Worthy Core

Tizzy isn't terribly happy as she stands outside in the forest the next day, along with the rest of Prince Thaddeus's party. That wasn't a slight against the forest, of course, it was a perfectly fine forest, although technically speaking they didn't really need to come all the way out here again. But so far two realmwalks had been done out here and none of the locals had noticed anything, which was a pretty good sign that it was a safe, secluded location for a third ritual.

Mostly, she just finds herself disappointed that Thaddeus had already decided to bring along the rest of his followers. Although they'd all been more or less swayed to the Prince's cause as a group back in their home realm, the half-imp had never really considered herself to be a full member of that particular clique. For one thing, she was a rather natural loner, which was one of the main reasons she had taken the unusual step of taking her magical talents and using them to become a scout rather than a traditional mage. For another, well...

Although she claimed it, Tizzy had always had doubts that Prince Xenon Darkstar was actually her grandfather.

Most of the others seemed quite more certain about it, and even if they were wrong, it didn't really matter so much given that they had inherited rank enough as it was. Linda and Lei were both grandchildren of Xenon's 'Fallen Champions', and had held at least some measure of authority and power ever since they were born. Their positions as rival warlords within the fracturing empire weren't particularly strong, or they likely would have never latched on to Prince Thaddeus, but they had held authority of their own. Pulg meanwhile was not a descendant of Champions, but his pedigree as a descendant of Xenon didn't seem to be in doubt. His grandmother had been a minor tribal warchief, and apparently hadn't been taken to dallying around all that much - especially not with humans.

Tizzy's grandmother had been a humble guard captain. A respectable position for a commoner, certainly, but she had always been a little too loud about how she had bagged herself the prince himself on a few nights. Occasionally letting it slip that most of those nights had been some of the prince's famously hedonistic orgies. To be quite frank, most of the time Tizzy wondered if her grandfather had actually been one of the Tower's serving staff.

When she was alone, it didn't matter. Hells, even with Prince Thaddeus, she didn't think he genuinely cared all that much despite how big of a deal he made of his own ancestry. But around the other minor lordlings of her realm? Well, that was a different matter entirely. And now she was about to help to more than double the number of those hanging around. Hoping for one last chance at changing Thaddeus's mind, she speaks up, careful not to interrupt him as he focuses on one of his relics, an amulet of his own design.

"Ah, you know my lord, there's still a chance to reconsider. This is going to be a lot of new faces all at once, maybe we should hold off a little longer? Or only bring over one or two at a time, something like that? We wouldn't want to give ourselves away."

The man grins as he grants her half of his attention. "What, and spend a month bringing across our reinforcements? You know we can't communicate across realms, so we must stick to the pre-arranged dates and times when they would be ready with their half of the ritual. If we skip tonight, it'd be another four days before we could consider it again, and it'd take weeks to do them in pairs at that rate." He tilts his head down at her, giving her his full attention for at least a brief moment. "It doesn't matter if you dislike them, Tizzy. They could be essential to our success. If you had experience in command, you'd know - you don't have to like all of your subordinates in order to make use of them."

A little surprised at his comment, Tizzy glances around for the rest of the group. Lei and Pulg were somewhat distant, patrolling the forest for any interlopers, and Linda seems to be occupied with drawing out the required markings on the forest floor. Feeling somewhat secure, she leans in with a whisper. "Are you, uh...saying you don't like us that much yourself, my lord?"

The dark-haired man's smile doesn't fade. "As a hypothetical, if it turned out that I despised you, would it change things? Would you abandon me, run and make a new life for yourself out there?"

The words somewhat shock her, but as best as she can tell, Tizzy's pretty sure he is genuinely speaking hypothetically. "...Uh, well, I mean, I guess you haven't like, lied

to us about anything so far. You seem to know what you're doing. As long as you didn't abandon us I suppose I don't need you to like me, uh...personally. Besides, I like this world alright but I'm not sure yet if I'd wanna live here."

Thaddeus reaches out a hand and pats the short woman on the head, a move which triggers ambiguous feelings in the scout. "See, very insightful. Trust is important. Competence is important. Liking someone is not. And at the very least, I limited my recruits to the most competent I could find. Yourself included, Tizzy. For the record, I am rather fond of you."

"Hah, uh, thanks, you're alright too, I guess. Um...are you saying you don't trust them all as much, though, if you mostly picked them for their skills?"

That question does cause the man's smile to fade. "I trust them to operate in their own self-interests. I trust them to see that I can best serve those interests. I'll admit, I do perhaps have somewhat less trust in their behavior, in some cases."

Tizzy winces. "You mean like Sevastian."

Thaddeus doesn't respond for a moment. "I wish perhaps that I knew him better while his sister Yulia was still alive. I hear she was a...stabilizing influence on the man. Still, he has his uses."

The half-imp frowns. "Well, at least he's just a normal sort of crazy. Not one of those 'don't let yourself be alone with him in a room at night' sort of crazy."

The prince doesn't quite frown along with her, but his mood does seem to darken somewhat. "I am aware of how your homeland tended to encourage certain...excesses and abuses of authority. I offered amnesty for past acts, to be redeemed through our cause, but that doesn't mean I turn a blind eye. If anyone threatens you with harm..."

Tizzy waves her hands and puts on a toothy smile. "Hey, I've been taking care of myself for a long time now, and I'm tougher than most of these second-stringers anyhow. But uh, thanks. My lord."

"It's no matter. You can, in fact, trust me. But enough delays - the artifact is prepared, and Linda appears to be finishing with the ritual circle. It's time to begin. Take your place, Tizzy."

She does so, forming a triangle around the ritual circle with Linda and Thaddeus, although to be honest the two women have little to contribute to the ritual itself, mostly just serving as additional 'anchors' for the crossing point. Thaddeus pulls out an additional anchor, the jeweled amulet they'd 'acquired' from the stash of the monster slayer they'd heard about in their last realm, one which was very helpfully tuned to Xenon - or rather, Xenia's - soul. The key piece of the puzzle though was Thaddeus's own enchanted amulet, a jeweled locket Tizzy had never seen the inside of. Whatever magic fueled it though was powerful, and when the timing is right and the ritual is charged it only takes a few words for Thaddeus to trigger the spell.

There's a bright flash of light, much brighter than those on the previous two occasions where the spell had been used, and this time when Tizzy blinks her eyes clear she sees a dozen new figures standing in the forest clearing. This wasn't everyone who had joined Thaddeus when he made his recruitment pitch in Tizzy's home realm - originally, there had been nearly fifty people when one included guards, retainers, servants and others who had come along. Some had fallen to fighting in the various realms along the way though, and not all of those to monsters or outsiders. Many of those who had come along had been rivals, after all, and those rivalries hadn't faded away simply because they were all following a new lord.

Some had actually taken a liking to realms they'd traveled to though, strange sights of worlds that weren't caught in an endless war between factions and deities, and Thaddeus had allowed anyone who wished to leave and settle down to do so.

Most of the servants and retainers were gone now, leaving only the strongest, most determined, and most arrogant to remain. Or, as Tizzy mentally referred to them as, the Petty Lords. About half of the new arrivals were fully human, descendants of one Fallen Champion or another, and not all of them claiming descent from Prince Xenon. There were two half-orcs and a pair of dark elves, and even a traditional green-skinned elf, alongside one other imp fellow named Ruckus. Tizzy couldn't say that she got along particularly better with him than with anyone else, though.

Despite whatever his personal feelings might be, Prince Thaddeus greets the new arrivals with a wide smile as they turn to face him. "Welcome, my loyal adherents! I have the best of news for you today - the hunt is over, our quarry is found!"

A woman with purple hair - likely from a distant dark elf ancestor - and a hungry grin steps forward. "This is it, my lord? Xenon is here? Thank goodness - we were getting bored waiting in that last realm, there wasn't a single monster in the area to fight, and we were doing our best to lay low with the locals, as you ordered."

"This seems to be one of their 'Xenia' incarnations, but indeed, they are here. They are in a rather unusual form, however, and there will likely be many challenges ahead for us before our quest is complete. Tizzy here, as usual, has been taking the lead on gathering intelligence, as well as setting up cover identities as we will probably need to stay here for a few weeks at the least. Tizzy, would you care to take the lead?"

The scout nods. "Certainly, my lord. First off, yes, this is another realm where you'll need some help adapting to the local mana - but hey, at least we're not all gonna get System Sickness again, so there's that." A number of lordlings groan at the reminder of a realm where they'd suddenly found themselves granted dozens of skills upon their arrival, only to have them all taken away again when they'd left. "We're gonna get you set up with cover stories as adventurers - Challengers, they're called - and as you can see from my lovely shade of green, some of you are gonna need illusions. Orcs, you're fine. Ruckus, you're getting goblined. Tannis, we're gonna have to do your skin and eyes and all that again."

The green-skinned elf frowns at her statement. "Why is it the elves in so many other realms are so...dull? I suppose I'll live, though."

"Try being a completely different species and then complain. Dark elves, you stand out a bit but a little less, so...up to you, I guess. Before we get to that, though, let me give you the quick fifteen-minute rundown on 'dungeons', cause that's what we're dealing with here..."

She again gives her brief lecture that she'd previously given to Thaddeus, with a few additional bits of intelligence added, although it takes a little longer given the number of questions she has to deal with. Most of those in this final group would probably qualify as Expert-tier Challengers at best, but they all seem to have the egos of Supremes, making a point to speak up and ask inane questions if only so that the attention can all focus on them for a few brief seconds.

The most disturbing though comes at the end, just as Tizzy thinks she's finally wrapped up. "...and so that's why you definitely don't want to trigger any special modes. Any final questions?"

She shivers slightly as a thin human with messy brown hair and wild green eyes steps forward. "Tell me, Scout Barrelbottom, these...chosen champions of the Dungeon Xenia...you say they serve alongside her forever, as immortal warriors? They are bound to her?"

Before she can answer, Thaddeus himself steps in. "Indeed, Sevastian, although whether they are bound specifically to the location or to her core is uncertain. They are a secondary concern, though - if only Xenia can be moved, then we'll have to leave them to their fates. It may not be ideal, but they've served her for less than a year as it currently stands. For the most part, think of them as opponents that will need to be beaten to achieve our goal."

The man nods and strokes his chin, although it seems as if he's only half listening. "Yes...they've proven themselves, and we shall prove ourselves by being their betters..." His head tilts to the side for a moment before he continues. "Indeed, Yulia, it is a bold decision, to pursue immortality. A very impressive set of individuals...of competition..."

"...Right." Thaddeus takes a breath, and refocuses on the rest of the group. "Tizzy and Linda will be handling illusions for those who need them, and then we'll be returning to Grassbrook. We'll split up into three or four groups, so as to not attract too much attention. Tomorrow, we'll finalize arranging your cover identities - perhaps say you're part of a foreign mercenary company who have taken up Challenging, or some such. Any other questions?"

When there's none, the prince smiles. "Then tomorrow, your final challenge truly begins."