Brax got in his car and started his drive home. He called Jenna on his way to tell her about everything that happened. He didn't have plans to meet up with her today, but they spent the rest of the afternoon on the phone.

The more he talked to Jenna instead of Silent Night, the easier it was for them to have a conversation in real life. Sometimes they ended up talking about nothing at all but he still enjoyed every moment of it.

***

Lucan gathered several guards to help him with the final piece of the formation. In the central courtyard, behind the command room, Lucan placed the mithril dragon skull, along with its scales, bones, and heart. Inside the dragon's ribcage rested one of the largest mana crystals he had left as well as several pieces of raw mithril that were previously launched from its mouth.

The warlock brought out his scepter and wand as he began the most difficult part of the formation. He had to connect every node and lead them back to the dragon's heart without breaking his connection to the formation.

Silent stood beside him with several mana potions if he needed them.

"Let's begin."

Mana started to flow from one node to the next as the formed a spiderweb like design, linking them all together.

***

The leaders of the Goblin Crushers along with Pickle and a few other Terracorp executives stepped through the transporter and entered the fortress in the shadow realm. Several guards were waiting for their arrival and led them to the western marketplace. They admired the sights and nodded approvingly when they reached the marketplace.

The executives were happy for a different reason than the guild members. For the Goblin Crushers, they now had access to a new realm. A place that had yet to be over saturated with players. They could advance their guild away from the prying eyes of their rivals.

*ROOAAARRRR!!!!!*

A deafening roar came from the center of the fortress as the guild players drew their weapons and turned to the direction the noise came from.

A silverish blue dragon, 30 feet long, rose into the air as it flapped its mighty wings. The dragon flew high in the air before entering a brief dive and circling around the fortress a single time.

The Goblin Crushers panicked when they weren't able to identify the beast's level. They only had two high level players with them while the rest were trade workers and clerical workers.

After the dragon did a lap, it flew over the fortress and landed in the central courtyard.

Many guards rushed towards the area where it landed. The two high level players from the guild did the same.

Storming into the courtyard the two players were shocked.

The dragon's head was bowed to the ground in front of a warlock.

"This lowly servant greets Master."

"Raise, your head."

The dragon did as instructed.

"From this day forth, you shall be known as Aniketos. Your name means 'the unconquerable one' and you will guard this fortress and see that no harm befalls it."

"Yes Master, it is an honor to receive a name from you. I will treasure it."

"Good. Until the formation grows stronger you will only be able to travel within 2 miles of this place. As it grows you will be able to go further. Watch over these lands and I will reward you greatly. Familiarize yourself with the abilities of the formation that binds you. In have already begun preparations for your home, for now, make do with this courtyard. That will be all."

The dragon nodded in understanding before taking to the skies and exploring the area.

[Congratulations, you have advance to Intermediate Formation Master.]

Lucan smile at the success of his first intermediate formation.

The two players from the Goblin Crushers came and introduced themselves to Lucan. Even though he was much lower level than them, this was somebody they definitely wanted to know. After a few minutes of small talk, they returned to the market with the others, only after they reported what they saw to the guild headquarters.

Lucan had plans and supplies for the formation for his castle and now that he was an intermediate formation maser it would be doable, but he had already spent too much time not leveling and wanted to get back to it.

Commander Gear would be able to handle the needs of the Goblin Crushers, so Lucan summoned his three will mercenaries and returned to the Eldritch Battleground.

***

Lucan walked into the coven's headquarters.

"You wanted to talk." He said to Lisel.

"Yes, the other hands are starting to get out of control." She said while rising from her desk. "I heard the Plague Baron made a move against you. You are not alone. The other two hands acted against Hellfire and the Queen of Shadows. Right now, these are just small incidents, but they will only get worse."

Lucan frowned. "I am already making plans against the Baron, but I don't know much about the other two."

"You just focus on the Baron. From what I heard he seems to really despise you for some reason. If you can keep him occupied, we will focus on the other two."

"Alright, I will do what I can. I was planning on raising my level a bit more before I openly act against him."

"Neither Hellfire nor the Queen of Shadows has retaliated yet. Queen Umbra wishes to invite you and Hellfire to her territory in a weeks' time. She is holding a grand auction and afterwards she hopes to sit down with you two in private to discuss a few things."

"Okay, that is a good idea. I will be there."

"Good, I will let her know." Lisel said, returning to the desk she had been working at.

Lucan reunited with the others and set out to explore.

Over the next week he sprinted through the Nether Forest and arrived at Mountains of Malice. The group fought until they found a dungeon, cleared it, and returned through the forest, fighting the Lich once again when the dungeon opened back up to them before returning to the shadow realm.

Lucan had previously regained the levels he lost when he was killed in the street on their last expedition and this time, he managed to get up to level 110 by the time they returned. His leveling earned him two new thief abilities, Smokescreen, and Bankshot.

Smokescreen allowed him to manufacture pellets that can be thrown to create a temporary smoke screen. They were somewhat useful, but he could do almost the same thing with his altered shadow illusion spell. But at least the smokescreen pellets didn't use mana.

Bankshot was a bit more interesting. He could use his throwing knives and target at a hard surface and accurately predict where they would ricochet too. All though he had just earned it and hadn't gotten to try it out in live combat, he greatly looked forward to this ability.

When Lucan returned to the fortress, the western market was up and running. Silent accompanied him while they took a stroll through the market. The guards informed Lucan that there were over 100 venders and more were setting up shop every day. These venders didn't deal in gold, but dollars. It was much like online shopping. You could stay in game but go buy a new computer with real money and have it delivered to your house without ever logging out of your character.

This type of marketplace was a huge boon for the business owners that were involved. Along with the vendors came the players. Lucan could hardly believe that so many players had teleported from the Goblin Crushers's cities.

To be honest, it made him nervous. So many players, most of them were a higher level than himself. He really needed to hit the requirement to become a Baron and give his guards a boost. Having the dragon Aniketos around made him feel a little bit better but if a whole raid of high level players came, the dragon probably wouldn't be enough.

What he needed the most was time. Time to raise his level. Time for his formation to grow more powerful. And time to upgrade his status. This was one of the main reasons he was so happy to have the Windy Willow Organization located inside his fortress. He was sure they would protect their own investment.

He continued to walk around the shops with Silent, but she didn't seem to see anything that excited her. Lucan had been keeping a close eye on her for possible future gift ideas, but she didn't reveal anything. The holiday season was only a few months away and that came with exchanging gifts. Lucan suddenly found himself with a brand-new source of stress and anxiety.

Lucan's hand slid from her waist down to the shadow elf's back side and gave it a squeeze.

"Truly a heart healing, soul southing treasure." He murmured a little to loud and was overheard by Silent.

She gave him a pinch in the side and mumbled. "Pervy Warlock." But she didn't move his hand.

Lucan didn't want to test her limits, so he moved his hand back up to her waist as they went to go grab something to eat before logging off. Once they came back online it would be time for the auction. But there was an even more important meeting happening before that.

Jenna and her family were coming over to the Hekin's for dinner tonight.