Cless woke up feeling the furry arm of werewolf Silverfang wrapped around her bare torso. She felt like trash, a pang of guilt she couldn't pinpoint the source. Was she manipulating the boys of her guild like they were toys? She did offer them freedom more than once and they chose to stay with her. She pushed her back deeper into the Lycan's furry chest and gripped his arm, pulling it against herself. She caressed the always soft and spotless fur and Silverfang licked her neck, sending a wave of goosebumps along her entire body. She shuddered but didn't do anything. Instead, she asked a question that was tormenting her.

"Silverfang, are you happy?"

His other arm came behind her head, bending across her front and gently holding her stomach. He answered in wolf-speech.

She sniffled and almost cried. Did she deserve that? Cless pushed that aside.

"I have a lot to do today. Lets' get started, shall we?"

She tried to move but Silverfang didn't remove his arms. He was stronger than her but that was not the point. He was holding onto her.

"Cless. I'm not angry you recruited the vampire. Maybe I should apologize. You are not that weak to be swayed by a simple mind trick. I'm sorry I doubted you," His deep voice coming from behind her nape gave her shivers.

"You only wanted to protect me, right? There's no harm done. We also got to test Jason's resilience. There are only a few ways to truly kill him. And one of them is to betray me. It's fine." He relaxed his arm and Cless moved it. She turned around and kissed his cold wolf nose. "And I prefer living bodies."

She dressed up in work clothes and went down for breakfast. She greeted Helga.

"Good morning, guild master."

"Good morning, Helga. I'm working on expanding the house today."

Cless wanted to expand the house six meters on each side. She raised small turrets two meters in diameter at the sides of the new walls. These would be lower than the four in the center at the pillars but they would have stairs connecting all levels. She was going to put a walkway along the roof of the second floor. Using the stockpile of stone she had, Cless filled the front and back walls, the floors and moved the outer walls out to their new position.

She also thinned some inner walls, the combined resilience of the Architectural Skill and the Earth magic compressing and smoothing fractures in the stone structure more than enough for daily life. That gave her the necessary stone for finishing the expansion. Venaris was now on the same side as Cless, with a shared closed and bath in the middle. The library moved to the other side, that was split between Silverfang, Vic and two guest rooms. Downstairs they now had a dining room and a conservatory on the same side as the kitchen and two meeting rooms, a lounge and three offices.

Work was halfway done and it was near lunchtime. She was tired even without running out of mana, since she was borrowing [Spellslinger] from Vic to a 22% discount on all spell costs, Cless decided to check her status. She didn't do it after the delve.

Level 6: [Locate Hird] learned. You can sense direction and general distance to Hird members.

Level 8: [Share Skills] learned. You have one slot for D-rank Skills. Select one Skill, D-rank or lower, among the ones possessed by you or your Hird members. 24 hours later, that Skill is shared by the whole Hird.

Level 10: [Recruitment VII] learned. Your Hird size is now seven.

Level 10: [Bolster II] learned. Bolster two Hird members.

Excited, Cless checked the Skills available to assign. The day-long cooldown before the Skill comes into effect were a kind of a bother but it probably was to prevent abuses. The fact it stated D in the name must mean more choices would open up. Since this one was acquired at level eight, there might be another one at level sixteen. There was a lot of utility but she settled on Venaris [Survivor's Mettle]. The five-minutes window to heal before death was a safety blanket.

She thought about demoted the three maids from the [Knight] boost and reassigning Kate, Shad, and Jason. But there was one thing she could do before that. Peek at their Skills. Should she? Cless decided to not do it. It was an invasion of privacy. She just swapped them. Her Knighthood now had Venaris, Vic, Kurt, Silverfang, Kate, Shad, Jason, Helga, Heimdall, and one free slot. She thought about letting Hope stay but she wouldn't play favorites with the maids. Helga and Heimdall would have their seniority confirmed this way.

She didn't finish the house during the afternoon and instead decided to open one can of worms. The history book she got from the Dungeon. Cless moved to the library and sighed at the lack of furniture. She Blinked downstairs and fetched a bunch of crystal sheets. She crafted one loveseat from the crystal and covered it in furs. Sitting down, she started to read.

Take heed and bear witness to the truths that lie herein for they are the true account of the end of the world.

Ragnarok is a term that sends fear down the spine of the bravest of the warriors. The twilight of the gods and the end of the world. It was foretold and is inescapable fate. As it came to pass, I stood witness to the destruction of the worlds.

I might start by introducing myself. I was called Ragnar by my parents in the golden city of Nidavellir. A dwarf by birth and heart, I happily toiled in the great forges of King Hreidmar. I saw things of wonder and death crafted in equal measures out of outlandish metals. But there was another calling stronger than the forge. War. Prince Ótr was murdered by wretched Loki and we answered our Liege's call. To war against the aesir we went. In the fields of Ida we clashed, and for seven days dwarf fought aesir.

In the seventh day, Odin demanded parley. It was decided that Loki would pay Ótr's wergeld. I never saw what happened because I perished in the sixth day, crushed under the hooves of Tanngrisnir. Our fierce stand against gods was not without reward. Many of us were admitted into the halls of Valhalla as Einheriar. We fought, drank and whored as it was our right for millennia. And then it came to pass.

Nidhogg killed the root of Yggdrasil firmly nested in Niflheim. Jormungand erupted from the oceans of Midgard, crying for the blood of gods. Fenrir broke his chains and came to fight and kill Odin. Skol and Hati devoured Sun and Moon going for the stars as their neverending hunger demanded. We marched out of Valhalla to fight the battle of battles.

I was sent to Midgard. There we found a changed land. In the eons that passed, the nations of men grew in power but not wisdom. A poisoned land, filled by the fruits of industry and craft not unlike our dwarven lands but on the surface. Our armies of eternal warriors were met by weapons of peerless destruction. Men were no longer the weakest race of the nine realms. They flew on metal birds, rode on metal horses that spewed fire and death out of their nostrils. Not only Einheriar came to do battle. Giants of frost and stone also descended from Nalgfar led by Loki from the land of the dead and men responded with great pillars of fire that obliterated all, laying waste to their own lands before surrender. Jormungand's death throes after being slain by Thor sent massive waves, drowning entire continents.

But we trained for ages. We fought and killed in a chaotic madness where there was no longer right or wrong. And then I met my second death. A weapon of fire and light everlasting destroyed our band of Enheriar and I floated above the destroyed lands as a wayward spirit. And I could see it all as if it was my fate to bear witness to what happened. Amidst the chaos, my sight went far and wide. The wolf Garm was slain by the Aesir god Tyr and his cousin Freyr killed the fire giant King Surtr. None of the gods lived longer than their foes, mortal wounds claiming them in their moment of weakness.

Nidhogg's venom killed Yggdrasil and the great ash tree that held the realms together crumbled. The realms would regrow and live anew if the great tree stood but now they floated aimlessly in the sky. The great rainbow bridge broke, its shards falling like stars upon Midgard. Separated, the realms would crumble to nothingness. In Midgard, entire continents fell from the edge into the void.

The remaining gods, Baldr that escaped from Helheim, Modi and Magni sons of Thor and others returned to Asgard on the last portal and drove their realm to crash against Vanaheim, giving both some degree of stability. They were about to do the same to Alfenheim but King Oberon of the elves chose to side with Midgard. They wove a spell to bring their Realm closer to Midgard and in the backlash between Oberon's and Baldr's magic, Jotunheim and Myrkheim were attracted together. I witnessed the death of Oberon, his wife Titania, and several of the Aesir gods. In the lower Realms, Muspelheim and Niflheim joined on diametrical sides from Svartalfheim, morphing into a realm of fire, ice, death, and shadows. The son of Hela and Hodur ruled over these lands.

I floated around watching as the remnants of past glory were all but forgotten. More than three-fourths of Midgard were destroyed, crumbled into nothingness in the sea of the void and the rest became poisoned lands and waters. The daughter of the old sun rose after five thousand years and graced the land with her healing light. Stars were born after a long while. Very few men, elf, dwarf, and others survived, in the few pockets of land that could still bear life. They forgot their lore. They forgot their origins. They forgot their magic and technology.

My spirit floated between the Realms for ages, my fate is to witness and remember. Time eroded memories and poison alike. Without Yggdrasil, the realms stand no chance of being restored to their former glory. I pray that my words survive. You that read this book, please spread the word.

Cless closed the book after spending hours reading it. Besides the tale of Ragnarok, it had genealogies, tales, stories, legends, and epic poetry. She only had one doubt. If the author floated the world as a spirit, how the heck did Ragnar write a book? And how did said book end up in a Dungeon?

And she didn't failed to notice that the Dwarf King had the same surname as she did.

Outside, the sun was about to set. Cless set the book back in its place and went out in search of food. Tomorrow she needed to go visit the City Planner and probably take a look at the Steelhammer guildhall.

Status:

Name: Queen Cless Hreidmar of Myrkheim and Infernal Realm (in exile)

Race: Human.

Level: 110 ( 6,027,320 / 6,105,000) [Experience Threshold > level 50]

Class (tier) level (Experience):

— Dabbler (1) 25 — Beast Tamer (2) 25 — Vicar (3) 25 — Wizard Princess (4+1) 25 — Hirdmaster (5) 10 (545,000 / 621,000 Exp)

Professions — Veteran Warmaster 25 — Master Instructor 25 — Lady Thaumaturge 5 (279,323 / 315,000 Exp)

— Crafter 25 (*) — Farmer 25 (*) — Herbalist 25 (*) — Alchemist 25 (*) — Diplomat 25 (*) — Administrator 25 (*)

Base Stats — Strength: 124 [314] — Agility: 149 [378 / 668 (1) ] — Health: 171 [434]

— — — — Intellect: 311 [665] — Wisdom: 400 — Charisma: 324 — Magic: 361 [772]

(1) 668 When [Shadow Eminence] is active.

Available Status Points: 68

Skills:

S-rank: [Absolute Contract]

B-rank: [Fear Aura] — [Perfect Might] — [Succubus’ Kiss]

C-rank: [Appraise Immunity] — [Craftsmen] — [Dangersense] — [Dragon Skin] — [Earth Magic] — [Eat Anything]

— [Elven Longevity] — [Master Miner] — [Monster Wrangler] — [Perfect Accounting] — [Pyromancer]

— [Seductress' Charm] — [Shadow Eminence] — [Sharpshooter] — [Shrinking] — [Sword & Board]

— [Underdog] — [Will of the Mage]

D-Rank: [Acute Smell] — [Alchemical Tolerance] — [Alchemist] — [Architectural Ingenuity] — [Breathless]

— [Curmudgeon crafter] — [Dancer’s Grace] — [Darkness Resistance] — [Diplomat] — [Druidwalk] — [Eagle Sight]

— [Farmer] — [Gemsense] — [Giant's Stamina] — [Great Leap] — [Grounding] — [Herbalism] — [Intimidating Authority]

— [Ladykiller] — [Merchant sense] — [Metal Mender] — [Miasma Sight] — [Ore sense] — [Poison Resistance]

— [Runner's Dash] — [Sharp Mind] — [Shield Mastery] — [Singers’ Talent] — [Snakes' Flexibilty] — [Spell Resistance]

— [Sundering Magic] — [Tinker] — [Tremorsense] — [Woodworking]

E-Rank: [Air sailing] — [Boxer] — [Burrower Bond] — [Cat User] — [Chick Magnet] — [Coin Sense] — [Enhanced touch]

— [Food Conservation] — [Hearth’s warmth] — [Heavy Lifter] — [Howl] — [Lady’s Countenance] — [Pack Rat]

— [Pathfinder] — [Pickpocket] — [Seamstress Talent] — [Silk Hair] — [Splinters] — [Sword User] — [Virility]

— [Wanderlust] — [Water Sprite] — [Weavertouch]

F-rank: [Florist’s Wonder] — [Gardener’s touch] — [Inner Compass]

Techniques:

Beast Tamer: — [Beast Taming VI] — [Beast Status] — [Share Skills *]

Vicar: — [Sanctuary *]

Princess: — [Stronghold II] — [Demesne] — [Knight *]

Hirdmaster — [Recruitment VII] — [Bolster II] — [Locate Hird] — [Share Skills]

Spells (Master Instructor: +6 to all. Spells without a number are at the cap / * denotes a level 25th ultimate):

Divine: — Mending — Detoxify — Light — Turn Undead — Blessing — Holy Bolt — Purify — Protection

— — — Hallow — Flametongue — Cure — Uncurse — Banish — Heal — Warding — Revivify*

— — — Censure — Bulwark — Mass Mending — Sacred Dance — Judgement — Song of the Accord*

— — — Water Breathing — Shield of Faith

Arcane: — Detect Magic — Mage Bolt — Armor — Firebolt — Icebolt — Lightning Grasp — Shield

— — — Fireball — Resistance — Shockwave — Magic Missiles — Wind Blade — Deeppockets* — Blink*

— — — Soften — Earth Armor — Spike — Stone Shape — Earthen Maw — Earthwave — Terrakinesis — Golem*

— — — Earth to Stone — Grasping Hand — Spike Wall — Construct* — Crystal Dart — Gem Amulet

— — — Crystal Messenger — Gemcutter — Gembomb — Gemward — Crystallize *

House: — Detect Dust — Doorwatch — Prestidigitation — Never Overdone! — Touch Up — Dry — Repair

— — — Clean — Bloom — Hearth Recall*

Wiz.Princess: — ???? — ???? — ???? — ???? — ???? — ???? — ???? — ???? — ???? — ???? — ???? — ???? — 24: ????

Proficiencies (Master Instructor: +6 to all. Values under 10 hidden / {A} = Automatic Proficiency: Soft Cap +5):

Appraise: Status: 80

General: Prayer — Reading: 70

Academic: Magic Theory: 60 — Spellcraft: 60 — Architecture: {A}

Crafting (+9 Profession): Tailor: {A} — Embroidery: {A} — Knitting: {A} — Glassblowing: 85 — Mythic Blacksmithing: 4 — Carpentry: 85 — Pottery: 67

Farming, plants (+38 Profession): Foraging: 30 — Forestry: 30 — Gardening: 40

Farming, livestock (+13 Profession): Dismantling: 30

Production (+9 Profession): Mining: {A} — Weaving: {A} — Quarrying: 35

Social (+25 profession): Negotiation — Persuasion — Bluff — Flirting: {A} — Sexual Technique: {A}

— — Etiquette: {A} — Dancing: {A} — Singing: {A} — Gambling: {A}

Movement: Running: {A} — Athletics: {A} — Balance: {A} — Jumping: {A}

Martial (+18 profession): Leadership — Intimidation: 80 — Tactics

Weapon (+18 profession): Long Blades — Unarmed: 80 — Archery — Maces: 60 — Pickaxe: {A}