Stillwater says “So, they will be mostly ceremonial?”

  “I wouldn’t say that. They will guard my wives when they take to the battlefield, so they will need to be able to fight. The rest of the time they will guard the palace and deal with visitors. So, maybe it will be somewhat ceremonial, but they will need to be truly capable.”

  Stillwater says “Alright, I understand. While you may not need guards, your wives certainly will and not just when they go to battle. Come to think of it, I expected you to keep them out of any battles?”

  “Are you kidding? I would end up dead if I tried to stop them!”

  Brightfire says “I don’t know about dead, but they would definitely make you regret it!”

  “That they would! Which is why I am going to focus on protecting them instead of trying to stop them.”

  Stillwater says “That is a good idea. So, are you going to leave everything up to me, or do you already have some ideas?”

  “I want them to be quartered in the palace and I will make a special training area for them. I should probably also make them special weapons and armor, but I will need to make a trip first. Oh, I also have an idea for the leader of the group.”

  Stillwater says “Who would that be?”

  “The one that is practically vibrating by your side!”

  Brightfire says “I am not vibrating!”

  “Oh, so you don’t want the position?”

  Brightfire says “I didn’t say that! I do want it!”

  “Then it is yours, assuming your father agrees?”

  Stillwater says “Yes, I agree. It is a good fit for her.”

  “Then it is settled!”

  Brightfire cheers and dances around celebrating.

  Core says “Congratulations, Brightfire!”

  “Alright, for now, go celebrate. We can discuss details later.”

  Stillwater says “Understood. We will let you get back to your work.”

  The three of them leave and I finish up the enchantments on the obelisk then head to the palace. I quickly connect the new channel to the core and make sure everything is working. Then I take a look at the layout of the palace and try to figure out the best place for a barracks.

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  There is an area that looks like that was its original purpose, but I don’t feel like it is big enough. I want the palace guards to have enough room to live comfortably at least. Besides, I need to be able to put in the training room that I just promised to Stillwater.

  I plan to duplicate the training room that I built for the kids in the castle, but it wasn’t planned. I just had the thought as I was talking to Stillwater and didn’t stop to think about the details. Now I need to figure out where I can put a training room, but there isn’t really space for one.

  I am probably going to have to either put it underground, or I am going to have to enchant the palace to be bigger. Either way, I am going to be doing a lot more enchanting than I was originally planning on. Luckily, the palace has plenty of mana capacity left so it has room for more enchantments.

  In the end, I decide to go with putting the training room underground because it is easier. I reorganize the wing of the palace where the barracks are going to be and then add more room beneath it. With more room available, the palace guards should be able to have individual rooms.

  They might not be huge rooms, but it should still be better than living in a normal barrack. Next I create the training room, but before I enchant it I head back to the castle to copy the current one. This way I don’t have to program all of the monsters individually and can save some time.

  I think that once Brightfire has recruited some people I will send one of the kids over to teach them how to use the training room. Maybe more than one, it will give them something to do and will be a new experience for them. I will probably go with whichever ones haven’t found a craft to learn by that point.

  I quickly return to the palace in the elven capital and finish setting up the training room. Once I tie the training room into the core, everything for the capital is now complete. Next, I will move on to working on creating the formation in the mountain itself.

  However, before I move on to that, I now have the perfect excuse to visit Seronia’s realm. If I am going to make armor and weapons for the new palace guard, I will need more ore.

  “Seronia, do you have a second?”

  Seronia says “Uh oh, what is it this time?”

  “I was wondering if I could come to your realm and mine a little bit more ore for myself?”

  Seronia says “Oh, is that all? I thought you had done something crazy again! Sure, I will come fetch you in a second.”

  I sit still and wait for Seronia’s avatar to come fetch me, I don’t want to say something and ruin this chance. Seronia shows up in under a minute, hugs me, and then the next thing I know I am somewhere else. As soon as I take a look around, I can’t help but be impressed, this place is magnificent.

  The mountain from Holos’ realm now sits amidst beautiful, grass covered rolling hills. Unlike Holos’ realm, this realm is alive with different animals and plants and it just feels peaceful. It is the kind of place that I wouldn’t be surprised at all if a unicorn walked past.

  Seronia says “What do you think?”

  “It is beautiful! This is what the afterlife is supposed to be like!”

  Seronia says “Good, I’m glad you like it! You are the first living being who has ever seen it.”

  “I’m honored! Once I am done mining, would you mind showing me around?”

  Seronia says “Sure! Just don’t cause any problems, please!”

  “You know that I don’t cause problems everywhere I go, right?

  Seronia says “Really? Then how come I only hear about you causing problems and getting in trouble?”

  “Um, probably because the other stories are boring?”

  Seronia just laughs and leads me over towards the mountain and the entrance to the mine. She explains that things work just like in Holos’ realm and if I need the mine refilled I just need to tell her. However, I am pretty sure that emptying the mine once will provide enough ore for what I need.

  To my surprise, Seronia follows me into the mine and we chat as I am mining. Maybe it’s because of my comment, but we talk about some of the things that I do on a normal day. Time passes quickly once she gets me talking about the kids and some of their antics.