After Veris very quickly fled the scene, I was left speechless. For a brief moment, her usual demeanour was replaced by one of respect. Not that I mind Veris' normal attitude. I quite like her casualness and even the way she calls me Boss. Her ideology on life, however, could use a good intervention.

Looking back at what's sure to be the finest bar on the continent, I'm struggling with its name. As much as I like it, One For The Rogues doesn't make it easy to refer to. So for now, I'll just call it Talia's. It's what I do for most of the others anyway and I'd feel silly pronouncing the full titles of each feature every time I talk about them. Plus, there isn't a chance in hell I'd ever say 'Hey, I'm just off to Towers of Torment. Do you want me to grab you anything on the way back?'

Don't change the name though!

I hope The System hears my thoughts as I try to think it as loud as I possibly can before Me appears next to me.

"I can't change the names of the features." He answers as though I was speaking to him which makes me laugh.

"Sorry. That was for Her benefit. I'm glad you're here though. Do you fancy a quick Jack?" Referring to my alcoholic drink of choice, Me sighs and shakes his head, making me regret the question.

"You have only just started spending points. Can't you get a little further before stopping for a break? Especially one that will potentially write off the rest of the day?" His words aren't wrong. If I start drinking this early and especially if it's Lightning Jack, I'm likely to end up catatonic somewhere in a state of terrorization which is the last thing I want.

Not that I've suffered recently from the life-like reality. To be honest, I don't have a need for the meditative state during the day and instead I use it to help me sleep through the night like a regular person.

"Yeah, ok. I know what I'm doing tonight though. In fact, you should join me." I smile as Me's face sours at the thought. He's only tried drinking once and no matter how many times I tell him that each spirit and ale has its own unique taste, he still refuses to join in the activity. I suppose it's my fault for starting him on the hard stuff.

"Quite. I will join you, actually, but instead I'll have something non-alcoholic, thank you." Still, not one to turn down an invitation, Me happily accepts but with conditions of his own. Maybe he'll try something different once he's in the atmosphere.

With the plan for tonight set, I head off to do more early-morning upgrades. A few of the buildings that provide the food for Varona were first. Additions and touch ups to the residential areas, parks and streets that were empty came after that. Nothing big and flashy like the Retreat, but enough little details that people will appreciate.

Strangely, out of an odd force of habit, I found myself in front of the Bale of Fortune ready to hit confirm before I even realized what I was doing. It's not like the feature -which has finally become useful- needs an upgrade yet, but I'm so used to coming here that I didn't even notice it.

Do I really need to upgrade it again?

With how temperamental the feature has been I'm still more inclined to think of it as a DP dumping ground than a good purchase. Not that I need to dump any points at the minute. There's still more to accomplish by spending them elsewhere today and the Lord of the Bale will have to wait his turn.

With that thought in mind, I take the short route and teleport inside my mountain. Now that the sun has risen over my city, the residents are also out and about. As they're ready to start their day, my next round of spending will be inside my home and I kick it off with floors. An additional ten to be specific and each floor gets one of the last Goblinators to be unlocked.

The Elder Goblinator.

Placing one on each floor and with great reluctance I might add as they're starting to look stronger than any of the Goblins I've ever seen, I unlock the next step in the horrendous line of monsters.

The Lord Goblinator.

Not only does its name worry me, but I'm also wondering why I seem to have missed a few Goblinators. The first-tier monsters don't bother me, but I'm wondering why I haven't unlocked a mage version of the self-spawning feature. I thought it might have come after the Hob, but the Elder Goblin took that spot and now we've moved straight on to a lord.

Even though I don't know why they haven't unlocked, I'm not phased in the slightest and frankly couldn't care less. I dislike them enough as it is and I suppose one Goblin Mage is more than enough.

I don't plan on placing any of the Lord Goblinators down either. The higher-tiered Goblins could end up becoming a problem that I wouldn't want to deal with.

I already get a strange vibe every time I look at Obling.

The Goblin Mage's intelligence is slightly higher than that of the others. Plus there's the way he acts, he looks as though he's scheming when deep in thought and I'd be lying if I said it didn't slightly freak me out. I'm hoping the awkward smile is out of respect to his master, but because of it I'm definitely not summoning a second any time soon. But then, I would have also betted that I wouldn't create any Goblins in the first place, and it's obvious I would have already lost that bet.

After I'm satisfied that the amount of Goblins is sufficient enough to help citizens raise their levels, I create one more floor beneath them and add a few Trolls to it. One, because I want to, and two, because dungeons get stronger the further down they go. Cave Trolls and Dungeon Trolls are the only variants I add for the moment as I'm not sure the humans will be able to take on Berserker Trolls or the others that come after them yet. They'll need to keep smashing through Goblins until they're strong enough to progress there anyway.

With eleven extra floors, that puts me on a total of 39. My Core is now well and truly far away from the surface. Not only am I safe, but the majority of my dungeon-dwelling family members also have a large amount of Goblins and Trolls separating them from the surface now that Sanctuary is at the bottom of my dungeon.

Even if anyone truly dangerous arrives, by the time they reach Barry's maze, I would have already added more floors in between them. Although, I don't know why I even worry about my family. If anything, with how strong they all are, it makes sense for them to be the last defenders of the dungeon. The masochistic Veris now being the last boss doesn't fill me with the most enthusiasm, however.

There are also lots of other options at my disposal, all earned through the awful elf. With the size of my ever-growing family though, there's already enough of us as it is so if anyone ever reached Sanctuary, they would deserve my pity.

I should also start limiting my summons to when they're needed for now. I really need to stop whipping out people like they're rain and should only create them when needed.

Monsters are a little different, but not knowing which ones will be more human than the others is a bit of a pain. However I don't like to think of any of them as disposable. The Goblins are fine, but Trixie and her Wolves, Webster and the Willie's, they're all part of the family. Even scary Sam. A prime example of what I'm talking about. Someone who had a truly scary appearance until recently and one you would have never expected to look so good.

Me still denies it, but I swear I'm the dungeon of beauty.

After creating the floors and the monsters to populate them, not much time has passed. With the midday sun hanging above Varona, I decided to take a break for lunch. At Ali's, I grab two meals and head off to Anya's. Dinner with my bestie is my favorite part of the day.

Even if we were to sit there in abject silence, Anya's company alone would be enough to fill the soundless void between us. That's just how much she means to me. As we eat, she asks how my upgrades are going and I tell her to visit Talia's after work for a nice surprise. Other than that we make small talk until she has to get back to work.

I suppose I have to get back to it as well. Saying goodbye, I head off to make what is going to be the last spending session of the day.

On the outskirts of town, my latest feature is placed and obviously upgraded to keep in line with the other buildings. The new feature oddly represents what the Syndicate stands for yet only recently did I unlock it.

The Assassin's Guild:

From the shadows created by Moon's gracing light, take flight and score out the bane of another

Neither peasant nor King or all that lay between the two are safe for even locked away there are still shadows Lurking in the darkness

Bonuses:

Attacks made from stealth are twice as effective as before

Immediately following a stealth kill all stats are increased 25% for 90 seconds

DP is doubled on absorption if the target was killed with stealth

Upgrades:

Door to Downstairs

Well of Contracts

Upgraded network system beneath ground to encompass an ever expanding city

- Inactive until Guild Master has been set

Rewards:

32XP

This double DP seems to be a recurring trend at the minute. Not that I need it, but I also won't complain. Stockpile is due to hit max level very soon and if I'm right, I should be able to retain every point I get.

Long gone are the days when points were wasted because I didn't have the capacity to hold them or the features to build. Now I'm abundant on both counts and if anything it's the opposite way around. There aren't enough hours in the day to get through it all.

Looking at the small grey building, if I wasn't the Core who placed and upgraded it, I'd be more than a little dubious about the Door to Downstairs.

As it stands, the feature resembles an outhouse more than anything and after four upgrades it still hasn't gained the usual 'I look better than before' vibe. Probably because Assassins and matters surrounding them aren't meant to be flashy, but instead hidden and unnoticeable.

Instead of a toilet behind the door, stairs lead down to a large, complicated network of short, winding tunnels that now run beneath the city of Varona.

Branching off in many directions, slightly reminiscent of Barry's maze, but with actual brickwork rather than a dungeon wall, the different paths lead all over the city. In the middle, however, beneath the city center, is a large, open space surrounded by small rooms filled with beds. In the spacious room, tables and chairs run line middle while bookcases and weapon racks run the length of the walls.

The heart of the Assassin's Guild.

Decorated in black, black and more black, the trademark Assassin colours, this place is cool as hell. I mean, who doesn't want a secret hideout? I suppose I already have one when I think about it like that. My dungeon was hidden away so well that barely anyone turned up before I started creating Varona.

It was hard to see my dungeon as a secret hideout back then though. Especially when I was trapped inside, still worked up over dying and undergoing a full-on species change meltdown.

Anyway, the pathways under the city are a super-cool feature, one that I would have been more thrilled to have used myself back when I was still a lowly human Rogue, but one that is sadly not needed and seen as redundant. Every Assassin I know can teleport within the boundaries of the dungeon and when they're out of our range they move through the shadows.

Still, at least they have a guild now and I might have a wander through the tunnels at some point, just for curiosity's sake.

The Well of Contracts is also connected to the Assassin's labyrinth. No water is pooled at the bottom though and instead a large, wicker basket has been laid there to catch any requests that may be dropped inside.

Not that I see it getting many. For starters, people don't even know about it yet, and secondly, even if they did, it's a long way to travel just to drop a letter down a well with your details on it.

Either way, with a place to legitimately take contracts, or as legitimately as a non-functioning well can be. The Syndicate will probably get a boost to its level while further ridding Tironia of the plague that lies hidden inside the masses.

Or so I hope.