Chapter 24

Warley strolled through the gates into Kendra Imperial City in high spirits. He was finally back home, and he was home a successful hero. While he hadn't been able to keep the Khalian nobles out of the dungeon, he had convinced the adventurers and soldiers that he was the best choice of leader for the dungeon. He even got them to bring up the idea of inviting Kendra; Warley had been shocked when Kiera, of all people, was the person to suggest Kendra.

Of course, he had had multiple conversations with different groups of adventurers, making sure they were all on the same page, about inviting Kendra. He had successfully spread mistrust of both the governments of Khal and Ilsan. With Khal, he simply mentioned the inept King who was visiting a dungeon instead of preparing for an invasion, as well as his selection of the reviled Duke Hallowedlash to run the place. With Ilsan, all he had to do was point out their draconian rules involving dungeons. The adventurers in A Dragon's Dungeon were all set to welcome Kendra as the liberating heroes.

When Warley showed up at the imperial palace, a runner was sent in to announce his arrival. Warley was quickly standing before the Emperor's office. When the Emperor called for him, he entered the Emperor's study, went down on one knee, and said, “May his holiness live forever.”

When the Emperor called for him to rise, he stood and looked at his liege. What he saw was a man who looked severely angry.

“What the fuck are you doing here? You are supposed to be in the dungeon, preparing the people to accept Kendran rule, sowing discord, and preventing nobles from entering. Explain yourself,” spat the Emperor.

Warley, taken aback at the Emperor's anger, quickly said, “My Liege, I've already convinced the majority of the adventurer's at A Dragon's Dungeon to mistrust both the Khalian and Ilsanian governments. As long as we come and offer more favorable conditions than the Ilsanians offer in terms of dungeon taxes, we'll be celebrated as heroes.”

“You have left your post, without command, to come tell me that you have succeeded by making us lower our taxes on adventurers? Our main source of income? And you call this success? Ha, you're lucky your position is so vital, or I would have your fucking head. And who's in charge of the dungeon while you are away? The fucking King of Khal and the Duke who owns the dungeon.”

“My liege, I had no ability to stop the King from arriving, and when he did, he relieved me of my position as leader of the dungeon's village. But I managed to use this to stir discontent amongst the adventurers, and it was the adventurers themselves who suggested sending me to Kendra to invite you to annex part of Khal. I turned this into a success!” argued Warley.

“Excuses! That's all I hear, excuses for your failures,” the Emperor shouted, standing from his seat. “Get the fuck out, and get back to your post. Prepare for the Kendran armies to arrive immediately following the Ilsanian invasion. There will be no relaxing of conditions for adventurers; the taxes will remain. And you will prepare to no longer have any responsibility in this matter at all. Leave.”

Warley bowed and left in bewilderment, wondering how things could have gone so wrong. He had entered full of jubilation, ready for the Emperor to sing his praises. Now, he was essentially being kicked to the curb. This was his first time coming home in nearly a century. He had been deep undercover in Khal this whole time, and he had managed to work his way up to head of the Khalian adventurer's guild. And this is how he treats me?

Warley began to simmer with rage. He had dedicated a hundred years to the service of the Emperor of Kendra, and he was now told that his successes were failures and that he would lose his position in the government following the greatest success of his career?

When he went to his ancient and mostly unused home, he decided to cultivate, in an attempt to cool his rage. It had been twenty years since he had last leveled up, rising to A9, and he had been pondering the nature of chi this whole time. Only when he had a mental breakthrough, would his cultivation follow and raise him to the S rank. The only thoughts in his mind were rage and a sudden desire for vengeance.

That Dorn character was right. There should be a nation for adventurers. A nation created by adventurers and for adventurers. No dungeon diver should be charged two silvers to enter a death trap, and then taxed fifty percent of their hard-earned loot. That's what this continent needs: a new nation.

Rebellious thoughts and desires for freedom stirred in his heart. And unknowingly, his chi cultivation suddenly broke through to S rank. Chi was at heart, freedom. Freedom from the laws of time, as it expanded a person's life. Freedom from control, as it gives the power to fight. Freedom from the mundane. It was an expression of pure will, and only with a completely unshackled heart, could someone finally break through to the S rank.

Warley watched in bewilderment as his liquid form mana slowly began to crystallize. When ten percent of his mana reached solid form, the process slowly stopped. Warley stood up and grinned. This is a sign that my ideas are right. We must form a new nation, separate from Kendra, Ilsan, and Khal. A new nation, of adventurers. We will have our capital city within A Dragon's Dungeon. And we will be called The Dragon Kingdom.

***

Dorn walked up to Kiera and her team, as they sat in the ready room underneath the stands of the Colosseum. All around them was the sound of cheering, as various adventurers fought against monsters and devils on the stage. The Colosseum was already a massive hit, and nearly everyone in the dungeon was there. The crowd loved watching the fighting, as they had never been able to see adventurers in action, before.

Dorn smiled at the group. “Hey you guys, are you feeling ready for your individual matches?”

Vossan slammed his shield, saying “We were born ready. I can't wait to buy some mithril.”

Dorn just laughed, saying, “It's going to take you a long time to accumulate enough Devil Points to purchase mithril.”

Vossan said, “And I won't spend a single one until I get there. Of course, after I buy a new shield.”

Dorn smiled. He then asked, “So what are the rest of you saving up for?”

Thalia answered, “Solid alchemy recipes,” Kiera said, “Dragon Cultivation,” and Jeromy answered, “Methods of the Shadow, the S-rank Dark application book.”

“Nice, those are all very worthy goals,” replied Dorn.

“What about you, Dorn?” asked Jeromy. “What are you going to buy?”

“Me?” Dorn asked. He pulled out his enchanted moonstone staff, saying, “I'm saving up for some of those Lightning and Gravity magic enchantments in the resources section, to create an even better staff.”

Thalia looked impressed, “You made that staff yourself?”

Dorn replied, “No, no, I just enchanted it. I had some famous Central Fantisan dwarves craft the staff for me from moonstone and a giant pearl.”

Pearls were known for their ability to channel Lightning magic, being white like lightning.

“Anyways, I wanted to ask you guys, would it be okay to join your team for the group battles? I notice that you lack a second damage dealer to round out your party, and well, I'm now a C7-ranked practitioner and a mage-type damage dealer. I feel I could add some expertise.”

Kiera immediately said, “Of course you can join our team, big guy. We'd love to have you.”

Dorn replied, “Great. You'd better watch out Jeromy, or I'll knock you off your position as the top Devil Point earner.”

Jeromy merely snorted, saying, “Yeah, right. Get back to me when you're a B-ranked practitioner. Which, if you continue at your current rate, should be around some time next week?”

Dorn laughed and said, “Not quite, but yes, my progress is much faster my second time around, something I'm abundantly thankful for.”

Jeremy and Dorn were talking about the stele Dorn had erected next to the betting center that showed the top earners of Devil Points. It would not be affected by spending any points; it only showed the amounts earned. It was already a crowd favorite, and people were betting on who would be the top earner by the end of the week. Most bets were placed on Jeromy, as he was the only B-ranked cultivator in the dungeon (excluding the Duke, who followed the commands of Friedrich and therefore Dorn). Jeromy was therefore the strongest person in the dungeon, now that Warley was gone.

Dorn then sat down next to Kiera and grabbed her hand, squeezing it for comfort, and not letting go. Kiera looked down and blushed.

“Ah, I get the whole benefactor thing now,” said Vossan.

Kiera reddened even further, before she kicked him in the shins and said, “Shut it.”

***

Kiera walked out and looked at the C7-ranked Greater Imp. The imps were the weakest of the devil race, and they were separated into two types: Greater and Lesser. The only real difference between the two was their chi cultivation. Greaters could only be C-ranked, while Lessers could only be D-ranked.

She looked at the Imp's ugly squat body, with its two non-functional wings flapping behind it. When she reached within fifty feet of the devil, it started running towards her, and the crowd roared with anticipation of the fight.

Kiera quickly launched a small fireball at the Imp, which quickly dodged to the right, before it continued running towards her. She raised an earth wall in front of it, but it just jumped over. Finally, Kiera pulled out her trusty black gold daggers and prepared for a melee fight.

“Just use healing magic on it, you idiot,” Dorn projected into her mind.

Kiera dodged back, with her Evasive Steps. She projected back, “Why the fuck would I do that? And could you bother me later? I'm fighting here.”

“Healing magic is anathema to Imps; it'll kill them,” Dorn projected, rolling his eyes. “Don't you know anything about magical creatures?”

Finally, trying Dorn's advice, she extended some mana into the Imp's body and turned it into healing magic. She was expecting it to do nothing, or to even heal the stupid creature, but instead, the Imp burst apart in a shower of gore, little chunks falling all over the stage. The crowd, of course, went nuts, cheering her name.

Returning off stage, Jeromy clapped her on her back and Vossan said, “Nice one, Kiera.”

Thalia asked, “Why didn't you just do that thing with Healing magic from the beginning?”

Offhandedly, Kiera said, “Oh, I wanted to test my other abilities, first.”

Dorn grinned knowingly and gave her a quick hug.

Vossan said to Dorn, “It's funny; you didn't strike me as the cuddly type.”

“I'm not, shorty,” Dorn replied to Vossan.

Vossan looked pissed. Before he could get himself worked up, his name was called to go out on stage. He said, “This isn't over,” and hefted his new one-handed ax that he had purchased from a dwarven blacksmith, before heading out on stage.

“Can you try to be nicer to my friends?” asked Kiera.

Dorn looked at her with a stony face and said, “No.”

***

Dorn and the rest of the team watched the party, Voices of Fortune, battle a group of three dark elves from their lonely seats in the C section of the Colosseum. Dorn had been handing out lots of battles against dark elves, to prepare the adventurers for the impending war. As the team finished off the last elf, Jeromy said, “You know, for a D-ranked party, they're surprisingly not bad. And the crowd seems to love them.”

The crowd was chanting their name. Dorn said, “Agreed. They just need that final push to make it to C1 practitioners. I bet the ninth floor could do it for them.”

Kiera and her team headed down from the C-ranked seats and headed to the ready room. They passed by the Seekers of Fortune as they came off stage. Their leader, Thornley Shurman, came up to them and shook their hands. “It's so cool to meet the Seekers of Capital here; are you about to go fight?”

“Yeah, it's our turn next,” said Kiera.

“Well, we'll see you later then, we're off to go get some rewards from the dungeon's dwarf salesman, Agrand Dwarfy.”

Vossan winced at the dwarf's name, before crying out, saying, “You guys should save your points for the big stuff. Don't go cashing out now.”

Thornley grimaced, saying, “We need some final help making it through the ninth floor, so we have to buy something now.”

Thalia said, “But you guys are almost at the C1 rank; you should save up for one of the barrier breaking pills.”

Thornley shrugged, saying, “What else can we do?”

Kiera said, “We could help you through the last floor, if you needed.”

Dorn just groaned, and Kiera punched him in the arm.

“Really, you'd be willing to do that with us?” asked Thornley.

Before Dorn could say no, Kiera gave him another punch to the arm. “We'd love to. How about tomorrow morning?”

Thornley looked really excited, saying, “Yeah, that'd be great. See you tomorrow.”

The team then began to change into their gear. Dorn pulled off his shirt, to prepare to put on his armor. Kiera and Jeromy unabashedly ogled him. “Sweet tattoo,” said Jeromy. He continued, “It looks like a teleportation glyph.”

“It is a teleportation glyph,” answered Dorn.

Vossan asked, “Is it functional?”

Dorn said, “No, it's just a decoration.”

When the team was ready, they headed out onto the stage. As the strongest group, the crowd went nuts, for the Seekers of Capital were the crowd's favorite. Jeromy and Vossan waved to the crowd.

When the team reached the starting position on the stage, a flare of light went up directly across from them, on the other side of the stage. Out came a cambion. The cambion was tall and stocky, with his red wings flapping slowly behind him. He held a long halberd. Cambions were the result of breeding between devils and mortals, usually due to the entrapment of succubi or incubi. They were intrepid fighters and had significant regenerative abilities.

A cambion was selected due to the team picking the level three difficulty, as well as Jeromy's B-level strength. It would be a tough fight for the team, which was only a high-ranked C level party. Luckily, Dorn had joined them, bringing the party to full fighting capacity. The team stood to gain five thousand Devil Points, or one thousand a piece, by defeating this cambion. That would be enough for Thalia to buy a single recipe, for the D-Advancement pill. And Vossan could finally get a B-ranked enchanted shield. Everyone else would just be saving their points.

Jeromy quickly started calling out instructions. “Dorn, slow it with gravity. Thalia, don't save your enchanted arrows; we'll need them for this fight. Vossan, you have to give this more strength than you've ever given before. And Kiera, keep your healing on Vossan, don't let him go down. I'll harass him from the shadows. Move.”

Vossan went running out, holding his shield, and started taunting the cambion. “Here, you big, ugly, red fuck. Come and get some,” he said, while banging his shield with his ax. By lowering his body, Vossan got ready to take the first blow. The cambion, under the effects of a Gravity spell cast by Dorn (that would only affect the cambion and not other party members), lumbered towards Vossan, winding up his halberd for a large blow.

Thalia launched a few fire arrows at the cambion's neck, but it just shrugged them off. The cambion swung down, smashing into Vossan's shield. Amazingly, although Vossan slid back about three feet, he managed to stay upright. There was now a huge dent in his shield. His injuries from the impact were quickly healed by Kiera.

Jeromy phased out of the shadows behind the cambion, giving it a number of slices around its neck and back, but the wounds started healing almost instantly. As the devil turned towards Jeromy, Dorn launched a bolt of lightning that locked it into place, momentarily, allowing Jeromy to escape back into shadows.

Thalia brought out her precious, blessed arrow she had purchased from the Churches, and shot it right through the creature's neck. The cambion stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, under the effects of Dorn's spell.

“Quick, everyone attack,” shouted Jeromy.

Dorn moved to attack with lightning, Thalia rapidly shot some more of her arrows, and Kiera covered the devil in fire. Jeromy rapidly slit the demon's throat and then cut into its chest on the lower right side, where it kept its heart.

Before he could reach it, however, the cambion backhanded Jeromy with his claws, leaving deep gouges on his side, raking his ribs. Kiera quickly switched to healing his injuries, but she was beginning to run low on mana. Seeing the team have trouble, Dorn twisted his moonstone staff, and a high-steel spear head popped out. He then flash stepped to the cambion and jammed it straight into the devil's heart. Finally, he coursed a massive amount of Lightning magic through its body, turning it crispy.

As the cambion finally died, the crowd, which had nervously been watching the fight, stood and started cheering. Kiera finished healing up Jeromy, and the team stood together, severely winded. Jeromy said, “Wow, Dorn, that was amazing. You must have been a really high-leveled practitioner before your injury.”

Dorn looked forlorn, saying, “Yeah, but in the past, I wouldn't have had to use up all my mana fighting a low B-ranked cambion.”

Vossan, waving at the crowd, said, “Hey guys, you're forgetting the best part: we just got a thousand Devil Points a piece. We're rich.”

Thalia suddenly got a manic look in her eye, before running off to the rewards room to get the D-Advancement pill's recipe from Agrand Dwarfy. The team, battered and bruised, laughed at seeing stoic Thalia so excited about something. They walked off stage, to the adulation of the crowd, and headed towards their teleportation glyph, to go back to the C-level housing. Without Warley, the team had the floor to themselves. They hurried into town, to relax in the chilling waters of the bath houses. For once, Kiera wasn't upset that Dorn hadn't made them self-heating. They all needed to cool down after their battle.

Vossan was currently giggling in the cold waters with glee over his new enchanted, moonstone shield. “I finally have a B-rank shield; I finally have a B-rank shield,” he repeated.

Jeromy said, “Now you just have to upgrade to B rank, Vossan. You're already at C9; when are you going to rank up?”

Vossan said, “Any day now, I can feel it.”

Dorn laughed, saying, “It's not so easy to change ranks. Maybe you should have bought a couple Breaking Barriers pills instead of that shield.”

Vossan looked affronted, saying, “Nonsense. Don't talk about my beautiful baby that way.”

Dorn and Jeromy just laughed. Jeromy said to Dorn, “Wanna take bets on who in our party is going to make B-rank first? Excluding you, of course.”

Dorn said, “Sure, my money's on Kiera.”

Jeromy waved his hand and said, “Bah, you have to say that. I'm going with our very own Thalia. Don't let her obsession with alchemy fool you; with the celestial tree they have access to here in the dungeon, I bet she'll make it first.”

“Alright, what do you want to wager?” asked Dorn.

“If I win, you have to tell me how you and Kiera came to be,” said Jeromy with a huge grin on his face.

“Okay, and if I win, you have to entertain the idea of finding someone other than Warley,” Dorn said.

Jeromy looked upset, saying, “Hey, man, don't go there.”

Dorn held his hands up, and said, “Fine, fine, if I win, you have to tell all of us what you see in Warley that has you so enamored.”

Jeromy finally grinned again, saying, “You're on.”