Chương 50: Interlude 4

Lord Darren, Husband of Supreme Warlady Elena"Here," I said, placing the container in front of my wife. My only wife. My first wife divorced me when they stripped me of my title. She wouldn't be making it home. There would be some unexpected bandits. I did not take betrayal lightly, and it was time to sweep the board clean of unsightly individuals. Elena opened the container and looked inside. This was her requirement to spare me for letting Justin get injured.

"I thought you would have killed yourself with how weak you are." She was teasing me in her own unique way. Despite her lack of social skills, reading her was always a challenge due to her stats and other skills.

"Then you would have killed him anyway and made a mess. It was better that I did it," I replied, and she nodded.

"That is what I like about you. You might seem soft, but you have a spine of steel. What of your title and other children?" I hadn't anticipated that much concern, but she was probably checking to see if I had handled everything.

"They executed Timothy. He used the invitation I had sent for the wedding to sneak an assassin in," I replied heavily. It was sad to lose a child, but I was more upset about the wasted time and investment, useless, completely and utterly useless trash. I spent time on those kids and they fell into petty plots.

"My father is in the container as you just saw. Dereck has taken up the title of Duke. They banished me from Terander for inciting trouble and stripped me of the title of Duke. I am a landless Lord now," I replied with a smile. Now that they had banished me but not killed me, everything was falling into place. Elena didn't know I wanted this or that I was the real mastermind behind everything.

With my father now dead and loose ends tied up, it was finally time to enact the plan I had dreamed of since I was very young. The last time I made too many mistakes. The midget might be a metaphor, but it was a good one. Looking at Elena, I thought she really was the perfect wife for someone like me. Of all the women I had over the years, she was by far the best and hardest to manage. Even with my Tier 5 social skill, she still resisted in her own way.

At least she had fulfilled her part of the bargain long ago after her son was born. I did not have the skills to level easily, and being level 100 was necessary for what I had planned. It was one step leading to countless others. The Eldarin Empire failed for many reasons, the most important one being darkness at its core. But it was time for it to be reborn. Reaching this position with my levels and stats required extensive planning, and this could only be the first step.

Still, the first step is always the hardest in any endeavor.

"It's a shame that your father schemed against me and my son. Our son," she corrected herself. It seemed that she forgave me due to managing the issue alone, which was what I had expected from her. It was only our marriage that saved me from retaliation by the King's Court, which was precisely within my plans. My other son might have married the Princess, but my father, who represented a large faction of nobility, had used my estranged son as a pawn to incite Elena's wrath.

It was utter foolishness, but that was what they had schemed after I incited them to do so. The power of a few carefully chosen words was far better than any combat skill. Now they blamed my son, executed him, and I killed my father to spare Elena. But the most important thing was my banishment with no other penalties or oaths. I was free with no suspicion upon myself.

"So where is Justin? Is he okay?" We were in the city of Monolith near the Five Star Institute of Healing. I needed to express care for him to target Elena. It was a slight weakness in this woman, just like her family, but an important one. I also liked Justin more than the other children I had over the years. He was like his mother, determined, didn't cause me trouble, and was useful.

"He is all healed, not to worry. Testing his resolve is all I am doing. I realized I was making things too easy for him. I wanted to see how he handled himself in the dungeon before pushing him any further down the path of an adventurer." She then held out her hand. I sat next to her and took it in mine. Then, I was suddenly confronted with a vision of Justin.

"You sent him into the dungeon alone," I whispered in surprise while reevaluating Elena. I rarely felt surprise anymore, but this woman possessed a fire, a passion that burned brightly.

"Yes. I did. I gave him a Ring of Remote Viewing, but it also has a hidden single-use teleport spell linked to it. If there is truly a serious threat, I will teleport directly there."

"You can do that? I thought such things didn't work between layers?"

"If he goes below the 3 rd layer, there will be issues, and it might fail. But for the first three, it is fine. I have enough Mana to punch through the spatial protections that separate the layers." I didn't doubt her. If anyone could do something others considered impossible, it would be Elena.

"What has happened so far?"

"He registered at the Adventurer's Guild in the city and met some new, disrespectful adventurers. If I see those three again, I will teach them a lesson in manners." I hoped they would stay in the dungeon for a long time and never run into Elena. A lesson from her would be life-threatening.

"He fought a wolf Champion on the 1 st layer and did quite well. His combat skills are showing solid improvement. Now he is on the 2 nd layer making some poor man runes," Elena explained as we watched our son.

"I know a little, but it looks like five of the same rune with no trigger mechanism."

"He is carefully balancing the Mana present in the runes, hoping the monsters will trigger them." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. She was right, of course, as she instantly saw through what our son had planned. I had seen as well, but she didn't know that I held such knowledge, and I was far too good an actor to make such a mistake with my greatest performance to date.

"Why not fight them with his weapons?"

"Slime monsters are resistant to physical attacks, and they spit poison. It was well done."

"But he used up more cores to kill them than he got," I pointed out.

"Nothing but red cores. They are worthless. Using a creative method to keep advancing is good. Very good," Elena said.

"Really? I wouldn't know."

"There were three outcomes. The first being idiots who quickly die. They would have rushed in, fought the monsters, and suffered. The second are the cautious. They would have retreated and chosen another path. If our son had done that, he would never reach my level. He chose a third path, winning no matter what."

"That seems harsh."

"His goal of being the best and surpassing me requires a level of dedication that is hard for regular people to fathom. Have you read Bastian's work?"

"Yes. It is terribly depressing, and the baking, it just makes it confusing." I harbored a deep hatred of that man. But despite the feelings I had, I didn't let Elena hear any of it.

"Indeed. It was the only book my family had. Nobody wanted to keep one. I had Tutor Damian give it to our son during his recovery time. No supreme legend has ever come from the line of a previous one, and even reaching the title of legend is rare. Second generation children struggle with the proper mindset that they must win even if it seems impossible. That is why the College of Advancement might produce legends, but they are carefully cultivated flowers that only barely reach level 100." She was right.

Would Justin be the first to break such a trend? It was hard to say. The path to becoming a Supreme Legend was long and hard.

"You want him to go further," I said.

"Only if he remains determined to become a spellblade like me. I can accept many things from him, but I refuse to accept mediocrity. I have refused to compromise throughout my life, and I won't start now. That reminds me, Darren." I felt a twinge of fear but kept it buried.

"You were telling our son about Poetry?" she asked while gazing at me. Ah, I wanted to share a bit of my legacy with my son. Social skills were far more potent than either he or his mother understood. While that wasn't the only focus of my build, those were the ones I enjoyed the most and had worked on recovering. Still, my knowledge of soul skills and soul-related effects was second to none. Elena might think she was clever, but it was I who mentioned soul fruits after our son was born.

I knew Elena would not remain around much longer. She yearned to destroy the dungeon, which had killed her family. If Justin could go far enough, his support would be helpful. Still, that cloaked figure who had cursed Justin was quite annoying. Despite our best efforts, he still eluded us. Possibly some enemy looking to slow down my return with some half-assed divination skill. The most annoying would be someone from the Dark Cabal. They were always causing trouble and terrorism.

"Just showing him other facets of life and what I had wanted for my Duchy. But that is all lost now. At least the people are safe, and my children and grandchildren will grow up well, even if I can never go home," I quietly said.

"If you want, I could make you King," Elena said. She wasn't joking. She had a sense of humor, but I knew she was earnest right now. Unfortunately, that would incite hatred. She also would not be around all the time, no matter how hard I had tried to convince her subtly. I had learned that creating an Empire mattered just as much as the result. That was why the future Eldarin Empire, when I had resurrected it, wouldn't have slavery even if it made things easier.

"I am retired and have always wanted to travel. I took a decent chunk of my wealth with me to live comfortably, but I am destitute compared to previously. No elite guards for me anymore."

"You are under my protection. I will avenge your death," Elena said. That was something I had worked very hard to achieve over the years. Her support was worth ten legends on its own. The threat was more useful than anything else.

"Is that love?" I asked in a slightly teasing tone.

"No. You were the best option as a father, and you can teach our son important social skills. Even Drama if you wish," she said.

"What, really?" I asked, another surprising concession. Did she understand how high my social skills truly were?

"None of your other children wanted to learn such skills. Perhaps Justin will have a hidden talent. Instead of a spellblade like me, he could become a bard. Recite poetry and kill monsters with puns." She was toying with my emotions. Now, there was her dry wit, which she rarely shared with others. I wasn't worried that she had latched onto my ultimate skill, since I had started that rumor to begin with about people with social skills and bards.

"It would be punny."

"No."

"Why did the hero bring a ladder to fight the giant? To take it to the next level!" Elena's mouth twitched slightly, and I considered it a win. I didn't push any further. The real trick was making everything seem natural.

"Are you going to watch him for all three months?"

"Yes. He is not strong enough to go unsupervised."

"When will he be strong enough?"

"When he can spar with me as an equal." That would not happen for a long time. Or I could teach him the dreaded art of puns. That was my favorite tier 6 skill. Unfortunately, no one survived such a thing, and I have yet to recover Punjitsu. It delightfully combined puns and soul magic. If I had to guess, one of her family members liked puns. The memory of her family made her weak to them, or I was just that good. But even with my talent, I knew her reaction was truly natural.

I could imagine selling this information to an information broker who would pass it on to some assassins, training in the art of puns to take down Supreme Warlady Elena. It would almost be funny if she wouldn't be upset with me for sharing private information about her. Still, I could only imagine assassins rushing at her, shouting puns to distract her mentally to create an opening. A shame that no one remembered such a fantastic skill, since everyone who had heard it had died horribly.

"You are thinking something stupid. Either pay attention to our son, or go do something else," Elena said.

"Sorry. The fight was exciting for Justin, but this must be incredibly boring for you, it is for me," I replied. We both had killed far too much to be interested in such boring fights.

"It is. But I can't take him into the dungeon myself."

"What, why?" I knew the answer, but once again I couldn't reveal it.

"I scared it."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Monsters of the first five layers flee from my presence or don't appear at all," she said with a touch of frustration.

"The dungeon… The place that has been doing the same thing for millennia is scared of you?" I asked incredulously. It happened to me long ago as well. I considered it amusing more than anything else, proof of my power.

"It is rare for people of my level to wander about the top layers. We are always moving between them, never wandering about. But I wanted to explore a bit, to refresh myself on how weak the monsters were, and I made the discovery."

"You actually scared the dungeon. I know you hate the place."

"Yes, it gives me hope I might reach the source of evil one day and destroy it for all time." I didn't mention that it was a vital source of mana cores and natural treasures, also, for experience and leveling of skills. If Elena ever completed her quest, she wouldn't care about the broader societal impact. She knew, but she didn't care. She wanted to avenge her family when a passage had broken to the surface and unleashed monsters upon her family. That one moment dominated her entire life and thinking.

And now that she had reached over level 150, she was more set in her ways than ever. While she could bend slightly, she would never yield or change. That determination led her to become a supreme legend, but it also made her incredibly stubborn and single-minded about certain things. It was a shame, but nothing could change the core of a personality, not even me.

"Oh, an ice biome. Ice spiders."

"Spiders. It is always spiders. I dislike them. Very annoying to fight with all their limbs and other abilities. The dungeon loves them. The College of Advancement rated them quite high, considering them as one of the most common monster archetypes."

"Studying?" I asked with a slight grin. People knew her for many things, but not book learning. I knew she could learn from books, but it was the light teasing I could get away with that allowed me to influence her.

"I keep up to date with their latest publications. While most of it is trash or just something old reviewed in a new way, they occasionally have some interesting pieces of information. The study on monster archetypes was interesting enough to catch my attention." Ah, Elena, never change. You are both predictable and exciting, wrapped up in pure power and deadliness, the perfect woman for someone like me.