Nero learned it later but prince Tyre had named the castle "Lion Hold". He shrugged off the preposterous naming, laughing it off inside as another of Tyre's eccentricities. He wouldn't dare to chortle out loud in what was basically enemy territory. And speaking of enemies on all sides, Tyre's ridiculous naming sense mattered not. What mattered was the swarm of people lining up on the horizon. The castle was built on one of the sides of a pass, one Coriander's army and supply train would need to go through to get into Bast. They could try to cross the mountains if they had the time to do so but the other countries, biding their time to pounce on Bast, were waiting on Coriander's results to either declare war or not. And Coriander's results depended on taking the castle. They couldn't just walk past as the dozens of catapults built on the walls would destroy their morale and block supplies.

Tyre's strategy relied exactly on that. He was willing to let Coriander besiege the castle and try their luck at taking it. It was stupid to let them take over the valley and cut off the castle's route to escape but you needed to consider two factors. One, it was Tyre directing the strategy, and two, he was on the ropes. King King Zander Alexander VI decreed that Tyre would return to the capital victorious or not at all. With an invitation like that, Coriander's commander eagerly took the bait. They camped outside of the castle's range and started to build fortifications for a siege.

The constraints on both sides were big. Coriander couldn't afford to take their time, Bast was vastly outnumbered. At least fifty-to-one, Nero overheard some soldiers talking. Would the strategic position help? Nero had no idea.

A week after the arrival of the enemy army, a delegation came to demand Tyre's surrender. Nero wasn't invited to the meeting - he went as far as hiding in the back tower he used to haunt - but the outcome was not unexpected. He learned what happened to the delegation later.

Nero got down to grab some dinner and overheard the soldiers talking.

"Heh! Prince Tyre surely showed these invaders who's boss," a soldier said.

"Oh, right. You were guarding the meeting room!" Another one said, excited. "What happened?"

They were behind Nero, so he couldn't tell who was talking.

"The bleeding bastards wanted Tyre to surrender the castle. They would let us retreat into the country peacefully. As if!" He snorted. "They also demanded Tyre to give them back their princess. Do you know what His Highness told them?"

"Shoot, man!" The other soldier impatiently demanded.

"He told them to come and get her. He wasn't interested in used goods," The soldier guffawed and the others on the table followed suit.

Nero was boiling inside. He almost dismissed the shelter on a whim, stopping only because Rodther and the pets were inside. But his appetite vanished. Nero stood up and walked out. He felt the need to scream, to tell the prince to go fornicate with himself for a change. Stupid Leonal. Everything was his fault. He was away from Altia, from his parents, from his sister.

Nero decided on doing something about that. He hatched an escape plan, and for that, he needed some cards to complete what he needed. Nero left the soldiers to gossip to themselves and walked straight into the quartermaster's office. The grumpy dwarf was there, leaning on a scroll that was probably an inventory report. Nero cleared his throat to get the dwarf's attention.

"What do you want here, brat?"

"Payment," he replied bitterly. "It's been three weeks."

He was owed seventeen purple cards, as he owed them four because he snatched all the "of the Meek" cards they had. And the sky would be dyed blood red before he left without them.

"Bloody hell, kid!" The dwarf grumbled. "There's an enemy army outside and you want payment? We are about to get on a fight! Where is your--"

"Save it," Nero interrupted. "I'm in this just for the payment. I'm an Adventurer, not a soldier. I want what I am owed, nothing more, nothing less."

The dwarf gave him a stare that could kill weaker people. "Fine. I see where your loyalties lie, kid."

"Cut the crap. I am loyal to my country. I'm not the one defaulting on my obligations. I have a contract and I am owed payment."

The dwarf rummaged under the counter and slammed a sheaf of cards on the wood. "Here. There's a full stack of cards in there. All purple, all meeting your criteria. His Highness, in his wisdom, saw fit to pay you forward for two months."

Like hell he would stay for two whole months. Nero felt bile rising up his throat. Yet he summoned the strength to go and check the cards. Purple Classes, first-tier, there were ten. Purple Skills without a level requirement, forty. Mostly some random crap, nothing that caught his eye immediately. And ten purple modifier cards.

Nero cursed at how flimsy their agreement was. So long the card was purple and in the loose parameters he gave, it was fit to be his payment. Worse, who could tell where they would be in two months? Coriander would not wait that long. They wanted to get into Bast's countryside yesterday.

"If you are paying me two months in advance, you should pay the remainder. Seventeen more purple cards. And I get to pick them."

The dwarf's neck became red and he was furrowing his brows really hard. Nero felt sorry for him for one moment and then remembered he was keeping him from being with his wife.

"Do you think I'm made of purple cards, kid? There aren't any left! Shoo."

"Then I'll take my seventeen out of these and go back home."

The dwarf snorted in derision. "There's an enemy army in the valley. They already have scouts deeper into our homeland. How the heck do you think you'll get past them?"

"Asking nicely?" Nero replied sarcastically.

"I'd pay to see that. But His Highness wishes for your continued service, so we are settling our debt of seventeen days and you get these sixty as an advance. What do you need, kid?"

Nero once read a story about a continent that was about to fall. A merchant heard about it before everyone else and shrewdly converted all his assets into portable, untraceable wealth like jewelry and high-grade high-tier cards. Once disaster struck, people dubbed him "End of the World Sale" while he laughed at the frightened people ashore as he took the last boat into safety. It was a cautionary tale against greed and selfishness with a twist as a sea monster attracted to the smell of gold destroyed the boat and ate the merchant with his treasure.

Was Nero the greedy merchant now? The wealth of purple cards burning a hole in his bandolier right now was enough for him to retire and live a modest life. Why is the dwarf so eager to deal with him now?

"I am interested in Attribute-modifying cards. Like those 'of the Meek' ones I got from you, but that decrease Attributes. Do you have any?"

The dwarf snorted a laugh. "You have the weirdest requests, kid. C'mon, entertain me. Which Attribute do you want to decrease?"

"Willpower."

"Lock the door," He said with a serious face.

Nero did and the dwarf took a box exactly like the one Amaryllis had, that could connect with other boxes across space. He opened the box and rummaged until he drew a card.

"See if it strikes your fancy, lad."

[Fool's Prowess] - purple Skill. Requires Reason +20. Willpower +20.

+9 Reason

+9 Willpower

"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool."

Effect: Permanently set your Reason and Willpower to +10. Increase each of the other Attributes by a fifth of the lost Attribute points, rounded down.

Nero's face went stiff as he perused the card. "Not what I had in mind."

The quartermaster nodded. "Yeah, these are called build correctors, kid. Valuable. As you can see, people get forty percent of the Attribute points they gained and stop worrying about items with the wrong Attribute points. I only showed you this to get an idea of what you want. This is not for sale," the dwarf teased as he put away the [Fool's Prowess] card.

"Fair enough. Do you know the Skill [Fickle Intellect]? Something like that. Decrease Willpower and improve magical prowess."

"Yeah, I got you," He flipped through the cards in the box and drew one.

[Burning Intellect] - orange Skill. Requires Endurance +25. Reason +25. Willpower +25.

+8 Endurance

+8 Reason

+8 Willpower

"Hidden brilliance is hidden in the depths of madness."

Effect: Decrease your Endurance and Willpower by two-thirds. Increase your Reason by 150% the points lost for the effects of your Spells.

Nero tried to hide his interest on the card. He failed miserably. The dwarf chuckled and waved the card in front of him. "How much?" Nero asked.

"Six purples," He answered.

"Four and we compromise on trading away all the other purples I am owed."

The quartermaster was no novice to the art of bartering. The dwarf stared deep into Nero's eyes and said slowly. "Five and I don't get grumpy and motivated to swindle a wet-behind-your-ears brat like you. And we keep our little trade to ourselves. No need to report our deals to His Highness."

Nero paused to think. The quartermaster was surely getting his cut of these shady deals. But he didn't care if he was stealing from him. Nero wanted what he wanted, not what he could have. Getting the best deal value-wise was not worth his patience. Not when he could farm millions of Essence out of a Dungeon. And given his performance in the Dire Warg's, he maybe could tackle a rank-IV one for higher payoffs. Alone.

"Sure thing, sir. I'll be in your care," He replied with a sincere smile.

Nero told him his needs. He needed a caster build that could lower Willpower by as much as he could while raising Reason. If he could pull it off, he could create a temporary shelter detached from his main one through [Autonomous Spell]. The trick was to reduce the mana cost as much as he could so the Essence demanded by the Skill would stay within reasonable levels.

After browsing the kingdom's selection of cards for half an hour, he took the cards he needed and left the quartermaster's office. Nero had a burning desire to pit the dwarf against Razzer and see the leopard-kin get fleeced at least once in his life.

Nero's greatest strength in negotiating was that he could take the stupid cards nobody would dare use for cheap. Like the Class card he got for his new shelter build. It was a good Class in the long run, but anyone that could afford that purple card would find a yellow one with the "right" Attribute values. The one he got was too heavy on the other Attributes, a nuisance for other people but not for Nero that had little control over his growth.

[Mage] - purple. Requires Strength +30. Vigor +20. Dexterity +30.

+12 Strength

+10 Vigor

+10 Dexterity

"Now I want to see someone call me a wimp when I can both fireball their face off or punch their teeth in - Archmage Graymalkin."

Special: Add half your Strength to Reason to determine the power of your Spells.

Special: Add half your Vigor to Reason to determine the power of your Spells.

Special: Add half your Dexterity to Reason to determine the power of your Spells.

Special: This Class has 1 extra Skill slot.

But it suited Nero's plans just fine. The previous [Scout] build he made to create the shelter tried to cover some shortcomings regarding the creation of the shelter that he no longer had. Since this one should last forever, he put a lot of thought on it. The purpose was to lower the costs as much as possible. Nero wanted to add Skills to reduce the shelter's cost and upkeep to manageable amounts in the future when his Willpower rose.

Nero pocketed the cards he traded with the quartermaster and withdrew to his lonely tower in the worst corner of the castle. The room he was using should've been some kind of prison for nobles because it couldn't even be used as a scout or sentry post. Alone, he created what should be his ultimate build for creating the shelter.

[Mage] - purple - Bound to Nero.

+12 Strength [+6]

+10 Vigor [+5]

+8 Endurance [+4]

+10 Dexterity [+3]

+12 Reason [+6]

+10 Willpower [+5]

+2 Perception [+2]

Special: Add half your Strength to Reason to determine the power of your Spells.

Special: Add half your Vigor to Reason to determine the power of your Spells.

Special: Add half your Dexterity to Reason to determine the power of your Spells.

Special: This Class has 1 extra Skill slot.

[Optimize Spell] - Upon activating this Skill card, choose one spell (Spell chosen: Idyllic Shelter). The choice cannot be modified. Halve that spells' base cost.

[Burning Intellect] - Decrease your Endurance and Willpower by two-thirds. Increase your Reason by 150% the points lost for the effects of your Spells.

[Enlarge Spell] - Spend 1 point of mana and stamina in addition to other costs as part of casting a spell. Multiply the area or volume of a Spell by Reason / 3.

[Fickle Intellect] - Reduce your Willpower by half. Increase your Reason by the same amount.

[Autonomous Spell] - Spend (100*[mana cost]^2) Essence to make a spell autonomous. It doesn't count against your limit of simultaneous spells of the same kind. Spend 100*X Essence to pay for its upkeep. Dismiss the spell anytime.

Empty Skill slot

Empty Skill slot

This time he learned his lesson. Nero wouldn't fill all the slots with Skills right now. The final cost to create and maintain the shelter should be one-twelfth of his Willpower after all the reductions were considered.

While he admired the waste of valuable cards he made just for the shelter, some loud boom rang outside. Startled, Nero took a ladder out of his dimensional pouch. For the last days, he collected every odd object he could abscond with. He climbed the ladder to see through one of the windows. The army outside was digging entrenchments. and testing their siege weapons. There was some kind of huge trebuchet. He adjusted his goggles to magnify the view and he saw a metallic wagon transporting a huge boulder. From the soldier walking next to it, the boulder was almost spherical and as wide as two people's height. For the next half hour, they loaded the contraption and fired. The rock flew through the sky as if it was a second moon and crashed less than a hundred yards from the castle.

"Fuck. are they raising the second one of that gigantic siege... fuck it, they are."

Nero opened a portal to the lower floor of the shelter and got Rodther out just in time to let the [Acrobat] hear the second siege weapon strike even closer than the first one.

"What was that?" Rodther asked exasperated. "Are we under attack?"

"Siege weapons. They are using some sort of Essence-reinforced wood. It is throwing rocks too big to be thrown."

Rodhter climbed the ladder and watched. Without the magnifying lens of the goggles, he couldn't see the siege weapons in detail. "From how far away are they shooting?"

"Almost half a mile. That should be impossible!"

Rodther stared at Nero, his eyes trembling. Both men were afraid. A hit from one of those rocks and you were dead, a thousand Vigor or not.

"You're the guy with the crazy plans, boss. How are we escaping this deathtrap of a castle?"

"I know for a fact a shelter can have more than one portal. I'm going to try two shelters, an alternate one with a portal here and another elsewhere far away."

Rodther sighed in relief. "What are you waiting for?"

Nero sighed. "Nothing, I guess. Let me do some calculations."

His total Willpower with the latest build was 111 before applying the Skills effects. The final value was 18, rounded down. The shelter would cost nine mana and the upkeep, twelve as [Optimize Spell] didn't lower upkeep costs.

"I need to lower my Willpower further," He mumbled.

Rodther punched his shoulder. "Hey. Wake up."

"What?" Nero shook from his musings, annoyed.

"You want to lower your willpower, right?" Nero nodded at Rodther's question. "What about taking off this fancy gear of yours?"

Nero didn't answer, he just stared at Rodther's scaled muzzle and blinked.

"You're a genius, Rodther!" He grinned.

"No. You overthink stuff. Seriously, is mashing up a bunch of purple cards your answer to a problem?" He joked and laughed. Nero didn't. Rodther stopped. "No way!"

"Time to take everything off."

Without his equipment, his Willpower without the build dropped to sixty-one. All of his slot-less Skills gave a Willpower bonus and he couldn't take them off. But now the shelter would use five mana, and the upkeep, seven per day. It was weird that the shelter cost as much as the portal now but that's what you get with the Skill combos. Nero spent enough Essence to get a temporary shelter that would last for one hundred days. That cost twenty-five hundred for the casting and seventy thousand for the upkeep. As it was a temporary one, he just set it to be a copy of the original shelter, without the elven-crafted house-tree, just a big oak one.

All that was left was to test the portals. When he tried to open a normal portal, he felt he could choose which shelter to connect to. He swapped builds and created a portal connecting the tower to the temporary shelter for seventy-five hundred Essence as each portal lasted for two days after all the extensions were factored in.

"You need to learn the value of money, boss," Rodther gasped at the massive Essence expenditure.

Another boulder hit, this time closer.

"Right. No. I need to cherish the value of my life. And yours too."

Nero moved all of his pets and whatever he could from the main shelter to the temporary one. He told Rodther the password for the portal and sent him in as well. At least the ietermahue wouldn't be trapped inside if something happened, and even if Nero died the temporary shelter would probably run on the stored Essence until it ended.

"Now I need to sneak out of this castle, far enough to put another portal to make an escape route," Nero sighed.

It would be hard to sneak past the knights.