Future Plans

"Well if you mean..., 'do you plan to take over the world and usher in the age of darkness' blah blah blah..., no." Zaya answered as she waved at a few of the Larvas nearby, which sent them running, "I do have plans but..., it's probably less impressive than you think."

Krea watched as the small creatures ran off into a side room and rolled out... a caulk board. Well, roll was a hard way to put it, the actual things moving it on the wooden legs were small round creatures with psudopods; Qilope if she was correct in their names. Besides that oddity it did look like a normal caulk board. Zaya had found enough pieces of left over wood along with parts from the plant monsters to make the frame, and enough materials squeeze out from the spare rocks and well, she had this.

She couldn't have the pool make 'paper' just yet so Zaya had wanted some way of marking down info(In fact she had to erase some of her monster kill counts still on the board), which lead to this. now that she had a guest it was going to be useful in her story telling. She drew a big line down the middle and started writing, It took a bit as she still didn't understand most the language. Just enough to get the point across so what she wrote down was straight and to the point.

"First I don't really have any..., mid term plans.., well no I kinda do now that I think about it. I do have one long term plan off the top of my head and several short terms."

She tapped at one side of the board for attention, before moving over the rest of the board. Krea looked and saw;

• Survive.
• Gain Info.
• Gain Allies.
• Get Stronger

The middle goal and long term goals were far shorter but also a little harder to wrap her head around. Middle Goal was 'Claim the Corvus Vaults' which..., she could kinda get though just what that meant for the area around the ruins was up in the air. The Long Goal was though something to make her scratch her head.

"Meet Ancient Dungeon Core"

"You... want to met Nine?" Krea asked.

"Nine? Back when I was being told about this whole thing, no one called her Nine." Zaya turned with a look of confusion.

"That's because it's not her name; it's what we call her. And it's because while there's numerous stories of her losing to different heroes of light; no one has gotten past floor Nine of her own personal dungeon."

"Wait people know where she is?"

"Of course." Krea shrugged, "It's a bit of a tourist trap honestly; a huge sprawling ruin complex that spans half a mountain range or so I'm told. It's not hard to miss and rather safe to go towards since it's away from most demon and monster lairs and lands. But going inside...., that's when it becomes her problem as I understand."

"Last I heard the great heroes Elmeria and Sakura lead a large fleet and army towards the ruins and barely got to floor 6 before they gave up. The maze is far older than most things on this world so no one's quite sure how it works but it's strong enough that while you can beat Nine outside of it; there's no getting her OUT of there by **** it seems."

"I can't recall if she was lured out and defeated or kept busy during the last war against the last Demon king. But she's still around and short of one of the gods of light coming down and opening the gates; Nine is going to be left alone."

That made a bit of sense; if she had access to ancient tech and power that were made by basically the first 'high tech civ' this world had, it would be kinda hard to root her out unless you got up to that level or surpassed it. Seemed that hadn't happened in this world yet but in most stories Zaya heard in her old life, 'Ancient tech' was..., well not always better but had to be handled differently. Well this 'Seven' wouldn't be going anywhere for awhile then.

"Hmm good to know..., but yes; I don't understand how this whole Dungeon Lord thing works so I would like to... I suppose talk with an expert. If she's willing to hear me out. The Goddesses didn't really give me much of an instruction book."

"Hmm okay. Get that. I also get all your short term goals; just survive, build up and don't get killed. What do you mean by Claim the ruins?"

"Oh that?" she scratched her head for a moment, "Well I just want to control the ruins here. And I don't just mean 'control the area'. I suppose it means two things at the end of the day; One I'm taking over the site as the Dungeon Lord. Which means no more random monsters, no more spawning experiments, no more undead. I'm the one in charge and taking all the power for myself."

"Which, after that...., I'd like to maybe reopen the place for use beyond just 'place to kill adventurers and take their things and women' like the story goes."

"So...," the druid started, "You AREN'T going to be making... breeding pits or something."

"I mean if someone wants like two hours in the pit I'm not gonna say no." Zaya got an offended huff from not only Krea but the Pool herself off to the side, "But I'm sure I could use my powers to do something more than just..., **** pillage **** maim so and and so on."

"Now I'll fight for my right to exist and bash people that harm me or my people but... like..., I just want to have some fun. Maybe get with some local ladies, and get a harem going...., wait is that allowed?"

"I know several nations that do have multiple wives but that's Royalty...."

"HAH I am an Empress so that's okay."

"I suppose so.... what the hell am I DOING?" she stood up and paced around the table, "I'm actually considering giving advise here like.... AGH."

"Why not; honestly that's what I would like you around for. I need someone to advise me..., keep a lid on me. I mean you think she's gonna stop me from doing something stupid?" she gestured towards the statue/pool/core woman, "Honestly I could use someone to keep a little... humanity inside me."

"Helping someone who's humanity is gone keep it, while trying to destroy humanity.... that's rich."

"Why would I want to destroy humanity? They make good things..., like FOOD." She got up and walked over to Krea, taking her hands into her own, "Listen, I don't want to go out and do horrible, horrible things. At most, I just wanna have a few times where I just rock someone's socks off and do my own little thing. Besides you trusted me once before..., could you find it in your heart to do it again?"

She was really playing up the sympathy here, along with amping herself up with a bit of pheromones. Not enough to push her over the edge alone; Krea had to make that choice herself. But hey, something something 'roll with advantage' was in the back of her mind. Still she let Krea chew it over as she weighed her options. It took a bit before she sighed and grasped Zaya's hands back.

"I... don't know what I'm going to do with you or about you. But... I am willing to give you a chance." she leaned in and gave her a small kiss on the cheek. As she pulled back though she had a darker look on her face, "Though if you prove to be wrong not only am I going to just turn you in; I can make it so you won't FIND me again. Got it."

"You're an absolute doll you know that." Zaya leaned in and kissed her, pulling her into a hug, which she returned. Their hands running along each other's bodies while her tail ran down Krea's back, earning a high pitched moan. "Mmmmmwhaaaa. Hehhe, still I think you're better served by not just... pinning you against a wall."

"...I do appericate it. As while I would like to have... time with you; I'd rather at least do it in a more... cozy area. I might be a druid but I don't like doing it out in the wilds or in ruins." Krea muttered.

"Don't worry, I'll treat you right..., I just need to ... get some supplies I guess. How much does a bed cost anyway?" Zaya flashed a grin.

"More than you expected...., now. If you don't MIND, before we were interrupted..., about those Bramblestriders?"

"Don't worry too much about that; I have my little minions hunting them." She motioned to the Larva in the area along with the Repours.

Krea shot a long look at the skeleton like creatures before taking a long hard look towards Zaya.

"You didn't...."

"Excuse you; those bandits are the first 'humans' I have killed." She folded her arms in a huff, "Everything else I've killed are either other monsters or... well I guess they ARE monsters but Undead humans. Like Zombies and Skeletons. I've only been here...., .. how long?" Zaya paused to start doing some math in her head.

"In total you have been active a week and a half mistress." The statue offered. But when that didn't seem to help the statue offered something else, "You neglect the time inside the pool in your math I believe."

"That... that might do it. How long were we in there?"

"Two days."

"TWO DAYS?!?!" Both Krea and Zaya shounted as they turned back to the statue.

"Technically, 35 hours and 17 minutes or so." The statue explained, "During that time, Unit...., Krea, was indoctrinated and yourself Empress were healed of all your damage. Several internal parts showed signs of bruising."

"Yeah... that Shatter sword did a number on me."

"....Oh I suppose that WOULD have worked on you given well." Krea gestured at Zaya's whole body. "But I'm surprised it took that long for both of those."

"I simply assume my Empress would wish to be there at the same time as you were done." the statue said.

"I did yes and I guess my healing took a while too. ...That's going to get better right?" Zaya asked.

She was informed that yes; as the Pool gained in power it's healing abilities would increase as well. Or if it could find ways to incorporate different ways of healing into it's library. Krea's healing was one such example as it had worked on Zaya's living metal body to a degree. Though the Pool itself couldn't 'use' magic at this point, simply store it.

"Hmm that gives me an idea or two.... but I have a lot of ideas to sort through now. And I still have other things to deal with." Zaya said as she thought about all her options now.

Encounter Table(d20)

• 1-4: Experiment with the Pool a bit
• 5-8: Look to refurbish the ruins
• 9-12: Head back to town; we do have a quest to turn in
• 13-16: Take Krea back home... or ask her to move in.
• 17-20: Something else happens