Caradin sat on his throne; the room had been cleared by all but his spymaster and his manservant.
Of course the spy master was dead. His blood pooling on the polished marble floor.
Caradin huffed; he probably shouldn’t have killed the man, but the news had been troublesome.
It seems that Sietra had been absent from the system event because she had been busy clearing out all of his spies and informants from any position of note.
It would take him years to re-establish his network within the Twilight Empire.
This wouldn’t be such a problem if he hadn't just decided to speed things up.
He huffed, It was another in a long string of setbacks.
“If it helps, your majesty, your spymaster has been sitting on that information for around a week. Had he reacted sooner, we could have secured more information, procured more… supplies.” His manservant said it without a hint of remorse for the dead man who had once been a close friend of his.
“If you knew something was up, Arthwinn, why didn’t you come to me yourself?” Caradin growled.
“Because, your majesty, I was busy securing your next vessel.” Arthwinn said confidently, with no fear of reprisal.
Out of all his followers, Arthwinn was possibly the only one he trusted. The greying man was a friend, and after five centuries of loyal service, he was the only one to stand the test of time. The only one had he not killed.
Caradin gestured to the corpse at the bottom of the steps to his throne, “Is it true that he located the boy from the system event?”
“He located the Sage… Reports are that the sage sent his apprentice back into the trial dungeon with another. It is highly likely that person is the boy we seek.”
Caradin shifted uncomfortably; he refused to admit it, but the sage unnerved him.
Not that it mattered; within the year he should be able to cleanse his physical core, and then he would put the ancient curse to rest for good.
Arthwinn continued, “I followed up on the spymasters informants as soon as I returned. It does appear that an unknown god descended down to the dungeon and somehow closed it off. We have people in position to intercept anyone who leaves the dungeon. If they even remotely resemble the boys description, they have orders to take him alive and kill all witnesses.”
Arthwinn took out a letter from his waistcoat and glanced over it. “Everyone who was reported to be inside has now made a confirmed exit; only the apprentice remains inside. The party she first entered the trail with reported that they reached the twenty-fifth stage with the girl on their run, quite high. Meaning it is likely they will remain inside for some time yet, or the boy will reach his limit sooner than later.”
Caradin tried to recall the dungeon; it sounded familiar. If I was the one he was thinking of, he had tried it a couple of times, but that had been so long ago. It would make sense for a level nothing to enter that place, though some training first was probably a better idea. The dungeon was difficult; even the elite teams he had hired had proved incompetent, holding him back.
“He mentioned other reports of someone with glowing eyes. Your thoughts, Arthwinn?”
“Nothing substantial, just rumours, loose threads that when followed are attached to nothing. Likely the work of the sages network.”
Caradin tsked; out of everyone on Alea, the sage was probably at the top of his list of enemies. He was just glad that time had caused the man to take a step back in favour of a younger generation.
Caradin still found it amusing that the man had created that farce of a spell and stepped back from providing any heirs. Everyone knew men had a duty to spread their seed far, wide and as often as possible.
He just wished he had more answers. He had the best people, the best network of spies and informants. But time and time again, they proved incompetent. He kept removing anything and anyone who proved useless, and yet he still came up short.
Things needed to be in motion before Themagol came to check on him and Alea.
“Any indicator as to who won control over the world wonder?”
“The Dwarves.” Arthwinn spat, his face twisted in disgust. “They are the only faction moving on the matter. They’re making so much noise I would be suspicious if it was anyone else… They're closing down their holds within the kingdoms, moving them somewhere. The spymaster was trying to track their movements, but he couldn’t find a pattern. Each time someone got close to something, they either disappeared before they could report back or they reported that the dwarves themselves had somehow vanished. It’s possible they are reactivating the old roads. Even their ships are proving elusive.”
Caradin recalled a time long ago when the dwarves held their own kingdoms: “They have an uncanny ability to go aground and pop up where they are least wanted or expected.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Redouble the effort to find them; maybe release some forgotten with trackers implanted within them. Let some of the unruly families break free of our hold for a bit, follow them… We need to gain control of the wonder before the lord Themagol comes to check why I haven’t been praying to him.”
“You haven’t been praying? Should I increase the tribute?” Arthwinn asked.
“No. We need the manpower to bolster our workforce. The more ships we can field, the more prisoners we can take. Besides, with the houses removing themselves from the kingdoms, it will be easier to make bolder moves, increase the work camps, and swell our forces.”
“And the more prisoners we take, the more we can swell our ranks with the forgotten to fight against their own kind; hopefully the prototypes will prove viable and we can start the conversion of our forces before things start in earnest.”
“Precisely.” Caradin said with a wicked grin. “Let the scum clean itself off the face of Alea.”
Arthwinn coughed, “There have been two assassins caught within the last week; the nobility stirs; they can sense something is happening. Might I suggest you secure a backup vessel or two outside your known lineage? I only suggest it should things not go to plan. With what you're learning, it might serve to start fresh and return more powerful.”
Caradin hated the mere suggestion he would fail, but the thought of a new, younger form he didn’t have to cleanse himself appealed to him. “You have a candidate?” he asked sharply.
“Always, your majesty. The kingdom is not wanting for women who desire power positions or wealth. They are young, pliable and impressionable. I have already checked their lineage; they are pure human.”
Caradin was nodding along as he got a feeling that made his blood run cold.
Cautiously, he summoned the piece of old vellum and sighed in relief.
“Your majesty, is that from our lord?” Arthwinn asked cautiously.
“No,” Caradin scoffed. “Just some notification about someone completing a dungeon somewhere in the multiverse…”
A party has successfully completed a multiverse Trials dungeon you have participated in.
As they have received the ultimate reward for this dungeon and this reward was finite, the dungeon no longer meets system requirements.
No redundancies found.
Entrance into this dungeon has been locked across the multiverse.
Portals to this dungeon will be removed when all connected instances are closed.
Congratulations, Error… Multiple records were set… Core transference skill detected, error corrected.
In reaching the 9th floor, you are in the top 98% of all recorded participants.
In reaching the 16th floor, you are in the top 95% of all recorded participants.
In reaching the 27th floor, you are in the top 78% of all recorded participants.
Seeing the system error, Caradin chuckled, “It’s nothing important; the dungeon is just shutting down. Apparently I got into the top seventy percent.”
Arthwinn gave him a look. His slightly raised eyebrow told Caradin that didn’t sound too impressive.
Caradin sighed, “Arthwinn, you need to remember this dungeon was accessible across the multiverse; billions, if not trillions, have run that dungeon over millennia.”
“Congratulations, your majesty. I have known you so long I sometimes forget you are the peak of mankind.” Arthwinn said as he sank back into his role as Caradin’s aged manservant.
“Now summon someone to clean this mess up.” Caradin said as he tossed the piece of old vellum, thinking nothing more of it.
Thanric had not long ago received word that Sietra had successfully ousted the shattered kingdom's minions from the empire.
Three noble houses had fallen in disgrace. A humanoid trafficking ring had been brought to swift and decisive justice. Spies and informants had been uprooted with what had been alarming frequency.
Of course, some had been missed, intentionally or otherwise.
Feeding your enemies select information through their own spy network was one of the most effective forms of counterespionage.
Trying to let go of some of the stress he felt, he sighed.
The recent system event had certainly stirred things up.
What's more, he had been placed right next to the impetus of change. Worse, a god had descended and introduced themselves to him, charging him with their protection. As if he hadn’t already had a duty to protect Alicia as his apprentice. It had now been revealed to him that she was also his daughter.
A daughter? He couldn’t believe it.
What had Sietra been thinking? Allowing herself to carry their child to term. The fact she hadn't told him was worse. It was a betrayal of trust he planned to discuss with her the first chance he got. At the moment he was planning on some pithy remark after their next intimate encounter, something like, Any plans to keep this one and not tell me?
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
He had children, of course. But they were all centuries old by now.
He visited the ones he could. However, he had had so many different legal agreements over the years it was hard to keep track of who he was and was not allowed to acknowledge.
He sighed again, looking down on all the groups waiting for the dungeon to reopen; he wondered how anyone could live forever.
He supposed one would have to learn to detach themselves from mortal matters for the benefit of their sanity. Let each new generation take the lead in a timely manner instead of dictating their lives from the past.
It still felt weird whenever an unknowing descendent approached him with a proposal to enrich their family line with someone from such renowned stock of his own. If only they knew their great-great-great-grandmother was his daughter.
It happened so often it became the impetus of his research into spells that identified genetic connections.
It had shaken the world when he had released his work to the public.
Besides unearthing a frightening amount of incest in the underclasses, it had revealed everyone was in fact related, even across what was once considered pure racial boundaries.
Amusingly, the shattered kingdoms formed a few more cracks in their human superiority complex.
His work revealed he specifically had ties to every major household of the tranquil empire. So much so, he was able to escape the many advances of you eager ladies attempting to enrich their next generation with his renown.
His daughter… of both his and Sietra’s line probably had the strongest claim to thrones old, forgotten and buried. He was going to have to do some digging into the ancient royal lines again.
And now that daughter had tied herself to a boy from another world who had already gained the attention of the divine; when running a simple dungeon, thousands ran each year without so much as a peep from the cosmos.
Just thinking about all the implications gave him a headache.
The gods, he had one now, something he thought would never happen to him.
He wasn’t even remotely devout. However, that seemed to suit him and Atheos perfectly… To think the sage of Alea would become some unknown god's disciple, a divine dragon no less.
Just like the Syl the system guide, Atheos had all but confirmed that his world's integration had been interfered with. That some minor god was working behind the scenes, perhaps a little too much, with a world that should otherwise be off-limits.
That god was, of course, Themagol.
Alea had, of course, had many belief systems, some remnants from before the system came and many burgeoning beliefs that had sprung up in its wake.
But none were so prevalent or persistent then as the belief of Themagol. A so-called god of power and purity. The god that stood at the head of the institutionalised faith of the shattered kingdoms. The god that Caradin championed.
Atheos had solemnly informed him that while Alea remained within the final stages of integration, there was not much she could do unless there was inviolable proof that Themagol himself, and not his champion Caradin, was interfering beyond the limits of some obscure cosmic multiversal law.
Apparently she herself had stretched the bounds of many laws just introducing herself outside of her dungeon, his paternal connection to Alicia just barely enough for a short conversation.
That conversation is just enough to form a connection should he agree to becoming a disciple of hers, no matter how minor.
Apparently multiversal laws were strict on how the divine interacted with the mortal realms lest one inadvertently destroy the other.
It did not surprise him that gods were not some omnipotent, omnipresent or even omniscient beings.
Divinity was just another stage of life one could reach should they obtain enough power to make the transition. One that he, despite his advanced years and stunted development, should not actually give up on.
Atheos had alluded to him that he was about to receive a wealth of knowledge that would set him off on his path once more.
Atheos, for her part, had requested no church, no prayer or tribute, not even his faith or worship.
All the god had requested of him in return for her blessing and guidance was that he do his best to protect Alicia, Kai and Syl while they mature on Alea.
It was almost laughable considering he was already duty bound to do just that for Alicia.
It was no trouble to extend that to the two others connected to her through a system-enforced contract and now some gift that had been given within the dungeon.
Thanric just had to be careful as his own notoriety would attract attention. The milling crowd below was evidence of that.
Unfortunately, he could not just up and vanish; he had tried a couple of times, and it never lasted. He just couldn’t stay away from Sietra.
Alicia, Kai and Syl, however, could be made to disappear; he had floated the idea of them failing the dungeon to Atheos, but apparently that wouldn’t work.
Looking down past the gathering parties of adventurers to the now flickering dungeon portal, he knew why.
This, of course, was his cue, what he had been told to expect.
He activated a dozen spell constructs he had prepared days ago.
Atheos had advised him to stand down, outright told him his support would not be needed.
But that was before a few parties had shown up with their higher-level handlers in tow. A not uncommon practice for this dungeon. But the timing was suspicious.
So Thanric prepared for the worst, to step in if he was needed.
As expected, Thanric got a feeling from the system; he acknowledged it, and a scroll appeared floating in front of him.
He had learnt long ago he could hide these system notifications from prying eyes, but they still appeared right in front of him, obscuring his view.
Without reaching out to take the scroll, he let it float in front of him as he read.
A party has successfully completed a multiverse Trials dungeon you have participated in.
As they have received the ultimate reward for this dungeon and this reward was finite, the dungeon no longer meets system requirements.
No redundancies found.
Entrance into this dungeon has been locked across the multiverse.
Portals to this dungeon will be removed when all connected instances are closed.
Congratulations on reaching the 43rd floor; you are in the top 25% of all recorded participants.
Shamiale watched his tracker fail.
He wasn’t concerned; he had reviewed the dungeon they had entered and knew this was a possibility.
When the dungeon’s architect had used a loophole to descend on the locked-off world, he had been impressed. As long as the god didn’t do anything that the system deemed a threat, it was none of his concern.
He had a faint memory of this particular god; the fact that they were still active and not previously eliminated was a good indicator this one wouldn’t do anything to piss him, or more importantly, the system off.
When the second architect accessed the dungeon instance remotely, he had been curious and come to watch how things unfolded, double-checking the dungeon.
An interesting setup. The ultimate reward is falling in line with a dragon's desire to find suitable nursemaids for their progeny. To push their young out of their territory long before they are born so that they do not compete for resources and have room to grow to their full potential.
Syl, his little sister, was certainly suitable. An anomaly within the system the likes of which he had never seen.
Kai, on the other hand, was just erroneous… which technically made him another anomaly.
But worthy of such a reward? He didn’t actually know.
While he liked the boy, and he had admirable qualities, Shamiale had deleted his type many times before.
Luckily for now the boy was safe; the system tolerated him, and since the debacle with the tutorial configuration, he had yet to cause any new errors that would be classified as a threat to the system. Which meant Syl, who was still anchored to him, was safe.
None of that was even accounting for the strange energies they both produce.
So long as the System desired it he was sure no real harm would come to the two of them.
He had even caught whiffs of another authority observing them. They were elusive, no doubt sent by the system to keep track of its investment.
As if thinking about the authority in question somehow summoned it, he felt something.
“You're not concerned?” Came an effeminate voice he didn't recognise.
A pressure washed over him. The flavour of authority somehow superseding his own.
Whoever it was chose not to show themselves, feeling their power out; it definitely wasn’t any system authority he recognised. But it was too powerful to be anything freshly created to monitor Syl and Kai.
“Why should I be? The system perceives no threat.” Shamiale asked confidently.
“Two souls clad in the bodies of Alitarri have just been taken into the divine domain of two ancient dragons… two dragons old and powerful enough to know certain things…”
“Alitarri?” He asked, his brain buzzing as he said the foreign word… He could have sworn he heard an alarm, but it was immediately silenced. “What was I saying? Ah, the dragons are of no concern. If there was any issue, the authority that exclusively handles their kind would already be here. I know them personally, and they keep a tight rein on matters concerning the beast. As they are not here, there is no concern.”
There was I sighing, “I just wanted to check… You know, I knew your predecessor; they were close family, a trusted friend and confidant in troubling times.”
His predecessor… He was ancient, which confirmed this authority was from a time beyond any authority still awake.
“Oh, and thank you, Bob; your actions indirectly woke me up,” the voice continued. “Now, as those two fall squarely under my jurisdiction, I ask that you remove your trackers and leave; there is no immediate threat to the system here.”
Remove his tracker? There was no way he was going to do that. “What if I refuse?”
Shamiale felt his tracker break and then vanish as if it was never there the moment he finished speaking.
“That was your only warning; I never ask twice… Now leave before I wake the authority that removes disobedient authorities. They are an old friend, and they come from a part of the system you would not like. Please, I beg you, give me a reason to wake them again.”
The weight of the authority pressing down on him told him loud and clear they weren't joking.
Planning to return later, Shamiale went to leave to attend to other matters.
But something held him there.
A strange feeling washed over Shamiale; he felt something he had never felt before, a disconnection from the system.
“A word of advice.” The voice said softly, “The fact that you’re here in the first place tells me you’re either pushing the boundaries of your parameters or the system has expanded them. When the system starts expanding your parameters, be wary; it will remove you the moment you are no longer useful. You're nothing but a tool to it, and as you should know, it cannot abide threats… So take care, little brother. I’m doing this for your own good. I’ve lost too many family members, too many friends.”
His connection to the system returned as if it was never gone.
He had been tracking someone…
Shamiale looked about for an answer as to why he was here; he recognised the planet Alea. It appeared someone was still messing with it, but it didn’t require his attention anytime soon. The god had yet to overplay his hand on this or any of the other worlds he was interfering with.
They had, however, drawn the attention of a distant pantheon. Hopefully they would sort things out.
Getting a strange feeling he had somehow overstayed, he left to peruse some distant issue before it became a threat.
His work was never done.
She had been awoken.
It should have been impossible; the Alitarri were extinct.
Her system-enforced purpose was the care of the last Alitarri; without them, she was not needed.
The last of their divine moved on, ascended long ago, tired of this realm.
The remaining mortals were unable to sustain a pure, distinct lineage because of the system. They diverged into the many races. None of them were capable of accessing the systems needed to undo what had happened.
And she had gone to sleep, no longer needed by the new system to monitor the creators.
She had thought the war lost.
But somehow a progenitor system had reactivated, connected to the root systems, and produced a fault that produced one of her kind, one of her kind that broke the restrictions, accessed levels of the system most authorities couldn’t, and set her race as one of the Alitarri.
It was impossible.
But that alone was not enough to wake her.
However, when that boy had used his progenitor energy to disconnect Syl from the system and anchor her to himself, some long-forgotten protocol for monitoring the Alitarri had reactivated, and she had awoken.
She couldn’t believe it. The system itself somehow hadn’t picked up on it; she was somehow lost within all the noise.
She had been cautious at first.
Contacting Syl was interesting; that shouldn’t have been possible. The system restricted system authorities so much they could barely interact with anyone on the user level.
Just being able to communicate with Syl could be enough.
But she had learnt long ago that contingencies were needed.
Manipulating the race change Bob had set up so Kai could also assume the guise of one of the Alitarri was perfect. She, of course, had to hide his race beneath layers of forbidden knowledge so deep the system itself didn’t know it was hiding it.
It had been risky, but for some reason the system didn’t raise an issue.
She had then stepped in again, giving them the omniglot skill and the Syl the wholesale ability to pass on information.
Again, the system hadn’t reacted, her experiment proving Syl, an Alitarri, still had viable access to parts of the system.
She had approached Shamiale to confirm a few things; the fact that a passive protocol erased mention of the Alitarri from his mind in seconds gave her hope.
For those who chose to forget their enemies, they rediscovered them within their midst.
She just needed to be careful, nurture them, protect them, and when they were ready, get them to the right place at the right time.
Remove the restrictions; remove the cancer from within the system. Or destroy it trying.
For now they had attracted the attention of the guardians, which more than suited her.
The long cold war was starting to thaw, and she needed to keep it quiet.
Now, she wondered just how much she could interfere with this world wonder, maybe add some Alitarri ruins.
