*

They exited the dungeon as easily as they’d entered. Once outside, Anna gave him a soft hug and took off in the direction of the Osh’Tika’Varu at full speed. Aiden collected Blizzy and they booked it back to Zion, covering the distance in little less than an hour.

He passed through the checkpoint of the expanded Town at the bottom of the mountainous slope, earning respectful nods and look of awe as he passed through. After getting the Town Control Hub up to Tier Two, Zion’s borders expanded to the edge of the surrounding forest, allowing them to aggressively expand and set up a small working district. The walls were twice his height and always manned, two teams of five present at any given time.

As he trekked up the slope, he waved at the approaching team, a large lion standing by the familiar leader of the group. “James!”

“Aiden, we thought you’d miss sending us off.” James reached his hand out, and Aiden shook it. “Oli’s been going crazy looking for you. I hope you have a really good reason for being gone so long. She’s been running around with her head on fire trying to take care of all of your work while still doing her own.”

“Unfortunately, I have a very good reason for being gone.” James’ team passed by, and Aiden nodded towards the trainees. “Give me the short version of what I’ve missed before I get the long version from the rest of them.”

“Two new groups appeared today at the summoning point,” James said with a grimace, staring at the back of his descending team. “The increased frequency has me worried and hopeful at the same time, man. If they’re this weak when they come, are we worried about Earth for no reason?”

“I don’t know. All we can do is keep progressing the Gate Hub quest as fast as possible and hope there’s a way to get home at the end of it,” Aiden said, resting a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Keep them safe.”

“If I can’t, Kion will.” James pet the regal lion’s head and stroked its mane. “Thanks for seeing us off. Always makes me feel a little bit better.”

“I might be up to my head in work, but the new recruits are invaluable. If it were just us eight, we never would’ve made the progress we have. Having said that, go take care of them. I’ll be waiting for you to come back.” He pointed towards the direction of the Incubator Chamber dungeon. “From now on, I’m restricting access to the East. Nobody below B-rank ventures alone out that way. When you get back, Anna will have a debrief on the situation.”

“Shit, that bad?” James looked in the distance and nodded. “Anything I can help with?”

“Nothing anybody can do now but wait.” Aiden took out one of the twelve Pillars and handed it to James. “For this group, I want you to try something.”

“Let me hear it.” James took the Pillar, his eyes widening. His face paled and he looked in the direction of the dungeon again. “Shit.”

“That’s for you since the newbies can’t absorb it. Two hundred Essence goes to the two trainees that bring in the biggest haul, fifty for the other two,” Aiden explained.

“You sure that’s a good idea?”

“No, but I’m interested in seeing the results. Also,” Aiden looked around, checked his watch, and grinned, “I’m telling you this first, so use it as you see fit. For the next week, I’m doubling contribution gains. Anybody who reaches C-rank will receive a bonus of five hundred Essence, and anybody reaching B-rank will receive two thousand.”

“Can we afford that?” James asked, waving his hand up the slope towards the Town Hall. “Pretty sure I’ve heard Oli ranting and raving about how we’re bleeding Essence at the moment.”

“Zion can’t afford it, but I can,” Aiden said with a shrug. He looked up at where he knew Oli would be waiting. “At this point, I can front the Essence for pretty much everything we need, but that wouldn’t benefit the people of Zion.”

“Alright, I’ll trust you.”

They shook hands again, and James departed. Aiden barely perceived the speed of which the man descended, catching up to the trainees exiting the gates in a split second. Kion looked up at Aiden and huffed, slowly loping after the team.

Aiden watched them depart into the forest before continuing up the mountain. He waved toward the two guards at the top and passed into Zion proper, smiling at the progress they’d made. Had someone told him Zion would become what it was now in a month, he would’ve told them they were blowing smoke up his ass.

But sure enough, they’d made it happen.

He walked toward the massive Town Hall in the center of the city, watching as people bustled to and fro. As he walked, he prompted the City information to appear before him.

Overview

Zion, the Great Mountain City

Size

City

Population

1,753

Gate Leader

Aiden Pearce

Main Buildings

17

Supporting Buildings

32

Magical Buildings

9

Resource Generation

12

Amenities

18

Entertainment

5

Obelisks

2

Description:

Zion, the Great Mountain City was settled, claimed, and developed by the Gate Leader, Aiden Pearce.

Through the conjoined effort of the Gate Leader and the members of Zion, it has flourished into a city worthy of its name.

He’d added the Obelisk section since it fell into a category of its own, the Essence generation increasing entirely based on how many of the Magical Buildings they had. There were a thousand other statistics that he could pull up, but he let Oli handle those. All the numbers bored him.

“Right on time for another meeting,” he said, stepping into the Town Hall to see a crowd heading up the stairs to the fourth floor. “Hopefully Cloudy will be back with news of her training with the V’Yenya’s people. My plans pretty much rely on her and Magnus figuring out how to use this world’s magical resources to craft.”

When they stepped foot on the fourth floor, a familiar voice called out, “Aiden, do you have a death wish?”

“Of course not.” Aiden waved towards Isaac. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

“Claudia sent word that she’d be here, and you know how I am. Weapons are my thing, and I’m dying to know what she’s learned.” He flicked his wrist, and the familiar pocket knife twirled around his fingers deftly. “I haven’t found anything better than this so far.”

Another familiar figure approached and placed his hand on Isaac’s wrist, stopping the twirling blade. “You’re making everyone antsy with that thing. Put it away.”

“You’re no fun sometimes, Ian. Sometimes I wonder if you’re still the nervous kid I met a month ago.” Despite his griping, Isaac grinned as he put the blade back into whatever nook he kept it then turned to Aiden. All playfulness disappeared. He rested a hand on Aiden’s shoulder and led him away from the walkway towards the wall to the side. “After the meeting, I’ve got some news for you.”

“Good news, hopefully. I’ve had enough bad news of my own today,” Aiden said, shaking Ian’s outstretched hand.

“It’s news. I’ll let you determine whether it’s good or bad, but it’s definitely going to shake things up around here.” Isaac held out his hand, and Aiden shook it. “We’ll meet up afterwards. Don’t forget or try to run off.”

Aiden grinned and nodded towards both of them then took a seat in the back row as Olivia took the stand. Her eyes honed in on him instantly. He gave her a small wave and smile, but he had a feeling she was unamused in the slightest. He watched her eyes take in the crowd and then dart back to him every few seconds…

Because he was supposed to be the one up on the stage presenting today. Conveniently enough, he’d left an entire brief of the agenda for her as a “just in case” in the event he didn’t make it back from the dungeon in time.

Blizzy hopped up in the chair next to him and rested her head on his leg. He pet the little dragon’s head as he listened to Olivia.