Chapter 44: Life Moves On Without Me

It turns out that since I have not designated an heir, everyone knew I was still alive because there was no notification of the kingdom dissolving. I have to take care of that soon and have a plan of succession. The military was because they knew this was the last place I had contacted them from so they set up a search and rescue effort to begin with, but when they saw the Limited Instance Dungeon and found out that it was occupied they realized that I was inside. So they kept one unit here as a precaution for when I came out and the rest I knew.

My daughter was here because Randolph knew I would want to know about the bloodline first thing. Other than that nothing was wrong. The entire month that I was gone, everything went smoothly. More people came into the kingdom, efforts to expand protection and collect resources continued and everything else was running smooth. I was both relieved and a little bit insulted. I guess I was not as vital as I thought to the whole process. However, the good news is if they were able to smoothly run the kingdom without me then I picked the right people and I can continue my life of solitude and dungeon diving. All I need to do is check in occasionally.

I told everyone an abbreviated version of events and let them know that staying out of contact was not planned, but was more me being unaware that dungeons could be that big. They all laughed and said things along the lines of father and daughter are so alike. I watched everyone pack up and then we headed back to the capital. After checking in with everyone at the castle I retreated back into my chambers to contemplate everything that had changed. First I need to check and assign my points and then select my rewards before I forget again. Status:

Name: Mark Anderson

Master Tamer +2, Dragon Tamer +3, Dragon Master +4, Elemental Dragon King Bloodline +10, Evolver +2, Monster Slayer +1, Titan Slayer +3, Destroyer +5, Level Maniac +2, Survivor +1, No Limits +5, Undying +5, Transcendent +5, Top 100 +1

Titles: Quadelementalist +4, Lucky One +1 Master Thief +1, World Traveler +1, Wealthy +1, Dungeon Explorer +3, Unstoppable +2, Army of One +1, Arsonist +1, Manifest Destiny +3, Not Nailed Down +1, Army of One +1, Scourge of the Undead +1, Think Outside the Box +1, Beast Tamer +1, Lost & Found +1, Spider Bane +3

Level: 113 -36%

Unspent Attribute Points: 480

Str: 155

HP: 1,550

Int: 255 +110% MP

MP: 10,710

Wis: 255 +110% MP/Regen

HP/Regen: 220% per 15 min.

Agi: 155

MP/Regen: 535% per 15 min.

Con: 155 +70% HP/Regen

Luck: 155

Affinities: Earth - 100%

Water – 100%

Fire – 100%

Air – 100%”

Alright I should split my humongous amount of points up. This should work.

Name: Mark Anderson

Master Tamer +2, Dragon Tamer +3, Dragon Master +4, Elemental Dragon King Bloodline +10, Evolver +2, Monster Slayer +1, Titan Slayer +3, Destroyer +5, Level Maniac +2, Survivor +1, No Limits +5, Undying +5, Transcendent +5, Top 100 +1

Titles: Quadelementalist +4, Lucky One +1 Master Thief +1, World Traveler +1, Wealthy +1, Dungeon Explorer +3, Unstoppable +2, Army of One +1, Arsonist +1, Manifest Destiny +3, Not Nailed Down +1, Army of One +1, Scourge of the Undead +1, Think Outside the Box +1, Beast Tamer +1, Lost & Found +1, Spider Bane +3

Level: 113 -36%

Unspent Attribute Points: 0

Str: 225

HP: 2,250

Int: 355 +170% MP

MP: 19,170

Wis: 355 +170% MP/Regen

HP/Regen: 335% per 15 min.

Agi: 225

MP/Regen: 603% per 15 min.

Con: 225 +110% HP/Regen

Luck: 225

Affinities: Earth - 100%

Water – 100%

Fire – 100%

Air – 100%”

That should put me beyond anything on Earth right now and for the near future. However, I cannot slow down on my training as I am going to have to attend the Planetary Leader competition soon enough. However, first let’s glance through the Great Game store and try and find 2 new unique skills. I do not need items and the last skill really has been useful. After looking through the Great Game store I have come up with four possibilities. This is going to be a hard choice. Each of them seem to be something that would be really helpful. Everything I looked through seems to be great but these four are the top.

(Unique Skill) Shared Attributes: Your HP and MP are now one. Magic and Health come out of the same combined pool. Requires 200 points in Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Constitution. (Unique Skill) Blink: You gain the ability to teleport an unlimited number of times as long as your destination is in your line of sight. No MP used. (Unique Skill) Advanced Bloodline Growth: You gain all your bloodline abilities immediately without the need for higher level achievements. (Unique Skill) Magic Clone: In the event of permanent death you instead will respawn to a designated location with a 25% penalty to your MP and HP for 3 months. This ability can only be used twice in a 3 month period. No infinite respawns.

I think that I can eliminate number three. I will eventually receive all of my bloodline abilities and wasting a unique skill on getting them early seems a little wasteful. It would be a big surprise on the battlefield, but that surprise would only work once, and then any advantage would be gone forever as people talk and they could prepare countermeasures in the future.

Ok I have made my selection. I am getting Blink and Magic Clone. While Shared attributes would give me a huge HP pool and keep me alive longer, the Magic Clone literally saves me from death. Blink is just great as a transportation tool, surprise tool, and a way to retreat if a situation calls for it. It is just too convenient. I mentally make my selections and close the Great Game notice telling me I now have those abilities. I need to get some sleep in my own bed and check on my dragons in the morning. I know that they have to sleep before the Great Game applies any and all upgrades to my pets/companions.

Morning as usual comes to early. I blink away the sleep and look at my sleeping companions. Time to wake them up and check on their progress. I can already see a significant growth in size. I am glad I have such a large room. They probably doubled and maybe tripled their length. Luckily about 1/3 of that is tail otherwise we probably wouldn’t fit in here anymore. I definitely have to set up a lair for them soon. I wonder what their levels have reached. Identify:

Name: Elvira Race: Elemental Air Dragon

Level: 52 33% Status: Companion/Pet of Mark Anderson

Name: Esmerelda Race: Elemental Earth Dragon

Level: 54 7% Status: Companion/Pet of Mark Anderson

Name: Azure Race: Elemental Water Dragon

Level: 53 61% Status: Companion/Pet of Mark Anderson

Name: Sir Bruce Shadow Flaming Ember of Doom Race: Elemental Fire Dragon

Level: 61 21% Status: Companion/Pet of Mark Anderson

They have improved a lot. They probably would have improved more if I had let them participate more in the dungeon. However, I probably claimed 75% of the experience given and they had to split the remaining 25% between the four of them. So their growth is very good. In the future I will be able to let them solo some dungeons to have them level up faster. Bruce once again was an experience hog and has reached a much higher level than his brother and sister. It even looks like he is bigger than them by about a meter in length. Huh, that is too convenient. If I am right, where is my measuring tape. It is true, every level is about 10 centimeters of growth for my dragons. Bruce is 6.1 meters long, Azure is 5.3 meters long, Esmerelda is 5.4 meters, and finally the small one Elvira is 5.2 meters. This is good information to know. In the future it will allow me estimate dragon levels from just their size.

With me reaching level 100 myself I should be able to partially transform and fly now. I will have to experiment soon. Now that I have had some sleep and have had a chance to recharge, I think I can finally pull my mysterious king disappearing act. While I am gratified that everyone was worried about me the fact of the matter is other than me needing to rubber stamp some decisions, the entire place ran fine without me. This was my eventual goal and it looks like I reached it even sooner than I thought. Over the next week I will catch up on all the paperwork and double check that everything is running smooth. I will also build myself and my dragons a lair in a secluded valley somewhere in the mountains. I can commute from my new sanctuary whenever there is a pressing need for me to show my face or help out the kingdom in some way. If I remove myself now than they will rely on me less and less and eventually I will hopefully just be a figurehead that needs to show up once or twice a year. That sounds like a plan and I will start on it tomorrow. Today is a catch up and relax day.