A Tyrant, Sort Of

Arriving at the tier zero [The Dark Cellar] dungeon, Sable sent out a tentative, [Aylin?]

The response took a moment. [Yeah, I’m here. What’s up?]

[Come back up. We’re going to a tier one dungeon. I’ll be joining you.]

[You … are? Uh, right. Sure. We’re on the way.]

[How’d it go?]

[Got another level. So did Granite. Didn’t spend long down here, so that’s pretty good.]

[Especially for him, with his experience debuff.]

[Fifty percent is pretty awful,] Aylin agreed. [That said, the bastard is insanely strong. Levels faster than one of us would. Strength is its own experience boost.]

Sable mulled that statement over. ‘Strength is its own experience boost’. It was obviously true. The reason she’d given Aylin an explicit experience boosting title rather than a strength one was because the goblin girl was mooching off of Granite’s progress through the dungeon. Her own strength didn’t matter much.

Though as the gap closed, giving her a pure offensive title might be better. Sable herself had learned that being able to swiftly kill monsters was its own path to fast levels.

[Also,] Aylin said, [The title updated when you leveled to ten. Forgot to mention it earlier. Now it’s a forty percent boost.]

[Forty?] From twenty-five, earlier. [That’s a big jump.]

[Didn’t get a boost for when you hit level nine, so I’m thinking titles upgrade every five.]

[That would make sense. What did Granite’s upgrade to?]

[Won’t tell me. Don’t think he even understands the question. He’s, uh, not the sharpest tool, that guy.] There was a hint of amusement in the telepathic words. [Probably have to ask him yourself. Or wait till we’re up so you can inspect him.]

[I’ll ask.]

She shifted her telepathic link over to Granite.

[Granite. Can you hear me?]

A long pause.

[Yes.] The response came in the same gravelly, not-entirely-human rumble that Granite always spoke in.

[Check the title I gave you earlier. What does it say?]

An even longer pause. Sable nearly started to repeat herself, but Granite’s reply stopped her. He repeated the skill’s description word for word, slowly, as if reading it from a page with some difficulty. Which probably wasn’t that far from the truth; the description was the longest and most coherent thing he’d ever said to her.

[The Self-Sacrificing Experience Sharer,] he rumbled. [The bearer of this title provides a moderate portion of their experience gain to their teammates regardless of combat contribution. Additionally, title-bearer receives two-thirds experience from all sources.]

There were two differences. ‘Small portion’ had moved to ‘moderate portion’, and ‘half’ had moved to ‘two-thirds’. That probably explained why Aylin and Granite had leveled after only a short time down in the dungeon. Granite was really becoming a power-leveler. It was a shame that the golem was only level five. He would only be able to boost Aylin up so high. Once the one week title timer was up, she’d have to give Granite a strength title so he could focus on leveling himself up.

Sable relayed what she’d found to Aylin.

[That’s what I figured,] Aylin said. [Only way we could’ve—shit!]

[What?] Sable asked, alarmed. [What happened?]

[Uh. Probably shouldn’t chat while working through a dungeon. Almost got brained by a trap.]

Sable chided herself. She hadn’t even considered the danger. Obviously she shouldn’t be distracting Aylin.

There would be time to chat during the trip over to the next dungeon, and when Sable was there, standing guard over everyone. She quieted down and let Aylin work her way back up through the dungeon.

It took fifteen minutes or so—they hadn’t gotten that deep, and backtracking was quicker to begin with—and in the meantime, Sable played around in her human form. The strength to essentially kick over trees and dart through the forest at obscene speeds was something she doubly confirmed she would never get used to. And she’d only be getting stronger? Way stronger? What would that be like?

When Aylin and Granite emerged from the dungeon entrance, Sable was standing there, waiting for them. Aylin blinked at seeing her in her human form; Sable could tell it would take some getting used to, exactly as it had for Sable herself. Granite, obviously, was unperturbed. The eight-foot golem looked down at her with a serene expression. His bulk was surprisingly intimidating, for all Sable knew he couldn’t do anything to her if he tried, even with her reduced humanoid stats.

“Heading to a tier one dungeon, you said?” Aylin asked.

“That’s the plan,” Sable replied. “I found a new location for my hoard, but it’s guarded by a powerful beast. I’ll need to finish recuperating overnight before I dispatch him then move everything over. Following that, I’ll be setting out to human territory, as was the plan.” Sable shrugged. “Which means I have a few hours free for today. I want to get a feel for this body. Also take a look around another dungeon.”

“Sounds fun,” Aylin said. “Have one in mind?”

Having access to Red Plains maps, there were plenty of options to pick from. Dungeons were rare, but not vanishingly so, and the Red Plains were a large place. At least, subjectively speaking. In reality, it was just a splotch in the top right of the human kingdoms map—at least from what Roman had sketched out. The necromancer unfortunately didn’t have a real continent map, nor did the goblins. Tracking one down was actually a goal of Sable’s for her visit to a smaller human town prior to heading for Wastehaven. But there were local maps, and the Bonecrackers had the location to a smattering of dungeons.

“The Enchanted Overgrove,” Sable said. “The monsters there are likely weak against fire.” Not that it would matter, considering her strength. “You said you leveled, right? What’d you get?”

Aylin perked up, a smile splitting her face. “Oh, it’s a good one. [Draconic Tap]. From the sounds of it, I can draw on your power to make me stronger. Don’t know what the exactly means, so I haven’t tested it.”

“Draw on my power?” Sable asked.

“I’m a Dragonsworn Champion, so it makes sense. Though I don’t know if the skill drains you, or I just receive the boost.”

“Go ahead and try.”

Aylin didn’t need to be told twice; she’d clearly been waiting for permission. Gripping her two-handed sword, she activated the skill. In short order, she was slicing and twirling around with greatly amplified speed—and presumably strength.

Sable hadn’t felt anything, so the skill didn’t drain her personally. It just scaled on Sable’s current strength.

When Aylin came to a stop, she was laughing. “Oh, yeah. That’s incredible. I’ve gotta be the strongest level three on the continent.” She paused. “Or, goblin, at least. That’s crazy. I think I could even take on Granite while it’s active.”

“What’s the cooldown? And it scales on my own progression, I assume?”

“That’s what it sounds like,” Aylin said. “And it lasts for a good bit. Still going. Can probably—yep. Manually deactivate it.” She paused as she checked something. Another grin split her face. “Five minute cooldown. Means if I end the fight quick, could use it nearly every encounter. Leveling just got a whole lot easier.”

The goblin girl’s good mood was slightly infectious, though Sable tried not to let it show. Sable nodded, then said, “That’s fortunate. And seems potent for a level three.”

“Gonna be a powerhouse in the higher levels, I’m guessing.” Aylin was practically giddy at the possibility. “Again, makes sense as a dragon’s champion. I wonder if everyone you claim as a minion gets a class this good. Though, they’d have to be unclassed to start with, since I don’t think they’d get a new one. Makes it trickier.”

The topic was worth considering. Should Sable go around and claim a bunch of unclassed people with hopes they got classes as strong as Aylin’s? Probably not, since there were restrictions to [Dominate], as well as leveling up from scratch being harder than simply claiming a high-level person to begin with, but it was still interesting. And maybe Aylin had simply gotten a stronger one than usual. As Sable’s first, perhaps? Who knew?

“Let’s be off, yes?” Sable asked. “You can experiment with this new skill. I have some testing of my own to do.”

Aylin bobbed her head excitedly. “Enchanted Overgrove it is. That dungeon has no idea what’s coming for it.”

Sable couldn’t help a snort. Aylin quirked an eyebrow at the undignified response, which Sable regally ignored. In a puff of frostfire, she returned to her draconic form, then scooped up her two minions and was off.