Hello my Dear Readers. Sorry it is a little late, was very busy today. It is longer than the first Chapter after my return, though only a bit. I hope you enjoy it, and the bit that I showed. Forgive the fact it is a bit lacking in detail. I might return and change it depending on what happens tomorrow for me, but only slightly. Without further waiting, enjoy!

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

Sidnie POV -

I was snuggled into something very warm! It was a little confusing, and I felt rough fabric rather than my soft blanket, but it was still kind of soft, and very comfy, so I snuggled in harder and buried my face into the side of it.

I heard a kind of soft yelp, but I just figured it was the puppies in my dream, so I snuggled in harder. MMmm, comfy.

It took a moment, but then the warm comfy thing started to move. Nyuuu!~ I latched on harder. “Nyu, comfy stay!” I had no idea if I was dreaming, or Mommy was here. I remembered Jessica coming over, and crying then falling asleep.

“Sid, come on, let me up...Please?” Jessica? I snuggled more, not wanting to open my eyes. I was still upset, and worried. Waking up made it real again.

But she kept trying to escape! That simply wasn’t allowed to I wrapped my arms around her chest, and buried my face into the crook of her neck. I tried to latch on with my legs, but that didn’t work so well, apparently I was under the blanket afterall.

She froze a moment after I latched on, but then continued to try and escape! “My warm comfy, stay!”

I heard a soft sigh, but she finally stopped trying to leave me, and I was allowed a short time longer without having to wake up, and worry about Leo, or Fluffy.

When I finally did wake up, Jessica was wide awake and looked conflicted about something. I smiled and told her good morning. She nodded, but got up pretty fast.

“So...Sid, are you feeling any better?”

That reminded me about last night and I could feel myself tearing up again. She rushed to me and gave me a hug, gently stroking my hair. “It’s ok, Sid, I think your Dad might know more. Let’s call him, ok?”

I nodded sadly, and we went downstairs. Calling Daddy wasn’t made easy either. His assistant continued to tell me he was busy debugging something and he wouldn’t let me talk to him. I stomped my foot and argued with him for about five minutes before I heard a muffled female voice in the background.

A loud smack sound came through the phone after the guy talked to the woman a bit, and then I heard Mommy! “Mommy! Can I talk to Daddy?”

“I’m sorry pumpkin, but Daddy really is busy. But the good news is that he is busy working on Leo, and making him better, ok? Why don’t you and Jessica go ahead and spend the day together, also get some breakfast ok?”

I agreed to Mommy’s terms, and we spoke a bit longer before hanging up. I felt happy again! Leo was gonna be ok, Daddy was the best at creating A.I’s and he had personally made Leo. If anyone could fix him, Daddy could!

When I told Jessica, she smiled and agreed to spend the day with me. I made us some breakfast and we ate together, joking and talking a bit. She kept blushing though for some reason, so I picked on her a little bit. It did a lot to cheer me up.

“So, Sid, what do you want to do today while we wait to hear from your Dad?”

I tilted my head and contemplated that. What did I want to do? Normally I just worked on the Dungeon with Leo, or was at school. But school itself wasn’t until tomorrow. It took me a minute, but I decided to watch some T.V with her, there should be an automatic recording of the Master Tournament still on our home system.

I grinned, pulling Jessica by the arm and throwing her onto the couch. I wasn’t going to let her escape sitting close to me like when we were kids again! So I rushed to grab the blanket and sat down, scooting right in against her. Her face was like a tomato! I poked her cheek and giggled at her.

She smiled a little, and waved her hands at me to get me to stop, so I just stuck my tongue out at her and turned the T.V on, then doing the steps to start the recording.

The Announcer this time was a Woman, and it seemed the recorder only managed to get the last fight, considering that she was saying it was the final match.

“Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen, both here and at home, to the final match of the first Masters tournament of the year! The Glass Cup!”

Cheering could be heard, and Jessica even did a little soft cheer that I joined in on. I loved watching these tournaments.

“ First up! You know him, you love him! GREYDON THE DEMONIC PRINCE!”

It was funny, the crowd went wild and it took me a moment, but the guy that showed up looked like an older, cooler version of the Greydon I went to school with. His older Brother! I giggled like an idiot, and ignored the hmmph sound that Jessica made.

I didn’t expect him to use his Demons now though, if I remember right that interview we saw a while ago had him not wanting to use the Demon Race until he managed to do more with them. But I was fine with that, it would let me see how a Master Player used them! It might even help me out!

“His opponent, now remember to breath boys, the ever enchanting Sylvan Queen, Deadra!!!”

This time when the crowd went wild it was filled with a lot of male voices, and out came a stunningly beautiful black woman with long silky looking hair. She waved at the crowd and I nudged Jessica a bit when I saw her mouth dropped. “No cheating on Suzuki now!”

She grumbled at me, something I couldn’t really understand but it got her to put her arm around me! Yay! She was actually cuddling back. It made me a bit giddy. With that, we watched in silence while the screen went around the coming battlefield. The Master Players fought with actual Kingdoms taken from their respective Dungeon World. It gave them a set of commands they could use, and an hour of super advanced time on the battlefield that had them use all their micromanagement skills to the fullest.

Because of the one hour limit, one mistake during that advanced time could lead to a fatal weakness in their plans.

Basically, they chose what amounted to three thousand of their Race, from all tiers up to Tier 9 if they had them, and then the time was increased by nearly sixty times real time. It mean they had to queue the options, and use their A.I in high speed intensive management style to get their Castles built, along with defenses and grow their armies from those three thousand by breeding them. No new species, or variants could be created in this time of course, only those added.

So depending on what their Race was, and what they had, they tried to put in one male and female of all variations, because at the end of that hour they could have millions of war assets if they had done it correctly, along with possible forts, and castles.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

The Master Player Tournaments lasted for hours on end, until the enemies first Castle was destroyed. It was a massive strategy version of the lower tournament Rankings that involved countless variables and options.

We didn’t normally watch these because it could lead to bad habits being picked up without experience to show us why, but I wanted to see it even more when I heard the first battle with Demons would be used by one of the top Master Players!

In the following hour the camera panned from side to side, showing progress for each Player with the announcer making comments. This was made so that each player could hear her and quickly alter and change what they may have had planned to counter the other. Of course nothing beyond the screen could be seen, the Players were controlling their favorite creature, and using their A.I to help manage as best as they could. But all along the extensive ruin filled continent that was the battlefield, castles and walls, as well as villages for minor food resources were built.

I was confused of course, Graydon's Demons looked different from mine. They kind of reminded me of the mean Demons that kept hurting my sweet Demons, including the ones that hurt Fluffy! That made me puff up and shout at the screen. “Meanies!” and stuff like that. His Husk versions were crueler looking than mine, they also looked more Demonic and sinister as opposed to my, albeit intimidating, Husks and Pit Fighters, but lighter version of his.

The Succubus like creatures he had were monsters in my eyes, literally. They showed the female form, and exuded a kind of lust judging from how they interacted during the sped up time, but...they looked wrong, like their bones were on the outside of their skin, and they actively were killing and eating weaker Demons.

It made me sick, and worried about Red now. I didn’t want her to fight something like that!

He didn’t have as many different Species of Demon as I did, but he had the main facts. His Friends looked larger as well, corded muscles and stuff all over them. It confused me, making me wonder why mine seemed nicer and more tamed than his, but then the hour ended and the match between the Demons, and the Elven like Sylvan began…

Master Tournament POV - (Done in Narrative because I am really, really tired.)

The great one who sent us here has commanded we slay every one of the foul Monsters that have shared our border for the last several thousand years! Every day they had grown stronger, but so have we. My People, the Fair Folk, we will do our Goddess proud and push back the tide of Darkness that encroaches upon our lands!

So began the war that lasted thousands of years, the war of Ashes, between the Demonic Hordes that covered the lands to the East, and the Children of the Wood that took the West.

The Sylvan fought with Tenacity and courage, while the Demons fought with Malice and Cruelty. Each side taking and losing land every day. It all led up to this last Battle, at the very Gates of the Sylvan Capital, the final stronghold against the seemingly never ending tide of Demons. The Siege lasted years, but the sheer numbers of the Imps, and the dark Magics that bewitched the mind were too much in the end for the Valiant Elven kind, it ended with their King being beheaded by a creature, not to different in appearance from the Elves themselves but with giant, Dragon like wings, and blood red skin.

The final siege before this event had gone well, the arrows of the Sylvan flew straight and true, killings hundreds of the Demons that assaulted their walls. But they were too few, the Centuries of war, and their low birth rate, along with the loss of so many of their lesser kin wore on them over the days of the final battle. The Demons themselves were Led by Powerful beasts that seemed unique, and constantly threw their kind at the walls, creating mounds of dead bodies that they used as foot steps to eventually take the outer walls. The Elves had still had hope though, surely they could not continue to waste so many of their kin, right? But the hope was for not.

The countless dead Demons had been their lowest Castes, the Imps, The Lesser Fiends, and a few of the ghastlier abominations of their kind. For once that first wall was taken, then came the Hounds. Made from darkness and breathing molten lava, they ran rampant through the residential areas that had begun evacuating to the inner walls.

The Hounds had hunted down, and slain all before them. The Elderly, the Young, Women and Children. All perished and were devoured before their hunger.

Following them over the wall came the Behemoth like beings known as Hell Fiends, Massive Monsters with small wings that used them to hop and glide further into the castle. They were as tall as three Elves, and easily destroyed the proud Silver Defense they had been proud of.

But in the end, the most Terrifying of their kind, their Leader, was who won the day by killing the Elven King. He was the Legendary Demonic being, said to have been a king of Hell, Belphegor! He moved slowly, not caring about the death around him, his power unquestionable. It was over after the first swing of the blade…

Sidnie POV -

“We have a Winner! GREYDON THE DEMONIC PRINCE! He took Victory by breeding the weaker and lesser Demons in such vast numbers that he simply wore down and overwhelmed the stronger and highly trained Sylvan Knights! Simply amazing, wouldn’t you say Ladies and Gentlemen!?”

I blinked, having watched over eight hours of nonstop fighting. Greydon had used the numerical advantage, but he had...slaughtered and corrupted the lands all around his forces to act as a kind of power boost for his Demons. The Sylvan User had made too many mistakes early, considering it was the first fight using Demons it was expected. I cheered for the victory, but the method seemed really brutish to me.

“That was amazing! Are you telling me that you can do that eventually?” Jessica was excited and asking me questions. I grinned, sharing it and nodded, letting her know in time, maybe. But I didn’t like the idea of fighting like that. So much...waste, and sacrifice. I’d never do that to my cute Demons!

We ended up spending the rest of the morning and Afternoon goofing off, looking at her Dungeon, and waiting for Daddy to call. I was still worried about Leo, but I trust Daddy.

Leo POV -

Time, unknown how long has passed. I remember something weird happening, the errors in my systems, and Sidnie crying before I managed to forcibly eject her from the Dungeon World. After that, just this floating like sensation in a sea of programming.

As well as other, newer codes being thrown in. Oddly, with each new code it seemed I gained a sense of time, and self. It took a while, I didn't know how long, but eventually I managed to grasp some form of reality, and my first sight was that of the Creator.

He looked Haggard and stressed, but had a smile playing on his lips. It was shortly after that I attempted to speak, only to realize I was ‘seeing’ outside of my normal means. I looked down, seeing see through hands, with odd looking cuffs covering my wrists.

I looked back toward the Creator, and spoke for the very first time, my voice sounding Cultured to my new ‘ears’. “What...Happened?....