Another few months have passed, and a new year is underway. Tobes is finally starting to feel like a full-fledged town again with the addition of new buildings almost every week. This has led to the locals starting to trust me again, maybe not as much as in the past, but it is a start.
Yasmine has seemed to find her place among Dyson's group, but their group isn't quite the same as it was before. Now if that has to do with the addition of Yasmine, or the fact Angela has given birth to Dyson's child has yet to be seen.
Angela gave birth to a healthy baby girl that they named Alice, and she is now the third second-generation dungeon core, or so we thought. Unlike the dungeon cores that we have made with the [Justicar Menu] the second-generation dungeon cores are still being born with a number attached.
We haven't received any messages about any second-generation dungeon cores other than Rory and Cambion, but Alice was given the number four, so either one of the children Draco fathered survived his death, or another dungeon core has birthed a child without our knowledge. Either way, we are going to have to keep an eye out for the third second-generation dungeon core.
As for the war with Dalian, we are starting to gain some headway. The soldiers on our side are gaining enough levels to become relevant again, and we also now have Inari helping out now that she has taken care of the corrupt dungeon she was dealing with.
Inari's special skill raised her power considerably, it also caused her to grow a pair of silver wings and sprout additional tails. When she returned she didn't have the wings, but now permanently has two additional tails and her ears have grown quite a bit.
When I asked her about it she awkwardly avoided the question and simply stated it was a long story, so I haven't brought it up again. But after seeing her fight I would not be surprised to hear that her skill is permanently active now.
Only Inari's level was affected by the reset which only benefited her by gaining more strength as she leveled again, but this new strength seems even far beyond that. I would go as far as to say that she might not be able to beat Dyson, but she could probably give him a run for his money...
It hasn't all been good news though. More and more humans and dungeon cores alike are joining Bozhidar's side, and not only just the ones within the areas he has conquered. Dyson and I even spent weeks trying to convince Archbishop Hayden to help only for him to join Bozhidar as well.
In the end, I'm not even sure that is a bad thing. I got my first look at how he treats the people of Lodia, and I'm not even sure they are aware there is life beyond the walls Hayden has provided for them.
The entire kingdom is rife with famine and disease, all of which are caused by Hayden and his undead, but according to the people that live there, he is the only reason they are still alive. Dyson and I even had to disguise ourselves while we were there just so they didn't think we were some kind of monsters because of our healthy appearance.
Now that Hayden has joined Bozhidar I feel we can finally do something about Lodia, but how do you save people that do not wish to be saved...?
As for things in the dungeon itself. The adventurers entering the dungeon are growing quite careless... We are up to a dozen bunnies now, summoning what seems like a new one every other month, but they still are having trouble keeping the adventurers from coming to too much harm while in the dungeon.
We have even worked with the adventurer's guild to set level limits to different areas of the dungeon, but the adventurers have grown so careless in regards to the monsters that they are starting to ignore the warnings.
At least the soldiers training in the dungeon take the monsters seriously, because they might soon be on the front line fighting off monsters in the war. But even after constructing a garrison we had to add two more wings to it to keep up with the amount of soldiers that are coming here to train.
With so many low-level people in the dungeon at any given point, we have had to remodel many of the upper floors to make the strength progression of the dungeon between floors a much smaller curve. Areas once considered the depth of my dungeon with complicated mazes and puzzles have been gutted and filled with weaker monsters.
The slower progression of leveling, however, has made good healers harder to come by, so our dungeon has become even more important as alchemical potions are becoming far more popular. In the past, you could hire or even buy a slave that could cast decent healing magic for far less gold than a satchel full of healing potions, but that trend is quickly shifting.
We have even constructed the finest alchemy and potion shop, I wouldn't necessarily say in the world, but at least that I have ever seen, in town now. The Mage's Guild has also made an entire branch focused on alchemy now. As they are trying to come up with ways to refine, improve, and create new types of potions.
If things keep growing at this rate pretty soon I may even have to move Aina so that any adventurers or soldiers don't end up accidentally stumble into her room. As for her attitude, it has improved somewhat. She still seems to be bound to Bozhidar's dungeon, and completely refuses to talk about anything regarding him or his dungeon, but one of the newer bunnies has been taking and reading some books to her, and it has managed to build up some rapport.
And then there is that trent-like creature I summoned before summoning Yasime for Dyson... It spreads out some kind of spores as it slithers across its room, and within the first month it converted the room we placed it in into jungle-like maze of vines and greenery. It didn't stop there, after it completely converting its room it began spreading to the adjacent rooms and by the second month it had converted the entire floor.
It has even seemed to be able to reproduce, with large buds forming like when Yasmine was summoned in the vines, but when the buds split they contain more creatures like it instead. When speaking with Inari about it, she had a look at them and she said the buds look a lot like the corrupt dungeons she has dealt with which started to worry us both.
Even though the creatures shouldn't be sentient, when I commanded them not to spread into any other floors, they seemed somewhat sad. But it seemed to work because so far the spreading has halted.
Maeve finally got her wish as well. After a good long talk with Kleed about what kind of monsters might help produce better alchemy ingredients in my dungeon, we started talking about his pet project on finding a way to reach the floating island, and I finally told him the truth.
He was quite upset, but that didn't last long when I asked him if he would like to see it. He is now researching the island with a handful of adventurers and mages. That proved to a bit of a headache on its own, because one of the mages he took with him was Lylah's boyfriend. It isn't that hard for her to go visit him when she is free, but Lilah and Lila have been giving her a hard time by trying to take bets if it will be Maeve or Dawn that steals him away from her first...
After I finish reading a report on the war, Belinda presses herself against me as she leans on me from behind while whispering in my ear.
Belinda: “If you're done, we should be getting ready.”
“We still have hours before we are supposed to be there, don't we?”
Belinda: “I don't think that furrowed brow is the proper expression to be wearing for my brother's wedding. So I thought you could use some cheering up before then.” -She says as she drops her undergarments on my desk covering the report I was just reading while she starts nibbling on my ear.-
A few hours later Belinda is straightening out my outfit while I stand in the mirror and I say. “I feel that with everything going on, this isn't really the best time for a wedding...”
Belinda lets out a sigh and says. “We both know it has been a long time coming, and I actually think its the perfect time. We have been married for a while now, and everyone is starting to become comfortable with the idea of you being a dungeon core.”
“But there is a big difference between a princess that will never sit on the throne marrying a dungeon core and the next king marrying a dungeon core. Especially when they learn that means he may be sitting on the throne for a long time...”
Belinda: “Are you saying you don't think Logan will make a good king?”
“I'm saying there might be some that might take issue with Logan being king for hundreds of years, even your father had his reservations at that particular fact.”
Belinda: “King Aaron is bound to Laura, and now that Bozhidar has taken over Dalian, Logan will hardly be the first, and who knows, father may join our dungeon or Queen's dungeon eventually and he might stay king.”
“I don't think that is something your father wants.”
Belinda: “He might change his mind, he has looked happier this year then as far back as I can remember.”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“That could just be because of his young mistress.”
Belinda's father and mother haven't been romantically involved since Belinda was young, and Belinda still loathes her mother, but the talk of her father taking a mistress still is enough to make her put on a sheepish grin that makes her look like she wishes that she never learned about that information. Or it could just be the fact the mistress her father chose after all these years was Delilah, the bunny beastkin we sent to the capital to serve on the council.
Belinda pulls my necktie a bit too tightly as she says. “You had to go there...”
“She makes your father happy, isn't that what is important?”
Belinda: “Of course... But did it have to be someone that you summoned? It just feels... Wrong somehow.”
“Logan thought it was great, and I honestly think he was more excited about it than your father was.”
Belinda tries to shake the thought from her head and says. “But that's exactly my point. Now that he has Delilah, and watching Rory grow up, not to mention other grand-kids he might have in the future. Why wouldn't he want to stay around to see all that?”
“Your father doesn't just have his family, but he has many subjects as well. I'm sure he realizes even between Queen and I both, we couldn't bind all of them to our dungeons, so it might be too hard on him to have to watch so many of them grow old and die.”
Belinda: “We could bind a lot of them though.”
“Maybe, but what about their family? And if we bound their families as well, what about their family's family? Where would it end? Besides being bound to a dungeon is no guarantee either. With the war getting worse every day there is no telling how people will feel about dungeon cores once it finally comes to an end...”
Belinda: “Don't start furrowing your brow again! I don't have time to put this dress on again!” -She says with a playful smile.- “
“Okay, okay. No more war talk until after the wedding, I promise. Now I should probably go make sure Rory hasn't been giving Lilah and Vetala to much trouble while you finish up.”
Belinda gives me a soft kiss and heads out of the bedroom to go check on Rory. I find the girls in the living room, and when Rory sees me she quickly runs up to me holding out her arms to show me the large blue slimy lump in her arms that has covered her arms, the front of her dress and left a trail of slime across the floor.
“A slime...?”
Rory: “Made it my own self!” -She says happily bouncing up and down as goo from the slime drips down onto the floor.-
“That's very good... But remember we talked about summoning things without permission?”
Lilah: “That was the third one. Lilah already got rid of two of them.”
Rory then yawns rubbing slime across her face as she rubs her eyes with the backs of her hands and says. “No one play wif me.”
“I'm sorry. Everyone was getting ready for uncle Logan's wedding. Let's get you cleaned up, and I will play with you until it's time to go, okay?”
Rory: “Yay!” -She says and hugs my leg and I can feel the squish of the slime as it is between her and me as she hugs my leg.-
Magic makes quick work of the cleanup and I put the slime in a small room under the house that I have been keeping the creatures that Rory has managed to summon so far. Most of what she has summoned is toys and stuffed animals and we let her keep those in her room, but down here we have things like a couple dozen slimes, a few birds and other small animals, items like an actual dagger, and oddly enough a handful of teeth.
We are not exactly sure how these second-generation dungeon cores are going to work, so we have held on to everything just in case. One thing we do now is that summoning things for her is closer to casting magic than the way it is we do it, so when she does summon things it always tires her out quite a bit.
After cleaning her up and playing with her for a little bit she is sound asleep before we even leave the house
Since the large cathedral in which Belinda and I got married in was converted to a church of Faron, it was no longer the grand sight it was before, so Logan's wedding was held in the courtyard of the castle. It was a little cool this time of year, but the wedding went off without a hitch.
It wasn't till the banquet after the wedding that things got interesting. The king made a toast congratulating Logan and Queen, but he then said he had an announcement that shocked the entire room.
King Rondsom: “I now have two children that have joined a dungeon, soon maybe a third, and a dungeon core that I proudly call my son. Such a thing would have been unheard of not even a few short years ago, but the world is quickly changing. Gowen has stepped up from a backwater kingdom to a major political power, all of which can be attributed to the dungeon cores in our kingdom.
Between the Gowen kingdom's rapid growth, the destruction and rebirth of the township of Tobes, and the war brewing between Dalian and its neighbors. It is clear to me that the changes to come will require inside knowledge of dungeons that I will never have.
As such, after much deliberation, I have decided to abdicate myself from the Gowen throne to allow my son, who will have such knowledge, to succeed me.”
He says and then steps down from his throne, takes a knee while bowing to Logan, while removing his crown and presenting it to Logan. Logan places the crown on his head and then places his hand on his father's shoulder.
Logan: “There is no reason for you to bow to me, father...”
Rondsom: “Of course there is. You're my king.”
Logan gives his father a light bow and then steps up to the throne with Queen taking a seat to his right in which used to be Logan's seat. Rondsom meanwhile takes a seat at the table with us and the rest of the family who is all still quite shocked.
Logan seems quite nervous on the throne, but the guards quickly give him a bow, in which the other guests quickly follow suit.
Belinda: “Father, what are you doing...?”
Rondsom: “An explanation will come with time, for now, your king has something to say.” -He says as Logan nervously clears his throat and stands back up raising a glass.-
Logan: “I wish to raise a toast to my father. A great king and a great father. My only wish is that history will remember my rule as favorably as it is sure to do for his.” -After the toast he continues.- “As such, joining a dungeon has given me the unique opportunity to potentially overstay my welcome. So I make a vow, here and now, to the people Gowen that I too will abdicate the throne, be it to my child or one of my more capable siblings when the time is right.”
The evening goes on with more speeches as nobles pledge their loyalty to the new king and queen. Belinda's father gives us more of an explanation about stepping down including what he already publicly stated, and the more personal reason for not having to spend the rest of his days in meetings and such instead of with his family.
The next few days are quite busy as well with Logan having to hold many meetings, one of which finds me back at the capital with Ceres, Inari, and Dyson.
Guard: “The king will see you now.” -A guard says as he grants us entry into a meeting room.-
When we enter Logan and Queen are sitting across the room from us sitting at a large table along with the Gowen council members and even Belinda's father. Ceres, Inari, and I give Logan a light bow, but Dyson just takes a seat in one of the empty chairs provided for us.
After we are all seated Logan says. “I thank you for going out of your way to meet with us here today. I know you have had previous dealings with my father, and I by no means wish to tarnish those agreements, but I feel for future agreements with the Dungeon Core Elders we should include the council to prevent any misconceptions about backroom deals being made with dungeon cores.”
Dyson: “So instead of taking responsibility in case a deal goes sideways, you can shift the blame to your lackeys?”
One of the council members becomes upset and shouts. “You're addressing the Gowen King, you will treat him as such!”
Logan waves him down, but not before Dyson says. “Somebody is trying to earn a few points with the new boss.”
Logan: “Dyson is not only now officially recognized as the king of the kingdom of Midden, but he is also one of the Elders to the dungeon cores, so if he wishes to speak to me as an equal, I consider that an honor. Now, as for why we asked you here today. I wish to discuss a formal alliance between the kingdom of Gowen and the Dungeon Core Elders.”
“We are not a kingdom, so something like that is hardly necessary.”
Logan: “We beg to differ. This war with Dalian is a prime example. It is with the Dungeon Core Elders that Bozhidar's quarrel lies, and for Gowen to provide troops or assistance to such a thing without a formal alliance would be impossible.”
Dyson: “Clement has essentially been absorbed by Dalian as well as Exeter, and I'm sure Livinston will soon fall as well, so to pretend this is an issue only for us dungeon cores is a pretentious notion on your part. You think he is just going to stop with those kingdoms? He already has allies in Adra looking to make a move.”
Inari: “And wasn't it Daddy's... I mean Two-Twelve and Queen's dungeons that have been training Gowen's troops for years already? I'm sure I'm not the only one that all those extra troops that were sent to Tobes was in preparation to assist in the war.”
Queen speaks up for the first time. “Two-Twelve and I have indeed been training Gowen troops, but it is a mutual benefit for us to do so.”
Logan: “Exeter was one of our allies, but we are not talking about sending troops to a neighboring kingdom, but negotiation with other kingdoms to travel across their lands just to reach the battlefield. Many are questioning if we should instead be focusing our attention on securing our borders, and there are even a few asking if it is not a wiser decision to side with Dalian instead.”
Ceres: “After everything Two-Twelve has done for the Gowen kingdom, and you're his brother-in-law! Not to mention Quinn and Tanya, your actual brother and sister, are out there somewhere in the remains of Exeter and are probably fighting against Dalian as we speak.”
Logan: “All Two-Twelve has to do is ask and Queen is willing to produce as many monsters that are safe for her to do so to help contribute to the war, and that includes Queen and me offering our blades to the cause. However, I also have a responsibility to the Gowen people, and I can not and I will not put the lives of Gowen citizens at risk for personal reasons. But, if we can agree to terms on a formal alliance with the Dungeon Core Elders, it will give cause for Gowen to offer aid.”
The other Elders and I spend some time hammering out an alliance with Gowen, and although the terms seem a bit unfair given our relationship, I can understand that Logan is in a delicate position right now, but I expected him to at least hold back a little. Belinda's father didn't even offer any help, as he remained silent for the entire meeting.
In the end, even if the cost for holding up our end of the deal is quite high compared to the number of soldiers Gowen is going to provide, the deal seemed to help Logan make an impression on some of the council that may have been hesitant to the change in leadership. That in itself may prove to be valuable in the future.
As for the cost to the Elders, I have to make a few more portals. For now, I link all the major townships to the capital with the portals that require magic except for the one connecting the capital with New Leona. Queen's dungeon will provide the XP consumption cost, so one of the portals that are always open will be constructed there.
They also wanted a dungeon core in every major township, so with Queen in New Leona, Kenta in the town on the coast, and me in Tobes, that leaves the capital and three others. We don't have enough justicar points to make four dungeon cores right now, so we instead agreed to provide Gowen with a fifth dungeon core if we are allowed to create them at a rate of one new dungeon core a year for the next five years.
We were planning on making some new dungeon cores soon anyways, and Logan is allowing us to choose who we make dungeon cores, so this just speeds up our schedule a bit, and we have to make sure one of the people we make into a dungeon core chooses a location in Gowen. We will just have to be careful with who we will place in the capital.
After the meeting is over Belinda's father asks to speak with me.
Rondsom: “I want to apologize for saying anything back there, but I wanted to allow our King to stand on his own two feet. I have been quite proud of the way he has been handling himself, but I know it came at a cost for you, and for that I'm sorry.”
“He definitely didn't pull any punches, that is for sure. I don't think it is going to be any problem though, and I understand his reasoning behind it. He has to come off strong because there are more than a few in the council that question if he is up to the job. Besides he has some big shoes to fill.”
Rondsom: “I wouldn't have abdicated if I didn't think he was ready, but there are still those who are looking to me, so I would like to ask you a favor. For a few weeks, until he gets settled in, would it be alright if I came for a visit in Tobes?”
“Of course...I'm sure Belinda and Rory would love that.”
Rondsom: “It would be nice to leave the capital for a change, and visit with my daughter and grand-daughter without someone constantly vying for my attention elsewhere. If it is alright with you, I would also like to see how your dungeon works a bit more.”
“It would be a pleasure.”
We then go to prepare Belinda's father for the trip, and I guess one of the first things I can show him when we reach Tobes is how I summon buildings, as I don't have the heart to tell him we don't currently have room in the house for him and the three servants that he is planning to bring along...