Matthias sat back in his brand new, far more comfortable, office chair with a sigh. He should have bought all this furniture the minute he had gotten here. It made things so much better and more convenient than say, oh, sleeping on a stone chair with his head on a stone desk.

So, so much better.

He had outfitted a dozen workstations to start with. Each had a powerful Aether PC, comfortable chair, desk, and storage locker. The area on the cliff top had been converted into the customer service area with four stations with the remaining eight down below on the cavern's primary floor. Everything that enterprising workers may need to function.

Each workstation had access to the {BAZAAR}, the company network, and had advanced communication features that would allow anyone from any department to do their job to the fullest. It had been insanely expensive, wiping out nearly half of his total funds remaining. But the hundred thousand NEX had been worth every penny to ensure that his new employees were as productive as possible.

Which brought him to the meeting that he was currently having.

Mab had accepted the terms of the contract and ripped open a portal in the center of the cave. Surprisingly, she had come through with nine other Dark Fairies in the first wave. Matthias hadn’t honestly expected her to come that soon, or at all. Based on what he had learned about her and her history, he figured Mab for the type to sit back and watch the chaos unfold around her, not jump right into the middle of whatever she had instigated.

Which is why he was so surprised she was sitting in front of him now and was unlike any other Fairy that he had ever encountered.

Unlike her kin, Mab was taller than he was. A full-bodied, beautiful woman dressed in a black and green pencil skirt and blazer. The epitome of professional office wear. Her long, powerful strides were offset by the deep clicks of her heels, tipped in stainless steel. A fashion statement, he was sure, as well as being entirely applicable to combat. But it was the large, delicate looking wings that were folded neatly into her back that had amazed him. Their deep black gloss gave them a feel that he was staring into the abyss, but the light that filtered through them from various angles made him feel as if they were a visual translucent dream. If that was any adequate description.

The moment that Mab had arrived through the portal, she had walked over to his desk and set down the still steaming mug of coffee, set down the portfolio and turned it towards him, and sat neatly in the chair in front of his desk. Stunned at the abrupt actions, Matthias could only stare at her while he organized his thoughts. The first and foremost was where the hells he had gotten the coffee from. With a coy smile, however, Mab spoke first.

“You know, as a secretary I hold the keys to the gates of power for most. This makes me an ideal filter and helper. Something far more in line with my true nature than being a COO,” she said calmly. “I would recommend drinking that coffee, reviewing the portfolio, and then focusing on bringing me up to speed on what you have going on and what resources we have to work with.”

Blinking slowly, Matthias did just that. He picked up the mug and took a sip. The strong, bitter taste was offset by the fact that his brain had been caffeine-deprived for weeks if not months at this point. The time just kind of blended together after a while. He quickly drained the cup and set it down on his desk. Turning to the portfolio, he flipped it open to see a dossier on each individual Dark Fairy, starting with the nine that had come with Mab initially. The others listed in the file were those yet to come.

Each Fairy had a profile, description of skills and magical abilities, and what hobbies they were interested in. They also listed out personal relationships, marriages and children, and living space requirements. It turns out that Dark Fairies, contrary to their racial name, preferred bright and open living quarters that were usually situated in and around large trees.

Closing the portfolio, he looked up at Mab who had been waiting patiently for him to finish. “This is good. Great even. We are still lacking infrastructure, but with this, I know exactly what you and your Fairies will need,” he said with relief. Trying to figure that out without guidance would have been difficult. His brief foray into the {BAZAAR} to learn about Fairies immediately told him there were as many species and variations as there were stars in the sky.

“In regard to our assets, we have about a hundred thousand or so NEX, sixty-four Golems, one Masterwork Golem, two-hundred and eight Lizard-Kin farmers and crafters, and a soon-to-be Lizard-Kin Queen,” Mathias explained. “My goal is to provide the Lizard-Kin, and their variants, as customized workers, soldiers, and mages through the {BAZAAR}. Once enough of an income stream is built, which is already starting to happen, I will expand the number of mobs that I can provide. I have ideas for a dozen unique creatures that can be useful for damn near anyone.”

Mab nodded, eyes narrowing in thought. “What about the infrastructure here? As I understand it you have a somewhat fortified position with the cave and this magical moat? I do want to see that by the way. Then there are the farms you have started for feeding your lizards. What, exactly, are you growing?”

This had been a point of contention for himself when he had been choosing, but I the end it had come down to a trio of staple crops that were possibly more dangerous than most of the wildlife. “Volari trees with their meat fruits, ant wheat, and snap peas,” he replied. “Easy to grow, a somewhat dangerous deterrent, and produces a higher volume per area than almost any other non-magical crop. The Lizard-Kin can also get them to grow far faster than usual, we’ve already harvested once. I’m guessing at five to six harvests per year at a minimum.”

“Far more food than needed. Do you have an idea for storage?” the Fairy queen asked, curious.

Matthias nodded. He had thought extensively about that. And there was only one reasonable answer he could come up with. “I plan on manufacturing a micro-dimension storage,” he replied as Mab’s eyes went wide. “I have the schematics to do so, but I lack the materials. The tri-phase generator provides more than enough energy as well, so there is no concern there for stability.”

“Ah, yes. You have an Assembler,” she said, piecing everything together in realization. “One with a significant database I am assuming?”

He chuckled in response, “More than significant. Seeing as I have you on my team for the next ten years, and possibly longer, I think it's safe to tell you that if Trion realized what I had taken I would have been dead the second I left the company. If I was lucky.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Mab had a confused look on her face, so Matthias clarified. “I have a master database,” he said as quietly as possible.

Her eyes went wide, then narrowed to slits. “You are going to need much more than you have now to protect such a treasure. I am… re-evaluating the necessary actions to be taken. I need to see the surface now,” she said, standing up.

Matthias followed her up the ramp to the outside of the cavern. On their way, the Fairy Queen asked, “What do you have for resources? Minerals? Water? Magical ores?”

“Nine ore deposits have been found so far, but with the extreme aggression of local wildlife and lack of decent combat troops we haven’t been able to explore and asses,” he admitted. “Alyssa has done most of the scouting for us there. Outside of that, there are a half dozen or so biomes, a small desert. The magical river that we are about to see, and the Dryads forest.”

Mab snorted out a laugh in a very un-Queen-like manner. “Yes, the little Fairy does seem to be useful and loyal. Unusually so. I am curious how you managed that, but let us set aside… that… for now…” she trailed off as they got to the top of the ramp and simply stared at the river and moat. The light blue water gave off a slight chill, even from where they were.

There was a considerable amount of work going on. The Golems were hard at work under the watchful eyes of the Masterwork as they assembled the bridge over the deadly waters. Lizard-Kin were moving back and forth filling a variety of roles. From moving materials to tending to the crops on this side of the water. They were dedicated and busy.

Grinning, Matthias turned back to Mab but the moment he saw her face his amusement faded. “What? What’s wrong?” he asked, genuinely concerned at the terrified look on the Fairy Queen's face.

“Waters of Styx,” she stuttered out. Seeing the lack of comprehension from Matthias, she elaborated. “The Waters of Styx are an exquisitely rare natural phenomenon. So rare, in fact, that the only recorded example of it happening was nearly twelve thousand years ago on Earth One. And, at least according to the legends I know of, sparked a devastating war that nearly ended all life on that world. There is a single remaining sample under guard in the Pantheon. Half of a single vial is all that remains.”

She paused. "You have millions of gallons here."

Matthias was quiet for a moment as the gravity. “I still don’t know what it is. Why is the water valued to that degree? Touching it is practically a death sentence.”

“Waters of Styx is, for all intents and purposes, natural water that is a hairs frequency from raw Elemental Sea material,” she said gravely. “You cannot manufacture it. You cannot manipulate natural forces to create it. A single vial can be distilled into medicinal potions so powerful they can cure undeath. They can also be utilized in weapons so devastating it could destroy continents and create plagues that can wipe out entire species.”

The more she spoke the more Matthias began to sweat. “So… it's valuable then. Almost beyond reason. And no one knows it’s here but us.” He paused for a long while. “Can we use it? Would it even be safe to use?”

“Not without significantly more advanced facilities than you have here,” Mab said immediately. “And the tools you would need would only scratch the surface. Utilizing this resource would require being with immense knowledge in alchemy and manufacturing. Then there is the matter of having the armed forces, defensive emplacements, and weapons to defend such a resource. It is, after all, a literal river of the Waters of Styx. Do you know the source?”

Matthias shook his head, “No. I do know it comes from somewhere inside the Dryad's territory. Nothing outside of that. We are on fairly amicable terms with their Grove right now, so I told Alyssa to avoid flying over their territory if possible. I don’t want to spark a conflict this close to home with someone I can trade with in the future,” he explained.

“That was a very good decision. However, you should notify them immediately of what they have. Plenty of more nefarious actors and groups would simply annihilate them outright to claim such a resource,” the Fairy Queen said darkly. “Even I am… tempted to take action.”

She turned to him. “You need to turn this entire island in the sky into a fortress beyond reproach. Immediately.”

“I don’t have the resources to do that,” protested Matthias. “Nowhere near enough resources. Or people. I had planned on building out a mob army at some point while selling them individually to clients and customers. As it stands, however, my designs are more or less centered around Lizard-Kin and their greater variants. I simply don’t have the materials to create many other valuable creatures or items from the Assembler’s database.”

Mab nodded at that. “All reasonable concerns. We also cannot hire mercenaries. I am, in fact, surprised that your fairy scout has not recognized the waters for what they are. Well, perhaps not surprised as it is a well-guarded secret, but more surprised she has not said anything.”

“I compensate her well with abilities beyond what she has and anything she may need,” Matthias said with a shrug. “Her loyalty to the company and I is assured.”

“Of course, it is!” said Alyssa, dropping from the sky to hover in front of the duo. She removed the goggles from her face and perched them on her head with a smile. “The Boss man has given me everything I could ever wish for! And the fact that I can use his abilities is amazing! I can do so much stuff around the base here and it has helped me a lot while exploring!”

Mab seemed confused, “You can share your abilities, Matthias?”

“Kind of,” he partially confirmed. “One of my abilities allows me to imbue another with the authority to utilize it. It's kind of limited, and it relies on your own Power reserves, but the ability is powerful and flexible in its use.”

Alyssa giggled, “That’s for sure! I was being chased by a huge flying lion on the other side of the island. I retreated into a small grove of trees and turned myself invisible! It was a literal lifesaver!”

Matthias frowned, "Why am I just hearing about this now?"

“Ah, so the ability is invisibility with an aspect that allows it to be shared? Fascinating,” Mab said with interest, ignoring the question. But she became confused when Matthias shook his head.

“No. It’s the ability to act upon the world around you. Essentially, if you can pay the cost you can do just about anything that the System allows,” Matthias said. “Observe.”

He reached down and picked up a small rock. Tabbing his {POWER OVERWHELMING II} ability, he converted it to iron. Then he handed it to Mab who examined it in astonishment. Turning the small nugget of pure iron over in her hand multiple time, she tried to figure out how he had done it or if there was some trick involved. After several minutes, however, she was convinced that there had been no trick.

He had really turned stone to iron.

She looked up at him, “Why do you not use this ability to simple create everything you need?”

“Cost. I need NEX to fuel my abilities,” he said briskly. “In a lot of cases where I can buy it, hire someone to make it, or have it manufactured, it is far cheaper to not create it outright or to at least create it piece by piece. That’s not saying that I can’t if I had enough resources, but I have figured out that the overall cost takes into account time, materials or lack thereof, and labor.”

The Fairy Queen nodded. “Fascinating. Have you given your ability to someone with a well of Power large enough to facilitate some of these tasks? What about giving it to your Lizard-Kin? Can they combine their pools? How much have you experimented?”

Matthias gaped at her. He hadn’t thought of any of those possibilities. “If I could create a… some Mages and share my ability with them, then have them combine their Power I could finish huge projects quickly!” he said excitedly. “The possibilities!”

“This is why you need a trustworthy and more than able secretary. A confident and capable assistant that can think outside the box, give you various perspectives, and ensure you don’t waste your time on things you shouldn’t have to worry about,” said Mab. “I hope you understand now.”

He was beginning to.