Kaden rushed after Ashi through the Domain Gate and back to the north—and marveled. Where before, glass-like walls of mana had enveloped Samuel’s fortress, now a dome of sold golden mana arced upward into the night sky, so thick a spear thrust through wouldn’t pierce it. “Where are the clans?”

  “Hidden, as we will be!” Ashi demanded a Portal into existence that led to solid black. “Quickly. Your lover insisted you would succeed, against all reason. She has driven the clans to prepare, allowing no question.”

  Within the pitch black of the portal, golden cat eyes gazed back at him, then blinked.

  Trella had drawn Eclipse into her soul. “I’m holding Neganta’s Larder. I don’t think even a dragon can track you into there.”

  “I sure as hell hope not” Kaden said. He took the lead this time and watched as Ashi sealed the portal, leaving them in pitch black.

  The world shook.

  “The stone will hold,” Ashi said. “We are far, far beneath. He cannot possibly find—”

  A white beacon blazed upward, for a moment showing Sara, Eve, Trella, and hundreds of clan members in the darkness of a cave. Then the lip of a leather bag went over Kaden’s head and he was falling.

  This time, he knew to land loose in the sand.

  This time, he wasn’t even remotely interested in exploring the lost city.

  Over and over, the beacon attached to him flared until it was a white light that forced Kaden to close his eyes or be blinded.

  Kelvin has ended an event: The Immortal Hunt.

  Congratuations on surviving an event (Immortal Hunt).

  You have lost: Copper Prize Token.

  For surviving, you have received a miniscule reward.

  Your reward will arrive by mail when you return home.

  To receive more awards, anger celestial entities until they declare an Immortal Hunt!

  In the sky high above, a giant fist with three fingers errupted among the stars, reaching down to grasp Kaden and pulling him higher and higher—until he fell out, smashing his nose on the ground.

  “Do not fear,” Ashi ordered. “We are wrapped in [Moon Shimmer]. Watch, as the clans reclaim what is theirs.” All around Kaden, a sphere of silver light made the world fuzzy. The first thing he noticed was the towering corpse of an Ice Dragon, a corpse like a minor mountain of ice. The second thing was how Samuel’s dome had been bashed in. Chunks of golden mana melted slowly where they rested. His odd city lay buried in a foot of bloody snow, and everywhere within it, [Beserkers] stalked.

  Like Cutter Karn, when empowered with Rage, they literally glowed red. But none glowed like Kai Fen, who stalked his prey through the ruins of the city, ripping their limbs off.

  Serious Sam, or Samuel, or Sammy, what ever name he might go by, he wasn’t fighting, he was fleeing, and he wasn’t fleeing fast enough. He rode a wagon exactly one person long, a wagon that belched flames and fired bolts of lightning at the beserkers who tried to surround him. “I was doing you all a favor!”

  Kai Fen was so deep in rage his only answer was a snarl, as he burst forward, meeting the oncoming wagon with a thundering blow of his fist. Lightning struck him, leaving streaks of burnt flesh down his arms, but the [Xorn Bracers] only caused the glow over Kai Ren to deepen. The wagon exploded in a rain of splinters, spraying metal and mana stones like shrapnel.

  A lesser man would have died where he stood, but nothing about second-lifers was fair to their enemies. Samuel activated a skill, and mound of marshmallows exploded from the ground as he fell. He rolled through them and came up with a pair of short-swords, each with a marshmallow on the end. “Fine. We’ll do this. You’ll learn that just like the last Demon King—”

  Kai Fen leaped, ignoring the swords that pieced his gut, to slam a broken spear down through Samuel’s mouth—and then the beserker stood over nothing.

  Samuel Birkoff has used [Not In My House].

  Samuel Birkoff has used [Peek-a-boo].

  Samuel Birkoff has used [I Got an Ouchie].

  “Spread out! Hunt him!” Kai Fen ordered. He coughed blood as Eve activated [Life Transfusion.] “Honor the man or woman who kills him. To the one who catches him and holds him. We will cleanse the North with his blood.”

  In Kaden’s experience, blood had exactly the opposite effect on snow but it didn’t seem like the time to mention it. He reached down in his soul and summoned Garm. He didn’t need to speak to tell the [Ulf Ravager] who the prey was, and the wolf bounded free, sniffing the snow, then howled to the sky.

  Garm has used [Ancient’s Call]

  A trio of stars blazed orange and fell from the sky, glowing brighter with every moment until they struck the snow. From them, sizzling orange wolves emerged and howled as one. They spread out in the snow—then one’s head snapped up, pointing out into the darkness.

  The pack surged forward, with Kai Fen and a hundred more [Beserkers] right behind them.

  Kaden stopped to study Garm’s status. He’d gained two levels, and a skill, Ancient’s Call.

  [Ancient’s Call]

  Call on the ancients to assist your hunt. You may only call on the ancients once a year. The number of ancients who answer is not up to you.

  Even now, through the Soul Bond, Kaden felt the thrill of the hunt. “Samuel is heading south. I think he’s heading to the harbor, not the Far Portal. And I don’t think he’s going to make it.”

  Your authority is no longer contested.

  You have established an outpost by permission of the ruling Accord.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  You may not remove this outpost for 365 days.

  You have aquired a title: God Emperor of Eternity.

  [God Emperor of Eternity]

  By establishing Authority over a scrap of land, you have become a member of the ruling class. You may control [Authority] in your immediate presence. To increase the power of this title, forcibly subjugate more citizens. For battle-prowess attributes, ensure your subjects fear you.

  “Eve.” Kaden hated to ask her. “How do I get rid of this ridiculous title? Do I look like I want to subjugate anyone? Seriously, why didn’t anyone warn me?”

  Eve studied him for a moment. “If you’d released the Outpost even a second before Samuel, he would have established [Authority.] Hide the title. And grant me access, I’ll adjust it.”

  Evelyn Barrister has requested permission to administer your ‘Empire of Ashes and Blood and also Kittens’. [Y/N]?

  Kaden shuddered a moment later as a chill ran down his spine, like an electric claw had closed on his skull.

  Outpost name reset to ‘Outpost.’

  Your title has been adjusted to ‘Baron.’

  Your effectiveness rating is ‘Baron.’

  Your administration ranking is (Extremely Poor)

  Your scope of influence is (Extremely Small)

  Your reputation cannot be estimated (0).

  Sara hadn’t stopped staring. “Just like that? You mean anyone could become a King or Queen? I want to be a Queen!”

  “No, you don’t, as Kaden will soon figure out.” Eve’s voice held a note of sympathy. “Effectiveness is how good a leader you are. You don’t really lead, so it’s going to be poor. You rule over a monster-infested section of woods and a frozen cave network, so ‘extremely small’ is probably overly kind, and if you had any reputation, that would lead to more problems, so accept zero as a blessing.” Eve wasn’t focused on him. “The Holding was effectively the smallest Kingdom in existence, but without acknowledgement from the System, it didn’t take effect.”

  Trella laughed as she put a hand around him. “The [Priests] from the Saint’s Hall never saw this coming. Am I a Baroness?”

  Eve shrugged. “Baron is literally a title that can be bought. Normally one must swear fealty to a higher ranking King. A Baron is assigned a barony of fixed size and influence. Choosing that title will assure others that Kaden is not a direct threat.”

  Sara dispatched a messenger parrot immediately. “Just because Kaden doesn’t like power doesn’t mean everyone else should avoid it.”

  This was a headache Kaden had no intention of keeping. “I’m not doing any of that bullshit. I have zero subjects—exactly the right number of subjects—and don’t want more.”

  “I suggest calm.” Eve said. She waited until the screams of Samuel’s Adventurers died down for a moment. It wasn’t clear what the clans were doing but pleas for the wolves to just kill them gave a few clues. Eve crossed her arms and waited for the last wails to fade and the hunt to begin anew before continuing. “No one can force you to expand. I’ll support you in any way you need that doesn’t involve physical affection.”

  “Got that covered.” Trella summoned Eclipse and scratched her ears. “I’m sorry, darling, there’s no more healers to kill. Would you like to know how Samuel’s crew spent the last few days? Afraid. Afraid because their precious healers and support kept turning up bloody mounds of flesh. Until one lucky bastard managed an impossible shot.”

  Eclipses’s purr was not a calming sound.

  “Once you were in Neganta’s Larder, the dragon spent several minutes attempting to locate you, and testing the edges of Samuel’s barriers,” Sara said.

  Ashi smiled as she spoke. “We are far beneath his city. He believed you within it, and sacrificed that form to tear down the barrier.”

  Given what had transpired, Kaden wasn’t surprised. He explained about the battles in the domain, and how he’d taken a core. “I have to give it back. If I don’t, it’s only a matter of time before the dragon comes looking for it. I might be able to kill him, but he’s returnal. Eventually, he’ll get lucky or smart.”

  “Power is worth nothing if you do not survive to wield it,” Ashi said. “I will go with you to mediate. If I embrace Ice Mana, I am as close to a denizen of the domain as any may be.”

  “I’m not leaving Kaden this time,” Trella said. “If he’s going to face a dragon, we do it together.”

  Eve hadn’t moved. “Consider it possible dragons return faster than anticipated.”

  Kaden spun to face the domain gate, where a silver cloud billowed out, then condensed into a dragon the size of Kaden’s Drake, with a long, thin head and two sets of graceful wings over a supple body with six legs and a cluster of whip-like tails.

  It roared out a challenge in the dark.

  “I’m right here.” Kaden left the [Moon Shimmer] globe, stepping over the corpses of Adventurers, and drawing the pure mana core from Inventory. “It was good battle. A challenge I’m not up to, yet. But I will be, in time.”

  The dragon hissed as it drew in night air, and long spines of ice grew from its back. But it didn’t attack, as Kaden set down the core and stepped away, retreating at an angle that would keep attacks on him from enveloping his party.

  The dragon evaporated from one place and exploded into existence, gulping down the glowing core. As it swallowed, the scales became shinier, the beast’s presence heavier. Its eyes gleamed as it looked from Kaden to his party—which it could obviously see in spite of the illusion. *Worthy Prey? Or Thief?*

  That didn’t make a ton of sense to Kaden. He’d given back the pure mana core, which wasn’t even something he’d had to do, just the right way to keep his life ending in an amush of ice. Unless…

  He dumped the spines he’d cut off out of Inventory. Each transformed into a glob of white mana that then ran together to form a miniature sphere. Not truly a mana core, but the essence of a dragon. The Fire Dragon’s flesh hadn’t done that. The Life Dragon’s scale hadn’t, either, and Kaden had personally carved—scales.

  Suridev himself had said dragon scales worked to hold mana in. For any uncooperative dragons, he’d need to carve deep and remove scales with the flesh. Kaden picked up the miniature core and carried it forward, then tossed it gently to the waiting dragon.

  It bared teeth as it snapped the core from the air. *Prey.* One of the tails whipped out—only to be met with Remembrance’s axe edge, which nearly severed it. The dragon roared in pain and chomped on its own tail. Ice cut off the flow of blood. It trembled with rage. But it hesitated.

  Kaden hefted Remembrance. “The [Shadow Blade] has [Fire Soul] potions, the antithesis of the mana that makes you. The [Summoner] has crawling horrors that will cause your body to explode. The [Polymage] can use literally any mana type and the [Transfusionist] will make you bleed without end. There’s a [Necromancer] not far from here who is a friend. Ever hear of the Lesson of the Strong? He’ll teach you the lesson of the living, which is that it doesn’t matter how returnal you are if the dead just keep coming.”

  After an eternity of silence, the dragon spoke. *Worthy prey. One day, hunt.*

  “I’m looking forward to it.” Kaden kept his gaze locked on the dragon as it turned to solid ice, a perfect sculpture—which shattered into a million snow flakes that blew back toward the domain gate.

  Once it was truly gone, from the darkness behind the Domain gate, Trella’s Deceptions stalked forward, clutching potions in each shadowy hand, followed by Garm.

  “Experience says we should not challenge dragons,” Eve said. “Whether we can or not, we should not.”

  For once, Kaden completely agreed.

  “I don’t want to interfere anymore than our presence already does,” Sara said. “But there’s money to be made if someone—anyone—isn’t afraid of corpses. Regardless of whether you approve of the Adventurers who supported Samuel, many corpses can be ransomed. Those obliterated…may have good gear.”

  “Me! Me! Me!” Trella said, dashing off into the ruined city. In her furs, she looked just like any clan member.

  “I’ll catch up.” Kaden watched as Ashi, Sara, and Eve left, surrounded by an illusion. Then headed toward where Trella’s single Deceptions stood, almost completely invisible.

  It stepped back. Beneath the illusion of a foot lay the chunk of tail Kaden had nearly sliced off. Most had faded, but a single shimmering scale remained. “Not an accident,” the Deception said. “It left it behind for you.”

  Kaden took it and pressed it to his palm. And winced as his skin burned. The scale skittered sideways, away from the fire scale and nearer the ocean one, then shrank, locking into place. Every three would unlock a [Beast Form] slot. He could only use one at the moment, but the scales all had side-effects that made them worth the effort.

  You are now immune to Frost.

  Your skill with Resist Cold is increased.

  Absolutely worth it.

  Kaden turned and followed his party into the ruins of Samuel’s city. There was never a wrong time to loot. A surge of pride through the soul bond told him that Garm had found his prey. That Samuel’s flight from the North hadn’t come easily—or at all.

  Smoke rose as Samuel’s city burned. Screams rang out as Beserkers killed the last holdouts who hadn’t had the wisdom to surrender. The smell of blood and shit and coming snow made everything perfect, as Kaden headed out to loot.