Epilogue 1: Connor's Tea Party.

  The young Doccit boy had completely lost track of time when he found himself sitting at a simple wood table, sipping on what was, at best, mediocre tea while being supposedly hosted by the Taeldrian dungeon herself.

  If he'd thought his day couldn't take any new or wild directions beyond what he'd already gone through, Connor might have called himself a fool and completely unimaginative besides…

  As it happened, the tiny creature sitting across from him, seated in her own albeit smaller chair replete with a tiny table and teacup, was the entity he now knew as Abby.

  "So." The pixie began, clearing her throat as Connor held back the grimace he'd wanted to make after sampling his host's accompanying confections that, like the tea, weren't very good… "Your superpower is that you're rich… and, pfft… assuming I actually decide to let you go, you intend to use that wealth to—what? Break the nobles over your knee?"

  The young man could only smile! His head felt much better after a couple of potions, which had only served to embolden his desires and solidify his feelings on the matter of the—noble houses…

  "Indeed! It will become my life's work. My father does have the notion of entering into the css—that is, the social strata, not anything system-based—" He crified, offering a nervous sort of chuckle to go along with the joke that clearly fell ft…. "T-though now that I've had something of a, let's call it, revision of my desires, I've got a mind to begin the process of expining parts of what has happened here to him."

  "And he's going to just abandon that goal?" The dungeon asked, quirking a small brow at him with clear disbelief.

  "He's only doing it for me. My father is a great many things, m'dy, but what he is not is ambitious for ambition's sake alone. He's built his fortune not because he desired to rise above his station but simply because he is shrewd, excellent at turning industry into profit, and enjoys what he does.

  The whole point in entering the peerage was so that his only son, who is me, would have better prospects than his own at his age… And though I understand you wouldn't know this, he truly had nothing when he truly started…"

  Connor paused, smiling almost wistfully for a moment, eye gzed in thought... "He often goes into long fits of introspective musings over things like legacy and leaving behind more for those he loves than what his own parents left him…"

  "A self-made man." Abby nodded, tilting her head slightly before continuing. "So, what, did he make all his money in… mmmm… what was it—"

  "Textiles." Connor helpfully supplied. "However, that was merely the beginning. Hah… honestly, we own nearly a full quarter of the city amongst all our various assets! Nobody quite understands just how deeply our roots grow in Taeldra, and neither do we make any great indications as such, but once you have so much money, it is sort of hard not to keep… well, using it!"

  "Hm… And, how exactly do you intend to bring down the nobles? Because, while I get you could probably do quite a lot with your position—I really doubt they will just roll over and take it."

  "You're not wrong…" The young man agreed, sighing while touching self-consciously at his ruined eye. While the potions had done wonders to aid in healing, it was not the same as regeneration… sadly, his face was both scarred and damaged by equal measure… And while he hadn't been the most handsome man in the world—yeah…

  "B-but, I do want to assure you that a concrete pn will be in the making at my earliest ability to make it so! I'm even willing to act as your intermediary with the outside world! Y-your liaison, your guide, your—whatever it is you need! So far as I'm concerned, the city is yours, m'dy. And I would gdly kneel in supplication should a time arise when we need to remove the current government."

  "You just want an exclusive trade deal with all the goods I can produce!" Abby ughed, though the girl didn't at all look upset. If anything, she seemed to be getting happier by the moment, a reality that Connor noted, cataloged, and leaned into as his life depended on it!

  "I'm not going to deny it... H-however, as I said, this city was built upon your hallowed grounds; thus, I see no reason anyone else should be in charge of it as you are so clearly—a person."

  "Alright…" The pixie sighed, rolling her eyes and waving a small hand at him. "The groveling is appreciated, young man, but seriously, I am going to hold you accountable for these cims you're making. It's your own fault, of course, and, I might add, a stipution in the bargain for your life."

  "O-of course! I wouldn't ever presume to renege. My loyalty, m'dy, is with you and you alone. That said, anything that you could do on your end of things to help move it all along would be appraiceated! There's going to be quite a significant risk in attempting to dig out the nobles. It can, of course, be done, mhmmm, but It will take time and scheming… Greasing pockets, making alliances—ehh… you get it…"

  "Or compound interest."

  "Compound—what?"

  The utter malignant gleam in the small woman's gaze simultaneously made Connor's asshole tighten and his avarice spike.

  Greed could recognize greed.

  And while Abby might not possess it for the same reasons as most, she desired the money of those she most hated with a flickering fire of anticipation that was clear as day…

  The dungeon wanted to see them fall. And maybe, he might even go a step further to say that the girl was practically oozing a palpable sense of lust toward their ruination…

  Whatever it was that the girl was about to share with him, Connor could already tell it would be damning…

  "Compound interest…" Abby reiterated, tone sugary sweet… "I already know you—mmhmm, well, I should say, I already know you understand how loans work, but what I want to do, with your help, of course, is establish a brand new bank!"

  "A bank…"

  "Mmmhmm!" The pixie sang, delight filling her every word. "Though it's not fair, I do know how to weasel my way through things to provide all the capital you need! All you would need to do for me, is run it!"

  "I don't mean to be rude… b-but, there are already plenty of banks all through the city… How is another supposed to accomplish anything? I mean, my family personally owns one of the rgest of such in Tealdra!"

  "And what do you charge for a loan?"

  "A ft fee based on the total sum, some sort of upfront consideration is usually also involved, and of course, significant colteral is typical required for rger quantities… Artwork, sculptures, jewelry, and the like."

  "So, no interest?"

  "It's—well… complicated…" Connor muttered, his lips thinning as he did so, "Emperor Justinian has outwed the practice, as have many other governments of our sister cities… I do understand the concept of interest in itself, but its implementation isn't… legal…"

  "Really?" The pixie compined, her form defting as though the mere thought that she wouldn't get to see people buried in both bad decisions and crippling debt might cause her physical distress… "Ugh! Well, that's annoying…"

  "But, not the end of the world!" Connor grinned, smiling as the girl perked up. "Going back to the concept of you bankrolling me…"

  "Yeah?"

  "Well, honestly, while I am quite wealthy, much of that money is tied up in investments and enterprise. My family's liquid assets aren't anything nearing our total wealth; thus, what I could accomplish in the short term would be—slow."

  "But, if you had tons of free money from a reliable and practically nigh-infinite source?"

  "Ahem… I would immediately begin tightening the noose around all the old blood in Taeldra...

  Bulldog my way into purchasing their properties, flood the markets with goods in which their own workshops produce to tank their sales.

  Offer more and more loans to those I already know can't help themselves! And hopefully, by the time the dust has cleared," he added, a now wicked grin forming on his lips, "I shall own the rights to any firstborn sons for entire generations down their family trees!"

  "Love it!" Abby nodded, her small hands cpping together with delight. "Also, I need you to start lobbying whoever needs to be convinced to allow me to start growing again."

  "I can do that. I know the guild is already quite split on such politics, but the real ticket will be speaking with Justinian… In all honesty, I doubt he'd be averse to it. However, I don't exactly know how to go about, well… letting him know your—you…"

  "You don't need to say a thing!" The dungeon stated, a look of smug satisfaction pstered across her beautiful face, "All you will need to actually do is ensure public opinion is positive of the changes!

  Other than that, I've already done it. The second floor is being expanded, even as we speak. And, if it doesn't work out, well… now I have the perfect assassin I can send out to butcher the entire city if I need to."

  “Ha… right…” Connor murmured, thoughts returning to the other girl who he'd met… Though, perhaps the phrase didn't quite fit…

  While the dungeon was clearly quite—human-esque, her friend was unnerving to the extreme… Oh! She'd been perfectly agreeable, sociable, and even nice. Y-yet, something about her being a giant spider sort of gave him the willies…

  Now that his head was on straight again, her chillingly fwless beauty did very little to subtract from the fact she was a brutal monster, seeming to him to only be acting out the process of being a person.

  He wasn't wholly positive about what exactly it was about the creature that unnerved him so, but Connor practically felt like he wanted to shit himself each and every time he now garnered her gaze.

  Almost as if aware that his life was merely up to the whim and chance of her mood, which might, at any given moment, see him back on the lunch menu.

  N-not that she was here at this particur moment… No, she very much was absent, though the faint echoes from above that occasionally whispered in his ears told him all he needed to know about what she was doing…

  Truly, though he could have said to have been certain, Connor imagined he'd heard the wailing tremor of Arthur's voice as it keened within the inky darkness far above them.

  Occasionally, it sounded like it might be lost in the throws of rapturous ecstasy! Other's, such horrific and spine-tingling despair that made Connor wonder if he was being feasted upon whilst still alive…

  The perhaps most gruesome and telling aspect of it all was that he hadn't heard so much as a whisper from Delmonte, even though the other boy had been hauled up into the nightmare nest, just the same as Tinterwell…

  And while Connor knew that the dungeon and its terrifying monster had pns for Arthur, grim as they were, for Delmonte—well, whatever happened, the boy had it coming to him, regardless.

  "Alright…" Abby eventually sighed, looking almost wistful as her small shoulders shrugged. "I've made a decision. You get to live...

  Hooray!

  You're also going to be my sve rather than business partner, and towards that end, you likewise are going to be agreeing to a magical contract."

  Conner nodded very slowly as he watched the dungeon practically preen with smug delight, seemingly lost within her own excitement and self-satisfaction. However, he did not try and bargain for a better deal.

  In all honesty, this was still better than where he'd been not a few hours prior. Being the dungeon's presumable servant was—well, not at all much different than his already existing status in the city.

  What did he care after who it was he called master? Either the emperor, the nobles, or the dungeon, it made little difference to him. No, Connor had his aspirations, and the way he saw it, siding with Abby was the best of all worlds for him!

  Not to mention that of all possible individuals he could swear fealty to, Abby was by far the most... shall he say, tangibly powerful...

  He'd get the backing of a near-godlike entity to aid him in the systematic destruction he oh so desired to bring upon the city's elite.

  He'd get her protection.

  Her good graces if he should perform as she desired.

  And above all, he'd likely position himself to be standing above the ashes once the war he pnned on starting truly got into the swing of things!

  And if all of that could be gained by merely bending the knee, not to the city's current ruler, but the true individual who held power within it, colred as it may be… Well, Connor would act in whatever capacity the dungeon needed of him.

  So, it was with a smile that he read over the contract that Abby provided him. Ignoring how she'd gotten one in the first pce, ignoring that he was signing away his existence into servitude, ignoring that he was making a deal with a possible devil…

  And, without hesitating beyond reading the stiputed and terribly one-sided document, Connor took the proffered pen and signed away his soul.

  Just as countless other men before him.

  Just as all those seeking power in the stories.

  Just as each enlightened man had performed once realizing their life's calling.

  The flowing and luminescent script left in the wake of his passing flourish of the quill glowing brightly for several long seconds before dimming and transitioning into golden ink.

  When it was done, the young man felt no different than he previously had. And, when he looked back up, he found himself face to face with the pixie as she floated before him, staring hard into his eyes with an expectant and even condescending aura of royalty about her person.

  Without saying a word, she stuck out a small foot, arms crossed and expectant. And, though it was awkward, given their size differences, Connor knew what was being asked of him.

  He took her tiny leg and gently kissed its length, much to the girl's giggling delight and his own growing understanding of exactly who he'd just pledged to serve.

  Maniacs, the lot of them... though, in the coming days, how many might say the same of himself?

  What he was not expecting, however, was just how generous his new master could be. And, within moments of floating away, smirking at him all the while, Connor found that dozens upon dozens of monster cores were all appearing on the table around him! So many that they piled atop one another and scattered like rolling marbles, bouncing off the stone floor one after another...

  "Go on," the dungeon snickered, her eyes narrowing with excitement, "let's turn you into someone worthy of being my minion."