Dwarves, Humans, Elves, Beast Kin, Demons, and Aleph filled the streets around the building that held the teleport pad.
“These are some of our allies, but most of them were healed after the battle and are staying here to get checked out before going home. Most of the races have gone back to their respective cities. We’re currently building embassies for all of our allied people.” Josh waved to a group of different large towers. Metal automatons moved over them, changing the crude blocks of stone into actual buildings to house the various allies’ embassies.
“This is intriguing; where will your captives be staying?” Rendar asked. He was greatly interested with the city. It was clear that the entire city was what the Stone Raiders were calling their “guild hall.”
Just what have they been doing away from prying eyes? A guild with an entire city to themselves!
“Certainly. Come this way.” Josh indicated for Rendar to follow him.
It didn’t take long for them to leave the people behind. The city was large and there simply wasn’t the population there to inhabit all of Terra.
Josh took Rendar to one of the brilliantly glowing buildings.
“Are these one of those soul gem buildings?” Rendar asked.
“Correct. How did you know?” Josh asked, intrigued.
“I heard about it from people who went to Devil’s Crater. I didn’t think that someone would be able to make a construct this large, though.” Rendar looked at the building.
“It takes a hell of a lot of resources, but my resident magic nerd tells me it will work.” Josh rolled his eyes, snorting slightly as he led the way inside.
Rendar smiled slightly as they were greeted by the smell of moist earth and plants.
“Josh, I wasn’t expecting you to come over here,” a Human said, moving through the various crops and different plants in the growing tower.
“Hey, Fornau. Should have guessed you’d be trying to optimize the growing cycle.” Josh clapped the man on the shoulder.
“Well, these growing towers are brilliant. Just thinking about their potential is enough to energize me more than a gallon of Xer in the morning!”
“Glad you’re enjoying it. Unfortunately, I’m here to show off some of the basic rooms we have here. Also, we might have a whole bunch of people to staff this place so we can get some serious growing started,” Josh said.
“I look forward to it. Let me know if you need anything. I’m going to give my report to Dave when I’m done,” Fornau said.
“Okay, I’ll see you later,” Josh said.
Rendar nodded to Fornau out of respect. I hadn’t been able to read his aura and I feel that he’s much stronger than his stated level of 54. Rendar was filled with questions, but now was not the time for them.
They walked through the various levels of the growing tower, reaching rooms that had been set aside for those who would work in the tower.
“Have a look around. These are some of our basic rooms. We’re probably going to have different styles, but this one shows all of their major amenities,” Josh said.
Rendar walked in and paused, looking around the room. There were four separate bedrooms: two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living area.
This level of magical coding… Rendar looked through the different appliances, from a heating plate to hot and cold water. There was even a cooling box. The bedrooms were bare, but they had large windows that allowed a person to look out onto the rest of Terra.
Putting them in a place like this? It’s comparable to the conveniences that people get on the Per’ush islands. The amount of magical items and artifacts they have here that anyone can use is staggering.
“As long as all facilities are to this quality, then they will be agreeable,” Rendar said, not letting any of his inner thoughts show.
He’d been scared that the Stone Raiders wouldn’t be able to house and look after all of the prisoners. An influx of nearly two hundred thousand prisoners was no small matter. The mage’s college and guild would have had a hard time finding places for them to serve out their indentured service.
“Well, you’re welcome to look around and check out the place. Lucy is organizing people, seeing what they’re best at, and then moving them around. Going to be a pain to move so many people, but we’ve got the room for it.” Josh laughed and waved at the growing city.
***
Dave and Deia moved to the apartment that they had claimed for their own. All of Party Zero lived on the same floor.
As soon as they were through the door, Dave wrapped his arms around Deia.
“Don’t go out there again without me,” Dave said over her shoulder.
Deia relaxed; her hands fell on his that covered her belly protectively.
“Don’t scare me like that again,” Deia said with a shaky breath. Her nerves and fears she had been hiding came to the surface.
“Sorry about that. I didn’t think it would happen.” Dave gave her a reaffirming squeeze.
For a while, they just stood there, thankful that the other was okay, letting their nerves and fears drain away.
Deia gave Dave a quick kiss. “Okay, I’m going to have a quick shower, and you are too. I need my body pillow!” She pulled him with her as she walked toward the bathroom.
Dave laughed, smiling at her childish antics.
Chapter 28: Roll of the Dice
Dave woke up. As he shifted, Deia’s legs and arms tightened around him by reflex as she mumbled in her sleep.
Dave couldn’t help but break into a smile at her actions. Well, looks like I won’t be released anytime soon.
With an excited smile, he opened up his interface, going to the notifications.
Quest Completed: Friend of the Grey God Level 5
Protect your Guild from Lord Esamael’s forces
Rewards: Unlock Level 6 Quest
+10 to all stats (stacks with previous class level)
+500,000 EXP
Class: Friend of the Grey God
Status:
Level 5
Effects:
+50 to all stats
Access to hidden quests
Access to the Imperial Carrier Datskun
+500,000 EXP
Quest: Friend of the Grey God Level 6
Create transportation network across Emerilia
Rewards: Unlock Level 7 Quest
Increase to stats
Quest Completed: Bleeder Level 4
Protect your Guild from Lord Esamael’s forces
Rewards: Unlock Level 5 Quest
+10 to all stats (stacks with previous class level)
+400,000 EXP
Class: Bleeder
Status:
Level 4
Effects:
+40 to all stats
Ability to disable Jukal Link
+400,000 EXP
Quest: Bleeder Level 5
Create transportation network across Emerilia
Rewards: Unlock Level 5 Quest
Increase to stats
Quest: Weapons Master Level 3
One handed and shield 1,000/1,000
Two handed 78/1,000
Dual wielding 9/1,000
Archery 541/1,000
Rewards: Unlock Level 4 Quest
Increase to stats
Passive skills from other weapons increase from 25% to 50% when designated weapon is not equipped. (Example: While using Dual wield blades, one is able to gain 50% of the archery skill’s abilities.)
Level 231
You have reached level 231; you have 145 stat points to use.
Character Sheet
Name:
David Grahslagg
Gender:
Male
Level:
202
Class:
Dwarven Master Smith, Friend of the Grey God, Bleeder, Librarian, Aleph Engineer, Weapons Master, Champion Slayer, Skill Creator, Mine Manager, Master of Space and Time, Master of Gravitational Anomalies
Race:
Alignment:
Chaotic Neutral
Unspent points: 145
Health:
39,300
Regen:
21.76 /s
Mana:
14,280
Regen:
48.80 /s
Stamina:
4,540
Regen:
43.00 /s
Vitality:
393
Endurance:
1,088
Intelligence:
1,428
Willpower:
976
Strength:
454
Agility:
860
He sat there, just getting used to his body. He had been constantly recovering from stat or information overload.
He dismissed his screens and looked at his hands as he moved them. He had been keeping his mind fixed on different things. Having the conjured spheres around him was a good way to divert his attention and strain his Intelligence so he didn’t feel out of sync with the world.
His high Intelligence was incredible. It was as if he had been blind before. Now, everything had a richness to it. He didn’t just see items; he understood them. Combined with his Touch of the Land spell, he felt almost omniscient.
It was a powerful feeling and one that scared Dave.
What would happen if I was to lose control? The thought surfaced from the back of his mind. A sliver of fear built in him.
It felt as though he had opened Pandora’s Box. He had come into the power of a demi-god. When he had seen Deia in the middle of the fight at Verlun, he had needed to assert his control over his emotions. He wanted nothing more than to destroy everything in front of him. He had come up with multiple ways to do it.
It was only Bob’s warning and Dave’s ability to push away from his emotions that he had controlled himself, using means that were more acceptable for a Human.
He now understood why Malsour, Induca, and Anna contained their power, rarely going full out. If they were to start thinking of themselves as above, or better than their enemies, then they could become terrible existences.
Is this why the Dragons that stay in their Dragon form stay near the Densaou Ring or start to think of themselves as gods?
Deia moved next to Dave, hugging him again and moving her head on his chest.
Dave’s thoughts fell away as he smiled. He pushed away her hair covering her face, and tucked it behind her ear. He looked at her calm face. His worries seemed a little bit smaller.
“My firecracker,” Dave whispered, kissing her head.
The People of Emerilia and the Players were his people. He might gain great power, but he vowed to protect those he held dear and do his best to act in a way that he could make a future for his family that he could be proud of. He was going to make Emerilia a place where they were free to do as they wished, to live without having to fight and die for the Jukal Empire’s entertainment.
Dave sighed. A weight lifted from his shoulders. That promise to himself and to his unborn child comforted him greatly.
Deia yawned and stretched, almost pushing Dave out of the bed.
“Ah!” Dave said, nearly falling off.
“Whoops!” Deia stretched like a cat, a pleased smile on her face.
“First you imprison me in bed, then you kick me out of it!” Dave said, a wicked gleam in his eyes as he smiled.
“What are you doing?” Deia said, wary.
“Payback!” Dave laughed, tickling Deia.
She squealed and laughed, shaking from Dave’s tickles and giggling like a little girl.
Dave laughed.
“St—stop! I can’t—breathe!” she barely got out. Dave stopped after a few seconds. The two of them fell on the bed, happily tired.
“Rude! Your pretty fiancée wakes up and you tickle her!” Deia pouted.
Dave kissed her pouting lips, a smile on his face as he slipped out of bed.
“Hey! Who said you could leave!” Deia sat up, her eyes thinning as she looked at Dave.
Dave turned, chuckling at her expression. A warm feeling ran through his chest.
“Body pillow, here.” Deia pointed at the bed.
Dave wanted to get to work, but he did owe her and with her pout, there was little chance he could deny her.
“Fiiine!” Dave jumped back on the bed.
Deia wrapped herself around him, smacking her lips happily. “Good. Sleep now.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be the badass leader of Party Zero, not a master manipulator of pouting?” Dave said in her ear, wrapping his arm around her.
“Don’t make me take you to the training arena.” She looked up from his chest.
“Cuddling!” Dave pulled her from his side onto his chest.
“Ugh! Uncomfortable!” Deia pouted cutely as she half-complained.
Dave laughed at her antics. Her words seemed to push his worries away, making him think about nothing but her. The two of them became lost in their own little world, taking a break from the realities that lay outside of their apartment’s door.
***
Boran-al rubbed sleep from his eyes as he stood from the desk that he had been working at. He looked down on the mass of creatures that covered the ground around the massive crystal tower he stayed in.
The Dark Lord had returned to Emerilia, leaving Boran-al as his commander in his stead.
Boran-al looked at the creatures below with hunger.
He had made a number of creatures in his time. The Alturarans were the embodiment of Dark magic and soul magic. The transplanting of consciousness into an immaterial object.
The Alturarans had sacrificed their biological bodies as the planet had become more hostile. To procreate, they shared consciousness with one another, transplanting it into new crystal cores they found.
Originally, it had been a measure to preserve their race. They found magic, and with it, the strength to change the world.
Though, without their biological bodies, they couldn’t understand how to change Alturara back to a place that their old bodies would enjoy. With their twisted consciousnesses, they started to believe Alturara’s barren landscape was their paradise.
When they saw a race called the Jukal, they attacked the unnatural biological species, to eradicate their stain from their paradise.
Then, portals connected to Emerilia appeared and they met “Players.” Killing them allowed the Alturarans to grow in strength and purpose. They needed to destroy Emerilia, an unnatural world in their twisted consciousness, a world that gave birth to the organic! They led battle after battle with a new purpose.
They had given up their organic bodies to try to survive, to try to escape the death of their world. They survived, but now they were the plague that ravaged organic worlds.
When greeted by the Dark Lord’s paladins, creatures of the darkness, they were interested. When offered the ability to grow more powerful, for following the Dark Lord’s orders, they were interested. The Dark Lord gave off a similar aura and with his power, he was a person worthy of their devotion! A creature that would lead them to devour worlds with the organic blight!
“Like all good creatures, powerful yet easily bent to the will of their true master,” Boran-al said.
He looked to the Alturaran crystals that were arrayed on the tables.
They had been a great and intelligent race, but their weakness came through their procreation. They combined consciousnesses of organic beings inside inorganic materials from two different parents. Many went insane, nothing more than cannon fodder. Some gained the semblance of an identity through the combined consciousnesses.
They lived in madness.
Boran-al shivered with pleasure.
Truly a race of twisted, painful beauty, to be trapped within one’s own mind for eternity. To not know the truth of their circumstance. Just troops waiting to be used by the right master. They will serve our purpose well.
He looked to th
e other end of the valley that the Alturarans rested in. A simple ring mounted in the sand.
The Alturarans called them Gates of Ascendance. Boran-al knew their true name. Portals.
***
Captain Adams watched as the light of the slip stream fell away to reveal a star system.
Her crew went through their procedures. They easily fell into a routine after the first couple of emergences into different systems.
Adams had made sure that they never got used to it, always looking for threats. She didn’t need them getting comfortable. They were in enemy territory, after all.
“We’re clear for ten light-minutes out,” Quinn reported. Everyone relaxed slightly. Many eyes darted to the hologram that was building of the system.
“Fifty percent readiness. I want a comparison of the system. Keep us in the peripheral.” Adams changed up her words to keep her people attentive. This long trip had taught her ways to keep her people active and engaged.
“Contact at thirty-two light-minutes out!” Quinn said, her voice a mix of nerves and excitement.
Adams checked her screen and linked it to navigation. With a press of a button, a hologram appeared. She zoomed in on the contact.
An Imperial carrier!
The sensor logs identified the ship. They contained information on every ship that Humanity had run into.
Datskun. A carrier that participated in the war between the Jukal and Humanity.
For all of her life, the Jukal and Humanity’s war with them had felt like some kind of fairy tale. She had grown up with the facts and information, but she hadn’t been there. She didn’t know people who had lived through it. It was history, something that happened to other people. Yet here, now she was looking upon a carrier that had led one of the dozen Jukal fleets into battle against Humanity.
Stone Raiders' Return (Emerilia Book 6) Page 32
