It didn’t take long for the simplified rules to be released, along with the news that I’d be in charge of the assignments, and once that information became commonplace EVERYONE wanted to talk to me. Whenever I wasn’t sleeping, or defending the dungeon against adventurers, there was someone who wanted to check if they would be on the initial team. It only took two days for me to start feeling overwhelmed, and my work started to suffer. So, I found a refuge for George and I to work in.

“I can’t believe this. I’ve been looking for you most of the morning, and when I finally locate you where are you? Hiding in a blanket fort, in one of the lounges.” Hearing Kass’s voice I lifted the top blanket to look at her, while George peeked out of the bottom of the pile. The Naga was standing in the doorway to the lounge, hands on her hips.

“There were too many people around, so I needed a place to work,” I replied, refusing to leave my refuge.

“You know, you could solve that by just calling everyone together and announcing your plans, instead of hiding from everyone,” Kass replied, slithering into the room and closing the door behind her.

“I would… except I’m still trying to make a balanced team, so I don’t have anything to announce yet,” I said, sinking deeper into the blankets.

Kass just sighed, then slid over towards me, pulling aside one of the blankets I’d stretched between the couch and coffee table. “So why a blanket fort? Why didn’t you just lock yourself in your room? It would have been easier to find you.” Since she had pulled open the side closest to George’s jerky stash he growled at her, then pulled his treasure further into the refuge.

I sank under the top layer, sinking into a pillow I’d set up on the floor, and looked out the open side of the base at her. “I didn’t have much privacy when growing up, or really anything at all, so when I got stressed I built a fort with what little I had.”

Kass, ducked down, sliding under the blankets to sit next to me. “I thought you grew up in the ‘Arachne Depths’, that’s a pretty well known professional dungeon. I find it hard to believe your mother wouldn’t have given you anything…”

I grabbed my tablet from the floor, put it in my lap, then stared at it for a minute. “She did, but she also believes in the adage ‘Only the Strong Survive’ so my sisters and I were allowed to challenge each other to one-on-one fights for our luxuries. They all figured out early on that I wasn’t able to learn any magic, or martial abilities, so they picked on me.” I had to force myself to unclench my hands, to keep from hurting myself or damaging the tablet. “I probably could have held my own in an open battlefield, but a twenty foot square arena with no obstacles? It’s a lot harder.”

George whimpered, and snuggled next to me and layed down. I’ll admit, petting him made me feel a little bit better. “It doesn’t matter. I left that toxic environment the instant I was old enough and haven’t looked back since.”

“Sounds like a rough childhood,” Kass said, patting me on the back. “So how long are you going to hide from everyone in here?”

“Not too long,” I replied, with a small smile. “Now that I’ve had a little time to myself, I managed to make a little progress. I think I should have an initial draft in a couple hours, so we can make an announcement tomorrow.”

“Good. I was worried you were just moping when I first found you, but it seems like you were hiding here in order to make some progress.” Kass pushed the blankets aside and slipped back outside. “Since you’re doing your best to make progress, I’ll make myself useful too. What would you like for lunch? Mushroom burger? I’ll go get some food for us both, then after we eat I’ll take the plates back, and head back to finish my work for the day. That way you don’t have to risk running into someone, and can get your work done.”

I smiled at the offer. “Please, that would be wonderful.” Hearing the word ‘lunch’ without his name being mentioned, George started to struggle, so I sighed “And a plate of whatever the meat special is today too please.”

Kassandra smirked when she heard that, and George finally relaxed. “Sure thing, I’ll be back soon.” As Kass left I once again concentrated on my work, I had a lot to finish if I didn’t want to be overwhelmed again tomorrow.

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After lunch I spent the entire afternoon, and part of the evening, working away to make sure I would be ready to make an announcement. Once I was finally satisfied, I finally folded up my blankets and headed to bed.

The next morning I had a late breakfast, which was only interrupted twice, then headed over to the control room. Since the control room hung over the atrium, I jogged over to the stairs in the middle of the room and headed upwards. At the top was a secure door, which wasn't surprising since this was the nerve center of the dungeon. I hadn’t made an appointment, which in retrospect I should have, so I just knocked.

After a few seconds the door opened, revealing a familiar face.

“Jenkins, what are you doing here?” I asked.

The slender gremlin gave me a toothy smile, “I’m doing some upgrades on the broadcast equipment, making it easier for us to record matches so they can be rebroadcast later.” She leaned down, and skritched George. “I have your upgraded equipment by the way, the shield vambraces, and a backplate for this cutie… but I have a feeling you didn’t come here looking for me today.”

I nodded, sheepishly. “I’m here to see if I can make an announcement to the staff about the league. Hopefully keep the rest of the staff from looking for me twenty-four seven.”

Jenkins nodded, “I can ask. Give me a minute.” She ducked back inside, closed the door, then reappeared a minute or two later. “Come in.”

The control room was full of crystal tech. Dozens of screens, including a couple that were several feet tall and wide, covered the desks and walls. Jenkins stepped across the room, and up to an older gremlin with a scraggly beard. “Talia, this is Joseph, my clan’s elder and the one in charge of the control room here.”

“So, you’re the new floor boss?” He eyed me up and down before sticking out his hand. “Nice to meet yah.”

“And you,” I replied, shaking his hand. “I was wondering if I could make an announcement to the staff, would that be alright?”

“About that confrontation thing? I guess so. You decided on the teams yet? I know Jenkins here, and a few of the others, wanted to see if they could participate, but were afraid to ask.”

I glanced over at Jenkins, but the younger Gremlin just turned towards Joseph, horrified. “Grandpa…”

“It never hurts to ask.” He said, watching my reaction.

“I don’t think that’s a problem,” I replied. “Everyone in the dungeon is allowed to participate, not just the staff that's normally assigned to the floors. As long as they're assigned to a group prior to a match, there's no problem. Send me who wants to fight, and how they’re trained, and I’ll see if I can find a place for you.”

Jenkins straightened up and nodded, “I will, thank you.”

“It’s the least I could do,” I replied, before looking around. “So, about that broadcast.”

Joseph walked over to one of the larger consoles and pressed a few symbols. The entire display changed to display several different parts of the dungeon, and at the bottom were half a dozen controls. “Press this to start, speak directly into the display, then this one to stop,” the elder gremlin said, pointing at a few controls.

I stepped up to the display, cleared my throat, and pressed down on the first control. I gave it a second before starting. “Attention all staff, this is Talia speaking.” On the display I could see most people stop and glance at the nearest speaker. “I know you’re all excited about the upcoming confrontation league, and more than a few of you are concerned that you will not get a chance to participate. I’m here today to set the record straight.”

I took a deep breath. “Everyone that wants to participate will get a chance, but since there are limited spots some people will have to rotate in and out. I spent the last couple days combing the complete rules, and trying to come up with an initial roster. I have NOT completed this roster, and associated rotation yet, but once it's done I’ll make sure everyone will have access to it. All I can say is I’ve tried to be fair, but I do not know everyone here, so I plan on giving final approval to the other floor bosses. So if you have any issues please speak to them, and if they think your concerns are valid, they will pass them on to me."

I paused, watching most of the people on the screen nodding. “For the meantime, please give me some space. I know everyone’s excited, but I’ll be extremely busy over the next month and won’t have the time to review everything if I’m interrupted every half an hour. I hope you all understand. Thank you for your time.” With that I pressed the end control, and sagged in relief.

“Not much of a public speaker?” Joseph asked, with a smile. “Trust me, you did fine. It gets easier with time,” the gremlin said before heading back to his workstation.

I smiled weakly in response, then watched the response on the screens. It seems like most people liked it, or at least understood. Hopefully it would give me a little peace and quiet, so I could work on our next steps.