Vee gestured for Brice to sit down beside him and took a look at the pair of figurines. The wooden one that he’d originally commissioned was well-made and impressively detailed. It was about ten inches tall, and painted to make Alforde look like he was covered in frost. With the exception of one leg, all of the armorsoul’s limbs and head were movable, and the tiny Slammy could be removed from the figure with ease. Vee spent a few moments playing with the figure, changing its pose and testing the toy’s durability. He wasn’t disappointed, and commended Brice on a job well done.

The [Toymaker] smiled at the compliment, but shook his head and pointed to the other figurine as soon as Vee put the wooden one down. “Thanks, but to be honest I'm not terribly interested in that piece anymore. Instead, I really want you to take a look at this other one here. I’m really excited about it.”

Vee looked at the second figure. It was much smaller than the wooden one, standing no more than two or three inches tall. It depicted Alforde in the middle of a mighty hammer swing, with a stylized cape flowing behind him. Despite its small size, the details were surprisingly intricate, though the figure didn’t look capable of movement.

Truthfully, the [Dungeon Master] didn’t understand why Brice was so excited for him to see it. What was so special about this thing? Frowning, Vee picked the figure up and brought it closer to his eye. It was pleasantly heavy, and felt good in his hand. More than that though, Vee recognized the material immediately; it was made out of ectoplasm.

“I used those sheets you gave me,” Brice said when Vee looked up. “They were brittle, but surprisingly easy to cut for how well they hold detail.”

Vee turned it around a few times, surprised at how nice it looked. “Why isn’t it painted?”

Brice grinned, a manic glint coming to his eye. “That’s part of the fun, I think. We could make a bunch of these, sell them to people, and let them paint them themselves. I might be getting a little carried away here, but I was thinking we could make a bunch for Crestheart. You know, have Alforde, Mister Chills, some of the other minions, and maybe even some adventurers too. People could build their own dungeon encounters!“

At the sound of the word Adventurers, a tingle raced down Vee’s spine, and he found himself grinning as well. This was it! He’d found something to offer adventurers who managed to defeat Alforde before they got Thien to make more rewards. They could be immortalized in miniature form!

More than that though, depending on how fast Brice could make new figures, they could also offer the miniatures to visitors who came to Oar’s Crest as part of the upcoming not-a-dungeon-circuit. New sources of revenue were always welcome.

A world of new possibilities fueled by miniature dungeons expanded before him, and Vee knew that he had something big on his hands. It just needed a name. Something punchy and iconic.

He thought about a couple options. Dungeon minis? Not bad, but not particularly exciting. If possible, he wanted to work in the fact that it was made out of ectoplasm too. Dungeon ectoplasm figurines? Dungeon ectoplasm models? Hmm, neither of those were particularly good; they were too long. However, they did give Vee an idea. What if he combined some of the words? Dunpla!

Yeah, he liked the sound of that, but he wanted it tied to his dungeon. Crestheart Dunpla, then.

“Well, what do you think?” Brice asked, looking somewhat wary. Vee reached up and feathered his hair, feeling a little guilty for staying silent for so long.

“I love it,” Vee said. “How fast can you make more?”

The [Toymaker]’s smile grew wider. “How fast can you get me more of that thin ectoplasm? Or actually, can you make me a couple different sizes? Like a thin, medium, and thick? There are some things that would work better if I had access to different varieties of material.”

Vee rubbed his chin. Technically, the ectoplasm was pretty easy to make, he just had to flatten some of his refined ectoplasm. By itself, that didn’t take particularly long, but finding the time to do it when he had so many other things that needed his attention was something of a problem.

However, it was possible that he could outsource the work to one of his fiends. Most of the members of his medium section still lacked proper tasks, and according to Kai, Dandelion was doing great helping out with the menagerie. Could another fiend do something similar here? It was worth a shot at least.

He looked over at Brice. “You don’t have any issues with fiends, do you?”

The [Toymaker] shrugged. “Not unless they’re trying to eat me or something like that.”

Vee closed his eyes and reached through his bond to his medium section. “Well, you won’t need to worry about that. Now, let’s start talking specifics.”

Ultimately, Vee and Brice came to an agreement for a set of additional figurines for the [Toymaker] to produce with a fiend’s help. Vee would have to find a way to sneak his minion into the city proper without it being discovered and make a device to help flatten the ectoplasm more quickly, which were both things he thought Rortenferry could help him with. He jotted down a note to bring it up the next time he talked to his old teacher, and got back to hammering out the details.

For the dungeon itself, Brice agreed to make a couple different ghosts, a frost elemental, and the basic trio of skeletons regularly found inside Crestheart. Beyond that, he’d make a figure of Mister Chills, a couple simple room sets, and eight different adventurer figures to be determined later.

Vee had wanted more variety in case Alforde had a bad string of fights and was less popular than he should have been, but Brice resisted.

“Look, it’s not that I don’t want to make a bunch, but I have the rest of my business to think about. As exciting as this project is, I have other products that pay my bills,” he explained. “However, if these get popular I’d be happy to make more in the future.”

That was good enough, Vee decided, so he didn’t press the issue any further. Instead, he turned his attention to the question of where the figures would be displayed and sold, as he wanted to have some available in the Lobby while he worked on expanding it to more people than just adventurers. Brice of course wanted to keep them exclusive to his own shop, so that he could control pricing and make sure that they were handled properly. Back and forth they negotiated, until they came to a decent compromise and shook hands to seal the deal. Some of their plans would have to wait until spring came around, but others would be starting in the coming weeks in anticipation of the not-circuit.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Brice said as he got up to leave.

"Same," Vee answered. "I'm excited to see what else you come up with up."

Reginald got Vee’s attention and the [Dungeon Master] looked over at the nearest viewing crystal. Down below in the dungeon, a kitrekin [Fighter] was heading toward Alforde’s arena.

Vee reached down and activated the magnification crystal that would let him talk to his friend.

“Hey buddy, you’re about to have some company. If you could make sure you win this fight and any others you have today too, that’d be great. I have some new rewards lined up, but I want to make sure they’re properly announced before we start giving them out. Do your best, okay?”

Alforde’s reply was bright and full of energy.

“Got it! I won’t let you down, Vee!”

Alforde lifted Slammy onto his pauldron as a burly ginger kitrekin stepped into his arena. The adventurer held up his paws, extended his claws, and licked his whiskers with a smile.

“Heya, Champ. How’s it going? You ready to throw down?”

Alforde nodded, and tossed over the SSB. The kitrekin scarfed it down and took a step forward. Alforde settled his thoughts. The old urge to throw himself into combat was there like a bad habit, whispering into his helmet, but while Alforde wanted to win, the armorsoul refused to listen to its superficial urging. Instead, he steeled himself for a contest and turned his attention to his foe.

The kitrekin swaggered forward and raised his paws into a crude imitation of a [Boxer’s] stance. “Let’s see how you handle this! [Double Swipe]!”

Dancing away from the adventurer’s paws, Alforde brought Slammy around in a quick counterattack and sent his foe sliding across the stage. He fought back the urge to pursue, waiting instead for the kitrekin’s [Flipping Jump Kick], which he brushed away with a [Pauldron Smash]. Walking in a slow circle, Alforde waited until the kitrekin drew close again, then activated [Combo Attack]. Slammy whizzed through the air, peppering the [Fighter] with three quick blows. The force of his last thrust was enough to send the kitrekin over the edge and Alforde picked up his first point.

He still had three more to go though, and the armorsoul refrained from letting his thoughts run away from him as his opponent came back on stage.

“That was a nifty attack,” the kitrekin growled. “But now I’m angry.”

As the words left his mouth, the ktirekin’s face changed, growing sharper and more brutal. His claws lengthened, and his steps got faster and faster. He leapt toward Alforde again, and this time the armorsoul wasn’t quite quick enough to get out of the way. The pair collapsed to the stage, and the adventurer’s claws raked and scratched Alforde’s plates. The blows weren’t particularly damaging at first, but they got stronger as time went on, and at the end of the sequence the [Fighter] rolled Alforde over to the edge of the stage. With a grunt and a mighty kick, the kitrekin evened the score.

Alforde bounced back up and resumed his steady circling. He felt his cape flapping back and forth, and tried to summon his Domain, but his [Chilling Tempest] refused to form. It was a finnicky skill, and he had yet to master it, but the armorsoul didn’t panic. Instead, he activated [Unstoppable Charge] and went sliding across the stage. When the kitrekin dodged, Alforde used Slammy’s shaft to redirect himself and swung back around. This time, he was too quick for the adventurer to dodge, and the armorsoul was back in the lead after mightily crashing into the kitrekin’s side.

Once again, he tried to summon his Domain, and once again the skill refused to activate. It was close though, and Alforde knew that if he gave it his full attention he’d manage to bring the wintry storm to life. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do so just then, as the fight intensified further. The adventurer’s fur caught fire, and when he struck Alforde with an open palmed [Vengeful Swat], the armorsoul went flying.

The [Dungeon Champion] tumbled through the air and landed hard on the ground below the stage, though like always he bounced right back up again. Looking over at the adventurer, Alforde saw that the ktirekin was now almost completely covered in roaring orange flames.

Reginald’s voice echoed through the room. “Two minutes remain, fighters.”

Alforde lifted Slammy and pointed it at the adventurer. He twisted the handle and opened up the hammer’s head, activating his socketed crystal and buffeting the kitrekin in a hail of…well, hail. At first, the icy projectiles caused the adventurer to stagger, but after a few moments the flames on his fur grew larger and the air was filled with hissing as Alforde’s projectiles melted on contact.

“Trying to keep me away, huh? Why? Are you scared of me, Champ?” the kitrekin said with a grin. “Good, because I’m just getting started. [Blaze Clones]!”

The flames on the adventurer’s fur turned gold, and a pair of fiery doppelgangers appeared on either side of the [Fighter]’s body. As one, they marched toward Alforde, raising their paws to strike.

Focusing on his cape, Alforde imagined it dissipating into [Chilling Tempest], and this time the skill activated. Frigid wind filled the arena, and a thin layer of frost expanded out from the armorsoul’s boots. Once the entire arena was covered, the armorsoul summoned Shadowforde and met his opponent in a clash of hammer and claws.

The fighting was fierce, but the [Dungeon Champion]’s domain stymied the effects of the kitrekin’s skill, and after a furious exchange, time ran out and Alforde was declared the victor. Pride surged through the armorsoul’s breastplate as he held out his gauntlet, shook the kitrekin’s paw, and waited for his next bout. He’d kept his emotions in check and fought well.

His domain faded slowly, and Alforde was sad to see it go. He dismissed Shadowforde with a polite nod and watched the ice on the floor of his platform melt. Was there a way he could keep [Chilling Tempest] ready without it being visible?

There was only one way to find out. The [Dungeon Champion] turned his thoughts to his cape once more.

I can do this, Alforde thought to himself. I know I can. I’m not going to stop trying until I can summon [Chilling Tempest] on command.

[Heart Of A Champion +1– Deferred due to [Fair Fight]]

Main Character Sheets:

Vee Vales (Unchanged)

Primary Class: Ghost Maestro (Locksmagister University), Level 29

Secondary Class: Dungeon Master (Oar’s Crest), Level 20

Tertiary Class: Guy-Who-Takes-Things-WAY-Too-Far (Self), Level 5

Might: 13

Wit: 32

Faith: 21

Adventurousness: 7

Ambition: 14

Plotting: 19

Charisma: 14

Devious Mind: 23

Leadership: 17

Guts: 14

Intimidating Presence: 10

Citizenship: 20

Public Relations: 5

Determination: 2

Persuasiveness: 1

Alforde Armorsoul:

Primary Class: Hammer Afficionado (Self), Level 22

Secondary Class: Right-hand man (Vee Vales), Level 14

Tertiary Class: Dungeon Champion (Oar’s Crest), Level 14

Additional Class: Glaciernaut (Sacha Silverblade), Level 5

Might: 41

Wit: 12

Faith: 28

Adventurousness (Bound – Vee Vales): 8

Endurance: 20

Intimidating Presence: 12

Heart of a Champion: 9 (+1)

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 8

Vigilance: 6

Vanity: 2

Reginald (Unchanged):

Primary Class: Core Spirit (Unknown), Level ???

--~%@(%[email protected] &% (*$ #&#e !i$$ (#$%#$%#[email protected]!)~--, #[email protected]& ????

Secondary Class: Loudmouth (Self), Level 38

Tertiary Class: Majordomo (Vee Vales), Level 15

Additional Class: Announcer (Vee Vales), Level 8

Might: 1

Wit: 33

Faith: 14

Ambition: 27

Greed: 22

Deceptiveness: 27

Manipulativeness: 37

$#&*[email protected]!!

Loyalty: 46

Patience: 8

[#&%%%@%!#@__--#%]

[email protected]#!! @#[email protected][email protected]#

@#[email protected]%%^

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 7