^^ World Map (Topographical, no Borders) ^^

— Arcata, Royal Castle —

The Emperor, the Marshall, the Sage, and the Coin Master all sat around their usual table, reading the same lengthy report, all taking less than a minute to read the entire thirteen pages. Then, they read it again, and again. Finally, the Emperor sighed, dropping his copy onto the table. "So, I suppose we can rest assured that Anitra the Dungeon Master is not hostile to our country, nor does she wish its Throne. Any further concerns?"

"How should we go about asking her for Taxes? She's created a Holy Order, and they do not pay taxes." The Coin Master sighed, rubbing his face tiredly.

"Her Guild, even if it is within a Cathedral, is not a Holy Order, is it?" The Marshall asked, as always slightly confused.

"Apparently it is, having been created by Muradin themself. Apparently, they've become irritated with how inefficient we are." Hothien the Grand Sage chuckled.

"Well... fuck. So we can't tax her?" Eric asked, trying his level best to understand.

"We cannot. We can tax her Ducal Territory, but she has not yet interacted with it nor spread her business outwards, so that's not a viable method of gaining access to all of her new Wealth. I advise we simply surrender access to those funds; already we're finding government officials who accept bribes from the Thieves' Guild, due to this incident, so it's a net positive to the throne." The Emperor commented calmly, looking across the room at the person kneeling in front of the door. "Anything that takes the knees out from under that Dark Guild is a net positive to the throne."

Hothien chuckled under his breath. "And of course, this part about the whole city flying, well... it's quite amusing, that she believes such a feat of magic is possible. Can you even imagine the logistics of such a thing? The amount of Mana required would be astronomical!"

"But with said mana, it would be possible?" The Emperor clarified, watching his uncles expression carefully.

"... well, I suppose anything is possible with enough mana, but the mana doesn't exist!"

"Even if someone had Infinite Mana?" Eric asked, tilting his head at the report in front of him.

"There is no such thing as Infinity in Magic, child... but I do admit that the power to cast Tier Seven Magic dozens of times in one day is... concerning. And if it were possible, to make the city Fly... well, truth be told, such a thing would be quite terrifying."

"But immeasurably useful in a war effort." Eric responded, rubbing his beard thoughtfully; this was the one area of thought he excelled at, after all, and he could instantly think of dozens and dozens of uses for such a thing.

"Indeed... and how about this portion, the part about her attitude towards the Crown and Royal Family? Should we be concerned that she disdains us so harshly?"

Hothien scoffed derisively. "And why shouldn't she? Have you ever shown her an ounce of affection? Why should she care for you? Why should she consider you her family? I've told you, time and again for the past two hundred years, that your method of raising a family will only ever give you three things: Idiots, Snakes, or Runaways."

"Hey!" Eric frowned, acutely aware of this dig towards his intelligence.

"Well, it has shown great efficiency in raising powerful, intelligent, and ruthless members of the family, which is what we need as a country, in our time of strife." The Emperor shook his head and tapped the table again. "Let's focus, now: Anitra the Dungeon Master, Duchess of Arcata. What do we need, how do we get it, how do we avoid conflict: Eric, Go."

The Marshall cleared his throat and stood up, addressing the other three people calmly. "Intelligence: we know she can make an endless supply of Tier Two Golems. How can we replicate this? We know she can make Dungeons: how can we replicate this? We know she can enchant items, though she prefers if people think the Dungeon Merchants are the Enchanters: Why? We know her enchantments are better than ours: How can we replicate her Enchantments? We know she can somehow fuse items together to create a more powerful combination: how can we replicate this? We know she intends to declaw the Thieves' Guild and own the Method of Distribution for Black Market Goods: how do we stop this? Do we want to? We know she can apparently make the city Fly: why hasn't she? Does she need something else to make it happen? If so, what is it? How can we obtain it first? Could we make the city fly? We know she doesn't want the Throne: which other candidates for the Heir will she support, if any? We know she plans on taking over all the Dungeons in the world: should we help her? What will we benefit from this? Will there be a downside? We know she plans on using Arcata as the base for her Guild, despite her claims to despise the city and its government: does she harbor feelings for the city, or just her mother's Favored District? We know her Order of the Tower wishes to take in Orphans and teach them Magic: why? Does she seek a Disciple despite being a mage less than a week? We know her Order's Blessing is an XP Buff, which is entirely unheard of: is it worth the effort of changing Orders and taking the six month Deserter Debuff? I can go on, if you like, but those are the most important questions."

Hothien grumbled, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "Yes... the question about Apprentices and Orphans, I don't quite understand that one. To take Commoners who can't even read fluently and make them Mages? That would turn the world on its head! Only Nobles have ever received the teaching necessary to become mages: if she intends to make them Clerics, there would be no issue, but Commoner Mages? Dangerous... there'd be a war before the day was over!"

"Do you want to be the one to waltz into a gods cathedral and tell their champion she can't do their will? Because it won't be my soldiers who go with you: the Military accepts all talented individuals, regardless of something as pointless as background!" Eric snorted at his great-uncle, amused by his arrogance, then sat down as he was done speaking.

The Master of Coin nodded slowly. "And to add to the important questions: how will this affect the crown, if she manages to make an army or Commoner Mages? Who will they be loyal to? A King they suffered under, or a Duchess they flourished under?"

"It will not matter, because she has no intentions to rule... it will most probably become a check and balance on my power, though, should I act in a way she deems unjust." The Emperor answered that question himself, leaning against his hands in a contemplative mood.

"I suppose there's nothing bad about that, so long as the person applying the check and balance is just themselves." Eric nodded calmly, unfazed by the concept. "Plus it'll be extra military power for the country, even if they're all her Bannermen, because Bannermen can be called on in a time of war."

"A fair assessment, from the point of view of the Marshall of our Legions. What says the Master of Coins?"

"Who will be funding this Order, I suppose is my only remaining question... the Order of Mana has replied on our donations for close to three centuries now, ever since their mana potion business was undone by the Thieves' Guild. This one seems to want to pay for itself with its attached Guild, but will it request a pension from the Crown, as is its right? And how much would it be? Would it include all the Orphans and Thieves and Merchants as Supplicants?" The Coin Master sighed, massaging his temples soothingly.

Emperor Arden laughed sharply, recognizing the query's source. "Ahh, yes, the Pension is based on membership, isn't it? How much are we projected to save on retrieving black market goods from their new owners?"

"If this report is correct, we're saving somewhere close to 80%, if we buy them directly from the Dungeon Merchants, but that requires us to get to the Merchant and buy it before it's intended recipient does. Otherwise, in fact it becomes more difficult to retrieve, because we cannot track its movement."

"And what about tourism value, for people coming to see the new Human-Made Dungeons?"

"Almost nothing, currently, but the Duchesses Territory will receive all of it, I imagine. That, we could Tax, so we would likely gain... something. If she makes a Tier Five Dungeon like she claimed she intended to do, then that number will shoot up dramatically. The number of people willing to change countries to be near a Tier Five Dungeon, or gods forbid a Tier Six, is beyond ken. I don't need to tell you how valuable such a thing would be for the military, and our various Tier Fives looking for the XP to get up a mere Level at a time from months of drills!"

Eric nodded seriously. "I could maybe get to Tier Seven, with access to a Tier Six Dungeon. Unfortunately, the only Tier Six Dungeon in the world is in the Southern Wastelands, and guarded by Demigod-Tier Monsters. Even Tier Fives, there's only four that we know of, and they're all controlled by the governments of the lands that have them. That's how we lost the East, after all, was the rebels took over Dungeon City Sestet."

"Yes, I remember. Hothien wasn't able to route them due to their own Tier Seven Mage, a Traitor." The Emperor grumbled, ignoring Hothien's irritated glare. "Regardless, if she makes a Tier Six Dungeon, all these thoughts about getting tax from her should disappear; such an asset is not something we should irritate. Her mere presence in our country raises our military presence. Let's move on and continue with the other matters. Do you have any answers to Eric's... rather long list of questions?" He addressed the masked individual kneeling at the door, silencing his three companions while they considered.

"Well... from the top? The Golems are Dungeonborn, because the Cathedral itself is a Dungeon and she's made herself the Dungeon Boss, granting herself Effective Immortality, because the Mythallar is the Dungeon Core. It's not possible to replicate them, because they are Muradin's Own Soldiers, but she has managed a different creature, a Lesser Empyrean of Muradin's named Wayland. They are a Tier Seven Paladin, and they are connected to the Cathedral; they're also quite naive, and willing to speak to anyone about anything. Much of the information I have I simply asked them about, and they answered without guile."

Hothien was the first to finally respond, after several heavy moments of silence. "She made... An Empyrean?"

"A Lesser Empyrean, with Muradin's assistance. Before their interference, it was just a Tier Five Deva, which she did make on her own, yes, and without their interference it would have become a Tier Seven Graveyard Fairy... which I don't know what that is, but they said it was a 'Lawful Evil' being which controlled Ice Magic, Plant Magic, Necromancy, and Summoning Magic."

"So she can't do this again? She could only make one, right?" Eric frowned.

"... she went on to create many other creatures, each different, but significantly weaker, around Tier Two on average... so no, I believe she is capable of creating more, but Wayland informed me that they couldn't leave the city, because their strength was tied to the Cathedral, due to the magic of their birth... and the others were not bound in such a way, and they could grow stronger just like anyone else with XP. They are technically Golems, though they look more similar to people and monsters."

"Well... Her military deterrence just skyrocketed... if she can make more Demigod-Tier Monsters or Subordinates, what can't she do?" The Emperor covered his face with a soft groan of irritation.

"Should I continue?" The informant asked carefully, unsure if they should interrupt.

"Yes, yes, do so, please..." he waved a hand at them with a false urgently.

"Alright... Her method of creating Dungeons and Enchanted Items, her Monsters, all of it is made by the Fusion Magic, her Champion Gift from Muradin, it isn't replicable by magic."

"As we suspected, yes..." Hothien sighed, disappointed.

"As for her policies on the Thieves' Guild, I don't know if there is a way to stop her; she's already achieved their submission, and her demands have been delivered to the Regional Director. Pretty soon, she'll have control of all the Black Markets in this Region, as the Guild has decided that her method is more profitable, and they also want to avoid a Crusade by someone who can create Dungeons and ruin their business from the outside all at the same time. Not to mention the Guild threw everything they had at her, and she not only defeated them by beating the shit out of them with a mace, she also captured them and sat them down in a board room to hear her demands before kicking them through a portal. The fact that Grand Sage Hothien came to rescue her from the first wave of Guild Activity was not missed, either. Clearly she had allies in the highest of places. Not worth the fight, not worth the loss."

"A fair risk-benefit assessment." Eric nodded, having made the same assessment only five days earlier.

"The flying city thing I only know a little about; she was muttering to herself about it, I think she was talking to Muradin through Divine Messages, and complaining that she had to make the whole city fly, instead of just her Tower? Something about being irritated she had to, forgive me, 'why do I have to save your entire fallen, busted-ass Mageocracy for one flying tower?!? What use do I have for a Flying City?' I only overheard one side of the conversation, so I don't have anything further on the how. As for why, I think she just doesn't want to."

"That's... a humbling description of our nation, but not exactly the worst we've heard... and the fact that Muradin asked his champion to save us is worrisome: are we facing a threat only they know about, which requires the city to fly to avoid it? Eric, Coin Master, increase the budget for our information gathering in the region, look for any incoming threats immediately and ceaselessly."

"Immediately, Sir."

"It will be done, Your Majesty."

"Continue: what else can you tell us?" The Emperor refocused on the Informant while the Treasurer and Marshall moved to one side, quietly discussing methods.

"Of course. Her relationship with the Royal Family has been... rocky, to say the least, seeing as they've all been assassinating her servants and friends for the past nine years. Now she has no one she loves and trusts, and that makes her dangerous, and less likely to make any true alliances with the Royal Family... in fact, I would be wary of any such alliance, as it is likely a ploy for revenge at this point. She's the sweetest thing, really, but she can be a vicious little bitch when she's threatened, like with the Thieves' Guild's Attack or Parthia's Duel. She doesn't even remember Parthia's name correctly, she calls her Patria."

"What was there to say about the Duel? Is Parthia Dead? Eric?"

"No, just horribly embarrassed; Anitra toyed with her and embarrassed her in front of her little retinue of hangers-on. Her mother is currently training her to prevent any future disappointing showings of the same nature." Eric scoffed at the question, returning to his conversation with the Master of Coins without a care for the embarrassment of a child.

"Hmm... well, as long as she didn't die, I suppose... and my plans for using her to clean up the city didn't work very well, did they? She just subordinated them all, instead."

Hothien laughed, shrugging at his nephew's incredulous gaze. "I told you she'd clean them up and then ask for payment, didn't I?"

"Damn... and so you did. That's disappointing, but it's pointless to dwell on failure, so continue."

"Of course. Your next questions, I believed, were about the Dungeons? The short answer is... I think you should help her, yes. The dungeons she takes away from other countries funnel wealth here, as well as military strength and Magic Crystals. The only downside I see is maybe that she could start a war if she steals a Dungeon from somewhere, but I'm pretty sure that's what you guys want anyway, to reclaim the Mageocracy's Lands."

"Mm... true, and decreasing access to stable Leveling helps us in our war efforts, should we be hostile to them." The Emperor glanced down at the table, where a Map of the world had been etched, all the various territories drawn out in perfect, clear details. "How we should help, though..."

"She said she needed Dungeon Cores and Gates, as Materials for the Fusion Magic, if you were interested? She already strong-armed the Thieves' Guild into getting her a few as payment for attacking her Cathedral, so if you want to assist, I'd get her one first, so you don't seem to be just following theirs." The Informant suggested smoothly, grinning beneath the mask.

"Hmph... Dungeon Cores are usually protected, black market materials... stealing one is generally a capital crime... but we can put some resources into capturing a few Dungeons that are in unclaimed land, perhaps... now for the most important questions, in my mind: her Order, what do we know about it?"

"Well, it's a matter of saving the world, if you ask her, and she believes it to be true. Every new mage decreases Muradin's Burden, holding the world together, according to them. The Orphans are because she wants to teach them all at once, and raise them up above their status as just Orphans or Commoners. She's quite the bleeding heart, as I said."

"Saving the world, Hmm? Bleeding heart indeed, but if that's true, it does raise questions as to why the Thieves' Guild was so thorough in destroying the Order of Mana. I can't imagine they'd do so if they knew; Dark Guild or no, if there's no world there's no customers." Emperor Arden sighed, re-reading that section of the report and verifying the similarities he'd read in previous reports from other people. "Alright, well, that leaves just one question, and it's a pretty important one as well: does her Order truly have an XP Buff?"

"I watched her gain 46 Levels in only two days, Your Majesty, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear she reached Tier Two the day after that. So yes, it's true, though as founder she said hers was better than others; how much it is, I don't know, but she said you had to have a Mage or Cleric Class and be a Devout of Muradin to join, and if you do you also have to teach any useful skills you have to the Children in the care of the Order of the Tower, free of charge."

Even the Coin Master, uninterested in most things related to Leveling ever since reaching the Sixth Tier as a Merchant, perked up and turned to look at the informant when their statement registered in his brain. Each and every one of them were now laser-focused on the Informant, and they felt their gut clench up a bit at such direct scrutiny, despite their mask. "Forty-Six Levels in two days, you say?"