After resting to regenerate his Mana, doubling down with a potion, Rowan stepped into the third dungeon. It was a pirate city, situated near the sea, with houses connected by rope bridges and ships. He advanced and released Cold Breeze to scan the area. Moments later, the bridge he was standing on was blown to pieces. Fortunately for Rowan, he detected the incoming missiles and entered The Space a moment before.

  These are Cora’s pals. Better avoid killing them… Shit, I should have asked those two zombies if there are Rezz facilities around.

  There were a lot of Nekojin hiding in trees or up on masts, with some heavy-caliber blasters. He flew up and released a second flying drone that released Cora’s alternative message as soon as it exited The Space.

  “Papa, Mama, fellows, it’s me, Cora. I’m alive, and I built a base on Earth. Please don’t shoot; the guy you see is my husband.”

  “Let’s talk it through,” Rowan yelled, amplifying his voice with a whiff of the Cold Breeze to get it out of the in-between. “No one has to die here.”

  “You have to die, bastard. You stole my fiancée and want to live?” A Nekojin male shouted, shaking his fist in the air.

  The next second, the cat folk fell from the mast he was clinging to, a rebar stuck in his chest. After crashing on the ship’s deck, his body disappeared.

  “Engagement dissolved. Surrender or die. Do you have Rezz pods or something?” Rowan appeared, the tentacles of his weapon trashing the air, ready to strike.

  “Y-yes,” a Nekojin male stuttered, throwing his weapon down, followed by his fellows. “All our f-friends inside the d-dungeon can be Rezzed.”

  "Elementals too?"

  "Y-yes…"

  "Geez, hope those dumbfucks I killed will be able to find their way out. Anyway… You guys, get on the beach, hands up. I'll kill everybody if I don’t see the Clear notification immediately.” His command was met with an announcement:

  You have cleared the third floor of the Cluster Dungeon, Pirate Nest, by killing 1/50 members of the Makeshift Pirate Crew and making the rest surrender. You can claim the core once you clear the Lair.

  “Stay here until I come for you,” he ordered.

  "Sir, what about—"

  Ignoring their questions, he called back the drone and took flight. The next portal was in the air; a mast had been nearby, but he had sunk that ship. Expecting to be attacked as soon as he went through, he summoned his Elemental Shield.

  A hail of bullets, laser beams, and blaster projectiles was thrown at him in seconds, and he had to enter The Space. Behind a huge desk, now overturned on the floor as a barricade, along with haphazardly thrown chairs, stood two Nekojin adults—a man and a woman—and three children, armed to the teeth.

  Rowan pushed out the drone again. Cora’s message started to play in a loop while the Nekojins talked vividly among themselves. Reappearing at the same spot, hands up, he yelled out: “Don’t shoot!”

  “Who are you?” the male Nekojin shouted.

  “You've heard the message. I’m Rowan, Cora’s husband.”

  “What husband?" the man yelled so forcefully that droplets of spit ejected out of his mouth, almost reaching Rowan. "My daughter’s bespoken to an INT boy,”

  “Yeah, I’ve met the guy… he’s Rezzing now. Can we talk? I’d rather do this peacefully.”

  “Don’t make any sudden moves,” the man menaced, keeping his weapon in hand but aiming it away from Rowan.

  Rowan dismissed his armor. Beneath, he was dressed to impress in an elegant two-piece suit tailored in Rome. “Hi. I’m Rowan Allinder.”

  “He must be that powerful wizard the Necromancer warned us about,” the woman said. “I’m Lady Shefrowns, Captain of the Traipenent, and that’s my husband, First Engineer Heroars, and our kids, Cora’s younger siblings. Pest one, pest two, and pest three.”

  “Mom!” all the little Nekojin yelled together, balling their fists.

  “Tom Hepurrs, Milly Shescowls, Billie Shesniffs. Now tell us everything,” the woman gestured toward the barricade, inviting him to sit down.

  Half an hour later, after the table and the chairs had been rearranged to their proper position, the story had been told. What Rowan had feared happened. Mister Heroars was a typical father-in-law: stubborn and possessive.

  “I want Cora to have a divorce. I won’t allow her to be the third wife of a monkey,” Heroars roared again.

  “Honey, but he saved her life,” Shefrowns pleaded. “And the story is so romantic. And look at him, so handsome and elegant…”

  “Yeah…” Cora’s two little sisters sighed, clenching their hands to their chests and looking upward.

  “Just to make things clear, Sir,” Rowan said through his clenched teeth, “this monkey is Count of Cora County, Thane of The Swarthy Elves, Prince of Bourbon Borough, Suzerain of Rome, and Honorary Godfather of Calveor. Even Cora’s ex didn’t call me a monkey.”

  “Yeah, because he’s a snowflake, like all your generation. Monkey.”

  “For the Swarthy Elves, being called snowflake is a compliment. Never mind, we have bigger problems… You realize the Necromancer lied to you about the Traipenent and all, right?”

  “He told us the Traipenent had vanished. We assumed Cora sent a distress signal like she was supposed to, and she was rescued together with the ship,” Lady Shefrowns said.

  “The ship disappeared because we claimed it, but it does not matter. Your pal spied around for months. I named our County after Cora, and she’s a public person. He. Lied. To. You.”

  “He lied? So what? Maybe to spare my old heart the disappointment. You’ll divorce Cora, or I’ll mop the floors with you,” the Engineer persisted. He was hissing and spitting as he yelled, and Rowan groaned, wiping his face with a handkerchief.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Quest: Your father-in-law can’t be reasoned with. Clear the Lair by winning a non-lethal duel with Engineer Heroars. Secondary quest: Win or lose reputation level with your father-in-law by fighting with honor or dirty. Hidden rewards.

  Rowan sighed and shrugged. He felt in his heart that kind of confrontation was inevitable anyway. “Very well, Roary, you want a piece of me, I’ll give you one. I’m on a tight schedule here. How would you like to proceed? …Gah!”

  A jab to the chin had sent Rowan to the floor. The male Nekojin jumped over Rowan, hitting him in the head with his fists. Sensorial Filtering turned itself on, taking the pain away. He could hear the conversation like a radio, far away, his ears still buzzing from the first hit.

  “Stop this nonsense, for goodness' sake,” Cora’s mother yelled.

  “Go, Rowan! Hit him in the balls,” Cora’s brother shouted.

  “Traitor!” Heroars roared, keeping at hitting Rowan.

  “What? Cora’s always helping me with my homework. You two were throwing us in the learning dungeon for days. Go, Rowan!”

  Enough was enough. Rowan grabbed the man’s head between his hands, headbutted the Nekojin, and rolled off, freeing himself. He decided to fight dirty. After all, he had to admit that boxing wasn’t his forte. Yet, bar fights were. Kicking the dazed Nekojin’s balls, as suggested, he continued with a stomp on the tail, breaking it. Wailing, the man went down. “My tail…”

  “Now, I’ll tell you a story. Are you listening?” Rowan pulled the Engineer up by his lapels. “Look at me, or I so swear I'll cut your tail for good. Two years ago, I had a wonderful girlfriend. For a full year, we abstained from sex because she was religious, and I really loved her. Took a lot of will… a lot… A month before our marriage, her father lied that I had slapped him while drunk. Total BS. But she believes him, and we’re history. Now, if you ever think you can pull some sort of shit on me, I’ll kill you, but only after I’ll break every bone in your body. Do we understand each other?” Rowan sent another headbutt to the limp man’s face when his voice rose on the question mark.

  “I y-yield…”

  “Do we understand each other?” Rowan raised his tone.

  “Yes,” the Nekojin yelled.

  “Yes, who?” Rowan accompanied his question with a knee to the testicles to remind the Engineer who won the match.

  “Y-yes… s-sir.”

  “Yes, Count Allinder.”

  “Y-yes, C-count A-Allinder.”

  “Good, see? We can be best pals," Rowan patted the man's cheek. "But you’ll be polite. Call before visiting, and don’t you dare tell us how to raise our kid, or else.” Rowan released the man. “Know that I can freeze your brain just by staring at you. Don’t you faint on me! I need the cores.”

  “C-cora’s pregnant?” Lady Shefrowns gasped.

  “Yes. And I’m happy about it.”

  “Son!” the woman rushed to hug him. “You made me the happiest cat-folk alive.”

  “Yey! We’ll be uncles!” Cora’s brothers and sisters cheered.

  You have cleared the final dungeon from the Cluster Dungeon: The Mad Engineer’s Lair. + 1SkP You have completed the secret quest: Show him who’s the Boss. +1 SkP. The consequences of choosing the 'be tough' path will become apparent over time. The Dungeon can be exited through the previously cleared floors.

  “I sent a few people to the Rezz dimension. How long will it take?” Rowan asked.

  “An hour at the most,” the Engineer said, wobbling, trying to get back on his feet, and finally succeeded with the help of his wife. At the same time, his kids pulled their tongues at him and cheered again about getting out of the dungeon and being uncles.

  “Then start talking," Rowan commanded. "I need to know everything that is to be known about this Necromancer.”

  An hour and a half later, after sending the Rezzed Elementals on their way, checking on the two undead scouts, and arranging that the Nekojin group was also lodged at the best hotel in the resort town, Rowan bought a sandwich and a beer from the all-day bar and sat at a table for a quick brunch. The view outside was spectacular.

  "Can I join?" the Warlord appeared nearby, a beer in hand.

  "Here comes the stalker again,” Rowan sighed. “OK, fine, sit. Now that you're here, tell me, you’re like tier S on this Mythical thing?”

  “No, I’m a tier F Divine. On purpose. If I go any higher, I must go to that boring place where my friends are. Have you chosen a secondary class yet? I can’t Inspect you anymore since you’re an evolved mythical. The default settings are good; keep them.”

  “Since you asked, yes, I’ve chosen my secondary class," Rowan nodded.

  "Tell me, tell me," the Warlord clapped his hands like a kid.

  "Don't do that; you look like a psycho. I had several choices, and in the end, I spent two Skill Points and went for Bourbon Master Distiller… Hey, not cool!” Rowan exclaimed, protecting his face with his elbow. The Warlord had choked on his beer, spraying it all over. “What? Not everybody is obsessed with war, like you.”

  “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… good luck following your dreams, and may you use your secondary job more than your main.” The Warlord raised the bottle.

  “Amen,” Rowan clinked.

  “Do you mind showing me your Perks?” the living Dungeon asked.

  “Why not?” Rowan shrugged, waving his hand in the air to share his Character Menu. “So, did I choose wrong?” he asked after a minute.

  “Just a few more lines to read… Even with a crafting class as secondary, you can punch a tier or two above your status… Essentially, the Intelligence fourth Perk grants you seven additional Perks… If you mix it with The Space Perk from Will, it can be quite useful.”

  “It looks so,” Rowan nodded, nonplussed, raising his bottle for another clink.

  "Have you thought about what you want to buy with your Skill Points yet?”

  “Geez… I don’t know," Rowan sighed, sagging his shoulders. "There are too many choices and so few Skill Points… I think I’ll wait. I was curious about that cold beam you used… Is it good?”

  “Beams are powerful single-target perks. Single shots, if done right. I have all of them. Why don’t you go for a fire beam for starters? It's long-range and has a terrific DOT. Then spend Skill Points to choose your third Aspect, experiment with it, and decide later for the rest?”

  “I’ll think about it. The one perk I wanted and didn’t find is the immunity to Necromancy. My parents-in-law said the Necromantic Poison DOT is really powerful. Takes a quarter of your health in one go.”

  “Constitution fourth threshold inherent passive. It’ll have to wait. Take a priest to the party, for now, for the holy Aura. Ah, I forgot… or keep a lot of Sodium Bicarbonate at hand.”

  “I’ll keep it in mind,” Rowan grimaced.

  The Warlord mirrored Rowan's grimace. “If only your Town were level one hundred, it would become a full-fledged Fortress. No more interference from the System, you can't go through its Border using The Space, it detects and teleports out enemies and weapons on its own, and so on.”

  “What if I feed it the cores we have now?”

  “If the incursion is on the way, the System won’t allow your Town to level until it’s over. I tried to ask some questions, but it refused to answer. I’m an involved party now… The System considers us friends.”

  “Geez…” Rowan rolled his eyes.

  "Have you considered giving the Necromancer what he wants? Give him a shuttle equipped for interstellar travel. I’ll tell you a secret: Sometimes, avoiding fights is a win.”

  “It did cross my mind…” Rowan nodded, staring first into nothingness, then at the other. “You still owe me a favor, right?”

  “Yes, because you beat me to the Nerk.”

  “Can this favor be like... anything?”

  “If within reason. But I can’t fight instead of you or along with you.”

  “Amazing. I want to challenge your dungeon at a time of my choosing. As a matter of fact, it will be later today.”

  The Warlord choked on his beer, coughing. “What? Why? I’m obliged to adapt my challenges to the strengths of those who enter. I won’t go easy on you.”

  “Let’s not spoil the surprise. Maybe I want to lure the Necromancer inside and duel him on favorable terms.”

  “You want me to be an Arena? Sure, it can be done, but I’m not allowed to debuff your adversary or help you win. I’m all about fair fights.”

  “Yeah, me too… don’t worry about that… Swear on the System: You’ll let me use your dungeon later today.”

  “Fine," the living Dungeon sneered. "I swear I’ll allow you to lodge a challenge of your choice later today.”

  The Warlord has made a System-enforced Oath to allow Rowan Allinder to use his dungeon for a challenge of Rowan’s choice later today. Penalty to fulfill his obligations will lead to his removal from this Universe and forced ascension to Tier E Divinity status.

  “Perfect," Rowan raised his bottle, then finished his beer in one go. “Do you mind sending me an email or something with all the rules of your dungeon?”

  “Mail sent!” the Warlord frowned. “I hope you’re not trying to farm me for Skill Points because if so, I promise I’ll kick your ass to the first quadrant and back.”

  “Toodaloo,” Rowan saluted with two fingers and activated his teleport.