King of the Mountain

Chapter 63

Finishing Up My Earthly Duties

Our situation was different. The sheer level difference between me, Walter, and the candidates meant that they were only getting about 5% of the experience. However, this went up each time one of them left. Walter was a special case because according to what I had been told he would eat up most of my experience until he caught up to my level. So my guess from the leveling was that he was getting about 75% of the experience while I was only receiving about 10%. This 10% was negligible to me at my level.

While the candidates may only be getting 5%, it was 5% of experience totals they would normally not be able to have for many years. I was speed running them through level 100 – 150 dungeons. Each run gave them a level or more at the beginning. It started to slow down after about 5 days. However, Svetlana left after a week. Which upped the percentage the remaining two got to 7.5% which allowed them to level quickly once again for a few days. Soon enough Billy reached his goal and we bid him goodbye. That left just Akira, A.K.A. the Mistress of the Sword. I had gotten her to agree that I could call her Akira in private as her title was very long.

Akira since she was starting at a lower level had only made it to level 108. This was still phenomenal growth seeing as how she was only level 50 to start with. However, it was time for something a little different. First I needed to check in with Randolph and make sure that everything was set up.

“Randolph, have the scouts reported back yet?”

“Yes sire, they teleported in with their findings this morning. We have a location and names and numbers.”

“Excellent, The Mistress of the Sword and I will be arriving soon. Please have a briefing ready for us. We will take care of the majority of operation. Make sure that your crack squad is ready to retrieve and help those that we find.”

“Yes sire, we will be ready.”

Unfortunately, there was no truth serum or it’s like in the Great Game system to buy. This meant it took nearly a week to get the information out of our little friend Edward about the slavery operation he was a part of. We did not want to use physical torture so we used something called dream manipulation. There was a race in the Great Game that was called Phantoms. They were not true phantoms that were ghostlike, but rather people that had mental powers to a limited degree. They were excellent illusion makers and could actually influence your thoughts and dreams given enough time and the proper situation.

This group was often hired to get information from subjects and also to help with mental healing of victims. We consequently needed them for both reasons. I put a quick ad in the Great Game hiring section for a team of 20 phantoms for interrogation and healing work for two months. I offered them what Randolph said was a ridiculous salary, but I had money to spare at this point. They were to get the information I needed from Edward and then help any victims we find in the operation to shut down the slavery ring.

As soon as we had the information from Edward I sent out a force to scout the area and the slavery option. I knew I could not wait too long as that meant more people would get hurt, but I needed concrete information to act on. The more information we had the better the operation would proceed. I was also going to use this as the last and most important test for Akira. I knew she was dedicated to protecting the Earth from monsters, but I needed her to be able to fight people as well.

“Akira, we are about to teleport back to my castle where we will get information on a slavery ring that has been operating in my kingdom. I need to know that you can protect the Earth not just from external threats and monsters, but from internal threats also.”

“Yes sir, I understand. Slavery is horrible and I will do what is necessary to stop it. However, how will you stop it completely won’t they just revive at the spawn point.”

“Good thinking girl, you are right, but I already thought of that contingency. I have a squad that will detain all those that respawn at the point during our mission. After we have rescued and shut down the operation we will go and identify those that we know were part of the slavery ring and let the rest go.”

“What will the punishment be for those that we capture at the respawn point?”

“For slavery they will be respawned three times for maximum loss of level and then imprisoned for 10 years of hard labor. Those that the victims identify as both slavers and sexual predators will not be allowed to live. They will be killed until there is no respawn. Finally, anyone who at least made life better or tried to help according to the victims will be given leniency with only two respawns and 5 years of hard labor.”

“That sounds much more humane than I would have guessed you would be sir.”

“I would be harsher if I had not discovered magic suppressing manacles in the Great Game store. They can reduce your affinities by 25% which should be more than enough for most people to lose magic and not try and escape. This means I can incarcerate people and be reasonably assured that they will remain under lock and key for their sentence.”

We teleported back and got all of the information needed from Randolph. It seems that the group was working out of the ruins of Miami and was actually spreading their influence into the rest of the world now that the teleport network was up. I was going to have to crack down hard and make an example of this group so no others would spring up while I was away.

We made our assault that afternoon. I was pleased to note that Akira did not hesitate to kill those who were obviously part of the slavery ring. If there was any doubt she called for surrender first and if they laid down their weapons they were spared so we could figure it out later. If not they were given the same treatment as the slavers. We dealt with about 50 different people in the organization and freed close to 300 slaves. Luckily most of them were not abused, just detained and sold as cheap labor. We travelled to the respawn point and identified those that we had killed as slavers and pronounced judgement upon them and then sent them for respawn until we finally locked them up. I set them to mining stone and creating tunnels in various parts of the kingdom. It was pointless work that could easily be done with magic but it kept them busy and was a punishment so it all worked out.

I continued to work with Akira for another week until I had raised her level up to 183. It was time for the final step.

“Akira, I will now give you a choice that I want you to think on carefully. Tonight no matter what I will designate you as my heir and you will become Planetary Leader. You are almost 50 levels in front of your next closest competitor so that should not be a worry. However, I think that we can do one more thing to make you stronger. We can improve or change your bloodline.”

“What do you mean sir. I am already an elf and that gives me a boost to my dexterity each level which is higher than most people will ever reach.”

“I understand that, but I have access to a bloodline dungeon where you can select any possible bloodline. Many of which are stronger than Grassland Elf. I have bought a bloodlines guide from the Great Game and want you to look over it and see if any of them spark your interest. If after looking you want to stay with your current bloodline I understand. “

“OK sir, I trust you I will study it tonight and give you my decision in the morning.”

I have had Jacob and Randolph looking over the same guide that last couple of weeks and they have leveled up with my kids while I was taking care of Akira and Walter.

“Walter, in the morning you will travel back and take a group to level up just like we have been doing with Akira. I will take Akira, Randolph, and Jacob to the bloodline dungeon and let them make their choices.”

“Yes Master, I understand.”

The morning came soon enough and Akira looked like she had made her decision.

“Sir it is my understanding that the more powerful a bloodline is the harder the trial and more likely someone would fail. Is that correct?”

“Yes Akira, with great risk comes great reward. I took a very big risk and earned a Unique Bloodline and have benefited tremendously from it.”

“I will try for a new version of the elf bloodline. I like the elven look and bonuses to agility, but there are some things that could improve. I will try for the legendary bloodline Titan Elf.”

“Very good Akira. You do realize that you will have to do this on your own and I will be unable to accompany you.”

“Yes Sir, I am ready.”

“Let’s go then. Just remember to be creative. Even impossible tasks can be overcome with ingenuity.”

We teleported to the Bloodline Dungeon where Randolph and Jacob were waiting for us along with several guards.

“Good morning all. Randolph and Jacob have you made your choices?”

Randolph replied, “I have chosen the Epic Bloodline Human Warmaster.”

Jacob said, “I am not as confident and I am going for the Rare Bloodline Moon Blessed.”

“I want to make sure that you are confident in your choices. I cannot help you inside the bloodline dungeons and death is permanent inside this challenge.”

Randolph answered for both, “We are both sure my lord. I am going to take my two protégés in for the same bloodline and Jacob has a group of 5 guards who are also interested in the Moon Blessed bloodline to help him.”

“I will give you the same advice that I have already given the Mistress of the Sword. Remember to be creative, sometimes impossible tasks become possible when you look at them with an open mind.”

I sent in Jacob first with his party and watched them shimmer out of existence as they were teleported to their bloodline dungeon challenge. The next to go was Randolph with his two. Finally, it was Akira’s turn.

“Be careful Akira, I will wait here for 2 weeks. After that I will have someone waiting for another month. If you take longer than that, you will have to make your way back on your own.”

“Yes sir, I will make you proud.”

Akira shimmered out of existence and I started what I hoped would be a short wait and the return of the two people I now thought of as friends and my successor to the Planetary Leader title. If Akira returns I will make it official through the Great Game option and I will then be able to finish wrapping up my business here on Earth in preparation for travel to the Dungeon World. I want to be prepared for a long absence even if it sounds like I can return whenever I want. I know the Great Game sometimes has unknown conditions and my luck usually triggers them.

Jacob was the first to arrive back, however the danger was made apparent as he only returned with four of the five guards he left with.

“What happened Jacob?”

“Well sire, the Moon Blessed bloodline challenge was to survive 72 hours of Moon Monster based attacks. Harold the guard who did not make it was killed on the last night by some type of ambush predator while on watch. No one heard it and no one saw it. The rest of us have been given the Moon Blessed bloodline and will now earn 1 free attribute point for each level and have another attribute point placed in agility each level. At night we can raise our attributes by 50% for 1 minute in an emergency also.”

“I am saddened by our loss of Guardsmen Harold. In any other dungeon he would have respawned. Please arrange a funeral with honors when you return. I am glad to see that the rest of you returned safely. You four gentlemen will get a bonus and a promotion for your good job.”

“THANK YOU SIRE!”

“Now head back and take a day off all of you while I remain and wait for the rest to emerge.”

The now group of 4 guards and Jacob used teleportation scrolls to return to the castle. The wait had begun for me once again. I tried not to waste the time and was enchanting various magic grenades and experimenting with new ideas for spells and traps, but the boredom of doing the same thing over and over was starting to get to me. Another 4 days passed before all three of the Human Warmaster group returned. At least we had not lost one in this try.

“Report Randolph.

“Yes my king. My two companions and I have received the Human Warmaster Bloodline. In order to obtain this bloodline we had to successfully lead a group of 100 level 50 warriors against a group of 1,000 level 50 warriors with leaders the same level as us on the battlefield. We use the terrain and some of the tricks and traps you described to me to finish them off with very few casualties. As a result we got a bonus. Each of us received a companion animal to raise and use as a mount in the future. The mount selection was random. I received a War Lion, one of my group received a Battle Stallion, and the final lad received a Dire Wolf.”

“I see congratulations. What are the benefits of the bloodline?”

“We will each receive one free attribute point to distribute each level that we did not have before and we will also automatically have one point placed free in strength and constitution.”

“Excellent, I am proud of how well all three of you did. Return to the castle and take a day off. I have one more person to wait on.”

“Yes my king.”

It took five more days before Akira returned. I admit I was starting to get worried. She came back looking exhausted, but proud of herself.

“I see you made it Akira.”

“Yes sir.”

“Then before you tell me your story let’s make this official.”

“Great Game I designate Akira Tanaka, the Mistress of the Sword as my replacement for Planetary Leader.”

World Wide Announcement. Mistress of the Sword has been designated as the new Planetary Leader of Earth. Any challenger to this position must first be within ten levels or of a higher level than the current Planetary Leader.

Huh, so that’s how it works. I never did figure out how someone else would become Planetary leader normally.

“Now that we have taken care of the formalities please tell me about your experience and what the bloodline gives you.”

“Yes sir, the challenge to receive the Titan Elf bloodline was to defeat a tribe of 12 Titans without direct use of magic. I decided to use a combination of what you taught me and my smaller size against the foe. I created basic pit fall traps with spikes at the bottom. I lured several of the tribe away and when they crossed the thin stone lid that easily held my weight it collapsed underneath them. I then proceeded to use Slice to immediately attack their weak points while they were dazed. I was able to eliminate 4 of the titans this way. The last eight were much harder. I had to use stealth at night and was able to get rid of two more as they slept. Finally, I remembered your story of how you dealt with the goblin tribe when you were a lower level. Two nights ago I snuck in and poisoned the food of the remaining 6 titans. Five of them ate it in the morning and succumbed to the poison rather quickly. The last one saw them got sick and I had to find another way to deal with it. Knowing that there were no reinforcements that could surprise me I decided to test myself and fight it directly. It was very difficult but my high agility score paid off and I was able to dodge its blows while slowly whittling down its health.”

“I am very proud of you Akira. You used your head and were able to complete a bloodline most would fail. What were your gains from this?”

“The Great Game said that I will receive an extra three attribute points each level and one point free in Strength, Constitution, and Agility every level. This is five more points per level than I used to get. I also received several titles which improved my overall stats.”

“Let me guess, Titan Slayer and such right?”

“Yes Sir, do you have them also?”

“Yes I do.”

“You have learned everything I can teach you and are a high enough level that you can continue to travel and level on your own without much fear of anything. Be smart but never get overconfident. Every time I became too full of myself I have been knocked down somehow. You are a permanent guest of my kingdom and know how to contact me if needed. I have left 1,000,000 gold pieces for you to use as you need to. This is so you do not have to worry about making a living and can just level and improve. If you need anything ask Jacob to help you out. I look forward to hearing good things about you in the future.”

“I will do my best to live up to your expectations sir.”

We teleported back to the castle and I had Akira take a few day’s rest to recover. During these days I would be saying my goodbyes and preparing for my first trip to dungeon world. The time had come to start searching for some answers.