Then she grinned. Dave wasn’t sure what to make of that, but his son immediately asked, “Whatcha just think of? I know that look. You’ve got a devious idea, don’t you?”

  Gianna playfully slapped Jackson’s arm. “My love, ladies don’t get devious ideas. It just wouldn’t be proper, but it just occurred to me that your family is already tight with the Eikhorns, and Milessa is my best friend. Her father is only a baron, but Tabor seemed to like her a lot. Maybe we could find a way to put them together.”

  Immediately, Emiri jumped in, and the two women started discussing matchmaking. Dave shook his head, and Jackson seemed just as confused. Finally, though, Dave said, “We can discuss that later. If you want to you can accept the oath, though it will bond you to the concepts of redemption and unification that are the core of Eris’ Rise.”

  The princess didn’t answer but simply closed her eyes. Then she gasped again. “Wow, you didn’t tell me about all the benefits.”

  Dave grinned. “Of course not. You are going to be the queen of Miromar. We wanted you to make the decision on your own because you shared our commitment to the same vision.”

  She shared the notification that she received.

  Your oath has been accepted, and while a princess of Miromar still, you answer to the rulers of Eris’ Rise and the Nelson family that you will soon join. You gain the following benefits:

  Racial unity: Elves and humans in Eris’ Rise who are part of the bond share one another’s racial abilities at a 50% rate

  Agility +15%

  Wisdom +15%

  Charism +5%

  Enhanced low-light vision

  An expanded lifetime similar to that of a half-elf.

  Additionally, all oath takers have gained 100 bonus character points.

  Finally, your previous Tier cap has been raised by 1 to Tier 5.

  They all congratulated her. Dave could only imagine what the girl was thinking. Her life and future potential had just changed dramatically this morning. He hoped that Albret and Sophia understood but expected they would A Tier 5 queen for Miromar would be a strong deterrent.

  “Looks like we need to teach you both some more magic then. Please choose the three magic schools that you need, and we can get started with this,” Dave said.

  Then, just like that, they got down to work. They were Nelsons or soon-to-be Nelsons after all. Dave really loved his family. The work took most of the rest of the day. When they were done, everyone started talking again as Jackson and Gianna made plans about how to tell her parents about the changes. Gaining a class would be huge enough, but the certainty that she could reach Tier 5 was huge.

  As the others were lost in discussion, Dave thought about the portal he would start making tomorrow. It was clear that his previous ideas about how national relationships worked didn’t have to be the only way. Equally, what he had thought the oath of Eris’ Rise meant was clearly open to change. This could end up being a game changer if their allies could grow stronger through it. Of course, kings and nobles tended to be jealous of their domains.

  Dave and Emiri had spoken about this many times. They had a vision of democracy one day but had accepted that it was probably generations away at best. Eloria placed so much value on the power of the individual. Hmm… apparently his new son was bringing change in all sorts of ways. One thing Dave knew with absolute certainty. Not everyone appreciated change.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  “Behind every great man is a great woman, but it is more fun if she is beside him.” – A wise man.

  Bastion of Thralls- Jackson Nelson

  A couple days later, Jackson found himself in the palace garden with Gianna. He couldn’t help staring at her at times. She was so beautiful, and now that they were engaged, he had finally admitted that to himself. Things were moving far too fast for him, but he definitely wanted to kiss her—more than once.

  Part of what made it so hard was that she just took this in stride. Gianna seemed to accept that they would be married in just a few months after they both turned fifteen. For him, that was odd. Back home he would have been celebrating getting a learner’s permit and starting driver’s ed at fifteen instead of getting married.

  Of course, if he was going to have to get married young, marrying a crown princess wasn’t too bad of an option. Especially, when she was beautiful, funny, compassionate, and yeah, he could admit it, she was becoming his best friend. He still missed Tabor. You could just talk differently to guys, and everyone here treated him like he was a prince—which, technically, the king had made him one.

  That’s why the conversation he was about to have with Gianna was going to be so difficult, but he couldn’t put it off any longer. “So, my dad finished the portal last night. The king has given me permission to go in with the first group. I’ve already got the admission token, although technically, I don’t need one. Apparently, Altr… err Nim. Gotta get used to calling the dungeon controller by her new name. Anyway, apparently, anyone related to my dad by blood or marriage can enter the dungeon freely through any of the portals.”

  Jackson had expected Gianna to warn him about the danger, but instead, she said, “You know, I’m almost related to your dad by marriage.”

  He blinked rapidly as he tried to clear his head. Sometimes when she said things like that, his chest felt tight, and his palms got sweaty. “Uh, yeah. That’s true I guess.”

  She leaned forward, and he caught a whiff of her perfume. She was staring at him expectantly. When he didn’t say anything after a few seconds, she said, “Well…”

  He blinked again. This was becoming a habit. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear she cast a spell on him. “Well, what? Don’t worry. I promise to come back. I just need to get stronger. Besides, with the time dilation, I can spend days inside the dungeon, and it won’t seem that long out here at all.”

  She made that angry face and a ‘grrr’ sound. “Jackson Nelson, I swear if you weren’t so cute… You are just impossible at times. That wasn’t what I meant. You are incredibly strong. I already believe that. But aren’t you going to take me into the dungeon? I need to get stronger too. Or are you the kind of man who is afraid of a powerful woman?”

  Ew. She just had to go there, didn’t she. “Have you met my mother? How could you think that of me.”

  Gianna giggled and threw him off kilter again. “Well, you are sorta afraid of your mother.”

  Jackson felt dumbfounded. Then he too started to laugh. “I guess I am, but not in the way you were talking about.”

  “Of course not. I know you aren’t that type of man. Otherwise, I would have never wanted to marry you. But my potential has been raised now. A queen who was Tier 5 would mean so much for Miromar. And I know you want me to be safe, don’t you?”

  She scooted over towards him and placed her hand on his arm while looking up at him. An older, more experienced man might have been able to avoid this trap, but Jackson was still a babe in the woods when it came to this type of thing.

  “Yes, I want you to be strong. I will always worry about you. Dad says that is part of caring about someone. But I can’t take you into the dungeon. Your father would never allow it.”

  “He may be the king, but at some point, a husband becomes more important in a woman’s life than her father. I still haven’t told my parents about the increased potential as your mother asked, but if I were able to gain a bunch of levels, they would have to accept that it is a good idea.”

  Jackson felt trapped. He really didn’t want to go against the king, but he was finding it hard to argue against Gianna. The thing was if they waited till tomorrow morning, the other members of his party would know that Gianna was coming with them. In fact, he would end up having to boot out one of the members of the party.

  That would definitely cause waves and get the king’s attention.

  “How about if we just snuck in tonight? I bet we could do that if only the two of us went. Then if we can get you to Tier 3 maybe your dad will let you join the party tomorrow.”

  Jackson saw Gianna purse her lips. Clearly, it was the unconditional response she was hoping for, but something behind her eyes clicked, and she started to smile again. “Okay, but if things are going well, we keep going, okay?”

  He nodded. “Agreed, but do you still have those cloaks of invisibility?”

  She got a big grin. “I’m prepared. Let me go to my room, and we can leave in twenty minutes. That way no one will have a chance to stop us.”

  Jackson still wasn’t sure this was a good idea, but Nim worked with his father, so hopefully, it should be about as safe as fighting monsters could possibly be. Okay, better if they don’t see me near your rooms. For some reason, my mom has the servants watching to see if I get close to there. So, we will need to meet back here and then make a run for the portal.”

  “Okay, I’ll be back in a flash.”

  Then she was off. Jackson knew that twenty minutes was optimistic, but women always seemed to underestimate how long it would take to get ready. He was nervous but more about her father than the dungeon. So he took up pacing and thinking through his options. He was fairly well acquainted with Gianna’s gear and abilities, so he started running through scenarios for how they could best work together.

  Obviously, he would be the tank, but her power might be best used to blast stuff from afar. He guessed it would be different now that she had her class and some spells. They both had more spells for that matter. Thinking about it now made him realize that they needed to make sure she spent her stat and character points before they went into the dungeon.

  He had barely formed a plan when he was poked in the back. He spun around and almost took Gianna’s head off before pulling his blow at the last instant as she was dropping the cloak of invisibility.

  He blushed and stepped back ashamed of what he had almost done. “You have to be careful. I could have really hurt you.”

  “Yeah, I know, but I have presents. I was able to get an extra ring of Conjoined Health and Mana for you. It may not be as good as some of your rings, but you said you had an extra spot open, and it will give you 200 extra of both health and mana. That should help, right?”

  Jackson could see how desperately she wanted to be useful. It reminded him of how he had felt when Dad, Mom, and Mira were doing everything but he just felt worthless. Then he felt stupid. Had he been doing that to Gianna? That wasn’t going to work. She did need to get strong, and he was going to make sure it happened.

  “Thank you, Gianna, that is amazing. And I just realized that your cloak of invisibility also blocks out my Esoteric Sense, so that is something to factor in. For now, I was thinking that we should talk about how to use your stats and such. Have you done that at all yet?”

  “I’ve been thinking about it a lot over the past couple of days, but no. I will tell you what I want to do, though. I want to build myself up in a way to support my class. Rather than strong defensive abilities, I will rely on speed and stealth. I also want to be able to weaken or charm our enemies and deliver damage both up close and from a distance.”

  Then she went over her plans. Once he agreed, she input the changes and then headed to the dungeon. It was set in a warehouse that the crown had bought out. There were guards outside and inside, but getting into the building wasn’t a problem. No one wanted to stop the crown princess.

  Once inside they found an opportunity to slip the cloaks on and then darted past the guards at the portal. Since it required a token for most people to enter, the guards likely weren’t expecting that. Jackson held Gianna’s hand and hoped that anyone in his party would have the same ability to enter as he did.

  When they crossed, they got the notification about entering a dungeon, but then a new menu popped up.

  Welcome, Jackson Nelson. You have premium access to the dungeon. Please select which mode or section of the dungeon you wish to enter:

  Workshops

  Administration

  Dummy Training Floor

  Barracks

  Mining Floor

  Harvest Floor

  Tier 4 Dungeon Floor

  Raid Floor (warning your party is insufficient for this floor)

  Survival Floor

  Endless Dungeon

  Jackson’s eyes lit up at all the options. Apparently, it wouldn’t let him select a Dungeon Tier that wasn’t appropriate for him. He didn’t want to go to any of the areas where he was likely to run into folks from Eris’ Rise as that would only cause more questions.

  The one that intrigued him the most—considering that they wanted to make the most of one run—was the Endless Dungeon.

  “Please provide explanation about Endless Dungeon.”

  The Endless Dungeon places you in a slowly increasing environment that will vary based on the party members. It will take on a life of its own and provide challenges designed to improve the party interaction and the individual members in both level and skill. It is a more interactive dungeon rather than a simple smash and grab, but the potential rewards are great.

  Warning: there is a risk of getting lost in the Endless Dungeon.

  They talked about it for a moment, but both felt like it might be better to try this out, even with the risk. Otherwise, a Tier 4 dungeon floor might be too dangerous for Gianna, and a survival mode might force them to quit too soon.

  “One last question, Nim. The rule that you cannot intentionally try to harm a relative of my father by blood or marriage still applies in the Endless Dungeon, right?”

  “That is correct, but understand a dungeon run is inherently dangerous. Absolute safety cannot be guaranteed.”

  With the confidence born of youth, they both smiled and chose the Endless Dungeon. The last thought to go through Jackson’s head while they were still phasing in was, “This is gonna be fun.”

  Gianna’s Stats and Class Notification

  Congratulations you have obtained the class: Charm Savant (Rare) - Tier 1

  Class Benefits: +20% DEX, +20% AGI, +20% CHA Gains access to class-specific skills for modifying and utilizing magical items based on instinct rather than knowledge.

  Class Restrictions: May not learn Abjuration, Conjuration, Essence, or Evocation magic. Must keep Luck and CHA as highest stats.

  Class Purpose: A rogue who excels in utilizing and modifying magical items or even granting temporary magical abilities to non-magical items. Borrowed power is still power.

  XP Gained from Class: 1000

  You have gained enough XP to reach levels: 15, 16, and 17.

  You have gained 9 Stat points and 50 character points.

  Name: Gianna

  Race: Human

  Age: 14

  Class: Charm Savant

  Level: 17th

  Alignment: +2

  Position: Crown Princess of Miromar

  Movement: 30

  Stats:

  STRENGTH: 8 (+25%): 10

  Bravery: 3

  Regen Rate: 1/hour

  Melee Damage: +20%

  DEXTERITY: 25 (+25%): 31

  Ranged Damage: +56%

  Rogue Skills: +56%

  AGILITY: 25 (+40%): 35

  Movement Rate: +52%

  Defense: +130%

  CONSTITUTION: 15 (+25%): 18

  Health: 870 (+100%) (Gear:+750)

  Regen Rate: 1.2/hour

  Fury: 3.6

  Regen Rate: 1.2/hour

  ENDURANCE: 15 (+25%): 18

  Stamina: 5.4

  Regen Rate: 1.8/hour

  Needed Rest: -18%

  INTELLIGENCE: 14 (25% bonus): 15

  Mana: 150

  Spell Damage: +30%

  WISDOM: 13 (+40%): 18

  Mana Regen Rate: 240/hour

  Faith: 4.8

  Regen Rate: 1.6/hour

  CHARISMA: 30 (+30%): 39

  Social Skills: +62%

  Teamwork: 9.3

  Regen Rate: 3.1/hour

  LUCK: 25 (+45%): 36

  +36% chance to avoid catastrophic effects

  +36% improvement on chance of loot drops

  +36% improvement on quality of loot drops

  Total XP:4618XP to Next:442

  Unspent Stat Points: 0Unspent Character Points: 0

  Traits:

  More Heart than Brain: 1/day may apply Charisma rather than Intelligence to solving a problem.

  Tier 2: +20% Luck

  Crown Princess of Miromar: +25% to all stats, +50% to all regeneration rates. (only applicable within Miromar)

  Royal Birth: Throughout childhood, you gain certain skills without spending any points. You were truly born under a blessed star. This ability ends when you reach 15.

  Skills:

  Generic

  Sense Motive:20

  Listen: 10

  Intimidate:10

  Rogue

  Stealth:30

  Hide: 30

  Open Lock:10

  Forgery:10

  Find Trap: 20

  Sneak Attack: 20

  Social

  Diplomacy: 10

  Persuasion: 10

  Negotiate:10

  Craft

  Embroidery: 4

  Harp: 10

  Academic

  Knowledge- History:10

  Knowledge- Geography:10

  Knowledge- Politics:10

  Combat

  Small Blades: 20

  Archery: 20

  Agile Strike: 20

  Small Blades Specialization: 20

  Dodge: 1

  Teamwork

  Flanking: 20