Chapter 952 (1/2)

Alana closed her eyes. Even now, she could see those three attacks. When Randidly moved that first time-

A knock came at the tent flap, causing her eyes to snap open. The voice was low and relaxed, but just slightly hoarse. “Are you ready?”

“Politics right now, Donny? Shouldn’t we just sleep?” Alana asked.

Donny chuckled quietly and then fell silent. As the silence dragged on for a few seconds, Alana recognized that he was likely just as affected by the challenge as she had been. Maybe he used those few seconds to fantasize briefly about his own bed. “Perhaps. But after being shown our limits, we can’t just avoid the other Zones; too many people saw what happened.”

Alana quietly dragged a brush through her hair to remove any bits of scorched ground and debris. Honestly, she needed a shower; after the fight, she had just isolated herself and attempted to improve her image. She wasn’t ready to meet with a delegation from another Zone.

Yet what choice did she have?

After putting on some high-quality armor for appearance sake, she quietly laced up her boots. Although her main pair had been destroyed in the fight, Alana had several identical pairs made so she wouldn’t have to go without. They fit snuggly and would provide excellent footing on any surface. Then she walked out to join Donny. “Who is it?”

“Zone Eleven,” Donny grunted. Without any more explanation, the two walked through the dark night toward the center of Donnyton. They passed the many whispering Squads and civilians, doing their best to ignore the long stares.

No one spoke to them. They just watched Donny and Alana. Likely, they were waiting to see what this meant for Donnyton. After all, Donnyton had lost.

As they approached the wide oak doors to the Village Center, Alana’s heart seized. Really, the only thing Donnyton lost was the support of Randidly Ghosthound.

Within the front room, four individuals were waiting.

“I guess we are all here,” Sam said sourly.

Alana did her best not to grin. Despite Sam’s understanding of the necessity of this meeting, he was the most unreasonable of the assembled group. As such, he didn’t bother to hide his irritation that he had been dragged away from his studies for a political matter. Likely, he had done almost the same thing as Alana had, except Sam’s focus had been on forging. If he had been given a few more hours, Alana had no doubt that Donnyton would have a few more high-end weapons to test.

Mrs. Hamilton and Donny looked tired, but their faces were studious neutral. Perhaps correctly, they believed that right now was a time when Donnyton needed defending from political damage more than anything else. Regina’s expression was mild, as though she hadn’t just dragged back a dozen people from the brink of death.

Likely, the reason that the meeting had been delayed this long after the challenge was because she refused to participate until everyone that could be healed had been seen to.

Ed wasn’t present, but Clarissa was, quietly nursing a strong cup of coffee that Alana could smell across the room. It was clearly spiked with rum. With these six, they had the clout necessary to speak with the representatives from another Zone. After a few quick glances to check-in, the five walked through into the ornately designed library where the delegation from Zone Eleven waited.

There were three individuals in the room. All three immediately registered as minor threats to Alana’s Danger Sense Skill. A fiery hair young woman was spinning the expensive globe on the reading table, looking profoundly bored. She wore long leather boots that were practically designed and had a golden sword strapped to each hip. As Donnyton’s group entered, she looked up at them and then back down.

Not the one with power, then.

A teenage boy with large spectacles leapt to his feet as soon as the group entered. Then he blushed and sat back down next to his tall bow. He toyed with an extremely small dagger, seemingly unnerved by the sudden arrival of Donnyton’s group.

Not him either. So...

The third individual was sitting with his fingers steepled on the comfortable leather couch that was pressed up against the one wall not lined with books. His bearded and tanned face immediately split into a grin as the group from Donnyton entered.

“Thank you so much for meeting us on short notice,” The bearded man rumbled. His voice was so low that Alana could hear it resonating in her chest as he spoke. “I don’t want to waste your time as you… deal with the aftermath of that battle, so I’ll make it quick.”

The man pointed at the woman with two swords. “She’s Melanie.” His finger moved to the bespectacled young man. “That’s Kirk.”

Standing, the man offered the group a short bow. “And I’m Warlord. We are here to request assistance with a certain matter. After seeing the strength of Donnyton… well, I think that there is no one more qualified to help us.”

“Unless we just asked the Ghosthound to help,” The swordswoman Melanie turned away from the toy globe and graced them with a smirk.

Mrs. Hamilton’s face twitched, but she easily smiled at Warlord in the next moment. “It might be a chaotic time for us, but we are all individuals struggling underneath the suppression of the System. Tell us, what kind of assistance do you need?”

“Military force,” Warlord said with a sigh. “As I’m sure you know, new Zones are assigned certain random magical benefits, for lack of a better term, as well as Danger Zones. To encourage expansion. From what I understand, Donnyton was given a mine filled with very rare ores. The carrot and the stick, provided by the System.

“However… our Zone received a very strange random benefit.” Warlord’s face twisted. “Instead of a mine, or a forest, or an enchanted river… we received something dangerous.”

Kirk straightened his glasses. “A Dungeon. We received a Dungeon.”

Warlord studied Donnyton’s group for reactions. Alana realized he was waiting to see if they responded at all to his words. Ultimately, his gaze fixed upon Clarissa. Because from the moment he had mentioned a Dungeon, she was beaming with excitement.