xoverkotm-audo-test Chapter 2, a x-overs fanfic

Chapter 21: The Final Dragon Challenge

Well I better check out the situation. As I enter the last door, immediately my ears are blasted with the roaring of dragons. I am quite familiar with the sound by now. I quickly hide as best I can to figure out just what is going on. First thing I notice is that there is not just 1 dragon in this challenge. Flying what looks to be well thought out an intelligent patrol routes are 4 dragons. 1 water dragon, 1 fire dragon, 1 air dragon, and a green dragon that I can only assume is the earth dragon.

Think Mark think. What to do? First I need to hide myself better then come up with a plan. I quickly scramble under a nearby tree and use earth magic to make a burrow among its roots that I can hide in. Now that my immediate safety is assured I need to analyze the situation. Why are there so many dragons? Wait there were only single dragons on all the other tests. So maybe these are their mates? That seems like a reasonable assumption, but that would mean there is still another earth dragon. Probably guarding the nest. So 5 dragons total.

The message at the beginning said I only needed to defeat a dragon of each element, so I shouldnt need to kill every dragon to pass. However, if I can eliminate every dragon than I should get a ton more experience and possibly more titles for clearing everything. So is there a way to get all the dragons and the experience while minimizing the threat of death to me? I would need to set a trap that could take care of 5 dragons and somehow kill them relatively quickly. It has to be a trap because there is no way I even think about taking one let alone five dragons head on. Hmm, this may take a while, luckily there is no time limit.

After discarding several ideas I realize that my trap is going to have to incorporate damage from all four elements in order to prey upon each different dragon weakness. How can I combine everything? Water against fire and vice versa, an air against earth. Oh I know I can set up a timer or delay on my spells and shells so they all go off at once. However, I will need to lure all 5 dragons into a single area. Oh that should work, lets get started.

I use my earth magic to start my plan. I tunnel around creating a maze until I find the two important things necessary for my plan. First I locate the earth dragon den and confirm that yes there are 5 total dragons and they seem to be guarding the last egg and nest. Second I tunnel around until I find a large underground water source. Mission accomplished, now onto phase two.

The second step in my plan is to hollow out a giant sinkhole in front of the earth dragons lair, but I have to leave enough stone and other bits that it does not collapse yet. Basically I am creating the worlds largest pit fall trap. It needs to hold the weight of the dragons combined until I want it to collapse so I reverse my wall building spell and modify it. Now when the spell is triggered it will take the stone from the roof of the trap and use it to grow spikes along the bottom and sides of the pit.

When the spikes start to grow that will trigger the pit to fill with water from the underground water source I have rerouted to the area. When the water hits a certain depth it will trigger a series of modified fire and lightning shelf I have prepared and stuck to the sides of the pit like claymore mines. This should use all 4 elements in one trap. Earth spikes, lightning for air, fire, and boiling water to drown and help conduct the lighting. This will be on top of the falling, spike, and shockwave damage.

While I may have no time limit to complete the test, by my calculations I have only 10 or 11 days left until the summer solstice and the Great Game changeover. I really need to be back at the Appalachia kingdom by then to protect and calm down the family friends and employees. Sooner started, sooner done.

Three days later I have finally finished setting up the trap. Most of the time was making sure none of the changes underground alerted the dragon above ground. There is no such thing as overkill in this situation. It is me against 5 soon to be very pissed off dragons. I have pumped each magic artillery shell with 2000 points of mana. 10 shells each of Ice, Lava, Earth spikes, and Lightning for a grand total of 80,000 points of magical mana damage occurring in a concentrated area. In addition I will be on the perimeter with my largest caliber sniper rifle to take care of any escapees.

Now for the bait, each evening right around dusk the dragons gather together in front of the lair to talk to each other. I dont actually hear any words, but that is the only thing that makes sense. I am guessing limited telepathy and body language maybe? When they do that I will use a tunnel I made to sneak in and snatch the unguarded egg, run back to the clearing underground and out of sight, and then pop up like a gopher mocking them while holding the egg in my hand. This should infuriate them and cause them to chase and dig to catch me as I duck back down the tunnel. They should refrain from breath weapons to avoid damaging the egg. While they are rushing to where I just was I will be running as fast as my modified body will allow me to another area outside of the pit trap. When I think they have all arrived and started digging I will set the entire trap off. Simple and direct.

Here goes nothing, the dragons land, I rush in and grab the egg, run back outside, pop up yell something stupid while holding up the egg, look surprised to be surrounded by dragons, drop back into hole, run for my freaking life, set off the traps as I run by, clear the blast area, put new dragon egg in inventory for safety, and set up to take care of any problems with the sniper rifle.

The last thing I remember is thinking wow that is a big explosion. I wake up upside down against a tree an indeterminate amount of time later. I am still a firm believer in there is no such thing as overkill, but I have got to do some more research on explosions, how big a blast radius is and such. This hurting myself thing is getting old. I down a health pill and head back to the pit/crater. It seems that I accidently created a massive steam explosion, kind of like a mini Krakatoa. I must of vaporized the dragons or blown the bodies further than I am willing to look for them. I did find part of one earth dragon corpse in what used to be the lair opening mostly crushed. I place it in my inventory along with the others. Game wisdom says that dragon parts are great crafting material.

I reach the door back to the waiting room and enter back into the bland featureless room. I expect to see a notice but nothing happens. Oh wait I still have not hatched the last egg. When I finish hatching and naming the newest young lady of the family, Esmerelda, my long anticipated pop up screen appears. Lets see what I have earned this time.

For completing the entire bloodline test you have been granted the following bloodline, titles and awards. Elemental Dragon King Bloodline +10, Dragon Slayer +3, Evolver +2, Dragon Master +4, Monster Slayer +1 (kill something 25 levels higher than yourself), Titan Slayer +3 (kill something 50 levels higher than yourself), Destroyer +5 (Kill something 100 levels higher than yourself), Level Maniac +2 (earn 25 levels or more in a single dungeon). The number of attribute points will now be doubled each level due to the unique bloodline you now possess including the levels from this dungeon. You will also be able to select 1 unique skill or item from the Great Game store. Your bloodline body modification will now commence.

Body modification, wait the last time that happened it knocked me out with the pain of the Aaargh, make it stop! I wake up sometime later with my new babies licking my face. Aww, were you concerned about daddy? Man I hate body modification. Time to check the changes, I need to know what happened to my body this time. As I explore myself I note a few key things. First I notice that I am now muscular. Not just fit, but actually ripped. This is great, I havent looked this good since, well never.

A NOTE FROM TENQUI

This is the last installment of Arc 1 that was planned. I have a few more chapters already written. They will be coming out on a single chapter Monday, Wednesday, Friday update until I catch up to what I have. After that it will depend on how fast I can write and how real life treats me. The next two to three chapters could realistically be placed at the end of book 1, but I have slotted them as the intro into book 2. Let me know if you think they would be better as part of book 1.

Chapter 22: Heading Home

Ok, what else has changed, I pull out a mirror from my inventory and notice something around my neck. It seems to be a set of scales that look like a necklace that are the alternating colors of the elemental dragons I defeated. Oh and I seem to have two small horns on either side of my head. Wait what? I reach up and feel, yep I definitely have horns, moving on before I complete freak out, I seem to be a bit taller or my clothes shrunk, everything else seems to be the same.

Status:

Name: Mark Anderson

Titles: Survivor +1, 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, 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, Loot King +2

Level: 65 - 22% Unspent Attribute Points: 301

Strength: 101 HP: 1010

Intelligence: 146 +50%MP MP: 4380

Wisdom: 146 +50% MP/Regen HP/Regen: 141% per 15 min.

Agility: 101 MP/Regen: 231% per 15 min.

Constitution: 101 +40% HP/Regen Luck: 116

Affinities: Earth - 100% Fire 100%

Water 100% Air 100%

Wow that is a lot. Compared to my starting point it is insane. The double stat points from the Elemental Dragon King Bloodline alone is crazy. I mean I know I jumped 30 levels, but 300 stat points? My MP Regen is absurd and will only get better, and my HP regen is probably on par with frontline warriors of my level instead of a magic user due to all my title bonuses. Lets distribute some points to each stat but try and keep Intelligence an Wisdom about double.

For being the first to raise all stats past 100 you are awarded the title No Limits +5 an all normal attribute and level locks are removed. For being the first organism to reach an Infinite lifespan after removing level locks you are granted the title Undying +5, for having 2 or more attributes above the 200 point threshold you are granted the title Transcendent +5.

Stats:

Name: Mark Anderson

Titles: Survivor +1, 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, Loot King +2, Army of One +1, Scourge of the Undead +1,

Think Outside the Box +1, Beast Tamer +1, 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, No Limits +5, Undying +5, Transcendent +5

Level: 65 - 22% Unspent Attribute Points: 0

Strength: 150 HP: 1500

Intelligence: 250 +100%MP MP: 10,000

Wisdom: 250 +100% MP/Regen HP/Regen: 240% per 15 min.

Agility: 150 MP/Regen: 500% per 15 min.

Constitution: 150 +60% HP/Regen Luck: 150

Affinities: Earth - 100% Fire 100%

Water 100% Air 100%

Dear Lord I just became even more OP. The extra stats are always welcome, but probably not even necessary at this point. What intrigues me the most is the removal of attribute and level locks. I did not even know there were locks. I more than doubled my mana pool and my insane MP regen rate means I can refill my entire 10,000 point mana pool every 3 minutes. Lets see a little math shows me how utterly crazy this is. That means the dragon egg that took me 6-10 hours to hatch before, with breaks can now be done in under 20 minutes. Man I have to get home and think things through. Am I really that powerful or do I just seem that way next to newbies. I mean everybody can start leveling next week. What if I just seem powerful because I have nothing to compare myself too.

Thankfully nothing else occurred as I traveled back to my kingdom. I am both physically and mentally drained. Checking in with everyone will have to wait until tomorrow. Tonight I just have to relax and let my mind and body process everything that has happened. I hope morning brings some clarity to my situation.

As I wake up in the morning I feel refreshed. I check my status and titles and realize that I have over 425 extra attribute points from all of the titles I have earned. That is about 85 normal levels of growth. Add in the double points from my new bloodline and I am about 115 levels of attribute points above what a normal level 65 person should have. I know that this is a lot, but how much more is hard to determine. Anyone can get a bloodline, but I do not know how powerful each one is. However if they band together at low levels then they would have more levels of extra stat growth. Hmm, I will have to remember that strategy now that I know where a bloodline dungeon is. My titles in reality should be spread out across the world, but I had an unfair advantage and earned several titles that others probably should have gotten. Not that I am complaining, however I do not think that others will have my advantages. The repeatable titles will help everyone out, so in conclusion it seems that everyone can get boosts to make them stronger. I just happen to have gotten a few more, and have gotten the boost a LOT earlier than most.

Now I just have to keep my little slice of the world running smoothly and safely. That is easier said than done. After checking in this morning I found out both good and bad news. The good news is that over 90% of the people I invited to the opening of the Appalachia Kingdom resort have sent in their R.S.V.P. This means that I should start out with a very diverse population and my family and friends should be better protected. My land acquisition team has even managed to buy up large tracts of land in Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, and even more land in North Carolina. Plotted out on a map it looks like I should be able to claim, convert, and connect them all through the various National Parks, monuments, and wildernesses.

During the first month my group should be one of the few that have operable vehicles and weapons that can combat the new wave of creatures and monsters. This should allow them to be in charge of defense of my area and allow me to enough time to travel and expand my kingdom. The larger the area claimed the more bonuses and power. The more bonuses and power, the stronger my group becomes. The stronger we are the safer the area is. It is a cycle that can help keep us safe until we hit a size where expansion is no longer feasible either due to the distance being too far to protect or the bonuses diminishing in value compared to the effort of claiming the land.

The bad news is that I was in the bloodline dungeon longer than I thought. I only have 3 days plus a few hours left to prep everything I can. I have to craft weapons, have a system of laws and rules in place, and have a list of people to put in charge. I probably should have a backup list in case they refuse. I will not force anyone to join my little operation. I think the relative stability of my area will draw new immigrants quickly.

I should probably set up an immigration office also. So much to do and so little time to accomplish it all. To help convince people and cut down on panic I have decided to have a grand display of magic right after the changeover. I am going to lay a grand formation, similar to what I did at Hidden Valley Village, but on a much larger scale. My mana and magic now are on a whole different level so this should be relatively easy to accomplish. I will raise a massive wall around my primary piece of property with the castle as the focal point. This should impress people and help with defense also.

Lets see it will probably take about one and a half days for the formation to be set up, one day for crafting weapons and supplies, the rest of the time to be spent on miscellaneous things like laws and greeting people. That should be good. Sooner started, sooner done. Now barring any emergencies we should have a smooth transition. Awww man, I just jinxed myself didnt I? Oh well nothing to do now but wait for the changeover.

END OF BOOK 1

A NOTE FROM TENQUI

This is the start of Arc 2 for me. Release will now be one chapter each on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This will continue until Chapter 30 at least. After that we will see.

Chapter 23: Royalty of the Kingdom

Just three days until the whole world changes, and I have a to do list 3 miles long. I need to prioritize and figure out what HAS to be done, what Needs to be done, and what I Want to be done. OK, think Mark, what has to be done before the change over.

Priority number one I think has to be setting up my kingdoms laws and appointments. I do not want anyone to exploit the situation or people in the chaos that occurs after the change over. Everything else I can deal with as it come along, but if I do not have the basics in place many bad things could happen.

Lets keep the laws as simple as possible I can always add to them later if needed. OK first a simple list of what is not allowed.

Slavery

Stealing

Murder

Actions that would harm the crown or country

Excessive violence against others

Those will be Appalachia Kingdoms 5 major laws. Everything else I can think of falls under those categories. For example, if a dishonest merchant starts to fix prices, that would fall under stealing. A bar fight if you pay damages, no big deal, if you cant or if there is permanent damage than it would fall under both stealing and excessive violence.

Minor infractions will be dealt with by fines or imprisonment and work gangs not to exceed 1 week to pay for damages. Medium infractions will be dealt with by fines, forfeiture of property, and indentured servitude no less than 1 month, but not to exceed 1 year. Large infractions that do not deal with death or slavery, will be fines, property seizure, and prison or indentured servitude no less than 1 year and not to exceed 20 years.

Indentured servitude will be enforced magically and will include hard labor of the crowns discretion. Slavery and pre-meditated murder without reason will be the death penalty. The more categories you violate with a crime the more severe the punishment. For instance, sexual assault includes stealing and excessive violence and would be a more severe crime than just theft.

Anyone has the right to appeal twice. The first appeal is to the council that will handle the day to day running of the kingdom. The second appeal will involve my decision. For each appeal lost the punishment is doubled. If I levy a punishment, there is no appeal.

Lets see taxes set at 5% just like in Hidden Valley Village. There will be five levels of landed nobility and one level without lands. Nobility will be granted by merits done for the kingdom and will only be awarded by the king for the top 3 levels. The council can bestow the lower 2 levels and recommend people for the higher levels of nobility.

The Nobility Levels will be:

King (Me)

Prince/Princess

Duke/Duchess

Count/Countess

Baron/Baroness

Knight

Landed Nobility is responsible for general defense and enforcement of laws in their granted territory. They can collect a tax of 5% on top of the kingdoms tax to help pay for infrastructure and defense in their assigned area. Each level of nobility will be granted a portion of the kingdoms funds each year to help develop and defend their area.

There will be 6 great princes/princesses, 18 Dukes/Duchesses, and 36 Counts/Countesses. The council has the right to appoint 100 Barons/Baronesses and the crown reserves the right to appoint 50 more. There will be no limit on appointments to knighthood which comes with a small monetary reward but no lands.

Nobility is not inherited except under special circumstances. Each noble will designate 4 heirs of which only 2 may be related. The crown will select from among the heirs based on their merits towards the kingdom. This should hopefully keep everyone working for the common good and not just trying to pass it onto their kids who might not be worthy. Any noble with more than 1 medium infraction in a 5 year period will be stripped of their nobility. Nobility is a privilege not a right.

The council will consist of 7 positions with power equal to Dukes/Duchesses. There will be a Minister of Education, a Minister of Defense, a Minister of Law, a Minister of Trade and Transportation, a Minister of Magic, a Minister of Health and Wellness, and finally a Minister of Dungeons.

I think that this is as well as I can plan without knowing if there are going to be rules or other surprises placed on me by the Great Game. I will have some posters made up of the laws and everything and have them ready for after the change over.

A NOTE FROM TENQUI

Short chapter but I felt it should be seperate.

Chapter 24: The World Changes

I spend the next couple of days setting up my grand display of magic and feeding/playing with my new dragons. Soon enough the day of the solstice arrives. I let everyone know that there will be a big buffet and meeting tonight in the main courtyard, followed by an announcement and then a big surprise. Everyone seems to be looking forward to it.

I am having lunch with my family when suddenly I hear chimes and see a blue screen.

Attention citizens of Earth. Your planet has been selected to join the Great Game. Everyone over the age of 12 will be sent into a tutorial for 1 week except for beta testers and others who have successfully completed their trials. You may select a difficulty level for your trial before you leave. Rewards will be assessed and delivered based upon your completion and level selected at the end of the tutorial.

Level 1 80% survival rate

Level 2 60% survival rate

Level 3 40% survival rate

Level 4 20% survival rate

Level 5 1% survival rate

Those that do not choose will automatically be placed in level 5 difficulty. Please note that these are estimates and may not actually be reflective of survival rates in the tutorial. All children under the age of 12 will be put in stasis until after the tutorial. If no parent or close relative survives than the children will be transported to the nearest concentration of adults that did survive. You have 10 minutes until you are transported, remember to have fun.

Oh crap, this is happening faster than I expected. I quickly tell my family to run to the courtyard and that I will explain everything soon. I run at full speed to the intercom system of the resort.

Everyone that can hear this please assemble in the courtyard immediately. This is not a joke and the clock is ticking.

I run down to the courtyard and see that it is slowly filling up. I have to start now even though everyone has not arrived.

Listen up the blue screen and voice you saw and heard was not a joke. Neither is the difficulty. As far as I know I am the only survivor of the beta test.

I create a giant fireball above my head and shoot it into the sky. This should help them focus and get them to believe in the severity of the situation.

When the timer is up you must select your difficulty level. If you have family, I recommend level 1. Being alive is more important to your family than being powerful. I will help everyone who makes it back from the tutorial.

I start to empty my inventory of all of the weapons and stored food and water I have. It starts piling up very quickly.

Grab something to take with you it might help. Remember that staying safe is more important than power at this time. You are all my friends and family so if something does happen know that I will do my best to take care of your loved ones.

I smile and walk towards my immediate family. I start to hand out some weapons that I held back from the pile. I encourage them all to try their best and tell them I will see them in a week. I need to keep a positive and upbeat attitude in front of everyone.

Teleportation will begin in 60 seconds, please select your difficulty level now.

I quickly give my daughter a hug and kiss and tell her to be smart and be careful.

I will see you in a week sweet pea.

As people vanished all around me I finally gave in to my tears. I knew that this was the last time I would see many of them. The Great Game does not play around. How many survived and would be back in a week only time would tell. I need to pull myself together. I now have 1 week where I will be the only person on Earth and I had things I needed to do.

Wait I wasnt the only one left. The entire population of Hidden Valley Village was already part of the Great Game so they should still be here. I will need to visit them soon and see if they need anything. First thing I want to do is check on my ability to claim more land. I walk outside the castle and open up my kingdom screen.

A NOTE FROM TENQUI

Shorter but necessary chapter.

Chapter 25: The Kingdom Grows Quickly

As I flip through the screens, something I have been contemplating finally comes forward in my brain. If what I am thinking is true than starting my kingdom is going to be a lot easier and a lot quicker than I originally planned for. In fact, it might even be a loophole that the Great Game did not plan for. Oh, this could be fantastic. I reach the screen in my kingdom status and select claim new land.

As the ruler of Appalachia Kingdom you may claim 1 acre of land per unit of mana spent. You can designate borders for your kingdom and have mana drawn out automatically to claim all unclaimed land in that area. If the amount of claimed land exceeds 150% of another persons claimed area you may choose to annex the already claimed land. The owner has 48 hours to accept the annexation or declare war. If war is not declared annexation happens automatically. How much mana would you like to use?

This is fantastic. I hoped that there would be some sort of system in place so people just cant take over everything. However, I found a loophole. I am the only person who can claim land for the next week. No one is left to protest or declare war. I can make my kingdom as large as I want. With my huge mana pool and ridiculous recharge rate I wonder how big it can get?

I go and get a map of the United States. Alright Mark, dont be a pansy, go big or go home as they say. I mark out a territory that follows the Mississippi river in the Gulf of Mexico all the way up to the Ohio river. Follow that east until you get to the town of Huntington on the borders of Kentucky, West Virginia, and Ohio. Then continue heading East by South East to the tip of the Chesapeake Bay and claim Norfolk. Thats a little more than 8 states worth of territory. Lets see how long that takes to claim. If I have more time before the end of the week finishes, I may try for the entire Eastern Seaboard.

I instruct the Great Game system to draw 10,000 mana over a period of 3 minutes and 5 seconds. This will leave me with a few hundred mana for emergencies. I want to see how much territory I can actually claim. It should be 45 million to 50 million acres every 24 hours. That is such a big number that I cannot actually conceptualize it. I am not sure how much space that actually is in real life. I will have to check it after 24 hours and see.

I start cleaning up the castle. The sudden departure of everyone for the trial has caused there to be quite a mess left behind. Wait a second I have vassals in Hidden Valley Village, why am I doing all this work. I was going to check up on them anyway, I might as well head over and see if any of them are willing to help out for a few coins.

I decided to jog over to Hidden Valley Village for two main reasons. 1st is the fact that after several sedentary years of life I can actually run the 5 miles to Hidden Valley Village and 2nd is that running used to help clear my mind and let me think. As I jog towards the village various ideas start rolling through my head. I suddenly feel a sharp pain in my neck. Dang wasps, I reached up and felt something actually sticking out of my neck. I yanked it out and stared at the small arrow.

How did, who is even left, why? No time for questions, react, adapt, and counter attack. I dive behind a tree on the side of the road just as several other arrows start to move in my direction. I manage to crash gracefully behind cover as only a king can and quickly assess the situation.

A NOTE FROM TENQUI

Sorry about the mini cliff hanger

Chapter

Fiction

Index

Chapter

RSS

A NOTE FROM TENQUI

Hello everyone, sorry for the long silence. I have stacked a few chapters up in the draft release so the schedule will not change. However, due to real life responsibilities I have not been able to check on the comments and suggestions as much as I would like. I will read everyones comments and reviews, it just may take some time. Please continue to leave constructive feedback, as it helps me improve. I will make changes as I can.

To address some comments and concerns that have cropped up. For those that think this was written as a political story that was not my intention. I am trying to show how someone with limited experience, ideas, and time might react in certain situations. I understand that there are various forms of government (such as democracy) that better represent the will of the people. However, the MC is trying to prepare for a drastically different world. He is trying to have something in place that most people will recognize even if they do not agree with it for leadership. The luxury of communication, travel, and representation is not known to the MC at this time and he WILL make mistakes, have to correct them, excetera. Hind sight it 20/20 as they say. It is easy to say something is better, but realistically in a pressured situation how many of us could make grand sweeping decisions that affect the lives of thousands if not millions of people without good information and not make mistakes. That is enough for now. Remember please it is just a story, try and enjoy reading it as I am very much enjoying writing it.

Chapter 26: Oh Right Monsters Exist Now

Someone or something is trying to kill me. I quickly pull up my status screen. Only 5 hit points are gone, I can heal that in less than a minute. So they are not very powerful whatever they are, but there is more than one. I still need to be careful. Quantity has a quality all of its own.

I pull my shotgun out and sling it against my chest. Next up comes a medium shield for my left arm and of course my war hammer, The Persuader, for my right. I quickly look out from behind the tree I am hiding behind and note that 5 greenish brown, ugly, short people are running towards my hiding place while yelling and waving about sharp implements. Goblins?

I ready myself and jump out and launch a quick 50 mana fireball towards the middle of the running pack of creatures and countercharge. My countercharge is useless. When the fireball hit it exploded and threw all five of the creatures flying like ragdolls. I veer over to the closest burn victim ready to finish it off and realize that, yep I really am OP and that just killed all of them.

I quickly use identify on one of the corpses.

Forest Goblinoid Lvl 5

Huh, it really is a goblin. This is my first experience with monster mobs outside of a dungeon. They look different than the goblins Ive killed in the dungeons. I guess its an adaptation for the forest because of the creatures designation as a forest goblinoid.

I quickly give them a cursory search, weapons I dont want and a couple of coppers I throw into my inventory. I need to hurry to the village. Man am I glad that I gifted them with a defensive wall when I settled them in. It hasnt even been 4 hours since the change over and I already ran into dangerous creatures in the new world.

As I continued to hurry towards the village, one horror scene after another played through my mind. The village would be in flames, the village would be besieged by a horde of orcs and goblins, or the village would be mysteriously empty of life with only blood stains left behind. I finally rounded the last corner before I could see the village in the distance. Nothing seemed to be wrong. Oh no, that probably means that something has already wiped them out.

Wait a second, those are guards on the wall. Human ones. As I get closer I realize that nothing at all seems to be wrong. It was just my overactive imagination causing problems. In fact, the village is looking much better than it did the last time I visited. It looks like Edward and the villagers have been busy.

The guards see me running towards the wall and wave at me like nothing has changed. I call out to them and ask where I can find Edward. They say he should be at home. I slow down and try to look more like a king as I enter the gates to Hidden Valley Village. I thought I knew everyone in the village, but one of those guards I did not recognize, strange. As I enter the village the kids all swarm around me. I have visited the village a couple of times since I liberated them from the dungeon. I always try and keep some hard candies like Jolly Ranchers or Lollies to hand out when I do visit.

A NOTE FROM TENQUI

Almost forgot. I realize that some of the weapons and sizes are unrealistic. Unless I can figure out a good overall fix, just think magic and move along. The actual reality of whether a magical ficticious weapon will work is fun to talk about, but hopefully will not cause arguements or disbelief.

Chapter

Fiction

Index

Chapter

RSS

A NOTE FROM TENQUI

Two releases today becaue they are so short.

Chapter 27: I find Out I Am Not as Smart As I Think I Am

I give the oldest child two bags of lollipops form my inventory and declare that she is now in charge of sweets disbursement. She smiles at me and starts to have the kids line up to get their suckers. You know when Im not teaching them or responsible for them kids can be kind of cute. What did I just say? Stop it Mark, they are using their secret powers on you. Resist! Think of all the horrible things students have done to you over the years. Ahhh, thats better.

After I recover from my mini existential crisis I head over to Edwards house. I see him sitting on the porch and give him a little wave. He quickly stands up and bows.

What can I do for you today my king?

Well good morning Edward, first off did you see the Great Game notice earlier?

Yes my king, we even had 3 youngsters that were transported off for their trials.

You did? I wonder why they had to go?

It is simple my lord, they had not yet reached level 3 in the Great Game yet despite being of age.

With some more discussion and questioning I found out that when children gain their inventory at age 8 they can start earning exp. It is not much but usually by the time they reach the age of 12 it is enough to level them to at least level 3 which keep them from being transported. Those that do not reach level 3 are always transported on the solstices and are given a chance to gain experience to catch up. No one wants their child to be transported due to the high fatality rate. However, due to different circumstances there are children occasionally who do not reach that level. Usually these are the kids that slack off or have had some tragedy in their life that disrupts their learning time or ability.

Edward, the original reason I came out here was to both check on Hidden Valley Village and to see if there was anyone who would like to make a few coins helping me clean the castle until next week while everyone is gone, but I did run into some Forest Goblinoids on my way over here, so is everything alright?

Yes my king everything is fine. The new guards we hired from the Great Game are doing a wonderful job. While I know that many villagers would be delighted to help you out my lord, why dont you just hire some maids from the Great Game?

What do you mean? How can I hire them from the Great Game? I am confused.

Edward game me a strange look and then started to educate me. It turns out that you can post jobs and hire people at the Great Game store. That guard I did not recognize was not a villager I forgot, but one of a new set of guards hired by Edward through the Great Game. Because I set taxes much lower than the village had in the past they could now afford the salary of some dedicated guards to protect them. He explained that these guards were on a 1 year probationary contract and if they did well they would be hired permanently and be given settlement rights in the village.

Chapter 28: My first Minister

The more I listened and learned from Edward, the more flabbergasted I got. This would change almost everything. With my resources I could have a robust infrastructure set up before everyone came back from the 1 week trial. At the very least I could have them help out once people returned and provide a higher quality of living a lot sooner. This could save thousands of lives.

I finally stopped him around dinner time and told him we should get something to eat. I asked him if he could gather everyone after dinner in the town square for a brief announcement. He shrugged and said that would be no problem and started off to pass the news around that there would be a meeting in about an hour. As he walked off, I took a quick look at the menus he mentioned to make sure I could find them and I understood how to use them. It seems that the penalties of the contracts if you violate them are enforced by the Great Game. This means that there should be very little chance of betrayal or mistakes if you word your contract correctly.

After dinner I went out to the town square and addressed the village.

As your king I have a couple of things to announce. First here is a basic list of laws and rules for the kingdom. I pulled several prepared posters out of my inventory. Make sure that everyone knows them. Ignorance is not an acceptable excuse for doing bad things. Next Edward is now appointed as the Kingdoms Minister of Education. I have realized that he knows more about the Great Game than I do. I may know a lot about this planet and people, but I need good advice on the Great Game and the changes it brings. This makes Edward part of the new nobility and I shall gift him with 10,000 gold coins now and lands to be decided upon later. However, I guarantee that Hidden Valley Village will be part of his holdings.

The look on Edwards face was priceless. I continued on and let everyone know that there would be a ceremony in 1 months time to induct all new nobility and ministers and that I would assign the rest of Edwards land at that time. After many well wishes from the villagers and thanks from Edward I let them know that I have to get back to the castle before dark. My return travel time to the castle was much slower as I was much more careful and on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. However, the return journey was uneventful.

The first thing I did when I got back was to lock the place up tight. I realized now that until I had guards and people of my own I needed to be extra careful. Especially at night when I was alone and sleeping. I have so much to do now that Edward has taught me about the job hiring system of the Great Game. First up will be a review of the job boards and some quick staffing hires. If I can fill all my needs without posting my own notice it would speed things up.

After going through several available notices I realized two things. First the wording and contracts were quite ambiguous on the Job Board. If I wanted to feel safe about who I hired I am going to have to create my own contract and conditions. Second was that I felt that most positions were woefully underpaid. For example, I could hire a palace maid for 25 silver a month plus room and board. That is equivalent to around $400 per month with room and board. Maybe it was the American in me but that seemed much to low.

I think that if I offer 3 to 4 times the going rate, even if I make really detailed job contracts I should have plenty of qualified job seekers applying. However, it will slow things down. I am going to have to post everything I need tonight on the job board and hopefully start interviewing and/or checking responses tomorrow. I am not quite sure how the Great Game handles that part. As I continued my explorations through the hiring system I started to realize that I had much much bigger problems.

I am going to need fully stocked and staffed safe areas for people to arrive back at. If I dont they could be transported straight into danger on their return or to a place with little or no food due to the now limited transportation. The good news is that anything I can think of like basic housing, storehouses, walls, a city guard, shops, etc. can either be built by hand or ordered through the Great Game system. It is many times more expensive to order than have people build something, but the upside is that it is instantaneous.

I have a huge surplus of funds currently and this seems like the perfect way to use them. I also have a fantastic idea on how to generate some new funds. In fact if my new plan works out I could actually make more money than I spend which would be great.

Chapter 29: Want Ad

Now that I am secure in my locked room in the castle lets take a more in depth look at this job hire section of the Great Game store. It looks kind of like a job board. I can either put up my requirements or look at resumes of people. The applicants can be from any Great Game world and seem to be bound by magic to their contracts. I need to be careful on who I hire. The contract needs to have severe enough penalties and good enough rewards that I will be able to hire the best. I am not lacking in resources currently and my new plan should make me and my kingdom insanely wealthy.

I remember that the Great Game said that existing currency could be exchanged for Great Game currency at a reduced rate until the Winter Solstice. After that it becomes worthless. Electronic wealth is useless because all electronics are now no longer accessible. However, hard currency is still available through banks, vaults, and store registers. All of the precious metals and gems in the jewelry shops has no current own either. I should be able to hire groups of mercenaries that are high enough level to stomp through everything in this week where everyone is gone and the monsters are still low enough level.

They will be my resource gathering group. I will offer them a flat fee and a percentage of what they recover with severe penalties if they try and steal. The Great Game will enforce the contract so there should be no shenanigans. First though I should start with guards and hired help for my castle and home base. I think that I will create my own postings for everything so I can control the circumstances, penalties and terms of service.

Wanted: Long Term Palace Guards 100 250 people

Minimum Level 20, Mixed Genders, Races, and Bloodlines Welcome

Minimum Length of Contract 5 years with resettlement rights granted at the end of the initial contract.

Contract will be extended in five year increments until 20 years or until one party declines renewal.

Contracted guards must have rank and support mechanisms in place.

Contractor will provide room, board, salary and bonuses dependent on negotiations.

Family units and followers are acceptable but shall be taken care of by contractees.

Contracted Palace guards must submit to initial oaths of loyalty and secrecy enforceable by the Great Game.

Contracted Guards must submit to truth magic semi-annually to test for loyalty.

Reasonable outfitting and replacement of equipment will be provided by the contractor.

Those with vendettas or attitudes against specific Races or Bloodlines need not apply.

This will be my basic post that I will modify as needed for other positions. I think I will post one for 25 palace maids, 15 groundskeepers, 10 cooks, and 10 general help.

I think that each Resource Ranger Team who will go out and retrieve cash and jewels will be 1 week contracts with a flat rate of 100 gold per person + 10% of the value of the currency brought back after it has been exchanged into Great Game currency. 25 people per team should be able to move quickly yet have enough people to deal with any situation that might occur. 10 teams and hire for speed as well as level.

As my territory grows I will have to designate areas for people to meet and live while providing them basic supplies to start out with. I think that any city over 500,000 in population before the Great Game change over will be designated as a HUB CITY. Any city above 100,000 but below 500,000 will be designated a Satellite City. Finally, any city over 10,000 but less than 100,000 in population will be designated as a Town. Anything smaller than that is just a village.

Each Hub City will start with basic housing for 250,000 people, granaries with enough food for a month, shops, walls, 1,000 to 1,500 guard force to start with, and a castle for the eventual sub ruler of the area. Each of my satellite cities in the kingdom are going to get basic housing for 100,000 people, granaries with enough food for a month, shops, and walls with a guard force of 500-1,000. Every town gets basic housing for 10,000, granaries with food for a month, shops, walls, and a guard force of 100-250 to start with.

With a little math I get a figure of 10 million gold pieces per Hub City, around 4 million gold pieces per satellite city and close to 1 million gold pieces per town. This is just basic services. I saw an option for a teleportation network that started at 25 million gold with 5 destinations with a discounted price of 3 million more gold pieces per destination after the start up that I need. Without communication and transportation my kingdom will collapse in no time flat.

I can purchase academies, upgrades, prebuilt adventure guilds, etc. The only limiting factor is money. I want to have a fully functioning kingdom set up to help ease the transition for as many people as I can by the end of the week when they return. I have a feeling that the numbers returning will not be as high as what the Great Game suggested. Our society has become out of touch with basic survival skills. That is not a bad thing in normal society, but in this situation can turn deadly. I think we will be lucky to have a 50% survival rate of all tutorial people. Many probably overestimated themselves and selected harder levels. Many might not be able to survive a day let alone a week, and I hate to even imagine what will happen to those with medical problems or that are already at an advanced age.

The more I think about how much the Great Game is literally killing a significant portion of the population that our ethics and society have decided to help stay alive the angrier I get. Why is it fair that younger healthier people have a better chance at survival. We need people like Stephen Hawking and others to help us figure things out in the changed world. However, reality dictates that under the limitations that the Great Game set forth the chance of them surviving is almost nil.

I need to stop this negative spiral of thoughts. I cant dwell on the individuals. I need to do what I can to look at the big picture. If I do not have a good system of support in place when people return I expect another 50% of survivors would die off in another month. We are so dependent on transportation and electricity for food and other basic items we need to survive that even when people return we could have wide spread famine and disease, along with monster attacks.

I have to get things as prepared as I can.

A NOTE FROM TENQUI

I am in the middle of purchasing a home. Yay Real Life Responsibilities! This means that I am going to have to slow down for a bit. I will try for twice a week releases on Mondays and Fridays and see how that works out. If that still overwhelms me it might go down to only one chapter a week, but I hope not.

Chapter

Fiction

Index

Chapter

RSS

A NOTE FROM TENQUI

I realize these last few chapters, and most of the upcoming ones are a little rough. This is me posting with very little editing on my part. I want to keep to my release schedule so polishing of chapters and editing will be during upcoming holidays or any other extended time that I have. I am sorry if this lowers the quality a bit, but I feel it is more important to get the story and main ideas out to the readers than to try and get a mostly perfect product out.

Once again any suggestions (helpful) and catches of mistakes are welcome and appreciated. Believe it or not I read every comment, I just may not be able to fix what you caught right away.

Chapter 30: Money Troubles

Alright, I have posted all my want ads and will start interviewing or something tomorrow morning. I still dont know how that will work. However, I have consulted my road maps and have decided that I am going to have to have more Hub Cities than I first thought. The satellite city list is also growing. I need more money fast. I have not even started on my town list and I already need close to 200 million gold pieces just for basic set ups. If I include towns and teleportation networks the cost becomes staggering. I mean I have not even added basic sewers to the package, which would inflate each city price by at least 500,000 to 1 million gold pieces.

It looks like I will need a minimum of 500 million gold pieces to set up just the basics or close to 1 billion gold pieces to do it right. I only have around the equivalent of 200 million gold pieces in all denominations and gems right now. I thought that would be plenty. I can either scale back my plans and leave thousands upon thousands of people to die, or I can get more cash quick.

I may have been optimistic on my new plan to get wealth. The Great Game after fees and transferring requires about 2,000 U.S. dollars per gold piece. This means I need to collect 100 Billion dollars in U.S. currency or its equivalent in precious metals and gems in less than a week just to reach the basic level. I will need to double that amount to do it right and triple it to have some sort of treasury for emergencies. Most small town banks only keep between $10,000 and $20,000 dollars on hand. ATMs can have $3,000 dollars. The average mall size jewelry store has between $200,000 and 1 million dollars worth of inventory. Major retailers have between $10,000 and $20,000 cash in the store.

So I need to rob, I mean liberate either 7 million ATMs, 2.5 million small town banks or stores, or 100,000 Jewelry Stores. That number is ridiculous. I do not know if there is even that much available. I did not get everything from the mints, or the bullion depositories so that should help out tremendously. The diamond exchange in New York and Philadelphia are supposed to have over 1 billion in jewels at any time. My main problem is time. If I had a year, I could dig out money from mines and everywhere else. But I will be down to five and days after interviews.

My resource teams are going to have to be able to fly or teleport or something. I will have to advertise for transportation service short contracts now as well. Well there is nothing else I can do except loot everything I can locally while I wait to start interviewing and sending out the resource teams. I will travel to Asheville NC and see how much I can get by myself tonight if I work through the night. That should give me an estimate of how much each team should be able to find in similar sized towns.

After 2 hours of traveling I arrive at my first bank in Asheville. I hit every bank in the small towns on the way and a couple of big box stores, supermarkets, and jewelry stores. Already I have realized a couple of problems I am going to run into. First how are people from other areas of the Great Game going to even recognize or know what buildings to go into. Next even if I teach them where to go they are sure to miss quite a bit. This means the efficiency by my teams are going to be very low. In just over 2 hours of smash and grab through smaller towns I was able to accumulate around 1 million dollars in inventory which translated into 500 gold pieces. This means each team should accumulate around 3,000 gold pieces in scavenging each day if they can scavenge for 12 hours. While this sounds impressive it means I would need 34,000 scavenging teams in order to hit my goal in time. Thats not going to happen.

I hope that a larger town will increase the efficiency of the looting. I already noticed that I need to set priorities. Jewelry stores first, banks second, and finally large stores. This will maximize what I can get. I need to keep brainstorming. There has to be a way to at least get close to my goal. The more safety spots I create the greater the survival rate. I feel like I am missing some large piece of the puzzle. I hope whatever it is occurs to me soon.

As I work my way through Asheville I realize how the change over has influenced my thinking and priorities. I am the greatest thief of all time, no one will probably care, or at least they will think that it is a good thing because it could save lives. My morals seem more flexible. As long as the ends justify the means, and the greater good is served, I do not seem to have a problem with many activities that I would never have tried before. Maybe I could implement a reimbursement plan for locals who can prove their ownership of anything I liberate.

This is starting to get monotonous. Travel down road, look for stores, break into the stores safe, have money converted. I have been doing this for hours. Asheville has only a population of 80,000 but it is taking forever. If only there was a way to just teleport where I wanted to go. Wait, teleport, I was thinking about that earlier. What if my resource teams can teleport? I know that teleportation is a thing in the Great Game, I saw it as an option to add teleport stations to my cities I am going to build.

I wonder if there is a way for me to learn teleportation quickly? Does it have to be to another portal? I need to stop and process this. I will finish up the next bank and check the Great Game. I quickly run towards the Bank of America sign down the road. I quickly perform what has become routine. I use the Warhammer to crack the teller drawers and just walk into the safe. Most of the safes in the banks have been left open because no one cared enough to close them before teleporting away. It has definitely made collecting the money easier. I have also randomly been opening up a few safety deposit boxes. I have not found much and to open them all in every bank would take forever, but it is kind of fun and lightens the monotony of what I am doing.

I stack a couple of desks in front of the vault and sit down inside for a quick review of the Great Game store and help system. Help on.

Help can anyone operate a teleportation portal or does it require specific magic knowledge?

To use a teleport portal an organism only needs to transfer mana and think of the destination portal.

Help, Is there a common method of teleportation without portal networks?

Yes.

OK, bad question.

Help, what is the most common method of teleportation used without portals?

Scrolls of teleportation

I quickly search through the Great Game store. Yep, there they are. The description reads:

Scroll of Teleportation: Comes in 100 mile (50 gold), 500 mile (250 gold), 1,000 mile (500 gold) and 10,000 mile (1,000 gold) versions. User must have a clear vision of destination for the magic to work. Discounts for bulk purchases.

This seems like it is definitely a luxury item. I have more than enough gold to purchase what I need, but I need to make sure that the payoff is more than the expenditure. That shouldnt be too difficult. Even with what I took out of the mints, bullion depositories and mines from my earlier wealth redistribution trip there should be more than enough left to justify the expense of teleporting to those sites again to clean out the rest. I can even add a few more that were too high profile before. No one will ever know unless I tell them.

I will still send out the scavenging teams, but I will have to hope that I can make some large scores quickly in order to come close to my goal. I first check on the bulk discount before buying. 25 scrolls at a time gets you 10% off. So if I buy a bundle of 1,000 mile scrolls and a bundle of 10,000 mile scrolls it will save me several thousand gold. I have several places I need to scavenge both inside the United States and around the world. This should be perfect. I can hit the U.S. sites today, interview or hire tomorrow morning, and start a world-wide blitzkrieg of areas that afternoon with a goal of returning and buying everything I need on the last day before the arrival of the tutorial people.

I wonder if I can travel to a place I have never been if I have a good enough picture? I need to try that out first. It would really expand my search area. I quickly purchase a bulk set of 500 mile, 1,000 mile and 10,000 mile teleport scrolls. I then head to the local college to use the library. This would be a lot easier if the internet was still working. However, without it I will have to do some old school analog research about new gold deposits, gem areas, and hope that there are pictures and that I can teleport with them.

I stop by the student store on the way to the Appalachian State University library and grab a couple of postcards of areas I have not been to for the picture experiment. Here we go, sliding rock and triple falls are well within the 500 mile teleport range. I have heard of them both but have not had the time to go and see them in person. I study the picture of sliding rock first. I concentrate as hard as I can on that picture while I rip the teleport scroll to activate the teleportation magic. I feel the uncomfortable pull of teleportation, it is working! I have arrived at sliding rock. I need to double check this just to be safe. Next I study and concentrate on the triple falls post card. It worked again.

This means if I can find the pictures of where I need to go I can just teleport straight there saving a ton of time and be able to travel to more locations in the short amount of time I have. Last experiment, I concentrate on Disneyland in California and tear a 500 mile scroll. Nothing. Well I may have ruined a scroll, but at least I know that there is no backlash for trying to use a scroll to travel farther than its range. Come to think of it, that was pretty dumb. I am the only one here, what would I have done if there was a backlash?

A NOTE FROM TENQUI

Sorry for the mix up on releases.

Chapter 31: Making Hard Decisions

I use one last 500 mile scroll to return to the University Campus library. Time for some quick research and yes I guess theft of some picture and travel books. I also grab a couple of world atlases and other maps to help plan my Great Game cities plan.

After working on it all night I have had to make some hard decisions. I am going to try for 18 Hub cities, and 24 Satellite cities only. Nothing smaller will be built to start with. The grand total for these basic set ups will be 300 million gold pieces. With what I already have this should be a realistic amount to scavenge before the end of the week.

I need 67 million gold pieces to set up the hub cities teleport network and another 72 million gold pieces to add in the satellite cities to the teleport network. It will be around 21 million gold pieces for a Great Game sewer system for all of the cities. I also realized that I will need an additional 10 million gold pieces worth of supplies in order to hold the population over until the first harvest. Prepared fields and seeds with equipment would be another 42 million gold pieces.

So to set up everything right the first time I am looking at an initial outlay of 492 million gold pieces. Thank god that is only a one time expense. However, I have to keep enough in reserve to pay the hired help from the Great Game so I still come back to the 500 million gold pieces figure I originally had.

I will probably have to compromise and not have somethings immediately, but it hurts to know that as much as I might try, this is one situation where I cannot fix everything. The Great Game changeover itself will cause a huge loss of life for people. I expect no matter how hard I try that another 25% of survivors will die due to lack of infrastructure in my kingdom and probably closer to 50% of survivors will die due to lack of food and facilities outside my kingdom.

I have to think of the larger picture and what can help the most people long term. I did have one positive piece of news during the night. Around 3 a.m. I received the following notice from the Great Game.

Your kingdom has grown large enough to be considered a tier 5 kingdom. As the first tier 5 kingdom on Earth you can select from the following kingdom perks.

Universal Language

Improved Housing

Improved Fields for 1 year

Please make your selection now.

I chose the Universal Language perk. The Great Game help explained it as a common language that all Great Game participants would have implanted the moment they entered into my kingdoms claimed area. It would not replace any existing languages or skills but would rather be a bonus so that all intelligent species found within my kingdoms borders will be able to communicate with each other regardless of background.

I hope that as I grow my kingdom, especially since I have a head start on the rest of the world, I will be able to secure some more kingdom freebies if I grow the kingdom into the next tiers before anyone else. I could not find out anything from the help section on what size or requirements a kingdom needed to reach each tier. So I will have to continue improving as fast as I can to get the bonuses that will keep my kingdom as the greatest.

After a nights deliberation I have also decided that I need to go for quality of quantity in my hiring, even for the 1 week temporary positions. I hope to hire 20 resource teams of no more than 50 people each and teleport them to 20 different large cities throughout the United States. I thought about sending them world wide, but the time it would take to explain about different currencies, and how to recognize banks in other lands was not the best method. Instead I will target the 20 most populous cities in the U.S. according to the books I got out of the University Library.

While these scavenging teams are working on the U.S. I will teleport across the world to various areas and clean out as much as I can where I can find it. I will revisit several sites I went to previously and finish the clean out of the precious metals and gems. I estimate I can still get about 50 million gold pieces worth of precious metals by the end of the week this way. If there is time I will also try and locate several other gold and gem reserves I had read about but either felt were too dangerous to get too or were too hard to find. With everyone gone for the tutorial all that is left is physical defenses an with my magic I can get through those quite easily.

I have high hopes for the Russian gold and diamond reserves, the Swiss banks, the Netherlands gold reserves, and the Dubai gold reserves. If I can locate them quickly the estimate from my past and current research indicates a possibility of over 10,000 tons of precious metals which would transfer into 300-350 million gold pieces. That is without the diamond exchanges I hope to find. There are no specific maps to these places in foreign countries. So I will have to teleport to the city and search with my gold sense and just rob banks of their paper money also to get as much as possible.

If I am lucky I might be able to hit every goal I have for money. However, even if I raise twice as much as I estimate I need, it will still never be enough to eliminate the pain and suffering that people are going to go through world wide. I just have to do the best that I can and pray that I can stay ahead of the curve in infrastructure, management, magic, and safety. The task seems impossible, but If I take it one step at a time I can make the new world a better place.

I am really regretting the time I wasted preparing some of the magic items and vehicles before the changeover. I should have realized that an equivalent or better system (such as teleportation for travel) would exist in the new world.

A NOTE FROM TENQUI

Finally a Longer Chapter and the MC actually talks to someone.

Chapter 32: Hiring People Is Fun To Do

I went to go and have a little breakfast and decided to check the response to my Great Game Ads. As I check in with the Great Game Store Screens I discover that I have over 1,000 responses to each of the ads. I do not have the time to go through all of these. Help

Is there a way to search ad responders for certain characteristics or recommendations from past people who have heard them

"Yes"

Stingy stupid screen.

Please explain the way to narrow down a search and give appropriate examples.

User can input level requirements, monetary requirements, or quantity requirements as the most common ways of narrowing down a search for new hires. For example if the user specifies that only units that have 50 or more people in them should be displayed than the Great Game will immediately remove those that do not have that qualification.

Please display all responders to the scavenging team ad that have at least 5 people greater than level 10 and a total of at least 20 people in the group

Alright, that took my initial 1,143 responses down to 212. Since I have so many responses lets up the ante on the filter.

Please display all responders to the scavenging team ad that have at least 10 people greater than level 15 and a total of at least 25 people in the group

Now there are only 51 responders.

Remove any group that has had a negative review from a previous employer.

That only removed one group.

Please message the remaining 50 groups the following terms. 10 gold per person guaranteed for 7 days work, for up to 50 people. Group will be scavenging resources on a newly admitted Great Game planet. All groups will be given a 10% bonus in Great Game currency of the amount they find at the end of the 7 day contract. All transportation fees to and from the new planet will be assumed by the hiring party up to 500 gold pieces. Any extra cost due to distance or other special circumstances will be assumed by the employees.

I do not think I will need to interview the scavenging teams. I just need to show them where to look for currency, what it looks like and provide the initial teleport to the area I want them to search. I hope that all 50 teams accept. Next is castle staff. Please display all responders to the castle staff ad that are in groups of 25 people or more and satisfy all conditions of the ad.

From a list of over 2,000 down to only 112. Please display all responders to the castle staff ad that are groups of 50 people or more and satisfy all conditions of the ad. Now only 16 responders are left. Please remove any groups that have special needs that the planet Earth or Appalachia Kingdom would have difficulty providing over the period of the 5 year contract. Hmmm, that only removed 2 groups. Please list the top 5 responders left that have the highest reviews or recommendation numbers.

I am going to have to actually interview these 5 groups or at least the leaders of them. Before I interview the castle help I want to set up the castle protectors or Royal Guards for interviews also. That way I can knock them all out at once. Please display all responders to the Royal Guard ad that are groups of 200 or more and have at least 10 level 50 people. OK, that took it from 343 responders down to only 6, that is a manageable number of leaders to interview. Please set up each Castle Staff interview group hour from each other starting at 10 a.m., also schedule the 6 remaining Castle Guard unit interviews for every 45 minutes starting at 1 p.m.

All charges for teleportation of the leaders to the interview will be taken from my inventory. Up to 3 representatives from each group may attend the interview.

I quickly make sure that everything is in place in the Throne Room I need to make a good impression right off the bat. These people will be working with and protecting me and mine for the next 5 years minimum, and hopefully everything will work out and they will stay and immigrate into the Appalachia Kingdom permanently. Even if they choose not to stay, I should have learned a lot by then and hopefully will have a few more home grown people in positions of power and security.

I prepare a generic list of questions that need to be answered.

What previous experience do you have in a similar position?

Describe the strengths of your group and how they can help a newly starting kingdom.

Why did you leave your previous employer?

Are you willing to swear magically binding oaths of allegiance through the Great Game?

What are your requested salaries per month or year?

Do you feel that you have an adequate leadership structure in place at all levels?

What is the largest problem you think that you or your groups might have to deal with when moving to a new kingdom and world?

Are you able to start immediately if needed?

How many dependents and others are you hoping to bring with you to the kingdom?

Do you have any questions for me?

I think this covers everything I need to know. I realize that I should probably do a much more in depth interview and check previous references. However, I am in such a time crunch that I have to get this done now. I think I will put in a mutual 1 month adjustment clause. If either party decides that the employment would not be to their benefit over the next 5 years than they can cancel the contract with no penalties. Whoever cancels the contract is responsible for the teleportation fee back to their place of origin.

One of the strangest things is the price of everything I need to have done quickly. Teleportation scrolls are expensive and a luxury on the same world. However, teleporting between planets of the Great Game is only 1 gold per person if answering a Great Game ad. The only reason I can come up with is that the Great Game is trying to prevent private competition in transportation from world to world. For the cost of one major 10,000 mile teleportation scroll I can bring in almost everyone that is going to be hired.

The first couple of interviews with the castle help groups are okay, but not very impressive. However, the third interview was not what I was expecting. An impeccably dressed person of what I can only call the Dark Elf race, at least until I find out their name for their people, is the only representative that is teleported into the interview.

Good morning King Anderson, my name is Alfonso and I am here to represent and negotiate on behalf of the Domestics guild.

I quickly identify him so as to have as much information as I can, I do not want to be at a disadvantage and he has obviously done his homework before coming in.

Name: Alfonso Darkmoon Race: Darkling Fae

Level 21 -14% Affinities: Earth 53% Dark - 71%

You know, I dont think I have ever appraised or identified another person before. How could I have missed this obvious helpful tool? I mean I identified several monsters, plants, and numerous items, but I have never actually used identify on another Great Game person or Great Game race. This could be extremely useful in both social and battle situations. I wonder if there is a way to hide information or to show more information. Just another thing to add to my list of things to try and remember to do.

Good morning Alfonso, you seem to have me at a disadvantage. I am relatively new to the Great Game system and have not heard of the Domestics Guild.

That is quite alright sire. I shall give you a quick background into our guild if that is satisfactory and then we can mutually discuss the possibility of future employment.

That sounds extremely reasonable Alfonso, please continue.

Alfonso went on to explain that under the Great Game people of similar mentalities, jobs, or just those who wanted the protection a group offered could form and join guilds. The Domestics Guild is a large group of domestic servants from several different worlds that have banded together to have a more normalized and stable wage and negotiating stance. They have domestics registered in all areas with several always willing to travel and move to a new place for the experience or various other reasons. Each person in the Domestics Guild has their credentials inspected and tested in the areas they would be hired in. This allows an employer to know that they are getting a well-trained domestic servant proficient in the needed area. The guild has 10 levels of domestic servants:

Apprentice 1 silver per week

Novice 2 silver per week

Beginner 5 silver per week

Junior 10 silver per week

Intermediate 15 silver per week

Senior 20 silver per week

Advanced 40 silver per week

Higher 1 gold per week

Master 5 gold per week

Expert 10 gold per week

The guild can provide up to 100 people immediately of all levels 1-5 and more limited numbers of levels 6-10 domestics in each of the common areas needed, Stewards, Maids, Cooks, Grounds Keepers, and Animal Husbandry. With a lead time of 1 month the guild feels confident they could supply up to 500 domestics of any area from levels 1-8. Master and Expert level domestics are much more difficult to come by and usually do not leave their positions without a major change in their living situations or a major change in the country or area they are living in.

I immediately tell the Great Game to cancel the remaining two interviews and ask Alfonso to stay longer and negotiate a contract with me. He seems delighted that I make such an immediate decision to go with his guild. They are so well organized I realize that I cannot do any better than the Domestics Guild. The final piece he tells me is intriguing. The Domestics Guild will give a 5% discount on the services of all its members if the ruler of the area they are hired allows the Guild to open up a division of their guild headquarters in the kingdom or area.

The next hour is spent on me describing my needs and Alfonso recommending numbers and levels to fill positions. I am getting a little overwhelmed with all the information provided to me so I decide to just cut through all of the talking.

Alfonso, here is what I propose. Your guild will provide me a Master or Expert level domestic in the areas of stewards, maids, and cooks. I would also like an advanced or higher expert in grounds keeping and animal husbandry. These people will be given free reign to hire from within your guild the number of domestics they think are needed. All domestics will be hired at twice the going rate and the head of Stewards, Maids, and Cooks will be given a budget of 1,500 gold coins a month each to pay their subordinates. The head of grounds keepers will be given a budget of 1,000 gold coins a month and finally animal husbandry will be given a budget of 500 gold coins a month to pay their subordinates. We just do not have many animals currently. This could change in the future.

Alfonso just kind of stared at me. He finally registered that he needed to respond to my offer.

That sounds perfectly reasonable my lord, and when will you need these domestics?

I would like the heads of each area to be sent to me by tonight or tomorrow morning and the rest of the domestics to be hired within 3 days. By the way I will allow the Domestics Guild to set up a branch in my kingdom, but I do ask that they give me 3-6 months to stabilize my kingdom before contacting other areas on this planet. No discount is needed or required.

I will immediately notify the guild of our successful negotiations and send your new heads of area by this evening.

Alfonso, then handed me a green gem and said he would contact me on the communication crystal as soon as the heads were available. I thanked him and sent him off while trying not to give anything away in my expression. Communication crystals? Dang it I missed another obvious use of magic and products of the Great Game. I spent my lunch break researching the crystals and costs.

It seemed that individual crystals come in a variety of levels just like teleportation scrolls. Local communication crystals are fairly cheap, but as the range increases so does the price. Strangely enough once again one-time communication crystals across planets are only 1 gold with a limit of 100 per organization or 10 per person each year.

A NOTE FROM TENQUI

Another Decent sized chapter and the MC talks to more people. What is going on?/

Chapter 33: Guarding the Kingdom

Next up is my scheduled interviews for the castle guards. I hope that there is also a guild for this which would speed up the entire process. Wait, why hope. HELP.

"Yes"

Is there a registered guild for guards or mercenaries and are they on my list of interviews for the afternoon?

"Yes"

Please tell me the name of the guild in question and schedule them first.

The Guardsman Guild is already scheduled first.

It seems that my good karma is finally kicking in. I wont cancel the others until I make sure of what the Guardsman Guild can provide, but if they are as well organized and as large as the Domestics Guild than I should have an easier time filling the positions I need. I feel a little better prepared for this round of negotiations now that I know the basics of guilds and have had a few questions answered by Alfonso.

Exactly at 1 p.m. the area in front of my throne shimmered and what I can only describe as a grizzled gray bearded dwarf with tattoos and scars enough to make a biker blush teleported in. Hmm, quick mental note, find something to block teleportation except by authorized people in government buildings or I may never get a moments peace. The gentleman in front of me was somewhere around 4 feet to 5 feet tall and other than the tattoos looked like what I imagined every stereotypical dwarf to be like since I started reading fantasy books when I was a kid. He was extremely well muscled and extremely wide and seemed rather menacing while looking wise at the same time.

Identify.

Name: Stefan Rockfist Race: Dvari

Level 62 - 76% Affinities: Earth - 92%

Oh my goodness, this guy could give me a run for my money. He is the highest level I have ever identified, besides myself, and he is only the negotiator. As I was processing my new arrival and his abilities he spoke.

Greetings your majesty, my name is Stefan Rockfist and I represent the Guardsman Guild.

Welcome to my kingdom Stefan, as I am rather new at this please excuse any social miscues I might have as my planet has only recently joined the Great Game.

Understood sire, thank you for your courtesy.

Stefan, I am just going to let you know what I need. Please inform me if your guild can meet the requirements and what you in turn would need to fulfill this contract.

That sounds wonderful sire, I personally dislike long negotiations.

I explain to Stefan that I have just created a new kingdom and immediately need a loyal guard force of sufficient level to secure and maintain the local area and would also like to negotiate for guard forces in the other cities of my kingdom. I tell him of my idea of a group of 100-250 guards of at least level 20 that can hold their own for at least a year against all threats as the planet is assimilated into the Great Game. I would want them to be able to continue to train and increase their skills and levels during the contract. A robust and sturdy chain of command should already be in place. The palace guards would need to be a notch above the rest of the guards hired just as a precaution. Although the guard force in the cities would be larger the palace guard should be elite.

Stefan let me know that this should not be a problem. The Guardsman Guild was more of an administration unit for mercenary forces both small and large. It helped regulate prices and kept both employers and employees honest in their contracts. He mentioned that just like the Domestics Guild a discount is given for kingdoms who allow the guild to set up a branch office within the kingdom.

Your majesty I see three primary methods to fulfill what I believe is your wants and needs.

You could hire a large army for your kingdom and have the units or divisions split between the various cities and palace.

You could hire individual units from either disbanded armies or surviving units from armies that did not fare well in their last campaign

You can hire 3-4 smaller armies and then assign them specific areas of responsibility.

Stefan tried to highlight the positives and negatives of each choice to allow me to make a more informed decision.

Option 1 would be the fastest, but perhaps the least loyal. He said that this did not mean that they would actively try to overthrow their employer, but rather that they would look out for their group first and often would only follow the exact letter of a contract and not the spirit of a contract.

Option 2 allowed for more diversity and specialties in a kingdoms army, but had major issues with who was in charge and who could boss around who. This option would save me money but also take much longer to implement.

Option 3 was more flexible and could be tailored more to specific situations, but rivalry could still rear its head and cause problems.

Stefan, does your guild have rankings and specialists? I asked this as an idea started to form inside my brain.

Yes Sire we do, the rankings of individual soldiers are a matter for each unit or army but certain milestones must be met to be considered for a rank up as a group in the guild. We have five levels of units for hire.

WarTribe: This group is led by a competent leader but overall numbers do not exceed more than 150 people.

WarBand: This group is led by a trained and verified leader tested by the guild and has numbers greater than 100 but less than 500 people.

WarCore: This group is led by a trained and verified leader tested by the guild and has numbers greater than 500 but less than 5,000 people.

WarForce: This group is led by a trained and verified leader tested by the guild and has numbers greater than 5,000 but less than 25,000 people.

WarHost: This group is led by a trained and verified leader tested by the guild and has numbers greater than 25,000 but less than 100,000 people.

What about just a leadership group? Stefan looked at me with a questioning look in his eye.

I mean a group of tried and true professionals, possibly recently retired that could be put together as a leadership core for a nations army made from several WarCores or WarForces. This would be a group that is well respected in the guild that the leaders of the individual Warcores or Warforces would recognize and defer to so I could have a more cohesive army and a centralized command structure.

Stefans eyes got big as he considered the implications.

This could allow for a much easier time deploying disparate forces sire.

That was my intention Stefan.

He told me that he would have to contact his superiors and get their take on this newer concept. He asked if he could use a space and converse with his guild immediately. I showed him to one of the empty rooms in the castle and asked him to contact me immediately once he had a decision from the guild.

I then proceeded back to the throne room and decided to keep interviewing until I found out if the guild could do what I wanted. The next two interviews went well and I added the question of why they were not part of the Guardsmen Guild. Both leaders were upfront and honest in replying that their units were relatively new and did not have enough of a history or time together to be considered for membership in the guild, but were hoping to join after fulfilling my contract. I thanked them both and told them I would contact them with my decision soon.

I heard Stefan politely knock on the throne room doors as my most recent interviewee left by teleportation.

Sire I have talked with my guild and we are intrigued by your idea. If you are willing to be a test case for this new concept we would give an additional 10% discount for the first year of the contract so that we might evaluate it for the future. This would be on top of the discount you would receive if you allow a branch of the Guardsmen Guild to be established in your kingdom.

Stefan, does this mean that the guild currently has a group that they would consider to be able to fulfill my requirements?

Yes sire we do, several armies have disbanded in the last 2-3 years and a few of the more notable officers have not taken as well to retirement as they thought they would. After being contacted by the guild they would be willing to be the core leadership group of this test case.

Here is my offer than, Stefan. I wish to hire 4 WarForces and 1 WarBand along with the leadership group. The WarBand needs to be elite specialists that will be directly reporting to the leadership group and will provide palace security. Each of the WarForces will be given a section of the kingdom to defend including all the cities and villages located within the borders of their assigned area. How they do that I will leave up to the individual WarForce commanders. However, each WarForce must provide an officer and small token force of 5-10 individuals to stay in the capital and communicate with the new leadership group that will be based here. In the event of large scale war or needed maneuvers the new leadership team will be in overall command of all forces in my kingdom with my approval. I will pay 5 million gold pieces per year along with reasonable upkeep, housing, and food for each WarForce, and 2.5 million gold pieces per year for the Elite WarBand and new leadership team with the same upkeep, housing and food provisions.

Stefan agreed that the Guardsman Guild could readily find 4 Warforces and an Elite WarBand that would fit my criteria and payment offer. He would have the guild send the leadership team to the kingdom tomorrow and the officers of the 4 WarForces and 1 WarBand would arrive the next day. The complete transfer of forces would occur within three days upon receipt of the first years salary.

Chapter 34: Scavengers Go!

After I finished negotiations with Stefan he teleported back to wherever the headquarters of the Guardsman Guild was. It was now time to check on the responses to my scavenger team offers. Out of the 50 offers sent out 26 groups responded with an agreement to the terms, 12 messaged to negotiate for more, and 12 never responded. I think I will just take the 26 groups and call it done. I need to come up with areas that I can send them. Major metropolitan areas that would keep them occupied the entire week they are hired for and also maximize my return on investment.

Lets see 26 areas to scavenge from, and I should keep them out of the Appalachia Kingdom. That way my own guard force and citizens can loot the local places and a greater area can be covered. Major metropolitan hubs are an obvious choice. I should probably start on the west coast and work my way back to the Mississippi river.

So lets go with San Diego, Los Angeles (2 teams), San Francisco, Portland OR, Seattle, Phoenix, Las Vegas (2 teams one for the casinos and one for everything else), Albuquerque, Denver, El Paso (2 teams one for each side of the border), Denver, Salt Lake, St. Louis, Kansas City, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Chicago, Boston, New York (2 teams), Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia.

To save on teleport scrolls I think I will take all the groups to Asheville NC to explain and demonstrate what I want and likely places to find money. I know I already covered most of the area, but there should be enough left that I can demonstrate and keep costs down by buying the cheaper 100 mile teleportation scroll for training. I will have to travel with the Las Vegas Group personally to show the casino group where and how they need to go. They probably do not speak English so I need to put together samples of all U.S. denominations and common words to match, like Jewelry, Gold, and Bank. Wait there is almost no possibility of them speaking English. How on Earth did I communicate with Alfonso and Stefan then?

I know I took the Universal Language Perk so any person who comes within my kingdom should speak a common language, but they should have had no idea that my kingdom had that ability. Why where they so confident that they would be understood when they first greeted me then?

Help.

"Yes"

Are there items or scrolls that allow for translation of other languages?

"Yes"

I knew it, if the Great Game can give my kingdom a perk than there should be equivalent or better items or magic scrolls. I quickly scan through the Great Game store filtering for translation devices and buy a universal translating torc for my upper arm. It is more expensive than some others, but this item was one of the few that used the words universal translator and not just translation device. I bet many of those cheaper versions only translate the most common languages which is probably sufficient for most day to day people and activities that might need them.

After my quick purchase I have the great game schedule the leaders of each of the 26 teams to arrive in 2 hours. That should give me enough time to freshen up, eat and prepare some quick materials for teaching how and where to scavenge.

I almost did not make it back into the throne room in time to meet the scavenger team leaders. Alfonso was quicker than I expected and I had to give a quick tour and explain to my new Head Steward Jacob where the rooms and basic facilities were before I left with the scavenger teams. He was very understanding and was already starting to organize things as I left him in the main hall. Jacob also reminded me he needed a way to contact me and I purchased several world wide communication crystals, twenty-six of the 5,000 mile communication crystals for the heads of the scavenger parties, and on Jacobs recommendation 100 of the 50 mile or less communication crystals that guards and local domestics could use to contact their supervisors if needed. Jacob is going to hand the leaders of the Guard forces their own world wide communication crystals as they arrive in the castle.

As I sit on the throne I notice the ripple effect of incoming teleportation portals. I really have to remember to find some sort of blocker against teleportation. People being able to warp in whenever they want, even into secure areas, is a problem no one should have. That means someone in the Great Game has discovered a way to block teleportation and make profit off of it. As the leaders teleport in I see more examples of game races than I expected. For the first couple of minutes while everyone was waiting for the entire group to arrive I started to Identify at least one person from each new race.

Name: Matthias Brokenbrook Race: Light Fae

Level 42 - 11% Affinities: Light 51% Nature 34%

Name: Smash Treebark Race: Trollkin

Level 23 21% Affinities: Nature 10%

Name: Bartholomew Grinder Race: Gnome

Level 30 17% Affinities: Earth 57%

Name: Angelica Riverton Race: Beastkin

Level 51 32% Affinities: Fire 71% Air 26%

Name: Samuel Panthera Race: Weretiger

Level 38 77% Affinities: Water 33% Nature 18%

However, this soon became overwhelming and I just kept count of the various groups that teleported in. There we go, 26 groups have now teleported in. Some commanders are by themselves, some brought the two subordinates I allowed, and there were several who were in between. I rose from my throne to address the group.

Greetings, my name is Mark Anderson and I am the ruler of the Appalachia Kingdom you have contracted with for the next week. In a few minutes we will be teleporting to a nearby town so I can show you a few things that will help maximize both of our profits for the following week. Our planet is currently undergoing the immersion into the Great Game. All but a few citizens are on their week long trials so they should not initially be in your way. They should arrive back on the planet in 5 days. For the last 2 days of your employment you may run into various groups of beings who are inhabitants of the planet. Please try to understand the confusion that they must be going through. You may defend yourself, however if I get word of any atrocities or unnecessary violence towards my people I will find a way to punish you.

It looks like my little speech has caught some of the groups off guard but several seem to hold me in higher esteem than before. Most seem indifferent so I guess it is time to get a move on. I arrange the various leaders into a circle and use a greater teleportation scroll to move us to Asheville.

Each group will be responsible for scavenging local currency, precious metals, and gems from buildings in the area I will transport you to. The more you find, the more you make. There may not be any other people currently, however remember that there are still the newly arrived Great Game monsters. Even if they are low level and pose little threat, dont forget that quantity is a quality all of its own. Please be careful.

After my little explanation I took them into the bank nearest us and showed them examples of U.S. currency. I quickly explained the denominations and what they should look for to help maximize their profits. The Great Game itself will allocate the kingdoms portion from inventories and give the ten percent promised to the scavengers so there should be no shenanigans. I also show them large stores and what safes and cash registers look like so they can break them open and claim the money inside. The last two stops were a pawn shop and a jewelry store so each group would have an easier time recognizing and finding them in the future.

That is all I wanted to show you to help you out. I will now randomly assign you a number. All this is for is to establish the order you will be teleporting back with your troops. The first group will teleport back in one local hour and each number will teleport in precisely 5 minutes later. I will give each of you a communication crystal, a picture of your destination, and a teleport scroll. Please do not be late.

With that being said I teleported back to my throne room and started to prepare the materials I needed to give each group. As each group teleported in over the next couple of hours they were sent off to the various cities I had previously thought of. The next to last group was asked to stand to one side. I told them that I had a special task for them and the last group. The leader of this group happened to be the Beastkin I had identified earlier before I stopped examining the new comers. Her name was Angelica Riverton and she was the commanding officer of Angels Army. The last group teleported in. This was someone I had not identified earlier. Identify.

Name: Elrondico Race: High Human

Level 45 97% Affinities: Earth 100% Water 14%

Interesting. I do not know what makes someone a High Human and I do not have time to find out now. I addressed the two groups quickly.

I have two special tasks for your groups. One group will be raiding a special type of building in a city called Las Vegas which should be guaranteed for a higher payoff than the other teams. The second group will be raiding a town that has different currency than the ones I demonstrated earlier, but has potential to be the richest of the scavenging areas if hidden stashes are located. The Las Vegas team needs to get past several thick metal doors and I believe that with Elrondicos Earth Magic it might be more appropriate for his group. However, I will let the two leaders decide between themselves.

Angelica and Elrondico looked at each other and just nodded.

Angelica spoke, Sire we have actually worked together before. Most of the independent groups have. Your suggestion to use Elrondicos group for the Las Vegas place is fine with us.

Very well, I will transport with them first and show them the special areas they need to pay attention too. The Angels Army will please stay here for another hour as I show Elrondicos group what to do then I will come back and give you your instructions.

After transporting Elrondicos group to Vegas I showed him a casino and explained about breaking open slot machines, checking the cages for money, the counting rooms, and finding the vaults in every casino. Some vaults would be underground, some would just be hard to get to, but each one should pay off much bigger than just banks. I told him that after he cleaned out the major casinos on the strip and elsewhere if he had extra time then he could go after the other targets I had showed all of the teams. I left him and his group as they started to wreak havoc on the machines in Caesars Palace.

I motioned Angelica over as soon as I teleported into my throne room. Gather round we are going to a place called Juarez first. As we teleported into Juarez I arranged my thoughts and began instructing Angelicas team.

First the towns that you will have access to are from a country formerly known as Mexico. The monetary unit is the Peso.

I led them to a local store and broke open the cash register. I showed them the different denominations.

Many times you can find both the American money and this new money together in these border towns so take both. They have banks or Bancos just like what I showed you before and also jewelry stores. However, there is one new thing I want you to look for, drug stashes. I do not want the drugs which are bad for people and very addictive, but criminals make a lot of money and usually have a lot more cash on hand than normal people. There are stories of drug dens and dealers having millions on hand versus the small amount usually kept in local banks. Any time you come across an area that has excessive security, like guard stations, high walls, reinforced gates or doors, and especially video cameras check that building for large amounts of hidden money.

Angelica said, Sire I understand everything except for the video camera.

I quickly showed her an example of what I was talking about. I handed her a set of photos of Tijuana, Mexicali, Matamoras, and Nogales. I also told her to teleport to a new town each day to increase the chances of finding a big score. After the 5 days in five towns she needed to teleport back to Ciudad Juarez and just look for the regular banks and jewelry stores only. I warned her that when people started arriving back in 5 days her group would be in a town notorious for human violence so to be extra careful on interacting with locals. With this I have all my scavenger teams out and looking. It is time to start on my own world-wide trip.

Chapter 35: Robbing the World (Again)

For my personal trip I will be visiting several sites that I had previously, and I will finish cleaning them out. However, with no people and my ability to now teleport using scrolls I should be able to hit several different places world-wide in a very short amount of time. I can also travel to areas that I thought would be too crowded or difficult for my last trip. I will loot all the treasuries and vaults I can in 5 days. After that I will come back to my castle and start the purchase of everything.

I should be back in my castle for the return of my friends and family. I can add things to my chosen cities over the next couple of days as the scavenge teams continue working while I try and set up my council and governing royalty. I have instructed my new head steward Jacob to inform me if there are any problems. My leadership team for my new mercenary guard force should be present along with the palace guards soon. Jacob will message me with a communication crystal as soon as they arrive so I can make it back and give them instructions.

The next 12 hours are a blur of teleport, break into a vault, and loot. I was able to clear out the rest of Fort Knox, the Federal Reserve, both mints, the London gold and silver vaults, Great Britains Crown jewels, the Antwerp Diamond exchange, and I was in the middle of the Netherlands Bank vault when I got the message from Jacob to come back and deal with the new guards. I quickly teleported back into my throne room and saw that it was filled up with a variety of people.

I raised my voice, Welcome to Appalachia Kingdom. I am King Mark Anderson. Would the Leadership team and the Leaders of the Royal Guards stay behind. Everyone else please follow Head Steward Jacob to the courtyard and we will organize and have you in your bunks and with assignments as quickly as possible.

I watched carefully as my new royal guard was sorted out by what I can only assume are sergeants or their equivalent ranks. My father who was in the military always told me that those were the people to watch to learn how to get things done. In a much shorter time than I expected the throne room was cleared and I was left with 7 individuals facing me. Rather than guess I just asked them to introduce themselves and the role that they will play in the new kingdom.

I am Randolph my lord and I will be the overall military leader of your combined forces. With me are my four trusted associates William, Horace, Sleejak, and Annabelle who will liaison and be nominally in charge of each region along with the commanders of the forces you have hired for your kingdom. We will decide who will match with each group as we get to know the area and units you have hired.

My King, I am Leticia and I am the commander of the WarBand that will become your royal guard. Next to me is my husband and second in command Kneefer.

Excellent, I know I will have the opportunity to get to know you each individually in the future and hope our time working together is fruitful. Now before we begin anything else I need to ask a question. I am new to the Great Game. While I am thinking of it I need to know if there is a way to block teleportation in a specific area for everyone or something that will allow only specified people into the area?

Randolph chuckled and said, I wondered why everyone was coming into the throne room of the kingdom. Yes, my lord there are several ways to limit or ban teleportation and other methods of travel within a given area. We can hire a teleportation magus to engrave restrictions or a more expensive but stronger method is to buy Limitation Stones from the Great Game store and have them installed and then recharged on a regular basis.

Other than instantaneous completion what is the benefit of using the Great Game Limitation Stones?

The stones cannot be overpowered by any being weaker than the planetary leader.

Alright, that just makes me even more confused, who or what is the planetary leader?

Randolph look surprised.

I believe that you are the planetary leader my lord. The planetary leader is highest leveled person on a Great Game planet or their designee. They are confirmed or chosen every three years to represent their planet in the Great Game competition.

I was getting more and more nervous the more I heard from Randolph.

I have never even heard of the Great Game competition. Wouldnt I have been notified if I was this planetary leader?

Randolph paused and then a look of inspiration came across his face.

I believe I understand my lord that you were a survivor of the Beta Trials correct?

That is correct, how did you know?

While extremely rare it is not unheard of for a being to pass the Great Game Beta Trial. They are usually the highest leveled being on a planet and have an advantage that is difficult for others to catch up to. Since you are here and not going through the tutorial I just naturally assumed you were one of these people.

Well you assumed correctly, how does this change what you said about the planetary leader?

It does not change anything sire, you will still be the planetary leader barring a miracle from someone during the tutorial. The Great Game has yet to notify you because the official integration of a planet is at the end of the tutorial. In fact, this explains a lot. The tutorial covers many aspects of Great Game life you seem to be struggling with.

The conversation continued on from there and covered a large amount details that everyone in the Great Game just seems to know. I was personally left without this information due to my unusual circumstance of finishing the beta trial and not attending the tutorial. This planetary leader thing I am just going to put off until I have to deal with it. I have too much on my plate right now to even consider it. I am trying the best I can, but the horrible part is I know I am making mistakes. Resource allocation, leadership, time management, all of these areas need improvement. However, I can only catch so many things on my own.

I want to get some reliable people in some key areas so I can shift a lot of the burden of ruling onto them and try and focus on just one or two things myself. Trying to accomplish everything on my own is causing errors and mistakes in planning and execution. None of the mistakes are purposeful, but any mistake when dealing with a situation this important can lead to drastic and terrible consequences.

I finally got my new military leadership squared away and bunked down for the night with several new rules and assignments they needed to do.

Never assume that I know something, please bring it up and if I already know I can move us along.

Make a list of everything you have seen, heard of, or know of that would make this kingdom better, safer, and a place you would want to live with your family or clan.

Division of labor. The leadership of the 4 WarForces would be arriving tomorrow and would need assignments. The leadership team will study the maps and pictures that I have and use teleport scrolls I provide to survey the kingdoms area the best they can in the limited amount of time we have to place each division in the area they could do the most good.

Communication, any time sensitive information needs to be brought to my attention. I will purchase the Great Game Cities and amenities I can afford as each War Force is taken to their area. This will mean my scavenger teams will have a slightly longer time to accumulate wealth for the kingdoms treasury.

I let my military leadership know that I was looking for more advisors to help out. Any recommendations would be welcome. Lets face it, they have met more people than me throughout their careers and have seen good and bad kingdoms and rulers. I will still approve major changes or new advisor roles, but they are experienced and hired for a reason.

I have to get back to resource gathering and quickly. I will teleport in to meet each new War force leader and find out where they are going and hear any quick suggestions on placement of new city walls, barracks, granaries and such for defensive purposes. I will then purchase the main base/city from the Great Game and have the local WarForces spread out and acquire resources like my scavenging teams.

The final day before the return of the tutorial people will be a large meeting to decide the final allocation of cities and outposts and what amenities the treasury will allow. I realize that many of the people coming back from the tutorial are not going to want to be part of my kingdom or will refuse to recognize my right to rule. I am still trying to figure out what to do with them. I want to protect as many people as possible, but I cannot and will not have insurrection. That would jeopardize the safety and security of too many.

Listen to me. I am sounding more and more like some sort of despotic ruler who will not allow any dissension. I need to be careful and not abuse my privilege of early entry and high level, I dont want to deal with the consequences and fall out. In fact, if I can just make it through the transition period I hope to rid myself completely of this whole thing. Let other people figure out the rules and regulations. I dont want the responsibility. Once safety has been guaranteed as much as possible I can start relaxing some rules and passing on some authority to others so I have less stress and worries. This whole situation keeps getting more complicated the more I learn.

Three days have passed since my leadership team has arrived and it is now almost time to teleport back for the meeting. I have done extremely well on my resource gathering trip and my leadership team and hired royal army have done even better. I should have tried to hire professionals from the beginning. This collection of military people from across the Great Game have taken to the challenge of setting up my new kingdom amazingly well. Each evening I get a status report and a few brief questions. Thats it, they take care of the rest. I even teleported into a couple of areas after two days for a surprise and covert look and was amazed at the efficiency and dedication these groups showed.

I have exceeded my target goals thanks to the great jobs of the scavenging teams and the new Appalachia Army. I should be able to afford the sewer and teleportation upgrades to the survival cities I am creating through the Great Game. I have also decided that any person who does not wish to stay inside my kingdom will be given 1 month to exit. They can leave on foot or with a free trip through the teleport array. To be able to accommodate them I will set up a teleport array in Washington D.C. even though I am not claiming the area. It is going to cost me extra money, but should pay for itself in peace of mind and hopefully future trade. I realize that there is going to be resistance and hard feelings from many areas. However, I cannot picture a single scenario where the existing government will be viable after returning.

Over 80% of the current U.S. leadership is of an age that passing the Great Game trials is going to be problematic at the least. The succession for the President will probably be almost impossible to secure. First someone would have to find and locate everyone in the succession without the use of the technology that we have come to rely on. Next they would have to be able to convince others that this person was the new president and that they should follow orders. Finally, they would have to find some way to get this news out to everyone while trying to protect people and feed them without the weapons and transportation they are used too. Not going to happen.

Chapter 36: The Strangest Meeting (I Screwed Up)

I have had Jacob set up the banquet hall for the meeting. I have requested the entire leadership team, the heads of my stewards and domestics, Edward, and the head of each WarForce and two of their aides to attend. We were going to finalize the city list, Great Game amenities, and anything else needed for purchase. I feel really confident in what I have done so far. The original sum of gold was exceeded, I still have the scavengers for two more days, and for once I feel I might just slightly be ahead of the curve.

As the meeting started I could tell that something was wrong. My advisors were pointedly looking at each other and seemed to be reluctant to talk to me. This had to stop.

Alright everyone, something is obviously wrong. First off you need to know that you will never be punished for pointing out flaws or bringing up unwelcome news.

Randolph looked at everyone than looked at me. Sire you have been more than fair with us so far, so I will take a chance. The plan we are discussing needs to change drastically. It is just not feasible to protect and hold such a large area as you want with the resources we have to start with.

I was confused. I thought that with the extra money my scavenger teams had picked up my plan would be easier to accomplish. I must have missed something.

Continue Randolph. What is troubling you about the plan.

We are just not able to effectively patrol and control the area with what we are starting with. Give us 2-3 years and we could possibly hold that much land. Realistically for the size of the kingdom we would need 5-10 years of stable growth.

Alright Randolph, can you be more specific. What exactly is the problem and is there any way to fix it quickly.

Randoph grimaced, We have been going over the maps you have provided and the plan for the major cities and satellite cities as you call them. We all think that this is a very noble and even possible framework for expansion for the future. However, the manpower is just not there. I think you severely underestimate the reaction of both your American people and the trouble we will have supporting the numbers you expect. Frankly the kingdom could go bankrupt just in feeding the numbers you are projecting. If you add in defense, development, and travel the situation becomes untenable.

I slumped back into my chair. They were right. I had gotten so caught up in being a savior to the greatest amount of people possible I ignored the fact that it was going to be unsustainable in the long run. This means that the plans are going to have to change and quickly. I realized that my advisors must have at least a suggestion to fix this problem.

OK, I realize that you are right. The plan as originally stated is not going to work. So what do you recommend and how do we get it accomplished in the least amount of time possible.

The relief on the faces of everyone present was amazing. They must have really been worried that I would react badly.

Well sire, we believe that a modified version of your original plan is the easiest and best way to proceed. We would continue to follow your plan just with less cities to start with and will use it to expand as the kingdom has the resources and manpower.

As the meeting went on the ideas flew fast and furious. We ended up with a new framework.

My capital would remain but be upgraded extensively.

There would be Five major cities established North, South, East and West and Islands. If there was an appropriate city near a water source to support it that is where the new city would be established. No major city should be more than 250-300 miles from the capital except the islands group.

We would only establish 15 satellite cities. They would be the larger cities between the capital and the major cities.

Each city would be self-contained and able to survive a siege or provide help to those in need nearby. The major cities will be designed to hold 500,000 and the satellite cities 150,000.

Hidden Valley Village will be brought into the capital when it is redone.

I need to find or hire more advisors over a variety of topics within one week to keep progress moving.

I need to hire another WarForce for the Islands Group specializing in sailing.

The following guilds will be invited to set up in the kingdom as they provide both a short term and long term benefit. Stewards Guild, Domestics Guild, Guardsmans Guild, Adventurers Guild, Apothecary Guild, Mages Guild, Merchants Guild, Explorers Guild, and Sailors Guild.

This should let me concentrate more on the people in the kingdom. More people will be left out but this will allow me to spend the resources more wisely and give my new subjects a greater chance of survival. The islands group was included because my advisors stated that many exotic materials and resources would be found only on islands on the Great Game worlds.

My original plan was for 42 Hub and Satellite cities. The new plan only has 20. With a reduction of half of the planned area I have designated Cuba and the islands for the Great Game to acquire using my mana next and have already seized enough land for the new plan in the United States. In the future the kingdom will grow in the most logical direction based on reports at that time. The WarForces I have seem relieved that they will have a reduced area to control and patrol. Each WarForce will be responsible for one hub city and 3 satellite cities.

With the expanded resources I can have the teleportation network installed, along with greater housing and extended supplies and protected crop land. With the incoming guilds and support they will provide the Appalachia Kingdom should be in much better shape. Each city will be equipped with a teleportation portal 5 meters high and 5 meters wide. They can be dialed to a receiving platform that will be separate from the portal and will allow us to set up defensive measures surrounding the receiving platform. Each city will receive Great Game Teleportation blockers, with the receiving platform being the only place allowed for teleporting entry.

Each Hub City will encompass 10 square miles and each satellite city shall be 5 square miles. My capital will be 15 square miles in the hopes that it will grow in the future. All of the changes and upgrades will still leave the kingdom with over 100 million gold pieces in the treasury for emergencies and other expenses that might come up.

The rest of my evening was spent purchasing the decided upon cities in the locations scouted out.

My Western Hub City will be based around Huntsville Alabama and will have satellite cities in Nashville, Chattanooga, and Birmingham. The Northern Hub City will be based around Charleston West Virginia and will have satellite cities in Knoxville, Huntington, and Roanoke. The Eastern Hub City will be based around Raleigh North Carolina and will have satellite cities in Winston-Salem, Charlotte, and Charleston SC. The Southern Hub City will be based around Savannah Georgia and will have satellite cities in Atlanta, Columbus, and Jacksonville. Finally the Island Hub City will be based around Havana Cuba and will have a satellite cities in Nassau, Kingston, and Camague.

Spoiler: Spoiler

I also interviewed and hired a Sea Based WarForce based on the recommendations of my other commanders. They are a little more expensive but I am told well worth the price. They will be arriving over the next three days with their fleet. The teleportation costs for that was expensive but letting them have their own ships that they are used to should be an advantage in the long run. This group known as the Kraken Force will patrol the coasts of my kingdom in all areas until each area can raise or build their own sea going protection force.

One more day until tutorial arrival. I am starting to get very nervous. I know that I have done what I can, but I also know that it is not perfect. Questions like what to do with people who do not accept my rule, or what to do with the hordes of children who were put in stasis who are going to arrive keep running through my mind. Wait, what was that last thought. The stasis kids. Crap, I forgot all about them.

I quickly call Jacob and Randolph and have them meet me in my office.

Jacob, Randolph, I just realized that we have forgotten to take into consideration the children that are in stasis.

They looked at each other, and then faced me. Jacob replied, What children my lord?

Oh no, I never mentioned the kids and neither of them have actually lived through a change over. They only have stories to go on. They did not realize what was going to happen. I explained about how all children under the age of 12 were put into stasis and the Great Game said that they would be returned to the closest surviving relative or the closest group of adults if there were no close relatives. My two advisors eyes got really big.

Jacob, I need to know if I can temporarily hire some domestics to help take care of the influx of orphans. I imagine that the orphans will become wards of the kingdom and until I can figure out something better I am thinking large orphanages with temporary domestics to take care of them for about six months.

Sire there should be no problem finding enough people if it is only for six months.

I think that we should start stabilizing long before the six months and can start transitioning the orphans into some sort of training programs or something. Please contact your guild and get a price for 2,100 domestics for a temporary six month contract. We will place 100 domestics in each city. Randolph I need you to quickly identify the best place to add 10 barracks like structures in each city that will have maximum protection. Each barracks will hold 250-500 children dependent on age. I hope that this will be enough.

Yes my lord I will arrange this immediately.

Both of them left my office at a much faster pace than they entered. What else have I forgotten? There is just so much to remember and to try and do. I guess everything else will just have to be dealt with as it comes up. The tutorial group should arrive tomorrow.

A NOTE FROM TENQUI

I thought a long time before deciding to write this. I am overwhelmed by the positive and constructive support that many of you readers have given me. I am even appreciative of the constructive criticism given on the negative reviews as I read them and check on what I can improve on. (Apparently my grammar is outstanding no matter what.) However, I would like to address the negative reviews and comments that are mean spirited or just not helpful in any way. I would like you to understand a few things.

1. This is my first novel. It was never intended to be perfect or a masterpiece, but rather a growing and learning experience for me.

2. This is a FREE book. Some people need to realize that they are NOT entitled to demean me or other people as a person or author just because they decided to read a FREE story they came across on the internet. If you hate it that much just don't read it.

3. Constructive Criticism is great. One of what I consider my more helpful reviews has come from NAOSOU. He only rated me 2 stars. Was that a little hurtful for me as an author, yes it was, but I am a big boy and I can take CONSTRUCTIVE criticism quite well. NAOSOU wrote some wonderful comments in his review about consistency and characters needing more reaction among other things. These things allow me to understand WHY some people may not particularly care for the story and that is fine. It helps me become a better writer.

Author Rant Over, Sorry if this is something you did not want to see, but I thought it needed to be said.

Now enjoy Chapter 37

Chapter 37: The Return

This was it the day of the tutorial peoples return. My entire staff was on high alert throughout the kingdom. I have purchased everything I could think of to help and even managed to hire the domestics and build the orphanages at the last moment. Everyone has instructions on how to deal with the returnees. Be gentle and use words and explanations whenever possible, however do Not back down or put yourself into danger. Offer help and shelter when you can. This will only build trust and help people out. Collect stories and tales of what happened and forward any that seem pertinent. Flag anyone you think might work well for civilian leadership roles based on their classes and how they interact with others. Only time will tell the story of how much I have missed.

I have been thinking hard about my role in the kingdom. Yes, I will be the figure head of the new kingdom. People need someone to both rally around and to blame. However, I am doubting more and more my daily role in the running of the kingdom. I am just not trained or cut out for this. The stress and worry are making me lose sleep and no matter what I do I feel like I should be doing more. I need to pass this off to professionals. I can still help out if needed, but ruling just does not seem to be my thing. I mean I have not even been able to take care of my new pets. With all that has been going on my new baby dragons have been stuck in stasis this entire time. I have been afraid for them and afraid that I might lose, mismanage, or just do something wrong with them.

Even when I was raising my daughter I had lots of help from friends and family. My being in charge of this whole thing started out small. I just wanted to help my family and few friends. Somehow this whole thing has snowballed out of my control and I am supposed to be responsible for thousands if not millions of new citizens in a kingdom that did not even exist a month ago.

As it got closer to noon, I got more and more nervous. Did my family survive? How did my friends and worker fare? Will they accept and help with what I am trying to accomplish? Will they panic and flee? Should I worry about assassins and somebody overthrowing my new government? I just keep getting more and more crazy as I wait. What is that? Finally I see the tell tale shimmer of incoming teleports. I was a little worried that people might be teleported outside the castle now that I have the teleport blocks up, but it seems that the Great Game is putting everyone back from the place they teleported from. I see my daughter, she survived! There is mom, my sister and her husband, my nephew and niece, but where is my brother and his wife? Where is my dad? I look around and realize that there are a lot of people missing. The courtyard was practically full when people first teleported to the tutorial. Now it looks like more than 75% of the people have not returned.

This is horrible. I expected that several people would not make it and tried to harden my feelings and emotions against the losses there would be, but I never expected this many people to fail the tutorial. No more people are teleporting in and it seems that the reality of the missing persons is starting to settle in. Several people are starting to tear up and I am one of them. I need to meet the family.

After a tearful reunion and some rushed tales of the happenings in the tutorial a Great Game screen appeared.

Welcome back tutorial survivors. You have successfully completed the tutorial to participate in the Great Game. Your individual rewards and experience will now be calculated.

I could see several people staring off into space. That must be what I look like when I am studying my status screen.

While they were examining their status screens I received a new message from the Great Game.

As the ruler of the new Appalachia Kingdom you need to designate your citizenship policy. You may select from the choices below or enter a custom choice.

All current Great Game players within 50 miles of your territory are automatically granted citizenship.

All current Great Game players within 50 miles of your territory are given the choice to become citizens, those that choose not to become citizens will be expelled from your territory after 24 hours.

All current Great Game players within 50 miles of your territory must apply for citizenship within 1 week or be expelled from your territory.

Please note that this is a one time choice and hereafter all Great Game player beings that are born in your territory will automatically become citizens and those from outside your territory will have to apply for citizenship.

I think I will go with option 2. I do not want to force people to join my kingdom which is what option 1 seems to do and I would rather not give people 1 week to plot against me. Also I have no infrastructure in place to review or accept citizenship applications currently.

I select option 2 and get another announcement from the Great Game.

Great Game players if you are seeing this notice you are currently residing inside the newly established Appalachia Kingdom. King Mark Anderson has given you 24 hours to decide on whether you would like to remain and become a citizen of his kingdom or be transported elsewhere. You may contact the Great Game interface anytime during this 24 hours and select your choice.

Before I can even register that this has just gone out to everyone within 50 miles of my new kingdom the Great Game adds on another notification.

Each new planet is awarded a 1 year immunity from Great Game competition. After this time your Planetary Leader must participate in the Great Game competition. Your planetary leader Mark Anderson may now select one world perk from the world list as a welcome gift from the Great Game. As the third highest level entrant ever to enter the Great Game system your planetary leader will be granted an additional 2 planetary perks and the right to bypass the first level of Great Game competition in his first year of representing your planet of Earth in the Great Game competition.

The entire group in the courtyard slowly turned towards me. My daughter looked at me with accusing eyes and said, Daddy is the Great Game talking about you? Are you the king and this planetary leader, and why do you have horns?

I had no choice but to answer. There would be no dodging these question. Yes honey, I am the king of the Appalachia Kingdom and the highest leveled person from Earth so I have been designated the Planetary Leader. As for my horns I had a race change through the Great Game to King of Elemental Dragons.

What does that mean exactly?

I am not sure exactly what it means sweetie, this is pretty new to me also.

Well what is your level and what happens if someone passes it before the competition?

My current level is 65 with several unique titles, and I think that if someone passes my level in the future they will earn the designation of Planetary Leader.

I could see jaws drop as I mentioned my level. I forgot that they would be much lower leveled than me and were probably mystified on how I could have possibly gotten to my current level.

Listen I will explain everything as best I can in the future, but first we need to get everybody situated and taken care of.

My new staff was quickly introduced and I managed to deflect any more questions and get everybody into a room to rest and recuperate. I promised a meeting in the morning to update everyone as best I could. This has been a stressful day but I need to check in with my military leaders in the other cities. I contacted every city one by one through the communication crystals and asked them to bring the top three candidates they had for civilian positions to a meeting to be held tomorrow at lunch. Hopefully there would be some people I could recognize or test and I could alleviate some of my responsibilities and start building my council.

Now I need to look at those world perks the Great Game mentioned. Please list the available Great Game World perks.

As planetary leader you may select three perks from the following list.

Universal Language (Single Use Only)

One Year Increased Experience

Increased Crafting Knowledge (Single Use Only)

One Year Increased population fertility

One year Increased food/fields fertility

One year immunity from invasion tickets

One world invasion ticket

Tier 2 Level Cap (Single Use Only)

Part 1 of 5 World Teleportation Network

One year Increased Mana and Health regeneration for natives

One year Increased resource regeneration

Increased Magic Knowledge (Single Use Only)

One world connection for World Teleportation Network

One world Resurrection Point for World Natives

One year protection from natural and monster related disasters

My night passed fitfully as I tried to plan in my mind for as many scenarios as possible that might occur tomorrow. I knew that it would be a rough day, but I was also optimistic that it could be the start of something new and better. Only time will tell.

The next morning over breakfast, I spent the time catching up with my family and hearing about their experiences during the tutorial. I deflected most of the questions about me with the line that I only wanted to tell people once and soon we would have a meeting with everyone at the castle. I also brought out my new baby dragons and let them get used to the family.

Around 10 a.m. I followed everyone into the largest courtyard where my guards had gathered everyone to hear me speak.

Good morning everyone, I have a short speech to give then I will take some questions. Please remember that you need to make a decision about staying or leaving within the next 12-14 hours.

I regaled the people with my tale of the beta test and how I had luckily passed it. I mentioned how I tried to prepare a safe place for as many people as I could, but was restricted by the Great Game in what I could say before the change over. I let them know that since I found out that the Great Game did not seem to recognize group or democratic rule that I decided to found a kingdom to help keep my family and friends safe. I also let them know that I had built 21 cities and shelters to help as many people as possible. I had staffed them with guards who were experienced with the Great Game system and provided enough supplies to last people 6 months or more dependent on the population.

I ended with this, I realize that many of you are thinking about leaving and trying to find friends, family and others that you might help. However, I want you to think about this. The survival rate in just our group here in the castle was a little lower than 50% even though I was able to give you a quick warning and supplied some weapons that hopefully helped you out. The survival rate outside of the castle is probably lower. I may be the king of a new kingdom but I will be as hands off as possible and utilize a council of experts to help guide and make what is ours safe and secure for yourselves and your family. Please do not misunderstand me though, I will do whatever I feel is necessary to protect my family, my kingdom and my new subjects to the best of my ability. The world has changed and we must change with it. You and the people around you find yourselves in a unique and safe situation. I will force no one to stay in my kingdom, but know that if you leave now you risk yourself and may have a very hard time of ever making it back to the safety and security that you are now enjoying.

I then fielded several questions and gave the best answers I could.

No, I would not disband the kingdom in the future, but I may hand control over to the Council that I hope to establish.

Yes, I look different, I went through a race change via a bloodline dungeon where I became king of the elemental dragons and acquired my new friends. When my little dragons flew out I saw several eyes light up with admiration and a couple with greed. I would have to keep a close eye on my little ones until they are large enough to protect themselves.

Yes, the Great Game did name me the Planetary Leader due to my high level. My current level is 65 with several unique titles.

No, I do not know what is expected of the Planetary Leader or what the Great Game competition is about but I would inform people as I found out.

There were several other questions but these were the big ones that kept being asked over and over in different ways. I excused myself after some time and told everyone to think carefully about their upcoming decision. I then retreated to my throne room and signaled for Rudolph, Edward, and Jacob to join me.

Gentleman, soon we will have several incoming groups of people from the cities with hopefully some candidates that might be able to help with organizing the council and helping to fill in various positions in the government. I found a truth gem in the Great Game store and would like to ask if there is any way that people can get around the aura of truth the description said is emitted.

Jacob spoke up, As far as I know sire as long as a person is of a lower level than the one controlling the gem than you will know if they are speaking the truth.

Randolph added, Someone can still lie by omission or just not speak of something, I have also heard that higher levels in the rogue classification can also use an ability to confuse detectors such as the truth gem. However, in this situation with people of a much lower level and most probably classless there should be no problem.

Chapter 38: The New Government

Wonderful gentleman, my next question involves the setup of my kingdom. Does my basic plan of ministers comprising a ruling council still seem workable to you?

Yes sire, however we do think that you should consider hiring a professional for the positions of Minister of Magic and Minister of Dungeons at least until your people start to understand more about the Great Game.

Very Well, if I understand correctly Edward is my Minister of Education, I should hire a professional Mage and Explorer for Ministers of Magic and Dungeons which leaves 4 positions open to natives. Defense, Law, Trade and Transportation, and Health and Wellness. This should allow people from Earth to feel that they are not being overwhelmed by new arrivals. Randolph, I envision the Minister of Defense as more of a position for a professional quartermaster. Someone who can allocate funds, plan logistics, and keep the behind the scenes working. They will not be in charge of tactics or division of troops, that will still be your realm of command. You just need to work with them for pay and appropriations. If they start trying to command or lord it over you, please speak with me directly and I will set them straight.

Randolph looked relieved. The rest of the impromptu meeting was putting together the following adverts for hiring a minister of magic and a minister of dungeons.

Wanted: Long Term Minister of Magic

Minimum Level 50, Any Gender, Race, or Bloodline Welcome

Minimum Length of Contract 5 years with resettlement rights granted at the end of the initial contract.

Contract will be extended in five year increments until 20 years or until one party declines renewal.

Minister must be able to oversee all aspects of magic education, rules and enforcement for a new Great Game kingdom

Salary and Terms Negotiable Based on Experience

Wanted: Long Term Minister of Dungeons

Minimum Level 50, Any Gender, Race, or Bloodline Welcome

Minimum Length of Contract 5 years with resettlement rights granted at the end of the initial contract.

Contract will be extended in five year increments until 20 years or until one party declines renewal.

Minister must be able to oversee all aspects of dungeon and adventurer development, rules and enforcement for a new Great Game kingdom

Salary and Terms Negotiable Based on Experience

If I can fill these positions and the other minister positions in the next few days my kingdom should be in much better shape. I quickly send the adverts into the Great Game and will interview and hire soon. My lunch meeting with the leaders of each city guard and the possible candidates for the other minister positions should be here soon. I ask Jacob to get the smaller banquet hall prepped for the upcoming lunch meeting.

20 Hub and Satellite cities and their guard leadership plus 3 people each is almost enough to overwhelm the smaller banquet hall. As everyone finds their place I stand up and wait until everyone quiets down.

Hello, many of you already know me and some I am meeting for the first time. My name is Mark Anderson and I am the king of Appalachia Kingdom. I know that this is something new to those who were previous residents of Earth. I was the sole survivor of the Great Game beta trials, however due to constraints placed upon me I was unable to prepare the general population for the change over. Instead I prepared myself and supplies to the best of my ability for those who would return from the tutorial. I understand that some of you question my leadership role as king as you have never experienced this type of government before. This meeting is to help alleviate some of your concerns as you have been noted by my guards as leaders in your local area. I will also be interviewing some of you for council positions that need to be filled in my new government. If you choose to be part of the new kingdom, then I encourage you to sign up to be interviewed for a government position in an area where you have experience to help out.

After my opening speech I fielded questions all throughout the working lunch meeting. Most dealt with standard things now such as what were the rules of the new kingdom, why I chose to be king, what gave me the right to be king, how big is the kingdom, what are you doing now and in the future to help people, and my favorite is there another option for government or what if the US government disagrees with what you have done? The final question I knew was coming and I was ready for it.

I chose to create the Kingdom of Appalachia and become a king only after much thought and consideration. I have analyzed and used the help section of the Great Game for almost a year and realized a few important things. Number one, an existing government of elected people is not recognized by the Great Game as having any authority and ownership. This means that they cannot access some of the Great Game functions such as building and protection that I have as king. These functions are what allowed me to hire guards, build sanctuaries and provide shelter and food for you and your friends and family. I originally intended to just create a small kingdom that would only deal locally, but after much deliberation I decided to make it as large as feasible with my resources to help as many people as possible. Please understand that I could have built what essentially would be an impenetrable fortress kingdom and just ignored the rest of the world, but chose to help others instead. Finally, I considered the response of the US government and came to this conclusion. How will I know that the government agent or persons contacting me after such a world-wide upheaval will actually be the people they are saying they are. The majority of our elected leaders are elderly statesmen that have a very low probability of survival for the Great Game tutorial. I do not know if the president is alive, the vice-president, or any others in the line of succession. I do know that even if they are they would not have the resources to help out like I do. I do not agree with what the Great Game has done, but we have to live the consequences. The reality is the Great Game rewards and encourages centralized rule. I am trying to be fair by setting up a council of ministers and others that will run the day to day operations of a kingdom but ultimately I have to be in charge in order to get the perks that are necessary to help myself, my family, and my friends survive.

I could see that this speech alleviated some of the looks I had been getting from various people. After a long lunch I started interviewing those that wished to help out. By the end of the day I had my choices for the initial 4 Earth ministers for the kingdom. While interviewing for the positions I had the candidates under the influence of the gem of truth. With the huge level gap between us I was easily able to notice when there answers varied from the truth. This allowed me to dismiss several candidates that looked good for their mistruths in answering. In the end I hired on a 3 month temporary basis the following people to be on the Ministers council.

Fred Jones a former major in the National Guard would be my new Minister of Defense. He completed Level two of the tutorial and has had the necessary experience as a quartermaster in the military to work well with my new kingdoms guards.

Alan Regrisso was an immigrant who used to live in Charleston SC who had put himself through law school and was a circuit court judge. He would be my new Minister of Law. I felt that with his history with both the US court system and the judicial system of his former country he might be more flexible in helping set up and implement new laws for a new world.

Stephanie Landers was a unique individual. The best way I can describe here is as a former trucker and survivalist. She was intimately familiar with transportation and the area all over the East Coast from her trucking experience and with her survivalist tendencies would have a good grasp on what was necessary now. Luxuries could wait until survival was secured. She would be my Minister of Trade and Transportation.

Finally, I chose my Minister of Health and Wellness from Havana Cuba, Lucinda Gutierrez. She was a practicing general doctor and had worked under some impressive restrictions. I felt she would have the flexibility to help design a new health care system in my new kingdom.

Defense, Law, Trade and Transportation, and Health and Wellness, and Education Minister positions were now filled. Starting tomorrow I would interview for the positions of Minister of Magic and Minister of Dungeons. The initial reports out of the sanctuaries that I had built were peoples grief and acceptance of something outside of their control. No real challenges to authority were made and most cities cited large influxes of people from outside the sanctuary. Luckily there were only a few reports of human on human violence and even fewer reports of monster attacks, but there were some.

The orphans that were in stasis were teleported in front of the headquarters of the guard units in every city. From what the care takers could gather from the children they remember nothing about being gone for a week and most just want their parents. This is one task I am selfishly glad I do not have to deal with personally. It must be heartrending to have to tell the children that their parents are not able to come back. I will make a personal visit later and try and boost morale, but I believe I would serve no good purpose at this time interrupting what must be a tough transition for these kids.

24 hours has passed and the guards report very few people not selecting to become citizens. Those that knew they were not going to stay vanished in a teleportation haze and I have no idea where they were transported. Now that citizenship and most of my council is in place I need to select my perks as Planetary Leader. Out of the 15 perks that were listed several have peaked my interest and the list as a whole has solidified some of my ideas about what the Great Game competition is actually about. From what I can tell the Great Game competition pits various Great Game worlds against each other in a bid to find the strongest or best competitor.

Why it does this I have no idea. However, if my guess is correct worlds can invade and rule over others (the invasion and immunity perks). Since we get those for free this time I need to focus on other things that could only help us become stronger. The three perks I think will do Earth the most good in both the short term and long term are #1 Universal Language, #2 One Year Increased Experience, and #8 Tier 2 Level Cap.

The universal language should break down any communication barriers for the entire world allowing us to hopefully in the future pull together and work as one people. The one year increased experience will benefit everyone on the Earth and allow them to reach a higher level more quickly allowing them to improve and provide for their own safety and well being. Last the Tier 2 level Cap. I must be getting pretty close to the level cap, which I bet is 100, and the ability to exceed that as a new Planetary Leader I think will be a great advantage in the next competition. I earned the perk of having no limits, but no one else has it so I need to get this perk to make sure the world can keep progressing smoothly.

Some people will think that I am being selfish for not choosing the protection from natural and monster related disasters or the world resurrection point, but I have some pretty good reasons to avoid those at first. If we never experience monsters or other disasters how are we to grow and get the experience we need to survive in the future. I will admit the resurrection point for world natives was tempting, but a couple of things held me back from selecting it.

It could cause carelessness.

It could be camped by a group that would then dominate anyone who needed to resurrect.

The other choices will help everyone improve better quicker.

I have the suspicion but no one can verify it that when I participate in the Great Game competition I will be competing for more World Level Perks. That is the only thing that makes sense as it has various things like part 1 of 5 for world teleportation grid. This implies that there is a way to earn world level perks in the future. Either by conquering other worlds (the invasion perks) or by getting it as a reward.

This realization to me means that I need to quickly shift my focus from management of my kingdom to becoming as strong as possible as quick as possible. I need to be able to do well in the next Great Game competition in order to earn as many of these world level perks as I can. This should keep the Earth protected for longer and allow for our growth so the Earth can start protecting itself. I assume after reaching a certain point in level development that the attractiveness of invasion starts to fade for other worlds and societies.

The next day flew by as I helped to end disputes and set up more infrastructure as needed. I also managed somehow to interview and select my final two ministers for the ruling council. After only 3 interviews I was able to easily select my Minister of Magic. A level 55 mage of the Vampire Noble heritage named Baron Grefantle. This was his actual name and not his noble rank. This name made me want to indulge my inner third grade child and instantly make him a baron in nobility. Then everyone would have to call him Baron Baron. I was able to resist but it is something to giggle about in the future. I did clear up many misconceptions that we had on Earth about Vampires without I hope being offensive. First they can exist in sunlight (no they do not sparkle) but they suffer a penalty to their strength. They are less focused and are about as strong as a level 1 human. At night they get a bonus to their strength and mental acuity. They are able to see in low light and can consume blood for a quick boost to abilities but it does not last long. They also have the racial ability to sense living things within a certain range. This range extends as they get older and stronger.

My Minister of Dungeons was the first person of Draconian Heritage that I have seen since changing my bloodline. She looked normal or at least what I would have considered normal before the Great Game except for a faint shimmer of green and white coloration on her bare arms. Her name was Anna Cloudkin and she identified as a mix between and Earth and Sky dragon. At level 60 she explained that she was still young for someone with draconic heritage and needed to find a place to set down roots to help her grow. I learned that as time and power levels increase the abilities we receive from our draconic heritage increase. Also the stronger a bloodline is the more features of the original creature/monster are displayed. For instance, the horns on my head indicated a very powerful bloodline for my lower level.

Anna had a vast experience with dungeons and leveling through the Adventurers guild and will make a great Minister of Dungeons. However, her knowledge on draconic bloodlines was what cinched her the spot for the Minister position. The most interesting thing I learned from the brief time of questioning her was that when I passed Level 100 and rose into the second tier I would gain a partial transformation ability and would be able to fly. This was something to look forward to and also explained the Tier 2 level cap. I am glad I selected this option as my growth would stagnate without it.

Chapter 39: Free at Last

It took a month but the kingdom is finally starting to run itself without my personal interference or need to oversee minor things. In this last month we have had several refugees come in from the surrounding areas. This has actually helped stabilize the kingdom. After I granted them citizenship after a waiting period the stories they told of how hard it was to survive on their own really got rid of any dissension among the populace. There are still several of what I would call entitled people who demand that I should be doing more. However, the number is not large.

It seems like the Great Game tutorial weeded out most of what I would consider useless people. The children in the orphanages are starting to adjust. My family and friends are more accepting of the new reality and discovering and working in new areas to help out the kingdom. The Guard forces have even started recruiting. My military leadership group tells me that we should be able to expand the kingdom to help more people after about 6 more months. Each guard recruiting group needs about 3 months of training and with two classes of new guards we should have enough guards to add 2 new satellite cities to each of the Hub areas for a total of 12 new cities that could help people. The guards are training in dungeons and are also looting and delivering as much of the local areas money for conversion as possible before the winter solstice when that revenue stream will end.

The Explorers guild has discovered several mines that can be exploited in the kingdom. The kingdom either buys the location from the explorer or lets the person discovering the mine develop it. The Minister of Trade and Transportation intends to give those that develop the mines a tax cut for the first year to encourage development. If they discover and develop a mine on their own, then the developers retain ownership and only have to pay the tax. I hope this will develop into a solid revenue stream until we can start developing trade with either the Great Game or with other developed areas.

We have heard reports of other enclaves outside of our kingdom. However, they sound more like bandit kingdoms where might makes right and there are no guaranteed freedoms. There were a few independent operators that tried to move in to the kingdom and establish a camp but they were either absorbed into the kingdom if they had good intentions or were dealt with severely if they were bandits. I am going to have to deal with these other kingdoms soon and either install a leader that is at least half way decent or just absorb them into the kingdom. My forces are practically unbeatable at the moment. Their levels are higher than the average person of Earth and are very organized. So if we need to deal with places that are going to cause problems it needs to be before they are able to build up their own forces.

However, the most important thing to happen after this month is that I have been given permission by the council to take a week to explore and dungeon dive. There are no looming problems and I can work on my skills and level. I have been told to my relief that dungeons will never be more than twice the level cap of a planet except for bloodline dungeons. Speaking of which, many of my guards have gone through the local bloodline dungeon and picked up some useful but lower level bloodlines to help them out. Not many try for more exotic bloodlines like I did because of the high death rate. It seems that it is rare to have a bloodline dungeon and even rarer for people to be given access to it without an exorbitant fee.

I have decided that as long as a person is employed by the kingdom there will be no fee to use dungeons, but there will be a tax on the goods they bring out. The bloodline dungeon itself will be reserved for the guards of the kingdom and those that have earned a special reward from me or the council. My own daughter is going to try for a bloodline once she hits level 25. Why does she get to try? It is good to be king, a little nepotism as long as it does no harm does not seem so bad.

I have also decided to hold off on the royalty program until at least 6 months have passed. I want people to have contributed and know that they have earned a position of responsibility. I am keeping track with the help of the Ministers people of potential that I can slot into leadership roles in the future. Enough of this, I need to get out of here and try a few dungeons that have been discovered.

My 1 week trip needs to be packed as full as I can make it to make full use of the time. Who knows when I will be able to have another break. The first day will be two level 25 dungeons to get back into the groove of things and also to help level up my baby dragons. Day two and three will be a Level 50 Goblin/Orc dungeon discovered near Atlanta, day four and five will be a level 50 dungeon discovered down in Cuba. The only thing known about that one is that it is water themed. And finally if enough time is available and I feel confident, I just received a report about a level 100 dungeon discovered down south near the Hub City of Jacksonville FL. I have not told anyone about my idea to do that one. My guards and Ministers tend to get a little nervous if I put myself in danger.

Fun and adventure here I come. I use the new city teleport system to access the satellite city of Chattanooga TN and check in with the guard force. After the pleasantries are taken care of I get directions to the local Level 25 dungeon. I chose this dungeon because it is based on everyones favorite monster the slime. Slimes are actually quite difficult to harm without magical damage. Luckily as a quadelementalist I have magic to spare. This is also to train and help level my lovely little dragons. They should easily be able to overwhelm slimes with their breath attacks even if the slimes are higher level.

A quick 20 minute jog later I see the entrance right where the directions said I would. Lets be honest I am still thrilled that I can jog for 20 minutes after my body changes. Plus, my jog today is probably 2-3 times faster than an Olympic athletes pace, I love having these stats. The entrance to the dungeon looks like a natural cave and the dungeon should only have three levels in it. I wonder how fast I can clear this one. This is the first dungeon for my dragons so I should take it slow at first. If they do well we can try and clear it several times for more experience.

The explorers report stated that there are some basic traps, mostly consisting of pit falls filled with slimes, and just a variety of slimes to deal with. I pull out a nice size 8 foot spear to use and have my 4 companions prepare. I will have little Elvira the Air Dragon on my left and Sir Bruce the Fire Dragon on my right, with Esmerelda the Earth dragon and Azure the Water dragon following behind us. We will rotate this formation as we run into different types of slimes and as my little guys and gals get tired. I decided to go with the spear because it will allow me tap ahead for traps and also allow me penetration into a slimes body without risk of getting close to their dissolving acids. The spear is made of high quality steel and has been reinforced with magic runes for durability and acid resistance.

As my little party enters into the slime dungeon I use my elemental magic to create a small fireball above my head. Just enough to create a low level light. My eyesight and those of my dragons is powerful enough in low light conditions to see normally in this low light situation. I do not want a bright light that would attract more attention just in case something else has moved into the dungeon or in case something has changed. With as many strange things that have happened to me I am trying to be prepared in the best way possible.

In the low light I can see the first target. It looks like a standard green slime. From the information I got green slimes are only acidic and have no special abilities of weaknesses. They are resistant to physical damage like most slimes and are weak to the element of fire. If you do not have magic than the approved method of dealing with a green slime is to pierce it enough that it can no longer maintain its shape and then destroy the core or just destroy or damage the core directly. Hopefully, this should be an easy first kill.

I signal to Bruce and try to demonstrate by pantomime what I want him to do. He peers at me with a look that resembled the exasperated look my daughter used to give me during her early teenage years. The one that somehow conveys exasperation and disbelief that you are related or with this person. Bruce walks up to the slime and exhales a wonderfully pinpoint flame right at the slime. In fact, it almost looks like a stream of fire from a military flamethrower more than the fantasy cone of fire I expected.

The slime recoils and a very unpleasant smell starts to permeate the air. Wow cooked slime smells worse than burning hair, who knew? I tell Bruce to finish the job and rather than shoot it with another stream of fire Bruce jumps on the quivering slime and claws it open until he cracks a darker spot which must be the core. Once the core is cracked there is no more movement from the slime. I quickly check Bruce to make sure that the parts of the slime that did get on him when he clawed it were not going to eat through his scales. He appears to be fine. It looks like this level of slimes acid is not strong enough to eat through baby dragon scales. That is good news and provides a little more safety for my little crew of slime killers.

I rotate Bruce to the back and move Azure up to the front. Next up will be Elvira for a single slime kill. I will kill anything greater than 1 until I have rotated the whole crew a couple of times just to be safe and make sure they will not get overwhelmed. This idea works out well and in the next 15-20 minutes we have killed a total of 9 more slimes. Everyone has had at least 2 personal kills. Esmerelda is up for her turn of single slime kill time when Bruce seems to lose his patience.

There are three different slimes in front. I am about to attack two and separate them so Esmerelda can get her third individual kill when Bruce inhales deeply and breathes out what can only be described as a flame wall that bisects all three slimes. He and Esmerelda than jump at the three slimes and begin to tear them to shreds. Alright I can take a hint. Maybe I am being a little too cautious with this. I just wanted my new babies to be safe.

I make the announcements that each dragon needs to pair up with a partner to be safe and as long as they stay in sound range they can explore on their own. However, I try and make it very clear that if they run into something unusual or different they are to come back and get me first. They can still try and kill what they find, but I want to be present on new monsters both for safety and so I can learn what everything does and looks like.

For the next two hours all I did was follow the youngsters around and clean up after them. I picked up the coins and other loot that dropped and threw it in my inventory. I would distribute it to my little dragons when we got home and I arranged a better place to make into their lair. Currently they are still small enough that they have just been staying in large cushioned dog beds in my room at the castle. However, with possessions of their own and what I hope will be a large growth spurt during this trip that will no longer be a very good idea.

After my little dragons two hour rampage we were outside what was supposed to be the final cavern in this dungeon. Inside was supposed to be a giant slime as the end boss of the dungeon. Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts would probably classify it as a Gelatinous Cube. Thinking about this for a second, I wondered how did role playing games get so many of the creatures and monsters correct. They may be called by a different name or look slightly different, but there is an amazing correlation between what has happened with the change over and D & D. I wonder if it was some subtle Great Game thing to help prepare us as a planet. Although I have rarely if ever seen the Great Game do subtle. Oh well, enough wool gathering time to end this dungeon.

I tell my dragons what to expect. I realize that they might not understand the exact words I am saying, but they seem to recognize my general thoughts and interpret my hand gestures just fine. If what I have learned about them is correct eventually they will level up enough that they will gain true sentience. Thus if I practice and teach them early then I should see better results with my little ones later. I decide that all of us should enter this last cave together and try and finish off the boss quickly. We can then decide to either leave and repeat the dungeon or to move on to the next.

As we enter the cavern I can see a very large mass of shiny orange slime against the far wall. In between my group and the giant slime are a variety of smaller slimes that my dragons have already dealt with throughout the dungeon exploration. I signal to the dragon group that they should take care of the small slimes while I watch and hold off the large one until they are ready to deal with it together. With great abandon 4 different breath weapons start to shoot out. Azures water jet is the most precise of the group, after which is Barons flamethrower strike. Now I was not really impressed with Azures water jet until I realized it was just like those videos I used to watch about how a strong jet of water can cut through steel. This jet of water is just like that. It rips through slimes and even leaves gouges in the rock when he is this small. I can hardly wait until he grows up to see how powerful it gets.

The ladies of the group have equally powerful breath weapons, but they are more designed as area of effect weapons and are not as precise as my boys. Esmerelda the Earth dragon releases what looks like a sandstorm. In reality after I checked it carefully it is very small but sharp crystals that shred anything it touches. I imagine when she grows up either this breath weapon will get larger crystals or the crystals themselves will get stronger and faster. Either way it should be physically devastating to anything that might be in the path of it. Elvira my little air queen actually shoots out lightning bolts. Well actually it is a mass of what looks like static electricity at this point, but I assume it will become a full fledged lightning bolt eventually. All I do know is that it stuns and partially cooks whatever is inside of its range.

As per their normal method of fighting each little dragon releases a single breath and then follows it up with physical attacks from their claws. I assume that if it was something that tasted or smelled better they would also bite, but with slimes I have not seen them bite once. As this is going on I am keeping an eye on the big slime, but for some reason it is staying put against the far wall. This is not the behavior I expected or that was reported. Something is definitely different, my weird luck seems to be kicking in. Whether it is good or bad luck I guess we will soon find out.

A NOTE FROM TENQUI

This is a response I gave Genisy69. He was what every author wants, honest and helpful, without being mean spirited. I thought it might help some of you understand where I am coming from. If not then just skip and go to the story.

That is a fair critique. I have a very difficult time writing many of the scenes that play out in my head. The world is much richer than what I have been able to get out as a story. Starting with Arc 3 which is scheduled to be released by the end of October I have tried to flesh out the MC and a few other characters more. Getting them to interact more and adding some detail. However, that slows my writing pace as I am not used to it.

Like I said easy to do in my head, but transposing the ideas to paper is not as easy as it sounds. I hope I can improve it in the future, but I am stuck between two choices here. Do I continue and finish up the story and then go back and rewrite, which I acknowledge it seriously needs. Or do I stop writing to go back and improve it now and hope that in the future people will give it another chance. I realized this several chapters ago and I decided to continue.

I am trying to improve slowly as I write, but I have never written under a deadline before like I am now to have the release schedule I do. The last thing I want is to just stop. I want and need to finish this story even if this first draft is not the best.

I will not drop this story and I will finish it. However once it is done, there will be a lengthy rewrite process and very inconsistent updates for the rewrite. I feel it is important to finish what I started first and then go back and polish it up. This will not be a never ending story it has a definite ending at the end of arc 3 which with the release schedule I have now should occur somehwere in January 2018.

Chapter 40: Training Montage (My Dumb Luck)

Soon all of the little slimes had been dealt with. My little ones came back to my side and we all stared at the giant slime. Why was it just staying in one place? I signal everyone to stay back as I take a pistol crossbow out of my inventory. I do not want them to get caught in the coming explosion. I load an explosive rune enchanted bolt into the pistol crossbow. Why a pistol crossbow and not something larger and more damaging? Mainly I was worried about the strange behavior, I am afraid that something unique and damaging might occur when this slime is finally attacked, so I want to use something smaller that still causes significant damage. Also a gun in this instance might ricochet unpredictably and injure one of us.

I lined up my shot at the darker part of the slime. If I get enough penetration, I might actually one shot kill this and crack its core with the minor explosion this bolt should cause. I fired the pistol crossbow and the arrow sunk into the orange slime only about six inches before making a small explosion. Slime spread out from the impact area and left a rather large dimple in the mass of the giant slime. However, the slime other than jiggling from the mini explosion did not move. Hmmm, is it sick?

I had everyone take another few steps back and put my pistol crossbow away. I took a full size hunting crossbow out and loaded it with the same type of explosion bolt, only this one should be 3 times stronger due to its larger size. I aimed for the same spot I hit earlier and fired the crossbow. This time the bolt embedded itself completely into the giant slime, probably about 2-3 feet and the resulting explosion was many times greater, but the exact same thing happened. A spray of slime and instead of a dimple on the surface there was a large crater that showed an exposed slime core. Now I was getting a little nervous. A giant slime who was not acting right, with an exposed slime core it was not trying to defend. What the heck was going on? I carefully loaded another bolt into the crossbow but did not immediately fire it.

I increased the number of fire orbs above my head by four and sent them out to float around the room. I wanted to inspect this room carefully before I did something else that might trigger a bad event. After 5 minutes of patiently examining by eye and magic the entire room I finally turned my attention back to the giant slime which still had not moved. I had found nothing out of the ordinary, and that made me even more nervous. I had the little ones move out of the cavern of the giant slime and went back to the entrance myself. I was going to take as many precautions as I could and still be able to finish this dungeon. I raised a small stone wall with my Earth magic and knelt behind it and finally took aim at the same spot I had hit two times previously.

With the giant slimes core basically exposed as long as I was close to it with this shot the resulting explosion from the crossbow bolt should destroy the core. I fired the crossbow and hit the giant slime right next to its core. As fast as I could I ducked down and waited. I heard the explosion and then nothing. I carefully raised my head above the barrier and looked at where the slime used to be. The entire slime had collapsed and spread out onto the floor. Ok that looked normal for a defeated slime. I then noticed that the giant slime had actually wedged itself into what looked like an alcove of the cave wall. The alcove was covered in shiny orange slime that suspiciously was not dripping at all.

Something was screwy with that area. It should be dripping slime like everywhere else that was hit with the exploding goo, but it looked like the slime was actually frozen to the wall. Interesting, frozen to the wall, I picked up a rock and threw it at the mass of slime still attached to the alcove walls and watched it strike the slime and freeze into place. It must be a trap. The giant slime must have activated a magic trap and was stuck to the wall the entire time I was shooting at it. What was the trap guarding though?

I called back my dragon crew and told them to avoid the area with the trap. I first cleaned up the area and collected the loot drops from the slimes. I opened a small chest on one of the walls and found a minor magically engraved dagger and some semiprecious gems. Pretty standard loot for a smaller dungeon. Then I contemplated the frozen slime wall. Obviously there is something behind this trapped wall, but what is it and do I want to mess with it? Of course I do, who am I kidding, this is just what I need to spice up the trip and relieve some tension. How am I going to do this though and not get caught by the same effect that doomed the slime?

From my experimentation I know that if it is a magic symbol causing the trap effect all I had to do was disrupt or destroy the magic symbol to break the effect. So if I plant some magic explosion devices next to the affected area they should overpower the effect if they are strong enough and break the magic symbol. I use my earth magic to carve a line from five feet away on the wall until it starts to stop. That stopping point is where the effect starts. Now all I need to do is create a hole in the rock with my earth magic, place one of my explosion symbol spheres inside of it, charge it to the maximum, and now retreat.

From behind the barrier I created earlier and with my dragons once again safely out of the way I go ahead and take the MA 12 rifle out of my inventory and carefully aim at the hole containing the magic grenade. I gently squeeze the trigger and the resulting explosion is much larger than I thought. The entire dungeon around me is shaking. I hear a noise above me and look up just in time to see a chunk of rock falling towards me and then blackness.

Some time later I come too with all four dragons looking a little worried and licking my face. Man my head hurts. What is up with my luck? I find an amazing and undiscovered location in a dungeon and finally remember to take safety precautions and I still ended up unconscious. I just think that me and explosions are enemies. Oh well, time to see what I uncovered. After downing a quick restorative potion, I look into the cave chamber where the alcove was and saw a lot of rubble and what looked to be a hole in the wall that led further down. I may have overdone the explosion again, but better too much than not enough in a time of crisis.

I approach the new hole in the wall with my dragons surrounding me and send a small fire orb down the hole so I can see what is there. The fire orb can travel about 25 meters from me until it sputters out and it goes the entire distance before fading. That is a much deeper hole than I was expecting. It is relatively steep but should pose no problem to me. I carefully start down the new passage with my group and after about 100 meters I could see a large metallic grate blocking the way with a sign of some sort next to it. I cautiously approach just close enough to read the sign in the dim light.

Welcome Great Game Player!

"You have discovered a limited instance dungeon. If you choose to enter please take note that all teleportation, communication, and other distance magic to contact or leave the dungeon will cease to function until the dungeon is complete.

Interesting, Help.

Yes.

Can you explain what a limited instance dungeon is?

Yes I can.

Stupid literal game screens.

Help, please explain what a limited instance dungeon is.

A limited instance dungeon is a mobile dungeon that is hidden within another dungeon. Only one group may enter and the dungeon will only remain in place until it is conquered and the one who beat it leaves. At that time it will move and attach itself to another dungeon somewhere in the world.

Help, how powerful is a limited instance dungeon and what level is recommended to conquer it?

Each dungeon is unique and the level needed would depend on several factors, however all instance dungeons range from 2-4 times the level of the dungeon they are attached to.

Alright, that means since the slime dungeon was recorded as a level 25 dungeon, this instance dungeon should be level 50 100. Since I was going to try a level 100 dungeon towards the end of my trip anyway I might as well start one early. I am going to be smart about this though. I will go back outside the slime dungeon and collect the achievements and rewards for both myself and my little dragons and have a good rest before reentering and attempting this instance dungeon. That sounds like a great plan.

A good 12 hours later after a nice night of camping out I checked my little companions.

Name: Elvira Race: Elemental Air Dragon

Level: 21 14% Status: Companion/Pet of Mark Anderson

Name: Esmerelda Race: Elemental Earth Dragon

Level: 20 77% Status: Companion/Pet of Mark Anderson

Name: Azure Race: Elemental Water Dragon

Level: 20 83% Status: Companion/Pet of Mark Anderson

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

Level: 23 33% Status: Companion/Pet of Mark Anderson

As I expected. Each of my little ones has gained quite a bit from just a single dungeon run. They also appear to be about a meter longer this morning versus yesterday. I also notice that my impression of Bruce being a little bit of an experience hog is true. I noticed yesterday that he liked to jump in the other dragons fights which is why he probably out leveled his sisters and brother. I did not reach the next level myself but did pick up a chunk of experience towards the next level. Well, all of us should increase with the limited instance dungeon. I contacted Jacob and told him to let everyone know that I planned on staying at the slime dungeon for at least another day and then headed back inside to where we found the new dungeon.

After clearing out the slimes on the way, I had forgotten that they would respawn, we came to the giant slimes cavern. I looked at my companions and told them to be careful because the giant slime would be mobile today and we needed to defeat it before we entered the new dungeon. As we entered we saw a similar situation as to what we experienced yesterday with the distinct difference of a bright orange, very large, bouncing slime. I quickly decided that until we knew what it could do it would be my opponent. I told the dragons to work on killing all of the surrounding small slimes while I attacked the large one.

My four dragonlings each immediately jumped onto the nearest slime and started ripping it apart while preparing a breath weapon to use on other slimes that were closing in on them. The large slime started moving forward into attack range. I cant let that big bully hurt my little ones. Took out one shotgun from my inventory and checked quickly that it was loaded with the right ammunition. Slugs with fire enchantments. I then lined up a shot and pulled both triggers. With an underwhelming whoosh, air powered guns just dont sound right compared to old explosion/black powder weapons the two slugs lodged deep within the large orange slime and started to release their heat. This was basically trying to cook it from the inside. The slime stopped its movement forward and exuded an arm and then left it on the ground.

It actually was smart enough to send the slugs outside of its body so it would not hurt as much. Well I definitely have its attention now. It is not even acknowledging that their might be other organisms in the room. It started rolling quite fast in my direction immediately crushing 2 out of the dozens of slimes already in place. I quickly reload the shotgun with electric damage buckshot for this round and let it have two more barrels almost at point blank range. That blew a large chunk of its body. That has got to hurt.

The giant slime seems partially paralyzed now due to the electric charge on the buckshot. Time to get out the fire damage spear. I do not want to get to close to a large slime. It would be bad for my reputation and It could possibly just roll over me trapping me underneath its weight. While the large slime is distracted by pain I glance around and take stock of how my little dragons are doing. They are just ripping through everything. I guess I am the slow one in this family, time to step it up a notch.

I jump forward and thrust towards the darker spot in the slime, aiming directly for the core. With my strength and magic the result was anticlimactic. I did not pierce the core, I still need to work on my aim a bit with the spear, but as soon as I pierced the slimes outer covering I channeled my mana through the spear and activated the fire rune in the spear. The giant slime was cooked completely destroying it and rendering it into ashes almost instantaneously. There is a reason for levels and the disparity between them is difficult to overcome for non-sentient monsters.

Thinking about sentience, I redouble my determination to practice more with my hand to hand weapons. I have discovered that the majority of early success with my projectile weapons was based on surprise and non-sentience. The more sentient monsters and other people if they become enemies I have learned through my military council tend to have defenses against projectiles. The spell and magic rune to protect yourself from projectiles is ridiculously simple once you learn it. This means that projectile weapons are generally only good for distractions, surprise damage, and against non-sentient monsters.

It seems that my success in the bloodlines dungeon was about 75% luck and the rest was a combination of surprise against the dragons and the use of multiple types of elemental damage which reduces their protections. Usually the monsters that I killed like the Lich, Witch Doctor, Dragons, and others have protections up once they know something is in the area. I got lucky in surprising them and damaging them before they activated their protections. I was a little bit humbled when I discovered this. It seems that my current level and situation is due more to dumb luck than skill. This does not mean that projectile weapons such as my air guns and bows are useless, just that they usually only do damage from surprise or after overwhelming a defense. My military commanders say that they are also essential as a distraction. If you are concentrating on protecting yourself from projectiles you are less likely to notice other things on the battlefield.

When I first learned this it explained so much to me. I always wondered why if there was magic available people used what we on Earth would consider primitive weapons. It turns out, that protecting from up close slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning damage is much more difficult than protection from projectiles. No one really understands why the difficulty exists and they usually just chalk it up to the Great Game wants it that way. Now that I know that I cannot rely on what I thought was my overwhelming advantage in firepower, but in reality was my surprise and trap making ability, I resolved to improve my skills.

My little ones finished cleaning up the rest of the slimes and I took the time to loot and check the area. The chest was closed again and yielded a set of bracers of minor deflection and some more semi-precious gems. Now that the original dungeon is complete it is time to start my adventure into the limited instance dungeon. As I enter the alcove that I discovered yesterday with my dragonlings I received a Great Game message.

Welcome to the limited instance dungeon Arachnid Warrens. All teleportation and communication magic has been disabled until you conquer the dungeon. The Arachnid Warrens are a level 100 limited instance dungeon. Remember that you have committed to finishing this dungeon by entering and will not be able to leave until it is complete.

Wait I did no such thing. I did not make that commitment. It was never mentioned in the help yesterday that I would not be able to leave until it was conquered. Not to mention Arachnid Warrens, I hate spiders, I have changed my mind. When I turn around to leave I notice that the exit is now non-existent and only a smooth wall remains. Yep, my luck is functioning quite well. I find something extraordinary, get a little greedy and then have to suffer for it. At least this time I am not alone and have my little guys with me. Although I will have to be careful on what they fight until they level up a bit more. The Great Game message did say that this was a level 100 limited instance dungeon.