Would you like to accept her pledge and declare her to be Mary-Ann of Ralomar, Agent of Aaron Lightblade?
A bit overwhelmed, my metaphorical brain just freezes. Seconds turn into minutes as I'm just staring at the message.
When, after a couple of minutes, Mary-Ann starts to fidget and starts to look troubled, I snap out of my stupor.
Weighing the pro's and cons for a little bit more, I finally accept.
Upon accepting, I feel a connection being formed between my mind and that of Mary-Ann's.
Tentatively, I explore the connection. For starters, I am now perfectly aware of where she is, even when I have my mana senses turned off. I also 'feel' how she is doing. At the forefront is the ability to feel how healthy she is and this feeling just screams to me that she is hungry. Which is a new thing for me, since it seems like my dungeon creatures are sustained by mana and thus don't necessarily need to eat. Seeing as she has been out for a while and that I have no idea when she last ate, it is no wonder she's this hungry. She managed to hide it well though, it is only through our new bond that I'm even aware of it.
Deciding to test our new mental bond, I use it to telepathically call out to her.
"Test test, can you hear me Mary-Ann?"
The moment I think this, she basically jumps and again looks at me wide-eyed.
"Yes, I can hear you. How can I hear you even?"
"The bond that was forged between us allows me to telepathically speak with you. It actually feels the same way I issue commands and warnings to my snow leopards. I do wonder though if you can use the bond to speak telepathically to me as well. Mind giving it a try for me?"
She frowns and unfocuses her eyes, undoubtedly trying to find a way to use our connection to speak with me that way.
After a few minutes of her staring into the distance, her eyes become focused again as she looks at me again.
"Hello? Can you hear me, master?"
It worked, instead of using her mouth, she talked to me using her mind. She even sounds the same in my mind as she sounds using her voice. This makes me wonder though how I sound. Do I sound all robot-like? Or do I sound just the way my voice sounded like in my previous life? These are questions for another time though. I might never even get a proper answer to them. After all, how would Mary-Ann know how I sounded like in my previous life? And it's not like I have found a way yet to record what I say or think.
"Yes, I can hear you perfectly. This will make communications between us way easier. One little thing though, please call me Aaron. Master just feels weird. After all, you are royalty and I'm just a regular person. Or dungeon, rather."
"Are you sure? Not calling you master, as WIKI does, just feels disrespectful. And as far as the royalty thing goes, as far as I'm concerned, you are my liege now. The king is still family and thus still deserves my respect, but it feels as if my priorities have shifted and that my loyalty towards you has transcended the loyalty I feel for my uncle the king."
"I think I would prefer that, yes. I'm not one for fancy titles or impressive names. I think I actually prefer familiarity from those that serve me. And I hope that those that serve me don't mind if I do the same to them. It just feels as if that would create an even stronger bond."
"If that is how you feel, I will call you Aaron then, at least when it's just us. When it comes to official business, I will call you my master."
"That is acceptable, thank you. I must say, It seems like I have been a terrible host, it is only because of the bond we share that I noticed that you are hungry and that it has most likely been a while since you last ate."
As if triggered by me saying that, her belly grumbles and starts complaining, demanding to be fed.
She grabs her stomach and sheepishly grins.
"Well, this is not very flattering. I'm indeed quite hungry but I didn't have time to feel that way previously because of the unknown situation I was in. Now that I know that I'm safe, food has gained an increased priority over safety. You wouldn't be able to create some food for me perchance?"
"Sadly enough, no. Nor the noble or the thugs carried any rations or foodstuffs on them when they died in here so I can't just create some. Since my dungeon is in such a barren and cold area, I also have no access to fruits, vegetables or roots so I can't make any food for you that way. And the only animals I currently have are my two snow leopards but it would be a shame to just slaughter them for meat. They seem to hit it off and work together quite well. They are truly some dutiful guardians. And, I'm only speculating here, I think their meat would be quite stringy and though since they are mostly made of muscle since they are built for speed. The only thing I can think of to get food in a reasonable amount of time would be for you to hike back to the thug's hideout and get their rations and gear."
With that, she scrunches up her face, as if she dislikes the idea of having to go back to where she was kept captive for so long. With a sigh, she seems to comes to terms with it though.
"It would seem as if that's the best idea, yeah. Let's just hope that the thugs that are guarding the lower area of the mountain didn't return for some reason."
"Hmmm, yes, Haven't thought about that yet. I have an idea though for you to feel safe while you go back. Normally, my creatures wouldn't be able to leave my dungeon since they are sustained by my mana. But, according to WIKI, I can imbue my creations with a core that is linked to me, thus enabling them to leave my dungeon. It is expensive though and I can only do it when I create a new creature so I won't be able to send my snow leopards with you. What I propose is that, for you to feel safe and maybe to make it easier to loot the thugs' hideout, I create a Yeti and give it a core.
The Yeti can then go out with you to protect you and to act as some sort of pack mule for whatever you may think would be useful to us. I can even give the Yeti the command that it is to treat any command you give it to treat it as if it were a command given by me. How does this sound?"
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A look of gratitude and a smile now plaster her face.
"That would be wonderful, I would very much like that."
Gathering the 3000 mana needed for the Yeti and another 3000 for the monster core, I let the mana gather on the floor in front of me and give it the command to become a cored Yeti.
The mana starts swirling and twisting around for over five minutes until it finally disperses. In its stead stands now a Yeti akin to the one that barged in here earlier.
"You are to go out of the dungeon and escort my agent, Mary-Ann. You are to treat every command she gives as if I would have given it. You are to help her look for food and things that may be of use to me and her and help her carry it back to here."
Turning my attention back to Mary-Ann, I see she's staring at the Yeti in wonderment.
"Will you be okay? WIll you be able to find your way back to the thugs' hideout?"
"It shouldn't be a problem, I mostly ran down the mountain in one straight line. And if I can't find it on my own, I'm pretty sure that this beast of legend will be able to find it for me. I think I once read somewhere that yetis have exceptional smelling capabilities. It should have no problems in following the noble's trail of blood. By the way, is it an he or a she?"
"It would seem it is male. I'm thinking of making it so that the next one that I create will be a female. In the best case scenario, they breed on their own, allowing me to save some mana. In the worst case, I still have two powerful yetis at my disposal. I'm thinking of waiting with creating a second one for now though. With a little bit more mana, I can create a second Yeti with a core."
"Well, I'll leave you to that. I'm gonna get going then while it is still light outside. I'll be back in a couple of hours."
With a casual wave, she strolls towards the exit.
"Be careful in that corridor though. I've slightly trapped it for now. The floor is covered in thin ice and there's a pitfall that you need to jump over. It's not that wide, just a meter or so, I'm sure you'll easily make it."
I mentally 'shout' this as an afterthought. After all, it would be quite bad and embarrassing if she were to die to my meagre traps after just bonding with her. The Yeti seems to made of sterner stuff and should be accustomed to slippery surfaces so he should be able to easily handle the few traps I currently have.
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A couple of hours later, as the air outside turns to twilight, Mary-Ann and the Yeti come stumbling back into the corridor.
Following along in their wake is an improvised sleigh that is stacked with various things and which is being pulled by the Yeti. From my bond with Mary-Ann, I can feel that she isn't hungry anymore so she at least found what she set out for in the first place.
"Did anything interesting happen while you were outside?"
"Nah, making use of the Yeti's superb sense of smell, we easily found their cave. We carefully sneaked inside but that was apparently unnecessary for there was no-one in there, as expected I guess."
"That's good to hear. Tell me, found any good loot?"
"Found plenty actually. It would seem they had planned to stay there for a while for they had a lot of provisions and even some nice amenities. They used a sleigh to originally move it all up the mountain. I stacked all the things that we couldn't carry on top of it to make transport easier. And then I had the big guy pull the sleigh, making use of his ridiculous strength. In the end, we managed to bring all of it. Want me to list it all for you?"
"Yes please. Anything that you can't use right now, I'll just absorb it and learn how to make it out of mana. That way, if you or I ever need it, we'll have easy access to it and in the case of the food, it won't spoil that way."
"Sounds like a wonderful idea. I will sum up then what I found and brought.
Enough keepable provisions that would have lasted them for a month. Most of it was stored in a lesser and inferior quality dimensional backpack that just was able to fit all of the food. A couple of spears, a shield, a belt with a sheathed dagger, a quiver filled with arrows; mostly spare ones I assume, a couple of whetstones, five sets of sleeping bags, a bundle of unused torches, two tinderboxes, a set of playing cards, a couple of waterskins, four backpacks filled with personal belongings and a bunch of spare clothes. Oh, and some money pouches."
"That is quite the haul. I'm assuming that you want to get back as soon as possible to your uncle the king to assure him of your safety? what would you need for such a journey? And would you be able to make it down the mountain and past the thugs that guard the way up? Or would you like the assistance again from the Yeti? Depending on what items you'll leave behind, I might be able to create the second cored Yeti as I'm planning to send it down with you to break through them."
"Two yetis would certainly be a force to be reckoned with. And I'm pretty confident that I can sneak past them in the chaos created by a Yeti attack."
"What items would you need or like to take with you for your trip back to your uncle the king?"
"I'm thinking of taking the lesser dimensional backpack with me and only a quarter of the food. That should last me long enough to reach the capital and then some. I guess you can add various foodstuffs to your menu when I leave. I'm going to take the belt with the dagger so I at least have some way to defend myself. Since I'll have some free space in the dimensional backpack, I'm going to take a tinderbox, the cleanest bedroll, some spare clothes, some torches, a waterskin and a spear. And, if you don't mind, I would like to take the money with me as well. With the money, I can use it to spend some of the nights in an inn and have a nice hot meal and maybe even occasionally bathe to wash away the grime of the road."
"Yeah, go ahead. I have no use for money right now anyway. As you say, it would be better suited to help you reach the capital. I'd say, go ahead and pack whatever you want to keep. The rest I'll absorb so I have the mana to create my second cored Yeti. When dawn comes, you can start your journey back."
In no time, two piles are formed. A small one that eventually disappears into the dimensional backpack and a larger one that I spontaneously absorb. With my mana reaching over 6000 again, I invest the mana necessary to create my second cored Yeti. A female one this time.
With two yetis, two snow leopards, a magical tome and a human woman, my core room feels rather crowded. Luckily, after Mary-Ann leaves, I'll have the time to resume my digging.
When morning comes with a fiery dawn from the low hanging sun that reflects upon the snow, Mary-Ann is packed and ready to leave.
"Before you go, I would like you to wear the possession ring and claim this mountain in my name. This way, we have at least some power over it and thus other people can't just waltz up the mountain and claim it as their own and me with it. You can also show it to the king and use it as proof of the noble's guilt. Maybe he can even start an investigation to see which parties were involved and bring any remaining parties to judgement."
"I will wear it proudly. I will be back as fast as I can. I tried using our mind link to communicate with you while I was looting the hideout but it seems as if I can only talk to you telepathically when I'm in your dungeon. I will thus take initiative when it comes to matters that relate to you and act in your best interest of course. Wish me luck!"
With another wave, she leaves my dungeon with the yetis in her wake. Hopefully, she will make it safe and sound to the capital.