Elsewhere

Duke’s conversation with Mira and Gro'nok went rather quickly with both quite happy to stick around and deal with the Syndicate mercenaries as they popped up. Gro’nok seemed especially eager to fight, as did the rest of the Clan’s mech pilots. That led to another conversation – what to do about the mercenaries’ mechs that Duke had repaired.

“Don’t worry about the mechs. I’ll put them in storage against us gaining more mech pilots. It’s a skill like any other. Why don’t you just train more pilots in the Clan?”

“The tradition speaks against it. It is an honor to pilot a mech, something that is earned, not given. To do otherwise would take away its significance in our culture.”

“Then push more people to earn it. We have more mechs than pilots and I can’t imagine that is a normal situation nor is the entire Clan having to flee an enemy a normal situation. Tradition might not hold for this period in the Clan’s history. Think about it.”

“I will think on it and discuss it with the Clan elders. For now,” He raised his voice. “Steel Tusks! Mount up and get back on the ship. There’s more fighting to do elsewhere!”

After salutes and handshakes were exchanged, Duke had a brief conversation with the Legion Commander and Aurelia about his short-term plans. The First Legion was going to march back to Cloudspire and use the Portal network to get back to the LFD for resupply and a bit of rest.

“Or, I could just open a Portal for you to get there directly right now,” Duke suggested.

“That would speed things up for sure. Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“Of course. Let me know when you are ready, and I’ll set up the Portal.”

It took no more than ten minutes for the entire Legion to be ready to move out and it took far less than that to set up the Portal. Twenty minutes later, Duke was left alone with the remains of the mercenaries and their mechs as Mira had flown out to look for another hot spot. He proceeded to load up the mechs into his INVENTORY before taking the equipment from the mercenaries and leaving their bodies to rot. I’ve got enough bodies in my INVENTORY, time to just grab the equipment. With that thought, he stepped through the Portal and closed it behind himself.

Stepping into the Lake Front Inn was refreshing. The air itself just felt fresher and full of positive energy. The Inn setting had not changed much since he had last been here but there were now some trophies mounted on the walls. They were diverse from the heads of horrible beasts that Duke assumed had been dungeon bosses to artifacts taken from mercenaries and hunters the Legion had defeated. He liked the additions.

It didn’t take long for both Calen and Sam to find him as he walked towards the bar. Calen poured him a glass of whiskey and placed it on the bar with a smile, “Good to see you again, Duke. You’ll have to tell me al about your travels, but it looks like Sam is, um, waiting for you.”

Duke looked up from the drink to see Sam practically bouncing from foot to foot in his eagerness to speak with Duke. With an upnod, Duke acknowledged Sam who burst into an explosion of words.

“Duke, thank the Overmind you are back! Do you have any idea how busy I have been? With the Legions, yes LEGIONS, plural. And with Havenreach! The things I have had to do there. Just too much. And then the loss of a family member? Did you know that we lost someone? Of course you did. Why aren’t you talking?”

Duke calmly put his glass down and looked at Sam, “Hi Sam. You look good. How have you been?”

“Haven’t you heard anything I just said!”

“Every word, but that’s not how we should start off, is it?”

Sam lowered his head, “No, it’s not. Sorry. I just got so excited to finally have someone who would understand what I have been going through.”

“Why don’t you pull up a stool and tell me the most important things first? We can get into the rest of it later. Sound good?”

“Yes, Duke. Thank you.” He pulled up a stool and Calen placed a glass filled with a glowing blue substance in front of him. Sam acknowledged the drink with a smile. He took a long drink before beginning.

“OK, the most important thing. When you left, the entire economy of the Kingdom nearly collapsed.”

“I’m going to want some more details about that for sure.”

“It’s your aura, Duke. When you left, it went away and all productivity dropped, but especially in Havenreach. From their perspective, you have been gone for two and a half years. I had to push the loot generation for their dungeon way up just to keep them from falling apart. It required so much of a Mana investment that my own growth came to a standstill. Go speak with the mayor but they had to really mess with the tax rates. Now that you’re back and your Aura is back in place at-” Sam stopped, absolutely stunned. He shook his head free of the thought and continued, “nearly twenty-five THOUSAND percent, I can tone things back down. That’s been a heavy strain on my Mana to maintain that.”

“Thank you for taking care of Havenreach for me. How are you holding up on Mana?”

“Oh, I’m just fine now. With that strain relieved, I am gaining Mana at quite the rate again, especially with you in here. The six Legions that keep rotating back here to train are keeping me nearly full-up now so I can go back to growing.”

“Did you say six Legions?”

“Yes, Duke. Six Legions. And I heard rumors that they were looking to form two more once they had enough recruits.”

“Where are all these recruits coming from?”

“From their conversations, all over. They apparently heard that things are good in the kingdom and have brought their families with them.”

“Well, that’s some good news. With the Syndicate coming to cause more trouble, we’re going to need a lot of troops. How are you coming with the planetary defenses?”

“The what?”

“The planetary defenses. You know, to defend the plant from threats from space.”

“I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, Duke.”

“Of course you don’t. But we need something in place.”

“I’m sorry, but that is far outside my experience by a lot. I’ll stick to training the Legions.”

“Great idea. You do that. Anything else?”

“Lots of other things but the more important thing is that I want to introduce you to my Core Team.”

“Your what?”

Sam got up from the barstool and gestured for Duke to follow him. “You’ll see.”

Duke followed Sam from the Inn and back through the “closed” passages that led to Sam’s core. When they entered the core chamber, Duke was greeted with a most unexpected sight. A half-dozen nearly formless, bipedal creatures stood around the core pedestal. They all turned towards Duke and he could see the faceless heads transform into human features. Their outer skin formed into clothing similar enough to Duke’s that they would fit in wherever they went.

“Duke, this is my Core Team. They have been tasked with planting my cores out in the world,”

Duke paused, his mind grinding to a halt. “What cores? And how many?”

Sam shook his head at Duke. “Did you think that just because you weren’t here that my budding process would just stop? Nonsense. I bud a new core every week like clockwork. But since you were not here to go plant them, I created these fine specimens to do so. They are truly wonderful creations if I do say so myself. They are infinitely adaptable to blend into any group they find and have the mental prowess to make those they encounter forget about them entirely.”

Duke gaped at Sam before the dungeon’s avatar continued, “They have planted seven new dungeons out in the wild. They are all roadside inns that you should visit sometime.”

“And they can make people forget about them?”

“Yes, it’s perfect. They can go out, plant a dungeon, and return with none the wiser about it. It really works out. In fact, turn around, Duke. You’ll see how well their Ability works when all six of them use it at once.”

Humoring Sam while his mind tried to grasp what Sam was telling him, he turned around. If Sam plants a new dungeon every week, how long until those dungeons are strong enough to put out their own seeds? Could this be why the dungeons were ultimately hunted down? But these are roadside inns – they’re helpful. Will it be different because of that? As he pondered these things, he felt the faintest pressure on his mind. He turned around, “Was that it?”

Sam and all six members of the Core Team stared at Duke incredulously. “That’s not how that’s supposed to work.”

“Were you really trying to use a dungeon-based mental Ability on me? On ME? You really thought that was going to work, didn’t you?”

Sam looked crestfallen, “Well, yes. It’s worked on everybody else.”

Duke laughed for longer than he had anticipated. Finally, getting himself under control, he responded, “My Psyche is effectively over forty thousand and I have specific Mental Abilities to stop just that sort of thing beyond any protection being a Dungeon Emperor provides. There’s no way you were getting through all that.”

Sam’s expression brightened slightly, “That makes you the exception then.”

“Yes, it does. And this is an interesting development. Should I expect other dungeons to be doing the same thing?”

“Only if they have the Mana intake that I do and, frankly, I don’t see how they could. I’m special and unique.”

“Yes, you are very special. Kindly show me where these dungeons have been planted.”

It didn’t take long for the dungeons to be located on a map. They were all on lonely stretches of road in areas that Duke had to admit that he would have planted them himself. Putting his concerns aside he praised the team, “You have done a good job at picking your locations. These inns will serve well and hopefully grow as Sam has. Well, maybe not to this extent, but I think you get my gist.”

“Thank you, Dungeon Emperor. Your words of praise are received and leave us fulfilled.” The response was in unison with voices so congruent, there was no harmony at all, just a single voice coming from six different bodies.

“Yeah, use that forgetful Ability whenever you go out. Nobody talks like that.” Duke turned to leave but paused, “Was there anything else, Sam?”

“Nothing important. Just don’t be too much of a stranger.”

“No promises. There are some big things coming up real soon. I have no idea when I’ll be able to come back here. Hopefully frequently. But for now, I’m off to visit Havenreach. I have a few people to speak with there and then on to Cloudspire.”

“Goodbye Duke. I have to go add another level to the training dungeon. These Legionnaires are starting to push over Tier four. Can you believe it?”

“More good news. I assume that’s only the First Legion?”

“Yes, the others are all Tier one and two with a few threes scattered in there. They are leveling quickly though. I bet I can get our first Tier five Legionnaire within the next six months to a year.”

“That’s fantastic! Keep it up. I’ll catch up to you later.” Duke TELEPORTED to the entrance for Havenreach, ready for his next set of tasks.