Chronicles of the True Wizard

The scorpion had a much higher agility than Felix and reacted much quicker, readying and striking with it's tail driving it towards Felix's chest. Felix barely had any time to react and instinctively reached up to block the tail with his arms. He barely managed to get his hand in front of the stinger and cycle energy into his arm bands. His bandages were enough to prevent the strike from ripping through him, but not enough to prevent Felix from being shot back across the tunnel and into the wall on the far side.

He quickly cast three over sized Flame Throwers and roasted the scorpion with all the mana he had left. It was completely overkill, but he only had about forty health left and he was a little rattled.

Ding You have slain an [E - Uncommon] Desert Scorpion Brood-Mother (Lvl 50)

Ding You have gained a level in [E - Common] Caster

Felix quickly surveyed the area then sat down and meditated.

I really need to find some health potions or a healing spell or something.

Felix decided to try something he suspected might work, but hadn't had the opportunity to test until now. He cycled his energy and focused on his wounds and immune system. Focusing on his immune system was easier said than done as it wasn't a single organ but rather a complicated system. He focused on the organs he knew were a part of the immune system and tried to push energy to them. He knew he was missing some of them, but he hoped that through soul work or simply reading a book, he could figure it out later.

He sat there meditating for almost three hours but he managed to completely regenerate his health and mana pools. That meant that he had increased his healing rate or health regeneration by almost three times.

That worked out better than I expected, it did consume tons of energy though. If I didn't have this Amulet of the Forest, I would have completely run out.

Felix quickly ran through the rest of the tunnel which ended in a massive grate right near the oasis, judging from his map.

Ugh, now I have to run back to the ruins then immediately back here. This dungeon has so much running around, I hate it. This would probably take a normal party the same amount of time as the last dungeon or similar at least. Talk to the queen and travel to the oasis, talk to the king, wait till at least night fall to travel back here, assuming they figured out the aqueducts it would probably then take a day or two to clear it out. I have a lot of area spells and batteries so clearing out a swarm is right up my alley. Plus they have to clear the entire distance from the oasis to the ruins, the travel time alone, without fighting anything is almost a day at a normal pace. Then back to the ruins, another day, and to the oasis, one more. All that is assuming they figured out the aqueducts right away. I guess it might be faster if you decided to attack and invade the oasis with the queen.

Felix made it all the way back to the ruins. He walked through the buildings and saw no sign of water anywhere. Worried it hadn't worked he checked more basins and followed their pipes. Luckily, there was a closed valve hidden away behind the walls. He turned it open for an instant then closed it again. He walked back into one of the buildings and saw a droplet of water in one of the basins.

Thank goodness.

Woefully, Felix walked into the queen's chambers. At this point Felix was pretty sick of this whole thing, but he needed the queen to cooperate, so he made an effort to appease her, though his tone still leaked some facetiousness.

"Oh great Queen of the Sands, I have bargained with your traitorous husband and the rebel leader Aleandra and they have agreed that you may take back your rightful rule of the oasis. In exchange they will come live here, in exile for their crimes."

"Aleandra? That traitorous wench, using her feminine charms to trick the idiot men. That she would stoop so low, femininity was always meant to keep men on a leash, to rule over them. Despicable. This is an acceptable solution though, they will suffer here for eternity as I was made to over these last few decades. Come nightfall in a few hours, we will depart to reclaim our home land."

"Excellent, I will go inform them that they must vacate the land immediately."

"Good. You have done a good thing here. You should be rewarded."

I mean I definitely won't compla-

"You will be my newest slave, once the reclaiming of my palace is complete. You seem to have talents that make you effective."

Of course, I should have known.

"Oh of course my liege, I would be honored to serve the rightfully chosen grand ruler of the sands, chosen of the Gods, Queen over all."

"Excellent."

Of course, by that point I'll be out of this stupid dungeon. If I didn't suspect it would affect my rewards at the end of this, I might seriously consider trying to assassinate her.

Felix turned around and rolled his eyes before leaving as quickly as he could. He ran as fast as he could back to the oasis and straight to the red tent at the back. As he ran through the oasis, he noticed the water level was noticeably reduced. It shouldn't affect the living conditions much, but it was obvious. The flap was open once again and both Aleandra and the king were inside once again.

"I got the water flowing again and I convinced the queen to come back tonight. Can you guys mobilize to move tonight as well, when it's not unbearably hot?"

"There's water in the ruins, right now? That was too fast, how can we be sure?" The king asked.

"Yeah, how are we to know you aren't trying to trick us? That seems much more likely." Aleandra added.

"Did neither of you notice the water level drop all of a sudden?" Felix responded incredulously.

"Yeah, but that could be from anything." The king replied.

I get it, I do. You can't mobilize your people unless you are certain, but really? I just want to be done with this shit.

"Alright, what do you need to be convinced?" Felix inquired.

"One of us will have to verify your claims, then we can talk about moving. Unfortunately, that likely can't happen tonight." Aleandra answered.

Oh no please don't make me stay here another night, I will drag one of you there if I have to.

"Alright how about this, I will carry The King there, he can verify and we can be back within an hour or so. Does that work?" Felix asked impatiently.

"I'm not sure I want to be carried, plus the desert is scorching this time of day." The king pouted.

"If he can get you there and back in an hour, though I doubt that, then I guess we might be able to move out tonight." Aleandra thought out loud.

"Alright… this is highly unusual." The king said as he stood up.

Felix impatiently walked forwards and lifted the king in a bridal carry, then turned to Aleandra, "Start getting people ready to move, if we aren't back in an hour or so then no worries. If we are, we leave tonight."

Felix ran out of the tent without giving her a chance to respond. He ran at his top speed right away as he figured the king should be fine with his high level. When they got to the edge of the oasis, Felix cast his usual Cool spells but targeted the effect on both of them. Buffing his strength with energy made it so that carrying the king didn't slow his speed at all, making the total travel time to the ruins just twenty minutes.

Felix ran the king into the aqueduct without slowing at all to make sure the queen didn't see him to make sure they didn't get caught up in petty drama. He put the king down and led him right to the edge of the, less rapids and more stream, within the aqueduct.

"Wow, this is from the oasis? There were tunnels under the desert this entire time? This is amazing."

"Yup."

"These ruins are beautiful too, they are massive and the architecture is magnificent. I had never been here myself, only heard about them second hand, what a sight to behold."

"Uh huh."

"You know, I'm surprised you offered to carry me."

"You are higher level, more likely to be able to handle the speed."

"I see, you weren't even tempted to carry Aleandra instead?"

"Huh? Oh, no. Well, she is beautiful but frankly, not interested."

"Why not? Oh apologies, are women not your… uh, preference?"

"Oh they are. Looks are just one of the last things I look for in a partner. Plus I am a little too focused on other things to be thinking about that right now."

Also, she's a dungeon construct. She won't exist in a few hours.

"I see. If you don't mind, what are you looking for?"

To get out of this damn dungeon. Ugh, I don't feel like sharing, but the fact that this guy wont exist in a few hours when I leave makes it a little less appalling. Also if it get's this show on the road and keeps him happy…

"I want someone better than me in every way. Smarter, more creative, more ingenuity, more drive, more mature, more spiritual, kinder… Everything. I want someone who challenges me at every step… in a friendly way."

"That sounds like a dream. I thought I had that once you know, with the queen. I thought she had it all figured out. What a fool I was, she's more brainwashed than I or any of her slaves are."

"Normally I wouldn't ask, but now that we are sharing, did Aleandra sleep with you to convince you to turn on the queen?"

The king burst out and doubled over in laughter, "I suppose that is how it looks, isn't it? No, let's just say, men are not her preference."

Felix chuckled, "I didn't even think of it, honestly you just seemed too old for her in my eyes. I guess with levels and whatnot that may not even be true and frankly shouldn't matter. The queen accused her of being a harlot and sleeping with you so you would betray her."

"Ah, I guess that's reasonable for her, but no, unfortunately I was simply brainwashed into being complicit in what I now see as atrocities. Honestly, being brainwashed may have been preferable, I think there are some truths I would have preferred not to know. Ah and you mean the white beard? I just always looked up to my predecessor who sported a similar mane, I thought it was manly and regal. My evolutions made it a reality."

"I disagree, I think all truths are worth knowing. I would rather be miserable and aware, than happy and ignorant."

Though honestly, I don't think you have to be miserable ever, you can work yourself out of it and will ultimately be happier than you would have been had you remained ignorant. Not sure I want to have a philosophical discussion with a dungeon construct right now though. I think it's time to get this show on the road.

"I see, maybe one day I will agree, but right now, even though no one blames me, I just feel guilty and shitty."

"Don't punish yourself, redeem yourself. It'll be healthier for you and your people. Sorry to cut this short, but can we head out?"

"I… yes, we can. Are you cooling us down by the way?"

Felix walked over and picked the king up the same as before and started running out of the aqueduct and west.

"Yeah, I'm casting spells to keep the heat bearable. Honestly it's more for me than you."

"I appreciate it anyways."

Felix ran a little faster this time, pushing more energy into his limbs. He was already sure he was going to be back before the hour he had initially expected, but now he was trying for less than forty five minutes.

Felix made it back a minute earlier than he was hoping, though he expended a lot of energy pushing his muscles. He ran into the red tent to find Aleandra sitting around.

"You're back already?" Aleandra asked in disbelief.

"Have you mobilized the people yet?" Felix retorted.

I feel like a dick making them rush the move like this, but they are slaves, they don't own much. Also dungeon constructs, does that change the morality? Never mind, I don't care I just want to be done.

"He speaks the truth about the water. There are tunnels running from right underneath us all the way to the ruins. He brought me down there and there is more than enough water." The king explained.

"Hurry up, we only have a couple hours until sunset. The queen will probably leave right away considering how eager she is to reclaim her land."

Although she's so full of herself, maybe she delays it just so people wait on her? I hope not.

Aleandra rose, "I'll go get people moving."

"If you need any help, just let me know." Felix offered

Over the next two hours, Felix ran around the oasis and helped Aleandra to get people moving. He helped with everything from helping them collect their things to digging up some fertile earth so they could grow food. There was already a ton of organic matter in the aqueduct from the thousands of scorpions, but they agreed to retrieve it later to fertilize the soil.

The sun set, and the temperature in the desert dropped drastically. The entirety of the rebellious slaves walked in a crowd following Aleandra and the king who followed his map. Felix ran back to the ruins to lead the queen.

Her slaves formed a tight formation and carried her at the center in a palanquin. Felix led them in a big arc off to the side so that they would avoid running into the other group, who he also had walking in an arc. Additionally, to avoid any form of confrontation, Felix was channeling Gust spells across the queens group making it seem like there was a minor sand storm. The queen arrogantly declared that no simple storm would stop her from reclaiming her divine right and the sand obscured any sight of the rebellious slaves and her husband. . . . . .