Within a fortress nearly fifty kilometers to the southeast of the village of Rockfall.

I look up from the paperwork I have been handling for the Lord as a knock sounds from my office's door.

"Come in," I shout to whoever is on the other side of the door.

I look down again and finish signing the document I have sitting in front of me as I hear the door to my office open.

"Close the door," I say without even looking up from my paperwork.

If it were anyone important then they wouldn't have knocked.

Whoever they are, they don't say anything as I finish signing the document.

I set the document aside after giving it one more lookover before raising my head to look at my visitor.

Okay, they are a little bit more important than I was expecting, but still, no one that I have to worry about.

"Am I to presume that you are here with your report, Quinn Williams?" I ask the Knight standing in front of me.

I had hired this Knight as a spy a little over a month ago when Lord Frost had me go give his orders to the mayor of Rockfall, Jake Rockwell.

"Yes sir. My last report ended right after we started hunting the Goblins into the Lost Mountains. Since then, we have found and exterminated the Goblins, including their chieftain. Beginning from the last report, we..." Williams begins his report.

I relax at the news of the Goblins' extermination.

Now we no longer have those pesky Goblins in the way of our plans!

We have been wanting to send some men through the Lost Mountains to the Orc's territory for a while now, but those Goblins were going to be a minor problem with that plan that the Lord had wanted to be removed before we were even close to ready to execute the plan.

"...a mercenary had managed to find an intelligent dungeon within the Lost Mountains. Nothing in particular happened after that until both Jake Rockwell and I had arrived to deal with the Tier 2 Goblin..." Williams continues his report, instantly catching my attention the moment the words 'intelligent dungeon' pass through his lips.

"Did you say that there is an intelligent dungeon within the Lost Mountains?" I interrupt his report before he can finish.

I notice a flicker of annoyance upon my mentioning the dungeon, but he answers my question all the same, "Yes. The same mercenary that we had awarded the Lost Mountains to was the one to originally discover the dungeon, along with Pallus Gray."

Ah, I understand his irritation now. That idiotic mayor had given away an intelligent dungeon as a reward because he was thinking that the land was near worthless.

I can't help but let out a chuckle at this, which only seems to further irritate Williams.

"Alright, you can continue your report, Sir Williams," I tell Williams as my smile turns back into a frown at the thought of the dungeon being owned by some unknown mercenary.

The Lord wasn't going to get that dungeon whether the mayor gave it away or not, since the land would have been given to the mayor as part of his payment for clearing out the Goblins.

Although, the fact that the mayor won't be getting the dungeon either does help me feel better about the situation, but I will still have to get into contact with the mercenary at some point to work out a deal.

I hope he is an agreeable sort of person, otherwise things might get ugly.

"...and that is the end of the report," Williams finishes his report with a frown on his face, obviously noticing my lack of attention in regards to his report.

"Alright, you did a good job. Here is your pay," I say before handing over 7750 World Coins to Williams.

"You may leave now," I say to him before glancing out the window of my office into the fort city.

"Thank you, John Palner," I hear Quinn Williams say before he walks towards the door to leave.

"Actually, one more thing," I say, causing Williams to freeze up.

Williams slowly turns back around and cautiously asks, "What is it, sir?"

It's understandable that he is cautious of me – what with me being a higher Tier of Knight than he is – but he makes it so obvious that I just can't resist messing with him.

I say nothing for several seconds, leaving him stiff as a board, before finally asking my question, "What is the name of the mercenary?"

I would rather ask just Quinn now for the mercenary's name instead of trying to have my spies figure it out.

Williams visibly releases his breath before responding in a formal manner, "His name is Leon Raizel."

I feel a shiver run down my spine upon at the name Raizel before remembering that, according to the reports, he is a Human, so he can't be related to that Raizel.

"Alright, you may go," I tell Williams again, causing him to turn around and walk out of my office before closing the door behind himself.

I extend my senses out of my body and towards my assistant before giving them an order through telepathy, "Go and investigate an individual known as "Leon Raizel". Come back to me when you have something worth noting about him. They might also have some sort of a connection to Pallus Gray."

After giving out that order, I sigh before returning back to my paperwork.

I hate paperwork.

Within a fortress nearly one hundred kilometers to the west of the village of Rockfall.

"My Lord, you have a message. It is from your son, Pallus," my personal assistant tells me through telepathy before waiting for a response.

A message from Pallus? This will be interesting.

Pallus has been working with the military as a soldier ever since he was fourteen years old and has always been a really hard worker, never once causing me any problems.

I had originally thought that he would become a mercenary just like his siblings did once his draft period ran out, but instead, he just continued working for the military as a soldier.

At first, I was just going to order him to become a mercenary, but after thinking over it a bit, I decided to let him stay in the military.

After all, if that is what he wants, then who am I to get in his way?

I do still try to point him towards becoming a mercenary sometimes though.

After all, there is a lot more freedom as a mercenary than as a soldier.

"Alright, send it in," I respond to my personal assistant before cutting the mental connection.

I wonder what he has to say?

Pallus rarely ever sends me any letters. He normally just comes and visits me if he ever has anything to say.

The door to my office opens as my personal assistant, Jane, walks in towards me while carrying a letter. The letter has a grey wax seal of an eagle's head upon it, marking it as from someone of my bloodline.

Jane hands me the letter before turning around again to leave.

Before breaking the seal, I check it with my senses to confirm its validity.

As I do so, the seal glows in a feint grey light, confirming that it is indeed from one of my descendants.

I then break open the seal and begin reading the letter within.

Dear Father,

I have just finished my most recent job.

Within this job, I met an interesting man.

Most people, upon figuring out my lineage, would attempt to befriend me, but this man, Leon, did not.

Instead, he kept trying to avoid me entirely.

This piqued my interest further, so I started following him.

At first, he would try to avoid me, but over time he seemed to have given up and now even converses with me from time to time.

Since then, I would like to believe that we have become friends.

I even asked him if I could join his mercenary party if I became a mercenary and he said yes.

Therefore, I would like to take you up on your offer to become a mercenary.

Sincerely,

Pallus Gray

Well, that's a surprise!

Pallus is a wonderful person, but he has never been all that big on the friends department.

To think that he has finally gained a friend, not to mention that he wants to party up with them as a mercenary!

A wide smile forms on my face as I telepathically tell Jane, "Send a response back to Pallus. Tell him that I am delighted by the news and will handle setting him up as a mercenary as soon as possible."

Jane gasps in surprise – likely not expecting Pallus to ever agree to become a mercenary – before replying to me, "I will do so right away my Lord! I am glad Pallus has finally decided to become a mercenary!"

"I am as well, Jane. I am as well," I say to Jane.

I should look into this friend of his as well now that I think about it.

"Jane, I would also like you to look into a mercenary named Leon for me. Pallus seems to want to party with him, so I would like to know more about him," I tell Jane.

"Ah, that would explain his sudden change of heart in regards to becoming a mercenary. I will do as you command my Lord," Jane responds before cutting off the mental connection.

Interesting days are ahead, that's for sure.

Within a tower in a city near the border between The Drezar Kingdom and The Kingdom of Brimstone.

"How long until we will be able to launch our attack on the Humans?" I ask my second as I sit on my throne with my head in my hands.

"We should be ready to attack the Humans by the years end, my Lord," he answers while kneeling in front of me with his head bowed.

"The year just began, Arcon," I plainly state to my second with a scowl on my face.

My second raises his head – giving me a look at the two black horns jetting straight out of the sides of his head before turning at an angle upwards – before speaking, "I am sorry Lord Xurek, but we won't be able to launch our attack for almost an entire year due to Lord Silge's interference."

That damnable brat! Does he think that he can mess with me just because I was older than he was when reaching Tier 5?

"Alright, try to speed up the preparations. If I must, then I will go have a talk with Lord Silge. Let us see if he still has the guts to interfere with me while face to face," I order my second with a grin at the thought of punching his teeth in.

"Yes, my Lord! I will go now," Replies my second as he stands up with one last bow before heading out of the throne room.

As soon as he leaves, I glance in the direction of Fort Frost.

I will have my revenge someday, Lord Frost, and that day will be soon.

Mark my words.