The other spectators quickly forgave my transgression once they saw Ash welcome me. Even the necromancer that had been winning the bid knew the way the winds were blowing, because he averted his eyes. Ash, for one, had all but forgotten about the auction he was here to attend. Instead, he came over and clapped me on the back, before leading me off stage and shepherding me out of the crowd.

“So what brings you here, Arthur? Not for another war, I hope.”

“Not as far as I know, no. Why? Should I be worried? I thought you guys had the place under control now.”

“Hah! We sure do, kid! You should’a seen the look on the mayor’s face when the dry man gave him the eviction notice. All of the between lands belong to us now, necropolis included!”

“Congratulations. Can’t say I’ve come across a worse shithole of a city, but it’s something…” I teased with a half-smile. Ash pushed my head down affectionately, ruffling my hair.

“Come on, now! You’re raining on my parade here! Besides, you can’t complain that this place lacks character! I like how honest folk are around here. Nothing to hide. Hells, they don’t even bury their corpses! Why let a good piece of kit waste away, am I right?”

“You can say that again. I came across a least a dozen on my way here, just propped up in alleyways. With the way you people auction them off, I’d have thought you would take better care of them.” I replied morbidly.

“Tut tut. Not all bodies are valuable, you know. Some of them serve as the foundations for the city itself. It’s been done this way for centuries. Anyway, what are you here for? Need help with something?”

“You could say that, yeah. I’m here looking to get some business done, as well as ask for some advice. It’s pretty personal, though.” I added as an afterthought, noticing the prying eyes nearby.

“Don’t you worry about that, Arthur! I’m sure we can help you back at the mayor’s office. Follow me, it’s just this way.”

A few dozen minutes of walking later, Ash and I walked through the front gate of a tall rectangular building. The path here had led us through the more… affluent part of the city, if you could call it that. In this area, residences weren’t stuck so close together. Instead, wealthy residents were given large plots of land to advertise their preferred brand of diabolical towers and castles, the shoddy workmanship held together by mana. If I focussed, I could almost feel them strain under their own weight.

The town hall, which housed the mayor’s office, was the worst offender on this front. Diagonal spires held the wonky tower in place, keeping half of it suspended in the air. Heavy slate hung on the tower sides like a curtain, leading up to the angular roof. The entire construction looked like it was about to collapse at any moment, reminiscent of necropolis other residences. This building in particular took that idea to a whole new level. The scale had increased by quite a bit, making me feel slightly on edge as we headed inside.

Thankfully, the place decided not to pick this very day to collapse, sparing us from a rather gruesome fate. It took a few more minutes to make our way up the shoddily arranged staircases, but we eventually made it to a large rotund chamber with a large desk at the end. The room was sparsely decorated, with a few couches and cabinets acting as its only furniture besides the desk.

Speaking of the desk, it was occupied by several small towers of paperwork, hiding the skulking figure sitting behind it.

Ash cleared his throat once, then twice, before the person in question finally reacted, taking their attention away from their work. Once I saw the familiar face of the dry man, I realised that he, too, had been drawn into an endless battle with the worst foe of all: bureaucracy.

I had grown used to seeing my uncle in the exact same predicament, but only now that I knew that even the dry lord was subject to this particular affliction, was I starting to understand that this would be my future, too, if I let it. Once was a coincidence, and twice was a pattern.

Thankfully, the dry man hadn’t forgotten about me despite the mind-numbing task he had committed himself too.

“Arthur, my boy! What are you doing here?!” he asked once he noticed me, his face lighting up.

“I asked him the exact same thing, funnily enough, but he didn’t want to spill.” Ash said before I could get a word in.

“That was just because we were out on the street, Ash. I don’t know about you, but I don’t see the need to spill all my secrets to the entirety of Necropolis.”

“The dead don’t talk, Arthur.” He replied with a smirk.

“Yet the undead seem to do nothing else…” I replied under my breath, subtly jabbing back.

The dry man dismissed his task, making the paper towers disappear with a wave of his hand, before joining us on a nearby couch and pulling a coffee table over, making an improvised lounge.

“Well Arthur, I assure you that only us two can hear you at the moment. Now tell me, how can I help?”

“I needed your help with two issues, actually. First of all, is that old castle still where we left it? The one that had the chalice and the undead king inside?”

“I know the one.” Ash intervened. “I believe that it’s been left untouched, yes. Why, thinking about becoming one of the lord’s citizens? Roa not really doing it for you anymore?”

“Not quite.” I replied, chuckling. I pulled out my spatial pouch before summoning the large black orb I had secured a few weeks ago. The massive crystal immediately hummed to life and started to float, sucking up the ambient mana greedily.

“What the hells is that?” Ash exclaimed, taken by surprise.

The dry man seemed far less confused but no less shocked by the sudden appearance of my new artifact.

“Where did you get this?” he asked, finally speaking up.

Since I had trusted them with my life before and the dry man owed me a life debt to boot, I trusted them enough to give them an abridged version of the story. I told them of how I had gotten into a verbal fight with my friend, which led to me entering some ruins. I described the ruins’ appearance, as well as the events that occurred there, but left out the specifics of how I got out of the prison.

“Oh, I also got this, by the way.” I proclaimed, remembering my most recent dungeon reward and pulling it out. “My friend gave me the idea of combining both to make a floating island or something. Considering I already have access to a prebuilt castle, I thought that I might as well ask for your help, since this orb uses dark affinity mana. My countrymen wouldn’t know how to handle it.

“And do you? Know how to handle it, I mean?” The dry man interjected.

“Uh… not exactly, no. I was hoping you knew someone that could create an array throughout the castle and implement some defensive formations as well. I don’t know the first thing about that, to be honest.”

The dry man sighed, while Ash chuckled. “Looking for a formation master, eh? Well, look no further!” Ash proclaimed, pointing both hands at the dry man, who facepalmed in response.

“Really?! You’re a formation master?!” I asked in awe and shock.

“Not a master, per se, but when you have lived as long as I have, you tend to pick up a little bit of every skill. Since there weren’t any formation masters when I first came to the between lands, I sought to learn the trade. My relevant skills are of a high enough tier to make your dream a reality, but I find myself in quite a conundrum.”

“How so?” I asked, not willing to have my hopes dashed now that they were up.

“I owe you a life debt, as I am sure you remember. Simply installing these arrays and formations wouldn’t be enough of a trade, however. That being said, I can’t see myself completing this task for you just because I like you, either. At least a few months of work would go into the project and I have no time to spare as things stand. Furthermore, nothing you own would be a worthy price.”

“I see. A favour, then. We worked with favours before, we might as well now.” I tried, hoping for a quick solution.

“Long-term favours are dangerous, Arthur. A favour of yours now wouldn’t be worth half of what a favour will be worth a century from now.”

I got the impression that he was looking out for my interests, but that wasn’t enough to deter me. Through Dalius, I had gotten the chance to understand the value of a home base, especially a mobile one.

“That might be true, but there are things in this world that will always be worth a favour, even when I reach a higher tier. Flying castles seem like one of them, don’t you think?”

The dry man brushed his fingers through his overgrown stubble, humming for a moment. Eventually, he sighed and gave me a small smile.

“All right then. Just don’t rescind on our agreement when you’ve reached my age, all right? I guarantee you that I’m going to be greedy, when the time comes. For now, I’ll take this mana generator and control panel. Give me three months to get everything set up.” He agreed, making me do a mental jump for joy. The two items were absorbed into one of his nondescript rings, where they waited to be used.

“Now then, onto the second matter you wanted to talk about.”

“Ah yes. Well, you see… it involves my advancement to tier 4. I’ve reached the right level, but I’m not sure if rushing it…”

I got interrupted at that point by Ash, whose eyes had gone wide.

“Already?! You lucky fucker!”