Mathew followed Tilido to an open area. The final mountain top was flat. There were small buildings, and hundreds of lost souls. Each of them glared at Mathew, but nobody did anything but look as he walked with Tilido.
The dungeon boss ensured he walked to Mathew’s right, and stayed next to him. Never in front of, or behind.
It was interesting to see actual buildings. The style reminded him of ancient Egypt. All the buildings were open. No windows or doors. Tilido gestured to a three story building. “Please, my personal abode. We can talk here.”
Mathew walked in, and felt the air change. The cold winter winds stopped, even though the doorway was open. He looked back at the doorway while Tilido smiled. “We use arrays to keep the wind out. We enjoy the cold, doesn’t mean we want to experience cold winds all the time.”
Agnox and Jeffery walked in behind them. All three of them were still on alert.
“Your summons can stay down here. If they require anything, I have a few servants who can take care of them. If you would, please join me in my personal room. We can talk there undisturbed.”
Mathew glanced around. He was all in on this. “That’s fine. Agnox, don’t unintentionally burn the place down.” Mathew warned.
Upstairs, Mathew walked into a very personalized room. In the middle was a table, on it were two mugs and a large pitcher in the middle. Along the walls were personalized items. A pair of curved blades sat on the wall. Next to it was a suit of armor that looked more for show than actual combat.
It felt as if magic was literally flowing out of the armor. Mathew walked to the table and sat down.
Tilido smiled. “You like my old gear?”
“Seems powerful.” Mathew said, looking at the intricate armor.
“Oh it was. It’s old, and if I try to use it, the enchantments would explode. So, I leave it on display.” Tilido sat down. He stared at Mathew with his pale eyes.
Mathew didn’t say anything, waiting for Tilido to make the first move.
Tilido leaned forward and grabbed the pitcher, “Would you like to try some herbal juice? It’s only Novice ranked, but I promise you, it’s something unique.”
Mathew looked at him pouring it and mentally shrugged, “Sure. I am open to trying new things I suppose.”
Tilido poured some into both their mugs. “There we go. Give it a try, tell me what you think. It’s not often I get to ask another culture, let alone race, what they think of something from my homeland.”
Mathew sipped at it. It was very minty, but pleasantly so. He honestly couldn’t say anything bad about it. “It’s minty. Reminds me of a cold brew tea I’ve had, but somehow less bitter.”
“I’m glad you like it. I’m surprised you didn’t question me about poisoning you, or do you have something against being poisoned perhaps?”
Mathew sat the mug down, “If you have to resort to poison to take me out, that just proves how weak this dungeon is. I’m behind enemy lines. Either this is a last ditch effort to take me out because you think it’s the only way, or it’s a friendly cold cup of drink.”
Tilido chuckled, “Well, you are someone I rather not make an enemy of. Progenitor’s are to be given support, not death. Except for the ones that stand against you that is.”
“Hmmm.” Was all Mathew said in thought. “Tell me, why do you think I am a Progenitor?”
“Well, it’s more of a guess to be honest. However, you fit the description. Strong overall power, smart, ruthless, and constantly pushing themselves outside their comfort zone. I am not an idiot, I know your planet isn’t one that had any idea what The System or Culviation is until recently. So, either you are extremely lucky, or, you are fated for something much more grand. Which makes you a Progenitor in either case. Someone who forges a new path through the cosmos, leaving behind a path of destruction and creation. You will be the reason thousand year old borders will be redrawn most likely.”
“I have a question,” Mathew asked as he tapped the table, “Why do you care what I am? I’ve killed dozens of your kind both outside this dungeon, and inside here in total. Why not try to kill me? I was an enemy until just an hour ago.”
“That’s…a difficult answer. Not in complexity, but in reasoning.” Tilido said with a sigh. Mathew watched the pale eyes look down at his own mug, before returning to Mathew. “This is my last chance of regaining lost honor. My people value trust and battle prowess. A warrior race that is ruled by a warrior faction. When it comes to war, we have perfected it. I was sent here as a punishment, but I saw the chance to turn it into a reward. That is, until I realized what The System had planned for us..”
“You see, we were not meant to be a challenge for the people of your planet, we were meant to be an invader. That was what I was told. Instead, we are here, chances of me finding someone to create a peaceful trade with ended up being zero. I gave up hope that I could regain anything, and would lose my own life. That was, until I saw you fight.”
Mathew listened to him. “Why try to create a trade with humans? The odds of you finding someone willing to trade with a foreign race from another planet is essentially zero.”
“It was an invisible hope. Something I couldn't see, but knew was there.” Tilido said, with a depressing voice. “I had all but given up when I learned what The System wanted from us. To the point I stopped caring. Taking reckless actions, and sleeping most of the time. I sent my disciple to fight you, to kill him if I am being honest. Yet, you surprised me. You showed him mercy.”
“Since we are being honest, I was about to kill him. He was getting on my nerves as he whined and complained on the ground. I figured I would be doing you a service.”
“If I wasn’t the only one to see it, I would have killed him myself. Yet, I was more focused on you. Someone who reginited that hope inside me. Revealed it like a sun on a day with an open sky.”
“And that hope is?”
Tilido took a sip of his drink before answering. “I want to turn you into a future ally. Earth has resources. Its location is unknown as well. Your planet could be so far away, that my faction has no clue where you are located. On the other hand, you could be close. A possible ally, friend, trader, and bastion in our war.”
“You want me to fight in your war? No thanks.” Mathew said, not wanting an inkling of what the lost soul was offering.
“No no, you misunderstand. I am not asking you to fight in our war. Your planet would not have a chance of helping us. No, I want to ensure you do not help our enemies, that is, in the long run. You probably have no clue how wars are fought, but I promise you, it’s both quantity and quality of the fighters. The System has laws in place of who can fight who. It severely punishes those who fight downward toward those who are weaker in rank.”
Mathew nodded, knowing this already. “So, how do you plan to ensure my people don’t help your enemies?”
“By buying your peace.” Tilido said simply.
“The Faction of Blacksnow is 95% made up of the Lost Soul race. A people of true undead. We have no souls, hence the name of our race. Because of that, we focus on our body and minds. We have honed them both into perfect killing machines. It’s not a simple question of how much, but a question of what you could want.”
Mathew took in his words slowly. Thinking it over. “What’s your offer?”
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“Money, knowledge, weapons, armor, enchantments, access to my faction's own planets as invited guests. Plus so much more.”
“And all you are asking is those I lead, do not participate in your war? How do you know I can stop my entire planet from helping?”
“You are a Progenitor. Before your planet is fully integrated, a world leader will be imposed. I am willing to bet on it being you.”
Mathew scoffed. “I’m not saying it’s a bad bet. But again, why me? Why not any of those that entered this Dungeon before me? Why even bet at all? What do you get from all this?”
Tilido nodded, “Yes yes. I am not doing this of my own free intentions. I need to regain my old status. If I can ensure an entire new planet stays out of our enemies grasp, then I will shoot above my previous stats. Freshly integrated planets are wildcards. Nobody truly knows what will come from them. The fact I sit across the table from a Progenitor, one who isn’t even boasting about it, means your planet is going to be the wildest card of them all. The Gods, Scions, True Nobles, and other beings of power that have reached beyond The Borders of Reality all get to claim you first. For someone like me to be able to make contact with you, while you are still a full mortal, is an investment only idiots would not take.”
“So I’m your ticket to fame, riches, and status in your faction, am I understanding that correctly?”
Tilido nodded, “Yes.”
“I’m going to need every detail of this supposed deal in writing. Every aspect of it is written out clearly and well defined.”
Tilido leaned back in his chair. “Of course, I am willing to give you two different deals to choose from. The first offer, I pay you less, but I ask less from you. Simply do not do anything to help the Cosmic Temple. All they want is to rule everything. They are a tyrannic organization, one my people have fought since the time when we didn’t have a single figure of power over the Journeyman Rank.”
“So, you are paying me off to not help them, or even join them. Seems straightforward enough. What’s the other one?”
“It requires some explanation first.” Tilido said with hesitation. “The Black Snow faction’s overarching goal is the pursuit of unionizing the physical with the magical. Enchanting is how we do this. Our faction started soon after the Lost Soul race was created on a planet covered in ash.”
“Wait, what do you mean created?” Mathew interrupted.
“My apologies, I forget you don’t know as much. Tell me, what do you know of the undead?”
“Well, I used to think they were simply animated corpses, or souls of others that were controlled via a Necromancer. Someone who can control biological matter that is no longer living.”
“Not a false statement.” Tilido said with slight amusement. “However, the last part is the most important. Undead are biological matter that are not living, or to be more precise, have no soul. Every living being has three things: A body, soul, and mind. It’s why golems, who have a mind and body, are not living. And why spirits, who have a mind and soul, are also not living.”
“Lost Souls are what are referred to as true undead, because we were created from our previous race that removed their souls in pursuit of eternal life. Doing so caused a volcanic eruption from the rites and rituals used, covering our planet in ash. Thus we were born, and the first thing we saw was ‘black snow’.”
Mathew sipped at his mug as he listened, “What does that have to do with enchantments?”
“Because we are soulless, there are benefits to this. The first is we have no soul to strain. You are a mage, I’m sure you felt the effects of mana drain before, it targets the mind. However, the layering of magic upon oneself strains the soul. If you prop yourself up with magic, making yourself faster, stronger, and unkillable, all that ambient magic squeezes your soul. Something, we do not experience.”
“So you turned a mistake into a benefit.” Mathew said, “I’m impressed.”
“Exactly Mr. Valrix. Which is where you come into the picture. Or more precisely, your people. You said you were the leader of something called Blue Oaks correct? Can you tell me about it?”
“There isn’t much to tell. Blue Oaks is fresh.” Mathew looked toward one of the open walls outside to where other lost souls would be. All of them milling about outside, wondering what their leader was discussing with this human who invaded them. “Not even three months old, and was still discovering itself when I left to come here in search of power, knowledge, and other things.”
“So it is still in its infancy.” Tilido summarized. “What would you be able to do, if I were to give you access on how to gain entire classes devoted to enchanters? The actual items to use and enchant items properly. What about knowledge of how to form war arrays? Buildings to buy. Other clans and factions to do business with and are trusted, others that are not. Everything a normal person would have access to, plus more?”
Mathew mulled over it for a bit. “Honestly? It depends. Too much, and we will become dependent upon it, that is, unless I ensure it’s done slowly and to help people grow. You also would be only giving us one side of things. The perspective of one group of people. That narrows us to what you are, but could also become something different as our two cultures intertwine.”
Tilido didn’t say anything, letting Mathew figure it out for himself.
“Blue Oaks is young, easily influenced by new things. I would think you were doing more than bribing us with all of that.” Mathew said.
“And you would be correct.” Tilido admits. “I would be wanting to expand our reach to your planet. Set things up so when we arrive, humans are used to us enough that we can appear and nothing drastic will happen.”
“You want to join Earth? I don’t think our planet is large enough for you all.”
Tilido laughed, “No, not like that. I would like to send a group of our kind, an embassy of sorts. To establish trade and also diplomatic talks.”
“That would be…not impossible.” Mathew admitted. “I can see how you plan to do it now. Slowly add your culture ahead of time, warn everyone of you and what to expect. Then, when you arrive, the culture shock would be nonexistent. Hell, if you do it right, they will be excited to see you.”
“That would be the intent. Spoil you with what could be, give your people enough to want more, then show up with it all.”
“Why be upfront with that tactic?” Mathew questioned. “You could have hidden it, and used it to gain devoted human’s who would side with you in case things go sour in the political and social areas.”
“Because I don’t want any of that.” Tilido said with an annoyed tone. “There is no alternative motive. If Black Snow is to ensure its survival, we need to reach out to others for aid. Do you think those who pay or are asked to become a Dungeon do so for fun? It’s a gamble every time. A risk. My people are on the edge of a cliff, teetering from falling to their doom, or having an ally to pull them away from that ledge.”
Mathew let out a slow breath. “You are asking not only me, but everyone I would hypothetically be leading, to join a war that existed before my planet was even making fire, let alone could comprehend these things. That’s a tall order.”
Tilido nodded. “It’s not an easy choice to make. Hence why I am willing to give up so much.”
Mathew didn't’ say anything else. Instead he sat there thinking things over. As much as he loved to lie, he had no idea what was going to happen. If he said ‘no’, then nothing would happen, but that was just as risky as saying ‘yes’ in his mind.
He mentally went back to not only his time with Gaia, but also talking with Bob, and what information Agnox has given. All these different cultures. People with different views on things. Mathew never wanted to deal with politics, now he was essentially being asked to lead it all.
“I need some time to think it over.” Mathew said, before standing up and walking toward one of the windows.