Duke arrived at the Cloudspire palace to find his throne room dark and closed-off. It was a clear sign that the king was not in attendance. Since he wasn’t actually in attendance, he guessed that was appropriate. He briefly considered checking in with everyone but decided against it. They had their own tasks to perform as did he and he trusted them to get their tasks accomplished. A moment later, he stood before the door to Baslin’s workshop and knocked.

  “Come in, come in.”

  Before Duke could take two steps into the workshop, Baslin greeted him with the full rapid-fire enthusiasm that he had experienced when first meeting the Archmage. “Duke! Duke! Good, good, good. Welcome back. Did it go well? Of course it went well. You won your contest right? Surely you did. Come in, come in. So exciting. So many things to do. Did you master Runescripting while you were gone? I bet you have. You really are the fastest study of all my students. Can I even call you an apprentice now? Well, I did graduate you, right?”

  Duke simply stood there patiently waiting for the Archmage to take a breath and when he finally did Duke jumped in, “You sound a bit worked up there, Baslin. Is everything OK?”

  “Oh yes. All is great. You are back and there’s so much to do. So many things to explore. Have you brought me new things to investigate? To experiment with? Yes, that would be grand!”

  “I have things for you, but first, I have a question for you – Have you located Negron? I know you were working on a way to find him.”

  “Negron? Oh him? Why yes, I found him. Did you really doubt me?”

  “Great! Let’s go get him then.”

  “Um, OK. If you really want to. Follow me.”

  Duke followed Baslin, fully confused. Why is he so casual about going to get the man he hated so much? As Duke’s confusion deepened, Baslin led him through the palace workshop, past his alchemy station and his runescripting station which was far smaller and less complex than the one in his dungeon workshop. Finally, they arrived at a small library with a few comfortable-looking chairs and a warm fireplace. Baslin walked up to the fireplace and removed a small, filigreed, golden chest and handed it to Duke.

  “What do you need Negron for anyway?”

  Duke took the chest in his hand and looked back at Baslin, “What is this chest for? Is it enchanted in some way to find Negron?”

  “Find him? You’re holding him, or at least all that is left of him. Those are his ashes, held in what was once his own phylactery. I find the symmetry rather poetic, don’t you?”

  “You already tracked him down and killed him?”

  “What else did you think I was going to do? Sit around and wait for you to do it? You have your own battles to fight. I can handle one single uppity necromancer by myself. It’s not like he had a decade to re-build his army of undead. He had a few dozen left when I found him and they were not much of a challenge. Not that he was, either. Negron the Nemesis. What a self-important title! Yes, he was able to kill a student in a controlled environment. But fighting an angry Archmage who has time to prepare for him? No, he didn’t last long at all. I did come up with a fun Spell though.”

  “A fun spell?”

  “Yes. I call it Necromantic Retribution. It takes the necromantic animating force that traps either the soul or the body and uses it to attack the necromancer himself. It came out of all my time studying the undead from the last time he reared his head with Chopie. I found that the animating force still linked back to the necromancer. It was child’s play to craft a Spell to usurp that link and drain the necromancer’s own lifeforce into their creations. The idiot left the link open so that he could control his undead. Far too great a vulnerability. I’m glad I never considered pursuing that magic. It’s absolutely idiotic.”

  “Does that Spell work on all necromancers?”

  “Possibly?” Baslin thought for a moment before continuing, “I only had one other type of undead to study and that worked completely differently. But that was dungeon-bred undead so I don’t think that really counts. Dungeon creatures are already a different kind of being so I wouldn’t put any weight on the findings there. I’d have to test it on another necromancer to see if they are similarly vulnerable. The paths of magical connection are a fascinating topic-“

  “So, you need another necromancer to study, is that it?”

  “Well, yes, but that is not really my highest priority. I have to finish setting up the Academy in Havenreach.”

  Duke was instantly sidetracked, “Academy? What are you talking about?”

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  “It’s the perfect place to set up a magical academy. The time differential will speed up training and studying from the perspective of the outside world and it is as secure a location as possible. I can expand the grounds whenever I need to, and any damage done can be easily repaired. It truly is the perfect setting. On top of all that, I know someone who might just be willing to set up some portals for me to take students to other worlds when they are advanced enough.”

  “Oh, you do, do you?”

  Baslin peered intensely at Duke before responding, “Yes. Yes, I do. He was my last apprentice after all.”

  Duke smiled in return, “That sounds like quite the project. Are you enlisting Sam’s aid in getting it put together?”

  “Very much so. He’s fully on-board.”

  “Sam would be on board if you were setting up a breeding program inside the dungeon. He really just wants more people supplying him with Mana. Adding more mages to the mix will only make him happier.”

  “It’s a win for us all. Now will you help set up portals for me?”

  “Portals to where?”

  “I don’t know. I’m sure you’ve found some interesting places in your travels.”

  “I’ve mostly found places that were either desolate, devastated by war, or places I’ve actively destroyed. I’m not much help in that area.”

  “Well, shit.”

  “Maybe by the time your students are ready to venture out, I’ll have found good places for them. But considering what I am about to embark upon, maybe not.”

  “Another path of destruction?”

  “Likely, yes.”

  “And you’re not taking any of us along for the trip, are you?”

  “Probably not in any of our best interests to do so. But Teldin needs to be fortified, ready to take on all comers from elsewhere.”

  “That’s no small task. The Hounds were reportedly nigh unstoppable before you managed to find a way. How are we supposed to deal with threats like that?”

  “We’ll need a core of very powerful beings to lean on while I’m not here. That, and the best equipment that can be made.”

  “It seems you have put some thought into this then. How can your humble court mage help in this endeavor?”

  “Get your academy going and add a branch for mages that specialize in warfare. They need long-range and high area-of-effect Spells. If you don’t have the Spells yourself, recruit someone who does. Use the time dilation as much as possible. There is a region in the mountains of…you know what. Let me just take you there so you can see for yourself. Can you break away right now?”

  Baslin smiled. “Of course.”

  “Great. And have you seen Ophirian around anywhere? It’s not cool for us to be separated for this long.”

  “I believe he is somewhere in the Havenreach area but I’m not sure. Can’t you sense him somehow?”

  “Not at the moment. If he is in the Havenreach area that makes sense. The time dilation effect messes most communications up. OK, Let’s go.”

  It was only a moment before the pair arrived outside the cave system Duke had created in the mountains near Havenreach. Baslin stumbled briefly as the time dilation disrupted his balance which brought a wry grin to Duke’s face. It’s not cancelling my Ability and dropping me from four stories up, but I’ll take it.

  Duke pointed at the cave opening, “In there, the time dilation really picks up. When Sam gets here, he can help you set up the Academy in there. Feel free to reshape it to whatever vision you have. I may even be able to increase the time dilation for you once you get things set up.”

  “I would be happy to assist in reshaping this area to create more mages.” Sam appeared next to the pair looking even more eager than usual.

  “I figured you would.” Duke chuckled. “I’ll leave you two to work out the details. I have someone else to track down.” He put action to words and stepped into the cave system, immediately sensing Ophirian in the depths of the cave system.

  With a ripple of air, Ophirian appeared in front of Duke, smiling broadly. “Duke! You’ve returned. The increase in my characteristics has told me of your own growth. I can only assume that we won the Contest?”

  “Yes, we did.”

  “Was it glorious? Did you kill all your opponents?”

  “In the finals, I killed all but one.”

  “Oh, glorious indeed. You left one alive to tell the tale of your dominance and mastery of the competition. You are indeed my own bond!”

  “And what have you been up to in my absence?”

  “Hunting, of course. I am up to level 70 already.”

  “Still Tier Four, I see.”

  Ophirian’s expression darkened briefly before returning to the glow of reunion. “For now. But with you back, I am confident that we will push for the higher tiers quickly.”

  “True. I have to push you up as fast as I can. I really want you to get to Tier Seven in the next few weeks. I need you to be able to handle the rigors of space without a ship around you. In that regard, I have to set up another dungeon that will begin crafting equipment for us. If you can’t handle the vacuum of space with your NATURAL ARMOR and REGENERATION, I’ll find another solution for you.”

  “Why space?”

  “Because that is how we will get to our foes. They travel in ships, so I want to remove that capability from them. I am sure that they have some other means of traversing Cosmic distances but that is going to be the exception rather than the rule. At least that is my hope. So, for now, continue to hunt and grow stronger. I will come back shortly once I have the crafting dungeon set up.”

  Ophirian shifted to his natural form and Duke immediately noted that the serpent had grown by a few meters in length and nearly half a meter in girth. He used his DUNGEON ENGINEERING to increase the respawn rate of the cave system as well as allowing the average Tier and Level of monsters to begin to increase over time. As he did so, he felt something strange – an unexpected interaction with another Ability. His AURA of PROSPERITY flared in response to the dungeon changes, enhancing them even further. A message appeared that helped explain the interaction.

  *** Your AURA of PROSPERITY has been temporarily boosted by the gods of Teldin to synergize with your other Abilities more easily.

  Welcome home, Champion. We expect you will be needed more than ever in the days to come. Prepare well for the coming storm as all Teldin will be relying on you! ***

  Duke took the message in, wondering if the gods were trying to reward him further or if they were afraid of what was coming. Either way he would take the boost and run with it. Ophirian had already returned to hunting the caves and Sam was working with Baslin to design the academy. He left the dungeon, focusing his energy on DUNGEON CORE CREATION.