The snow outside the dungeon was sparkling in the different coloured moonlight. The town houses were silver and blue as they reflected the light of the three almost full moons hovering on the horizon. The stars were out and Lin clapped her hand as a shooting star crossed the night sky.

The beauty of it was lost on my tired eyes, and the brightness of it felt like hot knives were shoved into my pupils. I rubbed my eyes and fell in line with Lin, feeling my stomach growl.

“I hope we didn’t miss dinner,” I said.

Lin twisted to look back at me and pointed at the moons in the sky. “They're probably getting ready for bed. It looks like we are getting leftovers hun.”

I narrowed my gaze to see the familiar dungeon tendril lines. The minions had been hard at work, and down towards the mines I saw the keeper crystal was extending its reach, but seemed to have been stopped. Above ground the walls had been reinforced, and it was now tall enough I couldn’t easily hop over it. As we approached the gate the dungeon opened it up for us, and we walked inside.

“Another tower already?” Lin chuckled as she elbowed me, pointing out the square base foundation. “As a thief I’m starting to break out in a cold sweat.”

That gave me an idea. “Actually, could you walk around and find any dead spots we don’t have sight lines of? I want to make sure anyone in the towers has a good sight line.”

Lin opened the shed door that opened the way to the dungeon, and a blast of heated air caused her fur to puff up. “What, get rid of my hiding spots Rolada and I sneak off to gossip?”

I shook my head and thanked her for holding the door. The change was immediate as the door closed behind us. The hot dry air instantly sapped away the cold, and we flexed our fingers to warm them up. The ice on our coats started to melt rapidly and we shook ourselves out. The one saving grace I personally had was that my dragon scale armour ensured my core was always warm. My hands were chilly, but I didn’t seem to have any issues moving them.

“I think this place has better heating than my home back on dir-, I meant Earth,” I said, cutting Lin off before she could snicker at me. “Thank you for the armour again Lin. It’s saved my life more than I can list, and I don’t have to worry about turning into a popsicle.”

Lin shivered and shook ice off of her tail. “I have half a mind to borrow it on our next long trip. Do you feel warm with it on?”

I shook my head. “I’m still chilly, but I don’t think it will hamper me. I would rather not test it personally.”

We used the pig bristle brushes to remove all the snow and ice clinging to our boots and pants. I tossed the snow laden brush back on the hook and followed Lin down. There were dozens of brushes on the walls, more than we would ever need. Maybe I should sell some off to Rodney.

Lin threw out her hands and let her fingertips brush the walls. “I do enjoy the lovely things you give us. This place is slowly turning into a palace-”

Lin snapped her mouth shut and before I could ask about it we heard a heated discussion. I thought I heard Yara’s voice bouncing down the halls and I clenched my hand, summoning the black smokey ring. Using my senses and the pull of the ring that pointed me towards Yara, I summarized they were in the kitchen.

“We might get food after all,” I said, leading the way.

We rounded the corner to find Sten, and Sliva at the main dinning table with an evening snack. Sliva had claimed my chair, and while she calmly sipped at a wine cup Sten was clenching his fists like he was grasping for straws.

“Poetry is about the soul, the very expression of the artist. It falls under the domain of art, not magic and not pleasure! I refuse to believe my poems give credence to the demoness of magic, my family would have my head!” Sten said, jabbing his finger at a parchment in front of him.

Yara was coiled up in blankets beside the fire in a brand new chair, with a tiny table outside her reach. There was a stack of delicious pancakes with fruit on it and when Yara reached for it, the table shuffled towards the wall.

“No, you stupid table, I’m over here,” Yara said. She whistled at it and coaxed it over. “Don’t make me call Carter to rebuild you again.”

The slightly uneven table wobbled violently, falling over its own stubby legs as it nearly spilled her late night breakfast onto the ground. But it did its duty, faithfully arriving at her side so she could eat. Yara reached out of the cocoon of blankets to reveal she was wearing a pink sweater and grabbed a fork, jabbing at the plate.

She stabbed the table, cracked the surface and bent the tines of the fork.

The table jumped and Yara looked at the plate in confusion. The little table shuffled over again, and at the last second Yara stabbed the table as the plate slid away at the last moment. Lin and I were stunned at the strange display. High pitched wheezing came from the wall and Scott, our scout minion, jumped out of the shadows.

“Scott, what the in hells was that for?” Yara asked, completely confused.

“R-rev…Rev-gen…Merp!” Scott said, shaking his fists at her before scampering off deeper in the dungeon.

A minion has made progress on a quest!

Scott : Inconvenience Yara for revenge 1 / 3

“Don’t worry about him,” I said. I shook out my cold arms. “Got any more pancakes?”

“Do you have any sweet toppings?” Lin asked as she jumped into her usual seat. She grabbed Sten’s parchment and looked at it. “New saga about a great heroine? Oh my, is it about me?”

Sten folded his arms and huffed. “It was going to be a poem about rebuilding yourself like a hot bloom of iron into steel. The most dwarvish thing I could think of, and this woman!” Sten paused to point at a relaxed Sliva. “Who is very wonderful mind you, is telling me that I’m bringing praise to her goddess, not mine.”

Sliva smiled and sauntered her way to the kitchen. The stove turned on and Sliva started to make us pancakes too. As Sliva worked she talked to us over her shoulder. “If you read a dwarven crafting manual then that is a work of industry, isn’t it?”

Sten slid down in his chair, hiding inside his beard until all I could see of his face was his eyes staring out his facial hair. “Aye.”

“That would be your god’s territory. But a novel or a poem is for inspiration, for joy and leisure. Is that not a simple pleasure?” Sliva asked. “If it isn’t in Ishaka’s court then it would be one of the minor gods of art.”

Sten grumbled and grabbed his parchment back from Lin. He stared intently at his writing while digesting Sliva’s words.

“Now talk,” Yara said, sitting on my other side. She was still cocooned up in the blankets and gave me a thin lipped smile. “Easy quest?”

“Yeah, it was pretty good,” I said, leaning away to hide my face. “We made some friends, bashed some easy monsters and got the quest item.”

“So why is your face all cut up,” Yara asked, grabbing my chin to make me face her. “Someone did an alright job of healing it. Those scars should mostly fade in a week.”

“Ram girl, paladin of Henineka. Nice lady,” Lin said.

Yara looked at Lin. “Why did Josh vanish for a brief moment and I had the huge sense he was in life threatening danger?”

“Hey, he killed a pretty strong dungeon boss by himself and I got these sweet fans!” Lin said, snapping the fans open.

Yara glared at us. “Talk.”

Over our late night breakfast we filled them in and Yara seemed pensive at first. But when I described my battle and my gamble Yara nodded as if she was impressed. As always Sliva’s cooking was lovely and gave me enough energy to stay awake. By the end of our little tale the peanut gallery was giving us their takes.

“You would have been better off with the martial talents, more reliable. Or even better you should stop wasting all your skill points at the first sign of trouble, and fight it. You might learn a thing or two that way,” Sten said stoically.

He then dropped something from his pocket and he bent down to retrieve it. I felt a tap on my leg and a pop up appeared requesting my talent information. I tried my hardest to not smirk as I sent them off to him. I wondered if he was finally going to spend his stockpile of saved skill points.

Yara shook her head. “He was out-skilled by a long shot. He’s been a quick learner, but he's only good at fighting beasts or other swordsmen, anyone with a pole weapon or an exotic one is going to give him a thrashing. His ability to actually think with his spells and his deceit has actually been his greatest strength in shoring up his shortcomings.”

“The better bet is not getting caught in bad situations,” Sliva said as she sipped her wine.

Sten scoffed. “With Lin around? She might be the lucky one, but I’m starting to suspect she's stealing it from us.” Sten took out a quill and scribbled on a wrinkled page. “Now there’s an idea…”

Lin chomped down on a juicy berry. “You're just a sore loser. I won fifty silver off you this week, but you forget you won ten off me last week. Luck comes and goes like the tides.”

Sten threw his hands up, and when Lin diverted her attention he scribbled down more notes. Lin looked over his shoulder and tapped the page.

“Are you going to quote me for that?” Lin asked.

“Bah, and invite you to come and demand money if I manage to sell three copies of my latest anthology?” Sten shot back. “I bet you stole that too-”

“Regardless,” Yara said, cutting the two of them off. “I think everyone could do with some practice. You especially Josh. Those elemental strikes have to stay as your finishing attack, or your opening move.”

I yawned into my sleeve and nodded. “I think if I can learn to fight against spears I’ll do pretty well, they are the most common weapon right?”

Yara gave me a deadpanned look. “What’s cheaper to arm an army with? Swords or pointy sticks?”

The others found it amusing and I sheepishly shrugged. I knew they should be the most common for the run of the mill soldier or guard, but the better question was, what was I most likely to fight? Adventuring seemed to be mostly lightning fast skirmishes and ambushes.

I nudged Lin and she gave me the book. It felt heavy in my hands, just like my eyelids and I knew it was time to sleep. As I let out another yawn and went to say goodnight I felt Yara grab my shoulder.

“Oh, I need to make sure we get our little sparring match tomorrow. I need to pay you back for making me worry off and on all day,” Yara said, tapping her ring. “Each time you get in a battle or set off a trap I feel anxious.”

I held up my hands and cleared my throat. “Now Yara, that was quite a little adventure, shouldn’t I have a break before you kick my butt- I mean duel you? Need to have a fair fight, and I want to show you what I’ve learned.”

“Shower, then my room.” Yara’s tail tapped me on the rump and I jumped, heading towards the door. “I’m keeping an eye on him tonight,” Yara said to Lin.

Lin put up a hand to her mouth and whispered loudly. “I’ll give you a cut of his treasure if you go hard on him tomorrow.”

The two women shook hands and I sighed in defeat as it looked like my duel was set in stone. I bid Sten and Sliva goodnight as they launched back into their debate. Lin told me she would tell Rolada about our adventure when they woke up tomorrow since she was probably asleep right now.

I made my way to the showers, and checked up on the minions. Either we had some kind of break through with Minion Management ranks or Dan had gained some talent because the minion work queue was different. It was now a page that was neatly organized with several tabs along the top. I could access most of it in two ways, looking at tasks in a priority queue or looking at tasks delegated to each minion.

As I stripped down in my private bathing suite I heard the pitter patter of small feet as Dan rushed inside to look at me. I kept the curtain closed and gave him a thumbs up.

“I’m alive little buddy,” I said.

Dan started to wash my clothes, but stopped when he poked at the openings in my blood soaked pants. The pants were basically ruined and it sucked because they were pretty nice. He washed them off anyways, and I noticed a work order appeared, for someone to fetch me new pants.

It showed up on the first page, and an outline in black appeared around it with the names of several minions looking at it. Mason accepted it and I watched the work order shoot towards Mason’s tab.

As I rinsed off my body I mentally focused on Mason’s name and looked at his tasks, and my eyes widened. Mason was pulling triple shifts with dozens of tasks to his name. They were tagged with numbers to order them in priority and I saw the top most one under fetching my pants was water pipe maintenance.

“Oh, it’s because of hot water and cold water going down the same pipes isn't it?” I asked Dan. I slapped myself on the forehead. “With winter and everything they must be degrading too fast, we need a better way.”

I remembered having to help fix the plumbing back home once, it mostly consisted of my holding a light or fetching tools for my dad as I got yelled at. But the one key thing I remembered was hot water and cold water was usually in different pipes. I assumed it was to avoid temperature shock.

Knowledge World : Failure!

“Merp!” Dan chirped back as he started scrubbing my shirt.

There were other requests from the minions in one tab, letting them suggest buildings, what resources they should gather and more. Amidst it was a battle of who should be gathering new resources, who should repair the dungeon from the siege and suggestions to completely rebuild walls, the pipe system and more. The most prevailing one that nearly everyone wanted was more workers.

“Dan, why didn’t you ask for more minions?” I asked as I dried off with a towel. “We have the wiggle room for more minions right?”

The minion management skill and builder skill was no longer on my page leaving me to scratch my head at first. I remember they moved over to the keeper crystal's sheet and I had to focus on the walls to be able to prompt it to show up.

Keeper Crystal Skills

Builder 8

Minion Management 7

Minion Crafting 3

“Whoa, that’s gone up a lot,” I said in awe. There was a new tag line with minion management and I tapped it.

Minion Management - Keeper Crystal

You can currently command an amount of minions from your crystal equal to twice the Minion Management skill and the keeper’s Charisma bonus. Currently you can command up to eighteen minions.

Drone - 1 food and 1 wood

Scout - 5 food and 5 wood

Guard - 15 food, 10 wood and 5 metal

??? - 15 food, 25 wood, 5 metal and one mana crystal

Minion Independence - Give minions the commoner class by using the keeper crystal and an amount of resources equal to fifty percent of the original cost of summoning the minion, rounded up.

“Dan,” I said, looking at him. “You guys could have made it way easier on yourselves. Why didn’t you summon more drones?”

Dan looked at me and waved his hand. A sheet listing what we had in our stockpile rooms came up, and I started to see why he had been hesitant to get more.

Food items….

Uncooked - Unedible 600

Uncooked - Edible 100

Cooked 20

Materials…

Woods 100

Leathers 55

Cloth 30

Stones 25

Metals 15

Magic Crystals

Unworked mana crystals 11

Heating Crystals 2

Finished Products…

I waved off the rest as it mostly just various tiers of furniture, pots and other things the minions had managed to make. There were individual pieces of equipment left over from looting the undead army and gnomes, and the reminder I needed to fix those magic items. The only positives we had was the massive stockpile of food. Turns out getting attacked by an army of flying pigs and giant rabbits was the best thing for having enough food for winter. The wood stockpile looked good to me, but I knew if we had to burn any of it for heat it would be gone in the blink of an eye.

“Okay but think about this,” I said, holding up a hand. I started to tap at my digits as I paced around the room. “If we get some basic drones we can hold off making them commoners until we need another crafter right? Just get some drones to take on the easy jobs from you guys, like resource gathering. Let the specialized workers focus on their specialties so we can get products for sale. It’s all about making sure we are a well oiled machine with some extra hands in case someone needs to take a break.”

Dan hummed in understanding and used a clay heater to air dry my clothes. While we waited he and I started to throw ideas back and forth at each other on the work order queue menu. We eventually settled for getting ten more minions to fill the ranks up to seventeen. With two scouts to keep an eye out for danger, an extra guard to help out George and the other seven being drones. Luckily kicking drones up to commoners was just another unit of food and wood, but we only planned for one to become a blacksmith. It seemed Mike had only focused on mining, leaving his metal crafting skills abysmal. Now the exploding chair ride made more sense as all the gears, strips of iron and iron chains were listed as being poor quality.

I didn’t voice my curiosity but I really wanted to know what that mysterious fourth minion type was. Perhaps after we filled our stockpile back up and made sure everything was running smoothly I could see what it was.

“This is certainly the strangest meeting I’ve ever had. Usually it’s in an office, and I would typically be required to wear pants,” I said as I made sure my clothes were dry. “Now I’m no pro at being the big boss, but I think this is our best bet. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”

“B-Bird?” Dan asked, clearly confused.

I yawned and waved as I grumbled. “Forget it, weird saying from dirt- I mean Earth! Damn it, Lin and Yara put that in my ear. Anyways, we are better off making sure we are getting resources instead of sitting on a dwindling pile of them. At least that’s what I think.”

Dan hopped up and saluted me. “K-keeper, S-smar-art. Merp.”

I patted him on the head, and smoothed out his messy fur. It seemed like he had been running ragged and hadn’t even had time to care for himself.

“Hey Dan,” I said as he reached for the door. “After getting the new minions, give them a basic run down, and the rest of you guys should take a day off. You more than earned it.”

Dan’s stubby black tail wagged and he let out a happy growl as he hopped out of the room. I saw a new work order appear, with Dan suggesting making a statue of me in thanks.

“No,” I said, cancelling the order. “I don’t need a statue of myself.”

Or maybe I did. Heroes got statues. Heroes slayed powerful foes, and I had succeeded in that regard. I tapped on my chin and shook the thoughts away. I waited for a minute and there was a knock on the door. A fresh pair of pants was tossed into the room and I got dressed. Mason’s work order queue kicked over and he immediately went to work on his next project, cleaning up the workout room. It seemed the minions wanted the duel to happen too.

I made my way to Yara’s room finding the second wind Sliva’s meal had given me was waning. I sleepily knocked and entered the priestess’ room. The bedroom was warmer than the rest of the dungeon as Yara had no less than three clay heaters here. Yara was on her side in bed, with a light blanket over her dozing form. She was in soft pink and white pyjamas with gold butterflies on it. It was such an absurd sight I could help but giggle.

Yara turned over and in her arms was her stuffed unicorn. She grumbled at me and I sat on the edge of her bed, putting my gear onto the floor. She grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me into bed beside her. She opened her eyes and looked at me sleepily.

“Hi Yara,” I said.

Yara mumbled something and pulled me in, wrapping her arm, including the unicorn, around my waist and hugged me to her chest. She lifted her leg to put over mine and I heard her hip crack. Yara sighed as if a great pain had been alleviated. “Ah, now I have a leg rest. Good night.”

Before I could even say it back she was asleep. I craned my neck to see Yara look more peaceful than I had ever seen before. Her body seemed to soak up heat from me, keeping me at a more comfortable temperature in the otherwise hot dry room. I also picked up on an important detail. Yara’s back was to the door, as if she was shielding me from danger.

I pet the unicorn against my chest and patted Yara’s hand before sinking my head into the pillows. The day's adventure caught up to me and I was quickly whisked away to sleep too.

“Good night Yara,” I said.

In my mind's eye I saw a silver thread come down off the ceiling with a second one going for my bag. As my mind tried to dream the thread wrapped around my waist and pulled at me, with the other grabbing the book. I felt a pull and I was dragged up towards the ceiling, with my body turning transparent and purple. Looking down I saw my actual body cuddling up with Yara and I was whisked away elsewhere.

The abyss, my old friend, greeted me again. I was shoved around as the book flapped along beside me and I grabbed it. The second silver thread merged into the one holding me and my flying speed doubled. Or seemed to, there was nothing to gauge how fast I was actually going.

I hurtled into a black and silver cloud that appeared out of nowhere and got thrown through a wall, slamming into a couch. Stone cracked off another wall behind me and pelted the couch. I rubbed the side of my head and slid onto the floor in a daze. As I rubbed my eyes I was hoisted up into the air and placed back onto the cushions.

I slowly moved my hands away and was greeted by ten small creatures I had never met before, all of them staring at me with wide eyes. They each looked different with some resembling lizards, others birds and one of them was covered in sharp quills, looking like an angry porcupine crossed with a furry gnome. Several of them had weapons too, the menacing points too close to me for comfort.

I cautiously raised a hand and cleared my throat. “Hi?”

I prayed to every god I knew about so far, and hoped these guys were friendly.