Chương 32: Strutting like a Peacock.

The clearing with the wildskill lay empty, the flux completely drained from the surroundings.

"Someone picked up the wildskill." Dominic observed.

"Couldn't it have just been an animal or something?" Nythera asked. Hugh shook his head "one does not randomly take a wildskill. Either a fluxspawn or a person did this." Who the Hel is venturing through these passes? I wasn't aware of any land-based trade. The now familiar passes proved to be no problem, they rapidly progressed through one valley and down into the next.

"I wish we could go down new routes, no point in mapping this twice." Shelly grumbled. Dominic snorted "take those yourself, we don't have time to dally." Before long, they reached the familiar clearing in front of the Quartz dungeon. Ludwig's corpse was gone. Ropes and all. Kennick scaled the sheer rock like it was a set of well-built stairs, examining for any sign.

"Something cut the rope, there's no signs of any markings, a fluxspawn did not do this." he reported. What is that? She squinted up at the cliff face. Dark flux seemed to cling to the rock wall. Unmoving. Oswin and Shelly watched over their gear as the team descended into the dungeon.

"A quick dungeon run and then we turn back to Grandport. Nythera, you're responsible for blasting the guardians to smithereens." Dominic instructed. The dungeon run turned into more of a dungeon blitz, Nythera's cannon rang with thunder as guardian after guardian was blown to bits. No sacred guardian or hidden chambers were discovered and the Giant quartz stalactite on the ceiling refused to budge this time.

"That weapon is so unfair, if you weren't the lord I would throttle you until you told me how you got that class" Hugh groaned. Hugh and Kennick lured guardians and enemies directly into her cannon's trajectory, she barely even had to aim. They collected the loot to pass onto Ludwig's family. Level Acquired! x 9 Flux Sight (lvl 7>8) Giant-Slayer (lvl 8>9) That's… actually pretty good, at this rate I'm going to cap out my skills well before I reach the first class ascension, well most of them anyways.

She took one look at the rest of her skills. Manufactorium (lvl 1) Ordnance-smith (lvl 1) Shellwright (lvl 1) Hopefully Lance has that new workshop ready for me when I get back. Three dead-weight skills is not good. Free-stats: 45 She hesitated. I really really want more flux… Well, I'm sure it'll be just fine, it's only 45 points after all.

She hummed a tune, watching her flux pool skyrocket once again Flux: 8, 553/12, 296 Class Level Threshold Reached: Please select a subskill: Explosion Resistance: For every level, gain 1% resistance to damage inflicted by explosions. Heat Resistance: For every level, gain 1% resistance to damage inflicted by heat. Quick Swivel: For every level, gain 2% faster swivel speed on all artillery. These are all pretty useful. Explosion resistance on higher levels could let me ignore my own cannon fire…

but it doesn't say anything about shrapnel, and that's honestly more dangerous than the explosions. Could I alter it to include shrapnel? maybe…

"And then there's heat resistance, that would let me withstand the inside of Boxy better… hmm". Nythera muttered out loud.

"Lastly we got Quick Swivel, 2% is a lot, at high levels my cannons could move almost instantly…"

"Child, take heat resistance, you will need it." Talvik's advice came ringing in her ears.

"But Quick Swivel is so good, if I can get reload rate down, I could switch to new targets instantly…" she whined. She selected Heat Resistance. He's probably right… From open-clearing to deep woods, they trekked on, following the river straight for Mirrorwake. With less food and no-booze they made far better time than their initial journey. Nythera looked over the wide, meandering current.

"Has anyone explored up this river?" she asked no one in particular. Dominic shook his head.

"The interior gets incredibly dangerous, there's almost certainly several dungeons spewing fluxspawn overloads out there." he explained.

"But that ain't all, miss Lord have you heard of the dragon's keep?" Hugh asked, his voice going quiet. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. She looked at him with one eyebrow cocked in confusion.

"They say, in the castle at the center of the island, lives a dragon, a terrible monster from a high level dungeon. That dragon destroyed the people here before… and will destroy us next!" Hugh finished his tale with a shout. She wasn't phased.

"That ain't nothing but a kid's tale, if the men around here had balls we would already be at that palace. They're afraid is all" Oswin interjected.

"Why don't you go check it out then?" Hugh asked with a snort.

"I heard the same thing too, that legend has been around since before I was born. I think Hugh is right." Shelly said.

"That actually kind of makes sense." Nythera mused out loud "After all the strata ten dungeon probably has some really nasty creatures in it.".

"What" Dominic and Kennick both said, snapping to face her.

"That… the strata ten dungeon probably has some really nasty creatures?" She answered.

"Tier ten dungeons exist?" Dominic said dumbfounded "and the fucking thing is on Myrraval? Really?" Dominic sat down on a boulder and stopped the party.

"Why's it such a big deal? I don't think it's anywhere near us. The mayors seemed surprised too, but they didn't do shit." Nythera recalled.

"My mum told me the highest you could go was seven." Hugh said, leaning on his towershield.

"I thought nine was the highest, the old men from Greymere always said it was." Dominic replied. After a few minutes, Dominic and Hugh managed to collect themselves enough that they could continue trekking through the woods. They made good time back to Mirrorwake. Hugh ran up to the shoreline and poised his hands by his mouth and bellowed "WE HAVE ARRIVED." into the fog, a stupid grin painted his face.

"AHOY!" Echoed back to them from across the lake. Before long, a familiar ship passed through the mists, pulling up to the shoreline.

"I've been waiting long enough, let's get underway, my wife ain't going to be too happy about this." The sailor grumbled. The ship visibly tilted as Hugh jumped aboard, rocking violently from side to side. He seriously lugged that stuff all the way from the quartz dungeon? Delver's are all the same, money money money. Then she grinned sheepishly. My interest in money is purely…. Recreational, not like them. They drifted down the river, catching speed from the wind rolling off the mountain.

As the fog cleared, the docks of Halsbury came into view. Pulling up to the docks, Oswin jumped out "I need to go report to Lance about what we saw in the mines… but before that I need to consult some texts, something didn't add up about what we saw. I'll see ya kiddos later." He strode off. Shelly jumped off as well.

"I realized something. I am too weak to explore these islands, map-making isn't the only skill the matters, if I can't even protect myself, how can I protect my maps? I'll be back to Grandport after I've talked with Leo." She said, striding off with her overstuffed backpack. The sun drifted down towards the horizon as they pulled into Grandport docks to many cheers.

"The little miss lord is back!". A sailor called out. Nythera strode down the gangplank.

"How'd the dungeon go?", "You give Reachman what he deserved?", and "Get anything good from the new dungeon?" She was greeted with a small throng of curious sailors. What? Did Lance go around telling the entire town exactly what we were doing? These fucking sailors are too damn curious.

"I'll tell y'all later, at the tavern, I've got places to be, I'm a very important person now, you know?" She deflected and turned around, preparing to escape. A young man stood right in her path, glaring at her with a condescending smirk on his face. He had fluffy black hair and emerald eyes. Garbed in what appeared to be a military uniform, with a saber at his hip, he stood silently. Ok mr fancy, just gonna get right past you.

"Oh sorry" Nythera said, stumbling as she tried to avoid collision. And bumped right into him.

"No, I don't think you are." He said.

"I'm sorry, what?" she stared at him in confusion.

"You and I need to have a word. Now." he replied.

"Who are you? I'm really busy, I don't have time to mess around here." She complained.

"I am Rowen Stormbridge, son of Edric Stormbridge, heir to the Stormbridge Estate." He proclaimed. She squinted. Is he… strutting? Like some bird? A giggle tried to escape.

"You unjustly seized the domain core of Myrraval, which rightfully belonged to my father. As such, I will be accompanying you from now on to ensure you do not abuse your ill-gotten powers." He stated.

"Look, I'm really busy and I need to go find Lance, I don't have time to play games right now." She said. This guy is really fucking irritating.

"I will take you to Lance, follow me." He said, turning on a dime and striding straight into the town. Well if mr. bright and cheerful here knows where Lance is this could save me a lot of time.

"Keep up, you do not have time to waste, we have a lot to accomplish and very little time with which to do so." He said, not looking at her once. We? Lance and Noah came into view when they turned the corner, standing before a wrecked house that was little more than charred remains.

"Hey! Lance! I'm back!." Nythera shouted, walking in front of Rowen the Rude.

"Ah, our Lord is home, nice to see. I trust your trip was very fruitful? I haven't gotten a report from Dominic yet." Lance replied. Lance too? Am I just "the lord" now? Can I demand free food? Booze?

"Yes, Reachman has been dealt with and I got a lot of levels." Nythera answered.

"And the ruins?" Lance pressed.

"That's not something we should discuss right now, Oswin will report to you later with more details." Nythera looked away. Lance's eyes were heavy with curiosity, but she just ignored him. And lets deflect away from this topic.

"Anyways, have you built my workshop? I want to get to work as soon as possible." she said.

"Ah yes, we have a fine workshop for you, if you can keep people from trying to give you free shit maybe you can get some work done, Milord." Lance gave a sweeping bow and grinned. If they keep playing this game I am going to make them suffer for it.

"Come on, we do not have all day. You are wasting daylight." A petulant voice rose up. This shit head…

"Alright lad, don't you worry a thing, we'll be heading there in a minute." Lance shushed him.

"Go report to your father, you found the lord, she isn't going anywhere.". He scowled, swiveled on a dime with his cape fluttering in the wind and strode off. They watched, ensuring he turned the corner before speaking.

"Good luck, Miss Lord, that one's gonna be a tough one. Edric has been searching for the domain core since he landed here, over forty years ago.". Lance explained.

"They're the closest thing we have to nobles, exiled nobility from Greymere, but they do well by the people, try to give him a chance.". Do I have to? He's such a brat, can't I just order them to shut up and be done with it.

"Fine" she said. Lance walked off down the street.

"Come on, let's go." Noah gave her a nod and she ran to catch up. Before long they reached a familiar factory. The ballista factory… wasn't it completely full of those crazy cultists last time? Why are we here? Lance led them deeper into the factory, past the chambers where ballistas were being assembled and bolts built. The factory was incredibly busy, she saw at least half a dozen ballistas in finished or near-finished states and one was being rolled out. A wide open room greeted her.

A full forge with a bellowing furnace. A corner lay full of metal scraps and tools lined the walls.

"Rowen is fast, I reckon he'll be back here in half an hour, use him to get supplies. I'll keep Leo off youri back for the time being, not sure his… temperament is suitable to this work" Lance said and ducked out. Nythera scanned over her new workshop. Her factory of death.

"This'll do I suppose" she muttered. Time to get to work, I'm going to blow Damien's shitty fleet out of the water before he even lands.