Amara went over the changes from the tree's arrival for nearly thirty minutes. What she told me was beyond amazing. I had to check with the state menu but she was telling the truth. Our builders were working with an increased productivity of 50%. She confirmed that they weren't being overworked or being forced to do more. I wasn't sure how it worked on Akopia but it was like their work simply meant more now.

"Amara if I leave will the bonus go away? I mean if I go to deal the quest will the settlement lose the bonus from my governor skill?"

She shook her head. "As long as you are within the bounds of your territory it will apply. I believe you mentioned that you had unlocked the Town Governor role?" When I nodded she continued. "In that case, you could select someone with the skill to act in your stead."

"Would it be better to select you for this? Actually, can I just pick myself?" I asked while pulling up the menu. I found the spot for "Town Governor" and read the prompt.

Placing someone in this position allows the settlement to benefit from your Governance skill. They will act as your representative and will have access to some aspects of the State screen. If the person has a higher rank of the Governance skill than you do then their skill level will apply. You are able to remove this person from their position at anytime as long as you are within the boundaries of your domain.

"I will not tell you that you should select me My Lord only you are capable of knowing who to bestow such an honor on—" I held up a hand to stop her.

"You don't need to do that. Just say what's on your mind it will waste more time if we have to stand on ceremony."

She coughed and then nodded. "It would be wise to place someone that won't leave the area as well as someone you trust."

I nodded but didn't make a selection. "Based on what you said I don't need to select anyone until I leave which I won't be doing for quite sometime any way. I will probably be giving you the job though."

"I am honored My Lord. Based on the improved amount of production we are building new buildings much quicker. I assume you want the build order to continue as discussed?"

I nodded. "Get the Hall done and then Tenements our people have been out in the desert heat and cold long enough. After that, we will reassess. We may need to reassess using the matrix honestly. With the 50% boost we currently have it's not exactly an immediate concern." I shook my head to banish the distractions. "At the end of the day, I need to go through the steps. First, we need to deal with the dungeon after that I can sit down and focus on what needs to be done."

"Of course my Lord. I will make a list of all other buildings that our builders can construct."

I nodded and was about to respond when we reached the command tent and found a man waiting for us. He was about a foot shorter than me and covered in black fur. He was a panther man in light brown pants with a studded metal belt. He had a pair of sturdy metal and leather boots. He looked at me and smiled.

"So you are the Big man in charge? Allow me to formally introduce myself." He bowed with a dramatic flourish that left one arm across his stomach and one hand outstretched toward me. "I am Tyrus, The Black Shadow."

I looked at him, then at Amara, and then back at Tyrus. I wasn't sure if this man was fucking with me but I quickly decided I didn't care. I liked him. "Hello, my name is Darterrius, Darterrius Solomon Maximillian."

"I am aware. I was here for the planting of your special tree. I must admit I am beyond impressed. The distance did not do justice to your beauty." He then looked me up and down with a hunger that made me feel equal parts uncomfortable and flattered.

"Right, well according to our last conversation you wish to accompany Lord Maximillian to unlock his next power," Amara added and brought the conversation back on topic.

Tyrus purred like a cat before stepping forward. He got within a few feet of me before Sanaa let out a hiss of displeasure. "Ah, and these must be your companions. I have heard tells of their savagery and beauty. It is as your steward has said. I am a fighter and the weeks in peace have been wonderful but I need to wet my claws. If I can earn a bit of goodwill with the city's lord I would be a food to pass it up."

I chuckled and turned my attention to the second person he was waiting on. Zakia walked up twin swords at her hips and a smile on her face. "I wasn't expecting such a large group." Her gaze lingered on Tyrus for a second longer than everyone else but she didn't say anything.

"Now that everyone is here I am going to give everyone a chance to back out. The last quest was difficult and involved going into an old queen's tomb. I fought a lot of construct enemies and it was pretty dangerous. I can't promise your safety."

I waited a moment but no one complained and no one made a move to leave. I smiled and then gestured for them to follow me. I took a breath, and focused on that part of me that was connected to my land. It only took a second for me to fill the pull, once I was sure about where we were going I started speaking.

"If you are after money I can pay you a gold piece per day that the quest takes." I looked over at Tyrus who nodded. "As for gear, we will share it mostly evenly though if there are any resources those will be kept for the settlement. If you find a weapon you can use it's your unless I need to claim it. If I do I will provide you with gold in repayment."

"The offer of gold is wonderful but it seems that our small town here lacks places to spend this gold," Tyrus added.

I nodded. "That is correct. We are still getting started but that will change soon enough. I also have healing potions for each of you. I can either give them to you now or hold them for you."

Tyrus nodded and held out on his paws. I summoned two potions from my ring and handed them over. Tyrus was about to say something else when he read the prompt. "Now that is impressive. Would you be willing to tell me who created it?"

I stared at him blankly for a few seconds before shaking my head. "Tenebris and Sanaa will take care of the scouting for us. " I gestured to each of them as they took off and into the air. "Just a bit of a warning they can understand you though they can't talk to you all. I would be very careful about what you say." I smirked at them as both familiars twisted in the air above us.

Tyrus looked slightly concerned but didn't say anything more. We reached the makeshift stables a few minutes later. I was led over to Rex while Zakia mounted her lizard. Tyrus came out a short while after us on the back of an animal that looked a bit like a goat. If a goat was the size of a horse and a pair of massive curled horns. I cast lesser revelation and nodded in appreciation.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Big Horn: Level 8

The Big Horn are proud beasts that are ideal for traversing the desert. They require very little water or food. Their horns are as hard as most common metals.

"I should let you know that the Matriarch has agreed to offer her services to the town. She will help bolster your security." I raised an eyebrow but decided to just accept the offer. I had intended to speak to her before leaving but the time had passed. I made a mental note to thank her when I got back.

"Alright from here on we are working together. I expect everyone to look out for each other." With that, I urged Rex forward and we took off into the black sands. Tenebris and Sanaa streaked through the air above me.

The journey through the desert was uneventful. The few monsters we came across gave us a wide berth. Something that Tenebris was not too happy about. Fortunately, for all of us, the temptation of a nearby dungeon kept him from running off. On another surprising note, Sanaa and Tyrus were becoming somewhat friends. She couldn’t actually communicate with him, but his constant praise had her almost purring. The journey took about an hour and when we arrived, none of us was sure what we were looking at it.

The pull of the quest led us to a wall of stone and rubble. At first, I thought the quest wanted us to travel up the wall, but neither Tenebris nor Sanaa found anything when they flew up. I climbed off of Rex’s back and made my way over to the pile of stone. As soon as I got within arm’s reach, I received a prompt.

Would you like to enter the Dungeon of the Lost Witch?

Yes/No

As soon as I selected yes the pile of stone trembled before falling into dust. Once the dust cleared, we were staring at an ornate black door. The door held the image of a monster that looked startling, like Medusa from myth. Only with two of her hair serpents coming down to form door handles. “I guess we can just head inside.”

“It seems so, My Lord. It looks like we are going to get to do something exciting.” Tyrus added while stepping up to the door. I nodded and placed both hands on the door. With a push and the door opened. I immediately cast a Sphere of light, breaking it up into three smaller forms, and sent all three in front of us. A second later, Tenebris and Sanaa landed on my shoulders. I nodded, and we made our way inside. The air inside the tunnel was stale and hard to breathe.

“Are all dungeons this unpleasant?” Zakia asked.

“So far yeah, granted, the tomb was also very beautiful. There were also a lot of very interesting things to find. Oh, and there were a lot more interesting monsters.”

“I have a couple of questions about what it is like being a Suzerain if you do not mind answering them?” Tyrus added from behind me, and I hesitated to acknowledge him. I still had no idea what knowledge was useful and what wasn’t.

“You may ask, but I make no promise that I will answer.”

“Ah, but of course I wouldn’t want to impose upon your kindness. I had heard that you had a vivid tattoo on your back, but now that I have seen you in person, I have yet to see such a thing?”

I raised an eyebrow in confusion before laughing. “I do have one. I can hide it when necessary. It is a smaller version of what’s on the Great Wall.”

“Oh? Now that sounds interesting. You will have to show me.”

I chuckled at that but decided to leave the comment lingering in the air. Part of me wondered if he was flirting with me because of the boost in my Charisma or if it was because I was lord of my lands. Either way, it was fun.

“Master,” Sanaa’s voice cut through the distraction and brought me back to what we were doing. She leaped from my shoulders and flew up to the mound on the ground. It took me a second to realize the mound was a corpse or rather a skeleton. The skeleton was in leather armor that was mostly scrapped. Zakia knelt in front of the body and began checking it over.

“I assume that neither of you has seen this kind of armor before?” She asked while getting back to her feet. When neither of us answered, she continued. “From what I could tell, he died of a stab wound through his stomach. Based on how the body is placed, he either crawled against the wall before dying or someone placed the body here.”

“We assumed the entrance had caved in, but what if it wasn’t? What if it was buried?” I turned and measured the distance from the body to the door. “I don’t see any signs of battle here, not even dried blood.”

“Why would they do that? If this man comes from a proper force or organization, why would they leave their man here to die? Surely they would have had a potion or two.” Tyrus added while leaning against the wall.

“I suppose the only we will know is by heading deeper.” I summoned my staff from the ring and combined the balls of light.

“Sounds like fun to me, my lord.” Tyrus ran his claws against the stone as his eyes glinted with excitement.

“Sounds like we have our work set out for us. I am going to take the lead position.” Zakia declared, before drawing both of her swords. When no one questioned her, she stepped into position. We moved forward in a line with me taking the last spot. We settled into a tense silence.

A short while later, Tenebris’ mental voice broke the silence. “It is too small in here. I want to fly.” I reached up and scratched behind his wings.

“I know, but for now, we need to stay close. We don’t know what’s down here.”

“Let me hunt ahead. I can hide in the dark and attack.” I had to admit the idea made sense, but I didn’t want to risk losing my familiar. If he ran across. My thoughts were interrupted when a calming sense of reassurance spilled through our bond. It took me a second to realize the feeling was coming from both Sanaa and Tenebris.

“He can do this, Master. We are dragons, after all. What can something that needs to skulk around in the dark do to us?” I rolled my eyes at her arrogance but nodded my agreement.

“Hold on a second,” I called out before turning my focus back to Tenebris. “Go forward and scout it out. Send me a message if you find anything and every five minutes.”

Tenebris sent back his agreement before taking off. I watched him disappear into the darkness and had to remind myself that he could handle it. The problem was his health pool. I made a mental note to look into ways to boost their health pools at some point. Once five minutes had passed and Tenebris sent an all-clear, I gestured for the group to keep moving. We followed that pattern for another twenty minutes before Tenebris warned of a large underground forest. I told Tenebris to come back to me so we could approach the area together.

“Tenebris says that there is some kind of forest or garden ahead. I am calling him back, so we tackle the problem together.”

Both of them nodded and once Tenebris was back, we all pushed forward, this time in a loose triangle formation, taking advantage of the fact that I was more than a foot taller than them. When we reached the chamber, what we saw took my breath away. We entered a kind midnight garden. Instead of trees, large mushrooms and other fungus were spreading across the ground. They were all in a variety of shades of dark purple. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. I cast lesser revelation, but either the plants didn’t count as a valid target or there was nothing for the magic to reveal.

“Have either of you heard of anything like this?” I sent my question to Tenebris and Sanaa. Neither of them had any more information, so I voiced my question. My voice came out in a low whisper, as if speaking too loudly would somehow disturb the scene.

“We should keep quiet and stay close. Something about this forest makes my fur stand on end.” I could feel the hesitation in Tyrus’ voice, but he didn’t attempt to run. Something I could respect.

“It’s a pretty forest, but there isn’t anything to be especially worried about.”

I was about to question her sanity when I caught sight of the grip she had on her swords. Her hands weren’t trembling but they were gripping the handles a bit harder than normal. I took a deep breath before turning my attention back to the room.

“Tenebris, can you get to the ceiling? Let me know what you see. You to Sanaa stay close together.” They sent back their confirmation and then took it off from my shoulders. I gave them a few seconds before moving forward and into the forest. My feet slipped on the moist fungus, making me glad that I was wearing shoes and not sandals. The wet slime was a lilac color that made me feel like I was on drugs. I gestured for everyone to stop when I caught something at the edge of my hearing. I closed my eyes and focused on the sound, but it was too distant. After a few moments, I reached out to my familiars. When neither of them said anything, I tried again. My heart started pounding in my chest when I got no response. I threw my eyes open, ready to start burning everything down when I saw no one. I scanned every direction searching for Tyrus and Zakia, but I was completely alone.