We climb the stone stairs to where the gnome waits. Roger frowns when I just pull the door open, “It's not locked?”

  I shrug, “I told him to stay here. No further lock is needed.”

  “You trust your control too much…” Wesley shakes his head.

  I shrug, “Have you been able to stop the exercises I assigned?”

  The elf looks away, which is all the answer I need.

  When we open the door, the gnome is simply sitting there, in a pin cotton robe, studying his spellbook. He looks up when we enter, casting Secluded Grimoire, which makes the book vanish in a gray fold of space, “Oh, so… nice… to see you all again.”

  Roger pauses and looks at me, so I expin, “I gave him several orders. He's speaking kindly because I told him to always do so.”

  “Can I have his spellbook?” The wizard licks his lips.

  I chuckle rather than answer, because Chard stood up, summoned his spellbook, and is SMILING through some tears as he's holding it out to Wesley.

  As Wesley takes it, he asks, “Another order?”

  I just nod.

  Bearcw frowns as he hefts his greataxe, “Remind me never to make you really angry…” and starts hacking away at the gnome.

  Now, one might think it'd be one swing and done: Bearcw is a very strong Barbarian, and he's swinging a good enchanted axe… but that's just not how it works here. Highly experienced dungeon delvers, through a combination of luck and grit, develop some serious resistance to getting injured… and so, after six chops that leave little more than nicks because the gnome flinches out of the way, Bearcw huffs.

  “Okay, it's just too pathetic with him not fighting back. I can't….”

  “Oh, please do finish,” the gnome interrupts, “I'd rather be killed before my credit runs out on my contract, thank you.”

  Wesley frowns, “Contract?”

  “Oh yes “ the gnome answers, “I signed with some JUST WONDERFUL folks to send them the souls of other people regurly in exchange for the ability to bypass resistances and immunities. I always made sure to keep ahead of the game in case of a dry spell, but… well, I'm not paying them anymore. It's a bad deal. But if I fall behind before I die, well… they'll… collect… and while I'm perfectly aware where I'm going without that isn't nice… it's expected to be better than where they'll take me.” He takes a breath, “So… please… finish your act of mercy. I can't do it myself.”

  As the barbarian stands there, his axe still out, looking a little dumbfounded, Roger quietly walks up behind the little evil gnome and goes to town with his shortswords… Rogues are really good at killing things that are distracted, such as by a big half-orc with a greataxe at the ready… and it STILL takes a good eighteen seconds for him to bring the gnome down.

  But Chard DOES end up in a bloody mess at our feet.

  Wesley does… something… and the blood of the gnome gathers up into a ball, flying to the elf’s hand, and he drops it into his backpack “...thank you for expining how life and magic rete, by the way… it made things a bit easier in the wilds.”

  Bearcw and Roger don't seem to react, so I mentally check with my Uncle, “Umm… do I need to do something about that?”

  “He’s not crossing important lines, no; the gnome is in the negative energy prison he crafted for himself, getting burned eternally as his mental copy obeys your orders to do basically nothing.” Uncle C pauses, “Provided Wesley continues to keep it to creatures that he could reasonably kill anyway, he's not crossing any important lines. I'm more concerned about what happens if he teaches anyone else that trick: There's a lot of people who wouldn't be so selective… and hopefully the elf never gets desperate.”

  Wording… “So he's been doing it a lot, then?”

  “That should be obvious from the non-reactions of his companions, shouldn't it?” Death chuckles, “Speaking of….”

  Roger frowns, “Are you okay? You kind of spaced out there.”

  “Yeah, yeah I'm fine…” I take a breath, “the blood magic caught me by surprise, is all.”

  “Life magic,” Wesley shakes his head, “broadly speaking, it's a form of necromancy. The blood is the conduit, not the prize.”

  Hmm… “Do you still remember our earlier conversation about it?”

  “Yes,” the wizard rolls his eyes, “I'm not going to teach anyone how to do it.”

  I nod, “That's good,” and disintegrate the corpse. Yeah, I could do some necromancy, but… eugh, no.

  Wesley raises his eyebrows, “Sixth circle again?”

  I shrug, “Yeah. I've been growing. Here, let me show you to your rooms….”

  I take them to some luxury suites on the upper floors; they're dripping with expensive materials I created for the purpose at no cost to me. The walk-in closets feature rows of shelves for boots and shoes, plus handmade hangers for the finest in clothing. The walk-in garderobes allow individuals to see to their privy needs in privacy and comfort. In each of the main rooms, there are two marble-topped bureaus for clothes (and pre-stocked with a suitable selection). Each suite comes with a four-poster bed made of the finest wood hung with the wispiest of linens, and the mattresses and the bnkets are stuffed with feathers. The sheets are silk. A pair of stuffed chairs sits in one corner of each bedroom, while in another, a finely polished and fully stocked writing desk waits to be used. The walls are adorned with fine art of rexing ocean vistas… and of course, I have a human summon for each (female, of course), ready and willing to attend to whatever needs they may have.

  “I don't have the entire castle completed…” I begin as I show them their quarters, “...but I did start with our quarters. The attendants know their way around, and can get you pretty much anything you want.”

  “So I don't get access to your library anymore, then?” Wesley seems disappointed.

  I shake my head, “Aldamen bbbed about you reselling access, so no…” I shrug, “...but you now have a spellbook from a very high circle caster to chew through, so I doubt you'll be feeling the loss any time soon.”

  “Yeah, but you had everything…” Wesley looks dejected.

  “Yeah, well… abused trust, so…” I shrug, “consequences.” Also, I haven't bothered to open the door… I really don't need to anymore, as I can just Pne Shift and Greater Teleport any time I need something; I should maybe drop the key off in storage there, rather than keep it on me; then the only ways in are Pne Shift or better magic and the back door that Mom handles….

  “So no fresh fruit, then?” The barbarian shakes his head.

  “Your maids can cast Bountiful Banquet, no problem,” I smile, “You're good to go on food, although it will take a little longer than when I'm ‘cooking’.” The ‘Priest’ build, from Summon Minion VI: They're served by buffed-up ninth level Clerics… including Shapechanger's Gift, in case any of them feel like being on the receiving end.

  “Great… I'm going to go hit the bar, I guess….” Bearcw shrugs, “Pity there's not more to do in this town beyond the bar and the cathouse.”

  I consider, “Give me a bit… I can arrange something like a portal to Eastgate and back… I just need to secure a spot for both ends of it.”

  “What are you pnning?” The wizard wonders aloud.

  I only need to tell him one phrase, “Paired Teleportation Circle spells.” I can duplicate the spell via Dream Manifestation. It produces a circle on the ground where anyone stepping on it is whisked away by a Greater Teleport effect. Put one here set to pce people adjacent to one at another location, which in turn sends people back to this one, and anyone can travel freely between them. Mark them, and they're mass transit. Don't, and they're traps.

  “You can cast a ninth circle spell?” The party elf looks at me ftly.

  No, but it's sixth for a Summoner, and I can nab that, “Not in general, no but I can get that one.”

  “And you can just…” Wesley pauses, “idly cast such a rare, expensive spell?”

  It's rare because it's a ninth circle spell… and csses for whom it's discounted have a reduced spell progression and thus only have the option of having it with equivalent css level investment… which means it's still ninth for most purposes for them, too, and there's maybe a dozen people in the nearest country who have that kind of magical power (which is, admittedly, over a thousand miles away). Casting it at all takes a grand in amber dust, and making it Permanent requires another spell and another twenty two and a half grand in diamond dust.

  “Yes.” I can bypass all of that, plus the long casting time.

  “That's just…” yes, Wesley it's ridiculous; I kind of agree.

  “Look, Wesley,” Roger flies up and puts a hand on the elf’s shoulder, “Marty here casts spells that don't register as magic, st forever, and don't need the support of a dungeon. No, it's not fair. He can't help where he's from any more than we can… and we're all benefiting from it. Let it go.”

  Wesley sighs, “Right… gift horse…” he shakes his head.

  Hmm. “Well, I'll go secure a location at Eastgate for the receiving portal. Back in a while…” I head off as the others wave.