Captain Heclaws checked if everything was in place. His one-shot pistols, his cutlass. All good. The blunderbuss was kept at hand by his cabin boy. On the stage, Rowan Allinder and his wife sang a duet, a non-related prelude to the play about to ensue: The Pirates of Penzance.

  Unbeknownst to the Count and the public, here they were, a true pirate crew. The Necromancer brought them to capture Elkins. They had kidnapped the real actors, tied them in the basement, and taken their place.

  The theatre, a Thespian Dungeon, was an elegant old-style building. The place reminded Heclaws of his high school’s drama club. It was there that he fell in love with the idea of a pirate life, before embarking on the real thing, with blasters blazing and roaring 'arrs'.

  The duet ceased, and the applause poured like a cascade. Heclaws pushed his cutlass an inch out of its sheath with his left thumb, pressing the button in his ear with his right index. “Heclaws to Necromancer. We’re ready to roll. Entering radio silence.”

  Heclaws’s muscles tensed, preparing to jump into action. Taking the woman and the public hostage and making the Count surrender was the plan. His foot moved up for the first step when, all of a sudden, a force field blocked their way forward. And backward. And everywhere. Across the stage, a mirror image of themselves appeared. People with blunderbusses, pistols, and cutlasses. But how? And why?

  “They’re onto us,” his second hissed.

  “You think so, Captain Obvious?” Heclaws sneered.

  Battle Challenge issued by Cora County.

  Cora County has transformed the theater stage into a Trial Arena for two equally murderous and villainous pirate crews. On the house right, Captain Heclaws. On the house left, Captain Blackwhiskers. In ten seconds, the forcefield separating the two crews will stop, and they will fight. The winners will be offered citizenship under parole and a second chance. The losers will serve the remainder of their sentence working for the County, as His Lordship will see fit.

  “Blackwhiskers? Blackwhiskers is a pussy,” Heclaws growled the name of his rival, unsheathing his cutlass. “Let’s show him who’s the better pirate crew. Arr!”

  Rowan massaged his forehead, grimacing. The stage fight had been short and brutal. In a minute, only three contestants remained: the two captains and Heclaws’s cabin boy. Blackwhiskers teleported behind the latter, cutlass at the ready, to cull the weak before attacking his rival. Heclaws jumped and took the hit in his chest, saving the boy, shooting both his pistols in Blackwhiskers’s face.

  “Go… kid… fly… Arr…” Heclaws blurted before falling down, dead.

  The fight has concluded with Crew Heclaws’ victory. The participants will be Rezzed by the Thespian Dungeon in the order in which they were slain. One level has been awarded to Cora County for hosting a well-organized Awakened entertainment show.

  The true cast, freed from captivity, entered the scene and proceeded with the play, an actor taking the befuddled survivor, the cabin boy, on his shoulders. Rowan left his booth and went to the lobby. A patrol of six warriors walked around, supposed to have a priest class among them, to scan for the Necromancer. But except for the five mercs, the only possible priest was Wurf, the Goblidog, holding a dowsing rod.

  “What are you doing here, you pest?” Rowan blurted.

  “Protecting you, what else?” Goblidog Wurf sneered back.

  “Since when are you a priest, you fraudster?”

  “I ain't no fraudster. I took my license in Vegas last week. I’ll soon run my own mega-church,” the little monster yelled back.

  “Just get out of my sight,” Rowan facepalmed.

  “C’mon, fellows, let’s hit the bar; this area is clear.” Wurf raised his hand, leaving with the Mercs after him.

  Grinding his teeth, Rowan made a chat call.

  [Rowan to Nottie]: How’s going?

  [Nottie to Rowan]: Fine. We’re following the Elementals. For now, they're sticking in the hills outside Elkins.

  [Rowan to Nottie]: Don’t take unnecessary risks.

  He heard footsteps behind him and turned to look at the approaching women: Grace and a tall High Elf. “All well?” the Smugglers’ Queen asked.

  “He didn’t take the bait," Rowan said. "No sign of the Necromancer in the Theater. Supposing that little monster knows what he's doing… Oh, I forgot… Here is the item you came back for,” he offered her the Sensor.

  “Thank you,” the woman nodded and returned to the hall without saying another word.

  Grace, on the other hand, stayed behind. “Everything all right?” she fondled his shoulder.

  “Aren’t you watching the show?” he asked.

  “I enjoyed singing together. Maybe we can do it again. See you later,” the woman patted his cheek.

  Two seconds after she walked up the stairs, a message and a photo arrived on his phone. It was brief and to the point: Come to the Controls’ entrance, or she dies. Don't tell anyone.

  She was Lizzie. A man whose face did not appear in the photo held the unconscious girl in his arms. Rowan ran outside. On the opposite side of the empty Main Square, at the corridor's entrance toward the Control Room, the tall man’s and Lizzie’s silhouettes were barely visible through the night.

  “Don’t try anything. It takes no more than a second to apply Necromantic poison.” The voice was bland and soulless, like the man's appearance.

  “I won’t,” Rowan blurted. "Please, don't hurt her!"

  “Open the access. Step slowly, hands up, and no tricky business.”

  Clenching his teeth, Rowan walked ahead, activating the portal toward the Control Center. The Necromancer let him step ahead. As soon as the Necromancer followed in the room, there was a notification:

  This area is now sealed by the System. Travel is restricted through normal means or the in-between until the Incursion Challenge is resolved. Rezzes are inactivated due to the severity of the challenge.

  The Necromancer grabbed Lizzie's neck in his hand, growling: "Don't even think of jumping me or she dies."

  “Easy,” Rowan raised his hands, his fingers spread apart. “I have shuttles with hyperdrives now. Take one, go away, and just let us be. I ask the System to enforce my words.”

  Count Rowan Allinder had taken an Oath before the System. If the Necromancer agrees to leave of his own accord, without engaging in any hostile act, now or in the future, the Count will gift him a functional and safe Hyperdrive shuttle. Penalty for not keeping his word: forfeiting his title and possessions.

  “Hahaha…” The Necromancer’s laugh was bitter and cold. “I don’t intend to leave Earth.”

  “You’re not after the hyperdrive? What do you want, then?” Rowan hissed.

  “I want you to surrender control of your domains and become my minion. You’ll have an almost normal life, except when I need your services. I swear on my head, before the System.”

  The Necromancer had taken an Oath before the System. If Rowan Allinder surrenders his domains and willingly lets himself be turned into an Undead minion, the Necromancer will allow him to have a quasi-normal life and will not harm his daughter, Lizzie, or any of his relatives and dear ones. The penalty for not keeping the terms of the Oath is perma death.

  “I don’t understand…” Rowan sighed. “It makes no sense… Do you care to explain?”

  The System bounds and compels the Necromancer to expose his evil plans through an obligatory Villain Monologue.

  The Necromancer shrugged. “So cliché… But so be it. On a galactic scale, Earth is not particularly significant. Young, weak, and in the boondocks, no one will bother to help you. Why leave when I could control the whole planet? Or… better said, the whole cluster of floating islands? After I take over Elkins, I’ll pay a visit to the Neek Supreme and take his cores, then make sure Earth breaks into pieces. Elkins will be a major powerhouse, and with the Hyperdrive, I can extend my reign to half the quadrant. Nothing can stop me, not even the Warlord or the System. I played by the book and won fair and square. Make up your mind.”

  “Oh, but I made up my mind already,” Rowan said, straightening up. "Glamour off." After his words, Lizzie's body started to spread specks of light.

  “What’s this foul thing?” The Necromancer yelled, letting Lizzie’s body fall. When it touched the ground, it had become a child-sized doll.

  “You think I didn't anticipate you'd go for my family? I asked Isla to put a Glamour on the doll and put it on Lizzie’s bed,” Rowan grinned.

  The Necromancer's smile was all but pleasant. His teeth were blackened and rotten. "It’s nothing personal, but I’m tired of running around, a bounty on my head just for being myself. This solar system and its neighbors will be mine.”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “Last warning: leave or die.” Rowan mirrored the man's gesture, leaning forward like a predator poised to pounce on its prey. All of a sudden, the Necromancer entered The Space, and so did Rowan. Both summoned armor and weapons, the Necromancer a spear, Rowan his extendable filaments.

  The Necromancer began circling Rowan, keeping his eyes on the younger man. His eerie smile was even larger. “One thing you don’t know about me is that my main class is not Necromancer. I’m a Legendary Warrior with decades of fighting behind my belt. Outside, you’d win, but in The Space, you have no chance.”

  “That’s to be seen,” Rowan sneered. He projected all threads of his weapon forward, each aiming for a different part of the Necromancer’s body, also ready to grab or parry the spear if necessary. Surprising him, the adversary leaped forward with a push on his legs, twisting his body and battling the filaments aside as he flew horizontally at Rowan for fifteen feet.

  “C’mon, that’s wire-fu!” Rowan yelled while rolling out of the way, but not before his shoulder got clipped. His armor showed a five percent loss.

  “No, it’s just skill.” The Necromancer laughed and kept pushing.

  How can he wield his half-spear so well in close range? The question crossed Rowan's head while he trashed the air aimlessly with his weapon’s tendrils. He resorted to throwing a punch, which, to his surprise, landed and made the foe retreat. Yet, his HPs were now at eighty percent. The HP bar above the necromancer’s head had barely moved downward from the fist. Nevertheless, the hit had activated Sonar.

  Target: Legendary Warrior/Necromancer. Identified weaknesses: Weak detection skills. Elemental Damage +400% damage taken.

  I'd finish him in one shot if I were in normal space.

  Rowan whipped the air to make the Necromancer move back. When the older man avoided his strands and ducked below, Rowan changed his weapon into a shield and a machete. He blocked a thrust and landed a cut, lowering the other’s health by about five more percent. Still, he noticed his health was lower by ten percent, his armor almost gone, and the Necromancer’s spear was stuck in his calf.

  “Fuck!” Rowan yelled in pain when the evil wizard recalled his weapon. He was now at sixty-five percent health, the pulling motion adding to the damage. There was also a DOT of 0.5 HP/second. Panting, he changed his weapon into a spear and supported himself on the shaft. “I don’t suppose you’ll agree with a normal duel, fair rules, and everything?" he tried.

  “Your reputation for being funny is well deserved. But I never aimed for a fair fight,” the Necromancer shrugged, attacking again. Against such a fast and agile foe, Rowan's skills proved insufficient. Fainting a retreat, the Necromancer attacked instead, and his spear found Rowan’s heart.

  Delayed Truth activated. You have reached 0 HP. DOT dismissed. You are invulnerable for twelve seconds.

  Shit!

  Rowan activated a Health Potion and a Combat Heal, grabbed the spear with one hand, and slammed his machete into the Necromancer’s head. The wizard’s health dropped to seventy percent. Rowan was nineteen.

  He exited The Space. To his joy, the Necromancer’s spear came with him, and he stored it in his inventory. His Svartálfar Aura sign, a rune, appeared next to his Mana Pool, and the Elemental Armor activated as well. They absorbed the damage, consuming about half a percent of Mana every few seconds. It meant the Necromancer could hit him from The Space, but the DPS was minimal. Throwing fists, most likely, and with the DPS debuffed because of the difference in dimensions.

  “Do you know what your greatest weakness is?” Rowan said in a cold voice. There was a pause in the hits; the Necromancer was listening. “It’s not the Elemental Damage vulnerability; it’s your horrible detection skills. Ask yourself: Why did I bring you here if I knew about your scheme? Nerio, it’s time!” he bellowed.

  The rotary armchair in front of the desk turned, and the elven girl rose. Rowan took them both into The Space, but not before casting another Combat Heal and chugging a Mana Potion. He was back at full Mana and fifty percent HP.

  Inside the in-between, the Necromancer was at eighty-and-something percent HP. He must have chugged a potion himself.

  “So, you brought a friend,” the wizard sneered. “It won’t make any difference.” He charged at them blindly. This time, Rowan’s thrusts, with his threads, and Nerio’s cuts, with her sword, made a big dent in the Necromancer’s health; he went down to forty-nine percent in no time. Nevertheless, the man didn’t look afraid. Quite the opposite; there was a hint of amusement in his eyes. They discovered the reason when his body began to change, growing in size, and long, bone-like claws appeared from his fingers.

  “Let’s see how you cope against my phase two,” the Necromancer let out a sinister laugh.

  Stupid motherfucker… Hollywood would hire him on the spot for a villain's role, Rowan told himself.

  “Why the fuck can he activate a transformation inside here, and I can’t?” Nerio yelled, barely dodging the Necromancer’s jabs. "Can't use my Shadow travel either."

  “Perks!” Rowan blurted, trying to parry the Necromancer’s weapon with his threads and soaking some of those hits with his body. It was not working; the enemy was stronger and faster. Soon, the Necromancer’s health was at forty percent, but the girl’s was at twenty-five, and Rowan’s was at thirty. They exited The Space for a second, the time to cast a Combat Heal on her. However, the man continued to hit Nerio; Rowan had raised her Health bar only by five percent.

  “You brought a liability, not an ally,” they heard the Necromancer's faint voice coming from the in-between. “You could have lasted longer without her.”

  “He’s not so strong!” Nerio shouted, furious. “If I could activate Goddess Avatar inside here, I’d win.”

  “Tough luck,” the Necromancer taunted her, his voice changing as he hit them from a different position. “You stay out there, you lose, you come in here, you lose. I told you, this is not a fair fight.”

  “Yeah, jerk, it's not, and it never was,” Rowan sneered. “Spoiler alert: we're not in the control center. Teddy, sic’em!” The walls and the floor of the room started to blur, then vanished, revealing the forest it had hidden. A large shadow roared, disappeared, and reappeared a second later in real space, with five large and curved natural daggers planted in the Necromancer's back. The man was screaming, flailing his arms around. The Grizzly bear’s claws made a pulling motion, taking out a large portion of the man's spine with them. The Necromancer fell on the rustling leaves like a puppet with its strings cut.

  Rowan approached slowly, putting his boot on the man’s head and keeping it there despite the Necromancer’s attempt to crawl away. “You have misunderstood me, pal. Not long ago, I was a hothead, getting in bar brawls and trouble, but I’ve changed. I don’t take chances with scum like you. This is all about earning skill points for me and the kid. You are prey; that’s all you are.”

  Activating Gravity, he pushed his boot down, crushing the Necromancer's head under his boot. The man’s body jerked before dissolving into specks of light, and Rowan wiped his sole on the grass. Finally, the notification arrived.

  The Battle for Cora County has now ended with Count Allinder’s victory. Rewards: The County has leveled to the maximum level. Nerio Fern has leveled up to the maximum level and receives a bonus of 10 Skp. Rowan Allinder receives 25 SkP and can also gift all or some of them to his friends.

  “Fine with me,” Rowan said. “Give five to Nerio and two to my wives and father. I’ll keep twelve.”

  “Err… Won’t your girls be upset if you give me more?” Nerio asked.

  “You’re the better warrior,” Rowan said blandly. “Skill Points are not chocolates. The gift also goes to them through the enhanced protection you can offer.”

  “I will make sure to keep your family and the county safe,” the girl slammed her right fist on her chest.

  “Sure. Let me read. There are more things… Hey, that’s nice…”

  Cora County is now a Full Fortress. The System will no longer lower its defenses to allow challenges.

  A Special Perk has been awarded to Cora County for reaching the Maximum Level: Spreading the Awakening (shared between your main domains). Consuming a Core of any level in each of your larger domains (Cora County, Rome, Goblin Town, Calveor, Bourbon Borough, and Mountain Resort) with this Perk activated will release a sizeable quantity of Mana on Earth, increasing the Awakening tier of the planet to tier E. The planet will become Mana Stable and suffer no further risk of breaking from Mana Imbalance.

  Warning: Spontaneous spawning of tier E dungeons and mutated wildlife outside the Awakened Towns will become a thing. Please consult the now available FAQ to learn how to ensure the early detection of such events and protect civilians.

  “There’s never a dull moment with you, System, huh?” Rowan mumbled. The bear poked his snout into Rowan’s hand. “Good boy, Tommy.” He offered the animal a muesli bar as a treat, fondling the bear’s head. Meanwhile, Nerio was dancing joyfully, excited about the perks or skills she had acquired. “Please, behave like an adult,” he pleaded. “Let’s go home.”

  "As you wish, thane," Nerio nodded. "All clear here?"

  "Yeah… just a sec, to message Nottie, they can go for the Elementals. Great. We're good to go."

  A portal opened before them seconds later, and Rowan let the girl go through it first. Maybe still drunk with the victory, she was in a chatty mood. “Nice trick, but what if the Necromancer had found the real Lizzie?” Nerio asked after they arrived in Grace’s garden.

  “Unlikely. I entrusted her to a… friend. Ew, it burns my tongue to say this… Show yourself, jerk. I know you’re here!” Rowan yelled. “You followed my every move, didn’t you?”

  “I surely did,” the Warlord said, appearing between the two. The girl jumped back, and she would have unsheathed her sword if not for Rowan grabbing her hand in time.

  “Don't worry, it's a… f… f…"

  "C'mon, is it so hard? A friend. Hi Nerio, I'm the Warlord, the one who offered you your secondary class. We have so many things to discuss… and a lot of training to go through. ”

  “Err… The living dungeon? Rowan, what’s going on here?” Nerio asked, moving her gaze between the two.

  “Nothing much, really," Rowan half-shrugged. "I figured out immediately the shitmancer was not interested in leaving. Otherwise, he would have told my parents-in-law that Cora was alive from the start and negotiated. I would have gladly let them search the County for the Hyperdrive. I’m a reasonable guy, right?

  Anyway, my task was to make myself invulnerable to blackmail, deny his strength, the in-between, and catch him in a trap. Grace helped me with the plan. She’s a fantastic tactician. I bought Wildspeaker, a Jotun perk about interacting with animals—”

  “It’s a great perk!” Nerio gasped. "You can use it to talk to dragons!"

  “Then I rented Teddy’s services, sent Isla to build an illusion in the forest, made a fake portal in town, and the rest is history. For the record, I did offer the Necromancer a way out, which was in line with the System's idea of fairness. But let me tell you something,” Rowan leaned closer to the girl's ear. "My greatest satisfaction is not that we killed the Necromancer, but that I tricked him," he pointed his finger at the Warlord.

  “You exploited me!” the Warlord whined.

  “He thought I would lure the Necromancer inside to fight in more advantageous conditions. Instead, I sent in Lizzie and my extended family. Grace from the theater was an actress.”

  “You sent your family to a Dungeon?” Nerio’s jaw dropped. “How’s that safe?”

  “It’s about reading the fine print. Cora helped me with that. The Warlord’s Dungeon has strict rules. It’s part of who he is and why he was allowed to remain in this world. He’s required to adapt to the people challenging him. Kids, the elderly, a pregnant woman, an entire family? He’s obliged to keep them safe. By the way, how are they doing?”

  “See for yourself,” the Warlord sneered. “Dungeon cleared. Reward: plushes and sweets.” The man’s body transformed into a large wooden castle gate, with only the head remaining unchanged, at the top. The pans swung open, and Lizzie erupted directly into Rowan’s arms.

  “Daddy! I won the beauty contest, pony ride, and the quiz!”

  “I’m sure you did, my princess,” he hugged her with all his warmth, kissing her hair. Grace soon joined the hug. Walking slowly, Cora and her parents appeared, talking to each other. Then, Thomas and Cora’s sisters, the boy showed them his biceps. Sulking behind, Cora’s brother, which meant he had lost some sort of match against Thomas. After her parents appeared, Isla followed last, frowning, a gun at the ready in each hand.

  “What?” she asked as Rowan stared at her, stupefied. “I don’t trust that jerk. Always be prepared; that’s my motto.”

  "Where’s Dmitri?” Rowan asked.

  “He was behind me moments ago, flirting with a faun,” Isla groaned, running back inside the dungeon and reappearing moments later with the Greek in tow, pulled by the ear. "Idiot! It's a construct, it's not real!"

  “Nottie and Papa say the elementals are dealt with,” Rowan checked his phone. “He’ll be back soon. Well… I guess that’s it.”

  “You’re joining us for dinner, right?” Grace smiled at the Warlord and Nerio. “Dmitri made keftedes. It’s like meatballs, only better.”