The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

After Irene finished with everything in the church, I decided to pay a visit to the guild one more time. Amber and Irene were talking with Lanka, and it was clear I wasn’t needed there.

"Hello, Idna." I welcomed the catg... NEKOMI! receptionist.

"Your Majesty!" She was surprised to see me again so fast. However, she gracefully switched to professional mode. "How can I be of service, my King?"

I leaned casually over the counter and smiled at the woman. Now I was able to look straight into her big silvery, cat-like eyes. She slowly started turning red across her face, so I decided to stop feeding my curiosity and got down to business.

"Miss Idna, do you remember when not so long ago you were so generous in accepting a certain quest?" I inquired, still politely smiling.

"Yes, my King." She answered eagerly, and I watched her face return to normal colours.

"Do you remember what you told me about fish?" I watched her tilt her head as she tried to remember.

"What I said about fishes...?" she repeated with some uncertainty, tapping her lips nervously. She looked cute in her confusion while her tail slowly swirled around her legs.

"I want fish." I helped her, nodding like that was everything required to explain this matter.

"Fish?" She tried to catch up with me, but I saw how this conversation was leaving her behind.

"Indeed, Miss Idna." I wasn’t sure she knew what I was asking for, so I elaborated. "Later on, I might be interested in obtaining things like various herb seeds, useful plants, and some animals which are usually only available as hunting nodes in other dungeons, all for use in Avalon. However, I’ll be making a full list a little later on."

Idna kept blinking at me. She tried to process my request, but I think she got lost midway. Well... I sometimes don't make sense for the unprepared, or worse for those people untrained to handle me. I tried one more time, still with a friendly smile on my face. Despite everything, I was in a good mood.

"Miss Idna, when we talked at the shore of a nearby lake, you told me, among other things, that the guild can help with getting a fish spawner for the Dungeon." I explained, and couldn't help but tease her a little.

That worked like a charm. Her face brightened with a smile of understanding, but then very, very quickly froze in place and changed into a grimace of embarrassment while her face burned red. That assured me that she knew precisely what I meant. I straightened and rubbed my chin thoughtfully, wondering if that other thing she told me back then was not occupying her mind too much right now.

"I remember now, my King." She answered, still red, but her voice was calm. "So the Dungeon would allow us to bring fish to the lake and river?"

"Indeed. Do I need to post a Quest or does the Guild want to do this on its own?"

"I think the Guild will be able to do this. I will ask Master Uvar about that matter and I will pass the news back as quickly as possible, my King," she answered with a polite bow, relieved.

"Excellent! Thanks for your cooperation." I smiled happily once again and said goodbye.

•••

With one more food node 'almost' secured, I returned to Amber and Irene, who were talking now with our newest residents. It looked like people preferred talking with Amber and Irene more than with me. I couldn’t blame them, though; I also preferred to talk with these fine ladies. Most people hadn't figured out yet that I was the Dungeon Core, but I thought it simply was a matter of time. I mean... Lanka figured it out pretty quickly, so other people might do that as well. Eventually, it wouldn't matter anymore since my reputation would be settled and the people would be less panicked in my presence.

That was also why I so quickly took up the role of King. Most people believed I was some sort of Scion or even the most powerful Scion of the Righteous Dungeon. And frankly, that would not be such an original concept on my side, either. Most of the dungeons called their strongest Scions Kings or Queens, so actually being a castle and calling myself the King was way less strange for everyone around than I suspected. So by accident, I did not fuck up, which was nice for once.

"Excuse us, our King?" The melodic voice of Lilly made me look around and I saw the trio standing just behind me.

"Hello Lilly, Iris, and Rose. Do you want something?"

"Yes, King Theon. We wish to tame horses for ourselves. But every time we have tried, we have failed to do so. And we don't know why. We already have familiars, so maybe this is a problem?" asked Rose.

I looked thoughtfully at the three young women and rubbed my chin. I couldn't just casually say that I had no idea why they were having problems, even if it was true about the familiars. Wait... Actually, I knew what might be the reason.

"I think it's because you’re trying to tame already tamed creatures, girls. All my horses are not animals or monsters, but they are war beasts. The difference is clear to me, but for more details, you can ask in the guild. I'm sure Knys will be happy to explain to you more about dungeons."

"Ooh!" they exclaimed at the same time. Iris added. "So, how could we get them?"

"Since you are my residents, I believe you can freely use them as you wish. However, I know this look. You want to have your OWN Horses, am I right?" I asked with a grin and they vigorously nodded their heads, flailing their long hair around, which made me chuckle. "Then go find Knys and learn about war beasts. If he can't help you, try to ask Stella and tell her I sent you as a part of your training. Tomorrow, you will tell me what you have learned and what you plan to do next."

After a few polite bows, they said, "Yes, King Theon!" and "Thank you, Lord!" as they rushed to find Uvar Knys.

It was good to see them smiling. The people of this world lived so long in despair and uncertainty of what the next day would bring, but yet they still remembered how to smile. Everyone in Avalon really had a reason to smile, though. Compared to the outside world, they were in the safest place they could imagine.

I heard the laughter of children who played in the nearby playground. I smiled at seeing their efforts to clear the obstacle courses. This place generated a lot of mana for me and I was still trying to think of new attractions to fit there. Yes... I know it's child labour...

Wendy and Sally talked with some of the women who looked after the orphans. I could feel their mixed feelings and happiness that Avalon was everything and even much more than they had dreamt of. The kids played with Marie, Fiona, and Nicole, probably oblivious to the fact this trio was several times stronger than the entire Guild in the Town. But everyone was happy, and that made me feel good. It pushed back all the feelings of guilt, making me realise that I already changed the world for these people.

I smiled and made my way to Amber and Irene. In the soft light of the sun, they both looked wonderful in the matching lace dresses that Wendy had made. When I looked at them both smiling softly at me, I couldn't help but just be happy that things turned this way. As I saved their lives after I came to this world, they were now constantly saving my soul from the unknown enemy that kept trying to tear my sanity apart.

"I think we are done here for now. Should we return to our home?"

With warm smiles on their faces, both women held my arms, and we vanished from the Town Square.

•••

After we returned to the Palace, I left Amber and Irene and rested on the sunbed on the balcony. What Stella had told me rang a bell in my head. When I focused on the surrounding mana, I felt the difference. Its flow was different and less restricted than before and it felt exactly the same as during my free build time. Soooo...

… Now what? I was at the point where I did not dare to touch what was left of my mana in the Vault. So I would not build anything now and there was no need to move around anything.

I was in this strange state of suspension where I knew I had to do something, but whatever I did now could bring me trouble. My biggest problem was my impatience. Which should not surprise anyone at this point. However, for my own luck, I could also be patient when it came to other things. Now that I knew much more about this world, I could plan accordingly. What was more was I knew I must learn much more.

But my impatience was also my strength. The people who lived here would only get stronger and when the time comes, I would not be shy to use their strength. Avalon right now was a vast and self-sufficient fortress that could last forever. However, it would last two months if I do nothing.

With little fear, I concentrated and made a test quest for the village, and to be honest, it was not that bad. They had to come here in a party of at least ten people and kill fifty monsters. As a reward, they would get all the loot they found, as well as one hundred kilograms of wheat or flour. It cost me four thousand mana. And then it struck me. I quickly made the same kind of quest to kill fifty monsters, but without additional reward over loot, such a quest cost me ten thousand mana.

I looked at the two sheets of paper lying on the desk in our living room. Then I returned to my body since it was ridiculous to write quests in RTS mode. I went inside and grabbed both sheets of paper. I looked at them with true happiness.

This was a breakthrough for me. This was my very own important discovery, which had the potential to influence my mana outputs throughout the foreseeable future. Now I had to test the outcome. How much mana would it give, and how much mana would I gain in the end? With a shrug, I posted both Quests in the Town’s Guild Hall on the Open Quest Board. As a proof of concept, I believed it would work in my favour.

•••

Uvar Knys was looking at six kids. Well... young adults… who were sitting in his office and were thinking very hard. Behind him, at his desk, was Lady Lanka, accompanied by her Maid Rin, who was serving some drink called tea to everyone. Except for her strange Maid, the biggest distracting fact was that Lanka was an Avalon Noble but not a resident, which was grinding all the gears in Knys's brain. He sighed.

"Mr Knys, this is just a proof of concept, as Queen Irene told us. Just pick anyone! If this works, the King will certainly be willing to post more such quests on behalf of the Dungeon!" Sigismund was a bit tired of waiting, even if the office was extremely comfortable, but he drank a small sip of hot tea with pleasure..

"I know... But... I have this feeling we are doing something much more important here. That's why I had to choose well." Knys looked once more at his fresh recruits and came to a decision. "Ok fine! Auburn, you still want to try? No one has the faintest idea what this class can do except heal somehow."

The seventeen-year-old Elf swallowed, but he was sure. As far back as he could remember, his only dream was to be an adventurer. But without any money to buy even the most rudimentary equipment, he could only continue to dream. But right now, he was confident. He saw how powerful Lady Marie was despite her young age and he knew that this quest-promised class just waiting in front of him might even be a legendary class.

"Yes, Sir! I will take this risk." He replied eagerly, with fire in his eyes.

"Very well. I will ask Ori and maybe even Warden to help you, Master. I think we should take as small a party as possible." Lady Lanka nodded, sealing Auburn's decision so that the Guild Master couldn't return to his strange indecisiveness.

"Yeah. I'll ask Ikki to rent me his spare gear so Auburn at least has a shield and sword." Knys said suddenly, back to his normal self as fast as the decision was made.

The other kids looked down, but they also understood no matter what happens next, their life would start anew. They would acquire classes no matter what, but they all would pray to Eriar to help Auburn clear the quest. If he succeeded, the Good King would surely ask the Righteous Dungeon for more amazing class quests. The guild registered them as their new members and now they would learn all the theories and train against more experienced guild members to have a better start in dungeon grounds the next time they entered them. They would wait for Auburn to finish the quest.

Knys looked once more at the scroll before Auburn took it and accepted the job..

Heavy combat healer. Apothecary.

•••

Rose fixed her long blonde-copper hair. King Theon had said they were similar in colour to one kind of rose he had seen before. And that's why Rose wore her long pinkish hair with pride. She finally was free to be herself and she loved each day she spent in Avalon.

Iris, with a warm smile, was looking in front of herself but at nothing in particular. Her eyes were so blue they were almost purple and that also was the reason why the King gave her the name Iris. She loved it as it was the first gift she received from the King.

Lilly, for the third time, fixed herself in the chair inside the Guild Master’s waiting room and wondered how long their little meeting would last. She blew an unruly strand of long hair from her face. Her hair was so light blonde that they seemed to be white, which also inspired the Good King to give her the name Lilly. She smirked when the sounds from inside the office indicated the meeting would be over soon.

Before they ended up in Avalon, they were slaves their entire lives. They were born in some slaver cave camp and didn't even remember their own mothers or fathers. However, slavers never beat them as punishment. Because their bodies were to be sold one day they needed to look pristine and act obedient. In fact, the slavers had plenty of harsher means to make them obedient. But the people in Avalon needed just a few days to wipe out any trace of that slave obedience. And now, all three of them were ready to face the world.

When the office doors finally opened, they were almost yawning. The trio patiently waited for everyone to leave and entered the office, knocking on open doors.

"Guild Master? The King sent us here so we could learn some things," Lilly smiled lightly.

•••

Knys looked at Sigismund and was about to ask him for help when he heard knocking. Three stunningly beautiful half-elves entered his office. But when he heard they were sent here by the King, he was all business.

"Welcome, my Ladies. What do you want to learn?" He asked them and showed them to sit near a round table.

"To put things straight, we wish to learn everything your guild knows about war beasts. Especially how you can tame one," Iris asked politely, but with resolve.

"Hmm... It’s true we still have some knowledge on the matter, but such knowledge is precious." He tried to appraise them, but he failed miserably, so they must have been quite powerful. "How about we treat this as a friendly exchange? We will tell you all we know about war beasts and, in turn, you will help my guild in case we receive a quest that’s way too hard? Because I think you are Avalon residents, am I right?"

"You are right. I think we can help as long as King Theon agrees," Rose nodded.

"But... What classes do you have and what levels? I can't appraise you no matter what." The Orc smiled back.

"I'm level 58 Spellsinger," Lilly said.

"I'm level 58 Elemental Summoner." Rose smiled.

"And I'm level 58 Bladedancer," Iris added with a charming smile.

Uvar Knys tightly gripped the carved arms of his chair. He had never before heard about such classes and that only confirmed how powerful their patron dungeon was. Knys wasn't sure if he was ready for their display of power but he asked for it anyway.