The Outlands

“What is…” Maven trailed off as she saw the tall angel in front of her. Given Maven’s sudden teleportation out of the dungeon, there was only one person this could really be – the goddess of Dungeons herself.

“Apologies for the sudden transfer.” Dungeons said. “But I saw you had cleared the dungeon and it was earlier than I had expected and…” She trailed off, then took a deep breath. “That’s not important. What’s important is you and me. So, I’m just going to cut to the chase; I’m in the market for an Appointed, and I think you really have promise.”

“M-me?” Maven asked in a small voice. “B-but I wasn’t even a real freelancer until a few months ago.”

“Immaterial.” Dungeons said, waving a hand. “Your statline is decent, you’re well connected, and you’re pretty amiable. As a bonus, you’re in a party with Ellie and Tess, which makes a lot of things a lot easier.”

“But my stats are just…above average, not Appointed-tier!” Maven protested. “Surely there’s someone better suited for the job!”

“And why should stats be the most important part of this equation?” Dungeons asked, raising an eyebrow. “Yes, there are some Appointed who are practically required to have amazing stats, but mine is not one of them. Most of the work will be done in dungeons, and believe me, with my Blessings, even someone with Tess’s stats could make something work. It’d be harder, yes, but not a dealbreaker by any stretch of the imagination.

“I’m more in the market for someone who’s got the proper mindset, people skills, and connections.” Dungeons continued. “By virtue of being a crown princess, you fit two of those categories practically by default.” She paused, giving Maven an expectant look. “You do, right?”

“I…perhaps?” Maven said. “I don’t know what connections you’re referring to. But…I’m planning to abdicate the moment I get the throne, that’s…a problem, right?”

“Not at all!” Dungeons grinned. “In fact, it’d be more inconvenient if you didn’t abdicate. Being tied down by all that…busywork just isn’t my style. We could make it work if something happens, but it’s just a pain, you know?”

Maven blinked in surprise. “Yeah, I do.” She said. “I…didn’t expect you to feel the same way.”

“Absolutely.” Dungeons said. “It might work for someone like Subterfuge, but my sort of work would all but require you to be away from Paumen for long periods of time, deep in unexplored territory. There’s a high chance you’d be away from civilization for a while, just you, your vehicle, and perhaps Tess and Ellie for company. It can be a demanding lifestyle at times, do you think you could handle that?”

Heart beating in her chest, Maven nodded. “I don’t mind if I’m just living out of a hoverer.” She said. “The comforts of home are more…bindings than anything, I can absolutely make do with just the simple stuff, especially if it means I get to go explore and be…active.”

“Good.” Dungeons said, giving her a smile. “And that’s the mindset I was talking about. So, you fit all my criteria perfectly, would you be up for the job?”

“Absolutely.” Maven said firmly. “I…have to admit I would be lying if I hadn’t thought…no, dreamed about something like this happening before. I’m more than happy to accept.”

“Perfect.” Dungeons said, grinning. “Time for the fun stuff, then.”

“The fun stuff?” Maven asked.

“Well, I gave you a minor Blessing, but if you’re going to be my Appointed, you need my strongest Blessing. It’s sort of a…well, a given for any Appointed, and I’m not gonna let mine be different.” She waved a hand, and Maven received a window.

Maven read the Blessing over and over, marveling at the sheer power of it. She had thought the fifty percent stat boost from her old Blessing had been strong enough, but…triple? And the ability to be able to just…shape dungeons however she wanted? That was insane.

“Sorry, it’s, um…a little limited in scope.” Dungeons said, blushing. “You’re exactly the same as any other person outside of a dungeon, but…well, inside of a dungeon you should be more than a match for even someone like Evan. Um…provided you’re of roughly similar level and in a decently high-leveled dungeon.”

“This is…limited?” Maven asked slowly. “This is a lot more powerful than I was expecting. Almost too powerful.”

“Well, yeah.” Dungeons said embarrassedly. “You haven’t seen the other gods’ strongest Blessings. I mean…Fortune’s is so powerful Amy made her limit it to people with really low stats like Tess. And then you have stuff like Dominion’s Blessing that allows Eyfura to do things like temporarily steal Skills or…I don’t know. I’m just a bit self-conscious about it, since it’s only really useful in one area whereas the others are useful everywhere.”

“That’s fine.” Maven said in what she hoped was a soothing tone. For what felt like the first time, she was grateful for her family’s lessons; even feeling as…mentally stimulated as she was, she was able to maintain a level of outward calm with relatively little effort. “From what I’ve gathered, Life and Death’s Blessings only really function when killing or healing. There’s nothing wrong with doing one thing and doing it really well.”

“Really?” Dungeons asked, perking up slightly. “You’re fine with it?”

“I’m more than fine with it.” Maven said. “Like I said, it seems extraordinarily strong, and it’s not like I need more power outside of dungeons if most of my work will be done inside of them, right?”

“I…guess so.” Dungeons admitted. “It just feels a little…unfair.”

“Not everyone needs to be amazing at everything.” Maven said. “As they say, no army can march without support, and I don’t think any freelancer would properly function without dungeons, let alone Appointed. I don’t need to be fighting on the front lines, I’m perfectly content as support. Yes, I admit that fighting can be a lot of fun, but I can get that out of my system in dungeons.”

“Thanks.” Dungeons said. “I…thank you.” She straightened up slightly, giving Maven a smile. “Before we officially make you my Appointed, are there any questions you have for me?”

“What exactly is my job? I assume it’s stuff similar to what I’m doing now, right?”

“Yes.” Dungeons said. “You’ll help test stuff like this, and then, once you’re a higher level and done training and all that, you’ll be running through undiscovered dungeons to keep them from going out of control for too long. Once or twice a year we’ll just take you around and you can…well, with my Blessing you’ll just kill completely unresisting monsters. Then, when we think people will discover the dungeon within a year or two, we just have you…stop visiting that dungeon.”

Maven nodded. “May I assume that, since that’s a manual process, other Appointed are doing that for me right now? Why not just wait to make the dungeon until people are going to find it?”

“Yup. And I don’t do that because it’s cheaper. When making dungeons this way I can let them grow naturally instead of forcing them to grow myself. Gods have this thing called Worship that’s…well, it’s like Mana but a lot harder to get. Making dungeons the way we want them right before people find them is super draining, and I can’t do that often. Plus, it gives me time to tweak the dungeon based on the feedback of the other Appointed, and they get a crack at the Rewards Crystals far before everyone else, which helps keep them on top of the game, so to speak.”

“Ah. And…who is this Amy you mentioned earlier?”

“Oh, right, you don’t know yet. She’s what’s called an Administrator, like…a step above the gods. She was the one who made us and the system and stuff. She’s basically head of the gods. She’s occupied right now, but you’ll meet her eventually.”

“Oh.” Maven wasn’t sure how to respond to that. It upended just about everything she knew about the way the gods worked, but…it also answered quite a few questions people had had about the gods, even if it created several more.

There was a bit of a silence as Maven processed that, then Dungeons spoke up. “Um…any other questions?”

“I…don’t think so? No, actually, do I need to convert to your religion? You don’t really…have one, right?”

Dungeons laughed. “No. I don’t have an official religion. But, even if I did, you wouldn’t convert. In fact, we want you to deconvert from whatever religious beliefs you hold. Though the public is unaware, Appointed are considered to be equals of the gods, so having Appointed worship any god is problematic, to say the least. That’s only in private, though; in public, you’re free to worship whatever way makes things easiest for you. If that means not worshiping anyone in particular, that’s fine, if it means…actually, does Paumen have a particular god they favor?”

Maven shook her head. “Officially, no, but most of our populace worships Hearth, so it’s not uncommon for members of the royal family to worship him. I have not made an official stance on the matter myself, so I suppose it would be easiest to just do general worship.”

“Perfect!” Dungeons beamed. “Shall we get started, then?”

Maven nodded. “I…suppose so. How does it work?”

“It’s simple. Just repeat after me,” Dungeons paused, waiting until she was sure Maven was ready, then continued, “I, Maven, accept the position of Dungeons’s Appointed, to further her cause as I see fit, and to keep secret things mortals should not know.”

Maven repeated, and Dungeons smiled hugely. “I, Dungeons, accept Maven as my Appointed, to treat her fairly and respect her as if she were another god, and to be responsible with the power I hold over her. Should I fail to do so, I accept whatever punishment is seen fit.”

There was a beat, and then a distant rumbling like thunder. A relaxing feeling washed over Maven, and she basked in it for a few moments before it faded away, leaving her feeling normal again.

“It’s done.” Dungeons said. “I –”

Maven jumped in surprise as a window popped up in front of her. This…had to be what Tess and Ellie were always looking at, right?

“How do I…respond?” Maven asked, looking at the window.

“Just think it with the intent of sending it through.” Dungeons instructed. “There’s also like…one on one messaging and a whole bunch of other stuff, but it all follows the rule of think it out with the proper intent. You can also temporarily mute this or give priority messages that go through mutes, it’s a lot like any online chatroom, just…built into the bond, I guess.”

“I’ve never used a chatroom.” Maven said. “My internet access has always been very carefully monitored.”

“Oh. Well, give it a go, you’ll figure it out soon enough, it’s really easy to use.”

Maven’s attention was torn away from their chatroom by a knocking sound coming from behind her. She turned to find that the room she was in had a rather plain-looking door. For some reason she had been expecting to be in sort of a…private space with just her and Dungeons, but she supposed there wasn’t any reason the godly realm couldn’t be shared between all the gods.

“Come in!” Dungeons called out.

The door opened to reveal Amara, smiling proudly. “Maven, I heard you became an Appointed, and just had to come talk to you!” She said, rushing in and scooping Maven up into a hug. “How do you feel?”

“It’s…a little unreal.” Maven admitted. “My life’s trajectory just changed so much, I’m not going to be forced into sitting on a throne for the rest of my days, I get to go out and explore and…live!”

“I can’t wait to see the looks on your parents’ faces when they find out.” Amara laughed. “They’ve been nagging me, trying to get me to convince you to come back, so this is going to be a shock for sure.”

“We get to tell them?” Maven asked. “Really?”

“Yup.” Dungeons said. “Family is generally considered to be allowed to know if they’re under a Fatebinder’s Oath. Yours are already under a very liberal one that prevents them from revealing the identities of any Appointed, so we don’t even have to get them to swear to a new one.”

“I can take you there now, if you’d like. Tess and Ellie too, if you want.” Amara offered. She paused, letting go of the hug and looking around. “Speaking of, where are the other two?”

Dungeons looked away. “I might have forgotten to transfer them here in my rush.”

“Could you bring them here?” Maven asked. “I would like to speak with my parents, and…having them there would be comforting, I think.”

A moment later, there was a flash of light and Tess and Ellie appeared in the room. “Hey, congrats!” Ellie said, pulling Maven into a side-hug. “Welcome to the club!”

“Thank you.” Maven said. “I hope you will not mind if I ask you two questions whenever I have any.”

“It’s all good.” Tess said. “We’re a team, of course we’ll answer questions. Even if we’re not around, just ask away in our chat and I’m sure someone will get to it.”

“Yeah, that.” Fortune said, walking into the room. “We’re all here for you, don’t worry about it.”

“Oh. I…thank you, Lady Fortune.”

“Nope. No ‘Lady Fortune’, none of that.” Fortune said. “You are my equal, we can’t have you use honorifics or anything. It might seem uncomfortable, but it’s important to get in the proper mindset as soon as possible.”

“I…understand.” Maven replied. “I will do my best to stop that, then.”

There was a brief pause, then Dungeons spoke up. “Maven, didn’t you have something else you were going to ask them?”

“Ah, yes. Thank you for reminding me.” Maven said, turning back to Tess and Ellie. “Grandmother is going to take me back to my parents, and I’m going to formally abdicate.” She said. “They have, apparently, been pressuring her to bring me back, and I would like to make it clear that such a thing is no longer remotely plausible. And…I was wondering if you two would be willing to come with me as moral support?”

“I’m cool with it if Tess is.” Ellie said.

“I don’t see why not, I guess.” Tess said. “Um…is it alright to bring us into…wherever you live, though? I imagine security is tight.”

“I’ve got it covered, don’t sweat it.” Amara said. “This is a bit of a secret visit anyway, since Maven is, officially, out at the expedition, so no one else is going to even see us.”

“Oh. Then…yeah, it’s all good.”

“Perfect.” Amara said. “Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?”

Fighterman481

So, in terms of absolute number of chapters, it's been...like five since the idea of Maven becoming an Appointed was proposed. It feels longer than that, since it's been a month or two on my end (a very packed month or two, at that), but I guess this just happened fast.

Which actually fits the concept I was going for with Dungeons, a very spontaneous person who makes quick decisions. 

Um...I don't really have much else to say, though. Next time we'll be confronting Maven's parents, so look forward to it!

And, as always, thanks for reading!