Rodther was bored on the platform of the central watchtower. Nero was gone for almost an hour now and he was starting to fear the minnid had bit more than he should. That couldn't be possible. He heard some humming and suddenly the Dungeon came alive with monster noises. Wolves snarling and bears groaning. The sound of hundreds of paws crunching the ash.

"Hey, Rodther! Are you sleeping?" Nero's voice came from below the tower.

When did he come back? And what happened to raise such a racket? Rodther stood up and looked around. The Dungeon was teeming with monsters. Dozens of wolf packs, bears, and even deer walking around the few charred tree trunks that still remained in the far reaches. Rodther looked down and Nero was waving at him.

"I'm coming up. We have work to do," He said with excitement.

Rodther waited for Nero to come up, helping pull him up the last few steps of the ladder.

"What happened here?" the [Acrobat] asked. "How did all these monsters respawn at once?"

"The Dungeon was forced to do it. Even the boss is back and we have some farming to do," Nero said. The young man paused for a moment then explained. "That's why I took so long to build these towers, the barricades, and clear the woods. Now I can kill the monsters without any obstacles."

As if that explained anything. "Who or what forced the Dungeon to respawn? And how did you know that would happen... you have some sort of device, don't you?"

"No. It is a Skill I have. I gained it by clearing Rafflesia. If the boss is dead, I can use a [Egress] card to force the Dungeon to respawn everything. It drains a ton of Essence from the Dungeon's reserves though. All the monsters will be weaker now. Speaking of the boss, here," He gave Rodther the shiniest Essence crystal he'd ever seen.

The ietermahue checked and fell on his butt. "Fifteen thousand?"

Nero nodded and chanted the spell to summon flames. Once it was done, he poked his chest with a thumb. "Level zero. I don't absorb Essence from my kills. If you weren't here, every crystal we harvested would have fourteen times more Essence. I'm not getting rid of you."

Rodther shut his mouth. He had a good grasp of how many Essence they'd farmed so far and fourteen times that... was an amount he'd consider murdering for. He felt no bloodlust from Nero, just the opposite. He spoke of Essence with disdain and maybe mockery. Nero summoned more flames and tossed a fireball at the wolves. He kept burning monsters for a couple hours. After each group, he'd switch Class cards in his Arbitrium main slot and then destroy a card to recover mana before switching back and doing it all over again. Rodther counted the kills this time. Two hundred and seventy-nine. Once the wolf zone was clear, he climbed down and picked up the drops.

Things went just as expected. Nero would toss a huge fireball into the distance, wait for the monsters to come onto the stone slab, and then send the smaller flames to finish them. They repeated the procedure. By the end of the day, the kill tally reached over four hundred. The monsters' levels did decrease by two or three. But a rough estimate put the amount of Essence farmed after the mass respawns around a hundred fifty thousand. Two million if Rodther wasn't there.

The next morning, Nero killed the respawns then they visited each of the four towers to kill the deer. Nero fiddled with his gun that for some reason was frozen, thawed it with the flames, tested on some burnt trees, and went to kill the boss again. Before they went to sleep, he cleared the Dungeon another time.

A week later, Nero was done with the Dungeon. He was sure the thing was down to gray-grade. The boss was level sixteen and stayed at level sixteen for three resets already. He remembered Glom saying that once the Dungeon reached gray-grade, the Essence generated would equal the amount needed for respawns. The quality of the drops also didn't justify staying there. Nero could farm some Accolades but he got enough for a delve. He wasn't a machine and even though he could stay forever in the Dungeon, he didn't have the mental fortitude to endure years of time dilation.

He earned three points of Willpower, Reason, Dexterity, Perception. Two points of Agility, Endurance, and one point each in Charisma and Strength. The monsters didn't hit him, so Vigor was out.

His timepiece told him he'd exit a few minutes before midnight. That was good enough for him. No more rotten and diseased beasts.

"We are going out, Rodther. Remember to answer my question about your oath before the truth-teller. It doesn't matter if you just speak out of turn. Once the guy confirms your sincerity, you will stop being a prisoner. I'll handle things after that."

"As you wish, boss," Rodther grinned.

They both used the [Egress] card and appeared outside. A group of bored guards was about to leave and their sudden reappearance startled them. Nero wasted no time and fired an [Essence Analysis] at the portal.

Name: Dire Warg's Forest of Rot

Rank: III

Grade: White

Condition: Recharging

Occupants: several

The fact he couldn't get a reading that separated monsters and people inside the Dungeon was something that annoyed Nero. Mayleefa got the Dungeon's name wrong, so either the army didn't scout this Dungeon before sending him in or the information did not reach the buffalo-kin. But he needed another piece of information before the circus that Rodther's liberation could become if the wrong people decided to cause trouble opened up for business.

He fiddled with his display's dials, sifting through the options for his Skills and equipment until he found what he wanted to see.

[Arcane Magician's Timepiece of Randomness +6] - purple Accessory (clockwork).

[...]

[...] Tallies mana spent during a Dungeon delve. For every 106 mana spent, temporarily increase your maximum mana pool by 7 until your limiter engages again.

- Total Mana Spent: [Disabled: Outside a Dungeon]

- Mana Required for the Next Increase: 8,268 mana

- Total Increases: 77 times

- Mana Pool Bonus: 539 mana

It wasn' the best of the worlds but the triggers were different. The tally reset whenever he enters a Dungeon, and only counts inside. The boost, however, was bound to his limiter. The one he would never have to worry about. He would have to spend more mana than what he did to push the bonus to the next threshold. But the boost meant he didn't have to worry about running out of mana in day-to-day activities even though it now took a week to refill his expanded mana pool. This item was not meant to be. Ony the synergy of the +6 enchant and Nero's unique condition made it happen. He could only wonder what would happen if his seedpod was enchanted with the +6 modifier as well.

Nero shifted away from his musings on artifact abuse to pay attention to the soldiers. The next conversation was crucial to his plans.

The sergeant, a cat-kin with orange fur sighed in relief. Nero's death would spell doom to prince Tyre's rented sanctum in a matter of minutes. Behind him, a soldier with the insignia of the truth-tellers awaited, already in that droning stance they used when they were evaluating everything those returning from a Dungeon said.

"Oh, good! You survived! Where are the others?"

"Dead," Nero told the sergeant, looking in his slitted eyes. "They fought for some stupid reason, planned to attack me, and I finished two of them. Is there any problem?"

"True. True. True. True," the truth-teller soldier, also a cat-kin, said.

"The captain will be mad. At least you spent long enough in there to get some good loot. Come on, Rod. Where is your contribution?" The sergeant asked.

"I declare that I was completely sincere when I gave my oath to Nero," Rodther answered.

The sergeant and the other soldiers readied to attack Rodther. They brought their hands to their weapons and waited for the sergeant's order.

"True," the soldier droned.

"What is the meaning of that?" The cat-kin sergeant asked.

Nero interrupted, putting himself in front of Rodther. "Before that, Sergeant. What is the expected contribution on a rank-III Dungeon?"

"At least seventy-five hundred. That's around eighty monsters if they were so lucky to find the [Egress] earlier."

Nero pulled a leather bag that tinkled with the sound of crystals jingling against one another. "There's two hundred thousand in this bag. I think it should cover everything Rodther and I owe the Kingdom, contribution, taxes, or anything."

It was a premade phrase to fool the truth-teller. "The amount I think I owe" being the keyword. Nero's loyalty to Bast hung by a thread. Not that he would act against the Kingdom but he didn't feel compelled to help them.

"True, true," The truth-teller said, still in his foretelling trance.

Nero pushed the bag toward the sergeant. "Take the bag and we're done, sergeant. It is time to renew the portal for His Highness. I am sure he will understand that you delayed me from fulfilling my duties because you were being diligent."

"True, false."

"Yes. His Highness won't be happy," Nero corrected himself.

"True."

The sergeant took the bag. "We're done with the delve. Let's go now. Men, put the chains on the prisoner," He barked then turned to ask Nero. "What does that oath mean?"

Nero raised a hand to stop the soldiers from putting the prisoner shackles on Rodther.

"It means he works for me now, sergeant. And His Majesty has pardoned his crimes. Here, read this edict," Nero produced the document and showed it to the man.

The cat-kin read the edict and shook his head. Handing the document back to Nero, he said, "That's above my responsibilities. Let's go. Captain Valanaegornif will decide what happens."

"Yes, let's go. But not Valanaegornif. He's my employee now. We'll talk to captain Mayleefa instead. Lead the way, His Highness awaits."

Just as Nero finished the line sixteen mana, the upkeep for the shelter drained from his mana pool. He dreaded how much it would be now that his Willpower increased. And speaking of upkeep, Nero dismissed the shelter portal, although its duration had not yet expired. Now it was a matter of time for them to find out the portal vanished and send someone after him. By the time they returned to the castle, someone would be there for him. Nero expected trouble and the best way to get out of it would be to be summoned to make another portal.

They jogged along the way in the dark. In fact, only Nero had a problem as most beast-kin had good night vision. A guard on horseback with large glowing eyes took off when they approached, rushing his mount up the ramp leading to the castle. Probably a lookout. As they reached the front gate, Valanaegornif was there waiting for them.

"Why is the prisoner not bound, sergeant?" The arrogant elf asked.

"Mission accomplished, sergeant," Nero spoke loudly over Valanaegornif. "My employee and I are going to rest now. See ya."

He threw an arm over Rodther's shoulder and walked a single step. Valanaegornif raised an arm.

"You are going nowhere with the prisoner, Nero."

"Not a prisoner," Nero deadpanned and shouted, staring into the eyes of the knight captain. "My employee. His Majesty pardoned him."

Everyone by the gates, nearby walls and the front courtyard was paying attention to them. The night buzz vanished as everyone was quiet and listening to Nero's loud conversation.

"And I need to fulfill my duties to His Highness. You are in the way, captain. If you don't let my employee and I pass this very moment, you are the one answering to His Highness prince Tyre why I was tardy."

He could hear the elf grinding his teeth. Valanaegornif's hatred seeped through his narrow slits. His elven fair features made even his scowl dignified.

"Men! Prisoner on the loose! Seize him!" He shouted.

"I dare you to disobey a royal edict!" Nero shouted immediately, scanning the area around him. The guards halted. "I told you already, captain Valanaegornif. Rodther here is a free man. He works for me, His Majesty granted all my employees a pardon for whatever crimes they committed before the date of the edict.

"And don't dare you to claim ignorance. You were there with His Highness bearing the edict. Disrespecting His Majesty's wishes in time of war is treason!"

Valanaegornif's neck and head were blistering red with anger. He ground his teeth and whispered, "You are playing a dangerous game, boy."

Nero blinked with feigned innocence. Despite the obvious wish to bring the conversation to a more private level, Nero still spoke out loud. "Is this the moment we talk about your agreement with Cesar and Husk, captain? They failed miserably, by the way. Next time, send better assassins."

The knight brought his hand to the pommel of his sword. Mayleefa rushed from the front door.

"Nero! His Highness is calling you this very moment! Present yourself at once!" The buffalo-kin ordered.

Nero walked and because he hadn't moved his arm, tugged Rodther with him. "We are coming, captain Mayleefa. See you around, Val." The [Jester] winked at the angry elf and walked away from the gate.

He heard a groan coming from the captain in charge of the prisoners. As they approached, Mayleefa had one hairy eyebrow all the way to the scalp.

"What happened. Who is this person with you?" He asked.

"Valanaegornif insisted on sending his cronies with me because they had orders to murder me. The idiots failed miserably on their mission and I killed them. Rodther here, you read his profile. I hired him, he is my employee and bodyguard, and the King's edict absolves him of all crimes predating the document. Since he has none between then and now, he's a free man as long as he works for me."

They talked as they walked to the room with the portal. Or where the portal should be. Nero told Mayleefa about how Arden was cowardly murdered, Cesar and Husk's plans, and how they died.

"Bodyguard..." Rodther played with the word.

"We need to bring your Perception to an acceptable level later," Nero stated.

"A criminal can't trade, enter agreements, or get contracted," Mayleefa pointed it out. "I am sure Valanaegornif will think of that once his mind clears.

"Then it is good that I hired him inside a Dungeon," Nero said with excitement. "Dungeons aren't part of Bast's territory and outside our country, he's not a prisoner."

They reached the room and prince Tyre was there, annoyed.

"Where were you, Nero?" he asked.

"Captain Valanaegornif unjustly detained me, your Highness," Nero fired at once. "He wanted to find out the whereabouts of his pet assassins he sent with me. I'm putting the portal up right now."

Mayleefa gasped. The soldiers around looked like they were steeling themselves for a scene of carnage. Nero didn't waste time. He released Rodther and dashed to the spot where the portal should be, chose a password, and activated the portal.

Prince Tyre didn't reply to his accusations and walked straight to the women-filled tent. Nero scratched his beardless chin. It was good to know the prince's priorities.