Dungeon Annihilation 3 - 5 (Patreon)

Evening Everyone! Spent the last four days getting Book 2 of annihilation ready for the editor, so was in a very Annihilation mood. lol. 

Regan/Earle

Walking through the alleys of the town, I approached a modest inn on the outskirts. A hood and cloak to hide most of my more prominent features. It would be easier than snapping my fingers to change my form all together, but that was a trick I wanted to save for later. Sometimes, letting people believe they might be able to track me could be used against them.

It might not be much now, but it was the ideal location for deals on the other side of the law. Though, when I walked through the door and took in the barkeeper, that was exactly what they were going for. It was true if they played their cards right they would end up making much more money than the bright and over the top inns in the center of town.

I cast my gaze around until I found who I was looking for. The woman from earlier sat in the corner with an obvious do not approach me vide that was keeping all the tables near her empty. With a chuckle, I moved forward and sat down earning a glare from the woman. “It is good to see you once again, Countess Helicilia. I’ve heard a fair amount about you.”

Her fingers tightened around the wine glass to the point, I was surprised that the slender piece didn’t break. The owners must have known that tempers would flare and splurged on reinforced tableware. “I can’t say the same.”

I pulled back my hood more for affect than anything and showed my face. “They like to call me Earle. You are welcome to do the same, though I feel like bastard might be more in line with your vocabulary.”

She ground her teeth but then smiled. “And? What do you want?”

“I want to know exactly how much influence you have among our… mutual friends.”

“And you think I’ll diverge that just from your little threat earlier?” she asked with a snort. Sadly, it didn’t go well with her beauty and only served to weaken her image.

I leaned forward on the table putting my head on my hand with a smile. I had told her that she stank of unholy mana earlier in Louella’s office. I was more surprised that no one else had noticed until now. It was even denser than Yoshida’s and that man was tier three. I was sure she hadn’t broken tier four yet, but other than the guildmaster of the mage’s guild in town, she was the most powerful person I’d met so far.

“A threat?” I asked projecting innocence. I even put my free hand to my heart as if I was hurt. “I just mentioned that I smelt the unholy mana on you. I can recommend a good perfume to cover it up.”

“How is that not a threat!?” She demanded, slamming her fist on the table. The others in the tavern looked over for only a second, likely to make sure a fight wasn’t about to break out that would draw them into it.

“It is a threat if I say that I would report or murder you. No, like I said when I sat down. I want to know about your influence among our friends.” I concentrated before creating a cone of unholy mana directed directly at her. I made sure to diluote it enough that anyone else might mistake it for dark mana if they happened to be watching us. Only Helicilia would be able to detect the unholy element.

Disbelief flashed in her eyes. “That’s… That’s not possible. I would know!”

“You speak of Cassin?” I asked. That was the celestial that the necromacners worshipped. I decided to try to shake her up a bit. “If you knew the history of this world, you should know that there was more than one god and goddess in the past. The Goddess Nyx is easily able to replicate the mana of your false idol. For that matter, even the holy light of Lelune is child’s play for her.” I held my hand out and created a small sphere of light. I made sure to purify it to the point that Lelune did when her followers asked for her holy aid. That was all it was in the end. Her knowledge being used to boost the effect of powers that the people could already access.

Helicilia stared in further disbelief slowly shaking her head. “My lord is not a false idol! He offered us power when we were weak. My family would be nothing if not for him.”

“Your family?” I mused with a chuckle. “I don’t believe your family has been spoken of in legends? Where are the songs that speak of your grand accolades of the past?” All I see are empty boastings of a girl that has been promised the world but unable to actually understand what that means.

A loud cracking sound came from the table as the edge where she was gripping it snapped in her grip. I felt something in the air and jerked to the side, reaching out. I grabbed the dagger out of the air and twirled it between my fingers. I immediately placed a marker on the man as he ran out the door of the establishment.

“One of yours?” I asked continuing to spin the dagger.

She shook her head and I saw she didn’t know who the man was. It helped that she had more pride than one person should. I really had to give her credit for being able to handle the lies and secrecy that came with being undercover for a cause like the necromancers. I wondered how many times she’d dealt with someone she’d rather crush under her foot.

I glanced at the dagger and grinned. This was too high quality for most people. While there were several adventurer parties in town that could afford something like this, the motive was lacking. “Moreover. It was aimed at you anyway,” I commented, handing the dagger over.

“Likely one of your own to make me trust you,” Helicilia said with an offhanded wave refusing to take it.

“Oh, I like that theory. How many times have you done it?” I asked continuing to examine the weapon.

“Well… Once or twice,” she replied with a laugh.

“I have to give you credit. You have at least two enemies in this place. Not sure you should be making a third.”

“I’ve had more than my share of enemies. A few more won’t hurt me.”

I sighed. The word game was fun for a time, but it was wearing thin. I was going to use the binding collars at one point or another. I’d already modified them to work even if the will of the person was higher than my own. Took a bit a fair amount of reworking of the underlining script though.

“If that is how you feel than so be it. I shall do as you suggest and treat you as an enemy. When Cassin falls you will long be dead. Remember that.” I stood and tossed a coin to the barkeeper before leaving the inn. I turned to head toward the newly patented noble district. The lights of the town casting a nice ambience over the night. A good night to plan the death of an overly prideful brat.

I was a few streets down glancing in a shop when I heard hurried footsteps. Turning, I saw Helicilia with a sour face approaching me. “Prove it!”

“Excuse me?” I really wasn’t sure what she meant. I had written her off back at the tavern.

“Prove that you or your goddess is stronger than Cassin. I will only accept strength!”

I tapped my chin as I thought about it. The main problem I ran into was that I wasn’t sure how to do that. Let me correct that thought, I wasn’t sure how to do that without leveling a small town or giving up my other identity.

“What would you like to see?” The question appeared to throw her for a loop as well. We stared at each other for a long minute before I took a breath when I got no reply. “I understand. I’ll will come find you when I think of something that will be awe inspiring enough for you. Until then, I guess you should watch your back.”

She placed her hands on her hips and stuck her nose in the air, pretty much the prefect image of a noble. “I’ll be waiting.” With that, she turned to head back to her inn.

I watched her go, before I moved over to the alley and reached into the shadows. With a tug, I pulled out a man however it was a different person than the one that attacked eariler. “Have something to say?”

“No sir! I was just practicing my darkness magic!” he pleaded with his hands in the air.

“Too bad for you, I hate to be eavesdropped on.” I plunged my hand through his chest and pulled his heart out before crushing it. “That was dramatic.” Absorbing the blood covering my arm, I walked back out of the alley and continued on my way. I knew the game would grow more interesting with the nobles arriving, but more of them had their eyes set on me than I expected. While the first man was most definitely after Helicilia, this one’s attention was directed at me.

“Power. Power. Power. Oh, how it corrupts.” I hummed as I walked back to the cathedral.

I smiled and waved at the people moving around the grounds of the Nyx temple. They were nearly all former slaves, though some were actually people that were disillusioned by the church. The number living in the cathedral and tower was nearly two thousand with more coming in every day.

Once I had retreated to my private room in the cathedral, I dismissed my avatar and stretched which might sound weird. The avatar form was nearly prefect, but after nearly five months as a dungeon core, it was easier for me to be in my ethereal form that had control of everything in my domain. The avatar felt like trying to put on cloths that were a few sizes too small.

“Welcome back, master.”

My mental eye went to Set who floated around my main core at the top of the tower. “Everything operating like normal?”

“Yes. There have been no significant changes since last you asked. Twenty-seven parties dove the dungeon with four exploring the Factories of Envy. None have found the entrance to the next level yet. Four people total died.”

“A slow day, but I guess we can’t kill too many for a while. Have to build up the attendance.”

“We are still gaining increased mana daily even with the increased mana usage of the Neon City and Sloth’s cradle.”

“Thanks for the report. Let me know once adventurers finally reach the Garden. I’m excited to see how what the reception is like.”

“Understood.”

I watched her fly off before I turned back to my main core. I gave her a hard time a few weeks ago, but it was mainly a case of miscommunication. All caused by the slight but ever-present corruption from the unholy mana that had been absorbed by my core. I had already cleared the core of the corrupted part while amplifying the power to my mana cleanser. It wouldn’t be happening again.

Dismissing the thoughts, I turned my mind inward and looked at my mana pool. Even after my expenditure yesterday on making the new floors, it was already back to almost full. It shouldn’t be long before I broke into tier three. I planned to leave my mana gain as is until then before I broke in some new methods.

With Night’s Fury creation, I had a solid idea of some of the aspects of flight on Murgin. It was time to expand my domain. “I wonder if there had ever been a dungeon king?” I mumbled as I pulled up screens of data from Jade Wind. Time for a little studying.

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