Kalli heaved a sigh of relief. “To be fair, I was scared out of my wits. Does this mean you’ll free Guinny’s dad?”

Esha looked down, refusing to make eye contact with either of us. “That isn’t entirely up to me. You see, they are not our prisoners to release. It is your masters who set the rules. They don’t want any humans to know what goes on down here. When those miners saw our operation, we had no choice but to detain them. They can only be freed if Lady Mardella allows it.”

“Who is Lady Mardella?” I asked, curious about the name that we had heard several times.

The empress knelt on the ground, rubbing dirt on her arms. She glanced over at her shoulder at me when I spoke, giving me a look as though I had dared to speak. “You should know who she is. Lady Mardella is an Arch Mage from your capital after all.”

As I walked around the empress, the troll she had referred to as Tubby followed me. “We’re not from around here. I guess you can say we’re from the dark lands.”

“The dark lands, you say?” Esha looked up at us, intrigued. “There are many rumors about those lands. You’re a little far from home, aren’t you?”

“More than you know.” I laughed, wondering how my mom was doing back on Earth.

Kalli touched my shoulder gently and reassured me. Don’t worry, Mel. I’m sure your mom’s doing just fine.

I know. I just wish I had talked to her more after I went to the Academy. I could have at least let her know I was going to leave planet Earth. That seems like something you’d tell your mother. She must be worried.

The empress stood, motioning for us to follow her. “Tubby, open the door. I wish to consult in private with my new friends.”

The large troll saluted and replied, “Right away, Esha.”

Before stepping into the castle, Esha called over her shoulder. “Alright, everyone. That’s it. The show’s over.”

Much to my surprise, the trolls applauded, sending us into the castle to a standing ovation. As we moved down the halls, I asked, “Why is this place so messy? Is that a troll preference or something?”

Esha stiffened as she walked. “Do you see much help around here? The majority of our kind have been forced to work deeper in the mines, harvesting liquid Earth from the depths.”

“What is that?” Kalli asked as she lagged behind, exploring the castle.

The empress stopped at the broken-down throne room. “It is ore from the planet’s core. While still in its living liquid form, the ore is highly infused with mana. The planet’s lifeblood.”

I knew that planets had cores but it never dawned on me that they were anything like the core I had swirling inside of me. “Is the planet alive?”

The troll made her way over to the throne, tossing the drape on the floor and sitting. Her body spilled over either side of the narrow chair. It was obvious that the throne wasn’t built for a troll.

Esha regarded me for a moment, possibly not sure if I was joking or not. “Can you not feel it? I thought you were awakened. We trolls live our lives beneath the mountain. We feel her every belch along with the rumblings of her great belly.”

Kneeling on the floor, I extended my mana into the ground. Just like Esha had pointed out, the earth was teeming with life. Not just the insects and other things that lived beneath the surface but the earth itself. It felt like a thick porous skin of an immensely large being. One so large it was completely unaware of my existence upon it.

At that moment, Kalli finally made her way into the throne room. She smiled and asked, “So what happens next? Can we work out a deal to free the humans? I know you said that Lady whats her name wouldn't allow it but I’m sure we can come to an agreement.”

Esha frowned, shaking her head. “If we release those people, the humans in that city will notice. It is trolls who will pay the price when Lady Mardella returns. I cannot risk it.”

“Is there anything we can do about that?” I asked, trying to come up with a solution to reunite Guinny with her father.

The empress frowned. “Unless you know of a way to free us, there is little that can be done.”

Kalli raised her hand, looking like an eager schoolgirl who knew the answer. “Ooh, Mel, why don’t you invite the trolls to join Meltopia?”

Esha raised an eyebrow at her. “What exactly is that?”

I grinned, thinking about bringing an army of trolls into my new nation. “We started our own country in the dark lands.”

Before she could object, I jumped into the system menu and targeted the troll nation.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO INVITE THE GREAT EMPIRE OF WROTOR TO JOIN YOUR EMPIRE?

I clicked YES. A series of emotions passed over Esha’s face as she experienced my invitation. I wasn’t sure if she saw a popup menu or even knew what one was. Her next action surprised me.

The massive troll shrugged and muttered the words. “What could it hurt?”

WROTOR HAS JOINED THE EMPIRE.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO LINK IT TO YOUR NATION?

Preparing to once again be drained of mana, I clicked YES. It hit me instantly and I collapsed to the ground, followed shortly after by Kalli. The renewed stench of trollish glory woke me quickly as Esha knelt beside me. “Are you alright? What just happened?”

I shrugged, wondering if a new road connected Wrotor to the dark lands. “I’m not sure. I just linked Wrotor to the nation.”

Something felt different. I could feel the three villages that I had added. I knew where they were. Knowing with one hundred percent certainty that I could pull it off, I grabbed Kalli and teleported.

We arrived in the center of Kalliville, several terrified villagers diving out of the way. I waved to Otto and announced, “We’re back!”

We didn’t stay in the dark lands even though I recognized the urgency to continue our journey to cure the plague. Adding Wrotor to the mix added a new tier to my goal. We now had trolls to liberate, human families to reunite, and an evil lady archmage to thwart. Or reason with…but when did that ever work?

We arrived back in the throne room just as Esha was making her way out. She gaped at us and asked, “Where did you go? I was beginning to suspect that you’d tricked me, as humans are wont to do.”

I shook my head and explained, “You just solved a major problem for us. When I teleported out here, I had no way of getting back. Teleportation is tricky that way. However, when you joined the empire, I was able to connect it to my villages. Then I just knew how to get there. Somehow. It’s hard to explain how the mana feels.”

Esha nodded her head wisely. “I know all about that. Trolls have a sensitivity to mana even though we are not awakened like humans can be. We can feel the mana flow under the surface of Gaia. We are connected to her.”

I was shocked, not believing that Esha made it all the way to level 13 without being awakened. Reaching out to the troll, I asked, “May I try something. I may be able to awaken you.”

While at first, she had shied away from my touch, the empress wrapped her muddy claws over my much smaller hands. Immediately, I let my mana flow, finding purchase in a non-human for the first time.

Her core made me want to pull away, a giant green ball of sludge that looked as though it had died and solidified inside of her. Steeling myself to an unpleasant experience, I reached out with my mana. I regretted it the instant I touched it. Her core bubbled to life, expelling me in a noxious wave of green gas that seemed to emanate from the troll everywhere.

NEW TRAIT ACQUIRED: [ESSENCE OF TROLL]

Esha reclaimed all of her stink and then some, surrounded in a vile cloud that I doubted even Kalli’s flame could cleanse. She danced around for a few minutes before exclaiming, “This is glorious! All hail Emperor Melvin. For the first time in my short life, I think I’m in love.”

Kalli took a step forward, before deciding better of it. She pinched her nose between two fingers and started, “I don’t think…”

Esha wrapped Kalli in a hug, causing the pyromancer to turn green. “Don’t worry, my little burning angel, I know how to share. My father bedded twelve trolls. I have many siblings.”

Kalli squirmed out of her grip, staggering over to the corner and gagging. She looked up at Esha with tears in her eyes and groaned, “Out of the question!”

“Stingy!” Esha stuck out her tongue, showing a more playful side than I was used to.

I ignored the banter, eager to try out more of my skills on the new addition to my empire.

ENTERING WORLD EDITOR MODE

WOULD YOU LIKE TO RENAME [THE GREAT WROTOR EMPIRE]?

I shook my head and clicked NO, not wanting to upset the trolls in case the name had sentimental meaning. Starting small, I did some work to the throne room. I deleted the broken-down throne that wouldn’t fit a troll and replaced it with a double-wide throne that would fit both Kalli and me comfortably or a single Esha. Then I replaced the worn-out carpet with a bright red one.

When my mana passed over a room, it was instantly clean, dirt and dust sucked up by the world editor. I added pendants hanging from the ceiling, both of the Wrotor empire as well as Meltopia. It took me a few minutes to come up with a logo but I chose an image of Kalli’s head on fire to represent myself.

She punched me when she saw the design. As usual, Kalli had followed me into the editor, leaving Esha alone to try out her new throne. From there, Kalli worked on interior decorating while I worked on upgrading the structures out in the city. I wasn’t quite as gifted as Joe when it came to architecture but I was able to easily provide them with more comfort than they were used to.

When I was done with that, I reinforced the borders, replacing the flimsy gate and connecting the storage room with something more defensible. Under the castle, I also could see the dungeon and something else, stretching off beneath. I didn’t edit that for the moment, though.

After about an hour of working, I emerged from the world editor to find the throne room filled with trolls. Esha gave us a big toothy grin from the throne and announced, “My friends. Welcome back. We are very impressed with the improvements you’ve made to the empire.”

Her words were followed by several long minutes of applause while Kalli and I moved around, trying to find an area that didn’t smell so bad. Once the noise died down, Kalli pressed the empress. “Now, about the humans?”

“Oh, right.” Esha began, waving to the two guards I had seen sleeping when we first arrived. “Pip, Lip. Go fetch the humans.”

“Which one?” The stubby-looking one asked.

“All of them.” The empress commanded, picking her nose.

We waited, politely listening to the trolls as they expressed their gratitude at their upgraded empire. After around twenty minutes, the two trolls returned. Behind them stood a small army of humans. There were a lot more of them than I imagined there would be.

I took a few steps toward the exit and said, “We should probably get these guys back to their families. Then we will come back and…”

She shook her head sadly and informed us, “You cannot. As I said before, the emergence of these humans will spell certain doom for the trolls. The archmage has said as much.”

One of the humans gasped and shouted, “I can understand you. You just said the humans will kill trolls. There’s no way.”

Esha rose from her throne, rushing over to the prisoners. “Do you understand me? Why have you refused to speak to us before now? We could have made your living conditions much better if we knew what you preferred.”

The human, an old man, replied, “We didn’t understand any of you until just now.”

I braved the stench and walked up to Esha. “That would be my doing. I have an aura of understanding. Anyone close to me can understand any language. It also works for people I’m grouped with.”

Getting an idea, I began selecting people, trolls and humans alike, to invite to the guild.

ESHA THE PUGNANT HAS JOINED THE GUILD

ALBON HAS JOINED THE GUILD

HOODAH THE STENCH HAS JOINED THE GUILD

GRATIANA HAS JOINED THE GUILD

Many more trolls and humans joined the guild at a steady clip. The other villagers greeted their new guildmates with glee, using the built-in chat system to speak telepathically across the great distance.

Stefanie chose to speak to us in group chat. Why do half of those people have such smelly names?

I laughed, excited for my friends to meet trolls for the first time.

That’s because they’re trolls.

Before I could continue the conversation, a frantic-sounding Wendy broke into the chat. Melvin, you need to get back here.