations. Are you able to continue to buy up land that is useless to you and sit on it for years?”

Alex just smiled at the looks that crossed the trio’s faces as Kate spoke.

“Oh, I would say not. In fact, the longer they hold it, the worse it will be as I am sure that they paid well above market rate to snatch it up before we could. Now they will be stuck with the taxes if they can’t move it and even if it will be worth way more in a decade, they would still need to sell it to earn any revenue.”

“You’re right,” responded Erik. “However, we do have a backup plan and the connections to make it profitable, it’s just we would rather not go through the hassle if we can make a deal with you. You ask that we don’t underestimate you, please don’t do the same to us.”

“I am not underestimating you, you are overestimating yourself. Yes, I know that you could always build houses, but see, that would just tie up more credits and make you unable to counter us any further. If you were to counter us, it would just lead to you having to worry about if it is a red herring meant to lead you on a wild goose chase. You also have to worry about others taking note and muddying the waters further as they try to get a part of me. Now if there is nothing else, you all can leave. Excuse me for not showing you out.”

“You’re right, but we don’t need to go all in like we did here. All we need to do is get enough land to disturb your plans,” countered Erik. “I don’t believe that you have more credits available to you than we do.”

“You’re right, he doesn’t,” cut in Kate with a smile. “However, I know more than a few workshops that would love to be let in on what Alex has planned. The upside is that they wouldn’t be looking at the money it would generate, but the benefit it would bring to their guild. Do you really want to go against the ones I would call on? I can guarantee that you would find yourselves losing a fair bit of your funds and gaining nothing. Now, if I were you, I would dump that land to whatever sucker you can get the most from before we do, as once we dump ours, it will be too late and you will really be committed to building housing.”

Alex watched as Erik sighed as he stood up to leave as Max and Paige did the same. Just before they reached the door, Erik spoke one last time.

“I don’t like it when I lose credits on a deal as it makes us look bad. I tend to hold a bit of a grudge when it happens. So, I will apologize now for when you are ready to talk and I am not as generous as I was today.”

With those words, the three of them left and Kate turned to Alex and spoke.

“What the hell are you buying up a ton of land for?”

“Oh, that. It’s just a project for the future that should be a sound investment.”

“Alex, I am an owner in FAE. If you are using our funds for that, I need to know.”

“Kate, the money you used to buy your share, or the credits Gaute loaned me, is not FAE money, strictly speaking. Technically speaking, I have dozens of LLCs that have been buying all this land as Background Inc. does the leg work for me.”

“Alex, tell me what is it you are trying to do and just how much has been spent.”

“100 million has been spent and we were just getting started. As for what I am doing, well, the plan was to basically build a guild city in reality.”

“You’re insane. Do you have any idea how easy of a target that would make our workshop? One outage and every player in the city would be forced offline.”

“Not if I can secure a quantum-entangled server for it.”

“You expect Eternal Dominion Inc. to let you host one of the spare servers that have yet to be networked there? Do you have any idea just how expensive a building that could house it would even be?”

“At least 200 million, more likely 500 million. Kate, I currently have a budget of five billion to pull this off and the current estimates have it costing four billion. The idea is to build a city where our fulltime players can live with their housing covered by the workshop. The savings will cascade over time as our members who live in our city will be able to use guild coins in reality as well.”

“Wait, what?”

“Kate, we will own everything in the city. It means that all the markups that are normally to the profit of the store, or apartment, are how we save credits. At the same time, we can pay our members in guild coins and allow them to exchange them for credits at the actual value, but make using them more economical in our city. If my estimates are correct, or close to correct, it will take six billion to complete the base of the city for around 15,000 bedrooms for our members to live in and save us that in over a ten-year period. If we do it right, it may even earn us the same from leasing areas to other workshops.”

“Alex, you are planning to use everything you have to build this city and hope that it works out. Do you even realize just how much it is going to cost to operate everything once it is built? Who is going to take care of all of the needed upkeep?”

“Kate, I am well aware that if this venture fails, that it will take FAE with it. That is why I am only securing the land right now. Once I have done that, it will be at least another year before the design and permitting would be done. At that point, I would decide to either scrap it, or go forward at full speed.”

“Alex, what is the point of such a place? Is your goal just to make sure that our core is able to play ED without any issues in reality?”

“Kate, the goal is to become unshakable. The securer our members feel in being part of FAE, the less likely they will be to leave. Additionally, it gives us the ability to recruit individuals who can’t play ED right now but want to, by having them move to our city and even if they fail to succeed in ED, they can still work in one of the stores that are in the city to earn their keep…”

Alex and Kate continued to go back and forth on the value of a guild city for a full half hour after they had gotten rid of the hedge fund trio. Until Sam, Nicole, Ava and Mia all came in and interrupted the debate. They had come down to see what had been keeping the two of them from joining them for dinner when they walked in on the back and forth. Kate had been more than happy to share all about Alex’s idea and Alex just let her as she didn’t distort any details while doing so. After that, the other four frowned as they thought and it was Nicole who spoke first.

“Alex, just how vital to your vision is this city?”

“Right now, not at all. If I hit my goals over the next year and a half, it will be critical for my plans and every day it is delayed will cost us around two million credits in housing costs, if we assume 30,000 of our players will be housed in those 15,000 rooms. That doesn’t even account for all of the other savings we will see from the fact that they will be buying food from us. Most low-end pro players want to earn around 320,000 credits a year, but we will be able to cut that down to around 240,000 to 260,000 if we house them. I know that talking about 30,000 elite players when that’s over five percent of our guild seems crazy, but in ten years when our membership should be around 70 million, it will be nothing.”

“This is what I am talking about, Alex. None of the major workshops even have ten million members and you act like we are going to have over 50 million,” replied Kate.

“Kate, how big do you expect us to get and how long do you think it will take?”

“If we include all unpaid members, I see us reaching around six to nine million about five years from now and stabilizing there.”

“Alright, here is what we will do. I will continue to work to acquire the land over the next year and if at that point we have over three million members, I will move onto permitting and design. That should take another year as it will cover the final design, not just the base that I can fund now, which will bring us to another decision. At that point, I will likely be in it for at least half a billion credits, but if we are under five million members, I will walk away and admit you were right. However, if I am right, I will go at full steam and work to secure a quantum-entangled server from Eternal Dominion Inc. The first stage of construction should last a full two years and my intent is to just keep building out from the center until we have a city that can house and support at least 500,000, but up to two and a half million if we reach the 111,111,111 that is my intended size for FAE.”

“And just how long do you think it will take to reach that many members and where are they all going to come from?”

“It should take around another 13 years to reach that number, which will be about one in every 135 players being a member of FAE, if my projections are good. I also expect a few of the super guilds to catch us eventually, but it will take them at least an extra five years. Kate, if we really do reach those numbers, can you see how a city starts to make sense?”

“Yes, but you are putting the cart before the horse. This is a move that should be made when we have 20 billion to work with, not five billion.”

“Kate, you have seen how things work at the larger scales in Fire Oath and how 99% or more of everything that is earned goes right back into the members’ pockets. When you have around ten million members, that is billions of credits a day going out and only around ten or so million staying. While your family may have a trillion or more in value, they would be hard pressed to scrape together five billion for a project like this without taking out loans.”

“That is what loans are for, Alex.”

“Yes, and what kind of loan will I be able to get?”

Kate blinked for a second as she realized that Alex was right. On a project like this, as a young man with no real credit and a business with less than five years of history, he would be lucky to get a loan at all. Even if he did get a loan, the interest alone would eat him alive as it would likely turn a six-billion credit-project into a 12-billion-credit, or more, one. Alex smiled as he watched things finally click for Kate, as the frown she had been wearing since the start shifted to a more thoughtful expression as she spoke.

“As much as I hate losing, at least when it’s to you I can feel like I am also winning, as it means that I picked right. Alex, I will okay the land grab as long as you let me handle the where and the how. Background Inc. has failed again. As helpful as they are, they still have leaks and we need to not use them for anything that we need absolute secrecy for. I just hope you had a clause for this in the contract.”

“I did. They have to refund half of the purchase price up front and they have a decade to unload the rest, before owing me the rest with them eating half of any loss. As for letting you handle it, you will likely need to look outside Colorado now.”

“I know. Just give me access to what we need and I will handle the rest.”

“Are you two going to come to dinner now?” asked Sam, looking annoyed.

“Sorry, everyone, Kate and I just kind of got lost in the details.”

“It’s okay,” cooed Mia.

“Yeah, seeing you work was fun,” teased Ava.

“I will say it is nice to have an actual challenge when negotiating,” quipped Kate.

“I just wish you hadn’t stirred the pot right when we entered the room.”

“Oh, I knew who they were and making them never want to do business with us ever again is the best move we could make.”

“I’m just glad you both were able to get on the same page,” commented Nicole with a sigh.

Alex just smiled as he gave Nicole a kiss, followed with a quick “I love you,” before hurrying to get some food before returning to ED.

Day 267 passed uneventfully for Xeal as he finished catching up on guild work and working in the forge. It was during this day that he was informed that his presence would be required in the palace on day 269, by the king. When Xeal logged in on day 268, however, he found himself needing to get going right away, as it was the day he and Mari would be visiting her mother to inform her of their choice. Xeal didn’t expect there to be any issues, but he also expected that Lady Sakurai would want to get to work at once on the planning. It was still early in the morning when Xeal met up with Mari as they left for the Muthia Empire. However, once they arrived, it was already the early evening and they made their way to the palace to have dinner. Once there, they were led to a table set for three and they only had to wait for a few minutes before Mari’s mother, the empress of the Muthia empire, entered, wearing an elegant green dress.

“Xeal, Mari, I am glad to see that you both made it out, even if you are a week late.”

“I apologize, Lady Sakurai. I was otherwise occupied with my duties.”

“Xeal, I am aware. It is just now I don’t know if a wedding can be put together if you two wish to proceed.”

“Mother, we both know that you have already started the process in the background.”

“Mari, you don’t know that.”

“Mother, you have been telling anyone who will listen that Xeal had given me this jewelry and I was wearing it happily, after hesitating at first. I exchange letters with more than just you when your carrier comes each week.”

“Fine, so have you fallen in love then?”

“Xeal and I have not yet reached that point.”

“So, it was all for naught then,” she sighed. “I will not push things and I will simply accept that it was not to be.”

“Mother, we still intend to marry.”

“Really, but I thought he would only agree if he loved you.”

“Lady Sakurai, Mari and I have agreed that things are heading that way and want things to work out.”

“Though I have a simple condition. If the day comes where I no longer wish to be in Xeal’s presence and retire to a quiet place to live out the rest of my life, it will not be seen as an insult.”

“Mari, a wife’s place is with her husband, as his place is next to her.”

“Lady Sakurai, we are aware and agree with that statement. However, we both feel that with reality being what it is, that it would be best if the option was available as the alternative would be worse.”

“You are speaking of the ripple effect it could have with your other wives if she were to become discontented.”

“Yes, and I would do the same for any of my wives.”

“I see, though I expect her to still make appearances when expected.”

“I will be fine with that, Mother.”

“Alright, let’s eat and talk more about what needs to be done and…”

Xeal smiled as he and Mari sat across from her mother as she launched into full wedding planning mode with glee. By the time dinner was done, Xeal had heard enough about all the different flowers that would be available and color patterns to last a lifetime. Yet he knew that he would likely need to sit through several more dinners like this before the weddings were over. He was just happy that Gale and Aalin had told him that he would just need to show up and do as they say, for theirs. He had been so relieved that he had willfully ignored the smiles they both wore. For all he cared, they could dress him up in a pink polka-dotted suit and have him say his lines in a language he didn’t know, if it meant he could avoid the planning. From what he knew of the other ladies, each of them were already working on the preliminary details, though as nobles a good portion of it was already set in stone. Still, Xeal was sure they would each want to add a bit of their own touch to things, as for them it was a very important day.

Once dinner was over and they had bid Mari’s mother farewell, they returned to Nium where Xeal spent the whole day overhauling his equipment for the first time in a long while. As he looked over his options, Xeal found himself torn between dealing with a slightly inferior product that his guild’s crafters were making, or overpaying in the noble district. Either way would be a massive shift and improvement, as he was going to completely refocus his gear for dungeon diving, instead of the all-around set that he had been dealing with since he had last upgraded before his tier-5 trial. This meant that he could go for an armor combination that ignored charisma. Also, now that he was level 100, he could access accessories that made what he had been using look like garbage. After giving it some thought, Xeal decided that he would need to get an outfit for his summons with the king and he would pick one that gave the best boost to charisma he could find in the noble district. This way he could just switch to it when he was preparing for any negotiations.

Xeal had Ignis, Amet, Clara, Aalin and Gale all meet him as well, as he figured that they all could upgrade their gear while he was at it. When they arrived, they all looked like they were ready to have some fun, as only Gale and Aalin could shop here at will and both had been gone so long that they hadn’t had a chance to do so. By this point, Xeal had already picked up his plus-100 charisma outfit as it wasn’t hard to find and he was ready for their first stop. In reality, it was two stores that were right next to each other. One focused on melee weaponry and the other on wands, rods, staves and the like that were used by magic classes. In a normal area of town, these two stores would be in separate districts as they would be grouped with other stores that targeted the same type of client. However, in the capital’s noble district, the focus was convenience for the party as a whole and so it would be the same for armor and accessories.

Xeal, Amet, Clara all went into the melee store, while Ignis, Gale and Aalin went into the magic store. Xeal looked at all of the one-handed swords to see what would be his best option to replace the pair that he was using now. Both of his current swords gave him a 25-point boost to dexterity, and one added 25 points to his strength, while the other added 35 points to his SP (Skill point) stat. Normally he would have gone for the extra strength on both, but due to all the points he had been investing in charisma, his SP had fallen behind. As that was still the case, Xeal was looking at doing the same and was happy when he found what he was looking for in a pair of swords that would add 35 dexterity each, and one added 35 strength, while the other added 45 SP. While neither were the absolute best as neither had a magic effect, such as adding cold damage, Xeal made up for that with his elemental blades skill, and the cost to have a sword have the same effect would turn these 100-gold-piece blades into 400-gold-piece blades. For a level 100 weapon, it was a waste of gold as he would be replacing them before he reached tier-6 either way, and he would be lucky to get half their value at that point. Clara had found herself a nice new two-handed broadsword and Amet had a shiny new pair of axes.

When they met up with the other three, they found that they had each upgraded as well. Aalin wielded a new wand that was made from mithril and a royal-blue gem, such that the entirety of the wand had a swirl pattern. Ignis and Gale had both replaced their staves, with Ignis wielding a metal one that was completely red and had a clear gem at its top. Gale’s, on the other hand, was made from four pieces of wood that had been intertwined in a spiral until they reached the top, where they were split into smaller strains and woven into an orb of Celtic knots that encased a green gem. Xeal could tell from a single glance that Gale had gotten the highest-classed item of any of them, though he frowned as he knew it was an experience item that would grow with use from how brittle it looked and the dimness of the gem.

“Gale, why did you get an experience item?”

“Oh, well, I figured that we will be hitting all of these dungeons and we may want to stall our growth at level 104 and it just spoke to me. Besides, I can get it to level 85 in the time it would take me to reach level 101. Surely a single level won’t kill me.”

“It won’t, but the six or seven it will take to get it to level 100 might,” replied Xeal.

“Xeal, we were talking about it and Gale and I agree that we should have all of our core members start developing experience items once they reach level 100, with the goal of having a full set ready for use when they face their tier-7 challenge,” interjected Aalin.

“Oh, and why is that?”

“You said it yourself. That they are the best gear out there and only orichalcum-level and up crafters can create it. Yes, that means that it is going to cost an arm and a leg, but we think it will be worth it in the long run. After all, if it increases the rate of first-time passes on both tier-6 and tier-7, it will cause us to consolidate power nicely.”

“Aalin, you would be right if it wasn’t for two points. It is much more efficient to level experience items the higher level you are to a certain extent, and they are crutches. With the rare exceptions like Luna’s and Selene’s bracelets, if you use them during your tier-6 trial, it will only make passing your tier-7 trial that much harder. The only tier up I would say anyone should use them on would be for tier-8. Still, using them to avoid leveling past the current dungeons you are diving is a good idea, if they can afford and find their own. I take it that was the only one you found in that shop.”

“Yes, which was part of why I splurged and got it,” responded Gale.

“Do you still have enough to replace the rest of your gear?”

“Um, no. Aalin and I kind of went through all of our gold just now.”

Xeal just shook his head as he handed each of them 500 gold and told them to make it last, as they moved onto the next stop which was armor. Xeal’s current armor was a simple setup that was great, but nothing special. It focused on boosting his constitution, while also supplementing his charisma and SP. Xeal’s focus this time was for armor that increased his dexterity while still providing a boost to SP, and didn’t boost his constitution any less than his current set did. As he looked through the wide variety, he finally landed on a brigandine armor set that was perfect, as it would allow him to switch out the pauldrons for each shoulder to shift the focus for the gear. The main chestpiece was completely focused on constitution and dexterity, as the vest style of the armor left his arms completely free to move. For the pauldrons, Xeal selected a pair that would increase his constitution and SP, and he added a pair of bracers that added a bit more in both as well. Finally, Xeal added a pair of pants that were strategically reinforced with metal plates in key areas while not hindering movement, increasing his dexterity and constitution further. Altogether, the set cost 500 gold and provided 80 constitution, 40 dexterity and 40 SP.

When everyone was done, Xeal smiled at the changes that each of them had undergone in their appearance. Amet had gone with a full set of plate mail with chainmail joints and an open face helmet, that allowed for him to get right into the thick of things and take hits without losing too much mobility. Next, Clara had also gone with a segmented armor that had white fur between each segment, which created a beautiful, layered look with the polished silver of the armor. Ignis was still in a red robe, but it had a bit of gold trim and was made out of steel silk, which was both light and highly resistant to being pierced. As far as robes for level 100 players, steel silk was among the best materials that were available, as no tailor would waste anything so precious on anything being sold like this for under tier-6 equipment. Xeal knew that if he wanted to pay more than was realistic, he could get a mithril silk robe made, as rich nobles would do such things all the time, but it would be beyond a waste. Ignis also wore leather gloves that offered a bit of protection and wouldn’t interfere with his casting, and a sturdy pair of pants that offered decent protection for a cloth armor class.

Xeal had to smile when he saw Gale and Aalin as he could tell they both had ignored his request to make the 1,000 last, as if they knew that he would buy them whatever they liked in the next shop. Xeal had to quietly admit that they weren’t wrong as he took in the sight of them in their new armor. Aalin wore a blue robe, transitioning from a dark blue, to ice blue at the bottom and ends of its sleeves, and had a silver trim and was clearly focused on ice magic. She also had thin white gloves that went all the way to her elbows and a matching pair of boots, that could only stay clean in a video game, on her feet. The confidence she showed made the whole look come together as she smiled at Xeal. Gale, on the other hand, looked like she had completely changed her style. Gone was the mix of chain mail and white fur that had been her default style before, and in its place was a mix of dark leather and steel, with Nordic symbols drawn on them. Her torso was covered by a single piece made of leather, that included a skirt made of leather strips that covered to her mid-thigh, at which point a pair of leather shorts became visible. That was until they vanished into her boots, which came above the knee and were segmented steel that allowed full range of movement. Her armor that covered her torso, also incorporated a formfitting metal portion that covered her chest, before transitioning back to leather. Each of her arms had bracers and pauldrons that shared an aesthetic design with her boots and the metal portion of her torso armor, with a bit of white fur at the joints. Finally, a forehead protector with the same aesthetic of every other metal portion of the armor, that was keeping her beautiful long red hair out of her face, completed the look.

“So, do you like it?” asked Gale teasingly.

“Yes, though I can tell you and Nicole didn’t hold back.”

“What? We thought that was just for our armor. After all, we will all be going to the same shop for accessories.”

The smile Gale was giving Xeal just made him shake his head as Aalin spoke next.

“It’s not like we are wasting the gold. These both will last us until we attempt to reach tier-6, at which point we will reassess.”

“I know, and I have the gold to spare, thanks to completing my latest quest. I was just hoping that I could make it last a bit longer.”

“Xeal, you act like you don’t roll over and find more gold than most players ever see,” interjected Clara. “Honestly, it’s like the game wants you to break the balance and rule over everything. You bring in on your own more excess gold than a few hundred of our best players do for the guild to use.”

“Yet it is still insignificant when compared to what our top crafters are starting to do.”

“Ha, none of them would be half as far as they are right now, without the massive investment you made on them from the start that has just kept cascading this whole time. Honestly, it is a bit terrifying. Though most of them have still been asking for us to increase the amount of raw materials they have access to,” replied Clara.

“Ha, FAE will never provide our crafters enough materials for them to focus solely on crafting. It would stunt their development in the long run, as they need to go out and struggle against monsters and develop into decent adventurers as well. Otherwise, none of them will reach tier-7 and reap the benefits of the increase in stats and reaction time. Now, let’s move on to our final stop of the day so we can call it a day and I can assess the damage to my wallet.”

Xeal said the last part while smiling at Gale and Aalin, who both smiled back as they each took one of his arms. While he wasn’t sure, Xeal felt like the pair were reaffirming his feelings for them after the extravagant date that he had taken the twins on, as he had yet to do anything quite as big with them. Still, he didn’t mind and he was sure that they knew it was more of a time and opportunity thing, especially with them around 22 weeks along in reality. At the same time, he made a mental note to spend more time being affectionate with them in reality, even if it meant Kate and the twins were slightly neglected due to it.

As Xeal was thinking about this, they arrived at the accessory shop and split up to find what they needed. When it came to experience items, this was the easiest place to find them, as accessories were the most common form such items took at this point in the game. Xeal was looking to replace everything other than his Belt of the Mountain, that gave him a ten percent boost to his strength. While this was only 12 points right now, it was still way better than the five he was getting from each of his other eight items that he was currently using. While players could equip magic items in a variety of slots, they could only use one for every ten levels they gained rounded up, plus one. This was why Xeal had been able to equip nine of them before he took on his tier-5 challenge, and could use 11 now.

Most players would just add rings at this stage of the game as they were the easiest to find and would fill ten of the slots, before picking up a single item like a belt, or head band, for the last one. There was also the option to grab effect-type items for these slots, like if Xeal had picked up a magic weapon, or armor. With all of this in mind, Xeal looked at everything that wasn’t a ring, before deciding on the ten items that he would go with, for a total cost of 1,900 gold, making his pockets lighter. Especially after Gale and Aalin spent the same and he had to dip into the funds he had gotten from curing Dyllis’s mother, who he would be seeing at his next date with Dyllis, as it was to be a family gathering. Still, Xeal was equipped with two bracelets, chest wrap, boots, knee braces, and a necklace with five charms attached to it. Xeal had gone for full stat boost as he didn’t like any of the effect items at this level, as they would only have a few charges at most each day and wouldn’t be as useful as a ten-point increase in any stat. Altogether, Xeal added ten attribute points to his constitution, 20 to his dexterity and SP, and 40 to his MP, for a grand total of 90 points.

Once everyone was done, they compared their equipment and Aalin smiled as she played with the experience item she had chosen. It was a simple necklace that could project a force shield, that would grow into one of the best protective items once it was developed. However, as it currently was at level zero, its shield would break instantly if the wind blew on it. As for Xeal, the necklace that he had chosen was an experience item as well, and while it didn’t provide bonuses right now, it would become one of the best items he could ask for. While it started out with only four slots and didn’t boost anything, it would do both as it leveled up, with it maxing out at ten slots and a 30% boost of all attached charms. It added 0.1% of a boost per level and was a wasted slot currently, but once it was fully leveled, it would be like having an extra three items. If he had the ten slots filled with experience items as well, the cascading of the effect could be extremely overwhelming. Xeal could only smile as it had clearly been worth the 1,000 gold it had cost him and he couldn’t wait to use it.

Each of the other three had also gotten a single experience item on Xeal’s tab. Amet got a bull rush charm that could be used once a day per ten levels, and slightly increased its speed and damage with each level. Ignis had gotten a blink charm that would allow him to use it to move to any spot that he could see and had a clear path to, instantly. Once again, it was junk in its current form, as it had a range equal to one foot per three levels and one use per day per ten levels, plus a base of one. Lastly, Clara had gotten a headband that would create a force shield only around her head that was transparent, save for a bit of blue tint. The advantage to it over a regular helmet was that it would redirect the force completely and could even be used to breathe underwater for a short while. Once again, it was an item that would take time to exploit completely, as it needed to reach level 100 before it would even be worth using.

With their shopping done and nothing pressing, Xeal decided that he should enjoy a bit of a date with Gale and Aalin before returning to the forge for the night. The trio enjoyed themselves a bit more in the noble district shops as Xeal took them both dress shopping, reminding him of the first time he had taken them out in reality. He could still remember their reactions to him not worrying about the cost as they had looked out of place among the jewelry and dresses that could cost more than what their parents made in a month, or two. Now the pair could spend over a million credits worth of gold and not even register that it had been expensive. At the same time, Xeal knew that he could crash the market if he dumped all of his extra gold on to the market right now as it was worth over 40 million, so he wasn’t too worried as he needed to spend it. A few hours later, the three had enjoyed some food and finished buying dresses that could be used for formal events, to include the summons tomorrow. During all this, both ladies enjoyed joking about how they would soon lose their status as baronesses due to marrying Xeal, while he just smiled and teased them back. When Xeal made it to the royal forging room, he was joined by Eira, who looked bored as she watched him work, and continued to play around with learning to smith herself as they talked.

“So, you are going to basically be spending over a month without adventuring with us.”

“Yeah, I plan to freeze my level at 104 during the dungeon dives using this as well.” Xeal gestured to his necklace as he talked before continuing, and as he did, he pulled out 4,000 gold and handed it to Eira. “Take this and the four of you should ask Enye to send a royal guard with you and find an experience item of your own, along with Rina, Alea and Bula.”

“I take it you want us to reach 104 as well and stop our progress there as well.”

“That would be the idea. I can’t have you all getting too far ahead of me and it will be a good opportunity to get us all on the same level, though it may be bit of a stretch to get Alea and Rina caught up so quickly.”

“Nah, I will just introduce them to Ceclie and have her act as our safety while we dive to an appropriate area of the Vault of Ucnuc.”

“Are you trying to get them to end the treaty before it has even been in effect for a week?”

“No, but I wouldn’t mind ensuring that they don’t want to fall for you.”

“Right, hmm, let me warn them first, but I am good with the idea. If anyone can get you all to level 104 by the time I am done, it would be Ceclie. Though I do worry that she may go a bit overboard with Rina and Alea and push the boundary on what is allowed, so I will have to be specific.”

Eira laughed happily with perhaps a bit of a dark note to it at Xeal’s approval, while Xeal just thought that she needed to be careful about what she wished for. With that topic covered, the pair continued to chat until it was time to call it a night and they headed back to Xeal’s mansion as they each went to their own rooms. Xeal had been happy when Eira didn’t push things now that they had returned and it wasn’t her birthday. He knew that she would be there when he awoke at the start of any login, but there would be issues if she tried to cuddle with him every night that he actually was sleeping in his own bed.

Day 269 was a busy one with him expected at the palace by mid-morning, and knew that it would likely not be a short and simple visit, as unlike rising to viscount, reaching earl was a fair bit more involved. In Xeal’s last life, he had only known a few dozen players who had risen to that level, and none that had done so with a hereditary title. From what the information he could remember from Twilight Sky’s archives on the topic, it seemed only two or three players per country could hold the rank, and only a few in all of ED had achieved the rank and held hereditary rights as well. Xeal did have something in common with each of these in that he was marrying a princess, though none of them had managed to marry three, from what he knew. In fact, Xeal only knew of ten cases of any players even triggering a marry a prince or princess quest, and only seven had succeeded, though four of them had ended up on the run when their kingdoms fell. How those four turned out was better left unsaid and Xeal needed to ensure that he didn’t end up in the same boat. It was with these thoughts going through his head that Xeal passed the morning while taking care of paperwork and other important tasks. This included recalling the teenage nobles who were training under him and assigning them to different groups of players, who would be good fits for them to level with for the next month or so.

When Xeal was led into the room where King Vincent Vidfamne sat alone awaiting him, he was stopped from performing any of the normal etiquette. Instead, Xeal was directed to sit across from the king, who looked especially pensive while measuring up Xeal. Xeal took note of the fact that King Vincent Vidfamne looked far more tired than he had the last few times that he had seen him. Xeal wondered just how difficult the last ten months had been for him as Prince Victor worked to consolidate power behind his ascension to king. Still, Prince Victor hadn’t seemed too concerned over things, so he had believed that everything was still fine before today.

“Xeal, in here we will not talk as king and subject, or father and soon to be son-in-law. No, in here we will talk plainly as two men who care about the future of this kingdom and what our visions are in that regard, as well as what we will do to achieve them.”

“Very well, Vincent, though I believe I have been clear on what my vision is many times in the past.”

“Yes, exceedingly so, and it has won you many supporters and a few enemies among the kingdom’s nobles, though I would say your main enemies would be outside of our borders.”

“Fear of what others will think only causes hesitation where there should be none.”

“So, you don’t care how others see you.”

“No, I care, I just don’t fear it. When I act, I do consider if my actions will cause others to seek my destruction, but I do not let the possibility of it stop me when I believe my actions are for the best.”

“I see, that does line up with your results. Do you know that the main reason Victor has had such an easy time consolidating power is due to your actions?”

“I had figured that they would help, but I am sure there are other factors.”

“Yes, but they are minor compared to bringing the orcs, beast-men and elves into an alliance with Nium, that has the potential to be the reason that we will be the ones to win the war that is to come.”

“The war that is to come will not be so easily won, Vincent. I fully expect it to be so bloody that many of those who partake in it to never be the same. Noble houses will fall and new houses will rise. Whole lineages will disappear and nothing will ever be the same.”

“And Victor tells me that you believe our nation will have the easiest time of those who will survive the conflict.”

“Yes. We will have two or three dark years, while the others will never know more than a momentary peace for at least 45 years.”

“And this is because of you?”

“No, it is because all three kingdoms hate each other and would sooner spite themselves than work together in a mutually beneficial way. It will mean that when Habia and Paidhia are ready to work together, that it will be too late for them to survive.”

“I see and if they surrendered, how would you handle it?”

“That is too vague and situational, depending on the circumstances of said surrender.”

“Would you support Victor taking a wife from each, and with the wedding becoming king of all of their lands?”

Xeal blinked for a while as he thought it over before responding.

“No, I would not. It would be too easy for it to be a trap designed to kill Victor. Whether before, or after, an heir was born is open for debate. No contract would stop a woman willing to sacrifice her life.”

“You value Victor’s life over the countless that will die in the war?”

“Yes, as the chaos that would follow his death would likely claim more and force me to do what I never want to have to do.”

“Take the crown for yourself?”

“No, force your nation to bow to Enye while I find a suitable replacement.”

“You truly have no desire to rule. It is this trait that is the source of most of the distrust other nobles have in you.”

“I am aware that of the eight marquess houses, there are likely more like the Mercers than the Bexleys. It is also why they must be the absolute example of what it means to serve and why they will be the most devastated by the war.”

“Yes, and I must thank you for convincing Victor to accept Nora. While they have kept it quiet, I believe they will make an excellent match for the time ahead of us. That said, we have drifted off topic and need to return…”

The next two hours saw Xeal and King Vincent Vidfamne discuss various hypotheticals and needs of the kingdom. Xeal had no issue answering anything, though he did need to take some time to think for a few of the questions. When Xeal had answered the last question, King Vincent Vidfamne smiled as he spoke his next words.

“Xeal, I must say that I doubt Victor could have answered as satisfactorily as you. The fact that you had no issue telling me your answers, even when you knew that they were not what I wished to hear, speak well of your ability to be my son’s right-hand man. While the path that the two of you walk will definitely be full of danger, both from our enemies and those who claim to be a friend, I expect you two to be fine. Though I do have one selfish request of you, if you will hear it.”

“Vincent, while I make no promises, I will always hear what you have to say.”

“Thank you. If possible, please try and avoid the end of the royal families of Habia and Paidhia, even if it is just a young child that you adopt and raise yourself. I do not wish to see either line end.”

“You are envisioning if you were them should we be the kingdom that falls.”

“Yes. I know that I am seeding an enemy in my own house, but I can’t help but feel sentimental about the struggles we have had over the centuries.”

“I will not promise anything as I can’t be assured to even have the chance to take such actions, but I will attempt to fulfill your request.”

“Thank you. Now I believe that we have a ceremony that is set to start soon.”

“Yes, I suppose that we don’t want to keep them all waiting on us.”

Xeal and King Vincent Vidfamne stood as they exited from separate doors, knowing that as they left, they returned to being king and subject. As Xeal made his way to the waiting area outside the throne room, that the guard that had waited the full time for their conversation to conclude took him to, he found Aalin and Gale already waiting with several other nobles. Xeal knew that only the marquesses and the king were allowed in, as they discussed things amongst themselves one last time before Xeal became an earl. He also knew that Enye, Dyllis, Mari and Lingxin would be summoned just before and would likely watch the ceremony from a balcony to the side, like Prince Victor would. 15 minutes after Xeal had arrived, the doors opened and everyone but Xeal was permitted to enter, and he looked around at the nobles who had come and saw many familiar faces. He could see many from the parents of the teenagers that he had taken in and a few others that he had interacted with, to include Baron Ulric and Viscount Weawen. Finally, after everyone, to include Gale and Aalin, had entered, Xeal was called forth and he confidently strode inside to answer the call. Once he was before the king, Xeal knelt and awaited the king’s judgment.

“Today, we are here for a rare occasion, as a viscount has been found worthy to rise to earl. I believe all of you are aware of Viscount Bluefire and his accolades that have brought much benefit to our kingdom, as well as a bit of trouble. He was the first of the adventurers that have come to our land to become a knight. He handed us control of the forts on our borders with Habia and Paidhia with only minor aid from the kingdom. He has brought us into an alliance with the orcs, beast-men and elves, expanding our lands in the process. He has taken many of our young children under his wing as he guides them into becoming a firm foundation for the future of our lands. While I could go on, I believe the point has been made and unless there are any who have cause to object to this promotion, we will proceed to make it official.”

As the king paused, Xeal kept his eyes down where they belonged, as he knew that it would break decorum to do otherwise. During this pause, each second felt more like ten as he wondered if any of the houses that had been pulled into the auction trap, or Marquess Mercer, would make a move. Yet the king continued after ten seconds without any voices in objection being raised and Xeal could hear the king approaching him as he spoke.

“Viscount Xeal Bluefire, having no objections raised and having found you worthy, I, King Vincent Vidfamne of Nium, do grant you the title of earl. Now, stand and be recognized, Earl Xeal Bluefire.”

Xeal got to his feet, and after bowing his head to the king who now stood three feet from him, turned to take in the room. Other than the frown on Marquess Mercer’s face, Xeal didn’t find any other faces that showed discontentment. This didn’t mean that there wasn’t a few who were unhappy, as any halfway decent noble of the lower ranks knew how to nod and smile, while thinking about how to make you die without a burial. Xeal knew that he had just crossed that border and become a single step from the highest he could rise without toppling the current ruler. While he would soon be a duke that would be considered above a marquess, it was a title that just afforded a bit of extra protection without any real power, the marquesses only answered to the king, and perhaps the crown prince when it was clear that he would soon become king. That meant that while marrying Enye would make him a duke, his house would still just be that of an earl. While the land that he was set to rule over would be enough to justify a ninth marquess and he would be ruling like one for the most part, he would still need to earn the rank before he would be treated like one. However, Xeal was unsure if he would ever want to be promoted to that level, as it would require him to spend far more of his time dealing with court politics, and he didn’t want to get pulled into that anytime soon. Xeal completed a slow turn before facing King Vincent Vidfamne once more, and bowing his head to await the conclusion of the ceremony.

“Today is a day for celebration. Our kingdom has fostered the rise of a great house whose potential has still yet to be fully seen. It is also my joy that my daughter Enye will marry into this house in a few months’ time. This year’s Founding Day will truly be one for the history books!”

With the king’s words, the room was full of applause as all those present came forward to congratulate Xeal. Once the crowd had filtered through, Xeal found himself being shuffled off to the ballroom where a banquet had been set up and many of the families of the nobles that had been in the room for the ceremony were present as well. The main reason most of them were here and not the throne room, was due to only those who held noble titles and those linked to the one being promoted were allowed to be present for the ceremony. This was to ensure that a son, or wife, of a noble that lacked the ability to bite their tongue if they disliked the noble being promoted to earl and above, wouldn’t carelessly speak. Xeal smiled, as he remembered having to greet all of the guests when he was being introduced as a baron over a year ago to all of the nobles. Now he was being introduced as an earl and he had gone from the lowest standing among the guests, to just below the top in rank and influence. Still, when he heard the music start and saw Enye stand before him, Xeal smiled as he ignored the rest of the world, with a few exceptions in the form of the five other ladies that he would soon marry as well. The smile Enye wore as Xeal took her hand and started to dance was perfect in Xeal’s eyes.

“How does it feel to know that, short of a disaster, that you will be stuck with me for the rest of my life in a few months’ time?”

“Who will be stuck with who now? I mean, you’re not the one who has managed to find ten likely brides and be about to marry six of them.”

“Yes, and I suspect that you are not quite done. I just wonder if you will hit your limit of 19, or manage to stop before then.”

“I am never going to escape that comment, am I?”

“No, though we are hoping that you get there slowly, if you do, now.”

“How about just not getting there and just enjoying the ten that I have already?”

“That would be fine, if you can avoid Rina and Alea, as well as the others that already have you in their sights and are just waiting for a chance to act.”

“Isn’t that where my first wife comes in and ensures that a chance doesn’t materialize for them to act?”

“Yes, though I expect there will be only so much I can do as you have a way of picking up women wherever you go.”

“I am aware, though marrying you should offer me decent protection from any more princesses seeking my hand at least.”

“Now we just need to buy some fox repellent and introduce Rina and Alea to Ceclie, and you will only have to worry about the noble houses of the world pushing a daughter towards you.”

“Eira is going to handle introducing them to Ceclie tomorrow.”

“You are too heartless. You’re not even going to be present to defend yourself, and they think so highly of you.”

“And are you in the camp that hopes that they court me?”

“No, I am neutral on them specifically.”

“Alright, now let’s shift topics as this dance is ours and it is already half over.”

“Hmm, tell me about what it was like to see the elven lands…”

Xeal and Enye enjoyed the lighter topic as they continued to dance into the next song, using the excuse that she was going to be his first wife to justify making the others wait. Once the second song was over, Xeal found himself dancing with Lingxin, followed by Mari, Dyllis, Aalin and Gale, before other ladies began to approach him for a dance of their own. This included Queen Eleanor and several of her friends, all of whom enjoyed chatting about the rumors and stories they had heard about Xeal with him. A few of them even asked him if he would be interested in meeting their daughters, to which he politely declined, though he could tell that not all of them had given up. Once he was done with all of them, Xeal found himself dancing through his six soon to be brides once more, before the banquet came to an end and he returned to his mansion to allow sleep to overtake him as he had his auto-logout set.

(*****)

February 13, 2267 & ED year 2 days 270-272.

The morning of the 13th was another normal day for everyone but Alex and Kate, who had both logged out early and left with one of Kate’s bodyguards and Gido, who was currently acting as their driver. They had been in the SUV since 5:20 in the morning and by the time everyone else was waking up, they had arrived at their destination after just over an hour of driving. Of course, the pair had enjoyed sharing the back seat as they talked during the drive up the mountain that Alex had paid to have open early just for them this morning. As Gido had pulled to the summit of Pikes Peak, it was still dark as the four of them got out of the vehicle. Gido and the bodyguard wasted no time in removing a padded blanket and cooler from the back, while using the headlights as a light source, he quickly had everything set up for them to enjoy the sunrise while eating breakfast. Kate didn’t hesitate to take a seat in Alex’s lap, making it difficult for him to eat the fruit and cold cuts that made up their meal. Though he was enjoying the warmth of her body and his thermos of tea just fine, as the first rays of light started to peek above the horizon.

“So, what made you choose to have our first real date be sitting on a freezing mountaintop enjoying a cold breakfast?”

“I just wanted to make sure that you wouldn’t even think about not sitting in my lap.”

“Oh, really? You know that I have already claimed this spot when it is just us. You didn’t need to go this far,” stated Kate smugly as she snuggled in closer.

“I know but, I just thought I should make it clear just how much I enjoy it.”

“Fair, and I must say that I do enjoy the view from up here and it is nice to just do nothing like this from time to time.”

“You’re already finding yourself thinking up different plans that you want to try out on the latest fools to come to make a deal,” commented Alex with a slight chuckle in his voice.

“What? It’s not my fault that they will all be working for FAE in another year and a half. I didn’t tell them to sign a contract with us. All I did was offer them a deal that got them what they want and trapped them into being cannon fodder when the war starts.”

“Most of them didn’t even realize that’s what is meant by ‘sustain endeavors in times of constraint to ensure continued production post constraint’.”

“That’s not my fault, as a war with the two other countries on our continent would put constraint on us and we will require their support at that time to sustain the endeavors that we have in place. What better time to call on them all? Besides, they will have the option to cancel the contract after they fulfill their responsibility after we call on them once and the constraint had been resolved,” countered Kate in a faux innocent tone.

“You’re hopeless, you know,” retorted Alex.

“Yes, but what does that say about you.”

“That I am beyond hope.”

Alex just smiled at Kate as the pair enjoyed the moment as the sun rose and lit up the clouds above and the snow below, as the world started to wake up. They sat there idly chatting until 7:30, when it was time for them to drive down the mountain and return home before the first visitors of the day could make it up the mountain. Kate enjoyed having Alex alone for the drive back as well, as she talked about the different ideas she had that she wanted to try. For Alex’s part, he smiled and used what he could remember of how some of them had turned out by those that had tried some of them, to give her feedback. He also put a few ideas that had worked out very well in his last life into her head as well for her to ponder. Still, Alex knew that execution mattered more than just how good of an idea something might be. Many of the best plans that he had made in his last life had fallen apart simply due to others not following direction, or stabbing him in the back.

“What’s wrong, Alex? We were just plotting and now I feel like you’re upset about something.”

“Sorry, was just thinking about how great plans can fall apart due to others not following through, like Eternal Valhalla did with the trade deal I had offered them.”

“Those idiots. Honestly, they really ruined their future when they bent to the pressure.”

“True. Still, I wouldn’t have been able to recruit Geitir had they not ruined my original plans.”

It was after this comment that they arrived back home, with just enough time to greet everyone before logging back into ED. That evening was a relaxed night as Kate shared the gist of her date with the others, before returning to ED once more.

As Xeal awoke on day 270, the first thing he did was see Eira, Bula, Rina and Alea off as they set off for their training in the Vault of Ucnuc under Ceclie. Xeal gave Alea and Rina a vague explanation on who Ceclie was and how she was in service to him due to rescuing her from a terrible fate. He left out the fact that she was a dark elf as he knew that it would likely lead to a back and forth that he didn’t have time for. Once they had set off, Xeal wasted no time in heading to meet up with Aalin, Gale, Amet, Ignis, and Clara for the first dungeon that they planned on clearing. It had been a few days since his guild members had started to challenge dungeons to see what to expect, and a few had managed to clear the normal modes and gain decent rewards. After that, some had moved onto trying out hard mode, but none had been able to clear that stage and the couple who had tried out hell, or nightmare mode dungeons, had said no way. This was because while it would only take a day if a team was exceptionally slow to complete these dungeons, it was far harder than walking the nightmare to reach tier-5, until you knew what you needed to do. The first dungeon that Xeal and his friends intended to clear was the only level 100 to 104 dungeon in the kingdom to have a hellish nightmare mode. It was also the most profitable. If it wasn’t for the fact that the first clear of any other hell, or nightmare mode, dungeon would be worth more, Xeal would have them rerun this dungeon over and over until they all reached level 105 and had to move to the next tier of dungeons.

When Xeal met up with the rest, they wasted no time in heading out of the capital’s gates and walking for around a half hour until they came to a stone archway. The archway would have looked like it was part of some long-forgotten ruin, were it not for the black abyss that filled it. Setups like this one were common for these dungeons, but so were caves, trap doors and all sorts of other entrances. Discovering them was the first step, as very few NPCs could point you to one, even though most were kept track of by any kingdom’s nobles, especially for the ones that were in their territories. Still, there were some in remote areas that would only be located by hard work, though Xeal wasn’t concerned with the hidden ones at this point, as they were all meant for tier-6 and up players. While Xeal was thinking about all of the dungeons he could remember running, Ignis spoke up.

“So, are we going to stand here staring at it all day, or are we going to go for it?”

“Sorry, was just thinking about how I want to approach the pace of these dungeons. Everyone set your experience to go entirely to your experience item until it reaches level 80. Once it does, we will focus on our own levels until we hit 104. At that point, we will need to level up our items again.”

“Alright, now let’s go before Ignis chickens out,” quipped Amet.

“Hey, if anyone’s a chicken here, it’s you, Amet. After all, who was talking about how their girlfriend was a better tank than they are?”

“Alright you two, we get it, you are bitter that you don’t have a special mark, or blessing, that boosts your stats. Now get over it, or find your own,” retorted Clara.

Xeal just smiled as he selected the max level and hellish nightmare mode, turning the color of the abyss into a swirl of red and purple, before stepping into the archway and disappearing. When the others saw this, they quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind, and as the last of them stepped through, the abyss returned to normal. As Xeal entered the dungeon, he quickly smiled as he took note of the frigid environment that was already causing him to feel sluggish. Xeal knew that a normal player would see their health start to drop after being exposed to this cold for around an hour, and it would be enough to kill them without support items, or a healer, after around five hours. This was only exacerbated by the fact that most players wouldn’t be able to recover much stamina from resting in the few safe areas where players could recover their MP and SP, at the cost of allowing the chill to continue to weaken them. Once everyone was through, Xeal wasted no time in setting things in motion.

“Aalin, see if you can use your ice manipulation to push the cold away from us. Ignis, keep your strongest fire spell at the ready. Clara, Amet, guard our front. I’ll take the back. Last, but not least, Gale, keep us alive and keep your eyes open for anything out of the norm.”

In the next moment, everyone went to work as the chill quickly became much lighter, but was still present. Clara and Amet moved to the front with Gale behind them, followed by Aalin and Ignis. Xeal was in the back, though he would be switching out with Amet, or Clara, as needed, and was about to give the order to move out when Aalin spoke.

“Xeal, I can push it away slightly, but it is fighting me. I doubt I can hold this and be useful in a fight.”

“That’s fine. Don’t worry about keeping it at bay when we are in battle, just keep it away when we are not killing things.”

“Alright.”

With that they were off, and it wasn’t long before they were in their first fight as four level 104 monsters charged at the group. Before the four frozen trolls could reach Amet and Clara, a massive fireball engulfed them, followed by a dragon’s breath attack from Xeal, and lastly Aalin hit them with a slow spell as her strongest attacks were all ice type and would only be slightly effective here. Still, the four trolls weren’t going to fall so easily and Clara and Amet charged to cut them off, as Ignis and Xeal focused on the one to the far left. Xeal knew that this was the dungeon luring them into a false sense of security, as these four trolls would at best take them a few minutes to kill with their formation. However, the issue was the accumulation of small cuts as they burned through their MP and SP pools, and would need to recover at every opportunity. Xeal had remembered the rule from his last life when it came to this dungeon on max difficulty, of if you couldn’t clear it in four hours, you should just use a return scroll and escape. This was due to the fact that at that point, players would have no chance once they went up against the final boss if the cold was allowed to invade your body. There had been a theory that all of the monsters in the dungeon would be regular monsters if it weren’t for the influence of this boss. The cold was their will invading your body and once you came up against him, he would use it to hinder your movements. There had even been a few reports of players being controlled like a puppet.

After they killed the trolls, Aalin returned to fighting the cold as they pushed forward, fighting one battle after another of monsters that were frost variants, of everything from wolves to a couple of drakes. The drakes had been the first real boss monsters of the dungeon and it had taken Xeal’s party a full hour to defeat them. The pair of oversized quackers had caught everyone but Xeal off guard, as none of them had expected them to be so relentless. I mean, who would expect a pair of birds the size of a small SUV to launch a pincer attack before the party could react, by flapping their wings and creating whirlwinds that flung them every which way? Part of it had been just luck that Xeal knew it was coming, even if he couldn’t avoid it. He had ordered Ignis to hold onto Amet, and Aalin to Clara, and Gale had him, before they reached this area. Those drakes had been the cause of much cursing in Xeal’s last life as they always targeted the main healer with a single-minded focus. Luckily, this also made it easy to trap them after, as they found Xeal between them and their target. He matched his dragon’s breath against their coordinated sonic quack attacks, and he was able to hold them off as everyone else recovered and launched into an all-out attack on them.

That fight had led to the group’s first rest, though Aalin was unable to partake as she was keeping the cold at bay. Xeal knew that while she would essentially be useless in fights by the end of the dungeon, that she was in fact the main reason Xeal felt confident in clearing a dungeon that had been far beyond his skill level in his last life. Even with the boosted stats that he, Gale, Aalin and Clara had, he questioned if they would be able to get a first-time clear, though he had confidence that they would in fact succeed even if it took a few tries. It would just be a matter of cleaning up all of their inefficiencies that ate up valuable time at every step, as there was still one more boss room before the final sprint to the final boss. After taking 30 minutes to recover, it was time to go, as with the aid of recovery boosters everyone but Aalin was almost back to full strength. She was Xeal’s main concern for this run, as from what he was seeing she would be exhausted after a few more hours at this rate.

Once they left the first boss room, Xeal took point as he knew what was about to come and knew that Amet and Clara would be helpless, while he could use his dragon’s breath to block it. Like a speeding train, a pale blue sphere came hurtling at them, and even after taking a dragon’s breath head on it didn’t stop, though it had slowed long enough for Ignis to launch his own attacks at the unknown object, causing it to shatter into a million pieces. Every few minutes, another one of these annoyances would hurtle at the party, forcing them to destroy it. To make matters worse, tiny snow rabbits had appeared and started launching suicide attacks at the party’s rear, where Clara and Amet were. Xeal knew that the rabbits were more of an annoyance than anything for a melee player, but if five or six of them made it to Ignis, he could be in real trouble. Still, Amet and Clara were more than up to the task, as only a few ever made it past them, and Gale was able to quickly deal with those as Xeal, Ignis and Aalin continued to deal with the spheres. Xeal knew that the spheres would deal massive damage if they connected, and combined with the rabbits, could easily cause a full party wipe. Even so, this part of the dungeon was a straight shot and as long as they could withstand the attacks from both directions, they would be fine. Under normal circumstances, a party would have two magic casters syncing spells to counter the frontal assault, but Xeal’s dragon’s breath attack was powerful enough to make up for the inefficiency of the one-two punch that they were using.

This continued for an hour and 30 blue spheres, before they came to the second boss, as they wasted no time in rushing straight in to find 12 ice sculptures waiting for them. This was the next major annoyance of this dungeon for most players. However, to Xeal and his friends, it was only a minor irritation, as they had all long since overcome the shadow warriors and these were just weaker versions of them, skill wise. Except they did have increased stats due to being four levels higher than each of them, but after a bit of fighting, it became clear that they couldn’t reproduce the percentage boosts that Xeal, Aalin, Gale and Clara had. This led to a rather simple fight for them, as Xeal handled his in under ten minutes, before turning around and helping the rest, starting with Amet and cascading from there. While the fight had been easy for them, Xeal knew that for most players that hadn’t had the benefit of the mirror shards to train with, that they would have been overwhelmed completely. After a short rest, the six of them were off once more as they entered the final stretch before the final boss.

As they entered the last area, they found themselves in a frozen forest and they could see ice blue streaks flitting in and out of their view. Xeal knew that each of these were tiny pixies that were extremely fast and extremely brittle if struck. The other side to the equation was that they were almost immune to magic that didn’t have physical force included in its effects. Using the trees as cover, these pixies could rip an unprepared party to shreds with the icicles that they constantly launched. However, Xeal knew that fighting them was a waste of effort and the best option was to simply run forward, while using a mix of magical and physical shields. The trick was finding the exit before it was too late as it was always different, though there was a trick to finding it. You simply needed to run at where the pixies were the thickest and keep at it. Many players would instinctively avoid doing this on their first run if they didn’t know about it, and it would end up costing them the clear. Xeal, on the other hand, didn’t hesitate to give orders and with him leading the way and Amet covering the rear, the other four held side-facing shields, all while Aalin and Ignis covered the gaps with force shield spells. They hustled along at a good pace that would still allow them to stay together, as they felt the chill truly start to take hold as they couldn’t afford to allow Aalin to focus on pushing it back any longer, or their coverage would be too thin. Still, using this method, it only took a little over a half hour to arrive at the final boss room and enter it.

The first thing that Xeal took note of as he walked in, was the frozen bodies that reminded him of the ones that had been in the chamber before reaching Bīng. Xeal knew that it would be impossible to deal with these ones the same way, as he couldn’t use single-use items, but he just smiled as he shouted for Aalin to use her ice manipulation. The next thing that anyone knew, all of the bodies shattered into tiny particles that fell to the ice-covered floor. It was only a few seconds later, when Aalin started to push the ice on the floor towards the far wall that the struggle began, as another force pushed back. Xeal knew that Aalin was locked in a struggle with the final boss of the dungeon, a pair of Kallikantzaros. These two were cruel and destructive monsters that carried what looked like a normal ax for chopping wood. Only Xeal knew that those axes were made for cutting down the world tree of Greek mythology and were soul-bonded weapons. If a maxed-out experience item was a perfectly cooked steak that could be cut with a fork, then a soul-bonded item was the Vintage Cote De Boeuf Rib Steak cooked to perfection. It was an item that was a part of the owner completely. They were also items that only monsters and tier-8 players had ever been known to have. Some said that reaching tier-8 naturally created them, and others said that only maps that a tier-8 player could survive had them. Xeal leaned more towards, there was something about reaching tier-8 that would inevitably create them, side of the argument. Yet no tier-8 player had ever come out and shared any details about the process, or how they worked beyond that they were by far the best item they could ask for. Xeal also had never heard of anything having more than a single one of these items and it had become accepted that it was the world’s limit.

The two Kallikantzaros were currently exposed due to the loss of the cover provided by the frozen bodies, as they fought against Aalin’s ice manipulation with their own, causing a stalemate. While both could control ice with ease, Aalin had the support of the embodiment of ice, causing her power to be on a whole other level. Still, Xeal ordered the party to focus on range attacks. Only he knew that a single hit from one of those axes would almost surely cause them to become heavily injured. In all likelihood, even Xeal wouldn’t survive around a dozen exchanges with those axes. The only reason players ever had a chance in this fight was due to the fact that the Kallikantzaros were trying to freeze them, not chop them up. Still, Xeal worried what would happen when they decided to give up trying to counter Aalin and get serious about killing her. In preparation for this, Xeal was standing directly between her and the two Kallikantzaros, holding himself back from attacking. Sure enough, once the first one was at half health, they both allowed Aalin to win, which almost made her stumble from the sudden ease which she could push the ice, and Xeal intercepted the first one with a dragon’s breath that caught it unaware. He quickly followed up on the second one that had also shown surprise at the sudden attack, locking it into an elemental blades charged combo lock of double downward and upward slashes. While he handled the one that had only had half health left, everyone else focused on the second one, but Xeal could see that while they were holding their own, none of them had the skill to suppress it like he was his.

The fight had continued for another full hour after Xeal had managed to separate the pair of Kallikantzaros from each other. It had seen Amet and Clara both almost die, and had even required Gale to use her mace to supplement their assault a few times to allow them to recover. Even then, if it hadn’t been for Ignis and Aalin combining to hinder its movement and hit it with fire spells, they would have likely lost before Xeal had finished off his target. Even though he had locked it in his chain combo, the Kallikantzaros had still managed to defend itself quite effectively and had forced him to burn through all of his SP and most of his MP. He had only kept enough MP to launch five dragon’s breath attacks, which he had used to help finish off the other Kallikantzaros and end the fight. The moment they had completed the fight, an announcement went out across all of ED.

(Congratulations to Xeal Bluefire, Aalin Oceanwind, Ignis Stormthorn, Clara Holyscar, Amet Highaxe and Gale Rosekeeper, on being the first party to clear the level 104 hellish nightmare mode of any level 100 dungeon.)

Following the announcement, they each received a notification.

(Congratulations for being in the first party to clear the level 104 hellish nightmare mode of the level 100 dungeon, Frozen Den. Rewarding bonus XP equal to all gained in dungeon and 100 gold each. Additionally, your names will be added to the records plaque that will now be activated, permanently)

Xeal smiled at the rewards as he thought about how spoiled he had become with the quests he was used to taking on, as 100 gold was more than most players would see in a month. A typical clear after taking into account the cost of maintenance on their gear on the normal mode, which was the limit for most players, would only net them two or three gold. Still, that was way better than grinding level 100 and under monsters in the field once a player reached level 102 and started to get half XP from them. Hard mode would net around ten gold per player and was where most hardcore and semipro players would live. Only the true pros would take on hell, or nightmare mode, and with it they would expect to earn around 25 gold per player, which if they did two dungeons a day, would net them around two million credits a year if they liquidated most of it. However, only a fool would do that at this stage, as those funds were needed to improve their equipment in preparation for reaching tier-6. Still, these players would live off between a tenth and a quarter of their earnings, by converting them into credits to pay for living expenses. They would also have to pay a tithe if their guild required it by their contract, which would usually take care of their base pay, which could range from a few thousand credits, to tens of thousands a month. There were even some that would negotiate monthly salaries of more than half a million credits, though these were the rare peak experts that could earn that without a guild’s assistance. Those contracts also usually came with production or performance requirements, to safeguard the workshops from taking a major loss.

Now when it came to hellish nightmare mode of any dungeon, the 100 gold bonus that they just received was double the normal one, and only the first clear on the hardest difficulty would give a bonus. As they were the first in all of ED, that bonus was doubled, as they would normally get 50 gold and 25 gold for the first clear on any hell, or nightmare mode dungeon. While it was not much to Xeal or his friends, it was still a major source of income for all of the major guilds that had the players skilled enough to clear them. It was this boost that Xeal wanted to cut into as most guilds were still weeks away from being ready to challenge any of these dungeons. He had already sent out Amser and her team, as well as several others like her, on a grand tour across all of ED, to clear as many as they could. Xeal expected that in a few more days, he would start hearing about their success, and if all went well, he expected that FAE would secure around half of the roughly 5,000 dungeons at this level. The effect that he intended this to have was to ensure that no guilds would be able to use this stage to see a quantitative leap in power.

The fact that all of the players currently executing this plan were those who had passed their tier-5 trial on nightmare mode and had been signed as what Xeal called guild-sponsored players, made it all the better. As guild-sponsored players, FAE handled all of their expenses in ED and provided them enough credits to live a comfortable life if they had a roommate. In return, they agreed to go where the guild sent them and hand over 95% of whatever they earned while on assignment. While to an outsider this looked like exploitation and many players would refuse to accept such terms, the ones that did were often more than happy with the results. The key was they knew that so long as they did the assignment that they were given, they would have the best gear in the guild outside guild leadership, and first crack at any training that was offered. This in turn developed them into the best players they could be and allowed them to skip a lot of the discovery work that would go into each quest that they participated in. Instead, they would often join the quests of the other members who received a quest that was more than they could handle, who would give up most of the monetizable rewards for guild coins. The beauty of this system was it improved the experience for all involved, as it provided players an easy way to get help on quests, while also developing the guild’s core members and increasing revenue. That wasn’t to say that there weren’t any issues, as like everything else, there were always two sides. Not every quest that regular members were stuck on could be handled this way, as the ratio of regular members to core force members was close to a hundred to one right now. That number would just get further skewed as time went on, until the under-leveled players with potential were able to catch up with the levels of those in the core and join them.

Currently, these players that had a late start and showed real potential were in what Xeal liked to call his hell program. Each and every one of them had to first reach level 20, with no guild aid beyond tips like “you can find this class by doing this”, or “go here to find a good grinding area that our guild controls”. When it came to recruiting players, Xeal was having members of his guild at every starting town in Nium, with two simple rules of if they catch your eye and would like to go pro, give them a chance. This meant that in exchange for signing a contract which gave FAE rights to recruit them once they reached level 20, FAE would provide them with information and access to its exclusive zones until then. Now, only a few players would sign on to this as it did little to help them on the surface and if they were going to be a pro player, it meant that they would not be able to have as relaxed of an experience. The life that FAE was willing to provide those who were recruited like this wasn’t the best either, as they would need to pack their bags and head to one of the workshop locations. They would stay there until they graduated the program by reaching tier-7 and becoming pro players, which was estimated to take up to two years. This of course came with the caveat that if they were able to catch up to the core players, that they would be allowed to graduate early and join the core force. However, those that failed to graduate would be sent home with nothing but a plane ticket and enough credits to last a month. They would still be able to stay members of FAE, but would no longer be a focus of development, and players in the program could fail out at any tier-up for failing to produce adequate results. Xeal had found himself lost in these thoughts when Ignis interrupted them after he had gotten tired of waiting.

“Earth to Xeal, are you going to just stand there all day, or are you going to loot the bosses so we can get out of here?”

Xeal just smiled as he acknowledged the notifications, went to each corpse and looted them, and was pleased as like all first clears of any area boss and up, he received everything possible. Only this time he received two of everything possible, and it was for this reason that hell mode dungeons were better than nightmare mode dungeons for first clears, as this reward was insane and the real profit from the first clear of any dungeon. As Xeal looked over the loot, it was mainly materials as had been the case for all of the monsters before them. However, chips of wood from the world tree were one material that alchemists and smiths would be fighting over. For alchemists, it was an orichalcum-level ingredient, though Xeal doubted any of them had a recipe that used it yet. While smiths could simply add a piece to their forge and the next item they made would be boosted, and the more you added the greater the effect. Though with diminishing returns for each extra piece you added, making it almost pointless to use more than three pieces. The next items that caught Xeal’s eye were the two sets of ice robe armors that were only slightly inferior to what Aalin was wearing and would be great items for the guild warehouse for their members to buy. Lastly, there were a few sets of accessories with ice-type effects that would also go straight into the guild warehouse as well. Altogether, after taking everything into account, they had about another 1,500 gold worth of loot, with 800 of it being just the two complete armor sets.

With the loot secured, Xeal led the group to the exit and once they were out, they instantly moved onto Xeal’s second target of the day. It was a lightning-based hell mode dungeon, where over 50% of the danger present would be neutralized by his electrical immunity and control. In fact, as they ran through it, Xeal had to stop himself from laughing at how easy it was. When they finished in just over two hours, he almost felt like it was stealing with how easy it had been. Just comparing the absurdity of how much his control of electricity surpassed Aalin’s of ice made it clear how much of a difference there was. This was largely due to his ability to manipulate any monsters that were made of electricity to kill the other monsters, being completely broken. It had turned the dungeon into more of a walk in the park, than a struggle for survival like it should have been. Once they had finished looting the two lightning serpents, who had become nothing but two oversized snakes thanks to Xeal, they looted and were done with their second dungeon. The 50 gold they each got was nice, but the real prize was the lightning rogue, or assassin, armor, that was on par with the ice robe sets in value. Seeing how easy that dungeon had been for them, Xeal frowned as while they could hit every lightning-based dungeon in ED and make a ton of gold, he worried about how quickly his electricity control would get out like that. In the end, he decided that they should call it a day saying that he needed to take care of some stuff.

Once he was alone in the royal forging room, Xeal sighed as he did something he never wanted to do, as it almost always made things worse. Still, he knew his results in that dungeon would raise a few red flags and he would rather get ahead of it, so he used a feature that was always abused by regular players and pros avoided like the plague, the contact admin button. Once he hit the button, he found himself being responded to by one of the system’s many admin AIs that handled the screening of all issues before anything would reach a developer. What surprised him was the AI stepped out of a void in front of him, instead of being just a disembodied voice. The AI was dressed in a white robe, had longer black hair and wore glasses, as it took on an air of seriousness as he greeted him.

“Player Xeal, I thank you for using the contact admin feature, as you are what we classify as a player of focus. I have arrived in person to speak with you bypassing the normal AI screening.”

“Hold on, you’re one of the developers?”

“Yes, though I will say that I will not respond like this if you start abusing your access, but I don’t think that will be an issue from what your file shows. I must say, if I didn’t know that the system had to act within the parameters that we set, I would say it was breaking the rules when it comes to you and those around you.”

“Not even going to argue that, as it is likely part of why I called you today.”

“You are speaking about how you were able to clear that last dungeon with no difficulty.”

“Yes, it is too broken.”

“Alright, as you called us, I will hear your suggested fix before making our final ruling.”

“It’s simple. Just disable all manipulation abilities like my electricity, or Aalin’s ice, in any dungeons that reset.”

“Hmm, but your abilities are just as broken outside dungeons and if anything, could break the game more in any of the other areas that are centered around that element.”

“Cut the experience we gain for killing any monster that relies heavily on that element, though you should hit mine harder than the others as I can control the monsters.”

“What about the loot you all will be able to easily access?”

“You can’t take everything from us. Besides, if we spend all of our time looting those areas, it will just make our levels fall behind. After all, we all need one and a half times the experience to level as it is.”

“True, though none of you seem to have been hindered by it like we had intended, and you’re all on pace to avoid death and gain the full benefits of your marks, becoming truly broken existences in ED.”

“And this is why I never like using this feature. Whenever a player actually gets through to one of you, you tend to overreach. We are talking about making it so that electricity-based dungeons are not a complete walk in the park for me. Just limit abilities like mine in them so that, at most, they are as effective as Aalin was in the Frozen Den and remove my ability to influence more than one monster outside them and call it good.”

“Overreach you say? I could just make you restart from level one.”

“Let’s not talk about actions that would lead to a situation where everyone loses.”

“Oh, and how do we lose by making you restart?”

“You mean besides the legal damages I would be able to claim and the precedent it will set that will cause major public backlash?”

“Excuse me?”

“I can see the headline now. ‘ED ruins player for being too successful,’ or something a bit more catchy. The bottom line is, I haven’t broken any rules and am coming to you to find a solution to my broken ability.”

“Fine…”

By the time Xeal was finally free from the developer’s clutches, it was almost time to log out for dinner. Still, he had managed to persuade him and his team who he ran it by, on a reasonable solution that would only affect him, as he was the only one with control of an element, not just manipulation of it. The fix would be that he would have the same capabilities of Kate’s electricity manipulation in dungeons and only be able to control a single electrical monster for now. The developer, who had been named Daryu, had been difficult to deal with as he seemed to always think that he had a better fix and wanted to completely overhaul the ability and its effects. The issue was it would make them far too complicated for Xeal to find using them convenient, as it would require chants and hand movements like most spellcasters had to deal with. This would counter the intuitive nature of the ability that made it more of a natural part of the wielder, and for a non-spell build like Xeal, it would cause all kinds of issues. Xeal played a melee class and took abilities that used his MP, that only required minor actions, for a reason. If he had to learn the whole spell system that Aalin, Gale and Ignis were using, it would cause him to stagnate and would have led to him just enjoying the immunity feature. With that taken care of, Xeal didn’t hesitate to return home where he found Alea and Rina waiting for him, with a smug Eira in the background looking like she was waiting for a show.

“Xeal, you have a dark elf bound by a soul contract serving you!” exclaimed Alea.

“Yes, I did give you some of the background before you left this morning.”

“You left out that it was a dark elf!”

“Because it shouldn’t matter. While I will not say that she doesn’t share certain views with the majority of her race, she is under my care the same as you, only she has to do as I say.”

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t leave and tell my mother about her!”

“Send a letter to her. If you think she couldn’t see the marks from the soul contract on me when I was in the same room as her, then you underestimate her. You have to remember, she bound herself to me. I am not bound to her.”

“How did you even…”

Xeal went back and forth with Alea for a good half hour as he explained exactly how he had ended up with Ceclie. By the time Xeal cut it off so he could log off, she was still not satisfied and intended to get more answers from him when he returned to their world. Xeal had been surprised that Rina had stayed quiet and wondered where Bula was, while Eira struggled not to laugh. She followed Xeal to his room to watch over him while he was offline, and once they were in his room he spoke.

“Just how much did you stir them up before I got home?”

“All I said was that you value Ceclie and that she had contributed greatly to your endeavors. You know, the type of things that would build her up in their minds before they met her.”

“And just what happened when they met each other?”

“You mean after the two elves there screamed for their lives?”

“Yes?”

“Ceclie seemed happy to see them and was ecstatic to train them, but both of them ran away before any work could get done.”

Xeal just shook his head as he thought his options over before lying down and logging off.

When he returned on day 271, Xeal was met with Eira, who woke when he did and just shook her head as he made his way to breakfast. When he arrived, he found both Rina and Alea were already waiting for him and he cut Alea off before she could start.

“Alea, I am not going to tell you to become friends with Ceclie as I know better than to ask for the impossible. That said, I do expect you to be able to coexist as she is key for my efforts to get you and Rina to level 107 by the time I am done with the six weddings I have coming up. That is 82 days to do over 100 days of work and she is the only one I trust to watch over you four while I put you all under that much strain. Do I expect her to take pleasure from seeing you all in pain and rub it in at times? Yes, but I also expect her to ensure that you all are not permanently harmed, or have to use the mark that I placed upon you. If you can’t handle that, you are free to say that what I expect of you is too much and give up on joining us when the time is right to raid the dark elves.”

“Wait, what is that about raiding them?”

Xeal smiled, as Alea’s scowl that she had been giving Xeal the entire time he had been talking vanished, as a look of intrigue replaced it.

“My deal with her requires I assist her in getting her revenge on her people for slaughtering her clan and using her as a magical battery for years. Let’s just say that my intention is to go a bit overboard once the continent is controlled by Nium.”

“I see, and you would allow us to join in these raids?”

“Raid. I only plan on making a single trip into those lands, as they are not somewhere that I would feel comfortable in long term. As for if you will join us down there, it will depend on what you want and if I feel like you can handle it. I will not be going to eradicate them. My goal will be to destroy the great clans and subjugate the rest, as they will just become a hidden danger once again if ignored and allowed to recover from the remnants that will be left.”

“And what, will you place her to rule over them for you?”

“No, they will not even have the illusion of being self-governed until I have died. Either Nium, or my guild, will rule them until their nature has been tempered sufficiently. I expect that neither of us will live to see that day though.”

“Alea, I am staying, even if you leave.”

“Rina, why?”

“I won’t pass up the opportunity in front of us, to simply hold to some notion of superiority or rightness. We both know that Xeal breaks all logic and we will have a front-row seat to him reshaping the world. I, for one, would rather be there to influence him, than stuck on the sideline.”

Xeal watched as Alea frowned, before sighing and turning her focus back to Xeal.

“Xeal, don’t let me regret staying here today and not leaving, like my head is telling me to do.”

“Alea, all I promise is that I will do everything I can to ensure you survive and live up to your full potential. What you do, or how you view my methods, is your own choice.”

Alea just frowned at Xeal as his breakfast arrived and Midnight came looking for his first bite, which Xeal gave him. As soon as the matagot had the piece of bacon, he made his way over to Eira and curled up on her lap, while looking at Xeal like the neglectful owner he was. Xeal knew that he hadn’t been able to summon Midnight due to the fact that he had been in elven lands and dungeons didn’t allow any companion summons. This was due to the high chance of death and was the system protecting players from their own stupidity. Once Xeal was done with breakfast, he left and met up with his party once more, as they spent the day clearing two dungeons back to back, finishing about an hour before Xeal was expected at dinner. The two dungeons had been quicker ones to ensure that he would be done in time, though they had still pushed everyone in the party. Though the main reason that Xeal felt pushed was due to the need to cover for the rest of the party’s shortcomings. Xeal felt like it was slightly vexing as they all had the skills needed to succeed, just not on the first run through. Part of him felt like he was stunting their growth by bailing them out, but he also felt like the constant changing and unknown could allow them to grow to be ready for anything, by the end of the spree they were going on.

That evening, Xeal dressed in his formalwear as he entered the keep in Dragon’s Heart city, where the Weawens were awaiting him. The general atmosphere was upbeat as he entered and was greeted by Dyllis, who looked like she had only just returned from the dungeon herself. As he took in the gear she wore, that could be described best as well used and her slightly unkempt hair that looked like she had only just let it down for the night, he smiled. Not wasting the opportunity, Xeal closed the distance and pulled her into his arms and gave her a kiss in greeting.

“I must say that you look absolutely wonderful.”

“Right. Mother insisted that I greet you and I didn’t have time to get cleaned up.”

“I am not kidding. What I am seeing now is truly a treasure that I wouldn’t want to lose. It makes me lament the fact that I can’t afford to adventure with you.”

“Yes, and the day that you will be able to may never come. By the time the four of us are ready to return to adventuring, you will have moved even further away from us. Still, perhaps you will find the time to one day.”

“Yes, though it may not be until after I have secured our future, I believe the day will come where such outings will become normal. I mean, the way I am going, I will have a house full of adventurous ladies who will not be content to sit at home.”

“Especially if you really do manage to keep us young for the next century, or so.”

Xeal just smiled as he took her arm as they made their way to the dining room, where the rest of Dyllis’s family was present. As soon as they had come in, her mother shooed her to go get clean and took Xeal over to the table and launched right into conversation around the upcoming nuptials and what he would like. Xeal smiled as he answered simply that he wanted as big, or small, of a ceremony as Dyllis did and held to it as she pushed him on it. Finally, when he could hear Dyllis’s footsteps approaching, he answered one last time.

“Lady Ellis, when it comes to the weddings, I will allow each of my brides to have what they would like, whether that be an elaborate ceremony, or a simple one where it is just us as we pledge ourselves to the other. So long as they don’t ask for the impossible, I will do what I can to ensure that it will be the day they wish for. Especially Dyllis, as she may be the last of the weddings, but she is also the only one to have hers be the only one that day.”

“So, you’ll dress in pink and wear a tiara?” asked Dyllis, while standing directly behind Xeal.

“If that is really how you want the world to see me on our wedding day, we could work something out.”

“I see, well luckily for you I don’t…”

With that, Dyllis joined the conversation and her father and brother would offer suggestions occasionally, though it was clear that they wanted to stay out of it as well. By the time dinner was over, Xeal was tired and ready to get some rest in before clearing another pair of dungeons before logging out. Dyllis had enjoyed the evening and had even coaxed several inputs on the wedding and after-party out of Xeal. When he had left, he couldn’t help but smile at the look of contentment that she had on her face and he felt guilty leaving her with a kiss and a quick “I love you,” but he knew that soon he wouldn’t have to, anymore. No, soon he would be coming home to her and his other brides every night, as they figured out how everything would work at that point.

Day 272 was filled by the two dungeons that they had scheduled and cleared, though Xeal was happy when Alea seemed to be in a better mood than the day before, at least. Not wanting to broach how things were going with Ceclie training them, he just took the improvement and didn’t push his luck. The last thing Xeal received for the day was a message from Lori letting him know all targets were a go and that they had already begun their operation.

(*****)

Morning February 14, to Evening February 25, 2267 & ED year 2 days 273-308.

The following 13 days were a blur for Alex, highlighted by a few moments like the dinner he had with Sam, Nicole, Ava, Mia and Kate on the 14th for Valentine's Day. Alex had decided that it would be best to not do anything individually for that day and treat it like a day where he spent time with all of them together. He had Gido acquire five boxes of expensive chocolates and they had enjoyed a perfectly cooked meal in the upstairs dining room, while everyone else was downstairs, with the exception of Fred and Amanda. They were enjoying a nice date away from the mansion as the only other couple in the house. It was also the day when Rose and Elizabeth said their farewell as they had to work it, as there was always someone willing to pay for a private flight as a setting for a romantic dinner. The next event of note was on the 18th, when the construction on the area that was meant to be private for Alex, his wives and eventual children, began in earnest. This saw him move into one of the spare rooms with Sam and Nicole as the contractors got to work. Lastly, the 19th was Amanda’s birthday and they all had fun throwing her a party, both in and out of ED. Alex had been happy that the trio of hedge fund representatives hadn’t bothered them again, though he doubted that would last forever. Kate had been quiet on the progress she was making in getting the land they needed, beyond saying that she was on it, but it would take time. Alex had given her access to an account with around half a billion and she had wasted no time in starting the creation of shell companies, though she was slowly creating them to keep a low profile.

In ED, the days had blended together as well, as they cleared one dungeon after another as the other groups that had been sent out started to see success as well. While it was still slow, Xeal was extremely pleased with their efforts as they were doing about as well as the guilds in Xeal’s last life had done pace-wise, in clearing each of them. Though they were often times seeking advice based on what they were encountering, which took up all of his free time to respond to. Xeal was just happy that he had been specific about when he would be available to respond each day, as it kept him from being pestered outside that time slot. The main headache that clearing all of the dungeons created was being dealt with by Kate, as one guild after another started to complain that FAE was infringing on their territory. Xeal had already told Kate not to play games and tell them all that in FAE’s view, no dungeons that reset could be considered a guild’s territory, even if it was inside an area they monopolized. He had her take it a step further and say that FAE had no issue funding freedom of access operations if any guild obstructed any players from reaching such locations. This move had caused all of the guilds that were complaining their own major headache, as Xeal had made the declaration public along with his logic. This included that other than the hardest difficulty, no special benefits could be earned beyond denying other players the resources of said dungeon. He also said that he would not hamper any efforts to claim the first-clear bonuses of any dungeons and encouraged every player to strive to overtake his guild and claim one for themselves.

The result of these moves had caused the mass of players who were just playing for fun and a bit of side income, to support FAE without realizing just what Xeal was doing. This still didn’t stop guilds from setting up blockades, which Xeal just laughed at as he dispatched his secondary force to deal with the issue. This secondary force was made up of all of the players who were just behind the core force in levels, but had just as good, if not better, skills. So, when a bunch of players in the mid to late 80s level-wise were met with strike teams in their late 90s with short, or no notice, it wasn’t even a challenge. It had only taken a few of such operations for the guilds to get the message, though Xeal knew he had made some enemies in the process. Still, he had picked his targets carefully such that he wouldn’t cross the bottom line of any of the guilds that he remembered becoming true powerhouses in his last life. It also helped that each day, more of his members were reaching level 100 and ready to start raiding the dungeons, even if they weren’t able to clear a nightmare, or hell mode one, themselves. Xeal also designated the hellish nightmare mode dungeons near each country’s capital off limits. This had been the sole reason that no real fights had started as no guild would stand by if all 100 of those clears were being taken by a single group. Had Xeal and his friends just been a single group of six that wandered wherever they pleased, he may have tried it as it would be too hard to stop them, but that was not the case.

FAE had also held a successful recruitment of naval players and Odelia had set off with forces provided by the kingdom, the beast-man tribes, orcs and elves. King Vincent Vidfamne was taking responsibility for the operation as he had decided that it needed to happen, but carried too many possible negatives for Prince Victor to bear. Especially as the results wouldn’t be known until after the coronation and Xeal’s weddings. Still, Xeal couldn’t wait as once they returned, they would hold the second recruitment on naval players and Nium would officially begin its journey into becoming a major power on the seas. Though he knew it would still take a long time before they were doing more than simply operating on Anelqua Lake as a go-between for elves and the rest of Nium.

Outside the time Xeal spent dealing with dungeons and guild business, it felt like it was being spent on wedding planning for him. All of his dates with Enye, Dyllis, Lingxin and Mari were focused on this, and even Gale and Aalin were going over the logistics of getting their families to where they needed to be. With the added stress of their upcoming tier-5 trials coming up, it had led to a bit more of their emotions coming out as they each worried about their results. He was also spending a fair bit of time outside Nium as he met with Emperor Huáng Jin about Lingxin’s wedding ceremony for both of their dates, and Lady Sakurai on both of Mari’s dates. Lingxin’s brother seemed to find pleasure in watching Xeal attempt to please his sister and understand all of the details of what would need to occur. The one thing that Xeal was grateful for was that it would be a small ceremony for the most part, as the main part was a tea ceremony with only family present. Xeal had secured a pass for both of his parents and sister, who was getting to skip school that day, to attend all three weddings.

Still, the biggest fuss was in Nium when Xeal met with the king and queen regarding the wedding, as it was going to be at the center of Founding Day and was being set up like a second founding almost. The way the king spoke of it, with Enye’s wedding and Prince Victor’s coronation, it would be the start of a new era. Xeal was just happy that this meant that most of the details would be handled by the royal family, as the stage would be shared for both events. King Vincent Vidfamne intended his last act as king to be officiating their wedding, before handing the crown over and enjoying slowly fading completely into the background as Prince Victor dealt with the power and responsibility of being king.

Eira seemed to always be in a good mood the few times that Xeal saw her during those days as well. It seemed that Ceclie had taken extra care to ensure their training produced results. The fact that Alea and Rina needed to play catchup and Eira didn’t, had apparently led to constant conflict between Alea and Ceclie. For Alea’s part, she would just give Xeal a look and say that she was fine and thank him for the opportunity to train in such a productive environment. Xeal smiled at the reactions of the others as well, from the smirk that Rina seemed to wear whenever Eira wasn’t looking to the general state of weariness that Bula was displaying at the whole situation.

Finally, the day came that Enye and her party had all reached level 79 and they had begun their build-up before challenging their trials and Xeal, Gale and Aalin had all taken a break from dungeon raiding after allowing their levels to reach 105, with the rest of their party. With this advancement, it opened up the next group of dungeons to them and they had a few sessions as they waited for another group to join them, as the dungeon Xeal wanted to raid next was meant for a group of ten. When they had logged off after day 308, the entirety of Enye’s party were as prepared as they were going to be. They just needed to rest and recover and they would be ready to walk the nightmare. This included Daisy and Violet, who had both applied themselves diligently and had become far more skilled than Xeal figured they would. Both needed to return home to challenge their trial and could already see their father trying to keep them there, so Xeal sent them with a letter. In it he expressed clearly that he expected Violet and Daisy to report back after their trial and he even sent them each with a pendant, as he knew if he marked them, there would be no escaping them. If all went to plan, Luna, Selene, Daisy, Violet, Arnhylde and Lucida intended to continue as a party, despite the fact that they would be off balance from losing half of their frontliners and the main striker. Still, knowing what he knew about their skills, Xeal expected them to do just fine.

(*****)

February 26, 2267 & ED year 2 days 309-311.

As Alex was enjoying a relaxing swim on the morning of the 26th, Gido came in to inform him that he had an important message to deal with. With a sigh, he quickly dried off and made his way to a private area to deal with whatever it was. What Alex read had made him frown as it was from Kate’s father, letting him know that he and his family needed to be on high alert during his weddings. Alex frowned as he was sure that the message meant that Abysses End had some sort of play that they wanted to do during his weddings. The question was which ones and what? He knew that it would be simple to cut the internet for those not living with him and that was the most likely action they intended to take. Though that was just too petty as that would mean that the intent was for them to do it during his ceremony with Sam and Nicole. The other option was that they were planning to try and kill as many of his guests as possible directly before the wedding, which was once again petty, but more feasible. It was then that Alex thought of another possibility, though it was unlikely, but they could plan to try and assassinate him during one of his wedding ceremonies. The implications should they be successful were bad as the burst of electricity from the drop of phoenix blood would likely kill any of his brides and could do much more damage, depending on who was nearby. Sighing, Alex called Kate in and handed her the message and she asked Alex to give her till that night to think and he accepted. That evening, Kate pulled Alex into the conference room and went straight into what she could figure out.

“Alright, I think I know how they plan to strike and when, as well as how to counter it.”

“Okay, so what is it?”

“The construction workers. They have almost free run of the house outside our rooms as they work. All three lines are combined into one in the utility room where they are working all the time as they run new lines. They are supposed to only do anything that might cut power while we are all offline, but a single oops and well, we will find ourselves kicked offline.”

“So, we just don’t have them work that day.”

“That will likely not save us as they will just plant something beforehand that can be seen as an accident still. Honestly, if Gido, Jacob and my guards weren’t on constant alert while we are logged in, I would worry about something much worse.”

“Alright, so what do we do?”

“From their perspective, nothing. From our own, everything. You have all of the extra VR pods that aren’t being used and we are ghosts here usually, so to them us not being around will not be noticed.”

“You are saying we should play from HQ those days?”

“Yes, though you only have six empty VR pods right now, so four of us will have to make do with helmets for those days. Also, I think that you should get more VR pods and always keep enough both here and there for us to use.”

“Sam and Nicole will have to forgo using the maternity pods, but they should be fine with missing a day or two…”

Alex and Kate continued to talk the logistics as they only had less than a week before Xeal married Enye, Mari, and Lingxin, in reality, and they needed to not let on that they knew anything if they wanted to catch the perpetrator. Though Alex was almost sure that Abysses End had paid more than a single one of the contractors, if he could get one, the others may have second thoughts.

In ED, Xeal found himself taking a day off with Enye, Dyllis, Mari and Lingxin as they rested and wanted to spend this time with him. Even with the knowledge that if something went wrong they would still survive, they were still nervous. Only Mari had ever thought about challenging the nightmare before meeting Xeal, and she had never actually planned to take that route. Each of them asked him to share what all the others had gone through and he once more went over what they would need to do. Xeal made sure to talk in a calm and sure tone, that displayed the confidence he had in each of them. Finally, on day 311, it was time for them to each move forward and face the nightmare and whatever it had in store for them. As Xeal kissed each of them one last time and pulled them into a hug, he smiled before speaking.

“No matter what happens, I expect you all to come back to me.”

“Xeal, we will. Some of us just might find ourselves in your arms as we get transported to your bed after we die,” quipped Enye.

“From what you described after Dyllis’s mom used a feather, we might even come ready for us to have our honeymoon early,” added Lingxin with an innocent smile that didn’t fit with her words.

Xeal just smiled as the other three ladies blushed as they left, leaving him alone with his thoughts as he went over everything that still needed to happen over the coming 18 days in ED.

(*****)

Morning February 27, 2267 & ED year 2 day 312.

The morning of the 27th was a flurry of activity, as Jacob showed Alex the system he had installed to monitor the contractors around anything that could cause the whole house to go dark. This system included a battery backup that would ensure that even if the power was cut, it would still continue to record for a full day. This was unlike the systems in VR gear that was just enough to ensure a smooth transition from virtual reality to reality, as hard transitions could cause mild brain damage. It was part of why all VR gear had to have safety features that alerted you if someone was in the room with you and moving. It would also initiate a logoff the moment it detected anything that could cause a hard failure, to include an object like a pipe being swung at it, or its wearer. The last little nasty of Jacob’s system was it was set up to alert him the moment anything happened that would cause an outage and it was set up such that it could send the message even if the house’s internet was down. Satisfied with that, Jacob also assured Alex that he would have all six spare VR pods installed over the weekend, as it would be when none of the contractors would be around. With that taken care of, Alex felt assured that everything would be fine when he logged in to ED. However, he had also told his sister and Dad to drive over to the next town over and log in using an internet café, with a guard that was affiliated with Fire Oath the day of the weddings. Kate had called in a favor she still had to get this okayed, though they didn’t seem to have too much of an issue with it.

When Xeal awoke in ED, he wasted no time in meeting up with his team for the ten-man hellish nightmare mode dungeon raid that he had planned for the day. The four extra members of his party were Friva Doomcutter, Saima Mahal, Caleb Elfheart and Vento Tempestas. Each of them had been leading their own teams to clear level 100 to 104 dungeons and seeing success, but Xeal thought that they could improve their speed. So, he had decided to see what they had on Nium’s hardest level 105 to 109 dungeon, the Goblin Rush. Xeal could still remember the stories from his last life before any strategies for clearing it had come out. Needless to say, they had all ended with full party wipes. However, Xeal had what was needed in four mages, a scout, four frontliners, one of which was an off healer, and one dedicated healer. The fact that he could also operate as a magic cannon when needed just increased their chances of success. When Xeal arrived, he found that he was the last one to do so, and couldn’t help but smile as Friva spoke.

“Well, look who finally decided to show up.”

“Yeah, we know that you have five distractions at home, but come on,” quipped Amet.

“Oh, come off it. You know that he was just going over things with Jacob,” retorted Gale.

“Alright, I get it, you are all ready to get killed in the dungeon,” responded Xeal.

“I am sure that the winds of fate have not abandoned you yet, guild master,” commented Vento.

“Vento, we are not going to have you going full wind puns on us, are we?” warned Gale.

“Let him have a couple, though if he doesn’t keep it under control and I fail to guard him and you don’t notice his health dropping, ah, I’m sure he will be fine,” interjected Clara.

“If we are done threatening to cause a full party wipe, we can go ahead and head out,” commented Xeal.

Xeal smiled as the group nodded and they set out. Like all of the hellish nightmare mode dungeons, Goblin Rush was located near the capital of the country it was located in. It wasn’t until the dungeon levels exceeded 199 that this would change and all of them would be located in areas that started out as wild lands, with equivalently leveled monsters surrounding it. As they came up on the entrance for this one that looked like a pitch-black hole on the side of a hill, Xeal once again activated it for max difficulty and entered.

Once inside, Xeal instantly took note of the awful stench as he fought his instinct to retch. This stench would hinder the sense of smell of a normal player and was a pure nightmare for his enhanced senses. The stench was also a slow-acting stamina poison that was sinister in how it worked. This poison would do nothing if you never exerted yourself physically, but the moment you started panting, you were in trouble as you would never stop. Still, Xeal had his counter ready and as Vento stepped into the dungeon with the rest of the party and they all scrunched their noses, Xeal didn’t even have to give an order as a light breeze started to come off him as he cast a spell. The spell was a basic one that any wind-focused mage would have, that created a 30-foot radius area of clean air for 12 hours. The only drawback was that it would cut his mana in half and he couldn’t recover it until he canceled the spell, or it ended on its own.

“Sorry, guild leader. I just acted on reflex as I am used to leading my party. I will cancel the spell now if you think it wise,” apologized Vento.

“You’re good. I was about to have you do just that, though I feel like we are still going to be dealing with poison in the air.”

“So, let’s hurry up and deal with this dungeon and be done with it,” commented Caleb.

“Yah, it’s called goblin rush, so let’s rush,” added Ignis.

“Hold on, give me a second.” With that, Xeal did a quick sprint and returned. “It’s a stamina poison and from the looks of it, our stamina won’t recover until we clear the dungeon.”

“Hold on, what?” blurted Friva.

“If we rush, we die. Saima, take this and scout carefully while not exerting yourself too much. It should help with the smell.”

Xeal handed her a rose mask that would dull the stench, but just like Vento’s wind, it wouldn’t get rid of the poison. Spells that could handle this poison weren’t available before tier-6. However, if Lily was here, she could likely make it so they were only slowed in recovery, but she was still stuck training under Hura Crepitans. She was still able to lead a group of players in the Stisea Kingdom to raid dungeons, but leaving the area around the medicine valley was not going to happen for now. Saima inspected the rose mask before putting it on and nodding, before she moved ahead cautiously.

“If my wind isn’t going to remove the poison, I should drop it.”

“Vento, leave it up. With my enhanced senses, it will cripple me as we move deeper as it will likely just get worse.”

“Same here,” interjected Aalin.

“Alright, let’s get going.”

With Xeal’s words, they started to move forward slowly as Saima reported the situation in front of them. What Xeal had not told the party was that it wouldn’t just be him and Aalin that suffered as time went on, as the stench would slowly make the whole group nauseated, which was one of the worst status ailments that a player could have to deal with. It was this nausea that had caused so many horror stories to spread from the first groups to attempt to clear it. It was also why a wind mage was a must and the first lesson that had been learned in Xeal’s last life. The next was to have a scout with a rose mask equipped, scouting ahead and recovering in the fresh air space between each battle, as the rose mask would only delay the nausea so much. Xeal knew that this dungeon would take the full day as it was designed such that eight hours was a quick clear, and 12 hours was more realistic. He figured that they would take closer to ten with their current lineup, as they would need to let the mages recover their MP fully whenever they could. It was about ten minutes before Saima returned with her report as she drew a picture on paper, as like all dungeons there was no map provided on anything above normal mode.

“The chamber ahead has around 30 goblins in it, all of who seem to be sleeping. There are two exits besides the one we will be coming in from here and here…”

Xeal already knew the correct plan to use, but he also knew that the dungeon had slight variations each time and he needed to know them to make sure he used the correct plan. As there were two other exits to the chamber, it meant that they could split into two teams and block both of them, or allow them to escape down one of them. The goblins in this dungeon were cowards once they knew they were out-classed, and would look for any way to escape. If they allowed this to occur, it would lead to having to fight far larger groups of goblins than would be feasible even for him to handle. The trick was to basically clear the dungeon backwards in a sense, as the goblins were always asleep and wouldn’t wake until attacked, or alerted by the other goblins. If MP wasn’t a concern, Xeal would have been happy to let Aalin use ice to plug up the extra exit, but that wasn’t an option. While Xeal was thinking over his options, Saima finished talking and turned to Xeal for his input.

“Alright, we are going to bypass this and every other group of goblins until we come to a dead end.”

“Hold on, the clear condition is to kill every single goblin, and wouldn’t a dead end be the boss rooms?” interjected Caleb.

“Not all of them will be a boss room, but if we don’t work like that and a single goblin escapes, it will all be over. If we rush, we will lose as it is the goblins who will be doing the rushing, not us.”

“Still, that will make this take all day,” commented Gale.

“Gale, it is the hardest dungeon in Nium before level 110. It’s meant to take time and effort.”

“But the other one was faster.”

“It required speed due to the chill effect that would normally build up in players without Aalin to counter it.”

Xeal could tell the group was still not swayed, when Clara spoke.

“I say we just follow Xeal’s lead. After all, he hasn’t led us wrong so far.”

With those words, the rest agreed and the next half hour was spent always going left until they came to their first dead end. In it were only 20 goblins and Xeal had the team set up such that the four frontliners were right at the exit, Saima was directly behind them and the four magic casters were next, as Gale brought up the rear. At Xeal’s signal, he let out a dragon’s breath attack as the four casters unleashed their strongest spells. The results of the barrage were twenty injured, but very annoyingly alive, goblins, that were about as tall as Xeal’s waist. Now came the hard part as the mages would only get one more spell each off, before they needed to switch to using force shields between Saima and the four frontliners. Meanwhile, the four frontliners had to avoid doing anything that would drain their stamina at an accelerated rate. While running out of stamina wouldn’t kill a player on its own, it would make all of their actions extremely straining and require them to overexert themselves, causing temporary constitution damage over time. As a player lost points in constitution, their max health points (HP) would drop until they could be killed from a pebble hitting them. While this result was rare as most parties would be overwhelmed by goblins first, there had been cases of players having that happen to them in this dungeon from Xeal’s last life. However, this fight would not cause them to risk that result as Friva and Amet held the middle, and he and Clara managed the edges efficiently. Not a single goblin managed to slip by before the force shields were up.

With the last chamber cleared, they began the systematic herding of every other chamber on the route they had explored. This included going down any offshoots they hadn’t before and finding their dead ends as well. This tactic required them to split up and regroup along the way, as they had to ensure that the goblins went down the path they wanted. Luckily, a single player was all it took for them to avoid a path and everything was going great when they found their first boss room.

Unlike every other chamber, the goblins here were not asleep and there were two hobgoblins that were as tall as a man, and had massive muscles as well. Altogether there were 30 enemies, but unlike all the other rooms, he knew the goblins would only run if one of the hobgoblins died first. So, he gave out his orders. For the first time he told the mages to not worry about a force shield, and also told them all to leave the hobgoblins to him. With a plan made, Xeal charged in alone, causing the whole room of goblins to focus on him while he passed them, as Aalin, Caleb, Vento and Ignis unleashed their spells. This caused the goblins to look at them as Xeal hit one of the hobgoblins with a breath attack and regained its attention, as he charged at the other one. This made both hobgoblins focus on him while the goblins rushed the rest of his party in a frenzy. For Xeal’s part, he just kept the hobgoblins busy until the last of the regular goblins fell and he smiled as he switched to a full-out assault on one, as Friva and Aalin acted as support while the rest of the party took the other one.

Xeal had to smile at the progress they all were making as Clara had refined her judgment of when to attack and when to heal, to the point that she didn’t hesitate at all anymore. Aalin’s spell timing was still not perfect, but it was much better and her spell selection was flawless. Gale was still lacking in judgment on when she should wade into the fray or simply stay back, but Xeal figured that it was a personality issue as she wanted to be involved in the action. However, her ability to heal her party members in the midst of the chaos of battle had become on par with most semi-pro clerics Xeal had known in his last life. Add her boosted stats and she was better than most pros as well. Ignis still needed to learn to cut back on the embellishment in his movements a bit more to cut down his casting time, but beyond that, he too was approaching semi-pro skill levels. As for Amet, he was still rough around the edges, but when he was next to Clara, it was like he was the perfect complement to her as he knew all of her cues and would perfectly adjust for her. All of this was treating them as a team of course. As far as a one on one went, they all had long since passed the pro level a long time ago.

Once they had finished off the two hobgoblins, it was time for their first rest as they had all depleted a fair bit of their SP and MP pools and needed to replenish them. While they rested, Xeal replayed the fight in his head to look over if there was anything he needed to worry about moving forward. Xeal knew that each individual battle was a rather standard affair, even easy as far as fights went, but it was exactly this that was so dangerous. It was so easy to ignore the marathon that this dungeon was and allow your stamina to run out. It was during this that Xeal thought of something.

“Amet, what is your stamina at right now?”

“About 75%, why?”

“Crap, is anyone else below 80% right now?”

“I’m at about the same as Amet,” commented Friva.

“Alright, you two need to not overexert yourselves any further. We are likely only a quarter of the way done right now. Luckily, you are both on the border line, but depending on how hard the boss fight is, you both might run out and have to worry about surviving.”

“What, I would have thought we were closer to a third of the way done?” replied Caleb.

“Always assume that there is more to do than is obvious. We are in a hellish nightmare mode dungeon. The system is not going to take it easy on us.”

“But these fights have been a joke,” retorted Friva.

“That’s the point. The fights are designed to get you to exert yourself. Think of how long we would have lasted had we needed to run down an escaping goblin. The monsters aren’t the challenge here. There are just a whole bunch of them and if you’re not careful, they will overrun us using sheer numbers.”

As the group thought on Xeal’s words, he thought about the final hurdle that they would need to clear before they were done with this dungeon. If they entered that fight with less than a quarter of their stamina left, he didn’t think that they would stand much of a chance. It was with this worry that they continued to clear the entirety of the dungeon of any living goblin without exception. It was a long and laborious process that required restraint as they went chamber to chamber, until they had finally cleared every chamber but the one with a pair of doors at the back of it. Xeal knew what lay beyond those doors, but to the rest it was only obvious that it was the final boss. Xeal had them rest a few chambers away from it, saying he didn’t want the system to play a cruel joke and open the door on them automatically once they cleared the last room. As they rested, Xeal did one last check on everyone’s stamina, causing him to frown as none of them were above 35%. Amet was only at 21%, while Friva was at 23%. Xeal was grateful that Clara was still at 30%, as it meant that she should be good to help him with what was to come.

Once they were done resting, Xeal led them to the last room and initiated the attack, causing the goblins to wake up. Only they didn’t run, or charge. They just started to laugh and dance like madmen and before Xeal could even say anything, the doors started to open and two massive goblins stepped out. Each of them was over seven feet tall. The first was built like a brick house and dressed in a loincloth. The other was dressed in a shaman garb with colorful feathers and had a feminine figure that a model would be jealous of, were it not for the face and green skin that came with it. Here it was the moment that the unprepared failed completely, as the shaman let out a breath attack that was a green mist that momentarily overpowered Vento’s wind and sapped one percent stamina from the whole party, before being blown away once more.

“What a foul wind that was,” coughed Vento.

“Damn it, you had been doing so well!” wheezed Gale.

“Deal with it, Gale, and everyone get your heads in the game. We need to kill that shaman at all costs!” shouted Xeal, letting loose a breath attack as he did so.

Xeal knew that if they didn’t take care of her in the next ten or so minutes, Amet would die, as she would unleash her breath attack every 30 or so seconds. Still, they couldn’t simply ignore the other goblins who were cackling as they charged in recklessly, and had already engaged Xeal and the other frontliners. The other oversized one, that Xeal knew was a goblin champion, was guarding the shaman and it was with all this in mind that Xeal gave his next order.

“Vento, you need to get right in the middle of things to keep us in your wind. Friva, Saima, you two focus on the shaman. I will keep the other big guy out of the way. Amet, Clara, keep everyone else safe from these pests. Aalin, Ignis, Caleb, empty everything you have on the shaman. Gale, just make sure everyone stays alive and act as the second line for Amet and Clara. Now everyone, go.”

With that, everyone shifted, though Friva and Saima found themselves on the edge of the wind barrier and both had to be careful not to be out of it when the next breath attack came. Xeal had taken to crossing blades with the goblin champion, who wielded a blade with many different curves and points. As Xeal looked at it all, he could say was it was all style and no function, as it was just a mess of features that a teenager would think looked cool. The annoying part was once you applied video game logic to it, that made the weapon overpowered when it was in the hands of a monster that was programed to use it flawlessly. Xeal found himself fighting a slowly losing battle as the rest of his party cleaned up the rest of the monsters, as he would fire off his breath attack right after the shaman let loose hers. This back and forth continued until the shaman fell after just under ten minutes. However, Amet had run out of stamina and was on a knee next to Vento acting as a guard, as Gale had stepped up and was next to Clara, keeping the few remaining goblins busy as Saima and Friva arrived to finish them off. Just as the last one fell, Friva and Gale ran out of stamina. While Gale had been good on stamina, she was not a melee class and even a few minutes of frontline fighting burned through her stamina because of it. The other issue was Vento was out of MP and the rest were under a quarter left, while the goblin champion was still above 90% health and Xeal was down to five percent stamina.

“Pick your shots everyone. Clara, Saima, how is your stamina looking?”

“I’m at three percent,” yelled Clara.

“Four percent here,” echoed Saima.

“Great, I need you both to help me until you are out of stamina. Amet, Friva, get ready to charge in recklessly when I call for it!”

Both Amet and Friva responded in the affirmative, as Clara and Saima joined Xeal in fighting the goblin champion and for a while things were going well. The three of them were able to overwhelm their foe as strategic spells hit it as well, that were focused on more of a drawn-out fight. That was until Clara announced that she was under one percent stamina and a second later her movements became sluggish. Seeing this and knowing that Saima would follow in another minute or two, Xeal initiated the next phase of his plan.

“Amet, Friva, now! Gale, Vento, get ready when Saima is out of stamina, as you two will need to join in as well. As for the rest of you, when you are out of MP, you better join in the melee as well!”

Xeal frowned at his own two percent stamina. With the boss just below 50% health, he knew it was going be close. He was pinning his hopes on the magic casters still being able to dodge and reduce the heat that the rest of them were under, as they struggled to land their hits while rapidly losing health. When the boss hit 40%, Saima was out of stamina and Gale, Vento and Caleb charged in. When the boss was at 30%, Xeal disengaged with 20% health and knelt, with around a quarter of a percent of his stamina intact. He started to focus on landing his breath attacks, as they were the only chance of winning that was still left. After he landed the first one, he shouted out further instructions.

“Once your health falls below five percent, fall back behind me!”

As time ticked by, with Xeal unleashing his attack as soon as its cooldown was over one by one, his party withdrew. First was Gale, then came Friva, Amet, Clara and finally Saima, as the four magic casters focused on simply dodging while poking the goblin champion occasionally, until they too were out of stamina. Seeing this and that the boss was at 5% health, Xeal frowned as he knew it would be close, but with only Aalin still moving normally, they couldn’t afford to wait and after one last breath attack, Xeal yelled out “Charge!” Nothing else needed to be said as they all launched themselves at the boss in a desperate attempt to deal enough damage. They all used their most powerful skills and Xeal ran out of stamina after executing a double upward and downward slash combo charged with elemental blade, as his MP dropped to under 500 from the nearly 20,000 he had started with. That meant he just had three breath attacks left, as each took 150 MP. That meant there was only two minutes before the entire party would be running on empty.

“Don’t let up until you fall below one percent health!” shouted Xeal.

Frantically, everyone emptied everything in their tank and after Xeal’s last breath attack, only himself and Aalin were still engaged with the boss, that had under one percent health. Frowning, Xeal threw caution to the wind and went to try and combo lock the boss with his double upward and downward slash, as he had only been avoiding doing so as he would drain all of his constitution by doing so. However, he was too slow and he could tell that he was about to take a direct hit from the boss, which would likely trigger his death followed by a full party wipe, when a blue force shield appeared just in front of the boss’s attack. Xeal smiled at the final assist that Aalin was able to provide, thanks to her necklace that she had leveled up to level 100, that had given him his opening. One, two, three hits and on it went, as Xeal disregarded the rapid loss of constitution points until his title “skin of your teeth” kicked in and negated all further status damage, to include that done to his constitution points. It was after he had continued like this for 20 seconds that the goblin champion fell and the announcement went out.

(Congratulations to Xeal Bluefire, Aalin Oceanwind, Ignis Stormthorn, Clara Holyscar, Amet Highaxe, Gale Rosekeeper, Saima Mahal, Caleb Elfheart, Friva Doomcutter and Vento Tempestas on being the first party to clear the level 109 hellish nightmare mode of any ten-man level 105 dungeon.)

Following the announcement, they each received a notification.

(Congratulations for being in the first party to clear the level 109 hellish nightmare mode of the level 105 dungeon, Goblin Rush. Rewarding bonus XP equal to all gained in dungeon and 150 gold each. Additionally, your names will be added to the records plaque that will now be activated, permanently)

Xeal didn’t even take the time to care about these notifications as he hobbled to loot the bosses’ corpses. He didn’t even care about the details of the loot as all of it was either materials or gear that would be funneled into the guild’s crafters, or guild warehouse, that would be put up for members to buy using guild coins. The only thing he cared about was figuring out why they almost failed at the last moment. All he could point to was the fact that the moment one of them ran out of stamina, it was like a chain reaction. Had both Amet and Friva been above 25%, Xeal estimated that they would have finished the fight when he had called for the final charge. As Xeal was thinking about this, Amet spoke.

“Sorry, guys. I almost cost us this clear by not managing my stamina better. Xeal, thanks for bailing me out, man.”

“It wasn’t just you. I could have avoided using my skills a bit more as well and been of more use against the final boss,” added Friva.

“As long as you guys are learning it’s fine, and Aalin, thanks for the save with that shield. I would have died there at the end without it.”

“Aren’t you happy that you bought me it now?” Aalin smiled as Xeal kissed her.

They all chatted while they hobbled to the exit that had appeared in front of them after killing the goblin champion. When they stepped out, Xeal was once more grateful that all status effects would reset and all damage done in the dungeon would be restored. With the dungeon cleared, they all decided to call it a day as Xeal returned and just relaxed with Gale and Aalin, while doing guild work for the rest of the session. As they worked, Xeal couldn’t help but ponder on just what they were missing to become the efficient team that they should be by now. Perhaps adding the other four just threw things off enough to cause the issues, or it could be that no matter what he did, his friends just didn’t have the talent needed to truly become pros on their own. Perhaps the only thing he could do was search out a way to boost Amet’s and Ignis’s stats like the others, to overcome the inefficiencies with brute strength. Still, pros were often judged by how well they could work in teams, as most high-level quests required multiple players working together to clear. Regardless of how powerful they became, Xeal doubted that any of them would be able to slip into and out of any team seamlessly, unless something was fixed.

(*****)

Thanks!

Thank you to all of my patrons on Patreon, especially my knight-tier patrons Ottojanius, Jim Hall, Benjamin Griner, Rowan, Carl Benge, Nathan Ross, Timelesschief, Christof Köberlein, Benjamin Grey, Casey, Freedcats, Daniel Sifrit, Fiedems, Michael Jackson, Tim Bartlett, Jeffrey Iverson, James Vierra, David Peers, Kyle J Smith, Roman Smith, Derek Morgan, William J Dinwiddie II, Rick White, Ryan Harrington, Lokii, Andrew Stueve, Michael Mitchell, Stefan Zimmermann, Grantland Case, Francisco Brito, Peter Barton, Peter Hepp, Kore Rahl, Joel Stapleton, Lazai, Richard Schlak, Bret Haggar, Rodger Maynard, Shard73, Bodybags87, Blackpan2, Thomas Watret, Adamantine, Daniel Washburn, Alex Wierzbicki, William Adams, Joseph Wade, Matthew, Douglas Sokolowski, Edwin Courser, Sam Ellis, Andrew Eliason, Nick Stockfleth,  Tim, Wrathwind and DAvid Marksz.

Preview

Morning February 28, 2267.

Alex stretched as he took in the smaller room Sam, Nicole and himself were currently using while their portion of the house went through a thorough remodel. He had to laugh at just how comprehensive of a remodel was going on as a whole extra floor was being added and he was still in the dark on just what his five ladies had decided. All he knew was it would have a room for each of them and several more for any kids that they had. As he was thinking on this, both of his 24-week pregnant ladies, Sam and Nicole, stepped out of their VR pods. Both were expecting girls and were enjoying the fact that their morning sickness seemed to be gone. They were all smiles as Alex gave them kisses before they left their room, where they found Kate waiting for her kiss. After giving Kate her kiss, Alex couldn’t help but think about Ava and Mia who were both currently in the middle of their tier-5 trial and were on a completely different schedule due to it. His butler Gido was handling their needs during this time by ensuring they woke up from their naps in time to log back into Eternal Dominion (ED). As they were using VR pods, they had one advantage of not needing full meals as well and could get by simply by eating a few snacks right before logging back in.

Alex and his three ladies made it to the pool for their morning swim, that had become the normal morning activity over the past few weeks, due to his mother’s arrival. However, Alex felt like something was missing with Ava and Mia not there as he had grown used to their smiles and teasing, and he had to sigh at just how successful they had been in carving out a place in his life. Kate however seemed ready to take advantage of the fact that she would have Alex mostly to herself, as Sam and Nicole would be joining Julie and Alex’s mom in the pregnancy exercise group. Seeing Alex lost in thought, Kate decided to refocus him and spoke.

“You look lost, Alex. Don’t tell me that you are having withdrawals from Ava and Mia already.”

“Huh, oh yah, sorry. Is it weird that I already miss them?”

“No, they are very good at making their presence known and with what the last two months have been like for you, well I think the longest you were away from them was our date. Other than that, they have always been there. Even if you are giving Sam, Nicole or I attention, they would be there smiling, especially since you accepted them.”

“Still, it isn’t good for me to be like this.”

“Yes, and no, it lets us know that you notice when we are not around. I’d hope that the first time that I have to travel for business and can’t be here for a few days you would be the same. After all, I know that I am going to miss you.”

“Kate Astor, have you gone soft? I thought you were all business and even our relationship was a transaction to you.”

“Ha, sorry to disappoint you, as for the first time in my life I am ignoring rationality and simply enjoying the fact that I have your eyes on me. Now let’s have some fun and work on our breathing.”

With that Kate tossed a few colored sticks, that were meant for diving, in the pool and started to swim towards them. Alex smiled as he followed after her and the pair would spend the rest of their time playing this game with kisses mixed in between each dive. After swimming, it was time to enjoy another wonderful breakfast that Sofie had made for them as Sam and Nicole enjoyed sitting next to Alex while they chatted about all of the things that they had upcoming.

“So, my parents are due in on Sunday and they have been asking about details on what they should expect,” commented Sam.

“Haven’t you told them that we have plenty of room?” asked Alex.

“Umm, no, I just don’t know how to tell them that I live in a house that could fit three or four of theirs in it.”

“Alex, I haven’t told my parents either,” added Nicole.

“Nicole, you I understand. Sam, just tell your parents not to worry and that you want it to be a surprise so they don’t get annoyed at you not telling them until now. Nicole, if I were you, I would do the same, though if you want to, I can see about getting your parents a hotel room if you think it would be better as well.”

“Thanks, I will think about it,” commented Nicole.

“Alright, that works I guess and my parents should be fine, though they might have a heart attack when they see Ava and Mia all over you,” quipped Sam.

“That’s right, they should be finishing their trial around then. I doubt we will be able to pry them off of you at that point,” added Nicole.

“Wait, you two haven’t told your parents about them yet?” interjected Mrs. Bell with disappointment in her tone.

“Mom, how did you react when you found out?”

“And? It is an important thing to know. If you thought my reaction was bad, just think what it would have been if I just found out now. Sam, you need to let your parents know tonight, or I will let them know tomorrow. Nicole, just bite the bullet and do it as while I won’t tell them, I can’t say that Sam’s mom won’t, though knowing her, she will do it without meaning to cause an issue.”

Both Sam and Nicole had troubled looks on their faces as they mulled over Mrs. Bell’s words when Kate spoke up.

“Just blame me and say that due to my family situation, you couldn’t talk about it and Alex’s mom was a slip-up.”

Afterword

What do you say, after publishing 10 books in under a year, and going from a complete unknown to having thousands of readers, other than thank you. No really, thank you. I can’t say enough about how much joy you all bring into my life as I continue to expand this series each month. That goes double to all of those who have been able to support me on Patreon, as you will always be a large part of my success. The accountability of having patrons who are willing to support me beyond just reading my books plays a large part of keeping me on task each week. If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know if I would be working on my second series that I plan to release some time in the first half of next year, while keeping this one on its monthly schedule. I just hope it receives as warm of a welcome as Eternal Dominion has and still is.

I always hesitated to add news in these as by the time any of you read them, a month has passed as I am writing this the day before book 9 is set to release. Once more, I am waiting to see if it is received as well as I hope, and does well enough to ensure that I can continue to live the life of a stay-at-home dad, who spends every free moment he gets being an author who is constantly trying to get ahead of the insane schedule he has set for himself. I say that but, if I’m honest, I love everything but the first edit/second draft about my writing, as I have long accepted that you can’t please everyone and the squeaky wheel is not always correct.

Now to add the news that I am hesitant to add. I am expecting that book 1 will be out in audiobook on September 1st, 2022. Yes, I know that is today, you should check it out if you have time! You should start seeing them come out monthly now and I hope those of you who pick it up love them, as I know Soundbooth Theater has been putting in a ton of effort to give the listener the best experience possible, with two of their top talents in Zachary Johnson as narrator and lead, with the amazing Annie Ellicott handling all the lovely ladies of my story. Now onto the repetitive stuff. Once more, thanks!

As always, if you feel I have forgotten something, feel free to reach out to me on Facebook through my page, or join my group. I am only one person and sending a message to my Facebook author page is the fastest way to get me to see it, as I don’t get alerts on my personal page when non-friends message me for the first time. That said, I will not answer personal questions, like where I live, even in a general fashion. Please keep it to my story, or my writing process.

If you would like a weekly extra that focuses on looking at the supporting cast and is not plot necessary but is canon, I publish shorts on my Patreon. The first several of which are currently available to my $1 patrons, who will get another one every four weeks, while my $5 patrons get one each week. If you want to see what these are like, I have put a few up on my Facebook group as well now. I also now have a $5.50 tier for those who want to read the first 5 to 7 thousand words of the next book a week or so early, as that is when I have it back from the copy editor. To be clear, I delete the extended preview just before, or after, the book it is attached to is released. Some may ask why the extra 50 cents and to that I give two reasons. I have had some patrons tell me that they don’t want the extended preview and it lets them ignore it. Also, it allows me to see just how much demand there is for extended previews.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/berndean

https://www.facebook.com/Author.Bern.Dean

https://www.patreon.com/berndean

Thank you again for reading my story and I hope you return for the next installment of Alex’s tale. If you enjoy LitRPG and GameLit books, check out the following Facebook groups. Both are great and have helped me get my stories out to you!

LitRPG: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPG.books

GameLit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPGsociety