After a nice chat, a delicious lunch and a good cry on Anya's shoulder, I'm feeling much better. The Rainbow Mage has always had a way with words and never fails to raise my spirits.

Before leaving, I quickly pop in to see Tilly and the head Doctor Mage informs me that they need more healers. I'm not surprised as the current staff only use up a fifth of the building's space.

The Royal Halls of Regeneration is absolutely massive and shouldn't need another upgrade for quite some time. That said, I summon another hundred Magus to help lighten the load of the frequently busy workforce and head out.

As I skip down the street toward my mountain, my Core is full of joy. More so than earlier as I always feel better after a chat with Anya, not to mention her famous best-friend hugs.

"Abi!" I hear my name being shouted and it pulls me out of my blissful trance. In front of me is an elderly lady dressed up like one of my Assassins. "What do you think? I look good, right?"

The elderly lady is none other than Marie the thieving Space Mage. Ever since I contracted her to the dungeon, all she has wanted to do is go out on missions with the Assassins. Ignoring the fact that she's probably over a hundred years old, her light-fingered shenanigans have finally ceased.

I watched over her for the first month, replacing whatever she took at no significant cost to myself. After she had amounted a nice hoard, the wily woman just went cold turkey.

She might be going senile? Who knows? One thing is for sure though, Marie definitely isn't going to be sent out on Syndicate business. She might forget why she's there!

"You look pretty-damn cool, Marie. I was speaking to Mystique over at the Academy yesterday and she was wondering if you wouldn't mind doing some teaching?" I raise my eyebrows in hopes to deter her from the question on the end of her tongue. The look on her face however shows my efforts are futile and she asks anyway.

"But I want to go out with the others. You can't keep an old bird caged up, you know?" She slyly jabs at me with her self-deprecating joke.

"You're our only Space Mage though. Until my Mages Guild gets its shit together and stops making everyone Necromancers, that is. What would I do without you?" I try to win her over with reason and a bit of pity at my sorry excuse of a guild. I mean, I don't even know why it can't create regular classes. Other than Anya being the exception, every other Mage, High Mage and Magus, has become a death-wielding Necromancer.

In all fairness though, they make great doctors and the townsfolk love them. That might be something to do with the fact that every single one of them has sparkling eyes and a fantastic body, but who knows?

What's worse is that the ridiculous guild only seems to be biased toward my summoned family members. The regular Tiroians who go for categorization all seem to come out with an actual speciality. Fire Mages, Wind Mages, Dark Mages, all sorts.

"I can keep myself safe, I'll have you know. I have been doing it for... a long time now, so you don't need to fret over me." I curse the Mages Guild as I listen to Marie. She doesn't seem to want to let up and as reluctant as I am to add her into the Syndicate's roster, it's not as though she is going to slow them down. If anything it could even end up being the other way around.

"Ok. But... you have to wait until the right mission comes up and until then, I would really appreciate it if you go and give Mystique a hand. Maybe even drop into the Mages' Guild and have a look at their equipment. I know that's not your thing, but you've probably seen some stuff in your time. Hopefully you can help me out." I give her what she wants and get her to help out while she waits for the details.

Now I just have to decide who to send her with. Dum and Dee would probably be red-faced the entire journey if she joined them so that's out. Noir and Carrie...? No, that's not the best fit for someone's first mission either. The Ice Queen would be fine. It's the Prince of Flames that would be the problem. That would definitely be a bad sight for fresh eyes to witness.

There are a few other sets of recruits that Marie could go with. The Sweets spring to mind as they too could venture out in pairs when Veris has had her fill. Instead of them, or any one else for that matter, I suppose I'll stick with what I know works. What never fails and what always seems to impress; Light and Dropper.

I almost feel bad for the two, hardworking Assassins. They've already contributed so much to Varona's development yet they always seem to get lumbered with my extra problems.

Poor guys. I'm not looking forward to that conversation.

"I doubt I will be much help in the Mages' Guild, but I will give my best at the academy. Those children won't know what hit them!" Marie declares with a mischievous look across her face, one that fits the elderly lady's persona as though she had born with that expression.

"Thank you and try not to be too harsh at the Academy, please. We don't want to deter people away, after all. Not that it would with the low prices we've set. But still, it's good to be nice."

After dealing with Marie, I come face to face with another white-haired woman. This one's hair isn't white from age, but it naturally came that way through the summoning process. The outfit she has on, if it can even be called that as there's more skin showing than garment itself, makes my cheeks flush.

The Boss of my Dungeon is running down the road towards me. "Boss! I have an awesome idea!" Full of gusto, Veris screams from one end of the street to the other and my heart drops. My embarrassment from a second ago over the outfit she's wearing flies out of the window as an oddly-familiar type of concern takes its place.

The type where you know what someone is about to ask you, but you have to try your best to decline their wishes. Whatever the reason may be.

"Well, I was thinking that seeing as how Sweet C and a few of the others are enjoying a good paddling, I was wondering if we could do something like that up here?"

"I'm... not sure, Veris. What if someone manages to force you into submission? Will that count as them defeating the Dungeon Boss? That's a bit of a risky gamble." Hearing my sneaky words, Veris frowns briefly before bursting into laughter.

"Good one, Boss. Someone forcing me into submission? Ha! You had me going for a second there. Pain is the name of the game in my room!" She boasts loudly. Worst of all, I can't even deny her statement.

I've caught a few glimpses of Veris dishing out what-she-calls punishment over the last few months. She warms herself by giving her recipient, normally C, a good paddling. Then, what I thought was even more bizarre, Veris forces her clients to carry out the act on her in a complete role reversal.

How do I know this? I might have watched for too long one time, but I haven't made a hobby out of it or anything. I just like to make sure my family is doing ok, even the weird ones.

"Yeah, I know." I quietly agreed. After seeing her in action first-hand, I doubt any regular Tironian would force her into submission either and once again my own words leave me feeling a little silly. Not only does her body ripple with lean muscles under the small leather straps, but Veris is also the fifth strongest being in my dungeon.

The fact that my Boss Monster ranks fifth for overall strength is another awkward quirk about my dungeon. Usually the last Boss would be the strongest opponent, but in my case Light and Dropper are still levelling up like there's no tomorrow, making them the strongest. It's ridiculous! Then you've got me and Me, rocking our almost God-like bodies. Our levels don't compare to that of my Assassins, but the power contained in them is almost unbridled.

After that you've got Veris. Leaving a very sour Noir ranking sixth, just in front of his partner. Anya would be up on the board, but she has zero intention on fighting anyone anymore and I don't blame her. She doesn't even visit the Coliseum. Still, if she did level up, I don't know where her stats would end up. She's the only Rainbow Mage so far and no one has ever heard of anyone who's had that class before.

"Well!? What do you think? People will love it, right?" Veris' smile is as innocent as a child's. Below that heart melting act, however, is a sadistic and masochistic presence that not even The System could endure.

"You don't have a feature!" As I squirm at the thought of a Veris running a brothel in my city -even though that's not technically what she's about- another great thought hits me. "The Pleasure Palace is your Boss Room. It's the feature of the room itself. I'm sorry, Veris, but I can't recreate that."

Pumping my fist inside my mind, I congratulate myself on a job well done.

As Veris is already as mischievously inclined as it is, I dread the thought of unleashing her dark side on the citizens of Varona. I just didn't wanna tell her that thought and hurt her feelings.

"That's okay, Boss. I'll just use a house or something," Veris shrugs nonchalantly while still holding the same heart-melting smile. I crumble. Sighing, I return her smile with one of my own.

"Okay, Veris. But! There has to be some very strict rules on what you can and can't do. I doubt anyone will be able to hurt you, so that's fine. It's you hurting them that worries me." All I have left is my honesty. I should have started with it to be fair as Veris isn't one to give up easily.

"Yes! I mean, you have nothing to worry about, Boss. I'll just be there for show. Like an ornament or something. Only unbreakable," she winks, her eyes glimmering. I shake my head, already regretting my decision. It's her eyes. Every time. They sparkle with such hope and anticipation.

"Is it okay if I let them punish me? If they hurt themselves in the process, that would be their own fault, right?" Her shrewd words out wile my own and I nod along in defeated resignation. Fist pumping the air, Veris has won the war of pleasure and I can't help but love her for it. The growth of every single person and creature that I've summoned has been phenomenal.

"I suppose so, but I'll create your building near Tilly and Anya's Halls. Just in case." We've long surpassed the targets and guidelines of what Me thought possible. At this point in time, he has absolutely nothing to compare our growth against and has given up trying. Hence why he's on the search for Doctor Mages.

"You're the best, Boss!" Veris grabs me in a bear hug and instead of pain all I feel is love. Her love. My love. Every thing's just love at the minute. I don't know what's coming over me, but I can't say I dislike it. Everything is great. Everyone is happy. Life rocks and so does my body. Best of all, I get to see my best friend every single day.

How could I not be happy at a time like this? I swear to the Gods, any shit-hitting plans that turn up better come equipped with Lucinda's Magic Deodorizer or else they'll be in for a whole world of trouble.