"What are those?" Rastafic asked.

"Messages that were left to my team outside the Dungeon. I suspect they were left by the god blocking this Dungeon," James answered.

Rafastic read each of the scrolls in turn and passed them to Glezda when he was done with them. "That is very interesting. As far as I am aware, there is no such thing as a 'legal blockade.'"

Glezda nodded, "Yes. My patron has mentioned that he didn't think it was permitted, but each of his requests for intervention has been ignored."

Rastafic frowned, "Why would they be ignored. Can you explain exactly what is going on?"

Glezda filled in Rastafic while James chatted with Rocko. Rocko suggested showing Rastafic the scroll, hoping it would result in the deity outside getting his wrist slapped. This was something that Rocko had suspected but had no way to confirm. It was only by chance that Rastafic was here to discuss the ratification of a deal between James and Glezda.

Glezda looked at the scrolls, "Can you tell who created these scrolls?"

"Yes, but it is not enough proof of their interference. You say that the Goblins are replaced every morning with new ones?" Rastafic asked.

James nodded, "Yes. Is anyone willing to share the names of the gods involved in this?"

Both Glezda and Rastafic shook their heads. "Such things are not intended for the ears of mortals. It will be addressed, of that I am sure." Rastafic said confidently.

"So, what now?" James asked.

Rastafic stood up, "If you permit, I will take these scrolls and return to my duties. The two of you are permitted to continue with your contract so long as you don't violate the rules."

James shrugged, "Sounds like a plan; thank you for your assistance." James shuddered inside. He wasn't sure how he managed to say that with a straight face.

Rastafic nodded a greeting to Glezda and then faded from sight.

James released a breath he wasn't aware he was holding, "Is it me, is that guy just an ass."

Glezda looked at him before cocking her head to one side, "Why would you consider him an ass?"

James shook his head slowly, "I don't know. From the moment I saw him, I didn't like him."

"You are a strange one. James Gleason. Are you interested in designing your base?" she asked.

"Sure. Then we can work on you creating all the items and gold we can get away with."

Glezda raised an eyebrow, "Items and gold? How clever." it took a moment, but the expression changed to a smile.

Glezda used her experience to increase her Dungeon Level to 5 and purchased the Ability that allowed her to create items out of Steel.

She absorbed everything except for that which she could not recreate—even the leather satchel, cloth sack, tent, and mess kit. James was surprised when she proceeded to recreate everything in better condition than when she absorbed it.

"Are you repairing them before recreating them?" he asked.

"In a sense. I am recreating the items without the damage," she explained.

"Are you able to do that with my armour?" James asked.

"I see no reason why not, but I would not be able to work with your Gambeson, as it is of Very Good quality," she stated.

Some of the armour James purchased was already at full Durability, but he let Glezda absorb it anyway so that she would have a pattern of it. When she was done, she provided him with a complete set of black armour."

"You can change the colour?" he asked redundantly.

Glezda stared blankly at James, "Obviously." All the items James had fed her had been recreated at maximum Durability the next moment. James took a moment to pick out his equipment.

He took back the Steel Nasal Helm, the Steel Scale Mail Armour, the Leather Cuisses with Steel Reinforcements and the Leather Greaves with Steel Reinforcements, the Leather Quiver, the Steel Boot Knife, the Steel Round Shield, the Leather Satchel with the Quill, ink, charcoal stick, Pocket Knife, and compass. He put the Tent and Mess Kit back in the Backpack of Holding and the four items that Glezda would absorb. In the Bag of Holding, he returned the copy of the Iron Ration, Water Skin, Parchment and the three coins.

James decided to swap out the Padded Gambeson he had with the one created by Glezda. It was not as good quality, but it had more Durability, which was necessary as the previous one had taken some significant damage over the past week.

"Do you have much need for the Belt of the Dwarves?" Glezda asked him.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

James shrugged, "Nothing yet. I can already change my appearance, but being able to change to that a Dwarf might be handy. Also, it lets me understand their language. Why?"

"If you give the Belt to me, I can provide you with something of Uncommon variety."

James consulted with Rocko for a moment. "Do you have something that creates arrows like the quiver you gave Barbara, but with PSI instead of Mana?"

Glezda frowned, "Anything to do with PSI instead of Mana increases the item by one Rarity."

That made sense since PSI was so rare. "What about something that helps with Astral Space or the Void."

Again, Glezda thought for a moment. "I have an Enchanted item that works like an Astral Anchor, but it is Rare. Again, due to the nature of the item."

James swore he would have liked to have had another Astral Anchor. To buy another would cost him 25 Free Advantage points.

James passed on a suggestion from Rocko, "What about something related to Shadow, like my Shadow Step or Shadow Meld abilities?"

Glezda thought for a moment, "I have several abilities. Some have requirements, such as Shadow Lord, Shadow Mage, Shadow Knight or Shadow Rogue."

"I am a Shadow Knight," James offered.

"That helps. Some don't have requirements, but I see several here to help you. Removing the ones that are considered Rare, you have seven options. There are three Rings of Shadows, which grant you Shadow abilities. The first is Shadow Bolt. This is a bolt of Shadow, which strikes with Kinetic force and is invisible in the darkness. The second is Shadow Bind. It creates tendrils from the surrounding Shadows, which bind the target for a short period of time, and the last one is Shadow Armour. It creates a suit of armour that encompasses your body in Shadow. This level would be the same as chain mail armour."

Glezda paused to see James' reaction, but James was busy passing the information on to Rocko. With a shrug, she continued, "The next two are potions. One allows you to turn into a Shadow and go where this is darkness. Under doors, through keyholes, or up walls. It also means physical items for a short duration can't hurt you. The potion lasts for about a minute. The second potion is called Shadow Blight. It makes the imbiber immune to Shadow-based attacks for one minute."

James finished passing the information to Rocko before looking up at Glezda, "And the last two?"

Glezda sighed. There was no appreciation for her powers, "The last two are items. One is a cloak which grants you an additional bonus to stealth, and the second is a shield. Besides being a nice steel kite shield, it also allows you to create non-magical darkness around you once per five levels. And because you are a Shadow Knight, the number of times you can do it is doubled."

James and Rocko conferred. James wanted the shield. Having an enchanted shield could help. On top of that, creating a zone around him of darkness could turn the tide of a fight if he was fighting creatures who could not see well in darkness. Rocko was leaning more towards the Ring of Shadow Bind. Both would help. "Can you provide me with the details of the Shadow Bind ring and the shield, please? I am not sure which would be better."

Glezda nodded, "The ring can be used once per day and hold a target for up to one second per level. It is your Willpower versus the target's Strength. The shield can be used once every five Skill levels in Shield and creates a zone of darkness up to two meters centred on the shield. It lasts for one second per level."

James and Rocko conferred some more. Rocko had to agree that the shield was better, but James also agreed that he should get the Power Shadow Bind as soon as he could afford it. It was 30 Free Advantage points, double because of James' Magic Resistance.

James removed the iron daggers from the Backpack of Holding and put them in his satchel to make room for his old shield. Then, with his new shield, he was ready to go.

Name: Steel Kite Shield of Darkness Quality: Good Rarity: Uncommon Armour Rating: 16 Damage Range: 1d6 +12 Accuracy: +11 Crit Range: +8% Durability 47/47 Damage Type: Bludgeoning Special: Worn: Shield-arm, One-handed, Shield Bash, Enchanted - Darkness, 2m, 1 use/ 5 Shield Skill Levels (double due to Shadow Knight Class) per day, 1sec/Shield Skill level.

Glezda had provided him with a single room with a single door. When he entered the Dungeon, he would appear here. He would need to step through the door to leave the Dungeon. The room was nothing fancy, but James was pleased with it. It had a fireplace, a table, two chairs, a bed, a nightstand, a bookshelf that was currently empty, two armour crosses, a weapons rack and an iron bound chest at the foot of the bed. Glezda also agreed to provide him with a cold ale each time he arrived.

They agreed that only James would be allowed entrance. Glezda could not appear in this room, so anytime he wanted to talk to her, he would need to call out to her, and she would move him to a room they could speak. James had insisted on a separate room so that Rocko could appear and they could converse more easily. Glezda stated that she would fill the room with a sack of four hundred gold and a sack of rings, broaches and armlets. This way, they did not violate the agreement with the Grand Council. James agreed he would return with more jewelry samples to copy and Enchanted items valued at a about five hundred to a thousand gold. He would need to make sure he visited the Dungeon every day or every other day until he could recruit someone to do it for him. He was going to ask Connie, but with her situation with her mom, now was not the time.

----------------------------------------

James stepped out of the Dungeon and looked around. Once he was confident he would not be ambushed, he put his weapon away and slinked off towards the forest. He didn't want his Astral Anchor to be too close to the Portal to the Dungeon. The cave was not a good place to be caught in an ambush. By having the Anchor in the forest, he could approach the caves from a different angle each time and then deal with the final approach as necessary.

Once he was a reasonable distance away from the caves, he drew his sword and stepped into Astral Space to looked around.

&&&&&&&&&& ASTRAL SPACE &&&&&&&&&&

James decided to checked his notifications before returning to Ash Rumbo by a circuitous route.

Willpower +1

Charm +1

Luck +1

Back Attack +1

Information Gathering +1

Negotiation +1

PSI - Targetted +1

Stealth +1