^^ Ghost Blade Corsair ^^

— Nonith, Southern Wasteland, Anitra —

Chaos.

Pure, Undiluted, Wholly Unbridled Chaos reigned, in the Forest around our tranquil little bubble of silver and gold, as sixteen massive, Silver-Skinned Hippopotamuses rampaged through the Forest, slamming into and through trees and people alike at my... tenuous command.

Summoning the most violent animals in the entire animal kingdom had seemed like a good idea at the time, but as I watched them stomp on and crush the Bandits by the dozen, I felt some remorse, even for evil people like these. Hippos were vicious, even more than I'd thought. Still, there was some hope for the bandits, as they realized that the Hippos were just Tier One Beasts, not Tier Two Monsters, and began to rally a bit, with the half of their number that remained forming a set of hunting parties to attack each Hippo singularly. Four fell with nightmare-inducing bellows before the rest got around to following my commands and grouping up, rushing them in four sets of three, trying to come from every direction and surround them with a wall of silvery hide, heavy muscle, and rage. Still, even with the addition of such tactics, the bandits were all around Tier Three at least, so they managed to kill the groups of Water Pigs with only a little more personal injury; even now, though, I could see most of the ones I'd thought killed by the Hippos standing up with the help of their comrades, receiving healing from one of their number who wore long red robes.

"Can't have that, no sir... Mages, target the Cleric with Magic Missile!!!" I did much the same, casting Elemental Lance and Magic Missile at the same time, a new function of my Fusion Skill; I could temporarily merge similar spells together for an increased effect, though there was a chance it would fail and of course I had to pay both spells' Mana Cost, minus the cut that Muradin and Rackhavic each Paid for my Spellcasting. Four Lances of flashing colors swelled into existence above my head, passing through the barrier with ease as they shot towards the cleric mid-heal, impaling his chest alongside the dozen or so blue-silver magic missiles of my Mages, which looked more like arrows than my Lances.

He dropped like a sack of potatoes, of course, and the one he'd been healing shouted weakly at the others to let them know. "They took out Marcus!!! Someone get him a healing potion!!!" There was an immediate shift of attitude from the bandits, losing some of their previous stalwart natures, but instead a burning hatred began to brew in their gazes, directed at me in particular. "KILL THE GILDED ONE FIRST, JURIS!!!"

"COME AND TRY, YA COWARDLY CUNTS!!! YOU THINK YOU'RE THE FIRST TO THROW YOUR HAT IN THE RING?!? THE ONLY ONE WHO GETS TO KILL ME IS *GOD THEMSELF*, AND THEY'LL HAVE A *VICIOUS* FUCKING FIGHT ON THEIR HANDS WHEN THEY COME FOR ME!!! YOU'RE JUST A *VACATION* FROM THE MONOTONY OF *REAL* ASSASSINS COMING FOR MY HEAD, SO DON'T GET ANY IDEAS THAT YOU'RE SOMEHOW *SPECIAL* LITTLE SNOWFLAKES, YOU WORTHLESS, PATHETIC, LOW-TIER !!!***FODDER***!!!" I shouted back mentally, heckling them and raising my mace to prepare myself. After a moment of thought, I added in a Vicious Mockery, just to see, before grinning as nearly all of them held their skulls and bled from their noses. 'Basically no one ever has resistance to Psychic Damage, after all...'

The remainder spread out in a surprisingly decent formation, forgoing a frontal assault once more in favor of reducing our ability to scatter and flee, as one of them visibly took charge; a tall man with white eyes, a sailor's jacket, and a real tricorn on his head. Once everyone was in place, he looked at me directly, his white eyes glowing a ghostly green, and summoned a series of illusory blades around himself, stepping forward towards me as they orbited him like a Blade Barrier. "Your lack of preparation belies your claim to experience, Lady Anitra, but I will acknowledge how far you've come with pure grit and venom; it's impressive, truly, to survive on just that."

"Or maybe I really do feel you're just washed-up bandits and thusly not worthy of any further efforts on my part?" I retorted with a sneer, casting Paladin's Holy Smite on my Mace and making it glow with golden flames.

He glanced at the flames, but shrugged easily. "We shall see. Regardless, after we're done here, your body will be delivered back to Arcata; you'll at least be buried in your homeland."

"I'll give you no such courtesy. Your bodies will feed my Dungeon like the Fodder you are." The encircling bandits shifted uneasily as my voice reached into their minds and sounded as if I was hissing in their ears or over their shoulders, coming from every direction at once and then echoing in a ghastly, haunted fashion.

Looking at them briefly, the Corsair shook his head. "Cowards, one and all... I'll have to train them up after this..."

"You truly still don't understand your place; allow me to educate you." My mace, enhanced by Holy Smite, crashed into the ground and activated Shatter and Quake, sending a golden wave of flames outwards from the Barrier around us which turned the ground instantly into a boiling quagmire and the trees that had survived the Hippos into so many matchsticks. When the golden corona of light had faded and the Quake had stopped, the land around us was wiped clean like a slate cleaned of chalk, steaming and still burning in places, and the Bandits were pulling themselves out of the burning mud with screams of pain, trying to save themselves and their friends... at least those that had survived.

The Corsair, to his credit, was still standing; his boots and coat were gone, burnt and tattered, but his hat had been preserved, hilariously, as he perched on top of a charred rock with visibly burnt feet. Only one of his ghostly blades remained, I noticed, flickering in and out of sight. Sensing my gaze upon him, he glanced away from his wounds and looked back at me, heaving for breath. "It seems I underestimated... how prepared you were... your barrier acts as... a Locus? An Amplifier... for Holy Magic?"

"Yes, and protects us all from any effects of said Magic, such as shockwaves and mud burns." I nodded, seeing no reason to hide it.

"... ... ... We will retreat, I think. This is not worth the pay we received." He doffed his hat cordially, then turned to leave with his remaining fellows before my voice hissed in his mind viciously.

"Did I give you permission to leave?"

He froze, turning to glance at me over his shoulder, but instead of me standing some twenty feet above him on the edge of the donut-shaped crater, he saw nothing: I had launched myself into the air above him with Jump, coming down with my mace in an overhead slam, activating Shatter again, but not Quake. His sword autonomously rose to defend him, even though he didn't see me yet, which was interesting, but my flame-covered mace shattered the sword instantly, continuing through to his skull and sending him to the still-boiling ground. Being Tier Five or so, or at least I guessed, I couldn't kill him with just my own strength, but that didn't mean I couldn't ring his bell; no stat in the world prevented a shaken brain from causing confusion, lack of balance, and unconsciousness, after all.

"Ha! That smarts, huh? At least she didn't use Earthquake on your skull like she did me!!! Trust me, fellow Rogue, it only gets worse from here!!!" Zaya was suddenly standing next to him with her longsword on his neck, the rest of the bandits behind her and held by glowing green chains.

"I thought I told you I wanted to handle this myself?" I frowned at her, holstering my mace on my back with a grumble at the missed opportunity to crack some more skulls.

"Yeah, you definitely did, and I did, but then you broke from formation to fight him on your own, so I captured all his buddies for you. You're welcome."

"Hmph... Any dead that can't be Revived?" I glanced at the Paladins and Mages, releasing them to care for the wounded; soon enough, they had examined them all and searched the area for any more corpses or living bandits, and one of them nodded as they scanned the group of bandits behind Zaya.

"Four sundered brains, Your Grace; resurrection is impossible for them. The others can be healed or revived."

"Acceptable loss; Heal the rest and toss them all into the Dungeon, including this one." I nodded to the Corsair, before looking at the road I had ruined and turned into a molten crevasse. "And... let's fix that road I ruined; I don't want to inconvenience the next travelers coming through here."

"Indeed." The Warriors wandered over and began dragging trees out of the road at the edge of the crater, while I casted fabricate and smoothed out the mud to recreate a new path around it. At a second casting, the ruined boulders and trees became a cobbled square and a bridge across the small chasm, to the center of the Donut Crater. The Warrior grinned and nodded, waving to me to get my attention. "I believe that will make up for the damage, Your Grace; cobbled campgrounds are quite rare, and a good solid bridge is good to have! If you connect it to the River over there, this may even become a good fishing spot, and a defensible camping position for future travelers!"

I smiled at the Warrior, walking over and extending the chasm into the River, covering my face to avoid the massive plume of steam as the water cooled the superheated mud and filled the fifty-meter wide crater I'd made around our Dome. For a while I simply waited for it to finish steaming, but it never did, retaining a small layer of steam and fog above it as the carriage slowly drove itself over the bridge and back onto the road. I dipped my hand into the water, finding it a pleasantly warm temperature, and hummed softly. "Well.. or I've just created a Hotspring of sorts."

"Even better! The fish will use this as a spawning ground!" The Warrior grinned again, jogging off to fetch his Horse Golem, returning to his post beside the carriage.

After watching everyone get ready to depart, I climbed back into the Carriage, sitting next to Heron and the girls while Aron took the wheel once more. "Any notes?"

"Maybe stop charging at Tier Five Enemies? That guy was a Ghost Blade Corsair, and if he hadn't been caught off guard, he could have impaled you from a distance like you did his Cleric."

I shrugged. "With what as my alternative? Let him leave and carry back intelligence on my combat capabilities to my enemies? Let him leave and come back for a second round, actually prepared to kill me this time? Like you said, if he hadn't been caught off guard, he'd have won; thusly I need to always keep my enemies off guard. As soon as they get their feet under them and begin to accurately predict my tactics and skills and spells, my biggest advantage, my unpredictability, goes up in smoke!"

She sighed, shaking her head slowly. "You still should've had one of us Tier Fives or Zaya handle him."

"And what, depend on everyone else to do everything for me my whole life?!? You think I can reach Demigodhood while hiding behind someone else's skirts?!? I knew you all would step in if I was in true danger, but even if you weren't here, I would have changed nothing!!! I am not going to pretend that I'll always have stronger allies than myself to fight my battles for me!!! Every battle is to be solved with my strength and my strength alone, no one else!!! Having companions of equal or lesser strength to myself is acceptable, because they are not a crutch or a giant to stand upon and think myself powerful, but you're dreaming if you think I'll let myself rely on you or Zaya or anyone else for anything related to my own personal safety and advancement towards Tier Seven!!! Hence why you don't go into dungeons with me!!! You think I don't know how easy it would be for you all to stomp through a Tier Two Dungeon in half an hour and bring me a Dungeon Core with no work on my part?!? What type of lazy, pathetic, LEECH do you take me for?!?"

She leaned back slowly from my glare and the volume of my shout, but nodded slowly. "You make a good series of several proper and understandable points; I apologize if I overstepped, Lady Anitra."

I shook my head and leaned back into the seat, rubbing my hair back into its proper place; it had gotten messy during my flight towards the Corsair, so I'd have to remember to gel it, before any future battles. Hair in your face could get you killed, after all. "Yes, well, I'm sorry for yelling, I suppose."

Aron cleared his throat, as the carriage slowly began its travel forward. "Well, uh... we'll be in the Town in a few hours... and the Dungeon is a short five-minute hike into the woods after that, so we should all rest and recover our Stamina while we wait, yeah?"

—

The sky had darkened significantly by the time we reached the little Town with its Tier Three Dungeon; there was a steady stream of people headed into and out of the Black Gate, many returning worse for wear, but they didn't seem to slow down because of the coming twilight. Adventurers had different bedtimes than people who worked for a living, apparently.

Chuckling to myself at my mental quip, I stepped out of the carriage and examined the Gate in the distance. "Looks like a road has already been made, hm? Is our information outdated?"

Aron nodded. "It would seem so, my lady; I apologize."

"That's fine, it just means we can drive the carriage up to the Gate itself. Let's go." I hopped back into the carriage, and he began driving the vardo towards the Gate, making the line of adventurers part around us with irritated shouts and rude gestures in our direction. Once we reached the Gate itself, the Vardo circled behind it to park, unloading our party and stabilizing itself. Once we were all gathered, I addressed the others mentally and aloud. "Paladins, Warriors, establish a perimeter around the Gate with Zaya and Heron. Heric, Ronic, you can be with me or your mother, but choose quickly so we can organize you into our Party Organization. Mages, I'd like another Domain of Faith around the Gate to prevent any further Entrance into the Dungeon. Once everyone is out, we'll begin our Dive."

"Who the fuck do you think you are, interfering with our Entrance to the Dungeon?!? You do know everyone can enter without interference, right?!?" One of the adventurers shouted past the Stoic Mounted Paladin in front of him.

"I am Anitra the Dungeon Master, and I am Capturing this Dungeon and it's Core for the Tower of Muradin. You will still have access to it, it will just take a few hours of waiting before everything goes back to normal. Have patience, and all will be well." I answered the question with the message spell, making most of them shut up and step back instantly, as my voice echoed in their heads.

The few that stayed where they were looked at each other, then back at me, drawing their weapons. "You're the Duchess who is challenging the Thieves' Guild, huh? There's a bounty on your head, did you know that?"

"I did, yes. Five Platinum, isn't it? Insultingly low, but my enemies are cheapskates and cowards, after all, they don't have the funds to give me a bounty worth the risk of attacking me. I'd put it at Fifty Platinum, to be honest, and a limit on Tier Five or above enemies; no one else stands a chance, after all. I just dispatched a Tier Five Ghost Blade Corsair who was hired to kill me with his band of thirty Tier Three Bandits, and they were taken out like paper men without much challenge. Now, step back, please, so that I don't have to harm my future employees." The remaining Hippos from what I'd summoned earlier climbed out of my shadow, all eight of them taking a compass rose position and simply sitting down, staring at the crowd impassively while the Paladins and Warriors took positions behind them for a full encirclement. "Is that a good formation for you all, Mages?"

"Yes, Lady Anitra. We will begin now." They nodded and began casting, creating the Domain of Faith Dome with minimal effort, then sat down on the ground around the Gate, meditating to recover mana and keep the spell going.

"You've got the perimeter and the Rogues?" I glanced at Zaya and Heron, who both nodded before disappearing from my vision instantly, then at Heron's Daughters. "And you?"

"We'll come with you; we'll be the back line, if you don't mind."

"Fine by me. Aron, you're at my hip, I'm the Shieldbearer, and I'll summon two Lancers for the Midfield. Anything else?"

He shook his head. "That sounds good to me."

"Good; now we wait." I drew my mace and set it in front of me, sitting on my shield and watching the adventuring parties as they exited the Dungeon, looking around at the encirclement, then decided to quickly move away down the road. After an hour or so, no other parties emerged, and the Mages informed me that the Dungeon was now empty. "Perfect. Everyone look lively, we'll be in a Tier Three Dungeon, so don't let your guard down in the slightest; Hallow, you'll be our insurance, just in case."

A stocky Tier Five Draconian plate-warrior appeared from my shadow, nodding his golden-scaled snout and flicking his yellow wings and tail in anticipation. "I will protect your Back with my life, Champion."

"I appreciate your devotion; lets go." The Black Gate opened with a nudge of my mace, and I led the group into the dark interior, holding my shield in front of my chest carefully.