Monroe

Chapter Three Hundred and Twenty. Diplomatic Relations.

Bob was self aware enough to know that he missed social cues.

"The System is translating our words, but it doesn't provide any sort of guidance regarding ettiquite," Bob said. "Where we come from, talking to you from the roof of a building might be considered rude, or unfriendly. What exactly is your people's protocol for this situation?"

He felt rather proud of himself for thinking to ask that question.

"When groups of Eire meet, our custom is to sit around a table with one another," Ordast replied, rubbing a hand under his chin. "When we meet with the Lorne, there is a formal ceremony, involving a communal ritual prayer to Vorstach, and then a shared meal."

"None of that involves talking to each other from a rooftop to the ground," Bob shook his head, stepping off the roof and slowly floating to the ground with his Flight spell, tapping a message out on his armband as he descended.

He looked up at the Ordast. "I recorded our latest run through the Dungeon," Bob said, tapping his armband, causing it to project a somewhat grainy video. "Sorry about the quality, but it should help you understand what you'll face in the Dungeon in a way that my words might not fully convey."

The Eire gathered eagerly around the image, watching intently.

Bob did his level best not to cower. They weren't Kellan, and didn't have his draconic presence, but they were tier eight, and he could feel it. Also, they were significantly larger than he was.

After several uncomfortable minutes, the video ended, Bob having speed up the playback. The Eire retreated to discuss their tactics amongst themselves, while Ordast gave Bob a shallow bow.

"Thank you, foreknowledge of what one faces in the System's trails is invaluable," the Eire said. "Amongst the Eire, we freely share our knowledge, as Vorstach has instructed us. Would you share the rewards offered for the first clear?"

Bob shrugged. "I don't see why not," he replied, and shared the reward list.

"None of you selected the reward from the cold one?" Ordast asked.

"We all took either the Lava Infusion or the Lava Affinity Crystal," Bob said. "The Blessing and Bane rewards seemed a little... holy war? ish?" He shook his head. "Definitely not something we want to be involved in."

"We had thought this world won," Ordast rumbled. "The core ignited, the air contained, the earth fertile. All that remains is for the arrival of the Lorne, which will add more water to the world. They will awaken, and seed this world, bringing it to full bloom."

"Wait," Bob shook his head. "So, we've figured out that this planet wasn't originally part of this solar system. It sounds to me, like the Eire brought this planet here, somehow sort of jump started the core, creating the magnetosphere, which in turn allowed the planet to hold an atmosphere, then created fertile earth."

Ordast's eyes widened. "I don't know what a magnetosphere is, nor an atmosphere. The seed itself was brought together by higher tiered Eire, and transported here by Vorstach herself. We were given the holy task of igniting the core of the world, one we completed thousands of years ago. We remain as caretakers, ensuring that when the Lorne arrive, the seed is ready for them." He frowned. "Also, the additional water they bring may require us to adjust the core, although the records indicate that is a very rare occunce."

Bob opened his mouth, then closed it. He shook his head again. "I got nothing," he shrugged. "You guys build fucking planets. That's just... way above my paygrade," he finished, borrowing one of Mike's turn of phrase.

'I fucking knew there was something off about this planet' - Amanda.

'Of course, the habitable seemingly deserted planet is a construct of some uber god, and apparently due to be colonized soon' - Mike.

'That bloke said something about ten revolutions. Does that mean years? Strewth, I hope he doesn't mean days.' - Jessica.

'Does this mean we have to leave?' - Eddi.

'We put a lot of work into New Jack City, so I hope we aren't getting kicked out.' - Jack.

'We are not calling it that.' - Dave.

'Bob, ask them who the Lorne are and if we have to leave' - Bailli.

Bob looked over his shoulder at the habitat, but his friends had retreated inside.

As he'd floated down he'd texted the group to keep their earbuds in, broadcasting his conversation with the Eire. They'd taken the precaution of communicating via their armbands.

"So, I have to ask, is our being here a problem? We've built ourselves a little town a few hundred miles from here. You said the Lorne are coming and they're bringing water with them?"

"I'm afraid I do not know," Ordast replied. "This is an unprecedented occurrence. The only other begins we've found on Vorstach's seeds have been agents of the cold one. The Elloirial of this seed will be the one to provide you with the answers you seek."

"Above your paygrade," Bob nodded. "Can you tell me how long ten revolutions is?"

"The time it takes for this seed to rotate around the star is a revolution," Ordast replied.

"Oh," Bob sighed in relief. "That's a long time, so not something we need to worry about today."

Ordast looked puzzled for a moment, then blinked as if suddenly comprehending an idea. "No, not a concern for this day. I can understand your trepidation, discovering this seed is not uninhabited as you'd thought. After we complete this trail, we will return to Torvos and inform the Elloirial of your presence, who will either sanction your presence, or provide a date when you should leave this seed."

"Hopefully the former, although ten years is enough time for us to accomplish most of our goals," Bob said.

"I would ask a favor of you," Ordast said.

"You can ask, although I can't promise anything without knowing what you need," Bob replied cautiously.

"The human who interacted with the Irth device, completing the hidden task, would you send him with us? The Irth protect their devices against us, much as we protect ours against them, and any attempt to interact with their devices will cause them to either fail, or explode," Ordast explained.

"That's not actually up to me," Bob said, "we're not a military unit or anything, and we don't have any sort of command structure." Bob shrugged. "I can ask him though?"

"Please, the rewards you listed are substantially better than what we've been offered by other trials, and I suspect fulfilling a hidden task is responsible," Ordast said.

Bob nodded and used his flight spell to float up and over the roof, entering the courtyard where his friends were gathered.

"Jack," Bob began, "the Eire would like you to delve the Dungeon with them, it seems they can't use the drill, the Irth build their stuff to prevent the Eire from using it."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Interesting," he drawled, then sighed. "I don't know how I feel about delving with a bunch of people I don't know." He shook his head. "Scratch that, a bunch of people from a society with which I'm entirely unfamiliar. How about we go in together?"

"Will they even get the rewards if someone who has already been in there goes in with them?" Amanda asked.

"I don't think Jack should go in there without his team," Mike said firmly. "We know how to fight together, and while I'm sure these guys know how to fight together as well, that doesn't mean our tactics are the same, and integrating two units from different forces is a process that takes time."

'Also, there is the fact that we seem to be committed to disguising the fact that we can understand them.' - Dave.

'Too right. I hope they're the good guys, but I'm not super keen about a team-up straight out of the gate, yeah?' - Jessica.

Bob read the messages on his armband and nodded. "Well, I'll go talk it over with Ordast."

It turned out that Ordast hadn't considered what someone who'd already delved the Dungeon might mean for the potential rewards.

The Eire had opted to go in with his group, sans humans.

Meanwhile, the crew of the Freedom were packing up their habitat, which mostly involved storing their possessions before shrinking the cubes back down.

"So, these people make their own planets," Wayna broke the silence.

"I think it's more impressive that they move them from solar system to solar system," Dave said.

"I was going to go with bloody terrifying, but sure, impressive," Jessica shook her head.

"I'm wondering who the Lorne are," Amanda mused. "If the big boy Eire build the planet, and mommy Vorstach moves it, and the kid Eire kick start the core, tier eight kids, let's not forget, who are the Lorne?"

"Also, bringing more water to the planet?" Mike grunted. "I remember reading that Earth has like a one point five billion cubic kilometers of water." It was his turn to shake his head. "I have not a fucking clue how that shapes up, but I'm pretty sure it's a shit load. I think it was like one fifteenth of the moon? I don't know, but it sounds like they're bringing a lot of water to this planet."

"Yeah, I remember thinking that this planet was a touch dry," Dave said. "Looks like they agree."

"Ordast said something about making sure the earth was fertile, so they probably aren't planning on flooding the entire planet," Wayna offered.

"None of which matters if we either aren't allowed to stay, or we decide we don't want to stay," Bob said.

"If no one else going to say it, I will," Jessica began. "Fuck."

"I think that sums it quite nicely," Bailli agreed.

"The whole point of coming out here was in no small part to avoid the mechinations of the Light and Dark factions," Harv pointed out. "It doesn't make sense for us to get involved, in any way, with a conflict between two factions that are significantly more powerful than the two we left behind."

"Harv is right," Eli agreed. "The Church of the light sent a single space ship from their Parceus to Thayland. These guys build and move entire planets."

"This definitely feels like a theocracy, and I've seen enough of the Church that I don't want any part of that," Erick said firmly.

"These guys might not be the only game in town," Jack grinned. "I'm not suggesting that we get involved in the other side, but what are the chances that these two groups are it in a universe where building and moving planets is a thing? There might be a neutral side. Let's be honest, I bet these guys have a pretty good grasp on this universe, as far as where solar systems with habitable worlds are. Maybe there is a group of beings that have checked out of the faction war, and are just living their lives around it. Worth considering."

"Maybe," Bob hedged. "If a neutral side exists, it would probably be worthwhile figuring out who and where they are, but as far as settling down, I really do think we need our own world."

"You just want those sweet, delicious first clear rewards," Jessica teased.

"Speaking of which, knowing that the Eire are coming up to sweep and clear Dungeons, we should probably keep clearing as quickly as we can," Amanda said. "No reason to let them snag the rewards. They didn't say anything about us not clearing Dungeons, right?"

"No, no, they didn't," Dave grinned.

Ordast exited the System Trial with a sigh. The Irth within had been mana constructs, not real, actual agents. Despite that, the scenario had been all too plausible, as it mirrored a tactic that had been executed successfully across several worlds.

The viewing that the Human, Bob, had provided had proved perfectly accurate, and his team had completed the mission without any disasters. He hadn't heard of that species before, although they did resemble a smaller, featureless version of the Lorne. He could sense that save for Bob, they were a full two tiers below him.

The group had broken down their camp and left, although they'd left a map carved into a stone tablet, with a dot marking the Dungeon, and a square marking what was presumably their town. He compared the map against his mental image of the surface of the seed. He nodded to himself. Their town wasn't in one of the areas that would be flooded with the Lorne arrived.

The Lorne did occasionally open their worlds to others, requiring only that they didn't revere the cold one, so it wasn't outside the realm of possibility that the Humans would be allowed to stay, although their presence might interfere with the Lorne's blooming. He shook his head. As Bob had said, this was above his paygrade, a phrase he found that he rather liked.

The Ellorial would make the decision, likely only after meeting and evaluating the humans. Beyond being thorough in his report, he had no say in the matter.

Tucking the map away in his pocket, he started jogging toward the tunnel that would take them back to Torvos.

"Soft kitty, warm kitty, kitty full of hate, see the monsters, rend their flesh, ex-term-i-nate," Jack sung loudly.

"Monroe is not a Dalek," Jessica defended the big Maine-coon.

"He's awfully good at it, though," Dave said, blasting one of the monsters that was trying to naw through Jack's shield.

They'd finally found a Dungeon where Bob was comfortable bringing out his buddy. It was set in a lightly wooded area, where the monsters were an amalgation of some sort of rodent, and a lizard. They were about six feet long and four feet at the shoulder, with long tails that they could make whip-like attacks with.

Dave had not been happy when one of them stole his staff with that move.

Monroe was having a great time, and Bob could feel the kitty's joy as he raced along the front lines, leaping over people to land on unsuspecting monsters, raking and clawing for a moment before launching himself toward the next.

They'd decided to clear as many Dungeons as they could before the Eire told them to stop, if they told them to stop, and this one was a relief. It was a simple sweep and clear.

New Quest!

Carvmorns have gathered together to form a scourge! The scourge will devour everything in their path, leaving only a barren wasteland if not stopped!

Destroy five thousand Carvmorns.

Destroy five hundred Carvmorn Pack Leaders.

Destroy fifty Carvmorn Horde Leaders.

Destroy the Carvmorn Scourge Leader.

The pack leaders were a little bit larger and tougher than the regular Carvmorns but weren't anything difficult.

He might have to hold Monroe back when they ran into the Scourge leader though.

In the meantime, there were rat-like creatures to be slain, and Bob knew how much Monroe loved killing rats.