Evolution: A Warlock's Rise To Power

Lucan and the Goddess Marama discussed the finer details of their transaction for half an hour before his illusion collapse and the shadows dispersed.

The warlock rose from his desk in the mountain fortress and turned to Silent.  "I have succeeded."

"Ha, ha, that's great."  Silent said, getting up from the couch across form him.  "I have been doing some research about the requirements to take over an instance.  Your guess was right, there are some difference.  I just need a little bit longer to double check a few things."

"That's no problem, stay her and relax while you research.  I have to release the prisoner in order to get the coordinates.  Then we will go for a visit to see what we need to prepare."

Silent nodded, gave her husband a kiss on the cheek and then sat back down.

Lucan left his office behind the command room and headed down towards the fortress dungeons. The entrance towards the prison had finished being constructed while he was offline.  Now the lowest cell in the dungeon was securely guarded, including the tunnel that led to the church.  He entered the cell and descended the new stairs.

Entering the prison he hurried to the final room.  Stepping into the large cavern, he could see that the situation inside had already began to change.

The warden noticed him and approached him right away.

"Sir, this is the information you requested."  The warden said while handing him a notebook that was filled with the prisoner's details.

Lucan flipped through it was pleased to see that is was quite thorough.  He shifted his gaze towards the prison cells that lined the walls of the cavern.  The inhabitants were more active than the first time he was here.  They were now well fed and had basic amenities such as a bed, access to clean water and bucket to go to the bathroom.  Their empty stone rooms were now a notch better.

These prisoners were now even chatting with their neighbors.  From their attitudes it would be difficult to even tell that they were prisoners still.

"Arrange a guard captain and three subordinates to assist me.  Someone is being released today."  Lucan said to the warden before approaching the ramp that led upwards.

"Yes sir, right away."  The warden said.

Lucan walked up to the second highest level and stopped in front of the cell containing a lunar elf.  Seeing him approach with a key in his hand, she quickly got up from her new bed.

"Marama wishes to receive you."  Lucan said.

A smile bloomed on the face of the blue elf.

When he inserted the key and swung the door open, the chattering inside the prison stopped. Everyone was silent as they witnessed one of their compatriots being released.

This didn't go unnoticed by Lucan.  He motioned for the named guard captain and the three others to surround the elf.  Just because she was being released didn't mean that he would take her out alone.  Who knew if she wouldn't try and kill or rob him before she ran away?

As the guards led her down the platform, Lucan shut the cell.  The others eagerly waited to see if he would approach anyone else.

Lucan held the notebook with their details in his hand and raised it up as he enhanced his voice so everyone could easily hear.

"I have received your information.  I will enquire to with those whom you said would vouch for you to see if you are telling the truth.  I am no friend of the demons, so keeping you here does little for me.  If what you have reported is true and your identities are valid, this maybe you in the near future."  He said before following the guards and ordering them to escort Lumina out of the dungeon.

When the tunnel met a set of stairs, the guard captain handed over his duties to commander Gear and his subordinates before returning.

It wasn't something new to see Commander gear escort someone out of the dungeons below the fortress.  NPCs and players paid no mind to the event.

After following Lucan outside, Commander Gear turned to Lucan, waiting for instructions.  "What now my Lord?"

"We wait."  Lucan said.

The warlock looked up towards the night sky.  The clouds began to part, revealing the moon that was tucked behind them.

A beam of moonlight shone down and landed on the elf, embracing her and giving a long-lost luster to her blue skin.

Lumina turned towards Lucan.  "Thank you."  She said before she began to fade in the moon light. She was teleported away by the goddess.

Lucan grinned.  He loved extorting others and then having them whole heartedly thank him for his effort.  It was a wonderful feeling.

"Alright, get back to your normal duties.  And don't personally guard the entrance to the prison yourself.  I don't want to draw any unnecessary attention to the area."

"Yes, Lord Quilldrake.  I will be going then."

Lucan nodded and continued to watch the moon that was being swallowed up by the clouds again.  Once it disappeared, he returned to his office behind the command room.

Silent was waiting for him.  She then spoke about what she learned.  "Taking control of an instance is a bit harder than a dungeon but it is also easier."  Seeing the confused look on Lucan's face she giggled before continuing.  "Unlike a dungeon, it doesn't matter if you fail.  In a sense you are allowed to attempt to conquer it for yourself an unlimited number of times.  The hard part is that you must beat all levels of its in a single day and achieve the lowest cumulative completed time."

"What does that mean?"  Lucan asked.

"Most instance have different play types.  You can enter a five-person dungeon, a ten-person dungeon, or a forty-person raid.  All three need to be completed in a span of twenty-four hours and the total time for all three needs to be the fastest within the past six months, in game."

"I see.  But since no one else has discovered this instance, it should be enough just to complete all three."  Lucan said.

"Yes, that is right, but to complete all three in a span of twenty-four hours will not be easy.  You will have to organize groups in advanced and you will also have to participate with each group.  And failing even a single one of the levels will mostly cause you to exceed the time limit."

"So, I will need three perfect runs, back to back."

"Yep, and even then, you may have to pick up the pace.  The average run time of a five-man dungeon is four hours.  The average of a ten-man dungeon is six.  And the average of a raid is usually about ten hours.  But those are only average.  And this is a brand-new instance, you won't be able to find strategy guides online.  We will have to forge our own path in all three types and then complete them all in one day.  Still feeling confident about your chances?"

"If you are coming with me, then definitely."

"He, he, good.  Let's go take a look so we can start planning."

Lucan and Silent jumped onto his magic carpet and took off into the air.  A green portal open in front of them.  They passed through and left the shadow realm behind.