The sensation of transit was very different from what his own TELEPORTATION felt like. While his Ability felt easy and precise, the feeling of transit was more an exercise in brute force, using excessive amounts of magic to punch a person or object through space. Duke did not like it at all. It very nearly offended him and left him feeling physically unsettled, which did nothing to help his mood after his conversations.
The sensation faded as he looked around the room he arrived in. It was, surprisingly, green. There were leather couches and chairs arranged for conversation and a single screen dominated one wall. The screen showed the stadium from above. It was larger than Duke thought, with what had to be more than 100,000 people and creatures packed into the seating areas. The screen did not transmit sound, but from the activity he could observe he could tell that the crowd was entirely worked-up.
He sat down on one of the couches facing the screen to watch and noticed Kreen sitting nearby in a chair designed for its unique body type. It looked over to Duke and addressed him.
“You do not appear jubilant, especially for one about to be awarded the grand prize of the Contest.”
“Do you know what the prize is?”
“No, the Queen of All did not share that with me but I am certain that it will be significant. I have heard that the victor of the last Contest received an armada of fully-crewed ships, enough to carve an empire out for themselves.”
“Interesting. I’m not sure what I would do with such a fleet, but I am sure that it would be spectacular.”
“Of that, I have no doubt.”
Duke started to ask Kreen a question but was interrupted by a flashing notification.
*** The dungeons on the planet at coordinates 23674.28349.90738 are under assault. Of the 1,000 dungeons you placed there, 252 have been destroyed. If sufficient dungeons are destroyed, to bring you under 1,000 dungeons under your authority, your Core Strength Title will be nullified until sufficient dungeons have been brought under your control. An image accompanied the message of the attackers. Duke recognized the Syndicate logo emblazoned on their armor and his blood ran hot. ***
Duke’s mood darkened further, and he felt his control waver before he slammed MENTAL FORTITUDE back into place. Kreen had gotten out of its chair and taken several steps away from him. Duke reassured it.
“Don’t worry, Kreen you are not the focus of my current ire. Someone is actively destroying things of mine out there in the Cosmos and I am going to have to put a stop to it. But I can’t really do anything until this ceremony is over. I do want my prize, after all.”
“I’m sure you do, but if someone was destroying hives while I sat here, I would not be able to bear it. How do you do so?”
“Discipline and the knowledge that everyone who put me in this position is going to suffer for it. Speaking of which, where is home for you? Would it be anyplace I knew?”
“Not likely. We are an insular people. Our hives provide us with everything we need so there is little incentive to trade, or even interact, with those outside of our hives. That I am even here is significant.”
Another voice cut in from behind the pair, “Greetings. I am Beryl and I am your host for this evening’s events. I will guide you through the ceremony so just relax and enjoy. This is your time to shine.” When she spoke it was with a rushed pace as if she desperately needed to get everything out before anyone interrupted her.
Duke turned around and saw a humanoid creature that stood a head shorter than him. Its proportions were off to Duke’s senses. The more he looked the more the creature resembled a bowling pin with arms to him. But there was one thing that leapt to his immediate attention. This creature was wearing a Syndicate insignia.
Beryl noted Duke gaze and addressed it right away, “Yes, I am a member of the Syndicate – I am the Head of Event Planning. It’s all so exciting! We provided the logistical support for this instance of the Contest. That’s why we have so many members here in the audience. We came to watch the competition and we have not been disappointed. In fact, when this ceremony is over, we should have a discussion.”
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
“A discussion you say? Do you have a member of your executive leadership here? Perhaps even a board member?”
“Oh, of course. This is the hottest ticket in the Cosmos. No one would want to miss it. And don’t think we are leaving you and your people out of this discussion, Kreen. Just because you have been insular to this point doesn’t mean that we can’t help you all.”
“My people have been insular for our own reasons, but we have from time to time traded with others. I would hear what you are offering, and I will bring it back to the True Queens.”
“Excellent. Now let’s get the two of you ready for the ceremony. First off, there will be a few short speeches followed by the highlights of the preliminary rounds. This should take about an hour, but you can relax here and watch it all in comfort. When it is time to present you to the crowd, I will come get you and lead you to the stage. Duke, you will walk to the red ‘X’ and Kreen, you will walk to the green ‘X’. There will be another highlight reel showing the final phase of the Contest and then there will be the presentation of the awards. Duke, do you have a speech prepared? If not, I have one for you.”
“I assure you that I am well-prepared for this.”
“Oh, you are a dark and brooding type, aren’t you? Well, the crowd will eat it up, I’m sure. It’s time for me to go and get things going. Oh, I almost forgot. The red door leads to your rest room, Duke. The green one leads to yours, Kreen. Take some time to make yourself as presentable as you can. The eyes of the powerful will be upon you.”
With that, she hurried out of the room leaving the pair to process all she had said. Duke nodded to Kreen before heading to his rest room. He carefully closed and locked the door behind himself and retrieved his navigation core from his INVENTORY. A quick check of his location against his destination revealed that he was roughly 300,000 light years away. He shrugged and TELEPORTED to the world where his dungeons were under assault. It took half of his Mana, but he was able to get there easily, the range on his Ability when OVERCHANNELED had grown extreme, in excess of 700,000 light years.
What he found was largely what he expected when he focused his DUNGEON SIGHT on the planet. There were Syndicate forces systematically moving from dungeon to dungeon, hunting for and destroying the cores. By his count, there were a dozen squads delving the dungeons and twice as many support groups locating the dungeons for them. Duke’s blood boiled as anger welled up in him. He waited the two minutes it took to refill his Mana and then TELEPORTED into the next dungeon that had been scouted out.
Once inside, he OVERCHANNELED his DUNGEON ENGINEERING Ability to create dungeon monsters that were Tiers above the dungeon’s own. The dungeons on this world were mostly Tier One and Two with a few Threes thrown in. That made them relatively easy pickings for a squad that was likely Tier Four. But that also made them easy pickings for Duke. He enhanced the native dungeon monsters all the way up to Tier Seven while overpopulating the dungeon. Then he started hopping from dungeon to dungeon in the area and doing the same.
His DUNGEON SENSE showed him the results as the squads went into the dungeons only to be torn to pieces by enraged monsters. Next, he turned to the dungeons around the support squads and pushed them to overflowing with high-Tier monsters. Finally, he pushed the monsters out of the dungeons to swarm over the surface of the planet.
At first, it was the common dungeon monsters that came pouring out onto the surface. Kobolds, goblins, and similarly typical fodder flowed outwards and towards the support teams. As there was no air to speak of on the planet’s surface, they did not last long. But as the higher-Tier creatures joined them, the need for air became less and less prevalent. It was these creatures that swarmed over the support positions.
As Syndicate support teams, they were well protected with state-of-the-art armor and weapons, but they were not the heavy combat-focused ones of the assault squads. That difference showed as the screening guards quickly found themselves toe-to-toe with horrors from the dungeons. Creatures with curved hooks for arms swatted weapons away and slammed their hooks into armored joints, tearing them open with terrifying ease. It was not long before the few remaining support teams were aboard their shuttles and burning for space.
That should give them something to think about. Now I have to get back to the ceremony.
Duke stepped out of the rest room after making sure he looked as perfect as he could and rejoined Kreen in waiting. They exchanged nods and Duke asked, “Did I miss anything interesting in the ceremonies?”
“Nothing really. The speeches were the typical self-aggrandizing affairs. These people have no idea what it truly means to be part of a society that is one. I will be heartened to leave this place and return to my people where purposes are unified, and goals are clear. This has been a useful experience but not one I would wish to repeat. I will bring some new ideas back to the hives, but will recommend no changes to the hive mind.”
“Now, that is interesting.” Duke trailed off as the screen was showing his fight with Vexxorr. The running commentary was wrong about Duke’s Ability, equating it to Varis’ but Duke was not ever going to correct that misconception publicly.
Beryl entered the room and smiled at them, “Good. You both seem ready. It is time for you to join the ceremony. Please come with me.”