Monroe

Chapter Three Hundred and Eighty-Eight. Trust.

It reminded Jessica of when she'd first seen Bob cast ritual magic. Real ritual magic, that was. He'd created a Dungeon for the Australian refugees, the process being worlds apart from the simple portal rituals or even the regeneration rituals.

He was sitting cross-legged on the flagstones of the temple square, sweat beading up on his forehead as he wove cable thick strands of mana together, forging order from the chaotic energy. He'd long since passed the point where his rituals were visible only to those with mana sight active, and the crowds of Urlinad who watched spoke in hushed tones, whispering to one another as Bob worked his magic.

Dave and Amanda had filled her in as far as the plan went. She had thought that they would likely end up spending more time than they might have originally planned on this planet. She couldn't see herself walking away from the Urlinad and allowing them to suffer when she had the capability to help them.

Everyone in the group had done the math. They had thousands of years. Yes, they were pushing for tier ten. Yes, they wanted to have their spells at, or as close as they could get to maximum level. Yes, the King of Greenwold had given Bob a deadline. But they still had thousands of years, which was a long time to live with regret.

So, her vote for the plan had been a simple 'yes.'

She was using mana sight to watch the ritual. Bob had assured her that she had a natural talent with System-less casting and had said that he expected her to surpass his own skills in a few years. It was silly, but the way he'd looked when he'd told her that had given her butterflies. Call it the masculine ego, but it was rare for her to see a man who didn't show any jealousy when someone showed more skill than they did, let alone for them to praise and encourage.

Jessica shook her head, focusing on the ritual. She was certain that if it worked, this was one she would want to know how to cast.

Tyolad watched from the steps of the temple as the Lord of Blight wove a tapestry of rainbow-hued silvery light. He wasn't sure which was more unbelievable, that these people had come from another universe, traveling across the stars, or that they were Avatars of the gods.

What was undeniable was their power. There could be no doubt that they had saved Kulaod from the monsters. They spoke of salvation, sharing the square of light where it was written by this System that they were tasked to clear each city. They seemed confident of their ability to do so, but he had heard their concern for his people as they voiced their worries that once the Urlinad had been returned to their world, they might struggle and suffer.

The man in the square below was working some sort of magical ritual. It was nothing like the rituals he had studied and used. He could feel the power emanating from the thick ropes of light he was weaving together. More, in the places where they lay on the ground, the flagstones had actually melted around them.

Tyolad smiled slightly. The man had been quite adamant about not being the Lord of Blight, but whispers were already spreading. This display would no doubt solidify the belief of any who witnessed, and those who would recount to others the events of today. He suspected that in a week, it would be difficult to find anyone who wouldn't claim to have been here, or when pressed to insist their tale was only once removed.

He wasn't fully decided on the matter himself. Why would strangers, aliens, if they were to be believed, go so far to help strangers? Complete the quest given them by this System, yes, that he could believe. But to go so far as to plan to spend months, even years of their lives helping the Urlinad? He was devout, and well-read in the holy texts, as one would expect from a High Priest. The correlations were there.

The Lord of Blight, the Storm Princess, and Kessen were the most obvious, but the entire group slotted just a little too well into the Pantheon.

The Spring Breeze, the consort of the Queen of Storms, was oddly mirrored by the man named Erick, the mate of the Storm Princess. He commanded the winds but also brought the gentle touch of healing.

The Lord of Beasts and his mate, The Devourer, were represented by Eddi and Wayna.

The Keeper, while feared, was well respected, and the power shown by the one named Harv was clearly linked to death.

The Night Lady, she who ruled the darkness, was closely linked to The Devourer and the Lord of Beasts, while still remaining separate. Amanda, with hair so dark it seemed to capture the night, who called upon an apex predator, going so far as to ride on its back, was being tapped for that role.

Likewise, the Lady of Light, she who brought the dawn, was clearly linked to the blonde-haired Jessica, who shone with the light of the sun as she cast her healing magic.

Mike was clearly The Protector, fighting to defend others with his shield as he bore brutal wounds so others wouldn't have to.

It wasn't until he'd seen a sketch of the one called Jack, bracing himself under both of his shields under the weight of six monsters, that he'd realized where the man fit into the pantheon. He knew from talking to him that the man had constructed cities, but at the moment of seeing the sketch, he realized that Jack was The Builder, the one who had shown the Uldinar how to construct homes and then cities, allowing them to construct the walls that protected them from the predators.

Eli was The Warrior. Few had the drive to test themselves against the predators outside the walls, but those who did revered The Warrior. Eli's graceful, precise movements spoke of uncountable years of training to perfect his dance of death.

It was harder to determine the role of Amanda's mate, Dave. He seemed to focus all of his efforts on aiding her, which led Tyolad to consider him as the Moon Prince, the consort of the Night Lady.

There were still several members of the Pantheon missing, but really, what use would the Lady of the Fields be when it came to driving away monsters?

No, these people slotted all too well into the Pantheon for him to ignore the implications. Or the possibilities.

His people were not violent. They could react in violence when assaulted by a predator, but it was in their nature to gather together, relying on the safety of numbers to discourage the hunters.

The System would be the bane of the Urlinad. It demanded that they drive themselves to directed violence.

Tyolad had the beginnings of a plan. The clergy, and the guard, would be the most willing, if not necessarily eager, to take on the duty of safeguarding their people. They already fulfilled that function, especially the guard, and for the clergy, saving their flock's bodies was every bit as important as guiding their souls, was it not?

They might not like it, but he was going to encourage his people in their reverence. It would give weight to their instructions, which would be that they delve into these Dungeons, fighting the monsters and gaining the power to further serve their people.

He had overheard the plan laid out, and he intended to lead his clergy in being the first of the four hundred and sixty that they would bring from city to city.

Exploring the System menu has been unsettling, but it had made several things clear. Real, palpable power was within their grasp. The power to heal wounds, to ensure the health of the soil, to hasten the growth of crops, and to build. Even the power to soften the storms that lashed them without end.

It was clear that they would need the ability to harm, and the ability to heal. Bob's group had spoken about needing people who could 'shepherd' others through the Dungeon, and needing them to have the ability to intervene if a battle went badly. To that end, he would use Elemental Air to create lightning, and Animancy to heal. It was a deviation from what Gualla had planned, but her plan was directed towards calming the storm, while he needed to be focused on preparing his people. It was a sacrifice he would be happy to make.

Bob mentally wrestled with the mana, forcing it into place.

He hadn't expected the ritual to be this hard. The ambient mana in the Dungeon was different than it had been before the update. It was something he had noticed before, but it hadn't ever been an issue, and he'd simply assumed it was due to the nature of how Dungeons were constructed by the System.

Normally, mana moved in accordance with the environment around it, both the physical and the non-physical. It was, by and large, easy to manipulate. In the Dungeon, it seemed like the mana had a predefined purpose, and it wasn't willing to be steered from it easily.

Of course, that was when using Ritual magic, as opposed to ritual magic. Ritually summoning Jake wasn't difficult at all.

He was sweating as he worked, and his body ached from holding the same position for almost six hours. The heart of the matter was that the pattern he was creating didn't exist in three dimensions. It existed in four. The weave required him to link certain patterns together at certain times as they moved. The planet stood on the knife's edge between tier six, and tier seven, so he had worked the ritual as tier six.

He was working with the last two strands now. It was almost a relief to only need to weave two at once. They fell into place, and the entire pattern flashed brightly for a moment.

Error.

User 'Robert Whitman', User identification code 40816G1407N3210ISS3PM1IO has attempted to utilize the now defunct 'Arcane Depths' skill.

Evaluating attempt.

Attempt successful. User has demonstrated acceptable mastery of mana manipulation.

User possesses the 'Saviour' achievement.

User assigned planetary quest under the Reclamation Protocol.

Evaluating purpose of attempted skill use.

User intention to aid native energy users confirmed.

User is granted provisional use of restricted skill 'Create Dungeon.'

The world seemed to shift slightly, as if everything, from the ground to the sky to the people, had been moved exactly one millimeter to the left.

A portal of blue-black light rose from the center of the temple square.

Bob hadn't managed to gather himself to stand when another System window appeared.

New Achievement.

Trusted.

You have obtained a restricted skill. The System has evaluated your actions and determined that you will use this skill responsibly.

Reward: This achievement will have a positive impact on future evolutions.

Then another appeared.

New Achievement.

Dungeon Master.

You have successfully created a System Dungeon. You have done so with the sole purpose of enhancing the productivity of a species of users new to the System. You have created a Dungeon with no value to yourself. This has increased the value of this Achievement.

Reward: When entering a Dungeon, the user may alter the relative nature of time by the user's tier.

Bob blinked and staggered to his feet, listening to the noise of the crowd.

Jessica was the first to reach him, and she slipped her arm under his, offering her support. Mike was the second, and claimed the other arm.

"I'm guessing that worked, yeah?" Jessica asked.

"It did," Bob confirmed.

"Better you than me," Mike smiled. "I can't imagine sitting still for that long."

"It's not fun," Bob agreed.

"I suppose it's time we had that meeting," Jessica said. "What with you succeeding and all, it's not really theoretical."

"I would like to be a part of that meeting," Tyodal said as he approached them. "If only to advocate for my people."

"I want to argue that point," Bob groaned, "but it's a pretty good one. We are going to be talking about your people, and while it makes everyone feel a little bit uncomfortable to do so, the fact of the matter is that we should be uncomfortable talking about these kinds of decisions. I don't think I want to be the kind of person who makes them casually."

"I figure, at the very worst, two years," Bob said, recapping the plan for those who hadn't been present.

"Stars and stones, that's a long time," Harv muttered.

"It's not like we won't be making any progress," Amanda replied. "I earned thirty-five million experience clearing this Dungeon."

"She's not wrong," Dave agreed. "If it's one monster per person, and we keep the current spread, we will end up earning one point three billion experience, each, just by clearing the Dungeons for the quest. Now I've done the math, and that puts our spells over level one hundred and twenty."

"And, honestly, once we break level one hundred on our spells, we can move up another couple of levels," Mike added. "That'll increase the multiplier a bit."

"Also, we can crank the levels up and clear them at tier nine after we finish the quest to help keep things under control while the Urlinad get settled in," Eddi added.

"Sure, we're losing some time shepherding, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not that much, yeah?" Jessica said.

Bob looked around the table. "Anyone have any objections?" He asked.

He cleared his throat. "Alright then, we're committed to spending the time necessary to make sure the Urlinad are settled into their new lives under the System."

"On behalf of my people, I thank you," Tyolad said, speaking for the first time since he'd joined them in Bob's inventory. "I should be able to gather the people you need from the clergy and the guard. We will choose an option to heal, and an option to do damage so that we can guide our people in each city."

"I'm guessing you have four hundred and sixty people?" Bob asked.

Tyolad smiled. "The clergy in this city number over eight thousand," he replied. "I suspect I will have to establish criteria from which to separate the wheat from the chaff."

"Might want to make sure none of them are claustrophobic, yeah?" Jessica said. "You'll be stuffed in our inventories like coolies, so anyone who can't handle that is right out."