The Dungeon Without a System

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Unaligned Ship The Taste of Adventure, The Kalenic Sea

One Week after the Invasion

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Davad Medean, the lawful lord of Medea Island, fumed impotently in his quarters. It hadn't taken them long to exile him, in the end. Within a few days, they forced him aboard a ship distinctly Bahrain in make, the crew supposedly composed of those who did not wish to stay on an island ruled by a dungeon. He remembered his rage as the island he was meant to rule disappeared over the horizon.

From what a sailor he'd asked had said, the ships sent to retrieve the island's displaced population left days before them, and they'd already received word that they were returning. Davad had no doubt they spun some tall tale of the invasion being beaten back, despite the odds. The dungeon had some cunning, Davad had to admit. If he'd been sent first, given his father the true account of the invasion and his treatment, those citizens wouldn't have been allowed to return.

Just thinking of the dungeon, Davad felt his rage burn brighter. That Thing had taken everything from him! His mansion, his land, his people, his WIFE! That freakish monster, The Voice, had claimed the woman had chosen to remain. Hah! As if that were possible. He was her husband! She carried his child! That she wasn't by his side was the dungeon's fault!

Another indignity he endured.

That the ship neared Port Laviet was little consolation. He was returning to his childhood home to beg his father to... do what? He slumped on his cot. The dungeon had fought off an enormous fleet of ships, one intended to invade and occupy the Phenoc Kingdom! What would his father's fleet do? Die quickly?

At the very least, he could act to oppose the dungeon's little Dominion. Davad knew his father would be just as shocked and angry as he was.

As they pulled into port, a plan began to form. Yes, Davad would have his revenge.

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The Dungeons, Fortified Mansion, Atlantis

Two Weeks after the Invasion

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Izza Adar, the High Archon of Fire, one of the most powerful mages in the world, hadn't felt this weak in decades. The collar that rested around his neck and the bands around his wrists and ankles drained him completely. He prided himself on his control, fire being a hazardous element to wield, but it was all for naught when he had no mana to control. Every mote of energy he could use, the lake of mana in his core... gone. Dry, like the most barren wasteland canyons.

He couldn't even gather more from the air around him; the bands of enchanted metal produced some kind of barrier that repelled mana. At least, that was what little he could discern before his mana was fully drained. He hadn't been this blind since his days as a mere Ruby. Everyone around him in court had seemed so much more powerful back then. His master, may the man find peace in the afterlife, seemed insurmountable to the young boy he once was.

But yet, here he sat. In a dungeon, but thankfully not the dungeon. The difference was notable.

Twice a day, Izza was delivered food. Crab meat with a side of cut fruit. It was a far cry from the slop and gruel he'd half-expected, and he was thankful for that. The food was mana-heavy, but the collar and bands quickly stripped that away.

There was no sunlight, but the food deliveries were regular enough to tell time. Izza'd been in this cell for two weeks when something finally happened. Two guards escorted him out. One was a human, though he was a guilder from the glowing eyes that watched Izza's every move. The other was a muscled lizardman, barely short enough to fit in the halls. The creature had to duck through doorways, which Izza found entertaining.

He contemplated taking advantage and attempting an escape but quickly dismissed the idea. He wouldn't get far with these bands and no visible way to open them.

They soon entered a throne room. It was orders of magnitude smaller and less decadent than the Bahrain Emperor's, but he found the being sitting on the throne far more interesting. The Voice of The Creator sat upon that glimmering black stone chair, one leg crossed over the other and glowing rainbow wings curled up behind her. The scaled imitation-human looked down at him as the guards pushed him to his knees, her slitted eyes glimmering with a cyclical rainbow light.

"Izza Adar, High Archon of Fire, Advisor to the Bahrain Emperor," the Voice intoned, and Izza narrowed his eyes at her. She was mocking him, repeating his own introduction back to him. "You are guilty twice over of invading our home. Not just that, but when given multiple opportunities to give up, leave, or find an easier target, you stubbornly insisted on this suicide mission." The Voice shook her head and was silent for a few beats, perhaps waiting to see if Izza would speak. He did not. He had nothing to say.

"You did have other options," The Voice continued. "You could have returned home for reinforcements or left us alone entirely. With the Phenoc Kingdom crumbling, you could have invaded the mainland directly. Facing the armies of individual duchies would surely have been easier, and an overall more sensible option after your first attack on us failed." He was silent.

"Thus, you were compelled to attack us. Although, compelled is perhaps the wrong word." The Voice mused, raising a clawed hand to rest her chin upon. "But by who? The obvious answer is your emperor, but surely he would have preferred you continue with the invasion rather than waste troops on an unnecessary pit stop. The other option? The assassin that killed the Phenoc King and his family." Her tone quickly changed from musing to accusing, and the court in attendance around the room burst into gossiping whispers.

How did she know?!

Izza controlled himself. He could not let his reaction show.

A single sweat drop beaded down his face, and The Voice smirked.

"Only one person on the planet would go to such lengths to see the Creator and this island destroyed. Plaised, the one who put a bounty on Him so large it would beggar him if completed. Given what we've been told of the man, selling out his kingdom for a chance to enact his revenge seems likely. Am I wrong?"

Izza said nothing, but he must have given something away as the monster nodded and smiled.

"Take him away. He is to be executed at dawn."

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The Creator, Atlantis, The Kalenic Sea

Three Weeks after the Invasion

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I let myself relax along with Kata as she finished the last sheet of paperwork. We'd finally done it! The Scaleborn reached up and massaged her temple as she pushed the stack of paper to the side carefully, so it didn't fall off the table's edge. 'I need an assistant or something,' She bemoaned. 'Surely I'm trapped in the worst of the hells: paperwork hell!' I could only chuckle, prompting the ex-human to glare at the ceiling.

Oh, I agree. Paperwork sucks. It sucks so much that rulers have entire teams to manage the details and paperwork with minimal oversight for this exact reason. Can you imagine the Bahrain Emperor or the old Phenoc King pouring over paperwork about trade and tax? No. They have stewards, custodians, and accountants who manage that for them. A nation's leader is usually only needed for essential tasks. Laws, policy, and diplomacy. Decisions that need an ultimate authority to have any weight to them.

'Soooooo?'

'Hmm. I could order one of the Children to come to the surface and do the job, but they need to gain experience. As you should know, humans are old hats at this civilization thing. Most of the refugees came back, and it's not like Medean's entire court up and left with him. You can find someone with the appropriate skills. And hey, I'll send a Child up to shadow whatever steward you hire anyway. They need the skills.

'You're not going to help me pick one out?' Kata asked plaintively, almost whining.

Nope. Make it known you're looking for a steward, then wait for the applicants to come to you. You can interview and pick whoever you think is best. I can't do everything for you!

I sent her the mental equivalent of a wave goodbye, and the woman gave the ceiling the middle finger. I left, my chuckles no doubt echoing in her head. I had important work to do!

First, I checked on the town and the island's surface. It'd been a few weeks since the invasion, and with the help of a few Earth Golems and Drake-kin mages living on the surface, the town was thriving. I'd had the walls embiggened, a proper breakwater to protect the harbor risen from the ocean floor, and the entire harbor got a makeover. No more wood jetties; we had stone, baby, and I'd even extended it out part-way around the breakwater. I'd tripled its capacity!

And boy, was it needed. I'd recently acquired more than three dozen ships of various classes, and they needed places to berth. At any point, at least three ships patrolled the waters around the island, with a mixed crew of humans and Children of various shapes. The water-aligned Drake-kin and Kobolds found they immensely enjoyed sailing, and I wasn't going to stop them.

Of course, all that construction took place over three weeks, and the final part of the harbor had been finished just the day before. If it was in the dungeon, I could have it done in a day or two, but I was trying not to freak out my new human citizens. Another factor was that I couldn't claim the exposed surface in the way I'd claimed the caves and ocean, no matter how hard I tried. My original theory of it being the density of mana in the air and lack of enclosed space seemed to bear fruit. I could claim basements and individual houses, though only by tunneling in from below.

In other news, the lighthouse on the cliffs above my entrance got a facelift and would run automatically now. It didn't need a power source since I diverted a tendril of mana from my manastream through a tiny channel and up to the enchantment.

The ocean around Atlantis teethed with life. I'd initially restricted myself from changing the animals intentionally, apart from the leviathans. I didn't want to tip off the Guild more blatantly than I already was. Now, though? I felt no such need to hold back. I kept a decent number of every species unaltered, but I made a 'monster' version of almost every kind of fish I had. Rather than anything unique, I made them better overall and elevated one trait to monstrous levels. Some got fire magic, which made the water around them boil. Others got ice magic to balance the fire ones out. I copied the turtles on the Eleventh, making them heavily armored and turbo-powered.

The Second Floor fish monsters were already present, and with the addition of everything else, any future invasions would find themselves sinking long before they reached the shore.

Moving on to the dungeon, it was mostly the same. I'd seen little reason to change the existing floors, so I focused on the Eleventh. A small town had grown up at one end of Dawn Beach, at the base of the Cliff where Wave made his nest. This was the first village composed of children from every species, and though there were some gripes and arguments, no fights broke out.

Here, I could go all out. The town, yet to be named, ended up very Greco-Roman in appearance. Sharp corners and columns held up orange-tiled roofs, with houses made to accommodate Children of every size and shape. Being a port, the town received the same treatment as Atlantis—a large stone harbor with a breakwater more for appearance than anything else. I included a couple of dry docks so my Children could repair ships and make their own in the future!

In the meantime, most of my stolen fleet could be found on this floor, either docked at the town, roaming the ocean, or any of the dozen tiny harbors popping up across the Elemental Isles. Most of the time, they were small wooden jetties and a couple of houses, but the Isla Fuego harbor was integrated into the 'ruined city' aesthetic.

The crabs that stole their ships from the Bahrain were reluctant to give them up, so I made them humanoid and let them be.

I had yet to raise any new islands, but I did bring in a few more manabeings. To the 'north' of the Eleventh, I had a ship drop off a dozen Ice Sprites, eight with Ice Golem bodies, and the four most powerful with Potentium Golem bodies. They managed to persuade the Ice Shaman, who summoned them, to call three dozen more ice sprites and happily formed their own glacier.

I had a dozen Life Sprites now, as well. They were interesting, and I had a few ideas I wanted to test out with them. The first were three Treant-style golem bodies of different tree types: spruce, oak, and palm. They took to it rather well, and though they didn't have 'faces,' it didn't ruin the effect of a massive walking tree. Three got Potentium golems, which soon resembled bark-skinned dryads. The rest got what I really wanted to try out.

Fairy-scaled Potentium golems.

As in; three-inch-tall scale-model humanoids with thin butterfly-shaped wings, they turned out even better than I'd hoped!

Looking out over the ocean, I had a choice to make.

Which Court would I be making an island for first?

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