There are few things in this world that really make me angry, however, being forced to wake up after only two hours of sleep, however, are decidedly one of them. The guild guard that came in only a few hours after I had fallen asleep and told us to get up, had learned that the hard way. He was unharmed, but considering the bloodshot and utterly furious look I had given him, I can’t say I blame him as he made a hasty retreat.

I ignored that completely unreasonable request. How was I supposed to operate on only two hours of sleep, anyway? After I got another three hours under my belt, I was woken up again. This time by Indella, who seemed annoyed at me for some reason *Did you chase a guild guard out of the room earlier?* “Yes, he woke me up after I only had two hours of sleep. How would you react if someone rudely woke you up and made unreasonable demands that early? At least I think it was a demand he made. I was so sleepy I couldn’t even understand a word of what he was saying.” Indella blinked a few times and then looked towards the door.

I looked over and saw the Guildmaster, ah that would explain it. The Guildmaster shook his head as he moved into the room and sat down. “Mind explaining why you only had two hours of sleep?” he asked. Clearly quite annoyed, I had chased away his messenger. “This room is stuffy, small, and I have no comfortable place to rest. The carpet is uneven and really damn hard, I didn’t fall asleep because I was sleepy, I fell asleep because I was exhausted from a lack of sleep.”

The guildmaster looked at the carpet, leaned down and touched it for a bit, then nodded slowly. “I will see if I can bring in something more comfortable for you to sleep on.” He said at length. Score one for me. “Now then, I apologize for waking you up again. But we can’t have you sleep all day regardless, and I have some business to discuss with you, regarding the gems you were trading with this… bodyguard.”

I nodded slowly. “What about the gems?” The glimmer of greed in the fat little man’s eyes as he leaned closer was so strong you could probably have used his eyes as lanterns. “Err. Well, you wouldn’t happen to have… more?” he asked. “Not that I would have ready access to, no. Believe it or not Guildmaster, some abilities I have only works while I am within my own territory. And being able to pluck resources from my dungeon out of thin air is one of them.” neat that should make things easier.

The Guildmaster took a deep breath. “Well I’ll just have to send-” he began, but I interrupted him almost immediately “I would strongly recommend against that. The gems come from a Haunted Mine, guarded by Undead of various types.” I could see his hopes deflating. Undead monsters would remain hostile to all non-dungeon living creatures. Tamed dungeon or not, sending men to mine a Haunted Mine was practically a death sentence, and he knew it.

It was one reason you saw no undead cores around too; they were rather difficult to deal with, sure you could prevent them from harming people… most of the time. But getting them to do what you wanted would be a tall order as their unnatural hatred for all things living would eventually override any orders given. At least that was the lore reason given for it in the game, and so it would seem it was here. Given how the moment I mentioned Haunted Mine and Undead, he seemed to lose interest entirely.

Wait… maybe I could use that greed to my advantage, no better not, at least not unless I absolutely had too. The guildmaster was greedy, sure, but he wasn’t stupid. He had come up with the scheme that captured me, after all. And underestimating him would as such probably be a terrible idea, better not plan round him being stup- wait, I could take advantage of him being both greedy and smart.

The Guildmaster rose from the chair he had been sitting in, apologized for the inconvenience and made to leave. Having clearly lost an interest in us entirely, I on the other hand had now plotted on my own. Having confirmed that undead would be immune to the pacification that taming caused. I could use the fact that he thought I had far more undead than I had, to my advantage. I wouldn’t even need to learn how to make a convincing illusion to do it. Though it would probably take a day or 2 for this idea to go off. That was too risky. It was better to prepare for both eventualities.

With my mind made up, I acted upon the idea I had just happened upon. Just as the guildmaster was about to close the door I called out to him. “You know if it’s gems that you need, there could be a pretty simple solution, with your permission, of course.” The guildmaster paused and looked at me, the sparkle of greed back in his eyes. He turned around, clearly interested.

“Currently, the undead miners are under order to attack anything that tries to mine the mine itself, and I would not recommend going there. However, near my core room are my treasury, I cannot take things out of it remotely, but I could remove some gems from it for you, if you would like.” The guildmaster came closer. “Can’t I just send my men to gather the riches there?” he asked, clearly eager to get his hands on what would be a small fortune.

“You… could, but would your men be willing to deal with the 12-Meter tall undead Minotaur that wanders the maze and likes to inflict Terror on interlopers?” Judging by the guildmaster’s expression, it was pretty clear that while his Supreme Orator was powerful, it was not powerful enough to convince someone to basically commit suicide. That was the sort of thing you sent an entire party at, with full knowledge some if not most of those would not return.

The best part about it was that not all of that was a lie either, I DID have a 12ish meter tall undead Minotaur stomping around in a maze. The best lie was, after all, the one sprinkled with parts of the truth. The Guildmaster looked thoughtful. “So basically, if I want a fortune, you would have to be allowed to return to your dungeon?” he asked. Clearly fighting his greed in a losing battle. “Yes, that’s what I am saying, unless you have a better option for getting all those riches?” I replied, looking at him with an inquisitive expression.

I was only paying half attention to the guildmaster at this point as I was busy explaining my plot to Indella. Who seemed reluctant, I could understand that, as there was a really nasty snag to my plan.

The guildmaster left after only saying an uncommitted “I will consider it.” That was better than nothing. Meanwhile, using getting some air as an excuse, the two of us went to find Rael and the rest.

We found them in a small secluded park, where Mordred was saying something, but to my ears it was all distorted. It was as if he was having two conversations at the same time. This must be what it was like to be outside the ward, and because of “Unbreakable Will” I could hear the true conversation as well.

Clearly I was not the only one with this issue as Indella was clamping her ears and through the bond I could feel a growing ache in my ears. Better get inside the ward before that got much worse for her.

As we crossed the reach of the ward, I could hear Rael responding to whatever Mordred had been saying prior. “I am telling you that this is- oh! Perfect timing you two. We were discussing the Guildmaster and what to do next.” I nodded and walked over to the inner part of the circle where I sat down. This way Indella would be further from the others so that it would seem like we were making sure she would not have an “Episode.” While also allowing her to be close to the friends she had, seeing as Erem was the closest person to my selected spot.

Rael took a deep breath before he resumed talking. “As I was saying there is no guarantee that the Core can retain a physical form if we remove the bracer here in the city. As such your plan of making it seem like Indella fell to death and then one of us got Will binder into removing, it is too risky. If the core then just goes poof, while Indella remains, it won’t take long before she is found out.”

Mordred didn’t look as convinced it seemed I lifted my palm to get everyone’s attention. “I may have found a way to get around that issue, actually, but there is a snag, not an impossible one, but still a rather nasty snag.” The entire party turned towards me. Mordred and Rael who both had really high Intuition skills were now starting to feel incredibly uncomfortable, which was understandable. “The problem is twofold, actually...” I explained the circumstances of the guildmaster’s earlier visit, and the flat out lie I had fed him about having a treasury.

Mordred and Rael looked at each other before Rael asked about what was on both their minds. “That seems… promising. It shouldn’t take too much convincing to get the guildmaster to cave in to his greed, all things considered. So, what’s the catch?” I took a deep breath. “One of you need to die from having their throat slit. That person needs to be an excellent liar and able to withstand the Guildmaster’s... persuasiveness, and it can’t be the one casting Recall.” The entire party was looking at me as if I had lost my mind.

I continued my explanation. “Yes this sounds absolutely insane I know, but hear me out. The Depths are, as I understand it a Biome that not much is known about. As such, I easily convinced the guildmaster I had a Haunted Mine full of gems hidden away there, spawning undead units from it. So, who’s saying there are no spectral assassins in my dungeon?”

One of the dwarves piped up. He looked like a shaman by his garb. “So yer sayin, the girl decides to hop off to “explore” the 2nd floor. Ye make a number of it being unsafe due to the “mine” and one of use volunteers to look after her. Out of the goodness of our hearts, being idealistic and gullible little adventurers. Then we get ambushed by the “assassins” and “die”. You are “freed” to make a number out of sicking the dungeon at the ones who are still alive, and we all recall. With one adventurer corpse as proof of the girl’s death. Since the spectral assassins would be rather… disrespectful of the tamer of their Mistress and mutilate her beyond recognition of the spell.”

I nodded, that was all the confirmation the rest of the party needed. It had all the essential parts we needed, Indella would be safe and assumed dead. I would not have to fear leaving her behind and thus remain safe from future taming attempts by Inlas’ fanatics.

The plan was simple enough, though there were some variables, like if the guildmaster himself would insist on joining in or not. If he did, then we had a few options. If it was just Rael’s party, we killed him, simple. If he brought an even number of lackeys, then it would depend on whether they entrusted Recall to Mordred or not. If they outnumbered Rael’s group… nope not going to try unless we somehow killed him in the ensuing “battle.” The risk of him escaping was too high.

There were of course the aforementioned problems to deal with. Namely, that the guildmaster would certainly grill the one who died for hours while under the constant bombardment of Supreme Orator. They would need a way to resist the effects of the skill. And they would need to be a skilled liar. To the point where they could trick the guildmaster into thinking they had fallen under its sway or it would be obvious they had one form of immunity. Like one of the dwarves.

I had put them in a hard place here as I had just made them choose one among themselves that would have to die. Then out of nowhere Tarad spoke up. “I’ll do it, I am the perfect choice after all” Dally did not look happy at all with his announcement but nodded in agreement even as she softly mumbled. “Deception Lv4 and Actor Lv2 should convince him all right” where had the dwarf picked up those skills?

The rest of the party was wondering the same thing, and under the many inquisitive looks Tarad just sighed before he started talking. “Before I joined up with you guys, I was a con artist, when I arrived in town, I hadn’t been workin no mine. I had been in the slammer over in Tylannwood fer five years for fraud. My brother offered to help me set up a new life here once I got out, and here I am. As ye know the guild does not allow for former criminals ta join, so I lied, sorry fellas.” he smiled sheepishly.

Dally hugged him and his brother clapped him on the shoulder before Mordred took the word. “Well that’s all in the past, and technically the lot of us are already getting thrown out for not informing the guildmaster about those two. So, what is another infraction or two at this point? Besides, if you’re willing to do that Tarad, that alone is more than enough, that you have the skills, even better, you are currently this plans saving grace.” This got hollers of agreement from the rest of the party.

It took me a bit to get everyone’s attention again after that. “There are another few snags as well. Since “War Mode” isn’t a thing anymore there are now a party level and size hard limit on my dungeon. And while I can raise the level cap enough to accommodate you guys, I have honestly no idea how the dungeon will react to Indella. I have no idea if she now counts as a Dungeon Creature, an intruder or just a part of me. I also have no way to rise the party size limit at all, as all those options are abhorrently expensive to unlock for a reason.”

I took a deep breath before continuing. “Furthermore, there is the question of what do we do if the Guildmaster insists on using his own cronies.” Rael lit up. “Can’t you just summon that Minotaur again? Mordred said he had some counter to Recall.” He asked, clearly excited to remember that tidbit. “You mean Minos? His upkeep is way too high. It nearly killed me last time. I would pass out from the pain and I doubt Indella would survive the shock from the feedback. Not to mention that Edict of Valor costs 5000 Essence to use. That is almost twice my current essence cap and would instantly kill me as a result”

Rael’s excitement died instantly. “Oh, then why did you summon him back then?” I looked at him. “I am a very, very, VERY sore loser. I had no interest in even giving you the chance of putting me on a leash. Which back then would have been just as bad as if the Guildmaster had got me earlier. Though I will admit, I didn’t know that at the time of summoning him. So, it basically boils down to me having a “I’m taking you guys down with me” kind of mentality.” I answered, totally deadpan.

He seemed… surprised at my answer. “That seems a bit…” he trailed off, though I finished for him. “Insane, I know, I have a lot of… scars from my past, most of the memories of which returned only after my evolution, long story short. Prior to burying myself in dungeon building, certain events caused some rather severe mental scars. Which means I react very poorly to several things. Losing is one of them, the other is betrayal and yes, they are linked.” Indella looked up at me *Wanna talk about it?*

I smiled down at her and ruffled her head. “Someday, perhaps, but not now, it’s a long and frankly, not a very fun story. The gist of which is that the one person I trusted the most in the world betrayed me and made me lose practically everything. I could have wound up even losing my life, but thankfully I pulled myself out of the resulting depression and soldier on.”

They all looked pretty surprised at my words, not so odd, considering Indella spoke into my mind, but I responded out loud. Although Mordred looked at Indella with a puzzled expression. “Did you just… talk into our heads, Indella?”… What? Wait… Telepathy was a passive?

*Wait so you can hear me right now?* The party nodded in the affirmative as a sudden dread struck me “Mordred how does that ward of yours handle telepathy?” though his almost immediate response made me much calmer. “Totally blocked, can’t be transmitted through, neither from the inside nor outside”

It went without saying that Indella was ecstatic over that discovery and eagerly listened in as I gave her a crash course in telepathy; I got to say; she was pretty damn talented as it only took her a few tries to have it down pat.

After this the conversation became more lively as Indella gleefully joined in with her own insights and thoughts. Though after a while things calmed down again and I went into more detail about the plan in general. And I also instructed Tarad in what he should “remember” from the incident. After all, as the saying goes, “The Devil Is In The Details.”

As we were talking, I noticed that a Guild guard was heading our way and immediately warned the others. “Cut the chatter, we have company.” We stopped our conversation and Mordred dispelled the ward so that the guard wouldn’t notice anything amiss when he got close enough.

“Gloria, Guildmaster Saol wants to see you and the Core, you as well Rael and Erem, he says it’s important.” He then left immediately, his errand done. He seemed almost eager as he did, most likely because of the incident that morning.

“Showtime” I mumbled to myself as Indella hopped on my back and I walked off. As I passed Mordred, he mouthed “Good Luck” in my direction. I wondered what was up. Had this been about the gems, I doubted he would bring Rael and Erem into it as well.

The answer came when we entered the hallway to the guildmaster’s office and ran into some familiar faces. The trio that I had been with Indella the first time we met. *Rorik the Shield Warrior, Mint the Sharpshooter and Surin the Storm Mage* Indella said, introducing them to me in her own way. *I wonder why they are here, though.* We would probably find out.

Rael nodded to them in greeting and the trio said hello back. They looked worried, something that made it so that I had an inkling of what this was about. I quickly communicated my suspicion to the others. *You are right, I didn’t tell them, maybe I should have made something up.* Great, and because Indella didn’t tell them, they were probably now wondering where she had gone.

The guildmaster called the lot of us into his office shortly after, well, all but me since I could not fit through the door. While many of the rooms and hallways in the guild were created with tamed Cores that would likely be larger than humans in mind. This hallway and the doors in it was decidedly not one of them. As a result, it was pretty cramped for me, even more so if I wanted to avoid knocking something over.

The Guildmaster himself looked nothing but worried. In fact, he looked annoyed. Though the others either didn’t notice, or they didn’t care as the guildmaster started to explain why he had called us here. “It has come to my attention that one of our guild members have gone missing. Her name is Indella, and she is a Druid. Now there is a good chance she only left town to commune with the forest or some other druidic secret ritual and will be back on her own. But when she did things like that in the past, she would always leave a notice prior. That way we knew she would be gone for a while. I want all of you to look around and see if you can find out where she has gone off too and if she is in any danger.” He continued on for a short while about the entire thing. Trying to make it seem like a small deal by the sound of it. I tuned him out to have a think on how to deal with this.

There was another reason I let him drone on. I wanted to see how long it would take before any of Indella’s friends started to show signs of falling under the sway of “Supreme Orator”. Though much to my surprise, none of them batted an eye at it even after the guildmaster droning on for almost 15 minutes. I refocused my attention on the conversation. He was decidedly using it. So what gives?

. Distracted?

*Mint has always been remarkably easily distracted when she gets bored. She would stop paying attention, think of stuff that interests her and just zone out what’s going on otherwise completely.* Indella answered my mental question, having sensed my confusion.

So, she just stopped paying attention to the guildmaster’s droning and as such escaped Orator? In response, I pretended to listen a bit more intently to the guildmaster ranting as I responded telepathically. “Isn’t it bad for a sharpshooter to be easily distracted, also what’s a Beast-kin?” I posed the question to Indella privately so the guildmaster would not be able to hear it. *She has the skill “Laser Focus” once she uses it, she cannot be distracted, it only lasts a while though* Huh, score one for being a scatterbrain. Never thought that would be a good thing.

Indella continued. *As for your second question, Beast-kin are a species that live far to the east. They basically look like humans with varying animal traits like ears, tails, claws, animal heads and the like. The ones with cat-like appearances also tend to be easily… distracted. Beast-kin are usually tolerated in towns because they are not linked to dungeons in any way. Though there have been less around since the Guildmaster took the reins. I guess it doesn’t take a genius to add two and two together about what happened.*

The Guildmaster’s goons bullied them out of town, most likely, could Mint be part Beast-kin? . Only time would tell, I suppose. That still left us with one question though, how do we handle this.

In the end, the entire group wound up leaving the guildmaster’s office after I got sick of hearing him drone on. After I had gotten his attention I pointed out that “Gloria” was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable in the cramped room. He sent us off to start looking almost immediately.

As we left, I discussed what to do with the others because as far as I saw it, there were two options here. Once we fabricated some evidence that Indella had left, or two, we brought the trio up to speed. There was a lot of back and forth between the two options, but in the end it was unanimous. Mostly because Indella insisted we would tell them once we were clear of the guild and into the city itself.