The crowd turned and erupted in applause. I strolled as casually as possible and entered the castle followed by the dwarves I’d saved from the cage. While most of them were hellfire dwarves, a regular one stood out.
“Gordon?” I asked.
He gaped at me. “It’s Gordonious, and do I know you?”
I chuckled. “I know your siblings. They’ve been looking for you.”
“Clearly not hard enough,” he groaned. “Left me to rot down there for years.”
“Down here?” I asked.
“No!” he bellowed. “In the claws of that vile beast. Father knew I set off to establish diplomatic relations with the underworld. He should have sent a search party.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know what he sent. I just met him recently.”
“Greetings,” the king boomed when we entered the throne room. “I knew I was right to place my faith in you.”
I rolled my eyes, almost positive the king would have issued the quest to the first adventurer to set foot in Under Drunder. He might have even offered it to anyone who came after. There was no way to be certain.
“So,” the king continued, not waiting for my response. “I promised you treasure, didn’t I?”
“Two treasures,” I corrected him.
The king’s laugh echoed through the grand hall. “So it is. Tell me, Lad. Is there any chance I can persuade you to take my eldest daughter’s hand in marriage? It would come with a nobility in the lower kingdom.”
“Dad!” a female hellfire dwarf with blonde hair gasped from the audience beside me. I hadn’t been paying them much attention up to that point.
“You’re the princess?” I asked, realizing I was probably surrounded by the royal family.
She glared at me. “Unfortunately. As you can see, Dad likes to offer me up like some prize to everyone he thinks will make the kingdom stronger.”
“You aren’t the prize, my dear,” the king blurted out. “The throne is.”
Suddenly, and without warning, a female dwarf just a bit larger than the king stormed into the room and marched right up to the king, socking him in the face.
“Dear,” she said in a silky voice in stark contrast to the violence she’d just committed. “What did we say about treating your children like chess pieces?”
The king rubbed his nose which had a steady stream of blood flowing from it. “Sorry, my queen. I just thought that-”
She held up a finger to his face, covering his mouth. “What you thought is irrelevant. Give this young man his reward and let your daughter marry who she wants.”
“Thanks, Mom,” the princess mumbled, still looking like she wanted to be anywhere else.
The queen walked over and patted her on the head. “My pleasure, Dear. Why don’t you show this young hero to the treasury? I believe three treasures ought to make up for my husband’s slight.”
“Three?” the king asked, sounding defeated.
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“That was awkward,” the princess said in a dull tone once we were out of earshot. “He tries this every time. I think he wishes I were a boy.”
“What difference would that make?” I asked.
She sighed. “Then maybe he wouldn’t try setting me up with every creepy male that enters the kingdom. First, it was dwarves, then elves, and now you. Part of me is tempted to pick someone and elope so he’ll stop.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” I tried to console her. “It looks like your mom won’t let him get away with it.”
“She’s worse,” the princess scowled. “Mom doesn’t let a day go by where she doesn’t say something. She says it’s my choice but she wants me to choose soon. You see, once I get married, I can take over and they can retire. She has it all planned out. She even picked a castle.”
“Sounds harsh,” I said, wondering if she would be mad if I patted her on the shoulder. “Do you want to be queen?”
The princess stopped in her tracks. “You know, nobody ever asked me that. I guess I don’t mind taking the throne. I just hate this whole marriage thing.”
“Then why don’t you just ascend and not get married?” I suggested.
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Her mouth fell open, and it took her a few seconds to reply. “Can I do that?”
“I don’t know,” I laughed. “If they just want to retire I don’t see why they’d stop you.”
We walked in silence after that. The princess was lost in thought. I admired the paintings of various hellfire dwarves in battle armor and regal attire that lined the halls of the castle. The princess paid none of it any attention, obviously raised there. Servants gave us a wide berth. Those who couldn’t get out of the way stood to the side and bowed until we passed. The princess didn’t acknowledge their existence.
When we got to the treasury, she nodded to a pair of guards who opened the door for us. Inside were hundreds of pedestals lining the walls, each one housing lavish items. I walked down the row, not impressed with most which had little more than monetary value. Another room was filled with weapons and armor. Again, I wasn’t impressed as everything looked like it was designed for looks and not practical. Even the stats were rather lackluster for national treasures.
I was about to give up and take some generic armor to sell when a sign on a door caught my eye.
Oddities.
“What’s in there?” I asked.
The princess followed my gaze. “Stuff Dad collects. Don’t bother with it. It’s junk.”
Her comment reminded me of One Man’s shop in Drunder, so I ignored the princess and opened the door. Almost everything I saw caught my eye. I stopped at the first pedestal.
Lava Proof Armor
Rare Item
Stats: Defense: +10, Sta: +5
Special: Lava Nullification
Level to equip: 25
“Does this really work?” I asked. “Can I swim in lava?”
The princess rolled her eyes. “Well, yes, but also no.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Do you know what lava does to oxygen tanks?” she asked. “We couldn’t come up with a system that didn’t explode. That’s why it’s in here and not in production. You can go for a nice swim but nothing more.”
“I’ll take it!” I said, slipping it into my inventory.
Some people don’t need to breathe! I thought with an inward grin.
There were several other armor sets, all full-body suits. Elemental ones like cold and electricity looked like solid options but I wasn’t sure they suited what I was trying to do. Other sets gave bonuses to skills like mining and scavenging. Again, they weren’t skills I was trying to cultivate.
Moving on from the armor, I came across a table with various rings. All of them gave a combination of stats and skills. One in particular caught my eye.
Ring of the Negotiator
Rare Item
Stats: Cha: +20
Special: Do Over
Level to equip: 25
“How does this work?” I asked, curious what the ‘do over’ rules were in the virtual world.
The princess frowned. “Are you drawn to cursed items? This one was banned because it spreads mass amnesia when used. Even the wearer doesn’t recall what it does.”
“Can I try it?” I asked.
She sighed. “Suit yourself.”
I slipped the ring on and said, “May I have a fourth item?”
She shook her head. “No! Mom already increased your reward. Don’t be greedy.”
“Do over!” I cried out, forcing mana into the ring.
“Suit yourself,” she repeated.
“Hmm,” I grinned.
“What?” she asked.
“May I have a fourth item?” I asked again.
She shook her head once again. “No! Mom already increased your reward. Don’t be greedy.”
“Hmm,” I scratched my chin. “I guess I can’t do the same thing twice.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked. “Did you use the ring?”
I nodded. “I think I know how this works. I’ll take it.”
“Fine,” the said, waving me off. “Now hurry up and choose your last item.”
That last item was a lot more difficult than the first two. Nothing stood out. In the end, I decided to upgrade one of my pieces of armor.
Lava Walker Boots
Uncommon Item
Stats: Defense: +10
Special: Lava Walker
Level to equip: 25
“Can I really walk on Lava?” I asked.
She nodded. “With those boots, you can safely walk on lava. They won’t melt and also employ magic that protects the rest of you from residual heat. Just be careful not to stumble. They do not protect you from immersion as the armor you chose does.”
“Understood,” I replied. Fortunately, tripping in-game only occurred when encountering traps or very specific obstacles. “I’ll take it.”
“Excellent,” she beamed, taking my hand and tugging me toward the exit.
One thing bothered me. “Hey, Princess…why are all of the items in here level twenty-five?”
She looked at the racks of armor as we passed. “I’m not sure what you mean. Levels are an adventurer thing. We don’t have them.”
“Oh,” I muttered, wondering if NPCs saw stats at all.
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“Ah, the lovebirds have returned,” the queen gushed when she saw us.
“Mom!” the princess growled, tugging me toward the exit.
I was done there anyway. Once we were out of earshot, I whispered. “Can you tell me about the off-limit areas I now have access to?”
She shrugged. “I have no clue what Dad meant by that. I suppose you can go anywhere, not that there’s much to see.”
“Can I go back to the treasury?” I asked.
She shot me a smirk. “Sure, but only in the company of guards. Theft is still a crime.”
“What about libraries?” I asked. “Is there a restricted section?”
The princess laughed. “Yes, but it’s probably not what you think. The library is that plain-looking building between the castle and the church.”
I remembered it. While the castle was the fanciest building in Under Drunder, the church was a lavish building with tall steeples with colorful stained class. The library must have been the smaller building sandwiched in between.
“I guess that’s a good place to start,” I said, before remembering. “By the way, is there a Card Battle shop here in town?”
She shook her head. “Not exactly. You can’t buy cards but you can challenge anyone to a match and win cards through victory if you’re any good. We all love a good battle.”
“Good to know,” I said, though I had little interest in playing the card game.
Still, the Card Battler class was becoming more and more interesting. I was tempted to visit Anna and look into swapping out one of my classes. The question was, which? I was pretty attached to both of them.
The princess left me at the gate and I made my way to the library. It was a quaint building with walls of books as far as the eye could see. A wizened bald hellfire dwarf with a whispy silver beard sat at a desk stamping return dates on the jackets of books.
“Welcome,” he said, looking up. “Let me know if you need help finding anything.”
“Can you show me to the restricted section?” I asked eagerly, coming to a stop at his desk.
He frowned. “Is there something specific you’re looking for?”
“I’ll know it when I see it,” I replied.
“Very well,” he sighed, struggling to his feet with the help of a cane with a tiny wooden book etched into the handle. “Please follow me.”