Chapter 7 – Takeover

  I walked through the stone tunnels in silence, Mirabel following behind me. Even though I tried, my mind kept going back to the events of the core room, and my focus towards the mana flowing through the walls. The earlier conversation had left an indelible mark in the air, the tension between me and Mirabel palpable, I could feel her gncing at me often.

  Pausing in a quiet spot, I turned to her, and she flinched under my serious gaze.

  “Mirabel,” I began softly, “your actions today have put you in grave danger. Should it be known that you trespassed into the core room, you will be fortunate to escape with your life, no matter how worthless the dungeon. Worse, your family will most likely be dragged into this, facing sever, perhaps draconian, punishments.”

  She nodded hesitantly, chewing her lips but not saying anything.

  I thought for a bit before continuing, “How do you rete to Vaelric?”

  “Vaelric? He’s my brother,” she replied.

  So not a cousin.

  “Do you have a way to contact him?” I inquired, implying she might get out of further scrutiny if the ties were indeed as she cimed.

  “I can contact him through the tower’s communication mirror,” she hesitantly replied, probably thinking of my snitching.

  “There’s a communication mirror at the guild, we’ll use that. I assume you have the contact coordinates?” she nodded, “then let’s go. I hope you understand my hesitation to let you out of my care until this matter has been sorted.”

  “Are you implying that I, a Stromvale, will run away from the consequences?” she said in a somewhat disbelieving tone. It was valid in a way, the Stromvales being reputed for their ironcd words.

  “Who knows. But I know for a fact that you are currently acting as a mage from the tower of Cujor,” I replied with a smirk, and that shut her up. Now that I had seen the abundant number of mages at the tower, I could somewhat understand how they had some rotten eggs amidst them.

  We walked in silence after this, the dungeon not posing a trouble for either of us. Many adventurers saw me walking back with her, some even pointing to me. I could hear them talking to their companions, disclosing my identity as the new guildmaster.

  “Do you really have to tell brother?” Mirabel asked as we neared the etrance.

  “Yes,” was all I said, the single word sealing any further debate.

  The walk back to the guild was marked by heavy, unbroken silence, and Mirabel dallied enough on the path for me to know her reluctance clearly.

  “Stop behaving like a child,” I said with frustration upon seeing her slow down for the umpteenth time, “just moments before you were insinuating how a Stromvale will never turn away from their deeds. Now you’re dragging your feet.”

  “Hmph,” was her only reply, the admonishment sufficient to speed up her steps, and we covered the distance with twice the efficiency.

  Once I entered the guild, I noticed Carmel, Adrija and Montel all looking at me and Mirabel. I did not expin anything as I moved towards the back.

  Leaving Mirabel in the room with the guild’s magical devices, I moved towards my office to get my seal, which will be required for activating the artifact. As I entered, I noticed a small beeping sound going off continuously. Opening the drawer, I saw a small crystal ball fshing red intermittently.

  A communication request from Raakwell? I deduced from the code.

  Pulling out the seal, I moved into the artifact room. Since the color was red, I needed to contact Raakwell as soon as possible.

  “There’s been a slight dey, Mirabel,” I told the restless girl upon entering, “why don’t you wait in my office. There’s some official work I have to take care of.”

  After escorting her past the corridor into my office, and strictly instructing her to wait, I moved back into the room. After closing the door, a couple of enchantments isoted all sound, and I walked in front of the thin full-length mirror attached to the back wall.

  It was taller than me, but barely wide enough to reflect my width. Its edges were encased in brown wood that imitated cascading vines, and had a circur indentation in the top middle to pce the seal.

  I did just that, and the mirror lit up with myriad symbols. Inputting the contact coordinates of Raakwell, I waited for someone to notice, as the mirror in front of me lit up a soft milky white.

  About ten minutes ter, the scene rippled and I was once again faced with the stoic Aldric. Somehow, his look did not inspire confidence in me.

  “Liam,” he began, “I hope your takeover of Niege has been uneventful.”

  “There has been no trouble at all Mr. Aldric,” I replied neutrally.

  “This might come as a shock to you, but there’s been an unfortunate incident,” Here it comes, I thought as Aldric’s gaze momentarily lowered before rising again, “the crown has decided that the dungeon in Niege has not been contributing to the kingdom.”

  For a moment I did not understand what he meant, and Aldric took it as a sign to expand on the situation.

  “It has been decided that the dungeon will be decommissioned,” Aldric decred, his words a shock to me.

  “But, Sir, it’s a dungeon,” I said, “it doesn’t require any investment, it just produces resources, continually.”

  “It is so for all dungeons,” Aldric conceded, “however, Niege falls at an unfavorable location. The dungeon is small, and it lies on a mountain. Running a guild there for such a small dungeon, sending tax collectors, help in case of a hazard – inefficient in the long term.”

  Aldric’s tone was the same as it had been when he transferred me – unchanging, unfeeling.

  “You have three months to finish all the operations there,” he continued, “inform the adventurers and the staff and begin preparations to transfer all equipment. The directive is to extract the core.”

  Core extraction. Excessively clearing the dungeon, not leaving behind any corpses or crystals to drain the dungeon of its mana, starving it to death instead of destroying the core.

  “What of me?” I asked cautiously.

  “You will come back to Raakwell, and will be provided a new assignment after that,” Aldric replied.

  “There are only twenty-three dungeons, though,” I said, looking into Aldric’s eyes. Dungeons were killed very rarely, and the number of times core extraction happened in the history of adventurer guild could be counted on one hand.

  “Don’t worry, Liam. Someone of your caliber will have no trouble finding a reputable station. I will leave you to get some rest, you are going to be very busy starting tomorrow,” with that Aldric terminated the connection.

  I had read the archives to learn all about this operation, and there were no ws regarding guild personnel, but the fact that this happened the day after I took charge did not leave me with a good feeling.

  What are you even thinking about?

  The voice was calm at this moment, completely unlike its usual haughty manner. I sat at a nearby table holding some artifacts.

  I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “You know,” I started, “it wasn’t so long ago that my future was looking bright.”

  I remembered my initial dungeon developments. When I had joined the guild, I had trained at a green ranked dungeon, and had worked on a Yellow and Orange ranked one after that.

  “I was really looking forward to a good future,” I continued dreamily, “I would’ve married some beautiful girl, retired early, maybe somewhere in the countryside, and we would’ve spent our days peacefully.”

  For once the voice did not interrupt me.

  “Should I have bowed down to that Haines?” I asked the voice. It did not answer.

  Then, wouldn’t it have been best to seek noble patronage from the start? You life would’ve been much more stable.

  “You have a point,” I conceded. “Maybe, I just wanted to test my mettle. To make something of myself, on my own.”

  All’s not lost. You can still make something of yourself.

  There was seriousness to its tone that cut deep.

  “I can’t,” I shook my head with a wry smile. “The party disbanded with me leaving. Taresh is off doing his own thing, Vaelric has returned to his estate, while Dhalrum has gone to Crudamore.”

  Then let me do it.

  I paused, “What are you gonna do?”

  I got my answer as my aura started roiling. Starting from my left hand, the scarlet tide rushed over my whole body.

  “No! You are going to get us killed!” I screamed, trying to get both my aura and the voice under control.

  It shouldn’t be happening! I haven’t pushed myself nearly hard enough for him to take over!

  I’m tired of your methods, always looking for a safe way. You let Haines talk down to you, let Aldric dictate your fate, and now, you’re about to serve some guy you’ve never seen a dungeon core.

  “That some guy you’re talking about is most likely some royal scion!” I tried to reason, my head pounding so hard I had to grip it lest it explode. “If you do something reckless, we’re gonna have a whole army to deal with!”

  My words fell on deaf ears as the assault intensified. It seemed to have been waiting for a vulnerable moment, saving its strength, and I was on the receiving end of it now.

  I will take care of all to come. That girl has shown me a way. If everything goes as pnned, there will be no one daring to question my actions.

  With a final burst of aura, the switch was complete.

  I rose with heaving breaths, sweat dripping down. Looking around, the room had become a mess from the uncontrolled aura, and there were a few broken artifacts.

  I’ll take care of them ter.

  I moved towards the guildmaster’s office, thinking of ways to put everyone in their pce. Just the thought of all the fun I was going to have had me grinning ear to ear.

  Brago130sf