The next day Steven spent most of his time killing undead, only stopping to eat. His mind jumped between Eve and his home world. It’s not that he wanted to go home, but he was worried about his aunt. And if he was honest, this whole adventuring thing was harder than he thought it would be. But it would get better when he made it to human civilization.

  It was the repetition of pulling undead from his inventory, then stabbing over and over that was getting to him. He needed something different. But he was close now. This would be the last grinding session he would have for a bit, regardless of what Silvia said.

  Level forty was a big deal. He would even have an advantage over most, as he had an extra shard. This would be his fifth shard. He really hoped it would be a good one. His random portal power seemed pretty useless in this swamp. Though he could see how it could get him out of a tight situation. However, Silvia told him to not rely on it, as some had measures against portal users. Portals were rare, but they were so powerful that measures had to be taken against them or entire nations would fall.

  +1302

  “Finally.” Steven looked down at his essence counter.

  42,435

  “Ugh, not yet,” Steven muttered as he pulled out another knight.

  The Knights were annoying to deal with, as he had to stab them where their armor was missing. Stab send to inventory. Stab inventory. Stab inventory. It would be faster to use his roots or shift into his spider form, but that used mana and he had to conserve mana, as he could only use so many mana potions a day. Not to mention that some ingredients in the potions were rare and expensive. Steven had never paid much attention as he had always been given potions by the handfuls. Though that very well could have been because of his connection with Eve and Goskia. He still had a half a dozen of both mana and health, but Silvia told him to stop going through them so fast.

  He only needed forty-four thousand essence. And it was unlikely he would get in an actual fight today. Besides, his mana pool wouldn’t take too long to refill. With that in mind, Steven swapped to his blighted staff and pulled out the undead knight.

  Activating the staff, a countless number of roots wrapped around the knight as its health slowly began to tick down. He could barely even see the knight under the mass of roots twisting and turning. Steven was unsure what the limit on the staff was. So he pulled out another knight right onto of the roots. Immediately, the roots began wrapping around the knight and pulling it under as well. Steven was about to pull out another one when he saw the health bar of the first knight decreasing so gradually it was barely noticeable.

  “Hmm, makes sense.” a quick glance at his mana bar made him realize he still had plenty of gas in the tank and he activated his root shard at the edge of the staff’s roots. Directing his roots, he grabbed hold of the knight. In the mass of roots, it was hard to tell his shard roots apart. The only difference was his were larger. His roots only drained mana, but it could still kill the undead. Steven did a bit of experimenting. He had his second cluster of roots appear in the middle of the mass of root. Unfortunately, this caused a portion of the staff’s roots to shrivel up, but only in the area where the root cluster was connected to the ground.

  Steven imagined using his root clusters above an enemy while using the staff’s ability on the floor. Roots above and below. Though he would need something to attach the roots above too. Then he remembered he could create webs in his spider form. He could even web everything else up and ensnare his prey, leaving them vulnerable and…

  Steven shook his head. “What the hell. I’m a human, not a spider!” Taking a deep breath, he focused on the task at hand.

  A few moments later, the staff’s roots shriveled up. Looked like he had finally found the staff’s limit. It could kill one enemy without issue, but when he added another into the fray, it would time out faster, or maybe it was his root shard that caused it to fizzle out quicker. He wished there was a timer or a bar or something.

  A single thrust of his spear and the first knight died, dissolving into nothingness.

  +1381

  The second had nearly a quarter of its health bar, so he quickly sent it to inventory and dismissed his roots. He didn’t want to run out of mana. This would be the last knight he needed to kill to reach level forty, so he resigned himself to stabbing, then sending to inventory.

  The knights were normally trickier as he had to touch them where they didn’t have any armor while also stabbing them there. However, the roots had crushed the armor, and it had fallen off in several places. Making this knight a simple matter to deal with and it wasn’t no time before Steven seen translucent number appear.

  +1279

  “That’s it.” Steven said as he pulled out his pipe and walked back to his domain.

  Now all he had to do was wait on Herald to return and he could absorb the domain and they could head out. Steven had to admit he was excited to meet the elves. Though the two-week journey wouldn’t be so fun. At least it would be out of this damned swamp.

  As soon as he entered through the barrier, Silvia appeared.

  “Did you seriously make a room with a round table in it?”

  “Yes, I wanted to have a room where we could all meet and talk. About what to do next.”

  “There is no point in that you have me! I’m more than capable of helping you make informed decisions. That’s what I’m here for. It is my job as your soul bound wisp. All you need to do is ask me.”

  “Is it so wrong that I want to make an informed decision? I’m sorry, I didn’t discuss this with you but you have been gone a lot! And what does it matter? All the drones had to do was carve out a round slab of wood, its not like we need all the rooms. I know you are trying to help the wisps and overthrow the council or whatever. But I said I would help you with that, so let me in on it, okay? I will help you. But Eve’s life is in danger right now and I want to deal with that first.”

  “Oh. Steven, that’s not what’s going on.” Silvia’s light dimmed. “I’m not trying to overthrow the council right now. I’m sorry I should have told you. I’ve been using the essence in the domain to help them transform. And what did you mean by all the drones had to do was carve out a chunk of wood?”

  “Yes, you should have. How are you able top access the domain’s essence? When I tried, it told me I would need to absorb the domain first. Something to do with it changing ownership.”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Wait, are you saying you didn’t use essence to create the table and chairs?”

  “No, I didn’t. I haven’t even seen it yet. I had the drones do it.”

  Silvia went to speak, but Steven cut her off. “Is it smart to be draining the domain’s essence right now? When I absorb it, Kat said it used essence. I won’t know how much till I go to absorb it. Also, is there a way for me to see how much essence my domain has?”

  “Both are excellent questions. To answer your second question. Yes, I get a sense of how much essence there is. Though I can only tell when it’s low and when it’s mostly full. I’m not sure how much it actually has.”

  “And is it low?”

  Silvia was silent for a long moment. “Yes. But I’m mostly pulling the essence straight from you and not the stored essence of the sanctuary.”

  Steven took a deep breath. “I don’t really understand the difference.”

  Silvia’s light flickered, and Steven got the sense she was fixing to go into lecturing mode.

  “I honestly don’t want to know. Just tell me how long will it take to refill.”

  “Nearly a month, give or take bit.”

  “I don’t want you using any of this domain essence without speaking to me first. And no more helping the wisps till it’s full again.”

  “But there are thousands of wisps waiting.”

  “And they will just have to wait.”

  “Master,” Nev said as soon as she entered the barrier. “Come see. I think you will be pleased.”

  Steven looked at the Spider Queen. She was in her human form and was obviously excited about something. Turning back to Silvia, Steven spoke up. “Understand.”

  “Yes.” Silvia said, light dim.

  “We can discuss this in more detail later. There is a lot I don’t understand.”

  Silvia’s light brightened ever so slightly at that.

  “Okay, what is it you want to show me Nev?”

  The Spider queen smiled. “I think you will like it, Master. I saw it from one of your dreams. It’s for our upcoming travels to the elves and then the journey into the mountains to see the dwarves.”

  “About that.” Steven said as he followed Nev. “After going to Fidah’s clan, I was thinking we go to a church.” Steven stopped talking as Nev took him through the barrier. Once on the other side, Steven’s eyes widened.

  “Oh, my,” Silvia said. “It’s just like the dream we watched.”

  If front of Steven stood several hundred drones, all with a shield and a spear. However, all the shields were of different shapes and sizes. As if it was all looted. Some looked well made and others looked no better than a chunk of wood.

  “Shield.” As soon as Nev spoke, every drone immediately held their shields out and formed a dome shape. There were six shield domes. It was an impressive sight. Several spears were poking out from the dome of shields. There were some gaps due to the different types of shields, but it still looked like a force not to be trifled with.

  He knew he had seen this somewhere, but he just couldn’t place it.

  “What do you think, Master? Each group had fifty drones. It took a while to gather enough shields, but I’ve had the drones practicing for a while now.”

  After some quick math, Steven spoke up. “Wait, are you telling me there are three hundred drones?”

  “Yes! Just like your dream,” Nev said.

  Steven’s eyes widened. “Are you talking about the three hundred Spartans?”

  “Yes, that’s the one.” Nev said with a proud smile.

  “Wow, I’m not sure what to say. I am impressed. Is this the first time you have ever armed the drones?”

  “Ive tried it, but none of them ever seemed interested, and the weapons never seemed to help. Though all of them were excited about learning to use the spear. As for the shield, I shared a memory of your dream with them about it and they all took to it well.”

  “You have really outdone yourself, Nev.” Steven said as he walked around, looking at their shield domes. “Though this may be a bit much just to travel through the swamp.”

  “You need protection. You are the King after all. And Kings must have guards.”

  “I’m not really a King.” Steven said, rolling his eyes. “Just because the drones see me that way, don’t make me a king.”

  “You are also the King of the Half Naga.” Nev said.

  “Not to them I’m not.”

  “Actually, you are.” Silvia said. “however, you are no true king to the other races such as the humans and elves, as only the monster races consider you a king.”

  “It doesn’t matter what they believe. Master is a King. And we will rule this world together.”

  “I have no interest in ruling the world.” Steven said absently.

  He was looking at the shields, some well made and others appeared to be barely holding up. “Nev. Why do some soldiers have shields that look like they will fall apart in a single attack and others look like they were forged by a master blacksmith?”

  “Well,” Nev said sheepishly. “The shields were hard to find.”

  “I see.” Steven pulled out his pipe and began puffing on it. “You.” Steven said after tapping on a drone’s shield. “Go stand over there. You. You and you.”

  “My King do you mean me?” One of the drones asked. Steven had no idea which one spoke. So he pulled out his staff. “If I tap your shield, go stand over there.” Steven said as he went through tapping on the better looking shields. He knew he could go through and send each shield to inventory and choose the best one according to stats, but that seem tedious. So instead, he was just picking out the best looking shields. The whole point was to watch the other soldiers back, so they all needed decent shields.

  “What are you doing, Master?”

  “Making elite squads.” Steven said while reloading his pipe.

  The next while was Steven, forming the squads of fifty. He told those with the bad shields they were to train and earn a better shield. Steven knew it wasn’t fair, as the shields seemed to be randomly given out. But this seemed to fill those drones with determination. Only one squad had decent shields. Steven imagined arming them all with enchanted spears and shields.

  “You should have them train with the Half Naga.” Silvia said.

  “Yess that’s a good idea.” Steven said. “Though we need to make sure plenty of healing potions are on hand. Also, we should give them time to settle into their homes before we start that.”

  Steven then turned and went back into the barrier. He took a deep breath when he entered. The swamp air was so muggy. He briefly wondered if it was the barrier that kept this place so cool. Looking around at his domain, Steven couldn’t help but wonder how he was to absorb this place. Kat said the tree would also be absorbed as well. Would it leave a huge crater in the ground where the tree roots used to be? Steven shook his head. There was no point in worrying about it now. He would find out soon. He would give the vampire butler a couple more days, but if he wasn’t back, then Steven would be leaving. A drone would just have to inform the butler where they went.

  Steven then headed towards the tree house.

  “Steven, wait up.” Silvia said, flying up next to him. “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to check in on Eve.” Steven said as he kept walking.

  “Dont you want to absorb a new shard? You are level forty now, right?”

  “Yes. And in the morning.” Steven stopped walking. “After are meeting at the round table.”

  “Steven, I don’t think it’s necessary to…”

  “No, we are having a meeting. You were using the domain essence and Nev created an army based on my dreams. I want to be informed of what y’all are doing. Tell Nev to be there. I want everyone there in the morning.”

  “What time?”

  “I’m not sure. Just be there. We can discuss setting a regular time to at the meeting tomorrow.” Steven closed the door to the tree house. Only to hear Silvia’s voice in his head. “If I know a time, I can get it organized better for you.”

  “I don’t even know how to tell time here. Just after I wake up, okay?” Steven said as he headed up the stairs.

  “I’m sorry Eve. It seems that there was more than just a shard ability at play. One of the drones told us you were forced to eat something. And were beat when you refused.” Steven was silent for a long moment. “I’m so sorry. This is my fault. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have been stuck in a dungeon. If I would have just listened to Kat. Or just not ran into the portal, then you would still be okay. Not to mention all the others in your clan. All dead…” Steven just sat there for a long moment before standing to leave.

  “Your condition is more important to me than the lives of all those who died.” Walking to the door, he turned back. “Does that make me a bad person?”

  Steven then made his way to his bed and collapsed onto it.

  Lester’s journey had been one ordeal after another. And it all was to do with the damned skeletal wizards. They were an arrogant pair and had caused him nothing but heartache. First, they refused to wear a robe or anything to cover themselves. Saying they need not hide themselves, as they had the right to walk the streets. And if he had a problem with that, then he could talk with General Gurd about it.

  Sure, they were allowed by law to walk the streets. But no one in Aspen had seen any living undead. The city had layers of walls and was well protected. Meaning the guards stopped them multiple times, and he had to explain the situation continuously, causing them to lose even more time. It’s not that he was in a hurry to see that damned vampire again, but he was on a clock, especially since they had to travel there by carriage. The mages just looked smug each time the guards stopped them.

  Lester eventually had to get an escort to clear their passage. Even though it was still likely that it would cause a city wide panic. What was his boss thinking?

  He hoped they wouldn’t get attacked while traveling through the smaller cities. But it wasn’t his job to babysit. At least the skeletons would keep the vampire from attacking him. He wondered what had happened to the Steven fellow that Necros attacked. It was odd to have a dungeon lord put a hit out on someone in their own dungeon. But that was all above his pay grade to worry about. His task was to take the mages to Sorin so they could speak with him about their fallen.