What a beautiful person… Clare found herself murmuring. The man who’d entered looked like a movie star. Perfect proportions, effortless looking hair, eyes that caught the light just right, all the time—
Kepler growled. [He’s manipulating your mind with a System-granted stat. Charisma.]
She blinked. I see.
Celio was right behind the man and snickering at their exchange with unholy glee.
Who’s this, Celio?
The priest held a finger to his lips, tilting his chin to the unknown delver. Mouthed something, but not clearly enough for her to understand him.
[Imma kill him.] Kepler growled. [The use of such a stat is highly unethical.]
Clare shook her head. It’s a stat, not a war crime, Kepler.
He sighed, grumbling.
[Celio, the hell are you pulling?]
The stranger glanced back at Celio, who had bruises all over his face.
“You can stay here.”
Celio shrugged. “Word of caution—do not approach the core.”
The stranger thought for a moment. Nodded and moved forward, prying up the tiles with the same alacrity as Felix, but with a different focus. He piled anything valuable into a bag, including the key, and then moved towards the statue.
Celio choked.
Did you not tell him the rules? He has to offer a toll, not rob our statue.
The dungeon-touched priest held up one finger, still watching his new acquaintance. “What do you think, Vanni?”
Vanni hummed thoughtfully. “I think you’re screwing with me, Celio.”
“You wouldn’t be wrong.” He replied, looking somewhat nervous. “But you’re not just treasure hunter, are you?”
[Did you bring him here for us to get rid of him?]
Geez, Celio, we’re not a garbage disposal!
Kepler looked pleased at the analogy.
Celio motioned for them to wait.
Vanni turned back towards the man. Gloria squawked uneasily, so Celio set her down.
“Gimme your money.” The stranger held out his hand expectantly.
“I’m not.”
Gloria pecked around, searching for a snack. Clare put a small pile of peanuts nearby. The diplurans increased in volume.
“Look,” Vanni said, “You didn’t tell me about any toll, right? So gimme your money, you’re paying it.”
Grumbling, Celio pulled an apple core from his pocket.
Eww, Celio, don’t keep stuff like that in your pocket, it’s unsanitary.
Ignoring the dungeon, he handed it to Vanni. “It’s a dungeon, not a tax collector.”
Vanni placed it on the shelf, displaying a disgust similar to Clare’s. Celio dug around in his pocket and found one of Father Silas’ candies. Placed it where the apple core had already dissolved.
[We already have candy.] Kepler complained.
“Deal with it.” Celio mumbled.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The symbiote growled in response. Sighing, Celio reached for his knife—
[No, give us more materials.]
I bet your hair has some interesting keratin.
He sighed. Cut off some of his hair and dropped it on the altar. Mumbled an apologetic prayer to Lux.
[Another one for animal products.]
Celio scowled.
Vanni gave fellow delver a look. Then proceeded to loot the rest of the room. Turned around and left with a smug look in his eyes.
The priest stayed in the dungeon.
“What do you guys think?”
Hm? About that delver?
“Yeah, is he safe to have around?”
Uh, Kepler, what’s his status like?
The symbiote pulled it up. [Here’s the full thing.]
-Status-
Name: Giovanni Perwicax (Royal Family)
Species: Human
Age: 19
Modifiers: Royal Blood, Hidden Status
* Royal Blood: A powerful bloodline gives x1.5 MP and +10 Charisma.
* Hidden Status: The ritual for a hidden Status has been successfully completed. Very few tools or magicians will be able to discern your Status, and anyone level 20 or lower will instead see whatever they expect.
Level: 21
Health: 96%
Class: Incipient Tyrant
Mythic Type: Ruler
MP: 54/84
MP ration: 9.45/1 hr.
XP: 81/378
SP: 88
Strength: 15
Agility: 30
Dexterity: 40
Intelligence: 50
Mana Affinity: 30
Charisma: 50
Skills: 3
* Eviscerate I: Instant kill anyone of a lower level than you. Cause serious damage to anyone within 15 levels of you. Must be holding a sharp object. Costs 35 MP, no cooldown.
* Absorb Health II: Absorb an opponent’s health to replenish your own. Must be touching opponent. The opponent must be within 20 levels of you or below your level. Costs 19 MP, cooldown of 1 hour and 15 minutes.
* Eye of Horus I: Passive with no MP draw. Draws knowledge from the waters of fate. Beta Skill of the Mythic Test Group.
Spells: 4
* Hypnotize I: Put a target into a suggestible state for 1 hour. Must be making eye contact with target. Costs 30 MP, cooldown of 1 week.
* Candleflame III: Create a winsome flame that can be controlled mentally and adjusted from the size of your thumb to the size of an anvil. Lasts for 10 minutes. Will not harm the caster. Costs 15 MP, cooldown of 5 minutes.
* Ensnare II: Cast on a location at least 15 minutes before your target enters it. Target will be paralyzed if they are within 7 levels of the caster or lower leveled. Targets within 8 to 14 levels of the caster have a 50% chance of being paralyzed. Paralysis lasts for 15 minutes unless another magic interferes. Costs 30 MP, cooldown of 2 days.
* Sway I: For 1 hour, Charisma doubles. Can be cast on self or others. Costs 15 MP, cooldown of 3 hours.
Quests: 3
* Patricide:
* Your father ordered the death of your mother. Kill him and take everything he holds dear.
* Rewards: 2000 XP, access to the full Tyrant class.
* The Call of Royalty III:
* Improve conditions for your people enough that the lives of 3000 citizens are critically changed for the better.
* Rewards: 600 XP, 300 SP, +3 Charisma
* Vengeance:
* You have destroyed 52/111 of those who plot, or have plotted, to kill you. You have destroyed 20/50 of the people who killed, or were involved with killing, your mother. Discover and destroy all remaining enemies.
* Rewards: 175 XP, 20 SP, ‘Eviscerate II’ skill
The two hummed and hawed over the information for a moment. Kepler snickered at the uselessness of ‘Hidden Status’ against him.
The quests are the most telling bit. Clare finally concluded, And I think he’s okay to deal with. Might even want to get on his good side.
[He’s down and out Royalty.]
Kepler! Clare tugged his whiskers, annoyed, you can’t just give out personal information like that!
[We allied with the Scoop.]
Still, she crossed her arms, pouting, He’s only 19, and it seems he’s had a really rough time of it. Won’t the other humans take advantage of the information we give them?
[I should hope they do.]
Celio cleared his throat. “I will do my best to treat him well, as a human being. However,” His fists clenched, “What do you mean royalty?”
[Hm. Is the queen dead?]
“No.”
[He’s a bastard child, then. And is on the third tier of a quest to help his people.]
Celio went silent as he processed this. In the core room, Astrid had Puck by one foot and was hurling him at Slenderman through the jungle gym. Puck was laughing, so Clare didn’t intervene.
“And? What are the downsides?”
[His class is Incipient Tyrant.]
Clare felt the system add to their conversation.
[But he’s on track to become a Benevolent Tyrant.] Kepler sighed. [Just don’t let him know you know. Watch him. Don’t get in the way of his scheme, if you can, and if you must come to us for help.]
Crouching thoughtfully, Celio traced a finger along the lines where gilded tiles once were.
“Thank you.”
You’re welcome.
[Just get out.]
Celio nodded, rose, and jogged out of the dungeon.