Mason had almost expected some kind of 'druid dream' that night, but he slept like the dead. When he woke up he set up his teleportation beacon, deciding to bring the other players before he took a step inside the Hub. He didn't want any kind of nasty surprises, or for some reason getting locked in alone.

After testing the teleportation device to actually figure out if it worked (it did), how many people it could take (six), and how long the delay was (approximately twenty-four hours after a return trip), Mason and the others had come up with a plan. They'd known they wouldn't be able to actually communicate, so they'd needed an unspoken system.

Every day at about noon, the players would wait on the other side of the beacon for about three hours in case Mason was ready. None of them had known how long it would actually take him to get there, but they'd agreed to start at approximately day five.

"Even at your speed, Patron, it will certainly take longer than that," Kiaan had said, but Mason just grinned.

"Let's plan for the best case. Anyway, these lazy bastards won't mind playing cards for a few hours in the teleportation ring every day, will you?"

The players had groaned.

Then he'd had to sort out who was actually going. Yet again he'd cursed Blake, who had not only made himself unavailable, but had taken two players with him.

Not that Mason considered Annie much of a loss. He still didn't trust her, in or out of battle. But Seul-ki may have been a tempting option. Her boosts cranked Mason's Transformation and Duality of Strength up to eleven, which was a very bad thing for his tougher enemies.

Fortunately, he had other options.

And he decided this time it wasn't about trying to boost any weaker people. The Hub was too important. He needed his best. That meant Carl, Phuong, Alex, and Rebecca. Which was a very melee heavy and defensive team, but completely lacked a 'ranged' caster. With a slight grinding of teeth again at Blake, he eventually settled on Seamus.

"Aye aye, boss! Happy to go!" The annoying Irishman had grinned and puffed up like one of those fish. "Taking the A team, eh?" He'd winked, and spun his staff. "Old Seamus won't let you down."

Mason had refrained from reminding the man that he had very nearly killed him in a great tree, demanding his services for a year just to spare him.

At least the ‘fire mage’ had stopped harassing women in the settlement, probably because he'd gained some kind of girlfriend. Even when you were as annoying as Seamus, phase two hornyness and the gender numbers in Nassau gave you an almost unbeatable advantage. And that was before the elves.

Speaking of elves...saying goodbye to Naya hadn't gone particularly well. He'd gone to her house, and she lit up at seeing him, which was definitely a nice thing. But the news wiped off her smile.

"You're leaving?" she'd said with obvious panic. "For where? For how long? Will it be dangerous?"

Mason had sighed, thinking 'good lord we're not even married yet.'

"For a couple weeks, I expect. Far to the south. And pretty much everything and everywhere that isn’t here is dangerous. But I'll be fine."

"But..." Naya looked torn between hugging him and slapping him. "We're supposed to get married. And...if you were killed..."

"We'll get married as soon as I'm back. It's not that easy to kill me."

He didn't feel quite as confident as he let on, but it seemed wiser to put his future bride at ease. He had little doubt that this Central Hub challenge would be no walk in the park. But the opportunity was too great to deny...

"You have to promise me," Naya said. "As soon as you're back. We should make some arrangements before you go, maybe just a day or two to..."

"Talk to Haley," Mason said, trying not to enjoy the girl's wince. "You can work out all the details with her."

"You want me to...plan our wedding, with your...pregnant concubine?"

Mason considered correcting the word 'concubine', but at this point who even cared. He just shrugged and held her eyes.

"Yep."

The anger in his future bride's eyes reminded him he was not a particularly skilled diplomat. But since that was always going to be true, he figured his 'wife' might as well get used to it.

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She'd said a few more strained, polite words that meant 'I'm offended and angry', and Mason responded as if he was oblivious and went on his way.

All he could do was trust in Haley, which wasn't too hard to do. And when you were going off to risk death, dealing with an angry woman gained the perspective it deserved.

Leaving his other girls had been harder. They wanted him to stay for an extra night, making all kinds of bedroom promises.

"Rain check. But I'm holding you to all of that," he said, giving Rosa and Haley a good grope and a kiss.

"It's not fair," Rosa said, probably meaning 'Becky gets to go'. Mason had just sighed. "Becky will be waiting with the others. And then she's risking her life like everyone else. It's not a romantic get-away."

"I know." The dark haired beauty had pulled some vials and potions out of her invisible storage. "I've got more acid in some better vials, which will get better as I level but don’t have yet. These won't break unless you really smash them. And these are basically..healing potions. And these are little boosts to stats that everyone can take before a fight. I can make more if you need."

Mason had smiled and hugged her. "These are amazing, thank you. But give them all to Carl, he'll sort it out. I'll be traveling light as I can."

"Right. Of course."

She'd still looked awkward and not wanting him to go, but having a beautiful woman or three miserable when you left wasn't exactly a tough problem to have.

With a last word of goodbye to Haley, he'd turned for the woods with Streak and ran, for the first time without a shred of concern for Nassau behind him. If anything in that forest could deal with Streak's pack and all the players behind those walls, frankly, they kind of deserved to.

But that was many days and miles away, and now it was time to bring his team.

It would leave Nassau a little vulnerable, and he hoped Phuong and Carl had picked someone to be in charge of the defence if necessary.

He also hoped that whatever this challenge was would be short, and that he'd be sending everyone back home in a day or two. But with the roboGod you just never knew.

"Here we go," he said, taking a breath as he put a finger on the button. Fortunately the device was essentially ‘innate’, with its own magical storage you could send it to, so he didn’t have to worry about breaking it in the dungeon.

As he was about to use it, he realized with a temporary spike of panic it might have limited range. But he couldn't imagine it would work like that without telling him, or that he'd be outside of said range already. Otherwise it made the damn thing useless and a waste of points...

He clicked the button. And nothing happened.

"Shit." Mason sat paralyzed, hoping there was just a delay. But a few seconds went by and still nothing happened.

Were the others not where they should be? He went back to push the button again and froze, wincing with a glance at Streak.

He pushed the on button, then clicked the teleporter again. It whirled up with arcane energy, and he took a breath of relief.

"I fucking hate technology."

* * *

Blue light flickered in five different spheres, than in the blink of an eye, all five of Mason's players flashed and stood on the desert sand.

"Christ Jesus that's amazing," Seamus said, looking around then squinting at the sun. "Shite it's a bloody desert. I'll be a fried potato in minutes."

Becky grinned and jumped into Mason's arms, but he just held her and gave her a quick peck and a squeeze. She was wearing an actual cowboy hat and her old boots, and out of everyone looked like she might slightly belong near a desert.

"Miss me?" She pulled back and grinned. Mason raised an eyebrow.

"Which one are you again?"

She opened her mouth in slightly mock but slightly not mock offense, punching him hard in the arm. Mason just grinned. He also had no idea if she knew he was supposed to marry an elf yet…but it seemed best to avoid that conversation for now…

Carl whistled as he looked at the Hub and the endless dunes around them. "OK. Maybe endless forest isn't so bad." He cracked his neck and summoned his knife just to banish it again, then rubbed a hand over his bald scalp. "How you doing, kid? Any problems with the teleporter?"

"Nope," Mason said, clearing his throat. "Worked perfectly. Also your nervous ticks are showing. We ready? Anyone need to...pee or something?"

"Oh good idea." Becky ran off behind a dune, the rest of the men all staring out at the Hub.

"Any idea what we're dealing with, Patron?" Phuong asked, and Mason shook his head.

"Only what Kiaan told us. Except..." Mason blinked as he reached out with his senses, feeling a powerful source of life from the hub. He focused until he could narrow it down to the dead tree. "There's a great tree in there. It's still alive, or...sleeping. I'm not sure, exactly, but I can sense it."

"That has to be good news," Phuong said, and Mason nodded. He turned to Seamus.

"Can you identify anything? Sense anything?"

"Way ahead of you, boss," the Irishman's eyes were glazed. "That there glass box is as bright as the damn sun with power." The man licked his lips. "Whatever it is, I think we want it. Well I want it."

Mason mostly just hoped it didn't explode.

"Anyone else? Alex, you're a 'support', do you get any kind of identify? I don't actually even know what affinity you are. I assume Arcane. Though your magic doesn't usually stink to me like theirs does."

"Wait, what? We stink?" Becky said, coming back over the dune. Mason waved a dismissive hand as the Belarussian shrugged.

"Not yet. And I am two. Arcane and Divine."

"Oh." Mason hadn't even realized ‘Divine’ was a thing. Not that he particularly cared, but he was getting the impression these things might matter more and more going forward.

He took a last long between his friends and...fellow members of his 'House'? Then realized he still hadn't chosen a 'House' benefit, and decided now was the time for every possible advantage.

He'd considered it somewhat as he'd traveled, knowing almost everything benefited some more than others. He wasn't afraid of specializing, especially with future bonuses, but he decided the easiest and 'first' bonus should be for everyone. He took the flat per cent boost to experience, and watched the bonus lock into his profile.

"Show time," he said, giving a little nod to all his players, and a scratch behind Streak's ears. "Be ready for anything."

As the imminent risk of mortal danger loomed, he did his best not to be excited. But he mostly failed.