Dungeon Annihilation 2 - 2

Morning everyone! I'm excited as book 6 releases on Amazon tomorrow! Going to drop a few extra Dungeon Robotic chapters tomorrow to celebrate. Other than tomorrow I plan to do a week of Dungeon Annihilation. 

Louella

The tapping of my finger echoed throughout the room as I stared at the wall. I was waiting for a messenger from Commander Yin. Apparently, the one necromancer we managed to capture had gotten away. We hadn’t even started to question her yet! To say I was pissed was like calling the sky blue.

A knock at the door drew my attention. “Enter!”

Ezal and a member of the Golden Dawn came in. While Ezal looked the same as always, cool even when she knew I wanted to beat someone, the guard was very nervous and probably for good reason. “My lady. Private Hue.”

“My lady,” Private Hue mumbled saluting.

“Well? Report,” I said waving for the man to get on with it.

“Yes. Um. Last night two men were murdered then turned into undead. Another of our number was… eaten when he went to check on the prison. The commander managed to dispatch them but we are investigating whether there are more that might have left the prison.”

“Yes. Yes. What about the prisoner?! Do you have any traces on her!?” I demanded getting more annoyed. Ninety percent of the people in the valley were adventurers or people of significant strength. They could take care of themselves against newly risen undead.

The private gulped then shook his head. “No, my lady. Our mages detected traces of dark mana near the wall, but we were unable to track it much further than the forest.”

“Damn it!” I slammed my fist on the table. I had planned to use the information that woman had on the necromancers to give me some leverage with the neighboring nobles. Not only did the dungeon eat all the other necromancers, it took care of all the undead as well. I could hardly call that my achievement. “You at least got a profile of her before she escaped, right?!”

“Yes!” We’ve already begun to make copies and place them throughout the town to warn the people as well as send them to villages and towns along the routes via hawks.

“Good. Tell Commander Yin that we will discuss better facilities next time we convene. I don’t want our prisoners think they can just walk away. I know the mages’ guild charge a pretty penny for anti-mana devices, but if it will prevent this from happening again I’m willing to pay the price.”

“I will do as you say,” the private said then with a salute started to back away.

“Wait. Tell Commander Yin to run a check on all mages that use dark mana in the valley. I know that won’t go over to well with some of the adventurers, but the circumstances don’t allow us to be nice.”

“Yes!” 

The private practically ran out the door once I finished talking. I placed my head in my hand and leaned on the desk. After yelling at the man, I felt drained. I knew he didn’t deserve it, but he ended up taking the brunt of my rage.

“Feel better?”

I glanced at Ezal then snorted. “I bet you enjoyed that?” I asked. “Louella Coates, just like her father. Takes her anger out on the commoners.”

“Well… At least you are aware.” She moved over and placed a stack of paper on my desk. I sat up and grabbed the first sheet. It was a request for land by a noble from Thonaca. I pursed my lips at the document. The language used by the person that wrote the missive made it sound like it would be an honor for me to build and supply a residence for this guy.

“I know this is weird coming from me, but do nobles have to be such asses?”

“I’m not sure you want me to comment, mistress,” Ezal replied though I did catch her covering her mouth as she hide her smile. 

“Go ahead. You’re about the only one that I trust right now.”

“I think part of the problem is how nobles are raised. While you’ve turned out relatively well off, many would take the path of their parents. Stuck up and believing the world belonged to them.”

“I won’t argue that. My dear old father certainly like to believe he was better than even the king’s laws.” I sighed and turned to look out the window. The town was growing quickly around us and I was worried that with each passing day those types of elements will find their way into the town.

I gave Commander Yin a lot of crap, but she was doing an amazing job keeping crime down in not just the town, but the surrounding area. If not for her, I fear we would have a much bigger crime problem with all the adventurers coming to the town. 

Glancing back at the stack, it was several centimeters tall. I turned a questioning look to Ezal. “Yep. They’re all property missives. If we accepted even a quarter of them, we would soon be out of valley to grow the town. I have already taken the liberty of rejecting many of the ones I know you would be against. I think there are maybe ten at the top that you should consider.”

“You are a blessing!” I said grabbing her hand and squeezing it. I really didn’t know what I would do without her. 

“About my pay…” I laughed and she soon joined me. We laughed until we both had tears in our eyes. 

~~

“No, no, no.” Jacqueline admonished me while shaking her head. “While lightning flows through metal like water through a pipe, it is seeking the spot that is its mirror. You might be able to force it through your enemies with enough mana, but that doesn’t change this fact.”

“Does this have anything to do with the fact that my lightning tends to arc towards the ground?” When I practiced against dummies and whatnot, unless they were wearing metal armor, the magic would always veer toward the ground.

“Yes! I am glad you noticed that!” Jacqueline said clapping her hands then pulling a drag from her pipe. “We are still working to understand the relationship between terra and lightning manas, but there is a call from the terra mana that seems to pull the lightning toward itself. We think it has something to do with metal being of the terra family, but alas it still escapes us.”

“I see. How does this help me exactly?”

“It may help you very little, or it might be the thing that helps your breakthrough to tier three. That’s the way of the universe after all. Knowing more about your element is never a bad thing.”

“That is a good point.”

“I think that will be all for our practice today.”

“Thank you as always, Master Jacqueline.” I said bobbing my head to her.

She was about to reach the door when she hesitated. “Actually. I have one more thing I would like to discuss.”

I paused as I grabbed my tea cup. “What would that be?”

“I’m not sure if your little Commander has reported this to you yet, but the dark magic that was used when the necromancer escaped. It dealt with the shadow realm.”

“The shadow realm?” As probably the most powerful person in the valley, Jacqueline would know what she was talking about. Even in my time at the academy, short however it might have been, I hadn’t heard about this realm.

“Yes. A very… dangerous place. People that play with that realm are usually as if not more dangerous than the things you can find inside its twisted mirrored image world.”

“I think I understand. We will be careful.”

“I would recommend warding the town, certainly the buildings that serve as important arteries to the livelihood of the people here.”

“I’m guessing you could do this for me?” I asked taking a sip of my tea.

“I can.”

“If you would put together a recommendation, I will see if the town can afford it.”

“You got it.” Jacqueline cupped her cheek and sighed. “If only the dungeon would turn more of a profit. We’re going to stop getting adventurers soon.”

With that, Jacqueline turned and made her way out of the sitting room. I leaned back staring at the ceiling before a bout of hot rage took over. I threw the teacup at the wall where it smashed into pieces. “Why does everyone have to take advantage of me!?” I kicked the table, putting a decent size dent in the wood.

“Mistress! Are you alright!?” Ezal shouted as she rushed in the room. “I heard a loud noise.”

I glared at her before I managed to take a deep breath and calm myself. “Sorry. The last few days have been rougher than I thought.”

She nodded before she smiled. “How about we head into the dungeon tomorrow? Blow off some steam by killing a few goblins.” 

I tightened my hand into a fist until my knuckles turned white. Part of me didn’t mind the idea of punching something until it stopped moving. “Alright. Sounds like a plan to me.”

“We only have a week until the tournament. Best get some private time in before all the vultures start to show up.”

I dropped back down onto the couch. “What do you think the turn out will be?”

“Normally, I would say a few dozen. Even with a new dungeon as a draw, its kill ratio is much too high. That said, you have the dream boat of Marquis Valamar here. More than a few will be coming just to try and win his favor.”

“Make sure we tax each and every one of them. I’m done giving handouts.”

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