Eternium ~ 30!

Barry and The Master stood across from each other, staring daggers back and forth. The intense pressure they were devoting to the action was actually enough to kill a standard human if it were directed at them. Barry took a deep, satisfied breath and smirked.

“I see the rumors are true. You are leaking power like a sieve.” Barry laughed and took a decisive step forward. “I might not be able to fight you and win, but I bet I could force you into a stalemate at this point. Let’s be honest with each other, The Master, people would side with me against you. I’ll let you stay here and finish the soul portal, but otherwise there are going to be some changes.”

“I could just kill you right now and take my chances.” The Master mildly stated, also taking a smooth step forward. Barry’s eyes bulged out, and his breath started coming harder. “I think that with you out of the way, your minions wouldn’t be too much of an issue. You also seem to forget that I also have an army at my beck and call.”

“They’ve been losing power!” Barry barked in a fury. “Their corpses fall to the ground, and unless the dead stay within visual range they either go wild or falter! There simply isn’t as much free power for them to maintain control!”

“Mmm.” The Master’s eyes were locked on Barry’s heart, and the man could tell.

“Give me control, don’t make me fight you. Do this and I will allow the people in your care to remain untouched. They will be allowed into the portal and to safety.” Barry narrowed his eyes. “If I need to fight, and you lose… I will personally eradicate them.”

“Swear it.” The Master stated softly. “Swear to me that they will be treated as honored guests. That all of my people will be allowed access to the portal. That I will also be treated as such. Then… I care not.”

“I so swear.” Barry solemnly announced, causing his aura to wrap around himself and create a new bond. The ground fell apart under his feet, and the earth hovered in the air around him.

“Good enough, I suppose.” The Master sighed and stepped aside. “You deal with the politics. I’ll go get this portal finished.”

The Master vanished with a *pop*, and Barry’s face seemed to melt and reform into a malicious grin. “Excellent. First off, we have some new rules! Humans and High Elves alone are allowed access to the dungeon. All others must petition the Guild for access. No more monsters getting in!”

“High Elves?” Queen Brianna stepped forward dangerously.

“Yes.” Barry stared at her, not backing down a bit. “Feel free to petition for access, or fight me for it.”

Brianna took a deep breath and vanished. Barry grunted, “That’s what I thought. There have been many disappearances recently, for the safety of all involved, humans and High Elves only. Get moving.”

Guild members began flooding out of the portal, moving to secure the dungeon opening. Any who resisted or complained were sent away with a beating at the least. Several shops were ‘requisitioned’, but when they tried this with the Pleasure House, anyone making demands was snared by the tree-building and thrown over the edge of Mountaindale. A different kind of power-grab in that area.

In short order the area was once more heavily under the control of the Guild. This didn’t go over well, especially since this version of the Guild was a regime instead of the self-sacrificing group it used to be. Tensions between the races began to flare up once more. Grudges that had been put aside when there was a clear-cut goal in place were remembered and acted upon. More than one body was dumped into the dungeon over the course of the next few hours.

~ Cal ~

<So, Mu, tell me some stories about Dani when she was younger.> I was teasing Dani, and it was working so well! She was bright red, shifting to green every once in a while.

<Sure, Cal! So there was this one time that she was supposed to be learning how to channel fire Essence into water so an adventurer could boil water for a stew.> Mu started laughing, and Dani started to growl. <Well, there was a big bowl of salad next to it, and let’s just say that’s the story of how Dani learned that she can’t cook… by burning a salad!>

We shared a good laugh, right until Dani grabbed some Mana and chucked Mu into a treasure chest. “I’m gonna give you to a fishy as a trinket!”

<Cal, help! I don’t want to be a reward!> Mu started laughing here, knowing that he could easily escape on his own.

<Dani, we can’t give him away! I only give out useful rewards!> I shouted this, which seemed to cheer Dani up. Mu was protesting loudly, and finally Dani gave in and brought him back. After we had gotten all of the fun out of the way, I decided to get down to business. <Mu, what made you seek us out?>

Silence followed my question, for long enough that I thought he wasn’t going to respond. <Ehh… so I have a message from Kantor. He was old and smart enough to see that there were going to be bad things happening. People kept appearing and taking Mana readings, then more than just readings. Still he thought he had enough contingencies in place to survive.>

Mu continued after a few seconds of remembrance. <Obviously, he was wrong. I have nowhere to go, and I really like my backpack. All of this information is going to waste, and I want you to have it. But that’s not the message. Kantor told me that under no circumstances were we allowed to go… where you are going to. The origin.>

“Do you know what’s there?” Dani instantly asked.

<I don’t.> Mu growled at her, <You aren’t listening. Kantor knew what was there, and he told me that when he went there… that was the closest he ever got to dying. Before… you know. Actually dying.>

“I have to go, Mu. It’s too important, even if I don’t know why.” Dani wouldn’t hear any more, and kept changing the subject whenever he tried to press the issue. “So, what would you like to do while you’re here?”

<Fine, Dani. I just hope that you aren’t making a huge mistake.> Mu waited, but Dani didn’t speak. <Cal, we need to get a transfer started. This is going to take a while, especially since there is a lot of it that I don’t understand. I have the info, but no perspective, or way to relate it to myself. A lot of it is designed for a dungeon in the upper A-ranks.>

The entire dungeon started to rain. That was how much I was drooling about the idea of gaining this information. Mu kept speaking, but I barely heard him. <I don’t want anything in return, I’m just following the last wishes of Kantor. So, are you ready?>

<I am so ready.> I nearly snarled. Extending a tendril of Essence, I connected to the backpack and was met with a wall of information, mathematical equations, genetic information, and various untapped uses for Essences. In short, it was everything I wanted it to be, and so much more.

As the last of the raw data came into me, the entire lifelong studies of Kantor, Mana began to well up in my Core. A spiraling concussive force knocked a few leaves off the Silverwood tree, marking my advancement to A-rank two.