The next several hours were spent with the caravan group just milling around the room they had been provided. It was quite spacious, being about fifty feet wide and just as long. They had beds lining the walls, but nobody ended up falling asleep that night. The beastmaster stayed just outside, tending to the spiders. It only took thirty minutes for Lucas to get bored and speak up.
“Alright screw this.” He said, leaping out a nearby window. It didn't have glass, but there was an opening in the wall that gave a good view of the oasis outside. Mike tried to follow him, but when he stuck his head out the window the rogue was nowhere to be seen. Mike knew the man mostly put his stats into agility, but damn he was quick. As the sun began peeking over the horizon, Mike saw a group of eight figures approaching from far off in the distance. They kicked up large plumes of sand with each step, and were making the horizon hazy from the amount of sand now in the air.
They slowed down, entering a large temple-like building that sat on the other side of the oasis. Shortly after, their guide came back, and took them to the building the eight men had walked into. Only Mike, Devin, and one of the traders went to go meet the grand chiefs, due to Devin not wanting any of the others to interfere with the discussions.
As they walked to the building, Mike spotted Lucas in the distance carving some kind of small structure with several other workers. Lucas noticed Mike watching, and waved. Mike gave a half hearted wave back. They entered the building, and Mike felt the heat reduce to what he would normally consider to be room temperature. He realized just then that it had not been nearly as hot outside as it had been when they traveled across the desert. He wasn't given much time to figure out why before he was seated at the end of a long table, with Devin to his left and the trader to his right.
On each side of the table sat four people dressed in much fancier cloth garb, and each of the eight sported golden jewelry, or at least something that looked similar to gold. There were five men and three women, with all of the women sitting on the same side of the table. The other end of the table had a regal chair made mostly of the same material the jewelry was made from, and had intricate patterns etched all across its surface. Nobody sat in the seat, but Mike could sense the faint tether of some unrecognizable energy leading from it to the owner of the seat, who was quite far away.
“Soulbound.” He muttered under his breath. The nearest of the grand chiefs flinched a bit when Mike said this, but it was so subtle that Mike was unsure if it had even happened. Mike identified each of them, getting the exact same result each time.
*Human (level 30)*
They were at a high level. A really high level when you consider the fact that each of them likely worked together when fighting, as indicated by the fact that they all returned together from their night time hunting trip. At least, Mike assumed that is what it was, as there was fuck all to do in this desert. During the journey to Dune they had spotted several scorpions, camels, vultures, and quite a few other animals that you would see in a typical desert. They had also seen quite a few unrecognizable creatures. Way off in the distance Mike swore he saw something erupting from the ground, but he didn't know how far away it was. Depending on the distance, whatever it was could be ridiculously large, and likely very powerful.
Mike stayed mostly silent as the the trader and Devin discussed terms with the grand chiefs, negotiating what would happen once they became a vassal. The first thing that had been decided upon was that they would incorporate the copper-silver-gold standard for their currency. Mike was not looking forward to needing to infuse more coins, but it couldn't be helped. Once that happened, there were a few possibilities on what would happen next. If they broke through to becoming a village due to having a currency, and were no longer considered a vassal by the system, then they would simply become strong allies of Thudfall, and would become a vassal when Thudfall ranked up again.
The next possibility would be if the system did still consider Dune to be a vassal after ranking up, in which case several skilled crafters from Thudfall would move to Dune to make items and stimulate the economy. The last possibility, which had been discussed the least, would be if the system held Dune back from becoming a village due to its status as a vassal. If that happened, then likely fewer crafters would be moving, and they would work to increase the strength of the settlement to a point where they would be useful to Thudfall.
As it stood, the majority of the settlement was currently under level 10, and in all honesty Mike didn’t know how that was possible. If they leveled once a week in both class and profession, they should currently be at least level 14. Even then, a level a week was a snail's pace, especially before they evolved at level 10. Mike saw it as partially a failure of the grand chiefs, but mostly as a failure of the people themselves.
What on Earth had made them decide that it was a good idea to travel to such a dangerous place and venture out to a settlement where nobody is even wearing armor. To Mike, it was a shock that Dune hadn't fallen long ago. They didn't have a wall, a tower, or any other defenses to speak of, but they still stood strong.
Why this happened, Mike had no clue. No matter which of the possibilities turned out to be the truth, Mike would be sure that several high level guards were sent to make sure a night raid wouldn't level the settlement. The next term that Devin had required was that before it was finalized, they would also meet the leader of Dune. The grand chiefs were influential and all, but the empty chair at the head of the table made it clear that there was still another step up the pecking order. The grand chiefs were still unhappy with the deal, and it was all because the trader refused to finance a road being built all the way between Dune and Thudfall.
According to Devin, the trader was currently the wealthiest person in the entire village, with about 50 gold currently to his name, but even that wouldn't be enough to pay the construction workers to take on such a huge project. It likely wouldn't even be enough for them to build a second wall if they ever needed one. That had simply been built out of a sense of necessity. Now that they had a currency system, Mike was beginning to realize how expensive it would be for the village to hire anyone for large projects. He grimaced as he realized that his own bank account would likely be drained quite often, as he needed the best materials available to craft with.
During the journey to Dune, Mike had talked with Devin and the trader about how the currency was currently fluctuating in value quite a bit due to so many people making bank accounts, and how it would likely need a while to stabilize. The whole conversation had opened Mike's eyes to how much work people were putting into keeping the village running, even if they weren’t technically part of the leadership. Mike still had yet to learn the name of the trader, but given that he was in the middle of an important meeting with eight individuals that could stand to bring quite a bit of power to Thudfall, he figured that perhaps now was not the best time to ask.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Eventually, the meeting came to an end after all the conditions were laid out, and all that needed to happen now was for them to meet the leader of the settlement. They waited for almost an hour, before Mike felt a powerful presence from just outside the entrance of the building. The doors swung open in a dramatic fashion, and a man wearing far more jewelry than any of the grand chiefs walked in.
His dark skin seemed to shine, and even when he stepped into the door and out of direct sunlight, Mike could still see light coming off of his skin. He identified the man as he walked over and sat in the golden chair at the head of the table. As he made contact with the seat, Mike realized that the man gave off the same energy he felt that was connecting him to the seat. An aura seemed to fill the room as he sat down, with the chair amplifying the radiant presence the man already gave off. Mike identified him, and then the chair he sat on.
*Human (level 34)*
Dune’s Perch (Epic)
Made from a mana retardant material, this seat projects the aura of whoever sits in it. All non-fear and non-suppression effects of the aura are not projected.
So the chair was filling the room with the aura of the leader, Mike thought. He was unaffected by the force that seemed to try and push him further into his seat, but Devin and the trader both seemed to be deeply unsettled by the feeling. Mike’s own aura began to chew away at the magic around him, as it considered this a hostile action, and he needed to stop it from emptying the room of all mana.
“Hello, my name is Rajesh.” The man began in a subtle indian accent. “You may call me Raj.” Something about the way he said it made it sound like he was reluctant to say that last part, and that didn't sit quite right with Mike. “I was told you wanted to meet me?”
“Hello Raj.” Devin said. “I had been under the impression you would have been here without us requesting your presence. A settlement becoming a vassal seems like a good enough reason to draw a leader's attention, is it not?” Mike could tell that Devin didn't like the man either, and was trying to make it clear.
“I was told that my people had to request your leader's presence. If he does not see acquiring a vassal as important enough to be there personally, then I see no reason to become one. So unless that man right there,” he pointed to Mike, “is your leader, then negotiations are over, and we will not be led by an uncaring man.”
Mike didn't let Devin respond, instead speaking up for the first time that meeting. “Yes, I am the leader, and as the leader I would like to say that you are not a very good one. You have completely set your people up for failure, and I have no idea how your level is so high when your leadership is so clearly lacking.”
The room fell silent when Mike spoke, with all of the grand chiefs getting dark expressions on their faces. One of them stood up, likely to say something along the lines of ‘get the hell out of here’, but Rajesh took the comment in stride, stopping the chief from speaking. “I have not set them up for failure. I have not set them up for anything. It is their responsibility if they want to grow. If they wish to leave, then so be it.”
“They can't leave. I would be shocked if anyone in the village, outside of those in this room, could cross that desert. The heat alone would kill some of them.”
“Like I said, that is their fault. Besides, each and every one of them is here willingly and happily. Find me someone who does not want to be here. Not everybody values getting stronger as you seem to.”
Mike stayed silent after that. The man had a point, not everyone cared to level up. Sure, it had quite a few benefits, but the risks and the work involved in raising one's level was daunting to many. Out of the close to 20,000 people now in Thudfall, only about 500 had evolved past level 25. Mike hadn't believed it when he heard the number, but he was a bit jaded since he regularly talked with a lot of high level people. He still thought that them being weak was not entirely their fault, as they had no hope of killing just about anything out here in the desert anyways. The only benefit it might provide is keeping the average level low, and making the night raids really weak.
“Now that I have met you, I will still accept Dune becoming your vassal.” Raj said, surprising everyone else at the table. “You at least care for your people, and that's more than I can say I have done as a leader. Come, follow me. I would like to show you something.” Mike, Devin, and the trader stood up, but Raj put a hand up, stopping them. “Just him.” He said, now pointing at Mike.
Mike followed the man, and he was led out of the building. They walked around behind the building, to where a hatch was placed in the ground. It had a magical ward on it, but Mike knew at a single glance that it wasn't very strong. It was probably not made to keep anything over level 25 out. Raj sent a touch of mana into it, and the hatch swung open. Inside was a staircase that led to somewhere under the oasis, and he began walking down the stairs.
Mike followed, definitely not freaked out that a strange man was leading him into his dark basement. They came to a stop much further underground than Mike expected, and were now in a large room with torches along the walls, providing light. On the floor was a massive circle of mana, with intricate patterns going through the circle. Mike could feel the mana coursing through each line, and he was blown away.
There had to be tens of thousands of points of mana flowing through the circle. If it suddenly got destabilized, that mana would destroy the city much more thoroughly than any monster raid could. To the man's credit, the pattern looked incredibly stable, and was sending mana out in all directions. It wasn't moving quickly, but the magic was moving in such large quantities that there was a breeze in the room despite being at least 15 meters underground.
“What is this?” Mike asked, trying to memorize the pattern. He wasn't sure what it did, but if he could shrink it and put it on an item, it would be amazing.
“It is an enchantment, or I guess technically it is a ritual. It took a mix of both skills to create, but now it is simply an enchantment.” Raj said, clearly very proud. Mike identified the enchantment, utterly horrified at what he saw.
Enchantment of Repel Foe (Heroic)
An enchantment created by a powerful shaman, and significantly empowered by [Redacted]. This enchantment instills terror in all monsters within 20000 feet, causing them to flee. This effect is ineffective on any monster higher than level 99.
“Holy shit.” Mike said. ‘That bastard, he made something of heroic rarity before I did. Why didn't the planet get a notification like last time?’ “Quite the work of magic you got here.” He didn't bring up the fact that whatever had made the enchantment so strong had been censored, as he felt that was not a subject that should be approached casually, and being subtle was never his forte. Raj opened a door on the far side of the room, smirking as he spoke.
“That's not the only one we have.” He said smugly. Through the door Mike saw a second enchantment. It wasn't quite as intricate, but it had just as much mana flowing through it as the last one had.
Enchantment of Climate Control (Heroic)
An enchantment created by a powerful shaman, and significantly empowered by [Redacted]. This enchantment controls the climate within 20000 feet. Current setting: 98 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny.
Of course he did. Of fucking course he did. He didn't beat Mike to the punch once, but had done it again. Mike knew that they were likely made before he showed up in Dune, but he still felt personally attacked. He tried not to show it on his face as he spoke, his voice and words still portraying a fraction of his hurt despite his best efforts not to.
“Very nice, now can we leave before I lose any more self esteem here?”