Luné Alpenglow
Luné stretches, having dried off and gotten her clothes back on. That was a relaxing moment. She walked around the tree she knew Sebastia was at, and looked at her, smiling. Sebastia looks back, and nods, “Ready to head back, my Lady?” Luné nods in response, and then says, “I do want to send you out when we get back. It might be a little risky with that other dungeon being a danger, but I want to ask the siblings if they know where a town is nearby. If we can set up trade, or better yet, act as merchants selling goods that we make in the dungeon, we could start getting information. As such, I want to try summoning another person. I don’t know if I’ll get lucky or not, but the Ambient Mana here is in the upper end of Rare.” Sebastia asks a question, “How can you tell if it is in the upper or lower end?” Luné shrugs, “I don’t really know. It's just a feeling. Maybe because I’m a Dungeon Core now.” She then opens Carcere Fabricator, and presses the “Summon Summons” button, and a screen appears:
Summon Summons
Ambient Mana: Rare
Summons Cap: Rare
Send Summons
She presses it, and the light turns red. As the light begins to subside slower than usual, Sebastia tenses up, already reaching for her blade. As the light fades, she draws and puts the sword against the neck of the woman that appears, who tilts her head up, and looks at Sebastia with a devilish grin. Her hood is not up, revealing the rather pretty blood-red irises, and shoulder-length gray hair. A voice from below speaks up, “Pardon Miss, but it's IMPECCABLY rude to immediately threaten the life of someone you just met, and is not attacking you.” Sebastia doesn’t release her hostile gaze, and Luné speaks, as she looks at the smaller than normal Dracenewt, in a business suit with a golden monocle over an eye, “If my guard senses danger, I don’t mind her defending me.” She then looks at Sebastia, “But I do agree. I think you’re maybe overreacting.” Sebastia growls as she removes her sword, sheathes it, and without skipping a beat she speaks to the woman, “Fuck you, Imai.” Imai smirks maliciously at Sebastia, and then looks at Luné, her face relaxing to a neutral look. Luné notes the samurai-like armor on her, as the Dracenewt speaks, “Well! Hello! I am Zeuz, no not like the god of lightning. I am just Zeuz, and yes I have tried tricking people into thinking I am Zeus. However each time I have been run off like the little fucker people believe Kobolds to be.” Zeuz does a flourished bow, which causes Imai to slowly do a traditional bow. Zeuz continues, “Please ignore my mute friend, she has no tongue anymore, ever since SOMEONE-” He glares at Sebastia, “-not naming names, cut it out for speaking her mind against the Grandian Royalty.” Luné is silent as Imai and Sebastia have a very hostile stare off.
Zeuz speaks, “So, little Lady, what do you have for us to do?” Luné speaks with a polite smile, as Zeuz looked expectantly at her, with beady draconic eyes, “Well, I was hoping to have someone to go out to towns and sell what we produce in the Dungeon.” Zeuz looks extremely happy, and Imai looks at her surprised by her words, and Zeuz yells out, “IT WILL BE DONE!!!!!” He raises a fist in the air, grinning like a madman, and then looks at Imai, “GATHER YOUR THINGS, IMAI! WE HAVE A JOB TO-” He looks back at Luné, “What’s the pay?” Luné is taken off guard by this sudden question, after a few seconds she says, “ Three-fourths of the money you get.” Zeuz looks back at Imai, his fist still in the air, “-DO!” And he begins running off into the woods. Luné calls out, startled and stammering, “W-Wait! You don’t have any goods to sell, and don’t know what we need!” Zeuz stops, and turns around, then starts quickly walking back, “Right, I got ahead of myself. What did you need in return, if not the money?” Luné smiles politely again, “Information. We’re trying to find a person.” Zeuz nods rapidly in response, thinking to himself, and then he says, “Got it. We’ll go to the Dungeon, and gather some things to sell, then go gather information.” Turning even faster, he begins running off again, as Luné says, “Bu-”. She stays quiet for a second, then calls out, “Ask Koto who freed him!” Imai turns and finally chases after Zeuz.
As the two disappear past several trees, somehow going in the right direction, Sebastia speaks, “Don’t ever trust that woman, my Lady. She is a snake.” Sebastia is still staring in the direction they went, and Luné speaks, “We need snakes. We need everyone we can get.” Sebastia looks at Luné, the depressed look on her face worries Luné, and she refrains from asking what is wrong, but Sebastia continues, "She will lie, cheat, steal, and destroy. She is not a good person." Luné is silent, and feels awkward now, as Sebastia looks back in the direction of the Dungeon. Luné begins to slowly reach to put a hand on Sebastia's shoulder, but brings it down as they hear and feel something. A rumbling, and then the feeling of stepping into something else's lair. Turning around, Luné sees the lake has changed color, and a red tint covers it all, like a box. Luné gets a feeling, and realizes she knows something about this wall of transparent red, as Sebastia draws her sword and pulls Luné behind her. Luné speaks calmly, "The lake is now owned by another unnamed Dungeon." She shakes her head, and realizes they need to run. Sebastia starts pushing Luné away from the lake, only to feel her hand be grabbed and yanked. She follows Luné, and they run back to the dungeon.
Soon the two are back at the Dungeon, where they can see Cloud, Miyoshi, Koto, Zeus, and Imai. Cloud looks over immediately, and lays down for the kids to get off, who are confused by the sudden drop in elevation. Sebastia calls out while running towards the Dungeon, “Prepare for a fight, immediately!” Koto and Miyoshi are startled by those words, and scramble off the back of Cloud, who stands immediately when they are off. Imai draws her sword defensively, and Zeuz speaks, “Not you, fool! She means something else is happening!” Imai begins sheathing her sword, as Luné and Sebastia near the group, and Sebastia speaks, “As much as I wish he were wrong, he isn’t. Another Dungeon just took over the lake. Seemingly from underground.” Luné nods in response, “It is unnamed, I don’t know how I know that, but I do. I also don’t know why that is important enough for me to hear it in the back of my mind when I saw its borders expand. Zeuz, Imai; what are your abilities?” Zeuz speaks quickly, “I am a merchant by trade, but also a rather good pickpocket. I am pretty much useless in combat. Hence why I hired Imai to be my bodyguard. She is-” Sebastia cuts him off, “Far more dangerous than anyone here, aside from myself. Her rage is what fuels her. So much so that she can fight in any conditions, aside from the extreme of the extremes; lava, 500 feet underwater. Those are just two examples. Imai, I need you on the van. You’ll be going with Cloud and a group of her wolves once I cast a protection spell on them. We protect the Dungeon and Lady Luné at all costs, but we also cannot let this thing remain. We must ensure it is taken down.” Luné speaks in protest, “No! We don’t just kill!” Sebastia is caught off guard, and looks at her, as she continues, “As I told you before, Dungeons are not all hostile. We should see if we can make peace and ally with it. As such, I will go with the vanguard. I need Sebastia, Imai, Cloud, and several wolves. Void Sprites will slow us down, even if they are our strongest.” She opens the Wolf Spawner’s menu, and levels it once with all the mana the Dungeon has. She allocates the point to Strength.
Luné looks at Cloud, “Gather a group of five Wolves, including yourself.” Cloud runs off to get her Wolves. Luné looks at Sebastia, “Get your armor on.” Sebastia nods, and runs off. Luné finally looks at Imai, “You don’t look like you need me to tell you to get ready, so stay here.” Luné looks at the siblings as Imai puts up a thumb, “You two, stay near monsters. If they don’t look busy, ask them to follow you around, because I told you to stay near monsters.” The two run off, likely to hide inside with the Void Sprites. She looks at Zeuz, “Remain safe. I assume you can easily hide yourself, but I’ll still say it.” Zeuz brings up a thumb, and smirks, “You got it, little Lady.” He runs off, leaving just Imai and Luné, waiting for the vanguard to arrive.
Soon enough, the vanguard arrives. Four wolves follow Cloud, a purpose in their steps. Sebastia is the last to arrive, her armor equipped, and her sword on her hip, already being pressed down by a hand, though not to draw. Sebastia speaks as she nears the group, “Cloud, front and center, wolves, flank her in a chevron. Imai, right side of Lady Luné, I’ll take left.” The group begins moving into their respective positions. Imai and Sebastia stand a little behind Luné, but still close enough that they could shove her or move her if needed. Sebastia continues, “When we get near the dungeon, I will cast the protection. From there we enter the water slowly, and approach the center of the lake. Let's move!” Cloud begins walking, leading the group towards the lake. Luné is a bit surprised by how fast Sebastia has taken the lead of the combat group. Granted, this is expected of someone so strong, but she still didn’t expect Sebastia to give orders so easily.
The group eventually arrives at the lake, and sees Skeletons arriving on their right, and across the lake. Luné speaks, “Skeletons. We should protect this dungeon, to ensure it is favorable to us.” Sebastia speaks, “If that is your wish, then we shall. I will cast the protection now.” She draws and raises her sword, causing a glow to surround the group. As this glow shines, Luné remembers she did not allocate her new stat points, and does so, giving herself 8 in everything, except Dexterity, which she turns into a 10 with the remaining two points. As the glow fades, she sees the Skeletons notice them. Then they begin running into the water. Noticing their charge, Sebastia calls out, “Forward! Protect this Dungeon!” The wolves and Imai begin entering the water, ready for a fight, as Sebastia turns to Luné, and grabs her arm before she enters the water, “Not happening, my Lady. You are going back. This is about to become a warzone, and at worst, a three-way one.” Luné shakes her head, and answers, “I’m not leaving you all here to fight on your own.” Sebastia shakes her head, “Go back to the dungeon. I’m not asking.” She lets go, and runs into the water, quickly submerging behind the rest of their group. Upset at Sebastia, Luné decides to be defiant. Only to hear a blade be drawn to her right. Looking, she sees a Skeleton knight with a white surcoat emblazoned with a very old Papal emblem, likely from the failed attempt Humanity made to conquer lands around its kingdom. Though they succeeded for a time, thanks to their surprise attack, Humanity was kicked past their starting point, and lost land all around it. Luné drew her Icesteel Dagger. Ready for a fight.
Sebastia Ria
Following behind the wolves and Imai, Sebastia notices something odd. The monsters of this dungeon are hiding, or running from the Skeletons and them. Luckily the spell she had cast is allowing them to breathe and move unimpeded on the lakebed, so they can move swiftly towards the Skeletons. Sebastia calls out, “Wolves, break rank and harass the enemy! Leave the proper clean up to Imai and I!” The Wolves split off, and begin sprinting towards the skeletons. The Skeletons turn to face the actual threats, who move like lightning in the water, and bite with the force they normally would. Aside from one, who seems extremely pissed off today, and nearly chomps off a normal Skeleton’s head, but drags it down like a rock. Cloud is first to slam into the enemy though, but of course, as usual, these Knight Skeletons are slippery, though not enough to not be body slammed by her. “Imai! Take out the weaklings! I’ve got the Knight!” Splitting off, the two go to their respective targets, and Sebastia gets to the Knight, who has managed to keep its footing, despite being body slammed. With Cloud running off as it got its footing, it is able to focus on Sebastia, and raises its blade, but that’s no use against an unhindered opponent, and Sebastia slashes up through the armor, and cuts a new gash in the skeleton’s rusty armor, as well as several almost its entire rib cage; she sees a yellow “108” that turns black. It starts to crumble into a pile of bones, which slowly sink, excluding the still armored areas that sink faster. She can see Imai burst with a blood-red aura, and cut clean through a skeleton as she begins her rage.
There were only six more skeletons, one that was trying to get up again, and the rest that were trying to slash at the wolves running circles around them. All of their blades connect, bar one, cutting into the flesh of the wolves, and releasing blood into the water. In the distance, Sebastia can see the Monsters of the dungeon looking over, and seemingly gaining courage, as a lone Water Sprite begins its slow march through the water, towards the fighting, followed by two small fish with short arms and legs, instead of fins, holding rocks.
Sebastia closes in on the Skeletons, as the Wolves launch another attack, the pissed off Wolf bites again, just as strong, simply ripping off the Skeleton’s head this time, and making it crumble to the ground slowly. The other wolves, however, have chosen different targets this time, and each land their attacks, followed by Cloud going for a takedown on one of the least attacked Skeletons. Which she does with ease, as she starts to try getting at its false throat. Imai swings again, breaking another Skeleton into two, as Sebastia attacks one of the last four. Cutting into it, she sees a black “36” appear.
The final three Skeletons swing wildly around them, nearly getting Sebastia’s cheek, hitting a Wolf, and the third gets a good hit on Cloud, but with the pommel of its sword, and as it doesn’t have the actual strength to hurt Cloud, it clearly does nothing. The water sprite sends a small pulse, which ripples into three rapid pulses, of water at the Skeleton that hit the Wolf, knocking it over.
The Wolves lunge again, while their leader breaks off the neck and head of the Skeleton she’s now slightly chewing on. The falling Skeleton is snatched by the angry Wolf, and crunched into two. The other remaining Skeleton is attacked by the other three Wolves, who just start pulling it apart. Now that the fight is over, Sebastia sees the Sprite and Fish fleeing the site, specifically their party. She then looks at her Team and speaks, “Alright, let's return to Lady Luné. We’ve made a good enough impression.” Sebastia turns and begins walking, the Team following behind her.
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Luné Alpenglow
Luné was ecstatic, despite her new injury. What had, just earlier this day, nearly killed her, she took out in a punch, and throwing her dagger into it twice! Though she is bleeding a bit, she’s happy to have conquered her first hurdle in combat. She begins putting away the dagger, as she hears the sound of water flowing back into water. Looking over, she sees the wolves coming out, one is limping, the rest are roughed up, followed by Imai, who looks at her with tired eyes. Finally, Cloud and Sebastia exit the water, immediately panicking as they see the injury on Luné's side, and the crumpled skeleton. Cloud runs over, and sniffs at the wound. Sebastia runs over, yelling, “My Lady!” Luné smiles happily as she gets closer, “I’m fine. I taught the bastard a lesson!” She does a small fist pump, with a proud grin. Sebastia frowns immediately, “You are not fine. That’s an injury. Cloud, take her back to the Dungeon to rest. Everyone else follow them, and make sure Lady Luné does not try coming here. No matter what she says, make sure she rests.” Imai walks over and hoists up Luné as she protests being put on Cloud. Cloud, once she has Luné, begins sprinting, leaving behind the rest of the party, aside from her wolves, who give chase. Luné frowns heavily, and just lays down on Cloud’s back.
Soon they return to the Dungeon, and Luné doesn’t say anything or look at any of the wolves. She just walks away, ignoring them for taking her back. She sits near the new Smithy, and just thinks to herself, pouting and being upset all the while. She decides to open the menu for the Smithy, and looks around at it. It looks to be just a normal upgrade screen. She begins to think about how to use the Smithy. And then decides to get a Void Sprite to work in the Smithy. Though she doesn’t know if the Void Sprite would be capable of that. She gets up, and starts walking to the Dungeon Core Room. And enters the house, finding a few Wolves laying on the ground, with the siblings nowhere to be seen at the moment. She just goes down the stairs, and touches the core. She watches as Cloud starts to move her again, and she forces Cloud to quit and go do something else. Her ears flatten against her head, and her tail tucks between her legs, as she walks away. That actually just hurt Luné too. She feels really bad now, but she brought this upon herself, she’ll deal with the cards she’s been given.
She looks around for a sprite, and makes it go to the Smithy. She has the ore piles brought over, and she waits for the sprite to get to its spot. As it gets closer, she begins to think she should change what monster should do this. An unfamiliar set of feet enter the dungeon, and she looks over at it, finding Imai, but no Sebastia. Imai just wanders, probably hunting down Zeuz. She looks back at the Smithy, and is about to tell the Sprite to forget the order, but as she looks back, it is already floating one of the Copper Ores. This manages to interest her, as she has not seen any other Void Sprites float an object on its own. She watches quietly, as the Sprite drops the ore into the melting pot. She looks away, as the Sprite does its thing. She begins watching the direction the lake is. Waiting for Sebastia to return. As she waits, a notification appears:
Smithy Update
Void Sprite has completed an Impure Copper Ingot, and is now a Smith.
Luné looks back at the Smithy, and she smiles at her new Smith. She then gives a warm feeling through the Core’s connection to it. It seems to speed up at that, as it starts its next ore, and the new ingot is set down to cool. She goes back to looking around, and finds Imai and Zeuz looking over the logs. Zeuz speaks to Imai, “If we want to sell some logs, we will need to transport them. When we get to a town, we’ll get a cart and horse. That will help us carry more.” Luné speaks to them, “We have impure ingots now. If you want to wait and sell those.” Zeuz looks towards where the Core is and smiles happily, “I will happily wait! How many are you producing? Those are easy to carry in Imai’s bag.” Luné speaks again, “We are currently doing Copper. We’ll have five of them, and then we have Tin. I don’t want to use the Tin, so I’ll let you take all fifteen once the Smith is done with them.” Zeuz nods happily, and starts walking to the back of the house. He speaks, “I’ll go watch the Smith then.” Luné speaks to Zeuz as he walks with Imai, “Zeuz? What can impure ingots be used for, do you know?” Zeuz speaks candidly to her, “Bad armor and weapons, little Lady. But it's still better than nothing.” Luné smiles at that answer. She wants to get armor for Cloud now, and maybe a couple of daggers. She looks over at the Smithy, and focuses on the Smith, seeing a new menu:
Smith Void Sprite
Level 10
Dodge: 1
Health: 10/10
Mana: 15/20
Strength: 0
Dexterity: 5
Constitution: 1
Spirit: 10
Currently: Making Impure Copper Ingots
Queued Recipes: x3 Impure Ingot (Copper), x15 Impure Ingot (Tin)
Recipes
Impure Ingots: x1 Ore
Metal Plate: x2 Ingots
Metal Rivets: x1 Ingot
Metal Rings: x2 Ingots
Plate Armor: x2 Metal Plate, x1 Metal Rivets (Crafting Room Level 1)
Plate Greaves: x1 Metal Plate, x1 Metal Rivets, x1 Metal Rings (Crafting Room Level 1)
Plate Gauntlets: x1 Metal Plate, x1 Metal Rivets (Crafting Room Level 1)
Brevor (Neck/Helmet): x1 Metal Plate, x1 Metal Rivets (Crafting Room Level 1)
Kettle Hat: x1 Metal Plate (Crafting Room Level 1)
Metal Necklace: x2 Ingots
She smiles at all the possible choices, and decides to queue up two Metal Plates, and a set of Metal Rivets. She’s aiming for the Copper Plate Armor for Cloud. She wonders if the Armor can actually be made for Cloud. She hadn’t considered it, but if not, she’ll wear it. As she’s thinking to herself, she feels familiar feet set foot in her domain, and she looks over at Sebastia, just in time to see a disturbing looking Fish enter too. She immediately is suspicious about the Fish, but Sebastia speaks, “My Lady, the Dungeon at the Lake, has sent an envoy at my request. Please accept it and speak with it.” Luné looks at it, and soon a menu appears:
Monster Menu
Unnamed Dungeon Envoy
Merling Level 4
Health: 20/20
Strength: 4
Dexterity: 2
Constitution: 2
Spirit: 2
Current Orders: Speak with Unnamed Dungeon, and determine disposition towards Dungeon.
She sees this, and speaks, “So that Dungeon must be new then? Instead of expanding like we thought?” Sebastia responds, “Yes, my Lady.” Luné mentally nods at that, then speaks, “Envoy, please come to the Core Room.” She then looks for Cloud, who is walking around with her ears pinned and tail tucked still, she speaks, “Please stop being sad, Cloud. I’m sorry I was so rude to you. Please come back to the Core Room, we have an Envoy here, and I want to show them our best.” Cloud perks up a little, and begins running back, her tail already starting to wag again, but her ears betray a bit of worry and sadness still. Luné then looks at Sebastia, who is guiding the Merling to the Dungeon Core Room. Luné exits the Core, and stands up as Cloud enters. Cloud stands beside Luné, and soon the Merling enters the room, hopping down the stairs awkwardly, since his tiny legs would not allow him to climb down it with grace. That or he just doesn’t know how stairs work.
As the Merling approaches, it gets confused, and looks at the Core, then at Luné. Luné speaks, “I am the Core.” She shows her Race/Class, revealing her to be a Human Hero and Dungeon Core, to the Merling, who seems to relax, and approach. Cloud tenses up, and Luné gives her a pat to assuage any fears she has about this meeting. Luné sits down onto her legs, so she can be eye level with the Merling, who holds out its hand. Luné, knowing what to do, despite never doing this before, reaches and takes the Merling’s hand. The two then close their eyes, and she finds herself in an empty space. A bit startling, and worrying, but she gets a feeling she isn’t alone. A glowing light appears after a second, and a man’s voice comes out of it, panicked and startled, “I am terribly sorry! I thought the Merling would take longer to reach yo-” he stops, “HUH!? WHAT’S A HUMAN DOING HERE! I THOUGHT I WOULD BE TALKING TO ANOTHER CORE!” Luné, though a little upset at the sudden outburst, understands his confusion, and speaks, “I am a Core. I think I might have been meant to be a Dungeon Core ever since my birth, as when I merged with, and am in my own territory, a scar on my hand, that I have had since birth, disappears as if it was never there. Either way, I am happy to meet you. Especially in peaceful terms.” He’s quiet, and then says, “I’m sorry for my outburst, Great One.” Luné tilts her head at that, “Great One? Is that a specific term?” He moves side to side as if to say no, “Oh, no not at all, Great One!” Luné then holds up her hands, “Please, just call me ---- then. Hm? Why did my voice get cut off?” He speaks again, “I will refrain from calling you Great One then. Your Dungeon is not named, yes? Then that explains why you could not use your Human name. Only Dungeon names can be used here. I am Unnamed Dungeon. You are also Unnamed Dungeon. However, if you use your Human name as a specific thing, for example, I thought a ‘Lady Luné’ was a specific Boss Monster, but it was actually you, Unnamed Dungeon. If I used your Human name, at the end there, it would have been blocked.”
Luné nods slowly, and then thinks. Her Dungeon is where she gets her knowledge about Dungeons from. Perhaps she should name it something having to do with knowledge? She has it after a few seconds of tense silence, “Then call me Codex.” He speaks happily, “Understood, mighty Codex! Now, shall we get on with business?” Luné shakes her head, “What should I call you?” He is stunned into silence for a few seconds, before mumbling to himself. Luné can hear his words, as there is no hiding what you say here, it would seem, “Hmm. I live in a small cave at the bottom of the lakebed, so Cave Under the Lake? No no. That’s too weird. I mostly have Water Monsters after all, and nothing to do with caves. And my domain is mostly underwater, so nothing to do with the surface either. This is hard.” He goes quiet, and then Luné speaks, “What about just ‘Lake’.” He speaks out, “Brilliant! I am Lake of Codex!” Luné is baffled by that declaration, “Wha-” He continues, “Oh right! You have not accepted. Codex, please accept me as your underling. I have nothing to give you, yet, but I will serve faithfully!” Luné shakes her head and hands, “No, no. Don’t tie yourself down to serve me. I don’t want that. I would rather we just be allies.” Lake of Codex glows blue at that, “I’m sorry if that was too forceful, please do not hate me.” Luné smiles warmly to him, “I don’t hate you. I just do not want you to be forced to follow me. I will happily accept you as an ally, just not an underling.” Lake of Codex goes back to normal, and seems to silently think. Then he speaks, “Okay!” Luné smiles again, and then says, “Okay, Lake. I accept you as an Ally of the Dungeon Codex.” Lake of Codex laughs out into the void, and spins happily, glowing a bright yellow. Then he speaks, “Thank you so much!” Luné speaks, “Lake, the first thing you need to do, is to gather Mana. Focus on upgrading your spawners. Another Dungeon is out in the forest, and is actively hostile. That’s what those Skeletons were from. We need to prepare to fight them.” Lake speaks, “Yes, I looked at one of the Skeletons while your Monsters and Denizens were fighting them. The name I saw was ‘Fort Pontifex’.” Luné nods slowly, “That’s good information. It reveals that they have a holy theme despite being undead. That also fits with the very old papal symbols on their Knights’ surcoats. Thank you, Lake. This has been a nice interaction. I look forward to working alongside you. Oh, right, before we leave, make sure that you do not kill Invaders unless they actually are threatening you. I have two Denizens who entered my area, and they were classified as Invaders at the time.” Lake bobs up and down rapidly, and then says, “I understand, Codex! I will make sure they are not enemies first!” Luné then says, “If they cannot live underwater, send them my way, I will keep them safe. It's likely that they are an escaped slave. There’s a group of slavers to the North, on top of Fort Pontifex being to the West. If they are a slave, they should be protected.” Lake bobs up and down again, and then says, “Okay! I don’t understand what that means, but I’ll try my hardest!” Luné giggles slightly, and then nods, “Okay. That’s all I have, and I assume also all you have. Shall we get going?” Lake speaks, “Let me try something first.” He begins morphing in every which way, and then just stops, “Okay, that’s not going to happen. Not right now at least. I’ll try mimicking the Monsters for now instead. Bye!”
Luné was about to ask what that was about, but her vision comes back to reality, and she sees the Merling letting go of her hands, and then prostrating in front of her. Luné raises her hands in objection, and speaks, “No, no! Don’t bow!” Cloud looks baffled by the sudden respect the Merling has given, and Sebastia smiles. The Merling quickly hops up, and begins leaving. Luné sighs to herself, and then speaks, “Well, Lake is now our ally.” Sebastia smiles even more, “That’s good, Lady Luné. Anything else?” Luné nods, “Our enemies currently are the Slavers, and Fort Pontifex, who is sending those Skeletons. Since none have been inside the territory of Codex, I couldn’t find out its name.” Sebastia nods, and says, “So if this Fort Pontifex is sending Skeletons, what’s our first action? I recommend a scout team consisting of a Merling and Wolves.” Luné nods in agreement, “A Merling so Lake can map the forest as well, and Wolves to expedite the process.” She looks at Cloud, and says, “Gather three groups of two, and send them to Lake. You go along with them, so you can tell Lake our plan. Unless it requires me to connect to him like that again. Either way, we’ll tell him the plan, and we’ll get through this.” Sebastia shakes her head, “The protection is definitely gone by now. I’ll go with, so I can apply it again to Cloud to act as envoy.” Luné smiles, and says, “That’s the plan, get going.” She stands up as they begin going upstairs, and then she turns to press her hand on the Core. It's time to continue on with the rest of her preparations.