Nathaniel stood around the central chamber of his dungeon looking at the others gathered around. Sister Rose glared at him with a pout while Barin stood there gawking at the core. Elias worriedly looked between Rose and Nathaniel, but he looked too afraid to say anything.
“I can’t believe you claimed a dungeon,” Rose snapped pointing at the core, “Don’t you realize how dangerous it is. The corruption they generate caused the Archons to leave!”
“How do you know that?” Nathaniel said genuinely.
“Because our ancient texts say so,” Rose said with a huff, “Those texts go back as far as eight thousand years.”
“But the Dark Ages ended nine thousand years ago,” Nathaniel cocked an eyebrow, “Which means there’s a thousand years between the text and the actual events.”
“Well, I was told that we used to pass these stories through speech,” Rose cleared her throat.
“And that’s the problem,” Nathaniel chuckled, “Passing stories orally can result in misunderstandings.”
“Are you saying our texts are wrong?” She gave him a dark look.
“Yes, to a degree,” Nathaniel sighed, “The problem with telling stories through speech is that you’re relying on your memory to retell it, and no matter how good your memory is there’s always a chance to miss something. Are you telling me that humans have perfect memories and never forget things?”
Rose growled but wouldn’t look at him, “No, we don’t.”
Nathaniel sighed, “Rose, I’m not saying your sacred texts are all wrong, but I do question how accurate they are,” he said leaning against the console, “I’m not from this world, so I don’t have the biases you all do. So, when I heard that your texts blame the Dark Ages on the other races and the dungeon cores, it made me curious, so I checked into it,” A projection of the dungeon core appeared in front of them, “The dungeon cores don’t corrupt anything. All they do is cycle mana through the land. This is why the land around dungeon cores are more fertile and resource nodes can respawn. They maintain the world, not corrupt it.”
Rose glared at him then sighed in defeat, “That may be true, but dungeon cores are known to draw monsters. They’re dangerous and should be avoided.”
“If it wasn’t for this core, then the village would have been destroyed,” Nathaniel sighed, “And even now, it’s because of this dungeon that the village reconstruction is going faster than expected.”
“He’s right Rose,” Barin said with a grimace, “As much as I don’t like it either, this dungeon is helping more than hurting. However,” his stern gaze pierced Nathaniel, “When were you going to tell us you are the Inventor Hero?”
“Honestly, I didn’t want to,” Nathaniel sighed, “After Lydia passed, I was going to leave without telling anyone, but then she left me that letter. I didn’t want anyone to know because I didn’t want the other heroes to find me yet.”
“Truthfully, I’m pissed that you didn’t trust us,” Barin sighed, “But I can understand. You’re a crafter, and I doubt the nobles treated you well.” Nathaniel nodded, “I’ll speak to the others. You’re too valuable to this village now, and I’ll see to it that you stay here.”
Nathaniel chuckled, “Thanks,”
----------------------------------------
Maria walked down the streets of Rumand with Ophelia and Shizuka on either side. Normally they would have taken a carriage, but sometimes it was nice to get out and walk among the normal citizens. It was one of the few times she felt like a normal person rather than a hero.
“Are you certain about this?” Shizuka said messing with the sleeves of her dress, “Shouldn’t we make an appointment first?”
“That merchant said we should stop by when we’re in Rumand,” Maria smirked as she shooed off a group of men, “Besides, if Nate is there, then you two need to give him a piece of your minds,” she let out a low growl, “It’s the least he can do after disappearing for two years.”
“But… what if he doesn’t want to come back?” Ophelia frowned playing with her hair, “I wouldn’t blame him after the way he was treated.”
Maria turned to face them with her hands on her hips, “He’s coming back,” she said with a vicious smile, “You two simply need to convince him,” she looked to Ophelia, “Let him get a good look at the girls. Remind him what he’s missed out on,” she turned to Shizuka, “And you need to be as cute as possible. Give him those big eyes that will melt his heart.” Both women blushed heavily as they started moving again.
They continued down the road until they came to the Quarmane trading house. They stepped into the lobby and a gangly looking man approached with a weaselly smile.
“How may I be of service to you fine ladies?”
“We wish to speak to whomever is in charge,” Maria smiled back, “We wish to commission some work from your best craftsman.”
The worker’s smile shifted, “I see. Please follow me, I’m sure master Quarmane can assist you with that.”
The women looked at each other confused but followed the man through the house. He led them to an office on the second floor. Porman sat behind a desk while a young man sat on the sofa smiling hungrily at a beautiful Melmarian woman. The woman was wearing lingerie that was more sensual than anything Maria had seen before, but the woman danced to show off the flattering nature of the undergarments.
“You’re right Pops,” the young man said, “We’ll make a fortune from this, and I can think of several other shops that would benefit from this lingerie.”
Porman chuckled then stood when he noticed the women, “My ladies, it is an honor to have you three visiting my humble establishment,” he gestured to the young man who stood as well, “This is my son Pomran, and this is his slave, Emary.”
Pomran took their hands and kissed, “It is a pleasure to finally meet the lovely Saint and Archmage, and lady Oracle, your beauty is beyond descriptions.”
Ophelia smiled nervously, “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well,” Shizuka nodded, but Maria stared intently at the slave.
“Does she… interest you, lady Saint?” Pomran chuckled but stopped when Maria glared at him.
“So, it is him,” Maria growled staring down at them, “Where… is… he?”
Porman sighed, “Are you sure you want to know,” he said seriously looking at Ophelia.
“He’s happy you know,” Pomran gave them a sly smile, “He has friends who care about him and… three lovely ladies who shower him with affection.”
Ophelia clutched at her chest trying to fight back the tears, “Y-yes,” she said rubbing her eyes, “I need to apologize… for not being there when he needed me.”
“He’s our friend,” Shizuka said, “He’s important to m… to us.”
Porman sighed deeply and looked to his son who nodded to him, “He’s based in a small village called Treante to the southwest. If you leave early in the morning then you should get their shortly after midday,” he looked sternly to Ophelia, “You should know, he may not leave with you.”
Ophelia nodded, “I… understand,”
Maria handed Porman a few gold coins, “Thanks for the information,”
“There’s no need for this my lady,” Porman handed the coins back, “Perhaps you’ll enjoy spending them in my new department store I’m planning to open in the capital.”
“That bastard,” Maria scowled as she stormed out.
----------------------------------------
Ophelia kneaded her hands together as the carriage rocked down the road. She tugged at the low collar of her rose collared dress. The thought of Nathaniel seeing it made her blush. Shizuka sat across from her fidgeting with the puffy sleeves of her black and gold dress. The skirt of her dress ended at the knees with black stockings covering her legs. The outfit with her braided pigtails made her look adorable.
“Calm down you two,” Maria sighed as she watched the two of them.
“That’s easy for you to say,” Shizuka snapped, “What if Nathaniel doesn’t want to come back.”
“Look at you two!” Maria smirked at them, “He would have to be insane not to come back to the two of you.”
She’s right. Ophelia sat straight which caused the other two women to stare at her chest, “Please stop,” she tried to keep herself from blushing.
“My ladies, were approaching Treante, but… it doesn’t look good.” The driver called out to them.
Ophelia gasped and pulled back the curtains. They passed a house that was destroyed with only a few walls still standing. A few villagers carried materials needed to rebuild, but Ophelia couldn’t take her eyes off the giant metal golem that carried the heavier materials. There were multiple golems moving about the village.
“Are those… robots?” Maria stared at the golems.
“I think so,” Shizuka went bright-eyed.
The carriage came to a stop, and the women stepped outside. Duncan, Shawn, Ollimier, and Veyl stepped out of the second carriage, and they also stared in awe and confusion at the robots.
“Hey!” an older, rotund man with a thick beard approached, “I don’t mean to offend, but we’ll need you to move your carriages. We need the road clear so we can move materials.”
Ophelia gestured for the drivers to move, “We’re sorry about that,” she said with a polite smile, “Do you happen to know where the headsman is?”
“That’d be me, my lady,” he said with a bow, “You may call me Barin.”
Ollimier stepped up, “Master Barin, we’re here looking for a master craftsman. Where can we find him?”
Barin sighed, “Damn, I hoped we’d have a little more time,” This caused everyone to look confused, “He’s out checking the surrounding area, but I’m certain he’ll be back soon. I’ll take you to his slaves. They can take care of you while you wait.”
They followed the headsman down the road, “Old man, what’s with these robots?” Duncan eyed a strange spider looking bot.
“They’re minions to the dungeon,” Barin said, “Light claimed it and made these robots to man it. They’re helping rebuild the village after the Horde attacked.”
“Nathaniel claimed a dungeon!” Ophelia gasped.
“The Horde attacked!” Ollimier snapped.
Barin looked over his shoulder, “Yep, and it’s because of that dungeon that he was able to fight the Horde off,” a smirk came to his lips, “If only we had heroes to fight them off.”
“If there’s something you want to say, then say it,” Duncan snapped as Veyl tried to hold onto his arm.
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“Very well,” Barin scoffed, “Nathaniel’s been an important member of our village for two years, because of him, we have a healer, and our funds have been steadily growing. We don’t want to lose him like we lost Gordon and his sons when they were at Fort Cadarn, understand.”
“I understand,” Ophelia looked at the ground.
“There are his slave, they should be able to take care of you.”
Three women stood next to a half-destroyed house. The dark elf and dragon-heart were stunning. A man would have to be a fool not to pursue them, especially if they were his slaves. The third looked like a little girl, but her feathery ears gave her away as fey. Yet it was her metal arms and legs that made her truly stand out.
“Damn, those are his slaves,” Shawn said eyeing the group, “How in the hell did he pull that off?”
“Right, I’d love to get my hands on that elf,” Duncan hungrily eyed the voluptuous beauty. Veyl hid behind her long hair.
Maria looked at the group then at Ophelia and Shizuka, “This… may be harder than I thought,”
The slaves turned to the approaching group. The dark elf and fey looked at them with distant fascination, but the dragon-heart stared daggers at them. The monster tightened her grip on her spear.
“A blue dragon-heart,” Shizuka couldn’t take her eyes off the blonde-haired monster, “Shit, look out everyone!”
They barely dodged the spear as it flew past and struck the ground behind them. The heroes drew their weapons ready to fight, but the other slaves were holding the dragon-heart back.
“Let me go!” the dragon-heart screamed as she fought against the other women, “Those damned heroes killed Mother. I’ll kill them!”
“Stop it Ralia,” the fey cried.
“You’re making the master look bad,” the dark elf snapped.
The heroes stayed ready, but they lowered their weapons a little, “She must be talking about Ysa’Meera,” Ollimier looked around, “Where’s their master?”
“I-I… there he is,” Barin pointed down the road.
Ophelia stared dumbfounded as a person in white-silver armor approached. Blue energy pulsed in veins along the armor. She had seen this person before, the thought nagged at the back of her mind. The other heroes looked to the newcomer wearily as it approached the slaves.
“Is that… power armor,” Shizuka said with a slight blush.
The knight placed a hand on the dragon-heart’s head, “Calm down Ralia,”
“But… master…” Ralia cried.
The knight petted her, “I know,” he turned to the heroes, “Put those weapons away, you’re causing a scene.” Several of the villagers looked at them scared.
“She attacked us!” Duncan pointed his sword at the knight, “Why don’t you do something about her.”
“Quit being an asshole Duncan,”
Ophelia gasped, but Shizuka spoke first, “Nathaniel… is that you?”
The helmet slid apart to reveal Nathaniel’s face, “Hey Shizuka,” he smiled, “How are those allergies?”
Ophelia fell to her knees as tears ran down her face. The guilt finally broke her, and it all came out as she cried. Nathaniel came over and gently held her, and she wrapped her arms tightly around him.
“I’m sorry,” Ophelia cried, “I’m sorry…”
“I’m sorry too,” Nathaniel rubbed her back, “I should have let you known I was alive sooner.”
“Yeah asshole,” Maria glared down at him, “Why didn’t you come back! These two were worried sick.”
Nathaniel sighed, “I was afraid,” he said, “And I didn’t want to go back to those condescending nobles,” He glanced up at Shizuka, “I’m sorry I hurt you too.”
“I-it’s fine,” Shizuka sniffled, “I’m just glad you’re alive.”
Ophelia was still crying into his shoulder, “Why don’t we take this somewhere else,” he said picking up Ophelia up. She couldn’t stop herself from blushing, cradled in his arms. Everyone followed closely with the non-human women separating Nathaniel from the others. They stepped into the damaged house, and Nathaniel set Ophelia down.
“Bella, please get some refreshments ready,” Nathaniel smiled to the dark elf, “Ralia, Hope, please set the table.” The women smiled as they disappeared.
“Damn Nathaniel, did you make that armor,” Shawn whistled appreciating Nathaniel’s new armor.
“I did,” Nathaniel chuckled, “I finished making it a few days ago, and the Horde were kind enough to help me test it.”
“So, you fought against the Horde,” Duncan scoffed with a sneer, “It’s about time you started being useful.”
“You’re right, I can be useful now,” Nathaniel smirked looking over his shoulder, “Thanks for going easy on the monster for me, but don’t you think you should take this war more seriously.”
Duncan growled, but Maria stepped up, “So… Nate, do you have my lingerie?” she smiled sweetly.
“Sorry Maria,” Nathaniel said wiping his face, “I only heard about your… order a few weeks ago. I only have a few sets ready.”
“Damn,” Maria scoffed, “Fine, I’ll take them.”
“Inventor,” Ollimier approached with a commanding stance, “We need you for the war. You are hereby expected to appear at Castle Warnmier to aid in the fight.”
“What would my role be?”
“You’ll be providing weapons for the war front,” he said taking in Nathaniel’s armor, “Including this armor you’re wearing.”
Nathaniel chuckled, “You’re not getting this armor,” he shook his head, “And as for making weapons, it’s more effective to keep me here.”
“What do you mean?” Ollimier scowled.
“I can make two, no, three time the number of weapons here than I can at Castle Warnmier,” Nathaniel sighed, “All the materials I need are here as well as my assistants.”
“You’ll have assistants at Warnmier,” Ophelia looked at him with big eyes.
Nathaniel placed a hand on her shoulder, “Guild assistants,” he said, “The Guild has done nothing but take advantage of my skills, and honestly, the weapons they would make would be inferior to my own. Here, I have the dungeon and my minions to make them.
The room fell quiet as they stared at him.
“You… truly did claim the dungeon,” Ophelia whispered.
Ollimier growled, “What level is the core?”
Nathaniel looked between both, “It’s level six,” The slaves came out carrying refreshments.
“Inventor, in the name of King Rogmier of Gilbrant, I hereby command you to relinquish your dungeon core,” Ollimier said with his hand on his sword.
Ralia growled at the prince, but Nathaniel held up a hand, “Really, I need the dungeon for the sake of the village,” he said glaring the prince. “Without it, they’ll be defenseless, and my minions are currently helping with the reconstruction. Why should I hand it to you?”
“To keep corruption from spreading, the royal family has rightful claim on all dungeons,” Ollimier said, “You are to extract the core at once and present it to his majesty.”
“Please, it’s for your safety,” Ophelia grabbed onto Nathaniel’s arm.
“His safety!” Ralia snapped pulling Nathaniel away, “What right do you have to say it’s for his safety?”
“Back off monster,” Ollimier drew his sword. Duncan drew his as well, “Inventor get your slave under control!”
Ralia hissed but stopped when Nathaniel touched her head, “That’s enough Ralia,” he sighed, “A level six core is not worth dying for.”
Ralia looked confused, “But…”
“Enough, not another word. That’s an order.” Ralia nodded and fell silent. Nathaniel turned to Ollimier, “I’ll go extract the core. I suggest the rest of you help with rebuilding. The people here don’t view the heroes fondly, so this could be a good chance to fix that. By the way, can you restore sight to the blind, Maria?”
“Yes, but only once a day,”
“Hope, take Maria to Daisy,” Nathaniel’s helmet slid into place, “Bella, Ralia, I need you to join me at the dungeon.”
“Of course, master,” Bella gave him a sad smile. Ralia nodded but didn’t say anything.
“I’ll come with you,” Ophelia rose from her seat.
“No need for that,” Nathaniel said warmly, “Besides, I think you should keep an eye on Duncan. We don’t need him having his way with any of the women, right.” A tear ran down Ophelia’s face as she nodded.
----------------------------------------
Nathaniel stepped into the central chamber of his dungeon. A chest sat next to the dungeon core.
“Did you catch all that, Seneschal?”
“Yes sir,” Seneschal said, “I have level six core ready for you.”
“Good, now dematerialize the robots save for a few drones. We need it to look like the dungeon is shut down.”
“Done, you should know that the villagers are in an uproar,”
“I don’t understand,” Ralia growled, “Why are you giving into their demands? With your armor you could easily best the heroes.”
“You’re right, but that would be shortsighted,” Nathaniel sighed turning to her, “What do you think Gilbrant’s response would be if I chose to fight them?”
Ralia shook her head, but Bella spoke, “They would come after us,” she frowned.
“Then we fight back!” Ralia snapped, “We have the dungeon, the robots, and master’s armor. We could easily defeat them.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not true lady Ralia,” Seneschal said projecting the DM menu, “We fed the monster corpses and their gear to the core which returned it to level twenty-one. However, if you notice, we can only summon two hundred-forty minion slots.”
“And?” Ralia crossed her arms glaring at the core.
“Gilbrant can muster an army of hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions,” Seneschal actually sighed, “Even with master’s armor, they would overwhelm us.”
Realization slowly came to Ralia, “And it wouldn’t just affect us,” Nathaniel rubbed her shoulder, “But everyone in the village as well,”
Ralia turned to him, and he could see the tears in her eyes, “Why do they have to keep taking from us!” she cried, grabbing his shirt, “They took Mother, and now they want to take you.”
Nathaniel lifted her head, “I’m not going anywhere,” he smiled, “Seneschal, show them projects Citadel and Iron Legion.”
Two projections appeared before them. One showed the dungeon but the mountain that it resided in was transformed. It was a multilayered fortress with housing and medical facilities, storage for years of supplies, a fully stocked armory and barracks for a future army. There were even facilities that both women were unfamiliar with such as the hanger and motor pool.
The second image showed a robot they had never seen before. Its dimensions resembled that of a human. Several images showed it holding weapons, which looked like a smaller version of the arcane rifle appeared alongside the robot.
Nathaniel hugged both women, “I want you two to know that I have plans for the future,” he said, “But right now, I can’t properly implement these plans.”
“What’s stopping you,” Bella stared at the images in awe.
“Resources,” Nathaniel scoffed, “Citadel is slowly being implemented with the growth of the core. However, my current inflow of resources going to the core will take it years for the core to get to the proper level. I need to greatly increase our income.”
“And what about this Iron Legion?” Ralia tapped her chin.
“Master hasn’t unlocked the proper DM skill to begin their implementation,” Seneschal replied.
“There must be a DM skill that allows me to create minions without taking up minion slots,” Nathaniel explained, “The Archons must have used this skill to populate the world. Otherwise, everyone would have disappeared when their dungeon cores were destroyed. The moment I unlock this skill, I’ll begin building a proper army of robots to protect us.” He looked to both, “Until then, I’ll need to work with Gilbrant, but I’m not going to let them walk all over me.”
Bella looked quizzically at the projections, “Couldn’t you ask the merchant for help?” she said, “He has some pull with the nobility, and it would be in his best interest to support you.”
“That’s a good idea,” Nathaniel chuckled, “I’ll pay Porman a visit when we stop in Rumand. Hopefully he’s still there. Can you two start getting everything ready?”
“Of course, master,” they smiled at him and headed out of the dungeon.
Nathaniel stared at the projections one last time before picking up the chest, “Wait a full day after we leave before respawning the robots,” he waved to Seneschal.
“Yes master,” Seneschal replied, “It’s good to see lady Ophelia again, isn’t it?”
“It is,” Nathaniel said with a sad smile, “But I fear I’m not the man I once was.”
“True, you’re a proper hero now.”
“I don’t know about that,” Nathaniel chuckled.
Nathaniel headed back down the trail. He hadn’t made it halfway back to the village when Barin came running up, sweating buckets. The older man held his hands on his knees as he took deep breaths.
“Your… minions… disappeared...” Barin huffed.
“I know,” Nathaniel sighed, “Prince Ollimier demanded I hand over the core to him, so I extracted it.”
Barin looked horrified, “But they were helping with reconstruction,” he gasped, “We could have been done by the end of the week!”
“I know Barin, but this is an order from the crown prince. I don’t want to cause the village any more trouble by denying him.”
Barin nodded and fell into step behind Nathaniel. They made their way back to the village in silence. A group gathered around the temple, and when they approached, they saw Elias holding Daisy tightly. Daisy looked up at them with her deep brown eyes and gave them a big smile with a small wave. Nathaniel waved back and headed over to the Prince.
Nathaniel dropped the chest at the Ollimier’s feet, “Here it is, a level six power core,”
Ollimier nodded to Shizuka, and she opened the chest. The core was about the size of a medium sized pan, and it glowed with the same blue light at the dungeon core. Shizuka held her hand to the core, her eyes shifting as she read the prompt only she could see.
“This is a level six power core,” Shizuka said closing the chest.
“Get this loaded up!” Ollimier shouted to the drivers, “As for you Inventor, gather your things. Once we get this core back to the capital, you’ll be joining us back on the front.”
“What!” The villagers gasped as they looked to the group of heroes.
“Y-you can’t take Nathaniel!” Sierra cried while blushing heavily.
“That’s right,” Barin scowled, his face turning red in anger, “He’s a valuable member. We need him here.”
Ollimier looked to the villagers, “His duty is to the kingdom as a whole,” he said coldly, “He needs to be at the front.”
“The last time you took our blacksmiths, they ended up dead!”
“It’s because of Nathaniel that we were able to survive that Horde attack!”
“Who’s going to defend us! If Nathaniel leaves, then his slaves will go with him!”
Barin stepped forward, “I humbly request, please don’t take Nathaniel. We need him here, especially now that we need to rebuild.”
Ollimier shook his head with a sad sigh, “I understand your plight Headsman, but we need him on the front more than you do. The weapons he can create could turn the tides in the war.”
“Then why couldn’t he make them here!” The villagers glared, “Some heroes you are! The only one to help is the Saint!”
“W-we’ll get the Guild to send a blacksmith over,” Ophelia said trying to calm everyone.
“The Guild wouldn’t even assign us a healer. Nathaniel had to buy one from the slave market.” The villagers were getting more riled up.
“Calm down everyone,” Nathaniel held up his hand, “I understand how you all feel, but I’m not going to let you all suffer.” Everyone quieted down.
“What are you going to do?” Sierra said with big eyes.
“I’ll do whatever I can,” Nathaniel said with a small smile, “Hopefully, I can talk my way out of going to Warnmier, and if I can’t, then I’ll do whatever I can to help Treante from the front.” This seemed to satisfy the villagers. Nathaniel turned to the others, “Give me a few hours to get out of this,” he gestured to his armor, “It shouldn’t take long to get my wagon ready.”
“Very well, we’ll leave in the morning,” Ollimier looked to Barin, “We’ll need any rooms you can provide.”
“I’m sorry, but the only rooms available are at the inn, and their already occupied with the wounded and elderly.”
Ollimier was about to protest but Maria stopped him, “We can sleep outside,” she said with a stern glare, “Headsman, please show me to the injured. I’ll do the best I can to heal them.”
“I can use my magic to help set up fires,” Shizuka raised her hands.
“I’ll go get us some food,” Shawn drew his bow and headed off into the woods.
Duncan looked around, his eyes landing on an axe, “I guess I can chop some wood.”
Barin smiled, “We thank you for your help heroes.”