Victor of Tucson-Chapter 20Book 10: : Just Passing Through

20 – Just Passing Through

Wincing a little, resisting the urge to rub the nagging, burning, itching ache in his chest, Victor twisted the key in his miniaturized vault and set it down in the center of his study. As it steamed and jumped, rapidly expanding, he backed up to stand beside Arona. “Just a minute or so,” he said, looking past her to ensure the door was closed.

“Is it a travel home?”

“No, more like a vault. At least, that’s how I’ve come to think of it.”

“Ah, I understand,” she replied, running her eyes over the spherical construct as it surged to its final size, the thousands of bright, flaring runes in the dark metal slowly fading to a dim, ochre glow.

Victor stepped forward and turned the key the rest of the way, opening the circular door with a hiss of magical steam. “Just wait here a moment, please.” He stared at Arona until she nodded, then stepped inside, peering around the vault in the strange, magenta glow of the silent Dungeon Core.

He gathered up the satchel containing his most prized treasure—the ivid royal jelly—and ensured the silk Queen Crystal had given him was still wrapped snugly around the jar. Then he tucked it down into the satchel and set it on the far side of the vault behind some lesser magical treasures and other containers. He trusted Arona, but he remembered how just a whiff of the jelly had affected Tes. Of course, Arona didn’t have the senses of a dragon nor the power of a veil walker, so he doubted she would even be able to sense the jelly inside the shroud, but he didn’t want to take chances.

Stepping back around Du’s floating, spherical, gem-like body, he pushed the door wide. “Come on in.” When Arona eagerly stepped past the threshold and peered around the vault’s interior, Victor pointed to the floating, soft-ball-sized Dungeon Core. “Do you know what that is?”

She shook her head. “Since you brought me here after indicating we’d speak to a Dungeon Core, I presume that’s what it is; I can’t imagine you would have chosen a pink-hued light to illuminate your vault.”

Victor chuckled, shaking his head. “Yeah, that’s right. This is Du, and he’s been pretty damn quiet since I took him out of the dungeon he’d created in the bowels of Iron Mountain.” Unconsciously, he began to reach for the sore at his chest, but Arona reached out and snatched his wrist. He looked at her slender, strong fingers and how they failed to close around his thick bones. Still, she’d served to remind him, and he nodded. “Thanks.”

She let go, then gestured to the orb. “So how does this being fit into your plans?”

“Well, Du asked me to place him somewhere where he might attract more visitors. I wondered if such a favor would be worth some favors in return—”

“Have I not given you enough?”

Victor grinned and winked at Arona before saying, “Du! I'm so glad you’ve broken your silence. That’s what I wanted to speak to you about. The treasure you gave me was amazing, but so, too, were the challenges I faced in your dungeon. Are you capable of creating as many encounters like that as you want, or does it drain you somehow?”

“These are topics I’m expressly forbidden to speak about.”

“By the System?”

“What else?”

Victor grinned at Arona. “So the System grants you certain powers, right? You let that slip when we last spoke. You chose the treasures I earned in your dungeon. Since you’ve told me that much, you might as well clarify. Can the System even see you in this vault? Will it know you’re speaking to me?”

Du pulsed silently for several seconds, and then his voice warbled, “Oh, woe unto me! Am I held captive in this dimensional space? Thank the fates that my jailor has left the door open, allowing the benevolent System to monitor my plight in this pocket of the universe outside its influence!”

Victor almost laughed at the Core’s antics, but he held his tongue while he turned and pulled the vault door closed. Putting the key into the interior slot, he twisted it until the many locks fell into place with loud thunks.

“Oh, wicked jailor! I will answer your questions, but only because you’ve cut me off from the benevolent System, and I fear for my very existence!”

Victor laughed, looking at Arona to see if she was enjoying Du’s theatrics. Her expression was quizzical though—one narrowed eye, pursed lips, even a finger held up as she contemplated her words. “Is—is this Dungeon Core helping you to hide our conversation from the System?”

Victor nodded as he winked exaggeratedly. “No, no. Can’t you see he’s under duress?”

“Yes! Yes, such wicked duress!”

Victor sighed, his constant pain and irritation resurfacing to supplant his momentary amusement. “So, Du, tell me: can you repeat what you did for me in the Crucible of Fire?”

“Not exactly, no. I am awarded something called ‘influence points’ in the System’s dungeon management protocols. I earn them passively over time and via certain activities and milestones. In your case, I spent a vast surplus of influence points with abandon to garner your favor, hoping you would return with companions who would then return with their companions, and so on.”

“So you’re out?”

“Oh, not hardly! I still have many, but more importantly, I’m a high-level dungeon, and even without my influence, the System will continue to allow me to access appropriate treasure; I just won’t have a say in what it is.”

“So you can make dungeons challenging for me? Like the Crucible?”

“So long as I have a steady flow of ambient Energy, yes. Of course, the type of ambient Energy influences the environments I can create.”

Arona stepped closer to Du and asked, “The density of ambient Energy impacts how often or difficult you make your dungeons?”

Du flashed several times, then said, “Hello, stranger. I am Du.”

Arona let out a raspy chuckle. “Apologies, kind Dungeon Core. I am Arona Moonshadow.”

“Thank you for the introduction. Were we in an environment of my making, I would know more about you. We Dungeon Cores are granted certain insights as we progress through the System’s levels. How else would we know what treasures would best suit our visitors?” He pulsed a few times, then continued, “To answer your question, at my level, I can create low-tier dungeons by the dozens, day after day. If I want to create a high-tier dungeon, I must gather Energy, so, yes, thick ambient Energy will speed that process along.”

“If I give you a new home with a ready supply of Energy in the air, will you agree to always offer an appropriate challenge to the people who enter your portal?”

“Victor, there are different types of dungeons: static, meaning they don’t change from entry to entry—the monsters and the treasure are always the same; adaptive, meaning they will adjust their level and treasure to match their entrants; and progressive, meaning they keep track of their entrants and can only offer a stronger challenge after each successful completion.”

“And you?”

“I am a progressive dungeon. I cannot alter that about myself, though I think it’s the best of both worlds. If you fail and must flee the dungeon, I will not increase the difficulty for you, but if you succeed, I cannot open another instance for you until I’ve gathered enough Energy to create an even stronger challenge. Like an adaptive dungeon, I can change my layout and encounters, and I can influence the treasures you find. Static dungeons are so dull—I almost pity them.”

R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at freewebnovёl.ƈom Only.

Arona cleared her throat. “If you meant to have your people use Du to gain levels, it seems like a good fit, Victor. He will challenge them appropriately.”

Victor nodded, rubbing his chin. “Well, I’ll give you a new home as long as you make a simple agreement with me.”

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

“What are your terms, Sir Victor?”

Remembering some of the more deadly challenges Du had thrown his way, Victor said, “I want to make known to you a few people I care about, and I want you to agree never to give them an encounter from which they cannot flee—no deathtraps.”

“A few, you say?”

Victor nodded. “Yes, no more than ten. If they bring companions, though, don’t try to use that as a loophole to entrap them.” He looked at Arona to see if she thought he was making a mistake, but she met his eyes and nodded.

“I will abide by your terms so long as you give me a good home and allow access to people other than those on your…list.”

“I will. I’ll post warnings, however. I know how tricky you can be.”

“Excellent. An informed entrant is always more fun than a buffoon who stumbles upon me unawares.”

“Okay, Du, we’ll speak again soon.” Victor unlocked the vault and stepped out, holding it open for Arona. When she was out, he locked it and turned the key until it began to shrink again. “I gained several levels when I cleared that dungeon—most of tier seven.”

“Ah! You hope to use him to gain power and, thus, be more prepared to battle this curse!”

“Yep.” Victor smiled and stooped to pick up his vault, looping the chain around his wrist again. “Can you set up the portal array? I need to send a message.” Victor unloaded all the parts to the array, setting them in the center of the room, and then, while Arona got to work laying the crystals out, he summoned the Farscribe book he shared with Rellia. His message was short and to the point:

Rellia –

I’m coming to visit this evening. I hope you have a page or somebody like that watching this book; otherwise, I guess it’ll be a surprise.

-Victor

He closed the book and looked up to see the portal array was already pulsing as it gathered ambient Energy. “You need to get anything together?” he asked Arona. She was perusing one of his bookcases, reading the titles of books his predecessor had put there. “We’ll be gone a few days, probably.”

“Did you tell the queen? Bryn?”

“Yeah. I mean, I didn’t say we were leaving this second, but I’ve got Farscribe books with them both. I put Bryn in charge of my little construction project.”

“Everything I have is here.” Arona held up her left hand, displaying a few gem-studded rings.

“Good.” Victor summoned another Farscribe book—the one he shared with Valla—and looked to see if she’d written anything new. The last message he had from her was a brief note saying she wished she could join him and Tes on Fanwath but was too busy with her obligations to leave on such short notice. He frowned when he saw nothing new written. Had she moved on so completely? Of course, he was aware of the hypocrisy of the thought; she still came to his mind now and then, but he was pretty much over the heartbreak of her decision to put their relationship in limbo.

Arona saved him from further contemplations by saying, “It’s ready.”

“Cool.” Victor stood and walked to the center of the pattern and picked up the destination orb where he’d set it. “I just hold this and think of where I want to go?” Arona nodded, so he clutched the heavy golden ball and pictured the garden behind his home on Fanwath. He focused on the little fountain, the beds of flowering shrubs, the way the peaked, gabled roof of the rear solar reflected the sun’s light—

A crackling sizzle sounded as a reddish-pink rip in the fabric of the universe appeared at the center of the array’s pattern. “Okay, I’m taking the array with us, so we have to hurry.” Victor gathered the crystals, sending them into his storage ring one after the other, and then he picked up the control box and did the same. “Ready?”

Suddenly, Arona held a silvery staff, thin and delicate. Its top end, about a foot higher than her head, was adorned with delicate branches of silvery metal that looped and bent into the shape of intricate glyphs. “I am ready.”

Victor grinned. “New staff?”

She shook her head. “Not new. It’s a more general focus of Energy than my death-attuned treasures. It’ll work better with my solar Energy.” Without another word or a backward glance, she stepped through the portal.

“She’s very direct,” Victor said to the empty room, then stepped through the portal after her. To his relief, it deposited them directly where he’d hoped, even though the sunlight was different than in his visualization—it was early morning, and the sky was gray. He gestured to his hermitage. “My house on Fanwath. I need to speak to my governor before our next stop.” He unpacked the array and set the parts, aside from the destination orb, on the lip of the fountain. “Can you set it up again? I don’t know how long it will take to charge here.”

Arona didn’t so much as frown. She just nodded and got to work. For a moment, Victor wondered if he was mistreating her in his haste. If he hadn’t had a void eating away at his chest, he might have taken some time to show her around and introduce her to people. He wondered if she would have objected to his constant requests if she weren’t so convinced that she owed him so much. Things were how they were, though, and he could only resolve to make it up to her later.

He stormed into the house, bellowing, “Gorro! Governor!”

One of the kitchen staff came charging down a dark hallway, eyes wide. “Lord Victor?”

“Yes. Sorry to startle you. I have to speak to the governor.”

“He’s likely up and about, I’ll—”

“I’m here,” Gorro said, striding around another corner. He was fastidious as ever despite the early hour. His hair was perfectly combed, and his suit was neat and clean—even his shirt was tucked in. “How may I be of service, milord? Is aught amiss?”

“No. I just have pressing matters and a big job for you. Let’s go to the study.” Victor led the way, and when he’d closed the door behind Gorro, he began to explain. “I need you to assemble a construction crew. An enormous one with skilled Earth Elementalists. We’re going to rebuild the road, the twin citadels, and the bridge leading up to the volcano’s caldera.”

To his credit, Gorro didn’t look stunned or even bothered. He blinked, rubbed his chin, and said, “I suppose Lady Rellia will be funding this endeavor?”

Victor grinned. He knew what the man was thinking; the volcano was north of his borders and fell squarely on Rellia’s lands. “Nope. I’m going to buy it from her.”

“You’re going to buy the mountain?” His eyebrows shot up. “The construction alone will require years to pay for with the income of your province. I’m unsure what we could use as collateral for a purchase of that magnitude.”

“No, Gorro.“ Victor shook his head, chuckling. “I mean, me, personally. I’ll buy the mountain from her, and here—” Victor summoned ten bags of beads from his storage ring, piling them on the rug between them. “—add this to our treasury to pay for the construction. If it’s insufficient, let me know. I consider this an investment, and so should you because we’re going to be making a lot of income from the project I have planned for the caldera.”

“Do you have more detailed instructions? Plans?”

“I will have, but for now, just assemble a crew capable of rebuilding the road and the citadels. I’ll have detailed plans in your Farscribe book before you finish that.” He turned to the closed door. “If there’s nothing else, I should go and see Rellia.”

“Will you visit with Miss Cora? She and Lady Efanie are surely still abed, but I could wake—”

Victor shook his head. “No, Gorro. I’ll be back when I have time to relax. Right now, I’m feeling some pressure. Maybe keep my brief visit between—” Victor cut himself off. That was stupid. A servant had already seen him, so everyone in the house knew he was home by now. “Never mind that. Go ahead and tell her I said hello and that I’d be back to visit soon. I’m going to be here a lot more in the near future.”

Gorro nodded, clearly relieved by Victor’s change of course. “I’ll be happy to do so, milord.”

Victor shook his governor’s hand, then he turned and strode through the house, nodding to the many staff members who happened to have something to do in the hallways between his study and the back doors. He supposed it was both exciting and alarming for him to arrive so suddenly, and he couldn’t blame them for trying to get an idea of what was going on.

Outside, he found Arona sitting on the edge of the fountain, watching the crystals pulsing with soft, pink light as they charged. They were definitely pulsing more slowly than on Ruhn. “How long, do you think?”

She tapped her fingers on her staff and wrinkled her eyebrows as she contemplated the question. “I think ten more minutes or so. It’s about twenty-five percent as fast as back in your palace.”

“Perfect.” Victor began to summon containers from his storage rings, sorting through a few valuables and preparing for his meeting with Rellia. She’d try to drive a hard bargain; after all, the mountain probably took up a couple of hundred thousand acres—a significant piece of property. More than that, she’d be curious what he wanted with it and likely assume it had some natural value. More than that, it was a hell of a landmark. He could imagine it was a bit of a point of pride for her to look at the massive, scoop-topped peak and think of it as hers.

“It’s ready,” Arona announced again.

“All right.” Victor stowed away his treasures and summoned the destination orb. He stood in the pattern and pictured the courtyard outside Rellia’s palace as he’d last seen it. A few seconds later, the rip in the universe reappeared. He gathered up the portal array’s components and said, “Better let me go through first this time. The portal’s probably already surrounded by guards.”

Arona gripped her staff and stood ready. “I will be close behind.”

Victor held up a hand, grunting in amusement. “But don’t attack them!”

She gave him the barest of nods. “As you wish.”

Victor narrowed his eyes at her briefly but then nodded and turned, stepping through the portal. Just as he’d presumed, a hundred soldiers surrounded him. Dozens of spear-wielding men and women in Rellia’s livery and a hundred or more sharpshooters on the walls. He held up his hands and laughed, “Relax. I come in peace. I’m here to see Lady Rellia.”

“Lord Victor?” one of the guards called out.

“Yes! And I have one companion coming through.”

“At ease!” the man’s voice rang out, and Victor thought he recognized Rellia’s guard captain. “Clear a path,” the man roared, and the guards began to break ranks. Spears were lifted, and a buzz of conversation filled the air as the soldiers who knew Victor made exclamations and those who didn’t asked questions. Arona stepped through the portal, her eyes blazing with brilliant white-yellow light, and Victor stepped in front of her, waiting for the captain, Rellia, or someone of authority to come into view.

“Victor!” Rellia’s voice rang out, and he adjusted his gaze upward, where he saw the red-haired noblewoman leaning over a balcony, waving. “Come inside! My chamberlain will meet you at the door.” Her voice deepened as she bellowed, “Captain Ap’Torrun, clear those soldiers away immediately.”

“Yes, milady!” the gruff voice barked. Victor still couldn’t see him. The man’s face was lost amid the plumed helms of his soldiers.

He turned to Arona and gestured toward the palace steps. “C’mon. Don’t worry; we’re just passing through here. I need a quick meeting with Rellia, and then we can go and get things started with Du.”

The two of them had only taken a few steps, however, when Rellia threw a verbal hand grenade over the railing of her balcony. “I’ve sent someone to wake Valla! She’ll be thrilled you arrived while she’s visiting.”