Trent was half God.
Which explained how he was able to join the three of us in whatever it was that we’d just done.
“Your Father was a God?” I swallowed.
“Mother actually.” Trent shook his head, “It wasn’t very glorious. In the name of keeping me safe, my mother had very little to do with me.” He sighed, “My father died when I was young, which meant I spent a lot of time alone. I had to take her name as my family, which was actually the closest I ever felt to her.”
“What was your Mother’s name?” Most Mundane either married into a Noble family and took that Family's name or they gave themselves a new on to start a new family line.
“Vowler.” He shrugged. “She was Desolated by what I now think was the Primus while I was at the Fane, but I don’t know why.” He shrugged. “Almost twenty years later, my half- brother took back her city, but very few Mundane people keep their city name, especially not an extinct one. That’s one of the reasons I tried to make a name for myself. So that people wouldn’t forget her.”
“Who’s your brother?” I started thinking of all the cities with male Gods that had been around almost a hundred years old. Mive, Tres, and Juel were the only three male Gods in the Cathedral Ward. Tres had taken the city about fifty years ago, which meant he was out. Mive was older than that, but I wasn’t sure how much and Juel had been around for a long time.
“Iver.” Trent swallowed, “And yes, he knows who I am to him, but we don’t have the most brotherly relationship.” The white-haired man clapped and turned to Arlo, “That’s enough of a trip down memory lane.” He pointed at the jacket, “Would you please pick it up so that we can get out of here?”
Arlo grumbled something under his breath, but he walked over and picked up the purple jacket. “What’s supposed to hap..?!”
The jacket wrapped around the blonde man’s arm and began spreading over the rest of Arlo’s body until everything but his face was covered. Arlo glowed so brightly that I had to cover my eyes with both hands.
When the light vanished I peeked between my fingers. The blonde Tank looked the same as he had before he’d touched the Mantle.
“Now what?” Arlo was examining himself, “I don’t really feel that different. How are we supposed to get out of here?”
“Wait for it.” Trent released Rix, who jumped to her feet. She glared at him, then walked over and helped me up.
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“How long do we have to..?”
The room shaking interrupted my question.
Trent grabbed both Rix’s and Arlo’s arms. “Atlas, don’t let go!”
I held on to Rix as the white room started to fade to purple, then vanished.
I felt dirt under my face and I realized that I was laying down again. I opened my eyes and saw Trent, Arlo, and Rix laying next to me. Each of them getting up slowly.
“I still hate that feeling.” Trent shook his head.
“You’ve done this before?” I groaned as I rolled over.
“I was with Tres and Dee when he claimed the city.” Trent looked over at Arlo, “I didn’t help out nearly as much back then.”
“He was almost ten levels higher than me and you were almost ten levels lower than you are now!” Arlo waved around, “And I told you I wasn’t ready!”
“Twenty.” Trent corrected.
“What?” the blonde shook his head, “I very clearly remember dad talking about how he was sixty seven when he took the city and you weren’t fifty five yet, because you hit that on the way back.”
“No.” Trent turned his display for the other man to see. I got up and walked over to see it.
Trent Vowler - Level 70
Age: 132, Hair: White, Eye color: Brown, Height: 6’2”
43,380,971.43 Exp
Mystic - Mana 12,250/12,250
495 Power 672 Defense 1,750 Speed
3,821 Magic 1,696 Recovery 608 Aura
“That’s…” I didn’t have words.
“A lot of stats…” Arlo finished for me.
I nodded. One of his lightning bolts would melt most people now. Which meant I was really glad he was on our side.
Rix was examining Aryne’s body. “What are we going to do about the Cult?”
She had a point. Without Arlo coming out and saying he’d taken the town, the Cultists were going to try again. I wasn’t sure how long it took to grow the Dungeon Seeds, but I had a feeling it was going to be a problem again.
“I can set something up with Celia.” Arlo took a deep breath, “Get her to check on the lower levels regularly and start building some actual houses here.” He looked around. “This place feels different.”
“Can you sense people in the dungeon?” I had a feeling what the answer was going to be.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know if that’s a thing.” Arlo shook his head.
Trent tapped his fingers to his chin. I could tell he was thinking about something.
“Let’s tell everyone it’s safe to come back.” His brown eyes shone. “I think we could put a rescue team together.”
I yawned, “That means we get to sleep.”
“Oh, you haven't served out your punishment yet.” Trent grinned at me, “Not until we leave.”
“Ugh…” I looked at Rix, “Why..?”
Rix patted me on the back, “Because you couldn’t wait until the Supply Store opened to get your girl a ring.” She looked around at the ruins. Not a single building was still standing.