When James stepped through the portal into his room at Ferdinand's place, Rocko waited for him.

James just smiled at him and started taking off his armour, "You wouldn't believe what happened in that hour."

"Do tell," Rocko growled.

James paused for a minute, realizing that what he was about to say could be overheard. Either by the occupants of the house or anyone trying to scry him. And what he was about to say was too valuable to say aloud.

"Is there a way you can talk without being overheard? Either by god or others?" James whispered.

Rocko looked contemplative, "Learning Telepathy should work, but I don't know if it would work on me since I am not here. Is it that important?"

James looked Rocko dead in the eyes, "Critical!"

"There is an advantage you can spend that will allow you to mentally bond with another creature. This will allow us to communicate mind to mind. I didn't bother to recommend it earlier because it is expensive and largely unneeded. Besides, the PSI Power Telepathy is the same price."

"Would I be able to communicate with you when I am in Astral Space?" James asked.

"I believe so, yes, but it is untested." Rocko conceded.

"Can the gods hear us talk? Even with you being somewhere else and with me being the only one to hear us?" James asked.

Rocko thought about it and then nodded, "Yes, the gods would be able to eavesdrop on our conversations."

"What about with this mental bond?" James asked.

Rocko shook his head, "Not easily. They would need to scan our thoughts at the time of the conversation. Although that is not impossible, it is hard. And you have a PSI power that would help block it?"

"What about you?" James asked.

"My contract with the Challenge protects me. The gods are not permitted to scan my thoughts. That doesn't mean that they wouldn't, but if it were ever found out they had, it would end very badly for them."

James thought about it for a moment, "Buy it. This is too important."

Rocko studied James for a moment. It wasn't his points that James was trying to spend, but it would take away from his overall power. Then again, communicating with James while he was in Astral Space could be helpful, if that was even possible. Rocko would miss seeing James make a fool of himself in front of others, but that wasn't important. Selecting the Advantage, James got a notification that popped up right away.

You have initiated a Mental Bond with Archimedes Rockwell. Archimedes Rockwell has accepted your request for a Mental Bond.

'Testing, testing. I hope this thing is on,' James thought to himself.

Rocko rolled his eyes and signed, 'Yes, James, it is on. What is so essential you used up 20 Advantage Points for this?'

'I spoke to the Dungeon Core,' James dead-panned.

"You did what!" Rocko shouted.

"Shhhh. In your head, remember?" James said.

'What happened? Tell me everything! Why would the Dungeon Core want to talk to you?' Rocko shuffled around excitedly.

James explained his visit with Glezda. He explained how he helped her redeploy some of her troops and made severe changes to the layout of the traps and the natural features. He also told him about how he was able to offer tactical advice and change the dungeon setup. In the end, Glezda was very happy with the changes, and so was James. He had yet to check his notifications, but he was confident that she upheld her end of the bargain.

Rocko stared at him open-mouthed as James explained everything to him. At first, he was stunned, but then his expression changed to disbelief and then later again to awe.

'James,' you must understand. 'No one talks to a Dungeon Core except for the gods!'

James nodded, 'Why do you think I insisted on having this method of communication. If this works out, it could be a game-changer!'

Rocko agreed that it would be a game-changer, but he wasn't sure how. 'Do you think she will go for it?'

James had finished taking off his armour and hung it up one the armour cross Jones had provided. The clothes under his armour were damaged, filthy and covered in blood patches. Deciding that the clothes were ruined, he took them off and put them in a pile near the door. Rocko turned his back to avoid the ungainly sight of pink flesh.

'I hope so,' James thought, 'I can see this as a win for her in gaining effortless power. The problem will be if the other gods or Champions figure out what we are doing and try to make similar deals like this with other Dungeon Cores.'

Rocko sighed, 'Or they interfere and stop it before we get a return on investment.'

James sat down on his bed and laughed, 'Return on investment? Who talks like that?'

Rocko laughed as well, 'I mean, there will need to be an expenditure of funds to establish some goodwill between you. If the deal is cut short before you see a return, there could be a financial loss on our side.'

James shook his head in wonder, 'Well worth the risk.'

'Is this why you told the sisters not to try and enter the Dungeon for a week? So the two of you would have to decide on a deal?' Rocko asked.

James sighed and looked down at the floor, 'In part. Glezda will need some time to think about it, and if the sisters go into the Dungeon, she would have to spend a great deal of Mana and experience to set the Dungeon up for them. I am also concerned that my modifications may make the Dungeon more dangerous, especially if they expected one thing and got something else.'

"A good plan," Rocko said aloud, "So what now?"

"First my notifications, and then I need a bath." He pulled the bell, letting Jones know he had returned.

James sat on the end of the bed, facing the door with a towel around his waist, waiting for Jones. Opening up his notifications, James smiled.

CONGRATULATIONS!

You are the first Champion to complete the Goblin Horde.

Reward: 550 XP (bonus due to completing dungeon 2 levels below recommended)

Title: Dungeon First

Free Advantage Points: 40 points (bonus due to completing dungeon 2 levels below recommended)

Bonus Advantage: Dungeon Friend - This special reward is given to you because of the aid given in improving the Dungeon: Goblin Horde. The experience and rewards offered by other dungeons will now be 10% higher.

Over dinner that evening, James explained to Veronika that he would be staying for a few days and wanted to go shopping with her the next day.

This made her very happy, and they spent a pleasant evening talking and playing cards.

The following morning saw them travelling to town in a carriage along with a footman, driver and Veronika's maid, who was not Mrs. Jones.

"I am thinking eight sets of clothes and seven specific outfits. You will need a formal and casual set of clothing for each season. You will require an outfit for each of the six festivals and another outfit for the formal ball at the end of the year." Veronika prattled on, her maid nodding her head sagely.

"Your generosity touches me," James said, bowing his head to Veronika.

"What do you mean?"

"That you are paying for all these outfits."

"why would I be paying for your clothes. I am just ensuring that you get the right clothes that you need." Veronika explained.

"Are you able to do all of this for less than ten gold coins?" James asked.

Veronika looked aghast, "You would be lucky if you could get one outfit for less than ten gold."

"You may want to consider a different budget if you are not paying for it."

Veronika's narrowed, "I assumed you were a person of means."

"You have seen my current outfits. Do they strike you as coming from a person of means?"

"I just figured you didn't have a woman in your life who knew how to dress you."

James laughed, "My main concern is whether or not it can hide the bloodstains."

"As wise as that may be," she nodded, "Fashion is not to be trifled with."

"I will give you fifty gold to purchase a single wardrobe of casual and semi-formal clothing. You may purchase one formal outfit for whatever festival you think is appropriate. If you wish to purchase anything more, you will need to pay for it yourself."

Veronika was not pleased, and even her maid looked upset with the exchange, but James didn't plan on spending money on the clothing he would never wear.

"If you provide the meals for the rest of the day, "Veronika haggled.

"Fine," James agreed.

"And you will provide seventy-five gold, and you agree to one formal outfit and one festive outfit. There is a ball coming up that I want you to take me to." she continued.

"Well then, then we should get two," James joked.

"Don't jest about such things. Balls are important," she said testily.

"Yes, those things which James seems to have lost," Rocko laughed.

'I can always just give her the money, and we can figure out another way to finance Glezda?' James sent it to Rocko.

"You need more men in your life. All these women are easily dominating you."

"Fine, but you must be done by the end of the day today," James countered.

Veronika scowled but nodded. Somehow, James still didn't feel like he got the better of the deal.

The rest of the day went smoothly, if somewhat dull. James tried on several outfits and visited several tailors. By the end of the day, he was seventy-five gold poorer and only possessed the casual clothes he bought. The tailors were making the rest, and he had a fitting in three days to ensure everything fits before they could provide the finished product. Lunch was light and fast affair as Veronika said they didn't have a lot of time and that doing all this shopping in one day was an unreasonable expectation.

Dinner that night was at a fancy restaurant. They had to be moved to a private dining room because neither were appropriately dressed to sit at a floor tables. Along with the meal and drinks afterwards, James wasn't sure if it would have been cheaper to pay for the seven sets of clothes.

On the second day, James decided to go shopping with Jones. They visited several blacksmiths and weaponsmiths around the city, and James was able to pick up a sampling of different weapons and armour. He selected items made mainly of Steel, but he also picked up a few things of Iron if he was sure Glezda didn't already have the pattern. The price for a steel sword was very high, and a suit of steel chain mail was staggering. He wanted to buy everything but had to limit his choices. He tried to convince Glezda to help him, but he would be out a lot of money if she refused. They ate at a local pub for lunch and shared a few ales. It didn't take must effort for James to hire Jones to teach him how to use the Glrick Sword. Since their shopping trip was made in the early afternoon, Jones started James' training that day.

Jones was horrified to learn that James had no training and already had a Skill of 5.

"What's wrong with that," James had asked. "Less work for you."

"Wrong! More work for me. I have to beat out all the mistakes you have taught yourself." Jones had corrected him.

"Why beatings, aren't there more gentle teaching methods," James had hoped.

"Yes," Jones had agreed with an evil grin, "but they are not near as much fun."

When Veronika found out that he spent more on armour than on clothes, she was most displeased. He could only survive the evening by promising to take her shopping for jewelry the next day. Suddenly, all of James' sins were forgotten. He did have to buy her a fancy bracelet which he never really saw, but that was an acceptable price for her sparing his life. He didn't have the heart or the courage to mention to her that shopping with Jones only cost a cheap meal and half a dozen pints of ale.

By the end of the third evening, Ferdinand had returned from a business trip and presented with James a gift. A large Dimensional Storage Container. It was in the shape of a backpack. It had different rules than his Bag of Holding and was far more impressive. It had twenty slots that could hold a medium-sized item. The problem was the items in the slots didn't stack. James was happy to learn that the armour, weapons and shields were all considered medium-sized items. Between the two containers, he had most of his packing needs covered. The jewelry did not go into either container because the bag wouldn't stack them together as they were not similar enough, and the slots in the backpack were too important to waste on a single ring or broach.

The fourth day saw them return to the city for the fittings so that James could purchase some adventuring supplies. Important things, but he just never had the time to acquire them. The first significant item were maps. The first map he bought was that of the world, it cost him a little more than he wanted to spend on it, but the detail and craftsmanship were worth the twenty gold coins. It was in colour and was larger than his arm span, which made it even more impressive. He then bought a map for each of the five continents. These were not as impressive as the world map, but they were also a fraction of the cost. They were less than a gold each, but they made up in detail what they lacked in craftmanship. James to purchase some of the maps for the major cities. He knew they would most likely be out of date. So he settled on getting a travel book on many of them. They were impressive little books that highlighted some of the features of the city and provided small maps and drawings of the predominant landmarks around that city. He only picked up six books, as that is all the seller had, but he put in an order for several more.

Rocko was a big help during the visits to the Cartographers. He confirmed the accuracy of the maps and helped pick out which maps were of more value than others. The whole idea behind doing this is that James wanted to visit those places using Astral Space so that, in the future, if he ever needed to get there, he would be able to do so. He could not find any maps of Astral Space and was given a strange look each time he inquired.

James picked up a large tent, a leather, waterproof satchel, a small journal with charcoal pens, quill and ink, and a proper mess kit. This was more like the deluxe version of mess kits. It had three different-sized plates, two bowls and two cups. Two different types of forks, three other knives and two spoons, one of the spoons had holes for straining. James was pleased with that purchase as he found it in a pawn shop and noticed that it had an Enchantment that cleaned everything when the case was closed. If that wasn't a selling feature, nothing was.

James decided that it was time to head back to the Milgard and told Veronika to join him for some one-on-one time in his parlour. It was a wonderful evening, and they dozed by the fire, curled up next to each other under a shared blanket. Finally dozing off, he was startled away by a strangely familiar voice.