“Okay, we’re leaving!” I shout to those still near enough to hear. A few of the settlers wave goodbye, and there seems to be a generally positive atmosphere among them. Many of them were less than satisfied with the collars they were forced to wear. So, in a sense we are their saviours, though not all see us that way.

I’m sure Aalia and Guy are mostly just confused from all that they’ve been through, so I don’t mind their tantrums so much. I just hope everyone can get along until I make it back from my overly fancy school trip.

“What about rules. Shouldn’t we say something before we leave?” Adler asks.

“I was kind of just assuming that they wouldn’t murder each other.” I say, “You’re right, I should probably say something to make it clear, just in case.

“For now, we’ll just give them the same rules that the local lord has set out for us.” I say. “No killing, no stealing, no assaulting one another, or else I’ll kill you. Is there anything you want to add before I send out the message?”

“Except for the killing part, that’s a good foundation.”

“I’m sorry Adler, but I can’t allow my citizens to murder each other. No killing stays on the list.” I say, “But who is it that you want gone, for you I might be able to manage something.”

“What? No, I’m talking about you killing people!” She cries, shaking her head at my smirk. “Which you already knew.”

“Of course.” I reply, “Not getting rid of it, though. I need them to know that I’m serious about keeping them in line. It should make them feel safer, knowing how far I’ll go to keep the peace.”

“I’m sure…” Adler doesn’t sound entirely convinced, nervously looking through invisible notes floating before her. “I can… I just need a little time to think things through properly. We need to figure out how to rehabilitate offenders without using collars…”

“Keep thinking on it.” I say, “These simple rules will have to work until then. We’ll deal with issues as they come up.”

“I think you’re forgetting something.” Eshya says, with a smile as she looks over towards Bessy, and the oiled packages that she’s set aside. “That food is better than what we’ll find upstairs.”

“Ah, I can’t forget that.” I say, rushing over and picking up the nearest wrapped slab of meat. It’s still warm to the touch, and it’s soft enough that it actually seems like it’ll fall apart at my touch. I carefully cradle it as I slowly unwrap the oiled paper.

“We should get the rest of this shared around…” I say, looking for someone we can shove the task onto.

“Do you need any help?” Slan slithers over with a pleasant smile set on his lips. He’s still not wearing any shirt, but I suppose I can’t really blame him for that when I haven’t actually gotten any new clothes for any of them yet.

“I could, I could.” I repeat, thinking about all my interactions with him so far. He doesn’t seem unreliable, and his fighting style leads to him supporting the others without trying to take the limelight. I hope that translates to his non-fighting lifestyle too.

“Could you distribute this food around so that everyone gets a share.” I say, “I don’t want to find out that you’re messing around and giving more to the people you like, or anything silly like that, okay?”

“No, no.” He says, shaking his head firmly. “We all need to eat, and we’re all in this together.”

“Good. Go borrow a knife off of Red if you need it. If she causes you trouble message me and I’ll deal with it.” He smiles a little too deeply as I mention Red, but it’s not my place to police relationships.

“Do we have any water?” Asks one of the insect people, wondering around the place.

“Shit, water.” I mutter, “Arn, Korgan. Could you look around and see if there’s some water nearby that we can use. People have to be thirsty, and I don’t need them visiting the lake out of desperation.”

“Can do that.” Korgan says, looking up to Arn who nods.

“Korgan, do you have class to go to at all? If I’m asking too much, tell me.”

“I’m a graduate.” He says with a gruff smile. “I just happened to miss my ship out. Not sure if the welfare officers are onto me or not, but I’ve been keeping my head low and adventuring down here since.”

“Huh,” I nod thoughtfully as he tells his short story. “Well, I’m glad you stuck around, and I hope that you keep sticking around. We really appreciate your help, so if there’s any way we can pay you back…”

“If you find any good alcohol…” he says.

“Take another look in the markets tomorrow morning, the rest of our food should be ready by then too.” I say, “Nel, can you take charge of trade?”

“I can’t trust anyone else to the task.” Nel says with a slight nod.

“If I haven’t mentioned it already, we need to get you some assistants for things like this.” I say, “Try to find some people you trust to take over some of the work for you.”

“I… I’ll look around.” Nel says, seeming a little bothered by the thought. “Finding people we can trust is going to be… difficult.”

“But necessary. We’re building an empire, not a household. We can’t do this alone.” I reply. “Food. Water. Shelter. This should be enough to survive for the week. If something comes up, I can direct things through messaging.”

“I should be able to deal with anything.” Nel says, but I know just how much work I’m pushing off on her already. Unfortunately, there’s nothing much that I can do other than to keep an eye out for others we can trust with positions of power.

Gritting my teeth in frustration I look through my contacts list, shopping for anyone else I can rely on right now.

There’s nothing obvious.

Most of the people are surface dwellers, or at most those that dip into the ruins to party. Most are students, some teachers, and the occasional shop staff.

There is Rudolf.

He’s helped us so far, but he’s been a bit sour after we dealt with Orsa. I’ll give him a visit while returning this armour to our crafters.

“Okay, this time let’s actually get going.” I say, stepping out of our little abode, and looking back down the stairs just to realize how much darker it’s going to get the moment we close the doors.

I feel a little like a babysitter that’s rushing off to the movies, while locking a bunch of toddlers in the basement and hoping that they’ll be able to take care of themselves.

“Hey, Rare.” I say, rushing to the little dragon who’s been sitting at the side. “Do you want to be the bearer of light?”

“What?” She asks, clearly still tired.

“Ah, Lui. How about you?” I ask, holding out a light wand. He hesitantly reaches out and accepts it.

“Keep the door closed as much as you can.” I say, as he slowly nods, flicking the light on and off. “There’s some dangerous beasts out there.”

I see Guy worriedly weaving through the various aliens as he makes his way towards me, and I know that there’s going to be something else I have to deal with.

“Is there any bathrooms in here?” He asks.

“Shit,” I swear while rubbing at my head. “In the corner. Just fucking shit in the corner. Right, sorry, not helpful.” I chide myself before anyone else can.

“Lui, could you have a room set aside for use as a toilet, I’ll have someone swing by with a bucket by tomorrow morning. Until then, set up this cleansing stone and, make do.”

He nods seriously, while taking the responsibility that I’ve shouldered him with. I send out a message to everyone informing them that I’m dealing with the water and lighting issues, and to talk to Lui for directions to the bathroom.

“I’ll look at setting up some lighting tomorrow morning.” Nel says. “Ria is too busy to waste her time on it. I’ll set up a trade with some of the less useful things we have stored in the ruins and ensure that this place is liveable.”

“Make sure that someone escorts you back and forth whenever you come here without us.” I say strictly. I’d rather lose most of the people down here, than let her get hurt running errands for them.

“Of course.” She replies, and I have faith that she’s not messing around. “I’m not going to let myself die so soon.”

“Good.” I reply. “Can we finally leave now? Or is there something else?”

“Do you need an escort?” Leai says, rushing up to my side.

“We should be alright.” I say, “But I don’t mind the extra company. Only so far as the lake?”

“Yeah, then I can go fishing.” She perks up, with a bright energy bursting about her. She worries me a little, but there’s nothing to be done for it.

It would be nice to stay down here and deal with all of these issues myself, look after these people that I’ve claimed as mine. Unfortunately, we have to attend class tomorrow morning. We can, and have, skipped a class here and there, but skipping out on one of the week long excursions for the combat course would spell disaster.

“I could stay.” I say thoughtfully. “Maybe Eshya and Vii can go to class instead, stay in the academy, and gather the teachers Skills. We could just move down here semi-permanently and use the new support device to replace classes.”

“No.” Nel says sharply. “That’s throwing away countless opportunities. Things will be fine down here. These people aren’t going to die in a week just because you’re not here to look after them.”

I grind my teeth, thinking over my options. Either choice will affect me significantly. If I give up and move down here permanently, I’ll be able to push my immediate ambitions ahead far easier, but I’d lose access to the academy and everything else to do with the Unified States. I wouldn’t be able to find talented classmates or come across people like Fluffy Butt. I’d be stuck down here, and as large as the dungeon is, it already feels like a prison just thinking about being stuck down here.

“What sort of leader do I want to be?” I ask myself as we head out of the new base and close the door behind us. This time no one comes crying about something else I’m neglecting.

I don’t want to micromanage; hanging over the shoulders of my crafters every time we need new lighting, or running around looking for water sources, or hauling stacks of gold and getting to know every vendor to manage our trade.

I want trusted experts to be in charge of all those things. A scouting force that can deal with wild beasts and find water, a trading company to be in charge of the flow of goods, and crafters who can create whatever they like.

Finding those experts, or training them up, is going to be quite the task in itself. Perhaps I can find a class in people management?

There’s so much that I need to do, so much that I don’t know how to do, and so many things that I’m still overlooking.

“You don’t need to worry about everything.” Leai says, meeting my eyes and smiling brightly. “I’ll make sure everyone has food to eat, and I’ll keep the beasts out of our new home. Everything is going to be great down here.”

I flinch, realizing now that I’ve been quietly brooding this whole time.

“Thanks.” I reply, trying to come up with something more, when we see the large glowing lake ahead of us.

“Well, I’ll see you around.” Leai says as we approach the lake, pulling her sister along and diving into the thick, glowing waters. I don’t even have a chance to say goodbye before they’re gone and even the ripples have faded.

“Is that… okay?” I ask as the large shadow turns our way, quickly adjusting its position to instead follow something that I can’t see. I would guess that the twins are doing something to annoy it, but I can’t see much from here.

“We’ll have to hope it is.” Eshya says, “Because I’m not going in there after them.”

No matter how long I gaze into the waters, the glow takes away any chance of seeing the battle going on beneath the surface. The shadow is struggling against something, but I don’t think the twins would be able to beat it, would they?

We rush up the slope and into the ruins while the beast in the lake is still distracted. It seems the twins are still alive at least.

The trip through the ruins is frankly quite pleasant, well, except for all the stairs. I’ll have to have Ria look over some of the elevators, and hopefully we can secure a safe path between our base in the ruins, and the entrance to the dungeon. Another task for another day.

Nel still has her own light wand, which she hides on her body the same as with her knives and pistols, and using it we can still see clearly enough. Even without using the beast deterrent we don’t stumble over anything dangerous, the few times I hear a beast coming near, it scuttles away before we can even shine the light upon it.

It could be luck, or it could be that the beasts are starting to recognise us as a threat. Either way, we don’t let our guard down.

“I’ve messaged Ria to get the door.” Nel says, as we walk the final stretch. The door opens up before us and a familiar crystal girl pokes her head out into the corridor, her flightless, crystal wings spread out behind her.

“How was it?” Ria asks, as we enter the training room. Barry stands in the corner looking as broken as ever before, perhaps he reads the room because he doesn’t bother us about training today.

“Everyone is holed up in a base we have set up under the forest, but it’s going to take a lot of work to make it a home.” I say, with a long sigh.

“Anything we can do?” Ria asks.

“I’m not sure there’s anything I can think of right now. Weapons perhaps?” I say, “We’re trading for the lights and something to keep water in. A bathroom of some sorts, and there’s even cooking services down there.”

Ria looks confused.

“There’s a group down there we’re trading with.” I say, “They’re all fairly nice.”

“Oh, can we visit? We’re still looking for materials which we can use to create efficient mana batteries.” She says, quite interested, “Also, we need to take a look at how your amour has held up. Did anything peculiar happen with it? Anything you want to say about how it performed?”

“Mana batteries… how about something like this?” I say pulling out the crystal that I’ve been using to store my own excess mana. She doesn’t even glance at it before shaking her head.

“They’re common down here. They have their uses, but they can’t easily be used to release mana in powerful bursts, which is what we’re after.” She says, “The armour?”

“It worked well. Really well.” I say, thinking back to the many battles I’ve been through so far, and how well the armour has served me. “There are a few ways in which it could be better.

“I’d like the freedom to turn the enchantments off. There are times when I know it’ll cause troubles by automatically activating.” I say, “That and sometimes it’d be more efficient to weaken a blow rather than fully stopping it.”

“Alright.” Ria says, tapping at her chin as she thinks. “I’ll work on it further, then.”

“Could you make something a little more simple that can be mass produced?” I ask, “So that we can all have something to protect us when we head down into the dungeon.”

“Mass produced?” She asks, tilting her head.

“That’s not really a thing here.” Vii chips in before turning to Ria, “She means she wants you to make lots of armour of decent quality, quickly. Like with the pistols.”

“Oh, that’s it?” She asks, frowning. “I suppose I understand.”

“Sorry for asking so much from you.” I say.

“Oh, no. It’s nothing much really. We never would have had all these opportunities if it weren’t for you.” She says.

“That isn’t an excuse to keep pushing you as I am.” I say, “We’ll settle down soon, and you can get back to working on your own projects again.”

“This research is going into our own projects, but yes, it would be nice not to have so much happening at once.” She says, relaxing a little.

With the help of Nel and Eshya I start peeling off my armour. I can’t recover all of the mana inside of it, not with my limited capacity, but I make sure that I’m as full as I can get. It’s interesting that the metal of the armour was actually limited to the same density as the rest of my mana form as a whole. As per my understanding it should be able to hold crystalised mana without a problem.

Since she’s here, I ask Ria about it.

“It’s about the state of your mana form.” She replies. “The armour has become an extension of you, but one that you can separate from. You’ll need to better master your own mana form if you want to be able to store denser mana into the armour.”

“Is there a reason for that?”

“Sure, but it’d take a while to explain it.” She replies, “Do you have time?”

“I don’t, and it’d probably be best that I don’t hold you up any longer than I am.” I say and she nods appreciatively, sighing in a pleasant tune.

“Then, I’ll be getting back to work.” She says.

“Take care of yourself.” I say as she looks over the armour, “Can you carry that?”

“I’ll have Sele come over to help. He’ll want to see how it’s holding up as well.” She says.

“Thanks.” I say, “Again.”

She smiles as she nods and sings quietly under her breath.

“What next?” Nel asks.

“Rudolf. Let’s see how he’s doing.” I say with a long tired sigh, heading back into the ruins that we’ve claimed as ours.

“He seems to be feeling better.” Vii says, popping by my side, “He’s sitting in that stone throne again.”

“Is that a thing he does now?” I ask.

“Yeah, it’s when he thinks no one’s watching.” Vii continues as we head into the room, where Rudolf quickly vacates the throne.

“I was just…”

“Doesn’t matter.” I say, putting up my hand to stop him. “Have you been keeping busy?”

“I… ah… not really?” He replies, “As you might’ve figured out already, I don’t head up to the surface.”

“You’re involved with the dungeon too?” I ask him flat out.

“Ah… somewhat.” He replies, “In fact, I should speak with you about a few things, especially if you’ve gone into the dungeon. There are some people you should talk to.”

“There are more than plenty of those.” I say, “Who is it in particular?”

“I… A faction that stands up against the Unified States, I’m just-”

“That doesn’t really shorten the list by much.” I reply, “So you’re… what? A recruiter?”

“I… I suppose.” He replies. The man is a far cry from the one I met just a few weeks ago.

“I mean to assist those who want something more than what the Unified States can offer. That’s what the entire ‘fallen’ thing is about really.”

“Okay, so your allegiance lies with this rebel group?” I ask.

“Yes? No?” He seems confused. “They haven’t shown up in a while now. I’m not sure what happened to them.”

“Okay, and your reason for telling me all this?” I ask.

“I’m meant to connect you with them, as a potential recruit. It’s just that you moved so fast, and…” he rests back and groans. “This was all so easy before you came here. I just got to sit around the parties and enjoy myself while occasionally sending along the rebellious students.”

“Well life isn’t always simple. Are you wanting to stick with me for now at least? I could use some help keeping order around here.”

“What sort of help?” he asks cautiously.

“You can’t fight, as I recall. Nel?” I ask. She’s the one in need of assistants.

“Take stock of all the trade goods that we have stored here and ask around to see what others might need.” She says, “Also, I’d like a list of people you’re in contact with who might have valuable Skills while being somewhat lenient to our cause. If there’s anything else, I’ll ask for it in a message.”

“I suppose I can do some of that.” He says, sounding rather loath to get off his ass, but not entirely unwilling.

“You can keep that chair if you do good work.” I say, pointing to the stone throne.

“Why would I want that thing?” He asks, shuffling about nervously.

“You tell me.” I say shaking my head. “Anyway. We need some rest, before I fall asleep on my feet.”

Korgan- “Found some water nearby that we can drink from. Seems fine enough, but we’ll need a barrel or some buckets or something.”

“You get that message?” I ask Nel, who tilts her head in confusion. I pass the message along to her, and she nods thoughtfully.

“We might have something here that could work temporarily.” She says.

“We’ll talk with the crafters later to figure out running water.” I say, “For now, it’s tomorrow’s problem.”

“Yes, I suppose that’s alright.” Nel says, suppressing a yawn.

We head up towards our dorm while chewing on some of the meat we got from the dungeon. We have a lot of work to get done, and it grates at me that I’m leaving so much unfinished, but I’ll have to trust that my subordinates are capable.

Even if she’s not the most experienced, I know that Nel can at least figure out trade, and can think her way through some of the problems that come up. I just hope that a few others can rise to the occasion as well.

Seeing the world tree and the dark sky far above, we turn away from the sight of the world, and make for the small room where our beds are waiting for our return.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Skills & Stats

~Mana Form:

Current mana density: 790 units

~Mana distribution:

Catagory Current Max. Skin 5% 28% Muscle 33% 33% Mind 20% 65% Cardiovascular 11% 11% Misc. 10% 10% Efficiency 79% 79%

~Favourited Skills:

-Chip Shredder

-Multi-mind

-Tag

-Mana surge movement

-Mana surge punch

-Reactive mana skin

-Infused delayed Casting

-Fire burst punch